love, mckenzie

2012-01-13T13:06:00.000-08:00

we had such a comfy christmas this year.

i have never appreciated time with my husband so much.

i drank it in for the two weeks that I had him

although for most of it we were sick.

mike got the stomach flu before christmas

and I got sick on christmas.

we later found out mine was pneumonia and jack got pink eye.

then mike got pneumonia and pink eye a few days later

along with a nasty cold for jack that is still hanging on despite the breathing treatments we have been doing with the nebulizer.

It's been drama but we did manage to get a few celebrations in before the plague hit!

For our advent calendar this year we wrapped up 24 christmas books.

One for jack to open each night.

we did neighbor gifts.

we decorated, of course.

Christmas eve pajamas with taggart cousins.

and had ourselves a smashing christmas morning.

marbles

2012-01-12T19:49:00.000-08:00

jack discovers quickly and gets bored quickly so he keeps us on our toes.

we are always trying to find new ways to teach him and new toys to play with him.

that isn't always easy with a no toy budget

but all you need is a card board box, right?

we put this together for fhe and it was so much fun.

I'm not sure who enjoyed it more. Jack, or us.

Michael brought out his inner "asian kid from goonies" with an over achiever pin wheel.

I cut a hole out of the bottom of a cup.

blocks

2012-01-12T16:20:00.000-08:00

jacks favorite thing to do.

he has picked up on all of his shapes including the hexagon.

smarty pants.

birthday

2012-01-12T15:54:00.000-08:00

my birthday this year was magnificent.

and I say that boarder line sarcastically.

michael was up to his eyeballs in finals so it was just jack and me.

jack was well behaved as always for the special occasion and shoved a bead from a christmas tree ornament up his nose.

we went over to the urgent care place by our house and they told us that they couldn't get it out and sent us to primary childrens.

three hours later we left with bead and child separated.

the non sarcastic part of my birthday being magnificent came when michael took me out to lunch and to the nutcracker a few days later.

that is the wonderful part about having your birthday by christmas.

there are so many great things to do.

and he was such a sweetheart to make up for the birthday.

he went above and beyond this year.

my favorite part was the three layer cake he made for our family of 2 1/2.

that's 1 1/2 layers for jack and one for michael and I.

in explanation he told me he didn't realize it was going to be that much cake but he wanted me to have a big cake so I felt important.

SUCCESS.

monsters. a birthday morning tradition.

at the nutcracker

and the giant cake that was waiting for me when I flew in from Colorado after shooting a wedding

adventuring

2012-01-11T13:37:00.000-08:00

we went adventuring over the christmas break and headed up big cottonwood canyon and over to the great salt lake. we were way overdo for some tree and nature time!

calendars and blankets

2012-01-11T11:39:00.000-08:00

my christmas gift for my mom and dad this year all the way in Canada.

temple square lights

2011-12-23T12:01:00.000-08:00

snuggles

2011-12-23T11:39:00.000-08:00

My snuggle bug.

He ALWAYS has to snuggle before he will go to bed.

He puts his face super close to mine and whispers baby babble to me

and sometimes puts his arm around me and pats my back.

Usually he just asks me to scratch his back, though.

so cute!

the craziness ensues

2011-12-20T15:25:00.000-08:00

Jack takes everything except his diaper off every night and nap time...

why? I don't know.

but he got cold and tried to put his sleepers back on by himself.

close, buddy....

Jack likes to look out his window until he can't keep his eyes open anymore and then he curls up at his feet on top of the heater vent.

ugly christmas sweaters

2011-12-09T16:19:00.000-08:00

tree

2011-12-07T12:12:00.000-08:00

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving!

I have NEVER ever had a real Christmas tree so we decided it would be so much fun to go cut down our own.

right?

well, we went out to get one that was maybe 4 feet tall.

we made it back with one that was 14 feet tall.

I don't know how it happened.

There were so many warning signs.

Here we are with a christmas tree that is hanging off the front and back of the Buick and I'm thinking we have a 5 foot, maybe 6 foot tall cute little tree.

Well, we got it home. Cut off two feet off the top.

pulled it inside, tried to balance it in the tiny plastic tree base we bought at walmart for about an hour.

At this point I am thinking we would have had lights on it and we could be eating chocolate chip cookies while we decorated.

Instead michael muttered insults under his breath at the tree and I just got really sticky from the pine sap.

We cut off another 3 feet or so from the bottom and thought we had triumphed over the tree.

It was midnight.

we went down to start baking the cookies when we hear a giant "THUMP"

we hadn't triumphed:(

SO, we tied yarn around the top of the tree and hooked it to a nail in the wall to keep it up.

So far so good. It hasn't fallen over and eaten us yet.

We went to grandma T's church for dinner

and headed to play with cousins the next day and make tree ornaments.

play time

2011-12-01T11:15:00.000-08:00

i call it bag lady

2011-11-10T15:27:00.000-08:00

I love this picture for so many reasons!

partly because it shows off hub's new GLASSES!

