one more thing about my Phoenix friends ....

Besides being fun & wonderful people, Mimi & Amy are also T A L L, which I L O V E D. They are both 6'0 tall so I didn't feel like quite a giant. My Vegas friends are a little on the shorter side....so it was fun fitting right in with my fellow tall girls!

Phoenix with the Merrill Clan

We spent the weekend in Phoenix, Arizona with some of our favorite people..... Mimi & Dan. Mimi and I met our sophomore year at BYU. Mimi started dating Dan and I started dating Wes at the same time our senior year so we spent a lot of time with them. We try to see each other a few times a year but with Nate & Claire being born, it's been over a year since we had seen them so it was time to go down there. Plus, Mimi has a fabulous family so we love seeing all of the Merrill clan.

Claire & Nate had a love/hate relationship. Nate looks like quite the pro at smooching girls.





I flew down with Nate on Friday morning so I could have some girl time with Mimi & her adorable daughter Claire. I was a little concerned about Nate and how he'd do without his consistent naps but he did really well! However, he did set the record for his longest nap E V E R....4 hours... on Friday afternoon. I guess the airplane ride wore him out. We were going to go swimming that afternoon but since he was obviously exhausted we just let him sleep. We did meet up with Nicole, Anthony & Amy and their twins on Friday night at a fun outdoor mall so the kids could play in the fountains. It was perfect weather & wonderful company! Nate was really funny with the fountains. He L O V E D them! He kept sticking his head in the fountain over and over. I'm glad he loves the water like his mama!

Nate loved playing with Claire, Addison & Mackenzie. The twins are Amy & Anthony's little girlies (Mimi's bro. & sis in law) ~ they kept Nate occupied, that's for sure! He loved watching them since they are a few stages ahead of him. I think that's what saved me from having a cranky little man.

Mimi's siblings.....Anthony & Nicole.

Saturday was P E R F E C T. It started out with Wes, Nate & I meeting another great friend from BYU and his cute wife at an adorable place, La Grande Orange, for breakfast. Joe and I were great friends at BYU.....he even lived with my family & I for a summer when he had an internship in Vegas. It was great to see them.

The rest of the day was spent at a F A B U L O U S park with the Merrill Clan. It had a train for kids to ride, a big lake with ducks, an adorable little park with a water portion and even more that we didn't see. Nate was such a trooper. He was awake A L L day....finally going down for a nap around 3:30. He definitely impressed me with his happiness through his exhaustion. We had a great dinner Saturday night and topped it off with yummy Cold Stone.

Claire & Nate enjoyed stealing each other's binky's.


Addison was our little daredevil at the water fountains on Saturday. She loved being thrown in the air through the water!

Amy & Mackenzie

Mimi & Claire

Mimi, Anthony, Addison & Mackenzie

Nate loved the park.

He found my slushy and loved that, too.

And, he loved his watermelon.

It was sooo nice to visit with everyone. We had a wonderful weekend and it was nice to meet all of the kiddos I've been watching growing up through the blog. Thanks for being such great hosts, Mimi & Dan! It was great to see you Anthony, Amy, the girlies & Nicole!

I have to say that every time I go to Phoenix I realize how much more they have than Las Vegas. They have great non-chain restaurants, amazing parks, some culture, professional sports, etc. It’s a pretty cool city. I think I'll be going back soon. And when I do.....can I see you, Julie Bingham? :)

My life changed last week. Nate is mobile.

Nate has been slithering around for a few weeks now but last week he learned how to really crawl. He's got it down. I wouldn't say he's fast, but he definitely moves around which makes my daily life a L I T T L E different. He's not in to cupboards or anything like that yet but this afternoon he was L O V I N G the stairs. What he loves more than crawling is pulling himself up to
E V E R Y T H I N G. He's a pretty strong little dude so he stands quite a bit. I swear he thinks Wes and I are a human jungle gym. I think he's going to be a climber.

Today I discovered that he likes life in this red bucket. Well, he did OK for about 10 minutes which was all I needed. I needed him to sit still and it was the closest thing I could find. It worked until he wanted to stand in it.

While this stage presents many new challenges ~ I like it. He seems happier to be able to move around and explore and so for that, I am grateful.

On a side note, Nate got to swim with his buddy Hadley today. It was his first time in the pool and he L O V E D it. Thank goodness. It's the only way we're surviving this summer! I'll remember the camera on his next swimming adventure.

Happy Mothers Day

It was kinda fun celebrating my first mothers day as a mom. Wes was super-nice by letting me sleep in & handling Nate in the middle of the night! He & Nate also surprised me with an adorable hand-made card and a great gift.

