family pics

Thanks to my sister, Julie, for taking our pics. (Check out her Blessed Life Photo blog!) She does such a great job! And she was totally patient with us. Especially because Little J had just barely woken up from a nap and wasn't in the mood to smile. We will have to do another photo shoot to get pics of him alone because he didn't want to be out of our arms that day. The "winner" is above, but here are some other fun pics that were taken that day.




How TENDER is this???? So sweet, hu? I seriously just melt inside every time I look at these pics.


These pictures make us laugh every time we see them!!



PS4EVER, baby! I love you, Hercules!!!


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2 boutique's this weekend

I am selling my "good like that" treats in 2 boutique's this weekend! YAY! Check out my treat blog (HERE) to get more information.

lifting burdens

Check out the home page of lds.org for the "Mormon Messages" video. I think they have a new one each week. Hercules and I watched them for FHE one week and loved them. I just watched this "Lifting Burdens" one. It was so inspiring to me. It gave me hope and comfort. Now I'm going to watch the other 2 that I haven't watched yet. I hope you can enjoy this and that it helps to lift your burdens. :)

Lifting-Burdens

reminder (and cute pic at the end)

Okay, this is just a reminder about the Girl's Day Out Boutique on Saturday. All of the information is in the post below. If you have some time on Saturday, I would LOVE to see you there! I really do think it's going to be a great boutique.

I have so many things I want to blog about. So many cute stories and pictures of Little J! But it will have to wait a few more days.

Hopefully I will see you at the boutique on Saturday.

PS. I just couldn't resist! I HAD to put a picture on here. When I looked at the last pics we have actually downloaded to our computer, I fell in love with this picture all over again. I mean, seriously. SO CUTE, hu?! Look at those amazing, happy faces! Hercules is incredibly SEXY and Little J is ADORABLE! Check out his little tongue sticking out between his teeth. Haha! These two are my everything and I love them so much. Our life is SO GOOD and we are so happy!

good like that

Guess what ... I have decided to start selling my home-made and hand-dipped treats! I am really excited about it (and a little nervous too)! Check out my new treat blog, Good Like That, to see pictures of what I am selling.

You can come see me at the Girls Day Out Boutique this Saturday, November 14th. It is at the West Valley City Family Fitness Center, from 9 am to 5 pm. There are over 35 different vendors - with a lot of really cute and cool things to buy for those on your Christmas list! Here is a flier with more information, but you also have to remember some really cool things about this boutique: free parking, free admission, and you can enter to win a few drawings.

You can check out the Girls Day Out Boutique blog to find out exactly what people will be selling. Here is the information on the boutique:

GIRLS DAY OUT BOUTIQUE
Saturday, November 14th
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
WVC Family Fitness Center
Upstairs in Community Room A

Aside from the boutique, I am also taking orders for Christmas gifts or any occasion. My "Good Like That" treats really are the perfect Christmas gift! You can order gifts for your co-workers, neighbors, friends, family, teachers, etc.

I leave you with a little slide show of a few "Good Like That" treats. Enjoy!

what do you wanna be when you grow up?

Just like my Daddy ...

all about j

Ninety-nine percent of this post is going to be about our little man. Of course. Most of our posts are about him. But how can they not be? If we wrote about ourselves all the time and posted too many pics of US, it would be a little weird. We are just SO IN LOVE with Little J and we want to remember every little thing about him! But each time I sit down to write a post like this I remember the time I read my friend's blog and it said something like this: "I hate reading my mom-friends' blogs because they only write about their kids." She wasn't married at the time she wrote this and she still doesn't have any kids. I think she'll change her mind when she has her own little scrumptious to brag about! So. For those who like to read about Little J, read on. For those like her, who are annoyed, please stop reading our blog. :)

I think I mentioned in a post before that Little J loves feeding himself. I can tell when he's going to grab the spoon from my hand because he gets this determined look on his face when I put the spoon in his mouth and then he grabs the spoon even before it is out of his mouth. He's FAST! Hercules and I both try to take the spoon out before he can grab it but most of the time he beats us to it! I know, I know, it's time for him to start learning to feed himself. But sometimes I just don't want to deal with the mess. Only because he cries every time we clean him up after he eats. Any tips for that??? Anyway, he is so proud of himself every time he feeds himself. It's adorable!

