My Little Birthday Boy

Today, is Caden's second birthday. I feel so blessed to have this little guy in my life. I am so proud that he is my son. He's smart, outgoing, and fearless...on the most part! Yesterday, we went to a halloween store and he tensed up and buried his face into my neck when he saw some scary masks, but other than that he's much braver than most! I love the way his little face lights up when he sees me. It makes my day every time. He has such a sweet and good heart. I even love when he exercises his independence by throwing things (like his shoes...when he gets mad, he takes them off and throws them for some strange reason!!!) and yelling, "NO!," and running away from me to throw himself on the ground and cry. It always gives me a good laugh! I love that he loves getting his back rubbed before bed. He even likes rubbing mommy's back...he calls it a "back ssage." He is such a cuddler...when he wants to be. I even love when he stuffs as much food as he possibly can when he's eating. I have never seen another child stuff an entire half sandwich into his mouth like Caden. It reminds me of tv shows or movies when human's that are turned into aliens or monsters that stuff foot long subs into their mouths in one bite! Anyway, he has been such a joy in our lives. He makes me laugh everyday. I don't know how I got so lucky to have him and his brother in my life.

The Dream

Yesterday started off with me waking up at the crack of dawn to help my mom out with some work at a soccer tournament that the photography studio was taking pictures for. My job wasn't super hard. All I had to do was sign kids in to take pictures and get information filled out on their envelopes. It was hectic at times because a large amount of kids would come all at once. It was fun though seeing these adorable kids in their soccer uniforms. I didn't realize that this soccer league took three year olds too. I'll have to keep that in mind for next season. I have been wanting to put Landon in soccer for a while. I'll have to check in Cumberland to see what they offer here since driving to North Providence (where we were at) is a little bit of a hike still for us.
I was at the field until about one o'clock (I got to leave a little earlier than everyone else). After that, I met up with Shaun, dad and the boys at a little Mexican restaurant in Central Falls (a neighboring city of Cumberland). It was down the street from where Shaun had to drop off our new car (well, we got it a year ago but we still refer to it as "new"). It was having some troubles while accelerating. Every time the needle hit over 2 rpms it would shake. Ugh. Something else that we need to pay for. Hopefully, it'll be done on Monday and not cost us too much! The food at the restaurant was great though. It's a little "hole in the wall" place with some very authentic Mexican food. Plus, it was inexpensive!
After that, dad took Landon home with him to Warwick and Shaun, Caden and I went home to our house to get some stuff done. Shaun got his new computer in from Dell for school...or so he says...He will always find an excuse to get new technology. He spent the majority of the time setting that up. After that he had school and church stuff to get done. I had to go down to Warwick to pick up Landon. Plus, there was a going away party for an old friend of mine from the Warwick Ward. I have known him since I was a teenager...so YM/YW. He's about a year or two younger than me. He is going to Kuwait. I believe this is his second deployment...at least. He just got married about a year ago too. I know is wife is having a hard time with it, so is his stepdaughter. I think she's about ten or so. We are all sad to see him go. I think he's supposed to be gone for a year. That is such a long time. He has changed so much over the years. I remember him being so quiet and he seemed to be so unhappy back then. However, now, he is always smiling and so outgoing. He is very involved with church now and works very hard in trying to reactivate the Cambodian guys that were there in YM with him. I am so impressed with him. He will be missed while he's gone. It was evident by the turn out at his going away party. He has had a huge impact on the ward. A large majority of all our old friends from back in the day showed up to show their support.
It was slightly ironic that this party should fall on 9/11. I'm about to share something, that I have not shared with many people. Maybe one or two people...if that. I know I have shared this with my husband. Apart from him, I don't believe I have shared it with anyone else. At least not that I can remember. Since, there are only those who are close to me who are reading this (at least I hope no one else is reading this that I'm unaware of), I'm feeling like I should share this. If you have stumbled across this by mistake, I would appreciate it if you stopped reading. I have never written this down. So now is my opportunity. I'm afraid that I will start to forget, however, after this many years, I have not forgotten a detail or the feelings that I had.
