THE BAWDEN FAMILY

CHRISTMAS EVE 2011

2012-01-17T18:24:00.001-08:00

We had such a fun Christmas Eve this year with our little family, so let's start from the beginning. I love to have our family dress up nice for Christmas Eve. I mean who wouldn't want to look their best the night Santa comes. Paislee wore her cute green and black dress that my mom bought her. My mom buys her and my nieces a new dress every year to wear on Christmas Eve. Prescott wore his church shirt with his cute vest. They both looked so dang cute and absolutely perfect for our exciting Christmas Eve adventure.We began our fun night at Chad's parents for our traditional breakfast for dinner meal. After we eat, we then listen to the story of the "red balloon" and our birthday gift for Jesus.This is one of my favorite traditions we do because reminds us why we have Christmas and it helps us to stop and think about the ones we love in heaven. After listening to the story we then each get one red balloon to send to anyone we want to in heaven. The red balloon is a Merry Christmas gift and a gift of love with any special message you want to send to the one you love. We also have one special red balloon that we send to Jesus to wish him Happy Birthday. I wasn't sure how much of this tradition Paislee actually understood until last year when we lost Zoe Bug. When she sent her balloon up last year she smiled from ear to ear because she knew Zoe would love her red balloon. So this year she couldn't wait and was so excited to send her red balloon to Zoe again. As for Prescott, he thought chewing on the string of the balloon was the greatest thing ever. We sent our other 3 balloons to Grandpa Bawden, Grandma Aime & Grandpa Marv.After we send our balloons to heaven we head back inside to do gifts. Grandpa & Grandma Great start the gift giving by giving all the great grandkids an outfit and the grandkids a new shirt. Next, the kids exchange their gifts for each other, followed by the sibling gift exchange. After all the gifts are exchanged Grandpa & Grandma Bawden give the grand kids their church outfits. Which worked out perfect this year since we went to sacrament on Christmas, so the kids looked adorable in their new outfits.By this point of the night we already have a tote full of Christmas gifts. We finish the night by giving our gifts to the most important people; Grandpa & Grandma Great and then to Grandpa & Grandma Bawden.After we are done at Chad's parents we head over to my Aunt Kelly's house, where we eat some yummy finger foods and visit. This year was a little crazy because all the babies are growing up. So the house wasn't as quiet and calm as it used to be on Christmas Eve, but we LOVE every minute of it. The kids are so dang cute and so much fun, they are going to have so many fun memories growing up together.As we got the babies in their pj's we lined them up in their white onsies, they looked so dang cute. We laughed so hard, we thought it was so dang funny. The babies laughed and giggled right back at us and totally showed off with all their tricks. We took probably 50 pictures of them and only got like 5 good pictures lol. Oh and yes Prescott is basically the same size as his cousins who are months older then him. Gotta love that little tank!Then Grandpa & Grandma Huntsman give the kids their pj's and Christmas Eve pillow cases so we can get ready to go home and go to bed. Paislee got Tinkerbell pj's and Hello Kitty slippers & Prescott got some moose pj's and the cutest Utah blanket which he LOVED. (Grandma Huntsman made all the boy grandkids blankets because the girls get their Christmas dresses.) Their sleeping gear comes in their Christmas pillow case that they take home and sleep on so Santa will come visit them.After the kiddos are in their Christmas Eve sleeping gear, it's time to head home. This year we decided to let the kids buy gifts for each other. I am pretty sure Paislee's was the more excited about this than anything else. She couldn't wait to give her brother his gift and was so cute opening hers. I know I say this all the time but really she is the BEST big sister, I couldn't ask for her to be anymore loving and sweet to Prescott. Next, we gave the kids some love gifts from dad and mom. This is something we just started this year because I didn't realize that Santa didn't bring all the gifts at other houses. Honestly, the kids loved the gifts but I am not sure I will do it again. I thought it was a lot to get in on Christmas Eve and I am old school with just Santa gifts on Christmas morning. I feel like we do enough and give them gifts throughout the year and I don't need the credit on Christmas. Watching their eyes light up on Christmas morning is all we need and want. So if we do love gifts from dad and mom next year I will need to figure out a new plan and tradition.After the love gifts from dad and mom, it's time for bed. But first we need to set our stocking and certificates out for Santa. Dad and mom sign their "good certificate" they got with their letter from Santa. If daddy and mommy sign it, Santa said he will take it and leave presents in its place.
After the couches are ready, we have to leave Santa his treat. Santa always requests we leave him a cinnamon roll wreath and egg nog. Paislee also insisted we leave carrots for Santa's reindeer, thanks to movie Santa Claus 2. Stocking & certificates: check, Santa's treat/reindeer's carrots: check. We are ready!!!

FAMILY CHRISTMAS CARD 2011

2012-01-17T17:40:00.000-08:00

SANTA PICTURES

2012-01-17T17:37:00.000-08:00

SANTA & PAISLEE 2006
SANTA & PAISLEE 2007

SANTA & PAISLEE 2008
SANTA & PAISLEE 2009

SANTA & PAISLEE 2010

SANTA WITH PAISLEE & PRESCOTT 2011

CHRISTMAS WITH THE WILLIAMS

2012-01-13T19:38:00.000-08:00

The Williams have been our good friends for years. Paislee adores Bauer and we can't wait to meet their sweet baby boy in April. Every year we go to breakfast on Christmas Eve morning and exchange gifts. They always spoil Paislee rotten and this year was no different, well other than they spoiled Paislee and Prescott both rotten.

BAWDEN POLAR EXPRESS

2012-01-13T19:33:00.000-08:00

My next door neighbor found this idea on Pinterest and I decided to copy it because it was a way cute idea. Chad took our golden tickets as we boarded the train (Hummer) and we went on the Bawden Polar Express. At each stop Chad checked our tickets and then he would tell us what our next destination would be. Paislee was so worried Prescott would lose his and get kicked off the train she held his in her hand the entire time. It was so fun and a great tradition we will be doing each year.

PAISLEE & EMMA

2012-01-13T19:10:00.000-08:00

Paislee and Emma exchanged Christmas gifts on their last day of school. They were so excited and couldn't wait to give their gifts to another. I love these cute girls!!!

PAISLEE'S CHRISTMAS SHOW

2012-01-13T18:52:00.000-08:00

Paislee did awesome at her Christmas show. She performed her dance to "She's a Firecracker" her ballet to "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" and her tumbling to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." I love watching Paislee dance because she LOVES every minute up there on that stage. The kid was born to perform, but I get so nervous watching her, it's like state all over again lol. I am going to be a nervous wreck come competition season. Paislee sweetheart we are so proud of you and you did amazing up there on that stage tonight. We love seeing your sassy little attitude while you dance your little heart out.

DANCE BAG FROM MR. PEEPS

2012-01-13T18:49:00.000-08:00

Mr. Peeps brought a gift to Paislee early, I am sure he thought it would only be fair since Prescott got one early.Santa thought Paislee might need a new dance bag to carry her costumes, shoes and makeup in. She was so excited and couldn't wait to help me fill it with her dance stuff she needed for her Christmas show.

LETTERS TO SANTA 2011

2012-01-11T21:37:00.001-08:00

Paislee's letters to Santa this year were so fun to read because she can read and write them all herself. She sounded out her entire letter and spelled everything herself. She asked for a "Merkin with a hors", a "I Pod" and "a ril harslon" which spells, a American doll with a horse, a Ipod and a real hair salon.Mr. Peeps also brought Paislee and Prescott letters from Santa telling them that they were on the good list. Sidenote: the day before Santa sent Paislee an email letting her know if she had gotten back on the good list. At the end of the email the light goes green if you are on the good list and red if you are not. So when Paislee came out and saw the letters from Santa she started crying. I was really confused why she would be crying over a letter from Santa. She said, "Mom, my name is in red so that means I am on the naughty list." I couldn't help but smile because Santa had wrote Paislee's name in red and Prescott's name in green probably because they were Christmas colors. But to Paislee the colors meant the good list and the naughty list. So after some convincing she finally opened the letter from Santa and found out she was still on the good list. She was so cute with Prescott and squealed louder when I read his letter than when we read hers. She truly LOVES her baby brother and watching over him. She teaches him, loves him and protects him. I love when Prescott laughs and squeals at Paislee, he has no idea the amount of information she is telling him but he squeals with delight everytime she talks to him.

BAWDEN FAMILY CHRISTMAS PARTY

2012-01-11T21:23:00.001-08:00

Chad's work party was on the same night as the Bawden family Christmas party this year so we missed the best part of the party. Santa Claus coming of course, but Chad's cousin Jeff was so sweet to take pictures of my kids for me. At Chad's work party he ended up winning a video camera and shave kit gift set from his work raffle. I know it's not the Vegas trip or plasma tv but it beats the "Gone with the Wind" dvd he won last year right? And I also have to brag for a minute about my hubby because he won the biggest sales award of the night at his work Christmas party. Anyone who knows my Chad knows he is a hard worker and will do his best at anything he does. He is very talented, very handy and an amazing team leader. This year he got awarded the Novus award and I was so proud of him. He got a huge and very heavy glass trophy which he proudly displays on his desk at work because we had no room for it at the house lol! Way to go babe, I am so proud of you and I appreciate all your hard work you do everyday for our family.

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

2012-01-11T15:26:00.000-08:00

Chad parents do the 12 days of Christmas elf each year for the grandkids. This year was very tricky for the elf to get the gifts on our porch because Paislee checked the door every hour on the hour. When the elf would finally leave the gift for the day, Paislee would get so excited and would come running to tell Prescott. She was so excited not only to get her gift but to show and explain to her little brother what the elf brought him. The elf brought so many fun gifts this year and made the countdown to Christmas extra special.

SHE DOES LISTEN!

2011-12-21T13:17:00.000-08:00

So the other day Paislee came home from school and said, "Mommy why do some kids at school say Santa is make believe?" I was mad and wanted to cry all at the same time, she is in kindergarten. Why are little tiny kindergartners talking about this already? I said, "Well sweetheart some people choose not to believe in Santa." Then I stop to get my thoughts together. But before I could get my thoughts together to answer her question she then said this, "Mom it is like when people choose not to believe in Jesus or going to church huh?" I was totally taken back by this and my heart just melted. My little 5 year old just answered her own question better than I ever could have. I then said, "Yes, Paislee you are right some people choose not to believe in Santa just like some people choose not to believe in Jesus or going to church." She then said, "Well I choose to believe in Santa and Jesus mommy." Me too baby girl! I sometimes wonder if she listens to the things we try so hard to teach her. But after talks like this I am 100% positive that she is always listening and maybe we are doing something right as parents.

SANTA PICTURES WITH DADDY!

