Let Them Eat Birthday Cake!

Why My Daughter's Crying

Have you spent an inordinate amount of time on the site Reasons My Son is Crying?

I have.

If you ever thought you were a bad parent because your kid just threw the biggest fit and you have no idea why or how to fix the problem, you should check out this site.

I'd like to take this moment to point out that toddlers are deranged sociopaths bent on the destruction of their parent's sanity. Their best weapon to accomplish their psychopathic agenda is completely unreasonable, irrational, and over-the-top tantrums for absolutely random and nonsensical crises.

This was yesterday's:

She woke up from her nap.

Anyone else loving that her shirt says "Sweet"?

I love my daughter, I really do. And she is shamelessly ridiculous.

And just to add to it, this meltdown happened because I made Alexa stop sitting on his abdomen.

Yeah...

Happiness is...The End of the World

May you and your family either stay safe from the zombies (we're planning on using ponchos for protection) or get caught up in the Rapture...speaking of which...I have to go! 

Have a great day, it maybe your last!

Happiness is...A Walking Christmas Tree

This is how we have gotten our Christmas Tree the past 3 years: it just walks to our house!

Haha! We're so funny! No, those are Nick's legs, and he carried our tree from the local high school back to our house just a couple of blocks away.

Alexa and I walked with Daddy, which was pretty funny sometimes!

We tried the wagon, but the tree wasn't having it, which is okay when you've got Superman for a dad!

We really love our tree! The End.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Sunday was my 26th birthday, and the party started on Saturday! Nick and I went out with some friends who treated us to pizza and then we hit up the bowling lanes, a lost art for sure -- but not a sport. Here's a little video to backup my philosophy:

Anyway, so on Saturday we went bowling, our friends Brooke and Ben treated us to pizza and some kind of delicious tort, and we had a great conversation revolving around appropriate and ridiculous Olympic events (ie. motherhood should be one, curling should not...just sayin'). 

Oh, Nick and Alexa also gave me a really beautiful authentic leather jacket. I was floored! It's so beautiful!

Don't you kinda wish your husband was as awesome as mine? I would if I were you.

Sunday was pretty typical but I did get a ton of phone calls and texts from friends and family, which was so wonderful!

But the party doesn't stop there. On Monday, a few friends of mine took Alexa and I out to a wonderful Italian Grill for lunch. We had such a great time! 

The three little mess-making monsters we had the courage to take out in public. They don't look vicious, but they're maniacal, mark my words!

It was such an incredible birthday weekend, full of friends, family, and fun! My 27th year is going to be the most awesome year ever!!

Adoption Application Update

This morning Nick and I dropped Alexa off at a friend's house and headed down to LDS Family Services for our first home study interview. For those of you who haven't done this before, that just means we are really close to being all done with the approval process! Our case worker told us she's hoping to have everything complete by the end of August if not sooner!! We just couldn't be more excited about all of this!

See?

So excited!! At least Sharon the Rabbit is excited for a new playmate...

Happy 4th! Love, Captain Jack

Alexa got her face painted at our church 4th of July breakfast this morning. Her artist, KezLee, is pictured with her.

Happy 4th of July, everyone! Be safe and don't start anymore fires (Colorado and Utah have had plenty)!

Fahion Forward Friday

Yesterday I came home from the gym (so long 6.2 LBS) to find Alexa already woken up and dressed by her wonderful daddy! One of the two of them, if not both, is very fashion forward because I never would have put this pair together.

Alexa does seem pretty excited about the exciting ensemble! Happy Friday!

Happiness is...Happy Feet

Alexa has Happy Feet. Nick pointed this out yesterday, as she is constantly kicking or tapping something with her feet, usually her left one. She'll be laying on her back and tapping her heel on the floor, or be sitting on our lap kicking the table, or standing (while we hold her up) and beet-bopping around. It's super cute!

The other day (like a few weeks ago) I left her in her room to roll around and she was making noises, some happy, some not. Then, all of a sudden, it all stopped. This intrigued me and I went in to make sure she wasn't dead. This is what I found...

I know it's difficult to tell from this still image, but she was using her Happy Feet to kick and swing her swing. It was super cute! Ah the little joys in life! Have a joyful weekend!!

Between a Buffet and a Living Place

On occasion our little mobile Piglet begins to roll, and as we all know, it's hard to stop once you get rolling. This truth becomes hazardous when there are things, like buffets and couches, in your way. So sometimes she gets stuck between a buffet and a living place.

