We are "egg"cited to announce Baby Herbert #2

We gave each of our family members a plastic egg for their Easter present - and this is what was inside, a little baby, some plastic binkies, jellybeans, and a note that said, "we are "egg"cited to announce Baby Herbert #2 on September 30th! Everyone was so excited and shocked (except for my mom and Katie, they had suspected for a while). We are so excited and can't wait! I am 14 weeks along, for those of you doing the math, it means they will be 17 months apart, which is close, but I am not worried. My mom had all of hers close (Katie and I are 15 months apart), so I always wanted mine close together.
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PS - For those of you who don't know, My sister Katie is pregnant as well and due 3 weeks after me.

Easter

Dying our eggs

So we dyed eggs, got Brock an Easter basket (just toys, no candy), and hid the eggs for Brock to find. During his bath Jason hid the eggs and put the basket in the middle of the floor. Obviously I figured we were doing this mostly for us, and Brock would care less about the basket, what was in the basket, and not try to find the Easter eggs. How wrong I was. Brock crawled straight to the Easter basket, and one by one pulled each toy out, played with it for just a minute (to find out what it did), then set the toy down, and pulled out the next toy until the basket was empty. We have it all on video, and you can see, as soon as his last toy is out, he spotted an egg hid under the couch, he put down the toy and crawled over to the hidden egg, he then crawled around the room finding 3 or 4 more eggs. It was so cool to watch - I thought for sure he wouldn't get it, he so did. Every time he found an egg he would hold it out in front of him, to show us, then he would smile and clap. It was so cute.

As you can see he is still in the "put everything in your mouth" stage, so I did not do Easter grass in the basket, I just put some green fabric.

Then we went to my grandma's house for another, outside, Easter egg hunt with all the grand kids and great grand kids. My mom also got Brock an easter basket with the cutest little Easter outfit - I LOVE little boy summer clothes. Here is Brock with his cousins. We are so sad Emma will be leaving us in a month. James and Vivian are going to Brazil for 2 months and then flying straight to Washington DC for dental school. Brock will miss his friend.

Park Days

This will be my last post about the trip.

Here are some cute pictures of Brock's first trips to the park for this summer. He mostly just likes to stand on the equipment and hit the bars and plastic to hear the different noises. For those of you who have watched Brock play, it is pretty interesting (if I do say so myself). He is very curious about how things work, he examines all of his toys, to find out how they make that noise, or why the lights are blinking; he likes to watch wheels turn on his cars or watch the hinges on cabinets. You can tell he is thinking deeply about them. His eyebrows scrunch into his nose and he pucks his lips like a ducks beak. He never throws his toys or bangs things unintentionally, he plays with one toy at a time and does it very purposefully and then moves onto the next one. He is definitely a thinker. He gets these characteristics from his dad.

Now that I have bragged about my child, and you are all thinking I'm just the mom, of coarse I think my child is a genius, just look at some cute pictures, and you don't have to believe me about the genius thing.

Swimming Time

Another addition to the St. George trip...

We went swimming every day. The first day Brock just held on to me and acted scared, by the last day he was kicking his legs and wanted to "swim by himself", this pool had a really shallow end where he could crawl around, he loved that, but he kept trying to crawl into the deep end. The water kept getting higher and higher, but he didn't care, he just dept going until it covered his whole face and mom needed to rescue him, but then he always looked mad at me, like I was ruining his fun. Mom's are so mean!

St George

So I have been back from Saint George for over a week and have not "blogged" about it. I intended to do it the very day we got back - but between math and work and Brock, I haven't seemed to get around to it. Plus I have been overwhelmed by all the fun things and cute pictures. So I am going to just do one post at a time - rather than do the whole trip in one sitting.

We had SO MUCH FUN! But it was CRAZY! We had 5 kids under the age of 2. We did 2 activities a day - which does not sound like much, but if there was an hour where all 5 were fed, awake, happy, and in a clean diaper - I felt like we had succeeded! I have to give a shout out to Karli for all of the hard work she did. She really kept the whole group running, she could have handled all 5 by herself I am sure.

One day we went to Snow Canyon and played in the sand dunes. It took Brock a while to warm up to the sand idea, but soon he was climbing all over - and much to my surprise he did not try to eat it!

"Dan Cook would do it!"

