It's been a while...

Hello! It's only been over 2 1/2 years since I last posted. Nothing really has changed between then and now... except most everything! :)

At last, we were living in Rexburg, Idaho and Jordin and I were working for the same property management company. That company closed its doors and we bumped around a bit that took us to Logan, Utah for 6 months, and Charlotte, NC for a year. While in Logan, Jordin and I decided it was time to get the kids out of daycare and have one parent stay home. Because of our individual personalities and career opportunities, we opted to have Jordin be the stay-at-home parent and I have been working full time.

While living in Charlotte, we found out we were expecting our third baby! With the combination of that exciting news and my then-current company slowly collapsing, we decided it was time to move closer to family. I went on maternity leave and left Charlotte for Colorado. We lived in Montrose with Jordin's parents for a while while we had our sweet baby and looked for employment in Denver.

On November 3rd, 2016, Paycen Quinn Boyd was born. This sweet baby boy was our miracle in a hard and stressful time. He has beautiful red hair but it is sadly going a bit blonder. :)

Nearly a year ago, I began working as an Area Marketing Manager for UDR based in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. I am in charge of the southwest region of the US for the properties that UDR owns in that area. I only travel 1-2 times a month so it's much more family-friendly than my work at Campus Evolution Villages in Charlotte where I would be gone for 10 days and home for 4 days.

So that's where we are now, living in Highlands Ranch and loving life.

Pailey is now in 2nd Grade and loves school, her stuffed animals (she still asks for a horse of her own), reading, and bossing her brothers around. She is the perfect combination of sugar and spice. She can be sassy, but also so caring and compassionate. She has been a little less girly-girl over the last year or so. She still loves pink, but isn't worried about wearing a skirt all day like she once did. She is going to be baptized this spring and I can hardly believe it. She has recently shown an interest in learning how to cook, so we have been having fun teaching her recipes and the patience of baking.

Porter is a bustling 5 year old. This boy has energy! He is enrolled in half-day kindergarten, and we may keep him in full-day kindergarten for the next year since he is such a young kindergartner. We'll see. He has developed some sass, but is also the most cuddly and caring boy. He is the jokester of the family. He always loves to tell jokes. Even if they make no sense to anyone else but him. He and Pailey are very opposite in many ways and it's been fun to learn about how to teach, discipline, and love each one in the best ways. (Hint: Porter is guided by his belly at all times. Ha!)

Paycen turns 14 months old in a couple of days and I really can't believe it. He is developing his own little personality. He smiles more than the other two every did as babes. He is quite the walker now and I love watching his little legs toddle around. He has recently started taking a pacifier (the other two NEVER would) and it's adorable to see him walking around with his little giraffe 'joey' go with him and help comfort him. He loves balls. His first birthday was ball-themed and he received a ball-pit for Christmas which he is loving. This boy will say 'dada' all day long, but stubbornly refuses to say 'mama'. When I work with him on it, he just looks me in the eyes and whispers 'dada'. Little punk. ;)

Jordin and I are doing great. Life's not always easy (still waiting for that) but I am so incredibly blessed to have Jordin as my teammate in this life. He is the perfect balance to my crazy. Jordin is a way better parent than I ever was. He definitely handles the budget better than I ever did! His passion of automotive is still there, and so is the Blazer (to my detriment). He also has discovered a passion and knack for real estate investing.

As for me, I feel like I am growing and getting better at 'adulting' with each passing year. In 2017, I had a word of the year, and it was Stability. I think we accomplished it pretty well. We've lived in our home for a whole year and have renewed our lease for another 2 years! That is pretty ground breaking for us! My job is incredible. It's challenging, satisfying, and pushes me in every way. This year, I did have a scare in May and was in the hospital for 5 days with an incredibly difficult migraine. All tests came back clear, but I now take a daily preventative medication so I don't relive that again.

We're excited for the new year and the fulfillment of our New Years Resolutions. I don't think I've been a big resolution person before, but this year I am excited to put some things in place to do better and be better. Once I've got my list, I'll post more on all that to help hold myself accountable. :) (One of which is blogging about my family more! You're welcome.) ;)

So grateful for our home, life, and all the good, bad, and ugly in between.

Ashley

Change Is Our Only Constant

The funny thing about my life is that I keep thinking we will reach a point that we stop changing our lives. And yet here we are: we just celebrated our 7 year anniversary, our baby girl turned 5 (WHAT?!), and we just completed our 15th move. Yes, I am a pro at packing boxes and Jordin is a pro at packing a U-Haul truck.

