Sunday, April 28, 2013

funny

for some reason i couldn't stop laughing at this picture.
i literally was crying and spit out the cereal in my mouth i was laughing so hard
please tell me you think it's funny.

and btw that site has TONS of funny pictures (some not funny, but more often than not you'll find a gem in there and belly laughing it up!) literally i look through it and just start uncontrollably laughing at some of them

Friday, April 26, 2013

whatcha doing.

we are hunkered down for battle in the cutler house.
the dreaded anatomy final was yesterday and today,
i know casey is just relieved to have that class behind him,
and i'm so proud of him for getting through that beast!

***

lately maxson is more interested in things that aren't his toys:
milk jugs,
my water bottle,
air freshener bottles,
a bag of crackers,
the poles that hold up all his fun toys.
ya know, really fun things.

and casey's beard is growing by the minute!
 photo photo-8_zpsa4c53c4a.jpg

***

i just finished reading battle hymn of the tiger mother and jeesh!
i am so glad i was not raised chinese.
kudos to teaching your kids to have a crazy insane work ethic but...but that way of parenting is just not for me.
but way interesting read, friends!

***

i've made an effort this week and last to have actual meals planned each night for casey and i since it's death week(s).
it takes a lot of work (and dishes) but it's been yummy nonetheless.
tonight we're having pulled pork for dinner.

***

lastly, IT'S GETTING WARMER HERE!
it makes me giddy looking at the weather app on my phone and seeing numbers in the 70's.
GIDDY!

***

happy weekend and happy arbor (tree love)  day!!


Thursday, April 25, 2013

my serious little boy

i tend to post pictures of smiley maxson more often that not on this blog because, hey, smiley pictures are just so darn cute, right?
but more often than not, if you ever meet maxson,
he's not going to be smiling for you.
he will just look at you, intently, stone cold faced (for the most part), eyes content on watching you and his new surroundings.
i'm always impressed when my friends make big efforts to try and get him to smile at them, sometimes it works, sometimes not, but good try friends!
but bring around mom or dad, and it's almost instant smiles.
he kinda plays favorites...

though i've heard,
babies learn the most when they're quiet, content, and watchful.
so maybe he's just eager to learn!

if you were to meet maxson this is most likely the reaction you'd get from him:
or if you had a huge black camera in your hands...
 photo IMG_7982_zps39491d1e.jpg
 photo IMG_7988_zps327d63a0.jpg
 photo IMG_8003_zpsab66a2b8.jpg
 photo Untitled-3_zps9327649e.jpg

das my boyyy


Wednesday, April 24, 2013

nebraska bucket list

here we are!!!
because of our great success of the provo bucket list,
we've been in the process of compiling a nebraska one and have made it!
i present,
 photo IMG_3644_zps4f549d99-1_zps07af66fc.jpg
the nebraska bucketlist
in no particular order
(also know that i will be editing this list as the years go by)

***SPOILER ALERT***
our time in Nebraska is done, we didn't accomplish  that many things on the list but in our defense our last 2 years there when Maxson was old enough to enjoy some of this stuff we had twin babies that kept us pretty grounded ha


1. Quilt Museum (free on Thursdays?)
2. Dairy Chef
3. Lancaster County Fair
4. Tour Memorial Stadium when there's no game
5. Nebraska Natural History Museum (free)
6. Lauritzen gardens
7. Bridge Museum
8. Honest Abe's burgers
9. Raising Kane's
10. Eat a runza at Runza's
11. Eat "the tasty" at Inn and Out CLOSED DOWN
12. Salt dogs minor baseball game
13. Food truck rally in the spring NON EXISTENT
14. Val's pumpkin patch
15. Tour of Capital building
16. Roller Skate museum
17. Women's BYU volleyball game at UNL
18. Ivanna Cone ice cream shop
19. Phat Jack's BBQ
20. Haymarket Farmer's market in summer/fall


Out of Lincoln:

