pool day

the day before my baby turned one, we went out for a pool day:

 

 

(obviously we wore sunscreen. and by we, I mean her.)

 

Don't you just love her cute little face?

 

So tired during snack time (strawberries + green smoothie).

We may or may not have gone down the giant slide together.

and Amelia may or may not have gotten dunk........

 

 

Also, Dad took us out to dinner that night.

You know, carb loading at Olive Garden for my half marathon the next morning?

freedom isn't free.

Ever since I had a baby, I have wanted to make holidays extra special, extra meaningful.

Memorial Day rolled around and I was so focused on my NCLEX exam, and so nervous to do anything aside from study. So glad I decided to celebrate:

 

Amelia and I went to the zoo with the Bodtchers (Dad had to work the night before and sleep that morning). Abi and Ava just adore Amelia and it's so tender watching them show her new things, offer to hold her, kiss her, walk with her, etc. I sure love my nieces.

 

 

Apparently, I didn't get the silly face memo in the first picture.....

 

Ava wanted to push my stroller the entire day, even up that giant hill! So glad I had my little helper, and it looks like Amelia was pretty content with it too!

 

After the zoo, we headed to Jeremy's foster brother, Cody's grave. I never had the chance to meet him, but he had a huge impact on this family. While visiting his grave, I considered how lucky and blessed I was/am for not knowing too many people who have passed on, and also for the knowledge of eternal families.

 

Amelia and I went home. I studied while she napped. Around 5 pm, our little family of three headed to our church parking lot to start the first annual neighborhood Memorial Day parade. (My friend Katie planned the entire event for her four boys, and invited all of us to join her! She is so brilliant and I'm so grateful for this experience!) The kids rode on their decorated bikes/scooters and their parents followed behind.

 

We started with the Pledge of Allegiance at the Zander's home. Then we visited veterans in our wards and listened to their stories and asked them questions. The little boys kept asking, "have you shot ever shot a gun?" "have you ever used a tank?" "have you ever..." etc. etc. Their eyes and hearts were full of curiosity, and I adore them for it.

 

A lot of the kids were making "whoaaaaaaaaa, no way" faces like Amelia is modeling here.

 

Our veterans/armed forces sacrifice so much for us, and their families do too. It's easy to forget how lucky we are to live in a free country, where we speak what we want, where we choose our own president, where gather religiously if we desire. It's easy to live our lives and forget those who fight for our rights and our freedoms. I'm so grateful to those who sacrifice so much for my family and I, and I'm grateful for Memorial Day for the reminder that freedom isn't really free at all.

the day with the kites.

So you know how we have a babe with a lot of attitude around here?

 

 

One day, she was bored...

 

and doing stuff like this...

 

 

So, her daddy and I pack her up, with her dragon kite

(you know, 'cause she was born in the year of the dragon...)

and headed to the park.

 

Man, I just love random days when we do random things.

I love this little family of mine so much, sometimes I can't even stand it.

(My heart is full.)

 

We went home, and sat on our deck,

and Amelia tried to climb out of the grass,

because she wasn't lovin' it too much that day.

 

xoxo

my hubby is 29 years young

ah, I wish there was a better way to say this, but I kind of dread Jeremy's birthday.

I'm the kind of girl that loves surprises, and Jeremy's the kind of guy that's terribly hard to plan for.

Last year, I was ready to pop, so I had Jeremy's dad pick out a set of drills for me, and baked him cupcakes with homemade frosting. Oh, also a "daddy's little project" diaper bag, and called it good (since you know, I was going to give him a baby in a couple weeks...).

This year, I wanted his big day to be more detailed.

(it was not stressful at all, 7 days before my giant test...)

So, the morning of May 21st, I woke up to get this ready:

Amelia's shirt says, "I love DAD" // so glad she was in a smiley mood that morning.

We ran into dad's room and woke him up by singing 'happy birthday'.

ahhh, I melt every time I see Jeremy's face light up...

Jeremy made us breakfast (because he's amazing), while I fed Amelia.

and afterwards, Amelia helped him open his presents.

They were pretty cheesy... like a lunchbox/cooler because he got a new job.

Then we went to the zoo.

Amelia had been saying, "azoozoo" for a few weeks, so we got some season passes.

enjoy some pictures:

I said, "Amelia, hold out your arm!"

and whaddya know...



I kept telling everyone it was Jeremy's birthday...

When we went through the chick-fil-a drive-through, they gave him a free ice cream!

I was thrilled!!!!

Jeremy and I have this thing... we go through their drive-through, order two large fries and five chick-fil-a sauces, park in the parking lot and chat (usually Amelia is taking a nap).

We did this a lot when he worked graveyards, and I would beg him to not go to work and stay with me that night.

He would hand me my fries, and tell me that we would be alright, and this wasn't forever.

Thank goodness it's over and he has a regular job now. :)

Also, Amelia kept giving me this "smile" all day long.

um...?????

And then, Jeremy decided the lawn had to be mowed, on his birthday of all days!

Amelia and I sat on the porch and watched him go back and forth,

and every time he came back, she would yell "DA DA DA!!!"

love her.

