Things I'm Loving

• Visitors! My mom and sister, Elizabeth, came to visit for Elizabeth's 16th birthday! I'm not sure if I will ever get over how strange it is that they are visiting me in Arizona. #howdidthishappen???

We ate yummy Mexican food, partied with Elizabeth (well, she mostly partied with her friends without us ;), went to Urban Jungle, and my mom watched the kids while Spencer and I went on a date.

 Jack and David LOVED swimming at Elizabeth's friend's house because they had a waterfall and an alligator ;)


Jack and David played hard at Urban Jungle while other people slept ;)




Nana is the best!



 
First date since Kate!

• My new job at Lifetime Fitness (or at least the perks of my new job;) #workingfortheperks #highschooljob4life ;) I haven't started working yet, but we got our complimentary membership last week and have basically LIVED there this week. I love the classes, the kids love the Kids Academy, and we especially love the outdoor pool. We dropped Kate off at the Kids Academy three times this week while the rest of us swam. Jack and David both passed the 25 meter swim test so that they could go down the slides! I was expecting Jack to pass, but David shocked me. Nothing like an older brother and slides to motivate him to swim a lap all by himself!

 
 

•  Monsoons! I'm not sure there is anything more magical (besides Disneyland ;) than an Arizona monsoon, and it might be my favorite smell in the world.

• Bahama Bucks! Not-so-fun-fact: I craved Bahama Bucks my entire pregnancy with Kate but they didn't even have a cheap snow cone shack in the Quad Cities. We will be making up for it now.

 
 

•  This cute little bum

• Jack's excitement in helping Spencer mow the lawn.

 

•  David sharing a pillow with Spencer at night. (It doesn't bug me since we're in a king size bed, but David has learned through experience that if he touches me at night, he goes straight back to his bed!) I don't think I will ever stop taking pictures of this. I can't believe Spencer can sleep through this! haha

• Tractor riding and trips to the park (even though it's still over 100 degrees)

Best park quotes from David:
When showing us a trick on the playground - "This trick I'm about to do is too hard for grownups and too hard for little kids. But it's not to hard for three-and-a-half-year-olds."
And after picking up a piece of dog poop and throwing it across the green belt (whyyyyy?!!!!) Spencer made him go home and wash his hands. When I asked him what was on his hands he said, "Poop. Pig poop."

• These three. I think I may still be in the honeymoon phase of living in Arizona, but we've had such a happy three months. I've been joking with Spencer lately that we've made it - I'm living in my dream location, with my dream car (a minivan ;) and my dream people! But in all seriousness, I love this little family of mine and my heart is so full.

 
 
 
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The thing I'm not loving:

• David's independent wiping. Not pictured: the 2 inches of poo water on the bathroom floor after he flushed.

As always, here's the Kate photo dump:






She started on the blanket on her back and ended up there. She's going to be crawling before we know it!

What's Up Wednesday

Today, I’m linking up with Shay, Shaefer and Mel for What’s Up Wednesday!

What we're eating this week: 

We wing it almost every night ever since Spencer quit diary, grains, beans and legumes. (Thankfully he splurges a few meals a week) But there's no way in heck I'm catering to that diet so I quit planning meals! haha We usually grill and it's simple and delish!

What I'm reminiscing about:
My sweet baby Jack who started KINDERGARTEN this week! Whaaaaaaah! Seriously I feel like it was just yesterday that he was this tiny:

 
I wrote a little more here about him starting Kindergarten, but he loves it and we survived the first day :) He chose a maple donut for breakfast on his first day so we stopped at Bosa donuts before dropping him off.

 Here he is at back to school night trying out his very own desk:


What I'm loving: 
Our little Kate. She's three months and is now grabbing things, rolling over, and insisting on sleeping on her tummy. Sorry for the millions of pictures below :

 
 


 













These guys are pretty cute too ;)
 
What we've been up to:
My brother, James, and his cute little family came to visit us this weekend. Maddie's birthday was on Saturday, and we celebrated by going to a Dback's game.
These boys LOVE James and Maddie and Cavlin!


Spiderman painted their faces - we are really good at finding Spiderman around town ;) This was the fourth Spiderman they've seen!








Last week, we played hard with friends at the pool and at Urban Jungle!


