How we do fall.

give me all the fall candles- Doesn't anyone else have a collection of bath and body works candles in their pantry? those have been burning in our house all day everyday. Can you ever get sick of them? i definitely don't think so. so obsessed with all those yummy pumpkin spice smells. My favorites this season are pumpkin spice, marshmallow fireside, leaves, pumpkin marshmallow annnnd so many others.

piles and piles of cozy blankets- pulling out all the fluffy cozy blankets out of the closets. The other night the kids and I made a blanket fort. I love getting a pile of blankets out and having movie nights as a family or netflix dates with the husband after the babes go to bed. 

starbucks steamers- I wish their caramel brûlée steamer with vanilla wasn't so good. 

barns and noble- we go to barns and noble a lot during the year but we seem to go even more often in the fall time. my kids love going to the book store and stocking up on all the fun holiday books or just sitting and reading for an hour or two.

canyon drives- fall canyon drives in utah are out of this world. something about a sunday drive through the alpine loop while the leaves are changing colors brings back so many memories of dating my husband and falling in love with him for the first time. We took that drive today as a family and our kids love it. not to mention all those crunchy leaves on the ground for them to play in for hours.

family movie nights- family movie nights are on repeat at our house. It gets dark so early here which means we've bumped up bedtime by an hour! (happy dance) . movie nights help us all wind down a little and also allows us to get in a lot of snuggles before we send noah and penny off to bed. Lately we've been watching halloween classics.

pumpkins- pumpkins pumpkins everywhere. I love stopping by the grocery store and seeing bins and bins of pumpkins. Our house has slowly collected pumpkin after pumpkin this fall season and it makes me happy.

comfort foods- tis the season for crock pot meals which not only make your home smell amazing throughout the day but its so nice to throw it all in and let it cook all day not having to worry about it around dinner time. I will have to post my favorite chili recipe that i could eat everyday. oh and we can't get enough of those pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!

sweaters- i have a sweater obsession this fall. I have ordered so many and i can't get enough. FYI if you're looking for the perfect sweaters and for a good price look online at forever 21. They have so many good ones this year! 

dressing warm and wearing boots and slippers and ankle socks is also one of my favorite parts about fall.

my better half.

Yesterday marked 4 years since my Chan stole my heart. I remember our first date, he took me on a drive to see the Alpine Loop since I had never been and really wanted to go.

It was a perfect October fall day and we had no clue where we'd be now.

I remember just talking about the little things in our lives that had gotten us to where we were that day. Times that made us happy, times that made us sad, things we love and everything in-between. It's like one of those cheesy moments where I can say, I felt like I had known him forever. 

He has this way about him, a tenderness that radiates and makes you feel so calm, so safe and so comfortable while around him and I love that so much. I love how understanding he is, how caring he is towards all things, how great of a listener he is, the amazing husband he is and the sweetest dad he is to our Noah. Noah is so lucky. I am so lucky. We love him so so much!

 I don't remember what life was like without him. But I do know that he has made me the happiest.

I love you, Chan. 

^^^ Alpine Loop Oct. 10th, 2009. We were so so little here. ^^^

Love day.

^^^This little Valentine of mine got some new fun things for his first Valentines day!
He was so wide eyed looking back at us like, FOR ME!?
While going back and grabbing them and putting them up to his mouth. 

This Valentines day was real simple for us this year.
With it being one of my favorite Holidays I knew I would be heartbroken leaving this little baby of ours behind,
especially on HIS very first Valentines day.
I mean, he is our little valentine too!!!
Until he of course meets the girl of his dreams and doesn't need his mama over here anymore.
Lets just hope thats a very long ways away....

So we stayed home for the night and Chandler made me a homemade steak dinner (his specialty)
and it was delish!

 The heart garlands were made by me. I was a little nervous at first but they were so easy and fast! 

I thought I would add a string filled with polaroids of our loved ones.

The chalkboard was made my by sister and I love it! I want to make more!
I love doing a little chalkboard art for the holidays and I think I'm needing a bigger one.
Maybe a whole chalkboard wall for Noah's room someday.

Hope your Valentines day was filled with lots of LOVE!

xoxo

50 things you probably didn't know.

about him & her.

