mikentash

Playing at the Park

2012-01-24T12:38:00.000-08:00

playing with the cousins

2012-01-10T16:29:00.000-08:00

Over Christmas Break, we got to go to Texas and see most of Michael's family. It was fun for Alden to see and play with his cousins. We all loved being able to see so much of our wonderful family.

2012-01-08T14:16:00.000-08:00

Alden has started to love reading books, I will often find him in his room looking through some of his favorite stories. My favorite is when I hear him reading them from the other room. Some of the stories he almost has memorized, so it is fun to hear his rendition when I am out of the room.

Alden has become very attached to his firetruck. He takes it with him almost everywhere we go. Any time we leave the house he gets on it and rides it to the car. The other picture is of little Calvin. He is growing up so fast and is such a joy to have around. Over Christmas he got sick, during that time we did not see many smiles out of him, but he is now back to his old smiling self, of which we are very grateful.

Bath Time

2011-12-20T17:19:00.000-08:00

Alden loves having Calvin take baths with him. Often he will say that he doesn't want to take a bath, but if he sees or thinks that Calvin will be going in to, he runs to the bath tub to get in.

He will often mimic the things Calvin does.. such as floating in the water.

Thanksgiving Day

2011-12-20T17:08:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving Day at my Aunt Tara's house. Her son's in the picture made Alden an amazing house out of cardboard boxes. He loved it, it was full of tunnels for him to crawl through.

Thanksgiving was a nice and relaxing day for us, we were glad that we had family so close that we could go to.

I would post more pictures but this was the only one I could get to load... more may be forth coming..?

The Zoo

2011-12-20T16:16:00.000-08:00

During Thanksgiving Break we did a little vacation in our own town. We went to some new places that we hadn't been before. One of which was the zoo. I have been here with people in our ward but Michael and Calvin had never been, it was neat to go as a family.

Graceland and other pictures

2011-12-20T15:56:00.000-08:00

Every year about a week before Thanksgiving, Graceland has a night when they turn on their Christmas lights. They have activities and music and everything is free. This year our family made the trip to see the lights turn on. It was a lot of fun, here are some pictures...

Michael will often go for a run on Saturdays and will take Alden along in the stroller. They stopped by a good friend of ours, Joseph, who is always giving us something. It was cold so Joseph found Alden this scarf and hat to wear, Alden loves them!

11-22-11 Palindrome

2011-11-24T18:56:00.000-08:00

Tuesdays date was a palindrome, it is the same written forwards or backwards. It was also the day Calvin turned 3 months and Michael and I had our 3 year anniversary!
It was a great day, and extra nice that Michael could be out of school. We spent the day together as a family. Michael and I had celebrated by going on a date the Saturday before. Thanks to our friends the Lamberts who watched Alden while we went out.
Another random but fun fact is that Calvin's birth day 08-22-11 makes the day we were married when you write it backwards 11-22-08. :)

Almost 3 months

2011-11-17T11:07:00.000-08:00

We haven't had anything big lately to write about (which has been nice, things have been fairly laid back.) but I was just realizing that Calvin will be three months on Tuesday! So this is the update on him and on Alden. (Alden is almost 27 months=2yrs and 3 months :)

Calvin is growing up so fast and is such a joy to have around. He gives us lots of smiles which we love. We still need to catch one on camera... they are some of the cutest smiles in my opinion. He still is a good little baby boy, sleeping and eating well. He has slept through the night a few times and usually doesn't wake up too many times in the night which is nice.

Alden is also learning and growing quickly. He loves to help and really is a big help around the house. He helps me cook, clean, do laundry, and especially loves to help with Calvin. When Calvin gets fussy I will sometimes have him give him his pacifier if I can't get to him at the time. When Alden gets the pacifier to stay in Calvin's mouth, he will get excited and often says, " I got it" as he jumps up.

We have been trying to limit Alden's time on the computer, because he would be on it all day if we let him, so we have been reading a lot more books.
He loves it, when people come over he will start handing them books to see if he can get them to read to him. He knows his ABC's even though every now and again he will get some of them mixed up when we ask.. such as W and M or R and K. He also loves counting things but will stumble around 4 and 5 because his four sounds like five so then he will usually skip 5 and go on to 6.

My little monkeys

2011-11-07T16:16:00.000-08:00

Family Photos

2011-11-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

Home Again

2011-10-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

We have been gone this week taking care of another family while their parents went on a cruise. It was fun to have 7 kids for a week! I think my favorite part was when everyone came home from school. It was fun to see the things they did and help them with homework, and Alden loved having so much attention from all of them.
We are now home and grateful to get to spend so much time with our 2 little ones. Calvin started smiling at me for the first time yesterday! now all day long, I just talk and smile at Calvin until I get another smile. He has been doing a great job giving out his cute little smiles and we love it!

Sardis

2011-10-02T13:15:00.000-07:00

This semester Michael has had a lot of afternoons off, which has been really nice. Last week on one of those afternoons we went down to Sardis Lake. It was nice to get out and enjoy such beautiful weather

FHE

2011-10-01T06:34:00.000-07:00

I never thought we could get an accordion over at our home! It was fun to hear the beautiful music it can make. Some of my favorite times at our home is when we all get out our violins and play, Michael was gone yesterday so it was nice to have the missionaries, and people to play music with, it made me not miss him so much, it would have even more perfect with him here though.

Baby pictures and Alden's 2 yr old pictures

2011-09-20T16:24:00.000-07:00

Baby Calvin
He is a sweet little baby, he has been such a good little one. He sleeps and eats well and is great to snuggle with... We couldn't ask for anything more we have been greatly blessed to have him in our home.

Alden at 2 yrs old
He is a joy to have around. Things he loves are the computer, playing ball, playing outside, dancing, and having anything in his bottle. He says quite a few things now, what I here the most though is yes, no, i want that or I don't want it, Alden's turn, jump, dance, snack, movie, juice, and milk.

Beans

2011-09-13T17:58:00.001-07:00

Tonight Alden was asking for something and I couldn't understand him... a common assurance. So I asked him to show me what he wanted, he pointed in the direction of some chocolate chip cookies we had just made, even though what he was saying didn't sound at all like cookie I asked if that is what he wanted. He responded, "No, eans" next to the cookies was a can of beans. I am glad my son would take a can of beans over a cookie, he has now eaten about half the can.

