Happy Easter

The homemade card I made for Brandon

Our little family

Peter, Bran, and I had a fantastic Easter Sunday. It began with my own private piano concert of songs about the Savior. Thanks honey for the concert! You are marvelous!

Then, we went to church and had a very busy time! Brandon was extended the call of Elder's Quorum President for the 2nd Quorum of Elders in our new ward and he accepted. Yikes! He is nervous about it, but I think he'll do a great job. I also got a calling which is just perfect for me right now. I got called to be a Relief Society teacher. I don't know which Sunday I will be teaching yet, but I'm excited and I know this will be a fun calling for me.

After church we zoomed over the Bran's parents for our annual Easter dinner and egg hunt. It was so fun this year to have two babies. They played so cute together!

Peter and his cousin Morgan with Uncle Richard's shoes

Peter and his cousin Morgan

Peter with Grandpa Thomas

Peter, Grandpa Thomas, Cousin Tyler

His toes

Peter reached down and grabbed his toes today! Yea! I was so excited to see him do something new that can be considered a big milestone. Yeah Peter - I love you tons.

Peter also loves to do tummy crunches as this picture shows. He gets so frustrated that he can't sit up on his own yet. It makes me laugh every time.

The weather was also so nice today that Peter and I went for a 30 minute walk. It was so refreshing even though it made me realize how out of shape I am. I came home panting and all sweaty. Euwwww.

5 months old

Peter is 5 months old today! It's so amazing to watch him grow with each passing day. The things I love about him at this stage are: his bright blue eyes, his fuzzy hair, the way he loves to grab everything, time we spend nursing, watching him sleep, reading books with him, kissing his round little cheeks.

On Thursday of last week Peter and I went to visit Aunt Lisa, Daddy, and Daddy's wonderful coworkers at UVU. Peter did a fantastic job with all the passing around. Here is a picture of him with Aunt Lisa at her work.

This weekend Peter also participated in his first General Conference. He enjoyed some parts of it and cried through other parts. Bran and I hosted most of my family here for the Sunday sessions and they got a chance to enjoy Peter. It was such a lot of fun. Thanks Dad, Mom, and Amy for coming. We love you so much!

Keeping busy with the daily stuff

I wish I had sometime exciting to post, but I really don't. Today I went to the dentist and had my teeth cleaned. Not very exciting, but it kept me busy for a little while. The good ol' doc said my teeth look marvelous especially for having braces. Yippee! I had heard that pregnancy might affect the density of your teeth but the x-rays looked great, so I am very happy.

FYI, each day of the week I have something that keeps me busy. When Bran lived at home his Mom also had a daily schedule of housework so I'm copying her good example. It's nice to do a little housework each day instead of rushing around like crazy on the weekend trying to do it all. So here is my little chore list:

Monday - Laundry (white load)
Tuesday - Clean Bathrooms (one week clean toilet, sink, and mirror. second week clean tub and floor)
Wednesday - Laundry (levi load)
Thursday - Laundry (towel load, baby load)
Friday - Laundry (light load, bed sheets)
Saturday - Vacuum

Occasionally I have to do a baby load on one other day depending on how many times Peter messed his pants. He's been doing really good lately. Speaking of Peter he is getting to the point where he loves to reach for things. He also loves to babble and squeal. Getting him to laugh is still a bit of a challenge, but when he does it's the cutest thing ever. I got him to laugh today while singing and doing the actions to The Grand Old Duke of York. I must try and get Bran to capture it on tape. It's so funny.

The Park at 38 weeks

I've been working on getting the rest of my 2008 pictures into photo albums and I just couldn't resist sharing these pictures. I always wanted a pregnancy photo shoot so when Bran and I had some spare time on Halloween we went to the park and had some fun. I laughed so hard when I came to this section of the year. Wow, I just remember having such a hard time even walking around at this stage of my pregnancy. It's amazing how quickly I've forgotten all the pain and uncomfortableness. I hope you laugh as hard as I do at some of these pictures.

St George is Awesome

For our third anniversary, Brandon, Peter, and I got out of town and enjoyed beautiful St. George this past week. It was soooo beautiful! We went midweek to avoid the spring break crowds and it was so nice and quiet in all the shops and our hotel.

I had a lot of favorite things about this trip. We were able to go shopping at all the Factory stores and this time we got lots of things for Peter. It was so awesome to go into the clothing stores and pick out things for him. We got him the cutest overalls at Osh Kosh and a bunch of sleepers for him at The Children's Place (gotta love $1.99 sales).

We also took Peter swimming in the hotels indoor/outdoor pool. It was so fun to see him enjoying himself. Brandon bought Peter a little turtle floatie and he totally loved it. I'm so excited for our apartment pool to open in May. I know by that time Peter will enjoy swimming even more.

This trip was also very awesome because of our new car. It was amazing the difference a bigger car can make. I was able to take as many things as I wanted to which included lots of clothes for Peter and his play pen. Thankfully he slept in it perfectly throughout the entire trip.

