Weekly Update

Or should I say bi-weekly update, since its been exactly 2 weeks since my last post?? Pretty sad that I've already broken my new years resolution for blogging and we are only in February. But that's ok...I'm going to jump back on the horse and be better in the upcoming weeks. I would like to say that I missed blogging last week because life was super busy, but it really wasn't any busier than usual. Here is what we have been up to the last couple of weeks -

1. Everyone is mostly over being sick, but there are still some lingering coughs and congestion. Neither of which are a big deal until nighttime and then I feel like I'm going to scream if the coughing doesn't stop! But even that has slowed down the last couple of days. I wish I could say that it's translated into more sleep for me but it really hasn't. I think my kids just have horrible sleeping habits. And I'm sure it's my fault...I probably should have let them cry it out more when they were little but I was never any good at that. So I guess I'll just learn to sleep less for the next 18+ years of my life. haha.

2. We got our tax return back! Yahoo. I wish we would've been able to spend some of it on something big and fun, but we had medical bills and debt to payoff. And the rest went to savings. Well besides $350 of it. I convinced Kurt to let me buy a tablet! I've been doing a lot of research on them and after months of reading reviews and visiting best buy, I decided on the Asus Transformer. We just got it on Saturday and I'm pretty sure the thing hasn't barely been put down. We love it and the kids love it! There are so many handy things on it...I can't believe I've lived this long without one. haha...ok that's a little extreme but you get the point.

3. This week I also discovered the brilliance of Windows Live for blogging. How come no one told me about it before? It's seriously so much easier to post using this system. If you don't know what I'm talking about and you own a PC, download Windows Live. You will LOVE it!

4.The weather around here has been beautiful lately. Last week we had several days in the 70's...it was awesome. I felt like I would've gone outside and tanned. But just the thought of getting in a swimsuit = yikes! So I didn't. And then this week we've had two rainstorms so far and its only Wednesday! I love the rain. This is definitely the time of the year when I am grateful for where I live :)

5. I am finally seeing some results in my weight loss. Last week I really buckled down and started eating better and counting calories. My goal has been to just lose 2 pounds a week and I'm now a week and a half in and I have lost 3 pounds. So i'm right on target. I know 3 pounds isn't much but as long as the scale is moving down, no matter how slowly, I feel good. Plus my ab muscles are starting to show themselves again and I am just feeling all around stronger. Its a good feeling. If I stick to 2 pounds a week then by the time the Clark County Fair comes I will be down to my pre-pregnancy weight. yahoo!

6. Last week was our New Beginnings program for Young Womens. Have I ever mentioned that I am the 1st counselor in the Young Womens presidency in our ward? Well I am and have been for almost 2 years now. It's a calling I love but also a calling that I often find overwhelming and time consuming. But I seriously love all of the young women in our ward. They are so great and I constantly look forward to being around them. For our New Beginnings this year the girls wanted to do a skit. So they did a news broadcast and it turned out really cute. We have some great new beehives coming in this year and a lot of fun activities planned. It will definitely be a busy year for young womens :)

7. On Saturday we took the kids and met up with some cousins to go out riding. Kurt found a little spot out in the desert that is perfect for the kids to practice riding their dirtbikes. Destry is getting quite good at riding and often frightens me with his speed but he always manages to stay in control. He still isn't as passionate about it as Kurt wishes he was but he has a good time. Mayzie on the other hand is obsessed with riding the dirtbikes. I think Kurt may have finally met his match with that little girl. From the minute we start she is begging to ride and she wants to do it all herself (the throttle and steering I mean). She's actually quite good. Slowly but surely Kurt is turning our family into a bunch of dirtbikers. And he couldn't be more happy.

8. I didn't take a single picture of my kids these last 2 weeks. Pretty sad. But I did hang up a bunch of pictures that I finally got printed the other day. I find myself stopping to look at them all the time...I love it. I especially love having all of my children in all of the different stages in their lives frozen in time on my walls. It's a little bittersweet to realize how fast the time is going. Sutton reminds me a lot of Destry when he was a baby and it literally feels like it was just yesterday that I was holding his tiny little body in my arms instead of hers. I love each one of those kids more than I can put into words. Being a mom is really a divine calling.

