Flashback Friday: 5 Years and Counting...

What an amazing 5 years this has been. I have the best husband in the world. He has made my dreams come true and continues to surprise me every day with how much I can be in love with someone. He truly is my best friend and I cannot imagine my world without him in it. 5 Years ago today, Nate and I were married in the Las Vegas Temple. As I look back and remember the events of the day... it went something like this:

-woke up WAY too early to get ready. My mom and I drove to the temple, only a couple blocks away, we got pulled over. Yes, the day of my wedding, we get pulled over because of expired plates. My mom then informs me that they've been expired for about 3 months and just hasn't had the time to renew them. Needless to say, we were late to the temple.

-The ceremony was AMAZING! As I remember it, Nate and I just cried through the whole thing. So much for wedding day makeup. We had friends show up and surprise us that we never thought would come. It was the best day ever!

-I remember my nephew Spencer being obsessed with this snail he found that somehow made it into all the family wedding pictures! haha!

-It was GORGEOUS that day. VERY hot. We were DYING by the time we were done taking pictures.

-My friend Robyn was there to be my sidekick and help me get dressed back in my dress for the reception at my parents house. While trying to put my slip on, with all the thousands of layers of toole, we found a million lady bugs that had made their home there earlier that afternoon during picture time. So, we spent a good hour or so picking out ladybugs.

-Reception time came and the chocolate fountain we had ordered hadn't arrived yet. The girl who was suppose to bring it decided to stop off at a friends house before coming to my reception which made her extremely late, then she tried to warm up the chocolate too fast and it burnt, then spilled it onto my parents patio to which still has a big chocolate stain in the cement!

-The food was AMAZING! My mom did such a great job planning and carrying through our reception. We had lights all over the backyard, a gazebo for the food lights all over the front yard, candles everywhere, flowers everywhere.. chocolate covered strawberrie boquets... so pretty.

-Two days before our wedding, my parents had gravel delivered to their front yard, to which I was shoveling for the entire day to have it ready for the reception. The night before the wedding, I was mowing the lawn. It was quite eventful.

-On our honeymoon, I got extremely sick and was throwing up for two days. I remember laying on the bathroom floor in the middle of the night at our hotel and yelling for Nate to bring me a blanket... yeah, he never heard me or woke up. It was awesome.

-because of being so sick, I couldn't make the drive back to Utah so we ended up spending a night of our honeymoon at my parents house! Poor Nate!

-A week later, we had a GORGEOUS reception in Orem, thanks to Nate's parents. We had a waterfall backdrop, a canopy of lights, an ice bowl for the punch... amazing.

It was such an unforgetable time in our lives and i'm so glad we have this date to always remember those special moments and funny moments of the start of our family.

And Thanks to Nate for making my life such an amazing one.

Happy Anniversary!

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What's in my Nose?

First of all, check out the adorable scarf her aunt Summer made for her. She's such a little model.

So, I have a few short and funny stories to share about Hailey. Recently, she has decided to keep me even MORE on my toes, which I didn't think was possible. Yes, it's true.

To begin, the other night, We thought we were going to be on our way to the emergency room. A normal, usual night of getting ready for bed, brushing teeth, getting dressed, well, almost, when she bolted out of my grip and into the hallway. I called after her and ran to the doorway as I saw the most horrific sight. She was running so fast and tried to flip around really fast to slide down the stairs on her tummy, feet first as she does often. Well, the momentum had the best of her. She was running so fast that when she flipped herself around, she basically LAUNCHED herself over the stairs and was about 2 feet above the stairs, perpendicular with her feet first. Next, was the scariest moment yet. Her face SLAMMED into the stair and she hit so hard that it bounced her completely up on her feet where she then fell backwards down the stairs. The thought going through my mind behind the immediate tears were either she broke her face, or she knocked herself out. Well, the scream that came from her made it evident that she didn't knock herself out, and after poking and prodding at her face and whispering in her ear and keeping her awake for awhile to make sure she was ok, she settled into bed with tears still flowing. It was so sad. Thank goodness she's ok.

Second, she stuck a freeze dried fruit snack up her nose today that I had to fish out. THEN tells me that Addy has one too! GREAT!

Third, she took a Peter Pan off the stage at Nate's basketball game last night. Luckily, I was able to catch her in-between her legs before slamming her head into the gym floor.



