Seeing the Whole World

Every time we drive along Skyline Drive and the Red Hill, Emily and Colby say, "Mom, I can see the whole world!"  For those of you who don't know, from that road, you can see all of St. George.  To Emily and Colby, this is the whole world!  One day we were driving home on this road and Emily asked if we could stop and look at the whole world.  I decided that was a great idea so we pulled off and looked out over the valley.

Emily and Colby thought it was so amazing to see the whole world from up there.  They especially loved being able to spot the temple.  The first thing they pointed out to us was the temple.  While overlooking the whole world, we played a little I Spy game.  We would ask the kids if they could see daddy's work, the tabernacle, the temple, mommy's work, the college, and even McDonald's.  For the most part they were able to find and identify each location.  All the way home all they could talk about was seeing the whole world and how they wanted to go back again another time.  Silly kids!

Speaking of silly kids, here is Emily trying to teach Colby how to ride her bike:

So his feet weren't even on the pedals!  He was just being pushed along.  They were having so much fun on that bike.  We have been riding our bikes more lately.  Emily is getting so much better at riding her bike.  We used to have to push her most of the way but now she rides on her own.  It really makes riding our bikes more fun when we can just go.  Colby and Logan ride behind me in the bike stroller and they love it. Colby has been wanting his own bike ever since we went camping with the Farnsworth's at Pine Valley.   I guess we should start thinking about getting him one.  

We have been having fun seeing the whole world and riding our bikes. 

Summer Fun Update

I can't believe summer is almost over!  School has started again and Emily is going to be going to preschool again this year.  She will be going to an actual preschool class at the Sunset Elementary four days a week for two hours a day.  She doesn't actually start until Sept 3 but she has testing and assessments next week.  I hope she likes school and I hope I will be okay leaving her at school!  Man, I hate seeing my kids grow up.  She is excited for school and asks me all the time when she is going to go to school.  

Well we have had a fun summer this year.  Here are a few of the fun things we have done.  

First we participated in the summer reading program at the library and Emily learned to read.  For an activity in July, the kids got to learn about rocks and treasures in mines.  They got to go inside the "Lost Librarian Mine" and find a treasure in a rock.

Inside the "rocks" they found diamonds!  These two love finding treasures and have stashes of stuff everywhere.  They call it their treasures!

Then on the final week of the reading program, all of the kids that participated got to come to the library for a pizza party!  I think these two loved the root beer more than the pizza!  They had a blast going to the library this summer.

Emily is a crazy kid and is growing up so fast.  She is a little mother hen to her brothers and likes to make sure they are doing everything right.  Sometimes I have to remind her that she isn't the mom.  Too many times I hear her saying or doing things that I say or do.  It really reminds me to watch my words and actions.  She loves playing barbies, and princesses.  She is also very observant and does things that she sees others do like this pose she told me she learned from Uncle Tyler:

When the kids are not being obedient, or are in trouble, we have then put their noses in the corner for a minute.  Apparently, we do this a lot because one day I walked down the hall and saw all of Emily's Barbies with their noses in the corners.  Pretty much every corner in our house had a Barbie in it!  When I asked Emily about it, she told me they were in trouble.  I had to take a picture of the naughty Barbie's because it was one of those things I know I will want to look back and remember and laugh.

Colby is a little fart!  He is so mischievous but he has the cutest little smile so I can't be mad at him for long.  He just looks at you and you just want to love on him even though the room he is standing in is a complete disaster!  This summer Colby discovered that he LOVES watermelon!  He would eat it day and night if I let him.

See, what did I tell you about that cute little innocent face!  We were cutting up this watermelon and we gave him a piece and he told us "I want the big one!"  I asked him if he would eat the big one if I gave it to him.  Of course he said yes and, well, he did!

You have to keep an eye on Colby though because he likes to do his own thing.  If it is quiet at any point in time at our house, we start looking around to see where Colby is because we know he is into something.  He is definitely a boy and poor Logan gets the brunt of all of Colby's playing.  The other day I had Logan laying on my bed while I was putting away the clothes.  Next thing I know, Colby is yelling "WRESTLE!"  I look over and Colby has the pillow over Logan's face and is trying to wrestle him!  I about lost it.  Lets just say Colby spent longer than a minute in the corner that time.  Then a few days later, Logan was playing on the floor just rolling around like babies do.  I hear Colby yell "YEEHAW!" and I look and Colby is riding Logan like a horse!  Once again I about lost it and Colby spent some more quality time in the corner.  I don't know what to do about him!  Even though I have told him that Logan is too little to wrestle I just think he doesn't fully understand.  Poor Logan, he will have to be tough with a brother like Colby.