Calvin's Baby Blessing

2011-09-13T16:57:00.000-07:00

Calvin was a good little baby for his blessing. It worked out well that there was a BYU game here in Mississippi so we had quite a few family members here. Thanks to everyone that came!!
We had three of Michael's siblings with their families.

Movies

2011-09-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

For Alden's birthday Michael took him to the movies and let him pick out whatever treat he wanted. He got a big thing of popcorn.

As you can see he was one happy camper!
He loved the movie and was really good the whole time, which isn't too surprising as he loves it when we will let him watch a movie no matter what it is.

Alden's 2nd Birthday

2011-09-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

Alden had a great birthday. This year it was on a Sunday, it was nice that Grandma was still in town.

Alden's favorite part of his birthday was blowing out the candles on the cake and having everyone sing to him. He kept saying again, again. We sang to him a number of times.

We sure are grateful for the birth of this cute little 2 year old. He brings a lot of joy into our home, he is always happy, laughing and wanting to run around. He makes us laugh at all of the crazy things he thinks up to do.

We are blessed to have him in our home, we learn from him every day. Thanks Alden we love you.

Birth Story

2011-08-25T14:40:00.000-07:00

Calvin couldn't have picked a better day to enter this world, he came right on time on his due date. He must have wanted to enter this world that day because my water broke just after midnight the morning of the 22nd. I woke up needing to go to the bathroom a few minutes after midnight and on my walk to the bathroom my water broke. I woke up Michael and Becca, who was gratefully staying with us, and then rushed out to the hospital as my contractions were already quite painful. I got to the delivery room a little after 1 a.m. the nurse checked me and I was dilated to a 6 and then at 1:51 a.m. Calvin was born.
The nurses all said that next time I should just camp out at the hospital. I was glad it all went so fast but it did throw me into a little bit of a shock. Last time with Alden I had a little more time to prepare myself for the hard contractions, but I guess this time it went a little faster.
All in all we couldn't have been more blessed to have everything work out so well. The delivery went well and we have a healthy beautiful baby. He couldn't have come at a better time, Michael is on break, my sister was here to help, and my mom came in that day to help with Alden and the new little one. We feel very loved and blessed and are grateful for all of your prayers and support.

It's a Boy!

2011-08-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

Early Monday we welcomed Calvin Knapp Shurtz into our family (Aug 22 at 1:51am). He weighed 8 lbs 7 oz and measured 21.5 inches long.

Alden meets his new baby brother. He was pretty excited and a little curious.
We sure love baby Calvin!

Becca Comes!!

2011-08-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

We all love having aunt Becca here! She has been a huge help already and Alden loves playing with her. Anytime she leaves the room he gets nervous and starts asking for her. We hope the baby decides to come soon so he will have the extra attention when the new baby is here, but I guess we just will have to wait and see. Either way he is loving having so much attention, with dad and mom home and Aunt Becca. These are some pictures from our visit to the Riverwalk...

Blueberry Pancakes

2011-08-06T07:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning Alden woke up and wanted to read a book, specifically the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book. He looked through saying the things he thought were yummy and then selected his breakfast.. blueberry pancakes.
He loves to help cook in the kitchen so he likes to pull down the cook books and find something to make. It was fun, he made most of the pancakes all by himself... I just had to hand him the ingredients. He has even gotten down putting the eggs in.

Pink Palace

2011-07-24T19:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend they had a members night at the Pink Palace, we got a free summer membership and decided it would be fun to go. We had fun walking around the exhibits and meeting some people from the area, it was a fun night.

I am now 36 weeks pregnant and am getting really excited for the new baby.
We are really excited to have another little one around, it is amazing how fast they grow up. I keep looking at Alden and thinking he is getting sooo big, and acting more and more like a big kid. He loves to help with everything and sure is a joy to have around.

Ducks

2011-07-24T12:25:00.000-07:00

This was last week on Sunday, we walked over to the pond at our place to feed the ducks. It has been fun to see the different families (of ducks) growing up over the last few months. I thought all of them were done having babies but we have a new little family with 4 ducklings.
This first picture is Alden saying "oh" just after a duck ate one of his pieces of bread.

Jumping

2011-07-10T14:20:00.001-07:00

Alden loves jumping lately, and keeps finding higher and higher things to jump off of. Lately it has been the piano bench and his table, hopefully he will stop there... He is quite the little monkey.

Sitting and eating popsicles

2011-07-08T06:22:00.000-07:00

This is one of our favorite things to do in the summer time.

Drive In

2011-07-02T07:17:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to my first Drive-In movie theater. We went and saw Cars II.
Alden was so excited the whole drive to the theater, every time we told him we were going to see a movie he would start clapping his hands and smiling.
When we got there, he loved running around the parking lot, jumping on and off things in the car, and dancing to the music while we waited for the movie to start.
The movie started after the sun set, which was about 8:45. Alden lasted until about 10, which is way past his bed time, but he was happy and good for the whole thing.
The movie ended at 10:30 and you could stay for the second movie, which in this case was KungFu Panda II, Michael was all for it and probably would have lasted, I would have probably just fallen asleep part way through, but we were being eaten by bugs and Alden was sleeping in a funny way in his car seat, so we thought it was best to head home.

YMCA

2011-06-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

Every Friday Alden and I have been going to the YMCA swim pool. This is Alden's favorite part, he goes down this slide over and over again.

Gender Quiz

2011-06-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

Last night I decided to take one of those gender quizzes online to see what they thought I would have based on my size, cravings, ext... Based on there calculations I have a 50% chance of having a boy! I guess this baby really wants to surprise us and I think he/she might just accomplish it. :)
We are excited about maybe having a surprise though, either way we are glad we have a healthy baby.

Summer!

2011-06-15T19:45:00.001-07:00

These are pictures from our trip to the Smoky mountains and when we visited Shilo back in the beginning of May. (I haven't taken many pictures this month otherwise I would put up some more resent ones, I definitely do not need my coat this month .)

