The Deans

The weekend

2012-02-13T13:28:00.001-07:00

Nothing special, but I just love it when we get to spend so much time hanging out, doing nothing and when Dan and Sam get to play and run around together.

Friday we had our cousins (who aren't in school) over to play and decorate cookies.

It was fun to have them all here!

Of course, he had to spend time in a box. He LOVES to sit and play in any sort of box.

Had Pho noodles again. Oh my, SO good.

Since Dan ran for 5 hours earlier in the day, he ate every last bit of that HUGE bowl.

Just what he needed!

Made a special little love treat. Also very good.

Overall I'm feeling back to my normal self here at 16 wks along. I'm tired, but not nearly as tired as I was last month. I've been getting to spin class, lifting some weights and try to go for walks with Sam when we can. My left hip hurts a lot, but other than that and an ever growing belly, I'm happy!

Tonight is date night!

Oh, and I think Grandpa Mike is coming to visit and help with another project in the next couple weeks.

Can't wait!

sort of a Thankful Thursday...

2012-02-09T15:21:00.001-07:00

This will all be very random and long today.

First of all, I've been feeling extra thankful the past few days.

And I wanted the grandparents and family to see some Sam videos and pics of his new bed.

So onto the thankful parts...

We had a scare on Tuesday that shook us pretty hard (thankfully everything is OK..). I had my 16wk apt. I was so excited to see one of our midwives and hear the heartbeat! We chatted and talked about how things are going. I asked some questions then we got onto laying down and getting Sam close to hear things. Everything the midwife does in a monthly pre-natal apt. is the exact same thing an OBGYN would do...exactly. So we listened and listened, changed positions, listened more and nothing, nada. No sign of a heartbeat at all. Inside I was dying after 2 mins of not being able to hear it and after about 10 mins of trying, nothing.

So while I'm freaking out, the midwife is checking to see what hospital can get me in the soonest for an ultrasound (their ultrasounds are done on Mondays, I was there on Tuesday).

So, for two hours I was devastated. I imagine this is the way I would feel and cry if one of my close family members or friends had passed away. I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. Poor Sam kept saying "mommy, little bit sad." Ugh, my heart!

Thankfully, I could run over to Ali's and waited there until Dan arrived and we left Sam and headed to the ultrasound. The whole time I was thinking what would I do if at over 15 wks there was just no baby? So many thoughts were going through our heads. In the end, everything is great and I am SO very thankful it was just a scare and that I have Dan and Sam in my life.

We saw baby moving and the heartbeat was strong...although my placenta is right over my stomach, basically blocking much of hearing anything from baby at this point. The ultrasound tech said it's fine though and it should be moving up as baby gets bigger. Let's hope so!

We tried to see the gender, but it was a bit too hard to tell. Kind of thinking girl from what we saw, but we'll find out for sure on March 5th!

Alright, onto happy fun things...

We got Sam's big boy room ready. He's a tiny boy in a big bed now and we just love it. There's nothing like seeing your child grow and become more independent, even at two years old. Dan put together his drawers and bookshelf. Thanks to Justin and Kerrah for the bed as well!

He is so excited to jump on the bed, play in his room and now it's actually a place where we spend a lot of time reading and playing. He's adjusted great. He rolled out one night so I quickly put him back in (didn't even phase him) and one morning he was on the floor when we went in. Other than that, it's going great! Of course I was worried he would be up lots at night and his naps would suffer, but it's the opposite. He sleeps like a rock and his naps have actually been longer all week. I'm sure as the weeks and months go by he'll figure out he can play and try to open the door... instead of sleep :)

Love this.

And here are some random videos, just cause I love them.

Road trip!

2012-02-04T20:10:00.002-07:00

Dan was out of town all last week for work.

We decided some fun in the sun and a bit warmer temps would be a good way to pass the time. It also helps I'm feeling better these days, so it didn't seem too daunting to take a trip with the little guy by myself.

Ali's in-laws have a house down in St. George that we luckily get to take advantage of.

Thank you again Ali and Mark for a fun trip!

Packed and ready to go! (sorry for the blurriness)

All three kids did pretty well there and back.

Sam was grumpy pants on the way home but we made it just fine :)

The minute we got down there Siri and Sam got on their bikes outside and after naps, inside too.

Two of the days Sam insisted on being "nakey boy" while they played outside.

It was pretty adorable, especially when Siri also wanted to do the same.

We played outside A LOT. He took a liking to golfing for a bit.

Jane LOVED playing in the rocks, grass and dirt.

Loves

Such a happy family. Love them.

They all ate so well together at the island. Sam only fell off those high standing chairs like, 5 times. Ha!

Lots of fun time at the parks with Ali and Siri.

Ali kisses

We swam some too. Cute cousins. He pretty much just wanted to jump off the side to me the entire time. He'll be quite the fish in the summer. I'm excited for it!

Went out to a nice dinner.

He was SO proud that he had stacked his crayons AND truck on top of his cup.

So silly.

Tuckered on the way home. Can't wait to go back sometime soon!

Happenings

2012-01-26T08:42:00.003-07:00

Last Saturday we went to the yummiest, cheapest Pho noodle house.

Asia Palace.

If you like warm rich broth with yummy rice noodles and meat & veggies of your choice, this is for you! I wasn't sure I'd like it, but after I tasted Dan's, I SO wish I would have gotten some. You could go there and split a huge bowl and be totally full for under $10.

That bowl is HUGE!

Sunday night we had a fun dinner at Matt and Sheri's. Like Sam always does, he was jumping off the couch into some pillows and on his last jump, something wasn't right. He cried for a bit, which is normal but then when he'd try and walk, he'd just cry and you could tell he was in pain. I ended up taking him to KidsCare in Riverton (thank goodness it was only minutes from their house) We got some xrays, which was just awful for him, he was SO scared and tired since it was past bedtime. Pretty much anytime the doc walked in, he cried "go home, go home!" The xrays showed nothing, but he still wouldn't walk, so we were just hoping he jammed his toes way hard or hurt his ankle a bit. We made it out of there with a sucker and otter pop, so that calmed him down a bit. We spent most of Monday morning hanging on the couch watching shows, as he was still limping and saying his toes hurt. By Tuesday, he was almost back to himself, jumping off the couch at Ali's house :) He seems totally fine today.

He's also been getting into the tissue box. I guess he likes to wipe his own nose now. I walked out of the room for 20 seconds and came back to this. He was just casually "blowing nose" Love it.

He's been a great helper in the kitchen. I made chili the other night and he was SO proud of himself for stacking all the spices. He could have played this game all day.

Ali and I took them to a playplace. That was way fun for them. They play so well together.

He's been into watching Thomas the Train lately. He gets into the zone.

I have a growing belly, which I'm so grateful for. I feel like a big blob, but at least I'm feeling better for the most part. Tired, but not feeling sick all day, everyday. I have my first appt. with one of our Midwives on Feb. 7th. I'm really looking forward to this new adventure and experience when baby #2 joins our family. Dan is so dedicated to his 100miler training. He gets up by about 5am 3 days a week, then runs on Friday night and at some point on Saturday goes for a long run. Usually at least 3.5-4 hours. Go Dan!

Sunday morning scene

2012-01-22T11:07:00.001-07:00

Making brown butter- brown sugar cookies.

He's a good helper.

Such good times AND a two year old

2012-01-17T21:48:00.002-07:00

We had the best time with Jane and Kelly.

We SOOO did not want them to leave on Monday morning, but we'll just look forward to the next time we get to see them. We always have such good times and always do fun things.

They make Sam's Birthday so fun and I can't thank them enough for being so generous.

Thank You times 100!

They love Sam so much. It was really nice to have two extra people around to play with him. He goes non stop and at this point, I'm so exhausted from the tiny baby growing, that I could nap at all hours of the day.

They helped me immensely!

One of the things we love when they come to town is all the yummy food and new places we get to try. Seriously, we at so much good food and thank you Jane and Kelly so much for all of it.

Have you been to Ruth's Diner? If you haven't, you must...if only for their biscuits and preserves.

OH MY WORD. Amazing!

The best present ever. His "very own" train tracks. This was the first set he got in the morning...

And Grandma Jane added more in the afternoon. He REALLY loves his trains.

Ate some yummy BBQ on Friday for his bday with Ali and girls and Grandma Carol.

It's really hard not to smile when I look at this picture.

Jane and Janie. Love it.

More yummy food.

Rode Trax downtown for lunch at Eva for brunch. You should also go there :)

I love them.

Party time. I want that cake, Mom!!!

So happy to see each other.

Everytime he see's Janie, he gets down to her eye level and says "hi janie, hi janie, hi janie!"

So good.

He is so loved. We are so thankful.

You Sam, are the cutest, most talkative and on the go two year old we know. We are lucky.

Just a few more things about you at Two...

You talk in sentences.

You ask please and tell us Thank you all the time.
You give us the best little kisses and loves.

Sing most words to Frosty the Snowman, Ring around the Rosey, Rudolph, Twinkle Twinkle, Rocky Road (the song we've been singing to you since the day you were born) and you can finish all the words in the books we read and you start to say the next sentence without us helping.

Know your ABC's, colors, shapes, numbers, animals...etc.

You talk. A lot. Like, all the time. It's so very nice for us that we can understand pretty much everything you say. It's nice to know what you need and want all the time.

You've been skiing five or six times. You love to ride your bike. You LOVE your trains, dinosaurs and big trucks and cars.

You tell us when you need to "have poops." We then tell you to go in the bathroom to do your business (in your diaper) and when you're done, you come say "change bum!!"

You throw tantrums and get frustrated easily, which results in some awesome meltdowns. We aren't afraid to put you in time out, but don't have to do it often...yet.

