snow day.

When I was a kid, there was nothing more magical than snow. I still believe in the magic of snow, it just ends when December is over. I think it's the cold. Or the wet icy roads. Or the smell that 6th graders create after recess when it's snowy. All bad things. But there is something about watching your child play in the snow for the first time. When she first saw snow falling she pointed and yelled, "Elsa!" (we watch Frozen on the daily over here). I loved watching her waddle around, only  taking two steps until she fell down. My little Scamper the penguin. Walking in boots is a hard task. She liked eating the snow, but loved wiping it off my car. It was like she was my own personal snow scraper. It could have entertained her for hours. And watching her could entertain me for hours.
I guess Harper helped me realize that the magic of snow is here to stay.

Venna's birth story.

So if a website could gather dust, then my blog would be covered. How could I let a year and a half pass without even a peep is beyond me. A new year, a new years resolution: back to blogging. I mean I don't keep a journal, and I have a memory that is worse than the lady on the notebook. I need to write down my life so Shyler can read it to me in the old folks home. Any ways it has been three months since our sweet Venna joined our family and I need to write it down before it is gone from my memory.  We found out we were pregnant back in January (yes last January. and yes I realize it is now January again. time flies). I was late, if you catch my drift, and panic started to happen. Shyler made me take a test the end of the month and when I saw the little pink positive sign, I immediately started to cry. We just celebrated Harper's first birthday and I couldn't fathom having two kids under two. I think the second time around the pregnancy really does fly by. You have your hands full with a little one you hardly have time to think about the little one you are growing. We decided to not find out what the gender was until birth. I had such a hard time with the labor with Harper, I thought it would help motivate me with all those contractions. If only I knew the second birth is nothing like the first. 

It all start September 28th around 4 in the morning. I woke up with cramping. I didn't know if it was false labor, or the real deal. I wasn't due with Venna until October 17, so I pretty much convinced myself it wasn't happening. I think I also have this fear of being a baby so I didn't help.As time went on, they continued to occur and got a little stronger. Around 6, I rolled over and told Shyler that I could be in labor and maybe I should get a substitute for school. I called my mom to come over and help with Harper. I told Shyler to go to work and I would call him when it was almost time to go to the hospital. When my mom got to the house, Shyler ran to the store to get me pebbled ice and some diet coke. When he got back he started me a bath to help me relax. At this point the contractions just felt like strong period cramps. Back in the day I had some nasty period cramps, so it wasn't beyond what I could handle. I got out of the bath and went to talk to my mom for a bit. I could talk through every contraction like it wasn't a big deal. She told me to go lay down and try and rest. This is where the switch flipped. Two minutes after laying and and breathing through each contraction I suddenly felt like I was going to die. I started crying and really started to panic. I couldn't breathe and the contraction seemed to last forever. When it finally stopped, I immediately started worrying when the next one would start. It came on strong again and I was screaming for Shyler to take me to the hospital. Not my finest moment. We luckily live only 5 minutes from the hospital. On our drive over I suddenly felt the urge to push. It was like my body knew exactly what to do, when I didn't have a clue. I started pushing and I felt a pop. My water broke all over the seat (sorry workers at Wiggy Wash). We pulled up to the curb and I started walking, the best I could, up to the labor and delivery room. I had to stop in the lobby as a contraction came, and continued pushing. A security guard saw me (Shyler was trying to get the car valeted) and brought me a wheelchair. By the time we reached the curb of the hospital until Venna was in my arms was 11 minutes. Total.

We got up to the labor and delivery floor, and there was a secretary at the desk who told us she would see if there was a room available. It seemed like she was gone forever, and you guessed it, I was pushing. The security guard started yelling at her, "this girl is pushing!" I guess that put some pep in her step because we were surrounded by nurses and rushed to a room. They checked and said I was dilated to a 10. No time for an epidural.  My. Worst. Nightmare. I am a big believer in modern medicine. That is when sheer fear took over. I don't think I should be accountable for what was screamed out of my lips. Words I had never said in my life. Luckily I only pushed twice until they placed this sweet baby on me. It took me a few seconds to realize that we had a sweet baby girl. I could have sworn it was a boy. It was such a fast labor and delivery. I can honestly say that one of my most proudest moments is giving natural birth.

