I keep thinking I will update this more often. Anyway get ready for a long update! Of coarse most of you know from FB that we are expecting our third child this August. We are having a little girl and couldn't be more excited! We are going to name her Sophie Lee. We found out that she is going to be born with a cleft lip and palate. When I was first told I was devasted, and experienced all the natural emotions one would feel when being told something was wrong with your child. Then after another appointment I was told something was wrong with her heart, and that she would have a 60% chance of having something genetically wrong. After more testing we found out that her heart was fine and that genetically she was fine. All of a sudden a cleft doesn't seem so bad! It is amazing how your perspective changes. In a way I am glad we had to do the other testing to help me realize it could be much worse! We have met with what they call the craniofacial team ( a team of doctors including surgeon, neonatologist, speech therapy, and OB) to discuss what this year will bring. She will have at least 3 surgeries. The first being at about 4 weeks old if she is eating well and gaining weight.I think we have a good idea what to expect but I am sure we are in for a long road. I am so excited to meet her and have her join our family. I can already tell that she has such a sweet spirit and will be a blessing in our lives. I am sure i have a lot to learn about this experience, and feel I have grown so much already. Nate has got his official offer letter and has been hired to Salt Lake Center for air traffic control. He left for his 3 months of training in Oklahoma on May 15th. We are about a 2 1/2 weeks in and I miss him dearly. He will hopefully be home for the delivery for 2 days and then back to training for 2 more weeks. I just hope the baby doesn't decide to come early ( i know, how many pregnant women wish for that) because then Nate won't be there. We are so excited for the new life this will bring. Nate will be home EVERY night! I will be home EVERY night! we are finally going to have a "normal" life. Right now it is hard with him gone but focusing on the future is helping both of us get through! You know how when you are going through something and you wonder why, i have now seen the big picture as to why Nate was a pilot for the last year. At first when he started I was honestly bitter. I felt that Nate was being selfish because he was pursuing a "dream" of his that was putting the rest of his family in a difficult position. He wasn't making much money after you factor in paying for his crash pad, airport parking, shuttles to and from airport, aiport food, and babysitter. Not to mention we NEVER saw him. I never got any sleep because I was still working full time and being a single parent. Don't get me wrong, I was happy for Nate that he was doing something he has always wanted to do, but it was hard for me not to focus on the negative aspects of the job, and on multiple occasions even asked him to quit. I now know Nate was a pilot so I could grow. I have never been pushed to my limit as i was this past year. I have learned and seen what i am capable of accomplishing. I have never relied so much on my Heavenly Father as have this past year. I have always believed he was aware of me and my situation but I truely experience this. I Know my Heavenly Father knows me personally and is there for me whenever I need him. He is anxious for me to ask for help. My love for Nate has grown tremendously. I appreciate him and what he does for our family so much more. I have learned to let things go, and that there is more than one way to do something other than my own way. It has taught me to be more frugal with our money. As I look back I am so grateful for this opportunity. I would not be where I am today if we didn't have this experience. It amazes me how our Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need and when. I still don't feel like I can put into words and describe how truely grateful I am for this experience and insight. As for an update on the kids they are amazing. They continue to make me laugh all the time. They really are hillarious.They are busy. They are best friends, and play so well together. We stay busy by visiting all the local parks, and our swimming pool. They are so smart, it is amazing how much they pick up on. Zoe loves any type of workbook or learning. She LOVES her "pets" stuffed animals, singing, dancing and putting on shows for me. She has become the best little helper and often sees my doing housework and says don't do it without me I want to help. She is able to pick up a room without being directed. Loves to vaccum and dust and help do the dishes. I don't know what I do if she wasn't so eager to help. Jaxton is into superheros especially batman. He is all boy. He loves to change his clothes 20 times a day which drives me crazy. He is not as eager to help around the house:)He loves to snuggle. And is very good at anyting physical. He has a huge vocabulary and surprises me daily. I love them so much. They both are excited to have a baby sister.

