When Parents Get Tired

It was just one of those days when both Brad and I were completely wasted by the end of the day. We were both so tired and didn't have the energy to be the normally perfect parents that we are. :) So, after Ari's bath we let her dress herself for bed time. This is what she picked out.

Her Uncle Tim and Aunt Katie got her this Nebraska jersey that's just a bit snug on her tummy now. Isn't she cute?

She matched the jersey with her Dora the Explorer pajama bottoms. She was so proud of her outfit. She kept saying, 'Mama, look at me!'

Well, Brad had really wanted to watch a soccer game that he had recorded, and I really wanted to read my book. So being the great parents that we are, we set up a nice little corner for Ari to entertain herself! We set up her movie on the portable dvd player, put head phones on her (heaven forbid we get distracted with the noise from her movie), gave her a drink, and then we neglected her. We are the BEST parents! Shame on us! I guess we didn't feel too bad about it, since we were laughing the whole time. What can ya do? ... This isn't a normal occurrence by the way.

Newest Member of the Tolman Family

Introducing our new little niece Kailé Jade Tolman. Born on May 13, 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We're already in love with her!

Kailé Jade Tolman and Mommy (Tanya)
Big sis Kiara holding her new baby sister.
The amazing Mommy Tanya, Kiara, Kailé, and Tai. Tanya looks so good after just having a baby. I'm so jealous! :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

I had such a great day yesterday. I love getting pampered and Brad did a good job. We realized that my last 3 birthdays have been in 3 different states. This year Oklahoma, last year Michigan, and the year before Utah. Isn't that the greatest information EVER?! Everybody wanted to know that. :)

Brad made his first cake. I was really surprised because it came out so yummy. He was very proud of himself and mentioned that fact several times. Ari put the candles on the cake and tested the icing to make sure I wouldn't get poisoned.
I love her cheesy smile. I can't ever get her to smile normal for the camera. Notice the chocolate around her mouth and my hand holding her hand down? She wouldn't stop swipping her little fingers all over the cake.
After Brad made dinner, we went on a nice Sunday walk. We live right by the Arkansas River. This area is so pretty. The bridge in the background is part of the River Trails. People can bike or run along the trails that stretch for 20 miles. This is what motivated me to start running. I watched people run by everyday and then I decided to just join them! :)
Not the most Sabbath Day activity. Daddy let Ari run through the fountains. I think her little bum is so cute, so I had to take this picture.
At home after our nice day. Brad looks like a puppy dog, because our faces are pulling his eyes down. So cute!

Part 2...

The only other time I saw my family was at Tiana and Daxia's soccer game.

Baby Amaya (Rick & Jas' lil one). She's so cute, and she love her Aunty Mel.
Aunty Mel & Hunter
Matson trying to nail his brother-in-law Fili with the ball. Great timing for my picture huh?
Hunter, he's such a good boy.
Ari mawling Sophia. She couldn't get enough of lil Soph, and didn't understand why Sophia didn't like to smothered all the time. :) I especially loved the fact that Sophia thought I was her Mommy, so I got all the coo's and snuggles her Mommy gets. Ugghh I miss her!

Utah Trip

We went to Utah for a little while to visit family, and abandon Brad for finals. The trip did not turn out how it was suppose to. Ari got really sick the day we went to Provo. We didn't want to get anybody else sick, so we stayed at Brad's parents home the entire time. They were so good us and it was fun to spend time with them. We were suppose to split the time between several family members, but Grandma and Grandpa Johnson got Ari the whole time; I don't think they minded. Then as Ari started getting better, I got sick. On the flight home, I thought my head was going to explode. My sinus' have never hurt so bad. I thought I was going to cry when the plane was starting the descent, but we're all happy and healthy now. Unfortunatley, I only got to see my family twice. The camera only came out twice as well. I wasn't thinking. I only got pictures of the Tolman family, and none of the Johnsons. Next time. Well, here are some pictures.

