The Prangers

25 Week Ultrasound

2012-02-02T21:57:00.005-08:00

We got to see Adilynn today! My doctor wanted to check her growth and the length of my cervix. Adilynn is measuring a week bigger than her due date and looking really good. After four ultrasounds saying she is a girl we are convinced. We got some reassuring news that the progesterone shots are working. The shortening of my cervix has slowed down and is now within range of where it should be. I still need to take it easy and take necessary precautions, but for now we are not as concerned about preterm labor.

Scrambled Eggs

2012-02-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

Little man has decided that scrambled eggs with ketchup are absolutely amazing and if he had his way he would eat them for every meal. I love that all I have to do to make his day is give him eggs.

What a Wonderful Life

2012-01-30T09:07:00.000-08:00

As promised here is our quarterly update. Life in the Pranger's house can't be going any better. This past quarter has brought a lot of changes.

First, we found out the Baby Cookies is a girl!!! Adilynn Raey Pranger will be joining our family in May. I am now 25 weeks along and Adilynn is doing great. My pregnancy has become somewhat more difficult lately. We found out that my cervix is starting to shorten and I've been having some pains in my back which is what happened with Colton before I went into preterm labor. As a precaution my doctor has put me on weekly progesterone shots and last week he did a series of steroid shots. I'm trying to take things easy to prevent having to be on bed rest again, but with how fast I'm progressing I fear bed rest is around the corner.

Here are the post about our baby (click onto the text of desired post and it will take you to the post): 14 Week Ultrasound, Baby Cookie is a ....., 20 Week Ultrasound, Letter for Adilynn.

Towards the middle of last November Spencer and I received a strong prompting that it was time to buy a home. It took us a few days to pray to see if it was time because we couldn't imagine moving during Christmas, finals for both of us, and me being pregnant. After praying we knew it was right and pressed forward with the home buying experience. We found our home on the first day we went looking at homes, in fact it was our third home. We both knew right away when we saw our home that it was where we needed to be. We ended up needing to stay with Spencer's parents after moving out of our rental at the end of December because of a delay in closing on our loan due to the holidays. We are grateful to his parents for putting up with us for a week. Our home is an older home that needs some TLC, we look forward to fixing it up and making it our home.

Here are the posts about our moving/buying experience: A House of Our Own, Little Blue House, A New Beginning , While We Were Homeless, The Making of A Home, Bathing At The Beach.

We had a great holiday season. Our favorite part about Christmas was that Grandma and Grandpa Turcott came in town from Oregon. We loved seeing them and wished we could see them more often. Colton really enjoyed spending time with them. He decided that his Great Grandpa Turcott was totally awesome and he quickly become his best buddy. Almost a month later he is still talking about their visit.

Here are the posts about the holidays: Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Point Holiday Lights , Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve,

Spencer is one busy man. In November he got a promotion to a level 2 at work, and has become the go to guy for all the complicated cases keeping him busier at work. He also is going to school part time this semester and is taking two harder classes that have proven to be a lot for him to handle so far. Spencer has also become our family's' general contractor working on remodeling our home. He has learned some valuable lessons while working on our home, with the best lesson being that when the spray foam bottle says extremely flammable a fire will start if sprayed around a open flame. Yes true story he started a fire around our water heater. Minor damage was done to the dry wall sounding the water heater. He now can laugh about singeing some of his hair, eyebrows and eyelashes but when it happened he was in shock.

I too started a new semester at the beginning of January. Originally I was only going to go part time but after praying about it I am now going full time. Maybe I need to stop praying about it because part time sound really good right about now. In December I graduate with my Associate of Science with honors. Our family worked hard so I could achieve this goal, it really is a family achievement.

Here is a post about my associates: I (we) did it!

Colton is growing like a weed. He hit a growth spurt out of nowhere and is getting really tall for his age. He loves going to preschool and has really grown to love learning. He amazes us daily with all that he says/knows. Colton is really excited to become a big bother. He talks about his sissy all day long and loves to feel her move. When Adilynn kicks him he will say, "Mama, Sissy kicked me like Kung Fu Panda." He struggled with the adjustment of moving, but now that we are settled in our home he is starting to adjust well and loving our new big white home (as he calls it.)

Here are a few post about Colton: A New Best Friend for Colt, Preschool Christmas Program, Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam.

Make sure to check back often to see our family's post through out the next quarter.

Bathing At The Beach

2012-01-28T16:23:00.000-08:00

The project in our home this week was the main (kids) bathroom. Originally we were going to paint and try to dress up the existing vanity and accessories, but when we found a new vanity/sink on clearance for only $30 we couldn't resist so we ended up with a entirely new bathroom.

Before

Cute boy in a sink

Demolishing the existing vanity.

Colton even got to help us paint.

After

I still need to add a picture of Colton and Adilynn in the frames
and get vinyl letter saying, "Splish Splash I was Taking a Bath"
to put over the frames.

Letter for Adilynn

2012-01-23T14:16:00.000-08:00

Adilynn,

I now am 24 weeks along with you and you are growing big and healthy. I am starting to feel you move a lot more these days, you even sometimes will surprise me with your strong movements. I look forward to feeling you through out the day. Your little personality is starting to show too. Daddy and I have decided that you are going to want your space or will just like to tease daddy when you get bigger. Often times when you are moving around I will tell your daddy that he needs to put his hand on my belly to feel you move. Then when he does you stop moving and will start moving again once he has removed his hand. I can't help but laugh, but your daddy doesn't like it to much. Your brother was such a mover and often time would perform for daddy, he was hoping you would be the same. Maybe you could move a little bit more for him these next couple months. What do you think little miss?

My cervix is starting to shorten which can lead to preterm birth. As a precaution my doctor has decided to start me on weekly progesterone shots and this week he decided to start a series of steroid shots. Just this week alone I will be getting a total of 5 shots in two days, ouch! When I'm getting the shots you are all I can think about. I envision holding you in my arms and it distracts me from feeling any of the pain. Thanks for helping me out. I'm happy to get the shots because I know it will help you which makes it all worth it. My love for you is unconditional and I would do anything for you. My hope above all is that through out your life you know how much I love you and that I will do anything for you.

Who would have thought that an unborn infant could become such an intrinsic part of a family? You have become just that and we can't wait to meet you. We have been wanting you to come to our family for awhile now and feel blessed to have you join our family. I dream daily about the day your daddy places you in my arms for the first time. I also dream about the time when your brother gets to meet you. He has wanted a sibling for a few years now and both daddy and I are overjoyed to finally be giving him what he wants and needs. Colton talks non-stop about you and loves telling everyone that he is going to have a sissy soon. He still calls you Baby Cookie but has now added a few names for you being: sissy, and Baby Addy. He is going to be the best big brother to you, you are one lucky girl to get him as your brother.

We just moved into our new home and can't wait to finish your nursery. Slowly we have been buying stuff for you, it's been fun for me to start seeing little girl clothes in the house. I'm excited to have a little girl to dress up all girly and cute. Daddy is so excited to be getting his princess. He tries to hide his excitement when he buys you cute girly things but you can tell he loves it. Daddy is so protective of you already and I look forward to watching you and him develop the daddy/daughter relationship.

I'm excited to meet you in a few short months, but I can wait until close to your due date so you come out strong and healthy. I thank Heavenly Father daily for you. I love you little miss!

Hugs and kisses mama's wishes.

Love, Mommy

The Making of A Home

2012-01-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

After living in our new home for two weeks we FINALLY were able to completely finish one room, our front room. We are happy with the results of our hard work.

Before

Spencer had fun drawing on the walls with paint before he started painting.

After

Eventually when we get some money I want to get a couch table
to put under the Christ picture.

While We Were Homeless

2012-01-08T09:12:00.000-08:00

With the week delay in closing on our home we had a little over a week where we stayed with Spencer's parents. Colton and I (and daddy when he was home) decided to play all week long since we had nothing better to do.

Some of the fun things we did were:

Swimming at the Orem Rec. Center

Colton was a little fish in the water. Within a couple minutes of getting in the pool he let go of me and was swimming by himself with a life vest on.

UVU Basketball Game

Bowling

Every time Colton would bowl he had to say, "On your mark, get ready, go Colton, go Colton, ..." until the ball knocked down the pins.

Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam

2012-01-01T20:01:00.000-08:00

Little man has graduated from Nursery and is now a Sunbeam. We attended our new ward so Colton could meet his new friends and his Sunbeam teacher. He was a little nervous to be in a new ward and a new class so we decided to take him out to buy a new big boy Sunbeam outfit hoping it would calm his nerves some. Once he met his new teacher, Sister LeAnna, he was fine and super excited. After church he talked non stop about all the fun he had as a Sunbeam.

New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

Most New Year's Eve we spend the night quite at home. We decided this year needed to be different so we headed up to SLC to see the lights at Temple Square after going out to eat at Tucanos.

Colton wanted to take a picture of us. Didn't turn out to bad for a 3 year old.

Getting ready to ride the UTA Trax. Colton was SO excited.

We decided to get hot chocolate before looking at lights.

When we got back to The Pranger's (where we are staying while waiting to get into our home) we celebrated the New Year with Nana and Papa.

2011 was a great year for our family many of our dreams and desired came true. However, 2012 is going to be better because we get to meet Miss Adilynn and fulfill our dream of becoming homeowners.

A New Beginning

2011-12-31T15:30:00.000-08:00

We decided to have a fun family night with pizza and a movie for the last night in our house. We had so much fun and the night was a perfect way to leave our house.

Colton idolizes his daddy.

The next day we finished cleaning our house and locked the doors to never return. The hardest thing for me was when we shut Colton's bedroom door and he said good bye to his room. I'm excited to move to our new house, I just hate change. I guess that comes with living in the same house until I moved out on my own when I was 18.

We moved into our home with just the two of us with Colton coming shortly after we moved in, and moved out of our home with three of us, our puppy and Miss Adilynn on the way.

This picture is fun for me because I have an identical picture (I was even at
the same point in my pregnancy) of when I was pregnant with
Colton on the day we moved from Oregon.

20 Week Ultrasound

2011-12-29T20:30:00.000-08:00

Adilynn looks perfect. She is measuring right on her due date and everything looks good. However my cervix is starting to shorten so I need to start taking it easy to try to prevent preterm labor again. Easier said then done with us moving right now.

Christmas

2011-12-25T23:59:00.000-08:00

Christmas with a three year old can be summed up in two words, "a blast." We loved enjoying Christmas through Colton's eyes. We spent Christmas morning at home as a family.

Colton's favorite Christmas gift, his puppy, that he got early.

Colton's gift to mommy and daddy.

Holly loved all the wrapping paper.

Daddy made Colton his very own gingerbread man and
snowman pancakes.

Later that after noon we headed over to The Pranger's to open some more Christmas gifts.

After spending time there we headed home for Colton to take a nap before Grandpa and Grandma Pitcher came over to see all of Colton's gifts.

My favorite Christmas gift that I didn't even ask for.

Colton's Great Grandpa and Grandma Turcott recorded a
Hallmark book for him. It has become one of his favorite
Christmas gift he has probably read it around 50 times already.

We spent the remaining of Christmas hang out at my parents house just relaxing.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve this year was a great day for our family. Colton got to go to the movie "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" with Grandma and Grandpa Pitcher during the day. We met them at the mall and took Colton to see Santa. He was nervous but excited to see him. He went right up, sat on his lap and told him what he wanted. He surprised us both.

Opening our Christmas pj's.

That evening we headed to The Pranger's for dinner, a fun gift exchange game and then out to look a Christmas lights. We really enjoyed spending Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa Turcott that came to visit from Oregon.

