Craziness - Nine Months...And 12 Days - Plus a Little Campout!

We have had a crazy few weeks full of lots of emotions and soul searching, wondering what the future would hold for us, and hoping and praying for the best. On July 18, Travis lost his job with HCA. He had two different jobs with them and was working about 60 hours a week on average, and bringing home great money..enough to allow me to be at home with my girls. Of course we missed him a lot because he worked 12 PM - 12 AM, and we didn't see him much, but it was nice that I could be home. When he lost his job, we were stunned and wondered what we were going to do. He applied for 20+ jobs that same day, and had calls for interviews the next day, so we were encouraged. That same week I was filling in for my Dad's full time Assistant, and worked 40 hours. It was nice timing because Travis was home and could watch the girls, and I enjoyed the break I had from home. Eventually, Travis was offered three jobs. He has accepted the one that was his first preference, and starts on Monday. He'll be working at the U of U Hospital as a Clinical Coordinator within the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Clinic. I'm not sure what exactly his role will be but, I know that he'll be the "boss" to another RN, and 4 or 5 MAs. There are some awesome perks to this job - mostly the fact that it is Monday-Friday 9-5, weekends and holidays off! He also gets 50% off of tuition at the U for him and his family. He'll be going back to get his Bachelors, probably in Hospital Administration soon. I might even consider finishing what I started at the U oh so many years ago!

While the past few weeks have been a challenge and a bit scary, I have come to count them as a great blessing! We have had to work together to come up with some money saving, debt consolidation solutions, talked a lot about what we hope for the future, and have been forced to rely on the Lord and put our fate in His hands. I am hopeful for things to come and excited for the new adventures that we will face, including a part time job for me...hopefully I can find something as quickly as Travis did, and something that will work out as well for us as his job will!

With the craziness of the last few weeks, I neglected to update my blog on Hailey's nine month mark. She's now nine months and twelve days old...Wow!


Hailey is just like my little puppy dog. She follows me all around the house on my heels, begs for table scraps, eats things off of the floor, and chews on my shoes. She's obviously way better than a puppy because what puppy has luscious thighs like these...


Hailey is nearly always happy! She's always got this big grin on her face, which showcases her new tooth. She's working on another tooth on the top too.


Hailey is crazy! She's noisy, and always lets you know she's around. She likes to play, and knows a few tricks. Her favorite is giving high-fives. She also claps her hands together when you say, "Yay", and occasionally will give hugs when you ask her to.



Hailey likes to be up and moving all the time. She's hard to hold because she's always on the move. She stands on her toes, but is getting steadier everyday.


Hailey is sleeping through the night most nights. She goes down about 7:30 or 8:00, and is usually up around 5:30 or 6:00 to eat. She's napping better too. Usually two naps that last about two hours, and one that is about 30-45 mins long.


We love Hailey so much and are so glad she's been with us for nine months already! We couldn't imagine our lives without her!!


On Wednesday, we went up to the Uintas for a camping trip with the Whittakers. It was beautiful, but completely infested with mosquitoes, and started to rain - so we didn't stay the night. We were actually only there for a few hours. It's a good thing we have the new Coleman tent that goes up and down in about a minute.


Addison and Kasen are good buddies! These pictures look posed, but seriously, they were standing like this...so cute!



Hailey had a fun time playing with Haven's toys...so did Addi.



Travis showed off as usual


Haven is darling! She's definitely loves her momma!



Addi and Kasen kept busy throwing rocks, imagining, playing baseball, and of course...getting dirty!



It was a fun time, but hopefully next time we can actually try out our new tent and spend the night. Travis is anxious so I'm sure I will be posting about our next camping trip soon!

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

We've had a fun, crazy busy summer so far! Here's a recap of our recent happenings..


Hailey learned how to hold her own bottle...it was one of my proudest moments - I gained a bit of freedom...but only a bit - she's such a big girl!

Hailey loves to play upstairs with Addi in the toy room. I looked up to see this big baby standing up, looking down on me with a big, cheesy grin.


Addi loves this cooking hat and apron. She puts it on wrong, but I don't have the heart to tell her..she's sure cute!


On June 28th, we went up to the Uintas and camped overnight with our cute girls. We had a fun time. We cooked steaks, baked potatoes, and corn on the cob, and of course s'mores. Next time, we go, we decided that we will just stick to easy hot dogs! There was still a bunch of snow up in the mountains, so we were a bit limited on where we could go, but we found a great spot. Addi was so excited to sleep in the tent. We got a nice blow up queen mattress, and thought we would have a great night's sleep. I was worried about bears, and stayed awake almost all night. Plus, it was so squishy with the four of us crammed into one bed that there wasn't really any way I was going to sleep anyway. As soon as the sun came up, Addison woke up. I did my best to ignore her, but what she said was pretty funny. She tried to wake me up, and said, "Mom! Hey Mom. Dad...Daddy! Hey you guys!...Hmmm, maybe I can whistle...Yoohooo."

Standing by the tent with her big stick!


Hailey spent a lot of time in the car seat because I didn't want her crawling on the dirt. Next time we'll bring the pack n' play. She was a good baby despite being cooped up in the car seat.



Travis enjoying his baked potato


Our feast


The cookers


Mommy and Hailey


Daddy and Hailey


Us...what a fun way to celebrate our anniversary...! We actually went to a Marriott the next night and had a break from kids with good food and fun. Thanks to Kelli and Jo for making it possible!


Sweet baby Hay


Addi has been obsessed with doing my hair lately. She ties her blanket around her waist like an apron and combs away.


Addi and her cousin Ethan had a fun time the other day and did my hair for about an hour. This was the result...Nice, eh?




On July 2nd, we went to the Centerville parade. We had a fun time...like always!



Nice attempt to get a picture of all of the grandkids...not the best!



Sweet holiday cuties!


Addi's big pup got a hole in it and Travis told her he would fix it...Who knew he knows how to sew?? I was impressed, and thought it was sweet!



The other day I was feeding Hailey, and had to run to the bathroom. When I came back, this is what I found. Thanks to big sister Addison for her help with feeding the baby!