BANANAS

 We tried bananas again (the first time he wasn't the biggest fan) and this time he loved them! I got a few pictures of him and I had to share.

Gilbert Arizona Temple

Jesse had work off the day after Valentines day and we had big plans to go on a hike, have a picnic, and celebrate the day of love. Unfortunately Jesse hurt his foot the night before so any sort of foot-centric activities kind of went out the window. Instead, I made amazing strawberry filled crepes with vanilla ice cream for breakfast and later we went to visit the Gilbert Arizona Temple construction site. I am sooo excited for the temple to be completed! It is two miles away from our home.  I have been wanting to go and get pictures there with Calvin before it gets entirely built so I'm happy we had a bit of time to do that.  My idea of fun is going to Home Depot, getting supplies, and building something awesome.  I got an idea off Pinterest to make a fun shelf for Calvin's room. We worked on that project for a while and made a lot of progress but I'll post more on that later. Anyways, it was a lovely Valentines Day; I love my sweet Valentine boys. I am one lucky girl! Here are a few pictures from the new temple site:

8 months

Calvin's two bottom teeth are starting to break through!  He cries out every now and then, but that's all! He is teething like a champ.


He also took his first crawl this month, so I expect within the next couple weeks he should be crawling. He is also a getting good at sitting; I don't have to worry about him falling on his face too much. He has started saying "dada" although he's not really referring to Jesse. He says it mostly when he's happy so that's nice. Calvin is also starting to stick out his tongue and blow raspberries. He just babbles and sputters to himself all the time.  The other day we had him on the floor on his little play mat and he was looking up at himself in the mirror and laughing hysterically!  Whenever I pick him up he wraps his arms around my neck really tight, grabs two big hand fulls of hair, and holds on like a little monkey.
The new foods this month have been asparagus, pears, beans, rice, and chicken, all of which Calvin seemes to enjoy.
This little boy has the most expressive face. He makes me laugh so much because of all of his funny expressions.
Here is a video of him laughing at himself in the mirror:

His 8 month photo shoot:

I just love this little boy and his cute face.

Fancy Night 2012

Who doesn't want to get dressed up all fancy and have a fancy dinner with fancy friends?  I do!  This is our second fancy night, and it was splendid! Our guests consisted of James and Carly Zamora, and Randy and Dev Day.  We would have invited more but unfortunately my table only holds six. We started off the evening with a fancy photo shoot that I am sure I made a fool of myself trying to run back and forth setting the timer so that we could take some group shots.
Then we went back to our house for dinner and games.  We had two delicious salads, rolls, garlic bread, gorgonzola crusted steaks, and pazookies for dessert.
We finished  the evening with a ridiculous game called "Curses" which I'm pretty sure made everyone feel like idiots. Overall a phenomenal evening.

Family Pictures 2011

 I just love Still Life Studios. They never cease to amaze me how they can make us look better than we actually are (except for Calvin... he really is that cute).  Here are some of our family pictures from 2011

Color Run 2012

One of my New Years resolutions is at the end of 2012 I will run a half marathon (here's to hoping).  I'm not a runner.  I ran track in high school and got injured my sophomore year. So besides the few races I did compete in this is the first race I've ever done.  Well, if you even want to call this a race, it wasn't timed and there were a lot of congestion points where pretty much everyone stopped. But, it was 5k and I'm proud of myself!

Before

At different times during the run we would go through a tunnel of colored cornstarch. I would forget to close my eyes, mouth, and nose and it would be very unpleasant, but they said it wouldn't do any harm, so what if I'm still blowing purple boogers out of my nose, that's okay... right?
The paint was really easy to get off, if you didn't sweat, or didn't try to wipe it off with a wet wipe first and end up staining it on your face/ body. Who does that anyways?  I'm sure there was instructions somewhere that I didn't read.  Instead I just looked like I was in an abusive relationship.  Bruised from head to ankle. The blues and purples with the yellows and greens make the perfect combination for bruised looking skin.

