Life is Funny...

I just need to start by saying that I am blessed. So very, very blessed. As we approach the Thanksgiving Holiday, I'm particularly inclined to reflect upon all that I have to be thankful for.... which includes countless blessings. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, my amazing husband and children, our health, all of our family and friends, this incredible country and all the freedoms we enjoy, food to eat, clothing to wear, a warm and safe home. The list goes on and on.

With that being said, I hope that I don't come across as though I'm complaining with what I'm about to say. 2011 has sucked. Okay, maybe that's a tad bit dramatic. But with the new year quickly approaching, I can definitely say that I will not be sad to say goodbye to this past year. There have been a lot of really great things that have happened, but it seems like there have been lots of extra challenges too, especially lately. BUT, I know that each challenge is a test of faith. And with that, I know that faith precedes the miracle. In my short life, I have already seen countless examples of some sort of challenge resulting in a tremendous outpouring of blessings from the Lord. I have also seen the trials of others, and am sincerely thankful that they are not my trials--I am happy to accept my own.

Several weeks ago, at 20 weeks pregnant, my doctor started giving me weekly progesterone shots. Since I had preterm labor problems with Max starting at 29 weeks, we are trying to take some precautions to prevent me from dilating early with this one (that's what the progesterone shots are for--hopefully they'll keep my cervix nice and thick, or something along those lines). Well, within just days of starting these shots, I started having contractions. Ah crap (I may not have actually said 'crap'... but you know, I want to keep this blog family friendly). After about a day and a half of this, the contractions became consistent, so I headed to the hospital to be evaluated. Signs were good--good vitals, good blood pressure, contractions had subsided, the baby's movement and heartbeat were great, and I was NOT dilating (a big relief, since that's one of the big things that matters at this point).

I was relieved, but scared. 20 weeks? That's only halfway through the pregnancy... an entire 9 weeks (yes, that's more than 2 months!) earlier than things started to get scary with Max. At this point, I am nearly 27 weeks pregnant. The last 7 weeks have actually gone by pretty quickly. Especially because I have been on sort of modified bed rest since my little incident. I've had more frustration over this than I would like to admit. I'm trying to be grateful that I'm not on strict bed rest (I think that 'bed rest' doesn't sound all that bad unless you've experienced it; sure, the first two days are nice to be able to relax a bit, but beyond that, it's surprisingly miserable--and nearly impossible to care for other children while trying to follow doctor's orders), and that this baby is doing great at this point. I'll just keep trying to listen to my body, grow a healthy baby, and PRAY A LOT!

When I first started showing signs of some problems with the pregnancy, Alex and I were trying to figure out what would be best for our family. One option that we discussed was trying to see if he could possibly work less hours at his job (a general manager at Cafe Zupas), and we'd make adjustments to compensate for a lower income. He'd previously been working close to 65 hours per week at the life-sucking job. In order to be more help with the kids and I, he talked to his boss about possibly working closer to 45 hours each week. The big guys at Zupas said that they would discuss it. Then, three days later they came to his store and fired him. Seriously... they didn't say no, or talk to him about an alternative arrangement. They simply told him that that day had been his last, and asked him for his keys. It was kind of a big freaking kick in the pants. Long story short, Zupas/the state (we're not sure who's more to blame for this) denied him unemployment income, because they say that he quit. Bull crap. He has an appeal date set with a judge next week, and even though we're not expecting a different outcome, we're certainly hoping. Either way, we don't want to just take this lying down.

I do believe that things happen for a reason. And many times, trials can actually be blessings in disguise. While we are pretty stressed about our finances right now, we've benefited tremendously from having Alex at home these past several weeks. He has been amazing taking care of the kids and I. For the first couple weeks, he was really busy making cheesecakes for his cousin's wedding reception. That's over now, so he has more time that he could be working... but because of my body, I think it's probably better that he hasn't found a new job yet. It certainly is humbling to ask for and accept help from different resources like we've had to do. But, I know that the Lord is aware of our situation, and is helping us provide a way to take care of our family.

Even though 2011 has been rough in some ways, I'm so tremendously grateful for the countless blessings I receive each day. This Christmas season will be different, but joyful nonetheless. Not having the money to do much in the commercial sense will probably force us to focus more on the true meaning of the season. Above all, I am thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ--the greatest gift of all.