Finally, we went to Olive Garden for dinner.

(So I had planned this surprise movie party with Jeremy's dad and brothers at 7 pm. Iron Man 3, I didn't really want to see it, and all the boys really wanted to see it, perfect right?)

It was tricky, because usually the OG is packed for dinner, so we left a little after 5. Unfortunately, it wasn't busy at all, and we got out of dinner by 6:30 pm.

 I had to stall, driving around the District.

Jeremy knew something was up, but he thought there was a surprise party waiting at home.

ahhhhh, just love surprises! :)

so, finally I drove him to the front of the theaters, told him to get out, and handed him a note (that said, "you're watching Iron Man 3, with your boys, at 7:10 pm)

ha! his face was priceless.

speaking of priceless...

I can't look at this picture without cracking up (Melissa Jane, please show your husband this picture).

I texted Kellen and begged him to get a picture.

Instead of having someone take it for him, he "sacrificed himself".

 He's great, and I'm so happy!

Jeremy came home late.

I sang him happy birthday with my homemade cupcakes (wink wink).

He blew out his candles, and we talked.

Oh, how I love my man.

I can't believe I met him when he was 24 years,

and we have grown so much individually and together.

Sometimes I get sad that we're "old" and working and we spend less time together than

when we were dating and we were only apart when we were in school.

It may sound naïve, but I miss him a lot.

Then I look at our home, and I look at our darling babe, and I see all our blessings,

and I'm so grateful

because it all wouldn't exist without him.

Happy Birthday Jeremy Ray,

I love you more than you could ever know.

mom's day 2013

You may remember how much I love gardens, how romantic I think they are, and how I've always wanted my own. The week before this mother's day, Jeremy drove me to home depot to purchase lumber. Out of the blue, he had decided he was going to make me a planter box! He utilized those sexy arms to build on Monday and Tuesday. When he brought the box home, he painted it bright r e d for me. On Wednesday, he drove me to Glover's and helped me pick out  bell peppers, tomatoes and broccoli.



 

Isn't it beautiful? Amelia and I have incorporated watering these babies into our daily routine. She loves feeling the water sprinkle down and playing on our deck and carrying the empty waterer around. So far, we have found 1 tiny pepper (on the far left plant).

Being a mommy has been the greatest calling in life. I bet you hear that over and over, and if you're a mom, you know the truth for yourself. I never thought motherhood could be so fulfilling. It's all the little things, like her little lips, and her kissy noises; like her hands and fingers searching, touching, feeling with curiosity; like her hair, after a bath, or blowing in the wind; like her oohs and ahhs when a car passes, or when she yells, "DO! DO! DOOOOOO!" when a dog walks by; like her cuddles, and her exclamations, and her stubbornness; like her beautiful eyes, like when she says, "what is it?" when you hand her something. It goes on and on. I'm so grateful for my sweetheart who teaches, and loves, and is patient with me every day, I'm so grateful she chose me to be her mama, or MAM! (as she calls me these days). I'm also so grateful for her dada, who takes the time to encourage me, help me, spoil me, on top of working hard to support this family. He does the best thing for his daughter by loving her mother.

Mom's Day was great, we went to church, got to see both our moms, and both Jeremy's grandmoms. They all got cards, because we sure love them so. We're so grateful for all they do, and who we are because of them.

xo

graduating from the last four years.

*Warning: massive amounts of images to follow:

 

Graduation celebrations started with a party Thursday evening, the night before the grand event. Jeremy had tried to plan a surprise party, but snoopy me caught on too quickly. It was a lovely, intimate party with pizza, soda, babies, card games (which I dominated at), laughter, and love. Good work, hubby! :)

 

 

I woke up to May 3rd, smiling and proud. Can't really remember what we did all morning, but we barely made my psychology graduation. It was crammed in with all the other disciplinaries from the college of social and behavioral sciences. Let's not go into all the details, but the psychology walked dead last. Half the seats were empty by the time I walked, and some lady still had to nerve to ask me to be courteous and take a seat (I had a good excuse... nursing graduation, of course!). We ran out of the Huntsman building on to a shuttle to take us to Kingsbury Hall.

 

Can I just say how cool Christie and I are? There was a professional photographer, mind you. One of us said, "hey let's show our pride by doing the 'U'!" Then the pro photographer was like, "okay, everyone do the 'U' sign!" because we're trend-starters! Also, we are pretty cool because we make great faces for candid shots.

 

Also, I'm kind of loud and not pretty when I cheer.

 

Isi, the baby whisperer. Always love that he tries with Amelia though. Too bad she's such a mama's girl. :) // Loves with my babe. Dad said she was tired and ornery all day; glad we got some hugs in between walking. // With Katie, Miriam, and Heather. Heather and I sat together in the front row first semester and have been friends since. Even though she never sat with me again, we had some amazing laughs and I'm so glad to know her. (I'll talk about Miriam in a sec.) Katie is sweet and amazing, and she got accepted into grad school at DUKE, the U, and I think another place. She is beyond amazing and intelligent and I'm always so impressed when we talk. These girls were the three musketeers in the back row.

