Justin, Emily, Nyah & Anastyn

...bye-bye binkie...

2012-02-10T07:06:00.000-08:00

We are now on day 3 of Anastyn & no BINKIE!!!! We are very excited about this!! Justin & I have been trying to figure out when would we a good time to start the process. For the past 6 months or so she has only had the binkie when she goes to sleep. When she wakes up she gladly spits it onto her dresser and that is where it stays...

Well on Tuesday she was sick and was really fussy, constantly whining, crying so she went in & got her binkie... Well at some point through the evening it got misplaced. WE spent about 15 minutes looking for it (Justin, Anastyn & I) and without success we told her it was lost and we couldn't find it. So she went to bed without it, no crying, NOTHING!!!

Well when we went into tuck Nyah into bed the binkie was laying in the middle of Nyah's floor and Nyah had a very guilty grin on her face.

So a big thank you to Nyah for hidding the binkie and not helping us find it!

Unknown to Anastyn it is now gone for good, it went out with the garbage this morning.

Silly Girl

2012-02-05T07:27:00.000-08:00

This morning I was getting the girls ready to take a bath and was trying to get their outfits out for the day...I went into get Nyah clean underpants and to my surprise the drawer was empty. Well I knew I had just done laundry and put all the clothes away...where could they have gone?Well little Ms. Nyah is famous for rearranging things to her liking...so I asked her if she happened to know where all of her underwear went?

So she takes me on a scavenger hunt and to find her backpack...

Where are you Anastyn?

2012-02-03T15:15:00.000-08:00

Today while I was cleaning, I walked into the living room to find Nyah sprawled out on the couch watching TV and no Anastyn... " Ny where is your sister?" Nyah's response " I don't know, why don't you find her?" Well, thank you little miss Nyah Grace! So as I headed back toward their bedrooms I hear this sweet little voice..."Blue, pink, green, lellow (yellow), 4, 6, etc... as I open the door to Anastyn's room, this is what I see

...Silliness...

2012-01-19T15:16:00.001-08:00

Lately Anastyn has started to really show her silly side, she is constantly singing, dancing, hiding and surprising us by jumping and yelling " Can't get me" or "RAW".

Her response to 90 % of the questions we ask her is " um, no tank yum" ( no , thank you)

She loves to sing the ABC's with Nyah but only chime's in at "N,O,P" which really upsets Nyah.

She will also count starts at 5, 8, 6, R, ...

This was the 2nd week of dance, but she absolutely LOVES it. We are so proud of her, that she gets to dance and goes right in all by herself without any troubles... miss independent!

WE LOVE YOU ANASTYN!!

...dentist check up...

2012-01-19T13:59:00.000-08:00

Today the girls had their 6 month check up with the dentist. They both did well, Nyah was such a big girl. We were not aware that at the age of 3 they start x-rays and have her lay on the chair for her exam and polish her teeth. So we were all a little surprised but she was such a big girl. Anastyn on the other hand is a different story, anything that is not her idea can become a traumatic situation. So this visit to the dentist was no different, tears and screaming fits. The dentist even commented on how well her lungs work! But their our girls and we love them dearly and wouldn't change a thing! To make the visit even better neither of them had cavities!!!! YAY

...Challenges in life, as a Toddler...

2012-01-18T14:56:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks, Anastyn has been struggling with her independence. She has anxiously wanted to dress herself. Which has turned into quite the comical scene as she attempts to walk around the house with both legs in one side of her pants. But as each day comes she gives it her best and is proud when she accomplishes the task!

...CaTcHiNg Up...

2012-01-16T08:37:00.000-08:00

Well last week was very eventful, Nyah started dance on Tuesday! Which was very exciting, she loved it! Which was not a surprise to us...she is always dancing around the house, doing pirouette's. She was very excited to go, she has been asking us for the past 2 weeks if it time to go? And we would reply not for a couple more weeks, she would say "we can't be late". Oh our little Nyah.

After dance we headed to get the girl's hair cut, Nyah has had hers cut a couple of times so she was aware of the routine. She jumped up in the chair, let Heather put the cape on her and cut her hair. We were very proud of her... she is becoming so independent and growing up way to fast. We love you BUG!!

Then it was Anastyn's turn...I think the picture's say it all. It was not a happy experience for her. And the saddest part is that we were unable to save any of her hair from her 1st hair cut. Her hair is very fine and she was not cooperative, so the combination of the two = no hair to be saved.

A couple days later was Anastyn's dance class... I cannot explain how elated Justin and I were that she participated in class all by HERSELF!!! She ran, jumped, twirled and the whole time had the biggest smile on her face! When her class was over she came out and Justin and I told her that we were so proud of her, her reply "tank you". Oh Beanie, you make us smile, we love you.

...You're a Nurse??

2012-01-14T12:01:00.000-08:00

You're a Nurse? That's cool, I wanted to do that when I was a kid. What do you make? "WHAT DO I MAKE???" I make holding your hand seem like the most important thing in the world when you're scared. I make your child breathe when they stop. I can help your father survive a heart attack. I make myself get out of bed at 5am to make sure your mother has the medication she needs to live. I work all.......day to save the lives of strangers. I make my family wait for dinner until I know your family member is taken care of. I make myself skip lunch so that I can make sure that everything I did for your husband today is charted. I make myself work weekends and holidays because people don't just get sick Monday thru Friday. Today, I might save your life. I make a difference. What do you do??

Another Wal-Mart Incident...

2012-01-02T12:00:00.000-08:00

Justin and the girls were in the check out line...

Nyah: Dad look that lady SHRUNK!!

Justin turns around to see where she was pointing...

Little Person: Yea, its like I was put in the dryer!

At this point Justin explains to Nyah that she was a little person and it is not nice to point and talk about people.

...Holiday Season...

2011-12-28T12:10:00.000-08:00

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...

2011-12-21T20:55:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-08T15:48:00.000-08:00

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...

2011-12-07T15:26:00.000-08:00

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...

2011-12-02T06:47:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-11-22T18:52:00.000-08:00

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

2011-09-21T06:41:00.000-07:00

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!!

2011-09-13T07:57:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2011-08-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

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...

2011-08-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

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!!

2011-07-28T14:11:00.000-07:00

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~

2011-07-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

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~

2011-06-27T16:04:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-25T20:17:00.000-07:00

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...

2011-06-24T15:07:00.001-07:00

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.....

2011-06-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-19T13:43:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-16T20:11:00.000-07:00

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!

HaPpY dAy Day GRANDMA!!

2011-03-11T15:58:00.001-08:00

Today we celebrated Grandma Bensen's birthday at our house. We had a family dinner at our house, opened presents, just hungout and talked! We made a garden stone for her with the girls hand prints in them, their names and then Nyah decorated it with jewels! The girls enjoyed our little project.

hApPy DaY dAy!!

2011-03-10T22:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday honey!! Today we celebrated Justin's Birthday. I hope he felt very special!! This year I tried to come with a unique idea, thankfully I had some inspiration from a friend. So I decided to do a gift every hour for him. So here's how the days was....

0700 Balloons in the car at the fire station with a card that the girls and I made which said...
Happy Birthday, to start your celebration you are invited to have breakfast with your
3 favorite girls promptly at 0730.
0800 A present that had a new outfit
0900 Gift cards to Orange Peel
1000 A picture and a card that Nyah colored for him
1100 A ticket I made for him...Lunch for 2 just you and I at Lafontera @1200
1200 a gift containing movie tickets
1pm movie treats
skipped 2pm
3pm homemade Reese peanut butter cup cookies
4pm pictures collages of the girls for his locker at work
5pm bag of necessities...hair gel, chapstick etc.
6pm Gift card to Barns & Noble
7pm A book of 100 reasons why I love him

dAy's 4-6

2011-03-05T15:49:00.000-08:00

Our last few days of the trip we spent doing my favorite activity...SHOPPING. I love to go shopping in BIGGER cities. For those of you familiar with St. George we don't have a lot to choose from when it comes to shopping. Today on our way home we got up at 0345 and started on our day. We stopped 3 times to eat and let the girls stretch. They did so well, we are amazed at how well they traveled this week. We stopped in Salina to let Nyah go potty and she said " I go back to Pa's house!" She didn't understand that we were hundreds of miles away at this point. We had a great trip and it was really good to see family & we don't get to see them very often and there are times we go afew days-weeks without talking but, they mean a lot to us and we love them!

dAy 3

2011-03-02T14:17:00.000-08:00

Today is Milana's 6th Birthday, I am so happy that we are here to celebrate with her! She had a Barbie party! Sam turned this Barbie party into a DaNcE pArTy, the girls loved it! They were all dancing machines!

