Friday, December 31, 2010

White Christmas?

No... White birthday? YES! Yesterday (dec 30) was Paul's 27th birthday. It was storming all day the day before and all night. I was looking out the window and said "Paul it's going to snow for your birthday. WAIT! IT IS SNOWING FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY!" I was really excited. It wasn't enough to stick or play in but it was definitely snowing! Paul's parents and brother Kevin came down and treated us to La Paloma. When we first got there I asked Paul if he wanted them to know it was his birthday and he said NO. So I didn't tell the waitress. But I guess one of his parents did because the waitress came out and asked for everyones attention. Then the WHOLE restaurant sang happy birthday to him. His mom was walking around with Hayden and his dad paid before we were done eating. They both denied it was them. We went home to cake, but we were so full that none of us even had any. I'd say it was a good, relaxed birthday.

The end is in sight!

Paul just finished block 3 of the nursing program, which was pediatrics. It was a roller coaster! He spent his clinicals at Maricopa Medical Center. He would come home and just want to hold Hayden after seeing what some parents did to these poor children. Anyway... He saved all the time consuming homework until the last week of school and had to rush to get it finished in time. But those that turned it in on time got it back to fix it on the last week, so it was about the same anyway. He was very worried that he wouldn't pass this semester. (Even though I knew he would do great.) He got a call from his teacher on Tuesday and was talking to her for 2 hours! Turns out she lost one of his clinical packets and he had to tell her everything thing that was on it. All in all, he PASSED this semester with a B!! I'm very proud of him. We are almost there. Just one more semester and then the NCLEX test (or whatever its called) and he will be an RN!! WOOOOO!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Family pictures

Tiffany (simplyphotog.blogspot.com) was so kind as to give me a photo shoot for my birthday back in July. They turned out AMAZING! I'm so happy with them. It was about time we got some pictures of our family.






Tuesday, October 5, 2010

I caught you a delicious bass

Paul's parents came down for conference and we decided to go fishing on Monday. Paul and Bill went to Cluff Ponds way earlier than I wanted to get up. Around 8 Paul called me and said "will you bring stuff to fix eggs?" I thought they caught a HUGE bass and wanted a skillet and some eggs to go with it. I get there and they had only caught one, which they threw back. Paul gets the eggs and bacon cooking and I grabbed a pole. I went on the dock and just started throwing my line out. As I was reeling it back, it felt a little bit heavier but I thought I just had some weeds or something... I pull it up and yell HOLY CRAP! Yeah it was tiny.... BUT it was my first fish ever. (there are other people around too, and they laughed at me) I yell for help and paul says to keep it in the water. As soon as it hit the water, it got off of the hook and swam away! I was going to cook that thing!! Paul stops coming toward me and says "oh well it was tiny anyway." I realize that but I wanted a picture!



There was a guy down the lane that caught one this size and I took Hayden closer to see it. Later it started to rain and he didn't have windshield wipers so he had to leave. He felt bad for us so he gave us his last catch of the day. It was a pretty good size one. 2 to 3 pounds.



This is the one Dad caught, and is about the same size as the one I caught.


Thursday, September 23, 2010

Hayden is 2!!


Hayden turned 2 on Monday. We just had a small party with the 3 of us. He didn't seem to mind. He got some tractors and a wooden ambulance.

At 32 inches, he is in the 1% for his height. I knew he was short, but come on!
He still weighs 25 pounds (going on about 6 months now)
He puts words together well making almost complete sentences.
He can name most things or repeat it if he doesn't know.
Motorcycles and cars continue to be his favorite toys.
He learned how to play Trials (motorcycle game on Xbox) I'm not sure if that is a good thing.
He is happy most of the time.
He gets many comments on how happy and cute he is.
He loves to play on the cars in front of Bashas.
He loves tickle fights with daddy.
He can count to 10.
His favorite food is mac and cheese.
He loves bath time and will splash until mommy is soaked!
He continues to amaze us with how smart and happy he is.
He is still nursing, but we hope to be done before Halloween. (if not sooner, cross your fingers)
He loves to look at the fish at Walmart.
He also loves the banging fans in the Garden section. (anyone know what I'm talking about?)
He thinks that every dogs name is Sugar.













Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend we always go up to Columbine and camp with our friends. This year it was just us and Clint and Tiffany and their family. Brian and Marie joined us for an evening which was a lot of fun. It wasn't too cold which made it nice, and we all slept in the cabin which was nice too.

Last year there was a big lightning storm and as we were walking up the hill, this tree got struck about 50 yards from where we were. You can see where it split the bark.

Just getting some nature shots...




Tuesday, August 17, 2010

HP printer ink deal at WM

right now at walmart buy any HP ink combo (black and color) for 32.97, save a dollar, plus they give you a 10 dollar WM gift card to be used the next time you go!!

I sure hope y'all have an HP printer :)

Monday, August 9, 2010

stolen, or forgotten

Thursday or Friday Paul took the debit card to work and got gas and munchies for work. The next day when I went to get gas, it wasn't in my wallet. When I got home and asked him where it was, he said in my wallet, in the truck. He search his wallet, his truck, his scrubs, the house. It was nowhere. I told him we should cancel it just in case, but I thought it fell out of his pocket at work so I didn't worry about it. Sunday I get a call from the credit union security check people and they asked about several purchases made that day, and if I did it. Nope, our card has been lost since Thursday. So someone has it and it buying stuff.... a prepaid phone, cricket.com stuff, and gas. So the card got cancelled and today I have to go get a new card and talk to them about getting our money back. Paul can't remember if he left it somewhere or what happened so it either got forgotten at the gas station or someone somewhere stole it somehow.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Hawaii

We planned to fly to Hawaii early Monday morning and arrive in the evening. There would be 2 layovers, 1 in SLC and 1 in LA. Since the flights were space available there was a chance we could have gotten stuck in either of those places. Billy called us Saturday and we finally found out how much the plane tickets would be. We had about $500 to spend on flights, hotel, and rental car so if the tickets were too much, we wouldn't go.

That's exactly what happened. We all, even Billy, expected each ticket to be around 100 to 150. But it turned out that they were closer to 200-250. With hotel prices and rental car, even with Priceline's help, we just couldn't afford it. As fun as it would have been to go to Hawaii right before school started, it just wasn't practical to come home and not be able to pay bills.

So, we came to Queen Creek and plan on going to Sunsplash with Brian and Marie today. 'Cause that swim suit Taryn gave me just looks way too good on me!! :) Yesterday we saw Inception with them and Brendan (Brian's brother). I recommend it. And tomorrow Cindy and I are going to Thrift Stores... yep that's right. I'm excited!

So I still get to have fun in the sun as a birthday gift, just a less expensive one. And I don't have to worry about Hayden for 3 days. I'm not too bummed about not going. There will be another chance.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

24!!

Yesterday was my 24th birthday!! It sure was a good one too! It started with Paul making me breakfast! After that we just chilled for a long time and Hayden took a long nap. Then we went to Paul's aunt and uncle's house where Brian and Marie were hanging out and we swam in the pool for a while. For dinner we went to La Casita and I walked in and saw Beth and Devin and just waved then I heard a SURPRISE!! and what do you know... All my Pima friends were there (minus Clint). Paul was a little sneak. He drove all slow because he said they told us not to be too early or too late when he made reservations. But really he didn't want to beat everyone there. After an amazing dinner we went to Andy and Michele's house for cookie pie (thanks Tiff it was sooooo good!!) and ice cream! What an amazing fun day! I was so surprised! Thank you Paul for such a good birthday! And Thank you Michele for planning it and everyone else who was in on it!

What did I get you ask? Well Andy and Michele got me a cute bowl and rolos and Tiffany got me a free photo shoot. And Paul got me... A trip to Hawaii!!! We are going for 3 days and 2 nights the first week of August. And yes Hayden is coming with us. I'm SOOO excited!!!

