Some Things Last a Lifetime

Birthing Alice

2010-10-05T16:34:00.000-07:00

After waiting and waiting to go into labor my water broke about 3:30 in the morning on October 2nd. I was obviously sleeping. I felt a strong cramp and then a slight gush of fluid. I wasn't sure if I peed in my underwear or if my water broke. After going to the bathroom, I was sure that my water had broke. We called Jen and Trav to let them know we would drop the kids off and quickly packed my hospital bag(yes, we procrastinated that until the last minute, literally). We were out the door about ten minutes later since earlier my doctor had given me strict instructions that if my water broke I better be ready to walk out the door. On the way to the hospital I had my first contraction around 4:00 am. By the time we got to the hospital I was having contractions about four minutes apart. My fluid was leaking all over, nothing could contain it! It was pretty gross. When I got checked in the nurse checked my cervix and told me that I was dilated to a 6. She continued to ask more administrative questions while I breathed through each contraction. They were painful but very manageable with deep breathing. When she was done she allowed me to get in the shower. I really couldn't have asked for a better nurse and she was all about natural child birth so she was very helpful. I felt like I had a doula. As soon as I got in the shower my contractions got much closer together. The nurse stopped in before she was going to leave the room and asked how I was doing. I told her that my contractions had gotten a lot closer. She asked if I had any pressure or desire to push. I told her that I felt like I could go to the bathroom. We decided that I better get out after being in there for about five minutes. After getting dried off and back in bed the nurse checked me again and told me that I was now at a 9. They called the doctor and luckily she was already in the hospital for something else cause after three contractions I was ready to push. After four more contractions I was holding my baby at 5:57 am. It all happened so fast. Doing it natural was not as hard as I was expecting but with that being said I didn't really have an empowering feeling after it either. I was surprised when Andrew said he preferred the natural child birth as compared to the ones with an epidural especially since he wasn't that keen on my choice to do it natural. I think the part that I enjoyed the most was to experience first hand the physiology of the birthing experience instead of just reading about it. Might sound kind of weird but I love learning about how the body works. We are all doing well. The kids just adore their new sister. They are a little stir crazy but hopefully we can hold them over tell Grandma and Grandpa get here to entertain them. We want to thank all of you for your thoughts and kind words!

New Editor

2010-05-05T18:35:00.000-07:00

So I've obviously been terrible at keeping up with the blog. I was getting annoyed at how long it took to upload pictures. Recently my SIL told me that there was a new editor that made it much more easy. Well as you can see from my post below it was totally easy to upload pictures, however I could not type any text. Maybe the way to do it is type the text and then select the picture. Is this what you do? Anyway sorry for the mantra of pictures below. I want my kids to love the outdoors and being active so when I woke up and we didn't have any plan I decided to take them to the state park for a hike. I must say it was a pretty fun day for just being me with the kids.

Roxborough State Park

2010-05-05T18:26:00.000-07:00

Christmas Eve

2009-12-29T15:45:00.000-08:00

We had the most memorable Christmas Eve with Andrew's family this year.

This is Tom and he is the man! His cooking is so dang good and he treated us to a five course meal. He even had pallet cleansers of fine cheeses and fruit. Thank you so much Tom for all your hard work.While Tom was working his butt off the other men were doing what they do best, nothing!

The woods crafted the meal that the kids would eat first so we didn't even have to worry about them. Something we need to remember for next year.

Here is the family sucking in their guts after our delicious meal.Thank you Johanna and Tom for opening up your house and providing an awesome meal.

After dinner Andrew read the Christmas story from Luke 2.

The little boys were too busy swapping milk to listen to the story. Maybe the will get it next year.

Here are the Cottle grandkids in there Christmas Pj's from Grandma Cottle. She is amazing and makes or buys jammies for all the kids. Thank you Grandma Cottle you are the bomb!

Jane was so happy and look so cute!

Here are a few pictures from the evening

We finished up the night by listening to Travis read Twas the Night Before Christmas. Then we all went home and fell quickly asleep so Santa would come.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T10:30:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

So here is our attempt to catch up on the blog while sending out our e-card. We know every year we say, "next year we will send out a real card" and never do so we aren't making any promises. However, this year we've been ripping off addresses off the cards we received so we can actually have a mailing list for next year, so we will see. It has been nice to hear from you and see your beautiful families. This has be an awesome year for us with Sarah not being pregnant and tied down with breast feeding. We both took advantage and got into running. We both completed a half marathon and Andrew went on to do the whole thing on Labor Day.

After barely training because he was too busy traveling to Alaska, Germany and London, Andrew met his goal by running it in under 4 hours. If you squint you can make his time on the sign.Sarah was so proud of him and couldn't help but get choked up at every runner crossing the finish line. Maybe one day it will be her. A day later we headed off to Cancun to celebrate our five year wedding anniversary. We had the most amazing time and hope that it is not too long before we can go back.
We enjoyed stuffing ourselves silly with all the food we could ever ask for and chill by the pool and beach.
In October, Joint Juice was running a deal that Andrew got addicted too and Sarah loved every minute of it. Needless to say these were all free plus we got over $700 in free groceries. We took advantage and got some food storage. The end of the deal brought us to Halloween. It was a blast for both the kids. Reynolds loved dressing up as his new obsession, Elmo. Jane ALWAYS loves to dress up so she was a natural as a beautiful fairy.

In September Jane stared a ballet and tap class. They preformed the nut cracker for there Christmas performance and it couldn't have been more precious to watch.The kids are growing and changing all the time. Jane loves to do anything where she is learning or crafting. Her latest thing is playing games on the PBS website. She would spend hours playing games if we let her.
Reynolds is our little ball of energy and jokester. He loves anything that has to do with sports, skateboarding or wrestling. It has been so fun to watch him change into his own little person this year.

We hope that this finds each of you well this time of season. We are so grateful for our knowledge of the Savior and our testimonies of the Gospel. We are so grateful to each of you in our lives!

Is Anybody Out There?

2009-12-12T12:50:00.001-08:00

Does anybody actually come to this abandoned blog anymore? I've been a real slacker and was thinking about updating the blog so stay tuned.

In the meantime, I hope you're all have a great Christmas season!

2009-10-03T13:34:00.001-07:00

Now that summer is officially over I guess I can write a little bit about my travels. Sarah has been bugging me for at least a month to write this post and now I am finally doing it. For someone who has done very little travel in their life, this summer I spent a lot of nights in hotels in foreign lands. First came my trip to Anchorage, although this was my second trip up there this year. At the end of July I left for Munich, Germany and spent nearly 3 weeks site-seeing (and doing hardly any work!). Then the last week of August I also got to go to London for a week. This was a lot of fun for me, but I am glad to be back at home with my wife and kids.

Munich was pretty awesome, except for the fact that I don't speak any freaking German. Somehow I got by. Munich is a beautiful city and I really enjoyed my time there. Lucky for me I was there long enough that I had two full weekends to explore. The subway made life extremely easy and I was able to get around quite easily. Some of the highlights for me were running through the English Garden, walking around the Olympic Park (Munich hosted the '72 Summer Games), and visiting the concentration camp at Dachau. That last one was a pretty heavy experience, but something I wouldn't trade for anything. It really puts life in perspective and makes me thankful for what I have and hopeful that mankind has learned from our past.

The English Garden was pretty sweet. I went for an epic run throughout the park and along the river. It was so much fun and super mellow. There were people from all over the world taking in the park and all that it offers, including river surfing!

If you are ever in Munich I highly suggest taking a stroll through the garden and taking some time to relax and enjoy the beautiful park. Even go for a swim! As they say, when in Rome do as the Romans. You can even go nude if you want, if thats your thing.

For me the Olympic Park was awesome. Some people might not get that psyched on it, but being a sports nut like myself I was super hyped to see the Olympic stadium where Steve Prefontaine ran and felt like I was a part of history being there. The whole place is kind of turned into a fair of sorts now, but I certainly enjoyed checking out the grounds, see the Olympic Tower, and imagining what it was like to be there 37 years ago watching the games.

That tall building off in the distance is where I was working while in Munich. Here you can see the Olympic stadium where all the action is! I'm a total sports geek.

I also went and checked out some old palace. The place was huge. Unfortunately I am cheap and refused to pay money to actually go inside and see whatever it is they charge you to see. The outside was impressive enough for me so thats what I took some photos of.

My last weekend in Munich I ventured out to the Nazi concentration camp in Dachau. This was a pretty intense experience and taking it all in really blew me away. Its just sad that human beings have the ability to be so cruel to one another. Its hard to even verbalize the range of feelings and emotions I felt that day. But I will say this, the place made me want to cry. Imagining what life in that camp must have been like was too much.

This is the gate to the camp. Apparently they all read "Arbeit Macht Frei" or "Work Shall Set You Free". To me that is just sickening, basically trying to fool all these people into working their butts off in hopes of one day being freed, only to lose their life. The nazis were truly sick people. I ran out of memory while I was here and didn't take very many pics. But it was truly an experience I will never forget.

A few days later I would leave to return home, but only temporarily as I was off to London for a week. This was really fun for me as I have wanted to visit London my whole life for some odd reason that I am not really sure of. Anyway, London was great and thankfully I could communicate just fine with everyone! I even played a game of football (or soccer) with the locals, holding my own if I do say so myself, haha. I saw a lot of the big touristy sites: Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, The London Eye, The Tower Bridge. It was pretty awesome. Since I have spent most of my life west of the Mississippi I have never been exposed much to real old architecture. London is full of it. Heck, the building directly across from our office was used by Benjamin Franklin apparently. It was older than the USA, by many hundreds of years!

Okay, I am getting tired of writing. Maybe I will post some pics of London later. I had a lot of fun though.

Wig Fun "TakeFive"

2009-08-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

Grandma Hill decided she was tired of doing her hair and invested in four different wigs to get four different styles. Surprisingly, it's kind of hard to tell. I had to post these pics of the kids playing around with one of them.

Take One

Take Two

Take Three

Take Four

Take Five

Take IT OFF

4th of July

2009-08-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

We made it to Boise just in time for the 4th of July. We woke up in the morning and went with my parents to a pancake breakfast. It was delicous. After shopping and naps we headed over to Laura and Chucks for a BBQ. It was a good time hanging with my family. The kids had a blast with their cousins, eating ice cream, and swimming in the hot tub. We of course missed Andrew very much!

We moved the party over to Deborah and Bucks house for the lighting of fire works. Before it was dark we got our "pop it" on.

The gang watching the fire works!

The Reception

2009-08-18T12:19:00.001-07:00

Ok so I'm a little behind on blogging, so behind I thought earlier I was done with the blog. I don't want it to feel like work. Anyway, I did think I would finish up my adventure to Utah and Idaho which seems like it was so long ago. The main reason I made the trek is my best friend from high school got married. Of course I didn't pull out the camera until the reception missing three days of jammed packed fun and LOTS of good food. I wanted to thank my sister Deborah for helping me throw the bridal shower and making meaningful gifts and cards. My sister is so talented. Also thank you for letting me crash you pad for probably a bit too long. Glad we are still talking!

