Confessions

Dearest blogging world I promise I haven't forgotten you I've just been.. well.. slightly.. preoccupied! With what you might ask?

Diapers...

Baby Food...

Toys...

Homework...

Crafty things...

oh and Diapers... (but wait I already said that one)

I realized today that I'm kind of a weirdy.. :) while visiting teaching I got to meet with some pretty amazing ladies.. :) everyone is so different and unique. In talking to these girls I got to thinking about the random and really weird things that I do and say.

Confession #1:

I obsessed with tweeny bop bands... LIKE

These guys

oh and these ladies

and sometimes even this guy

Confession #2:

I sometimes pretend I make it on the ellen show. For doing what? I have no idea. Maybe for changing a diaper within a one minute time frame because lets be honest that is hard. (especially with a 10 month old who thinks it's fun to crawl away as fast as possible, while trailing whatever kind of diaper it was after her.) I've even written down what I would say if I was a guest. It goes something along the lines of this ->

Me: "Oh hey Ellen!" 

Ellen: "Well hey Madison, you are so funny and smart and I admire you so much... yada yada etc."

Me: "Ellen we should totally be best friends and hang out everyday!"

Thats about as far as I've gotten in my day dream but hey it's a start.

Confession #3:

I am DEATHLY afraid of mascots. Terrified beyond belief. I don't have a clue when it started or why it started but I can't help it. I'm pretty sure I have a sixth sense or something because I can sense when a mascot is near. It's horrible because people really don't understand it and think I'm totally kidding. But I'm not... :(

Confession #4:

I have my zombie apocalypse plan all figured out. And I'm pretty sure it's a great plan. I'm going to live in a billboard. Not the thin ones that stand on four poles. The ones that are shaped like an L and only have one pole. The one pole thing is a must because it's then only point of entrance i have to worry about. In living in the L shaped billboard I could put down a floor of some sort and bring up a bed some dressers and make a roof too. :) AND I will be above the zombies and hopefully have enough stored away that I will never have to come down. If you want to partake in the plan you need to have something valuable to add. 

Confession #5:

I'm kind of a Sudoku freak. I have it on my phone, my mom's iPad, our computer and a 1000 puzzle book on my bookshelf. The only way I can fall asleep if I'm not tired is by playing Sudoku and sometimes this keeps me up till 1 or 2 in the morning. I can't put it down until I've finished it too. It will drive me nuts and I will accomplish more if i just finish it and don't have to worry about coming back to it later.

And lastly Confession #6:

I drank a cup of hot chocolate every night, winter, summer, fall, spring, till i was about 20 and now I can only drink it in the winter. It's divine! I love it. Sad day though because Wal Mart and Smiths got rid of the milk mixed one and now I've resorted to the bland water mix kind that I have to add about 2 cups of sugar in to make it yummy enough.

Feel free to make me feel not so weird and leave your own confession! :)

Forget me not

It's ok, I just totally lost my password for the blog account and have been trying to remember for days now! So much is happening and life does not slow down for a second. 

This cute girl went on her mission to Des Moines, Iowa:

And we miss her terrible already!! :) 

This good lookin' kid left on his mission to Fukuoku, Japan:

Isn't he a cutie?

We went to Lake Powell!

This little girl loved it, almost as much as she loved eating a mouthful of sand.

We got these lovelies back.

All thanks to this lady! Seriously guys, she is amazing!

We celebrated this special man's birthday!! :) He's the ripe old age of 26 now!

I actually threw him a surprise party but what was more exciting than the surprise party was that I actually kept it a surprise for 2 weeks. Go me!

These guys

KILLED/BEAT/DESTROYED (you choose) these guys

Not that I actually care about the rivalry, but it's fun to get people a little riled up. :)

And now our house looks like this...

because the little is getting too big for her 9 month clothes.. *sniff

Happy Tuesday!!! :O

I'm BACK!

Wow, it's only been like weeks since I've blogged. Who would have ever thought having a hubby in school and a baby who never sleeps could be so time consuming! We're trying to figure out a schedule in this crazy thing we have going on called life.

Here's what you've missed:

Jonny: Started school and is insanely busy ALL the freakin' time. Boo! Still working for apple but hopefully getting signed up for some internships here in the near future so we can figure out where we'll be going next summer. He still golfs whenever he can and has recently gotten into the habit of rubbing my feet once a day, (ok not but a girl can dream right?)

Me: Still working at CertiFit as a receptionist. I talk on the phone all day so it really can't get much better than that. I had originally tried to take 2 classes this semester but realized that would be crazy so i'm currently just taking English 2010. It's.... horrible. The people are great and sometimes the teacher but who actually likes to write papers for fun?

