When life feels like too much, I have to remember to look at the good.  I look at my sweet husband who will do anything for me.  I look at my darling kids and all the joys and challenges that come with raising them.  And I realize...it's not so bad.  I can do this.  And I have the cutest companions to enjoy this journey with.

Jamison is so creative and clever.  His imagination just blows my mind.  He can turn anything into...well, anything.  It's awesome.

 (this belt is his whistle)

 (this lawnmower also doubles as a motorcycle)

Gregory never really took to baby food but he loves eating table food with us.  His favorites are bananas, grapes, and corn.  And our house is no longer safe as Gregory has figured out how to get around.  His version of crawling is a little funky but it gets him where he wants to go.  I've learned it's a lot harder to baby-proof a house when you have a toddler but we are working on it!

Tyler is staying busy with work and school.  I'm so proud of his hard work.  We drove all the way to Tooele (hour and a half) on Saturday so he could take a test.  And then (of course) they had problems with the computer and he had to reschedule.  Luckily he can take it closer to home this time.  While we were out we took the boys to the zoo for the afternoon.  I'm not sure Gregory knew or cared what was going on but he was excited when I took him out of the stroller to go in the Reptile house.  And Jamison was so impressed with all the animals he could see in one place.  He would request one animal after another and we'd go find it.  Elephant, Rhinoceros, Gorilla...the only thing we couldn't show him was the Lion because they are creating a new environment for it right now.  The good news is that we got a season pass for Christmas so this definitely won't be our last trip!

This year has been so crazy!  I can't believe 2013 is coming to an end.  Looking back over the past 12 months, I feel like not only has a lot changed within our family, but a lot has changed within myself.  I have grown so much and I am so grateful for the opportunities I have been given throughout this year that helped me to grow.

From January to the beginning of May, our family continued living in Provo.  We loved our basement apartment and our ward and would have been okay with staying there for several years.  Unfortunately we had to move when the landlord decided to come from South Carolina and move into the home.  We spent some time looking at other apartments and then we were approached with the idea of moving into my grandmother's basement and being there to help her.  It was a hard decision for me because I knew how much it would change not only what I did with my time each day, but also possibly my relationship with my grandmother.  I would be more than just a grand-daughter visiting, I would be a caregiver.  And that's not always easy.  But we prayed long and hard and Heavenly Father told me over and over (just to make sure I got the point) that I should do this.  He also told me that this move was NOT for me, but for others.

Moving in with Grandma was an adjustment of course, but it has been so wonderful.  Jamison has loved adding visiting Grandma and helping her with things to our daily routine.  He is always asking to help with everything so I find ways for him to contribute to the care giving.  And Grandma has taught me so much.  We've both adjusted to working with each other and learning together how we can best make this work.  She has helped me to learn and grow in so many ways.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have been given to serve and learn from my grandmother.

In July, Tyler's job description changed and he was given new responsibilities at work.  He is still doing Tech Support but now he does the phone systems and wireless security throughout the district instead of just fixing problems at a few assigned schools. In the space of two weeks, he technically received two promotions.  He now has the job he had hoped to have if he continued working for the Provo School District for five or more years.  I am so happy for, and proud of, my husband!

August 10th we welcomed a new baby boy to our family.  Gregory Steven Dennis.  He is growing in leaps and bounds already and we love him so much.  Jamison has had his ups and downs with having a baby brother but he is a kind and loving big brother for the most part.  It's fun to watch a relationship develop between the two boys.

Tyler started school in November.  He found the perfect program for him through an online college called Western Governor's University.  It's affordable and he can go his pace, which is so perfect!  He's learning a lot already and talking about pursuing a Master's Degree after he finishes his Bachelors.

This is such a brief summary of the events in our lives this year.  I have learned so much about family, love, service, attitude, parenting, perseverance, and faith this year.  I look forward to what next year will bring.

Having two kids and Grandma to take care of doesn't leave me with much personal time.  And let's be honest, when I do get personal time...my first thought isn't, "oh, I should blog!"  But tonight I realized I was long over-due for an update because my children grow so fast and you miss out on a lot in just a month and a bit.

