Uncle Billy Visits

A little nervous to be holding his very young(7 wk old) niece


Playing with Colin



Playing with his other niece and nephew

Day out with Thomas the Train

My 30th birthday fell on Friday of Memorial Day weekend this year. We had a busy day planned. In the morning Colin, Audrey, and I went to the park with our neighbor Jill and her daughter Sonya. She is just 7 months older than Colin. We had fun. The kids didn't really play "together" but they each had fun.

Paul found online that Thomas the Train was coming to town. Out in Heber there is a train that you can go for rides on. Thomas goes on tour and came to Heber. They bring a Thomas engine and hook it to the train and take kids for rides on Thomas. Colin has started to really like trains so we decided to take him. It was in town Thurs-Mon on Memorial Day weekend. We decided to go on Friday, we figured it would be one of the less crowded days.

It ended up not being a very nice weather day. It was really windy. It didn't rain and wasn't too cold but the wind was really strong. When we pulled in we couldn't believe that we barely found a parking spot. It was sooo crowded! We just barely made it on the train before it took off and we got a couple of the last seats left. It was completely full.

Colin was really excited to be riding the train. It just went straight down a track for 15 minutes and then came back. It doesn't go anywhere scenic, it is just through fields and people's back yards.

Here is Colin and Paul on the train



Colin, Audrey and I on the train


After we got off the ride the other train came. Paul took Colin to watch it pull in. Colin got really afraid of the train because it was coming right towards him. As it passed it whistled and it was really loud. Colin was really scared. Since then he has been talking about the "loud choo choo".


Here is Colin and I with the Thomas engine. We could have stood in line for 15 minutes to get a professional picture that you had to pay for. We just did this picture instead.



They had a whole bunch of things going on there. There was a tent with train tables that Colin played in for awhile. They had a guy doing a music show and this is Colin playing the tambourines.


Colin wasn't too happy to pose with Thomas


We gave Colin cotton candy for the first time while we were there. He didn't trust us and was really hesitant to try it but once he did he loved it. We had to hurry up and eat it so that it would be "all gone".





We went out to dinner in Heber afterwards. We just went to a little local diner place.

This is Colin telling us what a monkey says


Paul and Audrey at dinner


Overall it was a pretty good trip. It was super crowded and the weather wasn't good but it was worth it because Colin had a lot of fun. I thought for sure that he was going to pass out on the hour drive home but he stayed awake.

Ergo

My Ergo has been a lifesaver. I had heard so many good things about this carrier that I decided I would get one. This carrier is highly recommended because it is more comfortable and it can be used for years. It starts out as a front carrier using an infant insert to carry newborns. It later can be worn without the insert and then worn on the back. I was lucky enough to have Breck lend me the infant insert so I didn't have to buy one. It isn't the easiest to get her in there but she seems to love it when we do. We used this the whole time we were in Moab for our hikes. I have used it multiple times at home too. I can put her in there if she is fussy and she will calm down instantly. I am able to get so much done with her in there. I have vacuumed the whole house and mopped the floors. This weekend I cooked dinner while she happily hung out in here.

My 30th birthday

We had a very busy day on my birthday so that is going to be another post. However, I wanted to post these little bits of my day.

Here is the birthday cake that Paul got for me. The lady at the ice cream shop either doesn't know how to spell MOM or wanted me to feel especially old today by putting "Happy Birthday Mam" on my cake.



A little video of Audrey wishing me a happy birthday

Stylish Dude

First Family Vacation

We went on our first "family of four" vacation this weekend. We spent a weekend away in Moab. Moab is one of our favorite places and we usually make a point to get there a couple times a year. However, we haven't been there since Colin was born. Part of it is because we had him but we also got a new house last year that needed our attention every weekend. We just didn't have the time to go. We kind of spur of the minute decided to go this past weekend. We knew that if we were going to go that we had to do it before it got too warm down there. We called Matt and Jen and asked if they would be able to have us stay at their house. Luckily they said yes because we later found out that there was not an available hotel room in the whole town. We spent all last week packing. I made a bunch of lists hoping to make things go as smoothly as possible. It was a lot of work packing and preparing. We decided that the best plan was to leave as early as we could on Friday. So that's what we did. We got up when the kids woke up and we were pulling out of the driveway by 8:11am. Here is a pic of us before we were leaving.


