Bittersweet

Well folks, Cliff is into his second week of his LAST year of law school! Where does the time go? I feel like we JUST moved back to the great state of Texas to start the law school journey. Cliff has successfully complete his LAST first week of school.

Now, this is actually kind of bittersweet. You'd think I'd just be stoked, right? The first time in our married life to NOT be students is JUST around the corner (remember... we got married the summer after my freshman year/summer before Cliff's. for those that don't know, Cliff served a two year mission for our church, so obviously, that put him back). So, we both graduated from BYU, and went straight back to Texas to start law school. So, this should just be ALL smiles!! Right?! A light at the end of the tunnel!

Well, for the most part, IT DEFINITELY IS [sweet]. But here is the bitter part. We've been spoiled with long Christmas breaks, spring breaks, little summer breaks, many lunches together during the school year, some half days with Cliff when he's ahead in studying & assignments, etc. So although we get to say goodbye to a tight student budget, we also say goodbye to these wonderful things. We've actually really enjoyed our time as students together, but we are definitely looking forward to this next chapter in our lives.

So, here's for a bittersweet last year. I'm so proud of Cliff and all his hard work. I'm lucky to have this man in my life. LOVE YOU, babe!

OH. And this boy (below) is going through Daddy withdrawls. Since Cliff wrapped up his summer job, we've had him home all day these last couple of weeks, and Stone was in heaven.

Our hobby turned a little more serious...

First off, thanks for all the opinions on my previous post! I'm so glad we don't have to make that decision for a couple years....

Soooo, you know how Cliff and I enjoy photography? Well, our fun little hobby just got a little more serious. Want to see what we've been up to for date nights throughout the month of August (well, and many other nights, as well)?? Check it out here....

Your Opinion!

Although we don't have to decide for a couple years (thank goodness), Cliff and I started talking about Stone's age and schooling today. He is a summer baby, which for a boy, puts him at a very awkward age in the school year scheme of things. If he was a girl, I really wouldn't think twice about this. So the decision we need to make....

Do we put him in his proper grade per age? That puts him as the youngest in his class. Seems like girls tend to mature faster than boys (which is one reason I'd keep a girl in the proper grade), so he could potentially enter school a young age, always being the youngest for the following 13 years of his life. He'd graduate when he was 17. Perhaps he'd be a little smaller on the football field (yes, per Cliff, he will play football). As a side note, if you want to know why, Cliff has a very convincing list of why football is suited for every boy, and why, through it's disciplinary practices, is the perfect extracuricular activity for boys...you should ask him about it. Actually, that could be another blog post...note to self.

OR...

Do we hold him back? Then he's awkwardly the oldest in his grade. He'll be the first driving by far, and he'll almost be 19 by the time he graduates high school. Would he be too old for his grade? My brother, Jordan, is a Sept 2 baby, so he was properly the oldest in his grade, and as far as I know and can tell, that was perfect for him. But Stone would be the oldest by at least a month and a half. I guess that's not too bad?

Decisions, decisions. Hmmmmm.......What do you think?

Here are a few pictures while you think about it:

Following three pictures: A series of Stone falling on his Scooter yesterday...

Following two pictures--Stone is imitating Sid the Sloth from Ice Age (he eats a pine cone):

Under Water

While Cliff and I enjoyed a night out and felt like teenagers for our anniversary, my Dad and Lisa took Stone swimming (following his outting at the Fire Station as seen here). Think he likes the water? Oh yeah, we've already established that.

Candy, anyone?

I haven't really had any cravings this pregnancy...and I really didn't with Stone, either. However, a couple days ago, Marcy (mother-in-law) got Stone a handful of Skittles from a little machine after lunch. He had them in his pocket, and just before his nap, he gave me one. That set off a strong Skittles craving.

Soooo...just as Cliff was going to get me a bag of Skittles, Marcy decided to text Kevin (father-in-law) to grab some on his way home. She asked if I wanted anything else, and I said, "hmmm, how about a Kit Kat?..."

This is what we got....

Funny, right? I love my in laws!

Red Hot

Like most boys, Stone has an obsession with cars and trucks. These days, he is obsessed with fire trucks. Knowing his love for fire trucks, my dad made an appointment with the fire chief and Stone, while Cliff and I went out for our anniversary. Before going for a swim, my dad, Lisa, and Stone stopped by here:

Think he liked? Oh yes.

