How we watch conference...

Or should I say how Colt watches Conference? He had to have his own little alcove underneath the computer desk the whole weekend. I thought it was too funny and of course (as the biased parent that I am) way too cute. Conference was wonderful and I was way too thrilled to hear the talk from Elder Ballard that was specifically for young mothers. LOVED it!

This past Friday night I had plans to go out with Chanel and Kristen to dinner. When we showed up at Kristen's house to pick her up, I was totally shocked to find a surprise baby shower instead. I even blushed. I just have to say how touched I was at all the work Chanel and Kristen did to put it together and for all the people who came! Thanks again girls! I was also impressed by the smooth lying abilities of Evan and Chanel. I am obviously a very trusting person because I ate up every single one.

Speaking of eating - I bought some chocolate Teddy Grahams today at the store "for Colton." If anyone has any ideas on how I can stop eating these things, that would be wonderful. Especially because Evan and I are now topping the scales at the exact same weight. Still I somehow seem to feel no shame and can't seem to get myself to stop eating these devil bears.

What we've been up to...

Has it really been a month since I last posted? I have to thank Chanel for these pictures, seeing as how she is documenting Colt's childhood for me. My mom is beside herself with gratitude. We crashed the neighboring neighborhood's Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning. I saw our Bishop there and couldn't stop myself from rambling on that I didn't belong there and was crashing the party. Maybe there's just something about the man that elicits confessions - I certainly couldn't keep my mouth shut. Embarrassing. Here's Colt ducking behind the starting line before it was time. I thought my dad would like the hat - we're teaching him young (and I love how he has to wear it backwards because that's how his dad does it).

I got Colt to pick up the eggs by telling him we were playing "Clean Up." I thought I was being pretty clever. Hey - it worked.

This last picture is of Colt at swim lessons with Chanel's little girl Lauren. Stinking cute. The class goes until I'm 3 weeks away from delivery. Hopefully the baby stays put - a poolside delivery is not what I have in mind.

My mom and sister came into town and it was so nice to have 4 extra (and willing) arms to help out. With the extra help, Evan and I were able to go out to a Denver Nuggets game and I lovingly gave him my hot dog that came with the ticket. Pretty much I hate hot dogs but I felt giving all the same.

We've also been going through a new phase (hopefully it's a phase). Colt can't get through the day without pulling off his pants and saying the whole time, "Pants Off!" While it's not such a problem at home, in public it gets to be a little embarrassing. Especially because Evan and I are firm believers in wearing pants. Thankfully, it's warming up so luckily for me it's simply a fashion preference and not a health hazard.

Valentines Pictures (Belated as always)

Yea for Evan! As one might gather from the previous post, Evan remembered Valentines Day. Remembered it and celebrated it. He did good - to put it mildly. Some flowers, some chocolate (DEFINITELY a good idea for the pregnant woman), a blog post, a night of bowling and a steakhouse. Another good idea for this Texan meat lovin' woman. Evan made sure to take a picture of me to post on the blog so here it is. Also, my first picture of me this pregnancy (this is for you Chanel). Only 10 weeks to go until baby #2 makes his arrival. I talked to my friend Rach who just welcomed her second and I don't know why but it scared me! I know that I've done this before but I'm having serious confidence issues on getting a human bowling ball (ha, ha) out of me. As an epidural lover, labor doesn't make me break into a sweat but pushing - I think I'm perspiring as I type. All I know is that Colt didn't get here easily and my doctor informed me that second children (especially if you have the same gender which is ahem...me) tend to be larger than the 1st. I need a serious confidence boost. Either way, he's gonna get here and I'm so looking forward to meeting him. Now if I could just convince Evan that Ernest is not an appropriate name for this child (not a joke folks...)

On another note, I've spent the last week here in Texas and am loving the weather! It will kill me to leave the 70 degree days. I even brought my capris. Mind you, they're not maternity and when I couldn't make them go past my thighs I decided it would have to be the thought that counts.

One more thing - I need to vent. Why is it when I take my child to a playground, library storytime, etc. that I always end up parenting someone else's child? Not because I want to. But because there's alway one kid pushing, shoving, hitting my child while the bully's mom is sitting there, oblivious, reading a magazine!?! Since when is it my job to stop your child from terrorizing others? Stop reading your magazine and be a mother, woman! I'm stepping off my soapbox for now.

Last but not least, Evan's pregnant picture. I could not make the man take a normal picture so I'm posting this in hopes that I might have a more convincing argument next time...

BE MINE!

