The videos

Hope was a monkey in her former life

Hope's birthday was very fun. She went to boondocks with a few friends and family. She got lots of fun presents from our thoughtful friends and family. So, I decided to post this video of Luke playing with some of Hope's make up. I kept telling him, "Boys, don't wear lipstick, Luke" and he would say, "Boys do." It was hilarious. Hope and I were cracking up. Hope then proceeded to hang upside down on the counter ledge. It was an entertaining night to say the least.

Halloween Continued

Our poor little Luke had stomach flu Halloween morning. Poor little guy. We did get a few pictures. By the afternoon he wasn't throwing up and he was eating so he did get to go to grandmas and grandpas. I stayed home most of the night as I was still recovering from pneumonia while Berny took the kids up our street and then we just chilled. Hope of course, loved every minute of it.

Grandpa Coy's halloween party and Witch hayride at Gardner Village

Hope's Halloween Parade

Luckily, Bern recorded Hope's halloween parade because I have walking pneumonia and opted not to go. She is such a cutie. She chose her own costume this year.Of course, I wasn't there to fix her hat before sooo..ya. Dad's don't notice these things. You can't see but I braided Hope's hair in these cute braids with super cute hallooween bows. I love our little not so shy Candy Corn Witch. More halloween pictures to come.

Kids pictures!

So, we finally took a family picture. We haven't since Luke was born (other than ones we took ourselves). Amy Riley did them and she did an awesome job as usual. You can check them out on her photography blog posted in my links. If you go to her gallery button, you can see all of the pics by clicking under Berny and Nikki. Also, on a good note, I am trying some Migraine medicine that is giving me tons of energy and might be helping with my dizziness. I feel better but I was starting to feel better before I started taking the medicine so I am not sure..we will see. Here's to feeling good though!

Hope

So, I have been feeling discouraged and frustrated lately about my "problem", my symptoms have been not great lately. Yesterday, I went to work and found out that my friend's husband Paul got his new heart. It was the best news in the world! He is such an inspiring person and the news truly lifted my spirits and gave me hope. I am so happy for their family and can't imagine the suffering they have gone through while they waited for this heart. I just wanted to post this in case some of you know this family and had not heard the good news yet. I was a little late finding out myself. What an amazing journey!

Oh so sick of this!

So, I am still dealing with my balance problem although on a much smaller and more mild scale but don't you think it has been long enough already. At one point it went away about 2 months ago and I went to PT(for my last visit) and it came back. I have lost a lot of faith in doctors after many scans, specialists, and etc. and have not pursued more tests or exams because noone knows what is wrong with me and for the most part my symptoms are generally so mild that I can function pretty well but not optimally. I want to be more active ie go for a bike ride etc etc not just be able to function but at least I can function well. So I am considering seeing a new doc and giving him/her all my test results and just venting my frustration that even though my symptoms are mild, I want them to go away. Anyway, just needed to vent a little. My neck and back of my head are hurting today and I'm grumpy. Sorry everyone.

Hopscotch Camis GIVEAWAY!!!!

Hopscotch Camis GIVEAWAY!!!!

More about Luke!

Okay, so I really just wanted to take a minute to brag about our little man! He is so smart! Really! He talks in full sentences and mostly understands everything. He amazes me all the time. He is such a good kid. Mostly mellow unless he's tired. Sounds like me. Haha. He is so sweet. He is always giving hugs and kisses and he loves his big sister! He wants to do everything that she does. He is such a boy! He loves robots, trucks, choo choo trains, basketballs, Buzz Lightyear, Ironman, Spiderman, and all the other action figures. We love him so much and I am a bit of a pushover when it comes to Luke. I still sing to him and rock him to sleep. How can I resist when he says, "Mommy, I want you." The funny part about that is now he is old enough that I can bargain with him and say, "Do you want mommy to sing to you or do you want to go in your bed" if he starts to fight me and he nods his little head yes. He is the cutest thing! We really have great kids! I couldn't be happier or feel more blessed. I love this picture of him. Amy Riley took it earlier around Easter time but it is so him.(Check out her blog. She is amazing and very detail oriented.)

Luke is 2 !