Santa dropped off a Christmas outfit for Colton.

Adilynn decided she wanted to make an appearance for Christmas. I have popped!

Thanksgiving Point Holiday Lights

2011-12-23T08:51:00.000-08:00

We went to Thanksgiving Point to look at their holiday lights with the Prangers. A nice warm trolley was reserved just for our family which was nice. Colton is really into Christmas lights this year and gets extremely excited when he sees them. He loved all the holiday lights with the Ginger Bread Man being his favorite. When he saw him he got so excited and had to repeat the story about him.

Colton with his Great Grandpa and Grandma Turcott.

The flash was a little bright in the dark trolley.

He was so excited to see Santa's Reindeer.

Warming up with hot chocolate and donuts.

Video for Colton

2011-12-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

Guess who sent Colton a video? Santa! He sent a personalized video just for him. Check out the below link to watch the video.
http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/mIsP9ZzUzrXCfGY9ZfEuoIg

I recorded I video of him watching Santa's video. I'm glad I did because his reaction was priceless.

Little Blue House

2011-12-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

Now that finals are over I have been spending my spare time preparing for our upcoming move. Our house is starting to look bare and not like the home we have lived in for almost four years. Seeing our stuff in boxes has made our upcoming move seem more real. We have been going through the motions of moving and buying a home but not the emotions of moving. There are many things about our home now that I don't like, but the truth is that this home is our home and in a few short weeks we will be locking the doors to never come back. As I pack boxes my mind is filled with all the memories we have made in our home. Not sure if it is all the pregnancy hormones or what but it's made me somewhat emotional today.

Colton's has had fun helping me pack.

He wanted to make sure that he made it to our new home. He packed himself.

I wanted to write about some of my favorite memories from our little blue home.

My most treasured memory was June 30, 2008, the day we brought Colton home from the hospital. I remember being so excited to show him his room and begin our life as a new family of three.

Right next to the memory of bringing Colton home from the hospital was September 7, 2011, the day we found out that little miss Adilynn will be joining our family. It's hard to believe that we wont be bringing her home to the home we live in now.

One of the perks of living so close to all the 4th of July festivities in Provo is that our house became the party house for every 4th of July we have lived in our home. We have had a lot of fun with family and fireworks at our house. We will miss our house this July.

We have loved our huge backyard and especially our big garden that each year has produced a fantastic harvest. We have made some fun memories while spending time gardening as a family each summer. Our backyard in our new house isn't as big as our backyard now but somehow I know we will find a way to enjoy it as much as we enjoy ours now.

This home has been Colton's only home and we have some great memories of him growing up in it. I could go on for days listing all the memories but I will just sum it up by saying that we have loved seeing him grow up to the wonderful little man he has become.

For the past several months when Colton says his bedtime prayers he asks Heavenly Father to bless our little blue house (and some times his Nana and Papa's blue house and Grandma and Grandpa's blue house.) When we move I'm going to miss hearing him bless our little blue home.

We have had some great times and some hard times in our home but I hope that when we look back at living in our little blue home we remember all the good memories we've made while living in it. The best thing about memories is that you can take them with you where ever you go.

On to the next chapter in our lives as owners of our very own home.

Utah Grizzles Hockey Game

2011-12-16T14:38:00.000-08:00

Spencer and Colton went on a father-son outing to the Utah Grizzle hockey game. They rode the UTA Trax up to the game which Colton thought was just great. The first thing he told me when he got home was that he rode on a Percy, Thomas and Spencer (all of them are trains from Thomas the Train) trains. They were able to get awesome seats close to the ice rink, 9^th row right behind the team. The game went into overtime and then a shoot-out which was quite fun to watch for them. Spencer told me that they only almost got hit by a puck 3 times and that they saw one good fight during the game, in Spencer’s words only winning the game could have made it better. During the game Colton told his daddy that they HAD to get soda and nachos it was to cute that Spencer couldn't do anything but get him what he wanted. Which if you asked Colt what his favorite part of the night was he would say the fight during the game, nachos and the trains. So I guess you could sum it up that he loved the whole experience.

How did I get so lucky to have these two handsome
boys in my life?

Preschool Christmas Program

2011-12-16T14:25:00.000-08:00

We got to attend Colton's Preschool Christmas Program and loved every minute of it. He has been practicing so hard for the past two weeks and all the preparation paid off, he sang so well and dance incredibly cute. He even was proud of himself because he clapped with the audience after each song they sang. What can I say we have the most adorable kid.

He was a little nervous so he played with his shirt most of the time

He told Santa that all he wanted was a shirt for Christmas.
Santa has it easy this year.

Below is a video from my cell phone of one of the songs. I recorded most of his program with our video camera so this was the only one I got with my phone.

I (we) did it!

2011-12-13T20:06:00.000-08:00

(Warning bragging is involved in this post.)

After two years of hard work I can now say that I am a college graduate earning an Associate in Science from Utah Valley University with honors. Graduating with honors was my goal when I started school and I worked my butt off to achieve it. I'm proud of this accomplish.

Two years ago when Colton was only 9 months old I walked into my first college class ever. I was nervous and doubtful that I could actually be a college student. It took me until I was 25 to get the courage to go to college because I felt like I wasn't smart enough to compete with the other students. A good friend of mine gave me the courage to go talk to an academic counselor and take the necessary steps. Going to school was the best decision for me and I will forever be grateful for my friend Katie's encouraging words.

I feel blessed to have the support from my amazing husband and wonderful son. They both gave up things so I could go to school and I couldn't have done it without them. Tonight after I took my last final I came home to dinner cooked, sparkling cider, and a cake to celebrate. I was excited to celebrate with them because I feel like me getting my associate is an achievement for our entire family.

I promise it is sparkling cider that he is drinking.

Earning my associate degree is just a stepping stone to earning my Bachelor of Social Work and eventually my end goal of earning my Master of Social Work. With Adilynn on the way it will make it harder to continue going to school but I will press forward and achieve my goal. I look forward to the day when I will have Spencer and my two wonderful kids seating in the audience when I graduate with my bachelors and eventually my masters.

A New Best Friend For Colt

2011-11-29T20:56:00.001-08:00

Meet the newest addition to our family, our new dog, Holly.

Picking Out Our New Puppy

Nope not this one.

Not this one either.

Just the right one.

Taking Her Home!

First Bath

A House Of Our Own

2011-11-29T20:43:00.000-08:00

Within a few short weeks we will be a proud owner of our very first home.

When we set out looking for a home only a couple weeks ago we figured it would take months to find a home. Nope we found our home by the third home we looked at. After touring the home we knew that it was our home. It scared/confused us a little to have come to such a huge decision so fast but I guess when you know you know and there is no reason to fret and stew over it. If all goes as plan we will be moving into our home by the end of the month.

The home is a prefect starter home for us. It's in Pleasant Grove and has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It's a small little home that will fit our family well. We are excited to start remodeling some minor things to make this house our home.

We have mix feelings about moving. We are excited to turn the page and start this new chapter in our lives, but we have been in our current home for almost 4 years and it will be hard to leave. This was the first home that we have lived in that has felt like home. We have made it our home and made some great memories in our home with bringing Colton home being our most precious memory. For me leaving our ward will also be hard. I love my calling and all the wonderful sisters I serve and it will be hard to say good bye.

Baby Cookie is a ....

2011-11-29T20:02:00.000-08:00

GIRL!!!!

We are excited that Adilynn Raey Pranger will be joining our family. Spencer knew all along that we were having a girl, but I just couldn't get a feeling either way. Both Colton and I were hoping for a boy, but now that we know I'm ecstatic and Colton will come along eventually. Now comes the fun of buying all things girly. Bring on the pink!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T09:46:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving with the Prangers this year. That afternoon we ate a delicious Thanksgiving dinner and then played football afterwards.

Later that evening we went to the movie theater to see The Muppet movie. Colton loved the movie and had fun dancing to the music. After the movie I tried going to Walmart to shop their Black Friday ads but after 15 minutes of being there I decided that it would be better for this pregnant woman to go home. WAY to many crazy people!! So this year I let Spencer shop the Black Friday ads. It was kind of nice, we might have to make it a tradition from now on. Ha ha he said he would do it this year because I'm pregnant but that is it, dang! Thanksgiving was a nice relaxing day for us.

14 Weeks Ultrasound

2011-11-15T16:03:00.000-08:00

We had our first true ultrasound today, we had one at 6 weeks but the baby was to small to see anything. Baby Cookie is looking great! The measurements are right where they should be and my body to reacting just as it should to the pregnancy. Here are some pictures from the ultrasound and the video of the ultrasound. Enjoy!

We absolutely love this picture. Every ultrasound we had with Colton his
hand was by his face too.

Profile

The cute foot. I love how you can see the cute toes. We also got to see Baby
Cookie with it's legs crossed. SO CUTE!

Our Family Quarterly Update

2011-11-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

The last three months we decided to try something new with our blog. I have been blogging for each event separately because I felt like I was missing important details about some of the events when I would just do one big blog post monthly. I think the way we have been doing it now is working so I plan to continue. I will still try to send our quarterly updates, but make sure to come back often to see what is going on with The Prangers.

Halloween

2011-10-31T22:00:00.000-07:00

Halloween was a fun day for our family. Colton's cousin Olya spent the night before Halloween at our house. I decided to surprise the kids by going to out to breakfast at their favorite place, McDonald's. The kids were so excited and had a blast playing with each other.

Then came Halloween night. We first headed over to the Pranger's house for a fun Halloween themed dinner and inside door to door trick or treating.

The twiners. They didn't plan to match but ended up matching
better then Spencer and I as Bat man and Cat woman.

We then headed to Spanish Fork to go trick or treating with the Huffaker's and Uncle Robby. Colton loved going trick or treating he would have gone all night if we let him.

Unfortunately, our camera decided to stop working that night so our pictures didn't turn out great, and we totally spaced getting a picture of our family as super heroes.

OSU Football Game

2011-10-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

Spencer's dad invited Spencer to go to the OSU vs. Utah football game. OSU played like they have all year and lost BIG time, but Spencer was still excited to get to see his team play here in Utah. While at the game they ate ribs for dinner that they both couldn't stop talking about. I guess there was at least one positive thing about the game, the ribs.

Trunk or Treating

2011-10-29T10:08:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to go to our ward's trunk or treating. Colton invited his cousins Jaxon and Savanna to come with him.

They got a ton of candy and now have no reason to go trick or treating on Halloween anymore, but we all know they still will.

Carving Pumpkins

2011-10-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

For family night we carved our pumpkins from our garden. We look forward to craving our pumpkins all summer long while watching them grow. Colton was excited to finally crave his pumpkin, the wait was unbearable for him.

Boys will be boys.

(Daddy may have taken it to far.)

Colton's Pumpkin

My Pumpkins

(Best pumpkin I've ever carved,. I'm pretty proud of it.)

Spencer & Baby Cookies Pumpkins

BYU Football Game

2011-10-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine had two extra tickets to the BYU vs. Idaho State football game. Even though we are not BYU fans Spencer took the opportunity to take Colton to a football game. Spencer loves it now that Colton is old enough to start enjoying doing things like this with daddy. Half way through the game they met up Papa Pranger, Steve, Whitney, and Teagan who had extra seats by them and sat with them for the remainder of the game. At the end of the game Spencer took Colton down to give the players fives and one of the players gave Colton his brand new hat. Colt thought it was so awesome and was excited to show me his new hat when he got home. I guess that player is trying to get Cotlon to be a BYU fan after all.

