March 28, 1922 - April 12, 2009

Shelby, Me, Grandma Leck, Grandpa leck Aug. 07


This post has been pretty difficult for me to put on here or even write about because I think I am still in shock or denial. This Easter Sunday my 87 year old Grandpa past away. He was diagnosed with cancer in his kidneys, liver, and possibly his pancreas 10 days before he passed. The doctors wouldn't give him a time other than "it could be 2 days, 2 weeks, or 2 months".


Many of you know I was born on my grandpa Lecks birthday so I feel that I have always had a special bond with him and he with I. We have celebrated our Birthday together for 27 years; many times even traveling to have a combined "party". I know I haven't been as close since I have been out of the house, but I always look forward to hearing from him on March 28th!


I was really trying to go see him one last time, but with my own health it just wasn't in the cards; in fact my mom flew in just hours after he passed away. I have a lot of guilt and a lot of sorrow for this decision to not be there for him when he needed me most. I know he wasn't too coherent, but at least I could have held his hand and told him I Loved him one last time. I was going to write him a letter to tell him, but I didn't do that in time either. The other thing that is so aggravating to me is that I was to sick to talk to him on our Birthday so I didn't even do that. Plus I have ALWAYS saved his birthday cards that he sends me every year until I get the next years so that I have the last card he ever wrote to me. Again I don't have that, for some unknown reason I guess it got thrown away. The other thing that is difficult for me is that he had in his will that he wanted to be cremated and not have any type of funeral service; while I respect his wishes I do have a hard time that I won't be able to say goodbye and see (at least his body) for the last time. This blog is kinda just rambling but I am sobbing to hard to really think about what I am typing, so I am just trying to write whatever comes to mind (as you can see I have a lot coming to mind).

I know that I will get to see him again and I know that it will better than it was hereon earth, but sometimes that doesn't make me feel any better. I loved my Grandpa despite all his quirks and I will miss him. One thing I do remember that he wrote in my Birthday card is "Annie- I have always loved you more than anything or anybody in this world and I hope you know that! Please bring those beautiful girls of yours and your handsome hubby to see your old gramps...soon." Well I am sorry I didn't make it Grandpa, but I will bring them all to see you later...I promise!

5 years a comin'

I'm sure we all have friends out there that you would consider to be "best friends", but because of life, family, geography, and circumstances you don't get to see them very often. Well for me that is Kate.

Kate has the most beautiful olive skin and ALWAYS makes me look like a ghost in pictures!

She and I went to BYU-Idaho together and met the first summer we were there. While at school we were roomates some of the time and friends always. She has been threre for me through a lot of ups and downs over the last 9 years and I like to believe that I have been there for her as well. It has been over 5 years since we have seen each other and on Easter Weekend her and her daughter Brooklyn came for a visit because her younger brother was getting married in Boise. I was so excited that they stayed with us and we stayed up WAY TO LATE catching up. I had never met Brooklyn and she had never met my girls so it was so fun to see each others "mini me's". Our girls got along like they had known each other for years and were best buds. It was so cute to watch them play and use their imaginations together.

Here the girls are"Hiding in the kitchen" and singing to one another!

Playing in the ball pit while watching for monsters to come.

Brooklyn had to get ready for the wedding and Shelby couldn't let her take a bath alone. Can you tell that my little Shelby is having SO much fun in every pic?

Even though our lives have changed a ton in the years we haven't seen each other it seemed like we picked right up where we left off. We definately didn't get to spend as much time as we would have liked, but hey I will take what I can get. Plus we get to have a girls week in June so I am so excited. I will post details about that later.

Our Easters!

I know this is soooo late, but like I said before I am just trying to catch up. :) WARNING: This will be kinda long so unless you care you can just look at the pics.

This Easter we celebrated a couple of times and the girls didn't mind at all. It was so much fun because Shelby actually got it this year. First we had our Best Buds ever come and stay with us, the Schow's.

Here is Shelby with her concentration face while dying eggs!

Shelby and Jonah. These two are really good buddies despite their age difference. I reserve the right to use this pic later in life if I need too.

Sharing the colors! Jonah was really good at this and Shelby well ummm she is 2 so she just dyed the same 6 eggs over and over and over! But she did love every minute of it and Jonah was able to go to town and did an awesome job.

Dying the egg yet again just in a different color this time.

Shelby's Loot!

Jonah and Shelby dyed eggs together and we got a few bribery pics for when they are older and then we had an Easter egg hunt. The kids had so much fun and Heidi and I had tons of fun laughing our cute kids. It was so fun to have them visit! We mostly watched a TON of movies because apparently Jon and I are way behind on all the good flicks plus I was still a little sick from the week before. I finally got a picture with Heidi; only because I MADE her promise. We have been friends for almost 9 years and this is the ONLY pic I have of her (go figure) I guess we just are too busy having fun when we see each other.

