In major need of updating!

My days have been going something like this, depending on the activities and tasks for the day with varying levels of chaos...

I started out the morning with Cohen pulling me out of bed by 7 am asking for "lunch" and cream of wheat. Potty training Cohen has been a task I have been resisting, just not wanting to take it on, but he seems pretty eager now, most of the time, so we are moving forward! His diaper is dry from the night, but he doesn't want to sit on the potty so I bribe him with a trip to the mall tree house if he will go pee pee first thing. (I am not above bribery, in fact I think it is wonderful!) Nursing as well as pumping to feed Ryder cereal then followed. After we all ate our different breakfasts I cleaned the kitchen and all around the house for a bit (and stopped to encourage Cohen to go poop on the potty about 4 different times, but with no success) then hopped in the shower, skipping a much needed shave, again, and threw some most-likely-clean clothes on to grab a fussy Ryder that needed to be nursed again by this time and put down for a nap. Cohen was still reminding me every few minutes that I needed to take him to the tree house, but with Ryder sleeping we would need to wait a bit so I grabbed Lilly, whose smelly face from over active tear ducts (I know...) I could no longer stand and went to give her a bath. Mid-bath Cohen came waddling into the bathroom in his Nemo underwear, mid-poop. I grabbed him to place him on the toilet and I wearing my only pair of clean pants, ended up kneeling in the poop that fell on the floor which Izzy also immediately tries to eat. Lilly is shaking all over and shivering while trying to escape from the tub. After cleaning up Cohen, removing my pants and cloroxing the tile I go back to scrubbing Lilly and trimming the goop out of her hair. I hear Cohen yelling "Help, Mem! I hurt!" so I wrap the wet dog in a towel and go running through the house worried! I find Cohen behind Ryder's closed bedroom door in his crib just wanting to get down. Ryder is crying because he was tired and didn't appreciate being woken up with a loving body slam as Cohen climmed in to be with him. I got Cohen down and got Ryder up and went to find my jeans that have a hole in the crotch and went to get the iron and an iron-on jean patch to fix them. I didn't have time to wait around to do laundry. After all, we had to get to the tree house! I finished getting ready and packed up Ryder and got Cohen dressed and we finally got out of the house by noon, but all I wanted to do by this time was nap...

Four months worth of pictures and more hopefully coming soon! (Just so I can stop thinking about how I need to blog!)

Keepin' Busy!

(I finally updated the last couple months, so check below for new posts!)

Having two boys is so much fun and a lot of work, especially since the two year old can do terrible things when I am busy nursing, bathing, changing the baby or showering, cooking or cleaning the house and not entertaining him. I am nursing Ryder as I type (sorry for the visual) and wondering why he keeps biting me and why Cohen is being so quiet in the other room. The moments when he actually keeps himself busy, I end up paying for later. Like when he painted most of the couch with my liquid (oil based) eye shadow and again with concealer. Its amazing what messes he can make in just a matter of minutes. My house is not that big, it's not like I am very far away, but all he needs is a wall separating us to get into mischief!
Cohen is also a grazer so I try to keep fruits and veggies, cheese, crackers and lots of other snacks available to him, but he still goes for the dog food or eats half a cube of butter whenever possible.

(Poopy Diaper Intermission)

