The Bartron Family

Check it Out!

2012-01-16T10:19:00.001-08:00

We’re famous! Infamous?!

http://blog.uglysofa.com/2012/01/second-bi-annual-ugly-sofa-contest.html

New Year’s Resolutions

2012-01-03T19:05:00.001-08:00

I’ve been thinking about all the things I want to improve upon this year and the list is pretty long. There are so many things I feel like I could be doing better, so I better pick a few and stick to them, or I’ll just get overwhelmed and never do anything. I think I’ve narrowed it down to six. That’s manageable, right?

By the way, these aren’t goals for the next year as much as they are goals for the next 4 months. I figure I’ll re-evaluate my life this summer and make some new goals then.

1. Go on a date with Ryan at least once a month.

2. Go out by myself, or with friends, at least once a month.

2.a. Make friends so I don’t always have to go out by myself.

3. Wear jewelry every day. This sounds silly, but I’ve tried this before and it makes me feel so good about myself to have something pretty on every day, even if I’m home in sweats.

4. Read the Book of Mormon in it’s entirety.

5. Keep my home cleaner by cleaning the assigned zone each day.

6. Spend more quality time with Nathan. Play with him, read to him, talk to him about cars.

This is going to be a great year!

Welcome 2012

2012-01-03T18:55:00.001-08:00

2011 was quite a year for us. We had some of our highest highs and our lowest lows as a family. I can’t say I’m sorry to see it go. It feels refreshing to put all the sorrow we experienced behind me and to start 2012 in a happy place.

We didn’t have any big plans for celebrating the new year, but ended up going down to Puyallup to spend the evening with Alex and Devan and their kids.

We had a great night eating appetizers (Alex and I EACH made enough food to feed us all) and celebrated Devan and Ryan’s birthday a little late with a giant chocolate Costco cake. They’re birthday buddies.

As always, the kids had fun while simultaneously driving each other crazy. Sharing is just so hard.

The kiddos munching and coloring at the table.

The Birthday Buddies. Ryan got to wear the cool birthday cake hat for a while.

Wow guys. So many candles I can hardly see you through all the smoke.

Me and Alex and a few kids that snuck in with us.

We had so much fun together and got home by 9:30 to celebrate some more. Nathan fell asleep in the car so Ryan and I started our celebration by putting the finishing touches on our talks for sacrament meeting the next morning. I would say it was awfully cruel of them to ask us to speak on New Year’s Day- the same day we changed from 1 o’clock to 9 o’clock church- but they did ask us a few months ago and we canceled the night before because I was super duper sick. Anyway, we didn’t get done with our talks until about 11. We turned on Harry Potter and somehow managed to stuff more food into our mouths. Unfortunately, we only got about 20 minutes into the movie before the fireworks outside woke up Nathan. We rang in the new year sitting in his room, trying to get him to go back to sleep. By then, we were so tired, we gave up on doing any more celebrating and went to bed!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-30T09:40:00.001-08:00

This was the first Christmas in a long time where we didn’t do any traveling, and it was really nice. It was so great to spend Christmas morning in our own house with our own tree, but we also got to spend a lot of time with my family.

Even without travel, I made myself a little crazy this year. I tried so hard to make everything really easy and low-key this year, but I still ended up staying up until almost 2 o’clock on Christmas Eve finishing homemade pajama pants for us to wear.

Ryan turned 29 on Christmas Eve. I’m so happy to celebrate him and his birthday, but I really need to make better deadlines for myself since I really have to stop thinking about Christmas a few days beforehand so I can focus on Ryan.

We had a nice dinner and presents at our house with my family, including my brother Ryan, who flew in from Rexburg that night.

Nathan got to leave cookies for Santa, and eat a few, too.

Christmas morning, Ryan and I woke up before Nathan did and couldn’t go back to sleep so we sat in bed and giggled like little kids until he woke up. There’s just something about Christmas morning that’s fun no matter what age you are.

It was especially fun with Nathan this year. When Ryan asked him was Christmas is about, Nathan excitedly yelled, “JESUS!” I’m so glad we got that point across to him. A few days after Christmas he came into my room and said, “What’s Christmas about? Heavenly Father and Jesus!” I love that kid!

Ryan and I got each other socks for Christmas. Does that make us boring? or just practical?

Our family.

And proof of the darn pajama pants I made.

In the afternoon we went over to my parents house in Puyallup to open more gifts and have a yummy dinner. Kevin was there too, and the whole family was together for the first time in a year.

My grandma sent Nathan these wooden cars that my Grandpa made. He died right after Nathan was born and is the only great-grandparent Nathan never met. I don’t know how long these cars have been around, but I remember playing with them when I was little. I hope Nathan always treasures them.

We spent the whole day in our jammies ( I wanted to make my late night sewing feel worth it) and enjoyed our time celebrating with family.

The Big Reveal . . . Sort of.

2011-12-22T10:14:00.001-08:00

Since we live close to my family now, we wanted to tell them the results of our ultrasound in person. We planned a fun evening that night, after Ryan got home from work. I spent the whole day bursting at the seams because I couldn’t tell anyone until that night. I told my mom, “Don’t call me at all today! I might let something slip!”

I passed the day making cupcakes with pink filling inside, so everyone could take a big bite and get a surprise.

Right before my parents showed up, we decided to Skype with Ryan’s parents and reveal the gender of our baby.

Then, the power went out.

How could we Skype?!

How would anyone know what color was inside their cupcake if they ate them in the dark?!

We ran around lighting candles and pulling out all our emergency flashlights. Nathan thought it was an awesome game. We called Ryan’s parents and told them over the phone.

When it was time for everyone to bite into their cupcakes, we made sure that all the lights were shining as bright as they could. It was fun to surprise everyone and then watch their reaction with a mouth full of cupcake.

The lights came on later that evening, after we built a fire and snacked on more pink pastries. Not exactly the night I’d been hoping for, but it was still a lot of fun.

I didn’t get a lot of pictures, for obvious reasons, but here’s a few of the cupcakes I made.

I had to make sure there wasn’t a hint of pink anywhere on the outside of the cupcake (not like they would have seen it in the dark) and make sure all the cooking utensils that I used to fill the cupcakes were washed, so no one would get a hint.

This is what I did with the extra cake and frosting. A little creepy, but better than filling two dozen cupcakes. Can you see where Nathan’s fingers went in?

Baby Girl

2011-12-14T13:50:00.001-08:00

Our ultrasound was first thing in the morning on Monday, and I could hardly sleep. It was like an early Christmas.

We brought Nathan with us. Ryan and I have both been unsure all along whether we are having a boy or girl, so we knew we were in for a surprise no matter what. The technician started the ultrasound and asked if we wanted to know the gender. We said yes and she tried, but couldn’t see anything. She said she’d try again later. I was so scared we were going to go home not knowing! At the end of the ultrasound, she tried again but no amount of poking or prodding could entice that baby to give us a good look. Finally, the technician said, “well, the baby just closed it’s legs even tighter.” I was kind of freaking out! Finally she said, “I think it’s a girl, but I don’t have any proof for you.” The doctor would try again and give us his opinion.

The doctor never really got the look he was hoping for, but told us he is 95% sure it’s a girl. By the end of the ultrasound he was able to point out what he thought were girl parts, but it would seem she’s quite the little lady and doesn’t want to show off. More likely she’s just really, really stubborn.

So we, are planning on a girl (95% is good enough for me!) but I guess we could end up with a big surprise! Either way, we feel so blessed to know that we have a healthy, beautiful baby coming to our home.

Nathan is the only one who has insisted it’s a girl from the beginning, but when we told him he was right he said, “NO! It’s a boy baby!” I think he just feels it’s his job as a two year old to be contrary about everything in life.

Did you guess right?

2011-12-12T20:52:00.001-08:00

Well, first of all, we have a very modest baby.

Dare I say this baby was even ladylike during the ultrasound?

That’s right! It’s a GIRL!

More to come tomorrow (including pictures).

It’s a . . .

2011-12-11T21:35:00.001-08:00

day before our big ultra sound.

What are your guesses?

I, for one, have no idea!

I’ll let you all know Monday night.

On the Town

2011-12-09T11:27:00.001-08:00

Saturday was Ryan’s big company Christmas party in downtown Seattle. We thought this would be a fun time to celebrate our anniversary since I will either be 9+ months pregnant, in labor, or have a brand new baby on our next anniversary. We left Nathan with my parents on Saturday morning and didn’t pick him up until Sunday evening. It was the perfect break- smack dab in the middle of potty training! We’ve never left Nathan overnight before and we wanted to do it at least once before the baby comes.

We spent Saturday afternoon walking around Pike Place Market. Dinner at the party wasn’t until 7:30 so we stopped at the market to buy some bread and cheese and apples to munch on while we got ready, then headed to our hotel.

I couldn’t resist putting on this fluffy bathrobe while I got ready for the party.

Yep. Ryan is a lucky man.

Our room had a beautiful view of downtown Seattle. We could see the Space Needle, The Convention Center (where the party was), and Washington Federal (where Ryan works).

I always look so silly in pictures we take of ourselves. It’s tough when you have a foot between you in height.

The party was really fun and I’m so glad I got to meet all the people Ryan works with. I felt so pretty, but so exhausted. Pregnant Heather did a lot of walking that day (in heels!) and I had to hold on to Ryan most of the night.

I loved getting dressed up and having a special date with Ryan. Not a bad night for a woman who spends 90% of her time in sweats!

In case you were wondering how Nathan did- he was great! He was really bummed when we told him we had to go home and he even called me Nana once! We should really do this more often.

Funny Nathan

2011-12-02T21:28:00.001-08:00

We were busy in November and I have a bunch of stuff to blog about, but I don’t feel like doing it right now.

Instead, I thought I’d mention a few funny things that Nathan has done lately, that I don’t want to forget.

We went to my parents house for my mom’s birthday and Nathan was watching my mom out the window while she got something from her car. As she walked away, he said, “Nana is so cute!” and I thought, what a sweet boy! Then, on her way back to the house he said, “Here she comes! Nana is a hippo.” Okay. Maybe not.

The other day, I was in the dining room trying to fix Nathan’s booster seat and I was getting frustrated about having to do such a silly little job. Nathan came over to me and said, “You fixing my chair?” When I told him I was, he exclaimed, “Ohhh! Thank you mehmee much!”

This morning I found Nathan singing “Hush Little Baby” to Baby Jesus. Apparently, Mama’s gonna buy him a walking bird.

We have been watching Polar Express all day, every day this week at our house. The other day we went outside to play and Nathan kept telling me, “We have to find the bell! Can you hear it? Lets go! Follow arrows!” and he’d take off running.

Nathan often reminds me that, “Boys is hanthsome and gwuls is pwetty.”

A few of Nathan’s favorite phrases right now are:

why not?
you missed me! (whenever we’ve been away from him)
remember?
everything is always “tonight”, no matter what time of day it is.

Nathan’s new place to play- my broom cupboard in the kitchen.

Also, Nathan has been wearing big boy underwear for nearly a week and is doing amazingly well! I’m so proud of him and can’t believe how fast he’s growing up!

I can’t help myself . . .

2011-11-23T15:58:00.001-08:00

I laugh every time.

We’ve been doing some fun things!

2011-11-14T12:03:00.001-08:00

Even though we’ve been crazy busy with moving in, we’ve managed to do a few fun things while we’ve been here in Washington.

The weekend we moved, we already had plans to meet Ryan’s sister, Janelle, and her husband, Dan. They were visiting Portland (from Arizona) and had planned to drive down to Springfield to see us. Instead, they drove up and we met at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma. We had a picnic lunch and fed the ducks and walked through the rose gardens.

Of course, my camera died right after we got there so I stole most of these pictures from Janelle.

We tried to take a family picture in the rose gardens.

Yeah right!

I wanted to take Nathan to the pumpkin farm to get pumpkins so we went with my mom and Uncle Jesse to Shultz farm, where I used to go when I was little.

He had way more fun that it looks here. He just likes to take everything in.

This little kitchen was Nathan’s very favorite part. He didn’t want to leave. He would have cooked us pumpkins all day if we let him.

I love how they look like they’re deep in conversation.

We were lucky to have Jesse there to push the wheelbarrow with all the pumpkins AND Nathan in it.

We took our pumpkins home and painted them while enjoying pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

As you can see, Nathan REALLY enjoyed the cookies.

Ta DA! (Lisa, do you remember making those milk jug skeletons?)

I had fun making these cute pumpkins too!