Unfortunately, you don't get to here from Rebecca in this post. She struggles with getting pictures up of herself so I am helping her out with a dedicated Valentine post. She's such a great mom and wife. Plus she looks adorable when she's exhausted - which she will shortly get to relive with numero dos on his way. Here's a little Valentine Ryhme for you sweetie:


Flowers and chocolates are easy to buy
but they don't come close for this guy
to expressing my love and appreciation
for the hottest wife in the nation.

I love your sassy attitude;
you definitely have a spine.
So thanks for sticking with this dude.
Will you BE MY VALENTINE?!

I am officially embarrassed but oh well. I love you Babecca!

Pictures (Finally!)

I'm guessing that most of y'all are wondering if I really have ever taken a picture of my son. Here's my proof that we did document his 2nd birthday. If it seems a little over indulgent with how many pictures I posted - remember that I am trying to prove a point that I will take a picture every now and again. Oh and funny story on this cake. I was not a crafty mom and went for the whole ordering Colt's cake. That's just my style I guess. Well the best was when I told Evan that the cake cost $80 but Colt only "turns 2 once." That was such a priceless exchange (priceless for me, heart stopping for Evan). In fairness, the cake I did want really did cost $80 but I do have a little money sense. The relief that came over Evan when I said it was only $17 was unparalleled, I'm sure.
Blowing out the candles with Nana...

I'm loving the blue mustache.

The loot ... notice Colt's hand reaching for a present.

One of the favorites. He is loving anything to do with a truck - I should broaden that to anything with wheels.

Happy Birthday to my boys!

I've been taking a break from the internet in general, but I'm back ... again. And yet again, we have another pictureless post! We're still having technical difficulties with our memory card that has all of Colt's birthday pictures on it. Evan's one birthday picture is on our other memory card now resting comfortably in his friend's car ... in California. Long story.

So I'm wishing the boys in my life a belated happy birthday and will post pictures (at least of Colt) soon. We celebrated Colton's 2nd on December 28th and even though it's cliche, I can't believe he's two! I'm slowly coming to the realization that he's actually not my baby boy anymore - he's huge. Hence, why I'm doing this again so I have a little boy who actually wants to cuddle with me (or has to really since he can't lift his head).

Happy 28th to my man. He's so low maintenance with stuff like this, it's easy for me to get away with murder. But since it was a Saturday I wanted to do something special. I'd asked him what he really wanted and he said to go skiing with me. Lucky for me, I'm pregnant - I'm thinking of getting pregnant every winter just so I don't have to go ski with the man. But that would mean a LOT of kids so ... instead I took him "Indoor Skydiving." The man's already been bungee jumping, "outdoor" skydiving and everything else life threatening, but I wanted him to have some fun. It seems he did and I think I scored some serious points. Evan's the best kind of guy - really. I'm so lucky to have him and I'm hoping he knows this. If "indoor skydiving" didn't show him that, I'm hoping my fajita dinner did. Unfortunately for me, he loves to eat my meals as opposed to going out to eat. But for him and only him, it's worth it to me.

And a quick side note. For those who remember the great "Girl Scout cookie hunt" of 2007, we had a most welcome visitor come to our door on Saturday. I think I scared the little 8 year old girl scout when I opened the door and shouted excitedly, "You came!" I also think it was the easiest sell of her life. I bought 5 boxes and debated telling Evan - more for the fact of having to share them as opposed to the whole budget thing. I didn't think 5 boxes was that many (have you tasted the samoas?) but Evan's face seemed to say differently. Thank goodness I had the serious points left over from his birthday.

The Verdict

Evan should never underestimate a mother's instinct...it's a boy! So yeah, yeah, I thought it was a boy but really I had a 50/50 chance. This ultrasound was so different from Colton's. Colton wasn't moving, kept his legs firmly together and wouldn't even assure his mother that he had a left arm. Fast forward 2 years and we've got Baby Boy #2 who was such an active little guy. We knew what he was within the first 5 minutes. It's funny because the ultrasound tech didn't even have to tell us. She was measuring the thigh bone and Evan and I both saw something "extra" between the legs and said, "We've seen that before..."

I love this ultrasound and getting a glimpse of the tiny baby growing. This might sound silly but when I see them on the ultrasound, I fall even more in love. I can't wait to get him here. It's such a blessing that he's so healthy and had all his fingers and toes. He was waving (though he didn't technically know it was waving), grabbing his toes, and making me all around nervous that he was going to come out ready to go. I'll admit that a part of me is worried about being a "boy" mom. I'm one of the girliest girls I know. Can I handle the bugs, the mud, the blood? I guess we'll find out...

