Glenn and Andrea's Life

My Latest Read, The Ember Gods by Andrea Pearson, Review

2011-09-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

The Ember Gods is a great book and no I am not the author although we do have the same name :) Here is the review I have written for it! I highly recommend reading the first book, The Key of Kilenya, as well.

The Ember Gods,the second book in the Kilenya series, is a book I will recommend to anyone whois interested in fantasy stories. I have taught elementary school and I thinkthis series would be appropriate for 10 years and older, although I am suresome of my 6 and 7 year old students would dive right into these books. Afterreading The Key of Kilenya, the firstbook in the Kilenya series, I was very excited to read The Ember Gods. I enjoyedreading the book and was left hanging at the end wanting to know whatadventures next awaited our hero, Jacob.

I found the book to follow the rules and characterpersonalities of the first book very well. The transition from one book to thenext was smooth and uninterrupted. I did, however, feel that it took longer toget into the story than the first. I was so anxious to find out what happenednext to the characters from the other world that I wanted the story to begin andin that I was disappointed. It took a few chapters for the story to get rollingand the fantasy and action of the story to absorb me into its world. Once thestory got underway my attention was captivated and I was left to allow theauthor’s imagination to take me on the journey with Jacob through the world ofMakalos, Lorken, and Minyas.

I really enjoyed learning with Jacob what his unique powersare and how to use them. The author does a great job connecting Jacob’s earthlife with his adventures in the other world. Like any 14 year old boy Jacob hashis ups and downs with school, sports, his being basketball, and his peers; becausethese are described so well, many people, especially teenagers, will be able torelate to him. The author also did agreat job of relating to the reader through her description of Jacob’s frustrationwhen he feels stretched too thin because of his Earthly responsibilities aswell as all that is expected of him in the other world.

For anybody looking for a quick, fun read I highly recommendthe Kilenya series, by Andrea Pearson.

Caitlyn's Blessing

2011-08-20T14:52:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 14, 2011 was a big day for everyone in my family. It was my grandma Temple's birthday, my sister, Stacy and her husband Johnny's first anniversary, and Glenn blessed our beautiful Caitlyn Elizabeth in church.

I knew my dad and brothers were going to be coming to town for the blessing but my mom surprised us all by sneaking in the back door! It was so wonderful to have my entire family together.

Sunday evening Glenn took some beautiful pictures of the family including a few with the beautiful Brenna Hall, who is my brother Jarom's girlfriend. If you want to see all of the pictures taken that night you can go to http://www.ldsphotographer.com/MyFamily/Johnston-rogers-pearson-fam.

Tuesday Glenn took pictures of Caitlyn in her blessing dress at the studio. I am so blessed to have such a beautiful baby girl. All of her pictures can be seen at http://www.ldsphotographer.com/MyFamily/Caitlyn-Blessing-Pictures.

Brayden has become quite the ham in our family and is always trying to make us laugh. He was taught to shake his bum while dancing. The other day my brother, Seth, was asking him to point to his eyes, nose, tummy, etc. When he asked him where his bum was Brayden started dancing and shaking his bum. He is so cute and such a joy in our lives.

I am truly blessed to have a wonderful husband who honors and respects me as well as loves to play with our kids and helps me with them. I am blessed to have 2 beautiful, happy children that make life wonderful. I am also blessed to have a wonderful family that loves me and supports me.

Updating at Last

2011-07-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

Well between getting very busy with our sweet Brayden and having problems with our log in on here it has been almost a year and a half since I have last been able to update. A lot has happened since then. Brayden of course is way past his first time crawling, now he runs, jumps, and throws everything including grapes which he considers to be balls :) He is 2 years old now and is such a joy! He loves to sing and he has a pretty good voice for a 2 year old. He started trying to sing the ABCs today. He also sings almost every time we are in the car, sometimes he just sings notes and other times he sings about what he sees such as cars, trucks, and trees. On September 19, the day Brayden turned 15 months we found out we were expecting baby number two. Since Brayden was going to be a big brother he finally decided he would start walking and once he started he hasn't slowed down.

On May 21st at 4:07 am our little Caitlyn was born. Like with Brayden I had a very fast labor and had to have a natural birth because there was no time for an epidural. I had my first contraction at 3:15 am at which time my water also broke. I woke Glenn up and we rushed to the hospital leaving Brayden to be cared for by Glenn's mom. She was 7 lbs 8 oz and 19 in long.

She is now 2 months old and we are all learning to adjust to having a new member of the family. Brayden loves his little sister but has a hard time sharing mommy. Caitlyn is a wonderful eater and sleeper, which is such a blessing. She sleeps between 7-9 hours at night and loves to eat whenever she can during the day.

