Paigey peach pie.

Yesterday was my beautiful mama's birthday. I have always looked up to her, she is soooo talented and loving and kind. She has had a lot of hardships in her life and yet she still has so much love in her heart for everyone around her. I honestly love doing everything with her, even if it is just sitting all day and talking.

Growing up, she always made things special for me and my siblings. Every UEA weekend she would take the three of us up to the Marriott hotel in Salt Lake and we would order room service and watch movies in our room all night. She would take us to the movies in our pajamas. She would let us skip school on our birthdays and spend the whole day with her doing what we wanted! She worked her little bum off to make sure that I got the exact prom dress I wanted.

She is SO amazing at floral design, she creates such beautiful things out of thin air! She is so creative, I love that she can just see a picture of something and totally recreate it! She is so smart. She is always up to a challenge. I literally cannot say enough good things about her. Anyone who has met her always tells me how amazing she is.

Mom, I don't know how I would ever live without you. I am so lucky to have you for a mom. You have taught me how to love unconditionally and you have taught me the importance of family along with a thousand other things. I hope you know that you are so important and I hope you had a wonderful birthday, because you most definitely deserve it. 

Averie Grace Adams

Ohmygosh, worst mom ever. I haven't introduced baby Ave! This sweet little doll was born on March 31,2014. She was 8 pounds 14 ounces. She was born with SO much hair. Literally I can't even handle it, its so cute. She is now almost 7 months and she is the most adorable, sweet, smiley baby I have ever met. She babbles all day long, can sit up on her own, and is completely infatuated with her brother. I love every second I get to spend with her.

The transition from one baby to two was pretty hard for me. It was really difficult balancing time between them. Averie was a really terrible sleeper those first few months and I felt so exhausted all the time. I felt like I wasn't able to give Mason 100% of myself because I was so tired! It made me feel guilty because he was already going through a big change of having another baby in the house and the fact that I hardly had energy to play with him made me want to cry (and I did, many a times.) Mason did NOT like Averie for a long time. Mostly he ignored her, but if she interfered with our play time, it really made him mad. He told me multiple times to, "Put baby in swing!" ha ha.

Luckily as the months have gone by, the two of them have grown so close. Averie cannot get enough of her brother. She can be in the worst mood and if she sees Mason she will immediately start laughing. Mason loves to tease her, he always gets really close to her face and tickles her. It makes me so happy to know that they have each other. I have always been so close to my siblings and I hope that my children have that same amazing relationship with each other!

Mason's gingerbread train

Festival of Trees

Has anyone ever tried taking an almost 2 year old the the Festival of Trees? Well, don't. Just, don't.

I had been waiting for weeks for the Festival of Trees, I love going every year and seeing all of the amazing trees, gingerbread houses, and wreaths. For some crazy reason Scott and I thought it would be a good idea to take Mason. Sadly, by the time we parked and were walking into the building the tantrums started. Luckily we had my sister there with us to help tag team with Mason, but we did not get to stay for very long. Next year, no babies will be invited. The tree's that we did see however, were SOOO COOL....

Thanksgiving and 24th birthday.

Thanksgiving was a lot more exciting this year for us. On top of eating an amazing meal our family prepared, we finally revealed the gender of our baby (GIRL!) and it was my 24th birthday. We spent the majority of the morning finishing up the cooking and then we headed over to my grandparents home to eat. The minute we got there we decided to do the gender reveal because we were so excited and wanted to tell everyone. Most of the people in our families were already expecting a girl because this pregnancy has been so different from the last, but my dad and grandma were sure it was a boy. So we did our gender box and it was so fun to see everyone's reactions! We are so thrilled to be having a little girl!! Later that day we celebrated my birthday with some presents and what not, then we relaxed and played for the rest of the day.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I don't have anything in particular to blog about, but there have been so many changes in our lives lately and I just want to update our blog.

First of all, my pregnancy! I can't believe I am already 5 months along, this pregnancy has been so different from last one, time has flown by. I have been so busy with Mason that I hardly noticed the months passing. Scott and I found out the gender yesterday, but are keeping it a secret until Thanksgiving so we can tell our families together. I have also been sooo exhausted this time around (probably because I have an almost 2 year old keeping me very busy.) And I was definitely more sick too, thankfully that passed a couple months ago. I am beyond excited for Mason to have a sibling, I know it will be a big adjustment for all of us but Scotty and I are SO blessed to be able to be parents to 2 babies!

