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Cannon's 2nd Birthday

     Well it's about time I do a little blogging. I feel like I've been going non-stop since we've moved into our new house. My list of things NEVER ends, but I'm not complaining, I like having projects and improving our house! One reason why I haven't been blogging is because of all the time I've spent working in our yard. Boy yard work is work! We've never had to spend so much of our spare time doing yard work so it's been an adjustment. We don't have a sprinkler system, so every morning I have to get up and water the lawn. I feel like I'm finally adjusting to it and have a system down, but for awhile I felt like that's all I was doing all day long! (We're hoping that by next summer we can install some sprinklers. We'll see though, it really isn't that big of a deal). The biggest reason though that I had been spending time in the yard was because I knew Cannon's birthday was coming up and I wanted to have is party in our backyard. Thankfully my Aunt Kathryn who has a beautiful yard and my mom (who also has a beautiful yard) and their families came over on a Monday night and helped us get our yard under control. We had a lot of trimming to do (and I don't know the first thing about yard work other then pulling weeds and watering) and we had a few giant trash trees that had to be taken out. I wouldn't have known they were trash trees so thank goodness I had some professionals there to help me :). I was so appreciative of all the help my family was willing to give. I have the world's best family and they prove it every time a family member is in need.
     We celebrated Cannon's birthday on a Friday (July 26th) because his real birthday was on that Sunday (the 28th) and it was my cousin's mission farewell. I would have just celebrated it on Saturday, but I found an awesome deal from Groupon to rent a bounce house that was only available on Friday. So we celebrated two days early, but of course he didn't know the difference!
     When I was thinking about what kind of a party I would have for Cannon's 2nd birthday (and you better believe it was months and months ago) I was talking to Marc and asked him what he thought we should do. And I wish I could say I came up with the idea all on my own, but Marc said to me, "Well Cannon loves to jump. You should have some sort of frog party." His idea was perfect, and so very true. Ever since Cannon was probably less then 6 months old he loved to jump in his jumperoo. He would jump in that thing for hours if I would let him. Then when he was older we borrowed a kid's tramp from a friend and he was in bounce heaven. He would jump on that thing until his legs wouldn't let him jump anymore. He loves jumping in his crib, on the couch, on the benches at church, on my mom's trampoline, and just about anything that he thinks can bounce. So a frog party was very fitting. I also had the idea that if I could find a good deal we would rent a bounce house for him so he and all of his little buddies could jump the night away.
     All of my family (except for Syd because she had just had a baby a few days before) and our friends who had children around Cannon's age came to his party. The kids loved the bounce house, we ate some delicious treats, and played a game with some lily pads. I cut out a few lily pads out of felt and laid them on the grass and let the kids hop on them like frogs to the song, "3 Little Speckled Frogs." The younger kids (2 and younger) didn't quite understand the whole concept so they just ended up walking around in  a circle. Guess the game was too difficult... After that we sang Happy Birthday to Cannon (he did a great job blowing out his candle before we ended the song :) ) and opened up his presents. He got spoiled again and loved having all of his friends and family over. His cute little friend Kaiya who is a few months older then him was so sweet and kept wanting to give him kisses. Cannon got a wiggle bike from my mom and he was riding it and Kaiya said to him, "Get off that bike and come over here so I can give you a kiss." Cannon must have a crush on Kaiya because he did exactly what she said. He got off his bike, gave her a kiss on the lips, then got right back on his bike and kept riding. It was adorable. I'm determined that Cannon and Kaiya will end up together, they would be so cute! Here are a few pictures from his birthday:

We had to buy him his own tramp. How could we not?- It went with his birthday theme! And yes, I purposely put him in his frog jammies the night before because it also went with his theme. :)

Loves his tramp

The treat table (minus the lime bars that came later)

Kind of proud of myself and those that helped me come up with the cupcakes. I think they turned out cute!

"Hoppy" Birthday

The Birds

Cannon and Miles. Couldn't get either one to put down their drinks

Can't blame him for not putting down his drink. The lime slush was delicious!

Uncle Hunter. Cannon just calls him "Hun."

The Cahoon's and the Nelson's

That balloon string took way too long to put together! Pinterest made it look so easy...

The bounce house. Wish I had taken more pictures with the kids in it, but oh well.

I found his shirt at Gymboree. Had to get it... It went with his theme. :)

Cute Ellie

He probably ate like 5 cupcakes that day!

