More March

These two were so cute playing trains.

Wow, it'd been awhile since we saw Aaron's cousin Dominic. He is such a grown up, handsome, talented man!  Aunt Sandy and Dominic were in town last week, so we got together for dinner. It was so good to catch up.

Cousins!

 

Cousins!

 I train a lady in my ward. She is amazing. She came in a couple months ago wanting to get her life and weight back together. She pushed herself and was so happy and motivated. Right before leaving for Panama she completed her very first TRIATHLON! Something that when I first met her, was a way off "maybe" dream. We set the goal and she KILLED IT! She came in 20 minutes before her goal. She was BEAMING. She never thought she could do it, but she proved to herself that she can do anything she puts her mind to. It completely made my day to watch this transformation of confidence in her. After we finished the run together, she sobbed. She was so proud of herself! Love it. Clients like her make my job SO worthwhile.

Pardon the language, but I got this from a client and it cracked me up. I hear this all too often.

I'm obsessed with avocados lately. I CAN'T GET ENOUGH. They are SO tasty and go with everything! My favorite lunch is an avocado and tomato on whole wheat bread. YUM!

March update

We were desperately trying to take a nap. Gavin was asleep for a nap and we were giving Jaylen ideas of what to do for quiet time so we could rest our heads. He was giving us a hard time, not wanting anything to do with quiet time. Finally, he said, "Hey Mom!! I have a great idea for quiet time! I would love to snuggle YOU!" It melted my heart. He laid down and put his arm around me and rubbed my shoulders and smiled and looked into my eyes. It was really sweet.

I found Jaylen's fake phone "charging" in the bathroom. Silly Jaylen.

Fun at Day Island

I love when these boys play so happy together!

These two are adorable. Jaylen loves playing cards with Aaron.

Gus and Max come to visit, so we take a walk to Day Island.

 

It was GORGEOUS yesterday, so I tried to get Jaylen comfortable on our tag along. He's not a fan. He begged to have it put on his bike to tow Gavin around. It was so adorable. Gavin just hung on while Jaylen pedaled around with his training wheels bike.

Playing football with Preston

Preston loves being able to beat Jaylen up, and Jaylen needs to be beat up. Perfect match! :)

Aaron and I can't believe how tall Jaylen is getting. He's close to Preston who is 4 years older!

Jaylen says Preston is his best friend.

I took Jaylen to an evening Walking Wellness class that I subbed. One of the ladies in the class asked Jaylen if he had any girlfriends. He loudly and proudly said, "I only love my Mommy and she's the only girl I'll EVER love."  Totally unscripted cuteness. Everyone said, "AWWWWWWW!" It made me teary eyed. I'm so blessed to have this sweet little spirit. 


Jaylen loves to crawl into bed and say, "Mom, I'll just love on you while you snuggle me." It's the best.

I asked Jaylen a series of questions today. Here's his responses:

Favorite food: salad
Best Friend: Preston
Favorite toy: train
Favorite treat: Lollipop
Favorite color: Red


Gavin and Jaylen are insanely Momma's boys. They fight over my lap, over who I hold, who sits by me at dinner, and follow me everywhere. I feel bad for Aaron sometimes. At story time and church they get to the point where they scream and push over who gets my lap. It's pretty ridiculous. I love the love and that they need me. It's very sweet, but wow it can get crazy.

Gavin is such a porky pig. He only wants to eat junk and snacks all day. He scrounges through the trash can, eats things off the floor, and sneaks into any treats we try to hide. He puts everything into his mouth. "COOOKKKIEEEEEEE!" It drives us insane. We made some cookies the other night with some of Jaylen's friends over. Gavin cried the entire time through dinner because he wanted nothing but cookies for dinner. "COOOKKKKIIEEEEE."

Gavin getting a haircut while cousin Allie watches

Fun at Day Island

Gavin found a bunch of crabs!

We have no idea where Gavin got this face, but he loves doing this little 2 finger thing. It's so silly!

Gavin attempted to eat these

Little piggy at story time

The face he gets when we catch him doing something he's not supposed to.

"Show us your lips!!"

Kisses for Daddy!

Gavin talks much more now. His common words are FOOD, Buppy (brother), Where are you?! I love you, Mommy, Daddy, Dog-gog (dog), GOOOOOO, cheese, COOKKKIIEEEE, Nee-nee (candy), night-night, kiss-sies, NOOOOOO, MINE, I do it. I can definitely see the crazy 2s starting to take effect. He's getting sneaky and gives the funniest faces. 

Holly's baby shower

On March 2nd, Veronique and I hosted Holly's first baby shower! Her husband is deployed in the Special Forces right now, and has been gone her entire pregnancy. Hopefully he'll be home for the birth. I really enjoy getting to know Holly. Knowing her and her little family has made me much more patriotic and thankful for our military and those who serve us to keep us safe. I was honored to be able to plan to put on this baby shower for her first little girl!

Veronique, Holly and I

We did a "New Parent" questionnaire that her husband Dave filled out. It was so fun to tie him into the baby shower.

Holly and Dave are awesome athletes. Holly is a great basketball player and runner (among a WHOLE slew of other things!). I was SO excited that we had enough people contribute to the group gift to get her a brand new BOB running stroller and gift card to Babies R Us! She was so surprised!

It was amazing to see the support that turned out for her. Over 40 people were there at the shower to support her and their new baby girl who is due May 8th.

I couldn't be happier to have such good friends lately. Veronique is amazing and so fun to be friends with. She is so supportive, positive, fun, and such a good example to me. Holly is amazing in so many ways and is always uplifting to be around. I feel fortunate to be growing closer to these two!

Pony

I found this picture in my Dad's personal history. I LOVED this little pony. I taught it how to be ridden. I worked with it all the time to become "tame." 

I also have to laugh, because it always reminds me of an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry tells an old lady from Poland that he "hates anyone who had a pony." She of course, had a pony as a little girl.

Me at 9, on my little pony.

Happy Second Birthday Gavin!

Our cute birthday boy:

 

Yum!

"Buppy" loved watching Gavin attempt to blow out his candles. 

Sweet Gavin-weez:

You bring such a sweetness into our home. We love on you so much. Jaylen can't wait to play with you in the mornings. I love to go grab you out of your little bed to hear you point to the kitchen, demanding food first thing. I love how you yell "I LLLLOOOVEEEE YOUUUU BUPPY, MOMMY, DADDY!!!" when you're going to bed.

You're a great sleeper and this has been a HUGE blessing. You are so content to lay down, snuggle your blanket and go to sleep. We love to go in to watch you sleep so snug to your special blanket. Lately, you've been wanting to be snuggled before bed.  As I watch your eyes flutter close, hear your soft snores, watch your body go lose, and feel your soft breath on my chest, I shed tears of joy to have you. These are the moments when I reflect and come to realize and recharge my love for being a mother. To see you so helpless, calm and needy in my arms melts my heart. I would do anything for you.

I'm so proud of the little boy you are becoming. I love your sweet spirit, cute personality, and watching you learn and grow through those new eyes of yours. You teach me daily and I sometimes am overwhelmed with how I can be responsible to care for you, but I will do the best I can. I hope you will always know how much I love and adore you. How much I think about you, care for you, love on you and delight to be with you.

I love your never ending hunger. Snacks is what we call you. You're an endless pit, always asking for something else to snack on. You're always wanting the sweetest, least healthy option possible and love to find things to eat on the floor or trash, earning you the nickname Piggy. You're so silly, it's ridiculous. You fight over my lap and hands and it melts my heart and makes me feel loved.

You are the best. I love you greatly! Can't wait to see what this year brings!

 Love, Mom