2011-12-18T19:30:00.000-08:00

Fotofly did the cutest Santa pictures that we took the kids to do. What is so cute about these Santa pictures you ask?Chad is the one dressed up like Santa!!!While we were waiting to view our pictures, we took Paislee to see Santa's reindeer and they LOVED her. Santa's reindeer keep coming right up to the gate right next to her.

PRESCOTT'S TRYING TO ROLL

2011-12-18T18:29:00.000-08:00

Brother decided to try and roll over, it was mixed emotions for me. I was squealing and had my camera in one hand and my video camera in the other taking pictures and recording this special moment. Then the other side of me wanted to cry that my sweet little boy is growing up and trying to roll over. See I am "one" of those mom's and I don't care one bit that I am. Tears fill my eyes when I think of my kids growing up. And I thought it was bad with Paislee but knowing this will probably be our last baby makes it even that MUCH harder with Prescott. I love every stage of my kids growing up but I want them to stay little forever.
The best part was Paislee teaching her brother what he needed to do to roll over. She would roll herself so he knew what to do and she was so proud of him when he did it. She really is the best big sister ever!

DANCE SANTA

2011-12-18T18:20:00.000-08:00

Paislee got to see Santa after dance practice and she told him she wants, "A Merican" doll on a horse.

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA

2011-12-18T17:37:00.001-08:00

Chad took the kids to breakfast with Santa, I was gone with the girls for a overnight shopping weekend. Paislee asked Santa for "A Merican" doll on a horse again and Prescott wasn't phased one bit by Santa.Along with breakfast Santa calls the kids two weeks later to check up on them.
"Mom, it's Santa on your cell phone.""Yes, I have been a good girl Santa and I want "A Merican" doll on a horse."Could she be any more excited?

FAMILY PICTURES 2011

2011-12-18T17:31:00.000-08:00

I usually do pictures outside and we always have our doggy in our family pictures. But I was worried about having Prescott outside in the cold and didn't think he would do well. So we decided on indoor pictures this year. Like everyone else out there, we joined the Fotofly picture club and I was VERY impressed with them. The only down fall was no Luxey in the pictures this year.

AIME FAMILY CHRISTMAS PARTY

2011-12-18T17:08:00.000-08:00

We had our first of many family Christmas parties the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I love having a party that early because it gets me into the holiday spirit.We had tons of fun donating to Toys for Tots, eating food, playing games, hitting a pinata and decorating sugar cookies.Every year I am in charge of our family nativity. The kids are so dang sweet and finally we have enough kids to have a full nativity. This year Paislee sung the first verse of the song and Prescott was an oxen.The bottom picture is of my cousins and all the cute babies in order of how we had them this year. All boys but little miss Eleanor. Prescott is the youngest by a couple months but you would never guess that by his size lol.We also had a special visit from Santa. Paislee told Santa she wanted "A Merican" doll on a horse (okay so the doll is on a horse because we tell Paislee she can ask Santa for 3 gifts and then he decides. Well, she was a smart cookie and put her American Girl on the horse so it only counted as 1 gift instead of 2. Chad and I thought it was pretty dang creative) and Santa gave her a Barbie Christmas movie. Brother was sleeping during Santa's visit so he got his gift from Santa when he woke up.Oh and for the record, the kids played the tradition of musical chairs but none of the adults would play. I guess having Chad and I win every year has finally gotten to them. I know right, they are all butt heads and big fat sore losers lol!!! So Chad and I are still the reining musical chair champs because everyone else forfeit, chickens!

THANK YOU SANTA!

2011-12-01T23:22:00.001-08:00

Santa was so nice and brought Prescott an early Christmas gift. Good thing that Santa is so dang smart and knew Prescott could start using his Bumbo chair right now. Well thank you Santa because little brother LOVES his new Bumbo chair and thinks he is pretty hot stuff when he sits up in it.

I AM SO THANKFUL!

2011-12-01T16:03:00.000-08:00

This year I have so many things to be thankful for but family is at the top of my list. Our little family is the most important thing to me. I am so blessed to have my loving husband, my sweet Paislee and our little miracle boy. I didn't realize how lucky I was and forgot to see all the wonderful things and people in my life. But when you have something happen that could change it all, your priorities and outlook on life change a lot. I am so thankful I got another chance at this life. I can't help but think about that scary delivery day and how truly lucky and blessed I am to be here with my family. Chad and I also have the most amazing extended family on both sides. We have so many family members that love and support us, I am so thankful for family!Our Tom Tom Turkey countdown. "Tom, Tom Turkey run away, so you don't get eaten on Thanksgiving Day!"Our cute little turkey's!Every year Paislee has turkey hair for turkey day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!

2011-11-29T19:13:00.000-08:00

I had an amazing birthday this year and the birthday card Paislee made me just added to my special day. I mean who wouldn't love a picture of a poodle dressed up like a turkey?Or who wouldn't want to ride a shark with Paislee for their birthday wish? Paislee is of course the princess wearing the crown and riding on the fin because she doesn't want the shark to bite her. But see now that I am over 30, I am the super brave mommy who rides right on the sharks back, no fear (or crown) here!Then my sweet hubby surprised me with several gifts including the best gift EVER!!! Along with my new dress and gift card to get new running shoes, he took me away for the weekend. He arranged for my mom to take the kids overnight and we headed up here.The Alaskan Inn for the night, he totally deserves a big smooch for that!It was so nice and relaxing to spend some quality time alone with Chad. We had so much fun and we were totally kid free! Our cabin was the Timberwolf and the decorations in the room all had prices on them if you felt inclined to purchase them. We totally debated about bringing this little fellow home with us lol!My mom is the best mom ever and told us to go find stuff to do on Sunday because she wouldn't give the kids back to us until late that night. So Chad and I went shopping, saw a movie and went to dinner before we went and picked up the kids. It was a much needed weekend and a great birthday surprise, thanks babe I love you tons!!!

OLIVE GARDEN BIRTHDAY DINNER

2011-11-29T19:10:00.000-08:00

My friend Molly had a little surprise party at Olive Garden for my birthday, it was so much fun to get away for the night with the girls. During the cold weather we don't get to go outside and visit with each other all day. I just love the girls I live by, they are so much fun.Okay so this is Molly, the kind of friend & neighbor EVERYONE needs and wants. I moved next door to her 6 months ago but it feels like I have known her my entire life. She is the kind of friend that will drop anything to help you. The kind of friend that brings you a treat if you are having a bad day. The kind of friend you share secrets with because you know she can be trusted. The kind of friend that calls if she is at the store just to see if you need anything. The kind of friend you can call and vent to because she listens and really cares. The kind of friend that will send tortillas over if you run out when you are in the middle of making enchiladas. The kind of friend that will let you borrow her van if Walmart breaks your car changing the oil, yes true story! The kind of friend that will come over and bounce your screaming baby because she knows you need a break. The kind of friend that will dog sit our wild and crazy Luxey when we go out of town. The kind of friend that loves my kids like her own and the kind of friend my kids adore. She can discipline Paislee like one of her own, and besides family she is the only other person I have left Prescott with. I love Molly so much and I am so happy I moved next door to her because she is a huge blessing in my life! LOVE you friend!!!

GNO SECRET SISTER STYLE

2011-11-29T19:09:00.000-08:00

This month for my extended families, we went to Sizzler. We also decided to do secret sister gifts which we drew last month. I LOVE going with my family because we all are so close and have so much fun together. We laugh the entire time over anything and everything.Aunt Kelly just loved the book I bought her so much she couldn't even put it down for the picture LOL!

3 MONTHS OLD

2011-11-29T15:50:00.000-08:00

Prescott is getting so big, here is his 3 month carseat picture!

MOMMY & DAUGHTER DATE

2011-11-16T17:42:00.001-08:00

Since Daddy was watching football Paislee and I went on a mommy daughter date. She wanted to go to Olive Garden but the wait was way to long and she was hungry. So after talking her out of McDonald's, Chic-Fil-A was her next choice. After dinner we headed over to do some shopping together. But I will be honest it didn't go how I had planned it out in my head. I actually walked right out of the store and left her inside. But after we had a good talk, we tried one more time and had so much fun shopping together on our special!

PARK CITY GNO!

2011-11-10T22:31:00.000-08:00

So I have three best friends from high school that I just love. These are the kind of friends that we can pick up right where we left off each time we see each other. The kind of friends that don't get upset or offended if we don't call, text or FB each other each week. I LOVE these girls so much and have so much fun when we go out. We like to try and get together at least every 6 months. We usually go shopping all day and go to dinner which usually last all night. But shopping turns into us just standing and talking in the stores and dinner turns into us talking and laughing so much our food is usually cold by the time we get around to eating it.

RED VS BLUE!

2011-11-10T22:14:00.000-08:00

Paislee and our next door neighbor Emma are the best of friends and get along like they have known each other forever. But Emma and her entire family are HUGE BYU fans. Since Chad has brainwashed my poor daughter she is a CRAZY UTAH fan. So it really bothered Paislee that her best friend Emma liked BYU and not Utah. I explained to Paislee the best way I could to help her understand. So of course that meant I told her that football was dumb and girls don't like football. When that didn't work, because like I said Chad has her completely brainwashed she said this, "Mom it doesn't matter if Emma likes BYU and I like Utah huh because we can still be best friends?" It was so cute and so sweet, so Molly and I decided to take them and get their pictures done in their teams shirt.Teams by chance but best friends by choice!!!

HALLOWEEN NIGHT

2011-11-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

Halloween night was so much fun. Chad got off work early, my mom came out to pass out candy & stay with Prescott so Chad and I could go with Paislee and Kyle brought batman out to go trick or treating with us.Paislee and Kayson had so much fun trick or treating together. Paislee would introduce him at every door they went to and Kayson was so dang funny, he would copy everything Paislee would do or say.After batman had to leave we continued our journey with some neighbors. The kids would RUN from door to door, they only fell a couple of times. But no tears this night because the candy made them forget the pain from the fall. After our neighbors were ready to go home, we headed home to eat dinner. But Paislee wasn't done yet, she talked Chad into taking her back out. She stayed out until our neighborhood was completely black. Another reason I thank my lucky stars we have PM kindergarten.With all her trick or treating she made out like a bandit around the neighborhood. But I totally over bought candy this year. My neighbors told me they usually use 4 to 5 Costco size bags of candy. I wanted to make sure I had enough, so I got six bags just to be safe. Four and a half bags of candy is what we had left over. Note to self, don't over buy next year!!!

This is what happens when Paislee is all jacked up on sugar from her Halloween stash.

THE GREAT PUMPKIN

2011-11-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

The Great Pumpkin left a special prize for Paislee and Prescott on Halloween day.
P.S. Our pumpkins didn't win, but Nemo took 3rd! BOO, I hate to lose!!!

