Our Family

Our Family

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Big Decision

So the last little while I have been thinking of the future alot. Mainly it started when we had the scare with Jaydans tumor in his cheek. I thought alot about the fact that we have no idea how long we will be here and we dont know what tomorrow will bring. I thought alot about if something ever happened to Kamrin and I or to 1 or both of our kids. It really scared me thinking of all this and that brought me to my next thought. I dont know what I would do without my family! My husband and my kids are my everything. They are my meaning and purpose!! Not only them but also my extended family!! So the decision I have made is Im ready to work on making it to the temple. I had my first appointment with the bishop tonight to reach that goal. I feel like this is what I need to do right now. I feel like this is where I will find true happiness. My bishop said he is really excited to work with me to get me there. He is going to meet with me regularly and he wants me to go at my own pace. I couldnt be more happy and more excited. I feel peace with my decision and know it is right for me!! I love my husband and kids more then anything and cant wait to make it so we can be together FOREVER!! I cant imagine not having them with me. I am soooooo excited!!!!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Big Changes

There has been alot of changes at the Hammonds the last week. For the last year we have rented out our basement to our friends Kenny, Jenny and their daughter Brooke. This past weekend they moved out. There is only 2 bedrooms upstairs and so Maddie has been in our room since she was born. I always have my babies with me for the first few months but Maddie is 15 months now and its way past time for her to have her own room and ever more for us to have our own room back!!! Downstairs we have 3 rooms so I finally gave in and we are moving our rooms downstairs. We have been talking to Jay about it telling him he is going to sleep in Kenny and Jennys old room and he wanted nothing to do with that. He would tell us his bed is upstairs and he wanted to stay up here. I was trying to think of a way to get him excited about going down there and I finally thought of it. We bought him a race car bed and its down there for when we start sleeping down there. It worked just like I thought! He LOVES it!!! Now he tells us he wants to go and sleep downstairs and not in his other big boy bed but now he wants his car bed. Today I was kid free so I got all their clothes, dressers. some toys and their decorations down there but it will still be a few nights til we start sleeping down there. It has been fun decorating a girls room finally!!! In the 2 rooms upstairs 1 will be the play room because even though we will be sleeping downstairs I wont wanna hang out down there. The other will be a scrapbook room/office. Im excited to get all my scrapbook stuff out and organized and hopefully start working on it again!! Im excited to be doing this change but at the same time and very anxious about it!! Im a VERY paranoid person so of course the thought of us sleeping downstairs with nobody up here freaks me out ALOT. It may be silly but thats just me. I always think the worst. I will post pics of the kids rooms when they are done. They are going to be so fun and cute!!

Jaydans Answers

A friend of mine tagged me on this on Facebook and I thought it was cute and wanted to share it on my blog for those of you who arent on Facebook. The funny part about this was after 3-4 questions every time I would ask him something he would say "Leave me lone mom" and then he would telll me "Im working" so then Kamrin tried to ask him the questions and he got the same response so I knew just what to do :-) I said "Jaydan do you want Smarties??" Sure thing he answered every question after that! Gotta love the bribes :-)

1. What is something mom always says to you?No no

2. What makes mom happy?Me (He is so right)

3. What makes mom sad?I throw books on the floor

4. How does your mom make you laugh?He started laughing and said like this :-)

5. What was your mom like as a child?Small

6. How old is your mom?2

7. How tall is your mom?Tiny

8. What is her favorite thing to do?To work (Lol being with my kids is my favorite thing to do)

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?Gets sad

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?He didnt quite understand this

11. What is your mom really good at?Clean my room

12. What is your mom not very good at?Cleaning the door

13. What does your mom do for her job?Go to work (Too bad I dont work)

14. What is your mom's favorite food?Potatoes (He couldnt have been more wrong!!!)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?Makes me happy

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?Maggie and the Ferocious Beast ( I hope he meant I would be Maggie)

17. What do you and your mom do together?Clean my room together (Yeah right!!! Thats all mommy!!)

18. How are you and your mom the same?Books (Dont know what he meant by that)

19. How are you and your mom different?Paint different

20. How do you know your mom loves you?He said this much and then he put his arms as wide as he could

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?Babies Toys R Us (Thats what he calls Babies R Us and Toys R Us)

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Happy Birthday Tamera!!

Thursday was Kamrin moms birthday. We went over and surprised her that night and had pizza, cake and ice cream. I always for get my camera of course so dont have pics from it sorry. Jaydan calls Kamrins parents Hamma and Hampa and Im assuming he started that because Grandma and Grandpa Hammond are just way too long to say for a 2 year old :-) On our drive over there I said when you see Hamma yell Happy Birthday Hamma and sure enough the second see walked in the living room he got so excited and yelled it and ran up to her and gave her a huge hug. It was so cute. Tamera I hope you had a great birthday!! Thank you for all you do for us and our kids!! We appreciate you more then you will ever know!! We love love you very much!!



