Rocky Point 2008

This is another post that is WAY overdue. August 4-6 we went to Rocky Point with the Toronto clan. It was so much fun to get the whole family together and spend a few days on the beach. Adam flew in from Boston so that we could all get together before Brett left on his mission.The ADORABLE family picture. From left to right: Grandpa, Nona, Abby, Adam, Joanna, Brett, Madison, Tiffany (me), Jesse, Robby, and Esther.

And yes... I am the ONLY white one out of the bunch. I swear I spent time in the sun while I was there even if it doesn't look like it. Even my two children looked like little Indian kids by the end of the vacation.

We left early on Monday morning with our car filled to the brim with coolers full of food, junk food, DVD player with a variety of kid movies set up, the infamous pack-n-play, clothes, pillows, blankets, basically we packed up our house and brought it with us! We prepped ourselves for LOTS of pit stops on the way, now that we officially have our first potty-trained child. That planning proved to be correct: I think we stopped 6-7 times in the five hour road trip, BUT we were happy to hit Mexico without a single potty accident. Robby loved to sit in the drivers seat and pretend to drive our car. He was SOOO mad when it was time to go again and he was placed back in the car seat. Both kids were incredibly good on the road due to the fact that we had cartoons playing nonstop. I am thinking a portable DVD player is probably one of our best items we have invested in.

Once we arrived at the "Las Palomas" resort in Rocky Point it was straight to the beach for us all. Maddie immediately stripped down upon entering the condo room and insisted that she needed her swimsuit on. We spend the afternoon in the pool, watching Maddie go down the slide with her Grandpa over and over. This is a piture of Jesse's BEAUTIFUL sister Abby standing on the beach at Sunset.
Monday evening, the "Aunt Farm" (Grandpa Toronto refers to the three Aunts- sisters in Jesse's family as this) took Madison on a walk along the beach at Sunset and they showed Madison all the little crabs and shells. She LOVED the walk and proudly returned with several shells in hand a while later when they dropped her off at our condo room for bedtime.
Joanna and Abby are so silly sometimes. It reminds me of my sister the way they joke and play around. While we were on our trip it seemed like every time I turned around they were taking pictures of themselves!
Joanna & Brett hanging out at Sunset
The three sisters hung together in the evening
Robby slept in a pack and play shoved into the hall bathroom. It was wonderful because there are no windows in there and consequently he slept in until almost 9am!! Maddie was equally wonderful and also slept in until 7am, which is a miracle considering the fact that her room she stayed in had a flimsy, see through curtain on the window. After having scrambled eggs, bacon and toast it was back outside for the crew to soak up more rays! The kids loved being able to dig in the sand with the shovels. Although it seemed like they equally loved throwing sand at people as well :(

Madison was so funny.... Jesse told her she needed to bring water from the ocean up by our towels so he could help her build a sandcastle. She kept wanting to use the tiny little shovel instead of a bucket for this.
Later on that day we rented a jet ski and all took turns riding around near the shore. Jesse even took me near the end of our hour and we went out for a few minutes. SO MUCH FUN!!
Jesse also was prepared and brought a football to throw on the beach by the water with Brett. Robby thought that it looked like fun as well and wanted to go stand by his daddy and "help" with the game.
I think one of the best parts about going to Rocky Point and staying along the beach is that you can let the kids look like this, rinse them off at the showers and then head straight up to the room to take a bath. It was also very nice to be able to lay the kids down for naps in the middle of the day and settle into my Stephanie Meyer's vampire book for a few hours!

Like I said before, it was so much fun to spend time with Jesse's brother Adam in Rocky Point. He lives and attends school in Boston for his masters degree, so we definitely don't get to see him as much as we would like. It was special to see him spend one on one time with his niece and nephew!

Abby is a totally rockin' sixteen year old girl.
Another fun thing we did, was that all of us girls loaded up in the car and headed down to the outdoor shopping strip mall near the fish mart. We mostly walked around and window shopped. But I must say I was mighty pleased with the knock off Dooney & Bourke bag I walked away with.
Madison playing in the sand at the beach ONCE AGAIN

Abby was showing off her new sunglasses she bought in Rocky Point.
Joanna kept trying sooo hard to get some pictures of her with the kids. Unfortunately they all turned out with the kids squirming out of her arms. For some reason all they wanted to do was get down and play rather than pose for pictures. Sorry Jo!

