...Holiday Season...

We enjoyed the Holiday season, we spent a few evenings driving around town looking at Christmas lights. The girls really enjoyed looking at all the lights ooh's & awe's at each house we passed. Nyah became a fan of "Jingle Bell's" and by the end of the holiday season she knew all the words. We had a wonderful Christmas eve dinner with Grandma & Grandpa Benson, Wes & Rian, Karris, Tristian, Brynn & Rilee and Grandma Grace. We ate, played games and laughed until we were crying.

Christmas morning Nyah woke me around 0530 "mom, I had an assident". Can you help me change my nightgown?" So after she was all cleaned up she crawled into bed with us and fell back asleep. Around 0830 Justin asked Nyah if Santa had come? She jumped out of our bed, out the door and down the hall she went, turned the corner and ran to the front door... Justin was sitting in the living room with the video camera and asked her where she was going? With a disgusted look on her face she said "you told me to see if SANTA CAME!" She opens the front door and out onto the lawn she goes... looks up and down the street and comes back into the house "NOPE he not here"! At this point Justin tells her that he came while she was sleeping and to check under the tree to see if he left her any gifts... When she saw the gifts under the tree her eyes lit up and she shouted "he came, he came, lets open them!" So we went to Anastyn's room to get her and to our unwanted surprise she woke up with a cold! Poor girl, so we cleaned out her nose etc... and headed to the living room to open presents. She was such a trooper she didn't let the cold get her down, she enjoyed opening her presents and playing with all of her toys.

As Nyah opened each of her presents she would place them in a pile on the couch, she went through each one thoroughly to make sure all the of the wrapping paper was removed, no signs of tape etc... we think she has a little OCD :) She likes things to be neat and tidy!

Christmas evening we all went to Uncle John & Natalie's to visit with the rest of the family to see what Santa brought to them. Once we arrived the girls disappeared playing with their cousin's.

We had a great time visiting & playing Dance Party 3.

...5 years and counting...

On the 4th of November we celebrated our 5 year anniversary. To celebrate we planned a trip to San Francisco this past weekend with some good friends of ours. When Justin & I 1st started dating we went back to PA to watch Steelers play in Pittsburgh, for our 1 year anniversary we drove to Colorado to see the them play so it only seemed customary to see them for our 5 year. So that is what we did, we had great seats, great company and an unforgettable retreat!

Our 1st day in San Fran we adventured out to Union Square, visited a few local pubs and did a little shopping before we met up with Diana and Bill for dinner.

Day 2 we were the common touristy stuff visited Nob Hill, China Town, Little Italy, Coit Tower where we were able to see Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and all of downtown San Fran. We did all of this on foot...more exercise in 1 day then I have endured all year. Needless to say I was a little sore after our 10 hour trek which ended in a 2 hour shopping spree at H&M!!! Oh I was in love!

Day 3 we went to this little coffee shop for breakfast, we sat outside and watched all the people pass by. Down the road a could see this lady walking around looking at each of the parked cars and then she walked in between 2 of the cars and disappeared. I thought nothing of it and continued my breakfast... Well, as we were walked back to the hotel we walk past the parking stall this lady disappeared into and find a little white truck parked with an explosion of diarrhea on the door and running board. I was in shock, disgusted, appalled and a small part of me found it a little funny...WHO does this???? After this we headed to golden gate park, then back to the hotel to prepare for the game.

The game was amazing, its hard to explain the overwhelming feeling you get at a pro football game. From the moment we enter the field and the National Anthem is sung...the players enter the field and it all begins! We had great people that sat behind us at the game, the gentleman that was in front of us I could have done without. Every few minutes he was flipping us off, telling us to F-off. It just wasn't much fun to have to listen to that the entire game. But we didn't let him put a damper in our night, after the game we caught a cab back to our hotel. We had a great taxi driver, we laughed the whole way back to the hotel.

The next morning we caught a flight and headed home. We had a layover in LA and then from there flew to St. George. On our flight from LA we had a couple in front of us that had down syndrome. They had recently gotten engaged, they we were full of life and made us smile and laugh the whole way home.

