Disney pages

I am 6 months behind on my scrapbooks for the boys. So, I have made a goal to complete three pages per week for each child. Sometimes it is really simple to do that because the pages are the same, I just have to change the text to personalize it to the child. It is time consuming but, I am so serious about documenting and journaling for my boys so they have these sweet memories to take with them always. Here are two of the pages I created last week. I picked these to share because I LOVE Disney and it is so hard to find Disney digital scrapbook supplies. I came across these papers and a few other embellisments and the best part is that they were free. If you are interested in where to find the digital kit let me know.

I am too busy to come up with something different from my photography blog, so I am copying my two cents about Austin over to this blog too!


Going into this, I thought creating the vision in my head would be a piece of cake. Well, in the end not so much. I didn’t have the exact scenery to work with that I had imagined in this vision, and I also didn’t have the $80 suspenders from Etsy. The balloon which I knew would make him happy and cooperate was also the biggest distraction. Ever. But, I did stumble across this beautiful grassy place (which almost doesn’t look like Tucson) and the little man in the picture just makes it even that much better. I love him so much. He is a huge handful; he has so much more energy then what his big brother did at this age. He is much more of a trouble maker and sometimes makes me wonder why I go to church. Really, I just chase him all day long, but he is so worth it. I couldn’t imagine life without him. He has made me a better mother, helped me with my patience and made me believe that I can do hard things. Things that some people told me I couldn’t do or that it wouldn't be a good idea. Well, giving birth to him during a really stressful, yet exciting and much anticipated part of my life was also one of the greatest blessings I have EVER received. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings, Austin truly melts my heart on an everyday basis and I am proud to be his mama.

In the month of July...

We did lots of things.

We started the month off with some eegees, sparklers (which the kids loved) and a fireworks show.

After waking up one morning and finding just one more reason why I don't want a pet in the house, we sadly gave our sweet puppy (who just two months prior we were thrilled about finding) to a good home with a dog friend. He is doing really well and we have visitation, which we plan on using about once a month.

We went to the circus at the TCC. We liked it, didn't love it, but it was something fun to do with the family. Austin was fascinated with the funny looking clowns and also the elephants. It was a little long though. I think two and half hours is a long time to sit and watch basically the same thing over and over again with just a slightly different ending to each trick, especially for kids.

Austin started ISR, remember my post from a couple months back? I love ISR, while it isn't as easy going thru it with a different, much younger child. I know it is so worth it. Austin hates it by the way. He screams from the minute Ms. Pam says hi and makes a gesture to take him from me.

We celebrated my sister Kelsey and Austin's birthday by going out to one of our favorite family restaurants, Texas Roadhouse. Kelsey and Austin both got to sit on the saddle. Don't mind Kelsey's black eye (softball accident).

Austin started walking! He is almost one years old and keeping the same pace as his brother as far as meeting all these important milestones.

All about Austin and Kelsey

Austin has hit the 11 month old mark. He is standing on his own, letting go of furniture and every now and then taking a step or two alone. He is just fine with crawling because it gets to the places he needs to go quickly and I am okay with that for now.

This is one of my favorite faces. He does this when he is mad or sad or just being funny. It is halirious and when we start to smile or laugh at him not matter what his mood is at that moment he laughs too because he knows he is making a silly face.

In other news, Kelsey my 10 year old sister is an awesome little softball player. This is her second year playing and catcher is her position. She is a natural and has so much potential. Makes me proud, because I am partial to the sport, and I was catcher too. Last night her team won the district five championship game and are undefeated. They play in Phoenix in two weeks.

I love this picture. She didn't know I was taking it but it perfectly portrays her attitude on the field. It's game time!

Line drive to a hole between center and left field!

