Our Texas Cousins

Jamie, Luke and Porter came for a short visit and made us desperately want to live by family one day hopefully not too far away. Joe, Luke and Porter are all super close in age. Luke is 5 months older than Joe and Joe is 10 months older than Porter. We loved having them over!
Pillow fights and bed jumping before bedtime, mainly Porter was jumping and I was almost having a heart attack thinking he was going to crack open his head, but he is fearless!
Boy cousins in town makes for 1 very happy boy!

Trip to Utah

A couple months ago, we found an AMAZING deal on flights to Utah and Steve suggested we go to Park City for a couple days with his parents. I was all for the trip because it meant I got to see my wonderful family that lives there and some friends I haven't seen in awhile. When we got there, Julie came and got us. We got to their house where I had Abby try on her Preference dress for us. Loved it! Look how beautiful my nieces are!
Jimmy was such a good sport and let Joe throw snow at him for awhile...You can tell which one lives in Utah :) Julie made homemade pizzas, breadsticks, and my favorite cookies...I aspire to be like her one day! We spent the night there and enjoyed DELICIOUS Kneaders the next day for lunch. Julie then took us up to Salt Lake to meet up with Steve's parents.
Shelly came to visit and meet Lynden and see how big Joe had gotten.
I love this girl! She is one of my bestest friends ever! We were roommates um...6 years ago and still keep in close contact. She is like a big sister to me and always has looked out for me. Can't say enough about how wonderful she has been. Thanks Joe for taking the picture!
Here's Bev, Steve and Brad ready to hit the slopes for the day. Joe was a little annoyed that his dad was stealing grandma for the day.
Random story, I got to hang out with my father in law for the day. I couldn't have asked for a better companion to help with the kids. I absolutely adore big Steve. I can talk to him about anything and usually I end up talking to him about everything by the end of our time together. He probably thinks that it's weird that I love him so much, but I just do! Anyways, he said I could go shopping and he would watch the kids in the car at the outlets, but I just wasn't in the shopping mood. We were driving past beautiful homes in Park City when I mentioned my cousin lived in Park City and I always wondered where (I've only been to Park City 2 times, I don't know why we didn't go when we lived there.) My sister went above and beyond to find Shawna's address, thanks Chels, and found where we were and then gave us directions. It took about a good 20 minutes out of Chelsea's studying time and we found her house. I ran up to her door and luckily she was home! She is so cute and her home is gorgeous! She let me take a tour which was super nice since I didn't even warn her I was coming. It was way better than shopping!
We were going to take Joe tubing, but missed the off ramp so we took him outside at the hotel to play in it. He was just as thrilled. Once again thanks Julie for the pants, gloves, and beanie.
He turns into quite the little attacker once he hits the snow. Here he is pummeling his dad with snow balls.
My cute boys playing in the snow
Joe was told he could have an apple juice for one more picture...Like Steve's shiny things on his jacket?! I don't know why I have no pictures with Brady, Lacee, Meka, or Beckham but we had a fabulous time eating out with them at Noodles and Company and Cafe Rio, and playing Sequence which Steve and I won every time :)
On Sunday we went and saw the Draper Temple. It was so beautiful! Little did I know my son was on his way to having a HUGE sugar rush from eating a ton of donuts on the way up to the temple. I just figured, powdered donuts he's had them before no big deal! Well on the way to Cabela's I learned what a big deal it would turn into. He had the biggest come apart I think he has ever had. I was almost right there with him when we were getting out of the car!
And windy, but still beautiful! Thanks dad for the St Andrews scarf, I finally got to put it to good use!
We took Joe to Cabela's where he got to feed fish...
look at fish...
some more fish...
and tons of big animals! We also had fun shooting and trying fudge. Thanks grandma and papa for coming to see us in Salt Lake!
Joe randomly wanted to have a dance party in the basement for Abby and Cassidy and once he found the light saber he threw that into the mix! It was hilarious! He didn't stop dancing for probably 20 minutes and I'm wondering where he got most of his moves!
Steve got to go skiing again with Julie and Jimmy and we hung out with Cass. We took a walk to Hogi Yogi and got some lunch. Cass was a good sport to hang out with us, especially since there were some little cuties that walked in that she knew! We tried not to embarrass her!
Cass is the best babysitter/helper/napper/buddy that Joe was so sad to have to leave. Thanks for taking Joe for the weekend!
Our last night there, Chandi, Preston, Madalyn and Cassidy came to visit. I love these little cuties!
I miss the teaching days with Chandi (kind of, I'd rather be at home with my cuties), but sometimes I miss teaching. Chandi is in the last home stretch of her pregnancy and is having a boy! Yippee!
Whit and Kevin came to visit also! Can you tell Joe is thrilled to be in a picture?! I love them, they are such a cute funny couple!
Here Aunt Julie loving on Lynden! Lynden is a pretty good baby, but she does really like me right now so going to someone else doesn't last for too long and they usually have to work to entertain her a lot harder than I do.
My sister in law is amazing. She is a role model of mine. Not only does she juggle having 4 kids and their activities, teaching a little girl, taking care of a monstrous house, cooking fabulously, loving my brother, having a life, she also took us in for this trip. She found the time to drive us around, cook us delicious meals complete with yummy desserts, take care of our needs that we forgot or didn't have room for, and let me talk her ear off about everything under the sun. If I ever moved back to Utah, she would be the #1 reason on my list of why I'd go. Love you!
O yeah, she also celebrated my 3 year old's birthday better than I did! Started off the morning with donuts and presents! He was a little shocked by the direct attention and was trying to ignore us singing to him, plus he was woken up early for us to get on the plane. Jim and Cass had to help him blow out the candles.
Here is the birthday boy complete with his yummy breakfast and red plate! I was soooo sad to leave!
Here is our exhausted boy at the baggage claim area. He fell asleep on the plane. Steve carried him and a carry on to the baggage claim while I carried Lynden's car seat and his carseat and my diaper bag. We were a sight to see. He stayed asleep in the baggage area, on the curb waiting for Steve to come get us and for 2 1/2 hours at home. He parties hard and then sleeps it off! Whereas our little girl had a HUGE HUGE blowout the second we sat down on the flight. It was a major project to change her in the row! Luckily we could laugh about it and luckily I had my husband with me to help! She was ok on the flights, but was a little fussy for about the first 20 minutes. She'd cry off and on and I was a little stressed, but she always feel asleep quick. All in all, it was an awesome trip! I love seeing our families and I love when Joe gets to be around his cousins and have play time!

