This month is such a special one...

...IT'S BIRTHDAY TIME FOR ME!!! :-)

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I know, I know...I probably shouldn't be so excited for my own birthday, but I just can't help it! I love birthdays, especially mine! I've been wishing for, wanting, longing for a Viking Mixer (like a Kitchen Aid but oh so much better!!) for several years now. And I've been very subtle in my hinting to Kevin...lol!! Anyways, he surprised me this year and got me my mixer! I'm soooooo in love - with my Mixer...oh and with my amazing Mr. too!! :-) The girls enjoyed opening up my present with me. I'm especially impressed that Alexa was able to keep the secret for several weeks leading up to my birthday!

Just givin' my new toy some love!!

Kevin made me a yummy steak dinner for my birthday and then a cheesecake for dessert! We played it low key on my birthday but he spoiled me all week long with little birthday surprises!

Thanks babe for a wonderful birthday week (made even better by Arizona winning their basketball game ON the day of my birth!!)!!

Spring has Sprung

We are definitely feeling Spring-ish around here!

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Kevin has been preparing the back yard for a little garden and he dug out a dead bush in the corner to eventually put a citrus tree in. He's been working on it for a few weeks now and he finally purchased the grapefruit tree yesterday and planted our little garden. It'll be fun to see what our garden produces and how our tree grows as the years go by.

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And don't we have just the cutest little spring chickies you ever did see?

I love LOVE little girls in cute spring dresses!

..::Blessed::..

I am feeling extremely grateful today! Grateful for amazing friends who planned and put together a fun baby shower for Baby Boy!! Camille and Kristy, THANK YOU sooooooo much! And thank you to my sister-in-law, Emily, and my friends Melissa and Winnie also for helping with the food...and to all my wonderful friends who came to my shower and spoiled Baby Boy rotten!! We are so grateful for everyone's generosity and friendship!!

And a special shout out to Melissa for the fabulous cake!

I just can't believe I've been blessed to have not one, but TWO, showers for this baby. I'm so very grateful for the wonderful ward we moved into here in Tucson and for the fabulous friends I've been able to make along the way!

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Thanks again Kristy and Camille!

~Last Day of Dance~

Today was Alexa's last day of her Dance Class. She really enjoyed it...up until the last couple classes. Then she said it made her too tired and she wanted to do gymnastics instead!! So...we're on the waiting list for gymnastics, which works out great since her little friend, Ashlyn, is taking a break from dance but her other little friend, Evie, is doing gymnastics! It always helps to have a friend in your class, right?!!! Anyways, they were pretty cute in their class. I sure enjoyed watching Alexa have fun and learn something new!

And I can't leave Miss Payton out! Here she is watching Alexa, and I'm sure wishing that she could be having fun too! Your day will come baby girl!!

::Blast from the Past::

While my parents were visiting last month, I downloaded a bunch of pictures off my mom's laptop that she had taken on her camera over several visits, either us going to Canada, or them coming to visit us, that she had never emailed to me. And so I wanted to share some of my favorites! We'll start with the most recent and work our way back...

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MAY 2010

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Right after we moved back to Arizona last year and into our new house, my mom and sister, Benita, came for a visit. We put my mom to work right away painting Alexa's room "Princess Pink". Alexa even got in on the fun!!

My mom brought these crazy tights for both the girls, which they LOVED, and so we had to take a picture!!

We spent a lot of time at the pool last summer....it's crazy to see how little Payton was! And how skinny I was!! I know, I know...I pregnant now, VERY pregnant...but still, I'm very much looking forward to not having 3 chins, sausage fingers and cankles anymore!! :-)

Auntie Beeta and Alexa

Gramma Jenny and Payton

Gramma and Alexa

Auntie Beeta and Payton (Payton was in LOVE with her phone!!)

AUGUST 2008

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My parents came to visit at the end of August 2008, right when we found out we were pregnant with Payton. Alexa was 21 months old, just a little younger than Payton is right now.

