Catch Up Time! Easter!

Easter was a lot fun this year. Tyler and I always do each others Easter baskets, but this year we also got to do one for Paxton! Saturday was a busy day for P and I. Tyler had to work. We attempted to go to the city's Easter Egg Hunt and got there 5 minutes late...it had already come and gone! Everyone was redeeming their prizes and stuff already! I met up with some friends who have a little boy that is Paxton's age. Neither of them had been in a swing before, so we put them in the infant swings and they LOVED it! Paxton was giggling and smiling the whole time! Then we had a Relief Society Luncheon which was fun and them my friend came over for a bit to dye Easter eggs! Then Sunday Tyler and I hid each others Easter baskets and enjoyed a completely relaxed day!

Needig to Vent my Stress!

I am starting to feel very overwhelmed lately. I am wrapping up my last couple of lesson plans for the semester, and the topics I have turned out to be some tough themes to plan activities for! I have had to get really creative! I also have to make several more materials for my lessons i.e. a flip book story, an illustrated recipe, felt board story...and more! I also have to compile a video of like a bajillion little video clips to show certain examples of things in preschool. I then need to catch up on my policy book for my administrative issues class which is going to HOURS! I have so much homework to do and it is SO hard to do when Paxton starts banging on the keyboard or complaining because he want me to hold him. Since he has been sick he has become very clingy once I am home from school. Normally  I would just eat that up! I love getting to hold him and play with him and that is ALL I want to do! But the sooner I can finish school the sooner I can have that! I. JUST. NEED. TO. GET. MY. HOMEWORK DONE!!!  I don't know how I am going to do it. I have a feeling that I have a lot of late nights ahead of me. So that's my stress with school...My grandpa also passed away last Friday, which isn't super stressful, but it's still there in my mind, thinking about him and and wondering how my grandma is doing without him. I also just found out that my best friend is going to be moving back to Caldwell in the Spring (May) which really upsets me since I go to her to talk to her about pretty much anything and everything. I don't know how I am going to get through next semester without her! :( Paxton got over having RSV a week ago. Our car is also on it's last leg, so we are trying to find a good deal on a car that we can make payments on. My brother is helping us out on that one since he sells cars. Ugh! Can I just take a break from being a grown up? Can I just be a carefree child again! Can I just have someone make me my meals, buy me my clothes and help me with my homework again? Man! I sure took those years for granted! Psh! And I thought I wanted to grow up SO fast! Ok, ok...I really love getting to have my own rules and my own little family. It can just be so overwhelming at times! If you actually read through all of this, I am sorry. You really didn't have to, but it shows that you care and that really means something to me, especially right now. I guess I am feeling a little lonely these days since I leave in the morning for school and don't get to see Tyler until the evening when he gets home from work, and even then we don't get much time together because it gives me an opportunity to have him watch Paxton while I can give my homework my full attention. Ugh! Homework is ruining my life! (Ok, there is my juvenile teenager rant for you)...but seriously..I am SO ready for a break! Thanks again to those of you who cared to read especially with no pictures ;) I promise I will get something more uplifting up on the next post. I still need to post about my preschool trip! :)

Domestica

I have been trying really hard to be more..."domestic." You know, the dream wife. Well, I am far from that, but I have to pat myself on the back when I learn something new or I do something out of the ordinary. SO-Today's Sunday dinner special was Alaskan Salmon, and FRESH Asparagus with FRESH garlic which means YES I chopped up my own cloves of garlic! I usually just use garlic powder or something simple and quick. I also had no clue what I was doing with the asparagus, so I just kinda winged it. Started out with the asparagus and minced garlic in some oil...not much was happening, so I added some water and some butter and decided I could steam it. It worked! Tyler loved it! And the Salmon was delicious! After a little bit of salt and some pepper, it was perfect. I am pretty proud. Just don't look at my kitchen right now...I don't want to talk about it. :P It's probably the reason I don't cook big like this very often. Maybe when I have more kids and I can have them help me clean up. In other news...I go on a field trip for school next weekend to Salt Lake to tour some preschools! That will probably be my next post. Nervous about how Paxton and Tyler will do at night without me.

Happy Valentines Day!