I've known all of these kid's parents since I was a kid :) Perks of moving back to Arizona :)

We found a delicious pizza place that gives you a free slice of pizza on Tuesdays when you buy a drink. Jack was in heaven with this pizza that was bigger than his face!

What I'm dreading:
Everything that I was dreading already happened, thank goodness.  I sent Jack to Kindergarten and I visited the dang DMV THREE TIMES!!!
The first time, I brought all the documentation the website said to bring but missed the teeny tiny note on the bottom of the page that said that I needed to bring my marriage license if I was married. The second time, I brought my marriage license and I finally got my az license but then I discovered today that they left out my last name and only printed my maiden name 😩😩😡😡After many hours of waiting and lots of curse words later, I went again for (hopefully) the last time. By the third drivers license picture they took of me I considered flipping the camera off 😏 Then when we got to the car, I realized I lost the keys so we had to go back in. Then when we finally found the keys and drove away, I realized that we left Kate's blanket. Maybe the universe was mad that I lied about my weight??? 🤷🏼‍♀️😆 
 
What I'm working on:
Fixing my blog. I used photobucket as a 3rd party hosting site for all of my photos on my blog in 2014 and 2015 and now they won't allow 3rd party hosting unless you pay $400 a year so all of my photos are being held hostage. I've gotta convert 2 years worth of blogging photos which is going to take so. much. time. My goal is to have it done by Christmas and then to print out my blog so I at least have a hard copy. Curious what you bloggers use for photos, and if you converted your blog to a website, how you did it? I'm so clueless when it comes to this kind of stuff and what the best long term solution is for keeping a blog.

What I'm excited about:
Monsoon season! It rained a ton on Sunday night and Monday morning, and when I asked David what he wanted to do after we dropped Jack off at school, he said he wanted to go for a walk! (then clean the floors, then do the dishes, then watch tv - he cracks me up!) It was 76 degrees at 9 in July in Arizona - a miracle.



I found this in a box I unpacked - an unused birthday gift from my great grandma given to me on my 7th birthday! Jack and David enjoyed their painting activity from their great great grandma!


What I'm watching:

I watch Friends while I nurse (I'm on the last season now!) and Spencer and I started the 3rd season of 24.
What I'm reading:
Still nothing since I had Kate #readingfail
What I've been listening to:
The La La Land Soundtrack! Love it!
What I'm wearing: 
My mom just got me this blouse that I love for an early birthday present. (Please excuse the bathroom clutter :) I also just bought this nursing friendly dress that I love! It's so comfortable that it feels like I'm wearing pajamas :)

What I'm doing this weekend: 
Celebrating my sister's birthday! She and my mom are coming to town for her birthday!
What I'm looking forward to next month:
As much as I was dreading sending Jack to Kindergarten, I am really looking forward to sending David to preschool. He is so ready and I am sooooo ready to send him ;)
Bonus Question: What's your favorite thing about summer?
Vacations!!!

Jack starts Kindergarten

I asked Jack last week if he was ready to start kindergarten and he loudly exclaimed, "YOU BET I AM!!!!" And he really is. (I'm not sure if I am, but we found a school that offers half day kindergarten which has helped my aching heart a bit :) Last night, Jack kept telling us, "I need to go to bed! I've got a BIG day tomorrow!" And it was a big day!

Jack was an infant when my brother, James, left for his mission. During that time, my mom often called to check up on me and Jack and at the end of almost every phone call she would jokingly and sometimes seriously say, "Start preparing to say goodbye to Jack now! Hold on to him tight! Savor every minute. You will have to let him go sooner than you think!" Today, I had to let a little bit of him go. Kindergarten came too soon.

Jack walked into his classroom today as confident and as excited as could be, and I held back tears as we hugged and kissed goodbye and exchanged two big thumbs ups. As I drove home, I thanked God for these wonderful, five-and-a-half years where I got to spent nearly 100 percent of my time with my sweet Jack. It was such a short glimpse of time, and such a gift.
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When I picked Jack up from school, he said, "That was really fun! I didn't even miss you, cuz that was really fun! And I didn't even have to put my hand on my cheek because I was totally fine!!!"

(from the book, The Kissing Hand. Basically, you kiss each other's hands before they go to school and if you miss each other, you put your hand on your cheek so it's like getting a kiss.)

Man, I love that boy who doesn't even miss me at school ;)