Summer is officially here in Mississippi, it has been nice and warm/hot for the last few weeks. Alden and I have been enjoying going swimming just about every day. We also spend most of the morning playing outside (the park, feeding the ducks, and playing in the sand volleyball court) then we spend the afternoons keeping cool inside.

We still have a couple of boys come over in the mornings to play, which we love. Alden loves having someone to play with, and it keeps me busy and on my toes.

As far as the pregnancy is going, it is going really well, no complaints. It is going so well that we haven't needed an ultrasound... which means we still don't know if it is a boy or girl. We are hoping that we find out before the baby comes, but as my doctor has assured me, we will find out one way or the other when the baby comes. I am now 30 weeks and the time is flying by.

Pictures

2011-05-21T13:45:00.001-07:00

This is one of Alden's many piles that he has made lately!

Alden's first ice cream cone!

Graceland, we finally decided to make the trip to see Elvis's old home. It was neat to learn about him and to have a fun date together.

What Alden is up to...

2011-05-02T06:23:00.000-07:00

Computers

Alden loves playing on the computer, and he has gotten quite good at it, he likes to pull up home videos or any video for that matter. This is one of the reasons we don't blog much anymore, because Alden wants to play on the computer any time it is on.

Piles

Alden loves making piles of things, he will find anything and everything he can to make his pile. It is almost like his little nest, because he will then sit in his pile and play with everything around him.

Potty Training

We have kindof started potty training Alden, we aren't pushing it that much, especially since we will be taking a road trip this weekend. He does quite well with it though. We started because he started going potty in the toilet a few weeks back and last week when he ripped off his diaper and then went potty on the floor, I decided I might as well be potty training him.

Alden's song

2011-04-10T14:28:00.000-07:00

Alden has had a greater interest in playing his violin. Every time I have a lesson he wants to get his out or if Michael or I are playing he likes to his violin out.

February Pictures! :)

2011-03-19T10:44:00.001-07:00

I was finally able to upload a couple of pictures, these are from the last week or two of February. The first was a day that we all went to the park, Alden loved feeding all of the ducks and birds, Michael and I just enjoyed being outside in the nice weather. Lately it has been really nice so we have spent a lot of time outside.
These last two are from my birthday. It was a great day, Michael made some wonderful food and an amazing cake. It couldn't have been any better of a day.
When I went to get Alden up in the morning on the day of my birthday he had this flower ready for me with a note that said, "for mommy". (I took the picture later once he was dressed for church.)

We are all moved in and have internet again!

2011-03-12T05:20:00.000-08:00

We love our new apartment, it is much like the old one, but has more room and new carpet. Having it so similar and so close made for an easy move.
Here are some pictures from the new rooms...

Michael's Mom and Dad came to help us with the move, they not only helped us but brought some fun things for Alden's room! They brought the bunch beds and all of the red, white, and blue decorations. Also one of Michael's sisters was changing her boy's bathroom, so she sent us all of her red whit and blue bathroom things!

We were definitely blessed with so many fun things to make our new place look nice!

As you can see we are having problems uploading pictures (that is why the 1st picture only loaded 1/2 of the picture), I am not sure what is wrong, but when I try to upload pictures here or other places, my computer shuts down, we did get these two up. Once we figure out what is wrong we will put up a few more pictures of Alden's new room and bathroom. :)

A Wonderful Week

2011-02-25T05:49:00.000-08:00

This week has been great! We have all been healthy and happy. It has been especially nice to see Alden so happy. He has had fun playing with the boys that come over, and he is glad that I have finally stopped taking his temperature every few hours.
Also Michael's test schedule slowed down a little bit this week, and now he is done until after spring break! I am excited to have him home and he is excited for the break.
Another great thing is that we will be moving to a 2 bedroom apt next week. For probably obvious reasons I am really excited about this as well. I am even more excited after taking to Michael's mom who is in full swing thinking of decorating ideas for the kids room!
Another great thing is that we will have visitors this next week. Michael's parents will be coming to spend some of spring break with us.
It has been a great week and we have a very nice week of spring break ahead of us!
This is a picture from a couple weeks back when we had school canceled because of all of the snow.

I think the fire is almost out

2011-02-18T11:15:00.001-08:00

This week has been a crazy week here at our home, for a number of reasons... this is why...
1. Michael has had a lot of tests, quizes, and practicals that he has needed to take and study for. (Because of the snow days last week a bunch were moved to this week.)
2. Well this is the main reason why it has been a crazy week, is that Alden has been sick. He got a fever on Tuesday night, but seemed to be okay Wednesday morning, so I went on with the day as normal.
He did good until about 11 when he started having a fever again, Anyways at 1 he went into a seizure that lasted for 1-2 min. I ended up calling 911 because towards the end of the seizure because his lips went blue and then his whole body. While I was talking on the phone with the parametics, he finally snapped out of it and started crying.
They insisted that he should be taken to the hospital because of his temperature and low vital signs, so we went to the hospital. Which ended up being really nice because the doctor on hand was very knowledgeable in fevral seizures. She said we should be okay as long as the seizure does not last 5 min or longer and gave us something just in case it ever does. (I sure I hope I never have to use those things.)
Alden had 2 more seizures later on that day, but was able to sleep well and his fever had gone down in the morning.
All day Thursday he had a fever most afternoon his fever ranged from 103-105 but at least there was no seizures.
Today he seems to be much better which is why I say the fire is almost out, also Michael finishes up his crazy week this week.
All of this sure has made me grateful for a little one that is healthy and happy most of the time, having sick kids is never fun, and can be scary. We are looking forward to a great week next week.

Mud

2011-02-15T06:10:00.002-08:00

We have been playing at the playground a lot the last couple days because of the nice weather. Every time we go Alden gets so excited, the first time he ended up face planting it in the mud, he still wanted to play after, but I took it as a good excuse to head home. Every time Alden sees this picture now he always says "uh oh".

Wanting to Drive

2011-02-07T11:07:00.000-08:00

Getting into the car never is Alden's favorite thing to do, until lately when he hurries into the car so he can climb his way to the front seat. He loves moving the steering wheel and pushing all of the buttons.

1st Doctor's Apt.