Well that brings me to the next subject, potty training...
Cohen got his big boy potty last night! Our number one issue though is he doesn't care about having a wet diaper. He actually couldn't care less if he marinated all day! I think he needs some more time.
I hate to talk about all the trials with Cohen and then move on to what a good baby Ryder is, but that is the reality of life right now so that is how it goes!
Ryder is three months old now and has brought me so much joy among the chaos of layoffs, past due bills, new jobs, temper tantrums, holiday and family drama that I honestly don't know where I would be without him. The loony bin probably! This was probably the hardest year to have another baby, but he has been the best part of this past year, I can't imagine him not coming when he did. He is so smiley and even tempered and a breath of fresh air! Scott and I stare at him in amazement and awe, we didn't know it could be this... enjoyably easy.
Cohen had a rough start with him and even asked if he would "go bye bye to work" (like Daddy), but once I explained that babies don't work, they stay home with their mommy's he realized he was here to stay.
They are learning to enjoy one another. Cohen loves when Ryder smiles at him and he likes to hold him on occasion. Ryder loves to suck his fingers and look at his hands and especially watch Cohen as he bounces through the house.
I look forward to all the many years as a family and all the fun adventures we will have with these amazing little guys. Motherhood for me, is definitely a journey of extreme highs and lots of stumbles, but I hope my boys always know that being their mother is the very best gift and greatest accomplishment I feel I could have ever wanted.

Tomorrow's the day!

So, here I am, almost 40 weeks... Three weeks ago when I scheduled an induction date, I really really didn't think I would need it since I was already dialating and having contractions. The contractions have continued and gotten stronger, not really painful, but definitely uncomfortable and enough to keep me up on many, many nights, but they have mostly been random and when they are consistant, they haven't gotten closer than ten minutes apart and then they suddenly stop. (I feel like I have already been through the beginings of labor for over a week!) I really really wanted him to come on his own! We have tried just about everything we could, but it seems like my body needs a little extra push to get this baby born so we are being induced tomorrow!
It is bitter-sweet for me with how many miscarriages I have had and how hard we have fought to stay pregnant to know tomorrow the ending goal will be reached and my baby will be here, no longer safe in my tummy. But I am so excited to finally meet this little guy! I have been extra cautious of each movement today, enjoying his wiggling limbs and hiccups.
I have so much I want to update on from Scott's new job at Gold Medallion Homes to how our little Cohen is doing, but we still don't have internet so I will get to it with all the "free time" I will have soon!

HERE COMES BABY FINALLY! YEAH!

Pregnancy Update

I haven't done an update on my pregnancy like I have wanted in a long time (since 4 months)! I don't have a pregnancy journal like I did with Cohen, so I want to write some things down so I don't forget!

I started to feel the first kicks at about 17 weeks and didn't have much of an appetite until after 20 weeks. I had a lot of round ligament pain from early on until 20+ weeks and now my entire body just hurts. I don't remember having this many aches with Cohen (it probably has a lot to do with lifting a 30+ pound toddler all day on top of being pregnant)! I feel like I am falling apart already and I am only 32 weeks! I have gained about 15 pounds so far, but feel like I have gained 50! My hips, joints, tail bone, back, legs and feet hurt and occasionally my head. I have been having braxton hicks contractions off and on since about 25 weeks (especially during the move back and the weeks following, they have calmed down since). I also get shooting pains straight up the front on my stomach, especially when I am more active (it feeling like my skin in burning or tearing!). I don't sleep very well anymore, I'm restless and I get up a few times a night to use the bathroom and I change positions at least 30 times trying to stop my hips from aching. I have all day and night acid reflux so I try to sleep sitting up which doesn't work since I am a side sleeper. I already waddle like a penguin and lean to the left a lot because this little boy LOVES having his feet pressed against or under my right ribs! It is the strangest feeling! I love watching him shift his limbs and body, making my belly dance in waves. He also has been getting the hiccups often and I just love feeling it!
I am so excited to meet this sweet little one and to experience life with him. I am anxious, but feel content that I have about another month or so until he is here. He is safe inside and even with the pains of pregnancy I know how much work it will be when he arrives so I am just going to enjoy it all until his birthday!
We are pretty sure we have picked his name, but we are waiting to announce it until after he is here (I want to make sure it fits, plus it will be a fun surprise!)
I want to remember how freakin' awesome Scott has been throughout this pregnancy! He has been so supportive through the blood tests and unknown in the beginning, the morning sickness and fatigue, and now not being able to bend over or do as much as I want. He has made me feel great about my changing body and growing belly, he is so excited about this new little baby and about becoming a daddy again! He is so cute about wanting to touch my baby belly and would just stare at me and excitedly announce that I have belly when it first started to show.
It's a blessing carrying his baby.
I am excited to see how Cohen is with him, but nervous about juggling two!
(In the last month Cohen has learned how to throw some pretty good tantrums and become a "true two year old" in wanting to do what he wants to do right then. I try to avoid going into public when I don't have back up... Just when you think you get use to one stage, they are moving into the next. Some things get easier, but most have just gotten harder lately. I think when he learns to communicate a little better that will help a lot.)
Overall though, I have really enjoyed being pregnant and I love having the opportunity to experience the pure miracle of it all again. I can't believe it's almost over! It's gone really fast and I have so many projects to work on and get done before he arrives!
Belly Pics
23 weeks