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

2011-10-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

We are SO excited to announce ...

Yup we will be adding another member to our family. After a year and a half of dealing with infertility we can't be any more excited to be where we are now.

The story of how we found out:

We had been doing infertility treatment for over six months. We were getting ready to go in for more testing the week we found out we were expecting. Late one night I told Spencer that I was going to take a cheap Dollar Store pregnancy test to confirm that I was not pregnant so we could schedule the test. I took the test and by complete shock a very faint positive appeared. I yelled for Spencer to come into the bathroom. He thought I was joking with him until he saw the test. To confirm the pregnancy I ran to the store to buy a nicer pregnancy test. Three pregnancy tests later we were convinced. I started crying and didn't stop for a while. We had started to come to terms with the fact that we may never have another child. I couldn't believe my dream of having another child was coming true.

Because of our past history we were both nervous about the success of this pregnancy. Each milestone (learning it wasn't Ectopic, the dreadful week 6 and hearing the heartbeat) gave us more hope and we became even more excited. Colton is ecstatic to be a big bother. He has named his sibling Baby Cookie which now has become it's name until we find out what the sex is. We are not sure how he came up with the name other than Spencer keeps tell him that mommy ate the baby and that's why it is in my belly.

This pregnancy has been almost identical to Colton's so far with exception of only having one ER visit due to dehydration rather then the two I had with Colton. The first trimester has been hard on the entire family. We found out we were pregnant after I could no longer drop classes. So I have had to go to school full time while being sick. Even though it has been difficult having all the responsibilities I have had while being pregnant we know that this little one is coming to us at the right time and can't wait to hold it in our arms.

His Name

2011-10-17T12:21:00.000-07:00

Guess what our 3 year old can do? He now can write his name. With some help spelling it he can write it all on his own. Good job little man!

Now that he knows how to write his name he writes it all over the place (couch, books, and the floors.) We are not a fan of cleaning up after him but we are so proud of him.

Hunting with Daddy

2011-10-11T12:42:00.000-07:00

Spencer wanted to celebrate his birthday by taking Colton on his first hunting trip. Spencer had just gotten back from 4 days of hard hunting in snow and the first thing he wanted to do was go out hunting the next day. Colton had so much fun going out with his dad and seeing all the wildlife. They managed to call in one bull elk that started to bugle in response when Colton thought that he would help by honking the horn on the truck. It was one of those things that Spencer couldn't do anything but laugh. The opportunity to spend some special daddy/son time was very needed for them.

Utah State Fair

2011-09-16T13:31:00.000-07:00

Spencer's parents invited us to go to the Utah State Fair with them. We had my nephew Spencer over so we decided to take him with us.

First the boys got to go on a pony ride. We thought for sure that Colton would be scared but he loved it.

Next we went to see all of the animals. The boys got lucky because one of the workers let them hold one of the rabbits.

At the fair they had sea lions that were fun to see.

All the boys, including Papa and Daddy, had fun playing with legos. They had some building competition going on that they participated in.

At the end of the night we had fun watching the rodeo. This was my nephew's first rodeo and he absolutely loved it.

Perspective

2011-08-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

Over a week ago I came across a blog that has changed my perspective of motherhood forever.

This is Ruby Jane a sweet young baby who has gone home to her Heavenly Father.

She lost her 7 month battle for her life just over two weeks ago. Her sweet mom blogged about their trial at http://aniandmatttaylor.blogspot.com/. One blog post in particular really touched my heart and I will never be the same mother because of it. The post is below:

Perspective

"The old me thought I was tired and stressed out. The old me was unsatisfied with my clothes, my weight, and my ugly carpet. The old me dreaded hearing the babies cry over the monitor, too early in the morning. The old me was bored watching cartoons, and folding laundry. The old me hated making breakfast, and pour endless sippy's full of milk every day. The old me dreaded running errands with two kids to get in and out of car seats and into shopping carts. The old me did not think it was a big deal to spend a Saturday at the beach, or paddle boating around the lake. The old me was tired and grump from walking up the hill to our house from the lake. The old couldn't wait until nap time, when I could have some time to myself. The old me hated doing dishes, and checking the mail. The old me rushed bedtime and skipped pages in bedtime stories. The old me sang lullaby's quickly, and was relucted to sing, "just one more." What was the old me thinking?!

My heart is literally aching right now to have my old life back, but with my new perspective. What I would give to have my whole family home on a rainy Sunday morning, making breakfast, and delivering chocolate milk on a fancy platter to my little Kate. I want to forget about the dirty dishes, and get down on the floor with my girls and play, play, and play. I would be thankful for that cheap carpet, because it beats none at all. I dream of the day that I get to wake up in my bed, and hear BOTH girls waking me up early in the morning. I will make them whatever they want for breakfast, and turn the music up loud and dance while I make their pancakes (because I know that is what Kate will want.) I will get them dressed and spend time gently combing and doing their hair, and breathing them in. I won't rush them. What is the rush about anyway? I'll load them in their carseats, and give them kisses while I buckled them in. I'll be happy listening to Disney songs as we drive to Target, or McDonald's, or the park. I'll chase them, and tickle them, and push them on the swings. We will spend our evenings playing outside, and cooking dinner together in the kitchen. Bath time will be long and drawn out, just like it should be. Bedtime will have lots of cuddling, and a few bedtime stories read slowly while doing the appropriate voices for Papa Bear, Mama Bear, Baby Bear, and Goldilocks. Matt and I will fall into bed exhausted together, and thank Heavenly Father for this new perspective on life and what is truly important and ask that we might be able to always remember. "

I am blessed to have a healthy, happy and thriving little man. He most definitely is hard at times but I feel so blessed to have him in my life. Ruby Jane has reminded me of the importance of living everyday to the fullest and not being unsatisfied with the little things such as my clothes and my weight that truly don't matter in life. I don't ever want to regret a day in Colton's life. I want to be the mom Colton deserves and I plan to strive to become the person daily.

In honor of Ruby Jane I decided to set aside a day to do all the things that bring so much joy to Colton.

First we went on a bike ride to McDonalds. Instead of rushing him while at the play land I let him play as long as he wanted to.

Then we spent time playing in our backyard swinging and jumping on the trampoline.

After his nap we watch a movie which is one of Colt's favorite thing to do. Then headed to grandma and grandpa's house to visit and spend some time swinging again.

All day long I soaked up everything I could so that I could remember this day for a long time to come. I loved everything about this day and plan to make more days just like this one. I am so grateful for this new perceptive I now have and hope to never forget how this sweet baby has impacted me.

Lagoon

2011-08-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

We were invited to go to Lagoon with The Prangers. Spencer and I have never been to Lagoon together so we decided to go have fun and take Colton along with us. Colton wasn't to sure about riding the first few rides. He wouldn't go on any of the rides at first without his daddy. Once he got warmed up a bit he would go on all the kiddie rides with the bumper cars being his favorite. Each of us adults took turns watching the grand kids so the other adults could go ride the big rides. One of the smart moves on our part was bringing dramamine for all to share to prevent motion sickness. After riding Wicked we were all glad we took it. It was a lot of fun and by the end of the night we were all exhausted from the fun we had.

While at Lagoon we spent some time a Lagoon a Beach.

Zip, Zam, Boom

2011-08-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

Were swimming in all things super heroes around our home these days. Colton has decided that super heroes are the cat's meow. He has been doing chores around the house to earn money for super hero masks. So far he owns:

Spider-Man

Iron Man

Bumble Bee (from Transformers.)

....... and plenty more to come.

I've decided that Spencer is living vicariously through Colton. He is LOVING Colton's new obsession. My boys have fun watching the cartoons of all the super heroes with Iron Man being the favorite for now and reading comic books together.

Golding Family Reunion

2011-08-28T22:28:00.000-07:00

It's that time again for the annual Golding Family reunion and it was a fun one. We were lucky enough to be able to spend the entire weekend camping. We were one of the first ones to the campsite Friday afternoon and the last ones to leave Sunday afternoon. Knowing this was going to be our last camping trip this year we wanted to enjoy every minute we could.

Friday we set up camp then headed to Payson lakes to go canoeing and Spencer got to go fishing while at the lake. We spent the remaining of the night visiting around the camp fire and making smores.

Saturday was the big day. We were busy from the time we woke up until we went to bed. First, we all hiked to the Grotto water falls. It was a perfect hike for all age group and was fun to have everyone join in on the hike (especially my dad who NEVER does things like this.) While at the water falls Nathan, Melaya, Spencer, KayLee and I all decided to hike to the top of the water fall which should have been a 10 minutes hike. Well ah, 30 minutes later we still hadn't found the top of the water fall and were completely lost. We decided to turn around which lead us to getting lost again. After 45 minutes of wandering the canyon we found our group. To say the least it was a great adventure.

We rode in the back of the truck to and from the hike
which all the kids, especially Colton, loved!

Once we got back to camp it was time for crafts. Colton painted a little bird house getting paint ALL over himself. Oh well he had fun!

Most of the guys went fishing while we did crafts. They had great success each catching multiple fish. The guys took Cameron fishing with them which made Cam's day. Spencer let him reel in most of the fish he caught which Cameron thought was totally awesome.

While we waited for dinner to finish cooking we played games and just relaxed.

One of the funnest part of the reunion was the game, "Minute To Win It" that we all played after dinner. I think it goes without saying that every ones favorite challenge was when Marion and Cindy and Golden and Emilee had to move a ball from their feet to their heads without touching the ball. Our stomachs were hurting from laughing so hard. After all the fun we had playing the game each team made up a skit and presented it to the other team. Although the skits were great I must say that we need to not quit our day jobs.

Colton dressed up for our skit. He was little Kevin Jr.

Once all the old people went to bed, us young ones (ha ha I can say that I'm still young for a few years) stayed up and played a wicked game of Spoons. I've never had more fun playing a game then we did that night. We laughed so hard, three of us fell backwards off of our seats, and one of us got a good scratch on their hand.

Sunday we spent the day playing games and just enjoy each others company. Spencer somehow talked me into going shooting with his hand gun. This was the first time I shot a gun and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would have been. A little later that day Spencer also went shooting with Nathan.

Colton and Olya are best friends. They didn't leave
each others side the entire weekend.

By the time we left Sunday afternoon Colton was SO exhausted that he fell asleep within two minutes of getting into the truck.

I love how dirty he is in this picture. To say he had fun this
weekend would be an understatement. He didn't stop all
weekend long.

What a great weekend! We can't wait until next year.

Family Photos

2011-08-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

My cousin Jamie took my family pictures. You can check her out at http://www.farmboysphotography.blogspot.com I must say I have a pretty cute family.

1st Day of Preschool

2011-08-25T09:21:00.000-07:00

Colton started his first day of preschool this morning. He has been excited for school to start since we took him school shopping weeks ago. Last night we let him pick out his outfit for today and pack his backpack. He had a hard time falling asleep last night because he was ecstatic for school this morning. When I went into to Colt's room to wake him up I told him it was time to wake up so he could go to school. He then got the biggest smile and jumped right out of bed. He ran over to the clothes we laid out and wanted to put them on right away. We couldn't leave our house fast enough. I just know that this year is going to be a blast for him and am so excited he gets to have grandma as his teacher.

Someday little bud you'll grow into your backpack.

It's hard to believe that the baby that was placed in my arms a short three years ago is now old enough to go to preschool. It makes me a little emotional to see my little man growing up SO fast. I thought it would be easier for me to have him attend preschool "officially" since he went to my mom's summer program but it's been a little hard on me. If it wasn't for all of Colt's excitement I think today would have been harder on me.

