brenda bird is 24 (belated post)

i turned 24 this year. i know that is not old...but it feels like it. i kind of feel like an old adult....i am married and have a child of my very own. weird.....

anyway, my wonderful husband made my day very special along with janelle and bryan. we had a nice gathering at the payne's residence, had yummy cake from maggie moos (the good stuff), pizza, soda, good friends and family. i got a new diaper bag from mommy and the rest of the fam, speaker thingy for the car so i don't die while on the phone from lorin, money from dallin and shannon, sweet picture frames for the wall leading up the stairs from janelle, bryan and alisha, a nice card from val, and some more money and a scarf from my mom-in-law (i spent that so quickly that lorin couldn't take it to put into our savings account muhahaha). thank you all for the lovely gifts and well-wishes.

and now for proof of the party lorin threw:

here is ashton hanging out

alex looking like he is going to kill whoever is taking this picture

dallin and shannon posing

just hanging out

blowing out the candles.....officially 24.....yikes

ashton loves his aunt alisha

birthday couple

happy birthday janelle and bryan!

we celebrated the payne's birthdays on sunday...bryan planned a surprise party and alisha did a great job executing:

great decorations.

yummy desserts and cake.

good friends.

good times.

j being surprised!

"moooooom. you're embarrassing me!"

a little too much fun with the balloons.

alex. master cake cutter

veggie tales

lorin and i worked on our future garden this weekend. lorin built the box, mixed up the soil, put it all in while i supervised. i was injured so couldn't do much work....i feel UP the stairs haha. anyway. i got the idea from my friend Kate- she was so kind enough to share her calendar and notes and stuff on this new "movement" called square foot gardening. it is genius! we will be planting corn, lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, squash, strawberries, cucumbers, peppers, onions, and other stuff i can't quite remember. anyway, i am soooo excited and so grateful to kate for sharing her info! and of course, my handy husband who humors my new hobbies. my goal is to eat healthier, eat more veggies and lose the baby weight! anyway, here are some sweet pics of our work. i did help- i drilled holes and screws on 2 sides!

since i've been gone

our whole family caught a nasty bug last week and ashton is just barely recovering. poor little guy. vomit and diarrhea are not fun for anyone- especially a wittle baby. we did find out that our little boy has expensive taste. he will not drink the kroger version of pedialyte. nope. he wants the real thing ($6 a bottle as opposed to $3). geez. i have never seen so much vomit come out at one time- not from a baby. and out the other end, too. lorin is convinced we have bad diapers (huggies aren't cheap!) or we suck at putting them on. we've discovered that everytime ashton has a blowout, it is after lorin has put on that diaper..... honestly, it broke my heart to see ashton in pain and not be able to do anything about it. he was not his normal happy self at all. he lied so still in his crib and slept all day monday and tuesday. he cried wednesday and thursday. today he was normal again, except his tummy didn't take his soy formula very well. we'll see how he does tomorrow. he cries everytime his bottle is empty and i try to take it from him. he sure has a strong grip! i am glad my little boy is back and smiles for mommy. but now mommy has a lot of catching up to do on service projects she signed up for and the home can get back to its normal routine!

on a lighter note-

baby ava is here! i am a little late but everything has been hectic. like i said before, lorin and i caught this nasty bug on different days so neither of us felt like doing much. ava is beautiful! she surprisingly has a lot of hair and its curly...and black! she is just so adorable. i can't wait for ashton to meet his little cousin. congratulations steve and miss. you will love being parents. it is so hard to not just stare at them all day- they are just so beautiful.

ok here is what you really came for:

this is ashton before he got sick....and before winter returned...yuck.

oh how i love my chubbs.

swimming continued

here is some footage of ashton

Ashton's Swim Lessons

In Feburary, Ashton had his first swimming lesson. We dunked him under the water a few times, preceeding each time with "1,2,3!" He anticipated the dunk after only a few times and even started to hold his breath. He didn't cry at all...only looked like he wanted to but stopped himself. What a brave soul!

ashtoness

So.....

I am done with Ava's bows...I keep holding out because I get new ideas and want to make more for her; however, I'll let Miss take care of those... I have pics of the bows I made but I will post those after they are sent out. Don't wanna ruin the surprise!

Also, the office is done! Well...almost. I am waiting for Lorin to help me hang up this embellishment organizer thing and then I am really done.

I am currently working on Ashton's pictures and I need someone (ahem....bryanslklsahfldalsf) to help me build the sled shelf :)

Now for your enjoyment.....

Ashton's attempt at crawling....he actually did take one "crawl" but it was before I got my dang camera! He sure does like to flop around like a fish out of water. He is also cranky because he got a set of vaccinations today :(

This one is better...well the end is anyway

check

I love making lists. I will write things that I have already done just so I can check it off. In my last entry I had my list of top 3 things. I realized that I have to break them down so I don't feel overwhelmed. Well here it is:

1. fabric bows for ava
Kind of. I made 4 flowery type things but I have to:
- Put buttons in middle
- Glue clippie thing
- Make 3 more flowery things
- Mail it off!

2. organize pantry!
It is done, however, I want to get some storage thingys to put crackers, cereal, etc stuff in so it doesn’t look so crowded.

3. Organize office
- Put up desks
- Attach desk to L brackets
- Organize drawers
- Mount other organizer
- Make beds
- Paint wood blocks

So now I can add something else- I want to have 3 things to work on.

3. Hang up pictures in Ashton’s room

PS Does anyone know how to do the strike-through thing? I tried doing it in Word and pasting it on here but it doesn't show up. My list doesn't look as cool now :(

Also, Lorin and my goal (which we worked on for our FHE activity) is journal writing. We worked on our personal history together and will write one thing on this list each night. It is so important to keep a journal and I am not that great at it. But, having Ashton has been such a blessing and one way is because I always write about him and want to remember everything about when he was little when he is like 14 and driving me nuts...I'll be able to go back to a happy place. But seriously, I want to be a good example to my children, grandchildren and so on. I want them to read my journal and understand and really know me and what I valued.

Elder Theodore M. Burton counseled: "As a people we ought to write of our own lives and our own experiences to form a sacred record for our descendants. We must provide for them the same uplifting, faith-promoting strength that the ancient scriptures now give us."

Here is a picture of Ashton the day of his baby blessing. This isn't a picture of the actual blessing but a posed picture of those that love him and were worthy to participate in his blessing. These men hold the priesthood and honor it.

Ashton: You are surrounded by your family. They love you so much. Your uncles on your Daddy's side traveled 3 hours to see you. You have your Dad to the left of you, your grandfathers to the right of you, and your great-grandfather right above you. Your Daddy shared our Heavenly Father's blessings for you. Those are written in my journal and will be put into your baby book so you can remember those words always. We all love you so much.