Summer Vacation

This summer we took a rode trip...... a very very very long, road trip.  Ok, it wasn't that long, but it was long.  I think I will cover it in a number of different posts -

Ok, Ok I know you are all so excited - no, no really you'll just have to wait to see it all.  It will take some time of course......

Just because you all wanted to see my beautiful face....

Swim Club

After having such a great time with Swim Club last summer, we went for it again.  This year Brooklynn was able to swim too.  The kids had a great time and so did the rest of us.  The swim meets weren't quite as unbearably hot this year either - there are 2 reasons for that.  One I WASN'T Prego and two it wasn't as hot. 

Tyler as handsome as always! 

Brookie was sooooo nervous, I thought she would come out of her skin.  I have never ever seen her like this and to be honest she didn't love the chaos and uncertainty of the actual swim meets, but practice was ok.  It was a side of her I hadn't seen.  She even did really great, especially in the Breast Stroke where she came in 9th overall for her age group.  Not too bad for having just learned the stroke.  She would have done a little better if she hadn't been looking to the side the whole time to see if she was beating the other girls or not.  It was super funny! 

This picture is super cute.  Brooks with one of her BFF's Abby.  Abby won her heat and was so excited.  This was just a couple of weeks before Abby moved to South Dakota. 

After it was all over you can tell she isn't super duper nervous anymore.  The last swim meet we went to Brooks had decided she didn't want to swim her last event.  I really wanted her to but she refused.  One thing the kids love is to get Sno Cones at the meets, so when the boys asked if they could have one I told them only if Brookie would swim her last heat.  Tyler took off to convince to do just that and a few seconds later she came down the steps trying to find her swim cap and goggles.  It didn't take too much convincing.  Aren't I so mean?

Big Baby is 10 Months!

Yet another month has passed us by.  Noah has now acquired a Nick Name of sorts we call him Big Baby.  I'm not sure why, but it fits.  He is so funny and sweet and SUCH a busy body.  He never stops moving.  Here is what he has accomplished this month.

• he pulls himself to standing
• he is starting to 'cruise' around the furniture. 
• he tries to swing his leg up to climb on things (I am in super trouble people)
• he still has only 2 teeth, but the top 2 are super duper close to coming in!
• he now says 'mamamama' but mostly when he is whining
• he is starting to dance to music
• if you sing to him, he tries to sing back (sometimes)
• he LOVES his brothers and sister and smiles and kicks his legs when he spots them
• he feeds himself a lot of food, but does not like Cantaloupe and isn't a huge lover of bananas
• he is getting close to only napping once a day
• he WAKES up much too early, but I have discovered if I take him in a bottle he will fall back to sleep - sometimes.
• he loves to be outside, if he is being grumpy take him outside for a minute and he will be a much happier Big Baby. 

We continue to be amazed by this little man.  He is so fun and sweet and ornery and all the good, bad and adorable stuff a baby is.  He absolutely adores his Daddy (who doesn't really? I'm kinda of fond of him too) and will stare at him until he acknowledges him  My favorite thing he does lately is check with me.  If someone else is holding him, he will check with me to see if it ok. How blessed I am to have him and my 3 other wonderful kids, they are growing into such wonderful people! 

Aren't sleeping babies the best? I love that he cuddles up to his little snugly blanket!

I did it!

I have never been one to set goals, like in an official kind of way.  Especially I would say in an athletic/excercise kind of setting.  That is until now.  Just after Noah was born, Julie (my sista) ran in a Ragnar Relay Race in LasVegas.  She came home telling me tales of how fun it was and I was so proud of her for doing it.  She suggested we run one together.  I said ok, not thinking much of it.  Well by Christmas she had me committed to running the Wasatch Back in Utah and I in turn talked my sister-in-law Kari into joining us. 

I am not runner - let's just make that clear.  But after Christmas I attempted to get in shape and started running. At first it was a little here and a little there.  I still was not full in, but as time marched on and June got ever closer I really started into training.  I can't say I loved it, but I did like how it made me feel and I liked that I was able to get rid of the remnants of pregnancy weight.  On I went ever committed to be ready for the race - I actually surprised myself that I was so on top of my training and rarely missed a run or workout in whatever form it came. 

Well, this past weekend I flew to Utah for the Wasatch Back.  The race was on Friday/Saturday and to say it was awesome is an understatement.  It was one of the most challenging, enjoyable, incredible, fun things I have ever accomplished.  I never thought I would be able to do it and I am happy to say that I surprised myself.  Julie and Kari and all the other girls in our van Rocked it and I was able to make some great new friends and reach a goal I never thought I would really be able to do.  I have never had the desire to run a marathon or even a half marathon for that matter, but I would do this again in a heart beat. 

Our team name was, "I Have To Run WHERE?"  which once out there really sums it up.  The race goes from Logan to Park City and was in some of the most beautiful country.  I was inspired by all the people running and let me tell you they came in all shapes and sizes.  By the end I was tired and irritable (as we all were), but so glad that I accomplished what I had set out to do.  Not to mention I got to do it with two of my favorite ladies in all the land.  Here's to VAN #1 and all the fun we had.  LOVES to you girls!

