January Recap...

Well, I can hardly believe January has already come and gone!  Time certainly isn't slowing down AT ALL!  In short, here is a quick recap of our January events:

• January has been FrEeZiNg (to say the least!)  We have had a very cold Winter here in Utah, and boy does our gas bill show it - $135!  I think that is a record for us!  We are looking forward to a week long rendezvous in St. George later this month, woohoo!  Hopin' it gets a little warmer down there too so we can enjoy some fun in the sun!
• Our ward split :-(  There are a lot of wonderful people that I will certainly miss seeing each week at church...but growth is good and our ward was getting huge!  With that change, I got a new calling.  I am now serving in the Young Women's...and loving it!  It is a small group of girls, but the ladies I serve with our so wonderful.  I'm starting to get to know the girls more and understand my responsibilities.  I also taught for the first time last week and really enjoyed it - not sure if it was any good, but I sure loved studying the Gospel more than I have for quite awhile.  Looking forward to "Baptisms for the Dead" and "New Beginning's" this month.
• We were all sick for 1-2 weeks this month.  It just did not want to leave us alone!  In fact, Steve is back to Instacare tonight to have his throat swabbed to make sure he does not have strep again.  He's had a sore throat for several days - no kissing for us!  I do not want that stuff back to save my life!  Seeing Jake sick was definitely the worst part.  Hate to see that little boy struggle with anything.
• Speaking of Jake...he is now 18-months old and is officially a nursery goer!  The first week was a little rough leaving him - and he cried and cried to prove it... But last week was great!  I stayed with him through Sunday School and snuck out to teach my YW lesson during snack time - perfect time to leave, I guess, cause the leader's said he did great the rest of the time.  18-month pictures soon to come!
• Because Jake turned 18-months, we got another appt with Dr. Dreamy :)  Jakey had a little growth spurt this past 3 months.  He was 26 lbs (50th percentile) and 34 inches (90th percentile)...his head is still ginormous, but following the curve, so no concerns.  His health seems to be great and he continues to develop just as he should.
• I started Weight Watchers on January 2nd :)  I haven't focused on me too much lately, and my health has suffered.  Balancing the mom/work/wife/home/church stuff can be overwhelming at times...but I need to fit in some time for my own physical/emotional/spiritual development - so that is one of my goals this year!  So far, so good.  I'm down 11.2 pounds the first month.  I'm excited to go with my cousin and also check in with several friends each week - it's good to encourage one another to live better, healthier and happier lives!  I keep thinking, 11 pounds a month and I could be done in less than a year!  But, even if it slows down a little, I feel really committed to feeling better - AND, I'm posting about it, so anyone that reads can give me some extra encouragement!
• With the change in my eating habits have come some new endeavors in our eating world...a first for me was trying brussel sprouts...and I really liked them!  So did Jake!  In fact, here is a fun video of him chowing down on some.  And a few pics of his messiness.  This boy is adorable!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDuNyyBSKQI

• But, with all that we have done, we have still managed to have some FUN! Here are some pics of Jake having fun getting stuck in our dining room chairs, LOL!

• Here's to another fun-filled month!  And a few more pictures of Jake (oh, I forgot, he also had his 2nd haircut this month - these cute pics are a few days after his cut!)...

Christmas Day - 2012

Our Christmas was fantastic!  We had such a fun day.  It was a busy one.  We started off the morning with presents at our house.  It was fun to see Jake's face light up over each new toy he saw.  He didn't get the "opening" part of presents, but once we opened something for him, he wanted to play with it right away.  It took awhile to open everything because he wanted to play with each thing as we went along.  We headed to Bountiful for lunch at G&G Lewis' Home with my side of the family.  Then later that afternoon we enjoyed dinner at Aunt Cheri's Home with Steve's side of the family.  Some of the things he received this year - Little People (Farm & Noah's Ark), a lot of cars, some new books, a few balls, blocks, slippers, clothes, Elmo Rocks doll, Leap Frog games, some yummy treats, and some other various toys.  Our family and friends were very generous and loving towards our Jakey.  Grateful for all of them and the happiness found on our little boy's face at each new thing he received. 

I can't help but feel eternally grateful for a loving Savior who knew our wants, needs and desires and blessed us with this amazing little boy.  He has been such a joy in our lives.  We can't imagine life without him and certainly look forward to many more wonderful moments together!

Christmas Eve - 2012

Can't believe Christmas has come and gone.  This year has seriously gone by SO FAST!  We enjoyed the time we had together as a family.  It's very nice to spend time with one another.  I love not worrying about work and just getting to be Jake's mom and Steve's wife...very fun!  We had a pretty low-key Christmas Eve.  Utah decided to welcome Winter and we got a lot of snow.  But, we took advantage of it!  That morning, Steve woke up and made us all waffles.  Oh boy, what a mess!  Jake enjoyed every bite, and I took him to the bath immediately following him devour his breakfast.  He had syrup everywhere - in his hair, on his jammies, up his arms, and all over the table. It's hard for me to let go and just let him be a 1-year-old boy, but I let him be and just enjoyed watching him "try" to feed himself (which he wants to do all the time now!)

Then the storm rolled in and we enjoyed the warmth and comfort of our own home - lovely fire, snuggling with our cute boy - a great day if you ask me!

Once the weather calmed down a bit, we got all bundled up in our snow gear and headed for Grandma's House.  Jake and I played in the snow while Steve plowed my mom's drive-way.  This was Jake's first time in the snow and for the most part seemed to really love it!  He wasn't afraid to walk or crawl around in it and just acted pretty intrigued with it all.  Glad he loved it, since it tends to do that a lot in Utah :)

After playing outside, we headed back to our house - my mom joined us for dinner and a movie!  We got Jake in his Christmas jammies.  Jake watched Finding Nemo while we enjoyed Pitch Perfect (again!)  Afterwards, Jake got to read a few stories with Grandma before going to bed.  I think we were all in bed by 10pm!  I know it will get harder each year, but this year was just fun and easy!

Jake's Temper-Tantrum - 12/23/12

Today marks the date for Jake's first official temper-tantrum!  Oh man, was this kid ornery!  Not ornery, like I'm sick...but ornery like I'm just ticked and there is nothing you can do about it!  I was actually trying to get some cute pictures of him in his Sunday duds, but they ended up just being whiny, crying, mad pics.  Oh well, nothing a short trip to Grandma's and dinner at McDonalds couldn't solve :)