Lately, we've Been....

Going to lots of fun playgroups!

Getting a lot of bumps and bruises!

Doing a lot of playing!



Throwing a lot of tantrums!

Trying to be just like dad!

Playing with playdough!

Going to a high school football game!



And a very wet college football game!

Using Mom's phone to take pictures!



Listening to a lot of music!

Lately, we've been pretty busy!

Random Musings

·         I love that Devon and I have theme songs for just about everything; our children (present and future), cities we’ve lived in, cities we visit regularly, sporting events, water parks, etc.

·         I’ve been listening to this country music station on TV that plays songs from the 90s and early 2000s. Every now and again I’ll hear a song and think, ‘why is this song playing on this station? It just came out.’ I’ll look at the date and it came out 10 years ago! I must be getting old, if 10 years ago seems like yesterday!

·         Devon and I fell in love with The Big Bang Theory while we were on our house hunting trip. Since then we’ve tapped all the episodes that are in syndication, but I think we’ve reached the point where we’ve seen them ALL. I am SO excited that the new season starts tomorrow night, just in time. I’m really starting to miss Sheldon, Leonard and Penny!

·         We also just started watching Friday Night Lights on Netflix. It’s such a good show! Enough drama and romance to keep me interested and more than enough football to keep Devon interested.

·         I hate that moment, as a mom, where West goes in another room to play and suddenly get very quiet. I try to justify enjoying the silence as long as possible, but since I KNOW no good can come from him being quiet, the mom in me always fights the urge and goes to check on him anyway.

·         Play dough is just as fun when your 31 as it is when your 1.

·         My favorite part of the day is when Devon gets home. I LOVE how excited West gets. We wait by the window and as soon as he sees Devon’s car he starts screeching and waving. Once we’ve waved dad all the way to the walkway, West runs to meet him at the front door. Melts my heart a little bit, every day.

·         I’m kind of glad that West is a little selective about when he gives kisses and hugs, it makes them that more special when he does comply with the request.

·         I’ve decided that trash compactors are the greatest invention EVER!!! I don’t understand why more people don’t have them.

·         I love having hardwood floors, but boy are they a lot of maintenance!

·         West is obsessed with this internet show called TuTiTu. I had never heard of it before we accidently stumbled upon it one day and I really don’t see the appeal. But, like Devon said, I am not there target audience.

·         Someone posted on Facebook a quote from Jerry Seinfeld that said, "Having a two-year-old is like having a blender without a lid." I could not have thought of a better analogy!!!

18 Months

Weston is 18 months old!!! I can't believe how much he is growing. It seems so weird to me that just one summer ago he wasn't even crawling and now he's turning into a little man. Here are some of my favorite things about my Big Guy and some of my not so favorite things:

*He is obsessed with fans! Mostly, ceiling fans, but any fan will do. Whenever he sees one, he makes it known. He especially makes it known when the fan is not on. As soon as we get home he runs to our bedroom and makes sure our fan is on.

*He loves music. Devon's mom said that Devon would hear background music in grocery stores when he was really little and that is SO West! He'll start dancing while in the store, restaurant, etc, and it takes me a minute to realize that there is music playing. While I make dinner he is insistent that I have a music channel playing on the TV.His favorite song is 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,' he points to his head every time he wants us to sing it.  He is still obsessed with his music videos. We had to scale back on them a bit because he is a little too obsessed. Here is what he looks like while he watches them:

*On a similar note, he is obsessed with electronics (I wonder where he gets this from?). We have to distract him while we hide all computers and phones, so he won't whine at the drawer they are in. He also manages to pull himself up to the dining room table when I accidentally leave a computer there:

*He loves to wave! Everywhere we go he waves to people and people love it. I think it makes them feel special, but little do they know he does it to EVERYONE! We were at the DMV the other day and after waiting about 2 hours, West got a little restless. So, I put him in his stroller and rolled him up and down the aisle, he waved the whole time, like he was in his own little parade.

*He has the cutest little laugh where he covers his mouth.
*He LOVES popcorn and cheese.

*I'm so amazed by how much he knows!!! He's still not speaking yet (GRRRRR!!!), but he definitely knows what's going on in the world around him. He knows all his body parts, he gives great hugs when asked, he give wide open mouthed kisses, as well as blowing kisses. He's mastered the cat sound (which is a hiss, since that's all his kitty says to him), cow's moo, snake's hiss and bee's buzz.

*He has mastered the ability to get strangers to do things for him. When we're at a playground and he's too lazy to climb up something, he'll find a nearby stranger and whine to them till they'll help him. He's also great at getting snacks from other moms using this same technique. 

*He's all boy. He loves cars and trucks. He's a climber, he loves climbing up and down anything, especially stairs, but he gets creative in our little condo. He loves kicking balls and throwing ball (and pretty much anything else.) He also knows that you play ball with men. We'll be out playing somewhere and he will search through a crowd full of moms to find the one man to play ball with. He also LOVES jumping, especially on the bed, this one make me super nervous! He especially loves it when he can combine balls and jumping:

*We finally have to stop making short jokes about him. At his last doctor's appointment in Utah he was in the 2nd percentile. Now he has jumped up to the 50th!! I've never been to happy to say my child is
average :)

To end this blog, just a cute little picture of West chillin in the car...