While Milana was in school we took her little sister Mckenna and our girls to the Aquarium downtown. Which Nyah and Anastyn loved, Kenna wasn't to found of the dark tunnel's.

Nyah loved all the fish and the tunnels through the tanks, the fish were swimming all around us! Then we had lunch at the Aquarium restaurant which also had a beautiful tank and this time the girls were in amazement there were mermaids swimming in the tank. It was a great distraction to them while we waited for our food.

Days 1 & 2 of our Colorado Trip

2011-03-01T14:08:00.000-08:00

Our first day in Colorado we just relaxed & hung out around the house. On the 2nd day we went to the Zoo, the girls absolutely loved it. It has been a really long time since I had been to the Denver Zoo, at least 15 years! The Hippo's are still there! That is my favorite part, I didn't remember them smelling as bad as they do. Nyah loves all animals, she was exited to see each exhibit! I think she was most excited to see the Tiger's. Anastyn wasn't to impressed with any of the animals, she was happy to be outside and enjoying the warm sunshine. She was pretty easy going on our trip, which is out of her norm! The best part for me was taking the girls to a place that I used to go to as a child and spending the day with Sara & Sam and the girls!

Colorado

2011-02-27T13:31:00.000-08:00

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

A new 1st for us!!

2011-02-22T19:39:00.000-08:00

There's always a 1st time for everything! This is the 1st time the girls have been sick at the same time. Thank Heaven's for the late night pediatric clinic! Nyah hasn't been feeling to well. When she woke up this morning she told me her ear hurt and she spent most of the morning on the couch. So I took her to the clinic, come to find out she had a ear infection. So we started antibiotics. 4 days later when I got home from work, Anastyn's eye had some goop in it. Justin said that during dinner she threw her plate and some of it got in her eye. So we didn't think much of it, Anastyn and another tantrum nothing new there. The next morning it was worse and kinda swollen. So Dizzle loaded the girls up and brought them to me at work. Over to the clinic we went...

Diagnosis= pink eye. You would think that with today's medicine they would come up with a solution to pink eye other than drops. It is hard to put drops in a 14 month old's eye 4 times a day! So I thought we were on our road to recovery... 2 Dr's appointment, antibiotics, 0 Fevers. The next day Anastyn started spiking temps, we didn't rush her right back to the doctor. I thought maybe her teeth were starting to come in because her gums have been swollen. So after Motrin and Tylenol for 2 days we took her back to the clinic... she too had a horrible ear infection. It must have started after the pink eye appt. because he checked her ears then and said they were fine. So within 1 week we were at the doctor 3 times = miserable children, miserable parents, 3 antibiotics and countless hours in the doctor waiting room!!

I love the innocence of children... Nyah would point to her ear and say " I sick, see?"

tWo Friends

2011-02-17T20:05:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-14T15:50:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-10T15:40:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-04T21:28:00.000-08:00

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

Fun Holiday

2010-12-29T14:27:00.000-08:00

The past month went by faster then I can even imagine. Luckily there were a few moments that we captured pictures of.

One was Nyah cleaning her room like mommy does... Taking all of the toys out and placing them in the hall ( I then scrub the floor, sanitize all the toys one by one and place them back in their designated spots, Oh the life of OCD!!). So when I was at work one day, nyah decided she needed to clean her room...the pictures explain.

A few pictures from playing games Christmas Eve, Justin and I having to tell grandpa what we wanted for Christmas. Then finding out we got to move ahead 2 spaces on the board! Dizzle making funny faces at us and yelling does it make you feel good? Justin wearing lipstick, so he didn't have to take a penalty. Mom singing Saturday night fever.

The girls playing with their Barbie Jeep! Anastyn absolutely loving it, constantly grinning from ear to ear. The wonderful presents we got this year... A book from my pap and Grandma Judy. They recorded The Night Before Christmas (Technically for the girls, but a gift I will cherish forever!) The wonderful Blanket they sent us. The BEST gift of spending time with those so important to us.

Roomies!!

2010-12-26T13:47:00.000-08:00

On Christmas after opening all of the presents and seeing all the toys that the girls received from Santa and family. We decided that it was time that the girls have a toy room. Which we have talked about casually for the past couple months..

My FEARS:

The girls would no longer sleep as well as they did in their own rooms
That they we will share a room for the rest of their lives (while they are under our roof of course)
Putting them to bed would be difficult( They have such a good routine now, why fix something that isn't broken?)
That were taking away Anastyn's room from her( I know its dumb, she is 1 she'll never know the difference)

REALITY:

They did fine with transition, sleeping well through the night.
We have a great room for them to play in, that is safe
Their routine has changed a little, Anastyn goes to bed 1st. Then about 1/2 hour later we send Nyah in = 2 sleeping babies & happy mom.

IT was kinda funny the day of Christmas when we starting talking to Ny about sister going to start sleeping in her room, Nyah said "There no room for Anastyn" There is plenty of room, considering all they do is sleep in there!

New Milestones...

2010-12-22T15:08:00.000-08:00

Anastyn has learned yet another new word and the meaning! Uh Oh
When you ask her what the cat says...her response "MEOW"
She also has learned to get herself off the couch!
Since her birthday she has had 3 more of her teeth come in .
Walking on her knee's, she loves to push Nyah around the house on the train.
It is a joy to watch her grow and accomplish new tasks.

Big Girl Bed

2010-12-09T15:34:00.000-08:00

The other night on the way home from shopping Justin and I started to talk to Nyah about sleeping in a BIG GIRL BED. So we explained to her that when it is her nap time, she needs to go climb in to bed and stay in bed...same routine for night time.

Her response: Mommy sleep in big girl bed too?

So when we got home and got her ready for bed she started crying uncontrollably... once she calmed down she said... I sleep in big bed now! So we explained to her that we needed to wait for a day when mommy and daddy were both home.

So today was her BIG DAY... we changed her bed into a BIG GIRL BED. We started talking about it this morning telling her after lunch we are going to change her bed into a big girl bed...

Her response: " I so excited!"

Christmas Ornaments

2010-12-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

Girls and Daddy after they opened their Ornaments

A tradition that was started by my grandmother is getting a Ornament every year just before Christmas. My Gram would come visit us every Christmas, once she arrived she would give us (my brother and I) our ornaments. So I have numerous ornaments from my childhood that I hang on our tree every year. Its truly a special time for me, each ornament was picked by my grandma and has a story behind it. I have a few doll house ornaments which I loved as a child and still do as an adult. I really enjoy showing each one to Nyah and Anastyn and telling them why its MY FAVORITE!

So when our girls were born Justin and I started the tradition with them. So this years ornaments...

Nyah: Bears in a sleigh singing "Sleigh Ride"

Anastyn: 2 Beavers singing " All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth"

Anastyn's Party

2010-12-08T18:20:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we celebrated Anastyn's 1st Birthday with close friends and family! She had a lot of fun! She had the biggest smile on her face the WHOLE day.

The party theme was a CandyLand. Not like the game but the house was full of Candy themed games etc... I made a photo booth out a refrigerator box. Decorated with wrapping paper and lollipops. As the guests arrived we took their picture, the pictures I am going to turn into a book for Anastyn.

Our 1st game... Guess how many gumballs. I filled a gumball machine and had the kids guess how many gumballs it took to fill the machine. Who guessed closest to 129 (Dizzle and I counted each gumball that went into the machine) won the gumball machine. Way to go Jonathan with a guess of 88!