Jamison:  I love this boy to death.  He is so funny, so creative, so...stubborn.  The terrible twos were a little sporadic and for a while I thought they weren't that terrible but they have hit HARD since having to share his mom with a little brother.  Oh he's a darling brother though.  He will go to Gregory when he cries and say, "What's wrong Gregory?  It's okay."  He loves to hug him and will tell me about twenty times a day that he likes him.  On the flip side...he sometimes smashes him, drives cars on his face, hits him....you know, beats on him older brother style. 

Jamison is always so full of words (except when he's mad, then he just screams).  I love to just sit and listen to him, sometimes.  He's always chatting.  When I shower I turn on Curious George to keep him occupied and he'll still come into the bathroom because he has to tell me what's happening on the show.

He's always been a picky eater but he's finally starting to branch out and try new foods.  Since moving in with Grandma, Jamison has begun eating some foods that I never expected him to like.  He especially loves oatmeal, toast, and (this is the craziest one to me) Grapefruit!

We are working on potty-training right now.  He's shown signs of readiness for a while now, but after half-heartedly attempting two months ago with no success, I wasn't anxious to try again.  Then Sam's Club ran out of his diapers and didn't know when they'd get more in.  I didn't want to try a new brand so...potty training it was!  The first day my mom sat with him for an hour and a half before he finally went on the toilet.  He did fantastic for two days and then completely regressed.  Today he absolutely refused to use the toilet.  He kept telling me he wanted a diaper.  At one point he even said to me, "I'm going to pee on the carpet" and proceeded to do just that.  He's killing me!  But we can only go uphill from here, right?!

Gregory:  My sweet baby about killed me his first week home.  He was a terrible sleeper.  The first night he was up every 20 minutes.  But it got a little better every night and now at almost two months old...he sleeps about 4 hours at a time most nights.  Such a blessing!

Gregory has been growing like crazy.  He's almost outgrown his 3 month sleepers because he's so long! At his 2 week check up he was in the 75th percentile for height and weight.  Two weeks after that I measured him and if I did it right...he had jumped up to the 95th percentile!  I should probably measure him again...

Unlike Jamison, Gregory isn't much of a talker.  He's only recently discovered his voice and he doesn't use it much beyond grunting when he's hungry and of course crying!  I love when he does talk though, I'm so in love with baby talk!  And I love when he graces me with a smile (also not a super common thing...though it's getting more and more common). 

So that's my boys.  They are constantly growing, and keeping me oh so busy!

Oh, and Tyler!  He's loving his job and now he's actually working on starting school next month.  Just last week he took some sort of computer certification and passed (woot woot!).  It was the last thing he needed before he could apply for school.  So now his life will get even busier than it has been and we'll probably only see each other when we crawl into bed at night.  Just thinking about it makes me shudder.  I can't WAIT to be past the student stage of life.  I'm so proud of him, though, for not giving up and for going back to school even with all his other responsibilities. 

Love my family!

Jamison blows my mind.  This boy is constantly doing funny things and surprising me with his growing skills.  He changes every day.  Sometimes it feels like he changes every time I turn around!  He is speaking up a storm these days.  The child almost never stops talking and we're not just getting two word sentences anymore, he is talking in full-blown sentences.  He works hard to say words right and have good diction, so his sentences (and words) are choppy, but so cute!

He is still dressing himself, and he asks to help with everything.  Sometimes I have to be pretty creative to let him be helpful.  For example?  He wants to help me when I check Grandma's blood sugar and do her insulin.  So we take turns.  After I check the blood sugar, I let Jamison take the monitor and go through the motions of checking it.  With the insulin?  Well, I let him hand me the cap for the needle.  With housework, everything takes twice as long and is twice as messy but my child just wants to help and I'm not going to discourage that!  It's getting to the point now that he even tries to help Grandma push her walker.  I have to keep a close eye so that helping doesn't become a danger.  I just love how sweet my child is though, and how much he wants to help.  It's darling.