About a year or so before the attack on the Twin Towers, I had a very strange dream. At the time, we were living in the house that my parents are in currently. In my dream, we were back in the house that we were living in before. We lived in that house from when I was in third grade to the middle of my Sophmore year in high school. In my dream, I had stepped out onto our concrete front steps to watch a plane go by above. (In that house, we lived on the flight path used by many planes landing in the airport located about ten minutes from our house). There was one time that President Clinton was landing at that airport so we all went out to watch Air Force One fly over our house. In my dream, that's what I thought I was doing. I was going out to see Air Force One...or so I thought. I watched a plane fly over our house. All of a sudden, it changed its course. It seemed to be flying dangerously low. In the horizon, I could see a capital building. It was large, and standing above all that was around it. The placement of this building was actually where RI's capital is...Providence. However, in my dream, I remember knowing that this was not the capital of RI, but Washington, D.C., the capital of our country (even though I was facing North, not South). This plane was heading right for it. I watched this plane fly directly into our capital city. I was wondering why it was heading for a building. I was shocked when it collided with the capital. Words can't even describe what I was feeling. I guess I could say I was confused. Right after it hit, it went dark. Then I turned around on my still intact concrete front steps to face my house, except my house was replaced by rubble. I looked down my street. Where houses once stood, rubble took its places. I walked into a little "cave" made out of the rubble which was once our home. There was a make shift bed to the left made of a piece of wood tucked into a cove of concrete and some dirty blankets. There was a battery operated hot plate in the middle of the "room", on the ground, and a pot of water was boiling on top of it. A little radio was on next to the bed on the ground. I remember hearing about war from the speaker on the radio. He sounded hopeless. Aside from the radio, there were no other sounds. No cars, no laughter, no talking. That silence was heavy and almost deafening. I was strangely calm at this point in my dream. I was waiting for something. I was waiting for the Savior. After that, I woke up. My heart was heavy and I was trying to make sense of my dream. I thought it was just a silly dream. I couldn't think for the life of me, why I would dream something so strange. Really...a plane flying into buildings? Why would anyone do that purposely? I just blew it off and just chalked it up to having some bad milk before bed or something. Now fast forward to September 11th, 2001. There I was sitting in my English class with my fellow students. Mr. Callaghan was at the front of the class. All of a sudden, another English teacher wheeled in a tv and said, "You have to see this." The tv flipped on and there it was. A plane flying into the World Trade Center. My nightmare had become real. I felt all of the wind getting knocked out of me. I started to panic. I thought I was going insane. Was this some sick prank? I hadn't told anyone about my dream before that moment. Then I thought to myself, "Gee, Hollywood has outdone themselves now. That looks real." Not too long, after that, I realized this was not a prank, this was real. On the way home, I cried. I cried for those that lost their lives. I cried knowing what was coming next....war. As I have thought about this dream often over the past nine years after the attacks, I have tried to make sense of that last bit. I was glad to return home after school on that sad day to see that my house had not turned into a large pile of rubble. However, there are many in war torn countries who do live that way. I got a glimpse of what that feels like in my dream. I have also realized that maybe that was just a representation of the state of our country. Outwardly, it looks fine, yes. But underneath it all, its a pile of rubble. People are losing everything they have. People are getting laid off. Some companies have undergone hiring freezes because of a lack of profit. Some people are drowning in debt and barely hanging on. I am grateful for the Gospel and all that I know because of it. I am grateful for that dream that I had. I don't know why I had it, but I'm glad I got to see what I saw and felt what I felt. To me it is a reminder that these are the latter-days and the Lord will come again and I need to be ready for His return and for the things that are happening before that wonderful day. I'm in no way saying that I'm "special" because I had this dream, because I'm not. I just wanted to share this with those that I care about and feel safe around. Thank you for being in my life. Its an honor.

Preschool

Today was Landon's first day at preschool. It started off well. Only a few tears were shed. Landon, however, couldn't wait to go to school and play. He was upset when I told him I needed to take him to the bathroom first before going into his classroom. He was so excited. I, on the other hand, kept saying to myself, "I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry...Great, I'm gonna cry." He seems like he has two really nice teachers though. Their names are Mrs. Tully and Mrs. Haynes. The school director is super sweet too. Her name is Kara.

Here is Landon and me before we left for school.

Here is Landon and daddy with the sun in their eyes. Bahahahaa!

Here is a better picture of the two of them from another angle.

After I dropped him off at school, Caden and I went to the gym for an hour. I only had enough time to do the treadmill though...boo. Maybe next time, I'll do some weights. After the gym, I picked him up from school. He did not want to leave. But with a little persuasion, he was ready to go.

