Jace's first year

I know the ultrasound technically isn't from Jace's first year, but I thought it would be fun to go from start to year 1. I can't believe how much Jace has grown already, he is such a fun little boy. I love him so much! This has been so fun to put together to see how much he has changed in just one short year. He has quite the little personality, he is definitely a charmer. He's a cutie and he knows it. He is still very pensive at times, but has developed to be quite the chatterbox, when he has gotten over his shyness with you. He loves dogs! His birthday party was a dog theme, which I will post soon, I promise. We celebrated on his birthday February 4, it was a lot of fun. 

He recently went to the doctor and his stats were:

2 ft 7 in: 75-90th percentile

21lb 13.4 oz: 10-15th percentile

He is my tall, skinny, and very cute little boy. I didn't realize he was so thin in comparison to his age, because he feels solid, but he is pretty thin, he barely has any of those cute little leg rolls. 

I have been so blessed by this little boy, I really can't imagine life without him. He saved my life. I don't know where I would be without him, but I know that having him in my life has made me so much happier than I ever was without him. I had some pretty dark days in the past, and life still isn't perfect, but Jace has made me see that I need to be my best, because he needs the best, and I am so thankful for him and his very sweet little spirit.

10 months... :(

Jace is 10 months today, where does the time go? 

This has been a busy last couple of months. Mainly because I decided that i needed to get out of debt and save some money, so I moved back in with my parents. It has been overall a really good thing and a good decision. I am thankful to such amazing parents, that were willing to take me and Jace in. I know it's a full house, but it has already helped me so much. I feel so much less stress, and that is a good thing. 

Jace loves bath time!

8 month pictures! I love this blanket! When I was pregnant I visited a friend of mine and his mom showed me all of these great blankets that she made, at the time I didn't know what I was having so she sent me 2 blankets, that could be used for a boy or girl. But I love them! Thank you so much Sister Perryman!

Silly Boy!

Halloween party: I was a zookeeper, and Jace was my giraffe. He was such a cute little giraffe. At the party everyone kept saying he looked like my dad, what do you think?

Spitting image of Jack? I really need to upload a picture of my dad so you can compare... Just use your memory :)

We went trick or treating on Halloween, Jace didn't understand, but he had fun anyways.

There was a house that was all decorated like the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown special, they had painted and cut out all these scenes, and even had hay bales to sit on and the movie playing off a projector to the side of their house, it was really cute. We went trick or treating with some friends of mine. It was fun.

Aunt Molly had fun watching Jace while I was at work, she did his hair in a faux-hawk one day and took a whole bunch of pictures. It was cute! Don't mind the yucky stain on Jace's seat...

Jace's 9 month photos. I thought I had lost his tie stickers in the move, but fortunately I found them, unfortunately, I missed the 9 month mark, so this will be his month with no tie. Oh well, he is still so stinking cute, it doesn't matter, and I know he's 9 months here, and now I have written it down and so it will always be remembered!

For a couple of months now Jace has been really, truly crawling, not just doing his funny army crawl, he also pulls himself up to things, but no steps yet, and I am quite alright with that!

I just love this little guy so much it hurts! It physically hurts me when I don't get to spend every second of every day with him. He is such a fun little boy. He knows how to give kisses big wet, slobbery open mouthed kisses, but I love them! 

Last week we were both sick, that was rough, but he was still such a fun and happy boy. It is the first time he has been sick, I feel pretty good about that. He is also cutting another tooth a canine on top. He is going to look like a vampire because he has no other teeth on top coming in, but apparently I was the same way. I will try to get a picture, it is kind of funny.

I am excited for Christmas! I love this time of year! I am thankful for my Savior and am going to really try to put Him first. I want to start thinking of good Christmas traditions to do with my little family, so that when Jace is older we will always be able to remember the true meaning of Christmas. Do you do any family traditions that you enjoy?

Catching up all at once

I am trying to play catch up here today, so just bare with me, this will be a long post with a lot of pictures. 

Molly and I have been trying to be better about exercising, but also about doing things that don't cost a lot of money, so we decided to go for a hike a few weeks back. I asked around to find out where a nice hiking spot would be, someone from church told us about 9 mile canyon, and then Kennedy Meadows Camp Ground, so we packed a lunch and headed out. I had no idea how far away this place was, I was just told to stay on the 395 until we saw 9-mile canyon. Luckily I got gas before because it took us about 54 miles until we reached our destination. I am not even sure if that was the right spot, but we saw a place we could park the car and we saw some marked paths, so we decided that was as good of place as any to start this hiking adventure. Molly got the dogs out of the car and put them on their leashes, while I fed Jace. Then I got out the stroller and we headed out. Now, this was a jogging stroller with nice thick wheels, and I figured it was sort of like an all-terrain vehicle. Boy was a wrong! About a quarter mile up the mountain on the trail it got really rocky and I couldn't push the stroller anymore, so I decided to go back to the car and get the backpack. Poor Molly, she held Jace, and the 2 dogs while I basically carried the stroller down the mountain. Oh and Molly also had the backpack with out lunch and waters in it. 