2011-01-29T08:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to my first doctors apt. Our baby is 10 weeks old. I always like the fist doctor's apt because it makes everything seem real, that yes there is a baby in there.
So far this pregnancy has been much like the last one with Alden. (Except for the fact that I crave junk food, rather than fruits and veggies.) I have felt fairly good, all I get is really tired at the end of the day. This baby has the same due date as Alden, August 22, I am hoping that he or she decides to come a little earlier than Alden did, but we will just have to wait and see.

Thank you "Guys and Dolls"

2011-01-28T06:10:00.000-08:00

This morning Michael had a little extra time so I suggested we could do our scripture reading in the morning.... then I realized we hadn't read yesterday and worse than that I hadn't read either. Yesterday was the most wonderful day, I got so much done, I thought of my Savior and his Atonement often throughout the day and how many great blessing that brings to me. I listened to church music, cleaned out the Ensigns, but how could forget to read!
I made a promise with someone years ago that I would not miss a day of reading or at least listening to scripture and I have kept that promise, that was over 5 years ago. It made me sad to realize I had broken that promise but then remembered, Michael was gone last night so I got a musical to watch. (I love musicals, sometimes I wish life was a musical, it sure would make it more interesting to have people breaking out into song every now and again.) But Guy's and Dolls quotes Isaiah and Matthew!!! I didn't read but at least I did listen to some scripture yesterday! Thank you Guy's and Dolls for helping me not break a promise.

Finally some Pictures! :)

2011-01-27T04:29:00.001-08:00

A Nice Saturday
The Saturday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day was a really nice one here, so we decided to go to Tunica and do the walk that they have. I was really sick that day so we moved rather slow but it was nice to get out, since I had spent most of the day in bed. I blame most of the sickness on my myself. The day before, I decided to do a workout tape since I hadn't been swimming in a while, Alden was fussy so I held him through the whole workout... it was a bad mistake. Morning sickness, soreness, and a cold was not a good combination.

Alden and Markers
This picture below you might be able to see the blue line under Alden's chin and the blue on his face. I caught him pretty fast with this one so he didn't get colored too bad. Earlier in the day he had a deep orange through his hair and all over his face. When Michael came home I told him about it and he asked if I got a picture, I said "No, I cleaned it off" So the second time around that day I remembered the picture. At first just looking in the mirror was punishment enough for Alden, he didn't like the way he looked, but with the second helping of marker for the day, looking in the mirror just made him laugh. He kept playing peek-a-boo with the blue line under his chin and every time he did it he would burst out laughing.

The Snow
This year we have had a couple of snow storms. Here there are a couple of pictures of Alden in the snow, the first one is of Michael helping him sled down a hill on our garbage. He thought it was great!

A typical Day-- sortof

2011-01-14T04:34:00.000-08:00

The other day, one of my friends posted what she did that day so people would know what she did during the day. It was fun to read... and I was thinking I would do the same.
I thought on Wednesday of doing it.. but that day was not a typical day and then yesterday.. no still not a typical day and then I thought I could write about today or maybe one of the days next week, but I finally decided maybe there are not typical days in my life right now.. each day is just a little bit different then the last, so I will right about yesterday even though today will be a totally different day.

It started about 6:30A.M., I got to sleep in, I didn't work in the morning which was really nice, I actually still woke up at 5, but at least I got to go back to sleep! :)

I got ready, cleaned up the house. Alden woke up at 8A.M. , I got him ready and fed, then some friends I am starting to watch on an almost daily basis came over at 8:30. All of us Alden, the two boys and I played until 2:45 P.M when their dad picked them up. (Alden would not nap today, there were too many fun things to do I guess, one of the other boys did take a nice nap though, so that was good.)

at 3:00 P.M. Alden and I drove to a town about 30 min south so I could practice a song with a lady. I will be playing the song in their ward, and because I go there to practice I give all 3 of my students from that town their violin lessons. Alden finally got his nap on the car ride.

We made it home about 6 P.M, just in time for a wonderful dinner that my fabulous husband had nicely started.

At 9:30P.M everyone here went off to bed.

That was my day, and one day when I start having typical days again I might write another post of what a typical day has in it.. but until then, I guess this will suffice.

Update- sorry no pictures

2011-01-10T04:25:00.000-08:00

I just realized I haven't taken any pictures this year!!! Good thing it is only a few days into the year... but I though I would give an update anyways. This is what has been happening with us...

Michael has started back to school and seems to like it although we are all excited to have him home today...yes, those 2 inches outside did the trick. School is canceled :)

Alden is happy running around as normal, his latest word is "Thank you". He says it fairly well and clear every time you open the door for him to go outside. (He loves going outside!) He also has had a great desire to go swimming as of late, he always goes up to the apartment pool and tries to open the gate. (Thankfully it is always locked as I am sure the temperature is close to freezing in there.)

I haven't been going swimming as much because of the very cold water at the YMCA that I usually swim at, so last week Alden and I made the trip to the Olive Branch YMCA, which we both really enjoyed. Everyone kept stopping and saying, "That boy really likes the pool, doesn't he" I don't think he stopped smiling or laughing until we got out.

Christmas

2011-01-02T17:55:00.000-08:00

Michael and I went to Utah and Nevada for Christmas, we had a great time. Here are pictures from some of the things we did..

In this picture we were at Grandma Fuller's home. She had a horse and a cowboy hat, Alden loved it!

And of course who can go to Salt Lake without visiting temple square.

Nevada was a great Christmas location... nice and warm. We spent a lot of days out at the park with Alden

This is Christmas day, Alden opening one of his presents.

This is another one from Christmas day, we all went for a little walk to the park. Alden is climbing up the slide with his 2 cousins that are his same age.

Alden with his Nevada cousins, all in their pj's eating cold cereal.

Projects

2010-12-15T03:44:00.001-08:00

I have been working on a couple of projects, they are almost done so I figured I would post them.

1. The first one I am going to mention is actually complete and that was the Piano/ Violin Recital that I have been planning for. All of the student's that played did a wonderful job and everything was really nice.

2. Quiet Book- Almost complete, I just have to sew a button on the front to use to keep the book closed. I have put up a couple of the pages. I was excited to use it at church to entertain Alden but he isn't quite old enough for it yet. He is getting there though.

