Copeland Adventures

Tots

2012-01-28T11:00:00.001-07:00

I guess this is what happens when you have a toddler on your hands. Shoes in jewelry armoirs...

well, well, well...

2012-01-27T14:11:00.002-07:00

Where to start. We have not officially blogged since...July?? That was so long ago! And alot happens in that amount of time. So, here is a brief summary of our doings in the past six months. Then later, when I find more time, I will catch up on things with pictures!

In July, Maddox and I flew to stay with my parents in South Carolina while Scott was gone for the summer. We stayed a grand total of 5 weeks. We had a blast while we were there! We got to go visit Disneyworld, Universal Studios, Animal Kingdom, Dollywood, Hilton Head, and so many more fun places. Those will be a seperate post with pictures:) Maddox learned to walk while we were there, and got his first few teeth during this time. His teeth came in July 12th while at Disneyworld. Lucky for him we had Mickey there to cheer him up. He took his first steps around the end of July, right before he turned 10 months old. We had fun in South Carolina, swimming in my parents pool, going for walks, playing with cousins and aunts and uncles, and having so much fun. Maddox loved the attention.

We came home the second week in August where Maddox finally mastered the art of walking, not just taking steps. He was so excited when his Dad came home! Since he was now mobile, they were able to play better together. In August, Scott's fire crew was lucky to have 4 days off in a row! So, we packed our bags and drove up to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. This was Maddox' first camping trip. Another fun post to blog about.

September rolled around, not much happened until the end of the month when we headed to Vegas to visit my sister Michelle and her new baby boy Iain! Maddox had fun visiting his family down there and got spoiled by his grandma since we were there a week before his first birthday!

October...Maddox' first birthday was October first. Scott had been out on a fire that week. We got a call on the first from him saying they were headed straight to another fire. Bummer. No celebrating the big 1 with no dad around. But then, we got another call later that afternoon. Scott had an umbilical hernia, so they were sending him home to get it fixed! Yay!! Sad for him, but it turned out for the best. He made it home in time to see Maddox eat some carrot cake for his first birthday. Then we were able to bring him to Toys R Us to find some presents together. So, even though Scott was in pain, he mad eit home for Maddox' birthday, got workers compensation for missing the last month of work, and had his hernia surgery paid for. That was pretty nice. The end of October brought Halloween upon us. Maddox dresssed up as a monkey and carried around the giant banana his Uncle William won for him at Dollywood that summer. We went trick or treating at the mall where he got tons of candy. We headed home so we could pass out candy, but we only had two trick or treaters all night! We were so bummed and ended up eating all of the candy by ourselves.

November and December brought on the holidays and a new job for me at REI. Scott is home until the next fire season so we had alot of time to spend together as a family. We saw the Christmas lights on Temple Square in Salt Lake City together, met Santa Clause for the first time, got the flu, celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, my 26th birthday, and New Years all before 2012 began.

Now comes January. I am just working at REI and trying to stay on top of cooking and cleaning. Who knew cooking for and cleaning up after two boys could be so difficult? Scott is taking a full 20 credit load of school this semester and is staying pretty busy. Maddox is learning to be more independent and knows how to get what he wants. We head to the gym every morning as a family where Scott and I get to work out while Maddox plays with kids in the daycare. And life is good! Scott is off for the weekend with some buddies doing some four-wheeling, ice fishing, and kite gliding at Fish Lake. Maddox and I get to relax and meet up with some of our friends!

I think that is about it for now! I will try to post picture posts later for the family who wants picutres. Have a great weekend everyone!

Testing!

2012-01-05T20:11:00.001-07:00

So, I've been out of the blogging world for a little while, but found this blogging app. Hope this will help me get back into the swing of things.

Week with Scott

2011-07-02T12:45:00.004-06:00

Scott was lucky enough to make it home in time to celebrate his first Father's Day. Yay! We had homemade snickerdoodles ready for him along with an adorable picture of Maddox framed. He didn't get home until late in the afternoon/early evening, so not too much happened on Sunday. Monday however, we headed to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake. It was fun, but they didn't even have any zebras, lions, or bears! They did have a sphynx though...

Hanging out in his stroller

Checking out the dinosaur fossils

Riding a horse

His favorite animal...the giraffe

Probably because they had the same haircut and color

Our little family

Tuesday we relaxed all day and then had dinner at Texas Roadhouse, followed by s'mores up in the canyon. Maddox loved them!! But why wouldn't he? He already loves graham crackers and chocolate...the marshmallows made it even better:) I forgot my memory card so we didn't get any pictures.

Wednesday was spent at the pool eating snow cones, Thursday I had to work, so not much fun happened. Then Friday we went back up into the canyon with some friends and had more s'mores! We slept in Saturday and went to brunch at Hoppers....yum...then played Bacci ball with a friend. Sunday we went to church and then had a picnic in the park. I'm sad I kept forgetting my camera! But Scott and Maddox had a blast together. Maddox preferred Scott over me all week.

Well, my poor sick baby is crying. I better go get him. Maybe we'll get a chance to blog some more this month. Wish us luck!

My Adorable 8 Month Old and the Fun We Have

2011-06-02T07:36:00.012-06:00

I don't think I ever shared Maddox's recent accomplishments. Back in April, Maddox was scooting on his stomach and doing a little frog hop to get around. But on May 6, he started to do a real crawl! You know, the typical one. May 7 came and he was pulling himself up into a kneeling position. May 8 came and what do you know. He learned to pull himself up on EVERYTHING. Three days is all it took to go from a hop crawl to standing up on furniture. Now, he cruises around the entire house. He loves looking out the window, playing on the dishwasher door, using the kitchen table and the rocking chair as his own personal forts where he stashes his toys, and crawling as fast as he can. Maddox started waving bye to people yesterday. Said 'hi' to his Dad on the phone last week, says 'hey' if we aren't looking at him in his high chair, and sometimes even lets 'Dada' slip out. He loves to make spit bubbles with his tongue, swing at the park, and go for walks. Most of the time, he won't let me feed him. He has to hold his own bottles and loves to feed himself finger foods. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse already keeps him entertained.

With Scott gone a lot this summer for work, Maddox and I have a ton of time to spend together. Scott left Tuesday morning, and already we have gone for a walk to a local restaurant for a dinner date, went to work for a little bit, and then headed to the park to swing, slide, walk, play in the fountain, pet puppies, and even attempt a rock wall! It's a little chilly out today so I think we'll stay in and tidy up the house a bit before we meet a friend for dinner. And tomorrow, more park play then Scott will be home. Yay! We love having Scott home when he is home because he will be home for 3-4 days straight. The three of us have already had alot of BBQs up in the canyons, and gone on lots of walks up in the canyons. We love it. Well, here are pictures of our big boy.

On a family walk up Provo Canyon

We love the mountains.

Asleep on our walk.

Standing on the rocking chair.

Standing against the couch.

Playing under the rocking chair.

Looking out the window.

Asleep after too much fun at the park.

Climbing with Dad.

First slide.

Relaxing in the park.

Looking out the plane window on our second trip to SC.

Cuddling with his grandma.

Looking out the window at Grandmas house.

Playing in Sarah's wheelchair.

First swing at the park in SC.

Standing up on everything.

Reading a book like a big boy, in his own seat on our flight to SC.

Feeding himself.

Dinner date with my baby.

I just can't get enough of him.

On our walk to dinner. Sorry the pictures are backwards.

CELEBRATING EIGHT MONTHS

Watching Mickey Mouse and eating graham crackers for breakfast.

I put on his sunscreen and couldn't get his hair to lay down, so it's up:)

He loves to swing.

He wanted to try the rock wall since he is so old.

Enjoying a bottle after playing by the fountain.

Eight Month treat...Vanilla Wafers.

Wow, I meant this post to be about our day yesterday, but instead it turned into some pictures from the past month. Oh well. We'll have more of those later:)

Last of the Pictures

2011-05-22T07:05:00.011-06:00

Here are the last of our pictures from our South Carolina trip. Michelle and her girls left on Monday and Anna and I left on Tuesday with our babies. James and William were back in school. With a hectic last couple of days, we hung around the house, outside, went on a walk, made dinner and just hung out. Not too much, but somehow we still managed to get a ton of pictures:)

Cousins playing together

Mom cuddling baby JJ

Trying to drink my Kool-Aid

Playing outside

Anna and JJ playing outside

Enjoying the warm sun

Cute kid

Love that smile

Playing with bubbles

Taking a stroll around the neighborhood

Walking the block

He always falls asleep on our walks

JJ's first time in a highchair

My dad and my baby

Pretty Sarah

William, Anna, and James stole my camera and took these next set of pictures

The morning we left. Mom loves her grandchildren

Waking up early to say goodbye to the kids before they left for school

Saying bye to William

William, Maddox, Me, JJ, James

This one is a little better

Now we added Anna

They must be related...scratching their heads the same way like that

Anna loves her baby

Sarah and Maddox in the airport

He loves smiling! And being a big boy in his big chair

He seriously does not stop smiling. He loves his grandma!

Maddox's first lollipop, a butterscotch dum dum, provided by the flight attendant. He was in heaven

Sorry this post was just a bunch of pictures. Not too much happened the last few days since we were all scattered doing different things. But we still had fun. Thanks for the great trip!

Easter Sunday

2011-05-21T16:25:00.007-06:00

Easter Sunday was fun. The family let Maddox and I sleep in, but they took pictures of the Easter egg hunt and the baskets the Easter Bunny left for us.

As tradition, we make Eggs Golden Rod for breakfast on Easter Sunday with the Hard Boiled Eggs the Easter Bunny leaves for us. Here is Maddox playing with his toys from the Easter Bunny at breakfast.

Anna and JJ with JJ's first Easter basket

Maddox in his Easter best.

After breakfast, we went to church and enjoyed many lessons about our Savior. I love church on Sundays and all of the lessons that are taught. Here are Michelle and her girls after church.

Anna and JJ in their new Easter outfits.

Maddox and I in our new Easter outfits.

After church, we had a big feast with ham, prime rib, home-made green bean casserole, rolls, cake, fruit salad, punch, and so much more. It was so delicious! And we had such great company. Friends and nearby family came over for our feast. It was fun to see and catch up with some cousins and friends that live so far away. Oh, I love the holidays, especially when I get to spend them with my family.

Saturday

2011-05-21T16:14:00.004-06:00

Our Saturday in South Carolina was fun and relaxing. The girls got pedicures and went shopping:) We were shopping for new Easter outfits! Thanks Mom! Other than that, we just hung around the house and had some fun. Anna made us lettuce wraps for dinner while James made us fried rice. It was so good! Scott and I have had lettuce wraps for dinner twice already since we've been back:) But here are our Saturday pictures.

Maddox playing around with the camera.

Miss Payton walked by and wanted a picture.

James making our delicious fried rice.

Anna preparing our lettuce wraps

My mom and my baby.

