Road Trip!

I have a dear friend who is as crazy as I am. One night we said, "Let's go to Oregon" and we left at 8 the next morning. This is a 14 hour drive we're talking about with two babies and their children (haha get it?)  Lisa, the friend, is from Oregon City so we would be staying with her family. Her baby is Cooper, who has definitely been in this blog before. He's Oliver's best friend. Cooper is 10 months old and Oliver is 8 1/2 months old. 47 days apart. They did an AWESOME job on the road. We stopped for lunch and dinner and let them out to crawl around and stretch their legs and then it was right back in the car. They are the best little travelers ever. We left the dads at home. They have lives.

We had three goals for this road trip. Go to the Portland, OR temple, visit a beach, and tour the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Mission accomplished. The Portland temple is really really amazing and gorgeous. It was a great experience. We bundled the cheese factory and beach trip into one day because they were close to each other.

Watching them package the cheese. Fact: It takes 10 lbs of milk to make 1 lb of Tillamook Cheese

These kids LOVED the sand. It was so cool. They had so good and dirty fun. It was amazing the things that went into their mouths. I don't even want to think about it. Oliver did not like the water, I don't blame him, it was f-f-f-freezing. Cooper didn't even flinch though. He crawled right into the waves and was even swept away once..oops. 

Eating sand by the handfuls makes for a thirsty baby.

This picture is so cute. I love his baby bum and chunky thighs toddling around the beach. 

We spilled some crackers and the seagulls swarmed. Babies enjoyed chasing them away.

"Wait! This one is still good!"

Fearless

This is post the near death sweep away. I saw his tiny life flash before his eyes underneath that wave. 

We made it home last night around 11:30 which is when I found an invitation to Jessica Warden's bachelorette party that took place earlier that night so here is my public apology for missing that. I was super bummed. 

Babies and more babies

So I'm having another baby and I thought I should clear up a few questions. Yes we have heard of TV. We also know what birth control is. I realize I was married for about a day when I got pregnant with Oliver and that wasn't a surprise/accident. We planned that. And I realize Oliver was only 7 months old when we got pregnant AGAIN and that also was not a surprise/accident. We like our babies and we want a bunch of them so we thought we ought to get started sooner rather than later. SO now maybe baby #3 won't be a very big surprise to you?

Yesterday we had our first doctors appointment and ultrasound. For both pregnancies this appointment has made me kind of nervous. I always think I will get on the ultrasound table and they won't see anything in there and they will think I am a crazy person. This first trimester is hard for me because I don't feel pregnant and I start wondering if I really am. I end up taking 1000 pregnancy tests because they are my only proof. So I am pleased to announce that the ultrasound DID show a baby in there. I guess I really am pregnant!

 I'm trying to pick out symptoms that might be part of pregnancy. There are definitely more than last time. I have felt a little sick a few times. I am tired. But am I tired because I am keeping up with an 8 month old baby? Probably. My pants are absolutely tighter but let's be honest...that was happening regardless. And that's about all I can come up with so far. I am grateful that pregnancy doesn't put me completely out of business. Wait! I have been getting way more headaches than usual (usual=none) and I suppose that could be a pregnancy symptom. Having a symptom-less first trimester gives me a really bad attitude towards other pregnant ladies. During my last pregnancy especially. I would always roll my eyes at every complaint and I just thought, "Seriously, being pregnant isn't THAT hard." But I am more compassionate this time. I still don't have anything worth complaining about but I have had a little taste of those first trimester inconveniences.  And I know that I hate hate hate being nauseous more than anything else so it must be pretty miserable. Throwing up is the worst. So I do feel bad for all my sickies, it just takes me a minute :)

I hope I didn't just jinx myself into a miserable pregnancy. I really do realize how fortunate I am.

Baby's Day Out

Austin is back in school which means we don't get to have him home all day with us. It's hard. We were spoiled. So to combat our loneliness we wanted to get out of the house and go to the park. Here is a description of our day.

Arrive at park. Grass is wet and/or slimed with duck poo. Find a table in the shade.

 Ducks corner us. We are held hostage. Will be released in exchange for graham crackers. Narrowly escape with only crumbs left. 

At least we still have the juice. 

  Find a new spot near the gardens dodging the tyranny of the ducks. Oliver spends five minutes chasing an ant on the side walk. Can't catch it. Gives up. Eats bark instead. Chases sprinkler. Gets wet. Gives up. Eats bark instead. 

It's out of control. I can't stop him. I let him eat it. This is what the ducks have reduced us to. We go to Wendy's. Get a frosty.




I'd say it was a succes.

Summer Time

We have had a beyond crazy summer. We have been traveling like crazy. Several trips to Idaho, a family reunion in Yellowstone and a week in Colorado. In between trips we had to pack up our apartment (amazing all the junk we acquire every time we move) and stuff it all into a storage unit where it stayed while we went on another trip. We came home to well, no home, and stayed with Grandma LeBaron living out of a suit case while we looked for a new place. We needed one that was month to month since Austin graduates in December and we could end up pretty much anywhere when he's done. When we finally found a new place in Lindon, I took a few days (or more) to unpack and I tried not to think about packing up and doing it all over again in just 5 short months. It's amazing how hard it is to unpack with a baby. I never noticed how much I hold and play with him until I tried to simultaneously entertain him and put away some dishes. He wasn't having it. Although, he may have wanted the extra attention because he was in a new place. But I don't really think that because he'd been in a "new" place every weekend all summer long. It's good to finally be settled in. I don't want to go anywhere ever again. Austin and his family made plans to go to Moab for Labor Day weekend, which apparently is next weekend, and I just don't think I can do it. He's on his own this time. As busy as it was, it was a fun summer. Here are a few pictures I liked: I mean..A LOT of pictures. Beware.

