Mantz Family

Ashlin at 13 months

2012-01-30T19:47:00.000-08:00

I'm finally posting Ashlin's 1st birthday. This was a month and a half ago. She loved her chocolate zucchini cake, and got all good and messy.

She is always making us laugh. She loves to grunt, which is what she thinks is the best way to get attention. Her favorite activity is to unload drawers and play in the flour or sugar.

Christmas was awesome! We tried doing a live nativity, but Gavon pretended more to be a ninja than anything. Shayden knelt by the box all cute. We had a Jerusalem Dinner, read some scriptures and watched the Bible Videos on lds.org. On Christmas morning Shayden opened a Barbie with clothes. "This is exactly what I asked Santa for!" She hugged it and put it to the side. The next present was fingernail polish. She opened it and said, "I told Santa I wanted this for next year but he gave it to me this year. That is so funny!"

I Love Being a Mom!

2011-12-02T14:14:00.001-08:00

I get to ride bikes in stores!

Go to girls nights with family and wear crazy lip gloss!

And I get to let my kids do this kind of stuff! (This is powdered sugar...their bedroom is covered!)

Gavon Turns 3

2011-12-02T14:06:00.001-08:00

Gavon's birthday is tomorrow, but Paul had to go to drill so we celebrated a day early. He had a spiderman birthday cake, with pizza and ice cream. For his birthday present I made a hot wheels cubby fabric thingy as shown. How do you explain that? I got the idea from a Relief Society activity and thought it was perfect for Gavon. The fabric on back is Lightening McQueen and it has velcro that latches it shut so you can take it to church or in the car. He loved it! When he saw me making it once, he said, "Is that for me!?" I had to hide it for a while. Shayden and Gavon did a pinata too.

Daredevil Baby

2011-11-15T12:14:00.001-08:00

She did this all on her own!

Ashlin the Cutie Pie

2011-11-10T20:24:00.001-08:00

Ashlin took off walking, and turning around at about Halloween. We had an amazing Halloween by the way! We went to Beaver to have some fun with Trisa and Jared. It was so fun! Paul was in his gorilla costume, Shayden was a beautiful ballerina, Gavon was a dragon, and Ashlin was a bumblebee. Shayden immediately started dancing across the room after I got her ready; she had so much fun. Gavon kept breathing on people saying it was fire, and Ashlin was the center of attention with Holly, Karri, Valerie and Hiedi. Poor Tayci (How do you spell Tayci Tris?) just had to watch everyone play with Ashlin.

Well, besides Gavon being superman in his underwear, this is the best video I have of Ashlin walking around. Everyone in my neighborhood gets big eyes when they see her. "She's walking?!" They're all of a sudden not little babies anymore. She has the cutest personality. One thing that drives me crazy though is that she grinds her teeth like crazy. The dentist said he's only seen 3 kids in the 10 years he's practiced with severe side affects with grinding. I think Ashlin might be one of those kids. It's like nails on a chalkboard. When I tell her no or to stop, she whines this cute little wine.

Potty Training Gavon

2011-10-25T19:39:00.000-07:00

It's crazy how each kid does their own thing. Gavon has been doing really well potty training the past few weeks. I've been doing laundry like crazy, but I think that's normal. He's usually a pretty submissive kid, but he likes to be funny. When I put his Thomas the Engine underwear on, "Ha ha ha, I can poop on Thomas." I tell him, "No, you go on the potty, bud." Most of the time he doesn't care if he pees his pants, so the goal is to get him to go on the potty before he goes in his pants. He did great today. Only one accident.

Happy Days

2011-10-11T12:03:00.000-07:00

Ashlin the Walking Girl

2011-09-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

I finally videoed Ashlin walking! We took this video this morning. Her first step was Aug.31.

Shayden's Concern

2011-09-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

We had a Family Home Evening last night on families, and how Heavenly Father put us into families to love and take care of each other. Somehow the conversation went into how we will all die one day, and Shayden got so sad. "Mom, I don't want to die." I told her it was all part of Heavenly Father's plan. "That's a sad plan, Mom." She cried for a little while, and I told her about the Resurrection, and how Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to be happy even after we die. She said she didn't want to be resurrected. Well, we still have to work on that one.

Run! O Wait...Watch Out For That Cable!

2011-09-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

So Karen and I go running in the wee hours of the morning before you can start to see the sun lighting the sky, and this morning we did the "corn route" which passes a small patch of corn on the other side of 10th. We were trying to figure a good way to get around all the nasty construction on 10th when we decided to just make our way across the road jay walking style instead of running on the freshly cemented sidewalk. Surprise! We were side by side, so we both hit a tight cable stretched across the side of the road going about 8 min. mile just about mid-thigh level. We were on the ground looking at each other like we both were trying to say, "Ouch." I got that feeling of being sick because it hurt so bad, and then the welts turned into bruises later that day. There's another bruise just like that one on the other leg too. I wonder if the construction workers saw us. I told Shayden when I got home, "I ran into a wire in the dark." and she said, "Why didn't you just wait for the sun to come up Mom?!"

I was nursing Ashlin last night and Gavon came and sat next to me like this. Paul was able to catch it on camera. The kids like to jump on the back of the chair and pop the leg rest open when I'm trying to nurse. It drives me crazy, but then I just try to get comfortable and not care. I try to say no only when I have to. Shayden and Gavon like to jump on that bed next to the chair while I nurse. Only 3 more months and then she can be on her own! I like giving her that freedom, and I like the freedom of not nursing too. Just have to hold out until she's one.

Ashlin isn't a binky baby, but she found this binky and just chewed on it for a good 30 min. She's actually pretty fast at crawling now and can stand on her own for about 5 or 6 seconds. She's taken one step so far.

Paul took this picture driving to the temple about a month ago from the drivers seat.

Family Picture

2011-09-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

We just had the Sheffer Reunion. It was a blast to be around everyone. Only Ryan wasn't able to make it. The kids had so much fun doing cousin chants, and playing games while we were camping. Gavon was running around like crazy and didn't even care when he fell flat on his face tripping on a rock every few seconds. My favorite quotes were Gavon after being put on my dad's shoulders, "Where'd your hair go?" and Karri when she was carrying Ashlin to the clubhouse, "Are you going to slobber on every piece of sidewalk?" Ashlin doesn't know how to swallow; a family curse? It ended in Riverton and was so fun.

Crawling Ashlin

2011-08-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

Ashlin has been army crawling since mid July, but has just started on her hands and knees. She's still pretty slow, but she loves to stand and walk while holding your fingers. She likes to get into drawers. She has the cutest two tooth smile you've ever seen.

We went camping with Kami and Levi in American Fork Canyon 2 weeks ago for the Provo River Half Marathon. There were so many people there, it was kind of crazy to camp! I got a 1:40:40, 3rd in my age division and 21st overall women. I've stopped running so much since the race.

Gavon is always making us laugh. One morning Paul was getting him to say stuff. He said, Supercallafrajilisticexpialadocious, and Gavon said, "WHAT?" It was so funny, we tried to get him to reenact it.

Juniper Trail in Logan Canyon

2011-07-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

Paul watched the kids for me while I ran up Juniper with Patty, Karen and Janelle. It was soooo fun! That tree behind us is more that 1500 years old. The views were amazing, the smells were so fresh and clean, and I got a 10.5 mile kick bum workout. There was a 2000 foot elevation change...I was really sore after. Poor Paul had a hard time with the kids. I think when a mom does a race the dad has to deal with a lot. Go dad!

Sheila's Car Seat Cover

2011-07-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

I made this car seat cover for Sheila after she had Kandyce. I also made her a matching nursing cover. I was so proud of myself. New babies are so fun and cute.

Ashlin's Reaction

2011-07-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

Ashlin broke out in hives the day after I gave her a tiny sip of Cranberry juice. The doctor said I should wait a month or two and try giving her a little bit to be sure that's what it was that made her react. I've never dealt with this, so I'm not sure what's going on. I gave her broccoli, strawberries, and baby cereal, all things she's had before from the same containers and all. Just the juice was different. It kind of freaked me and Alisa out. You can't really see in the picture very well, but it looks like giant mosquito bites. Crazy! It took 4 days to get her body clear of it.