Last weekend, Auburn had it’s annual Veteran’s Day Parade and apparently, it’s a pretty big deal. We live right downtown so we couldn’t pass up going when we only had to walk down the street.

My dad and Ryan took a break from painting the garage to join us. The smoke smell is totally gone, by the way.

Nathan loved the motorcycles. It’s a good thing, because there were a ton of them!

Thank you Veterans!

I was supposed to have a baby this week

2011-11-07T13:31:00.001-08:00

I know so many of you have seen this day come and go too.

Instead, I’m feeling the first sweet movements of another baby inside of me.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to bring another child into our home this spring, but I can’t help but reflect right now and wonder what it would be like to have a baby this week. What would Nathan be like as a big brother at 2 1/2, not 3? Amazingly, I had forgotten a lot of the pain and trauma I went through just seven short months ago, but it’s all rushing back to me now. I never want to go through something like that again. I was so unprepared for what I experienced. How can anyone be prepared?

This pregnancy has been so opposite from my last. So much less stress, even though I have been sicker. When I was pregnant before, I bled for nearly 5 weeks before finally losing my baby at about 10 weeks. I think I’m finally coming to terms with the fact that the baby I’m carrying now isn’t going anywhere.

And I’m getting excited! So, enough focusing on the past. Here’s a few fun facts about this pregnancy so far:

Due Date: April 30- I figure I’m looking at the beginning of May and I’m just hoping not to give birth on our anniversary (the 4th). You can’t really skip your kids birthday to go on a date.

Cravings: My most frequent and consistent craving has been salad. Especially apple, cheddar, walnut salad, and right now, my version of Olive Garden’s salad. I ‘m also always craving tart things like apple and oranges, and right now lemonade. And always chocolate.

Morning sickness: I started feeling queasy around 4-5 weeks and suddenly started feeling great again at 12 weeks, with a few bad days to follow. I can finally get through the day without a nap, although I know everyone is happier when I take one.

Boy or girl: we should find out in the next month or so. With Nathan, I knew he was a boy right away but with this baby, I have absolutely no clue. It will be a fun surprise to find out.

Here I am at 12 weeks. I definitely feel bigger this time, and I think this baby is going to be higher than Nathan was. I’m 15 weeks now.

I found a lady nearby that has a birth center in her home, right on a lake and I love her. I got to see her a week or so ago and have my first ultrasound. Nathan and my mom came with me.

Not a great picture, but you get the idea- there’s a baby in there, I haven’t just been eating too much leftover Halloween candy!

Halloween

2011-11-02T12:21:00.001-07:00

We had a pretty low key Halloween this year because I only just started to feel better a week or so ago and before that, I really didn’t care.

The night before Halloween we went down to my parents house for Dinner in a Pumpkin. I brought pumpkin rolls and a special treat for my mom:

She screamed when she saw these. I think she may have called me a mean name too, but I’m not sure because I was too busy giggling.

We all dressed up for dinner, which of course, made it more fun.

Mom and Dad as Spaniards.

I went as Miss Hillary Manderfield and Ryan was Rance, my handyman. I may or may not be carrying his child.

Leslie and Jesse dressed up too, but I didn’t get pictures. Nathan only decided to put on his pirate costume when it was almost time to go. He wasn’t feeling very cooperative.

On Halloween, we ate homemade pizza with blood and bones for dinner.

We had been telling Nathan all day that he got to go Trick or Treating but he’d never done it before so it took some convincing to get him to put his costume on.

He was a little bummed about it at first,

but then his baby dressed up too, and he was suddenly more willing.

ARRR!

The red boots were all his idea, even though they’re too big and he has to shuffle along in them.

We thought we’d just go to a few houses of people we know on the street (the bishop, his nursery teacher) but it took a few houses for him to get into it and he was having so much fun that we kept going. He didn’t want any help from us. He knocked on every door and said “Trick or Treat” (sometimes before the door was opened) and always said, “Thank you.” He got a little nervous about a few scary costumes we saw but by the time we got home he was talking about all the funny faces we saw. When we told him we were going to his nursery teachers door (she lives across the street) he didn’t believe us, but after we left he suddenly said, “Hey! My teacher!” like he finally realized we weren’t lying to him. He really got into everything when someone gave him a sucker. I don’t think he recognized all the candy bars (and hopefully won’t notice as I slowly sneak them away and eat them).

As we headed home, he exclaimed “Nathan is happy!” then pointed to me and Ryan and said, “You happy too?”

I told him he could eat a piece of candy when we got home and he went straight for that sucker!

Nathan was such a cute pirate and had so much fun he even wanted to take a bath in his costume that night!

Playing Catch Up

2011-10-26T15:11:00.001-07:00

Okay, it’s been way too long since I last blogged but I haven’t had a spare moment in weeks. And if I did have a spare moment, I probably fell asleep. It’s been about 3 1/2 weeks since we moved to Washington. Here’s what’s been going on:

The Move

Our move landed right in the middle of my worst morning sickness, but Ryan was kind enough to let Nathan ride in the “Big Truck” with him so I could drive by myself. We’ve made the drive from Springfield to Puyallup many times and it usually takes us about 4-5 hours. This time it took us nearly 8 hours. It was horrible. But, what can I say? Pregnant Heather has to pee a lot.

Who am I kidding?! Normal Heather has to pee a lot. Pregnant Heather has to pee A LOT.

We spent Friday night in Puyallup, then moved into our new house on Saturday. We got a ton of help from our new ward and from my family. Unfortunately, the house was really not ready for us. When we showed up that morning, the previous renter was still moving out and he hadn’t cleaned ANYTHING! Gross. I told the owner and she kindly cleaned the kitchen top to bottom for me while we unpacked. We’re really excited about this house, but let me tell you about a few of the things that have gone wrong since we moved in:

-The house smells like cigarettes. The last guy smoked. It was advertised as a nonsmoking property, but does it really matter if you smoke inside or outside? No, it does not. The garage is the worst, and unfortunately my washer and dryer are out there. So is the furnace, so we are using space heaters right now. To make matters worse, I’ve got the typical pregnancy super sniffer and I can smell things REALLY WELL.

-Then, our washing machine leaked and flooded the garage. Now the washing machine is doing the opposite and the water won’t leave.

-Then, we had fleas. Yes, FLEAS. Apparently, Mister smokey no clean man had a cat. We’ve taken care of that problem but someone might still die.

Also, did I mention that Ryan went to work the Monday after we moved in? We’ve been feeling a little chaotic, to say the least.

On the bright side, we love our new neighborhood and our new ward and I am finding that we’re the perfect distance from friends and family. I got to see Alex right after she had her baby, and Nathan gets to see Nana and Papa all the time. There are 3 other member families on our street, including the nursery leader, and the bishop.

We’re happy to be here and, even with all the stinkyness, I’m so glad we’re not moving again for a long time.

And I will post cute pictures of the inside of the house some day when all the boxes are unpacked and everything is clean. Maybe some time next year?

We’re Still Alive . . . I Think . . .

2011-10-06T14:14:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to quickly update everyone, since we’ve been so so busy lately. We are getting settled in Washington and dealing with unpacking and the ups and downs of a new home. Ryan has been busy at his new job. We’re looking forward to a 3 day weekend together! It’s a huge adjustment having him gone all day after almost 7 months of having him home all the time. I’m having good days and bad days but looking forward to the end of morning sickness and the start of the fun part of pregnancy. Nathan says he likes our new house but keeps telling me he wants to go home. Poor kid. Hopefully things will be better when all the boxes are unpacked and the house feels like a home. I’m shooting for Christmas at this point. More to come!

We’re moving to Washington!!

2011-09-12T17:22:00.001-07:00

This is Ryan writing. A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks. Over the course of the last few I had two job offers. One at Umpqua Bank in Eugene, OR and another at Washington Federal Savings in Seattle, WA. Salary-wise they were pretty comparable. Other than that, every other factor was clearly better at Washington Federal Savings. This afternoon I officially accepted the offer from Washington Federal and declined the one at Umpqua. Here is some information about Washington Federal Savings and my position. I’ll be putting more info on my blog later. http://ryanandhisbike.weebly.com/biking-eugenespringfield.html

I will be working at the corporate headquarters in Seattle. Specifically I will be a Fair Lending/CRA analyst within the Legal and Compliance department. I will be performing statistical analysis of the loan decisions to ensure compliance with fair lending laws. I will also be conducting other statistical analysis that is needed by the bank. This means I will be working with the CFO doing some financial analysis, the Treasurer doing some risk analysis, as well as some other departments as needed. This means I will essentially have 4 or 5 managers.

In the summer of 2007 I worked as a finance intern in their accounting department. I worked with the CFO that summer and through that connection I found this job.

This is a newly created position. My skill set will be unique within the bank. As such I think there are great opportunities for me to take my career wherever I would like.

Washington Federal has branches in WA, OR, ID, NV, UT, AZ, NM, and TX. Currently they have over 13 billion in deposits.

We are sad to be leaving Oregon but are excited to finally move to Washington and settle down.

A Multitude of Blessings

2011-09-09T18:28:00.000-07:00

I was going to keep things quiet and close to my heart for a while this time around, but I don't think I can keep it in any longer.

We're having a baby!

I'm incredibly happy but ridiculously sick. Which is why I decided to fess up and tell you all. I don't think my excuse of "I just wasn't feeling good" is going to last much longer. Plus my mom is telling people willy-nilly. When I was pregnant with Nathan, I gained weight right away and last time I was hardly sick (I know now this was a sign that things weren't going well). This time I've already lost nearly 5 pounds and I'm only 7 weeks along.

I'm not telling you this to complain or appear ungrateful. I just want you all to know that I need your help and your prayers right now. I'm so grateful to know I have all of you wonderful sister-friends, and sister-cousins, and moms, and aunts, and everyone!

More blessings to come: the job search is going GOOO-OOD.

I just wanted to point out that spell check didn't like "willy-nilly" and kindly offered these suggestions instead: willy-billy, willy-silly, willy-dilly, willy-hilly, and willy-filly.

Mom and Leslie Came to Visit

2011-08-23T08:45:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, my Mom and my sister Leslie came down from Washington for a visit.

We headed over to Florence on Friday to enjoy a day at the beach.

Ryan was nice enough (foolish enough?) to let Leslie bury him in the sand.

Here she is drawing a mermaid bra on him. Nice.

It was a lovely day and the sand was warm (and the water was freezing) and we all got a little sun.

Nathan, of course found the biggest stick he could carry. I think we all stayed out of his way for a while.

That night, we stopped at our favorite self-serve frozen Yogurt place. It can get dangerous there.

On Saturday, Mom, Leslie and I went shopping together while Nathan napped and Ryan job hunted. I’m incapable of picking out my own clothes, so it was nice to get a little advice.

That night, Ryan and I got to go on a date while Nathan spent the evening with Nana and Leslie. He’s really into “Blues Clues” right now so Nana made some clues and put them all around the house.

“A CLUE! A CLUE!”

He even used his magnifying glass to find them.

Unfortunately, he found one that didn’t get colored and decided to take matters into his own hands.

We love it when they come to visit!

I’ll Take What I Can Get.

2011-08-18T21:46:00.001-07:00

Tonight Nathan was in a time out for hitting me and I was going through the whole spiel about not hitting and such. I told him he needed to say “Sorry Mommy” before he could come downstairs. I usually don’t get a verbal response, just a hug and a pat on the head, which I’ll take, so when he looked at me so sweetly and sincerely and opened his mouth to speak I thought, “A breakthrough!” But instead of saying “sorry”, Nathan looked right at me and said, “Bless you, Mommy.”

Yes, someone please bless me! I’m gonna need it to get through potty training and my own personal hell called “sacrament meeting with a 2 year old.”

I should probably mention that he has GREASE smeared across his face. It was all over his hands too.

2 Year Old Pictures

2011-07-30T09:21:00.001-07:00

We had kind of a crazy Spring so we were a little late getting Nathan’s 2 year old pictures done, but here are a few I love!

My friend Christy was kind enough to take these for us, even though Nathan is a very unwilling subject.

I just love those eyes!

A reward at the end!

Let’s Go to the Movies! Let’s Go See the Cars!

2011-07-19T20:58:00.001-07:00

We live a pretty boring life. I’m not ashamed to say it.

But this past week, we did a few pretty exciting things.

On Monday, we took Nathan to the theater to see Cars 2. We really wanted to take him and when we found out a way to get free tickets we decided we had to go! Nathan did really good despite the fact that the movie was during nap time. He even whispered for a while. He got bored at the end when he realized he could climb up and down the steps in the theater and Ryan had to take him out.

