Weekending 101

The older I get, the less I like tacking another year onto my age....however, it doesn't suck to have a birthday that always falls on a long holiday weekend!! If I play my cards right, I can usually get close to a solid week of celebrating in! :)

This year was no exception! My how-to tutorial would look a little something like this...

lunch with loved ones, birthday cake, creme brulee cupcakes (or 4) with friends, snuggling new babies, oodles of Thai take-out, lazy mornings, Ikea & Downeast stroll (and a mister saying "just buy it so I don't have to come back here), Mexican Food, the still on-going Baby Bee countdown/watch/wait 2012, Pedis and FroYo with besties, Brunch @ Silver Fork Lodge with some favorite friends (and being okay with a toddler eating a container of jam straight with a spoon... it's that kind of weekend), afternoon naps, staying up late watching movies, morning walks with my pals, treats left on my porch, calls, messages, texts, thoughtful gifts and visits from friends and loved ones, lunch dates, paying tribute to loved ones who have gone on without us, golfing with my love and our awesome new caddy/partner, feeding/chasing ducks @ Sugarhouse Park, dinner at The Dodo (patio dining, artichoke pie, fresh gazpacho and key lime pie is the perfect kick-off to summer), and getting a jumpstart on a new playroom, nursery and big girl room (It's going to be an exciting year around here)!!

Indeed, I would call it a success!!

(save the lack of pictures from so much of it!)

half way cooked...

 It's still a little hard to believe that we really have another baby on the way and even harder to believe that we have already reached the half-way mark. We have been anxiously counting down the days to the big reveal in order to find out what flavor of baby we've been baking!! 

The  results are in and it looks like the ingredients we're dealing with are...

slugs and snails and puppy dogs' tails!!

Littlemiss is getting a baby BROTHER!!!

I don't think we could possibly be more over the moon excited!! (although we would have been either way) 

However, I have a lot of learning to do about baby boys!! (and shopping too!!)

We especially loved this little "I'm #1" shot that he gave us... it sort of looked like he might already be practicing for this?? (or maybe scolding us.... a little hard to say which. Maybe he's just already a little cocky!)

Regardless.... we are madly and deeply in love with this little man already and can't wait to meet him!!

Leah is still not so sure.... but we hope she'll come around.

***

"A boy's best friend is his mother."
-- Joseph Stefano

I can't wait to be his mama!!

xox

lately. around here.

 Oh Spring! Oh how we love you!! The weather these last couple of weeks has been spectacular, much more like summer, in fact. We finally got downtown to check out City Creek and while we were at it, we enjoyed some time at one of my very favorite springtime spots... the grounds at Temple Square. The tulips, daffodils and poppies were in full bloom and it was beautiful!! Leah loved running around, smelling the flowers and checking out the cute little duck that was hanging out at the reflection pond.

        

We met her bff Sawyer there and she was already swooning, flirting and trying to get him to hold her hand. He was a little more coy about showing his affection for her.

I tell you what.... this littlemiss is ALL girl and could prove to be trouble if we're not careful in how we play our cards! :)

LJ and her daddy have spent plenty of time together lately!! There's not many places she'd rather be than hanging out with Dada... especially if there is a game on. She is our little budding sports fan... and already seems to know the right times to cheer!!

We are already facing our fair share of toddler tantrums around here... from only wanting cookies for dinner to wanting Elle (Agga) to take a bath with her. Some of our parental negotiations and stands have been successful... others not so much. As you can see.... Daddy totally caved to those big brown eyes and let Elle take a bath. Although I didn't think he should have given in to her demands, I admire his problem solving and keeping his girl happy!! She wasn't sure what to think at first.... but in the end, the tears stopped and she was pretty pleased.

Leah is getting to be such a "helper". She wants to be right underfoot no matter what I am doing. She loves to do laundry and especially loves to help in the kitchen. Anytime I am cooking or wearing an apron, she wants to have her apron on too. She is obsessed with her matching doll and is fascinated that she has a twin! 

We have been fully engulfed in pom-poms around here this past month as we prepared for one of my besties baby shower!! We wanted Mama G & Baby Bee to have the bestest party there ever was! It was a smashing success and now the final countdown to her arrival is on!! 

