Flying By The Seats of Our Pants.....

Okay, so I have to be honest, I have been putting off blogging because there is SO MUCH to say, but our Dropbox is full, so I need to go through the pictures and put them in the appropriate folders on the computer....which means I need to blog so that I can use/find all the pictures I want before they are put away. And, since Tom is at work and JT is sleeping (at least for now), it seems like a good time to get it done! Because it has been so long since I actually posted, everything from first steps to vacations to green french toast, Easter, and birthdays should be here, but I think to keep my brain from exploding, I am going to go with the most exciting stuff! :)

As always, first and foremost, JT!!! The last time we checked in he was 8 months old. Geez has he grown a lot since then! JT is walking, running,  and eating big guy food like a champ...although, he is a dang picky eater so maybe "champ" isn't quite the right word. :) He's had probably 3 more haircuts since then. He is a pro peek-a-boo player! (Even hides inside a cupboard in the kitchen and pops out when we are looking for him!) His favorite word is "Yeah!" He says it all the time. No matter what you ask him. :) But he also says "No" and "Dada". :) Those ones we know that he knows. So proud of him! He is funny and smart and strong and brave and growing more and more each day.

He had his NICU follow up and his ears are completely normal! The liquid has all drained and he is showing normal results. :) We were so grateful that we didn't have to put tubes in his hears or worry about hearing problems. He seems to just overcome everything. Such a strong kid. Although, he did lose a pound between his 9 month and 12 month appointments, but they thing that is a combination of picky eating and being CRAZY active! He barely ever sits down! We are trying to get some of that weight back on and working on getting him to be less picky! We even had some "eating sessions" with his developmental specialist, Brett. It was there that we discovered, that our 1 year old is ready to be a big boy. He doesn't want his food ripped into pieces anymore (do you think he noticed that I was stealing bites when I was ripping them for him!), he wants his cut into manageable pieces and he will take bites and eat it like a big boy! My little independent man. (Don't know where he gets that!) He seems to have all the best qualities of his daddy (happy, kind, funny, strong, and dang adorable!) and all of the worst qualities of his mommy (stubbornness and independence).

He loves watching Peg + Cat, Super Why, and Curious George.
And he has a million toys to choose from since his birthday party, so he always has something in his hands that he is running around with!
His daddy is his favorite person in the WHOLE WORLD! He spends most of his day following Tom around the house. Even going so far as to sit outside the bathroom door and wait for him...no matter how long it takes! He is really super needy for his daddy when he is home and then once he leaves to go to work or school, JT is back to our happy, crazy, adventurous boy!
He climbs in, on, and under EVERYTHING! And he has the bumps and bruises to prove it!
He has six teeth. Four on top and two on bottom.

This is JT and Brett at one of their sessions. :) He was the funnest guy!

He turned ONE!!!! We had a party for him on his real birthday with just the three of us and then a bigger party the Saturday after his birthday. So many people came and it was fun to see them all! JT wasn't so sure what to do with himself, so he spent most of the time with his daddy and his Grandpa Adkins. :) It was a tubby time themed water party and it was a total blast!!!

He just recently had his test to see if he needed to continue services with early development. And....he got 80-90% in all of the categories, but language. He scored 50%. Which isn't bad, but the only category that Brett was slightly worried about in the future. He gave the number to call just in case, but I am watching my boy grow more and more every day and I am not worried. Brett mentioned how smart he is. He completed a test that he had never seen any kids at his age do! I knew he was smart! I have had to continually JT proof our home because he IS so smart and curious! It just is always good to hear that somebody else knows how smart your kid is. :) So...he graduated from early intervention! No more appointments with Brett! Which is definitely a bitter-sweet thing. We are so proud of JT, but Brett has become like a friend, so we will miss seeing him.
JT's birthday parties were a total blast! He turned 1 the day after we moved in to our new place. It was a lot to work with, but we did the best we could. :) We took him out for breakfast to get his very first HONEY BUTTER scone! And it was huge!! We went to this little diner about a mile away from where we live. It was delicious!












For dinner we gave him his FAVORITE food of all time! Vegetable Lasagna! He eats whole plates of this! Which is a miracle when you have a picky eater! Then we gave him a Costco cupcake for dessert. :) It wasn't his first cupcake (that was on Easter), but it was his first chocolate cupcake! And he loved it. :)

The top picture was the picture on the invitation. :) We took the pictures on our cellphones in the front yard because we couldn't afford to get anything professionally done, but they turned out pretty good for two amateurs taking them! 

And then everything else are just picture from all the fun at the party. I really wish we had more! I think my sister in law might have some I will have to get from her. It's hard to throw a party and remember to catch all the good stuff at the same time! 

 These are pictures of the cake that my sisters and I made for his party. :) I was really proud of us! JT went for the huge fondant ball on his little cake first and I had to pry it out so that he wouldn't choke on it.....my bad. But! He ate the little balls just fine and really enjoyed his cake. :)
It was a Funfetti cake! His dad's favorite...and now probably his favorite, too!

The rest of these are just pictures I had to share of my boy. He just is so grown up!

