MaUi 2014

We headed to Maui, Hawaii for a Stewart family get-away. 

My parents generously provided us with a (kidless) trip to Hawaii. 

I missed my little man so much, but we had a great time!

We stayed in condos and the beach was literally down the street - less than 5 minutes to get there.

On our way.

I don't know who the creepers sitting behind us are...oh wait. Yes I do. 

 We have arrived!

 Dinner at Fred's. A delicious Mexican restaurant down the road from where we stayed.

 Much giggling while boogie boarding.

 We stopped almost once a day at Ululani's for shave ice. Perfect Hawaiian treat.

 Out to dinner. Don't my parents make a stunning couple? They do.

 View from our condo.

 Getting ready to leave for a whale watching tour.

 Let the whale watching commence!

 We decided to not be tourists for a day and take the bus to Paia. It was an adventure.

 HUGE waves at the beach. We traveled to a neighboring beach and had quite the show (it was a local clothing optional beach). To our credit, there was NO sign.

 Gelato. Hawaii style.

 Molokini snorkeling trip. Such clear water. Beautiful fish. Heard the whales talking to each other under the water. Saw a reef shark. Turtle cleaning station.

 Molokini. We snorkeled on the other side and on this side.

 Our last night we went to Lahaina. Such a neat little town! We had dinner at Fleetwood's. Delish!

Thank you mom and dad for an amazing trip!

Thank you Craig and Molly for taking care of my boy! 

JaNuArY

Quick Earl Update: I have an ultrasound on January 31 (the day I leave for Hawaii). I meet with my lady doctor the week I get home from Hawaii. So we'll see what Earl has been up to since Christmas.

On to the more fun update: Everett!

He is such a fun little person. Every day is different because he's always learning new things.

Words: whoa, dog, hi, ball, bye bye

Favorite foods: fruit (any and all of it), sixlets, pancakes, carrots - I'm sure there are more.

This little guy is pretty independent - he can entertain himself, but also likes to play with others.

He loves to "share" his toys with Chewy and he loves to give Chewy his rawhides and chew toys.

 I don't know what it is, but I love pictures of kids when they are looking down. It's the chubby cheeks! They are kissable cheeks.

 Kill me. He looks like such a big boy. 

 Playing after church.

 I caught him hugging his wood animals.

 His BM and BD (birth mom and birth dad) sent him a fun package for Christmas Included were even gifts for Nic and me (tie for Nic and a beautiful handmade scarf for me). 

Playing with one of the gifts:

 Our front, main room has these big lovely windows. They give lots of natural light, but it's not so great when you're trying to watch a movie/TV during the day. We bought some great, room darkening curtains. 

I love them - they give the room such a different look.

 Playing with another toy from BM and BD. He was pulling some great cheesy faces.

We will enjoy our little goober for a little while longer before we leave in 1 1/2 weeks for HAWAII!!!

I will miss him...a lot...

EaRl

I had been struggling with on and off abdominal pain for a few months. 

On December 24 it was constant. Of all the days, C-Eve. :(

Into the ER I went...

Question after question. Blood draws. Urine samples. Ultrasounds of different types.

Come to find out I have a cyst on my right ovary. 

After 5 hours, I was sent home with some pain meds and to keep an eye on it for 2 weeks.

We missed all of the C-Eve festivities. We got back up to my parent's house just in time to put Everett to bed. He got new jammies from G&G Stewart. He had lots of fun with G&G, Ben, Sharon and boys.
(HUGE THANK YOU to G&G, Ben and Sharon!!!)

Thankfully we didn't miss ALL of the festivities. Still ate great food, played BINGO, and got new jammies.

Nic named my cyst Earl (think of a Dixie Chicks song...'cause Earls gotta die)

Fast forward to today...I am still in pain, so I'm working on getting into see my Dr.

I'm thinking she'll want to do another ultrasound to see what Earl is doing. Maybe?

Typically these cysts come and go as they please, but don't necessarily cause pain (thanks Earl).

I have quite a few questions for my Dr so hopefully I can get in to see her soon...

ChRiStMaS 2013

MERRY CHRISTMAS...at least in this post.

We spent lots of time at my parent's house with my brother, Ben and his family. 

Nic and I missed out on part of the C-Eve festivities thanks to Earl (that story for a different post). 

I was in the ER for 5 hours finding out that I have a cyst on my right ovary: Earl (name courtesy of Nic).