That's right, the great glasses massacre of 2011 in IKEA has been remedied.

but mostly because it just shows how hard he will work to get jack to smile for my pictures.

love him.

first snowman

2011-11-08T16:40:00.000-08:00

E for Effort

2011-11-07T15:46:00.000-08:00

I really should have known from this "does it look like I care?" look on his face that this wasn't going to happen.

He kept asking me if he could go potty so I figured I had to potty train him so he didn't end up like that kid all the other moms kept telling me he would end up like.

You know, the one you didn't potty train on time so now he's 10 and still incredibly comfortable wearing diapers.

liars.

there were a few moments of hope when I thought he might be getting it, but for the most part he couldn't have cared less.

by day three I was getting a little crazy...and a little sick of getting peed on.

looking back I realize this wasn't a good idea but it seemed reasonable at the time.

I decided that if we was going to keep peeing all over, I was going to be one step ahead of him.

I made him hang out naked and sit in the kitchen for easier clean up when the inevitable happened.

Then I took masking tape and made a barrier so he couldn't get out.

Mike came home to jack playing with his toys naked in the kitchen with tape up across the walls.

Once again, in retrospect I see that this was not a good idea.

Day three brought on the cat fights.

You know, jack says "no! I no go potty" and then I come back something super mature and responsible like "fine. be a baby."

That was kind of where I drew the line.

I wasn't ready...

but a little more importantly, he wasn't ready.

And to all you potty training books out there:

bite me :)

halloween

2011-11-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween and it never disappoints!

This year we were lion tamers and jack was our lion.

(appropriate, don't you think?)

i wish I had more pictures of his little costume that I made but I wasn't about to provoke this lion when he was already doing us a HUGE favor by agreeing to even wear the costume, let alone be photographed in it.

see?

Our first halloween party was one we did with my family here.

It's now a tradition that we picked up with our friends in Rexburg.

We eat chilli our of pumpkins and jello that looks like candy corn.

Then we did a mummy making contest with toilet paper which resulted in a toilet paper fight.

Then we had a costume party for the med students and their families. These are always so much fun.

They had it here.

It was gorgeous. I have never seen such elegant food for 2 year-olds.

we carved masked pumpkins

and a mummy pumpkin.

(i used to do this all the time when I was little so I had jack help me. All it is is damp toilet paper tried onto a pumpkin)

I decorated.

Michael took me to see Thriller at Kingsburry hall.

The dancing was ridiculous! I loved it!

And we did trunk 'r treat at the church.
My favorite jack quotes from tick or treating were
#1. Him saying "candy gorgeous? please gorgeous?" Adding gorgeous on to the end of his plea is his way of one upping "please". And it works:) What? Who doesn't like to be called gorgeous?
#2. Saying Happy Ween to everyone at the door.

a little date night.

2011-10-30T16:55:00.000-07:00

so the other day we went into salt lake for date night.
it was raining and so cold but we found this cozy little book store right in the middle of everything.
it even had the ladders that slide along the book shelves.
totally old school.
we got hot cocoa to warm up and then went to the SLC temple for the first time since getting married there in 2008.
I had the traumatic experience of having to use the restroom in the middle of the session.

and it was just that. traumatic.

2011-10-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

I feel like nothing incredible is going on in our lives,

just a LOT of really little things.

med school seems to get a titch busier every week.

how does that work?

and when I say busier, I mean harder.

I don't know how it snuck up on me like this. I new med school was going to be hard and that I would be husband-less A LOT,
I just never imagined it being quite this lonely.
That is the hard part for me. It's really been an adjustment going for so long without hardly seeing or talking to anyone (and our darn phones got messed up so I have to wait to call people on the weekends.)
I just didn't really expected it to be this isolating.

That being said I am seriously so thrilled for mike. I love this little fount of knowledge that he is developing.
This is his dream and I love watching him live it.

and we have really been more blessed and helped than I could have ever imagined.

We are so grateful that tests are going well and honestly I never expected him to balance church, home, and school as well as he is. It's amazing.

Jack and I are just having to learn how to stay a little busier.
So jack is getting a lot of mom time...

which he may or may not appreciate:)

And I am getting a lot of two year old chat time...

which I totally appreciate.

I don't care if we have to talk about cars and trucks and mickey mouse all day. It's better than nothing!

here are a few of our goings on.

First of all, I have been doing a ton of photo shoots!!

jack and I took a road trip to Idaho for a few days back in September for Grandma Phyllis' birthday party.

that clever man I call husband put this up.
it says "heart u max" (i'm max)

it's been a few weeks and now it just says "U MA"

I wonder if someone needed a drink?

jack and I were cooped so we made a race car track.
p.s. check out the sleepers (I think it's noon?) with the feet cut off, socks, and sandals. This kid refuses to wear anything other than this.

a salt lake REAL game. He loved it.

abc's

2011-10-18T14:59:00.000-07:00

the abc's...kind of.

joy.

2011-10-17T17:13:00.000-07:00

jack jack is pure joy.

everything about his eyes, his smile, his laugh, his personality:

JOY.

