My Husband, The Triathlete

For about a month now Rich has been training for his first Triathlon. He would get up every morning and either bike, swim or run for an hour. He loves to exercise. He participated in his very first triathlon on Saturday and did AMAZING!

It was a 400 meter swim in the ocean, 10 mile bike and last a 1.7 mile run. He has always been a runner but the challenge for him was getting good at all 3. I knew he was going to do good but I think we were both surprised when he did great! He placed 4th in his group of 1st timers and 2nd in his age group!!

We had a couple of friends that also did the triathlon. This is a picture of Rich with our really good friend Laura. This was her second triathlon. I am getting really excited about joining the fun after I have Isabella.

Rich was so happy. I was so happy that he was so happy. He had such a great time and has been planning his next triathlon. He just can't stop talking about it! It is his new passion. I am so proud of him for being so disciplined in his training and for doing such a great job in his first of many triathlons.

It's a...

I know we were going to wait until the actual delivery but that obviously didn't work out. I had my ultrasound on Tuesday and the entire drive there was spent trying to convince Rich that we really do want to wait to find out the sex of the baby. He finally agreed and we both went in with a strong will. The first thing Rich told the technician was that we didn't want to find out the sex of the baby. So we got about 5 minutes into the ultrasound and I asked her (the technician) if she knew what the baby is. She said, "Yep!" And that is where it got really hard for Rich. As she was showing us the baby, a couple of times she referred to it as "he". This just started to eat at Rich and I have to admit, I felt like she had slipped and told us. She finished the ultrasound and stepped out for a minute. Rich really really wanted to know and so I finally gave in. Here is the video of us finding out what we are having.


As you can see we are ecstatic!! I felt like I was having a girl and I secretly really wanted another little girl so I was thrilled. Rich was really excited too. He is so excited to have another little Maya on the way. If we have things our way we will have a little buddy for Aidan in a few years. We will see what His plan is.
We have decided that we are going to name her Isabella and call her Bella. Can't wait to meet her!!

Blizzard Beach & 4th of July!!

We are officially moved into our new place which we LOVE! So after a few days of stressful packing and unpacking we decided we needed a little getaway. Rich's sister, Melanie and her family were on a family vacation in Orlando and were spending the day at Blizzard Beach at Disney World so we joined them! Blizzard Beach is the #2 water park in the U.S. We had such a great time.We didn't get many pictures but we did make a lot of memories hanging out with our family. We were so lucky to have a great friend watch our kids for the day so it was just the two of us...WOOHOO!! Thanks a million Lucy!

The next day was the 4th of July. Another great day with lots of fun times. We went over to our friends house for a shrimp and crab boil. I'm not a big seafood fan but this was delicious! We missed spending our usual 4th of July with Rich's family but this was definitely a good substitute. Great food with great friends!

Aidan couldn't get enough of the fireworks. He was completely fearless which kinda put a little added stress on me. He just followed the guys around with an unlit sparkler in his hand begging for someone to light it up for him. He was adorable.

When the fireworks display started both Aidan and Rich were mesmerized. Aidan stayed up way past his bedtime but enjoyed every minute of it!


Maya was asleep during the whole thing :( We missed her but know that she is going to have a blast next year. Happy 4th everyone!

3rd Bun In The Oven!!!

I realize I've told pretty much everybody but I haven't made the official blog announcement. I think it's obvious, right? I'm pregnant! We are expecting our 3rd baby around Thanksgiving! That is something I can be grateful for! We are sooooo excited to be having another baby and have our kids grow up so close in age. Watching Aidan and Maya play and seeing how much they love each other and miss each other when they are apart makes us so excited to have another little addition to our family. I am about 3 1/2 months along and will be having an ultrasound in 2 weeks. We have decided to wait to find out the sex of the baby...if we can hold out at the ultrasound. That's the plan as of right now so we shall see. I will keep you all updated. I have been pretty tired but I'm starting to get some energy back which makes me very happy. We are so happy to be making this announcement!

Missouri Vacation

We had such a great time visiting our family in Missouri. It has been such a blessing that Rich has the whole summer off to spend with us. We have made the most of every day. We spent about 3 weeks in Missouri. Aidan and Maya had so much fun hanging out with their cousins Julian, Gabriel and Damian. These goofy boys were so proud of how they were wearing their pants. Crazy kids!

It seems like no matter how long they are apart Aidan and Josalynn pick right up at being best buds.

We spent some time at Rich's parents house too. Aidan was able to overcome his fear of bath time with the help of his little sister. Once he overcame his fear of water splashing on his face he got a little carried away. Sorry for the mess Marianne!



Our last day with Mom and Dad Baker we went to Silver Dollar City. It was so much fun!

I think Rich and his dad regretted riding this roller coaster :)

We made lots of great memories with our family and are anxious to get back to visit. We love you guys!

Maya is 9 months old!

I am long overdue on my blog postings for oh so many reasons. The main reason? I just don't have the patience lately. Seems like every time I get on to blog something goes wrong! Every time! And yet here I am. We have had many adventures since my last post. We went to Spain instead of Guatemala, spent about 3 weeks in Missouri, got a new apartment... and I will blog about all of those later. Right now I just want to get some important stuff on.

My kids are growing up so fast it's hard to keep up with them. Maya and Aidan have recently started playing really well together. Aidan is always excited to see Maya in the morning. Maya is 9 months old today!!! I can hardly believe it but it is true. She is so amazing to me. She is super happy 95% of the time and such a joy to be around. She loves to play with toys. She plays with them in a very unique way. She is very skilled with her feet and uses them to hold a toy while she plays with it or another toy. It is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Here she is:

Maya has many talents. All of the Young Women in my ward absolutely love her and love to talk about all of the things Maya is going to do when she gets older. Among those things is a gymnast and a cheerleader. This is why:

Rich and I both agree that she will probably be a model too. It seems to come so naturally to her:) Anytime she stops to look back or to her side, she puts her hand on her leg in a cute little pose.

Some other great things that Maya is doing now that she is 9 months old:
*She is working on 2 more teeth (top ones)
*Holds her own against her big brother often pulling his hair and ears.
*Adores her daddy more and more each day (dada is her favorite word)
*Almost crawling
*Eating more big people food
*Breaking hearts every Sunday if someone doesn't get a chance to hold her.
*Sitting up for about a month now

What an amazing little girl to have in our family.

Guatemala, here we come!!!!!

So I haven't updated in a while but that's mostly because I'm always super tired and we just got back from Missouri a few days ago. Fun trip, lasted about 2 weeks. Randomly, about 2 hours ago, Rich and his friend decided they wanted to take a trip to El Salvador and Guatemala. Rich served his mission in Guatemala and his friend served in El Salvador. I was very sad :( This meant that I would be completely alone with the kids for 4 days!! No fun! In the midst of my sadness Rich ran out to get the mail and there was my passport that we had been waiting on forever. So now I'M GOING WITH THEM!! Crazy? Yep! But hey, everything seems to be working out so why not, right? My sister is going to watch my kids and we are going to go have an incredible adventure. Don't be jealous. I would if I were you but don't be. No I'm kidding. We are soooooo excited. This is a much needed getaway. I will report with many pictures and stories in a few days!!