Venna Darling we are so glad you came so soon, we can't imagine life with out you.

happy anniversary

shy and i just recently celebrated our second year anniversary. there were so many things that  helped us grow in our second year of marriage. the obvious big one is having our sweet little baby. having a baby definitely changes the makeup of a marriage. we were both raised so differently, so coming together on how to raise a baby has been a little challenging. there has definitely been arguments on what do when its bedtime, or dinner time, or bath time, or nap time ok you get it. although there have been disagreements, there has never been so much joy in our marriage. becoming parents has changed how we value spending time with each other. a night out with out the baby is like liquid gold. i love having time with just the two of us. it has helped us see how important taking time to do little things for each other is. for our anniversary we went up to salt lake and spent a night in the peer hotel. i begged shy ever since i saw that it was supposedly haunted. apparently the elevator is haunted by ghosts. it is the oldest hotel in utah and the elevator can only carry three people at a time, but it was perfect for us. in fact in the morning we were headed to breakfast, when we stepped on the elevator and hit the button i started thinking about the ghost when all of a sudden the whole room went black. the power went off for a split second and then i got all spooked and was glad to be leaving her here. for dinner we went and ate at la caille. we had eaten there once before in high school when he had taken me for my birthday. how a high schooler could afford a 200 dollar meal was beyond me, because we could barley afford it now. it was such an amazing dinner. the food was absolutely incredible. we felt so rich sipping our lemonade and eating such exquisite food. we sat out side and they have peacocks wandering around the grounds. one came up to our table and i could have died. one of my favorite parts was when they brought out a chocolate mousse plate that said happy anniversary with a sparkler on it. just another reason why i love shyer, he always makes things so special.

there are so many reasons why i am completely in love with shyer. he is everything that i am not, and i would like to say that i am the things he is not. alone we are not as much, but when we are together we are the perfect pair. he is the most service orientated person i know. constantly looking to help others, which i need help to do. he works so hard for our little family, often staying up late in the night to study, since he spent time with the two of us. everyone knows that if i don't get enough sleep i am like the troll in lord of the rings. shyler is always teasing me that i have such a child like faith that helps him remember what is important.  i am so blessed to be sealed to my sweetheart for eternity. the best decision i ever did do was ask him to the sadie hawkins dance. love you to the moony moon moon, to infinity and beyond.

welcome to roley city high school.

murder. murder murder. yes, we love how to host murder parties. hannah threw one that was just, oh so fun. it took place in the 50's. which just so happens to be my favorite time period. ever. shy and i have actually have been quite busy lately and put our costumes off until an hour before the party. lucky for us we happened to have all we needed stashed away in our closet. shy and i were a couple named Cal and Pris. we were the nerdy, studous pair. which i think is fitting for one of us hee hee.
the decorations were perfect and it felt like we were in a real diner, sipping coke, eating onion rings and club sandwiches. 

unfortunately i was in charge of dessert. i brought a cookie dough pie that just would't quite cook, so it was more like a soup. heaven knows i need some cooking classes. poor shyler either gets chicken and rice for dinner or pancakes. those are my two specialties. 

after four rounds of trying to figure out which one of us murdered poor Rocky Roley, we finally cast our votes and all information came to light. yes folk, it looks like i married a murderer.
shyler, or should say Cal, killed that rockstar Rocky.

spry cafe.

things have been pretty crazy as of lately. shyler and our friend tyrel and have been taking over restaurant (with the help of my brother and father in law), in salem. it used to be called simply juicy, but with many changes it is now known as spry cafe. 

restaurant (dang hard word to spell! same word i missed in the 4th grade spelling bee, always coming back to a haunt me!!) any ways, restaurant business is quite the busy beee business. we have been remodeling the cafe which really has taken weeks. my favorite part of remodel is the wood wall. we collected tons of free pallets and cut them apart to create the wall. i think it looks amazing and maybe someday, when we finally have a home to call our own, we may have a wall like it as well. 

it is a fresh cafe, everything made is homemade. you can order smoothies, wraps, salads, or street tacos. no worries, if you have a sweet tooth there are cookies, tarts and delicious matilda chocolate cake that is to die for.  sometime i feel like the chubby boy on matilda wanting a whole pan all to myself. we just had the grand opening of the cafe and the chamber of commerce came to do the ceremony where they cut the ribbon. it felt all official.

the two cute business owners together. i can't believe we have been friends for 10 years. look what can happen in ten years.  

me with my cute hubby. sometimes i go and help when things get busy, and sometimes i go to snack when things get busy because everything is tasty tasty.

 the cute girls who work for us. and my little sister is on the far left woot woot.

it has been fun to watch all of our hard work pay off and to see business double in profit. 

maybe one day harper will work at the cafe, until then bottoms up with a delicious pina colada smoothie.