LJ is still totally into dressing up and baby-play. She is almost always carrying around some kind of purse and some kind of baby or stuffed animal. I find her "babies" lined up on the stairs, having naps (nigh-nigh) in the cabinets and watching over her while she sleeps. I ♥ this girlie girl!

She is so fun and playful. I will find her sitting in her old baby bathtub, pretending it's a car or sitting in a laundry basket or storage bin and just yesterday... standing up in her emptied out bottom drawer, yelling for "help". She is really good at getting into things... and far less confident when it comes to getting back out or getting down. She has recently discovered climbing up into the office chair and working at the computer... just like mama! Although between nighttime and naps, she sleeps 15+ hours a day... man, oh man, is she a handful those other 9 hours! 

We have started wearing pigs!! 

Although her hair is still as crazy as ever and barely long enough... her mowhawk is finally partially  long enough to stick a pony in. It's big news and exciting stuff around here. Now... we're just trying to decide if we keep the mullet or trim it?!?

In between all of the fun that we've been having with the littlemiss... CJ and I have been able to sneak in a few date nights lately. Thanks to Auntie Gogo for coming and having some sleepovers, we snuck off to the Jazz-Phoenix game the other night and my amazingly talented nephew's school play last night. Both kept us up long past our usual bedtime... but both were totally worth it!!

And now for a look ahead to a few things we are looking forward to this next month:

Jazz playoff run (who woulda thought?!), the return of Sunday dinners at the park, making our summer bucket list, finding out what flavor of baby we're cooking (just a few more weeks), playing more tennis with my new racket, new babies being born, planting our garden, getting ready for Grandpa's birthday reunion, trip to Wheeler Farm with cousins, more trips to City Creek, sno-cones, watermelon and lots of outdoor grilling. 

Happy Easter...

18 months in and we're finally getting pretty good at these timered family portraits, especially Littlemiss! 

Leah got to enjoy her very first day of nursery today, which she l.o.v.e.d. She barely batted an eye when we finally left her and didn't seem anywhere near ready to leave when I went back to pick her up. 

I can't believe what a big girl she is now.

After lunch at Grandma & Grandpa Johnson's, a way-to-short nap and a handful of afternoon meltdowns.... she finally cheered up enough to enjoy a few surprises and an Easter Egg Hunt...

That was the edited, very condensed version....

If you happen to be a grandma, a close relative or if you just really, really like us, you may be interested in the full, unedited version... she got the hang of things pretty fast and was so much fun! 

*****

I am so humbled and thankful for my little growing family this beautiful Easter Sunday and even more importantly for the sweet, tender reminders I've had today of what we are really celebrating...

He absolutely lives!

*****

Happy Easter!

eighteen

...months old, that is.

Hard to believe that another half year has flown by. I find myself having panic attacks and nightmares where I wake up and she's already eighteen.... years old, that is. I am constantly in awe of how quickly time traipses along... even when the hours and days sometimes seem to drag.

Mostly I stand in awe of this amazing, sweet, curious, silly, happy, playful and adorable little human being that continues to grow and develop and change before my very eyes. She is at such a fun stage, I can't get enough of her... I know that I've felt that about every stage, but right now is particularly fun as her personality is developing so much and her curiosity about everything around her is at an all new high. I relish the opportunity to see and experience the world through her eyes and notice things that I long ago stopped noticing on a regular basis, whether it's a barking dog outside, bugs on the ground, a loud noisy truck or fire engine, literally stopping to smell the flowers, birds in the sky, the wind blowing through the trees, windchimes spinning or making music or even something as unimportant as hats on people's heads. She watches and observes everything and she is fascinated by the world around her and I couldn't love it anymore!!

Leah's first trip to Blickenstaffs. She was obsessed with the cart just her size and found plenty of treasures to fill it!

She is finally walking.... like really walking. She seems to have finally given up crawling and now prefers to be vertical, something I was beginning to think might never happen. She still toddles and looks adorable, though I know it won't be long until she's running. 

