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!

.....drumroll please...

Today was a great day. Probably the best one I've had since April 17th. That was the day that I took a test and got a very positive answer. Since then, I've been bloated, nauseated, peeing about 8 times a day--and I'm loving (nearly) every second of it. Because folks, all of those things mean one very wonderful thing. We are finally on our way to baby number two!!

Today was the best day since April 17th, because I got to see a picture of my growing little gummy bear--and I got to hear the most beautiful sound in the world, a fast and strong heartbeat. Actually we all did. Wesley came on his lunch break to meet Jake and I for the ultrasound. As I laid on the table, and stared in wonder at our newest family addition, I thought I couldn't feel any more joy. And then, I heard Wesley quietly explaining to Jake about what that funny little picture meant. At that point, Jake hopped down from Wesley's lap, pointed at the screen, and said "...Baby??.. Baby!!!". I was already close to tears, trying to keep my tummy still for the doctor, but that sent me over the edge. How lucky am I? I already have one cute kid, and now--we will be getting another one!!!

Since I wasn't blogging during my last pregnancy, I wanted to do a quick comparison of these first few weeks. My first trimester has already been such a different experience from the last time I did this. When we got our positive result with Jake, it was a total shocker. We weren't planning on starting a family for at least another year, and I felt completely blindsided. (Of course, underneath the panic and stress, the mommy hormones were raging, so I still felt tons of joy). But still, we had to scramble a bit to get mentally prepared the first time around. Also, I threw up about 3 times a day until I hit 15 weeks the first time. This was pretty textbook, and I'm glad it wasn't any worse, but as I prepared to undertake a second pregnancy, I began prepping myself early on. I thought I would be just as sick, and totally useless, and was willing to accept that. You know what? It hasn't been nearly as hard this time. Sure, I have felt nauseated since before I took that test, but I have been able to eat and sleep and stay fully hydrated. It was such a pleasant surprise to have things go a little bit smoother! (I know, I'm a lucky duck.)

Around Christmas we decided that we were ready to grow our family. Since getting pregnant the first time was a cinch, I figured we would be pregnant within weeks. But I waited four months before that stick gave me two pink lines. I learned a lot about patience during those four months. I have friends who have suffered from infertility, and miscarriages, and I soon wondered if maybe I was no different. I remember speaking with a friend when yet another month went by and I said, "if I could just KNOW that I'll get pregnant in the next 6 months, I think I could relax. But what if it takes me years?" I was scared that I wouldn't get another shot for a long time, and realized that I needed to have faith. Wesley said gently more than once--"honey, it's not our timetable." Everything happens how it's supposed to, and I needed to be patient, and grateful for the family I had, and hope for the best. I was so lucky that I only needed to practice patience for a few months, but that little lesson has really helped me. I remember that during my last pregnancy, I was constantly saying "I HATE being pregnant!!!". It's been hard for me to feel anything but grateful the past month. I sometimes wonder if that's helped me with my morning sickness, or if my body is just handling things better this time.

Sometimes I wish Jake was more cuddly and less independent, but it's been a real blessing the last little while. I've had days where I only left the couch to use the bathroom or find food, and Jake has been so great about playing independently, or bringing me books to read together. What a trooper. Speaking of troopers, what an awesome husband I have! Thanks babe--You've cleaned our kitchen and made me dinner so many times this month, and it's helped me more than you know.

Wow, I'm bragging a lot in this post. Sorry about that--I just feel overwhelmed today. and really, really lucky. I'm going to try to maintain a more positive attitude this time around, and try to have an awesome pregnancy experience. Hopefully my little peanut develops healthy and everything goes as it should--that's the most important part. I will post updates from time to time. Thanks for reading and sharing my joy with me.

