It's a Wonderful Life!

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone. This is my absolute favorite time of year, and I hate to see it be over already. We had a wonderful Christmas though! We have a lot of things to be thankful for. First and foremost in the news department, I passed all my classes in my first semester of nursing school with all B's and above. Thank goodness. Secondly, and not exactly in the good news department, Britton was laid off from his job in mid-December. It's not a usual thing for his company to lay off salaried employees, but it is only supposed to last a few weeks. He'll be back at work in the beginning of January. Thankfully, we live with my parents, and we've been saving the majority of his paychecks to pay off our student loans. It's been quite the eye opener, though, as to how vital it is to have 6 months of savings and for me to have my education. Can you imagine being laid off with nothing in the savings account and a house payment, among other bills, to pay? This experience has been extremely positive. We know we want to be completely debt free and have 6 months of savings before we buy a house, and we know I am supposed to be in nursing school. Britton works in a field where lay-offs are common, and I will be working in a field where going from 1 day a week to 5 days a week and back to 1 day a week is okay. I'm thankful to be in nursing school, and I'm thankful to be married to someone who is smart with money.

Anyways. This past Tuesday I woke up at 2 in the morning and spent the next 12 hours lying in the bathroom wondering what in the world happened to me. I hate throwing up. It sucks. I spent the next 2 days feeling like I got hit by a truck. At that point I was thankful Britton got laid off because he did such an awesome job taking care of Jake while I slept. Then, Tuesday night Jake woke up screaming every 3-4 hours and would not go to sleep unless he had Tylenol in him. It was terrible and sad. We took him to the doctor on Wednesday and he had pressure in his ears or something, and they were on their way to an infection. Fortunately, every one was feeling much better by Christmas Day and we had a great Christmas. Britton got me the little Nike chip you put in your running shoes and it syncs with your iPod. I can't wait to use it. He also got me a massage certificate (which I used today and it was amazing), a couple of scarves and some other things. He did good. I surprised him with a plane ticket to Phoenix so he can go to a NASCAR race with his brother in April. He was shocked. Jake got some books and toys and a giant toy chest.

And now I am going to play Bananagrams with my sister.

I hope everyone has a great New Years! Definitely my second favorite holiday.
Pictures of Jake on Christmas to follow!

Thanksgiving

We had 2 nice Thanksgivings. Wednesday night Britton's family had their Thanksgiving dinner. There was a ton of people. Then on Thanksgiving Day we got to have dinner with my family...it was a lot of fun and I got to see some cousins that I haven't seen in like 7 years. But...hip hip hooray for Christmas time! I am dreading going back to school next week...it's going to be pure madness until December 18th...and then I have no school until January 11th!

Here's some fun pictures of Jake for you to enjoy...

He had a wagon wheel in his mouth and thought it would be funny to let it hang out, apparently. He left it there for a couple of minutes.

Reading his very favorite book with Nana. This book works like a charm to cheer him up. Everytime he gets fussy all you have to do is get out this book and he's thrilled. I love it.

Jake figured out how to open up the cupboard to the movies...he enjoys throwing them about.

Oh and finally, just a few days after he turned 10 months...JAKE STARTED CRAWLING!!! It's about time and I'm so glad he finally figured it out. I'll get a video of him on here crawling soon.

Ok people.

I know there are several people reading my blog.

I can feel it.

Now is the time to take action.

Over a month ago we submitted a photo of Jake to a silly contest in our newspaper for the "Ultimate Husky Fan"

Here's the photo:

For weeks, Jake was the only photo in the contest. Then a couple of people submitted photos of dogs. Then a few couples and a random "button" lady (you'll know who I'm talking about if you check out the link) submit their photos. We were feeling pretty secure that there was no way any of the other photos could beat our Jake. Then, out of nowhere, on the very last night entries could be submitted, another baby and a little toddler had their photos submitted. And the voting began. And it has become a die hard race.

We don't really care about the prize. (it's a lawnmower.) But for some reason...we have gotten caught up in the spirit of fierce competition.

Jake has to win.

It's a close race. We need your vote, your husband's vote, and your best friend's vote. All you need is an email address. It will take only a few minutes of your day.

All you have to do is click HERE

It will take you to the registration page, after which you will log in, find Jake's picture, and click 'Save Vote.'
The deadline is this Wednesday by 11:59 PM.

