Parker loves his blanket, too!

(May 26th, 2011)

Parker likes his fuzzy blanket just like Lincoln likes his fuzzy blanket. Now he will grab his fuzzy blanket and bring it to his face to help him fall asleep.

Sharing Toys

(May 24, 2011)

Sometimes Lincoln is such a good big brother.

For example - he shares his toys.

Lincoln with "A"* & "B"**

* "A" is what Lincoln calls his stuffed elephant. He's beginning to call it "A-phant".
** "B" is what Lincoln calls his blanket.

These are Lincoln's 2 favorite things in the world. He brings them everywhere (but I try really hard to keep them at HOME. I still have to wash them both about once per week or every other week. That's when we bring A to the washing machine to take a bath! :)

MBA-er

(May 14th, 2011)

My friend from Idaho, Emily, & her family came to visit about a month ago. Christian just graduated from BYU with his MBA - congrats!!! They've since moved to Colorado so we will see them even less frequently. You guys are still welcome here anytime!

We went to dinner and a movie (Thor - pretty good!) - which we haven't done for probably close to a year...! Wow it sure is nice to get a break from the babies!

They went golfing so we watched Carly for a morning.
We went swimming.
(see the garden? it's more than double the size now!)

Lincoln hated it.

Carly loves babies so I let her hold Parker.
He almost looks bigger than you, Carly!!!

Sporting the Plaid

When do you think we will look back at pictures of us wearing plaid shorts and say, "What were we thinking??"

ps.. Kinda funny.. love his "lounge" pose.

pps.. All this picture needs is a little sister tucked in Lincoln's right side. :)

ppps.. Is that weird I'm already thinking of baby #3?

Stuck in the Swing

Lincoln's cousin, Flora May, is a climber. Lincoln is not.

Chores

Lincoln is starting to help me with the cleaning around the house.

1. He throws his own diapers away (but refuses to touch Parker's - "Ew.. yucky dia-pah")
2. Picks up his own toys
3. Cleans up the spilled Cheerios (ok... so he eats them... same result)
4. He LOVES, loves, LOOOOVES helping me vacuum (more like he loves an excuse to run around and scream)
5. He helps me weed the garden (well... I guess he just picks the leaves off the tomato plants until I notice and threaten to spray him in the face with the hose... haha... am I mean? Jesse thinks so.)
6. And he's still learning this one:
   

Lincoln, Mommy needs the kitchen swept, not the outside balcony.

Parker's feeling left out of this post.

Lincoln's Words

Lincoln has developed quite the vocabulary! Here are some of his words:

"Ung-gunk's" ...... Lincoln's
"Kuck" ...... Truck
"Tee" ...... Tree
"Teet" ...... Treat
"Die-pah" or sometimes "die-PER" ...... Diaper
"Uh oh, ing-gun" ...... Uh-oh, Lincoln
"Ay-pimm" ...... Airplane
"Bog-idge" ...... Garbage
"Ferris" ...... Horse (that one is a stretch, Lincoln...)
"Tow" ("ow" said like ou in "ouch") ...... cow
"Ay-oo" ...... I love you.
"Pace" ...... Prayers
"Back-in" ...... Vacuum
"Coh's" ...... Clothes
"Pup" ...... Sippy cup
"Baw-oh" ...... Bottle (finally off them, but he continues to ask for them when thirsty, tired or sad)
"Sa-mench" or just "mench" ...... Sandwich
"Dow-nairs" ...... Downstairs (where his toys and the tv are)
"Paw-ee" ...... Potty
"Buhd" ...... Bird
"Da-N" ("da" said like dad, "N" said like "the letter n sounds like 'N' ") ...... That one

The better-pronounced words:
Nigh-Night
All gone
All done
Milk
Juice
Go bye-bye
Outside
Poop
Train & choo-choo
Blue

He's also beginning to string words together, like "Big Lincoln's truck." Pretty fun! And nice that he can communicate better!

More Downtown Splash Pad

(4-29-2011)

Lincoln with his cousin, Flora May. I think they like climbing on the rocks more than actual splashing. Maybe after it (finally) gets hot they will enjoy the water more.

Being careful...

When they're high up on a rock, they get down and crawl.

And here's a little video of them climbing on the rock

(that's Parker hiccuping in the background)

CURRENT Photos!

These pictures are from TODAY!

Ha.

And you thought I'd never catch up.

Well, I haven't. I thought I'd show you my boys anyway. :) The pictures really are from today, though. (I'm not that far behind anymore. I have a bunch of pictures on my camera from the last 3 weeks or so... almost. caught. up.)

We went shopping to Costco (and bought a 10-man tent... have you seen that giant thing hanging from the ceiling..??? Hopefully it makes our camping trip this weekend 3 & 1/3rd times more comfortable than our 3-man tent was... is that how it works...? The bigger, the better, right?). I was doing some pricing for our meal Saturday, and to make it easier, I just took pictures of the prices. That way I could do it at home where I wouldn't have 2 babies driving me nuts.. (they are both napping now... ahhh...). Lincoln kept wanting to see the pictures I was taking. That explains the 3rd photo. :)

Parker sleepin'

Lincoln chewin'

Lincoln complainin'

(Does that last picture of Lincoln remind you of me? For some reason that face of Lincoln's reminds me more of myself than any other picture I've seen of him.)

