8 month update

• battle crawling
• can get out of a sitting position more controlled doesn't face plant anymore
• made it through rsv
• made it through eye surgery
• returned to my sweet baby who sleeps again
• loves to play with his toys
• tried puff cereal but didn't like it
• has an awesome mullet!!
• starting to understand cause and effect

family christmas

this year was truly our first christmas completely on our own. that means i was responsible for the dinner and the little christmas eve program. i felt a lot of pressure to start our own traditions and carry on those of our childhood and i have to say that we did a great job.

we had the traditional christmas eve dinner, funeral potatoes, ham, rolls, green bean casserole, green jello and pumpkin bars all made by yours truly.

after dinner we opened our christmas jammies (i told jack he got to open one present on christmas eve and when he saw what it was that he got to open he said he wanted to open a different one) put them on so we could be comfy for the rest of the evenings events.


sam opening up his christmas jammies.

the two greatest gifts i could ever receive.

we read the scriptures of the birth of our Savior while jack acted out the characters as the story went on. after that we went out to go see our neighborhood dancing christmas lights set to music. (jack's favorite thing to do)

Christmas morning

nanna and papa got jack these cool hex bugs

sam rolling around in all the presents.

santa brought jack this everyday hero's play set which he loves to have his mario characters play in. we kept asking jack if he wanted to open a present and kept saying he already has a present in the play house. finally after a while we convinced him to open his presents and he found out that he got a DS and wipeout for the wii. needless to say he was a very happy camper. all in all we had a wonderful christmas and we feel truly blessed to be able to spend it together as a family and teach our boys the true meaning of christmas. we hope you all had a very merry christmas too.

7 months?

every time sam wears this hat jack seems to think he has to pet his head.

ok, ok so this is really late in coming and sam is really already almost 8 months but i had to get this in here for my records. here is a short update on what sam was up to at 7 months

• sitting up with no support from his arms


• making the "ma" "da" and "ba" sound


• now loves to eat his baby food. his favorites are squash, sweet potato, carrots, apple, banana and pears


• can put his binki in his mouth


• recognize his own name


• has rocked back onto his knees and hands but is still a long way from crawling (mom is secretly happy about that)

"sweet" success

i'm knocking on wood as i write this because i don't want to jinx it but we had a break through with sam and eating baby food. this evening i decided i would try sweet potatoes and to my astonishment sam liked it, he really, really liked it. sam opened his mouth for it and even finished a whole package. here is a terrible picture of the finished product.

a week late and a dollar short

i know, i know this is way late but i have to put up a picture of super awesome jack "mario." jack as most of us know is obsessed with video games and his current obsession is super mario and so naturally that is what he wanted to be for halloween. now i'm not super talented like my mom, who used to make all of my costumes i had to go and order the prefab version from the internet. even though the costume was super cheap jack loved it and he especially loved the mustache. he wore that dang mustache all day at school and was sad when it had to come off. without further ado here is mario...

now we can't forget about our sweet little sam. i looked and looked for a costume for sam and there were a lot of cute ones out there but they were all just too dang hot to wear here in arizona. i finally just decided to go with a cute halloween monster shirt, because after all he is mommy's little monster.
this year halloween wasn't all that fun except for the fact that my sister gave birth to my sweet little nephew hunter and we got to go down and meet him. both of the boys weren't feeling good so we didn't get to go to our ward trunk or treat and with halloween being on sunday we didn't really want to go out trick or treating. we decided we would have jack dress up in his costume and he would hand out the candy. he loved doing that, i would even say he loves that more then he does actually trick or treating himself. our boy isn't really a big fan of candy and i'm not complaining. here are our boys one more time. happy late halloween everyone

6 months

what this little man is up to

• 17 lbs 2 oz
• 26 and a half inches long
• rolling from tummy to back and back to tummy
• uses rolling to get around places
• scoots backwards
• we've tried baby food and so far he is not a fan (really hoping he isn't like his brother and won't eat)
• has baby conversations with you i.e. he talks, then you talk and then he talks back
• can fully get his foot to his mouth and eat it
• he is getting his first tooth (mommy is not too happy about this development)
• beginning to recognize his own name
  

our month so far

october has been one of the crazier months for our little family. some much has gone on that i hardly know where to start. i guess we could start with our little camping trip. the weather finally cooled off enough (meaning not 110) that john decided that we should go camping. so we invited some family and friends and off we went to dead horse ranch. not the most beautiful campsite ever but it had showers and flushing toilets so i can't complain too much. on the drive up there we realized that we were relatively close montezuma's castle so off we went for our "hike" to see it.

when we got there we found out that it was maybe a two minute walk on a paved path. oh well so much for hiking. jack had a great time pretending to be our tour guide and finding all the signs for us to read to him.

