the first popsicle of summer

Well, I guess it's Max's first popsicle ever. His initial reaction was pretty funny, but after that, he loved it! Of course I had to strip him down and take him outside (I knew it would be messy). We had so much fun spending the day with Darren, Jody, Hadlee and baby Karson. Max laughed non-stop hysterically at Hadley for HOURS. It was a sight to be seen, she didn't have to do anything and he would just start busting up laughing at her! Thanks for the fun day!

To see brand new baby Karson and his big sister Hadley, click here.

brrrrrr!

Hangin' out with Hadley

just love me next week.

because chances are, I am going to need a friend or two to help me keep it together.  The last few weeks have been photos galore and next week I have two engagement shoots and a wedding. In fact, all of May and June are going to be pretty nuts! I keep thinking I am going to take on less, and I keep not doing it. Woops! So if you find me wandering aimlessly at Target with a blank stare in my eyes, point me towards the magazine isle and make sure I have some milk in my cart. I probably came for the milk, but really need the magazine and a bubble bath. So if I forget to call you back or am a little slow returning your e-mail, hang in there with me. ok?

Furthermore, for a scheduling update, see my photo blog.

p.s. Thanks Stephanie for showing how to round my corners! I appreciate your advice!

sorry

something weird is going on with my blog- my previous post is skipping to the next line in the middle of a the word and other odd things. but it's my birthday, so you have to read it anyway. sorry.

ON APRIL 24th,

1184 BC - Greeks enter Troy using the Trojan Horse.

1833 Patent granted for first soda fountain

1907 Hersheypark, founded by Milton S. Hershey, for the exclusive use of his employees is opened.

1929 A non-stop England to India flight takes-off

1953 Winston Churchill knighted by Queen Elizabeth II

1961 Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers struck out 18 batters in a game this day, becoming the first major-

league pitcher to do so on two different occasions.

1969 Paul McCartney says their is no truth to the rumours he is dead

1989 Massachusetts declares today "New Kids on the Block Day"  

1983 Jessica Lynn Rands (later 

Kettle) was born in Bellevue, WA, 

the first child of Jon and Becky. 

Boy were they lucky. 

As of today, I am officially 25. I had an AMAZING day! 

Danny took the whole day off (which if any of you know Danny or what it's like to 

start a new business, you know this is a BIG deal) just to hang out 

with me. I dragged him all over Salt Lake doing what?? SHOPPING. It was pure bliss. Danny didn't complain ONCE, even though I took him to antique shops (junk stores, he calls them)and little boutiques all over the place. What a trooper!

He even got me the most FABULOUS mustard yelloweyish pea green 

settee, which he hates and I love. He was refusing, I walked away to

look at some other things, and when I came back, he had already 

payed for it. IT WAS THEN THAT I KNEW HE REALLY LOVED ME. 

We also hit The Gateway to play at the Apple Store and snack on some

Ben's cookies. mmmmm. We went with our neighbors to Corbin's for 

dinner, absolutely amazing. We had molten chocolate cake for dessert,

which as about as good a birthday cake as a girl can ask for.

DID I MENTION WE GOT A BABYSITTER all day?We dropped him off right 

around 11 and didn't pick him up until 6:45, when he joined us for 

dinner.

Hands down. Best Birthday ever.

Here's how it feels to be 25:

Painful- my butt cheeks are still sore from the gym. A sure sign of 

age.

Exciting- who doesn't love a birthday??

Loved- thanks to all my wonderful friends and family who called, 

e-mailed, and texted me. I love you!

Blessed- I am one lucky girl. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful

son, and the coolest family on the planet, a job I love and the 

comfort offaith in my life. I can think of a lot of other ways I'm 

lucky (YELLOW SETTEE ANYONE???) but I think that those are pretty 

much all that matters.

Happy Birthday to me. Here's to another year of fun.

Old School

This afternoon, Max and I drove on down to Provo to help Jordan move out of the BYU dorms (I even went inside. Scandalous!). Afterward we decided to cruise around Provo, hitting Maestro's for some delicious crepes and gelato, The Flower Basket Boutique (newest obsession), and the COAL UMBRELLA, where I saw these retro couches and fell in love. I had to take some pics of my little man in his cowboy digs, which were thankfully in the car! Enjoy these fun vintage vibe pics with some old school processing. For the record, I am officially withdrawing any foul thing I ever said about Provo. It has a few spots that are WELL worth the drive!