"Hold Still, He Might Not See Us!"

Where we live, we have three bedrooms: mine and Alex's, Mya's, and Max's. Each child has had their own room up to this point, but with the impending arrival of a third child, Alex and I have decided to have Mya and Max share a room, and we'll give the baby his own room (at least for a little while). In preparation for this transition, we purchased a set of bunk beds for Mya and Max. Max is still enjoying his crib, but these last couple days we have started to have Mya sleep in his room, on the bottom bunk, to get her ready to move in there all the way. A couple nights ago was an interesting night when it came to this project...

For some reason, Max was having a particularly rough time settling down and going to sleep. Mya, on the other hand, was dead tired and very much ready to sleep. Because of Max's fussing though, she was unable to get there... Now what you need to know about Max is that if he fusses or cries when he's trying to go to sleep, it actually makes it considerably worse to go into his room--to try to hold him, rock him, etc. He does not fall asleep in our arms, and he will only cry harder when you leave. Anyway, he started crying, which made Mya cry because she was so tired. When one cried, the other stopped, and it went back and forth a couple times.

Finally, when we thought it was quiet and we went back to check on them, sweet Mya was laying in bed, whimpering, saying "it's okay Max, it's okay." Needless to say, this kind of broke mine and Alex's hearts!! So even though I knew it would potentially upset Max further, I went in to lay down with Mya.

While laying down next to her in her bed, Mya sat up at one point, which caused Max to stand up in his crib and look at her in hopes of getting to play. My response: "lay down. If we hold still, maybe he won't see us!" Yes, my friends, for a moment I thought that maybe my son was a T-Rex. Well, even though he isn't a T-Rex and has excellent eye sight for things both still and moving, he eventually got the clue that he was being ignored. Mya fell asleep quickly after that. And I laid next to her, with a very full bladder and a tiny baby inside me kicking that very full bladder, while Max continued to run laps in his crib, babble, knock on the wall next to him, and giggle. What a spaz.

Eventually, I couldn't hold the pee any more and I knew I had to leave the room, creating the risk of Max watching me leave, starting to cry, and waking up Mya. The bad news, he did in fact cry briefly (albeit LOUDLY) when I left the room. The great news, Mya is a VERY deep sleeper and slept through his wailing just fine.

This will continue to be interesting, I'm afraid.

A Heartbreak, But With Many Silver Linings

On September 26th, I got some upsetting news from my sister. That evening, our uncle Donnie (our dad's younger brother), passed away suddenly (most likely from an aneurism). He left behind a wife and a 25 year old daughter. While we can all agree that his death came far too soon, Donnie really was lucky in many ways... he died instantly, without any suffering; he was outside in the field doing what he loved, and was with two of his lifelong best friends when it happened. Donnie was always a concerned, loving, and wonderful uncle. I miss him now, and I know we will all continue to miss this incredible man.

Later that week, my sister Kara was able to fly up to Salt Lake with her 4 month old baby, Declan. She stayed with me for a couple days, which was WONDERFUL--I miss living close to my sweet sister, and it was so much fun meeting my adorable nephew for the first time! On 10/2, we loaded up the mini van, and headed north. First, we dropped off Mya at my mom's house (THANK YOU Mom for watching Mya while we made our trip!!!), then we picked up our 17 year old nephew Ben in Ogden, then headed to Powell, Wyoming for the funeral.

While the drive took quite a bit longer than it should have (I swear, mapquest should have options to mark whether or not you're traveling with young children, and/or a pregnant lady with a pea-sized bladder--then add 3 hours to the total time!), it really was a wonderful drive with no problems. Declan (4 months old) and Max (15 months old) were absolute champs, and it was great having Ben with us not only because of his help with the babies, but for his wonderful company!

Even though Kara and I may have gotten a bit lost... a few too many times... (hey, super small Wyoming towns are surprisingly confusing!!), we are more thankful than ever for cell phones and GPS. At least when you put the correct address into GPS -- ahem, KARA ; ). Anyway, here's a great picture of my dad, Mel, and his wife, Erl, getting to meet their two youngest grandkids for the first time. These two little boys sure brought a ray of sunshine to an unhappy occasion!