"UP"

2011-08-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

When we found out that a local builder recreated Disney's "UP" house we knew we had to take Colton to go see it. The house is to cute for words. We had so much fun and were excited that we went for a tour.

Meeting Carl and Russell.

Master bedroom

Nursery

Living Room

I want a mailbox just like this one when we get a house of our own.

SORRY!

2011-08-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

Colton has really got into playing games lately with his favorite game being the classic game, SORRY! It was a childhood favorite of mine too so it's fun for me to play the game with my son now.

This morning we played a fun game of SORRY! with a big prize on the line, a Resse Peanut Butter cup a favorite around our house.

And the winner is....... Colton!

July

2011-08-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

July was a good month for our family; however, we were so busy that the month just flew by for us.

The month started off with us celebrating our country's birthday. We were able to celebrate all weekend of the 4th of July. We first celebrated by going to the Balloon Fest with the Huffaker's. Colton actually liked the Balloon Fest this year unlike past years. Our favorite balloon was the new Darth Vader hot air balloon and that's coming from someone that doesn't enjoy the Star Wars movies. After the Balloon Fest we all headed over to our house for breakfast then off to Seven Peaks we went.

The next night we had our annual BBQ at our house to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks. We lit off fireworks while waiting for the stadium fireworks to begin. Colton and Miss Olya decided that they didn't like being near the fireworks so they watched our firework show from our front window.

A family tradition for my family is to spend the night out at the parade route to save our spots for the parade the next morning. We were excited (probably not more than Colt) to have Colton join in on the tradition this year. We all spent the night and had a blast. We played games, watched movies and watched a pretty awesome fire around the corner form where we were camping out.

It was a good thing that we had so much fun camping out because otherwise the parade would have not been worth the wait. This year it was boring and had little to be excited for. Even Colt who loves parades had a hard time stay interested in it. We spent the remaining of the day relaxing and catching up on our sleep.

Also this month we had fun at Spencer's works party at Seven Peaks. We found a babysitter for our little man so we could ride all the rides and not have to worry about someone staying with Colt. They closed the park for our party so we were able to do whatever we wanted to as many times as we wanted too.

We were able to get money (alot of money) from Allen's Bike Rack company for the bike rack breaking incident that happened last month over Father's Day weekend. With the money we were able to buy all three of us a new bike and still have a lot of money left over. This month we have enjoyed going on bike rides as a family with our new bikes.

Spencer has been one busy man this month. He has been busy with school, work and recovering from a car accident. While on his way to school he was rear ended totaling his car. He experienced severe whiplash which he is still recovering from.

I just love this picture of my boys. Colton wanted
to buy matching ties for him and his daddy.

I also spent this month busy with working on school work. My Meteorology class ended up being a lot more work then I expected and so I had to spend more time then I planned on it. Also, this month I was called to serve as the 1st counselor in the Relief Society presidency in our ward. I feel like I am not qualified for this calling, but I have a testimony that the Lord qualifies those he calls. I'm excited to continue serving the wonderful sisters in our ward.

Colton is getting excited to start preschool again next month. He sure misses his friends and can't wait to see them soon. He has started to make some friends in our neighborhood and has had fun playing with them this month.

June

2011-07-12T20:14:00.000-07:00

This month we went fishing as a family. We had a blast and happened to have success while having fun. We were able to catch four fish. Colton was to funny about the whole fishing experience. He was so excited to hold the fishing poll and was ready to catch the fish, until we actually caught one. When seeing the fishing he got scared a refused to reel in the fish; however, when it was time to fish again he was excited and had to hold the fishing pole.

This month we welcomed a new nephew into my family. Colton loves his new cousin and can't wait to hold him every time we see him.

Logan Black Bird
June 3, 2011
8 lbs. 11 oz. 21 inches

We decided to go to Summerfest in Orem this year. We invited Colt's girlfriend Shelby and her mom Rhonda to join us. Colt loved the parade which was actually really good this year. After the parade we enjoyed an awesome firework show.

Spencer and Colton went to the Strawberry Day's Rodeo with the Pranger's. Colton had a lot of fun standing near the chutes where the animals came out. He thought it was so cool. He loves going out and hanging out with his cousins, which can always be a bit of an adventure in of itself.

Over Father's Day weekend we went camping in Scofield, Utah with my sister Jessica and brother in-law Robby. This was our first camping trip of the season and we were all excited. We loaded up the car, attach our bikes to the bike and headed on our way. After taking the wrong turn, having the bike rack break throwing my bike off the back of the car completely damaging my bike, and 15+ stops to reattach the jimmy rigged bike rack we finally made it to the campsite 3 hours later. We hurried up and set up camp before it got dark. That night the boys fished and then we all made smores. In the middle of the night it began to pour and didn't stop at all the next day. Spencer woke up at the crack of dawn and went fishing again unfortunately he didn't have any success. After spending the morning playing games in our tent we decided to pack up and head home. To say the least our camping trip was an adventure.

Spencer has been working hard at work and school. He feels very torn between all his responsibilities in life which has been pretty difficult on him.

I finished most of my classes this month. I enjoyed attending classes on campus this summer but I sure missed my boy. I was excited when I saw that I got a 4.0 for the first block. I'm hoping that I can pull an A in my last two classes of the summer and get a 4.0 for the entire summer.

Colton turned three this month. I know how could he possibly be three already? Over the past month he has transformed into a boy instead of a toddler. He is changing and developing so much every day. I love the conversations we now have now that he can say pretty much anything he wants to.

We had a huge birthday celebration for him so I decided to write a separate birthday post. You can scroll down or click on the following link:

http://podfullofps.blogspot.com/2011/07/colt-turns-3.html

Colt turns 3!

2011-07-11T14:20:00.000-07:00

As a family we celebrated Colton's birthday by going to Toys R' Us so Colt could spend his birthday money and then out to eat at Brick Oven. He bought a stuffed Woody while at Toys R' Us and had to take him out to eat with us. Woody and him have become best buddies just like Woody and Andy. While at Brick Oven we had a balloon guy make a balloon Woody. Colton thought that was one of the coolest things ever.

Colton's party was a hit year. Being that Colton's favorite thing right now is Toy Story we decided to throw him a Toy Story themed birthday party. Colton could hardly wait for his friends to come over. He stared out the widow for the 15 minutes before his party started looking for his friends. For his party we had four different booths: #1 There's A Snake in My Boot, #2 Toy Story Coloring, #3 The Claw, and #4 Cowboy Racing. All the kids had so much fun at each of the booth, but the tie snakes they made in booth #1 was their all time favorite. Colton got spoiled by his friends he now has more toys to play with then he has time to play with them. After his party we went out to eat at Pizza Pie Cafe with my family. He was so worn out from his party that he fell asleep on daddy.

Little Woody waiting for his friends to come.

Aunt Jessica helping Colt make his tie snake.

Teagan, Colton and Spencer

Phoenix and Colton

He was SO excited for his Toy Story towel from Mom and Dad.

The Kids at his party (minus Teagan who left early.)

Of course Woody had to come along.

On Colton's actual birthday we planned a day full of fun. We started off the day by going to Seven Peaks with my sister's family. Colton has grown to love going to Seven Peaks and was super excited to go for his birthday. Later in the day we went to go see the movie Cars 2. Every time Colton would see a preview for the movie he would say,"me cars movie please, please" so what better thing than to take him to see it on his special day. He loved the movie and didn't stop talking about it all night. After the movie Colton invited his cousin Spencer over to spend the night. Spencer surprised Colton with a birthday cake and pizza. Colt's birthday was just perfect for him.

Dear C-Bug,

Happy third birthday little man. Three already? Wow how the time flew by. You have become quite the kid. You are so loving and kind to everyone you meet. You have a passion for life unlike anyone I've seen before. Now that you are talking really well you have proven to be one funny kid. I always knew you were funny, but just not as funny as you really are. You and your daddy are best friends. Anything daddy says or does you have to do too. You two little stinker gang up on mommy. Just this past week daddy told you to start saying, "mama says what" everytime I say anything to you. Now anything I say to you, you say it back it to me. All your daddy does is just laugh. I must say I don't mind to much I love the relationship you two have. Although you are close to your daddy I would have to say your a mama's boy (I hope this continues throughout your life.) We love spending time just you and me and I look forward to the times when it is just us.

Over the past year you have developed so much. You are now talking saying pretty much anything you want to. You started attending preschool with grandma and loving every minute of it. I hope that you always have a love for school. You are an awesome athlete (better than most kids your age.) You love Thomas The Train, Toy Story, Spiderman, and dragons. You switch between each of them and become obsessed with it for weeks.

I love watching you become the little boy you are becoming. I know you are going to do big things in your life and I look forward to your future. I celebrate with you when you achieve big things, cry for you when I see you struggle and am here for you when you need me, and always will be. I consider myself the luckiest mom in the world because I have a son like you. You brighten my days and bring so much joy into my life. I love you more than life itself.

Hugs and kisses mama's wishes

Love you always,
Mom

May

2011-05-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

May was a good month for our family.

Our month started off by celebrating Mother's Day. Once again my boys spoiled me rotten. They made me all of my favorite foods for every meal, spoiled me with gifts, and let me get as much sleep as I wanted. I am so grateful to be a mom. Colton brings so much joy into my life. I can't thank Heavenly Father enough for allowing me to be his mom.

The next weekend Spencer and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. The night before our anniversary we went on a date with little man. We went to Trafagla and out to eat at Outback Steakhouse. The next night, which was our actually anniversary, Spencer and I went shopping and then watched a movie. On our way home from picking Colton up that night we stopped to get Slurpes. While at 7-Eleven we witnessed two men, visibly intoxicated, shoplift a case of beer and assault the arresting officer and the other police men who were helping. I had to give a statement and everything. What a way to end our anniversary night.

I know I should have a picture of Spencer and I but
for some reason we never took one. Colton will have
to do since he looks just like his daddy.

This month we have enjoyed getting our yard ready for the summer. We are excited that we don't have to do any IHC work this summer so we will have more time to spend on our own yard. We also plan on having as much fun as we possibly can.

Spencer took Colton and I to the golf course to learn how to golf. Because of nasty weather we decided to just get a bucket of golf balls and head to the driving range. After us being there for around an hour I was starting to hit the ball like a pro (okay not really.) Colton thought it was great that he was able to use daddy's golf clubs.

We went with my family to Day Out With Thomas. Colton was so excited all day long that he could barely stand the wait. We were able to go on a fun train ride, which Colton absolutely loved. He was overwhelmed with excitement when he finally saw Thomas The Train. After all the fun we had with Thomas we headed to Dairy Keen which is a fun restaurant centered around trains. They had a small remote train that ran along the interior of the restaurant, that entertained Colton while eating.

At the end of the month Colton and I headed up to Smithfield to spend Memorial Day with my dad's side of the family. It has been rainy for most of the past month, and Memorial Day didn't prove to be any other way. We couldn't stay at the cemetery for very long due to the rain.

Colton putting a windmill on my brother Bradley's grave.

Colton with Great Grandma Pitcher and my
cousin's little girl Aniston.

As a family we have started to get into couponing. Just this month we have saved around $250 which is a saving of 75% on groceries. I think we may be addicted

Spencer is taking classes this semester. It's been a little bit of an adjustment to have both of us in classes at the same time. He's been doing really good so far and has high hopes of getting A's in all of his classes. With all the natural disasters lately Spencer has been extremely busy at work and pulling a lot of extra hours. We've missed him but the extra income is nice for sure. It's crazy to think he's almost been there a year now. Time flies when you actually enjoy your job.