27 weeks

32 weeks

HELLO from the EAST COAST!

Bye Bye home!

So, on Wednesday Cohen and I said goodbye to Utah and took the (LONG) 7 hour flight (included two short layovers) to Massachusetts! I was sad to leave my family and knew I would really miss them, my mom especially since she is my best friend besides Scott! They all helped me out a ton after Scott left and also came to help me finish up packing the morning I left.
My mom drove Cohen and I to the airport. The long awaited trip had finally arrived and I was so thankful I would be getting there soon! I couldn't have taken one more day of packing and running around doing a billion errands and making lists and lists and trying to complete everything on those lists without Scott. I was exhausted and still am for that matter!
Here I am with my sister Chantelle and brother Dustin. Dustin is really worried about me becoming a RED SOX fan and had to show his Yankee pride before I left. (I didn't even realize they were big rivals before then so he doesn't have much to worry about! I would love to go to Fenway Park to see a game while I am here though.)

We got to the airport before Jen, Dylan, baby Savannah and Jen's mom Tracy so we waited for them at the play area.

We soon boarded and the boys loved looking out the windows at the guys below loading all the luggage!

The flight when all said and done isn't something I would want to relive. It went okay overall, but it was a packed flight, elbow to elbow. Cohen was on my lap (it was too late to book him a seat once I rethought the "lap baby" thing) and I was uncomfortable and achy with my tummy in the way! Jen and clan sat across from me and Tracy took Cohen a couple time which gave me a needed breather. We hit some pretty scary turbulence descending into Dallas for the first layover that was so jolty that Cohen giggled and giggled thinking it was fun. I was happy he wasn't scared because I was and it helped me hearing him laugh! When we went in for the landing we caught a huge air pocket and the plane skidded sideways and then finally straighten out. It was pretty scary and I hadn't ever experienced things like that on any flights.
Cohen slept only 20-30 minutes on the plane the entire time. The dvd player only lasted through one movie and then died when I needed it most!
I had tons of snacks and was as prepared as I could have been with toys, but Cohen still dug his feet into the different passengers sitting next to us and cried and screamed the last couple hours. I think I was a huge ball of nerves by the time we walked off that plane!
Here is Cohen sitting next to all of mine and Jen's luggage after we collected it (she was able to pack a lot since she had three tickets worth of baggage).

I was so happy to finally see Scott after a extremely long week apart!
We actually flew into Manchester, New Hampshire so it was after midnight by the time we got to Braintree (just south of Boston), Massachusetts. I was so relieved to finally be to our new home!
I love our beautiful apartment and have already been on some "exciting" adventures getting lost around here (Jen had to come find me! I don't have a GPS yet and was following her back from the Walmart Super Center that is 30 miles away and got lost in some merging traffic and missed the exit! Scott and I have ventured out twice after work and gotten lost both times then too even though we thought we were watching where we were going! The roads are so CRAZY here! I thought California was bad, but that is nothing! All you can see is tons and tons of foresty trees and I never can be sure which way is north. I love the Utah compass of the Wasatch Mountains!)

