little man

Our little man turned one today.

I can't believe that you have only been in our family for one short year, it has flown but and yet feels like forever.  We were meant to be.  You were meant to be ours.  

Calling you our son gives me so much pride.  

We are blessed.  

Look both ways

It is good to take time to reflect on the past because it so deeply affects our future.  2012 felt like roller coaster to me. We started the year with the house up for sell.  Cleaning our guts out (at least it felt that way being 9 months pregnant). Looking back I have such mixed emotions about it all.  I feel like we both knew we needed to move, but I get an idea in my head and I don't look back. I wish I would have put more thought and prayer into when would be the best timing.  Since we have been at my parents house for...much longer than we planned, it would have been nice to have stayed in our home longer.  You never can know with this sort of thing though, so here we are still.  No sense in regretting, we can't change it but I want to learn from it.

We added our sweet Boden to our family.  That was a great addition.  Oh, that little man just melts my heart over and over.

Our kids just grew so fast this year. I honestly cannot believe it. 

Some moments I am overwhelmed and don't know how I can get through the next few hours but the very next second, I am reminded what a blessing it is to call these little ones ours.  

We felt like we enjoyed ourselves a lot this summer. Spent our anniversary in Park City, 4th of July in Powell, Mower Pocatello family vacations, lots and lots of pool days.  It was nice.  I am a warm weather girl but cache valley just wiggles it's way into your heart. I can't imagine calling any place else home, so I guess I have to enjoy the cold too!

To be honest we had lots of frustrating/disappointing house hunting experiences.  We looked and looked and looked for houses.  We just couldn't seem to find anything that was really the right fit for us but I promise it was not for lack of trying! Not being in a new house yet I am sure makes all of this harder. I am hoping that once we are in our house it will make all of waiting seem worth it.  I really think we are going to love it.

I failed epically at my resolutions last year, so this year I am even more determined to reach them.  My main goal was to attend the temple each month.  I feel very strongly that to be the kind of parent that I want and need to be, I need the Spirit as my constant companion.  These kids are just to precious to me to not use all the help I can get.  I want to be better at allowing my Heavenly Father to shape me into the person He wants me to become.  

Our main goal for 2013 is pretty obvious, to get settled into our new home.  Other then that I honestly feel it is important to just get back to the basics. I want to stop being so busy with silly things, stop checking my phone a gazillion times a day, looking at who knows what.  I need to just love more, be kinder, and more patient. I want the people around me to see and feel my love for them through my actions.  I really want to nurture my relationships with Derek and the kids ,because as cliche as it sounds, they are my everything and they deserve it.

I'm thankful for everything the past year has taught us and look forward to taking that knowledge with us to make 2013 even better. I'm even more thankful for the great man and children I have by my side through it all. 

I already know this year will be full of changes and that is exciting!

Holidays and Traditions

The holidays are marked by traditions.  Even if it is Christmas it sometimes doesn't feel like Christmas just because you don't get to celebrate the way you are used to. My Jensen side has some great traditions that has brought our families very close.  I already am looking forward to that with our future family.  This year Brielle seemed big enough to start to remember things so we tried to do a few things that many families do, but we hope some will become traditions for us in the future.  

We started off our holiday season with Thanksgiving at the Mowers.  We are all in transition phases with moving and growing families, but the Mower/Miller get togethers never disappoint. 

We had lots of cousin time, great food, and even some pool time. 

We were able to get our family pictures taken for a Christmas Card.
Obsessed much??
Yes, I love them.

I don't always love taking family pictures but I do love the end result. This year's pictures did not disappoint, Molly Landon rocks. 

I seriously could put up tons more because I love them all so much. 

 I am going to need a pretty big wall to put up all the family pictures we have had taken over the few short years we have been a family! 

Brielle made a gingerbread house. 

We went to the live nativity. It is nothing fancy but it is nice to do something that focuses on our Savior and his humble beginnings.

Brielle made ornaments.  Many ended up black or pink. My personal favorite was her dark angel.  

Christmas best is always a must.  I get way too much joy out of coordinating my kids outfits. 

We visited Santa.  Brielle asked for a bear with a tutu and a halloween costume???  Boden was just happy that he only had to sit on his lap for less than 30 seconds.  