Then on Easter Sunday we had the easter bunny come and the girls loved that. It was way fun to have them rummage through their baskets, but it is difficult to get a good pic so these are the best I got.

Our Little Bunny Lou Lou! She actually didn't mind these ears and wore them for a really long time. Pretty funny!

Shelby was pretty excited about her ears to and the rest of the stuff.

I know you are all asking "this is the best you had" and my answer is "i know pathetic, right?" Shelby was ready for the day and poor Libby is still just loungin'

This is our attempt to get both girls and their baskets. Libby wasn't too great at sitting up yet which is why I had to be in their. (p.s. she is a pro now and can sit up on her own!)

Later that night we went to our good friends the Hermansen's for dinner which was super delicious and then we had another easter egg hunt at our neighborhood park. All of our girls loved it as you can see from the pics below.

Libby, Chloe, Shelby, and Rylee. These girls are best friends and can't stop talking about one another. I love it!

Shelby found one!

Chloe was sooo cute and got this excited with EVERY single egg!

Rylee is adorable and was so much fun to watch run around and find the "hard" ones.

We are so grateful for all of our family and friends and are blessed to have so many people in our lives that truely care for us. I am really one of the luckiest Mom's in the world to have such a wonderful family and life. I am grateful for the atonement and the true reason for this celebration and everyday I live I realize how lucky I am to have the chance to still be around. Thanks to all who celebrated with us! We love you.

Grandma Hammons to the Rescue!

After I got out of the hospital (in March) my mom came up to Boise to take care of us for a week. It was so nice because she had just been here with my dad the day before I was admitted in the ER. The girls always love to have her come visit and she is a life saver for sure.

Here is Shelby with her Chocolate pudding that Grandpa Hammons had gotten her when he was here. As you can tell she is nothing like her mother, she LOVES chocolate!

"Grandma you want a kiss, special for you?" Can you tell that Grandma is not quite sure she really wants that chocolaty kiss?

I am convinced that NO adult can pretend and play like my mother! this is their city that they made and this game lasted for at least a good hour or so. Shelby and Grandma are on the same page the whole time and just keep playing off of one another. Amazing!

Libby is my thumb sucker but she will only do it right before you lay her down or when she first gets up in the morning before her bottle is ready. I had to catch this cuteness because it is only at certain times and usually I am the one who has her. Grandma just eats this little bundle of joy up. She is seriously so stinkin cute, if I do say so myself.

I had been trying to get Libby to eat "baby food" and she would just get the throw up shivers and spit it out so my mom decided to make homemade baby food and freeze a ton for me while she was here. It was night and day difference, now my Libby Lou loves to eat her food. She is always this happy, but when she is eating she is so giggly and blows bubbles and squeals. So fun!

As you can see we had a blast even though the circumstances were not ideal. My mom is amazing and so helpful and selfless. I couldn't ask for a better role model or friend and I just hope that one day I can be a mom just like her! Love you mom and thanks again!!!

Where do I start?

I have been feeling a little overwhelmed with my blog lately because so many things have happened since my last post and I don't know where to start. SO instead of feeling overwhelmed I am gonna just take it one step at a time and hopefully catch up soon. I have some pictures that were taken when I was in the hospital last month that I just think are adorable. As you know Grandpa Scott took care of the girls while I was sick this last time and let me just say that Shelby LOVED it!! He did the cutest thing for her lunches that I think is blog worthy for sure. it is called her "cookie face". She know asks for a "cookie face" almost every day for lunch. Grandpa said that it took her a REALLY long time to eat it because she was too busy playing with it. Thanks again Grandpa I know it isn't easy to just jump in and play mom!The other pictures that I have were the day before I last went to the hospital of our Blimp attempt. We flew it inside for a while, but the helium so was strong that it was always getting stuck on the fan. This thing was WAY bigger than we ever thought it would be so we were pretty glad that our ceilings are 20 ft. high otherwise it would have bumped us all in the head. So we took it outside and it was super windy so it popped before Shelby and Libby got to see it. But it was entertaining for the neighbor kids.

Jon and Uncle Tyson putting much concentration into setting this thing up.

Our blimp Magical right???

The neighbor kids "driving" the blimp. The wind was so strong that I am pretty sure the remote control didn't do much.

Here is the tree that finally popped it!

Okay well that is all the time I have for now so hopefully I will get to this sooner rather than later!

I'm so Sick of being Sick!!!!