Here is a view of our front door and garage.
I had to get a picture of the 20 stairs I will be climbing all summer. Chasing Cohen is my first work out of the day, here is the second, third, forth, etc. Hopefully it doesn't put me into labor!Inside, let's start with my favorite part of the house! The beautiful kitchen!!!

Having a nice kitchen makes me want to cook!

This is the first meal I made. My sister's spinach pasta tomato chicken! Yum! Steamy...Wow! An entire room for a table! A real dining room all for me?
(Our house in Orem just has enough room for a small round table in the kitchen so I love having more space!)

When you first walk in, this is what you see. Livingroom, dining, kitchen and a back door to the nice big terrace.

Another view from the dining room into the living room.Here is the hallway from the front room that leads to the laundry on the right, the second bath on the left and the master bed and bath at the end.

Here is the second bath with another door leading into Cohen's room.

You can enter Cohen's room from the dining room or the bathroom.

We made his walk in closet a little toy area.Cohen loves making his daddy his prisioner...This was a boys only fort, I wasn't allowed!

The master bedroom has a sitting room and double walk in closets! (I didn't bring my bedding set and seeing the matress is driving me nuts! I need a bed skirt!)

And a beautiful bathroom with a big tub!
(Oh, the things you appreciate when you don't generally have them!)

Looking left from the terrace...

Looking right from the terrace...

Cohen's angry face after a nap! He was running at me, flaling his arms trying to prevent me from taking the picture, but I got it anyway! He he!

More pictures of Scott's road trip to come!
Hopefully, I will get out soon and do some site seeing as well, but for now I am so content to just hang out after the last few crazy, busy, stressful weeks!
Massachusetts in now our home!!!

4 Month Pregnancy Update

At 4 months I still feel like I did in a lot of ways at 3 months. I am still pretty tired, I haven't really been able to feel the baby move yet and I am really congested and sneeze constantly (30+ times per day)! I think I may be allergic to my baby! I sneezed a lot when I was pregnant with Cohen too, so I think it is funny I have the same weird symptom with this baby. (I don't generally have allergies or anything.)
I am in that chubby looking stage where people just think I need to lay off the donuts... (yum, donuts.... fyi I haven't had a donut in months)! I think I need to make a trip to Crispy Creme before we move!
Anyway, food still is gross smelling and non-appealing most of the time and my stomach is sour a lot. The nausea isn't as bad though, I do think it is improving. In the beginning I lost a few pounds and now I have gained a few back so I am about where I started. I have been able to start cooking again, Scott is very thankful! We were getting tired of eating out!
I don't remember having such strong round ligament pains with Cohen. I don't know if it is because I am picking up a 25+ pound toddler all day, but I have been pretty uncomfortable some days. I feel achy a lot with sharp pains on either side of my uterus, my doctor said all I can really do is rest when possible.
Other than those things, it seems to be going well! I am so excited and anxious to find out what this baby is! People have asked whether I want a boy or girl and it honestly switches back and forth from day to day! I am glad I don't get to pick the gender because I wouldn't be able to decide!!! I have my guess of what the baby is and I will tell you if I am right when we find out!
Since my ultrasound is in a few week I thought I would see what people's guesses are now! When Scott leaves next week he will be taking everything we need with him and that includes the computer. I don't know when I will have internet going again so my next baby post may be the ultrasound update.
So... Do you think it is a BOY or a GIRL??? Please comment! I want to see what most people think! :)

(The pic above was taken tonight after a big dinner (I emphasize "big dinner" because of the size of my stomach!) at Brick Oven with Andy and Sarah, Chris and Andrea. Thanks Andy and Sarah for treating us as a going away present! That was so sweet of you guys and we are really going to miss hanging out with our fun little group! We look forward to seeing all four of you this September!)

What a Year 2008 has been!

I was just sitting here thinking about how long this year has seemed! I didn't get a Christmas Card out so I thought I would write a recap of our year on here!

