Pigtails!!

Our Nicci-D FINALLY has long enough hair for little Pigtails!! Look how CUTE they are! :)

Little Nics sporting her new found hair style! She is pretty excited about it! Does she look like her Daddy's twin or WhAT?!

Home Sweet Home

Seth is FINALLY HOME!

Nicci couldn't stop giving her Daddy kisses!! xoxo

When we were at the airport Nicci kept pointing and saying "Da Da Dee!" and then when she finally saw Daddy she got so excited she gave him hundreds of kisses!! It was priceless!

Nicci is sporting the "Cubs" hat that Seth brought home for her! SO CUTE!

Dinner with Daddy at our favorite place...Cheesecake! We are SO happy he is home!!

Daddy, Our Super-Hero!

So many things have happened in the past 2 weeks. The very hardest thing of all was a week and a half ago when Seth had to leave for Chicago to do some mandatory training for his job...for 2 weeks! (I'm still counting down the days until he comes home...) And then in another week he has to go to Kansas for 1 more week...and to say the least...i am very very sad; our home feels so empty without him. He left Conference Sunday and it's as if there was something seriously missing inside of me when i received the text saying, "Taking OFF! I love you honey!" I tell Nicci that Daddy is off on a Superhero mission and he will return when his mission is complete. She smiles and runs off saying, "Da Da DEE"... but my heart sinks thru the floor as i frantically do the math (which always ends up a mess) for how long i have until he's home. If it wasn't for my mom and our 3 generation slumber parties, our random Cheesecake Factory runs for Avocado Eggrolls, our late night Lifetime movies, and our shopping extravaganzas, i would have gone absolutely insane by now! She has been there every second since Seth has left...even at 3am when i SWORE i had seen shadows in my hallway. Let's just say i moved into mom and dad's house the very night Seth left....!

This past weekend our niece and nephew were baptized on the same day, Oct. 13. They are only 3 days apart and it was such a special day for our family. The night before the baptism, Kathleen (our niece that was baptized), had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's and it was Nicci's FIRST time there! She had a BLAST! It was so fun to see her interact with all the kids and be introduced to all "the kiddie rides"...the only thing missing was Seth. :( BUT Seth got to fly in late that night for 1 day to see "little" Seth & Kathleen get baptized, and i would have to say, that was by far the BEST BEST BEST part of the weekend! He flew in with a rose for me and 2 "pink Chicago outfits" for his girls. Nicci was SO excited to see her daddy, she kept saying "Da Da DEE" ALL weekend! One of the best parts was watching the BYU vs UNLV game all together...with all 4 boys and dad whooping and hollering and Nicci jumping up and down clapping everytime we cheered...it was simply perfect.

Nicci's FIRST time at Chuck E Cheese's!! She was a little nervous but warmed RIGHT up as she went around hugging all of the kids and waving at anyone that would look!

~COuSiNS~

Nicole Debra & Ashlyn Nicole - only 23 days apart!

Riding in the Jeep, Nicci's favorite ride!!

THAT'S

OUR

GIRL!!

Me & my 'peach' getting ready to leave Chuck E Cheese's

Nicci was being a little pill right before daddy flew in. She would not keep ANYTHING in her crib, INCLUDING the Fishy Crackers she threw as far as she could, with i might add, a smile of victory on her face. It was too hilarious to pass up a picture! She always makes us smile!

DADDY'S FINALLY HERE!!!!!! There is NO better feeling in the entire world than being together!

Seth surprised me with a beautiful rose and an AWESOME pink Chicago sweatshirt & Nicci got a "Monkeying Around Chicago" outfit!...We love our Superhero!

'Little' Seth & Kathleen before their baptisms! This was so precious.

Here they are after their baptisms. Perfect and pure, this was such a special day.

Here are Mom and Dad with their first 2 sons and their families on the special day that Kyle & Brad each got to baptize their first born child. What a special day for them, to witness their first 2 grandchildren get baptized together.