Me and Sarah.

Sarah and Maddox

The Day After the Traveling...aka...THE BEACH!

2011-05-09T16:18:00.008-06:00

My parents brought us to Myrtle Beach. The weather was warm, the ocean was warm (to some of us), and the sun was shining. It was a beautiful day. We had gone out for a delicious breakfast, then did a little swimsuit shopping since a few forgot swimsuits, swim shorts, cover-ups, hats, cabanas for the babies, and beach towels. The weather was supposed to be cooler so we were unsure if we would be swimming. But it was so gorgeous we couldn't resist!

My sweet, chubby Maddox in his new beach hat.

Payton, Michelle, and her baby boy bump.

William, and James in the background.

Anna helping JJ with his first dip into the ocean.

Maddox's first dip in the Atlantic Ocean.

So tired and cuddly.

William pushing Sarah in the sweet beach wheelchair we were able to rent for her.

He loved watching the water but didn't really want to get in.

Michelle and her girls.

Payton, William, Maddox, Me, Michelle, Dad, Sarah, and Madison.

James, heading out for a swim.

Relaxing and napping by the pool.

Hanging by the pool.

Adorable little JJ

The sweet sandcastle built by James, Madison, and Payton? I'm not sure...

The final touch...a skinboard as decor.

Michelle brought Sarah and Maddox on a walk.

Payton, Anna, Madison, and I buried William.

Some of the gang having fun.

Payton, Madison, and James with their sandcastle.

The whole picture.

William after he got out of the sand.

Madison doing a little boogie boarding.

Cute Sarah.

We had several boogie boards and a skin board with us, so we took turns trying them out. Unfortunately, we only got two short films of James skin boarding before my camera battery ran out. So here they are!

That night we went to a seafood buffet for dinner. We were trying to go to Landry's, but it was a super long wait for our large party. Oh well. Maybe next time:) We also got some Krispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast the next morning. After we were all clean and packed up to head home, we decided to swing by the aquarium. That was also a long wait and with a pregnant lady and another one nursing, we decided to just eat lunch, swing by the outlet mall and then head home. We stopped for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was fun seeing Mom and Dad reminiscing about the music they used to listen to growing up. And the chocolate milk shake was delicious! The outlet mall was a quick stop too...but don't worry, a lot of shopping still got done. Thanks Mom and Dad!! Maddox's new raincoat came in handy today. Since we had driven out in two seperate cars, one car went straight home and my car stopped by a gun store in Columbia. My dad likes to reload his ammo, so we had to get some new supplies. It was a nice trip and I can't wait to go to Myrtle Beach again!

Since we were in South Carolina for an entire week, I'll have to put up more posts at a later time. That'll take a few posts. And we had an eventful week at the Tulip Festival, the park up in Provo Canyon, and on a little nature walk in Payson Canyon. I'll have to write about those sometime soon, but it might not be until Maddox and I get back in town next week. We're heading out to SC again on Wednesday. Yay!! We can't wait!

South Carolina Dreamin'

2011-05-08T16:26:00.010-06:00

My cute boy helping me pack for our trip.

Have you ever been to South Carolina? If you haven't, you should definitely go. It is beautiful!! And so much fun. Plus my parents live there, and we always have fun when we are all together. Back in the middle of April, Maddox and I were able to fly out to SC to visit the family. Maddox is amazing when he flies. He slept three of our four flights, and played the last one with everyone seated around us. Anyway...on our flight out, my sister Anna, and her baby JJ, hopped on our plane in Chicago and the boys had so much fun together! They couldn't stop smiling at one another, while they were awake that is. It was adorable.

Little Joshua James

Me and Maddox

Anna and JJ

The first two days were full of traveling. By the end of the first day, Maddox was done with traveling. He screamed the entire car ride, from the airport to dinner.

Payton, trying to block out Maddox's screams.

After getting settled in that night and getting plenty of rest(thanks William for letting Maddox and I stay in your room while we were there!), we woke up and packed up the cars to head to Myrtle Beach for a few days.

Payton, Madison, Maddox and James

Maddox loved my moms three dogs. He couldn't get enough of them!

Our first stop in Myrtle Beach was at Medieval Times. Pretty tasty food, good entertainment, and great company. We had a blast! Too bad the Blue Knight did not win:(

William and Michelle

Maddox and my Mom

Maddox enjoying the show with his stuffed dragon

JJ, Anna, and Sarah

James and Payton with the rose the Blue Knight tossed to her

Madison and Michelle

Dad and Mom

Me and William

Me and baby JJ

Anna and JJ

Me and Maddox

Maddox playing with his crown and dragon

After our dinner show, we headed to our hotel to get situated. Then...a walk to the ice cream parlor!

Maddox all loaded up in his Moby Wrap

Some of the gang

Mom giving her grandson some ice cream. He loves it

Miss Payton

And that folks, was our busy two days of traveling. And the start of our South Carolina adventure.

This Week...

2011-04-10T15:58:00.004-06:00

This week has been hectic, to say the least. And this coming week is hectic. We have both worked the last two Mondays, been sick, Maddox had his 6 month appointment and got sick from his immunizations and so much more. At his appointment, he officially weighed in at 16 lbs 11 oz and measured 26 inches long. He's still a bit on the small side but at least he doesn't outgrow his clothes too fast:) He still isn't completely over his shots yet. He is not eating as much and his naps are off. Maddox has not had his usual three hour nap in a week. It has been difficult on all of us. Without his naps, he is cranky and needs to be held constantly so I can't keep up with the housework and Scott is swamped with his last couple of weeks of schoolwork before finals. I am trying to get our house in order before Maddox and I fly out to South Carolina next week. We're excited to visit the family!! We're heading to Myrtle Beach for a few days, hitting up Medieval Times, the beach, the zoo, and a few other fun things. So, since we have been too busy to really have too much fun...I'll just give you some pictures of my sweet big boy. As of lately, he loves being rocked to sleep, back scratches, cuddling into pillows, scooting around on his tummy, being outside, solids, and eating whatever is on our plate. He loved Olive Gardens breadsticks today. Everytime he swallows real food, he shivers. It is pretty cute.

At the duck pond at Nelsons Grove Park.

At his first movie, we went to a matinee of Red Riding Hood with our friend Natalie. Maddox did really well!

Out for a walk.

He's a mommas boy. I love it:)

Shopping for some baby food on his 6 month birthday.

P.S. Sorry this post is so random.
P.P.S. Maddox is sleeping on the couch next to me. He's snoring. The other night, Scott and I woke up around 2 am because Maddox was snoring so loud...in his OWN bedroom across the hall.

Scootin' and Push-Ups

2011-04-01T17:58:00.003-06:00

Maddox is 6 months today! Yay! His 6 month appointment is on Tuesday, so I'll update yall on his stats later, but I was watching him scoot around the room today and thought I should record it for my mom. So I did. Of course he didn't want to scoot as much when the camera was out, but you get an idea of how he gets around and how strong he is getting. He even does a push up in the video:) Happy Six Months, Maddox!

Oh, and Maddox has enjoyed being rocked to sleep lately instead of drinking a bottle. This is what I get to look at when Scott puts him to bed. I love it.

Final Story.

2011-03-31T18:26:00.003-06:00

On the way back to Utah, we woke up, packed, got ready to leave, ate, and let Maddox take a 2 hour nap. We woke him up to leave, and he fell right asleep in the car and slept for 2 1/2 hours. We stopped to eat lunch, let him play for an hour, and then he slept for another 3 hours. Stopped again for dinner and gas, and he slept for another 3 hours. Stopped again for thirty minutes and he was out for the rest of the trip. Even with hitting a pretty heavy snow storm and taking a detour due to construction, we drove from San Diego to Orem in 12 hours. Mapquest says it is an 11 1/2 hour drive. It was amazing! He really slept the entire time. And still slept for 10 hours that night. We were so blessed. We were home before midnight:)

Sorry, that is a boring story, but for parents with babies, you might know how impressive that is:)

Coronado Island

2011-03-27T12:37:00.007-06:00

The next day, we headed to Coronado Island. Our first stop was the beach. It was chilly and windy, so we dressed in shorts and long sleeved tops. And can I tell you how much I love our stroller? So many people left their strollers parked by the sidewalk because they couldn't get them through the sand. That was not the case with our Jeep Stroller. With its heavy duty wheels, we glided right over the sand and even listened to music with the speakers that are attached. We love it:) Anyway, Maddox loved the sand and witnessed his first wedding!

It took him a minute to look up at the camera for a picture, he was so enthralled by the sand between his toes.

Mad that I put him on the towel and put his glasses on.

Happy once he was standing up again.

Mum Mums are a lifesaver! Thanks for the tip Renae!

Going to town on his Mum Mum. Enjoying the sun.

Trying to cuddle since it was kind of chilly.

The Pacific Ocean. Next month, we'll be on Myrtle beach playing in the Atlantic Ocean! Lucky kid seeing both sides of the country within one month of each other.

First dip in the ocean, not too bad! He kind of liked it!

Waiting for the next wave to wash up on us.

This one startled him. Poor babe.

My boys playing on the beach.

After hanging out on the beach for a few hours, we decided to change the scene up a bit and strolled down to look at shops and grab some lunch. We found this delicious little Mexican Restaurant, Miguels Patio. Along with the salsa at the beginning of the meal, they also serve a jalapeno white sauce that is to die for! I found the recipe online here but have not tried it yet. I will soon though, and I'll let yall know how it is. Did I mention that we ate Mexican food every day while we were on our trip? It was all sooooooooo good.

Trying to take a self family picture on the streets of Coronado, Maddox got cut off.

Father and son.

After another long day playing and walking in the sun, we headed back to the hotel and took a family nap. We stayed in for the rest of the night, watched a couple of movies and ordered in some pizza.

Playing in our hotel room.

I still have a few more pictures, and a quick story, but we'll save that for another post. I need to go feed Maddox some pears.

Balboa Park

2011-03-23T12:19:00.008-06:00

Thursday was spent at Balboa Park. We had never been there before and it was the perfect place to go with a baby. The park is full of old buildings with very detailed architecture, museums, gardens, all sorts of stuff. Maddox loves being outside so he really enjoyed himself.

One of the many fountains in Balboa Park

The boys hanging out

Maddox trying to eat his buckles

One of our first stops in the park was the History Center. They had some cool exhibits including clothing styles over the past few decades, the settling and founding of San Diego, Columbus finding America, artwork over the past fifty years or so, and a look at theater since Shakespeare's time.

Reading about the founding of San Diego

In front of the Wells Fargo Stagecoach

Enjoying the stroll around the museum

Dressed up like Danny the Who and his horse from Dr. Seuss' 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas'

The men taking a break from all of the walking we were doing.

With the walking in the hot sun, we got tired, hungry, and thirsty. We grabbed lunch at a cafe in the park then decided to get some ice cream to cool us down. Someone had their first temper tantrum from having something taken away from them. Photos leading up to the event...

