Phoenix zoo

Having fun climbing on the tree, it was a new adventure for him

I had a doctor appointment on Tuesday at 38 weeks and some change...My doctor told me he would be gone Thursday through the weekend (the 15th-18th) and the next Thursday (22nd-25th)...Fabulous, so I either had to go into labor on the 14th or be induced the 18th-21st and if I didn't make it to the top of the waiting list I could be induced the 25th-the next week if I wanted him to deliver. I wasn't too happy because I knew I wasn't going to make it to my actual due date, the 24th and I really wanted him to deliver. I was talking to Heather and she mentioned something about going to the zoo...determined to put myself into labor I invited Joe and I to go along with her, Kena and Benson. It was a fun day of walking, exploring the animals and playing at the splash pad. Joe especially liked it because he LOVES the movie Tarzan right now so seeing the monkeys and elephants were great for him. He was soooo cute and brave at the splash pad running around and enjoying the day. Usually he isn't very brave and I have to go around with him so it was really fun for me to stand back and watch, even though I did have to remind him a few times to come out of hiding and go down the slide since he sometimes got pushed out of the way by the big kids. It was such a fun day, thanks Heather! O and I have been craving the yogurt ever since!

Daddy's basketball games

Steve signed up for a city league basketball team with some of his friends from St George (Rhett, Jed, Kade), some of their friends from school, and our friend Dan from our ward. It has been pretty fun going and watching on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Joe gets pretty excited to go and I have to try not to mention it too early in the day so he doesn't bring it up all day long! Here Joe is with Kaylee. He LOVES it when she is at the games, loves her purse, loves flirting with her, and loves the attention. He gets excited when Tate comes too, but I am too nervous to take a picture of Joe with him because I feel like I need all my hands and attention with a newborn and a toddler and a cement floor :)
Joe especially loves after the game when he gets to run on the court and play with his dad for a few minutes and throws major tantrums if he doesn't get too. I don't necessarily blame him since he stays out of the fun that the big guys get to have for an hour!
Every chance he gets he will sit with his dad, give him his gatorade, or occasionally cheer him on. It's really cute! I love these boys!

Help Please!

I know it was only almost 3 short years ago, but I have completely spaced on what to take to the hospital...Please leave the no-brainer items I should take and also any thing that you might have taken that you found were helpful or just nice to have. Thanks!
Also we need to buy another car seat since we sold Joe's in San Francisco, any input there would be great. I'm looking at the Peg Perego, Chicco Key Fit, Graco Snugride or Graco Snugride 32 (not sure if there is a difference besides weight capacity) Thanks in advance!

1st Date Night in Arizona! Thanks Jamie, Dan, Taylor & Parker!

Yes, we have been here about 10 months and this was our first time out without Joe! We are pathetic....actually it's I am pathetic. We have gone out to dinner a bunch, but we always take our buddy with us. He is pretty well behaved so I thought we were getting plenty of date time until we went to BLT Steak located at the beautiful resort. This week a bunch of restaurants in Arizona were offering great deals for restaurant week. Steve said we had to go try it. Well my cousin is in the Bahamas for her anniversary with her hubby and she is about the only person I'd want to leave Joe with...
I knew that if I didn't get someone to babysit we wouldn't go out so I took a chance and called this cute girl from my ward, Jamie, and luckily for me she said yes! She has 2 boys, 1 older than Joe and 1 younger than Joe, and a beautiful home that I was sure was filled with the most awesome toys. When I came to pick Joe up, I found that he had been absolutely spoiled with attention by Jamie and Dan. He came to the door with a flashlight thing on his head and he had a ton of toys that they were playing with. He screamed like a crazy person when we told him it was time to go and would probably like to be adopted into their family since they are obviously way cooler than his own parents. Jamie, thanks for making it so easy for us to go out! We really appreciate it! It was a wonderful night just enjoying Steve's company and the fabulous food (especially the cheesecake, the picture doesn't do justice) Love you babe, thanks for the date!

BYU game & Joe's musical talents

Steve has a few friends living in Arizona right now that are from St George. It has been fun meeting them and their cute wives. We went to his friend Kade & Kaylee's house to watch the BYU game, which totally sucked, but the company was great! We got to meet baby Tate, o my goodness he is soooo cute! Tate belongs to Jed and Aubrey and was born last month. We met, well I guess I met Kade & Kaylee, and Joe of course was pretty shy until about the 3rd quarter and then wouldn't leave Kaylee alone. Since the game was pretty much over, the boys decided to turn on guitar hero. Joe got a chance to play the drums and loved it! I thought he was going to start singing I am a Child of God while pounding the drums...luckily he refrained! Thanks for hosting Kade & Kaylee!

