Desert Ridge

During finals week we tried to keep busy (and cool!) while our hubbies were living at the library 24/7 (and that is NOT an exaggeration). One day we went to a local outdoor shopping mall to play in the splash pad. It was so fun and the kids had a blast!

Girl's Night

What would I do without a good girl's night every so often?? I would probably have a few break downs here and there. :) But really, these girls make me laugh, feel better about my list of worries, pick me up when I'm falling, give me confidence to make it through just another quarter of Med School and are just so dang beautiful. Not all of my closest friends are in this picture but many of them are and this night was just so much fun eating, relaxing, laughing and chatting. And not to mention lusting over our friend Kaylee's BEAUTIFUL home....someday, someday....

Love you girls!

Soccer

Tyson played again on an intramural soccer team for his school with a bunch of his buddies. He soooo looked forward to Fridays and I know he's bummed that the season's over. They didn't get first this time but they came in in a close second and had fun doing it. Us gals and kiddos also had a great time on the sidelines cheering them on and talking.

 We are missing a bunch of the girls!

Owen and his cute friend Zurik.

5 Months

Our sweet Graham is 5 months!! Please slow down baby boy, you are making your mama sad!

We just took out the bouncer for G to play in and he sure loves it!

{This is a common face expression of Graham, those big eyes! and it's one of my favorites}

Since his four month birthday he has rolled over and started solids!! Such a big boy!

 "Hmmm what is this thing around my neck? I think I'll taste it."

Feeding Graham was hilarious. He was REALLY into the food (surprise surprise!) and kept leaning in toward the spoon so he could get to the food faster. We started with rice cereal mixed with some of my breast milk. He loved it! As he would eat he would make noises like "mmmmm, mmmm" and smack his lips together. It was so funny.

I love this picture! He's like, I'm all done mom! He's so sweet.

Owen wanted in on all the excitement and fun so he had to climb up and join Graham. Of course Graham loved it because he is seriously obsessed with Owen.

I love how they're both holding their hands together.

All done!

So we obviously got the okay from the doctors to start solids and since I feel like G acts starving sometimes I decided to. I am so glad it was such a success! After meeting with the GI specialist I am slowly putting diary back into my diet. I am crossing my fingers we have no more bloody poops, but if we do I've got some test tubes to collect it in and send to the lab per doctor's orders. So far he's a little gassy but handling the change quite well.

We went through a rough patch with Graham's sleeping schedule, leaving him waking up almost every 3 to 4 hours. I still don't really know why this happened but I have a few guesses. He's teething with his front two teeth coming down and I really do think he was hungry. After beginning solids a week ago, he's gone back to his 7 to 8 hour stretch without a feeding and then his usual 12 hour sleep night. Thank goodness!! The lack of sleep was really catching up to me.

Graham is getting better and better at using his hands to grasp things. He loves to put everything in his mouth. Here we go again! He almost always has his legs in the air if he's lying on his back. He's found his toes and it's so cute! 

Graham is still so in love with Owen and it is my very most favorite thing to watch as G giggles because Owen's talking to him or smiling at him. There is nothing better than to watch your children love each other.

Graham is as sweet as can be and I am in love with everything about him. He makes my heart smile.

Love you baby boy!!!

Just Call Me Mommy

Mother's Day was wonderful. Tyson sure knows how to spoil me and he did it again. Since he had a HUGE pharmacology test this morning I really wasn't expecting much. Saturday evening after a long day of studying, Tyson came home with beautiful red roses. I sure am a sucker for flowers! On Mother's Day morning he took the boys so I could sleep in an extra two hours which felt like Heaven. Then he didn't have his usual Elder's Quorum Presidency meeting since it was Mother's Day so he was able to help get everyone ready for church...so nice! 

After church he made some yummy taquitos and chunky salsa with chocolate chip cookies for dessert. It was so yummy, as his meals usually are. I thought Tyson would head out to study after that but instead he stayed and hung out with us and then continued to help with bed time. It wasn't after Owen was asleep that he went to the table to study. 

I am seriously one lucky lady. I loved that he took the day for me and made me feel so appreciated. It really makes such a big difference, especially in this crazy time of life. 

