David, Jessica, and DJ

Stay Home Mom!!!!

2012-01-24T10:56:00.005-07:00

I have gone from being a stay at home mom, to a stay home mom. What I mean is, since we live out in the sticks (said lovingly of course-because after all it is free!) we have spent a shocking amount of money on gas. Thus I now get to stay home. As much as I can stand without going absolutely bonkers. We have been in denial about our gas usage until last week, when we finally decided to face the facts-and our bank statement. If you are thinking this will mean an increase in awesome blog posts from me, you are probably wrong. The lack of blogging comes from one main area. DJ has decided the camera is awesome, and as soon as I get it out he runs up to me to see the picture. Generally before I have even taken it. No pictures=no blog. Of course this is an exciting time of year, so I could be wrong. While I adore fall and all that comes with it, this a fun time too. In just five short days, David and I will be celebrating our fifth year anniversary!! I use the term "celebrating" lightly. It falls on a Sunday this year, and the weekend of the klondike scout camp out thing-I don't know what that is. What I do know is that it means the one Saturday in January my husband has off work will be spend with teenage boys. Am I jealous of said boys? Why yes I am!!! Oh well, a few weeks after our anniversary comes Valentine's Day! And who doesn't love that day, right! Then one short week later comes MY BIRTHDAY!!! I am especially excited for it this year, because we get to have the sonogram to find out the gender of our new baby! What a fun birthday treat! In March comes David's birthday, then in April our little boy turns 2! So like I said we have a lot to look forward to!

Here are the few pictures I have managed lately.

DJ still loves ravioli, and I mean really, who doesn't?

Cuddling with Great-Grandma Garhart. We sure love being close to this lady!

DJ LOVES hats. Anytime he finds any hat, or really anything at all he puts it on his head and says "Hat!"

DJ and aunt Ashley. It is so precious to hear him say her name. They sure love each other!

I can't help taking pictures when he sleeps like this. It just warms my heart!

David has really become our dishes doer. And DJ loves to push a chair up and "help!" David is a good sport about it!

A few other things I want to remember about our boy: when he wants something and we don't understand, he takes our hand and leads us to it. There aren't too many things more precious than holding hands with my little boy.
He is picking up on words all the time, and when he is in the mood, he will mimic nearly anything you have to say. He especially loves to repeat anything Jozie has to say.

He is still such a daddy's boy. Randomly throughout the day he will just walk around the house saying "Daddy?" He always looks so sad when I tell him he's at work. We watch for David out the window and as soon as he comes up the driveway DJ gets so excited to see him!

We sure feel blessed to have the opportunity to know this sweet little man!

Remembering 2011 and Looking Forward to 2012!

2012-01-01T12:15:00.010-07:00

January started off with us looking at this adorably chubby baby in Glendale Arizona!

February and we were hanging out

outside in just t-shirts!

With March came the passing on an amazing woman. My Great-Grandma and DJ's Great-Great Grandma. We know we are so blessed that we had her in our lives for so long, and that DJ had the opportunity to meet and have pictures taken with such an extraordinary woman.

While in Kansas we got to visit some of our favorite people.

Grandma Jeannie

Aunt Ashley

Aunt Jozie

Great-Grandpa Kubie (This is definitely not a complete list of the people we adore, just a lucky few with pictures!)

In April we had a very special birthday, Mr. DJ turned 1!

May took us to one of the coolest places on the planet, Los Angeles! Where we visited one of the coolest girls on Earth, Janalee!

As if the state of Arizona didn't have enough sunshine for us, we had a little more straight from Kansas. My sis Jozie came to stay with us for six super special weeks this Summer!

Jozie, DJ, and I were world travelers, (well almost) and we bravely, with no air conditioning and no David took a trip to Utah.

We stayed in hotels (well just one!)

We visited the Grand Canyon!

We saw the Salt Lake Temple!

And the St. George Temple!

While August brought us saying goodbye to Jozie, September brought another visitor, my best friend (and DJ's first crush) Janalee!

September also came a monumental event in all of our lives, David's graduation from Universal Technical Institute! We are still so proud of David.

October came with us backing up our apartment for our move back to Arizona, and me lamenting that I didn't take more pictures of all the people me met and became friends with in Glendale. We still miss you all and think of you every day!

Once back in Kansas DJ was thrilled to be reunited with his favorite auntie Jozie, and they dressed up for Halloween as a cowboy and cowgirl.

Of course November brought a thankful Thanksgiving, though one with no pictures, and December brought an extremely blessed Christmas (I still might steal pictures of some of Christmas from my Grandma!) 2011 gave us so many opportunities to grow, and learn, and love. We have been blessed beyond what I can say, and we are trying to remember those blessings, and serve the Lord to show our gratitude.

Now as far as 2012 goes, I have a feeling this is going to be an incredible year and we know at least one little blessing is coming our way....

Oh yes! Big Brother in Training! A new little Kubie will be joining our clan around July 6, 2012! We are so excited!

(I know this post appears to have some random links, and funky centering for the text. I seriously think blogger was trying to kill me tonight! Most difficult post EVER!!)

December

2011-12-13T13:12:00.005-07:00

It has been a busy and fun month, and I have a few pictures to share, a few things I don't want to forget, and one cute video!

DJ is still surprising us with the new words he adds to his vocabulary. My favorite is "Thank you!" Melts my heart every time! He is also trying to say names a lot. He usually tries, and sometimes he comes pretty close. Jozie and Jesus sound pretty much the same when he says it though!

He has become very good during prayer time, he will fold his arms, kneel down, and will stay very still (unless it's a long prayer). Every time we put him in his chair to eat he immediately folds his arms and also anytime David stands with his arms folded, DJ will fold his arms and close his eyes too! Funny boy!

DJ has one chore that he has taken upon himself and I am perfectly happy to let him do it. One of the things stolen from our moving pod was our diaper genie. So since we haven't replaced it yet I have been wrapping the diapers up in plastic grocery bags and setting them out on the porch to throw in our trash can later. Well one day DJ was trying desperately to crawl up on his changing table. He kept saying "Ball! Ball!" Well there was no ball up there, but there was a wet diaper wrapped up like a ball, so I reluctantly handed it to him, he then took it straight to the kitchen where we keep the bags, dropped the diaper in, then walked over to the front door and tried to open in. I opened the door and he threw the bag out! He is now officially in charge of getting rid of all his stinky diapers!

We are all enjoying being back so close to family, though we haven't taken too much advantage of free babysitting yet, DJ has developed some extreme separation anxiety, but we are looking forward to those days once he gets more used to all his family!

Now pictures!

Trying to catch a quick nap on the couch without me noticing!

He loves to cuddle up with soft blankets lately!

My attempt at a mohawk. Look at that face! It's like he knew he was supposed to look like a little punk!

There's my smile!

Helping us put together the Christmas tree Grandma and Grandpa Roberts let us borrow. He was very serious about his work!

So cute!

The only picture I could get of him in front of the tree. We'll keep trying!

My boys all tuckered out after church!

This video is only 15 seconds long. I could not get a good picture of our tree, so I decided to video it, but what made me put it on here is our silly boy at the 12 second mark! Makes me chuckle every time!

Family Pictures

2011-12-02T14:06:00.006-07:00

My dear grandma, Bettie Garhart took some fantastic pictures for us, I was actually dreading this, but I am completely delighted with how they came out! I posted some on facebook, but if we're not facebook friends, or you missed them, then enjoy!

Update-Picture Overload!!!

2011-11-22T14:39:00.007-07:00

Our last pictures from Arizona....DJ playing in a box with no bottom.

David and DJ with two of our favorite AZ friends, Katy and Cole! We miss you!

First stop-Utah! We drove up to Squaw Peak to take in our lovely surroundings, and I stayed in the car with Sleeping Handsome.

(Is that really all the pictures I took in Utah-Sooooo sad! I also met my adorable new nephew and saw lots of family and friends that we love and miss!)

Next stop-Colorado! DJ LOVED the dogs at David's Uncle Ed and Aunt Diane's house.

We went to the Denver Aquarium with Grandma and Grandpa Kubie. Look at these two cuties!

This is what happens when you assume the sign that says "Wet Zone!" is just for ambiance.

DJ sitting on one of the "vrooms" in Ed and Diane's garage. He had David take him out there several times a day to see them.

All tuckered out!

And on to Kansas-This is in case you've ever wondered what it looks like driving through western Kansas.

DJ was very happy to see his favorite Aunt Jozie again! (And so was I!!)

Halloween!! Jozie was set to be a cowgirl so my Grandma Garhart whipped up the cutest cowboy costume in the west, just so they could match! (I think he looks just like I did at his age in this picture!)

