And then there were THREE.....

As most of you already know I am pregnant with number 3! I am 14 weeks prego right now and we are so excited to have another little one in our home. We are due January 5th, so when the baby comes Maddie will be a little over three years old and Robby will be almost two years old. We find out on August 7th what we are having, and I cannot wait! I am such a planner that I like to know what I am having, so I can get everything ready for the arrival. Since I already have one of each (boy and girl), it will be really fun to see what we will get this time around. If you ask Maddie what is in Mommy's belly, she almost always will say "a sister" or "a Maddie", so we will see if she is right. I haven't been too sick this time, other than nausea and feeling extremely tired ALL THE TIME. I am hoping in the next few weeks to have a little more energy.

I know that my life is only going to get more crazy with three children to nurture and love, but I am so grateful for all the blessings I have received thus far in my life. Even though the last few months have been really hard on me in many ways, I can see the Lord's tender mercies in my life. When I feel like everything is falling apart, I try to take a minute to reflect upon all the wonderful things I have been given; and then my perspective changes & things don't look so bad. I guess it's the truth that if you focus on the positive in your life, it helps diminish the magnitude of your trials, or at least gives you the ability to deal with them better.

I am so grateful to have been blessed with an AMAZING husband who is constantly helping me around the house (and normally doesn't receive any recognition for this). He is always willing to run errands for me or with me, and when I am in a "pregnant mood" he deals with me and even tries to cheer me up! I have loving parents and an awesome mom who is one of the most selfless people I know. She is constantly helping out us kids, whether through sewing projects, mending, babysitting, phone calls, you name it! I am grateful for my in-laws who are always so excited to spend time with my two kids. They dote on them, play hide and seek with Maddie and Robby, feed the horses with them, etc. They even bought an adorable play pool so that they can go swimming in their backyard! They are truly such loving people and I couldn't be more grateful to have them in my life! I am so grateful for a roof over my head, food in the cupboards, a job, and beautiful kids that constantly give me slobbery kisses & hugs. I am grateful for amazing visiting teachers that come visit me EVERY month and bring me a beautiful, uplifting message, and for the fabulous support system of women in my neighborhood: it is truly one of a kind!

But one of things I am most grateful for is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When trials come, it is the knowledge of the plan of Happiness that pulls me through. I know that if I live my life to the best of my ability, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, I can be forgiven of my trespasses. I am grateful for my eternal family that I belong to. I love my kids and husband so much and I love knowing that no matter what happens, we have the ability to live together after this life. I am grateful to know that this life is not just about all the worldy concepts of making money, instant gratitude, spending and acquiring possessions, but about proving myself to be a worthy daughter of God.

I guess as I prepare to add another special soul into our family, it makes me reflect upon my own life and make a commitment to try harder to be a better mother, wife, daughter, nurse, and friend to those around me and the special spirits that have yet to come into our home.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECKY!!

It seems like we have been friends forever yet also like we just met. Becky transferred from Mesa to Highland part way through high school. Although we didn't officially become friends until the end of our Junior year of high school, we have shared so many fun and unforgettable times together that it seems like she will forever be my friend from childhood. She has always been someone that I can count on, whether it was to make me laugh after a bad break up, listen while I vent about my arguments with parents, or to simply go and splurge on ice cream with, she has been there for me. She is the one who has helped get me through some of the toughest times of my life. I seriously don't know what I would have done without her. We stuck together as we maneuvered from high school friends to college friends. We even seemed to date only guys that were good friends for several years as well!

When we were younger we even jokingly made a promise that we would live next door to each other and raise our kids together. I am still trying to convince her of the fabulous qualities of Cortina--the neighborhood that we live in! We have indeed shared many laughs together and at one point had bundles of inside jokes between the two of us. (With each pregnancy I seem to get dumber, so now I seem to have forgotten a lot of those inside jokes :) I can remember our fun games of "perdittle" in the car, our counting game at graduation, going to breakfast instead of seminary and how we will always laugh when it comes to breakfast burritos. Thanks for all the fun times in the past Becky and I am excited to see our boys get to be friends and share their own memories as well! Also thanks for all the late night talks, crying sessions, as well as happy moments!