Okay so I know it has been a long while since I have posted, but I have an excuse; I was in the hospital AGAIN!!!! For those of you that follow my blog you know that this last summer was a crazy whirlwind for our family and that it is lucky that myself and our little Libby are even alive. We went through a ton and every doctor that hears the saga has told me "girl you should be dead"... umm thanks I guess. I was also told that because of what I went through I would probably not feel "normal" for a good year or more. Just as I was told I have felt pretty crapy since the surgery in Aug. but I always thought that would be my "normal" for a long time so just get used to it. This last Sunday my in-laws were in town and Jon was flying out of town when I was in so much pain that I finally let my good friend Kristin take me to the ER. They did an ultrasound, CAT Scan, and tons of blood and pee tests. Turns out this time I had a kidney infection, inflamed liver, and bacteria in my blood. They said that if I had waited 1 more day my body would have gone septic and started shuting down organ by organ... AWESOME. Luckily my in-laws were here so they could take care of my girls while Jon was gone and I was once again hooked up to a bunch of stupid IV poles with my butt hanging out of my adorable hospital gown. This time I didn't have to stay for 3 months like before only about 3 days. On Wed. my mom flew into town to contuine taking care of our family since I am out of commission again. I don't know what we would do with out our family and there help because heavens know that I am worthless. Thanks again to everyone and their help!!! Anyway I am not trying to complain, I know that we all have our own trials and stuff, but seriously could I please get a new one!!

I also had my birthday yesterday which I was very grateful that I wasn't in the hospital for although it would have been fitting given my last year. My mom said that she would watch the girls while Jon took me to dinner, but that turned out to be not a good idea because I got super sick being up for that long, but o'well at least we tried. We will just have to "celebrate" another time.

Here are some cute pictures taken of my girls while I was gone! This is why I keep fighting and this is what makes this all worth living for!

Busy! Busy!! Busy!!!

Well this last week has been Crazy busy, but so much fun. On Monday my parents were able to make a quick trip up to see us. I was so excited for a couple of reasons (1) because I know that when my parents come in town I will get a break from the monatony of being a stay at home mom (2) all the "projects" that I have waiting for me to do will get done in no time and (3) I love their company and our conversations!!! For those of you that know my parents you know that they work at a pace that I am sure no one else can. I knew that we would be really busy when they came so that is why when they got here I had to remember to bust out the camera or we would never remember to get any pictures.Here is Grandma Hammons reading books to the girls while feeding Libby. My girls absolutely adore their Grandma and how much time she spends playing with them. I have never met a more hands on Grandma!

Libby has a new thing where she likes to eat with no one holding her, but she won't hold her own bottle??? O'well Grandma loved spending time with her no matter what.

This is how excited Shelby was to have them leave! (she also refused to get dressed for the picture)


Grandma & Grandpa can always get her to laugh! Libby loves their new flower toys look how interested she is.

Grandpa Hammons & Libby Marie

Here are some of the Many projects that we got done. I made all these bows and then we covered the little tiny book of Mormons with paper and put a flower on it. Way cute and fun!Some changing pads for my Friend who is having a little boy soon. This has been on my to do list Forever!

My pantry shelfs which I couldn't be happier about. They are selling these organizers at Costco right now and I am so glad that I had my parents to help me with it. My Pops and I customized it to the cans that I use and so I have a spot for all our "normal" items. LOVE IT, thanks pops!

These are just the projects that I have pictures of I also got help with Oil changes, new air filters in our house (we have custom-hard to find sizes), hanging pictures on the wall in Libby's room (pictures to come), lunch with Jon almost every day, grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, and probably many more that I can't think of right now. I was so sad to see my parents leave because I never know when the next time that I see them will be. I also know that even the 3 months they lived with us this summer still wasn't long enough so I am convinced that no matter how long they stay I won't want them to go. Thanks again for all your help and company, we sure love and miss having you close by. O'ya when they left Shelby says "mom, I not want to stay here I want to go to George with Grama and papa" I guess we will have to fly down soon!

Well my parents left on Friday morning and then that night Jon's family came into town. It was Grandma and Grandpa Scott, Aunt Jessica, Uncle Tyson, and Aunt MaKall (not sure if I spelled that right) I kinda forgot about taking pictures until they were leaving and Shelby was down for a nap so she is MIA in all the pics. It was a short trip but it was good to see everyone. Grandpa and Uncle T got the winch put on Jon's 4 wheeler while he was a work and Jon was so happy that it finally got done and so was I so now Jon can clean up the garage that has been driving his OCD wife crazy for the last couple of months. The kids had a blast hanging out with everyone and Shelby had plenty of people who would read library books to her.

Libby was having so much fun when Grandpa was throwing her in the air she forgot it was nap time and just kept on laughing!

Libby with Grandma & Grandpa Scott

We love having so many visitors and are glad that we finally have a house that can accomadate so many people. Even though it has been a crazy week it has been a good one.

To Smart for her own Good!