Yippee-Eye-Yay!!!

The most darling cowboy and cowgirl you've ever seen! We went trick-or-treating Halloween night and DJ was such a trooper. He walked a lot of the way and would help knock on the doors, and stuck his candy right in the bucket, just like Jozie.

Always finding something to crawl on, over or through!

He was asleep right before I snapped this picture. I made a sound and he opened his eyes to smile at David, then fell right back asleep!

Say Cheese! (And he does!)

He loves to find David's cowboy hat and wear it around the house. Halloween must have really rubbed off on him!

Up on Aunt Ashley's coffee table. Like I said-always looking for something to climb up, over or through!

Playing in the leaves with Jozie and her friend. (Next he tried to eat one and lost his lunch in the pile! Yum!!)

A "guitar" his size!

We still love ravioli!

Trying to sneak a nap on the floor, so he doesn't have to go to his crib, holding a 3 day old donut he crawled up on the table to get.

We dearly miss all of our friends we made in Arizona, but we are so happy to be close to so much family in Kansas. We are truly blessed!

18 Months Old!

2011-10-16T20:01:00.005-07:00

Today DJ is 18 months old! I can't believe it! It seems like every milestone comes sooner than the one before.

DJ is a very sweet boy. Always giving us hugs, kisses, and zerberts!

This little boy loves to laugh and play. He is always ready to play any kind of game with anyone who will play with him, but he is also pretty happy to just entertain himself.

He is also pretty mischievous! He loves to push the limits to see what he can get away with, and he is so curious! There is always something new to explore and study!

He is starting to talk more and more. Sometimes he repeats words that we say, but usually he just says a new word on his own. He also LOVES to make animal noises.

He loves anything that has to do with balls or cars (anyone surprised by this?) But he also loves to dance to any music or beat he hears, and he will sing with me whenever I sing or when he hears a song on the radio.

We pretty much can't get enough of our boy! He brings so much joy into our home, and he is constantly teaching us. We love him so much! Also DJ and I have been completely spoiled lately by having David at home so often. It has been a treasure to spend our evenings together as a family. We can't wait for the adventure that awaits us. Kansas-here we come!

And on a side note, this is my sewing machine without it's case on. It seriously should not be this involved to replace the spool rod!

Graduated!!!!!!!!

2011-10-04T22:10:00.004-07:00

This past Friday, David Kubie Senior graduated from UTI!!!! WooHoo!!!! No more 14 hour days! No more feeling like a single mama Monday through Friday! Done! Done! Done! Done!!!!! We are very excited, and I am EXTREMELY proud of my hubby-hubby-husband! So here are some rememberies of the blessed event.

We were very excited to have David's dad, mom, brother, brother's wife, and their two kiddos come out for the graduation. I had to take a picture of this, if you have daughters then this is nothing significant. Our niece put all the "babies" to bed and tucked them in. No baby ever gets tucked in around here! (Except for my baby!)

Watch out babies-here comes destructo!

This is David getting his diploma. He received an Associates Degree in Occupational Studies in Automotive Technology. I don't know why my camera did so terrible for this!

Happy Boy!

David showing off the hot rods.

On a side note-I put together that shirt for DJ. It is based on the main UTI shirt.

All three kiddos-sadly it's the only picture I took of all three of them together!

After David's brother's family left DJ tripped and hit his head HARD on the leg of the rocking chair. You can barely see it in this picture, but trust me when I tell you he had one wicked goose egg!

I love this! DJ and his Grandpa Kubie!!

Congratulations sweetheart! I am so proud of you!!!!!

No words neccessary

2011-10-04T21:47:00.009-07:00

Mine a ball!

2011-09-15T12:15:00.005-07:00

DJ has been saying a few more words lately. The words he says consistently are ball, dad, mom, mine, and vroom, but he often surprises us by repeating a new word, like cup, drink, juice, more, up, and stop. Last week for a while instead of just saying "ball" for ball he starting "a ball" all the time. So of course I thought it was so funny when he saw another little boy with a ball and he yelled "Mine a ball!" No sweetie, that's not your a ball!

Pictures!

I love running shots. And I especially love this because he's wearing his church shoes with shorts! (He did wear long pants to church!)

Smile!

So I decided to use the self timer to try and take a picture of the two of us, and I was so happy with how they turned out, you get to see all three!

If you are getting tired of seeing pictures of him wearing nothing but a diaper and shoes, then you've come to the wrong place! I love how he loves to wear his shoes all the time!

No caption necessary!

I brought this chair out to the living room to accommodate a few extra guests and DJ got so excited. He just kept climbing in and out of it. I guess this is his chair now!

This is a picture of him watching TV, I thought it was something worth recording because he never wants to sit and watch TV.

You remember DJ's song from this post? Well here is Part 2!

And here's one more for ya, because watching DJ run is one of my favorite things to do!

David graduates the end of this month. It is so close we can taste it. Only 11 more 14.5 hour days! I am thrilled!!! Woohoo!

Shoes and Other Cuteness

2011-09-03T23:35:00.003-07:00

(Our computer is up and running! HOORAY!!!! Thanks to Aaron-he’s our hero!)Now, on to the blogging!
DJ LOVES to have his shoes on. When he first started wearing shoes he was not a big fan, but now he definitely is. Anytime he’s sees his shoes anywhere he grabs them and brings them immediately over to me so I can put them on his feet. This is a trait that he clearly inherited from his father!

Other cuteness:
I have definitely cut back on my picture taking, due to the fact that I wouldn’t be able to blog, so here are just a few pictures to chronicle what we’ve been up to!

Clearly not a good hair day for me!

Jozie with sweet Hannah and Josie

SUPER DJ!!!!!

Smiles!

Slightly better hair day!

Lovin’ Dinner Time

This is what happens when you leave a container of used oil outside in Arizona. The heat causes the container to split open and leak oil EVERYWHERE!!!

The engine David’s group built for their class. (This is not a picture of David!)

One last thing, have I mentioned DJ loves to dance?

Out with the old...

2011-08-31T15:51:00.002-07:00

Well, almost! The problem with new technology is that it doesn't always work with old technology. With our old computer we used a mouse and a keyboard that both have wires. Our new computer only has a spot to plug in one or the other. So I guess while we could just keep switching back and forth, we will be waiting one more week, and then we will have a wireless keyboard and mouse, and then we will be back in the game!
A.W.E.S.O.M.E!!!!

About Cleaning

2011-08-22T18:13:00.003-07:00

Remember when this blog used to have words that said things other than just captions to pictures of an adorable little boy (and occasionally an adorable little girl?) Well, this is going to be one of those posts! A post with NO pictures! (Because I can't put anymore pictures on this computer, and I think-hope-pray! that our desktop will be finding it's way home this week, (next week????)

If you know me, you might know that I am not naturally the tidiest of people. I was a little girl with a messy room, who turned into a teenager with a disaster area of a room, who turned into a roommate whose half of the room you could barely walk through, who turned into a wife who was too busy to clean (right!), who turned into a stay at home mom who learned that I didn't magically turn into a cleaner when I stopped working and started having babies. I just honestly don't notice the mess, until I see it through someone else's eyes. I mean I notice it, but it doesn't bother me. David on the other hand is a cleaner, and messes drive him crazy. He can not be in a messy room without starting to clean it. Which was cool when we were both working and going to school and were away from home an equal amount of time. But now David is gone 14 hours a day, 5 days a week, and well I'm home a lot more than that! So when he comes home after a long day and starts picking up toys, or cleaning the kitchen it induces huge amounts of guilt in me! BUT-that wasn't enough to make a difference. Until a few weeks ago! I will not go into details, but I decided it was time I really stepped it up! And guess what, now, my kitchen is clean more often than it is messy. And DJ's toys get put away nearly every night! And my friend came over the other day, and I wasn't racked with shame, because everything was clean! (She came back a few days later, and stuff was pretty messy again-but I'm making progress!)
The coolest part about it is I think I can feel the Spirit a little bit easier. I've always scoffed when people have quoted "Cleanliness is next to Godliness," when it comes to physically cleaning, because I've always interpreted that as referring to purity and virtue, but I'm thinking now, it probably means both.
So anyway, I'm not only writing this to toot my own horn, but also so that I can't go back to my slothful ways, and also to put some tips on here for anyone else who might not be a natural cleaner-and if you want to leave a comment with other tips I would love that!
1.It never takes as much time to do a chore as what you think it's going to!
I've spent a lot of time not starting something, because I'm sure DJ will not stay asleep long enough for me to finish! Just start-that's the hardest part!
2. Start at the top and work your way down!
I can clean up DJ's toys 50 times a day-and he will continue to take them out and mess up the floor, but I can clean off the counter once, and it will stay clean much longer (because DJ can't reach there!)
3. Make it fun!
Turn on some tunes, or a funny movie!
4. Focus on the biggest priority and start there-once that's done, move to the next thing.
Like I said in #1, it always is faster to do than I think it's going to be.
5. Ok, I really can't think of five, it was a stretch to think of four! But there you have it! Happy cleaning!

