Where to begin...

Well, well, well...again I finally arrive to update this awful blog of ours. It has only been about a year and a half since my last update, so here goes nothing...

Since the last time I posted anything:

1. We still lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico

2. Ryan was in PA school 

3. I wasn't working in the NICU yet at Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, I was still in the Black   Hole as it was called by everyone that works at Presbyterian aka MED/SURG.

4. Andie was 16 months old and still in diapers

Needless to say an update is definitely needed at this point in time. So where are we now and what changes have occured you may ask...

1. We now live on a little island known as the isle of spice, where everything is oh so nice...aka Grenada. It is the most southern island in the carribbean, just east of Venezuela. 

2. Ryan decided to switch gears and is now attending MD school at St. George's University instead of PA school. He is in his 2nd term of medical school now. We have one more year here in Grenada and then we move back to the US (a place to be determined) for his clinical rotations.

3. I am now FINALLY after 8 years of working full-time living my dream of being a stay at home Mom.

4. Andie is now 3 years old, potty-trained, fun, energetic and very sweet. 

5. We have another little girl expected to arrive in June. 

Life really couldn't get any better at this point (except for the fact that we wish we had all of our family and friends closer of course), but how can we complain when we get to spend our life on this beautiful island:

More pictures to come...

I now have a goal to stick with and blog at least once a week. Since we are so far away from everyone, blogging is a great way for us to keep in touch with family and friends. We will try and keep you posted. Until next time! 

My favorite thing about being a MOM-this little girl!

At the Botanical Gardens in Albuquerque

Being a Mom

My favorite things about being a Mom

1. Andilyn- seeing her grow and develop her little personality is so much fun. She is so smart, funny and loving. She makes every day worth it. No matter how crazy or messy things get around here. 
2. The hugs and kisses (even the food covered slobbery lips kisses). Andilyn doesn't give kisses very often so when she does they mean a lot. Hopefully she will keep that habit as a teenager. 
3. Being able to rock Andilyn to sleep and cuddle with her (and the miracle now of her letting me do that).
4. Seeing her excitement and curiosity develop of the world around her. Seeing her figure things out. 
5. Her scrunched up little nose face. 
6. I love it when she wants me to hold her, even if it is just sitting in my lap at church. I love it when she is content to sit quietly and let me pretend she is still smaller than she is. 
7. Being able to buy cute clothes without the guilt; they just aren't for me. 
8. Being able to spend hours reading "princess baby" or kids books!
9. When I see Andilyn be kind to another child (share, or give them a kiss or hug), I feel like maybe I'm doing some things a little bit okay.
10. Watching the pride on Andilyn's face when she has conquered something; walking, crawling up on a chair, climbing up and down the stairs, going down the big slide at the park. 
11. Always having someone who is happy to see me. 
12. I think the best thing I have learned about Motherhood is the ability to give. I have learned to give of myself, my time, my knowledge, my love...to what means the most. 

Happy Mothers Day! 

I have had such a wonderful day today. I have the most wonderful husband. I came home from church and Andilyn and I took a nap while Ryan made us dinner and cleaned the whole house. It wasn't just any frozen dinner either. Ryan went all out. He made all of my favorite foods. We had lasagna, garlic bread, salad, "Elote" corn on the cob (delicious) and for dessert caramel brownie sundaes. It doesn't get any better than that. The best part of course was that I didn't clean up a thing and Ryan did it all. Then I was surprised with my Mothers day gifts of flowers, a sweet card, and a new sewing organizer with some crafty supplies inside. It is a good day to be me. :) I have just been reflecting all day of how blessed I am in my life. I have so much to be grateful for. I am so lucky to be able to have the role of "mom". Nothing I have done in my life compares to the satisfaction I receive from being able to be a Mom to the cutest, most fun, angelic little girl ever. I am so grateful for my own mother who I never fully appreciated until I had a child of my own. My mom is amazing. She is the best. I am so lucky to have such an example. I hope you all had a wonderful Mothers Day! 

Andilyn is walking!!!

Updated pictures

Here are a couple updated pictures of us. You can see Andilyn's teeth now, that is a new change. Sorry we are always trying to catch up on blogging. I need to be better at posting, but anyway...here goes~

Favorite place to explore

Andilyn has a new place she loves to explore. Every time the fridge opens, it is a mad dash to get there as fast as she can. No matter where she is, she speed crawls to the fridge and either sits on it or stands in it to explore what good things are in there.

Halloween

 

Now that it is almost Christmas, here are a few of our Halloween pictures this year. We had a lot of fun at the Trunk or Treat. Ryan was Captain Hook, I was Peter Pan and Andilyn was Tinkerbell. She loved her costume, she would hug it and hold it up to her face. We had a Happy Halloween.

6 Month Pictures

Well now that Andilyn is almost a year old, it is probably time for me to post her 6 month pictures. So here it goes. We had a really hard time getting her to smile. She was in a mood, but we got some funny pictures. Some somber, some silly.

Santa Fe

We had a really nice time visiting Santa Fe a few weeks ago. I had no idea how much history there is there. We actually stayed in a bed and breakfast that belonged to Witter Bynner, a famous poet. His home was a gathering place for many such as D.H. Lawrence (who spent his first night in an American home in this house), Willa Cather, Ansel Adams, Igor Stravinsky, and Robert Frost. It was really neat to see the house and all of the pictures of it from way back. We had fun visiting the oldest home and the oldest church in the USA! Here are a few pictures of Andilyn all bundled up in Santa Fe and a picture of the St. Francis cathedral in the Plaza.

