Life With The 'Roads

Arrival of Lana and Mikayla

2011-11-13T22:49:00.001-06:00

Posted on Facebook 3/5/11 Well, the Ironroad Twins are here! The full story (so far) has been a long time coming – the past 4 weeks have been a huge “casserole” of emotions: happiness, excitement, worry, fear, fatigue…then more happiness. This whole experience has been a major test of faith, and it has given us an opportunity to come together even closer as a family. These precious

Bed & Breakfast

2011-11-13T22:31:00.001-06:00

Journal entry written 3/6/11 Well! Where to begin?? I am writing right now from room #430 at the Altru Hospital -- or the "Bed & Breakfast", as I like to call it. :) Let me 'splain.At our ultrasound where we received the news about our 2 GIRLS, they noticed that there wasn't a "divider" or membrane between the babies. I didn't think anything of this -- I just thought that some twins were like

Sharing Already

2011-11-13T22:29:00.001-06:00

(from a Facebook post 2/25/11) Update on the Ironroad twins! It turns out they are even more special than we thought. They are "mo-mo" twins (short for mono-chrionic, mono-zygotic), which means they are in the same sac. While it is lots of fun because they are as close as they can get (without being conjoined), it is also very rare (estimated by some to be 1 pregnancy in 35,000) and there

Sweet Boy

2011-11-13T22:11:00.001-06:00

This boy has the sweetest little heart. Brayden developed a special bond with one of his nursery leaders at church. She played a huge role in helping him feel comfortable in class, and he won her over with his knowledge of his letters. :)This sister was giving a talk in Sacrament meeting one Sunday. Brayden usually just plays with his toys during the talks, but this time he sat on my lap

A new year, a new life (or two)

2011-11-10T22:12:00.001-06:00

Ringing in the new year paled in excitement to ringing in my second trimester. I had been so tired and SO nauseated! I could not wait for our ultrasound, scheduled for January 17. The morning of the 17th, I called to make sure I had our ultrasound appointment time right. To my dismay, the nurse had forgotten to order the ultrasound, and had simply told me the date! I was one grumpy pregnant

Gitter Dun!

2011-11-08T19:23:00.000-06:00

I have been trying, unsuccessfully, for the past few days to come up with a smooth, clever way to jump back in here. I have finally decided to just type and get on with it. My last post was a recap of 2010. Given the fact that I feel like a completely different person than I was a year ago, I have been at a loss as to where to start. So we'll start with a chuckle. I had written a "New

One reason why I love being a mom...

2011-03-28T15:16:00.001-05:00

(post from 3/28/11) I know it's been a while since I've posted -- I have a lot of 'splaining to do! But instead of waiting until I'm all caught up (ha) I thought I'd post the latest from the B man. He makes it so fun to be a mom! (this is a long video, but I didn't know what to cut!) <p>&amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;

2010 Recap

2010-12-11T00:50:00.001-06:00

There's a cool thing on Facebook right now that lets you create a collage of your status updates...This basically sums up 2010 for me! note: if the right side of this is cut off, just click on the collage to view the whole thing.

Applesauce

2010-12-07T15:41:00.000-06:00

Brayden's favorite word these days is "applesauce." He replaces other words with it at unexpected times, and just thinks it's the most hilarious thing ever. My favorite is at night time when we sing his bedtime song (Families Can Be Together Forever -- or the "family song", as he calls it). He sings, "The Lord ... has shown me how I APPLESAUCE." I love being Brayden's mom.

Headed West

2010-11-14T23:02:00.000-06:00

At the end of the summer, we took a 3-week trip to Utah/California by way of South Dakota and Colorado. We had a great time in the car together -- lots of talking, laughing, and some singing (Brayden discovered his love of "That's What You Get" by Paramore (or the "beautiful song", as he calls it)! We stopped to see Mt. Rushmore... One of my favorite photos...ever. Stopped in Colorado and

Firsts

2010-11-14T22:58:00.002-06:00

Brayden experienced a few firsts this summer... First long jump... First "big boy" puzzle completed all by himself! Dancing (okay, mostly just walking) in his first pow wow, with his awesome cousin Skye showing him the ropes First movie in a theater -- Toy Story 3 (yes, I cried. still do when I watch it.) First hail storm...which leads to my next post!

What the Hail??

2010-11-14T22:58:00.001-06:00

Okay, what you're about to see is one of the craziest things I have experienced so far in my 26 years. It happened at about 2am one night this summer, and I still can't believe it actually happened. It left a mark on Brayden's memory, too...every time he hears us talking about a storm, he says, "What's happening to the house??" You'll see why, here... THIS is the size of the hail that fell

Summer Begins!

2010-11-14T22:57:00.001-06:00

The summer began with Chris finishing year 1 of Law school (big hurrah!) and us migrating south-west (about 4 hours) to Cannonball, ND for Chris's summer internship working with the Tribal Court on the Standing Rock reservation. We stayed with Chris's brother, Rob, and his family for the summer and had a great time. Brayden loved hanging out with his cousins, and grew up a lot. Here are some

Is this thing on?

2010-11-14T22:57:00.000-06:00

It is time. That's right. I'm catching up. For now. I think my main problem is that I figure everyone gets enough of us in all of the other things we're doing in life. But I was thinking tonight (don't worry...I was very careful), and this is, at the very least, a great central spot to keep track of thoughts and engage in conversations that are deeper than just a Facebook post or whatever.

Smartie Pants

2010-04-05T21:21:00.001-05:00

I just need to brag for a minute...Brayden has become quite the little whiz kid. These are words he spelled on his own on my laptop this afternoon: SUNPLANECAKEROCKETDUCKFLY I take no credit...He loves the kids' show Word World and has memorized just about every word they spell on it. He is starting to even learn the sounds the letters make. The kid is TWO. I love watching him learn and

Don't Eat Your Friends.