So a little background. Dan and Jamie Cook are a SUPER CUTE couple that used to be in our BYU ward until they moved to California. A few weeks ago on her blog she told a story about how she lost her keys and her husband, Dan, searched through their dumpster to find her keys. To read the whole story here is the link. (I could not figure out how to just type the word "here" and have it link - sorry)

http://thecookfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/case-of-missing-keys.html

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Our story:

So my mom gave me a gift card to Cafe Rio, which is basically gold in my world. The next day I realized I never put it in my wallet, I glanced around the apartment for the card it was in, I figured I had left it in the card. I asked Jason where the card was, he said he threw it away, I told him the gift card was still in it. We check the garbage, but it had already been taken out to the dumpster.

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I asked him to go out and search the dumpster, he said, "No way!" I immediately blurted out "Dan Cook would do it!" He looked at me like I was insane and we both started laughing hysterically. He hadn't read the blog - so he thought it came out of no where and was like "What did you say? Is that supposed to make me go out to the dumpster?" I told him about the blog. I don't know if he didn't want to be shown up by Dan or if he was just being nice - but at 10:45 at night, while it was snowing, he went out to the dumpster and searched for the card. He came back without the card. He said it was probably just in my wallet, I went to grab my wallet to show him it was not in there. When I grabbed my wallet I saw it sitting at the bottom of my purse. OOPS :(

Brighton Bengals

It was senior night for the Brighton Boys Varsity Basketball game on Tuesday night (they beat Skyline - yea). They had all the parents and seniors on the court and read some info about them. My dad was out of town - so it was just my mom. Below are some pictures of the night.

We watched 2 games (JV for Daniel and Varsity for Michael), Brock liked the JV game, but the varsity game was close, so I was yelling a lot and Brock DID NOT LIKE THAT, every time I would yell "rebound" or "Defense" Brock would cry like he was being killed. I tried not to yell - but years of basketball enthusiasm took over. And if any of you have watched basketball with my mom you know where I got it from. At least it is good to know Brock never hears me yell, so he was obviously confused and scared when I did yell. I need to take this child to more sporting events.

Since they won the Region they got to cut down the net. Michael was the "last cut", isn't he so cute!

Brock and Daniel

Brock and Michael

The Boys (2 basketball stars - and maybe a future star??)

Delay in Bloggage

So I am finally updating. I have been lagging, not because I am busy - I kind of am - I HAVE to finish my independent study math class by April 4 and all my "nap" time is used either doing that or working. But mostly because life is SO BORING and I have nothing to say. I am so sick of winter and cold I could scream. I am already planning mine and Brock's summer - it is going to be so fun - I have BIG PLANS! We are going to the beach, and the mountains, and on walks, and mommy and me classes, and the park, and basically anything we can do outside. The problem is I don't know if we will be living in A)Provo B)Salt Lake or C)Syracuse, New York, so all the plans are tentative - but still - just the dreams get me through the day. If anyone has any advice on how to get through these last few cold months let me know.

**Karli and I are going to St. George for a week for this very reason, just us and the kids - and I am so excited!!!

My thoughts on the race

(My spell check is not working - so forgive my blatant errors)
Given that tomorrow is Super Tuesday, I thought I would give my input. Jason and I are pretty into politics. We follow the candidates and research the issues.

For strictly political reasons I like Mit Romney, unfortunetly I DO NOT like the fact that he is Mormon. I was not going to vote for him because although I think he would make a great president, I don't think that we, as a church, are mature enough to handle it. However, I really do not like McCain, he is just too much like George Bush, and although I liked Bush and voted for him in the past, I think the nation really needs a change of pace, and I do not think McCain would provide that in the area's needed. Given all this information I am pretty sure McCain is going to win, Huckabee is splitting the conservative vote in the "winner take all" states, and Romney just doesn't have enough percentage in the "grade on a curve" states. If Huckabee would drop, Romney could take it, however I think Huckabee is staying in JUST SO Romney will lose and McCain will pick him as a running mate.

Other than the fact that I think he would be a good president I am a little sad about Romney not winning because I am curious to see how the church would handle him as a president. Would he have home teachers? Would he be a home teacher? Hold a calling? Could he go to the temple? Would he go to the temple? If he wanted too, he obviously could not take body guards or do a security sweep - I just think the answers to these questions would be interesting. I wonder who ever the bishop is for the ward the white house is located in, is asking himself these very questions.