Can you tell I made it from old things. I didn't spend one penny on the whole thing, everything was from something we already had.

3. This one has also changed a lot from how it is in this picture, there is no longer red on the left side, but this is my first oil painting. It was a lot of fun to do and fun to work with oils. Again, I didn't spend anything on this project either, we had everything I used on it even the canvas!

Christmas Cookies!

2010-12-15T03:25:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago we decided to make sugar cookies. We ended up making quite a few. Alden loved it, he enjoyed helping cut out some cookies. We were making Christmas Cookies but Alden wanted to make a fish cookie, so that is what he got to eat afterwords was his little fish cookie.

Alden loves eating in his high chair, he used to like to sit on our laps, but now he like to sit in his high chair and eat all by himself. His favorite thing right now is Corn Flakes, he would eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if we let him. He likes other things as well, just the corn flakes are always on top of the fridge so he can point to them, which he does often.
This was taken on Micheal's Birthday, even though it was in the middle of finals, we were able to have a nice dinner and watch a show with cake and ice cream.

3 cubed!!!!!!!!!!

2010-12-09T03:17:00.001-08:00

My absolutely amazingly wonderful husband is now 3^3 !!

I don't know if you realize how great this is so I will explain. You are only cubed 4 times in your whole life (unless you live to an incredibly old age of 125). You are cubed at the ages of 1, 8, 27 and 64. The only other thing that you will be 4 times in your life is a factorial. You are only a factorial at the ages of 1, 2, 6, and 24. Michael and I have both passed all of the factorial ages, unless we life to the ripe old age of 120. So now we only get to be cubed and sometimes squared.

Shutterfly

2010-12-08T03:20:00.001-08:00

I got my Shutterfly cards in the mail and I love them. For some reason I was thinking they would be much smaller, but they are really nice and larger than expected and they came with all of the envelopes! I picked three different designs, so now the hard part is deciding which ones to send were. Thanks Shutterfly!!

Soccer

2010-12-03T12:07:00.000-08:00

Ever since Thanksgiving when Alden saw all of his cousins playing soccer, he has been playing soccer all through the house. It is his favorite thing to do, he kicks this ball we have and chases it for long periods of time. Next time when the cousins get together maybe Alden will be ready to join in! :)

200,000

2010-12-01T07:29:00.000-08:00

On Monday night we went out and celebrated our car hitting 200,000 miles. We drove so that we could watch it switch from 199999 to 200000. We went and bought Blue Bell Ice Cream to celebrate!

This day in History

2010-11-21T16:39:00.001-08:00

2 years ago today Michael and I were married for time and all eternity! I am so grateful to have such a wonderful and handsome husband.
Last year on our 1 year anniversary we blessed our little Alden..

And this year we are just one happy family, grateful that we can all be together.

Christmas Cards from Shutterfly

2010-11-20T12:08:00.000-08:00

Shutterfly is giving away 50 fee Christmas cards to bloggers! I have used Shutterfly for prints in the past and I have used them for a picture book. All of the products I have ever received from them have been perfect! The best thing is they send their pictures in good packages so my mail-man does not squish them into the mail box, like he has with other pictures I have received in the mail. Shutterfly offers a lot of different ideas of things to do with your pictures, from picture books, to calendars, to just about anything else you can think of. Here is a link to see the calendars. Here is another one to the greeting cards.
Here is an example of one of their greeting cards that I like.. They have a lot of different options for Christmas cards, I am excited to pick the one that I am going to use for our Christmas Cards. You will probably be having one of these cards coming your way this year for Christmas! When you get one in the mail you will know that it came from Shutterfly.

Busy Week.. and a couple more pics! :)

2010-11-11T03:24:00.000-08:00

Here are some more pictures from the day our family went and got our pictures taken.

I love the little dance Alden is doing in this one!
(It is called the "I am going to escape dance", and he looks pretty happy about it!)

I thought this was a fun one of Michael and I.

Alden...
( I don't even need to explain why I like this one.)

Those are a few more of the pictures Savannah took for us. We are still trying to decide which ones we will be framing, there were a lot that we like...so we will see.

This week has been a little busy but Michael has been a good sport. He had one of his last tests before Thanksgiving Break!! He has also been watching Alden every night since Friday last week. I have been playing the violin for a play called Gepetto and Son, done by the kudzo playhouse. It has been fun but tiring...not really sure if I would do it again, but I am enjoying it while I am in it now!

Family Pictures

2010-11-05T12:26:00.000-07:00

On Saturday last week Michael, Alden and I had our pictures taken. I really like how they turned out if you want to take a sneak peak at them before I put any up or before I send one your way you can to to.. http://savannahwilliamsonphotography.blogspot.com .

Happy Halloween

2010-11-01T03:34:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures of Alden in his monkey suit. I thought we got some better ones but they must be on the video camera, but here are a couple we got of him.

Our walk to the Garbage

2010-10-27T03:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided to take some pictures along the walk that Alden and I take every day to go to the garbage. It is really beautiful right now with all of the leaves changing colors and falling off the trees.
Alden's favorite part of the these walks are the ducks that always come up and say hi, the turtles that always jump off the log when you walk by, and the wonderful worker guys that always say hi to Alden and give him rides on their golf carts every now and again.

Wonderful Wicked Wenesday!

2010-10-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was an exciting day here at our home. 1st... Alden got his violin!! Someone I teach had a size too small sent to them so I said I would buy it from her.
Alden tries playing it with the bow but when that becomes difficult he reduces to plucking. I am excited, because now everyone in our home has a violin!

Alden also got his Halloween costume yesterday but pictures will be forthcoming.

And the other exciting thing is that Michael and I went and saw "Wicked". I have wanted to see this play for a long time. I have listened, danced to, cleaned to Wicked songs since just after I started College 6 years ago. It was nice to have a date with my ever so handsome husband!