My uncle Donnie was a veteran, and had a beautiful and simple memorial service. With our cousin, Kenny Good, being a part of the Honor Guard and 21 Gun Salute, there was not a dry eye at the cemetery as he presented my aunt Teri with her flag. Below is a picture of me, Max, Kara, my nephew Josh and his wife CheyAnne, Ben, Erl, and Dad.

After the funeral we all went to John and Minnie Cozzens' home (my great aunt and uncle) for a luncheon. It was wonderful to get a chance to see family that I haven't seen for many years, and to reconnect with my roots. What an incredible family I have. Here's a picture of Max having a great ride on a tractor with his great-great aunt Minnie.

The day after the funeral, we took a day trip up to the Beartooth Mountains. The Beartooth Mountains have quite a significant meaning to my dad, uncle Donnie, and the previous two generations in their line of Cozzens. Donnie wanted to be cremated. My dad was able to get a little bit of his ashes to scatter at Donnie's favorite place in the Beartooth's.

On our way up, we stopped for lunch in Red Lodge, Montana. Alex and I coincidentally spent part of our honeymoon in Red Lodge 8 years ago, and even got pizza from this same restaurant. The food was even better than I remember! And if you can't tell from this picture of Max with his aunt Kara, we all had a good time!

After a somewhat frightening (and slightly nauseating) drive up the switchbacks of this beautiful mountain range, we stopped for a potty break and photo opportunity. (It was a little cold, so we left the babies in the car.)

After reaching our destination at an elevation of 12,000 ft, we stopped for a stretch and some yummy overpriced chocolate at the Top of the World. Max loved running around in the rain, and REALLY loved hanging out with Grandpa Mel!

Our time in Wyoming was priceless. There were too many wonderful get-togethers and time with family and friends to be able to blog about it all... In a word, it was incredible. As my dad would say, we're thankful that Donnie gave us the opportunity to all be together like that.

We saw many beautiful things on our trip to Wyoming. Honestly though, I'd have to say that this was the most beautiful sight of all: BOTH BABIES SLEEPING!!!

A few days after we returned to Salt Lake, Kara flew back to Arizona, and my dad and Erl drove down to Utah to stay with Alex and I for a week. The kids had SO much fun with Grandma and Grandpa (... and their ipad ; )! ).

We had a fun-filled week with Dad and Erl here. From late nights reading books and playing games, to feeding the ducks at Sugarhouse Park--we all had a blast!

Playtime with Grandpa!

On Alex's day off, we were lucky enough to go to the temple with Dad and Erl. And really, it was VERY lucky... we had several obstacles try to get in our way that morning. But thanks to some kind friends and family that helped us out (Alex's sister Kaiti in particular--THANK YOU for babysitting last minute!!), we were able to have an amazing experience at the Salt Lake temple.

On their last night in town, we all got to go up Millcreek Canyon for a weenie roast and some s'mores. Even though I hadn't prepared things terribly well, we were able to make it all work out beautifully. Here's my handsome husband for example, using his scouting skills to make a perfect fire!

I think this had to be the funnest night of all. It was a perfect fall evening, with gorgeous changing leaves, and a slight chill in the air. We had a fantastic time making our hot dogs, enjoying the beauty of the creek and the canyon, playing, and making s'mores!

We were all sad to see Grandpa Mel and Grandma Erl leave. But we will be forever grateful for the time we had together, and the lasting memories that were created!!!

The End of Summer Is Upon Us

We've been having a lot of fun lately! But, for a few weeks there, the heat was really getting on my nerves (and as an Arizonian at heart, it hurts me to admit that the heat in UTAH was bothering me...), and I wasn't taking my kids outside as often as I should have. I blame my third child--the little baby in my tummy that's making me hot and cranky. Anyway, here is some photographic proof that I took Mya outside in the evening (at least once!) to play. She's too beautiful, and too grown up ; )!

One weekend, we went to lunch with our brother-in-law, Richard, to his favorite Mexican restaurant. I think that this lunch made him grateful that he doesn't have kids yet... Not that we don't all adore Max and Mya--but to say that this lunch was uneventful or boring would simply be a lie! First, there was Max. Our sweet little angel who has been a little bit less angelic lately. Some days I'm pretty sure that he's hit the 'terrible twos' already. Can that happen at 15 months old?? Either way, he's adorable and hilarious, and really is a sweetheart most of the time!

