Jace is 2 and lots of catch up!

     Clearly I have been a failure at updating the blog. Its been 10 weeks since I last updated and so so much has happened that I hope I can keep everything straight. We have since found out that we will be blessed with baby boy #2. He currently does not have a name, nor are we even close to agreeing on one. So for the time being we just call him Baby Brother. Even Jace can say that. Jace seems to be excited about a brother at times. I think he understands, but I am also not entirely sure that he does. He is so cute and talks to baby brother and pats my belly. But he also gets frustrated that my belly is in the way and I can't hold him on my lap all the time.

Had to show this one big. I seriously love this picture. Out of about 100 that we took we actually got a smile!! Photo credit goes to my talented Sister in Law Jessica Burnett! 

      Jace is 2. Its crazy how fast time has flown. I have been so so horrible at keeping up with his growth. He was a little stinker at his 2 year check up so I don't have any stats to share. He is growing taller, but is still kind of a shrimpy shrimp. I always wanted him to have green eyes, and I think I am getting my wish. His eyes have slowly started changing from blue to what I think will be green. It seems closer and closer to green every time I check, but its not quite there yet. Guess we will see what happens in the next few months. Jace is talking up a storm lately! He used to throw "polite tantrums" where he would throw himself on the floor screaming, "no thank you, no thank you," but has since realized that most kids don't throw polite tantrums and has taken to throwing a regular crazy 2 year old tantrum. We are certainly trying to not feed into it and his tantrums are few and far between, but we still have them, and usually they happen at the store, or in some other public place. Silly kid. I swear that his vocabulary increases by like 10 new words each day. He is always copying what Paul and I say, so sometimes we try to use big words, and sometimes we realize that we need to think about what we say out loud a little more! Just the other day Jace got frustrated and growled before saying, "OH Gosh!" I know that I say gosh some times, but I am pretty sure I don't growl before I say it!

Jace got this AWESOME sandbox from his Grandma and Grandpa (Paul's parents). We tried to show him while they were there, but he was half asleep and super grumpy. So later in the evening we showed him and filmed it so they could see his reaction. He loves this sandbox. We are so grateful for Grandpa's awesome woodworking abilities!

Jace checking out his new bike on his birthday morning

Sitting on the train at the zoo waiting for the conductor to call all aboard!

Jace and Daddy checking out the new playground at the zoo!

Jace insisted on a choo choo cake. He refused to eat any of it, but loved it. 

Jace started crying when we asked him to open this present. He really wanted to open the one Mom and Dad got him, so he cried and cried until he realized that Unlce Tanner and Aunt Sarah got him a cool bus hot wheels!

     Jace loves to play basketball and has started to become a little bit more daring. He isn't much of a climber, or dare devil, but he is slowly learning that climbing can get him things he wants but can't reach. He still has yet to climb out of the crib, (which I am TOTALLY fine with). He has a strider bike that he likes to walk around, and has just recently decided that it might actually be fun to sit on the bike instead of just walk it everywhere. I definitely don't mind him being a little less gutsy, but at the same time, having him learn to ride a bike and not be afraid of everything would be nice too. He is still obsessed with any kind of ball. Soccer, football, basket ball, (which he calls ballhoop), etc. He is also still equally obsessed with cars, trains, and trucks. He loves seeing choo choo trains out the window of the car, and loves to see fire trucks, (which he started calling fireplaces for some odd reason). We are still trying to break him of the habit of calling it a fireplace and get him to say fire truck. Which he can say, he just doesn't.
      Jace has been on lots of adventures already this year. We have been to the zoo multiple times with family and friends. He got to ride the train at the zoo for his birthday and LOVED it! Going to the pool at the rec center is also one of his favorite things to do. Paul will sometimes take him to the pool while I am at young womens and its fun to hear about their father and son time.
     This week is the week I am supposed to be on a backpacking trip with my family. But they wouldn't let me go! Well honestly, my in laws were going to be out of town so I didn't really have anyone to watch Jace, but also, my belly is so big I don't think my pack would have rested correctly on my body. I am a little bummed to not be with them, but I am also trying to spend lots of fun time with Jace while they are away to make up for it. I am 27 weeks and feeling great. My belly is definitely much bigger than I was with Jace at 27 weeks. Everyone I see at the gym tells me I look good, and my belly is tiny, but I don't see it! I have been trying to hit up the gym at least 3 times a week and supplement at home the other two. I have been doing pretty good and feel like my body is keeping in shape the best it can. I can tell when I over do it though, which is hard because I want to push my self to get better, but I am realizing that just maintaining while pregnant is fine. I am learning where my bodies boundaries are am starting to be cautious when I feel like I may have pushed myself a little two hard on that last rep of lifting weights or spinning class or what not.

