Merry Christmas to all and to all a . . . night

I hope everyone's having a great Christmas! We came down to Arizona about a week ago to spend the break with Brett's family. It has been great to get away and have Brett 'home' most of the time. We're staying with Brett's brother Chris, Cassi, and their two little girls. One great thing about staying with them is that Cassi is due in February too, so we can both be crazy pregnant women. Hyrum loves playing with the girls. . . well, mostly tackling them. But it's really fun and cute to watch them. My parents are also visiting Mesa to see us and my Brother Jeff, Jenn, and their daughter Lexi. So it's been a family Christmas on both sides. We've been having so much fun being down here, although Hyrum will most likely have 3 new teeth by the time we get back to Utah. . . which means we haven't been having the best sleep. Let's just hope Hyrum reaches my goal of all his teeth cut through before baby 2 is born. :) Doesn't hurt to wish. Anyway, Just before we left UT we went to Temple Square with the Partridges and I've been meaning to post those pictures. The pictures are the best part, so here you go, and Merry Christmas!

Ammendment

It's been an interesting week. Before I get to the ammendment I thought I would give a little background information. Brett's job with Oaisys has been an amazing opportunity for us and we've been very excited about moving down to Arizona in April and with a job for Brett to go to. Over the last few weeks Oaisys has been having a lot of computer issues (which, obviously, isn't effective for a programer). They also announced that their main client had a 40% reduction in work force in November. And when your main client is suffering that means you do too. Oaisys gave a subtle warning that there 'may' be changes (aka layoffs) at the beginning of the new year. It's not definite, but it sure made us feel a bit shaky, especially when you add that to the computer problems Brett's been having with the company. Not a week had passed after simmering on the new information when Brett got a call from Wally Marsden (Who, I have no idea who he is. But, I've learned he's a well known, successful businessman in the computer world) He's starting up a new project and offered Brett a position as employee #4 of a very promising startup company. Brett would be developing and creating the same kind of stuff he's been doing for his Thesis. So, it would be right up his ally and something he loves to do. Not very often do you actually get to find a job that you would be excited and happy to go to everyday. We feel that the Lord has led us to where we are today. When one door closes another, cooler, door opened for us and we've spent time discussing what this would mean for our future and our family. We've decided to take the plunge and go for it. Here comes the interesting part:

Amendment:

We recently sent out a Christmas card via email ( I know it was tacky, but we figured that was better than nothing) I also want to apologize to anyone who did not get one. We just mailed it out to whoever was in our address book. If you didn't get one and would like to see what I'm talking about CLICK HERE.

With the new job opportunity Brett received, we will NOT be moving to Arizona in April! The new company is based in American Fork, UT. Brett and I have never wanted to stay in Utah. We've never even looked at it as an option. Arizona is still our goal, and we want our kids to be able to grow up and go to school there, but that goal will be on hold for a few years. We'll be looking to buy a home here somewhere between AF and Draper. These are huge changed for us and we know that there will be things that we will miss out on by not moving to Arizona. We're sad to not be closer to our families and friends. But, we're confident that this is where we need to be right now and that we will be happy here and find new opportunities to make friends, and have experiences that we may not have otherwise. With that said: If ANY of you are in the Utah area after we get a house we would love your company!

Turkey Day, and Carmel Chicken

I LOVE breaks! We had such a wonderful weekend. It was great to be able to spend time together as a family and just relax. We drove up to Boise and spent Thanksgiving with my sister Angela and her family. Hyrum had so much fun with his cousins. He just loves playing with other kids. He was also great in the car. On the way back home we caught him having a very heart-felt conversation with his stuffed puppy. It was SOOO funny. I tried to get a picture of it, but it was hard in the car and with a pillow in the way. I think you had to be there.The weekend greatness continued with Lee, Jaclyn, and Bree coming to visit when we got back. It was great seeing friends. . . but kind of made us a little trunky for Arizona. Hopefully, Christmas break will tide us over for four more months. In other news: Hyrum has recently become obsessed with dipping his food. No pictures, but just imagine his most recent 'yummies': clementines dipped in his leftover barbecue sauce, and tonight; chicken nuggets dipped in carmel. Sounds good, huh? Peek-a-boo everyone!!!

