Slacker….

Wow, it’s amazing how horrible I’ve been at this lately...and by lately I mean for the last year and a half.  Blogs seem to not be so trendy anymore, but I really just want to keep a better record for my family (and make those adorable family yearbooks).  So, since realizing that any child of ours after Babycakes probably won’t have a single written memory or picture if I don’t jump back on the bandwagon, we’re back! I’ve felt like I have to go back to where I left off and get everything….and maybe someday for our own purposes we will…but to avoid being completely overwhelmed by something that’s meant to be fun, I’m starting off now. My last post was that we were still alive…at the time I didn’t know that just around the corner I would feel like that wasn’t exactly a true statement. Here’s what’s been happening:

-We are expecting!  For the first 20 weeks, all day puking + taking care of a toddler meant that we were in almost complete hibernation and nothing too exciting was going on.  But, I’m 32 weeks now and we’re finally out of hibernation over here.  It’s about time!  Although pregnancies are no bueno for the women in my family, we couldn’t be happier about our new addition.  This one was quite the surprise, but we know he (It’s a HE!)  will be a miraculous joy just like our first babycakes. Besides, Jordan can’t stop talking about having another sweet little, tiny baby in the house again.

                    The Prego Eggo after church……… Daddy and Amelia brought me flowers on an especially sick day

-We’ve been getting settled into our new little place and enjoying the area.  We love the beach, the giant trees, the boardwalk and the aquarium.  I’m going to be honest, there’s just a whole lot more to do here than in Vernal, UT.  (Sorry, vernal! You still hold a special place in my heart;)  We’ve filled our couple months since feeling better with lots of visitors and entertaining, which I like since it gives us an excuse to get out and explore more.  But my all time favorite thing about living here is being so much closer to family and friends….I get to see my family at least once a month and we live by a lot of J’s extended family.

…Boardwalk and Clam Chowder with the Cousins…

…Beach with Cousin Andrew and Uncle Nic…

…Monterey Bay Aquarium…

…Taking the bus and Amtrak to Nani and Papi’s House…

-Church has been keeping us pretty busy, especially Jordan.  He was called as the Young Men’s President like the second week we were here.  Haha.  He really enjoys it though, and we both get to work with a lot of the same kids, as I teach the 16 to 18 year old boys and girls in Sunday School.  Our ward is pretty interesting as it’s half English speaking and half Spanish speaking…but that’s right up our ally and makes me feel quite at home with our past cultural experiences.  Plus, I’m just so glad J’s job allows him to go to church every Sunday.  I hated that he wasn’t able to go half the time at his last job!  Babycakes loves having him there too, and usually can be heard saying “oooh, Dadaaaa!” and pointing at him all through sacrament while he helps the young men bless and pass it.

…Amelia rocking her first day of Nursery at 15 months…

-One of our favorite things to do is go bug Daddy at work.  Sometimes we get to meet for lunch or an OB appointment, then go with J to his greenhouses, stuff ourselves sick with berries and show Babycakes all the animals on the farm. Then I take her swimming or visit with the extended Stout family there and it’s always a fun filled day!

…Riding Bugsy and helping Daddy work in our yard…

-Did I mention I’ve been eating a lot of Strawberries?  It’s so nice to be married to the Strawberry Man.  The only thing more fun would be if he had a second job as the Ice Cream Man.  We’ll have to work on that…

-We had a mouse problem at our house since it’s surrounded by a lot of woods and fields, so we got Fritz.  Now, Amelia has a new best friend and we have a very full cat. :)

…torturing petting Fritz…

-My mom and I started a little company!  It’s called Blooms & Bliss Floral Design and we’ve been having a lot of fun with it and learning about the business.  My mom and one of her best friends have been designing for years for other people or other floral shops, but never wanted to really be bothered by the business side of things.  But, I love that sort of thing (I’m starting to miss our business development experience we had overseas) and decided we’d go for it.  We bought a nice cooler and have a mini storefront at an antique shop in Lompoc.  I don’t think flowers are a very lucrative business in a bummer economy, but it’s nice to be able to do a hobby and not lose money on it.  I’ll have to post more about it later, but we had a pretty good Mother’s Day and have a few weddings we’re excited about this summer!  If you haven’t checked it out already, go on over to our page at  https://www.facebook.com/BloomsandBliss (there’s also a link at the top of this blog)  and “Like” us!

…Our new business cards I designed.  The background is actually my wedding bouquet my mom made!…

-Little Miss Babycakes is turning into Toddlercakes!  I can’t believe how fast she’s grown.  I’ll have to do another baby in the chair update, but for now let’s just say she’s been learning and growing like a weed (she’s not so round anymore….she’s pretty tall and lanky!) and has quite the spunky attitude.  She runs faster than I can keep up with her, can say 30+ words (when she feels like it), is understanding everything daddy says to her in Spanish (it’s all he speaks to her) and is Mommy’s little terrorist helper at my side for everything I do.  Everybody who’s around her mentions how busy she is…no wonder I’m so tired this pregnancy!  She loves giving Baby Brother kisses and is going to be a great big sister when she finds out whatever that means. ;) 

 

And here are a lot of random pictures from the last little while…

      

  

…Stuffing ourselves at Tuacano’s with my parents for my Dad’s 60th!…

      

…Music & the Spoken Word in SLC…