Best Mother's Day Present!

Me

+

= LOVE

I got these new running shoes for mother's day. I love them. I went and got professionally fit at Wasatch Runners. I was skeptical about doing all of that and spending lots of money on shoes because I didn't think it would make THAT much of a difference. BUT I cannot tell you how much better my feet and legs and knees feel in them while I run. (And I felt great about spending the money cause they were 50% off!!)
Just in time too. Race day is only 1 month away! AH!

Also, this picture just makes me happy so I thought I would share it with you. Graham always does cheesy grins and I finally got one on camera :)

As of Late

First of all....

ZACH GRADUATED!!!! Hooray! Hallelujah! Yipee!! Yahoo!!!
We are so so excited and already loving the extra time together. He also got his first REAL job:) He is working for a company called Quomation (they sell software to insurance companies) and he is doing splendidly.

To celebrate I made Zach a cake. I do not profess to be a cake artist like my talented family members and friends, in fact, this is the first cake I have ever made that I didn't just frost in the pan. Well, I thought I would be festive and dye the cake batter purple (for Weber State's colors) and it didn't turn out so swell. Not to mention I didn't have round pans I just tried to carve it myself and on top of that I made the frosting too runny and ran out powdered sugar to thicken it back up. Oh well, at least we had a good laugh. (And I did have fun, I think this is something I would like to learn.)

Don't judge.

The other man in my life is hitting mile stones as well. Graham is now 9 months old, I can't believe it. At his nine month appointment he was just over 30 inches long - the 97th percentile and weighed in just over 21 pounds - the 76th percentile. He is such a busy body these days. He isn't crawling but LOVES to hold our hands and walk all around the house and stand by the furniture. His favorite toys right now are his dresser drawers, the vacuum, the box fan, and the TV stand.

A few weeks ago we spent the day with Zach's family and watched his brother Micah do some biking. He competes in professional competitions and it is fun to see his tricks. Or as the cool kids say... it was sick. (Am I using it correctly Zach? :)

Now rewind to Easter. It was a blast. My sister Marie and her family were here and our entire family stayed at my mom and dad's for the weekend. It was perfect.
Graham seemed to enjoy his first Easter.

Fun with the Fam

(Aunt Melinda, Graham, and cousins Logan and Lindsay)

My sister Marie and her family have been out visiting this week and it has been so much fun. We all took a trip to Discovery gateway which is an awesome place for kids. There is SO much to do! Even Graham and Sophie enjoyed it.
One of my favorite things about Graham is that he will always smile for the camera! If I say smile, he does every time! It makes for great pictures :)

Here are some of my favorite shots of the day.

Random thought

Today while I was running a certain song came on my ipod. This song makes me cry every time I hear it. It's not even the kind of song you would think someone would cry about, but I do! Today was no exception. Even on mile 3 of my run with sweat beads on my forehead and cars driving past I cried. Not just tearing up, but tears, lots of tears, running down my face. I even had to hold back a sob. (!?! I know, pull it together Stephanie! It's just a song!) It makes me think of when the time will come that either Zach or I die and how I hope as the song says, that "... you will be all around me when your body sets your heart free." And how when it comes time for me to pass on that "... you'll guide me through the ending." Give it a listen (here) and think about the one you love. Oh, I love this song. Tear :)

SEVEN

Wow, another month has flown by! Graham is over 7 months old now. I'll give you a few highlights of the last month.
Graham now says Mama! I love it! He says it all day long everyday. It is so fun to hear him.
He has TWO teeth now.
He's still not crawling, he just rolls across the room to get where he wants to be.
He gives lots of open mouth, very slobbery kisses :) - see picture below.

That's our boy!

xoxo Valentine's Day xoxo

This Valentine's day I really got in the mood :) I had lots of fun making homemade Valentine cards, and I made sugar cookies for the first time without my mom. I wasn't sure if that was possible, but I think they turned out almost as good as hers. I also made a special bouquet for Zach - the only kind of bouquet he could truly appreciate :)

Graham and I on Valentine's day

Graham's 6 Month B-day!!

I can't believe Graham is 6 months old already!! He is such a cute, sweet, happy boy!
As you can see, he has mastered the art of sitting up.
He's also rolling from back to belly and belly to back.
He has lightening quick reflexes and can grab anything that comes into reach.
Graham is a super big eater, eating two meals a day of cereal and fruit and veggies and also still nursing many times a day.
He is getting huge and is wearing 1 year size clothing now.
He also has his first tooth!
Graham LOVES to look at books (see the last picture). If he is sitting near a pile of toys and there is a book around he prefers the book and will reach and reach until he gets it. I am always amazed that he pays attention for so long when we read books with him. I think we have a scholar on our hands!
Graham loves to scream at the top of his lungs when he is excited or to get people's attention. (I wonder where he gets his loudness from.... Daddy maybe??)
He loves to laugh and he smiles all the time, even for strangers, which I love.
This has been the best six months of our lives, Graham makes us SO happy!
(Oh and look who's finally smiling for the camera! :)

I couldn't decide which of these pictures was the best so you get to enjoy all of them :)