HALLOWEEN PARTY #7

2011-11-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

Yep, no Chad or my two cousins husbands for the first part of the party because their beloved Utah Utes were playing, I HATE football season so much! Oh well his loss, moving on to the Halloween party fun.The last Halloween party for the year was my parents. My absolute favorite part of the party is the Halloween parade. The kids get so excited and are so proud to show off their costumes as they parade around the pool table and back. After the parade we have a yummy dinner and then the party fun begins. We play games, do our Casper slide dance, make a Halloween craft, decorate mom's homemade sugar cookies, drink witches brew and if you dare... get a prize from the black hole.But the kids aren't the only ones who have fun at this party. We have a donut eating contest for the men every year. Chad has won it several times and this year was no different. What can I say my hubby loves a good donut, Way to go babe!This next picture was the picture from hell lol! The firefighter was crying and running away, the pirate was all over the place, the kitty didn't want to be in the picture, the banana and lion were crying the entire time on the grass, the dragon and monkey were being choked by the vampire princess and spiderman holding them. And no matter how many of us were yelling, dancing and screaming their names, they wouldn't look at the cameras. Except batman, he stayed in picture position the entire time! But really how can you not just love these precious pictures, they are totally priceless!!!The Halloween crew!

PUMPKIN CONTEST

2011-10-30T22:42:00.000-07:00

Chad's work is doing a pumpkin contest and the winner gets $75. So I helped Paislee decorate some pumpkins for the contest. The pumpkin can be craved or decorated. Since I HATE carving pumpkins because it is so dang messy we painted them for the contest. Oh and did I mention Chad told me the freakin' day before they needed to be in!!!Paislee's Nemo pumpkinPrescott's penguin pumpkinLet's hope we win, I will let you know if we do!
GO NEMO & PENGUIN!!!

HALLOWEEN PARTY #6

2011-10-30T22:33:00.001-07:00

Paislee's school does a Halloween carnival as a fundraiser. It was CRAZY busy with lots of cute dressed up kids everywhere. We bought a wristband for Paislee which let her do all the activities and games at the carnival. During the night we went to watch the kids perform their Thriller dance they had learned at school. Paislee's top of her hat danced so cute, because that was all I could see.Since Chad was working I meet my neighbor Molly and her kids at the carnival. When her baby was ready for bed she went home and left her older kids with me. Molly's family are HUGE BYU fans, so another neighbor and I thought it would be funny to get a big red U on Caleb's head. We totally had to trick Caleb into thinking they were going to spray a Y on his head, sorry Caleb! This is what happens when Maria and I babysit LOL!

HALLOWEEN PARTY #5

2011-10-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

Paislee had a Halloween party in her tumbling class, the only problem with this party was only 2 other kids read their party note. Opps, no costumes + no treats to pass out to our tumbling friends = a pretty boring party!

DADDY'S UTE FANS!

2011-10-26T22:04:00.001-07:00

We surprised Daddy with Utah pictures, he LOVED them!

PRESCOTT'S BLESSING PICTURES

2011-10-26T21:32:00.000-07:00

I got these pictures taken the week right after his blessing because his cute tux was getting to small for the little tank.

SCHOOL PICTURE

2011-10-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

The famous school mug shot picture, why do we ever buy them. Oh I know, because my mom told me I was a bad mom if I didn't buy her school pictures lol. Paislee has the cutest little smile with her huge dimples, but she also has the best fake smile ever. Hence the school picture below. Even though we all know how school pictures turn out, mom's always get suckered into buying them.

HALLOWEEN PARTY #4

2011-10-26T16:40:00.001-07:00

Our cute next door neighbor invited us to go with her kids to a Halloween carnival. It was awesome, they had at least 50 games for the kids to do. By the end of the night their buckets were filled with toys and candy. They also had these remote wheeled animals that the kids could ride, Paisle had a blast on the cow. The kids ended the night with a yummy donut and rootbeer. Thanks Molly for taking us, we had tons of fun!

HALLOWEEN PARTY #3

2011-10-26T14:53:00.000-07:00

Foxy's which is Paislee's competition dance team had a Halloween party during class Monday. The Foxy team girls are so cute, she just loves her dance friends and I love the dance mom's.Paislee gave her friends a Halloween cup filled with a Capri Sun, a Rice Krispie treat and her Halloween card.

GV WITCHES

2011-10-26T14:23:00.000-07:00

So after Grandpa & Grandma Bawden's Halloween party sleepover, the next day all the girls took the kids to Gardner Village to see the witches. Note to self, don't go to Gardner Village on UEA break, it was CRAZY busy. We had a couple meltdowns from the lack of sleep the night before, but for the most part the kids had a blast. Grandpa Bawden came to meet us and paid for all the kids to go on a pony ride.After about an hour of the Gardner Village crowds, we decided to pack the kids up, grab some lunch and take them to the park to play.

HALLOWEEN PARTY #2

2011-10-25T22:13:00.001-07:00

Every year Grandpa & Grandma Bawden have a Halloween party sleepover. The BEST part of the entire party this year was Chad was there and not only on time but he was early. At the party we eat pizza, have a costume parade (which is always entertaining especially when we find out Emi is going to be a big sister during the parade), bob for apples and then the parents leave and the real party begins. The kids decorate cookies, watch Halloween movies and have lots of crazy, silly fun. Paislee said her favorite part this year was jumping on the tramp with glowsticks.
I LOVE the top picture of all the kids, Seth totally has his finger in Prescott's nose lol. Getting a picture with all of them together was loads of fun. Little Red Riding Hood didn't want her picture taken and keep running away. Then while we tried to get the small kids to look at the camera the older kids would look in another direction. Good memories!

HALLOWEEN PICTURES

2011-10-25T17:49:00.000-07:00

The cutest banana and harlequin I have ever seen!So the banana was awake and cute as can be when we got to portrait studio. But they were running about 50 minutes behind so by the time it was picture time it was also nap time for the little banana.

THE GREAT PUMPKIN

2011-10-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

The Great Pumpkin has been leaving a treat and note for Paislee counting down the 13 spooky days until Halloween.

OCTOBER GNO

2011-10-25T17:30:00.000-07:00

So since Prescott was the last baby born, our monthly dinner baby showers were going to come to an end. But we all decided we weren't ready for our GNO dinners to end. So my mom, sister in laws, aunts and cousins decided we were going to keep the monthly dinner tradition going. So this month we went to Gardner Village for our monthly GNO dinner. It was pretty dang funny because when it was time to order all the oldies grabbed their glasses to see the menu. While all us young-ens were holding our babies deciding what we wanted to order.

HAPPY BOY!

2011-10-19T00:19:00.000-07:00

This totally makes me happy and smile, I mean how can it not?

PRESCOTT'S 2 MONTHS!

2011-10-18T23:43:00.001-07:00

Here's Prescott's two month carseat picture. He is a tank; he is in the 80% for his weight, 85% for his length and 15% for his head. But he is the cutest little tank I have ever seen!So I LOVE having a boy and dressing him in fun hats and church clothes. Boys are so much fun, I love it!!!He totally digs the hat!Could his little bowtie be any cuter?

HALLOWEEN PARTY #1

2011-10-18T23:34:00.001-07:00

So the Halloween fun has already started. Paislee had her first Halloween party last week with some friends in the neighborhood. She is a harlequin this year and Prescott has two costumes; the comfortable bat and his adorable banana.At the party the kids did a cake walk, played a bean bag game, played musical chairs, played what's behind that door and learned a monster dance. At the end the kids got to hit a pinata and took home tons of candy which was Paislee favorite part, the kid loves sugar.

PRESCOTT'S BLESSING

2011-10-18T22:31:00.000-07:00

We blessed our sweet Prescott this last Fast Sunday and it was such an amazing and sweet day. We have waited a really long time for this day to come and we have also been through a lot to get this sweet miracle here. But Prescott was totally worth the wait and the blessing was very emotional for Chad and myself.I don't love the traditional white blessing tux. So our sweet little Prescott wore a black and white tuxedo. He looked absolutely adorable, it was the cutest little boy blessing outfit I have ever seen. My mom made a beautiful black and white afghan to match.I wanted Prescott and Paislee to have something special to wear together on his blessing day. So I ordered Prescott the tiniest little boutonniere ever, it was so little and so dang cute. Then I covered a headband with ribbon for Paislee and had the flower shop add fresh flowers that matched Prescott's boutonniere.We had so many family members and friends there to support us that day. It was amazing and an honor to watch the men of at least 25 stand together in the circle for Prescott. Chad gave Prescott a beautiful blessing, I had a hard time holding back the tears. I am so grateful that Chad honors his Priesthood and is worthy to bless our children.After church our family & friends joined us for a luncheon in honor of Prescott. We had 13 different kinds of yummy soup, crackers, rolls, fruit and dessert. We had LOTS of family help with the luncheon and we couldn't have done it without them. Chad and I are so lucky to have such wonderful families that love and support us with everything.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUXEY

2011-10-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

About a year ago this month our house was really quiet, we were missing our Zoe so much and we weren't sure if we could get another doggy yet. I am so glad we did because Luxey helped heal our broken hearts. She fits right in with our little family and the first year with Luxey went by so dang fast. She is such a good dog and we love her to death. I hate that she barks when someone rings the doorbell but other than that she is the best little puppy. Her and Paislee are best buddies and love to tease each other.We got Luxey a dog bagel for her birthday breakfast. She wasn't sure about it at first but after about 3 hours she finally had it gone and I don't think she has eaten anything since.When Chad got home from work we had Luxey's birthday party. Which was so exciting for Paislee, she couldn't wait to give Luxey her birthday gifts. So after we sang to her she ran around the house doing laps, I guess she really liked our birthday song. Then Paislee gave Luxey her birthday presents, which I am sure Paislee enjoyed more than Luxey. Happy Birthday Luxey, WE LOVE YOU!!!

PRESCOTT'S ROOM

2011-10-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

Since we didn't know what we were having it made it hard to get the room done before the baby. I didn't want a neutral themed room and since the baby would sleep in the bassinet for the first while anyways I wasn't in a rush to get it done.Now the tricky thing about this room was the black bead board on the walls which I love, but it caused a small problem. How would I tie a room together with black walls and white furniture?The worst part now was trying to figure out how I would do a black & white room for my little boy without it looking girlie? Oh and yes, Chad did ask me what the letters on the wall meant. I must have given him the are you really that dumb look because he laughed and figured it out.And NO a Utah Utes room was not an option for me, that is pushing it a bit much. I don't hate Utah like I did but I don't love them enough to have a room for my little boy themed around them.I usually hate animal prints but this one wasn't tacky but kinda cute. It matched and worked great with my black and white problem. Then it started to grow on me the more I looked for something else.It is nothing I usually would have done but I couldn't be happier with how his room turned out. It is absolutely adorable!