(Buck and Deborah)

Thanks to all my family who watched my kids day after day so I could attend all the events and get a much needed pedicure. Thanks kids for being good sports and letting mommy have some mommy time.

My Mom, Dad and the future 40 year old virgin (Jake)

Nina

Pat and his new fiancee

Jen and I

Jen getting Jane food for some reason

Andrew and I

Yes Reynolds, we can go home now

5 Years! and counting....

2009-08-08T07:02:00.001-07:00

Who would have thought nearly 10 years ago Sarah and I would end up married? When I first met her she was just the chic who sported a bunch of skater shirts and never seemed to wear a bra. Of course she seemed pretty cool, but did I think she was my future wife and become the mother of my two beautiful children? Of course, I never saw it coming. Besides, she must have been repulsed by me, what, with her well known metallophobia (fear of metal) and my hideous braces! Well, we managed to beat the odds (how she ever kissed my metal mouth is still a mystery to this day) and after 10 years of friendship and 5 great years of marriage, things have never been better.

I feel so lucky to have ended up with Sarah, she has truly always been a great inspiration to me. At times when she could have taken different paths in her life, she always seemed to choose the right one when it really counted amid major pressure from those around her. Her faith and testimony have always been a strong foundation for our relationship and many years ago was a catalyst for me in my desire to be a better person. Without Sarah walking into my life, who knows what decisions I would have made or where I may have ended up.

I'll never forget the first time I brought Sarah home to Monroe. It just so happened that my whole family (at least it seemed like everyone was there that weekend) was visiting from their respective places of residence which made for a great introduction to everyone! The image remains vivid in my mind of everyone sitting in the front room of my parents home and after about half an hour wondering how it was that I had convinced this great girl to make the trek to Monroe and admit to my parents that she was my girlfriend, let alone admit that she had actual interest in me. That day, I had a hard time explaining it myself. Lets just say that she must have seen some potential in me, afterall, that is what I always tell myself! She certainly made a believer out of my dad when we went golfing the next day and I didn't even show the least bit of frustration, let alone throw a club down the fairway! He knew this was the girl for me.

Back then I knew she was great, but I still didn't truly get how lucky I was to have her in my life. When I returned home from a 2 year trek through Mongolia I knew I didn't want to let her get away and she has been mine ever since. People may have thought we were crazy, but the thought of waiting any longer was the only thing that would have driven us bonkers.

It hasn't always been perfect, but what relationship is? I just know that we have our whole lives ahead of us to become better people, and that we can do it together alongside our children, as a family. That is truly what I am thankful for the most. Sarah has provided me with most everything worthwhile in life and I love her so much for that. As she likes to say, "She is the cheese to my macaroni".

Sarah, I just want you to know that I love you more than words could ever describe. You mean everything to me and I could never love anyone the way I love you. You have brought me so much joy over the years and I know that we have so much more in store for us in the future. Where does that road lead? Nobody knows, but one thing is certain, I don't want to take a single step in that journey without you, the love of my life. You are truly so beautiful, loving, kind, inspirational, sexy, I could go on and on. But most importantly you are the best wife I could dream of and a wonderful mother. I hope you have enjoyed these last five years as much as I have.

Here is to the last five years and all the years to come!

I love you,

Andrew

Uncle Ben and Aunt Holly's

2009-07-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

After the race I loaded up the kids and took a road trip to Utah and Idaho. Lucky for me my nephew Spencer needed a ride to utah so he was able to help through things at the kids while we drove. We first stopped in Provo to see my friend Jenny. For some reason I did not pull out the camera but we had a blast hanging out with her for a couple of days. Next stop was to spend a few dayswith Ben and Holly but first we made a side trip to see Megan and her new baby Evan and her old baby Anna. He was adorable and still forgot to pull my camera out. We were excited to get to Ben adn Holly's to see their new place and meet his daughter Audrey.

She was a doll and the kids had a blast playing together. At the end of each day the grown ups were worn out and ready for them to go to bed.

Jane found the drum set and we couldn't keep her away.

She could probably watch Ben play guitar all day!

Reynolds was quite the groupie as well. He would stand there and do the head bop.

Thank's Ben and Holly for letting us crash your pad. We hope it wont be too long before we see you again.

13.1 Miles

2009-07-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

Exactly a month ago Andrew and I ran our first half marathon. We had a total blast and were quite proud of oursleves. I'm so grateful that our kids were so patient while we trained. They were troppers on those long runs.

I finished the race is an 1:49:15. However, I decided I can shave two minutes off my time for going to the bathroom and also for being at a complete stop when the race began to get through the slow people. 1:47:15. I placed 32 out of 150 some women in my age group. I was pretty stoked since it was my first race. At mile 8 I started getting some mean blisters. I had a total of five all over my feet when I finally got to take my shoes off. It was slightly brutal but well worth it.

Andrew did awesome finishing at 1:39:15. He had a few unexpected stops as well such as running into the bushes to poop. He of course was disapointed in his time and thought he could have done better. He is planning on doing a marathon over Labor Day weekend so stay tuned.

Happy Birthday Jane

2009-06-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

Jane turned 3 on June 17th. Unfortunately we did not take one picture of her on that day. She was recovering from a terrible illness that had her expelling at both ends. She has been asking me forever to make her a chocolate chip cake for her birthday. On her birthday I asked if she wanted me to make it and she said, "will you make it for me another day". Reynolds ended up eating all of his and Janes ice cream. Poor kid. We made up for it by having a little party for her at Civic Green park. I was so disappointed when we got there because some punk kids had put bubbles in the little stream the night before so they had to close it for cleaning. The kids still had fun playing in the big fountains.

Luckily Andrew provided some entertainment with his talents.

The kids enjoyed their snack bags

Popsicles

and cupcakes (chocolate chip cupcakes of course).

Daddy kicked the ball around with the kids

Then it was about time to sing Happy Birthday

and open presents. Grandma Cottle we have a special video of Jane opening her goods but it is so long it will not upload and I didn't get any pictures since we have a whole video of it. I will have Andrew send it to you.

I'm going to be a rock star now!

I was determined to get Reynolds in the water to wash him off from his two cupcakes.

"Let go of me Mom I got this!"

"Oh wow that is cold"

"but this is pretty fun"

This is Jane in one of her new dresses that her Grandma Cottle made for her.

Cute little kids!

Indian Creek

2009-06-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we decided last minute to go camping at Indian Creek. Reynolds had been puking the day before so we were waiting to see if he would be better. At 12:00 When he had held down breakfast and appeared to be better I ran to Walmart, came home, packed, and we were out on the road by 3:30. We went up with Jen and Travis and Hannah and Eric Pertesen joined us for our second and last night there. We are totally converted to two night camping and hope to do a lot more of it.

We did the usally camping stuff.....We relaxed, sat around the fire, and ate a TON of food. However we got off our hineys and went for a hike up Devils head.

Jane was a pretty good trooper for half the way and than refused to walk. For some reason she would only let I or Andrew hold her. Well after I got tired Andrew decided it would not be hard to hold both kids.

She finally let Travis hold her and quickly fell asleep on his shoulder. Travis was a trooper and carried her dead weight all the way up to the top (A LOT of VERY steep staris).

The girls at the very top. They showed up their cousin Drew who was not too fond of standing at the very edge.

This is the view on the way down after I freed up some space on the memory card. This is what Travis hiked with Jane asleep on his shoulder.

The great brothers that made the hike possible.

The Slaughter

2009-06-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

For months now I have been wanting to get Jane's hair cut but for whatever reason have not. It was way too long and took too much energy to care for. She kept telling me that Grandma Cottle would do it. She obviously remembered her Grandma cutting her hair before. After bath last night Andrew was prepared to do it. A fight later I had finished the job. It's pretty much totally screwed up. We will have to end up paying someone to fix it but I might let it grow out a bit so they don't have to go any shorter. Here is Jane and Reynolds ready to go to Story Time. She loves to carry her books in her backpack.

Andrew wants to grow Reynolds hair out for a bit. His new nick name is fuzz. The other day when we were at the library one of the librarians acutally called him fuzz it was awesome. I think that was the same day that Ren dropped my keys down the elvator shaft. That was a fun day let me tell you.

One for the Books

2009-05-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

While we were sitting at the breakfast table Jane was singing Rockabye Baby perfectly. It's a good thing that Andrew sings for Jane so she learns the correct lyrics as I have a natural ability to sabotage any song. I looked at her and said, "Jane you are going to be smarter than me one day." Jane replied,"Yep and I'm going to bigger than you one day and I will have bigger boobs than you."

Family Home Evening

2009-05-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

I love it most when the kids are clean and in their pajamas. On Monday I realized I forgot to have FHE when I was bathing the kids so I told Jane she could teach us the lesson if she hurried and got ready for bed. I couldn't help but snap some shots of the kids. For those of you who have no idea what FHE (family home evening) is, it's a night we dedicate to spending with the family that generally has a spiritual lesson, game, songs, and treats.Generally you start with a song

And prayer

Jane gave us our lesson. She said it was on Jesus and being good. Hey Andrew did you get that out of the lesson?

We finished up with some songs. Jane always insists on leading everyone.

***Disclaimer*** this was the song after the closing song that is why you hear Andrew yelling to basketball in the background.

Happy Mothers Day to Me!

2009-05-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

I have the greatest husband who did his job on Mother's Day. I must say every year I tell him what I want for breakfast and he never quite gets it right but this year he nailed it. I know some of you women are lucky with Husband that enjoy or even know how to cook. I love my husband dearly but since he is of the opinion the food is just fuel he has a hard time thinking about more than just the main course. Anyway he did an awesome job by providing me with OJ and hash browns (my fav). I love you babe! Thanks for making my day so great and thanks for dinner too! I hope the rest of you fellow mothers or mothers to be had a great day!

Camp Out #1

2009-05-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

Our plan is to do at least one camp out a month this summer. Last weekend we went on our first thanks to Andrew planning it out with some friends. Overall, it was a lot of fun minus Reynolds puking on my pillow and Jane getting her faced burned by some ash. The weather was supposed to be cold with a little rain but luckily it turned out perfect. It was nice to go before the mosquitoes are out.

Jane and Reynolds helping Daddy set up camp.

I was in charge of dinner so went with the easy stand by of hot dogs but I decided to give corn on the cob cooked in the fire another try. I guess the trick is to soak it in water first. It turned out pretty good or at least my piece did.

The kids sitting with their Dad infront of the fire.

Jane, Ellie, and Emma sipping on their hot chocolate with their awesome bed head.

We went on a super mini hike to keep the kids busy. They enjoyed throwing rocks in the water and climbing the hill.

Renny was such a good sport in spite of how he was feeling. It kind of worked to my advantage cause he was so mellow. He was content just chillin in the chair.

