2014 Goals started early

My sister in law was in town a few weeks ago and we got to talking

She said something that has been on my mind ever since

She was talking about her desire to be thougtful

It got me thinking

Would people think of me as a thoughtful person

I would like to believe I am to a small extent

but what I do find is I over exert myself and I get upset with people who I think are receiving my thoughtfulness do not reciprocate or are ungrateful

Follow that?

I feel like that has happened recently to me with two people I tried to be really thoughtful to and they totally overlooked it.

or so I thought they did

So here is my goal for 2014

Be thoughtful and don't expect anything in return

Serve, give compliments, be thankful, give

FREELY

with zero expectations

I think I have always expected too much out of people in my life

It's not fair

So here is to lower expectations (in a good way)

I'm quite excited for 2014 

2013 has been a blur

(Why is it when you have a baby the months feel like they never happened?)

so 2014

I am going to be thoughtful....

a low expectation thoughtful person

PERIOD

Carbs

Tis the season of Carbs

I went on a low carb diet

and then T made his amazing home made bread

so way to start the season of eating off right

ugh

North Carolina

We headed to North Carolina Oct 30- Nov 3

It was our first big trip with E

He was FANTASTIC

Was a dream baby on the flight

And really went with the flow of the weekend

 Mister Smarty was the reason we went out

First big time conference presentation: Check!

Next stop: England

 The colors were incredible

I never complained driving those highways

 We had a little pumpkin on Halloween

 Celebrated with Dame's Chicken and Waffles

If you are in Durham- GO!

We did get some funny looks taking a baby out to eat at 8:30pm

we wanted to keep him on Utah time

 Lunch break with Dad

Love those mustard pants

 Exploring Duke Gardens

 Are you kidding me? 

Can we go here!?

Headed to the cathedral after- pictures to come

 View from our hotel room

 Taking a break in the hotel- love this guy

At the most fantastic park in Raleigh-

6 months

Oh little mister.

E really is the light of our lives

He is such a good natured boy, so happy all the time

His smile is enough to melt your heart.

He now weighs 16 pounds 9 oz (27%)

and is 27.25 inches (77%)

I love my little buddy- my days off are my favorite with all of our fun adventures!

 Before we gave him baby food- almost looks like he is waving here

 And he loves it

Green Beans and avocado are the favorite right now

Not the best picture of E- but look at that onsie!

It is our current favorite

Mom Moment

Before I went to Zumba last night E had a poopy diaper

while I was dancing I swear all I could smell was his poop

 (which is awful since eating baby food)

Then I look down.... yup.. there was as light swipe of poop on my shirt

so naturally I just kept dancing

total mom moment

3 year olds

I am not sure I am looking forward to E being 3

I have been around an unusual amount of 3 year olds this last week for some reason

One rubbed my belly and asked why it was so big- sweet

Another told me that my face is funny looking

So what did I do?

Cry... jk... well on the inside maybe

I started a diet and went and bought makeup

So in 2.5 years life could get interesting.

Bangs and other ramblings

So

I cut bangs 

I can't decide how I feel about it yet

When people look at me I swear they are judging my bangs

or maybe I am looking into their looks too much

or maybe I don't have enough confidence to rock the bangs

This girl leaves for Argentina next week

She is one of the most optimistic people I know

She will be amazing in the field and bless so many lives

Our water heater flooded our house 2 days ago

I had a mini breakdown- it's been an ordeal

I feel like I need a mom around to fix grownup stuff like that

Or just make me dinner and take me out of the house for an hour to calm down

E's personality has been so fun lately

He is quite a chatterbox

We head to Park City tonight for the annual donor retreat

could not come at a better time

leave behind a flooded smelly house with indistrial fans 

blowing like crazy to stay in a suite and eat Ruths Chris?

Psh- don't ask me twice

T revealed some secret plans for our anniversary

I'm stoked

I started doing Zumba Sentao on Thursdays

don't hate- it's hard

My parents come next weekend so that's exciting

it means Cubby's and lots of play time for Everett

If anyone can figure out how to be a 

good mom, a good wife, work 40 hours,lost the baby weight,

cook amazing dinners and keep a clean house all at the same time

 I will be forever grateful

5 months

Our little man is 5 months old!

This last month has been operation weight gain

and it has been accomplished... well we are on our way at least

he gained 2 pounds ina month!

