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Photo Card

2011-11-30T13:45:00.001-08:00

Wreath Monogram Christmas

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Ma itchy all betta!

2011-08-23T22:28:00.001-07:00

Poor little J-man has a nasty reaction to mosquito bites. He gets bit and immediately starts to swell. Sometimes they swell up so large that they break his skin open. That was the case a few weeks ago...poor little buddy had been out enjoying the summer evening when he got eaten alive by mosquitoes. He had gotten a bite on each side of his ankle and his leg was swollen up to his knee cap. We had been putting Caladryl lotion on it to help with the itching every night and every morning for a couple of days. Every time we put it on J would tell me it was "all betta".

Rick and I had been up late all weekend and by Sunday we were exhausted. That morning I woke up and knew it was late so I grabbed my phone to see what time it was. In between my hazy vision I saw that the time was 9:45 am...9:45!!!! I immediately shot out of bed worried and confused why J's usual morning conversations with himself hadn't yet woke me. I rushed into his bedroom and found him like this...

and he announced to me "Mommy ma itchy all betta!" and then he proceeded to also let me know that...

"Mickey itchy all betta too!". He was so incredibly proud of himself. I couldn't be mad at the poor kid! It was my fault I left the Caladryl within his reach and also my fault that my lazy butt slept in so late.

Of course the new pj's were drenched

After peeling off his clothes I discovered that he had also covered all of his legs, and then put his jammie's back on after that!

Luckily Mickey cleaned up really nice after a run through the washing machine. Even worse than the clean-up was the welts on J's skin from using too much Caladryl lotion. I do have to thank him though...Daddy finally agreed to allow me to get that carpet cleaner I've been wanting! What a little turkey he is...always keeping us on our toes!

Gleeks

2011-07-17T20:21:00.001-07:00

I don't really watch the show regularly, but I L-O-V-E their music and have since I first heard it a couple of years ago SO when my adorable friend Leslie called to invite me to their concert in Las Vegas with her, of course I said YES! This was going to be my first time leaving Jordan overnight so I was a little bit nervous about it, but at least I was leaving him with his Daddy so it wasn't too terribly traumatic. That and with the exception of Leslie's dad Doug (who is probably one of my favorite people on the planet)it was going to be a girls trip, SCORE!! We flew out on Friday afternoon on Doug's plane, yeah Doug has a plane, Leslie calls it the "Princess Program" with Doug, Carol, Les, Tahsha, Stephanie, and myself.

Les, me, Tahsha, and Steph all ready for take off!

Once we landed we checked into our hotel and then went off to pick up our tickets for the shows we were going to see that night. Tahsha and Steph were going to see Phantom of the Opera and the rest of us were going to see Terry Fator. I had no clue who he was but apparently he won "America's Got Talent" one year and was supposed to be really good. I figured if he had his own show at the Mirage, he was probably going to be okay. The show by far exceeded my expectations! He was an AMAZING ventriloquist! I was so impressed at how he could change voices and switch gears so quick and keep who's who straight and honestly his mouth hardly moved at all. He also has a really great singing voice and right in the middle of his comedy show he sang a song called "Are There Horses in Heaven". I haven't mentioned on here that back in February a very dear friend of mine, Brad, passed away in a tragic accident. He was the cream of the crop, one of the most sincere, kind people I have ever met. Brad happens to be Doug and Carol's son, Leslie's brother, and Tahsha's husband. I have known the family for about 11 years. I went to high school with Brad, watched him fall in love and marry his beautiful wife. I absolutely adore this family. Watching all of them go through this has been hard. I love them all so dearly and Brad was probably the closest friend that was my age that has gone too early. Brad was a very talented roper and this song just described him to a "T". I am so glad that we got the chance to hear this song, and to offer those words of comfort to the family. Leslie has said that sometimes she feels like she encounters things in life now and it seems like it is just what she needed to hear; this was one of those times for her and I was lucky enough to be there with her. Sorry, I got sidetracked a little there but if you ever get the opportunity to go to his show, do it! It is a family friendly Vegas show (not many of them out there!) that is lots of fun to watch! Dinner that night was at the Mirage buffet. I hadn't ever tried that one before but I highly recommend it now!

The Terry Fator Theater

Doug and Carol at Terry Fator

Me and Les at Terry Fator

That night all of us young'uns went out to see the sights and show Steph Vegas at night. I laughed so hard at all of the guys picking up on Steph and Tahsha, and I even got to have a cougar moment where some teenager picked up on me. Granted I think he had consumed A LOT of alcohol at that point, but he still acknowledged me :)

Me, Steph, Tahsha, and Les at the Bellagio fountain show

The next day we went out to walk to strip and sight see...little did we know we would get more than we bargained for! When we were at the Bellagio gardens there was a swarm of people hanging out around a glasses shop and low and behold Fiddy Cent was inside (or 50 Cents as the grandma behind me was saying)! We lined up outside the shop and as he walked out we all got to give him high fives! It was pretty fun!

50 Cent sporting his new shades

That night was Glee!! Pam and Ashley (Leslie's aunt and cousin) had just flown in that afternoon right after running a marathon, um ambitious I know, and we also met up with Camille (one of Leslie's close friends) and her mom as well for dinner at the Prime Rib Loft for dinner at the Orlean's. Right after that we headed on over to Mandalay Bay for the show. What can I say?! It was AWESOME! All of them are so talented and their voices are fantastic live!

Les, Ashley, Pam, Me, Tahsha, Stephanie, Carol, Doug all ready to go in!

All the Gleeks!

Ash, Les, and me

Me, Tahsh, and Steph

Britney!

Born this way

Love her!

Diana Agron, can I please have my body back? Lea Michele, I'm going to need my voice back. I had SO much fun and the company was great! A BIG thanks to Leslie for the invite, you are such an awesome friend! Thanks for the great time ladies, and Doug the polygamist...good thing nobody asked if we were from Utah!

On our way home! I must say, the "Princess Program" is pretty posh!

Bon Jovi

2011-06-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

Obviously with the number of posts I have done this year I am a little behind, so there are going to be lots of random posts from a while back - forgive me! This is one of them.

My cute hubby bought me tickets to Bon Jovi for my Birthday back in January. Then 6 days before the concert he got put on an audit in Hawaii (yeah, I felt bad for him too) and couldn't go. That left me to go by myself with 3 seats to fill. Luckily I have awesome friends who were great fillers and joined me in the nose bleed section to watch Jon Bon shake his groove thang like no other man can! It was a blast!

I have known Kristy for years...like probably 12. She is one of those friends that I can go forever without talking to her, and then we can have a conversation and it's like we saw each other yesterday.

Sherri, Sher-Bear, Sherzie...this girl cracks me up! I have had the chance to sit by this girl at work for the past year and she cracks me up! We have so much in common and have so much fun together. She was the biggest Bon Jovi lover of us all so I knew when I asked her to come with me that it would be a definite yes!

Miss Shannon. I love this girl. Shannon was my neighbor up until about a year ago. Our daughter's used to play together all the time and I miss having her so close. She is so much fun to be around and one of the most genuine, kind people I know; I was SO excited she could go out for a girls night.

All of us "Hot Mommas" - literally, it was incredibly hot inside ESA and we are all Mom's.

Rock On!!! Shannon's face is priceless in this picture!

Jon Bon himself

Lighter chick and tight pants girl. These 2 provided just as much entertainment for us as the concert did! They were die hard Bon Jovi fans. Lighter chick swayed to the music, flipping her hair to and fro, just like a 80's music video. Tight pants girl...well she just wears that same outfit to every Bon Jovi concert she goes to...since the 80's.

I had so much fun and I am so glad these girls went with me!

Thankful

2011-05-31T21:47:00.000-07:00

I have been following this story on the news about a family from this area who just lost their 2 year old in an accident over the weekend. I hate the news and this is why. I don't know this family, but it really hits close to home when it involves a 2 year old and you also have a child the same age living in your home. It makes me realize how thankful I need to be for all of my children, even on the toughest of days for instance when Jordan manages to cry the entire grocery shopping trip to Macey's because I didn't pick the right racecar cart (yeah that really happened, tonight in fact). So tonight I am going to go in and give my poor little man who experienced his first bee sting tonight, biffed it down the slide and bonked his head, then skinned his knee running around at the ballpark an extra kiss and tuck him in because I can, and I am thankful I am able to!

If love could have saved you...

2011-05-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

you would have lived forever.

I was due this week with our 4th (my 2nd biological) baby this week. It wasn't planned...but obviously I know how it happened :) But because it wasn't planned I was a little bit upset over it. Rick and I had a plan, and this didn't fit into that mold at the time. But as the weeks went by I became more and more okay and excited about it. I was positive it was a little girl! Both my friend and I at work confided in each other that we were both expecting (unexpectedly), and due within a week of each other. This was going to be so fun being preggers together! Then one Saturday I started having some problems. I called into the Doctor and they told me to take it easy and if things didn't change to come in. I knew things weren't okay, but I wanted to believe they were. Things improved, but didn't stop. I called in and the nurse told me that I was far enough along (I was 9 or 10 weeks at the time) to be able to hear a heart beat on the doppler so to stop in and they would put my mind at ease. I went in and she started to search for that woosh woosh woosh woosh woosh sound.....nothing. I knew, I knew right then, but of course we went through 2 more ultra-sounds with 2 different machines before they decided it probably wasn't a viable pregnancy. I was heartbroken. To make things worse I had to wait a week because I wasn't 100% sure on my dates so they wanted to be sure before doing a D&C. My last ultrasound showed a growing yolk sac but a shrinking fetus and I went in the next day for the procedure.

I honestly can't imagine having another one right now. Jordan is so much fun, and so incredibly hard all at the same time. He is very particular and VERY good at tantrums when things don't go his way, which is quite often! I am nervous for 3 because everyone says it is worse than 2 but he is just a turd sometimes so I can't imagine him being worse than he is now. But, at the same time, I wonder what our little sweetie would have looked like. Was it a boy, or a girl? It's amazing to me that as a mother you can fall in love with something growing inside of you, in such a short amount of time! I was surprised how many people have suffered a miscarriage and shared their stories with me while I was dealing with those emotions. To those of you who did, thank you for your words of comfort when I needed them! So many things have to go right to make these perfect little beings. I know that the time wasn't right and that it was something we needed to go through. Hopefully you don't take this to be a pity post, believe me, I have SEVERAL close friends who have gone through a lot worse than I have and I would take my trial over theirs any day of the week - I have just been thinking about our little one considerably more this past month, and exceptionally more this week and wanted to express my love for our little one that didn't quite make it here!

Neglect

2011-03-03T20:36:00.000-08:00

I felt like I had neglected Jordan all night tonight. We got home and the only way I could get him to come inside from playing was to bribe him and let him watch his Mater movie...so he did that...twice; all the while I was putting dishes in the dishwasher, etc. Then we met up with an old friend for a drink run. He sat in the back and watched Despicable Me the entire time. Then we got home and I sat him down for some chicken nuggets after a Wendy's run. After he was done eating it was bath time. While he was in the bath I got on my laptop to look at Facebook for a few minutes of that precious "me time" all of us mothers long for. I could hear him talking and playing with his monster truck the whole time. Then I heard what sounded like him getting out of the tub. As I got up to go and check on him the bathroom door started to shut in my face. Obviously he had gotten out but I didn't know what I was in store for until I opened the door...

There he was...sitting on the John, the entire roll of toilet paper unraveled onto the floor, and a surprise in the toilet, just for me.

Nope that's not a poo-poo in the big boy potty...that is a monster truck. I am just lucky he didn't try to flush the toilet!

Look how proud of himself he is!! That is what I get for neglecting my little one...lesson learned!

Who are you and where did my baby go?!