So Sad...

Last Saturday Colton met Santa - for the first time - and was terrified. My mom hates this picture. As the doting Nana that she is, she can't handle Colton's face. Are Evan and I bad parents if we couldn't stop laughing at how much Santa scared him? Maybe. I was prepared for him to not want to sit on Santa's lap, but to be clinging to me, refusing to even look in Santa's direction? I'm thinking that in the next few years, as Colton begins to realize that Santa is the nice man leaving him gifts, this attitude will most likely change.

Some more sad news (though the above could also be labeled as 'funny'). I was taking pictures. Cute ones too. I took all kinds of Colt at Evan's work party (where he 'met' Santa). It snowed a ton the other day so I worked up all of my courage and layered Colton and I up. And I do mean layered. I think we each had 6 layers on. Sure, we were sweating on our way out the door, but this Texan was NOT going to freeze her fanny off. As Colton was running around in the snow and discovering what a delicacy it was to EAT the snow, I'm snapping all kind of pictures. Oh, I was feeling like quite the supermom, capturing my son on camera. Now I realize that most parents have a tendency to regularly document these moments, but work with me here people. To make a long story short, I try to upload these pictures on my computer and there aren't any pictures to upload! And, now the camera is saying it's a bad memory card! Bless my heart! I have no idea how to retrieve any of the pictures so now I'm blogging with the picture that Evan's work took. I guess that's what I get for trying to document Colt's childhood.

On a happier note, 5 days and counting until Ultrasound Day. I'm more convinced than ever that it's a boy. Evan thinks I'm crazy to be feeling so sure, but it's documented here folks. We shall see...

Some Attitude

I've been feeling the baby move since last week and it is by far my favorite part of being pregnant. Last night lying in bed he/she was really moving around (this kid loves some sugar) and Evan wanted a part of the action. He started pushing (gently, I promise folks) on my stomach and this little tiny thing gave such a strong kick, I couldn't believe it. There's part of me that's thinking a girl because man was there attitude in that kick. Pretty much saying, 'If you could stop poking and prodding, I'm trying to get some sleep here.' I think it was the first time that this pregnancy felt 'real' to Evan, you know? Not that he hasn't been feeling the effects from a less than energetic wife, but since he hasn't heard the heartbeat yet and I don't technically look pregnant (more like I've had one too many cookies...) this was the first time he interacted. He looked at me after feeling the baby and said, "There's a kid in there!" Well yes, honey, I wasn't kidding about that...

Thanksgiving Recap

Lucky for me, since obviously I can't seem to do pregnancy and blogging at the same time (I guess I'm not that coordinated), my sister posted the pics and gave the update on our Thanksgiving fun. Oh and be warned, Ashley actually tends to blog on her blog, so you might have to scroll down a bit. Evan's sister, Jen, flew out from Utah to vist too and it was fun for me to have so many willing hands to help with Colt.

I will say that I felt like a stellar mom when I got up with Ashley and Chanel to do the Black Friday thing. I got Colton's gift from Santa and his birthday present too. The love I must feel for that boy to get myself out of bed to make sure he got his Elmo "Giggle and go garage" - it's called something like that. Especially because I had a little one of my hypoglycemic attacks in the middle of Target (did any of y'all have that when pregnant?) I think I did a good job of freaking out Chanel ... and how stupid was I ... going to get a bottle of water! Once I grabbed a thing of orange juice, I was ready to go again.

Three weeks and counting till we're home for the holidays (oops - Evan doesn't love it that I still call Texas home). I will try to blog more - and with pictures! Keep checking back because we find out on December 18th what this little baby is (if he/she is not keeping their legs crossed like Colton was determined to do...)

Baking

I'm back to blogging...was that my longest hiatus ever? I have been "baking" as my friend Chanel affectionately refers to it. Baking a bun in the oven, if you will. Our second baby makes his/her debut in the middle of May. Last week at my 12 week appointment, I heard the heartbeat for the first time. Can I just say I love that part? Colt was a little scared of the noise that filled the doctor's office, but that beautiful sound makes the pregnancy so real to me.

So there's my excuse for my hermit ways. I'm still trying to kick the morning sickness so my sister did my job for me and posted pics of Colt at Halloween. Check out her blog here.

