The Colyar Clan

Why am I so lucky?

2011-09-09T11:08:00.002-06:00

{Going to Meet the Teacher Day}

This boy makes me incredibly happy! I don't know why I got to be the lucky one who was chosen to be his mom. I get to spend a great deal of time with him and the things he does and says are priceless!
The other week we were headed to my sisters house, which is about 40 minutes away. Kevin was home so the whole family was in the car. Jackson loves to sit in the middle of the backseat to be by Mya. Partway into the ride Mya started to fuss (common in the car) I reached into the diaper bag to find something to give her and I found two little containers with her treats in them- one had puffs and the other had yogurt drops. I handed them to Jackson and commented to Kevin how glad I am that he thought to pack those.... Kevin said "I didn't put those in there" just then from the backseat Jackson said "I did mom! I got those for Mya so she wouldn't be sad."
I was so proud of him! He had thought of Mya and knew that she doesn't like the car and thought ahead. He didn't pack a snack for himself even though the snack bin is right next to her snacks on the shelf, he only thought of making her happy. Thinking about my little four year old getting the bowls, filling them up, snapping on the lids and putting them in the diaper bag all by himself brought tears to my eyes.

This morning as I drove him to preschool He was talking to me about what he will do after high school, and I said he will go to college, and he asked what he will do after college, and I said that he will then find a job. He asked what he will do for a job and I told him he can do anything he wants, like be a doctor or fly airplanes. He then said "OK, but first I will be a Missionary and I will go on a mission to the ocean and teach all the sea animals. I'll teach all the mean ones how to be nice and not eat the fishes." While this struck me as cute and funny, I also was so impressed with him to talk about wanting to be a missionary! Love him :)

These are just two instances in the past few weeks... I really love the little man he is turning into and am so proud of him.

Beginnings and Endings....

2011-09-07T23:08:00.001-06:00

A Beginning.....

Today was Jackson's first day of Pre-School. I don't know who was more excited me or him. A year ago I kind of dreaded him going to preschool because I thought I would be so sad and lonely... Miss Mya sure fixed that fear! I am never lonely now... Anyway, I was ready for Jackson to go now. He was so excited last night as I was tucking him in to bed. I admit it, I was pretty excited too. We woke up at about 8 this morning and has cereal together then got ready. Mya woke up at about 9. We headed out the door by about 9:25 and arrived right on time at Miss. Karli's house at 9:30.
We had met Miss. Karli yesterday so we knew where to go and what to do. He has his own Cubby with a pencil box with glue, crayons, and a pencil in it.
When I dropped him off today I stayed for just a minute and when I went to leave I couldn't even get him to look at me long enough to wave goodbye to him! I thought for sure that would break my heart, but it was just the opposite, I felt so happy for him! I knew he was ready, I knew he would love it, so how could that make me feel sad? At pick up time he went on and on about how great his day was and all the things they did and all about his new friend "who wore the bright blue shirt." I love hearing about all the things he thought were important from his day... It does make me sad to think from now on the time where I had him completely to myself is gone. I had a long time with just me and him, it will never be like that again. He is such a great kid. He is kind, and loving, and is sensitive to others. I guess it's time to share my sweet little boy with others :)

Headed out the door! He was "pretending to walk to preschool" he told me.

A Ending.....

When I was a new mom one of the hardest things I did was breastfeeding. I struggled with it for four full months, every feeding. When Jackson was four months Kevin got cancer so I had to stop, the stress pushed me over the edge. This time around with Mya I was determined to nurse her till a year. At her last well child visit her weight took a drop and The doctor discussed with us the fact that it might be that she isn't getting enough milk. He was very kind about it and didn't even mention stopping nursing to me, but it made me keep better track of her eating habits. I was nursing her 6-7 times in a 24 hour period ( a lot) but when I was gone one night past bedtime Kevin gave Mya a bottle of frozen breastmilk and she drank quite a bit. Since I missed a feeding I decided to pump, by the end I only had about 2 ounces from both sides combined. I looked up online how much she was supposed to be getting and it was WAY short. After lots of tears I decided to stop nursing and switch to formula. I had tried many times in the past to up my supply with herbs and teas and stuff and it never really helped a lot so I decided formula was just a better choice.
Mya hated it. She didn't mind the bottle but she just refused the formula most of the time. After a few frustrating days I decided to google "what is the best tasting baby formula' I found a blog post from some dad who had done a taste test of a bunch of formula brands. His reactions were funny and very candid- his result was Similac is by far the best tasting, it is sweeter and creamier. So last night I went straight to the store and bought a can. The result? SHE LOVED IT! Has downed every bottle we have given her totally fine!
I finally stopped feeling so guilty today about stopping nursing when I was feeding her a bottle and I realized I tried my hardest and that this is ok... She is happier and this is good for her!

Today ended up being a great day! While Jackson was at preschool Mya took a nap and I had a wonderful 2 hours all to myself... Pure Bliss!

Mya 7 months

2011-08-08T21:07:00.004-06:00

Mya's Stats 7 1/2 months old:

Weight: 14 lbs 4 oz 4%

Height: 26.5 inches 42%

Head: 16.3 inches 7%

So apparently I have Mya on a supermodel diet.... not trying to starve the girl, I promise- I feed her solids about four times a day and nurse her still. The doctor wants to make sure she is gaining ok so for the next few months I need to take her in and have her weight checked. She is well above expectations developmentally so I'm not too concerned. I'd love to have those weight stats!

We took these pictures before church the other week, she was so happy and looked so cute in her little ducky dress.

Oh my goodness, this little girl has all of us wrapped around her tiny finger. She is such a beautiful, happy, smiley, cute, active little thing.

I love that huge gummy grin. She did have a tooth popping through and it went back down so I have her sweet toothless smile to enjoy for a while longer I guess.

The little stinker went through a phase where she would take her bows out instantly... drove me NUTS! She is doing somewhat better this week though.

Putting the bows straight into her mouth... little stinker.

Eating- She is a great eater. She has only turned away one food- any of the meat baby food. I can't blame her one bit though, I opened a jar the other day to put one scoop in her sweet potatoes and oatmeal and the smell sent me into the dry heaves.... I won't even give it to her now. Too nasty. We have let her have a few tastes of ice cream, mashed potatoes, let her suck on a cut orange, and gave her some baby yogurt.

Sleeping: Total Crap.... I can't stand to let her cry. I have a few times and she quiets down fairly fast but during the night when Jackson is in bed in the same room as her I don't let her cry at all. I just go in and be her human pacifier until she falls asleep. Last night was so bad. She was up like every hour from midnight to 7 a.m. so I just didn't sleep at all. Plus right now I have the worst stomach flu I've had in years. So tonight we are moving Jackson into our room on the floor for a week and are going to be working on her sleeping through the night.

Mya loves baths, loves to scoot and army crawl all over. She loves to crawl into the bottom of the exersaucer, its like her own little fort. She loves shoes, she will see a shoe laying on the round and scoots as fast as she can to get to it. She is fast and wiggly. She rolls all over, can sit up by her self from a laying position. She recently started doing what I call the "wrinkle nose." She smiles huge so her eyes disappear and wrinkles her nose up then snorts through her little nose. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Love her!

Our Puppy

2011-08-02T01:04:00.003-06:00

Our little puppy. He is the perfect pet.

Jackson is such a good kid. He is obedient 95% of the time and LOVES Mya so much. He takes such great care of her and is so sweet to her. Today he walked into the kitchen singing a song to her about how cute she is and how sorry he is she didn't win the baby contest but good luck next year. It was so cute, I wish I had it recorded.

Today we spent the afternoon playing card games. I love it that he is old enough to do this. It is so cute to see him draw a card and get a big grin on his face because it is a card he wanted, but then trying to hide the smile from me so I wouldn't know.

He is so sweet and sensitive to everyone's feelings. He is so mindful of others and makes me so proud. I love him so much and am so grateful to have him in my home.

MVHS 10 year reunion

2011-08-02T00:42:00.002-06:00

Crap.... I hate it that we are getting older. Can't we just stop time for a bit?

We attended Kevin's Highschool reunion the other week at the Govenor's Mansion in Salt Lake City. I loved the Govenor's Mansion part- the rest? ummmm..... well, it was ok.

We had a nice time but Kevin was a little disappointed at the end of the night. He said it was more awkward than fun.... Oh well.

Our third wheel.

Got ya mom!

2011-08-02T00:10:00.003-06:00

Look at that huge smile! I can not help myself but to just completely melt when I see this girl smile at me....

Today I caught her in action with the camera. She crawled through the bottom of the exersaucer.

She uses her left arm to scoot and kicks her little legs. She has gotten pretty fast actually.

It still totally catches me off guard when I hear her right behind me when I just saw her in the other room... or when I feel a tiny hand grab my ankle from behind. I still can't believe my baby is growing up so quickly. It excites me and breaks my heart at the same moment.

Trouble Maker....

2011-08-01T23:59:00.002-06:00

I LOVE this series of pictures... Now that Mya is a little busy body she is getting herself into all sorts of trouble. She wanted Jackson's GeoTrax bin so so bad and wouldn't stop until she got it. It cracks me up to see her suddenly see me and light up and give me that huge cheesy grin. She eventually fell over and just laid in the mess she created.... little stinker.

And we're off!

2011-07-17T15:30:00.004-06:00

Mya is a Movin'!!! This little stinker is six and a half months old and has decided to hit some milestones this week.

She is cutting her first tooth this week. I can see it and feel it but as of yesterday it hadn't broken the skin yet- but it is very close. When Jackson was a baby I never really noticed when he was teething, I would just notice a new tooth in his mouth. Mya on the other hand has had a runny nose, fever, and has been super fussy all week. She wasn't sleeping at nights and we were getting up for a playdate from about 12:30 am to around 2:15 am for a few nights. I am so sad to lose her adorable toothless grin. I love it when she gives me this huge gummy smile! (as pictured above)

The other milestone she hit this week was crawling around... She hasn't gotten the whole hand and knees coordination of crawling yet but that doesn't slow her down. She gets up in crawling position, rocks back and forth, and then just lunges forward head first. Then depending on where she wants to go she will pivot on her tummy or on her side and roll or scoot along with her arms and legs on her belly to get what she wants. It is totally taking me off guard when I leave her somewhere only to come back and find her across the room...

I need to baby proof some areas in a hurry, any day now she'll catch on to the traditional crawling methods I'm sure.

Mya 6 months

2011-07-17T14:12:00.004-06:00

6 Months Stats

Height TBA

Weight TBA

Where does the time go? It seems to speed past me and leaves me wondering what happened to the last month. It seems like yesterday I was singing in the Christmas program at church feeling Mya kick and squirm in my belly. I remember thinking that day that the next 24 hours would be crazy because the next morning I was having my c-section. Now here is it 6 MONTHS later!
I am so sad at how big she is getting and how she is starting to do grown up things.

Jackson is the BEST big brother. He loves this little girl more than I ever thought he would. He is so happy to see her when he wakes up and gives her big hugs and kisses. He will play with her, shares every toy with her without being asked and is still one of the only one's to get her to laugh.

She sit's up by herself and is super stable. Her hair is long enough for a clip in it.

Such a big smiler... She loves her family and strangers and greets everyone with a big toothless smile.

She loves to go for walks in her stroller and instantly slouches and kicks her little legs up and rests her feet on the tray.

Little lounger...

Sleeping is still a bit rough. I still get up with her at night anywhere from twice to four or five times a night. I keep thinking "ok this is the week. I am going to let her cry it out" and every week I come up with an excuse why it isn't a good week to try. Some days I feel like a zombie, I am so tired. She now prefers her tummy or side to sleep on and loves a packie in her mouth and one in her hand.

Napping is somewhat on a schedule. The length of time she sleeps is a bit erratic and some days she has two naps and some it is four naps... Usually she has three naps that range in length.

I am still nursing her and she is doing great on solids. She has even developed a taste for some of our food. She likes pieces of bread, loves to suck the juice from oranges and cantaloupe and tried some of my popsicle.
She is the most beautiful baby and people tell me everywhere I go how beautiful and cute she is. I love dressing her up in all her cute outfits and am having fun making her bows and accessories. Lately she has started to pull her hair bows out... NOT COOL. We will need to fix that.

We love Mya so much... Although it is breaking my heart that she is growing up it is fun to see her move into new stages.

Mya Baby Announcement

2011-06-05T23:17:00.003-06:00

I just realized that I never posted this! This is our sweet baby girls birth announcement. My friend Kelli made this for me, she is so talented and incredible. I loved it. We are still thrilled to have this little one in our family... but if she doesn't start letting me get some sleep I might change my mind.... ok, probably not- I'm pretty tightly wrapped around her little finger.

Sunday Dinner

2011-05-17T23:03:00.005-06:00

We like to go to Sunday dinner either at my parents house or Kevin's parents house. It is fun for me to visit with them and laugh. I love to see my kids with their grandparents. This Sunday we went to my parents house.

This is my grandpa. He is 85 and loves Miss Mya. I have never seen him ASK to hold someones baby, we usually just put a baby on his lap but from day one he has wanted to hold her and enjoys her, which I love! When I was like 37 or 38 weeks pregnant he even asked to feel the baby kick- which SHOCKED me, he sat there next to me on the couch and felt my tummy for like 5 minutes! It was pretty special. He must be becoming a softie in his old age.

