Happy Anniversary!

Today is mine and Melissa's 5-year anniversary. I want her to know how much I love her but words are never enough but it doesn't hurt to try.

The things I love about Melissa:

1. Her unconditional love for me and our family.
2. Her sense of humor – She is so funny and silly. I love that we can be goofy with each other.
3. She is a wonderful mother to Levi. She is so patient with Levi and is a terrific role model for him. Nothing makes me more proud to be her husband than to see her in action as a mom.
4. Her laugh – I mean her real “laugh out loud” laugh. I’m not sure if a lot of people have heard her laugh like that.
5. Her stubbornness – An attribute that we both share but we have learned to compromise and accept each other’s stubbornness.
6. Her family – I love how we have become closer over the years. I also love that we have been able to spend a lot of time with them lately.
7. She is a fire-cracker! She won’t hesitate to stand up to someone for what she believes in.
8. She makes me want to be a better person.
9. Her testimony of the gospel.
10. The way she knows me.
11. Her smile.
12. Her eyes.

I love more than I have ever found the way to say to you. Happy anniversary my love!

Happy Birthday Matt & Levi (A bunch of pictures)

It's that time of year again when Matt and I scramble to figure out what to do for gift ideas. It doesn't matter if it is for us or for Levi. We struggle usually every time. Matt's birthday is Dec. 3rd. Levi's birthday is Dec. 4th. Our anniversary is Dec. 11th and of course Christmas on the 25th. Every year we tell each other that we really had poor planning in every department possible. But it does make for fun times though.

Matt turned 28 this year and our baby boy is now 2! I honestly can't believe that Levi is 2. It is so cliche to say but where did the time go? The past 2 years have been difficult at times but more amazing than anything. For Matt's birthday I made him a cake. Let me just say that I am NOT a cake decorating professional by any means. I try and that is all I can do! But it's cake so it will just be eaten anyway. I also made Levi a cake as well. I can never decide what the best thing to do is as far as cakes go. Do I make just one cake for both Matt and Levi? Or do I make 2? Being pregnant doesn't help me to decide which is better either. So I did 2 cakes anyway.


I didn't have a number 8 candle so as you can see I just put 27 + 1. It worked!

Levi really wanted to touch the candles but he did a good job helping Matt blow them out

The next day I was able to help Levi blow out his candles. Since Levi's birthday and Christmas are so close together we decided that we wanted to save most of his presents for Christmas. So we got him an Elmo chair. He loves it! It giggles and vibrates when he sits in it. We also got him a play kitchen set with food. We replaced the microwave that came with the kitchen set with a way cooler one. The new one has a timer, makes noise, and has more buttons for Levi to push. It is interesting to watch Levi use his imagination and pretend to cook or eat the food. Our neighbor got Levi an Elmo movie and Elmo bath toy as well.

Then came the fun part of letting Levi go crazy with his cake. We stripped him down to his diaper and let him go at it. We gave him a bigger piece of cake and Levi wasn't sure exactly what to do with it. Once Matt showed him he could just pick it up and eat it, Levi devoured that cake.

This past Saturday my parents came out and spent the day with us. We went to the Heard Museum. It was a really neat place that you wouldn't think would be so close to us. They had a dinosaur exhibit going on and Levi wasn't too excited about it. The dinosaurs moved and made noise and it scared him. It was cute to see how much Levi clung on to us. Meemaw and Papaw brought presents too. They got him a new pair of shoes, toy trucks, crayons, and a coloring book. We were most excited about the shoes!

Levi is touching a crystal that he is not supposed to touch.

Digging for "Fools Gold".

Looking at the nasty snakes! Yucky!

Levi is too scared to let go of us or my mom's leg!! There wasn't anything that he liked about the whole dinosaur experience.

This museum is a fun place to visit and we will be going back in the spring when they have more outdoor exhibits open. We had a fun weekend celebrating with each other and family. Thanks Mom and Dad for coming out. We finished off the day by going to Subway for dinner and doing some Christmas shopping for Levi at Toys R Us.

I am thankful for my husband because...

I am thankful for my husband for the following reasons:

1) I am thankful that Matt works so hard so that I am able to stay at home with our children. We may not be the richest in the world but I couldn't be happier being with our babies.

2) I am thankful for Matt's wonderful and playful personality. We do the dumbest and silliest jokes and I often wonder if anyone else heard us what they would think. He loves to play and come up with new games for Levi.

3) I am thankful for Matt being such a good father. I could not ask for a better person to raise our children with. I am so happy our children will have someone there to do "man stuff" with.

4) I am thankful for Matt having such a wonderful family. Matt has so many siblings, nieces, and nephews and they are all amazing. You can really see and feel all of the love that they have for each other.

5) I am thankful for Matt's stubbornness. Now, we both together are pretty stubborn but I am grateful to have someone there to keep me in line. Without him there, I think I would never give in to anything.

6) I am thankful for Matt's nose. That may sound silly but to me Matt has the perfect nose. I hope all of our children get his nose. So I am also thankful to Matt's parents as well for giving him such a perfect nose.

7) I am thankful for Matt being a fixer of all things. When I am sad he wants to fix it. When Levi breaks something Matt will fix it. If Matt doesn't know how to fix it he will try even though I might be nervous the whole time. Matt is a fixer of all things and I love that!

8) I am thankful for Matt helping me so much around the house. He does dishes, washes clothes, vacuums the floor, mows the lawn, plus more. I feel so lucky to have a husband that will help me do things and not just expect that I do everything myself. It really makes my life so much easier. I think we make a pretty good team.

