My Best Friend

With mine and Nate's anniversary coming up here in a couple days, I've been thinking a lot about why I love him. Nate is my absolute best friend and I love him to death. I wouldn't have married him if that weren't the case! Here's just a few reasons why...

*Because he drove 200 miles as much as he could, just to date me ;)

*Because he'll buy me a steak dinner.

*Because he puts up with my fascination with reality television (and someday I'll fully convert him to the dark side!)

*Because he's a FANTASTIC dad!

*Because he brings me home a Dr. Pepper when he knows I've had a hard day!

*Because he doesn't think I'm weird because I listen to talk radio. He even set it on the preset buttons in the car, just for me!

*Because I'm the only one who can tickle him!

*Because he rubs my aching hands as we sit in Sacrament meeting every Sunday.

*Because he's a Trekkie (even though I incessantly tease him about it haha).

*Because he couldn't keep an opinion to himself even if you zipped his mouth shut and duct-taped it too ;)

*Because he works so hard for our family, even though his job isn't ideal.

*Because he cooks!

*Because he has the most amazing memory. He remembers things from high school that I have absolutely no recollection of!

*Because he has seen me at my best and my worst, but loves me regardless.

*Because he'll watch sports with me.

*Because he's not a native Utahn (sounds funny, but it's true!).

*Because he loves going to little dive restaurants, just like I do.

*Because he isn't afraid of a little friendly competition (I'm going for a repeat championship win in fantasy football heh heh!!!).

*Because he loves a good road trip.

*Because he understands that I need to have "ME" time every once in a while for my sanity!

*Because I can be 100% myself around him.

I love you, my husband! :D

Wordless Wednesday (but not really...)

So, I was going to just post the picture, but I decided I had to explain what was going on in the picture! Katelyn loves watching cartoons on Nate's Blackberry and was watching one before she was about to go to sleep last night. Katelyn wanted Aiden to lay next to her and watch with her. It was cute to see them snuggling and watching a cartoon together. What makes it even funnier, though, is that Aiden's eyes look like they're about to pop out of her head! Seeing all those colors and shapes bouncing around on that little screen must have been a real trip for her! Haha! My silly girls :)

Organized Chaos

Things have been really crazy over the past few weeks, but I finally had a moment to update the blog and tell you WHY it's been so crazy!

Of course I spent many of the past few weeks still getting used to my little Sqeaker being around and in the mix of things! It's been quite an adventure figuring out how she fits into the routine of our little family! Aiden is getting so big too! She's smiling and cooing like crazy, sleeping through the night, and holding her head up on her own so well! She had her 2-month check up last week and she's 9 lb. 7 oz. and 22.25 inches long! The way she's filled out in the last couple of weeks, I could have sworn she was going to be bigger, haha! After the nurse weighed her, I literally said "That's it?!" I suppose she just seems to weigh more when you're toting her around many hours out of the day ;)

For those of you who don't know, we've moved into a new place! Our 2-bedroom apartment just wasn't working as well as we'd hoped adding a new baby to the mix! We're over in North Salt Lake now, just a few blocks away from my dad's place actually! We're in a 4-plex and we have....wait for it.....3 bedrooms! WOO! It's so nice to be spread out a bit more and not feel like we're living out of a cracker jack box. It's also a whole lot nicer than our old place and bigger, of course! I actually have a real kitchen instead of that imposter of a thing in our old apartment! We're already talking about buying a chest freezer to put in our kitchen, because I've been wanting one for the longest time in the worst kind of way, but now we actually have the space to have one now. I hope we can get it sooner rather than later! We're still in the unpacking phase and it's slow coming since Nate and I are both working again, but someday we'll have all those boxes unpacked!

