Did you know?

So I learned something new last week that was both surprising and a little bit freaky. Last week was UEA so I took the opportunity to schedule Nolan for a teeth cleaning. While I was on top of doctorey stuff I also set him up for another cortisone shot for his back. There's all sorts of do's and don'ts for that shot so they send like three whole pages of information to you leading up to the shot. Well right smack in the middle of page two it says that you can't have any dental work/cleaning in the two weeks leading up to the shot. What? Dental work I get, they numb you up with shots and put you on the happy gas to make the process go smoother so I can see where that might have some weird effects with the cortisone shot. But why did they mention the cleaning? Isn't it basically just a super good teeth brushing? Maybe it had something to do with the x-rays? I called the doctor's office for some clarity and that's when I learned some stuff. Apparently a regular old teeth cleaning releases MASSIVE amounts of bacteria into your system. Gross, right? So much so that a lot of people with heart problems and other ailments actually have to go on antibiotics before they go in for a cleaning. Are you surprised? Maybe not. Maybe you already knew all of that but I certainly did not. So the end explanation is that in order to try and prevent any sort of infection from the cortisone shot we had to push it back two weeks. Poor Nolan. Not only does he hate the dentist but he had to wait to try and get his back feeling better.

Oh hey....

Ok, super fast catch up of the last 6 months and picture overload.

March

Road trip to Vegas, just Nolan and I.

 Yes, Vegas, and I had a hot chocolate. Deal with it.

 Ya, I totally drove to Preston and waited in line for tickets for that gigantic lottery. I didn't win but it was really more about the experience. I girl can dream about winning a hundred million, right?

 April

Finally!! After Rodney we never really took any preventative measures as far as kids but once again, nothing. We started really trying and got to experience the fun failure of another IUI before the holidays. Decided to take a break from the doctor over the holidays and and were planning on going back after our vacation when WHAM! BAM! Thank you ma'am, we managed to get pregnant all on our own. Without a doctor. Just like, you know, regular adults!

Meanwhile...

I decided that my chairs might need to take a temporary vacation in the garage. Rodney's first unsupervised summit of the table involved brownies after breakfast. Definitely his mom's boy when it comes to sweets.

 Definitely his dad's boy when it comes to climbing...

June

We did family pictures in June and I had her take this super cute one to use as our pregnancy announcement. Love it!

July

No pictures but fireworks were HORRIBLE this year! Dry winter, lots of fires, too many stands in the valley and the holiday was in the middle of the week. It all added up to a rotten year.

On the positive side. Rodney's birthday!! I can't believe my little guy turned 2! I can't find a completed picture but I went with a Dr. Seuss theme.

Green eggs and ham candy melt cupcake toppers.

 Cat in the Hat cake that was VERY frustrating but turned out pretty cool.

 We had both families together and we got to light off all of our awesome fireworks. 

Lonna bought Rodney a toy lawn mower and he goes out and helps his dad every week now.

 At the end of July we found out that we're having another boy!! I was a tiny bit sad because I know how much Nolan wants a little girl. I was also pretty nervous for a few days because one boy has been hard for me to handle. The idea of two was a little overwhelming.

And the cravings had set in too. One day I decided I needed Chinese food but wasn't going to drive all the way over to Logan for it. So I made some. I even bought chopsticks because that's how it had to be eaten.

August

I just love how much Rodney watches his dad. He won't leave the house without a hat, he plays with his own golf putter in the yard and tries to copy everything else his dad does. Caught some really cute pictures of these two one Saturday morning.

 The third weekend in August I had 400 cupcakes to make for a wedding. Before the first batch was out Rodney had tried to push the oven rack back into the oven with his bare hand. I was crying before he was and we spent the next two hours cuddling and crying until Nolan could come home and take care of us. Rodney was pretty much fine once I got it bandaged and wrapped, it was his momma that was a wreck. I was crying for him before he even realized he was hurt!

 I did somehow manage to get all the cupcakes baked and decorated though.

And some random pictures...

Cheese!

Rodney's contribution to paint prep.

 After breakfast we spend a little bit of time watching videos on the Kindle in mom's lap. Yes, that is my pregnant belly at the bottom of the picture.

We spend lots of our time outside watching bugs.

Rodney's contribution to laundry.

