Tagged!

Steph, sorry this has taken me so long...I actually took the pictures right after reading your post, but then I forgot to post them until now. My bad!

You have to stop what you are doing and take the following pictures NOW. No excuses! If you don't have time to blog just take the pictures NOW and blog when you can!! No cleaning, re-arranging, just have fun taking the pics!

1. Kitchen Sink 2. Favorite room 3. Fridge 4. Closet 5. Laundry room 6.Self Portrait 7. Kids are doing, or what you are doing 8. Dream Vacation 9.Favorite Shoes 10.bathroom

I tag Alissa M., Emily M., Heather I., Alaina C., Katie G.

I promise that this it NOT what my kitchen sink normally looks like! Luckily I'd just cleaned it the day before.

My favorite room at the moment is my living room. I love to decorate and I feel like this is the one room that I've spent the most time (and money) on. Plus, I love my couch! My favorite color is green and I looked long and hard for the perfect couch.


I'd just gone grocery shopping. (We don't normally have this much food, believe me!)

As you can see, I could probably do a little more organizing in here...

The laundry room. We'd gone swimming that day...(my swimsuit was still drying...)

Who likes self-portraits, anyway?! (The day I took this, I'd hardly done my hair or my make-up, ha ha!)
Sorry, Caysja's asleep at the moment and there's NO WAY I'm going to go in her room to take a picture of her, so here's a picture of what she was doing earlier today. (I got that scooter for her at a garage sale yesterday for $3 and she loves it!)
My dream vacation would be to go to Hawaii. I've wanted to go there for as long as I can remember. (Well, that and a cruise...)

So these aren't really my most favorite shoes. I like these, but my favorite pair of flip flops (SUPER comfy and I wore them everywhere) just died last week! Sad day for me...

My bathroom. (Do you like the pink potty training chair?)

I "heart" General Conference!

I really love General Conference and this year was no different. I really needed it. I am so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and sealed to my family for all eternity. I love to hear our leaders speak to us and it makes me renewed to be a better person, wife, mother, friend, neighbor, daughter, etc.

I think the talk that really hit home for me this time was President Monson's talk in today's morning session. It really made me cry (okay, maybe some of that was pregnancy hormones--I feel like I've cried a lot lately) but it was seriously meant for me. Sometimes I get so caught up in all the things I think I "should" be doing that I know I forget about the most important things--the eternal ones! He talked about finding "Joy in the Journey" and not getting caught up in all the little things that don't really matter. We don't want to end up with a lot of "empty yesterdays" because time moves too quickly and our children are grown and gone before we know it. We need to do things TODAY. I need to play with my little girl more today and not worry if the dishes don't get done right then, or my apartment isn't "spotless"all the time, or the laundry doesn't get folded immediately.

I really liked the quote he mentioned from Shakespeare, (something to the effect), "he who does not express love has never really loved". How often do I just assume that my husband/child/family know I love them without me telling them frequently? I know I can do better at this and I will try to for sure. I have to add that my other favorite talk was Elder Holland's on Angels. He is a great speaker and the story he told about the little boy who was lost made me cry! I have certainly had many angels in my life. What was your favorite talk?

VOTE for Prop 102!

I have to admit that I can't take credit for this post since I stole it from my friend Kandis' blog. (Thanks for posting, Kandis!) I am a part of the Family Research Council and I believe they are doing some great things in fighting for the family so this caught my attention.

Take time to watch this short video clip done by the President of FRC, Tony Perkins. He talks about how we all need to fight for the marriage amendments that will be voted on here in AZ (prop 102), CA (prop 8), and FL and then we need to pray hard that they pass! We may think that our little vote doesn't make a difference, but it does!

I personally believe that marriage between a man and woman is the ONLY way God intended it to be and though I don't judge others for feeling otherwise, I feel that this traditional family structure is the core of our society. To quote FRC's website, "A large and still growing body of research shows that children do best when raised by their own biological mother and father who are committed to one another in a lifelong marriage, and that adults also thrive when in such a marriage....If marriage loses, religious liberty is next."

"LaLaGlendooza" and other fun pics

It's been a great week! I think we have done something fun every single day.

Here is a picture Caleb took of Caysja today before church. She was in the "dress up" mode and was playing with the fake flowers I used at my sister's wedding a year ago. Doesn't she look like a little flower girl?

Caysja is SO into babies lately! It is so cute! She will feed her baby, rock it, put it to sleep, change its diapers, talk to it, etc. I love it. I hope she keeps it up til our baby gets here...