 (He grabbed a baby wipe and began cleaning his slide...he also cleaned the wall, the floor, and his toes)

We've been busy the last few weeks with holidays.  My mom and sister both had birthdays and then we had Pioneer Day.  For my sister's birthday there is always a theme and this year it was The Hunger Games.  There weren't a lot of options for someone Jamison's age and I didn't want to spend a lot on a costume for him so....we made him Haymitch.  (If you don't know about the Hunger Games, Haymitch is a drunk....)  He helped with his own costume, of course. 

 Haymitch with Katniss and Peeta

 Citizens of the Capitol (My sister is Effie Trinket...the rest of us have no specific identities)

And for Pioneer Day, Jamison loved the parade.  Well....at first he was a little nervous but by the end he was loving it.  And for days afterwards it's all he's talked about.  That and the "firetruck works" (also known as fireworks). 

Jamison with his baby cousin.  I think he's warming up to the idea of a baby brother because he will bring up "the baby" sometimes and talk about his toys.  When we pulled out the baby's car seat, Jamison kept talking about how it was for the baby and he seemed a little excited.  We'll see if the excitement lasts after his little brother is actually here!

Yesterday Jamison and I went to a pool party with my parents and had a blast.  Even though Jamison was up way past his bed time, it was so worth it.  He loves water and he was so happy to splash and play.  He also said so many funny things that night!  When my dad tried to teach Jamison how to blow bubbles in the water, Jamison ended up trying to drink the water.  So we explained to him that we don't drink the water we swim in, and I told him "ew, that's gross."  Jamison asked his grandpa to blow more bubbles (by saying, "Umpa, drink?  Bubbles?") and then when Grandpa obliged, Jamison said, "Ewww, Umpa!"  He did this over and over again.  He also liked it when my dad would swim under the water and pop up right in front of him and he'd ask him to do that by saying, "behind the water?"  Then, when it was time to go...well, of course Jamison didn't want to.  So I told him that it was dark and they needed to turn the water off so that everyone could go home and go to bed.  This, Jamison decided, was a legitimate reason to leave.  So he said goodbye to Nana and Grandpa and without me needing to prompt him said, "thanks for playing in water!"  Proudest Mom moment!  Oh, and then as we left he continued waving and saying "Bye Nemo!"  Which is weird because he's never seen the movie Finding Nemo so I'm not sure where that came from. 

I just love my boy so much, and he's doing so much lately.  Sorry this post is kind of braggy....but it's going to continue to be because I'm also so proud of my husband who in the past month has gotten not one but TWO promotions at work!!!  I couldn't be happier for Tyler.  He now has the job he was hoping he'd get if he stuck with the school district for five-ish years.  But because the person who had the job got a better offer elsewhere, they have given the job to Tyler.  And I know he will blow them away, because he's a fast learner and a hard worker.  I can't give you his exact job title, and I'm not even 100% sure what all his responsibilities are but he's still doing computer tech support stuff.  He's on call now so that if the network goes down, he has to go to the schools to fix it.  The other day he was at work for 12 hours, came home for 4, and had to go back in because the wireless was down.  So it's a higher stress job with more responsibility but...he loves it. 

I am now 37 weeks along in my pregnancy and I think Gregory is ready to come.  He dropped about two weeks ago and then this week, he dropped further (which I didn't even know was possible!)  So he's sitting pretty low now.  Unfortunately, my body isn't cooperating and I'm not dilated at all.  My doctor informed me that I have a strong cervix and it will take a lot of contractions before I'm ready to deliver.  So I'm in this weird situation where I want to give myself lots of contractions because if I don't go into labor by 40 weeks...my doctor isn't willing to induce me and I will have to have another c-section.  I'm doing what I can to prepare for either option and I'm praying to Heavenly Father that things will work out as is best for myself and my baby...and that whatever way that happens, I can have peace.  Because right now?  I really, really want a VBAC and it literally makes me cry when I think that it might not happen.  So I need the Lord to help me be calm and okay with however my baby can get here healthy and safe. 

.

I have had an awesome few days, and I just wanted to share.  Mostly so that I have a record of it for later...because let's be honest, I haven't written in my journal since Christmas (blush). 