PRESCOTT'S ANNOUNCEMENT

2011-10-02T11:32:00.000-07:00

I made Prescott's announcement and I was very happy with how they turned out. I am pretty sure I like them so much because of my cute kids pictures on it. I sure love these kids!

OKAY FALL YOU CAN COME!

2011-10-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

I had a really hard time putting Halloween stuff out because I am not ready for cold weather. Summer seemed like it went by super fast and this is the first year I have ever felt this way. Then I got out the kids (I love saying that) Halloween PJ's and they looked so dang cute, so I guess I am ready for fall now.I think someone is hungry, hold please...Okay little man, you have a full belly so please wake up for one picture...Thank you sweet boy!Well tiny, if you are going to listen to your mama then would you please smile...Good boy!You are so dang sweet!Oh how I love this boy!That's my baby boy!!!

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

2011-09-26T23:14:00.000-07:00

When we decided to have our family members guess what the baby was, we had thought it would be fun to give the winner a gift card. Since Paislee was the winner the whole gift card thing didn't really work out so well. So what better reward than going to the circus for being the winner.So we left Prescott with my mom and told Paislee we were going to take her on a special date with just us. I thought is was dang sweet when she asked me if Prescott could come because she loves him and thinks he would like to come on a special date with us. She was so excited and had no idea where we were going. As we drove there she told us that Subway sounded like a great place to eat for our special date.When we got to the Energy Solutions Arena the only thing she could say is this is where Disneyland on Ice is mom. Yes, it is Paislee but Disney on Ice is not in town this weekend. As we walked by the elephant and clown pictures we thought she would catch on that the circus was in town. Well she didn't, Chad had to point out the obvious things she was missing and give her hints.Paislee' favorite part was getting her snow cone in her tiger cup. Oh and the zebras, she loved the zebras. Not the amazing tricks, tigers or AWESOME elephants, no she loved the zebras who just walked in a circle and would switch directions.We had so much fun, I mean who doesn't love going to the circus right. I just hope next year we don't have to sit in front of the loud mouth nerd who screamed, wahoo in my ear at least 100 times.

MORE BAWDEN FAMILY FUN!

2011-09-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

PRESCOTT'S DINNER:So my extended family will throw a shower for your first baby but we all still want to celebrate other little babies in the family. So for Prescott's dinner we went to Olive Garden. My mom, sister in laws, aunts and cousins all brought gifts for our sweet new addition to our family. This was Chad's favorite gift:Then this was my favorite gift:I know this is not the normal baby afghan but this is Prescott's blessing blanket my mom made. I don't love the white tuxes for blessing little boys. So we got a black and white tux and I wanted his blessing blanket to match. It was exactly what I wanted and I love it!Chad and I are so lucky to have such amazing and supportive families on both sides. His family brought Prescott newborn clothes to the hospital which was awesome because we had nothing for him since we didn't know what we were having. Then my family gave us all the stuff on the couch. I know right it is a TON of stuff, like I said we are very blessed.

CRAZY SLEEPER: So the other night we heard a loud bang in Paislee's room. When Chad went to investigate this was what he found.Paislee was not in her bed, where is she?Oh there she is lol! I guess she feel out of her bed and then got lost getting back into it. At least the toy chest had big comfortable pillows on it. But we didn't want her to fall again so Chad moved her back in her bed. Then I had to show her the picture the next day because she didn't believe me that she was sleeping on her toy chest.

PAISLEE'S SPOTLIGHT DAY: Paislee had her special spotlight in kindergarten yesterday. She was super excited because she got to be the line leader all day. The things that excite the little ones, I love it!She got to take a treat for her friends and make a special all about me poster. Then I got to come into her class and tell her friends all about her and play a fun game about the things Paislee loves with them.

WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO?

2011-09-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

TUBBY TIME: I can't believe my baby is 6 weeks old, it has gone by so fast and he is getting so big and is becoming a little chunk. I just love him so much and can't imagine our family without him.When Prescott got his first bath he was in heaven, he loved it and still does. He doesn't like to get out of the tub and he will cry until he is dressed.Paislee has done great with her little brother and she has been an amazing big sister. But we still have to remember to include her in everything because she is still adjusting to sharing the attention. So on Prescott's first bath, Paislee took a bubble bath in our big tub.Paislee loves getting in the tub with her little brother. As you can tell Prescott still loves the bathtub, cute little sleeping boy!Look at the chubby little belly.CLUBHOUSE POOL: We took Paislee swimming at the clubhouse pool, well let me rephrase that. Chad threw Paislee in the pool for over an hour while Prescott and I enjoyed watching them outside.IN & OUT BURGER: A lady on our street works for In & Out Burger. So she gave us all wristbands to come get free food at the new In & Out in Midvale. So the girls and I took all our kids because our husbands were either out of town or still at work. I love having friends who husbands don't get home by 5:00 PM.CHURCH: Prescott looked so handsome on his first day of church, so sad that little outfit doesn't fit him anymore.
Paislee had her primary program and did great when she wasn't chewing on her hands, hair or dress. When she got up to say her part, she told the sister who had been helping most of the kids that she knew her part and didn't need any help.I bet you couldn't guess they sang Scripture Power huh?CARSEAT PICTURE: A cute friend of mine did this and I thought it was a fun way to see how your baby is growing. So thanks for the great idea Tiffany, here's Prescott's 1 month carseat picture. I know I keep saying this but really he is getting so big so fast and I am loving every single minute with him. YES, even at 4:00 AM I can't get enough of this sweet baby boy.

CUTE KIDS!

2011-09-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

We got Prescott's newborn pictures done and they turned out adorable. When I saw the first picture of them together it brought me to tears. I am so lucky to be the mommy to two beautiful kids.

OUR SWEET BOY!

2011-09-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

What will our sweet baby be and when will our baby come? It is fun to look back now at everyone's guesses.August 8, 2011: Chad and I can't believe it is finally time to have our sweet baby.Chad said he was so excited when they said it was a boy, Daddy got his boy and he was so proud!Paislee didn't know what had happened but she just wanted to see me before she told anyone what the baby was. Chad said we spent almost an hour together in the room with her and Prescott before she told everyone what the baby was. Paislee was so sweet and loved her baby brother from the first time she saw him.Chad and I bought Paislee a big sister shirt to wear to the hospital and we gave her a big sister book at the hospital. She is the best big sister ever!I took Paislee to pick out a special present for her to give her baby at the hospital, she knew her baby would love the yellow giraffe.Prescott was beautiful and just perfect! Our first family picture, I am such a lucky mommy.Everyone was so excited to have another boy in the family.I just can't get enough of this sweet little guy!This was the first time I remember holding my sweet little boy. It was also the first time I fed him. At this point I finally could remember what gender my baby was and what my baby looked like.Hospital pictures have come a long way.Watching Paislee feed her brother brought tears to my eyes. I just love these two more than anything in the world.Prescott gave Paislee a special gift at the hospital. She loved her Carlos and Sara dolls, the baby somehow knew their big sister would want her own Carlos and Sara babies.Grandpa & Grandma Huntsman and Daddy brought us beautiful flowers to celebrate our sweet Prescott.We were so thankful for the hospital and all they did for us and our family but we were so ready to go home. Prescott looked adorable and so tiny in his new outfit and carseat.Luxey was really confused who and what Prescott was, she would just stare at him when he would cry.We love having Prescott home and I can't remember what life was like without my sweet baby boy.

KINDERGARTEN

2011-09-07T20:38:00.000-07:00

My biggest fear when I was on bedrest was that I would go into labor and not be able to take Paislee to her first day of kindergarten. So I was so happy and excited that I was still pregnant when the big day finally came. I decided I wanted to start some fun school traditions that we could do every year with our kiddos. So Chad and I let Paislee choose a special restaurant to take her to for her BTS dinner. We ended up at Tepanyaki's because Paislee wanted rice.Now I knew this day was going to be really hard because I have been dreading it since the day I brought her home from the hospital. So to help turn tears into excitement I decided to start some back to school traditions. Paislee started her morning with a visit from the school fairy who rang the doorbell and left special donuts for her breakfast. Then there were special notes around the house for Paislee that lead her to her backpack where the backpack fairy left a special gift.After we ate and got ready Daddy came home from work to come with us and well let's just be honest, it was also to help Mommy when she had a break down. So after I took pictures of my little school girl we headed over to the school. By the way this was the last picture I got of my pregnant belly, I was 35 weeks in this picture.When we got to the school Paislee walked right over to play on the playground with the other kids. When Ms. Calhoun came out to get the kids, Paislee was the first in line. Then she looked at us with the biggest smile on her face and waved goodbye to Chad and I. How could I be sad? My heart was breaking and I was holding back the tears but she was so happy and excited to go to school. I started to cry when she walked into the class but it didn't last long because I couldn't help but think about how excited she was. Chad still took me to Olive Garden to make me feel better.Then before I knew it, it was time to go and pick her up. I couldn't wait to hear all about her first day. We ended our school traditions with stroganoff, which is Paislee's favorite dinner and a smart cookie party. Paislee's LOVES going to school and loves her teacher, now if I can just get her to stop talking during class!

HOW WE ENDED OUR SUMMER!

2011-08-31T17:27:00.000-07:00

KINDERGARTEN TESTINGPaislee was so excited to meet her kindergarten teacher Mrs. Calhoun. That morning before we left she said, "Mom I hope she is beautiful and thoughtful." So do I Pais, both of those qualities are what are so important in a kindergarten teacher lol!

FOURWHEELING & TIN FOIL DINNERSWe went with my family up by the B in Bountiful to have some fun before school started. We rode my brothers fourwheelers and made tin foil dinners & smores. Paislee was in HEAVEN, because she could pick as many wildflowers as she wanted without getting in trouble. She brought a bag and filled it to the top, we could barely get her to stop long enough to go for a ride on the fourwheeler.

COWABUNGA BAY We went to Cowabunga Bay with my family and LOVED it. Paislee loved going on all the waterslides, the biggest one was her very favorite. Everyone enjoyed the lazy river including me because it took the pressure off my preggo belly. Oh and did I mention the food was super yummy!
KINDERGARTEN DATETo get ready for Kindergarten Paislee got to go with her cousins and Grandpa & Grandma Huntsman to get new school shoes. Then Grandpa & Grandma Bawden took Paislee on a special Kindergarten date. She went to Build a Bear to make a special bear. Then they took her to go pick out a new outfit for school and then to McDonald's for dinner. She is all ready for Kindergarten, but mommy still isn't!

CLASSIC SKATINGAnother fun day at Classic with our cousins and friends, this time the kids did the Ball Blaster and bounce houses.

THE BEST/WORST DAY EVER!!!