One of the days we were there we took a long walk to the St. George temple. For those of you familiar with the area we parked just off St. George Blvd and Main Street and walked down to the temple. Needless to say, it took us a little over an hour to get there and back, but we loved every second. The 80 degree weather made the walk so enjoyable!

Brandon also made the trip very memorable by giving me a beautiful pearl earring/necklace set. Oh, it is sooo beautiful! He was so sneaky about this gift - I had no idea he had bought it even though the box was sitting in plain site in our office for weeks (gotta love Valentine Day sales). Thank you so much honey!

Coming home was sad, but necessary. I think living down in Dixie would almost be the best thing ever. Today we had a special combined sacrament meeting for church and we got news that we are now in the Pleasant Grove 5th ward instead of the Thorneberry Branch. It will mean that Brandon won't be teaching Sunday School (so sad), but we are excited to see all the changes that will be happening. Our upstairs neighbor got called to be the 1st counselor so I don't think we'll be able to "hide" very well. Ah well, it will all work out I'm sure.

Happy B-Day Grandma

Today Grandma Thomas is 75 years old! Yeah! While the rest of the family is enjoying a delicious Italian Meal and a special talent show I'm at home feeling sorry for myself because Peter is still so sick that we didn't dare take him out. He did start coughing up mucus yesterday, so I hope that means he is almost on the mend.

Regardless, I hope Grandma has a fantastic b-day celebration with all the family. I will be there in mind and spirit. Good luck Bran and Mom with your "Tea for Two" duet.

First cold

Peter has his first cold. It is so heart breaking to hear him try to breath when he is all stuffed up. Thankfully he is just congested at this point - no earaches or fever. I've never wanted to be sick for someone else until now. Poor little boy.

Earlier this week we went to the Dr. for Peter's 4 month checkup. He is gaining weight perfectly. He now weighs 17 pounds 13 ounces. Wow, no wonder he isn't fitting into any of his 3-6 month clothes. This last week I went to Walmart and bought 2 packages of 12 month onesies just so he would have something to wear that was a little big on him. It's such a little adventure to have such a big baby.

While we were at the Dr. I also showed him Peter's birthmark on the back of his head. Thankfully he told me that it might get darker during the next 2 years or so, but by the time Peter is 3 it should be completely gone. I was glad about that.

One of Peter's favorite toys is my hand. He loves to look at my fingers and try to reach out and grab them. I can entertain him for at least 20 minutes this way. It's so funny to watch him. Peter also is to the stage of entertaining himself with his own screams. Sometimes I just sit and laugh because he is so funny.

Happy Family

Yesterday I took some fun pictures of me and Peter, Peter and his cousin Tyler, and Alicia and her darling baby Morgan. I love my family!

My wonderful day

Ah, finally a moment to sit down and share all the wonderful things about my b-day. Baby is sleeping, dishes are done, and hubby is in the bathroom. Everything is right with the world.

Peter was the first one to wish me happy birthday and to give me a glorious present. He slept in an extra hour and a half which gave me 90 precious moments to straighten the house, start laundry, work on dishes, and even post a blog. It was absolutely glorious.

Then my SIL Allison met me at my favorite restaurant (Chuck-A-Rama) for lunch. We had such a blast eating as much food as we wanted and chatting away. It was such a lot of fun. When I had to run to the restroom to change Peter's diapers all the old ladies cooed over Peter. As a mother it was a proud moment.

Then when I got home the kitchen and living room were full of streamers and signs that said Happy Birthday. Apparently Brandon had come home for lunch and decorated. I was so surprised and happy.

After a delicious dinner of cheesy potato soup Brandon took me to the nearest Cold Stone Ice cream Shop to get my free birthday treat. Yummy! I loved every delicious bite of my chocolate cup with gummy bears (yep, I love gummy bears and could eat them all day if I had enough). After our ice cream we drove up and around the Mt. Timp. temple. It was so nice to reflect on all the blessings the Lord has given to me. It is especially awesome to be a Mom. At times I feel sad that I'm SO old and only have one kiddo, but then I remember what a blessing it is to have just one. Peter is so much fun and he is teaching me every day to be a better person.

It seems like my birthday celebration has continued to stretch throughout the rest of the week. On Thursday Peter and I went for a walk and while I was trying to navigate the stroller through a door a nice young kid held the door open for me. That really made my day. Then on Friday we went down to my parents and watched a movie with them, my sis, and younger bro. to celebrate. We all ate tons of popcorn and twizzlers and had a marvelous time. I highly recommend the movie Finding Neverland. Spending time with my family was greato!

This year having a birthday wasn't discouraging, depressing, or a downer and I'm so glad. I have so much to be grateful for - especially all you wonderful friends that sent me birthday greetings. You are SO AWESOME and you made my day so special too.

Luvs to you all.
-Laurie Ann