One day last week I was looking all over for my cell phone and couldn't find it. I finally decided I would just have to wait for someone to call me and hopefully I would hear it ring. Hercules called me when he was leaving work and I barely found the phone in time ...


Isn't that adorable? I loved it! A couple days after that I opened the pan cupboard to get the muffin pan out and this is what I found ...


I just think it's so cute because he is always workin' on something and trying to figure everything out so he'll open and close everything he possibly can - and then he hides stuff inside whatever it is he opens.

Little J LOVES the water. Hercules was out watering our garden at about 8:00 pm last Sunday night. I took J outside and he got SO excited when he saw the water. So, here is J running through the sprinklers on the last day of summer. At night. It was cold. J didn't care. He's tough! (I promise we're good parents! We let him have his fun and then took him in for a warm bath afterward. He slept good that night!)




We love every new thing we do with Little J so we were really excited to take him to the Utah State Fair for his first time. It was SO MUCH FUN!! He loved it too and loved watching all the people. He is so social and waved at everyone all night long. He loved seeing the animals and hearing them "baaa", "moo", and "oink". He thought it was pretty cool to make the sounds back to them. Here is a picture of Hercules and Little J in front of the cows. They were huge cows! Unfortunately you can barely tell there is a cow there because the cow is so dark and my flash didn't pick it up.

Here we are looking at "The World's Smallest Horse Alive". Doesn't stuff like this at the Fair make you feel like you've gone back in time? It seems like stuff like this is only in the movies. We paid 50 cents each. It was worth it! :)

Little J laughed so hard every time Hercules lifted him up to put his cute face in here. It was adorable! Every time his face would pop up the people around us were all laughing too and saying how cute he is. We agree!



We had such a great time together at the Fair and were really sad to leave. We're already looking forward to next year!

I think you know that Hercules is a country-music fan. He LOVES his boots, wranglers, and especially his cowboy hat! We went on a hot date to the Brad Paisley concert so we couldn't pass the opportunity to dress up for the show. I even wore my boots and hat. Hercules likes me as a cowgirl! (Hee, hee!) And I must say that Hercules looked smokin' hot himself! Plus, Brad put on a great show. It was a lot of fun!

Okay, just a few more things about Little J so we don't forget.

~He loves to sing. He is always singing or humming something. He is also doing more and more actions. He still points his finger for Popcorn Popping and 5 Little Monkeys. In fact, he points his finger a lot. The other day we were watching TV and a tire commercial came on. There was a guy pointing his finger so Little J pointed his finger back at him and was waving it around. It was really cute!

~J likes to go through the garbage in our bathroom while I am in there doing my make-up. I know, it's gross. But it is kind of cute when he pulls out a q-tip and then puts it up to his ear like he is cleaning it out. Kids are so observant!!

~He loves to be outside. Whenever we are in the backyard he crawls right over to the garden and starts picking the tomatoes. Most of the time he even picks the ripe ones. He's our little helper!

~He is now able to reach things on the table and counter tops and pulls them off. Need I say more???

~J has been giving the SWEETEST kisses ever lately! He'll go in little spurts and will give one of us more kisses than the other or he'll offer kisses just to get us to come closer to him. The other day I was unloading the dishwasher while he was finishing his lunch. I had my hand full of utensils when I heard him smacking his lips together and I turned to see his cute face with his lips all puckered up, ready to give me a kiss. I was so excited and went right over to him. When I got there he started to laugh and instead of giving me a kiss he tried to grab the utensils. I have noticed he'll do that just to get us to come to him. Which we always do. We would never miss an opportunity to get a kiss from his cute lips!

~Little J has such a cute wave. He waves to people everywhere we go. He was waving to everyone at the grocery store yesterday. And today in Church he started waving at Brother Newell while he was conducting Sacrament meeting. And for about a week and a half he has been waving at us from his crib when we lay him down for his nap time or to sleep at night. It is really sweet.

~Oh, and guess what else ... HE'S WALKING!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!

reading and almost walking

Little J loves books! He always has. Sometimes the only way we can get him to sit still in our lap is if we are reading a book to him. We love to see him looking at his books. It's so adorable. Last week we gave him a book with animal pictures, hoping it would entertain him while he was in his car seat. It was so cute to all of a sudden hear him growling and pointing at the lion, then barking and pointing at the dogs. He's so smart!! Yesterday I was in the kitchen cleaning and I noticed it was quiet. That worried me a little so I walked over to look in the family room and this is what I saw:

He was just standing there looking at his book ... upside down, mind you! It was so sweet! I guess I distracted him though because as you'll see in this next picture, he was done after that and on his way to walking away from the chair.