I started a new semester this month. I have 13 credit which is a lot for a summer semester. I am starting to feel over loaded. Luckily this semester is short so I will be done with 6 of my credits, which are my hardest classes, at the end of June and then another 4 credits the second week of July. This semester I am attending school all day Tuesday and Thursday and then Saturday mornings. It has been an adjustment for both Colton and I to adjust to our new schedule.

I would like to introduce you to our son, Blue Juice

One day early in the month we were working with Colton on saying his name clearly. We asked him what his name was and with a huge smile he told us his name was Blue juice (aka 2% milk with a blue cap.) His new name has stuck with him. He tells everyone his new name and makes them call him by it. We kind of liked his name, but I guess he didn't.

Blue Juice started attending a sports clinic two days a week. He has proven to be a true athlete. He is a soccer rockstar; seriously, for a two-year-old he is amazing. Colt loves his coach Mike and looks forward to his class.

At the end of the month Colton had his preschool graduation/program. He sang and danced so well, we were so proud of him. He looks forward to going to school because my mom is the best preschool teacher out there. He is already looking forward to next year.

April

2011-05-03T23:03:00.000-07:00

We went to the rec. center for a fun family night swimming. When we first got there Colton was petrified to even get into the pool, but by the time we left he was confident enough to float on his back all by himself. He even wanted to jump off the diving board, just like his daddy.

Colton was excited to have my nieces KayLee and Melaya and my nephew Spencer come a play with him each one day while I worked on finishing up my online class. While my niece Melaya was over we decided to go on a picnic. We were able to fly a kite while at the park. Spencer showed us all up with his kite flying skills. Oh well, we still had a lot of fun at our picnic.

Easter, like most holidays, was a weekend packed full of fun. Colton was able to go on four eggs hunts: Preschool egg hunt, Pranger's Night Time hunt, Provo City egg hunt, and a family egg hunt at Gene and Laura's. He didn't enjoy the city egg hunt as much as the other three. He kind of froze up and didn't know what to do. Good thing he had others to enjoy. Easter morning Colton was excited to see that the Easter bunny had come to visit. Later that morning we dyed eggs which Colton absolutely loved. We ended up dying double the eggs we had planned. After church we went up to Spencer's aunt Laura and uncle Gene's home for dinner. Easter was just perfect this year.

Spencer had a pretty slow month and didn't too much. He was able to register for classes this summer and looks forward to getting college back and going. He had the chance to help the author he's been working with on getting his book tour all setup. Peter came out to Utah and they were running around all over Salt Lake signing books at all the book stores prior to the main signing at Sam Wellers. Spencer had called them multiple times to make sure there were plenty of books for everyone that came and they still sold out. Spencer loved being able to learn from a published author and soak up some knowledge from him.

I wish I could say I did something fun this month, but I can't. School took up all my time. I finished up Spring semester this month and now feel like I can breath (okay for only a week when I go back to school.) I was excited when I saw that I got 100% on my statistics final. My highest test score all semester long was 72%, not sure how I did so well on my final. All I can say my prayers were answered.

Colton has shown us this month that he is one funny kid. We've always known he was a happy easy going kid but now that he is starting to talk so well we can really see his personality. He will do anything or say anything to get a laugh. He is so fun to have in our home.

Stitches

2011-05-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

I'm not proud to announce that Colton got his first stitches today. To be honest the story of how he got cut breaks my heart, but I must share so I can have record of it for the future.

Today while I was getting Colton ready for preschool I noticed a section of his hair was longer then the rest. I had cut his hair a few days ago and I must have missed it. I grabbed my scissors to fix my mistake. After fixing his hair I put my scissors on the table and grabbed the styling gel to style his hair. While my hands were covered in gel, Colt grabbed the sharp inside part of the scissors. Before I know it we had a puddle of blood on the table and my sweet little man was crying hysterically. I called Spencer and together we decided to take him into the doctors for stitches. They gave him a dose of medicine to sedate him for the procedure. After ten minutes he was so loopy and hilarious (which continued for many hours later.)

In order to preform the procedure they had to strap Colton down to a little board. We were surprised he was okay with it. He was laughing and talking to his nurse.

Even though he was a little sedated he still fought against his doctor while he was stitching up his finger. He is one tough kid.

4 stitches later

All done!

We went for a treat afterward to cheer Colton up.

Colton still very loopy.

I am so proud of my little man he did so well today. Sorry buddy for not thinking about putting my scissors up once I was done using them.

March

2011-04-03T13:32:00.000-07:00

March was a quite month for us. We enjoy low key months like this one every once in awhile.

This month we enjoyed getting our backyard ready for the summer. We found a killer deal on a small trampoline for Colton, and because we spoil him every chance we can, we got it for him. He spends as much time as possible "hopping," as he calls it, on the trampoline and playing in our backyard. We are so excited for the summer that is just around the corner.

He found a potato bug one day while playing outside.
He thought it was awesome and played with it for ever.

Spencer was asked this month to be an assistant to an author name Peter Orullian. Spencer has enjoyed helping Peter work on various different projects. He loves the insiders view it gives him of the publishing world. Spencer has also been working on a new short story set in the same world as his novel. He's worried about his skill as a writer may not equal to the quality he fills the novel deserves, so he's put it on the back burner to focus more on his writing skills. Other than all of his writing projects Spencer's been staying busy at work and continues to enjoy his job.

With the end of the semester approaching I have been busing finishing things up. I have decided to go to school full time this summer. So I will only get a few weeks break once this semester is over. This month I was released from my calling of one month and called as the Relief Society Secretary. I know not much different from my last calling just more responsibilities.

Colton is growing up WAY to fast. His talking has developed by leaps and bound. He has started saying sentences up to four or five words this month. Huge accomplishment for him! Colt looks forward to preschool. He now is attending my mom's preschool one day a week. Every morning he asks me if we are doing school today. It is hard for me to believe that my baby is old enough to go to school. He is starting to enter a new chapter in his life as a student. I'm proud of the little man he is becoming.

Don't forget to check out all the fun we have in Mommy school.
http://mackenzie-mommysschool.blogspot.com/

February

2011-02-25T22:51:00.000-08:00

We celebrated my birthday early this month. To say my boys spoiled me would be an understatement. They took me to Olive Garden, my favorite restaurant, for lunch. After lunch they sent me on my way for a wonderful massage. Later on that afternoon we went and fed the ducks. The ducks were starving and were basically eating the bread out of our hands. Colton absolutely loved it! That night Spencer and Colton made me dinner while I sat and did nothing (exactly what I wanted.) Some of my family came over for a small celebration later on that night. Thanks guys for a wonderful birthday. I love you!

Originally we had planned to have a low key Valentine's day, but our day was nothing but low key. My mom invited Colton to her preschool's Valentine's day party. He was so excited to go and pass out the Toy Story Valentine cards we bought, and to receive all of the Valentine's from the kids in the class. That afternoon I chaperoned Colton's date with his girlfriend Shelby (aka babysitting her.) When Spencer got home from work Colton and I surprised him with going out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. Probably not the best idea to go on Valentine's day without reservations. Our wait ended up being over two hours. Oh well we still had fun.

Colton loved the gift we gave him.

We spent more of our nights at the UVU basketball games this month. This month while at one of the games Spencer won the $1,000 giveaway. We were SO excited when we heard his name!

At the last home game we decided to silly string Willy the Wolverine. Willy decided to fight back. 8 bottles of silly string, 3 men and one wolverine later we had a HUGE mess and lots of fun. We will miss going to the basketball games now that the season is over.

To our surprise we woke up to 3-4 inches of snow last Friday morning. Spencer was off work that morning so we decided to build a snowman. Unfortunately it didn't take long for our snowman to melt.

Spencer had the opportunity to attend LTUE; a writing conference this month. It was a two day conference held at BYU. Many of the authors Spencer looks up to were at the conference. He was able to talk to them personally and get some great writing advice.

I have enjoyed spending most of my time being a mom this month. Colton and I have had a lot of fun going outside to play in the beautiful weather. I am looking forward to this summer. This month I also received a calling in our ward to serve in the Relief Society presidency as an assistant to the secretary. At the end of the month I enjoyed an annual birthday dinner with some of my friends from high school who have February birthdays.

Colton has had a big month this month. He had his first visit to the dentist and learned how to ride his tricycle. I have already blogged about both of these events. Here are the links (you can also scroll down to find them):

First Dentist Appointment

My Tricycle

Him and I have really enjoyed "Mommy's School" this month. We have done some fun activity. Colton has excelled greatly this month. I decided to start a blog of all the fun things we do in school. Check it out at:

http://mackenzie-mommysschool.blogspot.com/

My Tricycle

2011-02-14T21:01:00.000-08:00

Today was an unusually warm winter day. Colton and I were able to go outside to play. He has been showing interest in learning how to ride his tricycle. I decided to try to teach him to ride it today. Colt was able to pick it up pretty fast. He has some more learning to do, but he is doing well. Way to go little man!

Mama I love You: by Colton Pranger

2011-02-10T12:33:00.000-08:00

We bought a Toy Story guitar for Colton that he absolutely loves! He goes around the house singing all day long. His song goes like this:

Mama, I love you.
Mama, I love you.
Yea, Yea, Yea!
Then repeat those three lines over and over.

I must say I LOVE his song even after hearing it all day long.

First Dentist Appointment

2011-02-02T16:36:00.000-08:00

Colton went to his first dentist appointment today. To say that he hated it would be an understatement. All day today we have been getting him excited to have the dentist brush his teeth. When arriving at the dentist he was prepared/ready to meet the dentist.

The dental assistant walked Colton back to the room and helped him sit on the chair.

Then Colton realized what was really going on and he wasn't going to have anything to do with it. After much convincing he finally let her brush his teeth (aka clean his teeth), but only if mommy was holding him and he was playing daddy's ball game on his phone.

Off to x-rays he went. I think he cried loud enough that everyone in the building and probably next door could hear him. The only way we got the x-rays was if daddy was holding him and the nurse forced his mouth open. When the dental assistant was trying to convenience him to take the x-rays she told him that the film was an x-ray cookie. After the x-rays were done and we were back in our room he asked me where his cookie was. Too cute! I guess he was listening even though he was crying at the top of his lungs.

To calm Colton down we gave him his reward (okay really his bribe) a new Thomas The Train remote control train. He was so excited for it and thought because we gave it to him that it was time to go home.

Colton wasn't happy with us when the dentist walked in. Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of him with the dentist because it took both Spencer and I to hold him down for the exam. We found out through the exam that Colton has an extra tooth. He should only have 20 baby teeth and has 21. Although it isn't to common the doctor isn't concern about it. He said that most of these kind of teeth fall out and an adult tooth doesn't replace it. If for some reason another tooth replaces his baby tooth he will need to have it pulled. The dentist gave Colton and a new tooth brush and Buzz (from Toy Story) floss, and sent him on his way.

All we can say is that we are grateful he doesn't have to go back for another six months.

January

2011-01-31T02:55:00.000-08:00

January has been a very slow month for us. We spent many of our nights going to either UVU or Utah Flash basketball games. We have really enjoyed going to the games as a family. Colton looks forward to going too. Most days he will ask us if we are going to go see basketball.