So where did we move this time, you ask? We are currently living in Logan, Utah and working for a construction and property management company called Nelson Brothers.  Three months ago we were working for a company called INNOVATIVE Student Housing and loving our jobs and our company. In January we found out that the principals of the company were shutting the doors and selling all of their management contracts to other companies. This put Jordin and I in between two companies that were taking the Rexburg properties that we were over. We were really thrown for a loop since we loved the people that we worked for before. We stayed in Rexburg for one more month and ended up taking offers from Nelson Brothers to help them open up a new property called The Factory for this Fall. It has been a crazy month. There is so much to do here and we are working like mad to make progress and get it leased up. Right now the plan is to then move to Orem and work from the corporate offices there and take on a different role for the properties in Utah.

So who knows where we will be in 2 years... 5 years.... 10 years...  The conclusion that Jordin and I have come to is that we don't know where we want to end up. The world is full of too many possibilites to make final decisions since we are not even 30 (but too close to that number for comfort!), so we aren't going to worry about it! We will take the best opportunites as they come and have been so happy with where we have come so far.

Life is an ever changing adventure! Let's keep it going! Just a few less moves in the next seven years as there as been in the past seven!

Ash

Update of Life

I was talking with a coworker of mine about blogging and I've realized how terrible I've been about it lately. So I want to do better! Here is what's been going on for all of us as well as some of what the kids are like nowadays:

(After writing all of this, I realize that it's probably not very interesting to anyone else, but I really like to make sure that I keep record of what is going on in our lives since they seem to change every 6 months....so.... sorry.) ;)

Porter:
* He has mastered the words, "No!" and "un-uh!" lately and 90% of the time just says is to be onery and more than actually meaning no. haha
* He has started to thin out a bit and becoming a big boy more than just a big baby!
*He gets funnier every day. Tonight at dinner I was talking to Pailey about making happy faces and so I look over at Porter and he is smiling really big. So I tell him to make a happy face for Dad to see. He looks over at Jordin and makes the cutest frowny face ever! I don't know if he did it on purpose, but his comedic timing was awesome!
*He has started nursey now. We may have snuck him in there a little early, but since he goes to daycare every day, he is totally used to playing with kids.

Pailey:
*She is almost four! I can't believe it. She is so smart, caring (except to her brother)
*She can write her name and has started writing other words like 'Love' and 'heart'.
*She is still her adorable self that loves butterflies, sparkles, and every color is her favorite color depending on the conversation.
*She has started making her own decisions, which as a mother has been a love/hate thing. She picks which clothes she wears whether they match or not which is pretty cute (for example here is an actual outfit she wore last week: pink tights, a striped skirt, a floral shirt with a yellow undershirt, a black sweater, and gold/pink shoes). She is quite the little fashionista.
*Her appetite has finally picked up and she eats a lot better than she used to. I am hoping that she will finally gain some meat on those bones and not be such a skinny-minny. :)
*She loves daycare. Honestly, she is always bummed on Saturday morning when she has to hangout with mom and dad instead of playing with all her friends at daycare. haha

Jordin and Ashley:
*Jordin is working as the Maintenance supervisor for four complexes here and soon to be five. He really is enjoying his job, and even better still, he is really good at it. He likes the pace and enjoys the work. We are so happy that he has found a job that he really enjoys because it makes our life totally different and a whole lot better not to have Jordin looking for a job all the time. haha
* I am working as the General Manager for The Gates Apartments.  I now manage more than 600 residents. I was managing Viking Village which was only 180 residents. So this has been a really awesome promotion for me. I have been working on putting this complex in order (don't get me started on the mess that I came into!!!) and getting our leasing numbers up for the Spring semester. I am super happy about the work team that we have put together to work it all out. We have another full-time leasing manager, and she is great and we both understand what we've got to do to work it all out and we work well together. And we have three awesome resident assistants that help us with the work load a ton.
*Jordin and I are really doing great. We are going down to Arizona in a couple weeks so see Dusty and Kimball get hitched. We are so excited for the trip and the time off. It sounds like a bunch of the Boyd clan will be going and it'll be like a mini reunion too. We can't wait.

All in all, our life is pretty great right now. We love seeing the kids grow and learn new things. And we love how blessed we have been and all we have worked to achieve.

