This is what I live for...

I love my little family!  So blessed

First Smiles (on camera)

This girls been smiling for a couple weeks now, but it is hard work getting her caught on camera.  We finally did it today.

my sweet baby josh

 This child is my angel! I could not imagine my life without him.  On a daily basis, he brings me more happiness than I could ever imagine and I'm grateful and proud to call him my son.  Just over the last couple of weeks, he has grown so much.  He has started to catch on and learn so many new things and it makes me so happy to watch him grow each and every day. 

Things that he does that are my favorite:

-"Eit?" (Do you hear it? Do you see it?)  He asks this in perfect question form every time that he hears a car, sirens, or airplane outside.

- On some alphabet flash cards that we have, when we get to ice cream he instantly goes "MMMMMM!"

- If he wants help with something or really wants something that he can't reach or can't have, he signs please over and over again. He does this by rubbing his chest with both hands over and over.  It's so hard to turn him down when it's something that he really wants, but I don't want him to have.  If you can imagine him doing it, it is the cutest thing I've ever seen.

- He is so social and LOVES his friends.  Anytime a small child comes around that he can play with, he has an instant change of mood.  He is excited, screaming, and following them around everywhere.  I cannot stress enough how much he loves them.  He is so sad to see his friends leave or if he has to leave his friends.  He looks forward to nursery every week.

- He has an OBSESSION with cars.  It doesn't help that with baby girl on the way, he gets extra spoiled by his grandma with a new car just about every day, Cars Movie, and books about cars.  He loves to watch them outside and if he could he would watch them all day.  He will watch them from our back door window and repeatedly say "WOW!"  He most definitely loves them and I don't see that obsession going away anytime soon.

- He loves toothbrushes and toothpaste.  He will go and get 3-4 toothbrushes out of the drawers and chew on them and carry them all over the house.  To his much disliking, I have changed this and only allowed him to have his toothbrushes.  I'm sick of finding my toothbrush in random parts of the house and drooled/chewed on by my son.  I guess there are worse things to chew on. :)

- He has really gotten a hang of climbing.  He climbs up on the chairs all the time and wants to roll his cars across the table with us.  This habit doesn't come in handy when Jake and I want to sit down to have a quiet dinner.  He also climbs all over the couch and recliner.  He is always so proud that he gets up.

- Over the past few weeks I've had to put this child in timeout.  As good of a child as he is, he definitely has his moments where he needs to cool down on the stairs.  As of now, he really isn't doing anything wrong, it's that he's throwing fits about things and screaming unnecessarily.  So I take him to the stairs and sit him down.  He calms down pretty instantly and babbles back to me as if he's trying to explain why he did that something.  It's too cute to watch him try and talk to me about it.

- As you can see from the top picture above, this child smiles on cue now.  He gives this super sweet, cheesy grin that brings out the dimples in his cheeks.  It is awesome!

- This kid is smart and is learning and catching on to things so quickly.  Through T.V. and the alphabet flash cards that we have for him he knows that sounds for the letters M, A, and R.  Also, if you show him the letter F he signs flower.  So he put that connection there too.  He also has learned to match these sound blocks that we got for him for Christmas.  He used to only sort of be able to put one block on to match it.  But I caught him the other day matching the animal one and signing "dog" after he matched the dog blocks together.

- Another few funny signs that he does so well are when he's done eating he signs all done by putting his hands up to his face.  He also signs "shoe" for train because the train makes the noise "choo-choo".  I can't break him of this habit, which is okay because I think it's pretty cute.

- His new animal noises are elephant (blowing noise as he tilts head back) and owl (really soft, but high-pitched hooo-hooo)

As long as an update as that was, it was much needed.  I know that this boy is going to be a little short on the attention over the next couple weeks as little sister makes her debut and he becomes big brother.  I don't want to forget all of the little things that Joshua is doing right now.  He truly is my angel.  He is my life and a great reason for me to wake up every day. I can't thank my Heavenly Father enough for blessing me with his sweet spirit. 

Recently...

Has it already been 2 weeks since I last updated?  Seems like we've been fairly busy over the past few weeks, but then when I look at what I've done it doesn't look like much.  Funny how that happens.  But this is what our household has been up to recently...

Jake climbed Mt. Rainier on the 13th/14th of August and I'm so proud of him.  This has been a goal for a long time and I'm glad he was able to find people to go with.  Sounded like the climb went really well and it was perfect conditions.  I'm grateful for such an ambitious husband who makes it a goal to reach his dreams.  Congrats Jake! I think that's a big accomplishment.

We have recently found that Joshua enjoys feeding the ducks near our home.  I've gone a few times with some friends and I wanted Jake to see and so we all went together last weekend.  Lots of fun for Josh.

like father, like son. yummy shakes

  Josh is continually goofing off and it is so funny to watch the little things that he gets into and explores and the things that entertain him.  His favorite drawer in the house is what I like to call the "random kitchen gadget" drawer.  I recently locked it because I was sick of tripping over the potato masher, whisks, kitchenaid accessories and chip clips.  But before I locked it, he'd find the orange peeler and put it in his mouth like this.