Here he is holding one of his new lunch bags acting like a goofball outside his classroom.


Here he is on the right acting normal...lol.

I tried to get his friend from church, Michael, to take a picture with him, but he was being shy and hid behind his mom. Landon grabbed his backpack and put his lunch bag away and we started to walk out to leave. There is a cute little bench down the hall and Michael decided that he was ready to take some pictures. Here are the pictures from that. Landon was pretending to be sad in the first ones. Ugh. It was hard getting a good picture of the two of them together. Oh well. I still got some cute ones.
Landon being sad. Caden on the left trying to join in on the picture. Next year little guy!

Now they're being silly.

All I can say is those poor teachers.... :)

After we left, I took the boys to McDonald's down the road to get some lunch and to play. Just to be clear, I don't take the boys to fast food often. Maybe once every other month (if that), unless we're traveling. Its not my fault that they have good memories and know the names of a large amount of fast food places! They're just really smart! lol! I'm not trying to make my children obese. I know better than that! In my defense they know the names of alot of stores too, like Lowe's, Home Depot, Michaels, BJ's, and so on. Just sayin'!

Anyway, they played in the little tree house slide that they had there for an hour and then we went home for naps!
I would definitely say that his first day of school was a success. Hopefully, next week will be just as good if not better!!

Orientation

Well, the last few days have been so hectic. First off, on Tuesday was my students audition to get into the music program. But before that, Landon had a toy testing for Hasbro. For those of you that don't know, Hasbro (the toy company) is based in RI. We have a friend in the ward that works for them, so he sent us some info on a toy testing that they were holding for 3-5 year olds. They were testing some "blasters" as they called it. They were actually guns that shot golf ball sized foam balls and one was like a nerf gun. Landon had so much fun, he didn't want to leave when they were done. He did get a twenty dollar gift card at the end to shop at their online store...so we'll keep that for his Christmas or birthday! After that, I dropped him off at home with Shaun (who was working from home that day). We finally decided to give in and get cable so Verizon was there to install our cable and internet package. I had so much going on that day, so Shaun had to stay home for the installation.
The drive to the University of Rhode Island took me almost an hour. It was a really cute campus. I had never been there before. It made me miss college....minus the school work, and tests! Anyway, after she warmed up, we went up to the Fine Arts building. It is one of the ugliest buildings I had ever seen in my life. It looked like an abandoned fort. It was concrete with little to no windows. The concrete was chipping off due to age. At least there was a funky statue in the front to "liven" up the place. Inside was just as bad. Well, we waited for a little bit. There were only four or five others auditioning to get into the program....competitive my butt. Catherine was the third to go in. She was sooo nervous. Her mom was there too and she was just as nervous. Actually, so was I! She was in there for a little bit and then came back out. The advisor that was in there came out too and told her to wait there while they talked. Oh boy.... I looked over at my student and she looked close to tears. Great. I asked her what happened and she told me that she bombed the first song. However, she did well on the second song. She said that she had gotten so nervous. On top of that, she had been sick for the majority of the summer with strep and mono. Any singer would know that that is very bad news when it comes to singing. I had strep when I was in high school and all of the hard