Fourth, she constantly repeats to us that 'we don't eat poop'! (not sure where that one came from)

Fifth, Nate woke up to her standing next to our bed the other morning and said "hey girl, what time is it?" to which she immediately replied "time to get a watch dad". (we never say that so we don't know where she picked that one up)

Sixth and so sweet, every night before going to bed, she reminds us to turn on her fan, then says "sweet dreams" and then waits for us to reply with the same words before she hits the pillow and is off to slumber land.



Seventh, says her prayers all by herself and makes sure to add "thank you for grandpa and grandma" followed by "thank you for dinosaurs"

Last but not least, I took her to the gym with me the other day and when I went to pick her up from child care, she came running to me explaining in her own way that a little boy hurt her. Her words were "boy hurt you! pushed you! hit you!" So I explained to her that she just needs to tell him not to do that anymore (when in reality, I was thinking.. GO GET HIM BACK! haha.. not really...) we went home, she explained her sad story to Nate and he told her the same thing I did. The next morning, she woke up and I was getting Addy ready, she came in my room and I asked if she wanted to go to the gym again and she got all excited and this is what she said "YAY! and play with toys! and slide! and hit somebody!" yeah, I know what she really meant, but it just came out funny. Again, we had to explain to her that we don't hit even when provoked.

Crazy and busy and insanely fearless as she is, she is one of the sweetest little girls I have ever known.

We love you Hailey Rain!

Just Venting

I just have to vent. I HATE the winter. I know I have mentioned this before in past blog entries, but it's so true.. and the more winter I have to endure, the more I hate it and become extremely bitter by it.

Reason #1.. my kids are sick.. AGAIN! Hailey had the flu last week and I just hate puke. I don't know anyone that likes it, but when your little toddler throws up all in her bed and all over her favorite blankets and tinker bell pillow case (which she can't sleep without) it makes you just want to throw everything away that got infested with puke. Who wants that put through their washing machine! Poor Hailey. She got over it pretty quick.. but even still, it's awful to watch your kids be so unhappy and yucky.

Addy, is a different story. She has pretty much been sick her whole life. I'm so tired of it.. I could scream.. which I actually have done recently. She has been in and out of the doctor, hospital and specialists and i'm just so sick of it. She threw up this past week which was expected with how Hailey was feeling and I thought that was the end of it.. well, now its something new and i'm afraid its not just the usual teething issue. I'm pretty sure she might have something else going on. But who knows.. poor thing. She wakes up from a two hour nap and is ready and wanting to go back down a half hour later. Her face is puffy, her eyes are glistened with moisture and she is pretty clingy and just miserable. I know it's not an earache and I know its different than the usual flu.. so if it's not improving by tomorrow, i'm taking her in I think.

Winter just seems to bring on illness and this reason alone is enough for me to want to move to a more permanently warm climate. Not that it will ever happen. New Carpet and a New City just aren't in the cards for me, i'm afraid.

Reason #2... I have appointmens and responsibilities that more often than I would like take me away from home and from my kids. While this may not be such an issue, who would want to babysit sick children while i'm off doing whatever responsibility I have.. like taking my cat to the vet for shots and appointments I have that Nate can't help with for reasons like work or callings.. ugh.. the trials.

Reason #3... It's just cold and I don't like it.

Marley Luke

I'm a week late on this post, but I wanted to welcome the newest memeber of the Luke Family. Marley Luke was born on Feb. 10th and weighed in at 7lb. 4oz. She is, as you can see.. Adorable and we're so glad she's here! Congrats Jared & Jenna, Gavin and Preston! Can't wait to meet our new little niece and cousin in person!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Hailey and Addy got an unexpected delivery today... ROSES...from Daddy! So, naturally, I had to take some pictures. Hailey was smelling them constantly, and Addy just wanted to eat them... Just like everything else!







We hope you all have a great Valentine's Day!

Meet Scratch!

Scratch is the newest member of our family! He's two months old and the best part is, he's potty trained and already sleeps through the night! :-)

Hailey absolutely LOVES him to death and the feeling is mutual. He pretty much follows her around all day long.

Addy is still trying to figure out what he is exactly! :-)

chest pain and scary knocks

Let me just tell you what happened to me the other night. Some of you have already heard this story, but I felt it was blog-worthy.