I just love him to pieces.

and now that it's just us most of the time, we have developed a very sweet little friendship.

he brings me tissues when I'm sad,

tells me "'nuff. you need time out?" when i'm mad.

and is so much the reason that I am so happy.

he is two years old now and I don't know where the time has gone,

but I love the little person that he is.

jack loves trucks and dinosaurs (dinushars as he says it)

he greets me with "hi gorgeous"

he is not afraid of anything and loves making new friends...with anyone!

i am so thankful for him!

he has a very proud mom and dad.

butter.

2011-09-12T14:12:00.000-07:00

jack learned a valuable lesson this week.

this is not cheese.

this is butter.

and butter tastes much better than cheese.

date night in a jar

2011-09-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

so...

we decided to make a date night jar.

It's an old jar from DI that I filled with ideas for cheep (or free), no babysitter needed, unique dates.
now on friday night all we have to do is choose the date for the night and we are set.
no hassle.
that works really well for me right now.

anyway, these are some of the dates that we put in our jar.

i though someone out there might benefit from a few of the ideas but I also wondered if anyone else had any good ones. I will take any help I can get.

Thanks!!

Drive-In in the garage: Get blankets, popcorn, etc. and with a lap top or a projector if you have one go to the drive-in in your garage. (this could be done in the backyard, too)

Book Store (or library): browse the store for your favorite books. write funny notes on scratch paper and leave them inside the books for future, unsuspecting readers.

Rent a movie you have never seen before. Set it on mute and improvise dialog.

Wishing: Get a roll of pennies from the bank and go around to all of the fountains in the area and make wishes.

Photo Booth: go to the dollar store and secretly pick out 3 items for the other person to wear. Go to the mall and take pictures in outfits at the photo booth.

Roller Rink: I found out we have a roller rink in Lehi. (I think that perhaps sequins and spandex would be an excellent choice of attire for this activity.)

Flash light hide and go seek: wait until it is dark and play hide and go seek in your house with flashlights.

With a camera and a pair of books, make a photolog of a day in the life of the invisible man.

Pajama Game: go to walmart or a dollar store and find cheep, ugly, matching pajamas. Put the pajamas on and wear them while you go out to get a movie at redbox, go get dinner, etc. Come home and play board games.

Star Gazing: Put baby to sleep in the car. Drive out to where you can see the stars. Put blankets and pillows on top of the car and look at the stars.

We have the old school sega and mario cart so that is one of our date nights.

Book store: 1. Find the funniest joke. 2. find names for your next 10 children. 3. Find a new hobby to do together some day.

**this one actually does require a babysitter** Fake engagement: Go out to dinner somewhere kind of nice and give hubs the wedding ring. Let him propose and pretend like it is for the first time.

Secret agent night: Go out with everything you need to be a secret agent. Mission Impossible music, a notepad, binoculars. Dress in all black and get in the car. Pick another car on the road and follow it to see where they are going. Don't follow it too long or they will call the cops, though. Not good.

Side walk chalk: walk around the city and draw on things with sidewalk chalk.

Dress like French artists. Go outside to a cafe. Write a book of fiction together. When you get stuck, ask strangers for inspiration.

Psychiatrist Date: put glasses on and dress the part. Ask each other questions to get to know things about each other. We re ask each other the basics like favorite color and favorite foods because those things tend to change after a while.

Word night: eat alphabet soup, do mad libs, and play boggle.

white coat

2011-08-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

isn't he so cute?

i am so proud of him.

there is a white coat ceremony where they get their coats and he got a stethoscope also.

nerd. party.

2011-08-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

in honor of the first day of school we had a smashing nerd party.

yummy food, movie watching, and of course a picture or two...

which turned into more than two when we decided we were pretty funny.

jack wouldn't participate.

all he wanted was a popsicle...which he ate happily.

we did manage one picture out of him, though.

I dropped him off for his first day.

backpack, lunchbox, and all.

actually he didn't take the lunch box with him, but the picture would have been incomplete without it.

george.

2011-08-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

we decided to run away

to st. george where no one could find us.

we just soaked up some family time before med school started.

It was over 100 the whole time so any activities HAD to be done before 10 AM and after 8 PM.

Needless to say, we spent most of our time at the pool.

we also managed to see the temple and go to a movie in the park (which is where this beautiful carousel came from)

happy to see you

2011-08-10T11:24:00.000-07:00

and a little creeped out to see you too.

medical school and finger painting

2011-08-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

i have perma-puke feeling.

Michael starts med school in ONE WEEK.

do you understand?

that is only 7 days

or 168 hours

or 10, 080 minutes.

whichever measurement of time you fancy,

it's not a long time.

I am starting to feel like it is going to be the beginning of the most miserable decade of my life.

which may sound dramatic,

but i have a hankering that it's not.

Don't worry,

I'll get all positive and excited when I have to,

but for now I am choosing to soak up the fear and let it sink in deep.

