the time when he ran and I didn't

Another half marathon was run last weekend. This time, Travis ran and I stood on the sidelines and cheered him on. While I think I have a pretty good excuse for not running, I have to admit that seeing all those runners cross the finish line gave me just a twinge of jealousy. Not that I was really wanting to run 13 miles (3 is about my max these days, and that's with some stopping in between), but I was jealous of the high I knew they were feeling as they crossed that finish line. My time will come again soon enough and for now, I was so proud to be cheering on the hubs.

As Beck watched all the runners, he insisted on running down the trail too. The problem was, he kept getting in the way and wasn't quite sure how to keep from getting trampled. So I made him get off and told him he could run on the grass instead.

Well, that's how he felt about that option. I let him get his little tantrum out and when it was done, my little brother turned things happy again by introducing him to potato bugs.

Austin found one for him, gave it to him to hold and he came running towards me saying "Look Mommy, a crab!" (the last time he went searching for little creatures was on the beach in San Diego.)

Look at that little grin...only a boy would have a look like that as something is crawling on his hand.

Thank goodness for uncles (and aunts) who help entertain my child and give me a break from chasing this guy all around!

all about Beck

I figured it was about time to do a post all about my darling little buddy. Mainly because he is at such a fun age right now and it doing things daily that make us laugh and that surprise us. I need to make sure I get those little things written down. So here are some random things to note about him at 2:


- He insists on helping with everything we're doing: cooking, cleaning (he's great about cleaning up his toys, putting his clothes in his hamper, throwing away garbage, etc), buckling his car seat, getting dressed, you name it, "Beck wanna help". And he's constantly telling us what a "good helper" he is. It's quite cute.

-When he sees me (or Travis, or Cooper), he always says "Hi Mommy, how ya doin?" Even if it's only been 30 seconds since he's last seen me. Brings a smile to my face every. single. time.

- He has become quite the affectionate little one. He now will randomly run up to us, hug our legs, and give us a kiss. Of course we eat it up. He also will now ask to "nuggle". The other day I was making lunch and he came into the kitchen, wrapped his arms around my legs and said "Mommy nuggle pleeaasse?" This one has never been a snuggler, so when he asks, I drop anything to get some nuggle time.

-He still has his "bo bo"- that nasty blue fleece blanket that he is so attached to. Ever since we took away his binki, he chews/sucks on his bo bo instead. He mainly does it when he's tired, but it makes that thing so, so distgusting. I've joked that that is the reason why he's never sick....that blanket has got to be infested with so many germs.

-His main loves right now are trains and dinosaurs. I was amazed at how quickly he learned how to put his train set together. I'd actually say the dinosaur thing is more of an obsession. He knows the names of most of them too.

-He counts to 20, can sing the ABCs, and can recognize about half of the letters. Smart boy this one is.

- I'm amazed at the things he picks up on and remembers. I swear everyday he is coming up with the most random things...Travis and I are constantly wondering "where did he learn that?"

-Some of my favorite phrases of his: "C'mon Mommy, I show you", "Mommy, I want ____" has turned into "Mommy, I need ____", "Mommy, I be right back. See you later!", "Wanna carry you Mommy", "Mommy, I hiding" (when he's getting into something he knows he's not supposed to)

Some of his loves right now (besides trains and dinosaurs) are skittles, spoons (what the random), balloons, horses, dirt, Thomas, TV, sidewalk chalk, and ice cream.

We sure love this little guy. He entertains us all day long and is always making us smile!

Beck has something he wants to show you

Can't see it? That's probably because he wasn't being too cooperative. Here's a better look at what he's supposed to be showing off:

His baby sister!

This pregancy so far in numbers....

17- weeks current gestation

2nd trimester

23- of March, due date

5- pregnancy tests I took before I finally got a +

4- days late when the + showed up

1- days it took for me to start feeling sick (lucky me)

0- times I threw up. Much better than with the 1st.

2.5- years apart these two will be

3- average number of times I get up in the night to pee

10- weeks along before we told our families

16- weeks along before we told everyone else (that's the way to do it, it's gone so fast already!)

o- pounds I've gained so far (we're hoping to keep that number much lower than the 1st time around)

We couldn't be more thrilled to be adding a little lady to our family!

summer recap + picture overload

I'm afraid our summer has ended- what is up with 80's one day, then two days later snow?!! Doesn't mother nature know I need some gradual easing in here? Anyway, I digress.