As I hiked back down the mountain to the car, I got scratched up a bit, but I made it to the car put the stroller in, got the backpack out and hiked back up the mountain. But by that time, I was pretty faint feeling. I don't know if it was the over-exertion or the altitude, but we only hiked for like another 15 minutes and I was dead. If I wasn't carrying Jace I probably would have kept going, but I didn't want to pass out and take him down with me, so we walked back down the mountain and did a more level hike. 

It was actually a pretty fun day, and we got a lot of walking in, even if it wasn't actually mountain hiking, at least we were still exercising, we got some fun pictures, and the dogs were so happy. Next time I wont even try to take the stroller, bad idea on my part, and maybe then we will actually make it up the mountain.

Molly, Harvey and Roxie at the stream waiting to get moving.

Jace and I ready to go, this was pre-hike, notice Jace in the stroller still...

Family photo, now Jace is in the side pack. 

Totally content (he was such a good baby during the whole day, he slept most the walking)

Pretty scenery

Our trail

The stream

Harvey was soooooo happy!

Now, I just have put some random pictures in that I have wanted to share, but haven't gotten around to.

Jace fell asleep in his diaper, such a cutie!

First time in a "real" swing and he loved it!

A few weeks back I had the opportunity to go to Utah and visit some dear, dear friends. I was so happy to get to go. Jace was amazing during the trip, I was so happy. He really was such a trooper. We left Thursday after work, around 4:30 PM and I drove through the night. We got to Utah around 2 AM and stayed with Kimmy, thanks for that Kimmy! We got up and went to breakfast with my Aunt Inga and Uncle Ken and their daughters Rachel and Anna. Then we went to Rachel's museum and took a little tour, then we went to my cousins Rebecca's new apartment at BYU and chatted some more. It was so nice to see them, they had never met Jace, and I was just so happy to get to spend a little time with them. I love my family so much!

After breakfast and chatting, I met up with an elder that served his mission in Apple Valley, that was a lot of fun. He has become a good friend, and it was fun to catch up.

After lunch, I went and met up with my friend Victor. I think it had been 6 years since I had seen him last, 6 years too long! He has a little girl that is 5 months older than Jace, and it was so fun to watch her with him. She kept crawling over him and taking his pacifier from him, but he was so happy to just watch her, he didn't care. It was really cute. I had such a good time catching up with Victor and I finally got to meet his wife Megan. She is such a sweetie! He did good marrying her! They have a great house, it was so fun to catch up.

Then we went and met up with Kristin and her kiddos. We went to Cafe Rio, it was my very first time there and it was so yummy. They even said a chant about it being my first time when the workers heard that I had never been there. It was funny. After dinner we went to the gateway mall, and played in the water. That night I stayed at Kristin's house, which is also a great house. I loved it! 

Saturday morning we got up, chatted some more, and then I went and met up with my brother who is serving his mission in Logan (Kristin lives in Logan). It was fun seeing Brig, we went to a Brazilian restaurant and had lunch. Now I know what you are thinking, he was on a mission, I shouldn't have seen him, but he had permission, we weren't breaking any rules. We talked for about an hour and had lunch and then he and his companion went to work and I went back to Kristin's. Kimmy and her sister Jenny and her son and step daughter came over too, there were so many kids there, it was so fun! 

That night we ate Indian food that shared it's space with a gas station, I know weird pairing, but the food really was good. (I ate a lot of good food this trip). We all went back to Kristin's and played a game and talked and then I got in the car and followed Victor back to Draper. Then Sunday morning I got up and made the drive home. Crazy weekend, but a great one! I had missed all of these wonderful people so much!

Playing in the water.

Brig, Jace and I at the Brazilian restaurant.

Jace didn't like the grass too much... 

Ok, now to explain the next picture. I had just fed Jace, and then he threw up ALL over me and himself. I thought I had gotten the worst of it, so I wiped him off and went downstairs to change, and left Jace with Kristin and Kimmy. Well, they thought it would be funny if Kristin got some of her daughters old pj's and put them on Jace. So I came upstairs and they were changing him and this is what they did to my poor baby boy. I have to say he is a pretty cute baby, but never again will he have a hair bow on his head! Still it was pretty funny!

Kind of look like a dinosaur right?

Cute face

Harvey and Roxie are so cute, especially when they get along

Jace being sneeky...

I just love this little boy so much!

7 months

He loves his jumper, now when you say bouncy, bouncy, he will jump up and down 

Always has something in his mouth

The video is of Jace scooting (army crawling) down the hall way. He is now starting to get on all fours and rocks back and forth, but his mode of transportation is to pull himself around still. I am sure soon he will actually be crawling.

And there you have it! You made it through another post!

