Chef in the making

I can't think of anyone that I know that is not very good at scrapbooking. Most people seem to be able to produce cute pages of memories for themselves and their families. Me, I just put pictures in an album and label them...and I'm 8 months behind in doing that. So I have come to terms with the fact that I'm not very good at scrapbooking.

I love looking at the finished product, but I am just not very crafty. That's why I was excited about this blog...so I could keep sort of a record about our lives. Well...my handicap in the scrapbook department seems to have slowly moved into my blogging. I was looking over the last couple of months of pictures, and I realized that it's been almost 4 months since I've put up any recent pictures. Don't get me wrong, I still think about different posts that I want to do, and take pictures accordingly...but I just haven't made the effort to put them together. So now I have a couple months worth of pictures and blog ideas that I would like to post. Why do I do this? Who knows. But I guess I have to start somewhere.


So, here are some pictures from August. Mason has always loved stirring things.

He also loves watching me cook, he goes crazy when he hears the oven or microwave timer go off because he knows that I will let him peek in and help decide if the food is ready. So....I took these pictures over a couple days...all in the same week. I know that they are kind of redundant...but I just wanted to show how intent he is. :)

As you can see, Mason likes to have a variety of ingredients for his stews. :)

Eyeball anyone? :)

Both David and I have the tendency to stick out our tongues when we're concentrating...looks like it's an inherited thing.

Relaxing



















































Once I let him sit up here to watch me cook, he decided that he has to be up there every single time I'm by the stove.

David once made a comment that made me laugh...he was like "does it kind of worry you that our son likes to dance and cook?" Haha...not in the slightest, he also plays with trucks and balls and loves to get dirty...I just thought it was funny how David put it.

I don't remember this happening....

A couple months ago, we took Mason shopping to get a new car seat. We wanted to make sure that it was, of course, safe, and that it had lots of padding and was comfortable for him. He had the funnest time sitting in all of the chairs at the stores, and we were excited for this milestone. It made me remember how tiny he was when we first put him in his infant carrier, and how much he has grown. Somehow, I don't remember him getting this big so quickly! Here is a pictorial history of Mason in his car seat, leading up to when he gets to face forward. I love seeing how much he has grown:

And here he is, in his big boy seat

Our growing family

I know that it must really be time for a new update 'cuz even David, who is vehemently anti-blog said that the last one has been up for a long time. :) Quite often I leave the computer open to our blog, it just makes it easier to check all of your blogs if I already have my blog up with all of the links to it. I also do this so that David will actually look at it, and I guess that worked. :)



So I decided that it's time to make the official announcement. A little while ago, I casually posted in the "About Me" section that we are very excited to welcome the 4th member of our family on April 7. I am nearly 11 weeks pregnant now and counting. I am not feeling as sick as I did with Mason...but my life is a lot different now, too. I realized that most of my nausea occurred on my drive home from work. I had a 45 minute commute, and rush hour traffic was just not good for my already carsick-prone stomach. This time around, I've still felt the familiar food aversions, if it's food other than Chick-fil-A, I have an aversion towards it, but it has been a lot more bearable. I do think that I am more tired this time around, though. Maybe being at work all day helped me to not notice it as much last time, though...and then when I got home, there was nothing I really HAD to do, so I got to sit and relax for the rest of the evening.



I had my first appointment at 8 weeks...and here are some of the ultrasound pictures:

It was wonderful to see the tiny heart beating away!




Isn't our baby cute? I think that he/she looks a lot like Mason did at that age. :)





Mason will be 22 months when the new one is born. This is almost the exact same distance apart that Diana and I and then Diana and Cindy were apart, too! We don't have any strong feelings whether Mason is going to have a brother or a sister...we would be thrilled with either. I'll put up a poll as our 20th week gets closer and see what you all think.

