Bathroom Reveal

Fact: I've just been lazy. The bathroom has been done for a while!

The bathroom was the most expensive and extensive of our house projects thus far. Also most necessary. Well, it may tie with the carpet for me (as far as necessary). Either way, the bathroom came out fantastic and I love it!

We gutted the entire thing - drywall, shower, sink, toilet, doors, light fixtures... all gone. Kudos to Matt, Matt's Dad (our electrical helper!), our great plumber (and friend), and my sweet Dad who personally helped us for hours upon hours (...days upon days) particularly on this bathroom

project. Hats off to him for ALL the tile work. He did a beautiful job!

Photo Booth

So, really, this should be titled "Tyler & Shai get married!!!", but seeing as I took NO pictures at their reception, these cool photo booth pictures from their wedding will be the highlight (gee whiz, Jordyn). We had a great time seeing the happy couple and are SO excited for them! They had the coolest set up at their reception (and seeing as I dont have the paper that explained all of it in detail, I wont even try to recreate a vision of it for you... but let it be known, it was ultra-thought-out and ultra-cool). One of the stations included the photo booth... and here are our pictures :)

Picking out a tree

Unlike past locations we've lived, it appeared that the only places to get a tree in town were retailers (what happened to little lots stocked full of trees w/lights strung above them?) - so off to Lowe's we went! Mason loved picking a tree and only got a little worried when the worker took it to trim it up for us ("where is our tree???? why is he taking our tree???"). Yay for having a fresh tree again! The past 2-3 years have entailed my little alpine tree being our "Christmas tree" due to compromising since we were often only home for about 2 weeks out of the month of December. We're SO excited to be waking up in our own home for Christmas this year - and yet still getting to be with extended family! Let the season begin!

Snowflakes!

When we woke up this morning we dashed out on the porch to catch some snowflakes before they quit! Mason enjoyed catching them; Lincoln didnt seem to notice anything was going on. You can't see it in the pictures, but I thought the boys were cute in their footie jammies :)

Thanksgiving 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great, long weekend of eating, family, and fun! I LOVE Thanksgiving and the opportunity to just get together with family, be grateful, and eat!

"We would do well, also, to cultivate within ourselves a spirit of thanksgiving for the blessing of life itself and for the marvelous gifts and privileges we enjoy." Gordon B. Hinckley

LEAVES!

Our acre lot and its woodsy appeal brings with it... a BAJILLION leaves! I don't know if I ever knew the depth of love children can have for leaves until now. As in, when we took a load of them down the hill to get them out of the yard... Mason was truly heartbroken. Crying, lip pouting, and all. Luckily for him, three gigantic piles removed later, there are still a billion left. They may be the best toy we've had for the past few weeks!

Family Pictures 2011

Debbie Haggard, otherwise known as "Mom" Haggard, graciously offered to take our pictures this year! With our 1 and 3 year old we hit the field and driveway for some great pictures! Got to love TN and its never-ending photo-ops!

Thank you again Mom! We love them! Can't wait to get them printed and up on our walls. Here is a smattering....

Happy Halloween!

Meet our Martian and our Bumble Bee! Both costumes were thanks to our friend Hannah who happened to have them left over from Halloween-past. Score! Mason won our church's youth costume contest and has a cute little trophy to show for it :) Lincoln made bank with candy, I believe due to cuteness. They went to a Halloween party Fri night (see our Bishop being "Mummified"), trick or trunking Saturday night, and trick or treating around a neighborhood on Monday night. Whew, that's a lot of Halloweening!

Happy Birthday Mase!

Mason has somehow zoomed to the age of 3! And the word zoom fits this little boy perfectly. He zooms everywhere! He is a bundle of energy and keeps us on our toes with his antics and wit. I worry age 3 might do us in (who said terrible 2s? liar!), but he always manages to follow up with some 3 year old charm that makes me smile and just want to squish him from cuteness. He is a motor-mouth and NEVER meets a stranger. His birthday (week) was filled cake galore, making his own pizza, lots of presents, lots of visits from Grandparents, and Halloween parties thrown in the middle. It was seriously like a week of partying! Here are some pics of our cutey-patootey.

Harvest Time!

Here we go... lets baaaaaaack up and get caught-up!

We went to the most fabulous pumpkin patch that was a few minutes from us - everyone knows I love a bargain, and boy, this was a bargain AND a blast! Doesn't get much better than that. It cost our family of 4 $4 to get in and each boy got their own individual pie pumpkin, we all got a hay ride, a trip through their corn maze, a peek at their pigs, and all the playing time you wanted on their cool amusements. Adult size teeter totter? Yes please! We will definitely be going back next year!