And then, there's Mya. We started out the lunch by taking our seats and looking at our menus. And I quote: "Mommy, are you getting a steak? I'd like a steak please." Really? You're 4. What can I say, she has excellent taste! Then, after trying the salsa and discovering it was too hot for her liking, we saw her dipping her tortilla chips in her ice water and scooping out the crushed ice... Mmmm! But I'd have to say that the single thing that made me laugh the most at that lunch was Mya's reaction to a fly. As the fly got too close to her, she repeatedly smacked herself in the face trying to kill it!

That same weekend, we heard about a Brazilian Festival at the Gateway Mall. We had a fun time, even though the festival wasn't really what I thought it would be. I thought there'd be food, you know, Brazilian food. There wasn't food, but there was a live Brazilian band, and of course, the splash pad!

Max was curious of course, as he watched his sister running around having so much fun. He didn't have as much fun.

Daddy to the rescue! Good thing too--I was just watching him and trying to get some cute pictures even though he was crying. You can say it--I'm an awesome Mom.

I just love this picture of Max and Mya because I was making googly faces and silly noises to try to get some smiles.... It worked with Max, but apparently Mya's a little too old for that and she's starting to realize what an embarrassment I will be : ). (And she wanted to show off her newly painted fingernails too.)

A week or two ago, we got to have some friends from Arizona, Reese and Kristen and their two little boys, come to visit on their way to Montana. We had lots of fun with them, especially on a beautiful visit to Temple Square. Unfortunately Alex had to work during most of the time they were in town...but we still had fun!

And here she is--My little preschooler, ready and excited for her first day! This is her second year of preschool at Children's Discovery, and she's been dying to go back ever since it ended.

Look at that sweet smile ; )

I LOVE this picture of Max. He is such a stinking cute little monkey! The other thing that's funny to me about this picture is the story behind it: Alex was working late, and I was trying to get the kids down for bed. I got all of their bedtime stuff ready in Max's room, and pulled the door closed behind me while I got the kids into their bath. After the bath, we went to Max's room for jammies, and guess what? The defective doorknob was locked--from the inside. Crap. This doorknob has not worked well since we've lived here, but I've never locked myself out of the room. So I had two wet, naked, cranky children ready to go to bed, but unable to! I was thankful that there was a single diaper in a diaper bag in the front room... and thankful that they were okay with playing for a bit while I tried to get the door open. Long story short, I couldn't pick the lock no matter how hard I tried, the hinges were on the inside, I was unable to successfully break the doorknob off in order to reach through. So I did what any normal person would do, and I kicked the door in. It worked! Mya was so mad at me for breaking the house.... but she's pretty much over it now. I'm sure we'll all laugh about it soon!

And here, my friends, is a picture of the loves of my life, at one of my favorite annual events in good ol' SLC--the Greek Festival!

It's taken us 4 years of going to this event to learn that we shouldn't go during the dinner rush on Saturday night. We finally wised up and went at 4:00 in the afternoon this time, and it was perfect! (Meaning that we didn't have to wait in the food line for over 3 hours!) I learned that my unborn baby has a thing for delicious gyros--and trust me, the gyro I ate there was SO DELICIOUS!

Here's the baby and I, 14 weeks pregnant.

Mya had a blast on some of the bouncy things. And I was proud of her for not crying when she nearly flew off the end of this one!

Mmmm, shaved ice!

For any of you who have met Max, you know how excitable he is. I LOVE IT. He gets super excited about the simplest, funniest things... Here, I think he saw a balloon : ).

He's On the Move

Our sweet little Max learned to walk! Within about a day, he figured out how to push things around and climb up on bigger things--like our tables.

His balance is pretty good (although he did tumble off the table just after I snapped this picture--thankfully he rolled nicely and didn't actually hurt himself!)

We're in trouble.

I love this picture of these two playing together on Mya's bed. I'm so glad they love each other so much (most of the time at least)--just look at those smiles : )!

The kids were playing in the yard when I looked away for a moment and apparently Max can climb up the slide. He can make it all the way to the top, all by himself, goofy little monkey. He's talented, but mostly just sticky!

There's no stopping him now... he climbs on anything he can, and after only a couple weeks of walking, he has great balance and is practically running all over the place!

And last but not least, here's a short video clip of our little guy showing off his mad skills.

