Jaden goes potty in the potty

One happy baby!! =  2 Even HAPPIER parents!!

Careful buddy...don't fall in...!

I feel like Jaden has been ready to start potty training for a while now.  He always tells me when he's "Stinkeeee" as he crinkles up his cute little face.  And when he has to pee he touches his crotch and says, "Peeeeee".  He's so funny because he thinks farts and burps are the most hilarious things EVER!!!  

So, today I asked him if he needed to go potty in the "big" potty and he of course said yes.  He tried and by tried I mean he tried so hard his face went red and he was grunting (also very funny and cute).  And nothing came out.  I just figured he didn't need to to. I left him in the bathroom and went into the kitchen to talk to Cobe.  All of a sudden we hear him peeing in the toilet.  We both ran into the bathroom to see and lo and behold...he had TOTALLY peed in the potty.  It was memorable!!  Has it happened since??  NO...but we're still trying!  :)

Happy 33rd to me

My birthday celebrations started the day before with my cute little "Little" treating me to a little birthday lunch.  We chatted without any kids.  It was AWESOME!  And as usual, time went WAY too fast!  And we soon found ourselves having to say goodbye.  

My actual Birthday started out with a little Birthday Brunch at Joanne's house with all of the Rich girls.  It was PERFECT.  She had her table all decorated and each place setting had a fun bottle of nail polish as a favor.  She made Eggs Benedict on English Muffins, these to die for raspberry muffins (Amber Sargent's recipe...so you KNOW they were good!!!), and some yummy fruit.  She really put a lot of time and effort into it and I LOVED it!  Thank you soo much!!  It was a great treat from the night I had before missing my little Jackie Joo.  My mom and Ambie were with me and I felt like I needed to visit my little Jackie.  So we headed off to the cemetery after the Brunch Festivities.  It was a beautiful day.  Not too hot and I know that my little Jack was there with us.  I miss him so much and it's hard to celebrate every birthday without him there to help me blow out the candles.  But, I think that the more birthdays I have...it's just one year closer to the day I'll get the best present of all...holding my sweet Jack again.

When we got home from the cemetery, Coby had come home with THOSE!!  I love lots of colorful flowers.   The computer had a sticky note on it telling me to press play.  He made me a sweet little video message.  It was really sweet!  He decided to work from home and sent me a little video survey online to fill out in preparation of my birthday date.

Later that night, my mom took the boys and Coby took me to see a cute movie.  If you haven't seen it...you should really go.  It's cute and has a couple twists that I didn't see coming.  Then we headed off for a little sushi.

Las Vegas Roll....YUMMY!!!  We went to dinner at a place called Mt. Fuji.  Great food...SUPER SLOW service.

Then on the way home I turned super bratty.  I was so excited for my birthday present.  I asked him when I could have it and he said..."Well, I wanted to pick it up today, but it wouldn't fit in the trunk."  I thought..."Oh my word...it has to be AMAZING and BIG."  Then he told me it was a freezer and I said out loud..."Really, a freezer...for my birthday?"  With a SUPER rude face as I said it.  It really hurt his feelings.  Then I went further and said something to the effect that getting a freezer was as exciting as getting new tires on the car.  Then I felt like the biggest jerk!  I didn't know how to fix it and was in a bad mood and so I just sat not saying anything and probably hurt his feelings more.  Later he told me that I couldn't have the freezer anymore and now I really want one!!  :)  So, girls...next time your husband gets you a gift you are NOT excited about....be NICE and say THANK YOU and make him feel good about the thought!  :)  

The next day I decided to kill time and hit the D.I. while Coby went on a bike ride.  This is what I found!!

A Petunia Pickle Bottom Diaper bag for $1.50!!   I couldn't believe my luck!!  I was so excited!!

Happy birthday to me!!  Jadesy was SUPER excited to help me blow out my candles!  We all went over to my mom's house to open a BIG birthday package from Aunt Sommy and Uncle Drew.  Sommer is the BEST at present giving.  She's always a big spender it seems and I am happy to reap the benefits of her labors!!  :)  She gave me an AWESOME and gorgeous Guess wallet.  I loved it!  She also sent presents for Coby (some sweet shorts), Corbin (A pokemon game for his DSI and pokemon cards....let me tell ya...that little boy was in HEAVEN) and for Jaden a musical vacuum cleaner.  He loves it.  It sings, "I'm going to clean the house...Dooo-da....Dooo-da."  And Jaden walks around singing "Dooo-da...Dooo-da."  It's so cute!  Thanks Aunt Sommy....We love you and miss you tons and tons!!!

