Johnny's Birthday and Halloween!

• Johnny's birthday was September 22nd, and it was a blast! We went to eat at Golden Corral and he went crazy. He absolutely LOVES food, so Golden Corral is like Johnny's little heaven on earth! Then on the 25th we had a big birthday bash and he just loved it! We had lots of family there and Johnny got spoiled rotten. And once again, his favorite part was the food - here's the aftermath:*I have to say he definitely takes after his mommy when it comes to chocolate cake!*

• Our Halloween was so much fun! We dressed up as Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Lion. Johnny is old enough this year that he got to trunk-or-treat with Daddy! SCORE! I think baby Miles ended up consuming more sugar than Johnny did. :) Here's our little get-up:

*I always knew Dorothy and the scarecrow had something going on - you didn't hear it from me though! :)*

• We've been keeping pretty busy in between these exciting festivities! Our fall has been a little interesting what with Paul taking 14 credits and working 50 hours a week, while I'm chasing after a 13-month-old Johnny and also taking 8 credits. I'll be graduating 2 weeks before baby Miles is due - HALLELUJAH!


• Johnny is going to be having surgery on his kidney on December 7th. That falls 1 week before finals, 2 weeks before Christmas, and 3 weeks before the new baby. He will have a tube coming out of his back for 2 weeks so we probably won't be taking him out much during that time. Needless to say, our December might be a little crazy! I guess it'll be nice to have some distractions though, just to keep me from going nuts during the last month of pregnancy (I pretty much lost my marbles during that month before Johnny!).


• Speaking of Johnny, his latest little phase has been constantly "redecorating" the house :) I've found the most interesting things in the most interesting places. For example, here's a tennis ball that he obviously thought would help the bathroom decor a little:

• We've also found my cell phone in the toilet, a spatula in the bathtub, a little truck in my favorite plant, a bathtub whale in the drawer under the stove, and squishy rubber balls in Paul's shoes. I have to say one of my many enjoyments is finding all the fun surprises around the house every day!

Well, I think that catches us up for now. We're having so much fun being parents and can't wait to meet our new little boy at Christmastime! We hope you all have a fantastic holiday season!

It's a.....BOY!!

First Ultrasound! (12 weeks)

Well, we had our first ultrasound today! I had forgotten what a miracle it is to see a little baby squirming around inside of me. It really is amazing that a baby the size of a peach already looks so human! Little fingers, toes and ears are all in place and they're just SO tiny. What with a sweet, beautiful baby boy to snuggle AND a little peach fluttering around inside, I couldn't be more in baby heaven. So, without further adieu, we introduce Baby Young #2! :

The Duck

Jonathan has officially become too smart for us:

We've always had to have a replacement toy ready when we take away whatever objects of general untoyishness (i.e., cameras, cell phones, Mommy's hair, poopy diapers, etc.) have recently sparked his curiosity. The other day I was talking to Paul on my phone. I was sitting on the floor next to Johnny, who was happily eating a big rubber duck. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, he shoved his duck in my mouth and took my cell phone away. Then he looked up at me, with a grin full of cell phone, as if to say, "See Mommy, it's okay, you still have a toy!"

It is SO Update Time!

Guess what! We're still alive! And our lives haven't exactly slowed down. Here's some of our most recent news:

1. I'm pregnant! I know I already mentioned that in the last post, but it seems to be the most demanding new development in our lives. I can NOT get enough sleep, especially with Johnny's happy little middle-of-the-night self. Needless to say, I eat a lot and I take lots of naps. And I still feel sick half of the time...but I know it's all for a great cause!

2. We finally moved into our new house at the end of March. We absolutely LOVE it! I can't believe how nice it is to feel settled in a place where we're going to live for a while. And I'm SOhohoho glad that we got all settled before we found out I was pregnant! I probably would have died. Okay, probably not. But still, yuck.

3. We finished yet another semester of school! Only 2 classes left for me and 7 left for Paul. I'll graduate in December and Paul will in May! HAPPY HAPPY day!! Poor Paul has still been working 50 hours a week with school on top of it. I honestly don't know how he does it. He's just a go-getter! Meanwhile, I've still been teaching piano and taking care of a short, fat little man named Johnny. I also make and sell jewelry on the side, which I LOVE!

4. Johnny is now 8 months old (and 21.5 lbs.) and thinks he rules the world. Now that he can move around (well, backwards, but still...progress!) he gets into absolutely everything. Nothing is inedible to that dude. We actually found a full piece of grass in his diaper the other day, and I'm REALLY hoping he put it there with his hands. I guess we'll never really know! He's also been diong a little modeling for a hat company, and our sister-in-law Marie Speirs is greatest photographer EVER!

5. We took Johnny to Boise again for his kidneys, and there's still a little blockage in his left one. They say as long as it stays the same and never gets worse, we won't have to do anything about it. If it does get worse, however, they'll have to do a minor surgery. (But, "minor" or not, it's still surgery, and just typing the word makes me queasy. Well, queasi"er"). This last time they had to put him under to check his kidneys, and as traumatizing as it is to watch your baby lie unconsious on a hospital bed, it's still pretty entertaining to watch him wake up. He was as tipsy as a sailor and kept trying to talk and dance. I SO wish we had a video, but you'll just have to take our word for it: pure comedy.

6. Johnny LOVES his daddy! I guess that's really not "news", per say, but it's still totally worth mentioning. He will NOT go to sleep unless his arms are both wrapped tightly around Daddy's hand. He lights up like a Christmas tree when his daddy walks in the door every day, and he's his happiest self when he's on Paul's shoulder's pulling all his hair out. They are so stinking cute together, and in fact, they're sleeping arm in arm in our new bed as we speak.

