Albuquerque Adventure

We got to go visit my sister Heather in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We had so much fun spending time with her. We went to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. Here Preston, Heather, and Jordan are building a carbon nano-tube, but obviously it is a big tube not nano. When they were done Jordan used one of the atoms to whack the tube to bits. Our little builder...and destroyer.

Here we are playing with some fun magnets in water. They had magnetic particles, magnet shavings, and a magnetic solution. We could make the magnetic solution change from gooey to spiky. It was my favorite thing to play with at the museum.

Jordan loved this marble toy. 

One of Jordan's favorite things in the whole world are AIRPLANES! He loves anything that flies in the sky, hence the love of airplanes. At the museum he got to see some up close.

Underneath some of the airplanes you could actually see up inside them. Jordan thought it was so neat to be inside the airplane. What a cute boy. I love seeing him get so excited. 

Another thing Jordan loves... ROCKETS! 

Jordan found this puppet lizard and showed it to Natalie. Here he is tickling Natalie's toes. So funny.

We also got to go to the zoo while in town! I was really impressed with the zoo and how many animals they had. Here is a sweet picture of Preston, Jordan, and Aunt Heather walking together. 

Some of the many impressive animals we saw while at the zoo. 

Daddy and Jordan having a good time. 

Natalie and Mommy. Natalie did so well during this big day at the zoo. She's an awesome baby. 

Aunt Heather and Jordan checking out the lions. These really were the largest lions I had ever seen. We got as close to them as I wanted to get. Very impressive but also very intimidating. 

Before we went to the zoo Heather had found out that they have trains there as well. She thought Jordan would like them and boy was she ever right. 

Here we are going for a ride on the train. Look at Jordan's super cheese smile. He's starting to forget how to do a natural smile for pictures. What a silly... 

Here are more pictures of the awesome animals we saw, as well as sea life.

Here we are on a train headed to the aquarium. Jordan's loving the ride.

Here is Jordan checking out the sharks in the largest and most impressive aquarium I've ever seen. I was really glad there was glass between us and those sharks.

On the left is a picture of Moonlight Jellyfish in a tank that was light with black lights. It caused a really neat visual effect. On the right is Jaws ready to attack. Just kidding. 

We were lucky enough to see Uncle Charlie for a day while in Albuquerque. Here is Jordan hanging with his awesome Uncle.
 

Preston got a referral from a friend at work to go check out some southern style cooking at a family restaurant called Mr. Powdrell's Barbeque. It is a historical site in Albuquerque. Good times.

Here we all are before heading back home. Thanks Heather for the fun times. We love to visit our family!

Natalie 6 months

Natalie is six months old.

Here are her stats from her check up: 

Length 26 in. 50th percentile

Head Circumference 44.25 cm 90th percentile 

Weight 16 lbs. 8 oz. 75th percentile

Natalie can sit up like a champ! She loves sitting up and would much rather do this rather than rolling over, tummy time, and basically anything else. She still tips over every once in a while, but she is figuring out how to stay up more each day. 

 

Natalie is eating baby food now! It makes her seem so much older to be eating food. She was so ready for it when we fed it to her. She loves the cereal! Now begins the adventure in the world of food. Natalie is excited and ready to explore.

  It is a little hard to see in the picture but Natalie is wearing a bib that says, "These fools put my cape on backwards." We got this bib from a friend in our ward... way funny. It is so fun to watch all of the things she is learning to do and the joy that she gets out of mastering a new skill. Way to go little lady!

Family Swim Time

We had some family fun this past Saturday. The city of Oro Valley has recently opened an aquatic center. Since Jordan loves water so much we wanted to check it out. Plus this would be a whole new experience for Natalie. It is a beautiful little oasis of water in the desert.

Here is Natalie and Jordan all ready to try out the pool. I think they look so cute in their swim suits. You can tell by the picture that Jordan is excited and Natalie is amazed at what she is seeing. 

Jordan LOVED the pool! He also thought Daddy's goggles where pretty neat too. Jordan would only come out of the pool when he was shivering. After coming out of the pool and warming up in his towel he soon wanted to go back in... even before he stopped shivering... what a water boy.

Here's Natalie in her cute little swim suit. What a doll. Natalie had fun using her legs to kick the water in the pool. She kept trying to grab the water with her hands. It's fun watching her experiment with this big new world.

We had a wonderful time at the pool and we'll definitely be back this summer... and often.