2011-08-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

So Sunday (8-7-11) we were with both sides of our families so we decided to have everyone write down what they thought the baby would be and when the baby would come. Never in a million years did I think Paislee would be the winner!When we got home Sunday night I was getting Paislee out of the tub and I thought I peed my pants. Then I realized it was probably my water, so I grabbed the phone and called the doctors office. Even though I was 99% positive my water had broke, I didn't want to be the crazy pregnant lady who just peed her pants. As I waited for them to get a doctor to talk to, I stood up and knew it was time to head to the hospital. As we drove up there we were so anxious and excited, we still didn't have a name but decided we would both guess what we thought the baby was. I said I thought it was a boy and Chad thought it was a girl.
After they got me admitted we started to get a little frustrated because they weren't doing anything to get my labor to progress. Finally the nurse told us they wanted to hold me off as long as possible because they wanted all the doctors and pediatrician team there for the delivery. Looking back now a blessing in disguise!So bright and early Monday (8-8-11) morning this is what my room looked like. We were full of excitement and energy. We were having a baby and couldn't wait to find out what it was.The doctors had told us that because the baby was so early we wouldn't be able to hold it because it would have to go right to the nursery to get evaluated. So we decided that we would wait to have family come up to the hospital to see us until the baby could come back to the room. At this point I was dilated to a 4 and the contractions hurt but they were the contractions I had been having for weeks now. I did everything I could to get the doctors to give me an epidural. No luck with that or ANY other pain medicine, for some reason they had decided against giving me anything. Once again another blessing in disguise.
Since I was only at a 4 and 80% effaced and wasn't doing anything on my own they decided to start some pitocin. The contractions started to hurt to the point I wasn't sure how to control them. So Michelle, who is a nurse sent from heaven came in and talked me through the contractions and pushed my legs to help with the pressure. I was doing great with the painful contractions, I hadn't scream, yelled, cried or swore yet. They started my 4 bags of plasma, and the last time they checked me I was at a 7 and fully effaced. So after getting checked I needed to go potty, as I got to the bathroom I knew something was wrong. They checked me and said I was okay so after I was done, I stood up and was in the peak of my contraction. I told them something was wrong and I just felt like a needed to push. But they had just checked me and I was only at a 7, or so they thought. They wanted me to stand up and walk through the contraction. But I had lost control over the contraction and I told them I needed to push. They laid me down and saw that the baby was crowning and by this point I was hurting really, really bad. The baby was on its way out and now I was screaming at the top of my lungs, "Get it out of me!" Chad had ran to get my mom who was giving my dad an update. They could hear me screaming down the hall and came running and by the time they got there the head was already out. Now since this is my blog and it is the only funny part of the story I am going to tell this next part. So as Chad ran in and walked around my legs the baby came out and out it came with all its juices which ended up all over Chad's face and shirt.After the baby came out he was doing great, better than they all expected. Chad even got to hold him. However, I was not doing great and was still screaming in pain as they tried to get my placenta to come out. I was starting to hemorrhage and they couldn't get it out. At this point I remember looking up at my mom and saying I didn't feel good and then I passed out. From that point on I only remember bits and pieces of what happened. As they were getting my placenta out my uterus turned inside out and came completely out. The doctors in the room went from 9 to 18 and they were saying we have to get her out of here now. It all happened so fast that Chad turned around still thinking the concern was on the baby and said, "It's a boy, not a girl." They looked at him and said, "No we need to get her (pointing at me) out of here." Chad said he looked down and I was white as a ghost, passed out covered in blood with two doctors holding my uterus in the best they could. So he handed the baby to the pediatrician and started following them out the door when they turned to him and said he couldn't come. As they pushed me down they hall he heard them say, "She's not breathing." Chad collapsed and my mom and him just held each other crying because they didn't know if I was going to make it.After telling my mom I didn't feel good the next thing I remember was being slapped in the face, then I heard them say "She's not breathing." At that point it felt like I was watching a movie and I remember thinking, who me I am not breathing. They rushed me into the operating room and by this time I had lost more than 50% of my blood and my blood pressure was 60/20. They couldn't put me under or I would have never woke up, they couldn't give me anything for pain or I would have gone brain dead because my blood pressure was so low. The team knew they needed to raise my blood pressure or I would have died. So four doctors at the same time shoved my uterus back up inside of me while turning it the right way, then two doctors pushed down on my belly to make it contract. I remember this pain very well, I was screaming and yelling in pain and they said I even swore at them. I had just done natural childbirth and this pain was ten times worse. This pain is what raised my blood pressure until I would pass out. Once I passed out they would give me medicine to make me forget what was happening. I remember them doing this about 4 times and then the next thing I remember is waking up being stitched up. They had to give me 3 more units of plasma and 4 units of blood. I don't remember very many things from that day. I didn't even know I had a boy until the next morning. I have no memory of Paislee telling everyone in our room what the baby was. The doctors said that I don't remember about 35 minutes of what happened in the OR, which is also a blessing in disguise.Chad and both of our families had no idea how I was doing for about 45 minutes, Chad said it was the longest 45 minutes of his life. Chad was a wreck and couldn't stop shaking until the next day. The team that saved my life said they have read about this happening but have never seen it actually happen. They have seen where uterus would rupture or part would come out but nothing like my uterus turning inside out and coming completely out. The other lady they it happen to somewhere else had to have a hysterectomy. I was lucky and my uterus did go back up and contract, so I didn't have to get cut open or have a hysterectomy.The next day my hematocrit (blood count) was still a 24 (should be between 36-42) and I was really sick and very weak. They gave me two more units of blood and with lots of rest I started to feel better. The team of doctors all came to see me and told me how just lucky I was to be alive. That is a conversation that was really hard to hear and very hard to hold back the tears for Chad and myself.My doctor said that what happened is so extremely rare and my blood disorder had nothing to do with it. The chance of it happening again would be like getting hit by lightening twice. The doctors didn't know what to even tell me about my recovery because they haven't dealt with this before. I guess my nickname of Miss 2% just went to Miss 1%. All the doctors and nurses did say I have done way better with my recovery than they thought I would do. My doctor trying to make light of the situation pointed out that my delivery story will be able to top any story told at any party.
I can't help but cry when I look back and see how lucky I really was. How lucky was I that I was at the University of Utah with doctors that knew what to do. I guess I am a Utah fan now. How lucky am I that I was at a hospital that had a blood bank. How lucky am I that Chad and my Dad were able to give me a blessing before I delivered. How lucky am I that my Heavenly Father was watching over me and had his hand in small miracles that saved my life. How lucky am I that my sweet little Prescott was perfectly healthy. How lucky am I that both sides of our families rushed up to the hospital as soon as they heard. How lucky am I that we had family and friends all sending prayers our way. How lucky am I that my sweet Prescott is the best baby ever, I know it is because I deserve a good baby after that delivery. How lucky am I that we got our girl and boy and as of now we feel like our family is complete. I am so lucky and so blessed to have the sweetest little boy who reminds me everyday how lucky I really was.

PRESCOTT CHAD BAWDEN

2011-08-13T13:39:00.000-07:00

As most of you know our sweet baby boy came early and he is the sweetest baby ever. However, the delivery didn't go as we had planned. But the U of U hospital team saved my life, it is a long story and I will post about it later when I can do it without crying.

OUR BABY IS HERE!!!

2011-08-09T14:31:00.000-07:00

BABY COUNTDOWN & BEDREST

2011-07-28T17:29:00.000-07:00

While on bedrest, I made Paislee a baby countdown. When I made it I wasn't sure how many links would actually get taken off. But because I am doing everything to keep this baby in a couple more weeks, it will end up staying in until the links are gone.While on bedrest, Luxey felt she needed to lay right on top of the pillow. Even if that meant her bum was right in my face. She wanted to be right by my side and actually it was nice to have a friend lay right by me all day long.

FRIENDS

2011-07-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I thought my world was falling apart and the thought of moving brought me to tears. But moving into our neighborhood had been the biggest blessing in our lives. We miss friends in our old neighborhood but we are so happy to be here. Just like Paislee, Chad and I have made some awesome friends and we all feel totally content here. It is just another reminder that someone else always knows what is best for you. Even though I didn't understand the plan at the time it worked out just fine. Check out the kiddos (we are missing a couple) that live by us. We had a fun pizza party and picture day with all the cute friends!Just in case you can't find her, Paislee is almost on the back row right in the middle wearing a pink shirt.

BABY SHOWER

2011-07-28T14:34:00.001-07:00

So my cute bosses I used to work for at Chic Boutique threw me a baby shower. (I got special permission to attend because I was on strict bedrest this day) I felt bad because normally you don't have showers for baby #2. But they knew the struggles and time we had to wait to get this baby here and wanted to celebrate with us. The shower was beautiful and so nice. We got some cute things for the baby and lots of gift cards to buy what we need when the baby finally comes.These are the same awesome bosses that bought Luxey for my birthday and then ended up buying Luxey's brother. So I took Luxey girl with me to the shower to see her brother. She wasn't sure at first about being around him but she warmed up really fast. I wonder if dogs remember?

MAGNA POOL

2011-07-28T14:27:00.000-07:00

I took Paislee to swim with her cousins at Magna Pool a couple of weeks ago. The kids had so much fun swimming and playing at the splash pad. Kinda funny to look back now because this is one of the days I was really hurting and I was talking to my sister in laws about the pains I was having. Who would have guessed what was about to happen lol!

LADYBUGS EVERYWHERE

2011-07-28T14:22:00.000-07:00

Grandma Huntsman bought Paislee a bag of ladybugs. The bag has 1,500 ladybugs in it and you are supposed to let them go at dust. So Daddy hung the bag in the ladybug tree (the kids in the neighborhood can always find ladybugs in this tree so they named the tree) and you open the bag. The ladybugs come out a few at a time and Paislee was in heaven. She would pick up like 20 ladybugs in her hand and they would crawl all over her. There were ladybugs everywhere and Paislee had the time of her life playing with her ladybugs. Thanks Grandma Huntsman!!!

SWIMMING LESSONS

2011-07-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

Paislee went to Geri's Swim School for her summer swimming lessons again this year. They are a drive for us to get to but are totally worth it for what Paislee's learns. She got splashed 3 times during the 8 days for playing when it wasn't her turn. Honestly, I didn't think that was to bad for Miss Paislee. She was in the beginners advanced class this summer and did awesome. She is a great swimmer and loves being in the water and going under the water. Now if I can just figure out how to get her to stop swallowing the water when she goes under because she has to potty ever 5 minutes when she swims.

4TH OF JULY FUN!

