new around here

We've had an exciting couple of weeks around here. We are so blessed, we've acquired a couple "new" things for our family the past few weeks and we are super excited about them! First of all, I think in my last post I mentioned we are now officially a two car family. Yipeee!

This is our new car. It's a Toyota Camry. I love driving it, and it has been so nice not to have to worry about rides to and from work for Scott, or planning our schedules around who needs the car when, etc. It'll make our schedules more flexible and our budget more tight. Hee hee. But, we love it and we hope it will be a great car for us for a really long time! It's not the swagger wagon, but it still has swagger..... especially when I'm driving! :) Ha! Just kidding.

Last night, we got our very first piano. It'll be a whole post in and of itself here in the next few days, but I love it. It is ancient, and I love it. It also weighs about 1000 pounds, no exaggeration. There is just something timeless and so homey about a piano, especially an old one. I seriously am loving it already, can't wait to watch my kids learn to play on this beauty. It has some scratches, digs, and paint coming off (from shoving it in our door), but I also love that about it. It's worn, and I love wondering about all the hands that have played this piano, and what families sang around this piano, how many Christmases it has had, hopefully being sung around. It was a beast to move, but that's a whole other story......

Last but definitely not least, is our first pet. Dandy. He's a tadpole that Will got in the mail. He got this habitat for his birthday from Aunt Krista, and it came with a free tadpole that we had to order in the mail.
It is probably one of the most exciting parts of our day, feeding this little guy or gal. He's tiny, but growing little by little. And to be perfectly honest, I'm shocked he's still alive..... please don't die on us Dandy! Will prays for him every night, prayers are heard!

Having a family is so much fun. There is never a dull moment. Always something to do, someone to help, clothe, feed, and always somewhere fun to go! Life never seems to slow down, but even in the day to day hussle bussle, something exciting always happens!

memorial day

After I posted about last weekend and my b-day, I realized I still hadn't posted from Memorial Day. So, two posts in one day, lucky us!

On Memorial Day, Scott ran in a 5 mile race, here in our little community. He did awesome. We met him at the finish line, it only took him 34 min. That is pretty cool. He is good like that. The boys and I waited on the grass to watch him, and they were happy campers.

Go Scott! He was just a couple steps away from being done, I always get so excited to watch him finish, it is great.

Cheering!!

After the run, we went to sit on our friends lawn and watch the parade. It was a parade full of interesting people doing interesting things...... and lots of candy. It was fun to sit by friends from church. Will thought the sirens and fire engine were a bit loud, so he spent most of the parade with his fingers in his ears. Until all the candy started flying, then it was a bit hard to keep the ears plugged while gathering up gobs of candy.
After the parade, we set out to buy a car! It was probably the most stressful thing we've ever had to do. Even more stressful than buying a house, to me. We are happy with our choice, and happily living as a two car family.... finally. It's only been seven years!

my weekend

This past weekend was great! We had big plans to go to Erie PA, stay in a hotel, wake up refreshed and ready to run our 10K. Well, Friday, Will was sick, so let our friends stay in our hotel and we hung out at home. Saturday morning, we woke up at 5am, packed up the car and drove to Erie, just in time to start our 10K. Since the boys had to get up so early, Scott didn't run with me, he just stayed with them in the stroller and cheered me on. I was glad I had their support.

