Happy 4th of July

We decided that since we were going to be having a baby 2 days later, that we were going to really live up the 4th of July with Jackson.  We wanted to cram all of the stuff that was going to be much more difficult to do with a newborn all into one day.  It made for a crazy day, but it was so much fun!  Here's a snapshot of what we did.

We started off the day bright and early at the Provo Hot Air Balloon Festival. Jackson sees hot air balloons around Heber on a semi-regular basis and thinks they're pretty cool, so we thought he might like seeing a bunch of them up close. He loved it. It was lots of fun to see them filling up the balloons and taking off.

 

Next we headed up to 7 Peaks for a while.  We have the pass of all passes this summer and have loved it.  We went to the water park and played (even though they don't let pregnant women go on any slides or rides) then headed to my parents house for naptime.




Jackson took this picture.  Not too bad actually ;-)

 Then we met up with Deanne, Candi and Brittany at Village Inn for some dinner (it reminded me of our good old pie nights with the 900 court).  Then we went to my first ever Real Salt Lake soccer game.  Unfortunately, we didn't win (but would of if the refs hadn't made the mistake of calling a goal off sides when it really wasn't) but we still had a really good time.  The stadium is wonderful and there really aren't bad seats.  I consider it one of my major accomplishments of our marriage that Dallin enjoys soccer.  It took some work, but now he's a fan and we'll watch the RSL games that they show on tv at home for an at-home date night.  Gold star for me.

After the game, there were fireworks.  Jackson fell asleep during the game and wasn't too happy when he woke up and they were doing fireworks.  He covered his ears and said he wanted to go home.  I guess that's what you get for keeping a toddler too busy and up too late.  He did watch some before we headed back home to really buckle in on baby preparations.  Even though he acted like he didn't like the fireworks, it was all he could talk about for the next two days....then he had something (or shall I say someone) else to talk about...

You can tell Jackson is a little out of it.  He just woke up. :-)

The next night we lit sparklers in our driveway.  Jackson really liked them too.  He's so cute.  It was strange to think that soon we would be a family of 4 instead of a family of 3.

Change, change, change....

For a while now, Dallin and I were really wanting a change. We were tired of Dallin having to look for jobs along with thousands of other people who were all looking for the same jobs. We were hurting because we wanted to have another baby so badly, and just didn't understand why we hadn't been able to. We were also accumulating more "stuff" which can be a good thing in most circumstances, but gets a little claustrophobic when you live in 700 square feet of cinderblock. It's so funny now to look back and remember how frustrated we were and how things just didn't feel like they were 'ever' going to change. Little did I know that one year later, Dallin would have a job he loves in a town we're going to be moving to soon, we would have a baby on the way and we would be in the process of buying a home. We truly feel so blessed. It's been a little strange at times for us. We've been so used to the string of bad luck that we've been having for the last two years that sometimes we just have to knock on wood and tell ourselves to stop waiting for something bad to happen. I've realized that the bad times help you appreciate the good times. And the good times, or rather good people and strong relationships, can help you make it through the bad times. Whether we're really ready or not, here we come. The future is looking brighter than the last bit has been. Here's a quick update on some of the many changes that we're going through right now.

I am now half-way through this pregnancy. Overall, I haven't been too sick. I have been sicker than I was with Jackson, but my blood sugars have not been as difficult to control (knock on wood again). I was pretty exhausted the first trimester, but am feeling a lot better now. You know you've been a little out of it when your husband comments on the fact that you've stayed up past 9:00 two or three nights in a row. ;-) Throughout this whole pregnancy, when we ask Jackson if he is going to have a baby brother or a baby sister, he has said a baby sister. We're not quite sure why. It could be the fact that he's a ladies man. Or that 99% of his friends are girls. Or that he has already kissed a girl (or two or three) at the ripe old age of 2. We've tried to tell him that it could be a baby boy or that he just might end up getting a baby brother instead. It hasn't worked. This last week, we had an ultrasound and found out that we should have been listening to him all along instead of the other way around (just in this case). We are indead having a baby girl. We are so excited and couldn't be happier. Now instead of being outnumbered by Dallin and Jackson, we'll be even. Bring on the princesses and chick flicks. :-) Dallin and Jackson came with me to the ultrasound. Right after we found out that we were having a girl, we asked Jackson what we should name his new baby sister. His response? "Boy." What a funny little guy. I'm excited to look at hair bows and dresses and just to cuddle a little baby again. I've been looking at my friends babies lately and then looking at Jackson and wondering when he grew up. He is such a fun, energetic 2 year old. He never really stops and likes to keep us laughing. He's going to be a great big brother.

On another note, we are also in the process of buying a house. We found a bunch of different programs and moving incentives that are going to help us get into a house of our own. We are so excited! Tentative closing date is set for the 15th of March (give or take a little). We are so excited to have the space to spread out, room for Jackson to run, and a 'normal' sized refridgerator and oven. We are so sad to leave behind our friends and our ward and neighbors. It's a mixed blessing. However, our new house is in Heber (only 45 minutes away) so we would love to have visitors. We're excited to be able to invite more than 6 people over at a time (and even then, it's a little cramped). Now we just need to figure out where to find boxes and the time to fill them up with all of the stuff we have accumulated. Here's a picture of our house (as long as everything continues to go through). Now you can all be as excited as we are. :-)

Here's what it looks like now, from the outside.
Here's a picture of my favorite part. :-)

This is the view from our bedroom. You've got to love Heber.

Here's a picture of us in front of our 'soon to be' new house. :-)

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year everyone!!! Who wouldn't want to ring in the new year with this adorable little boy.......

.....and (in case you didn't notice his shirt, like 85% of our family)........with the new addition to our family?

