Enjoying the beautiful weather!

I wish Utah's weather stayed in the mid 70's year round. I find it perfect for walks and playing outside because with the light breeze you don't end up sweaty and overheated..but because the swealtering dry heat is inevitable we've just been enjoying what little "perfect weather" we are going to get. Yesterday Jack kept signing please and then waving at the door as if to say, " Can we PLEASE go somewhere!" we decided to take Jack to the park and he had a BLAST! He was a goof ball the whole way there and was just laughing a giggling to be getting out of the house. Once we got there and he could see all the kids playing and the play place in sight he was hilarious and just kicking and squealing and trying to get out of his stroller, like he was ready to just run the rest of the way there. He enjoyed his daddy pushing him in the swings and I loved watching his hair have little "wings" when he went really high. His favorite part of the trip though was the slide. I was tearing up because of how independent he has gotten. Chris and I would count 1..2..3.. and then one of us would help him go down the slide and the other would catch him, but after the 3rd or 4th time down Jack started to push us away and would slowly scoot down and go down all by himself! This boy has no fear and it's exciting for him, but a little heartbreaking and nerve-racking for us. We went to the Redwood Road Veterans Park and it was super fun, they had so much to do he will love going there when he's a little older. On our way back to the car we stopped by the drinking fountains so Chris and I could get a drink, Jack kept signing please so we let him have a try. He is a smart boy he knew exactly what to do after watching us and slurped down quite a bit of water. While we were driving back we stopped by Dairy Queen and got a few ice cream cones. I shared mine with Jack and he ended up grabbing it from my hand and eating practically the whole thing...even the cone! It was a fun day and we are so glad daddy got to come along too!

Look at him! He's deliriously happy on our way there.

First time on the swing!



Love his little "wings".

Could life be any better for a little boy??

It's looking like Spring at the Kenner home :)

Here are a few pics of my latest craft creations!



I love to craft as you can tell by my glorious craft room HERE and I've been wanting to make a few decorations that can be used for Easter, but also all be able to display them through spring and summer. My mom was WAY sweet and purchased all the materials for me to make the cute "Hanging with my peeps" decoration and my husband Chris and I had a ton of fun putting it together last weekend. For conference I wanted to do something fun during the break between sessions so I decided on these cute flowers :) Chris actually loves to paint so it was fun painting and chatting while Jack took a nap. I bask in every spare moment I get with him due to his busy work and school schedule and I found it so fun that we found a similar interest together. He paints and I do the cutesty stuff :)

Sneak Peek!

More to come April 9, 2012!

Don't agonize. Organize.--Florence Kennedy

So I started a "21 Days To Organizing Your Life" Challenge last week. Besides keeping up with laundry and tidying up everyday, I've taken to organizing every area of our home. I love my home, I'm very proud that it shelters my family and gives us great happiness within it's walls and I want to always treat it will all the love that it provides me everyday. So...here are TWO recent projects from finish to start. I have a small budget of $100 for the ENTIRE house so I've been very practical in the process.

Kitchen Curio:

I love this piece of furniture, It was bought on HUGE markdown during last springs remodel and it has become the "dumping zone". I didn't take a before picture (WAY too embarrassing), but lets just say there was everything from batteries, mail, fingernail polish, socks, and even a dirty diaper stuffed into this small space...I know gross right? Well look at it now! And I am PROUD to say it has STAYED this way for a full week and a half!

COST: $2.25 Walmart

I already had the paper and stickers and the little bins were on sale for 2 for $1 last week at Walmart. Simple, but to-the-point.

Pantry:

Before:

After:

This a pantry?? Yeah I know it's smaller than a linen closet! (Maybe that was what it was meant for?) This is THE HARDEST nook to keep clean, we usually go grocery shopping late at night so we(chris) ends up stuffing everything in crazy un-organized corners. After going through the ENTIRE pantry I found we have way more food than I thought :)! I got the idea for the cereal storage bins from Pintrest, but changed it a little to save some money. This was more of an investment project because the bins were $3 each. Can't tell you how much space it is saving us though. Plus, I can't stop opening and closing my clean pantry :). I printed the labels on Microsoft Word so that was FREE and I also have a self laminator that I won at my families Cabin Party this past Feb. so that was free too. With the help of my paper cutter and some scrapbook sticky squares this project was very simple.

COST: $30 Walmart

I've also finished our bathroom, I will post pictures soon..keep checking back for more!

My Craft Room

Funny how a coat rack can clear up clutter from the ground

Saw this idea on pint rest :)

Made the labels on my computer :) FREE!

Don't you love that I labeled the drawer with the "label maker" in it :) heeheehee obsession!

Love my magnet board from my Grandma :)
This room makes me want to sing! Love how organized it is!

The tall rack with the ten drawers is from Sam's Club a few years back, the clear containers on the table are from IKEA only $1.50 each!! And the cardboard magazine organizers are from Ikea as well, 5 of them for only $1.99 STEAL!!

Total Cost: $14 :)

Jack 11 months

Goodness me! 11 Months?!? Please say it's not true! Within the past WEEK my boy has grown in LEAPS and BOUNDS and in ways that make it a constant reminder of how independent his is becoming. Jack is CRAWLING! Like hands and knees crawling! He is into EVERYTHING and his favorite past time is teasing and pestering our cat. He is SO much more content now that he can get into things without any help at all. He can also stand up on his own and just about makes my heart leap out of my chest when he stands up in the bath tub.

