You are getting very sleepy...

You don't have to wear diapers to listen to a good lullaby CD.  These three picks are my favorite for when I need to relax or when it's time to put Jaxon to bed. 

#3- Fisher Price- Jewel Lullaby
This is a really good CD if you like Jewel.  I am not Jewel's number one fan, but her music is pretty good.  It's also hard to find a singer that can actually sing lullabies that are relaxing.  I keep this one in the car to help relax Jax (or myself when I'm driving in bumper to bumper traffic).  Don't worry, I haven't fallen asleep while driving...yet.

#2- Fisher Price- Lullaby Playlist
It's the one with the bear on the cover (that's how I remembered it when I passed it at the store 10 times, until Robie finally convinced me to buy it).  I LOVE this CD.  Listening to lullabies of songs you don't know can be kind of...what's the word...lame.  This CD turns popular modern alternative music songs into simple and peaceful lullabies.  Coldplay- "The Scientist", or Sarah Bareilles- "Love Song" are just a couple.  This one is in the CD player right now, and I love how I can actually sing along in my head to the songs while I rock Jax to sleep at night.

Fisher Price also has an 80's lullaby CD with songs like "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper and "The Logical Song" by Supertramp.  How cool is that?!

#1- A Child's Prayer
This is my favorite.  The only reason the previous CD is in the CD player right now, is because I listened to this one for 8 months straight....every night....sometimes twice every night.  It really is the best though.  It's so relaxing and has the most beautiful collection of LDS primary songs.  I feel at peace when I listen to this CD.  I would recommend it to anyone.

Do you have a relaxing CD you listen to that you love?  I would love to hear about it.

WAHM

WAHM: Work At Home Mom.

A few weeks ago, I applied for a job.  I wasn't too sure anything would come from it, but the very next day I had an interview.  I was pretty nervous.  The interview went well, but then I started to freak myself out in my head if I was ready to take on something new.  Being a mom is hard enough (rewarding, but hard), and I was scared I would not be able to handle being a working mom.  Then, I got the call.  I was hired!

Between nap time, snack time, and nap time again, I have been able to balance working from home so far.  Sure, I may not have time to catch up on Grey's Anatomy anymore, but getting a paycheck is SO much better than watching McDreamy drama.  After being a stay-at-home mom, I never really had the desire to work again, but then life happens and I feel so blessed that this opportunity is providing a little extra income for us right now.

The place I work for is part of the Daily Herald newspaper, and is called Savvy Shopper Deals.  I am helping with their promotions, marketing, and advertising sales.  If they sound familiar, it's because I have probably talked about them before.  Savvy Shopper changed my life.  It is the whole reason I started couponing.  I took a coupon class from Amy, the creator of Savvy Shopper, and ever since I was hooked.  If you have not checked out all the great things they have to offer, go to www.SavvyShopperDeals.com and become a fan of them on Facebook.  You won't regret it.  Being a Facebook fan is awesome too, because you get alerted of all the amazing deals and free stuff companies are giving away.  So, wish me luck and send good vibes as I continue learning to balance a bottle and a phone at the same time. 

All because two people fell in love

6 years ago this weekend, I met a guy.  I was a non-social freshman at BYU who didn't have a lot a friends since I roomed by myself in the dorms.  When a few girls in my hall asked if I wanted to go to a block party, I told them I was already in my pajamas and was probably going to go to bed early for the night.  As I sat in my room, alone, I had a strong feeling that I should stop being boring and go to the party even though I didn't want to.  I quickly put on my Charlotte Ruse jeans and green American Eagle button up top, and I ran down the hall to luckily catch my friends as they were heading down the elevator.

The block party was far away, and none of us had a car.  9pm turned to 10pm, and soon it was 11pm.  We were stranded on a corner in the middle of Provo, and we really had no idea where we were since we were new to the city.  Suddenly, a car with two guys quickly made a U-turn in the street and stopped right in front of us.  The driver looked like a crazy person with his shaggy red-headed curls, and his friend looked too old to be in college.  "Hey girls!  You look lost.  You should get in my car and my friend and I will take you to a fun party," the driver yelled.  I immediately thought this was a bad idea, but surprisingly I wasn't scared from the situation.  That's when I noticed my friends getting into the car.  What were they thinking?!  Isn't this how horror movies begin?  I couldn't just stand there, so into the car I went.