2nd game... similar to pin the tail on the donkey. Pin the gumball on the gumball machine. My mother in law and Justin made a gumball machine on felt. I cut out a bunch of little circle's and placed velcro on the backs. We blind folded the kids and who ever placed their gumball closest to the center won. Ginger was our lucky winner.

After the games, pizza and opening presents Anastyn had her cake. I made her a cupcake cake with hot pink frosting. She seemed to really like the cake but after a whole piece of pizza, I think the cake was a little much.

I didn't make cake for the rest of party, instead we made caramel apples. I put caramel in the crockpot bought a few different toppings. The kids enjoyed making their own caramel apples.

As the party ended the kids got to make their goodie bags from the candy bar. At the end of the table of candy was a toothbrush for each of the kids... we sent them home full of sugar.

Turkey Day

2010-11-28T14:41:00.001-08:00

For this Thanksgiving we spent the day with Justin's family= lots of good food, family fun and memorible pictures. We had a Thanksgiving surprise that came last weekend; grandpa surprised us and came home from Montana(where he works) 2 days early!! Nyah and I were very excited to see him!

On Thanksgiving I got a wonderful call from work telling me that I was "oncall"= I could stay home and spend the Holiday with family, Yipee! I was happy to be home, but it was even more memorable because it was Anastyn's 1st Thanksgiving! Around 11 we headed over to John and Natalie's house (Justin's aunt and uncle, Nyah's favorite Great Aunt/Uncle) where we were having dinner. Nyah was so excited to be playing with her cousins, before I had her coat off she was downstairs in the toy room making herself at home. After we ate she headed outside with the boys, jumping on the trampoline and playing with the football.

Anastyn loved playing with kids as well, they all played with her. Crawling and chasing her...she would just giggle, which would make them laugh. Her favorite part of Thanksgiving I think was the pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes. At one point she took the fork and started feeding herself the pie, I guess I wasn't fast enough!

We had a great Holiday with the Houston's, we are thankful for them having ALL of us over to their house. I will post pictures as soon as I can download to my computer.

Happy Day Day

2010-11-17T13:51:00.000-08:00

Last Friday I took Nyah to her 1st "Friend Birthday Party" our little girl is growing up so fast! She is such a social butterfly! The Birthday party was at the same place where Nyah goes to gymnastics every week. A lot of the activites were very familiar to her. When her friend Mckya arrived (the birthday girl) Nyah ran over to her and gave her a big hug and said " Happy Day Day Kya!" The 2 of them became fast friends when we first started taking Nyah to Gymnastics. It is a lot of fun to watch the 2 of them interact and have conversations that no one else understands but the 2 of them.

Anastyn Marie!

2010-11-17T13:40:00.001-08:00

Today Justin showed me Anastyn's remedy for soothing her aching gums! The other day he found her in her room, she had woken up from her nap and was just in her crib being very quite. Which is unlikely for her, so he went into find her CHEWING on her crib. There are teeth marks all over the side railing of her crib. I can't believe she has been chewing on her bed...my 1st thought was that was an expensive crib Anastyn Marie! And when I look up to see Justin laughing at the fact that she has been soothing her teething gums by chewing on her bed made me laugh as well. We love you Anastyn, you always make us laugh. It is hard to believe that you will be turning 1 in just a few short weeks

Anastyn's Chew TOY

Her beaufiful Crib from the outside

2010-11-02T20:02:00.000-07:00

This Halloween we spent the evening with good friends of ours. We all had a lot of fun! We had dinner and then headed out to get some candy. Our friends have a little boy Jonathan who is 4. He and Nyah we together most of the night, going from house to house. This was Nyah's 1st year of actual Trick or Treating and thanks to Jonathan she caught on quick! Anastyn was a trooper, we bundled her up and put her in the limo (double stroller). She enjoyed watching all the kids.

Were looking forward to next Halloween!

Dr. Snow

2010-10-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

Today was Anastyn's appointment with the Urologist from Primary Children's Hospital. It has seemed like we have waited forever to see this doctor, once we got to the doctor office we had to an hour longer!! Overall the appointment went well, he explained the ultrasound and VCUG tests with us. He told us that from the pictures he could see that anastyn has 2 ureters on the Left Kidney and 1 on the Right Kidney. For a total of 3 ureters!! He said it was nothing to worry about, just a little odd. His biggest concern was that we continue the antibiotics to prevent her getting another kidney infection. He said that at her age having frequent infections can damage her kidneys. At this point we will continue the antibiotics daily and annual x-rays & appointments with Dr. Snow.

AfTeR....

We came home and made some treats. This was the 1st time Anastyn was able to help! She enjoyed it to say the least.... Then the we played in the girls room, Nyah loves to cook! So she and Anastyn made some soup, Money soup according to Nyah. They were so cute I had to take their picture!!

Halloween Fun!

2010-10-10T19:33:00.000-07:00

We spent yesterday at Staheli Farms! WE enjoyed it, and seems to get better every year! We played all the games, jumped on the "Redneck trampoline," a bunch of mattresses stacked with hay bales surrounding.Then we road the Staheli train with the girls! The train takes you through the farm so that you can see all the horses and cow's, Nyah would wave and say hello; while Anastyn said hello in her own way= screaming :) needless to say Anastyn wasn't a big fan. Then we went on a hay ride to pick out our pumpkins. We got Anastyn a tiny one that she can hold and Nyah picked out a WHITE pumpkin. This is the 1st time I have ever seen a white pumpkin!! I'll post pictures later when we carve them.

This was Nyah's 3rd year of going to the pumpkin patch and of course Anastyn's 1st! Its a fun tradition we started, each year is more fun for us to watch Nyah play and explore. We look forward to going next year, Anastyn will be older and can interact more!

After we did all the activities with the girls we took them home and put them to bed for their naps. Anastyn was to wound up to sleep. She layed in her crib and played! You could here her in her room bouncing and laughing and then you would her binky it the floor! So I would go in to pick her binky up off the floor, when I would walk into the room she would burry her face in her blanket and laugh! Such a fun game, right mom? She makes me laugh/ smile. Her smile and laugh melts my heart!

2 parents, 2 children, 3 dogs and .....

2010-09-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

Welcoming the new addition to the Snyder Bunch;BEAN.

Bean is a bird that sleeps on the rain gutter on our front porch. Nyah was the 1st to notice him. He has been sleeping on our porch since we moved in and Ny has named him Bean. She waits for him everynight, when he gets home. She runs to find us to tell us "Bean home!"

Every night before bed she tells him "Night Bean". If he is not there she'll keep asking" where Bean go??" So he has become part of the family

9 months and GROWING

2010-09-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

Anastyn turned 9 months old on the 4th of September. She had her check up this past Thursday and she's happy and healthy! Her stats:

Height 29.5 in (98%)

Weight 21.3 lbs (75%)

She started crawling a few weeks ago and loves to explore. Today she started to pull herself up. She sleeps through the night and has for awhile now. Some of Anastyn's favorite things:

Bathtime!! She loves to splash and squeal
Her favorite place; anywhere her mom or sister is at. She crawls to Nyah and as she as she makes it to her, Nyah picks up and moves!
Riding in the car, not a big fan of being put in her carseat; but one she is in...she is as happy as can be.
having her picture taken
tossed, thrown and tickled
to go for walks
loves her binky

We love you Gimpy

Pittsburgh

2010-08-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

Our recent trip to Pennsylvania was a lot of fun!! I was a little apprehensive with the girls. Because those of you who know me well, I like routine!! This trip was going to put a little damper in our "Normal" home routine.

I think Nyah took maybe 1 nap the entire 6 days we were there. When we are home she takes one everyday from 2-5pm. Anastyn did really well for her lack of sleep. She did wake up a lot at night which is abnormal for her. But now that we are home we have gotten them back on schedule for the most part.

