Humpherys Family

Trunk or Treat

2010-11-06T17:32:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time dressing up as The Incredibles. I have such a great hubby who was a great sport in wearing red tights and joining in on the fun. He definitely is a keeper!!

My MR. INCREDIBLE and little DASH!!!

My VIOLET

Mommy and DASH!

Next year Mark will be away at sea so it was great that we got this year to be together as a family and dress up. Now I have to come up with ideas for next year for the 3 kids and I. Won't that be fun...Three kids! Exciting!!!

Bathroom my BEST FRIEND

2010-10-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

So as you can tell, YES I AM PREGNANT with baby #3!!! The bathroom has become the most visited lately. I swear I don't remember always having to run to the bathroom this early on. I found out friday by taking 2 home tests which both came up positive. I have a doctor appt this Wednesday to confirm. I even took another test this morning and yep still preggers..LOL Crazy I know!!

Mark and I have been trying for over 6 months and then about a month ago I said "I'm done, I'm not going to think about it" "Its not my priority cause I'm so sad every time my monthly comes" Then BOOM what do you know were now expecting. It's a surreal feeling but an exciting one.

From all the calculations I did I am guessing our due date is going to be middle to end of June. Taylor was so excited and said I hope it's a girl, cause I really want a sister. I told Blake and he said "No mommy, No baby!" lol

Well this wednesday I will find out more but I wanted to share our good news. Exciting time in our family and we are overjoyed!!

Taylor's Cheer Fun

2010-10-18T14:49:00.000-07:00

This was a fun time for our family but especially Taylor. The varsity cheer team did a fundraiser where they did a cheer clinic and at a home game the girls were able to cheer during the 3rd quarter and half of the 4th. It was stinkin cute and soo much fun. It has been a blast going as a family to the high school football games and this night was more fun and special since we got to see Taylor have fun w/her friends. I had a blast making her stuff for the night. They will be doing it again for Basketball season and we can't wait to do it again.

Parenting

2010-07-16T07:01:00.001-07:00

Sorry no pics for this post. I know it's been awhile since I have posted. I have been up for a little while now and was surfing the net. I came across some disturbing info on someone I know who happens to be a minor. It disturbs me on many issues but the one thing that I sit here and reflect on is PARENTING.

I am not this childs parent and at one point in time this child and I had a great relationship. Over the years it has became non-existant. This child protrays themself older than they are (which mind you I did when I was a teen) but not at the extint this has been takin. There is lack of responsibilty, lack of parenting or supervision. It makes me sick knowing that this child will become another satistic. (Pardon all the misspell words and bad grammer lol)

I sit here as a parent to small children but also a step-parent to a teen son and I am thankful for the upbringing I had growing up. I find myself repeating phrases or actions my parents did or said to me when I was younger. I hated them then, (the discipling) but I find myself having the same outline they did for me to my children. I don't find it bad to spank your child, or take away privilages. I believe children will respect there parents and parents role is to teach not be friends with there children. My mother always told me "I'm not your friend, I'm your mother!" "When your married and have your children then I can be your friend" I hated hearing that growing up, cause I wanted my mom to be cool cause some of my friends parents were there friends and weren't so strict. Looking back now I'm glad my parents were tough and hard on us girls. Those friends who had "friends" for parents had no respect, no accountability, and always seem to get themselves in trouble one way or another and there parents just didn't deal w/them.

Today's society is all about "lets not hurt someones feelings" "kids have rights" etc etc...Well you know what, yes kids and people have feelings and we should all be respectful but when your a child you need to know your role and listen to your parents. Adults are to teach and lead the way to bring up successful productive children into this world. If kids don't learn at home, manners, respect, accountability, intigrity, and everything else that makes them well rounded people at home then we have failed as parents and adding to this worlds already downward non-productive society. The old kids have rights too, well yes kids have rights. They have rights to listen and learn so they can use there rights in a good way and effective way when they are adults, parents and active society members paying bills, making a life for themselves without the help of there parents. Then they have rights that they can exercise and be heard till then in my opinion and how I believe kids rights are non-existant when it comes to discipline, teaching and learning what they need at home. Who else is going to teach them the tough lessons or what to expect if they don't learn it at home first.

When you give birth or raise a child it's your responsibility to make sure that child has all the tools he/or she needs to be active society memebers. If they don't learn or are taught these fundamentals of life at home we have failed as parents. When parents are too scared to discipline or too scared to hurt there child's feelings, we have given up on our children. We have done them unjustice. I'd rather my child say "Man my mom and dad was tough and strict on me growing up" then for them to say "My mom and dad didn't make time for me, they didn't care what I did." I'd much rather hear your a mean mom when they are growing up cause of the lessons I'm teaching them and have them look back when they are a parent as I do now and say WOW I get it. I understand it all now, and I'm happy I had that type of upbringing.

This may all seem out of left field and odd or just not your cup of tea of agreeing. Which is fine, I mostly did this for my sanity. It made me thankful for my parents upbringing, thankful for how Mark and I raise our children and thankful to belong to such a great belief and having a loving Heavenly Father who helps me be the best parent I can be. I know my children will have struggles growing up, I was no saint growing up and caused a few grey hairs if not ulcers to my parents. I know everything is not perfect and I know my children will have to face some tough challenges ahead of them especially how society and our world are today. Where wrong is made to be right and vice versa. They will struggle from right and wrong, but the one thing that will not change is my diligence in pushing them to be better people and make right choices and always be their parent and never give up on them and give them tough love when it's needed.

I'm happy my parents were not my best friends growing up and didn't allow me to have my way all the time and always pushed me to be the best I could be. One thing growing up my mom always said and I tell taylor since blake is still too young is. Home is where you make your mistakes. My mom would tell us girls that all the time. I'm happy she did, and being a mother now I appreciate that saying more. Home is where children make there mistakes and learn from them and its our job to give them that safe haven to do so and guide them and give them tools to not make the same mistake and learn from it so when it's there time to move on w/there lives. They can do so with confidence, and motivation that they have everything they need to tackle life and build there own home.

Thanks for listening to my rant and to end I will post a MEAN MOM poem!! ENJOY!!

Was your Mom mean?

I know mine was. We had the meanest mother in the whole world! While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast. When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too.

Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them. She insisted that if we said, we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.

We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the Child Labour Laws by making us work. We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty the trash and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds and had eyes in the back of her head. Then, life was really tough!

Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They had to come up to the door so she could meet them.
Because of our mother, we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other's property or ever arrested for any crime. It was all her fault.

Now that we have left home, we are all educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was.

I think that is what's wrong with the world today. It just doesn't have enough mean moms!

Count Down to Adpotion being final

2010-05-05T10:09:00.000-07:00

I'm SUPER excited and SUPER happy! I called today and made the appt for Taylor's adoption to be final. Next week is the big day for us to go and see the judge and get his handy dandy signature to make Taylor become an offical HUMPHERYS!

I'm going to plan a party for her to celebrate this great day! Today started off on such a good note that I hope the rest of the day continues the same. Well this will be short and sweet, but wanted to let anyone who follows our family's blog to know the latest!

HAPPY DAY ol HAPPY DAY! I am so blessed and grateful for the many blessings I am given in my life!!

Mother's Day Gift

2010-05-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

This is my Mother's day gift I did for the mom's. I drew out the letters on computer printing paper and then took the kids outside up against our wood fence and had them hold a letter. Then I loaded it onto Snapfish and made them in black and white and added a tore edge to it. Sent them off to be printed and picked them up at walmart by our house. Came home and taped them to scrapbooking paper and framed it. SUPER easy and SUPER cute...When I gave it to the kids Nana in LA and Taylor's godmother there were tears and lots of awwww's.... It is such a great way of showing love in a personal way and not expensive at all and will be treasured for years to come! I lost the website where I seen it at, so I can't take any credit for the idea or send everyone to her link. (feel bad)

Hope everyone else is having a good week! What Mother's day ideas are you doing this year for the mom's in your life?

Adoption Update!

2010-04-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

So I got the letter we've been waiting for that says the case worker approved the adoption order and wrote her recommendation to the courts. Now we have to wait 10 business days to call the court and make our appt to see the judge and make it final. I am so excited! We started this back in November and now we are finally near the finish line.

Taylor has been anixously awaiting for this too. She has been practicing her new last name. It was really cute one day when we were talking about the adoption and asked her about how she felt about it all. She said "I'm excited mommy but Humpherys is a LONGGGGGGGGGGGGG name. It's longer than Frank" (Frank is our previous name) Then she asked me"Mommy why did you guys pick Humpherys to be the last name" I said "Its daddy's last name that he was given" and she said " yeah but why would someone want a really really long name" I just laughed. The other day she asked me if we could pretend that she was 7 so that it would be closer to her being 8 so daddy could baptize her. Her cousin Yesenia will be getting baptized in the next couple months and Taylor is so happy and excited and can't wait till her big day!

Taylor is such a sweet sweet girl who brings so much joy to my life and with only having a 20% chance of being able to keep her during the pregnancy and losing her twin during the pregnancy she is my miracle baby. I can not picture life without her sweet spirit in it. I've learned so much from her and everyday I love her more.

Mark and her have such a great relationship. He is the first person she cries for when she is scared or hurt, (I come 2nd when he is home lol) she definity is a daddy's girl. They have long talks, and she loves to show him new games she makes up and he is such a great daddy that he will patiently sit and play her game and never ask questions when she changes it 100x in how you play it so she always wins...lol Everywhere we go we usually get Blake looks like me and Taylor looks like Mark. We all laugh and Taylor loves when people say she looks like Mark. She will say "daddy we have the same color eyes huh?" and "daddy I look like you and Blake looks like mommy" Mark is the first person she wants on her team when we play something cause she says he's stronger and more better as she puts it.

Mark is such a great father and great husband. I love everything about him and love him even more taking this next step in our lives. When we talked about Taylor being sealed to us, he said he wouldn't think of having it any other way. When I talked to him about adopting Taylor he said he wouldn't think of having it any other way. He melts my heart and makes me love him even more.

Today I am blessed and grateful for this good news and we plan on throwing a big celebration to celebrate this joyous occasian for Taylor. Sorry no pics just wanted to share my GREAT DAY NEWS!!!

Happy Birthday Honey!

2010-04-14T15:03:00.001-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEST FRIEND!!!

Happy 37th Birthday baby! You are such an amazing, wonderful man! I am so thankful to you and all that you do for me and our family. Your my best friend, you bring me so much joy and happiness since meeting you. Honey, you make life enjoyable and fun. You helped me to laugh again, and open my heart for love again. When I thought life couldn't be joyful, I met you and you changed everything for me. I can not picture life without you in it beside me. Your a wonderful father and wonderful husband. I am grateful to you and all you do for me. I look forward in spending eternity with you.

There are so many reasons WHY I LOVE YOU and here are a few:

1.You always kiss me goodnight
2.You make me laugh
3.You always walk on the outside of the sidewalk to protect me from cars/traffic
4.You always hold my hand when we walk
5.Your a GREAT kisser
6.You do a lot for our family and for me. Even after putting in long hours at work you always find time for our family and always with a smile.
7.You never complain to play or spend time with the kids after a long days work
8.You open the truck door for me and close it when I'm seated
9.You hug me every chance you get
10.You write me sweet messages just to let me know your thinking of me
11.Your sexy
12.You light up a room when you walk in with your smile
13.You love me for me
14.You take our kids for walks to give me a break
15.You speak to me w/respect
16.You always look for the positive
17.Your strong
18.Your smart
19. You stand up for what is right
20.You always call me babe
21 You don't like to go to bed mad/upset
22.Your so HOT
23.Your a dedicated Sailor and Proud to protect us and our freedom
24.Your a GOOD man
25. You lead by example
26. You are a fun dad
27. You tell me how pretty I am even when I don't feel it
28. Your a wonderful priesthood holder
29.You love unconditionally
30. You make sure I know how much you love me on a daily basis'

I can go on and on...but I think you got the point. I love you so much for these reasons and more and I am so blessed to be married to you and lucky to share our lives together. I look forward to each day in what it brings us and look forward to sharing more of life's experiences with you. Everything is possible with you beside me. I find new reasons to love you each day, my love grows more and deeper for you with each passing day. I am lucky to be the girl you chose to marry almost 3 years ago. I am a lucky girl to be able to spend FOREVER with you. Thank you for sharing your life with me and thank you for allowing me to love you. Life would not be this fun without you in it.

Happy Birthday STUD muffin! I'm sorry we can't be together on your day but I look forward in celebrating it with you, when you get home. I look forward to many more birthdays with you. I love you very much!

All my love forever and ever,
Your One and Only

Easter fun 2....

2010-04-05T18:11:00.000-07:00

My fav pic of my cuties....Blake loves his taylor...and taylor is the BEST big sister EVER!!!

Blake loved Taylor's skateboard...and it was fun watching him roll around on it....

My skateboard girl!!! She will be snowboarding in no time at all..she will have to show me how..

Decorating easter eggs...

We attempted to take pics w/the easter bunny at the mall but Blake was NOT having it at all..So we have a picture that has blake totally leaning off the bunny...

My skateboard cuties....My handsome boys!!!

Blake loved having his easter ears on that nana bebe got him...he walks around our house with Taylors headbands on his head so putting ears on was no biggie to him..LOL

Looking mommy I'm decorating my egg....

Pic of us the first day we arrived in Torrance...

So of course these are out of order as well..but it does show the fun we had. Great easter weekend which was tons of fun. Family time is always great!

Easter Fun....

2010-04-05T17:38:00.001-07:00

Our little family....Blake was being a stinker and did not want to look at the camera. We had a great Easter weekend..
Blake loves this rocking chair.....

and he LOVESSSSSSSSSSS to climb into things...

Taylor decorating easter eggs.....Easter morning, my little medusa princess...WILD child w/that hair!!! Blakey sleeping w/daddy....easter morning!!

Easter day not wanting to show me his chocolate his titi got him...

Taylor being a little mommy with her present nana and papa got her...

Daddy with kiddies and Blake in mid yelling....he's famous for that...

This is my fav picture of the boys, blake was watching his daddy fix his truck..which was a present from nana and papa...

This is Blake showing us his eyes...SOOOO cute...and he loves to do this when he is in trouble to get out of it..lol

Another picture of Blake being silly with showing us his eyes...

Blake and Taylor walking in front of the house after brunch...Blake has been walking like that all week...with his hands behind his back..just like a distinguished gentleman..soo cute!!

Outside the place we had brunch....

Taylor helping him find eggs..such a big helper...

Pictures are out of order but it takes forever to rearrange them...so sorry!!! lol

Arggg ye Matey!