9. Quick update on Destry - He is such a joy these days. I don't know why, but all of the sudden he just seems so grown up. He is doing such a great job at learning how to write all of his letters and numbers. He wants to know how to spell EVERYTHING and is even starting to sound out words at times. I've always worried that he might struggle a little in school because he has such a hard time focusing but lately he has transformed into a little student. He gets his homework done all by himself and in very little time. It is night and day from where he was when we started in August. I think he's going to be alright after all :) He's such a sweet boy too. For Valentines day he gave me a note, a pen (so I could write him notes) and a fruit snack; all his own idea. He likes to call me his "special girl." I told Kurt he needs to take notes. haha.

10. Quick update on Mayzie - She is still a little stinker. haha...I'm mostly kidding but there is no doubt that she is a girl! We butt heads on a daily basis and her attitude has me a little worried. Her vocabulary is continuing to grow and just in the last week I've felt like she might be coming out of her shell a little bit. This child is painfully shy and extremely clingy. She is one of the older kids in her nursery class and yet she still cries and won't let me leave every single Sunday. aghh!! It is very frustrating. I'm hoping to fix that soon. Even with all of that, she is an absolute doll. Her smile can light up a room and I love to hear her little voice, especially when she's singing. She's finally letting me do her hair without crying and she loves to "help" me, especially with Sutton. Lastly, she's my little workout buddy! Its so cute to watch her try to copy the moves. But I must say that girl has some muscles!

11. And lastly a quick update on Sutton - She has gained 2 pounds in the last 2 weeks! She is 14 lbs which puts her in the 95th percentile (shes catching up to Destry). And her height is still in the 86th percentile. She has actually been a much happier baby lately. So what I said in the last post about her being my most challenging baby has not been true in the last 2 weeks. She smiles at everything and everyone and even began giggling last week. Although she has only ever done it for daddy :( but its the sweetest little sound in the whole world. She all of the sudden LOVES baths and it is the highlight of my day to watch her kick and splash in pure delight. She has also started moving around a lot more. I can no longer leave her laying on the couch all by herself because I'm afraid she'll wiggle off. With all of this moving i'm afraid she may be starting to rub the hair off on the back of her head :( I hope I'm wrong...she has such pretty hair. But we will see!

Thats all. Thanks for reading. I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's day :)

The End of January

Well, you'll have to forgive me if this post isn't exactly the most upbeat or exciting post ever. This last week and a half has been hard. I mean really hard. Probably one of the most physically exhausting weeks of my life. It's definitely in the top 3 anyways. Our house was hit with the flu bug last week. Now I know I'm not the first mom to deal with 3 sick children at the same time, but it was the first time I've personally had to deal with it and let me tell you it was no picnic around here. I swear I was lucky if I got to sleep for more than 30 minutes straight at a time for at least 5 days in a row! I felt like a zombie and I'm sure I looked like one too. The thing about not getting sleep is that every little task seems to take a lot more effort and for me I notice a huge difference in my patience level. Normally I think I'm a pretty patient person but after a rough night, I can barely handle any little fighting or crying or mess-making. Thankfully everyone is finally starting to recover but I feel like I need a week-long vacation to truly recover. lol. Sometimes being a mom is really tough! I just hope we can stay healthy for awhile now.

Because everyone was sick, a lot of my plans got canceled last week. I didn't get to watch my little sister play in a basketball game, I didn't get to shop at Costco, I didn't get to play volleyball saturday morning, and I missed out on my Cafe Rio trip. :( But we did venture out of the house for a little bit on Saturday morning to watch Kurt race. He hasn't done a dirtbike race in a while so when he found out there was going to be one in town, he signed right up. He and a buddy of his did the team race (where they take turns riding) but Kurt ended up doing 3/4ths of the race instead of half. On the first lap, his friend rode into a fence and messed up his hand. So he was having a really hard time pulling the clutch, which is kind of essential when you are riding a dirtbike. So Kurt rode the next 3 laps, instead of them each riding 2 laps. They ended up placing 4th out of 12 teams. Not too shabby. He even got a trophy (a really lame trophy if you ask me...lol). He had a lot of fun and that's all that matters. The kids and I got up early (the race was at 8:30) to watch him but it was pretty cold. So after the first 2 laps we mostly watched from our warm car. Which is why I don't have a single picture from the race. oh well.

We took one other trip out of the house on Saturday night. The hot air balloon festivel came to town for the first time this year and we went to watch the "glow." Two years ago we went to a hot air balloon festival in Panguitch and it was awesome. The kids loved it and it was a lot of fun for the whole family. So we were thrilled to hear that they were having one in our town! Unfortunately it was a big dissappointment. It wasn't even close to as cool as the one in Panguitch. But oh well. The kids thought the balloons were pretty cool and we got to get out of the house for a half hour or so.