We flew there on Wednesday the 18th of August, it was a long day. We left our house at 330am. We got to the airport 2 hours before our departure time. It took us a long time to check in. WE barely made it to our plane. They were closing the doors just as we arrived to the terminal! From there we flew to Charlotte and arrived in Pittsburgh at 430pm which was 230 our time here in Utah. So needless to say it was a long day but well worth it!
Ny loved the airplane, it didn't scare her at all. She sat by the window and watched all the other airplanes on the tarmac take off. Anastyn was content with her sippy and the people sitting next to her. She loves to entertain.
Once we got there we had dinner with Pap and Judy....it was the Pizza we have had in months!!

On Thursday of course we made a trip to COSTCO. We needed formula for Anastyn. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool, had a BBQ. Enjoyed some RR.

Friday morning we headed to Pittsburgh, we went to the strip district. Did some shopping, restocked our steelers supply, had lunch in this little Italian resteraunt.

Saturday was the wedding. It was a fun day, got to see a lot of my family I haven't seen in a couple years. When we arrived at the reception Nyah was the 1st one the dance floor, I had to carry her off the dance for to go home. She is a dancing machine!! :)

Sunday we headed back to Pittsburgh and went to PNC park for the Pirates v.s. Mets game. It has been years since I have been to a ballgame. We had a great time. Ny enjoyed it, she calls it "Booball game." We bought a baseball and were' able to get a few autographs. Anastyn on the other hand probably could done without going to the game. Lets say she's not a big fan of Booball. That evening we went to dinner with Pap and Judy.

Monday morning Justin and I went to the cemetery and cleaned off the headstones of my grandparents. The rest of the afternoon we spent the day with close family friends.

Tuesday was our big trip home. WE made it home all in one piece, with all our luggage!

We had such a great time, we were very sad to leave. This was the best trip that we have had back home. We were busy but loved every moment look forward to the next time we get to go back. I miss my grandpa and Judy very much and appreciate all they did for us while we were there which made our trip so much easier.

Letting the Potty Training begin!!

2010-08-27T18:41:00.000-07:00

While we were in PA Nyah would come to me and say " mom I need my bum changed." So I thought it would be a good time to start! We have had times when we are successful and then we are back in diapers because she would refuse to sit on the potty. (We were using one of seats you set on top of our toilet, because of my germ phobia.)
2 steps forward 1 step back, right?

During this time we tried to reward with candy, made a potty chart, gave her money; I know ridicules to pay your children to go potty, but she loves change. We have went to the store to buy her big girl underwear.... I couldn't think of much else.

So today we went to ONE of her favorite stores WAL-MART and bought her, her very own potty. On the way home she kept saying "where potty go?" So when we got home daddy put it together and she didn't even give us enough time to put in the bath room before she was sitting on it!!

WISH US LUCK!

Pyelonephritis

2010-08-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

Well the past few weeks we have been battling a kidney/urinary tract infection with Anastyn. A few weeks back she become very fussy and had a slight fever of 100.4. So Justin took her over to the doctors. When they checked her temperature it was 104.8! They checked her urine, gave her some antibiotics and ibuprofen. So we continued the antibiotics until they were gone, took her in for a follow up urine test and she still had the infection. Changed her antibiotics and finished those up last weekend. On Tuesday we got a call from her doctor saying they wanted to do some follow up testing on her kidney's. So we scheduled a renal ultrasound and a voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG), had that done yesterday 8/6. When they did the ultrasound she kept rolling over to watch what the lady was doing. When she went in to have the VCUG done she barely cried when they placed the catheter in her bladder, she was more frustrated that we were holding her down. '

The doctor called us last night to tell us the results; she has some trouble with her ureter's. After she pee's urine flushes back up into the kidney, making her high risk for kidney infections. So the plan is to start her on antibiotics in hopes to prevent another infection. A urologist comes down from Primary Children's Hospital and will be seeing her every 2 months. Once we see the urologist we will have a better idea of treatment for her, they may just watch her over the next couple years to see if she grows out of it or worst case senerio she will have to have stents placed. Either way we hope that she isn't experiencing a lot of discomfort. We love you aNaBuG!

4th of July Celebration

2010-07-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

Celebrating the fourth of July this year brought back lots of memories of when I was a little girl celebrating with my grandparents in Pennsylvania. I loved the fireworks, it was a week long celebration! My favorite fireworks were the ones that had the little parachute that would fall from the sky! I want my little girls to have fun memories of the Holidays as well, so we started our celebration with the Parade. The girls, Grandma, Rilee and Myself went and watched the parade and then went to breakfast. The best part of the parade was that I got a Dixie Direct book for FREE!

Then yesterday the actual 4th of July, we had a BBQ and had fireworks at our house. The was Nyah's first fourth of July that she could actually particpate. She wasn't a big fan of the fireworks. We had a great weekend celebrating with family and friends!

The girls also had their check ups and I will post those pics soon!

Father's Day

2010-06-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

On this father's day, I want my husband to know how much we love him and appreciate all that he does for our family.

When we got married 4 years ago I knew that I was marrying the most amazing man that I had ever met. He made me want to be a better person. He taught me how to forgive, how to love and how to be loved. He has been very patient with me over the past five years; helping me over come insecurities from my childhood, being so supportive through nursing school, the pregnancy and birth of our 2 girls. All of my support comes from him and his family and I may not always say it but I grateful that I have them. He is always there for me and willing to help, we are a great team.

He is the best father and example to our girls; I know how much they love him by the look on their faces when he comes home from work. Or when we go to the station to see him and Nyah is so excited to see her daddy! She always wants him to help her with her night time routine. Nyah has ALWAYS been a daddy's Girl for that matter. At night when I would go to bed, she would sleep on Justin's chest until her next feeding, he would feed her and put her to bed. She loves to be with him, they cut the lawn on Thursday mornings together (well he mows the lawn and she plays in the rocks.) He always makes Anastyn squeal and giggle. They are constantly playing; he is tickling her, tossing her in the air or just making faces at her.

My girls have the best father and I hope when they grow up they marry someone as wonderful as their DADDY!!

We love you, Happy Fathers Day.

Love,

Your Girls

6 month's old!!

2010-06-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

Boy has the last 6 months flown by!! It was has been an overwhelming, exciting, rewarding ride that's for sure!! The past couple months Anastyn has begun to show her personality!!

Our Little Ana-Bug:

loves to squeal and scream and boy is it loud. She loves to hear herself.

Has smile that is contagious!

has the biggest BLUE eyes

When Nyah cries, Anastyn laughs at her. ( that just started the past couple of days)

Finally learned to roll over on the day she turned 6 months old!

Has been sitting up for the past month or so

Loves her binky

and most of all loves her momma!! She is a mommas girl.

Loves to talk when she wakes up in the morning, lays in her crib and squeals until someone comes and gets her.

Interacts with Nyah now, they sit and egg each other on to see who can squeal the loudest and then they both laugh. Its so much fun to watch

WE love you Anastyn, you bring so much joy to our lives!!

Next week we are having Anastyn's 6 mo pictures taken and will post them soon. Also her 6 mo apt is on the 1st of July, I will post her weight etc...after.

Phone Conversation's of a 2 year old

2010-05-27T10:57:00.001-07:00

Well to start this post I want to appoligize to any of you who have recieved a phone call from me and on my end of the phone you get the gibber jabber of Nyah! :) My phone is a touch screen and she has learned to unlock my phone. She can access my pictures, phone book and internet. Usually when I catch her with my phone and she is talking to the unknown lady of my voice mail.
Her phone conversations usually go as follows:

Nyah: Hi, I good.

Pause

Nyah: jibber jabber, usually about what ever she is doing at the moment...

Pause for who ever is on the other end as they respond

Nyah: Oh, okay. BYE
HUG ( as she hugs the phone)
LOVE YOU
KISS ( as she kisses the phone)
I 2!! ( as she holds up 3 fingers)

Usually while I am at work I speak with her on the phone and our conversation always brightens my day just to hear her sweet little voice... todays coversation made me smile and giggle as she was trying to tell on her daddy...

Nyah: Hi mommy

Me: Hi Nyah how are you

Nyah: I cry

Me: Why are you crying?

