TRAUMA...

Roman's had like 3 or 4 hair cuts in his short little life, I've just never taken pictures of them. He's done GREAT for all his hair cuts- sat still, no tears, or anything! So, I decided I would take pictures of his hair cut today. Here's the before shot of his grown out mane:

It started out fine

Then he got a little nervous...
Then the tears came... man the kid screamed!
Then, I discovered a solution to the screaming

Alas, I didn't get an "after" shot because he was too upset still (probably had a LOT to do with the fact that he hadn't had a nap), but at least he survived the hair cut :D. Thanks Shauna for putting up with our dramatic little man!

1 year, 3 months, & 8 days old

Our Roman Boy is 15 months old... my oh my, where does the time go? His check up & shots went well- still in the 50% for weight, 75% for height, & his head is now in the "big bean" category (she didn't give us a %). He's at that phase where he really wants to be independent & tell you exactly what he wants, but can't yet, so when we don't understand what he's trying to say/do, he gets frustrated. It's hard when your sweet- do nothing wrong, love you no matter what- baby turns into a toddler (that word encompasses everything I previously described, no?). But we still wouldn't trade him for anything (even the newborn version of him)... he's just to great the way he is- such a sweet, funny, sassy, cuddly little guy.

Proof of his sass

He hasn't been loving bath time as much, so we have to try to entertain while he's in the tub.

What a mini-Anthon, huh?

Proof that he can still be sweet :)

& (as always) he LOVES his daddy! The kid will take Anthon over me any day of the week & twice on the weekend (who can blame him, right? His daddy's pretty awesome)

He jabbers almost constantly but doesn't say anything we can really understand yet- besides the usual, "Dad", "Mom", & "bye, bye". Once in a while, we'll catch a "thanks","duck", "chicken", "ball", "dog", "baby" "amen", "milk", "ear" or "nose" (he's learning the parts if his face - his nose & ears are by far his favorites). Despite the typical toddler meltdowns every now & then, Roman is a delight and we're loving watching him grow up.

Celebrating 70 Years

I threw a surprise birthday party for my mother on April 10th... It was SO fun & she was REALLY surprised! Thank you all SO much who helped me in any way to pull this off- it wouldn'thave been a success without you! This post is pretty late & I haven't had time to edit all the pictures, but I'm going to post them anyway cause I know people want to see them.

Before Mom Arrived

"Grand Entrance"

We had everyone clap instead of screaming... very appropriate, I thought.

(I'm so sad these turned out blurry, but whatever. You get the idea... she was surprised!)

Greeting her friends/family. See the guy on the far right w/ the cell phone? That's my older brother Jeff- he lives in Utah. Mom didn't know he (or my sister Andrea) were coming down.

After seeing Jeff

Some of the Party Goers

The "Roast"

Mom's sister Clara & brother Tom both talked about memories growing up with Mom. Then Peter, Andrea, Jeff, & I all shared some memories of Mom.

Time to Sing Happy birthday

It was SUCH a fun night! I have a lot more pictures that I didn't post, but I'm sure you'll see them all one day :D

Ok,this video CRACKED ME UP!! Ladies, see if you can relate...

Easter Sunday

Easter this year was really nice- listening to conference, reflecting on the Savior, & spending the entire day with family... I loved it! For starters, my brother Tony & his family got stuck at Sky Harbor airport on their way to Hawaii (sucks for them, but great for us!). We got to go see them between sessions- they live in Utah & we don't get to see them nearly as often as we'd like, so this was a real treat!

We don't really celebrate the commercial side of Easter, but we did do a little egg hunt for Roman... it was SO cute to watch! I'm not sure who had more fun- him searching for the eggs, or us watching him... either way,it was a good time!Here he is with his eggs

After listening to all the talks on protecting the family & teaching your children the things the Lord wants us to, I realized all over again that family is SO important! It seems like in today's world it's becoming harder & harder to stay close to our families but I'm making the decision today to try & not let anything distance us between the greatest blessings in this life-
Family.

Ashleigh Update...

Hi... remember me? I'm Ashleigh & I write this blog. I figured it's been a while since I shared what I'm up to, so this post is dedicated solely to me. See that picture? It was taken at our stake preparedness fair last weekend. I'm the 2nd counselor in Relief Society & that means I was responsible for our ward's display/booth... Sound like a sinch? It wasn't at all, but it was a fun experience (& a success, if I may say so myself)! So that's what took up a lot of my time last month. That & I got a rejection letter from the Northland Pioneer College department of Nursing- I didn't get in :(. At first I felt like, "How big of a looser am I?? I got rejected from NPC!" but now I feel more like, "It's not part of the plan for us to go to school up there right now & the Lord knows best.", so I'm just trying to figure out what to do with myself now. That's my problem, I'm a planner (I guess I just don't like feeling stagnant- I always want to be working toward something, progressing you know?). I had our life all planned out for the next 3 years & knew exactly how things were going to play out. Well that one little rejection letter screwed it all up... I'm working on a new plan now but have NO idea where it's going.
I've been taking a PhotoShop class online for the past few weeks & that's been fun. I wanted to learn how to edit the pictures I take with my new camera so it works out really well. I'll be honest, I took like 5 zits & freckles off of my face in that picture... I guess that means I'm learning something, huh? (Now, if only I can learn how to take off my double chin :D)!
A friend in my ward manages the Down East Basics store & asked if I could come in & help her a few hours a week so I've been doing that- it's fun! They have cute clothes & it gets me away from the boys for a little bit so I can get in some girl time :). I'm debating about going back to Chase... (sniff, sniff, tear)... I wasn't really happy working there, but the medical insurance was GREAT & we could use it!
Which brings me to my next update- I'm officially baby hungry. I'm usually pretty private about the "trying" phase, but since people keep asking I'm just going to put it out there. My baby maker doesn't work that great (I have PCOS- Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome- you can google it), & it took us like a year & 1/2 to get pregnant with Roman so I'm preparing for another long road ahead of us (it's already been 6 months... & nothing). I'm more sensitive about it this time around for some reason, so I figured it might be easier if people know what's going on then maybe I won't have to deal with so many of the obnoxious questions. Don't take that like you can't ask me about our situation... I just don't want the "So you're not pregnant YET?" type of questions.
Anyway, that's pretty much all that's going on in my world... with the exception of a huge surprise party I've been planning for my mom's 70th birthday (it's this Saturday & it's ok that I'm writing about it because she never reads my blog). Also, I'm looking forward to flying to Lubbock, TX to be with my sister Gwen when she has her 3rd baby next month!! & that's my life in a nut shell- Trying to juggle family, church, hobbies, maybe work and my future while at the same time, trying to learn how to rely more on the Lord (& His time) in almost EVERY one of those areas. Thanks for catching up with me :D Peace out!