On Sunday my little Sutton turned 2 months old. There's not too much to report in the way of development milestones but here are her stats-

*she is 12.4 lbs (75th percentile)

*she is 24 inches long (75th percentile)

*she seems so big already! I can't believe it.

*she is still exclusively breastfeeding and has a seriously strong latch which has been a source of pain for me. Everytime I think its getting better it starts to get bad again :( This is the hardest breastfeeding experience I've ever had.

*she still spits up all the time!! ughh...lots of laundry for me.

*she still wakes up every 3-4 hrs at night.

*she smiles and coos almost everytime she hears mine or daddys voice.

*she puts up with a lot from her brother and sister and yet still gets excited when they talk to her!

*she is an absolute doll and we couldn't be more grateful to have her in our family. She is probably my most challenging baby so far, but I love her nonetheless!

{I think she's soo beautiful}

{I tried to catch her smiling and this was as good as I could get. I still need to get a big smile from her on camera...its soo cute!}

~The End~

The Third Week In January

- Last week marked the start of a big change around here. Kurt started a new shift at work. He has been doing the night shift for just about 2 years and last week he changed to a swing shift. I wasn't really sure how I would feel about this since it means more daylight hours by myself with the kids...but it has turned out, so far, to be a really great change. We get to wake up together now and we've been working out together for the last week and a half. Its been so wonderful. And the nights don't seem as hard because I've had my "me time" already in the morning. So I find that I have a little bit more patience with the kids. And his days off actually feel like days off. He's not so tired all of the time anymore. It feels like a much healthier schedule and I'm really grateful!

- On Friday we were able to watch my crazy little sister (pictured below) play basketball. I am exactly 10 years older than her but we get teased all the time in my family for being so much alike. Just like me, she LOVES volleyball (and she's dang good at it too, way better than I was at her age) but she also plays basketball and does track. She's an incredible athlete and even if she has very little training she looks like a natural in every sport she does. Its pretty awesome. So she is a sophomore starter on Moapa Valley's girls varsity basketball team and they played at virgin valley last Friday. So we spent most of the afternoon/evening in the gym watching a lot of basketball. Unfortunately Malary's team got beat pretty good. But the other two games we watched we were really close. Both were won by only 2 points. So it was a lot of fun!

{haha...she has some serious personality! Love that girl}

- My mother-in-law has 8x10 pictures of all of the grandkids (there are 16 now) on her wall in her house. And my kids pictures on that wall are about a year and a half old. So I decided this week that I would take some new pictures of each of them. As always this was a challenging task...but we did it! (and yes, I wish I could go get them professionally done but that's just not in the budget these days. Unfortunately.) Here's what I got -

(My handsome 5 year old. Gosh he's big!)

{For Mayzie I couldn't decide between this one and the one below. I think she looks so beautiful and grown up in this one}

{Which is why I'll probably use this shot. lol. She doesn't look quite so grown up in this one}

{I just took these pictures of Sutton for fun. I actually did get professionally shots of her done (for free!) when she was just 9 days old. More on that story later. So I'm waiting to get those pictures back still.}

{And then for my wall, I tried to get a shot all three of them together. YIKES...that was really hard. But I think I like the last one the best. These 3 kids are my world!! Gosh I love them :)}

-In the last post I mentioned my friend, Zach Gifford, who passed away. Well on Saturday we were able to attend his funeral. It was soo great. The Cope family seriously did a wonderful job. The spirit was so strong there and the love that his family had for him was apparent. There was a lot of support from friends and family and it was wonderful to see some people that I hadn't seen for along time. I just wish it had been under better circumstances. For me, I'll always remember Zach as the kid that I played monopoly and had pillow fights with. I can still remember watching him do his bmx tricks, walking to the bus stop with him and going to church activities together. He was my first crush out in Logandale and I thought he was soo cute. He was always so kind to me. He will truly be missed here on Earth. But I'm grateful to know that he is in a much happier, more peaceful place now.

- Having three kids is hard on your body...right? All of you mothers out there know what I am talking about. With each of my kids I gained the same amount of weight, 32-35 pounds. With my first, after 6 weeks I had about 5 pounds left to lose. With my second, I had 10 pounds. And now with my third, I have 15 pounds to lose. 15 pounds!! Gosh that seems like so much to me. Ever since my 6 week checkup with my OBGYN, where he gave me the go ahead to resume normal activities, I have been faithfully exercising. I haven't missed a day. That was almost 2 weeks ago and I think I have lost 1 pound! Aghh! I know that means I probably need to change my diet...but I don't want to!! lol. In the past I've been able exercise and eat pretty much whatever I want and stay at a size that I felt good about. I guess that's not the case anymore :( So here's to trying to eat healthier and just overall less food this week! It's not going to be fun.