What a good birthday it was!!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

cold showers no more

Two Thursdays ago, June 11, when our gas meter reader read our meter, he noticed it was a little higher than usual. So with a knock on our door we no longer had gas. He said we have a gas leak and he had to shut it off until it got fixed. I called my dad, who built this house and knew where the gas line was located, and he came right over. We tested the pipe outside and what do you know, the leak was underground. OK boys get digging. That night Jason, and Paul, and later Clint was kind enough to help us, started digging a hole. My dad said that the pipe was 18" deep. We got down 2 feet and still didn't see it. That sucker was 3 feet down! We were going to get an early start digging it by hand to save money come Friday morning. Well Clint came over early and Paul stayed up late after work and by the time I got up, nothing had be done. They had called Mt. Graham supply and got a quote for 350 to 400 and that would be with this flexible pipe called PE pipe, which was at least half the price of the steel pipe. My dad wanted to dig up the whole steel pipe, by hand, and replace all of it costing at the least 500. We wanted to hire someone or at least rent a machine to do the digging and only replace where the leak was. Let's face it, we aren't made of money. So after being outside for about an hour just standing there, dying from the heat, we decided to hire Mt. Graham supply. We went with the dig-a-new-trench-place-a-new-line option and just forgot about the steel pipe. Well we had to get it blue sticked first. That is where all the utility people come and mark where their lines are so you don't hit them. Finally on Tuesday the last blue sticker came and we got the repair set up for first thing Wednesday. First thing turned into 1:00. They arrived with a trencher. That got probably 20 feet or so done when it died. After probably an hour of waiting some guy showed up with a mini back hoe and they dug it that way. By 3 they were done and by 4 the co-op guy came and checked it and replaced the meter and turned our appliances back on and re-lit the pilot light. mmmm, hot water!!!

In the meantime, I think we dug up a nest of some sort because there are millions of little bugs surrounding our house, some even got inside.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

off centered

take a peek at my photography blog.... stephanieclitesphotography.blogspot.com. Why are my pictures all off centered and how do I fix it? Anybody?

My favorite shot

David and Kelly Wedding 812bint

Saturday, May 29, 2010

CHOO CHOO



Hayden's new favorite thing is choo choo's. So we attached a strap to the laundry basket and there you go!





Monday, May 24, 2010

Can't catch a break!

Our poor Hayden has been to the clinic at least 5 times these past 2 weeks. It all started on a monday when his K9's decided to hurt. He started pulling on his ears so I took him in. Nothing. By Friday he definitely had an ear infection so we went back. The doc prescribed Amoxcicillin, which he's had before. When I picked it up at the pharmacy it was this nasty tasting white kind that I remember hating as a kid. I couldn't get him to take it so I called the pharmacy and had it traded out for the pink bubble gum kind. phew! A few days later he got thrush from the antibiotic. Here we go again.... Back to the doc. Yep he sure has it. With 6 days left of the antibiotic, he now has to start 10 days of this Thrush medicine. Which thankfully tastes ok. By now, If I give him one medicine, he points to the other and even wants more when I'm done. Yesterday when I changed his diaper in the morning he has all kinds of red itchy bumps all over his body. Except his face and feet. So is it chicken pox? Which he is vaccinated for. Could it be hives? How about a spider just got trapped in his jammies and got really mad at him? Paul and I are out of ideas... so its back to the clinic today. UGH! I feel so bad for him. He's relatively happy though considering. He hasn't eaten anything new or used a new soap or anything. He hasn't be around anything new. We just don't know.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

a joke I heard on the radio

A man walked into a diner and sits down at the counter. He notices an old man a few seats down just starring at his bowl of chili. After about 15 minutes of him starring the guy says "hey if you aren't going to eat that can I have it?" The old man looks at him and says "sure why not." and passes the bowl down. The guy eats the chili and gets almost to the bottom and finds a dead rat and throws it all up back into the bowl. The old man looks over and says "yep that's about how far I got too."

