3 Months!

My little Hoyt boy is now 3 months old! He is such a good baby and rarely cries now unless Lexie is beating on him, he's way hungry, or he just wants to be held. He's still a snuggly little guy and is getting quite chubby which is super cute! He is sleeping pretty good now and only gets up once in the night around 4 to eat but sleeps long stretches before and after which has been nice! My only complaint is how much he spits up because Lexie never did; but besides changing us both several times a day, things are great! I love this sweet little guy SO much and I'm glad he is in our family! (I don't know his stats for this month, but all I know is he's getting a lot bigger.)

Hoyt is really smiling, laughing, and cooing now which is such a fun stage! He's got the prettiest blue eyes and he sure knows how to melt his Mommy's heart!

Sometimes Lexie thinks she's the baby and wants to play with the baby toys. But other times she wants to be the Mom and hold the baby even when he's crying.

Lexie really wanted to get in on the picture taking action. Those are two good lookin' kids if I do say so myself...and I do!

Love those sweet faces!

4 Years & Big Changes

Yesterday was our 4 year wedding anniversary! Sadly, I didn't even get to see my sweet husband, but we are going to celebrate later when things calm down. The past 4 years have been the best of my life! Bryan is the best husband any girl could ask for, and I probably don't quite deserve how amazing he treats me! He is so loving and caring to me and is the same way with our children. He is an amazing father and I'm so excited to share the rest of this life and all of eternity with him! I'm grateful we chose to get married in the temple so we can have those blessings and give them to our posterity as well. Happy Anniversary!!

Our lives have changed a lot the past 4 years, but the past month has just been plain crazy! Having another baby we kind of knew we needed a bit more income so we prayed about it and as always paid our tithing and fast offerings. After paying a big chunk to our ward the end of June, along with praying about our situation, we started talking about Bryan applying for some jobs. Before he even had the chance to spruce up his resume, a few days later, he unexpectedly lost his job. We didn't see it coming at all and kind of wondered how that could be a blessing, but we tried to have faith that this would work out for the better. We just tried to keep a positive outlook and started sending out resumes and filling out applications. We tried to enjoy the July celebrations the best we could while waiting to hear back from potential employers. The first 2 weeks were kind of rough and we didn't really get any calls; then all of sudden about the 3rd week the calls started coming. After doing a few phone interviews we had one company call for a 2nd in-person interview and they sounded really positive about hiring Bryan so we made plans to head up north. As we got ready to go we got more calls and appointements for interviews up in the Provo/Salt Lake area. He ended up doing about 6 interviews that week and was offered probably the best paying job with a big corporate company with lots of amazing benefits. They wanted him right away so we headed home that weekend and Bryan headed back up and started working that Monday. All of August so far has been spent with him living in Sandy during the week then coming home on weekends. The most amazing part of this whole thing is that in a matter of a week he got a job, started working, found a place to live just 1.5 miles from his job, we found a renter for our house, and now off we go to move to the big city for this great new opportunity. We know everything happened for a reason and we are grateful for the Lord's hand in our lives and for the blessings we get from paying our tithes and offerings!

Going to the Zoo!

We saved our Cache Valley cheese wrappers the past few months so we could go to Hogle Zoo for free this summer. The day finally arrived last Thursday and Lexie was super excited! She loves animals and just seeing her reaction was the best part of the trip. Every time she would spot a new animal she would giggle and say "Cute!" The pictures aren't in exact order, but I'm too tired to switch them so here goes:

One of Lexie's favorite things we did was to ride the train. I love the looks on her face in these pictures. She was really into the ride. (Yes, that is a scrape on her face from a previous incident with a sidewalk.)

Here are all four of us on the train! Lexie has her new stuffed giraffe that she got at the zoo.

Mom and Lexie with a monkey in the background. The monkeys were Lexie's favorite! Hoyt slept pretty much the entire time in his stroller and I got this cute picture of him smiling in his sleep (he's appropriately wearing his giraffe shirt).

Lexie and Daddy liked seeing the penguins! And one of main attractions at the zoo right now is the new baby elephant Zuri...so cute!

Bryan's favorite animal was the huge gorilla eating a jar of nuts, and I really liked seeing the giraffes. It was a way fun day and I'm glad we were able to go even in the blazing hot weather.

