Father's Day Entires Due on MONDAY!

Please send your Father's Day makeover entries to makeyouoverblog@gmail.com.  You have until Monday at midnight.   I promise this will be a good one.  New clothes, haircut, style, photo shoot, day kayak rental, etc. Hurry, send in your entries!

image from oprah.com

4 Years of Us

Dating 2005

Funny Facts: Four of of the five of my parent's children are married, and I'm the only one who didn't marry someone from the Pasco Stake.  My sisters both married their first dates in high school (although they didn't get married until after their husband's mission), and my parents were also high school sweethearts.  Luckily I didn't rebel too much, and married someone from the other side of the state.  I believe my three siblings who are married also married their first kisses.  Way to go guys!  I'm also the only one (including my parents) who didn't marry the child of a farmer.  I'm so rebellious!  I was just telling a friend the other day that all growing up I thought I'd marry a farmer because that's all I knew.  I didn't marry a farmer, but I did marry a man with a farmer's heart.  Some of you are wondering what in the world I'm talking about.  Farmers are industrious, hard working, down-to-earth, and just good people.  One day, Kyle and I will have that house in the country that we dream about, I just know it.  You have to have big dreams for them to come true, right?  That's one dream I won't give up on.  

Married May 25, 2006

I think (who am I kidding, I KNOW) my family was worried that I would never get married because I was 23, graduated from BYU, working full time, and no boyfriend in site.  Luckily for me, Kyle moved up from California and I swept him off his feet.  I know it's supposed to be the other way around, but Kyle had a girlfriend at the time, so I had to do the sweeping at the beginning.  A year later, when I was 24, and he was 25 we were married in the Portland Temple.  Time flies when you're having fun, right, babe?  If I said yes, Kyle would probably want to have 9 kids.  He LOVES kids, and not just our kids, he'll love your kid too.  Many times on the way home from church he'll tell me that there's just so many chubby cheeked kids at church that he wants to grab and kiss.  It always cracks me up when he says that.  Whenever we have a family party, Kyle will be the only adult outside playing with the kids.       

Here's to many, many more years of marital bliss...and stubbornness.  You gotta keep things exciting, right?  I love you Kyle.

Hopefully I'll have a picture to post tonight after our hot date.  I'm making Kyle plan it!

One Year Anniversary of the Glasses

This week marks the one year anniversary for Michael wearing glasses.  When he first got them I thought there is no way I'm going to keep them on this child, but sure enough with a lot of hard work and persistence on my part, he wore them and now they are part of who he is.  He still tears them off and throws them down when he's upset, but besides that he wears them great.  His glasses are amazing.  Whoever invented them should win a Nobel Peace Prize because they are truly unbreakable.  It seems like just yesterday I was 8 and half months pregnant fighting with Michael to wear his glasses, wrapping him up in his blanket and sticking him in front of the TV so he would be still and forget he was wearing them.

We are headed to Seattle this week to have the pediatric ophthalmologist check out his eyes for a routine visit.  His eyes still go immediately crossed when he takes his glasses off, or looks over the lenses, but they are perfect while he's wearing them, so we shall see what they have to say.    

Lisa's Final Reveal

Please go over to Make You Over to see Lisa's makeover pictures.  She looks amazing!  I must say, she was so much fun to work with, and so willing to try new things!

Preppy at 11 Months

Preston's name has gone from "Pre Pre" to Preppy.  I think Preppy will stick for awhile.  This picture sums up Preston....CHILL.

Preppy is the sweetest baby.  He is the toughest little guy thanks to his big brother.  Preston can't stand up next to the couch without Michael coming over to knock him down to wrestle.  Preston really does seem to enjoy it most of the time.  If you want to get on Preston's good side just offer him some food.  He will crawl across the room in two seconds flat if he knows you have food.  He spends a lot of time in the highchair, and lucky for me he doesn't climb out like his brother did.  He stays put until I get him out. I used to think that was so weird that mom's could leave their baby in the highchair and they wouldn't crawl out or climb on to the tray.  Now I have one of those babies!

When I look back at blog posts from when Michael was 11 months old, I realize more and more that my boys are opposite!  Preston doesn't say any words yet....little stinker.  Preston and Michael wear the same size in shorts, and I'm sure pretty soon all their clothes will be the same size.  

Sunday with the Grandparents

Is blogging going out of style? I hope not because I'll still be rocking it in 10 years. On Sunday we took a last minute trip up north to visit my grandparents on their farm near Moses Lake. It was my favorite place to go as a child. When I think of my grandparents, I think of homemade cookies, peaches, magnifying glass, spiritual thoughts, an amazing swing set made out of telephone poles, tractors, green boat, a pond, secret hiding places, Schwann's ice cream, chocolate fudge, siphon tubes, pull-up bars, sewing room, gardens galore, a huge willow tree and many, many more things. Everything is just the same as it was 20 years ago when I was young. I think we did or saw most of the things that I just listed. Grandpa tried to give a spiritual thought but Michael kept punching the newspaper that he was reading out of. Sorry Grandpa, maybe when he's 3 he'll be reverent.  I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa were ready for bed after we left.  Michael was all over the place, nothing out of the ordinary.  Michael has been talking about GG's house all week.