2011-07-28T13:58:00.001-07:00

So you would think I would be caught up being on bedrest and all lol! This is the first year we haven't gone to the cabin for the 4th of July. Chad had to work, so it didn't fit into the plans this year. But we decided we didn't want it to ruin our July 4th fun! So we went with our neighbors to Riverton Days. The kids rode rides, we ate junk food and then came home and did our firepit on the driveway. It was kinda whitetrash but all the neighbors came over for some smores and we all had a blast.The next day we had a red, white and blue BBQ at my parents house. After the BBQ we let the kids do snaps, sparklers and watch some fireworks.On the 4th we headed over to the Sandy Days with my extended family. My cousin is a motorcycle cop and rode in the parade. The parade was great, they not only threw lots of candy they also threw prizes. Paislee got a tee shirt, chicken nuggets, a Chic-Fil-A cow and a free kids meal to Texas Roadhouse. After the parade we walked the tents, got a treat and went back to watch the fireworks. It wasn't the 4th of July traditions we usually do but we had a great time and Paislee had tons of fun!

BACK TO THE HOSPITAL

2011-07-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

So we are almost to 34 weeks and we are so anxious about the weeks to come. Not knowing what will happen and when it will all happen is stressful and exciting all at the same time. On Thursday I woke up at 5 AM with horrible pain in my belly, it lasted for about 4 hours and then the cramping pain started. I knew it wasn't contractions because it was a different kind of pain. So I just thought I had over done it the day before and decided I would just relax and lay down for the day. After 11 hours the pain hadn't gotten any better and then after thinking about it and I couldn't remember the last time I felt the baby move. So I started to get a bit nervous with the combination pain and no baby moving, I decided to call the doctors office. They decided to have me come in for some tests. So thanks to our sweet next door neighbor who volunteered to take Paislee for us as we headed up to the hospital. As soon as we got there they hooked the machines up and hearing the baby's heartbeat was the best sound ever. After some testing it came back I had an infection, which was probably the cause of my cramping pain. Then they did another test called a FFN, basically this test will let the doctors know if I would NOT have the baby in the next two weeks. So you want a negative result, and it is 99% accurate that you will not have the baby in the next two weeks. Well, I got a positive! Which is very confusing because it means I could have the baby in the next two weeks but I also might not. So really the only thing helpful is a negative result with that test. I am trying to stay positive and not complain because we have wanted this baby for so long. But it is getting really hard, I hurt so bad and I contract all day long which makes me so uncomfortable that I want to cry. I don't like to be negative but I am done and I just want this baby to get here healthy and soon!!! Even though I am almost 34 weeks and the doctors won't stop my labor, Chad and I would feel more comfortable if the baby was closer to 36 weeks. So with that said, will it be a boy or girl what's your guess? Chad is the only one who thinks it is girl, everyone else thinks it is a boy!

GOOD NEWS

2011-07-20T16:10:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I went back to the doctors and got some great news. I am still dilated to a 3 and 50% effaced, which means I haven't changed one bit since our scare. They are concerned that keeping me down flat could cause more blood issues or clots. So they decided to change me from strict bed rest to modified bed rest. Then my doctor told me after next Tuesday, which is 34 weeks he would not stop my labor. I was a bit surprised because I thought they would want me to get closer to 36 weeks. But with my blood disorder the medicine to stop labor could be more harmful for me than just letting the baby come early. But my cute and very positive doctor thinks I will most likely go longer than 34 weeks. So we are getting nervous, scared and so excited to think our little family of 3 could be a family of 4 as soon as next week. Then I laugh thinking I will now end up having to get induced after 40 weeks, because isn't that how it usually goes!!!

WE CAN MAKE IT TO 34 WEEKS!

2011-07-16T14:43:00.001-07:00

So yesterday Paislee and I had the car packed with the wagon and cooler because after my doctors appointment we were heading to the zoo with my family. At my appointment I asked my doctor about some really bad pains I had been having for the past two weeks. They decided to check me just to make sure everything was okay given my preterm labor history. I am not sure who was more surprised the NP or me when she checked me and found out I was dilated to a 2 and 50% effaced. So they immediately gave me a steroid injection and sent me over for some tests. The first test was to check the fluid levels to make sure I hadn't lost any fluids or wasn't slowly leaking. I passed the first test which was great news because that meant my water hadn't broke. The next test was to check to see if I was contracting. Well much to my surprise the pains I had been having where actually contractions. I guess a contraction at 32 weeks feels different than a contraction at 36 or 38 weeks. So after that test they found out my contractions were only 4 minutes apart. At this point I was shocked and starting to get upset and worried but I knew I had to keep it together because I had Paislee with me. My mom rushed right up to the hospital to get Paislee because the team of doctors decided they wanted to admit me. After being monitored they found out my contractions were getting worse and I started dilating even more. So now I am dilated to a 3 and having hard contractions every 3 to 4 minutes. They gave me an IV and the contractions started slowing down a little bit. After nine hours my cervix still wasn't doing anything which is a really good sign. They could feel the baby's head but it was still floating meaning there was fluid between the baby's head and my cervix. They wanted to keep me over night but with lots of begging and promises they sent me home and now I am on strict bed rest. I got another steroid injection this morning and the contractions have slowed down for the most part. The doctor's and our first goal is for this baby to get to 34 weeks. So as much as it sucks to get put on strict bed rest during the summer, having to leave my baby at the hospital would be ten times worse. I am 32 weeks and 4 days (the 4 days is huge with preterm labor) today and I know we can at least make it to 34 weeks. Wish us luck!!!

30 WEEKS

2011-06-30T10:32:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I only have 10 weeks left until we get to meet this sweet baby. I went to my last doctors appointment and got the BEST news I have ever heard. Apparently, the new nurse that weighed me the time before when my NP told me I was having a really healthy weight gain messed up. Get this, she added 16 freakin' pounds to my weight gain, YES 16 lbs. I know she needs a good taking to, you can't add 16 lbs to the weight gain of a pregnant lady. So I was relieved and so happy when I had a huge weight loss at my last appointment. My doctor also talked to me about the choice of letting my body go into labor naturally or getting induced. Because of my delivery plan I would qualify to get induced earlier than normal. That sounds great to the big pregnant mommy sweating in the heat. But my little girl starts Kindergarten on August 3rd, so you can understand why I wouldn't want to have this baby around that time. So we have decided to just let the baby decide when it is ready to come and not get induced. And as weird as that may sound, I am totally fine with waiting. I love feeling this baby move and I am loving doing fun Summer activities with Paislee. We have started putting the baby's room together and talking about names, we still haven't decided on any yet though. Who knows maybe we will steal another baby's name at the hospital we like if we don't have a name by then lol. We are getting so excited to find out what this baby is, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning. Everyone keeps asking me if I have that special mommy feeling about knowing what the baby is. I guess I am a horrible mom because I don't have any feelings and I haven't had any revealing dreams so, really I have no idea either way what this baby will be. The only thing that makes me think it might be a boy is I still have to take medicine or I throw up and I didn't do that with Paislee, but that doesn't mean much right!

CLASSIC SKATING WATERPARK

2011-06-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

We bought a pass with Chad's sisters and some friends to Classic Skating. With our coupon it was $10 per person and now we can go back all Summer for only one buck. So yesterday we took the kids to the waterpark and then let them ride their scooters on the skating rink. But with all activities and treats only $1 now we will be doing lots of Summer fun at Classic Skating.

CHERRY HILL

2011-06-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

Each year my family heads up Cherry Hill to have some fun playing in the water and escaping the heat. I LOVE going to Cherry Hill; water, sun, treats & waterslides with your family what more could you want right. I would have to say the only bad part about the entire trip was finding a swimsuit I could wear and fit into because I didn't want to buy a maternity suit. But I fit into one I had and only the next day did I regret going down the waterslides 100 times. Paislee loved the waterslides and thought she was pretty cool that she could go down alone with her cousins this year. She also loved the tube ride so much she went down it without waiting for Chad and thought she was so funny. Pais had a blast swimming with her cousins and making big piles of treats on their towels to share.

WESTFEST

2011-06-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

Pais got to perform at the Westfest again this year. Which means Grandpa & Grandma Bawden take the grandkids on the carnival rides. The rides kinda scare me, not only are some of the workers a bit (very) creepy but they put the rides up and down so fast it makes me nervous. But Paislee loves to go on the rides with her cousins. This year she was at a in between stage. She didn't want to go on the baby rides with Ruby and Emi but she wasn't tall enough to ride the bigger rides without an adult. Thank goodness for Uncle Koby and Aunt Aubree who were both nice enough to ride with her. It was a fun night and the girls danced so cute as always, and we didn't die of heat this year because they danced later.

FATHER'S DAY

2011-06-28T22:51:00.000-07:00

I have the best 3 men in my life; my husband, my dad and my father in law. They are all AMAZING men and Paislee and I are very lucky.Chad goes on a all boys trip with my dad and brothers each year for his Father's Day gift. Then I always feel bad that I don't have a gift on Father's Day Sunday. So Paislee and I made Daddy his two favorite treats; homemade Oreo cookies and Magic Bars. Then we always buy Daddy a new shirt and tie for church so he looks so handsome on Father's Day. Oh and as a extra special Father's Day gift Paislee got to give the talk in primary. We geared it around Father's Day, Chad and Heavenly Father. Anyways, I decided to surprise Chad even more and ordered him a Chillow. What's that you ask? It is a pillow that stays cold all night long. Chad flips his pillow about every 3 minutes so he can lay on the cold side all night long. So I guess the Chillow is a gift for both of us, he was so excited and I don't get hit in the face all night long now with his flying pillow.We had a yummy Father's Day BBQ up at my brothers new house. Then we roasted marshmallows on the fire pit before we headed out to Chad's grandparents. It was such a nice day to celebrate all the Father's we love!My belly is getting huge!!!

PAISLEE'S DANCE RECITAL

2011-06-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

Paislee had her dance recital last week and she did AWESOME. Her precompany team is the cutest stinkin group of girls. Pais loves dancing and performing, anything that puts her in the spotlight is her thing. Chad and I are always so proud of her, she is our little star.This is what Paislee does when I try and get a picture of her, strike a pose!CONGA DANCEI love this dance

MY BOYFRIENDS TUMBLINGDaddy always brings Paislee flowers at her dance recital and it is the highlight of her night. Aunt Kaloni and Leta made Paislee a candy lei for dancing so pretty. She also got to tell her secret sister who she was and got her gift and found out who her secret sister had been. Then she got a cute Dance Force water bottle from the studio. Lucky little dancer!