The last thing I want to write about, is the morning I found out I was pregnant. It was a Saturday morning. Wesley was sleeping in that day, and I decided to go ahead and test. When I got the positive result, I decided to tell Wesley in a fun way. A few months before, I had randomly bought a shirt that said "expecting" across the front. I wanted to be wearing it the day I got my positive test. So I quickly threw it on over my sweats. Jake was already awake, and I thought of a cute way to involve him in telling daddy. Anxious to break the news to Wesley, I scribbled "can we get a baby for Christmas? (ask mom)" on an index card. I then had Jake walk into my bedroom with me and bring it to Wesley's bedside. (of course, things never go perfectly when you involve a toddler..Jake handed Wes the card.. and then for some reason took off crying out of the room.) Wesley looked at the card for a few seconds, and then he realized exactly what it meant. It was such a nice moment, and it felt so great to be able to share it with my family! Here are two pictures of that day--sorry about the test stick. Kinda graphic to post that, but I couldn't resist :)

Oh, and one more thing. My due date is December 24th. What are the odds huh? Thank you Santa. ;)

Bubbles!

This post is mostly for Meghan. She got Jake a Toy Story bubble gun for his birthday, and I took this video of him playing with it. Thanks again Meghan! and I hope you guys like it :)

2 Years Old

Last weekend we celebrated Jake's 2nd birthday! I feel like the typical Kristie response to this big milestone in his life should be "I CAN"T believe my baby is 2!!!!". But that wouldn't be true. Jacob is very much 2, and has been for some time--Because I have been seeing a full blown personality complete with mischief, tenderness, tantrums, and all those things that come with being 2 for awhile. Really, I think the actual date was more of a technicality--making his leap into boyhood official.

Jake's birthday fell on a Monday this year and Wesley was able to take the day off so we could spend it as a family! We really began the festivities on Saturday, unveiling some of Jake's grander presents on that day. (we thought it would be more fun to watch him enjoy his spoils one at a time over the weekend, rather than rushing through them all at once on Monday) Thanks to generous grandparents on both sides, Jake got his very own slide and tricycle! We had fun watching him go up and down the slide (or SIIIIIIIDE!!!!! in jake's words) and we have been working with him, showing him how to peddle his bike. Sydney had already vacated her apartment, getting ready to move back to VA for a couple months before her wedding. So she and Mitch were there for most of the weekend as well. Jake basked in the glory of so much attention from his loving parents and aunt & uncle. Really, I think just having us all watch him slide again and again was his favorite present of all.

eating cereal with uncle mitch--one of his top heroes right now :)

On monday, we decided to forgo a traditional birthday party, and we went to the zoo! The weather was perfect, and we had an amazing day. You will have to take my word for it on just how fun it was, because airhead that I am--I FORGOT MY CAMERA!!!!! I was frustrated about that at first, but the day was soo much fun. Jake of course loved all the birds (signing BIRD! at every single one--including the pigeons..) He also loved the monkeys. We went by one outdoor exhibit and a monkey was swinging back and forth on a couple vines, really going to town--Jake was so amazed and impressed, he kept shouting "whoa!!! whoaaaaa!! whoaaaa!!!!!!, clapping and cheering him on. Towards the end of the zoo visit, we went for a ride on the little train. If there is anything Jake loves almost as much as cars, its trains--so this was a real hit. He kept saying Choo chooo!!!!!! the whole time.

Jake has been more of a soft and quiet kid (when he isn't crying) as a toddler. He has always been really good at quiet independent play, and will often just lay on the floor lining up and reorganizing his cars. But he really loves to learn and explore new things, and the zoo was the perfect outlet for his imagination! It brings us so much joy to watch him soak up the world and express himself so enthusiastically with his voice :)

After a few hours at the zoo we headed home (and Jake slept the whole ride home in place of his normal nap--seriously, the day couldn't have gone more smoothly!) When we got home, we invited over Melanie and her two boys to help us sing to Jake and cut his cake. Even though I didn't plan a big party, I still wanted Jake to have his own special cake. I frosted one with a car on it, and he loved it! (of course). When he realized that I had scribbled a car into the frosting, he kept pointing at it saying "caaarrrr" in his cute scratchy voice.

