Tuesday, December 11, 2012

8 months

Things you LOVE:

  • Playing with your butterfly head
  • Being with people
  • Bathtime!
  • Reading books, especially The Hungry Caterpillar
  • Knocking towers over
  • Your cousins

Things we LOVE about you:
  • Your cheesy smiles
  • Your outgoing personality
  • How content you are

You loved your first Christmas and got spoiled by everyone! Christmas was so much more fun with you.

You went to Disneyland, Newport Beach, and had so much fun with your aunts and uncles.

You sat on Santa's lap with your friend Beckett and told him what you wanted for Christmas



 You put up your first Christmas tree!


And put up an ornament just for you




Friday, November 30, 2012

Thanksgiving in Memphis

10 hour drive there....10 hour drive back....sounds miserable with a 7 month old baby.

 Luckily it wasn't! I'm so grateful Rhett was an angel the whole time. He made it wonderful, even if we got stuck in traffic for an hour and a half on the way home. We had an enormous box of toys, books, and our little friend Mulan for last resorts. Love her.

Memphis was heavenly with family. It was such a beautiful place with some fall leaves still lingering.
Thursday morning, we went to Germantown with my brother Tal to deep fry a turkey. I had heard of this before, but didn't know how complex or delicious it would be! I'm not usually a big fan of turkey, but dunk anything in grease, and it tastes a lot better!


His southern friends were so nice and had the best accents. They made us an amazing breakfast with cheese grits, the tastiest homemade biscuits I've ever had, potatoes, salted ham, sausage, and blueberry pancakes. We were worried about going hungry on Thanksgiving so I'm glad we had such a feast for breakfast.

We also made some stops at Mitch's dad's old house and high school which was so fun! Germantown was such a charming and beautiful little place.


We spent the rest of the day cooking dinner. My mom is an incredible (and perfectionist) cook. My brother Tal is also an amazing cook, especially when it comes to meat. He had a yummy "backup" turkey just in case the deep fried one didn't work out. 

We went for a beautiful walk around the lake near their house while we waited for everything to finish cooking. It was a gorgeous sunset and perfect weather.

These boys love their Nana and Bomps!




Thanksgiving dinner has never tasted so good to me! Everything was so delicious and perfect. Rhett even had some of his own turkey/sweet potato baby food. 


Johanna had the whole house decorated so cute and I loved her table arrangement, complete with place tags and everything. She is the perfect hostess!

Rhett was obsessed with his older cousin. He was so happy when Luke would play with him. Luke is such a sweet cousin and shared all his toys. He even gave Rhett a ride around on his motorcycle. It was so fun to have Natsy there without any boys or friends to distract her! She is so much fun and the perfect aunt.


Lounging after a big meal



We went downtown to see the Mississippi River, ate some yummy oysters, fried pickles, jambalaya, and other good southern food at Pearls, and then rode the trolley to the Civil Rights Museum. The trolley was very cute and charming, and the driver was too...most of the time. 


                                      





Rhett was loving kisses and hugs from his Bomps.



It was really sad/eerie at the motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. They have it preserved to look exactly like it did when he stayed there. But it was really cool to see. He was an amazing man and I'm grateful for what he did for this country. 

The next day we went to the Memphis zoo where we ice skated and had fun seeing the animals. 




The weekend flew by and we were sad to go on Sunday. Luckily, Christmas break is only 3 weeks away! We've already started counting down... 


Wednesday, November 28, 2012

7 months

Happy 7 months Rhett! We love you!

Things you LOVE:
  • anything that makes noise
  • Banging on things
  • peek a boo (you'll hide while I'm nursing and then poke your head back out)
  • older kids
  • babies
  • playgroup
  • Playing with your cousin Luke
  • Playing with the blinds
Things we LOVE about you:
  • Your wet kisses
  • Your blonde hair growing longer
  • Your sweet laughs and giggles
You went on your first long road trip to Memphis, TN to visit Tal, Johanna, and Luke. You were an angel on the trip and loved every second of being with family.

You make us so happy Rhett and we can't believe how big you are getting!








Tuesday, October 30, 2012

6 Months

Half a year done and gone. Time flies, even faster with a baby. My sister told me a sad fact that made me realize how little time we have with our kids. You only have 18 summers before they're gone. Now I only have 17 with my little Rhett. I've learned it's more about moments than minutes. I don't think I'll ever regret spending too much time snuggling Rhett or taking too many naps with him, but I might look back and wish I hadn't been so worried about getting everything done.

Being a mom can be challenging sometimes because your work is never done. You can't turn in a paper, finish a project, take a final, or get a paycheck to measure your success. But your reward is so much better. There is nothing better than watching Rhett get so excited for me to come get him in the morning, or getting a good belly laugh from tickling him, or getting a slobbery kiss. I couldn't ask for a better job than being a mom.

6 months...

First time...
  • Eating solids!
  • Sitting up alone
  • Getting bundled up from the cold
  • Going for a jog (yay for jogging strollers!)
  • Putting yourself to sleep at night
  • In a Halloween costume
Things you LOVE...
  • Dropping things on the floor
  • People
  • Watching little kids
  • Screaming like a firecracker
  • Applesauce mixed with oatmeal
  • Grabbing and pulling everything
  • Drinking water
  • Playing in the sink
  • The shower head 
  • Dumping things out
  • Saying da da, ba ba
  • Dancing with mom
  • Playing "Where's Rhett?"
Things we LOVE about you...
  • your belly laughs
  • your top teeth coming in
  • how outgoing you are
Things you DON'T like...
  • Getting something taken away
Clothes you've grown out of...




We love you Rhett!


You were pretty interested in General Conference...for a few minutes.


Dad loves coming home to play with you. Some of your favorites are choo choo train, dress-up, beat box eating, and flying around. 


You love being with other people! You have lots of friends your age from our walking and playgroup.




















Friday, October 19, 2012

Wedding Bells

Playing catch up here with this post. My little brother got married this past August to his beautiful high school sweetheart. Is there anything better than a wedding? I love seeing two people make the best decision of their lives and how happy they are together. These two are amazing! They are the sweetest, most talented, most giving, best looking people who are ready to take on the world together.

I just love the lead up to the wedding too. Three or four days before the wedding, most of the family is in town and everyone is focusing on getting stuff ready for the reception or wedding dinner. We got to meet Addie's sweet new baby boy, Robby. That makes three baby boys within 4 months of each other in our family!


We went to a fun play with the Petersons and loved being with them! I wish Rhett could see them more often, and not just over Skype! One day...


The wedding dinner was in our backyard and, of course, my mom did an incredible job with all of the decorations and flowers. It was a beautiful night and we loved hearing about Kev and Rachel's lives. 





The sealing in the Salt Lake Temple was perfect and so awesome. Kev and Rachel looked beautiful together and were so happy. The reception was gorgeous in the Reese's backyard and it was so fun to see lots of friends and family there.







The future family of Kevin and Rachel...



Just love weddings! 

After the wedding, we went to our ranch to relax and just enjoy some family time together. Mitch of course had to go back to school, but I stayed a few more days while he studied for his surgery exam. I was sad he had to miss Rhett's first trip to the ranch. He loved the horses and cows and hay and just being outside! I loved showing him one of my favorite places on earth.