the last first

Our little buddy turned one today! It is sad to think that this will be our last first birthday to celebrate with our children. But you have to end somewhere, right!? Which also made me kind of feel bad too, that I didn't make it very memorable. Just a few basic presents, and then as you will see further down..., just cupcakes. (which didn't turn out quite right)

I am becoming such a lame mom!

(or just a lazy one)

 

 I didn't wrap the presents, because what one year old really can open their presents. So I had the bright idea of just laying the wrapping paper over them. But even that didn't work. Still needed help from the siblings.

 I found this on zulily and thought it was the cutest thing. It is inflatable, so you can bounce around on it. And surprisingly enough the max weight on it is 220lbs. You betcha I tried it out. :)

 This little ball popper-thingy I got at a garage sale. When I brought it home to test it out Jack was in love. But this morning he took a little time to really get into it.

 This picture I put in because it makes me laugh and smile on so many levels.

 Here is the grand birthday cupcake! He is more curious about the flame than anything...

 notice dad and Livy holding down his hands to make it through the birthday song without getting burned.

 But after the candle was gone, he wasn't too sure about the cupcake.

 mmmmm...

 What the heck is this stuff!?

 Happy birthday Jacky-boy!

 

9th anniversary

Today marks the day that Jon and I were sealed together for eternity in the Logan Temple 9 years ago. So much has happened in those 9 years. 4 wonderful kids, 2 big moves (and more to come) to name a few.

Every joy, trial, struggle, and triumph I have faced, I have experienced with the love of my life by my side. I can't imagine going through it all with anyone else. The Lord has a plan for us and I am SO grateful that He opened the doors for us to find one another. I am who I am because of this wonderful man.

I love you Sweets!

(Thank you Rachel for capturing my favorite wedding picture)

dancing machine

Jack is officially a walker now.

(Lately he has figured out how to be upside down)

Along with walking, he LOVES to dance.

preschool

Livy started preschool on Tuesday. She is in the same preschool as she was last year. She was super excited and couldn't wait.

 She also has a new teacher. The one from last year retired. So far so good. The schools out here are awesome and the teachers reflect that.

 Of course little miss Sofia couldn't be left out. Instead of paying a ton for her to go some where we decided I would just work at home with her. (We'll see how that goes) So during that time I am known as Mrs. B! She thinks it is pretty awesome, and usually continues to call me Mrs. B until I have to remind her a bazillion of times that she can call me mom now.

2nd grade

 Well, since the week is about over, I thought I better hurry and get this up.

Jaedon started the 2nd grade on Tuesday. I love how excited he gets for school every year. Every morning for a week he let me know how many days until school started.

 I had to laugh...they matched!

This is her first job since graduating, and she is freshly married. Jaedon so far has liked her, and that is good, because it helps with learning. On the first day she got out paper for them to color on and she said, "I shouldn't hand out the papers like this but...," And then she threw the stack up in the air. Jaedon thought it was pretty awesome.

swim lessons

uugghh...I think the crazy life of 4 kids is finally catching up to me. I just don't have the time (or motivation) most days to get on here and blog away like I used to. Maybe it is because I have a lot of catching up to do. Actually though, when I went back and looked at my pictures, this was the only thing I haven't blogged about yet. So I guess I must be doing all right. :)

We finally signed the kids up for swimming lessons. After having about 4-5 dreams, nightmares of the kids drowning, I think it was about time. The kids loved it! Well, Sofia took some days to get used to it, but quickly grew to love it. The first day she was kicking and screaming her head off just to WALK into the water. But each day got better and better.

 Jaedon going down the slides.

The first few times he went with his teacher and then realized that he could touch.

 Livy having a go at the slides.

I think she had a crush on this teacher. 

 Then here is Sofia. The only one that went off the diving board. Who would have thought after seeing her the first day at swim lessons she would be doing this by the end? 

She walked out there quite cautiously, and I thought she was going to turn around and go back...,

 nope, she jumped.

It is amazing at what just 10 days of swim lessons can do for a kid. By the end Jaedon was swimming independently, Livy was swimming as well,but has to stay where she can touch, and Sof is just Sof. Miss Independent! Money well spent I would say.

a wild 7

Jaedon turned 7 on the 17th. The kid was so excited that he went to bed way late and then was up at 6am! The one thing that he said he wanted was a CuddleUppet, an alligator. You would think it would be some kind of awesome toy or something that would be at the top of his list, but no, a blanket that is a puppet. We love the kid though.

This is him opening the paper with the picture of the cuddleuppet. I will explain later in 3rd picture.

 He wanted a jungle/safari birthday party and cake. One day while walking through Target, love that store, there were these (woman's) hats on sale and one that looked just like a safari hat. I walked over there and Jaedon wanted it so bad. So it soon switched from wanting the cuddleuppet to really wanting the hat.

So here he is decked out in his safari gear.

 Onto the cuddleuppet story. About a week and a half away from his birthday he told us that the one thing he really wanted was a cuddleuppet. So the next day we got online and ordered it right away. Well, each day passed and I thought I would get an email, but nothing. So finally the night before his birthday I emailed them and asked what was going on. Never heard anything back. So then on his birthday I called, and was kind of feeling bumbed for him that he didn't have the one thing he really wanted, but I guess he did have his hat. :) So when I called they looked things up and said that it should be in the mail today. So I had Jaedon run to the mailbox, and he came running back with a package. He was SO excited that it came, and I was happy that it happened on his birthday.

 Birthday boy with his Jungle cake

 Some of the friends at the party getting ready to sing Happy Birthday

 I love it when they open presents because all the kids circle around and get in as close as they can get. They are just as excited for the presents as the birthday kid is.

It turned out to be a great day, and I can't believe that Jaedon is all ready 7! He is such a good kid and brother and son. He loves to please everyone and is very helpful when I have my hands full.

Happy birthday buddy, we love you!