Busy Busy Busy!

Things have gotten busy around here! Last week Adam, Aiden and I spent the week in Los Angeles for the Neurofeedback training. It was so fun! I was so incredibly glad that they were there! Every single day I came back and told Adam probably seven times that I was so happy they came. 

Sunday our plane got in about 10 am, so we decided to splurge and hit Disneyland for a one day deal with just the three of us. We have never gone on a family vacation without Brandon, so that was the best feeling ever to just be a family with the three of us. Aiden LOVED it! He thought it was the best thing ever to hear all the music and watch the parade and ride the rides. He loved every ride except for Pirates of the Caribbean, which scared him and made him cry. But everything else he thought was awesome!

We rented a Town & Country while we were there because they couldn't find our reserved rental car. We absolutely loved it! Ever since we got back and I've been back in my car I've been thinking about that van! Which is so funny because I'm so not a van person! But this van is the luxury of all vans. Loads of space, loads of storage, DVD player, captain seats, etc etc etc. It was legit. : ) So, needless to say, that will be our next vehicle as soon as we break down and buy it. 

Updates!

Updates!

Holy cow, it's been forever since I've blogged! I knew it would be hard to keep up, but I didn't think it would be this bad! So, that being said, there have been a few things that have happened this year, that are really awesome!

First and foremost, Aiden turned 1 in October! He is now 15 1/2 months and is so incredible! He walks/runs and will talk your ear off! He knows so many words, like please, cracker, eat (sign and talk!), shoe, and signs "I love you," which is so stinking cute! He knows pretty much all of his body parts and when he gets hurt will bring you the part that hurts to kiss it better : )  He is so incredibly wonderful and brings so much joy to our lives every day! 

I finally finished my practicum in October, and since then haven't had to work very much, only about 12-15 hours a week, so I get to spend lots of time with my little boy and I LOVE it!! Last year was so incredibly hard being gone from him so much and missing so many new little things he would do. I was  super lucky that he was at least either with Adam or with my cousin MaryAnn, who is now his second mom thank goodness! I would have had a much harder time if it would've been a stranger for sure! 

I also finished my master's degree finally! This was such a huge accomplishment for me, and the last semester was the hardest because I was so completely DONE with all of it! I felt like I was squeezing out a tiny  hole to get out of there! But it was all worth it, and now I get to go to a Neurofeedback training in LA next week with Adam and Aiden and do some great things with that, which will be really cool. Basically I get to learn how to hook people's brains up to electrodes and their brains train themselves to be higher functioning. Super cool stuff : )

January has been an awesome month for Adam! He started a different master's program in HR at USU and loves it! He is so excited about what he can do with it, and already has huge plans! I'm so proud of him! The other great thing is he got a job! When I had Aiden and we got our foster kid and I was pregnant with Aiden, we decided that he would quit work and be a stay at home dad. Well, that didn't really work so well for him, he's much too much of a doer, so sitting around all day wasn't the best : ) He got a job at Dixon that was from November to May of last year when school ended, and then the job was not there anymore. Then in September he got a job at UVU in their athletics dept, but only worked a few hours here and there, and that went away in December when he got done with the semester. But now he's working at Property Solutions with his brother McKay and loving it already! He has so many awesome plans and ideas, and again I'm so proud of him! 

We also went on a really really really AWESOME trip in December, but that'll be a different post, cuz this one's already way long! : ) Thanks for reading! 

But in the meantime, a couple pictures

Family Activities

I feel really behind on this! So I'll try and just do little snippets and not as detailed about what's been going on. : )

So in March we took the kids and went to Las Vegas. Silly us, we went over not only St. Patrick's Day weekend, but Spring Break for most of the colleges! It was crazy! There were so many people all over the place, drinking and dancing and not wearing many clothes. We felt pretty crowded and actually didn't even end up walking down the strip at all. We just stayed in the car and drove it. That was partly because of the crowds, but also because the weather was awful. We were so sad! We were looking forward to having this great warm weekend in Vegas and being able to swim in the three outdoor pools the hotel has, and from the drive in to the drive out, it was windy and cold and miserable! But other than that it was a pretty good trip! 

We went to the Shark Museum at the Monterey Bay hotel. That was okay, it was pretty cool to see all the sharks, but for the amount of money they charge, we were hoping it would be bigger. No such luck... Then we went to the Natural History Museum, and that was actually really cool! We were lucky, right as we got there they started to feed the little sharks they have in a pond so we got to watch that. It was awesome! They had an Egyptian exhibit with King Tut's tomb and artifacts and stuff, and there was also a big dinosaur part that had animated dinosaurs that moved. Brandon got scared, so that was funny. : ) 

Obviously, yesterday was Easter. Saturday, we went down to Fillmore to spend time with my grandparents. We went down first thing in the morning and hung out at their house for a few hours, and then went to White Sand mountain to go 4 wheeling. It was so fun! The kids rolled Easter eggs down the hills and made the trails with their bums, and then we went for a few random rides. Unfortunately, it all came to an end when Josh (my little brother) wrecked my dad's brand new 4 wheeler. He rolled it over on top of my sister Kortny, and then it continued to bounce and roll the rest of the way down the hill. Luckily, neither one of them were seriously hurt. Kortny has a pretty good bruise on her leg, and Josh got away without a scratch. It could've been much worse, and we were grateful that it wasn't! Then yesterday, we got up and did a little egg hunt in our apartment for Brandon, and went to the temple to take pictures. Then we went to Adam's parents' house to have a wonderful lunch with them and spend some time. That evening we went over to my parents' house and had dinner and played and played. It was a great weekend overall! Best of all, when we went to the temple, we had the opportunity to talk to Brandon about the true meaning of Easter, and about Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. I love when those teaching moments just hand themselves to you. I'm going to attempt to add some pictures of our weekend, wish me luck!