Love, Love, Love.

Thankfuls: Nov. 7th-Nov. 10th

Well, I guess I'm still not in the swing of blogging my thankfulness every day yet. Here we go!

November 7th: I am grateful for our little house. We are lucky that we get to live in a pretty decent three bedroom home and our bills are very minimal because I'm an on-site property manager. Jordin and I have lived in MANY different homes and this one is working out great. I just put up more pictures in the kids room because I haven't had time/other things going on and I just hadn't. So now that they have some pictures I just feel even more at home here even though we've lived here since August. This home really has been one of the biggest blessings for us this year.

November 8th: I am grateful for friends. We are blessed because we have had a lot of great friends in our lives. I surprised Jordin tonight with a date night to Kiwi Loco (his favorite!) and a movie (Mortal Instraments- based on a book series I love!) but the only way we ever get a date night is if we get a baby sitter. So.... dun dun dun! Tahlia to the rescue! She has been more of a family member than a friend (just ask P-cakes- she says it all the time) and we are so blessed with having her here  with us and I don't know what we're going to do when she graduates college and leaves!! Augh! But we are so thankful for ALL our friends!

November 9th: Thankful for spontaneous visits! Today Dad called and said mom was a little cabin feverish so they wanted to know if we were free to have them come visit! It was a great little spontaneous trip and we loved to have them for the weekend!

November 10th: I am grateful for the spirit. I know that I'm not always 'feeling it' at church and especially lately since Porter is such a handful. But today I made the effort to open up my mind and heart a little more and I was able to have a much more spiritual experience (at least for Sunday school, while Jordin had Porter in the hallway). :)

Jumping on the grateful bandwagon...

So it has been a long time since I've updated, and I want to get back into the swing of it. I know a lot of friends that put something that they are grateful for every day in November on Facebook, and I thought about how much we have been blessed with, we can do it too! So I've got to catch up for a few days first...

November 1st: We are grateful for work. Work in every form. Having good employment is definately something that Jordin and I have come to appreciate over the last couple of years. Whether is was no employment, employment we didn't like but did anyways, or (fortunately) having our jobs currently that we really are both enjoying. The chance that Jordin and I have to both work right now is wonderful, scary, hard, funny, and sometimes down right depressing when we only see the kids for a couple hours a day. It is a decision that we've made and I know that every family is different, but this is what has to be done for us right now... And I am so grateful that we can work each day to provide for our family. The other form of work that comes to mind is just the everyday chores in life that come up (not laundry and dishes-- I don't know if I will ever be grateful for either one of those) but I mean waking up on Saturday morning and getting everyone bundled up to go work outside on the house or yard. Work Ethic. I guess that's what I mean. Jordin and I both have memories of doing this as kids and I know that it has made us better people knowing how to work.

November 2nd: We are grateful for tea and hot cocoa! They are staples in our house this time of year and there is just nothing better than a warm mug of deliciousness while creaming your family at board games... haha.

November 3rd: We are grateful for our education. Now that we are back in Rexburg, but not students, we feel so blessed for the time we spent here as students and the things we've learned. On the other side, we are so glad we are DONE! But it's nice knowing that we are where we are today in part because of the education and degrees that we have earned. 

November 4th: I am grateful for sarcasm. I know that it has a time and a place, and I even remember a conference talk by President Hinckley talking about the issues that can begin with just being too sarcastic. But I love sarcasm. It is a great way to joke with friends and make life seem better when sometimes it can seem overwhelming. I don't know, maybe that's a dumb thing to be grateful for. But none the less, I do! :)

November 5th: I know that Jordin and I are both so grateful for our in-laws. We got so lucky that we both get along with our in-laws very well. We got a surprise card in the mail today from Jordin's grandma, Grandma Connor. It was a cute card for the kids. I love that we have such a great support system around us! Especially since they're stuck with us forever! :)

November 6th: I am so grateful for the Christmas season! I know that if you ask my dad, he'll say that it's still the Thanksgiving season, but by golly, (yes, I just said 'by golly') there is a mild skiff of snow on the ground and I just feel the season in the air and I am so excited! I plan on opening up the season early and start putting up the Christmas decor and play carols. It's going to be a blast!

We're still alive!