My birthday was GREAT thanks to so many awesome people who stopped by and dropped things off, took me to lunch, wished me happy birthday and just took the time to make me feel GREAT!  Thank you all sooo much!  Coby...I'm super sorry and wish I would have just said THANK YOU!  You did a GREAT job planning out a GREAT birthday and I am so grateful for you!  Love you baby!

For my birthday I wish....

This year for my birthday I only have one request.  One wish.  One desperate plea.  Come back baby.  I miss you so much.  

My heart is aching to hold him tonight.  Aching for just a glimpse of what he'd be like today.  I feel like I can't breathe.  I can't stop my tears tonight.  I don't want to turn another year older without him here.  I don't like that time just keeps trucking on and he's not here to truck along with us!  I want to hear his laugh and pull his sweet toe head into my leg.  How could he be gone twice as long as he was even here and my heart feel so hopeless and empty for him?  I will never be over this and there is nothing I can do about it.  So I guess I'll just keep moving forward.  Never forgetting.  Always longing.  Longing for that sweet, beautiful boy that loved me so perfectly he'd have to be an angel.  At least I got 16 months to love an angel on earth.  I feel so blessed to have held him for 1 year, 4 months, and 3 1/2 days.  Someday it will all be worth it....just not tonight.

Corbin's First day of 1st Grade

I am a FIRST GRADER...Hear me ROOOOOAAAARRR!!!

One of these days he's gonna know how to smile....

He's thinking about it.....

It's as good as it's gonna get...so I'll TAKE it!!

I can't believe that my little Corbi-Mac-A-Doodle is officially a FIRST GRADER!!!!  How can that be? He's in school ALL day.  He brings a lunch.  He leaves early in the morning and doesn't get home until late.  I won't lie....it's been nice...but he has been a little bittersweet.  I love that cute little boy, even if he is the BIGGEST teaser in the world and drives his little brother bonkers.  Jaden misses him all day and often asks where "Bobil" is.  I'm so proud of him and am excited for what this new year will bring.

St. George with our little family and Aunt Ambie

I can't believe that the summer has come and gone!  Since we never made it to St. George, we decided to take a little trip down and soak up just a little more sun before school officially started for Corbin.  

It was just our little family and my cute sister Amber.  We had a BLAST...to say the least!

First we went to the Red Cliffs for a family friend hike.  Corb found this huge tree stump and has having fun crawling in and out of it.

There's that cute sister of mine!

We forgot the back pack to hold Jades...so Coby improvised with his STRONG shoulders.  Jaden was one happy camper.

He had sooo much fun exploring little caves and showing us his "finds."

Isn't that GORGEOUS?!!

Jaden wasted NO time getting in.

You can see all the little tadpoles...and I believe he was trying to catch them.  But they were FAST!

Corbin had NO SHAME in skinny dipping at high noon!

And then Jaden found the courage! 

Ambie wanted to do a little more exploring

I was the camera girl this time

Here's our little family after the hike.

Me and my cute sister Ambie or Rhonda as I like to call her!

Isn't she CUTE??!!  She is so cute in those little headbands.  I try to copy her, but can't ever seem to do it justice!

Me and my baby!

Every time we come down to St. George we go to Norm's Old Fashioned Candy store.  The boys were LOVING it!  I was loving my diet coke and licorice taffy!  Coby even found some Dr. Pepper from Ireland.  But at $3 a small bottle...we decided to grab a cheaper coke instead!  :)

Who is that hottie??!!  I'll give you a hint...she's wearing YELLOW!!

Later in the trip we decided to hit another little hike behind the St. George house.  Jaden fell and scrapped his knee and was SO grumpy!  9 pm couldn't come earlier that night!

And there we all are enjoying the St. George warm breeze and wishing time could slow down so we could stay a little longer.

Corb was having a ball, hiking and climbing and just plain exploring every single rock formation he could get his little paws on!

And there he is in his element!

We had a ball!  I love being able to head down to St. George and relax and have a fun time making memories with our little family.  It was a treat to have Amber with us.  I am so happy that she moved here.  My boys are in LOVE with her and can't wait to have her come over.  We miss our Sommy, but we always look forward to her visits with he cute new hubby Drew.  Only a little over a month til she's here!  :)  Yaaaaay!