We drove a couple miles and ended up at some girl's birthday party.  I remember that part well, because she was also celebrating the fact that she just got a huge boob-job.  It wasn't a good one either.  Then our crazy red-headed driver told us to say hi to his brother at the party.  His brother was different than I expected.  He had brown hair, a stripped polo shirt on, and he wasn't trying to be the life of the party.  In fact, he kind of stood to the side avoiding being the center of attention.  I introduced myself saying, "Hi, I'm Chelsea."  He smiled and said, "Hi, my name is Robie."  Robie was a name I had never heard before, and I thought it was cool.  I didn't know what to say, because he was kind of cute and before I knew it I blurted out, "Robie- that's a cool name.  Maybe one day I will name my first son after you."  Who says that to someone they first met?!  Well, I did.

Robie and I talked for a bit, until suddenly his red-headed brother told my friends and me it was time to hit up another fun party in town.  I noticed Robie wasn't paying attention to the fact that I was leaving, so I purposely left my purse inside so I would have to come back and get it.  When I returned for my purse a few minutes later, Robie was standing there and asked for my phone number so he could meet up with me later.  The butterflies began.  We swapped digits, and I got back in the red-head's car.  My friends noticed the smile on my face, and they laughed at me saying, "Ohhh....you're totally in love.  You are SO going to marry that boy one day!"  I blew it off, because of course that was never going to happen.

We arrived at the next party, and 10 minutes later Robie had arrived.  We talked a little more, and I excused myself so I could reply to a text I had got.  Next thing I knew, I saw Robie on the balcony, and he was giving some girl a neck massage.  I know we had just met, so I shouldn't have cared, but something made me totally jealous.  I had no idea where it was coming from, but I had to act like I didn't care.  I didn't want to seem like some psycho jealous girl.  So, I did the next best thing and decided to dance with another guy at the party.  That did the trick, because one minute later Robie came over to hang out and talk again.

It was getting late, and I really wanted to go back to the dorms, but my friends didn't seem to care about leaving anytime soon.  I didn't have a car, so I was kind of worrying how I was going to get home.  Robie could see that I was stressing, and he offered to drive me home.  I said sure, but I barely knew this him.  What if tried to kiss me or something worse?  My mind raced with all the possibilities of how the night could end.  We got into his silver 1999 Honda Civic.  I thought it was a nice car, because to me any car was a nice car since I had nothing.  The drive was my favorite part of the night.  He played his favorite songs on his ipod, and we talked about life and stories of our childhood.  We actually had a lot in common.  We pulled up to my dorm hall, and he asked if he could call me sometime.  I smiled and said yes.  Without leaning in for any kind of anything, he simply said bye and I exited the car trying to remain cool and composed.  I walked up to my room, and immediately after shutting the door, all adulthood in me left and I was jumping up and down and giggling like a little girl.  Who was this guy, and why was I acting like this?  I then raced to my Facebook page and made sure my status was set at "SINGLE" just in case he tried to look me up, because everyone knows that is super important.

He called the next day.  We talked on the phone for a few days, hung out together with friends a few days, and became best friends.  Casual dating turned to exclusive dating, and almost 2 years later we were married.  Robie is my best friend, my soul-mate, my husband, my son's father, and my everything.  He works so hard every day working full time, traveling for work, going to school at night, and being an amazing dad.  I still get giddy when I hear the garage open and I know he is home after a long day away from each other. 6 years ago this weekend I met a guy, and I am so happy I didn't stay in my pajamas.

(October 2005- Halloween)

...and I even named my first son after him.

Winter Gear

It snowed yesterday.  Mostly in the mountains, but it did come down in the valley too.  Thankfully it didn't stick.  I took this pic outside my house in yesterday morning.  The fog looked really cool in the mountains.

It usually snows in October every year, but this year my mind was not ready for it.  I wasn't really surprised, but I think a part of my heart died a little knowing the tan lines and picnics were not going to happen again this year.  As Jax and I were out running errands, I realized it was cold and his thin jacket was not doing a good job of keeping him warm.  So, when Robie got home we decided it was time to buy Jax his first winter coat.  We looked a few places, but the best options we found were at Old Navy.  I thought this little peacoat was adorable!

But, we decided to go with a more casual and warmer coat.  I think the one we chose looks so cute on Jax and will go with most of his outfits.  We also got him some navy boots, and 3 pairs of jeans (2 pairs from Old Navy, and one pair of skinny Levi's from Kohl's).  When we got home, we put on his new winter gear and this is what he looked like:

I was dying!  He looked so puffy, cute, and helpless all in one little miniature body.  Luckily, he is growing so fast so he should fit into it all in a couple months.  I couldn't help but think of this when I took his picture:

Love that movie!  Now we are prepared for winter 2011.  Next time snow decided to visit, we will be ready.

9 Months

Wow.  These progression pictures are getting super difficult since they are SO long now and it is hard to fit his whole body in the frame.  He also does NOT want to hold still, so it's like wrangling sheep when trying to get a good picture.  Here are some bloopers from this last photo session to show just how squirmy he is.