In the name of all that is cute and chubby,

VOTE FOR JAKE!

My Little Man

Dear Jakey:

I fall more in love with you every single day. I can't believe how lucky I am to be your Mommy. Every day you are learning new things and making me laugh over something different. I love to watch your face as you figure out how something works...the smile that spreads across those chubby cheeks is absolutely priceless. I even love your naughty-grin...like when you grab the spoon full of food on the way to your mouth and make a big mess...you look up at me and grin and I know you know just what you're doing! I love being your Mommy Jakey, and I wouldn't trade this job for anything. I hope you know how much you're loved. You are my greatest gift, I am grateful you are my son.

Love,

Mommy

Birfday Time

Jake was really excited for my birthday!!

Not really, but this is a super cute picture that I took of him on my birthday.

We started the birthday celebrations a day early by going to see The Box Friday night at the movie theater. It was super creepy and made me jump a couple of times. It's a little bit weird but there's no bad scenes or swearing in it, so I recommend it from that point of view. But it will creep you out.

On my birthday I spent the morning studying for an upcoming test this week, that was a blast. Then my sister Stacy watched Jake so Britton and I could go to the temple! It was the first time we had done a session in over a year. I was really excited for it and then once we got to the temple we found out...the session was in Spanish!!! I was a little bummed at first but reading subtitles worked out fine. And Britton was able to use headphones. It was funny because only the men used headphones...not one woman asked for them. I thought it went to show that men are too lazy to read all the words! Anyways...after the temple session we picked up Jake and then Britton went and got take-out from the Olive Garden...that was delicious. After Jake went to bed we watched Law and Order while waiting for my parents to get home from their shift at the temple and then we opened presents and had chocolate cream pie with oreo crust, which is my favorite pie. It was a great birthday!

My super cute baby's super adorable eyes.

All Hallow's Eve

On Friday night we went to our ward Halloween party. It was fun, except for the fact that I hate chili and it was a chili cook off. Jake was a super cute bumblebee! This is a picture with his friend Justin, a wise little owl.



I love Halloween. It comes in 2nd place on my list of favorite holidays, second only to Christmas. I just think it's a blast, and I can't wait to have kids old enough to go trick-or-treating! There's nothing like running around the streets in the cool night air and smelling the scents of autumn...the smell of a burning woodstove always brings me right back to my childhood Halloweens on Pheasant Drive in good old California. And I just think there's something neat about the fact that you can knock on a complete stranger's door and they'll smile and ooh and ahh and give you a piece of candy. Anyways...I hope you all had a great Halloween!

It's Autumn Time...

My Dad was kind enough to take some fall photos of us today. I'd say we're a pretty cute little family, wouldn't you?

Total Money Makeover!

For a couple of years now my sister Stacy has been begging Britton and I to listen to the Dave Ramsey CDs. We put it off and put it off because we were students and didn't have any money to budget anyways. And we didn't want to listen to him tell us not to get student loans, which was the only way to get out of Rexburg as fast as possible. Eventually we relented and listened to his course. Since Britton has gotten a job, we've "gone Dave Ramsey."

Because we're living with my gracious parents, we will be able to pay off our student loans in less than a year.

Let me tell you, this guy makes sense. Here's the baby steps to his program.

1) Save $1000 to start an Emergency Fund

2) Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball

3) 3-6 months of expenses in savings

4) Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement

5) College Funding for children

6) Pay off home Early

7) Build Wealth and give

We are on Baby Step #2! The only debt we have is student loans. Luckily we've never given in to credit cards.

I highly recommend checking out Dave Ramsey. Often times when you're coming up on finishing college the only thing going through your mind is buying your first house, buying a new car, and basically getting everything you've been doing without. That's exactly what I had in mind. But you know what the truth is? If you're lucky your husband will be making about $50,000 a year with his first job. That's about $4100 a month right? WRONG. More like $3,000 after taxes. $2600 after tithing. You want a new car? Subtract $400. You want a house? Subtract $800. Payment on new furniture? Subtract $100. That leaves you with $1300, not including home, auto, fire insurance or utilities. Oh and don't forget that $350 student loan payment. You've probably got about $700 bucks left for groceries, diapers, clothes, entertainment, gas, whatever. With zero in savings. Then what happens if he gets laid off?