Nyah: I want a bitsy (that is what she calls her sippy)

Me: you want a bitsy?

Nyah: yeah

Me: tell daddy you want a sippy

Nyah: you do it (as she hands her dad the phone)

Oh Nyah Grace how you brighten my day!!

I love you

2010-05-16T15:08:00.001-07:00

We have had a fun couple of days being outside playing in the sun!! This morning we went to the park, played for awhile. I think the park is my new found friend...Nyah loves it, she can run, jump, shout and play with the other little kids and the best part its FREE!!!! So this summer has started and we are going to try to go to everypark in good ol' SGC. This is a clip of her and daddy playing ball this morning.

Happy 2nd Birthday

2010-05-13T19:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to our Nyah Grace! We hope you had a wonderful day....

When Nyah woke up we had her balloons and presents waiting and the first thing she saw was the balloons. After we opened presents we made breakfast, we had breakfast burritos and then Nyah helped me make her cake. We spent the afternoon at jumping jacks. This evening we spent it with our family having pizza and cake.

The past 2 years have gone by fast....to say the least. It seems like yesterday you were learning to crawl, talk and walk. We love to watch you learn and grow.

We love you sense of humor...

We love to see you smile...

I love to hear you say "momma, get me a sippy...while daddy is changing your bum!"

We love how you mock everything we say.

We love how you ask if we are hurt, if we say ouch.

We love to drive in the car with you as you are dancing in your carseat with your sunglasses on.

We love to hear you sweet little voice call our names when you wake up from your nap.

We love how you kiss your sister and say "la you Anastyn"

We love to play hide and seak with you...Nyah are you???

We love everything about you and we are so proud to say you are OUR daughter.

There hasn't been a day go by that you haven't made us smile.

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Love,

Daddy, Mommy and Anastyn

Sugarland

2010-05-10T19:40:00.000-07:00

Well there has been many things I have wanted to post since my last post...I haven't had much free time. But I wanted to share the fun weekend Justin and I had! We drove to SLC on Friday to see Sugarland, just the 2 of us. I think we both were dreading the drive...it went really fast. We talked the whole time about about anything and everything, enjoying each others company. Once we got up north we stopped by the mall and went shopping, which is one of my all time favorite things to do. We wondered the mall for a couple of hours and then headed to our hotel room to get ready for the concert.

We went to dinner prior and then headed to the E center for the concert. We both loved the concert, our seats were 4th row floor! They were amazing!!! We danced the whole time! A few pictures from our adventure....

Thank you honey for the wonderful weekend and yes after 5 years I love you and ALWAYS will.

"Nastics"

2010-03-03T14:55:00.000-08:00

Well we have decided to keep Nyah in gymnastics. She has so much fun and it has been good for her to interact with the other children. Today she made a new friend her name is Makya and she is 2. She kept calling Nyah her friend and they sat next to each other and would chat about who knows what. It was adorable!! It has been so fun to watch Nyah's progress, she can now do a straddle, pike and tuck, bear crawl, summersalt and best of all she can wait her turn!

Straddle

Nyah and Makya

Nyah trying to keep her balance

Learning the "start" of a cartwheel

Growing fast!!

2010-02-19T13:10:00.000-08:00

Well since I blogged last we have been busy...Anastyn had her check up and she growing up so fast, literally!!

December 4th (when she was born)- she was 7lbs and 19 in.

February 11th- 12lbs and 24 in.

During this appointment we spoke with the Dr. about Anastyn's horrible stomach aches. I know about the whole colic stage etc...so we kept thinking that she would soon grow out of the crying. At this appt. the Dr. prescribed us Hyosen drops for her, it is a MIRACLE.
She is a completely different baby, she coos and smiles, she is easily consoled when she is crying. No more stomach aches its wonderful.

As for our Nyah she is a energizer bunny! She is loving tumbling class. When we pull into the parking lot of Barefoot, she starts to shout "nastics, nastics" (translation-gymnastics) We are still working on waiting our turn and sharing. She is getting a little better. We are still working on potty training. The past few days during nap time I have found her naked as a jay bird with a huge wet spot on the sheets. So I have started to change her into a onesie before bed, we'll see how long it takes for her to out smart me! I think she is in the stage of taking her clothes off, this morning I was cleaning and I opened the back door so that she could play outside with dogs. I looked out the window of our living room to find her standing in the back yard with her shoes and pants on. Her coat was laying in the grass, which Sammi was using as a bed and her shirt on the table...Oh our Nyah Grace!

Anastyn and Nyah playing on the floor

Nyah sharing her stickers from her potty chart with her baby

Our "little" Ana-bug

Tumbling Class

2010-02-03T12:52:00.000-08:00

Today Nyah and I started a Mom and Tot tumbling class. WE loved it!!! The 1st activity was to step on the end of the board and try to flip the animal on the other side toward you &try to catch it. The little girl next to us would do it Nyah would crack up laughing. The next activity was to sit in a circle and stretch and sing songs. Then we ran in circles around cones, walked backward, tried to jump etc... Then we did the obstacle course and she loved the tunnel and the bar, where they tried to pull themselves up and bring their legs up. She caught on really quick. Our last activity was to jump over colored logs on a huge trampoline and to walk on the balance beam. For her 1st time she did GREAT and I think this is going to be a great experience for the 2 of us. She got a little impatient towards the end and didn't want to wait her turn on the trampoline. The instructer was great in trying to help me teach her the importance of waiting her turn and being polite. We can't wait to go next week!!

This picture is the stamps Ny got at the end of class for being a good girl.

She was very proud of them when Kindra came over to visit that was the 1st thing she showed her
Nyah in the tunnel

Ny trying to flip the Elephant of the board

Ri-Dizzle

2010-01-30T19:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday SIS!!!! Today is Rilee's 18th birthday. I know that she has been waiting anxiously for this day to arrive. Last night we threw a surprise party for her at our house. We hangout, played a few games and ate cake & ice cream. Nyah absolutely loved having everyone at our house. Who ever was having the most fun and laughing the loudest Nyah was right there with them.

Today we celebrated by going out to breakfast and then we headed up to Cedar City to go sledding. Which was a lot of fun, it was pretty warm and best of all it was sunny and couldn't see a cloud for miles. We bundled Anastyn up and put her in her car seat and sat her there where we were sledding( Tia I got another compliment on the car seat cover and the lady asked where she could get one ;0).

things I love about Dizzle

I can't say I loved this but I thought it was funny- when you were younger and could fart on command!

Butt clap/P90X

I love that you have such a big heart

your willing to help anyone

your a good listener

your quick to forgive

the best aunt our girls could ask for and I would be proud if my girls grew up to be like you

your not willing to settle for anything or anyone

I admire that at your age you strive to do your best whether it is school, church or work(oh wait you don't have a job)

you have drove around with your jockey box open

I love how crazy you are about your argyle sweaters

I love to watch you sizzle like bacon and do the salt shaker.

I love that when we would be driving in the car and Jesus, Take the Wheel would come on and you would sing like you were the only one in the car.

I love to watch you entertain Nyah, you'll do anything to make her laugh

I love to hangout with you, its usually not a dull moment...

Most of all I am grateful to have you in my life and that I can say that you are my sister and no matter what I say I will miss you when your away to school.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy

Diz

Everyday moments I never want to forget...

2010-01-27T21:03:00.000-08:00

Needless to say the past few weeks have been very busy with the girls and I will soon be going back to work, which is bitter sweet. I have been catching up on little projects around the house and spending time with the girls

The past few weeks I have realized that there are so many things that Nyah does that I hope I never forget... For only 20 months old she is very funny and full of personality! I am so proud to say she is my daughter.

Her laugh makes my heart melt...which makes it hard to discipline her, I tell her "NO" and she laughs which makes me laugh and discipline is out the window.

She can see a balloon from a mile away and is ecstatic.

She loves her little sister, always kissing her and telling her "lado" (translation= love you)

When she starts to cry Nyah is so willing to try and help calm her down by:

Telling her "Annstyn don't cry" (she leaves out the other A in Anastyn)

Or she tries to stick her binkie in her mouth or pat her on the head.