Family Fun for the Fourt of July

2011-07-06T13:42:00.000-07:00

We spent the 4th of July in Logan this year. We watched the fireworks at Cody and Lisa's parent's house, who had a perfect view. Cousins sure are fun, and the fireworks were awesome!

One of my neighbors threw a neighborhood bike parade so we decorated Shayden's bike and Gavon's rocket. Gavon led the pack pushing his rocket car. They loved throwing candy to all the moms watching the kids. Gavon's kind of funny about riding his bike. I'll put him on his trike, and he'll go really slow and accidentally go backwards. He just doesn't want to figure it out. It's kind of like opening doors. He as the motor skills, but just chooses to not open any doors the silly kid.

Shayden has been learning how to ride her bike without training wheels. She can go once she gets going, but she can't start or stop very well yet.
Bath time. Exciting!
Here's Ashlin and Katie again. Ashlin got her shots that day and was pretty miserable.

As a family update side note, Paul has been loving his job. He's been getting a lot of really good work experience talking with people and has been keeping busy. We never got the CNG working on our truck, sad day, so we've been forking out the money driving it to Ogden and back every day. We lost about $2000 buying it from a guy that moved to New Jersey on KSL, because he sold it to us at a high price if it were in perfect condition. He refused to give us our money back. The bolts holding the shell on it came loose and it flew off on the freeway, too. That truck has been nothing but trouble for us.

This fall, when the sprinkler business dies down, Paul is going to get on orders in Draper. We might all move down there, or he might commute for the week and be home on the weekends. That would be hard, but is an option. As far as school goes, he's going to cash in his credits for a degree in Liberal Arts. He is getting ready to deploy in May of next year. The Guard is kind of taking over, because it takes such good care of our family. Change is always hard to get used to. We'll miss our house here in Logan.

One of Your All Time Favorite Crazy Downloads

2011-07-05T20:45:00.000-07:00

We have been keeping very busy this summer.

Tired Boy

2011-07-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

This is what Gavon does when he is really really tired.

Ashlin and Katie

2011-05-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

Cousins are the best! Cody and Lisa have been helping me out while Paul is gone, and watched my kids so I could run some important errands that would pretty much be impossible with kids. Katie is a day younger than Simon Bowers. I'm so glad Ashlin will have cousins her age.

Shayden's 4th Birthday Party

2011-05-25T19:31:00.000-07:00

Shayden was so happy! We all had pizza, cake and ice cream, did a pinata, and played on the play set in our back yard. The grass was a little (lot) soggy because of all the rain we've been having. Thank goodness it got nice for the party.
Bug catcher
Grandma gave her a big princess backpack with princess candy and water bottle. COOL!
Parker hugs

Shayden had this blank expression while opening presents, but really she was so happy and excited. Thank you everybody!
Butterfly birthday cake

Happy Birthday gorgeous girl.

Shayden Turns Four and Graduates From Preschool

2011-05-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

More pictures to come!! This is Shayden at her preschool graduation. They sang us some songs and showed a slideshow of pictures from the school year. Shayden laughed through the whole thing. She had such a good time this year. Way to go Shayden!

We also had a big birthday party for her in our back yard. Super fun!

Brotherly Love

2011-05-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

Gavon has been a pretty good brother, but in a two year old way. He likes to lay on Ashlin, and one time while I was in the shower with Ashlin in the bouncer by me he got a hold of the toilet brush and put it in her face. GROSSSS! He's good at being soft, though and likes to talk to both Shayden and Ashlin.

Running with my Buddies

2011-05-04T08:05:00.000-07:00

Janelle, Karen and I went to Old Main today. Karen and I ran 8 1/2 sets of 116 stairs. Janelle walked them because she's still recovering from her surgery. I love my running friends here! After the work out, we tried out this cool rope swing that was hanging from a tree. It's more scary than it looks because Old Main is pretty steep. This is the life baby!

St. George Easter

2011-04-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Paul and I went to St. George for Easter weekend! We all had so much fun, and the drive wasn't too bad because we split it up pretty well with breaks in Riverton and Beaver. The best was being around family. Working backwords with pictures, we spent Easter Sunday in Panguitch with my parents. Monday morning we helped my mom feed the lambs before we drove home, and Gavon had so much fun chasing them around. He got kind of tired near the end there, because they are hard to catch.

Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of the Tebbs Reunion, but it was very good to see everyone. The kids played at the park, and we all had yummy food. Paul and I also got to go on a special date for our anniversary coming up and ate at a fancy restaurant in Cedar.
Riley and Ashlin were laughing at Gavon pulling faces behind the camera. It's a little blurry, but so cute!

Holly carrying Shayden after we reached the top of the crack.
Hiking up "The Crack" Shayden said, "I can fit, because I'm a little kid." It got a little tight in 2 spots, but we made it up.
Gavon loved the candy the most.
Trisa and Sheila were treckin it even in the hot sun and babies so close to being here. They didn't hike the crack.

Hiking Sugar Loaf.
Ashlin always has her eyes open so big. She likes to smile if she's in the mood too.
The kids had so much fun hiking around.
Family!
Happy girl.
Kami surprised Mom by driving down from Washington. We got her on video seeing Riley in my lap...super happy.

Kiddos

2011-04-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

Gavon likes to dress up lately, and run around with his shirt off.

We just got him some Cars underwear, but we haven't really had success. I thought he would realize when he was wet, but he really could care less whether he makes it or not. My friend watched him the other morning, and she has a little potty. She said he pooped in it...maybe that's what I'll have to get.
Ashlin likes to hold her hands together, and suck on her fingers. She coos a lot, and is a really good baby when she gets her naps. The kids love her.
While Shayden's at preschool, I'm able to take Ashlin and Gavon running with me. Sometimes Paul can watch them for me. Shayden has been loving Head Start.
The kids like giving her toys. I can't believe she's already 4 months. I'm gonna start her on rice cereal soon.

Paul's Training

2011-04-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

I wish I had some cool pictures of Paul's drill this weekend, but here's a link to a ksl report: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=15178759

Cool stuff! If you live near Camp Williams, you might have heard all the explosions. Paul is really working hard, and is almost done with the semester. His last day of Home Depot was yesterday, and he's going to start helping a neighbor with a sprinkler repair business this summer. He will be leaving for the Dominican Republic soon, too. We've been staying pretty busy.

Here's a picture of his hot new ride. We sold our car and bought a truck that he could drive with all the sprinkler supplies he'll need. The back is a double door and the sides open too. If we could just the natural gas to work, it will be perfect.

We also went to Beaver and Cedar City last week, which was super fun. My nephew Luke got baptized, and it was cool to think about how this ordinance has been important from the beginning. Jesus was baptized, and Joseph Smith was too as he restored the gospel. I could feel how true The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is. So awesome. We didn't get any pictures, but Trisa took care of us, and we had lots of fun. Due West, a country group was going on a Southern Utah tour and my mom and dad, Trisa and Jared, and Paul and I went to their concert that night. Holly and Karri took really good care of our kids. I like how Valerie said, "What's with your kids and grunting?" Gavon and Ashlin grunt a lot.

Medicine

2011-04-04T16:46:00.000-07:00

Gavon just spit his medicine out in my eye, got it all over his face, and then got it up his nose. Whoever made augmentin that nasty....

Ashlin doesn't like amoxicillin, but she's at least been happy through the whole gargling and sucking on my finger until it gets down. Only 4 more days!!!!

Potty Training Gavon???

2011-03-28T18:52:00.000-07:00

Gavon just started to take his diaper off and run to the bathroom yelling, "Pea Pea Pea Pea" In a really high girly voice. He pooped the tiniest tiniest bit after I changed a big diaper just a few days ago, but has never had any other success. He likes to go through all the motions though. I'm not so sure I want to jump into underwear for him right now. I know it would be months of torture, but is there no other way??