Oh and a shout out to the Twilight series! My sister-in-law Carolynn sent the series to me and I could not put them down. As soon as I finished the 3rd book, I read them all again. Embarrassing, but true. So now, not only do I want to be part of Harry Potter and company, I want to bffs with the Edward and Bella clan too. Is it healthy to want so many fantasy friends? :)

Helping my Dad

We're in the middle of the never ending project of landscaping our backyard. When Evan went out on Saturday to put rock in the yard, Colton wasn't far behind. Here he is showing his dad how it's really done with the shovel.

You gotta love this tongue sticking out in concentration - aka Michael Jordan style.

"Here Dad, do it this way - it's much faster..."

And tell me, who's not in love with this picture? Okay, so I'm the mom and I'm little biased...Thanks for the wheelbarrow Nana!

Pictures!

Many thanks to my sis-in-law Jen who actually took pictures while we were in California and sent them to me too. Here we are in front of the San Diego temple on Denise's wedding day. Gorgeous temple and great day - Colt looks thrilled doesn't he? He didn't do too bad, he just was pretty tired after we'd run him ragged all week.








Well, actually, Evan's the one looking like we'd run him ragged huh? Breakfast just must have tired him out... :)


Here's the Jones clan at Sea World. I don't know if you can see it, but Evan's holding our Sea World map over Colton's head. I'd forgotten his hat (awesome mom that I am...) and I was worried about his head getting sunburned. So hot that week in Cali. I should have held a map over my head. It still looks like I have dandruff from my peeling scalp. Ewww - I know.



Loving this picture of Evan and Colt. Like I said, such a daddy's man. And as a lady who was sitting by us in church on Sunday told me, Colton is a duplicate of Evan. Ps ... Evan's looking hot in that white shirt and tie.

Tagged

I'm back. We were at Evan's sister's wedding in San Diego and of course I only took one picture. It is my new goal to get better at picture taking. My kids will have nothing to look back on. They'll be like, 'I think we went to Sea World this one time...At least that's what Mom says.' Anyway maybe I can steal some pics to post from my sisters-in-law. I know they were snapping away. Ages ago my friend Melanie tagged me so here goes...

4 Jobs I've Had:
McDonalds (we've all got to start somewhere people)
BYU Sports Event staff (free football games)
Admin Asst
Mom (my biggest one yet)

4 Movies I Could Watch Over and Over
Two Weeks Notice
While You Were Sleeping
Mansfield Park
Count of Monte Cristo

4 Places I've Lived
H-town, TX
Provo, UT
Brooksfield, FL (small town USA)
Denver, CO

4 of my Favorite Places to Visit
Anywhere a cruise ship will take me (especially somewhere warm)
My mom's house in San Antone
Mountains
New York City (Evan and I had a blast when we went)

4 Favorite Desserts (only 4?!)
Brownies
Chocolate Mousse
Donuts! (my food of choice when pregnant)
Chocolate Fondue at the Melting Pot

4 Favorite Dinners
Any one I'm not cooking
Cafe Rio salad or burrito
Olive Garden's Tour of Italy
Burger, Fries and a Shake

4 Websites I Visit Daily
Hotmail
All of y'all's blogs
Gmail
MSN

4 Favorite Hobbies
Eating
Reading
Playing with Colt
Eating

Okay so I'm tagging more than one person...Ashley, Cristy and Chanel. Ready ... go!

A Night at the Zoo

So, for once, you can't blame me for the bad picture. I thought the guy we asked might try to get more of us and less of the umm... metal giraffe, but oh well. Saturday night we went to Evan's company's summer party. It was at the zoo this year. So why are there no pictures of Colt in front of the animals? We coudn't get the kid to turn around and look at the camera. So, I'm guessing, most people would take an artistic profile shot but Evan and I aren't most people when it comes to taking quality photos, so there you have it. One story from the night. After dinner, they had a "Live Animal Demonstration." We're all pumped for Colton - thinking something Sea Worldish and they pull out a ... guinea pig! A guinea pig folks. They said we could even come pet it. Whoa. Thanks, but no thanks. I'll go to my local pet store. On a more positive note, dinner was provided which meant no cooking for me. A bit more exciting than a guinea pig, if you ask me.

Fingerpainting Fun

Thanks to Chanel for giving me the idea. Colton was in heaven. This was in the beginning when things were still relatively on the paper.

Looking pretty proud of his handiwork...and yes, that's a full grown beard. :)

It was over from here. The bathwater was blue and I had to scrub it from his hair, his eyes...you get the picture. And lest anyone is in shock - it's true, I've updated the blog 3 times in one week.

Copycat

I saw this on my sis's blog and since my life is not nearly as exciting as all of y'all's, I thought I'd copy. And I was looking for a pic to post of us and well...they're all already on the blog. Sad, huh?