I love our nap and bedtime routine. You go to sleep with no hesitation...unless we've forgotten to put your blanket on or you don't have frosty or munch in bed :)

You go to bed by 8apm and are up between 7 and 7:30am. You nap for 1.5-2 hrs each day. Around 1pm.

Weight 25.49lbs (20%)

Height 33.27 inches (22%)

Seriously, we are so lucky to be your parents and can't wait to see you interact with your sibling to come!

Brother

2012-01-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

Most everyone knows, but I might as well put it on the blog!

We can't wait to welcome baby #2 in July.

Sam will be such a good big brother, I just know it.
I was pretty sick, just like I was with Sam although this time I seem to be feeling better already. I'm 12 wks and have been feeling better in the last two weeks than I was at this point with Sam.
I hope I've turned the corner and get my second wind!
Still very tired all the time, but thankfully I don't feel like I want to vomit all day and night.

We ask him, "what's in mommy's tummy?" He says in a quiet voice, "a baby!"

So excited for this new adventure that is sure to be full of change, challenges, busy, busy days... but most of all, 100% added joy to our lives!

I always saw myself with two kids and I feel very thankful to be here, in this moment of my life.

Happy Birthday buddy!

2012-01-13T09:05:00.001-07:00

You are TWO!

I think we've done a pretty good job thus far with you.

Happy two years to us!

Besides you're Dad, you're my life and I LOVE it!

We're having so much fun with Grandma Jane and Kelly.

More pics and Birthday stuff to come later ....

Birthday week

2012-01-09T08:33:00.000-07:00

I always thought it was funny when people would say it's their birthday week.

I don't think it's funny anymore.

It's Awesome!

We'll be doing fun stuff all week with this kid.

Two years old on Friday.Happy two years parenting to us!

Grandma Jane and Aunt Kelly get here Wednesday.

So excited.

I love these two

2012-01-05T13:01:00.000-07:00

A new year

2012-01-01T08:26:00.003-07:00

2011 was probably my best year thus far. Dan was saying last night it was for him too. We did and accomplished a lot. The year Sam was born was amazing, but last year...the best for us all around.

We're excited for what 2012 will bring. Many new adventures and changes.

Even though we don't stay up til midnight anymore, I did hear hundreds of fireworks going off for a good hour so really, I didn't go to sleep til about 1am :)

And even though Sam goes to bed around 8pm, that doesn't mean we can't show him a fun time and celebrate a little!

Started the day out celebrating Janie! Happy ONE Year!

I love that they love each other and he tries to tell her to do stuff :)

Headed to Alta for the torchlight parade. Stopped at Snowbird for some yummy mexican food before.

It was yum!

Watched the parade from the car. Nice and warm AND the best view of the fireworks!

So fun!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-28T09:32:00.001-07:00

A little more about Christmas...

Dan had Thursday-Sunday off, which was oh so nice! We both weren't feeling well on Thursday, so we all just relaxed and laid on the couch in pj's pretty much all day.

Sam decided to sleep til 8 or 8:30am everyday. That was pretty much the perfect gift we could get.

We all laid in bed til almost 9am most mornings.

Heaven I tell you.

Christmas Eve we kept it mellow. Sam got to hangout in his new pj's.

I think he wore them 3 days in a row.

Went to the torchlight parade at Snowbird that night. Such good memories for me from when I was growing up.

We went every year.

I homemade Spatzle and Dan made Stroganoff. It was so, so good!

We ate real quick before Sam went to bed. Not the best pic, but I love our humble little dinner, with sparkling apple cider to go along with it!

Santa came.

He left Sam with a few toys, art supplies, clothes and yummy treats in his stocking.

Got some awesome stuff from both grandparents. This dump truck is a favorite.

We spent most the day in Kamas. It was so very relaxing with tons of good food and lots of cousins to play with. I love that he's able to get so involved with the older kids now.

He was SO into their new stuff!

More candy and cookies, Mom! He ate so much that day :)

It was a great holiday and we can't wait to get 2012 started!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T21:52:00.001-07:00

It was relaxing, mellow and filled with minimal toys and stuff.

Just the way I like it.

We got to see all my family, hangout, eat good food and talk.

Come back

2011-12-13T20:05:00.002-07:00

After Grandpa left on Monday morning, Sam wanted him to "come back!" all day long. They had the most precious goodbye just after the little guy woke up. It was so sweet and we already miss you so much!

Sam just adores him. We could not even be around and everything would be fine. I like to say he's in the Grandpa zone when Mike is here :)

We rode Trax downtown to see the lights and have some dinner. Sam LOVED it!

Especially riding the "train"

Just love this.

So many lights!!

Took him skiing a couple times. It makes me happy to see Grandpa watching the little guy start to learn.

Such good times. We cannot wait for your next visit!

While the boys had some time alone, we had our girls baking night. I just love this. And, I wanted to make sure I captured my Mom next to her trusty old stand mixer. So old school, but it works!

Wassil, fudge, swedish spritz cookies, mints, dipped pretzels and salted caramels OH MY!

And, the scene around here lately. Grandpa left and Dan had to go out of town for work. Sam has been asking to watch the Grinch pretty much everyday. So cute. I love how he loves Christmas time.

Having fun

2011-12-10T13:28:00.001-07:00

...with Grandpa!

He's been here since Wednesday night. Really don't want him to leave Monday. We've been having fun!

More pics and stuff later...

Oh Christmas Tree

2011-12-04T15:38:00.001-07:00

Went on a hunt for our tree yesterday.

I love the tree lot by our house...

But, it just didn't have what we wanted-besides this cute picture.

We finally found it further away. It's perfect.

A good little helper. We listened to music and decorated before his nap. The best.

So little and humble.

When Dan was out of town all week for work, we got to work on some fun rice krispy houses with Siri and chili with Ali and Mark.

So yum.

Oh my. Love this.

On Friday night, we had some of our close friends over for homemade pizza night. Dan also wanted to make this kind of pie.

Apple.

I wouldn't choose apple out of other pies but man, this one he makes is SO good.

And the dough he also makes turns into some epic pizza. Perfection!

Grandpa Mike is coming to visit this week. We cannot wait!

Let's go skiin'!

2011-11-27T13:02:00.001-07:00

(lots of pics in this post)

We'll start with Thanksgiving, then onto skiing...

We had a great turkey day this year. I went to spin class and Dan went for a run. Sam napped, then it was time to head to Grandma's to play with all of our cousins, relax and eat good food!

Grandma Carol had the kids table set up with crayons and paper to draw some turkeys. Such a good idea!

Sam got lots of play time with cousins. He was especially fond of Connor that day.

Enzo. Getting so big and handsome...too fast!

My two oldest nephews. Also very handsome.

Sam LOVED the Jenn's chocolate pie. He and Max stuffed their faces!

Love her.

Little family.

The food was so, so, so good. And the pie...YUMMMM!!

We headed to Alta for some skiing with Ali and Siri yesterday. I wasn't sure how Sam would like standing on skis, but he was such a good sport and a trooper.

Let's go skiin'!

First lift ride of the year.

He did really well most the time. We went really slow and made sure he could see Siri in front of him. He seemed to be motivated to keep going as long as he could see his cousin skiing too. We were pretty proud parents :) And I think at least 10 people asked us how old he was. He does look so little out there.

We made it a little ways down the hill and he was done. Took his skis off and put him in the pack the rest the way down. Siri skied all the way with some help from Ali. She's such a great skier already!

The best part of skiing for him? Hot chocolate and treats!

We scored a free pizza at one of our favorite places we'd always hangout after skiing. He especially loved running around in there. We had a nice table by the cozy fire.

Our weekend has also consisted of some yard work. He's been such a good helper.

Also did some decorating. Sam LOVES to hold those ornaments. He was especially in awe when I showed him the ones hanging down. He says, "ohhhhhhh, decorations!" We also put some lights on the front of the house. Of course, he also LOVES those too.

And no post is complete without some video. Here's our skiin' Sam.

So very Thankful

2011-11-23T19:52:00.001-07:00

We have LOTS to be thankful and grateful for.

Way too many to count.

We are a happy and healthy little family.

We live comfortably, while still making many sacrifices.

We have bad days, but the good ones seem to outweigh those.

We try to be humble and speak kind words.

We have the best families anyone could ever ask for. Love them all.

So blessed and lucky.

The perfect time to blog is....

2011-11-20T20:43:00.001-07:00

When your husband is in bed shivering between throwing up.

It's also a good time when Sam has gone to bed just fine-and hoping..HOPING he doesn't get it next.

It's also a good time after a fun weekend in St. George with my sisters and Mom.

Despite the fact that I most likely had food poisoning right when we arrived and the entire next day, it was still really great to be kid free, no schedule...just us. (we missed you Sheri and Kerrah!)

I had a window of two hours that I felt sort of OK Friday morning, so I made it to brunch. So disappointed though since it all looked so good and I ended up just hurling my tea and half a biscut up later :)

Seriously, their food looked SO good!

After about 5pm on Friday, I finally started feeling better and slept like a rock til Saturday morning. We had a day full of shopping, lunch, more shopping then more shopping....

Followed by frozen yogurt! Oh, and then we went home and Ali made some super awesome bread and yummy soup! Wish I could have taken more pics of the fun, but I only got to have about half the fun they did.

Next year!

And of course I had to throw in a pic of this guy. He likes to "feed" his animals a lot. I love how his imagination is working already.

Here's to hoping he doesn't get the sickness and if he does, it passes quickly and we're all better for Thanksgiving!

Heard that

2011-11-12T14:06:00.001-07:00

All this week, Sam has been into listening to my shuffle.

Sometimes, he'll just sit there without the music on.

I think he thinks it's cool to have them in his ears and attached to his shirt :)

He'll say..."listen!" or, "heard that." So silly.

So into it.

In the last month or so, he's been WAY into getting way down on the floor to play with and inspect his toys. I love it when I catch him in the "zone" of playing with anything he can get his hands on.

