stars and strripes

We had a fantastic 4th of july! Jared of course had to work but was able to at least come for the first part of the family festivities. My dad and mom put on a wonderful bbq. My dad bbq ribs that were amazing!! I am weird and have a really hard time eating meat off of a bone. But these ribs were so yummy! The meat was just falling off. I made paula deans home made macaroni and cheese which turned out great too!
Connnor loves all of his aunts and uncles and cousins, so he was so happy that Katie and Ryan, Steph and Brandon and his cousin Ella were all part of the day too. After we ate we all went swimming and than hung out til it was time for the fireworks. It worked out so great because my parents live close enough to where they shoot off the fireworks that we only had to drive 5 minutes to a parking lot to have a PERFECT view!
Connor LOVED every second of the fireworks. We had the music going on in the car and he just watched in amazement. As soon as it was over he asked for them to start again. To bad he'll have to wait a whole year!

too much

So, too much has gone on to actually get caught up on my blog so here goes another recap post of life. Summer has been great so far. Its so nice having Jared home during the day with us. I was getting pretty burnt out on Jared leaving at 7:00am and not getting home til midnight. Hopefully Jared is going to be getting a promotion at work so he wont have to be going back to his morning job after summer!!!
The highlight of Connor's life right now is swimming. He loves it and we have almost been everyday for the past month. Are pool is heated so even before we had this hot summer weather we were already going to the pool. He is really a good little swimmer and I have to bribe him when its time to get. he just got really good at jumping in and going under the water.
We have been making good use of are sea world passes and having a lot of fun. We have been going to the free movies at the krikorian on Tuesday mornings. It gets pretty crowded but Connor loves to go to the movie and who can really complain about free.
Im still dieting away. I have lost 52 lbs now. It's so weird how the brain works. back in January when I started this I would have been thrilled with the thought of losing 52 lbs. Now that i've done that it still doesnt feel like enough. Which brings me to my problem. When is enough enough??? I have been dwelling on this a lot lately, when will I be happy with where im at. I keep saying in 5 more lbs all be done but than once those are off I wont 5 more off. I feel like strictly from a height and weight perspective I should still lose 10 more. Blah Blah Blah. Enough about that. I am really proud of myself.
Life is good and I am so blessed.

MIKEY

I really can't think about it all that long before I get to sad and start crying, but this boy just graduated high school and is leaving on a mission.
He will be serving a mission for the church in Kiev Ukraine. Mikey is going to be the best missionary the Ukraine has ever had. I think its safe to say that I am his biggest fan so that entitles me to get to brag. At his graduation he received an award for having a 4.0 every semester for all 4 years of high school. This boy can do no wrong!

Con Man

When I went to go see Emily's new baby, Jared took Connor to go see Kung Fu Panda 2. Connor loves going to the movies so its the perfect date for the 2 of them. This is a picture of them before the left.
This is just a funny picture that reminds me everyday that Connor gets whatever he wants. Who wouldn't want 6 different kinds of donuts all at the same time. He created the sampler platter.
Connor got a drum for his birthday and he rocks out on it. My poor downstairs neighbors hate me im sure.

Baby Boy Taylor

My sister Emily gave birth to the sweetest baby boy on Friday night. I would tell you his name but they are still undecided. Stephanie, Brandon me and Mikey went up to the hospital last night to see the baby and he is so snuggly. Jared and Connor were going to come too, but kids under 12 had to be siblings so I got to go childless and snuggle a newborn baby. I know tough night. It almost gave me baby pains. A lady at church today did a huge guilt trip on me on how im being so selfish and not having a baby now. People really need to mind there own business. I know how old Connor is and I have it under control.
Emily was a total rockstar and sense this was baby number 6 her labor went so fast that she didn't have time to get an epuderial so it was all natural. Not even pain meds in her IV. Her and the baby are doing great and were all just waiting in anticipation to know this little guys name.

FAMILY

So I posted all of are family pictures on Facebook but here are a few of my favorites.

Mothers day...

I had the best mothers day and was completely spoiled by my boys. I love being a mom and as much as I complain and get grumpy, it has really been the most amazing 3 years of my life. On Saturday we went out on a girls night/almost having a baby/mothers day date with my mom and 3 of my sisters. My sister Emily is almost due with baby number 6. She is literally supermom and she handles her 5 almost 6 kids better than I handle my 1. She is just like my mom and nothing stresses her out. Or at least she is a great faker. SO we wanted to take her out before the baby came and we figured we could count it as a mother's day date with are mom too. I have no words for how amazing my mom is. There's no one better in the world!! Enough said:)
We went to souplantation and than went and saw Something Borrowed, which was super cute and I highly recommend it. Here are a few pictures because really I know that's all people really care about.
We all laughed really hard when we saw how this picture turned out, because we all really think we look good it. THe funny thing is that a ridiculously good looking waiter took it for us so we all did are best job to smile good for him.
This is what my boys got me: a box of see's, a macys giftcard so I can go get my MAC makeup and my special present was Von Zipper sunglasses that Jared got me.
Later that day on Sunday we went over to my Uncle's house because we all chipped in and got my Grandma an Ipad. I know most grandmas aren't cool enough for an Ipad but mine is and she was so excited when she opened it up. This picture is of Connor and my cousin Toby. They sat like this outside for so long together. Toby is my cousin and we were best friends growing up and were even in a spy club together. He is so sweet with Connor and I thought it was so cute them sitting and talking about life together.