Has It Been that Long

2009-05-07T13:22:00.000-07:00

I kept thinking I needed to update the blog but didn't realize it has been this long since the last post. I feel like time is cruising by. I love the month of May but it just goes by too fast with all fun spring activities. I feel like we have to get out as much as we can before it gets too hot. These shots were taken a few weeks ago. We had another big storm. It's not too often that you see kids wearing shorts and their snow boots to play in the snow.
I should have got the picture with the kids standing in front of the huge snow pile on the grass but I wasn't thinking. Here is Jane eating snow.

The kids just love playing in the backyard. I told Andrew their is no reason why our yard should look great this year if we are weeding while the kids are playing.

This must be why people have kids.

2009-04-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

I did not put her up to this she just started doing the dishes so I grabbed the camera. Jane finished the whole sink of dishes. This was the kind of "help" that actually helped.

Monroe, Here We Come

2009-04-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday Andrew sent me an e-mail and asked if I wanted to leave for Monroe the next day for a little getaway. I love spur of the moment trips and of course jumped at the opportunity to get out of town. Then I realized I had a day to get all the laundry done and get us packed. I had bought stuff to die Easter eggs so I wanted to make sure we got a chance to do it before we left. Jane of course had a blast and Reynolds got a taste of vinegar.

The next day we drove to Monroe for a relaxing extended weekend. Joe and Pam are always so good to us and make us never want to leave. It was great to spend some quality time with them. They are a wonderful example to us.

We had a couple days of good weather enough to have a mock Easter egg hunt. Andrew and I also got to sneak away for an 8 mile run out in the country. There is nothing like the fresh smell of manure.

I really wanted to take the kids up the Monroe canyon. The weather was pretty crappy but it was good enough for the kids to throw rocks in the water.

It was a treat to be at grandma and grandpa's house for Easter. The Easter bunny brought way too many Easter eggs, in fact she didn't even care to find them all. I think she was more excited to find her cousin Kate, Aunt Erin and Uncle Weston (they showed up in the early hours of the day). It's so fun to have little ones to make the hallmark part of holidays fun again. Poor Reynolds wasn't feeling too hot and could have really cared less about the day. He did like eating his fruit snacks that he found in his eggs.

We headed to church for sacrament meeting. Jane was bouncing off the walls. Poor Aunt Erin was having to deal with her trying to practically sit in her lap while pulling her dress up. Reynolds and I only lasted through the sacrament because he was burning up so bad.

After enjoying a wonderful meal and some good conversation we headed home. Reynolds was so sick he just slept most the way. We got him to eat some frosty at Wendy's in hopes that it would help cool him off. He enjoyed eating it but I don't think he liked it coming back up. Luckily I had left to take Jane to the bathroom and when I got back Andrew was already cleaning it up. Fun times fun times. When we hit Vail Jane told us she needed to go to the bathroom. Before we got to an exit we were in a snow storm. One lane of traffic was moving and the other was full of cars that were stuck. Jane had fallen asleep so we didn't want to wake her for the bathroom once we got to a safe place. I guess we shouldn't have been too surprised when she peed in her car seat. At least we got home safely.

Spring Snow Storm

2009-04-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

As you can see I'm a little behind in blogging but when I get my blog made into a book I don't want to miss some events. Now I don't really remember much about this storm just that it was the first we had in a very long time. Oh now I remember my brother-in-law Buck had to fly in to town for a four hour training and ended up getting stuck in Denver for the night. It was fun to have him here. We watched some March Madness, ordered pizza, and of course ate brownies and ice cream. The next morning I got up and did my long run for the week which I think was 6 miles at this point. When I was done I knew I had to get the kids out in the snow. We got all dressed up in our gear which took way too long. We played in the front and built a slide. Then when I saw that Reynolds was really enjoying himself we trekked down to the park. Honestly I don't know what I was thinking. I had to hold Reynolds and walk in a foot and half of snow with snow board boots on. When I was through with the adventure I was so tired but I had to hurry and get ready for my over night hotel stay in down town Denver with Andrew. When we were on the train heading for the hotel I asked him if I could just lie down and have a nap when we got there. We had a very enjoyable time together. Thanks to all those who help watch them esecially the Birches who took them over night.

Where is my Boy?

2009-04-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to get the blog all caught up so I've been looking through pictures. I came across this one of Reynolds and it made me miss him so much. Last Friday Reynolds woke up with a fever and a cold and it has been non-stop since. I haven't seen him smile like this for over a week let alone jump on the bed like a healthy kid would. When will my boy be back? I could sure use a break from a crying, whinny, needy kid.

Amateur Photographer

2009-04-15T20:40:00.000-07:00

One day I was messing around with the different features on our camera. I came across the black and white and liked the pictures it took.
Not so bad for jammies and bed hed. Then Jane wanted to take some pictures. Since I knew we had a new camera coming in the mail I thought it wouldn't hurt since our camera is a piece of junk.

My little girl's first photo.

Maybe the first was beginners luck.

Along with amateur photographers I finally made an appointment to get our pictures taken. I decided until Reynolds can understand a bribe it's pointless to take him in for pictures. Nevertheless we did get some of each kid and a family portrait. Aunt Jen was so kind to come and do Jane's hair.

It was absolutely adorable. Although beauty does not come pain free.

"No more, no more, Aunt Jen"

My friend Hannah came over and curled my hair. I can't believe I'm even going to post this picture of me cause it's not very flattering but for those of you who have never seen my hair curled this was like 3 hours after it was done.
This is my myspace mug shot as Andrew would call it since I took the picture of myself. After we took pictures Andrew decided he wanted to shave his beard. Of course when that happens he can't stand not to do fun things with his facial hair. This is what he came up with for his pedophile mug shot.

It's My Barbie World!

2009-04-05T17:06:00.000-07:00

I walked downstairs and saw this disturbing image. Actually it killed me and I had to snap a picture. Apparently the barbies were getting clean in the sea. Kids kill me!

Exhibitionist

2009-03-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

Reynolds hates to wear clothes. I don't know if he is always hot or if he would rather hang out in his birthday suit. Following his socks he quickly learned how to take off his pants. If you are far away you might think he is pooping with all his grunting sounds but then when you check you noticed that he just took his pants off. Then somehow he figured out how to take off his pajamas. I have no idea how he does this I just get him in the morning and his pajamas are thrown out of his crib. His newest thing is to take his shirts off. It is actually quite impressive. I had recently found him in is crib like this and wonder how the heck did he did this.

Then while we were sitting at church I saw him grab the sleeve of his shirt and pull it down enough that he could get his arm free and then did it on the other side. I don't even think Jane could take a shirt off like that. Good thing summer is around the corner I will be more than happy to let him run around in his diaper.

Thanks!

2009-03-22T13:49:00.000-07:00

This post is for Grandma Cottle and Aunt Cynthia. Since it was 76 degrees today I decided it was time to break out the spring clothes. They looked adorable. Too bad I only had 30 seconds to snap a picture since we couldn't be "late" to church. This is as good as it gets with one try and hands full of stuff. Thanks Grandma for the dress and Aunt Cythina for Ren's new church clothes.

"Saturday, a Day in the Park"

2009-03-22T13:18:00.000-07:00

It was 70 degrees on Saturday so we decided we would picnic at the park and feed the ducks. I'm embarrassed to say I think this is the first time we have fed the ducks with Jane. She loved it. Of course she would, I have no idea why it has taken us this long to think to do it.
Reynolds, on the other hand, just wanted to walk straight into the water, thus why we are on higher ground. He also thought the moldy bread was for him to eat so that didn't go over too well.We hit up the park for awhile and then Andrew had a wonderful idea to go search out the columbine memorial that they added to the park after the shooting.

We were reflecting back and couldn't believe that this happened almost ten years ago.

Their is a wall with quotes from parents, students, teachers, and people in the community.

It was awesome to read so many that had the message of hope instead of dwelling on the tragedy.

They also had a tribute to all the students and faculty that were shot.

Unfortunately, the kids would not allow us to stay very long as they had just about had it for the afternoon. However, it was a pretty humbling experience to see names attached to the tragic events that took place almost 10 years ago. Reading through the quotes and some of the tributes to the students had my emotions on high alert. Its easy to sit there and start to wonder how something like this could ever happen, but the fact is, thats life. We can only hope to learn from such terrible moments in history. And in the learning process pay tribute to those lives lost by forging a better life for the next generation. I wish I could articulate better my thoughts and feelings as I sat there yesterday, but I guess this is as good as it gets. I hope to return again soon to take in the rest of the memorial.

Overall, it was a great day and I am glad we could get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. I can't wait to for Spring to swing into full force!

Mountain Mama!

2009-03-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

I had just finished a four mile run when an alarm on my phone went off reminding me that the Audubon center was doing free hikes for babies and toddlers. I debated whether to go since the kids weren't dressed, I was terribly stinky and it started in ten minutes. I decided to bust a move and go. Jane wore her hairdo from the day before and I wore layers of sweat from my run. When we got their I learned that it was a group called Moutain Mamas that were sponsoring the event who cater hikes for Mamas and kids. I thought it was totally cool. They gave Jane some binoculars which she thought was the coolest thing in the world.

I finally got out the Kelty pack that I just had to have. I think this was the fourth time I've used it. It will be used more this summer.
Then of course they had some educational things for the kids. This is when everything fell apart. Reynolds wanted to be in one building and Jane in another.
Jane won which resulted in Reynolds having a complete melt down and for the first time started hitting me. Isn't it too early for this? I already have a monster on my hands. I need some parenting advice! I will think twice before busting a move for my kids to get out and have fun when they both can't get it together. Overall we did have an enjoyable morning.

Cough It Up

2009-03-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

Like most little girls Jane likes to help me out in the kitchen. One of her favorite things to do it help me make guacamole. I usually keep a closer eye but last night I needed her to be distracted longer so I could make sure my taco meat turned out to perfection. I put the avocado in the bowl and told her to mash it and then tell me when she was done. To my surprised when I turned around I saw her shoveling the last piece of avocado into her mouth. Avocado's are a specialty in my house. I tell Andrew that when we are rich I'm going to buy them all the time and eat one a day. You could only imagine how I felt when Jane ate a whole one in a matter of minutes and didn't even share. Luckily I had another one on hand.

Denver Botanical Gardens

2009-03-09T13:34:00.000-07:00

Friday we decided to go on an adventure to the Botanical Gardens on Wadsworth and 470. I had never been there before and thought I would check it out since they were having a free day. I knew that not much, if anything, would be in bloom but I decided that we would explore and see what we could find. I had my nieces Kali and Megan with me so that made it much more fun. At first we walked around and didn't see much of anything but a few trees with nothing on them. They were perfect for the girls to climb. As we continued on our adventure we came across a cool tree house.

There was a stream close by that is perfect for little ones to throw rocks and play with sticks.