Near Diaster

Devon and I switched cars today so that I could take his car to get inspected. Devon's backseat is not carseat friendly, to say the least! But after pushing forward the passenger seat as far as it could go and keeping it in the forward fold position, I seemed to securely get the carseat installed. I got West in the seat and we were off to do our thing. We made a stop and when I went to put West back into his seat, I could feel that it has loosened up a little bit. I tightened up the seatbelt and once it felt secure, we were off. About 10 minutes later we were exiting the freeway. There was a light at the end of the off ramp and as I broke for the light, the carseat slipped off the seat and Weston fell out onto the floor! I guess when I tightened the seatbelt, I was so worried about getting the seat in tight I forgot to buckle West in. He was screaming and I was freaking out! I picked him up and calmed him down. Luckily, I could see a gas station that was easily accessible. But I had to quickly decide how to get us there safely. West was on my lap, but with visions of Brittany Spears dancing in my head, I realized my lap wouldn't be the best way. So, I placed West in the passenger seat and off we went. I pulled into the gas station without further incident, flipped West's seat around and he got to ride around for the rest of the day like a big boy!

Landon Hardy

Two blog posts in one day!!!

I just realized that I haven't blogged about the minor fact that...I'm pregnant!! This second baby is already being neglected!! I'm 21 weeks along and we know that we are having a little boy!

 He's schedule to appear just after the first of the year. Overall, this has been a pretty easy pregnancy. I had a little nausea the first trimester, but that went away the second I hit week 12. I haven't had any hardcore cravings, though I did have a very strong aversion to meat the first trimester. From the looks of the ultrasound, it appears he has very long legs, totally the opposite of Weston. He's already an active little fellow and I LOVE feeling him move. The latest ultrasound picture shows that he already has quite the personality:

Like I said in Weston's prenatal blog, we've had all our kids names picked out since we were dating. Landon Hardy was set to be our second boy. Devon is a HUGE soccer fan and my favorite US soccer player is Landon Donovan. Landon combines two things we both really like. But I have to make it clear (per Devon) that our Landon is not named after Landon Donovan, but rather his name is merely inspired by him. Hardy, is Devon's middle name and while he never wanted a Devon Jr, he always wanted a boy with the middle name Hardy. Devon was given the middle name because it is his paternal grandma's maiden name.

I can't wait for this pregnancy to be over, not because I don't enjoy being pregnant, but because I am so anxious to meet this little guy!!!

The Big D

I've been working on a post about my years in Utah, but I've hit quite the block, so I decided to skip ahead and post about Dallas, lest all my fans get too restless ;) This post may be a little choppy, I've got a lot to cover and who knows how long I have till Weston rejoins the land of the awake people.

We left Utah the second week in July. AT&T arranged for movers to come over, pack us and move us. OH MY GOODNESS!!! If you EVER get the chance to have someone move you, DO IT!! It was so nice having someone else do all the dirty work. Unfortunately, we still had a lot to do, since we were majorly downsizing. We were kept busy selling, trashing and taking trips to DI. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the move, but here are a few.


West 'helping'




Our empty house :(




All of our stuff, including two cars!

We spent a couple nights at Devon's parents house. It was nice spending a few days saying goodbye to everyone. We then loaded into a plane, Hamilton in tow, and headed to Dallas, just in time to meet our movers. They were willing to unpack everything, but since we had no idea how we would fit everything into our little condo, we decided to do it ourselves. This was not the highlight of our move! It was miserable for EVERYONE. I thought West would have fun with all the paper and empty boxes, but with no space to move around and a mom and dad that were totally preoccupied, he got very restless, very fast. Luckily, everything was unpack within the week! We didn't have Internet for a while, so we spent a lot of time using the wireless at McDonald's. Just the thought of McDonald's food makes me sick, now!

As for life in Dallas, I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!! West and I are having so much fun. When West was little it seemed like I just spent time counting down till Devon got home, but now the days seems to just speed by! I don't know if it's because he's older and can do more or if there's just more to do here in Dallas. We joined a very active Mom and Toddlers group. It keeps us busy and we just love the people in it. There are about 30 members total, but a core group of about 5-6 of us, that show up to everything. All the kids are within 3-4 months of each other. Here are some pics of our adventures while Dad is slaving away at work :)



Dallas Galleria, West favorite playground!




Our mommies group met for breakfast at IKEA then played afterward




Storytime at the Dallas Children's library




We took a Mommy and Me swim class and got to play in the kiddie pool afterwards




Riding a longhorn at the Fort Worth Stockyards



Another one at Storytime





Our favorite place to go with our Mom's group; Jump Mania!


Luckily Devon doesn't miss out on all the fun! Although, we're waiting for it to cool down about, so we can do some of the fun outdoor things we've been wanting to do!


We've been able to go see a FC Dallas soccer game




We spent a free night at the Dallas Museum of Art, thanks to AT&T




Took in a Ranger game




And got to go down and see the taping of ESPN College GameDay

 In a nutshell, Dallas is hot, but we figure this is our winter where we do most things indoors. I was afraid our place would feel really small, but it's not too bad. Although this one bathroom thing is getting really old, really fast. And, boy do I miss my laundry room!!!!! But after last summer, I sure am grateful to have a washer and dryer inside our condo. Devon's five minute commute to the train in wonderful!! We're starting to feel a little more at home in our ward, but we need to start stepping out of our comfort zone to get to know some more people. We've found a few restaurants we love, Cheddars being our favorite, by far. But we're still looking for some good shakes, comparable to Iceberg. It's hard being without family, but we are so grateful for Skype! Devon does have a great-uncle in the Fort Worth area that we got to go spend some time with a few weeks back and look forward to seeing again soon. Overall, life is good. I feel like we are really where we need to be and I'm hoping things will only get better :)