SLEEP!!

CJ has been such a good sleeper. We usually get 6 hours of sleep but we just got 8.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep! What could be better with a 2 month old?

Little Helper

Tyler is so excited for his Grandma and Grandpa Brummer and Aunt Jamie to come visit today that he wanted to help clean the floors! What a cute little guy.

Eating at the Table

Tyler has started to eat at the table. This is so fun for him and so great for us. He feels like a big kid and makes way less of a mess; he even eats off of a plate or out of a bowl. We are all thankful for this step!

Cameron Update!

Tomorrow Cameron turns 2 months old. I can't even believe how fast it has gone by. I just ran 3 miles in 29 minutes this morning (something I haven't done in 5 months) and have a long way to go before I am ready for my runs this winter. But it's pretty good for having a 2 months old!

Little Cameron Jennifer is THRIVING, she is almost 14 lbs and has the cutest little thighs and cheeks. She loves to hold her head up while she is laying on her tummy or against her daddy's chest. She is all smiles now, big and wide with her mouth open. She has also started making CUTE little cooing noises and showing some of her little personality.

It is so fun getting to know this beautiful little girl. We sure love her a lot.

Trunk-or-Treat

We had a ward Trunk-or-Treat party last night. The kids were so cute dressed up... and yes, Jeff and I did dress up too. I am quite the Star Wars fan (as if you couldn't tell by looking at the pictures); big thanks to Jeff for playing along.

Tyler and his favorite friend, Kate.
His favorite thing to do was throw candy in the bags for the trunk-or-treaters.

Ty & CJ with Kate & Crew LeSueur

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Queen Amidala, Yoda, Princess Leia

Tyler is SO Patient!

We took a short trip for our anniversary and learned how patient Tyler can be. Cameron has become quite a crier, this is unlike her brother who NEVER cried. We are learning how to deal with this and it is HARD for us. Tyler sometimes tries to drown out her crying by being LOUD, but lately he has just tried to make her smile. In the car when she was crying for 45 minutes, Ty just sang along to the radio and then tuned her out and fell asleep. What a sweet little man. (Our little girl is amazing and cute too and we even love her when she is screaming!)

Anniversary

Three years ago Jeff and I got married in Waikiki. I just wanted to say that it has been so fun building a life together. Jeff, you make me laugh a lot, I don't think there is anything more I could ask for; just long as we can laugh through the good times and the tough times. I love you, I love our life, I love our children.

Pumpkin Patch

We took the kids to the Pumpkin Patch and Tyler was such a BIG boy.

We went on Tuesday night to get the pumpkin but it started getting to dark to do the activities; NO PROBLEM, we went Wednesday night too haha! Tyler LOVED it.

Take a Breath!

IT's finally here!!! Those of you that live in Arizona know what IT is, IT's finally out of the 90's!!! Today, for the first time in months, I turned off the air conditioner and opened up all the windows in my house. I feel like a can breathe; a feeling that has been missing in this desert frying pan for a LONG time.

All of those months of answering the question of friends that don't live here, "how do you handle that heat?" with, "A small price to pay for 8 to 9 months of PERFECT weather". I was starting to hear myself say that and not believe what was coming out of my mouth; until TODAY! I took the kids to a park playdate and Jeff planted the winter grass!

YAY for ARIZONA! YAY for Running outside without worrying about the kids in the heat! YAY for no more 90 degrees and up!

Kids Say the Craziest Things!

Tyler has become quite a little talker, while most of what he says is in a different language, a few words are easy to decipher; some of which are: Ball, Sis, No, Don't, Dadda, Mom, Bye Bye, Eye, Nose, Shoe and... well, a certain four letter word!

Now, I have no idea where he picked it up ; ) but Ty's favorite thing to say is "Oh, S#!t"! He says it all of the time and I have no idea when it ever came out of the mouths of any of us (haha), but he is a flipping parrot. He does it ALL DAY LONG! It's hard not to laugh when he makes a face like this and says it!

Take me back to yesterday...

Here are pictures of my mom rocking CJ in the same rocking chair that she rocked me and Jennifer in. It was so neat to see this and really think about it, all of the sleepless nights that she spent holding us in this piece of furniture. It was almost like the a new discovery that linked me to Jen again; like when I found a sweat shirt that smelled like her a couple of months after she died, or when I went away to college to live in the dorms and felt like I was going through something that she went through, this is a place that she used to be all of the time, it just made me feel close to her again; I am going to make a special place in my home for it one day.

