Vote for Jaxon

Haha - I have seen so many moms do this - so I thought what the heck!

Vote for JAXON for the baby gap contest!

Thanks!

Oh how I love this boy

Dan is 25

Wow! I can't believe Dan is 25! This past weekend was Dan's birthday! Our sweet friend Audrey offered to babysit Jaxon so we could have an evening out, but Dan's birthday wish was for us to all be together. He doesn't get to spend much time with us, but mostly Jaxon since he goes to bed between 8-8:30 so we made plans together. And since we are poor law students haha, we decided to stay at home. So I made Dan's favorite meal in the world Bang Bang Chicken and Shrimp from the Cheesecake Factory. Yes - I made it and it almost tasted exactly like it. Obviously there is no way I could make it as good as they do, but since there isn't a Cheesecake Factory here and we were trying to save money, this had to do - but it ROCKED! And for dessert... mint brownies. It was a delicious meal. Then at 7:30 we had a video phone call (much like skype but you don't have to be at your computer) with our families. Dan's family went over to my parents house since my parents are the one with the video phone and we all talked and we got to SEE them which was nice and then they all sang Happy Birthday to Dan while he blew out the candles on his brownies. It was a great night! I wanted to have a big party with lots of people over but Dan wanted something quiet and simple, so his wish was granted. I feel like 25 is such a big deal that I feel so bad that there wasn't more involved. But luckily it doesn't take a lot to make Dan happy and he loved his quiet birthday at home with Jaxon and I.

Happy Birthday honey! I am so lucky to have you as my husband and I am so grateful for all you do for me and our little family. I admire you for going after what you really want in life despite what others may say or think about it, and for doing so well in law school and for going above and beyond the requirements! You are amazing! You are a wonderful father to Jaxon and he loves you so much! We both do! Happy Birthday!

Summer might be ending - but not the fun!

We have had a great week. First of all, my new friend Audrey and her son Carter went with Jaxon and I to the mall to play at the little play area they had! The boys really liked it. Carter was climbing all over everything, and Jaxon just watched the kids for the first part, and then figured out what he was supposed to do and climbed up the truck!

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Then we went to a birthday party for our friend Justin Pratt. He turned the big 30! There were lots of little kids for Jaxon to play with and he was having a blast running around with the bigger kids. He wanted to do everything they did... including playing the Wii.

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On Labor Day, Dan and I took Jaxon to the Science Spectrum. It is the coolest place ever and after being there, we decided to invest in a year membership. They have a play area for kids 5 and under to just run around, explore and discover. They have books, blocks, water stuff, cars, just about everything a kid could want. Jaxon was having so much fun! They had a lot of cool things for all ages too! Dan and I really enjoyed ourselves as well. They also have a "class" every Wednesday and Friday that kids ages 1-4 get to go to to learn how to sit still for 10 minutes while they teach something. I am excited to start taking Jaxon to that! Then that night we had a couple of families over for dinner. Jaxon was so excited to have little kids over to HIS house, he was running from his room to the living room just screaming for the kids to follow him back to his room where they could play with his toys. I have NEVER seen him that excited and energetic. It was pretty funny to watch!

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On Tuesdays my ward has a play group and so I went yesterday. We went to a park and it was so much fun! Jaxon was not scared at all - he wanted to climb up and down everything, he wasn't afraid at all, which made me terrified!!! I only got one picture because I was with him the entire time ready to catch or help him so he didn't get hurt. We are going to go again to that park though because he loved it, so I will take more pictures next time!

Support

This will be a short post, but I just have to say how grateful I am for the church and the support it gives. Our new ward is wonderful and we have met some amazing people and I can't wait to get to know them better. What other organization is like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints? We came here and were welcomed with open arms by all the members and instantly had friends. Because Texas Tech is here - our ward has a lot of students and it is nice to be in a ward where there are so many people that are in the same situation as you. There are several law students in the ward and most of them are either 2nd or 3rd year which is great for Dan because they are able to give him great advice on how to succeed during your first year, and it is great for me because I have friends who have had to go through the law school experience and they know what it is like and how hard it can be. My ward has a play date group that gets together every Tuesday and I am so excited to be a part of that. Without the church this move would have been so much harder! We are so lucky to have such an amazing support system no matter where we are in the WORLD! 

Time

I have had a full time job since... well since I was in high school - I have ALWAYS worked. Four weeks after I had Jaxon I started working again, luckily I was able to work from home so I could still be with him, but I was working none the less. I thought that it would be easier to work from home, but it was the opposite. I constantly felt guilty when I was working that I wasn't paying attention to my adorable son, and when I was playing with Jaxon, I continued to think about everything I wasn't getting done for work and I would stress and have to stay up late or get up really early to get it all done which was really hard. I felt like I wasn't able to give 100% to either thing.

Before we moved to Texas Dan and I decided that it would be best if I quit my job and focused on being a mom to Jaxon. I have loved being able to give him 100% of my attention, but I have to be honest, I don't know what to do now to fill up my extra time. I know it's hard to believe that I have extra time, but I guess because I have always worked and been able to juggle all of it, I feel like I am being lazy now. I get up, make a yummy breakfast, we eat, I clean up, we play play play, I feed Jax a snack, we play some more, Jaxon goes down for a 3 hour nap, Jaxon wakes up, we play, I start dinner, we eat dinner, I clean up dinner while Dan plays with Jax, we all play, we put Jaxon to bed, I clean up any other messes there are to clean up - Dan does any last studying or homework, then we spend some time together go to bed. Now reading that it doesn't sound like I have "extra" time, but while Jax and I are playing I can be doing things - a lot of times I clean while he is playing with his toys so I have the full 3 hours while he is napping to do something. Normally, I would get 3 hours of good working time in, now I'm not sure what to do. I don't have friends here yet and we just moved into the ward so I don't have a calling yet that I can do stuff with, we only have one car so Dan takes it to school unless I have something I need it for then I drop him off and pick him up, and we don't have extra money, so I am not sure what to do - and I feel guilty if I lay down or watch TV or something - I guess I could work out but usually when Jax goes down for his nap I am pretty worn out - I feel like a bad mom or that I'm really lazy for having free time and I don't know what to do - I need a hobby. I used to never have free time and now that I do - I'm not sure what to do with it.

Our House

Note - there are 2 more posts after this that are new and basically all pictures.

Post Note - We still need to do decorating in the house. These pictures are mostly so my fam can see where we live - and the master is no where to be seen because it is the last room to get put together and is not picture ready. Also - our main living area with the TV still needs to be done - we are getting our couches next week and we have a lot to do in that room still.

Welcome to our house

Front door and Living area

Office with Dan's shrine to the U

Jaxon's bedroom

Guest bathroom

Guest bathroom cont.

Master bathroom

Kitchen

Kitchen and you can see the Laundry area to the left

Kitchen pantry

Back door - living area continued