I'm a great aunt!

My niece Brittney and her husband Jared had their first baby on January 18. I drove down to Cedar City on Friday to see the little cutie. He is SO tiny. In fact he is the same size as River was...I just don't remember River being so small! We are so happy for Jared and Brittney, and love little Jasper so much already!

Jasper Jeffrey Thompson.

Welcome to the world little man!

Happy birthday River!

Can't believe it...our baby boy is ONE year old! As I am sitting here typing this there are tears in my eyes. I just keep thinking about that amazing morning when the nurse placed him on my chest. That overwhelming magnificent feeling of pure love...not only for my baby, but for my husband as well. I do not regret the 7 wonderful years Bret and I spent together just he and I, but I did not know I could love him any more than I had...until that very second. I thought, wow, this human being is part of BOTH of us. Both of our blood runs through his veins. Both of us responsible for his very being. We created him.



I spent the entire 9 months of my pregnancy just praying and hoping that I would have a healthy baby. I did EVERYTHING by the book...daily vitamins, exercise, no pop, etc. I think back to my life changing experience 2 1/2 years ago, laying in a hospital bed in the ICU, in completely different circumstances...People praying for MY health! Now here I am a couple years later, maybe even in better health than I have ever been,....and a perfect, beautiful healthy baby boy in my arms. I stared at every inch of him. From his head of blond hair, down to his tiny toes. I couldn't believe how perfect every little part of him was! His little body was so warm against mine. I felt no pain. A complete feeling of euphoria came over me. Then seeing Bret hold him for the first time, I knew he felt the same love. Here we were at the hospital with a BABY! OUR baby!! It was unlike any feeling I had ever had. I often look back at the pictures from that day and sometimes get a little sad. Although I love to watch him grow and change, a part of me just wants to keep him my "baby" forever. I know I must embrace his changes and let him grow into this little boy that he is becoming...this little boy who will someday become a big brother, a man, a husband, a father, a grandfather...
But for now, he is our adorable little 1 year old.

Birthday pictures.

Sharing a little cake with Indie. (he loves to feed Indie...we have to tie her up when he's eating)

I love the look on his face in the picture.

All cleaned up and ready for bed.

1 year checkup

Dr said he's just as healthy as can be!
12 months: 20 lbs 4 oz, and 30 inches...
Tall and skinny like his daddy :)

Baby Chanley

Meet the newest member of our family! Little baby Chanley was born on New Years day! She belongs to Lance and Denise (Bret's brother and his wife). I haven't been able to see her in person yet, but I'm excited to go meet her sometime this week. Congratulations, Lance and Denise!!

Christmas

I have been thinking a lot lately about how Christmas seems to change every year. Well, I guess Christmas doesn't really change...but how I feel about it. Especially now that we have River. I don't feel the need or want for stuff that I did in the past. (and not just at Christmas time) Presents have become less important and the stress level isn't quite as high. It's so amazing how a baby can totally change your priorities. I have tried this year to remember what we really are celebrating. And I will do my best to help River, as he gets older, to remember the same things.

With that said...we had a wonderful Christmas. Our first one as a little family.
We definitely didn't go overboard...but Santa did drop off a few cute things :)

Ooooohh, I love this little guy!



It's so cute to watch River play with trucks and cars. He loves them. This little truck came with a little boulder that it carried in the back (which happened to be his favorite part!).....don't worry, it was lost by Christmas night.

Phone call from River.

Either I'm on my phone a lot...or River is just REALLY observant.

Temple Square

Last weekend we went to see the lights at Temple Square with some good friends who were visiting from Colorado Springs. It was FREEZING, but beautiful as ever. I always get a little nostalgic when I am downtown. Although I LOVE where we live now...it's just that it's where we spent the first 5 years of our marriage and so many memories were made there.


River seemed quite content under his 1,492 layers we had him wrapped up in. He didn't make a peep. It was coooollllddd!!!

We have been close friends with Dave and Kim (and Dave's sweet parents) for several years. It was fun to be with them again for a couple of nights.

Oh Christmas Tree

It's about time! We've been pretty busy the last couple weeks. Better late than never!

Thanksgiving in Vegas.

This year we headed south to Las Vegas where Bret's sister lives to spend Thanksgiving. Bret's parents and brother were also able to make it. We had a great time!
We piled a little bit of everything on River's tray, stripped him down to his diaper and just let him go to town. Such a mess...but he seemed to enjoy it!

Nothin' like a Thanksgiving feast to put a smile on your face...

Jamie had lots of toys that River loved. Here he is taking Carly's jeep for a little test drive.


Such the ladies man. Just watching a little t.v. with his nieces. I thought it was so cute. (I couldn't get the picture to rotate)

Jamie's husband, Mike, is an optometrist so when ever we go down we get eye exams. This is what was on my camera when I came out from having my exam. Quite possibly the funniest picture ever!! We laughed so hard.