A Regular Friday?

2011-03-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

Today has been non stop craziness. I fold clothes and put them in drawers, the kids throw them everywhere. I try to make some kind of food, they get into whatever is out and it ends up everywhere. Milk got spilled 3 different times in lunch today. It's days like today I just need to give in to whatever happens. Stay calm, it will be okay.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

2011-03-17T18:26:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody!!

Tonight for dinner we had spaghetti; one of our fast and easy meals after an insane "Stay out of that person's back yard! Keep on walking!" walk around our neighborhood. Gavon thought all the cool things were his to play with. I was struggling to incorporate something cool for St. Patrick's Day, so I just set the green food coloring on the table with dinner, and we had green milk, green noodles, and a big green blob on our bread. The kids loved it, as you can see.
This is Paul right before he took off for Drill. It's a muta 7 this week, so he'll be working hard.
Shayden loves to hold Ashlin. She likes me to take pictures of her holding Ashlin; you'll be seeing those a lot.
Gavon loves his little sista.
The other day I found Shayden trying to put Gavon in a bunch of shirts. He's wearing over 5 shirts in this picture, and he's trying to show me his muscles.
Shay holding Ashlin again.

This video is kind of long, but I was trying to capture Gavon at this age. He likes to sache (sp?) around the house, and does a high pitched hum at people because he thinks it's funny...it really is. His personality is fun. He can't say "K" sounds yet, so when I ask him to do something he'll say, "Otay, Otay!!" and start to do it. His laugh is the most pure and genuine laugh I have ever heard.

More From Ashlin's Blessing

2011-02-24T15:20:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more pictures from Ashlin's blessing from Mom's camera. What a special day.

Ashlin's Blessing

2011-02-21T07:44:00.001-08:00

We had such a wonderful time, but missed a lot of family that couldn't make it because of the snow. We love you all.

Funny Shayden

2011-02-17T08:34:00.000-08:00

Shayden's been pretty funny lately. Yesterday she was sitting by me eating some goldfish crackers while I was trying to nurse Ashlin. Ashlin was super sad and screaming while I was getting ready, and Shayden said, "Ashlin is saying, 'Put those fish in your mouth!'"

That night she found a bib and put it on Gavon calling it a small cape. Woohoo!

Ashlin is smiling!

This is Gavon riding his horse after church the Sunday before my surgery.

Sick Today

2011-02-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

I must have caught something. Throwing up is no fun.

Gavon the Hilarious One

2011-02-14T13:10:00.000-08:00

I think the most painful thing in healing from this surgery has been nursing Ashlin when she's really wiggly. The next most painful thing has been laughing at Gavon. What is it about that charisma you just can't help but laugh at him. Some people can get away with a lot in sketchy situations, and he's just one of those people. When he sneeks out of bed at night and starts to laugh like crazy because you caught him and get all mad; when he runs away from you when you're trying to get his pajamas on him. This kid gets away with way way too much.

Yesterday he fell asleep in nursery snack time and stayed asleep on the table for over 30 min. They didn't even know he had fallen asleep for a while. Kids were banging on the table, and I think he would have stayed there for a long time if church hadn't ended.

Just watching him play, the way he puts on his hat and looks at you, or walks around like he's an old man. He is HILARIOUS!

Computer Time After Surgery

2011-02-08T08:25:00.000-08:00

When you're forced to have down time, do you think it's torture or heaven? Yesterday morning Paul drove me to the specialty hospital for a ventral hernia repair. He did a great job at keeping me relaxed. We read "The Long Walk" by Slavomir Rawicz while I waited to go in. The lady that checked me in had a scrunchy pony tail and the most poofy bangs I've seen in about 10 years. They were really nice, though. The nurse that placed my IV wasn't the greatest, and she was digging around for about 2 minutes. When she finally said, "I got it!" I threw up and then had this really cool dream that I can't really remember the details about. I remember being real calm and then waking up to an oxygen thing in my nose and my feet being propped up. That was probably the worst part. The surgeon came in, and the anesthesiologist to talk to me, and then the anesthesiologist walked me back to the OR. I was trying not to think when they laid me down, and then I was out before I knew anything. Oh yah, my hospital gown flew open on the way. A nice lady came to close it up for me. Afterward the doctor told Paul he only had to make 3 stitches; it wasn't as big of a hernia as he thought. I didn't lose a lot of blood. Now I have a cool scar above my belly button that I haven't seen yet because it's still all bandaged up. It hurts when I take deep breaths and I'm really dizzy probably from the anesthetics. It's wearing off today. I've been taking it easy, and my mom is taking care of everything. I can't lift, and walking or moving is difficult. The doctor said after four days I can start doing stuff. With all this down time, I can do stuff I haven't done in a very long time like blogging!

Ashlin is growing like crazy! She's already 8 weeks old. She smiles every now and then, but I don't think on purpose. After she takes a bath her hair goes really poofy like this:

She also goes through acne spurts, and this picture caught a little outbreak. Poor girl, but that's life.
Hmmm...this is an interesting story. After cutting Shayden's hair into the cutest little A line, she went on a scissor frenzy and cut a bunch of pictures, a pillow case, Gavon's sheets, and her beautiful hair!!!! The picture above shows the lesser damaged side. The one below is the day we cut it. There are two videos at the end of this post that show before and after too. I was so sad. Now she has mega bangs.

Poof again. Paul calls her his little troll.
This was at four weeks!! She hasn't done a head lift this good since actually.
Daddy and Shay

Breastfeeding Ashlin

2011-01-20T08:13:00.000-08:00

It's crazy how different each child is. Shayden and Gavon were great nursers. Ashlin's been doing good, but I found out her tongue isn't down and out all the way. Almost every time she nurses, she "smacks" after every swallow. She's getting enough milk and I'm not sore, but it's just kind of annoying to her and to me. A lactation consultant came and taught me how to reteach her to suck with her tongue sticking further out. It's been kind of frustrating to her, but you're supposed to stick your finger in her mouth and have her suck while pushing her tongue out. We'll see if that fixes it.

First Hair Cut

2011-01-18T14:35:00.000-08:00

After
Goodbye beautiful natural curls.
Shayden had her first hair cut today. We cut 14 inches.

She just stopped letting me wash it, and it was always a struggle to get her to hold still to comb. Long hair is always so fun to do, though. I loved this web site for hair: http://www.cute2tryhairdos.blogspot.com/ We won't be using it anymore now. Pout Pout.

Precious Girl

2010-12-23T09:43:00.001-08:00

One of my friends has an awesome camera and did a little photo shoot with Ashlin yesterday.

Riley Came to Visit

2010-12-21T10:40:00.000-08:00

And Kami and Levi did too. It was so much fun!

Ashlin and Riley

Ashlin is growing so fast. She's now a week old, and her umbilical chord fell off 2 nights ago in a diaper change. Now she can take a real bath. That night she went through 2 pair of pajamas, and I had to wash my sheets. She's taking really good naps in the day; we just need to switch her clock about 12 hours.

Pre-Ashlin Party

2010-12-18T09:32:00.000-08:00

This was the Saturday before Ashlin was born, so a week ago today. Shayden and Gavon love to have fun. Last night we got a bunch of diapers from a Walgreens online sale, and they had so much fun stacking them and knocking them over, and lining them up to walk on.

Labor Story with Ashlin Rated PG-18 at least.

2010-12-16T12:07:00.000-08:00

Monday I had my 38 week apt. with my doctor. I was 3 1/2 cm dilated and 75% effaced. I waited for a long time to be seen and I tried to do a little bit of Christmas shopping, and pick up some cheese (Our family can't live without milk or cheese.) so I was away from home for almost 3 hours. I made it home finally and got the kids some chicken nuggets before bed. We all were so exhausted. Paul and I were asleep by 8:30. At 11:00 I woke up having contractions that hurt. That was what happened last week, so I just tried to deal with it. When they kept coming, I started to time them. They were 7 or 8 minutes apart. I think I went to the bathroom 3 or 4 times. They started to get more painful so I woke Paul up. He fell asleep for a while. When I woke him again he said we should go to the hospital. I had to throw up after that, so we called Cody to come over and sleep with the kids since he was going to come over in the morning anyway for work. The contractions all of a sudden got really bad, so we decided we had to go right away. Our neighbor across the street came over to sleep while we took off. 12:20 am. I had 2 contractions that hurt real bad on the way. When we got out and started to walk in I fell over and threw up in the grass. Paul said, "Do you want me to carry you?" I just had to get over that contraction to walk, and then we made it up the elevator to the second floor. 12:35 am. I was crying, and had peed my pants throwing up. You would think going to the bathroom so much before would stop that. The nurses were asking me to lay on the bed to check me, but I was kneeling at the bed having another contraction, so I couldn't move and was screaming, and grunting. They finally got me to lay on the bed and took my basketball shorts and garments off. I was at a nine. All the nurses were getting all the delivery stuff out. The main nurse said she was going to give me an IV for petocin, but I told her, "No!" She seemed surprised, and said, "She's refusing an IV!" Some doctor on call came in and was waiting to deliver when my doctor came in. I was in a lot of pain, but the doctor was getting his gloves on when I was ready to push. Everyone was saying "Wait! The doctor needs his gloves on." but she was ready to come. 12:57 am, she was born. They put her on my tummy right after she was born. I didn't need stitches. The chord was wrapped over her shoulder and across her chest. 8 and 9 APGAR score. The doctor told the nurse to give me a petocin shot in my leg. She nursed perfectly 30 minutes after delivery. Everyone was commenting on her long eyelashes. She looked a lot like Shayden did; lots of dark hair, and the same nose. I was wide awake, and starving. I didn't have to ride in a wheelchair the whole time I was there. They let me walk to the Postpartum room pushing Ashlin, and I was able to sleep for a little. Miracle! I was ready to go home as soon as possible. Some guy came in saying I had to do blood work to see if I needed a rhogam shot. I told the guy I was A+, and that he didn't need to do it, but he just stumbled over his words saying he had to get it. Finally I gave in, but I should have told him no way. Ashlin's bilirubin came back with flying colors, and we were discharged that next morning. Paul did a great job holding my hand, and cheering me on. He did great the whole time even being tired and sick. Ashlin doesn't cry a lot, but when she does cry, it's an end-of-the-world type scream. She really is a good baby, and she's super cute.

Ashlin Roe Mantz

2010-12-16T11:30:00.000-08:00

Shayden loves her new sister.
Made it home.
Just before check out at the hospital. It snowed good and hard the night before we left.
Hanging out in the bouncer
In the middle of the night, it seemed like a great time for a photo shoot.
My toes are sticking out the side. Those hospital socks are so comfy.
She's finally here!
Proud daddy.

This video was soon after we got home Wednesday morning. I wish I had a video of Shayden with Ashlin because she is sooo cute with her. She always wants to be by her, and she says the cutest things. "She is the cutest girl ever!" She's pretty good to be careful. Once Shayden picked her up all by herself off the floor, but I got her in the same second. Gavon loves to help too. When we got home I got the scissors to cut her leg tags off. After they were off, Gavon tried to the same thing. Yikes! He likes to stroke her hair.

Pregnancy Stats

2010-12-10T13:27:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I forget to write this down, and then years down the road I wonder.

Stats for this pregnancy so far:

36 weeks: Dialated 2 cm, 50% Effaced
Contractions, but no pain.

37 weeks: Dialated 3 cm, 60% Effaced
Contractions that hurt, hard to move.

Shayden is super excited for the baby to come. She is always hugging my tummy and giving her kisses. She says, "I will close my eyes when the baby comes, like this." (I told her she'd have to stay while I had the baby at the hospital, because it would hurt me real bad.) "I can hold her, and rock her really slow. I won't bonk her head." "I can give her a binky. She can suck on it." "She will look so cute!"

Gavon Turns Two!

2010-12-03T20:25:00.000-08:00

Once he got this sucker, he didn't care about opening any other presents. Maybe Santa should just give him a sucker?
Lightening McQueen stickers from Grandma!
Thanks Trisa, for all the ideas on how to do cakes.
I got pants!

We had pizza and cake and ice cream after helping Cody and Lisa move. Gavon played in the morning with Grandpa, so life couldn't get better really. Gavon loved blowing the candles out, and was so happy....just need to get over this runny nose and cough.

Getting Ready for Christmas

2010-11-28T13:27:00.000-08:00

We went sledding and had a blast!
"Can I have this candy cane...PLEEEAASE." All the candy canes half way and under are gone. Gavon has been the biggest culprit.
On Thanksgiving morning we made these cute little turkeys and wrote down things that they were grateful for. They were both so proud. We drove down to Tooelle to have Thanksgiving with Paul's mom and sisters. It was a pretty quick trip.
A huge blizzard hit two days before Thanksgiving. We played in it for just a split second. Gavon lost his Lightening McQueen car out there, the poor guy.

When we went sledding, we played at the park for a while. The big twirly slide was the biggest hit, because they slid down so fast we had to catch them before flew too far.

Baby Shower

2010-11-28T13:02:00.000-08:00

Last weekend my running friend threw a big shower for me. She was amazing to put things together, and it turned out perfect. It was so fun!

Crystal gave me learning links! These will keep us all busy for hours.
Sheila and Alisa gave me some super cute books.
My mom gave me a beautiful blanket.
Krista and Jill came. Yay!
Alisa, what are you doing?

We got split into groups and decorated onsies.
Mom and Karen Cootey.

Thank you Janelle!

For Dillon

2010-11-24T07:39:00.000-08:00

Shayden wanted this for Dillon. Here ya go!

35 Weeks

2010-11-23T07:37:00.000-08:00

Tired, can't move very well. Relief Society arms? I'd better get a better pregnancy picture, huh.

Walking with Shayden

2010-11-18T08:50:00.000-08:00

I told Shayden she'd get a flat tire if she rode her bike on the rocks by the side walk. Shayden walks on those same rocks and says, "I'm going to get a flat shoe!" She's been asking to take her training wheels off, lately.

It's been tough the past little while. Shayden has started a high pitched tantrum throwing stage, and has adopted my "I'm too tired" or "I can't do that" phrase. When I tried to go for a walk last week, she made it 0.1 miles on her bike and then was screaming bloody murder. Gavon dropped his toy car, and when I bent down to pick it up, he kicked me in the face on accident. I barely made it home from that one without getting too stressed out.

Shayden was trying to put roller blades on Gavon and started an 'it's the end of the world' type scream when he wouldn't listen to her. She absolutely refuses naps, so we're trying to go to bed super early. Since the time change, we go to bed ridiculously early; about 7:00, sometimes 6:30.

I feel like we go into survival mode with a new baby, so we're trying to prep for that. I'm 35 weeks, and the time is flying by.

Family Update

2010-11-10T09:33:00.001-08:00

This last weekend Paul had his November Drill--a bunch of class like training. He was told that his unit will be deploying March 2012. For soldiers that are going to be finishing their contract terms (Paul will have his 6 years October 2011) they gave them the option of leaving the guard 120 days early to make room for soldiers that need to be trained for deployment. He might be done with the guard this coming summer. He is actually very excited to have his annual training this March; a whole three weeks in the Dominican Republic. He wants to spend some time away from the guard to see what's it's like, and has thought about maybe doing M.I. We'll look at our options over the next year here.

I'm almost 34 weeks. It feels like my body just remembered as good as ever what it was like to be big, so it went right to huge instead of somewhere in between for the 8th month. We're excited and counting down until this little girl is here. We are trying to decide between Ashlyn or Maylyn...maybe something completely different? Those are just the ones we like.