9) I am thankful that Matt and I share the love of football. Football has to be the best sport ever! Some guys aren't into sports and some wives aren't either. So I am glad that we will forever share the love of the greatest game.

10) I am thankful for Matt taking me to the temple. I am so grateful that I found a worthy person that believes and shares my same values. I have only seen Matt cry a few times in 5 years. One of those was our wedding. Matt has a true heart of gold and I get to be with him for eternity.

I appreciate you Matt and all that you do for our family. I love you!

Attention All Moms!! Money Saver!!

So here is a tip to help out all those Moms out there! Today at Target I was able to get 3 packages of toddler flushable wipes for FREE! Yes I said FREE! I will definitely be stocking up on these while the coupon and sale are still good. I'm so excited about this b/c I will have 2 kids soon using diapers and wipes. Even though these are the flushable wipes I will still use them like my regular wipes. If you don't have children you can use these as gifts for those that do. So if you are interested here is what you do:

In the baby isle with the wipes the toddler flushable pack (48 count) are priced at $.97. Also, Target does have the tubs priced around $1.60 so after the coupon only about $.60 each. Still a great deal either way.

Go here and print off the Target coupon for $1 off any up & up brand diapers or wipes.

The coupon is located under the section labeled "Expiring 12/05/09". You can print off as many as you would like. Just put a number in the box. Then click the Get Coupons button. Your coupons will show up on the next page. Then hit your browser's print button.

Now, on the coupon in the small print it does say "limit 1 per transaction" but you can still get more than one package at a time. I would recommend no more than 5 at a time. Just so you don't get problems from the cashier. If you have other items to purchase at Target then you will have no issues with this. If you want to only get the wipes make sure to tell the cashier that the coupon value will be have to be adjusted down to match the price of the wipes. Otherwise, the coupon may beep since the value of the coupon is more than the price of the wipes. If the cashier says they can't do that then don't be scared. Trust me, they can adjust the value! Ask to speak to a Lead Cashier that can adjust it. In the Target coupon policy it also states they can adjust the value of the coupon. For this money saving deal it is worth it to stand your ground.

That's it! You have just scored free wipes! Let me know if you get your free wipes. I know I will be making several trips to Target for this deal.

The night terror

For 1 year now Levi has had really bad night terrors. As he has become older they have become less frequent. But they for sure do not get any easier to deal with. Last night Levi had a night terror and every time he has one it just brings me to tears. If you have ever had a child with night terrors then you know what I am talking about.

Matt and I feel so helpless when he has these. It is almost like Levi is possessed. You look in his eyes and he is not the same person. Even though his eyes are open he is not awake. Levi will kick and fling his arms around. He will hit us but we don't get mad at him b/c he is not awake and doesn't realize what he is doing. We have discovered recently that by turning on Elmo for him does help him to wake up and calm down.

When Levi wakes up the next day he is none the wiser as to what has happened. He is always in a good mood and is ready to get up and play. We have prayed that Heavenly Father will take this burden away from Levi. I guess this is a trial for us as parents but it is really hard to overcome. It really stretches your emotions like never before. Last night Matt gave Levi a blessing. I am so grateful for Matt and the power of the Priesthood. I really don't know what I would do without it in my home. As soon as Matt laid his hands on Levi's head he was calm. When we laid Levi back down in bed he slept through the rest of the night.

I know Heavenly Father watches over and protects all of his children. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I would love to know.

Oh the joys of pregnancy!

I am just about to the uncomfortable stage of this pregnancy. And I'm only half way done! When I was pregnant with Levi, it was at this point that I started breaking out in hives while I sleep. It is really weird. I was hoping that I wouldn't have this same problem but it has started again. I remember when this first happened I woke up thinking I was being attacked by bed bugs b/c the welts on my legs and arms were so huge. I went to a dermatologist and pretty much the only thing I can do is take an allergy pill before I go to sleep. The hives really are uncomfortable and they itch like crazy. Why does your body have to do such weird things when you are pregnant?

A Tough Decision Ahead

In the coming months Matt and I will finally be able to see our precious new baby. We can't wait to have a new child, even though it will be tough. But in light of this excitement, we have a decision to make. We have to decide if I will have another c-section or try to deliver this baby vaginally. My doctor has surprisingly left it up to us to decide what to do. She has recommended we do the c-section but we do still have the other option.

When I was pregnant with Levi everything was normal and pretty much perfect! I could not have asked for an easier pregnancy. The problems began once I went into labor with Levi. Levi was not in any hurry to really come out of me. He was born on his predicted due date when I finally went into labor. But we did have an induction scheduled for the very next day since we thought he wasn't going anywhere.

When I arrived at the hospital I was dilated at a 5. That is pretty much where I stayed. Things all happened so fast and I was very scared. Especially since this was my first and I had no idea what to expect. Levi was not really centered in the birth canal. You could feel his head over to my left side. I was given pitocin to speed things along and every time I would contract Levi's heart rate would drop. When the doctor broke my water, meconium, (Levi's poo) came out. All of this together did not leave us with much option but to have a c-section. As expected, when the doctor pulled Levi out the cord was wrapped around his neck. It was a good thing that I did not try to push him out since this could have caused damage.

My doctor gave us a statistic about if I deliver vaginally what the chances are of my uterus rupturing or running into other problems. I know doctors always want to be safe and I would never do anything to harm myself or our baby. But at the same time, I feel like I was jipped with Levi's birth. Giving birth is not glorious or fun by any means but I guess I had pictured it to go one way and it didn't. For me the recovery from my c-section was very difficult. I swore that I would never go through that again. I just don't know what the right thing to do is.

I seek out the advice of those who have experienced this situation. How did you decide what to do? Thank you for your input.