A NEW POST!!!!

Yes, it's me. I'm back. Where to begin.....

There is a very complicated reason for my absence, but I will try to explain. Life has been complicated for the past few months. I wouldn't say bad. Life has been pretty good actually, but, well, complicated.
I have been completely swamped with work and Isaac. I have not been a good picture taker at all, and for the most part, I have been behind on work all the time. On top of that, we moved to Lehi 1 month ago. This has further put me behind on work. I don't know if anyone else has this weird personality thing that I do, but I am, and I am coining this phrase, a "Self Punisher". Many people like to pride them self on discipline, but I think I take it a step further. I have been doing it for as long as I can remember. Basically, if my life is not perfect, I am not allowed to enjoy fun things or extras. So, as life became more swamped and complicated, I decided that blogging was a privilege I was not allowed to have until I got completely on top of things and life became perfect. I have actually been doing the same thing with recreational reading for the past couple of YEARS!!! I have tons of books that I have continued to purchase but have not allowed myself to read, and I finally stopped allowing myself to buy them too. Kind of crazy, I know.
Yesterday, I heard Pres. Monson's talk on Sunday morning about enjoying life every day. He referenced a quote from "The Music Man" that really hit home. "You pile up enough tomorrows and you'll find you have nothing but a bunch of empty yesterdays"
I decided immediately that I was going to start blogging, reading, and enjoying life again. It has been a difficult concept for me lately because life just seems put on hold. I feel like nothing can start until sometime in the future. I just think of everything in terms of "when we buy a house" (we are leasing for this year), "When Bryce finishes with his MBA", etc. I have had a sense that our life is not our own right now. Anyway, enough with that. Whatever the case, I am going to start acting like it is ours.
UPDATES:
Our Home.....
As I started mentioning around November, we have had to downsize a lot. We were very blessed to find a home to rent in Lehi. I am actually very happy here, but I have some mixed feelings. Leaving my dream home in Pleasant Grove was not as hard as I thought it would be. I was ready to move on with life and go back to square one if necessary so that we could move forward. The thing that I am having a hard time with is the location. We are WAAAAY up in Lehi, actually north of Thanksgiving Point. Nothing is close by. The great thing is, our new neighborhood and ward are WONDERFUL! It is basically all young families and everyone is much closer together, so Isaac and I go outside to play every day and we always find lots of friends to play with. He is having a blast!
Work
Bryce is still working as an Operations Manager in SLC and is doing great. I am really so proud of him (and not writing this to flatter him because he doesn't read it ;)). Being so much closer to SLC is great. He gets a bit more time with us and we are saving money on fuel.

I am still working from home, but it has become more difficult as Isaac has gotten older. I get most things done when he is napping because when he is awake, he does not like me working. He is such a funny boy. He doesn't mind much if I am working around the house, cooking, etc. but when I go in the office he gets angry because he knows I will not be able to stop and play with him. After one week trying to work and take care of him in our new house, I got on CraigsList and found a babysitter! She is awesome. She lives nearby and has two children right around Isaac's age. So now, 3 days a week for 3 hours a day, Isaac goes to play with his friends. He loves his playtime and I love working (and taking a shower some days) uninterrupted.

Isaac
Isaac is the light of our life. There are so many cool things I want to share about him, but I would not want to bore you with all my kid bragging, so I have composed a short list... :)
Stats
At his most recent appt. Isaac was in the 50th percentile for height and weight, but was in the 98th for head size! This is actually a trend that emerged when he was 6 months old. We love his giant head though. He is a genius for sure!
BFF
Molly, our dog, is Isaac's BFF. He loves to give her hugs, throw her ball to (or more accurately described, at) her, and get her to chase him around. I will get it on video and post it as soon as I can. It is hilarious. He does this squealing laugh that cracks me up. She is so patient with him.
Fav Foods
We have been so lucky to have a boy who loves all food. It is such a fun thing to let him try new things and see his reaction. That has been one of the best things about having a 1 year old. He loves bananas, chicken nuggets (thanks Costco!), orange juice, waffles, and he still loves veggies too, Yay!
Talking
Isaac is still not talking much. It is the last milestone I need so that I can stop worrying! But, he becomes more talkative everyday. He uses a lot of gibberish and his new word is "pop". Not as in dad or soda, but as in Pop, goes the weasel. He has a little Pop, goes the weasel toy and he likes to say, "Pop!" when the weasel comes out. I have heard it is normal for boys to take longer to talk, but I sure hope he starts soon. He does great with signing, though.
Hobbies
Issac asks to watch TV a lot, but then he doesn't actually want to watch anything. If we can get him to watch a show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is still #1. He also likes Bunnytown and The Wiggles. He loves dancing and he can actually dance along and do all the motions for the Wiggles song, "Rock-a-Bye Your Bear". I explained to Bryce that he is a natural dancing prodigy and we should put him in classes but Bryce said only one in HS to help him with balance for football. Oh well, so much for my dreams of being in the "So You Think You Can Dance" audience for the entire 2028 season.
I would say Isaac's other favorite hobby right now is "taking things out and putting them in". I can best describe this hobby by explaining that he likes to take everything out of the bathroom drawers and put it all in the tub, or take everything out of the kitchen cabinets and put it in the garbage. As you may guess, I am sometimes a tired and grouchy mommy.

Well, I think that's enough reading for you! Now go do something fun. I promise the next blog with have pictures, which are waaay easier to read, and will be more upbeat.