Tulips, Tulips, & More Tulips

A few weeks ago my mom & I took the kids up to Thanksgiving point to see the Tulip Festival. It was so beautiful!!! Last year I was disappointed because the tulips hadn't bloomed. This year we chose the most perfect day. It was 80 degrees and tulips were everywhere. Olivia had so much fun running around and wearing me and my mom out.

2 months!!

Yes I just realized Caleb is almost 3 months old and I haven't even posted pictures of him at 2 months. What can I say about this little guy? I find myself loving him more & more everyday. He has made our family feel so much more complete. Olivia cannot get enough of him and I'm so glad. She tells everyone how much she loves her brother and the first time he smiled was for her.

Caleb's Stats:

Weight: 13 lbs. 5 oz.

Height: 24 inches

Favorite Food: Mom's Milk

Favorite Time of Day: Bath time

Favorite Friend: Big Sister Olivia

SO I GUESS I'LL TUTE MY OWN HORN

Well once again I've fallen behind on my blogging. I'm still trying to figure out how to take a shower before noon with 2 kids wanting my attention. So needless to say my blogging takes a major back burner to everything else.
So I'll start out by bragging about myself. Just what you have been waiting for I'm sure. I have been slowly trying to get back in shape after having Caleb. Of course my favorite exercise and activity right now is riding my bike. So to push myself into riding better I decided to sign up for the Salt Lake Marathon bike tour this year. Well let me re-phrase that. My brother talked me into signing up I was scared to death. It wasn't a race just a 26 mile ride along the same path as the marathon. We started at 6 a.m. (way too early) and it was about 40 degrees. As usual my dad was late picking me up so as we were unloading, getting gear on, and pumping up tires, we could hear the announcer counting down the start of the ride. It was hectic but dad and I were able to peddle down the hill and join the ride. Nic caught up within' seconds (of course) and very quickly past us up. I didn't see him again until I finally finished the ride. It was a beautiful ride and so much fun. I rarely get to ride with anybody so it was cool to be in a huge group. I think there was over 1,000 of us this year. And also so cool to be able to ride on busy streets without cars to worry about and not stopping at the stop lights was awesome as well. After about an hour of riding my dad left me in the dust and I slowly chugged along with the slow end of the group. Finally after making it up the what seemed like 200 mile hill on State Street I peddled through the finish line at Gateway. It felt great! I have always had a goal that I wanted to do the marathon but knew I would never be able to run (thanks to Davis High gym teachers running makes me sick). So I was very proud of myself for finishing. It's hard for me to do these kind of things because I am very intimidated by other peoples abilities compared to mine. But I did it!
My next group ride is June 6th --38 miles this time. I am scared to death but Nic keeps telling me "if you can do 26 you can do 100..easily." Yeah easy for someone with zero percent body fat that has nothing else to do besides ride all the time. Anyway I'm looking forward to that ride and forward to challenging myself more and more.

WHAT'S THE DEAL?

It's 10:15 a.m. and I just barely forced Olivia out of bed. Usually by this time of morning I am ready for a nap. Caleb woke up once at 4 a.m. and quickly went back to sleep. Needless to say I actually am not sleep deprived today! So with 2 sleeping kids you would think I would be getting some things done: get my work-out in, laundry, vacuum, clean the house. Well of course none of that happened. Instead I got on the computer and thought about all the things I need to get done. You cannot even walk into my front door without tripping over something or someone. The past two days of sun have made me selfish. I have forgot about house work and takin' every opportunity to be outside. At this point I think my mental health needs more work then the dirty kitchen and the sunshine does wonders. I took a bike ride on Monday (not long enough) but it's amazing how it rejuvenates me and I've been trying to work out at least an hour a day. Today I have plans to clean my house but here's what will probably happen instead: sit on the computer until 11, realize how late it is and work out until noon, realize Olivia needs lunch, 1 p.m. think I stink must take shower, 2:30 p.m. finally all clean for the day need to go grocery shopping, 4 p.m. finally home from grocery store.....damn my house needs to be cleaned but Caleb needs to eat, 5 p.m. time to get dinner ready, 5:45 eat dinner, 6:30 why am I so tired? I need to clean the house, 6:45 plop my butt on the couch and watch T.V. until 11 p.m., wake up tomorrow and do it all again. Life goes on.







