Fun Date Night Activities

Ok, so my brilliant cousin Kami, has come up with a great way to keep me motivated to blog. I feel bad because I always feel like I have so much to blog about but by the time I actually sit down to do it, all of the things I wanted to say have piled up and the less excited I am about posting because it takes me literally hours to do it. So I am going to really try to stop stressing about including everything in here. Anyway back to the subject, Kami has given herself and anyone who wants to participate, a monthly topic or topics to blog about, so the first topic is fun date night activities and I gotta say I am totally boring when it comes to date nights. Eric and I hardly ever go out on dates, in fact we only go out on our birthdays or special occasions, but I just love going out to dinner or to the movies. I do miss the spontaneous dates we used to go on though, before the kids and lack of funds. We used to go for long walks just to talk about nothing and just to be together. We sometimes go for walks at the mall, but it has been a while since we have done that. We used to play bored games after the kids have gone to bed, but we haven't played any bored games in a really, really long time. Sometimes we play video games together, yes you heard right, I do play on occasion. And we like to catch up on recorded TV shows together since he is usually studying when the show actually comes on and its nicer when the kids are in bed. Hmmm... when we were first married one time, Eric just randomly took me out for ice cream and it was so unexpected, it was one of my most memorable dates. Well that really is it I guess, I told you it was boring, mostly I just think any time when we can be alone together is a great date, and we are both still as in love as ever, maybe even more. I also enjoyed going to the Zoo and to Sea World with Eric the one time we went together, but like I said lack of funds. I guess thats really all I have for the fun date night activities topic, but it really doesn't matter what you, do, it's who you do it with that matters!

A Month or so of Highlights

Ok so I am finally taking the time to blog after who knows how long. I decided that too much has happened to put in everything, but here are the highlights:

• Max had his first taste of solid food at 6 months, rice cereal, and now he eats solids on a regular basis, I've included a picture of him having his first bowl, spoon, and high chair experience.


• Max got his first tooth the last Friday in July (bottom middle left), then another within a week on the top left and within another week he had 2 more to balance out the first 2. So he looked sorta like a vampire or a hippo until just last week when another one started to come in. It broke in on Saturday but is too small to really see in a picture. Eric took some just tonight before I put him down to bed of his toothy smile.


• Max also learned to crawl sometime before all the teeth, and now he is pulling himself up to furniture like a pro, flat walls and everything. He has taken many a tumble too and he had the bruises to prove it.


• Alex is still loving video games and he loves it when I read to him. He has been doing better about going to the potty, but still can't go a full week without an accident.


• Haley started 1st grade on the 10th of August and so far is enjoying it. She likes her teacher and the homework load is less than in Kindergarten somehow. I have also been volunteering in the classroom to help out the teacher, Mrs. Schmidt, since they have no budget for teachers assistants or aides. (A sarcastic Hooray for the economy in CA )


• We took a trip the week before Haley started school to go to Vernal for my Aunt Diane's funeral. She has touched so many lives and it was a bittersweet 4 day trip (2 days of it literally spent in the car). I was so grateful that we could be there and we still pray for the Morton family every night. She will truly be missed, but thank goodness for the knowledge of the gospel that puts it all in perspective and makes it easier to cope. I posted some pictures from our trip as well. The sweet part of the trip was seeing family especially my nephew Grady whom I met in person for the first time, and some of my extended family that I hadn't seen in years.


• Also on that trip Haley had her first taste of a bee sting actually it was a wasp that got her in the back of the leg/knee 3 times. My mom and dad didn't know there was a nest underneath their porch swing, so unfortunately Haley discovered it and was lucky to only have the one wasp attack her. It was a learning experience, I know now that she isn't allergic and I learned how to treat stings.


• Alex lost his hat at the Mad Greek in Baker, and had his first experience with peeing on the side of the road, so he learned something from the trip too. I can't speak for Eric who did all the driving, but I think we built some lasting memories from the whole experience. It also made me really miss Provo since we spent 2 out of 3 nights there, for me it will always be home.


• Eric started his second year of law school one week after Haley started and it has been tons easier than the first year, minus the whole expense of school and living off of loans thing which remains the same.


• Eric came home a few weeks ago to say that he found out that he had received some awards for highest grades in 2 of his classes last year and I was very proud of him he worked really hard and beat himself up over whether or not he did well after the finals were over. Then within a few days of this news we received a letter stating that he had made the Dean's List! Whoo Hoo! Way to go Eric! I am really not trying to brag, but I am so proud of his achievements.
  

Anyway those are the highlights, I hope I didn't miss anything since my last post, but if I did then I blame Mom-nesia (memory loss after having a child which they say can last up to 9 months). Recently we had a fun Labor Day at Eric's parents house barbecue and visiting. We actually visited for 2 days in a row since we go up there every Sunday and it was nice. And we have been swimming a few times since the school year started which has been nice since it has been so hot lately. I never thought I would say it, but I actually miss winter in Utah, snow and all. I think it is still going to take a while for me to like living in California, but its starting to grow on me.

