Ty's Pictures

Summer so far

Well, lets just say throwing another child into the mix, definitely makes things more interesting. The summer so far has been way crazier than I expected. I really thought after the baby was born, I would just relax at home and enjoy having a newborn around. Forget that! We

have not stopped since we brought him home. From trips to the cabin, to family reunions, Saturday outings, to soccer games. We have done anything but

put our lives on hold. And now with Nick back in school full time, and football season just around the corner, its not going to slow down any time soon.

Mirra has really been a cute big sister. She want to help as much as she can, and wants to be involved in all things baby. She is just like a little mother. She does things exactly like I do with Ty, with her baby dolls. Her whole personality has really blossomed since Ty was born. She is so smart and every day is new and interesting with her. She says her ABC's perfect all the way through, and can count to 12 perfect. She stops at 12 for some reason. She loves to sing and read, her memory amazes me! She can practically read an entire book purely by memory. She always says funny things, you really have to watch what you say around her. The other day I said, "Mirra, your trouble" and she responded, "no, I'm the boss!" And she sure is. She is also convinced she is a princess. So for all of you who are scared, waiting to throw another child into the mix (like I was), come visit me. It's a lot of fun!

8 years and counting

Happy Anniversary! Today is our 8 year anniversary. A dog, a house, and 2 kids later. Wow, its been crazy! Its always fun to look back, I enjoyed going back through my pictures. I cant remember the last time I looked through them. I feel like I can say now, we did it! When your young it hard to think what 8-10 years down the line will have in store for you. But all I can say is "its been great". Thanks Nick, I love you!

Ty Alan Patterson

Well, he's here! Ty came into our would starting with an eerily similar situation to his sisters arrival. My water broke at 36 1/2 weeks (10 days longer than I made it with Mirra). My water broke at 9pm on Wednesday night, and we got to the hospital at 2:30 am. Got my epidural at 4am, and I delivered our little Ty at 9:24 am. He was 6lbs and 15oz. Minus how the whole thing started it couldn't have ended more differently. Everything went better than I could have ever planned it. I was only really in active labor for a couple hours. The most amazing thing is how much faster I recovered from a regular delivery compared to my c-section with Mirra. I have felt great. Our little Ty has done awesome. He had no problems for being early. They said he acts like a full term baby. He is sleeping, eating, and growing really well. As for his sister, she has been really cute. She just loves him! She kisses and hugs him almost non stop. She wants to be involved in all things baby. She been a little hard adjusting to the things she can't do. But I can only imagine what this whole experience does to a 2 year old's mind. I'm sure its a little hard to comprehend. So we are all just trying to be patient and adjust. What an amazing experience this has all been to welcome our new addition into our home.

The last days as a single child family

Mirra has been such a fun little girl. She is so smart! We could not imagine what our lives would be like with #2 (a boy) on the way. We've made sure that we really try to include Mirra in everything we've done to get ready for the baby. Changing her to a big girl bed so brother can have her crib, getting the room ready for him, and putting clothes away in drawers. She has been really involved and been so excited. So here are the last pictures taken 2 days before I went into labor. Little did any of us know how much life would change.

Lagoon

We went to Lagoon again this year for Nick's company party. It was definitely better this year than last. Mirra was able to ride most of the kiddie rides. We brought our friends Jeremy, Aleece, and their 2 year old Aiden. Mirra and Aiden had a blast! They were so cute. Nick and Jeremy were able to go on all the big rides together. And Aleece and I waddled around the park with swollen feet. Anyway it was a nice day out, it was the first day it hadn't rained in 2 weeks so the park was packed, but we had a good time all in all.

Transition Time!

Its officially transition time! I've been getting all the baby clothes washed and put into the boys room. So we decided it was a good time to start getting Mirra prepared also. We bought her a twin bed 2 months ago, and I found her a dresser. We put it all together and she was so excited to sleep in her "big girl bed" with tinkerbell sheets! She did pretty good the 1st night, she only woke up twice and those were both before midnight. And the last 3 days she has napped and slept really well! I am just thinking its too good to be true. I have heard so many stories about how hard it is. Especially since she can open doors now, she can just get up and go wherever she wants. But all in all its not been bad. Wish me luck that it stays this way. Change is coming fast!

Abc

Mirra is 2!

Mirra turned 2 on May 4th. We had quite the schedule of events planned. We were in Cedar for Amy's graduation. Way to go Amy,(she was valedictorian). So we ended up having 3 parties for Mirra. After they were all over she thought it was her birthday every day. We had a little party up at Panguitch Lake at Mom and Dads new cabin property. One in Cedar at Sam and Lauri's house. I made this butterfly cupcake cake, with Juli's help, it turned out pretty cute. Then when we got home on Monday we had her actual birthday with Nick's family and friends. There was an awful lot going on, but it was a lot of fun. Happy Birthday Mirra! We love you!

Early summer fun

While Nick and the boys were on their annual "Epic Adventure" Mirra and I decided to make a week fun out of it. We went to the Thanksgiving Point animal farm with Aiden and Aleece. Mirra loved to feed the baby goats, and the baby cow, but everything else made her a little nervous. She rode 2 different pony's, she was so excited, she wanted to ride them again.

We also went to her 2 year NICU reunion. Its crazy to think its been 2 years. It still amazes me how smart she is. I think that she has beat the odds on every side. Thank heavens!

She has so much fun on her swing set! I am so glad we bought it last year. She will swing and slide for hours if I let her. Its actually the only way we were able to get the garden planted. I was finally able to find her a trike on KSL. She was so excited to get a bike! I wanted to get it for her birthday but couldn't find one in time. It has been a fun start to the summer. I hope I continue feeling as well as I have. Wish me luck!

