LOVE this...

"You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big... question: Is that okay? Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change." ~Jim Rohn

 

Birthday number 28

So today I turned 28 years old.  I know this is not a significant birthday.  I'm not a new driver, I've had the ability to buy lottery tickets and alcohol for years now, and my car insurance premiums have been lower for some time.  Nothing is important or special about being 28, but nonetheless I have been doing a lot of reflecting today.
For the last 7 years I have spent each birthday very depressed.  OK not very depressed, but not happy with myself.  I don't want to sound ungrateful, I know I have a wonderful life.  But you know how you have goals for yourself?  Or you thought life would be one way at a certain time... and then it's not that way?  That is how I feel on my birthdays.
I'm grateful for my health and for my family and for the comforts that I enjoy in life, but I get very down because I just don't ever feel like I am who I thought I would be.  Or, I haven't achieved what I want to have achieved at this point. 
When I was a teenager I would think of what I wanted to have achieved by the time I turned 25.  I thought I would have a masters degree, be living in some fabulous city like New York or Paris, have a job that I loved, and maybe be thinking about getting married.  I know that all sounds so juvenille!  The older you get you do realize what is actually important... I mean PARIS... really? 
Still with every passing brithday I have felt sad that I have no degree to hang on my wall, or sit in a file in the file cabinet.  It has been hard for me to think about not achieving that goal.   When I turned 20 my goal was to have an undergrad by the time I turned 30... at 24 that date got moved 40 years of age and the dream of having a masters was no longer in the cards.  I refused to believe that it would never happen, but I also was getting more and more sad each that came by with no more progress completed.
But today I turn 28 and I am a full-time college student!!!!  OK not right now... but I'm enrolled full time in the fall!  I completed goverment earlier this summer, I'll be taking government 2 in July, then full-time starting August 30th!  I can't begin to describe the relief I feel to be able to see the finish line.  It is still far off, but I have started the race!
Thanks to my wonderful and understanding husband I'm on the road to getting my BSN (Bachelor's in nursing) and then after that I don't know what... PA, NP, CRNA, MSN... maybe something else!!!!  I have always told Kelly that I wanted to go back to school and he always told me he supported me wanting to do that.  Seven months ago I approached him with a new dream in mind.  He listened to me and never once laughed.  Even I was suprised at what I was telling him... Me, in the medical feild.... seriously?!? 
Kelly listened and took me seriously and when I was done he said "Let's make a plan."  I'm so grateful to have a best friend and companion who believes in me and supports me. 
We made our plan and now we are "working" that plan.  We will be moving back to Houston to continue my schooling, I will work really hard to make good grades and Kelly will play Mr. Mom when he's not flying.
This birthday is not depressing.  I'm older and that sucks!  I have adult acne and I'm carrying baby weight in unattractive places... but I'm still not sad.  For me 28 marks the end of one of my great life's adventures  -  my life here on Guam; and the beginning of the next great adventure - road to BSN and beyond!
I spent my birthday getting beautiful homemade cards from Liam and Arie.  They glued starburst on the cards and then ate the starburst before I could get to them :)  Then I opened my present form Kelly and my Mom... my MACBOOK!!!!!  I feel like an official student now!  Our friends Bear and Erin watched our kids so that Kelly and I could go on a hike and then snorkel.  FYI for anyone who wants to know... don't take your Lab snorkeling!  Jet was having so much fun swimming next to us she almost drowned us!  We gave up on snorkeling after about 10 mintues and swam back to shore with scratches all over our bodies!  It was still a fun time with the hubby though.  Next we picked up some Indian Food and then ate at home. 
So far 28 is great!  I'm so thankful to be healthy and to be living on a beautiful island with the man and kids that I love!  I'm not much for getting older, but I can't wait to see what I've accomplished when I hit 29.

