Montana

Let me just start this post by saying that I am SO thankful for Richard's awesome work schedule because it lets us have long family vacations, with him really only taking 7 days off of work. Giving us a total of 21 days of vacation! It's amazing!

Montana was awesome. We had so much fun. The drive there wasn't too exciting, we left pretty early & switched back & forth, we were on the road for 24 hours straight. It was worth it once we got there, but we were both really exhausted, & Aubry was more than ready to get out of that jeep! Of course we stopped a lot, and we let her get out & run around. We stopped in Utah & found a park & let her run around for about an hour or so. She loved that. We always felt awful when we had to put her back in the jeep. We spent the first part of our vacation in Forsyth with Gary & Cora (Richard's mom's dad & step-mom). Lee & Rose also live in Forsyth & so do Jay & his girlfriend Tracey. It was a lot of fun. We spent the first few days at Lee & Rose's house, & they are always a blast. Aubry loved Lee! She had so much fun playing with him. I think she had a little crush, haha! When we went to Gary & Cora's we went out looking at their property, mostly to scout for deer I think, but I had fun just looking at the beautiful scenery. It really is beautiful out there. I couldn't believe how much property they had. Richard  & I went out one morning with his bow & tried to get him a buck, but it was a no go. It seemed like we were always just missing them. So he ended up going & getting it with Lee's gun. I was bummed that I wasn't there when he shot it ( I stayed at the house with Aubry),  and then I had to help cut up all the meat. And when I say help I mean Jay & Tracey helped get it off the bone, & then Cora & I cut it all up. So I told Richard I had to be there when he shot the next one or I wasn't helping at all. haha! The fun part is being there for the kill, not cutting up all the meat! YUCK!  Anyway, we went to Margot & Don's next. That's Lee Ann's mom & step-dad. And of course we had a blast there, too. It was so cold for the week we were there! BUURRR!!! But we did go out & I got to be there when Richard shot his next buck, thank you Margot for watching Aubry for me. It was so exciting. I had never been hunting before, and I actually hate guns, but it was a rush, I can only imagine how Richard felt. It made me want to actually hunt next year, until he had to gut it, then I changed my mind, really quick! haha! It was still a lot of fun & I think I will enjoy going with him for years to come.  

The trip home was a little better than the trip up. We got a late start, so we ended up stopping & getting a hotel. Then we got on the road bright & early the next morning, it was nice because then by the time we got to Colorado it was like the middle of the day. It was dark through Colorado on the way up & I was bummed because I love Colorado. It's beautiful there! We stopped at a little fishing place there & let Aubry run around, then not to long after that we hit snow & it was WAY to cold to let her out, so sad to say, she had to stay in the car for most of the way from Colorado. When we got to New Mexico it was dark, and we saw a TON of Elk!! I had never seen a live elk before, so it was exciting just to see 1, but I don't even know how many we saw, well over 100. It was awesome. But also scary because they're huge, & it was dark & we were tired. But we made it home safe, so that's what matters. :) I'm still not very good at posting pictures on here at I write, so here are a few from our trip!

Oh how life has changed!

It's a pretty late hour of the night, & as I'm packing all of Aubry's tiny clothes for our long family trip, I am thinking of how my life has changed since having her. I used to be abe to stay up all night, get a few hours of sleep, and go work an 8 hour shift the next day, then do it all over again. What happens when I stay up past 11 now? I wake up in the worst mood you could imagine, I look like a zombie all day, and I'm a complete crab ass. Why? Well, because Miss Aubry wakes up at 6:30 am. Sometimes even later. Like 7:30. Now, that's really not all that early, and it gives me a pretty good amount of sleep. But it's like since I had a child my body thinks it's 40! I am no where near 40, I am only 23. Which is still very young. But how the heck did I age so fast?! Maybe it was the 9 months of hell my body went through whiile "growing" my little princess. Or maybe it was the child birth. Because we all know that does a number on you! Or maybe it's that my entire life changed, and I no longer get to sleep when I want, or shower when I want, or even pee ALONE for that matter. And I spend my days now chasing a toddler around my house, trying to get her to not shove things up her nose, or in he ears. Or for the love of god, let her get ahold of a pen! Oh, and let's not forget the days when she wants to do nothing but throw tantrums...the ENTIRE day! Those are always fun. I age at least 3 years on those days. Or the days when she is JUST like her father, and thinks she is a dare devil, and nearly gives me a heart attack climbing on things and jumping off! I am surprised I haven't had to make an ER trip with that child...YET!! There are seriously some dayswhen she drives me completely bonkers!