We had a great trip, really enjoyed San Francisco, enjoyed spending time with one another and look forward to next years Steelers destination...

2 year Check Up

Today was Anastyn's 2 year checkup! She did well, barely cried when she got her flu shot! She well exceeds the "expectations" of a 2 year old. She said that she is advanced for her age, her vocabulary well exceeds 50 words, she can already jump, she has 2 or 3 sentences that she says on a regular basis, responds to and can say her own name, can throw and kick a ball, feeds herself with spoon and regular cup. Overall, the doctor said she is very healthy and we couldn't ask for more than that! We love you Anastyn!!

2 year STATS

Weight- 27 lbs (59%)

Height- 3ft ( 88%)

...Anastyn turn's 2...

We celebrated Anastyn's birthday this past weekend. It amazes me how fast time has gone by. It honestly saddened me to have her turn 2 she is growing up so fast. She is constantly talking, mocking Nyah, she is full of life. Some of her favorite things right now are:

Mickey/Minnie Mouse: when she see's them she shouts "Mouse, Mouse"

Christmas Lights: She is fascinated with the decorations on people's houses, as we are driving around town she tells Nyah " Ah there more, Nyah. There more Nyah!"

Dress up: she loves to put all of her jewelry on and push her stroller around the house. She also loves to wear my shoes!

Potty: at this point she tells us she has to go potty, so she pulls her pants down sits on the potty, pushes, grunts, makes lots of funny faces and then tells "i done!". Then the race is on, we are chasing her around the house trying to put another diaper on. The entire time she giggling and finds it to be a lot of fun.

Water: As she gets older she continues to love the water, she becomes braver and braver as each day passes. She loves to stand at the back of the tub and slide across on her belly.

Music: She loves to sing along to the radio, she loves Sugarland like her big sister. She loves to sing and dance.

She also has some funny little quirks/routines that must be done her way or she becomes a little upset. At night when she is getting ready for bed she has to brush her teeth, have her music on(if it is not loud enough, she will say "can't hear it"), have her binkie, blanket ( which has to have the giraffe facing upward), her stuffed animal, no socks on her feet and most importantly she has have given Nyah a hug and kiss.

Some of her most common phrase's lately are:

I get you! (As she is running the other direction)

I do it!

Where Nyah at?

Damn it!

I hold you momma

Where daddy at? work?

This year for her birthday we woke her up and had all of her presents in the living room surrounded by balloons. We had french toast for breakfast, which is one of her favorites. That evening we had dinner with Grandma & Grandpa Benson, Grandma Grace, Brynn & Dizzle. The girls performed for us with Anastyn's sing along boom-box she got for her birthday.

...thanksgiving...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, we celebrated at our house this year. My mother came from Pennsylvania to visit. A weekend full of fun and enjoying each others company. We ate early on Thanksgiving which was perfect, we had leftovers that evening while we put our Christmas tree up. We continued to decorate the rest of the weekend for Christmas, which I must say is a relief to have it all done! The count down begins until Christmas morning. We spent an afternoon at the park feeding the ducks, which is one of the girl's all time favorite places.

Here are some pictures from our Holiday weekend including this years Christmas Ornaments we got the girls...

A day at Wal-Mart with Nyah!

As we are preparing for my mother to come for Thanksgiving, we made one of daily trips to Wal-Mart. Today was little different then our usual trips, Nyah was a little ball of fire!

• As we were walking down the isle Nyah saw a gentleman with a white beard standing there, she shouts "Look there's SANTA!" As we walk past, smile and chuckle to ourselves...Nyah asks us "Was that Funny?"
• We went to get Hairspray, soap etc... Nyah says "Oh I need that!" we hear the item tossed into the shopping cart. Well as we turn to see what she tossed in...we find a box of CONDOMS! Justin and I were laughing so hard that we caught the other shoppers attention.
• As we were checking out we were waiting for the lady in front of us pay...Nah says" Hey dad won't don't you smack that lady on the bum!"

Oh our Nyah you sure make us laugh on a daily basis, you have such a funny personality and are full of life. We love you!!

