Saturday, May 23, 2009

Barrons 1st Bday

This past weekend my little sisters baby boy turned ONE! I can't believe how much time flies. Happy Birthday Barron!
The bday boy
Kinda dark but the cupcakes were AMAZING!
Yay presents!
Noah: the daddy
Presents
Cohen couldn't wait to have a chocolate cupcake...NOM!
Getting dressed after mom stripped him down for the chocolate cupcakes!

Bedhead

Cohen's new favorite thing to do is lay in our bed and watch movies:
He is really into the camera lately

This is right after a nap
Gotta love that hair!
Sleepy eyes

Mothers Day Brunch

This post is a bit late! The day before mothers day we had a nice brunch with Noah's family. It was amazing. There was so much food and we just sat and enjoyed the weather!
Relaxing after stuffing ourselves!
Courtney and I
Gramma Carol & Cohen
Noah and Adam
All the yummy food!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

We're going to the zoo!!

Yesterday we went to the wildlife world zoo with Grandma Carol. It was so much fun! It wasn't too hot and there was a breeze. Cohen was really into all the animals and little critters. He pet all kinds of animals, rode the Carousel twice, took a train ride, and stood by a white alligator! And that wasn't even half of it. Here are some pics of the day:
Cohen hoarding all the items in the gift shop.
Family pic in front of the shark tank.
White alligator....scary!!!
Went on the merry-go-round twice!
That is one big rhino!
Another family pic...awe
Getting ready to ride the choo choo train. 
Llama. It was really dusty. yuk
My little man wasn't afraid on one animal in the place!

It's officially Hot!

It was supposed to be record heat for this time of year in Az. A high of 100! So what did we do?




Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter!!!


We had our 2nd annual Easter Party at our house this year. It was so much fun! Thanks to all who brought goodies and helped out (pretty much everyone!) It really kept me sane. Plus I was able to have fun and even take a few pics. Cami: I want all your pics too! I hope it gets better every year!

Friday, March 20, 2009

St. Pattie's Day Picnic with Mommy

Cohen and I had nothing going on for St. Patricks day so I though that I would make us a little picnic outback. It was such a beautiful day outside (80). Sorry I look like crap. There was no reason to get ready!



Some things we did this week

I had the chance to visit an old friend. I finally met her little girl Hope and so did Cohen. They were so cute together:
Then Auntie Ann came into town with Cohen's cousin Tatum. They talk about eachother all the time! They even had a sleepover at Gramma Carol's. 
Cohen likes to wear other peoples shoes. One day I hear this "click, click, click" Noah came inside and was like "what is that banging sound?" All of a sudden Cohen comes around the corner in these babies:

Yes, they are my shoes, and yeas they are high heels. He walked in them better than I do!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Textbooks or home wreckers?

Nobody is prepared for the piles of textbooks they give you when you start Nursing School. You buy all two years of books up front. We have a tiny house and I decided to store them in our bedroom closet. Well...today it broke. Yes, our whole closet broke. We had to fix it on our anniversary (TODAY). So we pulled EVERYTHING out of the closet and fixed it before we went out on a date. I knew the textbooks were evil, I just didn't know they were closet wreckers too. Its funny because we used (some) of the books to hold up the drawers while we fixed it. I guess they came in use after all.

Noah fixing the mess
Oh, and it is our second anniversary today! I love you sweetie<3

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Far from a Jalopy!

Today Grandpa Jack pulled up to our house with a big package. We were all wondering what was inside....

Yes that is a smile on his face. It is a classic "limited edition" petal car. Soooo cute. The lights work and everything. The seat is leather, it has gold trim just about everywhere, the steering wheel is wood, the windshield is adjustable, and there is a horn on the side. Very upper class, you can tell from Cohen in this next picture how excited he is:

Happy Birthday!

