Another Update

Well, we finally have the Internet!! Yeah! Now hopefully I will be better at updating the blog.

We are really enjoying our time here in Arkansas. Matt recently finished his first semester of Law School and did very well in all his classes (They say it is the hardest semester). Before he finished we got a much needed break for Thanksgiving to visit family.

Thanksgiving started off with the Mesa Turkey Trot 5k. It has become a tradition with the Backus' to run the 10k. This year was the 4th year Matt and I have run together! Matt's brother Scott, sister Joni and her husband Tim all competed and did very well. This year I was able to convince some of my family members to join. My sister-in-law Jessica (she did awesome), my sisters Nicole, Nellie, Noelle, and Nellie's good friend Justine all came. I can't speak for them, but I know I had a really great time with them there.

After the 10k we went back home and enjoyed a wonderful meal my mom prepared and of course ate lots of pie. This was the first Thanksgiving my family has had with just the immediate family. (usually we have Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family which usually consist of 95+ people). During the break we also had a nice picnic with the Backus' and a fun game of kick ball. The break of course was way to short, and we went back to AR to finish off the semester.

The weeks flew by and we celebrated my birthday and Matt's completion of the semester. Next thing we knew we were back in sunny AZ! This vacation was a little longer and we had a wonderful time being with family.

Here is a list of just some of the things we did:

Made Gingerbread cookies

Went to Zoolights

Ate

Played Milles Bournes

Madyline's Baby Blessing

Ate

Taylor Family Talent Show

Acted out the Nativity

Shopping

Played Milles Bournes!

Played Scum

Saw National Treasure

Went to the Museum

Dance Parties

Ate

Played SCUM!

Played Milles Bournes!!

Made really really cute boxes

Played Scum!!

Amazing Jake's

Taking Noelle driving, Yikes! (JK, Noelle you did great)

Blake's first Christmas. Christmas day was spent with the Backus family.

All the grand kids opening up their presents from Grandma and Grandpa. They all got pajamas with matching flashlights. I thought that was a really cute idea and the kids loved it. They even gave us a pajama fashion show!

We also had a lot of fun with the Santa Pinata that Phil brought for the kids to break. He said that the kids could now get back at Santa if he hadn't brought what they wanted this year for Christmas.:)Grandpa Backus playing songs on his guitar.
Blake giving Grandma Backus lots of love and a big slobbery kiss!
Grandad holding his two grandsons, Carter and Blake.Blake meet his Great Grandma and Granddad Wyeth for the first time at the Wyeth family reunion.

My sisters and I had a girls night at Jen's. We thought Blake might have been feeling left out so we put on his cousins Addylin's headband to make him feel like one of the girls. (Matt hates this picture:))The headband thing didn't last to long and I think Blake felt a little more "manly" (according to his dad) and had a better time playing in this car.

Noelle turned sweet 16 on Dec. 27th. I can't believe she is old enough to drive and to date! She is a wonderful sister and a great example to me. To end Noelle's B-day celebration we had a Wyeth girl dance party!We had a great time in AZ and we can't wait to go back!

Side note: I'm sure you have noticed that our blog background keeps changing. I am just learning how to make my own backgrounds and I have some mixed feelings about the current one so don't be surprised if it changes a few more times. (Any tips about making cute blogs would be great!)

Family Pictures

This Thanksgiving weekend we had family pictures. I am sure it was a headache to the photographer (Jamie Hammond) to get everybody to look and to smile. I love my family and it was so great to spend Thanksgiving with them. We have so much fun together! It is amazing how fast my nieces and nephew have grown in just three months. I leave AZ tonight and I wish it was already time to be back for Christmas!!

Enchanted

Last night my family and I went and saw the movie Enchanted. It was super cheesy and silly and I absolutely LOVED it!! I think I could watch it over and over! If you like corny chick flicks you have to go see it. I don't think it is much of a guy movie because my dad repeatedly said, " I can't believe we spent money to come see this!" Thanks dad. I had a great time.

It's about time!

I am finally updating our blog! We have been with out the internet for awhile so I haven't been able to post. I am visiting my family for Thanksgiving and I thought I would take the opportunity to use their internet and let you all know what is going on in our lives!

Well, really things aren't that much different since the last update. Matt has been studying hard and is looking forward to the December break! He loves learning about the law and will come home and tell me what he has learned. Suddenly the judge shows on tv are more interesting to me now. Blake and I spend most of our days at home playing and enjoying each others company. Occasionally we get the car and we will take a trip to the store or the library. I have also made some friends with the other moms in our ward and we will get together for lunch, a movie, or just to visit.

