The Third Edition

The night before I ran the Salt Lake Half Marathon I found out we were expecting our third child!  This was a little bit of a surprise. My due date was December 18, 2010.  We were hoping for a February baby.  Kevin was not happy that this poor child would be having a December birthday, he thought that was a crappy deal for the child. But what could we do!  I was certain we were having a boy because I was so sick!  I actually had to go on anti-nausea medication.  I was a little sick with Dexton but nothing a few crackers couldn't fix and nothing bothered me with Ocianne.  So when they told us it was a girl you could have knocked me over with a feather! 

My Second Half Marathon

I ran my first half marathon back in November 2009.  It was the Snow Canyon half in St. George.  It didn't go so well for me.  I wasn't dressed right so I was hot and it was a lot harder than I had expected.  So when my Mom asked me back in January to run in the Salt Lake City half marathon this April I wasn't all that jazzed.  I agreed to do it though because I decided I needed to do it at least twice just to see if it was really that bad or if it would be a better experience going into it a little more prepared this time.  I have to admit, it was a lot better!  I new what I was getting into and I trained really hard for it!  I know it was hard on Kevin to let me go run for three hours every Saturday, but it made a huge difference!  I ran the entire race!  I had to stop a little toward the end to stretch my knee.  I was so mad!  My knee didn't bother me the entire time I trained but the last three miles my knee started aching!  Oh well, a quick stop and I was on my way again.  There was no way I was going to walk across the finish line!  Kevin and the kids came to cheer me and my Mom on.  My Dad was there too!  However, about a minute before I crossed the finish line the first marathoner crossed, it was a big deal.  He finished in like 2 and a half hours.  So Kevin and my Dad missed me.  They were too busy talking about the marathoner!  Oh well!  I finished in 2 hours 22 minutes.  Not too shabby!  My Mom finished a little behind me.  We had a lot of fun!

Ocianne's Third Birthday

I can't believe how fast the last three years have gone!  My baby girl is no more a baby!  She will be starting preschool in the fall and she can't wait!  She has been wanting to go to school for a year now and we keep telling her she can go when she is three....so why can't she start now?  She is so grown up for her age in so many ways.  She wanted her own makeup so I bought her some eyeshadow and she has to wear it every day and put it on when I put mine on!  Easter morning she wanted to put it on before going out to do the Easter Egg Hunt.  She was all upset when I told her there wasn't time.  What am I raising!  I tell her she is just like her grandma Shauna!  We do have a few guidelines, like no makeup to church and there will be no makeup at school either!  She loves to dress up.  She is always dressed up like one of the princesses!  It varies from month to month.  Right now she is always Ariel.  She always refers to me as Belle when she is a princess and I am to call her by the name of the princess she is dressed as or she corrects me by saying, "Mom, I am not Oci, call me..."  She cracks me up!  Sometimes she drives me crazy but that is usually when she is acting like me!  She is a lot like me in so many ways it is scary!  She loves to talk my ear off, especially in the car!  And when I am not listening she try's to get Dexton to listen.  A funny story about this is when we were in St. George over Easter.  We were driving in the car and Oci kept on saying, "Dexton!"  He finally responded by saying, "Oci, I am not talking to you any more!  For the rest of the trip I am not going to talk to you in the car!"  She sat there for a minute all upset.  Then she yelled at the top of her lungs, "DEXTON!"  Kevin and I just busted out laughing!  Dexton started laughing too!  She stuck out her lip and said, "Stop laughing at me!"  She is such a sweet girl and she is definitely all girl!  We love her so much!

For her Birthday she wanted an American Girl doll like her cousins!  We bought her a doll and few clothes to go with it.  Probably her favorite part was the bag full of accessories for her dolls hair.  Grandma Debbie bought her a beauty station for her doll.  It came with pretend nail polish and stickers for her dolls nails.  She calls it her "tollish"!  Grandma Shauna and Aunt Michelle bought her the Strawberry Shortcake Berry Cafe and some of the accessories to go with it.  She is definitely spoiled!  She also wanted an Ariel cake and insisted that Ariel be in her pink dress, not her shells!  She got it, it only cost me an arm and a leg and going back to the store twice because the first one fell!  Luckily they took the fault for it falling and made me a new one for free!