21. Durham Museum (Omaha)
22. Brew Burgers (Omaha)
23. Go camping at Mahoney State Park
24. Apple Jack festival (Nebraska City)
25. Rodeos (Eagle)
26. Tour the Mormon Trail Center and cemetery (Omaha)
27. Omaha zoo
28. College World series baseball game (Omaha)
29. World's (2nd) largest porch swing here
30. Carhenge here
31. Footloose Goose's Memorial (Hastings) here
33. Big Slide in downtown Omaha
33. Martin's Hillside Orchard for picking apples, strawberries, raspberries, peaches
34. Kool-aid Days (Hastings) here
35. Kruise night (Kearney)?
36. Prairieland Dairy Days (Firth)



if you have any additional ideas of things you've heard, PLEASE comment!
i'd love to hear more ideas!

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

you can't have it all /// growing up too fast

casey and i were realizing today that when maxson starts rocking a new sleep habit, others fall to the wayside.
examples:

when he began doing well with sleeping long stretches at night,
his naps suddenly went capooey to little stretches.

when he began taking multiple long naps a day,
he started sleeping short stretches at night.

now he's beginning to sleep longer stretches at night,
but he fights me on falling asleep for his naps which he never did before.

ya win some,
ya lose some.
it'll all work out, right?

***

i look at this baby and sometimes and feel like i can actually see him growing and changing as i watch!
he wants to be so involved.
now when he's laying on his tummy, his head is almost always up at 90 degrees intently watching what i'm doing.
when he puts it down, and i call his name, he quickly bring it back up to find me.
when did this happen?
 photo IMG_8039copy_zpsa0ecd67f.jpg
i used to prop him up on the couch and he'd support his own head to watch things around him but mostly just sit back and relax,
now if i put him on the couch i better be right there because he's trying to sit his whole body up by himself and could easily fall too far forward (off the couch).
cutest little shirt on this boy huh? thanks jocelyn!
 photo IMG_8043copy_zpsc6d3ec44.jpg
i used to wear him in the moby wrap doing stuff around the house and he'd just be content watching.
now his little hands are reaching at everything and "helps" me do whatever i'm doing.

those are just a few of the things on my mind.

i have to admit, it's been so quiet around the blog lately.
a few weeks ago i thought the weather was going to stay sunny and warm for good and i was so happy.
but it's been cold most the time since then i've been so uninspired to go places/do things/take pictures.
i'm desperate to just sit outside with maxson and feel the sun on my skin.
i truly do belong in the warmth...

***
a few of you have commented about the dentist's beard.
he has turned into quite the lumberjack, that is for sure.
he decided to grow it out with one of my brothers for funsies (and a snow cone).
it's going to stick around until the middle of may and then he'll be back to his baby face!
 photo IMG_8017_zpsc809712c.jpg

Thursday, April 18, 2013

little love letters

dear spring,
will you come back?
a few weeks ago you teased us with your appearance,
 but then promptly went back into hiding.
we promise to appreciate you this time around.
see this little baby?
he practically has no idea what fresh air means because of your yucky cousins called winter, snow, rain and wind.
it's so sad...
 photo IMG_7907copy_zps31a87253.jpg

dear thunder,
lately you scare me
please don't hurt us.

dear dishes,
GO AWAY!!!
can't you learn how to clean yourself?

dear maxson,
when you stretch after naps your cheeks bulge out and you get a nice double chin,
it's utterly adorable
stay cute and chubby and little forever, kapeesh?
 photo IMG_7897_zps27fe9d67.jpg

dear readers,
excuse the mess going on around this blog here.
trying to update and simplify it for us all,
and MAN is it complicated?!

dear scott, my brother,
thank you for your patience on helping me update my blog.
you are much fast than i...

dear casey,
i feel terribly awful for you lately (when it comes to schooling that it).
i'm pretty sure these next 2 weeks will take about 2 years off your life...
i am sorry.