After

I really did have a lot of fun and I am looking forward to the many races that I will run this year.

Grandma Tropple

 It's always sad when one of the good, normal people leave this world.  On Friday my sweet grandma passed away.  I love her and miss her so much.  She was such a unique person.  She lived a life of service.  She wasn't one to complain or to ever put herself first.  My childhood memories of grandma were of her serving my grandpas every need. "Beatrice where's my dinner?!" I would hear him call out.  And grandma would call back "Just a minute Art!" and bring him his food or whatever else he was calling out for. When my grandpa passed away six years ago my grandma was devastated.  I know she has been missing her sweetheart for a long time now and I'm grateful that she gets to be with him.  Her family made her happy.
My grandma was hilarious she always had a witty remark and knew how to make you laugh even on the saddest of days. Jesse and I would take her grocery shopping. In the summer time when it got really hot she would get out of the car and comment "If hell is this hot, I'm going to change my ways!"
She loved "fat furries" Anything that looked fun to cuddle with. There was a tragedy in my ward where this lady got attacked and killed by a bear.  When I told my grandma about the attack and tried to convince her that bears probably wouldn't be very fun to cuddle with, she just sighed and said "What a way to go..." like being attacked by a bear would be the PERFECT way to die.  Fat furries made her happy.
My grandma LOVED food, she had boxes of recipes she had clipped out of magazines, but she hated to cook.  So she would just look and imagine eating the picture perfect food.  Her favorite was chocolate. When we would take her shopping I think most of the groceries she purchased were candy.  I was amazed that she had eaten all the chocolate since the last time we took her shopping. Chocolate made her happy.
She adored her husband and child. She was a momma bear for sure. I never saw my grandma upset unless you were talking bad about someone she cared for (which was pretty much everyone).  She loved her family and friends.
I heard the news when I was driving home from the grocery store and a silly country love song came on "Wrapped up in You" by Garth Brooks and I was so happy! I could just imagine my grandma giving my grandpa a huge hug, and my grandpa saying some snide comment like "Well, what took you so long!?" In his big, raspy grandpa voice. There was never any doubt that my grandma loved her family. I will miss her, but I know I'll see her again.

7 Months

I was at church the other day and I held a teenie tiny newborn.  She was so little! I thought for sure she had to be about 5 lbs. When I asked how much she weighed the mom said "oh she's about 8 lbs now."  What?! 8 lbs!? I remember when Calvin was 8 lbs and I thought he was huge! I can't believe that he was that little once!
I love my little handsome.  He is such a happy boy.  He has been kinda sick this month, but even when he is sick he is still so happy.  I feel so lucky to be his mom.  He has gained a little bit of weight since last month (luckily) he weighed in at a whopping 15.3 lbs. Still somewhat underweight but he is in the 75% for height he is 28 inches long. He's my little string bean. This month has been a month of trying new food. So far he's tried: carrots, peas, bananas, avocados, apple sauce, and sweet potatoes. He has these sweet potato puffs that he goes nuts over. When I bring out the container his eyes light up and he puts his arms out to the side and starts shaking his hands, he gets so excited!

Calvin eating avocados

One of the super funny things about Calvin is that he loves to get scared. Jesse and I will hide and jump out at him and he will jump and then start laughing really hard. Or we will make a scary face and growl at him he thinks it's the funniest thing.  He has also learned the "B" sound so everyday it's "ba bababa ba ba bababa". He looks straight into your eyes, lifts his eyebrows, and tilts his head like a grown-up would while trying to describe something. He has the most expressive eyes! His eyes smile before his mouth does. I love his sweet happy face.  I could be in the saddest mood, but when I get him out of his crib and I see that sweet smile and hilarious chirp I can't help but be happy. I love my little boy.

Calvin and his best friend Stailey

This month we also went on Calvin's first hike. We went to Butcher Jones around Saguaro Lake with my mom and my nephews.  He did so good, he loved being outside, but toward the end he got super tired so he slept the entire hike back to the car.

Here is Calvin's 7 month photo shoot: