LoVe<3

For those of you who haven’t heard it through the grape-vine yet… I met an amazing, amazing man and we are getting married!!! His name is Jeffery Dallas Chapman. Jeff and I have been dating for about 3 ½ months and he proposed to me on March 10th. We met at MyComfort when I was working there. He came in with his brother, niece and nephew and I knew I had to date him:). There was a kindness in his eyes and his smile that drew me to him and I just couldn't resist... His parents came in to the store later that day and I told them they should have their son come back and get my phone number. A couple hours later he showed up and the rest is history:).
Jeff has become my best friend the last few months and has been wonderful to have in my life. He kept the proposal a pretty good secret with the help of Callie:) ha… he proposed in front of the temple… we are so excited!!! Jeff has a 13 year old daughter, Chantell, who is adorable and is very excited as well. Jeff is amazing with Noah and Noah absolutely adores him. I am so excited for this adventure and to have a happy family with such an amazing, caring, giving, kind-hearted, gentle, and fun-loving man!!!
Jeff is from Provo and has grown up in Utah his whole life. He was married for about 6 years and has been divorced now for about 8. He is 34. We are perfect for each other and have been so happy the last few months to have each other. It is a beautiful thing to have someone in my life that I absolutely adore to the core and love everything about. I can’t wait for you all to meet him.

Anyway, we will be getting married April 25th and will just have a very small ceremony. We will be leaving on May 2nd for a 7 day Mexican cruise!!!

Yay for love:)

Love you all

mY 2 yEaR oLd NoAh BeAr!!!

Here are a few cute things that my sweet Noah says and does right now.

"I ont nuggle!!!"

-I want to snuggle-

"I ont cer rear rear reareal"

-I want cereal"

"I lul lu"

-I love you-

"I ont cullin"

-I want to color-

"peeeeeese"

-please-

"I ont girkle"

-I want you to draw a circle-

Everytime Noah hears a truck or loud car, he says,

"I ont chappy!" or "Is it Chappy?!?"

-Jeff's last name is Chapman and Noah calls him Chappy-

Noah has figured out how to open his bedroom door and it is quite the circus some nights trying to get him to stay in bed:). Last night he snuck all the way out into the living room and was right behind me before I realized he got out.. he's very sneaky about it:).

Noah loves "gogoot" (yogurt) and asks for it all the time.

He also loves "cancakes" (pancakes).

Everytime I put Noah's clothes on for the day he looks down at himself and says "cuuuuute!!!"

Naoh is always wanting me to put bobby pins in his hair and when I do he says "pitty!!!" (pretty)

When I put Noah to bed at night he always folds his arms and reminds me "payer" (prayer) and then after we pray his says "a bye" (wanting me to sing a lullabye".

Just recently he has started to sing along with me and also sing along to the hymns in church.

I love my little bear so much... he brings more happiness to me than I could've ever ever imagined! I am so blessed to be able to be his mom!!!

I love you little bear!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEAR!!!

I think this picture says it all... Noah had a great birthday filled with 2 days of fun!!!

On Saturday, Noah, Jeff, & I went went to the Discovery Children's Museum at the Gateway Mall in SLC. Noah was running around like crazy from station to station and absolutely loved it. He was so in "kid zone" that I don't think he even knew we were there with him:).

After the museum we went out to lunch and Noah had one of his favorites... PIZZA!!! He is always asking for pizza. You can see from the picture below that he was really enjoying it:).

By the time we got to the car after pizza, Noah was out like a light. That night, he went to Nana and Bapa's house and had a movie night with all of his cousins and his soon-to-be sister Taya! He had a blast!!!

On Sunday evening, Dan threw a birthday dinner at his parent's house. Lots and Lots of people who love Noah were there. Dan apparently had been working with Noah to teach him how to blow out candles... Noah blew out both of his candles ALL BY HIMSELF!!! It was the cutest thing ever:).

It's crazy that our little boy is 2. Thanks to everyone who has been there to support us this past year in all that we've gone through. I'm happy to say that I think life is really really good for Noah right now. He has SO many people who love him and Dan and I have been able to create a great environment for him despite our divorce.

Dan is getting married in a couple of weeks and Noah will have a new sister (Taya- age 4) and an amazing new Step-Mom (Carrie). Carrie and I went out to lunch the other day and are both in agreeance that all we need is love:). We walked out of Carl's Junior with Noah in the middle holding my hand on one side and Carrie's on the other... it was a beautiful thing:).

Life is good!

Happy Birthday Bear!

mY nEw VeNtUrE!!!

