Maroney-doo-little clan

We have lived in Hereford for over six months now! It is amazing how fast time flies. It is even more amazing how fast time goes by, but it feels as though little changes. Mark was able to finish tiling the bath-tub, and now we are trying to work on getting the rest of the bathroom done before Cami arrives. There are so many things we would love to do with the house, and property, but it seems that time has the best of us, and we haven't gotten as much done as we would like.

We been able to keep a few things going... Our "farm" family is slowly growing! We got Toby back in January of this year. He is a good puppy. He is definitely Mark's dog! He loves to follow Mark around. I never thought I would like having a dog, but Toby is a good dog, and so I TOTALLY cannot complain.

In April, I started talking to Mark about getting some cats. I'm deathly afraid of snakes, and I was told they keep them down. Mark didn't buy it at first, and it probably was the first time he ever told me no, but I finally wore him down! The 1st part of June I brought home two kittens that my co-worker gave me. We had to bottle feed them for a few weeks, but even Mark was happy to do that! The grey cat is Gizmo and the stripped one is Tiger. Toby is so funny with them. He truly took on the "mommy" role and took care of them.

In April we got out very first chickens! They were so cute and cuddly! BOY do they grow fast! Here Mark is cutting their feathers. THEY are so big and ugly... Did I mention they stink too?!?! But I look at them as a source of food, so I am ok with that!!

A not so good looking chicken. We bought 10!! Seeming how they were so small, they couldn't guarantee that they were all hens. Last night I looked in the cage to find a much larger chicken, that looks quite a bit different than the others... It'll be interesting to see if we have a rooster!!

Mark did such a great job (with the help of his dad) on the chicken coop! I am pretty sure the chickens were glad to get out of their stinky box and outside!

I hope that in next few months we will be getting some fresh eggs!! If nothing else, it's been an experience!

After visiting the farm in Idaho, Mark is more convinced that he wants a cow... Actually 2. I won't be surprised if we end up with them in the next 6 months or so! With that, if anyone ever needs fresh eggs or meat (coming soon), you'll know who to call!!

Big boy times!!

With Cami approaching pretty quick, Mark and I decided it was time to move Grant into a "big" boy bed! Two or three Sundays ago, we finally took the final plunge and took his crib down completely. I really should say that Mark took it down while I pouted.

Grant thought it was the greatest thing ever!! Little did he know that this would be permanent!

Watching daddy do his thing!!

Grant thought of this more as play-time more than anything!!

What happened that night?? Grant did NOT want to go to sleep. I had to rock him to sleep. I am so grateful for a mom who has gone through this already and speedily gave us advise of locking him in his room. At first I thought it was mean, but I soon learned that Grant knew where his bed was, and he just needed to get use to it. So far he goes to bed on his own just fine, but gets up 2 to 3 times a night... I'm sure he'll get more use to it and sleep ALL night again!!!

Heart Wonders

I just wanted to do a really quick post about my heart. In my last blog, I mentioned not being abloe to love another baby like I love Grant, and I think it was misconstrued. Back before I had Grant, I had a lot of similar feelings, and as soon as I saw him, it was love at first sight... And of course before! I was simply stating that I'm amazed at the heart, and it's ability to love and care for these little spirits! I am very excited to be Cami's mom!! I know that I will love her as much as I love Grant, it's just hard to imagine right now.

Ok, another heart matter... Friday July 18, 2008, I met Mark Maroney for the 1st time! We had met on ldssingles.com about a month and half earlier. I am not sure what made him start talking to me, but he was actually like the 2 guy to start talking to me on the website. By the look of his profile, I figured we didn't have anything in common. However, he persisted to talk to me, and within a week I was like, "who is this guy???"!! We ended up having more and more to talk about, and I found myself getting on-line just to talk to him.

We finally decided to meet each other. I was extremely nervous. I already knew that I really liked him, but kept thinking that we wouldn't hit it off in person. I had him meet me out at Best Buy, because I didn't want some freaky internet person knowing where I lived?!?! My stomach was in knots, and as composed as I could, told him to follow me. We dropped off his truck and headed to Phoenix.

I decided that it would be fun to take him to a baseball game!! I was SO on my game!! He didn't really talk a lot, and wouldn't look at me. But regardless, we had a good time. The next day he wanted to hang out again, so we hung out at my little sisters house. I remember leaving that night, and talking to Megan and Crispin on the phone on my way home. They had the same opinion as me.... He's just not that into me. BUT he continued talking to me and look what ended up happening!!

Mark I know that life is sometimes upside down, but I love you more than I ever thought I could! You picked up the pieces and helped put life back together. I hope you know that I am so glad that you decided you wanted to marry me! You made me the happiest woman alive!!! I look forward to an eternity with you!!!

Second Chances

Ok, so I was totally thrilled to have been given one more chance to see our baby!! To be honest, I am scared to death! For those that really know me, know how much I am in love with Grant. He is just means the world to me, and the thought that I would have another one, scares me. My older sister asked me if I felt like I couldn't love this one as much as I love Grant... Truth be known, that yeah there was that fear. Only because Grant is here, and Cami is not. BUT seeing Cami today on the screen made me so excited to have her here!! So I thought I would share these pictures!!! This one she was waving to us!! She had her little hand up by her face moving it. The picture was SO much better than at the other place!! The guy was very sweet and wanted me to see everything. I loved it! I wish Mark had been here with me!

