It's Been A While

Okay so since it has been so long since the last time I wrote this is just going to be an overview. So much has happened that there is no way I can put it all down in one entry. So here we go one family member at a time.


Laiken is getting so big and he is such a little boy. He is a social little guy that absolutely loves to be around people. He is pretty much potty-trained during the day although we still have to get him to poop in the potty. He has friends in the neighborhood that he goes outside and plays with on a regular basis. Ryan and I finally got him a big boy bed because he was starting to mess up his crib by jumping on it so hard. Where last year he was totally and completely about Elmo now he is beginning to branch out a little bit. He now loves all the Sesame Street characters and two of his favorite movies that do not include these characters are Annie and Old Yeller. He is very much an outdoors kind of boy. He loves sports and his favorite one at the moment is football. He loves riding his trike and running behind all the older boys that live on our street.





I just began my third full semester at ASU and am taking 5 classes plus an internship. I am in what is call my Professional Teacher Preparation Program which is just basicaly a fancy way to say the teaching program in the college of ed. I am in my first of three semesters of field experience and then I have my student teaching. So with 4 semesters left I am feeling good and ready for this to be over. I still like to try to workout but it doesnt always work like I want it to. I have a workout program that I am trying to master at the moment it is called Insanity and the name is a perfect description of what it entails. I have tried it several times since I got it for Christmas but so far everytime I do I wind up stressing out my knee or my shoulder so it is slow going. Plus with this new class schedule that I have I am getting home later so most nights there isnt time to workout before bed. I will get there though.



Ryan, well what can I say about Ryan. He is doing well just working and doing his thing. I think that he and Laiken get closer everyday and now that Laiken is older he is like Daddy's little shadow. No matter what Ryan tells people I will testify that he is a wonderful dad. You can look at Laiken (his mannerisms) and he is so much like his daddy that it is hilarious sometimes and aggravating at others. Other than work and Laiken Ryan trys to stay home as much as possible although I am usually able to coerce him to go out when I want him to. I couldnt have asked for a better husband even if I wanted to.

MOTHERS Real Mothers don't eat quiche;

They don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils

Are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors,

Filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough

Doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what

The vacuum just sucked up.

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'

And get their answer when a little

Voice says, 'Because I love you best.'

Real Mothers know that a child's growth

Is not measured by height or years or grade....

It is marked by the progression of

Mommy to Mom to Mother...

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.

14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears,

the figure she carries,

or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes,

Because that is the doorway to her heart,

The place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,

But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.

It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she

Shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

Please send this to 5 Moms today.

If you don't, nothing bad will happen,

But if you do, something good will:

You'll boost a Mother's spirits.

Entire Family

Things have actually been going very well for us even though they have been extremely busy. I have been getting ready for graduation and attended my convocation ceremony this past Sunday. It was fun for me to be included in something like that although I should have listened to Ryan and gotten a babysitter for Laiken. All he wanted to do during the entire ceremony was to run around so Ryan was out in the hallway for most of it. Angela did the front of my hair in two french braids and then that morning I did the back of it in spirals so that it was hanging down my back. Our friends Chris and Randi were able to come and see me get the certificate that was presented so that was cool. None of the other family was able to make it because it was just not enough notice. We tried to get pictures as I walked in and as I got my certificate but all of them turned out blurry and you can hardly see me so I will not include them in this post. Hopefully I will get better ones at convocation since I will have more people there and I know of at least 2 that are going to be bringing their cameras.

I cut Laiken's hair so his hair is now as short as Ryan's is. It is so cute because the night that I cut it Ryan had me cut his as well so that they had matching hair cuts. Once Laiken's hair was short though man he looked so much like Ryan that it was scary. His hair grows as fast as Ryan's too because it is already starting to grow back. I have to say though that I will not be cutting it this short again. It was good for me to see it like this and I liked the break from having to comb it but I really miss his curls; he just doesn't look like my baby boy without them. He is finally getting used to being without them however so that is the good news. He is just getting so big and having such a close cropped haircut makes him look like such a little man. I can not say how many people told me how much older he looks since he got his hair cut off.

Other than that everything has been good. Ryan has been working all of his usual days. I am trying to get through the last of my finals and then I get a small break until I start summer school in June. I am only taking on class however and that is online so I will not only have a lighter schedule but after July 2 I don't have anymore classes until the 24th of August so I am excited about finally getting a break. Well that is about it so I will write again once there is something new going on.

