Our Big Weekend

Our little family just got back from our big trip to Oakland, California. We all flew out to see Dallen's Uncle Matt get hitched!! We had so much fun and took probably 100's of pictures. We got some really good ones and wish we could share them all, but there are some that Uncles and others took that I haven't yet received. And of course there are the things that didn't get caught on camera like: Dallen reading the newspaper on the hotel bed in his diaper, sleeping with Daddy's cell phone is his hand and so many other faces that unfortunately are not only un-capture-able but indescribably adorable!!! I had some fun with the pictures I did capture using the editing software on my computer and I think these pictures turned out pretty great, if I do say so myself. Here are a few pictures to help tell the story of our weekend...

Thursday Daddy came home from work early to help Dallen and I pack. Dallen just wanted to make sure we didn't forget anything, or anyone! Then it was off to the airport (thanks for the rides Tanner and Leann).

Friday We went to the Oakland temple for Amy Nicole. It was such a beautiful temple and a wonderful experience. Later that night the girls (bachelorettes) and boys (bachelors) got to stay up late and party, seperately of course. Thanks to my parents taking Dallen for the night, Mark and I were able to stay out late!!

Saturday Morning It was the big day :) Everything about the wedding was fabulous and we felt so blessed to all be there. I thought that I would wait to post pictures of Amy and wedding parties until she gets to put them on her blog. I just know that if I had a blog at the time of my wedding, I would have been kinda sad if someone put up a spoiler, so I will post those in a few weeks probably and provide a link to her blog which will have much better (professional) pictures. While Matt & Amy took lots of pictures which I can't wait to see, we had to find ways to keep Dallen entertained and ended up taking lots of pictures of our own!! Dallen was sooo busy, most of the pictures he's not looking right at the camera but cute nonetheless. Dallen found lots of things to keep him busy such as:

The grass
The water-less fountain
Grandpa
Mimi
Mommy & her accessories
Daddy
And new friends

*You've gotta watch this ADORABLE video clip (turn up the volume)*

Saturday Night The reception was great at a little seafood restaurant by the bay, right on the water. The food was yummy and the company fantastic!! Dallen was all about the dance floor. His date for the evening, his cousin Avery. She is a little ballerina and would not leave the dance floor. She was dancing with anyone and everyone and totally hammed it up, so cute!!

First, she asked Dallen to dance:
Dallen was just a little too slow:
So, he watched for a while as she danced...
...and enjoyed her piece of wedding cake: Dallen's favorite part of the evening was when he got to remove his tuxedo pants and run around "risky business" style:

Sunday Dallen did really well on both plane rides and cheesed it up for the camera on the way home!! All in all it was a great weekend and we owe many thanks...

Thank you Brackens for a wonderful wedding weekend. Thank you Mom and Dad for the free babysitting. Thank you Matt and Amy for letting us be a part of your big day. Thank you everyone for the wonderful memories!!

Fun & Hats

Mark's parents came to town for Memorial Day weekend to play with little D. We went over to Aunt Joan's house where her little girls just smothered him with love. They put this adorable yellow hard hat on him and he kept it on while they played. Dallen also had lots of fun with Grandpa's hat. He was so sleep deprived over the weekend but we sure had lots of good times!!

Crashed

I just cherish these moments!! Can you believe how big this man is?

Behold Wonder.

Dallen has recently learned to pull himself up on anything and everything around the house. His favorite new place to play is in his crib. He plays this little game where he pulls up and falls down over and over again!! It keeps him busy for a long time (at least on a baby's clock!) He is so proud of himself and his accomplishments, as are his parents. The only problem with this new found talent is that several times in the middle of the night he pulls up and is too tired to figure out how to get back down. Which means, I have to wake up every couple of hours and help him back down. At least I got these cute pictures out of it. I couldn't choose which ones to post because they all turned out so cute!! Best of all, I got a little video, enjoy!!

Sidenote: Since these were taken we had to move the crib mattress down. He is refusing to sleep at night and Momma just can't hack it anymore!! Sorry D :)

First Baseball Game

Last Friday night our friends invited us to Dallen's first baseball game. Although I am sad that his first wasn't the Angels, we couldn't turn down 2nd row tickets!! Dallen was a champ :) He did so good. I was worried because the game would go into his bedtime, but would you believe he actually fell asleep at the game?!?! I was so impressed with my little man. He loved it!! His favorite part was getting to sit in his own seat. Our little man is all about his independence. As you can see by the bruises on his little forhead :( Thank you to Jared and Heather for taking us to the game, let's go again soon!!

My First Mothers Day

I had a beautiful first Mothers day. I am so blessed to have 2 great men in my life to treat me like a princess. I got some really wonderful gifts, one of which you have already seen. Mark has made a tradition (which I love) of getting me Swarovski's for special occasions. This is my fourth piece and it is absolutely adorable. For Mothers day he picked a baby bear with a little blue bottle and binky. I love it, thank you Mark.From Dallen I requested a small art project. It was not such an easy task, but well worth it. I used the paint colors from Dallen's nursery to make these hand and feet prints. They could have used a few more, but little D was not a very willing participant. I still think they turned out great!! Thank you boys for a fabulous Mothers Day!!