Several years after high school, we both got married and began our lives with our wonderful husbands. Although we saw much less of each other, we still remained close friends. Then three years ago, Becky and Jeff moved to Midlothian, Texas to begin Chiropractic school. I was so sad to see her leave Arizona. We still have talked on the phone and gotten together as time permits when she came into town. But it almost seemed as though I had lost my friend due to the distance between us. I am so excited to say that she is BACK! They just moved back home a few weeks ago and I am so happy to have her back close to home. Even though we are both busy with kids and families it is nice to start planning outings together!

I hope you have a killer 26 birthday Becky and these pictures are to remember some of the fun memories from our younger years! (there are quite a few: I had so many to choose from and had a difficult time narrowing them down)

Tiffany, Becky, Jamie, Taya, Jen, and April all soaking wet!
The lunch crew our senior year of high school (Steph can you see yourself in the back?!)
We were seriously so HOT with no makeup right?
Becky, Steph, Kelli and Tiff
The Senior girls TP job on the school the end of our senior year!
We almost fell over right after this picture because we were laughing so hard!

Right before a dance!
Graduation here we come: we stayed up SOOO late the night before graduation and my little bro even let us all take a turn shaving part of his head that night. I think he just loved having all these high school girls giving him the attention!!

Calling from the cabin: Shhhh.....I will never tell the reason behind this picture :)
Charlie's Angels: Becky, Carli, Tiffany at the cabin
Ohhh the memories! Kelli, Becky, Tiffany, Steph, Angelee, Lori, and Katie

This was seriously our favorite pose in our pictures. We have so many of these together, I just picked one!

She's Back!

It has been a LONG three years as I have anxiously awaited the time when my BFF Becky would move back to Arizona. We have missed the births of my two kids and her little boy, and have only seen them sporadically when they have come into town. But the day has come! She is back from good ol' Texas FOR GOOD! Her hubbie just finished chiropractic school and I couldn't be happier to have her back. The other day we went to lunch together and then walked around the San Tan Village shopping mall SWEATING to death! Cute little Brody chilling in the shade by the splash park
Brody and I
Madison LOVES anything to do with swim suits and water. Her and Robby had a wonderful time running around and sticking their faces in the water that would spray up at them. Too bad Becky and I were MELTING in the heat while we watched them play.
Isn't she the most adorable Mommy to Brody?! Seriously I am always so jealous of her fabulous looks, long legs, and KILLER body!!

my favorite part of summer....

SWIMMING of course! Even though at times the heat can be unbearable and monotonous when you have two small children, nothing beats being able to go swimming on your days off work! It is guaranteed to cool you off and provides hours of entertainment for the whole family. We love not only LOVE having a community pool to swim in, but also many friends and family that open up their pools to us to come cool off in as well. My parents have been AWESOME about letting us come over and swim at their pool in Gilbert. We have gone at least once a week to their house for the past month and have enjoyed every minute of it. We not only get access to an amazing pool, but I can generally persuade someone else to join me in the pool with the kiddos! A definite bonus! Several weeks ago we went over to my parents on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and had a barbeque with the whole family. Robby and Madison love to bring cups to the pool and they will sit on the top step and dump water on each other and laugh like crazy!
My mom is always such a good sport. When Maddie tells her to get her swimsuit and go swimming she will gladly change and hop in the pool with us.

Funny picture that Jesse snapped of me. He was the official camera-man for the day

Maddie wanted to know what this shooting water was...so what did my Mom tell her? That it was a "little fountain" of course. As soon as Maddie heard this she proceeded to squat down and take a little sip of the water. Kind of gross to think of her drinking from a drip line, but what do you do?! The good thing is she hasn't managed to catch some crazy disease from this little adventure.
A close-up of Maddie drinking from the "little fountain"

tHaNks uNcLE aDaM!