I try to get her to just roll the other way, but sometimes there is just no reasoning with an infant in distress.

"Until they have a baby to laugh at, lovers are always laughing at each other." -C.S. Lewis

She pretty much keeps us in stiches most of the time!

P.S. On Monday, in addition to her beginning to scoot on the floor instead of just roll, we also discovered another first: her first tooth!! What a big day for our little growing girl!

Now Play Dead. Good Girl!

It must be a mark of successful parenting when your kid can rollover AND play dead.

We'll let you know when she learns how to fetch. ;)

Beware of the Bunny!

Piglet has just one question this Easter: bunny, friend or foe?

Here's one of our favorite Easter messages that have provided our family much comfort in times of need. To learn more about our faith, click here.

Have a Happy Easter and remember to Beware of the Bunny!

Happiness is...Elmo!

 

This is what Elmo does to children. Bliss.
Pictured are our nieces Anna and Kaitlyn.

Because This Needs to Be Posted

Rachel and I graduated from BYU, which is known for, among other things, being ranked the most "Stone Cold Sober" university in America for the past 12 years in a row. Some people might say that means the BYU students don't know how to have a good time. I beg to differ.



For those of you who haven't seen the original Old Spice commercial, you can enjoy it here.

Little Kids Always Have the Best Ideas

My 7 year-old little brother once told me that you can tell who bad guys are in real life because they always have red eyes.

 
Our nearly 2 year-old niece makes a sheep sound very similar to her lion sound.

Nicholas insisted, when he was a little boy, that his mom remove the crust from his pancakes.

This little guy roars at things that scare him, like dinosaurs.

One of my best friends in High School wanted to be a dog when she grew up.

Our nephew offered to give his dad all his birthday money because he knows his mom takes all his dad's money.

Nicholas' cousin's son (whatever he is to us) thought his baby brother in his mommy's tummy was not a baby, but in fact a bear.

When I was in first grade, I wanted to be an author of children's books, and a police officer in my spare time.

Our nephew (a different one) wants to catch a whale, an octopus, and a beaver (among other things) on his first fishing trip.

When was the last time you talked to a child and heard all about their great ideas?

Sheet Protectors and Envelopes

While moving, it is amazing the stuff you find!



Like about 150 sheet protectors and 4 boxes of envelopes.

Guess it's always good to have a couple spare!

Sometimes Waiting is Hard...

...and yet can be so rewarding!

P.S. I love the music in the background, it's perfect!

Please Excuse Our Dust

As you may have noticed, we've brought in some construction experts to make some minor and a few not-so-minor tweaks to the blog.
So if things seem a little broken around here, just remember that the answer to the question "Can we fix it?" is "Yes we can!".

And just so this post wasn't a total waste of time, here's a great YouTube video of construction work gone horribly but amusingly wrong:

Happiness is...the joys of a new home

Joy #1:
So, while doing A LOT of preliminary cleaning on the house, my visiting teachers came over to help. While washing the walls one of them said to me "Uhhh, there's a fork in your wall." Imagine my surprise when I came over to see the supposed utensil, and sure enough, in the crack between the wall and the floor (that the baseboard should be covering if it were there) was a fork.

Joy #2:
Just a couple days ago we started filling up the kitchen with all the stuff from boxes to make it more easily accessible. Tried. Failed.

How would you recommend we get out the tupperware?

I did a little necessary rearranging today.

Thursday Thirteen #9: Mis-Predictions

If you were to jump on The DeLorean and go back 4 years to when we were first hitched and asked us to predict where we’d be today, I think we may have said that we would have:

1. More kids
2. Fewer houses
3. Less pink in Rachel’s closet
4. More blue in Nicholas’ closet
5. Fewer shoes in Rachel’s closet
6. Fewer Sketchers in Nicholas’ closet
7. More pets
8. Fewer cookbooks
9. Less schooling for Rachel
10. More car repairs
11. Fewer bus rides
12. Less expensive haircuts for Rachel (never guessed I would upgrade from Great Clips)
13. More expensive haircuts for Nicholas (never guessed I would be cutting his hair)

We both agree that I have changed quite a bit over the last 4 years and Nick has been pretty constant (with some welcomed wardrobe adjustments by yours truly). Our ying and yang is one reason why we work so well together! It was fun to talk about these things last night over dinner at this delicious little Chinese restaurant with the best Won Ton Soup and BBQ chicken ever! Which reminds me, I totally get to cross that off my live list. I'm excited to see what unpredictable things the next 4 years brings us!