"Little Seth" & "Big Seth" are like 2 peas in a pod!

Mom & Dad with their first two grandchildren after their special baptism.

Nicci learned how to climb stairs for the FIRST time at Kyle & Nicole's, and she was so proud of herself!! This is a VERY scary thing for us!! Not only did she learn how to climb them for the "first time", but she also ROLLED down them for the FIRST time as well! There were many many tears, (from Nicci and mommy!), but we all survived to tell about it! This was a very exciting, yet scary day in the world of "The Dynamic Trio"!

FUN FUN times at Kyle & Nic Nic's house!!

Potty Training 101

Well, we have definitely hit the pinnacle of parenthood thus far, after our monument-
al "Walmart Experience! SO ...we were at walmart as a family the other night (Nicci jabbering in the cart and Seth and I looking at all the make-up removers), and all of a sudden we hear this water sound...like water being spilled on the floor. We looked at each other as we looked for the source of the sound...and then Seth gasped! As I looked at the awful sight he was gaping at, I found myself torn between humiliation and uncontrollable laughter. There sat our adorable little girl PULLING her diaper over far enough so that she could pee freely right thru her sleeper! Our daughter was peeing on the floor of Walmart through her sleeper and the cart! WOW. We both laughed so hard (as we could NOT control it for the LIFE of us) that Nicci started to CLAP for herself...we could NOT believe our eyes. We kept looking at the floor and up at her and back at each other as both of us almost in unison set out for a dead run. We found a store worker and told her that there was a clean up on aisle 9!! And before we checked out in a very quick hurry, we dried our tears of laughter and picked out a cute 'Dora the Explorer' potty for Nicole. Yes that's right, it has come time to start introducing the concept of a potty and it's purposes to sweet little Nicci!

"I've GOT this mommy..."

My New Hair Color

I get so bored with the color of my hair that THIS time i went kind of crazy... i had half of my hair dyed a dark brown, and then put the same color throughout the rest of my hair mixed with another shade of brown and blonde. It's a fun change!!

Memories We Will Cherish Forever

The beach is our favorite place to go together. Walking along the beach with the sun setting into the water...holding hands as we run towards the waves...and simply cuddling in the sand listening to the waves crash....are memories we will cherish forever.

My parents took us to the FIRST game of the season, BYU vs. Arizona. We ROCKED! Enough said. GO COUGS!

My 23rd birthday dinner with my 4 favorite people in the entire world! This was such a special day, and dinner was amazing!
p.s. Cheesecake Factory Avocado Eggrolls ROCK





Father's Day moments...Daddy & Nicci were flying kites, a Dora kite and a My Little Pony kite, and Nicci was holding the handle and thought it was the greatest thing since a bottle of milk! Right after this picture she let go of the string and Seth went chasing after the kite and she giggled so hard she had tears streaming down her face! lol, this was such a special moment.
I love them more than words could ever explain.

Safari Seth! We were at Disneyland and had just got off the Safari Ride when the conductor threw his hat on seth's head and took a picture of us...this was SO fun! This makes me want to go to Brazil!

Nicci loves to lounge around in the pool chairs
and kick her feet up in the air. She is amazing.

Our little FISH! She LOVES to have splash wars with mommy & daddy!

My First Quilt

I made this quilt for my parents as a surprise when their last son came off his mission. The colors in the entire quilt were based around the colors of each flag. The front top has pictures of mom and dad saying goodbye to each son at the MTC, in the direct middle is a picture of Christ, and to the right are my parents, and to the left are all 3 brothers in front of the MTC. All the rest of the pictures are random pictures of all 3 boys on their missions.

On the back of the quilt are the 3 flags of the countries where they served. Argentina, Uruguay, and Russia. This was by far the most awesome project i've ever done!!

I love them so much

Introducing "The Dynamic Trio"!