This one is a picture of the birthday present he got from his Aunt Liz and Uncle Jonny in Alaska! They sent him a White Pass train and a hat, handkerchief, and whistle to match! So fun!

Tom is working really hard still! He is still working graveyard at Kennecott while doing school and an

internship at a fire department in the Ogden area. When he has any extra time, he can be found bent over one of his trains, sleeping, or playing with JT. He is an amazing daddy. I knew he would be when I married him, but JT just adores him! He is really enjoying his internship and always comes home with stories and accomplishments. He has every right in the world to be proud of himself! He knows what he is doing. He's smart and has a bedside manner that could charm the crankiest old lady in the world. I am really proud of him!!!! I can't say it enough! He starts the paramedic program this month and it is really an intimidating program. They had an orientation and they wanted the families to be there so that we could all understand how intensive the program really is! He's got an intensive 6 week course from 9-5 and clinicals. He's going to be a busy guy, but I know he can do it. He really is good at this stuff!
He also turned 29 this past month! We had a birthday party as a family and then we threw him a little party with his favorite foods and his favorite people. :)

 This was his birthday dinner on his actual birthday...I made him cranberry turkey and mashed potatoes and a Eclair cake that tasted a lot better than it looks..... :)

This is the present he got from best friends, Joel and Janell! He loved it and it only took him a few days to put together. They gave him an emergency Lego kit, so the ambulance, fire truck, police motorcycle (all complete with Lego guys!), a skateboarder, a trash can fire, and the robber came in the kit. :)
SO FUN!

JT and I got him tickets to a Salt Lake Bee's game for his birthday present, because he had never been to a baseball game before. And, we had a total BLAST! I didn't realize that I loved baseball so much! I mean, by the end of the night, I was worried that Tom would think that I got the tickets for me! But I didn't. :) JT and Tom rode on the train and got to meet Bumble! Bumble even signed JT's bat for him. :) When JT saw Bumble dancing around on the field, he was really excited, but when he met him up close, he was MUCH MORE apprehensive. :) BASEBALL ROCKS!

We went on a vacation....in MARCH! We went to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, and St. George. We thought traveling with a 9 month old would be easier....nope! :) JT made sure that we stopped at much as he wanted and that he had a lot of time to crawl around and be crazy. We REALLY needed a vacation, though. Especially Tom. With all his hard work, he needed a break from everything. We needed to run away. So, we did! And it was wonderful. We drove to Vegas the first day, stayed for a day and wandered around the Strip, went to the Grand Canyon the third day, Zion National Park and St. George the fourth day, and then home the fifth day. So, it was a whirlwind! We were thinking about trying to do more of the National Parks, but we were lucky to do what we did....little kids don't do all day in the car! Not at all!
Las Vegas was less than appetizing...we hadn't been in town for more than 15 minutes when I realized how much Vegas is just BEGGING you to sin. But still a lot of cool things to see! I had never been, so that is why we even went. We got there early enough the first night that we spend some time wandering around our hotel and driving up and down the Strip. The second day, we WALKED the strip. With a tired, cranky, this-is-not-my-regular-schedule JT. He was so made at us that day. So, we ended it early, but we still got to see all the things we wanted to! (We spent WAY too much money at M&M world!)
I think my favorite part of Vegas was the temple. It's absolutely GORGEOUS! I loved it. The picture that we have don't do it justice. It really is a beautiful temple. :)

 We went to the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop from "Pawn Stars". We didn't see any of "the guys", but Tom bought a pin and we realized just how tiny it is. They make it seem really big on TV, but in real life there is barely enough room for 50 people in there.

 This is the Las Vegas Temple. And, like I said, doesn't do it justice!!!

 Third day was the Grand Canyon. JT was a much happier boy that day, which made for much happier parents. It was really a beautiful park. We took the "long way" out of the park. I was surprised at how many trees there were! It was gorgeous! Actually reminded me a lot of Canada. :)

 Our intention at Zion National Park was to go on a hike. But JT fell asleep as we were driving to a hiking spot, so we just let him sleep and drove through the park. We were both exhausted as well, so I don't know how far we would have made it up the trail, but I wish we could have. I just really miss hiking!

 That night in St. George we went swimming at our hotel. It was JT's first time swimming...and even though they promised us a heated swimming pool, it absolutely was not! We didn't have a good swimming suit for him to keep him warm, so we ended up cutting it short. He didn't love it, but it was fun for us for a second!
The St. George temple is also a beautiful place! I wish we could have gone in to the temples, but there was just no way to do a session with a 9 month old in tow, so we just "ooo"ed and "awww"ed. :)

I guess the next "big" thing would be JT's first St. Patrick's Day. We didn't do anything super amazing. We all wore green, I made green french toast, took Tom to take a test, went to the "Sweet Tooth Fairy" to get some St. Patty Day treats, and snuggled together and enjoyed our day back home after our vacation. :)

 Tip: Don't make green french toast...it does NOT look appetizing. :) Tastes amazing...doesn't look good. Hahaha!