January started out great with Scott's hard work paying off by becoming a general contractor and starting his own company Landmark General Contracting! I had gone back to work for my mom helping her run her company after Cohen was born and was really excited to be a full time stay at home mom from this point on! I was sad to leave a job I enjoyed, but so excited to be able to give my full attention to the baby I had wanted so badly and waited so long for! Cohen was already six months old and growing fast!

February looked pretty uneventful as far as my blog posts went, but I am sure we had some exciting events that took place and I just can't remember... I am sure Scott was busy working and I was still getting up a couple times a night with Cohen and my days were filled with keeping Cohen fed, changed and happy! Which at times, well most of the time, is exhausting!

In March, we had fun having a bonfire up the canyon and roasting marshmallows with Cohen and celebrating his first Easter!

In April, Oprah's show on puppy mills inspired me to adopted a dog from an animal shelter. After research and only a couple days of searching we found our little Lilly and added her to our family! Cohen and Izzy were "thrilled". She has turned out to be a great dog and we are so happy to have her! Cohen also turned ten months old and FINALLY started sleeping ALL THE WAY through the night (10 hours), then became sick and abruptly ended that! He was also busy doing the "Cohen Shuffle" at this point. Scott also turned 27 at the beginning of the month!

In May, Cohen got moving and cruising with crawling and walking while holding on to his toy! I took Cohen swimming for the first time and Scott was looking into a new venture with property preservation. Cohen was waking up extremely early every morning, but was sleeping straight through the night. It was a great month and I was really enjoying being a mommy! I also celebrated my first Mother's Day!

In June, we celebrated Cohen's 1st Birthday where we had a big bug themed party at the park! He also had his first hair cut and was weaned this month. We took a trip to the Ranch in Capital Reef for Memorial Day weekend too! At the end of June I was so excited to find out I was pregnant again! We also welcomed Scott's sister's fourth baby girl into the family at the end of the month!

July brought celebration with the 4th of July and my first 5k and sadness with our 4th miscarriage. We were so excited to be pregnant with the thought of having a new baby the first of March, but things ended around the 7th week. Cohen also started walking and talking this month!

In August, we took Cohen on our first family camping trip and had so much fun! I also finished the Twilight series and loved it!

In September, I took Cohen boating on Deer Creek, we got our new (new to us) Pilot, we landscaped our front yard and we took Cohen on his first trip to the Zoo!

In October, spent some time up Nebo canyon and took another trip to the Ranch enjoying Conference weekend! I found out I was pregnant and spent most of October staying down a lot and crossing my fingers and toes. I turned 25 and Scott and I went away for the a night to Park City without Cohen for the first time. We celebrated Halloween with my family, Cohen dressed up as a little blue monster!

November was hard... we lost our baby, fifth miscarriage, even after seeing the heartbeat and that everything was fine on ultrasound just two weeks before. I met with my OBGYN, no answers. Looked into a natural hormone replacement clinic and have been doing blood tests that have shown some interesting and hopeful results. Started supplements. Went and saw the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and loved it! We went on a road trip to California for Thanksgiving and had so much fun with Scott's family! We went to the beach a couple times, to Disneyland and of course had Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma Green's!

In December, Scott went to Dallas, Texas to look into a Security System Company (keeping his options open with this crazy economy). We had fun enjoying the Christmas season by looking at Christmas lights and spending lots of time with our family and friends! Cohen turned 18 months and is a sweet, sensitive little boy that loves to scream and push the limits! We spend Christmas Eve at my mom's and slept over! Christmas this year with Cohen was so magical and he got spoiled! We spent lots of time with Scott's family as well while they were here visiting and staying with his sister Michelle! We loved playing Guitar Hero and going to movies with them! December was a wonderful month and a great way to end the year!

We look forward to what 2009 holds! We have many hopes and possibilities for this coming year! Whatever happens we just hope that we are lucky enough to spend lots of time with our loved ones creating memories like we did this past year. I am sure we will have trials and many blessings ahead and I look forward to our life!