2010-04-05T17:21:00.000-07:00

Finally Blake's Pirate theme room is done! Of course the day I took these pics he had made a mess and I did my best to snap pics w/out including the mess..lol He loves his BIG boy room, and I had a blast putting it together...

This is the pic of his bedroom door!!

Blake's boarder and wall stickers...Isn't his headboard so cute?! We found it in the clearance section at the Base for $40 and it included a barral looking side table and a treasure chest bench toy holder...

As you can see I did not take pics of the floor cause that's where the mess was..LOL

Blake being silly and laying on his bed after he pulled his blankets and sheets down..His bedding matches his room theme...

I will have to take better pics and post them once his room is Clean!! LOL

My Crafty Corkboard

2010-03-31T18:06:00.001-07:00

My supplies and what it looked like before I started. I had been surfing craft blogs for the last couple days and I have been wanting to do something, but either don't have everything you need or lack the creativity. So today I was in a crafty mood. I sat literally for a couple hours trying to think of what to make to curb this crafting mood.. lol Then I remembered I had this frame and matboard that had taylor's picture in but the glass had broke and I had cork pieces Mark had bought a year ago that I just used tacky tape to stick to my kitchen wall. Hmmmm WHY NOT PUT them together!!! So thus my creativity flowed and I was able to fulfill my craving of crafts! (Don't mind my counter clutter, my craving to do a craft winned cleaning that up) ha ha ha ha

The matboard before I decoupaged(sp)

Pretty scrapbooking paper I had...

Finished project!!! I glued color matching buttons to push-pins...SUPER easy and SUPER cute!!!

Another view of it!!! My camera flashed so there is a glare cause my mod podge is glossy when it dries..LOL

Now just have to find a home for it!!!

Spring beauty VS Allergies

2010-03-24T12:34:00.000-07:00

I love Spring and all the beautiful weather and flowers. I wish I could really enjoy it to the fullest but I can't. There is one problem ALLERGIES!!! I suffer as well as everyone else in my family including my children w/Allergies. We usually have to stay inside during Spring months cause we can't handle the sneezing, coughing, not being able to breathe cause asthma is acting up (only me), and the endless use of Kleneex. I think we could be RICH and buy stock in Kleneex and T.P(when we run out of Kleneex) cause we use it SOOO MUCH!!!
I think this invention would be AWESOME!!!! Just reach up and pull some down...no need to search for it or ask everyone where the tissue box is at...It would be so convenient..
This of course is how I feel!! I would be better off at another planet!! (during spring) lol

Oh the endless sneezing!! Have you ever sneezed and caused yourself to have hiccups?? Well that is my life story...My allergies are so bad that my asthma acts up, and I sneeze soo much that I usually have hiccups all the time..Soo annoying....

My relief!!! I can take Benadryl but that makes me sleepy and I usually take that if I forget to take singulair but at night since my allergies for some reason is even worse at night. I have woke myself up from itching my throat...Singulair when I remember to take it helps me w/my asthma since it gets triggered by my allergies...So I do feel like the lady in the pic running w/arms wide open w/no care in the world...(okay maybe that is strecthing it but I feel good and feel normal and can function..)

So as much as I love spring and all it's beauty...I just wish allergies wouldn't be a problem or a issue but since I have had to live w/this since I can remember. It will just be an ongoing complaint. ha ha ha Unfortuately (sp) since Mark and I both have allergies we have passed them down to our kids. The doctor had said if one parent has it your child has a small chance of getting them..but if both parents have it then your childs chances increases to a positive! So our kids got the short in of the stick and have to suffer...

Hope this spring is better for all of you guys and if you don't suffer from allergies I am jealous of you!!! ha ha ha I'll try to really enjoy the beauty around me and all the great weather!!!

Kids in their sunday clothes

2010-03-08T19:53:00.000-08:00

So not much to update...nothing new around here, other than just dealing with everyday stuff. Mark took pics of the kids this past Sunday before we left to church and they look so cute..So I played around w/some fun boarders to make them fun. Sorry this isn't real exciting or in depth but hey sometimes less is more..ha ha ha

P.S Don't pay attention to my un-made bed and my backside....we were literally getting ready for church and Mark was snapping away after each kid was done getting ready...Still cute I think...lol

ENJOY!!

TV + SON = TV NOT WORKING!

2010-02-24T18:38:00.000-08:00

This is my adorable son (doesn't his smile just melt you!? That's his look how cute I am mom, you can't be mad or upset with me smile).....and the story of the non-working TV!

So my TV was working fine this morning and early afternoon. Taylor was at school and I was in the kitchen doing paperwork stuff and making my important phone calls. My son was in the living room watching Sesame Street that he normally watches EVERYDAY and WAS sitting on the stool enjoying it. Well at one point I heard him getting into the DVD's under the TV while I was on the phone. (I just knew I had all the movies out of the cabinet and would have to pick up after my conversation) I could not get off the phone and I could NOT ask her to hold on so I still kept a listening ear out for Blake and checked in on him a few times. Seconds after I last checked on him the TV volume is SUPER high..so I rush in and turn it down and wiggle my finger at him NO-NO! He grins and runs to his chair and sits down. I walk away and then I hear him messing with buttons which I recongnize as the TV buttons and/or DVR machine. I am almost done with the conversation and all the while wishing I never made the call in the first place but it was one of those things that you had to call early enough or be on hold for FOREVER! So I am finishing up and I hear the TV go off. I said great he turned it off, any minute he will be running in here (my kitchen) saying ma ma ma getting my attention to show me what he did.

I finished the conversation at the same time of him coming in yelling ma ma ma ma. I ask him what he did and that it was a No-NO playing with the TV. (telling a 1 1/2 yr old what is right and wrong like they are 6yr old doesn't work) Blake of course smiled and grinned at me and ran away. I left the TV off and didn't think about it and started to pick up the DVD's and clean up his toys. After I was finished I turned the TV so I could catch up on some mindless shows before it was time to pick up Taylor and what do you know it won't turn on. It acts as though it will turn on but doesn't do anything just shows the POWER light as on. Grrrr I unplug, shake the TV disconnect and reconnect everything and no vail NOTHING!

So no TV for us, and Mark is away till Friday. I have a TV in our bedroom but it isn't connect to any cable or anything and it's SUPER heavy so that isn't gonna work...it just collects dust, since we are still on the fence about having a TV in our room. So I am left with no TV or have any clue what to do. So sad, when I have TONS to do...rooms to organize,closets to clean...laundry to fold and put away and plenty more but I am sad with NO TV!

Well if your wondering what happened to MISTER Blake....NOTHING did...he took a nap, we picked up Taylor...and we came home and read books and attempted to take another nap (didn't work out) ate dinner, played and now it's 7pm and he has to go to sleep..He is whiny right now since he didn't take his second nap today. I will watch some movies on the laptop and fiddle on here. Will do it all over again tomorrow till my lovely husband gets home Friday evening and sees what he can do to fix it. I am just HOPING it;s a simple fix and we don't have to get a new TV cause we can't afford it! Praying it's fixable...

I'm done with my rant for the evening.... off to get carpultunnel (however you spell it) searching for some entertainment on my laptop in my bed wishing I was sitting on my couch watching my DVR shows and watching TV!!! hee hee

Adoption

2010-01-28T15:28:00.000-08:00

Well the day and call has finally came. Our adoption caseworker called to set up our interview with her in 2 weeks. We have been waiting for this day for awhile now. We started the process before the holidays and have been anixously awaiting for each step. The interview step is the second to the last step for it all to be final.

Not sure if everyone knows but I'm pretty sure most of you do. Mark is adopting Taylor and it's something we are excited about. We have talked to Taylor about it and she is soo excited and has been practicing writing her new last name. Taylor's bio. father signed away his parental rights to Taylor and to me that was a selfless act he did. It was not a healthy situation for anyone involved and made Taylor sad not having him as a bigger part of her life. I know it was not an easy decision for him to do but I appreciate he did what was best for Taylor. Taylor understands the best way a 6year old can about adoption and the process. We have been very open with her and trying to make it simple, exciting and a happy time. I feel we have done a good job at that cause everytime we talk about it or what to expect with the next step she has a HUGE smile on her face and asks questions and just expresses how happy she is.

I am thankful for Mark who has stepped up and been such a wonderful example of a righteous man and a very loving man to Taylor. The only male figures Taylor has had her life that have been consistant has been both her grandfathers and uncles. So to see the special bond Taylor and Mark have as father and daughter feels my heart with joy. My ex called one time when Mark and I were newly married to thank him for taking such good care of Taylor since he hadn't been. I thought that was a nice gesture and so unexpected. Regardless of my ex's and my issues we had with each other for him to lay that aside and recongnize our daughter was being takin care of and loved and to acknowledge that, was a nice thing.

We are blessed beyond words...Taylor was sealed to Mark and I June 2008 in the Oakland temple. That was a day of unexplainable happiness and joy I felt. To have our adoption almost final, makes today a very happy day as well! So after we meet with our caseworker and she interviews us. She will make her report and turn it into the courts. Once that is done then we will make our appt to see the judge who will finalize it all and we walk out with a little girl who will officially be a Humpherys. The funny thing to all this is everyone we meet or know says Taylor looks exactly like Mark. At church she is always referred to as Taylor Humpherys.

I'm grateful to be married to a great man who loves unconditionally. Who is a wonderul father to all his children and is always there for them, no matter distance or whatever else he makes time and shows each one how special they are too him and how much they mean to him and that he is always there. He is a great man and I love him so much.

So with a heart filled with so much joy, I wanted to share with all of you this great day! I will post again after our interviews and how it all went.

Valentines

2010-01-13T19:07:00.000-08:00

So I have spoken to a few of my friends trying to get ideas on what I can do different this year for Valentines Day. Most of them said that they don't give gifts just give cards. I love every holiday and find any excuse or reason to give gifts or come up with creative stuff to do. This year is different cause I am stomped. I'm hoping maybe someone has some new creative ideas or links that I can check out. I thought if I post this now I can have time to prepare and get it done before the big day.

You may wonder "what the heck are you doing Steph, your husband is going to find out" NOPE he doesn't even look at this blog and says he doesn't even know the link. The two times he has been on here has been me showing him it and telling him to read what I wrote. ha ha ha Plus he LOVES surprises unlike me who likes them but ends up finding out about them and ruin it for myself..

Every year I make mark a candy gram card. You know where you write a letter using candy. I buy a big poster board and tape the candy on it. So I know I will do that again. Which I have to say 3 years of doing it and no new candy coming out, makes it kinda hard to come up with something new and repeat from years past. (don't think he would notice but I still would feel bad) ha ha ha

I have heart attacked our apartment with reasons why I loved him. I have given stuffed animals like a frog prince and wrote a note to go with it that said "that out of all the frogs I kissed I'm glad I found my prince" (or something to that effect)

I have done hershey kisses in a container with a key chain lock and key with the top of the container saying you have the key to my heart. (we were dating when I did this one)

I can't remember every thing I have done in the past 3 years but I am having a hard time coming up with cute creative ideas for this year. I thought about doing Glamour shots and giving that to him. They have a special for 3 protraits with free session for $79. I have no ideas what to dress in if I did that...I thought maybe his white button up shirt with his chief hat (it looks like officer and a gentlemen) or his uniform top...but not sure..(sorry if this is too much) lol

Well before I make this a novel, I just thought I would ask for any of you for ideas. Or just hear things you do to celebrate Valentines with your lovely..I also give valentine goodies to my kids..I think it is soo much fun, I usually blow up balloons red and white and put them in Taylor's room while she is sleeping and live her goodies near her bed so when she wakes up she sees it all and I heart attack her room. So if you have cute ideas that you do for your kiddies I would love to hear them.

Feeling pretty crafty

2010-01-13T18:58:00.000-08:00

This is the frame before picture...
This is the same frame with some spice...

Here is all three I worked on today..the pirate one before it was finished...

The pirate after I finished it with all the "lingo" pirates speak... :-)

Well today I did not want to clean..and since Mark has overnight duty I thought what the heck I will do some crafts. Nothing big and all very simple but nonetheless very relaxing and fun. I remembered I had a old picture frame I bought years ago up in the closet and I had old flowers left over from my 1st marriage in the garage. So I thought why not spice up my frame. I also had $1 frames from Michaels that needed to be painted and wood embelishments glued on..

This was all easy to do since Taylor had her friend over to play with and Blake joined them so I was left to myself in the kitchen while they played in the room.

I can't tell you how much doing crafts or scrapbooking relaxes me, especially when Mark is off at work and has overnight duty I can craft till my hearts content..lol

Like I said all very simple but I had fun and relaxed...so I thought I would share and add a post since it's been awhile since my last posting.

USS KIDD Kid's Christmas Party

2009-12-15T16:30:00.000-08:00

Last night was Mark's work kids Christmas party. It was really nice and we had lots of fun. Santa and Mrs.Santa showed up and read the kids The Night Before Christmas. It was really cute! We had one of Mark's friends take our picture...It was great that everyone was looking at the same time..lol

I love Blake's face in this pic..he was saying mmmmmmm he was such a ham the whole night..

Daddy and the kids and of course our son is making silly faces again!!

Blake was having fun w/throw the ball in the snowman...didn't want his sister to do it.. ;-)

My cute kiddies...I just realized Blake is in need of a serious haircut...gotta do that before we go out of town..

Taylor going up to get her gift from Santa

Showing what Santa brought her....

Blake going up to get his gift...and NOT letting go of daddy!!! Can you tell by the grip he has on Mark's shirt??!! lol

Happy as pie away from santa...

Well it was a great family evening...and mingling w/other military families gives you a sense of being part of a bigger family than your own. It's a great feeling being part and having an extended family even if it's your military family.. :-) I'm glad the crew is home for the holidays and I'm especially happy Mark is home with us. We are off to LA and AZ for the holidays and we are soo excited to see everyone and make new memories. I love my family and love being around them. I'm not sure if I will be able to post anymore before we leave or while we are away. So I wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Be safe and have tons of fun!!! If you live in AZ send me a message on Facebook w/your phone number if you would like to get together..we plan on heading to the Mesa area to see the temple lights and do some visiting...and I would love to meet up with whoever is free..

A little bit of everything....