Update Round #2--Let 2011 Begin!

2010 ended great, and all of a sudden it was 2011! As I've mentioned before, I'm not a big fan of snow, but in January, we had a great time sledding with our family! Alex's parents, siblings, and nephews (and Alex and Mya and I) had an awesome time enjoying some of the best powder on earth...

That same month, we were lucky enough to go to a Jazz game, also with Alex's awesome family. Mya loved seeing the Jazz Bear dressed up as Santa Clause (and actually still talks about it!), and she did a great job shouting at the two teams along with the best of 'em.

Alex and I would LOVE to go to Disneyland, or better yet, a Disney cruise, one of these days... But we figured that it'll be more fun when our kids are a little older and will enjoy it more. So we're planning sometime in another 7 or 8 years--we better start saving!! In the meantime, Disney on Ice came to Salt Lake City! I'd say that's a pretty dang good alternative. We got a sitter for Max, and Alex and Mya and I had a GREAT time at the show. And what was nearly as good as the show (or better than the show, if you ask Mya) was taking TRAX to and from the show... the simple joys of a 3 year old : ). We also learned that the "2 hour parking" sign on 5th South is in fact not bluffing. Don't mess with the SLC Parking Authority; unless of course you want to chase a parking ticket down the middle of 5th South because it flew off the windshield before you noticed it. That was fun. And it was raining. And windy.

On a much less fun note, 2011 has not been good for animals in our house. Pictured below are our sweet cats, Rudy (left) and Moki (right). We've had these felines for most of our marriage, and they really had become part of our family. Unfortunately, Moki was diagnosed with diabetes a couple of years ago. We treated him with insulin shots twice a day, special food, and lots of extra TLC over the next 1 1/2 years.... but the time had come that his medical needs were getting more and more demanding. It was really only a matter of time before his disease took his little life, so we decided to put him down. That sucked, bad. Over the next couple months, sweet little Rudy didn't adjust as well as we had hoped. Long story short, she got super depressed and wouldn't eat or bathe. She was deteriorating pretty quickly, and her body was literally shutting down. So, we had to put her to sleep too. Yes friends, it's not only possible for a cat to get diabetes, but it's also possible for a cat to die of a broken heart.

Mya's first hair cut! She wasn't too sure about being on that chair, but chilled out after I bribed her with my ipod. What did people do before such great technology?

In the late spring, we bought a cool family present--a playground! Mya really loved helping her daddy build the playground, even into the cold hours after sundown.

Over a handful of days, and about 30 hours (give or take) of manual labor, the work of art was complete! If more people in this world had the patience of my dear husband, this would be a better place, that's for sure!

For April Fool's Day, I had fun making these goofy cupcakes that I saw on another (way better) blog (Our Best Bites). Don't worry, all of the toppings are candy ; ).

Max's first haircut! This was a little more tricky than Mya's : ). At 9 months old, Max's hair was already shaggy enough to need a buzz. So, I set up his bath seat in mine/Alex's bathtub, sat Mya in front of Max with some snacks and toys, and went to town with our scissors and buzzer. You can see the pile of hair on the edge of the tub--I was impressed with how much came off! I was especially happy with how the haircut turned out, and I couldn't have done it without Mya's help!!

I just ADORE this picture of Max and Mya. They really do love each other (if you can't tell!)

HAPPY EASTER!!! We had a great time dying Easter eggs with Grandma Nola!

Some yummy Easter treats that I made.

We all had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa Berndt's house having an Easter egg hunt!

The grandkids LOVE taking silly pictures with Grandpa on his iphone ; )

Easter morning

I could just eat these two up, they are so stinkin' cute (most of the time...)

In February of 2011, my mom suffered from a pretty bad pancreatic attack. She ended up spending a total of 3 1/2 months in the hospital. I'm thankful to say that she's is home and doing phenomenally well at this point (August). Pictured below is an Easter afternoon spent at the University of Utah hospital with Grandma Diane.

My oldest nephew, Josh Bertagnole, graduated with his GED in May of 2011. Mya and I made a quick drive up to Casper, along with my other nephew Ben, to show our support for Josh's accomplishment. It was a fun, quick trip!

Mya's first sports group--Salt Lake County Spring Soccer!! She LOVED every minute of it, and felt super cool in her 'team shirt' and cleats.