We really are the "I want it now generation." But we don't need it now.

Figure out before your husband graduates what you're going to do with his paychecks.

Don't dig yourself into a hole just because you want it all right now.

We are all entering into the stage of life where what we do with our money really matters. Not just for us, but our kids and our grandkids.

Be smart!

a new play pen

Today Jake was helping me do some laundry, ie I was carrying him with one arm and doing laundry with the other. This kid weighs 24 pounds and he gets heavy fast. So after I emptied a basket I got the idea of putting him in the basket and scooting him around.

Then I gave him some toys to play with. I think he had fun...

On the crawling front, Jake's still not there yet. He's scooting backwards a little bit when we put him on his tummy, but he gets mad after only a few minutes on his tummy. He's progressively getting better though. I think his giant baby belly is giving him a tough time. My guess is he'll be crawling around before Thanksgiving!

I love this little guy and I have so much fun with him. It's been rough leaving him to go to school and probably even harder studying when I can hear him laughing downstairs with Daddy but I just know it's so important to have my education. I just hope he knows how much I love him!

We're bad parents

So a couple of weeks ago, in honor of Jakey turning 8 months old, we fed him some pureed turkey. It was his first experience with meat of any kind. The first bite created some hilarious facial expressions, so we ran upstairs to get the camera and forced him to take a second bite. We didn't make him eat anymore after that.

I probably should have mixed it with green beans or something. We felt pretty bad afterwards.

Big Brown Eyes

This is my new favorite picture of Jake. Can you even believe how adorable he is?

Just yesterday Jake started clapping...it is so cute watching him put his hands together. The past month or so he would get really excited when someone around him clapped, and now he joins in and it is so much fun to watch.

Just today as we were leaving church Britton and I told Jake he's the best thing that's ever happened to us...we really love this little guy!

8 months!

My precious little man is 8 months old! It's been so much fun the past 8 months and I think it gets even more fun with every day! (minus the teething days...) I really love this kid.

Some pics of Jakey in his jammies. Look at those eyelashes...

Daddy's Favorite Time of Year!

College football has begun!

Jake was really fussy and Mommy had homework to do, so we let him watch a little football. The Huskies lost, but they're looking a lot better than last year!

I survived the first week!

It really wasn't that bad...the days that we were supposed to be in the lab for 8 hours we were only there for 2 or 3...and that's not going to last. And my hardest class, Pathophysiology and Pharmacology, has so far just been review of stuff I've already learned. Phew! I know it will get harder though.
My sister Jamie teases me that the only reason I want to be a nurse is because you get to wear scrubs to work. It is true that I hate wearing uncomfortable clothes to work, or just in general, it's not the ONLY reason I want to be a nurse... :) I am excited, I'm finally learning about things that I want to learn about! Hopefully I can keep my head above water, I'm taking 17 credits!

Here We Go...

I start nursing school on Monday! Holy Smokes!!! Here's a couple of pictures with me and then with Jake and my huge stack of books! What am I getting myself into??? It's been a long couple of weeks getting ready for nursing school...I almost backed out, but I now have much more peace about doing it. I know it's the right thing.

I had to throw these to pictures in just for kicks. We thought Jake looked like a model posing for a picture in this first one.

Who can resist this chubby fella? He's so kissable it's insane!!!

Jake's Talking!

He only does it for a couple seconds in this video, but I wanted to post it anyways. I love the way his mouth looks when he does it!!!

Big Changes!

Hello Everyone!
We made it to Kennewick and life is good! We've had some big changes in our little world.

Today we found out that Britton got a job as an Estimator for A & B Asphault here in the Tri-Cities. He starts tomorrow and he is so excited (as am I!)

Jake started eating solids! He's had rice cereal, oatmeal, peas, carrots, and diluted apple juice.
Which means: his poop is now nasty but he's been sleeping through the night (which I think can be mainly attributed to him being far enough away that we don't hear him every time he cries.

Jake is sitting up! I should have put pictures of that in the collage but I haven't taken any yet. Next post.

And my own big changes haven't come yet...nursing school starts August 24!!

We miss all of our Rexburg friends...pllleeeease keep in touch!