Maddy needed her picture taken too... She still thinks she is the baby and hates to share attention.

Mya and my mom, whom she is named after, Dianne. I love how they are looking at each other with the same facial expression!

Sometimes I really wish we could move out of Utah, just for the experience, but then I know I would really miss family, especially on Sunday nights.

Went to the grocery store...

2011-05-17T22:36:00.003-06:00

Went to the grocery store and found a camel hanging out! Primary Childrens Hospital was having a fundraiser on Saturday in the Smiths parking lot so Jackson got to sit on a camel and have his picture taken.

Kind of a funny thing to do. It was something I have never done but Jackson has now!

We also donated a few dollars and rode a pony. It was so cold and rainy so we only spent a few minutes but it was a fun little experience.

Mya 4 months

2011-05-10T23:30:00.003-06:00

Four Month Stats

(taken at 4 and a half months)

12 lbs 12 oz 17%

24 inches 23%

Head cir 16.1 in 36%

My heart is breaking.... My little Mya is 4 MONTHS OLD! How did this happen so quickly? When I was pregnant I was SO excited for a teeny baby who just cuddles and sleeps curled up in a little ball on my chest. I knew the tiny newborn phase would go quickly so I tried to cherish every moment and every second of cuddle time with my new little one, I swear she spent like 10 minutes a day in her little bed. Now here it is she is already 4 months old...

Eating- Three cheers for Me!!! I am still nursing, I haven't had to give her a bottle or formula. This is a huge deal for me as this was a big stress for me. I had a really hard time nursing Jackson and ended up quitting entirely somewhere between 3-4 months with him (right when Kevin got diagnosed with cancer.) She is 4 and a half months old right now and nursing is going just fine. She still wants to nurse every two hours during the day and has had a cold the past week so has wanted to nurse every hour and a half. *exhausting* I haven't been drinking the tea, mainly because I don't think to make any and my supply is holding up fine. Mya seems SUPER interested in food, whenever we are eating dinner she gets really annoyed and trys to grab my food or drink and watches me put food in my mouth.

Napping- we know when she's tired and have the morning nap down pretty good but she isn't sleeping very long. She takes between 2-3 naps a day but is only sleeping between 20-60 minutes. To get her to sleep we have been holding and rocking her until she is asleep and then laying her in her bed. Her doctor suggested we let her fall asleep on her own from now on... I am scared and stressed to do this. I can't handle her crying. I'm waiting till she is better from her cold then we'll work on it.

At night- She sleeps a long stretch usually around 9 pm for about 5 hours or so then sleep in increments of about 2 hours, with eating in between... I am really just a pacifier at this point. This too is another thing to work on says the doctor...

Mys is the cutest little thing with quite the wardrobe. Everywhere we go people tell us what a beautiful baby she is and how cute her outfits and hair bows are. She loves to smile and has just started to laugh. She ROLLS every which way, front to back, back to front, side to side.... She can roll from her back to her tummy then swivel herself around to face the TV. Her doctor said that this is incredible of her. By four months they are supposed to be able to roll onto their side- so she is way advanced on this. She is way interested in toys and everything goes straight into her mouth. She loves to chew on fingers and drools puddles. She flails her arms still and shakes them as if she was scared. She recently started spitting up more but she isn't bothered so much by it. She loves the bath and loves Jackson. She has been better in the car as long as Jackson or mom or dad is sitting by her. We LOVE this baby girl so much, she is certainly showered with kisses and loves all day long.

Goggle Gobble Gobble

2011-05-07T10:12:00.002-06:00

The other day we were trying to get loaded in the car and Jackson was laying on the floor of his seat and being very "funny naughty." This is where he is being naughty but doing it in a funny, silly way, and its hard to get mad at him or yell at him when he's being playful.

Anyway, so he was laying on the floor of the car and I was telling him to get into his seat and he was totally ignoring me so to get his attention I yelled "GET UP IN YOUR SEAT!" But the way I said it was loud and it ran together and was in my "fake yelling" voice, comparable to the guys on those crocodile hunter shows down in the south who are speaking English but they use subtitles on the screen with them because you can't tell what the heck they are saying.

Well it got his attention and he turned and looked at me with a very puzzled look and said "Mom, why did you say Gobble Gobble Gobble at me?"

I burst out laughing and said I didn't say Gobble Gobble Gobble, I said Get up in your seat! I guess I needed subtitles too.
So now when I want to yell at him and he's being crazy I just Gobble at him...

Easter Outtakes

2011-05-03T22:50:00.003-06:00

Phrase of the day:

"It's too bright!!!"

I decided it would have been easier to take a picture of two monkeys than to try to get Jackson to open his eyes and smile!

Build-a-Mya!

2011-05-03T22:38:00.002-06:00

Mya decided to take a ride in the Build-a-Bear stroller (ok so me and Jackson decided to make her take a ride... she likes it though!)

She is still small but this tiny stroller makes her look HUGE! It cracked me up to put her in there and take her for a little stroll.

10 years....

2011-05-01T23:05:00.004-06:00

It was almost ten years ago... I remember I was at home, I was a senior in high school but was skipping first period to sleep (not too un-common). I was getting ready when my mom came running in to get me and told me what had happened. At this time the first plane had just hit and there was mass confusion.

I remember thinking how could this have happened? I instantly thought this was an accident, and thinking how could the pilot not see the building! Then we watched as the second plane hit the second tower. That is when we realized this was no mistake. Me and Mom continued to be glued to CNN watching in horror as another plane hit the Pentagon and CNN saying there was a fourth plane that had been hijacked. I looked out the window and remember feeling scared that we were being attacked on our own soil.

On September 11th 2001 19 al-Qaeda terrorist suicide bombers hijacked four commercial jetliners. Two planes hit the two towers of The World Trade Center, one hit The Pentagon, and another was headed to Washington D.C. to either The White House or the Capital Building but crashed in a rural field in Pennsylvania after passengers and crew fought the hijackers. Nearly 3,000 people died that day.

The president George W. Bush addressed the nation that evening. This was the speech he gave.

Good evening.

Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. The victims were in airplanes or in their offices: secretaries, business men and women, military and federal workers, moms and dads, friends and neighbors. Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge -- huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong.

A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve. America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining. Today, our nation saw evil -- the very worst of human nature -- and we responded with the best of America. With the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could.

Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government's emergency response plans. Our military is powerful, and it's prepared. Our emergency teams are working in New York City and Washington D.C. to help with local rescue efforts. Our first priority is to get help to those who have been injured, and to take every precaution to protect our citizens at home and around the world from further attacks. The functions of our government continue without interruption. Federal agencies in Washington which had to be evacuated today are reopening for essential personnel tonight and will be open for business tomorrow. Our financial institutions remain strong, and the American economy will be open for business as well.

The search is underway for those who were behind these evil acts. I have directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and to bring them to justice. We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.

I appreciate so very much the members of Congress who have joined me in strongly condemning these attacks. And on behalf of the American people, I thank the many world leaders who have called to offer their condolences and assistance. America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the world, and we stand together to win the war against terrorism.

Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a Power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23:

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me.

This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.

Thank you. Good night. And God bless America.

I loved this speech. It was comforting and made me proud of our country. We later learned the leader behind the attacks was a man named Osama Bin Laden. He became public enemy #1. The days and weeks following the attacks were filled with photos and videos of all the damage and sorrow left. The stories about the hero's that went into the wreckage and were killed, the brave people on flight 91, and the incredible stories of survival were heartbreaking to see and read. They showed walls filled with pictures of missing people left there by their loved ones in hope of finding them alive. It makes me sad just remembering this 10 years later.

For almost ten years Osama Bin Laden evaded us but tonight President Obama has officially announced that Bin Laden has been found in Pakistan and has been killed in a military attack. I am watching Live on TV the mobs of people who have gathered in the streets outside the White House and at Ground Zero to celebrate this monumental event in the war against terror. It has brought back a lot of feelings I had 10 years ago. I do feel like this was a huge win in the war against terror but I know it would be foolish and naive to think this is in any way an end. I know this is not the end in the war on terror but I feel it absolutely is a victory for our country.

Jack the Bug Catcher

2011-05-01T22:34:00.000-06:00

Jackson got this bug magnifying jar in his Easter basket. He and Kevin went out and caught 2 potato bugs and one ear wig looking thing.

He is so dang cute in his bug boots out looking for bugs.

Easter Festivities 2011

2011-04-29T22:20:00.000-06:00

My two Easter sweeties in their Easter outfits. They looked so cute and got so many sweet compliments.

Miss Mya looking and reaching out at her brother

In the wee hours of the morning Jackson rolled off his bed and wacked his head on the frame of the bed leaving the nice long gash on his face for Easter Sunday. He sang in sacrament meeting with the primary and was so cute, winking his eyes, putting his chin in his hands, whispering to me and Kev... no actual singing, but cute none the less.

Coming home from church Jackson found that the Easter Bunny had come. He is holding up his new bug magnifier.

The Easter baskets for the kids.

The four of us in the back yard after hunting for eggs.

We live in Kevin's grandma's basement and love her so much. She loves Jackson and Mya and thinks they are the cutest, which is always nice to hear.

I couldn't decide which smile I liked more of Mya's so I put them both on here.

Searching for eggs.

Jackson got these glasses straw in his Easter Basket.

The Colyar Festivities

Easter egg hunt

Kevin thought it was a good idea to hide an egg inside the trailer hitch, first kid that came along reached in and pushed it in even further... no getting it out now! The finally got a wire and fished it out...

The Egbert Easter Dinner

My sister in law Lanie has these shoes that only come out at Easter... I LOVE THEM! They make me smile...

She got them at Nordstroms a few years ago. You can't see it too clearly here but they have two teeth and whiskers.

My Sweetheart.

Saturday night we dyed eggs.

I made the wooden chick

And I made these eggs to add to my Easter decorations this year.

Herriman City Egg Hunt

Madness!!! So many people turned out for the egg hunt. This section was just for 3-4 year olds. Jackson is on the right in orange and brown and Caden is on the left in orange and brown.

Caden and Jackson {4 years old}

Happy Easter to all our friends and family.

I hope everyone had as wonderful a holiday as we did!

New Bike

2011-04-25T23:06:00.003-06:00

So this is it.... Ta Da!!! Jackson now has a two wheeler (actually a four wheeler). Kevin was so excited to get Jackson a big boy bike. His tricycle was getting a bit small for him and his knees were almost hitting the handle bars.

Putting it together... Why doesn't Jackson have a shirt on? Not really sure. (Notice Mya sitting on the couch- Big Girl!)

I love this one- running to his bike.

Getting used to turning on his bike, fell over a few times.

One happy boy and One happy daddy!

Jackson....

2011-04-18T23:16:00.003-06:00

After a LONG day and a bedtime full of whining and crying I went in to check on Jackson to make sure he was asleep and this is what I found...

When I saw how he'd displayed all his animals looking at him and crashed out at the foot of the bed my heart melted.... This tends to erase all the stress and frustration of the day. I love this kid.

Photographer For Hire

2011-04-12T22:52:00.004-06:00

Four Year Old Photographer For Hire

Will work for cookies and milk

Excellent at portraits (as can be seen in this stunning self portrait) Photographer captures moments in time- this moment is completely priceless to this mommy, I mean look at those little legs crossed at the ankles, how cute is that?

Want to look back at life and wish you had cleaned more?

Well don't look any further- this photographer captures all the clutter in his shots!

Incredible close ups... look at that detail in the denim!

You'll feel like you are being stalked by the Paparazzi- I sure did!

Call us to hire him for all of your photography needs!

Almost 16 weeks.....

2011-04-09T22:10:00.002-06:00

Wow time sure flies!!! In just 11 days Mya will be 4 months old. This is absolute craziness, I seriously feel like I just had Mya like last week! On Sunday night she went to bed an infant and Monday morning she woke up a baby! She started "talking" in this squealy squeaky little girly voice. She used to make sweet small cooing noises and now all of a sudden she is making loud talking noises. I put this bath picture up because earlier this week she was in the bath and when I washed her with this red cup she followed it with her eyes and when I brought it by her face she went totally cross eyed. It was so funny, me and Kevin were laughing- she did it like 3 or 4 times but of course stopped as soon as I grabbed the camera.

The other baby thing she started doing this week is playing with toys and sucking on them. She holds rattles and looks at books we show her. It may seem like such a small thing but to me it is HUGE! She is turning before my very eyes into an active wiggly baby.

To top off the week SHE ROLLED OVER! She has rolled a few times from tummy to back but this week she did both ways... I seriously stared in awe watching my teeny baby roll herself onto her side and rotate her little body around then roll... My oh my how the time is disappearing. I am sad to see the newborn stage go but I do love her smiling interactive personality too.

(And of course I had to put a picture of her cute little ruffle pants and stinking cute little sock on here too.)

Nightmares...

2011-04-08T23:17:00.003-06:00

We have had a bad case of the nightmares in our house lately... Jackson has had multiple nights in the past few weeks where he has woken up crying or sometimes screaming from nightmares. One night he had a bad dream that the guys in yellow suits who de-contaminate after the kid from Monsters Inc. the movie were chasing Mya and him. (we no longer watch Monsters Inc.) That same night he had a nightmare where Kevin apparently got a motorcycle and was riding it on the street and was making Jackson ride his tricycle on the street next to him with all the cars and he couldn't go fast enough and was terrified! I bet to a four year old who is constantly told not to ride in the street that was pretty scary. He woke up SCREAMING last night and I could not calm him down for quite a while.