Wii

2011-08-22T11:32:00.003-07:00

Wii, wii, wii, all the way home.
This is a video of Jozie and her friend Hannah playing a game on the wii, but the cute part about it is DJ using a flashlight to play with them! Gotta love that kid!

Update!

2011-08-16T21:20:00.002-07:00

Well it has been a few weeks since I updated, so here is what is going on in our part of the world.
We have high hopes that our desk top computer will be very shortly restored to us, then I'll be able to return to my regularly scheduled blogging. I won't go into how impossible it has been to blog on the laptop, I feel like I have more than filled my quota for complaining about that!

Jozie went back to Kansas a few weeks ago. We have missed her smiling face around here, but I know there are people in Kansas who need those smiles as much as we do, so I guess I have to share. We learned so much from her, and delighted in every day we got to spend with her!It was wonderful to have her here with us, and I hope she remembers this Summer with as much joy in her heart as I have.

Today DJ is 16 months old! We haven't had a monthly update on him since he turned one, so I figured 16 months old on the 16th of August is as good a time as any! These are some of the things I want to remember about him.
He is a walking fool! He has been walking for about two months now, and is moving on to the next new thing: climbing!
He loves to dance. He dances to music on the TV, he dances when I sing, he knows which buttons to push on his toys so they will play music and he will dance to those too!
He loves to read books. Usually a few times a day I will look over and he will be looking at a book and "reading" it to himself. It is very sweet.
When he doesn't want something he makes a very cute squinty eye face and looks away-it is adorable!
He absolutely loved spending time with his Aunt Jozie. The last weekend she was here she had a sleep over at a friend's house and when she came home the next morning he was so excited he did a happy jig then ran to her and gave her a big hug! It was so cool!
He is very affectionate and gives his mommy and daddy lots of hugs and kisses. It is amazing how intuitive he is with our emotions.
He gets a little bit jealous when David is hugging me. He always comes over and stands between our legs and tries to push us apart so I'll pick him up, or he will keep patting David over and over until we pay attention to him. It's pretty funny.
I do have a few recent pictures of him, but it is too difficult to load them on here, so this is one that I don't think made the cut for any other posts. My two cuties, just hanging out!

Road Trippin'

2011-07-24T19:14:00.010-07:00

A few weeks ago David left for his two week army training, so I decided to load up and take Jozie and DJ on an awesome road trip. I was not counting on the air conditioner going out on my car the week before, but off we went anyway! (By the way-all the pictures are unedited-my sad, sorry laptop is getting sadder and sorrier, but our new desktop is in good hands now and hopefully will return very shortly!)

We drove up through Las Vegas. You no longer drive across the Hoover Dam. Now you drive across this bridge.

If you desire you can walk up this trail (or some stairs) to get up to the bridge. Which we did!

View from the bridge. It was windy!

There she is! Fun Fact: The bridge is 880 feet above the river! Wow!!

After a HOT drive through Vegas we landed in St. George to visit some of our favorite people! Look at this darling boy!

DJ's first popsicle!

Jozie Girl and Lincoln. Jozie could not get enough of this baby!

Craig and Sarah live very close to the St. George temple so one evening we walked over to it. That's Jozie in front of the door!

So cute!

After spending a few days in St. George we headed up to Orem. Saturday we went up to Sundance Ski Resort with Grandma and Grandpa. Here's Jozie, taking it all in.

For Purple Mountain Majesties....

Jozie decided to be brave and ride the ski lift with me, and tell me this, have you ever seen a cuter girl on a ski lift?

As we were just heading up I told Jozie to take off her flip flops so she didn't lose them. As she started to take one off it slipped and dropped! Luckily we were close enough to the start that the workers were able to get it. They kept it for us until we came back down.

This is how DJ felt about leaving. Not too happy!

Sunday Grandma invited all the relatives who live close by to come to dinner. We had seven babies under the age of two there. It was awesome! My uncle has a bouncy house that he brought. DJ did not love it. Unfortunately I didn't get more pictures. But as always I had so much fun seeing my cousins and their families! Love you!!!

This is Jozie and her best Orem pal, Ariel. She's one of my adorable cousins. They had a sleepover and everything!

This is DJ sleeping in the car. He did that a lot the last two weeks!

While there we went up to Temple Square in Salt Lake. This is at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial building! I love to see the temple.

Just Joz.

Can you see the rainbow in front of the mountain? It was a double rainbow and so bright, but by the time I got my camera it had faded.

Jozie took a picture of me and Grandma.

Then with Grandpa too! I love these two people so much. I can't even express all they've done for me!

On our way home we stopped at the Grand Canyon! And it is grand!

This is the watchtower. It was built in 1930. You can climb some 85 stairs to get to the top. I thought that'd be super fun to do with DJ on my hip. Not as fun as I had thought. My calf muscles felt it for two days!

That night we stayed in the Cameron Trading Post Hotel. Aren't we cute!

This is my truck drivers tan. Can you tell how much darker my front arm is than my back arm?

Snoozing on the last leg of the drive. (I had to take the picture like four times because I was driving and looking forward, but trying to guess where to aim!)

We came home to the Bruce's Air Conditioning about to replace our air conditioner. This was supposed to be done while we were gone, but instead they started about five minutes after we got home. The worst part was we turned the A/C off when we left. By the time they were done 5 hours later it was 98 degrees in our apartment (they told me it would be 2.5 to 3 hours tops!) It took ten hours to cool down to 74! We couldn't stand to hang out there so while they were replacing it, we hung out at the gym at the church, then went to Peter Piper Pizza. It was a pretty cool end to our trip!

Good Stuff, Plus Many Other Items

2011-07-24T14:50:00.004-07:00

Friday morning the kiddos and I came home from our awesome trip (more on that later) then late Friday night David came home. We decided to celebrate by going bowling! And not just wii bowling either! It was awesome!

DJ's Throw

Jozie's Throw

David's Throw

My Throw

But maybe the coolest part of the bowling alley was the quarter machine labeled: Good Stuff, Plus Many Other Items. I was really hoping to get some of the good stuff, but alas we were stuck with some of the many other items. So silly!

Remember when...

2011-07-06T15:54:00.004-07:00

...blogging used to be fun and easy and a wonderful way to remember all the awesome and cute things going on in my world? And now it's slow and painful and makes me want to pull my hair out! It's ok though, because one day soon we will have a new hard drive and our old (new) computer back! We will! We will! I can feel it! I can! I can!!

Ok, anyway...back to it!

Last week I went with DJ and Jozie to the Arizona Science Center. We went with David in the Spring and it was awesome, so I knew Jozie would love it too! It has a cool maze exhibit right now.

This is a maze that you stand on and it tips to roll the ball in.

This is the awesome bed of nails!

Look at this girl doing "hard" things!

They had a telescope you could look through and it projected the image onto another huge telescope by the ceiling. This is Jozie's eye.

And her cute face!

And DJ's cute face!

In other news...My boy is still the most darling eater around. Here he is thoroughly enjoying his blueberry pancakes!

And here are my two cuties, accidentally twinners for bed!

We have done a whole bunch of awesome things, but I continue to forget to bring my camera. For the forth we went to the Phoenix Freedom Wireless Forth of July Celebration (that may or may not be the correct name.) It was pretty fun, and super hot, but the fireworks were amazing. It was definitely the best fireworks show I've ever seen. And David pointed out a fun fact. They say that usually they have 100, 000 people come there for the event, our hometown (Topeka) has about 120,000 people total. It was craziness trying to get out of there, but good craziness.

David leaves for his two week army training Friday, and I am planning on taking an awesome road trip, the only problem is that I haven't contacted any of the people that I am hoping to stay with. Oh well, it'll all work out, right? Hopefully when I return I will have my good computer back and we will return to our more regularly scheduled blog entries. Until then...

Lately

2011-06-27T12:16:00.005-07:00

Remember that ray of sunshine I said would be coming our way? Well, she made it!! Jozie and my grandma came on the 15th and we had the best couple of days. While my grandma was here I didn't take a single picture with my camera! But you can take my word for it that it was awesome!!! Here are some pictures of my darling sis! She is the best little auntie!! DJ cannot get enough!

After a long day Jozie and I fell asleep on the couch, David dumped the clean towels on us for a blanket. Yes we are both really asleep!

This little man is still doing his thing, making us love him more every day with his awesome skills and his heart melting smiles.