2011-01-27T20:02:00.001-08:00

Our little man turned 2 today...2!!! He isn't a baby at all; he is in full blown toddler mode running around, speaking his own language that we occasionally understand, and full of an extremely hilarious personality! What can I say, I am in love with this boy! He is ALWAYS sick still but I am hopeful that he will grow out of this at some point in life :) His Daddy is still his favorite and he loves playing with Tay and Bennett as well. I am kind of an afterthought but always good for kissing boo boos and snuggling. We all love this kid and we are having so much fun with him!

I took off Jordan's pajamas to get him ready for the day and he picked out his own outfit to wear...

Yep, those are his Christmas p.j.'s! I let him wear them since it was his Birthday and all...

Here are some fun facts about J...
He weighs 30 lbs...the same as his 5 year old cousin Emma
Toy Story and Cars are his favorite movies - like he really loves them and requests to watch them in the car ALL THE TIME. Wu-dee (Woody), Bahz (Buzz), Eye-ing (Lightening) and Manny (Mater) are his favorites.
He loves toy cars and choo choos
He still loves to be outside
Minnie (Mickey Mouse) is his baby lately. Just today I walked into the bathroom to find that it was Mickey's bath time. Last night Mickey got tucked in and got a binkie too!
I love how his face lights up when he sees his Mommy and Daddy!
My favorite phrase is Wuh-Voo (Love you) - it melts me every time!
He thinks barts (farts) are funny...I don't really blame him, they are!
He would live off of fruit snacks alone if we would let him.
Day and Betty (Tay and Bennett) are some of his favorite play mates and they still dote over him...I love that they love him so much!
His cousin Emme (Emma) is his best friend, and she gets to run the roost with him and he does just about whatever she wants him too so it works out well for both of them!

Happy Birthday little man! We love you so much!

Boy am I behind!!!

2010-09-27T20:05:00.000-07:00

Man I feel bad I have let things get this far behind. I have honestly been living at the office since about mid June and it hasn't let up since. I can't complain because it truly has been a blessing while Rick has been finishing up with school etc. but it has been hard being away from my family that much. I went plenty of days where I didn't see Jordan more than 20 minutes in the morning and that was about it. Rick worked all summer for Neways working a temporary job for Drew while waiting for his job with Deloitte to start which...it has! Rick was gone all last week to Seattle for orientation and is now away to Scottsdale for the remainder of his training. I know he is enjoying starting on his new career since it has been such a long wait but I am ready for him to be home and not be a single parent anymore along with working full time myself. While he was away he found out he passed the FAR section of the CPA exam (this was the hardest section that he chose to take first to get it out of the way). He studied so long and hard for it and he passed with a 94!! I am a little proud of him if you can't tell already. Both Tay and Bennett are back to school and hard at it and little J man is well on his way to talking in a language that perhaps the rest of us might be able to understand. We just recently got back from a family vacation to California so I had better get working on all of my "catch up" posts so I can post the vacation pics as well.

Roth Family Disneyland 2010

Playing Outside

2010-07-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

Jordan loves being outside! He has always loved it since he was brand new and every time we have to come inside he cries...which is not so fun but we deal with it! Anyhow, here are some pictures from our adventures outside this year.

It is essential you have your snow scraper handy in March in Utah

Headed inside

And this is what happens when we get back in

Playing at the playground

Attempting to ride scooters

Playing sports

Going on drives

So far we are enjoying the summer and the nice warm weather...hope all of you are too!

Rick Roth, MBA

2010-07-04T12:36:00.001-07:00

Man, it seems so surreal that Rick is finally done with school! It was 2 years ago that he decided to go back and though it seems like a long time ago, it really did fly by! I am so proud of Rick and his achievements. He worked really hard to maintain excellent grades throughout the entire program and did just that. His commencement was back in May but he has only been officially done for the past 2 weeks. It has been really nice having him home on the weekends again! As you can see I am really far behind on posting so please enjoy the pictures that are 2 months old!

Walking In

The Walk

After Being Hooded

All Done!

Our Fam

Rick and his proud parents

All of our awesome family that drove clear up to Logan to support Rick. We love you all and are so thankful to all of you!

Rick and his study buddy J! This picture means a lot to me. Jordan was born the January that Rick started back to school full time with both his Master's and his undergrad in accounting. Rick was a stay at home Dad when he wasn't at school and it was a lot of work, but they both made it!

After the commencement we went to Maddox for some "fine dining" :) It really was good and I had no clue it was even up there!

Thanks again to all of you for all of your love and support over the past year and a half! It has been crazy busy but a great experience.

Job Offer

2010-04-24T22:17:00.000-07:00

Well, it would seem as if my schooling is starting to pay off. I have accepted a job offer from Deloitte, and will be an auditor in their SLC office. We are of course very excited. Going into recruiting season last year, they were my number one choice for employment. Due to the sweet economy we are in, hiring was down and they were not offering very many positions when I interviewed with them in September of 2009. They did not offer me a position at that time. Then out of the blue a few weeks ago I received a call from one of their senior managers. I went out to lunch with them and they offered me a position. The only bad news in the whole process is that my employment doesn't start until the end of September, first part of October. This is due to national orientation only being conducted once per year for new hire's without previous experience. During the summer I would like to complete at least three sections of the CPA exam. If anyone has taken, or has any insight into taking the CPA exam, please let me know.

As far as school goes, I have less then 60 days left. My last class is June 19th. I have really enjoyed school, and have found a new love for learning (I know, I am a nerd).

In other news, little J-man loves the ladies. We were at the mall today and Jordan stopped in his tracks and started staring at the Victoria Secret model in one of the displays. By staring I don't mean just glancing, and then walking away. No, he stood there for honestly 2-3 straight minutes staring at the model. It was pretty funny. P.S., just to be clear, I do not make it a habit to sit and stare at the posters myself, so he didn't get it from me. Maybe he got it from his older brother.

Cadbury Mini Eggs

2010-03-28T13:20:00.000-07:00

Cadbury Mini Eggs are a family favorite. Anytime we have them in our house they don't last long. I was running late to church this morning so I showered when I got home from church while Rick went to do tithing. Since I was home alone with J man I left the bathroom door open. He was being so quiet and good, wasn't getting into cupboards or throwing things into the toilet and then I got out and found...

I love the look on his face! He looks so darn innocent doesn't he?

Here he is showing off and now claiming his mess

You are such a stinker J man! Sure do love ya though!!

St. George

2010-03-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my Mom we were able to go down to St. George this past weekend during the Sunshine Tournament to watch my nephews Taylor and Parker play baseball. I use the term "watch" lightly as I missed a lot of it due to my 1 year olds amazing ability to take naps while away from home, and by amazing I mean dreadful. Anyway...we headed down and got there just in time to watch Tay and his team win in Mesquite. The first night was an adventure figuring out sleeping arrangements since little one made it very clear that he would be sleeping in a bed with Momma the rest of the trip, and Daddy was sleeping at Uncle Jair's with Tay and Grandpa Gary.

The next morning we got up and watched Parker pitch at his game - I headed to work for a few hours while the fam stayed and played - and then went out for a bite to eat before the next game. The rest of the day was filled with baseball, eating, more baseball and fun times with family. No St. George trip is complete without the Bear Paw so we made a quick stop there on Saturday morning for breakfast before heading home. We also got to stop by and see my Grandpa who is now living in St. George. I love every opportunity I get to go and visit with him.

The kids had a great time and it was nice to get away from home for a little bit and spend time with each other. Thanks for providing a place for us to stay mom, we had a blast!

The Kiddos

Grandpa Dastrup

Not a good day...

2010-03-12T22:53:00.000-08:00

Poor little Jordan has been kind of a "sickly" child. Let me paint a picture for you...December 1st: ear infection & antibiotics, December 7th: croup & a steroid shot, December 16th: ear infection & more antibiotics, December 19th: yeast infection resulting in a nasty diaper rash with open sores from being on so many antibiotics. At this point we had reached 5 or 6 ear infections in a matter of 6 months and decided that tubes was the best option for our little guy. We got an appointment with Dr. Riddle on January 5th for a consultation. The doctor decided that tubes along with taking a look at the adenoids would be the best way to go; and then he proceeded to tell me that they would be able to do the procedure the next day! This was probably best for me anyway since I am such a worry wart but it caught me off guard nonetheless.

That night I went to pick Bennett up because Rick took Tay to the Jazz game. As Bennett and I were on our way home Jordan threw up in the car. We're talking projectile all over everything throw up. I figured it was just because he hadn't eaten for several hours and downed his bottle, but much to my dismay at 11:30 that night after Jordan had been asleep I heard that awful sound and was up cleaning a crib and child. I was concerned that they wouldn't be able to operate the next morning and even more concerned that he couldn't eat or drink anything past 1:00 that morning and now he had an empty stomach! My sweet mother in-law was over to our house @ 6:00 that morning to help take Taylor and Bennett to school for us so that we could get to the hospital by 6:30. I told the nurses and anesthesiologist that Jordan had been throwing up but they said that he would do just fine and we could move forward. J didn't even cry when they pricked his finger to do some pre-op blood work but by the time we went in for vitals he was starting to get a little nervous. We got him changed and he looked so dang cute in his little hospital clothes I couldn't help but take some pictures!

Then came the sad part...the nurse came to take J and that just about broke my heart into a million pieces! The poor little guy was not happy at all. After about 20 minutes Dr. Riddle came in and let us know that J did great and that he did end up removing the adenoids as they were very infected. Rick and I sat anxiously waiting to get our little guy back and then we heard the blood curdling scream coming from down the hall. Sure enough it was our little J Man. The poor little guy was so upset and was looking at us like "I can't believe you just gave me to those people - you would not believe what they just did to me!". Within 5 minutes of coming out of recovery the little man threw up. Nothing too major, could be associated with the anesthesia. The nurses told us to try and feed him since he had an empty stomach. Bad idea!! Rick ended up with puke all over him and the little dude. They gave J some medication for nausea and 2 hours after the procedure was over J man was released. He was a totally different baby the minute we walked out of the hospital!

Here is the little guy on our way home from the hospital - the poor little buddy was swollen from the IV fluids they had pumped into him to keep him hydrated

His left ear had an acute ear infection when the doctor got in to put the tube in - that sucker drained for 2 days!
J had really bad diarrhea and threw up so much that he became dehydrated that weekend and we had to take him into the instacare. They diagnosed him with gastroenteritis so then I felt like a really bad mom for going through with the procedure but I can say it was SO worth it! Jordan has been so much happier since he has had his tubes in. He has gotten 2 colds and no ear infection to follow like it used to in the past! Hopefully he can do well with the tubes and not have to deal with that pain and pressure all the time like he used to!

Tay's Birthday Bash

2010-03-12T22:41:00.001-08:00

Yes I know my posts are all over the place but at least they are on here! We now have a teenager in our house! Boy are we in for it!! Just kidding Tay is a great kid but he did turn the big 1-3 this year on January 13th. We went out to dinner with my family to Brick Oven on his actual birthday and of course I forgot my camera (because I am so darn efficient!!) when Grandma Jeanine and Grandpa Harry made a big dinner and we celebrated over at their house.

Taylor is such a wonderful son and an amazing big brother to both kids. He loves basketball and girls and is a pretty smart kid when he wants to be! We are so proud of him and are so thankful for all that he brings to our family. Happy Birthday bud...we love you!

Da' boys

My camera ran out of battery so hopefully I can get the pictures from Auntie Court to finish up this post!

Jordan's 1 Year Pic's

2010-02-21T11:55:00.000-08:00

I have learned many lessons in life...one of them is that getting pictures of a 1 year old is near impossible!! I had a good friend of mine at First Colony take some pictures of Jordan for his 1st Birthday - it was a 2 session process because he simply hated the first time around. Luckily Mikki was so kind and patient and graciously agreed to meet up with us one more time to try some studio shots. I am absolutely thrilled with the way they turned out! Here are some of my favorites though it was hard to choose.

I may have given birth to Elvis

I love this shot - he is always into every thing and this shows it. He loves his Mickey, he loves Wii-motes, and he really loved the clips that were supposed to hold the back drop in place, but he was pretty sure Braydon and Mikki got them as toys for him. I now have a lot of pictures of him with these clips in them but I don't care, he was smiling!