Easter

Easter this year was really fun for Mirra. We did 3 Egg hunts. One at home, at the park with the ward, and with Nicks parents. It was fun to see her find the eggs. She realized she was supposed to be happy about all the candy, but she didn't even like half of it. It ended up half chewed in my hand. So the other half of the candy, as you can imagine, ended up in mine or Nick's mouths (not good). We had lots of family around all weekend and had an awesome time with everyone. I will post more pics when Colin gets them to me.

Spring Break in Castle Valley

This is the awesome house we had the opportunity of staying at all weekend. The back yard is a historical old cowboy homestead and Indian dwellings in Castle Valley. I was so cool to see how well the owners have kept it in tact. There is a lot of history here and its nice to see nobody has ruined it. The lady has even made the basement of the house to look like an Indian cave with Indian writings and all. It was a very cool experience. Thanks Pat!

Spring Break in Moab

Jeff and Alicia and her family invited us to go down to Moab with them for spring break. Alicia's 2 sisters and brother ran the half marathon. The rest of the time we spent playing and relaxing. It was a perfect weekend. It was 85 during the day, and we had an awesome time. Mirra was in heaven, there was so much for her to get into. The shirt says it all!

Red Rocks Gymnastics

Yes, another sport we have season tickets for. We have really enjoyed having season tickets to Gymnastics the last 3 years along with Football. That was my original compromise with Nick. If he gets football, I get gymnastics. Now I've become a huge football fan, and Nick loves gymnastics. He has actually made more sense of the scoring and stuff than I ever have. We were actually really surprised at how well Mirra does for the meets. She loves Swoop (the mascot hawk), so she spends most of the meet watching were he goes. One meet he even came up to her and shook her hand and signed her bag of Cheerios. She thought it was great! For the next week the only treat she wanted was her "Swoop Cheerios".
The Utah Red Rocks went undefeated at home and entered regionals at #2 in the Nation.

Shooting

We took a cold Saturday afternoon, and decided to go shooting with Jeff and Alicia. We had a great time, other than the cold. I was able to shoot the new gun my dad made for me almost a year ago. I love it! Its a great gun for me. Thanks Dad!

Nick still had a bullet in his muzzle loader from last hunting season he needed to fire off. And he recently got a new hand gun and his concealed weapons permit. Jeff and Alicia brought the shot guns and we shot up some clay pigeons. Its amazing how powerful you feel with a gun in your hand. I have a lot of fun shooting targets, I still have a hard time saying that I enjoy hunting. But you cant complain for the meat you get.

It's A Boy!

Well there is really not much else to say but " It's A Boy!" We are very excited! I am due between the 12th and 20th of July. Everything looks great so far. I am over the severe nausea and vomiting. Just tired. Nick is giving me weekly progesterone shots to hopefully ensure that I make it full term. Avoiding what happened with Mirra. Other than that its been a fairly normal pregnancy thus far.

Nick has been super busy with work and school. Trying to juggle everything has been a challenge. But he is hanging in there. I'm still working just 15 hours a week, keeping busy with life in general. Despite her almost constant cough, Mirra is just as happy, crazy, and full of it, as always. She is so much fun to see learn and develop. She is like a little adult. She is very independent and talks in full complete sentences and amazingly very easy to understand. She is so smart! She loves to sing songs, especially her ABC's. She loves books, it seems like we read for hours every day, and she never gets sick of it. She knows that mom has her baby brother in my tummy, but I don't think she quite understands yet. Little does she know how much life will change in a few months.

"IN LOVING MEMORY"

We had the unfortunate opportunity of getting together with my entire Marshall side of the family twice in 2 months for the celebration of 2 amazing, great, wonderful men! The passing of my Grandfather Monte Marshall the first week in January was expected, but harder than I thought. And the unexpected passing of my Uncle Craig Pearson due to injuries from a car accident in February. I really enjoyed learning more about the lives of these awesome men. And its always nice to see extended family. The Pearson family has been so strong, I am really amazed with their love and strength. We will all miss you both!

Roller Skating

Our entire family was able to get together at Colin's house in Logan for little Alexa Ann's Blessing. We had a great time as usual. We went to the Logan Fun Center and the kids played on the massive soft play area, and all the adults rented roller skates. Even mom and dad! We had a blast! I haven't been on roller skates in years. Nick and Shaun tried to do tricks, that were actually pretty impressive. The rest of us just tried to keep from hurting ourselves. Pregnant roller skating is quite interesting. My balance was a little off, but it was so much fun!

New News

These were are family pictures taken the day after Christmas. They turned out very cute. But the news is we will be adding a new addition to our little family! I am due July 20th! We are very excited, and a little scared. I'm not sure if I'm ready for double the work. But I know it will be worth it. We cant wait especially to find out what it is. Look forward to the end of Feb. We will keep you all updated.

The New Orleans Sugar Bowl

The Football game was one of the coolest things we've ever been able to experience! The Utes ran the board the whole game, and came out with a 31-17 win over Alabama. This made them the only undefeated team in the NCAA at 13-0. Thanks to Jeremy and Aleece, we spent the 4th quarter on the field and stood next to the BCS trophy! This whole experience was unreal, especially for Nick. What an amazing year it was to be season ticket holders and go to the big game to see your team win!

New Orleans was a very neat city to see. There is a lot of history and very cool scenery. We had an awesome trip, even with the day that it poured 4 inches of rain on us in 1 hour, while we were walking back from dinner.