What we've been up to

We've been busy bees over here! Projects, outings, baby milestones, and perhaps the most daunting of all...landscaping. Here's a little (and by little I mean long and wordy) photo recap. 

Valentine's Day was a simple and sweet day. Jake had to go into the office, so Ryan and I hung out at home. Heart shaped chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, of course. No pictures though. They pretty much just looked like blobs. I have a couple years to get better at shaped pancakes before the kid starts caring. Ha :)

 

 

 

Jake came home with Zupas (every pregnant girls dream) and the most beautiful bouquet of flowers! Tulips, roses, and baby's breath. My favorites. 

 

Our boy is walking now, and he's the most mischievous little thing! Here we have a naked baby on the run, unrolling all the toilet paper, with a lint roller stuck to his butt. Pretty much sums it up! 

 

We finally bought his first pair of walkin shoes. I've had my eyes on Freshly Picked moccs for a long time, and finally had a reason to buy a pair. They're so dang cute on him!

 

 

Two ear infections right in a row for this one. After a whole year of nothing but runny noses, it finally happened. Poor dude. In fact, we've all been sick a TON the past couple of months! Looking forward to spring for sure. 

 

We turned the little nook right inside our front door into a mini mud room. It turned out so cute! Shiplap for the win. And three cheers for pink plywood, I almost went crazy seeing that sit there before we got around to painting it.

 

The bump is coming right along, 28 weeks now! This pregnancy has gone by crazy fast. Blows my mind that we're already in the third trimester. I go back and forth between feeling ready and feeling like this whole mom of two thing is going to crush me. Jake's like, "bring it on! Let's have all the babies!!" so I mostly just try to let his excitement and positivity carry me along. :) Overall I'm just really anxious to meet this baby, and I know I've got tons of support and people to love on us, so all is well!

And while we're sneaking a picture of Maeve in...man, this dog is a dream! She fits in so nicely. I hope we have many more years with her! 

 

 

 

My grandpa Moore passed last month. I spent some good time with him as a child/young teen, and most of what I remember was when he had dimentia. The funny stories that made no sense were plentiful, my favorite being when he was in a rest home and told Jake and I that he got there by "coming over those mountains and into America!" His funeral was simple and sweet. These two cousins got to hang out and swap food at lunch afterwards. 

 

Ryan has a deep newfound love for his grandma. If she's around, he seriously will accept no less than being in her arms. He freaks out if someone else tries to take him away from her! 

 

 

Paige and I went to Momday Conference on Saturday, which was basically an all day event for moms including speakers, dinner, and booths at the end. It was super worthwhile and inspiring! Bridger got to come as a nursing baby, and he was subjected to catching Paige's taco spills. He didn't seem to mind. ;) Big shout out to my amazing husband for spending the day alone with Ryan! 

 

 

 

 

And finally...landscaping. This has been a much anticipated project as the weather warms up, and it's finally time! I can not tell you how excited I am to not deal with the mud in the house every time the dog goes out to pee. I will never take grass for granted again! 

We started with the front yard. It was really rocky and uneven. Here's a before and after. It is now graded, de-rocked, and sprinklers are in the ground! Next step- grass. The sod companies start cutting around the first of  April....but who's counting, right?

 

 

We just had a retaining wall put in on the other side of our property. (not pictured...it looks just like the one above. :) Now we are waiting for the HOA to approve our fencing plan, and then we're good to go on installing that. In the meantime, Jake has a couple friends coming over to help him pour the patio, and then he will smooth out the back yard and lay sprinklers. Then...grass!! I have big plans for a vegetable garden this year and can't wait to bring our back patio dreams to life. Our goal is to have it 100% complete by the time baby gets here, so far we're looking good. This project is huge and is definitely the worst part about building a home vs buying a home that is already landscaped. In the end it will be well worth it! 

Well, there's our recap. I realize I'd be a better blogger if I consistently wrote smaller posts instead of writing one giant one every couple of months...haha. Working on it. ;)

The big O N E

We've got ourselves a one year old! (Like a month ago, but who's keeping track...) So much has already changed since then, but here's our Instagram monthly update from the little guy's birthday! 

Happy happy Birthday to my Ryan! You're officially ONE! At a whole 12 months old, our boy •crawls like a maniac and is FAST! •scales furniture and walls like a pro, and has started experimenting with letting go •has a couple favorites...grandma and dad are high on the list •is into mischief all day •loves to rough house and be chased •snuggles into other kids, animals, and strangers so sweetly upon greeting 

We kept it super low key for his celebration. We just had the grandparents and siblings (and Paige) over for cake and a few presents. It was perfect! He wasn't too overwhelmed and got to stuff chocolate cake in his face. What else could he ask for?! He was so funny about the cake. I held him while we sang, and then plopped him in his seat with a big slab of cake. He was really careful at first, picking at the frosting with one finger. Once he realized what was actually in front of him, he went to town! He would take a big handful, squish it in his fist, and then eat what oozed through his fingers. Ha! It was like he was afraid someone was going to change their mind and take it away, so he wanted to eat as much as he could as fast as possible. 

