Thunderbird Mountain

Since David is no longer really allowed to run, hike or anything of that "fun" sort (thanks to horrible knees and bad ankle), we've been talking about how I need to step it up and make sure to take the boys out to do those sort of things.  

Saturday morning turned out to be a perfect opportunity to take my two little men for a hike.

Usually when we go to Thunderbird Mountain, we just do a very simple loop.  However, this time the boys decided they wanted to go to the top of the mountain.  So, that's what we did!  The boys did SO good!  I didn't hear one single complaint, no requests for rest breaks, they did a very good job of following the "trail manners" we had talked about and they made sure they drank lots and lots of water.  We even made it without any scraped hands, elbows or knees!  We did, however, come home with a few new rocks to add to our yard (I would really appreciate it if the designers of little boys clothes would make their pockets about half of their current size.  My little boys can squeeze way too much into those pockets of theirs!!).

When we were done and headed to the car, a lady stopped and asked if Kehlton had hiked the entire mountain.  When I told her that he had, she was quite impressed.  I am so proud of both of them; they were such good little troopers.

(Fyi...our new temple is just to our right a short distance.  Had the kind man who was taking our picture taken another step backwards, you would have seen it in the photo)

Unfortunately, I think we probably only have a few weekends of decent hiking weather left before it gets too hot.  We'll have to make the most of it while we can!

Catching Up

Lately, it feels like everything in our lives has been thrown up into the air and we've just been waiting for things to fall back into place.  Finally; things feel like they are starting to settle just a bit.  The last month or so has been rough and we anticipate the next month to be bumpy as well, but we think we can now see a light at the end of the tunnel.  Or at least the reflection of the light at the end of the tunnel.

Here's the scoop.  At the beginning of the year, we decided that while David loves real estate, it is a better career choice for somebody who doesn't really need an income. Not so much for providing for a growing family. So, we started looking at Edward Jones.  We have friends here who work for Edward Jones, and they were all more than excited for David to jump aboard.  David is finally in the last steps of his interviewing process (this has taken 3 months or so) and we hope he will start his training by the end of this month.  Our initial plan was to move to Texas in August.  Phoenix is not where we want to stay permanently, so we figured that if we're going to be starting a new business, we might as well start it someplace we'd rather be long term.  However, a week or so ago we decided that we just needed to stay put for a little while longer.  We do love it here so we're not too sad about staying! :)

I am now working as an office assistant at a local Primrose School.  Initially, I was working a split shift of 6-9 am and then 3-6:30p, while David worked from home with the kids.  Starting next week, though, I will only be working the morning shift.  I couldn't be happier about that!  I was having an incredibly difficult time being away from the kids so much (I think I cried all day, every day my first week).  Now that I've settled into my routine there, I really am enjoying it.  I am contemplating getting my real estate license just to take over David's stuff when he's done.  It would be a very part time thing.  We'll see, I guess!

Brychan scared the living daylights out of me last weekend when I came home from work Friday night to find him with a fairly high fever (this kid NEVER gets sick).  While I was snuggling him, I found a lump in his arm that was slightly larger than a pea.  Saying that I freaked out is kind of an understatement.  All I could focus on was the possibility of cancer and I was close to hysterics once or twice. Anyway.  I got him into the doctor Monday morning and she said it was just a lasting side effect from his last round of immunizations and I shouldn't worry (unless it gets bigger or painful). I am still trying to figure out what we'll be doing for Kindergarten...especially since I started ignoring it once we decided to move to Texas!  We are still trying really hard to get him into the ONE available gifted program in our area, and should find out about that in a week or two.

Two weeks ago, I had a speech assessment done for Kehlton.  The kid talks non-stop, but you can't understand most of what he's saying.  It was decided at that assessment that he does seem to have a delay and so in June he  will have a full evaluation.  If it's decided that he does have a speech delay, then he will start school in the fall in the preschool class that Brychan is currently in; only as one of the "special needs" students rather than a peer model.  We love Brychan's teachers and they already know and love Kehlton, so we are happy with that option.  Other than that, I have no idea what will happen to help improve his speech.

