Swimming with Daddy

Pretty much the heat and humidity are becoming super uncomfortable around here. Gotta love Green River and the fact that the Melonvine is the only "store" you can go into and walk around in for a while to cool off so we have to get creative. This little pool my mom gave us has been a lifesaver; not only for Allie but for Greg and I as well. After mowing lawns all afternoon Greg was more than willing to take a dip with Allie today.

Here she is practicing her cannon balls

Who do you think is enjoying this more?

They were out there for close to an hour- so I think they were both equally happy to be cooling off in the pool.

9 Months Old

Today this little girl is 9 months old. That is crazy. Time is flying by so quickly. I know they say to savor the baby years but I just seem to do better with toddlers who are a bit more independent and such so I am glad she is getting older and growing and learning. I wasn't sure after Allie if our second baby would be able to match up (Allie just seemed to do everything with ease and ahead of schedule or right on the mark). Heck with schedules I don't even have time to read up on what she should or shouldn't be able to do at this age; she is just a little motor machine of energy and doesn't seem afraid of anything.
At 9 months here are some of her stats:
-She weighs 16 pounds
-I don't remember off the top of my head how tall she was at the last doctor visit
-She has 3 teeth (two bottom and one top with one coming in)
-She has had tonsillitis twice and an ear infection twice and numerous colds (the luck of a second child I guess. Allie was sick once her first year of life.)
-She sleeps through the night
-She naps at least twice a day
-She eats like a machine. Long gone are my worried days when I first started feeding her solids and she would only eat a spoonful and I was sure she would never eat a thing (again compared to her sister-this was not what I was used to.) Now when she gets in her high chair she is constantly screeching for more food to be placed before her as she inhales it at lightening fast speeds. She prefers real people food to baby mush and has pretty good hand eye coordination getting it into her mouth. She loves peaches, melon, strawberries, peas, kidney beans, macaroni, bread, cheese, bananas, puffs, yogurt-well pretty much anything. Meal time is a zoo at our house with this howler monkey sitting beside me in her seat. I told Greg one night I am going to feed the kids first and then put them to bed and make a meal for us to eat in silence and actually enjoy every bite. I would like to say that this too will pass but the truth is pretty much since she was born we haven't had many peaceful meals. Love you Brailie
-She can crawl and find you in any room of the house
-She can push open half closed doors
-Pulls herself up to furniture and scoots along it
-Holds her own sippy cup
-Says "Ma Ma" but only when she is desperate for food or to be picked up
-She smiles everytime we bring out the camera
-She loves to play with Allie even though Allie pretty much takes away every toy she is holding.
-She isn't a cuddler and doesn't even really like to be held, she would rather be on the go. I have a feeling this sports season is going to be a doozy.
We love this little sweetie. Happy 9 months old Brailie.

Pioneer Day Weekend

We went to Monroe for Pioneer Day (July 24th) and the festivities they put on and to stay at Grandma and Grandpa Parsons new house for the weekend. Let me just insert that we love the new house: roomy, lots of bathrooms, room for the kids to run and I personally covet the kitchen and the glass front cupboards and the over sized island. Anyway all the family came at some point in the weekend which was super fun for Allie. She adores her cousins and loves playing with them. I can't believe that she isn't shy or hesitant around them at all like she is with some other kids. She just dives right into the fun. It was so great to see her with the other girls playing and running and of course her and Zach got along great as well. All in all it was a pretty good weekend. We had a showing of the "terrible two's" when it came to bedtime a couple of nights (those who were home are probably thinking "ya, terrible two's-more like horrific two's") but it could have been worse is what I have to tell myself. The weather was perfect and the festivities were...well festive.
The day started off with a parade-note to self: when watching a parade do so from the shaded side of the street and avoid having your brain baked by the sun. I knew this but we were late getting to the parade and had to take what we could get. It didn't seem to bother the kids much.
Allie ran back and forth between everyone giving a commentary of what was happening in the parade (possibly a future career path-who knows).

After the parade daddy took Allie down to the park where his family was selling cotton candy and snow cones while mommy and Brailie took a much needed nap. Allie got to ride in this fire truck (super cool).

Later that evening Grandma kicked us out of the house while she was having a class reunion so we all went out to eat and ended up at a restaurant with a broken air conditioning. People-if you having no AC in the middle of summer put a sign on your business door stating that fact and offer a 10% discount. We had hungry small children and were settled when they bothered to inform us that the air was actually broken so we stayed anyway. We were compensated with extra ice. After eating (the food was mediocre I might add), we went to Greg's cousins to see his elk and other animals.