Jack has quite the personality and finds it supremely humorous to SCREAM with delight all through sacrament meeting. Our neighbors during sacrament meeting make sure to tell us how grateful they are for his delightful entertainment though, and when daddy takes Jack to Priesthood the ladies in Relief Society make sure to tell me how disappointed they are to not have him around. He is good company and I just love being his mommy. Jack is a very good boy, I know I'm his mother and will find no fault in him, but he really is just a happy boy. He loves attention and he gets more than his share from EVERYONE. Jack spends every Friday night with his Gma and Gpa Ewell. They have a fun sleepover and just spoil him with love! They usually take him to Chik-Fil-A on friday night and also take him to breakfast every saturday morning. Talk about spoiled! Chris and I talk about how excited we are to have a night to ourselves and then just an hour into him being gone we end up talking about Jack the whole time and missing him terribly. We are pathetic, haha! But it is nice to have that time to get a few errands done and have an evening out, Thanks mom and dad!

Jack has also started the "clingy" phase, and can go from HOT to COLD within second of me passing him to a stranger. I secretly LOVE it though, I mean who doesn't like being the favorite? :D

Jack has only been finishing 2-3 bottles a day and LOVES solid foods. He will still eat pureed baby food, but he prefers things like chicken nuggets and cut fruit. Since formula is expensive it's nice that he isn't drinking nearly as much, but at the same time it is more proof of how close he is to turning 1 and being done with formula all together! Sigh....

Jack can now:

• Crawl
• Clap his hands
• Point
• Give kisses
• & Say Momma!!

Here are some sweet pictures of our boy who is growing up WAY too fast!

At the park with mommy

Going down the slide for the first time!

Jack loves to point!

Model baby!

All decked out for Uncle Nathan's wedding!

OUT COLD on daddy :)

First OREO!

I Love how Jack opens his mouth WAY before he's ready to take a bite. It's so funny!

Jack's cousins at his "1st birthday party" with Gma and Gpa Kenner. They live in Oregon so we had to do a little one just for them. Couldn't let them miss out on this cutie pie!

Jack takes a step

Well, today Jack took his first step. Not steps..step. :) I wanted to blog about it so I didn't forget! We spent the entire 4 day weekend with the Ewell family at my parents cabin. My sister Ashlee's family was able to make it and Jack LOVES spending time with his cousin Wesley. Wesley gets Jacks gears a-going and REALLY makes him want to "do stuff". Wesley is a very busy boy, playing with cars, running, crawling under the table (crawling on top of the table), and just generally doing things that Jack just can't do yet, but things that look super fun! So ALL weekend all Jack wanted to do was stand up next to the coffee table near eye level with Wesley and watch him do all these fun things. He also started walking while holding onto my pointer fingers. Well, we went out to lunch at The Old Spaghetti factory today and Jack really just took off on walking with a little help from my two fingers. He got really tired though and took a nap to rest his chubby legs and then we went to my moms house to say goodbye to Ash and Wes before they flew back home. Jack was once again refusing to sit and we started having him walk back and fourth between my mom and I. My mom then introduced him to the push walker she has, but he was a little nervous. Instead of pushing it along Jack let go with BOTH hands, pivoted and took a step towards my mom! Sorry- I can't give you the best picture with words, but it was AWESOME!! This is my boy who has NEVER taken any interest in crawling and is all of a sudden taking steps and standing on his own! Gosh, Jack you are getting so big :(

1st Haircut

With the help from Chris and various family members we've trimmed Jack's hair quite a few times at home. It was looking particularly shabby the last couple of weeks so I decided to take matters into my own hands and attempt and actual haircut with Chris' beard trimmer...YA, not a good idea. I ended up making Jack look like Moe from the Three Stooges (not a good look for anyone) not even the CUTEST of human beings.

So we decided to take Jack to a cute place I heard of through the grapevine, "Cookie Cutters." They have these cute little cars that the kids get to sit in and Jack was just THRILLED! I was POSITIVE he would just cry and moan through the entire sitting, but he never stops surprising me with his sweetness. Jack was SO happy to sit in his "new ride." He babbled, squealed, laughed, and charmed his way into more helpless hearts today :).

We loved watching him honk the cars horn and turn the wheel. It's funny how boys JUST KNOW what you are suppose to do with a car (big or small). We already want to get him this exact car for his 1st Birthday, we are suckers.

Hiding my mishap :)

Crazy hair-cutie boy.

Gosh, I love this boy!

BEFORE.Jack laughing, so-happy!

Smiles for daddy :)

Singing the "Little Green Frog" song, so she could trim his neck

"This is boring mom.."

Stud-muffin :)

"Can we be done yet?"

AFTER!

Look at that cute new hair-do!

All he cared about was the sucker, haha!

Droool.

Happy little boy :)

Jack looks so grown up with his "big boy" haircut. He is just so handsome. I probably won't ever go there again though due to the ($15 dollar) price, but it was perfect for his FIRST haircut. He even got a lollipop and balloon! What a happy day!