Okay so the end of the semester is here and I have to say that it is quite a relief. The next couple of weeks until the 15th of April are going to be my busiest yet. I have several research papers due and still have to study for finals but I am breathing easier now than I have over the previous couple of weeks. There is something that is reassuring when you get to the end of the semester and you are so close to it being over. At this point I have to say that while my grades are not as high as they were last semester I am still passing so that is definitely saying something. I have managed to take a full load, take care of Ryan, Laiken, and myself, and while all have suffered somewhat nothing has completely fallen apart.



I look forward to the two week break before summer school. Finally I am going to get to spend some real time with my hubby and my son without having to worry about homework or what else I am neglecting to do it. I think that Ryan is going to enjoy it too because I have to admit that he has gotten the bulk of the neglect this semester since he is the grown-up and able to care for himself.

Our new playground...AKA our backyard

Okay so I am going to try once again to post the pictures of the backyard through the stages of the landscaping process.

Okay so these first two pictures (above) is the day that they came to do the curbing. I was actually hoping to be there but they were gone before I got home from school. As you see we went for the standard and the only thing back there was the trampoline. It actually turned out really nice though although we couldn't go out in the back yard for like 2 days afterward while it dried to avoid any accidents that may have ruined the job.

Now about a week after they did the curbing they came out again to do the actual landscaping. Because of my allergies all the plants that we picked had to be ones that wouldn't bloom. So Ryan and I decided to go with a hopbush for all of our shrubs (pictured far left) we put 2 sissoux trees in the far corner of the yard (center picture) and inside the curbing we decided to go for a giant sandbox for Laiken. We figured that since artificial turf was so terribly expensive sand would be the next best thing so that we could be sure that he didn't hurt himself on anything. We also had the landscapers move the trampoline to the far northeast corner of the sandbox to make room for the swing set that we were planning to put back there. I have to say that it was actually kind of interesting watching the guys do this part and I am really glad that I was home for the bulk of it.

Of course the last pictures of the yard have to be the finished product. I personally feel that the company that did our yard did an excellent job. I am happy that we chose them. But then again you have to check it out for yourself so here it is.

Around the outside of the curbing is all rock and shrubs with 3 stepping stones for Laiken to walk on. Now that we have that all finished and the swing set finally arrived Ryan and I decided to brave attempting to put that together this past weekend. It was definitely not an easy task. There was so much wood that our living looked like a lumber yard ad first.



It all worked out though because our neighbor was actually putting a play set up for his son and when he was done he actually we so sweet as to come over and help us get ours going. So we actually worked out a really good system where Ryan and Jarod did most of the physical work and I read them the instructions that were in the manual. These pictures are from day number one. This is when Ryan and Jarod were trying to piece together the first wall of the fort. They actually had a difficult time with this until they found out that they were using the wrong board (did I mention that none of the wood was marked) for the center support. Once that actually was figured out most everything else went pretty smoothly.

Below if you want to see kind of what was going on I have loaded up the first video that I shot that day. I promised Ryan that I wouldn't videotape the whole time so I have little bits and pieces from various stages of the process. After two straight days of working on this we finally got most of the set together. The only things that we still have to complete are the monkey bars, the picnic table and the toy box. When I get home I will be posting an addendum to this blog so you can see the play set as it is now with what we have gotten completed. So far I think that it was totally worth all the work that it took to get it together.

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.