2009-12-12T12:55:00.000-08:00

I thought I would combine the last week into one posting. We have had a busy rainy week here in San Diego! With lots to try and find to do inside vice us being outside where it's normally sunny and warm. I feel as though we live in Seattle,WA with all this rain and cold weather. :-) I do enjoy the coldness even when I complain I will take it over the HEAT anyday! Below is Taylor's x-mas tree she has in front of her bedroom window. She decorated it all by herself. She is so proud of it and so am I so it is blog worthy to post! :-)

Daddy and daughter on our Wednesday (family home evening) since we didn't have time on Monday and Tuesday Mark had overnight duty we decided to do it when he was home. Taylor said it was better to wait to have daddy here cause Family home evening has "family" in it and daddy is part of our family and he has to be here. Of course she is right so we waited and had so much fun. (the picture below this is out of order but the results of our FHE activity is below that)

This is out of order but I'm too tired and laze to fix it so I thought this was a cute pic of the kids the other morning when Taylor was getting ready to go to school. Blake woke up and would not leave her side and just stood by her. It was really cute and I love that my kids are so close and Taylor is a GREAT big sister to him. Blake just adores her and loves her!

Okay so here is our Santa handprints that we made for our FHE lesson on Wed. It was so much fun and we had a blast! So we displayed our little santahand family on our wall.

Below is our kids "feet" x-mas trees. Blake had so much fun getting his foot painted, and Taylor thought it was funny how her foot turned out to be a christmas tree...All in all we did not have melt downs like our last FHE so it was so enjoyable and fun. I guess I need to work on my patience with little ones nad understand that they aren't at a age where its very easy to sit still and listen w/out throwing fits or getting bored easily...lol (a issue I will be trying to perfect for a VERY LONG TIME)

Taylor and her BFF Hannah. This was our Ward x-mas party last night. The kids had to wear their pj's to perform there dance I want a Hippo(not sure how to finish spelling it) for Christmas. It was so cute!

My cutie pootie waiting for them to be called up to dance!

My rascal son getting himself into whatever trouble he could find. lol He ran EVERYWHERE and thought it was so much fun to run away from us when we tried to get him to stay where we were at. Gonna have my hands full w/him and I blame my newly found grey hair on him...ha ha ha

Daddy got tired of chasing him so he put him on his shoulders...and as you can tell Blake is leaning backwords...silliness I tell you!!

Taylor performing her dance...she looked so cute and I want to now put her in something like this where she can perform.

Well this is our little updates from the last week. We had fun and still trying to stay dry and warm with this crazy weather we are having. I'm excited to see family and be with them for the holidays. Lots of pics will be loaded when we get back. I hope everyone has a great Christmas and a Happy New Year! I'm grateful to my family for the love and support they give and show especially my parents who are always there for us no matter how big or small with open arms never judging. I'm grateful for a loving heavenly father who everyday forgives me of my short comings and guides me to be better everday. I am grateful for our savior and brother Jesus Christ for his loving sacrifice of giving his life for all of us. I am grateful for the gospel I believe in and the strength I find in it when I need an extra push or reassurance. I am grateful for my friends and there friendships. I am grateful for my husband who is such an amazing person who continues to show me unconditional love and keeps me on my toes w/his jokes, smiles, hugs and thoughtful words. I am grateful for my children and the joy they bring into my life. I learn so much from them and they make me want to be a better mother and teacher to them. I am also grateful for Alisabeth and Jared for the short time I was with them they joy I shared with them. I'm happy to have had that time w/them and excited for the near future visits to have them here w/us making new memories. My heart is filled with a lot of grattitude for the ones I love and hold dear to my heart. I have learned so much, and continue to strive to learn more. I hope I never forget the small and little things that mean the most.

Decorating our Tree

2009-12-03T19:15:00.000-08:00

Mark left on Tuesday morning out to sea yet again, but only for several days till tomorrow (fri) afternoon. Before he left he was such a sweetheart and set up our little artifical Christmas tree and put the lights on it. The kids were in bed so I said we would have to have the decorate it while he was away and we would surprise him w/a finished tree by the time he got home. So last night we got busy working on it.

So when Mark's kids went to live with him several years back they got the tree and some decorations. So we still have them and use them, PERFECT now especially having Blake. The ornaments are plastic, and though they aren't what I would of choosen but I was not around at that time of buying or even knew Mark. LOL I do like the BRIGHT colors of the ornaments and so do the kids and that's all that matters. I do have real glass balls that I either wrote on or had the kids put their hand prints on and made snowmen with them, but have yet to put on the tree cause Blake still likes to shake or grab the tree. So we are trying to work with him that you don't do that, but telling a 14month old NO touching a colorful anything is like talking to a wall..A BIG WHATEVER MOM! ha ha ha

Anyways, I thought it was so cute to get them both hanging stuff on the tree and for the most part Blake did a great job. So here are the pics...I am so excited for Christmas and I can't wait to see my family!

FHE Lesson on Christ Birth

2009-11-30T22:06:00.000-08:00

So we had our Family Home Evening lesson on Christ's birth. The other day Taylor seen that I had put out one of my little manger scenes...It is block people that my mom had gotten me awhile back. She asked who they were. I felt HORRIBLE and also thought in my mind of course what the heck child you know that is baby jesus..LOL Well, I came back to reality and explained to her again who it was and that sparked me to do a FHE lesson on Christ's birth. I figure since I don't have our Navitity scene up all year round and she only sees Jesus as a man in pictures that is why she was unsure.

I battled my mind in what I could do to make the story of Christ's birth in the form a 6year old would understand and also be able to remember and have it stick in her mind better. As luck would have it our Ensign and Friend arrived today in the mail. I always go through the Friend and find the CTR ring before Taylor gets ahold of it so I can better help her and give her clues when she is reading it...(if you know my daughter she gets easily upset and frustrated when she is doing something that requires a lot of thinking or looking) So I try to minimize the fits and attitude by knowing where it is first. So I was looking and I came across the story of Christ Birth as well as the First Presidency message...and a cute little activity of Angel Gifts for Jesus.

I cut out Angels and read Christ's Birth and Mark and I shared more in deepth of the story and we shared that celebrating Jesus' birth was like celebrating our birthdays but different in the way we don't buy him anything we give by how we act and what we do. So we could give our gifts in the form of telling him what we would do for him and write it down on the angel. We had a blast, one of mine was working on patience and boy was I tested on that tonight cause toward the middle of it all. Blake had a melt down cause he wanted to eat the crayons, and kept whining and crying. Taylor got upset and attitude cause she wasn't knowing how to spell certain words so she would whine and throw an attitude. BOY WAS I OVER IT by then..lol I told Mark man I really do need to work on my patience. We laughed. So Long story short, while Blake threw his tantrum and Taylor finished her angels I worked on a X-mas tree and presents for us to hang on the wall..with our angels. I think it came out cute.. The story for the angel gifts had them put them on the primary x-mas tree but I thought if I taped them to the wall we would see them better and be reminded of what we wrote.

Besides the meltdowns and my patience reaching the breaking point. My lovely husband came to the rescue and saved the evening w/his PATIENCE (he has A LOT) and put blake to sleep and I had taylor go to bed after our family prayer. We aren't very good w/consistencly (sp) w/FHE and I am trying to work on it. Brother Bednars talk I believe when he spoke about his family and all the issues they had w/kids nit picking and it being so crazy that he could say now as they are older that they would remember FHE was consistant. I am hoping I can give that to my children, so I will continue to try and work on my patience and not want to give up so quickly when they act up or seem uninterested. I think I will go to the book store and find FHE lesson for small children and all in 5 mins or less.. LOL Enjoy our pictures...all in all I had a good time and I'm happy we did it and finished!

Thanksgiving Weekend

2009-11-29T21:43:00.000-08:00

These are all backwards but oh well, I'm too tired to fix it...lol This was last night while watching the USC game..the kids we're being silly and playing and I thought this was cute after their baths..

My SILLY husband had to be WIDE eyed when I told him to smile right and open his eyes, cause the picture before this one he had his eyes closed...lol I did NOT know he made this look till after I took it...soo silly..we got to go on a date and see NEW MOON...I was so excited, since we have NOT had a date day or DATE for a very long time. We usually have one or both kids w/us...so my second parents offered to watch both kids while we went to see a movie. It was so sweet and we were excited! We had a good time! This was saturday in San Pedro, this is Taylor with her cousin Neveah..she is Dawns little girl. They were in town visiting Dawn's husband's side of the family and we drove down to see them since it had been several months since we last seen them..it was a great visit and I can't wait to see them again for Christmas..

This was Friday when we got into town (Torrance) we had lunch at our favorite mexican resturant La Capilla w/our family...soo much fun and these are the STUDS...Blake is such a mini me of his dad...

This is THANKSGIVING DAY right after us having dinner w/Mark on the ship....Blake has this new thing of throwing himself backwards, being silly and even when he is mad...so Taylor was holding on tight so he wouldn't hurt himself or his noggin....

So we had a great Thanksgiving weekend...it was filled with lots of laughs, stories and just great new memories to share. I love the holidays and being with family. I am looking forward to Christmas to see the rest of the family in Arizona. It will be so much fun and I can't wait!!

BABY MUG SHOT!

2009-11-29T21:36:00.000-08:00

I had to share this with everyone....and especially for my family who don't have facebook but get on this page to see what we're up too....So a month ago Taylor's school was doing IDENT A KID it's a ID for children that parents, babysitters, grandparents etc have with the child's picture, and their info as well as who the parents are and home address in the event they are lost or kidnapped you have current info on your child including a finger print or toe print...Well I was excited when they said siblings could join in on this as well. So I took Blake early before school started to have his done. Taylor did hers when her class went.

Well I knew he didn't smile when she took his picture but I didn't think anything of it. Till I got the cards back and Mark and I BUSTED up laughing sooo HARD!!! It looks like a BABY MUG SHOT!!! It is sooo funny!!! I had to share w/everyone...Soo darn cute..I told Mark all it needs is a sign w/numbers and letters under his face then it would be a MUG shot....ha ha ha ha ha Well thought I would share...

49er Fever

2009-11-24T19:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, since my husband hardly ever, ever visits this site...I thought I would post pics of the kids that I plan on using for one of his Christmas presents. I ended up taking like 60+ pics and about a dozen of them came out with good smiles, both or individually looking right at me. These are just a few of the ones I took. Mark is a HUGE 49ers fan so I thought this would be a cute way to showcase his love for the niners and for the little ones. I only got a few pics of them together which was REALLY HARD, cause Blake kept wanting to run around and play w/the ball instead of sit still and smile for me..lol

I had to include the stool cause that was the only way Blake would pay attention and sit still long enough for me to take his pic w/his sister. I told Taylor just stand there and smile at me ALL the time till I get a good one..LOL Poor girl, but she did a GREAT job!

Blake just loved the football and would throw it and run around with it. When it was Taylor turn to have the ball he would throw a fit cause he wanted it. It was funny but also really hard.

He is such a peel, and such a BOY!

She looks like a pro! I asked her if she wanted to be a cheerleader and she said "yes" so I said I'll look into it for you. Then she walked away and after a few minutes comes back and says "mom I can't be a cheerleader!" I said "why not" and she said "cause I'm already wanting to be a teacher and a cop, I won't have enough time to be a cheerleader too!" I laughed so hard! I had to tell her I would look into being a cheerleader NOW and she seemed so confused and said "what about school, mom I need to go to school" It was cute, and after explaining it would fit it like when she played soccer then she got it and said "oh, I'm so silly mom" YES SHE IS!

Watch it be my luck that Mark strolls onto this site and takes a look and sees that these pics have to do w/a christmas present for him. LOL Even though he NEVER looks at this at all any other time.. ha ha ha This would be my luck! Well by chance he does HONEY you read too much and you better ACT surprised come Christmas..but I just remembered even if he did see this now, by the time Christmas comes around he will have forgotten..So no sweat! I was showing him things I wanted for Christmas (jewerely) and I seen this ugly one and I said I better not joke about wanting anything that is ugly cause you will totally remember that and Not remember what I really want..and he laughed and said Yeah your probably right! lol My simple husband makes me laugh but I love him.. ;-)

Enjoy the pics, and if anyone has cute gift ideas please pass my way or know of cute websites..crafty etc would be great!

November Pics and Thanks...

2009-11-22T18:22:00.000-08:00

So here are some pics from the last week or so....The below is Blake eating apples for the first time and liking them..and he was being silly by showing me them in his mouth...I swear he is such a silly boy! He loves to tease, and be funny!

Last night Mark built a fire and it was Blake's first time seeing one and being near one so he was SOOO SUPER EXCITED when Mark was finished...that he kept watching it and wanting to be near it..

Mark and Blake laying in front of the fireplace relaxing just watching it...Blake just loved watching it and laying by his dad...

Today I told taylor that I wanted to get pics of us so I could our Christmas card this year. So this is my beautiful little girl posing. I can't believe how grown up she is becoming and looking. Getting so big and seems like yesterday she was Blake's age...

Mark and I before church..

Both the kids being super cute!

Another one of them being cute, but it was quick getting their picture..cause Blake was having nothing to do with it all..he just wanted to play with his truck and run around..

This is him after the last pic was takin, he got up and ran away laughing..so daddy had to pick him up so I could get a picture of him by himself...He is such a peel!

Then he decided to play with the rag strips I made last night for Taylor's hair...I think he played with them the longest and had soo much fun..

He wanted his sister in on the fun..

Well Thanksgiving is coming up in 4 days and we will be spending it with Mark aboard his ship since he has duty. We are excited and will be taking lots of pictures. I am happy the joy my kids and husband bring to me and my life. Seeing each one of my children's personalities shine through everyday is so neat to see and lots of joy to my heart. I love watching them interact with one another and I love laughing at how silly they are. My husband is a great joy to my life as well, he keeps me on my toes, always making sure I am takin care of. Eases my worries and fears and just a great support to me. He is handsome, and loving and always has a joke or silly thing to say to make me laugh or smile. I appreciate the hard work he does to provide for our family and the sacrifice he makes everyday to serve our country for our safety and freedom. I want to always remember the joys I have in my life that begin at home, though I'm human and don't always have great days. I hope I can always remember the small things and the many reasons why I'm so blessed. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving this year and I'm grateful to you as my friend and what you mean to me and my life.

Christmas and Decorating?

2009-11-19T18:35:00.000-08:00

Okay been awhile since I last blogged. The last 3 weeks we have been so sick, the kids and I each got the H1N1 virus and we're just miserable. Taylor and I got it first, then last week Blake got it. Mark was out to sea when Blake was tested positive for it so he escaped it all and only had a runny nose and cough. So I feel out of the loop of things, and now just barely getting back to a normal schedule we had before.

So Thanksgiving is right around the corner, this month has flown by so quickly. I swear it feels like last weekend was Halloween. (I still have bowls and bowls of candy, not even sure what to do with it all) So Mark has his overnight duty on Thanksgiving and his ship is putting on a fest for the guys and their families. The kids and I will go aboard and have dinner w/him and visit. Which will be nice. The next day we will be going to my in-laws (my ex's parents but I still call them mom and dad) house for the weekend. Mark and them get along so well, and they say he is there adpotive son. :-) It's a great relationship we all have.

