Jeff's Birthday Celebration!!

The boys were pretty insistent that Daddy have a cake & party. And since we had done the big part of Jeff's birthday as a date with the two of us, we figured they deserved to be in on some celebrating too! 

I made a cake that Jeff likes better than others (spice cake) and we did the whole singing she-bang.

It was simple and sweet and just right. (according to Jeff!!)

Singing to daddy:

I love how you can see West helping in the corner:

Ryder was SO funny, he didn't know what to think of the candles: 

Then we gave Jeff his gift from the boys:

We made a cars track t-shirt**!! Then the boys each picked out their own car that goes with Daddy's shirt-  so the cars only come out with the shirt!! (that way they'll be excited about using it on the track)  I did the drawing and the boys picked the colors. Then they helped draw the lines on the road. It turned out really cute:

Giving daddy his car massage:

Ryder has discovered the joys of wrestling and rough housing. So seeing daddy on the floor pretty  much meant the car massage was over... 

and it quickly turned into a 'get daddy' session!

It was a hit, though, and next time maybe we'll try it when this crazy little man is sleeping. ;)

**idea via pinterest, found here.

Happy 30th Birthday Jeff!!!

My fabulous hubby turned the big 3-0!!  

I wanted to really make this birthday special...but let's face it, he's in school and working all day, every day and I'm pregnant with three kiddos at home. 

Life is busy.

So the week long trip to Hawaii will have to wait until an anniversary after he has graduated!  :)

In the meantime, we tried to do a bunch of fun things to let Jeff know just how much we love him.

He came down the stairs in the morning to 30 balloons attached to 10 of his favorite treats and 20 notes of things we love about him.  It was a fun little surprise:

The boys and I brought  him lunch at work. J-Dawgs for Jeff & I (his request, mmmm) and Mcdonalds for the boys. Perfect. It is always so fun to see him in the middle of the day!! 

Ryder parked himself in a desk and was so cute sitting there:

Jeff helped the boys put together their toys, they were pretty thrilled:

Playing in Dad's classroom is always fun. Ryder decided this ball was the best seat:

And West & Tave's favorite activity is always drawing on the board:

We brought the 20 balloons with notes so Jeff could read them throughout the day:

I made Jeff's favorite dinner for when he got home. And I told him I would make ANY dessert he wanted.

Since he's not a fan of cake, he just wanted ice cream. 

Easy-peasy. We took the kiddos with us to Cold Stone to celebrate in style:

And of course he had to blow out at least one candle for those 30 years!

His gift from me was a long (8 hour!!) date on Saturday. 

(Thanks to Shawn & Abby for watching the kiddos in the day 

and Steph & Brett for the evening babysitter swap!)

I let Jeff pick what he wanted. So we:

Went to the temple, out to eat, and to a movie. We really wanted to pick up his present but it won't get to Costco until Feb. 3rd. So you know where we'll be that weekend, Jeff can't wait! :)

Happy Happy Birthday, Babe. 

You know how much I love you. 

23/40

Hey Baby,
You've grown quite a bit these last few weeks!
You are moving a lot and have definite 'awake' and 'asleep' moments.
Since you are most likely our last little bitty one, I'm trying to treasure every second of how this feels...having you inside of me. Every kick is a little reminder that you are here and you are already a part of our family.
We are working on picking a name for you.  We have it narrowed down to two, but just can't decide until we see your cute little face.  You want to know what they are?  Here you go:  Callen or Canon.  What do you think? I really wish you could tell us since we're kind of stuck. :) Oh well, we'll know soon enough, won't we?
I am feeling pretty good. You started out pretty rough on your mama, but now we're in the good stage.  Just growing and moving. I'm a little tired, but I've been trying to drink lots and lots of water for you and have decided you and I need to cut back on the sugar. We don't want you being a little sugar addict right from the beginning...so we're loading up on the leafy greens and trying to get in all our food groups.  We just want you healthy. :)
Your brothers are so excited to meet you and see what you look like.  They have definitely been noticing how you're poking out your mommy's tummy now and making your appearance. They really want to feel you kick, so if you could give some great big ones when I let you know the bros are around, we would appreciate it!!  :)
We love you, little man. And Daddy & I  can't wait to see how you fit into our family of boys!!
Love,
Your mama

Boys will be Boys!!

On the days Jeff gets home before the kids are in bed, he tries to rough house with them and get all the crazy boy energy out!!  They LOVE wrestling and playing with Daddy!!

Tavester wasn't feeling too hot that day, but he warmed up once the blanket spinning started.