Yesterday Kacy took some awesome pictures of my kids. So far the pictures I have seen are awesome! I can't believe they are my kids they are so dang cute. Yes I am one of those moms who brags about her children constantly and I don't care. Thanks Kacy for the pictures and all your creativity.

Last but not least an update on Bazil. Well after much praying and talking Cody and I decided to give Bazil surgery. She went in last Thursday and is still recovering. I talked to the vet yesterday and the biopsy of the lumps shows that the cancer is much more advanced this time, ultimately we probably only have a few more months with her. I try not to think about it. Right now I'm just happy that she isn't bothered by the lumps and we have a few more months to spoil her and enjoy her. I guess we should've said our goodbyes because the surgery cost a lot more then we were told and we have our own hospital bills to pay, but I like to think there is a reason we went for it besides selfishness.







Our lazy morning












Sleeping on the couch.

Finally eating breakfast at 10:00 a.m. Or should we call it brunch?

I hate this thing on her head more then she does. My newly painted walls have scuff marks all over them from her. One more week and it comes off!!

I think I'm Back!!!

Well I was going to stop blogging but I realize that it kind of helps me vent when I am either happy or not so happy. And today I really need to do some venting so I'm back hopefully I can keep up on it a little better. We have had a lot going on so I will just start with the most exciting event. On February 19th we were blessed with our 2nd child. Caleb Manuel Turman. I went into the hospital at 7 a.m. to be induced turns out I was already in labor! At 12:45 he was born. I still can't believe he was 9 lbs. 4 oz. I knew he would be big but wow!! And such an easy labor I am still in shock. He came out screaming and hasn't really cried since. He is such an easy going little guy. Usually just tries to be patient with me while I deal with his sister or patient while his over eager big sister snuggles him to death. She loves being a big sister and loves Caleb more then I could have imagined. Every morning the first thing she asks is, "Where's my brother?" So she has to go see him and give him hugs and kisses before she can start her day. She has not shown one sign of jealousy towards the baby, even when I am buisy with him (usually feeding him) and can't play with her right away. We were able to bring him home for 2 weeks then he got very sick with RSV. We had to admit him to the hospital for a few days for oxygen and breathing treatments. It was harder on me then Caleb I'm sure. It was a balancing act trying to keep one parent at the hospital with Caleb while another took care of Olivia. And since I am breast feeding I stayed at the hospital the most. Every night I would leave for the hospital and Olivia would just cry and beg me not to go. It still breaks my heart thinking of it. But luckily we were able to bring him home after 3 days in the hospital. He was on oxygen at home for another week but I could handle that as long as I was home with him. I feel very ashamed to admit this but I think I am just barely really falling in love with Caleb. It's horrible to say that but the month has been so full of emotional rollercoasters I haven't had a chance to just enjoy the little guy until now. He is absolutly beautiful (I know I have a biased opinion) and everytime I take him out someone comments on his hair. I can't believe Olivia and Caleb are my kids. I'm a mother of two and as hard as the last month has been I feel so incredibly blessed to have them in my life. I try to remind myself that everyday when I sit down to look over our outrageous hospital bills. So what we are poor at least we have each other and things will get paid off in time. I would also like to say thank you to my friends and family that helped so much with meals and mental support during the last month. Not having to worry about dinner helped out more then I thought it would and I really appreciate everyone thinking about us and supporting us.

Some pictures!!!

And now for some difficult news. I know I posted a few months ago about our sweet dog Bazil. Well unfortunetly the tumors are back and much worse. We have been given 2 options: Pay $700 (which we don't have) for them to be removed (they will come back and worse), Or say our goodbyes. Now this decision has been eating both of us up. We have had Bazil for 8 years and she has been nothing but a perfect, loyal pup. We might be saying goodbye soon but I guess I'm just asking for prayers. Cody and I are really having a difficult time with this and luckily Bazil isn't suffering the tumors just itch so she licks all day long. I remember somebody telling me that the only reason they never had pets was because they couldn't stand the pain of letting them go. I never understood that until now. Anyway I know this isn't a happy story but I just feel that the more prayers out there maybe the easier the decision will be for us.

We love you Bazil May!!

