Thirty-nine Years Filled with Perfect Moments!

Recently Isaac asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I hadn't really considered it much so he proceeded to remind me of last years wish which was, "peace and quiet,". He then remarked, "who'd want a thing like that!" I had to laugh and seeing things from a child's point of view, I could see what he meant. Last year I was feeling worn out and the trip away from everything was really refreshing, but this year I decided on something different, time alone with each one of my favorite people!

We started off Saturday morning with my little bug love and I giong to the butterfly wonderland in Scottsdale. Isaac is a little freaked out by the idea of bugs flying all around him and the possibility of landing on him , so he definately would not enjoy this outing. The price was steep, which makes it less enjoyable for Kent, so having just a little girl and I was a perfect fit. She was so excited and kept saying, "girl time! No boys allowed!"

First stop was the 15min 3D movie on the monarch butterfly migration. It's amazing to think of an entire area covered with butterflies who have travelled across an entire continent and its even more fun to see it in 3D. Keila had me smiling as on and off she'd reach out to grab at a particularly close shot of a butterfly.

This is a shot of a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. Others below are pumping fluid into their wings to spread them and dry them out.

Next we saw the emergence gallery. Some of these chrysalis look like jewels!

We had a blast inside the conservatory! The place is huge and there were so many different kinds. I had two land n me and wished I could get a shot of it. They were attracted to Keila, but she wasn't still enough. She found her own happy diversion, pill bugs! What's more, she could touch those freely and talk with them. She says that butterflies are pretty, but pill bugs are cute and more fun!

In additions, they had a small area where you'd could observe ants, bees, scorpions, etc. the shot below isn't so clear, but the queen bee has a red dot on her thorax and is much longer. It was fascinating to observe her, surrounded by those attending bees, ever watchful of her every need. But then again if you're popping out babies the way she is, she deserves an entourage!

They had some nice fish tanks and an area where you cold touch stingrays. Keila was curious, but not curious enough to put her fingers in the water.

It was wonderful to chat with my girl and she was so happy to have this one on one time. She's turning into quite a little woman!

With Isaac I chose to go and watch the Lego movie with him. It was nice to just chat with him before it started and even nicer knowing he's reaching that age where you can have a real conversation. The theater was pretty empty of kids with the exception of two kids right behind us. Otherwise it was mostly adults, which I found to be a little strangr, and just thought they must be big fans of Legos. The company made me more aware of how fun it is to be with a child as uninhibited as Isaac. Fun things would happen and not a sound would be heard in the theater except my chuckles and my sons giant bursts of laughter filled by, "That was TOTALLY awesome!" Which would only make me laugh harder. You would have thought the audience was all dead or sleeping and with their reaction! Afterward he accompanied me to Coldstone to pick out my ice cream cake.

He's such a ham! Can you see the drool!

Bubby is the easiest to spend fun time together, simply turn on his personal playlist and dance up a storm filled with giggles. All day long I was fed my personal gourmet Hubby chef, everything from a homemade French onion soup,
burger made to order and the same lime chile marinated grilled chicken and veggies I had fixed him for Father's Day. It could not have been a more perfect day to celebrate 39 wonderful years of life!

Birthday Fun for Seven Years

We favor family celebrations for birthdays and it usually gets drawn out over a few days. Isaac seems to feel that the year should indicate the number of days it's celebrated .... In which case adults should have a heck of a lot more fun and for much longer than they do! Either way, we did get to do a lot of things he wanted and had a blast together at them.

There was the customary dim sum brunch where all his favorites were ordered. He also enjoyed mango sticky rice from breakfast - twice! It's rice and fruit, pretty much the equivilent of the sugar box cereals but much better tasting! We also spent some time at Peter pipers pizza for some food and fun. Initially I was planning to head home with Eli early, but even the little man enjoyed a game or two.

In the evenings while e kids were sleeping I worked on Isaac's chosen fondant theme for this year - pokemon! I enjoyed myself and got better as I went. With the leftovers the kids had a fun fondant session creating their own pokemon and eating them afterwards.


Friends came over for cake and ice cream. I saw a brilliant picture of poke balls created from Rice Krispies and molded a few for decor, dipping it in chocolate for the finishing touch. Isaac love it all, especially the sugar and enjoyed one a day for a few days after. He was extremely excited for his friends from swim team to come, Max and his sister Alex and I'm glad we were able to arrange sometime to play together before everyone got here.

