{growing up}

  Every time I sit down to write a post, I am completely overwhelmed with the idea that I have to blog about ALL of our trips, vacations, every day life.. and I decide Pinterest sounds more fun, and so I forget about the blog. I've decided instead of trying to look the other way on our blog, I will write what I can, when I have time, and picture journal the rest! With that said, I do want to catch up a bit. My little man is now 7 months old! It does go by fast, and even more so with our second! He is so much fun to have, and sill such a ham! Give him a bit of attention, and he will give you the biggest, warmest smile. He is mostly laid back, but when it comes to feeding, I am it. He will NOT take a bottle, and I've tried every one (that I can buy here, and amazon won't ship for some reason). He now is on solid foods, and although I can get baby food for free, I've decided to make my own. I kinda feel like super mom when I do! He has been very healthy, which to me, is one of the greatest blessings. I do get nervous about him having a fever, now that he can have febrile seizures like Hallie had. But for now, I love his happy healthy, hammy, self! He is days away from crawling, which I've tried to postpone for as LONG as possible! He can roll anywhere, and can crawl one or two army crawls before he falls or I scoop him up :) He is SO strong, seriously. It hurts when he is playing with you, and I remember after he was first born the nurse commenting on his muscles! He will probably have more of my genes- muscle comes easily to him. Just love this little man of mine! Oh and as for sleeping through the night, I've come to a realization that it will happen in 10 years.. hopefully.

   Hallie is also maturing, and she is a joy to have as well. Ever since Carden has been born, she gets less 1 on 1 time with me, and has to be patient for my attention. She is so patient with me, and I never have to worry about her. For instance, today, I had to nurse Carden to sleep for his afternoon nap, and it took a long time to get him down. About 45 minutes later, I called for her, and she was happily coloring in her room! She is amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better little girl, she is absolutely irreplaceable! She is so smart, and still has an incredible memory. Teach her something once, and she remembers. Have an experience with her, and she'll tell you all about it a year later. I know exactly where my mind went after I had my first baby :) She also listens SO well. She will not eat a candy that's in front of her unless I tell her its ok! She is very well behaved, and gosh I do love it. Enjoy it while I can, right? She also is the BEST big sister. I love their almost 4 year age difference. I think its perfect! She is so helpful, in so many ways. She loves to hold him, keep him happy, play with him in the car.. its so nice. In some ways, it really is easier having 2 rather than 1. Right now she is playing "catch" with him so I can write this! Love my girl.

  As for Jeremii and I, we are still really enjoying Germany. We got our extension approved to live here for 2 extra years, which means we will live here until 2016! It's so crazy to think back, to when Germany was a foreign country to us, and now it is home. There are wonderful things here, but also draw backs that do get frustrating. Like going shopping on Saturdays- you have to get it done before 4pm at the local grocery store and 6pm for shopping! And there is no such thing as 24hr shopping. But the local groceries are amazing, and we love the beauty here. We love taking family walks, bike rides, playing soccer, discovering new playgrounds in different villages, and the German pools! Seriously amazing. Our house gets to me, because unless you want to spend 5,493 hours a day cleaning, it does not stay clean. I've heard there isn't carpet here because Germans believe its dirty, and wholey cow.. it must be. Do you know how much you have to clean white tile to keep it clean on a daily basis?! I can't wait to just vaccum and, tada! It's clean!

 How could I have forgotten?! My little brother is getting married!!!! My skinny little brother that never talked, is now a grown man. It's still a little funny to think about, but I couldn't be happier for him. She seems so sweet, and he deserves the best. I can't wait to go back to Utah in October!!! This will be the first time in 2 1/2 years we've touched real U.S. soil! And, it falls perfectly on the homecoming weekend game for BYU and I am stoked to be able to go see some good 'ol 'merican football. (not soccer)