Jaclyn, this one is for you :)

They sure do grow up so fast :)

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

A little review

So, I've been meaning to post this picture for a little over a month now. The three of us were all pregnant at the same time, although Angela had her baby a little bit after this picture was taken. It must be the season of babies with the girls in my family:).

We've been trying to get Hyrum ready for the new baby by practicing being soft. During one of Hyrum's ER visits when he kept getting ear infections, they gave him a stuffed kitten while we waited. And, this cute elderly couple in the ward gave him a stuffed kitten a few months later. Anway, we've decided to make his kittens the practice subjects. Normally Hyrum is pretty wild with all his toys, and he loves wrestling with his soft toys, but he's getting pretty good about being 'sooo soft' with his kitties. The only downside is that we're going to have to call our son 'soft kitty' in order for Hyrum not to head-butt him. Anyway, these pictures below have nothing to do with that.

Hyrum likes putting this neck support thing on. It's really funny. Sometimes he wears it on his head or backwards. I think he looks like a little football player. He loves these buckets. He crawls inside and will sit talking to himself for a while. He also plays peek-a-boo with them.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

"It's what you say when you don't know what to say" -Jane Banks

I just have a couple of things that I've been thinking about:

1st: I know that we shouldn't live life thinking "I can't wait till. . . " I'm happy right now with a beautiful little boy and one on the way. Brett is awesome. Life is good. HOWEVER, I CAN'T WAIT until Brett's done with school!!!! We have both had our days where we just feel like being done and having Brett quit school. We hate not being able to see each other very often or having family time to spend all together. The Lord has really blessed us with so much and we can't deny how grateful we are for where we are right now. But it will be so nice to only have a couple of things to consume our days instead of five or six.

2nd: Yes, it's cold, but snow is so beautiful! Last week we had a day that flurried a little bit at night. I love when I'm driving in the dark and have millions of little white specks flying on the window. It feels like flying in warp speed through the galaxy. . . all within the warmth of my own car. I might miss the snow a little bit when we move to Arizona. Snow is beautiful when it comes down, but when it stays for months on end then the love changes. :)

3rd: We've talked to a lot of you, but in case you haven't heard we've decided not to build the home in Gilbert we originally planned on. With how the economy is right now, especially in AZ, it's better for us to take advantage of all the inhabited homes selling. We've been seeing a lot of great homes online from our realtor, and we'll keep you posted when we have a plan.

4th: I love blogging! I know that this isn't a very good post, but I selfishly admit that I blog mostly for myself more than others. It's a great outlet where I can feel like I'm multitasking. Not only am I journaling, but I'm also keeping people updated. Nothing is better than getting two things done in the same amount of time as one!

5th/ random goodness: Tai Pan Trading is amazing!!! BAM is my new favorite cleaning product, and I can't wait until Christmas

Pictures of Halloween and life

Halloween was a lot of fun for us. We participated in our ward trunk-or-treat. Hyrum loved walking around and just looking at everything, and he didn't even mind wearing his monkey costume either. As for Brett and I we put together some very last minute costumes. Brett is the 'typical Utah fan' and I am a villain (no I don't know which one. . . basically I just wore black, a cape and some black eye shadow)We let Hyrum play in the candy, because he had no idea what any of it was. . . or so we thought. He was having fun just playing in it until he found a sweetart and then we were in trouble. He knew what it was because they always give him one at the grocery store. After that we had to watch him carefully when he played with the candy. Luckily though, he still didn't know the rest of it was edible.These next two pictures just happened today. As a background: in the morning I eat cereal while he's eating his breakfast and when I finish I always drink my milk. While I'm drinking my milk from the bowl I play peek-a-boo with him. So, for lunch today he did a great job of eating his poppyseed chicken casserole and and soon as he was done he started to do the same thing with the bowl. It was very cute. I was just glad the bowl was empty.And in case anyone was wondering who's son this is:

