Here is a clip from Asa's first ever soccer game. As you will see, he was completely uninterested in playing soccer in any way, shape or form. He was also crazy tired as it had been a full day with no nap. I just sat there and died laughing for the entire 30 minutes they "played". Hopefully over time, and with a well-rested boy, we might see our little dude kick the ball...or maybe run with the group...or maybe stand near the group. Hmmm...we'll see. Until then, enjoy your laugh for the day!!!
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
Oh Mom!
My mom has a smart phone. It has tiny, itty bitty keys. Texting is hard on those itty bitty keys. Instead she does voice command texting which can can turn out equally hazardous. Here is the latest text message I received from my mom. She was trying to work out the details of a lunch we were planning together for a day at the cabin. Well...just read...and crack up at this hilarity!
"Annie, we have been assigned to lunch for Sunday at the park. If what is the pick up a package of cheese and a large package Sorry. If we each get a large package of lunch meat and a loaf of bread is a package I buy a new set of photos of some kind I hate you. I'm going to my kindlem. Better yet just call me."
Yeah...I did just call her and the lunch we planned turned out great. Also, she doesn't hate me.
"Annie, we have been assigned to lunch for Sunday at the park. If what is the pick up a package of cheese and a large package Sorry. If we each get a large package of lunch meat and a loaf of bread is a package I buy a new set of photos of some kind I hate you. I'm going to my kindlem. Better yet just call me."
Yeah...I did just call her and the lunch we planned turned out great. Also, she doesn't hate me.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Sweet Play Time
This summer has been awesome and will continue to be awesome for two more weeks! Since Berkeley got back from Greece, he has not been working and has been going back to school. That's one great thing about the military. The education benefits make it possible for Berkeley to go to school full time not have to work. During the summer, he has only taken two classes, so the kids and I have been in Heaven having him around most of the time. He took his final on Friday, so now he doesn't even have school for the next weeks. It is amazing to wake up and say, "What fun things should we do today?!" I know the glory of this little phase is going to end fast when the next semester gets here, but I am going to soak it up while I can. Berkeley and I always say that life would be near perfect if no one ever had to work and could just spend time together as families.
As for me, I had my 28th birthday and it was awesome! I went on a mommy/son date with Asa in the morning. I took him mini-golfing for the first time. He pretty much bagged the club and did a lot of throwing/kicking/placing the golf ball into the hole. When he wasn't making holes in 100, he was doing a lot of climbing around/on/over the course decor. It was great. After that, my mom came over and babysat our kids while Berk and I spent 3 glorious hours playing like kids at Cherry Hill. We must have gone down the water slides 50 times. We cruised on tubes on the lazy river and played in the pool. It was super relaxing and so much fun. In other news, I have been training for the Salt Lake City Half Marathon. It's in three weeks and I'm super excited about it. It's funny to think that just a year ago I totally loathed running, especially distance running, and now I am out running no less that 4 miles and on Saturday I ran 9 miles. I am running 4 days a week and I just love it. I love tuning out everything except for the awesome music I have compiled on my playlist. I will be training up to 11 miles, so hopefully the extra two miles of the half marathon won't do me in! Pictures to come.
The kids are awesome and so much fun. Asa is now 3.5 years old and he is highly imaginative. He has moved out of the dinosaur obsession and is now all about superheroes. It is always sad to see the end of a phase. The dinosaur phase was a HUGE part of our lives for so long, so now it is sad for me to see his "dino bucket" go untouched most of the time. He is growing up so fast. He loves helping me in the garden and is always asking to go "check on the veggies". He is best friends with his cousin, Summer, who is also 3. They play so hard all day. He is very loving and always gives hugs and snuggles and kisses. He is a cautious little guy and is hyper careful. He doesn't much like swimming or being in the bike trailer or doing anything that's fast or can cause injury. That pretty much rules out a lot of little boy activities! Berkeley and I are hoping he will outgrow some of his fears and be willing to enjoy many more activities. Hazel, on the other hand, throws all caution to the wind and is completely fearless! She LOVES water and anything fast and anything potentially dangerous. I honestly pat myself on the back every night for keeping Hazel alive for another day! She is beginning to say quite a few words and signs some as well. She loves to spin in circles, dance and stomp her feet. She is always dirty and usually gets two baths a day unless I keep her inside! She likes watching Signing Time and Baby Einstein shows. She loves to eat and will try (and like) most everything we give to her. She still only has 4 teeth (at 15 months old!) and is slowly getting a 5th. She has 1 tooth on top, three on bottom and one more is coming in on top. She makes this hilarious "cheese face" where she gives a silly huge smile and breathes loudly through her nose. We love our two little ones.
I will sum up this post (and the summer so far) with some pictures taken the last couple months.