I absolutely love being called "mommy" "mama" "mamia" "mom" and "julie!". I have fallen in love all over again with motherhood after having Graham and I can only imagine my love growing and growing with each new spirit Heavenly Father entrusts with me. I have always dreamed of being a mommy since I was little and it really is wonderful to have made it to this point in my life and to fully embrace it. I know that being a mommy is truly a divine calling and even though it is crazy hard and stressful, it brings the most joy I have ever experienced. 

I love being a mom.

Father/Son Camp Out

Tyson took Owen with him to our ward's father and son's camp out last weekend. Since Tyson's in the Elder Quorum Presidency he was in charge of breakfast for about 60 people. He labored all day Friday chopping potatoes, cooking them almost fully, chopping peppers and onions, cooking bacon and sausage and rounding up all of the paper goods, juice, coolers and ice. I wish I could say I was helpful but I wasn't. He did it all by himself. He took the whole day off from studying and missed class to prepare their breakfast. I did offer my help but when it comes to cooking, Tyson really does like to do it himself. Apparently all the guys said he made the best breakfast burritos they'd ever had! Doesn't surprise me. :)

 

Owen was sooooooo excited to go on this trip. Tyson kept reminding him of their trip about a week prior to the actual day, so needless to say he was thrilled when the day finally came. 

They camped about 2 hours north of us near Flagstaff. It was really cold when they finally got there around 6pm. But I packed every layer possible for Owen to make sure he was toasty warm. It was a nice change from the heat at home. Tyson said Owen did great on the drive and was in Heaven when they got there. What 2 year old wouldn't be!? There was an open grassy field, rocks, dirt, rocks and dirt. A little boy's dream....especially ours.

 

Owen has a thing for fires. He is mesmerized by them and loves to sit near them and stare. We found this out last year up at our cabin. I wasn't sure if I should be weary of this fascination or not. But I don't think he'll be making any fires any time soon. :) 

After getting warm by the fire and eating dinner and playing kick ball, it was well past Owen's 8:00 bedtime and Tyson got him ready to sleep. Tyson wanted to make a comfy bed in the back of our Honda Pilot instead of sleeping in a tent. Whatever works is what I said! Tyson laid down with Owen, who was exhausted from his evening of running and exploring, and after a few minutes he told him he was going to leave. Owen simply said "okay daddy, bye, love you." And then he went to sleep! I for sure thought he'd need Tyson to wait in there until he fell asleep since it was a different place and he was in a car. But apparently not!

Owen only woke up once in the night and Tyson said he thinks it was because the moon was so giant and bright. I guess he woke up talking about the moon and the stars, asked for a drink and then went back to bed. He slept until 7am in the next morning. Pretty good for camping I'd say. 

In the morning Owen continued to play with his friends that went and helped Tyson cook until he got too cold and asked to sit in the car. I realized I should've packed some gloves and a hat! They played for a little longer and then headed back home. 

Tyson said it was a blast and that he can't wait to go again with him. I'm so glad they were able to make this memory together. I'm sure it will be one to remember for years to come.

 

Color Group

Me and a few other friends meet weekly for an art class where we focus on the colors of the rainbow. There's a total of 5 kiddos and 4 parents and we rotate from home to home while taking turns teaching the class. It really has worked out so great and Owen has LOVED it.

At our last class held at my house we focused on blue and I tried out a "goop" recipe that was a mixture of cornstarch and water. I then gave them cars, coins, cups and spoons to use to play with the goop. Owen loved driving his cars through the goop. It was definitely a VERY MESSY success.

We continued our art fun by making a special picture for Tyson for his birthday!

Grandma Cindy!

A whole lot of this happened when Grandma came to visit....

Graham LOVED snuggling with his Grandma!

I wish I got more pictures while my mom was here but we were so busy I just kept forgetting. But we loved our time with my mom. We went condo hunting, to Tyson's soccer game, on a long walk to the park, lots of shopping, a Mother's Day dinner at Cheesecake Factory, church and my mom helped me begin the packing process and I wish we did more of that because man is she a good packer!

We already miss her...a ton. There's just something about having your mom around. I miss her all the time and it meant so much to me that she came out to see us. 

We love you Grandma!!