dear mom,
thanks for coming to play with us in nebraska.
i guess the good thing about not living by you is that it makes me really appreciate you and want so badly to live by you.
and now after your visit, maxson actually smiles at you via FaceTime!!!! woohooo!!!
 photo IMG_7935_zps3298fc73.jpg
dear casey,
i guess if you insist on buying me that adorable bike at costco, sigh, i won't object...
cough, cough!

dear neighbor,
i'm sorry you're having to move.
it is most likely due to me complaining about smelling smoke in my home because of your (bad) habits.
but i just can't take it for another 3 years.
it was either you or i and i'm happier it was you...
but other than your (bad) smoking habit, you were a nice person if that makes a difference????

dear maxson,
thank you for suddenly taking way longer naps lately,
it's pretty darn awesome.
and although you're not completely predictable, i'll take what i can get!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

when granny came to town

the past week went way too fast.
way way way way way way way way way too fast.
i picked my mom up from the airport at 12:40 am thursday morning and suddenly it was tuesday and i had to drop her back off.
how rotten is that?
 photo IMG_7946_zps1f89968e.jpg
although we stayed cooped up inside mostly, due to cold, spring weather,
i had the most wonderful week with her here.
she was an absolute angel in every way.
she rejuvenated my spirit.
casey is going through the hardest semester dental school will give him right now (literally, all the upper classman say 2nd semester of the first year is the roughest, and we now understand why!)
and because of that, it's hard for me to get everything i want to do done.
she played with maxson while i
cleaned,
cooked,
organized,
exercised,
showered, 
or napped.
and then when maxson was sleeping she
cleaned, 
cooked,
organized,
worked on my projects,
she's kind of like super mom.
 photo IMG_7965_zps2bd5e60d.jpg
of course casey and i are head over heels over little maxson and think he's just the best/cutest baby in the world.
but it was so fun to listen/see another person love this little baby just as much and agree with all our thoughts.

a few things her visit confirmed:
maxson really doesn't smile much for others.
she had to work real hard for his smiles/giggles,
she did get a few but they were most definitely selective.

we have a cuddle baby.
because maxson is our first, we just automatically assume this is how all babies are.
my mom constantly was saying how amazed she was that he was perfectly content with just cuddling your shoulder/chest when you held him.
we love it :)
 photo IMG_7931copy_zps45bd95ee.jpg
we love granny.
please come back soon!!!!!!!!!


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

one last post about our easter

i forgot there was more,
my bad...

cutler tradition is meeting the saturday before easter with all the cousins around logan utah, roasting hot dogs, having s'mores, going on easter egg hunts,  eating more food and having fun together.
while out here in nebraska by our lone selves, we continued the tradition the best we could:
grilled up some hot dogs
 photo IMG_7527_zps4ab83dfc.jpg
made smores on the stove
by the way- we found these flat marshmallows designed for s'mores which made eating it so easy.
i don't know how easy they would be to actually roast over a fire but they work AWESOME inside the graham cracker.
 photo IMG_7528_zpsc3d36d51.jpg
we chose cookies 'n cream hershey bar (hello? with our love affair with oreos, we had to)
and they may have been my favorite s'more i've had to date.
although once we ran out of the that hershey bar we substituted nutella and OH.MY.GOODNESS. 
do that sometime, people. JUST DO IT.
 photo Apr720133_zpsf425619e.jpg
as seen above, maxson was pretty worn out from all the food eating...

i promise this is my last easter post :)



and guess who's coming in town tonight?
 photo IMG_5081_zps23365a66.jpg
i could not be more THRILLED!!!!