As for me, I had my 28th birthday and it was awesome! I went on a mommy/son date with Asa in the morning. I took him mini-golfing for the first time. He pretty much bagged the club and did a lot of throwing/kicking/placing the golf ball into the hole. When he wasn't making holes in 100, he was doing a lot of climbing around/on/over the course decor. It was great. After that, my mom came over and babysat our kids while Berk and I spent 3 glorious hours playing like kids at Cherry Hill. We must have gone down the water slides 50 times. We cruised on tubes on the lazy river and played in the pool. It was super relaxing and so much fun. In other news, I have been training for the Salt Lake City Half Marathon. It's in three weeks and I'm super excited about it. It's funny to think that just a year ago I totally loathed running, especially distance running, and now I am out running no less that 4 miles and on Saturday I ran 9 miles. I am running 4 days a week and I just love it. I love tuning out everything except for the awesome music I have compiled on my playlist. I will be training up to 11 miles, so hopefully the extra two miles of the half marathon won't do me in! Pictures to come.
The kids are awesome and so much fun. Asa is now 3.5 years old and he is highly imaginative. He has moved out of the dinosaur obsession and is now all about superheroes. It is always sad to see the end of a phase. The dinosaur phase was a HUGE part of our lives for so long, so now it is sad for me to see his "dino bucket" go untouched most of the time. He is growing up so fast. He loves helping me in the garden and is always asking to go "check on the veggies". He is best friends with his cousin, Summer, who is also 3. They play so hard all day. He is very loving and always gives hugs and snuggles and kisses. He is a cautious little guy and is hyper careful. He doesn't much like swimming or being in the bike trailer or doing anything that's fast or can cause injury. That pretty much rules out a lot of little boy activities! Berkeley and I are hoping he will outgrow some of his fears and be willing to enjoy many more activities. Hazel, on the other hand, throws all caution to the wind and is completely fearless! She LOVES water and anything fast and anything potentially dangerous. I honestly pat myself on the back every night for keeping Hazel alive for another day! She is beginning to say quite a few words and signs some as well. She loves to spin in circles, dance and stomp her feet. She is always dirty and usually gets two baths a day unless I keep her inside! She likes watching Signing Time and Baby Einstein shows. She loves to eat and will try (and like) most everything we give to her. She still only has 4 teeth (at 15 months old!) and is slowly getting a 5th. She has 1 tooth on top, three on bottom and one more is coming in on top. She makes this hilarious "cheese face" where she gives a silly huge smile and breathes loudly through her nose. We love our two little ones.
I will sum up this post (and the summer so far) with some pictures taken the last couple months.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Wonderful Summer Time!
Saturday, April 28, 2012
I Will Survive After All.
Today is Saturday. Berkeley gets home Thursday. Even though it is only 5 days away, it feels like there is still a year left in this deployment. The more excited you are for something, the LOOOOONGER each approaching day tends to feel. Right now the kids are both in bed and I'm dead tired. This is my blog so I am going to take a paragraph to brag about myself. I deserve that, right?! Berkeley has been gone nearly 4 months and during that time, I have managed two young kids 24 hours a day, survived on minimal sleep, maintained a clean(ish) home, tilled and weeded and maintained a large garden area, planted my own veggie starters, exercised 6 days per week, lost 19 pounds, and I am still alive! This experience has once again shown me that I am much more capable than I think I am. I am so proud of myself but nothing compares to my excitement for Berkeley to be home with us again. I'm tired and totally burned out. I honestly have the deepest respect for single parents. I think about doing this routine forever and it makes me want to run away and hide. Deployment for Berkeley has gone well. He was given the "Best Damn Cop" award. No joke, that's what it's called, and he received another Air Force coin for his service. He completed his semester of school online while in Greece. He was able to do some cool hikes, go rock climbing, eat good food, go to a spa where fish ate the dead skin off his legs and feet, see some super old monasteries, work out a lot, and Skype with us! Although it sounds fun, he is super ready to come home. Before Berkeley left, he have me a Priesthood blessing in which I was blessed to be able to find much joy in spending time with our kids. I can honestly say that this blessing came to fruition. As exhausting as it has been, watching the kids learn and grow the last 4 months has been so fun. I want to write a little bit about each of them.