Most the time it's when he's been stacking stuff. Here he was telling his car to hold up the circles. Ha!

Getting a much needed warm jacket.

Not his beanie, but he had to wear it the entire time we were in the store. There may have been a meltdown when I took it off. Maybe.

Just cause he's too cute. And, I feel like he looks so big. Like, for reals he is going to be TWO soon. Crazy.

We played outside as much as we could l week in the sun and cold. Now we're back to rain/snow and more cold.

And, some vids- mostly for family. Pretty much anytime we go into a store now he'll point out Santa, Christmas trees, lights, snowman or reindeer. Sometimes a turkey.

I asked him last night what Santa says. Adorable.

I wish the littlest, most simple things made me laugh like this!

Hi snowman

2011-11-05T13:49:00.001-06:00

His view this morning

While we played in our bed this morning, he was just staring out the window saying how much is was snowing over and over.

So cute.

Sam likes to be up where we're cooking. Last night, his dinosaurs had to be there helping us out too :)

We got special gift in the mail from Papa Mike yesterday. Waited til Dan was home to open it up.

Such a cool toy chest. We'll stain it at some point. Despite his sad face, two seconds later he just wanted to put all of his toys in there and of course, open and close it a hundred times.

Thank you SO much Papa!

After hanging in bed for a while and a slow breakfast, we ventured out this morning into the snow.

Made a little snowman and took a walk around the block.

So glad he likes being out in the snow!

Making chili tonight with Ali and girls and watching an awesome college football game. I love these kinds of weekends! Oh, and I have listened to christmas music already. Don't judge. :)

Oh, Halloween!

2011-11-01T14:08:00.002-06:00

What a fun night it was!

Mostly for me.

Dan came along and was happy to help take Sam from house to house, but let's be honest...It was me that was super excited to see Sam trick or treat in his cute costume.

It made me so happy to see him have fun and do the things I remember as a kid.

That's one of the best parts about being a parent.

Visited my aunt Joan and did some trick or treating in Ali and Mark's old neighborhood.

Cute cousins

Janie the chicken. Oh man, adorable.

We made it to Gardner Village last week. It was cold, but I knew Sam would have the best time with all the pumpkins they had going on there.

We carved a pumpkin on Sunday night. Surprisingly, he was fine with and wanted to touch the guts.

I then roasted the seeds.

So good.

Duh Mom, the candy in this fake pumpkin is way better than the carved one!

We had some yummy burgers, mashed sweet potatoes before we left. I also made pumpkin coconut Pannacotta. A bit more sugar and it would have been perfect.

So yummy though, you should make it.

This morning we woke up to cold and snow. And, I'll be honest again, I can't wait for Thanksgiving, Christmas and the holiday season coming up. It bring me happiness to see Sam having so much fun and to hear him talk about pumpkins, witches, santa, turkey...all of it.

Such joy!

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-26T08:31:00.003-06:00

Random photos I love from the past couple weeks. Despite the teething, early wake ups and lots of whining the past couple days, we still LOVE this kid so much.

Pure joy I tell you!

Pretty colors

2011-10-20T13:55:00.001-06:00

The colors are REALLY getting good right now down to the valley. We've pretty much been outside anytime we can to take advantage of the perfect weather and see the leaves changing every couple days.

We've been taking his bike most places we go. He pretty much demands it :)

Views on my ride last night. Even with my crappy phone camera, it looks pretty.

While Sam went to the zoo with our neighbors last weekend, Dan and I rode bikes and had a lunch date.

It was so fun and much needed and we had a great time, of course!

We've been to Wheeler Farm a couple times. What does a sheep say, Sam? Ha! Love this face.

Perfect weather, again.

We played with cousins Kate and Max.

Sam had a great time and so did Max, despite his sister all over him :)

Kate and Sam painted pumpkins. Sam has been carrying his creations around saying "pretty pumpkins!"

We've been going on walks and little hikes with friends. Hi James!

I had a little halloween play date here on Monday.

The kids decorated cookies and play, play, played in the dirt and grass.

Such a good time.

And one last pic, just cause I love it. He's a bit obsessed with the lights on the bridge at Wheeler Farm. Thanks goodness for lovely fall weather!

Sam-21 months

2011-10-13T13:58:00.002-06:00

I was telling Dan last night I couldn't believe Sam is this close to being TWO. It's crazy how fast time flies, yet I'm glad we're at this point.

This will be my last, every three month update so take it all in family ;)

We've spent A LOT of time outside the last three months. Swimming at the pool ended, but we've still been out and about most the time. I'm excited that he's into going for hikes and riding his bike these days.

Saying by to Dad in the early morning was our favorite when it was warmer. Sam gives Dan the best hugs and loves before he goes to work. It's required in our house that you do this each day during the week :)

He's so into exploring and lucky for us, normally stays pretty close and doesn't wander off too far :)

He's been into "driving the car" when Dan comes home. More often than not, we're outside playing when Dan pulls up and Sam runs to get into the car. He thinks he's a really big boy!

He's taken a HUGE liking to ketchup and anything that's "sauce" like. Loves it.

Since the middle of last month, he's been way into pumpkins. Any size or shape, it doesn't matter.

He adores them. Same with those elmo shoes.

Over the past two months or so, he has slept in different places and is a champ.

The race, California, Moab and Ali's house.

He's going to bed by 8pm and sleeping til about 7 or 7:30.

Naps for about 2-2.5 hrs. Down around 1pm.

Lately though, he's been waking early. Those darn canines are giving him trouble. Come on teeth!

He seriously loves his little friends and cousins.

I took this while he was trying to give Carter a little hug. So cute.

Loves them.

We aren't happy and joyful all the time, especially on the poky hay :) Thankfully, the majority of the time he is a wonderful, amazing little toddler.

He's so smart, is a total chatter box and just loves life. Right now he can say his alphabet, count to 10-sometimes 13, say his days of the week and knows most colors. He makes us proud and I feel so lucky he is able to communicate what he's feeling, needs and wants so well. He loves to watch the show Super WHY, Dinosaur Train and any Signing Time dvd. Even if he didn't want to sign things (he loves to and knows most all the dvd's we get from the library) he would want to watch those so bad. He'll wake up in the morning and say "signing time, leah" So, sometimes we watch it at 7:15am :)

He is an added joy to our life and we love you Sam the mostest!

I'll leave you with this video from this morning. His little voice is too cute.

Haps

2011-10-09T20:09:00.000-06:00

We spent lots of last week helping Ali and Mark while they moved.

Tuesday Sam and I took Siri with us to IKEA for some fun and lunch. These two (usually) play SO well together. They held hands the entire way through the store.

Wednesday we got to have Jane for most the day. If only they could understand each other ;) It was a nice (and exhausting) glimpse into what it would be like to have two kids around all day.

It was hard, but we sure do love her.

We went for a hike while Dan rode. So pretty.

Then, it snowed the very next day. Blah! Not ready for this yet.

Thankfully, it's supposed to be really nice fall weather all this week.

We had sleepover with Ali and girls on Friday night. Mark was out of town and they are now living in the in-laws BIG basement, so she needed some company.

There was more than enough room for Dan, Sam and I to sleep upstairs. It was super fun!

I baked cookies for Dan and Jamon while they watched football. Sam and I went to Carters awesome Pirate birthday party while they got their game on. Sedra did an amazing job with the party.

Wish I had pics!

Took Sam to the pumpkin patch. He's been a little obsessed with "scary" pumpkins and any pumpkin in general lately. Lots of times he'll tell me. "Scary pumpkin!" Followed by, "Halloween candy!" So silly.

Love this.

He helped me make noodles for his lunch. He loves noodles and cheerios lately.

Went for a late morning bike ride. Still some snow on the trail, but it was lovely, nice and cool riding.

And for the family...he rode on the trail for a ways with Dan while I rode up and back, then rode a bit in the parking lot.

He's getting pretty good at balancing. I just love to see him get better and better on this each week.

Moab

2011-10-04T08:57:00.000-06:00

Went down to Moab this past weekend. Sam's first camping trip and first time to Moab. I knew he would love being in the desert, playing with all the rocks and sand and everything. My only worry was how he'd sleep, but thankfully he did so great. We put up both back seats in the Element, put the pack n play in there and he slept soundly both nights. It's like he had his own cozy room, which worked out great for us having so much room in the big tent. He even managed to nap in the tent just fine as well...all my worries for nothing :)

It was pretty hot Friday and Saturday, so he went shirtless a lot. We were down there with our friends Andy and Kat. They wanted to do a short ride on Friday afternoon so while Dan shuttled them, Sam rode his bike a bunch.

For some reason he loved riding it in the deep sand...despite me telling him it was harder that way.

Had to take a break from the heat. It was probably 90. His cheeks were SO red, so he needed some break time with a show.

There is a cool water fall and creek down a bit from where we camped, so we spent both afternoons there cooling off. Sam LOVED it.

There was a sweet, soft sandy beach down from that waterfall. The sand was seriously SO soft.

Perfect for playing!

Had to check our the fire before bed

While Dan and friends rode the Whole Enchilada (30 miles of awesomeness), Sam and I went to Arches.

I decided I needed a good workout, so might as well hike up to Delicate Arch.

It's steep, especially with 25 extra lbs on your back.

Spectacular. Seriously. I've been here a couple times long ago, but it was just as breath taking and pretty.

Sam kept saying "huge arch!"

Dan hadn't been to Arches before so while I rode the next day, he took Sam back to the huge arch.

Happy family. Our camp site was SO beautiful.

Loving his awesome outfit. So much going on here :)

Watching the sunset up high. The big walls around camp are just awesome.

Pretty.

I mostly love this because of the view. Those two are pretty handsome though.

Top of Amasa Back.

Kat and I getting there. It was perfect riding. Cloudy and cool. Can't wait to get back there.