work that I had put into my singing (we're talking years of work) was out the window because of a two week sickness. Not good. When she came to me, we had a month and a half to get her ready for this audition AND we were basically starting from scratch. She was so frustrated with getting sick and having to start over and bombing that first song was the last thing she needed. She explained to the board that she was sick for the majority of the summer. Anyway, long story short, they allowed her in but she had to add a vocal coaching class to continue to help her get back to where she was. Needless to say, I am proud of her for all of her hard work and hope that she continues to work hard.
Yesterday, the boys had an open audition for Hasbro...yup, more Hasbro stuff. This time it was through our agent. Hasbro is getting ready for their new catalog and is trying to get a portfolio together of all the children from the agencies that they use. Its a reference for them plus they'll have updated photos of all the kids. That was in Newton, MA. The houses there are gorgeous! I told Shaun that we are moving there. So far, I'm in love with the houses in Allston, MA on Commonwealth by Boston College and now, the houses in Newton.
Today, was Landon's orientation at his new preschool. I still can't believe that he's starting school!! I am a little glad that he gets to go and interact with others in a school setting but I'm also a little sad...Next thing I know he'll be getting married and having his own kids. :( They grow too fast. He was really excited this morning to go to school. He kept talking about playing with toys. He'll be in for a big surprise tomorrow when he doesn't get to play with toys the WHOLE time! I got him a new back pack today (Toy Story), and two new lunch bags. One that is camouflage print and the other is Shrek (there is a button on his belly that makes a belching noise...I'm sure his teachers will appreciate that one!). I am so excited for him! I just hope tomorrow goes well!!!
After orientation, I had to head back up to Boston Casting for a call back. This audition was for Connecticut Lottery. This is my second commercial that I have auditioned for for them. The first one I auditioned for, I was put on hold for it and called back. I bombed the audition though because they wanted me to do something completely different than what I was expecting. Needless to say, they caught me off guard...I hate when that happens! Anyway, for this one, I was supposed to audition for the part of the mom buying the lottery ticket. When I got in there, they told me I looked to young to be the mother of a nine year old. Yup, I do. So, I auditioned for the hostess part. I was supposed to be like Vanna White on a game show. I guess they are needing two hostesses. I got called back for some strange reason. I had to dress in a "sexy" dress...I mean, how sexy can I get when I have to wear garments??? I decided to wear a cocktail dress that I had bought for our anniversary this year. It was the first modest "fancy" dress that was cute that I had seen. I usually have to have those kinds of dresses made by a tailor! Anyway, I got to the audition and was surrounded by scantily clad girls. I should add dumb girls. Figures that the part of the hostess would be more fit for bimbos. Hmm...I wonder what that says about me. I told Shaun that if I got the part, I'm either a really good actress or I really am a bimbo. I hope its not the latter! You should have heard the conversations going on between these girls...ugh. I can't even repeat the stupidity. Anyway, they were very nice. (Innocent face) The audition went well. I think, at least. I guess I'll find out tomorrow if I got it or not, since the fitting is on Monday. My guess is that I didn't get it, since...well...I just don't feel like I fit the part...but maybe my acting is better than I think. Probably not though.
Well, tomorrow is a big day for my big boy. Hopefully, I can get some sleep tonight!