More dress up pics

I still can't believe (even though this is our second year here--you'd think I'd learn!) that it's averaging 102+ degrees here every day and it's almost OCTOBER!! I can't WAIT for it to cool off! We go to the pool every day after naptime.

Right across the street from our apt. complex is a Pet Co and so we go there quite often to look at the fish, turtles, birds, cats, hamsters, mice, etc. Caysja LOVES animals and would take one home if we could have one. (I only got a couple of pics there before the manager told me you're not allowed to take pictures in the store--oops!)

On Friday we went to "LaLaGlendooza", a super fun FREE event put on by the city of Glendale. The theme was "Old McDonald Had a Farm" and the kids were supposed to come dressed in "cowboy/cowgirl" outfits. They had all kinds of things for the kids to do. There were cows to pet, tractors to ride, games to play (Caysja won the cake walk!), crafts to do (hence the kitty mask), and lots more. It was great--(aside from the 104+ heat...)

goin' fishin' with Miah

Kiki and Halle--"best friends forever"

We had a little pic-nic lunch afterwards at Sahuaro Ranch Park. "Cowgirls" (Stephanie, Miah, Caysja, Halle)

We started a "date rotation" group with some of our friends this week. There are three couples and we each take a turn every Friday night watching all our kids so the other couples can go out. It's great! The girls are all the same age and they play so well together. Here they are watching "Finding Nemo" together. Caysja loved having everyone over to play! (We are actually looking for one more couple to join us, so if anyone is interested, let me know.)

Last but not least...a couple weeks ago, my friend taught me how to make these super cute hair barrettes! They are so easy and fun to make. You can never have enough things to put in a little girl's hair. Thanks, Brenda, I love them!

This is the BEST poem!

This is seriously one of the BEST poems and you have to read it! It will make your day! I'd read it before, but one of my friends just posted it on her blog and I had to steal it (thanks, Liz) so all of you can read it too. It reminded me of the GREAT talk that Elder Uchtdorf gave Sat. evening at the General Relief Society broadcast. We, as women, are too hard on ourselves sometimes. Being the perfectionist I am, I know I struggle with this. But really, all we can do is our best and it WILL be good enough.

The Girl in a Whirl
by 'Dr. Sue" (a.k.a. Vickie Gunther)

Look at me, look at me, look at me now!
You could do what I do if you only knew how.
I study the scriptures one hour each day.
I bake and I garden. I scrub and I pray.

I always keep all the commandments completely.
I speak to my little ones gently and sweetly.
I help in their classrooms! I sew all they wear!
I drive them to practice! I cut all their hair!

I memorize talks by the General Authorities.
I focus on things to be done by priorities.
I keep our home organized, clean and attractive.
I drop by with goodies and see the less-active.

I play the piano! I bless with my talents!
My toilets all sparkle! My checkbooks all balance!
Each week every child gets a one-on-one date.
I attend all my meetings (On time! Never late!)

I'm taking a class on the teachings of Paul,
But that is not all! Oh no. That is not all...

I track my bad habits 'til each is abolished.
I floss everyday! And my toenails are polished!
Our family home evenings are always delightful.
The lessons I give are both fun and insightful.

I do genealogy faithfully, too.
It's easy to do all the things that I do!
I rise each day early, refreshed and awake.
I know all the names of each youth in my stake!

I read to my children! I help all my neighbors!
I bless the community, too, with my labors.
I write in my Journal! I sing in the choir!
Each day, I write "thank yous" to those I admire.

I exercise and I cook menus gourmet.
My visiting teaching is done the first day!
(I also go do it for someone who missed hers.
I love filling in for my cherished ward sisters.)

I chart resolutions and check off each goal.
I see each "lost lamb" on my Primary roll.
I bottle our produce each summer and fall.
But that is not all! Oh, No. That is not all...

I went back to school to update my degree.
My studying earned me a new PhD
I split with the Sisters who cover our ward
To spread the glad truth that the Gospel's restored.

I go to the temple at least once a week.
I make my girls' prom dresses--modest, yet chic.
My sons were all Eagles when they were fourteen!
My kids get straight A's! And their bedrooms are clean!

I have my own business to help earn some money.
I always look beautifully groomed for my honey.
I grind my own wheat and I bake all our bread.
I plan our nutritious meals six months ahead.