I have to say that the past nine months have truly made me appreciate my own mom even more than I did before I had Nate. Mom’s seriously are amazing & I’m beginning to understand that women truly are blessed with talents that help us raise our children.

Wes’ aunt was in town from Louisiana during the last session of conference in April so I missed Elder Ballard’s talk on moms but I had the chance to read it over the weekend. I loved it. I loved that he geared his message towards the young moms that are trying to juggle life with little ones. It gave me some encouragement & reminded me of how important my job of being a mom is. Some good reminders were:

“Treasure the doing more, and the getting it done a little less”. I struggle with this sometimes when I feel like there is so much to do around the house or with work. Most of the time it can all wait a little bit!

“How important it is to focus on the things that can only be done in a particular season of life”. I’ll never get any stage back with Nate so I’m going to be better about appreciating every stage….even if it’s not the easiest one!

"Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction." Why is it that it’s nice to hear someone else say that they understand that it’s going to be hard and frustrating sometimes? It's a good thing that the laughs and smiles make it all worth it.

I’ve loved the last 9 months as I’ve tried to figure out this “mom thing”. I have to say it is such an amazing blessing that I’m so grateful for. I can’t believe how much I’ve learned from my little man and how much I love that kid. Being a mom is the best & I wouldn’t trade this for anything. I appreciate all moms out there who are trying their best. The world is a better place because of you!

On a side note, Nate was a little under the weather this weekend. He had a temp of almost 102 on Saturday ~ we could tell he wasn't feeling very well. Today was a little rough for him, too but we're hoping he will start to feel better soon.

He had quite the sad lip going on tonight but I missed it with the camera. Instead, I got this look of "why are you taking a picture of me when I feel like this?"



Luckily, Wes turned in to his goofy self and got Nate to laugh after dinner.

It's about time....

that Jason Castro goes home from American Idol! He has fried one too many brain cells & I can't believe he made it this far. Go either of the David's!

9 months

Nate turns 9 months old tomorrow.

He is turning in to such a funny little kid. His facial expressions are priceless. He's almost moving around. He's kinda quirky. He's got his own unique personality.

A few random things about Nate:

He is on the verge of crawling. He C R A W L S in his own way. Kinda like a snake slithering across the floor. But he's sooo close to actually crawling. I'm sure he will this week and then life turns in to a whole new ballgame for me.

He's really been working on his B A L A N C E. He pulls himself up to everything. If we're laying down, we turn in to a jungle gym for him. He's loving it. It's still surprising to walk in his room and see him sitting up and playing in his crib.

He meticulously D I S E C T S the floor, looking for any small fragment he can put in his mouth. I can't vacuum enough. He still finds something to put in his mouth. He particularly loves to eat the rug and the carpet. It's kinda gross yet funny at the same time.

He is going to eat us out of house and home. He is a H U M A N G A R B A G E D I S P O S A L. He shocks me daily by the amount of food he'll eat. And, with the help of acid reflux medicine, he loves his milk again.

He can throw a great T A N T R U M. If we take something away from him or even just put him in the car he screams and cries. If you do it back to him, he sometimes laughs.

He's still our T O O T H L E S S wonder.

I love this little boy to death but his sleeping S U C K S. He is a terrible sleeper. Supposedly I wasn't much better at his age but it's killing me. He's still up 2 times a night. He's 9 months old for heaven sakes!

He is a little S H Y when we are around people he doesn't know very well. But as soon as we're there for about 10 minutes or so he warms up and turns in to his goofy self. You can definitely tell when he recognizes people because he gets an instant smile.

He's a pretty tan kid. I didn't notice it until many people commented on his skin. He already has a little tan line from going on so many walks!

He still loves going on W A L K S. We go at least 3 times a day. He's pretty funny in this particular stroller (I had to borrow it from my mom because it's his favorite!). He either stands up and jumps or lies down on the side with his tongue out. What a goofball.

He gets more and more fun every month. I love this kid!

When he plays with dad, he ends up with his shorts on his head! Whatever makes them smile, right?

Go Braves!

spring

I L O V E Vegas weather most of the time. It's sunny & cheery and not too cold. However, I feel like we always skip spring. It goes from 60's to 90's and we never get the inbetween.

This year mother nature has been nice to us and we've had a

B E A U T I F U L spring. Weeks and weeks in the 70's.....sun shining.....beautiful flowers......sometimes too much wind but at least the temperature is perfect. We deserve a spring since we have to endure June-August, right? I'm glad we finally had one. I've L O V E D it. I've mostly love going on endless walks with Nate. We are both going to miss those for a few months. There's no way I'm walking anywhere in 110 degrees! I'm hoping spring will stay through May.