This is an empty bottle of rootbeer, but I couldn't resist the cuteness of it all-there is a darling video in your near future that makes it even more delightful!

Little poser!

He still loves his daddy to bits and spends every minute David is home as close to him as possible!

Look I'm here too!

Here is our attempt at a picture of the four of us. After we gave up, Jozie suggested we use the self-timer and set it on something! Yeah! That's what we'll do next time!

And now for the video portion of this blog.... (The best video is the last one, so if you're only going to watch one, skip to the end!)

For Father's Day I bought David's present on Amazon and I ended up getting four sent to me from four different sellers in four different shipments. So here's that...

Since Jozie is here we have, for the first time in our marriage, a bottle of pickles in our fridge, Jozie wanted DJ to try one, we were hoping for a really sour face, but we were a little disappointed at his reaction!

I couldn't resist a video of my little man drunk off of rootbeer!

Here's DJ doing what he does best lately!!!

And here is the very best video, DJ still thinks his dad is pretty much the funniest man around!!

Summertime in the desert!

2011-06-07T13:01:00.004-07:00

It's hot here! Is it hot there? You know, where ever you are? Of course I feel like it's pretty much always hot here, despite what the natives say. And it's my blog, so I'll say it if I want too! It's hot here more often than not. The End.

Moving on.

Splash Park! Apparently the concrete does not feel good on his little knees and I don't blame him! Good news though, he's almost walking, the other day he took NINE unassisted steps! Yay!

Twinners with his bud! Apparently their mommies have similar tastes!!

Thank you to the kind person who egged David's car. Brook Creek Apartments: There's no place like home.

This is the damage. It looks small, but it took off the top clear coat, which can spread and peel and ultimately damage that entire section. So once again, thank you!

Drinking all by himself out of a water bottle!

Lovin' some guacamole! And if you look close you can see FOUR teeth!!

Ok, Mr. Baby is becoming more and more determined to feed himself. This is definitely not the most effective method, but he is pretty strong-willed! (I knew he would be, I mean he really didn't stand a chance between his parents, but it doesn't make it easier!)

Well I have a very cute naked picture of this little boy (where his privates are mostly covered) but we've decided since there are creepers out there not to post it. *Sigh* The creepers ruin it for everybody.

On a more delightful note: Because this place doesn't have enough sunshine on it's own, we are getting our own little wonderful ray of sunshine to stay with us for a while this Summer! In just over a week my super cool, amazing, sweet, funny, smart, darling little sis will be coming to visit! Yay!!!!!! I can't wait to see your face Miss. Jozie! And more excitement, if you can stand it, my grandma is bringing her out! So we get to have her loveliness brighten up our little world for a few days as well! Arizona might spontaneously combust from all the extra light coming our way! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

L.A.!!! L.A.!!! L.A.!!!

2011-05-31T10:46:00.005-07:00

This weekend we took advantage of David having THREE whole days off and we went to Los Angeles! We stayed with my bestie Jana, and she showed us the town! She took us to Venice Beach, a Dodgers game, the L.A. Temple, Hollywood and Highland, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the Roosevelt Hotel, the Farmer's Market, The Grove, the Santa Monica Pier, Citywalk, and to see the Hollywood sign! Plus countless other places we passed. She was the best tour guide, and we had so much fun! See ya next weekend Jan?

This was David's first time seeing the ocean. I think he was impressed!

This is pretty much how we all felt about spending the day at the beach!

Dodgers game, and our 2nd ever picture with each other!

Notice the empty bleachers and the smoke? Yeah there was a "small, contained fire" while we were there! Good times!

Julie Andrew's! Love it!

Jana and DJ were matching buddies!

Hollywood! And maybe the cutest family that has ever stood under that sign!

DJ fell asleep moments after we got in the car to drive home, with his toy basket in his hand. This pretty much sums up how we felt at the end of our trip-happily exhausted!

To see many more pictures from our trip, visit this link!

If You Decide to Let Your One Year Old Feed Himself,

2011-05-25T14:36:00.003-07:00

this might be the result!

Ravioli

Oatmeal

Why would you do this to yourself, one might ask. Well, when your one year old decides he won't eat his favorite foods unless he can do it by himself, what choice do you have? The oatmeal originally was in a bowl, at the time this picture was taken the bowl was on the floor. If you are going to attempt this, do not try to facebook at the same time.

By the way, this post was a test to see how long it would take, camera to published. This is a relatively short post, only four pictures, and not too much text, 23 minutes. Sigh.

Love you and good night.

Zoo!

2011-05-24T16:37:00.005-07:00

A few weeks ago the weather was absolutely lovely, so we took advantage of the loveliness and David skipped a little school and we went off to the Phoenix Zoo! (We are doing all we can to create wonderful memories of this place in which we live.)

This is David and DJ with the rhino. Note DJ's darling shirt from GGG. It says, "I'm faster than you and I crawl!" So cute!

This little creature (chipmunk?) before I took the picture was creeping up so close to DJ and DJ was doing all he could do burst the bands that held him bound and attack the little fella. Then I took out the camera and the fun ended. It was the only animal at the zoo that DJ showed any interest in. I love how David is gazing off in this picture.

Don't you just want to cuddle him?!

Giraffes! They were WAY up on the hill, and we were about to walk away when a zoo employee told us she was going to be lowering the food so they could come closer and eat. The food thing made this squeaky noise and the giraffes perked right up and came tromping over to eat. It looked like it was situated and giraffe #1 came up and tried to eat and all the sudden it jerked back up a few inches and the giraffe took off! But he got over it. Now DJ is the one gazing.

All tuckered out, my sweet sleeping boy. I love to turn around and see my little boy looking back at me, instead of just seeing the back of the car seat.

I am convinced there is no problem in this world that can't be forgotten by looking into the eyes of a little child of God.

I decided that no matter how long it took I needed to post this now because next week we will have something really cool to post about, are you ready?

L.A.!! L.A.!! WE'RE GOING TO L.A.!!

And we're excited, if you couldn't tell.

Boooo!

2011-05-19T08:59:00.004-07:00

So I have not updated for a few weeks, there are two reasons. First our computer took a turn for the worst and is now living in DJ's room unusable. (We will never again buy a computer from a dude who builds computers in his free time-nothing but trouble for us!) So we are stuck with the laptop I got in 2003, and trying to do anything on it is painfully slow. And since DJ doesn't give me too much free time as it is, I just haven't been able to do anything. ALSO the battery in our camera took a turn for the worst, so I can't take more than 3 or 4 pictures without the battery dying. And since every time I get the camera out DJ stops whatever he is doing and rushes over to try to grab it out of my hands there aren't really too many pictures to post. It stinks! But I do have some pictures from our awesome trip to the zoo, so I will try to post soon!

Loves,

Jessica

P.S. One for the road....

Busy!

2011-05-05T21:16:00.003-07:00

If I had to use just one word to describe DJ it would be-BUSY!!! He is into everything! He has figured out how to turn the TV on and off and change the channels and the volume.

More ravioli pictures-He LOVES his ravioli!

Cute boy in jammies from Jill!

All tuckered out! (I love that even though he has slimmed out quite a bit from this or this, his tummy still hangs over his britches!)

He loves to do anything as long as he is moving. Here is a video of his first new favorite game.

By the time I took the camera out he had already stood up and fallen back on his bum about 20 times! Silly boy!

For his birthday we got him a basketball goal, but it's still too high for him, so when we got this Red Baron one for free David came home and put it on the wall, low enough for DJ, he is definitely our little baller! (P.S. The next day he ripped it off the wall, so now I hold it and he throws the balls at me. And I LOVE it, let me tell ya!)

For GGG

2011-05-05T20:38:00.003-07:00

Hi Grandma!

Here is the first video of him opening your package.

And here is part 2 (Hopefully pretty soon I'll remember to buy a new battery for our camera!)

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa, and Uncle Greg!

Out!

2011-04-29T10:23:00.003-07:00

Tuesday I threw out my back.

It felt like this:

Can someone please tell me how someone in their 20s can throw out their back? I mean really.

I am not that old!

Desert Botanical Gardens

2011-04-29T10:04:00.006-07:00

Saturday we went to the Desert Botanical Gardens. I was stunned-STUNNED at the beauty there! How can something so delicate and lovely grow up among something so sharp and wicked? Analogy for life? I think maybe so...

They also had a special butterfly exhibit with hundreds of butterflies in this tent. It was very cool.

The moment we walked in a butterfly flew over and landed on DJ's leg. By the time he realized what was on him it flew off.

One landed on David's shirt. After this picture it crawled onto his finger and he brought his finger down in front of DJ. DJ tried to grab the butterfly and it flew away. Neat experience though.

