my little man 8/4/08

Is 1 year old today! Last year, the day before his birth, Matt and I were so anxious for his arrival, little did we know the amount of joy, happiness and adventure that would follow.

Love you murph! Happy Birthday!

so nice to meet you!

sleeping with dad

my favorite, reading time.

travels with mom to San Fransisco

j. crew called, they need their model back.

So handsome! Happy Birthday!

what a kid

It's hard to believe M is almost 1, he is such a happy kid, as you can see in all the photos- it's a rare occasions for him not be smiling. His personality is geting as big as Texas, we love every minute with him!

The last 3 weeks have been FULL!! Check out the photos, warning- there are lots of pics.

if you look closely...i have tooth #1 and #2 on the bottom

loves being outside in our $10 pool.

look mom, i can see myself...usually followed by some extra water intake.

all the boys, M, Matt, my dad and Grandpa J

swingsets and...

trampolines and...

July 24th BBQ in American Fork canyon

Thanksgiving Point gardens and home of the largest man-made waterfall in the US (i know, trivia you can all use)

waterfall from the top

feeding the koi fish

still fitting in a nap here and there...he was about the only one doing that

M will keep his left leg raised the entire time is on the grass

early birthday celebration while G&G J were in town. he thought the cupcake was yummy.

here, there and everywhere

Just a quick recap- we've been to Michigan to visit G&G Dunn and the gang, we had Amy's family visit from Arkansas, Emily was out from DC for a wedding and G&G Johnson will be here on Sunday. And in between all the family fun, M is about to walk!!

I love these jammies and they actually make him sleepy:)

M with his cousins Melanie and Allison, visiting from Arkansas

M and uncle Chris- he's like a jungle gym with kids crawling all over him!

Em and Amy in the backyard

The Dunn's at Lake Michigan. It was so fun to all be together. Mike/Gretchen, Kerry/Adam and G&G.

He loves stairs and Grandma.

Kerry and M swimming

Visiting campus at Western Michigan.

M wanted to go outside- Harris... just his usually. Wherever people are, he is.

Walking behind his wagon.

summertime

Not being with M everyday is hard... but luckily with pictures like these, it makes it easier because i know he is having a good day. We are super lucky to have a wonderful lady watch him during the week. The pics below are from an outing to the park with M and her 2 boys. Becky is real savvy being out and about with 3 little ones!

Thanks Becky! Matt and I really appreciate you.

We are off to visit grandma and grandpa D tomorrow, yippee!!

what an amazing get-up- it holds 3 kiddos comfortably!

no thank you

How many times can you politely decline a Gap credit card? They are relentless, the spiff on signing someone up must be good, because they really go for the hard sale every time.  

SA (sales associate): Would you like to use your Gap card today?

L: no thank you

SA: Do you have a Gap card?

L: no thank you

SA: You could save 25% on all your purchases between now and June 26

L: no thank you

SA: The card can also save you money at Old Navy and the Banana Republic. Would you like to sign up today?

L: no thank you, i would just like my purchases that are on sale for $13.99, $8.99 and $19.99.

SA: ok. 

I'm glad cash and debit cards still work to make purchases.

travel log

Ok. So I rarely have a story about me worth sharing, because M is the most exciting thing in our lives on a day to day basis. However, i do have a few snippets to share.

Snippet #1 On Sunday, I had to travel to Miami for work (with my girlfriend) for a super quick trip. I was upgraded to 1st class without my friend and ended up sitting next to an older professional gentlemen. He was friendly and politely talkative- I got settled with my magazines and ipod as i didn't want to chat for the 5 hour flight. After about 10 minutes of filler converstation he asked if I was headed back home to Florida. I replied " no, I live here in Salt Lake", oh, i see, are you Mormon? I replied, "yes i am and are you Catholic?" He said yes and that's an interesting question? I said "no more interesting than wondering if i was Mormon after 5 minutes of nothing conversation". He continued to make a fool of himself by saying that i looked normal and seemed nice. What?? Are you serious? I am normal but I'm about to not be nice if you keep speaking. I said to him that it's odd to me that the first thing people want to know once I say i'm from Utah is that they feel compelled to know if I'm Mormon. It never fails. He paused in conversation for a while and then admitted that i had a point. If someone introduced themselves from New Orleans he wouldn't immediately have the urge for a follow up question of their religion. At least I got him thinking....and i didn't have to worry about talking for 5 hours.

#2 It was midnight when we arrived at the airport and upon exiting the plane, i waited near the gate for my friend who was just a few rows back. Because it was midnight, i was the only person standing at the gate. I was off to the side, minding my own business looking at texts on my phone when a lady (who was in 1st classs behind me) walked by and told me to cover my mouth when i yawn. What? I looked up from texting and said "excuse me" and with an annoying hand gesture the lady repeated that i needed to cover my mouth when i yawn (it's midnight, i'm tired and standing in the Miami airport all by myself and this lady wants to talk to me...not interested). In a traditional Lesley snotty fashion i told her to move along with my own little hand gesture. I actually wished i sneezed at the baggage claim area and then wiped it on her arm giving her a real reason to tell me to cover my mouth. In my best Will Smith impersonation- Bienvenidos a Miami!

I know most of you would just prefer to see M rather than my stories, but today it was a 2 for 1. Enjoy the pics!

we took M to a children's petting zoo near our house and he rode the pony. it was all Matt could do to keep up. it's quite the straddle for a little guy.

babe, thanks for watching murphy so i could run some errands.

the gangs all here

Hi everyone, we're back!
happiest kid i know. always smiling.
proud mama!

Pics we had done before Easter. Love how they turned out! My little man is so handsome.

We had a great time in Orlando. My work convention was a huge success. The Dunn's and Johnson's had a great mixed family vacation. The boys played golf everyday, the ladies hung with Murphy and we capped off everything with a trip to the Magic Kingdom. I was dead set on going to DW with Murphy. Rain or shine, hell or high water. The 8 adults were game, probably not at the tip top of their activity list, but I was going and it was going to be great. We came , we saw, we rode, we left early! It was 96 degrees and was unbearable. Murphy was a little red tomato and the rest of us were pretty hot too. Real disappointing. It was unseasonably warm for May so note to self for our next visit to the kingdom, it will need to be in the winter and when M is at least 5. A few pics to document our fun.

Life is returning to normal. We've spent Memorial weekend at home, visited the grandparents in Wyoming and plan to have a quiet Monday just not working.

Grandma note: Tonight, M full out crawled. Forward motion, no problemo. We're in trouble now. Between M and H, there is someone always on the move.

Pics from Orlando!

gangs all here.

swimming time, he loves.

never too old for a little fun!
the spaceship launched from NASA while we were at DW- the trial on top of the cloud in the center of the photo was our glimpse.