Fun in the sun

Valentines day! I had a great Relief Society activity that morning and got home to this surprise.

Isaac 'made' me a card! 

Special breakfast to celebrate the love 

I had to keep up my mom's tradition of special sugar cookies for Valentines day for friends. They are A LOT of work but I had so much fun making them. I had more fun eating them, and then less fun realizing I ate all of them. 

We went on an amazing hike! We brought the stroller and it was very bumpy for poor Isaac. He seemed to enjoy looking at everything, however. 

I love that it's in the 60s/70s in California in February. We are having so much fun getting out to parks now that it isn't raining and cold. We had a fun barbecue with friends of ours on Presidents Day. Their little girl loves Isaac, and that feeling is reciprocated. They are so cute together! 

Isaac is trying lots of new foods recently. I am giving over the reigns and letting him feed himself. I have never mopped the floor so much. 

A beautiful park near our house has a preserved mansion from the area. We had fun looking at it and playing at the park. 

Happy 11 months to Isaac! He has really matured in the last month. I feel like it is quickly transitioning into a toddler, something I'm not ready for yet. It is fun to see him develop a personality and preferences. He loves balls and throws them to us. He loves hide and seek and to be scared by us. He is napping so good right now, and he is too precious. I am so grateful to be his mom, even if it is a scary experience. 

Family Pictures

My mom's best friend Chantel took our family pictures for us over Christmas! She is amazing, and I love them all so much! Here are just a few :)

Didn't she do amazing? At first, I was frustrated with Isaac because he wouldn't smile. But I had to take a step back and remember that of course he isn't smiling, that's just not Isaac. He rarely smiles at new people and likes to look around, very intently. So the pictures really are a perfect representation of who he is, not just a smile. It was a good learning experience for me as a mom. I need to remember to let Isaac be himself, and accept him, rather than pushing him to do or be something he's not.

Taylor's homecoming

First off, I am so excited to announce that I'm starting a new workout/eating plan! It's called 21 day fix and one of my best friends in California is coaching for it. I love the workouts, and I love the eating philosophy. So, here is to the next month and hopefully I'm healthier at the end of it! Here's my package:

Next, our garden popped up this week! We are so excited to harvest from this thing.... Here is some radishes...or kale...I forgot lol. 

My parents were so kind to fly me back to Utah to surprise my brother Taylor! He has spent the last two years in Calgary Canada speaking Mandarin Chinese and teaching the gospel of our church. The cousins and neices held/made posters (seriously, how cute is Elly-blonde one- in this? I love how much she missed Taylor. 

Mom got the first hug! 

I got to spend the whole weekend getting to know my new brother. He has come back so mature and so solid in what is important in life. I get a little emotional just thinking about it because I'm so proud and excited for him. He taught us Chinese checkers, which is NOT for me. When it comes to strategy in checkers I don't even know where to begin. 

The three of us together playing again. I think this was my dad's favorite part. 

So many cousins came to see Taylor, and they were all so good with Isaac! 

Another reason I came to Utah was to see these handsome boys blessed. I love them so much and it's so fun to see their different personalities. 

Their parents are pretty awesome too. I love this picture of Isaac with Spencer. Isaac isn't too sure of him because of the beard which is too funny. 

My second mother Chantel (the one who also took our family pictures which will be my post next week...yay!) told me about this app called 1 second everyday. It allows you to take a second from a video you took and mash multiple of them together, like a video timeline. It is so fun because it helps me see Isaac growing up and remember the fun things we do everyday.