Next to the stream they had a gravel pit where you could build tepees.

The girls built one using all the sticks.

We also found an old house you could tour. There was an old swing out on the porch that the kids enjoyed.
We ran out of time to explore more things. We will definitely being going back as it was a perfect way to spend a morning. I can't wait till everything is in full bloom it will be beautiful.

**Disclaimer I forgot the camera so this is as good as it gets with the cell phone.

Mr. Potato Head

2009-02-27T20:27:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Aunt Cynthia Jane and Reynolds have their own lap top to play games on in their room. One day Jane asked me if she could play her Potato head game on her computer. I was shocked when I realized she knew exactly what to do. Where do these kids learn these things? She would pick up an object with the mouse and then drag it over to where she wanted to put it on the potato head. I know she has nothing on her cousin Alex's computer skills but her Mommy was pretty impressed.

She even put glasses over the eyes.If the object she got wasn't exactly what she wanted she would say, "I need to put this away I don't like it." and then drag it back.

The glare is pretty bad on this one but even though the ears are backwards they have earrings on them! The soccer ball on the foot is enough to kill me.

Renny being patient enough to not screw up his sister's game. At one point he took a hair brush and started to brush her hair. It was so sweet. If I wasn't being distracted talking to a certain someone I would have thought to take video of it.

Buzz me please.

2009-02-22T18:32:00.000-08:00

Reynolds got his first full on buzz today. I tried to resist but I think this will be the hair cut this kid will have to live with most of his life. Well at least until his hair get's a little heavier. I was done battling with trying to get his hair to lie flat. It's nice to see him without the Alpha look.

Jane for the last week has wanted to sleep in "Jane's bed" so we have moved reading scriptures and family prayer to her bed. Reynolds will actually sit still since he thinks it's so cool to be sitting on her bed.

So reverent.

What a good Daddy my kids have.

Spot Light for Jane

2009-02-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

I feel like I've totally left Jane behind with the blog post lately. I got this when I went to take a picture of her cause she felt like I was only taking pictures of Reynolds. I didn't realize it was on video but we went with it. Thanks Jane for being such a patient little girl when all you really want is to be the center of attention.

Slow and steady, is really freaking slow!

2009-02-09T12:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was looking through old pictures on the computer, trying to find some photos of the kids to have printed off when I came across this gem...

I laughed when I saw the time of 32:41. I can't believe that I was so proud of myself. Of course looking back I was probably more stoked that I actually had ran 3 miles since it was probably the furthest I had even run in my entire life. A lot of people keep running journals so they can track their progress. Andrew actually started a running blog so he could record his runs as he is training for a marathon. I don't know if I want to get totally into that but I thought once in a while I would record my progress so I could look back and see where I'm at. My overall goal is that I will be able to run a half marathon in June without stopping. Last night I had a dream that I wasn't trained enough for the run and I was so bummed I couldn't run the race. It made me realize how important this is to me so I hope my body will cooperate and I will have no more running injuries. A couple of weeks ago I really injured my ankles from training too hard because I basically was not doing anything for the previous two months. I feel like I'm back. I ran 4 miles on Saturday in 36:40 and today I ran 3 miles in 27 minutes flat. Sure beats that 32:41. I've been very competitive with myself and can't wait to see how fast I can get as time goes by. I would like to run the "Bolder Boulder", which is a 10k, in less than 54 minutes.

Oh Man!

2009-02-09T12:15:00.000-08:00

I should have held out for a better video but I will take what I can get with this kid. He has turned into a little punk over night.

However he is killing me with his "oh man". He says it all day long to everything. The other night I put him down for bed and he was crying an unusal cry. when I went in he somehow managed to get his arm stuck some funky way in his crib. I got him out settled him down and put him back down. When I went downstairs I could hear him saying, "oh man oh man oh man oh man" through the monitor. It almost seemed like he was disapointed his little stunt failed.

A Few Steps

2009-02-02T21:21:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday I was vacuuming and when I looked up I noticed that Reynolds was standing in the middle of the floor and then I watched him take a couple steps. Ever since he has taken a couple her and there. Tonight he was going for it a little more.

I have to also write about this so I don't forget. All day long today Reynolds has been saying something that I swear sounds like "awh man" I know Jane and I say this but do we really say it that much? Also today Jane and I were fighting about who's turn it was to get on the computer. Out of nowhere she proclaimed that she needed to check her e-mail. The things that keep me laughing.

Super Bowl 09

2009-02-02T21:08:00.000-08:00

For the last three years Andrew and I have decided to have a Super Bowl party. It started in Logan as us being the host because Andrew was probably the only one in our group of friends that cared about football. The rest were just up for a party and to watch the commercials of course. Last year we got the big TV and I had just come home from the hospital with Ren so of course we had to host. This year we kept with the tradition. I actually really like it. For me it's a celebration that football season is OVER and I enjoy all the other aspects of a super bowl party. We had the perfect amount of people over this year for our little house. A big shout out to my nieces who entertain the little kids upstairs for most of the evening.

The spread wasn't so bad. Andrew and I were defenitely sick by the end of the night.
I am kind of mad that I take such lame pictures I could have at least got some fun pictures of people but whatever.
mmmmm chocolate chip cookies.
This is the only way I can get Ren to drink anything to rehydrate him since he is refusing his sippy since we have started to ween. Things aren't going so well with that.

Happy 1st Birthday

2009-02-02T18:39:00.001-08:00

The night before Reynolds birthday we went out to eat. It was a bit of a risk after Jane was recovery from vomiting the night before but both kids were in a great mood and we wanted to eat some good Mexican. On the way home I was on the phone when Andrew said "oh man Reynolds is puking". Luckily this was his only episode followed my many others coming out the other end.

The next day was more of the same as Reynolds kept blowing out of his diapers. After changing Reynolds clothes three different times we decided it was time to head to the park for a picnic.
Reynolds enjoyed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I wish I could say it was his first time eating peanut butter but he kind of had it before he was one, oops.
Reynolds was able to play on the play ground for a bit. He loves it there. Once we turn the corner to the park he starts pointing his finger and bouncing back and forth.
Jane and Andrew tried to fly a new kite with no wind but little Jane did manage to get it a little in the air.
After a much needed nap and dinner we had the family over for a little Birthday party.

Happy Birthday to Ren!

At first he wasn't too into his cake not sure if he maybe wasn't feeling well but once he got a taste he went to town and ate the whole thing.
Reynolds still did not get into the whole present thing but that was alright because Jane just couldn't stop herself from opening all his gifts.
Thanks Mommy and Daddy.
Thanks Uncle Tom and Aunt Johanna!
Thanks Uncle Alex and Aunt Cynthia!

Reynolds: One Year Wrap-Up

2009-01-18T13:42:00.001-08:00

It seems like yesterday I was pregnant and now we are coming up on a year that Reynolds has been a part of the family. Everyday I ask myself what happened to my baby. I wanted to document some things about Renny so I don't forget since my blog tends to be my only documentation these days.

Reynolds biggest trademark is that his right sock and shoe (if he is wearing them) is always off. I don't know what his beef is with having his right foot covered but I can't keep a sock on it for the life of me. The best part is when I clean out the van I find the other half of all his sock.
I don't know what is so cool about this spot but Reynolds loves it. If I'm up stairs and can hear him talking down stairs I pretty much can guess he is in his spot shouting at whoever will listen.
Awhile ago my sweet baby turned from mama's boy to moma's nightmare. He loves to make messes. I tell him to come to me and he crawls the other way while laughing his head off. He thinks he is pretty funny.

Everyday he gets in my pantry and disorganizes my organized bottom shelf.

This is a new one that we try very hard to not have any repeats. There is nothing like a re-wrapped roll of toilet paper.
Renny loves to eat apples and pears. He can eat the whole thing. In fact today he had half the apple core as well.

Playing with his sister is one of his favorite things to do. Jane is having a hard time with having him in her space. She often tells me it is time for Reynolds to take a nap or he needs his own kitchen but overall she loves him and loves it when he will sit and have a tea party with her.

Nightly the kids make "pumpkin pie" while I'm cooking dinner. Renny loves to stir the water in the pot.

There are many things that I would love to show you on video, but unfortunately Renny will rarely cooperate. Reynolds already prays. I know, a little advanced but what can I say maybe we have a General Authority on our hands. He will fold his arms before meals and babble. When he knows it's time for family prayer he will do the same.

He enjoys watching skate viedos with his dad. He will shout and point at the screen the whole time and say skateboard. Of course it is not clear as day when he says it but you can tell he is saying it. In fact Reynolds loves to talk and can pretty much repeat some things you say to him. Some words that I remember him saying only after asking him to repeat is skateboard, football, apple, Ben (his cousin), Baby, bye bye....that's all I can think of at the moment. Here is a little clip the best I could get of him saying anything.

Train Musem

2009-01-18T13:15:00.000-08:00

We kept ourselves busy on Saturday with two birthday parties back to back. In the morning we headed to Golden to go to the train museum for Kyle's birthday party. We had never heard of it before but were surprised to see that there were so many trains and that it was so hands on. We would recommend it to anyone who has kids that loves trains.

Jane had a blast going to all the different stations.There is actual record I attended this event

Stacy made the cutest hobo lunches for the kids.

I failed to take pictures at the next party but needless to say we were partied out and slept very well last night.

Maybe Next year

2009-01-14T19:08:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Greg and Carmen for this cute Chargers dress for Jane. She totally wore this to Church on Sunday. We wish it would have brought better luck but maybe next year.

Andrew and Travis wondering is there anyway the Chargers can Win!!!

At least the kids seemed to be enjoying themselves. There is always next year, right? Wrong....

Super Chargers!

2009-01-09T20:35:00.000-08:00

Some of you may not know, but in the Cottle family, we are rabid San Diego Charger fans. This year started off in heartbreaking fashion and continued to be that way to the tune of a 4-8 start. But 5 weeks and 0 losses later the Bolts are in the second round of the playoffs and primed for another upset, this time over the Steelers.

With that being said I want to make sure that my children carry on the tradition and passion of being a Charger fan. Thankfully we have some great friends that live in San Diego who have sent some Charger gear our way including some socks for Reynolds. These socks have quickly become a lucky charm in our household as the Bolts haven't lost since he started to sport them on game day.

Of course Reynolds is very proud to show them off and is well on his way to becoming a lifelong charger fanatic!

Not one to be outdone, here is a video of Jane showing just how much she loves the Chargers, giving her best rendition of the famous Super Chargers song.

She sure is a cutie and a great fan! I hope I haven't jinxed the Chargers by making this post, but who believes in that crap anyway.....

GO CHARGERS!

Christmas 2008

2009-01-04T18:32:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. This year I truly understood the meaning of Christmas of giving rather than receiving. It was a blast to watch the kids open their presents and to see the excitement on their faces. OK maybe just with Jane, Reynolds wasn't really into the opening present thing but Jane had no problem helping him out.