That way later when I should be freaking out,

i'll have already done all of the freaking.

i'm not crazy, it really works for me.

in the mean time,

i have two words for you.

finger.

painting.

I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to finger paint with my clean freak of a two year old,

but I did.

now I don't.

he spent most of this activity screaming wipe! wipe! like this:

but it sure turned out swimmingly in the end.

rainbow

2011-08-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

caught this out the window the other day.

beautiful.

pioneer day rodeo

2011-08-07T08:05:00.000-07:00

this rodeo in ogden was one of our first dates.

hubs was fresh off the mission and I was fresh off of high school.

we had only known each other 2 weeks or so

so you could imagine hub's neighbor's surprise to see us so lovey dovey.

she assumed we had dated before he left for his mission.

nope lady, he's just that smooth.

now we have a two year old.

time flies.

FHE

2011-08-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

the fam having FHE and playing at the splash park.

DI

2011-08-01T12:21:00.000-07:00

my new DI dress that I love.

kitchen face lift

2011-07-31T19:30:00.000-07:00

It's still a work in progress

but here is our kitchen so far.

We painted the cabinets and walls and added hardware.

we are still working on getting a new counter top,

but that is going to have to wait until someone gives their old counter tops to DI.

here is the before

GIRLS CAMP 2011

2011-07-28T19:02:00.000-07:00

I have showered!

I am kicking myself for not taking more pictures but it was just too much fun to stop for pictures.

these are the girls along with the handouts that I made.

aren't they cute?

2011-07-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay. I really do leave for girls camp today but I just couldn't go without posting these two pictures of jack...

who I have to leave today.

I hate that.

a lot, actually.

as long as we are being honest,

I don't really want to leave the hubs either.

I do, however, feel a little more secure that he won't eat cat poo or something while I am gone.

jack...i'm not so sure.

so, the picture above: a little preview of jack's two year pictures.

the picture below: the other day I told jack that we had to go and to go grab his shoes.

when he cam back this is what he had:

2 hats

one blanket

one coat

two halves of the salad tongs

and no shoes.

love you!!!!

a foot or two.

2011-07-21T18:01:00.000-07:00

m and d have grown a foot or two

and are leaving on their mission to Canada.

they got set apart as mission presidents the other day so we did some family pictures.

And now I am off to girls camp!!

wish me luck!!!

fake camping, real hiking

2011-07-18T12:41:00.000-07:00

tin foil dinners in the oven

camping in the backyard

p.s. can I just brag that I found this tent at DI?? i love it.

2011-07-14T09:07:00.001-07:00

jack is TWO.

2011-07-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

gift bags and frame.

it said:
"please grab some cookies to take home and eat.

Thank you, thank you for making my second birthday so sweet."

it is NOT easy taking a picture with jack

his "cake"

chocolate bowls, ice cream and sprinkles

blowing out his candle

presents

no, that's not punch.

that is the bubble station.

the green stuff is the bubbles that I made

and the cans had bubble wands and water guns in them.

and we made this slip and slide with the pvc pipe sprinkler.

the tutorial to make it is here.

a thunder storm rolled in and everyone got really cold.

love you love you

my sweet baby boy!

I hope two years old is blissfully mischievous for you.

fourth.

2011-07-12T07:12:00.000-07:00

we started off our fourth of July weekend staying up at the tag's cabin.

jack wasn't extra fond of the horses that dared to get closer than about three feet of him.

they were feeling mighty friendly.

then we headed to the huntsville parade.

jack wasn't very fond of his parents who tried to get within three feet of him.

we went for a hike behind the tag's cabin

roasted hot dogs in our fire pit in the back yard.

this picture is more than I could ever hope for.

check out michaels face.

he was playing frisby believe it or not.

was he trying to catch with his mouth?

and we ended with the fireworks at Liberty.

how does one spell couzie camp?

2011-07-08T09:50:00.000-07:00

couzie camp.

sounds pretty great, right?

well it's the tag's fantastic tradition of getting all the cousins together.

one problem.

you have to be potty trained.

bummer, jack.

we did, however, get invited to story and hot dog roasting time.

they had professional story tellers come and perform for us.

they were amazing!

(pictured above = not safe.)

focus.

2011-07-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

We went to the Utah Jazz draft party the other day and tried to take a family picture.

First of all, it's relatively difficult to take a picture of yourself with an SLR with your arm stretched out like this.

it's heavy.