Ignore the wonderful hairstyle my daughter is sporting and imagine her giving a running commentary to her cousin Rylee about the animals in the fences. "Wanna come see? Come on, lets go."

Rylee was not as enthused as Allie. Good to see a bit of my farm side coming out in her.

Brailie getting friendly with this mule.

The evening finished with fireworks. Allie's words were, "oh wow, that was my favorite one." (said after most of them)

On day two, cousin Kinsey came and that added even more excitement cause now all the cousins were together and they played and played. Grandma said she wanted to get a picture of all the cousins together. Now when ever I hear those words my blood pressure immediately starts to rise because I know what a task it is to get all the cousins together and I also know that there is about a 1 minute window of time that the picture will actually work and I don't want to be the parent who's kid is not cooperating-causing the picture to have to take much longer than necessary which usually leads to children crying, parents yelling and empty promises of ice cream and other treats if they will "just sit still." Guess what-I was that parent-my child would not cooperate. AHHHHHHHH. Before the babies came out the cousins were just sitting waiting so perfectly

And then we have this:

and this,

and this. And then Allie was everywhere.

Brailie actually loves to get her picture taken. She always smiles for the camera.

The reason no cousins wanted to have their pictures taken was because of this pile of left over ice from the snow cones. It was just too tempting and much more fun.

And then we have this-the family picture. It doesn't happen that often that we get together as a family so we wanted to get a family picture. Can I just ask the question: Are there any families out there in which the taking of a family photo brings out love, joy, closeness and agreement? In my life experience I would have to say NOPE!!! Something about families and cameras just don't seem to mix I have to say. Then the photographer says, "Smile you are supposed to look happy." We'll let the pictures speak for themselves. (P.S. Greg says, it looks like I am trying to get him to stop pinching my bum but I was trying to hide Braille's bottle).

Good times, good times. Thanks family for getting together. We had a good time seeing everyone and our children had a blast. It is fun to get to travel to visit Grandma and Grandpa. "Over the river and through the woods..."

Bountiful Baskets

My friend Allisha and I have now both completed our training to be "Official Site Coordinators" (doesn't that sound official) for Bountiful Baskets here in Green River. We have submitted our start date as the 21st of August and are waiting to hear back if we are approved (hate waiting to be approved for things). It is exciting. People come up to me around town and ask about being a part of Bountiful Baskets (quite a few people have heard about it from friends and family) and others are interested in knowing what it is about. This will be a huge benefit to our small town. Can't wait to get it started.

It is finished

Greg got it done this afternoon and said I must post pictures (are you tired of this floor yet?? We aren't). We still have the bathroom, front entry and in front of our washer and dryer but this big room is done!!!

It looks and feels so much bigger to me. Hideous carpet-have fun at the dump!!!

Floor Remodel update

Sadly the one person that I know who would oooh and ahhh over each of these pictures and would be guaranteed to comment (my mother) can't even get on her computer right now and hasn't even had a chance to check out this family blog yet, but in case any one else out there wants a chance to oooh and ahhh over the progress we are making on our new floor here is the latest update.

Here is the before on the kitchen side (minus the hideous carpet)

And drum roll please.....

the after (almost complete)

Now for those who have asked, "Why did you decide to do this kind of floor?" all I have to say to you is, "Did you see what was on it before this? Did you see there was carpet in my kitchen?" I love, love, love this new floor.

Jesus So Cute

I was taking this statue of Jesus to Primary with me today for my lesson and Allie saw it on the counter while she was eating breakfast and asked, "Can I hold Jesus?" I told her I didn't want it to break but she could sit by Him. When she sat down she held His had and said, "Ahhh, Jesus so cute. Pretty Jesus. His eyes are closed. I love Him."

Minnie Mouse Does House Calls

We got a new broom for our new floor (Allie tested it out quite well in the isle at Walmart as well as throughout the rest of the store) and then last night she just needed to sweep the floor...with the minnie mouse ears on.