This last week was Fast Sunday, and it felt like I handled things pretty good with Paul being gone. Both Shayden and Gavon are healthy...Finally!...and were able to go to nursery. Gavon just had a good diaper during Sunday School, and then in Sacrament they got away from me once. Overall, it was pretty good. Right at the end of Sacrament Meeting Shayden told me she wanted to bear her testimony. I thought that would be a good idea, but that she had to do it all by herself. She said, "Okay," and marched right up. After waiting for a while she came back, but the bishop saw that she wanted to bear her testimony. The person finished, and the time was up, but the bishop looked at me as if to say, "Do you want her to go?" I wanted her to say something short and sweet like she always says, "Jesus loves me," or something like that. When she got up there she said, "Gavon broke his leg. It got better; the Dr. took his cast off. I went poop on the potty and washed my hands." Except it was more drawn out, so I ran up there and told her to say, "Jesus made him feel better. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." Everyone was smiling or laughing, and I was pretty embarrassed. The guy next to me said it was okay, because everyone would leave church smiling. She is definitely not afraid to do things.

Halloween Report

2010-11-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

Shayden wanted to be a cat, and Gavon smiled when I showed him to himself in the mirror. He seemed happy to be anything, and we had this costume from Ryan and Bridget, so it worked great! I thought for a split second to make him a cowboy with some chaps and a belt buckle the size of a post card. I'm all about quick and easy this time around, though. Maybe next year.

One of Paul's favorite traditions is to decorate sugar cookies on Halloween. We took some to neighbors, and taught Shay and Gavon how to leave them on the door and run. Shayden threw the first bag and broke them all into pieces, and Gavon ran away saying, "Hide! Hide!" It was so cute; one of the funnest Family Home Evenings we've ever had.
Here we are at the Homecoming Parade. Paul was a trooper and came, even though he isn't the biggest fan of parades.

Grandpa!
She's at it again! Gavon seems to handle all sorts of stuff without getting too upset. He only gets really mad if Shayden takes his favorite thing at the moment. Lately that has been a little Lightening Mcqueen car. He plays with it all the time.
Trying on hats at Khol's

Such a silly boy. He kept putting diapers on his head just for the fun of it.

For Crystal Part 1

2010-10-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

We went to the Pumpkin Walk this week, and I wanted Crystal to see all the cool scenes since she didn't get to see it when she came up before. Here goes!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
VeggieTales! Why is Larry on a golden toilet?
The entrance...dum duh duh...
A Bugs Life
Toy Story!
Pooh Bear

For Crystal Part 2

2010-10-28T08:50:00.001-07:00

101 Dalmations
Spongebob
Nemo
Muppets
Monsters Inc.
Madagascar
How to Train a Dragon
Sleeping Beauty
Gavon liked walking around more than sticking his head in.

What's Up Doc?
UP

Shayden didn't know what to think about this witch. She was pretty nice.

Fablehaven
Pumpkin Beatles

Cast Off!

2010-10-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Gavon got his cast off yesterday! To celebrate I'm posting about all the fun stuff he did the last week.

We went up the canyon for a family hike. So fun! Gavon did not want to turn around.

Couldn't decide which one was more cute.

Pulling out our girl clothes, Shayden had fun dressing Gavon. Here she is looking over her handiwork.
Crystal came up to play with us for a few days. It was so fun! Here we are making slime right before she had to go.
Another cute one from the hike.
2nd Dam

Extra time before bed=lots of fun

A small video of our hike.

This video was about a week ago. Jump!

Whole Wheat Bread/Chicken Marinade

2010-10-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

5 cups Warm Water
2 Tbl. instant yeast
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey
1 Tbl. salt
3 Tbl. gluten
2 Tbl. dough enhancer
12 cups whole wheat flour

Mix all ingredients but only 6 cups flour until well mixed. Add rest of flour 1 cup at a time until dough cleans sides of bowl or forms ball you can knead. Mix in mixer or knead by hand 10 minutes. Divide into fourths and roll into loaves. Put into greased loaf pans. Let rise until double in size. Bake 25-30 minutes at 350 Degrees. Remove from pans and allow to cool.

I finally figured this bread recipe out! I'm all excited about it, because I've tried and tried but only started getting successful a few batches ago. By far the most important thing is the flour. It is only the absolute best if you grind it right before you mix it together. I don't think a few hours will matter, but a few days later, the flour will not taste the same. My father-in-law gave me a wheat grinder, and I now use it all the time. Mmmmm...it makes the best wheat flour. This makes 4 loaves, and I slice it up and freeze it so we only have out what we'll use that day. It only stays real yummy for a day or so at room temperature. It usually takes my loaves about an hour to double in size, and it takes my oven 35 minutes to bake all the way instead of 30.

Gavon likes to pretend to eat things off of tables/books/empty plates, so here he is modeling some invisible bread. I'll have to post a picture of the real thing later.

Also here is my favorite chicken marinade:

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1 tsp. garlic
salt
pepper
Combine all ingredients. Marinate 4 large or 6 small chicken breast at least 1 hour before grilling (I've done as little as 1/2 hour). Does not need to sit overnight. Also great for steak.

Shay's Soccer, Gavon's walkin'

2010-09-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

We got a new camera! Yes! Just in time for the holidays, and a new baby to come.

Gavon's been walking on his leg the past while, but he still sticks it out to the side like he can't bend his knee. His knew cast was put on yesterday morning, so now he can bend his knee!

Shayden did her first week of soccer last week. She was pretty scared of the other kids pushing her around, but a nice girl held her hand and ran around. Fun!

Pure Luck

2010-09-21T09:09:00.001-07:00

Gavon has had no luck. He started putting pressure on his leg last Friday, and now can sit on a tricycle and push himself with both legs. Yesterday he was riding down the sidewalk and hit a bump, falling face first. Bloody nose, bloody lip. Just after that and a quick trip to the park (He was soon a happy boy laughing on the swing) we were playing on our playset in our backyard, and Shayden landed on his fingers while he was pulling himself up. I reminds me of that Martin Short movie Pure Luck.

New Microwave

2010-09-20T10:48:00.001-07:00

Our microwave went out last week, and we tried to live without one for about a week. I just bought one this morning, and I've been using it for everything. "Oh, Gavon, would you like a chicken nugget...hmmm, let me just throw it in. Wala!" I love having a microwave.

Better go get Shay from school.

New Stages

2010-09-14T10:08:00.001-07:00

Gavon just got into this new stage. When he wants something (like cake, cookies, candy) he'll scream/cry "MORE! MORE!" Last night he wanted more chocolate zucchini bread, and was letting out the most high pitched cry. All of a sudden he stopped and got the most serious quiet look on his face and said, "More!" in a deep gritty demanding voice. It was the funniest and most serious thing I've seen him do. He started laughing at me because I was laughing, then we went for a walk. Oh, new stages.

Birthday Boy

2010-09-13T09:18:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Paul's Birthday. We had a special breakfast with pancakes, eggs, bacon, and juice. That's not normal for Paul, because he doesn't like pancakes, but that's what he requested. Maybe he's converting! We weren't able to go to church because of Gavon's Hand Mouth Foot Disease, so we spent the day at home. That night we had his favorite dinner, beans and rice. His birthday cake was a chocolate zucchini bread loaf with "Happy Birthday Dad" written on top. Happy 26th Honey! We love you.

The Poor Guy

2010-09-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

The xray they took of Gavon's leg on Tuesday showed a spiral fracture from just under his growth plate on his tibia to about half way down the bone. They had all sorts of cool casts: glow in the dark, sparkles, camo, you name it. Pretty much anywhere we go, Gavon points out all the balls in pictures, on signs, or in people's yards. He loves to play with them, too, so we got him a soccer ball cast. He'll be in this cast for 3 weeks, and then they'll put him in a smaller cast for another three weeks so he can use his knee. He won't be able to walk on it until next week. He's been really good to get around crawling with his cast dragging to the side. I have to put a sock over his toes so he doesn't get blisters from dragging it.