Madison was a little scared of the ocean because it was "tooo big" according to her. She did however like to accompany me out in the water as long as she was held.
Robby was accidentally dunked into the water by daddy during this picture and was none too pleased about it. He kept rubbing his eyes from the salt water sting.
Maddie's favorite spot in the pool was along the steps. She loves to jump out in the water and then swim a U shape back to the step "all by herself". She is such an independant spirit: she is so proud of how "big" she is and wanted to do things all by herself.

Maddie loved seeing the crabs the evening before and kept trying to catch them in her hands after that.
Robby is basically obsessed with peoples glasses and sunglasses. Another obsession he has is with his Aunt Esther. No matter who is in the room, he almost always goes over to her and begs to be held. She also is such a sucker for him, as you can see from this picture. He wants her sunglasses and then he gets them! I guess that's what Aunts are for.
Robby and Abby
In the late afternoon all of the Toronto siblings headed over for an impromptu game of soccer on the beach. They all seemed to have fun and I appreciated staying in our room and relaxing with the kids asleep.

Joanna and Adam
Robby sitting in his chair at lunch time. We brought this portable booster highchair which was wonderful.
Maddie is obsessed with her bead necklace that she made with Grandma Sheffield. Even on our trip to Rocky Point, the necklace was a necessity.
Our little family standing outside of the restaurant the night before we went home.

Nona and Grandpa
Robby at the restaurant

Maddie and Robby loved all the big fish in the aquarium near our table. They both spent the waiting time for our food to be served standing in front of it and pointing out all the big fish.
After dinner this guy came inside and played "You Are my Sunshine" to Maddie. She was enthralled as you can tell from the picture. She even started dancing towards the end of him playing to her.
All the family posing for a picture before dinner
Maddie completely zonked out before we had barely left. She slept almost the entire way back to our house. The only other exciting moment came when she announced she had to go potty when we were 30 minutes from the nearest restroom. We ended up stopping on the side of the road and taught her how to "pee in the bushes." The only downside to that is now she asks when she can go potty outside. I keep telling her that we only do that for an emergency potty break on road trips. I am not sure a two year old quite gets that!

All in all I was REALLY proud of how well the kids did on our trip. Not only did they do phenomenal in the car, they also slept well, napped well, and had a blast! We cannot wait for the Rocky Point trip next summer.....three kids here we come! This is actually a picture of Robby right after returning home from our trip. Apparently he was really hot after driving so long and wanted to cool off in the fridge.

The Greatest Invention EVER

Life has been going pretty great lately, at least in the nap and bed time department. Robby has been down to one nap per day for about four months or so, but always takes at least a 2-3 hour nap and then still goes down for bed early and will sleep until 7:30-8am in the morning. Madison is pretty well adjusted to sleeping in her twin bed and for the most part will still take a nap during the day and then go to bed at a reasonable hour at night. There's still the days when she comes out of her room a million times announcing that there are snakes in her bed, she needs to go potty, or she wants another hug and kiss; but for the most part we have felt like it has been smooth sailing.

On Thursday I was thrown a new twist in our lives. That morning Robby, my 18 month old, climbed out of his crib. I thought maybe it was just a fluke and kind of blew it off. After all, he looked half out of it when I found him on the floor in his room. Later that day I was prepping the kids for going down for our daily naps. I layed Robby down like normal and then proceeded to continue the daily routine of nap preparation for Maddie. We were in the middle of her new favorite book, "Fancy Nancy" when all of a sudden I heard a loud thud. I quickly excused myself from her room and found Robby running down the hall away from his room with a look of excitement on his face. He was so proud of himself for being able to escape the dreaded nap.

Needless to say, I picked him back up and plopped him in his crib AGAIN. I had enough time to run back into Maddie's room, kiss her and tell her to stay in her room before I heard another "thud" informing me that Robby had once again escaped the confines of his crib. Running back down the hall, I caught him opening his door and once again placed him in the crib. This time I was a little smarter and sat right outside his door in the hall and continued telling him "no no" over and over again for the next 45 minutes. He threw everything out of his crib on several occasions and screamed and cried until he finally fell asleep.

At this point I was thoroughly exhausted, thinking that I might go crazy if this is how life is going to be. Maddie just moved from her crib in April and was so good for SOOO long at always staying in her crib. With this thought in mind, I hopped on the computer and was amazed to find something that has now saved my sanity. I called up Jesse and announced to him that I was making a new purchase due to our child's climbing escapades. It is called a "crib tent." It has to be one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. It attaches to the top of the crib and goes underneath the mattress, stopping a child from climbing out of their crib. We put it up on Saturday and I am happy to say that Robby is successfully detained in the crib for the next little while. I have also promised Jesse that I won't make Robby stay in this "jail" for the rest of his life!