Harper's blessing day (playing catch up).

yikes, it has already been two months since we blessed our sweet babe. and i feel like writing on here, so much has changed! which it has. but here is a little post to catch up on a very important day. 

on sunday march 8th we blessed harper. we waited until sick season was over before embarking her into a dangerous germ infested church building. it was such a special day and we were so happy to share it with so many loved ones.

we couldn't resist another 5 generation picture. all girls. all the time. now if i can just look as good as these ladies when i age.... here is to hoping.

harper and daddy. i am so beyond blessed to have a husband who holds the preisthood and can give us a blessing any time we wish.

harper and mama.

great great grandma and grandpa gilson. grandma had mama over with a seamstress who sewed harper a blessing dress. she had the most intricate dresses that were just absolutely beautiful, it was so hard to choose one that i liked the most. 

harper with grandma dru. if only grandma didn't live so far away. we are planning a visit in august.

harper with granny and papa. shout out thanks to my own mama, who tends harper while i am at school teaching. t minus 6 days until summer!

some of my ramblings.

this past weekend my granny and gg came down from boise to visit little harper lee.

it was one of the first times that i took harper out of the house. we have spent a lot of time at home. i have watched all of the gossip girl series, read many books and even ordered chinese food for the first time in my life. life has been so different with a little one at our house. there is no more up and leaving at the last minute, there is a giant check list of things in my mind before we leave the house....

feeding harper.

pumping.

disinfecting bottles. 

changing her diaper.

packing the diaper bag.

pumping. pumping. pumping.

it has taken me a long time to feel like i am starting to get the hang of this being a mom thing. one of the hardest things has been breastfeeding. it felt as though that was all i was doing with my day. feed her for 30 minutes, pump for 30 minutes and then an hour later repeat. always asking myself is she crying because she is hungry? gassy? poopy? oh gosh, is she hungry? i never could see how much she was eating, so i never knew how full she really was. i started exclusively pumping. it feels like her feeding time has gotten a lot quicker, and i can see exactly how much she is eating. it is going to be interesting seeing how things play out next week when i have to go back to school. that is a whole other story...trying to figure out when and where i will be able to pump. 

harper is probably one of the best babies in the world. i mean we really lucked out with a easy pregnancy, easy delivery and easy baby. she loves to cuddle. she will bury her head into your neck and fall asleep. some of her favorite past times are watching the ceiling fan and singing songs with mama. she is starting to smile, which melts my heart and she gets really excited when it is time for her diaper to be changed. her favorite place in the house right now is the changing table. seriously how cute is that?

really i think that our life can't get any better. i have an amazing husband who takes turns getting up at 2:00 in the morning to feed her (actually he lost a bet and is doing the night feedings for the next three nights in a row wahoo!) on the bright side for him, harper slept until 6:30 this morning making her sleeping through the night for two nights in a row. rrrrrrraaaaaaoooooorrrr (audience applause). 

let's keep our fingers crossed that it wasn't just a fluke.  

new born shots. as in photos.

we took harper to get her pictures taken. i made sure to feed her full so she would sleep during our session but the second we got there... bing! her eyes were wide open. luckily our photographer was a pro at snuggling the baby into a sleep and luckily she wasn't too afraid of poop. the minute we took off her diaper she happened to have a little accident all over the floor, and her mama for that matter. any ideas on breaking that habit? it seems to be one that we have developed here. but oh i love how these pictures turned out. especially the ones with her daddy. i love watching those two, there is nothing quite like it. 

the great gatsby.

our friend kaila was turning 24 so everyone decided to throw her a roaring 1920's party. 

we spent the entire day setting up shop. my mom said it was a lot of work for one dang party, but really there are no lengths the bischof's won't take to have a great party. i think party planning is our middle name.

we had to pour the martinellies just like in the movie... and it actually worked with little spillage on the table...

we had a bunch of tables with different poker games and yummy fruity chewy candies for the poker chips. i think it is probably a good thing that real gambling is frowned upon, because when i won 150 fruities while playing russian roulette it was a litte hard not to get too cocky if you know what i mean. too bad i lost a bunch later while playing black jack...

setting up all the games. yes that is a homemade russian roulette. 

i think part of my favorite part of the night was dancing to shots. i mean i love that song so much i played it at my wedding (sorry grandma haws).

although i actually never read the great gatsby, i think i would have made a pretty good flapper girl.