Tuesday, April 9, 2013

life lately

here's a little update on life through our iphones aka when i'm too lazy to take my camera out/places or too self conscious to take it out in front of others...
it's one of those two.

and i'm sorry if you follow me on instagram, many of these are just duplicates...

let's begin with the least flattering pictures from casey's phone:
a. first time spending time outside in the sunshine!!!!
b. another sunshine day, we didn't have a sun hat for max so a kitchen towel had to do
c. maxson miraculously fell back to sleep for casey while he worked out, lucky dog that, never happens
d. entertaining babies during conference=less conference listened to, luckily we can re-read/listen to them online!
 photo Apr72013_2_zpsd4e084aa.jpg
a. sniffly baby cuddling with daddy for a nap
b. nutella cookies, hello awesomeness
c. best salsa ever from costco! (and apparently hyvee too?)
d. done with napping
 photo Apr72013_zps06cf7ef9.jpg
a. when i change his diaper he's always grabbing onto my arm to eat at, makes me smile
b. the main picture on casey's facebook dental class page, make me laugh every time.
c. looking at the toyssss
d. my view nearly every morning. casey is very diligent on doing bing searches on all 3 of our computers
sidenote: if you're not doing bing searches already, DO IT! casey's has earned nearly $60 for us to spend on amazon doing it!
 photo Apr720131_zps1367ba60.jpg
a. dishes doing
b. easter bunny baby
c. car driving
d. tummy timing
 photo Apr720134_zps3a086782.jpg
maxson and i visited the dental school for lunch again last week.
i was little more confident with myself and my semi stroller cruising around the school.
2nd picture is in the elevator looking up
 photo Apr720135_zps0f7ba4a7.jpg
dental school classroom with a stroller: not a sight often seen
 photo IMG_2868_zpse1503358.jpg
a. falling asleep in my arms (not in a "baby going to sleep position"), with no swaddle, which is a first around here
b. my ultra cute, smiley, and round nephew, britton during his 1st year birthday cake fest!
we got to video chat with him during some of it and he went to town.
that boy LOVES food and was just soooo happy!
my brother sent a video of when they first placed the cake in front of him.
he picked it up one handed like a sandwhich and starting chomping away like a boss, so funny!
oooh we miss our nieces and nephews too much
 photo Apr720137_zpscf888c89.jpg
a. while casey went to the men's priesthood session for general conference, maxson and i hung out in the backyard with some other women and kids from our street and just talked for a long time.
after coming inside, maxson just sat in the sling, cuddling up to my chest watching whatever i was putting away.
such a sweetie we have on our hands.
b. my view while lounging on the ground during general conference.
 photo Apr720138_zpsdcaf1d33.jpg
picnic in the front yard between conference sessions on saturday.
does anyone recognize that blanket?! 
it's the jean blanket i slaved over last summer!
although the edges are not yet finished, it works like a beaut outside and we're so eager to put some wear and tear into it over the next years as a family.
 photo IMG_2904_zps3d36ab79.jpg
a. b. c. conference breakfast with friends.
although pancakes, french toast, or waffles are an excellent breakfast.
someone sadly has to slave over the stove top the whole time and you can't all eat at the same time and you have to keep waiting for more!
so breakfast casseroles it was!
i made a frenchtoast casserole the night before (recipe below)
and my friend made what we call a lumberjack casserole like this one.
they were oober yummy
d. maxson's first general conference watching our prophet, president thomas s. monson!
 photo Apr720139_zpsa76713d0.jpg


french toast casserole

To be made the night before
1 (24 oz) loaf buttermilk bread
1 pkg cream cheese
10 eggs
2 1/2 c milk
6 T margarine/butter melted
1/4 c. maple syrup
1 t vanilla
1/4 t cinnamon (or more:)

Cut bread into cubes. Place half in greased 9x12 baking dish. Top with cream cheese, cut into cubes, then put the rest of the cubed bread on top. Mix together eggs, milk, melted butter and syrup very well, Pour over bread/cheese evenly in pan. Cover with plastic wrap and press down on top to moisten top it all evenly. Refrigerate over night, remove plastic wrap and bake @ 350 for 50 min.