February 26th, Grandma Carol had a birthday. We celebrated with Pizza and cake down at the Phlop Shop. We even got a group picture!
Cohen all "spiffed up" for Gramma's Bday.
Happy Birthday Carol! We love you so much. I don't know what we would do without you:)

Monday, February 23, 2009

What we did this weekend

This weekend has been crazy, actually, this whole week has been crazy to say the least. So we wanted to wind down on Sunday with a good ol BBQ.


BBQ could be art
Our friends Eric and Dave joined us and brought their cute little puppy Hanz. Soooo Cute, Cohen was acting like a doggie here.
Cohen and Hanz in the sandbox...being boys
We also went out and bought Cohen one of those toys that you put in water and it grows
He didn't understand that we would buy him a toy that he couldn't play with and could only "watch"
Erik and Dave

Friday, January 30, 2009

I have MS



I couldn't think of a better way to start this blog posting than to just come out and say it. I have Multiple Sclerosis. I'm not posting on the fact that I have this disease, but what I am doing about it. Shortly after I was diagnosed, I was put on this medication that is supposed to help decrease the symptoms and slow the progress over time. You would think I have cancer by the way it makes me feel. The way the drug works is to suppress your immune system so the disease will stop attacking your own body. What a great thing to do. After a couple of weeks of treatment, I knew I was done with it, however, too afraid to stop with the promise of "slowing the disease process" looming over my head. I was searching the net one day about different treatments and such and came across this book: "The MS Recovery Diet". My first though was, "recover?" and them my second though was "recover!". You don't just recover from MS. Studies show that it is a chronic progressive disease. So I was immediately intrigued. I went right out and bought the book. The first words I read were on the back cover: "The MS Recovery Diet targets five common food triggers that can set off the symptoms of MS: dairy, grains containing glutens, leguems, eggs, yeas." I almost threw the book across the room. Then I realized that I should do that with my shots instead. I was defeated. I couldn't help having MS, but I COULD help what I put in my mouth. So I began reading. I have been on this diet for about a week (and veggitarian now for about a month), and I feel pretty good. I decided to post this to give myself more motivation to stick to this. It is a life long change for my health. 


There are certain things that I miss; pancakes in the morning, a juicy hamburger, cake with lots of frosting, and all of my soy products. Other things I can live without like deep fried foods, and most other meats. I have restricted myself to fish, veggies, fruit, nuts, rice, and corn. When you really get inventive, there is a lot you can do with that. Tonight I had acorn squash (cut in half) baked with cut up apples, walnuts, and cinnamon-it was quite tasty. I found out they make rice protein powder, which I pretty much live off of. I have fish every other day, and a mixture of nuts every day. Oils are very important for the repairing of the myelin sheath (you will know what I'm talking about once you look up the disease process). Kick out all of the saturated fats (bad fats) and add more of the unsaturated fats to your diet. I cook with olive, veggetable, and sunflower seed oils. I could babble on but I won't bore you.

My whole point in posting this is for me to feel brave enough to take the plunge. Let my medication go and rely on natural foods. The way it was meant to be. It is scary, but now that I have read the book it makes total sense. There are so many diseases out there, especially autoimmune, that we can change the course of with just our diets. We need to listen to our bodies, and our hearts, and just trust. I pray a lot. A lot more than I used to. Not to get better, or to give me strength, but for thanks. I thank god every day for the life I have and for my health. The realization that I have the power to change this is more than I could have ever asked for. 

Monday, January 19, 2009

Tuckered Out

Okay, this doesn't happen often. Our little one is not fond of naps or bedtime. He fights them tooth and nail. Today a repair man came and I had to go outside with him. I left Cohen in his room with his keyboard playing "If Your Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands". He loves that song. It was pretty loud too. After a few minutes, the repair man left and I was wondering why Cohen was being so good! He is usually into something else by now and making a lot more noise. So I go peek in on him and there he was sitting in his rocking chair, music still blaring, ASLEEP! Wow. That was easy...