Those are my hooded footie pajamas that Nolan bought me for Christmas last year. Rodney loves the fabric so he digs them out of my closet and hauls them around. This day he insisted on bringing them along in the car. I need to find some fabric like this to make him a blanket for Christmas.

Rodney checking out mom's new and gigantic diaper bag for when Baby #2 comes around.

Fun with sour cream...

Little man insists on riding in the big section of the cart now so he can wave at EVERYONE.

 Adorable shot from our family pictures in June that I plan to hang in our living room.

I'm officially a week further along in this pregnancy then I was when Rodney showed up. We also had a fetal check up two weeks ago and this little guy was weighing in at almost a pound more than what Rodney weighed when he arrived. 8 weeks to go and so far by blood pressure is still great and the only time I start to swell is if I've been sitting at the computer for too long or drinking too much Coke. Fingers crossed things keep going smoothly! That's us for now.

Ow. Ow. Ow

CrossFit might kill me but I don't care. Things are gonna change! First CrossFit class was Feb. 8th. This was the very first workout.

5 Pull-ups

10 Push-ups

15 Squats

The goal is to do as many rounds as possible. I managed to do 10 rounds!

Workout #2 was on Saturday Feb. 11th. This workout ALSO sucked.

12 ABMAT sit-ups

12 Ring dips

10 Kettleball overhead squats

10 Pull-ups

Light Pole run (about half a block)

2 Rope climbs

We had to do this 5 times for time. The cutoff was 21 minutes and I finished in 19:35!

Holy crap I want to die! Let me also say that I'm not as tough as this makes me sound. I can't do a pull-up so I have to do assisted ones. I also can't get off the ground for a rope climb. I basically jump as high as I can and try to hold on. Maybe someday I'll actually be able to climb the thing! As exhausting and nauseating as these workouts are I'm going to keep at them. No pain, no gain, right??

Rodney, Rodney, Rodney!

Oh how this child keeps me on my toes!! Rodney is 18 months old now and never slows down. At his well check he weighed 19 lbs and is 31 inches tall. He's still not on the charts for his weight but he's in the 12th percentile for his height. The pediatrician is extremely happy with his progress and thinks we're on the right track.

Likes to get undressed before mom gets him up.

This child LOVES to climb! Every time I turn around he's climbing on something new. He makes me laugh and freaks me out all at the same time.

The problem with all the climbing is that he usually get stuck and then he yells and yells until I come help him.

Nothing unusual here...

until he pulled himself up here!!

I didn't think his toes would even fit there but he's his mom's son. He'll do just about anything for a cupcake first thing in the morning!

What's in here?

Caught in the act so maybe being cute will get me out of trouble?

Figured out there was enough space between the couch and blinds to play!

Love to climb ALL OVER Atticus. Sweet dog doesn't even move.

And way back to Halloween... There's only a few years where I get to dress him up the way I want.

YODA!!!

Bought these back in July for watching fireworks and he loves wearing them around the house.

Not sure why but Jenesey has a stick on stache that we had Rodney try on. Adorable!

Lemi-Shine!!

I am absolutely in LOVE with this stuff!!! We have absolutely horrible hard water out in Tremonton and it drives me insane! We've been here for over two years now and since we've moved in I've thrown away a bunch of my glasses because they just wouldn't come clean and the hard water just kept gunking on thicker and thicker. Seriously, look at how gross my big strainer had gotten. Yuck!!

I was complaining to next-door neighbor about it and she pulled a little bottle out of her cupboard and poured a bunch of powder (not drugs!) into a baggie and told me to give it a try. I thought "It can't hurt" so I went home and added it to my dish soap and ran the dishes. I opened the clean dishwasher and I swear I heard an angelic chorus! It was A-mazing! One wash did this to my strainer.

Beautiful, right! This miracle powder is Lemi-Shine and you can get it almost everywhere but I'd never even heard of it.

You put your regular detergent in and then add a little bit of this wonderful stuff and BAM! POW! Goodbye hard water stains!! They also have the liquid stuff like Jet Dry that you pour in once a month or so. It's not quite as strong so on it's own it still does a decent job, just not quite as awesome as the powder.

If you're fighting and losing to hard water you've got to try this stuff. I get so excited to see my clean dishes now! Nolan thinks it's funny how often I express my love for a silly cleaning product but I do! I absolutely LOVE this stuff!!