A few weeks ago, we took Colby to a foot and ankle doctor in town for a second opinion on his feet.  Dr. Van Gills looked at him walk and also at his x-rays and seemed to think that doing surgery at this point was too evasive.  He suggested trying Kiddie Orthodics in his shoes to help support his arches and train his bones and tendons in his feet to go where they are supposed too.  He thought this was a better why to deal with it now.  He suggested using the Kiddie Orthodics for a year and then coming in for another exam to see if they had helped at all.  If not then we could consider surgery if we wanted to.  I had been really worried about doing surgery and going through all of that stress and then being in casts for 6 weeks and then not having the surgery work or only partially work.  When I heard the doctor say that Kiddie Orthodic would be a better option right now, it felt like a weight was lifted off of me.  So we are going to try the Orthodics in Colby's shoes for a year and see if they help with his flat feet.  Colby's feet are still a little too small for the smallest Orthodics so we are going to wait until winter before we get them.  Maybe by then Colby's feet will fit them and he will be wearing shoes more often rather than sandals or bare footed so it will be easier to use them.  I hope they work because I really don't want to do surgery.

Colby and Emily's new favorite movie is "The Incredible's."  They watch it all the time and are always pretending they are Dash and Violet.  They call Russell Mr. Incredible, I am Super Mom (they can't remember her name so they call me Super Mom), and Logan is Jack Jack.  The funny thing is, Colby has the movie memorized.  He will quote the movie scenes almost perfectly.  I just laugh and ask him where he heard that.  He always tells me "On Superheros." (That is what he calls The Incredibles).  My favorite is when he quotes Syndrome (the bad guy).  He says "Lame, Lame, Lame." or "Who is your contact!?"  It cracks me up.  I think we might have to be "The Incredibles" for Halloween this year.

Logan is growing so fast too!  He is sitting up, rolling everywhere and loves watching and playing with his sister and brother.

This happy kids loves eating solid foods now.  He loves sitting in the high chair because it means food!  Even though he is only 6 months old, he knows what he wants and you better give it to him!  He is very protective of his toys.  If you try and take away one of the toys he is playing with, he gets real mad and starts cussing you out in baby talk!  He screams and squawks and grunts until his face turns red.  So don't take his toys!  He also loves his mom!  He will not go to any one else except me.  Okay he will go to Russell too but NO ONE else.  He bawls and bawls if anyone else is holding him.  On one hand I think it is cute but on the other hand I worry there are some underlying separation anxiety issues there.  Who knows.  Besides all of his cute baby qualities, he is a terrible sleeper.  The only time he will sleep is if we are holding him or in our bed.  As soon as we attempt to lay him down he wakes right up and cries until we pick him up and then he will go back to sleep.  It is so frustrating!  Oh the joys of parenthood but we can't help but love him anyway.

Here are my three little crazies!  They love bath time especially when I use bubble bath.  Logan loves the big bath too.  He splashes and kicks his legs and eats every bath toy that comes within his reach.  

Look at those two young-ens!  Also this summer, Russell and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary!  This is a picture of us 7 years ago a few months before we got married.  I don't think we have changed that much.  Russell still has his farmer tan and, well, I just have longer hair.  We have had a great 7 years and three beautiful kids to show for it.  If you would have asked me then were I would be in 7 years I don't know what I would have said but this is right where I need to be and right where I want to be!  I love you Russell!  Happy Anniversary! 

For our anniversary, we went out to eat at Red Robin.  Because both of our birthdays are in July, we got free birthday burgers so we ate out for $8!  It was awesome.  So Russell and I are getting so old!  On the bright side though, I will never be as old as Russell!  Ha ha ha!  

We have had a great summer this year.  I am liking the heat but I am ready for the cooler weather of the fall.  I love autumn time and I am looking forward to it.

Swimming

Our summer ward party was held at the St. George Swimming pool on August 16.  The party was put on by the Cub Scouts.  We had a blast swimming and getting wet.  Emily and Colby loved the big pool and Logan loved splashing in the water.  

I was glad we had their life jackets at the pool because it was easier to keep track of them.  I was also glad Colby had his life jacket because right when we got to the pool, I went to go put our stuff down and then the next thing I know, I couldn't see Colby.  I looked in the water and there was a red life jacket floating in the water.  I rushed over and grabbed Colby out of the water and I was so glad he had his life jacket on or he probably would have drown.  He was scared because I don't think he realized that the water would be so deep.  I told him and Emily that they couldn't go near the water without me.  After that they were really good about staying near me.  Later on, Russell came to the pool after his class so we were able to play a little more.  Even though I have lived in St. George my whole life, I have never been down the hydro tube at the St. George pool.  I decided that needed to change so Emily and I went down the Hydro Tube.  It was so fun!  Emily also had a blast and wanted to keep going down.  We went down three times in a row.  She was jumping up and down and excited the whole time we were in line.  Then I went down with Colby once.  He said it was scary.  We had a good time swimming at the ward party.

