A little overdue...

I am completely overdue to post here - the last thing I posted about was Christmas, and needless to say, that has been a while.  Somehow I just stay constantly busy with my two darling little two year-olds (I can only say that for a few more days, though, because Tori will turn 3 on the 27th of this month).  I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world, so I guess blogging just has to wait sometimes. :)

For a quick recap of the last few months, Jayden turned 2 mid-February and we planned to take him to the hot spring in Ouray for his birthday, but instead we all ended up sick, so we celebrated at home.  Grandma and Grandpa came and we had cake and ice cream.  He loved all the attention and made a HUGE mess of his cake, which was hillarious.  We are still waiting on the ends to be tied up on his adoption so it can be finalized, even though we have had him for 8 1/2 months now.  The paralegal at our attorney's office called last week and said things should move more quickly from here on out, so hopefully it will be final soon.  I cannot wait until we can take him to the temple and have him sealed to our family for eternity!  I already bought both of the kids little white outfits to wear for the sealing.  It will be so special -- Tori will get to come and watch the sealing, too.  It will be incredible!  I sure do love the little guy.  Bringing home a 20 month-old little boy was not really what I had anticipated when we turned our paperwork to adopt again, but he is truly meant for our family and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Ben is currently taking the very last class for his Master's Degree in Business Administration.  He got to walk at the graduation ceremony in May, and will get his official dimploma once this class is over.  I am so proud of him -- he has worked so hard, even though many times it seemed to be so much easier to just quit.  We will all be so happy when he is finished - it has definitely been a family effort to get there.  We all can't wait to be able to just relax and have fun on the weekends without the homework looming over Ben.

I have started to sell my hand-made jewelry and have done well so far.  I have registered for my own store on Etsy, but haven't gotten it completely up and running yet.  I keep holding off since I have selling at different events, but after this summer is over I fully intend to get things up and going strong.  For now, I will be spending Saturdays here and there at the Farmer's Market in Moab selling a little here and there.

I can hardly believe that Victoria will be three next week.  Where has the time gone?  She is growing up so much and learning things so quickly - I wish I could keep learning at the rate that she does - then I'd know everything by now!  LOL.  It amazes me how much kids learn in such a short period of time.  She can count to 14 (and it will be 20 soon enough).  She knows all of her letters and numbers and colors and shapes, too.  She can spell her name (Tori -- not Victoria quite yet) and write all of the letters to spell it, too.  I have completely lost track of how many songs she knows now, but it's a lot!  I am so grateful to have her for a daughter.

Jayden is speaking in complete, long sentences now and is getting a lot easier to understand.  He loves to sing, too, and knows almost as many songs as Tori.  He is always doing silly little things and keeps us all laughing.  He has to wear a patch over one eye and glasses, too, to try and correct his lazy eye and get it aligned correctly, but he will still probably have to have surgery to correct that completely.  We are just waiting for the adoption to go through to get that all taken care of.  He is such a loving little guy, and he give the best hugs and kisses ever!!!  He has come such a long way since we brought him home last October, and I can't wait to see how he continues to blossom and progress under our care.  He needed us, and we needed him just as much.  He has really helped us to learn a lot.

I will try to post again soon -- probably pics of Tori's birthday. For now, here are a few pics of the kids from the year so far.

Jayden eating his birthday cake like a man!

Grandma got both of the kids some birthday balloons!

I went in one morning and found the kids both in Tori's bed.  Apparently sometime during the night Jayden came in and snuggled up with her.  It was TOO CUTE!

I bought the kids ice cream cones in honor of Grandpa's birthday.  Boy did they celebrate!

Easter Sunday -- two little bunnies ready to go on an Easter Egg Hunt!

My two precious little munchkins on Mother's Day

Our favorite thing to do is go to the park.  The kids love to play, and somehow they always take better naps after they have worn themselves out a little at the park!

Tori sure loves her daddy!