Domestic Goddess

Throw Pillows

2011-11-05T21:51:00.002-06:00

My goal for this weekend was to finish 3 new throw pillows for my living room.

 I almost made it...... 

I got 2 done and they were really quite fun to make. I found some great tutorials on PiLLoWs here. I plan on making more pillows but I'm going to leave that for another weekend.

The pillows match the projects I worked on this past summer with Staci! I know, I know, the yellow is bright....... but I love it!!

P.S. I will try and remember to post the other pillows when they are done.

Hallo ween

2011-11-03T12:37:00.007-06:00

Halloween was a little different this year for the kids because they actually got to go door-to-door and trick or treat. In St. George we always went to our ward's trunk or treat. So How was TRICK-OR-TREATING???
Max never wanted to stop. He could've gone all night long. Ava and Isaac thought it was fun but were "tired" after one block. Zoey handed out candy with Mom and then Dad. ( Mom had to drive Max over to a bigger neighborhood so he could fill up his sack)
Grandma and Grandpa Bassett gave the kids regular size candy bars. They were pretty happy about that. They also had a Halloween carnival for the kids a couple of nights before Halloween. The kids bobbed for apples, had a cupcake walk, and painted faces. It was such a fun time!!

Max is still obsessed with Harry.....so for the 2nd year , he is dressed as HP

Ava went as a LA LA LOOPSY doll and unless you have one or have seen the commercials you probably have no idea what a la la loopsy doll is. I made sure to take a picture of Ava holding her doll. She looked super adorable in her costume.

In case you wanted to know....2 year olds don't always want to "dress up" for Halloween. So CHEF ISAAC was pretty ticked at mom and dad when they made him anyways. He looked so stinking cute. The reason he was a Chef is because he is famous for getting into the fridge ( hence the new fridge lock) and getting all the pots and pans out and trying to cook us some things.

I was going to borrow my friends costume to dress up Zoey in, but we didn't end up seeing them because of the flu that's been going around so I have no Halloween pictures of Zoey. Don't worry. I'll dress her up eventually and take a few pictures.:)

randomness

2011-11-03T12:19:00.003-06:00

Here are some random pictures of life in the past month......

Some days...( not every day) I get motivated to try new hairstyles on Ava. She loves getting her done done up all cute for school.

My wonderful cousin Missy sent up her Bumbo and this is a picture of Zoey trying it out. Can you believe she is already 5 months old???

and another one in the car seat getting ready to go pick up the kids from school......

What happens when your best friend is also your older sister ? Isaac could tell you! He gets to be her guinea pig:)

The kids get so excited to get dressed up in their DELTA red t shirts and go watch the football games. Here are some pictures right before the game.

just a cute picture of Max holding Zoey before bedtime....

I love his sweet smile.

Ava's Preschool Halloween party

2011-10-29T20:01:00.002-06:00

Ava was a La La Loopsy Doll for Halloween this year and she got all dressed up for Pre-School and walked in the Halloween parade. She LOVED getting all dressed up and getting make-up on, but she was a little embarrassed to actually go to school in a bright pink wig. Once she realized that all the other boys and girls were dressed up too , she relaxed and had a fun day.

After school Ava was pretty excited to see all the candy she had in her backpack. I love her laugh in the beginning. Muah ha ha ha........

Max gets to dress up for school on Halloween day and of course we will get all dressed up to go trick or treating that night. SO...more pictures to come:)

2011-09-15T12:49:00.008-06:00

Here are a couple of shots of this weekend. It was so nice to see all my siblings. I don't get to see them very often.

How old does that make me???

2011-09-09T10:08:00.002-06:00

My baby brother is getting married tomorrow. On 9-10-11.

Sometimes it is hard to grasp the fact that he isn't my "baby" brother anymore. He is ,in fact, my grown up 25 year old brother. I love his soon-to-be wife and couldn't be happier for them. I wish them the very best.....and lots and lots of babies!!!! ( my kids need more cousins)

Goodbye 20's......

2011-08-24T11:51:00.008-06:00

Today is my birthday. Not just any birthday. My 30th birthday. I always wondered if this would be a hard birthday , but so far, I think, I am happy to be 30.
There are some perks. I can now say, "When I was in my 20's......", I get to check a new age group category ( 30-35), and I still have 10 years to prepare for my 40's . If I look back on the past decade of my life, I realize how much really has happened to me.

I was married at the (young) age of 20.
I am still married, and shockingly for our day and age....I am Happily Married!

I became a Mother! I rate this as one of the most important things to happen to me in my entire life, let alone my 20's. I have 4 wonderful children.

My hair is falling out by-the-way. A huge THANK YOU to Zoey and my post pregnancy hormones for that. I had forgotten that this happens. It's lots and lots of fun.

In the past 10 years I have gained some:
I don't claim that I am wise. I am not. But I have progressed slowly through this past decade and I am now a much better person than I was at the age of 20. I have so many people to thank for that. All those wonderful people around me who are examples and who have taught me so much. My husband being the "numero UNO" of examples in the past 10 years.

In case you didn't know already.......

So I really have no reason to complain about turning 30. I am truly grateful for my 20's and I hope that my 30's are just as amazing.

School Time!

2011-08-18T19:49:00.002-06:00

Max and Ava started school! Max is a 1st grader and Ava is in pre-school. Both kids LOVED their first day of school and I think they'll have a great time this year. They both have awesome teachers and have already made friends.

12 weeks

2011-08-18T19:43:00.002-06:00

Zoey is growing up too fast and I can' t believe how big she is. Well, I guess I can't say "big" because she weighs 9 lbs , which is still pretty tiny. She is starting to smile and I promise to catch it on camera one of these days.

Twice the fun!

2011-08-18T19:23:00.003-06:00

It wasn't long after we moved to Delta that we celebrated Isaac's 2nd birthday! We went to the park and had a small party. Isaac loves the park and would swing all day if he could. He enjoyed opening his toys and eating cake and icecream. The best birthday present ever was having his grandma and grandpa and Uncle Phil at his party. Isaac LOVES his grandparents and asks to go over to their house at least twice a day. Happy Birthday Isaac. We love you!!!

Finally...

2011-07-25T15:35:00.000-06:00

I finally am getting caught up......several posts to follow!

10 weeks old......

2011-07-25T15:25:00.000-06:00

Zoey had her 2 month appointment last week. I was curious to see how much she's gained since birth and she weighs a whopping 8 lbs 9 oz. She is still so tiny and petite. Poor Zoey has had colic since week 3 . It has been a challenge but I think we may have figured out the problem. I am pretty sure she has reflux and she started on some Zantac and has been a different baby ever since. She is such a little dolly. We sure love her!

Play Time

2011-07-25T15:02:00.003-06:00

While the boys are away the girls will play! ....and by play, I mean decorate. Matt had his annual fishing trip to Boulder with his friends and brother. Max , of course, went along and that left me alone for the weekend and I decided to tackle some projects. Staci, my bestie, came to Delta to help me decorate the girls room and we ended up decorating the living room some too. It's still a work in progress , but I LOVED having Staci here to help me paint and to give me advice on everything. She is so talented at making things look good. We had a blast decorating and I must say we worked pretty hard to get it all done. My awesome mother and father-in-law watched Isaac and Ava so we could get more done. My living room colors are black with red accents , but I wanted to add some punch of color. So I added some yellow and it sure brightened up the room. I'll start with a couple of fun things we changed in the living room....

We spray painted an ugly frame and put some fabric rosettes on it. I still need to put in a photo though....
Along with the same theme we framed the fabric to bring some more yellow into the room.
I found this magazine stand at a yard sale for $2 and I painted it yellow and glazed it. I am going to put some flowers in it....
I am going to make some throw pillows.....IF I ever get a minute....
We are renting the cute little house we live in so I can't really paint the walls, so I love adding the color in other places to make it look better.

Here is the GIRL's ROOM....
Here is Zoey's crib painted Green and rubbed with black glaze.
Ava's headboard painted to match.
We had fun with COLOR and painted the frames different colors and framed fabric and scrapbook paper.
Ava's side of the room.

I still need to paint the dresser white and add some decorations to Ava's headboard, but the room turned out adorable thanks to STACI!!!

random

2011-07-25T14:43:00.002-06:00

Some random shots of the kids playing.....

4th of July

2011-07-25T14:22:00.002-06:00

Here are some pictures of the 4th of July. The kids loved the parade and brought back loads of candy. Isaac was especially excited to eat the taffy. I stayed home with Zoey and it was great to hear all about it when they got home.