BASICS

1. Who is your man? Evan (though his nicknames for himself range from Evanimal to Ev-diggity)
2. How long have you been together? 4 years
3. Dating/Engaged/Married? Dated 9 months, Engaged 4 months, Married 3 years
4. How old is your man? 27

You or Your man?
1. Who eats more? Evan can put me to shame (especially with sweets), which is saying something
2. Who said "I love you" first? Evan (finally!)
3. Who weighs more? As long as I'm not pregnant ... he does :)
4. Who sings better? I'm no Celine Dion but the man does try. He pulls out his pitch pipe every FHE - I hate that pitch pipe!
5. Who's Older? Him by 1 1/2 years
6. Who's smarter? Evan with all things that matter, Me with important things like celebrity gossip
7. Who's temper is worse? No doubt, me
8. Who does the laundry? Me
9. Who does the dishes? Mostly me, but Evan gets an A for effort
10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me
11. Who's feet are bigger? Thankfully, his
12. Who's hair is longer? Mine
13. Who's better with the computer? Evan, Evan and then Evan
14. Who mows the lawn? Both
15. Who pays the bills? Both
16. Who cooks dinner? Me but Evan makes a mean grilled cheese
17. Who drives when you are together? Me, does control freak come to mind?
18. Who pays when you go out to dinner? We're married ... so both right?
19. Who's the most stubborn? Me, poor Evan, he's heard "My foot is going down and it's in cement" way too many times...
20. Who is the first one to admit when they're wrong? We take turns
21. Who's parents do you see more? Mine but I'm starting to get the picture that they don't come to visit me. Can we say 1st grandkid?
22. Who named your dog? No pets but if we had let Evan name Colt he'd be named Ernie - Ernie Jones. Awesome. (sarcasm here)
23. Who kissed who first? Evan - never been taken more off guard in my life...
24. Who asked who out? Evan asked me out but then we didn't go out again for a month. I lured him in in the end
25. Who's more sensitive? Me, I'm the one with the crazy hormones
26. Who's taller? Evan (though he's not taller than my sis Heather - I hope he doesn't kill me for putting that on the world wide web)
27. Who has more friends? Equal
28. Who has more siblings? Evan
29. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I certainly try to. Love the man for letting me pretend I do.

(PS - had a great anniversary. Evan came home early WITH dinner - can't ask for more!)

Three years and counting ...

Happy Anniversary to my man! You gotta love this picture. I was so stinking happy on my wedding day, I don't think my grin can get any bigger (which is saying something since I am known to have somewhat of a large mouth). It was a great day and what's even better is I love the man even more 3 years later. Seeing as my parents are celebrating their 30th in a few days, 3 years is obviously just the beginning but here's to many more. So in keeping with the "3" theme, here's 3 reasons why I love Evan...

1. He is so good to me. Admittedly, I am feisty, stubborn and have a tendency to think I'm right (in keeping with the Carleton women tradition - just ask my bro-in-law Logan) but Evan puts up with me better than anyone could. He is patient - something you need with me. :)

2. He is strong in the church and loves God. A few days ago, at dinner with our neighbors, they asked us some questions about the church. Evan is such an awesome scriptorian, he could keep up with all of the biblical scriptures our neighbor was asking about.

3. He is a great dad. I think I knew he would be in the first few weeks of our dating. I love how he is so hands on and how Colt is such a daddy's man. Evan's always taking Colton out into the backyard to 'help' him with the yard. Colt's in love with him and so am I.

Some Highlights

You gotta love the fact that we get high speed and it's August before I post again. But, to cut myself some slack, it has been a busy past couple of weeks so here are the highlights (and I'm officially the worst picture taker known to man so hopefully I can snag some that others took and post them later):

- Went down to San Antone for a week to see one of my best friends Heather get married. She, of course, looked beautiful and I could not be happier for her. So glad I got to make it to her big day. Side note: could have done without the picture of her and I skiing in her wedding video- she looks cute (she's the bride, that's the point) but I ski about as well as I do anything 'daring.'

- Hung with the fam while down in the great state of TX. We went to a BBQ place and let's be honest, that feels like home to me. Tons of meat, twangy music in the background, corn being the only thing close to a vegetable. Evan struggles with BBQ for the lack of veggies but I blame the Californian in him for that.

- Went to Girls Camp. Somehow, I'm still finding it hard to believe that I'm a leader now at camp. A leader, me? It doesn't feel that long ago that I was at hot, humid Camp Liahona. Me and the daddy longlegs. But here I am, 12 or so years later, with the other leaders rolling my eyes at the drama. Heaven knows I was NEVER part of any young women drama, ever. :)

High Speed Heaven!