So, to make it more exciting, I found a rash on his fingers, toes, up his legs and around his mouth on Friday night. I didn't think anything of it; cast rubbing it, heat rash? When I found out Parker had impetigo, which is a bacterial infection that causes a body rash, I thought that's what Gavon had, and took him in right away. The doctor that looked at him said Gavon had Hand Food Mouth Disease. He has sores in his mouth that made the pediatrician positive it was a viral infection. That would explain his loss of appetite. No fever. He's still such a happy boy. His rash today looks like nothing really. The picture above was taken yesterday, and you can barely see it. Just under his bottom lip it looks like a few zits. He's had a runny nose that is just clearing up today. The doctor said all symptoms should be gone in 3-5 days, and we can be around people after 1 week.
We've been trying to keep Shayden healthy. The incubation period for this viral infection is 3-7 days (from the time of infection to the onset of illness). I decided to keep Shayden home from school for the week to make sure she isn't a carrier. She hasn't shown any signs of getting it. It usually only affects infants and toddlers, but adolescents and adults can get very minor side affects from it. The doctor said Shayden might not get it because she's older, but it's possible.
So, we're pretty much home bound. No church, park, library, or school. We've been going on walks, and trying to stay busy at home. Gavon loves to be held, but he also LOVES movies. That's become my downfall. If a movie is on, he is glued. My mom is going to come help me this weekend, so that will be super nice. Hopefully we'll be back and kickin' soon.

First Day of School

2010-09-06T08:36:00.000-07:00

Gavon ran to the back crying, and came back with a backpack for him too. When we came back, and after awhile being home he walked down the hallway saying, "ayen! ayen!" He really missed her that first day. Now he's used to her being gone.
Shay wouldn't pose for anything, but I got her to at least smile from the van.
Gavon had his first visit to instacare after a park trip. Gavon had a blast, and right as we were about to go back to Logan he went down the slide with one of his favorite cousins, and hurt his leg. The xray didn't show a break, but the pediatrician said a child's broken bone doesn't show for a few days; hmmm, strange. He still doesn't put any weight on it, and is in a lot of pain.

Diaper hat boy.

Just relaxin'

Open House at Preschool

2010-08-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

I took Shayden to her classroom this morning. Gavon had a blast there, and was wearing a bunch of beaded necklaces and some ferry wings. He was so happy playing with their kitchen area, reading books, and building things. Shayden didn't want to leave. Tomorrow's the big day. She will love this year.

Cute Girl Hair Ideas

2010-08-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

I got this blog from Paul's cousin, Savana (sp?) who does hair. It's been fun to experiment and try new things on Shayden. Wish I had a picture, but I usually forget.

Just wanted to share the goodness.

There are so many other blogs...here's another one: http://www.shedoeshair.blogspot.com/

Triathlon Buddies

2010-08-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

The best part about living where we live is the awesome people we live by. These are the girls that decided to do a triathlon together. Instead of paying the $40 to do the actual race, we chose a Saturday morning to do the course with just us. Awesome people make all the difference in the world.

Canning Days

2010-08-19T08:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I did 7 quarts salsa, 7 quarts tomatoes, and the day before 7 quarts of peaches. It was lots of hard work, and having to buy the food made it almost not worth it, but nothing really beats home canned peaches. The salsa turned out pretty good too. Paul couldn't stop eating it. Whew, I survived.

It's rainy today. I saw a skunk on my run yesterday, and this morning lighting and thunder made it exciting. Always stuff going on. Paul's about to start school. One more week of summer.

Cute Kids, Hard to get a Picture

2010-08-18T07:08:00.000-07:00

One of my neighbors did a photo shoot with me, but we had tough luck. The kids wouldn't smile, and we barely got these pictures.

Mini Triathalon

2010-08-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

My friends and I just did a mini triathalon. They did a 250 m swim, 12 mile bike and then a 5k, but I only did the swim, 9 miles of the biking, and 2 miles of the 5k. It was still way fun and I felt great. Hopefully I'll be able to keep running and biking until I get too big. I hope to post a picture of it if I can.

Shayden quote of the day

2010-08-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

I'm tired. My body needs vegetables.

Trisa and Bear Lake

2010-08-13T08:47:00.000-07:00

Trisa and Jared came up to Logan for a Bear Lake trip. We spent all day at the beach and had a blast. There's never a dull moment when those guys are around. My kids were laughing a lot, and getting lots of good attention. Holly and Karri took care of them while we went to the temple, and then Alisa was able to play on the beach with us. Way fun!

Baby Girl

2010-08-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

The ultrasound we had Monday showed a healthy little girl at 20 weeks and 2 days. That puts my due date on Christmas Day.

She had her feet crossed, and was curled up in a ball with her hands by her face. She was moving around a lot and even saluted the camera.

We're struggling with names, so any suggestions would help. Paul really likes Ashlin, but I'm not convinced in that yet.

Sheffer Reunion 2010, Panguitch, UT

2010-08-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

Chillin' on the couch.
Around the Camp Fire. Gavon just figured out he can put stuff in his ears.
Holly was so awesome to push the kids.

The Sheffer Reunion this year was at the Ranch

Old Pics

2010-07-29T10:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some cute pictures of Gavon just before our camera died. He calls Paul, "Dadden," and he calls his shoes, "Aboot." It's so cute to watch him laugh and play.

Shaydenism and The Glass Castle

2010-07-20T19:35:00.001-07:00

Shaydenism
Last week I was working in our garden with the kids picking peas and lettuce. Gavon would only get the top little bit of the lettuce, but he sure had fun picking it and putting it in the bucket. There were a lot of flies, bugs and mosquitoes. I kept getting bit and said, "Ouch, these mosquitoes keep on biting me." With the biggest eyes, Shayden said, "Mosquitoes have teeth?!" I thought that was so funny.

The Glass Castle
I've been reading The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. I absolutely love that book. I carry it around with me, and everywhere I go someone will say, "Isn't that the best book?" It's so interesting to me, and is worth reading over the dad's swearing. Kami let me borrow it, and she let my mom read it, who wanted to throw it across the room. Crystal read it, and my aunt and uncle Richard and Irene.

What a crazy way to live, but they love their kids so much. It's an interesting thing, because you want your kids to be as independent as possible, but wow. I'll have a lot more to say when I finish the book. I'm only 1/4 the way through.

Loves to Glue

2010-07-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

Lately Shayden has been repeating everything I say to other people, and asking, "Why?" to pretty much everything. She is starting Preschool Head Start next month, 8:30-11:30. She is very excited. The other day, I was trying to fold laundry while Gavon was sleeping, and Shayden was just talking away, playing by her bedroom. I was thinking how glad I was that she could have so much fun playing by herself for a while so I could get chores done. About half way through one load I heard a big RIIIPPPPP. Hmmm...I better go check that out. She had been ripping small pieces of paper and using glue to decorate the wall. Cool huh?! We transferred her art to a bigger piece of paper for an easy clean up. Way to go Shay!

Mantz Reunion 2010, Monticello, UT

2010-07-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

The very first day we went down to Monticello, Shayden dropped our camera, and now it just beeps and won't turn on. All of these pictures are from other cameras. We all had a blast. Paul was sad to go home.

Hiking Butler Wash. This was a cute little arch we climbed into to see some old Indian hand prints. Great Grandpa Mantz is helping Shayden climb down.
Wave running at Recapture. Annika is coming in, and I'm just about to get out of the water.
Gavon stole someone's chair! Who can get mad at such a cute kid, though.
Brotha and Sista.
Gavon was drinking water like crazy. He is on Paul's back. Laura just had surgery on her foot, and was catching a ride home.
Southern Utah rocks! This was the Butler Wash trail just 20 miles south of Blanding. It had some really cool Indian ruins.
Go Jon!
Everyone that did the hike.
Jon showing off some leg. This is at Recapture again where the kids got soaking wet. We had a lot of fun with you guys.
Daddy, sister, brother. I like Paul's pose in this one.
This is where we stopped for a quick lunch before a nice storm rolled by.
This is so cool!
Mantz grandkids. It seems like Celia caught all their personalities really well.
Shayden and Garick
Waiting to go down.
Let's go!
Swimming at Recapture.