And while she does all of those things that make me crazy, and feel like I am losing my marbles...she also does the most amazing things, that make life worth living. Most mornings, when I go in her room to get her out & ready for the day, I open the door and she gets this HUGE smile on her face and yells "MAMA!!!", then she runs to me and gives me the biggest hug her little body can give, followed by an "I love you!". That's a pretty awesome way to start your day, no matter what time it is, or how much sleep you got! There are many times in the day when I am just watching her, and I know she is just absolutely amazing. Every thing to her is so wonderful and exciting. And she is such a GIRL! Which I of course love!! She will walk around in a tutu all day long, tellng me how pretty she is. And on the days that I actually get to do my hair & make up, she also makes sure to tell me how pretty I am. Which I also love. She really is the most amazing child. She is smart, and sweet, and cuddly. And she melts my heart. Today I was trying to clean the kitchen & she came and told me she wanted to watch Tink. So I of course came in the living room and put it on for her, and she was so thankful. "Thank you mom! Thank you!" Then she layed on the couch and patted right next to her for me to lay with her and cuddle. How am I supposed to clean my kitchen when the cutest kid in the world wants me to cuddle? Needless to say, the kitchen got put off. :) She amazes me with the new things she learns every day, and how much she changes and grows. So yes, my life has changed. I used to spend my days doing what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it, and I didn't have a care in the world. I now spend my days being a stay at home mom, and taking care of my baby girl and my amazing husband. Who I am also SO thankful for. He is my best friend, and he is there for me no matter what. He is my shoulder to cry on when I need it, my safe place to land when I feel like I am falling, and also the only person in the world who can make me laugh when I've had the worst day. I am so thankful to have him in my life, and I love him more than anything.

Parenting isn't always easy. In fact, most days it's pretty dang hard, and I know it will only get harder. But even on those days when Aubry is doing nothing but throwing fits, in the middle of the grocery store because I got her the wrong color of bug juice, or not listening to anything I ask her to do or not do, or acting like she is a dare devil...even on the days that I want to rip my hair out, or crawl under a rock for a few hours...I wouldn't change a single thing. Because when she looks up at me with those big brown eyes, and tells me she loves me, it makes every little hard part of being a parent go away. I absolutely love my life, and I feel so blessed to have Aubry and Richard in it. <3 

Aubry is 2!!

Well, we FINALLY got a new computer, which I'm super happy about, because now I can do this again. Ha!
Aubry turnned 2 on the 3rd. Where did the last 2 years go? Don't ask me, because I sure couldn't tell ya! It seems like I just had her yesterday, & now she's such a big girl. It's kind of sad. But she is SO much fun now! And she has such a silly personality. She is quite the handful, don't get me wrong, but she is so much fun. I wouldn't have life any other way.Anyway, we had her party on the 1st, & it was a blast. She seriously had the best time ever. It was amazingto watch her be so happy. We did a Tinkerbll theme, of course. Because she is obsessed. Not kidding. One day she was watchng Tink, in her Tink costume, with her Tink cup, Tink blanket, & Tink doll...sitting in a Tink chair. It was to die for! She's pretty much awesome. So here are some pictures from the party. She was so happy to have al the attention & have all of hr family and friends there. It made my heart melt.

  She has tried to wear his shirt almost every day

 She LOVED the attention!

 Her cake waspretty flippin awesome too, I must say. Richard's sister got it for her. She knows a lady who does them in town. Aubry loved it. She stared eating all the flowers off of it before we even started singing to her. I told you, she's awesome! ;)




Another exciting thing that happened on Aubry's birthday was that we got a new family vehicle! It's a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It'ssuper nice & we couldn't be more happy with it!

It was perfect timing, too because we are getting ready to go on our first famiy road trip. To Montana! I've never been there so I am super excited. I am not excited, however, for the freezing cold weather!! I know it's going to be freezing because, well it's Montana! AND it's already getting cold here, so I KNOW it will be freezing there! Which will be good for Richard's hunting, but not good for this desert rat. I suppose I will live. We'll be gone for almost a month, then when we get back we are going to this amazing resort for our anniversary. Because I'm spoiled, & my hubby loves me. :)

Random Update

Well, I'm sure tons of things have happened since my last post. First, our computer stopped working, so I haven't been able to update anything. Which, let me tell you, when you're used to having a computer & internet, it SUCKS when it's suddenly gone! HA!