Gymnastic's ~ A learning experience for all of US

Nyah waiting her turn

Jump, Jump, Jump

The Stamps they got after Gymnastic's

Anastyn waiting her turn

Balance beam

Yesterday was the 1st class for fall gymnastics. This was nothing new for Nyah, we started her when she was 18mo old. She has loved it since the day we started. She is now in her own class without mommy or daddy. She does so well!

As for Anastyn, it started out a little rough. Thankfully Justin was there, he is so patient with her. When she would start to act up and disrupt the class he would calmly take her into the hallway and let her calm down. By the end of the class she was participating without any major meltdowns. I think next week will be easier because we learned that having Nyah in the room while Anastyn is in class is a distraction. Anastyn wants to be where ever Nyah is.

This weeks assignments...

At this time we are working on waiting our turn and sharing with Anastyn and Nyah is working on NOT talking when the teacher is talking and following directions! :)

Surprise's!!

Over Labor Day weekend Justin and I went to Colorado for a wedding. Ny and Anastyn stayed with Justin's mom, it was the longest we have left the girls and was difficult at times for all of us. While we were gone I was talking to Justin about what we could do for Mom when we got home to show her our appreciation for watching the girls...So we decided we would clean her house while she was out of town the following weekend. So that is what I did, I got some flowers and a card and left them on the counter... Well after all was said and done Mom called that evening from Salt Lake to talk to the girls... The conversation went as follows:

Nyah: Hi grandma,

not sure what grandma was saying...

Nyah: My momma is sick, we buy you flowers grandma and my momma clean you house today!

Mommy: NO don't say that!!

Not sure what grandma is saying on the other end of the phone. Conversation ends.

Mommy: Nyah Grace your not supposed to tell grandma about our surprise!

Nyah: My name Nyah-bug!

Mommy: sigh

Nyah: (with arm's crossed) some people ornery!

I just smiled, I love you Nyah-bug!

Thanksgiving Point, Dirty Girl Run & Lots of fun!!!

We have spent the last 3 days in SLC which was a lot of fun for all of us! We went up and saw Grandma Joan and Grandpa Wayne in West Valley. We took the girls swimming in the hotel, which they loved. They are little fish or "Pish" as Anastyn would say. We spent an afternoon at Thanksgiving Point, which we all enjoyed. We got to see horses, pigs, cows, donkeys...the list goes on and on. We got to go a horse and buggy ride. Nyah thought was great because on of the horse's was named Belle. The girls also go to ride pony's, which we were surprised we got the girls on them. Both of them love animals, but from a distance. From there we drove to Ogden we went to dinner and took the girls to an arcade, Anastyn enjoyed throwing the Skee balls...as for Nyah she was out of our sight for a second and we turned around to find her playing Rock band! This morning we got up and went to the Weber Fair grounds for the "Dirty Girl Run, its a 5K the proceeds are for gynecological research. Dizzle and I did it together, it was a great experience. I made us our outfits we wore, our shirts had our nicknames on the front and the backs said " Have you had your vagina checked lately?" and we had tutu's ( Pupu's as Nyah called them). We look forward to doing it again next year that's for sure!

... I am sure it won't be the last...

This morning as I was getting out of the shower, I could see all this "STUFF" on our bathroom rug. As I stepped out of the shower to get a closer look, I could see piles of blond hair laying on the rug. I was puzzled, how did this get on our rug??? I realized Nyah cut her hair...but when? The night before she was in line of sight the whole night. When I bathed her I didn't notice any hair missing.

Luckily... you can't really tell where she cut her hair. Its a mystery where she got the scissors or when she did it!!

Another Year Older!!

Yes even I get older... I would like to think I am still in my early 20's. The truth is I am closer to my early 30's! I must say I had a wonderful birthday this year, I actually celebrated for roughly 3 days! Starting Monday morning, Justin let me sleep in until 10AM. Oh sleep, one of favorite activities. Later that afternoon we took the girls to the movies to see Rio. Which was a lot of fun for all of us. On Tuesday morning, Justin made me a wonderful breakfast, that evening we went to dinner and to see Grease with friends. On WEDNESDAY my actual birthday, Justin surprised me by taking the day off from work, cleaned the house from top to bottom, surprised me with an appointment to get my hair done and a massage. The best gift of all is the snowman Nyah made me! Later that night I went to dinner with girls from work. When I got home we had cake that Justin and the girls made me! This year as I turned another year older, I surely felt loved!