A sunny morning enjoying one of her games. The cute boy from her team is Mya's best buddy Jaxson. They are pretty much inseparable, and mostly liked chasing each other around on the soccer field (versus actually kicking the ball). They are in the same primary class at church (which I teach), and a couple weeks ago they started kissing each other. On the LIPS. I thought I'd have more time... But the good thing is, the affectionate little darlings listened to their parents when we said 'no more kissing.' : )

Our cute little flying squirrel.

Mya turned 4 in June!!! Crazy how the time goes by so quickly. For her birthday, Mya wanted a 'Tangled' party (didn't every little girl get a Tangled party this year??). Her party turned out great. She had a few friends over and had a great time playing, opening presents, and eating cake and ice-cream. I would like to take a moment to point out the cake in the background of this photo. I MADE IT!!! And I'm still quite proud of it.

After Mya's party, we took her to McDonald's for lunch. It was a fun outing, and I got this picture of the 3 loves of my life... precious.

Also in June, we got to go to a Bee's baseball game. I'm not sure what was more fun: eating this entire foot long hot dog (that should have been my first indication of something happening inside my body... but I'll talk about that in a minute), going on the cute train with Mya, or Max oohing and aaaahhhing at everything at the game...

Oh wait, here's the highlight of the night. Don't worry buddy, I think mascots are horrifying too.

On Father's Day (6/19), Max turned 1!!! Lots of fun birthdays in June. Here's our little one year old thoroughly enjoying his gift from Grandma and Grandpa Berndt!

Look at that face. I know I'm a little biased as the child's mother, but come on--he is CUTE, I don't care who you are. We all had fun celebrating Max's first birthday and reflecting on the sheer joy he has brought into our lives. And Max had fun destroying his very own cupcake with chocolate frosting!

Happy America Party (or as some might call it, the 4th of July)!!!

We couldn't allow our little Cinderella to have too much fun at the party, so we made her sweep up the fallen rose petals.

And then there's that face again ; ).

A beautiful picture of Mya with Grandma Diane. One of the things that makes this picture so great is that my mom is not only out of the hospital, but also felt well enough to drive herself to and from our house to come to a party. AWESOME.

On July 1st, Alex and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. We were lucky enough to spend a long weekend up in Midway, Utah. We'd like to thank Aunt Ruth and Uncle Dale for letting us use their condo (which is right across the street from the beautiful Zermatt Resort for those of you familiar with Midway), my mom for watching Mya, and our cousins Taylor and Rachel for watching Max. Everybody's generosity gave Alex and I the chance to enjoy this little vacation, and we really did have a great time!!

Mmmm, gelato...

Here's what Max was doing while we were in Midway--giggling and playing with his cousin Emma at Taylor and Rachel's house ; ). They are so cute!

Alex got laid off from the Wing Coop in July. The owner decided he was done being a restaurant owner and basically jumped ship and closed the place down... Anyway, we are incredibly thankful that Alex wasn't unemployed for too long (he's now managing a Cafe Zupas), and we also enjoyed having him home more for a little while before the new employment began. Here we are taking a trip on the Frontrunner train up to Ogden. It was quite the adventure ; ).

At the end of July, we celebrated Alex's birthday! We got to go see the new Captain America movie, and had an appropriately themed Captain America party for him. I love this Daddy/son photo from the party!

With all the fun of the evening though, I would have to say that this was probably the highlight for most of us there. I hear Mya's sweet voice from outside: "Mom, I need a tissue." 'HOLY CRAP! Uh, eww, hold on, don't touch it, let me get the camera first!' She's already agreed that I can put this in her wedding video, and her high school year book. She better watch herself over the next 20 years, or I just might do it! But for now, I figured that blogging the photo is harmless enough : ).

We had some portraits of the kids taken. (Photos by Kristen Spencer. To see the rest of the darling pictures, go to my Facebook page, the files are just too big to blog them all!). I particularly love this picture because it basically epitomizes Mya and Max. So sweet, so spastic...

The same photographer needed some baby models for a boutique, so here's Max doing a little modeling for some leg warmers.

And here's our latest news. Ready or not, here comes BABY BERNDT #3!!! We're excited that our next little peanut is due in March of 2012. Here's the next question--can I survive the first trimester of this pregnancy???