This month, Spencer was officially offered a position with Xactware. He will still be working as a Tech Support Agent for them but now he will be working for Xactware and not the temp agency he has been working with since being hired on. With this offers brings a good raise, potential bonuses and health issuance. Xactware has been a good company to work for and we are excited that now Spencer will be a actual employee. At the beginning of the month Spencer prayed about school and made the decision to take this semester off. He will be auditing Brandon Sanderson's class at BYU this semester and felt like taking on another class was to much for him to handle. Spencer continues to spend time writing his book. This month he has made great progress with it. He has come up with some great ideas that will make his book a must read for sure.

I have had a very relaxing month. Now that I am only going to school part time I feel like I have all the time in the world. I have been able to keep my house clean, play with little man, spend more time with Spencer, go to the gym, and simply enjoy life. This month I have loved being able to be more of a stay at home mom. Through out the days I try to enjoy every minute I have with Colton. I realize that soon he will be going to school and I wont get as much time with him. I know I say it all the time but it true, I love being his mommy.

Colton is the light of our lives. He is such a bundle of energy, always on the move doing something. Him and I have continue doing preschool through out the week. Colton enjoys learning and I love teaching him something new. This month we have focused on helping him develop his vocabulary. Sadly he is not on the same level as his peers, but with extra help he will catch up. He has worked really hard on learning new words. We are proud of him for trying so hard.

(I am starting to blog more throughout the month. I felt like I was missing important events/things that I want to have recorded. If interested you can scroll down and read the other posts I have done this month.)

UVU Basketball Games

2011-01-06T20:40:00.000-08:00

The past month we have gone to a number of Utah Valley University Men's basketball games. We started going to the games in hopes of winning the $1,000 giveaway for students who attend the games. Each game we go to we get an additional ticket for the drawing. We are up to nine ticket between the both of us. Hopefully at least one of us wins the money this season.

It has taken all season for Colton to warm up to Willy the Wolverine, UVU's mascot. The last game we went to with Jared and his kids Colton decided Willy was okay and gave him a hug. He even let willy put him on his shoulder for a picture.

No those pink boots are not Colton's. He wanted to try on his cousin Savanna's boots and Willy just happen to come see Colton while he was wearing them

I caught a shirt at the game that was the same as mine. I decided to give it to Jaxon, he was excited that I gave it to him.

Many of the games we have gone to UVU has played well. The last game we went to UVU doubled the other teams score. Win or lose the games are fun, but come on winning is so much better. We really enjoy going to the games as a family.

California

2011-01-06T19:45:00.000-08:00

We arrived in California on Thursday morning, December 30th, after a very long and somewhat scary drive in a bad snow storm. It took us 17 hours to get there when it should have taken 13-14 hours. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and catching up with Jessica and Robby.

Friday afternoon we headed to San Fransisco where we planned to bring in the new year. After arriving we headed to Pier 39 for lunch/dinner. Right next to where we ate there was an arcade that had old school arcade games. We all had fun playing the games, but not as much as Colton. He loved riding the mechanical horse and bowling. I think he would have loved to stay there all night.

While in San Fransisco we were able to ride the trolley. This was the highlight of the night for Colton. I have to admit it was pretty fun. Although Colton was excited to ride the trolley he was a little nervous. He talked non-stop about the ride for the rest of the evening.

We got Colton a sword that lite up, he loved running around waving it around. Everyone thought that he was so cute, even one guy gave Colt an extra sword.

By the end of the night Colton was so exhausted that he feel asleep on Spencer's shoulders. We ended up deciding to driving across the bay instead of staying downtown due to overcrowding to watch the fireworks. It was quite an amazing firework display over the Oakland Bay Bridge.

We spent Saturday, New Year's Day, recovering from our very late night in San Fransisco. We relaxed for most of the day then went out to eat later that day for dinner.

We enjoyed spending time in Old Sacramento on Sunday. Old Sacramento is a part of Sacramento that looks like vintage western Americana. There are over twenty vintage trains there that Colton loved seeing.

We headed home on Monday. We were grateful that our drive home went smooth and we were able to make it home in good time. We enjoyed our nice and relaxing trip.

December

2010-12-27T11:58:00.000-08:00

Colton and I were able to go on our annual semester ending date towards the end of December. I decided to take him to Chuck- E- Cheese for pizza and some fun playing games and riding the rides. We even decided to invite daddy to join us for a few minutes during his lunch break. We spent the majority of our time playing Skee ball. I loved seeing Colton's excitement when he would get a ball in one of the pockets. I loved going on a date with the cutest little man out there. I really miss spending as much time as I would like with Colton through out the semester..

This year we went with the Huffaker's to go see Santa. Colton was so funny about seeing him this year. He talked non-stop about him but once it got time to sit on his lap he wanted nothing to do with it. He was okay talking to Santa as long as I was holding him. He was so cute telling Santa that he wanted him to bring him a train and candy. After seeing Santa, Spencer and Colton went on the Mini-Polar Express train ride. The train went on a small ride around the mall. This was by far Colton's favorite part of the night.

Christmas was perfect this year. It started off with a very fun Christmas Eve. During the day I helped Colton write a letter to Santa. He insisted on wearing his Dragon costume from Halloween for most of the afternoon. I had to laugh at the fact that he was writing Santa a letter in his Halloween costume. Later on that evening my parents and Jared and his kids came over for some fun. We watched the Polar Express, played games, then went and looked at Christmas lights. My parents have a tradition that they spend the night on Christmas Eve at one of their children's home. This year we were lucky enough that it was our year to have them over. Colton was so excited for Santa to come that he had the hardest time falling asleep.

We woke up Christmas morning around eight. Colton was excited to wake up grandpa and grandma so he could see what Santa had brought him. When seeing the desk Santa gave him he didn't show a lot of excitement, but once he saw that Santa gave him his own 2-liter of soda in his stocking he was excited. It took Colton a few minutes to get into opening presents, but once he did we couldn't stop him. Every present he opened until he got to opening his train was a train or candy (the two things he asked Santa for.) Lets just say he was excited when he saw his train.

After opening presents Jared and his kids came back over for breakfast. To go along with our new family tradition of having a traditional Christmas meal from another country we had a German breakfast. We had German Pancakes with Buttermilk Syrup, Bauernfrühstück (basically an omelet on steroids.) Our breakfast turned out great and we plan to make it again.

Here are the recipes if anyone is interested in them:

German Pancakes with Buttermilk Syrup
From the kitchen if: Allrecipes.com
Category: Main Dishes Servings: 8

German Pancakes:
6 eggs
½ tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 T. butter or margarine, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt

Buttermilk Syrup:
1 ½ cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
¾ cup buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup butter or margarine
confectioners' sugar
2 T. corn syrup

Place the eggs, milk, flour and salt in a blender; cover and process until smooth. Pour the butter into an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish; add the batter. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine the first five syrup ingredients; bring to a boil. Boil for 7 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Dust pancake with confectioners' sugar; serve immediately with the syrup.

Bauernfrühstück (Farmer's Breakfast)
From the kitchen if: www.globalgourmet.com
Category: Main Dishes

6 slices bacon
6 eggs
1 T. butter
½ tsp. salt
1 onion, chopped
freshly ground black pepper
4 potatoes, cooked and finely diced
¼ cup milk

In a frying pan, fry the bacon until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towel. Remove the bacon fat from the frying pan, add the butter and saute' the onion until soft. Add the potatoes and brown lightly. Beat the eggs lightly and add the salt, pepper and milk, and finally the chopped bacon. Pour the egg mixture over the onions and potatoes and stir occasionally until cooked.

Christmas afternoon we headed over to Spencer's parents so that Colton could see his grandparents. Colton had fun playing with his papa. After spending some time there we headed home for a nap before we went over to my parents for a nice dinner and games. We had a very fun Christmas, and yes Colton got very spoiled by everyone. But I guess when he is as cute as he is it's hard not to spoil him.

Unfortunately, I took my camera to Spencer's parents but I forgot to take pictures. This picture is of Colton testing out our new portable DVD player on the way up to their house.

Spencer enjoyed his class, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, this semester. The last day of class his teacher asked him to sign a release form for Steven Covey to publish some of his paper in his upcoming book. Spencer is proud of himself for getting his first 4.0, meaning that he got an A in his class. I am proud of him for working so hard in his class and doing as well as he did. Spencer has still been working on writing his book. He has hit a writers block over the past few weeks. He was able to figure out a key element of the story line which has helped with his writers block.

I couldn't be anymore excited that the semester is over. This past semester has been the hardest semester I have had since I started school. Not only was the curriculum difficult in two of my class, but I felt like I could never get caught up from my etopic pregnancy. I was able to do better in my classes then I thought I would, but I still didn't do as well as I would have liked. Next semester we have decided to have me go to school part time so that I can help Colton be prepare for starting preschool soon. I am looking forward to having more time that I will now have with only going part time.

Colton has found a love for letters. He loves to point out letters and ask us to tell him what letter it is then he will repeat after us. We are proud of Colton for working so hard on learning new things. This month he has decided that he likes Elmo. He enjoys watching Sesame Street where he has to have his stuff animal Elmo sit by him to watch his show. Most days we have a Sesame Street marathon, which we don't mind because he is learning a lot from it.

We are looking forward to our upcoming trip to Sacramento in a few days. Check back in a week or so to hear all about our fun adventures there.

November

2010-12-01T11:39:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of the month Colton, Spencer Huffaker, and I participated in the 5k Adoption Walk with Me walk in Salt Lake. This walk was required for me to complete my required service hours for my social work class. The walk was a fun event to attend, especially being able to take my little guy and nephew with me. My nephew was able to help hold the banner that lead the walk which he thought that was awesome. I enjoyed watching families who have adopted celebrating their families and raise community awareness of adoptions.

We had a lot of fun putting up our Christmas tree this year. Towards the begininng of November Grandma Pranger gave Colton a train to put around our Christmas tree. We ended up putting up our tree the second weekend of November because of how persistent Colton was about playing with his new train, which made us break our rule. Colton was daddy's big helper and helped Spencer put the lights on the Christmas tree. I especially enjoyed putting our new decorations that we purchased last year on our tree, surprisingly Colton enjoyed helping me also. He was so excited to put his new football ornaments that he picked out for his ornament this year on our tree. The best part of it all for him was when the train was up and he got to finally play with it.

Spencer made a Hawaiian flavored turkey this year for Thanksgiving. From what I hear it turned out great. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it when it was done. We spent Thanksgiving day with my family. We had a yummy dinner, and had fun playing games and mapping out our plan of attack for Black Friday. We started off at the Walmart mid-night sale; wow too busy. Things got heated while waiting in to line to check out . A guy thought he was in charged and blocked our line from checking out because he felt like our line wasn't a true line. What ensued was a heated exchange between Jared, my brother, and him. We had to get management and a police officer involved to solve the issue. In the long run management made it right with us. Our line was all checked out before the surfer wannabe boy was done. After Walmart we headed to IHOP to wait out the few hours we had before the next sale. Spencer stayed at Walmart for their 5am while the rest of headed to Shopko to wait outside in the FREEZING cold. All in all we had a lot fun shopping and look forward to next year.

With fall hitting so hard Spencer failed misserably on his goal of writing 50,000 words in a month. We kept him more busy this month than he would have liked. Spencer still works on his book when he has time but also spends a lot of time reading other authors works. He says it helps him learn how to be a better writer (I think it's an excuse to get more books.) He has had a huge amount of success lately winning free stuff off of twitter giveways. Now only if he could win something good for me or at the company party coming up.

This month I finished my remaining hours at LDS Family Services. It is a bit sweet feeling. I have loved my time with them, but I am looking forward to having more time to spend at home. I am reaching the end of my semester which mean lots and lots of studying for finals and final projects. I am definitely looking forward to Christmas break towards the end of December.