We just love sharing the places we love with Sam.

And, had to throw in a video for our family. So glad he loves his bike!

Thirty One

2011-09-25T20:59:00.001-06:00

I've never been anxious or apprehensive about turning another year older.

Never had a hard time with and honestly, never cared...it was just another year.

Until now. Not sure why, but I was feeling all anxious that 31 seemed so much older. I mean, it's just a number and I'm feeling better now than any birthday in the last 10-15 years at least. I feel stronger, younger and more in tune with who I am and what I'm doing as a wife and mother. It is awesome! When I think about that, I forget that 31 is not 21 and I'm more than OK with that :)

Started off birthday week riding with Dan and Re. Thanks to Ali for watching Sammers :)

We went up to Park City to visit the Backcountry.com offices to say hi to some old co-workers of mine and stopped by the outlets for a bit. He's not always happy, that's for sure. This is him trying to tell me, "seriously Mom, I'm over riding in the car and sick of you asking me to say stuff."

Rode my bike again on Thursday, then Friday made a bunch of cupcakes for a BBQ with our friends later that night. Went to lunch with my Mom, sisters and Kerrah. Super fun!

Went for a long ride from the Crest to the bottom of Millcreek on Saturday morning with two friends, Andy and Kat. It was COLD and so very colorful. I love that kind of fall riding.

Went up to Oktoberfest with Justin, Kerrah and the boys. Sam LOVED the guy making balloon animals. He made him a frog.

If you have time to go up in the next two weeks, you MUST try the garlic fries. Do it. So good.

Thanks to my boys and family for making it the best birthday I've had in a long while!

And just cause this pic is too cute, Sam has been way interested in the "potty." Not so much going, but looking at what's in there, flushing and the trainer seat.

He always says "bye bye poop!" when he hears the toilet flush. He's a long way from even starting to be potty trained, but at least he sort of knows what goes on in there :)
Had to throw in this video of the boys and Sam dancing. He loved it!

Silly boy

2011-09-19T08:14:00.000-06:00

For at least half of the day, Sam insisted on wearing his sunglasses like this. If I tried to move them, I got the wrath of a 20 month old!

So silly.

He's started to say "cheeeeeese!" when we take a picture. It's super funny and, I've been getting some awesome smiles out of him.

Love this

At family dinner on Sunday, we managed to actually get a picture of just the siblings. This rarely happens since we're all so busy with our kids these days.

We're so cool.

I love my brothers and sisters.

(Matt.Liz.Ali.Jenn.Justin)

We have a fun week ahead of us. We decided this this would be "birthday week," not just another year of getting older on Friday. Can't wait!

Cali...part 2

2011-09-15T22:31:00.000-06:00

Won't get grandma's lovely pics til later next week, so I'll add those later :)

We finally got to Dan's hometown 13 hours later. So happy to be there.

We instantly stripped the clothes off and he made his way to her stairs in the living room. He LOVED those stairs. Up, down, jump up, jump down...on and on.

Dan grew up is an amazingly beautiful place, in what most people would call the middle of nowheresville (not a word, but i like it)

Jane's house is surrounded by mountains, trees and lots of creeks, rivers and swimming holes within minutes and just outside of town (which is 20 mins from her house)

We hiked up the hill behind her house. You walk out the door and you're on the trail in seconds. So cool.

Heaven for this guy! So many leaves, sticks, rocks and bugs!

She has such a lovely and big backyard. Lots of playtime with the hose and little pool.

We got to spend a day with the Hunts (their family friends) on their house boat.

There were plenty of kids to play with and this water table, in the water off the back deck was the place to be!

Family. Grandma and Aunt Kelly on the left. Kelly is such a good aunt. She played with Sam so much and I know it's hard for her not to live close.

Grandma made us lots (and I mean lots) of yummy food and a DELICIOUS bundt cake. I was telling her my Grandma Fetzer made, by far the best 7-Up bundt cake I've ever had. She had a recipe and it was the same as Grandma Fetzer's!

So good.

This was a typical scene. Jane cooking and prepping our yummy food. Sam snacking or eating before us cause he couldn't wait :)

We went to a super pretty swimming hole called Helena about 40 mins from her house. The water is SO clear and had perfect places to swim. It was a bit too cold for Sam and me, but everyone else went in.

Papa Mike drove two hours to meet us there. We were so happy he could join us. Dan and Kelly haven't been with him together in a really long time, so we were so glad he came.

So fun.

She has a huge old patio under a huge old tree. Perfect for riding!

Jane works at the nice steakhouse on the Golf Course in town. She treated us to a fabulous, big and tasty dinner. Mom and her kiddos :)

We had the best time ever. It's just so hard to leave, especially now that we have Sam. He just loves it!

Had to throw in some video of the cool rope swing at the river. Totally awesome!

California...in parts

2011-09-12T21:46:00.001-06:00

We had the best time visiting Grandma Jane, Kelley and Papa Mike for the last 10 days.

It was really hard to leave.

We love them so much and Sam just adores them.

We started the road trip at 4am on a Friday. Luckily, things went smoother than we thought they would, despite it taking 13 hrs to get to Grandma's. We made our normal stops, but spent a bit more time out of the car to let Sam walk around. We always stop for lunch in Reno and this time we went to the Rib Fest that was going on and it was tasty! Sam slept for a couple hours, but most the time he was watching shows, playing with toys and eating snacks. He was SUCH a trooper.

I'm waiting on some really good pics from grandma's camera, so part one of our adventure will be our time with papa in Mt. Shasta. We spent Friday night through Thursday early morning with Jane and Kelley, then drove 2 hours to stay with papa. He lives in a seriously beautiful place and has done a ton of work on his awesome house.

The boys. My favorite, most precious photo these days. Love it.

We were able to ride our bikes the three days we were there. Thanks papa for staying while Sam napped!

The view out of his windows.

So pretty and super fun riding!

There were two little ponds in his backyard, one with lots of goldfish. So fun for Sam. He did some cruising on the bike.

He loves it when Mike plays the guitar. He was trying to dance and jump on the bed.

TOO cute.

The birds would eat nuts out of your hand in the backyard. It was so cool!

This was pretty much the scene the whole time. Sam wanting to be with papa.

All.the.time.

We played up the south fork of the Sacramento river one morning. Pure heaven for Sam. So, so many rocks and super clear water.

Sam kept saying "try again" to make papa keep dipping his legs.

The usual scene. Again :)

We played at Lake Siskiyou one day, then we rode from Mikes, through town then down and around the lake. So pretty and loved the adventure of not knowing exactly where to go!

Beautiful.

We could ride right from his house up to the trails. We just love being there with papa and thank you so much to him for taking such good care of us. We already cannot wait to go visit next year!

Some counting

2011-08-31T20:44:00.000-06:00

I didn't realize Sam knew how to count to 10 until the other night. It's like, all of the sudden he just does this and Dan and I look at each other like...When did this happen?!

The little dude is growing up too fast, but boy do we love it!

Some other happenings...We went on a hike to Donut Falls this morning. So fun! Went with my friend from high school and her little girl who's two months older than Sam.

She wanted to give him lots of loves and hugs. She had a small crush on him I think :)

Melts my heart.

Happy 6 years to us! Celebrated with a bike ride together and some amazing Indian take out after Sam went to bed. Thank you Ali for playing with him!

LOVE, love him.

I love this picture, taken a few Sunday's ago at family dinner. Oldest to youngest kids...Sam-19 months, Max-14 months, Jane-8 months, Enzo-2 months. All within 6 months of each other. They are going to have SO much fun playing when they're older!

Had to share my post race dinner. Pan fried then baked chicken, mashed potatoes Dan made for the race, but I didn't end up eating and fresh tomato and fresh veggies salad by Ali. The home grown tomatoes are to die for, like candy! All of it was so tasty.

And someone likes to lounge out while they watch a show. Totally relaxing :)

Mt. Ogden 50K and some other stuff

2011-08-28T21:34:00.000-06:00

First bike race complete!

32 miles of single track, all over Snowbasin ski resort. So fun. So dusty and dirty!

4hrs and 24 mins...36 minutes faster than my goal.

Third in my age group. Not sure yet on all around.

Our friend Jamon, who usually does the crazy stuff with Dan really, really pushed me this summer in my training rides. He rode with me pretty much every Saturday morning. He took 2nd in the single speed category (yeah, he rides with one gear...nuts!) and something like 5th or 6th all around in the mens. Crazy and awesome! Oh, and he just took first place in the solo category last weekend at a 24 hour race in CO.

And of course, I could not have been as ready as I was without Dan being so supportive. I pretty much got to ride as much as I could and as long as I needed to. It was the best seeing my boys at the finish!

Sam did so great all day. He was pretty tuckered out around nap time and slept for at least an hour in the stroller while we waited for Jamon to finish. Such a trooper! Thanks to my Mom who came up to watch and support me, as well as some of our friends.

I felt pretty good throughout the race, but by the last climb out on the trail and the last bit on the road, I was definitely ready to be done, plus it was pretty hot. Today my legs feel tired, but not bad at all. I would do the race again in a second! Thinking about doing the 12 hours of Sundance race on Sept. 17th!

The rest of the weekend we did some hiking to the coolest waterfall right close to home and did some swimming. Perfect weekend! Now, bring on some cooler weather.

Awesome.....stairs!

2011-08-23T14:42:00.000-06:00

Lately, one of Sam's favorite words is awesome. We were playing on the stairs at the pool and I told him those were awesome stairs to play on, so naturally he wanted to say "awesome...stairs!" over and over and over. He'll say awesome...and then whatever he's thinking at the moment. I just love it

I got to watch these two ladies twice last week. Seriously cute and Jane is getting so big!

She's a crawler now, too.

I felt so happy that fall (should be) around the corner when I put this hat on him.

I love the warm weather, but it's hot, hot right now.