Anyone have CRAZY dreams?? Well, I use to not dream very much because i'm an extremely light sleeper. Let's just say that Nate has to turn his computer OFF at night because I can hear the sound of it running and it keeps me awake!

So, the other night, I had a dream that pretty much scared the pants right off me. This is what happened.

All I remember from the dream is that Hailey was having struggles. She was getting a little upset so I went downstairs to get something for her when Nate started to ask her what was wrong. So, I shouted up the stairs to tell him when he came running down the stairs to see what it was I had said... apparently, I didn't shout loud enough. For some reason, I started gasping for air (in the dream) and was clutching at my chest becaues I couldn't breathe. He came all the way down the stairs to see what was wrong and I fell to the floor not being able to breathe and doing everything I could to get some air.

Well, not such a weird dream, right? WRONG... the next thing I know, Nate is over me SHAKING me to wake up. As I wake up, I gasped for air and he was asking if I was ok. K, People, He said I was hyperventillating! WHAT? It really freaked him out and said I couldn't breathe so he was shaking me to see if he could wake me up! Yeah! SCARY!

The weird part is (since that isn't weird enough) that my chest was hurting SO bad after that dream. You know when you haven't worked out for awhile and you run like 100 miles and feel like your lungs and chest is going to collapse???? yeah, that's what it felt like.. and it felt like my heart was on FIRE! So weird.. I went to the chiropractor the next morning because I was still having pain.. but i'm feeling better now. So weird.

OH... and the other night... at about 12:30 after we had gone to bed and all our lights were out, I heard a knock at our door.

FREAKED me out, so I woke up Nate and he went down to check out what it was. Meanwhile, i'm freaking out and I had THE worst feeling come over me. He came back to bed and said there wasn't anyone there.. then I made him go check all the doors to make sure they were locked (even though secretly I knew they were because i'm pretty anal about that). We called Danny, who lives in our basement and was working that night (doing security) and he said he would come check out the area. He did and found the cops BUSTING some guy a couple houses away from ours! WHAT THE???????

Yeah, I've had my fair share of crazy nights this past week!

BIG NEWS for such Little Girls!!!

Hailey:


Sweet Hailey... growing up so fast. No longer in diapers and thinks she's pretty hot stuff because of it. She holds conversations with me like she's my friend just hanging out. I can't get over how smart she is. While driving around town, she points out places that we are getting close to and asks if we can go there. She remembers things that I wouldn't dream of remembering and best of all, tells Nate and I "I love you SO MUCH!" It melts my heart. She is still nonstop and runs around here like the energizer bunny. I am usually completely wiped out by the end of the day, but it's worth it. She loves taking care of her baby sister and gets extremely mad at me when I get Addy out of her crib. As soon as she hears Addy waking up in the monitor, she says "i'll go get her mommy." and she runs upstairs and climbs into her crib and talks to her for a few minutes till I get there.


Addy:


Little Addy... always changing. Sits up so big all by herself, eats crackers and pretty much wants anything else Nate and I are eating. She usually helps me eat my dinner. EXTREMELY enjoys drinking water out of regular cups... Wants nothing to do with sippy cups. She has her two bottom teeth which decided to show up on Christmas. At 7 months, weighs a whopping 20lbs 13oz.!! She loves to just sit around and watch Hailey play. Smiles constantly! She is dying to crawl and tries really hard at it.

I thought Hailey grew up way too fast, but I can't believe how fast the second child goes by.. I have no idea where the time went!

this is the best job in the world!

Lead Poisoning & CPSIA

I stole this excerpt from my sister in law. I have heard and read some about this particular topic and it frankly disgusts me! I thought this was a free country and it's turning into something we can't even live comfortably in. Please read and pass it on. It's really important that we do something to protect our children. We should have the freedom to read and write and challenge our minds and that is something the government is wanting to take away from us. I don't like it and I'm so worried for what it will be like once my kids are old enough to have it effect them... oh wait, they ARE old enough... it's not an age issue here, its a moral issue, in my mind.

This is an excerpt from Etsy.com. Please read it...This law has the potential to have a HUGE impact on all of us.