I was trying to keep it away...

He got me.

Reaching for the ice cream cone.

I caved...and it was so cold!

But he loved it and wanted some more...he didn't get anymore and had a melt down

So Scott took him and distracted him by showing him the trees

Maddox wasn't too mad at me, look at that smile

After our lunch/ice cream break, we decided to head down to the Museum of Man. It had exhibits about how different races were formed, one about the Mayan culture, games over the past few centuries, human evolution, primate evolution, the Egyptian culture, and strange bone diseases. We didn't necessarily agree with all of the theories, but it was still neat to learn about what some people believe.

The bell tower on top of the Museum of Man

More detailed architecture on the museum

Maddox learned how to hold his own bottle! This was a lifesaver this trip...

Taking a family portrait with the monkeys

Learning about fossils

Our scared faces

After the Museum of Man, we were so pooped from walking all day that we headed back to the hotel, took a nap, then went to Jacks BBQ for dinner where a homeless man wanted to take Maddox. The guy was creepy! He stared from outside at him for six minutes straight. Then he decided to come inside, but the owner of the restaurant saved us from having to deal with him and locked the doors. The homeless guy was mad, he was banging on the door for us to let him in and kept pointing at Maddox. Freaky! He was a hot item with the homeless and druggies this trip. I forgot to mention in the last post that on one of our stops, a lady clearly on meth came up to Maddox and wanted to eat him and his toes. We kept teasing Maddox that she wanted to sell his toes for drug money. Luckily he stayed safe:)

We're BBBAAAACCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!

2011-03-20T17:55:00.006-06:00

We spent a few days down in California this past week. We had so much fun! We left at 10 pm Tuesday night with a plan to spend the night in Vegas to break up the drive. Maddox did very well and slept the entire drive down! Yay! We pulled in around 2am Pacific Standard Time, and Maddox played his first slot machine...or at least pretended to...

The next day wasn't quite as smooth as the night before. Maddox had to stop every two hours for an hour each to get his wiggles out. Here are some pictures at one of our stops.

Maddox was so relieved when we finally made it to the hotel.

And even had a few firsts that night! He sits in a high chair at home but I've never put him in one at a restaurant before...so that was a first. And the mexican place we were eating at had a live Mariachi band. Another first...

And that's it for now. We'll get the rest of the trip up over the next few days...but for now....

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Good Week

2011-03-15T10:34:00.003-06:00

If you will allow me, I am going to brag about Scott for a minute. First, he had an anatomy lecture midterm. He got a 69%. The class average was a 35%, making his grade over 100% with the curve. Awesome! Second, he aced all of his anatomy quizzes taken this past week. And by aced, I mean 100s again:) without a curve. He finds out tonight in lab what he got on his anatomy lab midterm, but he felt so confident after taking it, I'm sure he did well. Plus, I helped him study and he knew his stuff. Lastly, we heard back from the wild land fire crew he applied for and he got the job!! Yay!! Hopefully this will mean no more work for me so I can be a better mom and housewife. We'll miss Scott this summer when he is out fighting fires, but he'll be outdoors, working hard, and loving life. And he won't always be gone so we can still play as a family this summer:) Scott has had a great week. And not to mention, I found girl scout cookies and I had three people at work tell me I look like I'm losing weight(these walks and eating at home are helping!) so my week was good too. As for Maddox, he got new sunglasses and even a swimsuit. Lost his sunglasses, but found them again in his dirty laundry. Needless to say, he was happy we found them. Now, time to get ready for a quick vacation....

Give and Get is Here!

2011-03-14T11:35:00.000-06:00

Give and Get is Here!: "Enjoy 30% off from March 17-20 at Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy plus we'll make a 5% donation to a non-profit."

California Here We Come...

2011-03-06T14:25:00.003-07:00

A couple of days ago, I brought this little guy on a walk to Babies'R'Us. He loves being outside.

We bought little swimmers, and these glasses to prepare for our upcoming California trip.

We decided to go to San Diego for Scotts spring break in a few weeks. And Maddox is officially set with new shades, a new swimsuit, and a few other little goodies to keep him entertained. We're excited!

Carrots

2011-03-03T19:08:00.003-07:00

Maddox tried his first vegetable tonight for dinner...carrots. And I can't tell if he really likes them or not. He ate the entire container, but he made a face after very bite, except when the camera was out. He knows when the camera is out, he needs to smile:) I was trying so hard to get the face he was making, but it didn't happen very well on the still photo, just on video. Oh well. At least he ate them!! Let's hope he eats them again tomorrow....

Gone...

2011-03-03T13:03:00.003-07:00

It's gone!! And I love it. Sorry about the no make up look, my appointment was at 9 this morning. But all I can say is I am very happy that it is gone. It was so damaged and falling out everywhere and ended up in a bun most of the time. This is much more manageable and practically weightless! That's love.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Quick updates

2011-03-01T21:28:00.003-07:00

1. In two days, my hair will be gone.

2. Maddox lost his sleeping pattern:( Hopefully it'll come back shortly, I need sleep!

3. Maddox loves his rice cereal so much that he eats TWO bowls with every meal(breakfast, lunch, and dinner)...along with 4-8 oz of formula.

4. Scott buzzed his head. Hot:) His beard is getting longer, he's growing it out for the fire season.

5. We officially paid off my car and OWN it. Yay!! And by we, I mean Dad and me:) Or at least those are the names on the title. Thanks for helping out Mom and Dad! Love y'all!

6. Scott and I got our rebate from the Costco AmEx we have, so we bought groceries and have only eaten out once since then, and that was when I met him at his work cause he gets free food. This is a BIG deal for us. We are used to eating out almost every meal. So far, I feel great and kind of healthier for it! Lots of Salmon, bananas, carrots, nutri-grain bars, instant breakfasts, and so much more. Yum...

And that is really all. Nothing too major, but Maddox is asleep right now and I felt like blogging, even though I didn't have too much to blog about. So, have a good night!

Maddox Loves Rice Cereal!

2011-02-25T12:40:00.003-07:00

Maddox finally learned how to open his mouth for a spoon last week and he is loving his rice cereal! Today was the first day he ate the ENTIRE bowl I made for him and was actually chowing down. It was great. He was leaning forward to the spoon, chewing, and swallowing. I had a feeling today was going to be the day, so we took a video for his Grandma. This was at the beginning of the feeding so he may not look as eager as he was by the end, but he is still cute:)

28!

2011-02-20T20:09:00.002-07:00

Busy week!

Monday: Valentines Day. Work all day since we both work every Monday.

Tuesday: Baby sister Anna got induced. Scott studied, took a quiz. Waited to hear from Anna. Maddox and I wrote out the server and mixo schedules, attended a manager meeting. Waited some more to hear from Anna. Dropped Maddox off at Scott's parents house so the two of us could attend the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Finally heard from Anna. Baby Joshua James was born.

Example of a film we watched: Crossing the Ditch.

Wednesday: Deal with a cranky baby. Leave keys and wallet in Scotts car when I need them to meet a friend for lunch. Scott has class. Find spare keys, extra $10 at home. Meet friend for lunch. Run errands. Attend the Banff film festival second night.

Example of another film we watched: The Swiss Machine.

Thursday: Go to the mall to walk around since it is too cold outside. Scott takes a quiz and is at school all day studying. Maddox and I head in to work to enter the schedules into the computer. Buy Scott his birthday presents. Scott has work, but gets out early.

Friday: Happy 28th birthday to Scott! Give Scott his birthday presents, socks and shoes, before he heads to the gym. He has a lot of homework and school to get done. We go out for lunch to a burger joint. Check out Out'N'Back, Dinner at a Thai restaurant, birthday cake at home. Watch movies.

Saturday: Sleep in. Wake up sick. Call in sick to work after washing work clothes, trying to get ready. Take a three and a half hour family nap. Watch movies trying to get better.

Sunday: Sleep in. Make breakfast. Get all three of us ready and to church early. Scott works at night. Maddox and I eat dinner with a friend at Scott's restaurant after another family nap.

So, in retrospect, this week doesn't sound like it was that busy. But I swear, with a baby, everything takes ten times longer making everything seem so much busier!

Family Walk

2011-02-13T19:08:00.001-07:00

Today was beautiful in Utah!! We have been cooped up inside not only because of winter, but because Maddox has been sick for three weeks. So, we decided a bit of fresh air might do us some good. We loaded him in his stroller and enjoyed a stroll in the sunny 60 degree weather. It made us excited for summer!

Colors

2011-02-11T12:29:00.003-07:00

I grew up painting my toenails, not my fingernails. They are short and stubby and I have always had a bad habit of biting my fingernails. But a couple of months ago, my friend Alicia bought a new nail polish and was painting her nails at work! So, I decided to give it a whirl with her. I have been addicted ever since! Turns out, I can still keep my nails short, but they look even better when they are painted. Who knew?!?! These are a few of my favorite colors right now.

Cover Girl, Plum Pudding.

The color on the right, Sally Hansen, Slick Slate.

Revlon, Hot for Chocolate.

I can't stop painting my nails!! It keeps me from biting them. And when they start to chip, I take off the polish, cut my nails and cuticles, and put on a new color. I love it! And now y'all know what I do with my time when Maddox is sleeping and the chores are done:)

Mobile Uploads!

2011-02-09T18:40:00.008-07:00

Last month, I believe, I said I needed to figure out how to get the pictures from my phone onto my computer. Well, I finally figured out how to do just that. I needed a micro sd. The usb cable I have for my phone will only allow my computer to read things externally from my phone, not from the internal memory. However, the card I bought came with an adapter, so I don't even need the usb cable. I can just plug the card directly into my computer! Yay!! So here are some pictures my blog has missed from the past year. I don't always have my camera around, and I like to have pictures on my phone to send to my mom:) So there are several pictures (try 103) on my phone that I wanted to send over here. You'll only see about 30 of them:) Sorry!! That's alot. And they are not in any real order. Just random...

Maddox FINALLY let me put a beanie on him. His expression says, 'Wanna mess wit me??'

Just a better picture of his manly outfit. Camo top, Columbia jacket, beanie.

He loves his puffy jacket. This is the wallpaper on my phone.

He loves playing on our bed.

Sucking his thumb.

Blurry, but I love the expression on his face!

Skulls and suspenders. He's growing up so fast!

Practicing sitting up. He stayed there for almost a minute!

He smiles in the mirror. Especially when the camera is out.

Trying to get inside the bubble.

First time meeting Uncle Bobby.

Hanging out with his dad. They send me pictures while I'm at work:)

Loving his jumper.

I think I was about six months here.

The picture I sent out via text when Maddox was born.

Our first night in the hospital. I held him all night long.

Scott and Maddox in the NICU.

Love his monster towel.

Aunt Anna getting in some practice before her baby gets here.

