4 months and 3 years!

Last week Jake and Mia both got to visit to doctors office for their well checkups. (3 year for Jake and 4 month for Mia!) I just wanted to write a "stats" update about them.

Mia is growing like crazy! She weighs 11 pounds, 8 ounces, which means that in 4 months she has almost doubled her birthweight :) It puts her in the 9th percentile, which is right on track for her. In height, she is 23.5 inches long, and has jumped up to the 20th percentile! She can roll over from tummy to back, and is super close to rolling from back to tummy. When we lay her down to change clothes, diapers, or give her a bath (pretty much any time she is naked), Mia will become so happy, and will twist her little torso from side to side. I think thats why she still hasn't figured out rolling over...as soon as she gets her body twisted far enough to flip, she whips it back the other way. I need to take a video of her doing it sometime, because it's pretty funny. When we were at the doctors office, they stripped her down to take her weight on the infant scale. the second that diaper came off, she started cracking up and rolling from side to side. The nurses thought it was hilarious, and we watched her bounce around for a good 30 seconds..(the scale won't register weight until the baby holds still, and it took her awhile to do that).

Her eczema is still pretty bad. When the Doc was examining her, he said that the severity of her rash was probably very uncomfortable and itchy for her. I've been doing everything I can to keep her comfortable since day one, but it broke my heart to hear that apparently it wasn't enough. especially since Mia is still, through it all, such a happy and content baby. I don't know what I did to deserve her. It's truly such a blessing. Fortunately, the doctor has now put her on a prescription ointment which seems to really be helping her so far.

Mia has definitely started teething. Jake started around 4 months too, and by 5 months old he had 2 teeth. So far, she is drooling, and biting everything (including me while nursing the last couple days.. ouch.) As long as I have tylenol and teething tablets on standby, she hasn't gotten too grumpy so far. We will see if it lasts. I'm hoping the high tolerance she seems to have for her eczema will carry over into her teething experience (fingers crossed).

On Friday I started Mia on rice cereal. Jake was very excited to help out! We mixed the cereal together, and said a little prayer that Mia would have a good experience learning to eat real foods. (Let's be honest, I've been hoping and praying for awhile now that Mia would be a good eater...Jake is picky enough for the whole family.) For a first time eater that has no idea how to swallow spoon fed cereal, I'd have to say she did pretty good! No tears, she kept her mouth open, and seemed to enjoy tasting it. Hopefully as she gets more comfortable, she'll be excited to eat new things!

Jake hit a major milestone--he is now in the 30th percentile for weight, and I've been given the "go for it" to switch him from whole milk to 2%. I've been working so hard to get him to eat more food each day, and it seems to be paying off!

I was planning to potty train Jake once he turned 3, but after talking to the doctor about it at length, he recommended that I hold off for a bit, until jake seems more willing and excited to take that step. So unless Jake wakes up and tells me he is ready to quit using diapers, it looks like I will be waiting until after we move away to start that adventure.

Jake NEVER STOPS TALKING. I don't think I can even pin down exactly when it changed, but I'm finding myself in constant dialogue with him. Whether he is telling me a story (and I have to always repeat what he is saying or he won't believe that I am listening), or arguing with me, or trying to negotiate his way out of something (uh oh...it's okay mommy we can clean that up later... or...how about I take my nap a little bit later). And now we've started roll playing...Over the weekend we watched the new Narnia movie, and in the middle of it Jake wanted to choose characters for all of us to "be" : Okay mommy, you be the lion, I'll be the dragon, daddy can be the mouse.

His logic is amazing. Wesley went away on a trip one weekend, and I explained to Jake that daddy got to go fly on an airplane.

Jake: "I wanna go on the airplane too!!:

Me: "You can't Jake because it's already up in the sky."

Jake: "Oh, yeah it's probably too high...I can't reach it"

Me: "yeah probably not"

Jake: "................hmm....I need a ladder...a yellow one please."