Little Miss Ashtyn: She  crawls EVERYWHERE! She just learned how to pull herself up on things and likes the bookshelf, side of the tub and coffee table the most. Because she has now learned to climb up on everything she has bruises all over her poor face. We try and get her to the park at least three times a week so she can play and get all that energy that she has stored up, out. She loves trying to climb up the slide but doesn't quite understand that it doesn't work that way. She is 9 months now :(

Speaking of little miss and her bruises, today I felt like mother of the year! yep she ended the day with two more bruises than before BUT I promise it wasn't my fault... well technically.

Bruise Numero Uno:

Like I said before little miss likes to pull herself up on everything! couches with pointy edges, tables with pointy edges, the bed with pointy edges, basically just everything with pointy edges. Naturally her most favorite pointy object is our new bookshelf (ikea). She loves to pull herself up and pull out all the books. I was doing dishes and had set her on the floor. (My mother would be so proud, dishes done before dishwasher? WHAT?) Anyway, I hear a huge thud and then Ashtyn let out a pretty loud banshee shriek, so I ran over and she was laying face up with her poor little head halfway on the bookshelf and on the floor. So the little bruise appeared on her face about an hour later. NICE JOB ME!

Bruise Number Dos:

If any of you who are reading this and are mothers, you know that peeing alone doesn't happen once you have a mover. Instead of letting Ashtyn hurt herself in every other room in the house I decided to just bring her in the bathroom with me. Bad idea. So I bring her in and of course she pulls herself right up on the tub and instead of stopping at that she does a face dive straight into the tub. It looked pretty good until she landed on her poor little nose. So she cried some more, I cried a little and then we went and got a milkshake to make us both feel better.

Sorry sis hopefully soon we will get the hang of this whole you crawling thing...

Until next time... :)

The School House

I love school! I love being busy, I love having homework, and I love that weird new textbook smell, call me a nerd but it's true. The one and ONLY thing I hate about school is that "know it all", "thinks their funny", "I'm going to be loud as to attract the opposite sex" person. Every semester without fail there has been at least one in my classes. This semester is obviously no exception. Also side note SLCC  Library Square campus SUCKS.

So back to that "know it all" child who attends school with me... I walk into class and because I'm so nerdy I usually end up being the first one in class.As the class begins to fill up I realize there is all kinds of different people. (seriously SLCC is DIVERSE to say the least.) About ten minutes after my teacher has started his lecture, this lerpy fellow waltz's in and this the conversation that follows:

Him: Hey is this English 2010?

Teacher: Yes and your name is?

Him: Well you see, i'm actually in your 8:30 class Mon-Fri so you should know who I am...

Teacher: Well I am teaching four classes right now and since it IS the first day of classes, I'm gonna need to know your name

Him: Ya so I don't think i'm going to be able to take your 8:30 class anymore because my girlfriend is a stripper and she has the car most nights because she gets off super early in the morning, if you know what I mean, is there another class that I could take with you instead or how can we work this out..

Me: 

So pretty much our teacher continues on with his lecture at this point because lerpy fella is not going to shut up. Ten minutes after that our teacher starts talking about our papers and how we don't want to hurt anyone is our classes feelings and lerpy guy interjects with this great saying:

Him: So what your saying is that if someone tells me my paper is bad that I could like fight them or something...

Guys I'm not making this up this kid was PSYCHO! 

Him continued: Because I was picked on in elementary school because I couldn't write very well and my teacher back then said that you should always stick up for yourself and that you can do that by any means necessary!

Our entire class was speechless at this point and the teacher said:

Teacher: Well... I'm done for today so I will see you all on monday... Except for you! (finger pointed at the lerpy kid.)

Every class has that "know it all" person but I'm pretty sure this kid is at the top of being the weirdest and craziest dude I have ever taken a class with..

Well that's all for now!

Happy Fall Semester Everyone :P

So I haven't posted for a while...

I swear, once one has a child time just flies by. The hubs and I are trying to keep up with school, work, finals, and of course Ashtonian. She is a HANDFUL to say the least. The last couple of weeks have also been so busy. Every saturday (our only day off) has been taken up by family reunions or weddings. :)

Erickson Family Reunion!

This one was a blast! Jonny's mom has 7 brothers and sisters who are all spread out over the country and even into Canada. 6 of the 8 families were there and it was so fun. We learned new words from the siblings in Canada like; Eh, Ba-ag, and Bat-tree. My father-in-law even decided to start a water fight. Super fun! There was good food and some awesome volleyball skills (there will be no pictures of this due to the fact that I'm insanely good and do not want to make anyone jealous ;) ). Our family wore matching shirts that showed are nerdy side and had Dr. Who pictures. We ended the day with a good ol trip to cherry hill and some canadian chocolate, YUM!

Sandin Family Reunion!

I've been pretty lucky to be super close with this side of our family all growing up so there wasn't really anyone new to meet besides the millions of babies that were there. Seriously the children under 5 out numbered everyone else at least 5 to 1. There was volleyball and kickball, food and bouncy houses. We even had a silent auction that my mom made me in charge of the night before. THANKS MOM! Were hicks so we also had fun photo booths and a pony ride for the "kids." 