That's all for today. See ya next week :)

New Years Resolution

I've been having a really hard time with my blog lately. Despite my valiant efforts to catch up (I actually have been trying, believe or not) I'm still about 4 months behind. I always want to post but I hate posting things that happened 4 months ago...I want to blog about the things that are happening now, while my feelings are still fresh. Right now I only post about the big events that happen in life; ie. holidays, vacations, children's accomplishments, etc. But that means I'm missing all of the little everyday things and since this is meant to be a journal, I don't want to forget about all those little things. A lady in church just shared this quote -

"Enjoy the little things in life, because someday you will realize they were the big things."

So I've decided to start blogging a little bit differently. I have a few friends that do "weekly updates" on their blogs and I think I want to try that. So some of my posts may not have pictures or may be really short and simple, but I'm okay with that. As long as I can keep doing them every week I'll be happy. And hopefully in between my weekly updates I can still catch up on the last 4 months of 2011.

The first couple of weeks in January have been jam packed with business and "big events," so this first post may kind of long. But I promise that they wont normally be like this.

-First of all we blessed Sutton on Sunday January 8th, (that was our stake's fast sunday) in our ward. And by we, I mean Kurt. lol. He gave her a truly beautiful blessing and we had all of our close family there to support. It's always a humbling thing to watch all of the men in my family, whom I love so dearly, hold my precious child in their hands and use the priesthood to bless her. I felt completely overwhelmed with love. Sutton looked beautiful in her blessing dress. I was going to have her wear Mayzie's but at the last minute (the friday before the blessing) I decided to buy her, her own dress. And the crocheted booties were given to me by my sister in law, Stephanie. I thought they were perfect!

{I really love this picture. She is just the cutest little thing! And her hair!! Its quite the attention getter. People can't believe how much hair she has...its kind of funny how big of a deal it seems to be. I especially love the fro she gets right after a bath :)}

{I still have a hard time grasping that we are now a family of 5}

{This was at the end when she was clearly tired of the picture taking...lol}

- On January 4th my handsome firstborn turned 5 years old! Yikes! He's been looking forward to this birthday for quite awhile. In fact the morning of his birthday he declared, "Now that I am 5, I can tie my own shoes." haha...too bad it doesn't really work like that. But he genuinely believes that 5 is the magic number. And I guess in some ways he is right. I can't believe that in a few months I'll be sending him off to kindergarten. I'm going to try not to think about that though.

The day of his birthday I tried to make the day seem as special as possible. He got to take cupcakes to his preschool class, which he loved, and I didn't say "No" to him at all. He got whatever he wanted. He even picked where he wanted to eat and surprise, surprise we had McDonalds for dinner :) But we didn't have a party for him until Sunday the 8th. Since I knew all of our family would be there for the blessing, we just waited and did both a blessing luncheon and a birthday party after church. It was wonderful and he got completely spoiled.

{Mayzie never strayed far from his side while he was opening presents. But she never got jealous or anything. I guess she was just there for moral support!}

{That's my fabulous little sister in the first picture. She is hilarious and oh so beautiful!}

{Destry helped me decorate for the party the night before and he loved all of the pom poms hanging everywhere. It definitely made it feel festive.}

- For his birthday, we got him motorcycle gear and boots. He was pretty excited to get it all on and try it out. So we took him riding a couple days later and he looked totally legit :) He's getting dang good on his bike too. His favorite thing to do is to find little bumps and "jump" off of them. He even catches air sometimes...lol.

{I think Mayzie loves Destry's bike as much as he does. She begs for daddy to take her riding all of the time.}