Next up, Mason at 22 months:

• He is obsessed with trains, from the minute he wakes up until bedtime he is playing with them. He has about 7 or 8 small Thomas trains and we have to take all of them EVERYWHERE. We pack them up to go to my parents house, the grocery store or the park. He cannot be without them. 
• He is a really picky eater. Right now he will only eat raspberries, Muscle Milk, and frozen blueberries.
• He calls me "Mom" and everyone else "Ma."

A couple weeks ago he started to fall into the "terrible two's." He was throwing fits over everything and just being very naughty in general. Luckily for us, that phase didn't last long and he has been so sweet and good for us lately! I love him so much, I could never see my life without him in it. He really makes every day one million times better.

And lastly, our new home!

Ok, technically its not new. We have been here for almost 9 months now, but it still seems brand new to me. Not to mention it is still pretty empty (moving from a town home to a two-story house will do that to you.) I absolutely love our new house and especially our neighborhood that we live in. There are 12 little kids in our cul-de-sac all under the age of 10. And our ward is really amazing, Scott and I were called to teach the 13-14 year olds and it has been so fun! 

We have had so many changes in our lives the past year and we have been so blessed for them all. I am also grateful for our awesome families and friends, we love you! 

Also, I cannot even tell you how excited I am for all of the upcoming holidays! And snow of course, there better be some damn snow. 

Halloween

Gah! I'm making myself blog about this NOW or I never will.

Halloween!!
This year for Halloween Mason was Max from Where the Wild Things Are, I was an angel and Scott was a party pooper who wouldn't dress up. Like last year, we went to my family's neighborhood Trunk or Treat. However, it was sooo much better this time around because Mason could actually participate in trick or treat-ing and he LOVED it. He was in heaven and didn't understand why so many people were giving him candy! My only problem is I now have a baby who is a total candy addict. Literally every morning when he wakes up he says, "ANNIEE?" sooooo... I had to resort to hiding his trick or treating bag its terrible, I'm a mean mom I know.

Mason's first birthday.

This little dude turned one last month!

Okay so MAYBE I cried the night before his birthday when I realized that my baby was turning one... it's a little bitter sweet knowing that he is getting so old! On one hand I absolutely love watching him learn and explore more every day. He has become so independent, and he understands SO much. However, sometimes I miss the days when he would cuddle his mama and had no choice because he wasn't strong enough to move around yet! Before I go on about his party, I wanted to share some things about him at age uno.

• Mason is already a picky eater. Sometimes he wont even try what I set on his high chair! Little stinker. He just shakes his head "no" and throws the food to Olive on the ground. His favorite food lately is string cheese. He also loves sandwich meat, bread, yogurt and bananas. 
• He is terrified of my sister. He used to love her when he was younger, but now he whines and cries even if she talks to him from across the room.
• His vocabulary now consists of OOYIVE for Olive, uh-oh, all done, ODEE for my brother Cody, buh-bye and of course mama and dada.
• He is not really into watching any movies yet. He also doesn't like his bouncer anymore.
• He is absolutely obsessed with his grandma. He seriously acts like they are attached at the hip when he is around her. 
• He still isn't walking yet.. which I am a little grateful for because he keeps me busy enough as it is.

So, for Mason's birthday we spent the day at the Living Planet Aquarium in Draper. We got to see jelly fish, seahorses (my favorite!), otter's, penguin's, and tons more. Mason LOVED the aquarium, it was so fun to watch him see all of those things for the first time!

Later that night, we had his birthday party in a room we rented out at Noah's. The party was a circus theme so obviously we had candy, popcorn and Dumbo playing on the theatre screen. I had so much help preparing and setting up for the party from tons of my family and friends so thank you, thank you to everyone who helped! We spent the rest of the night eating, playing and celebrating our sweet baby boy with those we love the most. 

 Thank you to everyone who came to Mason's party!

Mason's first Christmas

Christmas this year definitely did not go how I thought it would. I was SO excited for Mason to try all the delicious foods at our Christmas Eve dinner, snuggle up as we read our Christmas books, play around in his Christmas Eve pajamas, and of course get excited over all of the Christmas presents he got! But sadly, he got the stomach flu on Christmas Eve and it all went downhill after that. At first everyone thought he was too tired and that we had kept him up too late and that was why he was acting so grumpy. But, by Christmas night he had started vomiting and so we figured that was the real reason for all the fussing.

Even though Mason was sick, we still had a wonderful time with our family. Scotty's sister Allie was in town and stayed with us for a few days and it was really fun to have her experience Mason's first Christmas with us. Mason was totally spoiled and got so much that I have NO ROOM to put it anywhere in our house!

Even though we are still dealing with a sick baby I am already planning for the next big day, Mason's first birthday! Until then... here are a few photo's from Christmas!

