Breaking out!

Being home with this new little baby is quite the treat but it has also brought on a case of CABIN FEVER! I told Dave that we had to go somewhere, anywhere, over the 24th of July holiday weekend. I just needed to get out. And be gone. From my house. The best thing we could come up with was a nice relaxing weekend in Heber. I know, not too exciting but I've learned that the uneventful vacation destination is made eventful just by towing along 4 kids. Never a dull moment. Just ask my parents- they came along.

We spent Thursday in the Uinta Mountains. We met up with my brother Micah and his family at Bonnie Lake. It's a little lake back in the woods behind mile marker 33, which is where we always camped growing up. I made the unfortunate mistake of telling Sara she needed to wear pants to keep her safe from the mosquitos. This brought on the question, "Mommy, what are mosquitos?" Have you ever tried to explain to a three year old what a mosquito is? No easy task. I couldn't even get her out of the car once we finally arrived because she was absolutely mortified of mosquitos. And once we pulled her out of the car, she wailed and would not hit the trail to the lake for fear of those dadgum mosquitos. Finally grandpa came to the rescue and carried her on his shoulders. And the entire time we hiked- "Is that a mosquito? Where are the mosquitos? Are they going to get us?" It was ridiculous.



It was a short hike to the lake. Dave helped Taylor get his fishing rod in the water. Taylor and Sara are so funny. Last year we bought each of them a fishing pole. Pole. We call them fishing POLES. But for some reason Taylor and Sara call them fishing RODS. We can't figure out where on earth they learned to call them that because neither Dave nor I say fishing rod. Anyway, Taylor had the attention span to fish for a couple minutes and then he was off exploring with Ethan.



Dave, on the other hand, had a great time wandering away from us and fishing. He didn't catch any fish. Well, he did get a bite but it managed to wriggle itself off the hook before he was able to reel it in. My brother Micah snagged 2 or 3. Micah was nice enough to let Taylor claim one of the fish as his own.



The little girls had a great time at the lake- thanks to grandma! Only my mom would come fishing equipped with fingernail polish and lipstick. The little girls were in heaven. Sara was able to set her inner diva aside for a minute to get some fishing in- it had a little something to do with catching a fish and a LOT to do with her Barbie fishing pole. Grandpa got it all fixed up and she had her 1 minute of fishing, though she was very upset and frusturated when we left and she hadn't caught a fish yet. Looks like we need to take the kids to a fish farm next time where catching fish is inevitable. It seems that the idea of fishing is much more exciting than the actual process.

Livvy, as usual, was all over the place. There is no stopping that child. No obstacle is too great. While we were fishing, she just took off up the hill behind us. It was steep and covered in rocks and fallen trees but it didn't seem to phase her. For some reason I thought this log would stop her (kind of like a baby gate) but hello- this is Livvy. She took the log on and won, stopping to take off her shoes and socks at one point.



After our fishing adventure, we went to Mirror Lake for a nice picnic. It didn't take us long to be tired of swatting mosquitoes and so we bid our cousins farewell and headed back to our motel.

Which brings me to another subject. The Motel. When we made the reservation we actually thought we were staying in a little Inn or Bed & Breakfast type place. No. Not so much. We pulled up on the busiest road in Heber to our MOTEL. It was fine though. It had a pool and a play area for the kids so it turned out to be a good time.

Check out that cool red swing! It was Taylor's favorite. This was actually Livvy's first time on a big kid swing. My mom didn't realize that when she put her on the swing. One push and bam- little baby was on her bum on the ground. It was kind of funny. She didn't seem to mind. She stood up and wanted right back on.



We stayed right next to the Dairy Keen, which is apparently all the rage in Heber. The motel and the Dairy Keen are owned by the same people. We took the kids to eat at the Dairy Keen. It was actually very good. The restaurant has a train theme. There is a train table outside for the kids to sit at. They even have a hamburger called "The Train". And so, keeping up with their theme, the kids meals have railroad engineer hats in them.

