He's got some power in those trunks

Benjie has gotten some power in his trunky, chunky, cute legs. He is standing with help now so few things are safe: the toilet, trash cans, the kids toys, chairs, beds, book cases, the couch, the computer, the dish washer, the fridge, cupboards, ...are all at his disposal. He is trying so hard to keep up with his siblings. I know he is going to be growing so much faster then Bridge and Angie did because he wants to be side by side with them. He's rather delighted with himself...who wouldn't be. :)

Fleeting Summer Days

Changes and moving on are going on all around us. Babies are due, dear friends are moving far away, we are soon turning into nomads, and church deadlines have made our last weeks in Reno for the Summer rather fast and sad. When I return Fall will be upon us, friends will be gone, babies will have been born without me, and I will have no husband to literally lean on for a month. So we are trying amidst the stress and long to-do lists to soak up our last days of Summer in Reno. Reno, as much as I make fun of you I really love you.

Play Group in Tahoe

Movie Theater Fountain

The Girl showing off her pretty blue eyes and her half eaten lunch :)

Angie and Memphis...too sweet

Trying to get them to pose...Classic!

Burn Out

I am burnt out. But I have learned that with three kids three and under you cant really afford to have a day to recoup. So I am trying to not need one. With that intent I am going to "count my many blessings, name them one by one and see what God has done":

- my kids are really so beautiful
- my husband thinks I am wonderful even when I am grumpy
- my house is cute in a small low budget way
- our cars work
- our loan money came in yesterday! big smile here
- I got to go on a real date with my hubby last night and saw Harry Potter. loved it
- I have a business appointment today. yay money!
- we have our pioneer thingy today and I am not in charge of it! HUGE SMILE THERE!
- I am leaving town for a month and will be with loved ones the whole time
- I am finally really reading the Book of Mormon I am doing a 90 day thing. I think I will actually make it! So happy.
- I have sharing time tomorrow and I am sort of excited to do it...I like teaching those kids
- My husband only has to work for half a day today...thank goodness the VA Hospital is so chill or I'd be really burnt out!
- I got to go to Tahoe yesterday...its so pretty there.
- If I can help it I am not going to take a shower all day today! I hate getting ready everyday...plus I had to take two showers yesterday...I think I earned a day off. :)
- Benjamin is in one of my favorite stages ever! LOVE to just sit back and watch him interact with his world. I think I kiss him like 50 times a day at least.

So, feeling a little more blessed I am off to read the Book of Mormon, put on my old clothes from yesterday's date, dress the kids to hit up our pioneer breakfast, do my appointment, go on a run when Stew gets home, go swimming with the family, have some BBQ dinner (stew cooks), plop the kids in bed, prepare for Sunday's lesson, help Stew write his talk for sacrament, and then curl up and read some Harry Potter with the best husband ever. Not too shabby of a day wouldn't you say?

My Hair Stylist...

is the BOMB (Yes, I know I am geeky when I use that word)! She cuts and styles my hair for FREE because A.) she is just that kind B.) she knows I am so low budget C.) she knows she is doing the world a service by helping my hair Pro Bono! I really have hair handicaps but then Eden comes along and helps me out. She is a Saint. She always makes time on my short visits to Utah to save me from my constant hair neglect and helps me look somewhat decent. She showers me with compliments, gives an abundance of hair advice, gossips with me as all hair stylist should do, and then sends me on my way looking a million times better then I did when I first sat in her stylin' chair.


Stewart also loves it when she dose my hair. He gets all gitty and blushes when I do my big reveal. It is the cutest thing. This last trip I felt so bad she was going to cut my hair on the 4th of July but she and Stewart talked me into it. I never can do my hair as cute as it is right after she dose it. I have SUPER fine hair and after I have had a baby I lose like half of it so it is in a really sorry state these days. It takes true Eden talent to make look pretty. But I tired to get it cute and I took some pics for Eden's hair portfolio.