Saturday, May 8, 2010

eyes / Happy Mother's day

I pray no one dies of boredom while reading this

I went to the eye doctor 3 weeks ago. I hate that my Rx is only good for a year. $90 I have to waste every year on a new exam all because I can't remember when I last had an exam. Plus 34.99 per box. Oh but I can save $60 if I buy the whole year's worth for only $219! Do I look rich? I've been on my last pair for 2 months. One of which is my right eye contact in my left eye because I ran out of left contacts. Yes my eyes are slightly different.

My Rx didn't change one bit. They had an old chart so according to him it did. I know better. My right eye is a little fuzzy. Read the letters please.... G or C maybe.

Astigmatism. The unique curvature of the eye. My contacts have weights in them so they sit just right. So I can't watch TV laying down or they rotate and my vision becomes blurred. I'm so blind that my super thick contacts suck up all the moisture. Constant dryness. Use those drops he says. GRR. I hate drops. I would probably go through a bottle in a week if I cared to use them. Without my contacts I can't see farther than 2 inches in front of me. Dropping a contact is the worst. I'm down on my hands and knees looking for it. NOBODY MOVE!

Worse than all of this though are my glasses and my OCD. I hate glasses. The eye person at the vision center put the dot in the wrong place. When I bought my frames I put them on and looked straight and they put a dot on the lenses to know exactly how to position my lenses for the best vision possible. I have to tilt my head up to see clearly. Then there is "eye grease." When my glasses touch my eye lid and the oils from my skin leaves a smudge on my lenses. Oh that drives me so crazy. I HATE GLASSES. But I do love the way that Hayden say's EYES as he hands me my glasses in the morning (as I hope he doesn't get fingerprints on the lenses).

Also I hate cold sores, which I get when I think "its been a while since I had a cold sore"


On a lighter note. For all of you mom's and future moms out there..Happy Mother's day! You are all such great moms!

10 things I love about being a mom

1. Having my full time job be my son. It's way better than money
2. The smiles, giggles, hugs and kisses that are just so much more special when they come from your child, nothing can compare
3. His chubby little legs that look so cute when he's in just a diaper and shirt
4. I get a whole day dedicated to the fact that I'm raising a child. 1 day when people say, Thank you for what you do.
5. The way that only I can make him feel better.
6. That time when he was at Robin's house and cried and cried (sorry Katie) and as soon as I showed up he gave me a huge hug and kiss then he was all better and played fine.
7. The way he comes looking for me in the kitchen or bathroom because that's usually where I am
8. The fact that I miss him just as much as he misses me when we are apart.
9. The way I felt when I first held him
10. The way I feel right now


The temple dedication is drawing near. I love how even though the outside looks like a lot of other temples the inside is unique in that it has our valley painted on the wall. I love that a temple is 5 minutes away from my house. I hope Paul and I will make the time to go at least once a month if not once a week.

Friday, May 7, 2010

just kidding


I did at one point during college have that pink hair.... but this is what my haircut and color really turned out like. I love it!! Marie did such a good job!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

the snake wrangler

Jason came home to find a snake sneaking about in the weeds in the front yard. Right after he saw it Paul and I came home and the boys took care of that nasty thing.... Paul chopped its head off.





Tuesday, April 27, 2010

a fun little weekend

We all got to spend the weekend together in Queen Creek!!

Dad and Billy flew in and Kevin took a bus. Paul and I drove up after he got off work on saturday morning. We mostly just hung around the house and enjoyed each other... I even gave dad a haircut :)


Billy was making Hayden laugh...
Paul was awake from 11 am (after working a night shift) Friday morning to 7 pm saturday night. He was sure tired....