 

Okay, can I just say how much I love this guy? Don't know what I did right to deserve him, but he held my hand through every scary moment of the last four years. Couldn't have done it with out my main guy. :)

These two. Ah, couldn't have done it without these two either. Mikyla and I were lab partners for bio-organic chemistry my freshman year of college. First week of lab, we talk about boys. She had been dating Joe for a year, not sure what was going to happen. I had been dating Jeremy for a month, pretty sure we were getting married. Mikyla put up with my insanity and carried me through that semester. We grew apart when I disappeared to finish my psychology major, but were reunited at nursing school orientation! I love this girl to pieces! First month of nursing school, Austin decided to join us in the front row. We loved him for it! Then came lunch time, and he awkwardly asked if he could sit with us... like we were in high school! Also loved that! We have pretty much been inseparable since then; we did so many things together- Academic Service Learning, Student Advisory Committee... I'm blanking on what else, which is sad, but it felt like we hung out all the time! Mikyla got married, I had a baby, Austin and his wife had baby #2, so glad we were there for big life events for each other. Glad to know their spouses, and glad to have forever friends in these two! Mikyla's going to be a community health nurse, Austin's going into peds and research, and I'm going into labor and delivery. We're going into complete different fields, but we'll always stay close. I love my fellow musketeers!

 

Add on the girls in the second row... Alicia, Jessica, Melissa, and Becca. I love them as well! Becca is always so sweet and positive, can't imagine nursing school without her. Melissa and I have had some pretty hilarious times together... like "don't worry if you get pregnant during nursing school, Heavenly father will help you through it" and falling completely on my butt on the muddy hill on the way to the train. So glad I know her and so excited for her to have her baby girl! Jessica is my twin... we stress about everything. Can't believe she had baby #2 during nursing school- toughest girl ever!Alicia is the greatest. I have asked her for advice since the very first day of clinicals. Have always been on the same page about life as this girl, except she's way more logical than I am. She knows so much about everything, and I can't wait for her to be a mommy. :) I have loved being friends with the six of you; thank you for making nursing school tolerable! 

 

 

Meet the infamous VA2. BFF's since the very first semester. From left to right: Isi, Christie, Dirty Diana, Alicia, Nicole, Miriam, and Dan. Isi is everyone's best friend, he makes people laugh, he makes people feel comfortable, he cares about what's going on in your life. He's hardworking and he has a smokin' wife and the most adorable children! Thanks for being my big bro and always having my back! I can't imagine the challenges and struggles Christie has been through, but she is still selfless, positive, caring, loving. She is such an amazing influence on all of us, and she helps me remember to keep smiling. Plus, she is hilarious. Plus, we sometimes send dirty text to each other at night. Dirty Diana and I were the youngest in our cohort, and we made sure we acted like it too. I love this DI-shopping, bridesmaid-loving, talking to random strangers, brown nosing, cheesy, hilarious girlfriend of mine. So glad we broke our never getting married/never having a baby during nursing school code together. I've already told you about Alicia, but for the record, I love her stinking guts. Nicole is the sweetest, smartest, kindest of us all. We called her Nee-cole, and called other perfectionists "Nee-cole Dos" after her. She is having twin boys, and I have been excited for her since the day she asked me if being pregnant was hard during nursing school. Miriam and I got super close riding trax together everyday. She put up with my trash-talking, judgmental, exhausted, whiney self twice a day, everyday for a year and a half. She's taught me so much about being a mom, growing up, loving your parents, everything happens for a reason, and laughing. We've always laughed together, like about Dan sprinting across a busy street with a broken foot to catch his bus, like about a random stranger falling asleep on my shoulder on trax, like about her wearing jeans and "nice sneakers" to high school graduation. Thanks for being one of my very best friends Miriam, I can't wait to work with you someday. :) and last, but not least, Dan. My co-vice president, honest and sweet and hilarious and intelligent. The day after we turned our transcripts into DOPL, I called him in tears because they were terrible on the phone. He called them and suffered through their rudeness even though he already had his ATT just to help me out. He also texted me, "Congrats Liana, RN" after I had passed in NCLEX. Which is a huge deal! Thanks VA2 for making junior year so incredible. So glad to know you, so glad to call each and every one of you my friend. I love you all!

 

Some of my family who came: Grandma and Grandpa Jackson... They are the sweetest for walking so far and staying through the entire commencement. I love them!// And my parents, who sat through both psychology and nursing, who have taught me the importance of education for as long as I can remember. Thanks for supporting me every step of the way. Not pictured are my second parents Randy and Julie, and also, Emily and Josh, who loved me and came and watched me walk, but had to rush back to a family wedding.

 

(Amelia was soo very tired.)

If you read through this entire thing, props to you. This post had to be this long because I truly love all 64 nurses in my cohort. They have shaped, challenged, encouraged, supported, loved, defined me into the nurse I am today. I am so proud of all of us, I am so proud to work along-side these intelligent women and men who give and serve and love and sacrifice. You are my heroes.

Thank you to my family and friends for all your support and encouragement. I am so grateful for you and all that you do; I truly could not have done it with you.

xo