T-W-O

Wait. Hold up. Is my little boy really two years old?!? I can't believe that two whole years have passed since he entered our lives! It's crazy to think how fast that time as gone and how much he turned from this helpless little baby boy to this tall, handsome, smart, funny, amazing little boy! He is certainly no longer a baby (though sometimes I pretend that he is my little baby boy still). He is full grown toddler! He has opinions and a very strong personality. He is very sweet natured and thoughtful. He has favorite things and things he doesn't like. He can communicate almost anything he thinks or feels or wants. Most of the time he is a great little kid, sometimes we get the glimpse of terrible two. I can't even begin to tell you all of the words he knows and he will often throw out a word to us that we never intentionally taught him, he just picked it up somewhere along the line. He weighs 27 pounds and is 35 inches tall. He is growing great and is a picture of health! He is hitting all of his milestones if not exceeding a few. His favorite things in the whole wide world (besides his parents of course) are trucks and tractors, bikes, dogs and being outside throwing rocks.

Thursday was his second birthday. We started the day with mickey mouse pancakes (though I cut it up by the time this picture was taken).

Reed spent the morning playing with Grandma and Papa Fogg. We had a quick lunch with daddy then had a nice long nap. After the nap, he played a bit with Papa and Grandma then we opened a few gifts. I gave him a tool set to stay in the shop with daddy's tools. He got a play tent and tunnel from Grandma and Papa.

Reed got a Little People Airport from Lala.

Got some clothes from Grandma and Papa (though I was much more excited about them, they are so darn cute!) It's funny how he just threw them to the side after he realized they were clothes and moved right on to a new package!

All these presents sure did wear London out!

Playing with his new airport.

Reed got a Little People bus from his cousin Gabby.

After he got all his gifts that we had for home, we packed up and headed to Nana and Papa Branch's house to have dinner and open a few more gifts after cake. As the steaks were cooking, Reed opened the gift that Nana and Papa Branch got for him - it was a toolbox!

After a delicious dinner, we had some cake. I made a Mickey Mouse cake! Reed instantly recognized it and said "Mickey Mouse!" It didn't taste too bad either...

We sang Happy Birthday and Reed blew out the candles!

Then onto MORE gifts! What a lucky kid! Here is is opening a sleeping bag that we got him. He got in it with his new bear.

And some trucks...

The final gift was a bike from Grandma and Papa Fogg! Reed has been pointing out every bike he sees for months now and it was time he got his own. This is called a balance bike and it doesn't have any peddles. They just walk it along until they figure out how to push and glide. It helps learn balance and he will skip the whole training wheels stage of bike riding. He was excited to have a helmet too. Can you see the smile on his face?



He is pretty obsessed with that bike and has been riding it every chance he gets. It's by far the favorite gift but he has been playing with all the gifts a lot. Thank you everyone for the great gifts and making Reed's day great!

We headed down to Moab after Reed's birthday and took somewhere around 500 pictures. I'll have to sort through them and post separately about our trip. Reed sure did a great job on that trip and Dick and Fran had a great time exploring a new area. Here is a quick picture of Reed on the famous slickrock trail in Moab on his new bike at the age of 2 years and 1 day! Daddy couldn't be more proud. Till next time!

7 Years - no itch

This past weekend, Fogg and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. I know it's really cliche but it really does go really fast. I look back to how I was feeling 7 years ago and what we had then and feel so blessed with our life now. I feel like I was so young back then, with no idea what would be our life together. I couldn't be more happy with our life together now. We have a charmed life and I owe it all to him!

The weekend was full of activities yet not overly busy feeling. I had a doctor checkup on Friday afternoon, which I always love. There is nothing like hearing your baby's heartbeat when you can't see them. Reed was pretty interested in hearing it as well, he stopped what he was doing to listen and be involved. I loved that he sat next to me on the table and pointed at my belly saying "baby!". Saturday, I was able to finish painting the bedroom - the final wall is done! We also did some yard work, played with Reed, and attended a memorial for a friend's wife. Mom and I went and got massages, a mother's day gift for my mom (from a year ago!) and a birthday gift for me from my in-laws (thanks Dick and Fran!). It was so nice.

Sunday, we got up and went to breakfast. After church, we headed home and got some more yard work done and just chilled in the sun for a bit. It was a little breezy but the sun made it quite nice to be outside. Reed was tuckered out from a big breakfast and running around the yard, he fell asleep in his little lounge chair watching Tom and Jerry at 11:30! Before that, he had told me he had pooped in his diaper and needed a new one. When I went to change him, he had a clean diaper but then he insisted on sitting on his potty. After a 15 minute "potty break" with Elmo I might add, he decided he was all done (though nothing had been "done"). We put a diaper back on and he promptly pooped in it. I'm taking that as a hint that he is really starting to know when he has to go and potty training will be full on this summer!

I attended a baby shower for a friend in the afternoon then Fogg and I went out to dinner to Sonora Grill to celebrate our anniversary. It was a fantastic dinner that we were able to enjoy and laugh a lot. Here is my yummy meal:

We also took a lame self photo, this is the 6th try.