Family Pictures

This post is WAY overdue. My good friend in our neighborhood, Jen, took these fantastic family pictures for us at Joe's Farm Grill back in JUNE. They turned out so cute, despite both my kids inability to hold still for one second. Jen was game to chase them around and have the camera out to catch the moment when they would decide to cooperate. I just fell in love with so many pictures and had a difficult time narrowing down. Robby at 18 months old (roughly)
Madison at 2 years old (almost three)

Old Pictures

I was finally able to grab some of my older pictures of the kids from this summer and "throw" them on a post.

In May, Maddie was showing her Grandma how ballerina's dance!
Cousin Kaylin and Robby on the Fourth of July swimming at Grandma and Grandpa Sheffield's house. Robby looks like a brown bear compared to his sweet little cousin.
Maddie swimming with her Grandma
My handsome hubby shooting some hoops in the pool.

July 19th: Difficult to see, but it is a picture of Robby getting ready to jump off the diving board. Yes, that's right my one year old can and does indeed jump off and swim over to me.
Maddie's turn jumping off the diving board to me (Tiffany).

Robby sad little face as he tries to escape the confines of the pool gate to get to Grandpa's walker and camera.

A bigger picture of Robby trying to wiggle his way through the pool gate. It was sure reassuring to notice that he cannot fit through the space.
My Maddie bug; this is her favorite place to hang in the pool
Robby finally enjoying playing with Grandpa's walker. He thought this was the greatest toy every at the grandparents house. Too bad Grandpa doesn't use it anymore.

Fun Stuff

We went to Rocky Point, Mexico several weeks ago with the in-laws and had an absolute BLAST hanging out at the beach for three days. We basically spend most of our time in the pool, wading in the ocean or on the sand along the beach. Maddie especially LOVED the little slide that Las Palomas hooked to one of their pools. She somehow convinced first my brother-in-law, Adam, and finally her beloved "Papa" to go down this with her WAY too many times to count. Grandpa even managed to find an abandoned tube that she could ride on after a few times down the slide. She kept confusing the name "Mexico" with "Costco". When we got back home she would continuously tell me how she wanted to go to "Costco and see the ocean and make sandcastles in the sand, etc. Several days after our return home, we did indeed go to Costco for a shopping trip. She was quite confused to not see any sand, beaches, ocean, or even swimming pools while shopping and kept telling how she needed her swimsuit. I kept reminding her that we went to Mexico and not Costco for our vacation. She would then reply, "Oh Mex-co." She is such a funny little girl who is sure precious to me!

IT'S A.................

That's right... another bundle of boy! We are so excited to start brainstorming boy names and further preparations to welcome our precious little buddy into our home. I am so thrilled that Robby will have a little brother to grow up with as well!

Where Has July Gone?!

Somehow I feel like I blinked and July is already done and over with. In many ways I wish that life would slow down and I could freeze my children in the ages they are for just a little bit longer.

Madison is just my little chatterbox, who is constantly reminding everyone that she is a “BIG girl.” She is pretty well potty trained now and loves swimming, Mickey Mouse, Care Bears, organizing ANYTHING she can get her hands on, watching movies, and bossing her little brother around. She has become quite the little helper in the kitchen—loving to pull up a chair and “help” me cook, and she also loves to help me clean mirrors, sweep and mop the floors and vacuum around the house. She even came downstairs the other day to inform me that Robby was on the bathroom counter in Mommy’s bedroom playing with the toothbrushes (yikes). I just love her to death and couldn’t imagine my life being complete without her.

Jesse has now decided that Robby is on pacifier ban, stating that he is only allowed to have one for naps and bedtime. Consequently, Robby has started talking much more in the last few weeks. Some words he just learned how to say are: shoes, “nana” (banana), juice, and cheese. He now climbs everything and can frequently be found on tables, beds, the back of the sofa, etc. He loves balls, cars, trains (his favorite thing to say is “choo-choo” when he hears the train passing outside), and anything that Maddie is in the middle of playing with (he even has recently taken a liking to necklaces and most days walks around with one of Madison’s princess necklaces strung around his neck). I love his slobbery kisses he gives and he just learned how to blow kisses, which melts my heart. I sure enjoy his sweet spirit he brings to our house and I am so grateful for being blessed with the opportunity to be his Mother.

