The Family

In our faith, we hold the family in high regard, with great reverence, where father and mother have sacred responsibilities to God and His children. It stands as the one firm institution where God has commanded His children to be raised in. 
I believe with all of my heart that a faithful and righteous man and woman, within the bonds of matrimony, enter the companionship that can offer the most love and happiness for raising God's children. In this way, this institution is ordained of God, and when participated in, can yield incredible empowerment, love, and miracles. I have felt this empowerment and love and have experienced miracles as my husband and I have been married in the temple and strive to live righteously and to raise Jude in the gospel. 
I'm sure many of you have already read this document: The Family: A Proclamation to the World--but even if you already have, I encourage you to read it again and again. And if you haven't before, this was written by our church leaders and read for the first time in 1995 during a meeting with the largest women's organization in the world: The Relief Society. I remember when I read it for the first time thinking, "Well, this is nothing new." But after reading it again, I can see how inspired these great men are, as the family has very quickly become under attack more than ever. 
The Family: A Proclamation to the World
I love marriage and the family. My life is so rich and so blessed! 

Pants Shmants

I wore these harem-inspired trousers the other day and Adam told me they made me look like a dancer. Not sure if that's a bad thing or not. Unless he's making a Michael Jackson comparison--in which case I'd revoke his bed and boob privileges.

I guess the monochromatic theme isn't helping my case.
p.s. Like how I model for Adam? I pretend he's holding a chocolate cupcake.    
Hey there, sexy man. Why don't I help you with that wrapper...

It's about time…

Hello to the readers of A Private Tour. For months now my wife Britney Stevens has been writing to enlighten and influence your lives. Also, for the last few months she has been asking me to write a post in her blog. The Husband. I've been putting it off for some time now but I finally am buckling down and writing a post. About what you say? I still have no idea. I don't consider myself a skilled writer; that is why I avoided writing this post. I thought it would be nice though for me to tell you some things I enjoy about my family.

I love when I come home from work and find Britney baking some extremely delicious treat because she's bored and Jude laughing to himself as he plays on the floor.

I love having movie nights with my wife after Jude falls asleep.

I love how much my wife cares what I eat so I will stay healthy.

I love when Jude blows bubbles with his mouth.

I love Jude's fatness.

I love when Britney get nervous to call someone on the phone because she just feels awkward on the phone for no reason.

So those are a few of the many things that I love in my everyday life. Hope you enjoyed. I am also including in this post a new illustration I've done called, "The Fox jumps…" Enjoy.

Click THIS for a larger version.

A Joke

A man walks up to a horse.

Man: Why the long face?

Horse: My son has cancer. 

I died laughing.

Feel free to die as well. 

I also made Nutella brownies today...which are currently staring at me from the kitchen counter.

I don't want to be rude. So bye. 

Also, husband and I have a date tonight. 

(Tub+Movie+Brownies) = the secret to a successful marriage.

If everyone would get it together and actually spend some married time together, 

preferably sans cotton, there'd be way less divorce. 

Carry on.  

Our Little 4 Month Old

Jude turned 4 months yesterday. I CANNOT believe Jude is already 4 months old! Doesn't it seem like last week that we were posting about him being 3 months? Crazy stuff. Since our camera is still out of commission, which breaks my heart literally everyday, I snapped a few photos of the little dude on photo booth during tummy time. It's so funny how he maneuvers his way around his play mat. As shown, Jude likes to scoot himself around and often gets an arm caught in the bars. Poor kid. That's when he screams for mommy. 

Hey Jude

Hey Jude,


You're getting bigger, little one--you're going to be 4 months old tomorrow. I can't even believe it. Your little personality is so big now. Last night on our way back from a hot, marathon day of going to the farmer's market, swimming at the lake, and berry picking, mommy sat in the backseat with you to keep you company. Daddy played a song that mommy started singing to and you thought it was hilarious. I would sing, watch you laugh, then look away and pretend to have forgotten about the song, and then surprise you by singing it again. For the first time in your little life you showed mommy how adorably you giggle. She loved it! 
Know what else happened? 
After church today I changed your diaper and as soon as I wiped your little bum you couldn't stop giggling! Is that little, lumpy tush tigglish?? Oh, I hope so. 
I'm planning on finding new, innovative ways to keep you giggling. 
Know what else you do?
-You watch everything mommy does now. This afternoon, we made blueberry muffins together from the berries we picked yesterday and you seemed to follow along every step of the way. You were so curious about what we were making and I was so tempted to let you taste the final result. They're so yummy! 
-You also love music. Every time mommy or daddy sings to you you light up and smile. Sometimes you even sing along with us. While making our muffins this afternoon we listened to this song and you stayed quiet so you could listen to its sweet melody. You make us so happy.      
-Every morning when we wake up I'm excited for what new tricks you're going to learn and show me. You're so proud to show me new things too and often shout at me to come into the room to see what you're doing. 
-You're excited to see the world around you. You especially love trees and water, as long as it's warm. The other day when we sat in the pool together you fell asleep because you found the movement of the water so soothing. 
-At the beginning of last week you discovered your legs and feet. Now when you sit up you grab onto those chubby feet and hold yourself there. Daddy's favorite thing is when you lie on the floor, look up at your hands, clasp them together, and immediately shove them into your little mouth as far as you can. Mommy loves how she can give you something to play with and you'll sit happily on her lap as you discover it. It's so funny how you keep yourself entertained. 