The Last First

So our sweet little boy Ryder Zachary Monson is one years old!!!!!!  His actual birthday was on May 20th, but we didn't have a party for him until a few days later.  His real birthday was filled with a doctors appointment, several shots :( and running errands with mom.  I know, not the greatest birthday!
So what has Ryder been doing lately.... he goes into a standing position all on his own now, he has taken about 4 steps on his own but he quickly crawls again, he has seven teeth (four on top and three on bottom).  He HATES to have diaper changed or to have his clothes changed!  He LOVES bath time, especially if it is with his sibs.  He says Mama, Dada, Tay Too (thank you), buh buh (bye-bye but never when he's supposed to), and he just started giving really sweet open mouth kisses!  Those are my favorite!
Ryder LOVES to be with Liam!  He thinks Liam is so funny and he loves to play with him and laugh at him.  Arie and Ryder are also developing a relationship, slowly but surely.  He loves his Daddy too.  He seems to be more comfortable when Daddy holds him; but is favorite person has to be.... ME!  I know this phase of his life won't last very long so I'm soaking up every minute of it.
Ryder loves going ot the swimming pool.  He loves finally facing forward in the car.  He loves to carry around electronics, so we gave him an old remote and many old cell phones. His newest electronic toy is our super old iPod.
Ryder loves to place a toy in each hand and then push those hands along the floor as he crawls.  Last night he was crawling around with an iPod in one hand and a remote in the other.
Ryder also loves to sing in the car and always sings when I sing.  It is pretty sweet.  Ryder also dances a lot.  Out of all our kids he loves dancing the most!  He also does a lot of low-key head bobbing when he just feels like kickin' back.
We feel so lucky to have Ryder in our home.  His first year has gone by so fast, but every minute of it has been amazing.  He is such a good baby and he is almost always in a very good mood.  He is very patient with all of his family members and never seems to complain no matter how long we are out running errands.  His smile is so warm and so sweet and I could just stare at him all day.  His eyes are kind and he seems to really look at you like he knows you.
Ryder we love you!  Our family could not be complete without you!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BOY!!!!!!
Here are a list of Ryder's nicknames (we are a nickname family soooo here it goes...):
Ryder Cups
Fred Cupples
Cup Cups
Cuppies
Swamers
Swammie Swumps
Swoots
Cups in a Cups
Ryderson
Chupa Chups (thanks Aunt Jill and the girl in the Hong Kong subway)

running update

I updated the left hand side of my running blog by adding the "Couch Potato to 10K" program outline that I have started.  If anyone is like me and HATES running and has never had athletic confidence I highly recommend this program!  It has totally worked for me.  Check it out!

Being Accountable

I have recently decided to make myself love running.  I started a blog to hold myself accountable.  I don't expect all of you to check it all the time, but I'm advertising the blog so that I know others know!  That way I'll be less likely to quit at my life change!!  LOL!  So if you are incredibly bored and you want someone to laugh at, feel free to stop on by to www.runalyrun.blogspot.com!
I'll post pics of the kids later!

It has been a LONG time...