August....How it Flew By!

Well, once again, I'm behind. The month of August was crazy. First off, my sister got married (on my and Shaun's anniversary might I add). So, we spent alot of time preparing for that. We all flew out (minus Shaun) on Wednesday the 11th. I got to stay over at my best friend's house, which was the highlight of the trip!! I miss her so much! I always love getting to hang out with her. She's like the sister that I never had. I have missed all of my college friends soooo much. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see all of them since they have since moved away from Utah.... :( Maybe next time we can coordinate our schedules!!! Anyway, the wedding was fabulous and Melissa's new in-laws are also fabulous. She is very lucky to marry into a family that is so sweet and so good to her. Sadly, not everyone is that lucky. But her mother-in-law is just one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met. So are her new sisters-in-law. Her father-in-law is a funny guy and was already teasing me. lol! The brothers are really cool too. We had gone over to Rich and Ronda's house twice to have dinner. I loved hanging out with all of them.
My grandparents were able to come out for the wedding and my Uncle Tom and Aunt Kris came down for the reception (they were on the way home from dropping off my cousin at college in Nevada). It was great being able to see them, even if it was for a short while.
Shaun's two brothers, Eric (whom I call Erk) and Ryan (whom I call Ryster) got to come over to my friend's house and hang out for a little bit. Its always fun to hang out with them. The day before we left, we also got to hang out with them some more. I even scared Ryster while he was sleeping on the recliner...poor guy. :) I snuck up behind him and tickled his nose with a strand of my hair. His reaction was priceless. I never had any brothers to pick on until now. Mwahahahaha! Anyway, we also got to see Shaun's little sisters. I love those girls. They are too funny. Unfortunately, I didn't get too long to hang out with the girls like I wanted to. Oh well. I'm trying to talk them into coming out to visit us in RI! We also got to see Grandma Mullis. I got to chat with her for a while. She is probably the spunkiest ladies I know. That's what I love about her. She's feisty like me! All in all, it was nice to see them.
The trip out to Utah was hectic and a little too short. We didn't get to do too many fun things since we were bombarded with wedding stuff like the flowers, the bachellorette party and so forth (hehehe). But the important thing was that the wedding went really well.
We got home Monday night (the 16th). That week was just filled with unpacking and tidying up the house. My dad got sick right after he got home. He thought he had the flu. He went in to see the doctor on Wednesday since he was feeling awful. She was my parents' new doctor because their doctor of almost twenty years retired about a month ago. She replaced him in that clinic. Anyway, he went in and she concluded that he had a virus and there was nothing he could do but to rest and have plenty of fluids. She didn't even run any tests...her first mistake. Her second mistake was that she told him that if he got worse to call her and NOT go into the ER or walk-in clinic. Apparently, they would take care of him there. Yeah...right. Friday came along and he was feeling worse. I had him watch the boys the day before because I had an audition in Boston. He looked so gray. I didn't realize how sick he was. All the times that I had talked to him on the phone earlier in the week he was just joking around. He's hard to take serious sometimes. He said funny things like how he was going to die this Saturday and mom would be in mourning so she couldn't watch the boys for me. They were supposed to go to the temple on Saturday because they are temple workers, but since he was so sick, they canceled. However, when I spoke to him, he said "I should go to the temple, seeing as I'm dying. Mom is going to look away from me sitting in my wheelchair and then look back and the chair will be empty. I'll be translated in 'the twinkling of an eye.'" Then he was talking about how after he dies, to look at a picture of him once in a while and remember the man that left us with the money we're spending now. So, I laughed at him and called him a drama queen. Then I said that I was calling Melissa to laugh at him together. Then he said, "I'm dying and you guys are making fun of me." For those that know him, you too would understand the humor in this...I'm not being insensitive. So, on Thursday I asked him if we should just take him into the emergency room. Of course his reply was, "No, I'm fine." Typical. On Friday, he called the doctor and all she did was prescribe him some anti-nausea medicine so that he wouldn't get dehydrated. She didn't even ask to see him again. All I can say is Quack. On Saturday, we went down to Warwick to visit my parents. They had taken the kids overnight on Friday since Shaun and I had tickets to see Cirque du Dream Jungle Fantasy at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods. (It was really cool, by the way). We were going to go to the beach, however, dad looked bad. So, we went shopping and bought some food that we thought he could have. When we got back, I made some pasta for him and brought it up to his room. I also brought him a popsicle and a banana. He was having a tough time breathing and I was having a tough time seeing him in that condition. He finished eating and I brought up some water for him. We all left to run errands thinking that he could sleep better without us in the house to bother him. We left at about 3:30. We got home at about 7. Mom was the first one into the house. She went into the kitchen and I heard her scream "Oh no!" She came back out into the hallway. Shaun, the kids and I were still in the foyer. From the look on her face, I thought he was dead. I screamed. Then I heard a groan in the kitchen. I dropped my Iggy's doughboys and shopping bags and ran into the kitchen. My dad was on the floor trying to lift his head off the ground. Two chairs were knocked over and he was drenched in sweat. He looked like he had gotten dressed for work. I tried pulling him off the ground after seeing that he looked like he didn't break any bones. He was completely disoriented. Shaun, came