He is doing so much better at walking now that his leg isn't hurting anymore. Two weeks ago we were sure he would be walking by the end of the night. He was taking a lot of steps and took EIGHT that day (August 31st). Well, Hercules and I took him to a park that night and he loved swinging and going down the slides. Hercules took him down the twisty slide and Little J stuck his leg out and ended up pulling a muscle. The poor little guy. He wouldn't put any weight on it for days. It was so sweet and sad all at the same time to watch him regain his strength in his leg. He is such a tough little guy. He would pull up on something so that he could stand and his whole body would just shake but he still did it. Now he is finally taking steps again! Yay! Today he is taking more than before. It is so fun to watch him grow and learn new things. Hercules and I are such proud parents! We love watching Little J's every move. I'll let you know when he is officially walking!

our summer

Ah, sweet summertime. How I love it! This summer has been amazing. And now, with it being the last day of August, I can feel it leaving me. I'm trying to hang onto it. Music always makes everything better for me ... so I put our favorite "summer" songs on my playlist ... all for your listening pleasure. :)

So much has happened since I last posted. I feel like there is so much to say. To sum it all up, I could just say that life is good. REALLY good! I love my husband. He is so incredibly good to me. He is funny, thoughtful, sexy, strong, my best friend, and the best man I know. I love my son. He is such a blessing. I love being at home with him. Hercules and I feel like he makes our life complete. We are SOOOOOOO happy. Honestly, I could just end there. (Some of you probably wish I would!) But you know me. I like details, so here it goes!

Little J LOVED his birthday party with some of our family. He got spoiled and LOVED eating his very own cupcake...




He is growing right up and is almost 14 months old! He is eating real foods like a little pro. It's so fun! His favorites are: gogurts, bananas, tacos, rice, and bbq chicken. And most of the time he insists on feeding himself. It's really cute, except for when he throws his food and spoon on the floor and thinks it's funny. It's not. We're trying to decide what to do about that. :) Little J is ALMOST walking! He is taking 3-4 steps a lot and today he took EIGHT in a row! It was very exciting! It is amazing how much satisfaction we have watching him grow and learn new things.

J is always making us laugh! He is the cutest, coolest baby ever! He totally has a great sense of humor and we love it! He mimics us all the time - when we yawn, scream (when he bites my finger!), or anything else we do. It's adorable. He loves to act like he's talking on the phone ... all the time. If he sees a phone he puts it up to his ear and says: "Hi Dad!" Or if he hears a whistle or a siren, he puts up whatever he is holding to his ear and acts like it's a phone. We finally locked all the cabinets (thanks, Hercules) after he got into the Comet! Now the drawers are free-reign and he is SO taking advantage of it!


Little J LOVES dogs. Actually, that is an understatement. He is obsessed with them! The Doherty's gave him a stuffed animal dog before he was born. He gets so excited whenever he sees it and gives it hugs all the time. See how even when he was just one week old he was trying to give it a kiss?! (Hee, hee!)

He can hear all the dogs in the neighborhood. Even from inside our house. He will turn to where the sound is coming from, open his eyes really big, get all excited, and start barking.

We had fun going to the parades on July 4th and July 24th. Here is Little J with Hailie, getting ready for the Murray parade to start on the 4th.

We also went to the Days of '47 Parade on the 24th. It was HOT, but it was worth it to see my parents and cute nieces (Hannah and Maddie) on the West Valley City float.



We had a fabulous time in Jackson Hole with the Nordfelt family in July. Our Jackson Hole trip could (and really should) have it's own post. We love it there and always hate leaving. Seriously! It makes me feel good just thinking about being there. :) It was Jackson's first camping experience and he did awesome! We slept in the tent trailer and he did cry a little bit the first night but after that he slept like a dream - even much better (and longer) than he does at home. It was SO GREAT to hang out with the family and eat meals with them, have devotionals at night, watch all the nieces and nephews interact with each other, and just have quality time together. We loved it! Here we are with my parents, in Teton Park.