We are considering making him the next face of Apple

Thanks again Mik, I had a wonderful time and you are so very talented! Happy 1 year J man, you are cuter than ever!

UpDaTe

2010-02-19T17:25:00.000-08:00

Man...it has been a while since I last logged in. Things have been so busy lately that I haven't taken the time to log in a type a few words. In fact, I realized that things have been so busy over the past year that I haven't really done an update on the family in quite sometime so I thought I would blog while Jordan is attempting a nap and I have a few minutes.

Rick has been consumed with school this past year. He went back to UVU in January of last year and graduated with his BA in Accounting in December. While pursuing his bachelors he also was enrolled in a master's program through USU. He is still in his executive MBA program and will graduate with his Master's in Business with an accounting emphasis in June. Rick has also done a wonderful job being a full time Dad and staying on top of all of the homework he has had over the past year. He has maintained close to a 4.0 and I am so proud of him for all of his efforts to better our situation. I am so glad for the time the Rick has been able to devote to the kids and all of his help around the house. He is currently looking for a job utilizing his accounting degree so if anyone knows of anyone that might be looking for help - Rick is your guy!

Taylor is currently playing basketball and still loves every minute of it. He goes to practice on Wednesday's with his team and then plays right after that with his Dad and the elder's quorum; to top it all off he has a game every Saturday. Oh to be 13 and have energy again! He is doing well in school and has adjusted to Junior High and having multiple classes each day quite nicely. We have had the opportunity to go to the temple and do baptism's for the dead a couple of times with him and it has been a wonderful experience for all of us.

Bennett is dancing and socializing like crazy. She sings and dances everywhere she goes and has a bit of a talking problem while in school but still seems to do well with her grades. She is doing a great job reading and has so many "boyfriends" it makes us laugh! She spends most of her free time playing Barbie's or dressing up her dolls. She loves all of her little friends around the neighborhood and has a great time playing with all of them. I am beginning to wonder if she is working on being a comedian because the other day I was calling Grandma Becky (my mom) on the phone and she wasn't answering. For any of you that know my mom you know that she is a Pepsi addict. When my mom didn't answer the phone Bennett said to me " I bet she's drinking her Pepsi, and that's why she can't answer." I about died laughing!

Jordan is keeping us on our toes now getting into everything and seeing how fast he can destroy anything he can get his hands on. Just last Sunday Rick and I went and got Jordan out of his crib and let him walk around while we laid in bed just a little longer to get as much sleep as possible. After realizing I had dozed off I shot out of bed and began looking around the house only to find the little man scrubbing the toilet with Daddy's toothbrush! He is such a joy and now that he knows how to walk he thinks he needs to try and run everywhere he goes. His new favorite words are "Ma" "Da" "Ya" and "Lo" (this is hello while holding an object up to his ear like a telephone).

As for me I am still just keeping busy trying to juggle the whole work/mommy gig. It seems I don't have enough time for either and can't figure out how to balance them but I am not sure that there really is one. We are so busy at the office which I am very grateful for and I love all of the friends that I work with. I also love being a wife and mother and look forward to the time I have with my family. I have much to be grateful for and though there have been many hard days recently; I can attest that through much fast and prayer you can attain happiness and comfort even when you think it's not possible.

I hope all of you are doing well and hope to get caught up with Christmas and birthday posts soon!

Happy 1st Birthday Jordan!!

2010-01-27T20:54:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official, we have a 1 year old in our house now. Our little Jordan Richard Roth
turned 1 today - I know every parent says it but it seems like only yesterday that I just had him! Jordan is now standing all the time and occasionally decides its okay to walk, but for the most part crawling is his preferred method of transportation for now. He is getting such a funny personality and throws everything (the kid really does have an incredible arm) that goes into his hands and then gives you a look like "Are you gonna go get that for me?". His favorite word is Dada and he loves getting into everything he shouldn't be. The poor kid has the most sensitive gag reflex I have ever seen and threw up his birthday cake after taking a lick of frosting - yeah, it was awesome with an entire audience at our house watching it all go down.

To celebrate Jordan's Birthday we had our family over for dinner and cake and ice cream for a Mickey Mouse themed party. Those who attended were: Grandpa & Grandma Dastrup, Jadeyn, Grandma Jeanie (Grandpa Harry was working at the temple but he wished he could be here), Grandma Becky (Grandpa Paul had to work but he wanted to be here too), Uncle Drew, Aunt Court and all of your cousins from their house, Uncle Bill, Aunt Madeline & kids, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Kim & kids,and of course Mommy, Daddy, Tay & Bennett. It was wonderful to have so many of you over to share this special day with us. We love you all and are so lucky to have such great people in our lives!

I'm pretty sure 1st Birthday parties are for the Mom's...Jordan could have cared less about my decor but I had fun with it!

The Birthday Boy's chair

Opening presents

The Mickey cake

J loved the birthday song!

At first the cake was pretty good...

And then the consistency of the frosting proved to be too much for our little man and this is just before it all came back up!

Playing with Grandparents

J and Daddy

J and Mama

Happy Birthday little man! We love you!

Crazy...

2010-01-26T21:51:00.001-08:00

It's crazy to think that one year ago today I looked like this...

and I was getting ready to do this...

for 15 long hours. I know I look like a peach - don't judge me - I was irritated that Rick was taking my picture with the nurse there.
We took these pictures a year ago today at about the exact time too! Life sure is wonderful with our little J man added to the family now.
I love you so very much Jordan and I can't believe a year has past already. You are such a handful and keep us on our toes. You love to be loved and in return a lot of people love you too. You have one of the most adorable, beautiful, infectious smiles I have ever seen! Looking back over the past year my only regret is not seeing you more. I wish I could spend more time with you but I know you have a developed a wonderful relationship with Daddy from the time you have been able to spend with him. I love you more than words can tell and I am so excited to continue to watch you learn and grow. I love your funny personality, your awesome dance moves, and your cute little laugh! I hope I make you as happy as you make me - I sure do love ya my little Jayzer!

All my love,
Mommy

Christmas 2009

2010-01-17T20:10:00.000-08:00

Oh my I love Christmas! I love seeing my kids faces light up with joy and excitement and the magic of it all!

Rick and I sent Santa a message and asked him if he could bring the Christmas P.J.'s a day early since Tay and Bennett were not going to be here on Christmas Eve. When we got back home from Grandma Shirlene's party sure enough Santa had sent a couple of elves to our house to deliver the Christmas jammies just in time!

Aren't they so cute? Jordan was SO tired!!
Here is a picture of the tree after Santa came and before any of the kids got their hands on anything.

This year was wonderful and we had so much fun celebrating Christmas with Jordan for his very first time.

Here he is checking out his goodies from Santa

This was my favorite present in 2009

Daddy got a new toolbox

After we picked up Taylor and Bennett we headed over to Grandpa Harry's & Grandma Jeanine's. We got to visit with them for a bit and had a wonderful time together.

After that we headed home to open presents - the kids could hardly wait!

Bennett got the Barbie house she had been asking for the past 2 years - the toilet flushes, the fireplace crackles, Barbie sings in the shower, the doorbell rings. I might have been more excited to play with the house than she was!

Taylor got what he thought was the camera he had been asking for...

But ended up being the cell phone he really wanted

Both Rick and Tay got new Jordan's to improve their basketball skills

And I got some Chuck and Friends fleet cars to play with! Just kidding...J didn't really get the whole concept of opening presents or ripping the paper for that matter so we all took turns opening his presents - doesn't he look thrilled?!

To finish up the day my parents came over and opened up presents with us that evening. Thanks for coming over so we could spend more time playing at home...you guys are awesome!

We were so spoiled by everyone and are so lucky to have all that we do. We have been so blessed throughout the past year and are so very grateful. I am thankful for our Savior, Jesus Christ, and for his willingness to come to this earth knowing fully what his purpose would be. I hope I can raise my children to know that he has truly given us the most important and generous gift that could ever be given. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and hope this year brings you all the best!

Grandma Shirlene's Christmas Shindig

2010-01-08T21:58:00.000-08:00

Every year my Grandma Shirlene has a Christmas party with the family. I seriously hope I have as much energy and pep in my step as she does when I am her age. The woman is AMAZING! I hope she knows how much we all love and appreciate all that she does for us. We have so much fun with her and are so thankful that she is willing to host this event so we can be together during the holidays.

This child is a lover of Christmas just like me! I am trying to raise "Mother Christmas Jr." and so far so good.

Ma & Pa

Jordan loves other babies - unfortunately they don't always love him back

Jordan opening his first Christmas gift. I love the look on his face and how excited Auntie is trying to be for him!

Tay and his awesome new vest

Mason doing his best "Blue Steel" look

Man I love this kid!

Roo and her cute new coat

Parker was in the giving spirit of things and gave the horse to J because he loved it so much...such a good kid!

Thanks for the food storage and wonderful Christmas party Grandma!

Gingerbread Houses

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

This year my sis and I decided to get together for the second year and make gingerbread houses with our kids. We had lots of fun together making big messes! Apparently Taylor is getting too big to make these since he told me to go ahead and throw his away right after everyone left but whatever; I hate it when your kids go and grow up on you! Anyway, here are some pics from our fun-filled night.

Auntie helping put the icing on

All the kids working on their masterpieces

If only we could all be as cool as they are

"Grammy is scary" says Jordan. He generally loves Grammy - not so much in this photo

The finished products - the credit for the amazing Christmas Teepee goes to Parker - I think he should go and work for Disney as an Imagineer

We had a great night and I love getting together with family! Thanks Marshall family for the fun filled evening!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-13T21:40:00.000-08:00

Yes I know it's almost Christmas but I figured I had better post about Thanksgiving. We truly have so much to be thankful for and I am glad that there is a day set aside to reflect upon those things. This year was a nice change for Rick and I as we only had to go to ONE dinner! Usually we run around all day trying to make it to see all of our family but my mom had surgery and so we celebrated Thanksgiving with her the Sunday before.
We started the day off watching a little bit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This reminds me of being little and knowing the holiday's were here - not as much fun for Rick but he humors me because he loves me! We had an early dinner meeting at a church at noon with Jeanine's side of the family. It was great to see everyone and spend time visiting with one another. That night we came home and set up the Christmas tree.
All in all it was a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving had by all!

J & Meredith during the parade (guess I was the only one who wanted to watch it!)

Baby's 1st Turkey Day!

Uncle Billy & Mozart

Grammy Jeanine, J, & Aunt Elaine

J & Great Grandma Schofield

J & his best buddy Ethan

Dad, Mom & Jord

So little yet so destructive

2009-11-17T18:14:00.000-08:00

Last night I left Jordan in the bathroom to go and get his towel and came back to this...

yes, the ENTIRE roll of toilet paper unraveled and on the floor. Such a busy little guy!

Jordan is now beginning to stand on his own and forgets at times that he doesn't quite have his balance. He had a rough day yesterday; first falling down into the end table with rod iron legs, then he fell out of his car seat from the kitchen table landing on the tile floor (at this point we did look for any signs of a concussion), and then while in the tub he slipped and smacked his head where he had hit it earlier on the end table.

I felt so bad for the poor little guy - but he did get me back for his injuries by breaking the "shift" key on my laptop. So please forgive me now if I have any typographical errors that would require me to utilize the left shift key on my computer.

My Edward

2009-11-02T22:10:00.000-08:00

When I was first pregnant with Jordan I started to read the Twilight series. I never imagined that I would turn him into a little Edward of my own by doing so! Tonight I was laying on the floor playing with Jordan just before I put him down for bed. We were playing with an old laptop that he loves and we were having a great time together. He leaned forward with a smile on his face and an open mouth like he was going to give me a great big smackeroo on the cheek when...OUCH!! He bit me! I let out a big yell and that only made him laugh harder; I think I could be in trouble with this one...

Do you see that big red mark - no, not the zit, the other one - yeah, that is the bite!

Don't worry, Momma still loves you J!

