graduation

When I first started college back in 1997 I choose photography as my major. After finishing my Associates from Ricks College, I decided to switch to Business with an emphasis in Marketing. The fall after I finished by Bachelor in Business, I decided to enroll at the University of Utah and get a second Bachelors in Photography. I was enrolled for a year, but with moving back to Arizona and getting married, I never went back. Two years ago I went to Kara Baldwin's graduation at the University of Utah and I was inspired to finish my degree. I started back up that Fall of 2007. I am so glad I decided to go back and finish my degree. I enjoyed having a goal to work towards and I really enjoyed being back on campus and learning. There is just something I love about being a student. It wasn't always easy going to school with a baby at home, but it was well worth it. Most of my classes I was the only one married and forsure the only one with a child. I could not have done it without the help of many. Thanks to all, especially John! During my graduation Eleanor was so excited. When I asked her if she was going to go to college and graduate her response was, "Yes. When I'm a mommy". Let's just hope she gets it done before then!

Eleanor worms

Eleanor and John are quite the little buddies. She loves following him around and doing what he does. Yesterday these two were out working in the garden for hours. John pointed out some earth worms and Eleanor thought they were the greatest things ever! She collected quite the pile. She would get so upset at them when they would crawl away from her their "beds". Her favorite thing to do was rip them in half, disgusting, I know! I never imagined I'd have a little girl that enjoyed worms so much!

kangaroo zoo

Not only did John take off his birthday, but he also took the day after. To continue celebrating his birthday we enjoyed a morning at Kanagroo Zoo. We brought Ashely along with us so Eleanor could have someone to go down the slides with. It's funny how cautious Eleanor is. It took a lot of talking to and bribing to get her to try a few new slides. Of course once she tried them a few time she was having the time of her life and wasn't too happy when we made her leave.

After the Kangaroo Zoo we met up with Blake and Becky at Texas Roadhouse to celebrate John's birthday.

John's Birthday April 14

Today John turned 27 years old!! It's never that much fun teasing him about getting older...he always comes back with the fact that no matter how old he gets, I've got him by three years!!

Lucky for us, John took the day off work so we got to spend the day together. This year I was so happy to plan ahead and have breakfast for him in bed. Years past I always think of it too late and always wish I would have done it. Eleanor was so excited for his surprise that she kept going in the bedroom and telling him we were making him a surprise. And of course, she had to share his french toast with him. It was such a pleasant morning having John home and to make things better, we got to enjoy a nice rain storm all morning!

After breakfast I asked John what he wanted to do and he wanted to take Eleanor down to Thanksgiving Point. What a sweet Dad!! It was really fun watching John and Eleanor together. Most of the time we go to Thanksgiving Point John is at work so it's just Eleanor and I. This time Eleanor was so excited to have John there with us. She wouldn't have a thing to do with me and wanted to take John around and show him everything. I love the special relationship the two of them share!!

Next we headed over to Mi Ranchito for lunch. I'm not sure what it is, but a birthday is not complete with out Mexican food! It's just tradition!

The rest of the day was spent hanging out at home and just enjoying having Dad home with us. Happy Birthday Day, John. We LOVE you!

Arizona and Easter

This year we spent Easter in Arizona. About a week before Easter Eleanor, my mom and I drove down to Arizona. We had such a great week! The weather in Arizona is perfect this time of year and it was nice to spend some time outside. I love going down to Arizona and spending time with family. It's so much fun having all the cousins get together. While there we spent a day at the Children Museum in Phoenix. The kids LOVED this place and there was so much fun for them to do. Eleanor of course enjoyed painting and got paint ALL over herself. We had a little scare when Amanda lost her purse, but we luckily it was just sitting on a bench and everything was still in it. We also were able to get together and have all the kids play at the Tumbleweed park and have a few sleepovers. Eleanor and Ty got married a few times and fought some as well!

Another thing we enjoyed while there was the little water splash pad they have in Gilbert. Anytime there is water, Eleanor is beyond thrilled! It was pretty chilly outside, but that did not stop her from getting soaked!

John was able to come down a few days before Easter and we got to do a few fun things. Of course we went to a Diamond Backs game, ate breakfast at the Farm House, visited the water park again, played games, ate good Mexican food and enjoyed visiting with family. It's not that often that John makes it down to Arizona, so I LOVE it when he gets to come!!

This Easter was really fun. Eleanor was so excited about the Easter Bunny and her basket! The Easter Bunny left her lots of treats and really scored with the makeup and squirt guns he left! We let her put on her makeup before church and that was a mistake because not only did she use over half of it, but I was not able to get it all off for church. She looked pretty special with her pink eye shadow!

Pregnant at 30!

Wow, it's been quite a few months since I've updated this thing!! A lot has happened and I'm going to try my best to get caught up! The most exciting news is that we found out in February that I am pregnant!! The due date is set for October 27, 2009. As of today I'm 18 weeks and technically should have been able to find out what we are having, but we've decided to wait! I'm a little worried because we go in for the big ultra sounds tomorrow and I'm afraid John will see something or the Dr. will slip. We've had an ultra sound every appointment and each time the Dr. keeps asking me if I'm sure we just don't want to know. Anyway, we are both really excited! That's the main reason I kind of got behind on our blog and most things in my life because I was so dang sick the first few months. But, now I'm feeling great and ready to get back into my normal life!

Also, during the month of March I turned 30! And surprisingly, I wasn't dreading turning 30. I told myself I was going to make this year a year of no regrets! The only bad thing about turning 30 is that John is 27 and he likes to rub it in how much older I am then he is!

Kite Flying

You would think with all the wind we get up in our neighborhood we would be expert kite fliers, but sadly, that is NOT the case! John found this great kite at Costco and we spent an entire afternoon trying to get it to fly. Sure, we'd get it in the air for a few seconds, but then it would come crashing down. Good thing Eleanor doesn't have high standards when it comes to being entertained by her parent's kite flying abilities!

ultra sound

Today we had our official ultra sound. Before I even got pregnant I knew I wanted to wait and not find out what I was having. Part of me thought we would be tempted to give in and just find out what we are having. But, we didn't! I made sure to tell the tech we didn't want to know and to stay away from that area. I also made John not look when she got even close to it. John is very good at reading ultra sounds and I did not want him to spoil the fun.

When we got home John swore he heard the tech refer to our little baby as a boy. Hum, now I'm wondering. I really don't have any feelings one way or another. The only thing I've noticed, is I kind of get a little bugged when people say I'm having a boy. Either way I will be beyond happy. Each sex has it's pros!

Eleanor face painting

I don't know why I continue to let Eleanor paint with water colors because EVERY TIME it ends up all over her face!

No cavaties, are you kidding me??

This morning Eleanor got to experience the dentist for the first time! To prepare her for the visit I had her watch a Reading Rainbow episode all about going to the dentist. The video was awesome and made her really excited about going. I also told her all about the cool prizes she would get to choose. Well, all this prep talk really paid off!! She was PERFECT! I was a little nervous when she fell asleep on the way over and I had to wake her up in the office, but she woke up in a great mood and was great the entire visit. In fact, when it was over she told me she didn't want to go home but wanted to stay at the office.


Here she is getting her x-rays done. When we first walked into the room she told the lady she didn't want a shot on her bumb!
Eleanor was great for the cleaning! The lady said she was so impressed how good Eleanor was!
Just chilling watching a movie.The best part of the visit was to find out she had NO cavities. I just really hope she gets John's teeth and not mine!!