7. We got a new bed and it is glorious. It's a king-size pillowtop and we have never spent a better $825. :)

8. We won an awesome gameshow called "Sweet Huge Tax Returns!" We got almost $12,000 back this year, and we really did feel like we'd won a gameshow or something. I guess that's what happens when you buy a house and have a baby in the same year! Don't get too jealous, though. $4750 goes back to the bank for our down payment, and then $4000 more is going into our lawn. But it's still CRAZY cool to hold that much money in your hands at once!

Well, I think that pretty much sums up our lives at the moment. We are as happy as can be, and I feel like we are just so blessed in every way! Heavenly Father wasn't kidding when He said He would open up the heavens and pour out so many blessings that we wouldn't have room enough to receive them. We are living examples of this promise, and we are just so grateful!

You Guessed It!

Yep! We're pregnant again! This time we're due right around Paul's birthday (Jan. 21st-ish). We're super excited!

CRAZY Week Ahead!

Well, this next week is going to be just completely nuts. We're finally closing on our house on Tuesday! Which means tomorrow will be spent crazily throwing everything into Paul's big truck so we can just unload it on Tuesday. On Wednesday, my mom's going to come and help me set up our new house. I'll admit I'm SUPER excited about that part! It's sort of like playing "house" when we were kids, except for the fact that now it's for real. And I have a real husband and baby. And real dishes. (It's not nearly as much fun to clean real dishes. Maybe I should get some imaginary ones??)

ANYway, did I mention I'm really excited? Because I am! It was a year ago this week that we decided we wanted to buy a house, and now it's finally happening! The fact that we had it built is truly a plus. I love knowing that we're getting exactly what we want, down to the color of the doorknobs. It's also nice to know that no one has ever "gently used" our toilet before. Yep, I'm excited to finally move in!

Also, Thursday is my birthday. Paul's taking Friday off of work so we can drive down to Provo Thursday night and spend the weekend down there! We're going to have my birthday dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then stay at Paul's brother's (Doug and Melanie's) apartment. Paul's mission reunion is Friday night and then Saturday and Sunday are conference! We really wanted to go to a session of conference, but we don't know what we'd do with Johnny. It's alright, maybe next year! Anyway, we're excited to go see Doug and Melanie and all of Paul's mission buddies. It should be a super fun weekend!

Well, hopefully I can find some batteries for our camera (I know they're in a box, but which one?) so I can take some fun pictures of our super awesome week!

Johnny is learning to type

zdd addcxszzx Rwstrfy66y 3rs ,MM., shzcs2`38U7JYNH KOyhdtbveDXa1qsds4rfsan cngfb zzHG V NNB BCFG XXZcd zzvs x c xAzd
This is Johnny's first typed story. If you can translate it, let me know. I'm pretty sure he also changed all the settings on our computer while he typed, but at least he was having fun!

Jonathan's Happy Little Self :)

Johnny is just too cute not to share. And just so you know, I'm not biased at all. Okay, since you can't hear my voice, that last sentence was dripping with sarcasm. Anyway, he's currently telling me a long, exciting story full of squeals and raspberries. He's also eating a plastic bug that now looks more like a 5-inch round ball of slobber. I just LOVE him! I'm pretty sure I grew a whole extra heart just to hold him in it. He makes me smile all day long. I always knew I'd love being a mommy, but WOW! It's so much fun!

Okay, it's not all roses. In fact, cleaning poop out of his hair is about as far away from roses as it gets. Roses don't smell like that. And then there are the hours he's spent "exercising his lungs." That's not very rosy either. Roses don't scream. Also, there was one Sunday when he pooped on a lady at church. Seriously, there was poop on her dress. Also not like roses. Roses don't make you want to hide your face forever. Then there was the other Sunday, when he had such a loud poo that it was echoing through the whole chapel, and then he looked up at me, smiled, and topped it off with a belch. I've never heard a rose (or anyone else's kid) do that!

ANYway, I think that's enough about poop.

Here are some videos that make me laugh. Enjoy!


Johnny's Bouncer (his favorite place in the whole world):

Johnny telling a great story with a surprise ending!:

So... it's been a while! I finally decided it was time to come out of my blog hybernation. This doesn't mean that I'll stop looking like a mother bear who didn't hybernate quite long enough, but it does mean I'll start updating my blog again! A few minor changes have occurred in our lives since my last post:
1. I got even bigger.

2. Beautiful Baby Jonathan Nephi was born on September 22nd (only 5 days after my due date...) weighing in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 inches long! I'll skip the gory details and just stick with the facts: Labor lasted 21 hours, and I'm still in love with the wonderfully magical epidural doctor. Then came the big arrival, and I really don't think I've ever been so in heaven! I am so head-over-heels for this little man!

3. My big little brother Kyle came home from his mission in Ft. Lauderdale (Spanish-speaking) on Dec. 17th!
4. We had an awesome Christmas!


5. We decided to start building a house here in Twin Falls! It's actually really close to being done, and we'll be moving in a few weeks! We're in the middle of tiling it right now. We'll post newer pictures soon!

5. Paul and I are both back in school (I just have one online class, but wow that's enough!). I'm also teaching piano and making jewelry on the side of my 24 hour a day job (the Mommy one). Paul's also working 50 hours a week, still delivering linen for Alsco. Things are just a tad hectic at our house, but we're loving it!

Well, I think that's it! Life is great and we're super excited to see it moving forward! I know that we have a loving Father in Heaven, who has just opened up the windows of heaven and started pouring out so many blessings. We are so grateful for all we have and we hope life is great for everyone else too!

P.S. - If you're wondering who took all the super-awesome pictures, it's my sister-in-law Marie Speirs. She's amazing!