Kick kick kick...

Goes Joshua's little brother!

So I've been meaning to update my blog for quite a while now and the guilt has just been growing as my due date gets closer and closer. How far along are you? You ask? Well, let's just say that I am due 3 days before Thanksgiving so, yeah... I'm more than half-way there. He and Joshua will be 20 months apart so expect me to be a little crazy for the next year and a half or so. Some reactions I've gotten to my news:

"Oh yay! Joshua will have a little buddy!"

"Whoa! You and Tim are really asking for it!"

"That'll keep you busy!"

These pretty much sum up how I feel as well. I'm really excited but then when I have to chase Joshua around because he just stuck something in his mouth or he's twisting just as I'm changing his diaper, then I feel the impact of doing that with a little baby. Something cute that reassured me happened while I was in the nursery at church and there was a little baby doll on the floor and Joshua picked it up and cuddled it and patted it on its back. I'm just glad he didn't lift the doll by the foot and swing it up over his head. I probably would have lost it.

So that's our fun news and I'll post pictures of some summer adventures the next time...

Our Little Cheezer

Joshua has been making these awesome cheese faces for the camera. He squints his eyes, scrunches up his face and shows his teeth in a nice little grimace. I love it!

I was having fun with his long hair after his bath one night. This is the only picture that really turned out good. We had a fun time though.

This picture cracks me up. What do you think it looks like he's saying...

Happy Birthday Joshua!

March 10th was Joshua's first birthday. I can't believe that it's been over a year already! We had our family over which included just a few of Joshua's aunts and uncles and grandma (We missed you Grandma Skaggs!) and grandpas and great grandpa and great grandmas and great uncle and, of course, cousins. They were all so good to squeeze into our house to celebrate and we had a lot of fun watching Joshua's reaction to the madness.

He wasn't so sure about all the singing and cameras...

...or about the cake...

...but once he got his first taste of chocolate...
...it was all over.

He takes after his mama with his love of chocolate goodness.

Our boy is crawling!

He's on the move...

...and loves it!



A lot!

Tim's mom, sister, and brothers came for a visit.

We went to Old Town for the celebration of the Mormon Batallion, visited with grandpa and grandma and Tim's great uncle and aunt. We ended the day with an intense game of Settlers of Catan. To ease tension, I made delicious cookies.

We've had some pretty amazing weather for the last 2 months. In January, we went to the beach at beautiful La Jolla. Joshua got his first taste of sand. And liked it so much he kept wanting more and more.

Kim, Ben, Riley, and Carson came to down for a visit.

Carson and Joshua share the common interest of eating anything and everything in sight.

After the beach we ate some yummy Mexican food at my favorite place in Old Town: Casa Guadalajara. Mmmm....so good

We got to stop by the temple on the way home. Gorgeous!

Ben's brother got married and we went to Julian for the reception. Joshua was really excited about the pie. (We didn't actually give him that bite but Tim did let him taste a little whipped cream which he loved. This boy doesn't know what he's missing! One more month and he gets cake)

I snuck in and took this picture of Joshua sleeping.

Wearing a hat lasted about as long as it took to take this picture.

I took Joshua outside to take some fun pictures.

Growing boy...

Here are some pics to show how big Joshua has gotten in the last few months.

This is at the park where Joshua is showing me how loud he can yell.

Which, if you've heard him, is pretty loud. That makes church a lot of fun sometimes.

As my brother Spencer would say, "He is so chubalicious."

I absolutely love Joshua's hair. I don't have to do anything and it comes out looking like this! Santa did come this year. Actually that was last year...

I just love our happy boy. He makes us laugh all the time.
He's getting so big. We got him a forward facing car seat and he loves it. He loves seeing all the cars and people on the streets. He just looks at me as if to say, "Wow mom! are you seeing this?"
It's like a whole new world has opened up for him.

He's almost crawling. Mostly rolling around but he gets up on his hands and knees and bounces back and forth. And right when I think he'll move forward he'll face plant and roll. But we're getting closer!

Happy New Year!!

And we're back on the air and this year, if I fulfill my new year's resolution, there will be more posts and updates. Speaking of which, a lot has happened in just a few months and so I'll just start back in October with our trip to Utah. We went up for Tim's brother, Levi's baptism and his nephew Carson's baby blessing. It was so fun to see everyone! We also got to drive up the canyon and see the beautiful colors of the trees which doesn't happen too often in San Diego, so that was good to get a taste of fall.