I'm in absolute love! I just downloaded all of these pictures in 2 minutes! Who knew? Certainly not these Joneses. We entered the 21st century and have ourselves some high speed internet. Who knew that all of the pictures on your blogs weren't really blurry? Heaven. Moving on. What's that behind Evan you say? That's right folks. A beluga whale. Evan and I took a quick trip to San Antone and made it over to Sea World with my fam. My brother's cute girlfriend Valerie works with the animals there and took us all behind the scenes. So here's me (Mrs. Salt water and everything in it scares me) petting the whale. Do you call it petting? Thanks a ton Valerie!

And now for some Colton mania. My mom's only called daily asking for some picture updates. Here's Colt riding the merry-go-round at the zoo with his Poppa.

Below, he's having some Saturday fun with his Dad. Bless our little backyard. The grass is trying so hard to grow. We also snagged a little tryke (no idea how to spell that) at a garage sale and Colton is in love. Madly in love. And I'll admit that I'm vain. There were a few other cute pictures of this but I didn't want the whole world wide web seeing my dirty house. :) On a non-Colton note, is anyone else able to contain their excitement for Harry Potter 7 making its debut on Saturday? My husband thinks I'm nuts. So what if I want a wand and want to be BFF with Harry and company at Hogwarts?

A Few Shout Outs

Sad as it is, here's my glorious picture of my first garden produced strawberry! Now mind you, if I was a talented photographer (aka, Cristy...if you want some true talent, you need to check out her blog) this would be a beautiful, well-lit, well-documented picture but we'll have to settle for this blurry one. Who knew I could grow anything? I've had 2 tomato plants bite the dust and my thumb is not even remotely green. So let's celebrate my tiny baby of a strawberry.

Another well deserved shout out goes to Evan for an awesome birthday. A yummy Italian dinner and a surprise manicure and pedicure. He did awesome and made me feel like a birthday queen. I love you babe!

And last but definitely not least - a shout out to Chanel and Kristen for turning another "mother" birthday into a special day. Kids don't seem to care that it's your day. There's still diapers to change, mouths (in my case, one mouth) to feed, etc. Chanel showed up on my doorstep with breakfast (can you believe breakfast??) and then hosted a lunch with Kristen (who made a to-die-for cake). Nothing like some good ol' fashioned girl talk.

PS - for the devoted grandparents and aunts out there, some pictures of Colton to follow as soon as I get my hands on some high speed. I can't imagine that you'd rather see pics of Colt as opposed to this gorgeous strawberry. :)

Breckenridge Baby!

So after a brief hiatus, I'm back to give the update on Evan and I's trip to the mountains of Colorado. Over Memorial Day, my parents flew in to watch Colt and we were off (alone!) for a full 3 days. Those who know Evan and I know that while we may have the important things in common, that's just about it. So appropriately we had an "Evan day" and a "Rebecca day." Sidenote: One of my favorite stories is how Evan would always tell his buddies that if there was one thing he wanted in his wife, it was a skiier. And then he married me. A girl from the flattest place on earth and someone who believes in wearing a helmet when doing your homework. Moving on ... so on my day, I just really wanted a day where there was NO schedule (you moms will understand this). No bedtimes, feeding times, no 'times' basically. So we sleep in (which I really don't know how to do anymore) and hit Breckenridge. Do some shopping, some eating out, a couples massage in a spa and I'm a happy camper. Evan's day: the picture is us in our wetsuits about to hit the white water rapids on a narrow, rocky Colorado river. Sure, I'm smiling but inside my heart is about to pound right on out of my wetsuit. But I love my hubby and though it's Class 4 rapids (it only goes up to a 5 people!) and the water's going crazy because of all the snow melt, I hit the river. Most importanly, I SURVIVE the river. I'm the weak link getting bounced around in the the boat every time we hit a rapid, but we walk away from the freezing river with some good stories and better memories. I love Evan for this - for making me go past my limits and being better for it. I'll still wear my helmet during all those moments though, thanks.

One last note about the weekend. We stayed in a bed and breakfast and I was so excited to try something like this. So the owner is a woman who has a 2 year old boy and 1 year old boy and is due in 4 weeks with her 3rd boy. A busy woman, you could say, so the experience was ... frazzled. I'd take a hotel any day. I thought the breakfast would be the saving grace but to no avail. Sure, they were delicious but the portion sizes were disappointing to say the least. I don't know if she'd gotten the memo, but calories absolutely do not count on vacation so I'd like more than an egg flake. Overall though, it was a great time with the hubby - some much needed time to remember that we were husband and wife before mommy and daddy.

