New Routine

Trevor has had all kinds of bedtime routines. He likes the bath, books, he hates getting his teeth brushed but oh well! Then it turned into kissing everyONE and everyTHING in his room. He had to kiss, Shane, Doggy, the turtle cage, his Piggies and Paws animals, mommy, and daddy. It is so cute but now he has something new he HAS to sleep with or else he won't even take a nap and you can forget going to bed at night.
I took full advantage of his happy time while taking pictures in his bed. I have been meaning to take pictures of him in his crib since he was 6 months better late then never but seriously where does the time go!

Most kids have to sleep with a blankie he has had this for months but now his new thing, a BALL! Last week we were in the store and he found a Tigger ball so I got it for him. He loved the one on one time playing ball while Shane was in Pre-school. Now he can't sleep without it! "Elmo" aka Nemo joins him in his bed too along with about 7 blankets- one for the ball and Nemo and about 6 for Trevor!
He is too cute. He loved all this attention before nap time and that I didn't drop him in the crib and make a quick dash to the door like I normally do. I usually hurry to the door in hopes to find the peace that comes with one child taking a nap or down for the night! Look at his cute little grin as he pretends to sleep so I can get a picture!

Trevor is such a sweet boy but gets into a lot of trouble. Today I have found about 5 scribble marks all over the house I didn't know was there! Maybe he'll be an artist and make big money for these scribbles one day but for now I enjoy the peace when he is down for a nap because I know my walls are safe for at least a few hours.

Top Ten

I am loving this Top Ten Pictures from other blogs. I have been wanting to do it for a week now after seeing Michelle's blog and now Lanae's but it makes me a little nervous. Here goes my pleasing personality with pictures! It took me forever to pick my favorites and I sure do have more favorites but these are the ones that jumped out at me today! Here are my Top Ten, plus three pictures in no particular order. I keep TRYING to add 3 more but blogger is having issues and keep getting an error so here are Faves.



I just love this picture of Damon and Trevor. I love the little drool our of Trevor's mouth because at this age he always had little slimy kisses. We were in Ventura taking Young Family pictures and I took this and love the tenderness between Daddy and son.


I love little piggies! Look how sweet Trevor's toes are. I just want to kiss them. I have so many feet pictures and love every single one but only put one on my post!

I love this picture for 2 reasons. How tender and sweet Shane looks in it and the background is a quilt my Great Grandma made but never quilted so my Grandma quilted it for my mom. What a priceless treasure! Don't you just want to kiss those sweet lips on Shane???

This is a classic. This was taken at the wonderful Santa Barbara Zoo when Shane was just one. We asked Shane to kiss the elephant and he bent down and kissed the tip of the trunk! Lanae was quick and got the sweet moment. I then did his big boy room jungle just so I could put this picture on the wall along with all the jungle Piggies and Paws too!

I don't really have any great pictures of the boys together. They NEVER cooperate at the same time. This was when we were in Texas last summer which is why you see beautiful GREEN trees.

This picture is a hidden gem. I was going through old files and found this picture and I LOVE it! Shane adores his Daddy and this pictures proves it. We are so lucky to have such a great Daddy.

First, I love the outfit. Boys never get a variety in cute clothes. This was in Ventura (do you notice a pattern in all the pictures, not many taken in Vegas!) last year. There is a huge tree downtown at a park and we went and played and then had dinner. It was a fun night. I love how innocent Shane looks in this picture.

I love this picture of Trevor because he is about a week old and you can still see all the newborn fuzz ALL over his body. New babies change so fast and I love that I captured this stage of Trev. I love how sweet he looks too.

This is a picture I had envisioned and we went to Ventura just so I could take it because Trevor was going to be too big if we waited any longer. He was a cranky baby, the day was cold in October, so the odds of getting a good picture weren't in my favor, but look what I got! I love it.

This is one of my all time favorites of Shane. He was actually eating Cheetos's in the living room when I took this but hey I still love it! I can't believe how fast he is growing this picture was taken a few months after Trevor was born.
Trevor has the most amazing eyes. I love how blue they are and the patterns throughout the blue. He is such a cute little guy!

Another classic of Trevor. These were taken when he was 7 months old to go along with Shane's 6 month old naked toosh picture but Trevor wouldn't hold still so we had to add the bowl. I love all the rolls.

When Damon received his first Life Saving Award that was really the first time Shane could remember seeing him in uniform. He was so entertained by his badge. We are so lucky to have a Daddy that is a hero in so many ways.