This littlemiss is all girl. From the moment she wakes up, she is getting into drawers (both mine and her's) looking for things to dress up in. She is particularly fond of hats, purses and necklaces. (It's all about the accessories, I suppose) She makes me giggle and swoon when she comes toddling out with sweaters half way on, multiple hats, necklaces as deep as Mr T, some kind of purse and often a baby in hand. 

♥

Yes, that's a swimsuit on her head and yes, that's what she wore while watching General Conference.

She has recently become so engulfed in all of her babies and stuffed animals. She is always dragging several around, cradling them and giving them loves. She especially likes them to take naps. 

She likes to put a blanket on the floor and lay them all down, giving binkies to some, often times covering some with her little blankies, reads them books and then gives them all "nigh-nigh" kisses. It's so fascinating (and ridiculously cute) to watch her pretend and play.

We've been spending as much time as possible outside as the weather has permitted. We are loving Spring so far and expect to log a lot more miles on the stroller in the coming months.

She is still babbling non-stop and seems to pick up new words every day. She currently and clearly says dada, mama, papa, mama(gma), gaga(jojo), wa-wa (water), nigh-nigh, all done, apple, nana (banana), dis(this) and plenty of other random babblings. She knows nearly all of her body parts and what they do (smell, listen, blink, etc). She knows several animal sounds and is learning more all the time. She just learned the actions to "EensyWeensySpider" and she has now finally mastered a handful signs and is especially good at her please and thank yous. :)

(AND...we somehow have her convinced that everyone, including her, has a baby in their stomach. :( not sure how we missed the boat on that one)

I can't believe what a big girl she is becoming. She is happy, playful and social. She is an amazing sleeper, a mediocre eater (I hear it's normal for her age) and just has a sweet-natured disposition. Chris and I regularly lay in bed, reminiscing about how smitten we are with her or funny things she's done and wonder how we ever got so lucky. We said the other night that if we are blessed with another baby that is even half as cool as this one.... we will officially be the luckiest people on the planet!! ♥

 In honor of her half birthday yesterday, we celebrated last night by making this for dinner (omg... so good, so easy and good for you to boot) and capped it off with delicious celebratory cupcakes from Tulie.

We really, really love birthdays (and cupcakes) around here!

Happy Half-Birthday Littlemiss LJ!!

You are, without a doubt, the best thing that has ever happened to us. ♥

***

18 month stats:

Height: 31 inches (15th percentile)

Weight: 22.13 lbs (18th percentile)

Head Circumference: 18.9 inches (75th percentile)

It seems like she's a bit petite, but with a good head on her shoulders. Not a bad way to be! ;)

a little peek...

I may be a little biased, but I think it looks like a pretty dang cute little peanut. :)

It's a little hard to believe that I am already at the end of my 1st trimester, (one I am more than happy to move on from). I am finally feeling much better and seem to be moving on from the queasy stage... however I still feel like I've been hit by a truck and can't seem to find a lick of energy hiding anywhere. I'm hoping I can track it down in the next couple of weeks, in time to really enjoy the spring and summer with my littlemiss.

As of yesterday, I was measuring a full week ahead of my original due date... which happens to fall precisely on LJ's birthday and comes dangerously close to when my parents are scheduled to arrive back in the country from a long planned trip to Africa. YIKES! I am still completely overwhelmed at the thought of two so close together... though at my age, I have a hard time thinking that I am anything but the luckiest girl in the world!

Lucky, Lucky Us, Indeed!

It's St Patty's Day and we are feeling so lucky around here...

...Raise

The

Roof...

...cause I have some

BIG 

news to share... 

Yep, it's really true...

The C*K*J's will soon be

{plus two}

eta: 10.11.12

{is that a cool due date or what?}

We are thrilled beyond belief (although a little overwhelmed and a LOT surprised) 

We have been dying to spill the beans for the last nearly 2 months and we finally figured that today was the perfect day to go and spread a little happy, lucky cheer to our loved ones! 

It's so fun to have happy news to share and it never hurts to include tasty baked goods either!