Ta Da!

We all know the most *important* skills for babies are cute little performances such as... blowing kisses, waving bye bye, etc. (forget morals, social skills.... ;) ). I said "TA DA!" earlier this week and Lincoln picked it up pretty fast... see for yourself! (we still have to work on his inflection, this guy only has ONE speaking level).

Post Dinner Entertainment

Not sure how this got started... this was towards the end but they still had some pep! Quality time as a family, ya know. :) **please excuse how loud and high-pitched my voice is!

Visiting Daddy

Mason has had some 'moments of missing Daddy' this summer... including a period when he'd wake up in the night trying to 'catch him before he left' (sigh). So, as an incentive to relax and comfort the little fella, we enticed him with a visit(s) to see Daddy at work (if he chilled out and slept :). Here are the two cuties at Daddy's desk -

Yeehaw!

We've been able to go horseback riding at my parents a few times this summer and Mason even got some ride time! Here we are on the ever-faithful Nidja (uh, is that how you spell it?). Matt and I even got to take both horses back into the woods on a trail ride alone and it was soooooo lovely (we didnt run into any spider webs... otherwise, it might've not been so lovely).

Happy Dance

It is official...Lincoln is on milk & soy and is doing GREAT! No reactions at all and he is LOVING whole milk and all the goods he previously couldn't enjoy.

It is so amazing to think about this time last year I was feeling so lost and helpless concerning Lincoln's issues we were discovering. I remember when I pinpointed "mspi" as the issue I read that most babies outgrew it around the 1 year mark (+/-). I remember thinking a year was SO FAR AWAY. Now I look back and laugh at how quickly it went! Not to say that parts of it weren't incredibly difficult and challenging, but we made it and learned a lot in the process.

Friday morning at the Spanns

What else do you do with the bed covers while you wait for the sheets to dry? Why, practice flips, of course.

Bristol

Backing up some more...

Michael, Matt's best friend from Utah, and his Dad came to visit at the end of August! He and his Dad are NASCAR fans and after talking about going someday, it ended up being a Father-Son outing - Matt & his Dad included! The four of them piled into the car and drove to Bristol (located at the far north-eastern tip of the state) Saturday morning and came home Sunday night. They had a BLAST at the race and even spent some time checking out Gatlinburg the next day. It was a quick trip, but we loved having them and hope we'll get together (w/Tara too!) again sometime soon. Miss you guys!

Give me an F, give me an L, give me a O...

I cant believe it is nearly 3 weeks later and I am just blogging about our trip to Florida! It was my Gram's 80th birthday so we took a deep breath and drove the 730 miles down on Friday, stayed two days, and drove 730 miles back on Monday. And, even though we were really dreading the travel aspect, the boys did amazingly well! Well enough that we'd definitely do it again. Thank goodness for good experiences!

We had a BLAST on the trip. Seriously. We hadnt been to Florida for two years and it was a long overdue trip. It is great that we're living close enough that it is feasible for us to drive now!

The trip included partying with family, running errands as a family, a huge birthday lunch, family hang-out time, a family outing (and DATE for us - THANK YOU MELISSA!) to see SAK comedy club, a nice walk on the beach, another family party, and getting to see some friends! Can you tell we had a jam-packed fabulous weekend? Well, we did :)

And now.... some pictures, of course!

*Note Lincoln's face... he was sooooooo not thrilled that I plopped him down in the sand. :)

The Birthday Girl! + my adorable second cousin!

*Note the sweet faces Mason makes now-a-days when you ask him to smile. Family pictures should be fun this year!*

Simple joys

I try to keep Lincoln's blanket as 'bed only' (like Mason's "woobie"), but occasionally he manages to reeeeeeach between the crib slats and snatch it. And as much as I want to take it and put it back... he just looks too cute as he is SO elated he managed to get it! That face = joy.

the ZOO!

Mason (& Lincoln) had their first trip to the Zoo in July when Kailyn came to visit! Mason walked in 100 degree weather from 10-2 and still managed to not fall asleep in the car on the way home... and Lincoln stayed awake the entire time until we got into the car. Way to keep running, kids! We had a blast checking out the Gibbons, Lorikeets, Meerkats, Elephants, Zebras, etc etc etc. The Nashville Zoo has a cool Lorikeet exhibit where the birds land on you and eat nectar from little cups. Lincoln DID NOT like that birds were landing on me - apparently he thought I was being attacked! Mason had one bird land on him and he wigged out a little bit :) Maybe in a few years!