The Solution

I'm a little behind in posting this but the Saturday after my whole stuck in the snow episode, we got this. Ta-da! My beautiful, slightly used, 'I can handle you snow!' car! (Why I'm acting like my car can talk I'll never know.) So it might seem that it makes no sense to buy this car with summer almost here, no snow on the ground and gas prices gouging our eyes out but the price was right (Evan would probably beg to differ here - no price was really right for him) and I'm a salesperson's dream. The dealership was willing to take more than the elantra was worth and take a couple grand off of the tucson's price, but Evan was still wanting to walk. He's packing up the diaper bag and trying to usher me out of the salesman's office (I, of course, am saying, "But I'm in love! Don't make me go!") when the guy comes back with a final offer even my stalwart hubby can't refuse. Yea! And I say this to the Colorado winters ... bring on the snow baby! Okay, okay ... give me my lovely summer months first.

My Modern Day Pioneer Adventure

Just when you think I’m done blogging about my snow sob stories, I’m back on my soapbox ready for more. And yes, for those of you checking your calendars, it’s almost May. I’ve been really excited about Colton’s swim lessons starting today and so even though I woke up to snow, I religiously checked the roads outside my window all morning. When it came time to leave, I decided that since I’m in the back of the neighborhood and my street is usually the worst, the roads didn’t look that bad. I hop into my trusty, ‘low to the ground, I’ve got no 4 wheel drive,’ elantra and we’re on our way. Well, almost on our way. Mr. Plow Man had yet to make it through our neighborhood so two streets up, I get stuck. Somehow I manage to coast down the street I’m stuck on and settle next to a curb. Let’s preface the next part of the story with this: I am married to the only man on earth who could put up with me as a wife. I’m cold, stuck and frustrated as all get out so I call Evan. It’s not his fault the car’s stuck and that it’s snowing in late April, but it’s not one of my shining moments, so I let him know it might as well be. He sweetly tells me that he’ll leave work and come help me if I need him to. Let’s be honest, his mazda wouldn’t be able to fare much better but that’s beside the point. It’s the thought that counts. So I call Chanel and bottom line … she saves the day. She says she’s on her way and I’m thinking that she won’t be able to get this deep into the neighborhood. Here’s the pioneer part. I grab Colt and his car seat and start trudging through the snow. That’s not even the best part. I’m wearing flip flops. What the heck was I thinking?? Now is where you roll your eyes at the crazy Texan. Just because you’re going to the pool doesn’t mean you wear flip flops when there’s a blizzard outside! Lesson learned. So my toes are burning and my child is whimpering because of the snow pelting his face. And that’s when this modern-day pioneer sees her rescue wagon. Chanel’s sturdy van barrels down the road, whipping through the snow like it’s no big deal. Chanel is a true friend. She didn’t berate me for my choice of footwear and started the heat full blast on my pathetic feet. The van made it to and from swim lessons and now I’m at home, nice and warm, with some seriously increased respect for the real pioneers.

"I can do it!"

So, sure my 15 month old doesn't actually say those exact words but he pretty much lets me know that's exactly what he's thinking. No doubt my more experienced 'mom friends' are smiling knowingly and shaking their heads at my naivety. I just want to know what happened to my easy-going, laid-back kid? I'm not saying Colton is a terror by any stretch of the imagination (yet?) but admittedly I can be a control freak (just ask Evan) and all of a sudden my kid doesn't want to do what Mom says! Ahhh! Colton has always been a bottomless pit - the kid who would eat anything and everything. Evan and I would just laugh and shake at our heads at the 'other kids' who were thowing food on the ground and spitting out anything their parents offered. Karma right? That's my kid now. I discovered today at lunch that if I offer food to Colton he chews it up (faking me out mind you ... I'm thinking 1 for Mom, 0 for Colt) just so he can spit it out. Yum. The solution - here again smarter moms are wondering why I'm so slow ... let Colt have the control. Sure that means less in his mouth and more mess for me but at least he's eating. This mom thing has been such a learning experience for me. I think back to when Colton was still nestled inside of me, so well-behaved, and all of my grandiose plans for the little guy and the incredible mom I was going to be. I'm much less patient, creative ... to put it bluntly ... perfect than I wanted to be. But isn't that what it's all about? Looking back who knew that I could handle a colicky baby or catch Colt's throw up or patiently pick up the half eaten food all over my floor? Looking back, my patience has doubled - it's not to perfect proportions but it's growing. My creativity has grown - sure most of my ideas are stolen from more creative friends than I but you can't fault a girl for trying! So all in all, this mom thing is not at all what I imagined. I could not have barely begun to imagine how much I would love my child. There are no words to describe the feelings I have for my sweet baby. On second thoughts, I think much of what I'm learning is that he's not my baby anymore. I need to let him grow up and give the poor kid his own spoon!