Pajama Head

 The other day Joshua kept bringing me bibs so that I would put them on him.  We got up to 4 bibs and then I needed a picture.  And recently when it comes to pictures, he makes all sorts of faces and i love it!

 Jake pulled out the nerf gun the other night after Josh had gotten out of the bath.  This was the result of that... Yes 2 darts stuck to his bum.  Could not stop laughing.  Kids do provide for lots of entertainment.

the first 6 days

Wow... We have had so much going on since we left Yakima.  This summer break has started out well and I can't believe that it's almost been a week.  I apologize for the novel, it is just for my own journaling efforts. :)

Jake and I left Yakima on Thursday morning and headed out for Boise where we would stay the night.  We set off early to get some visits in before it got too late.  Our first visit was with Jake's grandparents Grandma Marge and Grandpa Matt.  They live in Caldwell, ID and are always thrilled to have a visit.  Joshie always of course brings some great entertainment to the table.  Within the first couple minutes he found the house phone and pressed the big, red emergency button that automatically calls 911.  Grandpa Matt called him a "little rat" and wasn't exactly happy about the phone call, but Jake and I died laughing.  Within 10 minutes there was a police officer at the door. :) Too funny!

Josh also enjoyed spending some time playing the organ with Grandma Marge.  She is definitely a trooper.  At 94 she was picking Josh up and playing with him.  It's always a lot of fun to see family.

Our next visit in Boise was to see my college roommate's Natalie Hessing and Natalie Moon.  They are cousins, conveniently located right next door to each other and both about 36-37 weeks pregnant.  :) I was thrilled to be able to see them and catch up a little bit. They are great friends!

We stayed the night in Boise and headed off to Salt Lake in the morning. After a visit with Jake's Grandma June in Tremonton we arrived in South Jordan in the afternoon.  It was very exciting to see my family again.  I always enjoy being close to them.

Friday evening we went over to see my sister's twins she had just two weeks ago, Adisyn and Liam.  They are absolutely adorable and it's amazing how easily and quickly you forget about how small they are and how much they sleep.  It was so good to see them and especially good to see that they were healthy. 

The next morning we were busy at a softball game for my home stake and then in the afternoon went to have dinner with my grandparents (Lorin's parents)  the Hunt's in Orem.  They are in their mid-90's and so amazing!  They are always great to visit with and take such interest in all of their families lives.  Love them!

Sunday was Father's Day and after church, the whole family came over for lunch to celebrate Father's Day.  It was so fun to catch up and see everyone.  I miss them very much and I always enjoy the opportunity to visit and see them.  This lunch included great company and excellent burgers (the famous Hunt burgers).  I was stuffed to say the least. 

BIG Joshua with little Liam

That evening we went over to my Dad's house to have dinner with them and the family.  Joshie was the best to watch because he was definitely excited to see their dogs.  He was basically screaming the whole night! I have never seen him have so much energy or hear him scream so much ever.  It was a lot of fun and definitely always good to catch up with family members.

Monday, after breakfast at IHOP with the fam, Jake, Josh, Me, and Enoch went for hike up Ensign Peak.  When we lived here last year we went for a drive up there, but could not hike it because I was about 36 weeks pregnant.  It was a nice hike, pretty steep, but it had a beautiful view. 

Tuesday, Jake and I headed up to hike to see Timpanogos Cave, something I had always wondered why I never saw it as a kid.  It was yet another steep hike, but we made it up in good timing.  Josh did well on the hike, but kind of lost it in the caves, but I think that's because he gets tired of being held.  The cave was really neat and the hike up was perfect. The weather was mild and beautiful and it really turned out to be a beautiful day.

That evening we met up with my Dad and his family to celebrate Kathie's Birthday.  We went mini-golfing at Mulligans and then out to eat at Texas Roadhouse.  It was a great evening and we definitely enjoyed our time together!

Today was a much needed relaxing day.  We started out by visiting my Grandpa Lundberg. Grandma passed away this October and so he gets pretty lonely.  It was good to see him and visit with him.  In all of these visits I'm glad that family is able to see Joshua and watch him grow.  After that visit, we took some flowers up to Grandma. 

This afternoon, Jake and I drove up to Kennecott Copper Mine just west of my parent's house.  Last time I had been there was many years ago and so it was good to see it again.  It has grown and changed so much since I was last there and it was good to be able to read about it and know what's going on.  Here are a few pictures...

ordinarily perfect

I woke up yesterday to my husband by my side and the first words mutually spoken were, "I love you".  Not only the sweetest way to wake up, but it was another day where I realized so clearly again that I have the most ordinarily perfect life.  Even though I'm "just" a wife who is at home raising her children, it is for me and I wouldn't trade it for the entire universe!  I have a husband who I love and who loves me more than life.  And we have an amazing son.  We are sealed for time and all eternity and honestly that is the most important knowledge that I have ever received and will ever receive in this life.

Watching general conference this weekend reaffirmed that truth and everything spoken was exactly what I needed to hear. Here are the links to two of my favorite talks...


President Dieter F. Uchtdorf - Sunday Morning Session

Lynn G. Robbins - Sunday Afternoon Session


Even if you are not of my faith, I highly suggest that take a look at these talks as they can be highly beneficial no matter what your circumstance.