Happy Birthday, Michael!

Yes...the Cheesy Grin is here.

If you can believe it, Michael turned 2 a little over a week ago. He was spoiled with toys from Toy Story from Grandma and Grandpa (hooray for daddy's Disney discount!)


...and he is now rarely seen without his Buzz Lightyear. For your enjoyment, a picture of Michael shooting me with Buzz's laser...



He does that a lot. He thinks it is hilarious. Strange child.

Jonathan had yesterday off, so we decided to throw him a little birthday get together and invited Kaelyn Stevens and Emmett & Logan Henson over for a couple hours. We had pizza, Michael's most favorite food, and we had star-cut melon (meant to be like sheriff woody's badge), and alien head cupcakes.





Of course he didn't eat the melon and refused to touch the cupcake. I guess I should have expected that. I need to be smarter next time and make a dessert I know he'll at least try--like cookies.

Our original intention was to play in the pool and then have lunch, but of course California's June gloom decided to make it cold and sprinkly yesterday morning and we 86ed the pool idea. Instead we stayed inside, did some coloring, and watched toy story while we ate and played. Grandma says I throw boring parties since we didn't have any games. Poor Michael has a lame mommy who doesn't know how to throw a proper party. Oh well...he seemed content with what we did and he knew the day was special and for him--that's all that matters, right? Right.

Michael has been diving right into the terrible 2's. He's mastered the tantrum and has become a little too familiar with time out. But all around he's a wonderful little boy. He continues to surprise me on a daily basis with the things he says and the phrases he is starting to put together. He also has quite the sense of humor. Just last night as we were getting ready for bed he pretended to snore and then said "grandpa" and pretended to snore some more.

Gotta say, I love this cute kid!



Happy Birthday, Michael!

WW: Monkey See, Monkey Do

**Michael loves doing and copying EVERYTHING his Auntie Stephanie does...

The Big 3-0!

Thirty years ago, Jonathan was born...(old man!)...and I for one am very glad that little bit of history took place. ;)


In order to celebrate this grand occasion, we decided to have a little surprise get together today between conference sessions. I was pretty proud of myself and of my family as we planned the whole thing because Jonathan was actually surprised! (What a novel concept!) Thank you to those who joined us for lunch and came to show your love and express your happy wishes.

As shown in the first picture, Jonathan was quite the trooper and even dressed up in all "The Big 3-0" birthday apparel we could find.

(As Claire called it) Jonathan's "sexy" pose:


Michael pretty much thought the party was for him...


...so he stole the coolio glasses from Jonathan...


But then I wanted to be cool too, so I stole them from Michael.



And this is where we get kind of lengthy, so you may stop reading here if you wish.

Since 30 is kind of a big deal for most, and since I usually blog about Michael, I decided today would be a lovely opportunity to brag about my hubby dubby. (I saw someone do this on their blog once, so here I go...)

30 reasons I love Jonathan:

1. His goofy--but very genuine--smile.
2. His very sexy, golden, honey-brown eyes.
3. His ability to make Michael and I genuinely and hysterically laugh without effort.
4. His happy and bright personality.
5. His humor/sarcasm.
6. The fact that he's not perfect (and he knows that), but he's always trying to be better.
7. He is a good listener.
8. He has very righteous desires and goals in his life.
9. His determination and diligence in everything he does.
10. He is very intelligent. I have to laugh at him a little because for as long as I've known him he has struggled with attending and doing well in school. However, this year he has taken 20-22 credits each quarter and has managed to get straight A's (one A-). Who does that? A crazy smart person...that's who. And he has a ridiculously large vocabulary. He uses words that I would never incorporate into my everyday speech.
11. He keeps me grounded. Whenever I start to stress out he reminds me to look at the whole picture.
12. His confidence.
13. He is a fun and loving father to Michael.
14. He is enthusiastic and spastic.
15. He is ambitious and positive about the future.
16. He introduced me to Crossfit and makes me feel like a rock star every time we work out together.
17. He is honest and doesn't just tell me (or others) what I (they) want to hear.
18. He snuggles with me when I'm cold even if it makes him hot.
19. When I don't understand something (especially scripturally) and I ask what I perceive as a silly question, he answers and doesn't make me feel like an idiot.
20. He holds my hand/pinky just because he knows I like to hold his hand/pinky even though it makes him claustrophobic.
21. He gives the BEST hugs.
22. His love for the Lord.
23. His ridiculously loud laugh.
24. He is much more conscious about his health than he was when we first got married and he strives to maintain healthy eating habits now so that he can play with our kids/grandkids in the future.
25. He hasn't once raised his voice at me in anger.
26. He tells me he loves me at least 50 times a day. Sometimes he'll send me a text when he's at work, across the house, or sitting right next to me just to remind me that he "loves me more no battle."
27. He encourages me, supports me in all I do, and he helps me want to be a better wife, mother, and person in general.
28. He makes sacrifices now so that he can provide for our family in the future.
29. He is a worthy Priesthood holder. He is my Nephi--spiritually and physically large in stature. :)
30. He chose me...and I get to spend the rest of time and eternity with him.