PARTY POOL

2011-06-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

So Summer (well for the most part) is here and the kids in our neighborhood all want to play in the water when it is hot outside. So Pais and I bought a huge party pool at Sam's Club the other day because Paislee just knew her friends would just love it. The kids had a blast and it was huge party with a total of 3 pools for the kiddos to play in. The highlight of the day was when the kids were all done swimming and we let Lady (Luxey dog friend next door) and Luxey go swimming. The kids were so funny and were all cheering Luxey on to swim across the pool. She actually didn't mind the water, which is weird because Zoe Bug HATED any water and would freak when she was in it. Luxey doesn't seem to mind the water and loved all the attention from the kids.So the mom's on my street are all addicted to Slurpee's and it hasn't taken long for me to be part of the yummy addiction. We take turns getting Slurpee's for each other and drink our yummy, slushy, heavenly drink as we watch the kids play all day and into the night.

DANCE PICTURES 2011

2011-06-15T22:48:00.001-07:00

CONGA So my little stinker looks like a nerd in her conga class picture. She doesn't how to say "monkey" and then smile like all the other kids. She says monkey the entire time and then looks like a monkey lol! Good thing I have lots of cute pictures of her right!

MY BOYFRIENDS BACK
TUMBLING PICTURES CUTE COUSINS

CHILDREN'S GARDEN

2011-06-15T22:42:00.000-07:00

So our cute next door neighbor invited us to go with them to the children's garden at Thanksgiving Point. We had never been there and she has a pass so we got a discount, thanks Molly. It was a blast and Paislee had so much fun playing with her friends. Good times, good times!!!

OUR FIRST GARDEN

2011-06-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

So I have the best husband in the world. I always have a list of projects that I need Chad to do. But with the little time he has at home, the projects sometimes don't get done. And he is always helping someone else with their projects, so my list is the last to get done. So I had a list of things we needed to do around the house and then I had a last minute idea. He was so sweet and didn't say one word and helped me plant our first garden last minute. We had some areas in our backyard against the house where the grass was completely dead. So I decided I wanted to plant a garden, that is a fun hobby right. So my sweet husband with sweat dripping off his head and nose planted our first garden for me. Paislee loved the idea and had a blast planting her own garden. She asks about our garden everyday and she goes and checks on it daily. Who would of known a little garden would be so much fun and we can't wait to eat some yummy veggies!!!

WEEK 27

2011-06-15T21:43:00.000-07:00

ARM & HEADEARI went to the doctor last week and everything is still looking great. The baby is still measuring big, in the 66% percentile. But the ultrasound tech said she wanted to leave the due date at September 5th. I am really happy about that date because that means that the baby will be the oldest in their class, which is a bonus for the teacher in me. They had to document the sex of the baby and that was strange. Knowing the ultrasound tech knew and then keeping our heads turned away for 5 minutes so we didn't accidentally see anything. But there is NO WAY we would give in now when we are almost there, that would be crazy! The NP started my appointment with this sentence, "Is this the weight you really started this pregnancy at? Because you have had a really healthy weight gain." Ya, I tried not to cry!!! Like I didn't already know the weight I am gaining, but hey thanks for reminding me. But my cute doctor told me it was fine and I am pregnant and he is not worried about it one bit. Another reason he is the BEST doctor around.

FACE PROFILEFACESo during the ultrasound the tech stopped and said, "Look Paislee your baby is telling you peace." Paislee was so excited! The tech was so cute with her and she even printed Paislee her very own pictures of the baby.

PEACE PAISLEEWe are getting so excited and can't wait for our sweet baby to get here. We want to find out what this baby is and who they look like. Now we just need to decide on names because the names we liked, we are not loving anymore.

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

2011-06-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

On the last day of school we had a pizza party and played games. Miss Amy's class and my classes got an autograph dog stuffed animal from us that they signed at the party and got to take home. Sayonara Sunshine Square, now that our time has come to an end, it's time to say goodbye to our friends.

GRADUATION

2011-06-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

Graduation was mixed emotions for me. The obvious would be Paislee is done with preschool which kills me and the next is I am taking time off to stay home with our baby. So it was bitter sweet for me at graduation because I love to teach but staying home with our baby is also very important. But in 3 years when this sweet baby can head to Sunshine Square I will be ready to teach once again.I have created a picture taking monster, she poses and does facials the entire time I take her picture. Oh well I guess it is better than kids that won't smile for any picture right.Graduation was at Magnolia Grove reception center and was so dang cute. Paislee got to graduate twice because she was in two classes this year. So I was able to sit and watch the first graduation with Miss Amy's class and then she graduated with my classes. We are very lucky to have very supportive grandparents on both sides. Grandpa & Grandma Bawden, Grandpa & Grandma Huntsman and Aunt Aubree all came to watch Paislee graduate.For the graduation program they sang; You're a Grand Old Flag, said the Pledge of Allegiance, sang Zip-a-Dee Doo-dah, Here Comes the Sun, Mr. Sun, You are my Sunshine, Friends to the end and Sayonara.When they were introduced to the audience they came up to the microphone and said, "When I grow up I want to be a..." Paislee said a cheerleader.

For her graduation gift Paislee got flowers and lipgloss from us. I know real big shocker that Paislee loved her lipgloss. After the program was over we let our little graduate choose where she wanted to go to dinner. Like always she picked Olive Garden.Paislee Girl we are so proud of you. Always stay as outgoing, energetic and loving as you are right now because those are our favorite things about you. We love you princess!!!

MOTHER'S DAY!

2011-06-06T10:47:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day was so calm and relaxing this year. Chad and Paislee gave me a new dress to wear to church, 2 cute bracelets and Photoshop. I was so excited for Photoshop because that is one of the reasons I got so far behind with scrapbooking and blogging. When my old laptop crashed I didn't have a way to fix and edit pictures on this laptop.Our ward has a tradition on Mother's Day that is fun. During relief society all the men go sub classes so all the women can come in for the lesson. Then before relief society gets out they have pie for mom's. The men bring in a slice of pie to all the women in Relief Society, and even though I am not a huge fan of pie I ate my entire slice. After church we headed to my mom's house for dinner and then out to Chad's grandma's to visit. I am so grateful for all the wonderful mom's in my life. My mom is truly one of my best friends and my mother in law is wonderful. I feel so lucky to have both of them in my life. I am also so grateful that I am a mom, I love my sweet Paislee so much and couldn't imagine our lives without her. I am also so excited and can hardly wait to bring another sweet addition into our little family.Check out how much Paislee said I weighed, AWESOME lol!!!

8 YEARS

2011-06-03T22:46:00.001-07:00

I can't believe Chad and I have been married for 8 years. I love Chad so much and can't imagine my life without him. We have had some ups, downs and even some sideways in our last 8 years. But we have grown the last eight years together and love each other so much. To celebrate our anniversary this year we decided we needed some time together just the two of us. So we dropped Paislee off at my mom's and headed, up to Park City. We went to the outlets (really just stores these days that they call outlets) to do some shopping. Afterwards we checked in our amazing room at the Marriott then headed out to dinner and the Chocolate Factory for yummy apples. We had a blast just being together and relaxing. Happy anniversary baby, I love you so much!

22 WEEKS

2011-06-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

This picture is a couple weeks behind, but better late than never I guess. So other than my face looks like I was stung by a bee in this picture, the pregnancy is perfect. I have had no complications at all so far, I am beginning to think this is what being pregnant is supposed to be like. I still take medicine everyday or I get sick and throw up. I am starting to feel the baby which is the most amazing feeling in the world. I never felt Paislee move because my placenta was in the front, so feeling this sweet baby is a first for me and I am LOVING it!!! We still don't know what we are having and the wait is starting to get intense, but it will be so worth the wait in the end. At my next appointment if the baby is still measuring big they are going to change my due date. Which I am having mixed emotions about, the teacher in me doesn't want a late Summer baby so they will be the youngest in the class. But the mom in me is so excited to finally get this baby here so a late Summer baby sounds fabulous! But I guess the baby will decide when it wants to come.

NO TRAINING WHEELS

2011-06-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

So I noticed really fast when we moved in our house that all the kids on our street regardless of age were all riding bikes without training wheels. Even the ones that aren't 3 yet are cruising around with no training wheels. So I decided Paislee needed an intervention. So the lessons with Paislee began with the help of my sweet next door neighbor who has four kids and just taught her almost 3 year old to ride without training wheels. I love Molly, she got her cute daughters little bike for Paislee to borrow and she ran up and down the street helping Paislee stay balanced. As my big pregnant self just watched, well and took pictures and videoed. So like I said my neighbor is a pro and Paislee no joke had it down in like 5 minutes. Pais doesn't watch where she is going and she has no fear like her daddy. So after two weeks was moved on up to her big girl bike without training wheels. She has broken the front brakes and ripped both the cute handle streamers and purse off the front crashing into things. But she gets right back on and tries again. Now if I could just get her to watch where she is going and stop thinking she can race all the older kids we will be good to go.

TULIP FESTIVAL

2011-06-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

Paislee and I went with Chad's mom and sisters to the tulip festival. It was gorgeous and the kids had a blast smelling all the flowers. However, I will admit I thought there would be tulips in crazy amounts like football field size flower beds and there wasn't. I mean when you hear tulip festival you think crazy insane amounts of tulips right? They had lots but it was just not how I pictured the tulip festival to be. I wanted more tulips together filling huge flower beds everywhere. Oh well we got a discount with a grandma's card and I am so happy we did. If we hadn't got the discount I am not sure it would be worth paying full price to go see.

EASTER

2011-06-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun Easter this year even though I was feeling like a horrible mom. I felt so dang bad because as most of you already know Easter is Paislee's favorite holiday. After Santa comes she always says, "I am so glad Santa came because now the Easter bunny can come." I know she is nuts! But I wasn't able to decorate the house with Easter decorations for her this year because we were still trying to unpack and organize which made me feel really bad. So Chad and I decided we would make up for it with a day filled with Easter fun, which included lots of hunts for Pais so she could enjoy her favorite holiday.We started the morning out with Paislee looking for her basket from her favorite person, the Easter Bunny. Then she helped daddy, mommy and Luxey find our baskets. After she checked out the loot in her basket, she went on a egg hunt around the house. She was in heaven and loved every minute of it. After our Easter breakfast, we got ready in our new Easter outfits to head to church.We decided to go to our new ward for the first time on Easter. Our ward is so friendly and very welcoming, so it was a great decision. They probably thought I was crazy though when they saw Paislee's Easter dress. Paislee looked so dang adorable in her very bright lime green dress. Like always her dress was not the typical Easter dress, but it was totally down my alley. Chad and I laughed on the way to church because I didn't ease the ward in on how I dress my Paislee girl. They got the full dosage the first time they met us lol!After church we headed to Grandpa & Grandma Great's house for the traditional egg hunt. Paislee went crazy at this hunt because she knew that each egg you get means money from Grandpa Great and she is all about getting money. On the way out there she keep talking about how she needed to get the black egg. We had no idea what she was talking about. Well during the hunt she was getting upset because she hadn't found the black egg yet. Finally Chad said, "Pais what black egg." She said, "The one Brianna got last year that was worth a dollar." Apparently she remember Bri got a black dollar egg last year and was on the hunt for the black egg. Chad explained the dollar eggs change every year and we don't know what they look like. Pais was not happy with that answer until she turned in her 24 eggs to Grandpa Great and got $4.40, then she was happy as could be.