Monday, April 8, 2013

my park posse

so by far, my favorite reason why we live where we live:
friends.
i have tons of friends (aka stay at home moms) on my street, in my surrounding neighborhood, and in my ward closeish by that i absolutely love, love, love love.
examples as follows:
1st day of everyone finally going to the park together after the winter season.
it was so great to be walking, with friends, fresh air, and sunshine; it was just lovely.
i think i mentioned on my instagram there were something like 13 moms, 22 kids, and 3 fetuses!
bottom pictures: don't you see little girls in dresses, bare feet, spiderman masks, and spiderman costume legs used for a cape in your front yard everyday?
oh you don't?
well let me tell you, it's a hoot and you're missing out,
especially when they can't see through the little holes in the mask
 photo Apr720132_zpsa2b40599.jpg
park day:
a. because little girls in polka dots and tiger tails is a adorable.
b. maxson slept the whole park day on my chest, in his sling.
a mama melting nap.
 photo Apr720136_zps089af3f3.jpg
and the park gang.
ya we kinda rock the park like it's nobody's business.

and here's the picture with everyone.
impressive right?!?!?
a majority of these people actually walked to the park and it was great just being there with everyone.
i was amazed as i talked to one mom who was having a quality conversation with me, following her 1 year old around atop the playground to prevent her from falling, and keeping an eye on her 3 year old running around below.
women are so incredible, are they not?
and i'm lucky enough to have all these women in my ward.
and guess what?
only 5 of these families are not in post grad school, ha!

i feel so blessed to be around such a great group of women to learn from, talk to, hang out with, who value motherhood like i do as well as have the same fundamental beliefs as i.
 photo IMG_2886_zpsa7c25d05.jpg
this is the picture of trying to get set up for the picture and it makes me laugh so much.
moms busy with kids, kids being crazy, all so natural.

 photo IMG_2883_zps013a0863.jpg

i'm so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so glad we came to nebraska :)

april fool's

so casey loves april fool's as you can see by this video here.
not really, actually, he might hate it because of that video.
and 2 years later i still think that video is sooooooo funny.

well this year, he got a nice little letter in the mail telling him of a $400 parking ticket from indiana :)
 photo IMG_2857_zps43dbc011.jpg

back story: he's gotten like 3 parking tickets in indiana for the silliest of reasons, so this was quite believable.
our printer was acting up tons when i was trying to print this out and this is what the letter is supposed to look like, but casey didn't know the difference.
i downloaded the blog's original ticket, opened it in photoshop and adapted it to fit casey.

when he pulled out his phone to call the number and inquire about the ticket (quite irritated) is when i called it april fool's,
teehee...silly kimber.

at least this year i didn't get his clothes all wet, so maybe he didn't mind nearly as much :)

Friday, April 5, 2013

more on easter

we got together with a few other friends for easter evening!
we had the traditional easter dinner (so perfectly filling)
with a divine 4 layered chocolate cake.
 photo IMG_7636copy_zpsd833566c.jpg
 photo IMG_7608copy_zpsf5fffca9.jpg
 photo IMG_7605_zps404325bb.jpg
while maxson slept, casey and i watched the other adorable children search for easter eggs (on the tennis court).
funniest part:
the parents put some real eggs out there.
the little girl tripped while bringing hers back to her basket cracking the egg on the ground,
 and a huge frown covered her face, so devastated it broke!
the little boy on the other hand proceeded to throw the egg to the ground smashing it to pieces as soon as he picked it up...there was no candy in it, dang it!
so funny
 photo IMG_7625_zpsd24e4e1e.jpg
 photo IMG_7630copy_zpsfdda4f98.jpg
we had a most enjoyable easter sunday at church, with friends, and just our little family.

happy easter, once again, friends :)


ps- i broke out the flip flops easter weekend
and my toes were jumping for joy!
i've missed you so much flip flops!
 photo IMG_7574_zps4871c8a5.jpg



and this weekend we will enjoy church at home (with no meetings) watching general conference on TV via internet.
you can catch all the sessions online with us here,
they start at 10 am and 2 pm MST on saturday and sunday
and here's a little description of general conference if you've ever wondered what it is!
and here's a super cool graphic of an overview of conference info