Zoey's story

2011-07-25T13:01:00.004-06:00

Matt and I have enjoyed living in St. George for the past 6 years, and thought we would live in southern Utah for the rest if our lives, but when a teaching position opened up in Delta, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to apply. Matt grew up in Delta and he claims he had the best childhood a kid could ask for. He grew up in the country and learned how to be a hard worker from a young age. He loved working on his uncle's farm and growing up in a small town. We both agreed it would be amazing to give our children those same experiences and to live close to Matt's parents. So.... Matt applied for the position and they called and set up an interview for May 23rd in the afternoon.
Matt decided to go up to Delta on the night of May 22nd so he didn't have to drive up the morning of the interview. I talked to him on the phone before I went to bed that night and we joked about me going into labor while he was gone. Having been on bed-rest since week 24 I assured him that there was no way I was going to go into labor while he was out of town. I had kept the baby "in" for 12 weeks and I could go another couple weeks.
4:00 AM May 23rd Isaac woke up and I carried him into bed with me and changed his diaper. We were cuddling when the first contraction hit at 4:26 AM. I have had false labor for weeks up until this point so I look at my clock and see the time and then lay back down. At 4:30 AM I had another contraction and this one took my breath away. I got up and went to the bathroom and paced a little bit trying to decide what to do if I had another contraction. Matt was gone and the van was with him. Matt had sold his truck the month before, so we are a one car family.
4:34 came with no contraction so I got back into bed and then at 4:35 I had an intense contraction that lasted quite a bit longer then the last 2. I got back up and got dressed. I called my friend Janette and prayed she'd pick up. When she answered I told her I thought that maybe I was in labor and could she take me to the hospital? Janette brought her daughter Jay'lee over to tend my kids and we drove over to the hospital. My contractions were coming steadily and as I walked into labor and delivery I had to pause a couple of times to wait until the contraction passed. When I got up to the front desk the CNA was going to have me checked in for "observation' since I was only 36 weeks....but I told her in that I need to get to be checked because as of last week I was already 100% effaced and dilated to a 4. Her eyes got big and she rushed me into a room and the nurses came in and checked me and I was at 5 cm dilated. I asked the nurse for an epidural and she informed me that the anesthesiologist was in the middle of a C section and that it would be 20-30 minutes before he could come give me the epi. The next 32 minutes were the longest of my life. I was already in hard labor and my contractions were every 2 minutes. After I was hooked up I called Matt at 5:15 AM and told him the news. I was in Labor. FOR REAL this time. There was a pause.......and then he said," Are you serious?". Was I ever serious. I could barely talk I was in so much pain. Matt and I hung up and he scrambled to grab his stuff and start the 2 hour and 45 minute drive back to St. George. The nurse checked me and I was at 6 cm. I called my mom and she helped me "breathe" through the contractions over the phone until I could get some relief from the pain. When the anesthesiologist walked through the door I wanted to give him a big kiss!!! He very quickly gave me the epidural and I finally started to feel better. A huge shout-out to all those ladies I know who have done everything without an epidural. You are amazing, and maybe a little crazy:) My Dr. came in at 7 AM and I was at 7cm dilated and he decided to break my water. He figured it would take at least an hour for me to get to a 10 and then start pushing. Matt was about an hour away at this point. He broke my water at 7:05 AM. I felt the "strong" urge to push at 7:07 AM and the nurses frantically tried to set everything up for delivery because when the DR checked me at 7:08 AM I was 10 cm dilated and the head was right there. They had me breathe through the contractions so they could get everything set up and I gave birth to our beautiful little Zoey at 7:16 after 2 pushes.

Zoey had the cord wrapped pretty tightly around her neck when she came out so she didn't cry at first and the whisked her over to the table and gave her oxygen. I was terrified when she didn't cry and then they took her away so fast. She got her color back after a a couple minutes and then they brought her back to me and put her on my chest. I called Matt and said, "It's a girl!!!"

She weighed in at 5lbs 14 oz and she was doing great. I am thankful for the steroid shots they gave during my bed-rest to develop her lungs because even though she was 4 weeks early she had no breathing issues. It was a truly happy moment when Matt walked through the door and held Zoey for the first time.
Matt and I held Zoey and enjoyed her until 9:30 and then he left and drove back to his interview in Delta. He brought the group of people interviewing him See's candy cigars that said "It's a Girl!" He had a great interview and then he turned around and drove straight back to the hospital. Poor Matt spent 9 hours in the car that day.

It wasn't long before Grandma and Grandpa Bassett came to visit and they brought Max, Ava and Isaac with them.

We didn't get a picture at the hospital with Isaac because he was too busy trying to figure out all the buttons on the bed. All 3 kiddos loved their new baby sister and I was SUPER grateful to all those who helped take care of my kids while I was in the hospital. Sorry it took me so long to write this story. Taking care of 4 kids makes it hard to find time to blog.....

P.S. We found out shortly after that Matt had gotten the job in Delta!

Introducing....

2011-05-25T16:50:00.003-06:00

It's really kind of a funny birth story....but I'm too tired to post it today....... so I just wanted to post some pictures and introduce our newest addition.

Zoey Genevieve Bassett
born May 23rd 7:16 am
5lbs 14 oz
18 inches

35 weeks 4 days

2011-05-17T18:29:00.000-06:00

Stats:

35 weeks 4 days
Dilated to 4cm and 100% effaced
baby measuring around 6lbs

It shouldn't be too long now. Knock on wood.

Ironic

2011-04-24T13:45:00.004-06:00

My wonderful parents have been staying with us in St.George for the past 6 weeks to help with the kids while I am on bed rest. My Dr. upgraded me to moderate bed rest on Wednesday ( wahoo). Friday my parents left and it was sure hard to see them go. They have been lifesavers for the past 6 weeks. I honestly don't know what we would have done without them. Matt packed up the kids and headed up to Delta for the Easter weekend. I decided I better stay close to home "just in case" i had any problems. I was glad to have the weekend to finish up some baby projects and to rest up for the coming weeks of just me and the 3 kids flying solo with no help from Grandma n grandpa.

So....isn't it ironic that Saturday morning, the day after my parents leave.....and the day after my family goes out of town.....that I wake up and find that I am bleeding and have to go to Labor and Delivery. I have to call around to friends to catch a ride to the hospital and then when they checked me they discovered that I am now dilated to 2+ cm and 80 %. I stayed all day and night, hooked up to machines, as they watched for contractions. I had contractions but they never became regular. They gave me another round of steroid shots for baby girl's lungs and sent me home this beautiful Easter afternoon. I was instructed to come back immediately if my contractions become regular or if my water breaks.

Wow. This pregnancy sure has been a roller coaster ride. I wasn't really sure if last night was going to the big night. The night I would deliver. Matt was driving home from delta with the kids and was pulled over for speeding. Ha ha. Ironic , right? At least it gave us a good laugh. ( and he didn't get a ticket by the way) What a crazy weekend.
Here are my stats:

32 wks 2 days pregnant
Dialated 2cm+ effaced 80%
2nd round of Steroid shots given
cervix length below 1cm

30 wks 4 days.....

2011-04-12T12:08:00.004-06:00

I had a great appointment with the maternal fetal medicine specialist today. I have been stable now for about a month at 1.7 cm cervical length so I no longer have to go to the specialist and I will be upgraded to Moderate Bedrest in a week and a half. ( 32 weeks) I then will be completely off of bedrest at 34 weeks.

You have no idea how happy this makes me. I have been feeling pretty crazy all cooped up and I am excited to be able to get up and move around more often. I have not been able to do anything to prepare for our baby yet. I am excited to get all of Ava's old clothes out of the attic and start washing and ironing them. It will be fun to do some shopping too, for this new little one. Girls are seriously a blast to shop for.

I hope everyone realizes how much I appreciate the support and prayers we have received in the past 2 months. I have felt such peace and comfort, and I know it is because of prayers.

Here are my stats today....
30 weeks +4 days pregnant
Baby girl measuring at 3lbs 5 oz
Cervix measuring at 1.7cm with funneling
1cm dilated and 50% effaced.

27 weeks 5 days

2011-03-23T16:49:00.003-06:00

Here are my stats as of today.....

27 weeks +5 days pregnant
Baby girl measuring at 2lbs 10 oz
Cervix measuring at 1.8cm with funneling
1cm dilated and 50% effaced.

I am on day 29 of bed rest. Yep. I have made it 29 days and I still have about 10 more weeks to look forward to. I was so happy today when I went in for my weekly appointment with the specialist and they measured our baby at being 2lbs 10 oz. It is such a relief to be close to 3 pounds. The bigger she gets, the better I feel. She is growing like a champ. The Dr. says I am still high risk and that if my cervix shortens any more I am being admitted to the hospital. I really want to be home with my kids....so hopefully I can stay steady at 1.8cm.

My mom and pop drove out from Arkansas and are staying for a couple months to take care of the kiddos while Matt is at work during the day. It has been such a blessing to have them here.

Every day is different. Some days are wonderful and go by fast. Some days drag...and drag...and drag. I am determined to try and be optimistic....but here are 3 things that annoy me lately.

1. I can't pick up my kids. I can cuddle with them, which I do, but it is frustrating that I can't be the first to respond when they are sad or hurt. I have to rely on others to do it for me.
2. I stare out the window lately and watch the tree outside start to blossom for spring. I watch Matt and Max playing catch and Ava riding her bike and Isaac digging in the dirt. This is my favorite time of year. Spring is beautiful in St. George and I feel like I am missing it. I want to be outside playing with my family too. I want to enjoy the weather.
3. Daytime TV is annoying. Actually , evening TV is annoying too. Thank goodness for HGTV and discovery channel. They are the only channels that I can count on.

24 weeks 4 days

2011-03-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

I have my computer pushed up to the side of my bed, a pile of books on the floor next to me, my cell phone and a big jug of water. My house is quiet. Too quiet. Today is day 7 of Strict bed rest orders from my OBGYN.
My amazing in-laws have my kids in Delta for the week, as I can't do anything but lay on my back , go to the bathroom, then lay back down. No lifting, no cleaning, nothing. I can shower every other day. Did I mention how strict my bed rest is?

