Saturday, August 31, 2013

good things to come

my brother shared this on facebook and i couldn't help but share it here.
let us remember to put our trust in Him and know that there ARE good things to come

Friday, August 30, 2013

my itty bitty helper

the picture on the right sums of my life of my time working in the kitchen.
maxson clinging to my legs while moaning for my attention to pick him up.
poor boy.
and then, so as not to let him fall, i have to keep my legs planted and can't move around the kitchen.
luckily our kitchen is itty bitty and i can reach most everything if i try hard enough.
as frustrating as it can be while having a little baby crawling up your leg moaning,
i'm so glad that little baby picked me to want for his attention.
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the picture on the left is his new favorite activity.
when the dishwasher is open he is all over it like milk on cookies.
taking everything out while i'm trying to put everything in.
he first discovered it this last week after a rough night at the dinner table.
i was 100% glad to let him get into the dishwasher if that meant a little more peace and quiet for 15 minutes.
that dishwasher made all 3 of us very happy that evening.
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***

casey finished his first week back at dental school!
we've joked with a friend how the first week of going back to school it's like you have to get back in shape to be in school, sitting, thinking, learning, and doing again.
that first week is so tiring.
but already this 2nd year is so much more actual dental related which casey enjoys greatly, woohoo!

***

the past week and a half maxson has been bouncing all over the map of wake up times ranging form 5:30-6:30.
it's MUCH too early (and exhaustingly early) to say the least and we need to do something about it.
any tips/tricks out there on helping babies sleep in longer?

***

this weekend we have plans to watch football!
i'm excited for about the first 5 BYU football games and then after that i lose my energy.
so here's to making the first one of the season memorable!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

a softball game where i almost died from the heat/sun/humidity

Last weekend was our stake softball tournament for our church and it lasted all day long! Literally, we got to the fields at 8 am for our first game and left at 5 pm. It was a bit too long for my liking but still fun nonetheless. We played our first 3 games, and won them all. We found a shady spot to eat the hot dog lunch they provided (with watermelon, nachos, and cookies) with our big old group, had an additional hour break from games and played 2 more games, the last being the championship game and winning the whole thing, go us!

 It was so darn hot though. The whole time from lunch and beyond it was just hot hot and more HOT. As adults, we were hot but we just had to deal with it, on the other hand Maxson was hot and I felt so bad. We worked our bums of to keep him sun-screened up, hat on, sucking on cold water and in the shade as much as possible. He survived to say the least. The game before the last one I kept saying "let's just lose so we can go home!" I'm such a sour wart sometimes. My teammates did not agree with my decision and we won. And then during the championship game I kept saying "Just let them win so we can go home!" Again, our team put in all their effort and we were actually stellar and won!

This year we also had enough women there that we could play which made it way nicer. There had to be 5 women on the field and we usually had 6 there if not 7 a couple times. But even with all of us there every time it was our time to go out on the field, the men would constantly say "ok, we need 3 more girls, come on!" If it was my choice, I'd play out field a couple of times and be good watching, but I felt like I had to play every time, ha. Friends who didn't go on the field helped watch Maxson which was kind of them. Casey was a rockstar the whole game, catching balls left and right making great plays, I was super impressed with his softball skills. I really shouldn't have been surprised, Casey's really good at all things sports related except golf.

Overall it was a really fun day, playing as a team with some members of your ward family. A setting like that really brings out the camaraderie and fun in people, so glad we got to be there and be apart of the WIN!

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see my cute pregnant friend in the middle? we switched places this year of being pregnant vs playing.
by the end of the day i wished I was the one pregnant and not having to play ha.
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I told casey that the plethora of BYU shirts everywhere made me feel very nostalgic at our years at BYU.
but alas, Nebrasaka paraphernalia was everywhere (like on me...)
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see last year's softball tournament here

Sunday, August 25, 2013

a list of 10

1. CASEY PASSED HIS BIG DENTAL EXAM LAST MONTH! it's kinda a big deal so it deserved all caps. i never properly mentioned that big bit of happiness on the blog when it happened, but he did. so proud of that husband, hello year 2 of dental school!

2. the past couple weeks maxson waves hi and goodbye when asked to, now i'm eager whenever we get to and leave events/gatherings just so i can get him to do it. it's so precious. high fives (technically low fives) and kisses are also received when asked, can't believe he's learning the actions that goes along to words!