ThanksLIVING

A couple years ago, during church one afternoon, we listened to a talk given on "ThanksLIVING." 

The speaker explained to our congregation that each day we should actively be looking for things that we are thankful for. God has blessed each of us with SO much and is it sufficient to only express our gratitude one month or one day out of the year? Do we do any more than say a thanksgiving prayer over the traditional Thanksgiving feast? 

She explained to us that over the past 10 or so years, she had started writing in a journal each day that was solely dedicated to things she was thankful for. It was so sweet to hear the beautiful, little things she recognized each day that our Heavenly Father blessed her with. I was so touched by this talk that I decided to start a journal like this of my own. So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving I will share a few of the things that I am so grateful for...


I am so grateful for baby boy Mace. He truly makes every part of my life more beautiful. He is the most precious, amazing gift from God I have ever received. I love him so much.

I am grateful for a husband who is able to give me blessings when I need comfort. Who understands when I just need a minute to cool down, or when I just need a hug. 

I am grateful for a mother who works SO HARD for our family.

I am grateful for our home. We are so lucky to live just 5 minutes away from my parents and grandparents! I love how I feel when I am at home, I feel safe and at peace.

I am grateful for Andrea. Her presence alone is so beautiful and humbling. I love her letters and her heavenly insight. 

I am grateful for my best friend Michal. She is always there for me when I need help or if I just need a laugh.

I am grateful for my husband's job! I am so lucky to not have to work and get to stay home to raise our children and I am grateful that it is something he loves. 

Obviously there is so much more, so many more people and things that make my life so amazing. However, the most important thing I am thankful for is my Heavenly Father. Without him, I would not have my family, my home, or even my life! I hope that everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving this year with family and loved ones and I hope that we can all remember that there is something to be grateful for everyday. 

Birthday's and Halloween.

I don't know WHY I cannot keep up on blogging, its just ridiculous. SOO much has happened in the past few months... Scotty Tom's 25th birthday, Mason's first halloween, and my mom's birthday to name a few. Needless to say, our fall has been very fun and very busy.

We celebrated my sweet hubby's 25th birthday last month on the 10th. Luckily, he had the day off so while my amazing best friend and sister in law babysat Mason and set up for the family party, we headed up to the Kura Door in Salt Lake for massages. Later that night, the house filled up with loved ones and we celebrated his birthday with some pizza and cake pops.

Words cannot express how much my husband means to me. I couldn't ever imagine living without him, he is my best friend in the entire world. He is so generous and thoughtful and kind. My Heavenly Father sure found me my perfect match. Hope your birthday was a good one sweetheart. 

Our next adventure was Halloween. The weekend before we went to our first "grown up" Halloween party at Scott's manager's home. I can't remember the last time I dressed up for Halloween but there was a costume contest so we really got into it. We already had Mason's lion costume so we had to work around that. We played with idea's like Wizard of Oz or a circus theme but we ended up dressing as characters from The Chronicles of Narnia. Mace obviously was Aslan the lion, I was the White Witch, and Scotty was Mr. Tumnus. Sadly we didn't win the contest... we didn't mind though because the couple who won dressed as a hilarious wolf and red riding hood. The party was a lot of fun, filled with good food and good company. The following Wednesday on the actual holiday we shopped at City Creek, went to Trunk or Treat and finished off the day with my mom's special Halloween dinner with the family.

Also, how adorable is my mom's decorating?!

My mama's birthday post to come- once I have a chance to upload the pictures!

xoxo

Not so sleepy baby.

Mason has decided that sleeping through the night is not so fun anymore.

This past week has been full of twelve o'clock screaming and 3 A.M. bottles. Needless to say, I am one tired mama!

This past week was also Scotty Tom's birthday AND his sister Allie was visiting from Arizona! Birthday posts and more updates to come, once we have gotten a little more sleep.

Joe hoe.

Happy Birthday Joe!

Today was miss Joelle's 23rd birthday, her sister Kali threw a surprise party at Brio's and we celebrated the occasion with amazing food, friends, and (duh) cupcakes!

Busy, busy.

The past two weeks for us have been filled with football games, picnics, swimming, and homecomings.   Of course I haven't found any time to blog, so I will share a few quick stories and some pictures. First, we will start off with last Sunday. Our family decided to switch up the normal routine and we went up the provo canyon for a picnic. My dad found a perfect little park and we spent the night eating, playing with the frisbee and lounging on blankets on the grass.

Now, jumping forward to this week... Wednesday was my sister's "family day" at school and they rented out the Sera pool in Orem. We all met up with Court and spent the day playing in the lazy river with Mace and going down the water slides.