-I think I'm finally settling into life as a mother of 3. I've often felt like a crazy person, but slowly I feel like I'm getting the hang of it. The first 4-5 weeks were honestly really tough. Sutton is a big spitter-upper. Neither of my other kids spit up very much and when we were in the hospital I noticed that she spit up quite a bit. It only got worse after we got home and she was soo fussy right after she ate, and I would swear that she spit up half of what she ate. It was pretty frustrating and so I talked to the pediatrician about it and he prescribed some drops for reflux but he warned that it might not help at all. And it didn't. I was really disappointed. Since she turned 6 weeks it doesn't seem to be as bad, but I am still constantly changing her clothes/bibs and doing LOTS of laundry. Luckily she isn't as fussy anymore and that's the real reason that I feel better about it. It was hard when I felt like she was in pain...but thankfully she doesn't cry near as much anymore. On top of that I also had some major breastfeeding issues. Sutton got thrush and it left me cracked, dried, and bleeding. It was so incredibly painful and I pumped plenty of "pink" bottles. I am just finally getting through all of that and breastfeeding is wonderful now. I'm glad I didn't give up because I truly enjoy breastfeeding. She has definitely been my hardest baby so far and that was probably compounded by the fact that I have two others to take care of too. But like I said, things are much better now and I feel like I have a handle on life. Sutton is turning into the sweetest little baby too. She is smiling and cooing at us and it makes all the hard times worth it :)

-Destry started writing "notes" about 2 weeks ago. I'm not sure where he got the idea, but he decided he wanted to write everybody in the family a note. and he did. The notes are usually full of random letters and don't actually say anything but they are so cute. He always puts them in an envelope and writes mom or dad on the front and sometimes he writes his name on the envelope too. The best part is that he wants the note to be a surprise. So he sneakily places it somewhere he knows that we will find it and then watches us until we do. His whole face lights up when we find and "read" our notes. I've left him a couple notes too and he was so thrilled. I thought it was just a little phase that would be over the next day, but he has kept with it for the past two weeks. It is really the sweetest thing and I love finding all of his little notes. I hope he never stops :)

{This note he left for dad by the garage door, so that when he got home from work in the morning he would step on it and be surprised}

- On Friday January 13th, Kurt and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. It was actually the exact day we got married on too (yes we got married on a friday, the 13th) so that was kind of fun. We got to go out to dinner, just the two of us (something that hasn't happened for a long time) and it was so nice. It would've been great to really getaway for the weekend or something but with a breastfeeding, 6 week old I knew that wasn't going to happen. Maybe next year! Anyways, we just went to Sushi Masa here in Mesquite, and it was soo good. I seriously could eat sushi for every meal. yum. It was wonderful to get dressed up for the night and get away from my mothering duties even if for only an hour and a half. I love my man so much. He is truly my best friend, my lover, my companion, and the greatest dad in the world. The last six years together have been the happiest, most joy-filled years of my life and I'm so grateful for the life that we have built together. We have such a great relationship and I love him more than ever.

- On a really sad note, my wonderful sister-in-law is 25 weeks pregnant and went in for a routine ultrasound and found that the baby is not growing as he should. They aren't exactly sure why, but he is measuring 3 weeks behind and his organs are growing faster than his body. The doctors aren't sure what to expect or if the baby will make it. The worst part is that she has had a really hard time getting pregnant and staying pregnant. and after giving up on having another child (they have 3) they got this wonderful surprise. And this pregnancy has been going so well up until now. It seriously just breaks my heart. They want this baby so bad and I want more than anything to see them have a beautiful, healthy child. Sometimes I don't understand why some people have to endure so many trials. It just doesn't seem fair. But I know God has a plan for everyone and I have faith that everything will work out for them the way that it is supposed too. I just pray that they will see a miracle happen with this precious little child.

- We had our Stake conference yesterday and it was so wonderful. We had the opportunity to have a general authority come to our valley and speak to us. Elder Choi and his wife were so great. I got to listen to a special youth fireside that morning and the spirit was so strong. I love when I get to go to meetings and feel completely inspired to be better. This was definitely one of those meetings!

- Lastly, I got some terrible news this morning. A good friend of mine, Zach Gifford passed away yesterday due to an overdose. I've known him since I was 12 and although we weren't best friends or anything I truly loved him and have some really great memories with him. His family is very close to my family and they are so dear to me. I feel so much sadness at their loss. The funeral is this week and I will definitely be attending. But all day I've just been thinking about what a terrible thing addiction is. So many people are hurt because of it. I pray that his family will be comforted at this difficult time.

That's it for now. I promise that next week won't be so long. Thanks for reading :)

Welcome to the World!

On November 29, 2011 at 3:02 am we welcomed Sutton Kristina Tobler to the world! She was absolutely beautiful weighing 8lbs 6 oz and measuring 20 inches long.