Last week Mya was whimpering in her sleep so I picked her up and she was making the saddest face and pouting her little lip and making sad whining sounds so I was stroking her face and talking to her and she would not wake up and stop! It broke my little heart.

Two nights ago I had a few different bad dreams where I was pregnant again... In one of them I didn't know I was pregnant and I wasn't showing but I kept feeling a baby kick- it was so weird and yet as I am NOT ready for another baby I was a little freaked out. In another one I was pregnant and was going in for my c-section and I was terrified because Mya's birth was so miserable for me that I was seriously almost in tears when I woke up!

I don't know what is going on in the Colyar household but I hope it ends soon and we can all rest easy again.

Jackson Funnies

2011-04-08T16:00:00.006-06:00

Today I have felt more over whelmed and stressed than usual... these kind of days are bad for me as I am a stressed out anxiety loaded girl on a regular day. My insomnia is back with a vengeance and I am doing very little sleeping which just adds to the problem. My house is a disaster... I never let it get this out of hand as I try to do a clean up every night before bed, but last night we had a rough night with the kiddo's who took away my quiet "Me Time." By the time the kids were both in bed sleeping I was exhausted mentally and physically. I took my sleeping pills and went to bed.......... sleep wouldn't come ALL NIGHT LONG. *Sigh*

So now here it is the next day and I am being unproductive, I have been trying to clean but am not working very efficiently and am getting distracted by other things. I guess I am entitled to have an off-day every so often.

Jackson on the other hand is having a day where he is being funny and sarcastic... this combined with my crabby mood is an interesting combination.
SO I am taking a mini time out to write his recent list of funnies. I have had to start keeping a list in the utensil drawer where I just jot down what he has been saying that makes me laugh.

On the list just from today are:

I took a de-stress break for a second and grabbed the ice cream tub and was having a few spoon fulls when Jackson wandered in:
Jack: Are you eating ice cream?
Me: Yes, it's green kind do you want a bite? (mint fudge flavor)
Jack: yeah! I then gave him a small bite.
Me: Do you like it?
Jack: (Smiles very fake) yeah! I like it! It's just a teensy bit Yuck.
Not a big mint fan I guess.)

Jackson was asking me for watermelon and I would respond that I was sorry but we didn't have any. He would then EXPLODE with whining and crying to the extreme saying "But I want it! I want watermelon!" On and on this went for like 5 minutes... He eventually moved on to something else for a few minutes and I thought the conversation was over. He then came up to me after a bit and pleasantly asked "Mom, I want some watermelon"
AHHHHHH!!!!!! Here we go again! So I said to him in a tense-trying to keep my cool voice- "Yes, I know you want watermelon, and what did I tell you already? Do we have any?" He thought for a minute and smiled while saying "You said yes! we do have some!" (Oh man..... this kid is going to get it) so I then said "Great! Go to the fridge and get some!" He started walking to the fridge then turned around and gave me the sad pouty lip look and said real sad "no we don't have any."

Jackson hates to wash his hands after using the bathroom for some reason and only wants to use the hand sanitizer or samitizer as he calls it. Today he used the bathroom while I was making lunch and apparently didn't wash his hands. I usually ask him if he did and send him back if he didn't but this time I didn't ask. I went into the bathroom a second later and was putting my hair in a ponytail when he came in and said in a frustrated voice-
"I can't eat lunch, I have too many germs on me."
Me: "Huh?? What are you talking about?"
Jack: "I didn't wash my hands so I'm all covered in germs."
Me: "why didn't you wash your hands?"
Jack: "well, you didn't ask me to"
Me: (Mental head slap) "ok..... Would you wash your hands?"
Jack: (Erupting in this whiny complaining yell) "NO!!! I don't want to wash my hands!!!"
Oh my gosh!!! I swear he did this whole conversation just so he could whine and yell at me! Seriously, my eye is twitching just writing this down...

As for funny things from the past few weeks he has said:

Yesterday Kevin and Jackson were putting together his new bike and Mya was sitting on the couch while I was cleaning up dinner. Mya started to whine a little bit so I said to her "Whats the matter sweetheart?" Jackson turned to me and asked "Are you talking to me sweetheart, or her sweetheart?" I said "I'm talking to Mya sweetheart" so he turned to look at her and he said casually to her "Oh, she's talking to you sweetheart."
He is so dang sweet! I'm sure it gets confusing being that they are both my sweethearts!

I had done like five loads of laundry the other day and they were all piled on my bed while I was folding them and Jackson came in and stopped and looked at it all for a minute then said in this exhausted voice "There is too much pink in this house!"
HA HA HA, get used to it kid, the gender ratio in the Colyar house is now even!

He was sitting on the couch one morning watch a new Disney show called "Jake and the Neverland Pirates." The main character Jake fights Captain Hook and gets Gold Deblumes as his treasure at the end of the episode. So near the end of the show Jake the pirate said will you count the gold deblumes with me? and Jackson said in such a board adult voice "No- I'm not in the mood..." I heard this from the other room and it made me smile to hear him say this to the TV.

Mya had a poopy explosion on her clothes the other day (and every day) and as I was filling up a bucket of water and Oxi Clean to soak the clothes in Jackson walked in and saw the Oxi Clean tub on the counter and said "You need to use that Oxi clean on Mya's poopy clothes Mom, it's tough on stains!" hmmmm.... maybe he watches a bit too much TV?

Jackson said to me the other night as I was tucking him in to bed "Mom, I want to be a grown up." I explained to him that being a grown up is hard sometimes, you have to get a job, cook and clean, and you don't get to play with toys. I said that sometimes I wished that I could be a kid again. He thought about this and said "Mom if you want to play with my toys I'll let you anytime you want." I could tell he was so concerned that I didn't get to play with toys anymore and I thought it was so sweet of him to offer his toys to me, what a cutie.

He is so funny and such a cute kid. I really do love being his mom. He is so much like me and has the same sense of humor as me. Today I did more eye rolling and shaking my head due to utter exhaustion but really he was funny today I just had to write it all down to really appreciate it.

April fools!

2011-04-04T16:35:00.005-06:00

So I get great joy out of a good practical joke. I don't like jokes that are mean, hurt peoples feelings, or cause physical pain. I DO like a believable joke that can make people laugh whether its at my own expense or someone else...

Exhibit A:
Take for example what I did to Kevin a few weeks ago: This is one of our wedding pictures. I was having a lonely week while Kevin was working 16 hours of overtime and I got bored... This is the outcome. This is Jimmer Fredettes face as Kevin's beautiful bride. Here in the BYU area Jimmer is a superstar! Everyone is talking about Jimmer and all the men have man crushes on him due to his amazing skills, they have all sorts of Jimmer music videos and stuff on him. I used my photoshop skills and made this lovely creation then while Kevin was at work I uploaded it onto Facebook and saved it as his profile picture while pretending that he was the one who did it. The caption under the photo read: "Me and my true love!!! Look close, Isn't she beautiful!" These are the comments people left: Stephanie Egbert Colyar nice kev... seriously you did this to our WEDDING picture! classy... Laura Critchfield Kevin - you're strange...but s/he kind of suits you..LOL Kylee Duff I had to have Matt help tell me who it was, but it gave me a good laugh. Chris Susov Quality - Next step is recording a football game over your wedding video! Kevin Colyar if anyone really knows me then you will know that i am NOT computer literate. and that i did not marry jimmer. Stephanie Egbert Colyar WHATEVER KEVIN! You totally jimmered me! Nick Henderson WOW!!!! LOL! Katrina Egbert lol you are funny Casey Colyar haha nice! Although Steph, you make a much more beautiful bride than Jimmer. Kristi Christian Colyar Steph... we need to talk about those eyebrows! Steph Hardman Oh Steph that is creepy! Maybe you can change him to sandra bullock! Laura Critchfield LOL - yeah well I'd be definitely looking around...you gotta keep your options open these days anyway..LOL Elena Egbert Brooks We all laughed pretty hard last night when we saw it. At least he could have found a picture of Jimmer that was clean shaven! Melissa Egbert Showed it to Matt, he had expressionless look on his face but then I watched his face change as he looked closer (it was on my phone). Then he just looked disturbed. Susan Sta Lker Egbert that is a HOOT!!!!! The following Sunday we were at my in-laws and I said something about it being me who had done the whole thing and they were shocked and my sister in law Whitney said "Oh my gosh when I saw it I thought, Steph is going to be so mad!" HA HA HA! I seriously love messing with Kev, the best part was that Kevin has no clue how to upload pictures to Facebook or change his profile picture so it was on there a good week.

Exhibit B:
I was up nursing Mya in the middle of the night in bed. I had the lamp on but couldn't reach my book so I was just sitting there listening to Kevin snore. I whacked him to tell him to roll over and he woke up (whoops, normally he just rolls over and stays asleep.) He then asked why I hit him, so I quickly decided to mess with him and told him "You were talking in your sleep about a guy named Paul, are you cheating on me?" Kevin then laughed and said whatever you are so full of it... Kevin is super gullible so I knew it would only take a minute more to convince him. So I said "You totally were saying the name Paul!" so the discussion went and by the end I had him convinced he had been saying "Paul" in his sleep. HA HA HA, SO then I took it one step farther and went into his cell phone and changed my name in his contacts to Paul, then I sent him a text from my phone saying "Hey lover, I've been thinking about you!" The next morning we were getting ready for church and he found the text and I couldn't even keep a straight face! He then knew the whole thing was a joke and laughed...

Exhibit C:

This follows my last post about My brother Matt's big weight loss... This was all a joke. I used photoshop to make him heavier and balder and then tagged him and his wife in all the pictures for April Fools Day on Facebook. He always plays pranks on me and I usually fall for it- I never even remember it's April 1st! So this year I planned ahead and had the pictures ready weeks in advance. It went SO good. He saw it in the morning on his way out the door for work. He had multiple patients ask him about his weight loss and lots of people asked how he had lost all the weight on Facebook. The comments I got on the pictures were priceless- kept me laughing hard all day! By the end of the day I talked to Matt on the phone and he agreed I won- this year at least. I'm sure he's already planning his retaliation for next year... oh well, it was SO worth it.

These were my favorite comments:

Melissa Egbert Hahahahahhahahahaha! We're so proud of him, it was really hard work. Ally Egbert Murphy Nice! How'd he do it? I need to lose 20+ Steph Hardman Geez, Tell me how he did it! I want to lose 82lbs Christian Egbert Way to go matt! You're a fighter and have always been a hero of mine!Matthew Egbert Thank you all for your support - I really feel like a superhero. I think I am going to go shopping for tights this afternoon, but probably not a cape-that's a little over the top right? I still have demons haunting me about my body though. I feel like I need to get on some Charlie Sheen or something. Maybe amputate a leg - I sure love all the attention! Matthew Egbert I just had a new patient come in and tell me how much thinner I look from my facebook photos she saw this morning Lisa Egbert Johnson Super great job I have a nice photo of you in tights already so you won't need to post another I will post it later. I don't have any of you in a cape but I think I can find the photo of you in a nice dress. Stephanie Egbert Colyar BWA HA HA HA HA (My evil laugh)!!! The fact your new patient said that just made my entire year!!!! Matthew Egbert Yes, I thought you would like that - I don't even think we're FB friends - she must have seen it on Melissa's I guess. Matthew Egbert LOL you're such a dork - I had another patient ask me if I had really lost 82 lbs and she hadn't noticed.

Comments on the picture of Matt fatter: Travis Dever Mel your forearm diet is working wonders. Stephanie Egbert Colyar lol! Travis the poor girl couldn't get a bite with Matt around!!! Maybe now she'll get a little meat on those bones! Melissa Egbert Well Trav my forearm had that big nasty flap, seriously every time I waved at the kids I'd smack myself in the face with it so I decided to exercise it... looks better huh? Travis Dever Haha I'm glad you decided to take care of it. Honestly I used to stare at it and wonder if I should say something.

Comments on the 1st After picture with the arrows pointing to hair plugs:
Rebecca Egbert Jensen THIS is the after?????? Just kidding looking good. It is also good to know that your friendship with Richard Simmons has advantages other than all the sparkly short-shorts you have inherited. Aaron Miller THATS the brother I remember, right on man :) losing weight like that takes alot of dedication and work. Much respect bro BUT now for the rip (oh you didnt think I wasnt gonna say nothing now did you? :) lol) yeah man cuz in the before picture I thought you had ate your kids or something.......now before anyone gets offended just know that in the past me and Matt used to rip on each other ALOT ;) good job tho bro for real

On the 2nd After picture of Matt standing on the rock:
Kevin Colyar You look so free and happy! Laurie Brisman Amazing, way to go Matt! Matthew Egbert LOL - I was feeling really free that day. The constant burden finally lifted!Laurie Brisman How'd you do it??? Matthew Egbert It was super easy actually...it was the PhotoShop diet. It's all the rage in Los Angeles.