WEDDINGS!!!

This girl and her cute man got married today!!! :) We were lucky enough to get invited to the temple ceremony and the reception and they were both amazing and a little tear jerker-y. They are so in love and are so meant for each other. Love you guys!!! :)

Well that about catches us up on a life of lately. Happy weekend everyone!

Dear Ashtyn

My baby is almost 8 months old! :( It seems like yesterday she was newborn and last week we were just finding out she was a little bean in my tummy. 

I guess thinking about that today made me a little sentimental and got me thinking about giving her advice now instead of when i'm 45 and she's thinking "Mom, there is no possible way you were actually my age once..."

So here it goes...

Dear Ashtyn,

Here are some little lessons in life that will hopefully make your maturing years a little easier than having to learn about them on your own.

1. High school boys will ALWAYS be dumb. Yes they mature eventually...some don't but thats another story. They will flirt with you and then probably have a new conquest the next day. This isn't because you're not good enough, or pretty enough, or even skinny enough, this is just because they are boys and don't know what they want yet.

2. Spray tanning does not look natural. I don't know if it's even possible to get the right shade. You WILL look like a traffic cone and you will get laughed at, but mostly by me. (follow this rule especially in the winter, enjoy the whiteness including your own.)

3. Never, I repeat NEVER wear white pants during "that time of the month." EVER!!! It will never end well and if does it's because you decided to wear diapers. Also make sure to ALWAYS bring extra pants during that period of time. (haha get it?!) Lastly, never sit on anyones lap during the 3-5 days. I don't feel the need to explain that one.

4. Sweatpants and makeup don't go together. Whenever I see this, i'm always confused. Were you rushed and forgot to get dressed after putting on makeup? Or maybe a ninja stole your clothes while you were getting ready? Who knows, the second one sounds more reasonable to me. Wear one or the other. Yes i'm guilty of this and that is why i'm telling you now it's a big no no. Although ponytails and sweats do go much better together.

5. Movies LIE!!! First kisses are not romantic. Your leg wont automatically rise, and it doesn't start to magically rain either. I expected both and was totally let down. First kisses are in fact awkward and in my opinion terrible. This does not mean you are allowed to just keeping kissing boys till you get it right. Just expect that your first kiss might end up making you feel like this.

 6. Truth or dare always ends badly. Either you've said way too much OR you've gone and done something not only stupid but RIDICULOUS. I'm not proud to admit this but during one of these fun truth or dare seshes I accidentally ended up mooning my poor mother when she drove past us on the freeway. (insert long, awkward, embarrassing pause here.)

7. Gossip=drama. Gossip is not nice, it's not cool, and it's not fun. I'm sure that more than once in your high school years people will gossip to you and about you. It's mean and it's not worth it. Save yourself the drama and tears and just don't do it!

Well thats what i've got so far, I'm sure the longer I think about the more advice I could give. Until next time bubby. I love you!

Love, 

Mom

Mirrors

Having a baby as taught me a lot, especially as she grows, and the things she learns to love and do.

The hubby works at six so when I get up the morning to get ready for work I put Ashtyn on the floor by me so she can look in the mirror. I noticed how happy she was, looking at herself in the mirror, she was laughing and smiling, and I thought to myself, “Man, I wish that was my reaction when I look in the mirror.” Instead I judge and think of how I wish I could look a different way.

Maybe if my eyebrows could just be a little thinner and not so unibrow’y

Maybe if my nose wasn’t so large and in charge

Maybe if my face wasn’t as chubby as the Michelin mans.

Maybe if one of my eyes wasn’t saggier than the other

The list could go on and on…

After thinking that it made me sad. Ashtyn may be a baby and doesn’t quite care or know to care what others may think, but seeing herself made her happy.

I don’t know exactly when looking in the mirror became so depressing but I think it hurt so much more realizing that it has been for a while now.

It’s funny that as a society we care so much about how we look or how others view us. We would rather have someone judge us based on our appearance over how we are as people. We make friends based on how “good looking” they are not by how they treat us. Or maybe high school mentality has finally become the “super senior” in the world. Never growing up and realizing what’s actually important in life.

Models and actors/actresses aren’t perfect although we’d like to think so (I think they might too.) They have fat and wrinkles and uneven body parts. Some are even famous because of their strange looks.

In high school there was a kid who was blind. He was my friend and used to tell me about all the girls that he thought were hot and sexy. That was always funny to me because he couldn’t see them. Was I missing something? The girls he described were not what I would call hot and sexy. One day I asked him how he judged girls… His answer was pretty simple. He said, “By how they talk to me and what they say about others.” HUH!?!? This is not what I was expecting from a “typical guy.”

Obviously then his answer seemed stupid and pointless so I forgot about it.

