House

 As some of you know, Jeff and I have embarked on a crazy adventure. Well, two to be exact. First one is the little man growing inside my ever-widening belly, and one growing (or rather, being built) in the desert fields of south Gilbert, AZ. We are building a house!

We had started looking  for about 3-4 months at resale homes here in the East Valley, but it quickly became frustrating, and disappointing. Houses that were worth looking at in our size/price range were being taken in a matter of HOURS. My Mom mentioned that we should look at builders around our area. I immediately discounted that (building your own home is for more well-to-do families, I thought) but thought I would give it a chance. Lo and behold, a WEEK later, Jeff and I were signing our lives away on a new plot of dirt we will call our own. Scary, huh. But as this (stressful, crazy) adventure has unfolded, we are learning lots and getting excited. We are happy to finally have our own home!

We like to go out to our soon-to-be property every week to check up on things and take pictures. This last week (we have not been out yet this week) they had just started on our second level of framing. Its actually super interesting and fun to see progress not only on our house, but all of our new neighbors homes all around us. This will be a great thing for our family. Some of the great things about our community are:
1) Mason's school (GASP! Kingergarten in August) is right in the neighborhood. So walking to school will be a fun thing for me and my THREE minions to do everyday. I pray I will not get lazy and drive the 3 blocks to the school.

2) Large community pool/playground. I am ecstatic to get an awesome pool to lounge at during the hot summers here. It has a beach entrance, and lots of shade cover.

3) Fitness Center. They have just started construction on a new fitness center for just my community (part of our HOA). Just in time to start gettin' all this pregnancy weight down to a manageable size.
4) Close church building. Church buildings that are less than 1/2 mile away are not just for Utah anymore.
5) Brand new Gilbert Temple. The beautiful Gilbert Temple that is near completion is 4.5 miles directly to the south of us. I can't wait for this!!

Still working on it, March 2013

Our back fence. We have a greenbelt behind us~

6)Fishing Lake/Playgrounds/Walking Paths. Our community is planned out quite well. We are so excited it is fit for people who like to go outside, like us! We are 3 or 4 houses from a cul-de-sac (with no houses actually on the cul-de-sac) so our street will not be a through street. Excited to NOT have cars zooming by way to fast with my little ones playing out front! There is also going to be a play structure in the cul-de-sac.

There are tons of other perks, but mostly we are just excited for our new adventure with our three little ones. If this third one ever gets here (4 weeks left!!)!

He looks pretty happy, no?

25 Weeks

25 weeks. There you go. In my sweatpants, no make-up, in the hall bathroom, taken with the phone. For those of you who wanted this, it isn't going on Facebook, so I hope you will see this. This NEVER happens. I have barely any pictures of me pregnant because I am certainly not the cutest pregger out there. Yay for being in my 7th month! Can't wait to meet the little person.

Merry Christmas 2012!

Happy December, and Merry Christmas from us!

Here is a quick update on our family: 

-Jeff: Jeff is still loving his job at Aetna. He is still working on the same team, programming for their Medicaid actuarial department. If you don't really know what that means, don't ask me. I haven't quite figured it out yet, either. He just finished his first semester working on his Masters degree in Software Engineering through Harvard Extension (their online school). Needless to say, its been pretty difficult. It is another reason why we are so thankful for his job, since the company offers tuition assistance for furthering his education. AND, he gets to do it all at home. He watches his lectures at home, and sometimes live, so he can ask questions during the class. Its been fun and challenging for him. Those things (and his crazy wife and kids) seem to keep him pretty busy these days. We all love him so much.

Jeff and I have just started the process of buying our first home. This is also needless to say, stressful. Who knows how long it will take us!

-Kelsy: I am now 21 weeks pregnant with our 3rd boy! I can definitely blame my blogging hiatus on my extreme morning sickness that has just recently gone away. Everything looks great with him, and we will expect him sometime around April 28th. We really can't wait for another sweet boy to be with us in our home!

I started teaching piano back in the Summer, and am now up to 9 students (1 vocal). I just held my first recital at the beginning of this month. The kids did great and I am super proud of them. I am definitely enjoying the heck out of teaching.

I am in a women's vocal group called Harmony Sounds (if you look at my last post, it is the group that sung for the Diamondbacks game). I absolutely love it. It has been a fun and challenging thing for me to do once a week. We have had so many great opportunities to bring music and joy to a great number of people this holiday season!

Still loving my #1 job, being a wife and mommy. I LOVE it. Can I say it again? I LOVE this job. It is absolutely my pleasure and have no complaints. It gets challenging at times, but I choose it. I love it.

-Mason: He is days away from turning 5, and I can't believe it! He is such a big boy, and continues to be my sweet, responsible little guy. He loves his brother (and best friend) so much. I feel truly blessed to be able to have my two boys love each other so much.

He is halfway through his Pre-k year. He continues to shock us with just how smart he is. He knows how to write all his letters, add any one digit number to another (in his head!!), and can count to 100. We just started reading chapter books to him, which he LOVES. He is starting to learn to read. We are proud of him because he is such a great friend to all, and understands so much. He likes video games, and riding his bike up and down our street. He is such a big boy:)

Mason and Ryker at Halloween

-Ryker: If anyone knows Ryker, they will have lots to say about him. He is such a sweet AND strong-willed little boy. He is 2 1/2 now, but he usually just tells people that he is 3. He was ready to be potty trained in August, so thats what we did. He only took three days to be fully potty trained because he was so focused on accomplishing it. He gets his drive from his Dad, most definitely.