That's a lot of catching up/journaling!!  So, in case you haven't seen all our photos on Facebook lately; here's the results of our last photo session with Jocie.

Even when she's mad she's still cute!!

6 Months Already!

This week, I took Jessalyn in for her 6 month appointment (sniff, sniff).  Her stats?

26" long
15.15 lbs

EXACTLY the same as Kehlton at that age.  Which is kinda crazy, because Kehlton seemed SO small with nowhere near the amount of delightful rolls that Jessalyn has.  Jessa is in the 90% for her height (thank you Stander genes!) and 50% for her weight (again - what?!?!  Have you seen her chub??).  After 4 shots she was not a happy camper and she let me know about it all the way home.  She was super sad during the shots, and then the rest of it was more of a "I'm not about to let you forget I'm upset with you for doing this to me" little yell.

A little about Jessa?

The girl LOVES to sing.  Seriously.  She wakes up singing every single morning.  And then she continues throughout the day.  Many times at church we have to take her out into the hallway not because she's fussy (because she never is) but because she just won't stop singing!!  It's the cutest thing EVER.

She LOVES to eat, but is already a super picky eater.  Formula only when absolutely necessary and with a lot of coaxing.  Plain cereal?  Don't even think about it.   She will NOT swallow it, but just hold her mouth open with the cereal just sitting there (see photo below).  It has to have fruit mixed in with it.  We tried the little puff snacks this week, and she loves the idea of putting them in her mouth by herself, but doesn't seem to care for the texture at all.  Green beans?  Absolutely.  Peas? No way.  But so far, any type of fruit is perfectly acceptable.  As is Cool Whip.

Jessa is amazingly patient with her brothers.  They maul her all the time.  ALL the time.  To the point where it looks like it should hurt or at least be super annoying (Case in point: the headphones in the first photo? Courtesy of big brothers).  But she never complains about it.  The exact opposite, actually.  She is always smiling and beaming at them; regardless of what they are dishing out to her.  She LOVES her boys!!  Which is good, because they love her just as much.  If not more.  You should have seen the little puddles they both melted into when they saw all her band-aids from her shots.  She will have fierce protectors for life.

All in all, she is still a super happy, extremely easy, laid back, easy going little girl.  We love and adore her!

Easter 2013

Saturday afternoon (after the egg hunt), I had to run to the store to buy eggs (which they were just about sold out of) because I had forgotten about dying eggs. 

The boys had fun making a massive mess.  

I'm not sure which got more dye; Kehlton's eggs or his hands!

Jessa had fun just being outside!

From the sounds and the level of excitement in our house Sunday morning, you would have thought it was Christmas rather than Easter!  The boys were very excited that the Easter bunny had visited in middle of the night.

Sharing their fun with Jessa, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

I kind of spaced doing photos before church, and Brychan had every stitch of clothing off within 20 seconds of walking in the front door once we got home.  So, Easter photos this year are mostly of Jessa, with a few of Kehlton thrown in.  

She was more interested in playing with the grass than taking photos.

I LOVE this photo! And Kehlton's outfit?  He did have a nice, Easter appropriate outfit on before church.  Unfortunately, it ended up completely covered in chocolate before we made it out the door.  This shirt and tie combo was what he absolutely insisted on wearing.  Between the boys there are several other ties he could have chosen from, but it had to be this tie with this shirt.  Gotta love him!!!

And finally?  Jessa just being Jessa.  We see this face all the time.  She loves making the noise that comes from sucking on her bottom lip.  I absolutely love this little baby doll of mine!!  And I have to admit, I had way too much fun having a girl to dress up for Easter!

On the way home from church, we asked the boys what they had talked about in Primary that day.  Brychan's class evidently skipped an Easter lesson and talked about the Holy Ghost.  But Kehlton surprised us all by telling us every detail about the crucifixion and Christ's resurrection.  I am always amazed at what they pick up and retain when you think they aren't paying any attention! I am so in love with my little ones and love that I get to be their mom.  I am so grateful for my husband and our beautiful family.  We hope your Easter was as wonderful as ours!

