Baby boy #2

We will be welcoming baby boy #2 beginning of March. We are so excited! Our house will be a bit crazy but lots of fun. Hopefully my boys will be best of friends.

Oregon Coast/School break

For Brady's summer vacation we headed up to Utah to visit Brady's Grandparents since we didn't make it up there for the reunion. We started in Bountiful and had fun hanging out with Bachan and Jichan. We played pacman and went to the rec center pool and had a great time. We then went to Coalville to visit Grandma Brooks. We didn't get a picture with O and Grandma Brooks which is a bummer. I can't believe I forgot. It was a quick but fun little trip.

About a week later Brady and I went on a kid free vacation to the Oregon Coast. Yes I went on my dream vacation! It was perfect; we just wanted a relaxing vacation that was more rejuvenating than exhausting. Most of our trips are so full of activities that we are more tired after them, but not this one. We walked along beaches and through small coastal towns and visited the Gooneys rocks where Brady chased some crabs in the FREEZING water. We started out in Seaside which was nice but geared more toward families with older kids like 8-14yrs. Brady loved playing Fascination which I had never heard of before, but it was pretty fun. We then headed down to Depoe Bay which was gorgeous! Our hotel was right on the water on a cliff of sorts and we saw whales from our balcony. It was just what we needed after such a crazy year of school! Oh and I painted my first painting while in Depoe Bay. A local artist did a class at our hotel and I went. It was so fun and when my kids get a bit older and I have more free time I think it will be my hobby. I loved it!

The pictures are out of order a bit but Blogger is being dumb and keeps deleting them if I try to move them :)

Relocation

The first of July we made the first of many moves in our married life. We short sold our condo and are now renting a nice 1 story single family house. We love it! O enjoys all the space and we even have a backyard with rocks and dirt for him to play with. He is in Heaven. Here are some things we have been up to in the new house. We mostly make messes :) The bottom picture is of O with his Uncle Zac (my youngest bro) who entered the US Army shortly after we moved.

1st Lake Trip/Father's Day 2011

For Father's Day weekend we went out to Overton and went to Lake Mead and hung out with Gramma Great. This was O's first trip to the lake and I was nervous. I get anxious about lake trips without my baby there so I was extra anxious, but there was no need and once there I wasn't nervous at all. O did fantastic! He loved the water and the boat; he didn't like his life jacket, but he got used to it and didn't bother with it after the first few minutes. Now there is no proof outside the witnesses who where there, but I had my absolute best wake boarding runs of my life this trip. I really enjoyed being on the board instead of scared I might die. :) I will say that 3 years between wake boarding tries is far too long and I sure felt it the next few days. I still feel the effects. Well worth it though; it was so fun and to watch O enjoy everything so much. Every time the boat stopped he wanted in the water. We definitely have a water baby on our hands.

Driving the boat with buddy Jett

In the water with Daddy

and

The trip ran into naptime so every time the boat would start moving he would fall asleep. It cracked me up :)

Father's Day was pretty laid back. My sweat Grandma did the cooking and we were able to just enjoy eachother's company and relax. It was a great weekend!

Monday we had a Father's Day/birthday for my dad and had my sister's yummy chicken tacos. We had fun being with more family. The real excitement came on the drive home when I was rear-ended on I-15, one of the scariest moments of my life! I have only been in one accident before and I was not driving and we were stopped at a red light. This one was on a busy freeway and I had anticipation as I heard and saw that car coming. Basically cars were stopping in my lane due to a truck whose tire was flat in the middle of the freeway so I stopped and the car behind me was not able to stop fast enough. I don't know how fast he was going when he hit me, but I heard the tires screech for 3-5seconds before the collision so maybe 40mph or something in that range so not too bad but definitely more than a bump. I was soo shakey and I'm pretty sure I was in shock. I didn't get home until 11:30, but couldn't go to sleep until about 2. It was nuts! The worst part I think was waiting for the firemen to come stop traffic so I could get over to the shoulder. I was so afraid another car wouldn't notice we were stopped and plow into the line up. My car stopped too close to the flat tire car so I couldn't move without backing up and traffic just continued to zoom by on both sides, longest 5-8min of my life, well maybe not my life, but it was a long few minutes. The damage doesn't look too bad but we haven't had it looked at yet and I am feeling pretty well. I'm a bit nervous to drive on freeways and today I kept forgetting words; my bro-in-law said I could possibly have a very mild concussion and he gave me a few exercises for whiplash so hopefully I wont be too sore. It's funny I can't really tell if my soreness today is lingering from wake boarding or the accident. I'm going to tell myself it's from wake boarding. That is better for my psyche because I had fun doing that so the soreness would be worth it. :) Life is certainly eventful!