Asa. Oh, Asa. He is quite a character. He has a personality way to big for his little 3 year old body. He is so energetic, animated and charismatic. He has a huge vocabulary and sometimes amazes me with his intellect. He has become quite inquisitive and has begun asking me tough questions that I have not been prepared for such as: Where is Heaven? How can Jesus hear us if he is far away? Is Jesus magic like Santa Clause? Etc. When he finds something he is interested in, he gets totally absorbed. Right now dinosaurs are his whole world. He knows most of their names and it is adorable to hear him say Carnotaurus, Brachiosaurus, Parasaurolophus, T-Rex, Stegosaurus, Velocoraptor, Triceratops, Spineasaurus, and more! It's amazing the things a 3 year old's mind can retain. We play dinosaurs ALL DAY. If we aren't playing dinosaurs, then we are playing with the playground ball. He loves for me to roll it to him kick ball style to he can kick it back to me. He is learning to catch and also to hit balls with a bat or racket. I think we may have an athlete on our hands if he sticks to it. He loves for me to sing and tell him stories. He loves my music. His favorite songs are "Jessie's Girl", "Marry You", "Love Like Woe", "Rolling in the Deep", and many others. He picks up lyrics quickly and sings them often. He has also started to make up his own songs which totally cracks me up. He loves to watch TV. I have to really be careful because it is easy to let him watch too much. His absolute favorite show right now is Busytown Mysteries. He also loves Dinosaur Train, Bob the Builder, Curious George, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, and Backyardigans. He is great bike rider and still absolutely loves his battery powered tractor. (Thanks again Curtis and Becca Ward!) He loves to talk to people. He always asks strangers what their name is and shows them whatever toy he happens to be carrying around with him. I love his sweet little face and love his voice. I love how often he says "I love you" and wants cuddles. I could go on all day about him.
Hazel. I can't get enough of this little girl. I love her to pieces and my heart swells just thinking about her. She is a happy, independent, BUSY little girl. She is into EVERYTHING. She is perfectly content to wander the house and explore. She walks perfectly (started at 9 months), climbs up on everything she can, makes huge messes whenever possible, gives me heart attacks with how daring she is, and fills our home with smiles and giggles. She is learning to sign and talk simultaneously! She signs "Eat", "More" and "All Done". She says mama, dada, ba-ba (bottle), baaaa(bath), poo poo. She has started dancing when she hears music. She LOVES food but has no teeth, so she is still limited in her options. She gets so mad when we have food that she can't have. Actually, she did just cut her first tooth TODAY so hopefully more will come through soon. She knows how to throw tantrums and knows how to bug her brother. They already quarrel. She loves to lug around her soft blanket and I think she may develop quite an attachment to it because Asa was this way with his little stuffed puppy and he STILL loves that thing. I love going in to get Hazel after she naps because she is extra smiley and so excited to see me when I open the door. She plays peek a boo with her blanket. She will pull it over her face, wait for me to say "Where is Hazel" and then pull it down super fast. She is an easy, happy-go-lucky baby. I love life with her in it. She is so beautiful and so sweet.
OK, now I really need to go to bed. When I get a chance, most likely after Berkeley gets home, I will sit down and upload pics and videos. Till next time...
Asa. Oh, Asa. He is quite a character. He has a personality way to big for his little 3 year old body. He is so energetic, animated and charismatic. He has a huge vocabulary and sometimes amazes me with his intellect. He has become quite inquisitive and has begun asking me tough questions that I have not been prepared for such as: Where is Heaven? How can Jesus hear us if he is far away? Is Jesus magic like Santa Clause? Etc. When he finds something he is interested in, he gets totally absorbed. Right now dinosaurs are his whole world. He knows most of their names and it is adorable to hear him say Carnotaurus, Brachiosaurus, Parasaurolophus, T-Rex, Stegosaurus, Velocoraptor, Triceratops, Spineasaurus, and more! It's amazing the things a 3 year old's mind can retain. We play dinosaurs ALL DAY. If we aren't playing dinosaurs, then we are playing with the playground ball. He loves for me to roll it to him kick ball style to he can kick it back to me. He is learning to catch and also to hit balls with a bat or racket. I think we may have an athlete on our hands if he sticks to it. He loves for me to sing and tell him stories. He loves my music. His favorite songs are "Jessie's Girl", "Marry You", "Love Like Woe", "Rolling in the Deep", and many others. He picks up lyrics quickly and sings them often. He has also started to make up his own songs which totally cracks me up. He loves to watch TV. I have to really be careful because it is easy to let him watch too much. His absolute favorite show right now is Busytown Mysteries. He also loves Dinosaur Train, Bob the Builder, Curious George, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, and Backyardigans. He is great bike rider and still absolutely loves his battery powered tractor. (Thanks again Curtis and Becca Ward!) He loves to talk to people. He always asks strangers what their name is and shows them whatever toy he happens to be carrying around with him. I love his sweet little face and love his voice. I love how often he says "I love you" and wants cuddles. I could go on all day about him.