Fun at the Fair

The Washington County Fair was August 7 - 10 this year.  We had fun going to the fair this year.  First, we enjoyed the parade downtown on Saturday (10th).  We woke up early so we could make it to the parade at 9 in the morning.  Here are the sillies waiting for the parade to start:

Emily said her favorite part of the parade was all of the Princesses.  She loved waving at them and looking at all of their pretty dresses.  Our friend and neighbor, Brittany Fisher, is the Enterprise Rodeo Queen so it was fun to wave at her in the parade too.  Colby's favorite part of the parade was all of the candy!

We sat across from the parade announcer so during lulls in the parade, he would do different little giveaways and contests.  Emily ran across the street every time he did a contest in hopes of winning the prize.  She came back with more candy each time.  

And here we are after the parade.  As you can see we got so much candy.  Logan even caught a Frisbee!  Literally he caught it because they person threw it right into the stroller!  Luckily it didn't hit too hard.  This kept Logan busy during the whole parade and finally he fell asleep toward the end.

That night, we picked Russell up from work and headed out to the fairgrounds.  As we walked through the exhibits, we got our picture taken by the Fair photographers.  Of course we had to wear some of the funny props:

After we walked though all of the exhibits and vendor booths, we went to the petting zoo for the kids.

Emily and Colby liked seeing all of the animals.  Emily wasn't afraid to pet them but Colby didn't want to.  He was content just looking but didn't want to get too close.

Then it was time for some more fun.  We headed out to the Carnival rides.  We have never take the kids on the Carnival rides before but we though they were old enough this year to go on a few rides.  Let me tell you they had a blast!

They were able to go on three rides.  They rode the jeep ride first and I have never seen Colby smile so big!  He loved driving the jeep around.  Colby and Emily were laughing the whole time.  The next ride they went on was the Flying Ladybug/Dragon ride.  They wanted to ride this one because it reminded them of Dragon Tales.  Because of this, I thought they would ride in a dragon but they chose a ladybug instead.  Definitely another fun one. 

The last ride they went on was the Train Ride.  They also loved this one because they got to be in the engine car driving the train.  They had fun going around and around the track.  Logan was content just sitting in the stroller and chilling. I think he liked all of the bright, flashing lights around him.  

While the kids were on the train ride, they got to watch the fireworks.  We all love fireworks so it was fun to be right under them watching them from the excitement of the Carnival.  Finally, we had all of the fun we could take for one night and decided we better head home.  

 By the time we got home, all three kids had passed out.  They definitely had too much fun at the fair!

Like we usually do, Russell and I entered a few things into the fair this year:

Russell entered the rocking chair and race track he made for Colby and came away with a red and white ribbon and $13!  I entered Emily's butterfly quilt, my diaper bag, Emily's backpack, Colby's Toms, a jar of our apricot jam, and salsa, and my brick Bug.   I came away with all blue ribbons and $41!  We were pretty excited about the money we made!  

We had fun at the fair this year.  The kids can't wait to go back!

6 Months

I can't believe Logan is 6 months old! Where has the year gone?  This happy little baby is still growing!  He weighs almost 19 lbs (70 percentile) and is 28.5 inches tall (98 percentile).  Here is our happy little slugger:

Logan is so much fun.  He is always smiling.  Logan can sit by himself and loves to reach for everything.  We have to keep everything out of his reach because his long arms get into anything.  Logan also likes to roll around all over the front room.  He is also very wiggly.  

Logan is chatty too.  He likes to squawk and scream and make deep cooing noises.  I am teaching him Pat-A-Cake and he will clap his hands whenever I sing it to him.  He likes to rolls his arms and wiggle his feet when he gets excited.  Logan is a mama's boy though.  He does not like anyone else to hold him except me or Russell.  He will cry so hard if someone else holds him.  He must think I am going to leave him if someone else is holding him.  He does like to sit and play with toys usually.  His new favorite toy is a ball.  He got so excited when I brought it out and Colby had a blast rolling it to Logan.

Here are my cute little boys!  

We have started feeding Logan solids now.  He really does not care for food and it is usually a mess to feed him.  He is getting better but still doesn't really like it.  His favorite so far has been bananas and sweet potatoes.  I gave him an apple slice to suck on and he loved it.

Yummy!  I have also tried giving him little cereal puffs and yogurt bites but he doesn't care for them either and makes the funniest sour faces when I put one in his mouth.  Hopefully he will start liking food soon because he can't just drink milk his whole life!  Happy 1/2 birthday Logan, my handsome little man!