Hyrum Speaks

For you're enjoyment, we've translated Hyrum's language :)

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mission Accomplished

So, this morning I had my Thesis Proposal Defense. That basically means that I give a presentation to my Master's Committee about what I want to do for my thesis. It went well, they liked the idea, and they approved it (which is comforting since I've actually done about 70% of the thesis project already). Now, I have to finish my thesis project (hopefully by mid-December) and write my paper. Things are on course and looking good for April Graduation!!!

Oral hygiene for a one year old. . . that's funny

So, I realize that I'm admitting to all of you that I am not a very good mom. . . but, hey, I do the best I can right. Our pediatrician mentioned to us a while ago that it's important to brush Hyrums teeth with an infant brush and water twice a day. I know the importance of taking care of teeth. I am one of the odd people in the world who loves going to the dentist. It would be easier for me to count the number of days in the past month that I haven't flossed than I have. I take great care of my teeth. With that as a disclaimer I will shout out that I have been at a loss of what to do with Hyrum. When a toothbrush would come near him at all he would turn his head, shut his mouth tightly and try and get away. With that attitude even attempting to make contact to his lips with the brush was near impossible, and it made for very sad times. Because of that, we just stopped trying as much. Every few days I would try, but it didn't usually work. Now, I get to the good part: I was in Babys R Us on Monday when I saw this: I decided to try it out and SUCCESS!!!! Finally! It's not toothpaste so it's safe for my little guy. I can't say that I'm able to do a perfect brushing, but since I've gotten it we've been able to stick the brush in his mouth twice a day and move it around a little bit. I feel like a great thing has been accomplished. I just hope that it's enough that his teeth won't rot off. Luckily the first set is just the practice set. Let's hope he has some good habbits by the time he starts growing his adult teeth.

Oh Boy!

I wanted you all to know that the ultrasound has spoken and Hyrum's getting a baby brother!!! We're so excited that Hyrum will have a little friend to play ball with. And another perk will be not having to buy all new things! So, everything in the ultrasound looked good and the baby looks healthy! No softball sized cyst this time. . . so that relieves a whole lot of worry too. We're sill planning on trying for a VBAC. Well power to the men in my life! We"ll keep you posted on the happenings of us and our little men!

ALBUQUERQUE

Hyrum and I spent the week with Grandma and Grandpa Rushton. Here are some pictures of the fun times. . . in addition to the drummer boy. I couldn't decide which pictures to put up when we went to the pumpkin patch so I made a quick scrap page. . . he was so cute in his overalls. He had a big fall when we were there. His face got hit worst. A big bruise and cut from his nose down to his lip made for a very bad day. It's starting to look better and better everyday though. We also got to see some of the 672 balloons in town for the Balloon Fiesta. Fun times!

Hyrum is The Rockstar

We'll have to post more later, but this could not wait. We're in Albuquerque visiting the family, and my sister Michelle and her husband have a drumset. Hyrum was drawn to it immediately and just seemed to know exactly what to do. I think I see a future drummer! (Oh, and he sat in some burrs, and that's why he's not wearing any pants. . . he's not trying to make a musical fashion statement).

What Kind of Car Am I (Brett)???

I'm a Chevrolet Corvette!

You're a classic - powerful, athletic, and competitive. You're all about winning the race and getting the job done. While you have a practical everyday side, you get wild when anyone pushes your pedal. You hate to lose, but you hardly ever do.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Fear Factor and Tag

Hyrum is such a monkey!!! When I hear silence I know it's time to run into whatever room he's in. We've found him standing on our dining room table, almost flipped over the couch, and this (above) is his new daredevil piece of furniture. Brett and I have found him on the top level standing up and playing with the blinds. . . it scares me to death!!! But, what can you do with such a cute little man? :)

I'm now going to get back to my tag from Jaclyn. This hopefully will not make you all look at me in a dimmer light. :)

High School Tag

Your High School's full name: Gov. John R. Rogers H. S.