JT's FIRST EASTER! Man, I was preparing for this for months. Hunting for just the right Easter suit....well, just the right Easter suit was  cute suit that I didn't have to pay a lot of money for, but still! I spent a long time looking! Easter was fun. :) We did Saturday at the Madsen's and Sunday at the Adkins's.
Saturday we had an Easter egg hunt and dinner. It was JT's first hunt, but he picked on pretty quickly. It was going really well until he dropped one of the eggs and jelly beans spilled all over the drive way. Then he figured that it was cooler to drop them like a candy bomb than put them in his basket. :)

 Miss Adrienne and I worked together to make this cute bunny cake. :) Luckily, Tom and I had bought a decorating tool for some cupcakes we were making for the new neighbors/one of our friend's birthday party and so the decorating was easier than it looks. :)

 I drew the bunny on this plate...and to  be honest, I was dang proud of myself! I have never thought of myself as any kind of "artist". I have never been good at drawing or painting or art. But, this was pretty good!

 Tom and I set this up on the couch for JT, but he had to wait until after church to look inside! We had bought him one of those old telephone toys that  you can pull behind you, some egg shakers, Peeps, and filled some eggs with his Gerber treats.

 Second Easter egg hunt in his cute suit!

After Easter was over and we were back home, JT found his Easter basket and went through the process of opening his eggs, taking his Gerber treats out of the plastic, and separating them into treats he wanted to eat and treats he didn't. So, when he was all done and on to something else, there was a pile of "discarded" treats on the floor. :)



I guess the next big moment in our lives was that Tom and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary in April! It's hard to believe that we've done so much in only two years! But we have lived a pretty adventurous life and come out just loving each other all the more for it. :) I  know that to most of you, two years doesn't seem like a lot, but to us it sure feels like an accomplishment! Not because it is hard to live with each other (which it sometimes is) or because two years is "such a long time" (which it can be), but because we made it! We are making it. We are working together to have an eternal marriage and an eternal family. I read an old Ensign article by Veon G. Smith  the other week that said, "Marriage is a dynamic interaction between two changing people that requires constant focus...a temple marriage does not automatically guarantee a celestial marriage-or even a pleasant one." Every day, week, month, and year that Tom and I "make it" is an accomplishment just because marriage is hard. It is a beautiful, wonderful blessing that I am grateful to be experiencing with the man I love more than anything, but it can be hard.
Anyway, with that said....we had an amazing anniversary! We had to take Tom up to take a test in Ogden, but then we went to dinner at Ruth's Diner all together, ran home to pick up some things, and then went to the drive inn movies! We put down the backseat in the 4Runner, set up the memory foam and blankets, exchanged gifts, and then watched Wolverine. It was late before that got over so even though you can stay for two movies, we were all ready to go home and get some sleep. Especially JT. :)
 

And.....WE MOVED!!!! We had been looking for a place since January, but nothing really felt right. And then we really seriously started looking in June. It took a month, but we found it! And, we love it! It is not huge, but it is perfect for what we need. :) It's in our price range in a beautiful neighborhood with amazing people! We couldn't be more blessed to have found this place. I sent thankful prayers to heaven for weeks (still do) after we found it! It's more space than JT has ever had to just run around and be curious and crazy. You will see in these pictures how much we have had to change things from a "normal" place, just because of how smart our son is! :)

This is the living room..baby gated up! And you will see that the ottomans are up on the chairs in these pictures...that is because JT uses them to climb up on to the chairs and then uses the chairs to climb up on tables and shelves. So...we pull them down when we are in them or we have company. :)

The kitchen...nothing glorious, but it's big enough for us. :) The pots and pans are on the table because we had to relocate them after JT's favorite hiding place became the cabinet they used to be in. He would pull them out, throw everything on the floor, and climb in, close the door and hide...so I decided to move them to safe myself some dishes. :)

The chairs are stacked up along the wall because JT uses them to climb from the chairs to the table to his high chair and then to the counter. So...we only have the chairs set up when we are using them.

This is JT's very own room! He never had one until we moved here. It was a tiny bit of an adjustment, but he loves it now. :)
That banner is the banner that they made him in the NICU...I haven't been able to give it up just yet.

No, it's not clean, but he is a boy that loves to play! So we clean it up before bedtime. :)

And, last but not least, our room. This is the dumping ground for things that JT can't get in to. Tom's parents recently cleaned out their garage, so Tom has a huge stack of boxes he needs to go through, but it works for now. :)

I guess that is all for now! I will hopefully be able to do another blog post within the next couple of days and catch you up on the deeper stuff in our lives. :) Promise to keep you posted!
And for your viewing pleasure...just some little things we've done since February....

JT and I threw Tom a surprise party to celebrate his finals being over after a whole year of completed classes and amazing grades!

 We went to go and see 4014 "The Big Boy" train twice while it was going through Utah! We went to go and see it in Salt Lake with my family and then again in Ogden with Tom's dad. :) SUPER COOL!!

 We went to a reenactment of the Golden Spike at Promontory Summit. We met Tom's dad with Sean, Ben, and Brig there and had a blast!

We bought helmets and bicycles and a baby trailer and started biking together! I miss it actually, it has been too hot. And since we moved we don't really know where a good biking trail is yet. :)