Typical Saturday

Saturdays are  busy for our little family- we try to fit most of our errands and to do items into that one day. During the summer one of our biggest to do items is the yard.  Morning glory has taken over a couple of my flower beds and it is impossible to keep up.  Olivia has decided that she likes working in the yard... lots of mud and water to play in.  She is a big helper watering the squash and tomato plants...



Little Nate is getting extra cute these days as he gets a little chubby.  He is sitting up really well and is so smiley.  He is starting to eat a little more solid food and the other night he slept for seven hours.  His little scrape has healed for the most part, but he has this nasty looking scar under his left cheek... poor kid looks like he has been in a fight.

Miss Olivia was helping daddy fill the flour containers Saturday afternoon while we made cookies. Somehow she ended  up with flour all over her face, her clothes, her hands, in her hair...  I couldn't resist a picture of this cute messy face.

First Shiner

It was bound to happen... boys are rough and end up with a lot of scraps and scratches, but this one was my fault.  We were taking pictures outside on some concrete, Nathan was sitting up so well, and then all of the sudden-face plant right into a brick.  Even with the scratches he still has the cutest baby face.

 It is Popsicle eating time... our tongues are lots of different colors these days...

Here are some pics of Liv at gymnastics... she loves it and I love that she loves it.

 One more of the cute Nater... he is getting so good at sitting up. 

Art City Days

This last week was crazy- crazy fun... 

• On Tuesday Olivia started a summer mom and tot gymnastics class that goes for the next ten weeks.  She loves the trampolines.  She is not so sure about jumping in the foam pit (Mommy really liked it though).
• My friend Abby came into town from Boise on Wednesday night and we had a fun  Thursday afternoon at the spa.  Massages- a little piece of heaven! 
• Thursday night we went to the Art City Carnival.  Olivia cried on the motorbikes and trucks and then cried when she had to get off of the merry go round. 
• Friday morning we up early and went to the Fireman's Breakfast before work.  We had pancakes as big as the plate and Olivia got to sit and drive an old fire truck in the fire station.
• Saturday morning we got up before the sun and went to see the hot air balloons take off. After taking Abby to the airport we came home and the kids played in the swimming pool while mommy  attacked the weeds in the flower beds.
• We LOVE Summer!

I often wonder why I wake up so tired in the morning... could it be these two kiddos who sometimes end up in my bed....

Park City

I have been feeling the vacation bug for a while now... I was dreaming of some place warm with some sun, salt water and sand, but for the time being a hotel swimming pool in Park City will have to give me my fix. 

I don't think Nate liked the pool very much- it was a little cold and he was ready for a nap, but he looked oh so cute in his little swim trunks.  Look at that chub on his chest he is starting to get... love baby rolls.

 Liv is part fish, but she got a little scared when she jumped off without mommy noticing and went completely under the water.  She was a little more cautious from then on.

This week is Springville's Art City Days.  As part of the celebration, the library has a teddy bear picnic for the kids and their furry friends.  I had a meeting this morning so Daddy volunteered to take Olivia.   She took two friends... Marvin the monkey and hippopotamus  (Daddy said she also wanted to take Stew the Steer and Sister the Llama but he held his ground).  The tea party started with a story in the theater about a hippopotamus that wanted to be something else, they then made hippo hats, ate gummy bears and kool-aid, and then went through an obstacle course.  I think Liv and Daddy both had a great time.

Now that Mr. Nate is almost five months old we have been given the go ahead by his pediatrician to start him on solid foods.   He tolerates rice cereal... even with his sister trying to feed him.  So far he likes strawberries and Popsicles (if we can get sister to share).

Life's Little Moments

The girls at our house have had the stomach flu this week, which has put me a little behind with everything.  We haven't been up to anything exciting... just enjoying life's little moments.  Here are some of our moments from the past couple of weeks.  



Olivia has a really good daddy. Not many guys I know would let their two year old paint their toenails.  Thank Heavens it washes off in the shower or some of daddy's construction workers might tease him. 

We finally got our garden in.  I think Olivia was more interested in playing in the mud and water than planting the vegtables.

The kiddos

 Liv "helping" me put together the shelf for the storage closet.

The nice thing about this wet weather- I still have pretty tulips in my front flowerbeds.

The little man sitting up on his own.  He is still really wobbly, but he does a pretty good job for a few seconds.  He is getting to be such a big boy.  He is now rolling from his stomach to his back.  At his 4 month appointment 10 days ago he was 25 inches long and 15 pounds 5 ounces- both in the 40th percentile.  His head on the other hand was in the 89th percentile- I think it has something to do with his hair???

Easter has come and gone, which typically means we take down the bunnies and eggs and put up the Americana decorations to celebrate Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July, and 24th of July.  Unfortunately these decorations are not hanging on my walls or adorning my quilt shelf... why you ask?  Because I have misplaced my giant box of American decorations... how does that happen? 

Because I am unorganized.  I have a ton of storage space in my house and all of it is in a state of disarray-a sure sign I have way too much stuff and need to declutter. The problem is I have to be in the mood to declutter and recently the mood has not hit me.  I am a collector.  In fact, as I was looking for my Americana decorations Saturday night (for the second time) I found a box containing all of my art work from grade school including the colored Pilgrim from Mrs. Gisen's afternoon kindergarten class circa 1982.  What am I going to do with a 29 year old construction paper pilgrim? My hope chest is filled with dried corsages from high school dances, old t-shirts that my Firth Jr. High classmates signed, deflated balloons from birthdays, and a variety of other junk that has been sitting there for over 15 years and really should be thrown away.  Someday... and when I do maybe I will find those decorations.

Now our week...
This past Thursday night we decided to walk to the library and then stop at a local pizza place for dinner.  Olivia sat in the stroller the entire way there, but on the way home she had to push.  Her new thing is "I do it".  She wants to put on her shoes, her clothes, wash her hands... all by herself.   Here she is pushing the stroller after putting her sunglasses on herself...

On Saturday morning our local chapter of Families Supporting Adoption put on a birth mother walk at Provo High.  Olivia had a great time "driving" the fire truck and playing under the parachute.  Daddy even got a picture with Cosmo.  It is fun day to spend with other adoptive families and celebrate the amazing birth mothers.. We love both of our birth moms!

After the birth walk we had a ton of errands to run so we decided to stop and get a milkshake at In and Out.  I am not sure what it is, but there is something about Olivia and her smile- she charms people.  The ladies at the counter told he she was so cute and gave her stickers and then she waved and smiled at the guy moping the floor and next thing we know he is bringing her a hat.  She thought she was pretty cool.

Later Saturday afternoon we made some Strawberry Jam as a birthday present for Grandpa M.  Olivia loves to help in the kitchen and so she was right in the middle of the action.  She is such a big "helper"



The blender was too loud- she does the same thing when we flush a public toilet yet the trains that go by our house blowing their horns don't phase her???



Now about Nathan... it is hard to believe that he is four months old already.   I keep telling him to stay little for awhile since he may be my last baby, but he doesn't listen. His four month check up is on Friday and I am really curious to see what his stats are.  His legs and arms are starting to get some rolls and I think he is roughly the size of his cousin Gracie who is seven months old.  He has starting sitting in his bouncer and would much rather be sitting up than laying down.  He is trying to roll himself over especially when he is on his stomach. We have had a couple of 5 and 6 hour stretches of sleep at night.  He really is a good baby and is very happy most of the time.