A little bit of this and that

The Grand Finale

It's been almost a week and a half and Jane is still playing with her kitchen so I'd say it was a good investment. Although I am getting a little tired of picnics and tea parties.

Reynolds First Hair Cut

2009-01-04T18:17:00.001-08:00

Reynolds was growing a mullet so Andrew shaved the back of his hair so he would look nice in his christmas picture. Isn't he handsome?

12.21.08

Family Christmas Card

2008-12-24T10:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays everyone. This has been a great year for the Cottle family. In January, we welcomed Reynolds Andrew Cottle into our home and he has been a great addition! We can't believe that he is almost a year old. He is crawling all over and making pretty meager attempts at taking a step here or there. We think he is adorable and look at him every day and wonder how we could have created such a round ball of joy.

Jane continues to give us all we can handle, and then some. This year has seen her go from adorable little to toddler, to wild and crazy girl. She has grown to place a low value on sleep and a high value on talking, playing, and driving us up the wall! Even though she can make us nuts at times, we sure do love her and can't imagine life without her. She loves to play with her friends and can't live without her dress up clothes.

Andrew and Sarah have pretty much stayed the same. We can't believe that our 10 year reunions are coming up, where did the time go? We had a great time on our trip to San Diego in May and overall have had a low-key year. But sometimes low-key is just what we need.

We wish you all the best and hope you have had a great year!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Santa Claus

2008-12-18T13:42:00.001-08:00

We were kind of shocked that Jane sat on Santa's lap after she cried once she saw him at the ward Christmas party. The library had a special story time with Santa and I guess he was nice enough that Jane was eager for her turn. Once she got on his lap she said I want a kitchen for Christmas before he asked her a thing.

We had to get a special picture with Keegan.

I made bread.

2008-12-18T13:25:00.000-08:00

I've been talking about making bread forever but have not felt motivated enough to do it. When I was at my parents house I had some of my mothers homemade bread. The quality is so much better than store bought bread and it taste so good. My mother gave me a bag of yeast for Christmas so I decided when my bread ran out that I would take the plunge and do it. It really wasn't so hard and it turned out great. Still not as good as my mom's but way better than store bought. I even made a fanny cal zone that looks a lot better than it tasted, but still presentation has to count for something right? For most this is no big deal but for me it was cause I don't bake or try to make fancy stuff.

Oh Christmas Tree

2008-12-18T13:16:00.000-08:00

It was nice to have a little helper this year setting up the tree. Jane was more than willing to hand me branches one at a time as I fluffed them up making an attempt to make our fake tree look real.

Reynolds wanted to help but his skills are less desirable at this point so we found something for him to do.

Eventually I ran out of patience and had to contain Jane as well.

And our finished product

Thanksgiving Vacation

2008-12-03T13:17:00.000-08:00

We decided it was time to visit our families since it had been over a year. We made the trek over to Monore, UT to spend a few days with Andrew's Mom and Dad. We had an excellent visit as always. It is always so relaxing to be in their home and enjoy their company. I was so excited that they still had some leaves on the ground because I didn't get my fall pictures of the kids and I knew it would be too late once we got home.

During my photo shoot with the kids my batteries died on the camera and I forgot to replace them for the duration of the trip so I will have to steal from others. My good friend Megan came down with her husband Ross and daughter Anna. We had a great day catching up with them. Jane loved playing with Anna.

As we were all packing to hit the road they entertained themselves by sitting at the top of the stairs and shouting out the colors as the nightlight switch colors.

We made good time to Boise with little fuss from the kids and enjoyed a week with my family. It was great to hang out with my sisters. Although when it's only the four of us I'm generally the butt of the joke. We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with all the family that lives in Boise. Andrew got to play some football as read in a previous post and also got to go to a BSU game. We enjoyed time away from the kids and even got in a date. The kids did much better than ever excepted on our 12 1/2 hour journey home. We were grateful to arrive in safety as we came home to a foot of snow. Here are a few pictures that my sister got of the kids playing together. Reynolds loved playing in the bus he thought it was so cool to go in and out of the door.

Cooking in the Kitchen

2008-12-03T13:10:00.001-08:00

I was trying to make breakfast dinner for the family which means trying to get the bacon, eggs, and hash browns to all get done at the same time. Needless to say I was a little preoccupied. I kid you not when I turned around I was surprised to see the mess that Jane and Reynolds had managed to make. If you notice the grocery bag is full with grocery's from the pantry. Jane will hide them in her secret cupboard (the empty one cause it's too little to do anything with). I guess it kept them out of my hair. I love that they are getting better and better each day at playing with each other.

Turkey Bowl

2008-12-01T14:35:00.001-08:00

I will admit I've been totally lame about blogging lately. I have a few pictures I want to post from our vacation. So stay tuned. While you are waiting you can read about Andrew's turkey bowl game that I totally stole from sister blog, Deborah that her husband buck wrote. So if you are into football you can enjoy this play by play of the 15 minutes my sister and I watched to get some pictures.

Andrew Cottle, Jake Hill and I decided to mix it up Turkey Bowl style....Met with some people from Deborah's church at Cody's school and play some two hand touch/tackle football. It was too cold for the kids, game time kickoff was in the low 40's, but the men persisted. Thanks to Deborah for taking the snapshots and for Sarah for watching the kids in the car.....

Here is a sequence, where if you focus on the eyes of Andrew and the others, this would indicate the ball was tossed to the endzone by a very handsome QB but fell through the hands of one Jake Hill. It was a costly 4th down drop for a touchdown and the QB never forgave the inexperienced rookie. In fact, the photographer felt so bad for the intended receiver dropping the ball, she instantly deleted the pic of the ball going through the intended receiver's hands....smart sister!

Good form by the QB but not sure if this was executed to perfection.....most likely Andrew, in the white shirt, shook off his defender ( grey shirt) and caught the rock for an easy first down!
About 40 degrees at kickoff...here you could see the breath of some of the athletes...notice the grass stain on those sexy white leggings, around the knee.....I play for blood!

Here is Andrew scouring the defense for an opening! His teammate is just trying to keep his t-short tucked into his pants.....Even Deborah noticed this oddity on a football field.

Sometimes you have to keep the lil ones happy...Hopefully the lil unknown tyke in the red shirt will not develop into a Terrell Owens or Randy Moss!

Jake Hill looking good with his hands in his pockets......

Andrew is asking the QB, " What in the heck kind of route is that?"

Buck is directing traffic for one of the various trick plays he tried to pull off over the day.....

The good
Got taken out by the big guy.....luckily he did not lay into me like he could have....at this point, it was somewhat two hand touch! I am just glad he did not land on me like he did with a player in softball this year, where he separated the other guy's shoulder.

The bad....good form but bad execution ...watch the late hit on Jake...cheap shot artist...

The ugly....the Daddy throws a pick 6 the other way.......I actually ended up throwing 2 of these and I blame my offensive coordinator trying to force the QB to spread the ball around. Both of the interceptions I threw were to players with questionable hands and the Daddy should have known to throw the ball to our version of Steve Largent/ Andrew Cottle.

(There are supposed to be some video but I could not get them off the blog I'm sure no one is too sad)

Halloween 2008

2008-11-03T18:25:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's already November. Tomorrow the election will be over with and I can't wait. Although tonight I posed the question to Andrew of what everybody will talk about now that it will over. Here is the one shot I got of Jane on Halloween night and a quick video of her walking up to her first door before the camera died.

Dang too bad the camera died right in time for the good part.

Good thing we went to the Trunk or Treat the week before. I had a lot of fun dressing Jane up. It was the first time I curled her hair. We of course had to put make-up on Cinderella. I regret it now cause everyday since she sneaks into my cabinet and steals my make-up bag (yes I have a make-up bag) and you can guess the rest.

After she was dressed she had to go show her Daddy how beautiful she was.

She then ask her dad if he would dance with her. It melted my heart.

We took her best friend Kaitlyn with us and they had a blast minus a fight over a stupid balloon.

Not to forget Reynolds. He was just chillin in his pumpkin costume. It almost put him to sleep cause he was so hot once I took it off he woke right up.

One legged Crawl

2008-10-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

Reynolds has been a little behind in learning how to crawl. I have considered it a blessing where his Daddy has been a little disappointed. It has been fun to watch him figure it out. I really wish I would have gotten video of all his different crawls but I did get is one legged crawl. The best was when he used his head for his hands and his butt was in the air. It looked like it was trying for a somersault. Another good one was when he would leap from his legs. Good job Reynolds its about time.

Better view of the one leg

I think it's a keeper

2008-10-24T07:17:00.001-07:00

After much help from my sister-in-law Erin, I decided to go with chocolate on the walls that touch the blue. I really like it in person but these pictures make it look kind of bad. Maybe I'm delusional or maybe it's just the lighting. Anyway I have a few more things to do before this project is finished so stay tuned. Thanks Erin for all your help with the colors. And thanks Jessica for doing all my edges and having your kids entertain mine.

Painting Project

2008-10-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I are not the "project" kind of people. In fact we are lucky just to keep our grass mowed and the house clean. We have been talking about painting our house ever since we moved in. The previous owners did a lovey job painting and most people would prefer their choice of colors over mine but I wanted to personalize my house with my style. After much talk it was actually Andrew with the motivation that we finally got it done.What do you think? Not sure I got the right blue and I definitely need to find some different accent colors since one of mine used to be blue. Any ideas?

Before (this is the only picture I could find)

finished Product
How much I like it is yet to be determined. Regardless I'm so proud of us that we did a project and didn't just waste another Saturday. We had a little help from Andrew's mom but overall we did it. We both were about to quit when we saw all the detail work that needed to be done but we stuck it out and finished. Now what color to paint the next room? Last night I had dreams I was painting it yellow but my dream was all weird cause I remember painting the couch.

Free Day at the Zoo

2008-10-12T09:46:00.001-07:00

The Denver Zoo was having a free day so Andrew took they day off and we made the trek across town to enjoy a day together. We have only been there once before when our friends, the Dunns, came into town. It was a nightmare getting there but that is a whole different story. This time we decided to drive instead of taking public transportation. Needless to say it was very uneventful besides really bad traffic on the way home. Here are some pictures from the day. All the pictures I got with the animals didn't turn out but we really were at the Zoo.

Tag: 6 Quirks

2008-10-03T09:56:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Megan. Here are the rules: Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours. Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged. I will not be tagging anybody but if anyone would like to do this it would be fun to read about.

1. I HATE METAL. I don't know why but it grosses me out. There is something about the cold feeling that makes me queasy. I can't wear jewelry for this very purpose. I have learned to just deal with my wedding ring but even that can be hard. I HATE CHANGE. I cannot hold it in my hand it literally makes me sick. I have been known to throw change away if I find it when I'm cleaning. I will get a piece of paper and scoop it up and chuck it in the garbage. I think I might have a phobia.