I got to spend some quality time with my fabulous niece, Aneleise. We had a tea party with heart shaped cucumbers and celery with peanut butter.

Oliver snuck in and stole the goodies. 

Disclaimer: There are several baby nude's in this post. But he's just So CUTE! Here he is taking a dip in Grandma Leslie's kitchen sink. 

For my dad's birthday we hiked Table Rock and it was HARD. I kept using the excuse that I just had a baby 6 months earlier (and a BIG one at that) but I did make it to the top. And I wasn't last! 

It was super cold at the top. Like a blizzard minus the snow. 

Awesome hiking buddy. Waited for me when I was slow.

First trip to Yellowstone! It was a great family reunion.

Poor little guy slept through Old Faithful. Which wasn't very impressive to me for some reason.

Grandpa LeBaron and all of his grandsons. They are a handful. Or two armful's. 

Brotherly love in Yellowstone

Oliver helped unpack a little. Until he got bored. 

We squeezed in a little friend time, thank goodness!

More of that nudity I warned you about. I love his baby buns!

Dressed up for church.

 Caught Shark looking mischievous in the kitchen

 Dumped out a bag of cereal and helped himself to a snack.

Caught red handed.

It's never ending with this child. He has a favorite place to climb and if I don't constantly watch him he falls flat on his face. 

Last night I made Austin a Back-To-School dinner.

This is the place mat I made for him

The beautiful bouquet of pencil flowers.

Tiger Butter Caramel apple from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for dessert. MMMM

Then boating for FHE.

Oliver loves anything with a steering wheel and it is really hard to peel his sticky fingers off of it once he gets a good hold. 

Swimming with daddy in the lake

 Air drying with Mom

 He protested when I tried to put him in a clean diaper. Who can say no to this face?

Fathers Day 2012

I had the most amazing Fathers Day weekend. And I hope the fathers did too, seeing as it was THEIR weekend. A journey that was supposed to take about 5 or 6 hours ended up being 12. It was no big deal though :) We headed up to Swan Valley, ID to the cabin. Bear and I brought the boat for entertainment.  We got to Salt Lake and Bear had a panic attack when he realized he didn't bring the boat keys. We debated whether we should turn around and get them or just forget about it and we decided to turn around. Towing the boat takes a toll on our gas mileage so we ditched it in a Home Depot parking lot rather than tow it back to Provo. We found the keys and got back on the road to Ogden to pick up my sister. Of course we had to stop and shop for a new swim suit, then go to Zeppe's, which is the most amazing thing on this planet. So by the time we left Ogden and were headed for Idaho, we had been "on the road" for about 7 hours. We made it to the cabin with minor delays. Shark slept pretty much the whole time. He is an awesome traveler. He has had a lot of practice. It was late and dark when we got in so we just crawled in bed and closed our tired eyes.

In the morning I woke up to the most amazing view ever. Palisades Reservoir is seriously gorgeous right now! I gave Austin his Father's day present early (Saturday) because he needed it for the rest of our adventures that day. He got a new swimsuit and some sandals. He looked pretty handsome if I do say so myself. We readied ourselves for a day on the lake.... sort of. We did not wear sunscreen, which a lot of people would have done during the ready-ing. It's been extremely hard to want to wear a bra on my sunburnt shoulders these past few days. The manly-men went wake boarding and impressed all us girls, and the girls sat around on the boat in our swimsuits impressing all the manly-men. It was a blast.

We had a full house, Austin's aunt and uncle stayed with their 5 adorable children ages 4-12 and we had a lot of fun chasing them around and taking them on little nature hikes. My parents, my oldest sister, Shara, and her cutie-pie daughter, Aneleise (5), her boyfriends two children, JD and Ariana (6 and 4), my sister Whitney and her husband with their daughter Ellie (2), my sister Katelyn and her fiance, Jared, and Bear, me and Oliver. So to paint you a picture, we had 1 six month old, 1 two year old, 3 four year olds, 2 five year olds, 1 six year old, a niner and a twelve. That's a lot of kiddos runnin' around the woods.

I didn't get any pictures (dang!) but I stole a few from my mom.

My dad does this balancing act with every baby that comes his way. It's pretty cute.

Can't go to the cabin without stopping for a square ice cream cone! Why are they so good?!

My niece, Ellie. She is a doll!

Me driving my dad around in the boat, showing off the skills I absolutely don't have. 

We got flagged down to give some folks a jump. It didn't work. So we towed em' to the docks. 

Me and my babe, check out the gorgeous scenery behind us!

On Sunday we wrapped up our weekend with a little hike. We brought the stroller to carry Shark and Ellie and it was a champ on that trail. We got ourselves some cones and headed back to the lake for one last boat ride with my mom and dad. My mom showed us an awesome little cove and it was so peaceful and beautiful. I had no doubt that it was the work of our loving Heavenly Father. I'm so grateful for all the fathers that have been a part of my life. I'm grateful to my dad for always being there for me and loving me. I'm grateful to my father-in-law for teaching Bear how to treat a lady. He is a hard worker and such a gentleman and I'm 100% positive that he learned that from his dad. And I'm grateful to Bear for being the best dad for our son. They love each other to the moon and back. And they love me to :) I'm one lucky gal.