There they are! I would add more if I could. I love pictures and love capturing the love and fun we have for each other. Which reminds me I need to take more pictures with my new camera! I did the first thing off my 30 things (yes, the simplest one but hey) so I now have 29 more to go! If you haven't found your top ten pictures go look and post. It's fun going through all these old pictures and TRYING to make it to 10.

Two Random Things

I can't believe I haven't noticed this BEFORE...

Trevor has an outie belly button! I have changed his diaper I don't want to know how many times and last night I noticed it. I have been doing the same thing for the last 23 months getting him out of the bath, lathering him up with lotion, giving him kisses on his cute little tummy, and gettingthat cute belly b of his and last night I notice, hey he his say an outie!


And on to the other piece of random information. Our TV in the gameroom has a new look because Shane, "wanted to watch pirates on TV!"


**If you can't tell Shane has decorated the TV with pirate stickers. He was quite upset when I took them off because he wasn't done "watching" them. It wasn't an easy task taking them off either but good thing for goo be gone!

Thirty Things

I celebrated the BIG 30th birthday last week. My sweet friend, Kerry, came over and gave me a bowl FULL of 30 things. It made my day, especially since I forgot her birthday a few days before!! All things I love, need, and want. It's so good to have friends that take the time to make your day special. The 30 things got me thinking about my life and where I am at 30 years. There are so many things I have accomplished and still so much I want to do. I want to make this next year something to remember so here is my list of THIRTY THINGS I WANT TO DO WHILE 30!

1. Learn to can. Not jam, I already do that. Something like peaches or applesauce.

2. Sew something. I use to love to sew.

3. Scrapbook more.

4. Get my giant shelf of pictures upstairs that I have been wanting to do for years!

5. Take more week-end trips with Damon.

6. Make apple butter.

7. Get healthy.

8. Write in the boys journals once a week instead of every so often.

9. Get my Young Impressions Photography website up and going!

10. Decorate my room and bathroom.

11. Play more with my boys.

12. Go on a nice long 2 week family vacation. I'm talking about driving long in the car and exploring our beautiful country.

13. Start the Overlooked challenge.

14. Go to Disneyland.

15. Get Shane to sleep in his own be and I mean it this time!

16. Spend more time with Damon, maybe even go on a date.

17. Take pictures on the Boulder City trains and the Neon Graveyard.

18. Go to the Grand Canyon. Damon makes fun of me because I always want to go and no one else ever wants to come including him!

19. Plant a garden. I love working in the dirt and having beautiful flowers. This doesn't really "go" in Vegas but I think I have found a spot in my front yard so wish me luck!

20. Make family and friends birthdays specail. I already failed because I missed Josh yesterday! We love you Joshy!!!

21. Take a rec class with just me and Trevor.

22. Finish up some Piggies and Paws for MY kids!

23. Start a Day in the Life album. I love this idea and have been wanting to do one for YEARS! Just scrapbooking what we did all and recording more everyday stuff.

24. Visit my Grandparents in Idaho and Damon's Grandparents in Nebraska.

25. Hand make an advent calendar. Some reason I love these at Christmas time. Some reason I want my boys to have something I made for them each year. I have 2 ideas saved, we'll see what I pick.

26. Make homemade salsa.

27. Buy a point and shoot camera so I can ACTUALLY do the photo a day challenge! I failed after the first week because I can't tote around my $3000+ camera to capture our everyday moments!

28. Take the boys to the library. You would think being a teacher I would be the taking my kids to the library kind of mom but I hate to admit it.... I have NEVER taken either of them to the library to check something out! Sad, I know. I was inspired by ElRae but now I'm trying to find/make a cute library bag like she does!!

29. Get my wedding pictures on CD. I want to play and edit them!

30. Enjoy life more. I don't want to stress about things that really aren't that important!

Long list, I know. I'm excited. I'm trying to think what I'll do first. The easiest is to order my camera so I'm off to search for the best deal online! Then, maybe I'll move on to Etsy and look for a custum bag for Shane and Trevor's library books. I kept most things simple because I actually want to do EVERYTHING on this list and I have a few weeks less of a year to do it! Wish me luck.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day from the Young Family! We have been celebrating all week with baking yummy goodies and parties. I can't celebrate Valentine's Day without PB cookies with a kiss in the middle and the Pretzel Hugs are too yummy.

We started the day off with strawberries and heart pancakes. I'm no Grandma Beebe with her pancake art skills but you can sort of tell they are hearts! **My Grandma would make my sisters and I ballerina pancakes when we were little girls. I remember watching her create the magic with the mix and be so excited to eat them! After we were at Grandma's we would ask our mom for ballerina pancakes and she would make us "beach ball" AKA round pancakes instead! I guess I have inherited my mom's pancakes skills and not my Grandma's!