{This was taken 4 days before she was born...yes I was ready to POP!}

It all started on Monday the 28th at about 2:00pm when I started getting contractions. (I was 38 weeks and 2 days) They started out pretty consistent and just kept getting closer and closer together. By 4:00pm I told Kurt he better call into work and tell them he's not coming. By that point I already had everything packed up, so we headed into the hospital. It was an hour and a half to get to the hospital and my contractions were getting more and more intense. When we got to the hospital they were pretty busy so it took awhile to get some attention. When they finally came to check me I was 4 cm and 90% effaced. So they admitted me. The rest of the night was pretty boring. My body is rather slow at dialating on its on I guess. We were admitted at 6:00pm and by 2:00 am I was still only at 7 cm. At that point they finally gave me some pitocin and my water broke. 45 min later I was ready to push. It took 5 pushes to get her out because she was turned the wrong way. But once she came out she immediately started crying and was pink all over. She got 9 and 9 on her apgar scores and I was so relieved to see her healthy little self!

{Wow! A family of 5 now}

{They weren't really sure what to think of her at first. lol}

{Going home outfit}
We got to go home Wednesday morning and everything has been really great. My recovery has been the easiest of all of my children so far and Sutton has been a great little newborn.

{Can you see the absolute joy on her face?! lol}
The hardest part has been making sure Mayzie doesn't smother her to death. That girl is OBSESSED with "baby tutten." Its really cute but also really annoying. lol

{Destry was really sweet with her. He even decided that it was alright that she was a girl. Which was a pretty big step for him.}

We are completely smitten with little miss sutton and can't believe how blessed we feel to have her in our family!

Newport Beach 2011

**Warning - this may be the longest post ever in the history of blogging. lol. Ok maybe not ever, but probably pretty close. I don't blame you if you just skip this one. But for my own journaling and enjoyment, here goes! :)

For the 2nd year in a row we got to take an awesome vacation to Newport Beach! This year we stayed the entire week and it was WONDEFUL!! Seriously...best vacation ever. The kids had a blast, the parents had a blast, and it actually felt like a vacation (amazing, right?) Thats a rare thing in my experience. lol.

My parents rented a beachhouse out and we all crammed together for the week. It actually wasn't that crammed...surprisingly. This was the view I woke up to every morning. The picture doesnt do it justice...but it was incredible to be able to walk straight out our door and onto the beach.

One of our favorite pastimes was spotting dolphins. It was soo cool!

And I couldn't believe how close they were. If I was braver I could have gone swimming with the dolphins. lol.

The kids did a lot of sand castle building.

And A LOT of sand castle destroying. Our sand castles never lasted very long with Mr. Destructo (aka Destry) around. lol

Of course their favorite thing to do was play with daddy in the waves.

Destry especially loved to run from the waves. He never got tired of that game.

I love Mayzie's face in this one. So full of anticipation.

This little girl was meant to be a beach bum. She was in heaven!

Me and Mayzie were laying out. Its one of the very few shots of me. I generally prefer to stay behind the camera :)

Kurt and Malary were boogy-boardin fools! They went out every single day. And they got pretty good. I tried to join them once and I sucked! But I had a lot of fun.

Even Destry tried to get in on the boogy-boarding action. lol.

We. of course, played a lot in the sand! The kiddos loved to be buried.

Mayzie enjoyed several naps on the beach. Nothing more relaxing than that!

We took a few bike trips down to the Pier to play at the arcade and look around the pier. Mayzie loved the bike!

We stopped at the playground on the way and let the kids play on the beach playground.

The kids at the arcade. And me and the kids at Balboa Pier.

Little Ms. Mayzie developed a SERIOUS crush on her Uncle Richard the week we were there. It was actually a little ridiculous...lol. But oh so cute. She would not let him out of her sight and she always wanted to hold his hand. I really need to teach her how to play hard to get...because she was seriously aggressive. lol. Luckily Uncle Richard was a good sport.

My adorable parents. I got some good genes, right?!? :)

And here is the whole crew. Thank goodness for family!

I desperately wanted some beach family photos. So we tried...but like most of my picture adventures, it was hard. lol. There were a few decent ones though.

This is what Desty would choose to do in every picture if he could. lol. crazy kid!

I did get a couple decent pictures of me and my man though.

Gosh I'm so lucky! He is seriously the best thing that has ever happened to me! I just LOVE this handsome guy.

If you made it this far...thanks for reading. This trip is definitely the highlight of my year and I already can't wait until next year. The only thing that would have made it better is if I hadn't been 20 weeks pregnant, still a little morning sick, and looking like a whale on the beach. :( Oh well, hopefully next year will be easier in that sense. Thanks to my wonderful parents for making this trip possible!!