So it has been a very long time since I have updated this thing.  It just takes so long to download pictures that I get frustrated and quit!  Well, tonight I'm going to try and keep my cool and give a little update on our family.
Everything has been going great around here.  Liam is in a a pre-k program and he loves it!  He is making some great friends and learning a lot.  He doesn't like it when I ask him what he did that day, but he will offer up information willingly if he's left alone.  Here a few of the things he has learned:
1. all about books - he knows where to find the author and the title page.  Before we read any book he quizzes me on where the title page is and who wrote the book.
2. all about making healthy choices - he knows which foods are healthy and which are "junk".  He has learned different ways of exercising; like situps, push ups, and a few yoga poses.  The other day I cracked open a Diet Rite and Liam said "What is that mom?"  I replied "my drink".  "MOM!  That is junk! It is a soda and it is junk!"  He sure did put me in my place! LOL!
3. all about emergency vehicles and procedures - his class took a field trip to the airport fire department where they learned all about saving people from airplane fires.  Kelly went along on the field trip and the kids were really impressed that he was a pilot.  Liam was definitely the COOL kid that day (and I'm sure Kelly's ego was stroked as well).  Liam also knows all about STOP, DROP, and ROLL.
4. 9/11 - when I picked Liam up from school on 9/11 he got in the car and was so anxious to tell me something, "MOM! DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED ON 9/11?!?!?!?!"  "Yeah Buddy, I do, it was a very sad day." 
"THE UNITED STATES WAS ATTACKED!!!!  TWO VERY BAD MEN GOT IN A PLANE AND CRASHED IT INTO THE TWIN TOWERS!!!!!"  He continued to tell me the details of that horrible day and it was very obvious it affected him.  We talked a little bit about our country and how some people in the world don't like how we do things.  I also talked to him about the military and all the great things they do.  We are in the unique situation to be near 2 large military bases and many of our friends serve this country.  It was cool being able to explain our soldiers and their sacrifice, while also giving a familiar face to them.  I think it helped him understand things better.  I named all of our friends and family who are in the military.  
Liam has learned a lot so far this year, but those are the things that stick out to me now.  He is also learning a lot socially.  He is learning about making friends and dealing when people don't like you.  It is a frustrating thing to watch your child learn, but it is necessary and  it has been fun to watch him grow and develop and mature.  He is also picking up on those annoying things that school age children do: he LOVES to copy us "Liam come here." "Liam come here!" , he also talks about tooting and poops all the time, and he loves to burp and then tell me that it was an accident.  I'm sure this behavior will not change for the next 35 years.  We have also learned that Liam is the class clown.  I suspected this about him.  When Kelly returned from the school field trip he confirmed that yes indeed Liam is a clown and loves to get a laugh!  It hasn't gotten him in too much trouble, but I hope he keeps it in check.  I guess he comes from a long line of class clowns (MOM AND JILL!!!!!!)
Arie is.... well Arie is Arie.  She is the girliest girl you will ever come across, but also loves to play anything that Liam loves to play.  She must always have at least one purse (usually she carries two), and she wants to where a dress or a skirt anytime she has to wear clothes.  Everything is a princess something... princess ninjas, princess cereal, princess shoes, princess carseat, princess swords etc.  She cracks us up and drives us crazy all in the same breath.  She is definitely in the middle of the terrible twos, but she makes up for it with her dancing and funny remarks.  She is a girl who knows what she wants and when she wants it and she doesn't take no for an answer.  She is fiercely loyal to her family too, especially Liam.  I will be punishing Liam for hitting her and she will say "NO MOMMY!  You can't yell at Liam!" or "You CAN'T put Liam in timeout!  He doesn't like it!"  She never minds her own business and she rarely knows why she is getting mad at everyone.  But she will do and say anything to defend her brother!  She doesn't really care that much about Ryder yet.  She only shows him attention when Liam does.  Oh yeah - LIAM LOVES RYDER!   Arie loves when I tell her the Princess Diaries.  They are stories I make up for her.  They always involve the same four characters... Princess Arie, Princess Saryn, Princess Georgie and Prince Braden.  I think I've made up 25 stories about those 4 and if I accidentally tell it different than the time before she gets mad.  It is such a joy to have our little Princess Lulu, but I'm not gonna lie... I've about run out of steam!  My mother cursed me well!
Ryder is growing so fast and I hate it!  He is coming up on 6 months and I can't believe that in another 6 months he will be a toddler :(  He is roly poly and so sweet.  He smiles constantly and his laugh is the cutest.  He LOVES his big brother and he laughs at anything Liam does or says.  He rolls all over the place and he still spits up about 45 million times a day.  I'm sure Kelly and I have the permanent stench of spit up, but I don't care!  He is so sweet and so wonderful I just can't get enough of him.  I'm searching for any sort of special powder that will keep him a baby forever.  No luck yet though :(

                                   This is Liam with his classmates on their field trip.

  Liam in the Fire Truck!  No matter how old you are it is always cool to climb into a fire truck!

                                                                 The Boys!

Richard Zachary with Ryder Zachary.  Ryder rarely cuddles, but he took to Uncle Zach almost instantly.  So sweet!  We met up with my mom and Zach in Kauai about a week ago.

Can you get any sweeter than this?????

It seems as though you can.....

Liam LOVED the beaches in Kauai.  And he fit in so well there.  There were probably at least 15 boys with blonde shaggy hair at every beach we went to.

 

Arie strutting her stuff on Hanalei Bay.  Thigh fat in a bikini is only cute when you are a toddler, so I let her rock it.  Sadly though, I rocked my thigh fat too.

 

Momo and Zach dug this hole for them.  Everytime a big wave came in it will fill up and Arie would say "YAY!!!!  Our bath is ready!"

 

The bath did not keep her very clean.

Momo and Zach.

 

 

Where is Jill???  :(

Momo got Liam this gun and he took it EVERYWHERE!!!!!  He refused to put it down for this picture.  So instead of a sweet brother-sister moment... it looks like he has taken her hostage!

SO PRETTY!!!!!  Don't you just want to ride a horse all over those mountains!  "THE HILLS ARE ALIVE!!!!!!"

 

I just thought this was so beautiful!

 

Cna you see the name "Liam"?  Kelly carved Liam's name inside the cave on the side of the road.  I think Liam thought it was his cave after that.

Kel and Liam about to enter the cave!

 

This was a HUGE dead jellyfish that washed up on shore.  It was pretty cool!

 

Liam "relaxing" on the beach.  Anytime there is a lounge chair or mat or towel.. pretty much anywhere that people typically lay down... Liam will run, lay down, and say "Mom I'm just going to relax for a minute."