Happy Birthday, sweetheart. I love you!

WW: Pudding War Paint

Our Basketball "Pod"

For Christmas, Jonathan and I gave Michael a basketball hoop. He was pretty excited Christmas day, but as time continues to pass he plays with it more and more. I really think that he would play with it for hours and hours at a time if we would let him. Sometimes when Jonathan or Grandpa are watching a basketball game he'll sit on the couch and watch with them. (As a matter of fact, sometimes he'll point at the TV and request that basketball be turned on!) Of course his attention span only allows him to watch a few minutes, so when he gets bored, he starts playing basketball himself. The other night we caught him standing on the couch and playing. He was so excited because he figured out that if he was higher up he could throw the ball in the hoop. (I know we shouldn't let him stand on the couch like that...bad mom...but I was pretty impressed!)








I think we definitely have a basketball pod on our hands :)


*** Quiz for the day: "Pod" comes from what movie? :)

I Think He Wanted Some Cheerios...

18 months old!

Our little boy is growing up!

Michael had his 18 month appointment this past Thursday and his pediatrician was very pleased with his weight gain this past month. He's been below the charts for weight for a long time and while he still is, he put on a whole pound in the last 30 days! (He also grew 2 inches...which could account for some of that weight gain...but he IS gaining weight! I am not malnourishing (I don't think that is a word) my child!) Here are the stats:

Height: 33 1/2 inches (82nd percentile)
Weight: 20 pounds 10 ounces (below the chart--but according to an online calculator I found that agreed with the above percentile, he's at about 1.9th percentile. The charts they give only show the markings for as low as the 5th percentile...which I guess puts him "below the charts")
Head: 18 3/4 inches (50th percentile)

Because he is finally above 20 pounds he is now legally allowed to be in a front-facing carseat. So...on Friday, he sat in one for the first time. :) He thought it was pretty cool.

It's only been a few days, but every time we get in the car he has a huge grin on his face just about the whole car ride.



He was also pretty excited about the box the carseat came in.



Along with being heavy enough to be in a front-facing carseat, today he went to nursery for the first time at church. Jonathan has especially been looking forward to this day because he typically spends much of church time chasing Michael around since I teach Sunday School. We took him together and the moment we opened the door he ran away from us and went right to the toys. The sister who is in charge of nursery needed to take one of the little girls to her parents because she was very, very upset and they couldn't get her to calm down. She asked if I would stay until she got back...so I did and just kind of observed Michael. He didn't even notice that I was there. At one point he started playing with a wooden puzzle, but a little girl immediately came up to him and said "No!" and took it away from him. I was sure a fight would ensue, but he just looked at her...and then picked up another toy. When the nursery leader returned, I left...and apparently he was happy as a clam the whole time. Way to go Michael!



I know I am biased, but I can't get over how darn cute our little boy is! He is so much fun. I love his cheesy little grin and how he likes to run every where he goes. Some days I wonder if he even knows how to walk. ;) I love his kisses and his hugs and how he roars and tries to scare me. I think it's hilarious that he shouts "AMEN!" if he thinks prayers are going too long and continues to say it until the prayer is over...(we're working on him being more reverent when he says amen...). It's so neat to be able to watch his vocabulary grow and to witness how much more conversational he has become in the last few months. It's also been fun to watch him figure new things out...sometimes things I wish he wouldn't figure out just yet ;) He officially knows how to open our bathroom doors...so family members who are coming to visit soon, if you don't want a visitor as you potty...you'd better lock the door!

Jonathan and I feel so blessed to have him in our lives...We love you Michael! Don't grow up too fast!