Glenn started his own photography business in October and has quickly become very successful. He is working on getting his photography certification which will help him learn more about being a professional photographer but will also set him apart from the crowd. His website it ldsphotographer.com. I love that he is so amazing at photography because I have so many wonderful pictures of my darling children.

As for me I am enjoying being the mother of two and the assistant to Glenn's career paths. Behind every great man is a wife trying her best to not let him fall :)

Crawling!!

2010-02-12T22:52:00.000-08:00

So last night Brayden crawled for the first time! It was only a few steps but he did such a good job! I was so excited!! Before we know it he will be all over the house. I know him crawling will keep me busier but I couldn't be happier about this new step in his life! He is getting so big :) He will be 8 months old next week and it is so fun watching him grow up. He is currently fascinated by little details of things. Last night he was playing with a tube of chap stick and he noticed that the ridged part at the bottom that you turn was different than the rest of the tube so he was so intrigued by it and kept rubbing his finger back and forth on it. He still doesn't have any teeth although he is drooling everywhere and had a non stop runny nose. Hopefully all this goo will pay off and he will get a tooth.
Glenn also has started a new job this past week. He is the assistant IT guy for Orangesoda, an internet marketing company. He loves his new job even though he is now working from the time he wakes up until he goes to sleep. I am so lucky to have a husband that works so hard!

I have posted a video of Brayden crawling on facebook so hopefully you can follow the link I put on here to it :-) He doesn't crawl until about 2:20 into it.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=723671579369&ref=mf

Yay for no Helmet!!

2010-01-26T20:50:00.000-08:00

So we went to the Neurologist and he said that since Brayden can sit up now and is stronger his head will continue to improve so we don't need to get a head shaping helmet!! Yay :) We go back in 1-2 months to have him check it to make sure it is improving but he isn't going to have to get one and we are so excited. They did a head ct scan just to make sure everything was okay and that was really cool cause we got to see a 3-d imaging of his skull.
Brayden scoots more and more everyday now and he even does it when I am around! Before he would only scoot around when nobody was around to get the toy for him. I guess he figured out that I was going to make him work for it either way. He can stand up now by holding onto the couch too which is pretty exciting. I think he will probably be crawling in the next month or so. I know I shouldn't be excited about him crawling because then he will be into everything but I think each milestone he reaches is so fun and exciting!!

Brayden loves new noises and thinks they are so funny! The other day Glenn was taking a picture of Brayden and Brayden loved the noise the phone made. He was laughing so hard!! It was adorable. I made a video of it and it is posted on face book:)

Life is Busy!

2010-01-15T16:54:00.000-08:00

So I don't know if I am just lazy or busy but updating this blog is a much needed thing. It has been so long since I updated it I forgot what our user name was! It is amazing how fast 4 months can go by! Brayden will be 7 months old on Tuesday which just blows me away that he can be so big! Tuesday is also the big day where we go to the neurologist for Brayden. Since Brayden was born so very quickly and he was sideways when he was born his head and nose were a little smooshed. His nose quickly straightened out and now looks normal but his head has not been so quick about returning to a normal shape. Our pediatrician is concerned that as he gets older the plates in his skull will fuse incorrectly and that it will eventually cause brain damage or undue pressure on his brain. So they want to put a helmet on him, poor little guy :-( Since he has become stronger and holds his head up more his head has improved some but I don't think it will be quite enough to avoid having to get a helmet for him.
Brayden is sitting up on his own now and rolling. He still doesn't seem to like to roll over but he will to get a toy or something that he wants. I figure he will start crawling before he really gets around to rolling everywhere. He is such a happy little boy unless it is time to get dressed. He loves his baths and tries to clean my floors for me every time I give him a bath. He loves to swing his arms up and down which is perfect for splashing all of the water out of the tub. He is growing so big all the time. He is about 27.5-28 in long and around 15 1/2 lbs. He wears 6-9 month clothes and seems to already be growing quickly out of those. He loves the cats and Sammy now steers clear of Brayden most of the time. Bear on the other hand seems to love all of the pulling of his whiskers, tail, ears, and fur. I cringe though as he pulls the cats to his mouth. He has been working on getting his first though for about 3 months now so he chews on everything. Anything that is close to him gets chewed or sucked on. He is a little thumb sucker and loves his

