To, Too, TWO!

Yale turned two earlier this month. I know. We have a toddler. I was actually pretty excited about his birthday, because it's felt like I've had a toddler for months now, but I didn't like thinking of him as a toddler until he hit two. We didn't do much for his birthday. We had just gotten back from Chicago and my brother's wedding, and Lish's dad came into town a couple days later. We kept it low key. And it was perfect.

We took Yale on an adventure to see some waterfalls. That's always a success. Then we had some yummy mac and cheese (his fav) for dinner, and some cupcakes and presents with our neighbors. Yale got a couple trains, plus a giant Christmas train, and some other toys and clothes, so he was completely happy. It was so fun to watch his reaction to his new gifts and to see how he ate all of the frosting off the cupcake before eating the cupcake. What a silly little guy.

As far as the things Yale is doing lately, can I just say everything? He is a little parrot and a little daredevil. At his doctor's appointment, the doc asked how many words Yale knows. I just looked at him and said, "I have no idea." He is talking in sentences now and it's so fun to hear what comes out of his mouth and what he connects with what. I love watching that brain work. He loves jumping, somersaulting, running, falling purposefully, coloring, watching basketball, and so much more. He also loves cars, trucks, trains, airplanes, and anything else that moves. We love him so much and are so blessed to have him in our lives! He brings us so much joy!

Celebrate and Chickens

Hola. I'm catching up. Again. My bad. Again.

A couple weeks ago, Lish and I headed up north to spend some time with the family. Alisia was turning --, so we went up to celebrate with her. And celebrate we did! We had a fabulous dinner at none other than Chunk Chuck-A-Rama. I know you're jealous. It actually was pretty fun and the food was good, so bravo C-A-R, bravo. Courtney, Alex, Kyle and Chelsea all came down from Logan. Ashley, McLane and Mason, and Dallas were all in attendance. It was a par-tay. Good times. I'm so glad we got to go up and spend that weekend with everybody.

 (Kyle had this on his back from the time he walked in the door, through the whole dinner, and into the festivities that night. 

We had to finally tell him, after about 4 hours, that it was there. We're funny.)

Lish had to come back home for work, but I ended up staying a few more days and headed up to Bountiful to spend some time with my mom. She only had to work one day that week, which was lovely! While she was working, I went into Salt Lake and visited City Creek with my dad. It is pretty amazing what they've done with that space. I wonder how those shops will do, because I will never buy anything from a high majority of them. Though I will from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. And the Cheesecake Factory. I love food.

Anywho, it was great to spend that time with my mom. My aunt and uncle came into town, so I got some good time in with my aunt as well. (My uncle was at a convention most of the time I was there.) I love spending time up there and visiting with my mom. She's a pretty amazing lady.

 Watch Yale feeding the chickens here and here.

Some of you may be wondering how Yale and I got back home since we only have one car. Well, I found out that one of my friends from high school wanted to come down with her hubs, so I was able to hitch a ride with them and I'm so grateful they let us ride along! They spent a night with us, which was really nice. It was fun to catch up with her and get to know her husband a little bit since I hadn't met him before.

Thirty, Flirty and Thriving

That should probably be my title when I turn 30. But I am not quite there yet. Lish is though. Just made it on Monday. Maybe his title should have been "The Dirty Thirty," because he's a boy. And boys are dirty. I guess since he's 30 though, he's a man. On the outside. Still a boy on the inside. I think that's how most men are. Agreed? Yeah.

We had a wonderful celebration to mark this end and beginning of a decade. We kind of celebrated all weekend. Karen and Scott came down for the weekend on Thursday. With them, they brought this little beauty:

I know. Be jealous. Be very jealous. Lish has wanted a tank like this for a long time. And he thought he'd never get one this big. He said, "I know it's cheesy, but it's like a dream come true." It was so fun to see his face when he found out what we had gotten him. And then to see his face when he saw the fish. And again when it was all set up. And then again when he was arranging and rearranging the decorations and plants. And then finally after we went out and bought lights for it. And of course throughout the rest of the weekend. Even yesterday, as we were pulling not the garage after going to the gym, he said, "Whitney, I really love my fish tank." That makes me happy.

Not only did he get the fish tank, but he also got the basketball that he's been wanting for about 6 years. He's kept asking for it, but I'd always get him something else. When my dad asked what they could get him for his birthday, my first response was, "Brown dress shoes. His are old." But then I thought, that's what I want him to have, not necessarily what he wants to have. So I changed my answer. The first thing he did when he got that ball was write his name on it. He hasn't used it yet, but he will tomorrow night, and I'm sure he can't wait!

Along with all the gift spoiling, Lish had some amazing food this weekend. We went to our favorite Thai restaurant for his birthday with Karen and Scott, then on Sunday I made these little devils. And of course we had cake, but this year we did a little variation and had cake pops. Yum! Lish is loved.

If Wishes were Fishes...

. . . Then Lish's came true! There's a lot to catch up on (I know, go figure), but for now, just enjoy this, because we definitely are:

Happy birthday weekend Lish! I love that you were so excited about this gift. It was like watching a kid in a candy shop.

Grandma K's 60th and Grandpa M's Visit

Remember how Yale turned one? Me too. We spent his birthday weekend up in SLC with Karen and Scott. It was Karen's 60th birthday that weekend, so we had lots of celebrating to do. Maggie and Lisi flew out as well, which means we had a grand time! Except that poor little Lisi was sick all weekend. We still got in some playtime.

After we got home, we spent a couple days preparing for some company. Mitch, Lish's dad, flew into Vegas on Wednesday, and Maggie and Lisi flew into St. George. (Yes, for those of you who don't know, St. George has its own airport. It's very exciting.) We didn't do too much while everyone was down here. We explored St. George a little bit, visited Lish's office, went to a couple parks. You know, the normal low-key stuff you can do with 2 babies, 4 adults, and 1 car.

It was so fun to have them all visit. I loved getting to see Yale and Lisi interact, now that they can kind of play together. And by that I mean play side-by-side. And I loved getting to see Mitch play with his grandkids. He's a natural grandpa. It was also fun to spend time with Lish, Maggie and Mitch, as they reminisced and brought tears to their eyes from laughing so hard. There was a lot of joy going on around here last week. It was lovely.

ONE

Yale turned one today. One. ONE. One? A year? Oh my goodness. My baby is growing up. I did not know this was going to happen. . . so fast.

This past year has been full of ups and even higher ups. And a few downs. I'm not unrealistic here. I'm not saying being a mother is easy. Many women have already discovered this.

In this past year Yale has:

*met several family members and made many, many new friends
*gone from lifting his head, to lifting his chest, to rolling over, to getting up on his knees, to crawling, to standing, to climbing, to taking steps, to dancing, and finally to walking
*went from smiling to laughing to making us laugh
*grown 7 teeth
*gained about 12 pounds
*grown about 8 inches
*given his mother and father more joy than they thought possible

It's been a wonderful year. And I can't wait to have many more with him. And celebrate many more of his birthdays. And watch him continue to grow and grow.

Enjoy some visuals from our monkey's party:

I love him so much and I'm so glad he's in our lives!