High School Colors: Navy Blue and sky blue. . I'm pretty sure

School Mascot: Rams

Did you date anyone from your school?: Date. . . hmmm I didn't do any of that until I was almost 20, sadly.

What kind of car did you drive: Well, I mostly took the bus. On occasion I would hitch a ride with a friend of mine's mom, who was a chain smoker. I usually felt kind of sick by the time we got to school, so I didn't like to ask unless I was running really late. Sometimes in the evening or on weekends I got to borrow my parents mini van. . . . yet again another reminder of my nerdiness.

It's Friday night where are you: I would usually be at school every day of the week working on something for a club, leadership, or play practice. If I did have a free Friday night it would most likely be spent on my couch watching a movie with my parents.

Were you a party animal: I loved having fun and being crazy, but I think I could probably count the amount of parties I was invited to in my entire high school career on one hand. . . ok, this is getting more and more depressing.

Were you considered a flirt: Yes

Were you in band, orchestra, choir, or other group: I played flute in the band through 9th grade. During 10th grade I didn't play with the HS, but I was a member of the NW Flute Collegium in Tacoma. I quit completely by 11th grade.

Were you in any clubs: I think the real question should be what club was I not involved in? Key Club, Honor Society, SADD (I actually got to go to Washington DC with them and was interviewed on the news. . . very exciting) Co-President of Drama Club, ASB Secretary, Superfriends, Natural Helpers, and . . . I know I'm missing something, but this is a good start.

Did you ever get expelled or suspended: I was to much of a suck-up, that could never happen.

Can you still sing the fight song: To be honest I don't think I ever knew all the words. I would usually be talking to someone during the song.

Who were your favorite teachers: I don't know. That's a tuff question. I loved Ms. Kinkela because she never really cared if I wasn't in class as long as I got my homework done and kept an A. She would send me on errands and a lot of times I would just hang out in the leadership room making posters during class. I had a lot of teachers that I really liked. I loved Mr. Bates because he was pasionate about books, and I loved all of my history teachers (but I think that was mostly because I just really loved history).

Where did you sit during lunch: Jaclyn I'm the same with you. I had my lunch in the seminary house across the street.

Who did you go to Homecoming with? I went with Nick Vance my senior year. (He asked me a week before the dance. . .I think his younger sister, who was in my seminary class, convinced him to ask me because I was in charge of the Homecoming assembly, and was kind of depressed that I wouldn't even get to go.) We had fun, even though we didn't know each other very well.

Who did you go to Prom with? I went my Junior year as a favor for my cousin. One of his friends had been turned down and aleady had paid for all the stuff, so I agreed to go. . . his name was Joey Buttsner(enough said). I was just glad my cousin Nate was their with us, because he and I were really close. I didn't go my Senior Year.

If you could go back and re-do high school, would you?: I don't think so. My life was so much better the moment I said goodbye to that school.

What do you remember about Graduation: I really don't remember a whole lot. I remember loving the new dress I wore. I also remember thinking the pomp of it all was rediculous. It was a long day, and I was tired of waiting and standing in lines. But at the same time it was fun and exhilerating knowing that this was the end.

Do you plan on going to your 10 year reunion: I would like to go. I think it will be fun seing where people ended up. And if people are doing what I imagined them doing.

Yay All done!! So, now I tag Hina, Kami, and I can't help but invite Blair, since we went to HS together. It will be fun to see what you guys say, but I won't be upset if you decline. . .it can be a tramatic experience looking back to the evil hallways of superficiality. :)

Bonus Feature

So, I know it's not Wednesday (blogging night) but sometimes I'm just crazy. The truth is, I was so excited to post about Brett's job that I completely forgot about a few things that I had been planning on posting that night. So, here I go:

