Carribean Cruise:

It has been a while since we have been back but I have been busy getting back into the swing of things but I wanted to post about our cruise. We had such a good time, I missed my kids like crazy but it was so nice getting to spend some time with just us. It was nice to be just a couple again and not mom and dad for a few days. I did pretty good most of the time without the kids (only a few minor melt downs) but was thrilled to see them when we got home. Our cruise went to Grand Caymen, Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel. I LOVED all our stops. In Grand Caymen we just had a beach day, it was relaxing and a lot of fun. In Roatan we went to a place called Gumbilimba Park where we got to play with and hold Monkey's. The monkey's loved Cade and couldn't get enough of him. They were so dang cute! In Belize we did a very adventurous excursion, we hiked through the jungle to these caves that were amazing and then we went through these cave (actually crawling at times) and eventually made it through 2 zip lines, 2 rope bridges, and a minor repel. It was a blast, and a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will never forget. In Cozumel we went on a boat ride to a private Island that was absolutely amazing. I got a massage on the beach, Cade went in the Kayaks, I read my book in a hammok hanging from a tree and took a little nap. This Island was tiny and had maybe 60 people on it. It was heaven on earth, and the water was amazing. Here are some pics:
This was the sunrise on our last morning on the boat, isn't it georgeous?

This was our tour guides that took us to the private Island, they were awesome!


Our fun friends Tara and Chris!

Is this not Beautiful? It was seriously scenery from a movie.



This was just a cool little Island we passed, we loved it so we had to have a picture.

I ordered this cake to surprise Cade on our anniversary (I'm kind of a cheese ball)

We loved these little monkeys...











Roatan

Holy Cow...

it has been way too long! It has been a crazy busy summer and I have been slacking on my blog so much but I am making it a point to get better at keeping it updated. Our summer has been full of lots of fun things including; the zoo, lots of lagoon, lots of swimming, a fun week in Park City with the Miller clan, Maisey's 2nd birthday, and a few attempts at potty training. The potty training hasn't gone so well, she will do fine going #2 on the potty but not #1. I know its silly because most kids will be the opposite, but Mais doesn't do anything by the book :) So we have decided to take a break from the potty training because we leave for our cruise in 2 1/2 weeks so we can try again when we get back. Here is a quick update on what my kids have been up to:

*Maisey is talking a ton more and is really starting to show her little (or should I say big?) personality. She is such a little social butterfly and loves playing with other kids whenever she gets the chance. She is learning her color's but it is a slow process. She turned 2 on August 3rd and enjoyed sharing her birthday with all her little cousin's, aunt's and uncle's, and grandma's and grandpa's. She got so spoiled from everyone and got lots of fun new toys. She loved the monkey's at the zoo, she couldn't get enough of them it was so cute. She is loving being a big sister and loves to help feed Beckham. She will be a great little mother one day.

*Beckham is getting so big way too fast! He is so close to crawling, he will be taking off any day. He loves to roll around and love his little sister. He has no teeth yet but I think they are coming soon. He is such a happy little guy, and he has a way of making everyone smile around him. He is loving baby food and chow's it down. It crazy how much they are changing all the time at this age.

Me and Cade have had lots of fun this summer. We really enjoyed the break from school and getting to spend all our evenings together. Cade is back in school and is gone 3 nights a week. We hate the nights he is gone late but are glad he is working hard at school. Cade started playing on a soccer team with some friends and is loving that but is definitely feeling it in his old rusty body :) I have kept myself busy with the kids and doing nails. I have really enjoyed baking lately and even got brave and did some freezer jam which turned out yummy. We are looking forward to a vacation but scared to leave the kids for 8 days. However it will be so nice to spend some time as just a couple and not "mommy and daddy." Well here are some random pics of some of our activities this summer...
Maisey gets big girl panties:




Maisey's 2 yr birthday party:



Me and my friend made Maisey's cake, isn't it cute? Thanks Linds for the help!

Beckham's 1st hair cut:

The Zoo:

tHe LiTtLe ThInGs...(lots of random thoughts)

*Note: You may not want to read if you don't want to listen to me vent this post is more for me then anyone else.

I have really been thinking lately that I don't sit and appreciate the little things in my life enough. I am always trying so hard to be the perfect mom, wife, friend, daughter, and sister that I don't take the time to enjoy the moment. I need to take advantage of the moments Maisey wants me to read to her or play ring around the rosies with her or even Beckham just wanting me to sit and talk to him. Before I know it these two are going to be grown and too busy to be bothered with "playing" with mommy. I feel like lately I have put too must waisted time into being a great friend to people that in the end have burned me anyway (I know that sounds negative but I have really struggled with this lately). My family needs to be my priority in my life and I don't need the "high school" drama in my life. I have made a goal for myself to weed out un-needed stress in my life and I am excited to be able to start over and really appreciate my husband and kids more. I love that my kids and Cade will be here for me no matter what and I can depend on them for ANYTHING. I love the way Maisey wants to do everything I am doing. I love how all I have to do is look at Beckham and he gives me that big cheesy smile. My kids love me unconditionally and what more could I really ask for?