Now that I have my own daughter, this “typical guy” answer makes me hopeful, not just for my own daughter but other girls as well.

Good looks end with time, although Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Lopez will always be lucky and be gorgeous.

Impressions, friends and memories of others and yourself last, lets just say a lifetime.

A wise woman named Abeline once said “You is kind, you is smart, you is important.” 

Babies, Babies, BABIES

I have a serious problem. I think it all started when I got married. I would see all these super cute babies at the mall, at the grocery store, at school, at church, at... ok you get the point. 

They were EVERYWHERE!

I kept telling the hub that we should have one. And his forever no changing answer was... surprisingly NO. 

Two months after we got married, I had just gotten back from a trip to Las Vegas. The entire time I was down there I was sick as a dog, (has anyone ever really thought that phrase out, it makes no sense) and just thought I was super carsick. 

Surprise! It was not car sickness but actually a little bean growing in my belly.

To make 9 months into a short story. 8 1/2 months later our sweet little Ashtyn graced us with her presence.

Now fast forward 7 months to present time. My little Ashtyn is not little anymore. She sits up and rolls everywhere and has two little teeth that she likes to use alot. Now I realize to some reading that she may still seem little because she can't walk or talk or even eat on her own. But my "baby" is no more. She is a mini human as we like to call her. A little being with an amazingly happy demeanor. 

Every time I see a newborn my whole body aches to be pregnant again. Why? I have no clue. I did not enjoy being pregnant the first time. 

I can't help it. 

Maybe it's the snuggly, cuddly phase babies go through when their tiny...

Or the fact that their clothes are doll size...

Or maybe it's that they sleep all the time...

I don't know, all I know is I want one bad! 

Is there a cure? 

YES!

Let me be around a newborn for a couple hours and it cures me right up! My brain lies to me and tells me how fun Ashtyn was as a newborn. Once I'm around the newborn phase again, I come back to the reality of how it really was.

No sleep

Lots of crying (from both Ashtyn and I)

Poop everywhere

Feeding schedules... nonexistent

Newborns are fun don't get me wrong. But then I remember that Ashtyn is growing and instead of being stuck in this never ending state of sleep, poop, eat, sleep. I get to see her grow and change and learn. 

I still feel that little ache whenever I see a newborn but the more I'm around it, the more I realize how lucky I am to get to enjoy watching my little human grow.

 It's definately not easy, especially when she throws temper tantrums or spits all her food out, but after we laugh and cuddle and play, it erases all the hard learning experiences we've had to go through together.

Mothers/Aunts/Grandma's never said it would be easy, but it is most definitely worth it.

Random Wednesdays

Due to the fact that I rarely blog about anything of actual importance, heck I rarely blog at all, I decided I would give myself a day that I had to blog so that those who follow me.. (1 person currently YEAH!!) can see what nonsense we have been up to. (we being the Oliver's.)

This day is now called Random Wednesday's, hence the post title. :) As I have dived more into the blogging world, I've realized lots of people talk about themselves, ALOT. Not just like what they did that day or what they ate (this is not Facebook people), but actually personal deets about themselves. So in honor of E Blogger I will now try and keep up with other blogging fanatics and join the all to personal bandwagon.

Since I have nothing random to say, I thought I would just get all my weird quirks out of the way first.

Random Facts:

1. I was born 8 days before Christmas. Most people think this is super awesome, I however tend to think of it as a day that people tend to forget or mush together with Christmas. (ex: Left shoe for my birthday, Right shoe for Christmas) Ok that has actually never happened to me, but you get the jest. 

2. I can touch my tongue to my nose. Kinda gross, I realize no one actually cares but hey when people ask to see a talent, I just whip out the old "tongue touch to the nose" trick. Works every time.

3. I can count from 1 to 10 in french. My high school French teacher would be so proud since I was usually tardy or just didn't show up. It also helped me get an in with my father-in-law. (he served his LDS mission in France/Belgium.)

4. My all time favorite snack food is... Peanut Butter and Pickle sandwiches. It has to be creamy peanut butter or it just throws the balance of crunchy and smooth off. People think that this came from being pregnant but sadly no, I liked weird food before.

5. I have this horribly, awful habit of hearing a song on the radio, really REALLY liking it, and then listening to it over and over again until I hate it. I have tried to stop but I can't. (Hi, my name is Madison, and I am a compulsive song repeater.)

6. Everyone has that weird, random collection. I happen to have that weird, random postcard collection. It's actually not to weird but I have a whole box full of them. My farthest is from Iraq.

7. My left pinky finger is significantly shorter than my right pinky finger. I wasn't born a weird mutant person with special pinky powers. I just jammed it playing tetherball years ago and it never quite healed the same way.

8. I LOVE GREEN SKITTLES. Ya know the lime ones, not those nasty green apple ones they just changed to. The original green skittle. So yummy.