Hazel. I can't get enough of this little girl. I love her to pieces and my heart swells just thinking about her. She is a happy, independent, BUSY little girl. She is into EVERYTHING. She is perfectly content to wander the house and explore. She walks perfectly (started at 9 months), climbs up on everything she can, makes huge messes whenever possible, gives me heart attacks with how daring she is, and fills our home with smiles and giggles. She is learning to sign and talk simultaneously! She signs "Eat", "More" and "All Done". She says mama, dada, ba-ba (bottle), baaaa(bath), poo poo. She has started dancing when she hears music. She LOVES food but has no teeth, so she is still limited in her options. She gets so mad when we have food that she can't have. Actually, she did just cut her first tooth TODAY so hopefully more will come through soon. She knows how to throw tantrums and knows how to bug her brother. They already quarrel. She loves to lug around her soft blanket and I think she may develop quite an attachment to it because Asa was this way with his little stuffed puppy and he STILL loves that thing. I love going in to get Hazel after she naps because she is extra smiley and so excited to see me when I open the door. She plays peek a boo with her blanket. She will pull it over her face, wait for me to say "Where is Hazel" and then pull it down super fast. She is an easy, happy-go-lucky baby. I love life with her in it. She is so beautiful and so sweet.
OK, now I really need to go to bed. When I get a chance, most likely after Berkeley gets home, I will sit down and upload pics and videos. Till next time...
Friday, March 16, 2012
And I'm Not Done Yet!
So, I have been busting my butt to get into shape the last 10 weeks. When Berkeley left, I set a goal to lose 15 lbs by the time he got home. Well, I am proud to say that he still has 7 weeks left in Greece and I have already lost 11 lbs. Hopefully it will be easy to lose the last 4 lbs and then maybe some extra. I feel so much better and happier in general. Here are some progress pics. Ugh, I hate looking at the before picture, but it does make me feel great about how far I've come. Ignore my wet, post-shower hair in the second pic.
More progress pics to come as I continue to reach my goals. For those of you who have been asking, I have been doing Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 program. I did once entirely and am halfway through it again. I hope to have done it three times by the time Berk gets home. I have also been calorie counting (1250 per day). I have also been taking a supplement called SlimQuick for women. It has helped a ton to curb my appetite and reduce water weight. Anyway, there you have it!
More progress pics to come as I continue to reach my goals. For those of you who have been asking, I have been doing Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 program. I did once entirely and am halfway through it again. I hope to have done it three times by the time Berk gets home. I have also been calorie counting (1250 per day). I have also been taking a supplement called SlimQuick for women. It has helped a ton to curb my appetite and reduce water weight. Anyway, there you have it!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Deployment, Kids, Deployment, Kids
Based on the title of this blog post, you can see what my life revolves around right now. Berkeley has been on deployment to Greece for 7 weeks now and to say it totally sucks is an understatement. I hate being apart. I miss him like crazy. I miss his companionship and, of course, his HELP! Yikes, taking care of two little ones all day every day is super exhausting. My kids are crazy adorable and I love being a mom to them, but there is something to be said about the blessed hours of 5-8 pm when Daddy gets home and everyone gets a breath of fresh air. I could complain much more, but I think it will be better for my spirit to focus on the positive. We are nearly halfway through with only 8 weeks left. Asa turned 3 years old on the 20th of February. Asa has become a highly imaginitive little boy. He pretends all day long. His current obsession is with dinosaurs. He stomps around the house roaring from sun up to sun down. He is still in love with Tyrone the Mailman (from Backyardigans) and we play that game quite often too. He talks up a storm. He can be super tempermental and rude at times. Sharing has become the most difficult things to cope with in his little world. I am trying to figure out how to handle that. Hazel is happy and beautiful. She has begun to walk just this last week and will take 5-10 steps before falling or opting to crawl. In the last couple weeks, she has also learned to clap and point at things. She loves to eat!! She will eat anything I give her, but she hasn't got any teeth yet, so unfortunately she is still very limited. Last week she has tubes put in her ears, so hopefully we will be ear infection clear from here on out. She is much happier now, more vocal and more independent now that she can hear normally. She and Asa love eachother. They are always so happy to see eachother. They do fight though! I knew they would fight eventually but I had idea that it could start this early! Mostly their "fights" consist of Asa refusing to share or taking a toy from her. This causes Hazel to react with screams or cries. They are sure funny to watch though. I'm doing fine. Just taking life one day at a time right now. I'm trying to stay positive even though, honestly, I'm exhausted. Heaven help those women who have to deal with year long deployments. Shoot me if that ever happens to us. Regardless, I have made diet and exercise a priority, even if it means the kids are crying at me for 45 minutes straight while I get it done! I have been doing Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 program and I have managed to lose about 11lbs. I will be thrilled if I can lose about 8 more. I have started round two of the program this week and hope to do it a 3rd time before Berkeley gets back. We are planning to take a trip to Hawaii together (child-free) within the next 3-5 months, so that is a motivator to get in shape. Otherwise, life is rolling on. I sure hope it rolls quickly down hill for the second half of this deployment. I want my husband home!!
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