Thursday, April 4, 2013

this little baby is 4 months old

as a first time mom, these monthly updates are so fun for me.
i kinda always got bored when other people did them (sorry friends) but they mean so much to me!
as always, please indulge me.
 photo IMG_7668copy_zps7626b334.jpg
this boy keeps slightly chubbing out as each month goes by, 
it's such a gradual change that i don't realize it until i look back at past photos.
 photo IMG_7690_zpsdb0db178.jpg
on his exact 3 months old date, he rolled from back to tummy,
and on his exact 4 month date he rolled from tummy to back.
he doesn't care too much to do the back to tummy anymore though,
I think it's because he's realized he couldn't get back, ha.
those first 2 weeks of rolling it was constant, 
i'd put him down and he'd immediately roll, cry after 30-45 seconds to be turned over, and start the process over.
now, he just hangs out on his back, arms straight out to both sides chillin looking side to side at what's happening
we either try coaxing him to roll to his side then over or force him to his side and he finishes the job.
he's pretty 'lax about it now.
 photo IMG_7703_zpsfa26965d.jpg
just this week he's begun actually using his hands/arms for longer periods of time to push himself up and look around (thus the rolling tummy to back).
he's so silly,
more often than not, when he's on his tummy, arms and legs are flailing in airplane mode, not using them, fussing because he can't go anywhere!
(except if he catches a glimpse of the TV, oh that darn TV, once he sees it he's glued so i'm constantly blocking his vision from the TV with my hand or changing his direction)
i think this picture series is so funny, he was not having it :)
 photo Untitled-1copy_zps39ecfe86.jpg
his new favorite sound can be explained as thus:
you know when you're done drinking a soda and you make that breathy exhale of satisfaction?
well add a lot more throatiness to that sound, elongate it for a few seconds longer,
and that's what we hear all day.
ha, we do it tons back and forth to him.
it's like a baby dinosaur boy yell,
we love it.
 photo IMG_7707copy_zpsddc045e8.jpg
he's very interested in things and eagerly wants to put them in his mouth.
you can tell when he's interested in something when he opens his mouth really big (big to the point of stuffing a hamburger in), and then slowly and wobbly moving his head/chest/whole body to that object whether it be a toy, a burp rag, a blanket, stuffed animal, bracelets, or our hand.
such a cutie cat.
 photo IMG_7756_zps8e1b3053.jpg
he gives us the greatest smiles when he recognizes one of us has come into the room and then it's tons of smiles from there.
and laughs are appearing constantly throughout the day,
i love it so so much!
 photo IMG_7795copy_zpsb390e901.jpg
he's a terrible napper, ha.
goes down for naps super easily but almost guaranteed that at 40 min he will be up.
the past while i could count/hope on two 1 1/2 hour naps and two shorter ones, but in the past week he's decided he's too cool for that.
he's starting to get back into the rhythm of that first long nap though.
and ever since we went to indiana, he wakes up mad as a hornet, that baby.
but lucky for us, once he's up he's really quite happy.
so although he doesn't sleep that much during the day anymore, he's still a happy camper, so can't complain too much.
 photo IMG_7800_zps50e77dad.jpg
if i could graph our night sleeping progress it would look like a stock chart:
constantly moving up and down with an overall upward progress/slope with big dips and spikes here and there.
it's the overall picture that matters :)
 photo IMG_7863_zpsc179f359.jpg
 photo IMG_7881_zpsfb877e17.jpg
baby favorites at 4 months:
bumbo,
moby,
swaddleme,
wubanub,
toys that hang on a bar overhead,
a wire/maze like ball he can easily grasp onto (and put into his mouth),
carseat
 photo IMG_7882copy_zpsc6ec310e.jpg
4 month stats:
height: 25 1/2 in (68%ile)
weight: 14 lb 15 oz (37%ile)
 photo IMG_7885_zpsb2ea06d5.jpg
sooooooo,
we're really digging this whole watching our baby grown up thing,
(though, as always, we miss that tiny baby),
but it's just SOO FUN to watch them learn!

parenthood rocks.

so friends and family, you can come squeeze this cute little baby as much as you need,
i know how irresistible it is.