San Francisco!

We were FINALLY able to get out and explore San Francisco. We live about an hour outside of the city (without traffic) and we absolutely loved everything about it. We loved being able to just hop in the car and go and it's a completely different world over there... Different weather... Different people... Everything! We parked our car and walked over to pier 39/fishermans wharf. We walked around and saw the seals, Alcatraz, and lexie was in heaven! We grabbed some lunch at Boudin (which we weren't really impressed). We loved just walking around and lexie loved looking out at the water and people watching. We of course had to get dessert at Ghiradellis and it was soooo good. 

Then we wanted to go check out the Golden Gate Bridge and this is where the longgg adventure began... We didn't realize how far away it was and before we realized we probably should have taken a bus we were too far down where the busses didn't come so we literally walked for an hour! Haha good thing it was great weather and a pretty view. And the good thing was lexie actually took a nap while we we were walking so it ended up working out! But the bridge is absolutely breath taking and it was weird to actually be standing in front of it when all I have seen is pictures of it. 

It was a fun little day trip and now we can't wait to go book! I can't wait for visitors to come see us so we can take them! (Hint hint). 

Mom

This mother's day hit me pretty hard that I am actually a mom.... I know that sounds dumb. But I have a child who calls me mom and relies on me to care for her! I often think about how I have literally seen Lexie every day for her whole life... not a single day has gone by where I haven't seen her and gotten her dressed and fed her breakfast and taken care of her. I think about my relationship with my mom and how she has raised me to be who I am today and I can call her my best friend and I get so excited for the relationship I have developed so far with Lexie. Anyway enough with that little rant...
Yesterday was such a great day and I loved feeling extra special from my little family. Jake got me some shopping gift cards and we also got memberships to this club/gym this past weekend that we are really excited about! Some of Jake's friends who works with him came over and I made a yummy Sunday dinner and it was fun having people over to our new little apartment. Lexie made me a cute little craft from nursery and she was so excited to give it to me..even though she probably had no clue what it even was for.
I absolutely LOVE being a mom and there is nothing in the world I would rather be doing.... as hard as some days are and as frustrated as a little 1 year old can make me she also has the capability to melt my heart in a matter of seconds and that makes it all worth it. 

18 Months

Lexie is officially 18 months... blows my mind at how big she is and how SMART she is. She learns something new every day and I absolutely love watching her take everything in. She definitely has a sassy personality but so sweet and loves little kids and just being busy and active. A couple of fun facts about her:

- LOVES the bubble guppies and frozen. When we were driving to California we only had the movie Frozen... and watched it the entire 11 hour drive.....but it definitely made the drive bearable with a little one.
- is talking up a storm, repeats everything we say and has a huge vocabulary.
- The pickiest eater you will ever meet. Literally eats the same 4 things every day
- Loves being outside, going down the biggest slides at the park, and going on bike rides
- Super independent.. if she were to ever get out of the house she wouldn't even hesitate to just go for it! She wouldn't even look back. Had no problems going into nursery (started her 6 weeks early) and will go to anyone.
- Obsessed with dogs when she sees them.. but the moment they get near her or give her any attention she freaks out.
- Loves her DADA! Right when she hears the garage she goes to the top of the stairs and waits for him.
- I teach preschool every morning and Lexie has to do everything that they are doing.. and I love it because she learns so much from them! She has to glue, color, and paint when they do. Sings all the songs, sits down for story time and snack time. She also learned how to sing "Let it go" and act like a dog because of them.(This of course was before we moved).
- Is still the biggest binky and blanket lover. Can't leave the house without them and I'm starting to dislike the binky... its about time to get rid of it! Although I do love how easy it is to lay her down to sleep.

I could go on and on about her... I am obsessed. But we love seeing her grow and change and her BIG personality is definitely shining.

Wedding!!

I am number 4 out of 5 girls in my family and my little sister Jessica got married the same weekend we were moving! Jake had been gone for 6 weeks and flew in on Thursday night.. we packed the truck on Friday.. Wedding was on Saturday.. and we left for California on Sunday! It was pretty crazy... and I held it together pretty good as long as nobody talked about it but on Saturday anytime I looked at my mom a certain way or if someone mentioned us moving the waterworks started haha I know... I'm a baby. But the wedding was PERFECT and my little sister was seriously so gorgeous.

Earlier that week we threw a little bachelorette party and it was so fun! We went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then opened some gifts and had some treats back at my sisters then we went cosmic bowling (mormon standard party). She got some fun gifts and it was a great way to send her off!

The day of her wedding was supposed to be raining and cold and windy... luckily the weather took a turn for the better and it was perfect weather.. minus the wind. It was pretty strong and her reception was outside so we had to hold off in setting some things up until last minute but luckily the evening was perfect and the reception was amazing.

 All of my sisters, my mom and my grandma went to get our nails done a couple of days before!