Joshua and Carson

I think Joshua and Riley (middle) look a ton alike.

We all went to Cornbellies at Thanksgiving Point and had a blast. I'd never been before and was blown away by all the activities they had up there. With a tractor ride, pig races, big bouncers, and a near-impossible corn maze, there was a lot of fun to be had.

Since Jesse and Cami moved back up to Utah, we also got to see Joshua's other cousins Ezra and Henry. Henry wanted Joshua to come play with them so bad. He kept holding out his hand and telling him to come when Cami was holding Joshua. I'm sure Joshua can't wait for the day when he can run and play with his cousins. I, on the other hand, am okay where he's at right now. He can roll around and sit up and that's about it.

For our Ward Halloween Trunk or Treat, Joshua was Kermit the Frog.

We crashed my work's Halloween Party. My department did a Toy Story theme. Everyone's costume was amazing and we won the best overall. We borrowed this Buz Lightyear costume.

The day after Thanksgiving, we celebrated my grandmother's 90th birthday. She's an amazing woman my grandmother.

Thanksgiving was momentous because my whole family was here together. We had a great time and amazing food! My mom was a little worried because we had 9 kids 4 and under. The kids table was longer than the adult table. There were no serious injuries so it went off really well.

Henry Brigham found the Martinelli's to his liking.

Lara and Mels - friends at last.

Most of the kids

Joshua and his newest cousins. He looks so big next to them.

A week of surprises

Happy Birthday to Tim!

September 15th was Tim's 25th birthday - he likes to tease me by
saying that he's sooo old knowing full well that I am 2 years older than him...
haha...ha.
So 2 weeks before his birthday, I ordered him a weed whacker (very sentimental gift).
When it was delivered Tim was at home working. I was crossing my fingers that it would be in some generic box and it wouldn't say what it was. Right on the box, in bold letters: BRUSH CUTTER
Shoot. So I try to hide it and he faked that he didn't know exactly what it was. So I got the idea to still surprise him by putting a pair of my skis in the box instead.
Here is the result:

Joshua couldn't believe it.
I pulled out his real present, and he was relieved that I wasn't going to make him learn how to ski since he's a die hard boarder. Maybe next year darlin'.

Complete with protective goggles this man's ready to whack some weeds.

We ended the night with BJs dinner and yummy pazookie...mmmm...so good.

Tim's birthday was sandwiched by 2 other birthdays. Julia Lucille Plumb was born to Riley and Kristen and is a darling little girl though I don't have pictures yet. I'm so excited for them to be moving down here in a week so we can see them and hang out.

The day after Tim's big day was Warren Rockwood Solano's big day. Born to my sister Emily and Brock, his 3 older sisters are so happy to have a little one of their own to hold.

Joshua is looking forward to romping around with his cousin.

I told Tim earlier in the week that we were having a get together for his birthday with our families on Sunday. Then later, I told him that Kim volunteered to watch Joshua on Saturday so we could go to the temple. Little did he know, I am one sly girl and had another surprise up my sleeve.
When we got there to drop off Joshua, Tim saw his dad's car across the street. He got all excited that his dad might be close by working and that we'd get to see him before we went to the temple. I told him that he could call his dad and see where he was at when we got inside. Inside, his dad and sister and my parents were all waiting to jump out and yell surprise. He didn't suspect a thing. It was pretty awesome!

I had my own surprise when I realized that the lettuce I had so secretly chopped up for the taco salad was still in my fridge at home. I'd remembered everything - even a change of clothes for me and Tim but the key ingredient to dinner was at home. Fortunately, Kim and Spencer had some to spare.

The L isn't for Loser. It's for lettuce...that's what Spencer said anyway.

My mom made 3 different delicious cream pies.

Tim had to concentrate hard before he attempted to blow them all out. There were so many candles since he is "so old".

Spencer in Eric's death grip. He was able to escape...barely.
Melanie would smile but would stop right when I took the picture. This is the best I got.

Tim got some great presents from our nieces and nephews too.

Daniel gave Tim a cool rock to add to his rock collection. After everyone left, Daniel asked me what were "those things" on Joshua's arms. Ummm...they're called fat rolls, Daniel. Fortunately, Joshua is comfortable with who he is and wasn't bothered by such questions.