"Safe Journey" by Elder Pace

2010-10-07T03:07:00.000-07:00

I recently finished reading "Safe Journey" by Elder Pace and I would have to say that I absolutely loved it! It opened my eyes to a whole new world.
My knowledge of history and ways of life (especially where the church is concerned) is pretty much centered on things that have or do happen here in the United States.
I have heard little pieces of things that are happening in Europe or in South America, but rarely and I would say almost never do I or have I heard about life in Africa. I was amazed to hear about so many strong and wonderful saints, and to hear of the very different and difficult life they lead.
These are some of the things that I have taken away from this book...

1. I am very blessed to have everything that I have here in the U.S.A. Some of those things being all of the modern conveniences and that I feel quite safe here. The biggest blessings though would have to be the knowledge and blessing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to have so many temples so close.

2. This book has helped me see even more that this life is "but a small moment and if I endure it well it will be well with me in the mansions of my father". It really has helped me see life with the big picture.

3. It has brought me closer to the saints and people in general in Africa. It has helped me understand who they are, what they do, and what they live through. (I have sometimes thought that it would be fun to travel to other countries, but I would want to travel to come to know the people, not just to see the sites. You see the sights on pictures and usually they still look the same, but the people are what a place really is, they make the place what it is.) This let me visit Africa like I would want to visit it, getting to know the people.

4. Last but not least, it has helped me in my study of Isaiah. I did not think that it would help me as much as it has, but it has given Africa a place in my mind, and Isaiah has a number of prophecies on parts of Africa, mostly Egypt, it being so close to Israel. As I have studied Isaiah, I feel as though the more I learn about anything an mostly about what is happening in the world right now, helps me understand more of what Isaiah is saying. He truly was a very inspired prophet.

All in all it was a wonderful book, so I thought I'd share. I have just started reading "The History of Joseph Smith" by his mother Lucy Mack Smith. Which seems to be pretty good so far, so I will let you know how it is when I finish. (Just to let you know, that will be a ways in the future, I am not exactly what they call a fast reader. :) )

Parks!!

2010-09-30T03:53:00.001-07:00

Our family has been loving the beautiful weather. Alden and I go to the playground at least once a day but usually multiple times a day. He loves the slides and playing in the rocks.

2010-09-21T03:52:00.000-07:00

Alden is back to normal! Thank you for all of your prayers and kind words. It was comforting to hear from all of you. It ended up being a little over 24 hours. By Thursday evening Alden was pretty much himself again. On Friday he was running around smiling!
This is what he is up to now...

He has loved being outside in this beautiful weather!

Alden loves playing on the computer. I would say it is probably his favorite thing to do.
You can probably see how the chairs are pulled out from the computer, in hopes of stopping Alden from getting on it, but he will reach pretty far to play on the computer.

This is Alden in the morning at breakfast time! It is always fun to go pull my happy boy out of bed.

At home, sick

2010-09-16T08:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at the end of one of my lessons, Alden was acting really sleepy and was a little warm. I rocked him, and he kept going in and out of sleep. I tried to take his temperature but that just made him really mad.
I had another lesson a couple hours later and took him to a friend next door so she could hold him while he went in and out of sleep for the 30 min lesson.
In the middle of the lesson she came running in with Alden, he was in the middle of a seizure. We took him to the emergency room where he was laying limp and lifeless in my arms. When I got to the desk he started vomiting. Anyways they rushed us straight back.
Today we are at home, sick. Alden has a fever but it doing better. I am hoping it is some 24 hour bug. That means only a few more hours... we will see.

Aldi's

2010-09-13T06:14:00.000-07:00

When I moved out here to the south about a year ago, I was introduced to a new store, called Aldi. At first I didn't think much of it, but I have grown to absolutely love this store.. my reasons why..

1. Things are usually cheaper then at other stores.
2. It is a small store so I can get in and out fast (Which is really helpful now because I can't keep Alden in a shopping cart... anybody have any tips on this, he can even wiggle out of the seatbelt ones)
3. I would say about 85% of the time I see someone from my ward there and the other 15% of the time I inevitably meet someone new. (Last time I was there a nice little old lady in the line gave me a back massage, where can you go and get back massages while waiting in line... I guess this lady does this for people in the line at Aldi's most of the time when she comes in.)

Well those are my reasonings, but the back massage totally made Aldi's go off the charts as my favorite store.

Shirt or Shorts for your hat tonight?

2010-09-08T03:12:00.000-07:00

Michael and I have been looking for a good way to help Alden go down to sleep, because every night and nap time have always been a little bit of a challenge for Alden. Well, we finally found it...

Some people have special blankets, some have stuffed animals, others have bed time routines, but Alden has parents that put his shorts or his shirts on their head.
It really works great, I get a pair of Alden's shorts or one of his shirts every time I want to put him down. Once the article of clothing is on my head, Alden gives me a big smile then settles down and puts his head down on my shoulder and is ready to go to bed!

Michael was the genius behind Alden's new bedtime routine, thank you Michael.

Marathon

2010-09-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

Michael did great on his marathon. He finished in the time he wanted at 3:43:56. Not only did he do great on his marathon but he helped pack everything up and drive back to Mississippi on the same day.

St. Louis

2010-09-07T11:10:00.001-07:00

On Friday Alden and I went to the Memphis zoo and then on Saturday we went with Michael to the St. Louis Zoo. Both times Alden really had something important to say to the elephants. We caught just a little bit of it on video. (Here he is a little bit tired so isn't being as voicetress as he was at other times) We all loved the St. Louis Zoo!

Missouri

2010-09-04T03:27:00.000-07:00

Off to Missouri for Michael to run his Marathon!

Happy Birthday Alden

2010-08-28T04:56:00.001-07:00

Last year at this time Alden was born and Michael was missing student orientation. It has been a wonderful year starting optometry school and having such a cute little one at our home.

Projects

2010-08-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

This summer I have been working on a couple of different projects. One I actually finished towards the beginning of the summer...
This is a Christmas stocking I made for a future child. (Alden already has his) My Grandma made all of us stockings like this, so I wanted to continue the tradition and make them for my children. (We will see how I do at this because this one took me forever, they are a lot more work then I thought.)

The other project is I have been trying to illustrate a children's book that I wrote. I am almost done but still have a couple more paintings to go. These are a couple of the paintings from the book. This is another project that has taken me longer than expected, but I have enjoyed it. I am thinking that I should stop thinking of more projects, I have one last one that I already have in the works and that is to make a quiet book, but after that I think I will be done for a while.