Check out Sara getting herself all suited up for the pool, hat and all.



A few other essentials were also wrapped up in our trip- golf, shopping, swimming, and sleep.

We packed up and headed home on Saturday, deciding to stop at a little place called Cascade Springs. And once again, brilliant mommy that I am, I put my foot in my mouth. While driving through the canyon, I asked the kids, "What animals do you think live in the woods?" Okay. Bad Bad Bad question to ask with Sara in the car. So, of course, still not realizing that I was digging myself into a hole, I mentioned that bears live in the mountains and mountain lions. And then Taylor mentioned the deers (his word, not mine). And Sara mentioned the bunnies. Bunnies. That is the level Sara is on. Bunnies live in the woods. I need to remember that. So then for the next 20 minutes of driving we had to talk about bears. "Bears eat people. Bears are scary. Bears live in the woods? Are we going to get eaten by bears? Are we still in the woods?" When will I learn? So you can only imagine the content of our conversations while hiking around Cascade Springs. Oh me oh my!

Christmas in July

While other children are out running through sprinklers and splashing in pools in the 100 degree heat, mine are emptying out the coat closet and putting on a winter fashion show. They are a bunch of crazy koots!





She really is having a good time...

Magoon

Last week we tagged along with my sister Kristina to Lagoon. Her work sponsors a Lagoon day packed full of discounts and free food. And so, for the second year in a row, we were not about to let this opportunity pass us by. Dave was able to get out of work early and off we went with grandparents, cousins, and of course, Kristina.

I let the kids know a couple days in advance that we were going to be spending a day at Lagoon. Telling them things like this works as a double edged sword. On the one hand, I can use the information as bribery for good behavior but on the other hand, I have to listen to them asking about it all day everyday until we go. And bless Sara's little heart, information goes in her ears and out of her mouth completely different. After she found out we were going, she talked about and asked about "Magoon" all week long. No matter how many times I corrected her, she still kept asking about "Magoon".

We decided not to take Olivia along and lucky for us, Aunt Amy was happy to take her for the day. Thanks Amy!

We spent the first couple hours swimming at Lagoon-a beach.

Now if this isn't a good time, I don't know what is. Uncle Mark decided to take Sara for a ride in her life jacket. The life jacket ride lost its charm once she realized she had a life jacket wedgy.



I never in a million years would have picked this ride out to be the kid's favorite but it turned out to be the hit of the day. It had everything to do with the gun on top, which Taylor called "the laser".



Sara had a great time pal-ing around with her little cousin Emma. They really were so cute all day.



Despite having Spencer with us, I was actually able to go on a couple rides. I rode Jet Star 2 with Dave. After standing up from that ride, I realized that maybe I shouldn't be riding any kind of roller coaster 3 weeks after having a baby. Yah...

Overall it was a great day. We had a fun time watching the kids and being with family. Thanks Kristina!

Resistance is futile

I know. How dare I up and have a baby and not post updates and pictures? I admit to being selfish and keeping this little happy-happy-joy-joy all to myself. He is just so perfect and I have been enjoying every moment of his new little life (except maybe being awake at 3 am).

Right after he was born they placed his screaming little self in my arms. I snuggled him close and began talking to him. As soon as he heard my voice, he quieted down, opened his eyes and looked up at me. He just sat there listening to me and looking at me. I felt an instant connection. He had my heart from that moment on.

Spencer turned 4 weeks today. You know what that means. This post is going to be oozing with all the finer details of the first few weeks of his life. Years from now he won't be able to throw the "I'm the fourth child and you didn't fill out my baby book or take pictures of me" card because bam! we live and breathe by the blog. We are updated. All. The. Time.

Back to Spenny- He is so cute, sweet, and squeaky. I am just loving him!

How could you not just love this little face? 4 days old.



We have a couple different things we like to call him. The first being Spenny. Spenny Spoo (with the occasional 'Spenny Spew' thrown in for obvious reasons). Taylor and Sara's #1 reference to Spencer is "the baby brother". Sara always says, "Mom, can I hold 'the baby brother'?" Uh, sure. His name is Spencer. Funny kids.