This was his first movie in the theater so he was a little overwhelmed at first.

He looks super mad at me but I think he was just trying to figure everything out.

On Wednesday we heard about Touch-a-Truck in Eugene and knew that Nathan would love it!

It was a little noisy and overwhelming for him and in the end he really just wanted to play on the swings.

Nathan was really excited to drive the bus. We live right by a bus station and sometimes we sit and watch the buses come and go. He loves them!

Driving the fire truck. He looks so little and so big at the same time!

On Friday, Ryan and I went and did something EPIC! We went on a date! Well, even though that is epic, what I really mean is: We went to see the LAST HARRY POTTER MOVIE EVER! On opening day!

We went with our friends Matt and Christy and I loved it! Thanks so much to Kristin for watching Nathan for us!

I wore the same Harry Potter shirt I’ve worn to every single movie. I bought it when I was about 14.

It fit better then.

I wish I had done something cooler in this picture but you can see that my little hands are clenched in fists of excitement.

Voldemort killed my husband.

A Trip to Washington: Part 1

2011-07-13T13:30:00.001-07:00

Just a note: I didn’t realize how long this post was going to be until I finished it. Some of you will love me for it, and some of you may hate me. Either way, you may want to take a bathroom break and grab a snack before you start reading.

Also, for some reason, if I made the pictures any bigger, they got fuzzy. Maybe I overwhelmed poor Blogger.

We were planning to head up to Washington anyway, but when we found out that Ryan had a job interview in Georgia, we decided to go up early so he could fly out of Seattle. That way I wasn’t alone while he was gone.

My parents have an elementary school at the end of their street, so every time we went outside Nathan would yell, “slide!” and run off down the sidewalk.

I have some pictures of my mom going down the slide too (Nana will do anything for Nathan) but I’m pretty sure she’d kill me if I posted them.

While Ryan was in Georgia, I got in some good “girl” time with my mom and Leslie. We spent some time at the mall and let Nathan play.

He kept pretending that this hippo was eating him. He would crawl in it’s mouth, then get out and walk around spitting and gagging. Apparently he doesn’t think he tastes very good.

Look at that face! Imagine how happy he’ll be when we actually put quarters in them!

Nathan and I went to the Point Defiance Zoo with my parents and Leslie. Ryan was in Georgia, so I took a ton of pictures.

A shark!

We got a great lesson all about the peacock from the guy at the ice cream cart next to him. I guess you learn a lot no matter where in the zoo you work.

Nathan loved the walruses and even came home with a little stuffed one, thanks to Nana.

Nathan and pretty Leslie shared a giant ice cream cone.

The zoo had a fun kids zone, complete with petting zoo.

Here’s Nathan going through the same tube exactly one year ago.

He was so funny. He wanted me to lift him up so he could look through the binoculars, but I noticed that every time he put his eyes up to them , he squeezed his eyes shut. He’ll figure it out eventually . . .

I feel bad for the kid that was on the slide when it broke . . .

Believe it or not, you can scroll down to see part two of our adventure.

A Trip to Washington: Part 2

2011-07-13T13:21:00.001-07:00

While we were in town, Alex and Devan and their kids were in town too so we decided to spend a day in Ocean Shores together.

It was a little chilly for swimming but that didn’t stop all the kids (and some of the adults) from getting wet.

We needed a place to warm up, so we went to the little museum (The Interpretive Center if you want to sound fancy) by the harbor.

Everything in the museum was meant to be touched so it was a great place for our curious toddlers.

I wanted Nathan to get excited about the starfish, but he wouldn’t so I made Ryan do it instead.

After Nathan and Hannah were done ~~fighting over~~ nicely looking out of the window together, it became a great place to dance.

We found that the harbor was much calmer and warmer and more pleasant than the ocean, so we spent the rest of our day there.

Ryan dug a big hole . . .

It was such a fun day together!

While at my parents house, Nathan got to try his first s’mores.

If you know Nathan, you know he HATES things on his fingers. He’s all boy, but he DOES NOT like to be sticky.

I offered to hold it for him.

And once he got a good bite he was hooked! Who cares about sticky fingers when there’s marshmallows and chocolate to be had?!

Ryan is a HUGE Braves fan and for the first time ever, they were playing the Mariners at SafeCo Field in Seattle. Forget about the job interview, this is the REAL reason we went to Washington.

By the way, we’re not moving to Georgia (we’re not moving anywhere, right now).

Father’s Day and My Birthday

2011-07-06T14:26:00.001-07:00

After having nothing to blog about for the last few months, I’m suddenly completely overwhelmed with things to blog about! I guess that’s summer! Of course, I’ve been procrastinating blogging because I’m overwhelmed about everything I have to blog about, which just made the situation worse. Now, I’m diving in head first.

On June 17th I turned 25. It was a really low-key day but I enjoyed every minute of it.

The day started with Fresh Fruit Bruschetta with Honey-Orange Cream. Divine!

And it ended with Greek Chicken Gyros on homemade flat bread. Why is it that my celebrations always end up being about food?! Oh well, calories don’t count on your birthday (this is a FACT).

Oh yeah, and we also had a chocolate cake. I really need to meet my neighbors so I can start giving them baked goods.

And speaking of food, I got this wonderful new cookbook for my birthday and I'm loving it!

Since Father’s Day was just a few days later, we definitely got our fill of celebration. Next year I get to share my birthday with Father’s Day so Ryan and I are going to have to do something really special!

I made Ryan a new apron (since he loves to cook for me so much). I gave him an apron when we were engaged but it’s looking pretty gross now.

It was really fun to have these days almost back to back so we could spend the whole weekend doing nice things for each other!

25

2011-06-17T12:04:00.001-07:00

We’ve all heard the saying, “hindsight is better than foresight”, and if you’re like me, you’ve probably been hearing it from your mom. Foresight is kind of out the window for me right now so I thought I’d think a little bit about hindsight. Today is my 25th birthday and I have no idea where my life is headed. I wish that an older, more mature Heather could come and tell me where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing in the future. I remember wishing this as a teenager too. I would have jumped at the chance to be told what my future held. So, 15 year old Heather, I’m here to tell you a thing or two about your life over the next ten years.

1. Love your body. Please. Cherish those pre-pregnancy hips and know that you are beautiful just the way you are.

2. You know that guy you’ve been dreaming about? Well, he’s even better than you imagined. Oh, yeah, and you’re going to marry him a lot sooner than you think!

3. Yes, you will have heartache, but you will also have joy beyond anything you can imagine.

4. There is life beyond BYU. As a matter of fact, you should definitely make sure to apply to SVU. And get used to traveling.

5. Figure out who you are and what you want in life, then fight for it! Enjoy the journey and DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF!

I know this isn’t a great picture, but it’s the only picture I have from when I was 15. I took it of myself and included it in a letter I wrote to my future husband.

Graduation Day!

2011-06-14T19:29:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Ryan’s official graduation day. He finished classes back in March so we kind of celebrated then. In March we really expected we would have moved on by now, so we didn’t plan on doing graduation until a few weeks ago when it became apparent that we wouldn’t be going anywhere any time soon. Consequently, Nathan and I were the only ones there to support Ryan in person. I know a lot of other people were there supporting him in spirit.

The ceremony for the whole school was in the morning and the ceremony for Economics was in the afternoon so we decided to stay on campus all day rather than come and go all day.

The day started off not so good when we missed our bus and had to run to catch a different one. It was all my fault and I was so afraid Ryan would be late. We made it on time and Nathan and I tried to find a seat. I was alone with Nathan and I had the stroller and enough stuff to get us through the day with a grumpy toddler (in other words- a whole lot of junk!) and there was no where for me to sit with the stroller. I had to rely on a few good Samaritans to help me maneuver. The first part of the ceremony was the “Duck Walk”. All the graduates came onto the field and walked around the track. Is it lame that I totally started to cry? Anyway . . . we were sitting really close so we ate snacks and waited for Daddy to walk by. I thought I got a really cute video of Ryan as he passed. Nathan was so excited to see him and didn’t understand why he didn’t get to come sit with us. Unfortunately I never turned the camera on. Yea, one of the those moments.

Nathan only lasted through the first half hour of the ceremony so we spent the next hour running around (he ran, I chased).

We did get a few good pictures of Ryan afterwards, though. Can you see him? He’s the tall one with the burnt orange hood. He complained about the color but at least he wasn’t one of the guys wearing a pink tassel!

Also, check out the weird-o arm things on his robe. We joked about all the things he could hide inside (snacks, an umbrella, etc.) His friend chose to use his arm pockets for his flask. How that man managed to finish his Masters degree I don’t know.

Between ceremonies we wandered around campus and got lunch.

There was a little kids booth with play dough and coloring pages and puzzles. Nathan had a lot of fun playing.

Mostly, we spent our time taking turns chasing after Nathan. I really don’t know how the kid had so much energy! He woke up at 5 that morning and only slept for about an hour in his stroller, but the whole time he was awake it was go go go!!!

The afternoon ceremony was a lot more personal since it was just the Economics department. Only a few people graduated with a doctorate and only 3 graduated with a Masters. When Ryan’s name was called, his advisor said a few nice things about him. I had coached Nathan to yell “Yay Daddy!” when it was Ryan’s turn. Ryan says he couldn’t hear him but you can hear him in the video.

Untitled from Ryan Bartron on Vimeo.

After we cheered for Ryan we had to get out of the sun and move around a little bit. Guess who we found?

We followed the duck around for a while, then stayed in the shade and tried to cool down. After a while I thought about trying to sit back down again, but guess who was in my seat!

We found some really fun construction in the back instead.

Yay Graduates!

Can you tell we are all hot , tired, and ready to go home?

One last picture!

We hopped on the bus and headed home to a yummy dinner in the crockpot- and, of course, cheesecake!

Nathan did a really good job holding on in the bus just like mom and dad. What a day!

Just Dance

2011-06-06T09:56:00.001-07:00

Lately, I’ve been trying to dance my way to a skinnier Heather, so I’ve been using my Wii Just Dance game every morning. Nathan likes to do it with me and he’s getting pretty good!

Nathan Dances 2 from Ryan Bartron on Vimeo.

Nathan Dances 3 from Ryan Bartron on Vimeo.

Another Day . . .

2011-06-03T21:15:00.001-07:00

Have you ever seen the movie Groundhog Day? I’m sure you all have. That’s my life right now. Except, instead of waiting for a furry little rodent to poke it’s head out, we’re waiting for much bigger things. And every day is the same old nothing. I was literally shocked to find out that it’s June. When Mother’s Day rolled around, I was sure it wasn’t coming for another month or so. Because all our days are melting into one eternal day. The same thing every single day. I think I’ve lost touch with reality a bit.

So, no blog posts lately because there’s really nothing going on over here. However, Ryan and I did get to do one fun thing recently. Last week, we finally got to go out and celebrate our anniversary (Ryan was sick then) by going out to dinner. We went to a yummy Italian restaurant and had such a nice night (all made possible by Corrine- thank you!)

Since we didn’t take any pictures of our anniversary last year, we tried really hard this year to get some good documentation, but we just really aren’t all that good at taking pictures of ourselves. Must be the height difference.

A cute guy WITH desserts? Yes, please!

And speaking of Groundhog Day, if you love Bill Murray movies you MUST watch The Man Who Knew Too Little. Funniest movie. Grandpa loves this movie. When we first watched it with him he tried to explain the movie to us but he was laughing and wheezing so hard he couldn’t speak. Check it out!

Random Projects

2011-05-23T21:19:00.001-07:00

I used to do a really good job of posting all my completed projects at the end of each month, but I’m just not getting that much finished any more. I have, however, completed a few projects over the last 4 or 5 months that I want to share.

Remember the giveaway I did back in March? These are a few of the flowers I made for my winner, Sara. I have to say, I fell in love with them so much, I almost kept them and made Nathan wear them!

I started working on this apron ages ago, but had to quit when other projects came up and then my sewing machine broke. I finally finished it and I love it! It feels good to replace my old apron- a gift I got from my Mia Maid teacher! And now I feel like I have a little more sass in the kitchen!

My mom gave me this old bulletin board and I covered it and made it into a flannel board for Nathan.

This is a picture frame turned into a white board. So easy and fun. I want to make more!

I made myself this yoga skirt from this tutorial from Make it and Love it. It was SO easy! I never even had to pull my seam ripper out. For me, that’s a big deal. It’s also the most comfortable thing I’ve ever worn in my life. I want to make about 20 more for the summer.