 

 

 

 

^^ I love this picture because I look like a total goon, and both Jake and Ryan have "mom's nuts" written all over their faces. Makes me laugh ;)

 

What a whirlwind of a year it's been! If I've learned anything, it's that you're almost certainly not going to be the mom you imagined you would be. And that's ok! It's all about going with the flow, and accepting that you know nothing. Haha! Talk about a huge learning curve. They're not kidding when they say your first kid is the experiment. Motherhood is so incredibly challenging, and equally rewarding. I wouldn't trade these days with Ryan for the world! I hope he knows how much I adore being his mama. 

23 weeks preggo and major mom brain

Gender: Boy!

Weight gain: 15 lbs.

Maternity clothes: Feeling like a whale! Wearing a few maternity shirts but mostly regular long shirts, and wishing I owned a pair of maternity pants. I definitely think they're in my future this time around.

Belly button in or out: Somewhere in the middle

Sleep: Decent, my almost 1 year old is definitely keeping me up more these days than the little babe inside of me ;) 

Best moment this week: Being so productive! I've been cleaning like crazy (more than my usual crazy cleaning) and I don't know if it's that I'm an early nester, or if it's just that pregnancy makes me extra OCD! 

Worst moment this week: No complaints other than some minor aches and pains

Miss anything: Energy. I feel like my body is wearing down much faster this time. I miss doing simple daily tasks with ease, and feeling strong and fit! Like I said before, whale status over here. 

Movement: Mostly in the evenings when I'm lounging. He doesn't show off much during the day, and I have only felt him while standing up a handful of times. We can see him bouncing around from the outside, which is always the coolest part. 

Cravings: Sushi. Candy. Gross (but so good) greasy foods. Jake has made a couple late night McDonald's runs for me...no shame.

Queasy or sick: Feeling good! Random spells of nausea, but definitely manageable. 

Looking forward to: Switching around the kiddos rooms, and holding this baby! I can't wait to do the newborn stage again. 

Loooove those creepers in the back!!

Guess what? I just realized I totally forgot to post our gender reveal post, duh. I can blame this one on mom brain. Since this is old news, I'm going to add on this post from Dec 19th to this one, haha! 

We had our gender ultrasound last week and found out the little nugget growing inside of me is a BOY!! My initial reaction held a tinge of disappointment (probably mostly because I've just been so dang emotional this pregnancy with a million ups and downs, nothing is surprising at this point), but it's gone now and I'm stoked to have another little man cub in the family! 

We didn't get to see his little face because of his position, so all we walked away with was this funny picture of our very obviously little boy!

 

 

Forever kissing those cheeks! 

Eleven Month Update

Posted here way late (he's almost 1 now!) but this is accurate as of 3 weeks ago. ;)

11 months old! Ryan •is still rocking the redneck look with his 3 teeth, but 2 more just popped through! •showed us his crawling skills (finally) but he's way more efficient at rolling/scooting and still prefers it •claps, waves, and gives high fives •adores the dog...it's mutual :) •loves holding himself up on furniture •loves drawers and cupboards. Ryan super docile in new environments, but man, get that kid home or somewhere he's comfortable and he goes bananas. Our boy is so goofy and fun, we love him half to death!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

^^^accurate. Wild little thing. Ha!

Snow Day

After a rough night (thanks teething, give my poor baby a break!) and 8:30am church, this mama desperately needed a nap this afternoon. Jake was so kind to take Ryan AND the dog out for a snow day. Best husband EVER award goes to him! He took a bunch of pictures and of course had to model the baby on his beloved truck. ;) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love them!! Jake is such a fun dad and we are loving that Ryan is getting old enough to start enjoying more and more outings. Here's to soaking up our time with one kiddo before there's two to juggle! 

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year!

Christmas married is pretty dang good, but Christmas married with a baby ROCKS. We had such a good jam packed holiday season! 

I'm not great at taking pictures when we're out (getting better) but for the sake of documenting, December leading up to Christmas consisted of the Festival of Trees, the Apple fam Christmas party, The Christmas Carol at Hale Theater, Luminaria at Thanksgiving Point with David and Rissa, and my family's wild Christmas Eve party. We made a bucket list and checked every single one off! I love creating new family traditions and spending as much time together as we can, even if it means some late nights, some heavy traffic, and a little stress here and there. It's all part of the fun. :) 

Christmas morning was magic! We woke up when Ryan did, and brought him into bed to snuggle while he drank a bottle. Then we opened stockings and presents, which Ryan loved!! We got him some stacking blocks and giant legos, but obviously the best parts were the wrapping paper and boxes. To be expected. :) After opening presents and tearing into stocking treats, I made a big yummy breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls, mushroom spinach cheese eggs, and blueberries. We spent the rest of the day in Taylorsville at a luncheon and hanging out with family. It was honestly the best Christmas ever! 

 

 

 

New Years was equally as fun. Hannah and her guy Travis drove down from Logan and celebrated NYE with us. We played banana grams (so fun, you need this game if you don't have it!) and monopoly and ate tons of good food. I totally pulled the pregnant card when justifying three different kinds of dips and every other snacky food that sounded good. No one complained. ;) 

The very best part of the new year was celebrating mine and Jake's 2 year anniversary on the 8th. We ditched the baby with grandma and drove down to Morgan to eat at Taggart Grill. Ask me if I took any pictures...

 

Haha! I've gotta get better at this. Sorry babe. PS that's a burger on a pita and it was dang good.

 It was an awesome evening and an even better year. Here's to many, many more with this guy!!