Happy Birthday Hamma!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Jay Bug

I havent updated the new things the kids are doing for quite a while so wanted to do that now. Maddies post is below this one.

So today I realized our Jaydan bug only has 3 months left til he is 3 years old!!!! Where has he last 3 years gone??? It really doesnt seem possible!! Jaydan keeps me on my toes that is for sure. That kid has SO MUCH energy! He has got the cutest little personality that just melts my heart daily. He is a little sponge and just soaks everything in! He sings numerous songs word for word, knows his ABCs and talks none stop. Some of the things he says and comes up with really blows me away. His new thing that he says all the time is "Whos you talkin to on the phone" He is so curious and loves talking on the phone to his loved ones. He will get on the phone and wander the house while talking on it. He lights up our lives and even when he is driving me crazy he looks up me with his big blues and smiles at me and I just forget how naughty he has been. I love watching him grow and learn. He lights up my life! I love this litttle man so much!!




Little Ms Maddie!!

Our little Maddie is getting so big! Its so bitter sweet seeing her grow so fast. She is so much fun and she cracks us up but its so sad she is becoming a little girl and not a baby anymore. Maddie has changed alot since becoming 1 in December. She walks 100% of the time for the last 2 months or so. She is learning new words like crazy also. She says please and thanks and she knows when to say them. She tries to repeat everything you say. Maddie loves her brother! Well most of the time :-) Maddie is not as sweet and innocent as she looks!! That girl has the BIGGEST attitude I have ever seen from a 1 year old!! Along with her attitude she has LUNGS!! If she isnt getting her own way she lets out a scream that is so loud and high pitched it kills your ears!! Also my little stinker has now learned to take out her own earrings! It drives me crazy so she cant wear them right now for the fact she is still in the stage that everything goes straight in her mouth and it scares me she might try and eat one. With all the attitude and craziness this little girl brings she brings so much love and joy to our family. I love her so very much. She has her daddy wrapped around her little finger!! She is daddys little princess and they have this amazing bond! I love seeing them together!!


Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Jungle Jims

Last Friday Kamrin and I took our kids to Jungle Jims and it was so fun for not only them but for us too! The kids had a blast! Even Maddie could ride the rides and she had so much fun doing it. She wasnt a fan of the carousel though for some reason. The swings were my favorite to watch her on because the laughed from the time they started moving til they stopped! Jay had that same reaction on the roller coaster. My favorite watching him do was the bumper cars now that was funny!! He would just go in circles til he hit someone or someone hit him. They rode on everything they have there at least once except Maddie didnt go on the roller coaster cause it goes way too fast. I hope we make it there quite often!! It was a blast!!


Loving the carousel!

She wasnt too sure about it!

She loved the swings though!!!

Who let him drive???

This way while the roller coaster was actually going!

He loves driving the bumper cars

Jeep ride

This was the onlt smile from her in there! She hated it!!

Exploring the play set

The dizzy bugs!!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

LONG Ride Home!!

We woke up Sunday and went down for breakfast and packed up the van and off we were. We werent headed home yet but headed to see Hoover Dam. It was about half hour or 45 min from Vegas. We went and took a tour inside the Dam which was crazy to think we were in the middle of that massive wall. That only lasted a half hour or so. After the tour we went and changed the kids and then went to the gift shop. We got to drive across the Dam also and then headed back to Vegas. We stop at some of the knock off shops there and I got some way cute stuff there!! I love the knock off shops there for some reason. Then we started our journey home. We stopped in Mesquite for food and gas and back on the road. The ride there was fairly easy. No meltdowns or anything but the ride home was a bit different. It seemed to be a lot longer of a drive with 2 very restless and uncomfortable kids. I did my best to keep them happy and entertained. They werent horrible or anything but they werent happy that is for sure!! We finally made it home around 9:30pm or somewhere around there. I didnt see my kids much on Monday!! They slept and slept and slept!! It was nice so I could catch up on laundry and unpacking. We all had a blast and the kids were great for what we put them through but I dont think we will do anymore vacations or road trips with them til Disneyland in October!! They need a break from the craziness of vacations til them!! Thanks Gran for such a wonderful and memorable vacation!!!