Jordy and Max. We are really going to miss him!

celeb sightings

On friday night, we went to dinner at Cucina Toscana in SLC. IT WAS AMAZING. Highly recommend it for a special night out! Our food was seriously unbelievable. Asparagus stuffed ravioli with four cheese sauce anyone? I think I am drooling right now. 

While I was there, I saw this girl walk by. 

{Ashley Tisdale, or to some of you, Sharpay}

I think they're in the middle of filming HS MUSICAL 4.  Apparently three was just NOT enough...? She was strutting her stuff past our table to the back of the restaurant with her nose job up in the air. So funny. For all you H.S.M. fans, sorry. I didn't get a pic or autograph. 

Side note, can we talk about brand flashing for a sec? This picture cracks me up.  I think it is so far beyond tacky. Why no just hold it in front of your face if you want to show it off that bad? If you can afford a $5,000 bag (or a $200 bag for that matter) do you really feel the need to advertise it to the world by plastering the logo all over the place? Why don't you buy one that's actually cute and then run around telling everyone, "want to know how much my bag costs?" I think it's about equal on the tacky scale, but at least you would have a cute purse. Or maybe you should leave the price tag on. Or tattoo Louis Vuitton on your wrist.  So here's a tip from me. Having a logo clad bag (shoes, shirt, whatever) doesn't make you cute.  It makes you rich or maybe just bad with money or an impulsive buyer. I would be so much more impressed if you spent $20 bucks on a fabulous Target bag.

Thus endeth the vent sesh. 

Sunny Spain

Remember this boy? {my brother Jordan, for those of you who really don't}

well, soon he's going to look like this- missionary tag, 

B.O.M., tie, sombrero.... 

(okay, maybe no sombrero)

Because JORDAN JEFFREY RANDS just received his MISSION CALL to

MADRID, SPAIN!!!

Now, we all know that Jordan it the golden child. He always gets his way and my parents think that every stupid thing he does is just hilarious (the rest of us aren't bitter or anything). But the crazy thing is, Jordan has been saying for the last year that if he could choose anywhere to serve, IT WOULD BE SPAIN because he wants to continue learning Spanish, but he really wanted to go to Europe. Best of both worlds. 

Spoiled by mom. 

And God?

Seriously though, we could not be any happier for his call. We all just hoped that no matter where he was called that he would be happy and excited. Jordan is absolutely over the moon. No one even believed him at first when he told us! We didn't all open it together. Jord  had to do it his way- hike up a mountain and open it by himself. We didn't even know he had the letter! He said he couldn't believe it himself. He even had "happy tears!" I really don't think I have ever heard him so excited in his life. It doesn't hurt that his best friend is going to Spain too, three weeks before him, and they will be in the MTC together. Jordan is outta here on September 3rd, so we have a while to go, but we are so glad we get to spend the summer with him.

In the mean time, Tyler will have a fantastic time continuing to tell the world, 

"JORDAN IS GOING ON A MISSION TO SUNNY SPAIN!"

He was ecstatic. 

the next day, it snowed.

After Max's afternoon nap, he's usually NOT in the best mood. I usually try to remedy this with a change of pace. We walk over to a neighbor's house, play at the playground, whatever. Today being no exception, we just needed to get OUT, despite the fact it was raining a little. 

He perked right up at the mention of going outside.

Unfortunately, by the time he was bundled up and we got Max and his car outside, it was starting to snow. But I thought, since we were out there, why not just see what happens.

This happened. The funny thing is, I think he was more mad that I was in his way trying to take a picture than he was about the snow. Regardless, we went in.

He didn't like that idea one bit. 

Maybe tomorrow will be better, little guy. 

Sunshiney Day

Today was JUST what I needed. 82 degrees. Good friends. Shopping. Fun. 