God Works In Mysterious Ways

Rather than doing the piles and piles of homework I really should be doing, I've decided to blog instead. : )

This last week we had two big things happen! At least, they were big to me. Aiden turned 5 months last Thursday, which also happens to be my little sister's birthday! I can't believe how fast the time has gone! He's all of a sudden this little person that I share my dinner with and thinks I'm just about the coolest thing since ice cream (and he REALLY likes ice cream). It's so incredible to me that he's my little boy. 

Tonight I'm feeling extra thankful for him. A friend of mine just found out last night that she had lost her pregnancy. I lost 2 babies before I finally got pregnant with and carried my little boy. Losing those babies was by far the hardest thing I've ever had to experience, and I didn't know what to do. I remember sobbing in my dad's arms the night I lost the second one that I just wanted my baby. It's incredible how quickly the bond forms between a mother and an unborn child. It's almost instantaneous, and it never goes away. Every day it gets stronger, especially after they're actually born. 

The biggest lesson I learned through going through that experience was that Heavenly Father had a plan for me. He always had a bigger plan for me than I had for myself, and it was all in His hands and His timing, as much as I hated that concept at the time. When I lost the first one, I mostly shut down inside. I never really dealt with it or talked about it much. People would ask how I was doing and in my head I'd be screaming at them "How the hell do you think I'm doing?!" I got pretty depressed, although I didn't realize it until later. With the second one, I think I almost expected it. Like, well of course I'm going to lose this one too. That one I dealt with a little better. I sobbed and sobbed, and talked about it a little bit more, and relied on my Father in Heaven a lot more. It gave me a very strong testimony of the power of prayer, and pretty much necessitated that I have faith that He would carry me through it. I remember thinking constantly that I was broken somehow.

It took me 6 months to get pregnant again. I was afraid it wouldn't happen, and again, it was another of those in God's hands things. As soon as we got our foster kid, a couple weeks later we found out I was pregnant again. This time it stuck, if you will. It was a scary first 4 or 5 months, actually until it was a viable pregnancy and could survive outside, I was nervous and scared. 

Now that Aiden is here, I can't believe how incredible and amazing it is to be a mom. To have that baby look up at me with such trust and love in his eyes, it's the most wonderful thing in the world. I love to just lay next to him and talk to him and play. He's so fantastic! I didn't mean to go so much into things, but my miscarriages were on my mind after my friend just had hers. God works in mysterious ways, that's for sure. 

This was taken when he was 2 weeks old, so it's not recent, but it's one of my favorite pictures of him. : )

New Discovery!!

Aiden discovered his fingers and toes recently! He loves to sit and play with his toes, and his fingers are so fascinating he doesn't know what to do other than stare at them! It is so cute and makes me so happy to see. It's so fun to see all the new things he does each and every day! Love this baby so much!!

Intro to our family

I have never been in to blogging, but today I saw a way cute one and decided it was time I started. However, mine will probably not be as cute as the one I saw : ) Our family consists of me (Nicole), dad Adam, baby Aiden (almost 5 months), and foster son Brandon who's ten. We have a seriously crazy busy life! 

I'm doing a year long Practicum for my Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy at Cirque Lodge in Orem. I graduate in December. Cirque is a residential treatment center for drugs and alcohol-basically a rehab center. I absolutely love it! Sometimes it's incredibly scary and intimidating, especially considering that I'm a 22 year old female with no history of addiction or substance use, working with men aged 20-55 who have been using and abusing drugs and alcohol for years. But overall, it's an extremely rewarding experience and I'm learning a lot!! I work there about 24 hours a week, and then I work for my mom's company Utah Behavior Services doing in-home behavior therapy with kids with Autism about 12 hours a week. 

Adam is working at Dixon Middle School in Provo, tracking the kids with delinquent grades or attendance. He enjoys it most days, and likes having his own office and being able to do his own thing while getting his job done. He's also in Graduate school at Utah State University, studying Physical Education, Health and Recreation. Basically he'll be qualified to teach Health and PE in a college setting, as well as being involved with sports teams training and whatnot. He's super into it and loves it a lot!

Aiden is growing so fast! He's rolling over now from his belly to his back (as long as it's the right audience ;)), and is getting to the point where he can sort of sit up for a few seconds at a time by himself! He's a super happy smiley baby and we love him so much! He's always in a good mood unless he's sick, and will pretty much smile about anything all the time. He has brought so much joy into our lives and we're so glad to have him!

Brandon is ten, and since he is a foster child, I can't really say much else about him because of confidentiality, but he's here too and we really enjoy having him. : )