We taught Brielle the true purpose of bubble bath, making Santa beards.

One of my favorite traditions, the annual Jensen Christmas party.  

Man oh man, there are a lot of us, and I LOVE it. 

 We spent Christmas with my family. Even KC and Austin were with us but the flu bug paid them a visit so needless to say we don't have pictures of us all together. 

Here is our Christmas morning shot.

 I seriously need to stop thinking my phone is a good camera.  

The kids are so blessed with people that love them and got a lot of great gifts.  It is a good thing we are moving because all this loot would not be fitting in our old house! 

We rang in the new year with lots of family and of course lots of fun.  

The little monkey's didn't make it till midnight. 

We packed in as much as we could, 

Derek and I spent a day on the slopes. 

We waited an HOUR to ride the ferris wheel at Scheels. 

(I don't know what we were thinking)

My parents took Brielle sledding, besides the frost bite, she loved it. 

Boden played a wild game of twister.

It was cold, like -20 cold. 

But we know how to bundle up and went to enjoy the ice rink in Newton. 

Who knows what future holidays will bring and what new traditions we will create?

 I'm sure things will change and evolve but I guess the most important thing is that we spend our holidays with the people that matter, celebrating what really matters.  So for the holiday season of 2012, I'd say we did pretty well.  

This girl

I know I talk about time passing too quickly in every post but honestly it is something I can't quite get a grip on.  At first I thought things were busier because we had just had the baby, we were moving and that I just needed to find my new routine again and that I would be able to re-adjust and things would slow down.  Here I am 10 months later and now I am starting to realize that, that is just not the case.  Life is not going to slow down nor am I going to get less busy, more hours aren't magically going to appear in my day, and unfortunately my sweet babies are going to continue to grow up and change more quickly than I would like.  I don't think it is something that you ever get used to, and as a mom, I think you are always trying to play a little catch up.  Trying to catch up on the laundry, catch up on cleaning, the list just seems to go on and on. The thing is all of that is just fine as long as I am at least not feeling like I need to catch up on time with my family, the rest can wait.  So here is my attempt to try to catch up and record some moments.

Brielle is just as sweet as ever.  This girl is just a light.  Every time she walks in the room she makes everyone in it happier. There is just something about her.

This girl had her first dance recital. I did not know it was possible to feel so proud.  The day of her recital honestly felt like Christmas, I had to keep checking myself so I wouldn't stress Brielle out! It was just so  exciting to get to watch her and see how much she had learned and how much fun she was having performing. I wasn't a dancer and don't know how I feel about being a dance mom but whatever this girl wants to do, I can assure you, I will be her number one fan.

This picture is terrible because in the process of hunting all day through boxes to find our video camera I completely forgot to grab the regular camera! So this is the best we got as far as pictures go. 

I love these pictures though because watching 2 and 3 year olds dance is just about the best thing on the planet. Notice the top picture where no one seems to be doing the same thing. It is entertaining to say the least. They did manage to all do these adorable face together. Seriously it was an overload of cuteness. 

 Good thing they perform these dances again in the spring so I can redeem myself in the photo taking department. 

 This beautiful girl turned 3.

 For the day of her birthday we tried to do lots of her favorite things, she got her nails shellacked at the salon (which she peeled off that night, awesome).  We ate at chicken and fries (chick-fil-a) with friends and family, then we went and saw Brave at the "number 9 house". When we got home Bode gave her, her most desired item, drumroll....a dream light! She was pretty excited.

Bode was excited and extra cute too,

 because he just is. 

A few days later she had a Toy Story Party and loved it. I kind of love throwing parties and luckily my parents are gems and don't mind the ruckus.  I may have over-excitedly encouraged the Toy Story theme but she was Jessie for Halloween and we just really needed to reuse those sparkly red boots!

 My cousin Stephanie made this cake. She is obviously super talented.  Not only did it look cute, it tasted fantastic.  

She had lots of her favorite people over to celebrate. She is pretty lucky to already have such good people in her life.

This girl is getting smarter by the second.  Learning is magical to witness.  Here is her first real attempt at writing her name.

She is helping herself to apples and bandaids and keeping things pretty entertaining around here.