Cruising in the Caribbean

I finally have myself some high speed internet and am ready to give you the rundown on our 7 day cruise to the Caribbean. To the left Evan and I in front of the ship ... do we look ready for some fun or what? To the bottom, Colt having the time of his life in our room with some bubbles. This was such an awesome vacation - it could bring this girl to tears knowing it's over. Moving on ... to quote Evan, the best excursion of the trip was actually making it TO the ship. Because of some psycho Houston traffic and thinking that the boat departed out of Galveston as opposed to Houston, we had 30 minutes to make it onto the ship and we were an hour away. Cruise ships don't wait. I have never in my life seen my parents drive like they did. Heavenly Father was looking down on us, as both cars were doing 80 in 30 mph zones. Rumor has it that my dad even took his car to the side on 2 wheels trying to make a turn. Evan was frantic (heck, all of our blood pressures were way past cardiac arrest levels) on the phone with the cruise line. He found out that they pulled the planks to the ship at 3:30 pm. All of us looked, with total despair mind you, at the clock. 3:26 pm. I don't think any of us wanted to believe that this vacation we had looked forward to for a whopping 2 years wouldn't happen. Providence prevailed and we screeched into the parking lot at 3:34 pm with the cruise ship attendees waving us frantically onto the ship. Let the vacation begin!

Can we say the food people? Get a load of the midnight chocolate buffet. Thanks to my bro-in-law Logan for these pictures. Who wouldn't want to document absolute melt in your mouth heaven on earth? Bless the wonderful chefs in the back who made this dream of mine come true. And I wish y'all could have seen Evan do some serious damage on this buffet. Six plates later and I was starting to wonder if he would ever come down from the sugar high.

Our first stop was Progreso, Mexico where the whole fam went on a Mayan Reality Tour. We saw the Mayan ruins (Below, Colton with his Nana and Poppa with the ruins in the background.) And Colt drove the tour bus ... or at least wanted to. We stopped in the city where these cute ladies fed us this yummy homemade lunch and these little kids danced a few traditional Mexican dances. Most embarrassing part of the trip: when one of the little boys asked me and my brother Adam to get up and dance. Umm - right ... I'm not exactly known for my Latin moves. Let's be honest - I'm not known for ANY moves. Thankfully I don't have a picture of that moment.

Here's Ashley, Heather and I getting ready to go snorkeling and dunebuggying (yeah, not a word) in Cozumel.

This was my favorite day. Cozumel ... can we say heaven anyone? My parents took Colt for the day and all of the 'kids' went on an excursion with a hilarious tour guide named Pancho. No, not the raingear. He told us if we tipped him 100 bucks or more, he'd give us his sister. Gotta love Pancho. Anyway, we drove these dunebuggies along the gorgeous coast line, stopped and snorkeled in the clearest water I've ever seen (and yes I even snorkeled.) Many of you know my aversion to the ocean - probably because I'm a frequent visitor of sharkattacks.com - but I was loving it. Well, 'my fingers clenched around Evan's arm' loving it. We hung out at this beach (above) where they had a homemade all you can eat (yea!) Mexican buffet. After my 10th empenada I was ready to do some laying out without worrying about Colton eating the sand. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Mother Nature Madness

So I think I'll put a disclaimer out there that I took a break from my blog hiatus to complain. I've been meaning to update the blog for forever - I even had plans to go to Evan's work to use his high speed today since I wanted to post more than one picture. So what's stopping me you ask? One word...snow. I think this has been the longest winter in history. Now I know that the eskimoes in Alaska (that's where they are right?) are rolling their eyes, but this morning looking out my window to find all that snow in my backyard as Mr. Weatherman assured us of more is too much for my wimpy self. I know there are many worse things in this world but today it's my blog and my time to just whine. And somewhere Evan is reading this wondering about his wife's mood and if it'll be safe to come home tonight. :) Here's a promise for a happier blog next time and pictures of our 7 days spent last week in the nice and toasty Caribbean. Oh and Evan ... it's safe sweetie.