Happy Mothers Day

TO ME
My sister Aubrey gave me this painting from her friend (http://www.littleshopofshavs.com/) for Mothers Day and it is absolutely perfect!! I love it sooo much :) Some of you may have seen it on Aubrey's blog, and I just can't wait to get it on my wall!!

I also want to thank my Mom for the sign language DVD's. I am excited to watch Dallen learn. I am sorry your gift will be late this year, I really dropped the ball. I have a much greater appreciation for this day this year and am thinking of you Mom!! I hope that you have a wonderful and happy Mothers Day. I wish we could be there with you because we love you!!
And a Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers and soon-to-be and someday-will-be mothers in my life!! I hope the blessings of motherhood bring you every happiness they have brought to me! Enjoy your day :)

Free For All

The Tempe Beach Park Splash Playground at Tempe Town Lake is so much fun and it is all for free!! I can't believe it has taken me a year to discover this amazing place. Dallen and I took Charee and Chloe Thursday morning and decided we want to go back every day. We were having so much fun that we didn't take quite as many pictures as I would have liked. There was so much more to this park than what we got pictures of. There were 2 slides and a bunch of little pools that Dallen crawled through like a champ. There were fountains of water shooting from the ground and waterfalls. Dallen loved sticking his head under and getting all wet. This little boy loves water. He was pretty timid at first, but about 10 minutes into, he was loving it :) I can't wait to go back!!

Per Your Request

Can you believe this little munchkin?!?! Sorry, it's kinda long, but it gets better as it goes. I wish I knew how to put it to some cool music or something, feel free to play your own :) Enjoy!!

Recent Developments

Lately it seems like every day Dallen does something new. He is starting to crawl, eat big boy food, drink out of a sippie cup, he pulls himself up, passes things from hand to hand, plays peek-a-boo, turns upside down during diaper changes, he reaches out for me and climbs all over me!! He loves his momma and gets sad when I leave, but Daddy is so proud that now he says Da-Da!! Here are some cute pictures of Dallen up on all fours and sitting up trying to brush his teeth that haven't come through yet :)

Teething makes for...

FUNNY FACES
Teething makes for a lot of things: less sleeping at night, more fussiness in the day, the need to chew on EVERYTHING. Teething is kinda a nightmare but at least this adorable face is a by-product. He chews or sucks on his bottom lip and it makes this super cute pucker face and I just wanna kiss it. Hopefully those teeth break soon and I can snap yet another cute picture :) Keep your fingers crossed!!

BEST

BEST buy
I got this adorable shopping-cart/high-chair cover from this cute little store online and it is one of my favorite "baby stuff" purchases. It is so great. They sell them everywhere now, but I just loved the cute fabrics at: http://www.tinderboutique.com/

BEST friends
Dallen and Chloe are the bestest of friends and they love to play together. Best of all, they are really good at sharing!! They share toys, food, diapers (clean ones of course) and in the pictures above, Dallen is sharing his shopping cart cover at Costco and his jammies so Mom and Dad's could watch a late night movie!! Doesn't Chloe look fabulous in blue? Do you think Daddy would ever let little D borrow Chloers pink ones?

Without the collage

For those who don't get to see Dallen all that often or even those who do but still just can't get enough, here are some pictures that are not in a collage so that you may copy and paste or save and print for your own viewing pleasure. We just love this little guy and can't get enough photos of the little one to get out there to share with you all.
Happy viewing!!6 months on Easter Sunday5 months oldAliso Creek Beach in LagunaPeek-a-boo Dallen 5 months oldSitting up with little assistance at an early 5 months oldHuge smiling Dallen with Mommy at the Klepingers, almost 6 months old

SAD

So on my computer I have all of Dallen's pictures seperated in a folder by age. The folder for 6 months is MUCH slimmer than the others. Why? Because its so sad to take pictures of a sick baby. Dallen has been sick on and off for over 3 weeks now. I was so sad I wasn't getting many 6 month old pictures so yesterday, after yet another trip to the doctors office, I got this keeper.
It breaks my heart to look at this super sad face, but he is still so adorable!! There really is nothing good about a sick baby, but if there is one perk, its how much he needs him mommy. He cuddles me and loves me and when its not 4 o'clock in the morning, I relish it. Those moments are becoming more and more rare as Dallen grows bigger and more independent. The last thing he wants to do is sit on Mommy's lap or cuddle up like a little baby. He wants to be down on the ground, rollin around. I just love this little boy and hope he is his happy self again soon!!

The best part about buying diapers in bulk...

THE BOX!!!

The wait is over...