Happy Third Birthday Ocianne!

Opening gifts!

The Ariel Cake!

Easter

We went to St. George for Easter with the Neilson clan.  While it wasn't especially warm, it was better than the cold weather back at home.  The kids had a great time with there cousins.  We went swimming at the Washington County Rec Center a couple of days....this is always a must while we are there!  The kids can't get enough of this place.  It worked out great because it is indoors.  We also went to see the movie How to Train a Dragon with the kids.  It was such a great show!  If you haven't been it is a must see movie!  Kevin even liked it and he normally "hates" kid shows!  The kids had an Easter egg hunt on Easter morning around the house and over in the rocks across the street.  Me and the kids stayed down there for an entire week to help fill Dexton's two week Spring Break!  It was great!

                                                                  

                    

Looking through Easter Baskets and

the Easter Egg Hunt!

Disney on Ice

Grandma Shauna took all the grand kids to Disney on Ice.  We had a great time!  We got there early so we could see Tianna and the other princesses.  Oci was so enthralled!  The kids enjoyed the entire performance.  When Ariel came out, Oci was upset that she wasn't in her dress.  She didn't like her dancing in her shells!  I'm pretty sure it was just due to the fact that a princess is supposed to wear a dress, although I wish it were a modesty issue!  Maybe one day when she gets older that will be more of an issue! 

Riley, Dexton, and Ocianne

Ocianne, Jack, Grandma, Riley, and Dexton

Dexton's Karate Promotion

Dexton received his orange belt in Karate.  This promotion was bigger than he had been used to.  His other promotion always took place in the studio.  This one was at a local Jr. High auditorium.  There were a couple hundred people there.  They combined the Riverton and South Jordan studios.  All the kids had to go through and do three routines. It was fun to watch and Dex did a great job! 

The New Car

Kevin bought a new car in February!  He bought it online from Georgia.  They were not able to ship it to us because of all the crazy weather we were having across the country!  When does it ever snow in Georgia!  So we set off for an adventure and flew to Georgia to pick it up and drive it back ourselves!  And what an adventure it was.  The first day we drove from Georgia to Tennessee.  We spent the night in Tennessee.  The plan was to head north and then west.  Well when we woke up there was a thin layer ice and snow covering the ground!  We watched the weather and it was going to be snowing the entire way if we took our planned route.  We decided against this for two reasons, first we figured no one new how to drive around here in these conditions and they had nothing to properly remove the snow, second Kevin's car was rear-wheel drive.  So we decided it would be safer to head south and then go west. The Weather Channel showed that this route would be dry.  As it turns out, we still had snow!  So much for the Weather Channel!  We drove from Tennessee to Little Rock.  While we were there we stopped for lunch and were doing some other things.  While talking in a parking lot, Kevin's car started to over heat!   Smoke was coming from under the hood!  I was freaking out!  I thought the worst, we bought a lemon!  Kevin quickly found an Infinite dealership close by and we drove the car there.  We got there minutes before they were closing.  We ended up staying in Little Rock for 2 days!  Nothing major was wrong with the car and most of it was covered under warranty.  What and adventure!  It was definitely more than we had bargained for!  Needless to say, we were in huge hurry to get home to the kids because of this little set back.  Once the car was repaired, we drove from Little Rock to Albuquerque.  I took over driving through Oklahoma for the first time.  I guess I was a little too anxious to get home because there I got my first speeding ticket ever!  I was so mad!  The guy was so rude and didn't even lower my speed!  How rude! The last day was the longest, we drove from Albuquerque to good old Utah!  We got home at around two in the morning!   It was a long trip!   We had a lot of fun together despite our little set back!  What a way to celebrate ten years together!  

Waking up in Tennessee!







The windmills of Oklahoma...right where I got my ticket.

The Hoover Dam...so close to home, yet so far to go!