We beat the heat with the hose and pool. He seriously could sit anywhere with a hose and play forever.

Take cool baths. Oh my do I love this picture. That tan line and bum....to die for.

Went to Wheeler Farm early in the morning, as to not sweat so much :)

Eat yogurt pops!

And last, it's four days til Race Day! Wooohoooo! I'm feeling really good and I'm as ready as I can be at this point. Since Dan is gone all week, our neighbors Kirk and Linda played with Sam this morning while I rode and then my family will help the rest of the week while I get two more easy rides in.

I love tapering week, cause I get to take it easy and eat a bit more food than I normally do til Saturday. My only worry about the race is the heat, as it's supposed to be at least 95 in the valley...hopefully I survive!

Stuff

2011-08-14T21:21:00.001-06:00

Another week gone by...in pictures and a bit of video :)

Sam is quickly becoming my most favorite workout buddy ;) He always does so great when I say...mama (or daddy) has to go lift heavy weights and get strong. He comes downstairs with no hesitation and watches his farm animals or Signing Time. The best is when he tries to run in place or do push ups with us. Love it.

We went to IKEA twice this week to play and have free lunch. We played with Carter and Sedra and then with our cousins the next day. So fun and he seriously loves their food & chocolate milk.

We did a bunch of swimming. He's been going through an anti swim phase, but all last week he was great and didn't want to get out.

I'm in my last full week of training for THE RACE in two weeks. I finally got to ride bikes with one of my favorite cousins, Bryce Craven. I also rode with Ali's good friend Carole and a long lost (now) friend, Katie.

(me, Bryce, Katie, Carole)

Went for a hike up to Cecret Lake at Alta. Such a good hike for kids and the flowers are going off right now. So beautiful!

Sam was a trooper and hiked quite a bit. He really loves hiking and exploring, just like his Dad.

Almost there. Ali, Mark, Siri and Jane joined us.

So.much.fun.

Goofus on a roofus

This picture melts my heart. I could frame it 10 times over.

Today, Sam decided he would have his longest tantrum/fit yet. So trying on my patience, sheesh! He pretty much cried, moaned and yelled "NO!" the entire afternoon, except for the 50 mins at the park. I was amazed when he actually ate dinner...then we promptly put him to bed and haven't heard a peep.

Here's a few videos. I love, love riding the Wasatch Crest. I do not like watching myself on video, but I know that family would like to see what I'm so passionate about and the kinds of places I ride.

Hood River

2011-08-08T21:24:00.001-06:00

This past weekend we had the awesome opportunity to go to our good friend Laurent and May's wedding.
Oh, what a wedding it was! They went all out and it was so fun to be there....without Sam, just the two of us.

We left Sam with Ali for a day and Grandma Carol til Monday morning. He did SO good with them and had such a fun time. I was worried and anxious to leave him for the first time for 3 days, but it turned out to be so great for all of us. He gave Grandma the biggest loves when she dropped him off this morning and asked, "papa go?" many times. Adorable.

Of course aunt Ali showed him a good time and Siri played with him SO well.

Pudding!

Onto our trip! After a three hour flight delay, we made it to Portland, then drove an hour to Hood River. We love, love this place each time we get to be there. We visited Laurent real quick then headed to the water, then onto dinner and a walk on main street. The first Friday of every month they close main street and have all the shops open and lots of music and food. Some guy asked us to watch his cherries for a minute and gave us two bags full in return. SO yummy.

Lots and lots of kite boarders and windsurfers. This place is a mecca for that stuff. So windy...all.the.time.

Saturday we slept in as long as we could...I think 8 or 8:30am :) We went to see the gorgeous waterfalls on the historic highway between Portland and Hood River. Dan went for a run and I hiked. It was great!

Spent more time at the water

The ceremony was beautiful. They got married on their deck, overlooking the Columbia River Gorge. The view is to die for. Here's Laurent waiting for May. His dear friend Cobie, who we love married them.

The Groom. Laurent is SO happy. We are so thankful May is in his life and they found each other.

So happy.

The reception was at a really quaint and pretty wine tasting bar/cellar. The food was so good and the outside venue for dancing was just awesome. The music was SO loud!

Dancing went from 9pm-1am. We decided to make the most of it and danced our little hearts out all night long. Something we don't ever do, but it was actually the best time ever.

I was ready to go to bed multiple times, but I powered through all the music and dancing and we made it back to their house for wood fire pizza until 2:30am. We NEVER do that! I think we're still recovering from the lack of sleep.

Such a beautiful weekend with good friends. It was perfect.

We can't wait to take Sam there someday to visit.

phone pics

2011-08-02T15:19:00.001-06:00

Nothing too exciting here. Just random cell phone pictures I thought our family would like.

He loved making cookies. I don't bake much these days cause of the temptation to eat it all, but we've made cookies twice in the last two weeks. He just loves to help and be involved. Good mom and son memories right here.

Good morning!

Swimming with Jamon and Pip at his house. I love that he likes our friends so much. The best.

Listening to Sedra read books. He LOVED that airplane blanket. Snuggled right up to it.

Stacking blocks, of course. We do this everyday...more times than I can count I think.

I've been riding a lot and my training is going really well. I can't wait for race day! I feel confident I'll do well, as I'm riding better than ever and feel really good these days.

We went boating with some of the Fetzer family last weekend. Sam did SO great and actually loved to watch his Dad wake board and be in the water.

He wasn't very fond of the life jacket, but he got over it quick. He also had the best time playing on the beach with his cousins and all the toys Grandma Carol brought.

We're off to Hood River for a wedding in a couple days. Just the two of us. Sam will get some much needed time with Grandma and Grandpa in Kamas. We can't wait!

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-27T09:30:00.000-06:00

Bike date!

He LOVES to stack blocks these days then watch them fall.

Nice ski boots

2011-07-21T21:08:00.002-06:00

Here is our last week or so in lots of pictures, video and words.

Walked around Silver Lake again. He loves that little hike!

It's not summer without corn on the cob

Watched one of Ali's soccer games with cousins.

Took some dinner to J & K and got to hold baby Enzo for a minute (not nearly long enough!)

Sometimes we get tuckered out from playing all morning, that nap time can't wait for his bed. Thankfully, he goes down so great after sleeping a bit in the car and then going right to his crib :)

Watched the Draper Days parade with family and our cute friends.

I always say it's not flowers and rainbows all the time. He has a sassy and testy side to him. He was pretty mad in the car this time, trying to get outta the car seat.

I've been riding a lot. Training for my first race has been pretty fun so far. I've had some really long rides the past couple weekends (I call it "suffer saturdays") with shorter but hard rides during the week...this is along with the Crossfit style/Lifting program I'm doing as well. I'm by far in the best shape I've been in since...well, forever. Probably since I played soccer in high school. Loving it.

Been having good times at the Draper pool and the times we get to go to Sedra and Carters.

He's been having a good time standing and walking in his ski boots. I'm amazed by how interested he is in them and that he can actually take steps with them on. They are big on him!
Dan and I went on a bike date last night and had the best time. Of course I didn't get any pictures, but we got to ride the Crest with my brother Matt and then get some dinner. Just the two of us!
And here are a couple videos for your enjoyment :)

Sam-18 months

2011-07-14T13:49:00.004-06:00

What a fun age, seriously! How to sum up the last three months?

Talking, words, sounds and not sitting still for more than 2 minutes!
He is on the go, go, go all the time and every other day he says something new. Lately he's been putting two and three words together, which makes our life easier since he's communicating better :)
His favorites to say right now are- more milk. big truck or big water. help me please. again, again. no,no,no mama or dada. oh no! ahhh, man! more sprinkler. all gone. starry night(signing time song). watering can. swimmin' pool. water plants, big bike and more of whatever he wants at that moment.

We feel very grateful and lucky that he's progressing so well with his words and talking, it's pretty amazing, especially when he says something and you think to yourself, "how does he even know that word?" We definitely have to watch what we say around this house since he likes to repeat anything we say.

Loves to say his animal sounds

Becoming quite independent. Many times we'll walk to the park and he'll push the stroller all the way back home...cause he has to, won't let me touch it. I've also tried to help him across the water several times on our little hikes and he always says "no, no mama...no,no, no!"

Loves to play with friends and cousins. He especially loves Jane. Like, A LOT. He always has to give her many, many loves. Every morning he points to the computer and says "janie bear" So, I pull up a picture of her and it's like the best, most coolest thing in the world. It makes him SO happy. If I take it down, he throws a fit! Speaking of fits...he's quite good at the tantrums and being sassy. We've tried time out a couple times, but I need to be more dedicated to it! He can be naughty.

Loves to go swimming

He'll sit for a bit and play with toys, but that doesn't really last longer than 5 minutes. He's taken an interest into stacking blocks and things. It's pretty adorable to watch when he's in the zone, concentrating like crazy. He loves to watch "shows." His favorite right now is Super Why or Cat in the Hat..along with his Signing Times.

He's generally a good eater, but has become picky. A couple things he'll normally always eat...eggs, meat, fruit, pretzels, crackers, milk-whole and chocolate, dark chocolate chips and peanut butter. We don't have many sweets or juice in the house, but he loves them when he gets 'em!

I can't believe we are halfway to two years old. It's crazy how fast time goes by. We LOVE Sam so much and each day is a new journey and added joy to our lives. LOVE YOU!
Weight-23 lbs 14%- healthy as can be
Height-30.5 inches 9%
1 nap- usually 2-3 hrs.
Bed between 7:30-7:45 & up around 7am.

The haps

2011-07-10T14:02:00.001-06:00

Here's what we've been up to the last week or so...

We played with Sedra and Carter at the Zoo. Sam LOVES to ride the train. He cried when we got off and kept saying "more train, more train!"

We played with Sedra and Carter quite a bit actually, so fun! Picked Siri up and went to the splash park in Herriman. Sounds far away, but only took 10 mins from Ali's house. I can see us going back many times this summer.