after that we went the crazy ghost town jerome. a small town pretty much carved out of the side of a mountain. we pretty much just walked around the town and found an old school park with a metal slide. the kids had a good time playing.

but really the best part about camping is hanging around camp and eating great food that john prepared for us. jack had a blast playing in the tent and with his flash light. all in all it was a great time and i can say i survived camping with a baby. thanks john for a great camping trip.
silly picture of jack showing off his flash light and his whistling skills.

after the camping trip we decided it was time to try and feed sam some baby food. well, let's just say that sam is not a big fan of eating rice cereal. here's to hoping we find something that he does like and that we finally get a child how likes to eat.

next it was time to start getting ready for halloween and what better way to do that then to decorate pumpkins for family home evening.

jack had a blast hammering in our vampire potato head pieces. so much so that he kept hammering and cracked him and the vampire had to be buried.

we had one more big event happen this month but i'm really too tired to blog about it now so i will have to do that at another time.

5 month update

this sweet little boy is now 5 months old. it seems like it was just yesterday that we were blessed to have him join our family. here is a little update on what he likes and is able to do.

• he loves his brother and lights up when jack will talk to him
• he likes to stand up and play in his exersaucer
• he can now sit with his hands down for support for about a minute now
• he rolled from his back to his tummy. he showed us this skill while i was making jack's dinner and he was in his swing. he decided he was done being in his swing and rolled over and almost fell out. little trouble maker scared his momma to death
• he loves to explore your face. he thinks it is so funny when you "eat" his hand
• he finally discoverd his feet and he wants to put them in his mouth but can't get them past his big tummy
• he can grab and hit things hanging above him

we all love this little baby boy and can't imagine life without him. can't wait until next month when we get to see all your new skills.

finally some brotherly love

the other day at dinner jack and sam had a really cute brothers moment and we were lucky enough to get it on video. i think one day these two might actually become good friends. keep your fingers crossed.

this is the post that never ends

Beach Day





the first day we got to california we went straight to the beach and met up with our family. jack and dad had a blast playing in the waves and making sand castles. sam and i had fun playing in the sand, enjoying the cool breeze and visiting with nanna.

Disneyland Day
we decided that this year we wanted to celebrate christmas a little early so we got our present to disneyland. we had so much fun. this time jack was tall enough to go on every ride except for indiana jones. he was such a trooper and even loved going on the roller coasters. he went on thunder mountain twice, splash mountain, gadgets go coaster and many more. thanks nanna and papa for coming and for our early christmas present.


this is jack's first run on big thunder mountain. please ignore john and me yelling at each other and look at the joy and excitement on jack's face.

we were having so much fun at disneyland that we didn't stop to eat dinner. on the way home i told jack that he couldn't go to sleep until he ate dinner. he was sooo tired from all the fun that he was eating and falling asleep at the same time. it was so funny, i don't know if you can really see it in the video very well.

Observatory Day
I had so many memories of going to the Griffith park observatory that i decided i wanted to take my kids there too (it also helps that it is free.) i really didn't think jack would like it all that much but i thought he would like wandering around outside, but he actually loved the whole thing. it made and john and me realize that we really need to start exposing our boys to more educational and cultural things.

jack had fun exploring and going on an "adventure" to find the huge telescope. he loved pushing all the buttons and he most favorite thing was going on all the different scales to find out how much he would weigh on all the different planets. he also spent some quality time with einstein.

My girls

these are my girls, becky and tracy. we have known each other for who knows how long. i'm so glad that every time i go to california i get to catch up with them. it is so nice to have friends that no matter how much time passes you can get together and things go back to how they were when we were young. i love them!!

Cowboy up day

jack had the awesome idea that he wanted to be a cowboy and ride horses. i was more then happy to oblige this request because i love to ride horse, i have ever since i was a little girl. well lets just say that jack had fun the first time around the track and the second time was a different story. see below...

"oh geez, oh geez, oh geez get me off of here."

we had so much fun in california. can't wait for the next trip.

4 months and growing

this little guy isn't so little...

• he now weighs 15 pounds 9 ounces
• he is 24 and 3/4 inches
• he rotates around on his tummy
• he laughs full out not just a giggle anymore
• loves to swing at the park
• loves being outside
• as stated earlier he now rolls from tummy to back
• he is very handsy (sp?) he grabs my hair, my shirt, his pacifier, pretty much anything and doesn't want to let go.
• he has become more brave with being tossed in the air
• loves to play paddy cake and laughs when you clap his hands together
• he is just a happy, sweet, adorable baby

i wish the time wouldn't go by so fast, i love having a baby in the house. stay little a while longer sam.

someone turned 5

yesterday was jack's birthday and we had such a busy and fun day that i was too tired to do a post yesterday. i just want to say a big happy birthday to my bug. we are so lucky to have you in our family. we love you very much and can't wait to celebrate many, many more birthdays with you.

let it be known...

my baby is skilled! tonight sam at 15 weeks rolled over 4 times from tummy to back.

we were only fast enough to catch the tail end of the roll, sorry.