Second of all, jack jack,

you need to focus.

a zooing we have gone

2011-07-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

we went to the zoo the other day for a little outing.

jack was in little 2 year old heaven.

he kept yelling "ooo, hoo"

or Yoo, Hoo

at all of the animals to get their attention and try to get them to come over to him.

he's a doll.

mmm hmmm

2011-07-05T08:50:00.000-07:00

I need to get myself one of these for girls camp.

my husband's a construction worker

2011-06-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

watch out ladies

this ruggedly handsome man is my husband

and this is what he looks like when he gets home from work every day...

right before I send him to shower

(he may look cute, but the smell will change your mind)

he works hard to take care of us.

he doesn't really like working construction but he does it anyway so we can eat!

thank you!

we love you!

jack: you are funny

2011-06-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

jack is naughty, naughty, naughty...

naughty.

he also just so happens to be absolutely hilarious.

he is not mellow or well behaved

(he is in time out as we speak)

but he has this HUGE spirit just shines as you watch him

discover and laugh and destroy and jump and climb and destroy some more

(covered in sunscreen (which gets lost in the flash) and stickers)

He started yelling to me the other day (volume control also seems to be a small problem) while we were at the bank. We were waiting in the drive through for our receipt when Jack started begging from the back seat for a "BURGER!!!

burger, burger, burger, burger"

we were mistakenly pretty confused at first but it quickly became clear that jack thought we were at the fast food drive through and he was ready for his burger.

nice.

on that same trip, we drove over to temple square to stalk my bff Kelsey who is serving her mission there.

We were just sticking with jack who was leading us to one of the fountains.

He was galloping (his only form of transportation on two legs) over to it yelling

TUBBY! TUBBY! TUBBY! TUBBY!!

he threw one leg over the edge of the fountain and we pulled him down and told him it wasn't a bath tub, it was just for looking. He wasn't convinced.

We tried a number of different things until we finally tried the "okay then, i guess we will go and leave you here. BYE!" trick.

we turned around for just ONE second and looked back to find his pants already off and he was working on the diaper.

yikes.

this is classic jack.

the sleeping on the floor part is normal, so that didn't shock me so much.

I did, however, have to just imagine what jack must have been up to before he fell asleep that required no shirt and a sock on one hand.

we will never know.

thanks for the laughs jack jack.

dam. marathon.

2011-06-15T12:46:00.000-07:00

It was back to rexburg land for the much anticipated dam marathon.

I'm not sure if the boys will ever recover from the emotional and physical damage done that day,

but boy can they run!

I personally think that running a marathon sounds horrible,

but it was so nice to have an excuse to be back in idaho.

Jack was also glad because,

once again,

I didn't pack him any pajamas

which meant he got to wear little girl pajamas with mini on them and a ruffled collar.

oops

love. notes.

2011-06-08T11:26:00.000-07:00

my hubs is a piece of work.

he can drive me nuts, but boy does he know how to make me feel loved.

he wrote on all of my paper towels the other day so that every time I used one I would know that he loved me.

he is the best!

i meant sick week

2011-06-06T20:26:00.000-07:00

the sick day I mentioned before has

turned into a sick festival!

it's been a magical week of NyQuil.

So I don't know if it's the cold meds or being all cooped up

but jack has been

#1. hilarious.

#2. making me question my every ability as a mother

(the kid is gifted at being naughty)

so there has been a lot of bed head.

a lot of naked time

(and some apparent fist pumping)

and yes, we are in the front yard.

I figure if my neighbors are grilling close to naked,

getting their mail shirtless,

and driving in, well, nothing

then my baby can hang in his diaper.

and we have had lots of crazy baby giggles

nothing says love more deeply or sincerely than a good head bonk.

that is true, at least, according to jack.

he saw this figurine the other day and started to just belly laugh.

I looked at him and he told me "BONK"

and then walks over to it, gives it a big snuggle, and a big BONK from his own head.

what a nut.

oh yeah

2011-06-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

I need to get me one of these for girls camp!

i don't know why

2011-06-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

But I COULDN'T stop laughing at this.

couldn't.

still can't.

tripod. family. pictures.

2011-06-01T12:22:00.000-07:00

okay, I don't know if this is hard for everyone.

But taking our family pictures with a tripod was

really hard

for me.

They do the trick, I guess.
Here they are!

isn't he so good looking???!

new. house.

2011-05-31T10:26:00.000-07:00

we are having a sick day today:(

so while my sweet baby rests,

I am taking advantage of the time and getting a few things done.

p.s. I got that pillow jack is laying on at DI for $3.

It WILL be recovered. Don't worry.

Now that we have that out of the way. Here is our new house.

last chance

2011-05-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

It's your last chance to comment and enter for a free photo shoot!! so hurry and go over to my photo blog and comment!

beaver.dick

2011-05-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

we thought it would

so.

cool.

to make jack's bed out of a pallet like this one.

but then we realized it was

so.

dumb.

so we burned it instead.

that was a much better idea.

oh, and by the way. Beaver Dick is the name of the park we burned it at. That is what it is really called.

easter

2011-05-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

We couldn't ever get jack to behave for our easter picture.

I thought about recreating the moment and making everyone get back into their easter clothes and take the picture again.

then I decided that it was a real moment and to embrace it.

and michael wouldn't do it.

so here it is: EASTER!

no holiday is complete without a photo shoot!

And then we had a "picnic" out on the lawn of the apartment complex for easter dinner.

It was very epic.

jack jack

2011-05-20T10:49:00.000-07:00

We are all moved in and getting the finishing touches on everything.
I promise pictures will come soon!

In the mean time. Check out jack.