Then we will be heading to Arizona for Christmas to spend it with my family. I'm so excited, and will be going up to Mesa to see old friends and take the kids to the temple to see the lights. So much fun and I can't wait.

So tonight as we we're coming back from an errand we seen a few houses that already had some christmas decorations up, and a guy who was starting to hang his on his garage. I asked Mark when does one start to decorate for Christmas? or course he spoke it like a true guy, Steph it's not even Thanksgiving yet?! lol We laughed and I said OKAY well when does one start to decorate. It was followed by a shrugged reply from my lovely husband. So that brings me to my question again in blog world. When does one start to decorate for Christmas? You are probably wondering what the heck, where has this girl been and what has she done the past years?! LOL Okay so my answers to these would be, I have only been married for 2 years to Mark and this is our first time living in a house. We just came from an apartment and I the last two years we we're at families houses celebrating so I was never home to decorate. The previous years, when I was married to my ex we we're always seperated around the holidays so Taylor and I we're at families houses and when I was single taylor and I were at families houses!! LOL So as you can see the pattern is "FAMILIES HOUSES" ha ha ha

This year we will be at my family's house BUT we are going to celebrate with our kids here when we get back and we're not leaving to Arizona till the middle of the month. So I want to decorate and make our house feel like Christmas for our kids..When is too early to decorate and when is too late?

I know I know a VERY LONG DRAWN OUT posting...sorry! I promise pictures in my next posting...So if anyone can help me w/my dilema I would greatly appreciate it. Also, if you live in Arizona and want to get together, let me know...I would love to get together and catch up..

Which one???? Which one???

2009-10-13T17:26:00.001-07:00

Hulk or Winnie the Pooh the wonder!!! ( Not even sure what his name is Winnie something)
So I'm having a hard time in deciding which costume I should put on him for that night..I think I will use both cause Friday before Halloween our ward is doing a Trunk or Treat...but I thought I would ask which one you guys thought was cuter for him to wear...Mind you I would paint his face GREEN for the hulk and maybe paint his face yellowish for the winnie one...
HMMMMMMM isn't he so darn cute though!! He had a BLAST and kept running around the living room so it was a little hard taking pictures of him...lol (This costume I got at Spirit Halloween for $20.00...I know what the heck right especially after you find out how much I spent for the winnie but I got the HULK beginning of the month and didn't even think to look at thrift stores...NOW I learned my lesson)

Don't look at the BACKGROUND ha ha ha ha My couch has all my AVON stuff scattered everywhere...lol and some laundry that needs to be put away...

WINNIE the WONDER (not sure what his name is) I know I've seen it on TV before but I can't remember what his name is..I found this costume today at the Salvation Army Thrift Store for $2.00 nothing wrong w/it at all..and in great condition....the tummy part is padded and sticks out some..SOOO DARN CUTE!!

I think he loved this one the BEST, he kept laughing and running around and throwing himself on the floor and couch....silly silly boy!!!

Taylor's Missing Teeth!!

2009-10-01T16:38:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I figured I would write a note about the BIG event of taylor loosing her first teeth (yes I said TEETH) and this morning's event!!

So yesterday after school Taylor comes running up to after her teacher let them out to say "mommy I have a loose tooth" and we we're both soo excited! So many other kids we're loosing teeth and Taylor kept wondering when she would finally lose one. We came home and she was about to eat something and I told her to be careful she didn't swallow it so she stopped eating and said "can you please take it out". I grabbed a napkin and pulled it out, she didn't cry or anything she was SOOOO EXCITED!!! Well, 2 hours later (literally) she came up to me and said "mommy I think I have another loose tooth". "WHAT, NO WAY!" was my reply! Sure enough the tooth right next to the other one (bottom front) was really loose too, (how did I not notice)...so napkin number 2 comes out and yank another tooth for the toothfairy! We put them in a baggie and she ran to put under daddy's pillow (daddy is gone on sea training so both kids are in my bed) The night goes on and she keeps talking about how she is a BIG kid now, and I teased her saying she was like a "jack o latern" oh wrong thing to say to such a proud little girl..."NO mommy that is not nice, I'm a big kid" So teasing stopped! She went to bed early, cause she said she couldn't wait till the toothfairy came...

This morning she popped up in bed and said "mommy look I got money and a note" $2.00 and a note that said the toothfairy was taking the teeth back to toothfairy world and she would be back when Taylor lost more teeth and for Taylor to make sure she brushed her teeth and did NOT eat lots of candy...and to take care of her new teeth when they came in. (short version of the note) Taylor was soo excited and ran to the bathroom to brush her teeth...(funny how when the toothfairy says to remember to brush your teeth, then it's important and you run to do it, but if mommy says to do it then it's a HUGE fight) lol

So we get to school and she shows all her friends, and tells them what she got and the note..well one little girl who was very sweet says "the toothfairy gave me $3.00 for my first tooth". Taylor looks up at me and says "mommy why didn't that toothfairy come to our house, I only got $2.00 for 2 teeth" ....TALK about FUNNY!!!! So I said hmmmm that tooth fairy must of got startled and drop more money, but just think you still have tons of more teeth to lose so you will have lots of money before long...(not a good save but all I could come up with on a dime) So I looked at the mom and said "man our toothfairy jipt (sp) us...ha ha ha ha She laughed!!!! So we go to wait in her line for the teacher and Taylor says "mommy its okay I got $2.00, cause she (the little girl who got $3.00) didn't get a special note like I did" AWWWWWWWWWWW I just wanted to cry, I LOVE HER AND soo happy she is my daughter!!!!

My little boy is 1!!!

2009-09-15T11:57:00.000-07:00

Today my baby is 1! I can't believe it. He was 3 weeks early and weighed in at 8lbs 3ozs...he definity wanted to come out and make his mark! I'm so happy he is here, and can't imagine NOT having him. He brings so much joy to our home and our family. He is walking more and more and soon will be running I'm sure..

He is silly, and loves his sister! He is her little shadow and to watch them play together and how Taylor cares for him brings so much joy to my heart! Blake is still a mommas boy but he loves loves his daddy. He gets so excited when he sees Mark walk through the door after work and right away wants to be in his arms.

My children are so sweet and watching them grow into their own person is so great to be part of. Blake is doing so much and I can't wait to see how much he weighs at his 1yr check up this Thursday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLAKE!! Mommy, Daddy and Tay Tay love you very much!!

My little girl is 6 today!!

2009-09-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!!!

I'm such a proud mommy that my little girl is 6 today! I can't believe it's been 6 years already, time sure is flying. She is such a beatiful little girl who has such an amazing little spirit. I love her love for life her spunk. She tells it like it is and isn't afraid to stand up for what is right. She is a great big sister to Blake and they both love each other soo much! She makes Mark and I so proud of her. She is a total daddy's girl, and even has shirts to prove it and she wears the proudly!

Today she is with her Titi Stephanie and cousin Sarah at Disneyland celebrately her big day today!! Yes, I let her play hooky from school..LOL I am grateful that Heavenly Father allowed her to come to me and give me the opportunity to be her mother and raise her. I hope that I can do a good job that would make him proud of me. Taylor brings so much joy and love to our lives. I am so happy she is my daughter and so happy to watch her grow up and become more of a young lady.

This posting is for her..Taylor Mommy loves you very much and I'm so proud of you! You make me happy everyday, and I smile everytime I think of you! Your smart, funny and beautiful. Daddy and I are happy and proud your our little girl. I love you beyond words and like you would say "from her to the sun" or "from her to nana bebe's house and back" or "this much" with your arms outstretched...Well baby girl mommy loves you all these and much much more!! You will always be my baby and you will never be too big for hugs and kisses and snuggling with me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!!!

LOVE ALWAYS AND FOREVER AND EVER,

Mommy

July Aug fun

2009-08-11T16:32:00.000-07:00

So not so much happening in the last several weeks since my last post. We have been celebrating birthdays up in Torrance w/our family there. The picture below is Sarah (the kids cousin who we went to her b-day) taylor and blake at dinner celebrating my sis in laws b-day. A great time was had. Mark and I at dinner.

Our little family with Elmo at Sarah's birthday. It was so much fun!

Blake my little serious guy!

My little princess. I can't believe how big she is getting and beautiful if I do say so myself!! :-)

Well, just a few pics to update this blog. We have 2 other birthdays to celebrate w/our Torrance family this weekend. So busy around here, and Mark with work that it's tough to really do what I want to do or get done. Right now Taylor is visiting nana and papa so it's just Blakester and I. I miss her so much when she is away but I find peace when I hear all the fun stuff she is doing. Well, both kids birthdays are coming up mid Sept and I have no clue what to do. I want to do a Tonka Truck (not the construction ones) but the other ones like they sale at Target dump truck, monster truck, garbage truck, school bus etc theme but when I google it constuction theme tonka trucks come up. So I'm stuck...What do you do for a 1yr old anyways!????? How do I make a cool theme cake anyways too? Do you have to be talented and able to draw??? Cause I would love to make their cakes!! Any ideas? Taylor was to do her b-day at chuckie cheese so that is pretty easy but I still have to do a theme for treat bags, and cake...Man, both b-days are 4 days apart so we are celebrating 2 weekends in a roll...I have no idea where to start or what to do...(okay I'm starting to sound crazy!! LOL)

Also, does anyone know of a place I can buy a cocktail dress or formal gown that would cover my "g's"??? Mark has a Khaki ball coming up, and I have searched and searched and most dresses are sleeveless, spagettii strap...I'm in need of a gown badly and soon!! Any ideas of where to look would be much appreciated...(I did see a strapless gown at davidsbridal and though of wearing a half 3/4 sleeve sweather over it so then I could wear my "g's" but I have no idea where I can find a sweater like that either....dilemas (sp) lol

Well Mark is almost off work and I need to pick up mister Blake's mess and get dinner heated up..I made cabbage cornbeef soup and made it yesterday and so glad I did cause I am in no mood to cook tonight...

Snap shots

2009-07-19T17:51:00.000-07:00

He was moving around too much for me to get a clear pic!! (BLOG is below all the pics) He is sooo over me taking pics of him lately, he doesn't want to do it anymore!! lol

My pretty girl!!!

Blake was not having it to take a pic w/sister

Ummm if I pretend she isn't there, maybe she will go away with that stupid camera!!

I thought it would cute to take pics before church today of the kids. Late last night I remembered Blake had NO church clothes at all. He has out grown all his and just has summer clothes. So I ran to Walmart first cause I wanted a GOOD deal cheap you know since he would be out growing it soon! So off to Walmart we go, get there and what do you know NO church stuff, they have TONSSSSSSSSSSSSS of cute girlie stuff but no BOY stuff!!! I didn't even bother to go to my FAV store Target cause I never find church stuff so that wasn't an option. So being disappointed I said "lets go to Khols" Off we go! We get there, and hmmm go figure having the same problem not being able to find anything!!! So before I was going to throw my hands up and say forget it, our boy is going to church "whiskey tango" (a.k.a white trash) I run across a rack of CHAPS. Totally cute stuff, but TOTALLY EXPENSIVE!! Button up collar shirt $24.00 khaki pants $32.00 holy moly are you serious!!! Then I see a sale sign that says 50% off..okay a little sigh but still stressin!!! But I was not wanting blake to go to church "whiskey tango"!!! So I did it!!! So about $30 later we have a ONE SHIRT and ONE pair of PANTS!!! I'm el cheapo!

So okay NO WHISKEY TANGO kids going to church!!! Mister Blakester got a stylin outfit....and DUMB me got 12mos instead of 18mos. He will probably be able to wear it a few times if I'm lucky!!! I'm such a DORK!!! He is 10mos totally thought 12mos would be okay for awhile, but NOPE not for my BIG BOY!!!

Blake 10 months today

2009-07-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

My baby is 10 months today! I totally remembered after 9pm when we were walking out of the store. What a bad mom I am. Not that we had or planned a big celebration but I felt bad about remembering soo late in the day. So as soon as we got home I rushed to take pics of him so I can post and also have some so I can put in his memory book. I thought I would share with everyone.

This first pic was the ONLY smile I could get out of him, and I ended up taking 17. He was sooo OVER it all after this one..He looks like his daddy in this pic...I love his smile and he is soo stinkin cute! He is moving everywhere through out our house and doing so much and saying so much..He says mama, dada, nananananana, bah, and is starting to recongize some signs I do for him for drink, more, and all done. I love him soo much and he adds so much to our house!!
This was a I'm totally not into this mom look !

As long as I have my binki I'm okay with anything you want to do mom and sportin OLD SCHOOL RUN DMC shirt...( I might add his mommy LOVES RUNS House on MTV) ha ha ha

As you can see he loves to stand up against EVERYTHING and does not matter what is there he goes for it..in this case his sisters cop truck...boy it's nice having a tomgirl who likes some boy toys, makes buying toys for him a whole lot easier and cheaper when it comes time..lol

This is my little stud muffin!!! Even though at times I want to pull my hair out cause all he wants to do is whine or cry or hold me mommy ALL DAY sometimes...I would NOT trade him for anything. I am very blessed to have this little booger and grateful to have him and be his mommy! He helps with learn patience! Taylor and him are one of my many blessings I'm soo grateful for that I was blessed by my Heavenly Father to have.

Some of our July fun!!

2009-07-15T10:51:00.001-07:00

I have managed to upload and have for here our pictures we took at the beach last friday. We decided since Mark was off work we should go to the beach and do a family thing, we went about 10ish and didn't get home till after 4pm. Mark and I got sunburned cause we didn't reapply, the kids got minor sunburns that went away within a couple days and now are sunkissed. I was a good mom and re-applied sunblock to them but now smart enough to do it our myself or Mark. lol So I'm paying for it still!

I love this pic of Blake we had just sat him down on the wet sand and the tide had just came up, and he just stared out to the ocean. It was soo cute, and I just LOVE LOVE this pic!
Blake crawled around everywhere in that wet sand close to the water with taylor watchful eye. They both had so much fun, and to see how happy they both were was soo much more fun! Both loved the water and had a blast!

Mommy and Taylor before we got in the water, we had bought those glasses for Blake which he would have nothing to do with them and Taylor forgot hers in the truck so we opted for a sunglass mommy and tater picture together..

My water babies before getting into the water and playing in the sand. Blake did good, didn't put sand in his mouth as often as we expected. He was more interested in crawling to the water and off the blanket by our sun tent then to really eat the sand, but the sand he did get on his hands he put that in his mouth and giggled when he was tasting the sand..lol So for that I was constantly wiping his tongue off.