Brett and my birthday are only 3 days apart (Sept 5th, and the 8th), and so we usually have some kind of combined celebration. Last Friday we decided to cash in a lot of our gift certificates I get for giving my opinion to Valpak. We started the day off by getting a $50 super-chocolate cake from Magleby's. Brett had a little party at work and all the guys had cake. After work, we invited Brett's brother Ryan and his family for dinner and bowling (on us:) at Fat Cats. That was really fun. Brett shocked us all with his mad bowling skills! He only missed 5 pins total and bowled 156! I don't understand how playing the Wii at work can get you to be so good. I think I broke 50, and that was exciting for me. We all ate some of the cake. It was a really fun day, but the best part was only having to fork out $1.24 all day. Thank you Valpak for giving me lots of random gift certificates! Oh, and just so you know Brett finally finished the cake off today before the BYU game. . . it was just so huge! Now we are both 26. . . how did that happen. I feel like this last year just flew by.

So, I had a huge affirmation for needing to quit my job at the salon. Before I tell you what it was, I need to give you a little background. And I am honestly not saying these things to sound boastful or anything, but merely so you can understand why I was so upset. I started working at David Douglas Salon nearly 3 years ago. The salon had just opened up in the Riverwoods and I thought it looked promising. When I started there was Dave (the owner), Julie (the manager), one nail tech, one other hairstylist, and me. We were all pretty tight because we were such a small group. I discussed business ideas with Dave and often worked the desk for Julie when she couldn't. I started with nearly no clientel and spent a lot of time advertising for Dave and also individually. In the beginning I was making about $20-$40 a week! I kept with it though, because I knew that once I got a client basis I would be fine. By the time I was almost due with Hyrum I was working 20-30 hours a week making $25-30/hr. Dave had me write up a list of 'how to keep your clients and be successful' so that he could give it to the other girls. The salon was just starting to move somewhere. I've been at the salon longer than any other hairstylist. I've been there through 3 managers, dozens of receptionists, and easily 100 stylists who have started and quit. Anyway, back to my affirmation. I went to give my 2 weeks notice to the manager this last week and his response was "I need to call Dave, because I don't know how to figure out your deposit." He got on the phone, told me what Dave had decided and that was it. . . NOTHING!!! I wasn't expecting a band to play or weeping and wailing, but I at least was expecting some curiosity as to why. He didn't ask or say anything. He just went on with what he was doing and I walked away from him reminded why I dislike that salon so much. The only reason I have stayed there for so long is because I love my clients. I will miss my clients because they've become so close to me. I'll miss hearing their stories and asking about their family. But, I am grateful that I will be rid of this bad aura I got at work. It may have been harder for me to make this transition had my manager actually pretended to be nice for once. Now I feel really good about being done. Yay for Brett again!!!! I will never have to work outside of the home again! I love making motherhood my full time, all the time job.

So, we took the bumper out of the crib, because Hyrum was always pushing it way down or lifting it up to fit things underneath. Brett went down last night and found Hyrum asleep like this. We thought it was so funny! Oh, and don't worry, after the picture we moved him around.

Today is a happy day!!!

There is much rejoicing and happiness in the homeland of Partridge because Brett got 'his' job in Arizona!!!! Yay for Brett! Oaisys is located in Tempe and they offered him a great job once he graduates in April. They are also having him work part-time remotely from home until then. This is exactly what we have been praying for, and the timing is almost too perfect. He's working like crazy on his Masters and hoping to have all the big stuff done before the end of the year, so he can quit his job in the lab winter semester. He'll be starting Oaisys at the beginning of October. At that point I'm going to 'drop' my clients at the salon to minimize schedule complications. There are a lot of changes happening here and they're all moving in the right direction. We are just so excited to have things working so well. We will now be able to buy our house in Arizona and live happily ever after. . .