It has been six months since I've written anything. My cute baby is now a giant baby. My toddler is becoming such a bright big girl. We are now BACK in Rexburg and getting Jordin ready for vet school. Life never seems to go  according to plan but it has been a great ride!

With that being said, I'm going to be better at updating this about our life.

It's overwhelming to think of doing it in one long post, so I'll have to break up thoughts and notes and stories of the last six months.

So, we're back. Just not right now because Porter is awake!

Ash

FINALLY! The finished post of Porter's birth and our move to Colorado. Enjoy!

(Note: I started writing this about a week after Porter was born, but because of unexpected events, i.e. moving 1,000 miles, I have been seriously behind actually posting this.) 

It has been quite the roller coaster of emotions this last week. Ninety-nine percent have been over the moon high, but there has also been so much about a new born that I've forgotten that there have been many a 'wow, I forgot newborns were so hard!' moments too. I want to try and document as much as I can of Porter's birth because I know I will forget the little details eventually- so sorry if this is too many details.

Jordin and I went into the hospital early Friday August 31, 2012 for my scheduled induction. I was feeling pretty good. I was having a bit of anxiety the night before but Jordin gave me a blessing and I felt so much better and ready to go by the time 6am rolled around.

We drove to Christus St. Johns hospital and started the pitocin around 8-9. They checked me when I first got there and I was already at a 5 so it didn't look like this was going to take too long. Well, considering its labor anyway. :)

When I was induced with Pailey, it took a good 3 hrs before I could even start feeling any kind of contraction, but this time I started feeling the effects of the PIT after an hour or so.  The nurse I had, Lori, was pretty great- she let me get up and bounce on an exercise ball and move around as long as I stayed close enough to the monitors they had on my belly. I was in pretty good spirits because of that since with Pailey I had to stay in the bed the whole time except to use the bathroom.

By about noon or one I was dilated to a 7 and I was beginning to really feel the effects of the medication. One thing that is important to mention here is that I am not opposed to epidurals. I had one with pai and I called it liquid gold because I felt so wonderful after it took effect. I never planned on getting one specifically, just see how I managed the pain and when it got too intense I would ask for the drugs. ;) This time, however, I waited too long. It was not possible for me to get the epidural by the time I was literally screaming for one.

Side Note: I have never really been able to scream. Like, to the point that I have had people make fun of me at sporting events because I'll be cheering and only the people sitting next to me would be able to hear me. I don't know why, but that's the way it is. But no, it turns out I can scream.

Like I've said the labor was going really smoothly up until I reached about a seven. Then it turned into the hardest thing I have ever done physically. I wanted the epidural. I wanted anything that would make the pain of the near-constant contractions go away. Oh, also I was having back labor too, meaning that the baby was face down instead of face up and it makes it hurt a lot more. No fun.

Anyway...

Jordin was awesome during this time. He tried to keep me focused on my breathing which we had practiced before hand so that way I could focus on the pain. We worked out a hand holding method that I wouldn't have to talk, just squeeze his hand to let him know how bad the pain was and when it was over (to the detriment to Jordin's poor hand). 

So after about 45 min or an hour (they said it was only that long but I'm pretty sure it was WAY longer) :) I was pretty much a wreak and really couldn't take it much more. They couldn't check me to see how far along I was because every time they went to check, it was crazy painful and I would yell for them to stop. The nurse had me move over to my side to try and get the baby to turn over because everything we had tried so far hadn't worked. After about a minute of this I couldn't take it and I felt like I had to try something else. All the while the nurses and doctors were asking me if I felt the urge to push, which I didn't. So I try to go into a sitting up position, and just like that, the baby turns and I felt like I had to push NOW.

I lay back down and tell the nurses and my awesome doctor, Dr. Abair, that I was going to push NOW. They all gathered around and within two minutes, baby Boyd was born! He was born August 31, 2012 at 2:24 pm.

It was the best feeling in the world and made all the pain worth it.

He was born, just like his sister, with a full head of dark brown hair. We named him Porter Lincoln Boyd. We knew before he was born that his name would be Porter after Orin Porter Rockwell from church history and the strong faithful person that he was, but we didn't decide on Lincoln until the next day. Lincoln after Abraham Lincoln because that is a president/person that Jordin and I both look up to as a great example of integrity.

He weighed 8 lbs and 19 inches long. Ten perfect little fingers, Ten perfect little toes.

He loved the heat lamp bed!

Bonding with Daddy.

His first bath!