Daddy and Taylor building a sand castle, they build a really good one too! The tide came up several times after they were done, and went all over it but for some reason their castle stood still! No major damage and you could still tell it was a castle..I like a dork didn't take pictures of it, but it was an awesome castle!! Spent awhile on it, while Blake and I napped in our sun tent!! Both Mark and Taylor had RED RED RED backs..taylors went away and is now a tan and Mark is still dealing with a sunburned back..what a great daddy he is!!

So this was our fun so far captured in photos. We spent 4th of July with our Torrance family and had a great time. We were able to watch it outside their house which made for easy baby watching, and relaxation with great company. I can't believe Blake will be 1 this Sept. Taylor will be 6 this Sept as well. I have 2 parties to plan and both are 4 days apart. With Blake coming 3 weeks early made for a busy Sept to plan 2 birthdays every year just 4 days apart and of course they have to be different, the huge age gap, the boy/girl sitution...but it will be done and everyone will have fun! Just have to come up with what to do..Next baby, Mark and I will have to really sit with a calender and come up with all the different scerinos (sp) and see what is a good time to start trying again...lol My luck we'll have another sept baby..ha ha ha ha ha ha I hope not!! I want a summer baby, so I don't have to undure another summer preggers...:-) and to be preggers around the holidays would be awesome!!! I can eat and eat and have an excuse....I think that would be wonderful!! Hmmm my hamster is turning of dates of when we should start trying now, lol I have to hurry up and get my heart stuff done, and out of the way before we try again anyways. So we will see!!

Getting back into Blogging..

2009-07-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

So much pictures com up backwards..grrr so the pic below is of Taylor's last day of school at her ceremony which was also my BIG "30" birthday. It was a great start for a great day! This photo of Mark and I was takin at lunch the same day, we met up with our Torrance family near LA in Old Town, San Diego. We had yummy mexican food. I opted for a sundress to even out my tan. Gotta love the farmers tan and that was from the day Mark came home two days prior. So I was trying to get a more even tan...

Blake waiting for his daddy to come home...(this was a couple days before the pics above)

Taylor holding up her sign she made for her daddy to see, It read something like I love my daddy, he loves me we play ball at home, Can you play with a ball? It was way cute!! and she was soo proud of it..

This was Mark's ship coming in, the USS KIDD I have to say the presence of seeing it come in spoke volumes. I got goosebumps watching it come in and seeing all the guys man the rail in their dress whites was amazing and breathetaking. I cried it was so strong of how neat of an experience it was to see them come in and how proud all the family members that were there to be part of. I'm so proud of Mark and his accomplishments in the Navy and what the Navy means to him and our family. Growing up Navy it runs thick in my blood and now being a Navy wife it is a honor and a privilage to be his support and go through this experience together.

So here is what happened in June and I will now post about July...

GREAT NEWS!

2009-05-08T09:44:00.001-07:00

Well, I got Blake's MRI results back yesterday and everything was normal. The dimple will not effect his growth or have any effects for the future for him. So we don't have to worry! I am so thrilled and so grateful for the power of prayer. So good news!!

ALSO, I got word from our commands Ombudsman (she is the go-to person for the spouses while the sailors awhile) she also has all the updated info etc. Well I got a message that said to call the command number and check out the ships schedule. WELL, wouldn't you know my hubby is coming home next month!! YEA!!! Double good news for the day!! Yesterday was a total HIGH and I am still on cloud nine.

I am kicking it in overdrive to turn my house around so Mark will be super surprised. My goal is to have NO boxes anywhere and have everything unpacked. It may end up in the garage but hey, I just said the house part would be a super surprise!! lol I am so happy! Taylor is excited and has already planned what she wants to decorate w/welcome home signs!!

I am also going to kick butt more and see if I can lose any more weight before he comes home. So if anyone has a good diet plan that also involves breastfeeding..(yes, still milk in these puppies and blake is not ready to get off anytime soon) I would love to hear your thoughts.

Well have a great day and thanks for sharing in my pain, tears, sorrows and HAPPINESS!! You guys are great friends.. Love to you

Sooo Sad

2009-05-03T21:47:00.000-07:00

Well I have been away from updating this due to being so busy with sick kids..hubby left overseas and just trying to keep things in order around here. Mark has only been gone for about a week and half but it feels like months with everything I have had to deal with, without him. I got a call Tuesday afternoon that said "Mrs.Humpherys, Blake has a MRI scheduled for tomorrow Wednesday at 10:30am" and "oh by the way you can't give him anything to eat or drink after midnight". WHAT!! Do you realize I have a 7 month old BABY!!! (of course I yelled this in my head) I asked her if there was anything sooner and she replied there was not.

Well Blake has been sick with a bad cough and runny nose and it sounds like he is hacking up something or trying to at least. So I called the hospital to one make sure I had the right place and two to see if it was okay he was sick to still do the procedure..The thought of him going under was the worst! I tried so hard to get them to schedule it before mark left but the doctor said oh it will take a month or two. Yeah whatever try 1 week! The hospital informed me that it would be okay for him to still have it done and I asked if it was correct he could not have anything eat or drink after midnight. (BLAKE IS A BOOB MAN especially at night) So she said yes, and that when she was trying to schedule the appt. w/my doctors office the lady there said no early appt do the later one. I was like "umm she must not have kids" so I asked if they had the early one still openend and they did..booked it and had to be at the hospital at 6:20am I thought I can do that..the nurse called a bit later to ask medical questions and she said he can't have solid food after midnight and can have boob till 2am and water,juice or pedilite till 5am. AWESOME!! Well I gave in and gave him boob at 4am cause he would not take anything else. But no harm done and the procedure went as planned. I bawled the whole time...I was all alone, the hospital said "because of the swine flu" only parents were allowed and since Mark is gone it was only me. It was soooo hard!! Taylor went up to LA to be w/her grandparents which was a nice reliever I didn't have to worry about her. But I bawled and my baby bawled...Everything went well, and we now wait for the results.

If I have not told anyone yet, the reason he had to have the MRI was about a couple months ago I found a small hole dimple like in his bottom crack. Freaked out and took him to the doctor. The doctor said it seemed normal and not to worry till he tried to see the end of it and could not find it, and could not see how deep it was and even put a q-tip the tip of the LONG one in there and still could not find the end. Talk about hair standing up on my back seeing that...so the concern is the end of the dimple being intertwined w/the end of this spine and pelvic and when he grows it making the spine tight and cause loss of use to his lower body and legs..Soooo MRI was the only way to find out what is going on, since a ultrasound he was too big for. So please say a prayer for him!

Having Mark gone has made me really miss everything he did and does for us. Being a military wife of a sailor is the most rewarding but also most difficult job one can have. I am so proud of him and what he is doing. I am proud he is making a difference in our world and fighting for what we as americans believe in which is freedom. I am very proud of all of his accomplishments. Being home alone, taking care of what needs to be done here is tough but they say it's all worth it in the end. I believe that and when I see my husband again, all the sweat, tears and worries will be worth it cause he is worth it.

I will try and update this more often and get some updated pictures on here, till then. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and weeks after.

Some of our family pics

2009-04-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend we headed up to the torrance area to hang out with family and to have our family pictures takin by this great photograher Dave Richards my sister in law suggested. I loved what he did with her family and she has since takin her daughter for her milestone pictures. Dave did such an amazing job that i can't wait to get our disk and see the rest. He took over 200+ in an hour and we get all the rights to them. AWESOME!!

Hope you enjoy as much as we enjoyed having them takin!

Our weekend

2009-03-09T13:20:00.000-07:00

So we thought it would be fun to take the kids to the beach and get fresh air and out of the house! We went to North Island base cornado (sp) beach..It was so much fun, Taylor was not having too much fun and said she was cold. We found several sand dollars which I was amazed to find since I NEVER in my lifetime found any and we found like 4 great shape ones. We forgot our camera so we used our phones. I just got a few. My little tater tot! Even though she was not having a great time, she still was able to find a smile and take the picture! lol

My sweet sexy husband who was so kind to use the carrier and hold blake since my back has been horrible and killing me the last several weeks. Carrying around a 20lb kid 24/7 or at least that is how it feels does a real number on your back.

I thought this was so cute last night. To see them sleeping so soundly and so cute!

This was before of course, Mark was reading and blake wiggled his way from a sitting position to under daddy's arm being silly. He thought it was the greatest thing ever! Too silly! I have a clown on my hands..

Blake's Barber Trip w/Daddy

2009-03-06T09:40:00.000-08:00

Mark and I were out running errands the other day while Taylor was at school and Mark needed to get his hair cut so we thought it would be fun if Blake got his done too. A daddy/son outing...So here are the pics of that day! The pic below was takin a day or two before his barber trip..It needed a cut bad...Second hair cut in his life and he is only 5 1/2 months old...WHAT's up with that!
The barber started and Blake is still trying to figure out what is going on and how he should react.Now he is unsure what is really going on other than he doesn't like the clipper sound and he wants to get downNow he is mad and wants his arms free to push the guy away This is our sweet baby fast asleep after his haircut..BOY that was a lot of work!! Notice he is clenching his teething ring...sooo cute... Well both my kids are really sick with this dang cold/flu thing going around.It's horrible..Taylor has been home from school the past two days with fever, cough runny nose, and today she woke up throwing up with a bad tummyache...Blake has a runny nose, cough..fun fun day in the humpherys house...lol

a little bit of time..

2009-03-03T21:36:00.000-08:00

So I add pics from Jan to now..just a few...they are out of order but you can see what we were up too..Mark bought me some time to add these and helped blake with his binky..I love him!! Well hope you enjoy the pics and I will try and keep this blog updated!! lol

My parents with the kids at the lighthouse here in San Diego in Jan when they came down for the weekend. (If your wondering what my dad's t-shirt says it says"Bigger Than Yours" it's a squirrel holding up two accorns..he bought himself and Mark the same shirt and YES they wore it the same day! I could of sworn I took their picture standing together..cause I teased them saying they were Arnold Schwarzenegger (Mark) and Danny Devito (my dad) from Twins! ) ha ha ha Priscilla with Blake when we were down in Tucson in Jan

All the cousins from our last trip to Tucson last weekend..from left to right (priscilla's youngest daughter Isabel , Dawn's daughter Nevaeh , blake, priscilla's oldest daughter yesenia, and her other daughter celeste, and my tater tot)

My grandparents first time meeting Blake. (these are my dad's parents blake's great grandparents)

Dawn giving Blake a kiss...my sisters LOVE him and refuse to put him down..he is sooo spoiled!!

Update

2009-03-03T21:23:00.000-08:00

I know I know I am horrible about keeping this thing updated! So we down to Tucson last weekend to visit my family and to see my grandparents that were in town. They haven't met Blake so it was a great trip to do that and see everyone. We had a GREAT time! Everytime I get together with my family I NEVER get any sleep and when it's time to go home my cheeks are soo sore...We stay up soo late, and laugh soo much!! My sisters are soo funny and the best! All our girls LOVE to be together and play and now that Blake is in the picture he has 5 little mommies looking after him...

We were all joking that he would be looking out to date the girls friends when he was older!! I guess I will have lots to look after when that time rolls around!! He is getting so big and my back is literally KILLING me everynight.

Mark got sick shortly after us returning home, and is just now starting to feel better...today blake started with a runny nose so he is the next victim to it. SO you know its only a matter of days for Taylor and I to fall victims of it!! Mark took leave this month and will head out to sea beginning of April. I hope him being gone goes as fast as it feels right now with him preparing to leave. I swear it feels like the days are rushing by...I just want them to go slower now and faster when he is away..but June is coming up quickly and taylor will be out of school so we can do our road trips and fun activities to keep us busy..

Ummm, my house is coming along..we still have some boxes to unpack. Blake's room is 99% done and looks so cute..Taylor on the other hand has tons of boxes of TOYS..where did this kid get all of it..and where am I going to sick it all...that still remains to be seen...

Well I have to keep this short, since Blake is in the beginning stages of this cold he is fussy and not sleeping well...so I need to tend to him. I will post pics tomorrow...

Total Slacker

2009-02-04T21:31:00.000-08:00

Okay I am a HUGE slacker..but in my defense getting settled in a new house with two little ones who constantly need and want your attention its no wonder we have the neccessities unpacked. LOL Poor mark with his Chief school takes him away from home a lot since he has study group everyday after school gets out..by the time he gets home we eat dinner and then it's about time for the kids to go down for bed and then he has even more studing to do. It seems we are two passing ships in the sea...at least we haven't forgot to kiss each other hi, bye and goodnight. LOL

I still have so much more to unpack, and so much more to do and prepare before Mark leaves overseas real soon. After he is out of school coming up he will take a short leave and prepare to head out to meet his ship somewhere in the open waters of the sea. He will be gone for several months which means his and my b-days,easter, mothers day and fathers day, our anniversary, I'm sure I'm missing another one he won't be here for. It will TOTALLY suck!! I just recently told him honey this year is my BIG 30 I want you to plan a BIG party for me..he said okay and then a week later he came home and said "I have to leave shortly after school lets out to meet the ship and I will be gone for several months" I had the hugest lump in my throat and wanted to cry. Not cause he wouldn't be able to plan my b-day but thought its coming up sooo soon...now I want to cry cause he won't be able to plan my b-day and he will be missing out on all the other events...I have to be strong and count down the days till he is back home. So you may read LOTS of boo hoo blogs from me while he is away..lol

Other news, Blake and taylor got haircuts. I thought for sure Blake would get his first haircut at around 1yrs old but NOPE he got his at 4 months. Taylor wanted to have her hair cut shorter cause she said she was tired of my combing her tangles and hurting her head! lol and since her titi has shorter hair she wanted just like her. So she got it cut shorter..and I lived a little and let the lady give her layers...

I can not find my cord to the PC/Camera to upload recent pics of everyone. As soon as I find that I will be posting like crazy! I have a few of the kids I've taken with my phone I will post...

More pics from Marks X-mas party

2008-12-15T22:49:00.000-08:00

Taylor waiting patiently for Santa to call her name to come up and see himSanta asking Taylor about what she wanted and if she has been a good girl.. Both kids with Santa

Blake all smiles and sooo cute!

Mommy really another picture...dont you already have enough!

I love this pic of the kids...they came out sooo good!!

Daddy and his lil boy soo handsome!

My beautiful little girl..I love love love this pic of herSanta with the kids...Blake found something else more interesting than looking at me for a pic

Taylor bear sooo pretty in her dress she had such a hard time wanting to wear...ha ha ha

We had a great time that day....and even though it was a rough start with Taylor it all ended well..Such a busy day that by the time we got home that evening she was OUT! Gotta love busy long days...