We went and played at the splashpark...I can't get over how little she looks!

Having fun in the car with Gramma!

We went to the Falls of the Ohio with my parents.

AUGUST 2007

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We went to Canada for a visit when Alexa was 9 months old. I believe this was when my baby brother, Sam, got home from his mission. Look at the chunky little baby Alexa was!!! :-)

My good friend, Holly, came up to visit me while we were there. It was great to see her!

Ummm...can you tell Shental and I are sisters??? :-) Kev's just enjoyin' his cupcake!!

Oh MY...those cheeks!!! Alexa loved all the attention from her aunts!

Here she is with my sister Tausha.

Me and my baby!! I seriously can't believe I'm going to have THREE babies in a matter of weeks!!!

And this was on our way to the airport to head back to Louisville.

I'm glad I finally got these pictures from my mom! I didn't do any editing on them, however, so don't mind the red eyes and whatnot...it would just have taken too much time! Time that I really don't have at the present moment.

But I enjoyed my blast to the past, I hope you did too!!

..::cAkE cLaSs::..

At the beginning of February, my friend Camille called to tell me she'd just signed up for the Wilton Cake Decorating Class at Michael's and that it's 1/2 off the class tuition right now if I was interested. Well, I definitely was! The entire time I lived in Louisville, I wanted to take the cake classes but just didn't have the money or the time and whenever the tuition was 1/2 off like it was now, I was just having a baby or something...so bad timing. Anyways, the class started 3 days after she called me so I jumped on the bandwagon and signed up for the class too. I'm soooooo glad I'm taking the class with a friend, it's way more fun. I mean, I'm enjoying learning all the new techniques and everything but it's always more fun with a friend, right?

***

So here's my cake from our 2nd class of the first course (and I had to give Camille a cameo too!!). Then we decorated cupcakes on our 3rd class.

And here's my final cake from our last class tonight. I just realized, however, that the reason my frosting was WAY too soft was because I was adding the water measurements in TBSP instead of tsp like it was supposed to be. Oh well...I'll pay more attention when I'm making the frosting next time!! And I can only get better, right???!!! Anyways, we're signed up for level 2 and I'm really looking forward to it. I don't think I'll be able to squeeze level 3, the final course, in though as I'm due to have this little bambino smack dab in the middle of the 4 week class. Oh well...maybe next year when tuition is 1/2 off again!!! :-)

Happy Cake Decorating!!!

::Baby Bump: 8 Months::

Here we are at 8 months! This little bambino is growing like craaaazy! I had to have another ultrasound on Feb 2nd as I had been measuring a lot bigger at my previous few appointments. The ultrasound showed that the little guy was measuring 2 weeks and 1 day bigger than my due date. I was sooooooooooo hoping my doctor would move my due date up two weeks as I originally thought I was due 3 weeks earlier anyways. But at my appointment on Feb 4, my doctor only agreed to move my due date up by TWO days, to April 25th, according to my 20 week ultrasound. She said that the ultrasound at that time is pretty accurate and by this point in my pregnancy, he's most likely just a BIG baby and they don't want to move my due date up too far and risk him not developing all the way. I get that...although I still hope he comes early!! At that same doctor's appt, when my doc did the measuring tape measurement of my uterus, I was measuring around 33 weeks and I was only 28 1/2 weeks at that point, but at my appointment this past Friday (Feb 25th), I was still measuring at 33 weeks, so the little guy's growth is slowing down! Phew....I've been super nervous about having a big baby. Still am actually, since two of my sisters have had over 10 pound babies. Yep, I said TEN pounds! They practically came out toddlers!! :-) Anyways, my doctor did agree to plan for an induction at 39 weeks, which is April 18th, and I'm super happy about that. I'm still going to pray continually that this baby decides to come early on his own but we'll just have to wait and see if that happens or not.

