My Thoughts

I generally keep this blog pretty neutral including mainly posts about our life and of course pictures of the Bean :) However I've got a lot of thoughts on various things that come and go. For those that know me, you know I'm an opinionated person and if asked I'll tell it strait and let you know how I really feel about a subject. Being a housewife and having a hubby who is in school and works full time, I'm not allotted many opportunities to discuss said opinions. Granted Berick will listen intently for about a minute but then becomes enamored with things entirely more interesting like a graham cracker crumb or fitting a car into a space its clearly not destined for. Will all of that being said, I think I'm going to start putting some of my opinions or thoughts here in this blog from time to time. Of course I'll most likely touch upon subjects that are seen as taboo mainly because putting your opinion out there on them is frowned upon unless its the opinion of the media masses but to be honest I don't care :) It seems as though in this day and age if you go against the media stream then you're a radical...well call me a radical then! Now for those of you who follow my blog, have no fear! I won't be ranting with every post and I will still be posting many pics of my Nugget but blogs are a way of expressing oneself so gosh darn it I'm going to do it!

To start off these random rant posts I'd like to take a stand on a subject I'm EXTREMELY passionate about. Before I go into it I'd like to say that the opinions I post are those that I have at this current time. It doesn't mean they aren't up for discussion or will never change but right now, this is it!

Women's Rights: here we go! In case you haven't already established my gender: I'm a woman! I love being a woman and take pride in the fact that my gender has come an awfully long way in this country. I say country because there are many places in this world where women are second class citizens and that's terrible. However this is not a rant about those women. Women here in America are spunky, strong, and full of life! Full of life in a few senses of the word. That's right folks I'm going to throw it out here how I feel about women's rights when they pertain to having children. Being a woman I'm proud of the fact that I can have children and feel so blessed that I so far have not had issues with that. Being pregnant was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Every milestone I reached with Berick was so rewarding and when he finally got here words can't express all the ways it changed my life. That being said I greatly appreciate my rights to become pregnant and have as many children as I want. Here's where the controversy of my opinion comes in: once a baby is conceived that baby is a human being no matter what stage it is. To me my right to choose is taken away when a HUMAN BEING is growing in my body. As a human I have all the rights this country has to offer and so should my unborn child. Up until the baby comes out its not considered illegal to kill it but as soon as it enters that delivery room, I know longer have the right to takes its life. That makes NO sense to me. That baby moves and exists in me for give or take 9 months and is very much alive! In cases of rape or incest or what have you I can understand abortion but other than that I don't find it to be a viable option. There are SO MANY wonderful people in this world who for one reason or another cannot have children and there only option is adoption. Give that HUMAN BEING to loving parents instead of ending its life. Babies are so precious regardless of if they are in or out of the womb and they deserved to be loved no matter who ends up being the parent.

That's it for the topic however its not cut and dry like some other issues may be so I will most likely talk about it again. I realize many people don't like what I've just said but again this is what I believe and currently I'm entitled to it! If you're still reading I applaud you for looking at a viewpoint regardless of if its yours or not! Next post I promise to be light and include some fun stuff about Berick who currently is battling a sinus infection :(

Thanks loyal readers for hanging in there and listening! Until next time... 

Happenings in Our World!

Ever since Berick's birthday we've been way busy around here! We love being busy in the summer and the age Berick is at is so fun! He keeps me going that's for sure!

Kenyon finished classes just in time to start another one! He's happy though because this will be his last math class of his college career! The hours are kind of crappy though. He works from 7-4 then comes home for a snack and on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday he goes to math from 5:15 to 7:45. Its not as hard on my but poor Berick only sees his Dad for 15 minutes on those days! We certainly value our time with him! Luckily the class is only for 7 weeks so come mid-June he'll be all done!

In other more cheerful news: We're moving out of Aggie Village! Huzzah! We're moving into a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom townhome style apartment! We're super pumped! Berick will have his own room and Kenyon and I will have a master bedroom/master bathroom! I feel so fancy for that one fact :) We've had good times in Aggie Village and will miss it for the fact that this is where we became a family of 3 and where Berick spent his first year of life but we're excited for more space even if it means no cable for a while...

I myself have just been busy chasing Berick around and adjusting to having basically a toddler! Berick keeps me going all day but I know some tricks to keep him occupied! We've been having a great summer with play dates and meeting up with friends and of course SNO CONES! Sno cones kept me sane last summer and are a delightful treat for us this summer! Kenyon is working his buns off but we hope to go camping and be outside a lot this summer! In August we're going on a trip to Oregon to see my mom and stepdad get sealed in the Portland Temple! We're so happy for them! It'll be fun to go back :)

Remember how I talked about those tricks to keep Berick occupied? Well they include going to the park, bath time, play dates, and essentially being outside! Here are some pics from some of our fun adventures!

These couple of pics are from a couple weeks ago when I got to meet up with some fun friends and take Berick to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden! He loved exploring and discovering all of the little areas!

Looking through a window in a castle :)

He really liked this portion where he got to play with these 3 train tables

This was supposed to be Africa and apparently Berick thought it should be destroyed...

His favorite part was exploring the giant chess set!