Eden THANK YOU!!! I love you and wish we were next door neighbors agian! You are fabulous and I will be doing a special Eden trip one of these days this summer I PROMISE.

PS I took these by myself so they aren't that great... I kept waiting for an opportunity for Stew to take them for me but when your hubby leaves the house around 5:30 am every day and returns late enough in the day that whatever was once cute is no longer cute it dosen't really happen. So here are my best shots. I hope one of them will be usable. :)

"Step 1 Score Report"

The results are in for Stewart's Step 1 Boards. Stew has done good. Good job Honey Love! Phew. Now he can move on from the nearly constant obsession of wondering. I don't know if Stewart felt this way but after all the doctors in his rotation telling how unimportant the scores are all day yesterday it seemed a little anticlimactic. But at least we know that Stewart will be very competitive to get into IR (Interventional Radiology) and hopefully at a residency program of our liking. Residency here we come.

Seven Months and Counting

This boy is so grown up. Its fun to see how the kids interact with him more and more as he is able to follow them around the house and steal their toys and such. They are for the most part really sweet and affectionate to him. It s fun to see how they watch out for him and tell me when they think he might be in danger. "Mommy, Mommy the baby is eating paper. Come! Come!" This poor boy has four parents bossing him around, "no, no baby. Don't touch that." Is a common phrase heard around our house. Just yesterday I watched as Angeli played with him. She had him follow her from room to room calling him as they changed their venue, "Benjie, come this way. This way Benjie." I just love watching my kids enjoying each other. Benjamin is such a happy smiley guy. During our vacation we were told so often what a smiley baby he was. I think we had such a sweet baby as our number three to ensure that we would still be willing to have more. :) He really is nothing but a joy and I try to savor every moment we have of his babyhood.

Here are pictures of Benjie's first real bath...these kids are too cute!

* No stats this month because they are the same as last month. I guess he has hit plateau.

6 Years Ago...

today Stewart and I had our first date together. He won me over with his card tricks :), love of Thai food, and easy going fun personality. We went on a group date where we had a picnic and played games at the park. We then watched a movie and snacked on candy. We dropped everyone off and then we sat and talked outside my dorm until 3:30 am completely unaware of the time. He hugged me goodnight and I could not stop smiling. I was hooked. Six years later I still am. Stewart, happy six years of dating. May they never end. :O)

Ready or Not

I feel it again and I don't want to be feeling it. It is the start of a new chapter of our lives. This past chapter has been really rather delightful. It hasn't been without its challenges but it was so much better then the one before it that it was heaven sent, literally! I can tell we are entering a new chapter and I am not sure what it will mean for us. Stew is in his third year which is totally different from his first and second year. He will be gone a lot...I feel so cut off from him. I cant get a hold of him during the day and when he is home it feels so fleeting and hurried. I hate waking up every morning to find him gone and not remembering when he left. Which also means good bye to my daily alone time doing my morning runs. So sad.

Our kids are growing up so much. Benjie is crawling all over the house and it freaks me out when I realize I have no idea where he is and then find him in the bathroom eating something funny off the floor. Yuck. And the three year old tantrums are so much worse then the two year old ones. Bridger has always been so dramatic and passionate about everything he feels and when he feels sad, mad, or grumpy watch out. Not that my two year old is not full of drama and tantrums herself. The combined forces of these two is really something. Half the time I am have no idea what to do with them as they scream for thirty minutes about their broken "food sticks".

