J.D. GRADUATED!!

I'm so proud of my hunners! He worked so hard, sacrificed so much, and worked the entire time while going to school. We went through our share of hardships while he was going to school as well. I couldn't be a more proud wife. He was so excited to be done with undergraduate schooling. He felt so proud when he had so much family come to support his achievement. We had a big group and it was so awesome to have them all cheer J.D. on when his name was called. This is such a huge accomplishment, I can't say enough about how proud I am of J.D.
WAY TO GO HUNNERS!

Here is J.D. in the SUU march for graduation!
J.D. is receiving his diploma from President Benson!
And here is the graduate himself! A very handsome one at that!
This was the night of the big graduation.
The night of the big graduation with Dawson. They didn't receive diplomas this night, but Dawson was still so excited to see his dad walk up to him all dressed up.

Here's J.D. waiting for his name to be called :-)

Dawson was so excited for his daddy! He couldn't get enough of his hat. Dawson felt like he'd graduated as well!

Dawson said, "Good job dad!" with a thumbs up!

This is after the small graduation Saturday May 7th, 2011. We are a proud family! And Dawson is still feeling like he is the one who graduated.
To Dawson: You're right, dad got his education and graduated not only for himself, but for his family. I hope you follow in his footsteps.

J.D. and his parents. They were so proud of him! J.D. has such great examples in his life, and I am honored to have married into such an amazing family.

Here is all the people that were able to make it! It was so AWESOME! Thank you everyone for coming- it really meant so much to us, especially J.D. Nothing can replace the family support for anything.

Once again, thank you to all the family who traveled so far to be here for J.D. It was so much fun to see you! I'm so proud of J.D. and hope I can graduate one day so I can set just as good of an example to our kids as he has.

More of J.D.'s Ankle

Yep...it is now a really colorful ankle! Isn't it pretty? lol! I keep having to tell my super tough hunners to stay on the crutches like he's supposed to until the end of the week...is he listening to me, absolutely NOT! lol! He says it's too hard to get things done with the crutches, so he is limping all around. He will say it doesn't hurt, but of course it's not going to hurt when you're on Lora-tab and strong Motrin pills.

These pics are taken over the last 2 days and you can see how it's gradually gotten worse since the last post. This first pic is to show you in 3 hours how much swelling there is compared to his other foot.

*side note: To my brother the podiatrist- I hope you love these pics! We wish you would have been the one to take care of 'Coco.'

J.D. is hating that he can't walk normal, but has been such a toughy about all of it. He honestly hasn't complained once. He works with such great guys, they've been so chill about helping him get things done before he leaves.

And of course our sweet Dawson. He saw me grab the camera and asked if I'd take a picture of him. So here it is!

Afterward he said, "THANK YOU MOMMY! THANK YOU MUCH!"
He is turning into the most polite little boy. I just can't tell him enough how much we love him.

Anything else coming our way?

Last week J.D. left to school and it seemed like a normal average day. While studying, one of our good friends found him and asked to speak to him outside. ... J.D. is thinking, "Oh no. Have I done something? Is their apartment okay?" This couple, well we have known them since before J.D. and I got married. The next thing they said to him was, "We accidentally ran into your truck."

Yep, they really did. IT IS THE SADDEST THING! They are such good friends! The last thing we want is for their insurance to go up and add more burdens to their lives. We hate having to deal with anything 'money' with friendships. It's been such a difficult situation, but the truck is in the shop for this whole week and J.D. is driving a rental.

You would think- okay that doesn't sound that bad getting to drive a basically brand new truck for a week...well he might not being doing so much driving..

This is J.D.'s ankle... and yes it happened the day he got the new truck to drive..
It's gross I know.

It's definitely a lot worse in person. Don't worry- it isn't a break, just a sprain. If you want to know how he did it, just call him. However, after it happened was funny on my end. He was working with our good friend Andy when it happened. J.D. called me and said, "Hey, I think I broke my ankle...so Andy is driving me to the hospital. Can you check our insurance to see what it covers?"
My answer, "Now wait, what? You broke your ankle? haha (yes I laughed). You guys are joking. Where are you really?"
J.D. -"I'm really not kidding.."
Me- "It's you and Andy, I know you are kidding."
J.D.-"Hun! I'm serious. Just check our insurance please."
So I check it, and tell him to just go to insta care and come get the insurance card. I really wasn't panicky at all. He picked up the insurance card and I told Andy to just hold J.D.'s hand. lol!

Walking back to the house, Andy's wife and another friend were getting ready to go on a walk. I stopped to talk and told them the story. They immediately offered to watch Dawson while I went to the Insta Care. I was hesitant because J.D. is a big boy, he can handle it...however, I decided I should go. So a HUGE THANK YOU to Kenzie and Kylee for watching Dawson while I went.
I got back and Dawson was just having a blast playing with Kenzie and baby Tatum. It's so nice to know that your child is in good hands when you leave, and a huge blessing to have such amazing friends you can trust.