 

Only 3 short months until this little boog is one whole year old.  Ugh...it makes my heart hurt to say that, because he is growing up way too fast.  For record purposes (and also for the grandparents) here is what Jaxon has been up to the last month:

• Wears size 3-6 and 6-9 month clothes
• Wears size 3 diapers
• Has 8 teeth (4 on top, 4 on bottom)
• Tolerates fruit now, but it has to be in rice cereal or real fruit cut into small pieces
• Loves puffs and whatever we are eating.  When he's hungry he goes "ooh, ooh, ooh!" until he gets food.
• Weighs 18.5 pounds (15.6 %), and is 29.7 inches long (90.7 %).  His head is in the 79.4 %
• Loves taking baths and always goes after the rubber ducky first

• Cruises all over the furniture or whatever he can pull himself up on
• Crawls super fast and loves playing with the dog food (a big no-no)

• Says "da-da-da" and "ba-ba-ba"
• Thinks it's funny to tear off his bib, take off his socks, or dump milk from his bottle all over himself.  Here he is soaking wet after pushing in the nipple from his bottle and dumping all the milk on himself and his crib.

• Starting to recognize the sound of the garage opening, and gets excited for daddy to come home
• Loves watching the wheel spin on The Price Is Right and Wheel of Fortune
• Loves shaking his head when I tell him NO.

• Absolutely LOVES puppies or any kind of animal or stuffed animal.  Puppies are his favorite though.

No Soliciting Please

Solicitors love my street. I probably get at least 2 solicitors a week knocking on my door trying to get me to buy vacuums, sign up for a magazine subscription, or convert to their religion. I hate solicitors. I have the hardest time saying NO to people. That is probably my biggest weakness, and it gets me in trouble a lot. I got better at saying no when I was pregnant, and solicitors were not a problem. Sometimes those bitchy pregnancy hormones can be a good thing, because when you're screaming like a crazy person, people tend to leave you alone. But now, I don't have that excuse to fall back on, so I have to be a big girl and toughen up when these solicitors come around.

I got a peep hole installed in our front door. It's nice being able to see who is outside before answering the door, but stupid me forgets to use it half the time and that's how you get stuck in a never-ending conversation with the Jehovah Witnesses. (Nice little old ladies, but it took me 3 months to get them to stop coming to my house.)

Sometimes you get the cute little kids with their cookie dough fundraisers who stop by, and who can say no to them...or the girl scouts...they can stop at my house anytime. I also don't mind local charities or high school athletes doing fundraisers. I usually give them a $5 bill to help them out. It's the creepers and the "I won't take no for an answer" solicitors that I just CAN'T STAND.

Two weeks ago, I had the creeper type knock on my door. I forgot to look in the peep hole, and I answered the door. This guy was there and asked me if I use tissues. Tissues? Really? Then he handed me a package of tissues, and told me to wait there for a second. Not to judge, but the guy looked like he just got out of rehab and I got a creepy bad feeling deep down that told me this is not good. I knew Jaxon was playing inside the house, and my mama bear protection instincts were kicking in if this guy were going to try anything shady. It also didn't help that our dogs were attack barking at this guy. Attack barking is different from normal barking. They only attack bark when they feel danger, so that also made me feel a little concerned. The creeper went to his van, where there was another creepy man wearing a hat inside, and he grabbed a giant KIRBY VACUUM box out of the back. I'm still standing there holding the tissues thinking, "A Kirby Vacuum salesman? Really? Don't these guys wear suits? Where is his briefcase or notebook for writing down sales? Why is the box he is carrying all dented and muddy?" The next thing I know, the man was practically up against me saying his manager (the man in the car) wants him to show me something in my house. He never asked if he could come in. He just started trying to walk in my house without my permission to "show me something". And that, ladies and gentlemen, is when I about flipped. Those pregnancy hormones must have made a surprise appearance, because my mama bear instinct kicked in and I pushed back at him saying NO. Still, he tried to get inside saying his manager will be mad if he doesn't "show me something", and that is when I handed him back his creeper tissues and slammed the door in his face. I locked my door and looked out my window to see what he was doing, and he just ran back to his van and quickly drove away. It was weird. Way weird. I had that dirty deep down gut feeling with me the rest of the day. Who knows what could have happened. Maybe he really was a vacuum salesman, or maybe not, but I am glad I wasn't able to find out.

The next day, I decided I was done with solicitors. Done! I printed up a sign, slapped it on some scrapbook paper, hot glued a cheap magnet to the back, and put it on my door. I like having it on a magnet, so I can take it off or change the design later if I want to. So far, it has worked 100%. I'm sure soon there will be someone who will still knock on my door selling the latest trend, but at least now I can just point to my sign and say no (with a smile of course).