Don't mind Sara and the Medusa hair. Sara really is a good big sister. She loves to sing to him, bounce him in his bouncy chair, and make sure he is always covered with a blanket (but not his face- we have made that VERY clear). Spencer 4 days old.



Taylor loves "the baby brudder". About 3 weeks old.



Spencer was born with a full-ish head of hair- a bit sparse on top but still, it was there! Just the other day I noticed he was bald on top. Seriously. One day he had hair and the next day, it was gone. I was kind of stumped as to how it could have happened that fast. It took me a couple of days to figure things out. See, being the fourth child and all, Spencer doesn't get bathed everyday or even every other day or even every other other day. You get the idea. So it had been a few days. I gave him a bath, including a good scrub of the head. Apparently it was too good of a scrub and I scrubbed the kid bald. I think an entire layer of skin came off his head because after he was out of the tub and dryed off- his head was flaking. I had to rub his head with a towel. Rub some more. Apply lotion. The whole works. I can't have a flaky-headed kid. So there you have it- Spencer is now sporting the old man hair-do.

Here he is at 4 weeks. I just love that little body. And this picture does a great job of showing off his new do.



One thing I stewed over before he was born was how sad I was that he was going to grow so fast. I know, WEIRDO. I'm a weirdo, I admit it. I worry for the sake of worrying sometimes. And yes, I had reason to worry because this little boy is in some kind of a rush to get bigger. And isn't it strange how it just suddenly happens? One minute I am folding the newborn diapers down because he is so darn tiny and what do you know, the next day the diaper is an inch or two below his belly button. I don't get it. When do they grow so darn fast and since it's so fast, why can't we actually see it happening?

Here he is looking all hunkered down for the winter... in June. 3 days old.



Spencer has a bit of baby acne which of course, I DON'T LIKE ONE BIT but I guess it's not all that bad. I've swapped stories with other mothers and apparently it could be much worse. Nothing like one-upping someone on the baby acne thing... "You think your kid is ugly? You should see mine!" Okay...

He has already survived being picked up out of his bouncy seat and then laid on by Livvy. Yes, I about had a cow but we survived it. Or I should say, good thing Livvy survived it because I wanted to string her up. Naughty little thing.

This is not the time when Livvy pulled him out of his bouncy seat. This picture took place in what I like to call "a controlled environment". 3 days old.



Spencer smiles all the time. I hope this is a reflection of his happy little countenance. I know it means nothing yet but I've never had such a smily newborn. It's so sweet.

I shouldn't say he smiles all the time. He wasn't too happy about his first bath at home. 6 days old.



Overall, Spencer is such a good baby. He sleeps well, eats well, poops well, grows well and did I mention, he smells so good! Taylor asked me the other day, "Mom, why does he smell like that? Do girl babies smell like that too?" Nothing is better than that fresh baby scent. I love this little guy!

All buttered up

I have noticed lately that my life seems to parallel episodes of Seinfeld. In most cases I'm going to have to say that this is not a good thing because while watching Seinfeld I am usually doing one (or all) of three things: 1. Laughing; 2. Cringing; 3. Finding enjoyment in the mockery and downfall of darn near everything & anything.

While blogging the other day (always gets me into trouble) I seemed to have forgotten that I have a 2-year-old that lives and breathes mischief. I suddenly realized it was much too quiet for anything good to be going on and ran to find her. I had forgotten to put away my gigantor tub of butter after making the kids some toast a few minutes earlier. She was on the counter rubbing buttery goodness all over her body.

I instantly had a flash of Kramer standing in Jerry's apartment looking shiny & bronzed and covered in butter. I can't remember the details but somehow Newman was involved because the aroma had reached his apartment and he thought it was a turkey cooking or something? Too funny. So there you have it, I guess Livvy just may be the Kramer of the family. Ha!