Thursday, Independence Day, we spent the afternoon with family.  My aunt's family owns a private bit of space on the mountain that they used to ranch.  So we still call it "the ranch" but now it's just a playground, pavilion, and small pond, along with some old farm equipment and hiking trails.  Jamison was in heaven playing in the water.  We spent an hour and a half swimming and splashing (well, no swimming for Jamison...he just splashed...) and I don't have a single picture because we were all too busy playing and my camera is not water-proof.  When Jamison started shivering, we tried to tell him it was time to get out but he kept telling us no.  I finally had to bribe him with a cookie.  He ended up eating two.  Oh well!  After all that swimming, little man was exhausted.  He fell asleep about a minute into the ride home.  And he looked so cute.  :)

That night, Jamison had a sleep-over with my parents.  Tyler and I enjoyed the night to ourselves and then the next morning we headed to Logan for a mini-vacation.  It was our early anniversary trip because Tyler has a work training over our anniversary and I will be so hugely pregnant that I don't expect to be much fun to be around. 

So Tyler and I spent the day in Logan.  We went to the Tabernacle, walked along Main Street, went to a Pepperidge Farm outlet, and to Gossner's Dairy (where they were all out of Mango Milk which was seriously the only reason I went!) and then went to our hotel for a nap.  The rest of the night we went to dinner, watched a crazy storm come and go, saw the sun set, watched an interesting documentary (Craigslist Joe), and just enjoyed each others' company.  Oh, and played with Legos we bought at Wal Mart.  ha ha. 

Saturday morning we went to a HUGE car show.  They boast that it's the biggest/most popular in the Western United States.  I can't say that for certain but it was definitely large, and really neat.  I'm glad we were about to go.  We had no idea it was going on while we'd be in Logan but we kept seeing neat old cars driving down the road while we wandered Main Street on Friday, so we got on Google and found the car show.  I'm so glad we did!  We walked around for an hour and a half and I'm sure we still missed a lot of cars but let's be honest...34 weeks pregnant and walking in the heat?  I could only hang on for so long!

The neat thing was coming home and showing the pictures to my grandma.  She told me that she remembered when these cars were on the road!

When we came back Saturday evening to pick up Jamison I had envisioned this sweet reunion where he was super happy to see us and hugged me and maybe wanted to sit in my (non-existent) lap for the rest of the night.  Instead he refused to even look at me.  I was in deep trouble for leaving him!  It wasn't until  I gave him milk over an hour later that he'd finally even talk to me (though he was playing with his dad much sooner than that...don't know why I was the main one in trouble!).  And it took even longer before Jamison was willing to let me give him a hug and a kiss.  When we brought him home, Jamison was excited to unpack his bag and hop into bed.  Oh how I love that boy!  I'm glad he forgave me but I do worry now about how he'll respond when I leave him for a few days and then come back with a baby....Wish me luck!

Yesterday Tyler said to me, "You're looking pregnant."

At 33 weeks?  Imagine that.  ;)

Guess what friends?!  Life is super, duper crazy right now.  I have so much to share, it's hard to know where to begin.  Let's start pretty much where my last post left off: with my ultrasound (and a new picture of my pregnant belly).

When I went to get the ultrasound done, I forgot to grab the address for the office before we left the house.  Normally I go to their Orem office but they do ultrasounds in their Provo office instead.  So we just googled the address on my phone (the joy of modern technology!) and got there with two minutes to spare.  Not that it mattered because the office was running way behind.  We had to wait over an hour but it was fine because my sister was watching Jamison and all was good.  When we got back to actually get the ultrasound, the tech asked me if I have the doctor's orders.  I didn't remember being given anything to bring so she tells me to make sure they fax her the order.  I thought it was kind of weird because I was just going to the doctor's Provo office instead of the Orem one I normally visit...why on earth didn't they have the order?!  Well, I went home and got busy and forgot about it until it was too late to call.  And then the next day when I remembered to call, no one answered.  I forgot about it again until yesterday (Wednesday).  And the receptionist at the office was VERY confused  when I called and told her what I needed.  She told me I'd never even shown up for my ultrasound and they had my order.  I'm like...yes...I did....According to her records, though, I had been a no-show.  Anyway, skipping past the details of my conversation with her...I went to the wrong doctor's office.  Apparently there is a Valley OBGYN and a Utah Valley OBGYN.  I went to the Utah Valley OBGYN instead of the Valley OBGYN.  Their offices are a few blocks apart.  Ooops!  The weird thing?  1-When I didn't show up for my ultrasound, why didn't they call to find out where I was?  I mean, who really misses their gender ultrasound?!  And even if they didn't have time to call me then, why haven't I heard from them since about rescheduling?  2-When I showed up to the wrong office, why didn't they say, "Who the heck are you?  We don't have you on the schedule and we don't have any of your information on file.  Go home.  We are already overbooked" (because they were)?  The blame is not all mine, that's all I'm saying.  So now I am in the process of trying to get a hold of the ultrasound tech who did the ultrasound so that I can get the results faxed to the right doctor.  Only she's out of town this week.  And the only other person who can access the information is also unavailable.  Also, I have yet to mention this little mishap to my insurance company...hopefully they don't kill me for this.  I have no idea if the people I went to are covered by my insurance.  Is that not the most ridiculous story ever?!