2. The only beverage I drink is water. I don't have time to sip water all day so my habit is I usually go to the sink at least 8 times a day and chug a glass of water. For some reason I always leave a little amount in the cup. Maybe I just can't drink it all but Andrew always points out it was my cup if it has a little water left in it.

3. I can't stand grease and greasy hands. I hate it when my husband tries to touch me and I can feel that his hands haven't been washed. I'm constantly "washing" my hands but the quirky thing is that I only use soap when my hands are unsanitary and I never dry them. I always make a point touch the hand towel but never actually use it to dry my hands. Who has time to sit and dry them anyway? The air will eventually get the job done.

4. This is no surprise to anybody that knows me or attempts to read this blog. I am phonetically disabled. Also I like to use words completely out of context and I'm the master at ruining all common one liners.

5. I cannot touch my face with my bare hands nor do I like anybody else to do it. When I pop zits I have to use toilet paper under my fingers and if I put my hand under my chin I have to pull my sleeve over my hand. Occasionally I try to get over this and let my husband caress my face but the truth of the matter is once I do all I can think about is how I need to go wash my face off.

6. I hate to ask for help. Unfortunately if I really need or really want it I feel so awkward to ask that I usually find some annoying way to beat around the bush. I'm really working on just coming straight out and asking.

A Day with Alex

2008-09-29T12:35:00.001-07:00

My sister-in-law, Cynthia, had a baby a few weeks ago so I took her son Alex for the day so she could catch up on some ZZZZZ's. My nephew, Alex, is so cute and has such a free spirit. I got all the kids loaded up and my neighbor Christy texted me to ask me about a museum I had told her about. She was talking about the Littleton Historical Musem that I have posted about before. I told her if she was going to go I would meet her there since I was already out and about. We got there a little before her so I decided I would take advantage of the free moment and feed Reynolds. I gave Jane and Alex a plum and told them to sit under the tree to eat them. They were so cute I had to snap a picture with my phone.

They of course did not sit there the whole time and begun to run around the tree. I figured as long as they don't run in the parking lot we will be ok. I latched Reynolds onto the other side and I look up and saw this.

I thought at this point it's better he pee here because there was no way I was going to be able to make myself decent, Alex decent, and get to the bathroom in time. I was grateful that he didn't have an accident. Kristy finally arrived and we headed to the old farms to see the animals. We were in the blacksmith shop and I realized Alex was no where to be found. Immediately I remembered how Alex likes to run off and this worries his mom to death, especially when people like me take him and don't keep a close eye. I found him chasing some ducks.

Talk about a free spirited kid and cute at that!

Here is Alex with his female friends for the day

My little pioneer cleaning

Renny enjoyed the ride and the mic

On a entirely different note we finally cleaned our carpets. I have been trying to get this done all summer long and it is finally done. Jane enjoyed sitting in her red chair while the room was empty. I couldn't wait to start putting stuff back and then I remembered we didn't get a pic.

So here is one with the couch in it.

Happy Dentist Visit

2008-09-18T08:50:00.001-07:00

Jane had her first Dentist appointment. They give "happy visits" to little ones to get them used to going to the dentist. If they corporate they will do as much of an examination as the kid will allow.

This is Jane waiting to go back enjoying her cookie from story time.

Showing off her pearly whites covered in chocolate.

While I was filling out paper work Jane decided to play "work"

Getting a ride in the dentist chair.

Shortly after she got scared and was pouting. Needless to say we didn't get any of the exam.

However it was worth all the loot she got hooked up with and gave us something to do after storytime.

I'm liberated

2008-09-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

After much searching I finally found her. With the help of Andrew's parents we bought a Dodge Grand Caravan on Monday night. We have been holding off on buying a vehicle because Andrew's parents had asked us if we wanted their minivan when they left on a mission. They decided to give the van to another sibling and help us get into something newer with less miles. We are so grateful! This van has everything we could possible want or need. I LOVE IT! I thought the only thing I didn't have was heated seats and the stow 'n go. After my sister-in-law came for a tour she pointed out that I do have the heated seats, yea! With my wheeling and dealing skills we got this car for an amazing deal! Let's just hope it's not a lemon. Thank you again Pam and Joe. As silly as it sounds I feel like a new women.

These photos are terrible but you get the point.

Reynolds 7 Months Shots.

2008-09-03T15:14:00.000-07:00

I've tried to be better this go around with the baby book. It has a page for a picture for every month. I decided I would play photo shoot with Reynolds to capture his darling personality.

Reynolds has eight teeth. About three weeks ago we had some rough nights as a couple were coming threw at the same time. We are certainly enjoying all of his chompers especially when I can see his teeth imprinted on my nipple. Ouch! There is nothing cool about getting teeth early.

Why buy toys when your kids are just as excited playing with the wrap from diapers. Of course he wasn't being nearly as cute when I broke out the camera. Man I just viewed the video and realized you can't even see it. That stinks. You can just imagine Reynolds playing with the plastic wrap that covers diapers and laughing at it.

End of Summer

2008-09-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

I totally blew it with getting some cute pictures from the swimming pool. We spent three days a week during the summer at the local rec pool. I always forgot my camera thinking it was no big deal cause I will get some next time but I never did. I did get these few pictures of Jane and her friends. I really wanted to get some video of Reynolds jumping around in his floaty and planned to do this our last day with daddy there. However, Jane got her first bee sting and we had to leave after only being there a short while.

You probably can't tell in this picture but this is Jane flying her kite. Andrew and I actually got this kite and another when I was pregnant with Jane for something to do one Saturday afternoon. We went to the dollar store and got a strawberry shortcake and Pokemon kite. I'm glad that two years later my kids can use them. I would say a dollar worth spending.

Twilight Fans?

2008-08-30T19:54:00.001-07:00

To those of you who are fans of the Twilight serious and have been anticipating reading Midnight Sun go here and read if you haven't already heard the news. What's your reaction?

A little bit of this and that.

2008-08-28T15:12:00.000-07:00

It seems like most are blogged out. Has anybody else noticed the same thing within their circle of blogging friends? My reader account has often showed "no unread items" with a few trickles here and there with new updates. Then I thought I have no room to talk since I haven't posted in awhile either. Whats going on? Any ideas? Are we all just waiting for summer to end or what to get our second wind? For me I will have to confess it's a bit of laziness. I even have some pictures on my camera that I wanted to put up but they are still on my memory card waiting to get posted. I actually found these pictures on my cell phone and thought I will post these since my phone is always with me. Anyway just a few more weeks till fall. I'm ready for a new season!

I took this picture and thought that it looked cool. It's on my phone so of course the quality is horrible but it reminded me of a crossed processed photo. My brother in law Weston (who is an excellent photographer, click on his name to look at some of his work) introduced me to what a crossed processed photo is. I'm not going to even attempt to explain what it is cause I don't even know what I'm talking about but I always loved this type of photography because it makes all the colors even brighter and if you know me I love bright colors. Woah! can you say run on?

I took this picture last Saturday when Jane went to one of her friends birthday party. I was chatting with the ladies and hear, "look Mommy, look, I'm jumping" she proceeded to say that over and over. She was so proud of herself that I had to snap a picture with the phone.

Alright I did my part. Now lets get over the lull and get blogging. Sarah is bored and needs something to do on the world wide web.

Johnny Slumper

2008-08-16T13:54:00.001-07:00

Reynolds' new favorite toy is his Johnny Jumper. I usually let him jump away while I shower and get ready for the day. Reynolds had a late morning nap since we both slept in till 9:30 (I honestly can't remember the last time I got to do that) so that meant a late afternoon nap. He didn't seem tired at all so I let him jump while I took a late shower (I cleaned all morning long and now my house is finally clean). As I was getting ready I said to Andrew, "When is Reynolds going to get sleepy? He doesn't seem tired at all he just keeps jumping." I got on the phone for maybe three minutes and I looked over at Reynolds and I saw he was slumped over. I thought he was chewing on the tray and then I realized he was out cold.

Eating my Words

2008-08-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I made a post indicating the success we had putting both kids in the same room. Well once we got back from our trip to California it has pretty much been a nightmare. We have been blessed with just enough few good nights to keep holding on to the hope that it would work out again. Last night I finally threw in the towel. I don't know what' s with Reynolds but he has turned into the lightest sleeper. If Jane even opens the door he wakes up. Yesterday when Andrew came home from work Reynolds was sleeping and quickly awoke to the garage door opening. Please don't give me any advice about making your home really loud while your kids sleep so they can become deep sleepers because I think that is a bunch of, well you know what. Reynolds has always had to sleep to his screaming sister and takes his first nap of the day at the swimming pool or park. Last night we put Jane in the guest bedroom and Reynolds slept in the kids room. There were still interruptions like having to change Reynolds diaper and pajamas in the middle of the night because he peed all over them but at least they were manageable and I didn't have the excuses that the one woke the other one up. Hopefully once we can train Jane to stay in her bed throughout the night and Reynolds can start sleeping through something, or anything at that, we will try again. However, for now I have been defeated. Good luck to anybody who attempts the same thing. If you find something that works please let me know.

Endless Bathtime Fun Matched with Endless Night

2008-08-10T19:59:00.000-07:00

This is hardly worth posting but I felt like I wanted to update my blog with something. Nothing too exciting has been happening. Jane wanted to play like it was Reynolds birthday (the things on is head is his birthday hat) and then make a terrible splashing mess which she managed to involve her little brother in the trouble.

On an entirely different subject last night was one of those nights that make the top ten worse nights with my children. After sleeping for maybe an hour it was just long enough to give Jane the endurance to stay up till four in the morning. I tired everything thing short of locking her in her room to cry it out. I would have done this if I didn't fear her waking the other child. She only took an hour nap yesterday and had a evening of fun. I thought for sure she would crash and maybe even sleep through the night. Oh boy was I wrong. I was lying there with her so tired thinking I'm a grown women that can hardly keep my eyes open why can't this kid sleep? Needless to say I was a little short tempered today and had little patience for Jane. I kept telling her that Mommy is not happy cause you didn't let her sleep whenever she asked me to do anything for her. I admit I was acting a little imature but I was so angry especially when she only took an hour and fifteen minute nap today. Did I mention that she only slept till 7:45 this morning. Anyway after I finally got her to bed tonight I went into my room to open the windows and I saw this.

She puts her babies and dolls to bed often but for some reason this killed me tonight and soften my heart towards her. To bad it took all day. I just pray that tonight goes better.

Good thing she is this cute or she might have gotten hurt last night.

SuperCala What?

2008-08-03T08:41:00.000-07:00

When I was potty training Jane I tried to take advantage of the week at home and decided to clean. When I got done with the downstairs I moved to the upstairs but I needed something to keep Jane entertained. The only thing we had upstairs was a little TV with a built in VCR. I called my sister-in-law Jen to ask if she had some old VHS I could borrow. She brought an assortment of cartoons and Mary Poppins. Jane would sit and watch the cartoons for a few minutes and then insist on watching another movie. At last attempt I put in Mary Poppins and she has probably watched it once a day since. I don't know what it is about Micheal and Jane Banks but she loves them.