He is making an L with his body.

finger painting

2011-04-28T20:29:00.000-07:00

yet another amazing date night planned by none other than:

the love of my life.

it's been real.

2011-04-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

idaho:

it's been real

but it's true.

we have made a decision about med school.

and we leave in 2 weeks.

where are we going????

UTAH!

we were so surprised to get in and had our hearts set on Iowa for so long that it was a really tough decision,

but,

when the Lord know where He wants you, He makes it quite clear.

(which he did)

we are really nervous to be in Utah, but we are so excited for our next little adventure and so grateful for everyone's help getting us here.

****Now, a little favor.****

If anyone reading this would pretty pretty please

think of anyone you might know who needs housing in Rexburg...

(like, soon)

and let us know.

We are desperately trying to sell our apartment contract and everything happened so quickly that we haven't had very much time to sell it.

I have 2 weeks to fit in as many photo shoots as I want.

I already have quite a few scheduled but I have room for a few more so anyone who wants one before we take off, email me at

mstaggart22(at)gmail.com

flashback.

2011-04-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

so it was getting a little ridiculous that i was still putting off this post considering there is a good foot of snow on the ground in every picture.

but,

we headed down to utah for sweet baby connor's blessing and got to hang out with my hilarious family.

we had fun!

land of the disney.

2011-04-22T21:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I posted the pictures forever ago and now I am finally writing about it.

silly,

i know.

But it is what it seems!

we left town and went to disney land!

we stayed in cali for a week with our

amazing.

across the wall neighbors and their family.

our first day there we took the babies to disney land.

t o t a l l y. w o r t h. i t.

they had the BEST time!

(just check out the picture down yonder off jacks face in "It's a Small World")

We did fun girl things, got our nails done, and did a little shopping while the boys went golfing.

Then we got to go BACK to disney land for round two.

this time without the babies.

it was such a blast.

i'm already planning my next trip in my head!

i told you he LOVED it

day 2 of disney land

check out mike's face

and a little closer?

hahahahaha

nuh-uh

2011-04-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

Oh no he didn't.

really?

friends?

2011-03-25T21:31:00.000-07:00

or maybe a little more?

who knows.

p.s. you should know that after this kiss they totally pounded it.
you know, like punched their fists together.
so really, who knows.

uh oh...we got in!

2011-03-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

so...

we totally did something scary

that really just got very exciting.

we studied, volunteered, spent some money, took the MCAT, spent some more money, entered applications, spent a lot more money, went to interviews

and now

we are going to medical school!!!

(i say "we are going to medical school" because although hubs gets most of the credit for getting in, jack jack and I are giving ourselves a little bit of credit for helping out)

so i'm happy to announce that it's down to two options (may not seem like something to celebrate, but it is with our decision making skills):

Des Moines University

University of Utah

any suggestions?

i'm telling you, people. this whole doing scary stuff pays off.

toatally worth it

2011-03-23T09:13:00.000-07:00

this makes 12:00 choir practice,

straight to 1:30 church,

and having a hubs who's gone all day.

TOTALLY

WORTH

IT!

dresser

2011-03-21T16:44:00.000-07:00

this is the stellar dresser we bought a few days ago at DI.

hubs is pretty handy,

thankfully.

because it can't stay this way.

and dear grandma cherie,

if you are out there reading this.

it's not personal.

i bet you're super nice.

and thanks for the dresser!

coloring.

2011-03-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

and when I say coloring,

I mean:

eating crayons,

stealing each others crayons,

me coloring kitties,
eating gold fish,

and major fun.

skiing

2011-03-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

(as adorable as it would be if this were us...

it's not.

i wish it was, though!)

best date ever.

ever!

we went night skiing.

hubs was in heaven.

we both love to ski, but we had never been together.

nobody even fell on their bum.

not so surprising for hubs,

but a little surprising for me!

we went to Kelly Canyon.

and,

I repeat: best date ever!

these two friends we spotted on our way there!

The one just sat there staring at me.

surprisingly frightening

but so amazing.

stuff.

2011-03-14T09:10:00.000-07:00

hubs is sick of my GIANT collection of inspiration on our desk top.

he says it's time for me to find a new place for it.

i picked here.

I can't just get rid of all of these fabulous things.

Here is a small installment of things that inspire me.

here

vogue UK

here

i. won.

2011-03-11T13:01:00.000-08:00

you know how I was talking about doing something scary every day?

well a few months ago, my scary thing for the day was entering a photo competition in idaho falls.

i won FIRST place in the events category.

i am so excited!

In the picture below I am standing by my image that is hanging in EIRMC hospital in Idaho Falls.

It was also published in the March/April issue of Idaho Falls Magazine.

here is my picture!

happy birthday big m

2011-03-03T11:40:00.000-08:00

my cute husband is 25.

and we had the best birthday week.

we had a pink panther marathon,

went to a very exclusive ski resort complete with blanket ski hill, tupperware lid skis,

and a youtube fire place.

then we went to a five star restaurant:

but because we can't afford that, we went to 5 one star restaurants.