I make sure I rotate our two-year’s supply.
My shopping for Christmas is done by July!
(It's out of the way early on for a reason.
I then can prepare for the real Christmas season.)

These things are not hard. It's good if you do them.
You can if you try! Just set goals and pursue them!
It's easy to do all the things that I do!
If you plan and work smart, you can do them all too!

"It's easy!" she said...
... and then,
she dropped dead.

Another tag...

Sorry, Melinda. I knew someone else had tagged me but since I didn't do it right away, for the life of me I could NOT remember who it was! I finally found it posted on your blog so here you go... (I have actually done this one before, so if you read it and it doesn't sound too interesting, I'm sorry to repeat myself. Guess I wasn't creative enough to think of new answers.)

How To Play This Game of Tag: Post these rules on your blog. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

3 Joys:
My Husband
My little girl (and soon-to-be baby boy)
The Gospel of Jesus Christ

3 Fears:
Never getting out of debt (stole from Melinda)
Caleb dying and having to go to work with little kids still at home
SPIDERS! (Seriously, I am soooo scared of them--and scorpions too!)

3 Goals:
Get Caysja potty trained at bedtime and naptime BEFORE our baby comes!
Get more private music students
Teach Caysja her ABC's

3 Obsessions/Collections:
blogging (well, reading everyone else's blog that is...)
scrapbooking (right now I'm WAY behind so maybe that one doesn't count)
garage sales! (you can find the BEST deals)


3 Facts:
I play in a flute quartet here in AZ called "Flutasia"
I grind my own flour and make my own whole wheat bread every week
I love the color green!


I tag: Sara Fulkerson, Heather Inns, Liz C., Shawna, Shiela

Update from C^3

Sorry I've been so bad about posting pictures lately. I guess a result of that is a "picture overload" so here you go...

I just LOVE having a little girl! Isn't this the cutest picture? Caysja is really getting into playing dress-up lately. After she completed her "sticker chart" for potty training this week, we picked out a reward (boa, purse, shoes) at the dollar store for her to play dress up with. She loves to hold my cell phone and walk around the house pretending to "talk" on it--(guess she's seen her mom do that a lot or something??).

Here's my little grown up girl sittin' on the potty! (The past two days we haven't had any accidents, knock on wood!)

We completed the "sticker chart" for potty training last week-(please excuse Caysja's cheesy smile). I'm so proud of her!
I have some wonderful girlfriends here in AZ! They are my support group. Last weekend we went out to dinner together at Bajio. It was so fun--and yummy too! (Sara F., Alissa, Kristy, Kim P. me, Becky)

Another "dress up picture". Caysja found Caleb's old bike helmet and this is how she put it on. I had to take a picture!

More dress up...I'm not sure what she is here, but it sure made me laugh!
We make fruit smoothies every night with dinner and one night Caleb and Caysja decided to "share" one.

While we've potty training there are periods in the day where Caysja doesn't wear a whole lot of clothes...(i.e. after an accident usually)...so anyway, excuse my "nakey" girl. She loves doing somersaults these days (with mommy's shoes on).

Peek-a-boo! Caysja loves to climb into our hall closet and sit by the toilet paper and then call for me to come "look" for her.

Here is my little princess with all her "little people" lined up on her favorite blanket. I believe they were having a pic-nic.

Caysja is really into playing dolls lately and will just beg me every day, "pay dollies, Mommy"! (Notice the three pairs of upside down shoes on the doll's legs...)Last but not least, my friend told me about a cool blog called "She does hair" and I've had lots of fun looking at it. I tried a couple of new things in Caysja's hair this week and they turned out so cute! I love it that her hair is FINALLY getting a little longer. My friend Michelle makes and sells these cute flower hair barrettes!

Tag--I'm it

Sara P. tagged me a while ago and if I don't do it now, I'm afraid I'll forget, so here you go... (Sorry Sara, I stole a few things from yours!)

8's

8 t.v. shows I love to watch:
"24"
Lost
Super Nanny
American Idol
The Bachelor/Bachelorette
Wife Swap
Dancing with the Stars
Prison Break (well, I only watched the first season)

8 Favorite Restaurants:
Johnny Carinos (there isn't one here in AZ but it's like Olive Garden only better!)
Pei Wei
Cafe Rio
Texas Roadhouse
Wildflower Bakery
Bajio
Puerto Vallarta
I would like to put down the "Melting Pot" because I've heard it's FABULOUS but since I've never been there I guess that would be cheating...?

