Josh Turns 31

We celebrated Josh's birthday over the weekend and it was a weekend of a few successes, and fails.

Success: Drove up to my parents, dropped off the kids and peacefully and quietly drove up the mountain, saw the fall trees and walked around a lake/pond. It was beautiful

Fail: I could hardly stay awake during that said relaxing drive because I stayed up until 2am the night before...talking with Davis who came to visit

 Isn't he handsome?! Man I love him

 This is not edited at all, it was this clear and beautiful

 Success: We made it to dinner at PF Chang's in Provo

Fail: I got a migraine, left halfway through dinner and went home to rest instead of continuing our date night...

On Sunday we watched conference, I was feeling much better, and Bridget and Garrett were in town and came over for dinner. 

Success: Josh got a cheesecake for his birthday which I could have made..but dad did

Fail: Forgot the candles...dangit. We sang anyway

 Success: Cindy gave him a waffle maker. Sounds like a silly present, but seriously Cindy has THE best waffle recipe you have ever had in your life. They are crack waffles. I can't wait to make them.

 Look at that beauty!! And it makes two at a time. Ahh....pure deliciousness coming our way.

 Sunday ended well, and his real birthday on Monday I tried to make up for the fails of the weekend.

Success: Had chili cheese dogs for dinner, one of his favorite foods. We were supposed to have them sunday at my mom's but didn't work out due to scheduling issues of an early dinner because of the cousins coming over.

Fail: Tried to surprise him for another date to make up for the shortened one on saturday, but the kids woke up with snotty noses and coughs, so not wanting to get Cindy sick (the babysitter who was willing to save me and do last minute kid watching) we decided to bring them with us.

Success: Even with the kids we had a great time on our "date" and went bowling together. 

Lyla loved it

 Success: I made up for no candles on the cheesecake by getting some for his true birthday and got some of his favorite cake from nothing bundt cakes

 Success: Apple gift card to go towards his Mac computer that he is saving up for

Overall it all turned out even though its not how I had originally hoped

Happy Birthday to the best husband and dad a woman could ask for

First Haircut

 First haircut was last night. I love little boys with spiked hair and his was getting too long so we decided to trim it up a little. It hardly even looks long until you run your fingers through it. It is still so thin and mostly blonde so its hard to tell how much he has. And it was growing over his ears which was adorable, but needed to go.

He was fine at first but then was a little unsure about what we were doing and started freaking out, so we finished up with the scissors instead of the electric cutter

Trip to See Jenn

 Got to go to CO this past weekend to visit Jenn. IT.WAS.AWESOME! We crafted, ate, ate some more, talked for hours, crafted again, and then talked some more. It was a great little vacation and was long enough to miss the kids, but not too short either.

The first day we went to Hobby Lobby and cruised the store going down every aisle, just for fun, and picked up a few crafty items. 

Day 2: Our favorite place to eat together, Red Robin. Both got our all time fav: clucks and fries with a hawaiian heartthrob to top it off. 

 Day 3: Went to see the house. It made me teary, I miss my home. Although they have made a few improvements like taking out all the shrubbery in the front yard and put rocks and cute lights instead. We stood and stared for awhile, then went and looked over the back fence, but didn't see much.

 Later that day we finished up our crafting. We made some mosaic frames which was relaxing and easy to do while chit-chatting away

 We couldn't help ourselves. As best friends we have always done silly pranks and gotten into mischief together. We couldn't pass up the opportunity that came upon us. Someone had dropped off fake flowers at her house who thought she might want them. They were hideous. So we put them to good use and put them in a car that is a guy friend of hers. They filled the car and looked ridiculous, and we had a good laugh about the outcome. But most of all, we felt like we were 16 again, and it was awesome. 

I think in the 3 days that I was there we stopped talking only to use the bathroom or sleep, which not a lot of that happened either. The first night we stayed up until 5am talking and even then forced ourselves to stop talking and get some rest. It was such a great trip and we both loved spending so much time together since we haven't got to do that in a long time.

Jenn has a rare disease called EDS. It is extremely painful for her to do every day activities and she is hurting all the time. Sometimes it hurts bad, and sometimes hurts really bad, but those are about the two levels, it never goes away. I am so amazed at her ability to still put on a smile and be positive all the time. It is far and few in between that she complains about her situation or how she is feeling, and it truly is incredible. I'm just can't even start to imagine what it feels like to have your whole body aching and shots of pain all day long. I know it was a huge sacrifice on her part to get out of bed and pretend like she is feeling fine and make the best of the days we had together. She is truly my best friend and I love her so much and admire her strength. Thank you for such a great weekend Jenn!!

Circus

We took Lyla to the circus for the first time last weekend. The picture below is how she felt about going out with just mom and dad. She skipped and danced her way to the entrance and was so happy.

 With dad during intermission. Showing off her snowcone in an elephant cup. It was incredibly overpriced (no surprise) but she loved getting to pick it out and has drank out of the cup every day since. Worth every penny

 It was 2 hours long, but 98% of the time she stayed in her seat, which is amazing. She doesn't even sit for more than 5 minutes for any show at home. But a few times she couldn't hold in the desire to dance and would go out to the aisle and dance away and then run back and sit down.

