ahem...the last 3 months of our lives.

Well, since I haven't blogged in months, here is a condensed (yet still pretty lengthy) run down of our lives since- oh- July. (I am going to save our move across the country that happened 4 MONTHS ago for another post.) If you can endure through it there is a little surprise nugget at the end. If you can't endure through it all, yet you can't resist a nugget, then just scroll to the bottom. You won't hurt my feelings. Much.

July: We finally got to spend the 4th in Idaho Falls for the first time in 5 years. We saw the parade, had "Pinks" hot dogs, went golfing (well...Nic did. I rode around in the cart with Mason), and went to the firework show. 4th of July is kind of a big deal in good ol' IF.

The middle of July my sister came up from Arizona to visit. We went up to my dad's cabin in Island Park. We played around the cabin, relaxed, went out on the boat and went into West Yellowstone. Then Shay and my mom came down to SLC to help me decorate my house. Good times.

The rest of July and most of August we hung out at home and got use to our new surroundings.

Then over labor day weekend we decided to go the Hall Family cabin (also in Island park). We jet skiied, went into West Yellowstone (again), rode motorcyles, and relaxed. I have such fond childhood memories of that place.

(Nic decided he wanted to try his hand at fishing. In the middle of the night. With marshmellows for bait. He failed.)

(S'mores)

(I love this picture below. It is so quintessentially Mason.)

Later in September my dad came to visit for a few days. We went to Hogle Zoo to see the new baby elephant. I that I am always awed by baby animals. I don't know. There is just something awesome about them. Very cute.

September was kind of a busy month I guess. After my dad left we headed down to the south rim of the Grand Canyon to meet up with my dear friend Deb and her husband Dave. Nic and I decided that we wanted to camp while we were there so we squeezed 2 adults, 1 toddler and a puppy into our 3 man tent. It wasn't as bad as you might think. Despite the lunatic ravens and the coyotes the nights were pretty quiet. Oh- except Nic ended up sleeping on the ground with Nell in his armpit and I spent the whole night either trying to keep Mason from rolling off the blow up matress or keep him from climbing on top of me all night. It was fun though. Really.

This was Mason's outfit in the early morning. Very stripe-ed.

Group shot on our hike.

Nell kind of wimped out of our hike. She was still kind of young. She would kill that hike now.

Mason also got a little sleepy.

Ranger Mason

We roasted marshmellows at our camp site. Deb had a good thing going. Then she burned them.

Mason thoroughly enjoyed getting filthy dirty all weekend.

Nic would only eat a s'more if we could find a way to melt the chocolate. We did and it was messy.

Sunset

Finally, October has been another fun month. Nic finally convinced me to cut Mason's hair. So it is now much shorter, but much to his mother glee it is still red.

Before:

During:

After:

Okay, you made it through the marathon post. I apologize for its length and boring-ness. Now for your tasty nugget of surprise.

FYI: Read his shirt.

EDD: May 25, 2010.

Meet Nell

I know I have a lot of catching up to do (i.e. documenting our drive across the country, new house pictures, 4th of July, Abbey's baby blessing, etc. etc.), but before all that I thought I'd introduce you to Nell.

Nic loves her.

I love her.

And most importantly, Mason loves her.

A little too much sometimes.

(Below is Mason pretending to eat grass like Nell. Complete with smacking sounds.)

We think you'll like her too.

Until she bites you with her razor sharp puppy teeth.

We love our Nell Nell.

Alive and well, but a little sleepy

So we made it to Utah. Yes, it has been over a month ago since we arrived. I've been a little occupied as we had to unpack, furnish and decorate our house to our liking, visit family, play with Mason, and of course...get a puppy. We are, for the most part, settled now so I no longer have the excuse to put off the blog. Oh wait. Yes I do. I have a 7 week old puppy who has needs very similar to a newborn (i.e. getting up several times a night to sit on our back step while she goes potty only to put her back in her kennel where she cries and cries because she doesn't like to be alone.) So during this precious time when both Mason and Nell (our puppy) are sleeping, I plan on getting a thing or two done without the help of two little hands and four little paws. I will, however, return next week and post all the pictures from our magnificant adventure across the country. In the meantime, enjoy this little tidbit about Vizslas (which is Nell's breed).

http://animal.discovery.com/videos/dogs-101-vizsla.html

(oh and FYI...she is excellent with Mason. He pretty much mauls her and she loves it.)

Baby Faced

Alright. So I've been told before that I look "young" in contexts such as, "Wow, you're married? You look too young to be married" or "You are my baby's nurse? You look so young." While I might appreciate these comments later in life, right now I find myself wondering if people take me seriously or if everyone thinks I'm some girl who has somehow managed to get a college education, land a job and a husband all before being legally able to vote. Since having Mason I haven't gotten as many of these comments. Probably because people don't want to say anything in case I turned out to indeed be a teenage mom. I was appreciating everyone's silence, that is until last week when that silence was broken. Twice. The first instance took place at a Reading Phillies game. We were there with Nic's co-workers and I was sitting behind Nic letting Mason walk up and down the row of seats. It was obvious that I was with the group (which consisted of people close to my actual age) and it was also obvious that the small child was with me. However, this didn't prevent a young girl, clipboard in hand, approaching me and asking if I was in high school. She was doing a survey of sorts and needed to talk to kids in high school. Okay. So I look like I'm in high school. I guess I can deal with that. It was the second instance that really creeped me out. We have a cute elderly couple who live beneath us and last week while we were visiting them we were reminiscing about when Nic and I moved in a year ago. Frank (our neighbor) was like, "I saw you unloading boxes (motioning to me) and then I saw Nic and I have to tell you, I thought you were his daughter!" Wow, really? Come on now. First of all, thats gross. Second, does everyone who sees us think that? And third, um...gross. So in response to all of this, I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow. Nothing crazy, but maybe it will help. I'm also planning on changing my wardrobe to include festive vests and real light-up earrings. Because really...what teenager wears those? Any other hints or suggestions are welcome. Just don't ask me to start flatulating in public, drinking metamucil or wearing adult diapers because I just won't do it.