Time To Go Outside

Okay so this is happy post. I am so excited because our backyard if finally going to be totally complete. We got the actual landscaping done when we got our tax refund and today we started putting up Laiken's new swing set. We actually had a neighbor that was in his backyard finishing up the one that they just got for their son and when he got done he was actually nice enough to come and assist with ours. Now this swing set is so cool. Ryan and I decided to get on that is all wood and it came with 2 slides, a swing, a glider swing, a trapeze bar, a picnic table, a club house, monkey bars, and room for a little sandbox underneath. Now the sandbox really isnt necessary be when we got the yard done we decided to make approx. 55% of the yard a giant sandbox as it was. Anyways tomorrow we may actually get done putting it together so Laiken will have his own little playground in our backyard between that and the trampoline. I have pictures so that you can see the process that we have been working on for so long now.

Okay so I actually had pictures of the stages of what the yard started as to the finish product and it included a video of Ryan putting the playset together. But blogger is giving me a hard time tonight so I am going to put them on myspace probaby tomorrow. It works out though because there was other pictures and video that I had to put up anyways so all is well. Let it be known though that I am very happy with the say things have gone the past couple of weeks. Life is just so good right now and I wouldn't trade this time in our lives for anything.

Picture Day!!!

I have to say that today was a really nice day. Ryan and I took Laiken to get his 18 month pictures taken and we went to Target to do the rest of the shopping that we needed to do for Easter and the Easter egg hunt that we are hosting here. Laiken of course was a little turkey making us run around in circles just to get any good shots of him so that we would have a selection to choose from. In the end though they are just darling. It suck though because we weren't able to get any extras of this particular shoot. Next time I get paid for babysitting I am going to have to go to Walmart and get some more 18 months taken so that I can make sure that everyone gets a copy who wants one. As for these I am just going to have to make sure that all the family who is interested has the link that way they can get online and order their pictures directly.

Short and Sweet Update

Okay so I found out that I am really bad with keeping up with this blog thing. I just have so much going on that when it comes to getting online and actually writing everything down it is next to impossible for me to get this done on a regular basis. So here is a recap from the past couple of months when I have have not written a word.

I have been really busy with school. I am taking 5 classes this semester and I just transferred to Arizona State University. I am finding that the community college didnt really prepare me for the university atmosphere but somehow it is all working out. I have started a regular workout program and and working with a couple of my friends to try to lose weight and get healthier for me and my family. This was going really well until recently when I have actually gained back one of the pounds that I have lost even though this fancy smancy scale that we bought says that my body fat percentage has actually gone down...explain this to me. Well I am actually going to be updating more about that when there is more to tell so just keep watching.

Laiken is huge. He is learning to talk and he is just so independent it makes me sad and I wish for the baby days back. He loves the new daycare that he is in and gets along with the other kids too. He is now just over 26 pounds and while he isnt especially tall he is already wearing a 3T when it comes to clothing. He is actually going to be having an easter egg hunt here at the house this year and so I am looking forward to getting lots of pictures with him and the other kids. He is used to having his own way but show me an only child that isnt; overall i am surprised that he is not a lot more spoiled than he is. He is still my little joy and I cant wait for those of you that havent seen him in a while to get the opportunity again.

Ryan is the same old Ryan that we all know and love. He works a lot trying to take care of Laiken and I. He is such a good dad though you should see him and Laiken together. When he gets home from work in the evening Laiken is like his little shadow. For someone that openly admits he never thought that he would have kids Laiken couldn't have asked for a better role model.

Well that is basically all that is going on with us out here. We finally got the backyard done on the house so that is one project that is complete. Laiken has a new swingset that should be arriving any day now. Ryan and I are about to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary and I am totally hyped up about that. Overall life is good and I couldnt even dream of better. While we do have our share of bumps that we encounter it is getting through them together that makes me know that all is okay. Well that is it for now and it is time for me to go to bed before Ryan rolls over and tells me that the light is bugging him.

Laiken's First Haircut

Okay so this past weekend was an extremely busy one. As most everyone knows Laiken just turned one years old and so we had his birthday party as well as got his first haircut done. His hair had just gotten so long and it was getting so frizzy so it was time for our big boy to get his first trim. This is a picture of what he looked like before he got his hair cut. There is one picture of him with his dad and the other is with Jeff...the one that actually did the cut for us.

Now while Laiken was gettting his hair cut of course I had to actually get it on tape. It was so cute because he was totally pissed off. He was trying to get away, kept pushing Jeff's hands away...just doing anything that he could to try to make this thing stop. Unfortunately after trying to load the video blogspot just wouldnt let me load it. If you want to see the video feel free to let me know and I can email you the link.

Now I have to say that once all of this was done it was totally worth it because Laiken looked so good. He was just the cutest thing that you had ever seen. I was the parent that was actually skeptical about getting his hair cut but I was so happy that we did finally get it done. Here are the pictures of the final product.

