The perfect duet

Aren't daddy's and their little girls just the cutest thing??!!!

We love LONG weekends!!

Summer is here!! We have been having a fun weekend, playing at the spashpark and enjoying the beautiful weather! Alexa is LOVING life! She is becoming such an independent little person and isn't afraid to let us know just what she thinks of things, even if she can't quite vocalize those feelings with actual words! And we love having Kevin around. We thought he was going to be in classes until the end of June when he will be taking Boards, but found out that, other than a final tomorrow morning, he doesn't have to be back in class until June 9th. What fun for Alexa and I!! We get to enjoy some more family time over the next couple weeks. How grateful I am that I get to stay at home with Alexa so that we can be here to enjoy the time with Kevin when he doesn't have school. We won't take these breaks for granted since in a couple short years Kevin will enter the working world and time off will be fewer and farther between!

On a side note...I think I can actually vocalize this without jinxing it now that it has been 8 days straight....Alexa has been napping for at least 1.5 hours each day instead of her 20 - 30 minutes naps that had been the norm for the past 3 months!! In fact, today it was a 2.5 hour nap!!! I'm in heaven! I think we've started a new trend and I'm am soooooooooo grateful! I can actually get things done during the day now! Happy times for me!

Under construction...

Bear with me right now as I am learning and experimenting with changing my blog template. It might take me awhile but I promise to have it looking great soon!! Thanks Amanda for all your help...I still may be calling you several times!! :-)

18 Months - Stats Update...

Well, we just got home from Alexa's wellness checkup and everything is great. She's completely recovered from the various illnesses she had last week and everything else looks good too. She currently weighs in at 24 lbs 14 oz and is 32 1/4 inches long...so she's only gained 1 lb since she turned 1, but she's grown almost3 inches. She got one booster shot today and now doesn't have to go back until she's 4!!! Yay!

18 Months Old!

Wow...has it REALLY been 18 months since Alexa came into our world??? It seems like she's been with us forever, yet only a split second at the same time. We couldn't imagine our lives without her. She is the most precious thing to us and she keeps us smiling and laughing every day. We love her sweet little personality that shines through on a daily basis. She's talking more and more every day which is so much fun. We have her 18 month checkup tomorrow so I'll have to post tomorrow to update you on her current stats....even though we were at the doctor TWICE last week due to illness. Oh well, such is life, right??!! We're just so thankful that she's feeling better and is back to her normal, happy self! We love you Alexa, more than we could ever say! Happy 18 Months!

Gettin' her groove on!

This is actually a tamed down version of Alexa's usual show! She absolutely LOVES to dance and has quite the repertoire of moves!!

Studying for Boards....

Alexa is a big help and support to her daddy who is busy studying for boards right now!! Kevin takes his exam on June 27th and is using all his spare time to prepare....obviously some of that has rubbed off on Alexa!!

CALLED TO SERVE!!

Kevin's parents, Dale & Marial Mortenson, received their mission call today!! They are heading to the Mexico Merida Mission to serve as missionaries in the Church Education System there. They will be involved with the Institute Program and are very excited about their call. Thankfully, Dale already speaks Spanish!! They don't leave until October 20th, but we'll miss them dearly and are very happy for them. They will be outstanding missionaries and will be blessed as they serve the Lord. Thank you Mom & Dad Mortenson for the wonderful examples you both are!

Happy Mother's Day!

Despite having to give a talk in church on Sunday, I had a fabulous Mother's Day. :-) Kevin took care of Alexa pretty much the entire day, letting me have a much needed nap in the afternoon. And then he made me a wonderful dinner...pecan crusted chicken, smashed potatoes and salad...yummmm!! Tradition has been that I get a pair of flip-flop type slippers for Mother's Day, but this year, I really wanted some Crocs...so Alexa and Kevin picked some out for me...I think they did a great job!! :-) They're exactly what I wanted and they will get a LOT of use this summer! Thank you Alexa and Kevin! Being a mom is one of the greatest blessings and challenges in my life, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love you Alexa, you are such a joy to me. And I love you too Kevin, you make my job as a mother easier by just being you!

Alexa thinks there's still more in the bag!! She wanted to try out my new sandals...this is seriously one of her favorite things to do! Happy Mother's Day to my own mom. Thank you for all you do. We love you tons! And Happy Mother's Day to my mother-in-law, Marial. We appreciate your love and support. We love you tons too!