Camping wore Little J out. Actually it wore ALL of us out!

We gave J his first "time-out" while in Jackson. We can't even remember what it was for. (Maybe biting???) Anyway, it didn't mean anything to him, as you can tell by the smile on his face! Haha!

We loved hanging out at Palisades with the family. J loved swimming in the water with his cousins. Hercules and I loved being able to stay up on the kayak!



We always love seeing the wildlife. We saw elk, deer, antelope, buffalo, and this beautiful moose.


It was SO FUN to go river rafting! Things change when you have a baby. Usually Hercules and I would go down the river as many times as possible, but you just can't do that with a little one. We each went a few times. It felt really good to row again! It had been a couple years for me. A couple of my nieces were on the raft and were a little nervous with me rowing. They don't know that I used to row all the time. I have to admit that I was a little nervous too! Hercules pretty much made me do it :) ... and I'm so glad he did because it felt really good. Unfortunately I don't have pics of anyone rafting. Maybe if we buy some pics I will scan them in and post them.

A few more pics of our Jackson Hole trip and hangin' with the family. (There are stories behind all of these pics!)







Here is Little J just moments before we headed for home. We hated leaving and can't wait to go again!


A few days after we got home from Jackson Hole, Little J got his first real hair cut. (If you remember, we had to cut a little from above his ears back in May.) Thanks, Granny, for cutting Little J's hair and putting up with his crazy Mama! (She's used to me by now, I think!!) J did pretty good. He's such a little stud!
BEFORE

DURING

AFTER (He really wasn't this sad for the cut. He just got some hair in his eye and was SO ready for his bottle!)



The Nixons left us and moved to Georgia just after Little J was born. We miss them so much. They came to visit at the end of July and it was SO FUN to see them! We tried to get together with them as much as we could while they were here but they all got sick. Sad. We still got to do some fun things when they were feeling better. Here we are, bowling at Fat Cats!





We also went on a couple hikes. Hidden Falls up Big Cottonwood Canyon and Temple Quarry Trail up Little Cottonwood Canyon. It was really fun. The kids especially loved it! (And Little J loves pulling my hair!)





The night before the Nixons left we had to get a picture of all the Thomas grandkids. Aren't they cute?!!


We're trying to get a lot of hiking in before the good weather ends. We bought the book, "Best Easy Day Hikes Salt Lake City". It lists a few of the short hikes in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons and American Fork Canyon, and tells you about each hike. It's great! Anyway, we went on a hike to Lake Mary and LOVED it! It was so beautiful.




We get together with my family once a month to celebrate everyone's birthdays. Our family is huge! 48 people in all. And that is just my parents, sibblings, and the kids. We're still growing. Grandchild # 29 is due in January! (YAY!) I just wanted to post this picture because it is what we see at every get-together. Right after we sing Happy Birthday, and the birthday people blow out their candles, all the grandkids flock to Granny to get cake and her famous home-made ice cream!


I ran the Wasatch Women 5K with my sister-in-law, Tennisa! It was so fun but I have to say that it kicked my trash! I know it was just a 5K but there were 2 huge hills we had to run up at Sugar House Park ... not once but TWICE ... EACH! It was still fun, inspiring, and it felt really good. Thanks for running slow for me, Tennisa! And thanks to Hercules and Little J for cheering us on!


J is such a little worker. Just like his Daddy! It is so adorable to see! Here he is climbing up on the footstool to help Hercules.

Check out the real hammer and screw driver in his hands! Don't worry, I was a little worried about Little J playing with them at first too, but his Dad told me that he knows how to use them and "he's good at it"!!!

He has been LOVING his work bench. He always finds all of the tools and carries them around in his hands or mouth all day!


We have really enjoyed having our first real garden this year. It's so fun to have a meal where everything we eat is from the garden - except for the chicken, of course. We are excited to make our garden spot bigger for next year.

Hercules took me on a date to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. LOVED IT!!! I was giggling through most of it, because I was so excited! I thought it was so cute and so funny! I can't wait to see it again.


As you can tell, after reading this REALLY LONG post, I need to blog more often! I thought about taking some of this out but this is also our family journal and we want to remember everything we have been doing this summer. So. Life is good! How could it not be? I have these two in my life .....