Colton and I have started doing preschool during the days. This month I have been teaching him colors. So far he has learned the colors red, yellow and purple. We are proud of him that he has been able to work so hard and learn these colors. Colton has really responded well to having preschool, he looks forward to it daily. I love being able to teaching him something and seeing that he has learned it. Colton is getting excited for Christmas, and loves seeing Santa or Mr. Ho Ho as he calls him. We are looking forward to enjoying the Christmas season with him this year.

October

2010-11-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

Hoping that this month would go smoother then last month didn't go as well as we hoped. The first week of October Spencer was in a car accident. Spencer went to a local grocery store while on his lunch break. After Spencer was out of his parking stall an older guy back into him. Spencer experienced pretty severe whiplash that he has been seeing a chiropractor for all month.

I was unable to decorate Colton's nursery the way that I wanted to due to being put on bed rest two or three days before we moved into our home. So Spencer and I decided that it was time to redecorate his room, plus Colton fell in love with the entire sports decor. Colton and I painted his room. He loved that I let him help me paint his room. He actually did I good job of listening and only painting where I told him too. It was fun changing his room into a room that he absolutely loves. He has to show anyone, no matter who it is even the plumber, his new room when they come to our house.

We celebrated Spencer's 27th birthday this month. We decided to have Spencer take the day off so we could spend time as a family. We went out to eat at Chili's for lunch (due to Tacanos being closed for remodeling), took a nap with Colton, had a home cooked dinner Spencer's style, then had some friends over for nothing else but Better then Sex Cake (Spencer's favorite and a birthday tradition.) Spencer had a great birthday.

Colton went with daddy to get his new movie "How to Train Your Dragon" at the midnight release. Spencer and Colton watched this movie 4 or 5 times while in the movie theater; they both fell in love with it. Colton was SO SO excited to wake up and go get his new movie. Later on that day daddy and Colton built a fort and had a camp out in the front room to watch "How to Train Your Dragon.”

We had a great time craving our pumpkins from our garden. Colton thought daddy was awesome for craving him a dragon pumpkin.

Halloween was a great day for us. We started off the day with an awesome party for the grand kids at Grandpa and Grandma Pitcher's house. During the party there was a treasure hunt, some fun arts and crafts, and a delicious lunch. My mom sure knows how to throw a party for a group of young children. After the party we headed out trick or treating with the Bird family. We made it to 8 homes before the thunder hit bringing with it a gush of rain. By the time we got back inside we were all drenched. Once the rain let up Colton went back out trick or treating with the Huffaker family. He LOVED trick or treating. He would race his cousins up to the door so that he could knock on the door first. Then once the door was opened he said, "trick or nanny, tank tou (translated to trick or candy, thank you.)" We loved seeing how much Colton enjoyed himself. He was too cute! After trick or treating we took Colton around to visit his Grandpa and Grandma Pranger, and our friends the Bowlers.

Spencer continues to spend most of his extra time on writing his book. His book is coming along very well. In November he will be participating in NANOWRIMO, which is a national contest to write 50,000 words during the month of November. He has had some good feedback on the parts he has written so far including a professor that read it and is an editor for Franklin Covey. She told him he is extremely talented and his first
drafts are better done than many 2^nd or 3^rd drafts she has read. He absolutely loves his new found talent and has high dreams for his books. If you are curious about his writing feel free to let him know and he will send you a section of this book. Even though he loves to write I can’t help but give him a hard time for turning into a geek. He is enjoying his one class at UVU, he is in no big hurry to blow through school; he really just wants to enjoy the journey which is important to him.

For me October has been filled with school, being a mom and wife, and some more school. My social work class requires me to do 20 hours of service within the social worker field. I have chosen to do my service hours for LDS family service within their adoption agency (exactly what I want to be when I graduate.) This month I have done a lot of my required hours. I have really enjoyed my time with them and feel like my major is perfect for me, even if I won't make any money doing it.

This month Colton has enjoyed learning sounds for different animals. Colton's potty training is going great. He pretty much has it down now. We were worried with how much he has been sick lately that he would digress, but he has done wonderful. Due to the movie "How to Train Your Dragon" Colton has been obsessed with dragons and dinosaurs.

September

2010-09-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

September has been a harder month for our family.

As many may already know I went in for an emergency surgery the end of August due to a Ectopic Pregnancy or also called Tubal Pregnancy. It took me around two weeks to heal from my surgery. Although we wish our situation was different Spencer and I have come to terms with our loss and have been able to find peace. There are still some hard days, but overall we are doing better then we expected. This trial has been a hard trial to endure, but we are grateful for all the blessing that have come from it.

We celebrated one of our favorite holidays in our family this month, Happy Beaver Day (Oregon State's first football game of the year.) I don't know how Spencer did it but somehow he passed on his love for football to Colton. He loves watching football with daddy and will make the hand motion for each call with daddy. Most mornings when Colton wakes up he will now ask us if he can watch football. Spencer is excited to have a new football buddy.

This month I won two tickets to the Grand AM Rolex sport car series race. We had a fun spending time as a family. Colton loved watching all the race cars speed by us. While at the race and since then Colton loves to tell anyone that will listen that cars go Vroom while doing the hand motions. It was fun watching him enjoy the race.

We harvested the remaining of our garden this month. We couldn't believe how much stuff we were able to harvest. We were most excited about how many pumpkins we got out of our garden, 18 beautifully round and most of them were pretty big.

Colton spent the last half of September being pretty sick. After a week of terrible diarrhea Colton started throwing up blood. After calling his pediatrician we decided to take him to the emergency room. When arriving at the hospital we were told that his situation could potentially be very serious. The doctor ran multiple blood test, took some x-ray's and gave him a IV due to dehydration. After four hours we found out that he had a tear in his esophagus which caused him to throw up blood. The doctor couldn't pin point exactly where the tear came from. It may have been due to him trowing up, but he just didn't know. The only way to repair the tear was to prevent him from throwing up. He was prescribed anti nausea medicine and sent him home. While in the emergency room Colton got spoiled. The nurses gave him a new sippy cup, a BYU blanket (which I was surprised that Spencer allowed him to have due to his dislike for BYU), a new teddy bear, and a lot of crayons and stickers. Colton was such a trooper and we are grateful that his situation wasn't as serious as we original thought. I hate seeing him in pain, it breaks my heart.

Spencer has spent a great deal of time writing his book. He is now 1/20th of the way done with his six hundred to eight hundred page book. This month he has been able to go for a couple of book signing for one of his favorite authors Brandon Sanderson. He has been able to get to know Brandon better and get some writing advice from him. Spencer is happy to be able to find such a good role model for him.

I am now up to full strength and have enjoyed spending time at the gym the last half of the month. Colton has also enjoyed spending time at the day care at Gold's Gym which makes it easier to leave him. School has been really hard on me. I have had to spend ALOT of time getting caught up due to missing a week from surgery. I am unfortunately not doing as well as I wish I could be. Hopefully now that I am caught up I will start doing better.

Colton's personality is really starting to show. He is one independent and funny kid. He refuses to allow us to do anything for him. He will say, "I do" and go about trying to do whatever he is trying to do his own way. He also refuses to call himself me. When seeing pictures of himself he will point to himself and say you (kind of sounds like Jew.) He loves to look at all the pictures on our digital frame and name whoever is in the pictures. He is actually really good at naming them. Colton has decided that he loves to sing. You can't understand what he is singing, but it is fun listening to him.This month Colton has decided that his daddy is a super hero. Daddy can fix anything, do anything and is pretty darn awesome. He talks about his daddy none stop through out the day while Spencer is a work.

New Perspective on Life

2010-09-02T13:48:00.000-07:00

As many may already know this past Monday afternoon I experienced severe abdominal pain. The pain was so severe that I ended up in the ER. After running some tests it was determined that I was experiencing a Ectopic Pregnancy or also called Tubal Pregnancy. (This was the first time we had heard anything about being pregnant.) Through an ultrasound we were able to see that I had severe internal bleeding due to blood vessels rupturing. I had to go in for an emergency surgery to remove my fallopian tube along with the baby.

While in the hospital we were told that if I had waited much longer that this pregnancy would have killed me. When hearing a statement like that it made me reflect on life. I have a wonderful husband that loves me for who I am, and would do anything for me. I also have a precious little man who is my pride and joy, and he loves me just because I am his mommy.

I am left feeling empty longing for the baby we lost. For now I am only left with the hope that someday I will be able to meet and hold our baby. With only one fallopian tube I am now faced with the possibility that I may never have the chance to bring another child into our family. This is a hard possibility to face. I loved bringing Colton into this world. I loved feeling him move and having the opportunity to bond with him before he was born. Since he was born I have loved every minute of it. I look forward everyday to seeing his smile and hearing him tell me that he loves me. I love being his mom. I long to have that experience again. However, I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with the wonderful son I do have. If Colton is all I will ever have the opportunity to have then I will still be grateful.

I am grateful for this trial we are going through because it has shown me how much love I have for those close to me. It has also taught me to live for every moment, don't wish my life away

August

2010-08-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

August has been a quite and relaxing month for us.

Colton and I thoroughly enjoyed a mommy-son day out on the town this month. Colton was such a trooper during July when I was busy doing school work. So I decided to take him out and spoil him rotten (oh did he get spoiled rotten.) First we went to Wal-mart where he got to pick out a brand new toy. If I would have let him I think he would have bought the entire store, he wanted everything. After picking out three perfect toys (remember I said he got spoiled rotten) we went to McDonald's where he enjoyed a Happy Meal. After lunch him and I headed to the movie where we watched the new Shrek movie, "Sherk Forever After." Somehow Colton talked me into getting him one of the kids meals there too (okay it wasn't hard.) He loved having his own pop corn, treat and drink. After the movie we headed to Cold Stone for both of our favorite dessert, ice cream. After eating our delicious fudge brownie sundae we headed home exhausted and needing a nap.
We decided to potty train Colton during my break from school. Colton and I made a potty poster, we bought some gummy worms and bears and mentally prepared ourselves for this monumental event in Colton's life. The first two days of potty training Colton didn't seem to understand, but by the third day he started to grasp the concept and by the fifth day we had his first no accident day in which he earned his first prize of Wall-E underwear. Overall he is still doing well weeks later with only a few accidents every now and again. We are so proud of Colton, and have loved seeing how proud he is of himself.
Also this month Spencer's work, Xactware, had a work party up at Sundance. This party had more things to do then one person could ever do. When we first got to the party Colton got to ride a pony, which of course he was scared of. After that Colton got to make a bug box and a new bracelet, and got his face painted like a doggy, or goggy as he says it. With the party being at a ski resort we were able to ride the ski lift. At first I was very nervous having Colton ride on the ski lift, but after awhile I was able to relax. This ride was our favorite part of the party. After the ride we ate dinner then watch a concert by Ryan Shupe and The Rubber Band. We were proud of Colton for not having an accident while at the party.

At the end of the month we were able to get a killer deal on season passes to Seven Peaks, Orem Owlz, Utah Flash, and Trafalga. We are excited to start using our passes.

Spencer has enjoyed a slow month. He is looking forward to going back to school where he will be taking one class.

I have loved my break from school. I loved having time to spend with Colton, I have really missed spending time with my boy. I spent some time deep cleaning our house, and getting some projects done that I have been wanting to accomplish for awhile now. This month I found out that I got a 4.0 for the past summer semester. I was excited when I saw my grades. I will be going to school full time this fall. I have four classes this semester with one of them being my first Social Work class. I am excited to finally take this class.