A UTI Easter and Other Cuteness

2011-04-28T13:17:00.003-07:00

The Friday before Easter DJ and I took a trip up to David's school so DJ could meet the Easter Bunny. I had no idea he got around in such a cool ride!

He knows he's cute, right? I mean look at that face, caught red handed in a no-no zone and he couldn't be happier!

Loving on the kitty with wings the lady from downstairs gave him.

It's not a good day unless...

2011-04-28T13:06:00.003-07:00

DJ has pulled the DVDs off the shelves....

The books off the shelves...

His food off the shelves....

And has torn out at least 20 pages from the phone book!

What?

DJ's Birthday

2011-04-17T11:05:00.007-07:00

Yesterday my sweet baby turned one! Because it was a drill weekend and we didn't find out until the day before whether David would even be able to come home that evening we didn't invite anyone over, but we had loads of fun on our own!

Because our family is too far away to celebrate we did a lot of recording, this video shows him opening a few presents from us and from my mom. We made the mistake of giving him a ball to unwrap first, so after that he really wasn't too interested in anything else! We also gave him a basketball hoop, there is a video of that coming right up!

We also took a video of him with his first birthday cake! I was completely dismayed and embarrassed to see how much of me I inadvertently included in the first minute of this video. It is truly priceless!

I learned three things from that video.

#1. I'm much lumpier on video than I thought I was in real life!
#2. Those pants aren't nearly as flattering as I thought they were.

#3. BE AWARE OF WHERE THE CAMERA IS!!!!!

And this video is of DJ playing with his dad and his hoop. Possibly two of his favorite things!

In a catalog for baby birthday parties it had a darling shirt for one year olds, but I didn't order it in time and couldn't bring myself to pay 12 or more dollars for shipping, so I decided I would make my own!

Then I decided to make his cake match his shirt. Because I couldn't find any of my cake decorating things this was the best I could do with regular food coloring and sandwich baggies!

This is DJ and Daddy playing basketball. (Later David and I had a shoot off competition-which I won! Then we played HORSE-which I lost. Who knew we'd enjoy it so much as well!)

Wooden blocks, which get thrown everywhere like little hard square shaped balls. He did start putting them back in the little wagon though, which just shows how amazingly smart he is!

Shirt and cake that were supposed to match. By the way-I used an iron on transfer for the shirt and all of his drool caused it to peel off. Lame. Shouldn't it be water proof? How are you supposed to wash it?

Checking out the flame!

Yummy!

I'd love to tell you this was his first taste of something like this, but thanks to his cousins he's had tastes of cookies, cupcakes and peeps. Oh well. It's the first thing like this we've given him!

Look at my cute $1 Target headband!

Now is the part where I was planning on writing about what a joy this little boy is in our lives, and how happy we've been this last year, and what a blessing he has been, and all the things he's taught us, and all the people he has touched with his amazing little spirit, but I'm getting all emotional just thinking about it, so we'll just leave it with this: We couldn't have asked for a sweeter, smarter, happier boy! We are so grateful for him and are so excited to watch him continue to grow, and learn, and amaze us!

We love you DJ-Happy Birthday Son!

Happy Birthday Little Man

2011-04-16T08:42:00.001-07:00

Here is a sweet video...more to come later...

Dinner Time

2011-04-08T16:36:00.005-07:00

Lately I like to take a lot of pictures while DJ is in his high chair. Mostly because he can't crawl away from me. Also because it captures what dinner time truly means for our family.

A time to quench our thirst.

A time to ponder.

A time to reach out.

A time to listen.

A time for honesty, even when it's shocking.

And, a time to smile.

The End.

By the way, the trash bag in the background that makes us look like dirty people who don't take our trash out is actually a big bag of grocery bags, waiting to be recycled. So there.

Buzz Buzz Snip

2011-04-07T16:04:00.005-07:00

Snip Snip Snippity Snip

Despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth from members of mi familia in Kansas, we gave DJ a little, tiny hair cut for our little, tiny boy. First we tried to use the clippers, but that was quite traumatic, so we just settled for good ole scissors.

Before

After (Ok, you can't really see it, but just trust me that all the pictures from here on out will be after pictures.)

And by the way...Oh my gosh Becky, look at that butt!

Ravioli

2011-03-29T22:18:00.005-07:00

Ravioli!

I love Ravioli!

Ravioli it's so good for me!

Do you like it on your face?

Yes I like it on my face!

On your face?

On my face! Oh oh oh oh!

Ravioli!

I love Ravioli!

Ravioli it's so good for me!

Do you like it on your hands?

Yes I like it on my hands!

On your hands?

On my hands! Oh oh oh oh!

Ravioli!

I love Ravioli!

Ravioli it's so good for me!

Do you like it in your hair?

Yes I like it in my hair!

In your hair?

In my hair! Oh oh oh oh!

Ravioli!

I love Ravioli!

Ravioli it's so good for me!

Kansas Part Two...The Little Man

2011-03-29T21:48:00.007-07:00

Ok, ok, this picture was not taken in Kansas, but it was taken right before we went to Kansas, and isn't he just darling giving this tiny stuffed doggie kisses?

My sweet baby snoozing on my sweet sista!

And on his Grandma Jeannie. (By-the-way-Sleeping pictures kill me! Oh my goodness, how can so much angelic-ness be present in one tiny little person?)

Playing with his Auntie Ashley, these pictures were so fabulous I couldn't pick just one, so you get four!

(I really, really, especially love this one.)

Practicing walking with his Auntie Jozie!

Uhm yes, that is snow! (Do you realize from November to March I spent eight weeks in states that were drearily cold and snowy, whilst I'm supposed to be living it up in Arizona? Can we say hello to it's already been in the 90's here?)

Delighted with his Great-Grandpa Kubie!

Uhm, Happy 11 months old on the day this picture was taken! (There probably will not be a "Hey I'm 11 Months Old" post but don't worry the next age milestone post will be epic!)

We wore green on St. Patrick's Day (but I won't tell you how we went to the hair salon and the man at the counter thought he was a girl!)

Don't they both look like they just got busted? Love these two monkeys SO MUCH!!! (Doesn't it seem like monkeys should be spelled monkeies? Or that there should at least be an apostrophe?)

The best posers in the world!

Almost immediately upon returning to the Grand Canyon state we set off for another journey. I moved our clothes from the big suitcase to the medium sized suitcase and we were off to St. George. While there I thought I left the camera in Arizona. When I came back to Arizona I discovered that it had been hiding in the diaper bag the whole time. Moral of the paragraph, I only took two pictures while we were there, both with my phone. I was planning on posting them, but alas, I cannot find my phone and when I call it, it immediately goes straight to voicemail (this is troublesome because I know it is very nearly fully charged.) Oh bother. I just got that dumb thing turned back on last week. *Sigh*

P.S. We are getting new phones soon, so the saddest part of this story is the loss of all my wonderful pictures, though I do have most of them uploaded to my computer.

The End.

Kansas Part One...The Reason

2011-03-29T21:27:00.003-07:00

This month I went back to Kansas. My Great-Grandma passed away and I went home to be with family and attend her funeral. She was truly an amazing woman who led a good long life. I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to get to know her so well, especially during the year I lived with her.

Wasn't she lovely?

This is her looking radiant at our wedding reception.

For her 96th birthday last year I had the kids I was student teaching each make her a birthday card to mail to her. I now have all the cards.

Even though DJ won't remember her, how incredible is it that he met his Great-Great-Grandmother?

I love everything about this picture.

If you go to this link then click on Bettie Margaret you can listen to the interview I did with her five years ago. There are also photos from her early years and very recent years.

Thank you Grandma for your loving example. You will always be in our hearts.

Nicknames

2011-03-03T14:11:00.005-07:00

Little Man

Dieter

Dieters

DieterLeeDoodle

Buddy

Bubba

Bubbas

Bubbles

BooBoo

Baby Boy

SugarPieHoneyBunchesofOatsWithHoneyAndSugarPie

We sure love him.

Saturday Post

2011-02-26T10:23:00.004-07:00

On Saturday we clean up all the crusty messes left over from the rest of week (or we would in an ideal world!) So I thought I'd throw together a post of all the leftover pictures from the week that didn't earn their own post, because really, who doesn't want to see all the leftover pictures right?

DJ's goes exploring a little farther into the apartment every day. And he is not concerned about being able to see me at all. Yesterday he went down the hallway while I was in the kitchen. The day before he went in the kitchen while I was in the living room. Everyday he finds somewhere he hasn't traveled on his own and checks it out. Here he is checking out what it's like under the table.

In "go" position.