~Here Fishy Fishy~

Today Justin and the girls went fishing with grandma and poppa. They went to Pine Valley reservoir one of poppa favorite fishing holes down here. Nyah would get the worms for him, Anastyn was more entertained by climbing on the rocks.

Family Adventure

Over the weekend we planned a family trip to the cabin. Our whole family got to go except for Brynn who was out of town. We had a lot of fun roasting marshmallows, playing horse shoes, hiking, riding the gator and playing cards. Hopefully we can make it a yearly event!!

When we 1st arrived Justin caught a "Horny Toad" handed it to Nyah and she says "its so so CUTE!"

When daddy's at work...the girls play

While Justin was at work the girls and I find silly ways to entertain ourselves...tonight we took silly pictures. Nyah loves photography, she has taken some really good pictures for a 3 year old. So tonight she took some pictures of Anastyn & I and I took some pictures of Nyah's SILLY faces.

A day at the Ranch~

On Sunday we spent the whole day at the Ranch on the East side of Zion... Property that belongs to Justin's grandparents. It was the 1st time I have been, but the girls have been a few times. They absolutely enjoy it. When we got there the girls showed me all their favorite places they like to play...swings, tree house, the bucket they use to catch horny toads. After we played for a while, we had lunch, went for a ride on the gator. The girls took a short nap and then we packed up and headed home.

S n e a k y

Tonight as I was getting the girls ready for bed, I was giving Nyah her antibiotics and some ibuprofen. After I squirted the ibuprofen in her mouth I walked away to put the medicine in the cupboard. I told the girls it was time to brush teeth...our normal routine. I walk into the bathroom and Nyah is standing on the toilet with her hands covering the sink drain she looked up at me and said "no look at my medicine!" The little stinker spit the ibuprofen into the sink and so innocently told on herself!

Thanks for the laugh once again Ny~Bug

Yearly check-ups for the Girls...

Today the girls had their check up Nyah's 3 year and Anastyn 18 month...Over all we have been blessed with 2 healthy girls.


Anastyn is far exceeding the amount of words that she should be saying they (medical professionals) think 3-6 words is sufficient. Well Anastyn's consists of (* words she can sign as well) : *Mom, Daddy, Nyah, *Dog, Cat, *Book, NO, *Please/Thank you, Poop, * juice,*cracker, *more, *again, duke, bye-bye/hi *eat, toot,*all done.

Stats for 18 mo are- Height 34 inches
Weight 24 lbs

As for Nyah's check up it didn't go as well, she has been running a fever for the past day or so. Knowing her appointment was today I didn't rush her into the clinic. Well today her temp was 101.4 when she arrived at the doctor. Her doctor assessed her and found exudate on her tongue, so she had her tongue swabbed. Afterward Nyah looked up at Justin and said "Her not going to wab my throat again!" Shortly after we got the results that she had strep-throat...in the middle of JUNE!!! = Antibiotics for the next 10 days...Poor Bug!

Stats for 3 years are- Height 3'1"
Weight 28lbs

So far BeHiND.....

Well the past few months have slipped right past us, we have celebrated Nyah's 3rd Birthday, Mother's Day, Father's day & some other occasion's that I have wanted to blog about. Where has the time gone?

A quick update of past and upcoming events (picture's to come)~

• Nyah is in Mini Squirts (gymnsatics) loving each every moment she gets to spend there.


• Anastyn talking more and more as each day passes


• I have finished my 1st semester of the Bachelor's program... 1 more to go!


• spending our warm summer days at the splash pad in town


• planning our trip to SLC to see Great Grandparents & a trip to San Diego so we can go to Sea World.