It all started last Monday ( presidents day). I was feeling "off" and crampy and so I tried to stay off my feet until the next morning when I called my DR;s office and got an appointment to be seen. Having lost our baby girl Anna, I am definitely more aggressive about being seen when I am crampy because that's how my labor started last time. They figured out that I had some sort of infection . A UTI or bladder infection so I was given a prescription for an antibiotic and was told that it probably caused my crampiness. I asked the Dr to order an ultrasound to double check that all was well with our baby. I really needed to make sure she was alright. A couple hours later I found out after my ultrasound that my cervix was shortening and that I was at risk to go into pre-term labor. At my 19 weeks ultrasound my cervix measured 5cm. My ultrasound now showed a length of 2.8 cm. My cervix was disappearing and there was nothing to hold the baby in. It's called an Incompetent cervix. So I was ordered on SBR(strict bed rest) and it has been a challenge to say the least.
I went into the Dr yesterday to get another ultrasound and I had more bad news. the cervix is now measuring 2.5 cm. I was given steroid shots to help the babies lungs develop faster and also given progesterone 17p to reduce my chances of going into labor.
Tomorrow I am going to see a specialist that is coming down from SLC to figure out what the best plan is for me.

Can I just say that I am SO grateful to my wonderful husband. He has taken on the stress of completely taking over all the household chores and taking care of me and running errands...all while working full time and finishing up his masters and serving in the Bishopric. He is superman. I have had a lot of time to reflect these past 7 days, I am truly humbled to have met Matt and married him 9 years ago today. ( yep it's our anniversary) He is my best friend and he makes my life truly perfect. He is the best dad I have ever seen. He is patient and an extremely hard worker. He truly cares about those around him and is always willing to serve. I love you sweetie!

I also wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all my friends, family, ward members and neighbors who have really stepped up and helped with my kids and meals and coming over to visit with me so I don't go crazy. How did I get so lucky? I have such an amazing support system.

Here are my stats as of today.....
24 weeks +4 days pregnant
Baby girl measuring at around 1 1/2 lbs
2 steroid shots given
1 progesterone shot given

Please keep us in your prayers. Our little girl still needs time to grow and to develop.
Grow strong baby girl. We love you!

It's a ????

2011-01-20T17:56:00.004-07:00

Sugar

& Spice

& everything
Nice

That's what little girl's are made of!

That's right....we are having a GIRL! We couldn't be happier. She was a little shy and wouldn't uncross her legs and then when she finally did.... the umbilical cord was blocking everything. I asked the technician to keep checking , so with some poking and prodding we finally got a good shot . I really wish I would of video-taped Ava's reaction. It was pure happiness. She really wanted a little sister and her wish came true. We will now be even steven. 2 boys and 2 girls. Perfect!

Still here....

2011-01-07T12:16:00.003-07:00

Energy? Where have you gone?

I am glad to be in my 2nd trimester now and it has been nice to not be sick anymore, but I thought I would be getting my energy back sometime soon. Guess not.....
We are excited to be finding out whether our little peanut is a boy or girl. I am 17 weeks along and we should have an ultrasound in the next couple weeks.
I honestly have no preference. Ava does though. She has her heart set on a girl. She calls this baby her "little sister" and talks about how much fun they are going to have together. I gently remind her that it might be a boy. She will have none of that. Ava is such a nurturing big sister to Isaac that I know she will be fine no matter what happens.
At some point I plan on posting pictures of Christmas, but honestly, it might not happen.

Happy Thanksgiving...

2010-11-25T18:33:00.001-07:00

"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, a home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten and the future worth living for."

Happy Halloween

2010-11-09T10:35:00.005-07:00

I am playing "catch up" on the blog and I was excited to post the halloween pictures. The kids got to dress up twice for Halloween this year. Once on Friday for the school festivities and then on Saturday night for the trunk or treat. Max has been into Harry Potter lately and so when his costume came in the mail about a month before Halloween I couldn't say no when he begged to wear it. He has been Harry Potter for over a month now in our house and you have to be careful because he is known to throw curses at you when you aren't paying attention....
Ava loves The Wizard of Oz , and wanted to be Dorothy. I think she really just wanted to have red sparkly shoes. Who wouldn't? Isaac got to be the tin man. He wasn't too impressed with Halloween, but he sure loved any candy he was able to get his hands on.

Harry Potter

Watch out for that wand

admiring her shoes...

Dorothy

Matt holding the Tin Man

All dressed up...

2010-11-09T10:29:00.002-07:00

We had the wonderful opportunity to go to Isaac's birth mother's wedding in the St. George temple in October. She bought Isaac this adorable suit and tie and he looked so amazingly handsome that I had to share. We love Isaac's birth family so, so, so, very much and it was incredible that we could share such a special day with them. We are so grateful to have our little "zeke" in our lives and words can not describe how much we love him.

Dancing Queen

2010-11-09T10:25:00.002-07:00

Ava is really starting to enjoy her dance class. She doesn't need mom to hold her hand anymore and has already made friends with the other little girls. I tried to snap some pictures of her during class, but the only ones that didn't end up blurry were the "pre-class" pictures.

Birthday

2010-11-09T10:11:00.004-07:00

Max isn't little anymore......
He turned 6 on Sept. 9th and we celebrated with his friends by having a party! Max invited his friends over for Pizza and cake and then we headed to the aquatic center for some swimming. He had such a fun day and he has already started planning his next birthday.

opening presents

The "boys"

The "girls" (except Max, of course)

Max is in "heaven"

Look at all those crazy bands

Isaac loved Max's birthday cake most of all

But he might have loved playing in the sink even more:)

Ava's 1st Dance Class

2010-09-06T21:05:00.001-06:00

Ava had her first dance class and this was her reaction....

She has been talking nonstop about going to dance class for 2 weeks and was SO......excited! I ended up holding her hand dancing around during the whole class. She's so funny:)

The interview after dance class.

2010-09-06T16:59:00.001-06:00

pictures

2010-08-30T08:47:00.004-06:00

Here are the pictures as promised.

All ready to go!

Waiting for the bus....

First day of the rest of your life

2010-08-18T10:28:00.003-06:00

* I will post pictures later *

Max started Kindergarten today. I have had plenty of time to get used to the idea. I mean, he is almost 6 for goodness sakes, but it still is hard to let him go. He really, really wanted to ride the bus to school on his first day, so I waited for the bus with him and then followed the bus to the school and helped him off the bus and walked him to where he needed to go. I am so excited for him to start school. I know he'll love it. He has always loved learning new things and he is SO ready for school. But am I ready to have him gone???

Another development in our lives is that LDSFS has changed their adoption policy. You cannot adopt through them unless you have 2 children or less. So that means for our next child we will have to go through another agency. This really bummed me out because LDS is so much more affordable than other agencies and also because I love having the gospel involved on the whole adoption process. I have always ( since I was little) been interested in adopting internationally. There are so many orphans in this world who need good homes.
But honestly, who can afford the $20,000-45,000 they charge?
I have good news though. Obama changed the Adoption Tax Credit in March 2010 and the tax credit is now a REFUND! That means the government will refund us the amount spent on each adoption up to $13,000. This is a huge blessing for us. Now all we need to do is pray about what to do next. We have time....Isaac is only 1....but with adoption you always have to be looking ahead because it takes such a long time and the paperwork process is overwhelming at times. It also seems silly to think about another child right now when we are already so busy with the 3 we have. With Matt being in the Bishopric and working on his Masters.....life is CrAzY sometimes! Well enough rambling.....got to go make brownies for Max to celebrate his first day of School!!!

It's raining , it's pouring...

2010-07-28T20:42:00.010-06:00

Sunday after church we packed up and headed out to Fish Lake to stay in some "rustic" cabins. Ma & Pa Bassett , Our family, Lizzie ( baby Reid), and Phil spent Sunday relaxing and eating Claudia's Delicious dutch oven chicken and cake, and then Monday out on the lake fishing. It started out with clear skies as you can see.....

Then the clouds quickly rolled in to ruin our fun.....

The kids bundled up.

....and we are sure glad they did because not even 3 minutes later the rain started and when I say rain, what I really mean is Monsoon:)

Poor Matt and Phil were in charge of unloading while the kids and I ran for shelter. We were all pretty much soaked through and we decided we need to eat a "hearty" lunch at the lodge.
Thank you so much Scott and Claudia for a weekend we will never forget!!! Thank you Mother Nature for the craziest rain ever....it sure made the day exciting.

Have your cake....... and wear it too!

2010-07-26T15:39:00.000-06:00

Our beautiful little boy,

is officially a ONE YEAR OLD!

We celebrated Isaac's 1st birthday this last weekend with a small gathering of family and friends. Thanks to everyone who came to help us celebrate and those who sent their birthday wishes from afar. You all made the day special. He may not remember it, but it really meant a lot to Matt and I. Here are a few photos from the big day.....

snuggling Aunt Liz before the party begins

The cupcakes

Isaac didn't even hesitate. He couldn't get that cake into his mouth fast enough!