Tomorrow is Jake's 3rd birthday, so I will be doing another "birthday post" soon, but we celebrated this weekend with Wesley's family. Ever since we went to Disneyland, Jake has wanted a "blue mickey cake" for his birthday. I don't know where the "blue" came from, but he has remained constant in that desire, so I attempted to make him one. I did a white cake, 2 layers high, with buttercream frosting and strawberries in the middle. I'm not a very good baker, but Jake still loved it!

can you see Jake's little thumb print on the first picture?? He was very eager to try his cake, and stuck his fingers right in the second our backs were turned :)

One more great Jake story to wrap up this post..

Yesterday was Easter. I sat in on Nursery because we were visiting the grandparents, and Jake didn't want to go to a strange class by himself. The teacher was telling the kids all about Jesus and the resurrection. She explained that we celebrate Easter because even though Jesus died, after 3 days He rose and was alive again. She emphasized that phrase several times, talking about how Jesus was alive again. Jake seemed to really be listening, and I was excited that he seemed to follow the concept....

Until I heard him whisper to himself.."Jesus is a Lion again???"

He was marveling at the idea that Jesus was a lion. I think I need to do some Christ centered family home evenings, because clearly my son missed some important parts of the story. ;)

My kids get grumpy, throw tantrums, have blowouts, and often cause me to lose sleep and maintain a very questionable diet (Jake's pop-tart and chicken nugget leftovers). But I love them so much! I feel like I can never give them enough kisses, or long enough hugs. Jake is so funny and smart and cute, and Mia is such a happy, chunky little ball of positive energy. I LOVE them soooo much!

We are....

Moving to Arizona!!!!!!!!

A few weeks ago Wesley applied for a job in Scottsdale Arizona. Wes has always loved the Phoenix area (ever since he spent 2 years there for his LDS mission). My sister Jessica and her husband are down there for another year finishing up Dental school, so I thought, "why not go ahead and apply? we could live with the 70 degree winters ;) And I could spend a year near my sister! The job opening kind of fell into our laps. In all honesty, I didn't believe we were seriously thinking of taking the job even if they offered it to him. We knew that at some point Wesley would probably want to switch jobs, but we are genuinely happy with our life in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Wesley has good friends at work, we LOVE our apartment, (and the fact that its less than a mile from work), and most importantly--Utah has truly become our home! Wesley's parents retired and moved here about 6 months ago from Thailand, so our kids have been able to enjoy having two aunts (Sydney and Melanie) and one set of grandparents around all the time.

When the job offer came, the opportunity seemed worth considering. The job is with the company Prudential, and Wesley would be able to continue doing the same kind of things he does here in Utah, but with more opportunities for advancement. They also have an excellent tuition assistance program. After A LOT of late night conversations together, and countless talks with family and friends, we were able to make a pretty good pros and cons list based on our priorities as a family. Wesley and I decided that our highest priority for his career was to get him through grad school, and we hoped to do this with minimal debts. So the opportunity to work at a company that is very pro-continuing education seemed like the best way to go.

Prudential gave Wesley a few days to make a decision, and I still remember how I felt the night when we really thought we might go for it and move. We were spending the evening with Wesley's family--just watching movies, building legos, and enjoying each others company. Jake and his cousin Scott were watching a show with their Grandpa, and Wesley and I were sitting on the couch talking about our options. We could see Jake snuggled up happily with his cousin and grandpa in the next room. Without completely realizing it, tears began to roll down my cheeks, as I thought about all the things we might be leaving behind.

It brings us so much joy to see Jake spending time with so many people who love him--For the first time in about 10 years, Wesley is living near all of his family, and it's been a wonderful experience. I've gotten so used to having Sydney nearby. Whether she is coming over to babysit, or do her laundry, or hanging out with her and Mitch for family nights--it's been such a comfort to have one of my best friends here, and Jake loves them sooo much. And speaking of best friends, I have developed some amazing friendships over the past 7 years. All of them are important to me , and have truly shaped my adult life. One friend in particular has been with me through each and every phase of my life here in Utah. We lived together in college, found our husbands and got married around the same time, and then had little boys 6 months apart, followed by little girls 4 months apart. Our sons are best friends, and I had high hopes that our little girls could be great companions too.