**

This pregnancy has definitely been the hardest for me. I'm sure the fact that I'm getting older AND have two kids to deal with now are factors in that...but my body really is just falling apart it seems! My hips and back are so bad that walking, sitting, standing, cartwheels, you name it...are difficult for me. And now I have plantar faschiatis in my right foot which adds a whole other element to my discomfort. I'm really not trying to complain...just trying to document how this pregnancy has been. I'm so grateful for the miracle growing inside me and cannot wait to meet him...I just don't know if my body can go through this again. But, only 7 weeks to go, and I can hold this sweet little guy in my arms and hopefully have my body return to some level of comfort rather than discomfort! Let's hope these next 7 weeks go by QUICKLY!!! :-)

"Old" Friends!!

Today we had the pleasure of having Spencer and Jenny Aston come visit us from Phoenix. Spence is an old mission buddy of Kevin's that we have had so much fun with over the years since they both got home from their missions. And Jenny, his sweet wife, just fit perfectly into the mix when they got married about 3 years after us. They are expecting their first baby in June, a little girl, and so I bribed them with a TON of girl clothes if they would finally come visit us (we haven't seen them since we moved back!!). Anyways, it worked...and not only did we get to spend a fun day with them, I got a little more organized by going through all my girl stuff that both girls had grown out of and I gave it away!! I have so much more storage space now and I feel so liberated!! :-)

It is Spence's birthday on Monday and so we made brownies and Alexa wanted to sing Happy Birthday to him. The girls fell in love with both Spence and Jenny right as soon as they showed up and wouldn't let them out of their sights. It was pretty cute...even Payton, who can be a little standoffish until she gets to know someone, was sitting on Jenny's lap within minutes of their arrival. We sure hope to see more of the Astons and can't wait to meet their baby girl!

~A New 'Do & Party Time~

Alexa has been asking for months to have her hair cut short like mine. This isn't really a huge deal to me as I've cut her hair before, several times in fact, but they've usually been just minor trims, the most being maybe 2-3 inches. But I finally gave in and gave her a good cut. I think we chopped off about 4-5 inches. I should have combed her hair straight in the 'before' picture so you could see how much of a difference it really was. And after her hair curled up on it's own, it looks even shorter! She's adorable any way she wants her hair...and I have to say that I was flattered that she wanted to be like mommy!!

Here are our two cute little love bugs posing after the hair cut!

Later, we got to show off Alexa's new 'do at her cousin, Ainsley's, birthday party! We enjoyed a fun night at Peter Piper Pizza celebrating Ainsley's 5th Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AINSLEY!!

-PlayGroup Fun-

Mmmmmm...cupcakes!!

We sure have enjoyed the little playgroup that Alexa is a part of! She has so much fun with these girls. Today's playgroup was at our house again and so the girls all got to enjoy the cupcakes I decorated as part of my cake class I had last night. Sorry moms if it spoiled their lunches but the girls sure had fun eating them!!

..::Visit from Gramma & Grampa Baker::..

My parents had their annual convention for their business in Vegas this past week and so they decided to come visit us on their way home since they were so close. The last time my mom came to visit, which was right after we moved back to Arizona, I somehow managed to get absolutely NO pictures of her with my girls. I don't know how that happened...but since it did, I made it a top priority to take a LOT of pictures while they were here this time. So beware of picture overload!!

**

The first day they were here, we went to McDonald's for lunch since Gramma had promised Alexa we would do that. I did forget my camera the first day (2/16/11) so there are no pictures from then. But the next day, we went to Alexa's dance class. She was so excited to have Gramma come to her class. And Payton thoroughly enjoyed having Gramma around too!! We then went to Panda Express for lunch as Alexa has not stopped talking about the time we went there last year with Gramma. Seriously, every time we pass by Panda, she says "that's where we went with Gramma". That girl has the memory of an elephant!! And then the girls just enjoyed playing with Gramma and Grampa that evening.

