Shouldn't you be sleeping!?

I don't know if I've mentioned lately just how much I love having boys! Don't get me wrong I am defiantly praying for a girl to come along one day but for now these little guys bring me all the joy in the world!

Sometimes it seems more like there are three little brothers running around here rather than two brothers and a cousin. AJ, Miles, and Beckem spend the majority of their waking hours together and couldn't be happier about it. AJ loves getting Miles up from his nap and if AJ's going somewhere Beckem is usually pretty close to follow. Here they are playing in the crib together after Miles got up from his nap.

Miles has learned to pull himself up at the side of the crib, thanks to a little help from big brother!Ummm....I think you have a little drool in you hair!Miles and Becks Chilaxin'
AJ teaching the young ins things the Mom's don't want then to know, notice the focus.

Beautiful weather and my little man who's still under it.

I know that it seems early for spring to all my friends and family back home in Canada but for everyone here in Portland, spring time is now! Over the past two weeks we have been seeing more and more of the sun which means it's time to get outside and play! AJ gets up every morning to check if there is sunshine so we can go to the Zoo, park, on a walk, or just out back to blow bubbles. He loves being outside and I can't wait until Miles is walking around exploring with him.

The pool doesn't open until June but we have plenty to keep us busy until then. Here are a few pictures from our time at the Church and some bubble blowing fun with Becks on our back green strip.

Hockey, Hockey, Hockey! This is one of AJ's favorite past times, especially when he's outside and can really hit it hard. Him and Landon had a great time running through puddles and wailing on the ball.Here's and action shot of me and Age, what can I say, I taught him everything he knows!!!!
This is Lashae, is is basically one of the cutes little girls I have ever seen in my whole life. Every time I see her I just want to snuggle her up. She is 15 months old and tiny, which only adds to her cuteness. She's got a great mom, Brandy, and I just loved this picture of them having some girl time.Miles is 8 months old and still using a 0-3 month soother. It is so tiny I'm not even sure how he manages to keep it in there but he doesn't like the big ones. I will probably get rid of his soothers all together pretty soon so it doesn't really matter but I just think it's so funny!!! Anyways here's one without the ugly soother.

Of course it hasn't all been sunshine and bubbles. As most of you know at 5 months Miles developed RSV, we were stuck in the house for 3 weeks while he was contagious and giving him puffers every 4-6 hours as needed. When we went home for Christmas both my boys got pretty sick with the stomic flu, which only lasted a few days thank goodness! By the end of Christmas I thought we were done with all this sickness but alas I was wrong! Miles, AJ, and Beckem have all had colds complete with the snotty, runny nose since mid January. Miles decided to take it a step further ad developed Brociolites. hoe-hum! We ended up seeing the doctor 3 times in one week and using a nebulizer for two weeks. All thought it's pretty uncomfortable and annoying Miles took it like a champ and finally cleared out his lungs.


After two days of health Miles got a fever of 100-103 and kept it that way for three days. I thought he was teething, since he cute two new teeth (that make 5 now) but I must have been wrong since AJ got the same high temperatures yesterday. Miles is feeling good now but AJ is still warm and grumpy. Oh well what can ya do? I just hope that one day we can all be healthy again!

V-Day.

I have never been really into the little holidays but that all changed when I became a Mom. I want to make holidays special for my boys, something that they will happily remember from their childhood. Sometimes I think Valentines day becomes to much about flowers and chocolates instead of focusing on what is really important, Love. I love that their is a day set aside to show and tell those around you how much you love them. It's not about the biggest gift or the most expensive display of love. It's about making time for each other and saying the things that, sometimes in our busy lives, don't always get said.

AJ made his first valentines cards this year to give out to his friends. They we Toy story (of course) and each came with a new Toy Story pencil. Dangerous but fun.


This year we has some friends over to make these really fun sucker cookies. They work better if you make sure to chill the dough and use food coloring gel rather than the liquid but it was still fun to do!!