I have decided that there are some people in my life that continue to hurt me and put me in a bad place. I have asked myself many times, "what would Christ do?" I have decided that I really don't know what he would do but the only thing that I can see is the right thing to do is to continue to be nice but distance myself. I understand that everyone has weeknesses and I know I have plenty but I cannot surround myself with people who continue to bring me down. I need to stop wasting energy on these things and concentrate on the little things in my life that make me happy.

Today is the day that I have decided to stop dwelling on the hard things in my life right now and start concentrating on the positive. I have been struggling and have been so down lately and I don't want to feel this way any more so I have asked myself what can I do to change things? I have realized I can change my atttitude. I have SO much to be grateful for and I need to focus more on the little things. Sorry for venting but I have had one of those days that I really just needed to get this off my chest. I really am gratefuly for the true friends that I do have and for my adorable family that I love so much!

FaThErS dAy...

I just wanted to quickly post and say how thankful I am for Cade. He is an amazing father, husband, friend, and provider for my family and I am so glad I have him. I hope that I tell him this often enough that he doesn't feel like he needs father's day to know this. However, I do love that we have this day to acknowledge the wonderful father's in our lives. My kids are lucky to have a dad as amazing as Cade. I am also SO thankful for my amazing father-in-law and his fabulous example he is to everyone around him, he is trully amazing. I feel blessed all the time to be married into his family. I will forever be greatful that he will be my kids grandfather. I also appreciate my dad and the goofy relationship we share. He keeps me smiling and laughing all the time. I hope that I made the day somewhat special for Cade and I hope he know's how much I love and appreciate him. We had a fun day celebrating with Cade's family. We BBQ'd and just relaxed outside while the kids played, it was such a fun, relaxing day. Thank you Bunni and Paul for having us!!!

wHy?

Why can't they always be this innocent and sweet? I feel bad airing my durty laundry on my blog but I have had a really hard time with this little one lately. I have found myself just being more and more impatient with her all the time. I guess now I know why people are always saying "Oh just wait until the terrible 2's." I think she has hit them a couple months early. I guess I just need to know if there is something I can do that I don't know about. She is so naughty, she hits and bites and pulls hair sometimes and I will put her in timeout and she doesn't care. She really would sit there for 10 minutes if I would let here and she doesn't make a peep, I have tried swatting her bum or pulling her hair back or even biting her back and none of these things seem to impact her at all. If I am on the phone or folding laundry (or anything where I can't give her my full attention) she will hit or pinch Beckham to get my attention. I know sometimes the negative attention is what she is looking for but I have to give her that when she is hurting Beckham because I cannot put up with that. It is so frusturating because I know she is still little and doesn't fully understand everything I just never thought I would have "that child." I feel like I am doing everything I have ever been taught to do to teach her and nothing works. So I guess what I am asking is what am I doing wrong?

By the way I do LOVE her dearly and love being a mom, I have just found it a bit more challenging lately. Those little smiles she gives me or when she says "mom" and I say "what" and she says "I love you" is what gets me through every day and helps me keep my sanity. So I wouldn't change her for the world I just need to learn how to deal with a few things a little better. So any advice would be greatly appreciated and thanks for letting me vent. I do feel better now, well kind of :)

CaMpInG...

I have been so slow posting about our camping trip over Memorial weekend but better late then never, right? We had a great time but the crappy weather kind of put a damper on the weekend for us; however, we made the best of it. We stayed in my brother's trailor with him and his girlfriend which was so nice but hard with a dog and an almost 2 year old. They both wanted to be in and out of the trailor but it was so wet and muddy that it was a mess. My brother's trailor is new and so we wanted to keep it as clean and neat as possible, this was almost an impossible task. But somehow we did survive. The rain made it hard to do much but in the small spurts of sunshine we took advantage of my dad's four wheelers and we did get a hike in on one of the day. Our hike was quite the adventure because we went into some slought (spelling?) canyons and were about 2 hours in and saw some black clouds coming in. We decided it would be wise to get out because we had two babies in our group both with no rain jackets or blankets (luckily Mais was back at camp with my dad). Well about halfway out it started insanely pouring on us and we were literally running to the cars. Eventually it started hailing on us and I was completely freaking out because Beckham had nothing and he was in shorts and a short sleeved shirt. Luckily these very nice hikers lended us there poncho to use to cover him. Poor guy he was crying so hard and it was such a hopeless feeling as a mother. Luckily we made it back fairly quickly and everyone was safe. The flash floods were crazy and we had to even wait them out a little because they were completely flooding the road that took us back to camp. Needless to say it was quite the adventure but we made it fun! Here are a few pics of the weekend, a couple of them are of my sister's tent that got flooded. My other sister's tent was even worse but we didn't get a pic.