Gregg and Erika's Wedding

On September 28 we celebrated the wedding of Andy's youngest brother Gregg. He married Erika and I am so excited to have her as my new sister in law. The wedding was at Gardner Village and turned out beautifully! Gregg and Erika looked so great and I am so happy for them.

Pictures of the happy couple coming soon....

Dallin was the Ring Bearer and was such a little stud. He actually behaved so well during the ceremony and did his job perfectly! He is so big!

This picture is ADORABLE! Dallin and his cute cousin Lyla (who was the flower girl). These two are such a hoot and had a blast running wild all night long. They were pooped by the end of the night!

Claire looked soooo cute in her purple outfit. She was definitely a hit at the wedding, but who could resist this one?

Here we are all together. I wish we had a better family picture of the 4 of us, but this one is pretty cute!

Update on reality

Work so far has been amazing. I feel like I am there just enough to get out of the house, spend time with my lovely co workers and do a little life saving. Claire has handled being away from me just fine, which was the thing I was most concerned about. She takes the bottle like a champ and goes down easily for her naps. Dallin is absolutely LOVING preschool and he practically runs in every time! All in all the "back to work" thing has all been relatively easy. The PCMC clinic at Riverton is opening in November and for those who dont know I will be working out there. It will be a good change of pace and of course it is closer to our house so my commute cuts in half. I'm excited but nervous, because running a brand new clinic will definitely have its challenges!

On another note, I took Dallin in for his 3 year checkup today. I cant believe he is so old, it still boggles my mind. He weighs 32 lbs. which puts him right in the 50%. He is 38" which is the 75%. I was glad to hear he is growing well. I talked with the doctor about his sleep problems (he wakes up 2-3 times every single night). She referred us to go see an ENT to look at his tonsils and adenoids. Sometimes they are enlarged which causes obstructive sleep apnea. Basically they stop breathing in the night, and then it wakes them up... They never really get into the deep REM sleep and then they become super hyperactive during the day as a result. All of the signs (including mouth breathing and snoring which he does most of the time) make the doctor suspicious. I guess it is pretty common and removing them is the only cure. Most of these kiddos have a great response and the sleeping problems usually resolve. I am anxious to see what the ENT says. Is it bad to say I hope that he does have this problem so that it can be fixed. I sure would like a good nights sleep sometime soon! I will let you all know what the doc says next wednesday!

Tribute to my kiddos

I am sitting here at 6:30 am updating my blog because I am headed off to work today. I got ready a bit faster then I thought, so I wanted to take this time to say some things about being a mom. I am so blessed to have two amazing and absolutely beautiful children. They are so smart and loving and I couldn't ask for anything else. At times Dallin is quite a challenge, but at the end of the day he is still the sweet cuddly little smarty pants that I love! Claire has started laughing and is starting to reveal her own sweet personality. I cannot believe she is 3 months old and it is time for me to head back to work. I am so grateful that I was able to cut down to part time so my kids get more time with Mommy!

I love tummy time...

Well for about 20 seconds maybe. Can you even stand those huge brown eyes? I sure love this little girl.

Claire's Blessing

We blessed Claire last Sunday. She looked so beautiful, and it was a great day to celebrate with all our friends and family. Even though the majority of our family does not share the same faith, they were all there bright and early at 9:00 to help honor Claire on her special day. We are so fortunate to have such loving and supportive families! Andy gave a wonderful blessing and we enjoyed visiting afterwards with everyone. Here's a few pictures of my darling girl.

back to work

Well my twelve weeks of maternity leave will soon be over. Oh how interesting it has been being home every day with the kids. I have always worked, so it was quite a new experience for me spending every day home, not to mention most of the days Andy was at school and work so he wasnt home to help much. Of course I have loved every minute of it, and I am very sad to leave my kiddos and head back to work. The good news is I was able to pull some strings and cut back from working 3 12 hour shifts to working only 2 now. I am so excited because now I can have more time at home, and the kids dont have to be watched another day by their oh so amazing grandmas!! Dallin starts preschool on tuesday, the same day I start back to work. I will be working tuesdays and fridays which are Dallin's school days. I figured it would be easier for the sitters to only have him for a half day now that Claire in n the picture!!! I hope everything works out financially for us so I can stay part time. I may throw in a 5-10 pm shift starting in October for a few more hours. I will say that I am pretty excited to go back to work because I really truly love my job. I have the greatest co-workers on the planet, and I really enjoy working with all the adorable kids at the hospital. Working two days seems ideal for me, because I get the best of both worlds!!