So that's our exciting news, we just know that Mason is going to be the best big brother and we are happy to welcome another precious one of these into our family: (This is Mason the day that he was born)

Escape Artist

Mason has become quite the little escape artist lately! Here are some pictures of when we went to the park about a month ago. There was a petting zoo and a train, so of course Mason had a great time! We were meeting some friends and got there first. Here is Mason, waiting for the fun to begin. :)











This is Mason and his friend Camden, they get to see a lot of each other from the view of the stroller. :)

Mason had a fun time chasing after the goats.
















After we had washed our hands, it was time for lunch. Usually, whenever there is food, I don't have too much trouble keeping Mason on the blanket. All of that green grass was just too inviting. I settled on keeping a watchful eye on him as he journeyed to different parts of the park.

You can tell from this picture that he is having a great time! I love this smile, he knew that he wasn't supposed to be running away...but how could I be upset when he was beaming so big?












He finally decided that he would sit still for Dorito's...but I don't think that I will bring those again, at least for awhile. He was covered in orange by the time he was done! Here he is sharing the Dorito's with Carson...well, kind of sharing, he tried to take the chip Carson was eating out of his mouth! I guess we'll have to work on this sharing thing.













A couple of weeks later, we went to my brother, Michael's, baseball game. Mason wasted no time in getting to know the area.
















Good thing Uncle Daniel was there to keep an eye on him!

My obsession

I'm having trouble formatting this post, and the best way seemed to make bullets...sorry I know that's kind of weird. :)

I sit down to right this post as sort of a confession. For the past 6 days, I've been totally and undeniably addicted...addicted to a world of vampires and werewolves. All because of this simple book: twilight, by Stephenie Meyer.

• It seemed innocent enough at first. I had read on a lot of other blogs and heard from friends that this book was very good. So, when I was spending a gift card at Deseret Book and saw this book was on sale, without thinking much about it, I decided to get it. I was excited to read the book, but not to the point that I started it right away. It just sat in the bag for a couple days.

• When I finally did begin the book...I was immediately hooked. The tale that Stephenie Meyer weaves is suspenseful, not necessarily because of the fantasy element, but because the characters are so real, it just feels like they are my friends, or even that it is me. Does this make sense? It didn't help that I immediately fell in love with the vampire. :) Not the kind of love that would get me in trouble with my husband...just the type that leaves you intrigued and wanting everything to work out for him.

• I have to admit that when I am not reading, I'm often thinking about what has just happened in the book. This is not the first time that I've been hooked on a series...it happened with Work and the Glory, and it also happened with Harry Potter. This is the first time that I've been a mom and been obsessed. I love Mason and make sure that he gets the things that he needs, I feed him, change him, bathe him and play with him. I make sure that we get out. I still do make time to read when he is playing...he usually notices that I'm reading, and he comes up and throws his board books at me until I read them to him. I have to remind myself who the most important one is...and then it's easy to put down my book and read to him. I'm glad that he's getting an early love for reading!

• I recognized my addiction early on and made rules...I can't read if there are too many dirty dishes, or if the house is too messy. I find myself hurrrying through these menial tasks so that I can get back into the world that seems so much more interesting than anything else right now.

• After I finished the first book, I couldn't restrain myself from going and getting the second one...the first book leads into the second and I couldn't bear not knowing what was going to happen next. So...if any of you remember the Barnes and Nobel gift card that I found...it was put to good use this week! Mason was sleeping by the time my errands brought me to the bookstore, I should have just gone home and put him down for his nap...but I couldn't resist. I carried my sleeping angel into the store and asked where to find the next book. I was slightly embarassed, I don't really know why, when I was led towards the Teen section.

• I wasn't under the impression that this book was for teenagers...I know that people of all ages will love it.

• Anyways, right now I am on book number three, and trying hard to pace myself. (hence this blog, it was one of the things I had to do before I could pick up the book again). I do this because I know that when I am done with this book, I will not be able to rush to the bookstore and pick up the the 4th volume...it is still in the works. So I am trying to savor my time with these characters as much as possible.

I know that I am obsessed...but it's well worth it. Anyone who hasn't read this series...give it a try and let me know what you think!!

