If You Loved Twilight..........

If you loved the Twilight series, by Stephanie Meyer and are looking for a good series to read you may want to look into the Vampire Diaries series, by L.J. Smith. This is a series of 5 books so far and there will be more to the series as well. I really enjoyed reading them and they must be good enough because the CW has picked them up for a new t.v. series starting in the fall. I do have to say that the first 4 books of this series were written in the 90's before Twilight was even a thought; so it is not another author trying to be the next Stephanie Meyer. The 5th book just came out this past February and it was good. I believe she will be writing at least 2 more books in this series. Like Twilight, this series also contains sexy vampires, both good and bad. Here is the link for the new t.v serires. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCGBdpCvbzk.

The Uglies series, by Scott Westerfield, is also a good one to try. It is a series of 4 books and I believe they are making a movie of it, but last time I checked online it won't come out until the year 2013, which makes sense why it would take so long to make if you read the books.

The series that I am currently is called the Immortality Bites series, by Michelle Rowen. It is yet another vampire story but with a little more bite to it. It is very humorous and you can't help but just fall in love with the characters.

I just love my job and have a lot of reading time on my hands while I am at work. I'm looking for some fun new books to read, preferrably with a love story in them. I would love some new suggestions. I also have read a lot more books than what I just listed and would love to also give suggestions.

Maximus

Kids just say the darndest things don't they? Josh and I are really seeing the effect our language has on Max. When he's frustrated with something he'll say "Oh my goodness!!!," which is just adorable. He as recently started using the phrase "shall we," like "let Beau in the house, shall we" or go to "gamma's house, shall we." If you ask him a question like, Max, would you like a snack; his reply would be "of course."
Me: Should we go visit daddy at work?
Max: Of COURSE!

I love it! Every question he asks ends in a cute little high pitched tone. He's also decided that he really wants to be a big boy and likes to try to make things himself like chocolate milk. He won't even tell me he wants it, he'll go get the mix from the pantry and a spoon from the drawer, the only problem for him is that he can't open the fridge yet to get the milk, luckily for me.

We are finally getting a fence put in and Max has been watching them out the window all day yelling "hi" as loud as he possibly can to get there attention. He LOVES all the attention to be on him ALL the time. He is so outgoing and loves everyone, although he still has his favorites ;)

It has been hard on him having all this rain and not being able to go out and play with friends. He gets a really excited look on his face and asks, can Addie come over or one of his other friends. Sometimes we just can't get a hold of anyone and he's stuck with just mom and he has gotten really sad that his friends can't come over. This just breaks my heart, because I want so badly for him to have a little brother or sister and I really did not want him to be so much older than his other siblings. I am a person who likes to be in control of her life and believes that everything should always be fair 100% of the time. Unfortunately that is not the case. I believe that it has brought me even closer to Max (if that's at all possible). I don't take a second for granted that I have him. Last Sunday, when I picked him up from nursery he got this huge grin on his face as yelled "mommy" and ran to me with his arms stretched out. I just thought to myself, I am so lucky that this kid is mine.

I will be posting more pictures of Max soon!

The Renee Award

I was given this award by my sweet Aunt Linda. She has such a kind heart and I love hanging out with her and her three beautiful daughters. I wish we would all get together more often.

Renee award was created by Bella and Ces in honor of their friend Renee http://circlingmyhead.blogspot.com/. [Photo]In Bella's own words "this is a brand new award and I have the pleasure and honor of spreading the seed, watching it grow. I hope it finds it's way to those who are like Renee: the acorn, a small package becoming a tall and sturdy oak, giving more acorns, becoming tall and sturdy oaks, giving acorns..." You are to choose other people to receive this award.Renee's blog is beautiful, just as I imagine her to be. She shares so much and it is easy to get lost there for hours.I would like to share this award with some very special people who have inspired me and have touched my heart in so many ways..

I would like to give this award to one of my oldest friends, Emily. We were close friends growing up from 9th grade on up and I'm happy that we still keep in touch. Emily is a very happy, friendly and genuine person. She genuinely cares for people and loves everyone. It shows by how many friends she has. She has touched the lives of so many whether she knows it or not and I am proud to call her my friend.

Mother's Day

Mother's day is nearing and it makes me think about everything Max and I have been through together. I'll never forget how nervous and terrified I was when I found out I was pregnant. By the time nine months rolled around I thought that I was prepared to handle this tiny little infant. He definately had some surprises of his own for me. My little bundle of joy came 2 1/2 weeks early. I was in labor for thirteen miserable hours when he finally decided to grace us with his presence. He weighed 7 lb. 9 oz. and was 20 in. long. He was beautiful.