Joe started preschool

I started my baby in preschool last week! There is this cute lady in my ward, Miss Wendy, and she does it right out of her home twice a week. I usually don't do very much here in Phoenix so I knew I'd be able to commit to 2 mornings a week, until I realized how early it was! We have a hard time getting up and going by 9:00 so Wendy gets to see me in all my morning glory :) The first morning when I left him, he was holding my hand SOOO tight saying quietly with little red eyes (but no tears), mom, you are NOT leaving me, you are NOT leaving me here...This little boy named Eric walked up and was trying to take his hand, which freaked Joe out even more, and said really nicely, yes, your mother is going to leave you for preschool :) The first time was a little traumatic for both of us, more for me, but Thursday was fabulous and he is really excited for tomorrow.
I asked him to show me the backpack. This was a challenge for me, Steve and Joe to pick out. I don't really like characters so I was the mean mom saying no to Elmo, Diego and Batman. Batman was almost ok with me, but I wanted a Jansport one to which Steve said, Jen, get real it is bigger than he is. There is no way Miss Wendy is asking for that many supplies. So we found a good middle, a Transformers backpack. I like the colors and it isn't too overwhelming and it holds everything.
Here is his cute little desk with his picture on it to help him remind him where he sits. It reminded me of the good old days teaching with Chandi :) and the cute kids we had in our class
Here is right before the 2nd day, much more happy, much more excited and looking pretty handsome already to go see Jessica (Miss Wendy's daughter.) Here are to 2 1/2 hours 2 times a week I get to exercise, shower, or just hang out with little miss Lynden and my son gets to have some friends besides me!