All of those reasons, plus countless others, added up to equal one thing: Utah is our home.

As I sat there on that couch with Wesley, thinking about all the things we would be leaving behind, my strongest feeling was this--Yes, I would be sad to leave. But even while I thought about all those things, I could still feel logic and peace and a sense of rightness behind the idea of moving away.

We wrestled with the decision a little longer, but ultimately decided it was the right choice for our family. Since then, I've had a roller coaster of emotions. I have cried a bit (okay, a lot), but I'm beginning to feel the pre-moving jitters. I'm excited to start this new adventure with my little family. It's very bittersweet. Wesley leaves in 2 short weeks to start his job, but due to issues with getting out of our current lease, I will be staying behind for a month to pack things up and slowly say my goodbyes to everything and everyone that I'm leaving behind.

I was able to make a last minute trip to Phoenix last week with Mia to do a little apartment hunting. Wesley and Jake stayed with grandma and grandpa while we were gone. (thanks, guys!) Being there and becoming more familiar with the area made me excited to explore the city with my family! I stayed with Jessica, and the timing couldn't have been better. She was less than a week from having her second baby, so my mom was even coming out to help her. The trips overlapped, so not only was my mom able to spend some unexpected time with Mia, but I was able to see little Violet Abigail Larson on the first day of her life!

I think posts are a lot more fun when they are tied to pictures, so I will end this by putting up a few favorites from my week in Phoenix.

I'm very excited about the upcoming climate change. I love the snow during Christmastime, but it pretty much ends there. So even though the summers will be 120 degrees, at least we will be able to enjoy the sunshine for a lot more of the year!

I've heard that the shopping in Scottsdale is fantastic. So far it seems to be true. I can't wait to explore all the different shopping centers :)

Mia slept in a little Moses basket all week. It was so cute, and I loved being able to tote her around the house.

It made me so happy that my mom was able to snuggle with her granddaughter for a few days!

Violet Abigail Larson made her debut on April 11th, weighing 7 lbs 3 oz.

Although we are leaving so many people behind in Utah, I am definitely looking forward to spending a little mommy time with my big sister. I love that our sweet baby girls are only 4 months apart! And Jake and Sawyer are already thick as thieves, so I think we will have lot's of great adventures in the upcoming year.

Incase you were wondering, Jake had a blast at the grandparents house. They watched him while Wesley was at work each day, and he loved all the attention! Here are a few pictures of the "G.I Joe room" that grandpa built. It has a ball pit, a rock wall, a slide, and tons of nerf guns and ammo. Pretty much a little boys paradise.

Seems kind of mean to take him away from all this huh?

***adorable Jake moment***

I was a little worried that Jake would cry when I came to pick him up after my week away. I kept hearing about how much fun he was having, and while that was a huge relief, I was a little concerned that he wouldn't want to go back home with boring old mom afterwards! But he was so happy to see me :) On our first night back home, as I tucked him into bed, we were snuggled up, and talking about life. Jake was struggling to explain something to me, and couldn't seem to remember what words he wanted to use. I told him to take his time and think about what he was trying to say. After about 10 seconds of silence, he finally said "Jakey missed mommy!" I missed Jakey a lot too, and it made my heart melt to hear him say it.

Change is never easy. I'm scared to move away and start somewhere new. But I have faith that it'll all work out. And I know I will be happy, because my home will always be where my husband and kids are. They are my family, and I'm so grateful to be surrounded by so much love.

Thanks for reading. If you could all send some positive energy into the universe for us, that would be great! (I will definitely need it--packing and moving totally sucks, and I'll be a single mom for most of the experience.. wish me luck!)