Michael and Preston had so much fun while we were there. Oh how I wish we lived on a farm. I think all kids should live on a farm, and all teenagers should work on one. I can dream....

Stormy Night

I walked upstairs and found this. It was a beautiful day today, but is ending with a powerful storm.  I love seeing the world through a child's eyes, and I also love seeing a daddy show his son new things....

To My Mommy

Thanks Mom for raising me right.  Nobody could have done it better.  I was a feisty little girl and not much has changed, so I appreciate all you've put up with.  Too bad I don't have a scanner to scan my favorite picture of us (I'm on a swing at the park at around two years old and she's sitting there scolding me, it's awesome).  As you can see from the above picture, Michael looks just like me.    

Also, sorry I didn't get you a card, but at least I helped picked out some cute clothes for you, right?  (my dad always calls me to have me help him in that department....smart man).  

Love you so much,

Chelsea

Growing Up

My boys are both growing up on me.  Michael is talking so well, and I'm loving it.  He has quite the vocabulary.  Michael really likes my Uncle Ben even though he hasn't been around him very often.  Well there is a deacon in our ward named Ben and a few weeks ago in church (during sacrament meeting) Michael spotted him and yelled out, "Mom, look, it's Uncle Ben!"  Now every time he sees him he tells him, "Hi Uncle Ben."  Hilarious.

Tonight for Family Home Evening (FHE)Kyle told the story of the 2,000 stripling warriors, and then we both told a story about our mother's faith that we remember from our childhood.  Afterwards in the spirit of the stripling warriors.  Kyle taught Michael how to do the Haka (again).  It's so cute.  Before we read the scriptures at night I ask Michael, what's this?  He say's The Book of Mormon....I love it!  

Michael is OBSESSED with Monster's, Inc.  Actually he's way too obsessed with it.  He wants to watch it all the time.  I have to admit during this windy weather when we stay inside all day, he's watched it one too many times.  If I turn it off he throws a huge tantrum.  The type of tantrum where he squeezes the skin on my neck, and gets this look in his eyes that scares even me!  Yes, I admit before I had kids, I said I didn't want my kids watching too much TV.  I STILL don't want my kids watching too much TV.  This week though Michael has probably watched too much of Monster's, Inc. We'll do better next week.

Michael's favorite thing to do is move all the pillows from the living room into the family room.  I have a lot of pillows, so it's annoying, but funny at the same time.  He does it at least twice a day.  You can also find him piling them up and jumping on them.  So much for trying to keep them nice looking.

Michael still loves Preston more than anything, which is a double edged sword. I love it that he wants to be with him, play with him, but I hate it that he wants to wake him up, jump on his back, pick him up and push him down.  He loves to beat up Preston.

Preston is teething and he's having a rough time with it, or maybe it's me that having a rough time with it.  Right now he's got a really bad runny nose.  I hate when my babies get sick, I feel bad for them that I have to wipe their nose. Preston is starting to get pretty attached to having people around him.  He has always been the baby that doesn't want you to leave the room, and it doesn't seem to be letting up.  He is getting so big, and I can't believe my baby is 10 months old.  I am so ready to be done nursing.  He's NEVER had a bottle, and doesn't take a sippy cup.  I swore I'd go until a year, and I'm sticking to it.  Only 1.5 more months, I can do it!!!!!

Preston standing up to things a lot more now, and really getting more mobile.  He even learned how to crawl up the stairs a couple of weeks ago, but I don't let him near those things because he fell backwards and hit his head on the tile.  Oops.  Preston is NOT the sleeper that Michael was/is.  He is doing a bit better though so I should complain, but still it's hard!  Preston's hair only grows around the edges so he looks like an old man, plus he has a funny shaped head right now.  Poor guy.  Good thing he's so dang cute, otherwise I might be worried about his noggin'.  Kyle keeps begging me to cut it (we have done with scissors a few times), and he wants to use the clippers.  Something about clippers just says little boy to me, so I'm holding on.  Plus I like his whispy old man hair.    

 

My birthday was a success.  Kyle got me all of the workout gear that I need (I was in desperate need of some items).  He also arranged to pick up some Schwann's ice cream for me.  He had to meet the guy after work somewhere near our house.  Now that's romantic!  We went to Red Robin as a family that night to get my free birthday burger.  Michael sits still there because he can color.  That boy loves to color.  Both boys loved watching people get sung to.  By the way, what's up with Red Robin not doing mud pie anymore.  I know it's been A LONG time since they've done that for birthdays, but I do miss it.

The wind is killing me around here.  We were having such good weather now I feel like I live in a dust bowl.  Man, it was windy today.  I have been busy rounding up giveaways for this week on my other blog.  I can't believe some of the cool stuff that I have coming up this week.  Tune in.....

Giveaway

Trust me, you'll want to hop on over to Make You Over this week.  I'm doing an awesome e-consulting giveaway, complete with Shabby Apple dress, Magpie Lovely Clutch, and an RHV necklace.

Also, I'll be having some awesome guest bloggers posting Mother's Day Gift ideas....you won't want to miss this, I promise.  All you have to do is ENTER...that's it.