The First Fruits of Our Labor

Here are the first fruits of our labor, people (literally): Will and this ginormous cucumber. Both are extra yummy.

Some more of our little Will.

Will with his mama, who, surprisingly enough did not do her hair that day. Oh wait, she never does her hair any more. Oh wait, she's lucky if she showers and puts on makeup...She's DYING for a hair cut! Any ideas for a new do?

We Meet Baby Sam!

Josh's brother and his wife had a baby at the end of June and we could hardly wait to meet him. So, a week and a half ago we traveled north to visit our favorite Vermonters and got to meet cute Baby Sam. Of course, we had fun with Beth, too! Lucky for us, Granny (Josh's mom) was there, so we got to see her as well. It was a fun weekend, though I am sure Amy was ready to be free of us (thanks for letting us invade your house, Amy!)

Beth loooooooooves Will (she loves babies in general, but especially her cousins). Look at Will's face. Gotta love it.
The three babes. A little blurry b/c of my expert photographing ability.
How do you get three kids to look at the camera at once?
Ahhh...all three kiddos looking at the camera! Finally.

My favorite Bethisms over the weekend:

• When she was playing with the two babies, Will and Sam, at once, she was in HEAVEN. She was dancing around and singing: "I have a baby family! I have a baby family!"

• Beth's mom, Amy, has a pee-pee tee-pee for Baby Sam so he won't pee all over when she is changing his diaper. So, one night we had a fire and Beth's dad stacked the kindling in a tee-pee formation in the fire pit. When Beth came out and saw the kindling she shouted: "It's a pee-pee tee-pee! It's a pee-pee tee-pee" And, sure enough, it did look just like a pee-pee tee-pee. That girl! We love her. I always want to take her home with us--she is such a joy and loves Will so very much!
  

Because I couldn't resist....

I couldn't resist snapping this photo one night when he was in dream land. He is so cute when he sleeps, bum all up in the air. Plus, he usually crawls to the corner of the crib and snuggles in. Since he gets his arm caught sometimes between the crib and the mattress, I try to move him away from the corner before I go to bed. However, he always finds his way back there. Sometimes he even wakes up with crazy hair because of how he sleeps, just like his dad!

Mobile!

So this kid is a crack-up. He is so very close to crawling. He gets up on all fours, rocks back and forth, and sometimes just hops forward like a frog. For some CRAZY reason, he finds it so much easier to crawl while on our bed. I think the softness helps him. Who knows? He also can really book it in his crib because that mattress is a little more firm and he doesn't get so stuck. However, the crib is a much more confined space and he ends up banging his head against the side of it once he's crawled to the other end. Don't you worry, though, for that does not deter him--he just keeps on trying to crawl even whilst banging his head. I have to hurry and get him from his naps so he doesn't injure himself. The best, though, is in the bath tub--he tries to crawl and slips and falls, yet he tries and tries again, all the while falling and slipping and splashing. Sometimes he gets so very frustrated from his lack of mobility. He just sits on his tummy, and waves his arms and legs and whines. We call this his swimming move. Ahhh...I LOVE this boy.

Pictures of his attempts at crawling on our bed:

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Running through my mind...

Last night, as I was lying in bed, desperately trying to get some much-needed sleep and failing miserably, these phrases kept running through my mind:

• But she just doesn't know, should she stay should she go, but YES the hippopotamus!
• We hippos love our belly b's, they're cute and round and funny. And there's a place we take them to when summer days are sunny.
• BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Mr. Brown is a Wonder! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Mr. Brown makes thunder!
• Mother Hubbard in the cellar, I spy Cinderella.

Yes, running through my mind when I should be peacefully sleeping were the words of some of Will's favorite books (a gold star to any of you who can name all four books). Will loves to read and I love to read to him (as does his daddy; see photos below). But as you can imagine, we are getting bored of the ten board books we have (most of Sandra Boynton's books, a couple Eric Carle and one Dr. Seuss among a few others). Sooooo, we turn to our blogging friends to get some recommendations for some new books. Tell us some of your favorite books (preferably board books, but any will do) so that we can expand our repertoire of books!

Reading time with dada. Whenever the camera comes out, all he can do is stare at it like it is some fancy contraption.

Potty Trained Already?

I know what you're thinking: there is NO way that even I, as wonderful and brilliant as I am, could have possibly potty-trained my 5-month-old already. Well, I haven't, but I'm pretty sure I could if I wanted to, for I have found that my son is a very consistent pottier. For instance, take off his diaper and he's bound to go number 1, letting it fly everywhere, even if you are somehow unprepared and all you have to protect yourself from said stream is a stuffed dog lying close by (poor doggy). Then, put on a brand-spanking new, COSTLY diaper and BAM: he's sure to go number 2. So you see, all I need to do is take him to the toilet at these specific times and VOILA--he's potty trained. And you people make it sound so hard.....

Here are some pictures of the cute little culprit:

He's just mastered sitting on his own, though it only lasts about three seconds before he topples over, so I am VERY lucky to get it on film.

Always something coming out of his head. I guess I'm too lazy to "stage" the photos.

Happy 4th!

Just wanted to post a few pictures of the peanut's first 4th. We had a great, relaxing, calm day. The weather was gorgeous--78 degrees and NO HUMIDITY!!! Will slept in, took two fat naps and then we all ate some yummy hot dogs on our fire pit with some friends and played a fun lawn game called Kubb, which Josh and I won, by the way (not to brag, but we're pretty much awesome). Will went to bed and Josh and I took baths (yes, baths since our hot-water heater is broken, so we had to warm some water on the stove to bathe in, but bathing is necessary after a smelly, smoky fire) and then we went to bed. I know, our lives are exciting, right?

Will and his mama on the fourth of July (don't you love his little hand, cuddling with me?).

Will and his dada. Cute hat, eh?

Palmyra, People!

What do you get when you decide to:

• drive six hours in the car with an almost 5-month-old
• attend the temple for the first time since said 5-month-old was born
• sleep in the same hotel room with aforementioned 5-month-old
• visit authentic church history sites
• eat at a yummy local cafe that came highly recommended (from Annie & Granny)
• shop-til-you-drop at the outlets where your husband usually refuses to stop?

You get:

• three hours of a screaming, squirrely baby (he was good for half of each car ride....)
• spiritual replenishment
• a good night's sleep...Will did great sleeping in the hotel's port-a-crib IN THE BATHROOM!
• wet, wet, wet! (it rained and rained and rained and then rained some more)
• yucky, greasy pizza since said local cafe was closed for the week b/c the owner went out of town (couldn't anyone ELSE run it?? Gotta love small towns)!
• great deals and some much-needed shopping for post-baby clothes (I could have shopped for DAYS; Will and his father, on the other hand, could not).

Yes, that sums up our short visit to Palmyra, NY. It was good, wet fun and we'll be happy to do it again soon! Enjoy the pics.

Will playing with the hotel's princess ball.
Josh and Will in the sacred grove....bad picture b/c it was WET and I didn't have an umbrella. I did, however, get to wear Josh's dad's awesome purple rain jacket that he bought in 1980 and then gave to Josh (Josh, brilliantly, threw it the trunk of the car in case of rain emergency. And this was just the case: rain emergency. I am not a boy scout like Josh, so had NOT packed my rain gear). I looked hot. Sorry no pictures to document my beauty.

More of Will. Look--he's putting the ball in his mouth--SURPRISE!
Josh and Will in Joseph Smith's barn, with Joseph Smith's frame home in the background.
The barn, the kid and the hubby.
Will and his chins (yes, plural).
More rainy, blurry sacred grove.