Jude, you have big, bright blue eyes that light up with curiosity, excitement, and happiness. You're infectious to everyone around you. I love it when you're so excited that you can't even keep your eyes open or utter a sound, where the only thing you can muster is a delayed, high-pitched squeal. That's when I know that you're happy and joyful to be alive. You teach me how to be a better disciple of Christ every day and I will love you forever. 


Please don't turn around and grow up way too fast.  


Love always,
Mommy

Gatsby

Ok just kidding--I'm leaving you for the weekend with this poster from Postertext. The entire image of the poster is made of the complete text of The Great Gatsby. For some reason when I saw this it made me want to cry. Reminds me of the time when I was afraid that my millions of dollars would get in the way of my relationship with Adam. Remember that? My husband finds the coolest things. Smooches, love, smooches. 

Fuhgeddaboudit

I'll leave you this weekend with some of the rest of the pics from my PA trip. It's a beautiful day, finally, and I want to go enjoy it! And if you live in the US right now, chances are your polyester shorts are sticking to your sweaty, unshaven thighs. Solution?--get away from the hot computer and jump into a cold pool with the rest of America--making it an awkwardly tepid pool. After, of course, looking at all my old photos. 

siblings.

chicken and spinach cheesesteak. 

the women.

cheesesteak fries.

brother and son with brother's hat on a 101 degree walk.

parents' property.

deliriously hot child sleeping. 

parents' pear tree orchards.

Yum Yum's donuts. Say hello to fluffer-nutter in the top left and red velvet on the bottom left.

the look you get when listening to Beastie Boy on the way to workout.

My Kid's Got It All

The following is an unfortunate shot of my little darling mid-laugh. Feel free to make comparisons--you may not say he looks like Gilbert Grape's mom. 

Cutest kid in the world? Don't you forget it. 

Patient Education Day

I've decided that once a week is going to be Patient Education Day here on A Private Tour. As a nurse that is not currently practicing..ahem..the child...I need to stay well-versed in what I've learned so that by the time I do start working I don't sound like a total idiot when I tell my patient to put down his jelly donut. 
So, today I'm going to teach you about the importance of exercise. 
We've all heard about exercise--"It's good for your heart," "It prevents heart disease," "It's good for our body," etc. etc. But no one tells you how exactly how working up stinky, uncomfortable sweat does this. 
I'm going to teach you one of the many, many benefits of exercising for 30-60 mins. a day, 3 times a week--specifically how it prevents fatality in heart attack and stroke. 
Now, we all know what the heart does: It pumps oxygen-rich blood through your arteries to drop of oxygen to the body and oxygen-poor blood through the veins to pick of carbon dioxide, which goes back to the lungs and heart. We all have this need, whether we run 5 miles a day, or get winded sucking on a jawbreaker. But when we exercise, our need for better drop-off of oxygen and pick up of carbon dioxide increases, shown by your pounding heart rate and fast breathing. But, instead of your body solely relying on an increased heart rate and more breathing, it adapts: It makes more blood vessels that connect to those veins and arteries to help them do their job. Marvelous. I'm sure you've experienced this when you noticed that after a week or two of running you're not quite as pathetic as you were the first day you started. 
Exhibit A: Here lies the circulation of Couch Potato and Chuck Norris
For the sake of being simple, both of them have one artery and one vein. Now, Couch Potato's activity each day includes getting up from the couch to grab a Dr. Pepper and cold hot dog and back. Therefore, this person's body only requires one vein and one artery to facilitate his/her "activity" each day. 
Chuck Norris, however, has branches of blood vessels running off of his artery and vein. And although the diagram doesn't show it, these branches are intertwined networks of blood vessels that go throughout his entire body. This is because Chuck Norris requires lots and lots of collateral blood vessels to aid those bulging peck muscles and quick, ninja-like legs to beat up bad guys. His body burns off more oxygen and builds up more carbon dioxide and, therefore, needs a more efficient blood supply.