Blake's photo shoot

2008-12-15T22:41:00.000-08:00

Just a sweet pic of my lil boy

I was cleaning taylor's messy room and he was hanging out on her bed...and ended up falling asleep

Gotta love his "grin" he is sooo handsome in his christmas outfit

I found this snowman outfit at Toys R Us the other night and had to get it..he is sooo dang cute..but I couldn't find my camera right away so he got really HOT in there and was fussy...but they are still cute anyways

Taylor's Christmas Performance

2008-12-15T22:20:00.000-08:00

Daddy and Blake getting comfortable

Taylor standing up with all the other kindergartens getting ready for their BIG Performance

Taylor and her classmate Mason...he is soooo dang cute!

Blake happy as pie..he loved watching all the people and the kids singing...It was too cute!

Our all star performer!! She was really good...Mark was in charge of getting action shots of her on stage but that didn't happen...I was on the other side of the stage cause their were soo many people and they asked the parents to wait on the side to get the kids right after the performance...being such a worry wart mom I was RIGHT there...So no action shots of her singing but she did do a good job!

Our weekend fun...

2008-12-15T17:46:00.000-08:00

Well we had a great weekend...Mark's work had a Christmas party with Santa on saturday. Taylor was totally being a "turkey" and did not want to listen or wear her x-mas dress. This is how our conversation went in getting ready to go...

(Me) Taylor you need to hurry up and get your dress on and help me help you get ready!

(TB) Mommy I just don't want to wear my dress

(Me) You have too, you are going to look nice for Santa and you picked out your dress last night

(TB) But mom I don't want to MATCH santa (match was louder) He wears Red and White no one will see me if I wear my dress

(Me) Taylor Marie your dress is red and black...you won't match Santa plus your brother is wearing red and black too..

(TB) BUT MOM I JUST DON"T WANT TOO, DO YOU HEAR ME! (yes LOUD voice)

(Me) (starting to lose my patience) Taylor do you speak to mommy this way!

(Tb) NO! BUT

(me) BUT NOTHING you will wear your dress, you will hurry up and get ready and you will not yell anymore! Do you understand me?

(Tb) Yes, mommy

(me) Do you know who knows when your being naughty?

(Tb) yes Santa mommy

(me) okay well just so you know, maybe I should have a talk to Santa and let him know

(Tb) Umm, I was thinking maybe we can go next year and see Santa

*I just laughed and said Ummm I think we will still go and you can take it up with santa but if I were you I would start behaving and being a good girl....before we go! She did and she looked sooooo pretty!!!!

Taylor is definity VERY independant and knows what she likes, dislikes, wants and does not want....Though I love her independence, she has to be reminded to watch it...ha ha ha

Other funny story between Mark and her...

(Mark) Taylor you know your a lil princess

(Taylor) No I'm not daddy!

(Mark) yes, you are

(taylor) No I'm not daddy

(Mark) Yeah you are...what does it say in your room at nana bebe's house?

(Taylor) Dad, it says I am the QUEEN!

So as you can see, Taylor bear is very outspoken and doesn't miss a beat...She is a peel!!

Well we enjoyed our weekend and I have more pics to post off our camera but Mark isn't here to set it up or show me so I have a few from my cell phone..

We have the military coming this wednesday to pack us out.I can't believe we leave this Saturday...we are sad but excited to move too..I will be closer to family.More pics later

Great Deal!!!

2008-12-09T21:15:00.000-08:00

Deseret Book has a "Families are Forever" clock that is so cute and at a AWESOME price. The regular price is $129.99 and it's for sale for $39.99. You can order it online as well at http://www.deseretbook.com/ Just wanted to pass a great deal on to everyone.

FINALLY!

2008-12-09T20:06:00.001-08:00

Oh my goodness...I can't believe this, I finally was able to sign in and blog. For the longest time it would not allow me to log on and post anything let alone view blogs that were invited only's.

I have major catching up to do...Let's see I will go far back as I can remember (which is not that far back) :-) Thanksgiving we went to pick up Taylor at her grandparents and had a great time. It was a wonderful weekend spent in LA with great fun, good food and awesome family time. I missed my family but hope to see them real soon.

The kids are getting so big so quickly. Taylor I swear came back with even more of BIG PERSON personality to the point I think she forgot how old she really is....but thanks to having a awesome MOM who has no problem setting her straight and reminding her how old she really is. LOL She had a whole month at her nana and papa's with no other kids (only her cousin sarah when her mommy and her would visit or when nana would watch her) but majority of the time was just Taylor to be the center of the attention. So coming home with us was NOT a highlight for taylor. Though she missed us and I got crying phone calls saying so, she reminds me everyday how much she misses her nana and papa and how boring home is. She is counting down days till she goes back which is the 20th of this month but we will be with her as well till we move into our house the 26th.

Blake is getting so big and it seems like he is bigger every morning. Last night I was in a lets see if Blake's blessing outfit fits. We are blessing him this sunday which is also our last sunday in our ward. We had it planned for the first fast sunday after he was born but he was really sick so we thought we would do it the next fast sunday which was in November but Mark had drill weekend, so we said okay fast sunday in December BUT mark had drill weekend AGAIN! Then we were told we didn't have to do it on a fast sunday and that our ward was not sticklers about it being on a fast sunday. Okay, long story short I ordered his blessing outfit a size 0-3 banking on doing it right after he was born...and I never tried it on him till last night...welll as you can see in the pics my kid is a BIGGIN!! He is 2 1/2 months old and weighs about 15lbs now. His pants are suppose to button to his shirt but when I do that he is waiting for the flood. So I will have to leave it unbuttoned. His shirt is pretty tight so good thing he is only wearing it for one day! I took a pic of him last night..Mark would not let me take a pic of him with his bonnet. YES, it came with a bonnet. Mark had me laughing so hard I was crying cause he took the bonnet away and said he would not allow me to embrasses (sp) our son. I took pics anyway on my regular camera and was not able to get any on my cell. Mark said I was a mean mom.. lol

Sorry this is going to be a long post but I have to catch up here. So when we were down in LA that thanksgiving weekend we drove down to the San Diego area to find a house. I had found a house on craigslist and LOVED it....it's walking distance to taylor's school and seemed like a nice area. Anyone who has down long distance house hunting it's hard! Lots of scams and just a big headache! We found a couple houses but I was sold on this house, I spoke with the owner and found out he was retired military. A PLUS! (knows what were going through) The town where the house is in Santee. We loved it! Nice area, new shopping plazas and a lake just blocks from our house and a hiking trails as well. Oh yeah there is a cool wooden play stracture in the backyard taylor can play with... We will be renting for now till Mark finds out if he can retire in SD then we will look to buy a house. Till then we are content with this cute house.

Okay well before I end I will just say I had fun yet again dressing my son tonight...I put his x-mas outfit on him to see if that fit and it does and he looks so cute! Taylor has a red and black dress but she did not want to have fun and dress up tonight so it's only blake. The kids and I have been sick with a cold from you know where that will not go away...It's so dang cold here and foggy...I love it but not when I am sick or my kids are. So here is everything in a nutshell or should I say a LONG novel like post...ha ha ha Less than two weeks and we are going to be in San Diego....YEAH!! Hope you didn't get to bored reading this...will have more pics soon...

Trunk or Treat

2008-10-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

Last night was our ward trunk or treat..it was so much fun lots of games and yummy food...Nachos and chili which I could of ate all night...lol It was fun evening though.. Daddy with the spooky skelton and cute lion...

Mommy's turn with the spooky skelton and cute lion...

Tooo cute...check out those cheeks on both of them..I can eat them up!!

My lion sooooooooooo cute!!!

The sleeping skelton...sheesh don't wake him!!

Fun evening and so much fun with all who was there..We will really miss our ward family. This is such an amazing ward..I hope and pray we get into another amazing ward down in San Diego..

Pumpkin Day

2008-10-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

It was pretty sunny out so Blake was not opening his eyes..ha ha ha Still so cute though.. Me and my kiddos...and Taylor is not letting go of that pumpkin she picked..lol

All these pumpkins and don't know which one to pick....Sooo pretty!

Mark with the kids...he's such a good daddy!!

Well I was trying to post more pics and of course my PC wants to act up so hopefully you like these...They are not in order...not sure why it flipped them after I uploaded them...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!! More pics to come...

October already!!

2008-10-12T20:13:00.001-07:00

I can't believe Sept is already gone and we are weeks away from Halloween! It's been awhile since I posted so here I go. As I type I have 2 sick kids and a sick husband. I feel so bad for them.

Taylor had allergies that turned into a cold. Blake had running buns that just turned into a cold today. Mark woke up with a sore throat and is feeling a cold come on with a runny nose. I just feel blah and tired. This past wednesday it was HOT and Sunny then Thursday it was cold and windy. From 80's to 60's so quickly has caused sickness everywhere.

We were suppose to have Blakes blessing today but had to postpone it this morning cause poor lil guy didn't sleep all night had a hard time sleeping and threw up mucus. Mark's throat was raw, and Taylor has it the worse. So we will do his blessing in Nov. We took him to the doctors friday cause ofhis runny buns and he weighed 9lbs 14ozs. We just took him to his 2 week check up last week and he was 8lbs 10oz. He is now in size 1 diapers and wearing 3 month onesies and outfits. I hope he will still be able to fit in his blessing outfit which is a 0-3..We will see!

Hmmm I have a few pics to post of the kids and Mark thatI have takin randomly (sp). I love blakes hair it just stands straight up!! Mark teases me that he will take him to get a high and tight...I laugh and say WHATEVER!!

It's all set for us to transfer here this Dec to San Diego. We are house hunting now, and boy is it soooooooooooooo hard...We are planning on heading down in Nov to check some houses out, and see my family. So thatw ill be nice but I did not realize how difficult it is to find places long distance. I have been looking on craigslist, and the military website, anyone else have any other advice for long distance looking..I would love to hear if you have any!

Enjoy the pics!

Baby Blake

2008-09-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

Proud Daddy the day Blake was born! Monday Sept 15th, 2008 2:49pm 8lbs 3ozs 20inches Mark snapped this pic of Blake..kinda got a grin going there..

My fav. pic of Blake takin yesterday...My little STUD!!! Peacefully sleeping!!!

Just a few pics of Blake and had to show off the PROUD daddy!

Family Update

2008-09-21T00:12:00.000-07:00

Blake has made it to our lil family. I had him Monday the 15th at 2:49pm. He weighed in at 8lbs 3ozs 20 inches. We were all surprised, even the doctor cause we were all banking on low to mid 7's. LOL Blake FOOLED us!!! We had a couple scares with him, cause he had a hard time with the transition stage...but he pulled though and did great! Here is his pics...I will post more soon...

Blake 1 day old with hisbig sister

Big kisses to her lil brother

Blake 4 days old

Blake 4 days old with his big sister

Taylor had her surgery Thursday...I checked out of the hospital Wednesday with Blake and turned back the next day to go back for Taylor's surgery. She ended up having two hernias so they repaired both of them. She did great! She was really sore that day and had a horrible evening with pain. Friday she was back to her normal self. I have pics of her before her surgery and after in a wheelchair.

Taylor in good spirits before her surgery

Watching Spongebob Squarepants after they gave her what tey call "happy" juice which was a relaxant to calm her

My brave girl after its all done on our way home....

Enjoy the pics!!

Gonna have a baby and weekend fun....

2008-09-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

Well with all these hospital visits the doctor finally has decided to induce me. The induction will be this Monday the 15th. I am so excited, anixous, nervous but relieved our little guy will be here and I can be a healthy mommy for him. They said the only way I can get rid of these symptoms I am having and are causing me to return to the hospital is to deliever him. We would of already had him this past friday but they wanted me to hold off for one more week and be at 37 weeks. So Monday we will be 37 weeks and 1 day!

Taylor has her surgery Thursday the 18th. I am so nervous for her but happy I won't have to be worried if I will have blake when she needs me. My mom will be here this weekend so she will be a HUGE help and support next week. Of course its a given Mark will be there and will be on his daddy maternity leave..(sounds sooo cute)

Mark was pinned Chief this past Saturday and it was such a nice ceremony. I have pics to post and show off. Plus some other pics of our weekend. I was suppose to be on bedrest but I coud not miss a thing having our LA family in town and his pinning. I refused!!!

Lunch out and Mark being silly. 9 Months so we had to take some pics of the side profile...and of course Mark being a nut..

Taylor was soooo embrassed (sp) cause Mark was being silly.... Taylor's Early Birthday Dinner pics....she turns 5 on the 11th...She is getting so big sooo fast!! My little girl won't be so little to much longer... boo hoo !!! Our little girl!!

Mommy in the making...

Sooo Excited she got Star War stuff from her titi StephanieTaylor and her nana BEBE.....

Will post pics of Baby Blake after Monday...and we are back home...Hope you enjoy these for now!!!

Questions For Taylor

2008-09-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

Questions For Taylor

I totally seen this and got it from Rushele's blog and thought how cute! I was curious to see what Taylor would say being 4 years old.

1. What is something that mom always says to you? We can do something fun (this is response when Taylor says mommy our house is boring)

2. What makes mom happy? when I listen to you and not yell

3. What makes mom sad? When I go to Nana's house

4. How does your mom make you laugh? Me when I do crazy stuff

5.What was your mom like as a child? When you were a little kid you were the same like me little

6. How old is your mom? I don't know

7. How tall is your mom? short

8.What is her favorite thing to do? be happy and go somewhere

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? You be sad

10. What is your mom really good at? Playing games

11. What is your mom not good at? Don't know how to do legos

12. What does your mom do for her job? To do big stuff

13. What is your mom's favorite food? hamburgers and tacos

14. What makes your mom proud? when daddy is off work you are happy and proud

15. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Ms.Puff (from spongebob squarepants..Thanks I am the FAT BLOW FISH!!! LOL )

16. What do you and your mom do together? Hang out

17. How are you and your mom the same? yeah

18. How are you and your mom different? Cause you have brown eyes and I have blue eyes..our eyes are different

19. How do you know your mom loves you? because you give me hugs and tisses (kisses)

In and Out

2008-09-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

Well since my last post I have been in and out of the hospital for one thing or another. Last being last night. Blake is doing fine and all my tests are coming back normal and fine, it's my blood pressure that keeps staying up there. I keep getting headaches and recently started to have vision problems. So it's caused for concern and hospital visits. I go twice a week to the hospital to a different department off of the Labor and Delievery to have my blood pressure checked as well as monitoring Blake.