thumb when it is time to sleep. He loves to drink out of cups or sippy cups as well as eat his baby food. We are still working on getting him to like cooked carrots but everything else we have tried he has loved!
We spent a week in September at my grandparents in Oklahoma visiting them since my family would not be spending Christmas there this past Christmas. It was fun to get to see them and to relax at a time of year where snow and cold were not an issue. They got over a foot of snow on Christmas day so we were relieved to not have been there.
For Thanksgiving we spent it with Glenn's family and his mom's side of the family. We had lots of fun and as it seems to be everywhere we go Brayden charms everybody. That boy knows how to smile and coo to show off for an audience already. :)Around this time we got a good snowfall and Brayden was not too fond of the cold stuff mom was putting him in. We spent forever getting bundled up for the snow and spent 2 minutes in the snow.
After Thanksgiving Stacy moved out and left for CA to start her new job in Atascadero at the state hospital as a recreation therapist. Then Christmas was quickly upon us due to the fact that we left for GA to spend Christmas with my family on Dec. 16. We spent 3 weeks getting spoiled with my family. I did very little to care for Brayden since Grandma Juju was around. Brayden loved to be entertained and spoiled by Grandpa and he enjoyed napping, playing, and watching TV with Uncle Seth. We got to talk to my brother, Jarom on Christmas day which was so much fun. Aunt Stacy came to GA for 3 days for Christmas and it was evident that Brayden remembered her and missed her. He gave her such a big hug when she got to the house. It was so cute! We returned home on Jan. 6th. Brayden did really well on the airplane and slept almost the whole time.
We are now back to life just taking each day one at a time. Glenn continues to do real estate which is slow so he is also looking for another job so that we have a steady paycheck. I try to keep the house in order and keep my boys happy. I love being a stay at home mom and wouldn't trade it for anything!

Silly sounds, smiles, hair cuts, Journey, and cars

2009-09-12T13:13:00.000-07:00

Brayden is now on a schedule which makes it nice for mommy. I have gotten much better at getting things done around the house because I know when he will take a nap and for the most part how long it will be. :-) He is now 12 weeks old!! Brayden loves the silly sounds that mom and dad make. He smiles all the time now, especially when he sees his daddy.

About 3 weeks ago Glenn gave Brayden a haircut so now he looks more like a boy and his hair is so cute! At his 2 month appointment he was 24 inches long and 12 lbs 3 oz. He is probably about 13lbs now and has grown an inch or two. He is almost 3 months old now:-O! He is the joy of our lives. Brayden is a big fan of Journey and always laughs and wiggles when we play it for him.

About a month ago we were in a horrible car accident where Glenn's brother (ironically) turned left at a light we were going straight through (we had the right of way) because he didn't see us due to a truck last minute turning if front of us. We were in our little Chevy Sprint and he hit the back of us. The car slid sideways then flipped onto the top and continued to slide 35 ft. Tons of people came to help get us all out! Brayden and I were unharmed and Glenn walked away with only a small concussion. The car landed on the driver's side and Glenn's head hit the asphalt through his open window! I know the Lord blessed and protected us. Unfortunately the car was totalled but we have since bought a nicer Geo Metro that gets better gas mileage and is a great real estate car for Glenn.

Glenn is doing great in real estate and has already closed on his first house. He now has 3 houses under contract and is so dedicated to his clients! If anybody needs a house in Utah, you know who to call!!!

Brayden is 6 weeks!

2009-08-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how fast time seems to fly! Brayden is now 6 weeks old and once again I have been slacking on updating this blog. Brayden is such a happy baby. He smiles a lot and is great about laying on a blanket entertaining himself. He is now about 11lbs and 23 or 24 in long. He is getting so big! He is a great sleeper and sleeps between 3-5 hours at a time during the night, so most nights I only have to wake up once to feed him. But two nights he slept all the way through the night. Hopefully soon that will be a more frequent occurance:)

On July 25th we had Brayden's blessing. We had close family and friends join us and it was a very special day. Brayden looked adorable in his blessing outfit that my mom made for him. We have such a wonderful little family.

We also have planted a garden this year. We are starting to get vegetables from it which is pretty exciting. We have lettuce, green beans, tomatos, canteloupe, watermelon, pumpkins, cucumbers, and corn. It has been a great summer.

Update on our life! We had a baby!

2009-06-20T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I'm updating our blog to let everyone know whats going on!

We just had our first baby! We have a healthy baby boy that was born on June 19 at 4:11 AM at the timpanogos hospital in Orem, Ut. Andrea had her first real contraction at 1:57 AM and the second about 8 minutes later. She continued to have contractions and they got closer and closer together until they were just a couple minutes apart. We called the number our doctor gave us and they said to drink some water and take a warm bath to make sure they were "real" contractions. After some water and about 5 minutes in the tub, we decided that they were for sure real and we needed to get to the hospital! All of this happened in under an hour. After a 10 minute drive to the hospital we checked in and andrea continued to have contractions, which were getting much more tense. after we were there about 5-10 minutes and Andrea was on the bed the nurse checked to see where Andrea was at. She could not find the Cervix and said the head was "right there!" So she rushed out and let all the nurses know that she was on the way. Andrea continued to have contractions for the next 15 minutes while the nurse tried to calm her and told her "not to push". We could see the top of the head already. After 15 minutes the doctor arrived and told her to go ahead and push. The doctor gave her 3 shots of Lidocain and said they had no time for an epidural. After only 15 minutes and an episiotamy She had given birth to our new baby boy Brayden Taylor Pearson. He weighed 7.6 lbs ( Now 7.2 lbs 27 hrs later.) And 18.5 inches.