Just in case you were wondering YES we are still alive. We have been very busy as usual. Nate has started his pilot job and is gone on average 6 days a week. It is a very long week! I also am working about 3 days a week. My only working 2 days a week was short lived but oh well I enjoyed it while it lasted. We have a new babysitter her name is Trishelle and the kids love her. I do to since she has been a tremendous help. She graduated High school last year so she is extremely flexible.
In october we were able to go to MN for my brothers wedding. It was my first experience flying standby and needless to say it was an adventure. On the plane the little girl sitting next to Zoe started crying and Zoe threw her hands up in the air and said " I don't wanna hear the crying". Yeah I was pretty embarassed. Then at my brothers wedding reception Zoe asked the DJ to play I Am A Child of God. The funniest part is my brother hasn't had anything to do with the church since he was about 12. We had a good time.
We also have been able to spend a week in Utah with my family before Christmas. It was so much fun to hang out. I love seeing the cousins together and how much fun they have. It bring back memories of all the fun times I had when I was little with my cousins.
Then we went to AZ for Christmas. It was a bummer that Nate was gone but we survived. I enjoyed my time with his family.The kids had a blast and were really fun to watch this year.
After all the traveling it is nice to be home, in my own bed. It seems I am only finding time to update the blog at work, but hopefully pictures will soon follow.

Me: Zoe after we have a snack we are going to lay down for a nap.
Zoe: Aye Aye Captain Mommy!

Well we are surviving with Nate gone. It's not fun, it's not easy and I am hating every minute of it! It wasn't so bad the first week he was gone because I knew he was coming home in a week. Well he left again and I he won't be home for 5 weeks. We are trying to see each other before then but no plans made yet. I am still working nights, but since I don't have anyone to watch the kids during the day I am working every other night, so I can stay up and watch the kids. We have a very nice friend of Nate's from school who is coming to our house to watch the kids when I work, they love her. She even got the HURRAY Annie's coming from Jaxton. I am going to go PRN at work which means I am only obligated to work 8 shifts in 4 weeks. Basically 2 shifts intead of 3 per week. Only 1 day less a week but feels like 10 million bricks off me. I am so excited to finally be home more!
Zoe continues to make me laugh just about every hour! I have found a storytime for almost everyday of the week to keep us busy or should I say keep me awake. There is a free music class at the library that is great, and many trips to the park. I am going to start doing a co-op preschool with some moms in my ward. Zoe will love it. Everyday she asks if she can learn.
Jaxton is still as busy as ever. He loves pretending to be a dinosaur, still loves trains, and finding anything to make Zoe scream! We had our first experience with a burn last night. He touched the burner on the stove. His hand doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. He got all the fingers in the middle and the pointer finger tip pretty good. He just kept holding it and saying ouchy ouchy ouchy. I felt so bad.
Good thing I have these 2 lovies to keep me busy and make the time pass a little faster. One thing is for sure we sure miss our Daddy and can't wait for him to come home!

Lonely In the Lone Star State

So, I arrived today, Sunday, in Texas to start training for my new job as a pilot for American Eagle Airlines... and I miss my family every second that I am gone. I am guessing the fact that I have nothing to do yet is a considerable factor, but it is not the only one. It seems so easy to go away on an exciting new adventure until... the ones you want to share that adventure with aren't there. Don't get me wrong, I am excited for this new career and the challenges that await me. I know that for my family and I this is what we need. I know I am supposed to be here in Texas for the purpose of training so that I can be a good and safe pilot. I just wish challenges like this didn't have to be. I love my wife and two beautiful children so much that it pains me to know that I could be there holding them, instead of on this cold machine pouring out my soul. For my family, and for me, I can make it. I know that there is help from above in times like these. These are the times I rely on that help the most. I love my family and I know that as the father I must do this for us. I pray this time flies by as fast as the plane I will be flying!!! Love you guys!