(It’s so dang hard to take a self portrait!)

Now here are a few things I haven’t finished yet, because I need some advice:

Okay, so this HOME sign and I have a real love/hate relationship. Originally, it was white with a picture inside the “O”. It blended in with our white walls too much so I painted it navy blue. It just needs something hanging from the hooks, or something else to snazz it up.

I made these cute yellow fabric rolled flowers because my kitchen is blue and yellow. Now I’m just not sure what to do with them. I could make more. I could hang them, or glue them on. Any ideas?

We (and by we I mean Ryan) finally finished painting Nathan’s bed frame. We got the whole thing a a garage sale last summer for a great price. We were told it may have originally been a hospital bed. What can I do to it to make it look less hospital-y? Also, Nathan had already learned the hard way that he should NOT put his head through the bars, so I’m thinking I should do something to cover them. What do you think?

Silhouette Giveaway!

2011-05-19T19:36:00.001-07:00

I would love to win this! I'm so excited for this giveaway from Southern Hospitality!

http://southernhospitalityblog.com/its-a-fabulous-crafty-cutting-silhouette-giveaway/

Silhouette Giveaway!

2011-05-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

Another one!

http://www.whipperberry.com/2011/05/t-shirt-love-with-silhouette-giveaway.htm

Silhouette Giveaway!

2011-05-19T19:05:00.001-07:00

I’m desperate for a Silhouette machine! DESPERATE!

http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2011/05/silhouette-heat-transfer-project-and.html

Random Nathan

2011-05-13T13:25:00.001-07:00

I try to do regular posts of our family, but it seems I always end up with a handful of pictures that don’t really go with anything. I have a bunch of cute Nathan pictures that I just have to share!

I think these pictures were taken some time in the beginning of April. We had a nice day and decided to go out in our tiny backyard and create some masterpieces.

That evening Ryan brought his grill out to cook us dinner. When Nathan saw that it had wheels, he exclaimed, “TRUCK!” I had to explain to him that the grill gets very hot and that he should never touch it. So what does he call it now? HOT TRUCK. Every time he sees it.

Nathan was pretending to fall asleep against the screen door. Not sure why . . .

We played the “run around with a bucket on your head” game for a while.

Nathan and Daddy made sugar cookies together.

I made homemade yogurt popsicles and Nathan had a lot of fun eating his.

Lately, every time we leave the house, Nathan MUST wear his hat and glasses. It’s so funny! He calls himself a “cool cool guy” and definitely has a little strut while he’s wearing them. Also, notice the magnifying glass in his hand. For some reason that often seems to be a part of the ensemble.

Also, we took Nathan in for his 2 year appointment the other day, and he is growing tall and thin. Not surprised about that! He’s about 30 lbs and 37 inches tall.

Mother’s Day 2011

2011-05-10T15:53:00.001-07:00

I had a nice Mother’s Day this year, despite the fact that Ryan has been sick all week (we didn’t even get an anniversary celebration). He still tried to make the day special for me. The boys presented me with a yummy smelling candle and a homemade card in the morning. Nathan was so excited to give it to me.

Nap + foot soak + chocolate + 2 great guys = 1 happy momma!

You can tell he really can’t get enough of me, right?

(Check out last year’s Mother’s Day picture. I see a common theme and I’m not sure I like it!)

Yummy, yummy chocolate mousse.

We all had a hard time waiting for it to be ready.

I love being Nathan’s Mom!

Escape to Florence

2011-05-02T09:56:00.001-07:00

No, not Florence, Italy. Although that would have been a wonderful vacation as well! We live about an hour away from Florence, on the Oregon coast. We desperately needed to get out of the house and make some happy memories, so we threw caution to the wind, disregarded the fact that we have no income, and went on a little vacation. It was a short trip. We left on the 19th and came home on the 20th, but it was wonderful! We’ve NEVER gone on vacation just for the heck of it before. NEVER! We travel to visit family a lot but this was our first real vacation.

The ocean was beautiful and blue.

We got the Florence before we could check in to the hotel, so we drove out to the Sea Lion Caves.

This, ladies and gentlemen (are there actually any gentlemen reading my blog?!), is the world’s largest sea lion cave. Can you see them? The rocks are covered. Nathan wasn’t too sure about all the “dinosaurs” and I wasn’t too sure about the smell, but overall, it was pretty cool!

Some nice girls took a family picture for us.

This is the view from our hotel room! Amazing!

Room service is just getting younger and younger these days.

We had some lunch on the balcony, then spent the afternoon on the beach, despite the crazy wind.

Happy Birthday Alex!

It was sunny and beautiful, but remember, we’re in Oregon, so it was also freakishly cold.

The hotel

Living in the lap of luxury in his queen-sized bed.

The hotel had an indoor pool with a kids area that we decided to take advantage of. Apparently we were the only ones, which is fine by me because the less people that see me in a bathing suit, the better!

Nathan was timid at first . . .

but after a while we had a hard time keeping up with him so he wouldn’t just jump in and drown.

When we got back to the hotel, Nathan got right down to business making some phone calls. This was his absolute favorite thing on the trip! Ryan really likes this picture because you can see Nathan’s shoes and pants discarded in the background. He says it looks like Nathan came home from a long day at work, got comfortable, grabbed a binky, and started talking on the phone.

Our room had a full kitchen so Ryan made us a yummy dinner- complete with easy mac for Nathan.

The sun is in my eyes, but the point is- we had ice cream!

Speaking of the sun, we spent the evening watching it set and it was so beautiful! We took a ton of pictures. Here’s a few:

I must really be a Northwest girl, because I thought the ocean was the most beautiful early the next morning when everything was gray and wet.

We took one last trip outside (it was way too cold to go close to the water) before we drove home.

Look, Mom! Birds! (He keeps calling me Mom, not mommy or mama. What the heck?! I’m not ready to be Mom!)

This was such a healing trip for us. The hotel was totally quiet and empty and the ocean was relaxing and it was just what we needed!

Easter

2011-04-30T07:48:00.001-07:00

We had a low key Easter at home this year. It was nice to relax and enjoy the Sabbath.

I made Nathan a really cute little tie a few weeks ago, but this is seriously the only picture of him wearing it I could get. The kid just does NOT sit still! His new favorite thing is to put two binkies in and run around. He thinks he’s so funny! Oh boy.

Nathan was excited to see what the Easter Bunny left him.

Once he found a car in his basket, nothing else really mattered.

Ryan made our entire beautiful Easter dinner while I stayed in bed. What would I do without such an amazing man?!

After dinner, we did a small Easter egg hunt around the house for Nathan. He caught on pretty quick and we’re still playing the “hide the egg” game on a daily basis.

(Look! I really was there too!)

Loss

2011-04-22T18:48:00.001-07:00

This past week I suffered a miscarriage. Our hearts are broken. I am finally starting to feel better physically, but I know it will be a long process to recover emotionally. Right now, we are grateful for a knowledge of eternal families, and for all the tender mercies that have been given to us. For one, since Ryan hasn’t found a job yet, he has been home with me 24/7. He’s done all the cooking, cleaning, and taking care of Nathan.

Right now, we are at home, spending time together and trying to heal. I have good days, and bad days, good moments and bad moments. I’m just grateful to know that Jesus Christ died for me and that He felt my pain (both physical and emotional). That knowledge will help me heal in time.

Party Time

2011-04-12T15:42:00.001-07:00

This year, because I’m crazy, we had 2 birthday parties for Nathan. We had a friend party the week before his birthday because his birthday fell on the same weekend as General Conference. We had another party on his birthday with family.

Nathan’s friend party was Pirate themed. Nathan loves pirates and has been known to randomly shout out a resounding, “ARRR!”

He had a few friends over for lunch and pirate cupcakes.

The weekend of Nathan’s birthday was jammed packed with fun. Nana and Papa and Auntie Leslie came down from Washington to help us celebrate.

“CHEESE!”

We went to Sweety’s for frozen yogurt on Friday night. Serve yourself and over 50 toppings can be very dangerous.

On our way home, I asked Nathan if Nana, Papa, and Leslie could sleep at our house so they would be there for his birthday. We hadn’t really talked about it much yet. His eyes lit up and he looked at me and said, “CAKE?!” He’s a quick learner.

Saturday was Nathan’s birthday and we spent the day eating Nathan’s favorite foods, letting Nathan open presents, and watching General Conference.

He got a table of his own from me and Ryan. He loves to invite his toys to sit with him at meals.

In between conference sessions we went to Roaring Rapids for pizza. He was a little wary of it all at first.

I love his Mr Collins style curl on the side.

He warmed up quite a bit once he saw the games.

He also went on his first Carousel ride with Auntie Leslie.

It’s amazingly difficult to get good pictures on a moving carousel.

We took advantage of a little bit of sunshine to get a family picture on the patio overlooking the Willamette River. We’re so glad to be living in the beautiful Northwest again.

We all had fun, but I don’t think Nathan even ate any pizza. Oh well, the Birthday Boy gets what the Birthday Boy wants.

Even if that means drinking orange juice and milk at the same time. GROSS!

Nathan had a chocolate truck cake for his party that night. I was too impatient to do a crumb coat so we just said is was a dirty truck.

I mean, who really cares as long as it’s chocolate?

By the way, the recipe for this fantastic chocolate cake can be found here: http://bestfoodsforever.blogspot.com/

Nathan got so many fun new toys (all the noisy ones came from grandparents) including his very own tricycle. I would call this year a birthday success!

2 years old!

2011-04-05T20:57:00.001-07:00

Saturday was Nathan’s 2nd birthday. He’s such a big boy now!

Some fun things we love about Nathan:

He loves to sing. We often hear him singing little songs that he made up. His favorite (and ours too) goes like this, “me me me . . . SOOOONG!” I have no idea where he came up with it, but it’s so funny!

He has recently become very interested in babies. Let’s hope that lasts!

(I found Nathan and his bear on the couch like this, watching a movie.)

Nathan knows colors and is working on shapes. He’s so smart!

Nathan is really good about folding his arms for prayer, but he usually shouts “APEN” about 5 words into it.

Nathan is VERY stubborn and determined, sometimes a little too determined.

Nathan is a very polite boy. He’s so good at remembering to say please and thank you, and most recently “your wa-cone”, which he says to himself after saying thank you.

I don’t know where it came from, but Nathan has crazy wavy hair that seems to go everywhere!

Nathan loves cars and trucks. Anything with wheels is a truck and must be driven around.

(Nathan had to have all the trucks in sight at the computer with him.)

Nathan is still definitely a “mama’s boy” but he loves to have fun with his daddy too. Ryan always says, “Hey, Bub!” to him, so now he calls Daddy “Bub” too.

One of my favorite things Nathan has been saying lately is, “Wow, cool!” He just sounds so grown up!

Nathan has recently gotten really picky about what clothing he wears, and prefers to pick it out himself. He also likes to pick the color of his diaper.

(The other night, Nathan couldn’t decide which jammies he wanted to wear, so Ryan finally gave up and put all 3 pairs on him. Don’t worry, we took most of them off before bed time.)

Nathan is happy to go potty in his big boy potty when we ask him, but we aren’t too serious about potty training yet.

Nathan loves to hide, and often falls asleep with his face underneath his pillow.

Nathan is the greatest joy in our lives. He is so sweet and kind and wonderful. He makes us giggle and makes us happy every single day!

Brand New Nathan

One Year Old Nathan

Two Year Old Nathan

Oh Baby! Some Exciting News . . . A New Addition!

2011-04-01T00:06:00.001-07:00

It case you didn’t notice, I’ve been leading you on all week. And yes, I know it’s April Fool’s Day, but this is no joke!

We’re having a baby!

I figure I am about 9 weeks along, which means I am due about the first week of November.

I feel so blessed to get to bring another child into our home.

A New Addition

2011-03-30T11:52:00.001-07:00

We have a new addition to our blog family. Now that Ryan has a bit more spare time, he is writing a blog about his experiences with his bike. Since it seems I rarely talk about Ryan on this blog (sorry, honey!), it will be a fun way for you all to see what’s going on with him.

Check it out!

http://ryanandhisbike.weebly.com/biking-eugenespringfield.html

I also have a link on the right hand side of this blog, because I really do love him!

Some Exciting News!

2011-03-28T07:46:00.001-07:00

We have a winner for the giveaway!

Congratulations to Sara Talbot!

Sara is a friend of mine from our days in Utah and she’s having a baby girl in a few months. Baby girls LOVE cutesy hair flowers!