*Disclaimer Jane did her own hair this morning

We're Back!

2008-08-01T15:44:00.000-07:00

So last week Andrew found a digital camera for 50 bucks. I know it's not the best quality but it will meet my needs. Plus I figure if I'm going to be breaking them I better not spend a lot of money. I took some video but it didn't turn out so great without any lighting. I will have to try again.

I would like to take credit for the redesign of my blog but I can't. I love it! It's so refreshing to me. I could hardly look at my other layout it was making me nausea. Thanks Megan! You're the best.

This was me attempting to get my photo taken with my child but apparently she did not want me in the picture.

What do you think? The quality doesn't seem so bad.

Lil' Tropper

2008-07-18T13:05:00.001-07:00

Awhile ago I decided to embrace the summer and buy a pool pass to our local recreation center. It works nicely because it is walking distance so it allows me to get out of the house for a few hours while I'm still carless. Today I was trying to get Jane to get in the stroller but she had her heart set on walking her own stroller with her Barbie in it. I was highly against the idea because I knew she would maybe walk to the end of the street and then insist on getting in the big stroller thus leaving me with her stroller to cart around. I tried to reason with her but she persisted and won. I was throughly amazed when she walked all the way to the pool pushing her stroller not even making a complaint. One the way home I thought for sure she would want to ride in the stroller but she was certain she was going to walk home as well. We did take the short cut on the way back which does involve a hill with weeds and mud but she made it yet again without a peep. I was so proud of her especially since we had done the same walk with my nieces a week ago and half way home they asked, "How much further? It's too hot!"

Here is Jane reaching the top of the hill

She really wanted to pose

4 th of July

2008-07-05T09:42:00.000-07:00

We woke up on 4th of July and decided we didn't want to spend anytime at home. We had plans to go to Highlands Ranch for a BBQ in the evening so we decided to best utilize our gas and make a day up there. We stopped off at the Woods to drop our food off and pick up Andrew and Hailey to take them to the splash park. The kids had a blast playing in the water.

Then we went back to the Woods so the kids could nap while I went with Johanna shopping. I haven't stepped foot in a Walmart or Target since California. It was so nice just to meander through a store and find things I wanted to buy. I really need to get out more.

Jane and Daddy were so tired while Reynolds had endless fun trying to eat the toolbox

We enjoyed a BBQ with lots of great food. Thanks Woods for hosting!! The evening was topped of with the Highlands Ranch fireworks show that Andrew was pretty disappointed in. Andrew whatever happen to the blog post you were going to write about firework shows? Jane loved to watch and would say, "I catch it" as the flares would fall to the ground. I hope everyone had a good 4th.

Thanks To Viewers Like You

2008-07-03T14:55:00.000-07:00

After my toilet training poll closed with a grand total of 15 (I think, it could even be less I don't remember) votes, 12 being to get started and 3 being don't do it (which I know two where from me) I decided last Monday to take the plunged and do it. After Jane woke up from her nap on Monday I put the big girl panties on went for it. I wanted to say thanks to every one who left comments. I pretty much used everyones advice and made my own potty training program. I think Jane had a total of four real accidents only two of them in the house. By Friday we were pretty much done with the reminders to pee all the time and Saturday we ventured out into the community and have done such sense. I think she was defenitly ready! Thanks again for all the encouragement because to be honest there is no way I would have done it without it. I pretty much thought there was no way. Way to go Jane!!! If anybody is interested in Sarah's 31/2 day potty training method let me know and I will share what worked for us.

I thought I would put a random pic of the kids with Renny's cool dude smile. It's the only recent picture I have of them.

Happy Belated Birthday Andrew

2008-07-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

I tried to post this on Andrew's birthday but when you are borrowing somebody's else's camera you kind of have to work on their schedule. Thanks Christy soooooo much even though I just about killed Jane getting this video. This was my first take but I knew she could do better. After several different takes of her saying "no" "my camera" "happy birthday to Reynolds" I decided to preserve her life and just stick with take one (she was doing all of it on purpose just to get her mom fired up).

Finally Two!

2008-06-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

Jane Birthday came and went. I few months ago I told Andrew that I wanted to do something really fun for Jane's Birthday. Last Thursday night I realized it was this week and freaked. I though so much for the fun Birthday party but I did my best to throw something together. The next day we printed off Elmo invatations and I had jane color them since we don't have a colored printer (it's more fun that way anyway right?). I came up with some fun games.

Pin the tissue on Big Birds nose.

Put the trash in Oscar's can

I didn't get video of Hot Elmo maybe because the game only last a few seconds. The two year olds I know don't know how to catch a flying Elmo very well. The older kids of course came late.

Singing Happy Birthday

Followed by Presents

Random Pictures from the Party

Jane has been having way too much fun playing with all her presents today! Thanks to everyone who came. Jane had a great time. Thanks Veronica for the Camera for this post would have be rather boring without it. With that being said thanks Aaron for taking all the pictures and video I was too nuts to have remembered to take any.

She had to have me take a picture with her Barbie

Camera Down!!

2008-06-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

While taking a picture of Jane for my last post I dropped the camera on the ground and broke it. Another lovely thing to add to my great week last week. I can tell that this week looks like it will be just as much fun. When I got out of the shower I heard Jane whining. I went to go check on the kids and saw poop sitting on the bottom of the stairs. When I got down stairs Jane was on the couch with her bottom up against one of the cushions with poop all over it. That dang kid wont keep a diaper on for nothing. I think I might just try to do the potting training business since she keeps asking to sit on the potty and wear underwear but I just need some patience first which would be followed by a good night's sleep. Anyway I won't be posting any pictures for awhile until the "me breaking the camera" wears off so Andrew will let me get a new one. I guess I do always have the cell phone pictures. Never mind I will try to post some crappy cell phone pictures every now and then.

Welcome to my Nightmare!!

2008-06-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

I was recently tagged by Megan to do an interesting tag...You are supposed to take pictures of "real life"…..without cleaning, without touching up. When I read her post I thought no way am I doing that. First of all I didn't have the time at the moment and second of all my house is a pig sty. This week has been a really hard one for me and being on top of things kind of got lost in my weariness. When I woke up today I checked my e-mail and saw that I had received one from Megan telling me that I wasn't off the hook. I laughed in a moment of frustration of another night of little sleep due to two waking kids at different times and dreaming about vampires and werewolves. Last night I did try to go to bed earlier to get catch up on some z's but then Andrew came home from his softball game and needed to give me every detail of his plays or the lack thereof. Anyway I decided to take the opportunity to rant about some of my frustrations.

1. the laundry room

What is that on top of my washer and dryer? That's right it's my shoe rack from my closet. Andrew has been working on a project in the sub floor for what seems like months but has only been a couple weeks. The shoe rack is usually stored over the door to get down there. Umm, do you think it would be too much to ask to put it back when he was done? It's driving me crazy I can't throw all the kids dirty close in the wash and treat them with stain remover. I guess I could move it but that would only be too easy.

2. favorite room

My room. Like i said I just woke up. I'm actually pretty good at making our bed each day. I used to think that making your bed was the stupidest thing but now I can't stand having it unmade it just makes the room feel so dirty.

3. what the kids are doing

Jane eating Kix for her first time. She has gotten so particular with what kind of cereal she wants. Today I offered her Wheaties and Cheerios and when she said no to both I knew she looking for the box of life. I quickly offered her a new kind, Kix to throw her off. It worked. Reynolds just chilling, while I took pictures, waiting to be fed.

4. favorite shoes

What's so cute about these shoes? I don't really know I just love them. I found them in Richfeild, Utah while we were down there for Christmas in '06 for the right price of 18 dollars. Pretty pathetic I haven't bought a new pair of shoes since then expect for my running shoes. I really should pamper myself more.

5. the toilet

6. Kitchen sink -

7. the refrigerator. Pretty much a mess!!!

Can you spot all my ground beef in the freezer. I would give anything for a second freezer. My latest buy was a bunch of hot dogs for 59 cents. That should keep Jane happy all summer long. I even scored some ball park turkey dogs for 9 cents because they had a 50 cents off coupon on the package.

8. self portrait - Yeah right, in your dreams. I've been so un-photogenic lately not a chance I'm posting a picture of myself. I will just leave Megan's up for the gift of this experience. Megan said "I feared this more than taking pictures of my house. Post shower...pre-make up. Plus there is no one to jump in the picture with me to shift the focus...I do not like self-portraits. This was the most difficult to not want to 'clean up.' Ugh."

9. the closet.

I actually cleaned out the bottom of my closet. Now I just need to work on the top.

10. dirtiest room

hmmm Andrews projects again. I wish I just had a room to give him that I never had to look at or had to worry about cleaning.

11. dream vacation

Yesterday when both the kids were crying because they both did not nap for longer than 30 minutes I closed my eyes and imagine I was here. My personal tropical paradise. What ever it takes to not kill your kids right?

I tag Christy, Kristin, Erin, Jessie and Cynthia

The Talented Erin Colton

2008-06-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

This is my beautiful sister in-law Erin. She currently has a different hair style but I must say that I love this picture of her. I'm always jealous of her and how photogenic she is. Anyway, I could go on about her good looks but I will save that for another post. This post is about how talented she is and I'm very grateful that she is so willing to share her talents with me. She has always helped me with decorating ideas and even actually doing my decorations. If I have anything in my house that you think is cute or a good idea I guarantee it came from Erin.

When I was pregnant with Jane I went to walmart because I wanted to do a "project" (if any of you know me I don't do "projects"). I bought the letters of Jane's name and some purple paint. When I got home I was all excited to do my "project". I sanded the letters and began to paint. I thought they looked pretty good in the end and hung them up. A few days later I got a call from Erin and she asked if I had bought anything for Jane's room. I said not really but admitted I had bought the letters. She said, "Oh man I made you some letters". Well of course I knew anything that Erin did would be much better than anything I would come up with. I quickly said I will still take them. She told me she would take a picture and then I could decide.

This is what I saw. This would be so much more funny if I took a picture of my pathetic excuse for a "project". Andrew and I both had a good laugh at the comparison and told Erin we would be ecstatic to have them. While Erin was out recently I confessed to her that I wish I had some cute letters for Reynolds. She willingly said, "I will do some for you". I thought about how she also has a four month old baby and did not want to put the burden on her. To be honest I can't remember what was said after that but in no way, shape, or form did I think she was going to do it. While I was vacationing I was doing the normal checking out blogs and saw that Erin had an updated post. When I checked it out I saw this.

Well not actually this but a picture of the letters. This is them actually hanging in Reynolds room. I was so excited I felt like I just got the best Christmas present. Erin I love them so much! I'm really hoping it will inspire me for some additional decor in the room. The colors go perfect with the quilts that my talented mother in-law made. Not to mention they go awesome with the quilt that Erin made for Reynolds as well.