My Little Spooks

2009-10-31T22:22:00.000-07:00

Okay so neither of my kids were anything scary but we had fun with them this year. Of course it was Jordan's 1st Halloween so that was exciting in and of itself but to top it off his big brother and sister were here to share in the fun so it was super special! Taylor decided to go to his cousin Taylor's Halloween party since he is getting so big so he didn't dress up. This year Bennett was an angel and Jordan was Mickey Mouse. I was so excited for Jordan to be Mickey because he LOVES Mickey on T.V. - the only problem was everybody thought he was a ladybug! Oh well...I still thought he looked cute. Bennett had so much fun getting ready and being all sparkly; she is still such a girlie girl and I love it!
After the kids got ready we went up to Shane and Keri's house to meet up with Drew and the kids. We walked around and did the whole trick-or-treat thing which was right up Jordan's alley since he likes to go on walks and be outside. We got back just as it started getting dark and cold and had pizza (thanks Mike!). Drew took Mason, Bennett & Addy out for some more trick-or-treating and we stayed back at Shane and Keri's with the little ones and watched the World Series. Tay had fun partying with all the boys - you are a brave woman Court! They watched the World Series and ran around playing games knocking on peoples doors and laying on their steps (yeah I don't get it either but apparently it is a really funny game if you are 12).
Everybody had a really good time and it was so much fun to see all the kids dressed up! Bennett brought home enough candy that Tay didn't even need to go out and get his own. Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween; I know we sure did!

My Little Angel

Mickey Mouse

Bennett in action

Jordan munched on these Mickey hands until he finally got them off!

The first house of many...

Princess Jasmine - Emma looked amazing! She didn't even look like herself with her hair sprayed black!

Happy Halloween everyone!

9 months old??

2009-10-28T19:22:00.000-07:00

My dear sweet little baby where has the time gone? You are 9 months old now; it kills me to even say it! Where did my little immobile cooing boy go? I am so proud of you and the new things you learn every single day! I am excited for what is ahead but can't believe how quickly the time has gone. You are such a little angel and such a blessing to our family!

Here are some things you can do now:

**Crawl, crawl, and crawl even faster - you see something you want or have somewhere you want to go and you go into a gear I didn't know existed! You also have this "stink-bug" sort of crawl/walk thing that cracks me up! You get up on your hands and feet with your bum in the air and walk around on the floor.
**You are a little climber - you can climb stairs, you attempt to climb the tub (a little slippery and not Mom's favorite to be honest), and you climb over any obstacle or person that might be in your way.
**You can say Dada - I will look at you and say "Jordan, say Mama!" and then you will turn to look at me and say with a big cheesy smile "Dada!" It is pretty hilarious! You actually jabber a lot now, and REALLY loud just in case the neighbors wanted to hear what you have to say.
**You can dance! You love your little stand up toy that plays music and when the lights and music come on you start bouncing up and down...so cute!
**You give kisses - granted they are big open mouth slobbery kisses but kisses nonetheless and Mmmmmmmm Mommy loves them!
**You pull yourself up onto everything - you want to walk and stand on your own so badly, you just aren't quite there. Lately you think you are so tricky and you will let go of the couch or whatever is holding you up but then of course you fall down and then you aren't so happy for just a minute until we smother you with kisses!
**You are starting to wave bye-bye - it is so adorable, your hand is turned backwards (facing you) but still adorable!
**Tantrums - Oh man are you getting good at these! I didn't know a 9 month old could be so determined in what they do or do not want but man oh man do you throw a fit when it's time to change your diaper. I am hoping this is just a phase otherwise we are starting potty training early my dear!
**You don't like baby food - I have to buy you the toddler foods or you insist upon eating whatever we are having for dinner (doesn't always work if we are having steak). You are such a good little eater though so I can't complain really!
**Separation anxiety has started - you really are a pretty friendly baby, but if you don't really know the person, you make sure that we are close by to keep you safe. Don't tell anyone but I kinda like it!
**You are wearing 12-18 month clothing now - Daddy swears you are going to be a giant athlete of some sort, we just haven't figured out what your favorite sport is yet!

Jordan, you are so much fun and make our family SO happy! You love your Daddy and think he is the greatest, you think your brother and sister are hilarious, and you melt my heart every morning that I have to leave you and hear you cry as I walk out the door for work; but oh how I love to see that beautiful smile you give me when I return! I wish I could stop time and just enjoy you a little longer while you are so small and will let me love on you. I love you my sweet little boy...but stop growing up so fast! :) XOXO - Mommy

Busy, busy, busy...

2009-10-18T09:49:00.001-07:00

Jordan is getting to be SO much fun I can't stand it! At the same time it is so much harder now that he is mobile and getting into everything. His newest thing is to pull himself up onto the couch, the edge of the bed or one of his toys and let go with one hand leaving only one arm to support him. Why do they think they are so big at such a young age? Anyway, with the mobility comes a lot of messes/injuries! Here are some photos from some playtime and discoveries made while crawling around...

This is his FAVORITE toy right now!

Taking a crawl through the tunnel

Tearing clothes off of the hangers in Mommy & Daddy's closet

Pulling laundry out of the hamper in the closet

Really, really proud of himself for sneaking into Mom & Dad's closet

We left Jordan downstairs for a minute to come back down and find that he had crawled into his big brother's room and gotten into his nightstand and found some fun treasures! Needless to say his brother likes his bedroom door shut now :)

Getting Mommy's shoes

Hmmm...how do you turn this thing on?

Isn't he a cutie pie?

We are all loving having Jordan around to keep us entertained! He is such a wonderful addition to our family and even though he keeps us all on our toes, we couldn't love him more!

Choking Hazard

2009-10-18T09:07:00.000-07:00

Last night scared the crap out of Rick and me. We were out at dinner with our kids and Rick's brothers and their families. Jordan had eaten a truckload of food and we were just finishing up. He was given a little piece of food to eat and all of the sudden was gasping for air. Rick saw him first and started to pat his back and swept his mouth. At that point I noticed what was happening and jumped up to help. J was in a high chair so I tried to pull him up out but of course he was buckled in and wasn't moving. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a lady at the table across from us notice what was happening and reach for her mom. The lady turned around and jumped out of her chair just as I threw J (and the highchair) over my arm and started doing back blows. After three or four hard thrusts poor little Jordan puked all over but the object was out. It was then that the woman had gotten over to us and made sure everything was out; come to find out she was a nurse and was coming to help us. It all happened so fast but I am so thankful that everything turned out okay. Jordan was just fine and didn't even cry over it but it scared the rest of us to death! This transition to solids is hard and the kid doesn't want a whole lot to do with baby food...maybe we should just stick to the little netting thing for a while. I think this is one of the greatest inventions of ALL time!

The Stair Climber

2009-10-08T21:31:00.000-07:00

Uh, oh! Jordan made his first attempt at climbing a stair tonight and mastered the entire flight on his first attempt. And we thought we would only have to worry about him going down the stairs for a while...such a little smarty pants now isn't he?!

Splish Splash Jayzer LOVES the Bath!!

2009-10-04T17:44:00.000-07:00

Jordan loves, loves, loves bath time! He has so much fun splashing and now clapping afterward when he makes an absolute mess. When he was sick a couple of weeks ago he was crying and I couldn't get him calmed down. I started up the bath tub and he immediately stopped crying and was happy as could be in the tub! Here are a few pics and some video from recent bath time fun...

Happy Boy

I have too much fun playing with his hair when he is in the tub - This do kind of reminds me of the baby off of the Adam's Family Movies from the 90's

He REALLY likes to play with his tub toys

The Splash Zone

Look out Mommy!

Yay!!

He has what?!!

2009-09-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

Wow...it has been a long hard month. Poor Jordan has honestly been sick almost the ENTIRE month! This is what most of our month has consisted of...

On September 2nd we took him into the Dr. because he was acting extremely irritable, pulling at his ears and not sleeping. This generally indicates an ear infection but he hadn't had a cold or anything leading up to it so it kind of took me by surprise. The Dr. told me that he had a common viral infection that affects small children in the late summer/early fall months. I would later find out that it was another form of the virus you will learn about below. Just about the time he started to feel better he caught a cold on the 10th. I mean the nasty dark green snot can't breathe out of your nose kind of cold. The poor kid was absolutely miserable. The following Monday night he started to fever. This continued until Wednesday when I decided to take him in to make sure his ears were clear. Of course we left the Dr.'s office with no problems just a viral infection we couldn't do anything about. Thursday night was yet another sleepless night and the fever continued into Friday. We decided that we had better take him back in because the poor baby just wasn't feeling well at all. Sure enough there was an ear infection just waiting to grace us with it's presence 2 days after we had just been in to see the doctor. Jordan also had his flu shot that same day (I know I am a mean mom) - with how often this poor baby gets sick I don't want to chance going through that nightmare. We started his antibiotic that Friday the 18th. By Monday he was starting to seem a little happier and like things were finally on the mend. On Wednesday he was a pill all day for his Dad; that afternoon my sister watched him and said that he had cried for almost 2 hours straight and no matter what she tried she could not console him. I left a message with the pediatrician letting him know what was going on and he called in Omnicef thinking that the Amoxicillan wasn't working. By Thursday he was hardly eating and had started a new fever. After yet another sleepless Thursday night I called the Dr. to see what I should do. Jordan's fever was getting worse, and at this point eating was the last thing to do on his list of priorities. I finally went into the office and as the Dr. was looking at his throat he said "Oh...I think I know what happened. Have you ever heard of Herpangina?" Obviously while trying not to laugh my response was "nuh uh." "Yeah, it's a form of the Coxsackievirus (again trying to hold back laughter). He has sores all over in his mouth and it is a whole new virus aside from what he has just had. Watch for the signs of dehydration but it will just have to run it's course."
So I left the Dr.'s office with a child that had Herpangina Coxsackievirus. So this is the worst/funniest name I have ever heard in my life! It took everything I had not to burst into laughter while he was telling me all of this. Maybe it was named so poorly because of how bad it really is...all humor aside Friday was one of the hardest days of being a mom for me. Jordan drank maybe 15 ounces all day long and refused any kind of food. He would go through little spurts where he would scream and you could tell he just hurt so bad. I felt absolutely helpless. I was so scared that he was going to get dehydrated or that his fever would get too high and I wouldn't notice because he was so loaded up on Tylenol to try and help ease the pain from the sores in his mouth.
I am so lucky to have such a wonderful mother in-law. I talked to her on Friday night and I was so upset - I felt like I was doing everything wrong...he had been sick for almost a month and I just wanted him to feel better. She rushed right over and spent the rest of her Friday evening with me. Thank you Jeanine for the self-less person that you are!! You are such an amazing woman and a great Grandmother. We are all so blessed to have you.
I am also blessed to have such wonderful men in my life that live worthy and honor their priesthood so that they can bless our family in times of need. Paul came over and helped Rick give Jordan a blessing for the healing of the sick. I am so grateful to have this assurance as we watch our children go through these afflictions. The blessing was given last Thursday and while things got even worse after that - all day Friday I had a feeling that I needed to have faith that he would get better and everything was going to be okay. Sure enough yesterday was a night and day difference for us! By 11:00 a.m. Jordan had already surpassed his food intake from the day prior. He is happy and laughing again and I hope that he can go a little while without being sick!
Thanks to all of you for your help this past month - my mommy brought me dinner, work has let me miss a few days, and there are tons of others but this post is already a mile long! Here's to a HEALTHY winter!