Naomi, Vickie, Kari and Joanne - Julie had just taken off for leg 1.

Me and Vickie with Seone (how do you spell that) from the biggest looser

Julie after her first run!  Isn't she a babe????

Me almost ready to go and Julie done leg 1

Me on my first leg.  There were some cute girls out there cheering us on and cooling us down!!!

This was after I was all done.  Kari was just about to the exchange for our last runner to go!

There are a bunch more pictures with Kari and the other ladies, but they are all on Julie's camera, so I will post them when they come!!!

A little bit of this and that

BROOKLYNN'S BLANKET

Brooklynn adopted a blanket last year.  It was one we found hiding in a cupboard and it was mine.  I made the blanket in 3rd grade in the quilting club with my favorite teacher Mrs. McFetridge (she was amazing).  It was worn and loved and as this year has passed it has become more worn and loved.  I told my kids that the blanket has been around now for about 26 years - WOW that makes me old!  Anyway, with the fabric acquiring more and more holes I promised Ms. Brookie months ago that we would go pick some fabric and I would help her make her very own tied quilt.  I put it off and put it off, but finally on Saturday we went to the fabric store, with Noah in tow, and picked out some fabric.  Sunday we started it and last night after Brookie tied the last two rows and went off to sleep, my OCD kicked in and I just had to finish up the edges.  Her new blanket is not perfect and I am not by any means a great semstress, but it is cute and I think it too will someday be loved and worn just like mine was.

 

The 26 year old blanket, if you look closely you can see the edges have no fabric left.

The new blanket.  On the way to get fabric I asked Brooks what she wanted and she told me, well it has to be pink - OF COURSE.  I think it turned out pretty adorable!

THE HONOR ROLL

I love this kid!  He is amazing and wonderful and as I always tell him I am pretty lucky that Heavenly Father sent him to me.  This year he has worked hard, he has had some struggles, he has grown up so much and is becoming such an amazing and talented and responsible person.  He is also getting quite the sense of humor and often has us laughing.  His laugh is contagious and when he really gets laughing Steve and I LOVE IT.  In fact Steve LOVES to get him laughing really hard because it is so funny.  I love him so much that sometimes it hurts my heart a little that he is getting so grown up!  Because of all Tyler's hard work he made the Honor Roll at school.  In fact he was on the Honor Roll the whole year.  We are super proud of him and the great guy that he is!

Family Outing...

On Friday we decided to head out to a Farmer's market.  We didn't spend too long, but we did spend some $ on some yummy fresh picked cherries and peaches.... YUM!  We then headed over to a fun little candy shoppe for some gelato.  It was delicious and the kids had a great time. 

Photography by Brooklynn or maybe Tater 

9 Months........

Yesterday my sweet baby boy turned 9 MONTHS - What????  Time just goes much too fast.  He is so sweet and cute and funny and such a little Monkey - I have a feeling he is going to be into EVERYTHING. Here is what Noah has been up too this month.

• Teeth - he now has two bottom teeth.  They came in within a couple of days of each other, that coupled with another ear infection made for some fun days/nights
• After finally mastering the rolling, he has now become an expert crawler. This of course took a little time. He began with pivoting on the forhead - he even had a bright red callous to prove it. He would get around by standing with his forhead on the floor and then sit down - it was funny. Then about 2 weeks ago he learned it was much more efficient to pick the head up and move those arms and legs
• Feeding ourselves is also fun and exciting but very messy.
• He went swimming for the first time and loved it
• He is in the bird phase, where he opens that mouth wide for any food you are willing to part with
• He sleeps great, but Brooklynn tells me that he is usually awake and starring at her when she wakes up in the morning. (Creepy - haha)
• Sometimes it is much better for him to hold his bottle with his feet
• He still loves his small little snuggly and must have it to sleep.

I'm sure I am forgetting something, but he is still so much fun and we all adore him.  The one thing that still eludes us, is a big huge belly laugh.  He laughs, but we haven't gotten him giggling super hard yet.  Brooklynn was the same way.  I'm sure when he does it will be great.  The one other thing that I love that he does is kick.  If you hold him up above you he will kick his legs in sync and it is so cute! 

Here are some pictures for you!  Enjoy!

This is where we started.  He still gets that pouty lip.

The bird....

The head stand - Notice the good toe point

From the other angle.... Haha

Big Baby with his blue blue eyes! 

SECOND PLACE

Tyler's Pinewood Derby was this last week.  He and Steve spent hours and days working on his car.  After not winning a single race last year, they made a goal for this year - WIN 1, just 1, RACE.  They set their sights high....  Well after a week of dilligently working on the car a few paint jobs and much boy bonding time, they won more than just 1 race, they won 2nd overall.  Tyler was very pleased and although Steve wasn't there for all the excitement he too was very excited. 

The car - We named it THE BULLET

I must make mention of the fact that because Steve was not there, at the race, I mean.  Me, the Mother, had to take care of the very important Graphite on the wheels, and the weigh in.  I had to add weights and because of my expertise his car weighed in at exactly 5g.  Ya baby!