over and got him up and we helped him sit down on the chair. He was having a really hard time breathing. Consequently, between the panting, we couldn't make out much of what he was trying to say. We asked him why he came downstairs and why he was dressed to leave the house. All we could understand from him was that his lip hurt (probably from bumping his lip on the chair while trying to get up). I asked him again if he wanted to go to the emergency room. He shook his head. Finally, Shaun said, "You have two choices, Kent Hospital or RI Hospital." Dad said, "Kent." So Shaun had to help dad get to the car. Luckily, their neighbor across the street came over and helped. Shaun drove mom, dad, and Caden to the hospital and followed in our car with Landon. The whole way there, I cried and begged with the Lord not to take my dad away from me. Landon was in the back, silent as ever. I somehow made it to the hospital and ran in. They had seen the condition my dad was in and they took him in immediately. Only mom could go in for the first little bit. That was the longest 15 minutes of my life. Let's just say, I was a mess. Finally, we got the ok to go in. I had called a family friend from the ward (my parents' ward) and asked if they could come get the boys and watch them. Before I could even finish explaining, Brother Miller said he would be there and hung up immediately. He got there before we got the ok to go in. He came and sat with the boys while Shaun went in first. He asked the nurse if we could both go in together (since they would only allow two people at a time...that included my mom). Shaun came back out and warned me that dad was hooked up to a bunch of stuff but they were taking care of him. He also told me that dad's nurse, Pat, said that it was totally fine that we both go in. So, Brother Miller took the boys home with him and in we went. Dad was hooked to oxygen and an iv. He also had some machines monitoring his vitals. While we were in there, we were trying to figure out what was going on. Dad had no recollection as to why he was downstairs and for how long. Shaun said that while they were driving to the hospital, he came to and asked where they were going. He said, "I don't need to go the hospital, I'm fine." He and Shaun talked BYU football a little (Shaun testing dad's memory...lol...he's so cute). When they got to the hospital, Shaun brought a wheel chair over to dad. Dad said, "What am I an invalid??" Shaun laughed and said, "Well, kinda." Anyway, the doctor scolded us for not calling an ambulance. Dad was diagnosed with double walking pneumonia that had gone septic. The bacteria was in his bloodstream. If we hadn't brought him, he wouldn't have made it. The thought occurred to me that while I was begging Heavenly Father to spare his life on the way to the hospital, He already had. If dad had stayed in bed, we wouldn't have brought him into the ER when we did. At the risk of sounding cliche, blessings do come in mysterious ways. Dad was in the ICU for a few days. They moved him out into another part of the hospital that was a step down from the ICU. Those first few nights I barely slept. I worried about him and I also wanted to march into that clinic and give that doctor a piece of my mind for almost killing my dad. But I never did, in case we were going to take legal action against her (which I'm not even sure dad is going to do that...he may just yell at her himself.) When they moved him, the doctor in that part of the hospital did some research. He concluded that dad actually had Legionnaires' disease (google it, it's interesting). It is still type of pneumonia however it is not contagious. You get it from faulty or dirty AC units. We found out that my grandparents also had pneumonia. My grandpa was also hospitalized for a couple days. They didn't have it as bad as dad did, or it was caught earlier. We then concluded that they got it from their hotel room out in Utah. They stayed in the same room for two of the nights. The hotel was nice too. Something that you would not expect out of a hotel like that. That just scares me now. Anyway, dad got home the next Sunday (the day after Melissa and Travis' second reception out in RI...yup he missed it because he was in the hospital...I think he did it on purpose!) That was the first Sunday that we went back to our own ward. We missed the first Sunday because of the wedding, and the second because of the scare that dad gave us. Apparantly, everyone in the stake had heard. I had people coming up to me looking for updates. People were in tears and very upset over him being so sick. The week that we stayed with mom in Warwick, the phone was ringing off the hook with people who were worried about him. It was nice to see the support of all of the wonderful people in the stake. Dad had done so much for all of them and worried over them too and they knew it. Anyway, dad got the week off of work after he got home. I had to teach voice lesson everyday that week. On Wednesday, I pulled into the driveway and saw that his car was missing. I thought, "Great, he's delusional again and gone off to who knows where." So, I called him. He answered and I asked him where he was. "I'm at work....but don't tell mom." Ugh. I only agreed to do so if he hurried home and didn't do it again. Oh dad. Luckily, he's doing better now, however his gallbladder is acting up due to the disease. So, he'll have to get that removed soon. Other than that, all is well!
The last weeks of the month were spent trying to prepare my student for her audition to get into the music program at URI. She has done fabulously and I have no doubt that she'll get in. Her last lesson was today and she got me a little gift. She had gotten me a cute little hand purse from Vera Bradley. I usually don't like Vera Bradley. I personally think its a little old ladyish...maybe its just because the ones that I have seen have been ugly. However, this one is way cute! She works at Vera Bradley so she knows which ones are the cute ones. lol! So, tomorrow is her audition and I'm heading down to URI to help her warm up and prepare. Then I will wait for her to audition. She should know after she's done, whether she got in or not. I figured that I should be there with her. I have a long day tomorrow, so I should get to sleep! I'll write again tomorrow with an update and hopefully good news!!

