good habits, plant problems, and a week with Grandma

I am feeling great today.  Finally starting to get caught up on my blog, and it feels fantastic! Two posts in one day, that is definitely a record for me! Speaking of records, this month also marks the one year anniversary of my blog.  That's right, I actually kept up a journal for a whole year!!! For someone who has always been pretty flaky in this area, I am definitely giving myself a pat on the back for sticking it out.  I'm pretty sure keeping it up is a lot easier for a mom with one kid, so those of you keeping it up while raising several?...you are my idols :)  

As far as my other habits go, there are both good and bad things to report.  I've started walking with my sister-in-law a few times a week, which is awesome.  Melanie lives right now the street and we have committed to 2-3 miles most days, pushing our strollers up and down hills, with 3 goals in mind:  To tone down the flab, catch up on gossip, and most importantly, work on our tans.  So far, it's going quite well.  On the more disappointing side of things, my mom gave me a potted plant for Mother's Day.  It has all kinds of awesome herbs in it to cook with, and my mom reassured me that herbs are "hearty" plants, and I would have little trouble keeping them alive.  I've always wanted to have an herb garden.  My mom always did when we were growing up, and I loved how easy it was to go out back and get what we needed.  Well, the rosemary and chives are looking fabulous, but I've killed my parsley and basil, and the cilantro is looking quite worrisome. O well.  Too bad I didn't inherit my mother's green thumb.  Better luck with the next plant.  Anyway, Here are a bunch of pictures from the week I spent with my mom, from April 26th to May 3rd. 

So I felt kind of bad because when Jessica had her baby a week early, my mom was still up in Utah with me instead of Arizona with her.  Luckily, Nate and Jess were awesome and agreed to set up their laptop off to the side in the delivery room, so my mom and I were able to sort of see little Sawyer when he was born!  The doctor said it was his very first delivery being broadcast on the world wide web.  He was a really good sport.  It's hard to describe how I felt watching my sister greet her baby for the first time.  It was truly a wonderful experience.  Thanks Jess, for letting us be a part of it! I love you so much!

We managed to take a few snapshots of the i-chat during the delivery.  This is one of my favorites.  I like how you can see my mom in the corner too.

All choked up after the delivery, what an awesome experience!

Later in the week we went to this great indoor pool in Lehi with my cousin Jerai and her little guy Boyd.  Jake LOVED the water slide!

Smothering Grandma with a big wet smooch.

Jake loved the bubbles!!! A little too much actually.. about 5 minutes after this picture he got a little too excited and face planted on the concrete.  Sorry Jake!! Luckily, he's a tough little guy, and got over it in no time :) 

Jake does this funny little shoulder shrug thing when he gets super excited.  You can kind of see it in this picture.  I love him!

As always, the trip felt too short, and mom jetted off to join  Jessica and her family for the next week. Goodbyes are no fun, but we just always have to look forward to the next fun reunion! And when that seems too far away, there is always I-Chat!! thank goodness for that! :)

Jake's First Birthday

I just wanted to finally post up a few fun pictures from Jake's birthday party. Thank you so much to all of you who were able to make it out for the big event.  We had so much fun, and Jake loved having all his little buddies over!! 

I think that all in all, the party was a success. I mean, I didn't burn the food, my mom was there, and Jake was a well-behaved, classy little birthday boy.  (seriously, he behaved so well it was shocking!)  We did a "Cars" theme, which is fairly obvious from the following pictures.  I love my little guy, and my Wesley, for being such a trooper with the whole themed party thing.  A lot of people don't think it makes much sense throwing a big party for a one year old, because they won't even remember it 2 days later.  But you know what I say? The party is more for the parents anyway at that point, so why not use the excuse?  And Jake DID have fun, and so did we!! here are a few pictures :)

Pre-party pictures of the food.  Thankfully, my mom arrived just a couple hours before the party, and was able to help me lay it all out in true "Schindler" fashion. Thanks mom!

So happy to have grandma there!

I opted to bake cupcakes instead of a cake this time. Can you see the little Lightning McQueen and Mater sugar charms on top? So cute!

My mom got Jake a little Lightning McQueen remote control car.  He loves that thing! I think he looks like such a big boy using that control, even though mostly he just pushes random buttons and the car will go about 2 feet before he makes it go backwards again :)

Opening his first present.  The other boys were happy to help him unwrap a little quicker :)

Jake was truly in rare form that day.  He was such a good little sharer, and let all the other kids have a turn on his new car! (I wish I could say he is always this generous, but I would be lying.)

Jake "showing" Boyd how to drive ;)  This picture gives me hope that he'll be a helpful big brother when the time comes!

Driving his car in front of his new garage/tent. I told ya the theme was pretty obvious :)

About to blow out his candle.. Actually about to make a grab for it.  Can't you just see the resolve in his eyes already? 

All he did was poke his cupcake until dad broke it into little pieces for him.

All the mommies and Jake's friends at the birthday table!

More to Come

Ok, I'm feeling some pressure because I haven't blogged in a month, and in that time: 

a. We took our new family pictures. (thanks Syd!)

b. We celebrated Jake's Birthday

c. I got my mom for a short but fun filled week

d. My big sister finally had her baby.

yikes! And we are going to San Diego next weekend for a wedding in Wes's family.  The fun continues, and the new pictures and stories are piling up.  I had every intention of blogging all about the last month, but instead decided to spend the afternoon working on my tan.  Now, sitting here with a mild sunburn, it seems I'm out of time and need to start making dinner.  So rather than knocking it all out at once, I'll just chip away at the ever growing pile of fun.  For today, you get to see a few of the new family pictures. I hope you like them, and I'll try to be more on the ball with my blogs.  Next time, I'll tell you all about my son's very first birthday party, at the very least :) cheers!

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!!!