So many helpers!!

The big cupcake was made by grandma and it turned out so adorable.

Dear Isaac,

Today you turned 1 year old! You have done so much in one year. You are giving kisses, waving bye bye , crawling up onto the couch and then onto the window sill to watch your brother and sister playing out front, giggling contagiously when being tickled, pulling each and every wipe out of the container and then laughing when mommy see's what your doing, snuggling into your blankies and into daddy's shoulder when you are tired, banging pots and pans together, eating anything put in front of you, splashing and playing in water, helping unload the dishwasher by throwing all the silverware on the floor, giving us the best hugs and the best smiles, and making us the happiest parents in the world. We are so proud of all your accomplishments and we love you to pieces. Happy birthday little I-"zeke"-y!!!

Love, Mom and Dad

Best part of Summer!!!

2010-07-05T14:04:00.006-06:00

Ever since I married Matt, the 4th of July has been one of my favorite holidays! Matt is from Delta and if you've never experienced a Delta 4th of July celebration then you are truly missing out! Max and Ava love it more and more each year. This year they each collected 2 bags each of candy from the parade and they each had a blast riding the horses in the park after the parade. Isaac is still a little too young to care much about the holiday but he sure had fun playing with Grandma and Grandpa. We had such a great weekend and were sad when it came to an end!

Ava and Grandma making Pancakes...( I also made Ava's dress...which will have to be another post in the future)

Isaac enjoying the weather. It is so much cooler at Grandma and grandpa's house!

Matt, Ava and Max at the parade

Max loving his Grandpa

Isaac :)

All three kids after the parade enjoying the candy

hand over hearts

Ava collecting some candy

at the park after the parade

Ava riding a horse all by herself. She was fearless!

Max on his horse!

catch up time

2010-07-05T13:49:00.004-06:00

I thought I'd post some pictures of the past month because I haven't blogged for awhile.

Ava before church

We went camping up in Pine Valley and the kids had so much fun. We hiked around on trails and Max brought his slingshot and tried to hit squirrels. ( don't worry he's way too slow at loading to ever be a threat) We built a fire and made dinner and s'mores. and Isaac had a blast playing in the dirt. It was such a fun camping trip!

a shot of me and the kids cuddling on the couch after church

Havasupai 2010

2010-06-16T14:37:00.005-06:00

May 31st - June 3rd

Matt, Phil, Shayna, Brad, and I took off to Arizona to hike into the Grand Canyon. Why would anyone hike 10 miles with 40 lbs on their back, you might be wondering????

The answer is.....to see Havasupai and the beautiful water Oasis in the middle of the nowhere.

Words cannot describe how amazing the waterfalls are or how refreshing the clear, aqua water is to swim in. It was breathtaking, to say the least. The 10 mile hike into Havasupai is not easy, and my feet had about 20 blisters to prove it....but we had such a blast playing and hiking in the water for 3 days that when it came time to leave we were sad to go. I am so glad I was finally able to go on this trip. I am even more grateful for wonderful parents-in-law who were willing to tend our 3 little rugrats while we went on this adventure. We love you Scott and Claudia!!!!

Gift of Tongue

2010-04-13T09:31:00.002-06:00

Something you may not know about Isaac is that he has the gift of tongue. Which is another way of saying he always sticks his cute little tongue out. He got his first tooth 2 days ago and I have yet to see it because of this gift of tongue. I felt it with my finger, but I can't wait until I get to actually see it. It might be a long time before I can post a picture of his first tooth. But here are some cute tongue pictures.....

we tried.....right??

2010-04-11T11:08:00.003-06:00

Taking our family on a hike in Zions National Park....sounds fun, right???
We thought so. Saturday morning we decided to go on a easy hike with the kids to the Emerald pools waterfall . The weather was perfect, the kids were excited, and off we went. We park and jump on the Zions Shuttle and it dropped us off at our destination.

We had been on the trail for no longer than 30 seconds when Ava announced that her feet were tired . She couldn't go on any longer. Matt and I sort of laughed because we weren't even technically on the trail yet....just crossing the bridge to get to the trail. We tried to distract Ava and keep going because we knew she would love the waterfall as soon as we got up there. The hike wasn't very long at all. 5 minutes pass and then the crying starts. Ava is not walking one more step and she wants to be carried. Then Isaac ( who is in a Moby wrap on Matt's back) starts to cry. Max is annoyed because he wants to race up the trail and Matt and I are trying unsuccessfully to settle Isaac and Ava down.

Picture it if you will..... Matt and I hiking with 2 crying kids and one impatient one. Everyone who passed us on the trail either laughed, or gave us sympathetic looks or thought we were abusing our children. When we made it up to the waterfall Ava and Max were excited to see it and I had started to feed Isaac...so all was peaceful. For 2 minutes. Then the crying started again only this time it was louder and it was mingled with whines. Ava had stepped on mud. She was very upset about having mud on her toe. I once again distracted by getting her and Max to look in a little cave and we pretended to be bears . We started back down the hill and Ava's feet once again were tired and so she was carried the whole way down. Which was a blast, by the way:) *sigh* So here are the pictures....

Max at the top with the waterfall behind him

Ava at the top

getting ready to go back down

Matt, Max and Ava

This is the best picture of the whole trip. As we started to go down and as the crying again started....I captured the look on Matt's face. Doesn't he look depressed:) I love his expression. I laughed and laughed when I saw this picture. It sums up our experience.

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-01T12:19:00.006-06:00

There was a fun Easter Egg Hunt at the Nature Center and both Max and Ava were anxious to get out there and grab some eggs. I did make the mistake of telling Max beforehand that some eggs had a paper in them which meant you won a prize. Bad idea. He , of course, did not have one of those eggs and was very disappointed to say the least.
But.....he was soon happy again when he started eating his candy. Ava was in a different age category then Max so I was little nervous that she wouldn't go out on her own. She ended up following her friend, Cannon, around the whole time. She picked up 2 eggs and was SO proud of herself. I was proud of her too, for being brave enough to try it out this year. I will probably post another entry about Easter, but here's an early HAPPY EASTER to everyone!

Ava turns 3

2010-03-26T10:55:00.005-06:00

What does a 3 year old girl want for her birthday celebration? Everything PRINCESS and everything PINK. ....Without going into peals of sadness over the fact that my tiny little baby girl is growing up into a full blown kid, I’ll just send my birthday wishes and try to keep the over emotionality to a minimum. :

Dear Ava,

I love the way you learn your favorite songs by heart and how you sing along with the radio. I love your independence - your insistence that you do it 'all by myself' - teeth brushing, toilet, pouring milk into a cup, choosing your clothes...you name it, you can do it or will try to do it! I love how generous you are with your brothers...always willing to share and to make them feel better when they have had a bad day. I love your giggle and your silly sense of humor. I love the simplicity with which you view life, the joy you find in the simple things. I love your tender heart, and your feisty temper. I love you Ava and I wish you could stay little forever, but since you can't I will enjoy each stage of your life as I watch you grow.

over the years

2010-03-26T09:11:00.000-06:00

2 weeks old

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

Vegas

2010-03-18T12:11:00.005-06:00

For spring break this year we decided to take the kids to Vegas. There are plenty of kid-friendly things to do, but Max and Ava were the most excited to stay in the Excalibur. What could be cooler than staying in a castle?

We made sure to visit the MGM Lion exhibit and it was really impressive. The Lion habitat is sound proof so the Lions are not afraid to walk right up close to the glass and look at you. They are truly majestic animals. Next we visited M & M world.

This was a hit with the kids as well. Who doesn't love M&M's? There are so many different colors of m&ms to choose from. I personally loved the coconut kind. We had planned on spending time at the fountains of Bellagio, and then taking the kids swimming in the evening, but it started to rain pretty hard while we were visiting the Lions and it didn't stop until the next day. I thought the kids would be super bummed about not being able to swim, but they were just thrilled to go down to the kid's fairway and play games and win stuffed animals. It was a fun little get-a-way and I'm so glad we went.

Max and the adventure of the loose tooth

2010-03-15T11:43:00.005-06:00

Nothing like watching a video on youtube to try and figure out how to pull your son's tooth out. Max's tooth had been loose for a month and he wouldn't let us near it. I noticed last week that his permanent tooth was growing in behind the loose tooth.So..... The tooth had to go. With several unsuccessful attempts Matt and I finally turned to the internet and we found the answer. Dental Floss. We tied the dental floss around the loose tooth and then it came out so easy. Amazing! Max was pretty ticked at us throughout the whole process. When he looked in the mirror and saw his cute toothless grin, he couldn't stop giggling. He thought it was pretty cool, and of course he was excited for the tooth fairy to come. He scored $3.00 and 2 packs of bubble gum. What a fun milestone for Max but especially for Mom and Dad.

peas and carrots

2010-03-04T18:31:00.004-07:00

"What are you feedin' me, Mom?"

Isaac has been eating and trying new foods like a champ! He always gets this look on his face the first time he tries something new. He's not sure and then he can't get enough of it. He is such a good eater. If you are wondering what the pink stuff on his tray is....it's finger nail polish compliments of Miss Ava:)

There's no stopping him now!