Once again we had cousins in town!

Yay! Uncle Tom, Aunt Jill, Eric, Becky and Katy were in town and we got to go to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It was delicious, of course, and after about a half hour Joe warmed up to everyone and even asked Katy to take him to the bathroom. Thanks Katy for helping out since I was feeding Lynden!
Here is Katy, Becky and Lynden! I love it when Steve's family comes into town, which is sometimes often since they live in freezing Canada. It makes me almost like Arizona. Tell Kenny we missed him!

Lynden 2 & 3 months

I didn't start a blog until Joe was almost a year so I probably will never be to date with the monthly stats. We had Lynden's 2 month appt. right before we went to California and here were her stats: 22 3/4 in long (75th percentile), head 15 (25th percentile), and 10 lbs 11 oz (50th percentile). I could have the height and weight percentiles mixed up because it was a month ago, but I think I'm right.
Lynden really started smiling around 6 weeks. She has the sweetest little smile and will crinkle her nose and open her mouth up super wide if she's really happy. She has been a pretty good little baby, unless I eat chocolate or if her routine gets thrown out for the day she loses it, but sometimes when you are the 2nd child it happens!
Here she is at 3 months and her brother is starting to be pretty good with her. He isn't ignoring her as much and loves when she comes to get him airplane style. I'm sure she has grown, but we aren't going to the doctor until her 4 month appt because of flu season etc. Plus the doctor thinks that since she is my 2nd I aready know what I'm doing. :) I don't think I will ever know what I'm doing. I still have dumb little questions and concerns, but I'm trying!
Lynden LOVES taking baths in her little tub and has recently been introduced to some rain which she really liked. I thought she was swallowing so much air/water as we were running out from Wal Mart, but as I was buckling her in, she was as happy as could be. She still adores her brother and is always smiling at him. She is a mama's girl. I could be holding her on my hip with her back against me doing stuff around the house and she's fine and content. I give her to anyone else who tries to entertain her and she wants me. It makes me feel good and wanted, but I bet it won't last for long! We love you little girl!

Happy 3rd Birthday Joe!

I can't believe I have a 3 year old! Happy Birthday Joe! We absolutely love having you in our family. We have loved watching you develop into a sweet, caring, sensitive little boy. I can't believe how smart you are and am amazed at how much you know. You are such a good big brother and Lynden loves everything you do! You have quite the sense of humor and I wonder sometimes where you learned to act the way you do. You are the perfect mix of your dad and me, having a little bit of stubborness and sassiness in the mix. You LOVE being around family and are always entertained by your wonderful cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. From a young age you knew everyone by name and look forward to vacations to see family. I love that you love reading and being read to. You love the park, dancing around, shooting, playing with light sabers, trains, cars, and singing sweet little primary songs. Hopefully one day you won't be so shy and be more social, but as of right now you run to us when kids get too close that you don't know very well. It takes 5 minutes for you to warm up to people. As much as you love your mommy and let her know it often, daddy is your best friend and you can't wait for him to get home from work. You enjoy playing hide and go seek with him, baseball, tennis, and soccer. You are the light of my life and I am so lucky to be your mom. I thought you were the hardest baby ever, but now that I have another one, I'm thinking I had no idea what I was doing so I probably brought on the difficulty myself. I think you are a pretty easy toddler. You can sit in a car ride for 7 hours and watch movies and I don't feel like pulling my hair out by the end of it. Airplane rides are the same, you only ask for more peanuts or pretzels. Laughing is what you do best. It isn't very hard to make you laugh and you think I'm a pretty funny lady. Lately you have had a mind of your own. You tell me what you want to wear, what radio station to listen to, what you want to eat, and if you don't want to eat it you tell me Grandma Sue is coming to pick you up. You adore your Aunt Chelsea (your snoopsy poopsy, Chelsea Belsea) and think that you are going to go to school with her one day, which the day will come very soon that you will get to start preschool. You think you need to check your email once a day, you can call family by yourself, and you take pictures with my camera by yourself. I love that you sleep fabulously even though it took awhile to get to that point. It is fun for you to go shopping with mom even when it's a rainstorm outside and you have recently discovered that you like the snow. I hope that you love us for a long time and stay sweet! Today you looked at me and said, "Mom, here is my pinky and my pointer finger, and they are saying I love you!" All you were missing was the thumb (sign language I love you), but it was the sweetest thing. You got more calls for your birthday today than anyone else I know and they were all from your family and a bunch from my friends. You are loved by everyone to infinity and beyond! Happy Birthday Joe Bo bear! We love you the mostest!