9. I like to  nest. Again, I didn't just learn this when I was pregnant, I am weird and did it before. Ex: Before watching a movie I get like 5 pillows and cram them around me. Sorry hubby no cuddling for you tonight.

10. I'm a huge lover of reading. I love mysteries, romance (not the icky stuff), pretty much anything. If you can't find me or get a hold of me it's probably because i'm hiding and reading a good book.

Well thats all for today folks, hopefully I can keep up with this Random Wednesdays :) Happy "hump" day everyone!

Today is Tuesday, Not Wednesday

Have you ever thought that a day was another day when actually it wasn't and then find out in the middle of the day after saying happy "hump" day all morning? Well this girl sure did. For some reason my brain wanted today to be Wednesday... No idea why, wednesday isn't really any different than tuesday... Maybe it was the fact that I don't work on Wednesday's but then again I was at work all day so I don't know why I thought it was Wednesday. 

I was informed of it being wednesday after one of my oh so favorite managers Scott (in LA) said I ruined his day. You see, Scott is quitting because he decided that going back to school was WAY cooler than working for our awesome company. LAME! (The U is way cooler than BYU) After finding out he was quitting about a month ago I have been giving him a hard time about how many days he has left. 

So here is how our conversation went today...

Scott: Well hello Madison..

Me: Hello Scott! Guess WHAT!?!?!?

Scott: What?

Me: Today is your last day of work! YAHOO! (seriously, I shouted through the phone.)

Scott: ...

Me: Aren't you excited!! No more CertiFit for you

Scott: Madison, tomorrow is my last day of work...

Me: I thought your last day was Wednesday

(Awkward 10 minute long silence... ok really only 10 seconds, if that.)

Scott: Madison, today is Tuesday...

Me: (silently crying to myself) OH....

Scott: Way to ruin my day

And that is how I found out today was Tuesday instead of Wednesday. 

On a slightly better note, I got to hang out with one of my super awesome, super good looking cousins/best friends Miss Courtney. Man I sure love this girl. We used to be awesome roommates and she'll probably saying it was a little more trying on her part, (i have a huge issue with doing dishes.) But it was definitely a blessing for me! :) LOVE YOU LADY!!!!

Isn't she gorgeous!?

As of Lately...

Well hello there again blogging world... I'm about as good at blogging as I am at Journal writing, (that even includes Ashtyn's.) We really haven't been that much busier just being a little more lazy. 

Jonny's shenanigans include:

• Working his new awesome/not so awesome shifts for apple. He now works from 6 am to 3 pm. We can't decide if this is good or bad thing yet. Good because he gets ton earlier which means pool or date time. Bad because he's quite onery now and doesn't like movie nights anymore. BUMMER.
• Taking a class a SLCC. Jonny just switched his major again for the LAST time. He now wants to major in chemical engineering. We're pretty excited that he is stuck on one thing now and hopefully will not being changing anytime soon. He thinks it's fun to be freshman all over again, I however do not.
• Golf... Golf... and more Golf! He loves golfing. He loves watching golf. He loves going to golf stores. He just loves it period. His wonderfully, amazing, awesome brother (cue drips of sarcasm ;) just kidding sheven,) got him into this fun sport. So that takes up lots of his time, but don't worry Ashtyn and him have lots of fun golf dates. :) He says he's just trying to start her young... right...
• And of course being the most amazing dad ever. I didn't know if was possible to fall more in love with my sweetheart.. but once we had Ashtyn, I was so blessed to see a totally different side of him. Ashtyn is already a daddy's girl which is bittersweet. (I keep telling myself that she will love me more. :) )

Madison's shenanigans include:

• WORKING! I just started part time which is both amazing and not so much. We got really lucky because I go part time with another girl who is awesome! (shout out to miss kels here.) (Also shout out to our no longer managers Brad and Derek and to our almost gone manager Scott.) Work is fun, I talk on the phone all day so I can't really complain.
• School? I'm currently taking two classes this semester. Religious Diversity and ZUMBA. Man I love me some Zumba. I have never sweat so hard in my life until that first day. It also helps that our Zumba teacher is seriously the bomb. She can dance for like 45 minutes straight and pumps everyone else up on top of that. I can barely breathe while dancing and poor souls who eyes have to see this girl shake her white girl booty.
• Being a full time mother/wife. Ashtyn is definitely keeping me on my toes. We are in the process of learning what kinds of foods she does and doesn't like. She spits it out if she doesn't. And who knew that keeping a house clean with only a husband and child could be so often and time consuming. I now know I have turned into my mother because as soon as something is done being in use I scramble to put it away right then and there. (This has started to drive the hubs a little crazy.)