We got to my parent's house just in time to put Everett to bed and play BINGO.

We spent Christmas morning at our own house opening up presents and stockings.

Cutest little reindeer. 

 Merry Christmas from Chewy!

 Nic hiding behind a sweater.

 Everett was a good boy this year and Santa thought so too.

 Making music on the Xylo Fish.

 Everett got better and better at ripping open the paper. He would lose interest when the presents weren't toys. He knew this next one wasn't a toy...it wasn't.

 I'm interested in this one! 

I sure do love my 3 boys.

We spent the rest of the day at my parent's house. Eating. Being lazy. Family time.

Our Christmas was definitely MERRY! 

ReSoLuTiOnS

HAPPY 2014!

I can't believe it's the end and a beginning. I always have a hard time with the New Year's Resolutions. It's great and all, but at the same time, we should always be striving to have goals.

Nic asked me (on our anniversary 12.27) what some of my goals are for the new year.

Uh....hadn't really thought about it.

Of course he had and explained some of his goals.

We talked about goals that we wanted to accomplish in our marriage/family. It got me thinking...

What do I want to accomplish in 2014? 

Here's what I came up with: 1 goal per month. 12 goals (well not technically). They are attainable and I have the time to accomplish them. If I'm not perfect, that's ok. The reason I say "not technically" is because one of my goals I'm not giving myself a month to complete. I started the Book of Mormon a few months ago, and I will finish it this year! I will go through spurts of reading everyday, and then I will stop. So this one is an ongoing goal. 

On to the list:

JANUARY: Read the Ensign. All of it. Cover to cover. Not just the first presidency and VT message.

FEBRUARY: Read 1 new book (I'm a slow reader).

MARCH: Write 5 handwritten letters.

APRIL: 30 Day Marriage Challenge (Pinterest find)

MAY: Turn off all electronics 30 minutes before bed.

JUNE: Find a cleaning schedule (like this one) and stick to it!

JULY: Finish Book of Mormon.

AUGUST: Find 5 new Gluten Free recipes and try them.

SEPTEMBER: Don't use cell phone while driving. No texting. No phone calls (unless emergency).

OCTOBER: No soda during the week. Only on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

NOVEMBER: No eating after 9 PM.

DECEMBER: Hold FHE every Monday.

Here's to a new year! The past is in the past. Let's see what the future holds. 

The festivities have begun!

Here is what we have been up to...

Everett is a total cheesers (as you can tell from the pictures below), but he can also be totally shy.

It's pretty easy to get him to be a cheeser though.

 We had our ward Christmas party and after an hour we headed to the Esquire Jazz Orchestra concert.

My mom sings in the Esquire Quartet. 

I took multiple videos, but I won't post them without her permission. 

Let's just say she and the quartet and the orchestra did amazing!

 Dani and Jefferson

 Me, my dad and Dani

 Me and Mr. Handsome Face

 We were a little late in getting our Christmas decorations up, but we finally did it.

This year we bought a fake tree. It took us less than an hour to to put up and decorate. Bonus!

 Santa came early to our house and delivered this little guy.

Meet Chewy!

He's half mini Schnauzer - half terrier. Apparently this mixture of breeds is hypoallergenic? All I know is that he doesn't shed much which makes this girl happy. He is another child of mine, but for being a puppy he is pretty well behaved. We all adore him (including Everett). 

GoBbLe

Just a few pictures from November

For Turkey Day we stayed in town and headed over to Craig (Nic's brother) and Molly Phair's house. Nic's sister and rents also came into town for the festivities. Lucky for us, grandma and grandpa Phair stayed at our house for a few days. :) 

Dinner was held at the Phair house (other Phair house). We enjoyed delicious food and ate until we were stuffed. Friday we went shooting. I do love this Phair tradition. There are no pictures to prove it, but I did shoot. I may or may not like shooting guns. I stink but I do like it. Everett stayed at home with grandma. 

Me and Molly 

 The Phair kids setting up targets

 Grandpa Phair sportin' some ear plugs

 She makes those ear plugs look good

 The Phair kids

 Don't mess with Craig

 Serious concentration

 Krew shooting a BB gun

 That's my man - he's hard core

 Kole rockin' it

 You can see the little puff of smoke - that's a clay pigeon exploding after Nic hit it

We also saw Frozen that night. YOU NEED TO SEE THIS MOVIE. I loved it. Who doesn't like a good wholesome movie with constant singing?!