Rodney and Kylee Get Their Bloom On

Rodney and Kylee made their way down to visit us! We always have so much fun when we get together, and people don't often visit the Mid-West, so we were especially looking forward to their visit. One of the best parts about getting together with the Dials - aside from our feeding frenzy - is the laughter. You honestly never know what is going to come out of Gordy or Rodney's mouth or what silly stunt they might pull next. Gordy and Rodney have such a similar sense of humor. Kylee and I never have to explain away our husband's goofy behavior when we visit. Kylee just knows that's how Gordy is, and I just know that's how Rodney is... When these two guys get together they will keep you laughing for sure.

This little gem of a photo was Rodney's idea. Rodney's glasses + baby = genius idea. Thanks Rodney!

... After church, after Gord's traditional gourmet Sunday tacos, after homemade brownies with ice cream and ganache. Is it any wonder why everyone but Rodney has their stretchy pants on?

Rodney and Kylee arrived bearing delicious gifts from Chicago - man they really know how to treat their friends! Of course we took them to a few of Bloomington's famous hot spots as soon as they arrived: Village Deli for Paxton Potatoes and some of the BIGGEST pancakes I have ever seen, we showed them Dunn Woods and Gordy's school, and we went to Bub's Burger for the BIG UGLY. Rodney and Kylee were such a huge help with Jack all weekend and were so sweet to him. Jack thought Rodney was hilarious. So far Rodney has come the closest to getting a full out laugh from Jack.

We hope they can come again soon. It's so nice to have friends close by when you are far away from your families...

Happy Valentine's Day

Where to begin.... Valentine's Day was absolutely crazy. I started the day off by making five dozen sugar cookies. Yes, that's right, five dozen. What possessed me to do that you might ask? well on any normal day, Gordy usually leaves for school at 7:30 AM and then returns home some time between 5-6:30PM. On this particular day (V-day) Gordy had to stay at school until 9 PM to do mandatory mock interviews... In order to make the best of the situation, I decided to make cookies and bring them to Gordy while he was at school. It turned out to be quite the chore, but I'm glad we did it.

We made some hilarious cookies (bras and thongs) in honor of Valentine's Day (special shout out to my cute friend Heather for the idea).

My other cute friend Erin came over and helped me decorate and deliver the cookies. Her hubby is a 1L too.... I'm so glad she came over because she made decorating so much more fun.

The cookies were a hit at school. Members of Gordy's study group are asking for more "dirty desserts".

This is how we both felt by the end of the day. It was quite exhausting to make, decorate, and deliver the cookies all while taking care of a baby, but it was totally worth it. After the cookie escapade was over, Jack and I came home. I made a delicious dinner for one- Mediterranean chicken, and cuddled with Jack while we watched the Bachelor. It's so nice to have TWO valentines!

.... BUT that was just February 14th. Gordy and I actually celebrated on Saturday. My sweetheart of a husband planned ahead and treated me to such a wonderful day.

We started off by exchanging gifts. I got Gordy a non-stick skillet for cooking eggs and I wrote him a list of 100 reasons why I LOVE him. He got me flowers and a journal. The purpose of the journal is so that we can write notes to each other and they all stay in one place. Isn't he so cute for thinking of that?!?

Then we headed out for an adventure. Since the weather warmed up to the mid 40's we decided it was a perfect opportunity to go explore Nashville, IN.

These were taken at the Hobb Knobb Cafe. It's a cute little restaurant that's been around for ages and ages...

Interesting side note - NOTHING in Nashville is stroller accessible. I didn't care though. I was absolutely craving outdoors time.

I like the saying on this bench... So, so true.

Nashville is like the Park City of the Mid-West. The entire town is composed of little antique shops, art galleries, candy stores, boutiques, and cafes. Nashville is actually called the "Artist Colony of the Mid-West".

We had such a wonderful day exploring Nashville as a family.

Jack's Blessing

I took some pictures of Jack in his blessing outfit (finally... it only took me a month to do).

This is just us on our way out of the door to church.

This is an award winning smile. He is usually just this happy. We're lucky to have such an easy-going kid.

3 months

So, we take pictures of Jack every month on his birthday. Corny, I know, but it's so fun for us to do. This way we can look back when he's a year old and see how he's changed. It's already so incredible how much he has grown in just three months. We started taking his pics with his jackalope so we can compare him to an object

Since I didn't do a post for the first two months, I'll just put up some of my favorite pictures of him from that time period.