Easter Tradition

As per our normal family tradition, we spent the Saturday before Easter at the baseball fields for the City of Peoria's Annual Easter Egg Hunt. And, as always, we had so much fun!

The boys got to "drive" a fire truck (I promise they were much more excited about it than Brychan's face would lead you to believe!),

We played lots of different carnival games (this one they're flipping fish into a basket.  And, by the way, don't you love Jessalyn's rolls on her thighs??),

And waited patiently for our turn to hunt eggs!

Kehlton actually participated this year (last year the huge crowds freaked him out and he refused to do anything other than hold David's leg) and was very proud of his loot.

Hangin' out with Sparky

Our weather was gorgeous!  In years past it's been a little toasty, but this year was absolutely perfect. I was feeling bad for all our friends who were posting Easter egg hunt photos from various different states all bundled up in coats, mittens and hats.  Phoenix may have horrendously hot summers, but the rest of the year MORE than makes up for that! :)

Creative Juices

For the last day of our Spring Break, I took the kids over to Scottsdale to visit Lala at work.  Lala is a manager at a super fun place called Make Meaning, where you can make all sorts of fun things.  Soap, jewelry, candles, ceramics, cakes...it really is a fun place to spend a day.  It had been awhile since we had been there, so we made an afternoon of it!

The boys were spoiled rotten.  They started off making soap.  I think in all, we came home with 6 different soaps; all full of fun little trinkets and toys for the boys to keep once they use up all their soap.

We finally made Jessalyn's "Baby's 1st Christmas Ornament" while we were there (with her little footprints on it).  It's been on our to-do list since the beginning of December, but since our Christmas season kind of got derailed, the ornament was one of the many things that got put on the back burner.  But.  It's now finished and I love it, so that's all that matters, right?

After the boys finished with their soaps, and after an unplanned visit to the cute little candy shop across the courtyard, the boys moved on to make a cake.  They got to spray "paint" their base fondant...

And then decorated it with a lovely assortment of treasures.  Kehlton's side of the cake was Easter themed, and Brychan's side was all dinosaurs.

It was a fun afternoon!  Daddy had a scout campout that night, so we grabbed some dinner and a movie, ate the boys' yummy cake and had a slumber party in the family room (where Mommy was reminded that sleeping on the floor is way more fun when you're 3 and 5).

The Start of Beautiful Weather

It's been awhile, so I figured it was time to check in again.  We are staying as busy as ever and loving (almost) every minute of it!

Obviously, our biggest excitement this month was Brychan's birthday!  I seriously cannot believe he's 5 already.  If somebody could please just make life slow down a bit, I would greatly appreciate it.  He was so excited to take chocolate donuts (with sprinkles!) to school on his birthday, and then the day after we went to the zoo with Lala.

Last week, we had a small classroom event to go to at Brychan's school, and we got to sit and talk to his teacher for awhile.  She wants to write a recommendation for him to get into the gifted program for Kindergarten (which evidently is only available at one elementary school in our district - NOT ours).  We are so proud of him!! The kid doesn't miss ANYthing and is pretty dang sharp.  It'll be interesting to see how he does.  Now.  If only we knew whether we are going to be in Arizona for hime to start Kindergarten or Texas...

Anyway.  Back to birthday.

Kehlton LOVED petting the sting rays. 

He would have stayed right there all day long if we would have let him.

Checkin' out the flamingos

Lala and her crew

This monkey was so much fun! 

He was very interested in what everybody outside of his cage was doing,

and he obviously wanted some attention and/or treat. 

Either way, we had fun playing with him for awhile.  The boys thought it was great!

We are also loving our beautiful weather now that it's decided to be warm! 

 Jessa and I enjoyed playing outside for awhile today.

Now's the perfect time to come visit!