Stressed

2009-09-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

Man...it has been one of those days! I am feeling so stressed and it wears me out. I just needed to vent so should you feel the need to skip to other posts I can't say I would blame you. For starters I am tired of being tired. I love this sweet little baby more than words can tell but the poor kid has the hardest time sleeping. I feel terrible because he has been teething (he is cutting his 4th tooth!) over the past month and I am sure that makes him uncomfortable. To top it off he just got over a viral infection with sores in his mouth and now has a cold to grace us with its presence this week. The poor thing is sick all the time and it is just really starting to wear on me. All weekend long he wouldn't let me do anything but hold him or sit next to him while he played - I didn't get anything done! Sunday my mouth was killing me so my sweet uncle was kind enough to meet me up at his office in Centerville to take a look at things for me. After X-Rays and an exam he narrowed it down to a potential root canal. My mouth is still throbbing as I wait to see if the antibiotic will take care of things or if I have to get the dreaded dental work done. Work has gotten really busy all of the sudden which I am grateful for but it was a full and very fast paced day. I got home from work today and Jordan was just the same way but I had to cook dinner. I am a ditz and didn't put 2 and 2 together and forgot that when I dumped the frozen chicken into hot oil it was going to go everywhere...needless to say my kitchen is still greasy. While in the middle of cooking the chicken the power went out for about 20 minutes. We got done eating and the the power went out again for over an hour. I had to give the baby a bath and get him ready for bed by candlelight. I feel guilty sending my baby to the sitter and feel like I should stay at home with him but I also am concerned about missing work being the sole provider for our family for the time being. I am scared to see what the winter will bring for us since we have dealt with so many colds, ear infections, etc. all summer long!
My house is a wreck, my mouth is killing me I wish I had a baby that felt good and I want so badly to just sleep! I know I shouldn't be whining about any of this because I know there are others who have things MUCH worse than I do but I was just feeling pooped today and needed to get it off my chest...Ahhhh, I feel much better, thanks for listening blogger! :)

Jordan's Pic's

2009-08-29T22:35:00.000-07:00

I had my sister's brother in-law (does that make sense) take Jordan's pictures for me. Shane did an amazing job taking Jordan's pictures when he was just a month old so we thought we would try it again. He is so patient with us and I am so happy with the way they turned out! Here are a few that I pulled off of a website (that is why they are a little bit grainy - I will post the crisp ones when I get my CD)...

Thanks so much for taking these Shane...you and Ellie did a great job :) If you want to get a hold of Shane to take some pic's for you he is available @ 801-798-8308.

My Daddy is FUNNY!

2009-08-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

Jordan thinks his Dad is hilarious! He loves it when he plays with him and will give him a laugh just for giving him funny looks. The other day we were sitting downstairs and Rick was playing peek-a-boo from behind his laptop. As you can see Jordan thought it was pretty funny!
I love his little laugh and I am so thankful for modern technology so I can remember it forever

You're Pretty Lazy...

2009-08-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had all 3 kids home and staying for the night. I am sure that many of you know how busy nights can be especially when you get a late start on everything if you are gone to work all day long. My evening went something like this: walk in the door from work @ 5:40, open the mail, clip the coupons for baby gates that we will need sooner than later, get water boiling for corn on the cob, tell Bennett it is time to start homework, start cutting up the cards needed for the game to do the math homework, think I might hear the baby crying from waking up from a nap, put the corn in the water to start boiling, go back to cutting up the cards, wonder what it is I was going to do as I am cutting away, Rick walks in the door from putting the chicken on the grill, heads upstairs and I hear the baby's door open and him crying, remember that I thought I heard him cry and that is what I was supposed to go and check on before going back to cutting up the cards, take the baby in my arms and smother him with kisses since I have not seen him all day, start the math game, discover that holding Jordan and playing the math game at the same time is not going to work since he tries to eat the paper cards, put him down to play, boil some water for potatoes, finish the math game (lost by the way) and finish making dinner,sit down to eat, rescue the upset baby and feed him while attempting to eat my own food, start to clean up from dinner, clean the baby up and get him out of his high chair, realize he has a messy diaper, change it, go back to helping clean up from dinner, get the family out the door to Mason's game, run to the car for a blanket, have the FHE lesson in the car on the way to Coldstone, get ice cream, get home, make a bottle, get Bennett in the shower, feed the baby, put him down to play, go upstairs and get Bennett out of the shower, start picking out Bennett's clothes for tomorrow with her, start doing her hair, hear Jordan crying again and ask Rick to please start a bath for him, finish styling and drying Bennett's hair, hear the baby tip over in the tub, rush in to help and finish up the bath, tell Bennett to start reading, answer 25 questions regarding what book to read, get Jordan out of the tub and start putting on lotion etc., tell Bennett that I will be in in just a minute to help her read a word, overhear Taylor ask his Dad to put lotion on his back, Rick tells him to do it himself, Taylor calls for me to ask if I will put lotion on his back, tell him I will in just a minute I just had to get the baby's pajama's on, hear Rick tell Tay he will do it because he can't let me do everything then I hear this..."Uhh, I'm pretty sure Ali does everything anyway. You're pretty lazy!" :) Just when you think your kids don't notice how much Mom's do they go and say something as priceless as that was; cracked me right up!! I love my sweet Taylor and how observant he is!

DISCLAIMER: While this story is hilarious (to me anyway) let it be known that Rick really does help out more than the average husband/father and we are all truly lucky to have him!

Chirp

2009-08-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

So this is dumb but Rick and I were laughing so hard at what dorks we are. I just climbed into bed and all of the sudden we hear the dreaded "chirp" come from one of the smoke alarms in our upstairs level. I look at my hubby and ask "Is that in the hall?" he says "Sounds like it." I rushed out of bed worried that it would wake the baby - nothin'. I look up trying to see if any lights are blinking to indicate that there is a low battery but I couldn't see a thing. I walked into Jordan's room and there was a red light on. I hurried back in and told Rick "You go down and get a chair, I'll run and get a battery." We met back upstairs and hurried to get the problem fixed. Rick got the new battery in and I went downstairs to dispose of the old one and re-organize the bin full of batteries that I had left in shambles. While down there Rick rushes back in "I need another battery. It must have been the hall because it just chirped again." Again we haul the chair up and put the second to last 9V battery inside the smoke detector. Going to finish the organization task I had started I went back downstairs. One more time I turn to find Rick laughing telling me that it was in Bennett's room the whole time. 3 chirps and 3 batteries later the mystery was history. Funny how much parents value the quiet time a baby is in bed for the night!

Owlz Game

2009-08-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

Last week we were able to go as a family to an Orem Owlz game. My work has great season tickets that they make available for their employees to use and it is nice to get out and do something different that doesn't cost anything! We took Jordan to his first baseball game which I was sure would be an adventure but surprisingly enough he did great. Bennett wasn't nearly as restless as she was last year and Taylor of course enjoyed chasing every foul ball imaginable trying to retrieve one for his stash.

Favorite and J

Tay & Roo

I love this picture - Jordan looks so big and like he is actually enjoying the game

Jordan & Mama

Jordan devouring his first taste of ballpark food

Can you spot Taylor? Here he is waiting for someone to hit a foul ball

Such a sweetie!!

As I was snapping away trying to get the perfect photos, Jordan pulled a few funny faces that I couldn't resist posting. Guess I know how he really feels about my picture taking!

We had such a great time together! Hopefully we can catch one more game before the season comes to an end.

Family Trip 2009

2009-08-22T17:17:00.000-07:00

The past couple of years my in-laws have planned a wonderful get-together for us all to spend some time together as a family. Not everyone could make it and those who didn't were missed, but we still managed to have a wonderful time! This year we went camping up Mapleton Canyon. My kids love camping and it is always nice to get outside and spend some time with great company. The kids were able to ride their scooters, ripstick's and Uncle Jeff's mountain board (which is not as easy as it looks) for fun. Grandpa and Grandma are so good to plan hikes and scavenger hunts to keep the kids entertained. We went on walks with the babies in their strollers and just REALAXED! A few of the older kids and adults all played a game of capture the flag. While I was unable to play with a baby to take care of, it was funny to watch and see how serious the adults were taking the game as opposed to the kids! Rick and his brother's are very competitive so it always makes for some good entertainment. This was Jordan's first camping trip and he did pleasantly well! He loved being outside so much and watching all of the kids run around. He was mesmorized by the fire (scary I know) and loved playing in the playpen that Jeff and Kim had brought up with them. He slept in his pack-n-play for a couple of hours at the most and then ended up in bed with Mom & Dad the rest of the night. He slept but we didn't...oh well; as long as he was warm! Taylor and Bennett were both so brave and stayed in their own tent right next to ours; I was so proud of them for making it all night! As a side note: the tent was directly across from ours; if you unzipped our tent you walked right into theirs...I didn't want anyone to think I was leaving our children alone in the forest to fend for themselves!

The Campsite (the 2 tents almost kissing in the background were our tents - see how close we were!!)

Jordan taking a snooze in the tent

Dinner Time

Jeff & Kassandra

Miss Roo

T-Bone

My Hubby and Me

Mommy & the blurry baby

Tay & Dad

Playin' Skip Bo

Rick working his magic

Jordan in his cage - he loved it!

Frisbee & Walks - aren't my in-laws the cutest?

Gramma J & Baby J
I am so greatful that my kids have the opportunity to have family and amazing grandparents so close that are so involved in their lives. Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into planning our family activities. We love you!

Will the Moses Basket Still Work?

2009-08-22T16:53:00.000-07:00

So my adorable boss Jamie bought me this Moses Basket as a gift before I had Jordan. We were headed up camping a couple of weeks ago and I couldn't decide I wanted to haul the pack-n-play up or not so I thought to myself..."I wonder if the Moses Basket still works? I could set it down right beside me and make sure he stays nice and cozy warm." I laid him back in it and his head touched the top and his toes were to the bottom; he had grown a bit since the last time he was in it!! I sat him up to get him out and...

He was so tight in there the lining stuck to his head and came out with him!

He then proceeded to play with the handles and eat them

While playing he managed to tip the basket onto it's side and topple out

It was then that Mommy and J decided that maybe the pack-n-play wasn't such a bad idea after all!

Where is the ladies room?

2009-08-18T22:39:00.000-07:00

I just had to post this so I can remember because it is absolutely hilarious! Bennett is our most sound sleeper. The girl can sleep through just about anything really. She always sleeps in the most awkward and uncomfortable positions and if she doesn't get her beauty rest you had better look out! The other night Rick and I were laying in bed around 11:30 or midnight and heard Bennett get up out of bed. I heard her groaning and moaning which last time turned into a puke fest so I was a bit worried. I hurried up out of bed and walked out to find her in Jordan's room with the light on. Worried that she was going to wake the sleeping babe I rushed in to turn the light off and asked "Honey what are you doing?!" Confused and jumbling her words she responded "Umm...I'm...umm looking for the ladies room." Where she got the term "ladies room" is a mystery to me since she never refers to the bathroom in that way. She then attempted to sit on the potty with all of her bottoms still on but we put a quick stop to that. I about died laughing! The poor girl was sleep walking and couldn't locate the "ladies room" that is right outside her bedroom door. Luckily she made it alright and fell quickly back into a peaceful slumber! That kid cracks me up!

Time to slap my cap

2009-08-18T22:02:00.000-07:00

I saw this hat and thought that Jordan just had to have it. Little girls get headbands and boys get baseball caps right? I thought I would try it on to see how he looked and this was the result...

"Oh look how cute you look!" says Mommy.

What is this thing squeezing my head?

Why do you subject me to this torture Mom?

Ahhh...that's much better!!!

See this is where it belongs...Mmmm Yummy!

Oh well, luckily he has hair so it doesn't matter anyway!

6 Month Check-Up

2009-08-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

Jordan had his 6 month well baby visit today. Here are the stats...

19 lbs. 11 oz. - 50th percentile

27 inches long - 75th percentile

His head is in the 90th percentile - I am going to say his noggin is big because he is SO smart!

The doctor said that he is growing well and hitting all of his milestones appropriately. The immunizations made mommy want to cry. He was being so cute giving smiles and flirting with the nurses who came in to give him his shots THEN they poked him and he thought the world was over! The worst part is the look that they give like "Why would they do that to me?" and then "Why did you let them do that to me mom?". Gets me EVERY time...luckily we don't have any shots for another 6 months. Jordan is growing so fast and we are having so much fun with him!