For a long time people have been asking for videos of Dallen and until now I couldn't get them onto the blog because of my dumb computer. I finally got it working and hope this isn't overkill. Here's a bunch of videos from the past couple months. I know there's a lot, so if you need, come back when you have some spare time!! First up: Dallen's first taste of REAL food. Sweet potatoes, yum!!

Since then Dallen has also had squash, green beans and carrots, and the carrots were not such a hit! I got more on me than he put in his mouth.

These next videos were taken on our trip to CA so they were mostly for Daddy, since he couldn't be there to enjoy the moments with us. This video is Dallen getting acquainted with my parents dog, Kasie. He got just a little too close, but he LOVED her.

This was taken (sorry its sideways) when Auntie Kellie took Dallen and I to the beach. He loved playing in the sand and if it hadn't been so cold I am sure he would have loved the water too. And of course, Dallen ate a little sand as any baby would!!

The next 2 videos are Dallen's first time in the pool. He absolutely loved it and did not want to get out! Again, it was March so it was a little cold to let him stay in there all day.


Hope you enjoyed these!! There are more posts coming soon, but unfortunately this one took FOREVER. Hope it was worth it :)

Easter Weekend

This year for Easter, instead of going home to be with family, my family came to me. I have to say, this was one of my favorite Easter weekends ever!! We did so many fun things together as a family. We spent a lot of time at the Tempe Marketplace, shopping and eating and just hanging out. On Friday night we got sandwiches and headed to the temple for the Easter pageant. The weather wasn't the greatest, it was a little windy and a little chilly, our seats didn't provide the best view and the play itself was just a little bit cheesy, but all in all, I loved it! Being together as a family outside on picnic blankets, I almost felt like a kid again (if it weren't for the constant reminder that I have a child of my own). He was such a good sport and so much fun to be with.On Sunday we went to church as a family where we had the opportunity to be reminded of the true reason that we celebrate this season. Plus, Dallen got a chance to look so handsome in his new clothes he found in his Easter basket. On a serious note: it is amazing to me how much becoming a mother has been able to change my perspective of the Atonement and eternal families. I am so grateful for my Savior and I am also so grateful for my family. I did some reflecting (and just a little tear shedding) after my family left this afternoon and I was alone with my little boy again, and it is unexplainable how much love I have in my heart!! I have so much to be grateful for and I am so glad for seasons to remind me of all that we have. Happy Easter!!

At Dallen's six month appointment today we learned that he weighs 18 lbs 4 ozs and is a whopping 28 inches tall, that's the 97th height percentile!!! Such a big boy. We also learned that our poor baby boy has an ear infection. It has caused him to have a nasty cough and nose issues too. That explains the waking up every 15 minutes at night!! It is killing me :) He is so sweet, he just wants his mommy to hold him and comfort him and it just melts my heart. Other than the current temporary ailments, life with Dallen is happy and blessed!!

Here are the remaining pictures from month 5 that never got posted:

Six one: Half dozen the other

At the risk of sounding so cliche, babies grow up way too fast. I can't believe Dallen is a half a year old. Oh my gosh!! We are celebrating his half birthday today. Did I blink? Just look at the difference in my baby...
It is so amazing the difference a couple months can make. In the last few weeks Dallen has been learning and growing by leaps and bounds. He can sit up all by himself and for as long as he wants. He is reaching and grabbing everything he wants. He drinks out of my water bottle and actually swallows. He eats his cereal with a spoon. I wish I could say he sleeps through the night, but we are still working on that one! He is talking up a storm, although no one can understand what he is saying. He rolls in every direction to get to where he wants to go. And best of all, he gives the greatest hugs!! I love this little boy more and more every day and can't believe I am so blessed to have him in my life. Happy half Birthday Dallen, Momma loves you!!

Conference Weekend

For those who are unfamiliar, our church holds annual and semi-annual General Conferences, in which we get to listen to the prophet and apostles address the members of the church on Saturday and Sunday in April and October. Basically, twice a year we get to watch church on TV. Conference weekends have grown to be some of my favorite times of the year. It is a weekend that is generally focused on family and togetherness, at least it is for me. This year we spent lots of time with family and loved being together.

On Saturday we got to enjoy a BBQ at the Klepinger's home. It is so fun to get all the young cousins and all the grown up cousins together. We always have such a fun time.
On Sunday, Mark, Dallen and I went to the park, after house hunting, and it was so fun. We kept asking ourselves why we don't do this more often. Dallen loves to be outside and this spring weather is absolutely beautiful. We thoroughly enjoyed our conference weekend and hope you did too. Here's to October...

Mission Impossible

Taking a picture of one restless, playful, busy child is hard enough, but try to do three at a time, that's what I call an impossible mission. Dallen loves playing with his cousin Chloe and when Stone came to town for a few days, we just had to get these crazy kids together. Seeing Dallen play with his cousins makes me so excited for him to have little brothers and sisters someday but it really makes me glad that he has cousins to keep him busy until we are ready to go down that road. These little ones just crack me up, soooo cute!!