Kaiya's face!! What a cutie

Best Frousins (Friend-Cousins) :)

Jo, rhonda, Mom and Dad

     The party was a success. Cannon had a blast and is so lucky to have such loving friends and family. I can't believe my little dude is two already. I can vividly remember his one year party and it seems like he just turned 1 like 3 months ago. Cannon learns and says new things every day that I love. Lately he's been doing things that he knows makes me happy and afterwards says, "Mommy happy" with a big cheesey smile on his face. He loves to dance, run, jump, and pretend to shoot moose and deer and then hide from them. His facial expressions are hilarious. He does a "spooky" face and a "cheeser" face that make me laugh every time we ask him to do them. He loves "spooky" things like skeletons, ghosts, monsters and anything that has red eyes. He is surprisingly very coordinated and can catch, throw, and hit a baseball. He is also really good at riding a two-wheeled scooter. He is such a little boy in every way and I love him to pieces. From the movie what to expect when expecting, "I love my baby so much, sometimes I think I might eat him." Couldn't have said it better! Love my Cannon!!

Home Sweet Home

     Too much has happened since I last posted on here. I haven't blogged about our Easter trip to St George, or our fabulous trip to Disneyland! Ah! I guess I'm not going to be as good at this blog thing as I hoped to be. Why am I always so terrible at journaling?? Oh well.
     I did want to blog about some super exciting news though. I'm pretty sure everyone who reads my blog already knows about it, but I thought I'd officially blog about it anyway! We are officially home owners!!! We NEVER expected to find the home we wanted so soon after moving in with Marc's parents. So far we've only been with them for 3 months! And our goal wasn't even to have a house until December (I told Marc I wanted to celebrate Christmas at our new home). But when we found out about this home, we seriously couldn't pass it up.
     When we were in California (the first week of April) my friend Jill (Sumsion) Olsen wrote me on Facebook and told me that her sister just listed their home for sale on KSL. She told me a little bit about it and gave me the URL so I could look it up online. As soon as I saw the first picture (we were in our hotel in Cali) I  said to Marc, "Come look at the pictures of our future home. This house will be ours!" After I looked up the pictures I called Jill's sister (Melissa Martinez) and asked when would be a good time to come see it. We got home from Disneyland on Saturday and went over the next day to check it out. Side note: when I had gotten off the phone with Melissa I was literally shaking I was so excited. My voice was all cracky too when I was talking to her... I'm sure she thought I was such a spaz! I was determined that this cute house was going to be mine! (Oh and Marc's... he keeps on having to remind me that it's "Our" home :) ).
     After we saw the house on Sunday and had a good converstaion with the Martinez's we went home and discussed finances and if it really was a possibility. Seeing as how we had only lived with the Hansen's for 2 months at the time, we didn't have as much saved up as planned. After really punching numbers and figuring out how much we would need for a down payment and our monthly mortgage we figured out it truly was a possibility! I literally cried and cried. Ha, I'm such a nerd, I know! And another side note: Thank goodness for great tax returns and for paying tithing... serioulsy no joke, I feel like we were blessed because of it!!
     The next day we spoke with our lender, who happens to be the dad of the family I nannied for for four years. He was super helpful and it was nice knowing and trusting someone through the whole process. Withtin 2 days we gave the Martinez's our offer and we had expected to wait a couple of days to hear back from them. To our surprise, they accepted it right away, like literally we were sitting down talking with them and they said it aounded great! We made minor adjustments for the both of us (neither of us used a real estate agent, which I highly recommened!) and we signed the first set of papers that night. Within the next couple of weeks our paperwork was in, the home had been appraised and we were ready to close! Honestly, I don't think the process could have gone any smoother. It was a stressful month making sure everything went through and was accepted, but everything worked out as best as it could.
     I don't doubt that buying this house was a blessing from Heavenly Father! Things could not have gone smoother or could have been more perfect. The home is within minutes of my parent's house (ps, it's in Springville), a park, a tennis court, the city library, and so many of my friends. I told Marc since the day I married him I wanted our first home to be a cozy, cute, red-brick home with a cute yard, and it's just that! It was built in the 1950's and has been totally updated. The great thing about it too though is that there are a few more updates that need to be made, but we'll get to choose how to do them. I'm also in love with the yard. It's quaint and cute and has been taken really good care of. It has a deck (which eventually needs to be replaced, but is perfect for now), and a firepit and four graden boxes. It was extremely conveinient that we knew the sellers and could ask them questions about the ward and neighbors and how much utilities were, etc. It was nice because we could trust them and I knew that if Melissa was anything like Jill I knew she would be a clean and emmaculate person :)... Trust me, I lived with Jill!
     We are beyond happy to own a home and feel so blessed how things turned out. We move in on June 22nd and I literally can't wait. My head hasn't stopped spinning for a second with ideas on how to decorate it! Marc tells me that decorating our home is going to be my most expenxive hobby yet! Haha. Truth is though, I'm going to have to be SUPER patient with all the things I want for it because we don't exactly have the money right now... maybe it has to do with the fact that we just bought a home! Anyway, we do want to put some shutters up on the outside of it, but we can't decide what colors to do. Marc played around in photoshop to see some different variations. Which do you like the best?