Ashtyn's shenanigans include:
-Sitting Up
-Rolling Over
-Sleeping all night
-Teething
-Blowing spit bubbles
-Talking ALOT

Pretty much being a six month old. Man the time has flown by! I miss my little newborn but am excited to see her grow and be the adorable young woman she is going to be. She has got the cutest little personality and loves being the center of attention. It's not just one persons' attention she wants, it's everyone in the rooms' attention. Good luck me!

Ashtyn at the pool! :)

New Apartment

Well as you all know we recently moved into our spacious new apartment and so far we love it!!! :) Here is a little tour of our fun little home :)

Living Room/Kitchen

Ashtyn's room (work in progress)

Kitchen

Master bedroom (also work in progress)

Hallway (space where I can now put pictures up)

Ashtyn's Bathroom

Laundry Room (sad that this is my favorite room)

Master Bathroom

Living Room

Walk in Closet (2nd favorite part of this apartment)

Please don't mind the mess... my house usually looks a lot better. I guess this is what happens when you go to school, work part time and are a mom full time! :)

When little Aeryn became big Aeryn :)

This post is dedicated to my wonderfully amazing sister-in-law Aeryn, who is probably one of the most talented, accepting, beautiful people I know. Our sweet "little" Aeryn graduated from high school last week. We are not only excited, happy and thrilled that she did it but we are also a little sad because now the baby as graduated and she will be leaving us for bigger and better things. 

Just a walk to memory lane to explain the great and awesome Aeryn.

Jonny and I decided to do the whole "meet the parents" thing TWO WEEKS after we started dating. Usually people have time to work up the courage to do this and make sure the relationship is worth that awkward stage. I however did not because two weeks after we started dating it was the sweethearts birthday. All driving up to Orem, I was going crazy. I was nervous, sweating, freaking out. I kept telling Jonny that this was a bad idea, but he wouldn't listen and just kept "reassuring." Once we got there I sat in the car for a minute trying to decide if I wanted to awkwardly hug his family or awkwardly stand there and look at his family. Luckily I didn't have to decide because right as we walked in, Aeryn came running down the stairs and body slammed me with a hug. 

Ever since then we have been pretty close. I didn't grow up with sisters but I feel blessed that I got the ones I did when I married Jonny.

Aeryn is truly like the sister I didn't have growing up. We get annoyed with each other, we argue a little, I tell her what she should do and she tells me when I'm being overbearing. But most of all we love each other. She is the girl I go to when I need advice or just need someone to talk to. She is the girl I go to when I have to go meet new people because I know she is going to get along with everyone. She is the girl that when I'm at my lowest, makes me feel better and then offers to rub my feet. (which for those of you who know me, know this is probably my favorite thing EVER.) 

Aeryn you are amazing in everyway possible. Thank you for being one of the best friends I've ever had. We are SOOO proud of you and everything you have accomplished this last year. (your wonderful internship at the hospital.) 

WE LOVE YOU!!! :)

Beautiful sisters, Aeryn (in yellow) and Torie (in red)

Parenting Advice

One thing I've learned since becoming a mom is that EVERYBODY feels entitled to tell you how to raise your child. Listen, I'm all for friendly advice and tips but when people tell me I'm a bad mom for doing something they didn't do, it gets annoying.

Example # 1:

I pierced Ashtyn's ears when she was 3 months old. Did she cry? You better believe it! Did I feel bad? Yes I cried right along with her. Did she die? NO! Right after Ashtyn got her ears pierced, a lady walked up to me and said, "I sure hope your happy that you put your innocent little baby through hell. I can't imagine what else you'll do to her. You shouldn't be a mom." Uhhhh... at this point I proceeded to cry even harder. :) I also get random ladies who tell me how mean and horrible I am because they notice her ears pierced, I've even received a couple glares. :) Keep glaring ladies cause those earrings aren't coming out anytime soon.

Example # 2:

I love letting Ashtyn meet new people. Especially the ladies at my work. They LOVE talking to her and playing with her and since I know them and work with them every day I feel like it's ok for them to hold her. The other day while at work, one of those sweet ladies said to me, "You know... you really shouldn't let random people hold her, she could get sick and then die." You my sweet friend are exactly right. I shouldn't let random people hold her, BUT you are not random and neither are the rest of the people here that I KNOW. 

Example # 3:

Breastfeeding... This is a kind of awkward topic, but probably the one that gets brought up the most with me. I didn't breastfeed. I did want to, but it just didn't end up working so well. I have a sister-in-law is totally for it and a sister-in-law that didn't really care. Both of their kids are perfectly fine and pretty normal, (if not above, but I'm totally biased.) I'm not pro or against it. I think if you want to do it great, if not thats alright too. My child isn't any slower than a child who is breastfeed and isn't any smarter (that I know of). Just because it didn't work out for me doesn't make me this horrible monster mom. 

Like I said, I love getting friendly advice, but I think I'm doing an alright job so keep your mean comments to yourself.. :) End of rant!

