Lots to catch up on....

First I want to say I'm sorry for being such a slacker and not blogging. There has been so much going on. So I'll try to remember everything.

My mother's day was awesome. Jared and I had a lazy morning because Cayden actually slept through the night. Well, we didn't want to be late to our ward (we haven't been late once since Cayden was born) so instead of being late we didn't go. We decided to surprise my mom and go to church with them. Well surprise for us....mom was teaching in Primary. So I didn't get to spend time with her at church. Before we went to church Jared gave me my gift.

Beautiful Gift Basket

AWESOME goodies inside!

After church we went back home to change and then went back to my mom and dad's house for dinner. It was such a wonderful day. Thanks Jared for making it special.

On Monday morning after mother's day Cayden decided to get up early and be fussy so I let him sleep with me for a few hours. So when it was time for me to get up I carefully slid out of be so I didn't wake him...

Then when it was time to wake him I got the camera again because he usually wakes up so happy and I wanted it on film....

On May 22nd we went to our third graduation in 2 months. This one everyone was holding their breath until it happened. It was a close call but he did it.

My little brother Matt graduated from Eaglecrest High school. He was bummed that he graduated as a Raptor instead of a Red Knight(the rest of us are Red Knights) but we are all so proud of him for graduating. It was a long a tiring road but he did it. CONGRATULATIONS MATT!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!This is what of Cayden thought of the graduation. It was better for us that he slept. He was proud of his Uncle Matt though.

Cayden had a few firsts this month too. He had his first trip to the zoo on the 23rd. I went with my school class and it worked out that Jared was able to come too. So my mom met Jared at the zoo and dropped Cayden off. We enjoyed our day and Cayden seemed to have a good time too.

Cayden also experienced his first soccer game. Last night we drove out to watch Julie's soccer game. Jared even got to put on the pink uniform, lace up his cleats, and join Julie on the field. In the first 10 seconds he was in the game he had an assist that tied the game 1-1. It was really fun to watch him play. He was dying after about 15 mins. though because he is so out of shape. But he did say those 15 mins. were worth it. We had to leave at half time because Cayden has been sick and it was getting cold and windy so we needed to get him out of the weather.

So to wrap this long and boring blog up. We are doing great! I am looking forward to being done with work for a few weeks until summer school starts. Jared and I leave for Utah on June 6th and we are excited for a break from Colorado life. Cayden is SOOOOO close to crawling. We are just waiting for him to start going forward instead of backward. He is also sleeping through the night from time to time so Jared and I are a little more rested than we have been. Thing are great with us. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

LOVE TO ALL!!!

The Joys of Being a MOM!

I love being a mom so much. Cayden doesn't like to go to sleep and the other night he got really slap happy. It was hilarious!!!

Cayden is now 5 months old. I don't know where the time goes. He is getting so big. He is already in 6 month clothes and will be out of them in a few weeks. At his 4 month check up he was in the 95th percentile for his length, 75th for his weight and 50th for his head circum. I really can't get over how big he is getting. It seems that just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital.

With today being Mother's Day I just want to say how thankful I am for the privilege to be a mom. I can't begin to express the joy and happiness that little Cayden brings to my life. As hard as it gets I can't help but melt when I look at beautiful face.

• I love the way he smiles in his sleep.



• I love the way he clings to my fingers when he is taking a bottle.



• I love his stinky little toes.



• I love the way his ears stick out.



• I love when he wakes up from a nap and when he sees me he gets the biggest smile on his face.



• I love to see how much he adores his Daddy.



• I love when he talks to me and wish I knew what he was saying.



• I love the way he uses his eyebrows to express himself.



• I love when he falls asleep in my arms.



• But most of all I love the way he makes me feel as if nothing else in the world matters and that when the three of us are together that's all we need to make it.

I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father, Jared, and Cayden for making me a mom. I couldn't have been give a better gift.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful mother's in our family!!! We love you all so much!!!

I DID IT!!!! - Graduation Day

Well, I know that some of you might not believe it, but I finally graduated. It seems like it has taken forever (and it has - 7 years to be exact). My goal was to beat Brent, which I did. So I'm pretty happy about that. It was a great weekend. It was really busy, but very fun.

Mom flew in on Friday night. It was so great to have her here. I was happy that she could make it. We picked her up and then headed to dinner at Atlanta Bread Co. - DELICIOUS! We were all pretty tired and I still needed to do some last minute prep for my big day so we just called it a night.

The next morning the Alumni Association at my school hosted a breakfast. We all headed out early so we could get something to eat. After we ate we had some time to kill so we headed over to the gallery to see the graduation exhibit that was still up without anyone being there. Then it was time for the big event.

I had to be there early for pictures but eventually the ceremony got underway. Art schools aren't so organized and proper like other colleges so it was interesting how everything worked out. My graduating class was pretty small, maybe between 30 or 40. We had 2 valedictorians, one that gave more of an Academy Award acceptance speech than an actual graduation speech. But like most graduations go we were told that now we are ready to go change the world. So here I go. Wish me luck!

After graduation there was a reception back at the gallery on campus. It was fun to be there without any more stress. I was done and it felt SO good.

So with graduation done and over with there was just one more thing to do - Eat! We had dinner back at our place, but I have to tell everyone about the dessert that we had. It was so yummy. It was really simple, but super tasty. It was a pear boiled in white grape juice, sugar, and lemon juice and then placed on a plate covered in pureed raspberries and a dollop of whip cream. YUMMY!!!! You have to try it. If you want the actual recipe just let us know and we would be happy to share.

So that pretty much wraps it up. Everyone keeps asking me what I am going to do now that I am graduated. I keep telling everyone that I am going to Disney World. J/K I plan on working full time for Ideations. I am trying to find studios that I would want to work at and then I can start sending out my resume and demo reel. Then its just a matter of finding a job. Most likely we will be in Colorado for a little while longer, but then we will probably end up moving. For now though we are happy with how things are and it has definately been nice to be home more often.

Just a quick funny story - my friend Josh (the kid walking behind me in the very first picture of this post) was supposed to have honor cords like me, but wasn't given any. So I untied my cords and gave him one and I kept one. So we shared our honors. I felt bad that he didn't have any. So if anyone noticed that that is why I only have one cord instead of two.

We hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for all your cards and phone calls. I love you all very much and appreciate your support. Love to all.