    I cannot wait to make memories and actually spend holidays at the same place for years to come!

The Move

     Well it's official. We are completely unpacked and settling into our new home at my in-law's house. Let's just say after moving for the fifth time in less then five years Marc and I said that we never want to move again. Ok, that's a lie, we hope to move again into our own place by the end of this year, but we'll see how everything goes. So far everything has been great here. In fact, It's kind of fun being in a home and not just a basement or a junky duplex. Sometimes I pretend like it's mine and Marc's house because we hardly ever see Marc's parents! Marc's mom Susan works until 4 every day and Dave doesn't get home until about 6. And this weekend they are both in St George visiting Marc's older sister and family. Because of this we hang out upstairs a lot and it gives me a small glimpse of what having my own home will be like.... *sigh. A realtor has been sending me updates on new homes for sale and although we aren't in the position to move anytime too soon it makes my mouth drool looking at homes and dreaming of what my perfect home would be. Is it ridiculous that I yearn to have my own home so much? I know that home is anywhere that Marc and Cannon are and I truly do feel that way. I just am excited to start traditions in my own home where we can actually celebrate holidays in the same place every year and really get to know and make the effort to make relationships with neighbors and ward members who I know I'll know for several years rather then just one year at a time. I can't wait to clean a toilet knowing that it's actually "my" toilet :). Kind of kidding... Although I despise yard work, I can't wait to plant my own plants and put a swingset in the backyard for Cannon to play on. I have a lot of dreams for a home, and don't get me wrong I still try my best to make every place we've lived in a home and we have made countless meaningful memories at each place that we've lived, I'm just excited is all!
     I'm kind of feeling lazy and don't think I'll post any pictures today. I recently started instagram and that has been a fun way to document some pictures and fun moments during the day. I've also made it a goal to start writing in my journal once a week. I used to be really good at it, but ever since I had Cannon I have seemed to have lost the time to do it. I also started carrying around a small journal that fits in my purse so I can write down the funny and awesome little things that Cannon does on a daily basis. I don't want to forget those moments and writing them down is the only way for me to remember most of them! Yesterday Cannon went pee in the potty! He pointed to the toilet said "Puh-Puh" and I asked him if he wanted to go and he did! Crazy! I never expected him to go potty so early. I know we're far away from him actually being potty trained, but I was still amazed and proud of my little guy! He is so much fun. It seems like all of his mannerisms and the way he acts during the day are so much more toddler like instead of baby. It pretty much kind of makes me sad. Stop growing Cannon! I find it funny that most mom's think that their babies grow up too fast and they want them to stay little forever. He is so stinkin cute and fun though. Love that little dude!

January is finally over!