So if McCain really takes it (and I think he will), I hope Obama wins over Clinton (and I think he will), because I would vote for Obama over McCain. I think Obama is just something new and exciting, and it is "worth a shot", his lack of experience is a little unsettling, but I like the idea of bringing in an outsider. So my predictions for tomorrow is McCain and Obama. However I would like it to be Romney and Clinton, because I don't know if Romeny could beat Obama. So I am praying for an upset on both sides.

Bathtime Baby

He loves to stand up in the tub! He often slips and falls and goes under the water. He does not love that so much.

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**update -I posted this yesterday (Tuesday). When he takes a bath I have always been right there holding on to him to make sure he does not fall (like in the picture). He has never really "played" or enjoyed the tub, he just sat there, and tried to stand up. But today I needed to get ready and give him a bath at the same time. So I set him in the tub and got ready (Don't worry I was in the bathroom watching him), but he had SO MUCH FUN without mom right there. He would go on his stomach and crawl to toys and roll around in the water. It was so funny to see. He NEVER played when I was there. It feels good to be able to "let go" and know that he is happy and wants to be independent.

Our Prophet

As I am sure many of you know, President Hinckley died yesterday. I just wanted to take this opportunity to share my feelings along with my testimony. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to live and serve under his direction. He truly was a prophet of God. I loved him dearly and learned many things through his teachings. I gained my testimony through reading his talks and hearing his messages. I am also grateful for the women in his life. I have learned of his mother, Ada. She was wonderful and truly a woman of God fit to raise a prophet, and of coarse, Marjorie. She was so inspiring. I have tried to emulate her in my approach and attitude towards life. I am grateful they are together again.

I am grateful for President Monson, and my prayers are with him, along with the other members of the 12. I am most of all grateful, that President Hinckley (a most beloved prophet and influential figure) can die, and it is ok. Our church is ok, the members are ok, and the work will go on. A new prophet will be appointed and we will sustain, follow, and love him. How grateful I am for the organization of this church and for modern revelation.

Brock's rocking horse

So I know that there are a lot of pictures of the same thing, but Brock loves his horse, and particularly loved it on this day. When he wants to ride his horse he goes through 2 phases. Phase 1: stand next to the horse, he will pet him, eat his ears, and rock him back and forth. Phase 2: ride the horse (This is pretty self explanatory)

Why do I encourage things I hate?

For any of you who really know my husband, you know that he wears gray sweat pants and a white tee-shirt EVERY SINGLE DAY. For those of you who don't really know him and think I am exaggerating... I am not. He wears them everyday and only changes for church, the temple, going out to dinner if he is going to a semi-nice restaurant (fast food gets sweats), or a social/family function (even sometimes those gets sweats). I am not such a fan, I like a little more variety than that. But when I saw these little gray sweat pants I had to buy them. I think it is SO CUTE when they wear them together. So why do I encourage it when I hate it... I don't know... Jason says it's is because subconsciously I really don't hate it. I am pretty sure I do.

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(I had Jason read this before I posted it to make sure I did not offend him, and he would like me to say that he wears them because they are comfortable)

New Years Reslolution

I know this is a cop out - but I haven't given much thought to New Year's Resolutions. So, I will just fall back on "my song" that I always think of when I am trying to make goals. All of them are things I need more of, and I will probably be needing them until the day I die. However I will bold the ones I am going to focus on.
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More holiness give me

More strivings within

More patience in suffering

More sorrow for sin

More faith in my Savior

More senses of His care

More joy in His service

More purpose in prayer

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More gratitude give me

More trust in the Lord

More pride in His glory

More hope in His word

More tears for His sorrows

More pain at His grief

More meekness in trial

More praise for relief

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More purity give me

More strength to over come

More freedom from Earth stains

More longing for home

More fit for the kingdom

More used would I be

More blessed and holy

More Savior like Thee

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(OK, so I probably should have just bolded the whole thing :)

More Holiness Give Me - Hymn 131

Some Christmas Pictures

I got some WAY CUTE pictures of Brock this Christmas Season. The professional ones are from a photo shoot with his cousins by Jess. The others are just some ones I took. Enjoy