Harper's Birth Story.

i found out i was pregnant back in april during spring break. my mom, sister, and i went up to boise to visit family. the entire trip i was so exhausted, like the minute you wake up want to climb back in bed and never face the world kind of tired. i constantly would call home to shyler and complain how tired i was, and how i was 1000% sure i was sick with mono. he kept telling me when i got home we would go to the doctor and see what was making me so tired. on the last day of the trip my aunts got me a pregnancy test and made me take it. i went to the bathroom and did my business when the little positive sign came up. it didn't even take the entire two minutes to appear. i must have been really pregnant. all i could think was how fast we had gotten pregnant. i had only been off my birth control for 2 months. we both felt that we have had so many opportunities and privileges of amazing adventures together (knowing someone for 10 years that will happen) that we wanted to start our family. i mean i was 25 gosh dang it, i didn't want my ovaries to get dusty. i called shy and told him the news, he was so excited when i got home he had decorated the entire house in baby decorations. the joke is he decorated the entire house in blue. thinking he would have a son first. but then again i thought it would be a boy as well so the joke really was on the both of us.

my pregnancy was pretty much picture perfect. except for the fact that i felt like i had mono on steroids. it didn't help that i was teaching 6th graders and it was almost summer. the fatigue only lasted the first trimester and then i basically didn't feel pregnant until i felt her move. i never threw up during the entire pregnancy. i know girls that would probably like to punch me right about now. i had a friend who never quit throwing up throughout her pregnancy. although i did get nauseous a few times. like when i would be backing my car out of the driveway, sitting up too quickly, or the smell of pickles (which actually always makes me nauseous). when we had out ultra sound we had the technician write down what the gender was and put it in an envelope. then we had a cake baked and frosted the inside with the color of the gender. we invited out family and friends to a park and cut the cake. when i saw pink frosting i was in complete shock. i just though my entire life i would have 5 boys. don't ask me why. it's probably because i grew up with only sisters and boys are a complete mystery to me. a week before we found out what we were having, shyler told me he hoped it was a girl i think heavenly father was kind of  softening his heart to the idea. it takes a special dad to be the father of a girl. i would know because i have the best dad, and i know shyler will be just like him.

i was worried because she was due one week before christmas eve. the hospital i was delivering at wouldn't let me be induced until a week after my due date, which like i previously mentioned was christmas eve. now i don't want to sound selfish, but who wants to be in lab or on christmas eve? i decided to try everything i could to help my labor start naturally. i got pedicures, ate sicey food and booked a prenatal massage. i went in for the massage on saturday, december 13th. it was really most amazing thing. she told me i probably would feel minor contractions that day, and boy was she right. later that afternoon i started feeling contractions around 4 o clock. they started getting more consistent the later it got. around 7:00 we were timing them around 2 minutes apart, so we packed our bags and headed to the hospital. when we got there i was only dilated to a 1. the hospital policy is that they keep you for an hour and if you dilate to another centimeter they will keep you, if not they will send you home. unfortunately i didn't dilate any further so they sent us home. that night was basically hell. pardon my french. the contractions were getting really strong and so frequent i didn't sleep a wink. and the worst part was i look over at shyler sound asleep in bed. yes, the meanie in me wanted to smother him with my pillow. i couldn't make it past 9:30 before we were headed back to the hospital, this time to stay. i was now dilated to a 3. all night in pain and only 2 centimeter more dilated. the nurse kept telling me to relax, let my body do what it was supposed to do and i would dilate faster, but every time a contraction came it was so painful my whole body would tense up. congrats to those who can force their body to relax when the entire thing keeps tensing up. as soon as i got the epidural came though everything changed. bless modern medicine. in five minutes i no longer felt any pain, my body was able to relax and i went from a 3 to a 10 in a few hours. i was so nervous to push, but in the end that was the easiest part. it was so encouraging hearing the doctor and shyler say they could see a head of dark hair. i only pushed for 16 minutes before i was able to meet my sweet little baby. the nurses cleaned her up and we were able to cuddle skin to skin. it was the most magical thing i have ever experienced. she was fussy but the minute i started talking to her she completely calmed right down. she was perfect. she was born on december 14, at 4:46 pm. she weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. i can't explain the feelings of becoming a mother. i am so blessed to have little harper lee. i think i am sold on this cuddle bug. 

shy guys birthday

i decided to throw shy a surprise birthday party this year. and let's just say i am not so good at keeping secrets. there were so many times i wanted to blow it… on purpose i might add. i guess he can feel confident that i can't keep things from him. and i guess you can call me a chatty kathy.

it turned out perfect. i decided to have an alice and wonderland mad tea party theme. 

kinda girly, but hey who planned it?

i had so much fun decorating with all of our wedding decorations, they make for a splendid tea party.

we had hot chocolate that we sipped out of our many tea cups, as well as iced tea to cool us down. 

it was fun to have everyone dress up for a night. i can't believe it was six years ago we first celebrated your birthday together. someone pinch me please. our lives are far too perfect. love you to the moony moon moon. happy 25. quarter of a century, hopefully three more to go.