Baby is set to join our family on/around/before or about July 18th. We are so excited and can't wait. Hopefully it's a girl because Jackson will talk about baby sister, but we have yet to get him to even say baby brother. Things have been going well so far. I had an ultrasound and was even able to see the little one waving at me. I haven't been too sick either, knock on wood. We can't wait to see our family go from 3 to 4. This year is starting out really well for our family. Here's to hoping it continues to go as well. :-)

Update...

So, as always, I have a lot to catch up on. You know you should probably start updating things when your grandma tells you she's been checking your blog and was sad to see that you haven't posted in a while. We have been incredibly busy and having lots of fun. I'll try to get you updated on what's going on in our lives.

We had the first (and the last, so far) snowstorm of the year. It was a lot of fun to go out and play. Jackson enjoyed building a snowman with one of his friends, Aurora (with some help from the parents, of course). I sure wish it would start snowing again soon to clean out this gross air and make it feel a little more like Christmas.

Jackson is now talking up a storm! It's amazing the little things he says. He can count to ten, even though this movie makes you think he only knows up to three. Whenever I ask him to count with the camera out, for some reason he thinks he should count to three, yell go, and run out of the room. I have no idea where that came from. I still think it's cute though. I also love it when he says things like, "Mommy, where are you? There you are Mommy." "Bless you Daddy," "Oh dear" and "I love you." Those are just a few of my favorites. He is a little chatterbox and likes to always be part of the conversation.

Dallin, Jackson and I headed down to temple square the other night to check out the Christmas lights. It was really cold, but we had a great time. Here's a pic of Jackson haming it up.

We also went to Louisianna for Thanksgiving with the Koecher side of the family. Dallin's sister, Lisa, and her family live there and we've never been out to visit. I was a little nervous to fly with a two year old, but we made it and had a great time. Here is a random sampling of some of our pictures. I took tons of pictures, so a few will have to be good enough. We had a great time and enjoyed our week off immensely. Thanks for everything Lisa, Andrew and Deanne. It was so much fun to spend so much time together. The first day we were there, Jackson started saying, "Go home? Jackson go home?" Who would have thought he would get homesick? Then, when we landed in Salt Lake, Jackson told us, "Jackson go to Ava's house?" What a turn of events. Lisa made Jackson a delicious birthday cake. For everyone who wasn't there, here's a little video of it. Sorry for the poor singing. I think I was paying more attention to getting the video than singing.

The beautiful view out of our plane.

These next few pictures are at a restaurant in Lafayette called Prejean's that Matthew, Steven, and Rolf raved about when they drove through a while ago. We all went there in honor of them. We had a great time.

The whole gang.

We went on a swamp tour and Dallin even got to hold a little alligator. Jackson even thought it was cool. I contented myself with holding Jackson.

This is so Michael.

Dallin and I in New Orleans.

The French Quarter in New Orleans. This wasn't exactly my favorite part of the trip, but we still had a good time. Jackson and his cousins.

This is one of the bridges in Shreveport, where Dallin's sister, Lisa lives. I thought it was pretty all lit up.

Ice cream at Brahms. Yum! This restaurant is almost enough to make me want to move to Texas.

We went to the Tyler Zoo when we drove through Texas to pick up Michael. It was a wet and rainy day, but it beat the snowstorm Utah was getting at the time.

Another birthday cake picture.

Jackson's first flight.

Jackson's cute cousin, Ava. Michael was teasing her and put her on a produce scale. Every time Jackson see's this picture, he laughs. I think it's pretty cute. She's adorable. It was fun spending time with all the Bensons.

We had sucha great time in Louisianna, but it was still nice to come home to our version of "normal". Here's a taste of what's been going on since. Here are a few pictures of what happens when we put Jackson down for a nap before he's really ready. He tries to either read himself to sleep or redecorate himself and his room ;-)

And these are just because I think my little boy is adorable!!! The first one is the face we get when we tell him to smile or say, "Cheese!"

Happy Birthday

We miss you Steven. Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Halloween

What is that you say? Two posts in one day by Amber? Impossible? Not today ;-) I just wanted to put up a few Halloween pictures. I hope you all enjoy this close to as much as we have. And...if any of you are experiencing a candy shortage, please come take some of ours off our hands. We've done a lot for Halloween this year. We carved pumpkins in Park City on a get away with my family, we went to Boo at the Zoo, we had a rockin' ward Halloween party, and did a lot of trick or treating. I wish you all could hear Jackson say 'Tic-o-Teat' and "Tank You". He's so cute. He also loves flying around our apartment as Superman. He spreads out his arms and goes flying. The first time he did it, he ran into our couch and said, "Uh-oh, crashed." He sure makes me laugh. I'm also pretty sure some of the first words he said this morning were "Soupman?" (Superman). What a cutie. Love that munchkin. This video is from Boo at the Zoo. The Verizon booth had loud music and Jackson just couldn't help boogy-ing. Sorry it is sideways. I'm not sure how to rotate a video. Just turn your head and enjoy.

I was Lois Lane and Dallin was Jimmy Olson. If you don't know who Jimmy Olson is, don't ask Dallin. He may be disappointed. He was wearing a videocamera around his neck earlier in the party too.

Show us your muscles Superman!

What a heartbreaker!

Oooooo.

Family Pictures!!!

Before you start reprimanding me for not posting in too many months to say, I have a post to make up for it. On Saturday, my sister-in-law, Bethany Bown, took some family pictures for us. I am so excited with how they turned out. I put a sneak preview up here. You can see a few more on her photo blog at bethanybownphotography.blogspot.com. She is very talented! Thanks Beth. As a ps. I am still going to try to catch up on posting about things when I get around to it ;-)