Mr. E is a joy to have

He sleeps so well

Naps so well

Eats so well

He coos like crazy

Rolls from time to time

Eats his toes and hands

Loves "you are my sunshine" and "twinkle twinkle little star"

loves reading books

loves holding hands with mom and dad

Had his first cold

Had his first ER visit and CT Scan- no worries he is ok and unrelated to the cold

he can somewhat fit into his 3-6 month clothes- the mustard pants are coming

He said goodbye to his aunt Madeline

Survived my crazy work week

watched his first BYU football game in a huge theater room- he has expensive taste

eats rice cereal like a champ

had his first baby sitter other than mom, dad or grandma (thanks cousin Jackie!)

Found out the mall flooring puts him to sleep- I'm not complaining- T might be

65.5

No that's not the number of pushups I can do in one minute...(ok yes it is, but that's not the point)
nor is it the number of diapers E goes through in a day
That is the number of hours L put in this week at work, M-F. This week was Founders conference for the center at BYU that she works for. L spends 6 months preparing for this biannual event. In the weeks preceding and the week of, she oversees somewhere between 10-15 events, the largest of which draw in about 1,200 people (students, faculty, founders to the center etc.) The smaller events have somewhere around 80 donors to her center, among whom are CEO's of fortune 500 companies and other huge businesses. Altogether they have a collective net worth of literally like a bajillion dollars. She coordinates the efforts of about 10 students to help tackle the structure for these events, and student entrepreneur groups have the opportunity to win somewhere around 500K in investments and prizes for their up and coming businesses. She plans every activity down to the most minute detail, including where everyone will sit and what kind of dressing will go with what kind of salad. And at the end of the week, after having been on her feet almost non stop, she still finds time to come home and just be an amazing wife and mom, wanting nothing to play with E in the little time left before he falls fast asleep. I knew L was not just your average girl when I married, but watching the way she handles an INCREDIBLY stressful career with such finesse and precision, as well as being so compassionate and taking time to serve others and still just poor out loads of love and time to E and me is really pretty awe-inspiring. So let's get a big round of applause for this superwoman!!! Love ya L

It's Fall!

 Everett already loves the Cougars-

 not much of a choice when you mom works there 

and your parents both went to school there

 We took a drive up to Sundance and the colors were stunning

 Love my little guy

 Selfies are never flattering

 Love my guys

 Who can resist a bath shot!?

 That face!

 Everett and his friends

He loves his great grandma

so glad we got to see them again

4 months

I can't believe my little man is 4 months

We are so happy he is in our family

He is such a good natured boy

- He still is so skinny

- When people see him they say "he is so tiny" or "he is so handsome"

- Girls on BYU campus just love him, he will appreciate that in 18 years

- He doesn't really fit at all into his 3-6 month clothes

- Still loves to stare at himself in the mirror

- He goes to bed around 8:30-9pm and sleeps until 5 or 6, eats and sleeps for another 3-4 hours

- He likes bath time

- He is usually his crankiest if you go a minute past 3 hours since he last ate( except at night)

- He loves to be held while standing, don't you dare sit

- I took him to the store, held up a shirt and he started giggling- oh shoot, what have I done?

- Took his first plane ride and did great, the rest of the trip not so much

- He hates his car seat

- He loves kisses and cuddling

-Loves reading books together

- Loves being outside and looking at trees and water

- Too skinny for his bumbo... boo

- Sometimes takes naps in the bathroom on his changing pad (loves falling asleep to water, sound machine doesn't cut it). Parenting fail :)

- he is a furnace, such a sweaty boy

- he hates being hot, loves A/C, too bad we don't have it!

- flirts like crazy with the girls

We just love this little guy, I love seeing his personality come out every day

He is very social and happy. I hope he stays that way.

 That face just kills me everytime

 Tummy time

 He really loves his farm animals

First day of School with his dad 

I kinda miss Trent's beard... just kinda

Picture overload

 Smiles before bath time

*guilty* 

When he is crying and I need 3 minutes to breathe, 

we put him on his changing pad in the bathroom and turn on the water- he loves it

 Have to get in the fun before he realizes those are his pants on his head.

 Love my guys

 Yes he smiles at himself in the mirror

He can be screaming- catch his reflection and just grin

I blame T

 Took a walk while in Big Bear

 Thank goodness for sisters

They would take E when he was screaming

He did not handle the trip well

 Proof my brother can snag a really pretty girl

 Had lots of fun with this girl

She loves E- she will kick and giggle when he is around

 We were outside a lot

our cabin was... special

 Bumbo time with his fun animals

 Dancing to Reggaton with T

 E is not amused

 Soccer game in his hoodie

 Lovin on his cow

 Love that face

Cute pose

He is starting to grab at things now- 

Obviously we are proud

and obviously he is the cutest baby to come onto this planet