Heber

Sadly we're back from a fun and cool weekend in northern AZ. What was most apparent on this trip was how outdoorsy my boys are going to be! Nate LOVED being outside, running around. To our surprise, our cabin had a playhouse (or "Nate's house", according to Nate) in the back. He enjoyed playing in there, "swimming" in the jacuzzi, playing games inside...and all the other little activities I brought up. We took him out for his first time fishing-he immediately took to the fishing pole that my parents bought for him. Anytime we pulled the fishing pole out he knew what it meant. It was fun to watch-Nate's favorite part of the whole fishing experience was just getting to reel in his line. As soon as daddy casted the line out in the water, Nate right away started reeling it back in.

We went to a catch and release lake belonging to where we rented the cabin from. Oh my gosh, the first day we fished was hilarious. It was my dad, my brother-in-law, Josh,me and Nate. The fish were hungry! We baited our hooks with worms and it never took longer than five seconds tops before we had nibbles and bites on our line. My brother-in-law caught twenty fish (yes, 20!!), I caught 11, Nate caught 3 and my dad caught 1. Nate was excited to see the fish wiggling on his line and said goodbye to them as we tossed them back in. I'm not sure what type they were, but you can tell that they weren't ever very big :)

On day two fishing, we went back to the same lake and still caught fish-but not near as many. This time Nate caught 5 fish and my dad caught the biggest fish-a catfish, probably about a foot long at least! Both days Nate fished for awhile then ran off to walk around, play on a playground that was around and visit with the rest of us. Overall he enjoyed the experience I'm pretty sure. He really just had a great time being outside period where it wasn't 108 degrees! Mid-afternoon it was a little warm though (85 or so) but the mornings and evenings were BEAUTIFUL. We always made sure to be out then.

Aaron loved the outside just as much. Other than the time or two we went out to eat or to my soon to be brother-in-law's playhouse at his cabin, he remained at our cabin. When he wasn't sleeping, he was outside swinging. Both boys like taking it all in :)

Josh stayed the first night then returned home on Sunday, his birthday, to go to work on Monday. I ordered a large cookie from Paradise Bakery to celebrate his birthday while we were up there, and the day of before he left we went to a Mexican restaurant nearby for lunch. Two of the three nights we were there we had thunderstorms-one night was worse than the other by far, we lost electricity for about half an hour. I couldn't believe that Aaron slept through the whole thing and I anticipated Nate to be nervous/scared but he wasn't. He wanted to watch the storm a little bit and then, much to my surprise again fell asleep during it! I was glad the power turned back on before I went to sleep-wasn't going to be so easy to find and get bottles for Aaron during the night! I didn't want to have a heart attack seeing the fake bear by my room either....

So, now it's back to the grind as we get ready for Nate to start school next week! Potty training is still...yep...(say it altogether) "a work in progress" but I'm hoping school will be the push we need to get us there. It seems like the only thing I haven't tried yet! As one of my friends said to me, that I try to keep in mind...in most cases, potty training is like training for a marathon. It's not something that will happen overnight. It takes time. I've been repeating that to myself a lot lately :) It's just so hard when we have a promising moment only to hit a snag the next. Well...one of these days we'll get there.

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Our Busy Week

Last week we went out and did a few different fun things-probably the most in one week than what we've done in awhile! Just wanted to post some pictures :)


Nate at his Great Play camp



Goofy Garden Fun class-we made dirt dessert!


Toy Town-checking both ways before going into traffic :)



Train table all to himself!



Welcome to my pizza kitchen!



Where are my customers?




Preparing your order...here it is!



Birthday party at Sunsplash the weekend before-he loved it there!


Favorite slide




I had some fun this past weekend with my best friend-went to an art class and got to drink some wine while I was at it! Very enjoyable for something different!








Pic 1 : enjoying the wine and snack table! Pic 2 : getting ready to paint Pic 3: artist hard at work Pic 4: tada!

Josh and I had a great one day excursion to Sedona just walking around, wining and dining. This coming weekend is our trip to the woodsy town of Heber. Looking forward to it!

Mr. Two Month Old!

Time just keeps getting away from us! Just took Aaron for his two month well visit today. The great news is he's been completely thriving since he went totally to formula almost a month ago-the pediatrician is very happy with his stats. He weighs about 11.5pds, 22.5 inches long and he's starting to hold his head up some. He's still eating generally every two-three hours, even at night. I think there has been one night possibly where he might have gone four hours, but I reckon I'd remember if there was a night that I had some serious sleep! :) Aaron is a big noise maker when he sleeps (lots of moans,groans) so sometimes we're not sure if he's awake and hungry or if he's just maybe reacting to a dream,getting comfortable...perhaps we'll need to just try letting him make some noise for a while first before rushing to his aid. I've been nervous of Aaron waking Nate up at night so I'm quick to react when I think Aaron is hungry or upset.Usually now though, if Nate is fast asleep, he usually stays that way unless a tornado is coming through (like our storm the other night!)