1. He could eat cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner

2. She is allergic to Gluten 

3. He lived in Switzerland for 2 years

4. She dreams of going to Europe 

5. He likes movies and basketball

6. She likes fashion magazines and decorating

7. He is the oldest of a family of 3

8. She is the second baby of a family of 6

9. He was born in the small town of Provo, Utah

10. She was born in San Diego, California

11. His childhood nickname was Chan the Man

12. She was called Baby Cakes

13. He is majoring in Accounting

14. She loves being a full time mommy

15. He speaks french

16. She... doesn't speak french

17. He wants a Siberian Husky

18. She wants an English Bulldog

19. He wakes up early

20. She loves to sleep in

21. He loves peanut butter and honey sandwiches 

22. She hated peanut butter until she tried his peanut butter and honey sandwiches

23. He can sing

24. She can't sing a thing

25. He loves sushi

26. She now loves sushi

27. He always kisses her and baby goodbye in the mornings

28. She and baby are always still asleep

29. He can eat whatever he wants and never get fat

30. She would probably get fat

31. He proposed to her while on a picnic the day before her birthday

32. She scratched her engagement ring the next day from a long boarding accident 

33. He makes the best avocado egg sandwiches

34. She loves to bake sweets

35. He dreamed of being in the NBA as a child

36. She dreamed of being a rockstar or a olympian ice skater.

37. He loves banana pancakes and french toast

38. She loves crepes full of strawberries or peaches

39. He loves the fall time

40. She loves the spring time

41. He is a smarty pants and loves school

42. She was home schooled 

43. He calls her babe way too much

44. She calls him babe way too much

45. He loves music

46. She just loves dancing in the car

47. He likes his cake in a bowl of milk

48. She likes her brownies in a bowl of milk

49. He loves her

50. She loves him

happy 5 months on the 8th

Noah man!

You are such a happy boy who loves to talk and talk and talk! 

You absolutely LOVE your name and understand when it is said to you.

You are getting to be a very busy guy who scoots and rolls all over the place. Today was your very first "real" time rolling from your back to your tummy and we got it on video!

You have discovered your toesies and love to grab those feet and pull them to your mouth.

Mornings are the happiest waking up to your sweet little voice talking or laughing waiting for us to get up with you. You love to cuddle with mama and dad in bed and touch our faces or hold our hands

until you fall asleep. Bath time is still something you love and I am sure it will only get to be more

of your favorite thing!

You are still so interested in food and want to try it sooo bad, only one more month!

You love to walk around and look at new things.

I love how much you try to talk through your frustrations instead of crying until you get

what you want/need. You've been blowing bubbles like crazy and soaking your chin

in spit.

Sometimes you start your very own baby conversations that last about 15 minutes and

it cracks us up. You are getting really good at grabbing your toys, feet, our hands, mama's hair and sometimes your very own hair. When you grab your hair you cry because you can't let go of it :)

You love music and you are loving being read to.

You are a very curious baby and when you want something you pucker your lips and crunch your

eyebrows while trying your hardest to get it in your hands or mouth.

I can tell you want to crawl so badly! 

So we will have to work on that and you sitting on your own. 

Happy 5 months baby boy!

We are excited to see how much you grow this next one ahead!

hello

November.

Time is flying by and i find myself way too busy to blog! But this month I want to do most of my blog posts on what I am most thankful for.
So today I'm starting out with my greatest blessing!
my oh-so-sweet HUSBAND who I am so lucky to spend the rest of forever with.
I love that my days begin with him and my days end with him. If only I could spend ALL day LONG with him! I miss that man every second we are away from each other and I still get so excited to see him come home at the end of the day.
Chandler has never missed a day leaving to work without kissing me goodbye, whether I'm asleep or he's in a hurry.
He has always done that one little thing that makes my days start out the best. And now he does the same for Noah and it makes me melt watching him be a loving dad to our son.
Chan is a great dad and I already know our children will look up to him and love him unconditionally.
I feel overwhelmed with gratitude for this man in my life for all that he has done for me and all that he is doing for our family and for our future.

I continue to fall in love with him and my love for him is and will always be never ending.

Love you, babe.

Noah's blessing.

Our little Noah was blessed by his dad in our LDS church on Sunday, October 14th.

It was a very special day for us and we were happy to see so many friends and family there!

Thank you to all of those who came and especially those who drove from far places to support 

and meet our little guy.

We are so blessed to have such sweet people in our lives!

more pictures to come of Noah in his blessing outfit.

Noah's first month.

It is definitely an adjustment being parents for the first time, but we have been so blessed with Noah.
Here is him having his first bath at home the night we got home from the hospital.
I was so stressed giving him this bath with his dad. He does not like being cold one bit so sponge baths are definitely not his fave.

he has such a long body! long arms, long legs, long torso, long fingers and even long feet and toes.
he is always stretching that tired body!

after leaving the hospital we went to visit grandma laura.
and we got a speeding ticket on the way home... boo

this is Noah at 4:00am after a feeding.
Noah will wake up for one or two feedings in the night and fall right back to sleep.
I love this time with him. It's so hard for me to sleep sometimes because I just want to hold him and soak in this newborn stage as much as possible!

they say babies only smile this early out of reflex... but i know my baby dreams of heaven because he is ALWAYS giggling and smiling in his sleep.

I love these big eyes and chubby cheeks!

my little lion! Noah was a little jaundice when he was born so he's a little orange here.

Ooooh my goodness i love this boy

so tiny in his swing. we will see if he loves this later!

here we took Noah out for the first time. we went to get ice cream at the marble slab

His little smirks melt me. I love them!

Chandler and I have wavy thick hair and Noah's is always straight and fluffy except for bath time. isn't it sooo cute? I think his hair will have wave to it the more it grows in

Noah laying in his crib for the very first time. We don't let him sleep in here yet.
He sleeps in a cradle next to our bed for now.

snoozing away! his favorite thing... aside from eating of course!