Paul sure loves his family and he was able to see all of them. We also went to the Blanding Parade on Saturday, and ran the 5k that morning. Lynette ran with me and I got a 25:09. We drove home before the fireworks though, so we'll have to make it to some awesome 24th of July fireworks.

One more from the Panguitch Trip

2010-06-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

On a nice Sunday walk in Panguitch.

Daddy

2010-06-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

We got to go see Paul on his Family Day during his Annual Training. Hooray! The kids loved to ride the white bus up to where he's been working on building a base near Camp Williams. They were so excited to see their Daddy. We were even able to stay with him for a while that night and visit Jon and Lynette.

Panguitch

2010-06-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

Shayden and Dillon. Isn't this funny!?
On Saturday morning they had a Pioneer Day Heritage Festival with handcart rides, candle making, panning for gold, homemade rootbeer, miniature quilts for the kids to tie, cornhusk dolls, wheat berries, and the cutest little petting zoo with puppies, kittens, ducks and goats. Kinda cold that day.
This was not planned...Crazy huh!?
How can life not be good when you're a kid?
Sprinklers!
Shayden rode Dixie for almost a whole half hour. She went up to the cattle guard and back at least four times. Gavon woke up from his nap for a quick picture before heading back to Panguitch for the Quilt Walk.
Shayden loved to swing on this crab apple tree like a monkey. Gavon's in the background throwing rocks.
We picked rhubarb a couple of times and ate it for breakfast. Shayden loved this; Gavon too. After picking it, she yelled while holding it up, "It's as big as me!!" She liked to pretend it was an umbrella. Gavon just liked to hit things with his...especially Grandpa.
This is my mom's parents' grave in Panguitch Cemetery. We got ice cream at Henry's Drive In and drove up to see their grave. Gavon was half way across the cemetery before I could get Shayden out of the van too.
Riding the sheep! This spring my mom had 8 lambs born. Gavon LOVED to chase them around.
Swinging in the back yard.

Gavon loved playing with the dog. He learned how to say, "Down!" To the dog. It's funny to watch what he does in the background in all the videos we took while we were down for the week. The dog's name is Cal, but Shayden calls him "Culley." Shayden is actually trying to lasso the dog, and she's calling it like it's a cow.

Gavon Boy

2010-06-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

Ewe!

Trying to get up after jumping off the couch.

Shayden 3rd Birthday

2010-06-01T08:21:00.001-07:00

Hula Girl!

Cinderella was the first one to disappear.
We made box cars and had popcorn while watching Cinderella.

Alisa with a baby...cute huh!??
I like Parker in this one. "Yo!"

Gavon would not eat anything else if there was a cupcake around.

Airport Story

2010-05-31T10:15:00.001-07:00

Finishing up what happened at the airport...I got all my milk taken away. I love milk in the first place, but take away a pregnant woman's milk? No way! I was so sad. They also took my sunscreen and water. The flight was pretty miserable too; 10 hours of sitting, waiting, thinking about my milk that they confiscated. It was nice to finally be in Hawaii, and we had a great time. It felt good to be home.

Hawaii

2010-05-27T15:42:00.000-07:00

Driving around the Island our last day.
On our morning walk. This is Waikiki, and our hotel is a few buildings to the right my head.
These crabs freaked me out! They're like huge spiders. The water looks far away, but it's only two feet down.
This is how we showered...just kidding. We went on a beautiful hike called Maunawili Falls. This is just below the falls, but it was beautiful. There's a video of Paul jumping off that small little cliff by the falls at the bottom of this post. People were jumping off the left cliff about 40 feet up. There was a sign by the water that said, Warning Health Hazard, This fresh water stream contains asldkfj;alskdjf;lskd (some bacteria). Do not swim if you have open wounds, yada yada. Some girl said her mom got it when she was pregnant and couldn't take the medication for it, so she was nasty sick for a long time. Cross my fingers there.

The trail was beautiful! It was also very muddy and we were covered in mud by the time we reached the falls.
There are these crazy hollow trees that don't know which way is up. Here's Paul riding one, and Paul got me trying to climb down in the next pic.

This is punchbowl. In order to be buried here you have to be a veteran or in the military. Lots of cool people are buried here including the first Hawaiian Astronaut.
This is the monument honoring the people who died in the USS Oklahoma. Each marble post has a name on it. It's inland a little ways on Ford Island close to the USS Missouri. The Oklahoma was docked where the Missiouri is today when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harber. The soldiers that were able to jump off swam burning to shore. Many died by the tree behind me. The Oklahoma was repaired and towed to mainland for scrapmetal eventually, but the in transit the cable broke and the ship sank deep into the ocean.
This is just one of the many cool rooms on the USS Missouri.
Looking off the very top.
Those are huge guns! The surrender deck is below us to the right, and the USS Arizona is straight ahead.
This is the surrender deck. I'm standing by a plaque on the floor that says something to the effect that Japanese surrendered by signing a paper on a table right here while the Missouri was in Tokyo Bay. The Missouri was built in 1943? in New York, sailed to California, and then was used in the Pacific for the end of WWII. It had these dents from a kamikaze airplane that hit the side, split in half, and fell to the water without doing any real damage. The upper half with the pilot hit the wall of the Missouri. Only the pilot died, and they had a special ceremony for him the next day. Cool story. This battleship was also used in the Vietnam and Desert Storm eras. It retired in the 90's and just barely was made into a museum.
This is where they launched torpedoes from. This whole room is covered in machinery like this.
This is the Japanese embassy that came aboard the Missouri to sign the surrender papers. Gen. Douglas McAurther is to the left beginning the ceremony.
Here are the papers.
Details...who signed, and when.
The cool plaque.
USS Missouri from the side.
This is on the USS Arizona memorial. The first room is full of flags.
Here is the plaque at the end of the memorial. It is completely full of names and is about 10 feet tall.
On the side of the memorial, the biggest part of the ship that is seen is this third turret. Oil is still leaking from a part of the ship just below us, and each end of the ship is marked by a bowie on my left and right. It looks like a small white dot in the picture.
Riding the ferry over to the USS Arizona Memorial. A little less than 100 men are still entombed there. Survivors that wish to be buried there, have a special ceremony and are cremated and put into the third turret. The Arizona was the only ship that was not recovered after the Pearl Harbor attack.
There were rainbows everywhere here. Here is the Arizona and the Missouri under a rainbow.

This is the USS Bowfin Submarine.
The USS Arizona's anchor.
Waterfalls! We hiked up to this beautiful one the day after the PCC. We saw papaya, banana, avacado trees, wild boar nests, and this really cool grass that branches out, but when you touch it it, it sucks in and looks like normal grass. Should've gotten a video of that one.
Isn't this picture funny! This guy took it right after we snorkeled Hanauma Bay, but it looks like I'm huge! Really, I'm only 8 weeks here (just found that out).
Gorgeous flowers.
Huge leaves!
The li ceremony at the Ali'i Luau at the PCC.

Mmmmm...
Luau...lots of yummy food.
There's a crazy looking tree that grew side ways over the river.
Canoe Pageant dancers. This was so cool!
Ohhhh....we love each other so much.
This is the Laie Temple right next to BYU-Hawaii and the PCC. It's been closed for the past 17 months for renovations.

Dole....Isn't pineapple so cool?

Out our hotel window. Parking garage!

We made it back! What a trip. It was so fun to actually be there and see all of the cool things on Oahu. The first day we were there Paul said, "Whoever makes doors here they are probably out of business because there aren't any doors!" Everything is straight outside.

It started out pretty rough with the plain ride. First off, my bag was 18 lbs over the 50 lb limit. Hmmm...must be all that Gosner's milk. I decided to take them out and put them in my carry on bag (little 8 oz boxes). I also grabbed my big bottle of sunscreen thinking I would use it when we got there. That made it the perfect weight so we went up to our gate. In the line I asked Paul, "Why is an airport a sitting duck for a terrorist? Why do terrorists come here?" Paul looked at me and said, "Don't even say that word. You'll get escorted away somewhere."