Miss Smiley

Claire's first trip to the zoo, looking as cute as usual

First time in the Bumbo. I think she likes it, what do you think? Oh and I dont think her smile could get any bigger.

Pictures Galore

Here are some pictures to sum up the last few weeks

Cousins Dallin and Lyla acting silly as usual

Claire sporting her adorable self

Mom and Me

Great Grandma Gert "GG" and Great Grandpa Leo in town from Boston

Granddad and Dallin building sand castles

Andy's Graduation party

Dallin turns 3

Dallins awesome new Tonka bike

All Dallin asked for for his birthday was a spiderman mask. Clearly his wishes were granted!

Dallin taking a whack at the spiderman pinata

The latest...

We have had lots going on but I am too lazy tonight to upload tons of pictures. So, here is a bit about what we've been up to, and pictures are to follow
- Claire turned 2 months. 11 lbs 11 oz, 22.5 inches. She is a champ
- Andy finished school and his graduation party
- Dallin turned 3!
- Andy's grandparents are in town from Boston
- A day at Pine View Reservoir
- Andy sold his car, now we search for something new
- Ashley is freaking out about going back to work in 3 weeks
- Claire slept last night from 10-7 Hello, Amazing.

That about sums it all up.

6 weeks old and smiling!

I cant believe that my little girl is already 6 weeks old. She has been so much fun to have around, and I love spending every day with her. She has really started smiling and cooing in the last few days. She absolutely lights up whenever she sees her daddy, its just the cutest thing ever. She is still a good baby, she really never cries and has been sleeping pretty good. She went 5 hours last night, so I am hoping that trend continues.
I just love this brown and turquoise outfit. It really shows off her tan skin, which by the way is the only thing people say when they see her. I have even been asked if her and Dallin have different Dad's. Silly.


This picture was too cute not to post. She is getting so chubby, I love it!

American Idol Tour

Andy called me up the day of the American Idol Concert and told me he scored some tickets for the concert that night. I was so excited because I am a huge American Idol fan, but was nervous because Claire was only 4 weeks old and I would have to leave her for the night. I decided to give it a go, and invited my mom and Katie to come. We had such a good time, and Claire was an angel for her Daddy and took a bottle like a champ! I was able to get some much needed time out with the girls and enjoy some great music too!

Here he is, Kris Allen.. such a hottie!

The gang

Mom and Me

Kate and me... just be glad I didnt include the nerdy pics we took.

4th of July.... a bit late

Since today is July 24th, I figured I would post about our 4th of July finally. We went to fireworks at Sandy City Hall, and yes, we broght our tiny little peanut Claire. Dallin HATES fireworks, so we were a bit nervous to see how he would react. He did pretty good, as long as he was hiding under a blanket. So funny.

Dallin is totally OBSESSED with spiderman, so naturally, he chose to get his face painted with this when Uncle Gregg took him to the little fair in Sandy.

5 years....

Today is mine and Andy's 5 year annivesary. We have had such a great 5 years, and now we have two beautiful children to show for it. I just wanted to say how much I love my hubby. He is such an amazing man, a great father and such a hard worker. He has sacraficed so much for our little family and I am so happy that soon he will be able to have more time to spend on himself and his family! Happy Anniversary Babe. I love you!!!

One Month Old

Well Claire is officially 1 month old. I cant believe how fast time has gone, and how big she is getting. She must weigh atleast 10 lbs, considering that she was 9 lbs 4 oz just a few days after her 2 week appt. Things are going relatively smooth here at home. We have adjusted quite well to having two kids around. Claire has been a good baby overall, minus a few belly aches and of course reflux. She is on some Prevacid to help with that, but she still is in pain after her feedings. She is a decent sleeper, up twice a night on average. Dallin has been struggling with behavior problems. He is always acting out, and has a lot of aggression. I think it is pretty normal though. We need to be better at giving him one on one attention because when he is alone with us he is an angel. It has been weird for me to be home every day, but I am enjoying it. I try and keep busy and in just a few weeks Andy will be done with school(no more long days alone). I have to say I do miss work though, I love all my co-workers so much. We are all so close, so it has been hard not seeing them. I will post some new pics of Claire soon.

Claire's Newborn Pics

Here are a few of Claire's newborn pics. I didn't post my favorite picture because I'm using it for her announcement... so stay tuned