Last but not least, this Saturday and Sunday:

Saturday was the University of Utah fan fest, which is basically thousands of U fans packed into Rice-Eccles stadium celebrating all things Utes. We got to meet with athletes from all of the 18 varsity sports teams and get their signatures. Despite it being ONE MILLION degrees we had an amazing time. UTES FIRST GAME THIS THURSDAY!!

Sunday was one of my best friend's homecoming! Miss Molly left last February to go serve the people of Virginia and I was so happy to finally have her back home. She is one of the most sincere, sweet people I have ever met. She was my very best friend when I first moved to Cedar Hills in the 7th grade and we have been friends ever since. Welcome home Molly, we all missed you so much!!

Birthday festivities.

Yesterday was my baby brother's 18th birthday, and poor Cody went to football practice all morning then had to spend the entire afternoon painting the "G" with his football team. Our birthday breakfast and lunch plans were ruined! By the time he got home he was so tired and sweaty. The entire day before we had all been joking with him that we were going to go to Color Me Mine for his party and he was less than enthusiastic. My mom had really planned a party with a HUGE Slip 'N Slide made out of business banners. We spent the entire night going down it over and over again, there were a few grass burns and crashes and a whole lot of a lot of wedgies but we had SO much fun.

6 months.

This little man is already six months!

don't you just love the fat rolls in his legs and arms? so cute i might die.

The past six months have been the best in my entire life. Watching Mason grow and learn has been so much fun! He is the most adorable, well behaved little boy. This past month was a big one for him...

He started solid foods,

Got his first two teeth,

Experienced fireworks for the first time, 

And had many more adventures with the family...

Mace has turned into quite the wiggle worm lately, he will NEVER cuddle with me and it is so sad! If I try to force cuddle him, he does a high pitched girl scream until I let him go. He is also constantly rolling onto his stomach, which makes changing his diaper one million times harder. He gives kisses to his grandma and Lindsey ONLY, and he still isn't sure if he likes Cody. Needless to say, the first six months of Mason's life have been such a strengthening and learning experience, he has been an amazing blessing to us all. I can't wait for the next six to begin.

Oregon&Seattle.

I am about a month behind on blogging but here we go...

Seattle/Oregon:

The trip to Seattle and Oregon was a lot of fun and much needed. Mace was surprisingly well behaved for the 12 hour drive and was great for the plane ride home! Even though we were only gone for four days, we made the most of every second of our vacation. 

Ever since my first trip to Oregon when Scott and I were dating, I have wanted to go to Voodoo Donughts, one of Portland's famous spots. Unfortunately, every time we have gone back there it has been closed, was being renovated, or the line was too ridiculously long to wait. Lucky for me, this trip worked out perfectly and I finally got my Voodoo.

After Voodoo, we headed up to the Rose Gardens. Portland is extremely rainy, and because of this it has the perfect growing conditions for roses and has been named the "City of Roses" since 1905. The gardens were absolutely beautiful. Every color and every kind of rose you could ever imagine was there.

Most importantly, while we were in Oregon we got to spend some time with Scotty's family. We had a beautiful dinner at his aunt Maria and uncle Ryan's home (thank you so much for having us!) and we also got to spend some time with his brother Lee. Shame on me for not taking any pictures with the family!

After spending two days in Oregon we made the 3 hour drive up to Seattle for Scott to deliver a car to a customer and for us to meet up with his mom! Because Scott's parents live in Alaska, we are not able to see them very often (although, we do have our Skype dates for baby Mace to see his grandparents!) so we were very blessed that Laraine was able to come down to Seattle and spend a day with us.

Seattle was so much fun. We packed a few days of events into one day and I loved it. My only regret was not bringing a stroller with us?! Not sure what I was thinking when I told Scott not to bring it. The first place we stopped at was an amazing seafood place called the Crab Pot. They cook a ton of crab/shrimp/muscles/corn and potatoes all in a huge pot and then dump it on your table for you to eat. After that we rode a ferry to Bainbridge island and back and headed over to our last stop, the Space Needle. I definitely think everyone needs to go see the Space Needle at least once, it is really amazing. Scott's mom made special plans for us to eat at the very top of the needle at the SkyCity Restaurant. This entire restaurant moves 360 degrees while you are eating your meal, it was a little scary but the food was delicious and it was definitely the highlight of the trip.

We definitely had a very packed vacation but it seriously was so much fun. I love getting to spend so much time with my two boys and I can't wait until we head back to Portland for Scotty's sister Allie's homecoming in just a few weeks.

Here are a few more photo's from the trip:

More catch up posts to come!