Thursday, April 15, 2010

first newborn shoot


Nollie was so sweet the whole shoot! It went so well, and I couldn't have asked for better weather. Check out my photo blog for more. stephanieclitesphotography.blogspot.com

Friday, April 9, 2010

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to me!! Tuesday was our 3rd anniversary! It sure has been a fun 3 years! we mostly just laid around the house and spent time together. We ended up at walmart saying "what do you want for our anniversary?" to each other, and basically picked out our own gifts. Paul was kind enough to allow me to buy a pressure cooker. I got him a new computer chair. He was just using a kitchen chair and it sure wasn't comfortable. So today (after running to Bashas for their buy 1 get 2 free B/S chicken breast sale) I canned some chicken!! My first time all by myself. I remembered things from when Tiffany so willingly helped me can beans a few months ago and with a peek at the manual, I now have canned chicken!! YEAH! Now I can get some food storage going. I'm so excited!!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

update

I am loving this book [ No Cry Sleep Solution ]!! I'm already halfway through it and have had it less than 24 hours. Basically Hayden just lacks a routine. I think once a good routine is set in and a few other adjustments he'll be a happy camper, and so will the rest of us. As far as nursing goes, in the day he's down to the morning, naptime and nighttime nursings. Maybe one in the afternoon if he's really cranky and not taking his sippy.

Also we bought an HP Pavilion desktop with some of our tax return and we are loving it. Happy Anniversary to us! ok so its a few weeks away, but who doesn't go spend a little after depositing that check? Now paul can be doing homework on one computer and I can blogging on the other.

Monday, March 15, 2010

short and fat

today I had my 6 month WIC appointment, where Hayden gets his height and weight and finger stick done. He is in the 9 percentile for his height and 97 percentile for his weight!! I was so cracked up by that. My short fat baby. You really wouldn't know it by looking though. also he hasn't gained any weight since his birthday. That's what walking does to you I guess.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

weening day 3

Well the rest of yesterday went awesome! I nursed him after his nap but only for like 3 mins and the rest of the day when he got cranky I just offered him juice or milk from his "special sippy" and he ate really well! he pretty much took whatever I offered him and ate it. I guess he wasn't a good eater before because I would nurse on demand. I did end up nursing him at bedtime but he didn't go to sleep with it, he rolled around for a while then fell asleep. Also I nursed him throughout the night... but I will work on that later I think. today at nap time he didn't want anything but a ride in the stroller, I think he wasn't really ready for a nap though. So after a while of the stroller not working we just let him play. Then i took Michele's advice and nursed him but not until he was asleep. He was relaxed and I pulled him off and he screamed so I let him nurse a little longer and when he was almost asleep I pulled him off and he whined a little then was out. I don't know if that's the way she was talking about or what but by that point he fell asleep fast by nursing because he was so tired. I'm just happy he's eating better and nursing less. So hopefully by April 1st he'll be independent. Sorry if these posts get old, but it helps to write stuff down. Thank you everyone for your advice and support, it REALLY helps!!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Weening Day 1 and 2

Day 1:
I told myself yesterday after reading everyones comments that it was the day to start. I nursed him at 7 when we were still in bed then again at 11 or 12 for his nap. Then around 3 he got all crazy; crying, kicking, arching his back, pulling at my shirt and bringing me the nursing cover a bunch of times. I got so tired of it that I just nursed him and then he was happy for a while. I nursed him at 7:30 pm and he fell asleep but when I went to bed at 9 he woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep without it. I tried to comfort him but nothing helped. Finally, after my boob leaked from his crying, I just nursed him. Throughout the night I nursed him 3 times (which is actually less than usual, if you can believe that) He was probably so tired from the day crying that he slept better. He takes a sippy fine if he's happy, but when he's not he won't take anything.

Day 2:

Nursed him at 6 am. He went back to sleep and woke up happy at 7:30. Nap time came at 12:30. I laid down with him (we co sleep at night by the way) in the bed and he started crying and pulling at my shirt. After about 10 mins we got up and got his sippy, that he of course didn't want. He got hysterical again and I decided to push him around in the stroller. He calmed down but didn't go to sleep so after about 10 mins of that we went back to the bed and he got crazy again. After a while he climbed in my arms and I told him that he can't have a brother or sister until he is a big boy and doesn't nurse anymore. I his cry got quieter and after about 10 mins he was out on my shoulder. I waited 5 more mins before laying him down. I think the total time was about 35-45 mins. But... I DID IT!