Memorial Day 2011

Our little Super Saiyan...Kamehameha!

This year for Memorial Day we went with the Okudas to Mt. Charleston and did the Little Falls hike at Cathedral Rock. We were a bit worried it would be too cold, but it was perfect! There was some snow though, but as long as the sun was out it wasn't cold at all. I even took off my jacket after about 5min of the hike. O loved being outside and playing in the dirt. He would pick up a small stick and walk over to a tree and whack the low branches; in almost every picture we took he had a stick in his hand. He also liked to play in the stream. He actually walked up most of the mountain, and was carried down, but for a 1yr old he did awesome! It's fun how much he LOVES to be outside doing just about anything. He is such a fun and spunky kid. After the hike we had a picnic and the kiddos played in the woods. I love having a mountain so close that offers such a contrast to the Vegas heat and desertness. We had such a fun day!

O loves his water!

At the top by the waterfall and snow.

With his stick :)

Playing in the snow with Grandpa, so fun!

Over due

We have been due for some fun so the Saturday after Brady took Boards we had our first swim of the year and Brady was actually there and participating! The past few months have been awful to say the least, and it is beyond nice to have them over. My grandma was babysitting for my aunt and uncle so we went and visited which included swimming. The water was pretty cold but O LOVED it. He is crazy when it comes to water. He doesn't care if it's freezing or if he is freezing, turning blue, and shivering; he never wants to get out. He had a blast and it was nice to enjoy some relaxing family time without worrying about tests/school for a few hours at least.

He looks soooooo grown up

O had great fun on the slide. I think it's funny Brady looks more nervous than O :)

This was one of the first things O did when we went into the back yard so I shouldn't have been surprised by what happened a little later...

Yes Brady jumped off that waterfall holding my son! I freaked but O liked it and there was no crying so I decided to chill out. I think this kid will give me a heart attack before I'm 40, such a dare devil!

There was too much going on today so O decided to not take a nap at all this day. He was surprisingly happy the whole time, but less than 5min after we headed home he was out like a light. Fun day!

Love this Boy!

Above are his 1 yr pictures. He doesn't cooperate well so there aren't many, but I love these three. He is my joy!

I meant to post the below pictures a while ago. He doesn't do this anymore but for about a month or 2 this was his favorite place to play. It started as just opening the cupboard and pulling everything out, but soon turned into climbing in. I love him :)

O turns 1

Our O turned 1 on 2/19/11. We had a pretty laid back day since the weather was poor and Brady had tests to study for, but I did venture to make a cake and not from a box(one of my few domestic urges). It was a banana cake with cream cheese frosting topped with pears and Brady and my mom liked it but that was about it. No one else tried it. It was funny to watch O.He liked the pears ok (which is why I put them on, he LOVES pears)Not the cake! His faces crack me up!

"Mom, please, enough pictures already!"
He did love to squish it at least :)

And he was ok with Ice Cream as well. There is no faking him out; he wants the real sugar.

He did pretty well opening his presents; he liked ripping the paper.

And yes we wrapped our presents to him in Christmas wrapping paper. From what I hear it's sort of an Okuda tradition. At least it is in our family; everything we wrap is in Christmas paper. It did the job though and O enjoys his new toys.

I cannot believe a year has passed since this little one entered our world. We are so blessed to have him.

Some 1yr facts: You stand and take independent steps, but are not "walking" yet. You jabber and talk like a wild man; you are pretty loud and definitely wont have trouble expressing yourself when you are older. You LOVE airplanes and point them out in the sky anytime you are outside. You are a pretty good eater though still little 29in and about 20lbs. You love watching basketball. You really are so fun and love to be outside and play games. You love Itsy Bitsy Spider when I sing it very fast while moving your arms. You're starting to climb or try to climb on everything. You blow kisses, and love to show off while playing on Grandpa Turner's pool table. You love your books especially the ones that make noise or the touch/feel books. I'm sure there is more, but most importantly you are so loved by your parents and extended family. So excited to see what the coming years bring.