One down, three more to go!

On Thursday Lance took his last final and finished up his first semester of his MBA. He is pretty dang excited but I honestly think I'm even more excited. This semester was absolutely crazy. 

They told us the first semester would kick your butt and they weren't kidding. I felt like a single mom because he was always gone or cooped up doing homework. 

Lance will tell you that he learned more in this one single semester then he did all of his years at Utah State combined. He is getting excited for the next stage of our lives. He is getting a passion for entrepreneurship, and eventually wants to start his own company. 

Some of the highlights of the semester:

In September Lance went for 3 days to Philadelphia to attend NSHMBA. He was able to meet some great people and made some important connections.

In October Lance interviewed and was accepted to Nestle's Brand Management Boot camp. Nestle' flew him out to their headquarters in Glendale California to participate. While there he won a case competition and was awarded with some great prizes. 

Lance has been involved with the entrepreneurship club up on campus.  He and 6 other guys actually won the Jump-start innovation competition for their idea to create a new product that would help those growing tomatoes. The product they created is a better functioning tomato cage. They were awarded funding to create the prototype and start their new company. We can officially say Lance has now started his own company called Home Garden Solutions.  It has been extremely beneficial. 

Also with the entrepreneurship club he has had the opportunity to sit in with the board for their "Get Seeded" events up on campus. This program is really cool. It is a program where students and any one in the community can bring their ideas in front of a panel and be awarded funding. It is like a mini "Shark Tank" (Lance's favorite TV show). He has really enjoyed that and comes home with lots of stories about awesome ideas and some really dumb ones. 

He is hoping to be more involved with the club and hold a position on the club leadership next year. 

Lance also applied and was accepted to a ethics competition. The competition is in Colorado. Each year around 20-25 colleges around the country put together a team of 5 or 6 people to compete in this competition. The University of Utah has won it the past 2 years so they are hoping to continue on the winning streak. Lance is excited. It is going to make for a busy February but it will be super beneficial. Plus 20% of the final score of the competition is a ski race. Lance is especially excited for that part.

I was so nervous when he told me he wanted to go back to school, but it has turned out to be the best decision we've made.  He is learning so much, meeting so many people and positioning himself for an amazing future once he graduates. I couldn't be prouder of him. 

Now we get to spend the next 3 weeks relaxing before it all begins again.  

Mobile Baby, Two is Hard.

It's official. Avery is mobile. I both love and hate this.

I love it because it is adorable and so much fun to watch her explore.

I hate this because it means she is getting bigger. And I have once again realized how unsafe my house is. It's crazy how you have to baby proof for each age. I feel like it's on-going process.

Avery has always been a mommies girl and her being mobile only reiterates this. She attempts to follow me through the house like a puppy and whines if I walk too fast away from her. She's adorable.

Haylee is trying to be a little mommy and it's honestly so ANNOYING! It's cute some of the time but she insists on determining on what is and isn't OK for Avery to play with. She is yelling at Avery constantly telling her no. I'm still trying to figure out how to stop this.  I am constantly telling her I'm the Mommy and while I appreciate her help, she needs to ask me and come to me first before she takes something away from Avery.

I'm convinced I'm never having a clean house again. Avery attacks and pulls out anything low to the ground and Haylee climbs and get anything out of reach. It's like they are a team conspiring against me to make it so I have to constantly clean.

I've resorted to living in a messy house and cleaning once they go to bed so Lance and I can enjoy a few hours of peace in a clean home.

I won't even start talking about bedtime with Haylee. I'll sum up our experience with one word. Nightmare.

Having two kids going in two different directions is hard. And having a two year old is plain exhausting.

But, I love it.

Good day.

Today was one of those days where I kept on thinking over and over how grateful I am to be the mom of these two little girls.

While we were out shopping Avery started getting fussy in the car so Haylee took it upon herself to cheer her up. She got Avery's attention, started making silly noises while shaking her body and hitting herself in the head. She looked hilarious and Avery broke out laughing hysterically. Once Avery started laughing Haylee broke out in a fit of giggles. They continued this for about 10 minutes. I don't think there are many things that sound better then your child laughing. I kept peaking in the rear-view mirror with the biggest smile on my face.

I love being a mom. Even during the bad days, or during our nightly fight at bed-time. I love watching my kids play, smile, and laugh together. I'm so excited to watch them grow up together and become best friends. I love them.

A little life update

First of all, is it really December?  I am LOVING this weather. Seriously 53 degrees in December?? Yes please! And holy cow we've been in Utah over 7 months now. We are absolutely loving being back. Being so close to family has been so much fun. It is so nice to be able to participate in the little family get-together's and not have to miss out by being across the country.  I absolutely love the relationship Haylee has with her grandparents. She constantly asks for them and her aunt Steffy, and never wants to leave their houses when we're there.

Lance is busy with school but he is loving it. He has had some really cool opportunities so far that he has been able to participate in. In October he was invited by Nestle to their headquarters to attend their Brand Management Boot Camp. He learned a lot and met some great people. He even won one of the competitions that resulted in him winning a coffee maker. We sold it on ebay for $100 :)  He is learning so much and I'm hoping it pays off in the end with a good paying job. He did give in and buy a Utah Ute shirt that he wears occasionally but he wears his Utah state stuff to school most days. I got a Ute pullover as well and I still have yet to wear it out of the house...I feel like i'm cheating on USU.

