Graham is 1!!

This year has FLOWN by! Graham is already 1. I can't believe it! It feels like he was just a new snuggley little baby and now he is a big jabbering, climbing boy. We are so glad that we have him and his big eyes!

He has such a sweet personality. 

He loves to snuggle anything that is soft. 

He is always smiling! 

He LOVES to eat. His favorite thing is Mac-n-cheese.

He always needs to be doing whatever his big brother is doing! They really love each other. I love watching them together.

Like his brother, he loves to play in the dirt. 

He has the cutest smile!! 

He has NO teeth. (:

He loves getting drinks. 

He is a little trickster! He does funny little things-- he will take a bite and then spit it out and laugh like he thinks he is so funny.

I can't imagine our life without him! He brings so much joy into our home. We love our sweet Graham-bo!

{{Prepare for picture OVERLOAD! He is just TOO cute!!}}

 

 

Our summer so far= DIRT!!

These are true boys! They both LOVE dirt. Everywhere we go Stu asks-- "Do they have dirt? Gravel? Sand? or just concrete?"
Stu knows all and I mean ALL trucks by name. He knows everything from dump trucks, and bulldozers to skid steers, excavators, combines and even trackhoes. Yea I thought that was made up too!
--One of the times we visited Grandma and Grandpa Jones in Rexburg this summer we went to see some trucks that were working close to their house. I asked Stu what a truck was called that I didn't recognize and he said it was a trackhoe. Thinking he had made that up I told my Mom that he must not know. Well she asked one of the construction workers if there was a such thing as a trackhoe and he said "yea, that is one right there." Pointing at the truck Stu had already labeled of course!! He is sure smart.--

We have lots of truck talk around our house--

 "No that's not a fuel truck Mom, It's a tanker truck!"  

"Mom, that is a front end loader not a tractor." 

 "How many cars are on that car transporter Mom?"

"Watch out the crane is lifting Mom."

 

 

Stu is also a real sweet gentleman! {{Most of the time}}

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

 

 Mother's Day has a whole new meaning to me now that I have kids of my own. I am starting to understand now, what being a Mother really is. I appreciate things that I have never noticed before and am bewildered at things that my Mother has done. Mothers do more than I ever knew. They love more than anyone else can love. Mothers try harder and stress more than is humanly possible. And, it is GREAT! I love being the Mother to the two greatest boys. Thank goodness for my wonderful Mother and Mother-in-law for their examples of what a Mother should be.

Hope you had a great Mother's Day!!

What really matters!

Why are we as women SO hard on ourselves??  We are. We know we are. But it seems that we just can't help it. 

As women we GET to have babies, a wonderful bundle of joy AND an extra 20 lbs. Having that little extra can make us feel so insecure and unattractive. We just want to be back to the way we were before, but there is no way we would give back what that 20 lbs. got us. The sweetest, most wonderful blessing we could ever receive! 

So what do we do?? We feel bad about ourselves. We now have less {NO} time to go to the gym. We are getting less sleep, meaning no energy or motivation to get out and run.  We are more stressed handling new experiences, causing our chocolate intake to shoot through the roof!  We just want to sit on the couch during nap time and watch the food channel. And, no way do you want to fold those clothes that are piling up next to you! {Can you tell I am speaking from experience?!!}

YES, my baby is 10 months old. But let's be real-- WHO CARES how old your baby is! 10 months or 10 years. It is SO much easier to gain weight {especially when it is involuntary} than it is to lose weight. It is definitely not a 9-month-on 9-month-off situation!

There are a few things that I have learned in the last few weeks. My husband found this website created by two girls that he went to high school with. I thought it was awesome and volunteered to share/teach about it to the Young Women in my ward. As the date came closer I realized that I was going to be teaching these YW about self-esteem and their Divine Worth when I wasn't even recognizing my own. How was I going to do this?? Well, I wasn't unless I changed my opinion of myself. 

I listened to this talk and learned that I needed a drastic change in my attitude!  This is my new favorite quote {from the talk}--- “You can’t live your life worrying that the world is staring at you. They are not! When you let people’s opinions make you self-conscious you give away your power. … The key to feeling [confident] is to always listen to your inner self—[the real you.]”

I was finally able to step back and look at my awesome life and my AMAZING two boys and realize how much I have, and that nothing else matters. Who cares if I can't fit into all of my old clothes. I can always get new ones! The important thing is that I am happy with myself so I can teach my boys to be happy with who they are. 

And, they are GREAT!!

When I am doing what I feel is right and what makes me happy without worrying what anyone else thinks, things are SO much easier. That must be the way God intended us to live!

I can't believe it...

Is this for real?? Are we really moving?

--We wont be in this 2 bedroom apt. for the rest of our lives?!
--I wont have to continue stuffing things in closets and on shelves after Christmas and bdays because we just have no more room!??
--I wont have to wash our bathroom rug once a week because there are ANTS in the bathroom and we have NO idea where they are coming from??!! (gross I know)
--We will [possibly] live somewhere where Stu will have room to run and play that is not a 4ft x 8ft. cement dungeon?!
--We wont have to worry about loud neighbors waking us up at night?? [Wishful thinking I know]

^^^Can you say drama?!! (:
Really, we have had a great 4 years in Utah. We have met some amazing friends and will miss our great ward. We have grown into new and better people and have learned many things that we will never forget. We are just SO ready and SO excited for the next stage of our lives to begin. Thank goodness we finally know where it will be!! It has been a lot of hard work applying to schools and a long time waiting, but now it all feels worthwhile!

My brainy-ach of a husband got into this school---

 

We will be moving here in August--- 

HALLELUJAH!!!

We are beyond excited and feel incredibly blessed to have this adventure in our future. Let the packing and stress of figuring everything out begin!

Baby Shoes

 

Aren't these the cutest shoe??!! 

 

 Make your own with this tutorial.

Walking!!!

This kid is just growing up WAY TOO fast!! He is already walking and trying to run around with Stu.

------APRIL FOOLS!!!------

He isn't really walking. ^^^^ This picture may or may not have been messed with a little! (:

BUT, Graham is CRAWLING!! So he is still growing way too fast and can get what he wants now.

Sorry, for the blurry photos but that is how it goes when you are figuring out how to crawl! He is a very cute little crawl/army crawler. Now he is going to get into EVERYTHING!