I Have a Date with Billy

I've always been a fan of exercising. Not only do I feel better about myself when I do, but I tend to eat better, be in a better mood, etc. etc. I ran track and danced in middle school. Then once I reached high school I began doing stuff like rollerblading, running, attempting (very unsuccessfully) to play tennis, and so forth. It was at this stage of my life that I met billy.

If you don't know Billy you are missing out. Although I forsook him in college for a real kick-boxing class and my beloved spinning classes (oh how I miss those), he made a reappearance (resistance bands in hand) right before I graduated from Penn State. Aside from some outdoor running and a few trips to the gym, Billy and worked together almost nightly until I was feeling great about life and overall was pretty healthy. Then I started working in the NICU. Night-shifts and overtime took its toll and Billy and I grew apart. I still went to the gym on a semi-regular basis, but it just didn't provide me with the same motivation that Billy did. After a few years of this I got pregnant, and although I tried my best to make a daily trip to the gym to use the bike or elliptical, Billy was just a little too "high impact" for my humungo belly to handle. So we broke it off completely. You may be asking yourself, "Well, Mason is almost 15 months old now, why haven't you reconnected with your beloved Billy?" I cannot answer that question. Maybe you should ask the jar full of cookies in my kitchen. I will say, however, that Billy and I have a date. We spent some time together last night, and although I'm feeling a little pain today, I have decided that it is time we see more of each other. I hope to get together with him at least 3-4 times a week, and maybe I can get into a spinning class once we move to SLC. I have to get my body back in shape. I have to be able to run a mile without feeling like I might die. This is necessary, for my sanity as well as those around me. So here I come Billy. If I knew the word that you yell repeatedly during your workouts I would yell it here. But I don't. So I'll just say, "Yipee!"

Bustin' at the Seams

14 month old boy with huge feet meets 18 month PJs with not-so-huge feet.

Our New Home

Here is a virtual tour of our new house. Hopefully it works. You can click on "Slideshow" to see pictures of each room of the house, or you can click on "virtual images" and get a 360 view of the main rooms.

http://tour.circlepix.com/tour.htm?id=710164

The house is in Woods Cross, just northwest of SLC (or west of Bountiful for those of you who know the area). Nic will have a 20-25 min. commute to the hospital which is awesome, and there are several parks and a running trail in our neighborhood, which is good for me. We close a week from tomorrow.

P.S. The front yard needs some landscaping. If anyone has any brilliant ideas I'd love to hear them. Do dogwoods trees grow in Utah? Love those trees!

Marathon of Posts: April

The following two posts are my efforts at catching up on all the blogging I haven't been doing lately. I kind of think its funny that I feel guilty when I fall behind on my blogging. Its like if I don't exercise for a period of time, or I fail to say my prayers at night. I have this nagging feeling that I am not living my life properly. hm... Well, hopefully I'll feel a sense of accomplishment after posting these. And quite honestly, you should feel one too, because if you can actually get through both posts without losing your eyesight or getting having an appendage fall asleep then I say thats something.

So lets get on with it:

April was a big month for us. We sought, found, and purchased a home. Oh yes. The world's worst decision maker helped make the decision to buy a house. I wish I had pictures to post, but alas I do not. We have a virtual tour saved on Nic's computer, so if and when I figure out how to put that on the blog I will. Its a lovely home, with 4 bedrooms and a fenced yard. Our next order of a business is to get a dog to put in that fenced yard. I can't wait!


The week before we house hunted in SLC, Mason and I spent some time in Idaho. We were there for Easter and therefore got to spend some quality family time. Here is the Pierson Easter Egg hunt.

Seth

Mason stole my ice cream cone. Amazingly not a single drop got on any of his (or my) clothing. He practically inhaled the thing.

Mason, Chloe and Carson

I think this picture is funny.

While in Idaho we stayed at my dad and Penni's house. Mason loved wrestling with grandpa.

He even did some chores around the house.

Grandma Pierson gave Mason his very first sucker. He loved it so much he refused to let go of it, even in his sleep he protested me touching it.

Toward the end of the week we got to spend some time up at the cabin. Definately one of my favorite places in the world.

Mason felt very strongly that my dad should be wearing his work gloves at all times. The Queen perched on his forehead was simply an accessory.

Even story time could not take place without the gloves. What a funny boy and a patient Grandpa!

After an awesome week in Idaho, Mason and I met up with Nic in SLC to begin the house hunt. My mom came up from Arizona to help out with Mason, and Nic's dad came down to help us with the hunt. We really appreciate you guys!

With limited transportation, my mom and Mason spent a lot of time in the hotel. My mom was awesome though and spent hours chasing him up and down hallways and though the lobby.

Luckily there was a pool, where we spent a few evenings.

This was the only picture I got of my mom the whole week. (In my defence, Nic and I were gone most of the day.) But here's a huge THANKS to my mom for all her help. She was a full time babysitter and sugar mama. Seriously, we couldn't have done it without her!


And here's a shout out to everyone who helped make our week easier. Thanks to Marci for letting us crash at her house, Lloyd for putting up with us at our worst, and all of our parental units for listening to us worry/complain/worry/get frustrated/worry/and stress. You guys are the best.

It was a stressful, but successful week. Overall the entire the trip was awesome, although its always nice to come home.