Well this weekend was a little crazy to say the least..I'll back up.. Thursday was Hope's dance recital and she was adorable doing her ballet dance to "The Candyman". Friday I worked and Saturday Hope was supposed to perform at Saratoga Splash.The following picture is minutes before she was supposed to dance and then came the rain..Really monsoon would be more appropriate. I felt so bad! The kids didn't get to do anything they wanted pony rides, slides, etc. So, instead we went shopping for Luke's birthday present. Okay, driving in a monsoon..not the smartest especially given our track record for accidents right now(Bern totaled his truck on Friday) but we were in search for a Buzz Lightyear.We even saw lightning strike a building and saw a little smoke rise. Then, 2 hours later..sunshine. What the heck is up with this weather! Sunday, we had both sides of the family and the Warrens over for Luke's birthday which we were planning on a bbq outside but of course rain. So picture 24 people in my house, guitar hero, face paint, dinner, and cake and ice cream. A little crazy to say the least! Luke had a good time though. He loved all of his gifts..everyone was so thoughtful, they were perfect for him. Luke kept saying,"Lukey spiderman robot". Cute but a little confused. Mom and Aunt Lara made him a spiderman cake and cupcakes. Thanks guys! It was so cute. Also, the kids got to get their faces painted. It turned out really good just really loud for a while..Oh and my sisters and Aunt minus Linds and me had their faces painted like KISS. Anyway, Love you all..more pics and video of Hope's dance recital as soon as Bern downloads them for me off the internal memory..for now enjoy Luke's birthday.

The Brass Hussy GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

The Brass Hussy GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

One more so you can see the top

For those of you waiting to see Hope's Duvet finished

She loves her duvet that Des helped me make. I must say it turned out way cute! The best part is the shams we made are so cute ..Hope is so funny she uses them as sleeping bags for her stuffed animals..I will get a better pic when we get everything done but here is the duvet and of course Hope hamming it up.

A few more pictures from Mom's house

Easter!

Finally, some pictures of easter. My kids had so much fun. Easter egg hunts, barbeque, and hanging out with the fam. Curt made some stuffed hamburgers and man were they huge!. I just had a bite of Bern's but they were mmm..mmm good. Grandpa's weenie roast was fun, a family tradition. And finally, a water fight at my mom's with squirt guns she bought for the kids. Bern and Em took it a little too far..bucket of water.

Art Nest Pincushion RingGIVEAWAY!!!!

Art Nest Pincushion RingGIVEAWAY!!!!

Okay, A few more

Finally...some of the new pics...for those of you not addicted to facebook

So I have the disk of the pictures Amy took of our two little kiddos. Here are some of my favorites

Paul Cardall Benefit Concert

Paul's wife is one of my friends from work. I cannot even say how much a wonderful, sweet person she is. Paul is an inspiring musician. They have a daughter Eden who is 3. Please join us in attending this benefit concert and help us show support for their family while they are waiting for a heart for Paul.

Born 2 Impress GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Born 2 Impress GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

Cinnamon Sticks GUEST GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

Cinnamon Sticks GUEST GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

My kiddos pictures.

I just had to share this because I think my friend Amy is amazing and super talented. She took my kids pictures last week and did an amazing job. They were not cooperative at all..yet somehow she managed to get the pictures I was hoping to get. Can I just say, I LOVE THEM!! Love you Amy, Thanks again. To view the pictures ( I don't have them yet) Go to the Amy Zabrina Photography link on my fav sites. She put in a few sneak peaks. They're amazing.

My Sewing Project

I am making a duvet for Hope's new bed. Our princess moved into her big bed and we are trying to get her set up in it. I decided I wanted to learn how to sew and make a duvet for her bed so my Aunt Desi is helping me do most of it all by myself. It is taking a while but it will be so cute when it is finished. It has turned into to quite the project but I dare say it will be as good as Pottery Barn although I don't think I saved much $ doing it. Well, here's to learning a new skill anyway. Oh, and the picture is kind of yellow because it was taken on Bern's iphone and it doesn't have a flash but you kind of get the idea of what I am attempting to do. It should be done by next week. We've been trying to get together once a week to work on it. Des is nice enough to let me use her machine but I think I like this. It's pretty fun. I'll have to be buying me one.

V Day!

Okay, so this post is really late but my life has been really crazy lately. Anyway, our Valentines Day was fun. Well, I better back up a bit. The day before VDay Hope woke me up and said Daddy has flowers for you. Apparently Bern had bought me roses and hid them downstairs to give to me the next day. He told Hope not to tell me but she was so excited she couldn't help it. Bern went to work and that night when he got home I made the suggestion of making breakfast for dinner (Pancakes, etc..) Come to find out he had stopped at the store on the way home and bought srawberry syrup and whip cream, bacon,and eggs so he could make us a V day breakfast in the morning. So poor Berny couldn't win. All of his surprises were ruined this year. Oh well it's the thought that counts and It was still yummy just a day early. Valentines Day we took the kids to see Hotel for Dogs and went to Rocky Mountain Pizza. It was a good day.