He was two weeks old and never cried when my mom jinxed us. "You are so lucky, this baby never cries, she said" It was almost as if a light bulb went on inside of him because I swear it was only a matter of days until the crying never seemed to end. He had collic and it didn't just happen at night, oh no, it came all day throughout the day. After an awful trip to the store where Max began crying and wouldn't stop until we were back in the car, Josh came home from school and I vowed that I would never leave the house alone with the baby again. Max and I both cried for four months.

Now looking back on all the tough times, I wouldn't take any of it back for anything (I know it is much easier to say this now). Max has always been a stubborn child with a mind of his own and he was telling me that right from the get go. He has challenged me a lot and although it has been stressful at times, it is his personality and I would never try to change that. He loves being around anyone who will pay him attention. He doesn't have any siblings to play with yet, but will make friends with all the kids at the park every time we go. He loves being around babies and is surprisingly really good with younger children. He is going to be an awesome big brother someday. I am so lucky to be his mom and I'm excited to see what new challenge he will throw at me next.

Max really loves to tease his dad. Here he is eating his dad's cupcake because he had already eaten his own.

He thought it was so funny teasing his dad.

I'm making a cake for Mother's day and Max automatically thinks that cake means that it is someone's birthday. He started telling me "Happy birthday, Mom". I tried explaining that he needs to say Happy Mother's day, but this is what comes out every time: "Happy Birthday, Happy Mother's Day mom". It's so darn cute! If all my kids are this cute, I'm going to have to have a dozen.

Seven Year Itch????

MOST DEFINATELY NOT! On Saturday, May 9th, Josh and I will be celebrating our seven year anniversary. Holy Cow, I can't believe it has been that long. It will be eight years since we got engaged which was also on May 9th, one year before we got married. I've been so caught up lately with all the problems that we have had to face that I've lost sight of all the positives in my life. Josh and Max are definately number 1, in my life. I am so lucky to be married to my best friend. We've always had so much fun together and Josh knows me better than anyone else. I can't imagine going through half of the things that he has been through and still being as sane (most of the time :) ) as he is. He is the rock, in our family and helps to keep me calm when things get tough. I'm even more in love with him now than I was on our wedding day.


The picture above is Homecoming for USU 2001, we were engaged and this was the night before Josh left for Kuwait. I love this picture because you can see how genuinely happy we are in it and still are today (sorry Emily, you get to be in the picture too). It's funny how it all started when I was working at the outdoor swimming pool. Josh came swimming, a number was left on a wallet and BAHM, here we are today with such an awesome son, Max. He has got so much personality and loves everyone, and I have to admit, we made a cute kid. He is so much fun and is so good with younger kids. I know he is going to be an awesome big brother some day.

I just want to end this post by telling Josh how much I love and appreciate him. He is such an amazing husband and father. I couldn't have picked anyone better.

Sweet New Hobby

Ever since I got married I feel that I lost all of my hobbies. I decided to start up a new hobby and I'm absolutely loving it. I took my first cake decorating class. It was so fun to learn so many creative ways to decorate cakes and cupcakes. It was very difficult letting Josh take my first cake to work with him to share with his co-workers. I was really proud of this cake and it seemed such a shame to go and cut it up. Oh well, that's what cakes are for after all, and it was better he do that than leave it at home for me to eat. Here is a picture of my first sweet creation.

Baby Animal Days

I was worried that Max would be afraid of the animals, but to my surprise he was very eager to hold and pet all of them. He had so much fun! His favorite part was riding the pony. He soon found that it is a lot different than just riding the horse on the merry-go-round. As soon as the pony started walking it made

Max jerk backwards, but luckily I was there to keep him on. After that he was giggling and having a lot of fun waving at Grandma. It was kind of chilly and extremely muddy, but that's okay because Max was completely dressed from head-to-toe for the occassion. All-in-all it was a great day! Max was a very happy and surprisingly pleasant the entire time. I can't wait for next year!

Easter was a lot of fun this year too! We had an Easter party w/an Easter Egg Hunt at our house with Josh's family and my parents came too. The kids loved the hunt and it was fun to spend time with family. Max got a tee-ball set from the Easter bunny. He's getting pretty good at hitting the ball. It's so cute to see Josh coaching him and playing with him. I love my boys!