• Justin has been playing softball, played in the summer games in Cedar City... Plays on Monday nights and Wednesday, he loves it...its very relaxing for him

Follow Up VCUG

Today was Anastyn's follow up pprocedure for her kidneys... a follow up VCUG (voidingcystourethrogram). We arrived at the hospital this morning at 0730 to get everything arranged. She had a lot of fun playing/entertaining us and the staff. Once they gave her the versed she could barely hold herself up, she was very funny. Once they gave her the medication we took her down to the radiology dept. and they gave her some more medication to help her sleep, but she was a little fighter. She never fully went to sleep so we took our chances and tried to complete the procedure before to much medication wore off. She did really well over all and anxiously await the results.

Sleeping off the medication

All done waiting for the medication to wear off so we can go home

Cheese

The medication is working

Bunnies

I love doing little projects with the girls so today we made Easter bunnies! I don't know who enjoys it more the girls or myself!

Colorado

After numerous trips to the doctor in a 2 week period we still made our trip to Colorado. The girls did so well in the car. We left our house at 530 a.m. and we arrived in Denver around 4 pm. It was a long day and we were making good time driving until we were 30 min outside of Denver and we hit the ski traffic, which took 1 1/2 hrs to go about 30 miles. The girls at this point were starting to get a little restless. But we made it and overall the girls did great, we were so proud of them! A few snap shots from the car ride.....

How can you not laugh when you see this face?!

Nyah watching Jungle Book

tWo Friends

I had to post this picture I took it a couple of weeks ago. It was the one of those heartwarming moments out of the blue. Nyah and Anastyn were playing and Nyah walked up and gave her a hug and said "2 friends!" I hope they grow up and are the best of friends. They surely enjoy one another's company.

Prayer

Last night when I came home from work Justin and I sat down to eat dinner. The girls had eaten and were having a snack with us. In the middle of our dinner Nyah says "fold your arms!" so we do as we were told and Ny continues...

"Havenly fauuther, thank you for food, (a few mumbles) potty, (a few more mumbles), please keep daddy safe at work. In name Jesus, AMEN!"

Dentist

Today was the girls check up with the Dentist. They both did really well. Nyah has been 2 other times so she was a little more familiar with the routine. She sat on my lap and let the dentist look in her mouth, brush her teeth and floss them!! I was so proud of her! The dentist asked her if she grew her teeth all be herself? she responded " Sure DID, thanks!" as she grabbed her toothbrush out of his hand and jumped off my lap. THAT'S OUR NYAH!

Then it was Anastyn's turn, she was not keen on having this man come anywhere near her let alone touch her! So we did the same procedure as we did with Ny except we had to hold her tighter. The dentist was even struggling to keep her still, she is a fighter I tell ya. Once we he got into her mouth and saw her teeth, he was a little concerned about one tooth on top that has not completely come in. He said it should have come in at the same time as the other front tooth. I asked him about her binkie and if that was affecting her teeth and to my dismay(even though I know the binkie isn't a good thing for her teeth, I guess I was hoping tell me "oh no it's fine") he said that could be the reason her other front tooth has taken so long to come through. He said that if both front teeth came through at the same time he would be fine with her continuing to use it....So moral of the story his recommendation was that we stop using it. I prefer to use the term WEAN and start letting her have at nap time and in a while go from there...

The best part of the whole visit is that neither of the girls have CAVITIES!!!

1st Steps

Anastyn has been very mobile the past few months from crawling to cruising around the furniture. She loves to push Nyah on the riding toys. She will walk all around the house push her train, but she hasn't really trusted herself enough to let go and just WALK, until....
Today were over at Uncle Weston's and Rian's house having dinner. After we ate we were just sitting around visiting. Anastyn was sitting in the middle of the living room and she stood up on her own, turned and took 3 steps. She was startled by her actions; she stopped looked around and then sat back down. We all started clapping and cheering in excitement and she looked at us with most overwhelmed look on her face. Then she began to clap along.

She is growing up so fast and we absolutely love watching learn and overcome new obstacles!

We will ALWAYS be there to cheer you on AnaBEAN! We are your #1 fans! We love you,
Daddy, Mommy and Nyah