So from the time she had the first contraction to the birth of our baby was a total of 2 hours and 14 minutes. There was no other warnings the he was coming other than the first crontraction she had. We went to bed just fine and she felt normal, well for a 9 month pregnant lady :)

Hooray for spring!!

2009-03-01T21:53:00.000-08:00

Us and the beautiful flowers Glenn got me for Valentines Day/Ultrasound Day!

I am now 6 months along and loving being pregnant. I feel great most of the time other than being tired all the time. Getting up is definitetly getting harder and our little boy is growing fast. We have our next doctor's appt. on Friday. Glenn and I have started a garden and are so excited to have fresh vegetables and fruit:) It is so exciting seeing our little seeds start to sprout. We started our lettuce, broccoli and carrots inside, in peat moss and also have 10 strawberry plants growing! We will rototill and plant our garden this coming Wednesday. We are so excited! Its so nice to have our own house and yard to actually do things in.

On another note, We are getting a new water heater. The one we have is leaking and is 17 years old! So Glenn has been researching a lot of water heaters and we are going to get a Noritz or Rheem Tankless water heater. We will get $300 from Questar within a month, and then another $308 from the government in our next tax return. The water heater is costing us about $750, but because it is so energy effecient we get these rebates! So it almost pays for itself right off with just those, and then we will be saving probably $20 a month on our gas bill because it only heats the water when we use it, so its not heating it all the time like a tank water heater! We are a bit excited for that. Well more Glenn than me but I always like saving money, so that is exciting.

Glenn is just about finished with his real estate classes and will start selling houses very soon! By the time the baby is born he is hoping to be making enough to support our growing family without me working (which makes me very happy)! Our life is going really well and we are just staying busy with work and continuing to make our house our own cozy home.

Our Little Boy!!

2009-02-04T18:03:00.000-08:00

Here is our little ones body, the arms are on the right and the legs are bent on the left.

Here he is showing us that he is a boy.

He has his legs tucked up to his chest here.

Here is his face:) A little weird looking here but pretty cool looking to me.

So Glenn and I went to the ob/gyn for our 20 week ultrasound. Maybe I am just a little biased because I am the mom but it was the coolest part of the pregnancy so far! We found out that we are having a cute little baby boy!! We are so very excited. He was not ashamed to be a boy either. He had his legs spread wide for us all to see that he was definitely not a girl! He yawned for us and kept his arms and legs all curled up even though lately he has started using me as a punching bag:) At this point we are considering the name Devon Michael but as the pregnancy progresses that may change or when he is born it may just not be the right name for him. The due date is currently about June 21st.

Some pictures of us:)

2009-01-23T18:03:00.000-08:00

Glenn in Georgia last summer getting a cannon ball wound:)
Glenn and Andrea on the beach at St. Simon's Island, GA

Andrea and her mom!

Our fuzzy little friend, Sammy. She keeps us entertained:)

Our life up to now:)

2009-01-21T20:20:00.000-08:00

Andrea and Glenn met while she was living with his sister, Andrea Pearson in Provo, Utah. After Glenn decided that the Andreas' apartment was a cool place to watch movies he and Andrea Johnston eventually started to like each other and began dating on April 14, 2007. They got engaged on July 4th near the top of Mt. Timponogos and were married September 21st, 2007 in the Mt. Timponogos Temple for time and all eternity. Yep, we are very happy to get to be together that long:) From there, we started our married life together. Andrea taught second grade up at JR. Smith Elementary in Heber, UT for an internship through BYU. She graduated April 2008 and is currently teaching first grade at Noah Webster Academy in Orem, UT a public charter school which is a ton of fun. She has 26 scholars in her class and she loves almost every minute of teaching. Glenn started their marriage working at eFileCabinet, he later switched to DirectPointe and he now works at Equinox ITS. June 2008 they purchased a home in Pleasant Grove and are so happy to no longer be living in an apartment. This past October they were pleased to find out that a third Pearson would be joining their Pleasant Grove home. Andrea is pregnant and due June 26th, 2009! We find out how many babies and whether it is a boy or girl on Feb. 4!