I'm BACK!

It has been way too long since I have written on here. So, let me just catch up a little on what's been going on since my last post. I had my photoshoot with Safety 1st for a baby bathtub on June 24th. It went really well. I was exhausted though since I was working for about 7 hours. Holding the same position for an hour at a time was hard. We shot with 6 different babies and two different tubs. Since the babies were naked for the photos, I had to cover them with the little washcloth. Needless to say, the majority of the babies pooped or peed while in the tub and on the washcloth I was holding...gross but not something that I haven't dealt with before! It was funny because one of the babies in the first set for the tub in the sink, pooped and scared himself so bad because of the noise of it, that it made him cry! I was dying! Anyway, everyone was great to work with. The photographer was really nice and so was his staff. The hair and makeup artist was awesome! My hair was FANTASTIC that day!!! I wish she could do my hair and makeup everyday! The people from Safety 1st were really nice too. They felt bad that I was sitting on my knees for a couple hours for the second set of shots with the baby tub in the bathtub. But I didn't mind...mainly because I was remembering how much I was getting paid per hour! Plus, I didn't want to get up and stretch too much between shots because I didn't want to move from my position and ruin the next shots. It is alot harder doing a photoshoot with babies. The main reason for that, is that you have to make sure that you look right in ALL of the pictures because when they get the perfect shot of the baby finally, you don't want to be the one that screws up the photo! By the next morning, I had felt like I had done a full body workout at the gym for hours...I was really sore. But once again...so worth it. :)

The next week, on fourth of July weekend, we had to go to Shaun's family reunion. It was on his mother's side, so we were up in Boise. Luckily, I love his extended family. On the most part, it was a fun trip. We got to know Shaun's younger brother's girlfriend. She was super sweet and really fun to be around. Shaun's older brother is also engaged to a fantastic girl that we met for the first time at the reunion. They're getting married in November. We're trying to figure that one out too. Anyway, we'll probably just fly out on Friday and stay until Sunday. We're probably going to stay with my sister.

Speaking of my sister...She got engaged!! Finally. They got engaged on Sunday, July 11th. I guess her friend said that she needed to go up to Temple Square to see something and she wanted Melissa to go with her. Travis (Melissa's fiance) was sending her cute texts while she was on the way up. Melissa thought that he was still at home. Little did she know...when they got to the Joseph Smith Memorial building he surprised her there and proposed. Hopefully, I got the story right. I didn't get any details from her. I had to force her to take the time to tell me that much! Their wedding date is August 14th (same day as mine and Shaun's anniversary). They're getting married at the Jordan River Temple (the same temple that my parents got married at). Anyway, so I've been busy putting together her wedding announcements and figuring out her flowers. I also have to plan a bridal shower for her...not to mention the bachelorette party!!! Busy, busy, busy...

Shaun has been busy applying to graduate schools. We just found out this past Friday that he got accepted into Carnegie Melon! They have a distance track so that he can do all his stuff online! They also gave him a partial scholarship. That will help out!! I am soo proud of him! If he decides to do this, he starts this August. I'm a little nervous about him starting school again. I'll just have to find alot of things to do to keep myself busy, since he'll be really busy between school, work, and his church calling. It will be a tough two years, but it should be worth it in the end. He was thinking about putting it off for another year, but I figure that the longer he waits, the harder it will be. We just need to get this over with!! :)

Besides doing wedding stuff, I have been busy with modeling auditions and getting this voice lesson thing up and running. I just bought a new microphone and some recording equipment! I am so excited to try it out! I have a new student too. However, I have only taught one voice lesson since I've started. Shaun calls me the bad luck voice teacher. My first student only had the one voice lesson at the end of June. Then I was out of town, and then she went out of town. We had a lesson scheduled for the 8th of July but she broke a rib and then she went on vacation again. Then my new student was supposed to start a couple weeks ago, but then she got mono and strep. Luckily, she's better now and we've scheduled a lesson for this Thursday. My other student got back from her vacation this weekend so I still have to schedule her lesson. Craziness!

Last Thursday, I had an audition for a lottery commercial. I just found out today that they want to see me again for the call back tomorrow. So now, I'm on hold for next Monday and Tuesday (for the fitting date and the shoot date). Its hard going into these auditions and trying to figure out what they want. I hate leaving auditions knowing that I could have done better or done something a little different. This was actually the first audition that I had been to where I knew I had aced it. Hopefully, I'll feel the same after tomorrow. I should be able to book this...knock on wood. So, wish me luck!!