She says please and thank you a majority of the time.

She can sign more then 30 words, thanks to Baby Signing Time.

And I can't even begin to count ALL the words she can say! The past few weeks she has said some very funny things...

Told great grandpa he was CRAZY.

Asked for a COKE the other day while we were driving in the car.

Anastyn was sound asleep on the way to a friends house and Nyah kept repeating "Anastyn" after a minute or so Anastyn began to cry and Nyah's reply was " Uh oh, Momma!"

When we ask Nyah a question most of the time she replies with the most innocent "No" I have ever heard!

As for our little Anastyn Marie, our little fuzz head. Being in our lives for such a short time has brought so much joy to our family.

She has hair but it is so blond it is hard to see.

She has the cutest little smile and has begun to coo

She's not to sure whether or not she likes her swing.

She prefers to sleep on the couch or to be held.

She doesn't like to be burped

Loves to take a bath but, doesn't like to be dried off or dressed

Our Angels bring so much joy to our life

Do they look alike??

2009-12-22T14:48:00.000-08:00

So the two girls when they were both 1 day old...do you think they look alike?

Nyah

Anastyn

Quite time

2009-12-22T14:03:00.000-08:00

The girls are sleeping, some time just for mom. :) The past couple of weeks have been a little hectic. Our whole world has changed since we had Anastyn. She is quit the little fuss bucket! If she is not sleeping she is crying. It makes some days a little stressful.

We had Anastyn's newborn pictures done last week, so once I have those back I will post some of them. Lately we have been just hanging out at home trying to avoid the crowds of people and most of all avoid any illness. I am a paranoid mom, I know. My worst nightmare is to have both of the girls sick. Which I know one day will happen no matter what I do to try to prevent it.

So I have a few new pictures of the girls we have taken the past week or so...

Ny helping bake cookies

Ny and I

I don't know how much frosting actually got on the cookie

Ny reading Anastyn a book

Anastyn's 1st bath

Our cheeseball

2 Week checkup

2009-12-18T13:44:00.001-08:00

Today was Anastyn's 2 week check up. She has gained some weight, at birth she was 7lbs and she is now 7.5 lbs and still 20 inches long. They measured he head circumference today and it was a little smaller then they would like. The Dr. said that her head she grow 0.5 cm each week and since she was born her head has not grown. So far her development seems to be normal, so we are hoping that her initial measurement at birth was inaccurate. So we will measure again in a couple of weeks...

Catching up

2009-12-16T14:04:00.000-08:00

Well Anastyn will be 2 weeks old on Friday...The past 2 weeks a went by so fast I can't believe it. It has be wonderful to have Justin home for the past 2 weeks as well. It seems that in a since we have reconnected, I was nervous for us to be home together for the 3 weeks. We are not used to spending that much time together. He is the greatest father I could ever ask for, for our girls. He is so loving, patient, caring and compassionate. Even in the wee hours of the morning when he is up with Anastyn or Nyah. I love you, honey.

Nyah has really taken to her baby sister. She loves to hold and snuggle with her. She is very gentle with her, which I never would have imagined in a million years. When she gets up in the morning she starts asking for baby or "Annhin"(Nyah's pronunciation of Anastyn). She loves to help feed Anastyn or try to stick her binkie in her mouth. I can't wait until Anastyn is older to see them play together.

Anastyn had her 1 week check up and she is almost back to her birth weight. She has a some acid reflux that caused her to get thrush. The acid reflux has caused some late nights for us, she gets belly aches quit often from the reflux. She is very different than Nyah was as a newborn. Nyah we had to wake up at night to eat, Anastyn wakes up screaming wanting her bottle. Nyah we put in her crib from day one and Anastyn doesn't like to sleep in her room. She sleeps much better if Justin or I sleep on the couch with her. Anastyn loves to have something to suck on almost ALL the time, Ny we never gave a binkie to. Anastyn has brought much joy to our lives in the short time she has been with us. We wouldn't change a thing!

As for me...I feel a little behind this Holiday season. I did all my Christmas shopping for the girls and it is all wrapped but I still have be niece and nephew. Which I bought the stuff but it hasn't made it into a box to take to the post office. At this point I don't think it will make it till after the Holidays. I am starting to feel back to my old self, I am not near as sore as I was at the beginning of the week. I cleaned my house today which was great I felt like I did something more than just tend to the girls and sleep.

Some recent pictures of the girls...

Our family picture before Anastyn was born :0)

Just before we left the hospital

Anastyn ready for her 1st ride in the car

Ny and her "NoMan"

Daddy and his girls

Nyah loving on her sissy

Busy Snyder Trio

2009-10-31T13:40:00.001-07:00

Well the past few weeks have been busy for us. We have been trying to get the baby's room finished and we are getting closer...but not completely done. So far it has turned out well. I love it. I owe all the hard work to Justin and the polka dots to his mom. I have a hard time deciding what to put on the walls. I wanted to hang 11x13 pictures of the girl up but I can't find the frames I like. And my other obsticle is deciding what to put on the plant shelf.

Nyah in Anastyn's crib

We have been finishing up our Christmas shopping for the girls. I have just about 4 weeks left before Anastyn is here. So I have been trying to get as much done as possible. We have been looking for a new photographer, our old photographer that took Nyah's pictures has moved away. So I have been trying to find someone that will be doing Anastyn's newborn pictures.

We took Nyah to the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago. She had a lot of fun running and playing in the dirt. The pumpkins we got we carved last night when I got home from work. We had fun throwing pumpkin slop and seeds at one another.

Last weekend Justin played in the Men's Softball Halloween Tournament and they did really well. I enjoyed getting to go and watch a couple of games. While he was play Nyah and I went with Di to the what women want expo and did girly stuff....shopped, had lunch and shopped some more. It was great to spend time with Di she was here for a short time we sure miss having her around. But we'll see you again in 4 weeks!

Tonight we are going to take Nyah Trick-or-Treating for the 1st time. We have been practicing saying it but all she says is TREAT! So that will have to do. I will post some pictures of her in her costume later.

HaPpY HaLlOwEeN

Anastyn's room...in progress

2009-10-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

The paint is on the walls...for the most part. We have a few more things to add. I love the colors it is very bright! It is exactly what we wanted...we love Nyah's room but wanted something completely different. Well there is still lots to do but here is the progress...

Anastyn's Room

2009-10-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

We started! Well I should say Justin has STARTED :)! We have picked out a bed set and the paint colors for the room. We are struggling with a design because the walls are almost 13 feet tall. We thought about putting chair railing up like we did in Nyah's room, but are afraid it will look un-proportional. So we are still debating, so I'll keep you posted as it progresses...

BaKiNG

2009-09-18T19:55:00.000-07:00

Nyah and I have found a new hobby since I have been pregnant, BAKING! I enjoy it, I really enjoy the outcome of all of the sweets! I may regret it by the time December comes and I have this baby. The best part is watching Nyah eye's light up when I hand her the beaters or the whisk.

Similarities??

2009-09-10T20:16:00.000-07:00

Tonight as I was changing some things on our blog I accidentally changed our template and to my surprise when I switched back to view what I had done I was shocked by what I saw!! I did not notice before how similar Nyah's new born picture (she was 1 day old) and Anastyn's ultrasound picture were! Take a look...scroll down (ALMOST TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE) to the ultra sound picture I have posted and the picture to the left of it.

Only 11 WEEKS and we will see how similar they are...

Funny Faces

2009-09-05T12:35:00.000-07:00

I have finally sat down and looked at the picture's we had taken of Nyah when she turned one. And I found some that I thought were funny! She has quit the personality and always has us on our toes. I read in a book that they love to explore at this age... she loves to "explore". By explore I mean

1 Pulling everything out of every drawer she can reach in the kitchen and bathroom

2 Unrolling a whole roll of toilet paper on the bathroom floor and sit and rip it to shreds!

3 Pulling every book off the self and bringing them to you one by one.

4 pull every item of clothing out of her drawers and bring them into the living room and place them in piles.