Potty training has taken up most of Colton's time this month not giving him much time to learn anything else. He was excited when we went and exchanged his coins from his crayon bank because he had enough money to buy four new dvd's (including his favorite right now, Wall-E.)

July

2010-08-08T20:13:00.000-07:00

Our 4th of July weekend was super busy, but a lot of fun! On Friday the 3rd we held our annual BBQ. We had over forty people come this year, which made the night even more fun. After eating dinner we watched the fireworks from the Stadium of Fire while lighting fireworks of our own (which Colton was scared of the entire time.)

Sunday the 4th we had another BBQ with some friends of ours, Becky and Kenny Steeves, and Derek and Becky Cramer. Once again we had a lot fun eating and lighting fireworks. That evening after our friends went home we all headed to the parade route to save our spots for the parade. Colton and I made it to two o'clock before we crashed. Spencer stayed the entire night.

The next morning Colton and I rode my bike to meet my family and Spencer to watch the parade. The parade was Colton's favorite part of the entire weekend. He enjoyed dancing to the music from the bands, and waving at all the pretty women on the floats. That evening we had yet another BBQ with the Golding where we watch a wonderful firework show. Colton never got used to the fireworks like we thought he would. He watched all three firework shows with a blanket over his head. Colton and his cousin Olya were inseparable the entire weekend. Wherever Colton was Olya had to be with him. I loved watching both of these cute kids bonding.

The end of July we attended the Golding Family Reunion that was held at Diamond Camp ground in Spanish Fork Canyon. We were able to get some much needed rest. Although I don't think Colton sat down (other then when he was sleeping) the entire weekend. He had so much fun chasing his older cousins and doing all of the fun activities my Aunt Calleen planned for all the kids. Spencer and I enjoyed experimenting with cooking in our dutch oven, which we cooked almost every meal in. We had so much fun camping we are planning another camping trip in a few weeks.

Spencer is loving his new job, and Colton and I are loving his new schedule. He has become well known in his company for high achievements already. We are so proud of his hard work. This month he has spent a lot of alone time with Colton so that I can do my homework. They have a wonderful father-son relationship that I love to watch. Also this month he has been working with a academic counselors on preparing himself to go back to school.

Lets just say I have been WAY to busy this month. With the summer semester coming to a end I had to get cracking on my online classes. With all the IHC work we have done this summer and being a mom, my studies were put on the back burner. In the last month and a half I read around 1050 text book pages, took 8 test, wrote 8 essay and prepared/gave one five minute oral presentation. Onto of all of that Spencer and I worked 208 hours on the IHC homes around the neighborhood. Even with the huge workload I think I may have been able to pull off a 4.o. I am grateful for the break I now get from school for the next three weeks. I plan on enjoying every minute I can.

Colton is getting smarter everyday. He loves to learn new words, and is becoming a really good talker. He is also turning into a very sweet little man with so much love to give. I love his big bear hugs that he gives me through out the day. His new thing is that he has to say "I love you" longer and louder then anyone else. He loves having "I love you" wars with anyone that will go along with him. Colton is such a fun loving kid that is so much fun to be around. How did I get so lucky to be his mom? Who knows but I am keeping him, forever.

June

2010-06-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

Our month started off with a fun family camp out in our backyard. We put up our tent, roasted marshmallows for smores on our grill then played card games before going to bed. To our surprise Colton slept exceptionally well in the tent.

Spencer and Colton went on a father-son campout with Papa Pranger, and Teagan. The boys had fun running around hitting balls with their croquet sticks all night long. All four of them made a turtle dessert in the Dutch Oven that turned out quite delicious. Surprisingly both the little boys went to bed with no issues. Colton and Spencer had fun going on their first father-son campout.

This month as a family we conducted a donation drive for items needed at Primary Children's Medical Center. For my psychology class I was asked to do a service project in my community. As a family we decided to have a donation drive in Boston's name who recently passed away. I was humbled by all the donations we received. Boston’s mom Katie, Spencer, Colton and I went to Primary Children’s to deliver the items. I was filled with emotions when seeing how beautiful the young patients were. While dropping off the items I noticed a young boy, not much older then Colton, going for a wagon ride with his dad. Excitement was beaming from ear to ear. This moment made all the hard work of putting together the donation drive worth while.

Spencer enjoyed a nice lazy Father's Day. Colton and I barbecued him a nice T-bone steak. After attending church we went and visited our father's.

We went with the Pranger's to the Strawberry Day's Rodeo. We all had fun, but especially Colton. He loved watching all of the events, and playing with his cousins. We loved hearing Colton try to make all the sounds of all the different animals.

Spencer started a new job working for Xactware in Orem. He has been there for less then a week, but so far he has really enjoyed it. Colton and I have loved his new schedule that allows him to be home at nights with us. At the beginning of the month one of the gentleman Spencer had the privilege to teach and baptize down in Guatemala while on his mission sent him the following message.

Spencer-
Hi Spencer, this is Guillermo, Guillermo Barrios from Nueva Florida, Estaca Bosques de San Nicol... See Moreás. I was baptized in June 19, 2004. After that, I served a mission at Honduras Comayagüela. Because of you and alder Brent Schultz, many families were baptized too. I'm now married and sealed on a Temple for etermity. I was called by the Centro America Area Precidecy as a consellor for the MTC Guatemala and now I have the chance to perpare new elders for Centro America so they can help others to received their own answer about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and become members fot his Church. Thank you very much for your help adn example. I hope you remember me.

(This is a picture of Guillermo Barrios while on his mission; unfortunately,
Spencer didn't have any pictures of him from his mission.)

Spencer was shocked to hear from him or really to hear back from anyone that he had helped while on his mission.

I have been extremely busy with school and all my responsibilities around the house and neighborhood. I love school, but it is really hard right now for me to be motivated. I don't have a lot of time to do much of anything but school, IHC work and being a mom, but somehow this month I had an opportunity to spend a day crafting with my sisters and mom. I loved spending the day relaxing and spending time with my family.

Colton turned two this month! We can't believe our little boy is already two. Seriously, where did the time go? I took Colton to his two-year-old check-up and he is now 29.63 lbs (70.61%), 35.5 inches tall (79.65%), and his head is 20.5 inches (lets just say his head is off the charts.) We have one big two year old boy. We celebrated Colton's birthday by having a "Up" themed birthday party. The movie "Up" is Colton's favorite movie, so we thought it would be perfect for his party. Spencer, Melissa, and I made Colton his birthday cake. After one cake destroyed, midnight trip to the grocery store, and staying up until 2am, we had one adorable cake. On the morning of his birthday Spencer made him a special smiley face pancake with chocolate chips. He thoroughly enjoyed it. Colton had a lot of fun at his birthday party where he got spoiled.

Colton,

Happy birthday my little man. It seems like it was just yesterday that daddy and I were anxiously awaiting for your arrival. One of my fondest memories of your birth was when your daddy put your cheek to mine (I was unable to hold you because of having a c-section.) It's hard to believe that it has been two years since that wonderful day. You are becoming a wonderful little man.

Colt, you are the sweetest kid I have ever met. Constantly you are telling your dad and I that you love us, and giving us kisses (your kisses are the best in the world.) I look forward every day to hearing you say, "Mama, I luv you." You are so friendly to everyone you see. I love how you say hi to everyone that passes us while at the store. You really know how to light up the world wherever you go.

You LOVE watching movies, especially "Up." Some of your other favorite things are: going bye bye, having daddy come home (you love to look out the window and watch for daddy,) going to your grandparents houses, and chocolate milk (oh how you love your chaca milk as you call it.)

I love being your mommy. I thank Heavenly Father everyday for the wonderful little boy he gave me. I will be your sidekick through out your life, just as you are mine now. I love you more then you would ever know.

Hugs and kisses mama's wishes

Love you always,
Mom

May

2010-05-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

Mother's day was a wonderful day for me. Spencer and Colton went above and beyond to make my day special. They started off the day by letting me sleep in , which we all know I LOVE MY SLEEP. Once I woke up they gave me my presents that were just perfect. That afternoon we went to a wonderful sacrament meeting that made me even more grateful to have the gospel in our life's to give us guidance on raising our son. After sacrament meeting we went home to eat dinner before visiting our moms. Spencer made me a Cafe Rio salad with his home made salsa (the best salsa in the world), and a tortilla and dressing that he picked up from Cafe Rio the night before. That evening we spent time with both of our moms. The day I became a mom was one of the best days of my life. I have loved being a mom and am grateful to have a little one call me mom. I am also grateful to have my mom and mother in-law in my life to help teach me along the way.

Also in May, Spencer and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. I can't believe that it has already been five years. We celebrated our anniversary by going to Las Vegas to see The Phantom of The Opera. We thought that seeing the broadway show was fitting for our anniversary since on our first date we went to see the movie. We arrived in Las Vegas on the thirteenth around one. We checked into our hotel at the Rivera then spent a few hours spending time on the strip before heading back to our hotel to get ready for the show. After getting all dressed up we headed to the Venetian hotel, wow, what I beautiful hotel. We were left in awe after seeing how the show was opened. Both Spencer and I enjoyed the show. After watching The Phantom of The Opera we took a gondola boat ride. The Venetian hotel was built to look like Venice, Italy. On the gondola boat ride we went under a replica of the Rialto bridge. While traveling under the bridge our gondolier sang us a Italian anniversary song. It is believed that if you make a wish and kiss under this bridge that your love will last for eternity. So we made sure to make a wish and kiss each other. We ended our night by going out to eat.

The next morning, which was actually our anniversary, we spent some much needed time relaxing in our hotel. That afternoon we played arcade games at the New York, New York hotel. We won some prizes that we knew Colt would love. After playing for around an hour we went out to eat at the Hard Rock cafe there in Las Vegas. After our last California trip Spencer decided to make a tradition to visit an Italian bakery on every vacation we go on. So before we left we found an authentic Italian bakery and got some very delicious cannolies. After being away form Colton for two days I was really starting to miss my little guy. I was so excited to see him when we got home. When we picked him up he was in such a good mood. We could tell that he had fun with his Bird cousins the day before and his cousin Phoenix and Nana and Papa that day.

We planted the rest of our vegetable garden this month. For our garden we had fun coloring signs to put up in it. We love gardening as a family, and look forward to seeing the fruit (vegetable) of our labor.

Spencer is our super hero. Between the Census Bureau and IHC work he is working 50+ hours a week. On top of all that he is a wonderful husband and father. We feel blessed to have him in our lives. With being so busy working Spencer doesn't have a lot time for himself. The little time he does have he is enjoying re-reading his favorite book series, The Wheel of Time. Earlier in the month while Spencer was at work I went to a book signing to get his favorite book War Breaker, by Brandon Sanderson signed for him. He was excited to see it when he came home and saw the book sitting on our book shelf.

I found out this month that I made the Dean's list for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences for the academic year 2009-2010. One year down three more to go. With going to school full time, working part-time, and taking care of Colton I have been extremely busy. I love my life and wouldn't ask for anything more.

Colton has hit his terrible two's with full force. He is one determine kid that will get what he wants when he wants it. I love this character trait of him, and I hope that it is a trait that stays with him through out his life. Another trait I love about him is his sweet loving personality. Through out the day Colton gives us hugs and kisses while telling us that he loves us. Colton's aunt CaraDee gave him some cowboy boots that have become his favorite thing. He will not leave the house without his boots. He wears his boots with shorts, to church, no matter the occasion Colton has to wear his boots. Colton is one funny kid that loves to make people laugh. I can't believe our little man is going to be two next month.