Let's see...a few weeks ago Aubry got her first real "boo boo"...it was the WORST day! We went to Safford for my step-sister's daughter's 1st birthday, along with another friend's daughter's 1st birthday. After the first party, we went over to my dad's for a while, Aubry was having the best time! My dad brought out a huge bucket of toys & of course, she had to pull EVERY single toy out!  Then we went outside & she was swinging for a while, then just running around playing in the yard. She was making us all laugh SO hard. She is quite silly. Well, then it was time to go because we had another party to go to...so while we were picking up toys, I turned my back from her for I swear TWO SECONDS & my dad's wiener dog BIT HER! RIGHT IN THE FACE! When I looked over & saw her face bleeding, my heart BROKE...into a million pieces, I swear. He mostly just got her nose. She had 2 spots on the outside on the right, & a big slice in the inside of the other nostril. It could have been a lot worse. She kept giving me that "why did you let that happen, mommy?" look. Ahh! I felt awful! Now, I know it wasn't my fault, it wasn't anyone's fault other than the stupid dog! But I felt like it was my fault. The whole time we were there I kept making sure she didn't get too close to the stupid thing because I don't trust him..then I turn away for a couple seconds & she gets bit!!  Ahh! Of course, it's healed now, & she doesn't even remember it most of the time. She does get scared of small dogs sometimes though. I'm sure that will happen for a while. The thing that matters most is that she's fine. 



We just got back from Todd's(my amazing big brother!), we stayed there last weekend, it was Jessica's(his wife) birthday. And Richard's is just 2 days before her. So we needed to celebrate. HA! We always have a total blast with them! Plus Aubry had an appointment with her pediatric orthopedic doctor on the 8th. When we walked into the waiting room that day, there was a little boy who was in a cast because he had the surgery Aubry would have to have if it comes to that point. It broke my heart. I just wanted to hug him & his grandma who was there with him. I know it was his grandma because Aubry went over to play with the toys he was by & I heard him call her that, I'm not just some freak stalker haha. That was the first time in the entire time we've been going there that we saw another child with the same thing as Aubry...and it was a boy...hip dysplasia isn't very common in boys. It scared us. But, we went in & did her x-rays & all was well! Her hips haven't changed at all, so that's GREAT news, & everything looks great for now. We'll go back again in 3 to 4 months & she'll get more x rays & hopefully everything will be great still.


While we were in Phoenix we went to Party City & got all of the supplies for Aubry's birthday, & let me tell you, that girl is spoiled!! Haha! I can't believe she is already going to be 2!! It seems like I just had her yesterday! It's hard to believe she's growing up so fast. She changes every day, learns new words, does new things. She's really silly & acts a lot like her goofy daddy. Which I LOVE!! She's been talking a lot more now. Some of the stuff are probably things she picked up from me & I need to watch my mouth more haha. One night I asked her "Are you ready to get out of the bath?" & she replied "NO! Damn it!". And she already gets mad & goes to her room & slams the door....WE'RE IN FOR TROUBLE!

Iowa Trip

Our trip was great! We had a really good time. It was so nice to get away for a while. The weather was kind of crappy, so that made it hard to do much..but other than that I think it was a total blast. We got to spend a lot of time with family. And of course Aubry won everyone's hearts! :) Speaking of, she did really really well on the plane! I should have known she would!

The day after we landed was Jon's memorial. We woke up to snow that morning! It was supposed to be in the 60's & sunny while we were there! Heck no it wasn't! Ha! The memorial was rough, just like I knew it would be. Jon was a wonderful man, & it was really nice to see so many people come to pay their respects & tell their stories about him. I wish we wouldn't have been seeing his family under those terms, but it is what it is I suppose. They are all really great, sweet people.  

Like I said before, the weather was pretty crappy, but there were a few days we got to take Aubry out & let her burn off some energy. My grandma has a big beautiful back yard & Aubry absolutely loved running around back there. It was so pretty & so nice to feel the grass under my toes!

The next exciting thing was Easter! Aubry got to color eggs for the first time. Though she really wasn't very interested. Todd, Jess, & the boys were there by that point, so it was a lot of fun coloring the eggs. The boys are so silly. Then we did an Easter egg hunt the next morning. Aubry had fun, I think. It was funny, we had real eggs of course, then we had plastic ones with candy in them, & once Aubry figured out the plastic ones had candy, she wanted nothing to do with the real eggs! haha. She's a silly kid. She had way too much candy that day, I'm sure. But hey, it was Easter. She also got barbies, a big pink bunny, hot wheels (Richard's doing, if you hadn't guessed) & the movie Tangled. SUCH a cute movie! The night we bought it, Aubry went to bed & me, Richard & mom stayed up until like 11:30 watching it. haha! Everyone went over to grandma's for Easter dinner, & that was really nice too. Aubry had fun playing with Kylan (my cousin Jill's son). My cousin Nick also called that day, I can't remember the last time I heard from him. It was really great to talk to him, & know he is doing well. 