DJ with his two favorite things, his balls and his books! We play catch/roll every day, and we read books almost every day.

While I was feeding him, in between bites he would suck on his wrist. It was so funny and I have no idea why he was doing it, but he would not let me take a picture of it. So here is just a cute messy faced boy.

This is not DJ, it is DJ's bud, but I'm fairly certain it's a preview of what's to come. Climbing right in the toy box for maximum playing experience.

On my birthday I wanted to go play at the park with my boys. When we left the house it was sunny and warmish. By the time we got to David's work it was overcast and coldish. So we didn't stay long. (It takes 30 minutes to get to David's work when there is no traffic. This is what DJ does to entertain himself.)

DJ has been to parks before, but this was his first time going down slides and swinging, because I wanted lots of pictures and David doesn't have very much free time. My goal was to take several cute, cute pictures then make the best birthday post ever. But the battery on our camera is giving up, so the fully charged camera died after six pictures, right along with my dream of the best birthday post ever.

First up, the round slide! DJ's thoughts: Not impressed. But I think David liked it.

Next up, the straight slide! DJ's thoughts: Still not impressed. Once again though, I think David liked it.

And last but not least, the swing! The swing! Hooray! Our baby loves swings! DJ's thoughts: At first not impressed, but then, completely terrified. Oh well. There's always next time.

On a side note, in the swing next to DJ was a little girl, maybe 10 or 11 who had decided to get into one of these baby swings and she could not get out. She was already sitting in there when we arrived and apparently her mom had tried unsuccessfully to pull her out. After about 20 minutes of us being there her dad showed up. He was not happy. He tried to pull her straight out. He tried to flip the swing upside down so she could drop out. He tried to pull her out horizontally. I'm not going to lie, it was funny. But she was embarrassed, then he started to get mad at her, "You shouldn't have got in there to start with!" (Thank you for that helpful tip Captain Obvious!) So we went to a different part of the playground. Somehow they were successfully able to remove her from the swing, without calling the fire department. And her legs were still fully functional because she hightailed it to the restroom when she finally got out.

It really was the icing on my imaginary birthday cake.

P.S. I did eat cake on my birthday, so don't feel sorry for me. It was a wonderful day.

The end.

Like Mama, Like Baby

2011-02-24T10:55:00.004-07:00

The best way to sleep!

A Special Day!

2011-02-16T19:09:00.006-07:00

Today DJ is 10 months old!

He is such a fun baby and brings so much joy into our lives. For his 10 month birthday he decided he was tired of everyone asking if he could crawl yet and hearing us say "Almost!" So without further ado, the answer to that question...

We knew that like everything else he's done that once he decided he was ready to do it, he would just do it. My life just got a lot busier!!!!

Another reason this is a special day, it is the birthday of one of the most amazing and beautiful women I know!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!!! We love you!!!!!

A Day In The Life...

2011-02-15T21:39:00.003-07:00

...Or Adorable Pictures That Needed To Be Shared, But Didn't Really Deserve Their Own Post.

This was very funny and heartbreaking at the same time. He scootched himself under the chair in the dining room then couldn't figure out how to get out. As soon as I snapped the picture I rescued him. (Don't judge too harshly...)

He is feeling very proud of himself here because he backed his way up and sat down right on this perfect DJ sized seat.

His little world gets bigger every day as he is starting to get where he wants to go and finding more and more things to figure out. He was exploring the surround sound machine thinger. (He clearly gets his curiosity for machines from his father!)

Such a poser! I LOVE THIS BOY!!!!!!!

The One Where DJ Wants To Be a Plumber When He Grows Up

2011-02-15T21:28:00.004-07:00

Sunday Little Man had a blowout at church and in his diaper bag was just a regular shirt, no onsie. Hi Little Man!

Well that ended up being a joy for my Sunday afternoon, because every time I looked over at him this is what I saw...

And this...

And this! How could I resist?

MOM! Enough is enough!!! Sorry Little Man...

Ramblings

2011-02-09T10:24:00.008-07:00

DJ has been sick forever it seems like! He started off with this cold thing, then at the beginning of last week we all (ALL THREE OF US) got a stomach flu nastiness, and now DJ is still fighting this cold thing. He has this awful cough and so like the paranoid mommy I am I took him to the doctors office (where by the way he is sick and tired of seeing DJ for this cough because he keeps telling me it's allergies-but I really, REALLY thought it was bronchitis this time) well he did have the start of an ear infection so more antibiotics. What all of this means though is this-my angel baby who has been sleeping through the night like a stinking pro since he was two months old, is no longer sleeping through the night. In the last ten nights he has not slept through the night once. Nope he gets up once or twice or three or four times a night. And coughs. And whimpers. And cries. It is so very sad. And so so so very exhausting. Look at those tired eyes.

Also last night I had a relief society activity. So that made me tired and a little bit stressed. But it's over now, so maybe I'll get my kitchen cleaned. David and DJ would love it if I cleaned the kitchen. Look how excited they are at the thought!

I got a cookbook from the library called Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld's wifey) It's all about pureeing vegetables and putting them in foods to get your kids to eat their vegis without knowing about it. Since I got a cool new blender/food processor thingie for Christmas I plan on trying this to see if I can trick David and myself into eating our vegis. DJ prefers to eat shoulder.

I had a dream last night David's dad was Donald Trump. But he wouldn't give us any money. But he had a friend who decided we were super awesome people and he was ready to retire so he was giving us his super successful restaurant, then his friend decided to give us her super successful spa. And I woke up and for a half a second though-Whew! We don't have to worry about money anymore! Yay!

There is hope for the future, DJ likes to eat saltines! And they usually don't make him throw up! It is the only thing that is not pureed that he will eat without gagging the second it touches his tongue!

We had a pretty rocking superbowl party. Two of the most gorgeous men I've ever laid eyes on were there. This is evidence. We were glad the Packers won. But we were a little disappointed in the commercials. Though we did like little Darth Vader and David was excited because the Camaro commercial ended up with a school teacher driving it. So now he is convinced that I'm convinced that it's the next car we're going to buy.

DJ will crawl about two paces before he decides he can travel faster by rolling and pivoting while sitting. But he's close. He always ends up in the danger zone of the living room.

Same spot. Still dangerous.

Saturday we went to a chocolate festival. It had vendors selling chocolate from all over the United States. We did not buy any chocolate. Because it was loud and crowded and the lines were long and the food was expensive and DJ didn't feel good. As we were leaving a band got up on an outdoor stage that had a chandelier and started playing Beatles songs. I like the Beatles and so does DJ, but David doesn't especially care for them and since it was loud and crowded and the lines were long and the food was expensive and DJ didn't feel good we left. We were disappointed because I had done a wicked good job parallel parking in a close to the action spot. DJ would rather eat a good catalog anyway.

P.S. Happy Birthday Grandma Diana!

Out of the groove!

2011-01-31T20:29:00.008-07:00

So I clearly have gotten out of the blogging groove. Three weeks in Kansas will do that to you I guess... So here are some pictures to recap. They are not in any particular order, just however they uploaded.

Here is my sleeping angel. We were still in Kansas and he fell back asleep after his morning feeding. He was smiling in his sleep. Oh my goodness...I could finish this post right now.

DJ and his Great-Great Grandma! How many people can say they met their Great-Great Grandma?

DJ's newest face. Duck lips?

Oh how I love bath pictures!

Ok, this is the coolest picture ever. Messy orange face from carrots, then a string of snot that ends in a huge snot bubble on his chin!

Is that green on his face? DJ ate and LIKED his Garden Vegetables, it was spinach, peas, and carrots! (Scroll down to see how he felt about spaghetti).

Looking less like a baby and more like a little boy every day!

Doing yoga with Daddy!

I was doing something in the kitchen when I noticed how quiet DJ had gotten. I turned around and this is what I saw. He found his cup and figured out he could drink from it all "big" himself when he laid on his back. Big boy!

I was so nervous to fly home alone with DJ, and we ended up with the only empty seat on the whole plane next to us. The flight attendant said DJ would be much safer sitting buckled in that seat then on my lap, so for part of the flight he sat in his own seat!

This face pretty much sums up how we all felt on Christmas day. We were so excited to be with family!

And this face pretty much sums up how we felt about seeing David again after two weeks of being away from him. We missed being together!

These are the beautiful flowers David sent to me while I was in Kansas and he was in Arizona. Maybe he missed us as much as we missed him.

This is a video of DJ moving from laying to sitting. This was a few weeks ago, he's a pro at it now!

This is DJ trying Spaghetti. We have high hopes that one day he'll eat food other than pureed vegis and fruits. This was not that day. (Warning-he will throw up in this video!)

Thanks to cool Uncle Greg for keeping us up to date on our hip hop music we have DJ's theme song. This is him dancing to it!