The FamDamily!

Here are a couple pictures of us!

Balloon Fiesta!

We finally got to see the famous Balloon Fiesta after living in Albuquerque for a year. It was AMAZING! It was so neat to see all of the different hot air balloons. It really is something everyone needs to see at least once. It was really nice because our ward had a big breakfast the morning of the mass ascension, while we watched the balloons take off. Every day 500 hot air balloons take off. The Land of Enchantment doesn't disappoint!

Andilyn in her shades!

The Albuquerque Fair

We decided to head to the Albuquerque fair in hopes that it would be as great as the Blackfoot fair. It wasn't, but we still had a lot of fun. Here Andilyn is feeling really big riding this tractor and getting her first mugshot taken.

Tyler Keetch- Lone Peak High School Sir Knight

Look at my talented little brother and his friends. He is the one in the yellow pants. This was for the Lone Peak High School Sir Knight contest. He is AWESOME!!!

Andie's favorite toy!

THE JUMPEROO!
We were feeling sad for Andilyn when we went to visit family this past trip and noticed how many toys our nieces and nephews have. We haven't really gotten Andie much because she is so easily entertained with anything. For instance, some of her favorite things are her shoes, my elastic workout band, Ryan's PS3 paddle, etc.., etc... So we decided it was high time she got introduced to traditional infant toys, hence the Jumperoo. She has LOVED it! It has been so much fun to watch her face change with excitement and to hear the little squeals come out. Our favorite thing she has been doing lately is when she gets really excited she looks up toward the ceiling and opens her mouth and squeals. We can't help but laugh everytime. Hopefully the video is clear enough that you will notice it. Enjoy!

Andilyn learning how to spit.

So this last week I went to the store and when I came home my precious sweet little girl had learned a new trick from her Dad. Needless to say, this new trick is now the favorite thing to do whenever anything enters her mouth. I am loving the new accessory of baby food on my clothes. It is quite fashionable. I have tried to not react when she spits, but that almost makes her do it more. Oh well, Dads have to have their fun right?

Summer 2010

Andie with Great Grandma Mary. It was so great to see all of the family and especially to see my Grandma. She has been having some struggles with her health and we enjoy spending time with her when we can. She is the most amazing woman, I love her and look up to her so much. We named Andilyn after her, and hope that one day she will realize the legacy that she was named after. She is the most charitable and loving person I know, and I just love sitting with her and holding her hand. We love you Grandma!

Andilyn Mary with her Great Grandma Mary.

Here we are with Grandpa and Grandma Cox. We sure love them and are so glad we were able to spend some time with them this past trip. We had so much fun up at the range and over at their home to visit. It is so neat to spend time with them and catch up. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful Grandparents and wonderful families. We love you all!

Here are my two great friends and their cute kids from my nursing program at BYU-Idaho Camille and Steph. We got together while we were up in Idaho and had fun talking about good old times. I can't believe it has already been 5 years since we graduated. It makes me feel so old.

We have had a great summer, I can't believe it is almost gone. The good thing about living in Albuquerque is it still feels like summer, so we are yet to feel it is over. We had so many fun memories this summer visiting family and friends. Thanks to everyone for making it so great!


Here is Andilyn with her Grandpa Cox when we were visiting up in Idaho.
Here is Andie with her Grandma Cox.

Andilyn's favorite place to be.

Family picture at the gardens.

Andie and Evy having a great time in Texas together. We had such a fun trip with the Collings! Sadie, Jared and Evy invited us to go with them to Texas to see all of the places Sadie grew up. We went to Lake Tanglewood first to visit Sadie's Dad Charlie and Stepmom Patti. They showed us a great time. We went boating, to see the play TEXAS in Palo Duro Canyon, visited Sadie's Grandparents Marie and Vade at the farm, and had LOTS of good food and great company.

Hanging out at the Big Texan!

Ryan and his favorite food.

Andie at the Big Texan in Amarillo, TX!

At Lake Tanglewood boating.

Family picture

4th of July. For the 4th my parents rented a condo up in Midway for the week and we had so much fun hanging out together playing games, boating at Jordanelle, shopping, and of course lighting off fireworks! Thanks Mom and Dad for such a great time!

Here we are at Eric's wedding (Ryan's little brother) up in Idaho.

Happy Fathers Day!!!

This is a little video of Andilyn's gift to her Dad for Fathers Day! So funny!

Our Favorite Thing

So this has become our favorite part of the day. It is so fun to see Andie so excited to see us in the morning. It just makes me so happy and excited to start the day! Even if it is at 2:00am...3:00am...4:00am. What amazes me is that she is always this happy no matter what time it is in the day. She is such an angel baby. Ryan and I feel so lucky to have such an easygoing little girl. We just love her!

Andilyn at 6 weeks!

Thanks to Kari my talented cousin for taking such beautiful pictures. So for my visit to Utah this last week I took Andilyn to get some pictures taken. My cousin Kari gave me a photo shoot for a gift. What a great gift! So my sister-in-law Caralee took Maya her little girl and I took Andilyn and Grammy came along for some pictures. It was a lot of work. Poor Kari had to work with us for 4 hours, but it sure paid off! Thank you Kari so much! I love the pictures!