Had a yummy dinner with Sedra, Ed and Ali- with some swimming before. These kids are adorable. All sitting so nice at the table.

Siri wins for best eater and not leaving the table 3 or more times :)

Walked around Silver Lake at Solitude with cousins. This is Sam's longest hike/walk yet. He made it around the entire way without help. He actually wouldn't let me help him other than going over the snow patch and some puddles. I say, let me help you Sam...he says "no, no mama...no, no" OK then.

Cute cousins. I especially love that Izac always has his hat on.

He had to wear slippers and no clothes A LOT last week. He's getting quite good at getting them on and off all by himself.

We also spent a lot of time without clothes. Something about that feeling makes him much happier...even in the car!

I'll be posting some random videos here soon so our Cali family can see him in action :)

Happy 4th

2011-07-05T13:34:00.003-06:00

So happy and thankful we live in America and get to celebrate our independence each year.

We started our weekend off with long bike rides.

Saturday morning means a long ride for me. Re and I rode the Mid Mountain trail from Deer Valley to Canyons. 25 miles of awesomeness!

It was a long ride, but so much fun-especially when you're in good company.

Dan got up early, early on Sunday morning for a casual 18 mile ride. Thank goodness, cause it was HOT that day.

This weekend also brought a new cousin. Enzo James Van Dorn.

Congrats Justin and Kerrah!

We went up the canyon to try and beat the heat. It was so very nice and of course Sam loved to scoot his boot in the big parking lot.

A small hike to lower Lisa Falls. The waterfall was raging and scared the little man a bit, so we stayed back a ways :)

We spent Monday in Kamas with Mom and John.

So patriotic, isn't he?

Kamas parade. The kids got tons of candy! Sam loved the horses and big trucks that went by

Love our family.

Grandma Carol. Thanks for having us up and feeding us yummy food!

Nothing better than water fights!

Happy birthday America!

Went to the Oakley childrens rodeo. Izac did the mutton bustin'! He LOVES it. Sad I didn't get a pic, but snapped one of another boy holding on for dear life

With basically no nap all day, this boy was surprisingly happy as a clam when we got home.

We ended our day with, "if you're happy and you know it clap your hands!"

It's summer

2011-06-29T13:42:00.000-06:00

And it's been hot. It's nice to finally be able to go to the pool, play in the sprinklers and just be outside all the time.

We beat the heat by playing on the deck and in Draper. He LOVES going to the Draper pool where there are tons of kids to play with and people watch.

We played with our cousins, who love to take Sam for rides in the car. Thanks to Sheri for watching Sam while I had jury duty last week, despite him being sad pretty much the entire time!

We've been eating lots of watermelon this week. This is how he tells us how good something is. "Mom, this watermelon is sooooo gooooooood!" Love it.

He loves citrus and in particular, lemons and limes. I don't know how he can just eat it like it's an orange or something. One second his face looks like this....

Then this...so happy and SO good!

He loves to read books. He'll sit with you through two Dr. Seuss books. Those books aren't short, so it's amazing he'll sit for that long.

Cousin Max turned one yesterday. I'm pretty sure he gets cuter by the day. Such a big boy!

Kate had her very own lemonade stand at his party. Too cute.

Sam had a blast with his cousins...and new toys of course.

He's a bit obsessed with this lawn mower. Thankfully Ali and Siri let us borrow it, cause it's a huge hit with Sam. He won't let go of it, even when he watches his Signing Time shows.

He's also become very fond of his little cars. He loves to make them "crash and burn." The harder they fall or crash, the better :)

We sure do love this kid and despite his last four teeth trying to make their way in and the tantrums, life is pretty great around here.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-22T13:38:00.000-06:00

(this was taken back in March when we went to St. George. I just LOVE how happy Izac is!)

Dads

2011-06-19T09:36:00.000-06:00

We are so grateful and love our Dad so much. Sam adores Dan like crazy and I just love it.

Sam has to eat right at the table like Dad.

And watch shows in his lap

And share chicken bones...the best

And talk to a tiny, tiny Sam back in the day.

What would we do without you?!

We can't forget our Grandpas, who we also love so mcuh-even though we don't get to see them a whole lot. Grandpa John with a two week old Sam. Adorable.

Dan's Dad- Grandpa Mike

My Dad, who is also Grandpa Mike. Even though we don't see him much, I appreciate the fact that Sam knows who he is and sees him every so often.

Making me happy Monday

2011-06-13T08:53:00.000-06:00

Monday mornings can be a bummer because we know Dad has to go back to work after we've been able to play all weekend. It's sort of like how I used to feel when I was in school. I didn't like Monday's, cause I knew the weekend was over.
BUT, this little guy makes up for it and makes me so, so happy each and every day. It's hard to dread a Monday now :)

kinda crafty...

2011-06-09T13:08:00.000-06:00

And by "kinda," I mean I don't really do crafts and I'm not super creative.

I did however make this yarn wreath, with no help and came up with the colors/pattern/flowers on my own.

I have to say I'm proud of my efforts. I cut pieces of felt to whatever looked good and made the flowers, then bought 3 buttons to cover up the imperfections in the middle :) I used orange ribbon from some gift wrapping I kept. I think it's just perfect.

Lately, Sam has been LOVING to push and ride his scooter around. He's getting pretty good at turning it where he wants it to go and will sit out there on it after Dan leaves for work for a good 20-30 mins...just talking to himself and saying hi to the birds.

He gets so into his book in the car and tries to say what each thing is. I ask him... "what does your book say?" and he usually always says "truckeee" or "boat!" (both of which are in the book amongst 5 other things.)

It's pretty cute:)

We took our first ride of the year in the bike trailer. I was worried he would cry again like last summer, but he willingly wanted to get in and go. He was a bit nervous when I started to pedal, so he held Mr. Monkey tight! He did so great, just chatting it up and telling me everytime there was a bird or a dog.

We do lots of playing at the park. We're just waiting and waiting for it to warm up so we can spend our days at the pool.

I went on a really long ride last weekend as part of my race training. 17 miles on my bike and over half of it was climbing (this is all on trails-single track-no roads). Re joined me for the last hour of it. It was nice to have her there to push me through those last climbs, as I was feeling pretty hot and tired. My face was COVERED in salt. Can't wait for my next long ride this weekend!

My ride two days after that felt like cake since it was shorter. I loved every minute of it! There's just something about being on a bike that makes me SO happy.

Another First

2011-06-02T13:50:00.000-06:00

I always thought it was kind of silly when a Mom talks about their childs first haircut...how emotional or sad or happy or whatever it was. Well, I totally get it now. Sam has had the cutest "rat tail" going on for a while now and the long, soft curls behind his ears are adorable.
A couple people asked me if they could braid his "mullet" or "rat tail." I thought then, it was time for a cut.

Getting ready for a cut at Auntie Kerrah's. Nothing better than a sucker to distract him, right?

He wasn't so sure about it the first few seconds. He was scared. It was too cute.

I'm SO glad Kerrah is patient and good with kids. I basically drop anything and everything to have her cut all of our hair, cause she does it perfect every single time.

Shorter. And to me, he looks like such a big boy now...all trimmed up and no more baby hair in the back!

Thank you Kerrah!

Long hairs before. Bye bye!

Handsome with a faux hawk!

On a different note...this is his favorite thing to do lately. I ask him..."Sam, what is that noise?" He says "Noiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiise!" and makes this silly, silly face while doing it. We laugh so hard. Every.single.time.

Same face and does it when he says "Neeiiiiiiiiggghhhhhhhhhh!"

Biking has been muddy lately. Fun, but so muddy.

He also has to sit on the chairs at the table...any table and chairs, he needs to get up and sit on them. It's especially scary when you turn your back and he's about to fall onto the tile. Thank goodness I'm fast and have caught him a couple times already :)

Went swimming with Ali and Siri on Memorial Day. Can't wait for warmer weather and days spent at the pool here soon!

Your face

2011-05-28T13:28:00.001-06:00

It's all torn up, little dude!

He likes to think he's a big boy going down Ali's concrete stairs, facing forward. He's done all the stairs a couple times before like that but this time, he ate it hard on the third step down. I saw it coming, but he INSISTED I not help him, so I let him learn a lesson :)

In other news, I've begun my training for the BIKE RACE I'm doing in August. Lucky for me, it means I get to ride my bike quite a bit while Dan plays with Sam. It's pretty great, but I also know I have lots of hard work on the bike and in my workouts at home to prepare. It's exciting and totally out of my comfort zone.

We were able to go on a bike date during the day on Friday. Thank you Ali for letting us nap Sam at your big house. Sooooo glad you live close to the trails!

For Grandpa Mike-our grass is growing and growing! We've mowed it a couple times already and it looks SO good.

And just 'cause...our happy little family on this holiday weekend. We get to spend LOTS of time together!

Vids n' stuff

2011-05-23T20:21:00.002-06:00

Sam wanted to take a walk in Dad's shoes tonight. He did this for a good 20 mins. Too cute.

He's also getting quite good at knowing his body parts. We tried to get some video of all his animal sounds and signing, but the video camera was just too awesome to play with instead :)

He also now insists on pushing the stroller wherever we take it. He pushed it all the way home from the park yesterday. We tuckered him right out for bed. Each day gets more interesting and fun around here...even with more molars coming in!

New whip on a Saturday!

2011-05-21T20:38:00.000-06:00

Dan got this lovely new bicycle today. He sold both his bikes and now has this one. I wish I had one-it's SOOOOO nice!

Sam LOVED going bike shopping, trying on helmets, playing with all the pedals and just looking around. Heaven.

