Closing in on ONE YEAR!

We are less than 2 weeks away from Jake's first birthday, and I have been finding myself thinking a lot about the past year, and about all the things I was doing last april.  I remember feeling so strange when April 1st rolled around.  I knew that I was probably starting my very last month as a childless woman, and it was so surreal! It was difficult to imagine what the upcoming months would have in store for me, and I don't think any books or friendly advice could've prepared me for the journey ahead.  This past year has been so life-changing.  I've had more trials and struggles than ever before, but at the same time, I have felt the spirit more fully and felt an overwhelming sense of love for my family.  My marriage has gotten stronger, and I just feel so thankful to Heavenly Father for allowing us the privilege of raising such a sweet spirit.  We feel so blessed to have Jake in our home.  He has brought us more joy than we could have expected.  Ok, so thats my little spiel on how much i love my kid.  Sorry, I feel like I do this on every blog post, but I can't help it! The old saying is true i suppose--you won't understand how much your parents love you, until you have a kid of your own.  It's amazing how just having jake rush over to give me a hug, or watching him cuddle up to his dad can actually make my heart ache in such a good way.  I'm a total sap--it's a good thing my mom is a good listener, because i feel like i am calling her daily to tell her the most trivial things about jake's progress, and she seems to be as excited about it as me! thanks mom!  

(if you squint you can see his two new teeth on the bottom)

In other news, the last two weekends were such good ones. I mean first, conference weekend, which is such a great spiritual high.  I love love love conference, so that was great.  Also, my aunt and uncle came down from oregon to visit Jerai, and they invited us over for breakfast.  Not just any breakfast either--my uncle Dennis cooked, meaning..swedish pancakes...and they might as well be manna from heaven because holy moly were they good! I love family reunions, even the 2 hour kind. 

And then, of course the next weekend was Easter.  Syd and her roommate Rachel came to stay for the weekend, and it was so nice to have a full house for the holiday! We had a yummy german breakfast and a roast for dinner! family + good food + good weather=my kind of easter.  we even dyed eggs! yay to us for being go-getters. 

I think Jake had a good time too--my mom sent him an easter package and we let him eat a big chocolate bunny after breakfast.  He started looking pretty stoned toward the end and about 10 minutes later he had a killer sugar rush and then passed out for 2.5 hours. it was awesome. 

All in all we have been having a lot of fun.  As Jake gets older, he is becoming more excited about toys, which makes it hard to resist spoiling him rotten.  Because if i'm honest with myself, he isn't the only one being spoiled--I have about as much fun watching Jake flip out about new toys, as he has playing with them.  There is this giant stuffed dog at the toy store, and every time we go, Jake tries to grab him--I know one day he will probably want EVERYTHING at the toy store, but at this point in his life--Sammie the Dog is the number one priority.  But I'm a mean mommy and couldn't wrap my head around buying such a huge stuffed animal..I mean where do you keep that sort of thing? A few days before Easter I was picking up something at the store, and Jake had a rather tearful goodbye after his little visit with Sammie.  I told Wes about it, and sucker that he is--he caved.  So Jake got his very own giant Sammie dog for Easter! And no, he didn't get tired of it after ten minutes--He has spent most of his time with him for the last 3 days. (Also, I blew up Jake's kiddie pool and put it in the living room for the weekend.  He is having so much fun in there, I don't think I have the heart to deflate it.. my house looks like a 3 ring circus.)

The day after Easter Wesley's sister Melanie brought Jake's cousin Scott over to play, and the fun continued. We were trying to get a nice picture of the boys to send to their grandma, but Scott was only interested in running around, and Jake does everything scott does. It was pretty funny. But we did get a few shots of them playing with sidewalk chalk for the first time :)

Ok, so I'm sorry that I bombard the blog world with so many pictures every post, but lets face it--All I do is play with jake, and I just think he is hilarious and so cute, so I take millions of pictures. it would be a crime not to share at least SOME of them with you right?  Ok, so just a few more before I close this post--These are from the park last week. 

He was chasing the ducks..

I've always been an avid duck chaser, so we know where he gets that from..)

He really likes pushing his stroller lately.. actually pushing anything--Highchairs, toys, playpens.. you name it. 

Ok, so thats all folks! Unless I am super ambitious, Jake will be ONE YEAR OLD, by my next post!!!