The when I announced it was all fake:
Matthew Egbert What that was a hoax!? I was so proud of myself. How disappointing. Melissa Egbert It's ok honey, don't let her take away your glory. You deserve it! Danika Carsey Hahahaha oh my gosh I so got fooled!! I couldn't believe it Haha oh my goodness I'm still laughing! That was a good one! Laurie Brisman That's hysterical, you totally got me! Stephanie Egbert Colyar see Matt people DID believe it! Matt said my photoshop skills weren't good enough to fool anyone! Let this be a warning to everyone what I can do if you make me mad or feel foolish... I will tag you in fabricated unflattering pictures! Laura Critchfield Okay - so..when I read this on facebook I was thinking to myself that it was a tad strange..lol. I mean the arrows and stuff were like pretty funny. But then I saw it on your blog and I was like "this is really weird but I guess Steph is just really proud of her brother" I mean WHO puts a whole post about their brother getting hair implants and losing weight...HAHAHAHAHAHA. Anyway I just it was hilarious and now I know its an April fools joke it's even funnier..LOL Debbie Simmons Noorlander Stephanie, that's the best! I keep laughing more with every comment i read. Laura Critchfield LOL - yeah you're the only one that fooled me this year that's for sure...and I never get fooled...well not much anyway..haha Melissa Egbert Yeah one time I did NOTHING to Steph and she put my sons wet diaper under my pillow. I didn't notice for a couple days (don't know how) so I slept on it! Gross! That's reminds me Steph, I never did get you back for that. However after seeing your wrath, I think I'll stear clear. Laura Critchfield LOL - Stephanie - you are evil.. Emalynn Robinson I think your photoshop skills are pretty good! I was confused myself!Stephanie Egbert Colyar LOL Mel I totally forgot about that! That wasn't a mean joke! All mom's love the smell of their child! The funny thing is that I did that very thing to Kevin for april fools day too and he didn't notice either! Cheryl Smith Wangsgard This is a great joke, way to go Stephanie!!!

So as you can clearly tell I like to laugh and after last friday my sides are still hurting from all the laughing I did! Happy April Fools Day!

My Brother Matt!

2011-04-01T00:01:00.001-06:00

This is my older brother Matt and his cute wife Melissa last year. Matt is a very successful Chiropractor in Santa Maria California. He is an amazing guy, has two beautiful kids, and a fun sense of humor. Last year his weight reached an all time high... One day my sister-in-law Melissa went out to an all you can eat buffet with her youngest Aliyah with some friends for lunch and much to her surprise she found Matt sitting alone at a table with 12 plates! 12!!! He was so embarrassed to be caught like he was and decided he needed to change. I am THRILLED to be able to announce he has lost an incredible 82 pounds! He also decided to get some hair plugs to fill in the spot we all referred to as his "Kelsey Grammer Hairdo."

Oh Matt, I am so very proud of how far you have come! Next step? Laser hair removal for that back of yours! LOVE YOU BRO!!!

Oh the HORROR!

2011-03-30T18:59:00.003-06:00

So today we went to Carls Jr. for lunch to eat and play in the Play Place with my good friend Kori and her two boys Ethan and Liam. We stayed for about two hours, me and Kori chatted and laughed while the boys ran and played, and Mya slept. I decided to feed Mya in the car when it was time to leave then head to Target to do a quick return on some shoes that would not fit on Jackson's chubby feet. When she was finishing nursing I heard a familiar rumble in her pants... I have learned my lesson with the little Missy that if I don't whip her clothes off within 2.4 seconds of the "rumble" it is very possible that poop may explode all over them. I was sitting in the front seat of the car so I lifted her upright on my chest and pulled her pants off... no poop so far. I then notice a small tiny spot developing of poop on her onesie so I start unsnapping it and very quickly discover the onesie was containing about 4 gallons of poop and as soon as I unsnapped the bottom it quickly started running EVERYWHERE! It was all over my shirt puddling in my lap, all up her back, all over her tummy, running down her legs, SQUISHED UP THROUGH HER ARMS IN HER SLEEVES! I have never witnessed such destruction. I was like a deer caught in the headlights, I couldn't move! I snapped out of it and yelled at Jackson to grab the baby wipes! He looked over and instantly started to gag and dry-heave... Great!!! So I told him to not look, roll the window down, and PASS ME THE WIPES! I look in my wipes container and find I only have 3 WIPES!!! Come on!!!! 3? This is easily a 10 wipe job! I use one wipe to grab as much off her back as I can, throw the wipe outside the car and just sit there deciding how to proceed... Next step: Grab the camera to document to Kevin this unfortunate accident.

Did I mention this outfit was BRAND NEW? Seriously took the tags off today! So the pictures do not do it justice as I had used one precious wipe already to wipe what I could... I managed to strip her down and use the two remaining wipes to clean her enough to transport her home naked wrapped up in a sweatshirt of mine from the back seat..

Did we make it to Target? Nope. Not a chance. Instead we all went home to change and bathe.

Oh baby girl it's a good thing you are so dang adorable because that was easily the biggest mess I have ever witnessed come from such a small body!

Mya 3 months

2011-03-29T18:57:00.003-06:00

Smiling at Daddy!

On March 20th Mya turned 3 months old! I can not believe she is already 3 months. We still have no routine at all... Mya eats, sleeps, and poops when she feels like it.

At night she goes to bed about 9 or 9:30ish. Usually I have to hold her for a bit to make sure she is good and asleep then I can lay her down and she will be asleep till about 1 or so. We get up and nurse, she goes back to sleep and I put her back in her bed. The next thing I remember is waking up in the morning and she is in bed with me. I have no clue when this happens but it is sometime after Kevin gets up and says goodbye on his way out to work at like 4:45 am. We then snuggle and sleep until Jackson wakes up.

Napping is a mess... She goes back to sleep after being awake in the morning for 1-2 hours. The problem is that if I'm not holding her she usually won't sleep very long or soundly. She then naps off and on the rest of the day and evening for stretches of 30 minutes to 3 hours. It is all over the place and not consistent.

Eating- She is doing good at nursing, eating whenever she thinks she's hungry. I was really concerned my milk supply was drying up so I've been drinking a mothers milk herbal tea with a fenugreek liquid supplement. It seems to be helping. I'd like to be able to nurse her at least a while longer.

She smiles ALL the time! She smiles so big sometimes her whole little body seems to be smiling, her eyes get all squinty, her chubby cheeks are all huge, she curls her shoulders forward and bends towards her toes. It is the cutest thing. She has started to grab my hand or finger on purpose. Once in a while it sounds like she laughs a funny little chuckle but only sort of. She still gets the hiccups multiple times a day. She loves to suck on her hand or mine. She chews on them and slobbers all over them. When she first starts to suck on my hand she lunges to it and bites down on it with such fierceness! Her eyebrows furrow and her nose crinkles and she opens huge then CHOMP, she gets ya! When she does this we make little growling sounds as if they were coming from her and we all think its pretty funny. She has started to kick her feet if laying in her bouncer or on the floor. She has a strong, quick little kick too. She squeaks and coos at us and try's so hard to talk to us. She rolled from her tummy to her back one time at 13 weeks. Her head and neck are super strong, she loves to be sitting up super straight. She hold her weight on her legs for a long time. She poops out of her diaper all the way to her armpits almost daily. I have tried many brands of diapers, all have the same effect- poop up her back and all over her clothes. She loves her family, she follows Jackson with her head when he runs past her- I'm sure he is just a blur running around the room to her! She drools and drools and drools.... Her hair is growing on top, there is a small bald spot on the back of her head. She still loves the bath. She is pretty happy and content as long as we stay home or she is being cuddled by mom.

Girls Night Out

2011-03-22T23:55:00.003-06:00

Have I said lately how much I love my little girl? Well I do... lots. She is so beautiful, I have so much fun dressing her up and taking pictures of her. I mean look at those blue eyes! Gorgeous!

Me and Mya had a girls night out with my good friends Lanie, Brooke, Amanda (and 2 month old Ella), and Amber. I used to see these girls all the time but haven't in months so it was so much fun to catch up and meet Amanda's new sweet baby. We went to Training Table and ate our weight in cheese fries.... oh man they were sooo good.

The pictures were taken as we were headed out the door. She just looked too cute not to take a picture of her. I should have taken a picture of our group at the restaurant but forgot to take a camera. We had a great time and Kevin and Jackson got to go out and spend time together. We laughed lots, gossiped maybe a tiny but, and had a lot of fun. I went out to the car for a minute to feed Mya and forgot the child locks were on the two rear doors so I had to climb my way into the front seat- not my most graceful moment. I totally crashed my head into the gear shifter! I'm sure it was a sight to see.

Missing Mya...

2011-03-17T23:50:00.005-06:00

Well baby girl you are already approaching 3 months! I put you to bed a little bit ago and am sitting here loving the quiet and being alone for an hour... I'm here on the computer looking at blogs and watching TV. You have become a little diva, you won't sleep unless I'm holding you and my neck and shoulders ache so bad right now from carrying you so much the past two weeks while Daddy has been working so much. So as I'm sitting here enjoying my time alone I stumble across the blog of a friend, of a friend, of a friend, (I know, confusing.) She had a baby girl about three and a half weeks after I had you and her little 2 month old sweetie died two days ago. As I read the blog post this mom wrote I was soon sobbing thinking of how I would feel if I lost you. The picture she posted of her baby reminded me of you. You have changed my life in these three short months and I can't imaging my life without you. I pray for you and Jackson multiple times a day and will continue to pray for your health and safety everyday of my life. I can't imaging what that other mom is going through at this very moment but as I think about it all I want to do is take you out of the bed you are finally laying in sound asleep and cuddle you... All night I've been looking forward to the time I have when you, Jackson, and Daddy are all in bed asleep but now I just miss you and want you close to me. My heart just breaks for this mom and the pain she is feeling. I don't know how you get past losing a child. I hope I never have to find out, I can't imagine anything more painful...

"The Dangerous Zebra" strikes again!

2011-03-16T23:01:00.004-06:00

Mya has a pair of Zebra stripped leg warmers that are way too big still. Jackson discovered them in her drawer a month or two ago and wanted to wear them. I of course wanted a good laugh so I helped him squeeze into them. Little did I know this would transform my Jackson into his alter-ego "The Dangerous Zebra."

The Dangerous Zebra hasn't come out since that first day... until now! He found them this week, put them on, and was transformed...

The Dangerous Zebra is a rowdy, karate kicking, evil zebra who loves to attack me.

This is Jackson telling me he is going to take me down... I'll admit, I did at this point put the camera down and run... He of course chased me and tried to tackle me. It ended with lots of laughing and wrestling.

Four year old Fibbing...

2011-03-16T00:07:00.003-06:00

Oh I love my Jackson... Lately he has told me a few little fibs that have cracked me up.

Fib number 1:
When I explained to him that his cousin Caleb does a marble jar and that we were going to do one as well he asked if at the end when the jar was all filled if he would get to play with the marbles and I said no, we start over and fill it again to do more fun things. SO, after he filled it for the first time he said so happily "Yea! now I get to play with the marbles!" and I said "umm, no, we start over and do it again! Yea!" So he thought for a minute and said "Well mom, I talked to Caleb's mommy and she told me that after Caleb fills his jar he gets to play with the marbles."
Ha ha ha! So I said "oh really? You talked to auntie Angie and that's what she said?" and he said "yep!" and took the jar and dumped it on the carpet.

Fib number 2:
I made the mistake of showing Jackson the Easter egg dye kits I bought. The mistake you ask? Easter is like 6 weeks away still... So what did I hear for two days straight? "Mom now is it time to color Easter eggs?"
So he came up with a better way to ask...
"Mom, I was just watching the Easter News and the News guy said we are supposed to color eggs BEFORE Easter, like today."
Ha! So I decided that the eggs cost like 15 cents a piece and the dye kit was $1.99 so we boiled up a few eggs, threw on one of Kevin's work shirts and died a few eggs.

He was so ecstatic when I said yes!

I love this look on his face, he was so happy mixing colors.

The other funny thing he did was insisted on wearing Kevin's HUGE shirt to bed that night and thought that was so fun.

still no wallet....

2011-03-13T23:45:00.002-06:00

Well its been a few weeks and I have finally accepted that my wallet is not going to find its way home. I keep remembering things that were in it that I need to replace or remembering things like the target gift card that was in there which I was really excited about using...

The good that came out of this situation:

I HATED my drivers licence picture- I got it in May and wasn't told when the picture was being taken so I was just sitting there waiting to smile- I look so confused and ridiculous with a half smile on my face...
So now I will be getting a new one in the mail shortly with a picture I like a lot better

My wallet was 10 years old... I have been wanting a new one for so long, but just haven't wanted to spend the money to get one.
I now have a cute new red wallet I really like and found it on sale for $15!

All my credit and debit cards are all shiny and new looking

For some reason our Disneyland Season Passes were in Kevin's wallet, that was sheer luck!

It has been a huge pain that isn't over I've have trouble with PIN numbers not working and cards not working but I'm hoping the stress is almost over.
I had been holding out hope that someone would find it and return it to me but no such luck. Maybe one day I'll find it...

"Basghetti"

2011-03-09T23:47:00.003-07:00

We had "Basghetti" for dinner the other night. Jackson ate, and ate, and ate. He had a huge plate and thoroughly enjoyed it.

For dessert he had a nice warm shower...

Our Duck Friends

2011-03-09T22:59:00.001-07:00

We started a marble jar a few weeks ago to encourage good behavior from Jackson. My sister Angie has been doing this with her kids for over a year now and suggested it to me. It is based solely on positive reinforcement. He can earn a marble by doing simple chores and doing things without whining. It took him a week or so to fill it but his reward had to wait until he felt better. Sunday we decided to take him to do his reward- "Go feed our duck friends" as Jackson called it.