Primary Program is over!

We had our ward's primary program on the 13th. Our primary president is pregnant and due 2 weeks before me so they moved the program up to make sure we could both be there. I thought it went pretty well for how much time we had to get it together. The kids sang 9 songs and it was so cute to see the kids perform for their parents. I had a good time, but now what the crap am I supposed to do for the next few months?! Any ideas...

Labor Day Weekend

Our Labor Day weekend was great, very relaxing and wonderful because we had our daddy ALL weekend! The boys started out the weekend by getting their hair cut together. Joe was thrilled to leave his mother and go with his dad by himself. He had to be dressed just like him too. Here is the before the hair cuts...
And here is the after picture. They look so handsome!
We also enjoyed swimming together, taking long naps and watching some movies. We wish every weekend was a 3 day weekend!

Happy 1st Birthday Dorian!

At the beginning of the month, our cute cousin Dorian turned 1! We got to go to his fun party and help celebrate! Joe really enjoyed picking out his present until he realized that he didn't get to play with it :) We love you Dorian!

Surprise mom and dad!

There have been a few reasons of why I haven't kept up with blogging over the past few months. Here is one of the main ones. Back in February as I was getting my calendar ready for the year and filling in important dates, I realized this October would be my parents 25th wedding anniversary. I was talking to my sister in law, Julie, and threw out the idea of doing something for them. She said we should totally do it, and with that encouragement I started thinking...Soon later found out I was pregnant and knew I couldn't throw something 3 days after I was due so I started planning tentatively for the summer. So for the past 6 months or so I was planning a party for my parents! SOOOO HARD! It was probably harder for me because I talk to my parents so much that keeping it a surprise was difficult. I had a couple bumps along the way, but here is how the day went. My dad, brother Steve, and hubby went to play in a golf tournament at noon. I spent my night before and the next morning baking a bunch of desserts telling my mom they were for my friend Jessica who was throwing a family party. I made my mom and I pedicure appointments for 5:15. It was difficult to get her out of the house because #1 she was having us organize a ton of stuff and 2 she didn't want to leave Chelsea out so we had to convince her that Chelsea and Heidi (her bf) were doing something anyways and we told her we would come back to get Chelsea, JK, Ben and Joe for a nice dinner when we were done. I took her to the mall to look at a baby boutique and then to the nail place. Of course when we get there she just wants a nail polish change like me...so my 45 minute appointment is cut down to like 15 minutes. Holy crap! Luckily I diddle daddled in the bathroom for a few minutes and took my time letting my nails dry all the while hurriedly texting my brother Steve and sister Chelsea to see what the heck I'm supposed to do. We got in the car and I just told my mom that my brother Steve had a business appointment that got moved up and he needed to leave the golf tournament the minute they were done and we needed to pick up our husbands, and I got on the freeway to drive to Canyon Country to pick them up. We stopped and got gas and I got the report from home that everything was going good. Chairs-check, tables-check, music-check, desserts-check, family setting up-check, getting ready to move cars-check. We got to the golf course, I stalled again and did my make up in the car since I knew the guys were running late. Had a mini high school reunion with guys that had come to play, could have done without that, but good stalling. Got my dad who was not very happy to be leaving because he paid for the dinner that now he wasn't going to get to eat so he was kind of pouting. I had to pretty much throw a tantrum in the parking lot so I could drive his car the LONG way home, got my way and we were leaving at 6:45 PERFECT!