July 3-7, I had the opportunity to be the camp nurse for our church’s stake young women’s camp. Even though I was exhausted by the time I was done, I had an amazing experience being there. The staff was amazing, the food was fabulous (seriously), and the girls were a riot. Some of us up there even had time to play some card games as well: I learned how to play dominoes and a pirate card game compliments of Lisa! Other than getting dumped on with rain and hail, the typical girl pranks, and lack of sleep, it was pretty much a perfect experience. I missed my two kids like crazy towards the end of camp, but I would definitely go back next year in a heartbeat!

My dad had hip replacement surgery the day after I returned from girls camp. He is a trooper and has recovered REALLY well in the few weeks since the procedure. He just recently got rid of the walker and for a moment the other night, I actually forgot that he had just had surgery. Even though my dad has been recovering the past month, my parents have still allowed us to come us their pool whenever we like. We have been swimming as much as our free time will allow us to and both the kids have really turned into little fish. Maddie and Robby will even jump off the diving board and swim to me on the step in the deep end (I will have to get some pictures that my dad took of this).

Jesse's friend Danny came into town this month and we had a barbeque/swimming night together a few weeks ago. He brought his ALWAYS adorable 3 year old daughter Aleisa as well. Maddie just loves Aleisa and is constantly trying to get her to hold her hand. We had so much fun catching up on old times and just relaxing together. Thanks for the fun time Danny! We will have to do it again next time you are in town.

Jesse has had lots of fun in July with the boys in our ward (he is the Priest Advisor in our church—16 to 18 year old boys), but the highlight would have to be their super activity to Havasupai Falls. They went July 16-19, and hiked 11 miles down into the Grand Canyon, through the Havasupai Village-Town, and into the camping grounds by Havasupai Falls. I was glad he had the chance to do something fun like this and to get to know the young men better, but I was more than happy to have him back come Saturday afternoon. He came back with funny stories to tell from the experience! He sure loves being able to work with the young men in our neighborhood!

Since Jesse returned from Havasupai, it has been a lot of work, work, work for the both of us. We have been lucky to have such great family support that has really stepped in to help us out with watching the kids. I cannot say enough about how loving and caring they are. On that note...we are counting down the days until we leave for Rocky Point: three more!! After finishing a busy work week, I am now enthusiastically packing up swim suits, towels, sunblock, loads of food, fun books to read and I guess some clothes as well.

And then there were THREE.....

As most of you already know I am pregnant with number 3! I am 14 weeks prego right now and we are so excited to have another little one in our home. We are due January 5th, so when the baby comes Maddie will be a little over three years old and Robby will be almost two years old. We find out on August 7th what we are having, and I cannot wait! I am such a planner that I like to know what I am having, so I can get everything ready for the arrival. Since I already have one of each (boy and girl), it will be really fun to see what we will get this time around. If you ask Maddie what is in Mommy's belly, she almost always will say "a sister" or "a Maddie", so we will see if she is right. I haven't been too sick this time, other than nausea and feeling extremely tired ALL THE TIME. I am hoping in the next few weeks to have a little more energy.

I know that my life is only going to get more crazy with three children to nurture and love, but I am so grateful for all the blessings I have received thus far in my life. Even though the last few months have been really hard on me in many ways, I can see the Lord's tender mercies in my life. When I feel like everything is falling apart, I try to take a minute to reflect upon all the wonderful things I have been given; and then my perspective changes & things don't look so bad. I guess it's the truth that if you focus on the positive in your life, it helps diminish the magnitude of your trials, or at least gives you the ability to deal with them better.

I am so grateful to have been blessed with an AMAZING husband who is constantly helping me around the house (and normally doesn't receive any recognition for this). He is always willing to run errands for me or with me, and when I am in a "pregnant mood" he deals with me and even tries to cheer me up! I have loving parents and an awesome mom who is one of the most selfless people I know. She is constantly helping out us kids, whether through sewing projects, mending, babysitting, phone calls, you name it! I am grateful for my in-laws who are always so excited to spend time with my two kids. They dote on them, play hide and seek with Maddie and Robby, feed the horses with them, etc. They even bought an adorable play pool so that they can go swimming in their backyard! They are truly such loving people and I couldn't be more grateful to have them in my life! I am so grateful for a roof over my head, food in the cupboards, a job, and beautiful kids that constantly give me slobbery kisses & hugs. I am grateful for amazing visiting teachers that come visit me EVERY month and bring me a beautiful, uplifting message, and for the fabulous support system of women in my neighborhood: it is truly one of a kind!