J.D. is now back at work..he figured he should finish things up for the day.
Now, I just have to wonder if anything else is coming our way that I should prepare for....J.D. is supposed to 'walk' in the graduation ceremony (which he is still doing and should be able to limp through it), he is also leaving Monday for 6 weeks while I stay here...we're hoping the truck is done too...lol! Like my last post, we just laughed through this experience!

Slammed

After a week of being a mom, I had a call this morning with my advisor for school. We had to set up my new term of classes and schedule. After that phone call I just felt completely slammed with a brick of information and things to do. It actually feels like one of those balls that knock down buildings...that would be more like this feeling of being slammed. haha! Starting to see the picture?

With that visual in your mind, I really don't think I need to explain anything else. haha! Seriously. My busy life is back and oh how I just want to cry and quit. I always tell my mom how I think my life would be so much fun without school. I then go on a rant about how much stress would be lifted off my shoulders. My mother's reply is, "It doesn't get easier. The stress just comes in a different form." As of now, I don't believe her... that's usually how it goes though. I don't believe her, then when school is over I'm sure I'll eat my words.

I had a certain someone tell me that she had a conversation with another someone. They discussed 'how I was doing,' because they had learned a lot of new information about our life and didn't realize everything that had taken place. Then they discussed how they didn't really know how I was doing because I was always smiling and laughing. Now, the certain someone told me this conversation they'd had and then just commented on how well I hide the negative. It really made me think about this.

I had a moment before back in November... I was at an enrichment night and we were all playing a game. I ended up getting the ball passed to me and my question was, "What do you want to be remembered for?" My answer without thinking was, "Laughter."

Back to the beginning of this post I explained being 'slammed.' About an hour after being hit, I had these moments sneak their way to my thinking from my memory. I really do want to be remembered for happiness, laughter and smiling. Laughter really does make everything go away. When J.D. and I get in an argument, it is so hard not to hold a mad face and start laughing. It really is the funniest thing! So I am happy that I felt bulldozed today. If I just laugh at my stress and keep working hard, I know life will feel easier and more pleasant. I would hate to look back and say I didn't laugh enough.

Pics to go with our latest posts

We got a jogging stroller! J.D. got this for me for Mother's Day and it arrived today. Dawson LOVES it! It had speakers for my ipod built into the stroller!! I can go on and on about the features, but I am stoked! Thank you hunners!

Another stroller shot! Dawson loves it the most that one speaker is right next to where his head is and he gets to recline and feel the wind in his face..or his feet ..


CHEESE! Dawson will often bring the camera to me and say, "picture of Dawson please mommy." I love it and as you can see he loves it too!

Here is the craft that I made thanks to my friend Jessica and her mom. You guys are awesome! I had so much fun at this craft night Jessica threw together. Her mom is amazing with crafts. This middle block will say 'Grand Children.' This is one Christmas gift down, lots more to go. haha! But it's only April and I have time to make the rest right??? :-)

AND here is my transformation...please remember that I tried to loose the baby weight for 2 years...I would shed a pound here and a pound there, but it was impossible no matter what I did to keep it off. When Dawson turned 2...some weight just naturally came off without doing anything...and then in January I really started working on it.

This is 3 months after Dawson was born. I had been working out for about 2 months straight in this pic and NOTHING! NO RESULTS! Talk about depression...
You might have to click on the pic so the the rippling rolls...it starts with my boobs (which were so saggy...), then my love handles, and then the hips and thighs...gross. I'm glad I have this pic to remember what I don't want again. haha!

And then...here I am today...
Drum roll.... here it is! 7 pounds from my goal weight and I feel so good about my transformation! Yes...my boobs are much smaller, but at least they don't sag as much! :-)

I changed shirts because black is always thinning. I wanted to have proof that it's not the color black! I really have done so good! NO RIPPLES of fat!

For the record, I have been wearing one pair of my high school jeans! They were my fat jeans in high school, but hey- I can't complain.

I hope this motivates my future girls that I may have that it is possible and there is hope. Babies are worth it. I hope this next time around I will not get so sick and be able to keep working out and not have so much to loose afterward.

Now I just want to take a bit of space to write about how hard it is to loose weight with a husband who is so kind and nice about loving me for me. I wouldn't change him for a husband who complains about my weight, but it is hard to stay motivated. lol! J.D. is truly the most amazing husband. I can't get enough of spending time with him. Some days I feel like a newly wed because I just want to see him all day long and be clingy. haha! Thank you hunners for loving me and for the jogging stroller!