Tiana, Ariana, Hunter, and Daxia
Ari & Aunty Afton (Matson's wife). Ari looks like she could belong to Afton.
Ari, Aunty Jaslyn, and baby Amaya. She's so cute! I could just eat her cheeks!

Our first tornado....sort of....not really.

So we have some pretty crazy storms out here in the Midwest, and I've become quite used to them. We love watching the rain and lightning (or 'boom boom' as Ari calls it; she got it from Cooper) on our balcony. Well the other night there was a pretty bad storm. Around 2:30 we woke up to the loudest boom that shook our apartment. All of Ari's toy that make noise when you move or shake them went off, as well as all the car alarms in our complex. Brad and I sat straight up, and laughed at the all the toy noise coming from Ari's room (she was already with us in bed from the 'boom boom'). Then the tornado sirens went off. I shot out of bed and started freaking out saying 'Oh my gosh Brad, Oh my gosh Brad!' I ran into the living room, turned the tv on, and the first thing I hear is 'If you are watching this, you need to go to your safe place immediately!' Then the hail came. We thought that our windows were going to break. I looked at the map on the t.v. and noticed that the storm was north of us. Brad kept telling me that we were okay. The anchor man was telling the people in the towns north of us to go their safe place, not us. We've been told by neighbors that tornado's never hit our area, because we live in the hills. I believed them until the other night! The storm was still pretty crazy, and it went on for hours. I was so freaked out I couldn't get back to sleep. I just layed in bed wided eyed. I was so scared. The next morning, I called my friend April to see if she was just as scared; nope. Her husband made fun of me telling me that when there's a tornado you immediately go outside, find a group of people, huddle together, and the storm will pass right by. Very funny! So last night, there were tornado warnings for the surrounding area. To put my mind at ease I had our emergency backpacks sitting against the wall in our bedroom, ready to be grabbed on the way out. I thought I was the type of person to remain level headed and calm in situations like this, but I sure did flip out. I was very disappointed in myself. I need to train myself how to handle stressful situations. Maybe I should train in the ancient art of Unagi. According to Doctor Ross Gellar, Unagi is a state of total awareness. Only by achieving true Unagi can one be prepared for any danger that may befall you. 'DANGER!!' ... (only my fellow Friend lovers will get that) Aww, Salmon Skin Roll.

I'm Coming Home!

So my Dad called us a couple weeks ago and asked if Ari and I could come stay with him while my Mum took a trip home to New Zealand. Believe it or not, Brad hates being separated just as badly as I do. I just mentioned it to him thinking that it would never happen.Well .... follow me... I'll come back to this story.

Brad has been applying/interviewing for internships. We didn't think that it would be this hard. He's been offered the internship from every person he's interviewed with! Crazy! We couldn't agree on which internship he should accept. For most law schools, once you accept an internship you can't back out, even if you get offered another one that's better. We prayed and got different answers (granted, we were praying about different internships). I told him that the Lord wouldn't give us two different answers, so his must be wrong. :) Well, while he was away from home he got a phone call telling him that they wanted him for the internship (the one that he wanted). He was so excited that he accepted on the spot, w/out consulting me. He had about a 20 min drive home to think about how he was going to explain himself to me. So when he gets home, he tells me that he accepted an internship and apologized profusely for jumping the gun. I was a little hurt/upset, but all I could say was 'I really hope you made the right decision.' Out of the blue, he tells me that he's decided that he's going to send me and Ari home to stay with my Dad and see our family. My Mum is leaving right before Brad's finals so it's perfect timing. He'll be able to study w/out interruption. ... I'm not that clueless. I just started laughing and told him that his plan worked. I wasn't mad at him and he has TOTALLY REDEEMED HIMSELF! So yeah! I get to go to WY/UT for a little vaca. while Brad studies to death.

Moral of the story: I should get upset more often. Maybe i'll get a trip to Europe out of it! :)