On our first anniversary, we didn't have a lot of money for a large gift so I looked up what the traditional gift was for your first anniversary. It was paper. So I made him a little book with different papers with "first's" of our first year together on each page. I think it cost me a total of $3. So it's become a little tradition to get a traditional gift, usually of little monetary value. It took a few years for Fogg to catch on, but he's got it now. Here's what I've got him over the years:
1st paper - paper book with memories
2nd cotton - a pair of jeans
3rd leather - a wallet
4th fruit - obviously strawberries
5th wood - a wood pen made by his brother
6th iron - an iron city beer t-shirt
7th wool - 2 pair of wool bike socks

So as you can see, they have been very cheap gifts. There are a few anniversaries that have a double traditional gift, 7th being one of them. The other is copper. I went with wool socks - lame! Fogg went with this absolutely beautiful, thoughtful, amazing gift of a copper bracelet (I might add also made by dear friends of ours and hand selected):

Fogg wins this round! I felt like such a cheap-ass getting him socks in return for this amazing gift. By the way, if you are interested in our friend's other amazing handmade jewelry here is their site - African Elephant Hair Bracelets. Jeff is amazing at crafting these pieces! I'm so lucky that I get to own one!

Ok, well, a blog post wouldn't be complete without mention of Reed! You thought you almost got a whole post without him... As you may know, his birthday is coming up on Thursday - 2! Obviously we have big plans to celebrate, most of which is a ridiculous amount of gifts for him. There really is joy in buying your kid presents! Since my birthday, in which I opened a few gifts, he learned the word birthday and that if there is a gift bag or wrapped present it must mean it's a birthday and he must open it at once! I mentioned to Reed this morning while on the way to daycare that it was his birthday this week (as I've been doing for a few days now). He said very enthusiastically "BIRTHDAY!". Then I said, "Reed, how old are you going to be on Thursday?" (as I've been asking for a few days, his response has been "no" every time). His response today? "TWO!". I said "that's right buddy - two!" and I held up two fingers. He tried to do the same then got distracted by my beautiful new bracelet and wanted me to give it to him (which I did not). What a smart cookie, he's learning so fast! We are so excited to celebrate his birthday with almost all of the grandparents. It'll be pretty low key this year - no big party, just family. I'm going to make him a cake shaped like mickey mouse's head. He loves Mickey Mouse by the way.

Also, I've been feeling the new baby kicking around the last few days. It's interesting how it's a different feeling than everything else your body does. I feel it more and more every day. I've been feeling a little better over all, which is nice to start feeling a bit more human (with a large belly). I'm looking more and more pregnant, I got my first "so you're pregnant!" from a stranger (without me telling them) yesterday. Good thing she was right! So I must look sort of legit instead of just a little chubby. I still just feel chubby but that's a girl talking!

We are excited for Reed's Grandma and Papa Fogg to come visit in only 2 days! Because of skype he knows who they are so I hope he puts it together that it's the same people! I'm sure he'll warm right up to them and have a blast playing with his trucks and tractors with them.

Cheers~

16 and then some

This week has been pretty busy. After G-pa left, we had some friends come into town. Ryan and Mardi moved away last fall and they have been sorely missed! Their little girl, Brinnley, was born only 4 days after Reed so Mardi was my "belly buddy". They celebrated their 1st birthday's together last year and it's so fun to see them together again right before their second birthday's! Anyway, we had the Duran's over for dinner as well and beside the chaos of the kids, the parents had a rowdy time too. Here is Ryan and little Brinn hanging next to Fogg and Reed.

Reed and Brinn decided they were going to sit at the kid table together in their PJ's.

It was so great to see the Colburn's and wish their visit wasn't so short! We truly miss them! Mom came into town on Wednesday and Reed just keeps saying "Lala" and "Hi Lala". He sure does love her. In fact, since she arrived, he wants nothing to do with his parents! London has also made some friends with the neighbor kids. They come over almost every day and pick up London to play with him, take him for a walk or just have him hang out with them. This is a good representation of what London looks like after they return him to us. Poor old dog.

Reed will sometimes use him as a back support while watching TV.

Well, the 16 in the title represents that I'm at 16 weeks in my pregnancy! This first picture is at 13 or so weeks.

Here I am at 16 weeks

It's about the same I guess after looking at the pictures. However, I think that the first one was taken at the end of the day and the second one was definitely taken at the beginning of the day. The belly definitely gets bigger towards the end of the day. It's rounding out quite nicely. I didn't even start taking pictures of the belly when I was pregnant with Reed until 20 weeks because I wasn't showing at all. This one is making it's presence known right off the bat!

Also, you might notice (maybe not) that the background walls were painted. I finally finished painting the bathroom on Monday night. I love it! Feels good to be done with that project - finally!

Fogg and I get to celebrate our 7th anniversary this weekend so hopefully I can snag a picture of us all dressed up - well, sort of dressed up. We'll also try to finish up a couple of other projects in the backyard because it's supposed to be super warm the whole weekend. I'm also going to get a massage that was given to me by the in-laws for my birthday - so excited!