I've been thinking about writing this post for the last week, and being a milestone post, I knew I wanted to take a minute to write about how lucky I feel to be Jacob's mom. I feel like Jake marches to the tune of a different drummer sometimes. He loves to discover independently (cars, cars, and more cars), will tell you exactly what he thinks (are you ready to get out of the tub? -- "NO, CAN'T), and is a very particular eater. I can't exactly call it picky, because he doesn't even care about most of the normal easy kid foods.. if its a choice between chicken nuggets or rice with spicy salsa, the rice wins. potato chips vs. jalepeno chips? it will always be the latter. He's a sucker for spicy foods and unique flavors. This can sometimes be challenging, always trying to find something he'll enjoy more than once. Lately he has been on a cereal kick, which is great (and more normal) Except he calls is "sawyer"....The only difference between cereal and his cousin, is he will use the sign for "cereal" while saying "sawyer"...shortly after followed by the sign for "milk". He is trying so hard to make his words come out correctly, and we have a pretty good time watching him try!

Jake isn't one of those kids who will give hugs and kisses on command. (NO! CAN'T!) But I know he feels our love, and we certainly feel his. He is so playful, loves to play hide and seek, throw a ball, and dance. Every once in awhile, we are rewarded with one of those glorious moments, when Jake will simply walk right up, lips puckered and give us a kiss. Or run over and say "hug?!" and then every so often, he'll snuggle up to me in front of a great movie (anything pixar) and just lay still. Those are the moments that inevitably bring out the waterworks on my part, and remind me how lucky I am to be able to raise such a cool little boy.

I know the cliche name for the year I am approaching is the "terrible twos". Here's what I think. The tantrum with the kicking and screaming on the dirty floor at Walmart? We've done one of those. the power struggles? I see them starting--and I know they are gonna get worse, a lot worse. But I'm mostly excited!!! Because we all know life comes with opposites. as much stress as I will inevitably feel from time to time--that's how much joy I'll feel the rest of the time. It's easier to see that when I'm not in the middle of dealing with a child who's temporarily morphed into Mr. Hyde. So I may not be able to always be as positive as I sound right now ;). But that's what parenting is all about right? As far as I know, you take all the bad with the good, and count every moment of stillness, every hug and kiss, and every power struggle conquered as a blessed time. That's the plan anyway. I'm just so grateful to be a mom.

As usual, thanks for reading. Syd took a small round of family pictures for us before she left for Virginia. Here are a few favorites!

all caught up!

So my past two posts have been about visits from family. Now that I am all caught up with those, I want to write a rundown of everything else I've been doing that I would consider blog worthy. To be honest, I could probably write a whole post about how I felt when I woke up this morning. Because waking up to sunshine and 65 degrees on Jakes birthday weekend felt wonderful! I love Saturday mornings--no pressure to get stuff done, and Wesley is home to play with me and Jake! So here I am, writing this post before I set out on a walk with plans of working off a few calories and soaking up every ounce of Vitamin D that I can manage! Now on to my updates :)

At the tail end of my weekend with mom and the sisters, my cousin Jerai made a quick 2 day stop in Provo before flying to Oregon to visit her own fam. It was so fun to see her!!! Sadly we didn't take as many pictures as I would've liked, but here are a couple good ones :)

Unfortunately, Jake was asleep when we took these, so he's not included. Oh well.

Cute little boyd!!!! Poor kid had allergies and was dripping giant crocodile tears the whole time!

I threw Sydney a bridal shower a couple weeks ago. I was nervous to throw one without my trusty "shower team" (aka, Jessica and Jerai), but it turned out really nice!

This was in the entry way--a Raffle with prizes, and the party favors

Preparing the food. mmmm

Chocolate drizzled hearts on the cupcakes were so fun to make. Thank you Martha Stewart!

Meghan came down for the shower with Caitlin--Jake's favorite little lady hands down! They stayed for a while after the party to hang out. It was so much fun!!! Jake even shared his cars with her (an epic gesture)

Sorry about the partial nudity.. they had just eaten spaghetti, and no one wants to get that out of a clean white shirt :)

Last month I was hired to do some bridal hair for an old friend from my Paul Mitchell days. I also did her mom and the bridesmaids! It was so fun to get my hands into some fun updos. I used to do weddings all the time, but haven't been doing them as much since I had Jake. I forgot how much I enjoyed it!

I got together with some other beauty school friends for the reception. It was so nice to catch up with them.

