Amazing Baby. Amazing Weekend.

Today I am ever so grateful for the people who made this weekend so special and fun! Yesterday, I started my day with a very long foil session with my co-worker, Chelsie. She spent 3 hours putting highlights into my hair to give me the blonde I have been longing for ever since I made the mistake of going back to brunette. I am not only grateful to Chelsie for being so talented, but for being so sweet and patient as she stood on her feet for so long. She's expecting a baby and that could not have been comfortable. So thank you Chelsie. I love my hair!

After my hair appointment, I rushed home to help Jordan get the house ready for AXEL'S FIRST BIRTHDAY! Friday night we had gone to the store and bought everything we would need and I made the fondant for Axel's cake that night so it would be less work on Saturday. When I got home we started to prep the food and get the decorations ready. At first we were really feeling rushed but as things came together we had a blast! We didn't get many RSVP's but were suprised and had a great turn out! The cake smash was really fun as well.


Before the party even ended, I had to disappear and get ready for Jordan's high school reunion. As people slowly started to leave, we cleaned up and got ready to go. I am so grateful to my dear Mother who stayed and helped clean up so Jordan and I could get ready to leave. Then, Jordan's sister Kelly came over straight from a long day of work and watched Axel while we were gone, and she cleaned EVERYTHING! It was such a sweet and relieving surprise to come home to after such a long day. She did all the dishes, swept, vacuumed, cleaned up the big cake mess, put the food away, and cleaned off all the counters, on top of taking care of our sweet birthday boy! Our house looked so nice. She also spent the night and we had some fun chats. Thank you so much Kelly! You are going to be such a good wife and future mother!

The high school reunion was fun, but I always feel a little out of place among all of Jordan's high school friends. We had a nice time, but let's just say it was everything I expected it to be; A lot of drinking and friendly banter. It was nice getting to know Jordan's high school friends though, and finally putting faces with names.

The next morning (Sunday) Jordan made a yummy breakfast and we had a nice relaxing morning. It was fun talking in detail with Kelly about some of her ideas for her wedding (in December)! I was so excited that Axel fit in his adorable shirt he got for his birthday.


It was such a glorious weekend and I am so grateful for everyone who helped make it so fun! I am so happy to be Axel's mommy. I love my big boy more than anything and find new things to gush over each and every day.

At this time, here are his stats:

*He is 30" long and weighs 29lbs (a year ago he was 20.5" long and weighed 8.9lbs)
*He's wearing size 2T comfortably, but will fit into 18-24months.
*He speaks a lot of gibberish, and calls everyone he loves "da-da". His toys he calls "da".
*He is starting to take steps on his own, but isn't quite there yet. I'm sure he'll be a great walker in a month or so.
*He loves spaghetti, chicken, blueberries, strawberries, and his milk.
*He loves to look at books and "read" them to himself.
*He LOVES dogs, cats, and other animals, but dogs are his favorite.
*Music by The Fresh Beat Band or Laurie Berkner get him dancing every time! He loves to dance.
*He loves to splash in the tub and suck on his sponge. (It's so gross but makes him really happy).
*He loves to "scare" Mama and Dada when we are all laying in bed. He will go to the end of the bed and say "raaah!" with big eyes and a big smile and Jordan and I pretend to get scared. Axel thinks it's hilarious and cracks up every time.
*Axel loves other kids, especially his friends Kylie and Gabe from church.

I love you Axel Jay! You are my shining light and give me a happiness I never could have imagined! You've changed my life and taught me so much (especially patience :D). Thank you for being so smiley, funny, and sweet. Happy Birthday big boy! We love you!

A Self-Induced Intervention

I can't believe it's already the end of August! Do you know what this means? The end of August means that I will have a One-Year-Old soon! Just a year ago I gave birth to my sweet baby boy, who doesn't seem like much of a baby anymore, but I will hold on to whatever I can. Axel, you will ALWAYS be Mama's baby. In the scorching heat and humidity, we haven't really taken advantage of the outdoors too much, but I am anxiously awaiting things to cool down as the Fall approaches. Fall is by far, my favorite season. Don't get me wrong, I love a sunny day just like all of you, but it's the heat and humidity that I can't stand. If I could have Fall weather 365 days a year, I would be a happy camper. If anyone knows where I can live to enjoy that peace, please let me know.

We are celebrating Axel's birthday this coming Saturday, the 27th, and I've decided on a farm theme. He really loves animals, and I didn't want to do anything too "big boy", so farm it is. Plus, I found a really cute invitation that went along with my theme just perfectly!



I really need to get a move on with the party plans THIS WEEK because so far, my plans haven't gone past my imagination. I think we'll hit some party stores tomorrow!

This past week we were graced with the presence of Jordan's siblings all coming to Wisconsin for a visit/Family Reunion. Everyone was able to make it except for Holly and Creed. Unfortunately the dates of the reunion fell right in the middle of their transition from BYU-Idaho graduates (WAY TO GO GUYS!) to entering the real world and looking for jobs, and he found one! We are so happy for Holly and Creed and their growing family. (Baby girl is due in October!).

We so enjoyed having Shawn, Traci and Andrew, Shalyse, Ben, Andrea and tiny baby Ethan, Ryan and Paige, and Kelly all here from different places in the country.





So, you might be wondering why I titled this post "A Self-Induced Intervention". I know, it sounds kind of dramatic, but it is necessary. That's right. I am imposing an intervention on myself, by myself. Lately I have been feeling very...tightly wound shall we say? Knowing my daily obligations are not much different than every other mother/wife out there, I decided I need to dig a little deeper if I want to change my perspective and personal nature in general. So here are the things that I have decided to do to find the old Courtney and give my family the best of me.

*I have found that I have allowed toxic personalities to affect me in ways that only bring me down. Although there are some people I cannot avoid, I need to do my best to not let their strong opinions and hurtful comments disrupt my family, my goals, and my general happiness.

*I need to turn off the TV! We went almost 2 years without a television and did just fine. Once we moved to Wisconsin we decided that being at home with Axel all day would get kind of boring without TV. I set rules for myself and how much tv I would watch, and what shows if any, I would allow Ax to watch. Needless to say, things got out of hand and the TV is on way too much. Now there are set TV times for me, and Axel will only be watching videos (educational of course) from now on. I've replaced a lot of TV time with having music on (thank you Pandora!) and it has already changed the mood in our home. I don't know how I let music slip out of my life for a brief period of time.

*We need to get out of the house! Living in a place that doesn't have any public transportation, it can be expensive to just get up and leave and try to find a fun place to go. Especially with a very rowdy boy in tow. But we need to get out more, and we will.

*BOOKS. Remember my bullet above about less tv? I will be replacing most of my tv time with books. I used to read book after book after book, and before I started reading my current book (The Glass Castle) I hadn't picked up a book (other than a childrens book) in close to a year. A YEAR! NOT OKAY.

*Meditation. I think this goes along with reading and listening to music, but I need to allow myself more time to just relax and release any and all tensions of the day so that I can sleep better and be a better Mom and Wife to my boys.

Those are my big ones for now. I am really working hard to become confident in myself and my roles as Axel's Mom and Jordan's Wife. This fall I will be starting classes through BYU-Idaho online to complete my degree. I am really looking forward to this as I know when I am consistently learning I am happier in general. The only online degree offered is University Studies, but I will be taking two minors in English and Marriage and Family Studies. Right now there are only about five different minors to choose from (slim pickings), so those two seemed to be the most interesting. I'm hoping they open up another that focuses more on culture and diversity, but I'll take what I can get.

Until next time...