ISR - Infant Swimming Resource

Aiden, my four year old couldn't swim three and a half weeks ago. He clung to my arm in the pool and wouldn't let me show him how to float. He wouldn't dare go out in deep water even with his kick board and mommy at his side. Unless he could touch the bottom, this kid had no fun in the pool. I love to swim and always remember swimming as a kid. Growing up at the lake I had plenty of experience in the water. I wanted Aiden to love the water too, more so to be safe in the water. So, my mom has a friend. Her name is Pam Housman and she rocks. She was talking to me one day about ISR, an organization that has a commitment to prevent childhood drowning. The commitment to reach the next child before he or she reaches the water alone is honored daily in everything they do. They teach one-on-one survival swim lessons for ten minutes a day 5 times a week. Pam is so passionate about it and I love that. While checking it out, I went to her home where she provides lessons and watched these little kids in the water with her. Some of the babies were as young as 9 months old. My second day observing this little 12 month old BABY was put into the water with Pam fully clothed. She had tennis shoes, a jacket with hoodie and jeans on. This little baby was put into a situation where she needed to survive and she did. She turned to her back and floated in the water letting out little whimpers of 'help me.' She was completely relaxed. I couldn't believe it. She trusted Pam so much, after witnessing that I signed Aiden up. Being there and seeing the little baby float was emotional. There was something so incredible about it. The parents were so proud and I was amazed. The thought of a child falling in the water and not knowing instinctively to turn to their back is so scary. Originally, when I went to observe, my fear was not of Aiden drowning, although it's a possibility for anyone who cannot swim or float. I just simply wanted him to learn to swim and lessons we tried in the past were not efficient, and didn't work. So, two weeks later Aiden started his lessons. I told him it was okay to be nervous but that he needed to listen to his teacher. He was so awesome and I was shocked by his quick progress. Pam asked me the first day if I had expected what I was watching and my answer was no. Absolutely did I not expect him to be calm in the water and swimming by day 3. Day three he was swimming and then turning to float on his back to rest. The very first day she taught him to open his eyes under water and to look for and grab her hand or the bar she has in her pool. It took him 3 weeks to get to a level of satisfaction on her part. His 13th day he dressed in jeans, a jacket and tennis shoes for his 'test day.' He did great; he was a lot heavier but managed to keep a good float while in the water. (Obviously with younger children there may be some crying at first and also a few more weeks of lessons. I believe it typically takes 5 weeks.)

While at swim lessons daily my eyes were opened to the reality of drownings and how quick it can happen and how often they happen and how we can help prevent them from happening. In the three weeks time Aiden was in lessons there was one drowning and one near drowning in Tucson that Pam was aware of. I also met a mom of an almost four year old and an 18 month old. The almost four year old boy Christian was a near drowning when he was 11 months old and now struggles so much. View his blog at www.christiansjourney.org. While talking to Christian’s mom she was expressing her love for the ISR program where her little girl takes lessons. She said 'If they are crying, then they aren't drowning.’ Coming from a mom who has experienced every mother’s worst nightmare her comment really made an impact on me. This is truly a great program and so worth what it takes as a mom to watch on the sideline and the little kiddos that are learning and working hard in the water.

I am so grateful for the ISR program and Pam. I now have complete confidence in Aiden's ability to 'survive' in the water and have some fun too.

If you are interested and/or if you have a pool in your backyard or family members yard don't hesitate to put your children in these lessons. Check out www.infantswim.com for more details.

His last day celebrating with a huge jump into the pool.



Catch up

Time sure is flying by; it seems like yesterday I was swollen and complaining that I wanted to deliver my baby NOW. That was just about 11 months ago!!! Seriously, where has the time gone? My sweet little baby is almost one year old and walking and so much has happened since my last post. I am not the best at this blogging thing, but I figure if I am not journaling like I should, this is next to best for documenting parts of our lives. So here it goes...
WARNING - The following post is pretty lengthy.

January:

My cousin Amy had a baby girl just two weeks after Austin was born. We got to babysit her one day along with her almost two year old brother at the time. Austin and Mikayla were great babies that day; however I did get a glimpse of what twins would be like... I think I will pass on ever having twins :) It didn't help that I was trying to take pictures of Mikayla for her mama while having four children under four. Austin has learned how to almost get out of the swing. I came in to check on him while he was supposed to be napping and this is what I found. I started to be more diligent about buckling after this.

February:

Around mid February our neighboring apartment caught on fire and our apartment filled with smoke. Because of smoke damages we were forced to move. We were right in the middle of our second semester in nursing school and this was in no way perfect timing. So, we moved in with Grandma and Grandpa Stephens temporarily so that we could sort things out. Four days after we left the apartment we went to Disneyland. Can I just say, I LOVE Disneyland. I could spend every vacation there. Aiden was 42 inches so he could ride almost every ride there was... well, except Indian Jones. He was not the biggest fan of Space Mountain but I am proud of him for trying it. I was really sad that Splash Mountain was closed and he wasn't able to experience that one, next time for sure. His all time favorite ride for this trip was the Matterhorn, which I was surprised about. But, he loved it and we rode it more than enough times. I think 5 to be exact. While we were in California, we went to medieval times. I highly recommend this to anyone in the area. It is a full course meal served while watching knights in shining armor joust and do all sort of other medieval things on horses. Aiden really loves swords and so this was right up his alley. He couldn’t take his eyes off the arena. The meal consists of a whole chicken, a bbq rib, potatoes, bread and soup. There is also a dessert at the end which I cannot think of right now. There are even gluten free options which we were so happy about because Eric could enjoy a meal like ours. Oh and did I mention there are no silverware, so the food is prepared in such a way that you can eat like medieval timers' did.