As a side note his first tooth finally broke through on August 6th! I will try to get a pic as soon as he will let me but he throws a big fit every time I try to look in his mouth so it may be a while.

Bennett's Baptism

2009-08-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, August 1st, was Bennett Emery Roth's Baptism. It was such a special day to be able to share with her! There were some really great talks and so many people there to support her. Her Daddy baptized her and her Grandpa Todd confirmed her. Her witnesses were her Uncle Jason & her Grandpa Harry. Her Dad, Grandpa & Uncles were all able to stand in the circle to participate in the confirmation. Taylor shared his beautiful testimony with us all; it is wonderful to hear your children share what is in their heart about the gospel. Afterward we went to a park and had a little luncheon with all of the family.

Bennett looked so beautiful in her little white dress all clean and perfect after her baptism. We are so proud of her and the decision she has made to be baptized. I hope that she can always live in a way that will welcome the spirit to be with her and allow the Holy Ghost to provide her guidance and counsel when needed. It is such a great thing to watch our kids reach these special and important milestones in their lives. Congratulations Roo, we are so very proud of you!

Daddy & Bennett before the baptism...sorry for the picture quality - I have no idea what happened but I am a little sad about it!

Our Family

Dad, Mom & Bennett

Thanks to all of you for coming and showing your love and support and sharing this exciting day with our family!

24th of July - Fiesta Days

2009-07-30T18:19:00.001-07:00

I LOVE the 24th of July! I know it makes me such a Spanish Forkian but I love the Fiesta Days fun! I think it brings back a lot of fun memories and I always get to spend it with my wonderful family and great friends. This years events were just the same as other years...parade in the morning, entertainment/activities and lunch at the park then over to our house for a BBQ and fireworks.

Thanks to my awesome sis we had great seats for the parade!

Daddy and Jord

Roo, J-Man & Mason (J was really tired - his sister really is one of his favorite people)

Taylor H - isn't he the coolest?

Parker & Tay enjoying their snow cones...yummy!

Drew, Court & Muh

It was nap time for baby J...here he is taking a snooze during the parade

All the kids lined up to chase after candy

Emma loved the princess crown Grandma Marshall bought for her

All the kids usually climb the rock wall in the park after the parade but this year it was this giant trampoline thingy. They all did pretty good and thought they were little gymnasts doing their air tumbling. Parker was hilarious to watch and never was able to flip, but he was the BEST jumper there! :)

Mason jumpin' around - he later threw his shoes up into the air and they hit a woman on the head. He tried to apologize to her but she was grump-a-lump and wouldn't say anything to him so we all got a good laugh out of it.

Bennett did an awesome job!

Tay did great too. His sister had gone just before him and his face was so serious and intense the entire time he was up there trying to show her up...hilarious!

Taylor H showing his mad skills

Parker gave a valiant effort trying to get around but it just didn't work out for him. :) He is such a cute kid and always makes me laugh!

I love this kid!!!!

Chillaxin' at the park with Mommy

That night we had friends and family over for the annual BBQ and fireworks. It is so nice to be able to see them from our backyard so we can be close to home; especially since it decided to rain a couple of times before the firework show!

Shawn & Keri Rawlings

Shane & Kerri Marshall

The Three Amigos - Tay Park & Tay

Bennett & Addy waiting for the fireworks to start - I wish my buns were still small enough to share a chair like this!

The Fam - Could Tay & Bennett look any more excited?

Drew & Court - He loves his wife SO much...just look how excited he gets!

Billy & Madeline

Papa Paul & Jordan

Grammy Becky & Baby J

KA BOOM!!!

The fireworks were great this year and so was the company. Thanks to all of you for spending your holiday with us, we had a great time and hope to see you next year!

Jordan's 1st Haircut

2009-07-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

Okay I might sound a little dumb but this has been one of the hardest things for me to do! I have known for about the last month to a month and a half that a haircut was due for our little man. He has had the most beautiful hair since he was born and it has been so much fun for me to play with (that might sound a little girlie...sorry J). When he was about 3 months old he kind of thinned out around the sides and on the back as babies normally do but it always looked okay with the longer top until lately. When people start to wonder if your baby is wearing a toupee because his hair looks like a mop, it is probably time to cut it! Jordan has an obsession for pulling hair - it hurts SOOOO bad - and recently he has started to pull his own. This was the one thing that made me feel a little better about taking this big step was knowing I would be stopping the self inflicted pain. I finally got enough courage to make the appointment to chop off his luscious locks. Our sweet friend Keri Rawlings fit him in and I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out!

Before

Look how long it was!!

Keri working her magic

Voila - Doesn't he look adorable?!

After

I knew after he had his hair cut that he would lose a little bit of that baby look and start turning into a little man. He looks so darn cute though and hopefully it can grow in a bit more even now. A big thanks to Keri for doing such a wonderful job and for being so patient with our little guy!

Happy 6 Months Jordan!!

2009-07-27T21:10:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe that this sweet little boy is already half of a year old!

The time goes by too fast - I think I just said that in my post yesterday but it is SO true! It seems like just yesterday I was big and pregnant blogging about how uncomfortable I was and how ready I was to have him here and now 6 months have come and gone. I can truly say that I have enjoyed every stage we have experienced with him. We are having so much fun watching him learn and get better at things every single day. It makes me sad to look back at the pictures from when he was brand new and to know that his snuggly little newborn stage is already over - but I can say that his sitting up and playing with toys, blowing raspberry's at us, and watching his face light up with excitement when we walk into a room is quite gratifying.

I love you more than words can say Baby J! You bring so much joy to our family and I can't imagine life without you. Thank you for being such a happy boy, and getting me through the toughest of days. I feel so blessed that I was chosen to be your Mommy!

Here are some factoids about J-Man:

**He is a Daddy's boy through and through - Jordan loves his "favorite" - that's his Dad's nickname now**
**He loves to watch TV - I know I am a bad mom but honestly Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Little Einstein's comes on and the kid is glued...he even laughs at the TV!**
**He loves food - always has and if he is anything like his Mom and Dad he always will. He likes all of his veggies except for Green Beans; he thinks those are for the birds. He thinks Rice Cereal is one of the most repulsive things made and can't figure out why I try to keep feeding it to him. He is just starting on fruit but so far so good**
**He thinks he is super cool now that he can roll from his back to his belly - but for some reason he can't figure out that it is okay to do this when he tips over while learning how to sit up on his own?**
**He is one of the happiest babies I have ever met - he only whines when he is tired or hungry (with the exception of ear infections...poor baby)**
**He is a big boy - I can't keep a wardrobe for the kid. He is already wearing 6-9 or 6-12 month clothing and isn't too far away from 12-18 mos...**

Happy 6 months Sweets...I love you!

Happy Birthday to Roo!!

2009-07-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

Today was our sweet little Bennett Roo's 8th Birthday! I can't believe how quickly time flies by. We celebrated her birthday all weekend long with a friends party on Saturday. Her friends Addy, Pieper, McKell, & Avery all came over and went on the slip n' slide and had a water balloon fight. They each made their own flower clips for their hair and Bennett chose to have snow cones instead of a cake and ice cream.
After that our family went out to dinner to Red Robin then over to the carnival for some rides. Poor little Roo got home and the Red Robin dinner didn't stay in her belly too long after those crazy rides. :(

Bennett on the Slip N' Slide

All the Girls

Addy, Bennett & McKell enjoying their snow cones

McKell, Addy, Bennett, Pieper & Avery with their leis and flower hair clips that they made - aren't they all so cute?!

Bennett taking her new ride for a spin

Today she had a Birthday party over at Grandma Jeanine's house with all of her cousin's. They cooked her a delicious dinner and she got to play with her cousins. Bennett is such a fun loving little girl and a delight to have around the house. Happy Birthday sweetie!! We love you!

Bennett opening her gifts from Grandma & Grandpa Ottesen

Roo & her new iDog

Here are a few things about Bennett:

**She loves to dance and sing everywhere she goes**
**She is a little fish and loves to swim or play in the water any chance she gets**
**She loves jewelry and make-up and anything girly**
**She loves all of her friends and little cousins and would play ALL THE TIME if we would let her**
**She loves to be a mother to both her baby brother and her big brother (I think Jordan might appreciate it more than Taylor for some reason)**
**She loves the Disney Channel. some of her favorites are: Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Suite Life on Deck, and she is really starting to like Sonny With a Chance she recently told me**
**She enjoys doing arts and crafts**
**She has sensitive little feelings and a BIG heart**

Jordan's Blessing

2009-07-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

Okay so I am obviously behind in my blogging since being without a computer for so long as well as adjusting to life with my sweet baby and his sleeping schedule. You will all have to forgive me for a while but I will be occasionally posting old events/information until I feel all "caught up" if you will.

One of the bigger events that occurred was Jordan's baby blessing. It was such an exciting and busy day for my family. My step-sister Stacie was blessing her little baby Jessie, my oldest nephew Taylor received the priesthood that morning, and then Jordan's blessing was that afternoon.

Jordan had many wonderful friends and family members here to give him love and support on this special day. I want to thank all of you for the extra effort you made to come and share this with us. Thank you to all of the priesthood holders who were able to surround this precious little boy and especially to my wonderful husband who gave such an amazing blessing that brought tears to my eyes.

Here are lots of pics for your viewing pleasure...

Jordan in his blessing outfit

Mommy & Baby J

Grandpa & Grandma Broxton

Grandpa & Grandma Dastrup came in from Washington

Great Grandma Ottesen

Grandma Ottesen (Grandpa was at your blessing but he had to go back out to his cows before I could get a picture)

Our kiddos

Aunt Courtney and some crazy guy...just kidding, Uncle Drew

Jair, Renee & Annika came from St. George; they are like family to us...we love you!

Uncle Billy & Aunt Madeline

Our Fam

and lots of other friends and family!

I love this picture! This was after I had changed Jordan out of his outfit and Renee and I were playing picture time with the babies. Annika has Jordan by the collar and he's looking at me like "put your camera down and come help me"!

Good Morning Sunshine

2009-07-03T09:10:00.001-07:00

Every morning when Jordan is ready to wake up for the day he starts cooing and babbling. Rick and I lay in bed as long as he will entertain himself and enjoy listening to him talk. He finally decides when we have had enough rest and lets us know that it is time to drag our lazy bums out of bed and then we get to be greeted with this...

this could quite possibly be my favorite part of every day! He is always so excited to see either me or his Daddy in the morning. His breathing gets faster then he smiles oh so big and lets out a big belly laugh! Thank you Jordan for making it so much easier to get out of bed every day and turning Mommy into more of a morning person!

This morning we thought he had fallen back asleep because he was being so quiet but we discovered that he had just found one of his blankies and decided it would make a good appetizer before breakfast.

Miss Abbi

2009-06-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

This morning Rick heard a knock at the door. He opened the door and our cute little neighbor girl Abbi was hopping onto her bike. Rick noticed an envelope sitting on our porch and asked Abbi if the envelope was for Bennett. She responded "Nope, it says to the parents of Bennett. It's her grades from when we play school; don't worry they're good grades!" How cute is that?

Daddy the Comegican

2009-05-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

I just had to write a quick post so I could remember how funny this was. Bennett is SO good with Jordan. She is such a little mommy and loves to take any opportunity she is given to care for her baby brother. While we were gone on vacation Jordan was laughing at his Daddy. While he was doing this Bennett was asking Jordan "Is Daddy a Come-E-gican?". We soon figured out that she was asking if Dad was a comedian but darn it sometimes words are hard to figure out when you're a kid! :)

That being said; I have SO many pictures to add onto here and blog about. Can't wait till I can find some time to update you all!

Baby Blessing

2009-03-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

For anyone who is interested, we will be blessing Jordan on Sunday, March 29th. Our church is at 1pm and is located on 300 East Center Street in Spanish Fork. We will be having some sandwiches and deserts after Sacrament Meeting at our house which is 434 South 590 West, also in Spanish Fork.