The carride went pretty smoothly. Colin did okay for the first hr or so and then he got bored and I had to go into the backseat to help keep him busy. With some snacks and toys he did great the rest of the ride. Audrey slept most of the ride. I fed her right before we left hoping that she would make it through the whole trip without needing to eat. We almost made it. It was about 40 minutes before we got there that she decided she needed to eat. So we pulled off a ranch exit and stopped so I could feed her. Paul got Colin out of the car and they played for a little bit.
Here is a pic of Colin


We got into Moab and headed to Matt and Jen's. We put Colin down for his nap and we got unpacked. He took a long nap, 3 hrs. After he got up, we headed over to Arches National Park. We decided to do a couple little hikes. We went to the Windows and to Double Arch. We took the Ergo to carry Audrey and the backpack carrier to carry Colin. Colin was so excited when we got there. He kept saying "big rock". Everywhere he looked it was "big rock". He loved hiking the trails. The trail to the Windows had steps all of the way up it. Colin loved walking up the steps. He did a lot of them on his own and then he had fun holding our hands as we lifted him up each step. He walked a good portion of the trail before Paul put him in the carrier. It was really windy the whole trip. The arches are formed by wind so they were all in especially windy spots. When we got to the windows arch it was so windy we felt like we were going to blow away. We didn't stay at it very long. After this hike we went over to hike to Double Arch. Colin again hiked most of it on his own. He had so much fun. However, he didn't like the sand part. He wouldn't walk through it and made Paul pick him up and carry him over it.
Hiking to the Windows


This was the best video I got of him saying "big rock". It's hard to hear because of the wind but it was so cute how he kept saying it


This is my "pirate picture". I look ridiculous. The wind was blowing my hat away and I look like a pirate, but that's why I had to post it. It makes me laugh.

Paul and Colin and the Windows


Hike to Double Arch


Colin hiking


In Double Arch


Colin learning to drink from camelback





After this hike we went back to Matt's and cooked spaghetti dinner. Audrey ended up having a pretty stuffy nose for the trip. She got Colin's cold from the week before. She wasn't sleeping very well and could not lay flat at all. She ended up spending the weekend sleeping in the swing. I hated doing it but it was the only way she would sleep.

Saturday morning we got up and around and headed to the Slickrock bike trail. Paul and I took turns doing the practice loop while the other one played with the kids. This was only the 2nd bike ride I had done in a long time. I was a little in over my head and probably shouldn't have done it. I had to walk a good portion of it and I took a pretty good fall. Paul also took a bad fall when he did the trail. The kids were good and didn't mind letting us get out for a ride.

We headed back to Matt's for Colin's nap. After he got up we headed to town to walk Main Street and have dinner. We ate at Eddie McStiff's.
Colin and Daddy at dinner

Audrey at dinner


Colin and Mommy at dinner


Walking Main St




After walking around we went back and played. Colin had fun at their house playing with all of Hannah's toys. After the kids went to bed Paul and I sat down and watched Avatar. It was nice to sit and watch a movie. It is hard to do at home because there is always something that needs to be done and it is hard to sit long enough, especially for that movie.

Sunday morning we got up and headed back to Arches to hike Delicate Arch. We weren't sure how tough this would be with the kids. It always seems like such a difficult hike because it is usually 100 degrees when we do it. This time it was mid 70s, somewhat cloudy, and windy. It was perfect, until we got to the top. It was so windy up there. Colin hated it. We took a couple pictures but didn't stay too long.

Hiking to Delicate Arch




Family picture at Delicate Arch


Colin playing with his new truck


Video of him and the truck


We headed back home after this. Audrey was good the whole ride and we didn't have to stop to feed her this time. Colin did well on the ride also. Now that we're home we've been working on the unpacking. That is quite a process itself. It might take me a few days to get everything put away and organized again.

We had a wonderful trip. It was so fun to see how much Colin loved hiking since it is something we enjoy so much. I look forward to future family vacations!

Colin 20 months

Colin is now just over 20 months old. 4 more months and he will be 2! That just sounds crazy. This last month or so has been a lot of adjusting for him. He has done great though. As I have posted before, he is really starting to get a hang of being a big brother. He (most of the time) loves his "baby".

He has started to put 2 words together a lot more now. He says things like "big rock" and "big truck", "daddy car", "my chair", "mommy up", "shoe on", "elmo night night", "T elmo"(when he wants elmo on the tv). And there are a lot more. It's so fun to hear him using new words and putting words together appropriately. I was so excited with the use of an adjective with "big rock".