Here are a few pictures...

Surviving the heat...

Lorikeet Adventures

Lovin' the lake

Let it be known, I am not a lake swimmer. Yuck. However, the state park nearby has a swimming area where they've dumped sand and we had a grand time swimming there (for free!) this summer! They have a beach area and a nice grassy hill. We discovered it when going to use a free paddle boat ride (who knew they had paddle boats?) - and immediately planned a return trip to check out the swimming. We went back and went on the paddle boats again and went swimming a few times! We'll definitely be going back next year!

Funny Tid Bits To Share

Have you seen this? I appreciate a good laugh!

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Yahweh or No Way? - Mormons & God's Poll Numbers
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

And following the DC area Earthquake this photo really tickled me:

"Thanks to all of you for your kind words of support,

as we look to recover from the devastation of today's quake!"

MSPI update

Mostly for my record keeping, Lincoln has been doing great on yogurt and has had some small amounts of soy (in cooked/baked foods) and so far so good. He even had some tidbits of cheese yesterday with no noticeable reaction. Wahoo! We're on our way... last foods to try will be ice cream and straight milk. Here's to hoping we're in the clear!

Lincoln: 1 year old!!

Our Baby Bumble Bee

{Lincoln's favorite song is "Baby Bumble Bee". Although I am not a big party planner (besides planning the menu), I thought it'd be fun to do his birthday party with that theme - hence all the black/yellow!}

(wall word, year of pictures, bumble bees on the wall!)

About Lincoln... has the sweetest face, a darling smile, and is a very happy boy. He loves to play, rough and tumble with his brother, and do dare-devil stunts (he currently loves to climb onto Mason's toddler bed and then jump off... ah!). When the boys play we hold our breath because we think Lincoln is going to get hurt... but there he is, pinned down or bowled over, and he just looks up and smiles and laughs. He loves to be held (most of the time) and is a Momma's boy. He is still a big eater and is in the stage where he thinks it is funny to throw food on the floor. He has had small amounts of yogurt 4 times now and is handling it great (a million thumbs up!). Next up will be small bits of cheese. He is now off the million dollar Alimentum formula and is drinking Rice Milk (for now until we get him onto reg milk). He is also into throwing things into the toilet (yuck!) and is SO fast at opening that lid and chucking it in. He walks like a pro now-a-days and is walking 95+% of the time. He is still "squawk-a-mole-ee" - Mr. Vocal! He waves bye bye (and is starting to say bye-bye), is beginning to blow kisses, and still refuses to clap his hands. He does great when I cut his hair with clippers but hates to hold still when I get him dressed. He LOVES his Daddy and lights up and runs for the door as soon as he gets home. We had his 1st year appointment and he is 19 lb 13 oz and 30 1/4 inches. The doc said he seems more flexible than the average kid... random, right?

{Bumblee Cup Cakes!

Not pictured is our 'black/yellow' table with lemon drops, butterscotch candies, reisen chocolates, and mini oreos. Golden yellow punch, and black/yellow plates and napkins.... I had great intentions to take lots of pictures, whoops!)

{black/yellow party hat smash cake.... milk and soy free :) }

We love you Lincoln!!! We are so blessed to have you in our family!

Sleep Roulette ?

I've started the journey (albeit, cautiously) of introducing Lincoln to small amounts of dairy & soy to see how he digests it and whether he has outgrown his intolerance. I'll be honest, every time I do it I mentally think, "am I prepared to forego sleep tonight?" because that is the way it is likely to present itself - a very upset baby for several hours in the night. But what is worse is when that happens... you're left trying to be optimistic, "maybe he just wasn't feeling good and it wasn't the soy that caused that?" Let's face it, babies aren't always consistent, so you really can't be sure without trialing that same item a few times. How fun, right?? My type-A personality thinks this whole process is crazy (why cant they just do a test and tell me? unfortunately, those allergy tests aren't always very accurate ...this is the way my doc suggested I do it). On the bright side, it is teaching me to relax and accept that everything will be fine in the end... even if today isn't the 'end'. Tonight *I think* I'll be giving him some chicken w/bread crumbs on it... which contain soy. Hope we all get some sleep tonight like that cute little kitty :)

Sweet deal

I realize they are my kids... but aren't these adorable?????

The volunteer fire department comes around asking for donations and in return for a donation you get a free session with a photographer and a free 10x13 portrait. You don't expect much for a 'free' portrait, but how cute?! Of course I bought a 5x7 of each of the boys too :) They're growing so fast!

Potty Talk

... potty trained!?!?