Mr. and Mrs. Kastanis!!

Had to say goodbye to one of my very best friends at the reception... let the crying begin.

Lexie was Jake's sidekick ever since he came back into town.. she definitely missed him!!

 All of my family!

 All the girls

 This picture is kinda sad/kinda cute. Lexie unfortunately came down with a pretty high fever and was miserable at the reception. But she definitely found some time to at least dance a little bit :)

I got to be one of her bridesmaids.. I seriously can't get over her dress and how pretty she looked!

Changes

Well its now the middle of may and I have neglected this blog for quite sometime! But I decided to get back into it especially now that I live in a completely different state than our families and Lexie is learning something new every day! I also get pretty bored these days.... so I need something to do. Jan-April was kind of a whirlwind of events that led us to movie to California. We are living in a town called Tracy (50 miles outside of San Francisco). Jake got a new job working for Vivint selling Solar Power. He is doing AWESOME! He is the top rep in his office and is the hardest worker and most positive person that I know which definitely leads to his success. It was a tough move for me especially since I was born and raised in Arizona and all of my family and friends are there. But at the same time I'm excited to start a new adventure and now people just need to come visit me!!

Life was pretty crazy up until we moved so here are some of the fun things we did before we left!

Lexie started nursery! We actually started her like 5 weeks early... we have a pretty small nursery and she absolutely loves going and never even looked back to see if I left.

A funny little story that I already shared on instagram: After every bath her favorite thing to do was sit on the toilet and pretend that she was going. Well one time I said 'go poo poo!' and she started pushing and she actually went!! Her reaction was so funny because she was so confused with what happened. But it was a one time deal... I am not ready to do the whole potty training thing!

 

Jake was gone for 6 weeks to come and start work and find us a place to live in California. We were pretty lonely but I didn't go because my youngest sister was getting married at the end of April so I didn't want to keep coming back and forth and miss any wedding festivities. Lexie definitely missed her dada and now even to this day anytime my phone rings she thinks its him because we used face time ALL the time! So because he was gone we had to do Easter separate but my family had a fun BBQ/egg hunt on Saturday then a nice dinner on Sunday. Lexie loved all her eggs and loved the candy even more. She is still pretty young and I hate the thought of spending tons of money on an Easter basket....so I literally got her a little toy from the dollar store and filled her Easter basket with all the eggs she got from the day before.... and was just as excited!

Easter Sunday

Rexburg Winter Getaway

We flew to Rexburg the day after Christmas and loved every minute of it! All of Jake's family was there so it was definitely a house full (LOTS of kids) but so fun to all be together again. Lexie was in heaven being with so many kids all the time. We stayed for 10 days (well 11 since they cancelled our flight so that gave us an extra day) and everyone else was just there for the weekend of Christmas. We tried to fit in as many fun things as we could do into the days we were there.

The first real day we were there we all went sledding! We found the perfect hill and it was a bright sunny day (don't let the sun fool you.. it was still freezing)

 

Lexie was pretty confused at what all the white stuff was but that didn't stop her from touching it! We actually kept her inside most of the week because she had just gotten over a bad cold and I would hate for her to get it again while on vacation. 

We were there for New Years Eve and we got together with a bunch of friends and brought in the new year! Lexie didn't make it to midnight this year.

 One of the days we were there we went to a place called I Jump with some of our best friends Caleb and Kelsi. It was so fun! Jake and Caleb were playing dodge ball almost the whole time against some 8 year olds...it was pretty entertaining.

 One night we went snowmobiling with our friends Ace and Vanessa in the dark! I was scared the whole time.. you literally couldn't see anything and we had one little head light! But it was actually super fun and Jake was a good driver (besides the two times we fell off).

The whole Fullmer Family! (minus 5 or so people). It was such a fun week and we always love going back. So much that it makes me want to live there sometimes... but then I go outside in the snow and that idea goes away quickly :)

Christmas

The older Lexie gets the more fun every holiday becomes! This Christmas was so fun! She still didn't quite understand what was going on, but she loved all the family time and new toys so she was a happy (and pretty spoiled) girl. We spent Christmas here in Arizona and my family's normal traditional events. We had our Christmas Eve Fiesta complete with Mexican Food, a pinata, reenactment of the nativity, and Mrs. Clause Pajamas and a dance party.

We spent Christmas morning at our own house and I loved it just being our little family! Lexie was up pretty early.. She must have known it was Christmas ;)We got her a little tikes car and she is still obsessed with it to this day. She got some fun things from her grandmas and grandpas and a couple of other little things. Jake definitely spoiled me this year (he is the best gift giver) and he pretty much returned everything I got him! haha men are SO hard to shop for!! (especially picky men)

We made a yummy breakfast then headed over to my parents house and had a relaxing day of just hanging out and playing some fun card games. Loved our warm Arizona Christmas :)