Welcome Layla Grace!

What a crazy past few months we've had! But now, as of June 4th at 1:22 pm, our beautiful Layla Grace is here. How quickly I had forgotten how crazy it is getting no sleep night after night...but it's so worth it. She was 6 lbs, 9 oz. when she was born, but is growing quite quickly. I can hardly believe it's already been 3 weeks since she was born :) Big brother Landon is adjusting amazingly well and simply adores his baby sister. He wants to kiss her constantly and if she ever begins to cry, runs to me and yells at me to "get her" or "kiss her". He's quite the little caretaker :) I used to be the one he couldn't wait to see in the mornings...now, as soon as he sees me, he says, "Where's baby sister, mommy? Where is her?" I've clearly been relegated. I'm so amazed when I think about my life and realize that I'm a married mom of two now. Where did time go? When did I become such an adult? I wouldn't trade a minute of it for the world.

Abby Cadabby

So to switch things up a little bit with this pregnancy, we've decided to wait until baby girl is born to officially name her. From time to time, we've asked Landon what baby sister's name is going to be. For a while, he would reply, "Baby Sister!" Recently he's become a little more creative and decided on a name for her all on his own. According to him, her name is Abby Cadabby, which just so happens to also be the name of his "girlfriend" from Sesame Street. He loves her and thinks she is just so cute...so I guess it's fitting that he hopes baby sister comes out to be her. :)

Marshmallow Mouth

Landon came running up to me the other day holding his favorite stuffed Mickey Mouse. "Mommy! Mommy!" he says, "Mickey Mouse eat a marshmallow!" I looked at him, puzzled for a moment, until he began pointing to the tongue in Mickey's mouth. He loves marshmallows so much that he now thinks all the tongues on his stuffed animals or in pictures are marshmallows they've eaten. What a cutie pie :)

19 Months

What an amazing thing it is to watch someone learn and change so much in such a small amount of time. It seems like within mere moments, Landon has learned to walk, run, jump, talk, laugh, and sing. He constantly makes us laugh with his singing and nursery rhymes. His current favorite songs to sing are Old Mac Donald Had a Farm, Jesus Loves Me, and ABC's, and his nursery rhyme faves include Wee Willlie Winkie and Humpty Dumpty. He sleeps in a "big boy bed" as of a couple months ago...something that we thought was going to be a slow transition but he took to right away. In fact, he LOVES his big boy bed :) In the mornings he can be heard from his bed saying things like, "mommy's name Mindy and daddy's name 'pencer" and reciting his favorite songs and rhymes. As we're getting ready for the arrival of our baby girl in a matter of weeks, a part of me can't help but feel a little sad that our time with just Landon is coming to an end. I'm hugely excited to welcome baby sister and to see how Landon interacts with her...he's so in love with the thought of her already...I'm just hoping we can still give him all of the time and attention he needs.

Baby Girl Hoke

Most of you already know that we are expecting baby Hoke #2...and it's a girl! I'm 22 weeks pregnant today and due June 7th. We are so excited to have another baby and even more excited to find out what raising a girl is like :) So far this pregnancy has been a lot easier than the first with many fewer sick days (yeah!). I'm so looking forward to having the baby before the heat of the summer this time (hopefully less bloating and swollen feet!) More pics to come soon...

Morning blessings

I'm always awake and off to work way too early in the morning...before 6, while it's still dark and everyone in the house (including the dogs) are still fast asleep. The other morning after getting ready, I walked quietly downstairs to put my lunch together for the day. I try to be as quiet as humanly possible while I'm walking around the house, especially since Landon appears to have inherited mommy's "light sleeper" gene. Most of the time I manage to get out of the house while all is still silent and everyone is still asleep. By the time I walk downstairs, I usually feel I'm in the clear...since Landon's room is upstairs and on the complete opposite end of the house. That being said...as I was pulling things out of the fridge last week, I coughed quietly to myself. Thinking I'd heard something, I stopped for a moment to listen. "bless you," I heard from upstairs. I glanced at the clock...5:50...way too early...time to ignore him, stay quiet for a moment, and hope he goes back to sleep... "Bless you, Mominna," he calls again. Again, I ignore him. "MOMINNA! BLESS YOU! BLESS YOU! MOMINNA!" Now dad's awake too...I guess it's too late to go back to bed. "Thank you, Landon," I call upstairs. I'm not sure what was funnier, the fact that he was blessing me for a tiny little cough or that he wasn't going to be satisfied until I heard and thanked him. Yes, honey, you do bless me...more than you'll ever know :)

Busy, Busy, Busy Boy

I simply adore Fall: caramel apples, earthy colors, cooler weather, scarfs...so much more. Spencer and I were so excited to take Landon to his first "real" pumpkin patch (we made an appearance to a parking lot pumpkin patch last year...but we all know those don't really count). This year we headed to Wheatland's Bishop Pumpkin Patch, free train tickets in hand. The weather was gorgeous! Landon had so much fun visiting all the goats, pigs, donkeys, and chickens. He wasn't too sure about bouncing on the hay, but gave it a try. The train ride was so exciting - he especially loved when it blew its horn! But his favorite thing of all was exploring the pumpkin fields. He was running from pumpkin to pumpkin yelling, "pum-pum!" He even decided to kiss a few :) We left that day exhausted, but full of life-long memories. I love family traditions, especially around the holidays.