Lots of Pictures!

Max's First SolidsA Toothy SmileFrom Crawling to StandingHaley's First Day of First Grade Pictures from our Bittersweet Trip: Me and Grady Payson
Cami, Haley after her stinging incident, and my mom
Kemish
My dad holding MaxAll of us minus Yvonia and Spencer and their families. Posing after the funeral luncheon. Grandpa and seven of his children (6 of my aunts and 1 of my uncles) Vicky, Grandpa, Kaylynn, Michelle, Duane, Kathy (my mom), Carma, and ShellyGrandpa and Grandma PowellKami Mayer (my cousin) in front, with a pregnant Aunt Nikell talking in the background A picture of the Casket at the Gravesite just after the funeral. Malinda holding Grady and Cami holding MaxCousins!
Haley holding Max, Alex, and Payson holding Grady
Nathan, Yvonia, and Rya (Catia didn't want to be in the picture)
Rya
Catia finally let me take her picture.Just some fun pictures:

Max asleep on the floor one random day still in his jammies.My 3 Kids wanted their picture taken together (Alex, Max, and Haley)A really random picture of a happy face in a can of OJ that Eric opened one morning.

Finally and Update!

I guess since Eric finished school I have been super busy and not just because of the kids. I just have a car during the day now so I have been out and about. So here is the update of pretty much our whole summer and pictures for it all. First off, Haley finished school and that weekend we had a fun birthday party for her. We were supposed to have a swimming party but we ran into the June gloom so we just played games and had presents and cake and ice-cream at home. Oh well her cake was super cute (I made it, wink, wink). Then we had a second party the next day with just family at Grandma and Grandpa's house so she got 2 cakes and it was a good thing, because I missed getting a picture of her blowing out the candles on the first one. Anyway now she is 6 and will be starting 1st grade on the 10th very soon. Earlier that week we started the potty training an got rid of diapers for Alex for good. We used the same method my sister-in-law used with my nephew Payson and it worked. The problem now is that he gets lazy and doesn't always tell us in time, but we are working on it. Ok then we started swimming lessons for both Haley and Alex and they had a lot of fun. Father's Day came and went and so did our 8 year Anniversary which were both fun and I appreciated Eric's parents watching the kids so we could go out to dinner. Then I started taking a sewing class once a week and have been working on a baby quilt for a friend of mine who is having a boy. I've decided that I love sewing and if I had more time and more money I would like to take on that hobby. I also did her baby shower which was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. I had some help which was good because there were 60 people on the guest list. I have also been studying the CA driver's handbook, because I still need a CA driver's license. I gotta say I am a bit nervous about taking the written test again since it has been 9 years since I have taken one. I just wish there was some way to skip all of the questions that didn't apply to me and my personal driving, but that's life. It doesn't sound like a lot, but I really feel like I have been so busy that I haven't spent much time with my family at home just enjoying life the way I used to. Then it was the 4th of July and we went to a flag raising/breakfast that morning and then spent the rest of the day at Eric's parents house and watched some fireworks from their backyard (some of their neighbors set them off even they are illeagal here in most parts of CA). I missed the fireworks in Utah, but we still had a good time. Then we celebrated Alex's 3rd birthday on the 6th. We just had a simple party at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I made an R2D2 cake and we did the whole Star Wars theme. Alex had a great time. We have been slowly making changes in our home with our decor. We finally bought some much needed shelving for the kids rooms and for ours and I finally was able to unpack my stamp things so I can get back into my card making that I love so much. And now the kids have their books on shelves instead of in boxes. And we are moving all of the boys clothes into their own dresser, yay! Eric has been watching the kids a lot for me, and he has been out shooting with his dad and brothers a few times for fun. Haley just started her next swimming lessons today and we are hoping she will be able to stay in that class and not get pushed back into the class she took a few weeks ago. And I had Alex and Max weighed for our WIC appointment this last week, and Max is now 19 lbs. and 27 inches long. Alex is 25 lbs. 36 inches long. So as you can see Max is really growing and catching up. He has is 6 month checkup on the 17th and we will be starting solids this weekend. I always wait until 6 months for that. He has also been rolling over like crazy too. It just started about a week ago, so that is fun, and I think he will be crawling pretty soon. I also joined facebook, because I was trying to find some old HS friends. I didn't find who I was looking for, but I have enjoyed catching up with others, especially family members who get online a lot and some of my super good friends who I have missed since moving. Anyway that is our update, sorry this post is so long, but like I said we have been super busy. Enjoy the pics!

Haley with Mrs. Maylad at Kindergarten Graduation Hooray!

Haley's birthday beach cake

Haley blowing out candles on second cake

Haley and her pile of gifts

Father's Day

Daddy and Alex at swimming lessons (sorry he's hard to see)

Alex on the wall getting ready to jump in

Haley at swimming lessons

Alex's R2D2 birthday cake

Alex waiting for his cake
Alex Blowing out Candles

Alex with pile of presents (Uncle Kevin helping him open some)

Finally a picture of all 3 of them together!
Haley, Max, and Alexander

Catching up on 3 weeks of fun!