Here are my parents making their way out...My brother JK likes to "hunt" things in our backyard, so I told them that he thought he shot a rattlesnake on the tennis court and before we left for dinner we had to go check it out. They recognized none of the many cars outside on the block! Once they walked out the sliding door, my pouty dad saw a ton of heads and thought JK was throwing a party or something and started walking back inside, I pulled him out and once we made it to the tennis court, and everyone yelled HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! this was their faces. My mom of course was emotional and my dad had to calm down because JK and Ben were almost toast :)
Here they are hugging some good friends, getting over the shock. It was so exciting! There were at least 50 people there for the actual surprise part.
Here is my dad, with cousin Joey and Rayme, and cousin Scott and Rachel. It was so nice to see how many people made it in for the party! My brother Tim and sister in law Julie flew in, Aunt Janet happened to be in town from St George, and a bunch of family drove an hour plus to be there!
My cute cousin Mandi snagged some pictures of Joe and I am borrowing them from her blog :)
Enjoying his rice krispy treat
Here is Tina, holding Ryan, me and my mom holding Joe who was having an extremely hard time sharing her. I don't know how my sister in law pulled off making like 10 desserts and driving 3 kids up from Irvine, putting the finishing touches on my desserts, and setting up and taking down, superstar!
Here is my mom with Elisabeth (Heidi's mom), and yes my mom is still in shock!
We cleared the "dance floor" and had them dance to their song, How Do I Live, to which my shy dad lasted about 35 seconds
Had them cut their cake and give each other a bite, and then we stopped embarrassing them
Here is the end of the night when we were getting ready to head inside...Chelsea, dad, Jack Jr, Dan, Jim, Steve and Steve. Notice my dad and Steve with their trophy. So excited! My brother, Steve, is relaxing from a tough day of lying to dad and my mom. He has never lied before, pretty perfect!
My mom, Michelle, Chris, and Jan...Thursday tennis group. They have played for as long as I can remember
My mom and Belinda, thanks Belinda for making so many desserts, letting us borrow your table, helping setting up and just for being so wonderful!
Here are the centerpieces, we decided on red and white and simple
Thanks to Heidi for setting up and picking up the roses!
We did 3 different centerpieces for 6 tables
Here would be the "cool" table...Ben & JK are quite the models very happy to be surrounded by such cute girls
Here are some of the treats, we had tons! McKeons and their sweets! It isn't a party without a ton! When the party was over our family went inside and watched a dvd of pictures that Julie made. I found all of the pictures, scanned them in at Wal Mart and got them to her to make it look professional. That was probably the hardest most time consuming part. We had about 500 pictures and I loved all of them! Such good memories! We also gave them a couple nights get away which they are going to be using coming up soon! They sure need it!
I have to say sorry to mainly Sammy and Tina who cleaned up everything! Once I got my parents to the party, I seriously felt like I could breathe for the first time in awhile. My brain had been so crazy getting email addresses ready for the evite, calling some people I couldn't get emails for, praying no one would say anything, getting pictures together (sneaking them out of frames at our house, or off scrapbook pages & replacing them without my mom knowing), hiding decorations under the bed, hiding chairs at Sammy's house, finding good hotel rates at any Marriott in Southern California, getting desserts ready and made, inviting their closest friends and family since they are a kind of private couple, figuring out how to get my parents out of the house to set up on a Saturday in the afternoon, and never leaking a word of it to my mom who is pretty much the best ever and I tell her EVERYTHING! Happy 25th Anniversary mom and dad! Love you! Thanks for being such good examples and loving each other no matter what. Here are a couple stories that I love about them. Once we got back from Coronado and my dad asked my mom if his bed was turned down yet, to which my poor husband started laughing and said, "we just got back from the 5 star hotel!" He didn't know that my mom turns down their bed every night and with her it's like he is always at a 5 star hotel. A couple months ago, while my parents were at work, my dad got a call and couldn't take it so my mom answered. The caller hung up and my mom thought that was weird people don't usually prank call. A couple minutes later my dad said he needed to go to the bank and would be right back. My parents go EVERYWHERE together, they work together, go to the bank together, eat together, why they even need 2 cars baffles me :) My mom offered to go with him and he kept telling her no. As she was following him out of the store, she said she saw their jeweler duck behind a pillar by the bank! My dad was trying to surprise her for Mother's Day! It would have been sweet no matter what, but it happened to be even sweeter with how crappy the economy is and how they were struggling anyways, but he wanted to show her some appreciation. I just think my parents are wonderful together and wish I had the energy my mom does to be superwife and supermom and superbusiness woman, and superyoung woman leader. Love you guys!

Thanks Sista Sista, Chelsea, Belinda & Mom!

While I was in Valencia, my sister, friend Chelsea, her mom Belinda, and my mom threw me a shower. It was so nice! Chelsea and her mom made DELICIOUS cupcakes. My sister made brownie bites, peanut butter cups, and yummy cheesecake cookies that were GONE too quick for me to get one! My sister has turned in to quite the little Martha Stewart. Joe is really excited that I told him not to touch the cupcakes...can you tell?
Loved my diaper cake!
Opening the adorable girl stuff I got. Thanks Amber for taking the pictures!
Chelsea and her sweet friend from high school, Lindsey.
My friends Jill, Erin (who just got engaged YIPPEE CONGRATS), and Chelsea (lovely lady that does my hair every 6 weeks even though she is super busy)
Friends from my grade...Heather, Lindsay, Jess, Terri and Brooke... Heather and Brooke are twins...cheered with all of them except Jess, but we had tons of fun pretending we were sisters in high school
Me and my besties...no my mom is not pointing at my stomach on purpose :) Love you girls thanks for the amazing baby shower. I had a really fun time seeing everyone and learning the ropes about having a girl. You are the best!