Missing Ohio Today.

Paul was generous enough to give up myself and Vincent for a 10 day trip to Ohio in January. We missed Paul lots, but Vincent couldn't get enough of his grandparents, aunts, uncles... and let's not forget cousins! The weather was below freezing for a majority of our stay-- which meant school cancellations and LOTS of family time. Being from a family of seven is amazing, especially when a majority of them live in the same little city. It makes going home all the better.

 The past few (or more than few...) grand kids have been boys. Look at them all!

Simon's coat was a bit large and he would walk around squawking like a little penguin.

 Mr. Trevor playing with the toys.

One final family gathering before we flew back to Utah.

Vince with his grandparents.

Daddy's Little Boy.

Vincent loves his daddy like you wouldn't believe. When he watches Paul drive off in the car he melts into a puddle of tears. When Daddy comes home Vince stands in the window and watches until Paul makes it to the front stairs, then he takes off running to greet him with a "hi guys!" at the front door. And don't even get me started about play time. Those boys wrestle, laugh, build, catch, race, and tumble like it's their day job. I know I'm supposed to be productive while daddy is home to play, but I always end up staring at them with a goofy grin on my face. It's true love with those boys.

Feel like hurling... again.

Normally, the second trimester is full of bliss, energy and a decrease in nausea. Unfortunately, I haven't been so lucky. For the second time this year I'm queasy as all get out-- keeping only liquids and small amounts of food down. I had a break between these bouts of nausea... in which I had a cold that lasted over a week. I guess you could say 2014 has been a pretty "sick" year for me.

Paul has been picking up the slack caused by my extreme exhaustion and illness. I couldn't do this without him. And in other good news, Paul auditioned and was accepted into the Millennial Choirs & Orchestra! After neglecting his trombone for years he picked it up, practiced for a month and BAM, he's practically famous (at least in my book). He'll have a performance up in SLC in late May.

Vince is still our little whippersnapper. He adores his daddy is every way and loves to tease his momma by stealing her chair (whether it be dinner time, reading time, or family movie night... if I move to get something I can guarantee that when I return a little boy will be in my spot). He loves to help in every way, which is both difficult and adorable. I can't wait for him to be a big brother; he is constantly hugging his bears and whenever he sees a baby he runs up to pat their back or hug them.

Despite being sick, I can't help but see the blessings that surround this little family.

...

My brain and body are so tired. Hence, no posts.

But here's a cute picture of Vincent anyway:

Christmas 2013: Portland, OR

I have the worst luck with flying. Like, terrible. There's ALWAYS a cancellation, delay, mechanical issue, puking, missing pilots, etc. For Christmas break there was a huge snow storm and our flight was cancelled. Instead of taking TRAX back to Provo and then up to SLC again the next day, we decided to get a hotel and start vacation despite the roadblock. Although it was tough to stay overnight without a pack-n-play for Vincent, he managed to have lots of fun swimming, watching Super Why and eating Pizza.

The next day we were able to fly out without any issues. Hallelujah! We had a wonderful time in Portland and Vincent absolutely loved playing with all of his cousins. Christmas in Portland was much different than a typical Christmas for me, but it was a lot of fun to understand how Paul spent his Christmases growing up.

 

 

We finally made it back home a few days after Christmas.

Home Sweet Home!

Merry Christmas!

Birthday Girl.

It's true folks, I'm another year older and wiser. Twenty-four. That's almost a quarter century. Scary stuff. But let's focus on the day and not my age. This was one of the first years I haven't really cared about a fancy birthday dinner or gifts. I'm at this point in life where I have everything I need and I'm not left wanting much. Plus, Paul is insanely busy with school and work and I didn't want to make him stress about birthday plans.

I did, however, wake up to a cute birthday note on the fridge! Vince was planning on taking me to Denny's for my free Grand Slam and then he had the stellar idea to invite Kait and Rylie. The rest of the morning and afternoon were nice and low key. At 4, Paul came home with a dozen GORGEOUS fuchsia roses. We dropped Vince off at the sitters, grabbed some grub and snuck it in to the movies to eat while watching Catching Fire.

Presents were to follow. My favorite tradition is receiving a birthday letter every year. It means so much more than gifts that break, grow old or get forgotten over the years. Paul did great with gifts too. I took my time and tried to guess what they were just by feeling them. Then we had some pumpkin pie. You'll just love it when you see how Vincent asks for more...