And if you are wondering about other parallels, let me just say, the episode where George tries to return the book and they won't allow him to return it because they know he used it while sitting on the toilet- that episode certainly doesn't apply here... and neither does the episode where Kramer has people sleeping in drawers in his apartment... And just in case you are wondernig, we don't have a garbage disposal in our shower. Really, we don't.

the drive-in

Last weekend we piled blankets, pillows, camping chairs, and treats into the mini-van and took our kids to the drive-in to see Kung Fu Panda. Unknowingly, we also brought along a couple unwanted guests- Vomit and Diarrhea. Fortunately, the kids weren't the ones to get sick and they quite enjoyed the show. Livvy spent the entire time trying to escape which drove us NUTSO but really, should we expect anything less from her?

The next day the kids were so excited to tell everyone all about the drive-in, or more specifically how daddy threw up all over the front tire. Just what everyone wanted to hear. Needless to say, we don't encourage them to talk about the drive-in anymore.

Earlier in the day I had stopped at Costco to buy a few things. I didn't want to make any more stops so I picked up some treats for the movie. What was I thinking buying super-sized treats from Costco? I guess I was thinking I was buying treats for a baseball park full of movie watchers. I am rather proud of myself for NOT buying the big huge can of nacho cheese sauce. I had to call Dave on the phone and have him talk me out of it. Because really, I do love me some nachos. Dave doesn't though and of course it was a ginormous can- it would have been a waste of $10. But I would have loved it. Or I guess I should say I would have loved to have loved it if I hadn't been feeling sick.

Overall, the drive-in was fun and even though Dave pitched his cookies between movies, we did stay and watch Indiana Jones. Can't go to the drive-in and not see a double feature! I was hoping Taylor would fall asleep and not watch Indiana Jones but he stayed wide awake, probably because he was scared out of his mind. He moved over and sat by Dave when things got a bit scary. The girls fell asleep and we breathed a sigh of relief- no more chasing Livvy. Bless her.

So if anyone is up to seeing Wall-E, we just might be hitting the drive-in again. And this time we will be sure that no uninvited guests come along for the ride.

July 4th

I guess I'm a little behind in posting about the 4th of July. We had a fun day with me spending the first half of it sleeping in my bed. Can the day get any better than that? Dave mowed the lawn. We made food and headed on over to my parent's house for a bbq. It was a good dose of family, food, fun, and fireworks with a little swimming and croquet on the side.

Taylor and Ethan (or as Taylor calls him- "Esan") displaying their see-food.



A little croquet anyone? Dave is a big croquet fan and Taylor has now followed suite. Or maybe it was just because he was the oldest child there and the light turned on and he actually understood the concept of the game.



I have decided to make it a tradition to get everyone in the family new clothes for the 4th. Not necessarily matchy-matchy (Dave would rather die) but just something red, white, blue or a variation of all three. This year I was a little behind in my clothes purchasing and didn't find Dave anything during my last minute clothes binge at Old Navy. I felt bad but I'm sure he was more happy than sad.

He grabbed this red plaid shirt from his closet. It was missing a button. And wouldn't you know it folks, the guy sewed on his own button. I was impressed. I guess he didn't go on a mission for nothing. His mom would be so proud.



We watched the Sandy City fireworks from a hill over by Jordan High School. The kids had a great time. This was mostly because #1- Russ and Nat were there to provide entertainment for them and #2- Russ and Nat located the kids some glow sticks. So you see, we can credit a successful night at the fireworks solely to Russ and Nat. We have to enjoy these happy aunt and uncle times while we can because once their rugrat arrives on the scene- our kids won't be so cute anymore (to them anyway).



Afterwards, we came back to my parents house and set off our own fireworks in the street. We didn't get home until after midnight. Isn't that what holidays are all about? All regular behavior out the window to make way for celebration and pandemonium? Pretty much.

The headband-

Sara totally gets it- Livvy, not so much. She kind of looks like an 80s aerobics instructor, what with that mullet peeking out from under the headbands.