One stop at wendey's, macdonalds, burger king, dairy queen, and arbey's.

we went golfing in the hallway,

had china food,

and built a fort in the living room.

Hubs: thanks for the fun.

We're so glad you were born.

so.

glad.

I love you to pieces, and I couldn't ask for a sweeter spirit to be married to.

and:

fjvccmmd.///.///ngyujbcddderyufddtyfgglhkhgh w3ceddvil´hrh s≤µ zvvvvv..

m juuuuyttrfffffgffgg aasa //////

love, jack

Roar.

2011-02-24T11:53:00.000-08:00

I am learning to find my ROAR.

i am learning to have passion,

to forgive, to have faith, to relax, to laugh, to hurt,

i have faced some hard battles:

some of them secret, and some of them not.

i have been in hard places that feel lonely, and i have been in some tight spots,

but I am learning that:

i can do hard things.

i can't usually do them alone,

but the sun is going to rise every day

and i can do great things with that day.

Eleanor Roosevelt said:

"Do one thing every day that scares you."
no, that doesn't mean go bungee jumping. At least not for me.
It means don't worry. It means start projects, go after dreams, care, expect things from myself, say yes.

so Molly (the dinosaur that hangs from my rear view mirror) and I are roaring.
we are doing great things
every.
day.

So scary thing for today?

I am saying YES.
saying yes to play,
saying yes to smiles,
saying yes to faith,
saying yes to posting this
saying yes to today.

("roar" credit to natalie norton)

birds of a feather

2011-02-21T07:59:00.000-08:00

this is one of jack jack's sweet friends.

we got to watch her for her mom for a while and it was

so.

fun.

we think we could pass them off as twins.

we went to story time and watched the little mermaid

(but not without a little censoring from evelyn as to when the sea witch was coming and we needed to fast forward.)

and then they did a little dancing.

totally adorable

and totally worth watching.

things that go bump

2011-02-15T17:10:00.000-08:00

today jack and I were things that go bump.

We were headed to take the diapers to the trash can and hit black ice.

before I knew it both of us were flat on the ground.

he unfortunately got this HUGE goose egg on this forehead.

he was so brave and barely even cried...

which really just made me afraid that he had a concussion,

but all is well and he is doing so just fine now.

I hurried straight inside and snapped these pictures so I could send them to michael to see what I should do.

I cropped my horrified face OUT though.

p.s. thanks to alesa for helping me get him cleaned up.

p.p.s ouch

caribbeaned.

2011-02-01T20:24:00.000-08:00

brace yourself.

despite my inner voice telling me it was a

bad idea

to bring my fat camera with me to the dirtiest, sandiest, jungliest places

it has ever traveled.

it came.

therefore, hundreds of pictures came home.

so...

here is a basic play by play on our week long cruise to the eastern caribbean with the taggart family (mom, dad, siblings, spouses...NO babies!)

Day #1: Puerto Rico.

we flew into Puerto Rico and set sail that evening.

no pictures.

Day #2: St. Thomas

we ended up taking a fairy to St. Johns where we went to trunk bay

(one of national geographic's top 10 beaches (they all say that))

but seriously,

i could see my shadow on the sand while standing in the water.

amazing.

Day #3: St. Croix

snorkeling.

my sister-in-law stephanie saw a shark!
but we mostly just invited ourselves into whichever school of fish we could keep up with.
we saw a barracuda and a "giant lobster"
(according to michael, take it for what it's worth)
then once again, plopped our bums on the beach.

Day #4: Antigua

we actually swam with the sting rays.

this little activity we did on our own

considering no one else in the family thought it entertaining in the least.
"don't you know about the crocodile hunter?" they would ask.
"the who?"

we thought it was amazing.

hubs got cozy with one of them who snuggled with him for a good 10 minutes while he rubbed its belly.

I on the other hand couldn't keep them near me unless I had squid in my hand

in which case they were pushing me over like a fat kid in the lunch line.

mikey asks: do fat kids like squid?

yes.

Day #5: St. Lucia

st. lucia = rain forest.

a very rainy rain forest.

we did a zip line tour through the rainy forest and it was

extra fun.

Day #6: Granada

7 sisters water fall

birds in paradise

annadale waterfall

the beach.

the whole group picture

with my brother-in-law jason fast fast asleep.

sweet dreams.

over all we had a blast.

the islands were beautiful, but very poor and we often found ourselves practically throwing money at some of the street vendors.

we are suckers.

we love you taggarts.

thanks for the fun.

leaves are falling on the ground

2010-10-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

it's FALL.

and everything is falling.

love.

fall.

the air is so cold

and the leaves are crunchy.

everything seems so quiet and restful.

outside smells so much better and

it feels like halloween and pumkins.

hooray.

jack is enjoying the puddles,

the leaves,

and not having his snotty nose

(from the cold air)

wiped.

sorry baby.

i feel like a good book on a fall afternoon is a good idea.

apparently so does jack.

but we have to be careful to not keep him inside for too long,

because he gets a little crazy.