April showers bring May flowers--Yeah yeah, I know the rain is important. But I realllyyy love the sunny days in between! We snapped a few pictures at the park last weekend and I thought I would share a few before I wrap up my post.

Jake loved feeding the ducks!!! After a while we noticed that tons of fish were joining in to eat the crumbs in the water. Jake was so excited about them! He kept leaning over the dock saying "You want this?" again and again, throwing crumbs to them. We may need to get a pet goldfish in the future :)

Jake is cutting his two year molars--all four at once (really NOT fun). But I can't think of a better time for that to happen. With a weekend full of nothing but sunshine, lots of birthday presents to unwrap, and a trip to the zoo, Jake will have plenty of distractions to help him forget about his toothaches. With all that said, and with all my pictures posted and labeled, I think I will stop writing about my life, and go live it now! Thanks for reading! ;)

wedding planning weekend

I feel like my muse has gone missing, because I have really been struggling to find the inspiration/motivation to keep up my blog!

And thats ridiculous, because I have had so many wonderful things to blog about in the recent past.

So muse or no muse, I am going to tell you about my week with all the girls in the fam! I should start by talking about that fact that my kid sister Sydney got engaged a few weeks ago. It's actually been in the works but unofficial for a couple months. She had already decided the approximate time of the wedding (july 20th) and the place (utah)--so until the rock was in place, we were covertly planning. Finally towards the end of March, the ring was secured and we began openly and furiously planning.

July may sound far away, but Sydney flies back to VA in about a week and will stay there and work until the first of July. So, we had a lot of things to organize in just over a month! On the last weekend in March, my mom flew over from Virginia, and Jessica packed up Sawyer and flew in from Phoenix. We spent 4 crazy days finalizing plans and having a blast together! Jessica stayed a few extra days longer than mom, and as usual, it all ended too quickly. Here are pictures from the long weekend!

Jake loved having Grandma for a visit!!! He was so excited to show our house guests all of his toys and especially his matchbox cars.

Nostalgic walk through BYU campus. Syd had some artwork on display at the Library, so we went and checked it out!

Touring the reception center. We will be celebrating in pretty much the secret garden. It's gorgeous!

Shopping!!!

On this outing, I figured we would only need one stroller since I have a perfectly useful double, and even with Meghan and her babe Caitlin along, it worked out great! Only one person had to man the stroller, and the kids just rotated taking naps and being able to run around and stretch their legs! I can't tell you how in love with my stroller I am. It's just that wonderful :)

At Chipotle--the one and only place where Jake will actually eat the food! Fortunately it's my favorite as well! :)

On Sunday afternoon, being a week before Easter, we went to the park for a little egg hunt! Along with my mom and sisters, Syd's fiancee Mitch, her roomie Rachel, and of course Wesley, came to watch the kids find chocolate treasures. Grandma was thoughtful enough to bring the boys adorable Easter baskets, and supplied the chocolate as well!

Naturally Jake's basket was Lightning Mcqueen. What else??

Cute story--my mom brought a bunch of chocolate for the hunt. There were tin foil wrapped bunnies, race cars, and lady bugs. Jake would NOT pick up the bugs. (What little boy doesn't like bugs?) In fact, when we finally convinced him to collect them, he would simply pick them up and bring them to Sawyer. He was all over the bunnies and hogged all of the cars (obviously) but he was nice enough to put each and every lady bug into Sawyers basket.

Enjoying their spoils :)

By the way--Jake LOVED Sawyer. He really loved playing the "big brother" role, and Sawyer is such a tough kid that he was really able to keep up with his crazy older cousin. In fact, The day I took Jess and Sawyer to the airport, Jake started sobbing when he realized that Sawyer was going away. He had big crocodile tears running down his cheeks and kept saying "Sawyer!!!!! come back!!!!! noo!!!!" Break my heart why don't you. Seriously, does he even know what he does to me? Its been a couple weeks and he is still asking for Sawyer on a daily basis. Oh Jakey, you kill me :) I tell you what, Jake may have been a late bloomer with the talking, but he has more than enough spunk to go around!

Ok, until next time. I'm still not caught up, but this post puts me a lot closer!!! Thanks for reading, and taking interest in my life!