8 Things that happened yesterday:
Woke up
Started the laundry
Fed Caysja oatmeal with blueberries
Swept/mopped my floors with Caysja "helping" me
Scrubbed the toilets and bathrooms with Caysja "helping" me
Fed Caysja and myself lunch
Ran a couple errands while Caleb was home eating lunch and Cayjsa was napping

Made a salad and went to our ward's "getting to know you" potluck dinner

8 things I am looking forward to:
Being Done with Medical School
Being done w/this pregnancy
Having a house someday
Going home for Thanksgiving
Christmas in AZ with my parents here
Having My baby
Having an actual income!

8 things I love about fall:
Pumpkins
Cool Weather
Halloween
Family getting together
Caleb's birthday
Trick or Treating
Dressing Caysja up for Halloween
The smells of Fall

8 things on my wish list:
To potty train Caysja at nap time and bed time (she's doing pretty good during the day!)
A Cruise
Buy a House
Go to Hawaii
Live by family
See a show on Broadway (preferably Phantom)
Student loans paid off
Travel to Europe

8 people I'm tagging:
Kim P.
Alissa
Melinda
Kandis
Siri
Stephanie
Kristy
Natalie

I need sleep

HELP! Lately Caysja has developed the WORST sleeping habits and I have no idea what is going on! I usually put her to bed about 7:30 pm and she was sleeping til about 6:30 am or so. Well, lately she is waking us up (i.e. coming into our room) at 5:00am!!! And believe me, putting her back to bed doesn't do any good either. She is up and ready to eat her "o-meel" and begging me to get up and fix it for her--when the sun isn't even shining yet! That wouldn't be too bad if she took a good long nap, but guess what....lately she won't take a nap at all! She'll stay in her room for the two hours that I make her--AND NEVER FALL ASLEEP! What's a tired mom to do?! I need her to keep taking these naps for AT LEAST another 6 months or so--especially with a baby on the way! Have any of your kids gone through this "phase"? If any of you have any ideas for me to try, please help--I need sleep!

We went to the park today!

So some of you might not think this is worthy of posting, but let me assure you, IT IS!! We haven't been to a single park around here in FOREVER--like about four months precisely! Okay, okay so it was still SUPER hot today, but Caysja has been begging me to go to the park every day now for a while and we decided to brave it. In the shade it wasn't so bad, but the walk home was brutal! Fall can't come soon enough here...

And because I don't have any new pictures at the moment, I'm going to post one from a while ago. This is what we looked like every night during the Olympics. We sure loved watching them! Caysja got really into them and wanted to jump off the couch and do somersaults for the "gymnastics."

Is it too early to celebrate?

So, I just have to say that potty training is going REALLY well!! (Now because I've said that, tomorrow will be a horrible day, just watch...) Seriously though, Caysja is doing great-much better than I thought she would. The first day (Thurs.) she had about 4 accidents, but each day she had a few less and today she didn't have a SINGLE one!!! Plus, she woke up from her 3 hour nap, DRY! I'm sooo proud of her! Let's be honest...I was really worried to take her to church today, but every time I went to get her in nursery to take her to the bathroom (expecting to have to change her outfit) she was still dry! Prayer really works because I was sure praying the whole day that the nursery leaders wouldn't hate me! (I could just see her having an accident all over one of them...)

Labor Day at Fall Creek

We had so much fun with my husband's family in Idaho this last week over Labor Day. We were able to go camping with them to Fall Creek for the weekend, one of best camping spots around. (Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of the famous waterfall that you can hike down, but it is just amazing!)

Here is a baby moose that we saw across the Snake River-- (sorry it isn't a closer picture).

Caysja and her cousin Nelah are only 10 weeks apart and they had a blast playing with each other the whole time. Here they are on the four-wheelers pretending to "drive" them.

Caleb took Caysja on a ride and she loved it! We are so blessed that Caleb's brother bought a new motorcyle and was willing to give Caleb his old one on a very extended long-term loan--i.e. when we get out of med school! Having his motorcyle stolen a year ago was one of the hardest things he's gone through.

Caleb with two of his six his brothers, Eric and Jacob, on a ride.

While we were home for a week, we got gotether and had a BBQ with a bunch of Caleb's old roommates and their wives from our BYU-I days. Some of them we hadn't seen in four years! We all have kids now and they had a lot of fun playing together too.

My Little Princess. She was the oldest kid at the BBQ and she kept bossing all the other kids around! She needs to learn to share...what else is new?