EASTER EGG HUNT #1

2011-05-31T23:54:00.000-07:00

My parents always have a fun Easter egg hunt for the grandkids the day before Easter. The girls get to find cute princess eggs and the boys get to find sport eggs. Paislee was really worried about how many eggs she had because she knew she could only get 27 eggs. So everytime she put an egg in her basket she would stop to count to make sure she didn't have more than 27. After she realized she could get more than one egg at a time, the game was on and she went crazy collecting eggs.After all the kids collected their eggs they went inside to open their eggs to see what treasures they got. We couldn't help but laugh because every egg Paislee opened had jelly beans inside. Dang good thing Grandma buys yummy jelly bean flavors. Along with jelly beans she got a handful of quarters to put in her piggy bank.
After the hunt we ate some of Grandma's famous yummy homemade chicken noodle soup and breadsticks. Before we left Grandpa & Grandma gave the kids a Easter gift. Paislee got a cute Easter bunny and kindergarten workbooks, which she loves.

EASTER PERFORMANCE

2011-05-31T23:46:00.001-07:00

Paislee got to perform at the WVC fitness center for Easter. She did great as usually or maybe I am just a proud mommy. After the performance Paislee got to see the Easter Bunny and dog, still not sure who the dog was and what he had to do with Easter.

DYING EASTER EGGS

2011-05-31T23:35:00.001-07:00

I have never been a fan of dying Easter eggs. It's a MESS and then if you let Paislee participate it gets even messier, which is not fun to me. However, my mother in law is very laid back and loves to let the grandkids dye eggs at her house. So I can actually say dying Easter eggs at Grandma Bawden's is fun and I enjoy it. So thanks Grandpa & Grandma Bawden because Paislee loves to dye eggs and it probably wouldn't happen if I had to do it at my house lol!

MY LITTLE GIRL IS 5!!!

2011-05-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS:
APRIL 19, 2006
APRIL 19, 2007
APRIL 19, 2008
APRIL 19, 2009
APRIL 19, 2010
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAISLEE!!!It is probably best it took me so long to blog about Paislee turning 5 because I can blog without tears filling my eyes now. To most moms having their kids getting older and leave for school couldn't happen faster but for me I have dreaded this day since I brought her home. She is my little buddy and has been for 5 year has now and I knew the day she turned 5 would be really hard for me because she would be old enough to go to kindergarten.
Since we had just moved into a new house and Chad left the day before Paislee had a sleepover with mommy in my bed and we ate birthday cereal in the morning together. We then got ready and headed to school for Paislee's special ALL ABOUT ME day! We made a special birthday poster about her and played a game called birthday snitch with her friends.After school we came home to get ready for her party. When I asked Paislee a couple of weeks before her birthday what kind of party she wanted this year she said "surprise me mom." So that is just what I did, we had the BEST and CUTEST party ever this year. Paislee thought we were having a princess Rapunzel tea party but had no idea we had invited a special guest to come. Grandma Huntsman gave her a new Rapunzel dress to wear to her tea party.All the girls came to the tea party in their princess dresses and looked adorable. They sat at the table and listened to every word I said about princess manners. They all were on their BEST princess behavior the entire time. They had cookies, strawberries with whipping cream and sprinkles and raspberry lemonade. During the tea party Paislee passed out Rapunzel hair to all the girls. Right after she passed the Rapunzel hair out there was a knock on the door...We told Paislee everyone was here she had invited but go see who was at the door. When she opened the door I thought my heart was going to stop while tears filled my eyes. I couldn't have asked for her reaction to be any dang cuter. She turned around and looked at Chad and I in shock and just laughed and smiled while staring at Rapunzel. I am pretty sure that is the first and only time my little Paislee has been speechless. Rapunzel asked to joined her teaparty, Paislee said, "sure." and walked her in to show her friends who came beaming from ear to ear.I have planned and been to many parties in my day but this by far was the BEST one I have ever hosted or attended. Rapunzel was AMAZING, the girls all just stared at her and you could hear a pin drop because they didn't make a sound. She sounded and acted just like princess Rapunzel. She taught them how to act like a princess, read them stories, played fun games, crowned Paislee the birthday girl, helped them make princess crowns and danced with them. She was adorable and was just the perfect visitor to have to celebrate our little girls 5th birthday party. Since Paislee had a 100% girl party we decided to have a icecream party after her teaparty to invite her boy cousins and friends. We had icecream cones and Rapunzel cake with family and friends. We also had the bounce house set up in the front room and the kids had a blast. I wanted to pull my hair out by the end of the party but the kids loved it and that was all that mattered.After icecream and cake Paislee opened and opened and opened birthday presents. She is one lucky little girl who is VERY loved. She gave her princess guests a Rapunzel comb thank you and as tradition she gave everyone who came a thank you attached with her favorite treat which for two years in a row has been gum. After the guests left we took the birthday girl out to dinner her choice. On our way to Olive Garden, doesn't every 5 year old want to go to Olive Garden for their birthday dinner? What can I say my girl has good taste. Anyways on our way to dinner Paislee said, "I can't believe Rapunzel the real Rapunzel came to my party." She was so cute as she tried to figure out how I knew the real Rapunzel. It was a the perfect day for our little birthday girl.

BIRTHDAY PICTURES

2011-05-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

It's a tradition every year when we do Paislee's birthday pictures to have some done of her in my wedding dress to show how much she has grown since last year. Since I got my new camera I thought what a perfect time to do her birthday pictures myself. I am not a photographer but I think they turned out pretty dang cute.

ONE POST AT A TIME!

2011-05-17T18:18:00.001-07:00

So here I go catching up one post at a time.
SCHOOL PICTURES: Paislee had her school pictures last month. I thought it would be fun to get picture of Paislee and I together since I was her teacher. Since the photographer Mike Rogers couldn't just sell me one 5X7 picture he told me to bring my own camera and he would just take the picture. I laughed when I handed my camera over to him telling him that he knew more about my camera than I did. I thought that was so nice of him because NO photographers would usually even think about doing that. I have LOVED having Paislee in my class and feel so lucky I had that opportunity to teach her and watch her learn. Oh and please note at her request, Paislee is wearing a headband and not bows, I know weird huh lol.Miss Amy's Class
Miss Amanda's Class
KINDERGARTEN ORIENTATION: I had a really hard time with this for so many different reasons. I know for some moms, Kindergarten couldn't come any faster. But for me, I have dreaded this day since I had Paislee. I think the fact that I had Paislee when I was teaching Kindergarten makes it even harder because my baby is the same age as the kids I taught when I had her. I know she is so ready and she will absolutely love Kindergarten. But she has been my little buddy for 5 years and I am just not ready to let her go yet. I still have two months before the official breakdown happens.
SPRING PARTY: Paislee had her Spring Party the same day as her birthday. She was so excited because that meant she was special leader for her party and her birthday celebration.

CATCH UP

2011-05-10T19:11:00.001-07:00

So I have so many things I need to blog about but if I do them all at once I will not only overwhelm myself, I would overwhelm all of you lol. So let's start at the top and go back a couple of weeks in time until I catch up. Oh heavens will I ever get caught up?

MALL PERFORMANCE: Paislee is on the precompany team at Dance Force which means she gets to perform at special events. So nothing is more special than the good old mall performance right lol? The girls all did awesome and had lots of fun. Paislee also got to wear her new dance sweats to the performance. She looked so cute but so dang old in them, my baby is all grown up sporting her Dance Force team outfit.

GEORGE & REBA CONCERT: So for Valentine's Day Chad and I gave each other tickets to George and Reba. We went with my parents and siblings, well sort of. It was so nice to spend some time together and the concert was amazing. George never disappoints!

ICE SKATING: So for Paislee's cousin Nate's birthday party they went ice skating. It was a huge disaster at first, Paislee had no balance and was pulling everyone down on the ice with her that tried to help. Then finally the workers brought out the red bar helpers and ice skating became fun. Paislee held onto the bar and just flew across the ice. She was basically running on the ice, it was so funny to watch.

NEW BEDROOM: So when we moved into our new home Chad and I decided to surprise Paislee with new bedroom furniture. She was so excited and loves her new big girl bed and furniture, she is adjusting great. I still don't feel at home, but I know that will come with time. Chad and I are so happy and at complete peace with moving. Our new neighbors are so friendly and with 42 other kids under the age of eight right on our circle street Pais is in heaven.

WE HAVE BEEN BUSY!

2011-04-25T17:32:00.000-07:00

So I haven't blog in a while but I have good reason, let's just list the top 3 reasons:
1- We moved (and Chad left out of town the next morning)
2- My little Paislee turned 5 two days after we moved
3- Then we had Easter Sunday
This all happened in just one week for us so as you can imagine I am so
tired and emotionally drained but VERY happy it is all finally over. I will have tons to blog about in the next week or two, so stayed tuned...

APPLE HUH???

2011-04-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

So the other day when we got home from school Paislee was showing me what she did in her first class. She pulled her paper out and I started looking at it and doing the mom/teacher thing and correcting the little mistakes I saw on the paper, like her e's. Well as I looked at the bottom of the page and saw the apple picture she drew I couldn't help but laugh. I thought maybe it was just me. But when I didn't say anything to Chad and showed him her paper. Laughing really hard he said, "We need to talk to Miss Amy about the X rated pictures Paislee is drawing at school." You know you are thinking the same thing right now. It doesn't look much like an apple, but it resembles something else. But what??? LOL!!!

IT'S A BOY!

2011-04-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I had a doctors appointment and we could have got an ultrasound to find out the sex of this baby. However, we are in the middle of switching insurances (that alone is a great post). So I decided not to have the ultrasound until we switch our insurance. We don't want to know what the baby is so we weren't in a hurry and this is the first appointment we haven't had an ultrasound. I know you are reading this thinking why wouldn't you want to know, that is weird not to find out. But we have several reasons why we don't want to know. We are so excited to find out the day this baby is born and then let Paislee tell everyone if she has a brother or sister. So as we left the doctors office Paislee and I started calling family and texting friends telling them the ultrasound tech messed up and the baby was not shy and we were having a boy. EVERYONE and I mean everyone but Daddy totally fell for it! It was the BEST April Fools Day joke ever. I was called EVERY name in the book and it was wonderful! Here's to the best April Fools Day joke ever lol!!! It's a boy lol or girl!!!!