What I'm Loving Right Now

1. Hearing classic Michael Jackson all over the place

I was walking out of Target last week, and this guy was blasting a Michael Jackson song in his car so loudly that I could hear the song even with his car windows rolled up. Then on my way home, I heard four Michael Jackson songs in a row on the radio. I think the station was doing a tribute to him from noon to 1:00 pm. Today I heard a Michael Jackson song being played at the grocery store. I hope one good thing that comes from his death is that we'll start hearing his songs more often.

2. Mormons on my favorite reality TV shows

There's Chelsie Hightower - my favorite professional on Dancing with the Stars. She was also on So You Think You Can Dance last season. When I read she was from Orem, Utah, I knew she had to be Mormon, and I found a clip of her on YouTube that confirmed that.

Has anyone been watching this show that comes on after The Bachelorette?

I have been loving this show because of this couple:

Here's their bio from abc.com:

Sarin & Jed Hinkins: Virgins when they got married, this couple's honeymoon was the very first time they were together. Their honeymoon hotel turned out to be a clothing optional resort - which was incredibly awkward for them. Hometown: Cedar City, Utah.

So Mormon.

Then there's Randi from So You Think You Can Dance this season:

When I saw her cute A-line haircut, and she mentioned on the show that she was married, I thought, "This girl has to be Mormon." Sure enough she lives in Springville, Utah, and she attends Utah Valley University.

3. This sweet boy

Braden turned four months old last week. Right now he loves his feet and putting his toes in his mouth. He sticks his tongue out a lot, and he rolls from his back to his stomach. He likes tummy time a little bit more since he puts himself there now, but he still gets fussy after a few minutes of it and wants to be rolled back onto his back. We are all loving this boy, especially Rebecca and William. He is such a joy. I couldn't ask for a better baby for my #3.

Slacker

So I know Father's Day was a week ago, but I wanted to post what Rebecca did for Kevin in her primary class last Sunday.

This little questionnaire was on the back of his "World's Best Dad" certificate. She did this with her teacher Sister Kilber. I didn't help at all. There is a cute picture Rebecca drew of herself and her dad, and it says that Kevin is 26 (He's 28 - pretty close), he is 6'1'' tall (6'0"), his job is "writing with pens and paper," his favorite food is cereal, his favorite movie is Stars Wars (that's right), and he and Rebecca like to play basketball. I laughed at the last one because I know they've never played basketball together. Then I realized that we put William's little plastic basketball hoop upstairs in their playroom, and Kevin goes up there and plays basketball with the kids. She actually does play basketball with her dad, and apparently she likes it.

This is the cutest thing I've ever seen Rebecca bring home from church. I love seeing what she thinks about her dad. I hope Kevin had a good Father's Day. I know something like this would really make my day.

I Love California

If it were up to me, we would live there.

This past week we took a trip to Oceanside by San Diego with Kevin's family. The kids had a great time...

...hanging out with their cousins Austin and Katia. Katia is just five days older than Braden, and she has the prettiest red hair I've ever seen on a baby.

The kids also enjoyed spending time with aunts and uncles and Granny and Opa. My in-laws condo had a patio just a few feet from the beach. We were on the beach almost every day.

On the days we weren't at the beach, we went to Disneyland and the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Disneyland was hot and crowded, so we didn't stay long. But the zoo was awesome! We especially liked the dinosaur exhibit, the cheetahs getting excited and running around, the lions sleeping on top of the SUV, the tiger howling for her three cubs, and the gorillas. Oh, and the kids loved the carousel - they rode it three times.

Rebecca and William had fun sharing a bed in our hotel room. They giggled themselves to sleep every night. And they loved the little towels that were just their size.

We ended the week by getting together with many of Kevin's aunts, uncles, and cousins. We didn't get any pictures from the party, but it is always so fun to see Kevin's extended family on his dad's side.

We were so sad to leave California. I think Kevin is still having withdrawals. Hopefully we'll be back again soon.

Trying to be like his sister?

(before)

Not while Mama's around.

(after)

Little stinker.

Rebecca

Rebecca had her first dance recital this past weekend. I went to two Parents' Day performances for her last year, and she did not want to perform for anyone at those. We figured the recital would be the same. And after attending the dress rehearsal at noon where she cried until her teacher came and sat next to her on the stage, I was even more sure that she would not be performing during the recital.

Rebecca was part of the third number. I'm not sure why her name and her friend Madison's name were not put on the program, but she should be part of "5 Ballet Position".

At the beginning of the recital, her teacher stood up and welcomed everyone, and said that she might be sitting on the stage for one of the performances. I'm pretty sure she was talking about Rebecca's number. But it came time for Rebecca's class to perform, and she did the whole dance without crying and without her teacher coming up on stage. She watched the girl next to her the whole time to make sure she was doing it right, but at least she did it. I was so happy that I cried. I'm becoming one of those embarrassing parents.

Would you believe that after I got to the recital I realized that the battery for my camera was dead? So I didn't get any pictures, but Kevin got her on video. I'm so proud of my little girl.

William

William had his two-year-old well check last week. Here's where he is at:

Height: 34 1/2 inches

Weight: 28 pounds

Both of these are in the 50 percentile. He's about as average sized as he can be. He still seems so big to me - maybe because his sister has always been so small.

For his birthday post I forgot to mention how he has become very helpful lately. He's always saying, "I help". He likes to help feed the bunnies, put on his seat belt, put away dishes, mop the floor, and much more. He's finally figured out how to open doors which is good and bad. It's good because he doesn't lock himself in rooms anymore. It's bad because he's not confined to a crib, so it's hard to lay him down for a nap and keep him there. It's also bad because his favorite room is the pantry. Now he can open the door and get into whatever he wants while I'm occupied with the baby upstairs.

We are still loving this sweet two-year-old even though he is making us a little more crazy lately. I can't imagine life without the Bubba.

Braden

Braden had his three month well check last week. Here's where he is at right now:

Height: 24 1/2 inches long

Weight: 14 lbs. 11 oz.

He is still such a happy baby. He's cooing all the time lately, and it is the sweetest thing.

Kevin blessed him on Sunday. He was one of four babies being blessed that day - Brooklyn Carruth, Christopher Higginson, and Celeste Strobehn were the other babies he was blessed with.

After the blessing, we had the fam over for dinner.

We're so lucky to have this sweet boy. He has been such a blessing in our lives.