Baby Mantz and Booger Story

2010-05-27T07:44:00.000-07:00

I went in for my ultrasound on Shayden's birthday Monday morning. The baby's heart was beating at 175 bpm, and he was wiggling around just a little bit every now and then. Gavon's first ultrasound, he was perfectly still, and Shayden was flailing her arms and legs like crazy. Every kid was different. I was exactly 9 weeks that morning. I thought I was farther along than that, but we weren't sure. My due date is Dec 27. Christmas baby!

At the first apt. your supposed to sign a bunch of finance papers, and while I was talking to the lady, Shayden was picking her nose. I looked at her and asked, "Do you want a tissue?" Shayden, "No." Two minutes later, "Let me get you a tissue." The lady got out a box and had her grab a tissue. She tried to blow, but still had a big booger on her finger. When she went to throw the tissue away I asked, "Did you get the booger in the garbage too?" Shayden, "Yah." "Woop, it's still on your finger honey." The garbage was under the lady's desk at her feet. Flick, not luck; tried again, no luck. A little bit of help, and we got it. I thought it was so funny. My mom was there too. The lady seemed pretty grossed out.

Shayden wanted to see the baby, so I let her come to the ultrasound. She kept saying, "Cute little baby!"

Family Garden

2010-05-03T10:15:00.000-07:00

Pictures to come of our garden! Grandmother and Grandpa Bob let us use some land by their shed. Hopefully it will be successful. It's been a lot of work, and we have only planted some garlic and peas. It might be a little too late to plant the rest of our spring vegetables. I had swiss chard, lettuce, spinich, carrots, and onions. The ground has to be cold for those to germinate, I think. It's hard to get over there to work. Gavon and Shayden have been good to just play in the gravel and sand. Gavon was so cute. He climbed to the top of a small gravel hill and started laughing like he was the coolest kid in the whole world. Shay and Gavon love to play outside.

Gavon catches on to things so fast. He's started to want to put his dishes in the sink after meals, and if I do something to Shayden, he'll want it too. After church I gave Shay a huge hug and right after, Gavon came up to me with his arms wide open. He gives the best hugs.

What do You Want For Breatkfast?

2010-04-23T09:08:00.000-07:00

I asked Shay what she wanted for breakfast, and she said, "Jelly Beans." Eventually she wanted oatmeal.

Lately she has been loving to play with pencils. She'll pretend they're people, and play "dead man" with them, or have them talk to each other. "Are you Joseph Smith? No, I'm your father. No, You're not my father, you're a girl!" She is pretty excited about the baby in my tummy. She'll say, "Can I hold the baby?" And then pretend to hold and take care of a tiny baby. "Can I see the baby?" I told her the baby has to stay in my tummy until he gets bigger and bigger. "He will come out around Christmas, and then you can hold him." She says she has a baby in her tummy too, and the other day she put a bottle of conditioner up her shirt and had it come out like it was a baby. Gavon doesn't really understand yet.

Soon to Be, Mommy of Three

2010-04-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

I'm about 5 weeks along. Yahoo!

Drama Queen

2010-04-19T12:58:00.001-07:00

Are all 2 almost 3-year-olds this dramatic? For lunch today we had leftover artichoke lasagna, brocoli and home canned peaches. When I put a peach on Shay's plate, I cut it in half real quick, and she threw a fit. She refused to eat it and just screamed and cried, "I want a big one!" It's been like this for a while. Will she ever grow out of it?

Baby Animal Days

2010-04-13T09:20:00.000-07:00

We finally got out to Baby Animal Days at the American West Heritage Center.

Let's go Fly a Kite

2010-04-13T09:08:00.000-07:00

Shay's new favorite thing is to fly a kite, and play with neighbors of course. She just started saying yesterday morning, "Nopey Nopey." We were watching the garbage man drive away, and I said, "Is he going to come back?" or something close to that, and she said, "Nopey, Nopey." She thought she was so funny.

Easter Weekend

2010-04-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

We went to a Mall Easter Egg Hunt Saturday morning where they separated age groups and let the kids go get candy. Balloons were all over the floor, too. Gavon thought the balloons were way cooler than candy, so got one candy bar and threw the balloons around while other kids picked up candy. Shayden thought it was pretty fun. Easter morning we had the kids find their baskets full of candy. I have never seen them eat so much candy...SUGAR RUSH! It was like they would never get a chance to eat candy ever again. We had a great time watching conference, but we missed all the family get togethers going on. It makes me sad when we miss out on the fun.

Gavon playing with a balloon we took home from the egg hunt.

One night before bed, Gavon got so tired, and thought everything was hilarious. Shayden was sliding around in the kitchen in her one piece pajamas, and he was laughing like crazy.

Saturday between sessions we went to Macey's and pet some little baby goats, and road these log animals.

Grandpa/Race Day

2010-03-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

Gavon LOVED Grandpa. He would just snuggle up, wrap his arms around his neck and push his cheek to Grandpa's face. It was so cute!
We had Fortune Cookie after the race with my mom, Sheila and Crystal. We missed you Kami!! Right as we sat down, Sheeb said, "Now if only Kami were here."
Here's me and my finishing metal. It felt great! I definitely want to do the Riverton 1/2 Marathon again. Lynette did it too; so fun. I got a 1:43, 1st in my age division and I think 12th woman overall. Lynette got 3rd overall with a 1:35--amazing!

Bountiful Baskets

2010-03-22T13:03:00.000-07:00

I tried Bountiful Baskets for the first time last week. Thanks for your help Joanna! Paying the extra $3 for my first basket, I calculated that I would have spent the same amount at the grocery store buying everything at a good price; apples 0.99/lb, tomatoes 0.99/lb, green onions 0.50, celery 0.99, lettuce 0.99, strawberries 0.99/lb, kumquats, kale, asparagus 0.99/lb, mangoes 0.99. Overall, I think it's worth the effort to go pick it up on a Saturday. I think it fits my personality, because I buy food and then decide what I want to make with it. I usually keep 3-4 meals that I want to make on a white board in the kitchen, and then see what our family feels like that day. Planning meals and buying from a grocery list does not work for me. I like seeing what I have in my fridge and figuring out a healthy meal I can cook up with it.

I'll probably do Bountiful Baskets every other week.

Shayden's New Discoveries

2010-03-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

Lately Shayden has been recognizing different colors of skin. Last night she said to me about a little boy, "He's black. We'd better wash him."

She's also been talking about dying. When I took Gavon to the doctor, "Gavon's going to die." Last night in the bathtub, "I'm dead, Mom," and she held perfectly still.

New Camera

2010-03-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

Yeah! I broke down and bought a 12.2 Megapixel Kodak EasyShare M341. Pictures are worth it! More pictures and videos to come.

Workin' Out with Denise Austin--Go Shay!

2010-03-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

Luckiest Mom

2010-03-15T08:40:00.001-07:00

Shayden's hair just curls all by itself in these beautiful ringlets. I'm the luckiest mom in the world!

Gavon's Stats

2010-03-08T13:28:00.000-08:00

Gavon is such a solid little boy, and he eats so much I thought he would be much heavier. It surprised me to find his stats at his apointment today.

Length: 29.75 in. 12%
Weight: 23.63 lbs 36%
Head Circ.: 19.2 in. 88%

He handled the shots like a trooper. He's such a good kid. I love how he gets so excited and laughs. He's still a major dare devil and walks straight off the big slide. I really have to watch that kid.

Lately I've been having mommy nightmares; the ones where you leave or forget about your kid, and you find them later hurt because you left them. I always wake up scared from those.

Reading to Baby

2010-03-03T16:53:00.001-08:00

I just found Shayden reading a book to her baby doll. Cute! She is now 100% potty trained. Hallelujah.

Yesterday I took the kids to the library in the bike trailer. I went with one of my neighbor friends who is due April 8, so she was almost 8 months pregnant, and she totally whooped me. I was breathing hard less than 1/2 mile from home and she was barely winded the whole time. My trailer did have a 2 and heavy 1 year old (Gavon is huge!) but that's no excuse.