Laci, Chelsea and I (not to mention our slew of munchkins) went on down to the Gateway for little fun in the city. We spent like 50 hours at Forever 21, where our children all went psycho (seriously I think the sales associates were ready to murder us), there was no air conditioning, and we took many trips in and out and up and down the elevator. For the record, Forever 21 has no elevator or escalator, meaning that if you are a stroller clad mama like myself, you pick out clothes on the first level, start a room, go outside to the elevator, enter the upper level F21, pick out more clothes, send an associate down with your clothes or run downstairs while a friend watches your rugrat, and then go back out and down the elevator. Nightmare. Heaven forbid you grab the WRONG size. Oh and did I mention they have no bathroom? Poor Navi had to pee. Twice. Poor Laci had to take her to old navy. Twice. But in the end, it was so worth it. We loaded UP!

After melting off a good 20 pounds in the store (at least we will look fab in our new clothes) we hit the fountains! Sweet relief. Kids out, cooled off, we sat. 

At first, 

she watched. 

he watched. 

And then, 

she got brave

and soaked. 

And he

got brave, and a little wet. 

p.s. I look wretched and giant in the above photo. Don't judge me. 

Not EVERYONE was too sure about the water. 

But Lauren (I think? Why can I never tell them apart in pictures!? I swear I can in person.) had a blast running around the outside and clapping for really good bursts of water. It was hilarious!

After that we shopped some more and ate cookies. Because no outing is complete with out a little chocolate chip love. 

Thanks girls for the crazy fun day. Love ya. 

a little cute and a whole lotta funny

cute....

{click to enlarge}

I love you, silly.

nice to meet you.

Tonight Danny, Max and I went to Ogden to visit our dear friends Darren and Jody and their brand new baby Carson (or Karson). This little man is just the sweetest thing. He's so tiny (6.14, 20 inches) and I think he looks just like his big sister Hadley!  Carson was three weeks early and had a little NICU sleep over last night so he could hang out under the heat lamps and stay nice and toasty. Mom and baby are doing great though and will both be released tomorrow! Yay! It was cool going to the NICU, it brought back lots of memories! We even scrubbed in with the exact same little sponges that they had at Saddleback.  It made me want to shrink up my own big baby and rewind to that new baby time of my life with new baby smells and new baby clothes and new baby fingernails. I even missed our three long weeks of trips to the NICU. Sigh.

The lights were off in the NICU and no flash is allowed, so I couldn't get the best pics. DON'T WORRY. More to come next week! For the meantime, here is our little buddy, who was fast asleep with a little scowl on his face. We think he was having a bad dream. =) Congratulations on the newest addition Darren, Jody and Hadee!

{Picture of the Day}

this guy

wakes up cranky. 

hence the tear, dripping over his nose.

Too bad I didn't the camera in time to catch him laying like this, screaming at me. it was funny. You would have liked it.

Children's Museum with the Rands Boys/ Tylerisms

On Monday, Max and I went to the children's museum with Tyler (who was more excited than Max) and my Dad ( who was a very good sport). As soon as we got there Tyler went NUTS, running wild all over the place! I loved it. He was way too excited to check out one room at a time. So after about a half hour of sprinting here there and everywhere, he seemed to have an idea of the best rooms, and spent most of his time playing in the ball room and at the water center.

 Max was pretty chill, unfortunately he's a little too small for much of what the museum has to offer, but give him six months, it's going to be a whole new ball game. I'm thinkin' season passes. So fellow moms, let's unite in pass purchasing this fall. What a perfect winter outing!
Dad and Ty, thank you so much for coming out to stay with us last week. We had a blast! I love you guys. Thanks for the fun. 

....Scroll down for a GREAT Tyler stories....

{climbing}

{sliding}

{Max and "pops" as I like to call him}

{my brother Tyler. He's the best.}

There are of course, numerous moments of every day you spend with Tyler when you would like to just laugh forever at some of the things that come out of Tyler's mouth. Every time he speaks to Max, he calls him "Maxwell" or "little buddy" it melts me. Especially when he scoops him up and talks to him face to face and tells him that he is a handsome little prince. We miss this guy already!

I have narrowed it down to the TOP TWO Tyler moments of the trip. 

{THE LONG GOODBYE ... or so he thought.}

On sunday, we went down to Provo to be a part of Jordan's big day- he was ordained an elder!

We spent some time afterward just shooting the breeze in the lounge area of Stover Hall, which is so chic by the way (but it was the only place I was allowed).