Moving on to Easter!  YAY!  (Have I ever mentioned before that Easter is my favorite holiday?  Not only because I LOVE Easter candy better than any other candy but because of the beautiful reason for celebrating Easter). We didn't have the Easter bunny visit Jamison until I got off work (I had to work the lunch shift) and he woke up from his nap.  When I got home from work he was still sleep so I just put his Easter basket where he could see it when he woke up.  Watching his excitement at getting some eggs with candy and a book was so darling.  He kept saying, "wow!" and was super giddy.  It was so sweet. 

We had dinner at my parents' house and then my mom did an Easter Egg Hunt for Jamison.  He is such a funny kid.  His current favorite candies are Candy Corns (heaven only knows why!!!) and Life Savers.  So Mom bought him a bunch of the Easter colored ones. When he realized that was in the Easter Eggs (along with some cars and money) he got super excited.  He was dancing around and he told us "I got candy corns that I like!"  We have it on video and it's the cutest thing!  (If you are friends with me on Facebook, my brother posted the video and tagged me in it.  Go watch it, you won't regret it.  I promise.)  I would say it was a pretty successful Easter for my little man.  And me too.  I enjoyed Sacrament meeting (which was the only part of church I could attend because of work) and the sweet Spirit that reminded me that I have an older brother who loves me enough that he will do whatever it takes to help me be happy in this life and in eternity.  It gives me warm fuzzies.  :)

Now for more news!  Keeping with our tradition....we will be moving again this summer.  We knew our landlord was planning on moving here this summer, but what we didn't know was what he planned to do about us renting the basement.  At one point he'd said he'd keep us around.  But he hasn't kept us in the loop and so Tyler finally asked him and...yeah, we have to move out.  Sigh.  I'm so tired of moving.  We'd hoped to stay here for a while. So we have started looking around at our options.  We found an AMAZING deal in Orem.  It's a basement apartment, 1350 sq ft., and under $750 a month with utilities included!  We went and toured it the other day.  Tyler was hoping we could hand them a deposit and take it then and there and be done with the apartment search but....the people had a lot of interest (imagine that, with that much space and such a low price!) so they were doing tours all week and said they would let us know when they decided who they were going to rent to.  It felt like a job interview.  We filled out an application, gave references, and were told they would let us know.   We've since found out that we won't be getting that apartment, so the search continues with another tour tonight and probably even more in the future.  We are just praying that we will find the right place...and find it soon.  Moving + pregnant = not so awesome.  Plus, I probably haven't mentioned this before, we don't know if Tyler will get to keep his job.   Because of Obama-care, the school district wants to cut back their employees hours so that they don't have to give them benefits.  Tyler's boss is really pushing to get to keep Tyler at full time but we are still waiting to see what will be decided.  And they don't technically have to give us an answer until July.  So it's just a waiting game for now. It all feels a little reminiscent of when I was pregnant with Jamison and Tyler lost his job.  I'm hoping we don't have a repeat with every baby!!!

So that's us.  We keep life exciting.  :)  I shall now end with more cute pictures of my darling son and handsome husband.  They play so well together!