Exhibit B: The heart attack or stroke
A heart attack happens when your heart does no receive enough oxygen. A stroke happens when your brain does not get enough oxygen. Usually heart attacks happen due to a block in the coronary arteries or vessels near the heart, and a stroke happens by a clot in a blood vessel that reaches the brain. But, again, for the sake of being simple, we'll show the blockage in the right legs of Couch Potato and Chuck Norris. 
What happens when Couch Potato has a block? He doesn't stand a chance, does he? He only has one vein and one artery to go to his heart and brain, so any blockage would immediately lead to his tragically predictable death.
Chuck Norris, on the other hand, stands a change, doesn't he? Chuck's extra blood supply made is so his body didn't rely on that one artery or vein to bring oxygen to his heart or brain. He's got backups. These "backups" Chuck's body developed while adapting to those hardcore workouts will buy him some time to, in the case of a heart attack, take an Aspirin and get to the hospital--and in the case of a stroke, get some oxygen to his brain before he can take some blood thinners at the hospital. But then again, Chuck Norris will never have a heart attach because his heart is not foolish enough to attack him.

Make sense? Hope so. Thanks for reading, but for goodness sakes, get off your computer and do some stupid jumping jacks!

Hairs

It's time for new hair. I'm nearing the last few pounds of baby weight and I'm ready for a change.
So, here's the question of, what seems to be, my entire life:
Bangs?...

(sexy pic, right?)

or no bangs?

I trust your unbiased, educated, and sophisticated opinions. Why does it seem that I always leave the fate of my dry, thick locks in the hands of someone else?

Jude's Wall Art

I recently asked Adam to design some images to print out as wall art for Jude's room.
Here's what my sexy, talented, masculine, gorgeous, visionary, inspired, wonderful husband came up with--in like half an hour:

Basically, I'm going to print them out, put them in separate frames, and mount them side-by-side above Jude's crib. I'm so excited! Next up: One fish, two fish. 

Having a designer for a husband is SO convenient. I recommend it :)

Rose Gardens

Last Friday (look at how up-to-date I am on blogging), we went with our good friends Phil and Jessica to the Rose Gardens in Portland. It was so beautiful and we had a great time together before Jessica has her baby.
Aside from admiring the many different species of roses, one of the highlights of the evening was watching Jude slowly lose it. 
Though I'd share it with you in 6 steps--this is basically his routine every evening.

1. Happy; comb in hand.  

2. Happy, but getting more irritable. 

3. Angry

4. OUT

5. Really out

6. Maybe we should take this kid home...

Wrap It Up

Ok let's wrap this up…Jude's teething.
Natalie, Maggie, Brynne, Jude, and I went to the splash park in Rexburg. OH the splash park…lots of great memories of lying out, getting hit on, getting soccer balls kicked at me while lying out… 

He enjoyed it up until some older kids 

splashed water on him. I'd be mad too. 

I stopped by the nursing lab and saw these two beauties--Catherine and Jessica!

We stopped at Sammy's on the way out to get pumpkin pie and blackberry cheesecake milkshakes. Go ahead and drool on your keyboard.  

Aunt Brynne came too. She got the Reese's milkshake.
Yes, I tried some. Yes, they just throw crap-loads of Reese's in there. 

Jude tried this out at Matt and Kim's and he got to take it home.
Lucky nugget.
p.s. You'd think he was manning the Millenial Falcon in this thing. He takes it very seriously. 

When we got home, Jude swam for the first time.
Basically, we dipped his foot in and he screamed.
We've got a real fighter on our hands. 

Then again, if I was this tired, I would maul whoever tried to put me in a cold pool. 

4th of July

Obviously it's been a little while since the 4th, but I wanted to do this post justice. We had such a great 4th in Rexburg this year! We spent it with beloved friends and family and I will definitely look back to this day as one with great memories. 
We spent the day hanging out together, fighting for brats in the grocery store, getting Mexican food at the taco bus, bbq-ing by the duck pond, and watching fireworks at the park.  And, yes, we over-ate. But there's something oddly patriotic about that right? How much more American can eating a steak, chicken breast, brat, and hamburger be? 
Please excuse the massive picture overload. I just had such a hard time leaving some of these out!

Jude's 4th of July outfit! c/o Aunt Brynne 

He loves his Aunt Briana

mmmm tacos...

Our massive quesadilla...we downed it like champs.

At the duck pond!

The extent of my fireworks experience. Aside from feeling like Harry Potter
for a moment, these go down in history as the suckiest sparklers ever. 

Que heart melting

My life

Our dearest friends the Daniels...excuse the blanket dress.

Our other dear friends--Chavis and Kara!

Anyone want a root beer from the car seat?

Curious little nugget 

Friendship summed up right here

...and here

Aunt Brynne helping Jude-man throw bread to the ducks :)

Again, we had an amazing time. I miss Rexburg. 


Oh, FYI, Jude finds us trying to get him to say "Da-da" hilarious.