My baby is no longer a baby

Okay, you have to excuse the goofy face that Caysja is making in this picture, but I had to take it because today we bought her her *FIRST* official pair of panties (or "canties" as she calls them. She got to pick them out--pink of course.) We are officially beginning to potty train this week and so far she's doing pretty well. She's gone both #1 and #2 in the potty several times in months past, but we were waiting until all our vacations were over and we were back home in somewhat of a schedule before officially trying to go consistently. I made her a little "potty chart" and bought stickers and lots of fruit snacks (which she LOVES) so we'll see how it goes! Wish us luck and if any of you out there have tips you'd like to share with me, please tell!

Caysja modeling her first pair of undies!

Slide Rock/Sedona

On our way to Idaho this past week, we stopped in Sedona AZ to go camping/hiking and go to Slide Rock. Sedona is sooooo beautiful and we had a great time. Slide Rock is super fun--a very popular place, but worth it. It's this natural slide worn right into the rocks with the Oak Creek flowing over it. Caysja didn't love it too much because she kept falling down, but Caleb and I had a blast. It was pretty funny to watch all the people fall down when trying to stand up on the slippery rocks!

"Kiki" posing for the camera

Caysja sliding with me

Watching Caleb go down the slide

The hike we went on was just perfect. Not too long because it got hot fast!

Caysja roasting marshmallows with Caleb

Making breakfast

More Anniversary pics...

Sorry it's taken me so long to post these. For our Anniversary we celebrated by going out to dinner at one of our favorite places--Olive Garden. It was delicious! We bought ourselves a joint present--a new TV. There's no way we would have done this except that our old TV broke right before the Olympics and since it would have cost quite a lot to fix it, we decided to just get a new one. It's a HUGE improvement over our old one, that's for sure!! Luckily Caleb's Grandparents are getting older (his grandpa is 90!) and they decided to divide up their inheritance with their kids/grandkids so that enabled us to buy it.

I'm still alive...

Sorry for all of you who read my blog! I have been SO bad about posting lately...(as I'm sure you've noticed)! I guess I have been getting my apartment back in order after moving and then watching the Olympics all the time, but other than that, I have to admit I have just been lazy when it comes to blogging! I will try to do better. I guess it doesn't help that not much has been going on. We're just trying to survive the HEAT! This summer has actually been about 10 degrees cooler in general than last summer, so we are lucky.

I will try to post pictures from our last camping trip when we went home to Idaho because guess what...we're going home again next week and we're going to go camping AGAIN! See, I told you Caleb's family likes to camp! This week is finals for Caleb and then he gets a week off before Fall semester starts. I have LOVED having him home so much this summer. His schedule was so much lighter and I dread the Fall--being gone all the time, stressing over so many tests, etc.. Oh well.

On another note, I can't believe we've actually been here in AZ a whole year! Everyone told me when we first moved here that time goes by pretty fast and I was like, "yeah, right" but really, it HAS gone by pretty fast. We are excited to be "second years"! Good luck on your finals this week, Honey! Can't wait to come home and see all of our friends and family in just one more week!

Four Years Today!

Today is our fourth Anniversary! I can't believe it's already been that long. It's been the best four years of my life and the time has just flown by! In these past four years we've moved four times, lived in two different states, graduated from BYU-Idaho, had a baby and currently have one on the way, held four jobs (between the two of us), started medical school, and took lots and lots of loans out to pay for school (thus ending out previously debt-free state)!

I am so blessed to be married to my wonderful Honey! He is not only my very handsome husband, but also my best friend in the whole world. He makes me laugh when I am down, listens to me complain, takes care of me when I don't feel good, gives great back rubs, cooks dinner just to make my day, helps around the house, is quite romantic, and a SUPER dad!! I am so grateful to be sealed to him for not only this life, but the life to come. Here's to many more wonderful years together... I LOVE YOU CALEB!!!

It's A.......................

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I had my ultrasound yesterday but our internet wasn't working (we just moved into a different apartment, same complex) so I couldn't post until today. Needless to say, there's no mistake--it's definitely and truly a boy! I have to admit I was pretty surprised as I really thought I was having a girl. We are just as excited as can be though! You should have heard Caleb's voice over the phone when I told him! This is his little "motorcycle man"!

I will post more pictures from our camping trip to Idaho soon...as soon as I get my house in order. Moving is a PAIN--especially when there's a heat warning going on outside and you're five months pregnant!