Catch Up

Man, it's been awhile since I've posted. Here is what's been going on in our lives. We moved from Arkansas to Arizona in May. For the summer we lived with my parents while Matt worked as an intern at a law firm in Mesa. We had a lot of fun visiting and playing with family and friends. In August we loaded up our stuff once more into a moving truck and headed down to Tucson. Matt had started his third and LAST year of Law School at the University of Arizona. He is currently looking for a law job, so if you know of anybody who is hiring let us know. ;) We both got called to serve in the Nursery and we love it! The boys and I have been discovering all the fun things to do in Tucson, like the Zoo, story time at the library, searching for near by parks, swinging in swings, the Children's Museum, looking at the puppies at the mall, etc., etc. August we celebrated Blake's 2nd birthday, and we are looking forward to celebrating Tyler's first birthday in a couple of weeks. Blake has become a real chatter box, he surprises me with new words he has learned everyday. I've learned that I need to watch what I say around him. :) Blake loves to read stories with anybody who will take the time to sit with him, and he loves coloring and being outside. Tyler has mastered crawling and is about start walking. He already took his first step a couple days ago. Tyler is learning a few words himself. Thanks to his brother Blake he knows how to say, "mine", and "no". He can also say, "ball", "what's that" "mommy", and "puppy". Tyler's favorite place to be is either in his high chair eating or being outside crawling around. Blake and Tyler keep me pretty busy, but I guess there are times when they think I am not busy enough, so they come up with ways to keep my time full. Like unraveling the toilet paper roll, or the aluminum roll or taking out every single wipe and stuffing it into their popping ball machine, opening mommies make up and using it as crayons, or coloring with pen on the leather couch, or taking food out of the refrigerator, or taking all the dishes out of the lower kitchen cabinets, etc. etc. We love life and all that it has to offer!

Fourth of July

Yummy birthday cake.

Staying cool.

Oh, my!

Blake's Prayer

We are trying to teach Blake how to pray. Just recently we were able to get Blake to repeat after us some of the prayer. This is how this morning's prayer went:

me: Dear Heavenly Father
Blake: Heavy Fader
me: We are grateful for this day.
Blake: A day
me: We are grateful for Grammie( I was going to say, and the breakfast she made, but...)
Blake: and Grandad...and Tyler...(starts singing) I love Tyler he loves me...
me:(trying not to laugh) in the name of Jesus Christ
Blake: I love daddy he loves me
me: Amen
Blake: I love Tyler he loves me.

I thought this was funny and I wanted to write it down before I forgot. At least Blake knows there's a lot of love in our family. :)

Happy Father's Day

I know this is a day late, but I wanted to say thank you to Matt, Dad, and Bob for being true men and influencing my life for the better.

Tribute to Arkansas

I meant to post this video before we left Arkansas, but we packed up the computer before I had an opportunity. I loved living in Arkansas mainly because of the amazing people we met and became friends with. I wish I had a picture of every person that touched our life, but I'm not the best at remembering my camera! We miss y'all in Arkansas. We can't wait for graduation so we can come back for a visit.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

This has been one crazy week! Here are a few things that have happened to us in the last couple days (I'll share the good part last, since it will make more sense that way):

The Bad: Got to the storage unit, that would be storing all of our belongings from AR while we are in Gilbert for the summer, after it closed so we couldn't unload the moving truck.

The Ugly: Not unloading the truck meant not being able to turn it back in on time. We would be charged for an extra day.

The Good: The man at the truck rental place (Budget) was very nice and didn't charge us after all!

The Bad: Blake got sick.

The Ugly: One trip to the doctor, after hours, costing a nice chunk of change. Then he threw up all over himself and me during Sacrament Meeting in Church.

The Good: Not one ounce of barf got anywhere on the Church bench or floor. (You know you are a mom when you would rather catch the barf in your hands then let it get everywhere making a harder mess to clean up).

The Bad: Our car was broken into.

The Ugly: Back window was shattered and a bag stolen.

The Good: One disappointed crook when he realized what he stole only contained some articles of clothing. (Warning all criminals: most everything we own is of little street value, but have importance to me and my family. So save both of us the hassle and leave my stuff alone).

I just keep telling myself, "In the Eternal Perspective of things life really is good!"

Humpty Dumpty

Yep, Blake had another fall! He fell into our computer desk and smashed his poor face! I feel so bad. Maybe I should put him in ballet to help him with his balance?

His lips were so huge that they reminded me of this guy...

Luckily Blake seems to heal really fast. You could never tell that he and the desk got into a rumble.

Braggin' on my baby

The other night my sister called me to tell me that her one and only child had mastered the art of rolling over. Of course I was excited that my ADORABLE little niece was developing so well. But I began to think about when Blake was my one and only child, and how every time he mastered anything: rolling over, smiling, laughing, first tooth...etc., I would be on the phone calling Matt at school, my sister, mom, anyone who would listen, and tell them what an amazing child I have. Then I thought oops...I really haven't done that for Tyler. I still get excited when Tyler gets the hang of new things, but I don't broadcast it like I did for Blake. So this post is dedicated to my baby.

Tyler is an expert at sitting up. He hardly needed any practice. One day I thought,"Huh, I wonder if he can sit up yet?" Low and behold he could. He soon was bent in half and his nose was touching the carpet, but hey he could do it. Now he is a pro!


Tyler is an extremely happy baby. It is so easy to get him to smile and laugh. Even though he is only six months old (soon to be seven) he is a peacemaker. Blake can be so grumpy (I think he has the 2year old attitude mastered pretty well) Tyler can cheer him right up, he can do the same for me when I am feeling grumpy (I think I have the frustrated mother of an almost 2year old attitude mastered pretty well). He also has been sleeping 12hours a night since he was 10 weeks old. WOW! What a kid, eh?

Tyler loves the sound of his voice, and really likes the "ba ba" sound. He can also clap, not on cue or by imitating, he just likes to smack his hands together. He loves solid food especially bananas. He loves to be sung to. His favorite song is "The Little Green Frog" , thanks Uncle Ben for teaching us. Like his older brother he loves to go outside, and loves taking baths.

Tyler is a big boy and is wearing the same size diaper as his older brother. They even share pajamas once in awhile.

I am so grateful that Tyler is a part of our family. I love him so much and I feel very privileged to be his mommy.