Birthday!

I celebrated my birthday this last Saturday! I'm so old...

But it was a great day! Matt spoiled me, which is always a must, and we were able to do something fun as a family. I tell everyone that Matt's work decided to throw me a birthday party...but in reality they just had their company party that day. It was full of fun blow-up toys, which is joshua's favorite, and good food.

Here are some pictures of what we did. Thanks Matt for making this such a special birthday!





This was my big gift from Matt...although Michael Kors boots should also count...but this baby carrier is my favorite baby accessory ever! The Nashville Zoo has a play place that is 66,000 square feet of fun! I need this to keep up with Joshua and have Samuel comfortably with us. Thanks Matt! I love Petunia Pickle Bottom!



Joshua loved his balloon sword! It was his favorite item, until it died when we got back.





Chester Cheeto was there because Matt works for Frito-Lay.

The whole day though I was thinking about what I was doing last year. I was having a girl's day with Karen & Hillaree. It was so much fun! I miss you both so much! Can't beat a day of shopping, food at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and the General Relief Society's broadcast. Thanks friends for making last year so much fun!

Now I have to live in the 'real' world where the whole world doesn't shut down for conference and I don't get tickets to the Conference center to go see it in person...lame.

Joshua & Samuel

They are already best friends. Samuel laughs all the time at Joshua's sillyness. They are so fun! I love that I have boys! Boys are the best!

We were really scared they wouldn't get along or Joshua would be jealous of Samuel but they are already great friends and you can tell how much they already like each other.

Samuel is the best baby. He sleeps through the night, takes long naps, is always happy, is now teething and one has finally broken through, can almost sit by himself, loves eating Veggies, and he weights a heafty 16 lbs 14 oz...Take that Karen...my little boy is huge! But not really, he's only in the 50% for weight and 40% for height. But he's still growing everyday out of his clothes and we are moving onto the bigger ones all the time.

I love life.

Life gets better too. I am finally leaving this crummy apartment for a better one in December....huzza!!!! No more crazy smoker/smell, crazy people, and oh wait, stalkers because I guess the last person who lived her had some problems with the law/money and constantly have people looking for her.

We were trying to buy a house but we think we will wait to have 20% down instead of 3.5%. Then, we won't feel rushed to find a house, but find the perfect one.

Life is good.

Life In Tennessee

Life is crazy here. It is finally starting to cool down so we have been doing a little more. We mainly spend time at the tiny mall in Columbia, that's where we live, shop at Walmart for fun Car's accessories, and now we got o the Nashville Zoo. We also stalk people's blogs. Kelsey, Joshua LOVES watching Macy.

The Nashville Zoo has a great play place and there is a train ride and carousal that we ride. Mainly we go for the toys and not the animals.


You can barely see Joshua's head, he's behind the girl who thinks I'm waving to her.




Poor Samuel doesn't like the Zoo that much yet. This face pretty much describes how he feels the whole time. But Joshua loves the Zoo...I guess I can't win them all.






Stalking Kelsey's blog...



Joshua at the mall...this is basically the highlight of the Columbian Mall.

To Vilify

Lately I have really wanted to vilify a few people. I wrote some angry posts on my private blog about them. The issue I had with these people is that they were suppose to be my friends. They are members of the church and are good people. Yet they extended an unfair judgement to me about being a stay at home mother. Either that I wasn't accomplishing anything truly important or that I couldn't of possibly gone to college because I already had two children.

Each assumption offended me because I have pride. There, I admit it. I have pride in my accomplishments and hate when people just assume that because I'm a young mother I must not have valued school or my education. Or the opposite, they think I am not accomplishing anything because I am restrained by two children now.

But I realized something that took me 4 post on my venting blog.

It doesn't matter.

I LOVE what I'm doing now and I am the happiest I have ever been. There are hard moments but every smile, giggle, and laugh is worth it.

So when people prejudge you because you are mother or a 'homemaker', know that I stand in solidarity with you. I will laugh and cry with you and in the end I know we will be okay because you are doing what is right.



Have you ever seen Mona Lisa Smile? I love this part from the movie

Joan Brandwyn: Do you think I'll wake up one morning and regret not being a lawyer?

Katherine Watson: Yes, I'm afraid that you will.

Joan Brandwyn: Not as much as I'd regret not having a family, not being there to raise them. I know exactly what I'm doing and it doesn't make me any less smart...

Katherine Watson: I didn't say that.

Joan Brandwyn: Sure you did. You always do. You stand in class and tell us to look beyond the image, but you don't. To you a housewife is someone who sold her soul for center hall colonial. She has no depth, no intellect, no interests...This IS what I want.


A wise teacher once advised me that it doesn't matter what you choose to major in, because you can always go back for more school. School will always be there. The same advise was given to me in the temple by a sealer when Matt & I went to the temple a few weeks ago. You can always have a career/more schooling but a family has a terrible shelf-life.

And now come my quotes from a prophet.

"Men and women often seek to substitute some other life for that of the home; they would make themselves believe that the home means restraint; that the highest liberty is the fullest opportunity to move about at will. There is no happiness without service, and there is no service greater than that which converts the home into a divine institution, and which promotes and preserves family life." Joseph F. Smith 1998


I am the happiest I have ever been. Throughout my school years I was a stressed-out, sleep-deprieved mess. Ask Matt or any of my freshmen roommates. But I'm balanced now. I worked hard in school so I could stay home. I did accomplish something more outside the home and now I'm using those skills to accomplish something greater inside the home.

"There can be no genuine happiness separate and apart from the home, and every effort made to sanctify and preserve its influence is uplifting to those who toil and sacrifice for its establishment." Joseph F. Smith 1998

Labor Day Weekend!

I was so lucky to have my sister Emily come visit me over this break. We met in Nashville and from there we took her to the temple, down-town franklin, and of course we went shopping. I made her spend lots of money and she found some amazing deals! We also saw the Amish community here. But while we partied Matt & Craig went to the BYU game. He had so much fun and LOVED being with the Woll's. Thanks! Here are some pictures of my incredible weekend! Joshua & Samuel will miss "kaig" and "Emmy"