I love the hot glue gun

2010-10-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

The hot glue gun is one of mans finest inventions.

so when I stole my mother's a few weeks ago,

I had to honor it's existence.

I made this wreath.

And a few hair bows (thanks to my cute neighbor)

jack jack's bow tie.

people say you can't dress up boys...

I beg to differ.

Some of you may know that hubs sits up on the stand in church now

which me leaves me awfully lonely with crazy baby down in the seats.

so i made this "quiet" book...

i think I will rename my "not quiet enough" book.

all will be relieved to know that jack no longer rides in pinky (see here).

he is now fashionably in style in his very blue car seat.

And then I made this little halloween wreath.

I love being a stay at home mom.

the kid can walk

2010-09-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

he actually started walking a couple of weeks ago,

but he is definitely on the move.

unfortunately he picked the week we all

(and I mean ALL: me, my mom, my dad, and jack)

got the stomach flu

to learn to walk.

hence my mom's cape.

isn't he cute??

Stop Motion Photography

2010-03-09T11:26:00.000-08:00

Oh how I love to be an artist. This is one of my favorite stop motion photography video's. It's so creative. I think I'll go take a million pictures now.

How to Pee Like a Lady

2010-02-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: a little bit personal,

but a little bit fantastic too.

Why didn't anyone think of this sooner?

Never again will I have to worry about splashing my socks.

Never again will I have to have the "men have it so much easier" talk with myself in the woods.

Never again will I have to make eye contact with a woodland creature while feeling a little bit too exposed.

Why?

shewee.

A little device intended to let you pee like a lady

without a toilet.

I am going to get one

to carry around in my purse along with all of my other essentials,

like Chapstick.

facial reconstructive surgery: not a good idea

2010-01-23T09:42:00.000-08:00

Hubs and I were laughing SO hard at ourselves taking these pictures of ourselves

until we realized...

people actually look like this!

I couldn't put my finger on anyone specifically,

but I have seen people with these face shapes.

Sobering realization: facial reconstructive surgery is not in my future.

After seeing my options, I think I will stick with what I've got!

hahaha

oh, the possibilities!

oh, we're pretty

David Archuleta

2009-12-07T22:25:00.000-08:00

The Birthday madness continues!

Hubs (my own personal David Archuleta. (See this post)) stood in line for two hours with every 13 year old girl around for these tickets. Some of the girls had been there since 4 AM. Bless his heart, he got the tickets and tried oh so hard to keep it a secret. He told me they had sold out. A few days later while listening to Crush and fantasizing about the Davey concert, I admitted that I was pretty bummed that we didn't get tickets.

Just then I saw the panic in his eyes and the corners of his mouth turn up. He tried to stretch his mouth out and pretend that he had an itch on his nose to cover up the smile, but I'm too good. I caught him red handed!

Needless to day, Michael and I went to the concert and were screaming louder than any 13 year old girl.

People who look like their pets...

2009-10-02T22:59:00.000-07:00

Are magical. Don't you think?

Rasin Brahms

2009-08-17T02:38:00.000-07:00

This might just be funny because of sleep deprivation, but I hadn't giggled this hard in a long time.

My Baby Could Eat Your Baby

2009-05-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

I keep telling everyone how strong this baby is, but he is always so polite and well mannered when we are around other people. He never moves, never kicks, and if he does he is ever so gentle and kind. It makes me look kind of crazy! Well, at about 2:00 AM last night, I finally pulled out the camera because he was just stretching out and making himself right at home. Hilarious...kind of. Pictures don't even do it justice. (P.S. keep in mind that I am still only 30 weeks)
I am putting him is sumo wrestling classes as soon as his cord falls off!

Every mothers dream.

Hawaiian Getaway

2009-03-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been a little bit overwhelming for me. I hit a wall a little bit and my body couldn't quite keep up with everything that I needed to get done. Between all of my classes (including a dance class), work, baby, and Mikey's jobs, school, and MCAT studying, I was starting to freak out a little. I kept telling Mikey that I just needed a vacation and to be somewhere warm for a minute. Well, he, being the creative man that he is, did the best he could at giving me a "vacation." I got home from my 6:00 class to this (sorry the pictures are a little yellow...it was too dark...time for a new camera):

He made dinner and dressed up Hawaiian style. You will notice the sugar bag and pineapple can in the background.

The heat dish in the corner of the picture is the "sunset" and the rug and fabric on the lamps are palm trees. He also had the menu of Cast Away playing on our tv so there would be ocean sounds.

The yellow blanket is the sand and the air matress is the ocean...where does he come up with this?

Who needs money when you have creativity??

i LOVE this baby...

2009-02-27T15:59:00.000-08:00

BOY!

Heart Beating

3D Ultrasound

Kicking

Why Every Little Girl Wants to be a Mommy

2009-01-27T18:39:00.000-08:00

Puts mommy's little helper in a whole new light. I don't know if you can read the caption but its worth squinting to figure out.