Summer Days

2010-08-15T14:38:00.001-07:00

It has been a nice relaxing summer. Alden and I especially like having Michael home more. It feels as though every night is a weekend!
We have been reading books, playing the piano and violin, and watching movies. It really has been a great summer.
We also love the summer because there are lots of fresh fruits and veggies. These are two of Alden's favorites...

Alden has also gotten into climbing. He loves it when he can climb anywhere new. One day I found him here... That same day I pulled him off the table and out of the dishwasher.
A few weeks back we had some guest from South Carolina. It was a quick but wonderful visit.

Nauvoo

2010-07-21T04:53:00.000-07:00

This was our last night at Nauvoo. We all went and took pictures in front of the Nauvoo temple.

Alden loved being able to spend some more time with his Uncle David.

The sunsets in Nauvoo were beautiful. One night we went and watched the sunset on the Mississippi.

Here we are at Carthage Jail. As you can see, Alden had to learn to get naps whenever and wherever he could.

We loved being able to spend time with so many cousins! Alden loved all of the attention and being able to play with so many wonderful cousins.

Riverwalk

2010-07-21T04:43:00.000-07:00

Suzanne came and visited us before we went to Nauvoo. We visited Michael's school and went to the Riverwalk for the first time with Alden.

Alden is now eating in style. Grandma Great Fuller found him a wonderful high chair. We all love it!

And were back again...

2010-07-16T03:22:00.000-07:00

The last post was about just getting back from South Carolina. We were home for about 2 days, got things put together, welcomed Michael's sister Suzanne, and headed to Nauvoo, IL.
It was a wonderful but quick trip. We loved being able to see all of Michael's family and spend some time with them, while seeing so many historical sites of our ancestors.

It was also neat to be able to have some of our family come and stay with us here in our home. We love having visitors.. wink wink nudge nudge

All in all it was a great trip, but we are glad to be home, and glad to know that we will be staying here for a while. (I think Alden is excited about this too, he can return to having naps and being his normal self once again)

And were back

2010-07-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

Here we are having our 4th of July BBQ, It was wonderful, full of lots of good food!!

Alden especially liked being able to spend so much time with his newly returned Uncle, David!

He also got to spend some good time with Grandma and Grandpa

We also got to spend some time with Grandma Fuller, playing the piano, and playing some good games of chicken foot.

Alden learned a lot of things while we were gone.. He loves climbing up stairs and can even go down some of the time. He also loves brushing his teeth with Mommies toothbrush.

Michael and I made a trip with Uncle Gordon to Greenwood. They have a great stadium and high school!

South Carolina

2010-06-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

Today we are getting everything ready to head out to South Carolina. We will be gone for a little over a week. We are excited to see David come home from his mission and to have a nice relaxing week, with family and no work! I am sure after this weekend we will have a bunch of pictures to post! :)

Latest Project

2010-06-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

This is a game I just finished making for Alden. It took a little while just because I had to collect all of the lids from different jars for a while! :)
So far he seems to like it. He can usually get the 10 cent lids in the can, just because there are two slots that they actually fit in, the others he needs help with. But he does seem to like to play with it, I think it is because it makes noise.

Memorial Day and other pictures

2010-06-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

This is one of Alden's new favorite things to do, digging in the dirt and then eating especially in all of the plants we have at home.

On Memorial Day we went to Holy Springs, MS where we tried some great hamburgers and then went to a state park, where Michael did some studying and I finished up some work for the Census.

Alden also had his pictures taken, those are going to come in about a week or so, but this is him at home crawling around later that day.

Alden's favorite toy of the week

2010-06-11T05:55:00.000-07:00

The other day Michael and I heard Alden laughing in the kitchen, we came in to see him opening and closing this piece of paper. He was playing peek-a-boo with all of the babies on the Sears add. (That is why there is a tri-fold) He would laugh every time he saw all of the babies. I thought it was pretty cute!

One Busy week

2010-06-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

This week has been rather busy. I worked about 30 hours, Michael who is still in classes worked a bunch and helped me out because of everything I was doing. So overall we are all glad it is Sunday and a day to rest. Alden is also glad to have some time to rest after many long days for him as well.

Only a couple more weeks of classes and of the census and then we will be all ready to play after working hard!

sugar

2010-06-02T07:14:00.000-07:00

I just bought sugar for the first time since Michael and I have been married! Now if you are thinking that Michael and I do not eat sugar you are wrong, we were just given a lot of sugar for our wedding.
In the last year and a half Michael and I have eaten 30 pounds of sugar! According to statistics I guess that is fairly normal. An average American now eats about 142 pounds of sugar a year, but that includes all sugar found in ready made food, eating out, etc..

Salt Lake City

2010-05-21T11:38:00.001-07:00

Catherine's Wedding

2010-05-21T10:47:00.000-07:00

Catherine's wedding was beautiful. Temple square was gorgeous and everyone looked great. It was fun to see everyone, and was a really neat to see Catherine and Todd sealed for time and all eternity.

A week off of school!!!

2010-05-07T10:29:00.000-07:00

This has been a another great week here in Mississippi. Michael has had the week off of school. It has been nice he hasn't needed to study but we have both still been working hard. He has been working at the eye center and I have been working online and for the census. So it has been a fairly busy week.
Michael did take a couple afternoon's off so we have been shopping, to the pink palace museum, had a picnic, and watched a few movies enjoying them with our favorite Blue Bell Ice Cream.

Crawling :)

2010-04-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

Well, Alden has almost figured out the whole crawling thing. He can crawl short distances to something he really wants. Crawling all started in the bath...He loves bath time, but lately every time I put him in he likes to pull the plug out, so consequently I have put him at the other end of the tub. This has not distracted him from his goal of getting the plug out. He hence has started crawling in the water, it goes up his nose, gets in his face, he falls in, but he does not care, he is on a mission to get the plug out of the tub.
After he succeeds with this task he pulls himself up to standing and wants out. He must love this routine because ever time the water turns on in the bathroom, he gets really excited and wants in that tub.

