Father's Day and a "little" rain...

I don't know about you guys but we had a pretty fun and wet Father's Day.

I told Aaron we could do anything he wanted for Father's Day...and can you guess what he wanted to do?


Yeap that's right we went golfing - in between the storms of course. You would think after he took first in the City tournament the day before he would want to do something besides golf - no that's all he likes to do these days.
I must brag a little because he is a pretty good golfer! He has taken first in a couple of tournaments already this year.

And yesterday he was only 6-inches from a hole-in-one! It was pretty neat! He was so excited and bummed at the same time.

we only got rained on for a few holes, but that didn't stop Aaron for a second - Austin had fun pretending to drive the cart.

When it cleared up Aaron let Austin help him putt - so cute! Aaron would make the putt and Austin would throw the ball back to him so he could putt again.

We had barely finished with 9 holes when the next storm hit. So after the hail stopped we decided to go look around town and it was a little messy...

This was in Ridley's parking lot

This car got stuck in the Blackfoot Clinic's parking lot

It looked like snow but it was really hail.

I thought this was kind of funny, there was a bunch of shopping carts stranded in the water.

Hopefully everyone has recovered from the rain and it looks like it's going to be a sunny day - first one in like 3 weeks (I can't complain, I love rain). And I hope everyone had a great Father's Day!

Tender Moments...and a little crash too

"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bank balance smaller, home happier, clothes dirty, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for"

The past couple of days we have had some tender moments with our little boy. I just thought I'd journal a few and share with everyone because it has pulled at my heart strings. It's amazing how smart kids really are at this age.

First off Aaron's parents have been out of town for over a week and Austin usually sees them a couple times a week. Well the past week I have noticed Austin says "Papa" a lot (I wasn't sure what he was saying until Aaron said Grandpa and Austin got a huge smile on his face and said "Papa" Austin loves his Grandpa Dan so much - he throws a fit every time he leaves. Anyways it was about a week ago I noticed that Austin was starring at the McLaughlan family picture in our front room. It was so cute he was just smiling and than he started to laugh and he was saying "Papa" and pointing to Grandpa Dan (I didn't think anything when he muttered Papa, I just thought it was cute that he was laughing at the picture). Last night he was doing the same thing to the picture and it was clear who he wanted. So Aaron called his dad and Austin had the cutest little smile on his face when he heard Dan's voice. And than Aaron swears Austin said, "Hello, I love you." I don't know who was happier Austin or Aaron.

And today I was getting some clothes out of Austin's dresser and he was out in the hall by the washer:
Austin: "ma"..."ma"..."ma"
Me: "yeah buddy"
Austin: "I love you" (it's more of an I wuv you).

I guess saying "I love you" to him 100 times a day pays off. I knew one day he'd catch on. There is nothing more rewarding than hearing your child say they love you - I know he doesn't know what it means but I know he means it.

Another one of my favorite tender moments is when he walks up to me with open arms and hugs me. He does this many times through out the day. He usually bows his forehead for a kiss too - he doesn't really give kisses but he LOVES to get them. It's like a little piece of heaven when he hugs me!

I absolutely LOVE being a mother and I couldn't imagine my life with out my little buddy. I have been stressing lately about when the baby comes and all the more responsibility that will come with her and the stress but today I realized something, it may be more to handle but it's also that much more love I will be giving and eventually receiving.

Anyways just wanted to share - I am a proud mommy and I am bursting-at-the-seems with love for my kids!


-Oh I almost forgot I had to tell everyone about Austin's first run in with the sidewalk...really the poor kid was out playing with his dad and I guess he fell and skidded on his forehead because he has a nice little road rash on his forehead - it's not that noticeable now but it was on Tuesday. He is a tough little guy he only cried for a few seconds. Here is a picture - can't really tell but it's there.

Daddy's Little Golfer

I noticed I haven’t been putting much on our blog about my little buddy lately. So I thought I post what he has been up to lately and that is learning to golf. My little baby has become quite the little golfer…his dad is so proud.

He is so funny because he really puts all of his effort into trying to hit the ball, he even grunts! And we have learned that he might be a left hander. Here are some video’s I put together of him putting in the front yard…ok he’s not a putter, but I think he’ll have a good drive.

The first video is of his trying to get the hang of his real putter (thanks Uncle Brent)



This second video is when he finally got the hang of it. He's got a good swing but I think it would be better if it was used for baseball!!

And here are some photos of him with the putter:

He is really trying to listen to his dad here

I had to put this photo in because it makes my heart melt. I love my boys so much! And I love it when Aaron spends time with Austin even when they are sleeping. So cute!

Saturday we took Austin to the miniture golf course in Pocatello and he loved it!



Aaron had 4 hole-in-ones! but Austin beat him because Austin would hit the ball and hurry and catch up with it and throw it in the hole!