It really is kinda funny to watch because she gets so excited doing it. We love you bug!

2009-08-29T20:00:00.001-07:00

A quick update
We have finally moved into our new house well about a month ago. Things are going great! Justin did an amazing job painting and getting things ready for us. I will have to post pictures of Nyah's room it turned out better then I could have ever imagined. We have Anastyn's room to paint, we are still debating on what to do in there. Any suggestions would be helpful.

I have been working as a RN and enjoying it. I sure enjoy the pay raise. We have been SHOPPING and having fun! We are planning a trip at the end of Sept. to Las Vegas to do some shopping, I figure I will do my Christmas shopping while we are there. Justin thinks I am crazy but, I am pregnant and who knows what the next few weeks have to come. We have a Dr.'s appointment next week, I am hoping that we well be able to set the date of the C-section.

We had the 3D Ultrasound done of Anastyn last week here are a couple picture's we got of her.

Today we had a yard sale and it was AWESOME! Our goal was to make enough money to buy a new King size bed and flat screen for our room. We were going to have the sale from 7am to 2pm. By 11am we were done and cleaning up and exceeding our goal! It was FABULOUS!
Overall, we have been super busy and enjoying life and the blessings we have! I can't say enough how much I appreciate all of Justin's hard work around the house. Your the best and I love you!

Let the PAINTING begin!

2009-07-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

We finally closed on our house on Tuesday, got our keys on Wednesday and started painting on Thursday! Well at first I thought it would be great that I couldn't help Justin paint since I am pregnant...but actually it is kind of disappointing. I don't get to do much with the house at this time. I cleaned out the kitchen cupboards and the fumes from the cleaning stuff made me a little ill. I want to start moving stuff in! So instead of helping I have been contemplating how to decorate the girls rooms. Yeah I said girls Nyah is going to have a little sister we are planning on naming her Anastyn Marie( if Kyle and Catherine don't mind). We are very excited!! I can't wait to see her little face...I have been teasing Justin that she will be bald because Nyah got all the HAIR!! Nyah had 3 hair cuts before her 1st birthday.

Once everything is painted and moved in I will post some pictures.

Really July already???

2009-07-02T18:41:00.000-07:00

Our computer at home isn't set up since we have been planning on moving for I don't know how many months...So I haven't been able to blog so an update on us!

Nyah is getting so big and has a great vocabulary for a 1 year old! She mimics everything we say and do. She has started to walk, but it is only on her terms. She loves to read books and swim! She is such a JOY!

As for Justin he is still working hard at the fire department, playing softball etc... Were getting ready for the heat stroker tourney in 2 weeks.
I got a job as a nurse at hospital which I am grateful for. There were not a lot of positions open. I accepted a position on my floor that I have worked on for the past 8 years. I start back to school next month to get my Bachelors degree, thankfully that is online! And to our surprise around Easter WE are also expecting another baby, we are due December 11th. We find out what we are having on Tuesday so I will update you all then!

Sneak Peek

2009-05-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

We had Nyah's 1 year pictures done yesterday...it was kinda sad. She wasn't very happy so I don't know how many of the picture turned out. And to top it off our photographer that we have been using for the past year and a half told us that they were moving to SLC this summer...bummer! We have loved the pictures they have done for us. So we are now on the hunt for a new photographer. Anyway, she posted a few of the pictures on her blog so her they are...

2009-05-13T19:05:00.000-07:00

HaPpY BiRtHdAy our BEAUTIFUL Nyah Grace.
A few weeks ago we finally found her name in a baby name book, Nyah of African decent and means "purpose". A purpose she has served! She has made me realize how precious life is.
Her laugh is contagious, her smile inspiring, my little girl who loves to play peek-a-boo, loves to open cupboards but, never takes anything out, our little girl who loves to play in the water whether it be in the tub, pool or toilet! Our little girl who loves to eat ice cream especially with grandpa. Our little girl who is always cheerful and brings a smile to our face. Happy 1st Birthday, we love you!

Mommy & Daddy

Relay For Life!

2009-05-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

Nyah playing under the table, so easly entertained! :)

Team Fighting Irish

This is ALL of the Cancer Survivors and caregivers

Last night we went walked in the relay for life. It was a great experience. We are hoping next year to put our own team in. This year we joined Susan's team ( a nurse I work with) "Team Fighting Irish" it was great! We had great food and great team members. After a few hours Nyah got a little fussy so we came home. This is the 1st time I have done this which kinda suprises me considering I have worked on the Cancer unit at the hospital for 8 years! It was our 1st but won't be the last.

Birthday Girl!!

2009-05-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we had Nyah's 1st Birthday party! We had a Luau and it was a lot of fun. We had it catered by Honolulu Grill, she had a cake shaped as a flip flop. We had a couple of little pools for the smaller kids and a huge 12ft water slide for the bigger kids. Nyah's birthday isn't until the 13th of May we celebrated early because we had family/friends here for my Nursing Graduation. I am happy that we had our close friends and family there to celebrate with us.

There were way to many pictures to post so I made a slide show of a few of them...enjoy!!

1st Hair Cut

2009-04-11T09:18:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we took Nyah to get her hair cut. We have been lucky that it has grown into a great shape on its own. So we had the sides trimmed and her bangs. My little girl is growing up!

She liked the cape

Nyah telling Heather what the Monkey says...

Just Us

2009-04-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

As each day comes I think of things to blog about. As soon as I start blogging 99% of the time Nyah wakes up which puts a holt to my blogging opportunity.

We are still party planning. I made her invitations and finished them a couple of weeks ago and I ordered her cake yesterday I am really excited to see the finished product. We are very excited to have Nanny and Pa to come to our house for the party. Only 28 more days!!

HeR iNvItAtIoNs

On Sunday Nyah with with Grandma and Grandpa to Great Grandma's house. I stay home to clean my house. After seeing the pictures I wish I would have went because Nyah looks like she had so much fun (I will post a slide show later).

Party Planning

2009-03-30T11:30:00.001-07:00

I have been planning Nyah's 1st birthday party. I am trying to figure out what to put in the goody bags. There are going to be kids ranging from ages 6 mo to 14 yrs. This is where I need the help!

Do I make bags for each age?

Is there a cut off age for goody bags?

Do you have any ideas of treats/toys that work for all ages?

HELP, any suggestions are welcome and needed:)

My little SNOT Factory

2009-03-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

Nyah has had RSV type stuff for 22 days! I took her in to the Dr. on friday and they said there wasn't anything to they could do. We just had to wait it out unless she started getting a fever. Well she hasn't had a fever, actually she acts just fine. She hasn't been eating a whole lot but I think that is because she has started getting more teeth. She turned 10 months old on March 13th, at that time she had 2 teeth. Now she has 6! At this rate she will have all of her teeth by the time she is 1.
This morning I took her in to get suctioned and there wasn't a whole lot coming out. Which was great, going twice a day for the past 21 days has been very traumatizing for her. So I am hoping we are on the downward slope.

We are very excited that we are going to be buying a house soon. We went and talked to our lender yesterday and got the ball rolling. So were on now the hunt for our new home. I am excited to start a new chapter in our life. I am really excited to put my knowledge that I have learned watching HGTV into action! LOL. On the other hand I am very sad to be leaving the house that we live in now, even thou it is not ours we treated it as if it was and it felt like home to us. This is the house I have lived in the longest in my life.

Catching up

2009-03-12T09:38:00.000-07:00

This week has been really busy, I have been doing my preceptorship at the hospital...ONLY 2 more shifts! yipppeeee

Tuesday was Justin's 29th birthday, I had to work but I arranged it so that I could come home early. So I left at 2 and we went and had massages and then went to dinner at the Brazilian Steak House. Then back to his mom's to pick up Nyah and have cake and open presents. He got a new game for his play station 3 and a bag for softball.