For Valentines this year, I did 14 days of Valentines for Tyler. They were things I did for him that I don't usually do, like watch Star Wars with him...I watched two with him! haha! He loved to get to scratch off his hearts to see what he would get each day, whether it was a back rub, me making dinner or his favorite candy. Then yesterday, I drove him to Inkom and surprised him by taking him to an authentic Mexican restaurant. I also didn't let him look to see where we were at, so he had NO idea where we were. He LOVED it! Thanks Brielle! I think it is his new favorite! Then I surprised him and took him to his sister's house in Pocatello where we also got to Facetime his other sister Brittany. It was great for him to get to visit some of his family. We had a great night. I was glad I was able to do something special and meaningful for him. He is my eternal Valentine and I wouldn't have it any other way! I have to mention, Mexican restaurants are great for babies! I got to feed him some refried beans, and guacamole! He loved it! They had great service there. So, if you are ever in the mood for good Mexican food or are near Inkom, go to Senior Garcia's! It like the only restaurant in the town, not hard to find. :) Happy Valentines Everyone! I love you Babe!

10 Things You Might Not Know About Me

I saw this on a friends blog and thought I would still the idea because I liked it so much... So here it goes!  10 things you might not know about me.

1. I have 16 siblings! You see, both my parents were married once before and had already had families with them. My mom had 2 and my dad had 5. Then when my mom and dad were married, my little brother and I were in the picture. Well, sadly my parents divorced and each got remarried. My stepmom has 6 kids and my step dad has 2! 2+5+1+6+2=16 siblings! 
2. I love singing in choir, but get really embarrassed singing solo. I can do a duet if I can sing alto, but I don't think I sound very good. But I suppose I must sound OKAY since I was in Madrigals in High School.
3. I love road trips. Especially when I am with someone I could talk to for hours! I loved road trips with my dad. He would always get different flavored sunflower seeds, beef jerky and we would fill our big huge mugs full of soda. Sometimes he would throw in some chips and maybe a candy. No wonder I like road trips with my dad! haha! Just kidding! I really liked the time we had to actually get to know each other more. Even though we lived with each other while I was in high school, we didn't talk much. So I loved these opportunities. 
4. I can be really creative. If you give me a craft, I can make it look really good. I could never tell you in the beginning what I will make. It is a process and I figure it out as I go. I love seeing what I come up with! I just wish I had more materials to make stuff with! They were my favorite activities in YWs!
5. I didn't like my husband when I first met him. He was an obnoxious RM that answered every single question in Institute which drove me nuts! Stupid. I know. Turns out that knowledge that he has of the gospel is what ended up reeling me in. Go figure! ha!
6. I love sports! They come natural to me. In middle school I played basketball, volleyball and softball and loved each of them. Volleyball is my favorite, but it always started at the end of summer when I was visiting my mom while I was in high school, so I did basketball my sophomore year. I miss playing sports and being athletic. It was who I was and wish I could be that person again.  I doubt I will ever be 135lbs again, but I hope to get back to where I was when I got married. I hope to someday get back into shape and do the things really love again.
7. I love pets! When Tyler and I can build our own house, we want some land and have cats, dogs, chickens, horses, a cow...maybe some bunnies! I cannot wait to get to have my animals! Living in an apartment where they don't even allow a goldfish is depriving. At least I can get my fix at preschool...minus the spider ICK!
8. I want to learn tap dancing or clogging, latin dance, and hip hop. I would be in awesome shape if I could learn it all! My sister clogs, maybe I can get her to teach me! Kara *wink wink*
9. I didn't originally want to come to college. I just wanted to work and make money. There was not a single career I was interested in. I applied for BYUI and decided if I didn't get in there, then I wouldn't get in anywhere else. I got in!..Now what? I had to choose a major. I started out with Early Childhood Ed/Special Ed. I LOVED my classes, until it came to having to take the math courses. I couldn't do it. Now I am going to school to be a Professional Preschool Teacher! (It's a lot harder than it sounds)
10. It is REALLY important for me to have time with my friends. Tyler can definitely tell when it has been overdue for some girl time. I start getting fussy and not very motivated. Instead of coffee, I just have to call up a friend and spend some time with them to get my pick-me-up. :) SO...if you EVER want to do something, call me! I WILL drop anything to do something fun. It is a fault and a strength haha. 
Well this was fun and not easy...I'm interested in what I might not know about you! Tell me about it! Post on your blog if you so feel inclined! Thanks for taking the time to read about me! 
Lacie

Thanksgiving!!

