Wow...do I have a lot of catch up! I wanted to do a big post before the baby comes on catching up on the last 2 mos., since my next post will most likely be about our new little boy:) So here it goes:
We went to several Angels games this summer (technically we are still Dodgers fans too...but Angels stadium is oh so close:) This is Mormon night and all our fam was there:
In the beginning of August, Jake and I went to Las Vegas with Tim, Shannon, and their kids. Marc would have gone except he had just taken the week off of work for the high adventure with the young men, and he didn't have any more days to take. We stayed at a fun hotel for families...with a lazy river
and the swimming pool had a big sand area that led into the pool...with tons of sand toys for the kids to use...
Me and my boy loungin'
Jake just LOVES babies, especially baby Wes (Tim and Shannon's youngest)...baby Wes has been good for Jake to see what his new brother will be like
Jake loved all the water features in the lazy river, and made a point to get his head under each and every one...some kids shy away from being drenched on the head with water, but this kid loves it
Jake, Luke, and Matt
In The Mirage we went and saw the lions. We also did the Aquarium at Mandalay Bay, and of course saw the water show at Bellagio...multiple times (since it is my absolute favorite). But even at 9 pm at night...it was freakin' hot! Thank goodness we stayed in the pools all day. Jake and I had lots of fun on the Vegas trip with Timmy, Shannon, and the kids...we were glad they invited us!
This is one day when Jake called us into our closet. He was sitting on the floor in this box, and wanted to be put away up on the shelf. So we put him up there and covered him up with clothes. He thought it was hilarious.
In the middle of August, Marc's sister Marcy and her family came and stayed with us for a week. Here's the cousins at the beach:
Having Morgan and Madolyn at our house all week was so great...they are great girls and Jake loved having buddies to play with all week
Here we are at another Angels game where we took "other Jake," one of Jake's buddies. These two had so much fun--not watching the game--just banging peanuts on the chairs to crack them open, and dancing in the aisles whenever the music came on...and of course, the fireworks show.
We had a garage sale at the beginning of September...I worked SO hard for weeks leading up to it, to go through EVERYTHING in the garage and house...completely spring cleaning our entire lives. So the garage sale was very satisfying--to get rid of a lot of stuff. I feel so much happier having all of the spaces in our house organized.
Jake started pre-school on Sept. 7th. He was so excited for his first day! I have to say, I felt like my little man looked more grown up all the sudden--it's my first time sending him off to somewhere multiple time a week. So it felt weird to begin that, when for 3 1/2 years he's only been with me. But I feel like it is a great thing to start before the baby comes--it will give him something fun to do while we get adjusted at home with a newborn.
Here's the 3 boys..."other Jake", Jake, and Luke--ready for their 1st day
Here's another one of Jake's buddies--Brooke. They were playing dress-up and having tons of fun getting the "bad guys"
It was SO great of Shannon, Karen, and Grandma to throw me a baby shower the other weekend. It meant a lot to me, and was so fun to celebrate the baby coming.
Aren't these cute party favors they made...It says "Luisa's going to pop." And its around bags of popcorn.
Here's me with some of the people there: Allie, Lindy, Shannon, Shawna
Terry, Karen, Trina, Grandma, me, Roberta, Shannon
Kristin, Joanne, and me (and also Jenn, Sunni, Britney, Erica, and Tiffany were there)...it really made me feel loved--I felt so grateful to everyone for coming and being excited with me
Marc and I decided last Saturday would be our LAST DAY of working on the house--hallelujah!!! The time has come! We are going to take a good long break...(like a year maybe) of not doing anything else. Yes friends, that means our weekends are now open--and we won't be talking about Lowe's, Home Depot, or renovating any more. I've really needed to stop--I need the break from the work of it, and need the break from my house always having that construction mess that I'm trying to clean up on top of normal housework. Now, I did not imagine that at 9 mos. pregnant I'd still be working on the house...it has not been easy. But, we worked as hard as we could up through Saturday...
Here's me with some of the people there: Allie, Lindy, Shannon, Shawna
Terry, Karen, Trina, Grandma, me, Roberta, Shannon
Kristin, Joanne, and me (and also Jenn, Sunni, Britney, Erica, and Tiffany were there)...it really made me feel loved--I felt so grateful to everyone for coming and being excited with me
Marc and I decided last Saturday would be our LAST DAY of working on the house--hallelujah!!! The time has come! We are going to take a good long break...(like a year maybe) of not doing anything else. Yes friends, that means our weekends are now open--and we won't be talking about Lowe's, Home Depot, or renovating any more. I've really needed to stop--I need the break from the work of it, and need the break from my house always having that construction mess that I'm trying to clean up on top of normal housework. Now, I did not imagine that at 9 mos. pregnant I'd still be working on the house...it has not been easy. But, we worked as hard as we could up through Saturday...
Here's Marc grouting the kitchen backsplash. Can I just mention I sampled 15 colors of grout before choosing the one we'd use...I got a science lab going in the garage of mixing and testing grouts...so glad that is done! So............we are done, or I should say, stopping. And I will be showing "After" pics of the house very soon.
We hit up another Angels game with my Dad and Terry while they were down for the weekend...this time without the Jakester. We sat in seats where we had menus and we ordered and paid for our food right from our seats, and they brought the food to us. How great is that? Thanks to my Dad and Terry for taking us--it was actually their belated birthday present to Marc.
Ok, switching gears now to baby #2: Here's my most recent prego pic. As I write this post, I am exactly 1 week away from my due date. I can't believe the time is almost here. I am really really excited to have another little boy to love--and I feel so happy that our family is getting to grow.
