Cute things come in small packages

Like our little bubs, Mr. Nolan. He turned 4 months old last Monday. He is brightening our family with his big smile, big big blue eyes, and loud squeals. He loves his bathtime, a sure way to get a big gummy smile from him. He is also teething and chews on his hands and fingers all day long. He is drooling everywhere.

Still loves to swing!He sure loves Reagan and laughs and is a good sport when she inadvertently hurts him.

One day I tried to keep Reagan up and let her miss her nap so that I could watch my show with her in bed early. No such luck!

Mother's Day was a good one. Matt bought me some pants earlier in the week since I can't squeeze into my pre-pregnancy pants yet (wondering if I ever will). Reagan got me some Junior Mints but then decided to play Quality Control and make sure they were okay for mom to eat.

She also made me this cute thing in nursery. And we will say that the picture mug that arrived in the mail this week is from Nolan (thanks, Matt!)

Other than that, we have been hanging out lots.

Reagan's favorite thing to do these days is play hairdresser. Mom plays the victim, oops, I mean the customer. (Sometimes it really really hurts when she plays with my hair!!) But it is fun to see her get creative and these days she is all about fun hairstyles. She usually requests that I do it like Aby's (Avery's) or with like 100 ponytails all around her head.

AAAHHHHH!!!!

Jim and Pam are having a baby!!!

My week of finales ended on a great note. The Biggest Loser was so-so for me. They could have shortened it easily to 2 hours, not 3! Who cares about the show-down between the two girls? Not me. Helen was my last choice to win and personally I thought she looked a little too thin. I was rooting for Mike. I wish he and his dad had pulled a little strategy and lobbied for Ron to get in the top 3 so that Mike could win the at-home prize. He would have, numbers showed. But the entire cast looked great and Gramps pulled off the runner up. Amazing for having been at home almost the entire season.

Tammy and Victor pulled off the win on Amazing Race. Again, I was rooting for Margie and Luke, simply because of his disability (I am a sucker for a great story), but T and V did well the entire season and deserved it. Honestly glad the cheerleaders didn't win it.

And now for my Office!!! I thought the entire aura of the episode was fun. Company picnic to kick off summer, complete with a little volleyball. I can't stand Charles, I would have liked to see the ball hit him in the face or something. Toby meeting his personality twin was great. And Holly came back! I guess the writers have to leave their storyline up in the air, since Amy Ryan can't commit to coming back to The Office yet. But of course, that ending scene!! I wanted to cry!!! And the Emmy goes to....John Krasinksi for his amazing reaction, tears, voice cracking on the phone everything. The show films in real time so I guess today, May 14th, is the day that Pam found out she was pregnant. Last year on May 18th I found out I was pregnant, so I guess they will have a little Nolan or Nolanita early next year :):)

How, oh how, am I going to spend my summer without all my favorite shows? Oh wait, I know how! I am catching up with NCIS. Agent Gibbs rocks.

Amazing Mothers

Matt and I have been blessed with two of the most amazing moms the world has to offer and my kids have the best grandmas. We love them very much and it's days like these that make living away from family hard.

You know how as a kid growing up, you think you are so much smarter than your parents??! I know I thought I was. With each passing day, I realize how smart my parents actually are. I cannot believe the sacrifices my mom made each and every day that often went unnoticed by me and probably my siblings (all 5). I realize that I took her for granted. I find myself calling her more and more for advice and often to just ask how they got through this thing they call parenthood. I am also finding that I am becoming more like her every day and I don't mind one bit. I love you mom!

My mom has taught me a lot of things like don't throw rocks at bees if there is a window behind it and don't listen to your first grade teacher when she says that you are retarded, but the best thing that my mom taught me was that life was meant to be enjoyed. Thank for not giving up on me during my teenage years. I love you Mom!

I also would like to thank Lacy for being such a wonderful mother and for all of the sacrifices that she makes for our family. As far as I know Reagan and Nolan have always slept through the night. Whether it's cooking, cleaning, feeding, teaching, comforting, or being our friend she is an amazing mother and makes it look easy. Thank you Lacy for being such a great mom and helping me to appreciate my own mom even more in the process. I love you Nolan and Reagan's Mom!

TBL

Did anyone else bawl their eyes out when Ron crossed the finish line last night on the Biggest Loser? Shoot, I don't even LIKE Ron, but I was blubbering like a baby. Again, SO grateful Matt is at mutual and not here to laugh at me.