His favorite toys right now are his cars, trucks, and his new train. He has also been carrying around his elmo stuffed animal a lot more lately. He loves to be outside but our weather hasn't been the greatest this spring. He has been watching some Sesame Street because it helps me keep him happy while I nurse. He only likes it if elmo is on the screen and he only gets to watch it once a day. But he really does like it.

He tells us "poop" often. However, "poop" means anything coming out that end so he could have farted or peed and he'll say poop. He doesn't really like to sit on the potty though and he hates to have his diaper changed.

He goes through stages with his eating. Sometimes he'll eat really good, and other times not so great. Last night he had 3 helpings of broccoli, but he was dipping it in ketchup. Paul is no longer allowed to get fries when we go out to eat. If Colin sees them he won't touch anything else on his plate and just wants those.

He is going to daycare on Tuesdays and Wednesdays only right now. I am glad he still goes some but I think that it is tough on him. Paul has a really hard time dropping him off those two days. I think it is because he gets so used to being home all week. He doesn't have the routine of going everyday.

He really enjoys his walks riding in his car. He will often ask for "papa car" because my dad takes him almost everyday, sometimes twice a day. He loves playing at the park and on the slides. He doesn't understand to keep his feet up and if he has his shoes on when he goes down they catch and knock him off. We have to take his shoes off to do the slides. He loves to gather rocks and see the "neighs" and "baas" on his walks.

It is really exciting watching him discover the world. He has a lot of fun wherever we take him because there is new things to see and explore. He loved his first hiking trip in Moab.

He is learning his opposites like up and down, and on and off. He can sort shapes and also stack blocks by size. He knows blue, yellow and red but doesn't always get them right. He likes to "count" but doesn't usually actually say the right numbers except for 2 and 3.

He thinks he has learned to jump but he still just takes a step down. It is cute, he squats down and acts like he's going to jump but then just walks down the step.

Our Summer "TO DO" List

-Take our first family vacation
-Swimming lessons for Colin
-Go to the "beach"
-Have a picnic by a lake in the mountains
-Thomas Train ride
-Go to NY
-Family visit over July 4th
-Take Colin to the mine
-Go to a private pool somewhere
-Deer Valley concert
-Go to the library
-Play in sprinklers at Gateway
-Go to Thanksgiving Point
-Go out for ice cream cones
-BBQs
-Roast marshmellows
-Go to the Farmer's market
-Fly a kite
-Go away for a night just Paul and I
-Hike to Dog Lake

More things may be added to the list!

Brotherly Love

Colin has definitely started to take a liking to his little sister. Most of the time he likes having her around. He likes when she "plays" with him.

Here they are "playing" with trains together.


Playing in Audrey's room


Colin discovered Audrey's bow holder and liked it. He picked this bow out for her to wear.

Puzzles

Last weekend Paul told me he came up with a new "game" with Colin. He took all his puzzles out, dumped them all on the floor, and they worked on doing ALL the puzzles. He said that Colin really liked it and did most the puzzles.

I tried this myself the other day. This is a picture I took



It didn't go quite as well for me. Colin worked on a couple of the puzzles but then he got bored with the task and I ended up having to pick it all back up.

This "game" has now made Colin come up with a game of his own. He now thinks it is fun to go over to the shelf and dump all the puzzles on the floor. Wow Daddy....wonder where he learned that one from!

2U2

I am definitely learning that having two children under the age of 2 can be pretty difficult. They are testing out my Mommy skills in high gear this week. Colin has been home sick from daycare. He has a nasty cold and had a fever up to 101.6. Audrey has decided that she doesn't want to be remembered as our "easy" baby and is starting to act more like Colin did at this age. She is no longer going 3-4 hrs between feeds at night. She got up 5 times last night. And both of them were up bright and early at 630am. She has also been a lot more difficult to keep happy during the evening hours. So it has definitely been a tough week but we are managing. There's a few things that are helping make life with 2U2 a bit easier.

1. Premade meals. It is so great to have friends that are good cooks! Denice was so kind as to offer to spend a Saturday cooking with me while I was pregnant. We did this before Colin was born also. We got together a couple months ago and spent a whole day cooking. We made a ton of meals and I have a freezer full of stuff ready to go. My mom was here for 3 weeks and did the cooking so we have started using these meals now that she's gone. It is so nice to not have to worry about preparing a whole meal right now. Hopefully by the time we are through the frozen meals I will have this down a little better and occupying both kids while making dinner will be a more manageable task for me.