2 Months Old

Hoyt is now 2 months old! He is growing up so fast and getting chubby. I wasn't sure how much he had grown until we took him to the Dr. Here are the 2 month stats:

Weight: 12 lbs 11 oz (75%)

Height: 23 in (55%)

Head: 15 in (13%)

He survived his first round of shots and didn't have much of a reaction.

Here's our cute little man!

I am seriously so grateful for this little boy and love having him in our family! He is really smiling, cooing and trying to laugh which is so much fun. He likes to be held and cuddled and is a really great baby.

Smiley guy!

Our handsome guy all dressed up for church.

July 4th & 24th Celebrations

This year we spent the 4th & 24th of July with my family doing small town celebrations. The 1st of July was my birthday; I didn't get any pictures this year, but it was a pretty good day. Bryan took me to Pizza Factory for lunch, then we drove over to stay with my family for the holiday and had a BBQ topped off with cake and ice cream.

For the 4th (which was actually on the 3rd since the 4th was on Sunday) we enjoyed sleeping in, having breakfast with the family, then took some family photos when we were in our red, white and blue.

Our cute family.

Lexie had a great time going and playing some games at the town park. She got some fun prizes including her awesome sunglasses.

After games at the park they had free swimming at the town pool. Lexie was excited to go to the pool and swim with Jen! She did stay close to the edge but still had fun.

I didn't get any pictures in the evening, but we went to Kanab for our traditional dutch oven dinner and fireworks at my aunt Merilee's house. It was awesome as usual--great food, great family, great fireworks, and a great Independence Day party! Sunday we went to church and relaxed with the family. On Monday we decided to have another family get together at the Hoyt ranch. We went out and had a BBQ/Dutch oven dinner and Lexie was in heaven playing in the great outdoors with plent of dirt, rocks and sticks.

We also had a fun Pioneer Day on the 24th! There is nothing quite like being in a small town with a rich pioneer heritage to really get you into the spirit of the holiday. I have fond memories of the 24th of July in my hometown. In the morning we got ready and headed down the street for the 20 minute parade.

Waiting for the parade to start. Hoyt had a really nice time.

Bryan and Lexie watching the parade & Lexie with her candy!

Primary float with Jen & Lexie waving to Aunt Mickell and Aunt Jodi on the cheerleader float...or golf cart I guess.

We went to the park after and got some lunch and Lexie and Jen learned how to make homemade ice cream in a bag.

Later in the evening we went up to the town park for a free awesome BBQ/Dutch Oven town dinner which was really good. We are grateful for the founders of our country and the pioneers who settled here for all they sacrificed to give us such a great place to live! July is always fun to celebrate, be with family, and show gratitude for our blessings!

Lexie Loves Summer!

Lexie definately loves summer! I was excited to get out all of her cute summer clothes and we tried out some new hairstyles. She's such a cute little girl!

Being outside is Lexie's favorite thing. Every day we go outside to check on the "plants" in our garden and she enjoys picking up rocks and sticks. She especially loves going to the swings and slides. She is obsessed with playgrounds and gets really upset when it is time to go. Here are pictures from one of many trips to playgrounds this summer.

We decided to get a pool for our backyard this summer. Lexie isn't sure exactly what to think about pools, but she loves swimming and playing in the water. It also has been hard to get her to leave once she is in!

And what is summer without sunglasses? Lexie decided to try on Grandpa's shades and Jen joined in wearing one of the teenage girls' glasses. So cute!

First Bath & 1 Month Old

Hoyt's first bath didn't come until he was 4 weeks old. Lexie's cord fell off in 5 days, but Hoyt's cord waited until the day before he turned 4 weeks old so he was a little slower.

Here is a before and after picture.

Here he is ready for the bath and then getting a bath. The cloth covering him is not only for modestly, but to save us from getting sprayed!

Here he is enjoying the bath. As much as he hated being cold, he really loves baths!

The day Hoyt turned 1 month old we went over to visit Uncle Pete who just got home from his mission. While there, Hoyt got to meet Great Grandpa & Great Grandma Hoyt.

Hoyt inherited the Lyman trait of sleeping with his arm on his head. I had to take a picture.

Tummy Time!

Gotta love the tongue sticking out.

He's such a sweet little guy!