 Oh, what is blanket spinning you say??  It is this:  

Weston is inside this one- they get going super fast and think it is the best thing ever!!

And here's Tave, he was a little easier:

Ryder waited so patiently for his turn, he was SO excited:

This kiddo is light, so he spun SO fast, I thought he would get sick:

He LOOOVED it!

and was VERY upset when Dad had to stop:

This has become a nightly favorite. Jeff will usually give the boys 2 rides each before bedtime. :)

Ryder- 18 months!

Oh my sweet little Ryder, where do I even begin.

This little boy is one spunky kid. He is so fun and full of energy.

The past 6 months have seen Ryder change from a baby to a toddler (& it is breaking my heart!)

Ryder stats:

Height: 32 inches

Weight: 21 lbs

Long and lean. I'm thinking he'll be the tallest of his bros.

Ryder loves:

Running- Everywhere.  He went straight from walking to running and hasn't looked back. Well, except to taunt me into chasing him. Of course.

His brothers - they are his favorite people ever. He laughs at them, he chases them, he's chased by them. Tickles, screams, wrestling, stealing toys. It all happens with his bros. It is magical and wonderful. I love it.

Books - This kiddo loves books. He will find one, back into my lap, and insist that I read it right then. And I do. 

Snuggles - He is a snugglebug to the max.  He grabs his blanket, lays it on my shoulder, and cuddles in. I am so glad that as busy as he is, he still likes to be held and cuddled often!! 

Binkie & Blankie - The sound pretty much the same when said with a toddlers vocabulary! He loves them, though, and can't sleep without them. 

Toothbrushes - He can reach into the bathroom drawer now when he stands on his tip-iest toes. He grabs his toothbrush, my toothpaste, and brings it all to me to brush his teeth.

Baths - He especially thinks that splashing is the funniest thing ever. Just like outside, he can't get enough of playing in the water!!

Being outside - Rare is the day when Ryder asks to come in. Usually I am dragging a (literally) kicking and screaming toddler back into the house. No amount of time running, exploring, and having fun outside is ever quite enough for him. 

Ryder facts

He has 10 teeth (I think, I'll check when he wakes up!) and eats pretty much anything we eat.

He has recently gotten really picky, but will try most things once. His fav. foods are cereal, oatmeal, apples, most fruits, carrots, and anything sweet (which we try to limit).

He sleeps great:  1 nap a day for 2-2.5 hours. And then bedtime at 7 -730 pm until about 7 or 730 am. 

He recently became attached to his blue stuffed dragon. SO adorable.

He is good at making everyone in our family feel loved. He rotates pretty equally between wanting me or Jeff. But when he makes up his mind, that is the only person who will do.

He is a super happy boy but when he gets mad, we ALL know it! He's very vocal when he's angry. ;) 

He is an excellent climber and thinks standing on tables, climbing over the couch, and jumping on the bed are the coolest tricks ever. (hmmm..wonder who he got that from...W&T?!)

He started folding his arms during prayer time (when he was about 14 months old) and loves to 'say' the prayer.

Ryder says:

He has started saying more and more words. We love hearing him express himself!!

Mama

Dada

Please (signs this)

Thank you

More (signs this)

Come here(and does a hand motion to get boys to follow)

Binkie/Blankie (sound the same)

Bye

Hi, hi, hi, hi (he usually repeats this when he sees the phone or to anyone in the store)

Eat and Drink (dink)
All Done (a-non)
No (sounds like net and shakes his head, cutest thing ever)

Ball (one of his favorite toys)

Weston, Tave, Ryder (these are all kind of jumbled, but he tries)

Love you

We love YOU, our sweet adorable Ryder!

I took his 18 month pics outside. Probably not the smartest, since he wouldn't slow down ONE BIT!! He also wouldn't look at me, he was having too much fun running away!!

Here he is checking to see if I was following:

 And now he's running away:

He loves to walk the perimeter of the playground (who needs slides when you can keep moving...)

Finding something interesting:

He stopped climbing the stairs for one sec to give me a grin, LOVE THIS BOY:

Name updated...AGAIN!

What can I say, I'm obsessed with figuring out a name for this guy. :)
We've officially narrowed it down to three.  Two from this list and one that I had forgotten how much I love. SO, take a sec to vote for your fav. :)

VOTE HERE!!

Thanks!

Girls Weekend in Texas

Jeff has had a pretty crazy semester with school and work. This doctorate thing will be worth it, but it sure is hard!!  He wanted to make sure I had a fun girl's weekend before the baby gets here. With his school schedule this semester, January ended up being the best time for me to go. So I was able to escape the Utah winter and head to beautiful Texas for a weekend with my Mother & Sisters (in-law). 

