start of summer

I feel like I've fallen off the face of the blog world for the last couple months. Other than my epic "announcement post", I haven't written a decent update in at least 2 months. yikes. I don't really like to let it pile up that way, so I'm going to attempt a little bit of catching up.

The past couple months of life (also known as the first trimester) have been relatively consistent, and not too interesting. We've done some fun stuff here and there, but most days have been made up of searching for healthy and yummy foods to satisfy my cravings, trying to keep up with housework, and playing with Jake. Thanks to a much easier trimester this time around (and not working out of my house) I've been able to continue exercising most days. Since I was lucky enough to start my pregnancy in the springtime, I start or end most days with a good size walk, pushing Jake in my trusty stroller. I hardly exercised at all last time around, and I've gotta say, the daily endorphin kick has really helped balance out my raging hormones, and I have a good hunch that it even helped calm my nausea! So yay for that :)

Jake has been such a fun little friend to hang out with through my weeks of adjusting to pregnancy. He is so full of joy and life and yet he always seems to know when mom really needs to chill out (and will even bring me his favorite blanket, and tuck me in on the couch with it!) He is talking more and more all the time, and it's been really fun tapping into his hilarious personality. He still calls me "Monni" instead of "mommy", and I'm not sure if he'll ever correct it. And I don't really mind either ;). We tend to have a running dialogue where he will tell me about some fantastic discovery, and will endlessly repeat what he found until I let him know that I am totally onboard and understand what he is saying. "Monni!! Monni!! Look!!!! a bug, a bug, a BUG, a BUG!" This will pretty much go on forever until I say "Yes, Jake, you are right that is definitely a BUG."

Life is so much fun with a toddler.

Other than my daily adventures with the kid, we have had a few exciting days in between. On June 4th, we celebrated my 24th birthday. It landed on a Friday this year, and I decided to plan all kinds of fun stuff for myself for the whole weekend. On Friday and Saturday morning I just celebrated with Wesley and Jake. Wesley had one of his best friends come into town that weekend, and he stayed with us for a few days. It was so nice to have company, and it made me so happy to see Wesley enjoying himself with his old mission buddy. Also during that weekend, I went up to Ikea and bought new bedding, and had a girls night with Cheronne!! the boys watched the kids, and we were able to go see a movie. I love my girls nights, and am so grateful to have a husband that is not only willing to give me those, but volunteers himself if I don't ask to go out for more than a few weeks! Thanks honey!

The following Monday I had an extra special treat. My cousin Jerai was in town and she and her little boy came and stayed with us for a couple days. Monday afternoon we met up with Cheronne and took the boys swimming. All 3 of our boys have birthdays within a year of each other, so it was really fun to see them all play together at the pool!

I have been a horrible picture taker lately, but I do have a few I can share. I hope you like them!

Although Wesley works hard enough during the day, he's been so helpful in taking Jake off of my hands on lots of nights too. (I've been the most sick in the evening time) Thanks for helping me survive the dreaded first trimester honey!

no, we are not potty training. I mean, we bought the potty, and I think he gets idea, but at this point, he just likes to sit on it and pretend to go. so no, we are not even close to out of diapers.

Random picture of Jake and Jerai's little guy Boyd on a visit from Idaho! Jake loves having friends come to stay :)

Wesley and I took Jake up to the "Strawberry Days festival" in Pleasant Grove last week. We didn't end up taking him on any rides, but it was sure fun to be there and do some serious people watching :)

They say you pop faster with your second pregnancy. Well it's been true for me so far. This photo was taken at 11 weeks (my birthday!) I'm now at 14 weeks, but I haven't taken a good belly shot since this one. I will update that soon though :)

I have a few more Jake updates before I wrap up this post. You know how I always say that Jake is incredibly independent? How I wish he would cuddle with me more? Well, the past few weeks I have gotten my wish. I'm not sure why, maybe it's just a phase, but Jake has been so darling and cuddly! He asks for hugs and kisses fairly often, and is happy to sit in my lap and read books every evening. I don't know what triggered the change, but I'm not complaining, and I just hope he keeps it up! (Maybe he is just sensing that a little competition is on the way with the new baby ;) )

Jake is also usually a little nervous around strangers and new kids, and tends to cry when he feels cornered. I'm happy to say that he seems to finally be toughening up a bit. The other day we were at the pool and it was extremely crowded. Jake was paddling around in his little water ring, and some bigger kids ran into him, splashing and kicking. I thought for sure I would have a crying mess on my hands in about 2 seconds. But Jake just looked at me with these wide eyes, wrapped his little legs around my tummy, and shouted "OOOOH MONNI!!! OOOOOOH MONNI!!!" Not only was I relieved that a crisis was averted, but I thought that was just about the funniest reaction I've ever seen.

I hope all of you are having a fun filled start to your summer, and are finding things every day to be joyful about. As for me, I am now just counting down the days until my family comes to stay for Sydney's wedding! Cheers!