Isaac is on the move and can get anywhere he wants now. He enjoys trying to climb up on things and he is SO CLOSE to crawling. He is such a fast little mover that I am a little afraid of when he finally does crawl..... I might be in trouble. Who could ever resist this smile?

2010-02-24T11:58:00.004-07:00

Heavenly Father,
I waited to hold my little one on my lap and tell her about you.
But since I never had the chance,
Will you please hold her on your lap and tell her about me?

You will never be forgotten. We love you
Anna Bella Bassett

February 24, 2006

Zeke

2010-02-16T17:57:00.003-07:00

Isaac had his 6 month appointment last week and I forgot to post the Stats:

17.57 lbs ( 44%)
27.56 in (80%)

Families can be....

2010-02-09T08:23:00.004-07:00

TOGETHER FOREVER!

On Saturday, Feb. 6th we had the amazing opportunity of going to the temple to have our sweet Isaac sealed to us.

Words cannot describe the joy this brought to Matt and I. We love our precious boy so very much, and have waited for this day for 6 months.

Family traveled from near and far to be able to share this experience with us. It was so special to be surrounded by family and friends in the temple and to feel their love and support.

Isaac is now ours for time and all eternity. We feel so blessed to have such amazing children. They truly are our world.

I found this poem and wanted to share it. I love to quilt, so this was a perfect tribute to how I feel about my little family.

PATCHWORK QUILT ~~
Our family’s like a patchwork quilt,
With kindness gently sewn.
Each piece is an original,
With beauty of its own.
With threads of warmth and happiness,
It’s tightly stitched together.
To last in love throughout the years,
Our family is forever.
(-author unknown)

Family pictures 2010

2010-02-08T22:09:00.006-07:00

Family pictures January 2010

Some Christmas pictures

2009-12-29T18:46:00.005-07:00

It was Isaac's first Christmas this year and he sure looked cute in his Christmas Jammies

So many presents....so little time

Isaac watching all the action

Max, Ava, and Isaac

Ava's birthmom made her this beautiful tutu and she loved it!

My little posers:)

Christmas was a blast this year and we especially had fun hanging out with grandpa and grandma and Matt's brother. Christmas is so much more enjoyable when you have kids.

brothers

2009-12-17T10:53:00.002-07:00

Being a brother is better than being a superhero!

4 months old...and catch up time

2009-12-09T12:02:00.006-07:00

Guess who is 4 months old???

Here are Isaac's 4 month stats:
15.5 lbs ( 54%)
25.98 inches (81%)

He couldn't be any cuter !
* we are so excited to have our Sealing date set! Only 2 more months until we get to take our sweet Isaac to the temple and be sealed to him for time and all eternity

Matt came home from work a couple weeks ago and sat down to play with Isaac. A couple of minutes later this is what I found. I love how alert and awake Isaac is while Matt snoozes. A day with Middle Schoolers sure can wear a guy out:)

I was taking a picture of Isaac's cute tummy rolls when Ava and Max jumped in the picture. I sure love all my kids!

Primary Program

2009-12-09T11:38:00.004-07:00

This year for the primary program the whole family got to participate. The program was about eternal families. Matt and I sat up on the stand with the kids and we took turns asking them questions about Jesus. Max did really well this year. ( last year he refused to speak in the microphone and sat with his arms folded and his head down the whole program) Ava was a little shy once the time came to talk in the microphone, so Max said his part and then hers. The primary president had asked Matt to bare his testimony after we said our parts and Matt was awesome.
It's funny because Matt is a school teacher and talks in front of students all day long, but he gets really nervous to talk church and to bare his testimony. Although he gets nervous, he is such an amazing speaker. I was really glad to be able to hear him give his testimony on families and how special our beautiful children are. We were also glad that Grandpa and Grandma came down to surprise the kids and to come watch the primary program. Max , Ava and Isaac were so happy to see them.

getting ready for church :)

2009-11-01T09:48:00.008-07:00

Halloween in St. George is PeRfeCtioN! In the 70's and no worrying about coats. Every year we go to the ward Trunk or Treat and it is great to do all of our trick or treating in one spot. All day long the kids were so excited to go. They all looked adorable!

Snow White and her protector, Wolverine

"She has brown hair like me", was the reason Ava chose to be Snow White this year

Cutest Pumpkin in the Patch

Max made sure to remind people that he was Scary and Tough and not "cute"

TRICK OR TREAT

At the trunk or treat

Matt and I may be crazy, but we let the kids eat as much candy as they wanted last night before bed. We will limit to 2 pieces a day from now on, but it was hilarious to watch Ava try to eat all the candy she got. She was so overwhelmed with all of her choices that she would take a bite of one candy, then throw it away so she could take a bite of another. Max had no problem finishing what he started. Ava ended up in our bed last night. She had a hard time getting to sleep. I wonder why?

3 months old

2009-10-20T22:38:00.004-06:00

Look who's 3 months old already. Isaac is growing up so fast. We love him so much. Isaac loves to smile and coo. He likes to practice standing when we hold him . He loves his older brother and sister to talk to him and play with him. He is starting to get some rolls and we LOVE it! He is such a happy little guy. I don't know how we got so lucky. He is such a JOY!

Fall is in the air

2009-10-14T13:17:00.004-06:00

We took a trip to the park yesterday and you can definitely feel fall in the air. This is my favorite time of year. It usually takes St. George a while to enter Autumn, and when it does it is pure heaven.

Ode to Toddlerhood

2009-09-28T21:16:00.004-06:00

Today, Max and I were talking in the kitchen when we heard a voice calling out , "Hey...Hey....Mom.....?"
I walked over to the table and stand next to Ava and say," Yes?"
Ava, with a very serious face says, "Please Be Quiet!!!"
Caught off guard, I laugh.
" What ??"
" I am trying to eat my sandwich!" she says, with a huge emphasis on 'trying'.

P B and J is better enjoyed in complete silence.

Oh Ava. My always-has-a-smile on her face, (except when she doesn't) spunky, independent little girl. Ava is now officially potty-trained!! I have to give credit where it is due and say that she pretty much did it all herself. She has been wanting to "go" on the potty for 6 months or so. I have been telling her no and trying to change the subject. It's not that I don't want her to be rid of diapers, because believe me I do, I just didn't want her to regress when Isaac was born and then be up at night feeding a baby and also changing sheets. So I waited and it paid off. She loves the one-on-one with mommy and I love that she is an expert already.
Now that I am a little bit sleep deprived, I have mastered the trick of getting Ava and Isaac down for a nap at the same time, while organizing activities for Max in the living room. Then I make a break for the bedroom and try to get an hour nap. Sometimes it takes some convincing. I start with getting Ava ready for a nap. She doesn't want to miss anything, so I have to make sure that she knows that life is boring outside her bedroom.
Me: " Mommy is taking a nap, Isaac is taking a nap, Grandpa and Grandma are taking naps, Max is taking a nap, your friends are taking naps, Dora the Explorer is taking a nap, etc....."

Then I move on to her favorite inanimate subjects:

" The bike is taking a nap, the park is taking a nap, the books are taking naps, the milk is taking a nap, the kitchen is taking a nap...."

IF she is convinced.... then I know victory is mine and my reward is a blissful hour of sleep.

Ava is in the stage where she loves to dress up. She loves dresses and shoes and hats.

Not only does Ava fall asleep in funny places, but also in funny positions

She is extremely flexible :)

Here she is standing up.....asleep

Ava keeps me on my toes, and makes everyday exciting. I love my little girl so much!!!

Mommy's angel

2009-09-24T22:16:00.004-06:00

4 Things about Isaac

He is smiling a lot now and he saves his best smiles for his mommy :)
He lets me snuggle him all the time and never complains
He is 2 months old. ( already???)
He has so many cool facial expressions ( as shown in the pictures )

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

2009-09-11T10:33:00.006-06:00

Max had his first day of preschool on his birthday. He has been ready to go to school all summer. Ava was super sad to see him go to school and wanted to go with him. I made cupcakes to bring to school for Max's birthday and I hope his teacher didn't mind the sugar rush that surely followed after eating them.

Ava giving Max a goodbye hug

Max all ready to go

His bday cupcakes

Five Years ago...

2009-09-09T20:14:00.015-06:00

5 years ago today I became a mother. Can it really be 5 years? I can't imagine my life without Max in it. Max is such an amazing kid. He is a sensitive soul. He loves and cares for others. He pays attention to the small details that are often overlooked. He is a hard worker, and loves to help his dad whenever he can. He loves to hike and run and play outside. He has always been such a cuddly kid and is often found giving hugs and kisses to someone in the family. He wants to be a policeman when he grows up. He loves swords, armor, his baseball mitt, and anything that is "superhero" oriented. He loves to learn and will spend hours writing in his notebook, practicing his name and drawing pictures of the family. He is such a good, strong person. We love him and have enjoyed every second of the last 5 years.

6 weeks old

18 months

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

5 years old

Opening presents at Grandma's house

Yes....I know......he is PERFECT

2009-09-02T16:17:00.004-06:00

Isaac has started smiling here and there and I finally caught one of them on camera! I love it when he smiles. He seriously melts my heart.....

5 weeks old

Warning Lots of Pictures :)

2009-08-31T18:16:00.009-06:00

I am in "catch up " mode. I am finally posting pictures of our trip back East to Washington DC and Hershey, Pennsylvania. We had SO so so so much FUN! A huge thanks to my wonderful In-Laws for taking us with them.