Erin and Michael's wedding

My good friend, Erin, married her high school sweetheart of 10 years when I was in Valencia. I was so excited to get to be there. Here are Amber and I with Erin, love these girls!
If I was to marry Steve again, I would lose 30 pounds and ask to borrow Erin's dress. I LOVED her dress. It was absolutely gorgeous and her hair was beautiful and the fact that she has no hips or stomach did awesome for the dress too.
Here they were for their first dance...Her colors were really pretty also
Here she is with her sweet dad
I caught a sweet moment of them watching Michael dance with his mom...Dayna (her sister) with her husband, Hadyn (her brother), Steph (her mom) and her dad.
Since Steve had to work Lynden got to be my date and we tagged along with Grandma and Grandpa while Joe got to hang out with Uncle Ben and Aunt Chels. It was such a nice wedding, thanks for babysitting guys! Yes, I do dress my child at the beginning of the day. By afternoon one item is off and by night time underwear will be the only thing on!

Hanging out after Christmas

The boys did some golfing...my husband beat everyone! Good job babe, I knew there was a reason we lived in Arizona, it was to make your golf game better!
Joe was disappointed he didn't get to go to the New Year's Eve dance with his rockin' uncles!
We went to the park and had races down the slides
While this little angel enjoyed swinging
Joe actually tried the swings for the first time, he has always screamed when I put him in
Loving his sister
Loving his grandma
And he got the hang of it and was able to be pushed higher and higher
My cute friends came to visit...Pax and Meag
Meag and Linds
Heather, Brooke, Gidget and Zoey
Lynden got ridiculous amounts of attention
As did this cutie...Here is the story on his nose. I was playing tennis with Steve against Chelsea and Ben. JK and Ben were watching our kids waiting for their turn. They got sick of waiting so they helped Joe get in his stroller and tip it over! JUST KIDDING! Joe got in and said, "Look mom, I'm being a baby!" Within the next couple minutes he tipped it over, fell flat on his face and JK and Ben got their turn to play. :) His nose was bleeding, mouth was bleeding, and I was a nervous wreck. Luckily no teeth were knocked out and nothing was broken, said Dr. Dad. So we just had to look at a sad swollen nosed boy for a while.
Uncle Ben made him an awesome fort to play in that was injury free
We went bowling for a good family friend's birthday. I love this couple! They are so cute and they have always been so nice to our family!
Will the ball ever get there?
Grandpa trying to calm down Lynden who was totally off her routine
I am hair challenged. Chelsea on the other hand has no challenges, no weight challenges, no style challenges, no hair or make up challenges and wanted to do my hair like Marilyn Monroe. My hair actually looks just like a picture we found of her and Chels did an awesome job. Steve loved it, I thought it made my face look even fatter, but thanks Chels! It was great to feel pampered!
We ate at Macaroni Grill, delicious. I love my family!
JK helped Joe shoot in the backyard. He likes to hunt stuff like rabbits since they poop so much and it kills our grass or birds with his friends and Joe was sad he couldn't go with the big boys! One day buddy!