Smug shot after one of his baths.

Blondies

2011-02-08T00:51:00.002-07:00

I didn't get a picture of them, but for the Super Bowl party on Sunday, I baked some Blondies. First time ever! Got the recipe at...where else would I get it. The Hershey website. And since the link doesn't actually bring you to the recipe, I included it for you. Quick, easy, and delicious. Light, fluffy, moist. I could go on. They even had a high altitude adjustment!! Yay!! Those are hard to come by. Oh, and I found a picture on their website:) I would definitely recommend them.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1-1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S Mini Chips Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Directions

1 Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
2 Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, milk and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in small chocolate chips. Spread in prepared pan.
3 Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. About 3 dozen bars.

HIGH ALTITUDE DIRECTIONS:
- Increase flour to 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons
- Decrease baking powder to 3/4 teaspoon
- Decrease packed light brown sugar to 1-1/4 cups
- Increase milk to 1/4 cup
- Bake at 350°F, 27 to 32 minutes

Dream

2011-02-06T00:41:00.003-07:00

It's late and I need to get to bed. But I am unwinding from work and was reading MSN and need to let you all in on what I read. First, our dream cars for our current situation in life is a 4Door Jeep Rubicon and a Subaru WRX (preferably STI). Well, we have the WRX. Just not the Rubicon. Once we did buy a 4door Sahara, long story short, that one didn't work out. Anyway. Back to what I read. Now that you all know what we want, I was reading an article called best car couples or something like that. Here is the link.... If you look down at the last couple they list, it is the Rough Rider pair. It's us! Exactly what we want! It just made me smile. It'd be perfect. We could go on our outdoor adventures in the Rubicon and still fit my harp in the back seat. And who wouldn't want to race around town in an STI? After autocrossing, I would love to have one of those! And Scott would love to upgrade his car. Well, that's all. Just a quick thought that brought a smile to my tired face. Good night!

Four Months!

2011-02-01T17:53:00.002-07:00

Maddox is four months as of...today! At his appointment he weighed in at 14 pounds, measured at 25 inches in length, and a head circumference of 40 cm. He's not the biggest boy around, but we sure do love him! He did not love his shots. He just cried during the initial pokes in the office, but once he woke up from his nap today, he has not stopped. Poor little fella. He already has a cold. Now he feels even worse. We're getting in lots of cuddles today to help him feel better

New Experiences

2011-01-30T12:15:00.007-07:00

Maddox has been experimenting with new things these past few days. He enjoys playing in his new activity jumper, loves the lights, the rattles, the music, the whole thing.

He also likes sitting in his highchair and watching us do our thing. I tried feeding him rice cereal. He opens his mouth for the spoon, but he doesn't quite understand how to eat off of it yet. He was kind of getting the hang of it towards the end. We'll keep trying over the next week, see how he is doing. Maybe he isn't quite ready or maybe he just needs to learn how to do it.

Before the feeding began.

After his first bite and not quite sure what to think.

Showing me that he is in control. He really wanted to feed himself.

Finally enjoying it.

All cleaned up afterwards.

Also in the past 24 hours, Maddox has rolled over four times! I didn't them on film, mainly because I was not there for any of them. Three were with his dad when I was at work last night and making his bottle this morning. The fourth was in his crib. He woke up crying at 6:30 this morning. When I went in to grab him, he had rolled over! Maybe he'll roll over more this week!

Self Control

2011-01-28T22:18:00.003-07:00

I don't have any. What did I do tonight? Well, first off, Maddox usually goes to bed around 10. I was in the middle of putting together the new activity jumper we bought for him today, but he was just too dang sleepy. He ate his first spoonful of rice cereal, finished a bottle of formula and headed off to bed at 8. So, I threw on my apron and made homemade chocolate turnovers. Courtesy of the Hershey's website again. I figured I had already put away all of our laundry today, deep cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, vacuumed, and ran a few errands. So what the heck! I made them. No self control. Earlier today I wrote that I needed to cut back on baking sweets...yeah right. That didn't happen. I just couldn't resist. See how delicious they look? And they were super easy!

Rolling out the pastry puff sheet, cutting it into squares.
Filling made of chocolate chips and cinnamon.

Baking in the oven.

The finished product. Yum!

I've already had two of them. I think I am going to give a couple of plates away to avoid eating them all by myself. Can that be considered self control?

BIG

2011-01-28T12:22:00.003-07:00

My little buddy is HUGE these days. Or at least I think so. He rolls over on occasion, but not too often. He doesn't really laugh, but when he gets really excited, Maddox will coo VERY loudly, or make a whizzing noise, or some other sound. He loves to talk and make noise. He also is starting to reach out for things and put them in his mouth. Needless to say, several of my necklaces, my phone, the remotes and so many other things have been covered in baby slobber. Maddox drools so much! Like a Saint Bernard. He's too cute. He has his first cold right now. Although he had a rough first day with it, he is still his happy little self. He hangs out at the playroom at the gym while I work out and try to get rid of this baby fat. Everytime I pick him up, they rave about how good he was. Maddox will just sit in the swing, in the jumper or on their lap and he is happy as can be. He loves sucking on his thumb and fingers and prefers that over his binky now. Maddox even retired his 0-3 month clothes recently and moved on to bigger sizes. Did I mention that he holds onto his bottle and can sometimes even keep it there, feeding himself while I unload the dishwasher or vacuum the floor? He is great. and I love him. Look at what a big boy he is!

From Scratch

2011-01-28T11:09:00.003-07:00

I went on a baking spree a few weeks ago, baking cupcakes, turtle brownies, brownies from scratch, peanut clusters, all sorts of things. I couldn't stop! Here is the recipe for one result... Ultimate Chocolate Brownies from the Hershey's website. And here is a picture. I only put the buttercream frosting on half...Scott doesn't like frosting on his brownies, but I thought they were amazing with the frosting:) The Hershey's website has so many good recipes! Thousands! I can't wait to try more of them. But I may have to hold off for a bit, I'm trying to lose my baby fat and these treats are not helping!

Baby Blessing

2011-01-18T13:13:00.008-07:00

This weekend, my dad, brother Bobby, sister Michelle and her two girls came out to Utah for Maddox's baby blessing. It was so fun to see everyone! They got here Saturday and left Monday morning. It was a quick trip, but they all had to get back to Vegas to go to a gun show. Basically, we had Sunday together and it went something like this....
wake up, eat breakfast, get ready for church, go to church, bless Maddox (who happened to pee on his sweater prior to church without his mother knowing), go home, eat lots of food with everyone, play in the snow, watch tv, play rockband, eat dinner at Texas Roadhouse, and another movie. It was fun!
Baby blessings are such a neat experience! Scott did great, and you could see a difference afterwards in how Scott and Maddox interacted. I didn't think it would make a difference, but they absolutely adore each other even more now. It is a good feeling.

With Scott's parents.

Payton making a snow angel.

Madi showing off her snow angel.

We had a snowball fight.

Pausing to take a picture with Payton.

Madi and Maddox.

My dad, me, and Maddox.

Madi wanted to take this picture...
Scott, Dad, Me, Payton, Maddox, and Michelle.

My little family.

Dad with two of his six (soon to be seven!) grandchildren.

Too cute. We think Maddox looks like my dad. Agree?

It was sad to see them go, but I'm glad to know that I will see them again and to know that families are forever! I miss them! Can't wait to see them again!

Check It Out...The New Kid On The Block!!

2011-01-14T17:42:00.006-07:00

Ever since we have moved into our new place about a month ago, Maddox has gained so many new admirers! He's a hit! All of the ladies love him and oogle at his undeniable cuteness. Maybe I am a little biased since he is my son, but I think he is the cutest thing ever! And here is proof:)

Playing with his moose pillow.

Trying to sit up on his own...this was awhile ago.

Sportin' his handsome Christmas/Church outfit from his Grandma.

Squeezing into a new outfit from his great-grandmother.

Watching his mobile.

Crying cause the mobile stopped.

Giving me my birthday present...a Nordstrom gift card.

Relaxing in his Boppy pillow.

See, I told you he is adorable! Also, I am trying to figure out a way to get all of the pictures on my phone onto the computer. I have so many cute ones on there!

Late...but its here.

2011-01-14T10:46:00.012-07:00

We had a nice quiet Christmas this year with just the 3 of us. Scott and I both worked on Christmas Eve when his family celebrates Christmas, so we decided to do our own little Christmas. It was great!

Let me back up. The Wednesday before Christmas, we went up to Salt Lake to see the lights at Temple Square .

Scott and Maddox crossing the street to get to Temple Square.

Me and Maddox enjoying the lights.

Our little family.

Maddox's amazed face. He loved the lights.

In front of the Nativity scene.

The boys in front of the Christus statue in the visitors center.

We loved sipping on our hot chocolate while walking around and looking at the beautiful scenery. We love visiting the temple. We love the holiday season. And we even got to meet Santa while we were there. We learned that he likes to autocross, or race cars. He had his SCCA sticker on his car:) Maybe one day I'll be able to convince Scott to let me bring our WRX out to the speedway to get in a few runs. It has been so long!

Sorry about that little tangent. On to our celebration. Maddox opened his first present ever from my brother Jason. He loves it!

Grabbing on to the wrapping paper.

A little skeptical about what was going on, but he caught on...

Taking his first glance at the bear.

It kind of looks like he was crying, but he was really smiling. He loved it!

Smiling again at his new stuffed bear.

They are about the same size. It's great!

Maddox still loves the bear. I let him play with it in his crib while I put away his laundry and he can't help but smile...and chew on his nose. He loves putting things in his mouth these days, especially his little hands.

Back to Christmas. After work Christmas Eve, we just kind of relaxed. I made peanut clusters to enjoy the next day. They are quick and easy to make so we weren't up too late. This was our third Christmas together, and we have not spent one with my family yet since they are so far away. So...we decided to do some of the traditions from my family this year, with just the three of us. We slept in on Christmas day. Until about 10 am. That was Maddox's Christmas present to us:) When we did finally get up, I began to make some hard boiled eggs to make a traditional family breakfast, Eggs Golden Rod. While the eggs were cooking, we opened a few presents.

A new play mat from his Grandma and Grandpa Copeland.

After presents (I got a new old fashioned rocking chair!), I finished making breakfast and we ate. It was the first time I have ever made it and it turned out great!

Right after breakfast, we began preparing our very own Christmas dinner, showered and got ready for the day. Maddox took a nap for us so we could cook all day in the kitchen.

Scott carving our first turkey.

Our first Christmas dinner with just the 3 of us. Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, rolls, apple cider, 2 pudding pies, and peanut clusters. It was delicious! And way too much for just the 2 of us.

It made a lot of dirty dishes.

After cleaning up, we took a nap, then had a couple of buddies over to help us eat the pie. Ryan, Scott's best buddy, even held Maddox for the first time!