So I am constantly telling these cute stories to my mom and a few others that I regularly talk to on the phone, but I thought I would post this story because I was trying so hard to not crack up out loud, but in the end I couldn't hold it in.

Yesterday Shelby and I were eating lunch. We had some lunch meat, string cheese, grapes, tomatoes, crazines, and wheat thins. Shelby was super hungry and kept asking for more of everything. "More meat Peese!" "More grapes Peese" "More Crazines Peese mom!" So I was getting her seconds and even thirds of each item. (Side note...Shelby is VERY regular, if you know what I mean) Given this little fact I try not to give her too much fiber otherwise her 4 times a day will quickly turn into 6 times and then her bumm starts to hurt her. So when she proceeded to ask for more crazines I simply told her that 3 handfuls is enough and she could have something else if she were still hungry.

She then told me, "MOM!!! you need to go to time out right now, you are not listeninginging very good, not listeninginging good at all. Time out for 2 more times "(meaning 2 minutes) I was first shocked that she put two and two together and then was overwhelmed with laughter! How in the world do you tell a 2 year old that the rules just don't apply to you when you don't listen to them? Needless to say she didn't get more crazines but she got some pretzels in their place (some good carb, plug up food!) Everyday is hilarious around here with little stories like this one I just LOVE being a mom and being able to stay home with my girls so I don't miss any of their funniness!

This picture is like a year old, but I was looking through some and found another "funny moment" I think every post should have a picture if possible!

Pay it forward

I thought this would be something fun to do. I saw this on a lot of my friends blogs... and I have won a few awesome things (so I kinda have to do it now). They are all a little different. Some tell you what you will get others have left it a surprise. Some give things out to the first 5 comments others to the first 3 comments...so I am going to go in the middle with 4.

The first four people to respond to this post will get something made or bought by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make or buy!

2- What I create or get will be just for you.

3- It'll be done this year.

4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your your house before guest come to stay. I may draw or sew something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. (which you would totally love because everyone knows what an amazing cook I am.) Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!

5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange and/or awesome! The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 4 people who do the same on your blog. The first 4 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS gift from me!

Libby is 6 Months Old Today!

Today Libby is officially 6 months old. I can't believe how big she is getting and how fast she is becoming a little girl instead of my little baby. I decided that I would go ahead a do a photo shoot with her this afternoon so here are the pics that I took. (P.S. my Heidi did do some retouching for me :) Thanks again for making my pics awesome!)

This is a classic Libby drowl when she is on her tummy, she will scootch with her toes dug into the carpet and will get so excited that she is moving that she drowls, I think it is so cute!

I was trying to get her to look at me, but I guys our bookshelf was way more interesting!

Her cracking up at my faces




It is definately true...she is a thumb sucker. She will grab her favorite blanket (the strip one) and hold it with her thumb in place in order to fall asleep. She drops the blanket after she gets a good grip on her thumb.

Shelby thought that all of us girls needed to paint our toes and fingers the same horrific pink. That is why my fingernails look as if I am 14 years old. But Libby & Shelby's look so stinkin cute. Libby can't stop staring at her toes she thinks they are awesome!

Here are some facts about my little miracle baby!!!

Eyes: Bright Blue

Hair: Brown and growing back a little each day

Weight: I have no idea because I have been really bad at taking you to the doctor

Height: 26 1/2 inches long (you are so tall that you are wearing 6-12 month clothes; who would have guessed that she was a premie!)

Things she can do: roll over from your tummy to your back, grab any toy in sight, scoot forward with you toes, find her thumb anytime and any place, almost sit up, smile tons and giggle.

Dislikes: her swing, to be ignored, and breast feeding (she completely refused to do it any longer at 5 months; which is fine with me because I am not a huge fan either).

Nicknames: Libby Lou, munchin, and Miss Lou.

Personality: well you are FULL of personality and are probably the happiest baby I have EVER seen. You will smile to anyone who even looks at you and you are constantly giggling to the point of spit up coming out your nose (which only makes you laugh harder). You don't ever cry! You let out a few warning cries when you are ready to go to bed and then as soon as I lay you down you find your thumb and turn your head away from me as if to say goodbye and goodnight! You get so excited when we come to get you from your crib I love it because your body will shake uncontrolably because you can't contain how excited you are. When dad gets home from work you wait so patiently for him to get changed and say hello to Shelby and then when he comes to pick you up you probably wet your diaper because you are so excited. You love to read books, especially with Shelby and you will read for as long as someone will read just kicking your legs. You LOVE your bouncer and will sit and kick while we eat any meal.

Libby I am so grateful to be your mom and you have brought nothing but joy into my life. You are such a miracle and I know that you are a blessing to our family. You couldn't be happier for life and we couldn't be happier to to have you in our life. We love you and are so honored to be your parents!