Go Mom!

First, I really hope one day if I ever have little girls that they get my sister's skinny genes, or the stevens' girl genes of being thin all the time. It's been 2 years and 8 months since I had Dawson. When Dawson turned 2 all of the sudden I lost weight and I wasn't even exercising! I basically still weighed about the same when I did have Dawson. January rolled around and yes I set a New Year's Goal of getting down to 135 and I had to be there by June 4th. I figured it wasn't my high school weight...but it was a reality goal for me. Also, I refuse to get pregnant again until I'm at my goal weight. I am happy to announce I am 7 pounds from my goal weight with 1 month to go! I can't explain how good I feel about myself. When June 4th comes then I will reveal how much I've lost, but for now I have 7 more pounds to go.

For my future daughters if I ever have any, I'm sorry if you get my genes and it takes years to get baby weight off. It's very depressing, but after 2 years with a husband who loves you and encourages you to just keep going, it does come off. :-) My advice- if you have strength to exercise during pregnancy then do it! Exercise before and after and eat HEALTHY! I was told by WIC to eat anything that will help me gain weight (because I had lost so much from being so sick). That was terrible advice! I didn't do it, but i also didn't watch myself. I am going to keep exercising and eating healthy. Then keep doing it during pregnancy- I will let you know the results and hopefully they are different. haha!

NEXT "Go Mom' moment, I have finished another semester! What a relief! I have one week before another semester starts and I have: baked bread, made chocolate strawberries, made and stocked our freezer jam storage, made a craft for my mother in law for christmas (she doesn't read this so I will post pics of it on my next post), cleaned, re-arranged, and organized my entire house, read a book, and spent lots of quality time with Dawson. My husband has commented on how happy I've been...well it's because for one week I get to do the things that I want to do as a mom. I get to be a real mom for one week and I am going all out! haha! In 2 years, I will get to do this stuff all the time and I don't want to take it for granted. I have loved every minute of motherhood and I still have 3 days left!

I always get so depressed during school time because I have to do homework and I neglect Dawson, cooking, and cleaning. Motherly things seem like chores instead of having joy in them like it should be. I'm almost there and when it's done I know I will say "It was worth it." I'm glad I can do it now and then be able to give my full attention to my children to come, and to Dawson as he starts to remember things forever.

Pictures to come on the next post I promise!

Little Cowboy

I have been needing to print off new pics of our family and Dawson. I still have his 1 year old pics up and he's turning 3 in a couple months...I'm horrible. I have finally picked out the ones I want, and photo shopped them a little. I'm SO excited. Some of these you may have seen before I've fixed them up. I don't do a lot, but I just love how they turned out. It's easy when you have the cutest little boy, you don't have to do a lot of fixing up :-) I loved seeing him watch little waves and stare out into the water. He can't get enough of water- EVER! He loves the water!

This is my favorite. I'm probably going to get a big one of this and hang it up in our living room. I have a silhouette of J.D. and Daws on a horses that I'm going to put in Dawson's cowboy room.

This is my little Cowboy.

My updates for our family... well on May 7th Dawson and I will say goodbye to J.D. for 6 weeks! We can drive up north anytime to see him, but it's still going to be long weeks without a daddy around. We are kind of living life day by day right now. We have plans, but we have to wait things out to know if the plans are going to fall through. It's kind of fun not knowing what we are doing, but possibly could be doing, and what we will do between now and then. haha! We honestly just keep smiling through everything! J.D. graduates May 6th- which we are so PROUD of him. He has worked so hard with his degree and dental pre-requisites. He is very excited to have a degree to show for all his hard work.
My 2nd semester ends April 30th...two more years. For me, it's all a countdown and 2 years doesn't seem like a long time when you look at all the things going on in our lives the next year. I love the end of a semester, it feels like such an accomplishment. I'm proud of myself because I have seen my potential with my calling, school, a 2 year old, and all the other family things we've been going through. I get stressed out and depressed, but when i get to the end of a semester I realize how much I can do and deal with emotionally and physically.
Dawson is growing up so much! I feel like he's an adult with the things he says to us. He is becoming pretty good at driving too :-) He has slept through the night more nights than not the past month. He loves to exercise with his mom and dad. Really-he gets his bball shorts, no shirt, and shoes. He has learned how to do crunches and push ups (he can't quite get these yet). He loves to play with us whether its baseball, kicking a ball around, pillow fights, or dancing. He has learned the color blue, red, and the shape circle. He loves to go to church, see family, and play with his best friend Andi. I wish everyone could see how excited Dawson and Andi get when they see each other. They truly are best friends! Dawson is now wearing 4t and is growing like a weed. He still has 2 molars that need to come in, but I think they are on their way.

That's all until next time! :-)