Eating solids

So, we have been putting rice cereal in some of Jace's bottles for about a month now, and he seems to do pretty well with that. His pediatrician said that I could start introducing new foods to Jace at 5 months, but I was a little hesitant because Jace has eczema on his legs and a little on his arms, and from what I understand that is a precursor for food allergies. So I didn't want to start him too fast and then have problems later. I felt safe with the rice cereal. He is 6 months now, and I thought, maybe we could start to be a little more adventurous. His doctor did say however to only introduce one food a week that way if he does have a reaction, we will know what caused it. So, today for the first time he got peas. I think he was very excited in the beginning, but didn't really love it all that much. We will keep trying with the peas this week though. I know he is ready for food because he is constantly grabbing at my food while I am eating. This is a whole new concept though, eating with a spoon. I think he did pretty well. And Harvey sure loved the mess we were making. :)

Ready to start eating

So happy

Wanted to eat his bib too

Harvey was happy licking Jace's toes

Even though it wasn't a total success today, Jace was still happy.

Jace is also 6 months, this past Thursday, August 4th. I can not believe how fast time flies. I love this little boy so much, he has made my life so much better. I am sad that time is moving so fast, but excited for the future with my little Jace boy. Sorry for the unrotated pictures, I rotated them, but they kept uploading this way, and I am too frustrated to spend any more time trying to fix it.  If you know how to and it's an easy fix, let me know, I am sure I am just missing the obvious, but sorry you have to turn your head to see the pictures correctly.

Hi!

"yummmmm, I love shoes"

"Mom, I do not like sitting in the grass"

I love this kid!

not enough time

I always think, I am going to do better with this blogging thing, and then I get on to post and I realize, wow, it has been awhile since I last wrote. I am trying, but life sure gets in the way. It's a good thing, I guess. Sometimes I wish life weren't so crazy, but that's ok. Not much has happened in the way of exciting news. I switched my work schedule so now instead of working Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays in Ridgecrest and Tuesdays in Apple Valley, I will be working Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesdays in Ridgecrest and Thursdays in Apple Valley. Ultimately I think this will be better for me and Jace. I am excited to have some three day weekends, and am hoping to make the best of them. I am also so thankful to both of my offices, for working with me on my schedule.

I celebrated another birthday, woohoo. It seems the older I get the less fun birthdays are. I thought that birthdays would get better with age, but alas, no. I guess if I want to have a fun birthday I need to make it happen for myself. I guess I could have been doing that all along, but that's ok. This year I went with Jace, Molly and my niece Kennedy, and my nephew Kyler to my grandma's house. This is my dad's mom, we had fun, and it was nice to let her see all the kiddos. I have a funny video of Kyler dancing with grandmas stuffed animal monkey, it was pretty cute. I do enjoy getting to spend time with family. I am hoping that in the near future I can make a trip out to Arizona to visit more family. I would like to go and see my other grandma. I'm crossing my fingers that I can work something out.

Jace turns 6 months on Thursday, I can't believe it. I am going to get his 6 months pictures taken from Heather Gibbons, the photographer that took his newborn shots, I am so excited for this. He is such a little man, and I can't wait to see the pictures, they haven't even been taken yet, and I am just so excited. That little boy has brought me so much joy. I have had a pretty rough last few years, and I am not complaining or anything, I stuck in the roughness by my own accord, but Jace has made my life so much sweeter. I hate that I have to work so much, but I love that when I come home, he smiles and gets so excited to see me. I am just so thankful that he loves me unconditionally. It is wonderful to be his mom.

I had a funny thought the other day about trials, and about my blog title. You know I chose the background, when life gives you lemons make lemonade, well I was thinking, maybe it should say, when life gives you lemons take them and throw them at the person that caused you the grief. Ok, maybe that really wasn't all that funny, it sounded funnier in my head. Sometimes, I wish I had lemons to throw, I know that really wouldn't solve anything, but it might be fun and it might even make me feel a little better, even if just for a moment, but then knowing me I would just feel bad for throwing lemons, it wouldn't help at all. (was that a run-on sentence or what!?!)

Seriously, I am doing pretty good, I don't have any desire to throw any lemons, I feel like besides a few things, I am in a good place in my life. I am trying to stay close to my Savior, I feel like this past year He has been carrying me through the hard times, I haven't been able to stand on my own, and He has made sure I have been able to move forward. I feel so lucky to know that I have a loving Savior and a loving Father in Heaven. I know they have protected me, and carried me through difficult times in my life, and I am just so thankful that I have a testimony of their love for me and for all of us.

Kyler and Jace playing.

 Jace laughing.

 Cute picture:)

 Jace LOVES Kyler

 Visiting Great Grandma Fox.

 Kyler got a Mickey stuffed animal

 Cute Kennedy.

 Jace and I on my birthday, I hate this picture of me, but at least I have one picture of my birthday. I have a lazy eye and it drives me CRAZY!!!

 Jace eating his toy duckies foot.

We bought some oil, called sea buckthorn oil, a patient of mine told me it helped with her granddaughters acne, and then after researching it a little more, it also helps with eczema, which Jace has. So I tried it, and I felt like an oompa loompa, it sort of stains your skin orange, but don't worry it washes off, and I just made sure I slept on my pillow with a towel covering the pillowcase, I have yet to give my review on how well this product works though, stay tuned...