Here is our synopsis thus far:

Day 1: started with the method of putting in underwear (big to-do of throwing away diapers), watching like a hawk, sprinting to the bathroom every time you saw him start/need to go, telling him to "tell mommy when you need to go potty" and "stay clean and dry. are you dry?" constantly. Eh, disaster? He wasn't caring when he had an accident (would just want to keep playing) and FLIPPED out when I would run him to the bathroom or tell him we needed to change underwear bc his were wet. I was being really calm and nonchalant about it but he was not calm at all. It was really, really bizarre to me because we had had success with the toilet before - he had used it and had a good attitude with it, etc. Where was this anxious, stressed attitude coming from??? Nap time came and went and after nap he woke up in the same mood. I was 2 seconds from calling it off and just trying again another day, but was trying to tell myself to just wait. At 4:15 (man, from 8:30 A-4:15P felt like THE LONGEST DAY EVER), I saw my little lady bug timer in the basement and had inspiration: use the timer to "tell" him to go try to go (no more trying to catch him in the act). Alas, from 4:15-8P we went potty about every 15 mins (ha! I figured we'd start short!) thanks to the lady bug's instructions and made it to bedtime without any more accidents... or tantrums.

Day 2: Lady Bug continued her presence - although I gradually extended the time from 20 minutes and up over the course of the day. He had a tiny accident mid-day and a pretty good one late afternoon as I was pushing the length between bathroom visits (whoops!). It was a very successful, low-stress day!

Day 3: Only one tiny accident and I phased the lady bug out completely by mid afternoon. I continued to tell him to go try every so often, but just by how long it felt like it had been.

Day 4: No accidents and he even told ME he needed to go once! (my biggest concern has been when he would be the one deciding to go to the potty....).

Day 5: No accidents again!

Day 6: No accidents!

I am still prompting him to go (when waking, before napping, during play, etc) but he is also occasionally telling me he needs to go. We've managed to run an errand once, go to dinner once, and go to our 3-hour block of church accident free.

I AM SO EXCITED! And SO PROUD of him!

He has been spoiled with (mostly dollar store) presents, lots of stickers, and M&Ms. I think he now expects everyone coming over to bring him some kind of a present. :-p One day this week I asked him if he wanted to call my Dad to tell him he had used the potty (reinforce, reinforce) and when he called he says, "Pop Pop, I peepee in the potty! You bring me present?" LOL He told him he'd give him some corn from the garden :)

Somebody pinch me. I really thought this was going to be dreadful, but it has gone so smooth overall! Sure hope this continues!

Way to go Mase!

Mondays

When I woke up this morning it looked like my house had exploded. I am happy to report that it is 9:52A and it is only looking 1/4 exploded now. Mondays can be so crazy sometimes. Hence why I plan to start potty training on a Tuesday. As in, tomorrow Tuesday. Wish us luck!

Motherhood

Just thinking about Motherhood today... I read this great blog post via a friend on Facebook.

I love my children. Even on crazy days (when I joke about selling them... ;). It is my honor to be their mother and take on this calling. And I am so, so grateful for my Mom.

"There is nothing more important in this world..." - Elder Holland

Kitchen Reveal: biting the bullet

This is it! Even though there are a bunch of things left to do (paint the window, decorate the dining wall, some pieces of trim installed...etc etc etc), it is time. Here is the before and current-after of our kitchen/dining area. I love it!

Before:

After:

cabinets washed, sanded, removed, painted (thank you for your help Brother & Sister Rowe!). new hardware. new light fixtures (thanks for the help Dad Spann!). new microwave (thanks for the help Joel!). some wood removed. scrubbed (thank you Linda & Lovie!). some new plumbing. new crown molding (thank you Uncle Don!). new pantry door, new finish. patched walls & ceiling, painted ceilings (thanks Dad!), painted walls. new awesome baker's rack (thanks Gram!), new wall-word (thanks Mom!). There is a lot of love in this kitchen! Thank you everyone!

Happy Fourth of July!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are proud to be Americans and to live in this great country! May God continue to bless America and may we live our lives that we honor those who have fought for our freedom!

We spent our day with family - the best way to spend it! My brother Joel & his fam came up for the weekend and we've had so much fun! Mason also spent the morning with Matt's family - including some time digging potatoes :) He was thrilled, "we pick tatoes!!"

I was a terrible picture taker - but here are a couple shots from the firework watching crew. We went to the Charlotte Ballpark to watch their first ever fireworks show - and WOW, they were fantastic! Almost 30 minutes and a really great display! And 2 minutes from our house! Can't beat that! :)

Hope you had a wonderful holiday!