     I can't believe it's already Friday! I don't know where this week has gone, but I'm sure glad it's the weekend. Monday I did the usual Monday routine; cleaned the house, did all the laundry, went grocery shopping and made dinner. Luckily to my surprise though, one of my best buds Cass was visiting from St. George and called me last minute to come stop by. It was so great to catch up with her and her adorable 5 month old little girl. It was also a nice break from my boring routine! Also Monday night we invited our friends (and landlord's) over to dinner to break the sad, sad news. Marc and I have decided to move in with his parents for a few months. If I'm going to be honest, I never thought that we would ever move in with family, but we decided it will be the fastest and most convenient way to save up for a house. We are completely devastated to leave our apartment now. We have loved everything about where we live. We've loved our beautiful apartment, the friends we've made in our great ward, the perfect location next to our favorite park and the convenience of living next to any shopping and restaurant we could ever need. We have made so many great and lasting memories here. What I'll miss most are the warm spring, summer and fall days spent walking to the park and feeding the ducks and hanging out in the giant backyard. Cannon loved picking raspberries and eating apples off of the apple tree and swinging in the backyard. We did these things EVERY single day when it was warm enough. It makes me sad to think that our apartment is the place where we first brought our little Cannon home to. We have made great memories here that we won't forget. We're moving out the end of this month so if anyone is interested in our apartment to rent let me know.
    On Tuesday one of my good childhood friends invited Cannon and I to go to the little paleontologist exhibit on BYU campus. It was small, but really fun for Cannon and the other kids who went. Cannon recently started being interested in dinosaurs and especially loves their big sharp teeth. It was so fun to get out of the house and do something new. This cold weather is driving me NUTS!
     Wednesday Cannon had his 18 month check up. He's healthy as can be! He's also a very big boy. He's 95th percent and above for height, weight, and his large head. He did really well with his shots and doesn't have to get any more until kindergarten. That's good news! The doctor always comments on what a good behaved boy he is. Then after Cannon's check up another friend invited Cannon and I to go to the BYU Art Musuem. Their theme right now is monsters and superheroes, so it was fun to walk around and see the interesting and sometimes strange things that people come up with and call art. In the basement of the musuem there is a "display" of large rectangular balloons that are blown around an area by fans. Cannon and his cute friend Kaiya loved playing in the balloons. It was such simple, yet fun entertainment for the kids and for my friend and I. Cannon loves balloons and had a blast. After the museum Cannon came home to take a nap and then we went straight over to my friend Ariel's house in Lehi to see her cute newborn twin boys. It was so good to see her and her sweet little babies. Cannon was kind of a stinker while we were there because I was giving the babies attention and not him, so that was interesting! I wonder how he'll do with a sibling someday. After we left Ariel's we went right over to another friend's house because I had left a pair of Cannon's shoes at their place over the weekend. Then after that we went and shopped at Walmart and finally came home around 7:00 pm. Needless to say it was Pasta-Roni for dinner that night!
    Thursday I went to my cousin's house in Springville to babysit. I usually watch them on Tuesdays, but my aunt wanted me to switch for the week. So I got to watch my cousins and my cute little niece yesterday. The kids had a lot of fun playing together, which makes it easy for me because they pretty much just entertain themselves with occasional screaming and fighting over toys. Right after I was done babysitting I got to have craft night with some of my highschool buddies. We try to get together once a month a have a make your own craft night. I didn't have anything I was working on at the time so I came up with a last minute craft to do which ended up looking like a three year old made it. It was ridiculous and will probably go in the trash! It didn't matter though because we have fun just getting together and laughing and talking anyway. Surprisingly a lot of our conversation revolved around what TV shows we are currently in to and it made me feel better about how many shows I watch. I really am not that passionate about any of them except for The Bachelor. I am a sucker for that ridiculous show. And every Monday night I dream about Sean... Details about the dreams will be spared, but just know Sean always ends up picking me. Haha.
     Today (Friday) I am watching Cannon's buddies Colton and Aveya (who are napping at the moment). The three of them actually play quite well together. In fact the only one that is ever a stinker is Cannon. I hope that is just because he's home and around me. I would hope that he's not such a stinker when he's having other people babysit him! I just want him to be sweet and respectful and considerate and nice and loving and have good manners and share his toys. Is that too much to ask?? :). Ok, maybe that's a lot for an 18 month old and he really is such a good boy I just get worried that I'll have the child that is the bully or something. If he is, it's not my fault, I've been a good parent, I swear. Haha. Tonight we're having our fun and fabulous friends, Jenica and Tyler over to make pizza and play games. I'm sure it will be a great night!
     I love the weekends so much because Marc gets to be home with me and Cannon. I can't believe how fast the week has gone, but maybe it has something to do with all of the things we did! Tomorrow if all the snow doesn't melt we planned a snow day outing with some friends and one of Cannon's favorite friends, Kaiya. I am in need of some outside time and I know Cannon will love it as well. I know everyone feels the same way too, but I am having major cabin fever. Isn't January such a yucky, awful, horrendous month, or is that just me? I'm so glad it is a new month and have new things to look forward to. We are going to enjoy our last month here at our apartment while we have the time and are making plans for the move and maybe even a trip to Disneyland in April. We'll see. Well Happy February everyone I sure hope it's warmer then January was!