Before the baby gets here....

Okay I was sitting here thinking it has been a while since I put anything on our blog and with "D Day" rapidly approaching I should probably get my bum in gear and put a few pictures up from the past weeks. So pretty much the month of July. The most exciting thing was that Daniel came home!!! What a lame family we have this is the first time we have all been together since March of 2007 and we haven't had any pictures taken with all of us....oh the Welches! Oh well I'm sure by my next post I will have some.

Mark went fishing and caught himself a nice size....fish. Trout? He has gone a few times but hasn't bothered to bring anything home.

Marin up the canyon playing with rocks and water. Toddlers and throwing rocks in the water.

Mark and Marin cooking hot dogs. Marin LOVES hot dogs. Loves them.

We have spent many a day at the pool which if someone had told me I would be in a swimming suit at 9 and half month pregnant I would have laughed in your face for hours. HOWEVER I went swimming yesterday and must say if you ignore all the cute skinny tan girls it isn't so bad : )
I'm putting this picture up becasue I love this man.

Marin and I made Jell-O the other day and she enjoyed putting Jello on her face as much as she did eating it. As soon as she left the table she was ready to be clean. Funny girl.

Well I guess we are as ready as we are going to be for this little boy of ours to get here. Mark and I were talking the other night and I sure do hate the waiting game. Not so fun. So the next post we will not longer be a 3 some. We are going to be rocking the 4's. Fair game too, 2 on 2. Wish us luck!!!

Summer is finally here!

Well like usual we have nothing new and exciting going on. I thought I would put a few pictures up from the past few weeks. Marin loves Shrek 2. The 2nd one because that is the only Shrek we own, for my sanity sake we are going to have to buy her at least one more. Anyway when Prince Charming shows up in the start of this movie Marin informs me that "That's my Daddy." Very cute. Here they are dancing together at the end. She likes to dance like Fiona and this time Dad was there so Mama didn't have to.

Mark and Marin went out for a Daddy Daughter camping trip with Mark's brother Jimmy and his little girl Valerie, and a high school friend of Jimmy's and his 2 girls. They had fun. I didn't sleep much that night I missed my little family and was worried about them. They survived!

They slept in the back of the truck and apparently Marin loved that. I know this picture is in a post a few down but hey I only got a few pictures out of Mark so this one made it.

Marin also got a big girl bed. She looks super excited to be in there...she isn't so much anymore. She still gets really excited when she gets out on her own and shows up next to you like "WOW! FREEDOM!" This did get rid of one her little quirks. She no longer cries when I get her in the morning, she still asks for Daddy but she isn't horribly depressed when I'm the one that walks through the door, or the only one home when she gets up.

Mark had his FIRST In N Out Burger. I like them and all but wasn't pounding down the doors to get one. He had a double double animal style. He is in love :)

Marin and her BFF Adie watching a movie with us over at the White's. They sure do have fun together. Of course this is the night I had a mini heart attack. I had Mark go check on Marin to a second later I hear she's not here. Ha ha ha what do you mean she's not here?!?!?! She had unlocked the front door and was on her way to the car...actually she was at the car. Child of Mine.

I love love love this type of swimsuit. The more coverage the better and the less sunscreen I have to worry about. However they are not ideal when it comes to going down slides at 7 peaks. She has another swimsuit for that. I still love this swimsuit though and she will wear it when we aren't going to 7 peaks it is for other water adventures.

It's the end of the day and I was tired! I plopped on the floor cause Marin wanted to do my hair. She has a brush in her other hand. Such a good hairstylist I have.

So Marin rocks the pig tails now, it makes her look more grown up. She sure does look cute in them. It effectively keeps the hair out of her eyes which is so nice for her, it does however cause a problem when she tries to brush her hair.

Summer should be good this year. We have lots of trips planned to 7 peaks and a baby due in August....phew. Sounds packed enough for me. I would take pictures of us at 7 peaks but for 2 reasons I won't. 1. I'm in a swimsuit at 32 weeks pregnant...not gonna happen to catch that on film. 2. I don't want to take my camera to a water park where some little or big kid is going to steal it. Maybe we will get an underwater one! ha ha maybe....until next time.

Ode to my Dad

Now I don't have any pictures of just my Dad and I on my computer...sad I know. However I thought I would put up this darling picture of my Dad and Marin and tell you why I love my Dad. There are many reasons why I love my Dad however a story comes to mind when I think of an example of how awesome my Dad is.

Our jeep wasn't registered and our car was in the shop so we didn't have a choice we had to drive the jeep....we got pulled over at 5 in the morning taking Mark to meet up with his coworkers to go to the academy. The police officer told us he was going to impound our car and blah blah blah. He let us drive it to the meeting point so Mark could go. I was left with the cop and a 3 month old baby in a parking lot. I called my house and told my Dad what was going on and he came and picked us up. I was secretly hoping that my Mom would come cause I knew what my Dad would say....nope it was my Dad. He showed up got out of the car helped move Marin over to his car and get anything of value out of the jeep. On the way back to his house he started teasing me about it and laughing at me to which I started to cry and said "It's not...." he said "It's not what?" I waited for a minute and said "well I was going to say funny, but it kind of is" My Dad starting laughing and said Yes it is pretty funny.