Miss Mya bundled up with daddy.

Jackson was brave enough to feed one of the big white ducks straight from his hand!

Canadian Geese were among the many varieties of ducks and geese there.

My cutie peeking at me...

This was my favorite duck. So pretty.

The fattest duck I have ever seen... look at him compared to the one in the top left of the picture! Fatty!

Jackson making me so dang nervous close to the edge... We had a really fun time feeding our duck friends. Jackson actually filled his jar again tonight, so we will be headed off to do another

fun thing in the next day or two!

My sick babes

2011-03-08T23:28:00.002-07:00

We visited the doctor 4 times in 5 days...

Jackson was diagnosed with Pneumonia and an ear infection so bad it was on the verge of bursting. Poor kid didn't even say his ear hurt! He had a high fever of around 103-104, a nasty cough, and tons of mucus.

I tried my very hardest to keep the little Missy healthy. Washing my hands until they were so dry and hurting, sanitizing the house, trying to keep the kids in separate rooms, but it didn't work... Mya ended up at the instacare Sunday morning and the doctor said it was just a cold, and she would be fine.

LIAR! By Monday night she was so sick and coughing so badly she would stop breathing. Off to the Emergency Room we went... two trauma filled hours later she was diagnosed with RSV and bronchiolitis.

Kevin was gone a lot for work so I was extremely exhausted taking care of two really sick kids. Everyone is doing much better this week though and amazingly enough I didn't catch any of the nasty bugs, I don't think I could have coped if I got sick too!

Mya at 2 months

2011-03-08T23:25:00.003-07:00

2 Month Stats:

Weight- 10 lbs 2 ounces 27% (Avg. is 11.1 lbs)

Height- 21.5 inches 15% (Avg. is 22.5 inches)

Mya is 2 months old! Why does the time have to seriously FLY by! Slow Down!

She had to go in to see Dr. Brown for her 2 month visit and have 3 shots! OUCH! Poor girl was so happy and then WHAM poked and poked and poked. She screamed like crazy which made Jackson cry and then by the second poke I had lost it as well so all three of us were crying. Thank goodness Kevin was able to go with us! She was fussy and had a small fever after her shots but did pretty well even though her little legs were sure sore. To date there is no schedule at all, she sleeps for about a four hour stretch at night then gets up the remainder of the night every two hours to eat still. She naps when she wants for how ever long she wants. She HATES the car... Screams like a wild woman every time we have to drive somewhere. We rarely leave the house. Smiles, smiles, smiles all the time if we talk to her! Jackson sure loves this little girl, he talks to her, plays with her, "babysits" her while I shower, and showers her with kisses. Still a noisy little thing when she's trying to wake up. Her hernia belly button is starting to go down! Yea! I was a little worried about that huge belly button... Mya has hit a fussy period, luckily her two grandma's have been coming by to help out in the evening a few nights during this time. Kevin has been working full time and been working evenings so it's been a little hard on me. I am officially out numbered two kids to one parent! Help!

Stephanie and the No Good, Horrible Day....

2011-02-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

The past day and a half have been very bad days...

We woke up early Tuesday to head up to North Salt Lake to my aunts funeral. She died last Friday from Stage 4 brain cancer. Kevin is working a swing shift for a few weeks and is working 2-10:30 pm downtown Salt Lake across from the Conference Center so he was able to come to the funeral with me. Mya is TERRIBLE in the car, I mean HORRIBLE... She Screams bloody murder to the point of throwing up and choking on it and me panicking trying to help her while I'm driving. She screams even if I am just driving 2 minutes away. The only way to stop the screaming is if I squeeze between the two kids in the back seat, hold a pacifier in her mouth, hold both her hands and stroke her face while shhhhh-ing her (doing ALL of these at the same time will work about 70% of the time, doing some but not all of these works about 10% of the time, If I'm driving and she's alone- she will scream 99% of the time) Needless to say I do not ever leave the house after Kevin goes to work. It has been really difficult and if I do have to go anywhere I stress like crazy all day about it.
Anyway, me and Kevin drove separately so that he could leave when he needed to and head to work. I was worried about the screaming so I convinced my Dad to meet us in American Fork and drive my car while I sat with Mya. I picked my Dad up and I can honestly say he looked a little scared when I opened the door and he heard the screaming... I know he was thinking of a way to get out of driving me... I calmed her down and she went to sleep! YiPpiE! Kevin was following us in his car and we decided to leave his car off the freeway on 90th South in an empty closed down Lowes lot and all drive together to North Salt Lake. They were burying her in the Sandy City Cemetery on 90th so we figured it would be super easy to pick up his car on the way to the cemetery after the funeral. We went to the funeral, everything was so nice, the speakers were wonderful. Me and Kevin left the funeral, my dad went with my mom, and we headed to the Cemetery. As we pulled up to the parking lot where we left Kevin's car we saw it was in the process of being towed!!! AHHHHH! They had it hooked up and a boot on it, but it wasn't loaded yet. We jumped out of the car and asked if we could get his car off... He replied "yeah, if you'll give me $80 cash" ....... ok
We told him we were sorry, we had no idea you couldn't park there and we didn't see a sign. He motioned over to a sign behind a bush... NO wonder we didn't see it! We got the money, paid our fee and went to the cemetery. Kevin had to leave shortly after and I went to the luncheon. I then begged my mom to come with me because I had a doctors appt.
My mom waited in the car with the kids while Jackson watched a movie. I was getting an ultrasound done to make sure my IUD was in correctly. It wasn't...... They tried to push it further in, SO PAINFUL..... didn't work, they removed it and put a new one in, MORE PAINFUL. I was crampy and in pain. I went back to the car and realized I had taken the diaper bag with me and locked my mom in the back seat with the child locks on the doors. Whoops! Of course Mya had pooped while I was in there so my sweet mother changed her diaper by spitting on Kleenex and wiping her poop (Not the most effective way). I got her changed took my mom to her car and headed home.
I was exhausted from the day and not feeling well. I put Jackson to bed and was holding Mya when about half an hour later I heard Jackson Screaming! I put her down and ran into his room to see his nose was pouring blood. I DO NOT do well with blood, I go into shock and pass out all the time from blood issues. I handled it like a champ! I was so proud of myself, I took care of it and didn't even get faint. Later that night at 3:30 Mya woke up to eat. I put her back to bed at about 3:45 and was drifting off to sleep when Jackson woke up super sick. His temperature was 103 degrees and he couldn't stop coughing really bad. I cuddled him, let him watch a show, and gave him medicine. I got him back to bed about an hour and a half later, just in time for Miss Mya to wake up and decide she was hungry again!!! Then Jackson was up again a bit later as well...
I was SO tired when I woke up wed morning but had a bunch of errands I needed to run before Kevin left for work. I get ready, grab my purse to head out and realize my wallet is totally GONE! It has vanished along with all my credit cards, drivers licence, temple recommend, gift card to Khols, Debit card, a check I hadn't deposited in the bank yet, and all my other stuff! I lost it... I panicked, tore the car apart, tore the house apart, called the Doctors office, called my cousin to go look at the church where the luncheon was, called the cemetery, but no one has it. It is gone.... I cried. I was so tired and just frustrated with the past day. I have cancelled all my credit cards and am now without a drivers licence or any money. What a pain! I have spent two days looking and calling places but it is no where to be found. I last used it to pay the tow truck driver... Such a frustrating thing to lose!
I am so ready for this week to be over!

What I love about you...

2011-02-14T23:47:00.004-07:00

Kevin... I Love you! I Love that you are my best friend. I Love that you make me laugh so hard and that I can make you laugh. I Love that you want to be a good husband and father. I Love that you are a worthy Priesthood holder. I Love that you are so easy to forgive, easy to love, and easy to get along with. I Love that you take criticism from people so well, that is such a good trait. I Love that you constantly want to better yourself. I Love that you have given me two beautiful children. I Love that our family is sealed together for time and all eternity! I Love you more and more all the time.
Happy Valentines Day!

What I love about you...

2011-02-14T23:31:00.004-07:00

My Darling Mya... I Love you so much. I Love that you are the noisiest little thing, making grunting, squeaking, and snorting noises when you are waking up.

I Love that you let me dress you up in girly pink outfits with cute accessories.

I Love that you smile at me all the time with the biggest gummy grin. It melts my heart and makes me so happy! I Love that you have started Cooing at me.

I Love how pretty you are. I Love that your eyes are just like mine and you have sweet blond hair. I Love that you follow me with your eyes when I walk in a room. I Love you so much baby girl!

What I love about you...

2011-02-14T22:29:00.007-07:00

Oh my Sweet Jackson... I Love you so much. I Love that you let me dress you up in a silly Cupid costume and had so much fun running around in your "Cupid Diaper" shooting arrows!

I Love that you and me have the same sense of humor. Some nights when I put you to bed we end up giggling and playing and teasing each other for way too long, usually Daddy has to come in and tell me to stop so you can get some sleep.

I Love that you can sit and play for hours- you have a wonderful imagination and you come up with the funniest games.

I Love that you tell me stories that you have made up.

I Love to see how much you love your baby sister, she is your little sweetheart.

I Love your freckles. I Love your red hair. I Love that you are a clone of your Daddy.

I Love you "All the way around the Moon!"

What the sky looked like today... I Love overcast gloomy days, they remind me of Seattle, home.

Our Valentine's Day lunch at Red Lobster where you announced loudly when the food was delivered "You're eating a DEAD lobster? eeew! Disgusting!"

Happy Valentines Day Jackson! I Love you!

Mya's First Sacrament Meeting

2011-02-13T12:02:00.004-07:00

Thank you auntie Angie for such a beautiful dress, she looked so cute. Perfect for Valentines Day eve.

We made it to sacrament meeting this morning! Me and Mya haven't been since she was born and it felt so great to be able to go and partake of the sacrament, listen to the speakers, and feel the spirit. I feel a new renewal today that I badly needed. Mya did great, she just napped and me and her walked home in the warmest sunny weather we've had in months! Great day...

Fancy Jack

2011-02-13T12:00:00.003-07:00

Where did this kid come from! A few days ago we needed to get some fresh air, so me and Jackson bundled up, put Mya to sleep in her bed, took out the monitor and played outside. As we're headed out the door he says "Oh, I forgot something" and runs into his room and emerged wearing his church tie on top of his coat. He thinks wearing a tie is so cool and was so happy to wear it outside riding his trike. What a cutie.

Miss Mya awoke and joined us in her snow suit and fell asleep again all snuggled up in her blanket while I held her.

Noah's Ark

2011-02-02T00:17:00.002-07:00

This is the Noah's ark set that Grandma Dianne (My Mom) made for Jackson for Christmas of 2009. She cut the whole set by hand out of wood and painted them all by hand. He loves it and plays with it all the time. It took so much time to make and is done so beautifully. He was playing with it the other night so I decided to take pictures of it.

It has been a much loved gift and means a lot to me because it was made with so much love by my mom. She is an incredible artist and I'm grateful for the paintings and items in our home that she has done!

Attacked!!!

2011-02-01T23:59:00.003-07:00

The little sister..... I know how you feel, Uncle Matt and Uncle Chris loved to tease me too!

The attacker! He walked up to Mya, licked a dart, and stuck it to her forehead... then he did me, and himself. He then decided we were a unicorn family!

The Unicorns

Jackson Funnies

2011-02-01T21:35:00.005-07:00

Some of the funny things he has done to keep us laughing...

~Jackson asked me a few weeks ago: "Mom, is Mya nocturnal?"

hmmmm... yes, she kind of is right now!

~Jackson was talking to Mya laying on my bed next to her and Said to her:
"Mya do you think you're still in heaven?"

(then he turned to me) "Mom- Mya thinks she's in heaven!"

(talking to Mya again) You're not in heaven you silly girl, you're in Orem Utah, in mom and dads room... It looks like heaven though... (aww, thanks bud, I try to make it feel like heaven in our home)

~Jackson asked me what gold fish crackers were made of (ask's often when he's eating something) and I told him flour, sugar, and eggs (what I always say) and he said "What?! There's not even gold in them!!! But they're called GOLD fish crackers"

~He walked into the kitchen while I was toasting some cheese bread to make a sandwich and asked casually "Mom did you burp, because I smell macaroni and cheese" This little observation made me smile.

~We were at my parents one night and were explaining that grandma and grandpa were my mom and dad and he was asking if I loved them so I told him yes, I love both of them. He then said "Well I love you and grandma, and grandpa" I said "what about dad?" (Kevin was sitting by us) and he thought for a second and said "I almost love dad..." poor Kevin ;)

~The brady bunch show comes on after Curious George ends so sometimes Jackson would start watching it if I didn't turn it off and one day while watching it he came out to me and said "Mom's on TV aren't sick all the time and dad's on t.v. don't hurt their ankles..." Kevin sprained his ankle a while back so he is no good anymore apparently... I sure got the point- I'm so sorry Jackson that mommy has had morning sickness for 8 months! ;) If only we could all be Carol Brady!

~The other morning he woke up and came in to say good morning. Normally Kevin gets up with him and lets me catch up on sleep but this morning Kevin was exhausted too so he didn't get up with him. Jackson decided to make himself breakfast so he pushed his chair up to our freezer and got the tub of cookies and cream ice cream out, climbed the shelves in the pantry, got the ice cream cones out, got one of his kid spoons out and filled his cone. Kevin walked in on him standing on a chair at the counter in his underwear eating ice cream. So Funny! He has become so independent lately!