Ryker loves superheroes, and building things. He loves running and being outside. We can't wait to put him in sports, because he loves to be aggressive. We often find him in fights with everyday objects, like pillows, the couch, a pole, the grass, etc. Ryker usually wins those fights. He loves to talk, and play with his brother. Mason and Ryker call each other their best friends.

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season. We love all our friends and family!

The fourth/Baseball

On the fourth of July we went to Tempe Town Lake for the celebration. It was fun, but oh so many people! The boys loved the fireworks and we just love their little company.  Plus, it was Phoenix, Arizona, on the 4th of July, and the temperature was in the 70's. I am not kidding! It was a great day:)



I had to add this one. It is from our recent trip to Utah (more to come). This is Ryker summed up in one picture.

This is also random, but funny. The boys and cousin Lincoln. Making cookies.

On another note...

Did I tell you that I sang the national anthem at a Major League Baseball game (Diamondbacks vs. Mariners)? Yeah. nbd. It was fun. My family (my Mom, Dad, Jeff and the boys) also got their 5 seconds of fame on the Jumbotron! A nice couple let them down to watch me near the homeplate, and the camera guy thought it was great they were there for me, so he filmed them right before the Anthem. THEN...zoomed in on Mason. I was so shocked to see my little guy's face on such a HUGE screen!!

My family on Jumbotron

Us singing

Mason's moment of fame!!

Bear Claw

***Update***
So, there is a possibility that my grandparent's cabin was saved, even amongst this raging fire. I will keep you updated when we know for sure! 

Etsy

I'm trying something. I have an Etsy shop. I have had one since October, but have been too scared to post anything. So, today I decided to dive right in and sell the wreath that I originally made for my own front door. See what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcome! Go here to see my shop, or just type my shop name (kelsythomson) in the search bar on Etsy.com. Thanks!

2 Year Old

Ryker is an awesome 2 year old. Seriously. We are pretty sure that he is going to be an entertainer when he grows up. His most favorite things in the world are sticks, cars (of course), iron man, eating salad, watching bugs (this kid has already been stung by a bee), anything his brother does, singing, playing piano, soccer, and jumping off anything he can. He loves water and swimming, he loves making sound effects when doing just about anything (as I write this, his cereal spoon is making a 'shhhhheeeeewwww!' sound).

My sister Kayla came down from Rexburg, Idaho to visit us in warm AZ! We had a lot of fun with her the whole week! We miss her so much when she is gone!!

Ryker and His Cousin Lincoln

 We celebrated Ryker's birthday by going to the park, and to eat, and having a fun party at Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen's house in Tucson. We had a fun day!

Kayla and Cousin Kylyne. I put this on here because they were so cute. Some of Ryker's party guests.

I love this one. This is Ryker and his one Great-Grandpa. So cute.

This is what they are doing this morning. I find them doing this together often. I LOVE THESE TWO!! 

Happy 2nd Birthday, little bug!

Article

Now that I am on my Facebook break, I can't post interesting things that I find. So I am going to post it on here. Merely because I TOTALLY agree with this guy. He puts it in almost the same words I would (especially the last paragraph!):   http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/06/02/does-eating-organic-food-make-jerk/?intcmp=features

Two Things.

Two things: My 2nd little monster turned 2 last week. We had a fun little party for him, and details will be coming soon on that.

And another: Facebook has been one of those great things in my life. I love facebook. I love seeing friends family and what they are up to. I love to see photos of new babies, birthday parties, weddings, and just about anything else. However, I have come to the realization that lately (especially with my little hiccup in my happiness a month ago) that Facebook has also had a hand in my emotional status as well. And not in a good way. I have decided to do a sort of 'facebook fast' (Thank you Tasha Brown for the term) for a while. And I mean a while. No, I am not depressed my any means, but I am constantly catching myself comparing myself to others situations, circumstances, and even physical appearance. Although some of you might look at this and roll your eyes and think I am being dramatic, maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Who knows. All I know is that I am doing this for myself and my family, and to get back on my feet emotionally. So, my point is, if you need to get a hold of me, don't use Facebook. It won't work. Just email or call!

Other than that, we are doing fabulous! We are enjoying our packed-with-fun summer, and just are enjoying life. Jeff loves his job, and I love taking care of my kiddos. Till next time!

Outdoor

 They went camping, we went fishing. 

Jeff took the boys camping a couple of weeks ago. They had a good time. I really liked the pictures Jeff took. I left out the one of Mason going #2 in a hole between three rocks. But, I did put a few on that were just too cute.

Driving to the Campsite

Eating lunch!

I thought this one was funny for many reasons. Especially both of the boys faces. 

 We have the awesome opportunity here in the Phoenix valley, to do a lot of urban fishing. The cities stock different lakes with bass, trout, and catfish. This lake is only 15 minutes from home. Its free for the boys to fish with one adult license. So, we fish. The boys love it.

I buzzed their heads (our summer haircut) the day before. They look pretty bald in this picture, no?

Jeff was really excited to be fishing

Fake fishing bait. Putrid smell, yummy food for fish

Ryker enjoying his cheeseburger while cheesin' it up himself

We love living in Arizona.