Decontamination, Summer Farewell, and Ducks

So, last week was a bit . . . ok, a lot aweful with Hyrum being sick, but since then we've been able to do a complete home 'detox.' All of Hyrum's hard toys have been bleached, soft toys washed, new bedding, and anti-mocrobial (whatever that means, but it sounded clean) sprayed on Hyrum's bedroom carpet. Anyway, it was a long process, but everything is very clean now without any bad sick germs.
We were supposed to go to Wisconsin for the weekend for a 'possible' job opportunity that Brett was being interviewed for. We were really planning on that time to be our last hoorah before school started, but with the 'bug' we ended up cancelling the trip. There were a lot of things that were great about cancelling, like not spending forever on a plane and in the airport! Instead of the trip we decided to spend a day touring Temple Square. It was great, and Hyrum really enjoyed it!
Another love of Hyrum that we discovered today is feeding ducks! We went over to the BYU pond and he had so much fun watching the ducks and trying to pet them. Here are some pictures to prove it:

Finally asleep

We came home from an Arizona trip on Monday, and I've been wanting to post something ever since then. Wednesday night is my typical blogging night, so I put it off until then. . . but plans changed. Hyrum got really sick. Wednesday night he decided that, like a timer, he would wake up screaming ever 45 MINUTES!!!! The first few times, we just rocked him and put him back to sleep. Once the 1:30am scream came I ended up moving on the coach with him cuddled up to me. Brett came in and swapped with me around 4:15 and I tried to get some sleep. (Tried being the key word). Needless to say, it was a very tiring and exhausting night for all of us. Thursday morning we took him in and, sadly there are no antibiotics for him. We have to wait it out and keep him quarantined for a few more days still. He gets a little better every day, but he's still not back to his busy happy self yet. Even though I hate the fact that he doesn't feel well and is obviously in pain, I've really enjoyed the extra cuddling he's needed. He's usually such a wiggle-worm that I don't get the chance to just sit and hold him in my arms anymore. It's been kind of a sweet experience for me.

Anyway, I really wanted to post some exciting news: We found a house!!! We've now gone down to Arizona a couple of times and seen dozens of houses, and we finally found a builder and model that we both like, good location, and within the budget. If you want to see pictures click on the "OUR FUTURE HOME IN AZ" link on the side and then click on 'virtual tour' and 'pictures'. And, since we are new at the home buying thing we are very open to other people's advice, warnings, etc. We won't be signing anything until November-ish, but I'm still just so excited to see the light at the end of the school tunnel. Brett will be done in April and then we'll be moving in to a newly finished home (hopefully).

While we were in Arizona we got to have a pool party with some of our friends down there. It was so fun to see everyone with their little families. It's so nice to have so many friends going through the same stage as us. Here are some fun pictures (I stole one from off your blog Kristen. . . you're just so good at getting the good shots!)
I absolutely love this picture with all the dads and the boys. . . plus two cute girls :)
I don't know why this in underlined. . . weird I can't turn it off. . . oh well.

It was so much fun talking with everyone and cooling off in the pool.
Scott and the twins. . . they've gotten so much bigger since the last time I saw them.

Picture Update

So, Brett and I realized that we haven't posted that Hyrum can walk now! He's not a full time walker, but he frequently will stand up and take 4 or 5 steps and then sit down several times a day. I'll have to post a video of it later, but for now I'm just working on some pictures. Hyrum loves playing with our cell phones. Usually he just pushes the buttons on the front and it doesn't really do much to anything. . . until tonight. Brett's phone rang weird, and we discovered that Hyrum deleted all of his fun rings! How did he do that? Well here are some pictures of our little monkey:

Hyrum has two more teath popping through. You can't see them in this picture,
but it's just cute.

He loves 'putting things away.' It's just too bad that most of the places are not where they go. For example, the subwoofer has now become blocked by a chair, so that we'll stop loosing things to the beyond. Brett also finds quite a few little toys in his laptop case when he forgets to zip it up.
Hyrum keeps us on our toes, because he is such an explorer and climber. He climbs on and in EVERYTHING! He'll trap himself under our bed, he gets up on chairs, he loves hiding inside our ottoman! AHHHH. . . it's so cute, but man he makes me nervous!

