A Room of His Own

I saw this room in an AMAZING baby store in Bellevue called Merry-go-Round. Love, love, love it. The bedding combined with the sock monkeys and art work (not to mention the onsie hanging from the shelf)- inspired. The giraffe mobile in the corner is produced by MOMA. They also had a sheep one that was really cool. Three white sheep and a black one. I wanted it all!

My Beautiful Nieces: Lillie, Ivie, and Saige

Okay. Could they be ANY cuter? Love em. In case you are wondering, I am taking pictures of all my nieces and nephews right now because I am working on a book of photographs for my mother-in- law for mother's day (obviously she'll be recieving it late).

The pictures of all three looking at the camera are few, let alone one of all three smiling!

Lillie is five and such a little model! She posed like a champ. There were so many good pictures of her it was hard to choose! She is such a pretty girl and so photogenic. It's hard to believe she is going to start kindergarten next year!

Ivie is so cute, but she is three and a half, and a little harder to keep focused! I was lucky to have a few good shots- we have lots of silly face pictures of Ives. But in one sense, it's nice to remember her silliness too.

Last there is Saige, who will be two in October. She wasn't too sure about me, but we managed to get a few anyway!

Finally, Max's Blessing

Max was blessed on May 6th in Sugarhouse in Danny's grandparent's ward. I have been procrastinating this blog for a while now because all my pictures are bad! The blessing itself went great, no crying, and Danny did a beautiful job. Afterward, Max had a bit of an incident. After I fed Max and spend about 20 seconds with our friends and family, this happened. BEFORE I had taken a single picture of my baby in his blessing outfit! So I layed some paper towels under him and snapped a few anyway. But, they aren't so great. We also had a ton of friends and family there, which meant so much to us! Did I get any pictures of them? No. I was busy dealing with a poopy baby. By the time I was done and had a second to eat, people were on there way out. So, I'm lame, but it was a great day anyway!

Here we are after he got all changed. As you can tell, he was thrilled.

just the two of us

Blakelee took this cute picture of me and Max. If only I had a little makeup on! I love pictures of just the two of us- there aren't many because I am usually always the one behind the camera. Thanks Blake!

Many faces of Max

Max is getting so much more animated- I love it! Not to mention huge- I am dying to know what he weighs at his next doctors appointment. I love this first picture because he is making full eye contact with the camera- which is hard to get! It makes me melt every time I look at it.

Here is Max in the middle of a giant laugh/smile. He laughed for real for the first time a few days ago, but he usually makes this face like he is laughing- only no sound really comes out. It's so cute!
Max when he is excited. He always does this when he smiles- first he gets all excited and breathes really fast. He opens his mouth like this and shakes his head and will track you (or whatever he's excited about) with his eyes. He is usually flailing his arms and kicking his legs at the same time!
Sticking his tongue out- as I mentioned a few posts ago he does it all the time. Apparently he has just discovered it. He kinda sticks it out repeatedly like he's licking his lips over and over.

Some other updates on Max: we are still working on a new schedule. I was putting him to bed around 10 so that he would sleep through the night- until about 6. Now I am slowly trying to get closer to putting him down around 7:30 0r 8, which means he probably won't sleep through the night for a while, but I think it will be better in the long run.

Max still poops up his back, up his hip, or out his leg almost every day. ANY SUGGESTIONS?! I use good diapers (pampers or huggies), put them on tight, even tried putting them on so they come way up in the back, but nothing helps. The stuff usually shoots strait up his crack and he ends up with much more in his clothes that in the diaper, so it's not like it's overflowing. I am stumped.

SPT- Make new friends and keep the old

I was pretty excited to see this week's assignment because I have recently had the chance to get together with some "old friends," a few teammates from USU gymnastics. Right before I left California, I got together with Kelcy, Kyla, and Kristin (a.k.a. Bloomie).

I hadn't seen Kyla and Kelcy since I was a senior, and Bloom since I was a sophomore! It was so much fun to catch up with them and find out what they are all up to these days. Kelcy is a personal trainer now- which so doesn't surprise me! She has always loved to work out. It was funny to see her in the way I was so used to- in a workout top and sweats. It was like she never changed! Kyla is so funny- we had fun shopping around Huntington and it felt just like old times! She cracks me up and is always up for a good time. Bloomie is in nursing school (I am trying to convince her to become a NICU nurse) and loving it. She recently broke up with the guy she has been dating since her freshman year (this is a good thing) and is dating someone new, who she says is amazing and treats her like a princess. I am so happy for her! I had a great time at lunch with the three of them.

I got to see Sarah while I was in Denver, and I haven't seen her since our sophomore year (about 4 years ago!) but when we got together it felt like we had never been apart- I love when that happens! We went to the outlets together and ordered pizza- yum. It was cool because we are in very similar places in life- her little boy Austin is six months older than Max, and she and her husband Ryan were married a few months after Danny and I. You can see her blog under Sarah and Ryan. She is so much fun and I loved that we were able to get right back into the swing of things. I was also so happy to be able to see Austin dedicated at her church on mother's day, just one week after Max was blessed(which I swear I am going to blog about). I loved spending time with Sarah!

As for new friends, I suppose that is going to be a big part of the next chapter in my life, when we get settled in Utah. One part of me is excited to see the changes and new friends I will meet but sometimes I feel like I am sick of starting over and making new friends- we have moved so much! But it will be fun since there will probably be a lot of other young moms to get to know. I am also very excited to get to spend time with our old friends in Utah again. It will be great!

Cody Jay

This is my insanely cute and mischevious nephew Cody. Somehow I was able to convince him to pose for me! Not an easy feat when working with two year olds.

aaaaaa done! says Cody

The lovely Guest girls

While I was in Denver, I took some family portraits of the Guest girls on Mother's Day. They are so cute and have grown up so much since I first met them. Here are a few of my favorites.

The setting: Castle Rock, CO

The girls- I love how natural they are in this shot.

Karly. I have been playing with combining color with black and white.

Blakelee

Mother's Day/ Self Portrait Tuesday (one day early)

A little introduction to Self Portrait Tuesday (STP). My friend Becca does it with her blog friends, and I am inviting myself (and everyone else) to join in. I don't think they know that I (or we) are, but it's pretty cool and it gives you good ideas of things to blog about. People follow the guidelines pretty loosely, which is nice. So I think I/we should. All the cool bloggers are doing it. So for anyone who wants to, I posted the link on my blog.

Ok. I probably should be posting cute pictures of Max for Mother's Day, but I am feeling too lazy to upload them all! We went to Denver for a long weekend and had so much fun! I had a great first Mother's Day. First of all, I did not change a single diaper. Not a one, and Max had some extra stinky ones. My sweet husband changed them all, which was soooo nice. I think Max intentionally made an effort not to poop on his church outfit though, which was very considerate of him, because he always stinks up the nicest ones. After sacrament meeting, I got to see Sarah and Ryan's little Austin be dedicated at their church- South East Christian. It was a really nice service and Austin is absolutely adorable. Danny's cousin Michelle made this amazing recipe for pork chops that was their Grandma Kettle's specialty, and they were amazing. I don't even like pork chops that much normally, but they were delicious. Later that evening, we took Danny's cousin's daughters (Mackenzie, Blakelee, and Karly- the cutest girls ever) outside to these cool rocks and I took pictures of them. It's fun to take pictures of kids who actually smile when you tell them too, unlike Max, who prefers to smile extra big when there is no camera in sight! I'll post the family pictures later. Like I said, feeling too lazy.

I was so surprised when I opened a little purple box with this beautiful gold necklace in it! I really wanted a necklace with an M on it (for Max duh), and I had seen this one in a shop in Laguna Beach months ago. With some help (or maybe a lot of help) from Brittney and my mom, he ordered it for me! I was so happy- I love to be surprised that way, and I am usually pretty hard for Danny to shop for (I always ask for gift cards and am never surprised). So it was so so so sweet of Danny (and Mom and Britt) to get it for me. I know it will be something I will cherish forever! Maybe it will be a cool family heirloom down the line or something. I love that kind of thing.

(me and my mom in Denmark while pregnant with Max)

I am so thankful for my two boys and I am so thankful to be a mom. I am also so so so thankful for my own mom, who is seriously my best friend in the world. I admire her in so many ways- she is so kind to everyone, and she takes such good care of her four crazy kids and one funny grandson. She is so talented, I hope to be able to do half of the things she does so well one day. She throws the best parties ever. She can cook anything! People always ask me- can you cook like your mom does? The answer: uh, no. Not even close! But I try to pick up some of the good stuff along the way. My mom is an awesome runner and she always makes being fit a priority. She loves to play tennis, and when she plays golf, she runs from hole to hole. She has the most energy of anyone I know! She is so outgoing, and I think people are really drawn to her because of it. That and because she is the kind of person who will bend over backward to be there for you. My mom is super fun and crazy, never gets embarrassed, and never cares what other people think, even when she's at her wildest! She sings in loud and dances in the car, talks to strangers about random things, and asks for exactly (very specifically) what she wants and lots of it at restaurants. We sometimes make a game of what funny things we can get her to do in public (sorry mom, but it's funny). I LOVE that about her, even though we always tease her about it. She is a great missionary and is the best example of a strong Mormon woman. She is always so considerate. Sometimes we have to remind her to take care of herself! She always is honest with me and gives me the best advice, always without being rude or pushy about it, and her opinion means more to me than ANYONE elses. I love that she always believes in me, even when she probably shouldn't. She always believes that I can do anything, like if she sees a piece of art, or something creative, she always says "Jess, you could totally do that!" It's so nice to know she thinks so, even if I really can't. =)

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My mom was also such a great mom when I was little! She put up with a lot of attitude (shocker), and always made time just for me, even though there were four of us and Tyler often needed extra attention. I always felt as the oldest that I had an extra special relationship with my mom, but now that I think of it, I bet all of my siblings would say the same thing. She always read me a million stories, which is why I believe I love to read so much today. She is incredibly creative, which is why I love to express myself creatively too. I also get my love of gymnastics from my mom. I think a big part of why I wanted to compete in college was because she did, and I was always so proud to have such a great athlete for a mom.

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I also know how much Max is going to love her more and more as he gets older. I can tell he already as a special love for her. They are little buddies! I am so happy that she was there for Max's birth. The whole situation was pretty scary with Max being so premature, but the only time I got really scared was when there was a chance of her not making it in time. I knew I couldn't have gone through it without her! I could write for days and you would never understand what an amazing mom and woman Becky Rands is, or how much I love and look up to her. Thank you will never be enough. Sometimes I take a step back and look at how rich my life is because of my family. Yesterday was one of those days. It's crazy how fast life comes at you sometimes, but I am glad to know that my family and the gospel will always be the center of my life and always keep me grounded. I'll never understand why I lucked out so well in life. I have it pretty dang good I would say. Mom, I love you!

New Lens!

My mom and dad got me the sigma 70 mm macro lens for my birthday. I am so excited! It allows you to take pictures really close up (it will focus an like an inch away from your subject) and it is a SUPER sharp focus, so you get great detail. It has been so much fun to use and it has allowed me to take some fun portraits. Hopefully I will keep getting better at using it; it takes some work to get the focus just right, probably because it isn't a zoom lens. Thank you so much Mom and Dad- I love you and I look forward to sending you more pictures of your grandbaby! Here are a couple I have taken so far.

Baby blues. I love being able to get so close. I love details!

Notice Max's tounge sticking out- it's his new thing.