Emmi's Quiet Book

I loved making Zoe and Jaxton's quiet book so much I wanted to make one for my niece Emmi. She is going to be 5 years old this month so I tried to make the pages a little harder. I really enjoyed making this. Every time I was working on it Zoe would ask if it was for her or her cousin Emmi. Zoe loved every page so I think I will have to remake these pages for her book. I am happy to report that i even came up with some of my own ideas. I already sent it to Emmi and my sister said she hasn't let it out of her sight. I am so glad she likes it.

Finally!!!

The day Nathan has been looking foward to his whole life is finally here. He just got hired by American Eagle Airlines as a first officer. They are a regional company owned by American Airlines. We are all so excited and happy to see his dreams come true. He has worked so hard and now it is paying off. It is kind of funny now that he is done with Air Traffic Control school that he gets a pilot job but as least he has options now. If Air Traffic Control offers something better in the near future we will have a decision to make about which road to take, but for now he has a start on a career, doing something that he loves! We don't have all the details yet about where he will be based, which type of aircraft he will fly or when it actually starts, but we do have the offer letter and thats all that matters! We do know that he will have to do some ground training in Dallas for about 6 weeks starting at the end of August or beginning of September. It will be an adjustment for all of us to have Nate gone so much. I am nervous to be home alone with the kids and still working, but we will all adjust. We are just so happy because this is what we have been waiting for! And maybe I'm happy because i feel a vacation with free flight benefits commin on!!
In July we went to Nate's Family Reunion up around Jackson Hole area. We went camping for a whole week. Yes we slept in a tent for 7 NIGHTS! No there was no running water. There was a water spicket. There was an outhouse. We were able to shower 2 times because we had activities planned at pools. We went to a rec center and a hot spring which had showers. You may be asking yourselves why I would do something so crazy but we had a BLAST. We also got to go to Yellowstone, I had never been before. The whole drive home both kids kept saying how much fun they had camping. They do this reunion every 2 years, and while we were there I kept thinking back to the previous reunion when I had a 17month old and a 4 month old. Now that was crazy. We did have so much fun though. Here are some recent pictures

Okay, so for those of you who know us know that our life has been full of the unknown and ever changing of plans. It all started around this time of year 2 years ago when we were thinking about Nate going back to school for air traffic control. We were going to move to Seattle then we weren't. We were going to move to Colorado in August then we didn't. We decided we would wait till January still didn't happen. We finally did it in August of 2010. Then I couldn't find a job. I found a temporary travel job but every 13 weeks wondering where was I going to work. So the kids and I came to Arizona for work. Then we decided we are going to move back to Arizona. Now we are NOT! Just when I thing we have it figured out it changes.
I went back to Colorado for Nate's graduation. While I was there I packed the ENTIRE apartment and thoroughly cleaned like pulled out the fridge and stove and cleaned behind then the whole 9 yards. The day before I left I found out both my jobs I has prospects of getting fell through. Needless to say I packed the whole house just to unpack it and stay. Hopefully I will find the humor in this and laugh someday!
While I was there Nate took the ATSAT test which is the pre-qualification test for air traffic control (ATC). You have to get at least an 85/100 or you cant have a career in ATC. Its kind of like the nursing boards for me. So even though you pass school you still have to take and pass this very diffucult test. NAte was scheduled to take it on Tues. The people who took it on Mon knew their results 24 hours later. The test was at the Hilton in downtown Denver so we stayed the night before his test so he could just wake up and go down and take the test instead of making the hour and half drive in the morning. He took the test and felt he did good. 24 hours later we are anxiously looking for his results. They are not there. We left the computer up and every time we passed we hit refresh. Still no results. 3 DAYS later we finally got the results. Let me just say Nate is the smartest man alive. He got an amazing 99.1. I cant event express in words how proud of him I am! He has worked so hard and it has finally paid off. The FAA only hires 2 times a year April and October. We are keeping our fingers crossed he will get a job in october. With a score like that they are crazy not to hire him if you ask me!
So like in all things I believe we weren't supposed move because hopefully he will get hired in Denver. Well my house got a good cleaning and We got rid of the stuff we felt like we could live with out. My life sure has been interesting, but I hope it settles down soon!