Happy Birthday!

I tried to get a picture of his red face but it didn't really work

Yesterday was Jack's 1st birthday. We didn't do much except have some yummy cake. He, of course, loved it. He wouldn't finish his dinner because he could see the cake. He is seriously such a joy to be around, I've never seen a kid that laughs or smiles as much as him. He had his checkup today and here are his stats: 24.4 lbs-75% 31"- 80%.

Last week was rough for him. He was sick and we ended up seeing the dr 3 times in 5 days. One of those visits was because of a rash he developed after starting amoxicillan. He woke up Tuesday morning, after I had given him his first dose the night before, and he looked like he had been sunburned. I called the dr and they wanted to see him and as soon as she walked in she said it was an amoxicillan rash and she took him off the antibiotic. She also said that means he is allergic to penicillin. I'm SO grateful he didn't have a more serious reaction. Especially considering I gave him the medicine at night right before he went to sleep and I wouldn't have known. After a few doses of benedryl his rash went away and he was fine.

Catch Up

I have some catching up to do. Poor Jack is already suffering from being the second child. I documented so much of Livi's life and already I have dropped the ball on a huge chunk of his sweet little life. He has changed SO much and has definitely turned into a little boy with his own personality. He and Livi are the best of friends and I absolutely love watching them play together.

He is very adamant when he wants something, pointing and grunting at the top of this lungs. He is the happiest baby I've ever seen. He will smile at anybody, laugh at the drop of a hat and will let just about anyone hold him. I can tell he is desperate to start speaking, he tries so hard to vocalize when he sees something he wants. He loves playing with his tongue and makes the most hilarious noise with it. And one of my favorite things he has started to do recently is dance. Any time he hears music is will twist back and forth and bop up and down with a huge grin on his face. Adorable.

We have had a busy few months. We moved out of our apartment in October and were house sitting for a few months. I left for Utah in November, Phil came for Thanksgiving, went back home and then came again for the last 2 weeks in December. Then I finally went back to Houston in mid January. I was able to spend two whole months with my family. Two days after I got back we moved into another apartment back downtown (Phil can actually walk to work and it's fabulous). Then last week we headed to Boston for the weekend to attend one of Phil's high school buddies weddings. When we got back from Boston Livi asked me, "can we stay here for a long time?" Then she said, "I don't want to go on a plane, never, never again!" I think all of us are ready to be home for a while and get back in our routine. I must say, even with all of that chaos and change of scenery Jack and Livi handled everything beautifully.

We did so much during those two months it would be easier to just summarize:

rabbit hunting in big rocks

ice skating on fish lake

ice skating at 7 Peaks

jumping at Airborne (where I saw the infamous Bachelorette contestant Bentley)

bouncy house in Lindon

cutting down a Christmas tree on Boulder

celebrated Phil's, Jen's and my mom's birthday

had a surprise party for my mom

went to my Grandpa Ashton's 80th birthday party

had a leaf raking party at my Dad's

did A LOT of baking with my mom

gathering and eating fresh chicken eggs

made Christmas stockings

made a quiet book (which took way longer than we expected and it's still not totally done)

Phil went horse back riding in Torrey

had an awesome Thanksgiving

had a wonderful Christmas

celebrated New Year's telling stories and laughing hysterically with Phil's parents and brother who came into town

These last few months have really made me grateful for all that I have. I have the best husband a girl could ask for, two kids who I couldn't love more, a wonderful family, and one thing that I have become truly grateful for after spending so much time in Utah and Boston....warm weather! Although I do love a good snow storm too.

5 Years

Phil and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary on August 17. I can't believe how fast time flies. We had a very romantic dinner at The Melting Pot, a delicious fondue place. I am still thinking about the dessert. I compiled this little video as a gift for him.

From the moment I met Phil, literally, I knew that I would marry him. I actually wanted to marry him the first time I saw his picture in the mission home in the Canary Islands. In the picture he was wearing a too small, all white suit at a zone conference (only dark suits are allowed). I thought he was hilarious and I didn't even know him. I'm a sucker for a sense of humor. Even though missionaries are supposed to lock their heart, I couldn't help thinking how handsome he was and I hoped that I would get to meet him someday. That day didn't come for quite some time. He had been home from his mission for about a year and a half and I had been home for seven months. I decided to go to the birthday party of a missionary I had served with. When I got to the house I was walking across the lawn and I spotted him on the other side. My heart skipped a beat. I grabbed one of my old companions who knew him well and demanded, "introduce me." We were inseperable for the rest of the night. Two weeks later was our official mission reunion, he asked me out that night and the rest is history.

I could not ask for a better companion than Phil. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me. He really was made for me.

Newport Beach

I told them I was going to take a picture and Evie immediately assumed this position.

Michael slept in his hammock on the balcony

The Ashton clan. It's hard to believe this isn't even everybody.

The Fam. Unfortunately we were missing Nate and Leah, Eric and Ashley and Tommy and Julie

most of the girl cousins and aunts

sisters!

she LOVED "It's a Small World"

this was Livi's reaction to the Winnie the Pooh ride. Some of those rides are pretty creepy.

Maddie, my mom and Maddie's friend McKenna

petting starfish

Uncle Bret

skimming is way harder than it looks!

We had a family reunion with my mom's side of the family in Newport Beach, CA a few weeks ago. We had SUCH a good time. It was seriously difficult to come back to reality. We got home Saturday evening and Sunday I felt like a zombie, I didn't feel like doing anything. I just kept looking at pictures from the week.

Our house was right off of the beach and we enjoyed many days lounging on the beach, body surfing, boogy boarding, bike riding, walking to the pier where we saw dolphins and sting rays, going to the Aquarium (amazing!) and having an overall wonderful time. I was able to fulfill one of my life long dreams of riding a tandem bike. It was awesome. We went to Disneyland one day where we met up with some dear friends. Cecilia and James used to be in our ward here in Houston but they moved to Las Vegas a year ago. They drove over from Vegas and we met up and went to dinner and then went to Disneyland together. We sure miss them!

We shared a beach house with my Aunt Cami's family and had a blast hanging out with them. There were about 20 people crammed into a 4 bedroom house, but somehow it never felt cramped. Our days were spent at the beach and at night we would all eat together and have feats of strength, watch movies or go out. I can't even begin to express how much I enjoyed having all of those hands around to help with my kids. I don't think I held Jack for longer than 10 minutes at a time and Livi had a blast playing with her cousins. This week really made me wish we lived closer to family. It made me so sad to know that Livi and Jack won't get to see everybody again for a while. Family really is the greatest.

This was an extremely condensed version of a very wonderful week!