First ride hours after we brought it home. New bikes are a BIG deal in this house, so naturally he wanted to get on it as soon as possible. I rode, then we switched Sam duties and he rode. It's a great system we have going on :)

We had a super fun day being outside and playing since it wasn't raining for once! I planted a bunch of herbs, so it feels like summer might be around the corner. Maybe. This pic wasn't from today, but I just love it from our time at the Zoo. Happy weekend!

Zoo time

2011-05-17T17:28:00.000-06:00

Went to the Zoo with my sisters last week, so fun. I think Sam could have gone on the train 20 times. Loves it.

Also rode the carousel with Siri, Kate and Jenn. He kept saying "weeeeee!" Adorable.

Can't wait to go again soon!

Happy 29th...

2011-05-15T08:24:00.000-06:00

To the BEST husband

and Dad! We love you so, so much!

Ironman St. George

2011-05-10T15:35:00.001-06:00

This is Mark Thackeray. He is my brother-in-law. He is also a Dad, a photographer, a guy who likes to skate and snowboard. A guy who (even after knowing him for so long) is still soft spoken and so humble.

He.....IS AN IRONMAN!

(waiting for Mark to cross the finish line!)

Ali has been a pretty amazing and understanding wife and trooper through all the months of training Mark did. Her patience may very well be better than mine...even with having a new baby and a two year old to take care of, she fully supported Mark and knew he'd finish.

I went to down to support Mark and to help Ali take care of the girls. It was fun (and tiring!) to be with Siri and Jane all day.

Team Mustache. We had a great time out on the course and hanging out together.

I have never felt a desire to do something like this. I mean, being able to see these people out there and see the agony in their eyes and body parts makes you really wonder why in the world they would do this. I mean, seriously? Thankfully, I sort of have a grasp on why-thanks to Dan and his crazy ultra marathons and stuff. After I took this pic, Ali was pretty emotional...and for good reason. Mark looked pretty glazed over. Like he was on another planet. I think he was on planet, "get this over with right now or I'm gonna die!"

The finish. This photo makes me so happy for them. For Mark and all of his efforts doing this, just because he could. SOO glad I could be there. I almost cried 10 times at this moment.

The evening before at the fun run. Siri did awesome in her 200 meter race!

I did manage to sit by the pool for a bit. It was nice to relax for an hour. I just love it there.

Can't wait to go back to St. George with Ali and Mark...next time with Dan and Sam too!

Oh and one more thing...I have to give a shout out to our friend Brooke Coles, who literally trained harder and more than anyone I know for this. She ended up getting sick and couldn't finish. I KNOW she would have crossed that finish line and I hope she gets to be an Ironman soon!

Mothers

2011-05-08T20:44:00.001-06:00

This is my Mom. She is so pretty. So smart. So caring. So wishes she could spend more time with us. So the best Mom. She is amazing and I love her so much.

Hopefully I share these same qualities as a Mom.

(you know he's sick when he wants to snuggle :)

Despite Sam having a cold , it being rainy and cold, I had a nice day. I drove home from seeing Mark finish the Ironman this morning and Dan and Sam came home with the loveliest Orchid and lots of hugs and kisses for me. Dan cooked us a yummy dinner and now we're relaxing.

This was Mother's Day last year. If you would have told me that being a Mom is super fun and suggested I would want another baby someday, I would have laughed and said "yeah, right!" Now a year later, I forget so many of the hard times of when Sam was so little. We're not having one more kid for a while, but I like the idea of Sam having a sibling. It would be super fun! :)

Being a Mom is hard. I always tell people it's the hardest 24/7 job I've ever had. My full time job before Sam was SO easy compared to this. BUT, the joy and love we have in our house now is just awesome. It's exactly how I want it to be. It's where I want to be and what I want to be doing everyday. It just gets more and more fun as the days go by, as Sam learns more and I learn more about how to be a good mother.

Oh, how I love being your Mom little man! THE best.

I also have to make sure I tell my mother-in-law how much I love and look up to her as well. I am SO glad she is Dan's Mom. Love you Grandma Jane.

A Thursday

2011-05-05T14:28:00.000-06:00

In between all of the playing outside....

We growl like bears and tigers

Brush our teeth at random times

And be so, so cute in the rocking chair. I just love this boy. He makes me laugh. A LOT.

Adventures

2011-05-01T20:34:00.000-06:00

Last week we were doing a fair amount of hiking and being outside. I even took my first bike ride of the year & almost 7 weeks after surgery. I FELT GREAT! The way I feel about biking now, is the way I used to feel about skiing. I love skiing, but I'd rather be on my bike any day. I just get SO excited thinking about my next ride!

Doing a recon on the bike trail to make sure it wasn't muddy.

Sam is beginning to be such a good little hiker. He's such a trooper already and seems to really like it :)

We then woke up to this on Saturday morning. I was pretty mad, but then quickly thought how lucky we are that we don't have total destruction of tornadoes and awful disasters right now. It was pretty.

It quickly melted and we were back outside.

We've been talking about taking Sam up in the pack to ski all spring. Well, this spring has been more like winter-cold and all so we didn't make it, not one time. Might as well make the last weekend Alta was open. He had THE BEST time!

Gorgeous.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-27T14:47:00.000-06:00

Well, almost.

Mark takes AWESOME photos, shown below.

You can also check his work and site out HERE

And I just love this one I took that same day. Such a precious little man.

Happy Easter...Bok Bok!

2011-04-24T11:00:00.001-06:00

Growing up, my Mom would always hide our Easter baskets outside. I LOVED that tradition and will keep it going with Sam. It's been a nice morning here, so we played and played before a nap.

Yesterday we had an egg hunt at Ali's with all the cousins. It was really fun, although I'm excited for next year when Sam is interested in finding things, not going right to the sandbox or swings.

I made THESE cookies. They are waaayyyyy too good! You really cannot eat just a little.

Such cute cousins. I can't wait until Max starts walking. They're going to be good buddies!

Sliding around and other things

2011-04-22T10:43:00.000-06:00

While Grandpa Mike was here to visit and help us put in grass (thank you, thank you, thank you!) I decided it would be fun to take Sam skiing. Skiing for him really just means standing in the skis and boots and sliding around when you push him and taking lots of breaks. It was so, so fun for me to see him on skis since it's such a passion in our family and, we got to be with Ali and Siri too!

Not really sure what to think of these boots and goggles.

Sliding around

I think this is one of my favorite pictures we've had as sisters yet!

Adorable and ready to go!

Resting. I love how he was so tired he'd just squat.

cousins

So tuckered out. I'm so glad we went and can't wait to go again and again!

We are so lucky that Gpa Mike is so generous and gave us grass for early b-day gifts! Sam had a BLAST playing outside while we worked and worked to get it done. Such a happy boy outside.

Making progress

Love my boys

Grandpa is so good with Sam. He just loves him to death and will do just about anything for him and with him.

And no visit is complete without some guitar time. Love it. Can't wait to see him again when he comes back from the desert next week for a bit!

And a big thank you to Grandma Jane for the fun Easter gift. Anything Sam can play with outside is the best! We love you!

Sam-15 months

2011-04-19T15:23:00.001-06:00

As if I didn't think time could go any faster, it does. This little boy is on the go, go, go ALL.THE.TIME. This kid never stops unless it's nap or bedtime. I think this is why I feel like our days go by so quickly around here. He is SO chatty, saying all sorts of words and signing up a storm! He's so aware of everything and he's like a sponge, soaking everything up he can, learning new things everyday. I'm loving this phase.

The cool guy that pretty much rules this house.

Besides Signing Time, he LOVES watching any skiing videos or stuff with babies in it. He's just glued to the computer or TV.

Such a good helper outside. He's pretty obsessed with dirt, rocks and picking up anything outside and throwing it. I say this everyday to Dan-he could play out there for 12 hours, I'm sure.

He's a good sleeper and so cute with animal ears or feet or tails in his mouth while he's in his slumber. Bedtime is anywhere between 7:15 and 7:45pm. He's been waking earlier-probably because of the molars, but it was nice when he'd wake up around 7:30 or 8am. Now, it's right at or before 7...ugh! We tried going to one nap a couple weeks ago and he was SO not ready. Still at two naps, but I see that changing to one in the next month or two.

Popsicles for the first time. Loved it. Feels good on the gums.

Balloons, can't get enough when they're around. We usually go to Harmons once a week to get a free balloon cause he loves it so much. Also, every morning when Dad goes to work, he'll wave bye-bye, run to the couch and watch him leave. It's so cute.

He's been giving us (an anyone for that matter) really good "loves" or snuggles lately. Oh, how I LOVE it!

He is saying more and more words lately. I can't count how many, lost track a couple weeks ago. I'm 100% sure that since he's been watching Signing Time for so long, his words are forming fairly early, it's so cool. He'll pretty much try to say anything we say and has a solid 10-15 words he says all the time. He kept saying "Ali" a couple weeks ago when he looked at his cousins/aunts/uncles book. So awesome. He can sign over half of all the signs on all four dvds.

We just love him so much. The days just keep getting more and more fun.

And for my records-

Weight-21.5lbs 8%

Height-31 inches 17%

MoLaRs. They are UgLy

2011-04-14T14:39:00.002-06:00

They are huge and ugly and taking a toll on this house! (OK, mostly Sam but I feel like it too!)
He's got three coming in at one time. I think that's just mean, don't you? He doesn't do well with getting big teeth, that's for sure. (he HAS to wear his crocs all the time, no matter what)

The SURE sign of teething, especially molars. His fingers are like this 98% of the day-and I'm sure night too. No matter what's happening, the fingers are there to soothe!

He'll go from happy, happy running around to the saddest, most clingy thing in 2 seconds flat. He's also becoming very familiar with what I thought were tantrums that occur around two years old. Uhhhhh, really? Two? It's happening NOW. I have to just let him be and cry it out wherever he is to make him realize that sometimes he can't always get what he wants :)

To ease the pain and keep him distracted from all of this, we've been doing a lot of playing outside. He is sooo into digging in the dirt and looking at everything out in the yard. I can leave him out there for quite a while, go give him a drink or a snack and he's back at it. I'm kind of loving it actually.