Provo and Aunty Helens House

On Thursday/Friday we went up to Springville and Provo for a few reasons: first to visit Aunty Helen and Uncle Doug and stay with them, second to buy a new chain saw for Greg (so as not to have to repeat the wood cutting trauma of last time) and third to get a new bed. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
First we went to Aunty Helen and Uncle Doug's house. Now I just want to say my whole life I have always included the honorary title of aunt (or as we say in Canada Aunty) and Uncle when referring to one of my parents siblings. I have never ever just called them by their first name. I think it is an honor to be an Aunt or Uncle and love that title. Thus I am teaching my girls the same thing. So when we got to my aunt and uncles house I told Allie that this was Aunty Helen (though we have been there a few times before) and after her initial 5 minutes of shyness she pretty much wore that name right out, "Aunty Helen lets go see this," "Aunty Helen lets go outside," "Aunty Helen where is tommy (the cat)," "Aunty Helen I want to play the piano." It was so cute. We had a great visit at their house. I think Aunty Helen and Uncle Doug got such a kick out of Allie and were probably long overdue for a nap after we left.

Here is Allie eating the blueberry pie I took along to Aunty Helens house. She called it bumbleberry pie and ate every drop (this after eating half a cucumber and half a bowl of jello, half a roll, 3 helpings of green beans, meats and cherry tomatoes for dinner- and we can't get the girl over the 26 pound mark.)
Playing with Aunty Helen on the swing

Brailie let Aunty Helen hold-even when I left the room to go to the bathroom and she didn't cry. We didn't experiment with this until we were about to leave. I told Aunty Helen she was hired as my full time nanny.

After daddy bought his chain saw and we did some other shopping we went out to eat. Brailie got to have her own melon and she didn't hold back let me tell you.She wolfed down 3 pieces and screached when I cleaned her off!!!!!

Allie's mod-podge of a lunch. This girl is so funny; after eating some dessert she always wants to go back and eat more of her regular food. Spaghetti and ice cream-ummm what a combo.

Then because it felt like it was three million degrees outside and we made the mistake of saying the work "swimming" and were hounded for all of 2 hours prior to this, we decided we better find a pool ASAP and get wet. The girls had a blast. The pool had a great kiddy area that was totally not parent friendly with all kinds of squirty things and other water stuff that is fun for like 8-10 year olds and really just annoys parents but the girls loved playing in the water.

Allie reminded us that she is a big girl and can float all by herself now. I have to find some swimming lessons next year I think.

Floor Rennovation Update

Because I am sure there are so many of you out there sitting at home, driving in your cars, or sitting at working thinking, "Man I wonder how Greg and Heather's floor remodel is going," I thought that I would post some picture updates for everyone. The carpet flooring that I have referred to, pretty much since we were dating, as my "nemesis" has not gone out without a fight I must say. But after the initial day and a half of scraping the stuff off the floor boards we have had much more success on the rest of the room (I think Heavenly Father knew it could lead to a nervous breakdown if we had to do that for the whole room).

After day 1

After day 2 (with a tired hard working husband to model our new flooring)

Something about this new floor has sparked a "I will play by myself" gene in Allie and she has been newly interested in her toy kitchen and play foods, she has been dancing around on it and loves to curl up on it with her blanket. I wish the newness and novelty of this new flooring to never, ever, ever wear off. Should anyone need a large piece of extremely tacky carpet you know where to come.

Cutting Wood

On July10th, we went up to the mountains to cut a load of wood for the winter. This is a project that is difficult at best, and extra difficult with two small children and a chain saw that refuses to start-however we were able to get almost a full truck load of wood. I put Brailie down on a blanket with some toys but now that she is crawling she went right to the edge and found the grass, flowers and weeds and probably ingested enough foliage to take care of her veggie intake for a couple of days. I am thinking I am just going to give the girl a leaf of lettuce each day for lunch and let her munch away-what a little rabbit. I snapped a few of these pictures in between loading wood.

Just like Uncle Daniel

This kept Allie entertained for a few minutes.

Cute girl

At our last stop Allie was just dancing and singing and doing her own thing up and down the road. It was the cutest thing in the whole world. I took a video of it but Blogger is not letting me load videos (dumb thing). I was so proud of her for entertaining herself for probably 15 minutes while Greg tried to get his chain saw going.

On our way home we stopped and had a picnic on the side of the road in the mountains and Allie was sure she wanted to walk home. We promised her ice cream if she would just ride with us in the truck. She fell asleep not too long into the drive and so we decided to just keep going and not stop in Moad after all for the treat. Wouldn't you know the first thing she said when she woke up back at home was, "I want my ice cream." I guess she is getting too old to forget those kinds of things. Too old and too smart.

Kitchen/Hunting/Play Room Renovation

Most of you who have been in my home will know what it looked like even before this, but I wanted to post the before picture of the playroom/hunting room area before we get our new floor put down. This is becoming a beast of a project so stay tuned for the after shots.