 

Arie creating art in the sand.

 

Liam got mauled by a crazed naked baby!

 

pretty light house

 

This crazy drunk lady took our picture here.  You can tell by our faces that we weren't sure when she would take it.

 

 

 

Arie and her crack.

Momo never says no.

Ryder used this vacation to catch up on his much needed beauty sleep.

Kel and I went hiking.  The hike was beautiful... me... not so much.

view from our hike

So there you have it.  An update. 

 

                  

Attention Bloggers... I need your help!

So has anyone actually published their blog to one of those books yet???  I think they are called "Blurbs" or something...
I was just wondering what people think of the quality, convience, price... everything really.
I've recently decided to do separate journals for my kids through blogger.  I've decided it is really the best way for me to document their life.  I'm not a scrapbooker, and I hate when my hand cramps up from writing.  I thought it would be fun to journal their lives through blogger and then every year I could do one of those blurb books.
But I want to know what people think of that service.  Is it quality?  Is it easy to figure out?  Is there an easier way to accomplish what I'm trying to accomplish?

Thanks for you help!

Ryder where are you?

My mom has requested some recent pics of Ryder. But when I got on the computer I realized our most recent ones (which really aren't that many) are not on the computer yet. AND.. I don't know where the cord is to put them on the computer.
But I did find these pictures. These were taken 2 days after we got home from Houston. We invited a friend over for dinner that night because he took care of our house for us.
Here are Liam and Arie being their usual goofy selves...

And here they are at about 5 pm... I'm not sure if it was jet-lag, or them just trying to get out of eating Panang...



These are about a month old. I didn't realize that I had dressed all the kids in brown that day. I wanted to take a picture of them and this is what I got! Totally their personalities... well whatever amount of personality Ryder had at the time.

Ryder Zachary Monson

Well here it is... a little bit about our little boy.
I guess I'll start at the beginning of our adventure. For those who don't care about the details of labor, you can just skip down to the pictures. But for our posterity and for those who love L&D specifics read on.
My doctor agreed to induce me at 39 weeks. We put my name on a waiting list to go in on the 20th if there were beds open; and if that didn't work out I would go in on the 21st for sure. The night of the 19th I about had a nervous breakdown from the great uncomfortableness (is that a word???) of being so pregnant. I knew it wasn't for sure that I would get in the next day, but if I didn't get in I had plans of giving myself an at home c-section! At 5:00 am I got a call from some wonderful person at the hospital saying that if I wanted to come in at 7:00 am I could have my baby!!!! I practically screamed YES! I should've tried to go back to sleep for an hour or so but I was so excited at the thought of not being preggers that I just couldn't sleep. I finished packing my bag and Kelly and I got clothes out for the kids and told Grandma that we were leaving. OFF TO THE HOSPITAL!!!!!!!!!!
Got there at 7, they took me to a HUGE delivery room, one nurse stuck me three times attempting to get my IV in (I couldn't get mad at her, my veins run away from needles), Kathy my main nurse stuck me in another spot and luckily my vein stayed, started me on pitocin by 8 am, contracting by 8:10. The contractions went on becoming more frequent and more severe, then 20 minutes later I could hardly feel them and they were hardly happening! So every 30 mintues Nurse Kathy would come in and up the pitocin. This went on for a while. My precious wonderful fabulous sister came to the hospital to hang out with Kelly and I. The only thing I hated about her being there was when she showed up with DONUTS and then she ate them in front of me. I've almost forgiven her.
Dr. Cantu came in around 12 and said she thought she should break my water and hopefully the labor would go quicker. She broke my water - OUCH!!!! Dr. Cantu then told me that if I wanted an epidural that I should go ahead and request it soon because there was a full house and if I waited too long to request it I may not get it in time. I told her I didn't want the epidural to slow me down and she ensured me that all the newest information said the epi's don't slow anyone down. Since I flew all the way the to Texas for an epidural, I had Nurse Kathy put in the request. Ten mintues later the anesthesiologist came in pushing his cart full of tricks! Normally I would've been so excited to see him. But normally you've been contracting for a while and you are already in pain so you don't mind someone jamming a long needle in your spine. But for me at that moment I wasn't uncomfortable at all; so I wasn't really looking forward to the torture I was about to endure. Aside from the "pressure" he told me I would feel, it really went well.
Minutes later I found myself good and numb unable to move myself from the waist down. Nurse Kathy came in and told me to lay on my left side and the she would come in 30 minutes later and roll me to my other side. She said that this should help me dilate a little quicker. At that point I was only a two!!!!
About an hour later Kathy finally made it back in. She said she would check me before rolling me over to the other side. Shockingly I was a 10!!!!!!!!!!!!!! From a 2 to a 10 in an hour!!!!! She said she would call the doctor and that if I felt the urge to push to try and ignore it until the doc came in. She was right!!! I almost immediately felt the need to push, I didn't know how I was going to wait. Luckily Dr. Cantu came in and got suited up and the fun began!
As soon as the stirrups (or whatever the awful leg holders are called) came out I looked at Jill. I normally don't like having anyone in the room except for Kelly. But Jill definitely helps me relax and she doesn't get all hyper and emotional, so I decided that I wouldn't kick her out. I did try to warn her quickly of all the awful things she may see and I suggested that she may want to stand by my head or something. She didn't seem too concerned.
Right before I started pushing Dr. Cantu asked all of us what we thought the baby would be. Kelly, me, and Nurse Kathy all said that we thought it was a girl.
I started pushing. Between the excitement of finding out the sex of our new baby and the priceless look on Jill's face I have to say that is was the funnest labor I've ever had. The epi was perfect, Jill was hilarious, Nurse Kathy was a dream, Dr. Cantu was AWESOME, and Kelly and I were so nervous. When I knew the baby was out I lifted my head to try and see what I would be raising, and I saw the umbilical cord and then I saw... well... testicles! Dr. Cantu exclaimed "IT'S A BOY!!!!!!"
We were so excited to hear those words. We had a new little boy! They put him on my belly while Kelly cut the cord. He looked so big! Well so much bigger than my other kids were. I was staring at his sweet little face saying over and over in my mind "Wow, thats my boy!" and "Yeah I'm not pregnant anymore!!!!"