The top right picture shows how she felt about the show. She was glued to it. I'm not sure if the motorcycles or the animals were her favorite, but she loved it all and talked about all she saw the whole ride home.

8 Months

 

 

-Started crawling last week. Now is pretty fast and gets around wherever he wants.
-Size 3 diapers
-Moving right into 9 month clothes
-Can stand up if holding onto something, but falls after a minute or two
-Crossing my fingers this doesnt jinx anything....but he's sleeping through the night!!! He sleeps 12 hours, still give him a bottle before I go to bed but not sure if he needs it or not, just scared to not give it to him in fear of him waking up. I'm enjoying my sleep too much to risk it.
-Takes 2 long naps, one short. He puts himself to sleep, just give him the binky, but half the time he takes it out and talks himself to sleep instead and very rarely takes the binky any other time
-Sits up like a champ and is now able to sit in the tub with big sister instead of using his baby bathtub
-Another plus in sitting up: gets to ride in the seat of the shopping cart instead of his carseat
-Super happy and smiles a ton. I know, I say it every month, but he is so easy going and such a wonderful baby
-HATES, I repeat hates, having his nose and face wiped. He screams and cries every time if said action is done more than 2 seconds at a time
-Laughs and smiles at sister all the time. He loves it when she pays attention to him even if she is mauling him
-Eating baby food for 3 meals a day. Eats 1-2 jars at a time, mostly 2, and will eat anything. I haven't found anything that he prefers over another, even peas. He just eats and eats whatever I give him.
-He is growing like a weed, and when I stand him up he is just below Lyla's chin!

Nicknames: Mac, Mac-a-doo, Mac Attack, Bubbie, Mac-aroni, Big Mac, Brother, Little Man, Dude

His theme song: Mac-a-doodle went to town riding on a pony, stuck a feather in his hat and called him MAC-a-roni! 

New House Pics

Picture overload of the new place. This is mostly for those who cant see it but would like to.  (Jenn, Heather, Brittney) And to document that at one time the house was clean and organized.

Front Porch, you can't even tell how HUGE that yellow flower-bush is. I got it from Costco, if you have been there recently you have seen it, they are ginormous.

 View of living room from just inside the front door

 

 From the first front room picture you can see the doors at the end of the room. Those lead to Lyla's favorite place: the back porch/yard

 

 This is also from the front door, just to the left. The door leads to a bathroom

 I'm in front of the stairs from the above picture looking. Should have took a pic of the top of our table, I just refinished it and painted the top red!

 To the left of the kitchen is a little hallway with the laundry and the door to the garage

 

 Ignore the cluter, its the last part of my moving in job, but instead just admire the amazing storage space, its one of my favorite parts of the whole house!!

Now upstairs....the closet at the end is the amazing office/craft/linen storage closet. I chose not to show the inside...but it holds a LOT of crap.

 

 To the right of the stairs: our room. Its nothing special yet. Curtains and pictures to be hung, but you get the idea.

 

 Closet to the right, bathroom on the left

 Do you see this? Yes, the closet is too big, so the back shelves are filled with random bags... All of Josh's clothes are on the right, you cant see it blocked from the door

 Boring, but here's our bathroom. Love that we get our own sinks. 

Toilet and shower are behind the door

 

 Kids rooms are across the hall on the other side of the stairs. Here is Mac attack's room

 

   

 

 This is what he was doing while I took pictures of his room, ha. He is getting so big

 Kids bathroom also across the hall. The potty on the right has yet to be used..but set it out just in case

 

 This is how Lyla falls asleep most days for nap since being switched to her big girl bed and can get out whenever she wants. But we put a child lock on it so she cant get out. So she decides to get as close to the outside world as possible and lays next to the door peering out.

 The official reveal of the bed I made for her. I loved how it turned out and really brings her cute little room together. Next project: paint her safety bar white. The blue just throws it all off

 Yes, only one frame actually has a picture. Her room is still a work in progress.

 And that's a wrap. Hope you enjoyed the digital tour :)

 All who haven't seen it, please come soon and visit me.

In Love with Buses

Mom, BUS!!
"Yep, I see the bus."
Hi Bus!
Op, there it goes....
Bye Bus
I love you Bus!

One of these days I really need to take her on a bus. She can't help but point out every single one she sees. Somehow I think in the future when she has to ride one to school every day it will lose its coolness, but for now, she loves them.

Comforting Words from Lyla

Yep, we did it again, moved. I feel like its such a big defeat to actually get your stuff to a new location. Pics of the new place to come. But for now, a little story. Moved all the boxes, just Josh and I, on Thursday. Friday morning we got help for the big stuff, but man we were pooped, and of course I got a migraine. So while laying on my mattress in the bedroom trying to sleep it off, the following happened:

Lyla: (whispering so politely) Mom, you want me to cook you a hot dog?
Me: Silence. Closing my eyes pretending to be asleep.
Lyla: Mom, mom, you want me to cook you a hot dog?!? (still whispering but a little louder this time)
Me: Silence.
Lyla: Yeah, ok, I'll go make you a hot dog mom. Bye.

Not sure if she cooked up a hot dog in her play kitchen or not, but after she left I couldn't help but smile. She came in a little later again and said "Honey, honey, you awake?"