Despite all the tears, being mad, throwing fits and things he just SO darn cute-especially when he gives Mr. Monkey loves and snuggles all the time. I have to admit I LOVE that he wants more snuggles and hugs during these hard days, it makes my heart all warm and fuzzy :)

Grandpa Mike comes for a visit Saturday and we can't wait!
Oh, and he turned 15 months yesterday...more on that later.

Please, no more snow

2011-04-10T19:20:00.001-06:00

As thankful as I am for all the snow we've been getting, we're kinda done with this scene all the time.

I'd like to go back to no pants and nice, fair weather. Those legs are too cute not to show off, right?

This is what happens when you have cabin fever and he must be getting more teeth and a lot of time inside and a 15 month old who isn't getting his way. This was a nice taste of what the terrible two's must be like!

2011-04-05T10:54:00.001-06:00

This boy makes me laugh

Especially when he demands to wear his sunglasses....all.the.time

Since the weather turned blah again, we've been doing a lot in inside & at Gymboree. He love, loves any balloon attached to his ring. This is entertainment that can last a long time!

We do lots and lots of reading and looking at books. He just loves it.

We went to see our good friend Laurent at his place in Alta over the weekend. He loved watching it snow and just played and played at his house. This pic makes me smile.

Unfortunately on the drive home, his eye was looking very suspect! Went to Instacare and the doc said pink eye. Luckily, on Monday when he woke up, all he had was a little redness and that's it. I'm glad it didn't turn into the yucky and gross kind of pink eye. Today, there's just a tiny bit of redness and that's it. Thank goodness!

For the Grandparents :)

Oh, and I was reminded that I never mentioned on here that our HOUSE is for sale. Yep, it is!

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

2011-03-31T15:22:00.000-06:00

The weather today is perfect! I wish everyday was this gorgeous...65 degrees and sunny.
We went on a long walk and stopped by the park for a while to get some much needed sunshine, running around and swinging.
Sam is having so much fun now that he's running around like crazy and able to do much more than last year :)

I think I tuckered him out, as he went right to sleep for a nap when we got home. Awesome.

And just because I love these photos. We had no clothes time on our bed last night before a bath. He was LOVING it!

2011-03-27T20:32:00.000-06:00

Sunday

afternoon

walks.

Cold, but so nice to be outta the house!

Love them.

Thankful Thursday

2011-03-24T12:30:00.000-06:00

-Thankful for really good doctors. Here is my after x-ray. Got my stitches out yesterday and things look to be healing great. I can use my spin bike and lift 5lb weights, but that's the extent of my working out for the next 3-4 weeks (besides walking).

-Thankful for play dates with sisters and cousins. These two are way into anything princess. Sam just wanders around playing with random toys...mostly balls, cars, water bottles or animals. Such a boy. He did want to hold a magic wand, so Kate was nice and let Siri and Sam have one :)

-Thankful for IKEA cups that keep the little man busy when I need to do stuff. He thought they were the coolest thing. Bought them yesterday with Sedra and Carter.

-Thankful that Grandpa Mike came for a visit. It was short, but I'm feeling much better and didn't really need help and it was dumping snow at his house in CA, so he left yesterday. Can't wait to see him again next month! Sam loved playing with him.

-Thankful for this most awesome picture. Thankfully Sam didn't scare Max...at least I don't think he did ;)

-Thankful for the times when Sam is so, so silly and so hyper before bed. It seriously makes us smile. So much.

There aren't enough thanks...

2011-03-20T20:13:00.000-06:00

...for Grandma Jane helping us out this past week. She dropped everything last weekend and flew out 7 days ago so things would be easier on us. I literally don't have enough thank you's for her...never will. She was such a huge, huge help. She has washed my hair everyday, laundry, dishes, kitchen, floors,...etc. She has played with Sam so much and driven us everywhere while Dan was at work. We LOVE her. I (and all of my family) so wish she lived closer :)

Sam likes to help Grandma...especially if it involves the dishwasher.

She went to Gymboree twice with him.

Sam was such a trooper. Just played and played all week.

We celebrated with Ali on her birthday. Jane was so nice and bought us lunch and an awesome ice cream cake...Ali's fav.

We also went to her indoor game. Of course Sam had to play with and follow around Siri.

We had some yummy dinners out. It was nice to actually be out and about after surgery. I needed it. Love this boy.

We all went to baby Jane's blessing. I love us in our Sunday best!

Hand-Some!

Yes, it's gnarly right now, but in a couple months it'll be an awesome scar...at least that's what I'm telling myself. Thanks also to all of my family who called, emailed and came by to see how I was doing, it really helped keep my spirits up. This has been really hard and will be for a few more weeks, but I'm moving more and more each day. I hope to be on my spin bike mid week and I should be good to go for bike season in just over a month (thanks GOODNESS!).
Grandpa Mike comes into town tomorrow night, so thankful for him as well for helping this coming week. At least I can change a diaper and get dressed on my own now! :)

St. Patty's Day

2011-03-17T14:14:00.000-06:00

Thanks to aunt Kelly for the Irish shirt. So cute.

Grandma Jane has been a HUGE (huge, huge) help to us since Monday. Seriously, I can't even take my own shirt on and off. Such a lifesaver :)

Broken

2011-03-14T13:24:00.000-06:00

i wish i could type a lot, but i only have one hand. yesterday i was hit by a guy skiing and i broke my collar bone in 3 places. so incredibly painful. ugh. surgery tomorrow, thankfully. and thanks to grandma jane for dropping everything to fly out to be with us all week/end.

i have lots to blog about, but cant for a while. we had so much fun in st. george with ali last week...just sam and me.

running with the BOB was awesome!

so many bubbles

siri gave sam lots of hugs. love it

i wish a smile was what i'm really feeling, but...

i'm just not. i'm in a lot of pain, but that will be relieved by the surgery and the plate and screws going into fix the bone that's broken in 3 places:( more later when i can use both hands.

Vids

2011-03-03T18:51:00.000-07:00

What we do around here...
He's getting pretty darn good at going down stairs and turning around to go down anything that appears to be a step, a drop off or stairs. It's pretty awesome.

He's also pretty fond of getting on the rocking chair to just hangout and rock. Usually he stands up and tries to rock it back and forth really hard, but that makes me nervous.
Our days are so fun right now. He's learning something new everyday.

Thankful Thursday

2011-02-24T10:25:00.001-07:00

I'm always thankful for many things. It would be a long list.
Today I'm most thankful for...
-A new BOY cousin coming to Justin and Kerrah in July. So awesome!
-The fact that I have all the resources I need to workout at home so I can stay healthy and strong.
-The best husband ever
-My family
And this post wouldn't be complete without some Sam photos, who, for some reason I'm full of SO much joy and thankfulness for today.

He seriously makes my day. Everyday.

One of the best things is laughing at your child at dinner, when they decide to make a mess on their face and head, with chili and olives.

So thankful.

Things

2011-02-20T15:00:00.004-07:00

Some pics from last week and the weekend...
It's definitely not flowers and rainbows everyday, but we still manage to have fun :)

Had a super fun time playing at Ali's with Carter, Sedra and Siri.

Carter loves the bike

Also played with our cousins Kate and Max. Max is getting so big these days!

We practice downward dog a lot. He really only likes to do it on the couch for some reason. Silly.

It's rare that I get to go to lunch with all four of my siblings. It's even more rare that we all go with my Dad. I just love this picture of us together.

Loves to stand on his rocking chair. So proud of himself.

We try to take a family photo. He's to wiggly for it these days.

He loves to keep his rabbit (or elephant) with him after he wakes up for a bit. He sat and watched the snow for a while this morning.

Love them.

Happy Heart Day

2011-02-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

I guess he's excited it's Valentines Day :)

Just cause....

2011-02-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

They make me smile!

2011-02-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

Oh what do you do when it's winter time??

You play and play and play in the house and never clean up cause it'll be right back like this after he wakes up :)

Have to take water breaks during all the playing. It's hard work!

You clap for yourself cause you're so proud of what you did

You find anything to entertain, play and have fun with. These snowflake ears were a big hit for two days solid. I got these almost 5 yrs ago at a Backcountry.com party and figured I'd store them away thinking...One day our baby might like to play with these! Seriously.

Watched Ali play at an indoor game last week. Sam LOVED watching through the windows, just walking back and forth, making sure everyone could hear and see him. He'd also try and "shout" when Siri would say "go Mom!"

Played with cousins during the Super Bowl. I can remember when Benjamin was so, so little and now he's so, so grown up!

We love to go to storytime, Gymboree and play with cousins & friends when it's too cold. Makes the days go by quick! He looks like such the toddler in this pic. Growing too fast.

Practice typing with Dad. He mostly loves to move & click the mouse.

And we wear our beanies while keeping a death grip on the baby medicine. I love winter and can't wait to take him skiing, but I could SURE use some warmer weather right now.

Grandpa Mike

2011-02-02T14:49:00.001-07:00

Grandpa came from CA to stay with us last week. Oh how I love, love visitors-especially family (I always wish they could stay longer). Normally when Dan's Dad visits, there's some sort of home improvement project involved. This time, there wasn't and it kind of felt weird not having them work for at least 2-3 days on something :) We already have something lined up for April though, so they'll be back at work putting in some grass for Sam to run around on.

Grandpa is very good at playing the guitar and Sam really likes it. He likes to help play sometimes and of course, likes to listen while he eats.

So cute

Went for a hike

And just hung out, doing a lot of playing around. It was really nice. Can't wait for you to come back and visit us!

We also had a fun play date with Carter after Grandpa left. LOVE these two and they even had matching shirts (nope, it wasn't planned :)