Learning to Smile

This is my son. He is 7 weeks old now and is a big growing boy. I love him more than anything.

You may have seen pictures of him before. Some are funny. Some are sweet. 

And as he is just now starting to smile, I've been trying to get some good smiling pictures.

What is the secret to getting a good picture of your 7 week old, you ask?

Simple. Take a million a day. Thats what I do. 

And every night my phone tells me that my memory storage is full. Here are just a few.

Saturday I tried to get a good photo for his first College Football Saturday on his football blankie that my mom made for him. 

We haven't come up with a name for her yet, so I jokingly refer to her as 

"Mee Maw" from the Big Bang Theory... It'll probably stick now ;)

He's perfect.

Easton's Birth Announcement

Pictures of my sweet boy are abundant... that is no secret. Whether on the blog, Facebook, Instagram, or SnapChat, I am certainly sharing him with the world. So thats why I didn't feel the need to send out a million birth announcements (or spend a ton of money buying all of them). So I only made a couple for like our grandparents and doctors and old friends/co-workers at BYU. 

But here is what they look like (front and back):

The back is kind of a picture overload (typical of me), 

but I wanted to show off some of his cute little features and faces. 

And in the family shot at the bottom, just know I was ONE WEEK POST PARTUM.

We took family pictures while my family was in town, so we got one of our own little family as well... 

I just would've rather waited. Oh well. Just look at how photogenic Jake is. 

And look forward to better family photos in the Christmas card. 

Playtime with the 2 Boys

I spend my ENTIRE day with these 2 boys. We've started to settle into a routine, but not a strict schedule. Easton sleeps and eats whenever he wants, and Jake is a good sport who goes along with it and rarely leaves our side. 

 As some of you may have seen via Instagram the other day, Jake is obsessed with his new favorite game--we like to call it "lion on the hunt." He crouches in ready position when I pick up a ball and move towards our sliding glass door. The door opens, the ball goes flying, and Jake takes off to slide and catch it. Once he gets it, he lays on top of it until I come and get it. From there, he will crawl into the nearest bush and wait in his crouched position until I throw it again... He would like this to last all day, but I usually just do several mini sessions throughout the day, since for me, its just a game of walking back and forth across the yard.

Easton has been sleeping a LOT lately--he is a growing boy!!

He is so handsome and so fun to hold and stare at.

I wanted to buy him a toy to stimulate him a little bit, since all I can do in that regard is talk to him at this point. So I bought him this fun little rattle ball... Let me tell the story through SnapChat:

 I shook it forever and Jake was mesmerized and didn't even try to take it from me. Easton eventually turned to see what was going on. (of course Jake turned the second I took the picture)

Then later that night, I leave the room for 2 seconds...

 The pieces of the ball have since been thrown away

 We go on morning walks now almost everyday. It's consistently in the 90s, so if we don't go first thing in the morning, we wont go until it gets under 90 degrees in the evening. Some days are worse than others, but overall we are mastering "the walk." Its a bit of a challenge with both the stroller and the leash, but all our practicing has made it easier. The 3 of us are getting used to the set up at this point

 We live in a great location--easily walking distance to our church, a middle school, a park, and Oklahoma Christian University's campus. We like to mix it up and rotate through various routes. 

Above is a soccer game going on at OCU on one of our evening walks. 

Jake wants to get into EVERY pond/fountain/puddle we see

Sprinklers are the next best thing to a body of water. Jakey LOVES the water

After a long, hot walk, he enjoys a cup of vanilla ice cream. 

When he closes his eyes to eat it, you know it's really refreshing

And often times we end our day like this, all cuddling on the bed and drifting off to sleep before our morning walk the next day. I love my boys! I can't wait until they can play with each other...

National Dog Day

We were at a McLoud football game one September night when Blaine told me he wanted to get a dog. We decided it would be a fun distraction from the stress of dental school and infertility, and in the long run would be a great family companion. I never thought I'd have a dog, but then again I never imagined a lot of things about my life. Isn't that always how it goes?

We went to pick him out the first weekend in October. I first suggested choosing him in particular because he liked to lick me.

We took him home the first weekend of November.

So in celebration of national dog day and in anticipation of Jake's FIRST birthday next month, here are a series of memories we've shared with him so far. It's true what they say about dogs:

Love is a four-legged word

Dogs are the only ones who love you more than they love themselves

Be the kind of person your dog thinks you are

We took him to his first and only football game, where the marching band freaked him out... as did the camera's flash. Blaine cuddled him behind the endzone.

Waiting patiently for Blaine to share his food... as usual

He was one of the big reasons we got a house and we're glad he's been able to share this big life event with us.

He is a rambunctious, cuddly forever puppy who makes us laugh and also sometimes cringe.

He loves to be with Blaine while he studies

WE LOVE YOU, JAKEY! THANKS FOR BEING IN OUR FAMILY!