We also had a valentines breakfast with the Tolmans before Church on Sunday. We had heart shaped pancakes and pink whip cream, which AJ loved. Grandma and Grandpa Peterson had sent them a little Valentines/Olympic gift which they opened at breakfast. I don't think we will be getting them "presents" for Valentines every year but it just happened to work out that way this year. I think they are pretty darn cute!



After Church we got together with the Tolman's, Bralliers, and the Lujan's for Funeral Potato's, ham, Holly's rolls, corn, Angel food cake, and CHOCOLATE DIPPED STRAWBERRIES!!!! It was so delicious and fun. We may not have family around to have Sunday dinners with but our friends more than make up for it, love you guys!

Point Counter

That's right people, I am officially a point counter! Two and a half weeks ago 4 friends and I decided that it was time to get into shape and lose the extra weight we have been packing around. Two girls are doing the south beach diet and the other three of us are going the weight watchers rout. My friend Kami has done it before and had great success so I thought why not give it a shot!?

I have very little interest in nutrition. I have never been aware of how many calories a person be eat in a day, what the fat content of food really meant, or what makes some food so much worse for you than others. Weight watchers is changing all of that. Everyday I learn more about what I am putting into my body and how to make the right choices and I love it! It feels great to get my body back in order, I am never hungry and seem to have more energy than I use to. I would say that I do about 75% of my grocery shopping in the produce section, which means I am now even more excited for the spring and summer.

We weight in every Monday morning which helps me not to blow my points over the weekend. The rule is if you stay the same or loss it's time to celebrate but if you GAIN anything you have to pay $10.00. As students we have NO money, especially to just be giving away to friends, so on hard days when I want to whip up a batch of cookies and eat half the dough I just think..."Can I really afford to do that?" the answer is always no. It's just another way to keep ourselves motivated. So far not money has been exchanged. In the first two weeks I lost 5 pounds 6 ounces and plan to just keep going down, I will keep you posted on my progress and with any luck you will notice a difference next time you see me!

Feb.9th 2010

Over the last few days Miles has really started moving. He may not be up on all fours but he sure can get around with his new schooching technique. I knew this day would come but I hoped he might not be mobile until he was at least one! lol.Here is a little clip of AJ this morning. He really wanted to be on tape but didn't want to get dressed, so I am rating this PG-13 for partial nudity.

Your my best friend Copper.....

4 years. Sometimes it feels like the blink of an eye and sometimes it feels like things have been this way since the dawn of time. In my life I have wanted for little. I have been blessed with health, family, good friends, the Gospel, talents, knowledge, etc. And even now, 5 years after meeting Aaron, when I count my blessings he's still at the top of the list.

Aaron and I met through some friends, all though we disagree on the exact date and circumstances under which we met, we do agree that it was sometime in October of 2004. Poy says he liked me right off the bat but if any of you know Poy then you'll know he played it cool. I remember him sitting on the couch playing Black Mountain Side on his guitar with shaggy blond hair, dark tanned skin, and a scruffy beard. That's right ladies, Stud muffin! He was too cool, too quiet; I was so nervous around him in fact I thought he found me annoying, lol.

After a month and a half I got tired of waiting and finally asked him out. We got pizzas and went for a walk and found we had a lot to talk about, or at least I did. In Aaron I found a good listener, and from that night on we were inseparable. No one thought it would last, they were surprised we were even together. Loud, crazy me with quiet, down-to-earth Aaron, but for us it was perfect.




We spent every waking minute together, eating out, seeing movies, playing video games, walking, off-roading in the Jimmy, tubing down the river, road trips to Edmonton, family dinners, afternoons at Saint Mary's, stake dances (if I could drag him there), oh yeah and attending weddings - lots of weddings! I made sure to point out the fact to Aaron that as we continued to date many of our friends started dating, got engaged, AND got married while our status stayed the same: Dating. This of course did not bother or encourage poy in any way, he can not be hurried. He took his time, made sure it was right, and on December 7th 2005 Charles Aaron Poytress asked ME to be his wife. It was one of the best days of my life, of course I said yes and 9 weeks later we were married for time and all eternity in the Cardston Alberta Temple. Perfect.