Catching Parker's Early Smiles

Here are a couple attempts to get Parker's first few smiles when he was 3 weeks old.

(3-15-2011)

(3-16-2011)

Garden

(3-31-2011)

Here is a before shot of my square foot garden:

4' X 8' raised garden bed

New to Square Foot Gardening? It is a method of gardening that is supposed to minimize your effort and maximize your produce in minimal space. Instead of rows (great for mass-production & commercialization) you use a 4' X 4' garden system: 1 square foot per type of plant. For example: tomato plants should be planted 12 inches apart, so in the center of 1 square foot, you have 1 tomato plant. Beets should be planted 4 inches apart, so a 3X3 arrangement of 9 beet plants in 1 square foot.

Interested?

More info HERE.
Amazon sells the book All New Square Foot Gardening HERE.

Also love the book Carrots Love Tomatoes book about companion planting.
(More info on companion planting HERE.)
(Amazon sells the book HERE.)

And since I'm telling you all my gardening secrets (Ha.), I'm also trying out The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control sold HERE on Amazon.

Buddies

The next few posts will be pictures taken from my cell phone.

(3-4-2011)

Flora May & Lincoln

Smiles from Parker!

(4-28-2011)

Here is Parker a little more than 2 months old. He had been smiling for more than a month, so it was about time I got it on camera. He is pretty easy to get smiling - he's a cutie!!

Parker's 2 month stats:
12 lbs, 2.5 oz
24 inches (that's debatable... the same girl at his 2-week check measured him shorter than his birth length... so probably more like 24.5 inches)

Don't you love the double chin?

What you lookin' at?

Every time I get him laughing (a few giggles at a time, anyway), he gets the hiccups, guaranteed. Why is that?

New Bike Trailer!

(4-25-2011)

My parents gave us a bike trailer they weren't using much, that they inherited from someone who wasn't using it much. (This one HERE and HERE.) It was pretty old, and there were a few things I really didn't like (i.e. type of attachment to the bike, the cover, missing pieces to convert to a jogging stroller). Now that the weather is nicer, and we have TWO kids, I thought it was a good time to invest in a new one.

I LOVE it!

In jogging stroller mode:

They have them at Costco right now if you are interested!

The old way of attaching the trailer to the bike was via clamps to the bike frame near the rear axle. The new way is a coupler that actually fits right onto the axle. It feels a lot safer and is a lot easier to get on/off the bike.

Laguna Beach

(4-20-2011)

A few times a year Jesse seems to visit Los Angeles for work. I've been with him a few times, now, and this time I joined him there after he was done with his work. My brother & his family live in L.A., so I thought we could visit them (but they were in San Diego for spring break), and also just get away. We hadn't been anywhere further than a 100 miles since I was 5-6 months pregnant. So it was a nice change. Lincoln stayed with Mimi, where he had a blast!

Me, Jesse, & Parker (2 months old)

(sorry about not getting your face in that picture, Parker...)

Jesse & Parker

Parker Rolled Over!

(4-7-11)

Parker - 6 weeks old

Okay.. so he was propped up on a pillow and it was more of an accident...

Downtown Splash Pad

(4-11-11)

Since Idaho (where I'm from.. so hello to you Idaho readers!) doesn't have them, I feel the need to explain what a splash pad is. Basically, it's an area (usually by/in a park) that has water pouring, sprinkling, squirting, and/or running (i.e. like a small stream) over a non-slip area... with a drain to re-cycle the water. It's perfect for a warm climate like Saint George, when the pools are over-crowded and you have children of multiple ages. I'm not sure how many there are here... but quite a few.

This was the first time of the year Lincoln went to the splash pad. It was pretty late in the day, so it was kind of getting cold. It's pretty nice having a kid that doesn't mind the cold.

This splash pad has little waterfalls.
Lincoln & Jesse

He was so busy... no time for pictures..

A close up

Splashing with his feet

In her pajamas... Flora thought it was too cold.

She sure enjoyed watching Lincoln, though!

And here's a short little clip of it.

Rachel's Baby Shower

(4-8-11 to 4-10-11)

My sister, Rachel, had a baby shower back in April. Parker was just 6 weeks old, and so it was just us two that made the trip to Provo. It was nice to be with family. I miss living so far away from my sisters. We had a fun time.

Here's Rachel opening a gift, & Angela on the right

Rachel opening another gift, Angela & 2-week-old Rose

All of us but my mom.
Rachel, Angela with Rose & Parker, & me

Parker asleep in the car seat with a little smile. :)

The babies with their binkies.

Rose on the left, Parker on the right.

Rose was so tiny!!

Angela with Rose & Parker

And since we were in Provo...
I really wanted to go to Zupa's...
& so did Angela...
so we went!

Thanks for the fun time! (Thanks for the pictures, Rachel & Angela!... I need to be better at using my camera when I'm with you guys.)

So, how's Jesse these days?

(4-8-2011)

You always talk about your kids. What about your husband?

He's good.

Working hard.
Making TCN work better every day.
(And by every day, I mean every day.)
Check out TCN's new website. Looks awesome. You're awesome Jesse.
(Even though you are playing your Warcraft games right this very minute and it's 11:16pm. You're still awesome. Don't think that means I approve. Those silly games. And by silly I mean "I'm rolling my eyes at you," silly.)

"Does it matter that I weigh 32lbs, Mom?"

(4-7-2011)

"If you're going to do that, yes, dear."