3. when we got back from our trip casey's bike was stolen. it was so so so sad. a) it was his mission bike b) it had the hitch to the bike trailer we own is on it. i hope whoever stole it really really REALLY needed it and is putting it to good use because we sure are sad (kimber's mad, let's be honest here) about the whole situation

4. it's so fun to be back with friends. we love our all our friends on our street and in our ward, we're so richly blessed here.

5. getting home from our trip meant all maxson's toys are so cool, and new, and interesting again! i love it as does maxson!


and now the weekend:

6. we had the most wonderful night with dental friends last weekend, the most delicious shish kabobs with sweet corn and potato salad, fruity pebble treats, a 15 min watching of the beloved movie spirit, and a hilarious game of buzzword. notes on the game: casey's math skills of keeping track of points in his head are sometimes a little off compared to mine, audrey was the most wonderful reader ever, her baseball sign language in favor of the girls team was at its peak, according to her husband. turtle sampling does not mean you go sample turtles to eat. if tall women want to get married, they shouldn't wear tall heels, according to a tall woman's father that is :) maxson is still pro at balancing on casey's hand,.

7. we played softball from 8-5 on saturday and i am all soft balled out for the year. more on that later!

8. it was a year ago this time that i began meeting all of my now nebraska friends. and from what i learned after reminiscing of our first memories of meeting each other my bright red and pink lipstick is not the best of first impressions i guess? ha, that never crossed my mind.

9. we sure are wondering if maxson is pushing some teeth through because BOY was he crabby and whiney today! and that snotty nose? came out of nowhere and ran all day long, come on little teethers!

10. church was great, as always today. new friends came with us, maxson was quite the wiggle worm during sacrament meeting but friends all around made for easier entertainment, i helped teach the CTR 5 class, maxson and our neighbor's little girl that's about the same age chatted non stop during the 3rd hour together, wish i had been around to see it.

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and that's my 10!

Thursday, August 22, 2013

our trip to cali: a beach video

and to end the blogging of our cali trip,
a video of our beach adventures!!!!!
i definitely learned how shakey we are on taking videos,
especially me.
i will work on it, sorry for the overwhelming shakiness.
i'm sad i didn't even think about videos while we were with the cutler clan.
so there's just a little bit of us on the beach with the woodruffs.
enjoy!!!
go here if you can't see it on the blog

Beach Trip 2013

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

our trip to cali: more at the beach

the second half of the week family from utah came in and we spent everyday at the beach.
we love the beach.
it's just so relaxing.
and the sun was out beautifully everyday so there was an extra amount of pretty pictures taken ;)
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a few special notes if you're going to the beach with little babes:

*baby powder*
it truly does work wonders on getting sand off any skin area.
it made our baby's bums so much happier when switching from swim diaper to regular diaper when not around a shower

*a baby carrier and stroller*
we are lucky enough to be in walking distance to the beach.
we would haul our stroller down there with all the bags, food, towels, umbrellas, etc in it while i carried maxson on my back in the ergo.
best idea ever.
no ones backs hurt from carrying heavy bags or heavy babies.
and then when maxson needed to nap, we'd just recline the stroller seat, put him in there, and cover him with my favorite nursing cover (more on that later).

*lather sunscreen on before you go to the beach*
we made sure to cover ourselves and maxson before we left our time share when going to the beach.
it made the whole sunscreen experience better plus it was easier:
the sunscreen had time to set on your skin before getting wait.
there was no rush job on applying sunscreen because there was no beach directly in front lulling you to the waves.
no sand was in sight while applying therefore there was no sand in your sunscreen.
it's all around better

*bring grandparents*
ha but no really, bring someone who can help watch your little babe so you too can go have fun with your hubby in the waves and not have to fret about your wee ones the whole time.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

our trip to cali: this and that

a few of the random activities that went on

a bonfire.
all the fire pits we usually use in the area were gone,
so we improvised and made a fire in one of the bbq grills on the beach.
illegal? 
most likely.
satisfied our bonfire wishes?
most definitely.
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old town sandiego
we did more walking around old town with my family too.
it was fun getting a second chance to take pictures and enjoy the place in nearly the same week
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we visited a cousin of my mom's in the newport area and happened to be there on the sunday.
the ward we visited was more than half visitors, ha.
but everyone was so kind and it felt like automatic ward members.
sunday clothes always bring out the let's-take-family-pictures in you, right?
this was the first half of the week while the arizona family was there.
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a random dessert night
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these boys are 8 months apart and will one day be bff's
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we have one more section of beach pictures and then the beach part of our vacation will be over