But one of things I am most grateful for is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When trials come, it is the knowledge of the plan of Happiness that pulls me through. I know that if I live my life to the best of my ability, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, I can be forgiven of my trespasses. I am grateful for my eternal family that I belong to. I love my kids and husband so much and I love knowing that no matter what happens, we have the ability to live together after this life. I am grateful to know that this life is not just about all the worldy concepts of making money, instant gratitude, spending and acquiring possessions, but about proving myself to be a worthy daughter of God.

I guess as I prepare to add another special soul into our family, it makes me reflect upon my own life and make a commitment to try harder to be a better mother, wife, daughter, nurse, and friend to those around me and the special spirits that have yet to come into our home.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECKY!!

It seems like we have been friends forever yet also like we just met. Becky transferred from Mesa to Highland part way through high school. Although we didn't officially become friends until the end of our Junior year of high school, we have shared so many fun and unforgettable times together that it seems like she will forever be my friend from childhood. She has always been someone that I can count on, whether it was to make me laugh after a bad break up, listen while I vent about my arguments with parents, or to simply go and splurge on ice cream with, she has been there for me. She is the one who has helped get me through some of the toughest times of my life. I seriously don't know what I would have done without her. We stuck together as we maneuvered from high school friends to college friends. We even seemed to date only guys that were good friends for several years as well!

When we were younger we even jokingly made a promise that we would live next door to each other and raise our kids together. I am still trying to convince her of the fabulous qualities of Cortina--the neighborhood that we live in! We have indeed shared many laughs together and at one point had bundles of inside jokes between the two of us. (With each pregnancy I seem to get dumber, so now I seem to have forgotten a lot of those inside jokes :) I can remember our fun games of "perdittle" in the car, our counting game at graduation, going to breakfast instead of seminary and how we will always laugh when it comes to breakfast burritos. Thanks for all the fun times in the past Becky and I am excited to see our boys get to be friends and share their own memories as well! Also thanks for all the late night talks, crying sessions, as well as happy moments!

Several years after high school, we both got married and began our lives with our wonderful husbands. Although we saw much less of each other, we still remained close friends. Then three years ago, Becky and Jeff moved to Midlothian, Texas to begin Chiropractic school. I was so sad to see her leave Arizona. We still have talked on the phone and gotten together as time permits when she came into town. But it almost seemed as though I had lost my friend due to the distance between us. I am so excited to say that she is BACK! They just moved back home a few weeks ago and I am so happy to have her back close to home. Even though we are both busy with kids and families it is nice to start planning outings together!

I hope you have a killer 26 birthday Becky and these pictures are to remember some of the fun memories from our younger years! (there are quite a few: I had so many to choose from and had a difficult time narrowing them down)

Tiffany, Becky, Jamie, Taya, Jen, and April all soaking wet!
The lunch crew our senior year of high school (Steph can you see yourself in the back?!)
We were seriously so HOT with no makeup right?
Becky, Steph, Kelli and Tiff
The Senior girls TP job on the school the end of our senior year!
We almost fell over right after this picture because we were laughing so hard!

Right before a dance!
Graduation here we come: we stayed up SOOO late the night before graduation and my little bro even let us all take a turn shaving part of his head that night. I think he just loved having all these high school girls giving him the attention!!

Calling from the cabin: Shhhh.....I will never tell the reason behind this picture :)
Charlie's Angels: Becky, Carli, Tiffany at the cabin
Ohhh the memories! Kelli, Becky, Tiffany, Steph, Angelee, Lori, and Katie

This was seriously our favorite pose in our pictures. We have so many of these together, I just picked one!

She's Back!

It has been a LONG three years as I have anxiously awaited the time when my BFF Becky would move back to Arizona. We have missed the births of my two kids and her little boy, and have only seen them sporadically when they have come into town. But the day has come! She is back from good ol' Texas FOR GOOD! Her hubbie just finished chiropractic school and I couldn't be happier to have her back. The other day we went to lunch together and then walked around the San Tan Village shopping mall SWEATING to death! Cute little Brody chilling in the shade by the splash park
Brody and I
Madison LOVES anything to do with swim suits and water. Her and Robby had a wonderful time running around and sticking their faces in the water that would spray up at them. Too bad Becky and I were MELTING in the heat while we watched them play.
Isn't she the most adorable Mommy to Brody?! Seriously I am always so jealous of her fabulous looks, long legs, and KILLER body!!