Easter 2013

We had a fun Easter this year. Here is Jordan, Natalie, and I at a Easter Egg Hunt put on by a friend in the ward. Jordan had so much fun looking for the eggs. I told him he was hunting like Daddy... he thought that was awesome!

 Jordan and his friend Ethan... the mighty hunters. 

Jordan so excited about all of his eggs. 

 

Our friends Misty, Ethan, and Collin Little.

Coloring eggs for Easter is always an exciting event. Jordan had a blast dunking the eggs in the dye.

Here he is coloring some eggs. No dipper needed, he decided to us his hands instead. So then he ended up having dyed hands too. What a silly.

Nothing is more cute then to see our kids excited about something. It never gets old.

Here is how the eggs turned out. Pretty fun! Jordan was so excited on Easter about the toys in his basket that it took 20 minutes or so for him to even notice that the eggs had candy in them. That's when a parent pats themselves on the back and says, "good job."

Here is a picture of Natalie trying out a plastic Easter egg. She really likes the taste or texture of plastic. Our Little Lady is getting really good at grabbing things and sticking them in her mouth. 

The ultimate Easter treat... a chocolate bunny. Preston won this from our Ward Activity. Jordan was so excited to take a bite out of it. Yummmm.... Thanks Dad.

 One of Jordan's little Easter toys was a fishing pole with a magnet on the end and some fish toys that had magnets on them too. He loves to go fishing all day long. He's our cute little fisherman. Happy Easter everyone! We hope that it was a time to reflect on the Savior's resurrection, the peace and hope the Savior brings into our lives, and the joys of family together time.

Natalie 5 Months

Natalie is 5 months old! 

We can't believe how fast time continues to go by. She keeps getting more and more adorable each month. We love the dynamic that she brings to our family. We are so blessed to have her sweetness in our home.

Here is a picture of Natalie showing how she can sit up on her own a little. She eventually tips over, but is getting stronger with those chubby muscles of hers. P.S. We love her chubby rolls. What a healthy girl. Natalie can also roll from her back to either side. She almost rolls onto her tummy but her arm gets in the way.

Here is a sweet picture of Natalie smiling while doing tummy time. I love her expression in this picture... pure delight. This was a lucky picture, she's usually not this happy about tummy time. She is really getting into grabbing anything within reach, fallowed by a taste check to see if it's worth chewing on and most of the time it is.

Here is another picture of her playing on her floor gym. She is loving exploring and figuring out this big world. Her favorite thing to look at (other then herself in the mirror) is her big brother Jordan. She loves to watch and see all of the crazy things he does. She smiles super big whenever Jordan smiles at her. I love this sibling interaction. 

Natalie still loves to fall asleep with her thumb in her mouth. It is simply adorable. At 5 months Natalie is falling asleep at about 8:00 p.m. and usually wakes up only once during the night to eat. She will wake up in the morning sometime between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. This is a big improvement from a few months ago when she would go to bed at midnight every night. I'm sooo glad we are past that stage. We love our little girl more and more each  and every day. xoxo

J Man

We've been having a lot of fun with our J Man (nickname given by his Auntie Cam) lately while his little sis is sleeping. Soon she'll be able to join in the fun, but for now she needs to sleep so she can grow big and strong to take on her big brother. Here are some pictures of us having fun inside a fort we made. Jordan absolutely loved it!

What could be more fun than playing in a fort with Mom and Dad? Jordan climbed in and out of the fort all day long bringing in toys, books, his flashlight, and who knows what else. Just look at that face... he's a happy boy.

Here he is throwing a soccer ball on top of the fort to see where it lands in the fort. 

 

Preston even had the idea to build a door way out of the big Lego blocks Jordan has. I'm sure we'll be making many more forts in the future. Good times!  

J Man has become quite the speedy bike rider lately. His friend Ethan across the street has set the example of going fast and Jordan is happy to try to keep up with him. When Preston and I watch him ride his bike around we are amazed at what a big kid he is all of a sudden.

Jordan notices how many pictures I take of him and Natalie. He asked if he could take a picture of me. It's a pretty good picture for a 2 1/2 year old don't you think?

One night we had spaghetti for dinner and Jordan went to town on his food. I haven't taken a messy meal photo for a while... so I thought it was about time. This boy had a happy tummy after this meal.

One Saturday afternoon Jordan came in after a nap still groggy and out of it. He fell asleep in Preston's arms for a while and then we put him on our bed and he feel asleep next to me. It was such an adorable moment that hardly ever happens. Just precious.

I eventually had to get up to feed Natalie, but I couldn't help but take another picture of our cute not so little anymore J Man. We love you!