I love my mom, I am so thankful for her. I cannot imagine the heartache that she feels at the loss of her first daughter. Watching this special moment that she had with my daughter, I was hit like a ton of bricks with the gratitude and love that I have for her and with a small understanding of the pain she must feel every day. If I can be a little bit of the mother that she was to us, I will know that I did my job.

Trip to Cali

Our trip to visit my parents was so fun. The kids LOVED all of the attention. Bill took Tyler exploring all over the yard and up the street (they live out in the boonies on a lot of land with wild animals all over: turkeys, lizards, deer, etc). Tyler was obsessed with the dog, Billie, and looked for her whenever he couldn't see her.

Tyler's first balloon; we went to get him new shoes at Nordstrom and they gave it to him.

Exploring!

Cameron's First Smile

I didn't get the actual smile on camera, but I caught the moment! Cameron gave her daddy the first smile and he was so excited! (It was on October 9th).

Sushi!

We went to Mikuni, my favorite sushi restaurant, and Tyler had a box and tried sushi for the first time! Garlic salmon was his first dish; it's salmon sashimi with garlic mashed avacado! YUM!

They slept?!?!

My adorable little monsters slept all the way to Sacramento! The flight was great, Jeff was great for helping us all the way to the gate, and my mom was great for coming in to get us. We have had fun so far!

Going out of Town

The kids and I are going to California to visit my family and friends for a few days. I am packing for three, which has been a lot more work than I expected. The laundry is done, the clothes are packed, now I am working on an airplane bag... AAAHHHHHHHH! I can't believe I am taking both of these guys on the plane. We really, really want to go see my mom and enjoy the wonderful fall weather, so a few hours of pain for a few days of weather that is not over 90 degrees! Wish me luck!

Growing Up!

Ty is such a ham for the camera!!!! He is so cute and so much fun. We LOVE him.

I love watching him do the stairs!

CJ is getting BIG

Cameron is getting so BIG. She is 12lbs and will be 6 weeks old tomorrow. Last night we went out to dinner for our friend, Marianne's birthday and Cam got all dressed up for the occasion (cute little jeans and everything!).

Halloween Sneak Peek

A Halloween Sneak Peek! Yoda and Princess Leia... Jeff and I are dressing up to match!

HUGE DAY

It's a huge day for me, and when I say huge, I AM talking about the size of my rear after being pregnant for two years. This morning I pulled out my fat jeans... you all know what I am talking about, those jeans reserved for your, not so proud moments, but at least you can fit into something, pants. I stepped into them, and yay, they went up past my thighs, then they zipped, and then the buttoned!! I am wearing NON MATERNITY pants for the first time in a while! Thanks American Eagle for the boyfriend fit that makes my curves look cute and my round rump look not so round. Can't wait until I am back in all my old clothes! I LOVE fall attire.

Poop, Poop, Poop

I remember one Christmas as a little girl when Santa brought me everything that I wanted. Everything being, a little doll that I could feed and then she did her business and I could change her diapers! I was so excited when this happened, thinking, I can't wait until I am a mom and get to have a real baby to change.

I was laughing about this last night as I was changing my 10th poopy diaper of the day, this time it was my 5 week old's yellow mustard mess when... just as I lifted her little bummy to put on the clean diaper... SQUIRT... it freaked me out and I ducked and dodged an explosive river of poop, not thinking about what would happen next. The next was a three foot trail of yellow stinkiness on the nice CLEAN carpet in her beautiful new room.

I think when she asks me for a cute little doll that makes a mess in her diaper, I'll hand her a set of golf clubs and tell her she'll have plenty of time to change diaper messes when she's older and save her from more labor ; )

Who would have thought kids so cute could smell so BAD?

In LOVE with this picture

I am in love with this picture of my boys.

New Trail

We went hiking again on today. We got up early and headed out around 7:00. Our good friends, the Perrys (Nick, Taunya and Kaden) came with us. We went out a little past Lost Dutchman State Park in the Superstitions and found a nice spot where we hiked for a couple of miles. We encountered jumping catus, a tree that about took off Tyler's head, and PERFECT 80 degree weather. The kids were great and it was so nice to get out into the beautiful wilderness that we forget is all around us.

The boys hiking up a hill

Can you believe that this beauty is a just a few miles from where we live our busy lives every day?

Tyler wanted to walk a little

The kiddos