Last year, my brother-in-law Adam gave my kids these ADORABLE outfits and they have been TOO big. We put them on the other day and they finally fit. I think they look stinkin' cute and they seemed to like them as well. We hardly ever manage to get pictures of both kids smiling and looking at the camera!
I love this picture because he is smiling and DOES NOT have a pacifier in his mouth (we really need to do something about weaning from the pacifier :)
Jesse took this picture of "the girls"

Even though this picture isn't the greatest, I had to include it. This shows one of funny things he does right now. He will squat down low and then pop up with his arms high above his head, trying to jump like his big sis. He never actually makes it OFF the ground, but as you can see he gets so excited when he tries. It's almost as if he actually thinks he is full-on jumping!

Gotta love the pink cowboy boots

Father & Sons

A few weeks back, Jesse took Robby on the fun Father and Sons campout with our ward. Jesse's Dad and brother, Brett, also joined in on to be a part of Robby's first camping trip (Maddie has never actually been on a camping trip either :). It sounds like they had a good time and Robby slept good--which is always a worry when you bring a one year old with you! Maddie and Mommy had fun at home as well. We bought Panda Express and then ate popcorn and watched a movie on my bed. Then Saturday morning we got up and went to several garage sales in our neighborhood. Afterwards we headed over to my parents house and played with Grandma! I sure did miss my little buddy and so it was nice to have them come back home on Saturday afternoon (even if they smelled like a camp!)

Uncle Brett and "Papa" Toronto
Robby chilling by the fire

What do May Showers bring??

lots and lots of MUD! Normally I am the type of mom that hates dirty children. I will literally watch my kids like a hawk outside to make sure they stay nice and clean. This time, however, I couldn't resist to watch Robby slip and slide in the mud for probably 20 minutes. Maddie even joined in until she stripped down to her birthday suit, which marked the end to her mud adventure and the start of her bath. Robby absolutely LOVED being good and dirty and had a big grin on his face the whole time. After two days of soaking in tide with bleach there wasn't a trace of mud on the kids clothes and we now have these fun pictures as memories of the crazy May rainstorm in Arizona!

Visit with Grandma

Last weekend, we had my Grandma West come stay with us for the weekend. It was so much fun to have her get to know our kids a little better and it was cute the way Maddie would call her "great-grandma". Maddie had the best time curling up on her lap and watching "Cinderella."

milan, italy

We are so excited to announce that Jesse's little brother, Brett, just received his mission call on Thursday. He is going to Milan, Italy and reports on September 3, 2008. We know that he is going to be a fabulous missionary and are so proud of his decision to serve an LDS mission. Thanks for always being a good example to the kids!!

stickers

Maddie sure loves to decorate herself with about anything....bandaids, markers, and today stickers! She was so proud of herself for arranging them all the way down her leg and then insisted that I take a picture of her "beautiful flowers," even though she is a stinker and WOULD NOT smile. Too bad those "beautiful flowers" ended up permanently attached to my kitchen floor!

graduation woes

I remember when I graduated a few years back, it was filled with lots of fun memories. One of those included marching into the football stadium and looking up to see all the people sweating in the bleachers, but still there to support you on this momentuous occasion. Then afterwards I spent the next little while hugging friends and laughing about the end of all our fun times on campus. Finally comes the family time where you get to hug each other and share in the happy celebration and then take the infamous graduation pictures.

For my little brother, Ben, who graduated on Thursday night, he will definitely not have the same memories as me. His graduation was filled with anticipation as to how the ceremony would unfold with a water drenched football stadium, marching into the auditorium with ONLY students sitting there, and finally his older sister and her family ditching out before he could even head over to Hawk Hall and begin the long search of finding family in order to take the must have graudation photos. Thursday was one of those once in a million happenings when Arizona somehow managed to receive buckets of rain not only in May, but on graduation night of all days! We ended up sitting in a random classroom and watched a televised graduation ceremony and then spent the next few hours watching Maddie run up and down the stairs without tiring. Finally we heard Ben's name and watched him walk across the stand to receive his diploma. We cheered and then happily headed to the car to head back home. Probably the saddest part about this whole affair is that we don't have ONE picture of the family on graduation. The only ones I could manage to scrounge up were from Baccalaureate (sp?) on Sunday afternoon. So happy graduation Ben...we are so proud and excited for you to move on to a new stage of your life (even if we are wimps and couldn't deal with our kids long enough to find you after graduation ended :)My dad and brother, BEN
Maddie giving the sweetest ever hug to her Uncle. Of course she added a "Happy Birthday Uncle Ben" to go along with her hug....she always thinks that every celebration must be someone's birthday!!