My Dad has the ability to laugh at situations even when most people, I'm going to say most people cause it makes me feel better, would just want to cry. I haven't heard him complain about having to come to his kids "rescue". He is a wonderful husband and Dad and I am lucky enough to be his only little girl.....well until Marin came along and then when my brothers get married.... Nope I'll still be his favorite.

Why I love Mark as a Dad

Now the reasons I love Mark are long and many. I thought I would just focus on reasons why Marin and I love him as a Dad, seeing as how it is Father's Day and all. I love that he shows Marin new and exciting things even if it is watching a ball roll around behind the couch. He makes things exciting and fun for her.

He is willing to look like a dork just to make her smile. He truly is a goof ball when it comes to Marin...well he is willing to be a dork to make anyone smile.

He took Marin camping this last weekend and had a blast sleeping in the back of the truck watching the moon. Doesn't she look happy as can be watching the moon and laying next to her Daddy, or maybe that is the look of pure overjoyedness (yep it is word today)?

He really would do anything to make her happy.

I just love this picture, I was washing dishes after breakfast and they are watching Shrek...imagine that?

Thank you Mark for being one awesome Dad! I'm sure our little boy will love and admire him as much as Marin and I do!

April and May

Okay prepare yourself! This is a beastly blog entry. I have been putting it off for a while because it seemed more of a daunting task than a fun one. So the more I put it off the longer and less likely I am to do it. So here we go.

We haven't done anything super exciting but we have had fun doing....well everyday things. Marin loves to play out on my parents deck even when no one will go outside with her, she loves to be outside.

As soon as the weather turned nice for those of you who know Mark know that he was itching to go hiking. Not so fun with my darling expanding pregnant frame, but not one to be left out of the "fun" I treked the trails with my darling family. Exhausted at the top I certainly didn't take a picture up there so you get a picture from where we started...the neighborhood.

My baby turned 2!! I was prepared to make her waffles or pancakes in the shape of the number 2, nope she wanted cereal and chocolate milk in her fun cup. So was the start of her birthday!

Then we went out and ran errands....fun for her.

After running our errands we went and picked up Mark from work and headed over to California Pizza Kitchen to go see Robbie and eat! It was a nice dinner but I must say their chocolate banana cake or whatever it is called is DIVINE! I still dream about it. Wouldn't guess I was pregnant would you? So ended Marin's actual birthday but the party was yet to come!

Marin has many little quirks, doing hair is one of them. She loves to do girls hair (as D.Jay's friend Ashley is modeling) We were hanging out with Bev and co and Bev started to play with Ashley's hair that was all the cue Marin needed. She was even pretending to pin things in her hair.

So the day of Marin's birthday party came around. With us being the supportive children we are we ran a 5K for the local assisted living center my parents are involved in. First we will brag about how everyone did. Steven took first place overall and in his age group. Mark took first place in his age group, and 3rd overall. My Mom took first for her age group. Now what is really impressive is that I actually finished this sucker. Such a good husband I have finished the race and then came back and walked the rest with me and Marin and Charlie. Who is Charlie? Charlie is a resident at the assisted living who is mostly blind and drives a motorized scooter. I was glad for the company however when he could see the finish line I told him to go ahead and beat the pregnant lady. He responded with "Well there isn't much dignity in that...." As he drove off leaving dead last for me :) It was fun overall and I was glad we went and help raise some money for Parkinson's. Not sure I'll do that again...actually I will next year have to redeem myself!

Then we had Marin's party in the park. It was fun we had family and friends come out. Here is Marin opening her presents with her best little friend Adie.

It was a nice day and we had a lot of fun. I didn't get a lot of pictures from her party because it is mostly on video tape, but she LOVED everything she got (imagine that!)

What is a party without a bit of cake? She had chocolate chocolate cake. She loves cake, she asks for it daily, no joke. Good thing I don't have it in my house or Marin and I would both be needing to go on a diet for sure!


Then we went fishing with her new fishing pole from her Daddy. (It was a LONG day, 5K, party, bridal shower, fishing....LONG DAY!)

Oh I just realised how cute my little girl is in pink and my man is in blue. CUTE. ANYWAY they are getting ready to cast out, I like this picture and I think the reflection on the lake is pretty awesome too.


15 minutes later...it was Mark fishing.....


And the girls in the car eating left over rolls :)



With nice weather comes the awesome task of yard work. I just love this picture mostly because of Marin's beautiful uni brow!

Marin enjoys getting in our bed and watching Sesame Street and then she is ready to take on the world!

Poor Darla. Yes she is still alive, but Marin loves her just a little too much if you know what I mean. Marin tries to ride her like a horse, lays on her when she is on the ground and 9 times out of 10 if she is watching a movie she is sitting on Darla or has her head on her. Glad we have a patient dog.