Childhood Joys (from Brett)

So I was having quite a "craving" today after lunch for something sweet. I first went for a Toblerone (if you haven't had one they're great, but they are best if you get them in Europe rather than in our "fake" chocolate version). Alas, the BYU Bookstore was all out (trust me I looked everywhere). And as I was looking around, what did I behold. . . SPREES. It's probably been a decade or more since I've had sprees. I used to get these when we'd go on long car ride vacations as a kid. I popped the first one in my mouth and it was like I was magically transported back to the early 90's squished in the back seat of our minivan reading "My Teacher is and Alien" while driving for hours! Oh the joys of childhood!!!

The Tag

So, I know that Hina tagged me a little while ago, but I'm finally getting around to it now. So, here it goes:

3 Joys:
I'm sure this is probably obvious, but I must say my three joys are Hyrum, Brett, and Friends/Family (they count as one entity in my book)

3 Fears:
Losing Brett and/or Hyrum would be the first thing that comes to mind. Next would be spiders on my face while I sleep - I've had a few bad dreams that come into mind, yuck! Needles! They don't bug me so much just looking at them, but if one goes in me I tend to freak out a little bit or faint (that's why I went to my 'happy place' and never looked at the epidural needle when he walked in the door).

3 Goals:
I've always wanted to be like Martha Stewart when it comes to creativity, dinner parties, and style (minus the jail time and OCD). Traveling to England, France, Italy, India, and Spain have always been a goal. To be a super wife and mother is a daily goal that I hope to someday master.

3 Current Obsessions:
Reading has always been a pendulum obsession for me. I'm about to swing back to the no reading for a little while once I finish Breaking Dawn. Digital Scrapbooking is a great hobby (I just finished Hyrums baby book, and I should be getting the final copy from Blurb on the 14th. I'm extatic!) I don't know if this really qualifies, but being pregnant I've been obsessed with sleeping. . . just can't get enough it's like I'm a sleep junkie.

3 Random surprising facts about me:
I'm usually pretty random, but not very surprising. . . I can't think of much that you all probably don't already know. hmmmm. . . when I was little I used to worry the slugs would drown in the rain, so sometimes when there was a downpour I'd put my raincoat on and pick up all the slugs I could find and put them in safe homes up high. I didn't have a middle name until I got married. hmmmmm. . . wow, I'm really not that exciting. . . . ok, I've been staring at the screen so long that my screen saver just turned on. I'm out of ideas. I have no idea, so I'll cheat and leave it at two.

I haven't kept track to who all has been tagged, so I'm sending out a generic tag to anyone and everyone who has not yet done this tag: YOUR IT!!!! Now do this tag on your blog, so we can read all about you. Thanks!

Two Heartbeats

Today we had the appointment we've all been waiting for. For those of you that haven't seen or heard: I'm 11 weeks along and I look more like 16. I have a definite round bump on my tummy, and I've been wearing maternity clothes for a few weeks now. I've had this huge fear that I'm having twins. Babies are great, but 3 kids under 2 might just cause my end. So, we expressed our worries to Dr. Grover and she did a check. She heard 2 distinct heart beats. . . . luckily, one of them was mine!! Yay! So, anyway. . .there were some sighs of relief and we are looking forward to our new babY (not -ies) As far as the pregnancy, things are going pretty well. Of course there's the emotions, the sleepy-ness, and the eating issues. . but who's keeping track? I seem to be lactose intolerant when I'm pregnant, so no milk, ice cream, or anything like unto it. I've been taking calcium pills and just staying away from dairy. The last two nights I've started to get really nauseous at around 9 and so I just go to sleep. Which, ironically I'm feeling right now. Hina tagged me, but I'll have to continue this tomorrow night before I get sick.

The little man-diosis

I haven't posted any video's for a while and these are just hilarious. One is from Hawaii. We played a little too hard, so to have him fall asleep during lunch wasn't that uncommon. The other two are a tribute to Daddy time. I don't know what it is, but Dads are just so funny sometimes. Brett wins the funniest parent award by far in these videos!