The Day I Was Forced to Come Out

2009-02-26T15:43:00.000-08:00

This is a story about me and the day my mommy forced me to come into this world. I was fine where I was; loved it in fact. I was warm, I was getting a lot of nourishment and didn't have to work for it, and I was getting bigger everyday! Mommy however was ready for me to be here. She kept going to the Dr. every week and they kept telling her that her body wasn't doing anything and that she did not meet the criteria to be induced early, but that I was going to be a big baby. This made her more and more nervous for me to get here but she knew she had no choice but to wait. Her Dr. finally told her that she would be induced on Monday the 26th of January and to call into the hospital around 5:00 if she hadn't heard from them. Finally after much anticipation the 26th finally arrived. Mommy was going stir crazy all day and driving daddy nuts! It was time to call into the hospital to see if we could go in @ 6:00 to have a cytotec and get the ball rolling. Much to mommy's dismay the hospital was too busy and they didn't have a room open. This made me happy, but mommy started crying and daddy didn't know what to do because he had to go to school that night.

After daddy got home from school mommy called the hospital again to see what time she should call in on Tuesday to come in. The Dr. just so happened to be at the hospital still and said if she could be there in an hour and a half, that he would have the nurses start her. Mommy hurried and packed everything up and out the door they went. By the time they got checked into the hospital and put in a room it was about 11:00 pm when they gave mom her cytotec. This is when things started to get uncomfortable for me. Around 3:15 the next morning mom woke up and thought she was peeing the bed and couldn't stop. She had Dad come over and help her to the bathroom. She tried to stand up again and told Dad that she thought maybe her water had broken. The nurse came in and as it turned out it mom didn't have a bed wetting problem after all; her water had actually broken. The only problem was I had poo pooed while I was still in Mom's belly so they had to keep a close eye on things to make sure I was okay. Mom was put on pitocin around 3:30 am and then things really got bad. Around 7:00 that morning mom had only progressed to about a 3 and decided that the whole birthing process was a little too uncomfortable for her liking and that she wanted to have an epidural. The anesthesiologist soon became her best friend for the day! The nurse kept coming in to make sure things were okay for mommy; her epidural wore off a couple of times and I wasn't so happy that she was making me come out so I decided to scare her a little bit and my heart rate started to drop every time she would have a contraction so they had to put an internal monitor on and give mom some oxygen the rest of the time she was in labor. I also made the nurse think I was breech so they had to come in and do an ultrasound to make sure that mom wasn't wasting her time. After 9 1/2 hours of hard labor mom was ready to push; about halfway through the Dr. came in and realized that I was posterior and knew that it would be hard for mom to get me out. The Dr. used a vacuum on me and gave me a cone head. Finally after a lot of persistence, I had no choice but to come out.

Here I am...a big healthy boy! My mom can't keep up with how much I am eating now and is quite sure that she truly did give birth to the Incredible Hulk. Even though I didn't want to come out my family is sure glad I did. Mommy & Daddy think I am pretty cute and I am still a novelty to my big brother and sister. I am starting to acclimate a little bit more but I am sure I am going to miss out on something during the day if I go to sleep so I only take little half hour to an hour cat naps a few times a day making it very hard for mommy or daddy to accomplish anything other than holding, feeding or entertaining me but I sure like the attention. Even though I was forced to be here, everyone sure seems happy I am so I guess things will be okay after all!

One Week

Two Weeks

Three Weeks

Four Weeks

Smile

Our Little Ball-er

Mom takes too many pictures...

Perfect Little Baby!!!!!!

2009-02-08T08:58:00.000-08:00

So, we were expecting this perfect little newborn. You all know they type, eats, sleeps, poops, repeat. What we didn't realize is that we would be getting a mammoth 10lb oinker. Everything is bigger with him, his feedings are bigger (4oz every 2 hours), his poops are bigger, and his crying is bigger. They only thing that is smaller with him.....is his sleep. The kid only likes to sleep around 16 hours a day, with 10 of those usually during the daytime. The good news is, it has all became somewhat easier than the first day we got home. Some other good news, boy is he a cute kid. I know parents always think their kid is cute, but wow is he a cutie. We want to again thank everyone for all their support and love during the last few weeks. Here are some pictures of him.

Little Baby Boy!!!!!..........sort of.......

2009-01-27T22:14:00.000-08:00

Well, after much anticipation, Ali pushed out a healthy little baby boy today at 2:46pm. The only problem is he wasn't very little. He was 10 lbs. 1 oz, and 22 inches long. We really appreciate all the love and support we have felt over the course of Ali's pregnancy.

I will post in the next day for so with pictures.

Rick

My Deacon & The Incredible Hulk

2009-01-19T21:31:00.000-08:00

Okay...the title was really just because I couldn't think of anything else. They don't go hand in hand AT ALL but we did have a very special event this past Sunday. Our oldest son Taylor is now 12 and has been found worthy to hold the Priesthood. Rick ordained him a Deacon on Sunday and it was great to see the support Taylor had from so many family members all worthy to stand in that circle and bestow upon him such an important and amazing authority. It doesn't seem like our little guy is old enough to have such a responsibility but I know that he is ready and will always honor it the way our Heavenly Father would want him to. I am so grateful to my husband for being a worthy Priesthood holder and for making sure that we have it in our home. We are so very proud of you Tay and the wonderful decisions you have made!

In regards to our other son...the one that is supposed to be born tomorrow according to that little Lilypie ticker I have at the top of our blog (what is going to happen to that thing anyway - guess we will see on Wednesday); he has decided that Mom's belly is much more comfortable than the outside world and that he would like to stay in a little longer. We went to the Dr. today expecting at least to set an induction date and needless to say I just left in a lot of pain and bewilderment. I go to a practice that rotates 5 Dr.'s. and for the past 6-8 weeks I have had them all measure me and tell me that I am having a good size healthy baby. I finally got enough courage to ask the Dr. today what exactly "good size" is and he told me probably at least 9 lbs. +. There is a reason Rick doesn't normally go to the Dr. with me...I had just been put through a very uncomfortable (code for painful) appointment already, and then they tell me exactly how big my chunky monkey is going to be and my husband just started laughing!! If only it were on the flip side and he was the one who had to deliver. Oh well, if we have a healthy happy baby we are very blessed but I am a little nervous to deliver the Incredible Hulk I must be honest. Hopefully we can get things moving and set a date for next week. If all goes well, the next post should be by Rick showing off our newest addition!

Overwhelmed...

2009-01-03T03:47:00.000-08:00

Sometimes life can seem to be a bit overwhelming to us all. It seems the more we wish we could just sit back and enjoy the ride, everything around us goes faster than we can keep up with. Here I sit at 4:45 am, so uncomfortable (heartburn, feet in my ribcage, swollen feet, etc.) that I cannot sleep; wishing to just enjoy my last few moments of rest before I will never sleep again, and I can't seem to do it. I am so excited for our little one to arrive; mostly because I am excited to see him and make sure that all is well, but partly for selfish reasons that any woman who is 37 (38 on Tuesday) weeks pregnant would understand. I think my poor family that is dealing with "Mrs. Irritable" will all be happy once the hormones are a little more evened out again. My husband, sister and brother in-law got to witness me crying over chicken at Ruby River the other night...seriously, who cries over chicken?

As I near the end of my pregnancy, I want to let you all know how much I appreciate all that has been done for me and my family. I am thankful to have a job, and more so to have an employer that is so willing to work around my families needs while we adjust to these life changes. I am thankful Rick and I both have supportive families, (close and far away) that are so willing to help out with whatever they can. I am so thankful for my mom and all of the many things she has done for me these past 9 months; we always tease her for running errands constantly but I must admit that it has come in handy when I need her to pick up a gallon of milk because I just can't bring myself to put shoes on these puffy feet, or to exchange onesies because the Dr's think I am going to deliver the Incredible Hulk. I am thankful for my sister who is always willing to be the middle man and kindly remind my husband or mother that the reason I am incredibly rude or sad at times is simply because I am one big ball of raging hormones. Thank you all for the baby items that have been provided, and for the emotional support or phone calls just to check and and see how things are progressing. It has been such a fun amazing experience; it is bittersweet to begin a new chapter.

Most of all I want to express my love for my cute kids and husband. They are so good to me. Bennett has gotten over the fact that it is not a girl and now thinks that she needs me to wake her up in the middle of the night to help out with changing diapers, etc. I don't really see myself doing that but I am so thankful for her willingness to help out and the excitement that she shows in becoming a big sister. Taylor is looking forward to the boys outnumbering the girls; I hope that our little guy will be as good a kid as Taylor is when he gets to be his age. He always has the desire to do what is right. He will be a great example and is excited to teach the baby how to play sports and video games even though that is a little ways away.

Words cannot express how grateful I am to my husband. I am so proud to have him as the father of my children. I know he is nervous to start school again and to be "Mr. Mom" at the same time, but I couldn't have more confidence in him. Thank you for putting up with the many many mood swings, cravings, and sleepless nights. Thanks for always getting me my vitamins, or a water when I forget to get one myself, or for telling me that I am beautiful even with a basketball attached to the front of me. Thanks for being willing to do this all over again so to speak so that I am able to have the opportunity to raise a child from birth. I know you think they go unnoticed at times, but I am so thankful for the many sacrifices you make for us all. I couldn't feel more blessed to have found you and I look forward to the new journey we are about to begin.

Though I am somewhat overwhelmed at the idea of becoming a mother and just at the thought of what a crazy year the husband and I are approaching, I know that everything will work out and I am excited to welcome our new addition to the family.
**Just as a little update as to when the arrival may or may not take place, at the last appointment on Wednesday the Dr. said my body isn't doing anything for now. The longest he will make we wait is for the 41 week mark which is January 27th - we will see!!

Here is a pic from the beginning of December - I don't have anything more recent to share with you all so the bloated pics will have to wait for now.

How not to prepare...........

2008-12-06T08:19:00.000-08:00

I am writing this blog from inside my Master's class. In today's lesson, I want to teach the little children out there how not to prepare for a Master's final. Last night our professor let us out early, by about an hour. So I got home at 9:15 instead of 10:15 like normal. So most people would study for their final, etc....not Rick. I got home last night and immediately turned on the Jazz game. It was so good to watch them actually win last night. So you would think that after that I would study, oh no. Instead I decided that it would be more prudent to watch 2 episodes of the TV show Friends. I would have watched a third episode, but it was the very last episode of Season 10, so I am saving that to watch with my wife.

So to make a long story short, I feel asleep at 2am, and had to wake up at 7am. The worst part is that I got into my car and my battery was dead (for the second time this week). So my lovely pregnant wife helped me jump the car, even though I ended up just taking hers.

So in retrospect, do not study for finals like Rick does......

Just in case anyone was wondering, my professor is currently going over Plato's allegory of the Cave right now, yipeeee!!

Fantasy Football Update

2008-11-25T09:17:00.001-08:00

Here are the updated standings after week 12:

As you can see, Drew somehow still won his game last night because Green Bay didn't attempt a single field goal. Vikingur jumped to 3rd in the standings. Because of Regulators come from behind win over Crazy Horses, the field is set for the playoffs. The seeding isn't set since we still have one week left of regular play. Here is a look at the playoff bracket if things started today:

Freaking Fantasy Football!!!!

2008-11-24T09:19:00.000-08:00

Well, after weeks of trying not to post results, I am giving in to the Drew Marshall pressure to post some of the results. My team is in the midst of a three game losing streak (four after tomorrow) that has taken me from 3rd place, to 8th place. The only positives I have are that I am first in 2 of the 3 ESPN leagues I am playing in.

Drew has won his last two games, but is only up 8 heading into tonight's game. He is playing Wright Nation who has Green Bay's kicker in tonight's MNF game. If he makes three field goals, Drew will lose..........go Mason Crosby!!

Porkers (Wade) most likely will have won 3 out of 4 after tonight's game, although he as only scored over 80 points in 1 of the last 4 weeks, and that was a loss. However, somehow his team has done well with the losses of Steven Jackson, Earnest Graham, Brandon Jacobs, and Plaxico Burress.