Sara, let me know what your address is (you can send me a message on Facebook, if you want) and I’ll get those sent out soon (I can at least promise you’ll get them before June).

Thank you all for commenting and for reading my blog. I wish I could send you each a prize, I really do. But don’t worry, I had so much fun with this, there’s bound to be a next time!

Oh, Baby!

2011-03-27T14:05:00.001-07:00

This has been a crazy, crazy week! I’m so glad Ryan has been home with me this week because if he wasn't I would be dead by now. Really. I would be dead. I’m not exaggerating. I still haven’t even blogged about St. Patrick’s Day! Now you KNOW I’ve been busy! Here goes!

We made a quick trip up to Washington for St. Patrick’s Day weekend. It was a ton of fun and great to see family. Leslie is always willing to let us use her room while we are there, but Ryan was a little wary of going to sleep in such close proximity to Justin Bieber.

We Wards know how to PARTY!

I think I’ve corrupted him. I think he doesn’t mind.

My Little Leprechaun

Ryan caught a leprechaun! Really, I think we had to catch him to get a picture of him!

We had a yummy dinner, complete with a treasure hunt.

We had wonderful company too. Our friend Natalie joined us for dinner. We always love when we get to see her.

Even Kevin came down to join the festivities.

(I made him dress up)

I did not have to make Leslie dress up. Nor did I tell her to caress the jug of milk. She did that all on her own.

Really, people! What’s with the creepiness?! Am I the only normal fanatic in the family?!

On Friday we did a little surprise celebration for Ryan’s graduation.

He was surprised.

We had to leave on Saturday but we stopped on our way home at some outlet stores. You know how most little kids have some sort of “lovey” that goes everywhere with them? Nathan has one too, and it’s weird. Have you ever seen those little plastic holders that Bath and Body Works sells for their small bottles of hand sanitizer? Well, that’s what he loves. He carries one everywhere- has since he was a baby. We call it his twirly. Thankfully, we can pick up replacements for 50 cents. So, we stopped to buy him a few. You should have seen his face when we walked into the store and he saw buckets of them! Somehow, we only left with 3 new ones.

He was pretty happy about that.

Oh yeah, the title of this post is “Oh, Baby” because we also brought home Leslie’s old doll carriage and baby doll for Nathan to play with. He has been obsessed lately with pushing his stroller around the house and we thought this would be a bit more manageable. He loves it! He’s so nice to the baby and he loves to load up the carriage with toy cars and drive it around the house. Funny kid.

The other day when I put him down for his nap, he insisted the baby, the carriage, and his plastic chair all come in bed with him- as well as his usual cars and trucks and the previously mentioned twirlies. This is getting a little out of hand!

200

2011-03-17T08:21:00.001-07:00

This is my 200th post! I think that means it’s time for a giveaway!

I must be a super slow blogger because I really thought I’d reach 200 by Christmas and be able to do a holiday giveaway, but here we are in March, finally getting around to 200. But really, what better day than St. Patrick’s Day for a giveaway?!

What will I be giving away? Well, since I’m poor, and have a broken sewing machine, but also because I’m obsessed with all kinds of cutesy hair flowers, I will be giving away an assortment of cutesy hair flowers!

The giveaway ends on Sunday, March 27th and the winner will be announced on Monday. Just leave me a comment to be entered.

May the luck of the Irish be with you!

As Nathan would say, “Da dada da dada da dada DAAAA!”

2011-03-16T15:09:00.001-07:00

It’s official, Ryan is finished with Graduate school! I’m so proud of him. He is now the proud owner of a Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Oregon. We made it! We really really really really made it. A few weeks ago Ryan said to me, Get ready to say goodbye to being students!” and I said, “Yeah!” then, “wait, YEAH! What will that be like?” I’m really not sure. We’ve never not been students before. I’m thinking it will be GREAT!

I am so proud of Ryan and all the hard work he’s done the past few years. He’s so brilliant and passionate about what he’s learning.

I don’t know what lies in store for our family right now, but I know we can look forward to a lot of wonderful things and a lot of big, exciting changes. Where will we go? We have no idea? When will we get there? Don’t know. But we know that Heavenly Father will take care of us, just like He always has before. In the meantime, Ryan gets to spend some time at home with me and Nathan and we’re gonna have some FUN!

How did Ryan celebrate the end of school (FOREVER)?

With a 5 pound Costco cheesecake, of course!

It’s a good thing I’m here to help him eat it.

Nathan Knows His Colors!

2011-03-11T11:47:00.001-08:00

Untitled from Ryan Bartron on Vimeo.

Chuck E Cheese

2011-03-10T17:03:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago Nathan got invited to a birthday party for his friend, Micah, at Chuck E Cheese. He was pretty excited because we live right next to Chuck E Cheese and every time we go past it, he excitedly points out the “kitty” on the front.

He had a lot of fun on the rides, but got a little nervous when we showed him how they could move. He preferred just sitting on them.

Then he figured out how to put his tokens in the slots of the games- that was the best game he could imagine! So he put the tokens in over and over and we pushed the buttons for him. He had a blast. And Ryan and I had some fun too.

This was supposed to be a picture of Nathan and Micah playing the froggy game together, but my camera is slow, so it ended up being an “intervention picture”. Something about not hitting and taking turns pushing the buttons.

Nathan discovered the tunnels and wanted to go exploring. I said, “Go for it, Nathan! Daddy will take you!”

In the middle of yelling “Hewoooooo!”

He got here and yelled down to me, “I stuck! I stuck!” while he grabbed the bars and tried to figure out a way to get to me. I’m pretty sure it was Ryan who got stuck, though.

They made it out!

Micah, the birthday boy, with Chuck E Cheese.

Cupcakes! Yum!

Nathan’s Antics

2011-03-05T15:15:00.001-08:00

Nathan turns 2 in about a month and I’m planning to write a post about him then, but I know it’s going to be long, so I thought I’d write a few of the funny things he’s been doing and saying lately.

Every time he does anything, he must have fanfare and shouts a loud “ Da da da DA!!” Or sometimes it’s more like “Da da da da da da da da da DAAAAAAAA!”

Every time I feed Nathan anything, he has to have some on every plate he owns. No wonder I feel like I’m raising a herd of puppies instead of one boy.

Nathan knows the song “The Wheels on the Bus”, as well as all of the hand motions. He sings it ALL THE TIME.

Nathan loves the Toy Story movies and has recently started saying, “To Infinity and Beyond” only it sounds like “mumble mumble mumble DOND!”

We live in a duplex and I don’t think Nathan understands what’s going on when we can hear the neighbors through the wall. The other day, he stopped and said, “What’s that?!” Then ran into the nearest bedroom and looked around. He came back, gesturing around himself and said, “I see nothing! I see nothing!”

He also likes to walk into an empty room and yell, “Hello? Anybody home?” I don’t know where he learned that but I’m pretty sure he thinks we have some weird phantoms living in our house with us.

Currently, Nathan’s favorite activity is painting. He paints every single day. It’s getting a little out of hand.

And sometimes the paint doesn’t go where it’s supposed to.

Nathan is the proud owner of 10 toy cars from the movie Cars and they go everywhere with him. EVERYWHERE. Luckily, he has a special bag that his Grandma made him, because it’s really hard to juggle a toddler and 10 cars. I really have no idea how he sleeps with them all in his bed, but if they ALL don’t join him he does not go to sleep. Silly boy!

Valentine’s Day

2011-02-23T07:06:00.001-08:00

I know I’m a bit late, but I wanted to blog about our Valentine’s Day. We had a pretty low-key day. I made heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast because that is a Valentine’s Day must.

Ryan was away at school all day so my little mini Valentine and I spent the day together. I tried to get him to say “I love you!” all day but he wasn’t having it. He did get pretty excited when I gave him a cookie, though.

I made a yummy dinner for all of us to share (even though we had a broken oven).

My Valentines

Hmm. I just realized that we made sure to get a picture of me and Nathan, but not me and Ryan. Isn’t that the way it goes?

After dinner we watched the movie “Chocolat” and ate chocolate -of course!

Dress Advice, Take 2

2011-02-15T13:33:00.001-08:00

So, I bought a dress. Dress #2. I was really excited about it and couldn’t wait to try it on. Horrible. That dress does not work for me AT ALL. Bummer. So, I’m going to return it and try again. This means I need your help again. I went through and picked every dress that I was even a little bit interested in. I’m a little bit limited because I have a coupon so I can’t buy any of the boutique dresses. So, here we go again. And thanks again for the help. What would do without you all?

Bear with me, because this is a lot of dresses and the best way for me to do this is just give all the links. Here we go. . .

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-493-amethyst.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-420-azure-coast.aspx

https://www.shabbyapple.com/p-723-gray-fox.aspx

https://www.shabbyapple.com/p-703-tanglewood.aspx

https://www.shabbyapple.com/p-743-mariposa-grove.aspx

https://www.shabbyapple.com/p-922-bali-hai.aspx

https://www.shabbyapple.com/p-613-champs-elysees.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-929-mauna-kea.aspx

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-730-double-rainbow.aspx

10.

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-609-le-coeur.aspx

11.

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-670-le-seine.aspx

12.

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-760-samarkand.aspx

13.

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-48-buttoned-up.aspx

14.

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-494-jade.aspx

Thank you Thank you!

What we’ve been up to

2011-02-14T15:56:00.001-08:00

I already wrote about the yuckiness of our year so far, but we’ve had some nice moments too. And of course, this post should really be titled, “What Nathan has been up to” because it’s all about him! Here’s the past month or so in pictures:

One of Nathan’s favorite things to do lately is “wash” things. He makes such a big mess but it makes him so happy.

Nothing more fun than playing in a big box!

And what came in this big box, you might ask?

A new vacuum for mommy!

It’s smaller than our old one, but oh so much better.

Nathan has also finally decided he likes to sit down and do activities. His favorite thing to do is paint. Sometimes it only lasts 5 minutes, I love that he sits still for even that long.

We had a couple of nice days in January and made sure to spend some time outside in the sunshine.

I caught Nathan lounging on the couch and watching a movie on our Ipod the other day. He has quite the life!

I usually leave Nathan downstairs with a show on while I take a quick shower, but the other day, he decided to join me- with his clothes still on!

I found this great Buzz Lightyear Rocket tent for 75% off and couldn’t resist it. Nathan loves to play in it and apparently fill it with cooking utensils.

When we were outside the other day, I got a great video of Nathan doing all the animal noises he knows. Then, I realized I had accidently taken the whole thing sideways (we’re really tired over here) so this video is attempt two. You can tell he’s thinking, “Mom! I just did this!”

Untitled from Ryan Bartron on Vimeo.

Do you see how short and grown-up his hair is in the last pictures? I seriously teared up every time I looked at him for the first week after we cut it.

Dress Advice

2011-01-27T18:59:00.001-08:00

I’ve been trying to find myself a cute dress for church for a long time. I finally have it narrowed down to a few choices but I need some help. First of all, I’m terrible at making decisions. Second, I totally doubt my fashion sense. Here are the three I’m debating about. What do you think?

These are not the best pictures, so I also added the link for each one.

https://www.shabbyapple.com/p-52-ballerina.aspx

https://www.shabbyapple.com/p-348-bon-voyage.aspx

https://www.shabbyapple.com/p-723-gray-fox.aspx

Thanks for the help!

Is it February yet?

2011-01-26T17:09:00.001-08:00

I hate to say it, but I really don’t like this time of year. It’s just so gloomy. It’s still winter, but no the cheery kind of winter that comes with Christmas. It’s just kind of soggy.

Usually, February is the worst month of all for me. Even though it is short, it seems to drag on and on. I just can’t ever wait to get to my favorite time of year- SPRING!

But this year, I’m begging February to come so that I can get as far away from January as possible. Wait- before I go any further, I would just like to say that I am exceptionally blessed and truly happy with my life. I just want to let you all know why I have such dark circles under my eyes, and why I may be a little grumpy.

We got home from our lovely Christmas vacation to Arizona and I had a nasty back injury from sitting on the airplane all funny. Then, we all got a yucky cold and flu that hit really hard.

The bright spot in our month was the one week we were all well, and for the first time since November (really) my house was clean and my Mom came to visit for the weekend. It was so nice to see her. Actually, we see her quite often but it had been a really long time since she had come down to see us. We got to relax and spend some time together and we finally went to Sweety’s for frozen yogurt. HELLO! I could go there every single day and not get tired of it. Seriously. 9 different kinds of yogurt and over 60 toppings?! Did I mention that it’s a SELF SERVE frozen yogurt place? Yummy!