So here we go, we have finally joined the world of blogging! I can thank my beautiful cousin Aly for that! Here's a little bit about our "Dynamic Trio" ... Seth is going to school full time as a Pre-Professional Biology major and also working 50 hour weeks for UPS as an Account Manager for Las Vegas to put him through school. He is going to school to become an Oral Surgeon. Seth has a love for Dentistry that is hard to describe. We watch the discovery health channel every saturday, and he loves to watch these "dental conferences" on this boring channel...i have no understanding of his passion for dentistry. BUT i do know he will be the best darn Oral Surgeon around someday! As of now, we only have 12 more years of school to go thru! Yea! He has 2 more years of undergrad, 4 years of Dental school, 3 years of specializing, and 3 more years for Surgery! He is hardly ever home, but Nicci and I cherish the time that he can spend with us. When daddy is home we LOVE to make brownies, and cookie dough and watch Dora the Explorer as a family. Nicci loves to sing the "Backback" song and boogie to the music! When she was 4 months old Seth taught her how to "shake her booty" and to this day she boogies (and shakes her little booty!) with her daddy to EVERY song she hears! :) Every Sunday we go on a family walk which has become our favorite part of every week. Nicci loves to point to the trees and say, "TEES!" It's music to our ears!

I am a full time wife and mother which is the hardest and yet most rewarding job i've ever had. In fact there is NOTHING i would rather do than serve my dear husband and take care of our little Nicci-D. I work part time (when i can) as a nanny for the 4 and 5 star hotels which i LOVE, and which i have MANY amazing stories about. My true passion is cleaning, and i absolutely love to do laundry. There is something about the smell of Tide and Downey that puts a smile on my face! When nicci is taking her GLORIOUS afternoon nap, i dive into Harry Potter (while cuddled up in my Harry Potter blanket) and read as long as time will permit! I'm a Harry nerd, end of story.

And last but definitely NOT least our dear Nicole Debra. Wow, where to begin? She is our miracle baby. When Nicci was born she had Craniosynostosis, specifically Metopic Synostosis. We took her to Dr.s here in Vegas because we knew something was wrong because her head was shaped like a football. :( but after tests and CT Scans they simply diagnosed her wrong and said she was fine, and sent us on our way. So we ignored the Dr.s and took her to Primary Children's Hospital in SLC to see the Dr.s there. After seeing the CT scans the previous Dr.'s had taken they performed immediate surgery. Sure enough she had what we thought, Metopic Synostosis and if we would have waited another year she would have been blind and suffered brain damage. It was the scariest thing we had ever been through. They cut her from ear to ear and reconstructed the entire front of her skull and then reconstructed her eye sockets AND her eyebrow ridges. She had 4 blood transfusions and was in the intensive care unit for a week. It took a while for her to recover but the swelling has gone down and she is starting to look so good! My parents were with us every step of the way, from Dr.s apts, to surgery, and all through recovery, they were there loving, supporting, and helping to build our little family into an indestructible unit! We learned and grew so much closer during this difficult and frightening time. She has since had surgery on her eyes and is recovering very well from that as well. She should only have 1 more surgery when she is 3 or 4 and then she should be done! If they would have caught it at age 3 months it would have been SUCH AN EASY procedure with minimal scaring and NO follow up surgeries. (Darn the dumb dr.s here...grrr) But she is AMAZING, and SUCH a strong little girl, even when her eyes were swollen shut she would point in the direction of laughter or talking, and jabber along with everyone doing the same. We all learned first hand how true the often used phrase, "what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger", is.

The meaning and knowledge of how essential and sacred prayer is has blessed our little family beyond comprehension. We love our Savior Jesus Christ so much and we feel so inadequate for the many blessings we have received. We can not wait for that sacred and special time when we can all walk hand-in-hand into His presence and look into His eyes and feel His arms embrace us into eternity.

~SLIDESHOWS of NICCI-D's SURGERY~

The first time we got to hold our Nicci since the surgery. After almost 8 hours of waiting, we can not explain the feeling of our little family being united again.