March:

Mr. Aiden had his fourth birthday party at Pump it up. The kids had a lot of fun and it was totally worth the money spent. The party was super hero theme, each boy got a super hero shirt to wear, most of the boys actually wore their shirts too. They were all so cute together. The little girls got pretty headbands to take home because I didn't figure they would appreciate a Spiderman shirt.

Austin is really starting to get around on the floor. He scoots and gets to where he needs to go. He happened to come upon a grilled cheese sandwich that some little four year old left on the ground and had even taken a few bites for himself. Austin also has two teeth now and it hurts when he bites. He is totally ahead of the game in this department when comparing to his big bro. Aiden only had one tooth at 10 months old.

April:

Every year it is tradition that we go to the Pima County fair. This year we spent a little bit more time inside than usual. There was this cute little set up where kids could go and pick vegetables, check the tractor, and do all of the chores involved with a farm. Then the farmer would go over their work... I loved it because not only did it keep Aiden busy they had a nice rocking chair where I could nurse baby Austin to sleep. It was peaceful, the AC was on and it was good relax time for all of us. We did also ride some rides. Not so much, mommy, daddy and Austin. But Aiden had a good time on the little kid rollercoasters. We spent Easter in Pinetop with my parents. The weather was so nice, we enjoyed the movies, browsing antique shops, riding go karts, riding bikes and relaxing in Bishop Mosley's cabin. We spent every Saturday morning at Aiden's t-ball games. This is his first year playing a sport on a team. He loved it. He loves his practices each week and looks so cute sporting his cleats, baseball pants and hat. We love watching him on the field and we are trying to teach him that it is not okay to draw in the dirt while playing short stop or any position for that matter. The first time his coach put him in as catcher he was so mad. He said "I can barely walk, I can't talk and I am not playing this." He did not like the big equipment especially the helmet that left him feeling so restricted. The second time around he was asked to play catcher he was great. I think it just took that first time of warming himself up to the equipment.

                   Mom, can I please go to church like this? Um, no Aiden!

May:

May was a very busy month. The first week, we moved out of Grandma's house and into our own place. It is nice to be back in our own element again. Eric and I finished up with our nursing school finals just two day shy of our sixth wedding anniversary. We are so thrilled about spending the summer with our boys not worrying about school at all. We celebrated our anniversary with dinner and a movie. We also got a new puppy. His name is Hercules; big thanks to Aiden for picking out that name. He is the tiniest little Yorkshire terrier weighing in at 2 pounds. He reminds us a lot of our sweet girl yorkie - Zoey who passed away three years ago. Aiden graduated from his first year of preschool at Ms. Dana's. He loved going to preschool each week and looks forward to going again in August. He has learned so much this past year and we are so grateful for Ms. Dana and all the love and time she puts into her preschool kiddos.

June:

Austin is ten months old. I can't even believe it. This year really flew by. He is also almost walking. He pushes his cute little car/cart around and is making some good progress. Maybe he will be walking by the time he is one just like his brother.

One of our favorite family vacations is the LAKE. We go every year. Aiden starts talking about the lake in February and by the time June comes I just can't wait to hit the road to the lake because I am so sick of saying soon Aiden, not yet Aiden, soon. The nights were cold and I didn't come prepared for that. The first night was okay but the second night we froze. I kept Austin in the middle of Eric and me so that he could keep warm by our body heat. He was also dressed nicely in warm pajamas so I am pretty sure he was comfortable. Aiden was inside a warm sleeping bag, he didn't seem to notice anything. But Eric and I froze, we fought over the only blanket we had and my toes took hours to un-thaw the next morning when we got up. Other than that, the days were nice. We went on boat rides, little cliff jumping, tubing and swimming to the boo-ie (is that even a word, I do not know how to spell it, but it’s the orange things in the water that signal a warning of some kind. Like slow down, no wake or there is a big rock under here, don't drive your boat over it. Okay, you get the idea.)

Aiden celebrated his last t-ball game and closing ceremonies on one scorching hot day in June. He is stoked about his first trophy ever and displays it proudly in his room.