Five Years

Five years ago today, I was 19, Cliff was 21. We knew exactly what we wanted. It didn't matter that we had just blown most of our savings in Hawaii as visiting students, it didn't matter that we were going to be living in a tiny basement apartment that took us half a day to squeeze our couches in, and it didn't matter that we had our entire college academia ahead of us. Oh, and it didn't matter that us desert rats were living in what felt like the North Pole for 5 months a year. It was the kind of life that made me giddy, the kind of life I ran home to (or rode my bike to), anxious to see my new husband. I remember trying to save money on our electric bill, and told Cliff our heating system was far too inefficent, so perhaps we should use the space heaters. And so, we spent many nights cuddled up closely with our blankets, space heaters, and take out from the restaurants we worked at, with some TV show we decided to make a series marathon out of. It was perfect. People say, "all you need is love," and that is the absolute truth. Everything we've accomplished, we've done it together, the two of us, and there is an overwhelming sense of happiness and accomplishment that comes along with that. Talk about 5 years of bliss. Happy anniversary, babe. I LOVE YOU.

Yes, we're having a baby!

It is true--we're having a baby!! We wanted to see how long we could keep the secret, but there's too much excitement to keep it in any longer. Oh, and a growing baby bump. I'm pretty sure there were a couple people at church on Sunday that glanced down at my stomach wondering if I had overindulged in east Texas BBQ over the summer while we were away for Cliff's job, or if I in fact was pregnant. Oh, and then there's the doctor questions I threw out at Chelsea, Kristi, and Natalie a couple months ago, so I'm sure you three had some idea.

We are just about 4 months along, which makes our baby due January 25! So far, so good!

I am grateful for inheriting my mother's pregnancy symptoms...which is just about NONE. No sickness, high energy levels, feeling just fine and dandy. For the most part, this pregnancy is identical to Stone's, which makes me think it may be another boy. We are anxious to find out the gender!

I can't believe I'm almost half way done with the pregnancy. We are thrilled to add to the family, and Stone is beginning to understand. He thinks the baby is a girl when we ask him, and he thinks her name is Laila (last semester, we watched Jon and Kaylene's beautiful little Laila, and Stone just adores her).

We will keep you posted!

Stone's Secret!!

Flippin' Stone

We all know about Stone's infatuation with the water, and how much of a fish he is. He's also quite daring, and doesn't have much sense of fear. I was flipping him backwards in the pool on Friday, but very gently. Cliff got a hold of him, and let's just say his flips weren't as gentle.

This video doesn't do justice for the fun and crazy [double] flips Stone was doing. I didn't get those on camera. Stone was loving life, but I told Cliff, "Be soft!!"

Stone then said, "Mommy's turn."

So I flipped him, then Cliff wanted to take a turn, so Stone said to Cliff, "Soft." hahaha. I love this boy. So here is a "soft" flip:

I {heart} Summertime

I just love summer. It's fun to have Cliff home for his 3 week summer break. We've been having a blast.

Have you tried the Sonic Chiller yet? Your summer is not complete until you have tried one of these. My personal fave: Cranberry Limeade.

We were on our way home from playing at a park last night, when we decided to grab a chiller. From the back seat, Stone asked for some, so we kept passing it back and forth. One pass was not successful, and it fell on the back seat. I jumped back there to save it and to clean up. We continued to pass it back and forth, but the straw had broken when it tipped over, so it was kind of hard to get the drink out.

Sooo, I pulled the straw out to suck the drink from the other side and get all the whip cream. Apparently Stone is a GREAT observer.

I had passed it back to him, and after a couple minutes, I turned around to find this:

He had copied me. And it was EVERYWHERE. This was our short conversation:

Me: Stone, can I have some??

Stone: Almost.

Me (a minute later): Okay, you have to share!

Stone: 5 more minutes (with his hand up, and all 5 fingers).

My two year old is very entertaining.

Blogging Slacker

Oh I've been a slacker in the blogosphere, but I am here! We just got home (Lubbock) last night after being in east Texas all summer for Cliff's internship. I don't have pictures to upload tonight, but here's a video to start us out with.

This was taken a couple weeks ago. It's more for the grandparents, showing that Stone can actually say his name and age (and show it with his fingers...which is hard, I'm sure, for that little hand). He has always said his name "Done", but he now clearly has the "s" down, as seen in this video:

We had a great time in east Texas, but it sure feels good to be home. We were actually excited to head back to Lubbock. I think being somewhere temporarily (9 weeks) makes it hard to get attached to anyone/anything. So, it felt more like a long vacation, which we did thoroughly enjoy. And Cliff fell in love with the law. You may know in addition to his law degree, he's getting a Master's in Personal Financial Planning (PFP). Until this summer, he was leaning more towards PFP, but the experience he gained this summer is leading him down the path to become an attorney. He got to use his Spanish a lot, which he absolutly loved. And in a few weeks, he will start his last year of law school!!

We're back home, and we were glad to find all our windows in place, minimal dead bugs (which for Texas, that's good), and some of our flowers that had survived. Home sweet home.