Ok so I am getting worse and worse at this. I thought that I would have more time to blog once Eric finished his first year of law school, but I was wrong. Yeah thats right, the 16th, his birthday, he finished his first year hooray! We celebrated with dinner at Red Robin and then Sunday we did gifts and dessert at his parents, it was a lot of fun. I wish I could get into more detail, but like I said I have little time and so much to blog about. Ok next, Max had his 4 month checkup since he was 4 months on Eric's birthday and he was drumroll please... 17 lbs. 6 oz. and 26 1/2 inches which puts him in the 95% for both weight and height. Holy cow he is getting so big, he can almost sit up by himself now and he almost rolled over a couple of times since I have been giving him more tummy time lately. He loves to play with toys on the floor, which just means I need to vacuum more. I have also been busier since I started working out on a regular basis and am going to try and lose the 20 lbs. I have gained since having 3 kids. I also signed the kids up for swimming lessons and they will start next month once Haley finishes school, I just think it is so important that they learn what I never learned how to do. We have also been cleaning out the last of the boxes that we never unpacked since moving here, shopping for much needed clothing and shoes for ourselves and the kids, and moving some of our furniture around to make room for the shift in kids rooms. Max has been sleeping through the night so I thought soon we would move him in with Alex and that means Haley gets her own room. So a lot of cleaning out and change and just spending quality time with my family this week. We are doing better about having family home evening now and it has really made a difference. We attended a play put on by our stake "Saviour of the World" it was nice to get out of the house, and we have spent a few fun filled weekends at Eric's parents house swimming, watching movies, and playing Rock Band. Anyway that is pretty much the last 3 weeks in a nutshell. I have included some fun pictures of Max and am planning on getting some good ones of the three kids together this week so wish me luck; it is really hard getting all three of them together all smiling and looking good.

Eric an Max

Max was all smiles while Eric was swinging him one night I caught him at the top of the swing smiling

He was so happy that night, I wish the lighting had been better though.
You can't see this one very well but I thought Max had the cutest face.

Happy Mother's Day!

Ok so I am getting worse and worse about keeping this thing updated, but I promise I try. I just have so much to do, I really don't know how moms do it with more than 3 kids. I just can't keep up, but I can't complain, I love my family. Eric has been home this week studying and stressing for finals and he has his last one on the 16, yep his birthday. Oh well we'll just have to celebrate after the test. I can't believe how fast time has gone, but I am glad he'll be done with the 1st year since that is supposed to be the hardest for Law students. We have all had colds this week and I just started to get it a couple of days ago. No its not swine flu, but it still stinks being sick. I just have to say, the more kids you have the more you get sick. We get something at least every 2 months, but oh well it could be worse I'm sure. I finally got some good updated pictures of Max and he is growing like crazy. He is wearing 6-9 month size clothes now. He pushes with his legs to standing on my lap a lot and now if he's not buckled in, he can slide right out of his car seat/carrier. He smiles and plays all the time. He loves his toys and trying to grab things, but mostly he just loves to be talked too and played with. He's been sick this week too, so we've been trying to get healthy again. Haley has had a hard week (which she brought on herself), but I promised her we would go swimming if she was good all week and today is the last day of the week so I guess we'll be going swimming. Alex has been sick and still obsessed with Lego Star Wars so mostly we just hung out at home this week trying to get well. Friday Haley's kindergarten class put on a cute little Mother's Day program for the moms and Haley did a great job. I took my camcorder and got it all on video. The funny thing was, she had taken her play earrings to school in her backpack without me knowing and she was wearing them for the program. I guess she just wanted to look dressed up for the program, but I guess I'll have to start checking her backpack before we go to school from now on. She is so funny about wanting to take her toys to school. Anyway its all on video. I was thinking about it while I was filming the program, but we have a lot of home movies and we never watch them. I think I'm going to have to pick a night and make it home movie night. We always film things, but we never watch what we film. It's strange because I remember watching home movies when I was a kid and laughing at how young I looked and things, but I guess I just get busy or something and we forget and never get around to watching anything. There is so much I want to do when Eric is done, but we'll see. I want to finally organize my apartment and move Haley into her own room. I want to get Alex potty trained and exercise more and just spend more time with Eric and have family time without a law book in the mix. So things are looking up, we just have to get over our colds and make it through finals. Oh and don't forget to call your moms and have a Happy Mother's Day tomorrow!!

Max is always eating his hands, despite my attempts and keeping his hands out. He makes some funny faces with his hands in his mouth sometimes. Poor little guy is losing all his hair too. He hates to be on his stomach so he rubs it out, and he's growing so fast his hair can't keep up with his head growth and the cradle cap doesn't help.

Max loves the swing

Max playing with is new teether toys in the mouth of course.

The smile shot, unfortunately the swing was moving when I took it so its a bit out of focus.

I got an even better one, but it was really blurry. (darn) I'll just have to get the ones Eric's dad took last Sunday with their camera, he has a super cute smile.