25 Random Things About Me

1. I love the TV show Lost. I never miss it. If I do we TVO it.
2. I like to scrapbook and have many supplies but hardly ever do it. (Who has time?)
3. I am learning to sew. (Hope's Duvet for her bed, probably a little ambitious for my first sewing project.)
4. I was a concert pianist. I even won a few trophies from BYU but now I haven't played for so long I can usually only pick out a melody at first glance.
5. I love to snorkel. Really love it! We have snorkeled in Hawaii, Mexico, and Grand Cayman.
6. I have four sisters.
7. I have OCD but not the good tidy kind, the germ freak kind.
8. I love to read. Mostly fiction. I get enough of real life.
9. I occasionally play Guitar Hero World Tour with my husband.
10. I am a Registered Nurse in the NICU at IMC.
11. I have an addiction for kids clothing. My kids have more clothes than their drawers will fit and I hate putting them away when they grow out of them.
12. I like to fold clothes. It's therapeutic for me and relaxing.
13. I love river rafting and four wheeling.
14. On Saturday mornings, if I am not at work, you can usually find us singing and dancing in our family room while we are attempting to clean.
15. I like Law & Order and Burn Notice.
16. I once was a photographer at Kiddie Kandids.
17. My favorite color is blue.
18. I chose my kids names Hope and Luke partially because they would be really hard to misspell and easy to pronounce. I have seen some weird ones.
19. My favorite dessert is cheesecake and also my 4 year old's fav. If we're sharing she'll eat more than me.
20. My fav food is my mom's Penne Rustica. So yummy!
21. I tear up whenever I hear "Let them be little" especially if I am on my way to work or any other million father daughter songs. I love my dad. He's an amazing compassionate person.
22. I would rather have 10 good friends than 50 aquaintances.
23. I like living in Utah. I love the different seasons. I just wish winter wasn't so long but I can't imagine Christmas without snow.
24. I have family in Pennsylvania. Go Steelers!
25. My kids and my husband are the loves of my life. I don't know what I'd do without them.

An update!

I am starting to feel a lot better. We'll see if it's just coincidence or I keep feeling better with the physical therapy. I hope so. On the upside, My kids are the cutest darn things I have ever seen! At least this is the only thing in my life that is kind of a bummer. Everything else is great. I have a great job, good friends, and a great husband! Plus the fact that he is hot doesn't hurt. LOL. Also, I have a wonderful family to support me and help when I need them to.

Maybe a little early to judge

A little better today, maybe I prejudged the physical therapy. We'll give it a few weeks.

Physical Therapy Sucks!

Okay, it's been a while. So, here is an update. I was doing really well for almost 2 months with my balance problem not gone but almost right? Well, 2 weeks ago I got a sinus infection and my symptoms are pretty bad again. I can function even at work but it is really uncomfortable. It's not like room spinning just off balance + headaches+ now my eyes are having problems focusing sometimes. So, I am jumping through the last hoops that I know of. I did a sleep/apnea test, tried migraine medicine ( had to quit it before we could see it could work because of the side effects), and now I am trying physical therapy. Mostly, he stretches and massages my neck. He seems to think that I have a pinched vertebral artery. I have only been twice but so far I feel worse as far as balance goes not better when I leave. My neck does feel better for a few hours so I'll give it some time and see but I think the next and probably final step is surgery on my ear. WHATEVER! I don't care. I just want this to be done with and it's been really hard to have this relapse in symptoms when I thought I was getting over it. Okay, now I am done whining.

More New Years pictures

Rock and Roll New Years Eve!

Anyone who knows me knows that I don't play video games. Period. Bern does and I am fine with that as long as he doesn't wake me up and he gets up in the morning. However, on New Years Eve we decided to invite some friends and family over for a Rockband / Texas Hold'em party. We had a blast! I only sang once because I was busy playing hostess and snapping some pictures but we had fun.Des, I did were my hostess apron. Em brought Rockband I for the 360 and we seriously played for two hours and probably would have kept playing except some of us wanted to play Texas hold'em before midnight. Anyway, needless to say we did go and buy Guitar Hero World Tour which is pretty much the same as Rockband. I am getting pretty good at the drums. I can only play the guitar on beginner. LOL... and I sing pretty well so I think I do okay there. I hope everyone had fun. There was lots of yummy food (potluck) and the kids loved banging pots and pans at midnight and doing poppers. Best wishes to everyone for a happy and healthy New Year!