Nyah has been sick the last week or so. It started last Friday a few days after her Dr.'s appointment. She had a little congestion and cough, so I called to see if there was anything I could give her over the weekend if she got worse. They said "No, if she becomes lethargic or has a fever bring her in to the ER". So I watched her over the weekend and yesterday she didn't seem to be getting any better. So I called to make her a appointment and of course yesterday was her Dr.'s day off. So anyway after all was said and done it took 3 hours and 3 different facilities to have her see a doctor, have her suctioned and tested for RSV! It was very frustrating. For the next 5 days we have to take her to the hospital and have suctioned at least 2 times a day. It is so sad to see them suction her .

Lemonade Pie

2009-02-15T18:43:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had lemonade pie?? It is the best dessert and it is really easy to make. I made tonight after work, Nyah really liked it!! Here's how you make it, if you don't already know how...

LEMONADE PIE

Graham cracker crust(any recipe will do) save about 1/2 cup for topping
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
Lg can of frozen lemonade

1. Take the graham cracker and place in a lg dish
press to the bottom and freeze for about 5 min
2. Mix ice cream and lemonade in a bowl
3. pour mixture over crust, sprinkle top with remaining crust.
4. Freeze until very firm ( 3-4 hours)

Catching up

2009-02-14T14:02:00.000-08:00

Well I have had lots to blog about, but not enough time nor the energy to do it. Nyah turned 9 months old yesterday and she started crawling. I finish with school this coming Friday. Justin has been busy working and playing city league basketball here and there. A couple weeks ago he played in the Superbowl Tournment, which was fun! Chris and Matt came down and it was fun to hangout with them.

LOOK Mutta, we shut them OUT! Wish you were here to play with us!!

Nyah and Daddy

Chris and Justin(in the background)

Around the same time of the Tournment the weather was really nice. So one afternoon we took Ny to the park. It was so nice to be out in the sun, I am ready for spring!

Today Nyah spent most of the day with Grandma and Grandpa, I went and did some shopping for the Valentines Dinner that I am planning for the

guys at the fire station tonight. When I went over to pickup Ny Grandma did her hair really cute! I have been trying to think of different ways to do her hair, the headbands aren't working so well lately. The sides of her hair are growing really fast but the back is still somewhat short. Here are a couple of pictures...

Social Butterfly

2009-01-04T19:29:00.000-08:00

Tonight we went to Great Grandma's house, which I must say we don't do enough. We are going to try and go atleast 3 Sundays a month. Nyah really likes it there, grandma has lots of room for to roll around.
Tonight was fun because there was more family there with their little ones so Nyah had someone to play with. It was fun to watch Nyah playing with her cousin's. Although, I think at times Nyah gets a little frustrated because she can't get up and move around like they can. Some of the pictures that I am posting are of her and Tyson playing. He is a year older then she is.

Nyah pulling on Tyson's jacket (I don't think Tyson was to sure about her at first)

Nyah and Grandpa, she really loves her grandpa

Back to School

2009-01-03T14:12:00.000-08:00

Wow...I can't believe my break is over as of Tuesday morning! So my blogging will more than likely come to a hult for a few weeks. The past few weeks off have been fabulous and well needed. I have gotten to spend time with Justin and Nyah. It is hard to believe that Nyah will be 8 months old on the 13th of this month. She brings so much joy to our lives.
She still isn't crawling, but she gives it a darn good try. She loves to just roll around. She is getting another tooth and I think she might have a little cold so she hasn't been the happiest the past few days.
This holiday break was great. We had a wonderful Christmas and can't wait to see what the new year will bring us. I think back at everything that has happened this past year and honestly life couldn't be any better for us.
I hope that all of you have a great year that brings you lots of love and happiness.

SnOw DaY

2008-12-18T19:45:00.001-08:00

It snowed last night about 4 inches...it was wonderful!! I am sure for those that had school today it was even better, they closed the schools. We made snowmen in the front yard and took Nyah over to her Grandma and Grandpa's to play in the snow. To say the least she wasn't real enthused.

So far I think her favorite part of Christmas is the ribbon she can rip off presents under the tree and she loves to play with all the ribbon while I am wrapping presents.

Nyah also really liked going and seeing Santa we thought that she would cry but she didn't! She kept pulling on his beard. She laughed and giggled it was really fun to watch her.

Husband Tag

2008-12-17T14:46:00.000-08:00

1. Where did you meet your husband? Chili's
2. How long did you date? 1 yr
3. How long have you been married? little over 2 yrs
4. What does he do that surprises you?

5. What is your favorite feature of his? I love everything about him what attracted me to him was his butt in Lucky jeans!! and I love that he is never in bad mood.
6. What is his best quality? He's so compassionate, compassionate about life, his family, his job!!

7. Does he have a nick name for you? Ya...a few. Usually calls me babe or honey or McGee

8. What is his favorite food? Anything I cook of course! J/K I know he loves Chili's chips and salsa and their Fajitas
9. What is his favorite sport? He loves just about all sports, but like Kyle really likes Softball and football...go Steelers, right babe?
10. When and where was your first kiss? Um this is horrible because I remember EVERYTHING! But I can't remember, ever since I got pregnant I have seriously lost my memory

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Go to dinner and we used to really love to go dancing

12. Do you have children? Yes, 1 daughter
13. Does he have hidden talents? yeah he is really good at making me smile, which at times can be challenging

14. How old is he? 27
15. Who said I love you first? I'm pretty sure he did.
16. His favorite music? He likes all kinds of music
17. What do you admire most about him? I admire his energy and the enthusiasm he has for things he loves.
18. What is his favorite color? that I don't know
19. Will he read this? Yes.
20. Who do you tag? Hmmm... Tawsha C, Elisa C, Tia T, Sally P, Joelle W

And anyone else who would like to brag about their hubbies a little!!

-Nyah Grace-

2008-12-17T10:33:00.001-08:00

Well the past few days Nyah has been very playful, but when its time for a nap the she gets so upset. The night before last she layed in there and screamed for a good 1/2 hour, she was okay as long as we were holding her. We didn't know what was going on. She usually goes to bed just fine, we lay her in her crib after she eats and she puts herself to sleep.
So I have been rocking her in the chair until she falls asleep. Which for her to let me hold while she drinks her sippy cup is completely out of the norm. Well last night while I was rocking her I ran my finger across her gums and she's getting tooth! Its poked through the skin.
So that explains the trouble of going to sleep the past couple of days...

Better late then never...right?

2008-12-14T20:12:00.001-08:00

Nyah in the Captains seat
He's a proud daddy, can you tell?

Justin taking tickets

I have been meaning to post this awhile ago, I think that my husband is the greatest. He is such a great role model for the community and gives 110% all the time. I honestly get the biggest smile on my face when I see him driving around in the Engine or on a scene.

Awhile ago Dizzle ( Rilee) and I took Nyah to a festival at a Elementary school. They were raising money for a teacher that has cancer. Justin called and told us about it, so went over to see him. He and his crew were there giving tours on the engine to little kids. It was great to see how excited these little kids were to see the inside of the engine. The festival was a big hit there was a lot of people, I hope it helped the teacher.

I am so proud to be his wife...he is wonderful.

Holiday Season

2008-12-14T14:03:00.000-08:00

Well we put our tree up on Thanksgiving evening...I think I talked about that in our last post. I am really excited this year for Christmas! I can't for Nyah to open all of her gifts and play with her new toys and wear her new clothes.
As I was growing up we didn't have a lot of Christmas "traditions" other than my grandma and grandpa would fly out to where we were living in CO and spend a couple of weeks with us. My grandma would bring us a new Hallmark ornament every year. At the time I was excited to to see what my new ornament was, but now that my grandma has passed on those ornaments mean more to me than words can say. So I started the tradition with Nyah and I hope one that it will mean as much to her as it does for me.
Our plans for Christmas this year...
This year we will be celebrating Christmas on the 24th, Justin has to work on Christmas day. So we are planning to have dinner and make ginger bread houses, watch Christmas movies and then open presents and have home made HOT coco. Christmas morning we are planning to make a waffle breakfast at the fire stations. I can't wait until CHRISTMAS...
I hope everyone is having a Happy Holiday season. I would like to hear your favorite holiday traditions...