Our bedroom flooded. The only damage was my body pillow. I found the water quick enough that we were able to get everything of value off the floor and out the door in a matter of minutes, amazing how quickly you can move when you fear for your high heels, jackets, and pictures that you haven't hung on the wall. Mark's priority was more for the Wii (which survived) glad he was there cause I was NOT thinking electronics. Anyway everything is done and over with there and I was glad to have neighbors that were willing to jump in and donate the use of their wet/dry vacs and fans. Saved us for sure.

Ask anyone I am not a wonder when it comes to cookies...I struggle who knows why I can cook but baking is not my thing. However who am I to deprive my daughter of good ol cookie dough and the smell of burning cookies? (Okay not really they actually survived for the most part)

So expressive! I asked her where are the cookies? To which she said I don't know?


We planted our garden! I'm pretty excited of course the snow a few days ago might have just killed my plants...here is hoping not. Mark built planter boxes for us and the family upstairs so we should have PLENTY of veggies this summer, which is good since we love garden veggies.


Marin helping get the dirt nice and "unclumpy" for lack of a better word, she had so much fun playing in the dirt.

Helping Mark water the newly planted tomato plants. Thanks Grandma Bev for the watering can she uses it each time we water.


Baseball. We went to BYU's last home game. What is a little baseball without.....


Good food. (Marin ate all but a bite of this hot dog) .......

Family (not my favorite picture but how can I not put this picture up with Marin making that face?!?!).........

And unpredictable weather? All in all we got everything you expect from a baseball game except a win. It was fun and we plan to go to more games next year when Daniel is back playing again (who by the way comes home in less than 50 days!!!!) Okay that is enough pictures and words to last a while I think. Hope everyone is having an awesome spring and ready for the summer!

April

Okay so April! Yes I know it is only the 4th but a lot has happened. This first Easter egg hunt was actually in March but since Easter is in April it makes it onto my April post. Now since we haven't had a child to take to other Easter egg hunts we didn't know what we were in for. I assumed that people were nice and respectful and what not. NOPE! This Easter egg hunt was at the assisted living my Mom helps out at and they had 1500 eggs and we were 10 minutes late than the start time and the 20 something kids that went had taken ALL the eggs. They were gone, kids were walking by with bags, baskets, shirt pockets full of Easter eggs and my little girl sat there with nothing. I kept having these urges to just smack those selfish parents for not saying here have a few of our kids eggs since you don't have any. ONE mother finally did and we just rehid the same 5 eggs for Marin over and over and she loved it!Wait! There is candy in these things?!?! That was the end of just picking them up and putting them in her basket.

Showing off her Easter egg!
And the candy.....

Painting Easter eggs, last year we attempted to do this and it was just lost on her, however she got it this year. Probably a little faster than I was planning. I decided patience is having an almost 2 year old dying Easter eggs. Sticking her hands in every color trying to and succeeding in DRINKING the colors (which if you are wondering they are made from fruit and besides being nasty they are just fine to drink...although not recommended)
Coloring with the "magic" crayon. This picture is very deceptive. It looks as though she is going to gently place the egg in the cup and use her spoon. NOT what happens but she is a good egg coloring faker!FINALLY got to purpose of the spoon! Didn't last. I made Mark a Steeler's Easter Egg and I made him take a picture with it, he looks happy.....

Seriously!!! Woke up to snow on Easter morning. SNOW!!!!

The Easter bunny also dropped off a special visitor, UNCLE D. JAY! D. Jay and Mark went to priesthood conference Saturday night and then they stayed up playing video games and what not. Marin loved having someone else to show off her goodies to.
Marin found her basket and then quickly went about finding her Easter eggs, man she is getting to be such a fun age!

Just like looking for Easter eggs outside, she has to hold someones hand like she is saying "come with me I want you to see all the fun things I'm finding"

Oh the Easter dress. I love Easter dresses mostly because it gives me an excuse to buy a frilly, pretty, fun, dress for Marin. However this year it was ALL Mark, Mark found this dress and it didn't take much to tell him that we NEEDED this dress (after all he picked it out.) We got her 2 year pictures done in this dress so I have cuter ones coming....I hope. She wasn't a "sport" at pictures.Last but certainly not least. Baby #2 is a BOY! Mark and I are so excited to be having a little boy. He is healthy and right on track. Which is what every parent wants to hear. However this baby boy of ours was folded I swear in half during the ultrasound which caused the doctor to practically dig his elbow in my hip to try and get the baby to stretch out. I'm EXTREMELY ticklish (ask anyone who has gone to get a pedicure with me!) I was practically in tears trying so hard not to laugh or hit the doctor and say "STOP!!" Oh well we didn't really get any good ultrasound pictures but that just means it will be more of a surprise when he finally gets here. My Aunt Lorri said "I bet Mark is over the moon about having a little boy" You have no idea! He doesn't want to act super excited but you know he is pumped! Can't blame him! Oh the following picture is 21 weeks, doubt you see another "profile" picture from here on out so enjoy!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! We certainly did listening to conference and the talks about the Savior certainly helped keep the focus in the right place, even if we did get "detoured" with the candy and things. We will keep you posted, because there is a lot more coming up in April. My baby turns 2!!! Our Anniversary, My Mom's BIG birthday, and all the other things we enjoy that come with spring!