Oh... we still have a blog..??

I am horrible at blogging now that I post most of our life happenings on instagram. If you're on instagram, I'm @vojen and John is @jhvanorman. We're both private, but if we actually know you, we'll add you. :) I'll try to give a quick update for those of you who don't use instagram and therefore don't see alllllllll of the pictures of Dean that I post. 

 - John will graduate from BYU in about a month. He literally only has 1 more class period and that's his final!! We are THRILLED that he is so close and with all that he's learned and acocmplished. 

 - I have gotten really into family history since December and as my parents will be in town for graduation, we're taking advantage of this and planning on going and doing sealings (with Laura as well) to get some of our kindred dead sealed. We have had wonderful experiences as we've been taking our own names to the temple. It has been quite the coordination to get families ready to be sealed, but I liken it unto a march madness bracket and that makes it fun. 

 - I decided to paint our bathroom cabinet while John was at a design conference last month. It turned out GREAT and if you are thinking of painting them white, I have grrrrreat products to recommend. Unfortunately, we're now in the market for a new counter top since this one is just weird now.

- Dean and I have visited several splash pads and various watering holes and he is finally loving water again.

- Dean is a master hider. See below for proof:

- Dean (like probably almost every other boy) LOVES construction equipment:

- Dean will be 2 in a month and a half and we cannot believe how much he's grown.

Spring fever

I just love the spring. We have been working on getting our small garden going and planting a few flowering bushes and things to help our front look better. Dean just loves being outside and "helping" in whatever project we're working on.

We have also embarked into the world of potty training. Yes, Dean is young, but he's already in size 6 diapers and I truly don't want to have to order diapers from amazon instead of going to the store to buy them. He started showing interest and has really caught on fast. That doesn't mean it has been easy and without many struggles. He's still in diapers (underwear was a HORRIBLE experience and he was SOOO mad at me), but he's going more and more in the toilet and less and less in his diaper. He's truly amazing and we find ourselves more and more amazed by him with each passing day.

Winter semester is coming to its close and we'll soon be into the madness that will be this spring term. We are just so pleased with all that John has done to get this close to graduating.

18 months!!!??

Dean is now 18 months as of the end of February! What?!!?!! We are still blown away that he is this old and big. I took Dean in for his check up last week. He's about 28 lbs (74%) and 33.5" (83%). He loved playing in the doctors chair and with the computer. We have the best pediatrician and he just let Dean keep playing on the computer while we talked. I took these 2 cute pictures in the doctors office while we were waiting.

We also found out this past week that John will officially be graduating on August 16th!! We are so excited and so proud of John. He has literally been in school with 3 terms off during the last 5 years. He has also been able to take all evening classes so he could work full time. We truly have been so very blessed.

I have the best men in my house

I really try not to make our blog "our life is perfect, yours obviously can't be as wonderful as mine", but I seriously love my husband and little man. We've had the stomach flu going around. It started with just Dean, and John cleaned him up in the middle of the night without even telling me something was up.

That was a few days ago. We thought all was well. Dean threw up again today right after his morning milk all over the office floor, John's slippers, and backpack. Once again, John cleaned everything up without waking me up.

Then I got it bad today. And John has been feeling it too. Yet he still took Dean on a walk without me so I could puke in peace. Then he took Dean with him to the store to get Gatorade and Popsicles so I could rest and relax. All while feeling just as poorly himself.

This month marks our 5th anniversary and I could not be happier with the wonderful, loving man that I married. I love watching him be a dad and play with our little sweetheart. I love that Dean has an amazing example of who he can and should become.

It's the little things

It truly is. Like a shower curtain. We've just been using a liner for basically 2 years. I've been eyeing this beauty for at least 6 months. The stars finally aligned and I love the bathroom so much more now.

January in a nut-shell

John has had to travel twice during the month of January for work. I have learned first-hand that parenthood is not meant to be tackled alone. Dean was a champ (mostly) and we did have a lot of help from John's family playing with him (thank you!!!), but at the end of the day, I was sooooo happy to put him to bed. :) Dean has also decided that he wants to do pretty much everything by himself that he possibly can. He will get all of his things ready for his bath (set out clothes, diaper,etc), turn on the water, put his hand under the faucet to feel the temperature, try to climb into the bath tup to plug the drain, then turn the water off. He is really our Mr. Independent and loves his freedom. I have also discovered the joy of asking when he's grumpy "Are you ready to take a nap?". If he is, he shakes his head yes, grabs his duckie, and bolts for his door. It has made nap time soooo much better now that he chooses when it's time to sleep. He is learning so much and constantly saying "Oh!" and "Uh-Oh!" We are anxiously counting down the days until nursery.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas in Texas! We were there for a week and loved spending time with my parents. Dean loved getting to know Nana and Papa better and they loved getting to know our sweet, little Dean. Dean was sick basically the entire time we were there, but he was still a champ. He didn't do very well on the plane ride home, but who can blame him? Since we had all of my family together, we took the opportunity to take a new family photo. Please enjoy a picture of all of the grandkids and the adults trying to keep them smiling and entertained.... We took a lot of pictures, so I'll just let them do the talking. We miss being in Texas already.