Of everything he received is favorite were the pokemon cards handed down by the Bakers. He spends hours reading each one and attempting to play the game with Keila. She's a good sport despite the rules constantly changing to fit his whim.

It was fun to celebrate with him, he is growing and changing so much. Already he talks of next year when he wil have the opportunity to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Life moves along impossibly fast sometime, I'm so grateful for the moments I can remember and love and the people who make them so worth remembering! Happy birthday my first little man!

20 Weeks

I'm halfway!!! How quickly time flys and it's even faster now that I can finally eat again and not sleep like the dead! I had been so blue the months before and I hadn't realized how much those two things had affected me until these last few weeks. It's been exciting to have the energy to paint the boys room and start planning the girls room. Swim team and Isaac's birthday has been a fun and busy diversion and of couse the ultrasound this last weekend was a major highlight.

We went as a whole family and while the images were hard to distinguish at first, the kiddos soon caught on. Especially when we got a good shot of her little legs and feet. "Cutie toes!" Was the exclamation and as if in response, baby girl kicked her feet away and the tech had to go chasing them around my belly to get another shot and measument of the bones. In fact any time the ultrasound tech would go in to do some measurements, I could feel her shift and curl inward as if to say, "don't touch me! It's squishy enough in here without you poking around!"

Keila was fascinated by the process and held my hand through the whole procedure. She wanted to know if it hurt me or her sister, and if baby would respond to touch would she respond to her voice. She was disappointed to hear that it would take some time yet, but I assured her she could have many long chats with her later. Even now there are moments she will just stop and gently rest her hand on my belly or lean in tenderly. Clearly this baby girl is someone she has longed for and missed for a long time. Here's a side profile of the little gal.

Can't wait to see the little gal!

Taller at Seven

I can't believe Issac is seven years old! He was so excited and we had to tease him and ask, what makes you so different from being six yesterday and his reply was that he felt taller!

Taller or not, he certainly is older and it shows in so many ways. Perhaps it's this year he's had at kindergarten and how he naturally leads in class both academically and socially. There were things occurring in the boys bathroom that were inappropriate that the teacher didn't know about. Perhaps because of age or his strong sense of right and wrong, he was quick to tell me and his teacher and the problem was nipped in the bud. Never once did he dither about how others thought of him and I prayer this will continue on as he gets older. This sense of self and seriosness was really obvious at the kindergarten graduation. They had a short video where each child was asked what they want to be when they grow up. There was plenty of firemen, policemen, teachers and doctors. Of course there were a few superheroes, ninjas and the odd ones like a kitty ... I knew Isaac's before they showed him saying it, " a person who studies rocks and gems!" I asked him about it later and why not something lie a ninja, his reply, " nah, that's just silly! This is real life, rocks are cool!"

I love the way he has of winning people over, no matter the differences before. It has so much to do with genuine personality and his goofy enthusiam that will have people laughing at all sorts of things. Even the coldest most distant person can't help but crack a smile around his life-filled ball of energy. He is that way with everyone, adults and children alike and because of it I think he will always find a friend no matter where he goes.

He's begun to truly recognize his role as an older brother, particularly to Eli. He is willing to help with all sorts of tasks when it comes to his brother and Eli reciprocates by seeking comfort from him often. We've begun moving them into a bunk beds and I've found the perfect quote for their room. His nickname was initially Bubba when he was an infant. I never liked it and it slowly evolved into Bud. So the quote, "there's no buddy better than a brother!" Was absolutely made for their room.

He and keila are thick as thieves. It seems the time away during the school year has made him appreciate Keila's willingness to follow him in all his schemes. He has shown greater kindness and more patience when things are a little rough with her moods. They have a new found love of Pokemon and can be found pretending all sorts of scenarios together.


Everyone is always saying how bright Isaac is and I think it has to do with his hunger for knowledge. He is literally a sponge and will ask question after question until he sucks you dry. The subject matter is unimportant. We talked about everything from geology, biology to sociology and in the end he wants know how it effects people - a question I think is one of the most important ones that can be asked. I'm proud of his global thinking and hope that it will help him transfere his knowledge into wisdom with the coming years.

Here are some shots of him over the last seven years. Forgive me for posting too many, it's just hard to pick and each of them remind me how much he is his own little person long before he came to me!

Happy birthday Bud!