Shauny's Birthday

Shaun wasn't as lucky as he was on Father's Day. He didn't get breakfast in bed. I figured that one breakfast in bed in one week was good enough. He went to work as usual that day. I headed down to Warwick to meet up with my friend and her son Michael (Landon's friend that I mentioned in an earlier post). She was going to be down there to go to Trader Joe's (our favorite whole foods market!). Unfortunately, they don't have one closer to our neck of the woods so we have to make the half hour trek south to stock up once in a while. Anyway, she suggested that we meet up and go to a park near Trader Joe's. I beat her there and saw that the park was closed due to a fox invasion! So, I gave her a call and we decided to go to Chuck E. Cheese to at least let the kids go somewhere fun. We were there for a couple hours. Caden played a ton of the game where you shoot the basketball. He is obsessed with basketball for some reason. He is drawn to basketball hoops too. I don't know what it is, but its funny. Landon also got stuck in the tubes, well kinda! Hahaha! He got up to the top and couldn't come back down. He was scared of going into the tubes and going down the slide. I was a mean mom and told him that he couldn't go on any rides or play any games until he either went into one of the tunnels or went down the slide. Basically he spent most of his time up there crying. He's a little chicken sometimes. I thought it was funny though...I'm mean, I know. Then some little girl went and helped him down at some point. So, I told him that he couldn't do anything until he decided to at least try going in a tube or go down the slide. He refused, so he just sat in the booth. When I had only one coin left, I told him again what the deal was. He finally agreed to try again. This time around he was successful. Although he didn't go down the slide (which looked fun, by the way), he still played in the tunnels. I just don't want him to grow up being too afraid to try things and give up so easily. I don't want him to miss out on anything... It reminded me of the time that I took the boys to the indoor playground at McDonald's one afternoon. There was a big net thing with platforms the kids could climb on. At the top there was a slide that was much bigger than the little baby slide that he and Caden were playing on. He went up a couple times but wouldn't go down the slide. Finally, we were getting ready to leave. I asked him if he would like to try again. He said no. I then told him that it looked like so much fun and that I thought he would enjoy it. So, he decided to give it one more try. He got to the top and Caden and I looked on from below. After a little while he disappeared. I stood there wondering if he was just too far back for me to see him. Then I heard a loud, "WHOAA!" And then I saw two little feet come out the bottom of the slide. He jumped out looking triumphent and proclaimed, "I DID IT!" I laughed so hard. It was one of the cutest things and one of my favorite memories. I do have to add that Caden went down a slide for the first time at that McDonald's. That was really cute too. Caden is just the opposite of Landon. He is fearless. After a couple of tries going down the slide by himself, he was sliding down on his belly and backwards...crazy kid.

After our mini adventure at Chuck E. Cheese, we went to mom and dad's house so that the kids could eat lunch and I could drop off stuff for Shaun's birthday. I also set up his birthday present in the garage (where its been for a month or so). I got him a new lawn mower. Since it was such a big purchase, I knew that I couldn't get away with using the money in our joint account and have him not notice it. So, I had to use the money from my private account. I have been so excited about this gift since I decided to get it for him. The lawn mower that we had was old, and it didn't bag the grass. The new one I got him mulches, bags, its bigger, and it self cleans. Not to mention that its self propelled! I had to drag the box out from behind my mom's other car (the one that she never drives...I don't know why. If I had a luxury vehicle, I'd drive it ALL the time...even across the street to our mailbox to get the mail!) I read the directions and put that sucker together all by myself! I slapped a bow on it and positioned it amongst my dad's garage rubble...they are remodeling so half the garage is taken over by tools, molding, paint, etc. After that, we went home and made his birthday cake. I made a chocolate heath bar cake (from scratch...what? Did you just confuse me with Martha Stewart? I know, I'm awesome. Hehehe!). It was YUMMY! Although, the whipped cream decoration I put on top started to melt.

My mom picked us up after work. Shaun left straight from work to go to mom and dad's house. Dad wasn't there since he was in Mexico for the week on business. But he called to wish Shaun a happy bday. Shaun opened his presents. Mom and dad got him a Lowe's gift card and a novel in Spanish that Shaun has wanted for awhile. Then we got ready to leave. I made believe that all I got him was a card and the boys got him a few cans of Sour Cream and Onion Pringles. I told him that I wanted a water out of the garage. So, he went into the garage and got me a water. I followed him hoping to hear a reaction of some sort. Nothing. He just came back in with the water. Gosh...what a dork. He had totally missed it. I gave him a look with my camera in hand. He said, "Was there something that I was supposed to see?" Duh. He went back out and saw his present. He was thrilled.

After that, we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. We ordered way too much food. But it was so good. Plus leftovers for the next day is wonderful since that means that I don't need to cook! Then we went home and had cake. It was a fun day! Hopefully, Shaun felt the same! Hahaha!