He's a laughing boy :)

Nate laughed for the first time tonight :)  

My goodness, we love this kid.  

Can't wait to hear him laugh more!

Yes, more pictures of Nate

So, I know I post so many of these...but just so you know, I'm doing this by request of some far away family members :)  He's just so cute and they're just so far away!  We pulled out the Bumbo seat (given to us by Courtney and Eileen Maxfield at my baby shower) and we love it!  And so does Nate.  He's still not holding his head up perfectly, but he's getting the hang of it :) So here's some recent fun ones of our little man:

Not only a baby seat, but a Daddy hat.

Sharing the Bumbo with cousin Annie

At the dinner table with us

It totally sounds like he's telling his Dad a story.  Quite the talker I must say.  

I love it, keeps me company during the day :)

On a Spiritual Note...

For those of you who read this and may not know what General Conference is, it's when the Prophet and the 12 Apostles speak to the world.  They are the leaders of my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and God speaks to the world through them.  Sounds awesome, right?!  Well it totally is and if you'd like to read or listen to what they have to say (which is amazing) you can click here.  I really feel and know that what they say is coming from God.

So I read Elder Richard G. Scott's talk a while ago and it really struck me how he spoke of scriptures being our friends.  I've been thinking about it a lot the past few weeks and I'm going to start memorizing more scriptures.  That's one of my goals for 2012.  

I was talking to my mom this morning about some things that are on my mind.  Being terrified for Nate to go off some of his heart medicine, struggling to eat healthy and fit back into my pre-pregnancy clothes, still trying to make friends out here in virginia...and just a bunch of silly little things. My sweet mother reminded me of Elder Scott's talk (She's so wonderful).  So I read it again and this is the part that struck me today:

"Scriptures can calm an agitated soul, giving peace, hope, and a restoration of confidence in one's ability to overcome the challenges of life.  They have potent power to heal emotional challenges when there is faith in the Savior.  They can accelerate physical healing."

So for my little challenges in life, those words really motivate me to study the scriptures better.

And my story continues....

A friend of mine is struggling with several things. She struggles with a disorder and also depression.  She feels like she's failing in life and a lot of things are going wrong in her life right now.  She called me today to just tell me all about it and vent.  I was grateful that I had just read Elder Scott's talk because I mentioned it to her and I think it may have helped her.  It was good to be able to testify to her of the healing power of the scriptures as she gets to know them and really studies and ponders them.

Anyways, I love the scriptures.  I love Elder Scott.  I love the Lord.  And I love life.  

Happenings with Nate

Nate is really growing quickly.  We went to his 2 month check up last week and he's doing well :)  He's now 23 1/2 inches and 11.5 pounds.  So still pretty skinny, but growing!  He's becoming more and more interactive with us and it's so much fun!  He is a super smiley boy, which we love!  He's becoming quite the talker with his squeals, grunts, and screams.  He still likes to snuggle, but is getting better at falling asleep by himself, without someone cuddling him in their arms.  He's getting better at holding his head up and is liking his toys more :)  So here's a few of the latest:

Tummy time.  He's exhausted after this because of all his grunting :)

You can never start too young teaching your kid to pray.

Getting better at looking at the camera

All matchy with Dad in their sweaters

Sweet little man...

Sporting some cool hair-do's 

Talking and wiggling like crazy

We love him!  Anyone is MORE THAN WELCOME to come out here to Virginia to visit him.  We'll even sleep on the airbed and let you have our nice bed (with memory foam and gold satin sheets) if you come to see this cute child... :)  

No sugar...

I've decided to not eat sugar for 30 days.  

Why would I do this to myself?  

To prove to myself that I DO indeed have self control.

Why do I need to prove it to myself?

Because over the Christmas break I did NOT exercise self control in the sugar eating department.  

So, tonight I make brownies and tomorrow is day 1.

I CAN DO IT!

***And now I am accountable to all you people who read this blog***

2011 Highlights

Okay, I'm going to summarize 2011 with pictures :)

We enjoyed fun dates in Provo: 

Welcomed Steve's brother, Jeff, to the MTC and both finished teaching there

Hung out with our super cool brothers and sisters and cousins:

Relived our very first date on April 10 by going to Divine Comedy:

GRADUATED from COLLEGE

We won the intramural championship for softball:

We went on a trip Whistler, Canada with Kirsten and Mike:

Steve learned to Water-ski:

We built that awesome rock wall in the back: 

Traveled to both Mesa, Idaho, and Washington! 

(Not many pictures from those trips...sorry)

Blew a tire while doing it (at least it was when we were in Jonny boy's car):

Jon married the gorgeous and wonderful Nicole:

Moved across the country!

Steve drove from Mesa to Virginia with Dad

***Sorry no pictures from the awesome drive, but I heard it was wonderful***

While he was driving I was in Yellowstone family reunion-ing

My feet were swollen for 4 months of the year...

Steve started Law school at GW:

We celebrated our 1 year anniversary!

We began exploring DC and the surrounding area:

  

We celebrated Halloween as a soccer couple:

I got 3 Yahtzees in one game...definite highlight:

I went from this:

to this:

Which brought us the BEST blessing possible!: Our little Nate!

Nate had heart surgery at 5 days old and came home 2 weeks after surgery:

Now we explore DC with a stroller too! (which by the way, I got for a super good deal):

We celebrated Thanksgiving for the first time without extended family :(  But we have good friends instead and the meal was still a full out Thanksgiving dinner!

Please notice my rainbow jello that I HAD to make...turned out pretty!

We spent Christmas in Mesa and Richland and loved every minute of both places!

Steve gave Nate a beautiful baby blessing:

We watched every episode of the Biggest Loser and in then ran into THE biggest loser, John, while in Mesa:

We're excited for the new adventures of 2012.  The Lord has blessed us in so many ways and we're pumped to see what's in store for us this upcoming year.  We plan to make each year the best one!