Happy Birthday Jesse

I just wanted to wish my sweetheart a Happy 29th Birthday! Enjoy it while it lasts honey...because it is your last birthday in your 20's! :)

I am seriously so grateful for my sweet husband, I couldn't imagine spending my life with anyone else. I originally started this post out with the idea that I would find some pictures from when he was a boy...but a few hours later I couldn't seem to find those pictures anywhere. These will have to do for now... This was taken the summer we were dating. Jesse is wearing an ice pack after dislocating his shoulder in my parents swimming pool. He even managed a tiny smile for the camera, despite the pain he was in.
One of my favorites taken with Maddie the summer before her first birthday.
Taken when Jesse and I went to Nauvoo, Illinois.
I hope you had a great birthday.....

Just another weekend/Monday

We have had such a busy, but fun time together the past few days or so....

On Saturday we were able to go to Big Surf for my father-in-laws work party. Maddie kept asking me if it was Saturday for almost all of last week. Jesse played in a sand volleyball tournament at the party, and my father-in-law took Robby the whole time and played with him. We have decided that Robby is his little buddy! Our good friends, the Albrights, were there as well with their two cute kids. Maddie followed Lexi around like a little puppy dog and they had so much fun playing in the kiddie pool together. They would hold hands while we walked from place to place. Maddie also really liked the slides; she kept insisting on going down "one more time" even though she was shivering from being so cold. I came all prepared with my camera in tow, only to realize that I forgot to put our SD card back into the camera :(

Mother's day is always a special time for me to take a stroll down memory lane and remember some of the special times with my own sweet mother. She is such a great friend to me and never gets tired of my endless phone calls for advice, pep talks, cooking tips, decorating advice, you name it. It is rare for me not to talk to her at least once a day! I have so many fond memories of my mom always willing to try new things with us. When I was a kid we would flip through the summer recreation program booklet and she was game to try anything that we thought looked like fun.

This year we had our own sort of excitement at our house, that I am sure we will never forget. Robby has hit a VERY active stage of life and always seems to be getting into everything. While Jesse was cooking breakfast, he managed to pull the electric skillet down off the counter onto his poor little hand. Three hours later we were bandaged up and back home from the hospital, finally ready to enjoy that delicious breakfast, compliments of my sweetie!

We also enjoyed visiting both of our families on Sunday. Maddie is always game for going to Grandma and Grandpa's house when she knows her sweet cousin, Kaylin, will be there to play. And she also loves to visit Nona and Papa's house to feed the horses, pick and eat apples and of course be spoiled by her Aunt Abby!

Monday I was able to go to lunch with Ralae and Julie, two friends from high school, that I haven't seen in a long time. It was so fun to catch up on old times and to meet their sweet little boys. Maddie joined me on this lunch date and she especially enjoyed stealing my soda whenever I wasn't looking and running circles around our table :) Thanks for the fun times girls...we need to get together again soon!

After we got home, Maddie kept telling me that it was time to go to the park. So after dinner, we decided to load up the wagon and walk down to our park at the end of our street. From the grins on their faces they obviously enjoyed our time in the sand. It was such a beautiful late afternoon that I have to admit I kicked my feet up on the park bench and just relaxed for awhile. To top it all off...we had an icecream truck pull onto our street right before baths and of course we couldn't resist. What could be more perfect at the end of the day, then to eat popsicles and ice cream bars on the front porch of your house?!

Robby is obsessed with going down the slide at the moment. He will do it over and over without seeming to tire!

Maddie loves to dig in the sand at the park and make "cakes" for mommy. She also really enjoys making sand angels with her body (similar to a snow angel)--only I am not sure I enjoy it so much when I am trying to get all the sand out of her hair afterwards :)

My handsome little dude with his poor burned hand in a bandage.