After eating lots of food and getting in lots of relaxation, we ended our great first Christmas with just the 3 of us. Hope everyone else had a great Christmas too!

New Place

2010-12-22T22:56:00.003-07:00

So, I know a few people who said they wanted to see pictures of our new apartment. I didn't get pictures of the two bedrooms, but I got the rest before we moved in.

The living/family room with beautiful windows and vaulted ceilings.

The CLEAN kitchen with a beautiful view of Mount Timpanogos and a fridge with an ice maker:)

The dining area with a pantry...

The hallway with Maddox's room at the far end, the bathroom and lots of cupboard space.

The other side of the hallway with the Master bedroom and the laundry closet.

Well, it is nice to be in a nice, clean place that isn't falling apart. We love it! And we are getting settled so it is even better. I love having a new start. We even decided to move Maddox into his own crib in his very own room. Tonight is the first night, so far so good!

For Mom and Sarah

2010-12-22T13:08:00.007-07:00

This is for my mom and Sarah. They love reading the blog every morning and seeing the cute pictures we have taken of Maddox.

He wasn't very happy, but I don't have too many pictures of the two of us, so I took one anyway.

Maddox gave Scott an early Christmas present...Call of Duty Black Ops. Maddox had the biggest grin on his face handing over the present.

My sweetie wearing the sweet Columbia jacket his Aunt Anna found for him.

Maddox loves this outfit from his great grandmother. It even has a puppy on the bum.

A picture if the two of us before my first day back to work.

Whoops...

2010-12-11T02:17:00.003-07:00

I'm a slacker. Maddox's 2 month stats are as follows:

Weight: 12.5 pounds, 50th percentile
Height: 23.5 inches, 50th percentile

He is just an average baby. Not too big. Not too small. Just right:) And perfect.

Our move in date got pushed back. We were supposed to move today, now we will be moving next Thursday. I'm excited for our new place!

Two Months

2010-12-02T16:57:00.007-07:00

I can't believe Maddox is already two months old!! He has his two month doctor appointment next week, so we will get stat updates then, but I still took a couple of pictures on the actual day. He has been so smiley lately. I love it! he is just too cute. He loves to snuggle his mom and take showers with dad. He loves milk from mom and the bottle and has recently decided if he can't get the binky back in his mouth on his own, he is perfectly happy sucking on his hand, or a few fingers. Night times are fun and going much better. Maddox will fall asleep between eleven and midnight and will sleep for a good five to six hours before needing to eat. When he does finally wake up to eat, he eats for only five to ten minutes, before falling asleep for another three hours. It is marvelous. I feel so rested these days.

On another note, I am returning to work tomorrow. Sad day. But I will only be working three days instead of five. And I won't have to drive fourty minutes anymore! Only a quick ten minute drive. Yay! I'm excited about that, but I will miss the people up in Murray. I loved working with them!

Next week, we are moving to our new apartment and we couldn't be more excited. Plumbing that works. Nice, new hickory cupboards instead of thirty year old smelly ones. A pantry. New neighbors that are more like us, young married couples with young kids instead of the ghetto ones we live next to now. Yay! I could keep going. But I'll stop. I'll take pictures before we move everything in so you can see how great it will be. Well, here are a few smiling shots of the little tike. He is snuggled up in a BYU blanket smiling up at his mom and pop. He loves attention:)

I almost forgot! We met up with our friend Katie last night on Maddox's two month birthday. She has met him several times, but this is the first time to actually hold him. And he loved her! Especially the shiny earrings:)

Winter Coat

2010-11-25T00:00:00.004-07:00

Living in Utah with the Utah snow that usually happens...Maddox needed a winter coat. And this little puffer from GAP was too cute to pass up. He loves it! As soon as Maddox is in his coat, he stops crying (if he is fussing), falls asleep, and STAYS asleep. Yay! He is so cute and cuddly in his coat. I love it:)

And he was just cute in this picture, so we are throwing it in for fun.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

A Present To Us...NOT...

2010-11-22T21:04:00.003-07:00

OK, if you can't tell, this car is parked on my front door step. Literally. Good news? It covered my bottom step from the snow. Bad news? My neighbors get soooo frustrating. We have such a difficult time getting inside our own front door due to their cars being constantly parked within two feet. Not to mention their blaring music at all hours...day AND night. Oh. And how can I forget, when they are parked oh so close to my front door or the window in our family room, they love to leave their headlights on so I get a nice glare on my television. Or the bright lights reflect off the wall into our bedroom at 4AM. Bitter? Yup. You bet I am. Good thing we found a new place. Moving in three weeks!!

Fun Moments

2010-11-16T12:24:00.007-07:00

When he is not crying, eating, or sleeping, this is what Maddox is up to...

Sitting up in the corner of the couch watching CSI with Mom.

Enjoying his clean diaper. He hates even the smallest amount of ANYTHING in there.

Maddox likes to pick his nose, especially when bored.

Having deep thoughts...maybe about sleeping or milk?

Maddox tries to wink, but he can't quite get it. Someday, someday.

Just being so dang cute.

More sitting up, he loves it. He feels like a big boy doing this.

In between smiles, he is so content.

A HUGE Maddox grin. He's been doing alot of these lately.

And finally...Maddox holding up his own head! He is getting so strong! He loves to sit up and hold his own head. He also likes to sit up high on our shoulders to hold up his head and push off of us with his arms.

That is what Maddox is up to.

Scott is working hard and taking a wildland firefighter class so he can fight fires next summer. Also, he is training to be a bartender at work. Who would have thought that the two of us, non-drinkers, would end up as bartenders? All I can say is there is good money to be had. And being in Utah County, there really aren't too many drinkers:) Either way, we still make more than the typical servers in our restaurants.

As for me, I'm still getting used to being a mom AND a wife at the same time. It is kind of difficult, I'm not going to lie. However, I am getting better at it. Sunday, I actually made a strawberry cheesecake! It was delicious. Yesterday, I made Chicken Alfredo pasta with sauteed bell peppers, broccoli, and garlic bread. That was delicious. On top of it all, I actually cleaned both bathrooms and did two loads of dishes in the dishwasher. We don't need to tell anyone that I cleaned the bathrooms at midnight when the men of the house were sleeping:) Well, the little man is waking up. Have a great day!

P.S. I bought my first groupon today!! $39 for a personalized 16x20 canvas:) I bought 2 to help decorate our bare house.

Sleeping Shots

2010-11-16T00:30:00.003-07:00

As of Friday, Maddox is officially six weeks old! We love him very much and can't get enough of him. He is so cute...especially when he is asleep.

Sleeping with Dad on the couch.

Sleeping nose to nose with Mom in our big comfy bed.

Snuggled in to our soft blanket on the couch.

I'll put up more pictures later...just for you Mom! We actually caught a smile on camera, and got a picture of him holding his head up...his newest favorite pastime.

GAP and leukemia research

2010-11-13T15:42:00.002-07:00

I know this is a little late...but maybe a few of you will still get this and be able to use it...but I just got back from the GAP and saved 30% while GAP donated 5% to Leukemia and Lymphoma research. Just click here .You may remember a few posts back about our special visitor Elena who has Leukemia. When her mom, Briana, sent me an email with this coupon, I passed it along via email but didn't think about sharing it here until after I went shopping and saw how many people were there helping out! It was amazing! So...a special thanks to Briana for the heads up and I'm glad I was able to get Maddox a winter coat while supporting Leukemia research for Elena. Now, I just need to get over to Briana's place to give Elena a little present that baby Maddox got for her while we were shopping today:) When is a good time Briana? We need to bring Elena's flip flop back too!

Restriction on Happy Meals?

2010-11-03T13:49:00.002-06:00

I am not normally a very opinionated person, but I was browsing on MSN today and came across this story...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39975952/ns/business-consumer_news/?gt1=43001

If you don't want to read it, it basically says that San Francisco is trying to pass a law that limits what McDonalds can offer in a Happy Meal to stop child obesity. If they don't change their menu items, they have to get rid of the toys to make it less appealing to children. But really? Yes, I understand that child obesity is a problem. But I don't think our government should be able to limit McDonalds. They need to talk to the parents who allow their children to eat that way all of the time. Shouldn't parents be the ones who enforce what their children eat and don't eat? I think parents should take more credit in their kids lifestyle...or at least tell them no when they are constantly asking for the unhealthy food? But what do I know. Maybe I'll think differently later on. As of right now, I only have a one month old who only drinks milk from his mama of his bottle.

Maddox's First Halloween!

2010-11-01T16:50:00.003-06:00

I know most people celebrated Halloween on Saturday, and we kind of did. We hung out with some friends...Tierney made taco salad for dinner:) But I didn't dress Maddox up until Sunday. My older sister bought Maddox this cute Pumpkin sleeper before he was born, I think back in July when I was down in Vegas visiting her. So, we got a few pictures. They might not be the best, but at least I remembered to get a few:)

It may not look like it because he just woke up to eat, but Maddox really loved the pumpkin outfit, especially the hood. Anyway, short but sweet, so Happy Halloween!

Family Pictures

2010-10-30T15:44:00.004-06:00

My mother in law set us up with an appointment to get family pictures taken this past Thursday. I have yet to see them, but Maddox looked so cute in his grey and red striped sleeper that I took a couple of pictures of my own when we got home. He is actually half smiling in some of them too:)

Maddox loves his carseat. He didn't want to get out.

He usually hates diaper changes. This was a fluke.

But he does love a clean diaper:)

picture updates!

2010-10-27T21:46:00.011-06:00

Maddox is growing up so fast! Here he is already embarrassed by his parents...

With his dad after his 2 week appointment...almost two weeks ago...

Being oh so cute in his shark outfit...

Sleeping in his favorite corner of the couch...

Being cute and alert...

Getting ready for church last Sunday...

Turning his head during tummy time...

Cuddling with his dad...

In his big boy outfit...jeans and Nikes...

And in the hat his Aunt Anna made for him...

Special Visitors

2010-10-25T17:48:00.003-06:00

Maddox had very special visitors stop by on Friday! My friend Briana and her family brought us dinner, which was AMAZING. Thank you Briana! But on top of it, she brought her two little girls, Elena and Lily. They are both so sweet! Elena has such a cute, fun personality. It was so fun to see her and how she interacted with Maddox. And so, we took a few pictures and are putting them up just for you Briana! The Hoffman's are such an amazing family. They have so much strength, faith, and compassion. They are such a good example to me and my little family. With everything they are going through, Briana insisted that she bring US dinner. I wanted to say no and bring her family dinner instead. But she insisted. I am so blessed to have such good friends who never stop caring about others, Briana is so selfless. Makes me want to be a better person. But for now, I just want to give a BIG THANK YOU to Briana, Eric, Elena, and baby Lily for taking time out of their busy lives to think of our little family. We love you!