Halloween Post

Okay so I know that I have been remiss in actually posting on this blog or any of the others for that matter. Well now I can not even begin to try to catch you all up but I will start this one on Halloween and there will be several posts done back to back for the next couple of days. We went trick or treating and that was a total hoot. Laiken was a St. Bernard and he was so popular among the houses. He wound up with more candy than we really need in the house so Ryan is going to try to take it to work to get rid of it. Then when Ryan finally got off of work went to this big festival that our church hosts down here in Maricopa every year. That was kinda fun but I think that it will be more fun once he is older and able to actually participate more. Well that is pretty much about it for Halloween but I will post again tomorrow.

Too Busy For Our Own Good

Things have actually been pretty busy. I have really been concentrating on my school work because I just have to do well this semester. Since it is my last semester at MCC I really want to leave with a bang. I got my first math test back yesterday and I got a B. Overall not bad and definitely better than the rest of the class but I had hoped and even kind of expected to do better than that since I have gotten pretty familiar with the material. It really sucked because I lost points for some really little and or stupid things because I was second guessing myself and rushing to get done. I honestly think that I could have gotten an A on this one.

Ryan on the other hand has been so busy at work. I really love our house but there are times that I hate that we moved so far away from his job. By the time that he gets home there is just enough time for all of us to spend together but him and I never get time just for us. I know that it is kinda trivial for me to be upset about this but what can I say I would like to get more one on one time with my husband. Other than that things are okay at least in my opinion. We are just doing what we have to do to get me through school, the bills paid, and all of us healthy.

Laiken on the other hand is good as always. He is growing like a weed and starting to walk. I am hoping that he is walking better by his birthday because I would love it if he was able to walk into his party and show everyone what a big boy he is. At last weigh in about a month ago he was almost 23 pounds, he is now in size for diapers, and 24 month clothing. I swear that if he keeps growing like this he is going to be in 2t clothing in the very near future. He is just the most awesome little man. I honestly could not have asked for a better baby. He is so happy most of the time (I say most because he is teething and who can be happy during that). Even his sitter loves him and he has really taken to her as well.

Ryan and I are trying to decide what kind of costume we are going to put Laiken in for Halloween which is totally exciting. We will probably attend this big Halloween bash that goes on in Maricopa apparently every year. If any of the other kids in the neighborhood are going to be trick or treating we will probably hand out candy as well. I have to say that it is totally nice to be able to think about these little neighborhood things. I really do enjoy our area that we live in. I am really taking to the small town thing, knowing your neighbors, and things like that.

They get so big so fast!!!

Ryan taught Laiken how to put his basketballs in the hoop all by himself. I cant believe that he is growing up so quickly. My baby is almost more boy than baby...it went by too quickly.

Laiken Attended His First Birthday Party For A Friend Today!!!

This video was shot when I went back to visit the OB/GYN that delivered Laiken. I actually go back on a regular basis to see everyone and to show them how big he is getting. Well I guess that this day he really didnt want to be there.

Now on the up to date things. Today we went to Laiken's Godbrother's second birthday party and I have to say that I think that we had a really good time. I believe that Laiken is so blessed because he has people other than our family that really do care about him. He has Godbrothers and sisters that he is going to be able to know coming up and Godparents that dote on him. The party even gave me some ideas of things that I do and do not want to do for his first birthday as well. It was definitely worth it to go if for nothing other than that. So below are pictures that I took at the party and a video of Laiken just chilling in the living room entertaining himself as well.

Top Picture is Zand and Laiken,

Ryan and Laiken's First Video

So okay even though I have pretty much already emailed this to everyone I am going to post it on our new blog. This is Ryan and Laiken playing on our new trampoline the very day that we put it together. Ryan said that they had to try it out to make sure that it worked right...lol. Yeah right he just wanted an excuse to bounce on it.

Initial Entry

Okay so I am actually trying this because I know that some of my other friends and acquaintances have them and are really quite happy with the service. This will be a way for me to post pictures, videos, or just written entries and those of our family members that are not on myspace or facebook can still keep up with what is going on. We will see how this works out and while I do not promise to continue this for any length of time I will say that I will do my best to keep it updated and running.

Now first thing first I have actually stumbled upon a new desire. Since attending my family reunion in Florida I have figured out that I really have a desire to know all sides of my family better. For this reason and this reason alone I have been in regular contact with many of my Fant-Washington relatives. Along with this I am going go be starting the search and organizing to find out who I have on my father's side as well as the family that I have on Ryan's side of the family. While I know that everyone does not feel as I do about family I definitely want Laiken to know who he is and where he comes from on all sides. I am going to be trying to get together a photo booklet of people once I figure all this out so that I will have something to leave to my son when I am no longer on this earth. While I know that this is still many years away (obviously since I am only 26) I know that this is going to take time and so I choose to get started now.

Okay well I think that this is enough information for this first post so I am going to be drawing it to a close. But I hope that everyone that reads this blog is able to see how happy we are and see how things are going with us even if they are unable to be with us in person.