It was SO MUCH fun and such a wonderful wonderful break.

I had a great flight and was able to READ the whole time. Oh how I love books.

Mom (Jeanne), Amanda, Amy, & Rachel all picked me up and we headed to a hotel in downtown Fort Worth. After we checked in we went straight to dinner at Joe T. Garcia's.  It has the coolest atmosphere and is the BIGGEST restaurant I've ever been to. We have a picture of all of us in front of a fountain that I need to get from someone...I'll post it later! 

But here is the restaurant from outside:

Then we went back to the hotel, freshened up a bit and headed out to check out the town. Here's the view from our window:

After browsing the shops (and Barnes & Noble, LOVE) we headed back to the hotel where we celebrated Amy's & Rachel's Birthday with Nothing Bundt Cakes. Mmmmm.. Heaven on a plate.  

Then, of course, we stayed up late talking & laughing and talking & laughing. 

It was awesome!!

Since we were on the 10th or 13th (or something like that) floor, we had quite a few elevator rides.  So we had some fun with the elevator's ceiling mirror:

Saturday there was a rodeo in town, so we were able to watch a bit of the parade after breakfast:

And then we walked through a bunch of the shops. We had to get a pic in some cowboy hats, so fun:

So my jacket looks like a duster with that hat! Oh well...

We also went to the movies, shopped, and had a wonderful day together!!  

That night I stayed at Joe & Amanda's. Amanda & April through a surprise birthday party for Amy. It was a lot of fun to visit with friends and talk about books, all in celebration of Amy. We love you!!  

Sunday was nice and relaxing. I'm bummed I didn't take any pictures, but I had so much fun with Cole & Owen. They were super cute and had drawn me some pictures. Then, while I was getting ready, Cole had painted another picture and slid it under the bathroom door. Love it. :) I had so much fun playing games with them. I only wish my boys were there for the fun, too!!  

Sunday night I stayed at James & Amy's. They had all the family over for dessert. It is always so good to get to visit with everyone:

Joe, Amanda, Cole, & Owen

Cute Ava(we did some coloring and painting on Monday together. She is such a hoot, love this girl!):

Sweet little Nora was in bed, so I took this the next day (and got my fill of girl cuddles in while I could!):

The kids had so much fun playing with Guy & Sharon:

Love Grandpa & Grandma Dean:

Guy & Sharon:

Jonathan & Rachel stayed to hang out after the rest of the family went home. We played Just Dance on the Kinect and laughed our heads off. Pretty much the funniest night ever:

Watch out! Prego-lady busting a move (kind of scary!)

Monday was another fun day. We went to the Half Price Bookstore (love that place!!) and then met Mom & Dad for lunch.  Then we headed over to Jonathan & Rachel's cute new apartment.  They gave me a Cliff's Donut that I saved for Jeff (yes, this is important!!  And then we left for the airport, where I got in some more reading. ah, bliss. :)

It was a whirlwind trip that was such a great break and a wonderful reminder of just how much I love family. It was just the weekend I needed to recharge and gear up for this next semester of craziness!!  

I am so lucky to have such an amazing family on both sides.  I truly truly wish we lived closer  to any or all of them.  We had a few years close to siblings (the last ones leave in the spring, boo)...you don't realize, until everyone is far away, how much it meant to have them close.  We miss the visits, the quick stops to say hi, the babysitting swaps, the birthday parties with tons of family, and just having people around who you can rely on because they are family. Families are meant to be there for each other. Maybe for some people being far away is better, but not for me. I need family and it is has been so hard to have that slowly go away.  

In the meantime, we will especially enjoy our trips like this. 

They are jam-packed full of everything great & remind us just how much we love each other. 

Okay, mushiness over. 

I couldn't have gone on this awesome trip, without this man's help. The boys love Love LOVED their Guys' weekend with dad. They had a slumber party in the living room, tricked dad into TWO nights out to eat (Weston's doing), and were spoiled with his TIME. They have missed having him around, so it was an especially sweet weekend for them.

Thanks, babe, from every bit of my heart. 

It wasn't nearly a big enough thank you, but he did enjoy EVERY SINGLE bit of that Cliff's Donut!

Name update!

We haven't really narrowed it down, but we did take one off (Crew) and add a new one. 

So here's the new Final Five with his middle name:

Jace (Joseph)

Jett (Joseph)

Canon (Joseph)

Cam (Joseph)

Callen (Joseph)

Thoughts and suggestions are always welcome. :)