Sunday suprise!

Well, at almost six weeks old now, we decided it was time for Lacey to start attending church! So, dressed in our Sunday best, we went to all our meetings as a new little family for the first time. Lacey wasn't real interested in the speakers, so she took a nap. She just couldn't help how the organ lulled her to sleep.
On another note, Lacey has also begun to smile for social reasons. This is a good thing! Prior to this change, all other smiles were gas related.

I love you, Dairy

Thanks for all the advice, everybody. We ended up getting the gripe water from Walgreen's, although my friend Melanie tells me they have it way cheaper at Nature's Finest.

The doctor said Lacey doesn't have reflux because she doesn't have the symptoms at all before the late afternoons. She doesn't have colic every day which is a good thing. When she has it, she seems like she's in pain from all the gas. So it has been suggested to me that I need to give up dairy foods or eat way less of it. I know it's probably good advice, but I'm so dang selfish and since she doesn't seem to have it everyday and we don't know if it's caused by dairy, I'm having trouble abstaining.

Let's discuss my love affair with dariy foods:

1. Milk with my cereal is an obsession. I feel sad and lost when I think about eating something else. Oatmeal could work except that I love to drench it in milk.

2. CHEESE . Why do I love cheese so much? Almost anything can be made better wiith cheese. Ahhh, cheese crisps, grilled cheese sandwiches, pizza. Most people have hobbies. These are my hobbies. They have doctors for this, I know. Feel sad? Have a cheeze-it!

3. Ice cream! Oh man, what I wouldn't give for a Blizzard right now. I have been passionate about Dairy Queen since they started all their new commericals a couple of months ago.

4. Yogurt. I could eat this twice a day. Yo-plait is the best. Isn't Go-gurt a delightful invention? I've never bought it but I've had it many a time.

Ok, can't think of anymore. But you guys get the picture. I'm thinking I'll just experiement with eating less of it but no go off completely.

Do I need to give up chocolate??? What's your experience with dairy?

We all live in a yellow submarine.

Question for the day. Is a school bus yellow or orange?

Many people have recently been asking a little bit about me and what it is I do. So, in response, I thought I’d post it FYI. About three and a half years ago, I made the goal to start my own architectural and interior design business. This field of work is one of the great loves in my life. It is also a goal of mine to work for myself and be enabled to run my business out of our home. Well, after completing all the legal formation documents, obtaining licenses and establishing a website to showcase my services and portfolio, I opened my business LLC. It was a lot of work, but it has been a big check off on my list of goals.

The wheels on the bus go round and round!

Meanwhile, while I’ve been building the business, establishing a clientele and waiting out rough spots in the economy, I have also been employed at Mesa Public Schools. This too has been a wonderful job! Specifically, I transport Special Ed students to and from their important programs and their schools. I love it! Honestly, I sometimes smile when I think about how I get paid to do something I thoroughly enjoy. It is such a rewarding job as well. There are few places on earth where you can feel very close to heaven. One of these places is in a Special Ed bus full of perfect spirits trapped in imperfect bodies. And the service opportunities overflow continuously. Don’t get me wrong though, sometimes the bus atmosphere can also be a living you know where. But, for the most part, I love doing what I do. I also drive preschoolers and kindergartners during the lunch hour. Just yesterday, one of my five year old boys on my bus asked me “did your mom buy this for you?” He was referring to the bus. I chuckled about that the rest of the day. I had to explain that the school bought the bus so that he could have a way to go there. Another cute moment happened at Christmas time. I was attempting to correct some behavior problems, and so I expressed that they all needed to be good because Santa Clause was watching them. Just after saying this, a little girl spoke up and said, “And Heavenly Father.” I smiled about that for days! But, she’s right!

Some people's kids are really dog ugly! J/K

If you don’t mind, I’d like to add that bus drivers, among numerous other overlooked professions, are very hard working, patient and loving people. People often under estimate what it is they have to accomplish every day. Have you ever been in a car with a screaming kid, been late, and been stuck in traffic? If you have, I want you to multiply this by however many students are on board your bus. Sometimes 70! Now, your goal at this point would be to stay polite despite every reason to fly off the handle, drive safe despite all the hazards, and be on time despite everything that holds you up. On top of that, you would have to discipline, intervene, and be encouraging. You would also have to build a relationship of trust with your students and their parents and teachers. Having witnessed the kinds of bad drivers I see on the road every day, I want you to know that it is a miracle that students rarely get hurt or in an accident during their transport. Bus drivers are good drivers. This also has a lot to do with the fact that the buses are very safe and are inspected by the drivers themselves prior to each trip. And believe me, this inspection is required and is very thorough and extensive. One last thing, though some drivers look a little shaggy and shady, many drivers are very educated people who have retired from various professions. Don’t misjudge the job. I was surprised to learn that many drivers were once lawyers, police officers, doctors and school teachers. So, next time your child gets on or off a school bus, please take a moment to thank their bus driver. They likely love and care for your kids too!

Ups and Downs of Motherhood

Wow, it's been awhile since I've been on here. Cameron has done such a fabulous job of keeping it up for me. I'm so grateful to all you guys for commenting too. It's so sweet of you guys when I am such a blog-reading slacker and never make comments. I'm behind in blog reading but I will catch up!

Well, I could never think of what I was going to say on here. I like to find some sort of comedic material.

I finally got the inspiration to write when I was watching "Fools Rush In" a couple of mornings ago at about 3 am. That's the one with Matthew Perry and Selma Hayek. She was playing a mom giving birth on the side of the road on top of Hoover Dam. When she had the baby and they put the baby on her chest, all the memories came flooding back. I even cried. So here's to the ups and downs of new motherhood!

Ups:

-The pushing ends! That miserable feeling of losing all your strength completely every 3 minutes is over. (plus, my epidural had worn off somewhat and I could feel some of the pain and it wasn't pleasent. I know, you natural birth people are saying : You wimp!!)

-They put this purple, wet baby on your chest. The first thought was just relief that she was out. Huge relief! I felt bad that I wasn't bawling my eyes out with joy yet. Is that abnormal? But it's such a miracle and when I look at her now it blows my mind that she lived in my tummy.

-The gassy smile of a baby. Yes, it may have nothing to do with you. But you can pretend it does and it's awfully cute.

-When you're changing their diaper and you happen to catch that explosive poop coming out so it doesn't get all over you. That's victory, man.

-A cuddly head resting on your shoulder

-Watching your husband be so incredibly sweet with the baby, love her, and be the best daddy for her

-Mom's, sisters, grandmas, etc to help you hold her. and a Grandpa (my dad) who does research and calls us to help us figure out how to help her

-when you get four hours of sleep in a row!

Downs of motherhood:

-Colic!!!!!!!!!!!! Anybody experience this? What did you use? We got some drops from Walmart and we might go get some Gripe water but we're not sure where to go.

-Explosive poop that lands on you and soaks your pajamas and the baby's

-Back pain

-Soreness

Baby crying in the car and you can't reach her

-No sleep. And when Lacey won't sleep in her bed and I end up holding her for several hours in the middle of the night
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Anyway, but it's all worth it! I just have no idea how my mom did it eight times!

Lacey's model shoot

Not too long ago, my sister-in-law Robin came over and took pictures of Lacey as a special gift to us and the baby. Robin is a professional photographer who has her own business called Portraits by Robin Lee. She does weddings, receptions, babies etc. The pictures turned out so cute and we couldn't help but share some of them with everyone. Robins blog is listed on our blog with all of the other links.

Spring Break Fun

Wow, what a fun filled week. Never a dull moment and never time to relax. We all just played hard till we dropped. Additionally, there were a few important mile markers hit during the break as well. For starters, on Tuesday, Lacey experienced her first St. Patrick's Day. (Posted Below) Wednesday afternoon, Lacey turned a month old. A day later, Cassie and I hit our four year Anniversary. Time keeps chugging along.

Cassie's older sister Tracie and her family arrived in town for spring break. They are the best! Our family of three couldn't resist getting in on the fun. We literally spent every waking hour at the Nichols home. Whether it was quad riding to the Salt River a dozen times, stopping at the Orange Patch for a secret snack, or just speeding through the yard, we definitely put in a lot of riding time. During the down time, the quad or trail 90 was attached to a wagon for some slower child friendly rides. Believe it or not, by the middle of the week, we had a train of wagons hooked to the quad. By adding an extra wagon, I could squeeze more kid rides in simultaneously. Genius!

We also took a trip to Scottsdale's McCormick Railroad park with all the kids. For a train enthusiast like me, this place is a dream come true. It brings back a lot of memories too. As a child, my Grandpa Grampp used to take me there. I miss him. It's neat that the park is still there today so that Lacey had a chance to ride the same trains too.

That's right, Lacey got her first train ride and carouse ride while we were there. A lot of stimulus for an infant, but don't worry, very safe. She did not ride a quad!!!!

Later in the week, we all took a trip to Sycamore Creek for some more quad riding. It was a lot of fun zooming over the hills and along the trails. The tunnels under the highway were especially thrilling. The best part of the adventures was the trips to where all the creeks converge. We sure got wet riding through this river. I of course, got stuck once. Time to lose some weight.

Last but not least, we produced a short movie. Yes, that's right. A movie! Hannah & Porter, (Georgina Jones & Robert Naismith) hosted a today show titled, "The Tomorrow show." "Tomorrow" because their show is so up to date that they are one step ahead. Lindsay (Petunia Rose) was our field reporter and Spencer (Touchdown Tom) headed up the sports desk. Cassie guest appeared on the show and I played a late 1970's dad with a mullet in a Cool-aid commercial as well as the recently crowned Ms. Scotland in an interview. It was a lot of work but such a blast. Sorry no pictures yet! Not coming to a theater near you!

Now that everyone's gone back home, it's time for the real world. Ahhhhhhh!

St. Patricks Day!

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day in Fountain Hills has become somewhat of an annual tradition in our family. This setting became a big part of our lives because it was where Cassie and I got engaged in 2005. Additionally, we were married in the month of March, just two days after St. Patty's Day. And... you guessed it, our colors were green!

This year was Lacey's first St. Patrick's Day! She really went all out. She even wore green.
Three Irish girls! Momma Cass, Lacey, and Hannah. If you'll look carefully, you can see Sandy (Cassie's mother) in the background. If you're a real stickler and very observant like me, you might say to yourself, "hey, she's not wearing green." But in her defense, orange is actually one of the colors on Ireland's flag. So, we'll let it slide this year without any pinches. You are also free to sport the colors white and gold, or wear large buckles and belted top hats. We'll, if you want to?

Not a lot of people know this, but every year, the City of Fountain Hills dyes their famous fountain green for the day. It's really something to go see. Unfortunately, they stopped dyeing it at 4:00pm, and we arrived at 5:00pm. Oh well, there's always next year.

Lacey's First Bath

Hey, no cameras!

Mom, can I please have another bath?