Impromptu Night Away...

My best friend, Josie, now lives half way across the country in KS. so needless to say I don't get to see her very often. We have been as close as sisters and I miss SO much having her nearby... especially because we're both moms now. Last Thur. her sister got married in Utah and she was coming for a total of 24 hours. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see her, not knowing when the next time might be. I decided about 5pm Thur. night that I would leave Estin with Justin and travel the 4 hours to see her. We had such a good time! Although I arrived just before 10pm and she left at 8am the next morning, we stayed up late in the hotel room talking as if we'd never been apart. It was a little strange being away from Estin overnight for the first time, but I'm SO glad I made the trip! It was SO worth it! The only pic we got... early morning!

My Sweet Husband...

This is the kind of sweet stuff I find around my apartment all the time! Justin is so thoughtful!!!

Our Cookie Monster

While making sugar cookies for Valentine's day, Estin decided to give the cookie dough a try. After several small pieces we told him he'd had enough... so when daddy wasn't looking, he grabbed an entire cookie cutout and stuffed it in his mouth before we could do anything! That little stinker!!!

Valentine's Day!

Saying I LOVE Valentine's day is a little cliche and an understatement. I LOVE everything about this day! The supermarket aisles of pink and red, the men standing in line Feb. 14th to buy flowers because somehow they forgot. I love the valentine mailboxes and conversations hearts... but most of all, I love to have a special day set aside to really appreciate the ones we care about. Now let me get on my soapbox for a moment to say, it really annoys me to hear people say (i.e. women) "My husband is so unromantic, he never does anything for me." or "Valentine's day is just another Hallmark holiday, a day of commercialism"... etc. etc. etc. This is what I have to say to that.... WHO CARES!!! February 14th is not a men's holiday, although yes, it would be nice for some acknowledgement, it was not designated for men only to show there devotion and undying love to the woman in their life... it's a day to show love to ALL those you care about!!! So get off your pitty party and do something nice or romantic for someone else! Celebrate your love for your family, friends, spouse, and children. Take advantage of this little reminder once a year to truly appreciate all that you have. Ok... I'm done now. Happy Valentines Day!!!!

Estin and the Potty!!!

Lately Estin has been telling us "potty" anytime he needs a diaper change. He screams unless we let him sit on the big potty after taking his diaper off. He usually sits there for about 2 seconds and says "all done." Well... the other day he actually went in the potty!!! He was SO proud of himself (and so were we)! We hadn't planed on really introducing the concept until at least his 2nd birthday, but wanted to start before the new baby arrives. We're so glad he's ahead of us!

Rexburg Snow Fest!!

Every winter, Rexburg has a community snow fest. They have horse drawn wagons, snow bowling, a polar bear swim, more games, sledding, hot chocolate and a bonfire. It was a lot of fun to take Estin this year.

Who is this kid?

Estin NEVER falls asleep anywhere but his bed... but this week he's fooled us all!

He fell asleep with his arm in the ketchup!

Estin must have been tired... he grabbed his "banket" and his "pellow," climbed up on the couch and fell asleep!

Do You Love Our Little Girl?

Justin loves it when I dress Estin up like a girl!!! :)

Good News!!!

We just found out Justin passed his CMA exam! He took it in October but had to wait until now to find out if he passed or not. He is now a CERTIFIED Medical Assistant! We're SO proud of him! Lets hope it brings a pay raise!!!

Weird things are happening....

So I just made brownies today to take to a few friends of mine who just had babies. I usually make these out of scratch from a recipe I LOVE! Today however, weird things are happening! Take a look at all the walnuts... they've gathered in the middle with NOTHING on the edges! That has NEVER happened before! Of course, it's only because I was making them for someone else. WEIRD!!!

Funny Boy!

The other day, Estin and his friend were playing in his bedroom when he started SCREAMING bloody murder! Thinking something was horribly wrong, I ran in to find him like this... I had to grab my camera!

BIG News!!!

We're having a BABY!!!! Estin is excited and ready to be a big brother. Baby #2 due July 14th. We'll keep you posted!