I'm going to be a nurse!!!

For quite some time now, I have wanted to go back to school to be a nurse. Somehow (on a crazy whim) I ended up at Provo College last week and came out as a registered Pre-Nursing student:)!

I started school on Tuesday. By the beginning of February I will be a CNA and sometime next year I will be a LPN. If all goes as planned I will be a Nurse by August 2011!!!

I am taking 2 classes this semester, Anatomy & Chemistry. Though it's been nerve-racking and stressful to go back to school after being out for 5 years, so far, so good. I got a 20/20 on my first Chemistry quiz today!!!

Everyone was out in the hall after complaining about missing 4-6 of the answers and it gave me a much needed confidence boost... turns out studying helps! ha I wish i would have learned that when I got my Bachelors degree:)...I probably would've come out a lot smarter!

Anyway, it's going to be a crazy 2.5 years as I juggle being a MOM, a student, and a having a job (as a CNA I'm hoping starting in February). It will be SO worth it to have a secure career and something to fall back on when I need it over the years. I know I can do it with the support of friends and family.... thanks in advance for your help:). Wish me luck!

NoAh DeCiDeS hE's A bIg BoY!!!

A couple of weeks ago, while Noah and I were visiting my Dad & Jodi in St. George, Noah learned the art of hoisting his leg up over the side of the crib! Needless to say, he hasn't stopped since.

My dad helped me transform his little Ikea crib into a "big boy bed" and Noah LOVES it. After putting it together, I brought him in and he was so excited to see his "new" bed. His eyes got big and he ran around super excited about it. When anyone came over, he ran them in to show them his bed.

At bedtime, he was excited to get in and promptly said "bye, bye, see ya!" and waved me out of the room. However, a few seconds after I left he began throwing a tantrum and continued for about 20 minutes. He threw his binky under the door and then started screaming "I WANT BINKY!!!" He then stuck his leg under the door and tried his hardest to get out.

After about 20 minutes I snuggled him and put him back in bed and he slept the whole night through without falling off... he LOVES his bed!!! At naptime yesterday he walked around for a minute and I peeked under the door and he had crawled back into his crib and had his blanky over him.

I LOVE MY LITTLE MAN!!!!

SaMuRaI 21

We went to a restaurant called Samurai 21 today for lunch. I thought that Noah would LOVE seeing the people cook in front of him... boy was i WRONG!!! At the beginning of the meal, the cook set the grill on fire for a few seconds and Noah freaked out!!! See below:

The yellow arrow is Noah's reaction...poor guy was shaking in his boots for like 10 minutes... literally!

The other arrow is Uncle Corey showing me how Noah was trying to duck and cover when he saw the flame.

This is several minutes later. I held Noah for the rest of the meal as he clung to me and was very cautious about what was going on around him. He kept saying "all done, all done!!!"

At the end of the meal, the cook left and Noah was very relieved. However, when the guy walked by a few minutes later, Noah burst into another HUGE anxiety-filled tantrum... poor kid is going to be terrified of Asians and/or Fire for the rest of his life:).

*JuMpIn' JaCkS*

Toby, Jake, Chandler, Thomas, Anna, the baby in Tobe's belly, Corey, Bridgette, Noah, & I surprised my Dad this weekend and came down to St. George to visit. So far we've had a lot of fun. Tonight we went to a place called Jumpin' Jacks where they had some bouncy castles to play in. The kids all loved it and we had a lot of fun:).

Noah is really becoming a fan of Anna... he's so sweet with her and just loves her a ton. Today she woke up from her nap and was crying down the hall behind a closed door. Noah stood down the hall calling her name in a very worried voice for a few minutes and then headed down the hall to find her. When he found the room she was in he knocked on the door and then looked down the hall at me and said "stuck! stuck!" What a cute boy:).

Noah is becoming a very independent little man. He loves to eat on his own... which is very hard for his OCD mom:). I hate food messes and stickiness and dirty clothes... I am learning to love all those things though as I watch my little man enjoying his food! I can't get enough of him!!!

Below is a picture of Chantell (Jeff's daughter) and Noah wrestling Jeff... Jeff is losing:).

This year, i was really itching to go out and do something for New Years. I think this is the first time that I haven't just gone to someone's house for food and games (except for 2001 which was spent in London and tons of fun!).

We went to First Night in the big SLC. Jeff & I and his brother and sister-in-law went together and had a lot of fun. They had live bands, dancing, hot chocolate, and just lots of fun. It was freezing but worth it:). Here are a few pictures...