Thank you Aunt Erin. We would have nothing cute without you.

Taking a Poll

2008-06-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

I need your help in making a decision on whether or not to start potty training Jane. I know your answer Christy, but just hear me out. Jane will not keep a diaper on! She is taking her shorts off and then her diaper and running around the house nude. Of course she only does this when we are not keeping a close eye on her, but that is beside the point. The fact is she could potentially pee on the carpet and I wouldn't even know until I stepped in it. On Sunday we can home from vacation and we had to put her in timeout(shocking I know) and while she was in isolation she took her diaper off. She came out of time out before she was told and said she had to poo. She pulls this stunt quite often as a means to get the attention and/or a diaper change when she is in trouble. Knowing this, we just sent her back to her room. A little while later Andrew decided to check on her and found Jane without her diaper and poo on the carpet in her room. Guess we should have taken her more seriously. Anyway, this morning I've been battling with her to wear a diaper but she keeps yelling back at me that she wants to wear underwear. We went through this same thing on Saturday so I said what the heck I will put her in underwear and then put this plastic thing that my sister gave me over them. She peed in them but didn't even notice a thing which makes me think she is not ready. My dilemma is that I personally think she is probably not ready to be potty trained and I really don't want to put the time into a failed attempt, but at the same time I can't help but think that I shouldn't be fighting with my kid to not wear underwear and to sit on the toilet (because she sits there forever and doesn't do anything, I don't have time for that). If I'm going to do it I want to do it all the way no messing around with pull ups and doing it every now and then. Should I go for it or find some creative way to get Jane to keep her diapers on? For the record, Andrew thinks she is ready. Please vote on the poll and post of comment with any words of wisdom.

Get Out the Grill

2008-06-08T20:55:00.000-07:00

I love summertime when the living is easy. On Friday it was a beautiful day so Jane and I filled up the pool and laid out for a bit.

We called Alex and Cynitha over to join us for a BBQ.

Jane and Alex has a blast swimming in the pool. I guess it would be more accurate to say had a blast poring sand in the pool and water into the sand box.

They were both so dirty I had to take them out side and hose them off.

This picture probably does a little more justice with how dirty Jane got. She had all sorts of sand clumped to her head.
It was a great time. I love hanging out with family. Thanks Alex Cottle family for coming over. We will try to get the rest of the family over soon!!!!!

The New Ren

2008-06-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

OK not really but seriously at the end of our vacation Reynolds seemed so different like he grew into a four month old baby over night. We are having so much fun watching him grow. Here are some videos of some of his new developments. They are long and boring and I really need to remember not to talk while I'm filming, it's so embarrassing but I want to remember his milestones and this is the only journal I keep.

Reynolds on the move. He hates his stomach so much that we noticed when we put him on it for tummy time he starts to scoot.

Reynolds learning how to sit up. He still has a ways to go but he will sit independently for a minute or so.

This may appear like we let our children abuse each other but hey it was cute. Reynolds loves Janes attention and will be thrilled about it whatever the cost may be.

Here they are again watching TV together while mommy made lunch

I'm Terriable, I Know

2008-06-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

So lately I've been getting it from Andrew and my brother about how terrible my post can be regarding grammar and just plain mistakes. I know they are only telling me because they both love me enough to not want me to make a complete fool of myself for the whole world to see. I'm sure they say what you all have been thinking. Anyway I will try to do better but believe it or not I do try to read through them. The truth is I've always been terrible at writing and grammar. I always did well in English only because I knew I was terrible and I would make people proof read my papers over and over until finally there were limited mistakes and they still would come back to me with red ink all over them from my professors. In all reality I will probably always be terrible, but I will try better to proof read. In a way I'm totally putting one of my biggest weakness out there for everyone to see but I don't really care cause who really wants to read what I have to say anyway just look at the pictures. Speaking of pictures Andrew has been working from home a lot this week so I haven't had time to blog (He dominates the computer). I have some cute videos of Reynolds sitting up playing with toys, scooting on the ground since he hates his tummy so much, and playing with his feet. S0.tay tuned cause the only thing I want to do right now is crawl in bed and read New Moon in stead of upload videos. Sorry Grandparents. Hope all is well.

Trip Over

2008-06-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

Man it stinks how vacations go buy so quickly. It seems like you look forward to them for so long and them there over before you know it. We made it home today and are feeling pretty bummed on getting back to the routine of life especially since there are no more trips or visitors to look forward to. We had such a good time and are overwhelming grateful for the Guiness for putting us up for 10 days. They are the most hospital people I have ever met. After we dropped Travis off from picking us up at the airport and Jane realized that she was not going to get to go to her cousins house. She said, "Gabby's house". She threw a fit when we told her it was time to go home. We will miss the Guiness and hope they come out to Denver soon. I will little Gabby who is five and cares more about fashion then I do which I know isn't saying a whole lot.

I like to call her Mrs Gaberial Solice in this picture
Bye Guiness and thanks again for EVERYTHING
(WHY DIDN'T I GET A PICTURE WITH THE WHOLE FAMILY?)

A total highlight of the trip was when I got to hang out with j-dog, Suzette, or Sister Johnson which ever you prefer. J-dog was one of my mission companions which we were so reverent while we served together and made some names for each other. Mine of course was Hill dog and then there was t-bone but she lives in Austriala. To my knowledge we were the only ones cool enough to get a special name. We had a great time catching up.

Beach Day!

2008-06-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

We spent a great day at the Beach. Andrew surfed with Christian while I tended the kids and tried to read Twilight which I'm done and addicted. Andrew then built something out of sand with Jane. Every time I got my nose out of my book and looked at him he was swarmed with all these kids. I missed getting pictures of his creation and him on the surf bored. I guess I was a little occupied opps.

After we spent the morning at the beach we met up with Carmen and Greg for lunch at some Hawaiian food place. It was pretty good but I really wish I would have went with the terryika beef instead of the chicken. The kids were so beat. I could tell Jane was really tired because as she was eating her eyes kept rolling to the back of her head. Then I look down and saw this.

I woke her up but she just kept face planting into the table. It was too funny so I decided to bust of the video. You can't hear this part but Jane was looking at Andrew half asleep saying, "hold you, hold you...."

Renny was zonked too!
Greg and Christian
Of course a day at the beach wouldn't be complete without somebody getting totally fried. Poor Andrew got a second degree burn and spent the rest of the vacation in a lot of pain.
I tried to capture the blisters but I don't think you can really see unless you have the gift of the special eye. I'm still the one to blame that I didn't remind him to put sunscreen on.

Family Day at the Peir

2008-06-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

We were itching to get the beach since the weather was crappy for the first few days of our trip so we took a quick trip to the to the peir to show jane the Ocean.

She was afraid of anything. She loved running after the water. I should have put her in her suit cause she got taken out with a wave.

Swings on the beach! It doesn't get any better in Jane's world.

Memorial Day Bash

2008-05-28T09:36:00.001-07:00

Meet Greg Guiness

Greg is our gracious host here in Sunny Oceanside. This guy loves to party. When we called to ask if we could stay with them there reply was of course and that if we could swing it to come over memorial day weekend for the Guiness Memorial Day Bash. We had heard stories of previous Guiness parties so we pulled some strings to live the action ourselves.

Meet Carmen Guiness

She is the women that supports all of her husbands wild ideas and makes it all happen.

Kathryn and her wild friend Jenna getting the patio all cleaned up in preparation of the big day.

The 14ft water slide

The home made slip and slide

Jane after her two trips down the 14 footer. (I screwed up the video of this one but it sure was funny as Jane flew off the slide and got fully submersed in the pool) This poor kid is so tired she fell right asleep on her daddy.

Andrew taking a break from all the fun to get his grub on at the taco bar. Greg grilled up some carne asada, chicken and some hot dogs for the kids.

Once Jane woke up from her nap she was ready to party. OK not really it took her some coaxing to get on the slip in slide especially since the first time she went to got rammed into by some big kid but once she got the hang she loved it.

Jane and her new friend Savannah giving high five after they both "did it" since they were both being a little wuzzy. On a complete side note I meet Savannah's mom and she is totally into coupon shopping too and had a whole armor dedicated to her "deals" or food storage and she blogs about it too. I'm not the only nerd out there.

Andrew showing all the kids how a slip in slide really works.

We had a great day! Thanks Guiness for the awesome party and for EVERYTHING else. You guys are the best. A special shout out to Christian who I will have to post a picture up later for giving up your room for the Cottle clan. Also to Kathryn for sharing her room and bathroom while were in town.

Reporting from San Deigo

2008-05-23T15:12:00.001-07:00

We arrived to San Deigo complication free. We are having a great time catching up with the Guiness and enjoying all their commendations. Here is were we have been shacking up. You can't see the pack in play in the corner.

The first night was a little rough but the second night was smooth until the sun rose and Jane decided to get up at 6:20. I guess that is 7:20 our time so thats about right. We spent some time in the pool and hot tub the first morning. I had to get a picture of Reynolds in his super huge swim trunks.

We had the pool to ourselves since we hit it up at 9:oo am to avoid the afternoon rays. It was nice to not have to put sunscreen on everyone. I really don't know if babies are supposed to sit in hot tubs so If anyone knows I'm killing my son let me know. This I do know is that Reynolds loved it. We put him in the pool and he cried, then sat him in the hot tub and he chilled in there forever. I guess it goes with his laid back lazy attitude about life.

Andrew Swimming laps

This morning was what vacationing is all about. Once Andrew got up (I was with the kids so he could sleep in) I hit the gym in my new exercise outfit to run on the treadmill. After I finish I felt kind of bad leaving Andrew a lone with the kids so I came back to check on him. Once I saw that Reynolds was down for a nap and Jane was watching a movie with her new best friend Gabby I took advantage and got my suit to do some laps and relax in the hot tub. I will tell you sitting in the hot tub with no kids around after a good work out made our vacation well worth it and it's only day two. Hopefully I can have more days like this one. I sat in that hot tub for as long as my body would allow me without cooking myself to death. A time to remember in my book. Speaking of books Carmen has all the twilights so I decided with all my down time I will finally see what the hype is. Maybe I will fall in love with Edward too.

Huge Blow out

2008-05-18T21:01:00.001-07:00

So some may think this is totally gross to blog about but I couldn't help myself. So today we were sitting down for lunch and we had about five minutes before we needed to leave to church. We were discussing how we were going to get everything done so we could make it on time. I looked over at Reynolds and I noticed this.

Yesterday he didn't poop at all so I was a little worried at what might happen when it actually came out. However, I thought I was in the clear when he woke up with some poop and then he pooped again and then again. Yes I changed three poopy diapers before this happened.

So when I finally got to the diaper it was completely full plus all this. To think I actually thought for a moment, "Is Reynolds getting enough food since he skipped a day of pooping."

Poor Ren having to play in his poop while I take photos.