And in other news....David and I had our four year anniversary Saturday! Yay for us! Happy Anniversary hunny bunny! Here's to four more! (Heeheehee, just kidding! I plan on keeping this man around for at least an eternity!)

Out with the old...

2011-01-18T21:21:00.008-07:00

Nine months ago (to the day) when I looked in the backseat of my car, this is what I found. A teeny tiny baby, who was just 5 little pounds and 5 little ounces the day we left the hospital. He was so small when we pulled the harness on his car seat as tight as we could, it still wasn't tight enough. This was in April.

May

June

July

August

October

January. That teeny tiny baby is gone, and has been replaced by a bouncing little boy. Out with the old car seat...

In with the new!

Here's a then and now shot! Love him!!!

Say Mama...

2010-12-13T15:05:00.002-07:00

You better watch out, you better not cry...

2010-12-10T22:53:00.004-07:00

You better not pout, I'm telling you why, Santa Claus came to town! And DJ was so excited he could hardly stand it! I'm just sad it came out so blurry!

What's better than getting free Christmas cards?

2010-12-07T11:46:00.002-07:00

Getting good quality free Christmas cards! Shutterfly is doing this cool promotion where if you blog about them you get 50 free cards! The cool thing about Shutterfly (and I'm being serious because if I thought they were junk I wouldn't want them even if they were free) is that they have tons of cool designs and options and it's all really good quality stuff! If you want to check out their Christmas cards just click here, but only do it if you have a lot of time because they have over 800 designs to choose from! I love this card where I can put one picture of my little dude and it is the focal point, or if I can't decide (and really how can you chose just one?) I can put up to 7 like on this card!

Another thing that is cool about Shutterfly this time of year is all their other stuff. It is an excellent place to buy Christmas presents. Because I can't think of a single person I know who wouldn't want a calendar of my little man's face to look at all year. Or if you think calendars are over done you can turn your photos into wall art, which looks very cool when it's done!

Anyway, check it out!

Christmas Party-Military Style!

2010-12-05T21:10:00.004-07:00

Today was the Christmas Party for David's unit. It wasn't as spectacular as ones we've been to in other units, but it was 80 degrees, so who's complaining?

DJ and David sitting in a HMMWV (humvee)

Wearing Daddy's patrol cap.

Posing with Mommy (we don't take enough pictures together!)

Posing with Daddy (Stop taking my flipping picture!)

Possibly my favorite picture of all time! LOVE IT!

What a great way to kick off the Christmas season! Bring it on! Merry Christmas!

Oh...I almost forgot, here's a new video! DJ is like his dad in so many ways, and one of my favorite ways is that he cannot hold still, just like his dad! Enjoy!

The last few weeks!

2010-12-01T13:12:00.004-07:00

November was a very busy month for us! But we are back home for a few more busy weeks before we head to Kansas for Christmas! Here's hoping there's less snow than last year! (Here's the post about Christmas in Kansas last year!)

This is DJ looking so cute I couldn't choose just one picture!

This is DJ eating his breakfast, he likes apples and bananas. He does not like peaches or oatmeal. He loves the apple/banana/pear combo!

I made DJ this little bunting to sleep in (even though the pattern said it is not suitable for sleepwear-but I don't know why, so he sleeps in it!) The hat came with the pattern, but he doesn't sleep in it.

Here's DJ in his SUPER CUTE Thanksgiving shirt his Aunt Krista gave him. It says, I'm Thankful for 1. Mommy and Daddy, 2. Yummy Turkey, 3. Football! And he did indeed eat baby food turkey and watched A LOT of football Thanksgiving day!
Thanks for the cool shirt Aunt Krista!

And here is DJ checking out his Great Grandpa Hutchison. He loved to hang out with him to watch TV. He always has the best seat in the house!

7 Months Old and Good News!

2010-11-16T16:35:00.010-07:00

My boy is 7 months old! Can you tell he doesn't feel very good?

(If you click on the collage you can see it big!)

Ok, here's the good news, I found the pictures on my camera! Yea, so here's my boy posing in his big boy jammies!

Such a big boy!

Look at how cute in overalls!!

AND pictures of my little, tiny sister being a bride!!! BEAUTIFUL!!!

And the moment you've all been waiting for, a new video. My boy sure loves his daddy!

Utah Trip

2010-11-15T14:39:00.005-07:00

Well unfortunately several of my pictures (and one super cute video) somehow got deleted from my camera before they were moved to the computer. But here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks.

We went to Utah for two reasons. The first was to attend my sister Rachel's wedding. She got married in the Manti Utah Temple. Here is the only surviving picture.

We also went to meet our newest and sweetest nephew, Lincoln.

During the trip DJ saw and felt his first snow (It's snowing outside, can you tell?)

He ate and LOVED sweet potatoes!

And he kissed his first girl (Other than his momma!)

DJ and Alethia

Happy Halloween!! 2010

2010-10-30T21:18:00.004-07:00

For Halloween we went as Popeye, Olive Oye, and Swee'Pea, because we are cute like that!

NASCAR Baby

2010-10-24T14:59:00.002-07:00

As someone who has a license in Elementary Ed I know that babies should not watch TV, but sometimes we let him anyway. Well he LOVES NASCAR....

Eating Peas

2010-10-24T14:55:00.004-07:00

For DJ's first food (other than baby cereal) we went with peas. Well you can watch the video, but he did not think they were too delicious. If you want to know what happened after I stopped recording just watch the video again, and then watch it in reverse. Yes he spit up (threw up?) The whole lot of it! Yummy, yummy!!!

(This smile is fake, he did not enjoy his peas at all!)

A Post About DJ

2010-10-24T14:39:00.004-07:00

Helping Mommy do laundry

His Mohawk

Happy Happy Boy

Calling Grandma (I didn't know!)

Sleeping Angel

So sweet!

Happy Happy Happy Boy!

This is what happens when we don't use a bib!

New Fun Sound

Super Chevy Show

2010-10-24T14:23:00.006-07:00

Saturday we went to the Super Chevy Show. It cost $25 a person to get in, but we got in for FREE because someone brought tickets to the shop where David works. There was drag racing and a car show with Camaros as far as the eye could see. It was loads of fun. You can tell by the expression on DJ's face in both pictures that he had a great time! (Insert sarcasm, it was a little loud and a little bright for him, but he was a trooper!)

6 Months Old!!!

2010-10-16T21:23:00.003-07:00

For Jozie

2010-10-15T08:41:00.001-07:00

The One With All the Videos....

2010-10-13T14:15:00.006-07:00

The first video is my adorable boy laughing at me making a hilarious noise.

The second video is him laughing and playing with his daddy.

The third video is kisses between me and DJ. Enjoy!! (Probably my favorite!)

Ok, ok I called this post the one with all the videos, but you want pictures too, right?

My happy, happy baby...

Bath time in the sink

Gazing at Daddy

Cuddling with Daddy

Kissing Daddy

Monsoon

2010-10-05T14:41:00.004-07:00

*Update*

So I called this post Monsoon, because that's all we heard about all Summer, but I believe monsoon season is over and this is just a freak storm. We ended up with almost 2 inches of rain in four hours, which is pretty unheard of here. There were also reports of tennis ball sized hail. 49 window in my apartment complex were broken and several cars that were not parked under covered parking spots had broken windshields and rear windows. We were extremely blessed that none of the windows in our apartment were broken and that for the first time since we've lived here I parked my car under the cover and it didn't receive any hail damage either! Below is the same window and some pictures of the aftermath. I'm not going to lie, it made me miss Kansas like crazy!!!!

A post not about DJ

2010-10-03T17:10:00.004-07:00

Just kidding...

Little man with his duck

There appears to be some amount of brainwashing taking place here...

We love story time

October bib!

Will happily do tummy time if he can watch Wheel of Fortune while he's doing it. (Yes my five month old watches TV, don't judge me...)

Rocking the rolls

Too cute and cuddly for just one picture

So in this video DJ found his tongue, or his lips, or just figured out how to make them work together, but it was so funny, sorry for the LOUD TV in the background.

Before I was recording he was pressing his lips together and blowing (you can hear me doing it) but once the camera was out he decided it was much more entertaining to try and eat the camera. Sorry it's so dark.

DJ is getting so good at sitting up. He can sit for a long time (maybe 20-30 minutes) without falling over. Usually he only falls because he gets too excited. We pile pillows all around him because sometimes he bounces and throws himself forward. He's pretty funny when he hits a pillow, the few times he hit the carpet it wasn't so funny.

He's been eating his rice cereal everyday, but it only curbs his appetite for an hour at the most, then he's ready to nurse again. That's ok though, the purpose of rice cereal is just to learn to eat, and he is getting pretty good at it!