Temper Tantrums and Teething

Our sweet little Ashtyn learned how to throw temper tantrums last week. The first time she did it, it freaked me out so badly  i started crying. I tried EVERYTHING!!! Running water... toys... bottle... new diaper... NOTHING! She only cried harder. When I tried picking her up she stiffened her little body and threw her head back almost falling out of my arms. Oh man it made me crazy. I gave her to her dad and usually she immediately calms down but this time nothing changed she just kept screaming her head off. Finally we both got so tired we just laid her on our bed and walked out of the room for a second. It was horrible.. I felt like such a bad mom just letting her cry in there but I  also wanted to pull my hair out so I walked down the hall and took a breather. Five minutes later everything went silent in our room so we went in to check and SURPRISE... Ashtyn was completely passed out. We've figured out she only does this when she isn't fed fast enough which we're learning to figure out with the help of her "little" hints she gives us. 

Poor little girl is also teething... :( She drools everywhere. Her onesies are soaked within minutes because all she does is naw at them. Man am I glad I don't remember being a baby. Teething rings and carrots have become a necessity around here. We stash bags of carrots everywhere just in case she decides the onsie or toy isn't cutting it. 

Hopefully we get through this stage in Ashtyn's life because it's hard on all of us! 

That one time we went bowling!

Man, do we love bowling!!! We usually go with our good friend Derek but tonight we got together with some of our old cedar buddies!!! :)  

Zach, Bailey, Me and Jonny

We've had some pretty great times with these two! And they just got engaged! WOOT WOOT! They are probably the two coolest, funniest people you will ever meet! 

Back to bowling... you will usually find me struggling to get above a 50 which on a good night means I get a 53 or higher.. :) so proud... 

Jonny on the other hand is a master at bowling! :) He like to do these crazy, twisty throw things and usually ends up smokin' all of us. (He would like you all to know that he bowled a 190.)

 

The best part about bowling has got to be the people you meet though. We got to bowl next to these 3 guys who were taking the game pretty seriously. They weren't actually that bad, it might have helped though if they hadn't been totally wasted. When someone would bowl bad they would have a shot together. Lets just say it didn't take them very long to get "wasted." They were really nice though and started to cheer us on too. 

This last picture shows us girls defeated by the boys... But in our defense we did go easy on them and we totally let them win!!!

 

Mothers Day

First off... Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. Where would us kids be without you guys.

I'm feeling extremely grateful this mother's day because not only do I get to celebrate my own special mother, I get to wish my sweet mother-in-law and birth mom a happy mother's day as well.

To my mother:

Wow, where do I even start? Mom, you have always been my best friend but more importantly my mom. I gave you a quote for you birthday that said, "All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my mother." I meant that with all my heart. Obviously we all know now that I'm the favorite child but I wasn't always like I am now. I was the demon spawn from hell and you still loved me even when I didn't "think" I needed it. You have taught me love, patience and so many other things but most importantly you taught me to have faith always. I love you mom!!!

To my mother-in-law:

We really need more pictures of us. This is the only one I have.

Oh Barb, the adventures and good times we've had. I know lots of people say they have the best mother-in-law BUT lets be honest you are definitely the best! Thank you for teaching my husband to be the great father and husband he is today. (thank you for also making sure Jonny knows it's  not ok to moon people.) You have always been so excepting and loving. I really look up to you! Love you barb!!!

To my birthmother:

Thank you for making the biggest sacrifice by placing me. I can't even imagine how hard that must have been but you did it anyway. I know we've had our disagreements but I'm glad we've been able to work past it and build the relationship that we have today. Thank you for being there for  Jonny, Ashtyn and I. We love you.

Once we moved...

Hey Folks!

Sorry life has been a wee bit crazy these last couple weeks. Lots of new fun things happened in the Oliver household.

Mom went back to work... We're still not sure whether it's been a good or bad idea... 

Ashtyn decided to FINALLY start laughing! She's been giving us little giggles here and there but nothing like the belly laugh she gave Uncle NoNe the other night.

Dad started working from 6 am to 3 pm... (lets just say he's not as happy as he usually is.)

AND!!!

We moved!

I will hopefully post pictures of our wonderful new place when it doesn't look like a hoarders heaven. Geez, who knew two people had so much stuff... not to mention ALL the stuff that comes with having a baby. Let's just say she won't need any new toys anytime soon. 

We sure do miss our little old place with all it's storage and creepy grudge hideouts but our new place has some perks like;

*Dishwasher

*FULL size washer and dryer

*two bathrooms :) (love having my own)

We have also met our neighbors... not in the conventional "Hi, we're the Oliver's and you are?" way. We know they are slightly deaf due to the fact that we can tell what episode of glee they are watching by how loud the volume is. We also know they like to do insanity or some type of workout program because there is lots of jumping up and down going on. And we know that they really love each other. (I don't need to explain that one.) GAG! BARF! 