I'm staying at home with our two little ones. They are crazy and it is so much work. I made the decision recently to go back to school and finish up my Degree in Family Life Studies. The plan was to start this Spring semester and graduate in the Fall. However, because I'm not a Utah resident any more, tuition is triple the amount. So I'm going to wait 2 more months, get residency, then start in the summer. This means I'll graduate in the spring with Lance.

Now onto the girls, this very well could take up an entire blog post itself. They are absolutely adorable, crazy, fun, loving, and exhausting.

Haylee seriously wakes up running and doesn't stop till I put her down for her nap. Then it begins again and continues until she goes to bed at night. I've learned that terrible two's are a real thing and there is absolutely no sense in trying to negotiate and compromise with a two year old.  There are lots of tears and tantrums (some even by me) in our house but we are slowly getting through it.

Even though having  a two year old is hard the good times completely out shine the bad. She keeps us laughing constantly.

Let see....some of the things she has done recently.......
-Whenever we sneak up on her or catch her doing something she's not supposed to do she exclaims "Oh! Mommy! You scared me!"
-She insists on wearing the same color of shoes I'm wearing, Putting on lipstick and lotion whenever I do, and she begs for perfume on a daily basis. Then she proceeds to do the "smell good dance" that her aunt and her came up with when they put on perfume.
-She is a little Mommy and tries to boss Avery around and take care of her herself.
-She insists on getting naked whenever she can. especially during nap/bedtime because she knows we then have to come into her room and get her dressed.
-She asks everyday if she can go to church.
-She doesn't even sit by us at church any more. The C.O.O of the Utah Jazz is in our ward and Haylee has somehow managed to adopt them and their teenage kids as her own and insists on sitting with them each Sunday. They love her and she is WAY more reverent sitting with them then she is with us so we are totally OK with it!
-She sings her little heart out all day long and it is the cutest thing ever
-She wears her Elsa dress more than her regular clothes and insists on watching Frozen everyday
-She can proudly name pretty much every Disney princess, and finds it fun to randomly list them throughout the day. Tiana is her favorite and we watch Princess and the frog constantly (Prince Naveen is a hunk).

Now onto Avery
Avery is a chunk, and the happiest baby ever. She is mellow, quiet, and just wants to be loved and cuddled. She constantly smiles and loves her sister.
She has been sitting up since about 4 1/2 months which is way sooner then Haylee did and she is already starting to try and crawl.
She loves eating and I'm praying she isn't going to be a picky eater like her sister.
She mainly spends her day rolling around the house, pulling Haylee's hair, eating, giggling, and being cute.
She is a total Momma's girl which I LOVE!

Already Best Friends!

Basically that is what has been going on as of late. I'm pretty much a single mom because Lance is gone so much but luckily things should slow down a bit next semester. Overall we are doing great, and we are loving Salt Lake.

Meet Avery

This post is 6 months in the making....seriously I've been terrible and just plain lazy about blogging.

On May 13, 2014 we were blessed to welcome another perfect little girl into our family. We named her Avery Lee Brown.  She weighed 8 lbs 2 ounces was 20 inches long and was born at 5:30 pm

About her Name:
When we went into the hospital we had two names that we couldn't decide on. She was either going to be Avery or Leah. We loved both names but when we saw her we knew she was an Avery. Her middle name has family meaning on both sides. My sisters middle name is Lee and Lance's older brother who passed away was named Lee. So we named her after both of them. Looking back on it I wish we went with Leah because we didn't realize how close Avery and Haylee are when you are actually saying them out-loud. We end up calling her "Havery" most of the time. But Avery fits her perfectly.

About the birth:
Once again, I was ecstatic to say that this was quite uneventful just like Haylee's birth. I went in to the doctors for my 40 week check up (on my due date). I was dilated to a 3 so he gave me the choice of getting induced or waiting it out. After going 9 days late with Haylee I figured I would most likely need to get induced any way so I opted to getting induced that day.
It was quite strange going in for a check-up then having him ask "Can you be back here in 3 hours to have a baby?" I was freaking out.
Luckily we had out bags packed so we were all ready. So we went out for lunch to waste time before I needed to be back.
We got to hospital, they got me a room and a gown, then came in to start the IV. Oh, how I love Logan Regional. When I had Haylee honestly the IV was the worst part. So when the nurse came in with a small needle to inject numbing medicine before she did the IV I was ecstatic. They started the Pitocin and once again my body handled it perfectly. I was on the pitocin for about 4 hours and having regular contractions that I couldn't feel but were strong according to the machine. They decided they wanted to break my water to speed things up. When I had Haylee I let them break my water before I got the epidural but with Avery I asked for epidural before they broke my water. So I got the epidural before I felt any pain, they came in broke my water. 30 minutes later she came to check, I was at 10. The doctor came in and 3 pushes later Avery was born. It was calm, painless, and we got to joke around and hang out during the whole process.

About Avery:
Avery is now 6 months old and is seriously such a joy. She has been sleeping through the night since about 6 weeks old, and she LOVES to eat.
She is the happiest baby, you can just look at her and she will be grinning at you as big as she can. She adores Haylee and laughs so hard and anything Haylee does. I cannot wait to watch them play when they get older. She loves playing with toys and making her bubble noises.
She is all rolls, seriously this girl is a chunk. Her and Haylee are in the same size diapers and Avery is already wearing 12 month clothes.
She still has so much hair, she never really lost it and it is still as dark as can be.
Seriously I love this girl so much.