One of my favorite pics!

These next few are from Instagram! I decided to try it out after my phone boycotted uploading pics to facebook :) I quite like it!

Learned how to pick his nose...

Texting his women

Unorganizing the Recycling

Playing with Dad in the fountains at City Creek :)

Playground fun with Dad

It makes me feel like I can take nice pics! Here's a random modge podge of pics with captions to explain :)

Happy boy in his Carseat

Right after his first oreo! Can you tell he loved it?

He absolutely loves playing with wood chips at the park!

Starting him early on Driver's Ed :)

Kenyon carrying him in a basket/a good pic of his hair before his FIRST haircut!

Home after his first haircut :) If you couldn't tell he cried the whole time and right after I took this pic he began crying again...he sure looks cute though!

Well that's what's going on in our life right now! We just stay busy and I'm really loving this age Berick is at right now. He's just a big bunch of fun! Learning so much and running around! Almost walking too! We look forward to more adventures for the summer and enjoying time with friends!

The Big One

My handsome little fellow Bean has turned 1! I am in complete shock and refuse to accept the fact that he's been here for a whole year! Its been such a whirl wind! At this time last year (3:13) I was in the hospital and had been told we'd be having a baby that night! I won't re post the whole story but its on this blog somewhere if you want to reread it :) I remember when he was finally out and they placed him on my belly. I've never loved something so much, so instantly in my entire life. That moment I knew I'd do absolutely anything to ensure his happiness. I've learned so much this past year about myself, my husband, marriage, and being a parent. Its been also one of the hardest times in my life. Becoming a mom is not easy but my goodness its such a blessing. Heavenly Father chose Berick's spirit specifically for our family and he couldn't have picked a better one! Here's a little recap in picture form of my boy. I was going to a do a month by month thing but I wasn't very good at labeling so these 2 are from the hospital:

The nickname "bean" came from how tiny his head was...its not so small anymore :)

He looked like an eskimo baby when he came out! He still has those cheekies to this day!

My sweet little man was 7lbs 10oz and 18.5 inches long when he was born with his head in the 10th percentile. He's grown quite a bit since then! Here are a few from his younger days:

Love that little face.

One of my favorite pics!

Berick has come a long way! He's still just as cute but much bigger! Here are his 1 year stats:

• Weight: 20.5lbs
• Height: 28 1/2 inches
• 69th Percentile for Head Size

Likes:

• Peanut Butter on Toast
• Nilla Wafers (saying like is an understatement...he LOVES them)
• Soft Blankies
• Playing with Dad
• Cuddling with Mom
• Destroying the living room
• Being outside
• Bath time
• Dirt and Sand

...the list goes on and on but those are the major things
Dislikes:

• Knees on the grass so when he crawls outside its on his hands and feet :)
• The doctor
• Being told no
• Most fruits
• Being touched by other babies and sometimes other people
• Those squishy ball things that feel like slime; he gets so upset if you try to make him hold it!

...this list is also endless but those are the major things. Here are some current pics of my guy:

Not letting his knees touch the grass :)

Watching Dad skip rocks. I love this pic!

Berick and Dad hot tubbing :)

He found a sock of mine and decided the best way to transport it was with his mouth.

He loves his bear :)

He conquered his spaghetti

Dazed from the sugar consumption from his bday cake!

Berick is so fun these days! He gets into everything he shouldn't and wants to explore everything. He's a pretty happy baby unless you present him with the aforementioned things :) Its amazing that he has been with us for a year but then again I don't know what I did before he came...besides sleep in! I love my boy so much and I pray I can always show him that. I've learned this past year that not everyday is perfect and sometimes there are times when I could just scream but Heavenly Father has granted me SO MUCH patience. I'm so grateful to him for that and for the fact that he's patient with me. Heavenly Father truly sent him for me and knew the spirit that belonged in our family. I look forward to seeing more of Berick's personality develop. He's my guy and I treasure all the moments I have with him. Thanks for being my little Nugget Berick!

Easter and the Cabin

Well this post is slightly over due but I now have a busy almost 1 year old to keep up with so sometimes things slip my mind :) Easter happened a few weekends ago and Berick really loved it! We made him an Easter basket that had eggs filled with Cheerios in it, a hotwheels car, some bubbles, and a movie provided by his Mimi. He participated in 2 egg hunts and enjoyed both! One was at Aggie Village and the other was at Kenyon's brother's house in Layton. He didn't really crawl towards the eggs but once he had some he would proceed to shake them which was pretty cute. Here are some pics from Easter:

Here is Berick's basket before he went through the loot :)

The eggs filled with Cheerios

Playing with some eggs he found

Berick and his lady friend Heidi from the ward :)

Berick with his best friend Dad

Dressed in his Easter best!

Talking to people

After Easter was General Conference which was AMAZING! I should have posted about that but have no fear I took plenty of notes! Thanks to Berick's rigid nap schedule we were able to listen to the entire morning sessions and the last hour of the afternoon sessions. It was so nice! This will probably be one of the only years we'll be able to do that for a while.

