I am so excited to announce my end of summer mini sessions! This is a perfect opportunity to get some updated family pictures for your home, new pictures of your kids, or just some cute pictures of you and your honey! Hurry and schedule your time slot for September 1st! First 3 people to schedule receive a free 8x10!

He deserves an award..

 Pictures taken in Monterrey, California in 2011

See this hunky man? I am so lucky to have him. He is my rock. Even when he is hundreds of miles away. I just needed to brag about my amazing studly husband. There ya go.

Here come terrible twos.

Finally! I got these pictures up! Cole turned 18 months a month ago, so he is actually 19 months right now, but at least I got the pictures! For these pictures, we headed to the LDS Mesa, AZ temple because it's spring, and the temple is gorgeous now! Cole spent half of our picture time walking up the stairs and trying to scoot down the handicapped ramp like a slide. It took a lot of screaming for him to go anywhere else. But, I am used to that by now. Screaming, that is. Cole at 18 months is very stubborn (I'm positive he got it from his dad). He knows what he wants and does not like to be told otherwise. We're trying to help him use his words, but sometimes screaming just gets the job done. He is 100% all American boy. He loves airplanes, trucks and being outside. He is one fearless boy and wants to be just like his daddy. For example, Cole saw Derek drag the hose from the house to the pool so the pool could fill up once. Now every time we are outside, Cole goes straight to the hose and yanks it to the pool. Thank goodness we are getting some pool protection this week because if not Cole would jump right in. Anyway, I feel so blessed to have this little boy in my life. He brings so much joy and happiness into our home. (The picture with Cole's hand to his head- he's okay, I promise! He just bumped his head and cried a little. But he is a tough cookie.

Sometimes I feel so lucky to live in Arizona. And when I say sometimes, I usually mean only November through May. The weather is perfect today! Perfect for this little family to go take a walk! So why am I blogging when it is such a beautiful day outside? Just to brag.
*THIS REMINDS ME! I need to take 18 month old pictures of Cole! Yes, he turned 18 months on February 23rd. Since then he has been jibber-jabbering away. And causing all types of trouble. This little boy is a hard one and stretches me to the limit sometimes, but I love him so much. So this next post coming up this week will be 18 month old pictures of Cole. Promise!

It feels like forever.

Goodness gracious! I cannot believe how long it has been since I have written on this thing! And so much has happened! So here is an Instagram Life update, since that is what I've been taking pictures with these days. (Since Cole spilled milk on my point and shoot- Yeah, you know the term, "There is no use crying over spilled milk?" It doesn't always apply.) So starting in November. We had an awesome Thanksgiving, and I showed off this little baby I made.
The next day, we hit the Auto show, a yearly tradition. This show shows ALL of the cars for the upcoming year! I picked out this sweet ride for my next car. Is it family appropriate? Probably not. Do I look cute in it? YESSSS.

And we drank a lot of this. Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate. To. Die. For.

And did a LOT of winter cuddling. I took all the cuddling I could get, which is not a lot from this squirmy little guy!  
DECEMBER: Hello, December! My favorite month of the year, and boy did we have a great December! We started the month off right with the Mesa LDS Temple Christmas Lights! Cole absolutely LOVED walking around those lights. And we just let him go!
Then we strapped on a big puffy jacket, and headed to Idaho Falls, Idaho!

Cole LOVED the airplane. He spent the whole ride like this:

He got to feel snow for the first time. He wasn't too sure what to think of it. It didn't last long since we've had some unusual heat wave this winter, but I loved seeing him in the snow!



Cole loved Grandma and Papa Mitchels's house! And how could he not? My favorite part of their house was the Christmas tree in front of these huge windows looking out to the winter white backyard! It was picture-esk.

I love this picture of Cole on Christmas Eve. He had no idea what was about to hit him!
The best present ever was seeing our dear friends, Jeff and Whitney (not pictured) and Dave and Stephanie! It had been way too long since we had seen them. Derek has a group of about 7 friends that he has grown up with since high school. It was only natural that all the wives became best friends as well!  
JANUARY: What a way to start off the new year. We spent New Years in a cabin up in PineTop and spent the days skiing and if I ever edit my pictures, I will post our pictures up on here! As soon as we got home, my little bbabe got sick with a 104 degree temperature.

But once he was up running around again, we started to play! We went with our (prego- WHOOHOOO!) lunch buddy, Kristin and hit up some food trucks in Phoenix and then explored DownTown. I don't know if it is exploring if you have lived there already, but we did it all.

And I ate here too. Jose Garce's (Iron Chef) new restaurant, Distrito. Delish.

Aaaaand we spent time hanging out, dressing up and watching a little baby Einstein:

We also celebrated a birthday! Derek turned 29 this year! I made this cake for him!  

February: We started off February with a much need hair cut! Cole got three inches cut off! It was CRAZY how long it was! He may or may not have started to look like a girl.



Then, I started to get a little creative. I was in dire need of a new pillow...so I made one! I am awfully proud of my domestic self.

We also went a little crazy for Valentine's Day too, which we spent home (by myself because Derek was out of town) and with a sick baby. No bueno. At least I had good looking cookies.



So we're only halfway through February and Cole turns 18 month in about a week! I know, it's crazy but he is getting too big for his own good! He is the happiest little trouble maker I know! He thinks EVERYTHING is a game. He laughs constantly, and loves to watch his movies. It's crazy to watch his personality grow. We love him so much!