Cheers~

Mom's Day Weekend

This past weekend, my dad came in to visit. We had a good time catching up and getting some projects done. On Saturday morning, we went to breakfast where Reed and G-pa got reacquainted with each other. This is one of the only pictures Reed was willing to get taken. Most of the weekend, when a camera came out, he would run away. Oh the joys of a two year old.


After breakfast, we spent the rest of the day working on the yard. We moved dirt, fixed sprinklers, planted plants, moved more dirt, laid down weed stop, covered with gravel. We swept the street, dug holes, and other spring time yard duties. We had a nice dinner at home and retired for the evening.

This is London on the rainy Sunday afternoon. Lazy dog!

Sunday was mother's day. I had a very nice second mother's day, filled with time with the family, chores getting done and a nice card. Because Utah decided to rain on Sunday, we were a bit sequestered to the house for the day. We were able to run a few errands and have a nice lunch at MacCool's. I was also able to get one coat of paint on our bathroom walls while Reed napped. Second coat to go on in the near future. When Reed got up from his nap, G-pa gave him an early birthday gift. Reed saw the wrapped present and immediately started saying "Birthday! Birthday!". Here he is opening the gift:





Attacked by all angles! He isn't wearing clothes because I took off his nice clothes to change him into some comfy rainy day house clothes but he refused to put them on. So we let him run around in just a diaper and he loved it! Anyway, the gift is a very cool new bath toy which is a boat, complete with captain, life preserver, fish and fishing hook. He had to wait a while for me to get the box open and all the pieces out. While waiting he did a little birthday song and dance which was totally awesome but we never got it on video.

A thank you kiss for G-pa

Later, Reed wanted me to take his picture. He grabbed the camera and said "picture". He then smiled like this and immediately wanted to see it. Anyway, I think it's a funny face and thought it was worth including.

Dad taught me how to make his chicken piccata and I made homemade alfredo sauce to go on some pasta. We also had a nice salad, bread and thyme roasted tomatoes. Here is my yummy Mother's Day dinner!

Reed ran around for a few more hours and then the day was over. It was a nice productive weekend. If only it hadn't rained we could have enjoyed a bit more time outside.

Next we have some friends in town tomorrow which we are excited to see again. My mom comes to visit Wednesday and then we celebrate our 7th anniversary on Sunday! Grandma and Papa Fogg come visit next week for Reed's birthday and I'm sure we'll have lots of fun!

Oh, and I thought I'd include one more funny picture from last week. Reed came over to me and asked to put his shoes on. Then he laid down on London's bed. London also wanted to lay down on his bed, so the result is a little Wicked Witch of the West with Reed's feet sticking out. Luckily Reed thought it was funny and didn't get upset. I laughed.
Cheers~

Like Mother, Like Child

I wish I had the picture of me to compare this with, but I'm sure my parents will appreciate this anyway. I'm known for my organization and order. I spent every Christmas growing up unwrapping my gifts from small to big. I would line up things in some sort of order (color, size, etc). There is a picture of me lining up some rocks that were shaped like eggs along the stair when I was a kid. I don't know how old I was but the trait still lives on. Sunday morning, Reed took his cars and lined them up. There was no order to it (yet) but he had to have them lined up in a row. He was going down the line saying something about each one (he was either counting or telling me the colors). Funny how he used the same inflection in his voice as we do when we are counting to him.

Dirt Bikes!

We joined some friends to attend the AMA Supercross races down in Salt Lake this weekend. Fogg's idea was to bring Reed this year, I had my reservations but we brought him anyway. Turns out, he did great! It was a very late night for Reed but he was a trooper and really enjoyed watching the racers. Here is the track. If you can't tell, it's just a bunch of jumps and small bumps. If I rode this course I would not be in great shape at the finish line (that's assuming that I crawled there after crashing off of the first jump). Reed also liked watching the tractors grooming the course a couple of times.


We brought Reed's dirt bike so that he could play with it and see what was really happening. He was driving it all over and pretending to jump it off of things. He got mad when I sat on his "course".


It started to get pretty chilly when the sun went down. I came prepared though, with lots of layers and blankets. Last year it was dumping rain so it was pretty miserable. I can handle cold though! Everyone was bundled up in down jackets and beanies. I brought Reed's snowsuit so he would stay warm. He mostly kept his hat on the whole time. I'm pretty sure he stayed warm enough. Here is the crew.

Reed showing off his dirt bike.

High fives! This is during the very last race - still had a smile on his face at 9:15pm!

The rest of our weekend was filled with house and yard projects. I was able to get our bedroom painted - finally! I did all but one wall and the room in our bathroom with the toilet. Next weekend, I hope to do the second color on the remaining wall in the bedroom and the main part of the bathroom. I'm pretty happy with my color choices so far, hopefully I will still love it when it's all done! Fogg was able to get a little bit of yard work done, moving some sprinklers and getting a list together for other yard projects we need to get going on.

We've got a lot planned for next weekend too - lots of projects! It's supposed to be warm so hopefully we can get some of the items checked off our to do list in the yard.

Cheers~