The biggest surges over the last few weeks have been by Vikingur & WT Power. WT Power will most likely have gone from 9th, to 5th after this week, and Vikingur could find himself in 3rd or 4th after this week. After this week Vikingur will be 5-5-2, but will most likely have the overall points lead.

Here are the standings today as of 10:30am, I will repost the new standings tomorrow.

The reason why Drew wanted me to post, is due to last weeks whipping. He beat me both times this year, by an average of 28 per contest. As you can see, Drew (Blaze), and Adzmat's Team (Adam) have both clinched a playoff birth as well.

Pissssseeeeed

2008-11-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

So, anyone who has known me over the last few years, knows my favorite golfer of all time is Davis Love III. I have always loved Davis because he is a class act and a great ambassador of the game. I typically follow him throughout the year, see if he makes the cut, see how much money he is making, etc. He hasn't been playing very well this year, with the exception of the last few weeks. Well, though the hustle and bustle of a busy weekend (fantasy football, masters program, primary, etc.) I failed to look at the leaderboard going into either Saturday or Sunday. To my frustration, as I surfed the web today I realize that he won the tournament over the weekend, and I MISSED IT!! It is Davis's 20th victory which gives him a lifetime exemption on the PGA tour.

Fantasy Football Weeks 8 & 9

2008-11-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Well, another two weeks has came and gone since my last FF post. This last week ended in pure disappointment. I was down 11 points with one of my better players left to play (Reggie Wayne), and he came up with 8 points, so I lost by 3. I went 1 - 1 the last two weeks, beating Regulators in week 8 thanks to a big game by Brian Westbrook.

Drew (Blaze) went 1 - 1 the last two weeks first beating the number one, and then undefeated, Porkers team managed by Wade the great. He followed up his impressive win by promptly losing to the second to last place team (WT Power(note: that is Wes Tallon Power, not white power)).

Vikingur went 1 - 1 with a win vs. Duds Boys, and a loss to Regulators. Wright Nation went 1 - 1 with a loss to Crazy Horses, and a win vs. Duds Boys. Adzmat's Team went 2 - 0, with wins vs. Crazy Horses and WT Power. Crazy Horses went 1 - 1 with a win at Wright Nation, and the loss to Adzmat's Team. Duds Boys went 0 - 2, Regulators went 1 - 1, Porkers went 1 - 1, beating me and Losing to Drew by 10 in week 8. Porkers has scored over 100 only once in the last 5 weeks. WT Power went 1 - 1, but could have easily been 2 - 0, as his loss was by only 6 points.

Here are the current standings after week 9:

In some funny news, Drew has had every quarterback on his roster hurt. He drafted Tom Brady, who went out for the season in game one. He drafted Matt Schaub, who is currently injured. He traded for Kitna, who is now been cut by the Lions. He picked up Kyle Orton, who has since got injured. He now has Matt Ryan (a rookie) and Brady Quinn (made first NFL start last night). That being said, I play him this week and he will probably beat me.

Pumpkin Fun - If you call an hour and a half of carving pumpkins fun!

2008-10-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

Last Friday Rick and I decided to take the kids to pick out pumpkins at the pumpkin patch. They loved it! They took so much time to look at them all just to get the perfect one. We finally had to give them a little nudge to move along so we could get a little dinner and make it home in time to carve the pumpkins. We stopped at Wally World on the way home and got some patterns to ensure that we would have really awesome pumpkins lit up on the porch. Once we got home and Rick and I had them cleaned out, we had the kids each pick out what design they wanted to use. Of course my children picked out the two most difficult ones. We started tracing the designs with the nifty pumpkin carvers courtesy of Grandma Becky. The kids were eager to help with that part and Rick and I felt it was safe since there weren't any sharp blades or knives involved yet. As we got about a half hour into the project we realized that we were in for the long haul. Both Bennett and Taylor were bored with the carving by now and it quickly turned into a Rick and Ali project. As we sat and discussed the tradition of carving pumpkins we quickly realized that it really isn't much of a children's activity. Cleaning out the guts is really messy (any of you who know my daughter know that she would have been covered from head to toe in pumpkin guts had we let her attempt this task), then you get to carving and there are plenty of sharp objects involved, and then you have to play with fire to even get them to light up! Needless to say the pumpkins are done for the year and the kids loved the way they turned out. Luckily there is a whole year to forget what a pain in the butt this really is so they can talk us into doing it all over again! Hope you all have a happy and safe Halloween!

The finished product!!

Friends......

2008-10-22T22:29:00.000-07:00

So my wife and I love watching the show Friends. It really helps us unwind after a hard days work (yeah, I know what you are all thinking). Anyway, it has become a nightly ritual for the last year or so. We love getting in bed and watching a few episodes. On a side note, I still remember when Ali and Drew got into an argument about how many seasons of friends there were (10 by the way).

Ali always compares me to Ross, so we thought it would be fun to find a friend for each "Friend".

So I am Ross, but I think Jared Southard would work here too (he is not into dinosaurs as far as I know, but he is very smart). Ali is Rachel, you know kind of spoiled, etc. Here are the rest of our choices:

Chandler - Brad Bowen, he is a funny, funny dude!
Joey - Jair Almaraz, do I really need an explanation here?
Phoebe - Courtney, kind of a ditz, plays the guitar (Guitar Hero).
Monica - This one was hard, but I nominate Becky (Ali's mom). She is a clean freak, a little OCD, etc.

Here is a clip from one we watched the other day. This is when everyone is finding out Monica and Chandler are together.

Fantasy Football Weeks 6 & 7

2008-10-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I missed last week because.....well I have have no real good reason. Bill and I were tiling my uncles kitchen while his wife is out of town, so that is my excuse.

Starting with my team, Big-Un's, I won each of the last two weeks beating Crazy Horses week 6, and Duds Boys week 7. I have now won three games in a row and have gone from 8th to 3rd.

Blaze also won both his games the last two weeks, beating Duds Boys and Regulators. Drew (Blaze) is sitting in the number two spot and plays Porkers in a battle of 1 vs. 2. However, Drew cant overtake the number 1 spot unless he outscores Wade (Porkers) by 100.

Speaking of Porkers, he won each of the past two weeks and is still undefeated. Wright Nation slipped a little, losing each of his last two weeks (although he scored 98, and 93. Adzmat's team went 2 - 0, Duds Boys went 0 - 2, Regulators went 0 - 2, and WT Power went 1 - 1.

Finally, Vikingur and Crazy Horses both went 0 - 1 - 1, each losing once, and then tying with each other. It was a great match, Crazy Horses lost Tony Romo and picked up Matt Cassell who scored 25 points on Monday Night Football to pull even at 112 points each. Tyler (Vikingur) has actually had 2 ties this season both of them by way of a Monday Night hose job.

Here are the results after week 7:

Thursday Sucked!!

2008-10-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday really sucked. Earlier in the week I thought it couldn't suck anymore than Monday's suckiness, but yesterday really did it for me. First of all, BYU gets pummeled by TCU, what was that all about? It really doesn't surprise me, I never get too high on BYU, or the Jazz, because I know they will always find a way to disappoint me. Then, the icing on the cake, I send Drew a couple mean text messages because Boston is getting killed and is about to get knocked out of the playoffs. Down 7-0 bottom of the seventh inning. There is no way they should have won that game!! The kicker is the only reason they won is because of a freaking error by Evan Longoria. Knowing my luck, they will come back and win the whole thing and I will have to hear about it for another year!!

This video is for Drew, I want him to remember this last great Red Sox moment before they get eliminated.

Fantasy Football Week 5

2008-10-09T11:26:00.000-07:00

Well, it was a much better week for yours truly. I finally won a game on Yahoo, and won all three games in my ESPN leagues. I picked up Steve Slaton a few weeks ago, and he has been huge!!

Here are the results from week 5:

Big-Un's 08-09 116
Adzmat's Team 78

Blaze 80
Crazy Horses 50

Vikingur 101
WRIGHT NATION 101

Duds Boys 79
PORKERS 99

Regulators 98
WT Power 80

As you can see, Porkers, Blaze, and Regulators kept up with their winning ways, while Adzmat, WT Power, and Duds Boys keep on loosing. Wright Nation got very lucky to get a tie with Vikingur. Tyler (Vikingur) had a huge lead going into the Monday night game. They each had their star running backs, and well needless to say, Tyler's player (Adrian Peterson) sucked it up. I can't believe Drew keeps winning somehow, I think he played like 1 guy he actually drafted.

Here are the current standings:

1. PORKERS 5-0-0
2. Blaze 4-1-0
3. WRIGHT NATION 3-1-1
4. Regulators 3-2-0
5. Vikingur 2-2-1
6. Big-Un's 08-09 2-3-0
7. Crazy Horses 2-3-0
8. Duds Boys 1-4-0
9. Adzmat's Team 1-4-0
10. WT Power 1-4-0

Just a note, all previous weeks results and any old blogs, can still be seen at rothstyle.wordpress.com

We will be using Blogspot from now on.

Rick

I love my husband...

2008-10-08T20:29:00.000-07:00

I just had to be sappy for a minute and share with you all how sweet my husband is. I got home from work yesterday and for no reason at all there on my kitchen counter were a dozen white roses! Very seldom do I get flowers and if I do it is usually the norm...birthday, anniversary, Valentine's Day, etc. Don't get me wrong, I am the typical female that enjoys getting flowers from her husband for any reason, but it really means more to me when it is for no reason other than to just let me know he loves me and is thinking of me. This used to happen a lot more often when we were dating. That is how they lure you in you know; make you think this is a normal thing and this is how marriage will be and then once they have you BAM...they are guys again. Anyway, it brought me back to the euphoric dating days that once were and made me all giddy so I just had to write about it and let you know how truly lucky and blessed I feel to have Rick. He is such an amazing husband and father and I love him more than anything in the world!

Just as a side note, Rick did mention tonight that while the flowers are pretty, he thinks they give off a light scent of urine?? I luckily can only smell roses (and I am pregnant so my sniffer is really sensitive) but maybe that explains why this is the first time since we have been married that he has brought home flowers just because?! Thanks Babe, I love them!

First Blog

2008-08-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to keep others around us more informed on our life, Ali and I have decided to create a blog. This is my first official entry. Life is good in the Roth household. I am working for a small residential builder by the name of Camberlango Development. I started here with them in September of 2006. I am currently selling their town-home project in Springville. Although the real estate market is fairly slow in Utah right now, we have been able to sell a couple a month and in doing so have avoided all major debt collectors. Don't get me wrong, they are still collecting our debts, what I mean is we have actually been able to pay them. I decided a week or so ago that I am going to apply for an MBA program hopefully fall of this year. I am on a little bit of a tight schedule, as the application deadline is April 1st. I recently bought a book to study for the GMAT and instead of reading it right now, I am writing on this.....oh well, I am better when I procrastinate anyway.

Ali is still working for First Source Funding. She just barely is finishing a joke of a month in which she was busy every single day, often staying hours late and going in every Saturday. I think she is mostly caught up, but when you deal with peoples loans and subsequent home purchase, something always goes wrong. We recently had our one year anniversary which was a great time. She is a great wife and although I would never admit it, she knows I would be lost without her.

Taylor is doing great, he just finished basketball season, and soccer starts the first week of April. He is quite the little daddy's boy seemingly never getting enough of my attention. He is fun to hang out with, and knows more about sports than most 11 year olds, so we always have something to talk about. He is currently in the 5th grade and is growing fast.

Bennett is loving kindergarten, she is reading really well, haves fun in school and is quite the social butterfly. Her teacher says she is great in class, but wishes she would be a little less boisterous. She is starting soccer as well in April. Bennett's favorite thing is still dance. She takes dance classes every week and is getting ready for her second year end dance recital. She told me the other day she wants to be a dance teacher when she grows up, that or a golfer. I am rooting for the golfer so she can pay for my retirement.

Anyhow, this is getting to be quite large so I will write more another day.