~One night I went in to check on Jackson and found his room super hot. I was sure I had turned down his little heater after saying prayers but it was on full blast. I asked Kevin if he had turned it back up but he said no, so I went to bed thinking I had just forgot to turn it off. The next morning I mentioned something about it and Jackson heard me and said "I sneaked out of my bed real quietly and turned it on without you seeing or hearing me." I said "You did? that was sneaky of you!" he said "well I was cold" so I said "good, I'm glad you turned it on then." Then Jackson walked over to the space heater and patted it and said "yeah, its a good thing we buyed this baby!" It was so funny to us that he called it "Baby"

~Pet names he calls Mya: And No, he hasn't heard me call her half of these...
Baby Girl (pronounced Gurl)
Pumpkin
Sweetie Pie
Sweetheart
ladybug
buggie bug (one of my fav's)
my little sweetie

Babe-ah

~He received a Doctor's kit for Christmas and when he opened it he responded "Now I can play Evil Doctor!"

Ummm... ok...

~During Christmas we listened to Christmas songs a lot on the radio and when "Do you hear what I hear" would come on he would sing along and say "Do you hear what she hears?"

~He has a great ability to memorize songs and conversations he's heard and sings along to the radio and repeats back song lyrics days later. During the holidays 97.1 zht had a prize giveaway called dirty money and after hearing them talk about it he said really excitedly
"Mom, they're giving us a chance to win dirty money when they come back after these commercials! I'm so excited!!!"
hmmm..... I have to be careful what he hears now...

The Karate Kid

2011-02-01T19:07:00.004-07:00

Jackson had his first Karate class today at Bobby Lawrence Karate. We signed up for a one month, 8 session package through UVU continuing education program for a really discounted price. He was so shy and timid and was so nervous to do something wrong. He shed a few tears because he didn't have an attendance card like all the other kids and felt out of place. Once he got the hang of things he had a lot of fun.

Defending himself against an attacker...

He was trying so hard to do everything right... He even folded his arms as if he were in church :)

He was the last one to do this exercise so all the kids in the class chanted "Jackson, Jackson, Jackson..." to encourage him.

At the end he got a Karate dollar! I am so proud of him. It was hard to see him struggle and feel out of place but in the end he was so happy and had fun. Good Job Jackson!!!

Bad Hair Day

2011-01-23T23:49:00.000-07:00

Being a girl is rough...
If you are a boy having a bad hair day you can simply put a hat on.
Look at that stinking cute face though!

Her funny faces make these bad hair day pictures all the better! Sorry baby girl, these days happen!

Like Dad

2011-01-23T23:19:00.000-07:00

Jackson is a well dressed kid. At church he always wears a button up shirt with a cute sweater vest and nice pants. I have a hard time finding ties that match his shirts and vest so I don't put one on him often. While cleaning out the clothes drawers he discoved a few clip on ties and got SO excited to wear one to be big like dad! His excitement was contagious and I decided to take his picture to capture the moment.

I love this kid!

Rub-a-Dub-Dub!

2011-01-16T22:33:00.000-07:00

We all love this little girl so much, so when it's bath time the whole family helps out.

3 1/2 weeks old!

She really likes being in the bath, never cries or fusses.

One of my favorite little faces she does. Puckers her little lips into a big O.

Jackson loves to help pour water on her and use the sponge to wash her.

Mya 2 weeks

2011-01-06T21:47:00.000-07:00

Mya's two week stats:

Weight: 7 lbs 3 oz Percentile: 18%

Height: 19 inches Percentile: 6%
Head Circ: 13.4 inches Percentile: 7%

Mya at two weeks...

Sleeps all the time, very mild tempered, is the noisiest baby I've ever heard- makes little grunting sounds all the time, didn't mind being poked and prodded at the doctors, rarely open her eyes more than a crack, nothing but newborn clothes fit her at all, falls asleep almost instantly while nursing, putting on weight fast- she's a good eater, loves being cuddled, has everyone wrapped around her teeny tiny finger!

Christmas Eve 2010

2011-01-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

What was I thinking! I had been out of the hospital for only about 24 hours, had a 4 day old baby, recovering from a c-section... but yet we went to a party at my parents for Chrstmas eve. We survived the night and had a fun time. Angies family, Lisa's family, and Chris and Lanie were there.

Her elf shoes. Jackson wore this same outfit for his first christmas, it was a little bit big on this tiny 5 lb baby.

4 days old!

Our family on Christmas eve. Yes, those are tears on Jackson's cheeks... he was throwing a fit because he didn't want to take a picture.

Jackson's present from Baby Mya. A talking Woody doll.

Elf Jammies!

Opening a present at the end of the night.

Chris and Lanie waiting for dinner

Jackson with all his jewels

Playing the present game Aunt Lisa brought

Brinlee with little Miss Mya

Caleb

Morgan cuddling Mya

Corry

My nephew Bryce holding Mya

My niece Aysa, nephew Corry, and Mya. Corry loved little Mya, he was always wanting to hold her, it was so sweet.

Introducing Little Miss Mya!

2011-01-03T23:46:00.000-07:00

Mya Dianne Colyar

December 20, 2010

7:06 am

6 lbs 3.6 oz

17.5 inches

Bright and early! We checked in to the hospital at 5:00 am. My C-Section was scheduled for 7:00 am. I wasn't allowed to wear nail polish or make up and I couldn't eat after 10 pm the night before.

The last look at my 9 month belly.

Kevin's outfit for the operating room- he recently lost about 35 lbs so this time it fit so much better than with Jackson.

Kind of a gross picture, but this is them cutting the umbilical cord.

6 lbs 3.6 ounces! (10% percentile) 17.5 inches (1% percentile) So Tiny!
Me meeting Mya for the first time!

A rare chance to see her eyes. She rarely opened them for the first 2 and a half weeks.

I was so curious to see if she would have red or blond hair! She has blue eyes the same shade as me and blond hair with a little redish tint.

After being in recovery with hypothermia... Feeling terrible, my body temp is about 94 in this picture. But I was thrilled to finally get to hold her.

I had a really rough time after surgery- it sure shows in the pictures of me on this day...

Kevin's parents

My mom

My sister Angie

Grandma Cheryl

Grandpa Mont and Grandma Cheryl

Our whole family.

(I am so freaking swollen after all the IV's and medication.)

My dad, Grandpa Mel-Ross (a nickname Jackson calls him) came that evening with flowers.

Kevin's brother Craig and his family came to visit and brought us a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Savannah was excited to finally have a girl Colyar cousin. Their son Justin is hiding behind his mom, Kristi.

Craig and Justin

Daddy holding his baby girl.

Kevin's brother Casey

Aunt Whitney, Casey's wonderful wife.

Aunt Kirsti holding Mya.

Kevin's brother Chad came with his three boys and his wife Kirsti.

Cousins Blake and Luke

Day 3 in the hospital

Mya with her Great-Grandma (Kevin's grandma)

Grandma Cheryl with the two kids

At home... sleeping on the couch

Me and Mya cuddling at home

Miss Mya- 10 days old

She is so stinking cute. We are absolutely in love with her. Jackson is the best big brother who loves this little girl so much and sings to her, and kisses her, and tells her how much he loves her all day long. What a little miracle!

Mya's Birth Story

2011-01-03T23:17:00.000-07:00

Our day started at 5:00 am checking into the hospital with surgery scheduled for 7:00 am. Me and Kevin decided to pull an all-nighter the night before the c-section due to the early check in time and my obsessive need to have our house super spotless... My sweet sister Angie who is one of my very best friends in this world drove all the way to Utah from Long Beach California with 5 kids to be here for the birth and Christmas! We spent the evening at my parents house with my grandpa, my sisters family, and my mom and dad. We had a delicious dinner and then Kevin, my dad, and grandpa gave me a blessing.

We then took Jackson to Kevin's parents house in Orem to stay with them for a few days while we were in the hospital. After dropping him off we decided to try and distract me from worrying by going to a 10 pm showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part one). Mya was kicking me the whole movie and I kept thinking- wow, she is going to be kicking in my arms in less than 12 hours...

After the movie we had about 4 hours to pack our stuff for the hospital, shower, clean, and rest. At about 4:30 am we headed out to the hospital. We checked in and they started to prep me for surgery. I hate needles and I was getting nervous for the IV and the spinal block. The IV was terrible- they had a really hard time getting it in my veins and had to try in multiple locations until finally they got it in my hand. While they were struggling I started to go into shock (happens often to me) so Kevin was fanning me and was watching them do the IV and went into shock too!!! He totally started to black out so the nurses rushed him to the chair and got him juice and cookies (I'm in shock too, but couldn't eat- no fair!!!). That has never happened to Kev, so it was kind of funny that we both were in shock at the same time...

Once I was all prepped and had talked to my doctor, Dr. Sean Haskett, and the nurse anesthetist, I kissed Kevin goodbye for a minute and walked down the hall to the Operating Room. They then gave me my Spinal.... PAIN, PAIN, PAIN... That was so horrible, I thought it would be easier than my miserable epidural experience- but no, it was so dang painful. I started fine, being really brave, but by the end and having to do it FOUR TIMES I was screaming! Once I was numb they brought Kevin in and started surgery promptly at 7:00. By 7:06 am our beautiful baby was out! She didn't really cry, more like she was squeaking, but it was such a sweet sound to me. I was so excited to hear that 100%, without a doubt, she was a girl!!! The rest of the surgery went well but my body temperature plummeted to 92 degrees... I went into recovery with Hypothermia. It took all day to raise my body temperature and by 7:00 pm it was at 97 degrees. I kept going into shock throughout the day and was super nauseous and dizzy all day.

Mya did wonderful! Her apgar scores were 8, and 9. She was so tiny and so beautiful with blond hair. The nurses curled her hair and put a pink bow on her. She kept sucking on her hands and was a great eater from the first time nursing her. She did great in the hospital, no problems at all. They had to check her blood sugar every few hours because she was so small and she didn't even cry when they poked her! She slept right through it! Her weight got down to 5 lbs 10 oz but has quickly put it back on.

My pain was managed pretty well as long as I kept the pain killers in me. I was discharged from the hospital the day before Christmas eve at 10 am, which happened to be right when all my medication ran out... by 11:30 when we were able to get home and get my prescriptions filled I was in tremendous pain! I didn't remember Jackson's c-section being as painful as this was- maybe it was but I just don't remember.

It was a crazy week with Christmas and I totally wore myself out running around to be with family but we all survived and had a wonderful Christmas season!

2010 Year in Review

2011-01-01T10:01:00.000-07:00

To remember the highlights of 2010 we each took some time to answer questions about the past year. Here is what we came up with.

What new thing did you do in 2010?

Steph- Kevin went on a big diet/exercise program, so to be supportive I took on the "diet" part and worked really hard on menu planning. I worked out the calories for all the meals we made and tried new recipes. On average our dinners were 500 calories or under and for the day we were eating between 1100-1600 calories. I have never successfully dieted, but combined with having morning sickness and dieting I have lost 32 lbs since getting pregnant.

Kevin- I went on a huge diet and participated in a clinical trial for a local company for new weight loss products and had huge success with it. I was weighing in at 283 lbs and after 3 months of eating extremely low calories meals and exercising nearly everyday I now weigh 248 lbs! 35 pounds. The thing now that is going to be tough is keeping the weight off! I feel like a new man now!

What was your favorite vacation/trip this year?

Steph- We participated in a promotion that the Disneyland California Park had called "Give a day, Get a day." Me and Kevin (Ok, so I did it for both of us) volunteered by sewing baby blankets (6 total) for the United Way. In return we got one day free admission into Disneyland. Jackson had never been, Kevin hadn't been since he was a child, and I hadn't been for a few years. We ended up upgrading our free day pass to a one-year season pass for only around $100 each! We were fortunate enough to go three different times in 2010. We have had so much fun and built some amazing memories for our family.

Kevin- My favorite vacation for me was for my birthday in October. Stephanie's sister lives in Colorado Springs and called us to see if we wanted to come visit while their kids were out of school for 2 weeks (fall break). So we went and visited them and had a really, really fun time. It has always been a dream of mine to go to an NFL game and when we made the decision to go we jumped on the Denver Broncos website to see if their game was a 'home' game (it was), then we got on ebay and were able to find a pair of tickets against the New York Jets. Unfortunately the Broncos lost, but nonetheless it was probably the funnest vacation I have had in a long, long time because of the chance I had to attend an NFL game.

What was the best thing you bought?

Steph- The Denver Bronco tickets. We got a good deal on them and they made Kevin so happy. I wouldn't normally get so excited for a football game but I couldn't help it, Kevin's excitement was contagious. We bought t-shirts and hats to wear for the game, which took going to endless stores to find. We had so much fun together, it was such a special day for me to do with my husband.

Kevin- I think the best thing we bought last year was Disneyland passes. We bought them when we went as part of the United Ways "Give a Day, Get a Day" promotion. Which was, if you give a day of service then you got a free 1 day pass to Disneyland. Since we were there we decided to use the free pass and have them credit it toward a year pass which they did and it so it turned out to be a really good buy. They were used a lot during the course of the year and we had a lot of fun going together as a family.

What did you get extremely excited about?