Yesterday our Sister-In-Law had a little baby boy! Lincoln Frederick, he was 6.15 pounds and 20 inches! Welcome to the world Lincoln, we can't wait to meet you!

Dancing

2010-09-21T20:54:00.005-07:00

Dancing to the song or being excited about the visualizer on I-Tunes? Either way, super cute!

Oh yeah, we're still here too! Hi!!

Operation: Rice Cereal!

2010-09-18T14:31:00.005-07:00

Today was DJ's first time eating rice cereal. It was, well, anticlimactic. I was expecting him to either hate it and spit it out or love it and act like he couldn't wait for the next bite. Instead he just ate it like it's something he does every day! Well here's the video and some cute pics anyway!

I'm ready!

Daddy letting him lick the bowl clean.

Five Months Old

2010-09-16T20:47:00.007-07:00

Today my baby is five months old. I have no idea how that happened. This month was pretty incredible. This month he started giving us hugs, then a few weeks later he started giving us kisses. I can't describe how amazing it is to have that sweet little boy squeeze me around the neck then give me a big, open-mouthed, slobbery kiss. There is really nothing better!

This picture is blurry, but I love it!!!

Here's a collage of five month old pictures!
(If you click on it you can see it big, then click back to come back to the post.)

Here are two of my favs closeup...

Remember

2010-09-11T09:15:00.004-07:00

Nine years ago I was brushing my teeth when my dad urgently called for me to come upstairs and watch the TV, a plane had mistakenly (we thought) crashed into one of the world trade centers. As we watched a live shot of the building burning another plane flew into the second building. We understood that this was no accident. I went to school that day and each of my teachers had the news turned on. Throughout the day we watched the tragic events unfold. I remember for the first time in my life feeling a surge of patriotism. Not that I wasn't very happy to be an American before, but I truly felt a love and gratitude for our country at that time that I hadn't felt before.
Now my husband serves in the Army National Guard and I couldn't be prouder, though he's never yet been deployed we both know that he could be called up any time, and if that time comes I know he will serve this great country with honor.
I hope I can raise my children with a love for this country that is stronger than what I felt, so that it doesn't take a national tragedy for them to realize what a blessing it is to live here.
Today we proudly fly our American flag.

New Doc

2010-09-10T17:31:00.005-07:00

So today DJ had his 4 month apt. Yes I know that today he is 4 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days old (thanks blog ticker) that's just how we roll. So this doctor was great and his office was super nice. This was so wonderful after the disgusting office I went to earlier this week!
Here's the stats: DJ is 24.1 inches long and is in the 7th percentile for height and he is 16.9 pounds and in the 70th percentile for weight! So fun!
Here are some pics and a video of DJ's newest trick.

Our Favorite Thing to Blog About

2010-09-06T11:54:00.008-07:00

The pictures are the same as the ones on facebook, but I reserve the videos just for the blog. My sisters told me the videos need to be longer, so this one is about two minutes long. His laugh gets better after the first minute or so anyway. Enjoy, and have a wonderful Labor Day!

His belly makes it quite impossible to snap his shorts.

Loving Daddy

Loving his foot

Starting to sit

Kansas Pride

Sporting his hat and plaid shorts

After Church, DJ wearing his country club outfit, wondering why we're not eating lunch.

Gorgeous sunset from the front porch

And the moment you've all been waiting for, the video....

Because it's too cute not to...

2010-08-23T19:53:00.002-07:00

One more post, this is soooo cute!

Tummy Time Twist

2010-08-23T19:23:00.006-07:00

This is what DJ does during tummy time now. I promise I did not touch him at all during this photo shoot. (This takes place over about 15 minutes.)

This is a video of how he does it. The sound is of the TV blaring in the background, so you don't really need to listen to that!

New Crib!

2010-08-23T19:09:00.004-07:00

Well we've had the crib for awhile, but since DJ has been sleeping somewhere else, we just got around to putting it together, (and by we, I mean David!) We also went and bought a super cute crib set! Yea!!!

I love his feet sticking up!

Two Things

2010-08-12T15:47:00.005-07:00

First Thing,
This weekend we went to Utah because David hasn't been put into a unit here, and his 90 days of drill free time had come to an end. I did not complain. I took pictures but my camera has decided to take up residence in the duffel bag David takes to school with him, in which he keeps his soccer gear, so none of my pictures will be put in this post, but my grandpa took some delightful pictures which I will now share with you!

This picture has Tristan, DJ, and Ashlyn. Tristan is DJ's first-cousin-once-removed, and Ashlyn is his second cousin. (More on this momentarily.)

This is Ashlyn, Ariel, DJ, and Tristan. Ariel is also DJ's first-cousin-once-removed. Ariel and Tristan are brother and sister, and are respectively Ashlyn's aunt and uncle. Ariel and Tristan are my first cousins. Ashlyn is my first-cousin-once-removed. DJ is my son. (I love how Tristan is gripping DJ's arm for protection.)

Second Thing,
DJ turns quite red in his face when he gets mad. I have often thought how adorable it is, and was not surprised one day when David said how much he loves it. My surprise came when he said he loves it because it is just like his mama! "Excuse me?" I replied (probably turning red in the face as I said it.) He informed me that any time I experience any type of strong emotion: anger, sadness, excitement, surprise, embarrassment I turn quite red in my face! Well, well, well, I guess having a baby really does bring out your true colors!

(Boy am I embarrassed!)

Trying...

2010-07-22T16:36:00.003-07:00

DJ cannot stand to be in a reclined position. He is determined to sit up!! So any time we sit him leaning back he immediately throws himself forward and ends up with his head in his feet, or occasionally he lands on his side! Too cute!

The many faces of DJ

2010-07-22T16:05:00.009-07:00

Cautiously Optimistic

Happy!

Anticipating Excitement

Delighted!

Too Cool

Sleepy...

Sleeping

Debonair

Mad!

Chillaxin (Look at those ROLLS!)

Nirvana

Perfectly Satisfied! (Yes that is what you think it is...)

Handy David

2010-07-11T18:10:00.003-07:00

My pretty pot rack!

Little Man In a Suit

2010-07-11T18:05:00.004-07:00

Well sort of in a suit. This is parts of a suit my aunt gave me at my baby shower. The problem is his chubby little head sits right on his shoulders so I can't button the top button, so no tie for him. Also it is already a little snug around his waist (It's size 3-6 months) but the legs are about 5 inches too long still. Big Boy!!!!

Giggles and Other Adorable Matters

2010-07-03T21:38:00.005-07:00

Sleeping With Daddy

Zoom

Hand-Me-Down Adorableness

Look at that tummy!!!

Giggling at Dad

Swimming!

2010-07-03T21:20:00.005-07:00

This evening we bought Little Swimmers for DJ and and a swimsuit for me and we went swimming!!!! DJ LOVED it!

Lounging

Not sure yet...

Loving It!!

P.S. It was evening when we went, so no direct sun on the pool!

Chunky Monkey

2010-06-29T19:24:00.003-07:00

Yesterday DJ was weighed and measured. He now weighs 13 pounds 8 ounces, and is 23 inches long!! He is in the 38th percentile for height and the 98th for weight!!!! BIG BOY!!
The first picture is the day we brought him home from the hospital, and the second is just a few days ago. I chose car seat pictures because you can really see how far he's come!

Where did my tiny baby go?

Smiles and Coos

2010-06-18T16:29:00.002-07:00

Big Boy!

2010-06-14T15:48:00.008-07:00

Our little boy is almost 2 months old! He has had a very busy little life, and since I haven't been updating I'll give you a brief overview...

When he was two weeks old his mommy graduated from UVU and some of his family came to visit from Kansas!

When he was 3 weeks old he decided tummy time was not for him and he started rolling over from his belly to his back. And it wasn't a one time fluke. Occasionally he'll stay on his tummy (mostly when we are trying to show him off!) but usually he flips right over to his back.

When he was four weeks old we made the long drive to Kansas where he met more of his family and had a couple different generations pictures taken.

When he was five weeks old we came back to Utah with his Grandma Kubie, where we packed up our apartment and got ready to move. His Grandma Hutchison also bought him a swing which he LOVES!!!

When he was six weeks old we loaded into the Trans Am and U-Haul and headed for hot Arizona. On the way there we stopped at the Grand Canyon!

When he was seven weeks old he decided his mommy is so silly and really giggled at her, he also discovered his swing has a fish mobile on it and started watching those fish swim around his head while he swings.

Now that he is eight weeks old he is sleeping about seven hours a night and is busy trying to convince his parents to slow down and get into a routine, which we think is a really good idea!