You can tell that she is putting some weight on. She was all over the place. She is breech right now, which doesn't matter, because she'll be delivered via c-section.

Our little Cami is a lady already! She had her legs crossed. The ultra-sound tech said it didn't matter, because it was like she was sitting on an invisible chair, and we could see clearly that there was no male anatomy.

So stinkin' sweet!! I honestly can NOT wait for her to get here!! Mark is so cute about it, and wants to fill her move at night. I have such a wonderful family, and it's only getting better!!

Our Family Vacation!!

This past week we were able to go on a family vacation. Mark was lucky enough to get off work at 12:30 that Friday, and we were off! Our first stop was Syracuse, Utah to visit my brother Jeff and his family. We got there Saturday morning around 6:30 AM, VERY LONG NIGHT!! This is was my 1st time in a very VERY long time that I didn't drive it alone, or at least do most of the driving. Mark only took a 4 hour break! That Saturday was filled... Yeah you guessed it, SLEEP!! When we got to my Grandma's we discovered that they were all at church. Mark and Grant really didn't mind... We walked around the farm, and it was love at 1st sight for Mark. There were so many tractors!!

Grant loved all the animals!! We didn't even tell him to put him hand in the calf's mouth, he just did it on his own. He was so cute with everything. He tried mooing when the cows did. I found that I was a little more relaxed being outside. Mainly because there were no main roads, and not a whole lot he could get in to.

I love my little guy!!!

Mark was so good with Grant on the farm. I think it's because Mark understands little boys and their desire to be around "big" trucks!! I love my guys so much!!

So last year when Grant and I were in Idaho, he was scared of this cow!! As a little girl, I played with this cow, and it's amazing that it is still around!!!

Yeah he didn't have a problem this time with it! It was cute to watch him.

On Monday night Crispin, Megan and Marcus came to Weston. On Tuesday we all went into Preston and went to lunch. We were told that Big J's had the best fry sauce (which Mark LOVED!! He wanted to go to Costco and get fry sauce, HAHAHA). After that we went shopping around. We didn't find much, surprise surprise.

We went back to Weston, and Mark was off working on the farm. Mark worked on the farm Monday & Tuesday!! I think he was in heaven. I'm glad he had a good time. Anywho, will he was out working, we set up a slip and slide on Grandma's hill. Growing up my Grandpa Bingham would set it up every time we came to visit.

It looks like Grant was having a good time, but he actually was NOT a fan. I think it was mainly because he was so tired!! It was sad for me, because Marcus had a BLAST, and I wanted Grant to love it too. Maybe next time! By the way, the best part of this was Marcus's "swim suit". It had the worst case of plumber butt!! I won't post that picture, I will let Megan =)

This was Tuesday afternoon AFTER a long needed nap. Since we were on a farm, Grant got to help Mark drive, so you know he was HAPPY!!!

I think Grandpa Bingham (my dad) had a lot of fun with the little boys. I know I had fun watching the boys!!

Wednesday we headed back to Syracuse. It was a very long day. That afternoon we met everyone at Temple square. Mark, Grant and I rushed through everything. We couldn't wait to just get somewhere to relax. So we headed back to Syracuse for ice cream and time to lay back.

This was on top of Joseph Smith Building. On Thursday we had lunch with my friend Amy. I hadn't seen her youngest, and it was fun to be around her again. We were then off to IDS, where I introduced my honey to all my old friends there. Grant was in need of a nap, so we left and drove around for a while to get him to sleep. We ended up at my Aunt's for a short visit. I wish we could have stayed longer. I miss her so much!! I miss my cousins too!!! Then we were off AGAIN to Adam and Maren Jones. We had dinner with them and their family. It was so nice. I love them so much, and am blessed to have them in my life. I hope they only know how much I miss and appreciate them!

That night we left for Cedar City, Utah to stay the night with Kim. I didn't have time the last time I was up there, so I figured we would go see her. I felt like I was staying at 5 star hotel! They put us up in their bedroom and their KING bed, AHH it was so nice!! Kim is so crafty, and I love that her and Mark had that in common. Friday morning we woke up and went to Casa Grande... Where I got really sick!! I don't know what was wrong, but it only lasted till Sunday. If I missed you, I am truly sorry, and I will make it up to you!!!

I was SO SO SO glad to get home. Grant did really really good traveling. I was really impressed with him. I am so glad we were able to do something together!!! Yeah, a long blog, sorry!!

Try, try, try again

Not sure where and when I decided I want to "try" something different, but one day I asked Mark if he wanted to try doing a "leather" look on one of our walls. We were pumped, and had everything!! Here is what ended up with my difficult wall...

*WARNING* DO NOT ATTEMPT AT HOME!!! One word: UGH!!! It looks like we stripped off old paneling and the glue left a residue... Well at least it does to me! But it was Mark's 1st attempt, and I love him for doing it for me!!

This was my 1st attempt after watching Mark... Not to to bad... but still not lookin' like what I want it too!

Finished product look!! I won't have the entire wall done until I repaint the "tryouts". But I must say, I am glad I figured it out!!!!