Steph- I think the most excited I got this year was the day we had our ultrasound and found out we were having a baby girl. After 16 straight boys born into the Colyar family I had lost all hope that we would ever get a baby girl. When the girl told me we were having a girl I was shocked and thought it was a mistake. I have always wanted a daughter and my dreams have finally come true! She is amazing...

Kevin- The most exciting moment of my year was the birth of our daughter. As Stephanie mentioned the longevity of boys being born through the years in my family, we broke the trend and tradition and had a girl. Mya is one of the most beautiful things I have held in a long time. I thought having another boy would be perfect, but I feel like 1 boy and 1 girl right now, in our lives is more perfect then I ever could have imagined.

What do you wish you had done more of?

Steph- I got pregnant early in the year and got extremely sick at 6 weeks and continued to be really sick until into my 8th month. I couldn't cook at all, I couldn't even open the fridge. I was so miserable... SO, What I wish I had done more of was play with Jackson and do more stimulating activities with him. I feel like I should have spent more time letting him paint, do crafts, and more time getting him ready for pre-school.

Kevin- I wish that I would have worked more this last year. It has been extremely tough on us with me not having a job the majority of the year. I now wish that this next year will hold more in store for me with finding and holding a job.

What do you wish you had done less of?

Steph- Being sick!!! morning sickness, urinary infections, kidney infections, sinus infections, bronchitis, colds, stomach flu... the list goes on! Oh, and did I mention I ended the year with a painful c-section!!!

Kevin- I wish that I had spent less time sitting around on my behind, eating, and not being productive. I wish I would have spent more time finding a job and being more productive.

What was the best book you read?

Steph- I did A LOT of reading this year. I had insomnia while I was pregnant so I read and read, and read. I finished the Hunger Games trilogy, The Mortal Instruments trilogy, many mystery novels, numerous Janet Evonavich books, and many others. One of the better books I've read this year was The Help, it was about three different black maids in the 1960's.

Kevin- I too did a lot of reading this year...thanks to the 2010 census. Yes that is right. I worked for the Census on the phones and there were some days where I started at 3:30 pm and got of at midnight but I would take my last call at like 5:00 pm, so you can see I had 6-7 hours that I could read. The best book I read this year was The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown. He is the author of Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code. I would recommend reading his books, they are good reads.

What was your favorite movie you saw in 2010?

Steph- I rented a lot of movies the weeks after the baby came. Some of the better one's I watched this year were, Inception, Salt, Letters to Juliet, and Harry Potter.

Kevin- I think my favorite movie of the year was a tie between Inception and Harry Potter. I really enjoyed watching these movies.

What was your favorite TV Show in 2010?

Steph- HA! I watch a lot of TV shows... My favorite right now are probably the reality TV shows like The Amazing Race, Survivor, and Project Runway. I also love Psych and The Closer. For me watching TV after I put Jackson to bed is my time to just relax and not stress about anything or do anything so I tend to watch lots of shows.

Kevin- My favorite television show is probably Survivor or CSI Las Vegas.

What kept you sane?

Steph- My parents, take-out food, the swimming pool, Disneyland... I was so sick for so long this year... It was rough at times, but these things sure made it easier on me!

Kevin- Nothing. I am just as crazy and insane now as I was in 2009.

What made you laugh?

Steph- JACKSON!!! Hands down, this kid has kept me laughing every single day! He says the funniest things and cracks me up so much! He has the same personality and humor as me so we laugh a lot. He keeps me cracking up...

Kevin- I would have to say Jackson too. He is the funniest boy! And he says the funniest things. Whenever I am having a downer of a day he always comes out and says something that cheers me up.

What is your favorite moment of 2010?

Steph- Mya being born. As I'm writing this right now she is cuddled up on my chest sleeping. She is absolutely perfect. I love seeing Jackson with her, he loves her so much and just adores her. She was the highlight of 2010 for me!

Kevin- My favorite moment of 2010 also was the birth of Mya. She is so cute and adorable and makes my day.

What do you hope to accomplish in 2011?

Steph- I would like to get ourselves somewhat out of debt, at least to the point where I can feel less stressed about it. I would love to enroll in classes at UVU as well this fall. Mainly I want to be happy and grow closer as a family.

Kevin- I would like to be able to better provide for my family by getting a job. There are some prospects out there but just aren't hiring at the moment. Hopefully in the next month or so one of the companies will take a chance on me and hire me for their projects.

Jackson's 2010 answers-
Favorite thing we did Going to Disneyland
Favorite movie; Yogi Bear
Favorite food is Chicken Nuggets.
Favorite TV show is Max and Ruby.
Favorite color is green.
Favorite song is Imagination Movers.
Favorite toy is Imaginenext.
Favorite place to go with mom and day is Disneyland.
Favorite animal is a kitten and a puppy.
Favorite ride at Disneyland is Splash Mountain.
Best friend is my cousin Caleb.
I think Mya is really cute and pretty. I like to sit and copy cat her.
Favorite game to play is Mickey Mouse Memory Game.
When I grow up and start working I want to be the person who gives out prizes at Chuck e Cheese.
Fun Facts from 2010 about Jackson: Started primary as a sunbeam and LOVED it! He had his part completely memorized for the program. Jackson went to his first concert with mom and dad at the scera to John Michael Montgomery. Learned how to pedal his tricycle. Went to a BYU football game and basketball game. Loved going to the pool and going down the big water slide.

Present for Daddy

2010-12-02T00:22:00.003-07:00

Jackson has been sick for about a week and a half, almost two weeks. It started with a stomach bug two saturdays ago that both me and him got but then turned into a really high fever, then a cold and cough. We took him to the doctor today and he said it has just turned into Pneumonia! Poor kid! He is so happy and hasn't let it make him grumpy. He's on good medicine now so hopefully he will get better and I won't catch it.
I am actually extremely lucky I haven't caught it yet... I have caught everything this pregnancy and have been sick the entire time, I am still 2-4 lbs under where I started the pregnancy at and I am only 2 and a half weeks away from delivering! I just have been so sick...
So on monday I took Jackson upstairs to Kevin's grandma's bathroom to take a warm bath and as I was drying him off afterwards, he tooted loudly- so I said: "Did you just toot?" and he got sad and used a sad voice and said "Oh man, I was saving that toot as a present for Dad!!!"

I have no clue where he came up with that idea, but Kevin thought it was so funny when he got home from school and I told him about his present from Jackson!

updating....

2010-12-02T00:19:00.002-07:00

In a panicked attempt to catch up before the baby comes I have been updating our blog and posting them under the date I took the pictures. This is my journal so I've started to put everything on it that normally I wouldn't... The result? Lots of posts and lots of pictures...

Halloween 2010

2010-10-30T23:42:00.000-06:00

Halloween this year was on a sunday so we celebrated it on saturday the 30th. Kevin had a side job he worked that day so me and Jackson tackled pumpkin carving by ourselves. He loved it and was a lot of fun to do it with.

washing and drying

Making sure his hand is completely covered up from the "pumpkin goo."

Once I convinced him to put his hand inside and not be worried about the goo he loved scooping seeds out.

The silly face pumpkin

Visiting with the neighbors. Jackson and Paisley.

Batman posing with his pumpkins. Ready for trick-or-treating.

Trick or treating at great grandma's.

His candy from great grandma. He was a little disappointed to only get one piece...

Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Mont. He got a big huge handful from them and was much happier. Jackson and Grandpa Mont trick-or-treated their cul-de-sac and got poured on in a flash flood of rain but came back with some good treats!

At Grandma Dianne and Grandpa Mel Ross house. Grandpa and Maddy came with us to trick-or-treat at their townhomes.... FREEZING COLD!

Trick or treating in action. He was super persistant and kept taking extra candy from peoples bowls.

Posing with our pumpkins

Happy Halloween!

The park

2010-10-19T23:29:00.000-06:00

At the park with the kids in Colorado Springs. We went to see Erin's new office and went to the park for a bit.

Liz

Becca spinning Kevin... I would be SO sick if I did this!

Kevin's 28th Birthday

2010-10-18T22:37:00.000-06:00

I love the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. You get to feed giraffes!!! They are my favorite animal. I've been with Jackson a few times but Kevin hasn't ever been so for his birthday we decided to do the zoo!

Gabe feeding the giraffes, when he wasn't feeding them fast enough he ended up being licked across the head, boy was he surprised!

Their tongues are 15 inches long!!!

They let us pet them as long as we gave them crackers after.

There are so many giraffes at this zoo including two babies.

Jackson was a tad bit hesitant...

Isn't this baby so stinking cute!

Poor cold little meerkats!

wild roaming deer all over the place

I have NEVER seen lions be so active in person. At our zoo they just lay there sleeping. These one's were growling and playing.

One female sitting on top of the other one....

The bottom one gets sick of being underneath so she stands up......

the bottom one walked around to the other side and sat right on top of the one that was just sitting on her!!! So funny!

Then the females started to pester the male lion, so he growled and whacked a few of them.

and as one walked by he grabbed her and bit her on the leg!

So Fierce!!!!

Look at that face! I swear they were putting on quite the show for us!

Kangaroo or maybe a wallaby.... Not sure which, yes I know I am half Australian and should know- but I don't.

Poor Jackson.... After his first throwing up in the car event a few days earlier he got his first nose bleed... It started bleeding super heavy earlier that morning all over his brand new clothes and all over Becca's white carpet... it was so heavy that as were trying to help him I notice a puddle on the floor of my babies blood so I loose it and go into full blown shock! So basically Becca and Kevin handled the bloody nose while I had my head between my knees (not easy to do when you are pregnant). The nose bleed had a slight relapse during the day- so in went the tissue plug.

The leopard was pacing and staring down the kids. Kevin was doing his best to harass him.

Because of the weather and time of day all the animals were SUPER active.

The bears were fighting so Jackson would yell at them to stop it and they would! As soon as he walked away they would start fighting again so Jackson would run back and yell at them to knock it off and they would! It was so funny.

We got to see the mountain lion feeding, which was awesome. They knew it was feeding time so they were growling and running around.

Posing with a wild buck

The gorillas were throwing up and eating it... nasty. The baby gorilla was so funny though and was swinging on his swings right into the adults driving them nuts. They were grabbing him by the leg and yanking him off the ropes. Then all the adults would move to the opposite end and he'd run over and swing into them again! Quite obnoxious for them to be locked up with that kid all the time!

One spoiled birthday boy.......

Becca treated us to dinner at a very delicious Teppenyaki style restaurant.

The Jensen's (minus Erin who was in Utah for a trial)

Lucky for Kevin, Becca like's Sushi too! They ordered a few rolls and Kevin was in heaven...

The kid's favorite- the onion volcano.

After dinner we got a Cold Stone Oreo ice cream cake and went home. Kevin had such a great birthday.

Happy Birthday Kevin! I love you so much- you deserved such a great weekend!

Jensen Zoo

2010-10-17T22:15:00.006-06:00

So the pictures aren't great, but the kids were so dang cute. While me and Kevin were at the game the kids were home making a zoo in the basement. They all brought their stuffed animals down and divided them into species. Jackson brought Bubbles the cat, Cubaroo the dog, and Pedro the dog down for the zoo.

The Zoo keepers in their zoo keepers hats. I have to say that I love Jackson's sunflower hat!

The chickens

Bubbles

The fierce bears

Liz with her moose

Zoo keeper Sariah

First NFL Game!

2010-10-17T21:21:00.002-06:00

When we decided to go to Becca's house for the week it ended up that Kevin's 28th birthday would be while we were there... Kevin has ALWAYS dreamed of going to an NFL game. He didn't really care what team- he just wanted to go. His favorite team has been the Minnesota Vikings for a really long time so it is definitely still on his list to go to one of their games... But since we were going to be in the Denver area, the Broncos were playing, and it was his birthday I decided to find some tickets on eBay.

We got a great deal on them and had really good seats in a private section with private bathrooms (thank goodness, the line for the other ones were like 40 women long).

SOOOO happy!

Leaving Becca's house all set for the game! The whole hour drive to Denver there were cars with bronco flags and tons of people all headed to the game! Downtown Denver the freeway stopped and lanes started shutting down for a huge accident. All of a sudden a line of police escorts came speeding by followed by two huge buses full of the NY Jets players trying to rush through the traffic to the stadium. The excitement started there for us....

We got to the stadium super early, ate lunch at burger king (Stupidly using the last of our cash...) and had fun wandering around in all the Bronco gameday madness...

Me and "baby girl" in front of Invesco Field at Mile High... It was a really warm day!

Looking out on a sea of Orange. Apparently it was "Orange Sunday" for the game.

I wish I had taken more pictures of all the tailgaters, some of these people seriously LIVE for gameday. There were people with motorhomes all painted up in broncos colors parked with all their tents and bbq's all set up. It must take so long to set everything up and take it all down. It was pretty fun to see all the hype before the game, it got me really excited to be there with Kevin for the first time.

Taking it all in...

The stadium holds 78,000 people! It was massive!!!!! The Broncos are one of only two teams in the NFL that have season ticket holders from all 50 states! They are a big group of loyal fans. To get season tickets you have to be on a waiting list for 5-10 years... crazy. At one point in the game they announced that there were 2,000 no shows in the audience that day and on que the whole crowd booo-ed, it was pretty funny.

The NY Jets warming up- again everyone boo-ed when they came on the field.

The Bronco's coming out to warm up, everyone cheered.

