love

During our last 2 months in Utah we tried to cram in all sorts of things we wanted to feasibly do with a newborn and toddler. And a Grandma to babysit!

 Parker still was loving his tires, especially down snow mounds and in water. He spills his drinks on purpose so he can drive his tires through the water puddle.

 She has not been our most gracious little sleeper. Apparently she wanted to cuddle that day. OK.

 Michelle and the boys came down to see little Lyla, Parker loved running around with Jake and Jeremiah, and asked for them all the time.

 We were going to be in Moab during Ann's birthday, so we decided to do a little surprise birthday party for her. We had Lori and Michelle take her out while we packed everyone else up and waited at Cheesecake Factory. She was totally surprised, then after dinner we went home with cake and ice cream and lots of giggling.

 Such a smiley little girl!

 My girlfriends and most of their husbands met us down in Moab where we rented a condo for the weekend. We got incredibly lucky with the weather and it was warm enough to hike Delicate Arch! It was so nostalgic being back down there, Steve and I kinda ached inside, missing our pre-kids life, where we used to do non-lame things. Not that our kids are lame...Parker and Lyla, if you're reading this, we still love you. We just really love doing certain things without you :)

Grandma Anderson played with Parker all weekend and we took Lyla with us. Who basically slept the entire time. She was such an angel, and even slept through the night 8 hours for the first (and only) time.

 So beautiful.

 Love these girls more than most. Both are so sweet and thoughtful, and I'm so lucky to have them in my life.

And love their husbands. We plan on doing many more trips in the future.

With Ash 20 weeks pregnant and the rest carrying 3 babes, we did pretty well! Right before you get to the bowl with the arch, the trail was icy and snowy so we had to be super careful, but it wasn't too bad.

Ilene I love you too :)

 I bought a pass to the children's museum and we usually go twice a week. Parker loves it and even until the last day that we went, he never tired of it. Lyla would usually sleep in the ergo, so it was a perfect way to get out of the house. He calls all other little people 'friends' (even big people, like the cable guys) and loved interacting with them too. The water station was one of his favorites, as well as this big car you could sit in and steer. Surprise, surprise, right? He's such a social, fun little kid.

Valentine's Day I met Lindsey and her little Jack at the museum, then we went to lunch. Steve brought me a dirty diet coke and a swig sugar cookie from my favorite drive-through gas station, Freddy's. Awwww yeah, true love! That night Steve and I hung out with our littles. I love my little family!

 And dressing up a girl for Valentine's Day might be the funnest thing ever.

Steve and I waited to go out until Monday, when things weren't so crazy. We really wanted to go climbing outside because we didn't know when we'd get the chance to do it again. The weather was unusually perfect, so we took off for Rock Canyon, and again, oh the nostalgia! So many amazing memories here, we missed it so much. After we went to Gloria's, where we carb-loaded before our mountain bike race and where we had our 'rehearsal dinner' if you will, before we got married. We never really went to The Creamery for ice cream much while living there, but thought it would be fun. We totally felt out of place, surrounded by the 18-year-olds looking all googly-eyed at each other.

The view at the top of my climb

 The momma never sleeps

 Aunt Lori is such a good little aunt! She loves her little Parker and Lyla, and Parker loves her.

 Baby girl's 2-month appointment--weighed in at almost 11 pounds, flirted with her doc, got her shots, and off we went! Much less traumatic for me this time around than with Parker's first shots...

Never a shocking site

Cousin Emily had her baby shower for her beautiful little girl, where Grandma got to play with Lyla.

Don't tell me you haven't done this...

 This guy says "Hey, how's it going?" to his nursery leaders, "Night guys!" when we tuck him in, "Mmmm, that smells delicious!" randomly, he tries to tell me which way to go and turn when we're driving, says "Thanks guys!" when we give him something, tells me "Wanna socks off" and I ask if he doesn't like socks, "No, just feet!". We were going inside after a walk, and after trying to nicely explain to him why we were going inside, it finally got the point of having to say "whether you like it or not" and he responded "Want not." When we say prayers at night and try to get him to repeat what we've said, instead of repeating what we say, he repeats "say it!" after we've told him to 'say it'. We play the question game all day long; I'm not sure he ever stops talking longer than 2 minutes. He can tell me what sounds some letters make, he thinks hexagons, pentagons, and octagons are all octagons but knows triangle, circle, square, rectangle, diamond, and heart. He sometimes knows left from right, will only take a bath if he can bring one of his trucks in, loves to read, loves to go outside, mealtimes are generally a nightmare trying to get him to sit down to eat, he's more interested in playing, although we can usually reason with him pretty well: "Do you want to eat your food or do you want to go to bed/time-out?" "Wanna eat chor food." "OK Parker, good choice!". His favorite foods are mac and cheese, PBJ sandwiches, refried beans, smoothies, strawberries, blackberries (black blew blays), cheese if I'll give it to him, clementines, bananas, pears, cheerios and all cereal, graham crackers, anything with sugar, and eggs and waffles and oatmeal for breakfast. He loves watching Dora, Bubble Guppies, Sesame Street, Thomas, Blue's Clues, Little Einsteins, and Mickey Mouse. He randomly comes over and says "Wanna give mommy hug?", leans into me, says "awwww" and gives the sweetest little hug, followed by an "I love you mommy!".  I love that crazy little dude! (But again, he is still a Daddy's boy!)

 Our time ended living with Steve's parents in Utah, and we left for our next rotation in Oklahoma. It's been fun living there, Parker got to really know his Grandma and Grandpa Anderson, and they are so good and loving to him. He loved them, and would ask for them every day after he asked for Daddy when he got up in the morning. It's not easy living with people, we're glad to be our own little family again, but it was so good to grow closer to them. Thank you for everything! We love you guys!