      Thanksgiving break was quite eventful. For starters, our car broke down on the way to Boise. We had to get towed to the nearest shop. They told us that it would take 3 to 4 hours to fix the problem and they closed at 5. I think it was about 3pm by the time we got the diagnosis on the car. We had to figure out what we were going to do since they wouldn't be able to get the car fixed that day. I remembered that my former Bishop's family had some kind of family in the area. So I called them up and luckily caught them before they left town for their Thanksgiving. Sister Kener called her sister to see if she was still around and would be willing to take us in for a few hours. Thank goodness, she did. Paxton was so tired from the car ride (he hates being in the carseat and hardly sleeps on road trips). He had only had one nap before we had left that morning. Poor thing. So I was very grateful to have a warm place for him to lie down for a bit. We ended up having to have my Mother-In-Law and Father-In-Law come get us. The family we were staying with fed us dinner (we were so hungry!) and soon after dinner, Tyler's parents got there. We left that morning at 10am and didn't get home until around 10pm I believe. It was a LOOONG day. But we were so blessed to have people there to take care of us and get us to Boise safely.

So many Pies! There were 18 right here and even more still in the 

garage!

     Thanksgiving day was crazy too! Lots of fun though! We had 3 Thanksgiving dinners that we could go to. Tyler's family's, my family's or Tyler's stepdad's family's. We were trying to make it to all 3. Didn't happen. Originally, my family's TG was supposed to be at 11am. We got there and no one was there at the church. I called my dad and he told me the time had changed. Since we were trying to make it to the other ones at 1 and 2, we just decided to go visit my dad at his house for a few minutes before they had to leave. Then we got to Clint's family's TG at 1. (We got the times mixed up for Tyler's family's TG and this one) We were an hour early. And we missed Tyler's family's TG dinner. :( But we just hung out and waited for the family to show up. The food was great and I have to to say, I have NEVER seen so many pies in my life! The picture doesn't even show half of them! It was a lot of fun! Paxton popped his first tooth that day too! Grandma was so excited to have him try out food for the first time. He took it really well. I was planning on waiting another month to feed him solids, but he seemed more than ready for it. So he tried Sweet Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes and Rice Cereal while were at Grandma's house. After Clint's TG dinner, we went over to Tyler's Aunt's house where they had their TG dinner. They were all looking through Black Friday ads (a tradition in the family). LOTS of ads all over the place! haha!

First food

    The next day we went Black Friday shopping for the first time. We had all attempted to pull an all nighter. I lasted the longest, about 2:45 haha. However, this year a lot of stores were open on Thanksgiving night, which made it so we hardly had to wait in any lines. Tyler did most of his shopping online. So most of the shopping we did was me shopping for Tyler's gifts. Tyler's parents took us to breakfast afterward along with Tyler's step brother and step sister. It was SOOO yummy! I got a cinnamon french toast meal!  MMMmmm! 

Paxton with Aunt Mirissa

   The rest of the vacation consisted of playing board games, card games, lounging and watching movies. Playing with Paxton... I loved getting to spend time with Tyler's parents and with his step siblings. They rock! 
   Tyler's brother, Nathan, ended up driving us back to our car in Burley, where we then continued our journey in our own car. I love vacations and visiting family, but it always feels so good to be home and have your own bed and stuff. But I can't wait for Christmas Vaca when we will have more time to visit all the people we want to! :) 

X's and O's from Grandma

Loves from Grandma and Grandpa just before we had to leave

See ya next time!

Paxton's First Halloween!

I realize I am horrible at updating this blog. So here we go again, a few months since the last post! Paxton had his first Halloween. I have to say though, it wasn't the most exciting Halloween. I worked the night of our ward Halloween party and we don't get trick or treaters since we live in an apartment. But we did carve pumpkins, which turned out awesome! And we put our little punkin into a pumpkin. SO cute! *He hated it* I also roasted pumpkin seeds which Tyler LOVED. The were gone by the 3rd day I believe. Here are a few pictures to sum up our Halloween.