What a Helper!

Estin loves to help me in the kitchen! His favorite thing is washing dishes. We wash dishes, mop the floor, and get a bath at the same time!!! I LOVE my little Man! isn't he CUTE!!!

Oh what do you do in the wintertime....

While in Utah we met up with an elder I served with, Kris Smith, and his family. We went to Thanksgiving Point and saw Santa's reindeer! We also checked out the Christmas lights and had dinner. I'm glad we've stayed in touch all these years. Another highlight of our break was SLEDDING!!! We didn't know how Estin would handle it, but he was COMPLETELY stone faced. He didn't crack a smile, a tear... NOTHING! It was actually quite funny!

Christmas 2008

This year we spent Christmas in Utah with Justin's family. We stayed in my brothers basement... it was nice to be together as our own little family. Estin was so much more fun to watch this year...besides not having to spend 1/2 of Christmas eve in the ER (like last year), he actually enjoyed tearing open his presents. The highlight of my Christmas was buying Justin a much wanted tool that was originally not within our budget. I was able to secretly save and surprise him Christmas morning. It was SO worth it!!!

Justin surprised me by building this amazing table! (The picture doesn't do it justice) I'm SO glad I have a handy husband!!! I LOVE it!!!

The Binky Addict...

So the other day Estin was having a hard time deciding which binkey tasted better... so he decided to try both! (He got them both in by himself!)

Estin has become quite the binkey connoisseur, apparently 2 binkeys at once was not enough! He'll be sucking on one and if he sees another one, he'll spit the first out and stick in the second. This is repeated over and over. What can I say... he likes his fix!!!

We Won!!!!

We went to look at all the different gingerbread houses today after church and we won the adult category!!! We still don't know what we get ("cash prizes")... it's probably like $10 to the hospital cafeteria... (just kidding) but it was fun regardless. There is still the "People's Choice" award that will happen all week. We'll find out about that Friday. (Pictures below)

Estin...

Isn't he getting SO big!! (He unzipped himself)

Gingerbread Lane

Justin & I decided to enter a gingerbread house contest held at the hospital. We were watching a movie the other night and saw a doll house we both really liked, so we patterned our structure after it. Overall, it took us about 40 hours to complete! It was a lot of fun and it was great working on something together. What a GREAT way to start off the holiday! We'll find out next week if we won anything.

Today is Sunday...

And Estin & I are sick. Justin & I figured that with Estin not feeling well, we wouldn't be able to take him to nursery, so one of us wouldn't be able to pay attention anyway. I woke up feeling yuck too, so here we are, Estin & I hanging out this Sunday morning. I thought it would be a good opportunity to get caught up...

November 12th was my 29 birthday! Can you believe it! 29!!! I used to think 30 was SO old and SO far away!!!! I don't feel that way anymore. Justin and I had breakfast together before he had to leave for work. I spent the day enjoying myself at the salon while Estin was at Grandma's. When I got out to my car I found a dozen roses and a card. While I was driving home, Justin called me but unbeknownst to me had changed my ringtone on my phone to a new song I'm in love with ("Lucky" by Colby Callait and Jason Mraz). I met him for lunch only to find that he was dressed in shirt & tie and had taken the rest of the day off to hang out with me! Don't I have the BEST husband!!! That night we took it easy by ordering in and watching a movie. It was a GREAT day!!!

Thanksgiving...

This year everyone came up to our neck of the woods for Thanksgiving! Now that my mom lives in the next town over and it's only a 4 hour drive for everyone else... this year we got to celebrate as a family. It's the first Thanksgiving since Justin & I have been married that we had it with my siblings. It was great! We actually had it the weekend before the holiday, due to work schedules. Everyone came up Sat. and stayed until Sun./Mon. We had a great time just spending time together and the kids had a blast with their cousins. I hope we can do it more often.

Future Blackmail... Owen (3), Mylie (1) Estin (19 mo.)

Poor Grandma Nelson... Aaron is always making her do crazy things! What a good sport! Grandma always has one eye closed so Aaron decided to make her an eye patch!