I just am in awe with how grown up Austin is now, I can’t call him my little baby. He is clearly becoming a little boy and loves to pal around with his dad (which makes mommy sad, but will help when the baby is here). Another reason I can’t call him my little baby is because he is anything but little! We had his measurements done when he turned 16-months-old last week and here are his stats:

Height: 34 inches
Weight: 25 pounds

Which puts him in the 50 percentile for weight and 95 percentile for height…I never thought I would have a tall kid – he makes me proud. :)

As for the words he has added a few to his vocabulary:
“Ball”
“KiKi” (which is Gizmo’s nickname)
“Doggie”
“PaPa” (which I think he has been saying for a while but I just figured it out today)

He’s got a few more but I haven’t figured out for sure what he’s saying – but he does
His favorite word is “Ball” right now. So instead of calling everything “baby” it’s “ball”. He loves any type of ball and he has tons of them! He is still in his blanket stage where he likes to take his blanket everywhere…but it’s only the ones that his Grandma Jan made him when he was born, he loves them. He is also becoming more independent which has helped out – he can almost keep himself occupied (just as long has he has one eye on me). But the poor kid has been suffering with diarrhea. It seems like every other week he has diarrhea and it has been lasting 5-7 days…what can I do for him? Oh and how could I forget along with his height he can now reach all of the counters in the house and computer desk – which has been a pain! He loves to take things off my desk and throw them in the trash. The other day I found one of my camera batteries, his binky, a few pencils, and a credit card all in the trash. He is definitely a toddler now! Always on the go, but at least he still gives me hugs! I sure do love my little BOY!

~26 Weeks~

As for Momma- I am now in my 3rd Trimester and I am so happy! I am starting to get really excited and nervous of course. When Austin throws his tantrums I think to myself – how am I ever going to manage two? But I have finally decided on how to decorate their room…on Austin’s side it will be blue and brown and on the baby’s side it will be pink and brown and I was to have girl and boy monkeys on the wall. I’m so excited – just not sure how I’m going to do it. Doesn’t anyone have suggestions on how to put monkeys on the wall? Or where I could find cute murals to copy? Anyways I want to attempt that asap but who knows.

I am feeling good (today anyways:). I have developed a wonderful appetite the past couple of days – not to happy about that, I am always hungry. I’ve never had that before while I was pregnant.

I have also been trying to get some stuff ready for the baby and I didn’t think I would get attached to pink like I have. Ever since Austin was born my favorite color has been baby blue and when I first started to shop for a girl I didn’t have fun, I kept going to the boy section. And now I think I am transitioning – but not before I have bought Austin a bunch of new cute outfits! :)

And if anyone has baby girl stuff I’d be more than happy to take it off your hands! All of our stuff is for a boy (besides some cute clothes I have picked up). I’ve had a couple of people offer and I’d love to take the stuff off your hands. Anyways there is a little update on the family. If you’ve kept reading this far, thanks!

Jakson's Blessing

Saturday we were able to go to Neola, UT for Jakson's Blessing (Aaron's nephew). It was also the first time we have seen the new baby, and he is a doll! Here are some pics like I promised.

Grandpa Dan with all his Grandsons

sweet baby Jakson

Austin, Aaron, and Jakson

25 Weeks and still sick...

That's right...I have hit my 25 week mark and I still feel like I did when I was just starting out with this pregnancy. Some of you may just want to skip this post; it's a lot of whining and talk of throwing up! :) Don't say I didn't warn you!

I just had one of the worst weekends...well not counting all the fun family times we had but I just feel like crap all the time! I can thankfully say that my headache seem to be gone (knock on wood). But I still seem to have a hard time not throwing up! I spent all Thursday night, Friday, and Saturday throwing up (thank you to my wonderful mother-in-law who saved me Friday by taking Austin). I want to be able to say it was just the stomach flu but I seem to have the "stomach flu" every other weekend. And when I’m not throwing up, I feel like I’m going to! I was afraid that Thursday and Friday I starting to have contractions (but it's to early right?) but I didn't recognized them the first time when I was pregnant with Austin. So who knows?
And I've been staying busy with my work lately (when the weather doesn't make me cancel).

I had a wedding Wednesday (almost 4 hours) and I seemed to get through that ok - but I decided to probably not take on any more long weddings this summer unless it's family or a friend (which doesn't break my heart at all). Being on your feet for 4 hours in the hot sun while feeling like you are going to lose it at any moment just isn't much fun.

And Thursday I had a newborn session (such a cutie, I hope I can get some pics posted tonight after my session) and I barely made it through that (I lost it as soon as they walked out the door).

Friday I felt so horrible that I was praying that a storm would hit before my session so I could cancel it (I know that sounds horrible but I couldn't stop hugging a toilet!) and thankfully my prayers were answered - sorry to all who had plans that got ruined by the rain....my bad!

By Saturday I was fed up and just had to suck it up because I was throwing my sister a baby shower and I was not going to ruin it for her. Than right after the shower I was able to take a 6 hour car ride...where thankfully I didn't lose it! :) Even today I had felt naseated all day.

Anyways I am sure no one wants to hear how much fun I am having - but I thought I'd give an update on the pregnancy. Sorry no pictures of me, I look way to hot! :)

I will post about the family fun we had this weekend sometime later.

As for Aaron he is enjoying his carefree self with all of the golfing lately…6 days a week (some days he does 36 holes) and a tournament or two every weekend you’d think he’d be sick of it! Austin and I don’t see much of him anymore – unless his family is doing something. Come to think about it maybe he is just avoiding me – I know I’m not contagious!!! Anyone was to adopt a pregnant lady and a cute 1-year-old into their family? :) Some days it's just easier to make jokes about it instead of getting my feelings hurt.