 Coloring eggs

 Shoving candy in her mouth as fast as she could haha

 Aubry coloring with Auntie Jess

 Aubry & Kylan

One of grandma's neighbor's was amazing with chalk! We all had to walk down to see his driveway haha

The rest of the trip was tons of fun, we got to do lots of different things. But most important was spending time with family. We got to spend a lot of time with my cousin Randi & her husband Ian, & that was seriously SO much fun! They're awesome! We also got to spend a lot of time with my uncle Jim, who has always been my favorite. Aubry totally adored him! Seeing Robin & Tommy was also great. The last time I saw them Tommy was about 4 or 5 years old. Now he's 20! Crazy, crazy. We had so much fun & created so many memories. I can't wait to go do the same in Montana with Richard's family! :)

Aubry got to pet 2 baby cows! They were only 10 & 11 days old

 This was the first night we got to hang out with Randi & Ian. I wish I had taken more pictures. Me, Randi & Jess

 The guys had a lot of fun too. Todd, Ian & Richard

 Aubry seriously adored Uncle Jim! The first day she met him she was going to leave with him, no problem! haha

 Us & Grandma. I got up early every morning with grandma (not by choice, Aubry made me!) & we got to spend a lot of extra time together & bond. It was really nice.

Aubry learned how to say "grapa" while we were there, because every time we turned around she was either going in his room to see him, or he was coming out asking where she was. <3

I can't leave out the most important part of this blog post...the day after we got back, Aubry had an appointment with her orthopedic doctor, and...HER BRACE IS OFF!!!! We could not be more happy!! He said her hips looked beautiful & that they were completely normal. The angles were 24 & 25 degrees (25 is normal). We have to go back every 3-4 months for a few years to get x-rays, then if everything is looking okay they will stretch it out to every 6 months. It's something we will have to watch for the rest o f her life, & her as well. We will have to make sure to let her know how important it is that she does her check ups. The surgeon did say that if they start to go back & get bad, we are past the point of a brace & she would need surgery. Of course all we can do is hope & pray that never happens. All I know is that I am so thankful that she has it off & she is looking fine for now. She is such a blessing in our lives & she's absolutely amazing!

Heading to Iowa!!

We are heading to Iowa in just 2 days. I'm pretty excited. Our first family vacation! My mom is flying out today, then Todd, Jess & the boys will be there the 22nd & my aunt & cousin will be there the 27th I believe. I haven't seen my family from Iowa in like 4 years so it will be nice. Plus everyone gets to meet Richard & Aubry! We will be there from the 15th until the 2nd. Then Aubry gets her brace off on the 3rd! I'm hoping Aubry does good flying. She does well in the car, but she will be on my lap for the plane ride, so hopefully it will go okay. I'll have to bring a few toys to keep her entertained. It's only about a 3 hour flight, so hopefully it wont be too bad. 

In the last few weeks Aubry has stuck things in her ears & nose some more. She stuck a macadamia nut up her nose one day! It was SO big! I don't even know how she got it up there. As you can see from the picture, it was way bigger than her nostril! You would think she would have learned from the corn not to do it again, but nope! Crazy child of mine. A few days after she did that, I doing my hair & make up while she was watching tv...I thought she was being good because she was laughing and not bugging me. I came out & she had baby powder all over the coffee table & there were little white foot prints all over the floor! I couldn't help but laugh!
She is also starting to have quite the attitude. One day she was getting into the DVD's, which she knows she's not supposed to. So I told her no. She turns to me with this awful "don't tell me what to do" look on her face, starts stomping her feet & yelling "STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP!" then she SPITS on the floor, rolls her eyes, & stomps over to the door like she was going to leave!!! Again, I could not help but laugh! I know I shouldn't have, but how could I not? She's not even 2 yet!! We're in for trouble!! HA!
Well that's all for now, I will be sure to post all about our trip & put lots of pictures!

Puppies & Corn

Well we are supposed to be having Richard's friend's son take all of the puppies up to Phoenix some time this weekend & sell them for us. I am happy because they poop all over & eat SO much, but I will be sad to see them go..But I don't think it will take me long to get over it. HA! That sounds mean. Today I had to pour water on 2 of them 2 different times because they were fighting so bad & wouldn't stop. The first time I pulled them apart like 3 times & they acted like they were going to bite me, which was kinda funny because they're so small still, & the second time they were holding on so tight I couldn't pull them apart. Crazy dogs! What could they have to fight about?! Haha! Oh well, they will be gone soon & then I wont have to worry about them.

So 2 nights ago Aubry was eating dinner, being good, & she started grunting. So I look over & she is shoving a piece of CORN up her nose!! So I got that one out, then looked in to see if there was any more, & what do you know?! THERE WAS! So I had to pin her down & kinda sit on her & dig it out with tweezers. I was laughing so hard, but also frustrated. haha. She's so weird!!! But I love her! <3 Today she played outside a lot with the pups. She loves them. She calls them babies. She's changing so much every day lately. It's like she takes a nap & I go wake her up after 2 hours & she looks different. She's growing up WAY too fast!!!