Unfortunately, the day Mom left, Nathan came down with the flu. This time it was the barfing kind. Yay. Then I got it, then Ryan got it. Now, we are all well. We did end up taking Nathan to the ER after 4 days of being sick, but thankfully he wasn’t dehydrated yet. They gave him some medicine for his sick tummy, and within minutes he was sitting up begging for snacks (after eating pretty much nothing all week).

Yesterday, we were finally all healthy again and now the car won’t start. Dang. I guess I should take this opportunity to catch up on laundry or something.

So anyway, I’m thinking that this year February can only be a step up, right?

Okay, now a little bit of good thoughts because I really don’t want to be ungrateful. I’ve been following a new diet and so far I’ve lost about 6 pounds. It feels really good to be taking such good care of my body. Although, I’ve been aching for more of that frozen yogurt . . .

Also, I’m planning a giveaway in the somewhat near future. I’ve been wanting to do a giveaway once I hit 200 posts and I’ve got less than 10 to go! YAY!

All right, enough rambling for today!

Christmas Post Number 3

2011-01-11T12:15:00.001-08:00

Not only do we get to celebrate Christmas Eve on the 24th, we also get to celebrate Ryan’s birthday. He turned 28 this year and we had a lot of fun celebrating with his family.

His mom made her special French toast for breakfast and Ryan opened up his gifts.

Later that day, Janelle, Dan and all their kids came over for an early Christmas. We opened presents with them and spent some time with them that afternoon.

I found this great shirt for Nathan to wear for the holiday. If you can’t read it, it says, “Believe me, I’m nice!”

For his birthday dinner, Ryan wanted to do a Pizza Bar and it was delicious! We made at least a half a dozen different kinds of pizza.

Toppings and Sauces

Bob’s Super Meat Pizza. I think there’s a crust under there.

Yum! Now I’m hungry for pizza again!

We also celebrated with Cheesecake. Of course!

He looks patient, but I’m sure he would have downed that whole thing if given the chance!

Nathan got to “help” blow out the candles. Good thing, cause there were a LOT!

Christmas morning we finally had to wake Nathan up because we were too excited to open presents.

Santa came! Although, Santa returned that toy and bought a better one after he saw how flimsy it was.

This was Nathan’s face when he realized that his stocking was full of toy cars!

Grandma

Grandpa

A mini foosball table! Sweet!

Speaking of sweet, here’s a small sample of all the Christmas cookies. Still, I managed to go a whole two weeks sugar free.

After Christmas we headed back to Washington to spend the New Year with my family. Unfortunately, I hurt my neck and back sitting on the airplane on the way home so I didn’t take very many pictures at all. I did get a picture of Nathan opening his new Toy Story comforter for his big boy bed.

I also found a few from Washington before we went to Arizona that I wanted to share.

Ryan trying on Leslie's white elephant gift. In case you can’t tell, it sparkles.

Mom and Dad on their way to a fancy dinner for Boeing.

We made it home just in time for everyone to get a yucky cold. I think we are now finally starting to recover from our wonderful vacation!

Christmas Post Number 2

2011-01-11T09:12:00.001-08:00

One of the great things about being on vacation is that you can spend a lot of time relaxing and doing things you’ve been wanting to do for a long time. I spent a lot of my vacation time reading. One day, Ryan spent an entire afternoon building a block tower. He keeps telling me we need to buy some good old blocks for Nathan but I think they might secretly be for him.

He was kind enough to let Nathan knock it over when he woke up from his nap.

Wednesday, the 22nd was a really great day for me. Ryan, Nathan, and I drove up to Scottsdale to visit my Grandma Beverly’s grave. We were going to meet my Uncle Jimmy there (I haven’t seen him in close to 20 years!) but he had unfortunately just had surgery and couldn’t join us. Beverly was my mom’s step mom and she passed away in 1979 so I was never able to meet her. It was a very sweet and spiritual experience for me to be there and feel like I finally got to “meet” her. I know that she played a big role in helping my mom be the woman she is today, and mom has likewise done the same for me. I owe a debt of gratitude to her and I’m so grateful for eternal families!

Her grave is right beneath an olive tree that was planted when she was buried. It was only a few feet tall then!

The other big thing that happened that day? Ryan and I went out. As in “on a date”. Big. I know. We actually went out with Ryan's sister, Janelle, and her husband, Dan, and both their parents. We went to a fun Karaoke bar where Dan and Janelle are regulars. We were the youngest ones there by a long shot, but it was really fun. And did I mention it was a date? Plus, Nathan got to spend the evening with all his cousins, two dogs, and a cat. I’m pretty sure he had a good time too.

See? Proof! It really was a date!

Everyone- minus Janelle (she took the picture)

Dancing!

It’s kind of hard to see, but REALLY?! Palm trees with Christmas lights on them?!

On Thursday, the 23rd we took advantage of the sunshine and went to the Phoenix zoo. It was probably 70 degrees and our family was baking in our jeans and t-shirts. EVERONE else there had sweatshirts on! I even saw a child with a scarf. Craziness!

Nephew Jarin (and his friend) sitting on a gorilla’s lap!

Our family and AN ELEPHANT?!

Ryan and Kallie in a nut shell . . . I mean clam shell!

Nathan “driving” the tractor

Petting the “doats” in the petting zoo.

Nathan’s favorite part was the little people playground.

Nathan and Avery.

Still more to come!

Christmas Post Number 1

2011-01-10T09:01:00.001-08:00

I know it’s been a while since Christmas, but I’ve been really sick since we got home. So, here’s the first part of our Christmas Adventure!

The first half of December this year was probably the busiest few weeks of my life! By the time we headed out for our vacation, I NEEDED it.

We left Oregon on the 15th and headed up to Washington just long enough to say “hi” to my family. We flew out of SeaTac Airport early on the morning of the 16th. It was really nice being able to leave our car with my parents, so we didn’t have to pay for parking. We made it through security without incident- no body scans, or pat-downs, or air blowing up our shirts. They even let me carry Nathan, who was really sick, through with me. I’m so thankful that white noise puts that kid to sleep so fast. He slept most of the way to Arizona.

Ryan’s parents live in Mesa and his sister, Janelle, and her family live just a few minutes away. Janelle’s kid’s are Nathan’s only cousins.

We spent our first few days in Arizona just relaxing and soaking up the sunshine. We visited Janelle’s house and took turns riding on their plasma car.

We even got Ryan’s mom to ride it!

On Sunday, before church, we attempted to take a family picture in front of the Christmas tree.

Nathan would NOT let that waffle go. So, it’s in all our family pictures too.

That night, we had our traditional Savior Supper. When I was growing up, my family always did our Savior Supper for dinner on Christmas Eve. Ryan’s birthday is Christmas Eve, so now he and I do our Supper on the Sunday before Christmas. We have a lot of fun dressing up but we also enjoy the sweet, simple spirit that comes when we remember what life was like for our Savior.

One of our favorite things to do while in Arizona was to play outside. Without coats. Grandma and Grandpa have a great covered porch out back with a toy kitchen and Nathan spent a lot of time out there pretending to wash his hands. I would hear him out there all the time saying to himself, “wash,wash . . . soat (soap). wash, wash . . .soat.” Funny kid.

He decided on his own, that the little phone holder on the side is a soap dispenser.

He also enjoyed tasting all the toy food. Mmmm. Tastes like dirt!

“PEAS!!”

Nathan’s cousin Avery came over that day and they had fun fixing the back wall together. Actually, I think Nathan was just doing whatever “Ay-wee” did.

Grandma had an extra set of Christmas beads that she used for decorating and Nathan thought they were very pretty. He constantly carried them around and begged us to drape them on him. Then he would strut proudly saying “I pretty! I pretty!”

I wonder who he got he idea from?!

It must run in the family, because Nathan insisted that Grandpa have the opportunity to be pretty too, and he didn’t even put up a fight. OR maybe Nathan just has him wrapped around his little finger!

More to come!

Remember

2010-12-30T14:14:00.000-08:00

this post from September of 2009?

After being told we probably wouldn't get funding, then we definitely wouldn't get funding, and then again that we DEFINITELY wouldn't get funding.

Plus, we're feeling pretty good about job prospects.

I'm doing a little happy dance right now.

Look for MANY Christmas posts next week.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

2010-12-24T09:55:00.000-08:00

Today my wonderful husband turns 28. What a great way to kick off the festivities!

Something Worth Celebrating

2010-12-14T16:35:00.001-08:00

Plus, today is day 7 of no sugar for me!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-08T21:39:00.001-08:00

I know this post is a bit overdue, but life here has been crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy. As of today, Ryan and I both finally have some time to breathe, so here we go.

We left Oregon on the 23rd to go up to Washington to be with my family for Thanksgiving. That morning, before we left, we woke up to snow! Not a ton, as you can see, but it was Nathan’s first snow and that made it special.

He wasn’t too sure about the snow. He hated that it got on his shoes and stuck there. Other than that, he didn’t really care about it.

We got to see my entire family for Thanksgiving. My brother Ryan came from Rexburg, and my brother Kevin drove down from Bellingham.

I did not eat this turkey leg. That would be gross. I realized after dinner was over that I hadn’t really taken pictures, so we threw this one in for good measure. Nathan slept through the whole meal, which was delightful.

This year, my brother Jesse’s birthday fell on Thanksgiving day so to celebrate (besides eating Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake) we all went to see Harry Potter! My parents stayed home with Nathan and it was so fun to go out and do something with all my siblings.

I wore my official Harry Potter t-shirt. The same one I’ve worn to every single Harry Potter movie. It must have shrunk a little bit because I definitely haven’t gotten any bigger since I was 15.

We loved the movie and can’t wait to see part two! I can’t remember when I was last so excited about something!

Nathan got in on some of the Thanksgiving action when we had pie. I was surprised to find that he LOVES pumpkin pie. Like father, like son.

My mom and I decided to do Black Friday together this year. Neither of us had done it before. So I got up at 3:30 in the morning and went to Target, all the while wondering what the heck I was thinking! Actually, I found people to be very nice and friendly- no one rude or shoving or cranky. I also discovered that it’s not the getting in that takes so much time, it’s the getting out!

On Saturday, before we headed back home, Alex and her family came down for a visit. It’s so nice that our parents live near each other so we can coordinate visits and see each other some times. This time, we got to meet baby Ben.

We just saw them in July but I was having MAJOR Alex withdrawals so it felt like it had been years. Speaking of years, in September Alex and I will have been friends for 15 years!

Hey Alex, lets ditch our kids and go on an anniversary trip!

Everybody needs an Alex. I’m so lucky.

We all took a walk to the park and let the kids play.

Then Alex and I ran off to lunch together and conveniently both forgot our phones.

What a fun trip!

Big Boy Bed

2010-11-29T14:09:00.001-08:00

I’m trying really hard to keep Nathan from falling out of his new big boy bed, but when I went to see if he had fallen asleep, this is what I found:

And a little while later, this:

It’s a good thing I decided to put those pillows there! Really though, the only spot he can possibly fall out and he decides to sleep right on the edge.

P.S. a Thanksgiving post is in the works.

Ryan

2010-11-13T13:18:00.001-08:00

I realized recently that this blog is mostly about Nathan, some about me, and hardly at all about Ryan. I thought, “that’s too bad, because he’s a pretty cool guy and I kinda like him.” So, here’s what Ryan’s been up to.

I’m not sure all of you know, but after Ryan finished his first year in the Economics PhD program here at the University of Oregon, he made the decision to switch into the Masters program instead. In other words, we went from having 4 (+) more years of school left to just 9 months! Talk about crazy! I still don’t think I can wrap my mind around the fact that he will be done in March! That’s less than 5 months, people! Anyway, so far this school year has been amazingly better than the last. This was definitely the right choice for our family and I am so proud of Ryan.

When Ryan is not focusing on school, he loves baseball. He enjoyed watching the playoffs and the World Series (especially since his precious Braves made it so far this year). He loves baseball a whole lot. But I’m not jealous or anything. He’s also getting really passionate about cycling. I’m glad since he rides his bike 5 miles to campus (and 5 miles back) everyday.

Of course, he also finds time to be a primary teacher, a great dad, and a wonderful husband. He’s always willing to go out and buy me ice cream when I’ve had a bad day. He even surprised me with flowers not too long ago. He rode his bike and carried a bouquet at the same time. Now that’s one talented guy!

Halloween Festivities

2010-10-30T17:27:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, Ryan and I took Nathan to the farm to get pumpkins.

We saw bunnies.

and ducks,

and flowers.