BUT, we sure love our new place and all the fun things that come along with living on the second floor of a three level apartment building. :)

Finals Week

Well... It's about that time again... The time when the hubby is nowhere to be found and when found is slightly ornery. When the house looks like a tornado struck... and Ashtyn and I are Jonny deprived. 

FINALS WEEK!!!

I hate this week with a passion! And more specifically, now that we have a sweet baby. 

I went back to my job I had before the babe came because they were short handed and for some reason they think I'm awesome and not incredible annoying. So now we have lots of help with baby. (I miss her like crazy!) 

Lets just say work and being a mom and cleaning the house and trying to sleep and trying to move is....

Stressful?

Hard?

Tiring?

Horrible? (The packing part)

Why yes it is all of the above!

We've been blessed enough to have such great landlords and a cute little apartment that suits the two of our needs quite well. But due to the recent (four months ago) changes we've had to... upgrade?

Our sweet little angel has decided that she loves to yell-talk. Yes, I meant what I typed. She doesn't talk softly or "cue", she likes to yell and sing to herself WHILE dad is on the phone working. (He's an at home working husband.)

We are pretty excited to move because our little apartment is getting quite cramped. Our living room is also Ashtyn's "closet", Jonny's work area and our storage room. I will spare you all the gruesome details of what our sweet home looks like at this moment. 

Hopefully one of these days I will post pics of our cute "First Apartment". 

This is about what we want to do right now in our house. :)

Yay for Anniversaries

Hey All!

So I totally did not forget to blog but life just sort of happens and it's been crazy around this little household.

First, the hubs and I FINALLY went our 1 year anniversary! (can I get a woot woot?) We don't have any money being that we are poor married/parent college students so we kept the anniversary close to home. My sweet mama took our baby for the weekend and boy did I cry when I had to say goodbye to that little sweetie. (she even smiled when I shut the door, so we know she was happy to go stay with papa and Shella.) 

The hubs and I decided that we would each get a year! Guess who was in charge of this years anniversary?

How cute are we?

                                    

GO JAZZ!!!!

                                   

Jonny's SECOND ever birdie!!!

                                 

(our sweet at home spa treatments)

                                           

Temple sesh and dinner at "The Roof"

Amazing 1 year anniversary, although the highlight would have to be the nice half naked gentleman who got on the elevator and then proceeded to flirt with the other two woman on with us. :) Thank you sir for making this year memorable!!! 

Read this, Liked it, Am quoting it now!

"They say that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. This is true. It is also true that beauty lies within how you see yourself because we cannot see outside of us what is not already in ourselves." 

Ellison Marie Rose

People of Salt Lake

I've decided I want to start my own website called "The people of Salt Lake." (yes this would be a knock off of "People of Walmart".) For those of you who have know idea what I'm talking about, here is the link, go check it out, I'm sure most of you will be on the floor laughing (I peed my pants BUT only because I was pregnant at the time.)

Anywho, back to my website! While at the bank today I found my cover page couple. These two gems were amazing. Now I'm not a 100% sure if they were who I thought they were but the facts speak for themselves.

List of facts pointing out that these two were pimp and pimp assistant/hooker (not really sure what their official term is):

1. "Pimp" had lots of gold chains, a nice suit, and a pimp hat, and I'm pretty sure I saw a couple gold teeth.

2. "Pimpess/assistant looked like a million bucks in her gen-x cheetah print pants and walmart classy black t-shirt. Don't get me wrong she looked great! I even told her so as I was walking out.

Lastly but most importantly... 

3. "Pimp" handed the bank teller a HUGE stack of $50's, $10's, and $1's.

Now like I said, I'm only assuming they were pimp and pimpess. But jeez if I had a stack like that I would have headed to Nicklecade!!! 

This is what I think I would compare them too. As described to the hubs.

                                              

And then I cried... :P

Well hello blogging world!!! I've been wanting to start a blog since I first got married but then life happened and I totally spaced. At first attempts of creating a blog, Jonny and I came up with the blog name of "Once we were awkward..." :) And for the blogging world to see we would post our awkward 8th grade pictures. (spoiler alert: Jonny had hair halfway down his back and a strange half smile thing going on and I had braces, pimples and only one earring in my right ear.) And for our posts we would post about the awkward things we do pretty much every day. Once we found out about our little bean, we decided we would spare that poor child from coming into a world where it's parents were known as freaks. 

Now I guess I should also explain a little bit about the blog title. For those of you who know me, you know that I LOVE to tell stories. (I really only have like 5, so I vamp them up each time I tell them.) On one special occasion of me telling one of my legendary stories, my brother-in-law Jason brought up the fact that after EVERY conclusion, I end it with saying... "and then I cried.." Hence the name of this lovely blog. What can I say, I'm a sensitive soul. 

Well, I think that about sums up this creation story. Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone. I know this cute girl and I will! :)

(Mean mom woke up little sis for this beautiful pic)