Brian Regan and more

I bought tickets for Brian Regan way back in November for our April concert with high hopes for a fun weekend get-away in St. George. 

Unfortunately it didn't go quite as planned, but that is just how our life is.

We both traveled hundreds of miles (me from West Jordan and Jesse from somewhere... Ohio? I can't even remember now) to meet in St. George for a day. That is true love. 

I packed up the boys and off we went to St. George that morning with the boys glued to the little DVD player.

It was heavenly to see my sweet husband after a couple of weeks of him being gone. 

We had a hot date eating at The Cliffs (hmm... maybe it's called something different, I can't think about that either right now!) 

I ate some delicious chicken friend chicken. 

And Jesse ordered swordfish. 

And then we ran off to Tuacahn to laugh so hard our faces hurt. 

 The photo bombers in the back cracked me up

And we might be dorks. 

And that lightening bolt is Brian Regan. Funny, funny man. 

And literally 18 hours after I arrived I left my husband (who was heading to Vegas that morning for another trip) and I turned around and rode back up to Provo with my mom and brother to watch my little sister run in the BYU track meet.

While we were in Provo we saw the ducks at the pond by BYU. 

And climbed a million stairs. 

And threw rocks into the stream. 

It was a lot of fun. 

And we watched more running the next day.

The boys were champs. They sat and watched and cheered and ate snow cones. 

It all was a whirlwind weekend but so much fun!

I Can Do Hard Things.

When I initially began looking for jobs, I knew there was no way I could work full time. For several reasons.

1. My sweet boys are at a busy age, plus they are wiggle worms constantly on the move, plus there are two of them so I thought it would be difficult finding sitters.

2. I didn't know if I could stand to be apart from them that much.

3. Jesse was traveling out of town for about 3 weeks out of the month from January through April.

It simply seemed too hard. 

And then I saw a job opportunity that appeared to be right up my alley so I applied for it despite being full time, because I figured there was no way I would get the job anyway. I mean, I hadn't received a phone call for any other jobs yet, so why would this be any different?

And then I got a phone call from Primary Children's Hospital telling me they would like me to have an interview with them. I nearly leaped out of my skin! I could not believe they wanted to interview me! And the part that was most mind blowing, is that they called me simply based on my resume because I did not have an "in" with them. I honestly didn't know that was possible anymore. 

I interviewed over the phone and apparently it went well enough that they invited me to come tour the unit and a few days later I was offered the job! Over night I became a nurse at Primary Children's Hospital on their infant medical/surgical floor. Who knew a job like that even existed? Primary Children's is such a unique experience.

Ever since I was in nursing school I longed for a happy pink badge meaning I worked with children and now I get to work with babies from ages 0-2 and spend my day holding little babies, blowing bubbles, telling kids how cute they are, as well as a whole lot of other things. I figure if I'm not going to be snuggling my own babies, I would like to be snuggling someone else's baby and giving them the love and care they need.

But oh my heavens has this been the most heart wrenching, exhausting, tear provoking decision I've ever made. I felt awful for leaving my babies but at the same time I was excited for the chance to learn and grow as a nurse. It made me sick thinking about someone else seeing sweet tender moments with my boys and yet I felt it was important to keep up my skills in case something ever happened to my husband and I needed to become the bread winner. I literally cried for several days agonizing over this decision, but ultimately it felt right for this time of our life. But I know it's not going to get easier and this will open so many doors down the road that will allow me to spend more time with my family.

And even though Jesse still travels a lot, so sometimes I'm on my own, I'm surviving! I am doing hard things! I lucked out with awesome babysitters who do fun things with my boys and are willing to spend long days with my babies so I can care for other people's babies who are worse off than mine. It is such a blessing in my life. And while I now have the added stress of full time nurse mixed in with full time mom, I'm making it work! I might get less sleep, have to squeeze more things into less time, have a messy house, neglect the blog, don't work out, and don't have any extra "me" time, but I also get to kiss my babies all day four days a week, somehow still mostly keep up with laundry, dishes, and some cleaning, can make several family events, and have enough flexibility to still be a full time mom.

And so I keep reminding myself, I can do hard things.

Mother's Day

Warning: Husband Post.

Just thought you should know.

I've been not-so-subtly asked to write about Mother's Day. By my wife. For a week. So before I'm officially in the dog house I figured I'd better post something.

Insert Wifebaughts: This makes me sound like I was forcing my husband into saying nice things about me. While this is a nice bonus, I was also just feeling a little lazy and didn't think the husband had made enough appearances lately.

My wife is genuinely amazing. And no, I'm not typing this under duress. Danielle is honestly one of the most remarkable people I know. She's capable, beautiful, friendly, funny, sweet, thoughtful, well-educated, adventurous, passionate, and my very, very best friend. Given the choice between hanging out with her and doing just about anything else, I'd choose her every time. Unless Bill Cosby is in town and wants to have lunch. Bill, if you're reading this, call me.

She's a fantastic mother and wife. She sincerely loves being a mom and somehow manages to balance motherhood with her full-time job as a nurse at Primary Children's Hospital working with babies, so she's kind of a mother at work, too. And she LOVES it! She's commented to me several times how she can't believe they pay her to take care of babies, and it doesn't surprise me a bit.

Danielle also is great at enjoying the little things. The smallest new word or quirky mannerism from our boys just thrills her to her core. Basically the whole raison d'être of our blog is that she literally can't contain her motherly enthusiasm to people in her immediate vicinity. She wants... nay, she needs to shout it from the rooftops and share it with as many people as possible.

Because of all of this I was determined to give her a particularly meaningful Mother's Day gift this year. You can check her Instagram for pictures (@daniellearich), (or check out the picture I added) but I got her twin Willow Tree figures that I know she'd had her eye on, and also a necklace with two silver star charms on it to represent our two boys born in Texas. She loved it, which made me so happy. She's always been the more thoughtful one in our marriage, so it was great to surprise her with a gift that wasn't panic-bought the night before, as is my wont.

These gifts literally brought me to tears. My two little boys (and of course my sweet husband) are my whole world. I feel so blessed to be a mother to these two boys. and love that they are mine forever. I also love that now I can wear this sweet necklace all day every day to keep my boys close to my mind and heart, and yet it feels like my own little secret. It's awesome.

And of course how could I not be in love with the little willow tree twins. They were made to live in my house. 

As for my own mother, simply put, she is the reason my standards for a wife were so high. Because of her example I knew from a young age that great women were out there, so I kept looking till I found one for myself. Thanks, Mom!

Here are some pictures Danielle's mom took that day. The boys weren't cooperating 100%, but the pictures turned out pretty good anyway.

This is my happy spot.

Surrounded by my boys.

{I} in yellow, {B} in green

The Best of Friends

After a few years of living in three different states, two of my best friends and I were reunited again for an evening and it was amazing!

 Between the three of us, we have four boys in one year. It's going to be epic for years to come!

And you better believe it's hilarious to try and get all of them to sit still for more than 2 seconds.

{I}      {B}       {H}       {H}

My boys were out of there as soon as possible while these two cuties just sat and looked adorable.

They are only about 2 months apart while my boys are 9 and 11 months older than them. Right now we notice a difference, but it won't be long before that year won't matter at all!

These blonde friends of mine have been around for a long time and I just love them. 

We are a little out numbered these days by these handsome boys of ours 

And by the time we tried to capture all of us, there might have been a few unhappy and/or wiggly participants.  

But because we are awesome, we persevered for the sake of a group picture!

Oh my goodness do I love these people.

And these little friend-cousins are going to be buddies forever!