And of course, lots of pumpkins. Nathan wanted to pick up all the “balls” and if he had been able to, I’m sure he would have thrown them.

We also bought some yummy little apples and some fresh apple cider.

Our pumpkins before we painted them.

Once we showed Nathan what to do, he was very serious about his artwork.

Ryan was pretty serious too (even though we ran out of brushes so he had to paint his whole pumpkin with his finger).

Our finished creations. Mine was supposed to be a golden snitch but it never got farther than being a pumpkin painted gold.

On the 29th we went to our ward Halloween Party.

Can you tell who we are?

In case you can’t tell, we dressed up as . . .

Ron Weasley

Hermione Granger

and Pigwidgeon, the Owl

He even had a little message to deliver.

Did I mention he was a screech owl?!

Nathan met up with his friend Lily at the party.

They are only a few days apart and spent some time hugging and kissing each other.

Actually, Nathan was mostly on the receiving end, but I don’t think he minded too much.

He spent the rest of the evening running laps in the gym while Ryan and I halfheartedly chased him.

After about an hour of watching him run and hearing him yell things like, “I go! I go!”, “Race!”, “I’m gonna get you!”, and “RunRunRun!” we decided it would be best to opt out of the trunk or treat part of the evening.

Still, the evening was a success and we got our fill of Halloween!

Family Pictures

2010-10-15T19:37:00.001-07:00

My friend, Christy, took some family pictures of us a few weeks ago. It’s a good thing, because the family pictures I have hanging in our house right now are from when Nathan was bald, toothless, and immobile. He did not make things easy during our photo shoot, but we got some good ones.

Here are a few:

Check out more of Christy’s photos at http://christygphotography.blogspot.com/

What I Love Wednesday

2010-10-13T11:41:00.001-07:00

I’ve seen other people do this on their blog and I think it’s a fun idea. Not only do I get to share things I love with all of you, it also helps me think about all the things that make me happy, and all the things with which I am blessed.

Here are five things that I LOVE:

1. Tillamook Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

I’m really sorry if you live somewhere that doesn’t have Tillamook Ice Cream. If I could send you some, I would. Their web site say it’s “Hearty chocolate ice cream dancing with a thick ribbon of deliciously creamy peanut butter.” I just say it’s GOOD!

2. Netflix

We never go to the theater so this is a great way to catch up on all the movies we wanted to see but didn’t. I especially love that Netflix has every episode of Backyardigans ever made online. This is how I’m able to shower most days.

3. Pumpkin Spice Candles

Actually, I love everything pumpkin. But, on a daily basis I just have to enjoy the candle because it’s the only thing I love that has zero calories!

4. A Clean House

HA! Well, even though I would prefer that my house magically clean itself, I do have a few favorite cleaning products that I use.

Clorox wipes- these make clean-up so fast and easy, and they smell so nice.
Green Works All Purpose Cleaner- I love the smell! So lemon and fresh. I also love that I don’t have a headache after using it.
Soft Scrub Gel Cleanser with Bleach- okay, I must care a lot about smells because I love the way this one smells. I save this for things that need a really good scrub, and my house smells so sterile afterward!

5. Good Hair Days

In my life, these are pretty few and far between, but when I need a really good hair day, I reach for my Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine Anti-Frizz Serum (does this feel like an infomercial to you?). I’ve tried a lot of different products and this one really works!

Something else I love? I love that all of you took the time to comment on my recent post “Hello?” It’s so fun to know who’s reading and who I’m talking to when I blab away about my life. I’m really horrible about commenting too! But I’ll try to do better because you all made me feel so good! Thanks!

*I would like to point out that this is a list of things I love, not people I love. Actually, Ryan wanted you to know I love him a lot too.

18 Month Stats

2010-10-12T11:33:00.001-07:00

We took Nathan to see the doctor this morning. He got 4 shots and a new toy car. It took 4 people to hold him down while they poked him. Poor baby!

Here are his stats:

Weight: 27.2 lbs (67%) – I think he weighs more, but he wouldn’t let go of my hands while they weighed him, so this is as accurate as it gets.

Height: 34 in (96%) – That’s right, he’s over half as tall as me!

Head Circumference: 19.5 in (90%) – Gotta have room for all those brains!

Portland Children’s Museum

2010-10-08T21:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, some friends of ours invited Nathan and me to go to the Portland Children’s Museum with them. We said yes, of course, because this sure beat our plans for the day which included sitting at home and doing nothing.

The museum is almost two hours away but thankfully the kids were great in the car and Christy and I got to sit and chat for TWO FULL HOURS on the way.

When we got to the museum we had a yummy lunch at a cute little picnic table.

Nathan tried to sit still and eat his sandwich, but there was a lot to see.

We found some fish and Nathan was so excited.

(yes, this is a picture of Nathan pounding on the glass with his fist)

He also had fun climbing, sliding, and jumping.

(Playing peek-a-boo)

Then Nathan found the water, and he was in heaven!

Nathan and Miss L splashed away next to each other. Too bad they are still too young to really care about playing together.

Things got even better when we headed into the Vroom Room!

(Nathan pointing at the car and saying “guck!” Every vehicle is a truck.)

Driving the bus

These two are headed out on a date, I think.

Nathan was really excited about the dig pit and I was really excited to finally get a picture of Nathan looking at the camera!

We saved the Water Works exhibit for last, for obvious reasons. Actually, with his funny little smock on, Nathan stayed pretty dry. It also helped, I think, that a lot of the water was a little too high for him to reach.

Still, he had fun splashing and looking at all the fountains and squirting water.

Even though the little ones were pretty cranky on the way home and I learned that Nathan really doesn’t know how to share yet, we had a fun day.

Hello?

2010-10-05T17:19:00.001-07:00

Okay, this is kind of awkward, but I’m wondering who reads my blog. I mean, I have to admit that I read a lot of blogs that are written by people I have never met. Ryan likes to make fun of me for this. He always laughs when I say something like, “Oh, I read this great post on Suzie’s blog today. She’s the friend of so and so’s sister’s cousin.” Don’t tell me I’m the only one who does this! I always want to comment on their profound words, but think it would be weird and a little hard to explain. So, this is an invitation- if you read my blog, leave a comment and say hi. I’m not cocky enough to think that a bunch of random strangers are really interested in my life, so even if I know you read my blog, leave a comment anyway. This will be fun for me!

18 Months Old

2010-10-03T21:03:00.001-07:00

My baby boy turned 18 months old this weekend! I always say “I can’t believe it!” but this time, I do. He’s gotten so grown up lately, if someone told me he was actually a thirteen-year-old in a toddler body, I would believe it.

Photo courtesy of cg photography

Here are 18 fun facts about Nathan:

1. Nathan has 7 teeth- 5 visible, and 2 that just broke through.

2. Nathan has quite the head of wavy hair. We’re not sure who he got it from!

3. Nathan LOVES cars. He drives them all over the house. We’ve always called them cars, but for some reason he refers to them all as “trucks” or “gucks”.

4. Nathan is always jabbering about something. We’re starting to get better at understanding him- or maybe he is just getting better at communicating with us. He’s started saying phrases and short sentences, including:

I see you!

I got it!

Where are you?

I don’t know!

Stinky? No! (this is a game he likes to play. He pretends he needs his diaper changed, then laughs.)

5. Nathan still loves his binky. We’re working on it but I just can’t help but give in when I hear him wandering around the house saying, “Binky. . . binky. . . where are you?”

6. Nathan has started to realize when he is being funny, and he’s milking it for all it’s worth! He loves to make silly faces and crack us up.

7. Nathan is never still. Never.

8. Nathan loves to eat popsicles and I often find him standing in the kitchen begging me to open the freezer.

9. For the most part, Nathan has very nice manners. He’s very serious about wiping his mouth when he eats.

Untitled from Ryan Bartron on Vimeo.

10. Every night when it’s time for bed, Nathan walks around the house and says “bye-bye” to everything. The microwave, the couch, the TV, his toys, the bathroom . . .

11. Nathan loves to look at pictures of people and animals. He always points out their eyes.

12. Nathan loves to count, but he can only count to 2 so I often hear him wandering around, pointing to things and saying, “one, two, one, two, one, two”.

13. Nathan’s favorite foods include: peas, popcorn (he gets really excited when the microwave is on), string cheese,

14. Nathan loves to be outside. He is constantly begging to play in the sandbox or go for a ride in his stroller.

15. Nathan is learning to use electronics. He’s just not sure exactly where they should go. He puts the camera to his forehead and shouts, “cheese” and puts the phone to the back of his head to say “hello”.

16. Nathan has learned so many new words. Just a few are: Jesus, shh! kitty, stinky, all done, cheese, hello

17. Nathan really likes to watch videos. He especially likes Toy Story and any movie featuring himself.

18. Last of all, Nathan is still an awesome dancer!

This sweet boy celebrated his special day with his first ice cream cone. Yum!

Our Last Hurrah

2010-09-25T21:01:00.001-07:00

Since Ryan goes back to school on Monday, we decided to make one last trip up to Washington to see my family and to go to the Puyallup Fair.

We got free tickets from our dear friend Natalie, but we still couldn’t justify spending money on rides and games so we just walked around in the rain and looked at all the exhibits and animals. The nice thing about my parents living only a few blocks from the fairgrounds is that we can come and go all day if we get our hands stamped.

My dad has a season pass so he came with us for a while and took Nathan into the petting zoo. Nathan loved it last year but he wasn’t feeling very good this year so he kind of hated all the animals we tried to show him. If you look closely, you can see that he’s sobbing in that picture above. Poor kid.

Nathan was tall enough to ride a lot of the rides in Sillyville, but I don’t think they expect 18 month olds to be so tall because he’s definitely NOT ready to ride on twirly, whirly, spinning, flying rides. Maybe next year!

The one thing we could justify spending money on was scones. If you’ve ever been to the Puyallup Fair and eaten the scones and jam, I'm sure you understand. I could probably buy a dozen and eat them all myself.

Nathan really enjoyed his scone too!

He always enjoys getting to spend time with Nana and Papa and his aunt and uncles. Except when he has to sit still for pictures.

Ryan and I were just glad to escape the craziness at home and have one last vacation before he heads back to school.

And just because we like him so much, a few more pictures of Nathan:

Dorris Ranch

2010-09-12T18:24:00.001-07:00

We have been wanting to go to Dorris Ranch ever since we moved to Springfield and we finally made it there this week. Dorris Ranch is only a few minutes from our house. It’s a working filbert farm and was established in 1892. That makes it the oldest working filbert farm in Oregon. Filbert is another name for hazelnuts, in case you were wondering.

We didn’t stay long but we had a lot of fun walking through the filbert trees and playing on the old farm equipment. We will definitely be back again!

It’s really hard to get a picture of this kid when he’s not running away in the other direction!

Fun with Nathan . . . and without!

2010-09-05T17:18:00.001-07:00

Ryan finally convinced me that Nathan really is a big boy and that he needs a big boy hair cut to match. I had originally promised that Nathan would get his hair cut before nursery started, and since we only have 4 weeks left (hooray!!!) I figured we might as well go for it.

We took him to Sport Clips and he loved watching football on all the TV’s. I was nervous about how he would do since he hates being touched by people he doesn’t know. He sat on my lap and got really mad when she tried to put the cape on him but then she offered him his first sucker and he pretty much forgot about it. He was such a sticky mess but he sat quietly the whole time. I think he learned the word “sucker” after about 30 seconds and he’s not going to forget it. The only problem was at the end when he got a little tired and he started rubbing his face. This rubbed sticky sucker drool all over, which started collecting little hairs. Consequently, he got a nice, warm steam towel on his face to finish off the haircut. Anyway, we have a handsome big boy now!

After his haircut, we decided to take Nathan to The Science Factory here in Springfield. I had been once for a playgroup when Nathan was 6 months and he liked it then.

He loved the Tot Spot with the little ball pit and blocks but it was pretty crowded so we moved on.

Then he found the race track with the big wooden cars and he was stuck. He would have stayed there all day if we had let him! We did manage to get him to look at a few more exhibits but he was always right back to the cars. At least we know we know it was worth the trip.

Playing is serious business!

This weekend Ryan and I went on a fun date together. We went putt putt golfing! It was a lot of fun and something we had never done together before. Ryan won, of course, but I didn’t do too bad either. At least no one else was on the course so we didn’t embarrass ourselves too much.

What an interesting man I married.

Ryan made sure to get a picture of my poor putt putt skills.