The changing table is absolutely his favorite place to be! He smiles tons and coos the whole time.



Stretch...




Big boy

Aaron has also grown to enjoy the swing and bouncer. I think now that he sees better and doesn't have that newborn glaze as much, he likes to play/look at the animals on both that hang down. In the swing in particular, he likes to look at the animals as he falls asleep. He takes his naps for the most part in the swing unless we're out and about. He likes to be propped up some versus straight down on his back I think.




Lastly, Aaron enjoys being in Nate's room too, laying on his bed. He turns his head all around looking...and likes to watch his big brother play with his toys in there. It won't be too long before little brother trys to act like big brother I'm sure! :) Nate enjoys showing him everything too.

Fun Summer

I've spent the last few posts writing the majority about Aaron, I thought it was time to update on the rest of us :)

Ok, so I have written a good portion about Nate too but I haven't talked much about what he's done this last month. At the beginning of the month, we had him in Vacation Bible School through our church. It was an awesome, Monday-Friday for three hours deal called "PandaMania".



They began and ended each day singing songs--such cute decorations to go with the theme!

Luckily the first day my mom happened to be off of work so she watched Aaron in the morning while I took Nate the first day in case I would need to stay for a while (which I was hoping I wouldn't have to do). Sure enough, when I went to leave Nate started to get upset. I stayed long enough until it looked like class was going to start and tried to get out the door then. I had to get help from one of the adults there (who I'm very thankful I knew so I was comfortable leaving my poor crying son in her hands). Picking him up later, I was happy to learn that he had only been upset for a few minutes. The rest of the week went smoothly-I didn't have trouble dropping him off any other morning (well, except one morning for a minute when my adult friend was running a little late! I was happy she showed, otherwise I may have had to take him home :) ) The best part was seeing that Nate enjoyed himself and told me what they did that day or what they had to eat (he must learn that from me).

Nate is quite bashful in a group setting, he tends to be the observer, so I think getting him exposed to a social environment was a good thing. Later in July I have him signed up for a few more days of a play class where I drop him off/pick him up a little later-didn't think it would hurt to practice being away from mommy and daddy some more before he starts preschool in almost another month (!) I'm super excited for him to be around kids his age and just be in that social setting. I don't expect him to learn a whole lot, but we wanted to start getting him used to just being on his own, interacting with other kids, learning to follow directions from other adults,etc. Pretty much just a total social reason in preparation for all the years ahead!

This past weekend we took Nate out on a date for pizza and to the circus.



Nate loved the parts with the animals in particular-here there are three rings with horses and zebras in them (sorry for the bad lighting!)



We also made a visit to my grandma for her to visit with the kids.



This past week was also suppose to be when we made a trip to one of our favorite Arizona cities (to cool off and stay in a cabin in the beautiful pines!) up in Greer. For those who don't know, we had a massive wildfire that unfortunately went through some of that town. We are very relieved,however, that despite exaggerated media coverage the town was largely saved with exception of some cabin homes on a hill. The vast majority of the town was saved,hooray! I called the lodge where our cabin was and we were able to reschedule for August.

In a few weeks, we will be going with my family up to the town of Heber (also a stay in a cabin in the trees/little bit cooler city up north). I was pretty bummed that our Greer trip got scratched for this month so I jumped on the chance to go out of town when we got invited. It won't be much more than ten degrees cooler than what it is here, but it will be a nice weather break in the mornings and evenings at least. I'm also just excited for the boys to spend some extra time with their Nana and Pap-Pap. Josh will be staying with us for one night and then the boys and I will stay for the remaining two other nights that my parents have the cabin.

Also this month, Josh and I are planning a day trip with just the two of us to Sedona-probably a go up in the morning and come home after dinner type thing. I'm super stoked for that. I haven't been out of town anywhere since we went to Sedona in December! (for me,that's WAY too long...) The even better part is that my parents are going to take BOTH kids for the night that day so we can come home to a quiet house and well, have a quiet house! :) I'm so very appreciative that we have them around to help. Can't wait.

So...I think that's the latest and greatest from our end. I was dreading the summer months before,thinking how slow the days would go...but actually, the days have gone rather fast despite us staying home more. The boys and I mostly hibernate at home in the afternoons, I have no energy to take them out and about. Aaron especially shouldn't really be out in the heat all that much. We're usually active in the morning and then by lunchtime-ish we rush back to the cool cave :) I've been trying to arrange for Nate to go to Josh's parent's house 1-2 afternoons a week for a few hours just to see some different toys and get to swim when it's most hot out. He really enjoys being in the pool, seeing his other grandparents and getting to play with his cousin if she's there. I enjoy getting to have just one child! :)

It's been a busy summer for us so far-excited to see how the next month unfolds!