It feels like so much has changed since then and yet in some ways it still feels the same. I still feel so blessed to have Aaron in my life, I still get butterflies when he comes out all dressed up for church and smelling so good, and I still can't help but smile when he snuggles me up before bed each night. I love you Poy and as if having each other isn't enough look at what we've been blessed with already:

Miles Daniel Poytress

Miles is just one week away from 8 months old, weighs 19.6 lbs, and is 25 inches in height. He is currently wearing 12 month clothing and his feet are size 2-3 depending on where the shoes are from. I think that kids should be required to walk before they hit 18 lbs, seriously my arms are about ready to brake off!

For the first 3 months of Miles life we really struggled with thrush and colic (which turned out to be silent acid reflux) but once we switch to formula and started on the ant-acid medication he was a whole new man! He might not be running around and talking yet but he has already developed his own little personality.



Miles always seems to have a smile on his face, and oh what a smile it is!!! I just love looking over to see that big chubby checked, three toothed smile flashing at me. One of the best things about Miles smiles is how freely he gives them away. Miles will smile for almost anyone, anywhere which is totally the opposite of how AJ was a a baby.



Miles is usually very content and willing to go to other people without making a fuss. He love to people watch, especially when there are other kids over at our house. He could happily sit in the corner and watch them play all morning long. He is also happy to be in his chair or stroller for as long as we need. Rarely fussing in the car or when we end up at the mall or store for longer than planned. I know that some kids are like that with their Bumbo chairs but Miles has never really been a fan. He loves to be on his tummy and has learned that if he ever wants to switch positions arching your back is usually a good way to achieve this goal. Since 3 months he has been "arching" his way right out of the Bumbo, oh well!



I remember when I was pregnant with AJ I heard that TV was SO BAD for kids, especially babies and Children under two. This was the information that inspired my decision to not allow my children to watch ANY TV until they were at least 2 years old. HA HA HA. Aren't first time Mom's the cutest! I am totally supportive of those of you who have gone the no TV rout but it just wasn't happening for me. Miles love watching "your baby can read" DVDs, he would watch them all day long if we let him. In the last week he has stared waving, clapping, and making the C-C-C sound for Cow.

Speaking of sounds Miles has a sound that is all his own. I have never heard another baby do it before and I can in no way replicate it. I have been looking at our videos but I don't seem to have it filmed yet so I will have to add it on here later. Sorry!

Miles started sitting up around 5 1/2 months and is now getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. He doesn't really crawl but more just throws himself forward and then gets up on his knees and dose it again. If that seems to be taking to much time he will just roll over to what he wants instead. He loves to stand but has not yet mastered the art of pulling himself up on thing. He will roll over to the couch and the reach up in the superman position and try to get up, I guess he doesn't understand the feet on the floor thing yet!

I think the happiest day in Miles life so far was the day I introduced him to real food. He loves eating all the Jars of baby food and well as any of the real stuff he can get his hands on, literally. If there is food in front of him Miles will stretch, kick, reach, and pull his way to it. We were out for dinner at the Cheesecake factory and I had him on my left knee to keep him from getting to my food. After a few minutes I noticed he wasn't struggling to get at my food anymore. I looked down to find that he had grabbed a piece of AJ's pizza, folded it in half and was sucking the middle of it, cheese side up! I pride it from his fingers and scoched him to the other knee where he immediately grabbed a hand full of fries and jammed them in his mouth! We were laughing so hard, I finally had to just feed him some and wait till his Dad was done before I got to eat.



I also wanted to add this video of miles at 7 months, Enjoy!

Charles Alexander James Poytress

I'm sorry but where does the time go? SERIOUSLY! It has been so long since my last blog and I have so much to catch up on, first and for most being my boys. This post is dedicated to my little Smage, just a post I can look back on to remember how he is right now.

Right now AJ is 34 months old (2 months from his third birthday!), he weights 30 lbs, and stands just over three feet tall. The other day he got a new pair of shoes and I almost started to cry, right there in the store, when I realized he is now a size 8. He just moved up to the 3T's and finally learned to completely buckle himself into the car seat.

Age has more energy than I can ever remember possessing. He lives to run, jump, climb, and roll over every square inch of our apartment. Sometimes he will run in circles around our sofa for 20 minutes strait. He pull all the pillows off the back of the couches and pile them up so he can jump, jump, jump!! He also loves forts. Although Dad is the expert Mom can throw together a decent fort if Dad is off to school or scouts. We might not have anything fancy, like tents or tree forts, but we have plenty of blankets and furniture to create the perfect hide aways.


Art is another past time this little man just can't seem to get enough of. The other day AJ spent over 4 hours doing art at the table (and a little bit on the couch too! opps.) I think his favorite thing to do right now is painting. He has known all his colors for a long time but now he is learning what you can make when you mix two colors together. He knows red and yellow make Orange but we are still working on blue and red. His work is all displayed on his art wall, it just kills me to throw it away but seriously you can't keep everything forever.



It has been a while since me and AJ worked on his numbers and letters but I still think he his doing okay. He can count to 16, recognize all the letters of the alphabet and make their sound, as well as read/recognize the words: Mom, Dad, Miles, AJ, Dog, Cow, Elephant, and clap. I hope that we can do more work on his reading but we have been so busy this year already!


AJ's favorite movies are: All the Toy Stories, Bolt, Cars, Tab letter factory, UP, and Sandlot (which is now *LOST*). I have seen all these movies MORE times than I ever imagined possible but he loves them and so....I love them. If we aren't watching them we are quoting them, talking about them, make believing that we are characters from them, or coloring pictures of them. THANK-YOU DISNEY & PIXAR, where would the mothers of the world be without you. You never know what movie it will be next but whatever it is I just hope the DVD is ready for lots and lots of time in the player!

When it comes to looks this boy is a mini me of his Daddy but I have to say the personality is defiantly Mom inspired. If you guys think I talk a lot you need to spend a day with Age, the chatter is non-stop! I don't ever try to listen to the radio anymore because I just end up turning it down ever few seconds to try and hear what he's saying. When AJ is done with his food he always says,
"Mom I like to save it for af-er tomorrow." which translates to throw this away please. He also never gives the one work answers like yes or No, it's always,
"Yep I did get to go to the park"
"No you're not a boy Mom."
If he doesn't want to talk on the phone he says, "I'm a little bit busy right now."
Bathroom time always gets a "I need privacy Beckem!"

Recently AJ's has became obsessed with dinosaurs and Dragons. He got some wonderful toys from his Grandmas for Christmas and has been busy ever since. His favorite book is the Dinosaurs ABC, it is so crazy how he can learn and memorize all their names. His favorites are the Diplodocus, leptrosaratops, and the Velosalraptor.

The last thing I wanted to get down is how AJ does at Church. AJ loves going to Church and taking the sacrament. He say's "just one peice Mom! It's a symbol not a snack." lol, so funny. He gose to nursary really well and is on of the best participents during song time. He knows I am a child od God, Love is spoken here, a childs prayer, and all the fun ones as well. AJ also loves to pray. He want to be the one to pray at every meal and every family prayer. He has even said the prayer when we were at our friends house for dinner.
Big Sigh, "Heavenly Father Thanks for the food, (even if we aren't eating) thanks for (everyone one present, usually more than once each.) Please bless President Monson and the missionaries. Thanks for Jesus and his Manger. (Then extra slowly) In the Name of Jesus Christ.......Amen.


All in all AJ is a pretty good little boy. We have our off moments or ruff days but I love him so much and more than anything he brings me Joy. I am so proud of all he has accomplished so far I can not even imagin how a parent must feel when their Children accomplish the big things like Graduating, go on a mission, get married, and having Children of their own. Parenhood is such a blessing!