And also, a Happy Mother's Day to my sisters, sister-in-laws, and friends who are all wonderful mothers. You all are inspirations to me (this includes my own mamasita and Marial too!!)! I hope you all had a great day!

Celebrations!!

We are celebrating our 4th Anniversary this week (the 15th). It's been a wonderful 4 years, the best of my life and I am so grateful for a fabulous husband who I am blessed to share forever with! I couldn't ask for anything better. I love you Kevin!

Here's us THEN... And here we are now!

To celebrate, I planned a fun date last Friday night. We got a babysitter and went out for a night on the town!! At the suggestion of a friend, I decided to try out this place called Incredible Dave's. It's like a giant Chuck-E-Cheese, I guess (I've never been to Chuck-e's). It was a lot of fun acting like kids. We really were the only adults participating in the different activities. We first stood in line to check out the Euro-Bungee. It was so much fun! Here are some shots from our experience.

I'm really actually nervous!! Up, up and Away!!! Kevin getting ready for his turn. Nice flip babe! What a showoff!! :-)

After playing on the bungee, we checked out the in-house restaurant for some grub. It was a little pricey but definitely tasty. After we'd had our fill, we went on the bumper cars. Those have always been a favorite of mine!! We had a great night of celebrating, not only our upcoming anniversary, but also the fact that we're HALF way through dental school. It was a fun night, I highly recommend it for any of you out there that are really just kids at heart!

Day Trip to Indy

Last Thursday, we took a trip to Indianapolis to visit my cousin, Kelsey, who is living there for the summer. Her husband, Spencer, is installing alarm systems and they have a little girl, Sophie, who is just a month younger than Alexa, so we thought it'd be fun to get them together. We had planned on going to the Indy Zoo but it was pouring rain that day.

The girls! Alexa LOVED being able to go out on the balcony!! Kelsey with the kiddos. Alexa enjoying some Canadian Smarties (for all my Americano friends, they're kind of like plain M&M's). Sophie wasn't so sure about Alexa!

Despite the rain, we had a very enjoyable time. We introduced Kels and fam to Panda Express and Orange Chicken....yummmmmm, I'm still dreaming about it!! And then we just hung out at their place before heading home. Thanks guys for letting us come and make a mess at your place!! We'll have to get together again soon!

A very tuckered out little girl!

An odd day....

As most of you may or may not know, Alexa hasn't been much of a napper for the past couple of months. She's still a great sleeper at night, anywhere from 12 - 14 hours....but has decided she'll only take ONE 15 - 30 minute nap during the day. That just isn't conducive to me getting much done...but I've tried everything I can think of to change her schedule and nothing has worked, so I'm trying to accept the fact that she just doesn't want to nap. However, last Wednesday, not one, but two odd occurrences happened....the first being when Kevin and I took Alexa for a walk in Cherokee Park that morning at 9:30. By 9:50, she had fallen asleep in the stroller. That has NEVER happened before. It's usually her crib or nothin'! Anyways, she proceeded to sleep for a whoppin' 40 minutes!! It was great.

And then that afternoon, I had just gotten out of the shower (yes, I didn't get around to it until the late afternoon!!), when Kevin came into the room to tell me Alexa had fallen asleep on the couch. WHAT??? I couldn't believe it. I had to see it for myself. And sure enough, the pictures are evidence!! I debated what to do, let her sleep or move her to her crib....but then decided to take advantage of the opportunity to hold her while she slept. That hasn't happened since she was just a few months old. Kevin told me to go lay her down but I was enjoying myself too much!!! Who knows when that will happen again!!??!!

Aren't they just so sweet when they're sleeping??!! :-)

Alexa & Jake

Alexa has a new furry friend, Jake, puppy to our good friends, Aaron & Brynn Wikle. The Wikle's had us over for a BBQ a couple Sundays ago and Alexa had soooooo much fun with Jake. At first, Jake was just set free in the backyard but got a little too adventurous, which in turn meant Alexa wanted to follow him so Brynn brought out the leash. Well, Alexa took to "walking" Jake like she'd been doing it forever. We thought it was so cute and it kept her entertained for quite some time! She also had fun playing with him inside the house, as you can see on the video!

More Alexa & Jake

Derby Par-tay!

The 134th Kentucky Derby was on May 3rd. Our fun friends, the Roundy's, hosted a "Derby Par-tay" and everyone was supposed to wear a fun hat. We didn't get too wild and crazy, but here is Alexa and I in our hats.

And here are some fun pics from the actual party. We really do have some fun friends here in Louisville! Thanks Emily & Kade for having such a fun get together!