Too much to handle

Okay, I've been dreading to blog lately, because I have so much to say that I didn't know how to put it all in. Instead of being eloquent with words I'm just going to make a list for you all.

1. I'm pregnant. . . due February 24th. . . just a little souvenir we picked up in Hawaii.

2. Hyrum is one! Crazy how time flies. He amazes me everyday with his new discoveries and tricks. He climbs on everything, gets into all kinds of things, says words like ball, duck, and dog (although it's not the most articulate speech so we often translate.) He's getting closer and closer to walking on two feet, but does the Jungle Book's Mogley walk really well. He's SOOO dirty pretty much all the time. . . I swear he does bathe regularly. He likes eating dirt and rocks and pretty much anything else he can fit between his fingers (including real food too).

3. The week before Hyrum's birthday we had a few visitors from my side of the family visit. Here are some pictures:

Grandma and Grandpa Rushton and Aunt Michelle came through on their way to the Rushton Reunion. It was so fun spending time with them, even though it was brief.

The Zeiglers all came down too. Hyrum LOVED having all the kids around for a few hours. We love family!

4. The 4th of July! The Partridge Picnic tradition was a blast! I could talk about it, but a picture is worth a thousand words so here we go:

5. Hyrum's Birthday. . . the 5th of July was a fun day. We had car shaped mini cakes that all the cousins decorated and then some kiddie pools and the playset. So much fun! Here are some pic's:

6. I finished Book #3 from the Twilight Series. If you haven't yet read all three books please stop reading this because it will ruin them for you. I thought I would tell you why I'm on "Team Jacob", and remember these are all my opinions and no hard feelings are intended. Edward may be handsome and mature, but he is way to protective. He just seems like the typical abusive boyfriend that has to know what you're doing, who you're with, and in his case what your thinking all the time. He's obviously older than Bella and very mature. . too mature for her. She's loosing her childhood and I'm sure sometime in the future she'll regret not having more fun. . . not to mention not being able to have children or keep in touch with her family. I will admit that Edward was much better at being less over protective on the 3rd book, but I'm still not convinced. Jacob Black on the other hand is young, and not always very mature, but he's fun. Just as Bella could picture a life with him (2 kids running on the rez, friends, family, etc.) I think it was a very real picture that makes more sense and will be a life without regrets. . other than Edward. Where as Edward will leave her with many regrets. Jacob has some growing up to do when it comes to relationships, but there's a lot of potential. Bella was happy with him, she felt free, fun, and exciting. I don't remember any point that she felt free, fun, or excited being with Edward. So, anyway these are my thoughts and I'm voting for Jacob!

End of June

Did this month really just happen. . . I can't believe it's almost July! Crazy! Well, since we've been back home its been hot. Our swamp cooler was broken and by the end of the day the upstairs felt like a sauna. I was extremely happy when the guy came by to fix it today. . .ahhh, cool air is good. Update on New Moon; I like this book much better than Twilight. I also like Jacob Black as a boyfriend (pre- 'incident') much more than I ever liked Edward. I don't know about everyone else that's read the books, but I think Edward can be kind of mushy and Jacob was just fun. Anyway, here's some pictures to remind you all how stinkin' cute Hyrum is.

Hyrum's secret hiding place he always go to.

We spent a lot of time downstairs because it was a little bit cooler. We had the air mattress set up and toys for Hyrum to play with including Dad's hat.

Lately whenever we go outside he always goes straight for the very back of the yard and just walks against the fence staring at the balls and trampoline in the yard behind us. . . he just wants to have fun all the time.

More goodness!

Ok, I know I said I would post more Hawaii pictures when I got back. . . but then I found Twilight, and I have been preoccupied. And for all those who haven't already read Twilight; the ending will frustrate you beyond belief and you'll need to be prepared for the sequel immediately! Anyway. We'll be getting the scuba and surfing pictures back 4th of July weekend. For now I thought I'd show you some super cute Hyrum pictures and Hawaii views.