This is the hat that they give to the dads. It has Porter's footprints on it. It's a little cheesy, but pretty cool too. :)

It was harder than I ever imagined it would be, but he has been amazing. And we are so excited to have him!

I was released from the hospital the next day, but Porter had some minor complications from the circumcision. He was bleeding a lot more than was typical so they kept him for an extra night to make sure that he was going to be fine. So Jordin and I got to spend one more night in the hospital. (I say 'get' but that is more for me, because the bed was comfortable, but Jordin had to tough it out on a cot made for a 5 ft tall person.) :)

By that night, the bleeding had really stopped and he had peed (which the pediatrician was waiting for as a good sign), but we still stayed the night and in the morning we got to come home!

She loves him!

I love this picture! His perfect little face... :)

Jordin's mom and brother came into town the day before he was born to help out with Pailey and they brought her to see him the night he was born. She had been saying for a couple of weeks that Baby Porter is coming and so she was super stoked! She came into the room and she was a little shy at first because she didn't quite know what to do, but she quickly got over that! She just wanted to hold him or be near whoever was holding him. In the last two weeks, she really hasnt changed. She loves to 'pet' him and give him hugs and kisses. She really is just so sweet to him. She is clumsy a bit, like her momma, and so mainly we just have to make sure that she doesn't accidently hurt him.

One thing that she has been doing is every once in a while, she wants to be the baby too and ask for a diaper on instead of panties. But really, i knew there would be some things she would do in response to him taking attention away from what she is used to. So I don't feel like its a big deal, and we explain that she is a big girl and not a baby.

They 'helped' me eat my food.

Uncle Dusty!

I know this picture is super blurry, but I wanted to show how awesome my cute husband is to sleep on a crazy small and uncomfortable cot every night we were there.

LET'S GO HOME! This is probably the only pic I have of him wearing a hat because his hair is just so cool! :)

Now, it's been nearly three weeks since he was born and life is pretty crazy. I'd forgotten how much your productivity decreases with a newborn, but I've definitely been reminded. And I love it! This time, it is totally different than with Pailey because we were both in school and relied a lot on friends and family. But this time, it's just us but we (mainly me since Jordin still has to go to work) have nothing on our plates except take care of these cute babies and do 1,000 loads of laundry that somehow crop up with a newborn. So life is crazy just taking care of them, but it could be so much harder.

One major development is the fact that we are moving! Jordin got a job offer in Colorado and so we jumped on it! His job here was okay with it because things are slowing down for them anyway. Talk about things working out perfectly, eh?! Today is Jordins last day and he is so happy to be going back to his Rocky Mtns. I mean, the boy is practically glowing with excitement and joy. We really have enjoyed our time here in Texas. We have learned a lot, especially being so far from family. And I have thoroughly enjoyed the constant warm weather.

Sleeping on Daddy's lap

Chilling pool side

Pailey had to keep getting out of the pool and check on Baby Porter.

I love this one! So cute of both of them... but i'm biased. :)

So sad.

Note: I don't usually have a tarp in the middle of my living room. We were in the process of potty training Pai.

She loves to hold his hand.

A couple days before we moved, we spent some time at the Kemah Boardwalk. I knew that I was going to miss the bay (and especially the Pelican's-which I LOVE!) the most, so before the moving really got under way, we spent some time at the Boardwalk.

Pailey and I went on the train because she loves trains!

We got front row seats!

The bay... sigh...

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Once we got on the road, we drove up through Oklahoma and stopped at the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. The spirit there was so subdued. I don't know if I can really describe the feelings that you feel there.

This remind anyone else of a dream?

This made me tear up. It's across the street from the memorial and it just added to the powerful emotions there.

On the road again... 

She rode with dad in the moving truck and did amazingly well.

This is how we kept a 2-yr-old entertained for a 1,000 mile trip. She watched Lion King. A lot. (and other movies, but mostly Lion King.) She likes the part that the lion is held on pride rock so this is her doing it with her muffin. :)

LOVE this pic! What a goober! And look at those cheeks! Love him!

Alrighty- Now fast forward about 3 weeks...

We are now settled in Colorado, and we are doing great! Jordin loves his job and has been working really hard. It is so much different than his job in Texas.  Last week we had his blessing and I will post pics from that soon.


If you stuck with me til this point, thanks and sorry it was SO long! Lots of things going on...  Only more great things to come. :)