We had a fabulous summer. We thoroughly enjoyed every park outing (and there were many!), every BBQ, every mountain excursion, and every get together with friends.

Looks like I'll have to relish and reminisce in these pictures until next summer when I finally thaw out

(It may have taken all summer, but I think these two have finally figured out how to get along!)

(our first and last hiking trip with our 30 lb child...it's not so fun to lug that much weight up a mountain, just ask our husbands)

(Love the gentle hand on her face....he's got the moves already)

it's good to be 2

Our little guy turned two the end of August. He was completely spoiled of course, its a little hard not to when he's the sole recipient of our affection! We decided to start a tradition of sneaking into his room early in the morning and filling it with balloons for him to wake up to (don't worry, they were out of reach until he woke up). He thought that was pretty cool, and was thrilled to play with the balloons all day.

He also got to eat a cookie for breakfast, which he couldn't have been happier about. That night when we took him over to my boss' house to ride his pony. That boy hopped right on without any hesitation and knew just how to sit, and just where to put his hands. A total natural. He was in heaven. We finished the evening with "i ceam" (ice cream) where he took full advantage of eating spoonfuls of everyone's bowls.

The fun continued with a little dessert party with our family and friends. I kept it super simple and did homemade ice cream sandwhiches- chocolate chip, double chocolate and sugar cookies along with strawberry, vanilla, chocolate, and mint ice cream. They were yuummmy, but sadly I didn't get any pictures of them *sigh*.

Beck requested an "angy birds" cake. Yes, my two year old is already obsessed with the game. Whenever anyone would ask him about his birthday, his first response was "angy birds cake!"

(don't mind his poor scraped up face...he hit the pavement face first earlier that day, poor guy)

Oh man, this boy brings so much joy into our lives. Trav and I are constantly turning to each other and saying how cute he is. I sometimes find it hard to believe that after two whole years, he still keeps getting cuter and cuter. Happy Birthday little buddy!

a weekend favorite

I really shouldn't get behind on blogging, because once I do, it's so much easier to keep putting it off. And keep putting it off.

I have quite a bit I need to catch up on- finish San Diego, playdates, oh and did I mention my son turned 2?- but for now I couldn't resist posting my favorite picture from the weekend:

Beck sustaining our church leaders with Daddy during conference.

There are so many things about this picture that I love. One, it's of my two favorite boys. Two, I love the look on Becks face- he's so pleased with himself. Three, despite the occasional "No prophet, wanna watch Einsteins", my two year old did learn something. And that makes me proud.

I'm considering this my official hop back on the blogging bandwagon. Hold me to it ok?

san diego {part 3- excursions}

The San Diego Zoo, Sea World, Mormon Battalion, and Oldtown were all on our to-do list. Here's my run-down: the zoo was awesome, but HUGE. We barely got through half of it in a day; if we were to do it again, I'd skip Sea World. There were definitely some cool things to see, but little ones are done after an hour or two and it is too expensive to not stay for longer; the mormon battalion was really pretty neat. they do a cool interactive presentation and then have all sorts of hands-on activities for kids at the end; with kids, I'd skip Oldtown. However, that afternoon the girls sent the boys home with all the kids and we got to spend a few hours shopping!


Beck struggled not getting his usual naps. Thanks to his reclining stroller, we at least got an hour or so of sleep in to hold him over. I don't know what we would have done without it!

Beck wasn't the only sleepy one.

Mmmm, churros. A theme park necessity.

Can we say tourist?

All the cousin monkeys (minus little baby Kate)

Too bad we saw the plastic aprons AFTER Beck had already gotten himself soaked!

Sweet baby Kate. I think this is the only picture I got of her...its a shame cause she's so dang cute!

These two mean business.

Mimi with all her grandchildren watching a movie.

It's a good thing he woke up just in time to see the "elsaphants"...he had been talking about them all day!

Apparently, that stroller nap just didn't cut it.

At the end of the day, we let him choose a stuffed animal from the gift shop. His name is Bones and Beck has slept with him everynight since.

Part 4 (the final one!) coming next.