Second Day Out On The Strip

Our only full day in Vegas was busy but alot of fun! We got up and went right down to breakfast. We went to look inside the Luxor because the whole set up is just so amazing. Then we headed over to the Shark Reef in Mandalay Bay. We went there last May when we went with Shaless and Jared and we knew we had to take Gran and the kids there. The loved it! Jaydan is so into animals and fish right now. After we went back to the hotel to give the kids a nap. We headed to Treasure Island for lunch at this amazing little cafe that has the best chicken fingers I have even had in my life!! We walked over to the Venetian to see the river that runs through it. We saw this white statue that Kamrin and I knew about but we took Gran closer to see it and all the sudden it blinked! It was pretty creepy! It really looks like a statue but its a human and man are they good!! We then got to see a little dance and singing show which was fun. After that we walked back to Treasure Island to see the pirate show. The show they do is awesome! The have fireworks and fire balls galore! Jaydans favorite was the pretty girls in pretty much bras and panties dancing :-) They guy pirates had no shirts on either. The reason I tell you this is I have a funny story to go along with it. So during the show I feel a warm tingle on my belly and sure enough Jay peed through on me! Right after the show we went back to our hotel to change him and myself. Gran stayed in the car with Maddie and when we got up to change Kamrin went into the bathroom. I take off my shirt to put a new clean shirt and Jay yells out "Mommy, you're a pirate now!!!" Oh dear!! Now whenever he sees a bra he will think its a pirate costume!! Later that night I noticed he was trying to take off his shirt and asked what he was doing and he looked up and said "I wanna be a boy pirate!" I couldnt help but laughing so hard both times. That kid cracks me up soooooo much!!!! After we both got dry we headed back down the strip and drove to Fremont St Experience. Then we headed in for the night. We were all so drained at that point. We had so much fun that day!


Playing on the cart we used to take our luggage to the room

Dancing cute on the cart

She looked sooooo cute! I love her like flip flops!!

They really love each other!!

The waterfall wall in the Venetian

Gondola rides in the Venetian

This is a human not a statue!! Creeped me out!!

They put on an awesome little show

Jaydan checking out the alligator

One of the sharks

Kamrin petting a sting ray! YIKES!!

Gran petting one! They are braver then me!!

This was my favorite! They look so awesome!!

When I took this Jaydan said "fishy get in my belly!"

Jaydan and Maddie checking out what was under us in the glass floor

The fountains are truly AMAZING!!

More of the fountain show

Mommy and Jaydan being silly!!!

Monday, March 2, 2009

First Night In Vegas!!

We arrived in Vegas around 4:30pm and drove down the strip for a bit. Then we checked in and loaded all our stuff in the hotel and let the kids run off their energy from being trapped in the car so long. After we settled we took the hotels shuttle to MGM Grand and walked over to M&M World!! Jaydan was soooooo excited to be there. He loves M&M or as he calls him num n nums. We walked around and got the kids some souvenirs and watched the 3D M&M movie. Jaydan loved it. When the mini M&Ms jump out at you he was reaching out trying to grab them :-) After that we went down to the arcade downstairs from M&M World and played some games. We went and walked through the Coke Factory and then walk back to MGM Grand to have dinner at this AWESOME Rainforest Cafe! It was sooo cool and yummy food!! When we were in line there I looked down and Maddie was zonked out in her stroller. After we ate we walked to the lion exhibit and then took a taxi back to the hotel for the night. It was a very fun first night and the kids slept so so well that night!!!!


Maddie taking her first glance at the strip

Jay taking it all in

Admiring the GIANT M&M guy :-)

Putting out the fire on the fireman game

Racing fast!!

Taking sissy for a motorcycle ride

She zonked out on our walk to dinner!!

Poor exhausted baby!!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Road Trip To Vegas!

Instead of doing one LONG LONG post with a MILLIONS of pics I will just do a post for each stage of the trip. I knew it was gonna be hard to keep 2 kids under 3 happy for a long trip from SLC to Vegas but it actually went pretty smooth if I must say so myself. My kids are so easy going and are so patient for their ages. We went from here to Beaver and the stopped at a cafe for lunch. It was good food too. We then stopped and got cheese curds (squeaky cheese) and man was that good!! Then on to Vegas we went. So to entertain I packed ALOT of snacks, books, few toys and Jays kid dvd player. They both got restless here and there but hey so did I!!! I put Jays medicine on his face so I tucked his shirt under his car seat strap and had him pull funny faces at me to keep him from wiping his medicine off. Some of his faces cracked me up!!!! He is so cute and so full of personality. Maddie loves books and looked at them for a while and she stared out the window alot. She then was exploring the holes on her face (stuck her finger up her nose) and when that was so longer interesting she stuck her toes in her mouth!! She also meowed alot on our way down there. Ant animal she sees she meows. According to her cows and horses now meow just so you all knew :-) It was all in all a great road trip with 2 young ones. No meltdowns at all!! Im so lucky to have such easy going babies!!!!


Playing the arcade game at the cafe in Beaver

CHEESE!!

This is fun!!

Happy watching Barney

Passed out after lunch

She was exhausted

Pulling faces to keep hm from wiping his medicine off

Maddies exploring the holes in her face!

Showing me the tongue

Wheres Maddie?????

This is his surprised face :-)

Peek A Boo!!!

Eating cheese curds aka squeaky cheese

Apparently didnt eat enough lunch so her feet were the next best thing