Road trip 2010: Part one

Somewhere along the way Brad got it in his head that he wanted to make our Spring Break into a road trip. We researched and made a list of different places we could make our destination. Places that made the list included: The Outerbanks (South Carolina), Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach, and Islands of the coast of Savannah Georgia. So you want to know where we ended up don't you. Well, the answer is Nashville, Tennessee. That sounds crazy, I know. It sounded crazy to me at first too =0). But somehow it sounded perfect to both of us, and once it became an option, we never changed our minds. The first stop on our way was Washington DC, where we caught up with Brad's best friend and roomie {before he became my roomie =0) } Kent and his family. Including His 1-year-old twins whom we had never met. They were nice enough to make room for us in their appartment. We enjoyed the company, as well as the lifestyle change. They live right downtown, down the street from all of the embassies. We went to explore Eastern Market, The Smithsonian, and to see some neat projects Kent's engineering firm had worked on. Oh yah, and ate great food. Which you know Brad and I pretty much judge any trip by the food. Thank you to Kent and Elizabeth for a really great time. We can't wait to see you again.

P.S. I'm new to this whole Flickr thing, but I'm pretty sure you can click on any of the pictures to see them bigger and connect to the whole group.

8 months old

I have a bunch to blog about. We just got back from a fun family road trip. But first, I have to post pictures of this little guy so that you can all watch him grow. It's amazing how your own baby always becomes the cutest baby you've ever seen. This little boy is no exception. It helps that he has the happiest, sweetest little disposition ever. We love him. All in the same week, last week on our trip, he learned to sit up, eat food (other than his bottle), and two little teeth started to poke through his gums. And we figured out that on a different formula he doesn't spit up. I stocked up on it, and now we are mostly spit-up free around here =0).

Last Saturday

We took the kids out to explore some property where we may move. We knew we had to get out to enjoy the gorgeous weather. But first the girls danced to music in the parking lot while we waited for BR to get our sandwiches.

6 months old

Beckham is 6 months old now. He is such a cute little chubby man. We love him around here. Just in the last few weeks, I have noticed a huge jump in his development. He is starting to do so many things, and is really growing out of his newborn stage. A few bits about Beck-a-roo

• He LOVES to be swaddled, and always has. He is a cuddler. When he was born, he would sleep great, but only if he was curled right up next to me. I had to sleep on the couch with him in a laundry basket next to me, and my hand on him to ween him from having to be in the bed with me. And always, if I would hold him to put him to sleep, he would burry his nose in my armpit and be out. Now he has settled for being swaddled. As soon as I wrap him up tight (the tighter the better) and give him a passy, his eyes roll back in his head, perfectly relaxed.
• He smiles at everyone he sees. All of our kids have been smiley babies, and haven't really been afraid of strangers, but this little guy smiles at everyone who looks at him.
• He is really scared by loud noises. Everytime, his lower lip juts out and he starts to whimper.
• He weighs more than either of the girls weighed at 1 year, and is growing out of his 9 month clothing.
• He loves to kick, kick, he is constantly kicking.
• He loves to play with toys and puts them straight in his mouth. His absolute favorite toy is a crinkly wrapper, and will cry if he drops it.
• He LOVES his bottle.
• He is an eater, and still eats (no solid food yet) about every 3 hours.
• He always smells good, even after he spits up all over, he still smells sweet. I don't know how he does it.
• He'll cry, and as soon as the problem is fixed, he is over it immediately.
• He loves his toes.
• He is always warm.....maybe hot is the word.... He always wakes up sweaty.
• When he is tired and gets excited, he tenses up his face, opens his mouth and growls.
• He loves it when I "eat" his neck.
• He LOVES to be thrown in the air.
• He babbles, and especially loves to say, "Bwaaa, baa,baaa, Bwaaa."
• Whenever I hold him facing me, he will open his mouth wide and try to "eat" me.
• He has the softest, squishiest skin on the planet.
• We adore him.

Her toothless grin

I was so sad for Liv to lose her first teeth. Mostly because I loved her little teeth, and losing them meant they were gone forever. But look at this cute smile. This picture was taken 2 weeks ago, and she has since lost 2 more teeth, and there is another one about to follow. That will make 6!