Rexburg

We have 2.5 days left in Rexburg. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday we were pulling in to the parking lot of Heartland Apartments. It was a bold move for us to come to BYU-Idaho. We hadn't even been accepted as full time students. We hated Spokane and felt like it wasn't right for us, so we moved to Rexburg with the faith that things would work out. And it did! Within about a month we both found decent jobs and Britton found the perfect major for him: Construction Management. Britton and I grew a lot in Rexburg. I learned how to be away from my family. Britton learned how to put school before work. We grew close to each other, made great friends, and best of all, Jake joined our family. Rexburg has been good to us. We're so excited to move on, but we will look back on our time here with fond memories.

Goodbye Russells!

The moral of the story is to introduce yourself to your neighbors BEFORE it's 2 weeks until you move, they just might be a great friend! This is Erin and Rachel...they left for Canada today and won't be here when we leave Rexburg. Rachel is a hoot (as well as her Mom) and cracked me up non-stop when Jake and I would play with her. I will miss the days of having our doors open so we could make our apartments one big apartment! I wish we had become friends sooner Erin! We will come visit you when you live in New York, how's that?

Erin and her husband Nate were trying very hard to make Rachel smile in these pictures...she didn't think their efforts were smile worthy, but Jake thought everything was hilarious, as you can see.

Jake & Sophie

Our days in Rexburg are numbered, and I'm not looking forward to leaving our good friends, the Kradolfers. We have had a total blast with them...there have been only a handful of weekends where we WEREN'T playing games...eating good food...or just hanging out together. The high-light of our friendship has definately been our babies. Brenda and I both got to be pregnant at the same time...we both had terrible labor and deliveries that ended in c-sections...and we both have super adorable babies. Jake and Sophie were born 3 months apart...it's funny how incredibly visible that 3 months is right now, but soon enough we won't even be able to tell. We think they're pretty good buddies...we think they'll meet up in 18 years at BYU-Idaho (or BYU, Brenda...) and then Sophie will wait for Jake when he goes on his mission to China (that's where I think he's going) Anyways...here's Sophie and Jake through the past 6 months (since Jake came along...)

I think they look like best buddies in these pictures!!

Pirate Smile

So today when I came to pick up Jake from my friend Brenda's house, I saw that she had decided to play dress-up with my son. Actually just make-up, he was already wearing a pirate shirt. Very funny Brenda... :)

Funny Face

Jake makes this really funny face when you blow a puff of air in his face. Enjoy the video!

Britton and Lisa through the Ages

I was looking through old pictures today and decided it would be fun to do a post about Britton and I! In April we celebrated our 3 year anniversary...we've had a lot of fun and I'm lucky to be married to such a great guy. Even though you never read this, I love you Britton!

This is where it all started...

Our late honeymoon...a trip to Seattle that of course included a Mariners game. Look how young we look!

Our first 4th of July...celebrated with the Chans. Britton almost got arrested. (the fire chief drove up right as he lit off a saturn missile and he threatened to bring the sheriff if he saw anymore.)

Later that same summer, we went to Fort Stevens along the Oregon coast with my parents and James and Emma.

I like long walks on the beach with my honey...

Our first Christmas together in 2006...I think our little tree is adorable.

Our beloved "Village at Grandridge" apartment, where life was a breeze. Britton put up the Christmas lights. :)

This is us standing on a tiny bridge near the house where I grew up. We took a trip to California in September 2007 and I got to show him around my digs.

That same trip to California we went to my favorite vacation spot in the world...Patrick's Point. It's located by Trinidad which is near Eureka. Prettiest place on the west coast!

After a bad move to Spokane (notice we have no pictures from that period of our lives) we took a blind jump and moved to Rexburg in January 2008. It turned out to be the best decision we could have made.

Britton grew a beard the last couple of months in Spokane because he knew he'd have to shave every day in Rexburg. He looks like a less-active lumberjack.

Our second anniversary was spent at the Black Swan Inn at Pocatello. And people make fun of us for it.

In October of 2008 with a baby on the way we decided to take our last vacation as non-parents. We hit up New York City and Washington D.C. It was a blast!

January 2009...right before the show began.

And this is where our lives really began. Our son Jake born January 22, 2009. We love this little guy!

Our little Benjamin Button.

Jakey is a homeboy.

I swore our kids would not be NASCAR fans...dang it.