Here he is as a brand new baby in the hospital. Don't you just want to smush his little face?!

One Month Old at Gramma and Grandpa's house for Christmas

Two Months Old

Three Months Old

S

let's recap

Okay, so I realize that there is absolutely nothing posted for 2010. This was actually a blog that we started right when we got married, but my heart wasn't in it, so it failed miserably. Now I'm trying to revive it... But, 2010 was an incredible year for us, so it deserves some highlights... These are the events I would have blogged about, had I been diligent enough...

1. We kicked of the year with a mocktail party at our place that was a lot of fun

2. We escaped the winter and went for a weekend get away with Chase and Ashley to Saint George. We have such fond memories of St. George and always look for any excuse to go there.

3. We found out that we were pregnant!

4. Gordy did phenomenally well on the LSAT, applied to schools and got some really great offers at really great schools. We narrowed the list of schools down and Gordy visited our top two picks: Emory and IU. We both felt really good about The Maurer School of Law at Indiana University (random, I know)

5. We both graduated from BYU. Gordy walked with me in my ceremony because it was shorter. Best decision ever.

6. I got to go to California for a girl's trip with Gordy's mom Sandy and his sisters Ainsley, Lindsay, and Whitney.

7. We moved out of our first little apartment in Provo and in with Gordy's parents. Soon it was a party because his sister Whitney and her five little ones moved in too while her hubby was finishing up endo school in LA.

8. We moved to Indiana. Gordon and Sandy were nice enough to drive our car out for us and help us move in. It was especially nice because I was 5 months pregnant and on strict orders not to over do things. My parents came that next weekend and dropped of their old washer and dryer (which was the biggest deal ever and a total life changer, so yes, it makes the highlight reel). We LOVE our new apartment and are falling in love with Bloomington too. Here we are driving cross country, our new empty pad, the BEST farmers market in the world, Lake Monroe, and Lake Jenny on our first date in Bloomington.

9. Gordy took a torts class as part of the Summer start program at IU. Here we are, classic first day of school picture (Fall semester). I just happen to be in my pj's because I was the chauffeur.

10. I got to visit FL for a family reunion and to have a baby shower. Gordy had to stay in Indiana to take his torts final. The boy cousins (minus Spencer and Seth), pregnant belly shot, and a Florida sunset. Seriously, Florida has the most beautiful sunsets of anywhere in the world.

11. We went to Chicago to visit Rodney and Kylee! We had the BEST time (and not to mention the BEST FOOD). We went to The Art Institute (my favorite- I got to see real life Van Gogh), Navy Pier to see the Blue Angels (which was Gordy's fav), the Sears tower, Magnificent Mile shopping, The Bongo Room, and CHICAGO PIZZA AND OVEN GRINDERS . We're still salivating over that last place. We loved seeing our friends and visiting with Gordy's Uncle Joel, Aunt Lisa, and cousins Rikki and Jacque.

12. We went camping with the Castellanos at Yellow Wood State Park. I was eight months pregnant and still had a great time.

13. We met up with my mom and dad in Atlanta for a long weekend because Gordy shadowed an attorney there. We visited the Atlanta Aquarium. the World of Coke, and Stone Mountain. We also found a new favorite Italian style pizza place that is INCREDIBLE! We had a really fun time, and despite being really nervous that I would go into labor (because I was 36 weeks) things were fine and we had a great trip.

14. WE HAD JACK!!! 7 lbs. 11 oz. 20 in long! and he is an absolute pleasure. Seriously the sweetest baby in the world. Labor and delivery was not at all scary and actually really easy for me. It was the neatest experience and I have nothing but positive memories of it all (I can say that because it took less the 4.5 hours which is pretty unheard of for first time deliveries). I realize that there are only three pictures of the most significant event of the year. I'll do a separate post later with birth stuff.

My parents came for the delivery which was a HUGE help and Adam came for a Thanksgiving visit too. We took some family pics... Jack was one week old.

15. Gordy had a really successful first semester, and he got great grades to top it off!

16. We spent two weeks in FL for Christmas with my parents. Jack is growing like a weed and continues to make us laugh on a daily basis.

Thats it... that was pretty much our 2010. Pretty awesome huh?