2. Babywearing. I bought an Ergo before Audrey was born and was loaned the infant insert from Breck. I got it out to use for the first time this week. It has been pretty helpful. I've been able to wear Audrey and continue to play with Colin, get some housework done, or cook dinner. Between yesterday and today I got the floors all vacuumed and mopped while wearing her.

3. "Hand". Colin can be pretty needy and likes to have us pick him up and carry him. When he wants our attention the most, he tries to get us to carry him around. When I was pregnant, especially towards the end, it got difficult to carry him around. When he would ask me for "up" I would instead offer my hand and we could walk together holding hands vs me carrying him around. We also started using this method when he would want something but not be quite sure how to tell us. He would get so upset about it and we'd offer our hand and have him take us to it and show us what he wanted. This has carried over pretty well. Now he is asking for my "hand?!" instead of always asking to be picked up. This is a lifesaver when he wants me and I am already holding Audrey. It is also helpful to not be carrying him all over especially since I'm already carrying her enough.

4. Colin likes to help. This has been the greatest. Colin is really enjoying helping out with the baby. It didn't happen immediately, it has taken some work though. Sometimes when I am going to change her he will get upset that I am leaving him. I ask him to come help me and he gets so excited about it. He opens up the drawer, hands me a diaper, and throws out the dirty diaper. He has been helping out around the house in other ways too. He loves putting clothes in the laundry shoot. I think he puts all our dirty clothes in there. He definitely does more of that task than I or Paul do. He also really enjoys loading the dishwasher. Today he was really good at helping me clean up his play area. We spent 10 minutes with him putting almost all the toys away before we had dinner tonight. This has been the greatest thing. It allows us to have time together, it gets some of the "chores" done around the house, and Colin thinks it is fun so he's happy. It's a win in all ways.

Colin is learning some "tricks" of his own, to get my attention. Today it was
"shoe on" all day. He kept taking his shoe off and then "uhoh" and then come over to me with it and "mommy, shoe on" so I'd put it on. I put his shoe on WAY too many times today. It was definitely his little "trick" to get some attention. We have worked a lot on the concept that it's not "uhoh" when you do it on purpose but he doesn't seem to get that one yet.

Hopefully we keep on finding ways that make things easier!

Audrey is 1 month old today

May 12th, it has been one month since Audrey was born. It sure has been a crazy month. Audrey weighs around 8 lbs. That is taken by putting her on the scale with me, she won't have another dr's appointment and get officially weighed until 2 months. She takes a bottle well every couple of days and usually takes 3 1/2 oz in it. She breastfeeds and eats every 3-4 hrs day and night.

She started out sleeping better than she is now. The last couple of nights she has gotten up 3 times each and has stayed up for 2 hrs at one of those times. This is being up WAY more than I would like. How come I always get the babies that don't sleep!? Audrey's daytime routine right now is wake up, eat, play and be awake for about 1 1/2 hrs and then sleep until the next feeding which is 3-4 hrs from the start of the last. She takes her naps in the crib and sleeps well in there. I can put her down awake and she will fall asleep on her own, almost all the time. If she had gotten overtired then she isn't able to get herself to sleep and needs my help.

She seems to do fine with tummy time. She just lays on her belly and seems to like it. She will lift up her head and look around when she is doing inclined tummy time on me. She doesn't really do it yet when she is flat on her stomach. She really likes to be held and likes being upright so she can look around. When you hold her up to your shoulder her head is turning from side to side looking all around. She is back and forth on whether or not she likes the play mat, swing, and bouncer. Some times she does well in them and seems to enjoy them, other times she wants nothing to do with them and wants to be held. It is kind of the same with the pacifier. Sometimes it works, sometimes she wants nothing to do with it. She really likes her rattles and will track back and forth as you play with them with her. She likes "the itsy bitsy spider" also. Bath time has gotten better. It has gone from a screaming fest to her actually enjoying being in the water.

She is still wearing newborn diapers and mostly newborn clothes but is definitely growing out of both. We will be done with newborn diapers after this pack and have started packing away some of her newborn clothes. She still fits in the onesies okay but the sleepers are short on her legs and some of the pants are tight around her waist.

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

Last weekend Grandma Carol and Grandpa Bill came to visit. We had a lot of fun. As you can see, Colin was happy to have new people to read books with him!

Audrey on Grandma's lap



Reading with Grandpa

Reading with Grandma

Little Yankees Fan

We've got a new Yankees fan in the house! This is an outfit my cousin Kristen bought for Colin. I had to put a bow in Audrey's hair so you know she's a girl. I had to get a picture of her and Papa and their matching Yankees gear!

Peekaboo