No Baseball and a Family Excursion

Tyler opted out of baseball this year.  I can't say I was really all that upset about it, okay I'll be honest, I was SOOOOOO Happy!  Around here, this is kind of a baseball town,  baseball means lots of practices and games.  Instead, he played in a competitive basketball league.  It was a great experience and the improvement he made and all the things he learned were fantastic.  His team was not the best, but his coach was fantastic.  Coach Hank or 'THE Hank' as we liked to call him around here was great with Ty and the rest of the team. 

A couple weeks ago Steve and I decided to load up the troops and head up to the mountains for a cookout and a little fishing.  Because of my very excellent 'OUTDOOR' skills, I threw together some tinfoil dinners and off we went.  It was a great evening and despite a very unhappy baby, we all had a good time, good food and some great family bonding.  It was a little chilly, but it was beautiful and it was great to get out of town, even if it was only for a few hours.

Tater's little snooze on the way up to the mountains.  I love his 'old man' glasses in this one

Tyler working dilligently to start a fire using a flint - he was successful.

Me and mine baby. 

My cute Brookie.

(My tinfoil dinners were not hotdogs, but we did bring some of those along too.)

A Whole Lot of .........

We've been busy, I guess.  Between birthday's (Mine and Steve's) and keeping up with the kids, life has been busy, I guess.  Here are a few highlight's of our latest activities in pictures. 

First we'll start with this cute little Photo of Noerson and Tater.  They are becoming quite the pals, although Noah might contend that a little TOO MUCH Tater isn't good.  Tater loves to 'hold' Noah and play with him.  Noah loves it, IN SMALL doses that is.

Now we'll move onto our little weekend getaway.  Steve had some work down in the OC, so the kids and I decided to tag along for some of it.  Noah got to experience his FIRST swim.  And although he was a little skeptical at first, warmed right up to the pool and loved it by the end.  Heaven help us if he is our one who doesn't love the water.....

This little fishy just finished up a round of swimming lessons.  He is so comfortable in the water and is sooooo close to swimming all by himself with NO Floaties.  By the end of his lessons, he was starting to learn the front crawl.  He has another round of lessons in a few weeks, it should be fun!

This little lady is just cute! 

The other day, I wrapped Noah up in his towel and laid him on the floor so I could get him dressed.  I had to grab something really quick  and when I turned back around this is what I found.  How he sat up I'll never know, but he was sitting sooooo very still, which never happens, and trying to figure out what the heck was going on.  I would say, 'Noah' and he would just barely move his head trying to see if he could find me.  What a nut...

And finally, this is the cute and totally crazy face under the towel.  He is very busy and while not crawling in the conventional sense, he gets everywhere he wants to go.  He uses his forhead as a pivot point and loves to stand on his head. 

8 Months!

Isn't it amazing how you get to a point after having a baby where you think - What was life like before you?  We have well passed that point with Noah and I can't hardly remember what life was like before his cuteness arrived in our home.  Already those first few weeks of 'Newborn' baby seem like a blurr.  Time marches on and I am really trying to embrace and savor every minute I have with not only my Noah, but all the kids. 

Now that Mr. Noah is 8 months the world is becoming more and more fascinating for him.  Here is my list of the things that he has been up too.

• We'll start with just being cute
• he sleeps great, although I am really trying to push the wake up time back - he wakes a little to early for my taste, especially with summer coming
• he is on a pretty good schedule and still takes 2 naps - sometimes 3 if life is just to exhausting
• he  learned to SIT this month.  He actually mastered it in just a couple of days, which was much faster than his brothers and sister did.  I attribute it to his chubby legs weighing him down.  ;)
• he FINALLY learned to roll from his tummy to his back.  It was a glorious day and there was much cheering and clapping to be heard from our house.  He would push himself up onto his toes and hands with his little bum in the air (he is very strong) and finally he figured out he could lean a little and over he would go. 
• he loves to do push ups and is in the 'pushing himself backwards' phase
• he is starting to pull his knees under him and would figure out crawling pretty fast if he would get his forehead off the floor.  Silly boy
• he feeds himself 'Stars' and must be eating if we are
• he tries to grab everything and his eyes are constantly darting around to check out his surroundings (heaven help me when he is mobile)
• he and tater had a wrestling match for Tater's glasses last night
• he still loves the Jolly Jumper and uses his arms to get some height (NO JOKE!) It is way funny
• he is getting a temper and an opinion about things like if the kids can hold him, if his diaper needs changing etc.  When he starts getting mad he crinkles up his nose, squints his eyes and clenches his gums together and breaths in and out.
• he still has no teeth
• he is a continuous fountain of drool

I think that about sums up the last month of Noah's life.  He continues to be a wonderful sweet cute and smiley little boy and although he still doesn't giggle too much we are seeing some break throughs!

And now what you really want, PICTURES........

Notice the drool streaks down his belly....

I also must mention that he has  THE MOST kissable squishy cheeks that I am sure I kiss at least a thousand times a day.