Notice Trevor's tiger marks up his arm. He has found EVERY hidden marker in this house and has colored on walls, chairs, the desk, himself, and this morning he made me so mad because he colored all over my sheets and pillow sham in my room. It's a scrapbook marker which if I remember from when Shane was a baby doesn't come off. Everything is soaking right now! He's a little stinker, but sure keeps us on our toes.

The highlight of the day for Shane was his Valentine's Day party at school and the Valentine exchange. I guess he couldn't understand why one of the girls gave him a PRINCESS Valentine. When she handed it to him he said with dissapointment, "Oh" and put it in his bag!Silly boy.

He picked out the big heart lollipops for his friends and I had visions of making cute handmade cards by Shane but now I'm sick! I also had visions of making the "Traditional Stewart Valentine's Dinner" of heart meat loaf, pink mashed potatoes, and strawberry milk but instead opted for microwave mac and cheese so I could rest on the couch! There is always next year to start a new tradition. I don't think Shane would have liked the PINK mashed potatoes anyway! The boys little friend Ethan saved the day and gave them each a box of chocolates they have enjoyed after their gourmet dinner. Trevor opens his and says " mmmmmm, chocate!" Thanks Maren for always thinking of us.

We wish each of you a day filled with love and know that we are sending our love to each of you!

Beautiful Bride

We had so much fun taking these bridal shots! The bride was up for anything and my friend, Maren, is the soon to be SIL and came to help us out. They wanted to do the shoot at Lake Las Vegas and boy am I glad. It's my new favorite photo place. If you want pictures there let me know, it's amazing at how many different feels you get there. It was a beautiful day and we got some super fun shots. The only thing I am mad about is ME not having pictures like this in my wedding dress!

If I were to be a bride today I would totally steal her dress! It is just beautiful. The pictures really don't capture the beauty of it. Look how cute the sleeves are!

She is an avid Diet Coke drinker and we happened on a Coke booth and they offered her a nice drink so we couldn't pass up some fun shots in her dress! Plus she had a Diet Coke fountain at one of her showers which is too cute!

That is all for now. Stay tuned for the wedding which I just got home from. I can't imagine how tired the bride and groom are because I am beat! I have been taking pictures for almost 12 hours! It is aboulutly amazing to see the love this couple have as they came out of the temple. I teared up too many times today because it brought back those sweet memories. Plus my friend, Losa's husband Whitney sang The Way You Look Tonight for the parent dance and I was just crying. He is an amazing singer. Check out his solo on Gladys Knight A Christmas Celebration he sings number 9.I'm so glad they asked me to do their wedding and able to capture the beauty of their special day.

Too much to do!

Does this look familiar? Sometimes I wonder where all my time goes then I enter my laundry room with loads to do, see my sink full of dishes to do, or all the toys that need to be picked up and then I remember where my time goes. I have been a boring blogger but nothing exciting has happened in the last month or so! Lanae asked if my stove was still fixed no really wanting to know but hinting to add something more exciting to my blog. This isn't too exciting but this is what my day has been like. Too many loads of laundry to do. Weird fact about me: I LIKE to fold laundry! I enjoy it actually. I like the little piles of clean clothes, stacks of freshly bleached towels, and cute little boy undies folded all nice and neat. However, and a big HOWEVER I absolutely hate, hate, HATE to put the clothes away! I will sometimes have 5 baskets full of folded laundry to be put away because I do not like this chore. Does anyone else have a chore they secretly like to do? Fill us in!

Fixed!

I am so glad I have a husband that is handy around the house. Well, he was the one who broke the oven TRYING to clean it, but whatever! Damon decided to use the self clean cycle on the oven which I have never used because it scares me. Don't ask me why but for some reason it makes me nervous. I guess I had reason to get nervous about using it because it made our entire oven blow a fuse and broke it. We had no power to it which meant I couln't cook. I really didn't mind it being broken since we have a new Bajio's in our community so we ended up having a yummy dinner with no dishes and messes!

None the less, Damon needed the oven fixed. We lucked out by calling a repair shop that was SUPER busy and the guy just told Damon how easy it was to fix and where to get the part! I'm so glad we didn't have to waste money on a new oven or a repair guy; just $44 for the part instead of $270 for parts and labor from the shop!

**Please don't notice all the mess on the outside of my oven! It really didn't look that dirty when I took the picture but after seeing all the dust and little finger prints it is clean now!