As parents and concerned citizens I’m sure most of us at one time or another have been confronted with the question of lead poisoning. But have you asked yourself what your government is doing to protect your children from lead contained in toys? The answer? They're banning toys, taking books from schools and libraries, hurting low income families, killing entrepreneurial spirit and risking putting the economy in an even greater depression than we've seen in decades. I'd like to introduce you to their solution: the CPSIA.

Do you know about the CPSIA? No? Then I ask you to take a few minutes to find out about it.The CPSIA stands for Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a new set of laws that will come into effect on 10 February, 2009 and will impact many, many people in a negative way.

Make no mistake, this is very real. View it for yourself. If Forbes, the American Library Association and numerous other media are paying attention, perhaps you should too. How will these new laws affect you? Well, here are a few examples:

To the Parents of Young Students: Due to the new law, expect to see the cost of school supplies sky rocket. While those paper clips weren't originally intended for your student to use, they will need to be tested now that your 11-year-old needs them for his school project. This law applies to any and all school supplies (textbooks, pencils, crayons, paper, etc.) being used by children under 12.

To the Avid Reader: Due to the new law, all children's books will be pulled from library and school shelves, as there is no exemption for them. That’s okay though, there's always television. Our children don’t need to learn the love of reading after all.Article from the American Library Association http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1322

To the Lover of All Things Handmade: Due to the new law, you will now be given a cotton ball and an instruction manual so you can make it yourself since that blanket you originally had your eye on for $50 will now cost you around $1,000 after it's passed testing. It won't even be the one-of-a-kind blanket you were hoping for. Items are destroyed in the testing process making one-of-a-kind items virtually impossible. So that gorgeous hand-knit hat you bought your child this past winter won’t be available next winter.

To the Environmentalist: Due to the new law, all items in non-compliance will now be dumped into our already overflowing landfills. Imagine not just products from the small business owners, but the Big Box Stores as well. You can't sell it so you must toss it. Or be potentially sued for selling it. You can't even give them away. If you are caught, it is still a violation.

To the Second-Hand Shopper: Due to the new law, you will now need to spend $20 for that brand new pair of jeans for your 2-year old, rather than shop at the Goodwill for second hand. Many resale shops are eliminating children's items all together to avoid future lawsuits.

To the Entrepreneur:Due to this new law, you will be forced to adhere to strict testing of your unique products or discontinue to make and/or sell them. Small businesses will be likely to be unable to afford the cost of testing and be forced to close up shop. Due to the current economic state, you'll have to hope for the best when it comes to finding a new job in Corporate America.

To the Antique Toy Collector: Due to the new law, you'd better start buying now because it's all going to private collection and will no longer be available to purchase. “Because the new rules apply retroactively, toys and clothes already on the shelf will have to be thrown out if they aren't certified as safe.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123189645948879745.html


To the American Economy: Already struggling under an economy that hasn’t been this weak in decades, the American economy will be hit harder with the inevitable loss of jobs and revenues from suppliers, small businesses and consumers. The required testing is far too costly and restrictive for small businesses or individuals to undertake.


To the Worldwide Economy: Due to this new law, many foreign manufacturers have already pulled out of the US market. You can imagine the impact of this on their businesses.


If you think this is exaggerating, here is a recent article from Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/16/cpsia-safety-toys-oped-cx_wo_0116olson.html
*{skip the add and read the article!}


And for those of you prepared to be stupefied and boggled, The New Law
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html
Did you know? If this upsets or alarms you, please react.

I'll tell you what...it alarmed me, that's for sure! I'm all for keeping our children safe, but this is absurd.

This was a story done just last night on Fox 13 news
http://www.fox13now.com/news/kstu-story-lead-law-to-go-into-effect-feb-10,0,711932.story

Today (Wed. the 28th) has been set aside for bloggers to make a point of helping EVERYONE know about this. If you want to react and aren't sure how...blog about it.

Thanks for reading!

Addy's Cardiology Appointment

Today was the dreaded day at Primary Childrens Hospital. She had to go to see a cardiology specialist about her heart murmur. Her doctor was concerned that it was worse than just a simple murmur. Well, the cardiologist today ran some tests and found that there was no reason to be concerned anymore because the murmur was one that is normal and she shouldn't have any problems with it in her life. THANK GOODNESS! One more health issue down with little Addy.