This is Alden's new face he likes to do a lot lately. He is always squinting his nose.

Census

2010-04-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

So have you taken your census? If not I might come knocking at your door. I just got the job working for the census, I start in May. I am really excited to go around and meet a bunch of new people. It will be just like the mission, knocking on doors! :)

Easter Pictures

2010-04-14T06:17:00.000-07:00

April Update :)

2010-04-12T15:22:00.000-07:00

This weekend I got to go to time out for women, here in Memphis it was great. My aunt Tara (well really she is my mom's cousin but we call her aunt Tara) came with me which made it even better!

This is little Alden playing with his toys. It is amazing, we can set him down and he will play all by himself for more than 10 min at a time. This particular day he had been playing for 30 min. with his toys!

Here he is listening to me intently as I hold the camera in front of him. He really is trying to grab the camera out of my hands.

Here we are on a beautiful spring day. The weather has been beautiful and Alden and I have loved it.

An Amazing Week!!

2010-04-02T06:01:00.000-07:00

This whole week has been so wonderful. It couldn't have been more perfect. I mostly only worked in the morning, so I have had all day to do whatever I wanted to do. I have been writing, drawing, reading, and spending time outside in the beautiful weather.
I also went and took a test to work for the census and had a great experience there. I really have been very blessed, and am grateful to my Heavenly Father for all of my wonderful and amazing blessings every day. I am really excited to hear the words of the Prophet this weekend. It will be the perfect end to a perfect week!

The last pictures from the Utah trip

2010-04-02T05:54:00.000-07:00

This is another picture of the three cousins that were all born this year, they didn't last long before they all had faces like Hyrum.

On Saturday, we all went and flew kites. It was a beautiful day, and I got to hold on to two very handsome boys.

Utah continued...

2010-03-29T05:10:00.001-07:00

Tuesday night Alden and I got to see Austen one last time. Alden sure had fun with all of his aunts and uncles.

"Aunt Becca can I have some of that"

These are pictures from Catherine's Bridal Shower. We were glad that we got to see Catherine one more time before her big day! (In the last couple days of the trip I got a sty. As you can see in the pictures... moral of the story is not to wear really old mascara and not wash it off at night.)

Alden got to meet two of my old roommates. Ashley recently returned from her mission and was in town for the day, so we were glad that we got to see her and Janae.

family continued

2010-03-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

Alden spending some time with Grandma.

Alden is already learning to take care of others... even if others just means a doll.

All the cousins that were born this year!!

Spending time with Family

2010-03-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

Haven was so cute and always was giving lots of hugs to everyone and especially Alden

This is Alden with his cousin Grant. Grant is just one month older then Alden

This was right after the flight to Utah, we went straight to visit Grandma and Grandpa. This is the only Great Grandpa that Alden has that is still living. :)

Here we are with Grandma, Aunt Robin, and Uncle Rorke

Alden got to meet all of his cousins. He loved being with Emma, Aspen, and Grant!

Snapping Pictures

2010-03-15T09:21:00.001-07:00

On Sunday we were having fun taking a couple of pictures just before Alden's nap.

Alden is sitting up really well now. He likes to play with whatever he can get his hands on.

Utah Here I Come!!

2010-03-15T05:46:00.000-07:00

Well, tomorrow I leave for Utah. I am very excited. It will be the first time my whole family has been together since I left on my mission, and it will be the first time most of my family will meet Alden. The only one that we will be missing will be my ever so wonderful husband, Michael.

Florida...

2010-03-05T14:51:00.000-08:00

Michael, Alden and I just returned from a wonderful vacation. Last Saturday we drove down to Florida where we spent a couple of days and then on our way home we stopped by South Carolina. It was great to see family and spend some days in the nice warm weather! ( I love warm vacations in the middle/end of winter.)
Alden loved getting so much attention and playing with all of his cousins.
Olivia loved to hold and carry Alden. She sure was strong to carry such a big little guy!
We got to spend a nice afternoon at the beach. It was beautiful!
Alden also got to have some time to play with his newest little cousin, Will.
We also went to the Children's Science Museum. It was a lot of fun. I think Michael and I enjoyed it more then the kids even did!
We even got to climb to the top of a lighthouse. It sure was beautiful looking over the beach's and the homes in Florida.
Meghan stayed at the bottom of the lighthouse and watched all of the kids while we got to climb to the top. We sure were treated really well on our vacation. This was our last afternoon in Florida, outside playing on the swing set. We had a wonderful time. If Florida was closer I think we would be already trying to plan another trip! :)

More Pictures :)

2010-02-22T13:04:00.000-08:00

Alden sure loves having Dady time. He got to have a lot of time with Dad this weekend and I think he enjoyed that!
Alden enjoys playing on the piano, but when I pull out the camera he always looks at me. I think he is thinking, "Mom, what are you doing? I can't see you very well with that over your face"

What a beautiful day!

2010-02-19T09:01:00.000-08:00

It is absolutely gorgeous outside. It is only 11 in the morning and it is already 50 degrees. Alden and I will be going for lots of walks today.
This week has been a nice one. Alden and I have spent a lot of time outside and at the library.
At night we have been able to watch some Olympics with Michael, so that has been nice as well! :)

It still is cold but it is warming up!

2010-02-12T16:04:00.000-08:00

Well, the temperatures have still been a little cold so on a typical day this is what you can find Alden and I doing...
We have been inside singing and dancing but today was the first day we were actually able to go outside for a walk! I am getting excited for the warmer weather.

This next picture is a picture of Alden taken today in his cute little outfit. I think this is the cutest outfit but Michael thinks we should remove the bow. (But he too admits that Alden looks offaly cute in it!)
This is us on Sunday afternoon. We were excited when Alden could fit in his new little outfit from Russ and Jen. It was the perfect outfit for church and it was fun to see him in it.

I passed!!!!

2010-02-11T13:08:00.000-08:00

I finally passed the Calculus Test I have been studying for. I took it a while back and I failed. Can you believe that I failed a Calculus test. That is what I studied in college and what I absolutely loved. But as with anything if you don't use it you loose it. So I did a little bit of studying this past week and today I past. I am glad that I haven't forgotten everything I learned in college! :)