2010-02-21T22:04:00.002-06:00

I just noticed my "last post published" date, and I'm pretty darn embarrassed. I'll be better, I promise! luckily "better" isn't too much to ask of a bloggette who posts once a quarter. :) For my first post in 2010 (eh...still embarrassed), I will share something that has cracked Chris and me up for the past few days. Brayden recently watched this episode of the toddler show "Yo Gabba Gabba"..

Video on Gratitude

2009-11-30T23:08:00.000-06:00

In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday we just celebrated, this video really helped me to reflect on what I am truly grateful for.

LOVE this wreath!!!

2009-11-24T23:57:00.000-06:00

I have this crazy love for using Christmas ornaments in unique ways, so this made me really happy...as you can imagine! Yes, I will be making this, thanks to the Thrifty Decor Chick (whose blog is fanTAStic)! SOOOO cute!!!

Terror, Guts, and a bit of wisdom

2009-10-24T00:29:00.000-05:00

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do."-Eleanor RooseveltI spoke with a woman last week who has goal to do one thing each day that scares her. At first I laughed

A New Guardian Angel

2009-10-10T00:37:00.000-05:00

The world lost an amazing woman this week.My sweet grandmotherleft this life the morning of Saturday, October 3. My heart is full of gratitude for the goodness she brought to my life and to the lives of each person she knew.We had a close relationship. As my mother's mother, she was the strongest connection I had to her memory. She was always so open about sharing what my mother would wish in

Day 12 - Brayden is my Prozac...minus the side effects

2009-06-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

6.24.09So...I haven't done a great job at posting daily like I hoped to. So solly!Today was a "blah" day for the first half and then it got much better for the second half. I had a mini breakdown this morning...just a combination of emotions came together at once and it wasn't pretty. The floods (from my eyes!) came while I was feeding Brayden his breakfast, and Brayden was so sweet. He put

Day 7 - Social Life

2009-06-20T01:06:00.000-05:00

6.19.09Today marks one week from when we left Utah. Unbelievable. I look back on this week and it just feels like a dream. It's been a good week overall and I look forward to what the next weeks will bring.Chris got a voicemail message today from the owner of the storage unit we're storing all of our stuff in, saying, "Hi Chris, please give me a call as soon as possible." NOT a good message

Day 6 - Letting Loose

2009-06-18T22:47:00.000-05:00

6.18.09I can't believe we've been here almost a week already! A week ago this moment I was cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. I am so glad to have that behind me but I do miss my friends and my family; especially my sister Dana. Before I left we took an afternoon and went to Lagoon (amusement park) - just the two of us. We had a blast. I'll post some pictures soon. It was so much fun to just let

Day 5 - Uneventful, thank goodness

2009-06-18T00:05:00.000-05:00

6.17.09Today was thankfully uneventful, especially compared to yesterday. Chris and Rob went golfing so I watched the kids. Brayden is growing up so much every day. It's like being here has sent his development soaring at warp speed. I'm sure that hanging out with 6 and 8 year olds has something to do with that, haha. I can tell he's having so much fun, and that's the best thing a mom can

Day 4 - Life on a Ranch

2009-06-17T23:46:00.000-05:00

6.16.09I had a bad day. The puppy I mentioned in my last post is no more, thanks to me. We were pulling out to return the U-Haul and she ran under the car. It was awful.This tragically sad event didn't get quite the reaction from everyone I expected. Jaci's dad rode up shortly after it happened. As I was crying...hard...he said, "Try not to take it too hard; that's life on a ranch!" and

Day 3 - Toads, Puppies, and Goats

2009-06-17T23:40:00.000-05:00

6.15.09I have to be honest and say that I wasn't looking forward to Monday. It was my first day back to work after almost a full work week off. I'm happy to report that it went better than I could have imagined. I love having Chris around during the day; Brayden is well cared for and entertained.About half way through my work day Chris came downstairs and said that Brayden just played with

Day 2 - RELAXATION

2009-06-17T23:25:00.000-05:00

6.14.09Beautiful Sunday! Rob and Jaci's place is so peaceful. We spent the day pretty much just recovering from the two full days of driving. It was so nice to be with my guys and relax. The 2 weeks up until the move were insane. It's kind of a crazy feeling to go from that extreme to this extreme of just ... peace. I didn't say I'm not enjoying it. :)Rob, Jaci, and the kids got home from

Day 1 - Arrival

2009-06-17T23:17:00.000-05:00

6.13.09I can't even explain how nice it was to roll in front of Rob and Jaci's house and turn off the car! We somehow turned a 17 hour drive into a 22 hour drive...but when I say somehow it's not because I don't know how it happened; we now know how to properly load a U-Haul trailer: Heaviest stuff in the front. Haha! Poor Chris was on the verge of cardiac arrest the whole trip. I was the

My North Dakota Days

2009-06-17T23:09:00.000-05:00

I've decided that I'm going to do at least one post per day during this first month or so here in North Dakota. I'll confess that it's mostly for me to look back on and remember but I'll try to make them as entertaining as possible. A close friend requested detailed descriptions of my experience here (Jeni!) so here goes!

Tears and Trail Mix

2009-06-14T23:58:00.000-05:00

The time has come...My emotions have been run through the ringerAfter a long drive, filled with tears and trail mixwe are here!I can't believe I'm actually writing this post! Everything feels so surreal. Part of me feels like I'm just on vacation; another part of me remembers the life we just left as if it were just a dream. As you can imagine this leaves me pretty stinking confused! Haha.

I'm a Mom.

2009-05-19T00:53:00.001-05:00