Past Two Weeks

2010-10-16T18:36:00.006-06:00

I know some of these are a little past due, but it is difficult to find some time when you have a newborn in the house. But I just wanted to share some of these adorable pictures of little Maddox. First...I made my mom give him his first bath at home, but here are some of his first bath given from his mother:)

Scott worked in Alaska for some time and loved it. He talks it up and makes me want to go. This summer, one of our friends went up there to work and brought back this cute Alaska onesie for Maddox.

And these are from his first walk in the park. One of our buddies works for the city taking care of Nielsons Grove Park. It has gardens, fountains, ponds. Its gorgeous and well taken care of. Maddox loved it. And so did his parents.

Moms and Husbands

2010-10-14T22:31:00.004-06:00

It is weird to think that I am a mom. I have a new respect for moms and how much they do for everyone in the family. It is alot of work! I also have gained alot of respect for the role that husbands play in the family. Needless to say, I am very grateful for my mom and my husband. They have helped me so much in the past two weeks since Maddox was born. My mom flew out for the first week to help us out. Between her and Scott, they took care of me while I was trying to heal, took care of my sweet Maddox, and the entire house. I was afraid to give Maddox his first bath, so my sweet mother did it for us:) While Scott would be out grabbing food, or running other errands for us, my mom would be cleaning the house and doing laundry. They were both very supportive to me as an emotional first time mom, having no idea what I was doing. I am very grateful that I had these two with me in the first few weeks to keep me going. I love you guys! So, here are a few pictures of Maddox with Scott and my mom.

39 weeks??

2010-10-07T20:53:00.013-06:00

Nope!! We only made it to 38 weeks:) Yay! He's here!

It all started at 1:21 am October 1. I woke up with contractions that were only 2-4 minutes apart. I tried to relax, thinking they were false labor pains. After an hour of trying to go to back to sleep without success, I woke up Scott and filled him in on the past hour. We chatted for a few minutes and I told him I was going to the hospital. We took our time getting ready, I ate a small snack and we pulled away from the house at 3:29 am. After being watched for an hour, hour and a half, we called the doctor and he told them to keep me. We filled out the proper paper work and got situated. We didn't know if we would be staying or not when we first arrived, so Scott ran out to the car to get my hospital bag. Nurse Melanie gave me my IV, grabbed me a cup of tigers blood flavored ice chips and we were set! Except for the fact that I was in some major pain. Nurse asked when I wanted my epidural...my reply...as soon as the anesthesiologist had time for me. Lucky me, he showed up at 6:00 am, wearing Halloween suspenders. After a few quick moments, he was done and my pain was starting to wear off. It was amazing. I felt great. He did the perfect dosage. I could still move my legs on my own, but I couldn't feel a thing. And just for the record, the IV hurt worse then the epidural. I would compare the epidural to what it feels like when the dentist gives you a shot in the mouth after applying a local anesthetic.

The next 14 hours and 20 minutes were sooooooooo long. Scott and I were both in and out of sleep, trying to get in as much as possible. That is difficult to do in a hospital. People keep coming in your room, taking vitals, pumping you full of liquids(antibiotics for the group b strep, epidural, saline to stay hydrated, pitocin), ice chips, changing the catheter bag, rolling you over on to your other side since you can't do it yourself:) It just seemed like it was taking forever!! Turns out, the epidural relaxed my body so much that my contractions were still consistent in their timing, but were not nearly as strong as when we first arrived at the hospital.

With me being in active labor but not progressing very fast, my doctor came over on his lunch break to break my water...it was about 1 pm at this point. 3 pm and still not very much progess so they hooked me up to pitocin. 3:15 pm and my right side was gaining feeling. I told the nurse, she said it was because I was laying on my left side so all of the medicine was draining to that side. I got rolled over. 3:45 pm and I am absolutely dying from the pain. I call nurse Jacquie back, she says, oh, why didn't you push the blue button to give yourself more medicine? Umm, because I did not know there was a little blue button to push. When I got my epidural at 6am, it was shift change time in the hospital. Guess they forgot to tell me. So, she pushes the button. 15 minutes later, not feeling any better. I push the button. Feeling slightly better, but the anesthesiologist is on his way to give me another dose. After he leaves, I can't feel a thing from my rib cage down. I couldn't even cough, but hey, at least I was numb.

I don't really remember the times when they came in to check to see how dilated/effaced I was. The only one I remember was at 5pm, I was at a 7 I think. At 7:30 pm, I was up to 9cm. Good thing I had my epidural, because I slept like a baby from 6 to 8, with the exception of a quick cervix check. At 8 pm, I was fully dilated, but his head was at a +1 and they like the baby to be at a +2 before we start pushing, so I waited for another 20 minutes. At 8:20 pm, the pushing began. My doctor had a patient in the next room over, so he was running back and forth. But Scott stayed with me the whole time, and my new nurse, Mandi, was there with a few exceptions to when she had to get a scale, she grabbed me a mirror to watch, and grabbed the doctor because baby was so close to coming out. I was lucky to watch what was going on in the mirror, especially since I was so numb that I could not really tell if my pushes were helping or not. But I could tell they were:) I even got to reach down and touch his little head before he came out. Too much information? Maybe. Sorry. After an hour and a half of pushing, and 2 episiotomies and 1 tear later, Baby Boy Copeland was born at 9:53 pm weighing 7 lbs 1.4 oz and measuring 19 inches long. The doctor let me hold him as soon as he came out, then Scott got to cut his umbilical cord.

After he was measured, cleaned off a bit, and checked for good health, we got to hold our little baby for a couple of hours until they brought him to the nursery for a full health check.

Still nameless (we had it narrowed down to Maddox, Milo, or Krew), he got stuck in the nursery for quite some time because he had low blood sugar. They had to bottle feed him right away to get his sugar levels up. He finally made it to our room around 1:30am. The nurses told me to call them when he woke up, other wise, they would be back at 5 am because he had to eat to make sure his sugar level was ok. I was such a proud new mom, that I just held and watched him while he slept. I forgot how tired I was. The nurses came back at 4:45. I called them because I needed more medicine. His blood sugar was low again, so they did not let me feed him, instead, they took him up to the NICU to get an IV going to bring up his levels. They told me it would take about an hour or so...yeah right. Poor little guy was in there for the next two days. With high hemoglobin levels, causing the low blood sugar, and eventually jaundice. Even with his slight difficulties, he was a trooper!! He did so great! Didn't even cry when he got his IV's placed.

Eventually, as the day kept going...we decided on a name!! Maddox Iley Copeland. It was perfect. We both really liked the other two names, but Maddox just seemed to suit him the best. Anyway, Saturday, my mom flew into town. Here is Maddox with his Grandma in the NICU.

And one of him with his dad in the NICU.

I have a couple of me with him in the NICU, but they aren't very appropriate for the world wide web. The two we did get were of him feeding. This is mainly because every time we were up there visiting him, it was time to eat. We were on a very strict feeding schedule to make sure his levels stayed in place, so we would feed him for an hour or so, then head back to my room for an hour to two hours to eat, sleep, and get checked out myself to ensure I was healing properly. It was hard not having Maddox in our room with us, but the NICU nurses were great! They would call as soon as he would wake up, if it was before his next feeding time. Otherwise, we were up there every three hours. And not only that, but after seeing all of the other babies in the NICU with more serious health problems, I was very grateful knowing that Maddox would be ok in the end. After two days in the NICU, he was eating well, his blood sugar was high, and he was FINALLY sent to the well baby nursery. Two hours before I was discharged. I was so glad he was there! Because that meant he was able to come home with us on time:)

Long Day for the Copelands

2010-09-28T18:43:00.003-06:00

*Sorry this post is so scatter brained and random, not fluent at all. I blame it on my pregnant brain:)

Boy, what a day. I was so excited for my maternity leave which started today. But I have a head cold, and am almost 38 weeks pregnant with some major heartburn. Needless to say, Scott and I were both up all night thanks to my lovely cough, trips to the bathroom, and constant moaning and groaning. Luckily, Scott still loves me:)

We had dentist appointments this morning. Good news! All looked great. No cavities! We went to a new dentist and absolutely loved him. But our appointment was early, so we were exhausted.

Then, while I took a nap, Scott went to the gym, like he always does. On his way home, he got in his very first car accident. Don't worry, he is fine:) Totally not his fault, so we are in the clear, but his beautiful WRX is now in the shop and he is stuck driving a Hyundai Elantra. I like to tease him about that. Dealing with the cops, insurance companies, car rental companies, and so forth was so tiring. It took forever!

I have been contracting off and on all day, so I get in a cleaning mood, get halfway done with something, then get interrupted with those lovely contractions and have to take a break. But I finally got caught up on the dishes! And I assembled my stroller all by myself:) Now, I'm relaxing/trying to get more cleaning done while Scott is in a three hour physiology lab. Poor guy, he's had a long day.

Three more days...

2010-09-24T20:23:00.004-06:00

I was getting nervous about being so close and having progressed so much in a 24 hour period, so I decided to begin my maternity leave early. I was going to try to work through next Saturday, which would put me 13 days before my due date. However, work is 40 minutes away from home, and I'd have to drive myself, or snag one of my employees to drive me all the way down here to my house, which is just a few short blocks from the hospital. So, I concluded to finish out this week, Saturday and Sunday, and help with the Monday numbers on Monday. Then I will be out of there until this little babe is born. Dr was surprised I had begun to show signs at my appointment on Wednesday, and the nurse who checked me out on Thursday said I wouldn't make it to my due date. I hope they didn't jinx me into delivering late:) I want this little man out of my belly!

Here we are at 37 weeks, after a beautiful drive up Hobble Creek. I love fall drives! Great day with the drive, and deciding to work only three more days:)

Full Moon

2010-09-23T22:00:00.002-06:00

I've heard stormy weather or a full moon can induce labor...all superstition or an old wives tale, maybe? We'll see. Yesterday was full of storms, rain, hail, lightning, wind. You name it, it happened. Then today, we have a full moon. And lets just say progress has been made in the past two days. Maybe he won't come tonight, but at least it started something! Even if it does take a few more weeks.

AAHHH!!

2010-09-22T19:11:00.002-06:00

Baby is almost here! I cannot believe it! I have one more week and three days of work before I begin my maternity leave. I hope I make it! Or at least until Sunday...Scott has a microbiology and a physiology test this week. I don't want him to come quite yet, even if these contractions are hurting. If he doesn't come next week, that's ok, I'm not due until October 15th, but Scott has tests again on the ninth and thirteenth. So, come next week or wait until the 14th, ok baby? Thanks.

Every week...

2010-09-14T21:25:00.003-06:00

Beginning tomorrow, from here on out, I get to go to the doctor to check on our little man. Yay! It is getting so CLOSE! I cannot believe it. I am so ready to get him out. I was getting so tired from waking up so many times in the middle of the night with discomfort or having to relieve myself. Luckily, I think I wore myself out. The past two nights have been wonderful. I did not wake up at all:) Yay! Speaking of which, I am exhausted. I think I'll go to bed, Scott is still at school. His lab goes until ten on tuesdays, but we have our appointment bright and early. Good night!