They took him away and cleaned him up and then my mom came in. Momo got to see him for awhile and Aunt Jill held him too.




The best part of the experience was when Grandma and GG came with Liam and Arie. I was so excited for the kids to meet their new baby brother. They came in the room and they looked so cute! They climbed up in my bed and couldn't wait to see their little brother. They were so cute and gentle with him and it was really sweet. I just kept imaging how close they would hopefully one day be.




While we were at the hospital we had lots of friends and family that came to visit.




(Sorry that we didn't get pictures of everyone).
Liam and Arie also had the fun opportunity to add their hand prints to the hospital wall. It is a really cute program the hospital has to include the older siblings of the new babies. The kids get to put the hand prints on the wall with their names and the name of their new baby. Liam did a great job with his hand prints and writing his own name. He then requested that Kelly write the word "Batman" next to his hand prints as well. Arie's were slightly more sloppy. But they both had so much fun making their mark on our special occasion.



So now we had Liam, Arie, and .... well we didn't know. From the beginning of the pregnancy Kelly and I both thought we were having a girl. We never agreed on any boy names and so we gave up discussing them. About a month before I had Ryder I started thinking that it could maybe be a boy. I gave a little bit more thought to boys names. Then the whole week before I delivered I went back to thinking it was a girl. We finally agreed on a girls name and gave up on the boy name thing.
The morning that I delivered, after the hospital called me, Kelly suggested the name Ryder. I don't think he knows why that named popped in his head. We talked about the name about a total of five minutes but then we just didn't bring it up again because we thought we were having a girl.
Well out came a boy with all his parts and we starting to think that Ryder would be the name. When Liam and Arie showed up at the hospital Liam asked what the baby's name would be. We said that maybe it would be Ryder, and from that moment on Liam would tell everyone he had a brother named Baby Ryder. So then we knew... it was Ryder for sure.
And I already wrote about how we got the name Zachary. So now we are blessed to have Ryder Zachary Monson in our home. He is so good and such an easy baby. His disposition reminds me a lot of Liam as a baby. He is very easy going, only cries when we change his diaper. Even at night, he grunts when he's hungry and after he's fed he passes out again. I realize he's only two weeks old, but so far so good.
A his two week appt he weighed 8 lbs 4.5 ozs. My little boy is already growing up! It makes me so sad.
So Ryder - we want you to know that we love you so much and everyday we love you more and more. I can't even remember what it was like to not have you. We know as parents we are far from perfect, and I'm sure you will be disappointed a million times, but hopefully you will always know how much you are loved. Liam and Arie may pick on you and give you a hard time, but know that one day they will be your best friends. Welcome to our family little guy!