Wish I would've taken more pictures of everybody! I realized when we got home that I didn't really have any of all of us.

It was such a fun trip, and SO nice to get away for a few days. Thanks for having us, Jamie!!

He's mobile!

River is officially on the move! Up until last week he difinately got around, but it was just on his stomach...Kind of like an inch worm :). The other day I look down and there he was on all fours. Since then he's gotten pretty good at it! I thought for sure he was going to completely skip crawling and go straight to walking. I was wrong! Just wanted to take his own sweet time to get around to it! Guess I better keep an eye on the stairs!!

This is just a short video, but you get the idea...

River's 1st Halloween.

River was the cutest little Dalmatian for Halloween. We stopped by my mom's for a bit, and then off to some good friends of ours for some YUMMY chili. It was a fun night!



Awww...he looks so sad in this picture. Maybe it's because everybody thought he was a cow!




Alright, enough with the pictures! (his face says it all)

9 months already.

Hard to believe that River is now as old as my pregnancy with him. Too bad my pregnancy didn't fly by like these last 9 months! He is getting so big. Everyday he is more of a little boy than a baby! I've already had to cut his hair a few times! He hit a few milestones over the summer. He now says "dada". Although I'm sure he hasn't associated the word with the person yet, but still so fun to hear him say it. Occasionally he'll just say "dad", I love it! He loves to clap his hands, play with his big beach ball, and tear around the house in his walker. That is hilarious to watch. He can seriously move in that thing! He loves it when we hide around the corner and he has to come find us. He's getting to be so much fun. He now has 2 1/2 teeth. He cut his 2 bottom teeth back in August, and just a couple days ago one of his top teeth made an appearance! He still will have NOTHING to do with baby food (unless we stick a spoonful in his mouth when he's not expecting it)...BUT if it's something he can put in his mouth himself then he's all for it. Little Mr. Independent. Every night I just put what ever I made for dinner on his tray and he goes to town. Not the cleanest but hey, I'll take what I can get.













We went to Gardner Village with a friend of mine. Thought for sure he was gonna cry when I sat him next to this witch. Nope!


River's girlfriend. Her name is Harlowe.


His 9 month appointment was last week. I always take pictures at these appointments. Today I was going through all of them and I just cannot believe how much he's changes over the months!...

Brand spankin' new! 6 lbs 8 oz, 20 inches long...

2 months (first shots): 10 lbs 7 oz, 23 inches long...

4 months: 14 lbs 1 oz. 26 inches long...

6 months: 16 lbs 3 oz, 27 inches long...

9 months: 19 lbs, 29 inches long, and happy that he didn't have to get any shots!...

Family pics

When we were at the cabin in August for the Wood family reunion, my sis-in-law took some family pictures of us outside. We've been having computer issues and haven't been able to get them up until now.

She always does such a great job! Thanks again, Jamie!

One of my favorites. I don't know who's face I like better...River's or Bret's.

A little bath time entertainment...

I had to post this little video of River in the tub the other night. It's so cute how much he loves Indie. Something is wrong with my camera, so I was only able to record just a little bit...but still pretty darn cute :)

Trip to Baltimore, Etc...

Warning...Tons of pictures in the next 3 posts!

This was right near our hotel in Baltimore's inner harbor. It was in a great location. Just shopping and different entertainment every night.

Poor little guy didn't get a chance to have a real nap.

Go Yankees!

Bret's plate of....ummm...food?

I had to put a couple of pics up of us at dinner. River is finally big enough to sit in the high chairs at restaurants!!

New York

New York was SO much fun! Our Hotel was right in Times Square...loved it!

At the Statue of Liberty....Manhattan behind us.


River just doin' a little sight seeing...



Times Square.



Ground Zero.


Waiting at the subway station.

Central Park.

Washington D.C.

The White House....I love the look on River's face.

Union Station. River wasn't quite sure what to think of all the birds.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. This was pretty cool. Just one of many museums we saw.

Wood family weekend.

Last weekend we had a family reunion up in Heber. My sis-in-law, Denise, arranged for us to use her Aunt's cabin. It was so nice to get away from the heat and just relax. The food was great and the company even better! Thanks, Denise!

River pulls this face a lot lately. Kinda funny.



All the grandchildren...



I had to put these pics up of River and his cousin, Carly. I love the looks on his face, And Carly is such a doll...so hilarious. Love that girl!


One of the nights I came into our room and Bret had River sitting right in front of the bear. He sat there for a while just staring.

There was a pond not far from the cabin that the kids loved.

I took this picture while we were on one of our walks. It was so pretty there!

7 years!!

My how time flies. On August 2, 2002 Bret and I were married. Now 7 years later, I couldn't be happier. Can't believe we've been married for 7 years!

I love you, Bret!

(This picture is from when we were dating...back in 2000 maybe? Not the best picture with the shadows behind us, but the oldest one I could find. Over 9 years ago!)