Speaking of work, I have a new job! After 4 years at IHC, I decided to make a change and now I'm working for Mountain Star. For those of you outside of Utah, Mountain Star is another network of hospitals in Utah and Idaho. The change in employers has been such a blessing! I have A LOT more flexibility with my scheduling, which I was very concerned about with returning back to IHC after my maternity leave was up. I had no idea how I was going to balance 2 kids (especially with Aiden nursing) AND keep the tight, strict schedule they wanted me to keep. Also, with bonuses and what not, I'll be making some more moolah. The money is nice, but my real motivation was the flexibility. It's been a smooth transition too because most of the software is what I'm used to, so I'm already ahead on the learning curve!

A little bit about Katelyn, she's starting preschool in a week! I seriously have no idea where the time has gone. My little princess is growing up and now she's going to be starting school! And boy, is she sure excited to do so! We went to her preschool's open house on Tuesday and she had so much fun playing with the toys and seeing the other kids there. She is already comfortable with her teacher, which is a good thing. There will be no worries about Katelyn NOT wanting Mommy to drop her off at school, she'll be practically sprinting out of the car when I do probably haha! I'm also excited because she gets to go 3 days a week as opposed to 2, which most of the preschools do in this area.

Canning has been the focus for this week, oi! Along with my dad, Melissa, and the kids, we picked apples twice last week up at my in-laws place. The other night night we processed 4 batches of applesauce and we still only used HALF of the apples! It's pretty tasty applesauce, though, so it's going to be worth the work! Last night we did 48 pints of salsa, and tomato sauce, apple butter, and tomato sauce are still to yet come down the pike! Yikes!

I'll have to get some pictures up at some point! Things have been so busy, I can't even remember if I've taken any recent pictures! Regardless, I'll have some updated photos soon!

Final Push-Need votes!

My sister, Jessica, entered this ugly kitchen contest with a radio station up in Idaho Falls. The winner of the contest wins $500 in kitchen tile and as you can see her kitchen floor gives that retro feel circa 1973 (because, well, it is haha!), so she could really use it! Voting ends Monday, so it's the final push! Please go and plunk down 10 or 20 votes for her kitchen! Vote for kitchen #8! :D http://z103.fm/pages/4935983.php

Me and my hubbs

I stole this from Sarah and thought it was rather cute!

♥ What are your middle names? Samuel and Lynne

♥ How long have you been together? If you're counting what we like to refer to the "before and after", together it adds up to almost 3 years and married for almost 1!

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? Back in high school it was about 6 weeks. We we started "re"dating, it was 8 years.

♥Who asked who out? Nate. He just couldn't resist haha ;)

♥ How old were each of of you when you started dating? Both 16.

♥ Whose siblings do/did you see the most? I'd say it's about even.

♥ Do you have any children together? Aiden-5 weeks old

♥What about pets? Negative.

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? Dealing with my ex-husband. Only 13 years 9 months and counting...

♥ Did you go to the same school? High school

♥ Are you from the same home town? Nope, he's from Dallas, TX and I'm from Salem, OR.

♥ Who is the smartest? We're both pretty equal, but he's got the paper (his degree) to prove it!

♥ Who is the most sensitive? I'd probably have to say Nate. Neither one of us are sappy sensitive, but I think he's a little more so than I.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? Haha, MoBettah Steaks! So freakin tasty!!! MMMMMMM.

♥ Who has the worst temper? Both of us are pretty cool headed, but if one were to snap before the other, it would probably be me.

♥ Who does the cooking? We both do a pretty even amount actually. It's pretty nice!

♥ Who is more social? We both are, although I think I've become a little less so over the years. But we still could talk someone's ear off! :D

♥ Who is the neat-freak? Hands down Nate!

♥ Who is the more stubborn? Ha, we both are!

♥ Who hogs the bed? Me I suppose. Apparently I forced him out of the bed last night. I have no recollection of this!

♥ Who wakes up earlier? Nate. I could sleep forever if I was allowed to do so!

♥ Where was your first date? As poor high school students, we went out and got Slurpees and talked the night away!

♥ Who has the bigger family? Me. I've got family coming out my ears!