Along the trail we were running, there were all sorts of animals, and HUGE turtles. Some of the kids found a smaller turtle and Will thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Here's Eli cheering me on. Yes, both boys are in PJ's. We had to pull them out of bed and we knew we were headed to the beach after my run, so we didn't bother with clothes. They went from PJ's to swimsuits!
Here I come! I was running so fast it was pretty much a blurr when I passed Scott with the camera, NOT. I'm probably the slowest runner ever. I don't think it even qualifies as running, more like fast walking/slow jog. But hey, it took me 6.2 miles, so I'm pretty proud of that!
I'm not sure what I'm doing, I think I was trying to give Will a high five. This was at mile 3.1.... that is why I'm still smiling and don't look like I'm in pain.
YAY! I finished! See? This is obviously the end of the race, I look like I can barely stand up. Plus, I'm really red and sweaty. And Will's pouting because he wants to the see the turtle some more.
These are my gal pals that ran the race also. They are awesome girls, I'm so glad I know them and have them as friends. I'm also glad they motivate me to keep running! It goes Me, Alison (who is a Lone Peak alum... crazy!) Stacey (she dominated the race, she was the THIRD person to finish, FIRST girl.... she kicked my butt), then Kathy who poured water on her shirt... hahaha! ;) Then Paige who was only going to run 3 miles but thought what the heck, and did the whole thing..... yes, she's awesome like that. Then Lisa who accidentally got off the trail and ran an extra mile, and just kept running the whole time, that is so awesome! Thanks for motivating me girls!
We ran the race at a place called Presque Isle, near Erie PA. It is a beautiful state park. I loved the run, it is right along the waters of Lk. Erie. There are tons of well kept, well groomed beaches, with bathroom, etc. So after our run, we headed to the beach. It was great. The day was perfect, and our kids loved it.
Before we headed to the beach, we went with our friends to "our" hotel that we didn't end up staying at. Three other families also stayed there, so we borrowed their shower, changed our clothes, and swam in the pool for a bit before heading to the beach. This was Eli's first pool experience, he wasn't thrilled. He look completely nervous and scared. But Will was loving it, and had a great time swimming with Scott.
My boys. Look at Eli's nervous face, he just kept looking all around at the water, it was pretty cute.
He enjoyed laying on the blanket at the beach much better. This is how he spent the afternoon. I love his little bare chest, it's the cutest. Check out those arm muscles! He's pretty ripped for 7 months!
Okay, I love this picture. Will is playing catch with our friend Justin. He just threw the ball. Ha! Look at his face! It is so funny and his arms look funny too, but at least he has a good follow-thru! Thanks for entertaining our kids Justin!
Ready to catch!
It was a great day. I can't think of a better way I could have spent my birthday. On our way home, we stopped and got Cheesecake for my birthday cake! Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake of course. It was delish. I downed it, plus a whole bowl of popcorn and a dr. Pepper. Go me!

Happy Birthday Kara!! I LOVE YOU

Kara-

I am posting on our blog secretly....I had to wait until you used your computer and logged in so that I would have access to make a "new post".

Kara, I love you so much. I can't believe that you are even more pretty now than you were when I married you over 7 years ago. You are such an amazing person, with energy, spunk, emotion, humor, spirituality, wisdom, and beauty. You know what to do and when to do it during stressful times, you know what to say and how to say it during hard times, and what to be and how to be it during family times and needs!!

I love you and I am so happy that I can be a part of your birthday. You are my wife and I love to be able to say that.

This is your birthday song, it isn't very long, see ya!

LOVE YOU, SCOTT, your hubby

first watermelon

Eli got to try his first watermelon! He wasn't so impressed. He's a great eater, once he starts eating something, but I have a feeling he's going to be a little picky about textures.....

Eli the goof

Here's our goofy Eli. He's such a goofball and we love his craziness....

many faces of Eli

Eli's personality is developing every day. Not only his mellow and happy, he is super duper funny. He has a little goofy side that comes out a little more every day. He's got some great facial expressions. I wish I could capture them all on camera.... maybe someday. Here are just a few.

I love this picture. Eli has gorgeous almond shaped eyes with long curly eyelashes. He's just scrumptious.
Then here's his little no teeth smile that he flashes when he starts getting goofy. Sometimes I'm not even looking at him and he'll sit there and flash this grin at me until I look at him. Once I look at him he just breaks into this big huge smile and starts squealing and laughing. I love it.

Oh the lips of E. That's right baby, check out that pucker. Ha! Isn't that hilarious? We've never laughed so hard as we did the first time he whipped out the puckered lips. One, their huge. Two, he does it so randomly. Three, their huge. Four, it's just a hilarious site to see. He does it a lot when he sees other babies... specifically girl babies......

I have to add a profile shot. He's just as cute from the side as he is straight on. Plus, he has chubby ears with dimples on them. I wish I had a profile few of the big pucker up!