We arrived in DC first and we were welcomed by Liz and Ben. It was great to see them! The kids especially love to see their fun Aunt Lizzy. We got to visit the Smithsonian Zoo and the kids loved the Panda Bear. Liz took Matt, Scott (Matt's dad) and I on a bike tour of all the monuments. We started in Arlington and biked over to the Pentagon and saw the 9/11 monument. I really liked how they did it. Such a great tribute to those who lost their lives. We then biked across the river over to the monuments and spent time at each one. We did this all in the evening and it was awesome to see everything at night. We also went to some museums and I personally was very glad that I got to experience the Holocaust Museum. I spent hours there along with Matt's dad and it was such a somber experience. I am glad that I was able to learn so much.

We then got to drive to Hershey to see Jon and Mel and their adorable kids. On our way to Hershey we stopped in Amish land and spent the day shopping and walking around. Then off to Hershey we went. You can't go to Hershey without taking a tour of the chocolate factory. The kids were in awe of all the chocolate and loved the candy they got at the end. We also went to the Hershey amusement park. I have to say there were some pretty fun rides. Max and Ava loved the rides and Max especially loved to play the games to try and win prizes. One of the nights we were there, Matt and I went on a walk and our hotel was close to the place were they have concerts and The Dave Matthews Band just happened to be there in concert. We could hear the concert perfectly. How lucky were we? We had such a fabulous time on the trip and I have 100's of pictures to prove it. Here are some of them.....

Max enjoying his window seat

Ava and Grandma

Matt,Liz and Scott on our late night bike ride

Matt on the bridge

watching the fish

Ava and the panda ( look in the background)

dancing in the morning with Jaedon

giddy up

Aunt Liz and Ava

Who knew that fruit could be so grumpy?

best friends

he is determined to win that prize

A day at the fair

2009-08-31T17:13:00.002-06:00

This is a late post of when we took Max, Ava and their friend Cannon to the Washington County Fair. They had a show featuring black bears and the kids loved it. We watched them do some tricks and wrestle around. The kids loved the rides best. I couldn't believe how brave they were. They went on both of the "kiddie" roller coasters and weren't scared a bit. They laughed and even put their arms up in the air. Max, Cannon and Matt went on the Ferris wheel and the boys thought it was pretty cool to be up so high. It was such a fun evening and I am so glad we went.

Amazing pictures

2009-08-06T13:19:00.003-06:00

I had Isaac's pictures taken on Monday. He was 8 days old. Here is a preview the photographer posted on her blog. Aren't they amazing. I am so in love with this little guy.

and then there were 5...

2009-08-02T14:41:00.009-06:00

Our Little Champ!

Today Isaac is one week old. The week has flown by in a blur of activity. The quiet times come at night when it is just Isaac and I awake. He is usually the most alert in the night and I love looking down at his beautiful wise eyes. I am in love with him. He melts my heart and I have a hard time putting him down to get my daily tasks done. Thankfully I have 2 helpers who also love to hold and cuddle him.

One week ago today I got the unforgettable phone call that Isaac's birth mother's water had broken and that she was in the hospital. We were in Hershey, Pennsylvania at the time getting ready to go to my niece's baby blessing. We frantically tried to arrange our flights so we could get back home. We were blessed in so many ways and everything fell into place and we were headed home the next afternoon. On the morning of Tuesday the 28th we walked into the hospital room and had the opportunity to meet our son. It was an incredible experience and also an emotional one. We love Isaac's birth mother and her family so much and we will never forget the hours we got to spend with them in the hospital that day. At around 2pm Isaac was lovingly placed in our arms. There aren't words to describe the joy we felt. We truly feel as we have been given the world.

holding Isaac after placement (an emotional moment)

Matt holding Isaac for the first time in the hospital

Max and Ava were thrilled to meet their little brother and you can see the excitement on their faces. The first time Max held Isaac he stared at him for a couple of minutes and said, "Mom, I just love him so much". Ava held him and gave him kisses while saying how cute she thought he was. I know that Max and Ava are going to be such great siblings for Isaac.

Introducing.....

2009-07-29T11:35:00.006-06:00

Isaac Val Bassett

Born July 26th at 3:16pm
6 lbs 14 oz
19.5 in

When I get a second, I will post all the details:)

And we're off!

2009-07-17T09:29:00.002-06:00

All our bags are packed and we're ready to go......

We are excited to be going on vacation today for the next 12 days. First to visit my family and to see our nephew Dimitri blessed, and then off to Washington DC and to Hershey, Pennsylvania to visit Matt's sister and brother. I am sure we will have tons of pictures to post and stories to tell when get back......

4th of July weekend

2009-07-06T08:09:00.002-06:00

As usual we had a blast in Delta for the 4th of July! The weather was great. Overcast with occasional rain. It was a nice break from the usual 110 degree St. George weather. Grandma and Grandpa promised the kids a water balloon fight and they were good to their word. Both kids had fun taking shots at all the adults with their water balloons. We then got the hose out and had a full blown water fight. It was awesome! Matt snuck up onto the roof and drenched his mom with a pitcher of water and what a surprise that was.
Max and Ava had a lot of fun at the parade on Saturday morning and I was so proud of Max. He would always make sure Ava had candy in her bag before he filled up his own. What a good big brother. Max and Ava were super excited for the horse ride in the park. It was such a fun weekend.

Thank you Matt

2009-06-21T20:16:00.005-06:00

Thank you for being a good example to not only our children, but to me. Thank you for being my best friend, my lover, my husband and the father to our children! Thank you for giving us all that you can.Thank you for our life together, our children, our home, our food in the kitchen, the cars that we drive in, the clothes on our backs, the gas in our cars, the money that pays the bills, the fun days out, the trips we take, the times you let me have a small break and making time to spend time together when you’re home. Thank you for being a 21st century "hands-on" dad. Thank you for always being supportive. Thank you for being a shoulder to cry on and a friend to laugh with. Thank you for being YOU! We love you a million.... Happy Father's Day!

2009-05-31T21:10:00.005-06:00

I might be the only person on earth who admits to REALLY wanting a minivan. I have wanted one for quite some time, but we wanted to get as much use out of our trusty car before we upgraded. I have spent countless hours researching vans and going through pros and cons. Well the time has come and we are very excited to have bought one this weekend. We decided on the Hyundai Entourage and it is SO nice. It already makes a huge difference driving around with the kids.

The inside has all sorts of crazy little things added to make a mom's life more comfortable. A round mirror up top to see what the kiddo's are up to, without having to turn around. Lots of compartments for storage. Cup holders galore and some of them even fold down out of sight.

I love the color, and the tinted windows. But MOST of all I love that the seats fold down into the van, and opens up space, so it almost feels like a truck. No more trying to figure out how to fit a stroller in the trunk, or piling bags under the kids feet on trips up north. I am very happy to have the extra space.

You might be wondering WHY we might need extra space........

We are going to need an extra seat in

AUGUST

because we are

adopting

A Boy!

Isn't he beautiful?? We think so!! We are matched with a wonderful birth mother due AUGUST 12th 2009. We couldn't be happier. She is amazing and we love her already! We already love this cute little guy so much and can't wait to meet him.

Happy Birthday to you...

2009-05-16T18:47:00.007-06:00

Today is Matt's 30th birthday. He is like a good wine, he just gets better with age. Better looking that is.. (wink wink) Max and Ava wanted to do something special for daddy, so we made this poster for him. We borrowed the idea from my brother-in-law. Anyone who knows Matt, knows that he always has a candy stash. So this was the perfect surprise for him. I wrote out the words below in case you can't see clearly.

"To our Big Hunk, on your special Day we want to wish you Mounds of Joy. If we could Skor a 100 Grand, we would buy you a Whopper of a present. We may be Milk Duds, but we are Bursting with Kisses for you. We look at our Good Life with you and we are grateful! Your Hot Tamales hope you get Whatcha want for your birthday!"Love, your 3 Musketeers

He was impressed, and loved the candy. Max drew a picture on the bottom of the picture if you look closely. He drew the whole family. What a great artist, huh?
Matt and I went hiking in Zions today for his birthday. My cousin watched the kids and we spent the day hiking Angel's Landing. What a fun hike, even though I thought my legs would die. I posted a slideshow below.
I love Matt so much and just like the Tim Mcgraw song I can't wait for the next 30 years of life with him. But really I can't wait for the next 60 years because we are going to live a long long life together. So Happy 30th Honey, we love you a million!!!!!!