My turn

Well, since I was the only one that Katie mentioned specifically by name, I figured I should probably fulfill my duty and post this. :) I always mean to do things like this, I just never get around to it. Here ya go:


4 jobs I've had:
1) Chick-fil-A team leader...and I still think back to the days when I got to have CFA 5-6 times a week. :)
2) BYU QA lab tech-tested food for the Church Welfare System and developed food storage recipes for the Provident Living website (I feel like I'm writing a resume). :)
3) Severn Trent Labs-prepared soil and water samples for chemical testing
4) Leprino-Product Development Specialist


4 movies I can watch over and over again:
(I always have a hard time with this one, I can never remember what movies I like...)
1) Clue
2) Independence Day
3) Harry Potter movies
4) Remember the Titans

4 favorite tv shows:
1) House!!!
2) TLC shows ie: Little People, Big World; John and Kate plus 8
3) Criminal Minds
4) Food Network...especially Alton Brown!

4 favorite hobbies:
1) working out/jogging
2) reading
3) hiking/camping
4) teaching Mason


4 Places I have lived:
1) Littleton, CO
2) Provo, UT
3) Armenia
4) Lakewood, CO


4 places I have been on holiday:
1) London
2) Costa Rica
3) Niagara Falls
4) Disneyland

4 favorite dishes/ foods:
1) Chick-fil-A!!!
2) Salmon (has to be cooked just right)
3) Ice cream with hot caramel on it
4) anything that I didn't make (I'm stealing that phrase from my mom...but it's true!)

4 websites I check daily:
1) Blogs
2) Facebook
3) Career Step Login and Forum
4) Google...just googling random questions that I have or random things that I want to know more about

4 places I would rather be right now:
1) Camping
2) In Utah visiting with friends and family
3) Hawaii
4) Chick-fil-A (do you see a theme for this blog?? :)...I'm just never sick of it!)


Ok-anyone that has a blog and reads this, you're tagged...but especially: Diana, Cindy and Beth! :)

Daniel's Homecoming :)

On July 24th, the much awaited homecoming of my brother, Daniel, finally came! He had been serving the past two years in Bolivia and it was quite the anticipated event to have him come home.

It was also fun because Cindy and AJ traveled from Salt Lake and were able to spend almost a week here!

Since Daniel's flight wasn't due to come in until 8:30 at night, we figured that we should do something fun that day. We decided to go to the zoo. As always, Mason totally loved it! We always have a great time when we are spending time with family!

As many of you know from experience, a fun day in the sun almost always translates to a very tired evening. Because of the exciting nature of our evening trip to the airport, most of the adults were able to stay energetic on pure adrenaline. Poor Mason was pretty exhausted, as these pictures will attest. He did very well though, all things considered.

It helped that there was a water fountain close to where we were waiting, Katie is always such a nice aunt, and the kids flocked to her!

And finally...after two years....the whole family was together. Daniel was able to meet a brother-in-law and two nephews that were not part of the family when he left. It was so great to see him again and to have his fun personality around! We only get to enjoy his continual presence for a few weeks, and then he will head off to BYU. I know that he'll have a blast out there, but it is sad to see him go again so soon!

My parents very generously had us over for dinner every night that week, so we were able to spend a lot of time together. Here is a typical evening scene:

The boys always enjoy watching movies or tv while the girls get to chat away and watch the little ones.

On Saturday, we went and had a family picture taken. The most difficult part was getting the two one-year-olds, Levi and Mason, to sit still and look happy. In the cousin picture, Mason kept running off, or had a very sour look on his face, so the photographer offered this selection: I think it is really cute, and it will always remind me what an energetic boy I have (haha like I really need reminding of that!). Aren't they all so photogenic?

Here is the group family picture of all of us: Aren't we a fun looking bunch? I feel so lucky to have such a great family!

Later that night, my parents took us all to see a Rockies game. I grew up watching baseball and attending many games, so it was fun for me to start Mason enjoying the same tradition!