Afterward, we went next door to The Roaring Rapids Pizza Company for lunch. The fun thing about Roaring Rapids is that it’s right next to the Willamette River. We tried sitting outside but it turns out the bees love their pizza too, so we had to move back inside. Still, it was a fun, fun date!

Catch Up Time!

2010-09-02T08:24:00.001-07:00

You many not have noticed, but I have been on a major blogging hiatus the last month or so. We have just been so busy this summer. The good news is, I have tons to blog about. The bad news is, I haven’t had the time to blog!

The biggest reason I have been busy is because (surprise, surprise) we moved at the end of July. This time our move was only a few minutes away instead of out of state. I thought this would be easier, but I think it only made the process longer and slower. Instead of packing and cleaning in one day, we did it in a week and it got old!

We love our new place. Especially the dishwasher (hooray!), the third bedroom, and the little fenced backyard for Nathan. I was worried he would have a hard time adjusting and not sleep well but he has been sleeping great! Actually, he may be sleeping a little too well.

I feel bad though because he has had to entertain himself a lot lately since I have been so busy packing and unpacking. The poor kid is forced to pick out his own outfits and watch movies by himself. (Whenever he sees those orange boots, he insists I put them on him so he can wear them all day.)

Right after we moved, we headed to the coast with my family for a few days. We all stayed in a nice little house in Lincoln City and had a great time relaxing. This was Ryan’s first view of the Pacific Ocean and Nathan’s first view of any ocean at all. I tried to warn him, but I think Ryan was still surprised it wasn’t blue and warm like the Atlantic. Nathan loved the sand but wasn’t too sure about all the water swarming at him.

We spent our time playing on the beach together (even though it was chilly).

Nathan with Leslie and Papa

With Uncle Ryan and Uncle Jesse (we missed Uncle Kevin!)

Nana trying to keep Nathan warm

Playing in the “World’s Shortest River”. Nathan preferred this warmer, slower water to the ocean.

We also visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory while we were in town. Of course!

The viewing rooms were closed, which was disappointing, but I’m not going to deny that I was just there for the ice cream! Ryan rode his bike the 40 miles there while the rest of us drove. I think he’s the only one who earned the calories! Still, no one was going to keep me from my Chocolate Peanut butter ice cream. No one.

Nathan loved the cheese samples and all the pictures of cows. He spent his time says “oo oo” (moo moo) and eating extra sharp cheddar (too sharp for me!)

We couldn’t help it.

We also had some fun in the gift shop.

We also spent a day in Newport where we toured Ripley’s Believe it or Not (it was a little too dark and scary for Nathan) and watched a bunch of sea lions lounge.

We came home to a messy house full of boxes but we had so much fun, it was worth it!

My Grandma Betty was in Washington visiting my family so we headed up there for a few days in the middle of August.

We went to a concert in the park. Nathan loved dancing and running around.

We also went to the zoo and the Farmer’s Market and played at home.

We head back up to Washington next weekend to go to the Puyallup Fair!

Shake it!

2010-08-16T11:55:00.001-07:00

I have so many things to blog about but no time to do it! Until I’m able to update the blog, here’s a little taste of Nathan’s awesome dance moves.

Untitled from Ryan Bartron on Vimeo.

Little Boy

2010-07-28T21:55:00.001-07:00

I was looking at Nathan in his diaper this morning and I can’t believe my eyes! He’s looking thin. I know you may not believe it either, but it’s true. His chunky little pot belly is going away. This could have something to do with the fact that he is incapable of walking and has to run everywhere he goes. Ultimately though, I know he is just growing up and becoming a little boy. Sigh. I took some really cute pictures of him today, but we are in the middle of movies and all my USB cords are at the other house. I’ll post them later.

Also, Congrats to my dear friend, Alex and her husband Devan on their new baby boy, Benjamin! And congrats to big sister Hannah too!

It’s That Time of Year!

2010-07-24T17:28:00.001-07:00

Yep, you guessed it! It’s time for our annual move! Only this time, we are staying the in state, we are staying in the city, we are even staying in the ward!! We are moving a few minutes away to a new duplex and we are pretty darn excited. Let me just give you a glimpse into our excitement—Dishwasher. Brand. New. Maytag. Dishwasher. Amongst other brand new things. So, no more greasy fingerprints stained into our kitchen cupboards. No more cigarette burns in our carpet. No more holes in the doors. AND no more loudly bathing neighbors!! And all for a really great price. We’re pretty darn excited. We’ll be moving in over the next few weeks and I don’t even want to bother with boxes because it all seems so easy. We signed the lease and got the keys this afternoon! Hooray!

On a completely different note- I need some advice. My sewing machine died. It’s roughly 15 years old and it’s a Singer. My Mom bought it for $100 dollars and it’s never been serviced or anything. So, the question is: do I buy a new inexpensive sewing machine? OR Do I spend $70 (plus potential new parts) on maintenance in hopes of reviving this one? Help me! I have about 12.2 million projects that need to be finished! Thanks!

We’re Back!

2010-07-21T12:16:00.001-07:00

You may not have noticed, but we’ve been out of town for a while. We were gone for almost two weeks, visited 4 different states, and saw LOTS of friends and family! So, here goes a long post to tell you all about it:

We left on the Fourth of July and drove up to Washington to spend the holiday with my family. We had a nice BBQ and watched the fireworks show from the front yard (my parents live a few blocks from the fairgrounds). Nathan was pretty wary of the fireworks. He didn’t cry, he just got really nervous and wanted to stay snuggled close to me the whole time (which I loved). He fell asleep pretty quickly in my arms. And apparently I didn’t manage to get a single picture of the day. We were even wearing matching T-shirts! Dang!

On Monday we went with my Mom to the Point Defiance Zoo. I was so excited to take Nathan since this is the zoo I grew up going to. Nathan wasn’t too thrilled with most of the animals and, quite frankly, neither was I. I think everybody was napping while we were there.

You always have to get a picture inside the shark’s mouth!

We did have a ton of fun in the new Kids Zone. Nathan loved running around and playing.

He also had a blast with the goats. First he got to help “groom” some goats, then he got to feed them. He loved it! He would take one little pellet of food between his fingers at a time and a goat would come and eat it up. We definitely washed his hands well after this!

We didn’t get to stay in Washington long and we took off the next morning for Idaho. We decided to hang on to our sanity and make the 13 hour trip in two days. We stopped for the night in Missoula, Montana. We stayed at a nice hotel and enjoyed our evening. I wanted to find a place with a pool, but it turns out Nathan isn’t a big fan of water (surprise, surprise!) so we didn’t really swim much.

On the second half of our journey, we made a quick stop in Shoup, Idaho to see my grandparents. This was Nathan’s first visit to Shoup and I was so glad we got to go, even though it was brief. It was a good chance for Nathan to run around.

Unfortunately, even though we took things slow, we still managed to wipe ourselves out so much that by the time we arrived in Rigby, Ryan and I were both sick. So the first few days we were there we spent napping. Hooray!

On Friday, we made a trip up to Rexburg to drive around campus and our old apartments, and to visit our favorite pizza place, Craigo’s! They have a yummy buffet there and we always make sure to go when we are in town. I think Nathan really enjoyed it too! On our way back to Rigby, I realized that I had to pee (not unusual) so we decided to stop by the Hinckley Building on campus so I could use the bathroom. I was about to enter the building when I realized I was wearing flip flops! I felt like such a sinner and hustled as fast as I could to the bathroom so no one could judge me. When I got back to the car I was telling Ryan all about it and he said, “Um, Heather, you’re wearing shorts too.” I completely forgot you can’t even wear capri’s at BYU-Idaho! We lived a totally different life when we were there! It actually made me a little sad to drive passed our old apartments. When we lived in Rexburg, I got to do so many things just for me, and I miss that!

On Saturday, we got to go with Ryan’s parents to Yellowstone Bear World. It was fun! We got to drive through and look at all the animals, including bears, of course!

They also had a petting zoo and some fun rides for kids.

Ryan and I really liked the train ride.

On Sunday, we still weren’t feeling real great but my brother Ryan came down from Rexburg for dinner. It was so nice to be able to see him while we were in town. we hadn’t seen him since Christmas.

Later that night, Nathan was running around outside and he fell and smashed his face in the gravel. I knew this was bound to happen someday. My poor baby!

Monday morning we finally felt good enough to travel down to Salt Lake to see some of our friends. We stayed with Devan and Alex and their little girl, Hannah (baby boy will be born in a few weeks!). Alex and I have been friends since elementary school! Our friends Lisa and Nick, and their little girl Maddie came up for dinner that night too. I’ve known Lisa since elementary school too (she’s having another girl in September).

Alex made us a yummy dinner and we ate it outside. Nathan found a bunch of other stuff to eat outside that night too. Gross!

I tried to get a picture of all three kids looking at once. Yeah, right!

Nathan just wanted to play in the sand.

The dads enjoyed the playground too.

Friends!

We were lucky enough to get to see all of Ryan’s family while we were in town, including his sister Janelle and her five kids. They drove up from Arizona on Tuesday night. Janelle is a brave woman! These kids are Nathan’s only cousins so are always really excited to see them. Nathan especially enjoyed playing with Avery, who is only 10 months older than him.

The boys

Cousins

Ryan and his sisters

We had to get home in time for Ryan to grade a final exam so we took off on Thursday. We stopped in Shoshone Falls, near Twin Falls, Idaho. Nathan once again was a little wary of all the water. We’re going to have to do something about this! It was a really beautiful place. They call it the Niagara of the West for a reason!

We also stopped near Boise to see my grandma and have dinner with her. I’m so glad we got to stop by!

We were lucky to be able to see so many people that we love and I know that there are so many more people in Idaho Utah that we could have visited. I wish we had time! We even drove down our old street in Bountiful and there are so many doors I would have loved to knock on!

I know this post is excessively long and possibly a little boring, so here’s a video of Nathan to make up for it!

At the Zoo from Ryan Bartron on Vimeo.

15 Months Old!

2010-07-03T11:31:00.001-07:00

I used to do a monthly update about Nathan, but when he turned 1, I thought that would be a good stopping place. I would happily give you monthly Nathan updates until he turns 30 but I think now I’ll just do an occasional update. This just means I’m going to have A LOT to say!

Speaking of a lot to say, Nathan sure has a lot to say these days! Here are the words he’s learned so far:

uh-oh (uh-mmm)

good night (nigh-nigh)

cracker (ga-ca)

tree (bweeeee)

rock

yeah

uh-uh

wow, oh wow!

yum (Ummmm)

doggy (gaga)

here you go (he go)

Nathan (Ne Ne)

and of course, Mama and Dada.

My favorite thing that Nathan does right now is whisper. We taught him to whisper for obvious reasons and it’s so funny to listen to him. When I whisper something to him, he giggles, then gets very serious and in his best whisper voice says, “cuppa cuppa (whisper whisper)”. Sometimes I will be talking and not even realize I have whispered something until I hear Nathan off in the corner whispering to himself. It’s so funny!

Nathan also signs a few words. I started signing with him a while back and finally gave up because he showed no sign that he cared what I was doing. Then one day, all on his own he started signing. Since then, he’s really taken off. He can say:

milk

thank-you

hungry

all done

and we’re working on please and thirsty.

Nathan is a very active and busy boy. He loves cars, or anything else with wheels. He loves animals, especially dogs and cats. Nathan also really loves to dance. He can’t seem to help himself every time he hears music. I think Nathan’s very favorite thing is “cooking”. He rarely ever plays with his real toys but he will happily spend hours a day mixing and stirring his imaginary concoctions in my pots and pans. Lately, he enjoys walking around with a big spoon (or a whisk, or a spatula) and letting us taste test his culinary creations. It’s so funny to watch him take a big “bite” of his food and see the obvious delight on his face as he enjoys his imaginary treat. I love that he is using his imagination!

Nathan loves to drink milk and although he has gotten a lot pickier in the last few months, he still chows down on the foods he loves. Some of his favorites are, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, yogurt, peas,tomatoes, all fruit, and olives. He would eat a whole can of olives if I let him.

Nathan weighs over 25 pounds and is still tall for his age. He still only has four teeth and his hair is getting longer every day. I just can’t bring myself to cut it yet! We’ve recently switched to cloth diapers and I think we all really like the change (no pun intended). Also, you probably noticed, but a few days after Nathan turned one, he started walking and took off running not long after. This kid wasn’t even crawling yet at 10 months! I think we skipped a few steps!

Nathan is such a sweet, precious, precocious, and opinionated boy. We love him and love watching him grow!

Yeah! Another Story! from Ryan Bartron on Vimeo.