I was put on Level 2 bedrest which is I have to be laying down and can only get up for baths, meals (which have to be quick and easy and microwaved) and I can take care of Taylor's needs that are not strenous. Everything else Mark has to do. I feel so bad for him, and still think I can handle things on my own. BUT I do not want any further problems for myself or Blake so I am complying (sp).

I will be 36 weeks this coming Sunday and the doctors say if Blake wants to come now or if they have to induce cause of my blood pressure there is not a HUGE risk to have him now. Which brings relief to me. My mom comes into town the 16th so if I can just hold off till she is here..I feel TONSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS better too...

My other stress to worry about is my lil tater bear has a hernia and will need surgery. We meet with the Peds Surgeon this Thursday and find out a date for her surgery. I am sooooo worried and hope having blake and her surgery do not happen at the same time. So if you can imagine a mother's fears and worries of her babies and wanting to be there for each 100%. So needless to say I have been pretty emotional when I think about it.

I have to say Mark has been the BEST! So loving and sweet, he has been taking off early from work to pick up taylor and take her to school and then again to pick her up from school. Its been a real blessing to be married to him.

So this is my lastest in updates and since I am suppose to be resting I suppose I will post this and get back to that. Mark gets pinned Chief this weekend so I need to get all the rest I can cause I am NOT missing that especially since I get the honor of pinning his anchors on him. :-)

Today is Taylor's picture day and it was a NIGHTMARE getting her ready. She fought with me the whole morning in what to wear and how to do her hair. She did not want her hair curled and did not want to wear the cute outfit. It was so frustrating!! When all said and done and a few threats of not having fun this weekend with her nana and papa she complied and had a better attitude. ha ha ha Of course my PC will NOT let me post pics so I will try later..but hope you enjoy our update..

WE FINALLY HAVE A NAME

2008-08-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

Well last night Mark and I were having our nightly chat when towards the end I said we seriously need to start thinking of a name for the baby. Yes, it's takin this long...LOL Every name that would come up one of us didn't completely like it andddddddddddddd Mark was really busy so the last month or more he was NOT looking or thinking of names as active as I was..Just saying Ummm I gotta think of that name more when I would come up with some. LOL

So anyhoo toward the end of the conversation I said we need to get serious..Mark being the jokester he is started running names off the top of his head that were out of this world. Like Abner as one of them. (sorry if you know anyone who has that name , I mean no offense) Mark was cracking himself up and said well at least we can cross some names off. I was like HELLO we should of been doing that all along not weeks before we have thisbaby. So we threw out a name we both liked and he said he wanted to pray about it and ponder it and think about it and he would let me know this morning. Sooooooooooooo I got the text about 15 mins ago and it's official we have a FIRST name..the middle we pretty much have 2 but I told him we will decide when he is home. I'm just so excited to have a first name...

Okay okay I have babbled enough so our baby's name is going to be ............

BLAKE!

33 1/2 weeks along

2008-08-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

Well I thought it was time to post an updated pic of me and this baby belly of mine...OF course it's a bathroom shot but what can you do when your child is at school and hubby is away in another town. LOL

I have a doctor appt tomorrow so I will hope to have more in on what I can do with this pain. It's really bad but I have so much to do and take care of Taylor so makes it more difficult. They can give me painkillers but it's not doing a thing for me and I don't want it to effect the baby. So I opted not to take any and just take the pain.

Taylor is doing great in school but is upset they have not given homework yet...LOL

First day of school

2008-08-18T16:24:00.000-07:00

Today was soooo emotional. Taylor started kindergarten and boy let me tell you it was really hard to leave her. We both did very well till it was time to say good-bye, even then Taylor was braver and better than me.I had to keep turning my head to wipe my tears away all the while trying to do it where she wouldn't see me. :-) Then when it came time for the parents to leave, Taylor got teary eyed which made my tears surface again. lol I went to give her another hug and kiss and she says "Mommy who will take care of you and help you while I am at school". I LOSE IT THEN! I could not see anything and I had created a puddle of tears on the sidewalk. Talk about not being able to hold it in. That was the toughest!

She is such a big helper and has such a HUGE heart and lately with my condition has been soooooooooooo into making sure I am okay. Mark told her to be a big helper while he was gone and help me well she took that job very serious and everyday before we got to sleep asks me "Mommy I was a big helper today huh, daddy will be proud I made sheep choices huh". Of course we are sooooooooo PROUD of her. She brings so much joy to our lives and so much more to my heart!!!

Long story short I counted down the clock and always checked it. She was so excited when I seen her that she LOVES school and LOVES her teacher. She said she was tired and just wanted to relax. (yes in those words) Too funny!!

My little girl is growing up and all very fast. I definity have treasured her at every age and look forward to many more "new" events in her life...and building many more memories to share in the future.

Sooo sad

2008-08-10T16:04:00.000-07:00

I am so sad Mark left today for his Chief training. It was so hard to have him leave, I am so vulunerable and scared with the complications I'm having and not having him close by is nerve wracking...Grrrrrrrrr! Hormones of course is cry cry cry!!!

Taylor had a hard time saying good bye too especially how close they have become in the last year. She is definity daddy's lil girl...Mark got teary eyed in saying good-bye to her...so tough!! She was excited though knowing she can sleep with me while he is gone...ha ha ha

She starts school next week so this week will be early to bed which she is not too happy about..lol

Well today marks 8 months along...so we are really near the end rounding the corner...scary but exciting at the same time..I have been in so much pain I soooooooooooooooo WANT A BODY RUB!!! If they weren't so dang expensive I would be there every day..ha ha ha

Okay I just want to be on the pitty potty bus of my husband leaving today and think tomorrow I will be going out to buy THE HOST and read that..help me take my mind off missing him and since bedrest is killing me that will give me a good take my mind off that as well.

Hope everyone is having a great Sunday...Sorry not soo exciting...

Joys of Pregnancy

2008-08-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend I will officially be 8 months. I'm excited, anixous and miserable. Excited cause it's getting closer to delievery this baby who seems to want to come RIGHT now! Anixous cause I want to see what he looks like and just have him in my arms to hug and kiss. Miserable cause I feel like when I walk he is going to stick a part of him out and say HI MOM...he is so low and the pelvic pain is crazy. I have heartburn like there is no tomorrow. Taylor is my maylox girl of going back and forth to where ever my bottle of it is to rush to me. She's such a great helper!!!

Taylors nightly prayers have been "Please let my brother not hurt mommy anymore" which is sweet she is so concerned for me, but I have to tell her it's not is fault he is just growing so fast and it's almost time for him to come. She seems to understand that, I told Mark I didn't want her to resent her brother. lol

Mark leaves this Sunday for 30 days for some more Chief training. I'm scared, nervous and totally going to be counting down the days till I see him again. He has been so sweet in taking care of me when he is home,and I know he has alot on his mind in going away. I have a great ward family who are stepping in already to help out. So I think we will be fine.

Oh I bought the 4th book Breaking Dawn in the Twilight series saturday afternoon and already finished it by late Sunday evening. It was GREAT! I think I liked it a lot better than the other 3 books. I don't know if it's cause I am so hormonal but I was able to relate better to her and feel the emotions more. I heard there was another book in the making for the Twilight series but through the eyes and feelings of Edward. I think that would be great to read too. I can't wait to see the movie and see how it compares to the books. I heard and seen a lot about the HOST and always put it down thinking it wouldn't be any good but I have heard different so I think since I am having to be laid up I could read it and see for myself.

Well I thought I needed to update this and I was getting tired of laying down and sitting so I jumped on here for a few mins. I will try to update as often as I can...it might not be very exciting cause there is really nothing fun or exciting about bedrest...lol I will try. Tonight our ward is throwing me and two other gals a baby shower so that will be fun..I have been resting a lot the last couple days so I can feel up to going tonight and interact..OH YES I need adult interaction...and different scenery. :-)

Being MIA update

2008-07-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

Well, a lot has happened since I last blogged and since I am not any good about remembering anything since being preggers I am not going to battle my brain and try...I will go to what I do remember which is pretty recent...LOL I will also posted some random pics for this month I took..

Okay well since Mark made Chief life here in the Humpherys home has been crazy, stressful and just plain nuts...He works crazy hours, goes in way early and comes home sooo late and even when he is home he still has work to do that keeps him up till wee hours of the morning. I feel so bad for him, and upset cause we don't really get to interact with him. There is a possiblity he will be gone for the whole month of AUG and maybe part of Sept for training and an even more possiblity of him not being here for the birth of the baby...which has made me soooo sad and scared since none of my family is here or near...and the doctor is making me wait till my water breaks and since my sisters and mom work no one can really just plan a date to come if we have no idea when he will come... MArk is trying his best to juggle it all, and poor him is married to a hormonal pregger wife who cries at the drop of a dime when he jokes with me. LOL I Know I KNOW a total cry baby!!! These 2 months are soooooooooo crazy till he gets pinned in Sept.

Being it's the end of my pregnancy does not make it any better either, and on top of all this no family or close friends near makes it even tougher. I went to the doctor's yesterday for my 7 month check up and leave there sad and mad...cause I am put on modified bedrest cause of the severe pain of him being so low and causing me to have a hard time to walk and move...and with my heart condition that has sort of started to act up they are keeping an even closer eye on me...so REST is the perscription from the doctor. The irritating part is I have so much to do to finish preparing for the baby to come that I can't ask Mark cause he isn't home enough...so I am left feeling alone and sad....

Yes, I can ask my ward family and I am sure sisters will pitch in but nothing feels the same then having your husband, or your own family to be around to see your vulunerable side and let your guard down. Pride is probably my problem!

So here is my pitty potty story and why I have been MIA....due to pain, having to rest and have feet up and not sleeping very well at night makes getting on here to update as often as I want...

I will post random pics I took this month....Taylor is doing great...bored of her mom but doing good... :-) She starts school AUg 18th...I am so sad and happy at once...will be hard doing it on my own without mark here but we will manage..

Oh yeah...we got our orders for San Diego as our next duty station. We will more than likely move there this coming DEC...Sooo excited and nervous...but I will be closer to my family...YEA!!!

Okay I have an error on the page and it will not let me post anymore...will have to see if Mark can fix it for me. I will post more later... This was Tater on our way to our ward 4th of july pancake breakfast..

~Mark made Chief~

2008-07-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

MARK MADE CHIEF SELECTION!!! We are so excited and happy for him...this has been something he has worked so hard for and it has paid off. He is in the selection process, even though he is now a Chief he doesn't get the title till his pinning ceremony in September. That's when I will pin his anchors on his collar. I am so excited!!!

Now till September will be busy and stressful for him, they will be putting him through extensive training till then. He may be leaving to a ship during this time so he gets the full feel and surroundings of NAVY 24/7. So we will hardly see him for the next couple months. His staff at work have been so sweet and nice and have all mentioned to him that if I need anything to let them know...they said they would run my midnight cravings. ha ha ha Too sweet! I told Mark I was happy we are so involved with our home ward to have their support as well. I grew up Navy and my mom was a great example of independence and getting things done on her own. I am pretty independent myself...it will be hard not to see Mark as often as I would like...but I support him and happy for him.

So this is our great news....I am so proud of Mark and his accomplishments he is going to be a great asset as a Chief. I am honored to be his wife and happy to support him through this time.

Tag

2008-07-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

How to play this game. Post these rules on your blog; List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random/surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names....

3 Joys
1. Taylor and unborn baby
2. back/leg rubs
3. reading

3 Fears
1. Someone hurting or taking Taylor or my baby from me
2. Something happening to Mark while at work or when he goes overseas and life without him
3. Not being a good enough mother to my children/wife to my hubby (me too rushele)

3 goals
1. Get my house organized and ready for the baby's arrival
2. Be a better wife and mother...
3. Be better about personal prayer and reading my scriptures

3 current obsessions/collections
1. Surfing the net
2. scrapbooking
3. talking on the phone LOL

3 random/surprising facts
1. I am extremly scared of FROGS...fake ones that look real, especially REAL ones...Mark and Taylor love to buy the fake ones and leave them where I least expect them and I scream or jump
2. I have major fears of the dark..and Mark loves to play on them...I will not look in the closet when all the lights are out and Mark will stand in there and scare me by talking to me, or the other thing is he will put his hand in front of my face right when I lay down and my eyes are closed so when I open them his hand is right there..he cracks up...He is sooo mean!!! lol
3. I have a phobia of icky bathrooms....I NEVER used the kids bathroom to use the restroom or use the bathtub unless I myself washed and cleaned it myself....Public bathrooms I am worse if I have to use them which I try not too at all cost but being preggers it's pretty much impossible I lay down 5-6 toilet cover sheets before I will use it....Gotta love CA where it's mandatory for restrooms to have them....ha ha ha ha

I tag Julie, Kristen,Tara, Tawanya, Angie

~More Pics~

2008-06-26T14:02:00.001-07:00

Here are more pics of us on the day... I hope you enjoy. I love my pregger belly 6 months 6 days along till we meet our little boy. I am so excited and anxious to meet him. This day is so special to me being a forever family. Mark is such an amazing husband and our day was so special and I our family is blessed by making this choice in being a forever couple and family.

Oh yeah one of the best things of being married to such a hottie....I get to plant juicy ones on him all time anytime I want too... (HUGE GRIN)

My forever mate and best friend......I am such a lucky girl to have found such an amazing man!!

6 months and 6 days along....Taylor was saying Hi to her brother and talking to him...My bright eyed beautiful girl dressed so pretty...my forever girl!!! Makes her mommy so proud and honor to be her Mother.

~Today, Tomorrow and Forever~

2008-06-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 21,2008 was such an amazing day for our family that we will never forget. Mark and I were sealed for eternity to our little girl Taylor. It was such a beautiful day and very warm I might add...ha ha but nonetheless very beautiful. Mark's family was in attendence with several of Mark's old ward members who were his young men advisors, old bishop, and sunday school teachers. A few of our ward members were there as well...it was such a great day and filled with the highest of happiness that is possible.

Seeing Taylor walk into to be sealed to us made me feel so grateful and thankful for the moment and the gift her father gave me in giving his permission to have her be sealed to us. Looking in my husbands eyes and seeing the joy and happiness we both shared warmed my heart. Knowing we are sealed as husband and wife through the eternities makes me so happy it's to him. He is my best friend and the best husband a lucky girl like me could ever ask for. He is definity a dream come true.

My friend April took the pics I will be posting today, she did a great job and I like the editing she did as well. Hope you enjoy too...