And Jake can't wait for his brother to get here!!!
So stay posted...
On Memorial Day we went to the beach for the day
Jake's favorite thing to do is crush all the hard work we put into making sand castles...so I've learned to not get too attached to what I'm building:)
He loves to run from the waves too
So for Mother's Day, Marc and the other husbands set up for us girls to go to Palm Springs for a weekend in May. It was wonderful! We laid out, read magazines...
and went out to eat to lots of fun places. It was such a relaxing and fun weekend...kind of ironic how our Mothers Day present is to be away from our kids...haha. But I think every one deserves breaks like this.
Jake took swimming lessons in June. He didn't love how cold the pool was, but he did great...he has no fear with the water. By the end I wondered if it was a good idea, because at least he was more cautious before. Now he actually thinks he can swim...I can't take my eyes off him for a second. While the teacher was taking another child around the pool, Jake pushed off from the wall to swim, and of course started drowning. Thank goodness I was watching because the teacher's back was to him. 
It was just Jake and his friend Brooke, and another little girl in the class. 
For almost 3 weeks during the month of June, my cousin Alex came to stay with us. He is one of Jake's best buds and it was so fun to have him with us. 
We bought summer passes to a local water park by us called Buccaneer Bay. So we took Alex with us a couple times.
Jake loves playing with Alex. They played with lots of toys 
And we did lots of water time...at the pool and at the beach
We like to go play with cousins Luke and Matt...these boys are definitely Angels fans!
I know I haven't posted many pictures of the house over the last year and a half since we moved in. I always planned on posting the "befores" with the "afters"...but the "after" pics are taking a while to happen! We actually really didn't do much on the house from January til May. My 1st trimester really wiped me out and I just couldn't work on it. Plus we had worked SO hard on the kitchen through the whole month of December...I think we just needed a break. But now this summer we have a goal to wrap up everything that we can before the baby comes. So, in a couple more months I should have the "after" pics:) For now I'm posting this picture because it was something that made me so happy...we took the carpet out of our family room (because soon it will have hardwood)...and that carpet was SO GROSS. From the day we moved in I would get whiffs of a wet dog smell from that carpet here and there...I can't even believe I put up with it for so long! So we got it out and I am way happier with concrete for the meantime:)
Here's my boys on Father's Day...getting breakfast in bed
Jake made him a tie in nursery...with chocolate on it!
Jake loves water slides and always want to go on the big adult ones. At the splash park we go to at home, he's not allowed. But at this aquatic center they let him. (It's not the orange one in the picture, it was a bigger spiral one...the blue one you see on the left). He came out of it upside down so I guess he flipped all around...but he wanted to do it again and again. Now back at our splash park, he's always frustrated that he can only go on the kid slides.
We got to see lots of the Harpers while we were there. We went and watched BYU's Stadium of Fire fireworks from a parking lot. They made aerial fireworks legal in UT, so it was crazy how much aerial fireworks everyone was doing starting 3 nights before the 4th. 
Jake and Emily being amazed by the fireworks
On the 4th, we did fireworks at Marc's parents house with all the cousins. It actually started to rain! But we just sat in the garage and watched from there.
We had stopped off in Valley of Fire (outside of Vegas) on our way to buy some aerial fireworks. So we had some cool ones this year
Here's the pyros...boys never grow out of lighting stuff on fire
with Grandma and Grandpa
The next day we all went to a local little pond to go fishing
Pretty much every adult and child caught a fish except....poor Marc! He was so dedicated to getting one before we left...it just didn't work out. Poor guy
fishing cousins
That night my aunt Tricia had an "in" for us to go watch the American Idol dress rehearsal for their concert. They were starting their tour in Salt Lake...and Pia is dating Mark Ballas, who is connected to the Hype Dance studio in Orem. My cousin dances there and Tricia's best friend owns it...so Mark Ballas invited all the Hype Studio people to come watch the dress rehearsal. It was awesome because there weren't that many of us...and we just sat in the first several rows in front of the stage, with the AI contestant's parents (who I feel like I know because they showed them on t.v. so much)...and this entire huge stadium was empty. So it really felt like a private show. It was really fun and a really cool way to get to see the show.
Here we are with Mark Ballas (from Dancing with the Stars)
So one of our main plans was to do a big camping trip in Utah. I wanted to go for like 5 days. But to make a long story short, I ended up being in agony for some days while still at Marc's parents house...I didn't know what was wrong with me. I went to the hospital and the baby was checked out (which he was fine)...and they sent me home still suffering. Anyways, I found out what was wrong with me once I...passed a kidney stone! So yeah, it was not fun. And our camping trip was postponed because of it. But once I was feeling better...we still went camping for 2 nights.
It was really fun to do with Jake since he's at a fun age for camping...I really wanted to get a trip in before we have the baby and camping won't be as easy for a couple more years...I love camping. It's fun to me to be doing everything outside--we did foil dinners and smores over the campfire, we found hiking sticks and went on walks, and we rode our bikes (although I ended up walking my bike for the half that was uphill since I was on a beach cruiser:) I think one of the funnest parts for Jake was going to sleep and waking up in the tent...
On our last day before we headed home from Utah, we rode the ski lift at Sundance with the Harpers
We went on a hike at the top of the mountain
Back at home, we got back into our summer activities...here's the boys doing slip n slide
And here I am, 30 weeks prego with "Baby Jake" in my stomach (as Jake has named him)...and the 4d ultra sound pics are coming next!!