I have to admit I am feeling a little lost in this new place and pace of life. I have to adapt a lot and I feel so un- able to do so after coming home from our week long vacation time. I want to get settled here in Reno and get back to the daily grind but I realize I am only here for a couple weeks and so I just feel overwhelmed, unmotivated, and at a loss. I have so much to do and I don't want to do any of it. I feel petrified. I try to get things done but day after day my to do list is just as long as the day before. I am having so much dread for the next six months because I know I will miss my husband so much and I know it will be really hard on the kids to not have their daddy around, to be in other homes other then our own, and to have a stressed out tired mommy. Stewart gave Bridger a blessing the other day and blessed him that he would not feel abandoned when his daddy was gone. I know that will be a struggle for Bridger. How do you consul your children when they are crying for their daddy and he is not coming home for a really long time? We'll be fine. I just don't want to take this step into the future. Am I ready? Am I really grown up enough? ... Well, I guess all I can do is grit my teeth, slap on a smile, and brace myself for my life that is coming at me ready or not. Oh, and pray a lot. :)

Love'n Our Independence Day

We were festive. We were in Utah. We were with tons of wonderful family. We partied at the parade.We ate tons of really awesome food. We caught up with the Larsens at the reunion. We did fireworks. We didn't want to leave. We loved our Independence day.

Trying to get a good pic of the cousins at the parade
still trying...:)
being a little goofy ;)
Who needs to watch the parade when you've got Aunt Meridee's RED HAT?!?!?
Together at the Larsen Family Reunion :)
Happy 4th of JULY!!!

Hot Summer Days in Vegas

Stewart had a week of training to complete in Vegas before he started his third year rotations so we packed up the family and headed to "Mama" and "Papa's" house. We had a really REALLY fun time. During the day the lady folk and the kids played in the sun and in the evenings we played card games and watched movies. We stayed up too late every night and enjoyed every minute of it. Mom and Dad, thanks for always making room for us.

In Vegas they have all these fun parks that are completely shaded and have water squirt things. So much fun. Bridger called the one we went to "The special water park. With slides and swings." I am jealous that we don't have these parks in Reno.

Oh, and we ate a lot of Popsicles too! :)

You can tell these two are cousins for sure. Such dolls!

Benjie's first Popsicle! He loved it.

And Whit, she loves them too. ;)

And the kids verdict of their time in Vegas? "I want to stay here forEVER!"

"Y" I still got it

When I moved to Utah for school my freshman ward did a hike to the "Y". I got it stuck in my head that I was going to run it someday. It took me a couple weeks to get used to the elevation but soon I was running from Hinckley Hall to the tippy top of the Y every Saturday. I was in the best shape. I would power up not just the switchbacks but the long road and steep hills just to get to the trail head like it was a walk in the park. But soon it was Fall and with school and cold weather my running the Y stopped. I gained 20 pounds got married and for a couple years wondered if I'd ever make it back up to the top of the Y. After having Bridger I began training to run it but finding a free Saturday with us both in full time school and with a new baby it was hard. Just as I was starting to run/hike the Y again I found out I was pregnant. So after Angeli was born I knew I had to run it again to prove to myself that I was not going to become a frumpy mom at 22. I worked hard and got back in shape and ran the Y again. I found it was sort of too easy. So I started running from the creamery on 9th to add to the degree of difficulty. I wanted to run from Hinckely Hall again but I had some vein surgeries and we moved before I could. So two years later, living a state away, and another baby added to the mix I wondered if it would ever happen again. A couple weeks ago I told Stewart that next time we made it to Utah I was going to try and run the Y once more thinking that opportunity was really far away. But over the 4th we found ourselves in Utah. Keeping true to my word the morning of the 4th I woke up at 5:30 am, threw on my running clothes, and gave it my best effort. I thought I would not be able to do it. BUT I totally did it! And it was easy! It took me 38 minutes to get to the top. I got to the last switchback and realized I was almost there and sprinted the last bit. I was so excited that I could do it. After six years and giving birth to three kids I still got it! I haven't totally lost touch with that young totally in shape girl who met and hooked my hubby. And knowing that somehow means a lot to me. Knowing that I can set and accomplish goals that seem at best difficult, with many obstacles, and lots of potential excuses means something to this frumpy mom at 24. Heck, not only can I climb mountains I can run them.:)