Here we have 20 weeks. I thought my belly was massive here, and it only gets worse!! 

Here we have 26 weeks! I just keep popping and popping. I am hoping that my belly doesn't get too too much bigger, but oh my, with 14 weeks left I could be an elephant by the time "Baby Brother" comes! 

      Everything is figured out for my home birth delivery. I was a little hesitant to have a home birth in SLC just because it is so much more fast paced up here than in Cedar City. But after switching to a different midwife, (didn't love my first choice), I feel so so much better, and am actually finally starting to feel excited about everything! I am still not super thrilled about being a massive, over heated elephant this summer, but I am excited for our family to grow and expand.
     Paul is still working away at Tanner LLC. Loves his job. Loves the clients, and loves getting to create awesome relationships with his clients and coworkers. His company is taking everyone to Disneyland in November and we are beyond excited! Well, lets be honest, taking a 2 month old to Disneyland isn't going to be super amazing, but Jace is going to be 2 1/2 and it will be so magical for him that its worth all the hassle!
     We took Jace shooting for a family activity over Memorial Weekend. It was actually really fun! We brought Jace's bubble gun which kept him busy for most of the time we were out there. We let him shoot the .22 with Daddy and he really liked it. He was a little intimidated at first, but realized pretty quickly that pulling the trigger is fun, and makes the gun go boom.

Jace is practicing with his bubble gun while Daddy loads the .22 magazine

My lil guy actually smiling with me!!

Paul showing off his awesome shotgun shooting skills

Me trying to look like a bad bum with the shotgun and my big massive belly ;)

The first time Jace shot the .22 he had to have his bubble gun with him. Eventually he got to the point where he would help daddy shoot the gun without his bubble gun in the other hand. 

My guys shooting the .22. Boy do I love them!

     There is still so much to share, but I will just share it with picture captions that way its less writing and more enjoying of pictures! Until next time I sit my bum down and write up a post (which could be after the baby is born, but hopefully not!)

We have had some pretty rainy days this May. Jace got a pair of rain boots from an awesome friend in our ward. They are really big on him, but he loves to put them on and go puddle jumping. He has recently discovered the umbrella. He wanted to puddle jump in the storm today, so we booted up and headed out. 

He seriously had the best time with his boots and umbrella. We live on a hill so we don't get many puddles close to our house. But occasionally we have some water in the gutters that we splash in.

Memorial Day we went out to visit Paul's grandmother's grave with the family. Jace enjoyed running around the cemetery with his cousins while the adults enjoyed a little bit of family bonding. 

Paul and Daddy just being so cute on the way out of the cemetery. 

We have taken several trips to the zoo in May, but this trip I actually remembered to snap some pictures. I tried to convince Jace to get close to the gorilla, but he refused. I don't think I need to worry about my kid falling into the gorilla enclosure! ;)

The bears were SOO close to the glass. Jace was actually not too scared to get close to them. 

There are lots of statues all over at the zoo. Jace wanted to take a picture with them all!

He is totally posing so handsomely.

After the zoo we met up at temple square with our friends to do a mini photo shoot. This was one of the first pictures of Jace I got. Naturally I told him to smile. 

Not taken with a nice camera or anything, but some of these pictures turned out ok. 

Smiling with my little guy!

Jace has been acting like a monkey all day. Ever since he saw monkeys at the zoo he has been ooh ooh ing all day!

Jace and Lyla are pretty much best friends. They are a month apart in age, and have been hanging out since they were about 2 months old. Its been so fun to see them develop a friendship with each other. They fight like siblings, but they also play so well together. Meagan and I had to take this picture of them just in case they get married one day ;)