This is E saying "oooooooooh" over and over. He's a little chatter box. So, there you have it folks..... the face of Eli. I have some great video, I'll try to upload that soon!

soccer, day one

Well, we did it. We survived our first day of team sports. All I can say is that is was pretty hilarious and stressful. When Will woke up, he was refusing to go to soccer. So I told him he could choose, but if he wasn't going to go, I was going to throw away his jersey and shorts..... a little bribery doesn't hurt, right? I still wanted him to make the choice, but I was definitely trying to persuade him a little. Anyways, all morning he was fighting and arguing with me about it. So I basically said never-mind we're not going. Then about 10 minutes later he came upstairs while I was dressing Eli and said "Okay mom, I thought about it, and I decided it would be a really good choice to go to soccer."

So, we were on our way! The next four pictures clearly showcase how we spent the first half of our soccer practice. Will sitting on his ball, refusing to do anything with his team, just watching, and yelling at his "coach" Grant to check out his light up shoes. And there I was sitting on the sidelines red in the face that he wouldn't even try to have fun. Finally I called him over to the side and told him if he wasn't going to play and have fun then we were going to go home. He told me "just a minute mom and I will!" Well..... gratefully, he started warming up, and ended up doing great and having a ton of fun. I was so happy for him, he really had a great time. I think he was a little nervous at first that he didn't know the kids, or what to expect really. Plus, he gets really shy and nervous about trying new things. He's always been timid, I guess I thought he would grow out of it sooner. I don't even care if doesn't learn "skills" or play the game, I just want him to have fun with other kids, be social, and just run his little heart out for exercise.

In the end, we were both happy. He's been excited about it ever since, so I hope we won't have to do any convincing next week! :) I LOVED watching him run after the ball with the mass of kids. It was so fun, and he literally ran his little heart out. He ran and ran and ran and ran after that ball for over 20 minutes. He had a chance where he was the only kid near the ball, and I started yelling "kick! kick!" but he got so excited and worried that others were running toward him that he picked up the ball and chucked it. It was great.
After his scrimmage, he was super excited to have juice and goldfish! I was so proud of him for giving it a try I just kept telling him how great he did and how much fun it was to watch him. I love you Will!!

scrub a dub dub

Okay, I know I say it every post, but I don't care, I'm going to say it again. Eli is pretty much the cutest baby ever. He's sitting up so big, jabbers and talks constantly, rolls around to reach for toys, and is just a happy baby. I couldn't resist snapping a few bath tub shots.

I know I'm not a professional when it comes to taking pictures, but you don't need to have professional pictures to capture the cuteness of this child. Look at his beautiful skin, chubby legs and cheeks (both on his bottom and face! :)), and his cute feet.
Scott and I are a little baffled. Eli is big. Heavy. And just all around big. But he doesn't really look big per say. But right now, he's weighing about 22lbs. and is in the 90th % for both height and weight. He's wearing size 12-18 months clothes. But just to look at him, he's not overflowing in rolls like Will was. I guess he's just hefty and solid. It will be interesting to see how grows up......

No matter what, we love him like crazy, and can't help just kissing those cheeks over and over and over.

and so it begins

Last week was supposed to be Will's first day of Soccer! I can't believe my little boy is starting sports. It's exciting, and pretty comical all at once. He is NOT one to be excited about getting his pictures taken, so we had to just snap a couple and call it quits.

Here he is with Dad. Aka "Coach." It makes me so happy that Will gets to learn soccer from a pro! I hope Will watches his dad and learns some skills, I think he could really learn to love soccer.

Like I said, he wasn't so excited about getting his picture taken, so this was the best we got. He really was excited for soccer to start. He was totally equipped, new soccer ball, water bottle, new soccer shoes (that light up, I might add). He had even been practicing with Dad in the basement.
Unfortunately, his first day of soccer got rained out, so tomorrow will actually be his first day to run around. I can't wait to watch him, but a little nervous that he'll be too shy and won't do anything. I guess we'll see.... I might have to get prepared with some bribery! :) He also told me that he felt bad when the other team was going to try to get the ball and that he would just give it to them. My sweet tender Will, I hope that when it comes to sports, I see a little of the fight he shows me when it's time to get dressed and brush his teeth....

a visit from my sis

I haven't updated the blog in a few days, for good reason! My sister has been in town! Let me just say, I've laughed a lot in the past few days, and I've probably laughed harder than I ever do. I love having company and especially when it is one of my sisters!

She arrived on Wednesday, I drove to Columbus to pick her up. We had a great ride home, chatting and eating snacks the whole way! Thursday, we didn't waste anytime and took off to see the sights! We took a tour of Cleveland Clinic, headed up the Lk. Erie coast, stopped off at the beach for a little picnic and some pictures, then stopped off at Kirtland on our way home. Will absolutely loves Kirtland and wouldn't let us leave without showing Krista and doing a tour. The weather was great, so I spent a bit of the tour out on the lawn feeding Eli and watching Will run around.

Will loved the beach, digging for rocks and picking up sticks. Eli wasn't so sure he liked the beach. I think the combination of sun, wind, and being tired wore him out. Still, he's pretty much the best baby on earth and hardly fusses, even when he's tired.
Here we are, enjoying the snacks and the sun. It was a gorgeous day, and great to be out in the sunshine!
On Friday, we did some shopping, ran around here and there, and got stuff for Will's tadpole that finally came in the mail! Friday afternoon we played here at home, Will was loving having his fun aunt here to play with him non-stop. We had a yummy dinner and then watched a movie after the kids were in bed.

Saturday was such a fun day. Will was supposed to have a soccer game, but the rain washed it out. So, instead of heading to soccer, we headed to Chagrin Falls. It's a quaint little town that sits above some really pretty water falls. They have a yummy popcorn and ice cream shop, lots of fun restaurants, and some really fun shops. The thing I love most is to walk around, window shop, and look at all the really cool doors to the shops. Each one is a different style and a different color, I loved it. Some day, I'm going to have a picture of all of them to hang in my room!
It was rainy when we left home, but cleared up a bit while we were in Chagrin Falls. Will still thought it was absolutely necessary that he carry the umbrella around all day.
A quick family pic at the falls. Yep, my boys are still cute. Okay... moving on.....
Sisters. They are the best. We sure had fun!
Will and Dad down by the falls.
After Chagrin Falls, we headed back into town and made a stop off at the B Spot for dinner. We've heard great things about it and it did not dissapoint! It was so good. Best hamburger ever, and really really good fries! While we were waiting for our table, we ran into Trader Joes (one of my favorites!) and Anthropologie (another fav!). While we were inside, the rain started pouring! We were soaked by the time we ran over to B Spot, but once my food arrived, it didn't matter, I was so happy to be eating! :)

We also went to Kirtland a couple times. The temple is gorgeous, and the weather has been so great. I'm so glad it has been warm and sunny while we've had company, it made it easy to go out and do a lot of stuff!

Saturday night we hung out at home, made some jewelry, and watched another movie. Sunday was a great day to relax and hang out, go to church, and watch the season finale of LOST! :) Today, we tried to squeeze in everything we didn't get done.... but ended up letting the boys nap while we chatted and hung out here at home. After all is said and done, we love having the company and we are going to miss Aunt Krista! We were looking forward to her visit since last Fall and now it has come and gone. Will told her to go home and pack more stuff so she could come back!

Now we don't know what to do with ourselves.... who's going to be our next visitors?

just some weekend thoughts

First of all, this may be a boring post to most of you, but it's journaling for our family, so I'm still going to post it. Also, there probably won't be any pictures, so sorry if it is really boring to you all.

I've been thinking a lot lately about our family, and truly how blessed we are. It seems like when you are going through something difficult, you never see the light at the end of the tunnel. Then, suddenly, it seems like things change rapidly for the better. At least in my life, that is how my trials or difficulties have been. So I've been thinking about how lucky I am and how blessed my little family is. I have two of the sweetest boys on earth, really, I do. If you've ever met them, I'm pretty sure you'll agree. I have a wonderful supportive husband who puts up with me and my crazy ways. We have a wonderful ward family, a wonderful FAMILY far far away from us, and great friends who love and support us.

A year ago this time, I was right in the middle of some really intense fertility treatments. I would never wish the trial, disappointment, or frustration of infertility on any woman or family. I can say I honestly feel your pain if you've ever had to do any sort of fertility. It is hard. It's hard on your mind and body. It's physically painful and limiting, and it's emotionally draining and often unbearable. BUT, this is not what I set out to write...... sorry, I'm digressing. Thinking back to a year ago and comparing it with the here and now, it's pretty unbelievable that my baby turns 7 months old this week. Did the fertility work? No. Did Heavenly Father work? Yes. He always does, and he answered prayers for us that we never really even thought would be answered.

The whole reason I'm writing this long wordy post is because of an experience I had this weekend. We decided on Friday to go out to eat. Shocking I know..... but for us, we don't go out, hardly ever, unless we have visitors in town. So, I picked up Scott from work and we decided we wanted to go out. We went to Red Robin. It was pretty yummy, I got a Peachy Soda thing that was awesome. While we were sitting there waiting for our food, I saw a table full of ladies come in and sit down just across the aisle from us. I couldn't help noticing the very large pregnant belly of one of the girls. She had to have either been having twins, was over-due, or about to burst any moment. They had to slide the table in the opposite direction so she would fit. She was cute, and I kept staring at her. She kept staring at us. It's not unusual for people to stare at us..... we are a racially mixed family, a very cute one at that! :) Eli always gets lots of attention whenever we go out, and people don't usually seem afraid to approach us or comment on us. So, we were sitting there, Eli was bouncing up and down on Scott's lap, I was talking and playing with Will, and we were having a nice time.

The pregnant girl kept staring at us, and soon her mother (I'm assuming) started staring at us. So I just kind of sat there and did my own thing. Then I started feeling really overwhelmed with gratitude and thinking about my family(the whole reason for my post). Yes we get some people staring, but in that moment, I couldn't have been happier. For two reasons. One, Will. And two, Eli. I felt so much gratitude that I am a mother, and have I been through the long nine months of pregnancy and all that accompanies it, I've given birth, I've had an epidural, I've gone through labor, I've pushed for almost three hours trying to bring our son into this world. I've also healed from labor and delivery while nursing my sweet little infant, I've woken up at night, excited to see my brand new baby boy. Then I started feeling gratitude that I was a mother who on baby number two, saw a whole new side of motherhood and got a completely different perspective. I still got to see my baby boy #2 be born, be the first to see him, hold him, kiss him, watch his first bath, feed him his first bottle, change and put on the first diaper, all the while, free of the pains of pregnancy, labor, and delivery. I'm SO lucky. Just think about that, I've experience the best of both worlds. Some people say I took the "easy" way out with Eli. Well, they don't know what they are talking about.

With Eli, I was there from hour one of his birth, just like I was with Will. I still got up in the night, excited to get to know my little gentleman. Though I didn't have the labor pains, and even though I bottle fed with Eli, it was still a healing process for me. With Will, I had to heal physically, and with Eli, I was healed emotionally. So.... back to the girl staring at me that brought on all these thoughts of mine. I can't say for certain what exactly she was thinking, but I bet she was looking at us and thinking "they probably adopted that cute baby....." along with all the other thoughts and questions a pregnant woman might have about that. She was probably also thinking "I wonder if that older boy is adopted......." Even though, I laugh when people think that because he looks so much like the two of us. I don't know what else she was thinking, but I couldn't help thinking about my situation myself while looking at her pregnant belly. I've been there, I'm happy and blessed to have had that experience. I'm also happy and blessed to have had the other experience.

Basically, I've had the best of both worlds. I will be eternally grateful to my loving Father in Heaven for giving me those two amazing experiences. Count your blessings, they are there, even when you think they are not! Don't give up, the light at the end of the tunnel will come, it always does.

And, thanks for letting my write a few thoughts, if you made it to the end, you're a trooper.

too cute to not share

I know you've seen lots of pictures of Eli, but I guess you'll have to get used to it because I'm not stopping anytime soon. These are the latest of Eli and his little buddy. They are just a few weeks apart and I think they would be great pals if they weren't moving in a year..... sniff sniff.

