Happy Birthdays!!!

The birthday Parties are finally over...phew!  It is tougher then I thought it would be to have two kids born in the same month and have two parties for each one.  If I was smarter I would have just one big party, but the fact is that I wanted to honor each child individually.  Those two kids are growing so fast.  They just had their well checkups today.  Xander is getting tall.  He weighed 40lbs (80%) and was 41in (65%).  Wesley gained nearly 10 pounds during his second year.  He weighed 29lbs (63%) and was 34.5in (53%).  These two are brothers and they do fight, but the good news is that they do seem to be buddies as well.  They love seeing each other when they first get up in the morning.  They share toys at least 50% of the time.  I have seen Xander try to read a book to Wesley or do something to help take care of his little brother.  I really hope they continue to be close and be the best friends that I know some brothers can be.  Taking care of those two kids is fun, and crazy and stressful.  Just being a mom and putting the needs of two little ones above my own is a sacrifice, but I don't regret it.  Despite all the challenges of motherhood, I know that it really is a huge blessing in life to have this experience.

We had Xander's 4th birthday party at Cherry Hill on 7/6, one week before his real birthday.  He really wanted an Angry Birds party.  I did my best to follow the theme.  I have a very talented sister-in-law, Kristen who makes specialty cakes.  She made cakes for both parties.  I could never pull off the kind of things that she does.  We ate food, played a few games and just watched Xander have fun with all the kids who stopped by.  I'm sure that his next parties after this will be more friend centered rather then family.

 Cake made by http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Sweet-Fancy-Cakes-by-Kristen/228682690496797

 Aftermath, it was so delicious!

We celebrated Wesley's 2nd birthday this last Saturday, 7/21.  We had the party at Boondocks, a family fun center.  Since Wesley is still kind of a baby to me and I don't know what he likes, I picked his party theme.  We did kind of an Elmo/Sesame Street party.  Kristen came through again and made the cutest cake.  Xander loved helping him open all his presents, especially since I think he knew that he would get to play with them anyway.  Whatever Wesley gets, Xander will play with and visa versa.  We are so grateful to all the friends and family who made it to the parties.  It was special that Jerry's dad, Grandpa Stephenson, was able to stop by while visiting from Texas. 

 I think one reason I justify doing two parties is because I hardly throw any other events during the year.  My kids are one of the most important parts of my life so why not celebrate them?  I can't be too horrible of a mom if they have made it this long.  I just remember when Xander was born.  I had no experience with kids.  I didn't know how to a change a diaper.  They handed him to me and I was terrified to hold this tiny 6 pound newborn baby.  I was thinking in my head, "Wow, you seriously trust me with this little creature?"  It's amazing to look back and remember that.  Sometimes I'm still blown away when I look at my life.  I think about how I have been in a wonderful relationship to Jeremiah for over 9 years now.  We met 10 years ago next month!  I have two healthy kids.  It's amazing how much can happen and how fast it all flies by.     

  

Enjoying Summer

 When I saw the date this morning I realized that two months have passed since I have made a blog entry.  I have been wanting to make a post but it seems like something always keeps me busy.  It's more difficult with young kids to go anywhere and do anything but we try.  It just means that there is extra preparation, even to go to the store and then you never know if they are going to make things difficult.  We have gone to a few places still.  We have Lagoon season passes and have already gone many times.  We went to the zoo in June for my company party.  I'm still hoping we can find a way to go camping.  I know people who camp with young kids all the time but the idea just terrifies me.  I love sleeping out in a tent, but I worry that we would go and our kids would stay up all night or they would find some other way to make the trip difficult.  If we do go camping, it will be just a quick overnight trip somewhere close to see if we enjoy it. 

Hanging out on the beach at Pineview Reservior on Memorial day

@Lagoon

Lagoon again



This was the first trip to Lagoon where it looked like Wesley was actually having fun!


 We are making preparations for our possible move coming up at the end of the summer.  If everything works out we will be moving into a brand new townhouse in Lehi.  It is a slight down grade from what we have, but I'm sure it will still be a very nice place to live. 



Basement of townhouse

  For a few years we actually owned 3 cars and they were getting very old.  The first one to go was the 1997 Saturn.  It still ran, but it had some problems and we knew we needed to say goodbye.  In June, both the 99' Honda CR-V and the 98' VW Jetta were due for state inspection.  Over the past 3 years it was a huge struggle to get the Jetta to pass and would cost us a lot of money.  That car gave us so many problems that we finally decided it was time to say goodbye.  We needed something more reliable and more comfortable for a family of 4 with two young kids in car seats.  I have decided that I love Honda's, so we found ourselves a 06' Honda Pilot.  It is a nice vehicle and we are enjoying it so far.  I don't have to drive anything fancy, all I require in a vehicle is that it stays reliable and we get our money's worth out of it. 



Very roomy new car, I think Wesley likes it. 



Having a good summer!!

 I will try to post more when I have time.  I hope the rest of the summer goes well, especially if there will be a big move at the end.  July is birthday month and I hope I can pull off some great parties for my two kids.  I can't believe my first baby is already 4 and that my sweet little one is going into the terrible 2's.  You know time flies when you watch your babies grow right in front of you.