*I had to laugh when Liv came running down to me with her mouth slightly bloody and an excited expression on her face. She knew that her second front tooth was loose enough for me to pull it out. I was surprised because it hadn't been very loose that morning. When I asked her what happened she said, "Well, Gwen and I were fighting, and I thought about biting Gwen, and when I put my mouth on her back, I felt my tooth pop." Biting usually isn't an issue around our house, and I guess the one time Liv thought she'd try it out, her teeth didn't hold up =0). Better luck next time.

Boston

A while back, we planned a trip down to Boston to visit our good friends, the Plachinta's. Sadly, their little girl, Lilia, got sick the day before we got there and plans had to change. We decided to try out Priceline and booked a hotel. Over all, it was a fun little 3 day weekend trip, which included our first try at sleeping all 3 kids in one hotel room. After the first night, I learned an important lesson... Liv and Gwen in one bed is not a restful experience. Gwen woke up at least 10 times to Liv's kicking/cuddling. Beckham is the only one who slept through the night. We learned our lesson and put Gwen on the floor after that, and we were all much happier the following morning. Our activities included going to the temple, swimming in the Hotel's pool, going to the Boston Children's museum, and eating yummy food. Brad and I would freely admit that, other than the temple, food is our biggest draw to visiting Boston. We dream about it the whole drive down. Legal Test Kitchen was my favorite this time around. Here are the pictures of our fun. I think the girls would be happy if we had skipped everything else and swam the whole time.

A sappy love story.....8 years today.

(us downtown Bangor on a date last Saturday)

Eight years ago today, I married this guy. We met as young college students at BYU. We fell in love eating sushi, studying in the library, hiking in the canyon, sliding down natural rock slides, meeting late after classes just to get a glimpse of one another before the day ended, and spending the longest summer of my life apart. I fell in love with Brad's dedication to the things he felt were important. He was dedicated to God, doing what he felt was right, dedicated to being a good friend, and dedicated to his responsibilities. I also fell in love with his way of looking out for others and being kind. He had an ability to really see me. And of course, I fell in love with BR's ability to laugh. We had fun together. We got engaged on November 13, 2001, and were trying to decide when to get married.... Which was pretty much the sooner the better. When the 1 week vacation we had for the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics fell into our laps. We got married in St. George, Utah on the first day of the Olympics. In the St. George Temple, in the same room where most of my family for generations has been married. We made great use of our week long vacation by leaving early, early the next morning to spend our honeymoon in Tahiti... for sure my favorite place on earth =0).

It's funny because when I married Brad, I often thought about how much we were alike. Practically the same person in a lot of ways. As time has gone on, I have realized how different we are, how much our ways compliment each other, and how much our differences work to make each other better people. I love building our life together. I love having a partner in every turn of my life. I love how good Brad is at showing me that I am loved. I love you dearly BR, I love you more today than the day I married you and I would do anything for you. Happy Anniversary.

February 12, 2010

February 2010 12 of 12
A week ago, February 12th was scheduled as a normal day. Brad was going to a continueing ed course in Portland, and I had very average plans. Tuesday of this week, Brad came home and asked me if I wanted him to skip his continueing ed so we could go snowmobiling together instead. I, of course, answered YES, and thats what we did. Thank you to everyone who pitched in to watch our kiddos! We really had a super time. I discovered that I really like snowmobiling (at least in beautiful weather like we had today,)Brad got a kick out of me riding the fastest snowmobile out of our group (10 people), we were lucky enough to see both sunrise and sunset during our drives too and from Millinocket, I think the sky over Mount Katahdin was the the most vibrant sky I have ever seen, The views that we saw of Mount Katahdin were breath taking, and I got to visit Kokadjo, population 3 (as in 3 total residents)for the first time, We stopped there to eat a delicious, and very filling meal at the local ma and pop restaurant, all while warm, and outside in the sun. Best of all, I was on a date with my favorite person.....BR. It doesn't get much better than that =0). Beckham Spent the day with Bridgette, Gwen spent the day with Brad's assitant Kristin and her daughter, Liv spent the day at school enjoying her Valentine's Party, And to finish off the night, Brad had a fun date with Liv to our town's father-daughter dance, where they danced the night away =0). A wonderful day.