I love Utah

2010-09-04T23:16:00.004-06:00

I used to claim I could never love this place. But now, I am in love.

A few reasons I love Utah... Scott, the mountains, and our Subaru...

Beautiful mountain lakes...I guess I should say reservoirs...

Did I mention Scott is from Utah?

I love driving twenty minutes and being in beautiful places away from so many people.

Utah is good to me. It felt so good to get out and breath in some fresh mountain air. We haven't done much of that since I got pregnant and started managing up in Murray. Just not enough time. In the picture up above, I am 32 1/2 weeks. It is getting close! Less than six weeks until he is due! Soon enough we will be able to take our little man on these drives with us, and camping, and backpacking next summer...and so many other fun adventures! Hopefully he enjoys the fresh air as much as his parents do:)

My dream bag

2010-08-21T02:19:00.002-06:00

So, I know it's not the fanciest (maybe I should say, the most expensive) PPB diaper bag, but it seems absolutely perfect to me:) I saw it at the GAP the other day and fell in love instantly. It is the ONLY diaper bag that I have found in person that I have fallen in love with:) And that's after being on the search for them for the past 4 months. So. What do you think? I consider myself lucky, finding a PPB that I love for only $89 instead of the boxy bags for $200+/- a few. Are PPBs really worth the money? From what I am gathering, they are. Any advice?

Beer Bath, anyone?

2010-08-11T18:29:00.002-06:00

Cause that's what happened to me today! At work, mind you. One of my servers pulled me aside, they were having difficultly pouring a brand new keg of hefeweizen. So I went to check it out. Sure enough, the line wasn't tapped quite right. As I was readjusting, the line decided to drop, and give me a nice beer bath. Maybe we should say shower? I was drenched in Hefe, my eyes burning with alcohol, foam and mascara running down my face, my big belly covered, and my hair dripping wet. Needless to say, it was funny. I'm just glad that one of my employees was with me to laugh with me and to help me out of the keg cooler, seeing that I couldn't see too much with so much beer in my eyes. At least I got to leave work early! Semi cleaned up...

P.S. My hair is crunchy from the dried beer. I guess it's time to go take a shower.

Sweet Cravings

2010-08-09T22:51:00.002-06:00

I have had a craving for some good, old fashioned, home baked cookies lately. I've bought cookies from the grocery store and local bakeries, but they just don't satisfy this craving. As a pregnant lady working 50 hours a week, I don't always want to come home and bake. Somehow, I found the energy today and ended up with these delicious Choc-Oat-Chip cookies, thanks to the recipe found on the back of the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip bag sitting in our cupboards. They are amazing and hit the spot. I didn't even have to alter the recipe to accommodate high altitude baking! Hallelujah! You should try them out, they'll make your day.

New Background

2010-08-04T22:35:00.001-06:00

Since my power is back on, I decided to finally change my blog background. However, in doing so, I lost alot of blog addresses that I would follow! So. If you don't see your blog listed to the left, and you want some lame pregnant lady reading it, leave a comment with your blog address so I can follow you. Have a great night!

Hot and Bored

2010-08-04T19:29:00.002-06:00

I can't believe it is only Wednesday! Already this week, our stupid ghetto swamp cooler melted its fuse, so we went without air for two days in the 90 degree weather...seven and a half months pregnant.

My stomach decided to disagree with me, so I had to make a last minute doctors appointment to make sure everything was going alright. I went in on Tuesday, have to go back again on Friday.

AND with the thunderstorms that are rolling through Utah right now, our power went out. I came home from work early today, excited to relax and maybe get some stuff done. Nonetheless, I couldn't stand the hot humidity inside our house, with no fans and nothing to keep me entertained. So, I sat on our front porch, watching the storm while cooling down. At least that was relaxing! Not the same as the nap I was hoping for, but it'll do. Maybe I'll be able to sleep through the night without getting up to release this baby bladder! If only....

On the bright side, I will be 30 weeks on Friday! Also, a friend of mine had her baby today! Yay! On top of that. I have an awesome staff. Two girls at work brought me some baby boy clothes. I got 12 new outfits in two days:) One girl had a boy in May, but he already outgrew his 0-3 months clothing and half of them weren't even worn! The other girl is having her first baby, due Aug 13th. She is having a lovely girl, but got boy clothes from her baby shower. I am so lucky and blessed that they thought of me! Baby Boy is getting stocked up on his newborn outfits already!

The week may have started off a little rocky, but it should end well. I have tomorrow off, then a doctors appointment on friday(I like going to the Dr...) and our two year anniversary is on Sunday! Crazy how time flies. All I can say is that I am more in love with Scott now then I was two years ago. He's the best:)

Quick Family Visits

2010-07-31T12:25:00.010-06:00

I got lucky to see my brother Bobby, his wife Abbie, and their son Major over the fourth of July weekend. It was a last minute trip up to Utah, so I only got to see them for a little bit with my work schedule, but Major is just too darn cute, so I had to post a picture or two or three of him.

He liked sucking on anything metal, especially our necklaces. Teething? Probably.

He was excited to walk.

But didn't know what to think of the camera:) He is so sweet though. I'm excited to have a little boy too!

The next week, I headed down to Vegas to see my niece Payton perform in a ballet recital. The first act was a performance of the Little Mermaid. The second act was of the Four Seasons of the year. They had ballet, tap, hip hop, all sorts of dancing. It was cute. And as excited as I am to have a boy, it still made me wish I was having a little girl:)

Madi and Payton before Paytons recital. She was so nervous! It was cute.

I know I didn't get the best pictures, but she is the cute little redhead dancing her heart out.

We went swimming the next day to cool off in the 112 degree Vegas weather. It is way too hot there! Especially for a pregnant lady. I don't know how the women down there do it!

Madi had a birthday party to get to, so Michelle and I took Payton to get a manicure. Michelle and I got pedicures. It was so relaxing and felt so good! It was a quick trip, but it was fun to see the girls again.

The next week, or maybe two weeks later, I lost count, Michelle and her family were driving through Utah to Idaho. They stopped by our place on the way and I tagged along to go to the Thanksgiving Point Museum of Ancient Life. I only got a few pictures, but it was fun! I can't wait to have a family of my own to bring there.

And that is it for now! I think the next time I have family visitors will be in about 2 1/2 months when this little man decides to join us. But for now, he can keep baking away. We want him nice and healthy:)

Crunch time!

2010-07-30T13:33:00.004-06:00

We realized yesterday, that we are only 11 weeks, if that and hopefully not more, away from having our little boy. Yikes! It is flying by! So, Scott built our crib last night! We were waiting because we were hoping to move out of this place first, but now it looks like we will be staying here for a little while longer. So, here it is! Our crib...and a baby bump from 27 weeks. Thanks to my wonderful parents for this gorgeous crib! We love it:) Oh. I almost forgot. Scott claims REAL men build things with their shirts off...hence my topless husband opening up the box the crib came in.

The Reason for the trip...

2010-07-27T11:22:00.006-06:00

Anna's graduation! Anna graduated from Portland State. I am so proud of her!

Anna and Sterling

Most of the family that was there.

We found out this weekend that Anna is pregnant! Yay! Here are our baby bumps.

My brother Jason, his wife Ashley, daughter Beverly, and our sweet Sarah.

My niece Emma.

Two of my four nieces, Emma and Madison.

Anna and Madison.

Anna and William.

William, Anna, James, and Madison.

Me and Jason.

Comparing our baby bellies:)

Beverly did not know what to think.

Part of my family that lives in Portland.

Jason's family with my little family. His kids are getting so old!

We dropped Michelle and her girls off at the airport on our drive home to Utah, so we took a detour to Multnomah Falls.

I love my family! It was so good to see all of them! And to spend some good quality time with them. I'm hoping we get to see them more and more from now on. Maybe they'll come visit us in Utah when we have our baby in a couple of months. Hint hint....family, hope to see y'all soon! Love you!

A Month and a Half Later...

2010-07-23T22:56:00.005-06:00

I guess I just get to busy to finish blogging about our trips. So, I'll keep going on our Portland visit. After the cheese factory, we headed to the Manzanita Beach. It was REALLY windy, but fun!

Michelle with our niece, Beverly Rose.

Madi posing on the beach.

Dad and Sarah strolling around.

My cute Mom.

Madi and I trying to get a picture, but it was so windy!

My adorable husband, me, and our baby bump.

James, he is getting so old!

Dad and Sarah again.

Payton and Emma playing in the sand.

Anna building a sand castle around the laptop they found washed up on shore.

My sister in law, Ashley, with Payton and Emma.

I can't blame them. James and William fell asleep on the drive back to Portland. We were so exhausted from such a fun filled day!

Portland Visit, Day 2...Tillamook Cheese Factory

2010-07-06T12:56:00.004-06:00

The second day in town, we headed out to the oh so famous Tillamook Cheese Factory. It was fun! We saw how cheese is made and packaged. Not to mention, the samples of cheese we ate! And my cheeseburger was delicious....along with the Tillamook ice cream. Oh man. It must be lunch time. That is all sounding so good right now!

Scott and I looking down at the factory workers.

My family, lets see. Payton, James, Dad, Anna, Michelle, Me, Mom, Sarah, Madison, Emma, Ashley, and Beverly. A few people are missing, but it can be difficult to keep a large group together.

Emma, Dad, Mom, James, Ashley, Beverly, and Sarah waiting for the elevator.

Scott testing some cheese. It was so good!

Ashley, Beverly, William, Michelle, Mom, Dad, Sarah, and little Emma eating their ice cream. Yum!

Anna and Sterling. So hospitable, we crashed their place most of the time.

James and two of the four nieces, Payton and Madi.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Sunny Portland Adventures. Day 1

2010-06-30T19:59:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, Scott and I headed out to Portland for my little sisters college graduation. We're getting so old! We were able to see most of my family while we were there. The only ones we were missing were Bobby and his wife and son, and Michelle's husband. We missed them, but it was still so much fun to see the rest of the family! The first day there, we went to the Oregon Zoo. I'll just put up pictures. They are more entertaining:)

Me and Scott at the zoo.

Anna, Mom, Sterling, and Sarah

Anna and Sterling

Sterling and Sarah.

My youngest brother William.

Me and my daddy!

Payton and the birds.

The girls were sharing!

After a fun day at the zoo, we headed back to Anna's place where we made delicious home made pizzas. I learned a new secret! You can buy the dough that grocery stores use to make french bread for pizza crust. They turned out really good! And we had alot of fun. I love my family:)

Sunday is a great day!

