Now I have no good reason not to be practiced & ready for church. :)
On May 23, 2003 Jon & I got married in the Saint Louis Temple. We both agree that while it feels like just a short time, it also feels like forever. It's hard to remember life without each other. 
Each anniversary we've done something special to celebrate our wedding. Each celebration has been different and fun but the commonality of them all has included time in the temple. It's a wonderful way to remember what's really important and renew our commitment to each other, to our family and to our God.
This year we decided we'd call our trip to California our anniversary celebration. My mom is very thoughtful and sent us a little extra to celebrate again on the 24th. My cute sister & her boyfriend were visiting us and they watched Hultz while we went to the dollar theater & then to Johnny Corino's. Dinner was yummy & desert was delicious. 
So here's to another five, ten, even fifteen years. Okay, here's to eternity!
Breakfast is usually the easiest meal in our house. Hultz loves breakfast and usually doesn't put up too much of a fight.
This morning he wanted blueberry yogrurt & a granola bar. Both were healthy choices & he ate most of it.
About 20 minutes later, he came back and said 'eat', while making the eat sign. I asked him what he wanted. He said 'Mo, Tiger' (which, translated means NO) and showed me that Tigger had been placed in his booster seat. I asked if Tigger was hungry and he said 'yeah, Tiger' (I cannot for the life of me get him to say yes- it's always yeah).
I put Tigger on the table and put Hultz in his booster seat thinking that maybe Tigger could just eat next to Hultz. That wasn't right at all. Hultz screamed and cried saying 'Mo, mo, mo'.
Thankfully my Mommy brain started working. I suggested we get out the highchair for Tigger. That seemed to suit Hultz just fine. I made mini blackberry muffins this morning and offered some to Hultz. He then offered some to Tigger. Neither ate any but both were happy.
So, dinner for two at our house this morning. :)
Last week was full of company & traveling. This week we found time to unwind and play. I still cleaned like crazy and had alot to do but I tried really hard to take breaks more often to enjoy my sweet boy.
This included watching him line up some toys (which I should take more pictures of to show how this has started to become a little obsessive)...
Hultz found a ladybug on our backdoor & insisted we rescue it. We held it a little before releasing it in our backyard.
Hultz had a snack outside in his police car one afternoon. It was the happiest moment for him all day.
We played in a nearby park one evening. Hultz was thrilled to have Dad there with him. Hultz has no fear, which Jon encourages and makes me nervous. 
My Mom & Dad bought Hultz some new PJs. They got the size I told them would fit & I was wrong. So we exchanged them for these. Hultz picked them out because they had a firetruck & a dog on them. He also insisted wearing shoes one evening before bed. :)
We went to Meagan's nursing pinning Friday night & decided to take the kids for entertainment. They were pretty well behaved. It helped that Grandma & Grandpa were there (and that we had lots of snacks and books).
We're so grateful to have spent time with our families. We love them so much!
Hultz has lots of energy and is the ultimate boy. His legs are covered in bruises & scratches. He loves to wrestle and throw balls. Sometimes these things bother me. But there is one thing that I'm proud of: He says please and thank you. This week he learned to say "No thank you"... I'm grateful that at least sometimes, Hultz knows his manners.
I've really dropped the ball on taking pictures. It's a sign that I'm doing too much if I can't even remember to take pictures of my child and my family having fun. Thanks again to Jen for the pictures.
Jon's younger sister Jaynan, her husband Jason and her daughter Naomi flew into town for a couple of days. We went to the Zoo and then to Pinnacle Mountain for a picnic. The Deschamps joined us for the picnic. It was cloudy but still nice outside.
We checked out the visitor's center while we were there. It was pretty neat. They had a real working beehive behind glass and some stuffed wild animals. The kids seems to really think it was great. Here's Jaynan's daughter, Naomi trying on a raccoon hat.
Hultz is checking out the view.
Then it started to rain... We took cover under a pavilion and grilled. The kids had a great time playing in the puddles. 
Yes, that's my child drinking water from the middle of the road.
We had a great, wet time. We were so grateful to have family & friends with us to enjoy the beginning of summer.
We had a Cinco de Mayo party with some friends from church. It was still really nice weather (which won't last much longer in Arkansas) so we had a great time outside. The kids loved playing in the water & on the swingset. 
Hultz has really started showing affection lately. He smothers us with hugs and kisses. Here he is showing his friend Olive how much he loves her:
They're checking out the turtle under the stairs. We had to hide it from Hultz because he threw it into the kiddie pool.
The poor Elmo pinata. Each of the kids took a few swings and then gathered up the candy. Hultz was really concerned about Elmo after he was destroyed.
We love our friends Jen & Dave and their sweet girls, Olive & Elle. We stayed to help clean up and then let our kids run around with only diapers on. Hultz really loves baby Elle.
We're so grateful for friends & for any excuse to get together! Thanks to Jen for the pictures!
As a mother & as my Grandma Ruth's granddaughter, I worry about my child. I wonder how I can ease transitions and stages in his life. I read lots of research & talk to my boss, one of the leading childhood experts, and get advice from my other mommy-friends but I still feel a bit lost.
I learned a great lesson this weekend. I should just stop worrying and let my child just figure things out-- because he's going to no matter how much I try to 'help'.
There have been two big stages in Hultz's life that I've been very focused on: potty training and sleeping in a big boy bed. I've been thinking about potty training because Hultz tells us (sometimes) when he needs to go or more often, when he has just gone and is uncomfortable. We're still working on this one. However, the transition to the big boy bed seemed almost as daunting. Hultz is a crazy sleeper. He's all over his crib at night and I imagined many bruises and falls when he changed beds.
This stage was about to be conquered-- and was completely out of my hands.
Jon had a scout campout this past weekend. Hultz & I have had really fun weekends when Jon goes with the scouts. They usually include popcorn, animal cookies and a movie (Elmo's World or Pooh). When it was time for Hultz to go to bed he wasn't impressed at the idea. I asked him what was wrong... "Big boy bed" was his reply- but it was more "be-ba-bed". Strange, though slightly exciting.
Problem: No railing. He was going to roll off the bed 15 minutes after going down.
Solution: Roll the crib up next to the bed to act as a railing.
Result: One happy kid.
On Saturday we made a trip to Target, bought the railing for the bed, and rearranged the bedroom so that a wall of windows was not a temptation.
I love his bedding: IKEA!
Proof that Jon was on a camp out: (the only picture he took all weekend...)
One last thing. Hultz has become obsessed about kissing in the past week. He kisses Jon & me a hundred times a day. Seriously. He kisses feet, knees, legs, elbows (a favorite) and all over the face. It's pretty sweet but on the verge of being annoying. Here's an example of the obsessive kissing...
One of Jon's co-workers in the lab let us borrow the book The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs. Jon read it on our many flights to California & Idaho. He was laughing out loud through most of it. He would share parts of it with me and I was laughing too. When he finished reading it, I decided to give it a shot.
It's not what you're thinking... It's an author/journalist's attempt to live the Bible as literally as possible while living in New York City. His attempts to honor his elders, touch no unclean thing, and just keep all of the commandments are really funny. I'm not quite finished with it but have enjoyed reading about his experience. So far, I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.