This past weekend we rented a cabin in Bear Lake with 4 other couples and had a grand ol' time! Berick was the only baby so he got lots of attention! We stayed in the master bedroom that had a walk-in closet. We put Berick in there to sleep and its the best he's slept in a while! The second morning he slept in until 7:30! The weather wasn't ideal but we were able to go to the lake and play games and have some fun. There was a hot tub there as well that we all rather enjoyed! Berick even went in for a bit! He probably thought it was a giant bathtub :) We hope to go back to that same cabin in the fall for some more fun! Here are some pics from our trip:

There was a loft at the cabin and Kenyon was helping Berick climb up to it ;)

My guys :)

Berick's face doesn't show it here but he LOVES being on Kenyon's shoulders

LOVE this pic!

Watching the guys throw skip rocks...that'll be him in a matter of years!

Enjoying the hot tub and the complimentary duckie :)

He was scared of the jets so he kept looking back to make sure they didn't come back on!

Just hangin' with the guys

This month has been so busy and isn't done yet! Stay tuned for a big post this weekend on Berick's birthday! We're excited for him and are so glad he's turning into such a big boy! Stay tuned!

Unsetting the Alarm

Well as previously mentioned in a previous post, Mr. B is turning 1 next month and he is just growing and learning so much! I won't post about it all right now because I want to save that for his 1 year post! However yesterday we reached another little milestone that made me cry.

As parents Kenyon and I follow Babywise and LOVE it. It has helped us so much with getting Berick on a schedule and without it things would not be as good for us! (Just to add quick we don't judge anyone who doesn't use it, we just happen to think its pretty neat and know that there are plenty of other ways to raise a baby.) Anyway part of the scheduling is to choose a start time for the day from the very beginning. We chose 7. So at 7 every morning since around 6 weeks we get Berick up and then base his schedule around that for the rest of the day. Berick has reached the point where he can now sleep until whenever and we just adjust around that. Well last night for the first time since Berick was 6 weeks old I turned my alarm off.

Now one would think: "wow Jeannette was it really that much of a distress to turn your alarm off? Wouldn't it be awesome for your baby to sleep in?" Well curious blog reader it was a big deal to me. The schedule had brought so much structure and relief to my life. As soon as we got Berick going on Babywise, life became so much easier with a baby. If you thought I had a super easy time adjusting to being a mom then feel free to read my posts from April of last year :) At any rate as I went to turn the alarm off I just got tears in my eyes because my baby is growing. Which is wonderful but I'll never get to relive those newborn moments with him. He's such a big boy now and I love him so much and I just hope he knows how much I love him.

So for me turning off my alarm was a big thing and I wanted to document how I cried for it. Tune in next month for one of the cutest, picture filled posts you'll read from here! Thanks for reading about my emotions :) And to reward you here is a little Berick gem:

Trying to shove this entire cookie in his mouth that he got from the bakery!

Spring Break AZ...Again!

So basically we've been going to Arizona for spring break for like the past 2 years and figured we might as well keep up that tradition! We LOVED it! Kenyon needed a vacation so badly! The weather was amazing and we always have fun with Brian and Beth and their little family. The drive their was pretty uneventful and we split it up into 2 days. The first night we went from Logan to Cedar City and stayed with our friends Kevin and Casey! It was a double bonus because our friends Cassie and Mike with Jensen had stayed the night before and stuck around to see us and have dinner! Both families have boys who are a few months older than Berick but it was way cute to see them all together! The next day was way short! We left at 4 am and got to Gilbert around noon. Berick stayed happy most of the time and enjoyed his new portable DVD player in the car! He looked like this whilst watching:

He watched Cars and LOVED it! He's a fan of those movies.

We relaxed and enjoyed the weather while we were there! I forgot how cute Berick is in shorts! We also did some shopping and just had fun! We were really not looking forward to coming home because while we were gone in UT there was great weather but upon our return a snow storm decided to show up! Oh well, apparently good weather is to come! Here are some pics from our adventure:

He LOVED Brian and Beth's bathtub! It was a nice round one and he would get up and walk around it!

Just eating some chex. I thought he had  cute face in this one :)

I made these blocks for Berick while there! I just love them and hope to do something like this for all of our kids :)

Here are my 2 handsome guys! I love them both so much!

Here's Berick playing outside. I had to give him the car to get him to look up!

All the other men got to take their shirt off including Brannon so I didn't want Berick to feel left out!

Brian had the funny idea to put him on the tramp nakey with the sprinkler going. He liked the nakey part but not the cold water on his bits part :)

Here's my handsome boy at Denny's on our drive home. I just love those jammies! Only $7 in AZ!

We look forward to going to AZ again soon! Now that we're back we've got lots of fun things coming up! Berick turned 11 months old yesterday! I can't believe it! I'll do a big post next month when he turns 1 that will be all about Berick! Other than that Kenyon gets to start landscaping as soon as he's feeling better which he is sooooo pumped for! He was not a fan of his HVAC job. We're looking forward to summer and seeing what it brings to us! We're no longer getting a modular/mobile home and instead will be looking into cheaper apartments but if we can't find one then we'll just stick to Aggie Village! Thanks for reading! I'll be posting again at the end of the week for my take on The Hunger Games which I'm so jazzed to go see Friday!