Angels Landing

2009-05-16T18:46:00.000-06:00

enjoying the weather

2009-05-11T17:16:00.004-06:00

I love this picture. What a handsome kid

Another cute shot of Max

Ava's pretending to sleep on the swing

A perfect sized swing for my little lady

They came up with this pose all by themselves. They crack me up :)

Since I haven't blogged in awhile I thought I'd take more pictures of the kids while we are out and about. I walked over to the St. George Temple with Max and Ava the other morning and they loved looking at the temple and running around and smelling the pretty spring flowers. The weather is so wonderful in the mornings. Can you believe it is already getting pretty hot in here?
There is a new park here that my wonderful cousin Missy introduced me to a couple of weeks ago and it is soooo cool. Lots of fun toys to play on that are very modern and not quite like I've ever seen. Max and Ava love to go there and I took some shots of them playing the other day. We like to call it the "dizzy" park because of all the fun twirly toys they have.
The last picture of Max and Ava is right after we got home from the Art festival. The kids had their faces painted and Ava had her hair styled a little from the local beauty college that was there. They had a blast and I had fun looking at all the art. Oh and I almost forgot, they sold those awesome roasted almonds that you can usually only buy around Christmas. mmmmm, delicious. I hope this is a good update, since I am lame and never update my blog. :)

kind of funny

2009-04-16T12:09:00.004-06:00

Bike Owner Fail

I found these on the internet and thought they were kind of funny

3 pictures of Parenting at it's best:)

the Easter bunny ate my candy

2009-04-13T10:08:00.004-06:00

"The Easter bunny ate some of my candy", Max said as he looked into the garbage can Sunday morning. There were candy wrappers laying on the top. Matt and I looked at each other and tried not to smile. Oops. The "easter bunny" should have been more careful :) The kids were so excited to look for eggs around the house and to stuff handfuls of candy in their mouths in the process. We attempted to eat a healthy breakfast before they ate candy but it was no use, they were too fast for us. Thank goodness church isn't until 1 o' clock because it gave us all a chance to relax and explore Max and Ava's Easter Baskets. I took some pictures of the kids before we headed to church and they looked so so cute. I feel bad for their primary teachers , because they were surely hyper from all the candy:)

the Maxter striking a poseAva loves to copy what Max is doing:)

Ava looked very pretty in her dress

What a cute pair

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter! Now I just have stop myself from sneaking candy from the kids' baskets.

Dying Eggs

2009-04-13T09:43:00.004-06:00

Dying the Easter Eggs was so much fun this year! Ava is old enough to get excited and Max is old enough to pretty much do his own thing. I showed the kids the old "white crayon" trick and they wanted an egg for each of us. Ava loved to make a splash when she would put her egg in the cup and her poor hands were bright blue and green by the time we finished. They loved putting stickers all over the eggs and all over Mommy.

Happy Birthday Ava

2009-04-06T18:46:00.003-06:00

Is is possible that my sweet Ava is now 2 years old? I can't seem to wrap my head around it. Ava loved celebrating her birthday at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and we loved watching her reaction as she opened gifts. Ava's birthday was on March 27th and I am a slacker and haven't posted it until now.

Ava loves:

Her family

Her blankie

The park

Wearing princess dresses

Bananas

Anything Sweet :)

Bath time

Coloring

Going on walks

Helping me push the grocery cart

Peter Pan

Reading Bedtime stories

Making tents

and most of all

HUGS and KISSES :)

We Love you Ava,Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Anniversary, concussion and all :)

2009-03-02T10:05:00.002-07:00

Matt and I celebrated our 7th anniversary this weekend! Since our actual anniv. was on Sunday we did most of the celebrating on Saturday. We decided to go Mountain Biking on Saturday morning and it was such a beautiful, sunny day and we were excited to get outside and go riding. I don't have a helmet so I was going to borrow a friends, but we forgot to go pick it up so I ended up wearing Matt's and I am so glad I did. Guess who crashed? That's right....ME!
I was headed down a hill and my brakes didn't catch and I hit a dip going super fast and that's last thing I remember. I woke up to Matt standing over me and he told me that I flew off the bike and hit my head pretty hard. Hard enough , in fact, that it knocked me right out. I was a little sore and dazed but we finished the ride and it wasn't until later that I realized that I probably had a concussion. I had a killer headache and went to bed at 7:00 pm ( unheard of, right?) and slept until the next morning. So I spent our actual anniversary at church trying to stay awake and showing off my scraped legs, which look pretty cool. It was quite the adventure, just like my marriage to Matt. I had a great anniversary and I am grateful for the past 7 years and I know this will be an anniversary that I won't forget. :)

2009-02-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

"An angel in the book of life wrote down my baby's birth. Then whispered as she closed the book "too beautiful for earth". ~author unknown

Sometimes love is for a moment.

Sometimes love is for a lifetime.

Sometimes a moment is a lifetime.

Ava's first hair cut

2009-02-09T21:49:00.002-07:00

When I made the decision to finally have Ava's hair cut I knew I better hurry and get it done before I changed my mind. I LOVE her long, shiny hair and that is why I have never cut it...not once....since she was born. So I finally decided to cut off the bottom so it could grow out thicker and to even out all her layers. I called my friend Danna to come over and she did such a great job. I though I would cry, but because I was so busy distracting Ava and taking pictures I didn't even shed a tear. I am proud of Ava for being such a trooper.

The BEFORE ( look at how long it was sniff*sniff)

I made 2 ponytails. One for Ava's birthmom and one for us.

Danna checking to see if it is even

Ava checking out the new look in the mirror...

What a cutie!!

So I survived the first haircut, but I can't get over how old Ava looks now. She seems like such a little lady!

baths and birthdays

2009-01-26T13:08:00.002-07:00

We had a fun time with Grandpa n Grandma this past weekend. It was Grandma Bassett's bday and Max , Ava and I drove to her school and surprised her with some candy and kisses :) She was pretty surprised and the kids loved spending another weekend at their grandparents house. Meanwhile, Matt had a Math conference in Las Vegas and he missed out on all the fun, although he did win some Elton John tickets at the conference and that was kind of cool. We don't really listen to Elton John we plan on selling them and doing something else fun.
The kids are so funny during bath time that I thought I'd snap some pictures this morning. Ava really loves to play in front of the mirror after bath time. It works great for me because it gives me a chance to get her all lotioned up. This morning she kept giving herself kisses in the mirror and it was really cute.

We got Ava's horsey put together from Christmas and it has been non-stop fun riding the pony at our house. Ava loves to ride her pony and she goes to her play kitchen and gets grapes and apples to "pretend" feed the pony. She is actually quite the dare-devil and will stand on the horse's back and jump.

I thought I'd post this picture just for fun. I love how cute Ava is right before church. Now that we moved to 1 o clock time , I have more time to do her hair before church.

I know...I know

2009-01-15T20:37:00.003-07:00

Ben, Jon, Phil, and Matt goose hunting

Santa made a surprise visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house. ( oh, and Ava still hates him:)

Jaedon and Max making Gingerbread houses

Ava and her cute bedhead hairdo

I have been SLACKING for the past month.... I sometimes go in spurts of blogging madness and then at times I am not interested in blogging at all. We had a wonderful Christmas and the best part was the opportunity to spend time with both families. The kids had a blast playing with cousins, aunts and uncles, and Grandma's and Grandpa's. I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was so busy playing that I forgot to get the camera out. I did get some funny videos of the kiddos, so I at least feel better about that.

Santa's a little scary sometimes

2008-12-14T17:29:00.002-07:00

Well, both Max and Ava have been super excited to see Santa since Thanksgiving . I have endured thousands of Santa questions in the past 3 weeks and if you have ever had a 4 year old you know what I am talking about. Example: Mom why doesn't Santa shave? Mom why does Santa sometimes wear gloves? Mom where was Santa born? Who are Santa's parents? etc..... Our ward Christmas party was last night and I have been telling Max and Ava all week about it and that Santa would be dropping by to say hello. Oh Man, have they been eager to see him. So we were pretty surprised (the pictures explain it all) at the kids' reactions to dear old Santa.

Watch the change of expression when Santa pulls out the candy.... ( she sure perked right up :)

Poor Max, my biggest Santa fan, wouldn't even budge from the line. Here I am trying to help him get the courage to sit on Santa's lap. He wasn't about to move.

I guess Santa can be scary sometimes

Sunday brownies

2008-12-14T17:11:00.004-07:00

I know, I know..... it's been a LONG time since I have written a new post. I have been pretty busy the last couple of weeks and hopefully I can make up for it by posting a bunch of pictures.

No Sunday would be complete if Matt didn't make Brownies after Sunday naps. Max and Ava , of course, love to help him because they are guaranteed some CHoCoLate :)

Ava is good to share her beater with Daddy

Max got "dibs" on the bowl

This is the face of pure JOY

I took some pictures of the kids before church today and I had to laugh at Max when he insisted on wearing a scarf to church. Max was also very excited for church because Matt gave him his old scripture case and Max was glad to be "twinners" with Mom and Dad, who both have scripture cases.

Ava looked so cute in this dress and she loves to twirl in it. She kept showing everyone at church her pretty dress and would turn around in a circle so they could fully appreciate her appearance. What a funny little lady:)

some pictures

2008-11-18T10:50:00.002-07:00

So instead of procrastinating this year, I decided to get some Christmas pictures done of Max and Ava in November instead of December. They turned out cute. I have a bunch more, but here are a few of my favorites. Poor Ava was not happy during this portrait shoot. She really wanted to play with the animals and toys they have set up for making the kids laugh. It was actually pretty funny because Ava is normally so happy and smiley and then we go to get pictures done and she cried. Max on the other hand is normally super shy and won't smile at strangers and then he was all smiles for the photographer. Ha ha , I guess that is life.

I will attempt to send out Christmas cards this year too. I am not sure why I haven't done it before. I guess I just get caught up in the season and don't take the time to do the whole Christmas card thing. But this year I am getting started early so hopefully I will get it done.