What a fun season this has been. Watching these people change their lives is so incredible. I am especially touched as I watch the parent/child duos, such as Ron and Mike. I am happy to see that Ron takes 100% of the credit for making his children obese. I think that is a big problem in the world today. I won't forget when he said, "Instead of picking my kids up from school and taking them to the park to play, I took them out for pizza." While I definitely enjoy fast food on occasion, junk food, sweets, you name it, I also feel how important it is to make sure my children are active, healthy and have balance and know what good nutrition is. I will never deny them the fun of childhood, candy included, but I do want them to know that eating carrot sticks is a good choice for their bodies, as much as they fight it now.

My mom would never force fruits and veggies on us, but she always made them readily available. When we would eat dinner, there was always a salad or bowl of corn or peas, or something as a side and I have found that even though I didn't always eat it, that habit has followed me into adulthood and I *try my best* to do the same for my family.

Back to TBL: I am voting for Mike, for obvious reasons. I think he would be a very deserving winner (Tara the other, in my opinion), but I am wondering if maybe....just, maybe...he would fare better not being in the top 3? This is why: Tara is far ahead in the weight loss at this point and I doubt she will falter, she is a strong one. If she is game to win it, maybe it is better for Mike to be in the running for the at-home prize, because he sure as heck could snag it quite easily. He has been amazing!

All the contestants look great, just hoping that they don't take the weight-loss too far. Some are best as is. I don't want to see any anorexic looking people at the finale next week. That is reserved for the cover of US Weekly.

Muir Beach

We took advantage of the rare occasion of high temps on the coast (mid-80's) and became beach bums for a day. Days like this make me wish we lived in Southern California. This has become a tradition of sorts this time of year. See last April's beach trip here.We had to cross this bridge to get there.All of my kids (all three) are in heaven at the beach.

Reagan loved the water, despite it being so dang cold. She also loved the sand. She would run from the sand to the water and bring buckets back up to dump.

We are still finding sand everywhere (our ears, hair, the carseat...) but it is worth it.

Family Time

This picture is a theme that you will see recurring throughout the next few blog posts. Lonicakes, my college age sis, eating [a bagel.] After a meal of pork salads (and tostadas) at Cafe Rio. Just look at my postpartum belly. It pops right out after a meal like this!

The beautiful flowers in my moms yard. To me, springtime in Utah means tulips.

A night out on my parents back steps, where we debated things like Twilight and why it was taken off the shelves at Deseret Book (did you know there is a club of women who left their husbands for "Edward"? Seriously. How sad.)

Making fun of the Roundy men...

Cute little Austin with his cousin Nolan.

Playing in Grandma and Grandpa's fire engine!Grandpa with Nolan.

Lindsay and Jared's wedding

We got to attend the sealing of Lindsay (Matt's sister) and Jared in the Bountiful Temple on April 25th. It was a beautiful ceremony and the day went well for them.

Look how hot they are!
The entire Rasmussen family!

Our little family.

Reagan goofing around with Uncle Jeff!

The grandkids (minus Nolan and Brielle). They were so. dang. cute.

We were called the "yellow shirts" most of the day...kind of like "Pink ladies" from Grease :)

Beautiful tulips at the temple. I love that they matched Lindsay's colors.

Whitney and Reagan.

Nolan's blessing

On Sunday, April 26th, we blessed Nolan Matthew on his 15 week birthday. Matt performed the blessing and instead of a sacrament meeting, we used his parents home. Afterwards, we had a luncheon with our families and a huge THANK YOU to all of them for helping out and also helping bring the food. It was a special day.

Reagan refused to be in this photo. Too bad, I thought it turned out cute.
The star of the show, Mr. Nolan himself!

Proud big sister Reagan.

Loni, our own coed. I remember when I was a college student myself, it was all about the free food! Love ya girl :)

Landen, Cait, my mother-in-law Bev!

Haha, loved this one of Bryan.

The second star of the show was Mel's chocolate fountain. I wish I lived closer to Mel so that we could party with her. She is such a good entertainer and she made a fantastic fountain for us!

Cait, Emma, Nolan.Selly with Nolan. Later that night, we met my newest niece, Roxy. She is a little schnauzer (not sure how to spell that!) She was like a little newborn, barely moved and slept a lot. Reagan even held her!