We are pretty lucky. 

three

From the second you were born we have been utterly and complete in love.  

To us you are perfect in every single way.

We believe in you. 

We support you.

We love you. 

And just when we think we love you the most we ever could, 

we learn we were wrong, because we love you more with every second. 

You make the blessing of eternal families more than a blessing. 

It is a necessity. 

It doesn't matter if you are one minute old, one year, two years, three years old, or 100 years old, 

you will still be one of the greatest joys in our life.

Happy 3rd Birthday

9 months and some catching up

You'd think I'd get used to the fact that time is slipping through my fingers, but I just can't. I just want to soak up as much as I can with these precious babies because they are the highlight of our lives.

Boden has been so much fun this last month.  He is just a crazy little man! I love it.

He started crawling on his 8 month birthday and hasn't stopped since.  Seriously, though, he has not stopped. He is always trying to get somewhere.  Pretty much the only time this boy holds still is if he is sleeping.  Even when he nurses he is kicking his legs and trying to reach for something. Just a few days after he started crawling he was pulling up on furniture to stand and just a few days after that he was crawling up the stairs. Now he is trying to cruise around he furniture.  He went from our baby to a big boy in the blink of an eye.  The good thing about it all is that he loves it.  He is so much happier now that he can get where he wants.  I guess we have officially entered the "into everything, mess making" phase.

He is a great eater. He will eat anything he can get his little hands on.  He has started nursing a little less  because he is eating more and staying full longer so that is great! He is also sleeping so much better at night, usually only waking up once around 5 or 6 to eat then going right back to sleep.  Yay for sleep.

He has been babbling. Making lots of different sounds, and as much as I wish mama was at the top of the list, dada has become his favorite word.

Here is my attempt at his 9 month football picture...

Don't be fooled he was here for about 1 second and was on his way.

So this is what you get. His 9 month back side and it's still pretty cute.

He is not the only busy one at our house. Brielle has been so much fun.  She really is just the most precious little girl in the world.  She has been loving dance class and swimming lessons. Watching her in classes just melts my heart.  I sure I am just beaming with pride each time I watch her.  It is bittersweet though that she is big enough to do things on her own.

We had a toy story theme for Halloween.  Brielle said that Derek and I were the tomato heads...

These 2!!! How can I not be in love with those smiles! 

I love these pictures. She was literally running as quick as her little legs could carry her from house to house.  Trust me on this, it does not get much cuter.  

We spent Thanksgiving with Derek's family.  It was great.  We shopped, ate, stayed up too late, swam, hung out, and got spoiled from such a long weekend together. 

Having Derek's parents in Logan now has been great.  They love being with the kids, we love it too.

I have been keeping myself busy with a boutique that I started, Breea's Boutique Bargains.  I definitely have been busier than I was expecting but it has been good.  My parents have been great to let me turn their basement into my warehouse! It is probably making them excited for us to move out though!

Speaking of moving...we are still here, in Newton. They have made some progress though, the road should be finished in the next 2 weeks.  We have the house plans all finalized and ready to go.  The waiting is easier now that I know something is happening, even if it is just baby steps.

Derek has been busier than ever with work.  The re-election of Obama has put a wrench in things but he will adjust and continue to grow.  He is the epitome of a hard worker.  I feel so lucky that he is willing to do whatever it takes for our family.  He is a good man. I couldn't begin to sum up what he means to me. The kids light up when they see him.  There is not much that makes me happier than seeing him with the kids. I am pretty lucky. 

We started preparing for Christmas the best way we know how.  I am sure there are moments my parents wish they had the house to themselves, but I am betting there are moments they glad we are here making memories together.  

Bode was pretty excited about the lights, if you can't tell by the look on his face.

This is exactly what the holidays should be about...

we love our little helper.

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Even if all the ornaments ended up in one spot.

(and yes she is wearing her Jesse costume)

This little one wasn't so helpful with the tree decorating.  In fact, the tree must be protected at all times if  he is around.  

There are moments that I think about all the silly things I wish I had or how things could be better but writing things down really helps me to appreciate the right things.  My eternal companion and my sweet children, our supportive family and I am thankful for them all every single day. 

They truly are the best things in my life.