We talked about Jordan's upcoming mission, where he will go, how he will open his call, what we're going to do with his stuff when he leaves. You know. The usual.  Then we talked about who would be the most upset when we said our final goodbyes to Jord. All votes go to mom, but Mackenzie and I came in second, and Dad said he would cry, but not fall apart (like the girls). We then Turned to Tyler.

"Ty, are you going to cry when you say goodbye to Jordan before his mission?"

"mmmm, No." (nonchalantly)

"why not?"

"Because I'll see him real soon" (in his typical singsongy voice)

We then explain that when Jord goes on his mission, that we won't see or talk to him for TWO YEARS. He accepts our explanation, seemingly unfazed. 

Later Jordan walks us out to the car. Everyone says their goodbyes, leaving Tyler and Jordan. 

Let me paint a picture for you. 

My two brothers. About the same height, Tyler in one of his usual Adidas get ups. Jordan in his usual button up and skinny jeans. They stand about a foot away from eachother, hands straight down at their sides. They each have this funny little smirky smiles on their faces. It's a Tyler face. 

"Goodbye Tyler"

"Goodbye Jordan"

 

...pause...

"See you in two years!" (upbeat)

I LITERALLY CANNOT REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I LAUGHED THIS HARD. I think I almost fell over. For real. We all about died trying to suck in some air as we laughed and explained that he didn't have to say goodbye to Jordan for his mission yet. HILLARIOUS, SWEET, SILLY BROTHER, I LOVE YOU. How boring life would be without you to entertain us!

Ok, sorry. I'm so tired. I will have to save story #2 for tomorrow. 

Conference Weekend

Round I:

Saturday

We had a lovely time taking care of Max, who apparently ate something that did not agree with him. He barfed his guts out at the beginning of the session. We cleaned him up, gave him a shower, and he seemed tired, but fine. We were all worried about him, but he ended up not being sick again after that afternoon! What the heck. We all (me, Max, Danny, my Dad, Tyler and Jordan) watched general conference in my living room. During the last talk, we looked over and saw THIS.

Jordan and Max 

upon further inspection... 

quick interjection- thanks nana for sending my blabla monkey with pops. 

love, Max

ROUND II

Sunday

On our way down to Provo to have Jordan ordained (congrats Elder! Jord is turning his mission papers on MONDAY!!!), we stopped by Lindsey's house to see a TON of Seattle friends who were in town! I am so glad we were able to catch up for a bit. Love all these guys!

the whole gang

friends from "our generation" I love this pic because Tyler, Lyns and Megan look perfect, while the rest of us are trying to get a handle on our crazy kids. ha! I really enjoyed meeting Summer and Dani (Ben and Matt's wives) for the first time. They were so fun- us gals couldn't have hoped for cooler girls for our buddies! We think they married up. 

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE

here's proof.

and here

and here

and here. What can I say?! I love these girls, we bring out the CRAZY in each other. 

Did we sit and enjoy the words of the last session? No. We were busy chasing these two wild ones around. James is Max's new partner in crime! They were all over the place, but hilarious! Too bad Matt, Dani and James are moving to Texas. =( we had a blast with them!

Notice this Tyler refused to be in the group pictures. Notice the grin on his face when we asked him to pose for one with Katie and one with Landon (not pictured). That's love!

For any of you who do not know, this is my adorable little brother (ok he's only 3 years younger than me)  Tyler, who has Autism. Isn't he CUTE? He picks favorites obviously! We love him anyway. More to come on this funny guy! =)

Well, it looks like I will be re-watching the talks online. Between puke and busy babies, I can't say I got to soak in all the spirituality of the weekend. I loved the bits and pieces I heard ... =)

a serious conversation

~something sweet, to make up for the ickyness of previous posts~

Every morning Max wakes up EARLY. Between 6:00 and 7:00 usually, which is absolutely torture to me! So our morning routine is all about distraction- first we lay in bed and I nurse him (while I sleep) and if I'm lucky, he goes back to sleep too. When he doesn't, often I unplug the phone on our night stand, cuddle him up to me, and let him play while I rest, hoping he doesn't decide to slam the reciever to my head. Here is Max in my bed, playing with the phone. He loooves phones these days, I even caught him talking into a thermometer today.

Did I mention my dad is in town?

Sooo proud of himself, pulling the "funny face!"

work it baby, work it.