♥ Do you get flowers often? Once in a while, but just often enough :)

♥ How do you spend Christmas? We've only been able to spend one Christmas together, but we spent Christmas Eve going out to Chinese with my family, Christmas Eve night with Nate's family, the first part of Christmas Day at home, and then headed over to my dad's to open presents.

♥ Who is more jealous? Neither actually. That's never been a problem with us, thank goodness!

♥ How long did it take to get serious? Few weeks.

♥ Who eats more? Nate. Men always eat more, right?

♥ Who does/did the laundry? Both, but I think I spend the most time folding it!

♥ Who’s better with the computer? We've both pretty savy, but I think Nate wins this one. He's worked with some software programs that I don't even have a clue about!

♥Who drives when you are together? Nate.

I tag...

whoever is bored like I am! ;)

The case of the mysteriously soaking child

I'm quite the little domestic CSI! Here's how I solved the case...

Tuesday night as Nate and I were getting ready for bed, I went in to check on Katelyn. I felt that her room was a bit cool, so I went over to her bed to put another blanket on her. I grabbed one of her blankets from off the floor and half of it was soaked! So, the first thing I think is "Poor kid had an accident." I checked her underwear and sure enough she was soaked. Funny thing about it, though, is the bed was bone dry! Hmmmmmmm. I'm thoroughly confused at this point. I woke up Katelyn so she could change her clothes. I said "Katelyn, I need you to wake up. We need to change you panties" and the first thing she says is "Why?" I snickered because she was SOOOOOO out of it! She didn't even have a clue! After getting a chuckle, I then thought about it. On the occasion that Katelyn would have an accident, she knows it immediately. So at this point, I know something is off here. After getting Katelyn changed and back into bed, I take the aforementioned wet items and start walking them over to the washer. As I walk past the bathroom, I see an interesting sight. I see the toilet, SEAT UP mind you, with toilet paper hanging from the toilet seat and on up to the toilet paper roll. After looking at this for a couple seconds, the mystery is finally solved! Katelyn didn't wet the bed, she got up to use the bathroom and in her completely tired and very out of it state, she fell into the toilet! Even after falling in, you'd think she would have shot awake, right? Nope! She continued to remain completely out of it and just crawled back into bed! It took me a while to go to bed that night because I spent so long laughing! Oh my little funny girl :)

If you ever have a mysterious crayon drawing on the wall or graham crackers sprawled over the kitchen floor, give me a call! I'll crack the case!

BWAHAHAHA!!! ;)

Aiden's Homecoming and Fathers Day

I'm slowly, but surely going to catch up on my blogging ;)

We came home with Aiden from the hospital on Friday the 19th, which was right before Fathers day, so Nate got to enjoy his first Fathers Day with our new little addition to the family! Once we got home, my mom (Gramma Lane), gramma (Great-Gramma Hinman), and Sami came over to visit and finally meet Aiden. Katelyn, of course, was there too :). Once both grammas got their share of Aiden, they decided to take Katelyn out for a bit so that Mom and Dad could get a bit of a much needed rest! It was definitely a very nice and quiet start at home with lil Aiden!





Sunday was, of course, Fathers Day. It also was a pretty quiet day, but once Katelyn came home after being gone for the day, Nate finally got his Fathers Day present from Katelyn and Aiden. For Nate's first Fathers Day present, what did he get? Why, none else than a TIE! It wasn't just any tie either; it was a University of Utah tie! How could I resist helping the girls be ultimately stereotypical and cheesy for their dad's first Fathers Day? Haha!


Katelyn and Nate with his stellar tie


Aiden and Nate having a chat

Here are also some other pictures from the weekend and Aiden coming home :D


Katelyn showing off how she can be a good big sister!


Mommy giving Aiden lots of kisses!


This picture of my brother, Keegan, and Aiden cracks me up! :D


Snuggle bug Aiden with Grandpa


Sisters!


Youngest Farm Town player on Facebook (she's really working on my farm! HAHAHAHA!!!)


My cute family! Love them to death!


That's my squeaker!