They had three parachuters drop in on the stadium

Setting up the tunnel for the players.

Getting packed!

It was breast cancer awareness month, so lots of pink on the field.

It ended up being a really close game and came down to the last minute on the field before the Bronco's lost 20 to 24.

What a fun experience for us to be able to do! Maybe next time we'll do a Vikings game!

Trip to Colorado Springs

2010-10-16T20:57:00.004-06:00

My sister Becca invited us to visit her in Colorado Springs while her kids were out of school for Fall break and I instantly got really excited to go. She spoils us rotten when we are there and Jackson loves her kids and thinks her house is so much fun! We experienced a few "Firsts" while we were there for our family...
The first thing we did was take all the kids out to a pumpkin patch farm with a corn maze.

Liz, cute as can be.

In the corn maze. We had a scavenger hunt of things to find in the maze which was fun for the kids to do.

Jackson started to feel sick while we were there and got a really high fever.

Sariah and her perfect pumpkin.

Jackson looking more miserable.... Trying to smile for me with his pumpkin.

I feel so bad for him. He wanted to play in the corn put so bad but felt so awful he just couldn't enjoy it.

Liz burying Sariah in the corn.

Sariah and Liz on the hay ride.

Our family

Gabe on the hay ride.

When we got in the car and started driving away Jackson started to get really sick to his stomach... This is where we experienced our very first "child throwing up in the car" event. Luckily the whole thing ended up in a sack and we didn't even smell it. He slept almost the whole way home and was fine the rest of the trip as long as he had medicine in him for his fever. Sorry to Becca and her very nice SUV for having to experience that first with us...

Bowling at BYU

2010-10-08T20:54:00.000-06:00

We decided it would be fun to go to BYU and take Jackson bowling. He loved it and we all had a great time. Thank goodness we were bowling with a four year old and got to use the bumpers, otherwise My score may have not passed 50....

like father like son.....

2010-10-03T20:51:00.001-06:00

I guess sometimes sitting on the potty gets boring....

Man is that Hot!!!

2010-09-29T20:48:00.000-06:00

Kevin cooking dinner.... What's hotter, the apron or him cooking??? hmmmm..... that's a tough decision!

The Treehouse Dad Never Built For Us!

2010-09-24T20:43:00.001-06:00

This summer my Dad was hired to build a treehouse for a family in their ward. It turned out so cute and was fancier than our real house! Dad asked Kevin to come over and help pick up all the tools and big table saw and help him get everything back to grandpa's house so me and Jack got to go play while they cleaned up. Jackson LOVED this house and thought it was his new home. It had working electricity and fancy two tone paint. There was a big skylight and a deck. It was darling and as sturdy as the million dollar homes he has built! Sure wish he had built one for me when I was little..... boy was I neglected!

Clown Cone

2010-09-23T20:31:00.001-06:00

Jackson got his first clown cone today. He loved it and thought it was so funny to eat the clown's eyes and nose and mouth...

He was also full of funny facial expressions....

Shopping with Jackson

2010-09-22T23:27:00.000-06:00

This kid cracks me up! It is a serious blessing to be his mom. These four pictures are randomly taken at the dollar store and at the mall on two seperate shopping trips. He finds the funniest stuff and gets so attached to them. When I try to put the item back he gets so sad and talks about how sad the stuffed animal (or whatever) is going to be without him. Then he usually starts to cry and says "but I love him, he will miss me so much. He hates living in a store- he needs a kid to love him! He wants to live at our house because he loves me..." So sad... Makes me laugh though.

The duck pillow pet..... This is one thing he has wanted for MONTHS that I have told him to put on his birthday list. Everytime we go to the mall we have to go visit it and take a picture with him. I worry that getting him the duck the he will grow out of it quickly so we have tried our hardest to get him to want a different animal but no luck, he really really only wants the duck...

He found these baby mannequins in a stores dressing room and fell in love with it. He talked to it like a baby and cuddled him all over.

Babysitting Justin and Savannah

2010-09-14T20:11:00.001-06:00

The day after we got back from Disneyland we moved into Craig and Kristi's house and babysat Justin and Savannah for the week while their parents were living it up in the Bahamas! The week went great. We were tired after Disneyland and super tired after having three kids for a week but we had a lot of fun.

Justin modeling my glasses I won at Bunco while we were there.

Savannah

Jackson

Savannah asked to do mine and Kevin's hair one night, Kevin just basically got his wet and combed, Me? I got a selection of braids, pony tails, and twists. It turned out pretty cute! I think I might ask her to try the curling iron next time.

Ventura

2010-09-11T22:49:00.000-06:00

Our last Day in California we drove up the coast to meet my Brother Matt and his family in Ventura.
The most beautiful tree. It was HUGE!

At the Ventura Mission. The kids thought this was a great place to run around and be super loud, and blow out all the prayer candles...

We went to the pier and were looking all over for Matt and his family (They left before us after the mission) when low and behold we saw this awesome pirate ship. As we were admiring it we noticed Matt and his family sitting on the ship... of course matt would know pirates!

The captain of the ship is a patient of Matt's. He is the best Chiropractor in Santa Maria, California (well, actually the best in the world... but a long drive to see if you aren't central coastal cali)

My Sister Angie and her boy Caleb firing the cannon

Chelsea firing

Jackson holding hooks with the Pirate

After the pirate ship My mom bought all the kids kites to fly on the beach. It was cold and windy but they loved it.

My Oldest nephew Corry up in the tree trying to save someones run away kite.

That dot in the right side sky is the kite. He did actually get it down.

Dinner and Matt's birthday Pie at Marie Callendars

Matt and Melissa, I sure miss these guys. We spent our last night at their house and got a bag of fresh oranges and lemons from their backyard to take home. The lemons are so sweet I peeled it and ate it like an orange. Mel sent us home with a ton of cute girl clothes and a baby bassinet too!

Disneyland Part 2

2010-09-10T21:25:00.002-06:00

The toy story ride was closed at California Adventure... Major Bummer. But here is Jackson, Caden, and Brinlee being action figures.

Start of Day 2

Kevin's idea of a twin stroller for Caleb my nephew who lives in So Cal to ride in... notice how Jackson looks miserable.

First time riding on the Monorail. Even I have never been on the Monorail so it was pretty fun.

Jackson, Caleb, and Chelsea

Kevin is Chelsea's favorite uncle. She consistently will cuddle up to him and won't come to any of the rest of us.

On Snow White ride. Jackson has done this ride many times and is usually fine, but this time it was a bit scary...

Angie my sister and Chelsea

Caleb being a rockstar

Jackson "smiling" for me. He is constantly doing crazy smiles for me now.

Jackson and Caden outside of Winnie the Pooh

Start of Day 3

Watching Mickey's Marching Band on Main Street.

jackson loves Chip and Dale, and I love seeing the Magic in Jackson's eyes when he is interacting with them. They are so fun, they goof off and play with him.

Posing backwards

Visiting Cruella De Ville. jackson has watched 101 Dalmations a bunch lately so he was super excited to see her. We waited in line and when it was finally his turn he ran to her and started telling her all about the baby girl in mommy's tummy and how he has three babies in his tummy (2 girls and only 1 boy). She acted very interested in everything he was saying, it was really funny. Why he felt like Cruella was someone to confide in was a mystery to me...

We took a little shortcut out of Fantasy Land and ended up running into Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Normally these two would be extremely busy with a super long line to visit them but because they were on a random hidden path there was almost no one to see them so Jackson ran right to Snow White and told her all about how he just saw her movie and she asked him if he liked it, which he smiled and said yes. She asked his name and Called him Prince Jackson and took him over to Princess Aurora and said "oh princess Aurora you have to meet my best friend Prince Jackson." Jackson felt so special- it was really cute.

Kevin's a nice laid back Dad, so even though he didn't love his son taking pictures with the princesses he just shook his head and laughed. Another reason why I love him...

Grandma made us wait in a ridiculously long line to meet Tinker Bell... I guess she wanted to see their houses... SO by the time we got through the line we made Jack take pictures with the fairies to make it worth our wait.

The fairies made him so shy. It was pretty cute.

This is our third trip to Disneyland this year but We haven't ever been INSIDE the post office at Toon Town. Jackson loved the mailboxes and thought they were SO funny. How did we miss this!

Disneyland Sept 2010

2010-09-08T22:18:00.003-06:00

With all three of us having a year long season pass to Disneyland we have been super lucky to go a few times this year. It has been a wonderful experience and makes for a pretty inexpensive vacation for us to do. We use about 2-3 tanks of gas and bring lots of snacks and food from home. My sister lives in Long Beach and her family all have passes so they come and meet us there or we stay at their house.
This trip my sister Lisa and two of her kids Caden, and Brinlee, went as well with their passes so then my mom decided to get a pass and came as well. I know Jackson loved having so many cousins and Grandma being there.

Start of Day 1

Heimlich the hungry caterpillar ride with my mom, Grandma Dianne.

Lisa, Caden, and Brinlee. This is one of Caden's favorite rides.

Kevin and Jackson bumping into Caden and Brinlee

Mr. Incredible and Jackson

Jackson having a conversation with a Toy Story army guy.

Posing with Jessie and the army guy

Back to School

2010-08-30T22:53:00.000-06:00

We all went to "Daddy's Big School" to buy books. Jackson thought UVU was so much fun. There was a kid in the hallway juggling a few balls and Jackson made us stop in our tracks and watch the juggler.
Kevin is enrolled for his fourth and final year of plumbing through UVU. After this year he'll need to complete his on the job hours and take his state tests and he will be a full residential and commercial plumber. Yippie! (Now to find a job... again....)

Mrs. Sillymiss

2010-08-27T22:50:00.000-06:00

Jackson entertains me all day long. This is him introducing me to "Mrs. Sillymiss."

Babysitting Maddy

2010-08-26T21:17:00.000-06:00

Maddy is my dog that I got in 2003. She currently lives with my parents but if they go out of town or we need a pet for the weekend we get to dog-sit. Jackson absolutely LOVES Maddy and beg for her to have a sleepover with us all the time.

While Maddy was sleeping Jackson brought in all his favorite stuffed animals for her to cuddle with.

We can only watch "dog shows" like Clifford or Garfield or other shows that have a dog in them. We take lots of walks and go to the park with her.

Before her haircut...

After... She hadn't been groomed for a really long time so we took her to the Doggy Spa. She is one spoiled dog when she visits!

Horse Party!

2010-08-23T22:15:00.000-06:00

Jackson's cousin Savannah had a birthday party up at Stephen Story's (Stephen's hot chocolate guy) horse ranch/cabin up in Wallsburg. Craig (kevin's brother) works at Tahitian Noni with him so we got a private horse back riding party. The horse arena is huge and incredible and loaded with award winning horses.

Jackson LOVES horses and was in heaven.

The birthday girl Savannah.

Blake feeding one of the horses.

Jackson and Kevin

Jackson's turn for a ride.

He loved every minute of riding and kept asking for them to go faster- which meant the stable girls had to run... poor things were exhausted after Jackson's turn.

The horses loved to give Jackson kisses in his ears and try to munch on his hair.

Craig and Justin- from this angle Justin looks like he's enjoying it.... From the other side you could tell he wasn't.

Craig's turn...

Kevin trying to squeeze into a kid's saddle...

Kevin and Chad

Jackson and Justin

The whole group

The horse nuzzling Jackson. I really wish I could afford to give Jackson riding lessons. He sure loved it!

Nielsen Family Reunion

2010-08-21T21:48:00.000-06:00

In August we had a Nielsen (My mother-in-law's side) family reunion. I guess its been 6 years since the last one so before me and Kevin got married. I didn't know many people but we had a great time.
It was so stinking HOT... There was a fountain with a sign saying No Swimming, but was swarmed with kids swimming in it so I let Jackson jump in with his clothes on to cool off. Total white trash, I know.

Jackson's cousin Justin cooled off too.

One of my newest nephews Austin, he is so dang adorable...

We took Jackson's clothes off to dry in the sun which means for all the games and water balloon toss Jackson and a few of his cousins ran around in underwear. I know, even worse white trash...

Whenever the Colyar cousins get together they like to race. From Left to right we have Justin, Jackson, Luke (the other undies boy) and Blake.

Justin giving himself a head start....

Grapes...

2010-08-20T21:46:00.000-06:00

How many grapes can you fit into YOUR mouth???

Train Ride at the Mall

2010-08-19T21:39:00.002-06:00

We went to the South Towne Mall in Sandy to do an ultrasound (double checking it's a girl) and of course couldn't resist the train. It cost's about a million dollars but Jackson was thrilled to do it.

Magoon

2010-08-17T21:06:00.003-06:00

We received discount tickets to Lagoon (or as Jackson calls it "Magoon") through Kevin's work and went with my sister Lisa and her kids. It was super hot and super crowded... apparently it was Channel 2 discount day where it was buy one get one free into the park, so it was way busy. Neither me or Kevin had been since senior day in high school so it was still fun even with the crowds.

Kevin is pretty lucky. His wife likes to do rides at the amusement parks but has been pregnant for all but one of our Disneyland trips and Lagoon so lucky for him Jackson is a super daredevil 3 year old. He went on everything he was tall enough to and loved them all and would beg to do it again when they got off.

His favorite ride, The Tidal Wave...

He had to ride The Tidal Wave multiple times...

Not as good as Disneyland, but still a fun little day for us.