***

This littlemiss has absolutely no idea what is about to hit her, but she loved today for reasons all her own. I think it may have had something to with the fact that green smoothies and cupcakes were on the dinner menu. 

It was that good of a day!

Happy St Patrick's Day!!

Love, 

the growing 

C*K*J's

pina coladas and getting caught in the rain...

{Better late than never, right? I don't know why I have been so un-motivated to blog lately, but although not many people read this anymore, it's still important to me. It's how I document our lives in pictures and remembrances. So.... while I know many are abandoning their blogs these days, I don't intend to be one of them. I'm just a little slow these days}

Ahhh.... Mexico! 

Oh how we love thee!

Seeing how we hadn't really done a big trip since before Leah was born, we decided it was time and we were ready. We decided to splurge and go back to one of our favorite places on earth to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. Seriously... I cannot recommend this hotel highly enough if you like small, quiet, out of the way and family friendly. It was our 2nd stay of what I anticipate to be many in the years to come.

I know that a lot of people thought that we were crazy to take Leah on our anniversary trip, but there was never even a question. We've done lots of travelling before she came along and the thought of leaving her never crossed our minds. She is the stage of life we are in and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Our First "Family Foot Foto" now that we've grown by 2 feet!

 The Hotel spoiled us rotten as returning guests, and knowing that we were celebrating a milestone anniversary!

We arrived after a long day of travelling to a table full of delicious treats, hot herbal tea...

....and the most amazing bath ever!!

Albeit, not as romantic as it should have been with a toddler in tow, but Leah pretty much loved her first rose petal bath.

Spoiled Girl!!

***

I took hundreds of pictures during our 11 day escape, but it's funny how as I look back at them... they are all pretty much the same pictures over and over. I guess that's what you get when you do the same exact thing every day for 10+ days....

We played in the sand and built dozens and sandcastles. Leah filled up her bucket and dumped it back out over and over again.

 Leah loved the beach, loved the sand and couldn't get enough of it.

We searched for seashells and examined them all carefully...

...and we spent plenty of time getting wet and dipping our toes in the beautiful, warm ocean!

We ate copious amounts of insanely delicious food all day every day. Whether it was wood fired pizzas brought right to our beach chairs, breakfast served on our balcony, multiple courses of dinner brought right to the comfort our room or evenings out in beautiful restaurants enjoying lobster, steak and everything in between... we enjoyed every single bit of it. I'm especially still dreaming about the amazing fish tacos and the incredibly delicious creme brulee. Devilishly Delicious!

And of course, it all tastes better when you wash it down with a pina colada!

 We spent several evenings at the fabulous sushi bar (new since our last visit) and suprisingly Leah couldn't get enough! Although we never let her eat anything too adventurous, she loved and devoured roll after roll.

That's my girl!!!

 We spent nearly every afternoon at the pool, both swimming and just relaxing....

...something Littlemiss caught onto really quickly!!

She was honestly so good and would sit or lay in between us with her toys and books and just lounge, relax and people watch! She was such a good sport and an awesome little travelling buddy!

This was my view every afternoon for 10 days from my favorite pool bed. The perfect amount of sun, 

easy access to the swim-up bar and right near our favorite lunch spot. Heaven!

 We never left the resort even once and after 10 days of doing nothing but relaxing... I still wasn't bored. Turns out that R&R and having people wait on you day and night just never gets old!
Although we had a couple of afternoons that we really did get caught in the rain... it was still a near perfect vacation in every way!

{she may hate me someday...but I love this picture!}

 This little chick kept it pretty interesting too!! Having fun is hard work!

                       

CJ and I spent the day of our actual anniversary taking turns at the spa, which was perfect and amazing and awesome. I did a spa day on our last visit, but it was Chris's first time and I think it's safe to say that he loved it and was sufficiently ahh'ed at how worth the $ it was. It is not only a beautiful place, but the treatments and staff are unbelievable.

 5 amazing years!

How did I ever get so lucky?!

An amazing trip to a beautiful place with the two people that I love most in the world. 

I don't think it gets any better than that!

It's been a little hard to come home with nothing to look forward to....

but somehow, I think we'll come up with something!

Stay tuned!