Enjoy!

My favorite part of these pictures if thinking about what the parents were doing to try to get them to smile. Our little boys are so dang cute I almost can't stand to look at these pictures. This next picture is a great shot of E's teeth. If you click on it and make it bigger, then you can really so those pearly whites. I especially love his whole mouth in this picture, his bottom lip looks too big to hold itself up, and his teeth are so fun!

I also love that in every picture, Eli's friend is smiling so sweet and Eli is sitting there with his mouth open, like he wants food or something. Speaking of Eli and food, I only spent a mere 40$ on baby food today. Want to guess how long that will last us? About a week. Yep, he's not missin' any meals!
And look how cute and straight "A" sits up! He is doing so good. Eli is still folded in half in order to not roll over. I sometimes feel like Eli could roll end to end in no matter what position we put him in. He is rolling around though, I feel bad for him, he has such a big head and such big fat cheeks, I'm sure it is a lot of work! Maybe that's why he eats so much?

it's more to be four

What does "it's more to be four" even mean? I'm not sure, but it rhymed and we've been doing lots of rhymes around our house lately. Will is always coming up with words that rhyme. He's getting really good at it too! He used to say things like "Ba ba ba.... house!" Now he says things like "ba ba ba ball!" So..... he's come a long way in the past few months!

Anyways.... on to my birthday boy. I don't think I have enough time or energy to relate all the ways Will brightens my days. He is a little ray of sunshine, a happy child, tender hearted, sensitive, energetic, loves to laugh, playful, shy, and smart. And now, he's four. F-O-U-R. Four! I don't believe it. Except that on his birthday he actually cried and said "I don't WANT to be FOUR! I want to be FIVE!" Sorry bud, one more year to go. And please don't go too fast this year, because when you do turn five that means you'll be on the brink of kindergarten and I know I'm not ready to cope with that yet.

This is Will the morning of his birthday. The essence of my little baby boy still in that sweet face. He IS still my baby, still loves to cuddle, sit on my lap, hug, and kiss, and be with mom. We are buds.... most of the time! :)

For his big birthday day, we went to the Arboretum out by Kirtland. It is SO pretty. We had fun walking around, but I decided we needed to come as a family with a baby backpack so we could really dig in and do some walking/hiking around. The stroller just wasn't cutting it for me. It was really pretty though and it was Arbor day and we got a free tree seedling. Will loves being outside so much I thought it was the perfect place to go on his day. On the way home, we had to make a stop by Old Navy. Will was in some serious need of new clothes. I let him pick out a couple outfits and he did a pretty good job. Now he has some summer clothes that fit him instead of wearing shorts that are a little too short.....

After Old Navy, we went and picked up Scott from work. Then we headed to the Cheesecake Factory! It was awesome as usual. It was great too because we were almost the only people in the restaurant. We didn't wait to be sat at all and it was so pleasant. Will loved it. He ordered fried macaroni and cheese (I know it sounds disgusting, but I'm pretty sure it is heaven on earth, and a party for the arteries!). Every time we go, we get the fried mac and chz appetizer and every time I'm eating it, I think of the Minnesota State Fair, where it is a goal to get EVERYTHING fried and on a stick. I'm sure you've heard me talk about it before, but you can literally find everything fried or on a stick at the MN State Fair, they pride themselves on it.

Okay.... on to the birthday! I had the BBQ Ranch Chicken salad to share with Scott and a cherry coke of course. A REAL cherry coke, made at the bar, the best way to go! Then we had to order cheesecake. Will got a raspberry lemon. He loved it. Went straight for the huge pile of whip cream and just started licking it like an ice cream cone. He is his mother's son....
He's showing you proudly that he is four. Look at his cheesecake, it is as "wide" as he is in this picture! It was pretty tasty!
Diving in for the whip cream! Go Will!

After dinner, we headed home. We watched Princess and the Frog, which Will thought was the best movie of all time, solely because there are frogs, bugs, and a really weird scary bad on it. We blew up the air matress, ate more of our cheesecake, and just hung out. We love Will and we had a great time celebrating his birthday. Thanks for being an amazing boy Will!