~My little Scare~

2008-06-12T07:12:00.000-07:00

Well if my weeks and days could not have another thing added to it....I swear with the sealing coming up Satan is working OVERTIME...EVERYDAY there has been something that has happened that is stressful, drama like or just something that needs immediate attention. No rest, no peace, and doesn't matter how hard I am trying to stay positive something always finds it's way in doing the opposite...

So Tuesday evening it was early when I was commenting on the baby moving to Mark...and then he (the baby) settled in and for the rest of the evening didn't feel anything. I woke up yesterday and did my morning routine and still hadn't felt the baby move around...(he is so active that everyday I feel him) So I grew alarmed and thought hmmm I should eat something and drink some juice so I did and I layed down and still nothing. I even sang sing star with my step-daughter and still no movement...

I called the oncall nurse and told her what was going on and she told me to go straight to labor and delivery. I called Mark at work and of course he was not in his office or answering his cell..so I started to freak out and I started to push any and all ext's to his work. Finally a couple people answered and I was able to get ahold of him. He rushed home and we we're off to the hospital.

We arrived and the nurse hooked me up and right away the baby kicked! I started to cry cause I was so excited and also crying cause I felt like a HUGE DORK!!! My nurse was so sweet and comforting that she eased me to peace. We did the monitor for 5 mins and then she went to call the doctor and let him/her know( not sure who the uncall doctor was) she returned and said well the doctor wants you to do lab work so you have to stay till the results come back. I laughed and said "oh okay".....So hours later the work came back and all was well and I got to go home late last night.

I feel like a dork, the baby started to move all night and all day today....I do have a peace of mind which I am happy but feel pretty silly going to the hospital. I wish the uncall doctor would of called me into the office first not straight to the hospital. Oh well! My nurse said I will look for you in a few months...ha ha ha ha I second that!!!

So here is my little scare and feeling a little embrassed...LOL

~Sealing Update and invitation~

2008-06-09T12:17:00.000-07:00

Okay here is the update of our sealing...our bishop wanted us to wait to send out invites till we got our interviews done cause we we're having scheduling issues. Our bishop is an attorney so he was out of town for a case and the stake pres. was out of town as well. So I didn't send any out yet...so I'm sorry!

We did get our interview with the bishop saturday evening and we have an appt. tomorrow with the stake pres. I am sooooooooooooooo excited!!! So we will be sealed Saturday June 21st at 11am in the Oakland Temple. Oh my other great news, I'm sure I have mentioned it before but Taylor will be able to be sealed to us. I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooo HAPPY!

So if you are able to make it you are MORE THAN WELCOME to attend our sealing and I would LOVE it. If you have any questions feel free to contact me shumpherys15@yahoo.com

~My Soccer Babe~

2008-06-07T14:41:00.000-07:00

Today was Taylor's first soccer game. Her team the Blue Rhinos won..which was sooooooooo dang cute to watch. It was the best....I am officially a soccer mom, I was yelling, and cheering on and it was great!!! Probably a funny scene watching a pregger chick running up and down the sideline cheering on her kid and her teammates. ha ha Oh well!! I had fun and so did they...

So here is her team pic.....She is soooooooo big and growing up WAY TOO FAST!!! (sniffle sniffle)

~Kimbo Slice~

2008-06-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

Okay I have got to say this dude is one bad dude...Mark asked me if I heard of him last night and I said "no". He googled it and I guess May 31st he had a fight against James Thompson on CBS...I can't believe I missed it. I am a HUGE fan of UFC and MMA fighting. I soooooooooooo get into this stuff...I wish we had a match here in Sacramento but I haven't been able to find any...Anyways, google this kimbo slice and watch his fights and you will see how good he is...and then watch the fight against James Thompson...It was really good!! I am non-stop about this dude and even woke up talking to Mark about it again.... here is what they look like...

KIMBO SLICE

James Thompson

~Finally Pregger Pics with my Tater Bear~

2008-06-03T06:45:00.000-07:00

Okay I definity caught something....I woke up again feeling like crud and my head feeling like it's going to explode and sneezing like crazy....Headcold I assume!! Grrrrrr....Taylor is feeling 100% better...which I am happy..I wish I could recover that quickly. The baby has been so active since after 5am and it's just a few mins before 7am now. I just want to sleep but I figure that won't happen unless I can convince Taylor she is really sleepy and she wants to go back to sleep with me...LOL

Well here are some pics from when I went to pick up taylor from her nana and papa's this past week..I'm not a good picture taker but hey I got some pregger pics for everyone as well as the baby album I am scrapbooking...

5months along just a few days before 5 1/2 months. We hit 5 1/2 months Sunday.

Taylor and I outside my mom in laws house..in Torrance...

Okay these next pics below are of us girls Friday...at the house and at this place called "Kids Concept" I wish we had one of those here...you pay one low price and you let your kids explore and pay with everything..so much safer and better than Chuckie Cheese....You see more of my belly!!

~Sick~

2008-06-02T21:54:00.001-07:00

Quick blog....Taylor woke up sick with a tummy ache and I think I have a head cold. Sneezing like crazy...head feels like it's going to explode...Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! Taylor of course feels better after she went "stinkies" as she calls it..and proceeded to tell me the size of it and share with me her "stinky song" ...I know I know TMI but if you have kids you understand that half the things that come out of their mouths is so unpredictable and funny...

So she is peachy and feeling great and I am still feeling like crud..I wish I was a kid again and could just bounce back...as quickly as they do....The baby of course if moving around like crazy and making things really uncomfortable...but I do enjoy feeling him move around...

Okay well this is a ramble of sorts and me feeling gross so I will end for now..Pregger pics to be posted soon..

~So Funny~

2008-05-28T15:22:00.001-07:00

I am sitting here checking mail and I got this from my friend Amanda. It is too funny!!! I had to share...I hope to have updated pics this weekend of pregger pics so check back...

Never Lie to a Woman

A man called home to his wife and said, ' Honey I have been asked to go fishing up in Canada with my boss & several of his Friends We'll be gone for a week This is a good opportunity for me to get that promotion I've been wanting, so could you please pack enough clothes for a week and set out my rod and fishing box, we're leaving from the office & I will swing by the house to pick my things up.' ' Oh! Please pack my new blue silk pajamas. '

The wife thinks this sounds a bit fishy but being the good wife she is, did exactly what her husband asked.

The following weekend he came home a little tired but otherwise looking good. The wife welcomed him home and asked if he caught many fish? He said, 'Yes! Lots of Salmon, some Bluegill, and a few Swordfish. But why didn't you pack my new blue silk pajamas like I asked you to do?' You'll love the answer...

The wife replied, 'I did. They're in your fishing box ...' Never Lie To A Woman...!!!

~Just some thoughts~

2008-05-27T17:53:00.000-07:00

Today has been pretty crazy, I have yet to do my temple sealing invites and when I went to get it accomplished our computer isn't wanting to work with me and so I am stuck and can't do them. First frustration of the day! Second was I called to schedule our ward building for a reception/open house right after the sealing and it's booked. (you may think well duh you only have a few weeks till the big day) Yes I agree, but in my defense I have been trying to call for several months and finally got through today. So needless to say I wanted to cry and thinking there is no way I can fit anyone in our small apartment.Grrrr!! I called Mark almost in tears and he said we will work it out. Then he suggested that I call back and see if we can use the Relief Society room. DUH!! Why didn't I think of that!!! So I did and it wasn't being used in the afternoon so I scheduled it....RELIEF!!

I fly out tomorrow evening to pick up taylor from her nana and papa's house. I am so excited but dreading the flight cause for some reason this pregnancy I get so sick flying. Its horrible. We fly back friday evening. After this trip we will have to do the meet half way thing cause it is so bad with holding back throwing up. I am so excited to see my baby though. It's been a week and half she's been gone and of course it was so hard for me. We have a routine in the mornings, Mark wakes up and gets ready for work..I lounge in bed and taylor wakes up and gets in our bed. We snuggle and have girl talk, she shares her dreams she may of had that night and then we plan our day...and then we talk about the baby. She is so curious in what he is doing in there and if he can see. She'll even ask him if he is having a party in there...LOL Then when Mark leaves to work and Jared is off to school taylor and I go back to sleep for a hour or two. We get up about 8:30-9am and start our day. I just love my time alone with her...Being the only girl, she enjoys our dates as we call them when it's just us two. She'll say "Mommy it's just us girls huh no boys allowed" Too cute..

Well we have 4 months left till we meet our little boy. I am so excited...and have been so consumed with what he will look like...and keep coming up with different things like will he have my nose or Mark's...dark hair or light. I hope he has Mark's eyes, Mark has beautiful green/blue eyes...just like Taylor. I have icky BROWN eyes....lol

Okay I think I have rambled enough. I will have to get some pregger pics up here soon. More later

~Taylor's Trip~

2008-05-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

I am getting so dang frustrated...this is the 4th time of being trying to flippin post this...grrrrrr!!!! Soooo frustrating!!!

Okay I got some pics of taylor of last night from her nana. She is having so much fun with her nana, papa and titi. Looking at her pics just brings a smile to my face and warms my heart seeing the joy in her eyes she has being able to have big girl time. She is so independent and grown up that I am amazed how quickly she is growing up. Boo Hoo she turns 5 this September and starts kindergarten this AUG. Man time flies.....

While I went to take her to her nana's last week....they had a Armed Forces event to honor them for their dedication and hard work. I am a big supporter of the military and have been for a very long time. So this first pic is of us after she got her cheek painted with the American flag...

These next few pics of taylor on a Coast Guard boat and posing with their big gun on it. My daughter LOVES guns cause she so badly wants to be a COP. She kept making us go back to the boat so she could touch the gun. :-) So here is those pics...

Her is the pic of her and the motorcycle cop we seen and had to stop so she could say Hi to him. He was very kind and picked her up on his lap for a picture. She wants to be a cop and arrests her dad, brother and who ever else will let her. She has a cop costume, ticket pad, a gun, and cuffs. We call her Officer Taylor. She will come up to us and say "Do you have anything on you" or she says "Put your hands up or I'll shoot" or "You're going to jail, your under arrest" oh yeah the one that cracks us up is "Are you kidding me" when Mark tries to give her excuses in not arresting him. LOL As soon as we finished taking her pic with the cop she said "Mommy you have to frame it"

Here are some random pics of her at the park flying a kite, at the science center of fish and just hanging out with her nana and papa....Kite looks close to the power lines..scarey!!!

~My Rock Star~

2008-05-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

Okay I had to post this....Taylor is at her grandparents house visiting..she is such a big girl and this is one of her several visits to LA. She has such a blast...and the saying is "what happens at nana's, stays at nana's"!

She was the only grandchild for them, but her aunt is blessing the family with a little girl in July. Taylor is soooo excited and can't wait to play with her and show her soccer like she says. :-) Well they sent me this pic of her just a few mins ago..of her rocking out on a guitar...My mother in law said she has been singing and before she does she says" Ladies and Gentlemen welcome Taylor Frank" then she sings...and I guess she is trying to sing in spanish...Very funny and I can't wait to hear her..

So here is the pic of her...I miss her and can't wait to see her this Wednesday.

~I think I get this blogging thing~

2008-05-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

Okay thanks to a old dear friend Rushele that I am so excited to be in contact with after all these years has helped me figure out some of this blogging stuff...So let's hope it looks okay...I just need to find out how to add or get those cute layouts than the plain ones they offer on here...LOL

So I found some pics of the baby...he currently has no name...So sad and I am on my husband everyday about hurring up in getting through the ABC book of names. I mind you have already went through it and have 2 names I am really thinking about and 1 that I am really set on. Mark says I can't rush him and that we still have 4 months. HA HA HA ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!! So needless to say my lovely husband thinks it's funny to prolong naming our son. I will keep on him though...

Man, today is so cloudy here in Elk Grove and gloomy. I was hoping to go swimming and get some sun but it looks as though our weekend will be like this. Not very exciting!! Well, I have to confess I have not printed or have prepared our sealing invites that should of been sent out last week. I really thought I had longer time to do them and now realize I don't, I am done to a few weeks. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! But I do have good news...Taylor's dad has wrote a letter for her to be sealed to Mark and I. I am waiting for our bishop to see what else we have to do...but to have that out of the way is a blessing and I am so grateful. Taylor is soooooooo extremly close to Mark and has not seen her father for 2 1/2 yrs so for him not to be selfish and allow her the blessing to be sealed to us is very amazing.

We find out in a few weeks if Mark made Chief...which we are praying and hoping he does. He is so great at what he does and this will open more doors for him and our family. I'm excited!! We will be transfering end of the year to a new duty station where we have no idea yet..and us just having our son will be a little hectic but exciting too..

I wish we could go to Tucson where my family is. My parents live there and Priscilla and her family live there...Dawn's husband is getting out of the Army and they with their daughter will move to Tucson this summer. I wish I could be there as well..but one day soon I hope..

Okay I am rambling and this is probably forever long so I will end for now and add the pics I found.

~Long Time in Blogging~

2008-05-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

Okay it's been awhile since I last blogged...One I am still trying to get the hang of this new web world...I just mastered or I like to think I have mastered myspace. LOL Then I had friends get me to join Facebook...and of course I find that difficult to figure out as well...

Well a lot has happened since my last blog...We found out we are having a BOY!!! I am 5 months and 5 days along and our due date is still the same for October 5th 2008. I still can't believe we are blessed and I can't believe Taylor turns 5 this September. Man part of me feels old..LOL

Taylor is away visiting her grandparents and having a blast. She is so spoiled but I believe what happens at nana's stays at nana's. LOL She has a new cousin on the way, due in July. She is very excited.

Okay well I will try and post some random pictures that have been takin the last few weeks and last month. I will try to keep this updated. Also if anyone knows how to add friends please tell me..I have found several old friends on here and want to get back into contact.

Oh yeah the BIG news..Mark and I will be sealed June 21st in the Oakland temple. We are so excited. I can't believe a year has gone by since we got married...Time flies!!!

Jared and Taylor on our way to a friend's birthday party...they are so silly!

Mark at the birthday party...

It's Official !!

2008-02-04T12:54:00.000-08:00

~It's Official~

We are going to have a baby! I am 5 weeks preggers and so excited, we have the due date of October 6th. I did a scavenger hunt to tell the kids about it. I went to the dollar store and bought several baby items wrapped them and hid around the house...my friend April did clues to help them find them. At the end they had to guess what we we're trying to say...They guessed it!! They were happy and Taylor was most excited saying she was going to be a BIG SISTER.

Later I was cooking dinner and she came up and touched my stomach and said "Mommy I feel the legs and head" LOL It was too funny and way too cute!!!

Besides REALLY sore boobs and clothes feeling a bit snug no morning sickness except one time but doing well so far.