I also wanted to mention a huge thanks to Grandma and Grandpa B for watching Max and Ava for the weekend so Matt and I could have a much needed couple of days to have a mini-vacation. We were able to go: to the Movies ( I heart James Bond) , to the temple, mountain biking, and Christmas shopping. Mountain Biking was sooooooo much fun! We went on this really cool trail that was CRAZY and we both only fell once each. I luckily landed in a bush and it saved me from any damage. Poor Matt went over his handlebars on a steep incline and he his arm got all scraped up. But he being as tough as he is, never complained once about it. It was such a great weekend. So THANK YOU to the most wonderful in-laws in the world. I really love spending time with my one and only and it was heavenly.

Trick or treat

2008-11-02T14:04:00.004-07:00

Halloween was great and Max and Ava had so much fun Trick or Treating. Ava had a death grip on her candy sack and even though it was getting heavy she refused to let one of us carry it. They both ended up with a lot of candy. Max hid his "treasure" under his bed so no one would ever be able to find it. Ava probably had more candy on Halloween then she has had her whole life. We were laughing so hard as we watch her running around the house with an obvious "Sugar High". Grandma and Grandpa Bassett were super sneaky and suprised the kids by showing up at the trunk or treat. Max and Ava were so excited to see them. What a great Halloween, I can't believe it's already over.

Tag 4 you

2008-10-28T18:50:00.002-06:00

This is a fun TAG and it is extremely easy too. You go to your pictures and in the 4th folder, pick the 4th picture. It's as easy as that...

This the 4th picture in the 4th folder. Ava is 8 months in this picture and you can sort of see her first tooth poking through on the bottom. She has grown so much :) I tag Staci, Momma K, Natalie, and Amy

Working on a full house...

2008-10-21T12:25:00.005-06:00

Well it's official....we have finished our paperwork and our home study and we have been APPROVED for our next adoption.

In the adoption world this means we are...(drumroll please)

"Paper Pregnant"!

So now the waiting begins....and another amazing journey will begin to our next miracle. We have been so blessed to have Ava in our family and we love her birthparents so much. I am sure it will be the same with our next little one. I know that the wait can be long or sometimes short, but I am content. I know that we will be chosen when the time is right. For any that are interested in seeing it, our profile in now on the LDS adoption website. Click HERE to see it.

Last weekend

2008-10-16T21:36:00.003-06:00

Some cute pictures of this past weekend. We had fun up north, but were grateful to leave the COLD and come back to the warmth of sunny southern Utah. While Max was having so much fun picking pumpkins and carving them with Grandpa & Grandma Bassett, Ava and I got to go up to Chuck E Cheese in Orem and have an awesome visit with Ava's birthmom. Ava loved all the fun games , but was terrified of the Chuck E Cheese singing band. We had a blast, and I am glad the weather cooperated so we didn't have to drive in any storms.

Max helping Grandpa pick pumpkins

the finished masterpiece

Ava loved this duck game

What a fun day!

so much hair to work with

2008-10-08T11:59:00.002-06:00

Ava, since the day she was born, has had a lot of hair. I sometimes feel like I do the same thing with her hair everyday. I was reading my friend Rachel's blog and she had her little girl's hair done like this and I had to try it out this morning. Ava looks so adorable. It took awhile and a lot of fruit snacks to get her to hold still for the 20 minutes. So worth it. She looks amazing.....until nap time...that is:) the Blog that Rachel got this hairdo from is called " Rockin Shorty Hairstyles"and the you should check it out if you have a little girl.

Sweet n Sour

2008-09-24T12:21:00.003-06:00

I knew it was bound to happen some day, but I (not so secretly) hoped it was in the very far future. I have been asked to teach the lesson in Relief Society this Sunday.
Matt and I were in charge of the cute little sunbeams for 3 years when we first got married and I only had to teach the lesson maybe 3 or 4 times. Matt is the teacher in this relationship for goodness sake. He is an awesome speaker and doesn't even prepare a talk. He just writes down 4 scriptures and then can speak for the entire time and everyone leaves a better person. I write 20 pages typed out and everyone leaves lethargic because they were trying so hard not to fall asleep. I am sure it will be fine, but I can't make any guarantees.

So I am changing the subject now.....
At Walmart, as we are slowly making our way down the cereal isle, Max shouts,

" WHoa!! Mom, look at that guy's hair. It is WILD, kinda crazy ...like it sticks up and it's WILD" ( then proceeded to point with his mouth wide open at the poor guy)

The guy he was pointing at had a shaved head except for a very spiky mohawk. Oh yeah, and he was standing only 2 feet away. Did I mention Max shouted his commentary?

Ava loves to say HI to every person we walk/drive by or even see in the distance. A funny , but naughty, moment for Ava this week was when we were at the grocery store and Ava said Hi to an older lady and the lady bent down to say Hi back. Ava smiled sweetly and said HI again and the lady leaned in closer and said "Hi Sweet-heart".
Big mistake grocery store lady.
Ava slapped her on the face.
We love her feisty little spirit. Even if sometimes I have to try not to laugh as I am apologizing to some poor lady in the grocery store.

Here are some cute pictures of Max reading Ava a bedtime story. I wish I could freeze time in moments like these. I sure love these two little rascals.

Max's 4th Birthday

2008-09-13T09:24:00.002-06:00

I am finally posting about Max's 4th Birthday. We had a little party at the park and the kids had fun playing in the water. Max is really into SuPeRhErOs right now so he wanted a Spiderman themed party. Here are some pictures of the party.

2008-09-10T21:28:00.002-06:00

I was sitting at the table helping Ava eat her lunch when Max saunters up, pats Ava's back and then pats my back and says,
" These are the good ladies of the world"
Then without another word he turns around and walks away.

Can you taste the LOVE in them?

2008-09-04T20:13:00.002-06:00

Well I had a brilliant idea this evening. Max was outside playing with his friend , Matt was at school, I was bored, and it was getting close to bathtime.....so Ava and I decided to make COOKIES. It was brilliant because... Ava could get as messy as she wanted because she was headed straight to the bath afterwards anyway. We had so much fun and I took some cute pictures of my little helper.

I love my little lady so much.

Love the mullet honey...

2008-08-24T22:32:00.002-06:00

Ok so I saw this on Michelle's blog and I had to try it out. Here are some of my favorites.

Laura 1976

Laura 1994

Matt 1958

Matt 1970

Matt 1988

Camping

2008-08-11T08:00:00.003-06:00

We went up to Pine Valley a couple of weeks ago to get out of the heat and to go camping. I have just never gotten around to posting some pictures. We had lots of fun and it was Ava's first camping adventure. She was soaking wet in the first 5 minutes we were there. It was lots of fun and I am wishing that I was there right now.

The HIKE

2008-08-04T21:19:00.002-06:00

Matt and I have been wanting to hike the subway in Zions National Park for a while but it is a tricky process. You have to put in for tickets and it is sort of a lottery situation. We were lucky and we were chosen for Aug 1st and we were allowed to take 12 people. Matt was pumped to take his young men on this hike and we had some extra spots so my bff Staci came down for the hike too. It was such an adventure and it was as intense as I had heard it can be.
There are 3 different spots you have to repell down on the hike, and there are several parts of the hike where you are walking through slot canyons and swimming through freezing water with all your gear. The scenery is breathtaking and pictures don't do it justice. The hike itself wasn't too bad, until you get to the last 3 miles. Matt and I can't wait to hike this again someday. ( Maybe next summer if we can) But I will say this..... it took me 15 minutes to get out of bed the morning after the hike. I was pretty sure that every muscle in my body was sore. I walked around like an old lady for 2 days. I feel great now and I am so glad I did it. I was so proud of all of the young men in our group who came and finished the hike. It wasn't easy and they did an awesome job!!
If you want to learn more about this hike click here.

a sneak peek of our hike through the SUBWAY in Zions

2008-08-03T18:15:00.008-06:00

I was the brave one who tried this first. Yes it hurt....but it was also so much fun!!! No regrets. Oh...and sorry about all the whining at the end of the video. I was complaining that I just ripped my bum off. ha ha

i

2008-07-25T23:16:00.003-06:00

I" Tag
i am: excited for the Zion's subway hike next weekend
i know: it will be intense
i want: to train for a 5k, but I REALLY dislike running
i have: the hottest husband in the world
i wish: I was a better person
i hate: that summer is almost over
i miss: my pre-Max body
i fear: losing the people I love
i hear: Matt erasing messages on his cell
i smell: my lotion
i crave: treats
i search: the internet for extravagant vacations that I can't afford
i regret: the times in my past when I have been selfish
i love: my life
i care: about others
i always: end up snuggling with Max when he takes his nap
i am not: afraid to try new things
i sing: to Ava when she is sad or upset
i fight: waking up in the mornings
i write: in my journal once a year if I am lucky
i lose: my mind if I don't get away every once and awhile with Matt
i win: my fair share of card games
i never: seem to remember to clean the lint holder thingy in my dryer
i listen: to advice but don't always take it
i am scared: to give talks in church
i need: a pedicure
i am happy about: the new Stephenie Meyer book coming out
i tag: whoever feels like it :)