Merry Christmas from our girls!

(Today I over heard the dogs when they were telling each other about how sick and tired they are about not being featured on the family blog... so this is for them! :))

Lilly recently had her first birhtday! We adopted her from the pound just over 7 months ago and we have just fallen in love with her (although it took a few months)! We are so happy we chose to rescue her rather than buy from a pet store (puppy mill). She has had so much spazzy energy and is such a sweet little girl. She has never had an accident in the house (however, she does have a nervous peeing problem) and is always excited for attention. She is still in the puppy phase though and takes off with random utensils or toys or any other object she finds suitable.
Izzy is a true big sister and gets very annoyed with Lilly. Although we know she really does enjoy her company and they have so much fun playing together. Izzy is almost 3 and loves to sit on her throne on top of the couch looking out the window.
We love our dogs, even though sometimes I wonder why I have given myself the extra work and even after cleaning up muddy footprints throughout the house, half eaten trash spread across the backyard, having to scoop the poop in the yard and all the extra expense of grooming and dog food, etc we are happy to have our fur babies!

Updated! Finally!

I am not generally this lazy about updating our blog! I am so far behind! I have a 12, 13 and 14 month newsletter to write for Cohen that has been haunting me each month that passes. Hopefully I will get to that soon, but for now I wanted to give a "brief" (or I guess my version of brief) update on our current doctors appointment.
We met with my doctor a couple weeks ago and he still didn't have much insight for us. We discussed a theory I had and a couple other questions, but when it came down to it he felt that we have done everything we can, but he said he would double check with the specialist he knows about our specific situation. I was at peace with not doing any further testing because in most cases even if we figured it out, which would be unlikely, we wouldn't be able to do anything about it. When I talked to his nurse a couple weeks later she gave me some information to refer us to the specialist he spoke with. My doctor was out of the office so I am unsure why he thinks it will be worth our time and money to go see this specialist when he had said differently before. So I called and made an appointment for now with the specialist, who is in Centerville, and my appointment is at the end of October. That will give me time to talk to my doctor about the specifics when he is back in the office and to figure out if this is the path I want to go. It almost feels like opening a can of worms because I highly doubt anything will be figured out and I don't know if I want to put myself through more testing, hoping, the unknown, etc. I am leaning towards canceling the appointment, moving forward, keep trying and hope for the best. Thanks so much to everyone who commented, for your thoughts, prayers and support! It means the world to us and it REALLY helps!!! We love you!

Another reason I have been lazy about my blog updating is because I have been engrossed in the fourth book of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, Breaking Dawn (who hasn't been reading it?)! I had a hard time putting it down! I made the 750+ page book drag on as long as possible, but I still finished it within one week. I was trying to be disciplined about it and clean and take care of Cohen and Scott BEFORE picking up the book each day so some days I only got to read a chapter. Anyway, I really loved it and I want MORE! I hate how the last page says THE END! :)

A couple weeks ago we took Cohen on his first camping trip up to Provo Canyon! We had so much fun and Cohen did a lot better than we thought he would! Here is our awesome camping sight. (Cohen looks so small!)You give this kid a stick and some dirt and he plays longer than he does with any toy money can buy!
We made delicious tin foil dinners and dutch over peach cobbler with raspberries and ice cream! Oh, YUMMY!!! This is why I love camping... I didn't get a picture of the dinners because I ate it before I could think about anything else. (My mom, my step dad Kay and my nephew Kaden came up for dinner and hung out with us for a couple hours as well. It was so fun having them hang out with us for a while!)
Hanging around the fire roasting marshmallows!It was freezing the next morning so we bundled up Cohen with many layers! Look at those CHEEKS! Squeeze!Scott did one of the many things he does best and made a killer breakfast! Pancakes, eggs, bacon and fruit.I love camping and we hope to go again before it is too cold! It seems like fall is already sneaking up!!!