On Friday morning, we went to visit Dr. Mortenson at his dental office so my parents could get some x-rays taken. The girls loved going to visit daddy at work and had a great time while Gramma and Grampa were getting x-rays and a quick examination.

I took this picture of Alexa and just loved it!!

Later that day, we ventured to the UofA Bookstore on campus. My dad LOVES bookstores, so we figured this would be a fun outing for him!! And my parents ended up buying us a UofA diaper bag for this baby boy!! Side note: I got pinkeye the night my parents arrived so there aren't many pictures with me in it, and the ones there are...wow, I'm not looking so great without makeup!! :-) After the bookstore, we had to take my parents for some good Mexican food. We went to Mi Niditos in South Tucson and it didn't disappoint! Mmmmm....

On Saturday, we went to Old Tucson Studios. And we had a GREAT time! Kevin and I had never been so it was a first for all of us. There was so much to see and do, we definitely didn't get it all done...but we did enjoy what we were able to do, despite the crazy wind that day that definitely gave it a true Old West feeling!!

The girls loved the train ride!

Things we saw while on the train and while wandering around Old Tucson.

When Kevin came across the Old West dental office, we just had to get a picture!! If you can't see it when you click on the collage, it says "Painless Extraction" on the sign with the big tooth hanging from it....yeah right!! And on the long skinny sign that says "Barber and Dentist", to the right, it says "Tooth Soap for White Dentures". Hahaha...we thought that was funny!! Oh how things have changed in the world of dentistry!! And thank goodness!!

There was a bathhouse right across from the dental office/barber and I thought it made for a cool picture. I just may even get it blown up to put in one of our bathrooms!

In addition to all the old western movie oriented things to see and do at Old Tucson, they had several things for the kiddos...like the train, a carousel and old cars to drive. And you can go as many times as you want with your admission into the studios. I think we lost track of how many times the girls went on the carousel!!

We even ate lunch there, then had ice cream as Alexa conned Gramma & Grampa into buying her some, before heading home. It was a really fun morning!! Thanks Mom and Dad for treating us to the Old West!

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We ended the day by taking my dad to In'N'Out Burger as he had never been. I'm never one to turn down In'N'Out!! And neither are the girls!

My parents came to church with us the next morning and then headed straight to Phoenix to catch their flight home to Canada. We did take some pictures at church with them, but they are on my mom's camera so I'll have to add them once she emails them to me (hint hint Mom!!!). Anyways, it was a great visit and we're glad they came. The girls are already in Gramma & Grampa withdrawal!! Good thing Gramma is coming back in a couple months to help when Baby Boy arrives!!

*Be My Valentine*

What do you think...could the above picture be a future engagement photo????? :-)

If I had anything to say about it (hmm....can we say arranged marriage??), it totally would be !!

I mean seriously, how cute are these two together?? And little Pierson has the best mommy and daddy too...we could totally be family! I wouldn't mind that at all. Camille, let's plan it! :-)

Anyways...we had our fun friends over today to make Valentine sugar cookies! Yummy!! I think the kids had a ton of fun. I know I did!!

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Happy Valentine's Day!!

::Baby Bump: 7 Months::

Yay...we've made it to 7 Months! 28 weeks! Hello 3rd Trimester!! Woot, Woot!

-A Day At The Zoo-

Can I just say how much I LOVE living in Arizona, especially during the winter months???!!! For reals, you wouldn't be able to head to the zoo in January in Canada, at least not without 50 extra layers on!! And even in Kentucky, days at the zoo are few and far between in January. But here, oh lovely Arizona, we can go pretty much anytime we want! We definitely get more out of our zoo membership living somewhere where it is warm all year round!

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So this morning, we headed to the zoo with our good friends, the Cooks. Our kids are almost exactly the same ages and it's just so much fun to hang out with them. We had a good time checkin' out all the zoo animals, even sneaked a peek at the new male lion who came to the zoo not too long ago. And then we headed to the park across the street for a picnic lunch and some play time before heading home! What a fun morning!!