Blake had his baby blessing during conference weekend. We were so happy to have our families come for the occasion. We had fun playing games, picnicking, going to the dam, and just visiting!

Matt's mom made Blake's blessing outfit. She did a great job and Blake looked so cute.
Matt and I have decided to explore Arkansas. We haven't discovered to much yet, but we had fun hiking Pinnacle Mountain. Some of the leaves started to change and it was beautiful! We tried out Blake's baby carrier for the first time and he did great. In fact he slept the majority of the hike.
Blake reminds me of a body guard in this picture.

Here are some weird mushrooms we found

Blake was a chicken for Halloween. I don't think he liked it very much, but I sure thought he was cute.

There is a place in Little Rock called the Old Mill. Some people restored this mill and planted trees and plants all around. It was really beautifully and apparently a good place for family pictures. I think there was at least 20 or more families there getting their picture taken.

Blake has been smiling so much. I love it and one little smile makes my whole day!!

Blake loves it when his daddy comes home and plays with him.

The Big Dam Bridge..

Here we are at the famous "Big Dam Bridge." We went there for FHE. It had a pretty view of AR!

Gotta love those CHUBBY Cheeks!!

I can't believe how big my little baby is getting! People used to comment on how little my baby was. Now I get comments like "wow, you have a big baby." or "At least we know you don't starve your child." I can't help but fall in love with his cute chubby cheeks! I am often guilty of kissing them constently! Blake is now starting to smile. I love to make him smile and I do all sorts of ridiculous things to try and get him to do so. Most of the time he just looks at me like I am crazy!

The most wonderful thing happened! Last night I only had to wake up with Blake once!! Usually it is three times! Oh, and that is not all! Lately, we have had a hard time with Blake and getting hime to take his naps. Today all I have had to do is swaddle him, give him his pacifier, and lay him down in his crib! He has had no trouble at all! I don't know how long it will last but I am loving it now!

Life in Arkansas

We have now lived in Arkansas for over a month! We are still getting adjusted to things but the more time goes on the more comfortable we feel. It rains here a ton and it has been really humid. However, lately the weather has turned really nice and the humidty isn't as bad. Matt is really enjoying law school and is studying really hard. I am even learning a little bit about the law! I am enjoying spending my days with Blake. Every now and then I get a little sick of the apartment, but I love being a mom. My favorite part of the day is when Matt comes home and spends some time with Blake. I love to watch him take care of him. I am so blessed to have these two guys in my life!

We went to Tennessee Labor Day Weekend to visit Matt's brother and his family. The morning after we got there ( at 6:30 am) his two nieces and one nephew one by one came into our room to help us out with Blake. They were so cute. They sang him Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and kept asking questions like "Can we push him in the swing?" or "Does he like me?" or "Why can't we touch his face?"

That Sunday afternoon we got a tour of down town Nashville. They had some really cool buildings and of course some "honky tonk" bars and clubs. We also saw the Titan stadium and I think it was the Missouri River (I could be wrong). They also took us up to this really high bridge that over looked Franklin Tennessee. The view was so beautiful. I really liked Franklin. It was so pretty and the homes there were amazingly beautiful!


I thought this was so funny the way all three of them could ride in the stroller!

This is what Blake did the majority of the trip. He slept most of the day and liked to be a night owl! We sure had a lot of fun!

We are had a lot of fun having Nicole here! Blake loves her and settled right down whenever she held him. I am so glad she is came and helped me adjust to being a mom. Unfortunatley, I almost killed her and Blake! I was taking Nicole to the airport early Monday morning and it was raining like crazy! When I took the exit towards the airport we hydro-planed and started spinning out of control off the freeway and into a ditch. My sister and I both thought the car was going to roll over but then all the sudden it felt like we hit something and the car came to a stop. I was so relieved that the car had stopped and that everyone was okay. Blake didn't even wake up. I was worried about what we hit and wondered how bad the damage was to the car. However, when I got out to look at the car there was nothing there and the car was perfectly fine! I know we were watched out for, and I am grateful for the Bishop and a Sean Call for towing us out and getting Nicole to the airport.

While she was here she gave us all haircuts. She even cut of Blake's mullet. He doesn't look so much like an old hick! (This is the before picture. I haven't taken a picture yet of his new hair style.)

He often has this worried look on his face. I hope it is not a reflection of my parenting. :)

It took me awhile to get Blake to sleep, but once he finally did he looked so cute and peaceful that I just had to take a picture. Unfortunately the flash woke him up!! I learned my lesson and I won't be taking any more pictures of him during his nap time!

Blake loves bath time! He just hates the part when he has to get out.