Livvy turns 2

My Livvy turned 2 on the 28th of June. Where has the time gone? Not only is she 2, she isn't even the baby of the family anymore. CrAzY! I had big plans to do a Care Bear birthday party for her but come to find out- they have discontinued the Care Bears birthday party line. What? Must there always be something stepping in to foil my party plans? The answer is YES. However, I was not deterred. I quickly made a change of plans and we celebrated Livvy's birthday My Little Pony style.

I have spent the last month or two trying to get her excited about her birthday. She just has not gotten it. AT ALL. In fact, I still don't think she even knew what in the heck was going on at her party.

Classic Olivia- during her party she and her cousin Zoey went upstairs into the bathroom and found the toothpaste (that gross blue-glitter kid toothpaste) and proceeded to wipe it all over themselves and the carpet. Now Zoey kept herself under control (the word 'control' is all relative when you consider we are talking about an almost 2 year old) and only got a little in her hair and on her hands. Livvy, on the other hand, had smeared toothpaste on each of her legs, both arms, and clothes. So much for dressing the kid in a cute birthday outfit... For once in her life she actually avoided her hair. Birthday bliss. And darn it- I was too involved in damage control to even get any pictures! I love pictures. Oh well.

After she was all changed and cleaned up, we brought out the cake. While everyone was singing Happy Birthday to her she just looked around the room wide-eyed. And then when we came to the words "Happy Birthday Dear Olivia", she looked at me like "hey, are they singing to me?" Yep, kiddo. Party. for. you. Catch on.



She did a great job of blowing out her candles without completely spraying the entire cake. Impressive for a 2 year old. Her cousin Ethan reached in and grabbed a candle to lick off the frosting. Livvy followed his lead. Only problem is- she didn't realize that he was licking off the candle- not actually eating the candle. So yes, she took a nice bite of candle.

Here she is spitting it back out...


It never fails just how quickly kids figure out the "ALL these gifts are for ME?" thing. Look at that happy face.



Livvy was showered with many gifts but true to her baby-obsession form, one look at this flower baby from Regan, Hali, Porter, and Zoey and she could not get it out of the box fast enough. She just kept saying "baby baby baby" until it was freed from its packaging.



So there you have it- Livvy's birthday party. It was a good time. I just love to throw parties for each of the kids on their birthday. It's a nice way to let them know they are loved.

We are so happy to have Livvy as part of our family. She has SO MUCH ENERGY. As hard as that can be at times, it can also be so much fun. She loves to love and to be loved. She loves to pull off her diapers and shower my house in her business. But still, I love her. We all love her cuz she is just so darn cute and so darn Livvy!

Mr. Mom

A couple days before we went to the hospital to have the baby, Dave was lamenting the fact that he would have more responsibilities around the house during my recovery. We were joking around about it at the time but in all reality, he was dead serious and not looking forward to his temporary role as both mom and dad.

I am happy to say that we (and by we, I mean DAVE) have successfully made it through a week or more of new baby and things are good. Dave may have some rather unconventional ways of "helping" around the house but all children are alive and accounted for. Apparently playing Rock Band as loud as possible, because "the louder the better" is soothing for the baby. I tend to think it has dulled Spencer's senses but what do I know? I'm not the dr around here...

Sara came running into me the other day giddy over her new hair-do. I asked her who had helped her with it and she proudly announced "daddy". One question: How does he do it? If I had conjured up that hair-do, there would have been weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. I guess daddy just has the magic touch.



I mean, look at that part- who knew Dave was capable of such a thing? Now I just need to introduce him to the flat iron...



The other night the kids wanted a treat before they went to bed. And Dave's response, "You get to brush your teeth for dessert". That stopped them dead in their tracks and had them looking at him like "What the...?" That's right kids, it's time for daddy to go back to work.

Thanks for being such a trooper Dave! Yesterday he started back at work. I know he didn't want to but at the same time I'm sure he couldn't have pulled out of the driveway faster. And really, I don't blame him.