3 months

where does the time go, our little man sam is now 3 months. this makes me sad because i love, love, love babies and i'm sad that this is my last one and he is growing so fast! he pretty much already fills out his 3-6 month clothes, he is our little chubs. here are a few of the things he is now doing

• he smiles at your smiles
• he is "talking" a lot
• he loves to blow spit bubbles
• he is very social and lights up every time someone talks to him
• he giggles when tickled (and giggles when cousin tyler plays with him)
• he brings his hands together at mid-line
• he holds a rattle and brings it to his mouth
• loves to suck his fingers and thumb (i try to discourage this by giving him his pacifier but he is not fooled)
• he has good head control
• he loves his bath and splashes pretty much all of the water out of the tub
• he is getting closer to rolling over (tummy to back)
• track objects

we are having so much fun watching this sweet little guy grow and develop and can't wait to see all the other first that are yet to come.

he's pretty much a professional

this summer we again decided to have jack do private swim lessons and he is doing really, really well. he now thinks that because he knows how to swim all kids should know how and if they don't know how he thinks he can teach them. i'm so very proud of my little swimmer.

summer fun?

it is sooooo hot here you have no choice but to play in your baby brother's floor mat. kind of sad, don't you think?

it's raining

we are officially in the monsoon season. Normally these monsoons happen in the middle of the night so it is a rare treat to actually get to see and play in it. jack had a blast playing.

FHE Arizona Style

We finally got a pool in our backyard. Look out world, we are movin' up!

2 months

this little boy sam is 2 months old and he now

• weighs 12 pounds 6 ounces
• 22 and 3/4 inches long
• smiles
• coo's a little
• can hold his head up while laying on the floor
• and pretty much sleeps through the night

he is a super sweet baby and we are so happy to have him in our family. we love you little "sambo

it only took 3 and a half years...

3 and a half years ago at a super saturday in my utah ward i made this super hero cape for jack. finally, he has decided he likes it and will wear it. my "hard work" was not a waste.

Sam's blessing

i'm really not very good about blogging anymore but even those this is late in coming i have to post it. memorial day weekend we blessed our little sam. he was a perfect baby, he didn't make a peep and he didn't ruin his blessing outfit. john gave sam a beautiful blessing. i'm so grateful that he has the priesthood and can bless our boys and me. we were very loved and supported by our family, my parents came, john's parents came, my brother for california came with his family and of course all of our arizona family was there to support sam. thanks to everyone who came and to those who couldn't come but sent their love, we really appreciate all of you.

Because of this lady...

• Because of this lady I have a beautiful, sweet and healthy full term baby


• Because of this lady I have a happy, smart and content 4 year old


• Because of this lady I had a chance to experience what it was really like to be a pregnant lady


• Because of this lady I had an easy and comfortable recovery from my c-section

I can never repay my mom for all that she has done for us these past 4 months. I'm so grateful you were willing to come and take care of me and my family. I'm so glad that Jack and "Grandma Ann" are now best of friends and have a relationship that can never be broken. "Ladies and Gentlemen" this lady is best mother, grandma and friend I could ever ask for, I thank my Heavenly Father for sending me to her every day. I love you mom!!!!

Busy week...

Well, it's Saturday and this has been one of the busier weeks in recent memory. Work, school for Jack, appointments for Jack, cooking, cleaning, oh and we had a kid (almost forgot about that one).

We all got to come home on Friday evening and everyone is still doing well. The first night home was a little rough. After sleeping for hours on end in the hospital, lil' Sam decided he didn't want to sleep much between the hours of 11 and 1 last night. Mom finally figured out a way to get him to sleep, either that or I was so tired I passed out amidst the commotion and we got to sleep until Jack woke up at 6. I am sure that is will be the first of many adjustments in our life.

This is our last 3 person family picture.

Shannyn's last minutes as a pregnant lady.



Shannyn and I getting prepped for the big moment..can you say "Sloppy Joe, Slop, Sloppy Joe, yeah!"



Sam's first picture (although at this point he was still "Baby boy Florez")

Mom and baby's first interaction

Dad and his new baby boy

This is all he wanted to do in the hospital. Wouldn't even wake up to eat for the first day.

One of the rare awake moments caught on film. They say he looks like his mom.

The brothers meet for the first time. We actually didn't think this was going to happen in the hospital since there was still a flu/RSV ban in effect that prohibited kids under 12 from being there. Fortunately, they decided to end it 2 days early for us and Jack was able to meet Sam at the hospital. So far, so good.

The new and improved Florez family!

All packed and ready to go home

To cap the night off, Sam brought Jack a present for his big brother. You think he likes his new scooter?

And finally here is some video of the little guy...ENJOY!