I absolutely HATE listening to him cry, especially when I know I can do something to make him stop. But this time I'm determined to ween him. This crying is for a purpose! I tried pumping so at least the milk in the bottle would taste familiar, but no luck. I tried giving him a teddy bear or car for comfort, he just pushed it away. I sure hope this gets easier.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

weening

I need help. I still nurse Hayden. He's going to be 18 months on the 20th and I'm beyond ready to move on. We want to get pregnant soon but I don't want to try to ween while pregnant. He doesn't eat well at all and when he doesn't feel good won't eat anything, nor take a sippy. So I nurse him so he won't starve. Also at night I nurse him back to sleep because I'm just so tired that I don't want to deal with it and that is a fast way to get him back to sleep. I'm scared that I'll have like a whole week of no sleep if I stop nursing him back to sleep. I nurse him to sleep for nap time and bed time and I don't really have a routine. Maybe that's the problem. I just don't even know where to begin. He's hard to say no to and when he's just that cranky and nothing with comfort him then I just nurse him. I just bought a book called the no cry sleep solution or something... it's coming in the mail and hopefully that'll help a lot on his sleep situation. But I will take any help I can get. I know its going to be hard for a while I guess I just have to do it.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

My first real photo shoot

Taryn was so Awesome to be my guinea pig. I think they turned out really well!! thoughts?






Monday, February 15, 2010

Happy Valentines to ME!

Paul got me a dozen long stemmed red roses and delicious box of chocolates for Valentines. But he also made me breakfast in bed! AND he loves me soooooooooooooooooooooo much that he even got me Photoshop CS4!!! I'm soooo freakin' excited!! It'll be here in 3 days!! yay!!!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

I spy...


I told you I could be a spy. This roadrunner had no clue I was even snapping shots of him. mmmmwahaha!

chair

Paul's mom gave us this adorable chair for my photography business! I just love it! I really wish I had a room that is this bright. These turned out soooo cute. no editing here!


Saturday, February 6, 2010

New Lens

Last night Clint and Tiffany invited me over for dinner. Upon arrival Tiffany told me that she found a Canon 75-300 mm lens at WM normal $178 on clearance for $45! Yes $45! She said they had one more when she left so I called up my brother and he ran to WM and purchased it for me!! Oh man I can be a spy now! I'm so excited!! Thank you Tiff!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Friday, January 22, 2010

just a few edits


Tiffany was so kind as to let me be a second shooter on her maternity shoot. I decided to mess around with photoshop a little. Here's a few of the ones I did.




Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy Birthday!!


Wednesday was paul's birthday. most of his friends think he's older but....he turned 26. It all started on monday when he had a guy's night. They all went over to Brian's parents (because of the home theater of course) and had pizza and soda. they played cards and X box until who knows what time. Tuesday he went to lunch with Brian and they went to Denny's and just played cards for what seemed like 3 hours. Then he played more X box at Brian's (or something). Wednesday I woke him up with breakfast and we just kind of hung out all day. I got him a western style shirt (which looks amazing on him, I'll get pictures the next time he wears it). Also I gave him a haircut and made him some pumpkin pies (there's a story there!) I hope it was a pretty good birthday. I mean we didn't go skiing or anything but I thought it was pretty good. HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAULE!!



pumpkin pie story. So I got a crust recipe from my grandma and wanted to try it out. I could only find that huge can of pumpkin so I made 2 pies. I whipped up the filling and poured it in. Well you would assume that it would make the right amount for 2 pies but no it makes extra. So I poured in ALL of the filling into the shells and yeah they were full but it doesn't say throw out the excess or anything. Then I bake them both at the same time (does it say to do it one at a time? I didn't look) So 4 hours later they still aren't done! I'm getting super annoyed so I take them out and spoon out like another pies worth of filling and they still are taking forever. So I ask paul if it is because they are both in there and he says YES! oh my gosh I could have had 4 or even 5 pies baked 1 at a time by now. So out one comes and 10 mins later its done. I swear I have baked 2 pies at a time before (But I don't think I over filled them). So laugh it up people, go ahead and think I'm dumb I don't care.... I like my crust crunchy anyway. The end.