Let It Snow!!

Well I am so happy that the snow finally came. Olivia has been out in it everyday and has the runny nose and horrible cough to prove it. It has helped me get into the holiday spirit a little bit more. I'm still not going to say this is my favorite holiday but the fluffy white stuff does make me a little more excited for Christmas.

A cute story:

So you would think after 2 1/2 years I would know that there are certain things you have to make sure are put up high out of someones small hands. But yesterday I was reminded again. We were in the living room watching home movies with family (me trying to fight back tears). Olivia was bored so I thought she was playing in her room. When a little voice from the kitchen screams, "Ouch my hair.....It's stuck!!! HELP!!" I run into the kitchen and she has my kitchen scissors stuck in her beautiful hair. I tried not to panic, or laugh but I did both. I carefully grabbed the scissors and got them out but not without a pretty big chunk of hair coming with. Olivia looked at the chunk of hair and immediately started sobbing. "I want my hair back!!! Not my hair!!!" Then I started laughing and that made it worse. So to calm her down I grabbed the pile of hair and put it back on her head. I pretended to glue it back on her head. She was satisfied with that. She gave me a big hug and kiss and said, "Thanks Mamma!" And off she went to play. Thank goodness you can't tell where the chunk came from but I will pay closer attention to where my scissors are from now on.

Some fun snow pictures.......

First sled ride. As you can tell she was scared. She laughed when we finally stopped. We asked her if she wanted to go down again and she said, "NO!!!"

Helping daddy shovel

To Be Thankful

So Thanksgiving has passed us by once again. I love Thanksgiving! It's one of those days that you can eat, and eat without feeling guilty. And this year it was especially good for me to remember all the things that I am thankful for. Too many times lately I find myself feeling sorry because we don't have enough money, I don't have enough time to myself, I never get anything done. Well all that isn't important when you realize that you have a wonderful family, friends, and enough money to keep a roof over your head. Thanksgiving morning I went into Olivia's room to get her out of bed. I said, "Olivia today is Thanksgiving! Do you know what we do on Thanksgiving?" I expected her to say, "What?" Instead she looked up at me with her innocently beautiful brown eyes and said, "We say Thank You!!" How can such a smart, direct response come from a 2 year old? It humbled me very much and I took it to heart. I found myself saying thank you all day long. We had a delicious lunch at my father-in-laws. The food was great and it was nice to let Olivia run wild with her cousins. After that we went down to my grandma's house where my family was. We were able to visit there for a few hours as well. It was nice because we usually don't have time to see both families but this year it worked out great.
Last week one of my best friends Lori was in town for a few days. I don't feel like I got to spend enough time with her but the time I did spend was fun. We all went to see Twilight and did some shopping the next day. It's so amazing that we only see each other once a year and still we are able to pick up right where we left off. There is nothing like being with my 2 best friends Kacy & Lori. I love them both.
We still haven't started putting Christmas decorations up at our house. I want so badly to buy a new tree. Our old tree is so pathetic. Needles falling off, 2 strands of lights out, and it sits lopsided. But we might have to deal with it for one more year. I think we should just put some lights on our ficus tree it's a lot prettier then the Christmas tree anyway. Maybe this weekend we'll get more into the holiday spirit.
For the past few months my brother has been racing in enduro cross on his bicycle. It's a tough race. Some of it is on flat ground other parts on dirt, and they also make you carry your bike up a hill over hurdles. So anyway he has been doing this for a few months and Saturday we finally woke up early enough to go check it out. Of course we were still late but I got to see him fly around the course a few times. I also got all proud and teary eyed when the announcer said, "And Nic Sells just finished. This is his first year and he rocks, watch out for him in the future." Anyway just a little bragging. My 52 year old dad raced right along with him. He didn't finish as fast but he kicks ass I'll tell you what. I don't think it's fair that I inherited all the short, fat, non-athletic genes. The race was out at Wheeler Farm so we also got to say hello to some of the animals which Olivia loved. I've posted a few pictures from the race and the farm. Man my posts are starting to get long.
Also I'd like to say congrats to my good friend Jenny and her husband Logan. They had their 3rd baby yesterday morning. She is beautiful of course! You can check out the PhippsBlog if you want to see pictures. Congrats you two!!!