2010-06-06T00:04:00.002-06:00

Yay!! When I wake up in the morning, it'll be Sunday. I'm not excited to have to work in the morning, but I am excited that it is Sunday. That means Scott is on his way home! Yay!! I am excited for him to come home from his adventures. I'm excited to hear his stories and see his pictures. I'm excited to hug him and hold his hand. But mostly, I'm just excited to have my husband and best friend home. Twelve days is a long time to have your best buddy away from your side. So, now, I will head to bed so it'll be Sunday. Hope everyone else has as good as a Sunday as I will!

How Does He Do It?

2010-06-04T00:54:00.004-06:00

Much to my surprise, the sweet love notes keep coming. I found one with some Baskin Robbins gift certificates on Tuesday, so I headed to get my treat, and lucky for me, it was $1 scoop night!! Yay! So I got two scoops, and only used half of my gift certificates. More sweets for me:)

Then, Scott tells me to keep an eye on the mail. I checked Wednesday, nothing. I checked today(Thursday) before work and still nothing. But the mail had not arrived yet for the day, so I checked on my way home. And what do I find??? The sweetest note of them all that made me bawl like a little baby. And not to mention, he told me to look in our linen closet where he had hidden a box of fine dark chocolates under our pillow cases.

Man, I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

Love Notes

2010-05-29T19:03:00.003-06:00

I'll warn you now, this post is going to be a little cheesy. Ok, maybe WAY cheesy. But I love my husband very much. He is currently on an adventure without me. That doesn't happen too often, but he and his buddy took off to hit up climbing in Yosemite, backpacking in the Redwoods, sea kayaking in the San Juan Islands, climbing in Leavenworth Washington and an international beard and mustache festival in Bend Oregon. Fun for him! Not so much for me, seeing as I am stuck at home working while he is out having fun.

On to the cheesiness. He felt terrible for leaving me behind. The day he left, I found a note telling me how much he'll miss me and how much he loves me and baby boy Copeland. Then, he goes on to tell met hat if I get lonely, I just need to watch a little Magnum PI. We have the complete seventh season on DVD:) So, the next day, I pull out Magnum PI just to find a hidden note with a five dollar bill and his blockbuster card, telling me that it is my ticket to the girliest movie I can find while he is gone. And that he thinks I am the cutest pregnant lady ever:)

A few days later, I find, hidden in a kitchen cabinet underneath a platter we have, a puzzle and a note from him telling me I am his number one puzzler and he thought I might be getting bored without him there, so he wanted to entertain me while I was gone. Anyway, short but sweet. I feel loved. And I'm lucky to have a husband who thinks of me, even when he is far away on his manly adventures.

Man!

2010-05-14T11:02:00.005-06:00

We had our first ultrasound two days ago! At 17 weeks 5 days. We have not heard from the doctor yet, but the radiologist said everything is looking great and my due date is right on point. We are so excited to know that we are having a MAN! Yay! He will be the cutest, manliest little man ever:) He weighed in at a whoppin' seven ounces with a heart rate of 155 bpm. We're almost halfway done...well, in two weeks anyway.

Here are some ultrasound shots for your viewing pleasure.

P.S.

2010-05-03T10:24:00.001-06:00

I forgot to mention...

Only five months and twelve days until my due date! Yay! I'm getting there, slowly but surely:)

Our week.

2010-05-03T10:19:00.002-06:00

If you have been reading our blog for awhile, you may remember way back to last year when Scott and I headed down to Coyote Gulch to go backpacking. It was a blast! After we survived our long stormy night anyway. Scott wanted to go back, so he took off with his man buddies to go again this week. I couldn't go. 1. Couldn't get the time off work. 2. I'm not a man. 3. I'm pregnant, how am I supposed to carry so much gear on my back?? Not going to happen.
While Scott is gone, he told me to be as girly as could be. So I get to go shopping, get my hair done, go to a doctors appointment, that fun kind of stuff. Oh, and work of course. Either way, it'll be a fun few days! Even though I do miss my favorite buddy.

Silly Doctors

2010-04-08T20:30:00.002-06:00

Silly Docs. That's what I said to myself yesterday. I had my first appointment on friday, so naturally, I had all of my blood tests done. Like every doctor, they said they would call if something came back abnormal, otherwise they'd see me at my next appointment. Wednesday rolls around and I am at work. My phone rings, I'm busy and don't recognize the number, so I let it go. New voicemail! I listen. It's the doctors office saying they got my results and they need me to call them. So I freak out for a few minutes thinking something is wrong. When I finally get the nerves to call them back, I tell them who I am and that they just left a message. 'Oh, thanks for calling us back. We just wanted to let you know that all of your tests came back NORMAL. Everything is perfect!" What?!?! You made me call you back for that? I thought you only called if something was ABnormal?? "Well, we also wanted to let you know that you are immune to the chicken pox, so we'll see you at your next appointment!" Yay!! I was sooooooooooooooooooo excited. And Scott was so relieved. He's had a hard time being excited for baby because he worries that there will be complications. And good news! I don't ever have to worry about getting the chicken pox:) Thanks for letting me know docs, but that could have waited. Save me the worry session next time. Silly doctors.

Hard Work

2010-03-29T19:11:00.002-06:00

Growing a baby is hard work! I didn't realize how exhausting it would be! I can sleep for ten to twelve hours at night,take a two hour nap during the day, AND still be asleep by 9:00 PM.
Getting dressed in the morning is just as tough. I can't button most of my pants anymore, so I have to strategically wear longer shirts that will cover my unbuttoned pants.
And eating? I feel like I am always eating! But I waste so much food at the same time. I can't eat very much in one sitting, so I try to prepare small amounts of food, but that is tough when you are always on the run and eating out. Most places don't allow adults to order kids meals:)
Enough about the hard work, I get to go to my first doctors appointment on Friday! I wanted to go sooner, but my insurance doesn't kick in until April 1st, and yes, they will still cover me. Yay! I am excited! Scott was able to get off work to go with me. Wish me luck! I get nervous because I have not been yet, so I do not know what is really going on inside of me, but Scott keeps assuring me that with the morning sickness, heartburn, and my rounding mid-section, everything will be just fine.
Also on a good note, there are so many cute baby things out there! I window shopped for cribs today. Anyone have a specific brand they recommend?

So Many New Adventures at once!!!

2010-03-18T18:33:00.004-06:00

Scott and I have so many new life adventures!!! Within two and a half weeks of each other, our life began to change...

February 6th: Scott started his new job as a server at Macaroni Grill! Yay! Having Scott go to school full time while trying to work full time was stressing me out, so, we made a mutual decision for him to get a serving job where he would be able to work less hours, while averaging more an hour to balance things out. And as of right now, he is loving it! He is such an amiable guy, I have gone in a couple of times already to sit in his section. and I just watch him, and his tables. He makes them laugh and I can tell the girls have a crush on him. Their faces brighten up every time he goes to the table:) And that's when I feel proud that he is MY husband, and not theirs:) I love it! I love being married to him!

February 13th: Ok, well, actually, on the 12th, I realized I was still experiencing typical PMS symptoms, but I was late! So, I got home from work on the 12th, around midnight, and Scott says we have to go to the store right then and there to get a pregnancy test. We have had PLENTY of scares before, so I wasn't too freaked out about it, but I guess he was. So the morning of the 13th, we woke up and Scott gives me a friendly reminder to take my test. The box says you should have results within, what, 2 minutes? True, but mine was more like, 5 seconds. I hadn't even peed on the stick for the entire ten seconds when it was already showing...POSITIVE! Yay! We got hot chocolate and bagels for breakfast to celebrate:) We wanted to double check, so I woke up Valentines day and took another test, and of course, it said the same thing, so we broke the news to our family. Valentines weekend was wonderful!

February 18th: Scott turned 27! Man, I am married to an old man! Not really:) I was so excited for his birthday. 26 was a rough year for him. He had what we like to call a mid-midlife crisis. And if any of you know Scott, you know he loves John Denver. He loves 'Rocky Mountain High'...the first line says, 'He was born in the summer of his 27th year...' so even though he is one year OLDER, he feels YOUNGER. Thanks to Mr. Denver:)

February 22nd: My last day at the Provo Red Robin, my home sweet home for the past three years, off and on:) I miss them so much! I hope one day I can go back to all of the wonderful people in Provo, but if I do, I won't be a mixo anymore. Nope. I am officially a MIT (manager in training). And loving it! Now I get to commute 35 minutes to work everyday, up in Murray. But it is fun! Alot of hard work, but I am enjoying it. And they take care of me since they know I am pregnant. They are very understanding of me running off to relieve myself of morning sickness, and letting me eat whenever I need to. Not to mention the staff. They are great, not Provo team members, but nobody can beat them!

So, I guess I could have made this post easier by saying, Scott and I both switched jobs, or at least, positions, in the past month. Scott got one year older, and we are expecting our first little tike in the middle of October. We are so excited!

Babies...

2010-02-12T13:15:00.002-07:00

My two brothers wives had babies recently!! My oldest brother, Jason, and his wife Ashley are actually at the hospital right now. They had their second girl, Beverly Rose Powell just a few hours ago. She is so cute! Born at 10:37am, 8lbs 4oz, 20.5 inches long.

And I know this one was awhile ago, but my brother Bobby, and his wife Abbie, had their first kid on Halloween, Major Robert Powell. He is a cutie too. Weighing in at 7lbs 3 oz and 20 inches long with lots of dark hair.

Maybe I'm getting a little baby hungry :) They are just too darn cute to resist!

New Tent

2010-02-09T17:04:00.004-07:00

For those who read our random blog when we actually update it, you may remember us telling about our adventure in Coyote Gulch where our brand new tent got demolished by a wicked storm, wind, rain, snow, everything you can possibly imagine. We have been wanting a new tent, but a NICE one, that would hold up in that kind of weather. We have been looking at black diamond, mountain hardwear, marmot, and a few other mountain brands that we love. But those tents are so expensive! We're talking $400+ for a small, 2 person 3 season tent. Are they worth that much money? Defnitely. If we were rich, we would have gotten one a LONG time ago. But we're not spilling money out of our pockets quite yet :) However, we DID find a tent last week! A nice Marmot tent for our backpacking adventures. We are in love. We got the Marmot Crib 2P 3Season tent with footprint for half the price! We were so excited! We love shopping on www.steepandcheap.com For those who don't know, it is a website with daily deals...or more deals by the minute? It is sweet. They will put up a product at an awesome price for a certain amount of time and with limited stock. You can purchase until the time is up or the product is sold out. steep and cheap is more sports and outdoor gear, but there are many other deal of the day websites you can visit by going to www.dodtracker.com
. Well, back to our tent. It has welded seams so water/rain will not leak through, and so much more. We can't wait to use it!

Sweetheart

2010-02-09T17:01:00.004-07:00

I just have to take a second to brag about my husband. He is such a sweetheart. Last week, I walked out to my car after work, and he had left this on my windshield.

What a surprise! And we loved the little flowers that took place of the typical baby's breath. I loved my flower(s) and I love Scott. He is so good to me!