Work Mornings Now

Since working full time again I am trying (key word trying) to get up early in the morning and get started on work by 6am. I've been mostly starting by 6:30 or 7. Mornings are hard for me...they always have been and with a nursing baby that wakes me up just before my alarm its hard to get up.

 

My mornings typically consist of a hot shower to wake me up and after getting dressed adjourning to the living room for my personal scripture studies. After that I wake Jared up for family scripture studies and prayer. Elizabeth typically joins me and snoozes on the ottoman. I then make myself a protein shake or something else for breakfast and then go downstairs and start work.

 

One morning this past week (Monday August 20th...my 7 year anniversary) I took some pictures of my sleeping babes. The point of trying to get up early is so I can get done with work early and spend more time with my family.

Junk Drawer Toys

It's funny isn't it how the most random of things can be your kids favorite toys. You can buy for your child all kinds of toys and then they will play with the box. Some of Benjamins favorite toys lately...

• AV Cables
• 18 inch wooden dowel
• An old CD to tape deck converter
• Finger nail clippers
• Daddy's measuring tape

 

Benjamin loves to find different things in our junk drawers and then they just become his favorite toys he can't live without.

Pool Time and 2 Months Old

August 15th brought another day of great weather. We broke out the kiddie pool for Benjamin to play in. I sat down with my feet in the pool to cool off as well and sat with Elizabeth in my lap. Benjamin really enjoyed playing in the pool. He would walk into the pool and then out and grab my shoes, his shirt, his shoes, a towel and try to throw it all in the pool.

 

 

In the evening we chilled inside and I took some time to take pictures of Elizabeth as she was 2 months old! I can't believe it! Elizabeth still sleeps great at night. She fights sleep during the afternoon's and early evening. You have to walk around and keep moving to get her to take a nap. Though in the mornings she will go down for naps on her own. Sometimes on the ottoman and sometimes in her swing. She has hit a very smiley stage which her daddy loves. He can make her smile a lot now which is refreshing after her just screaming at him previously. I love my little girl! Her hair is much darker than Benjamin's but has a reddish tint to it.

We shall see how that pans out. Her two month appointment at the Dr's is at the end of the month but we've weighed her and she is at 14 pounds already. She has great neck control already and loves to coo. Elizabeth is doing better also since her mommy has gone off of dairy and wheat. The sacrifices we make for our children. Some days it's easy and other day's it's hard. We've tried going back onto wheat but had side affects again of stuck burps and a super fussy little girl. So still no dairy or wheat for now. Which by the way did you know that Red Vines is made with wheat?!! They are!!! I had no idea! I found out after I ate a whole bucket of Red Vines. Someone at church came up to me a few weeks ago and started to tell me how he had never heard a baby cry that shrill. Yes I know we call that the "Banshee Cry". Thankfully she doesn't do it near as much as she used to. She is staying awake for longer spells during the day and wanting to be talked to. We are so grateful to have Elizabeth in our family and love her so much!

 

Olga had fun with Jacki and a bunch of ladies from church at a river. She got home and played with Elizabeth and grabbed Benjamin for one photo.

 

 

 

Family Time at Deception Falls

Sunday afternoon of August 12th came and we did not want to just sit at home all day like normal. It was not a normal Sunday after all...we had Olga back home with us. Jared thought it would be a good day to go do a little hike together. I thought it would be good too except the traffic of coming home. Jared figured we were going late enough it should be fine.

 

So off we set as a little family for Deception Falls! We got there and put Elizabeth in the front pack and put Benjamin in his little rainbow stroller and went off to hike. We went backwards so we didn't finish with the switchbacks. I am not a fan of switchbacks! We deviated off the path down to a stream and found some fun places to play. I sat down and nursed Elizabeth in the middle of the river. Not a place I ever thought I would do that but it worked well and I was comfortable.

 

 

Benjamin had fun throwing rocks with Olga. That was a tender moment watching them interact. Whereas in the car Benjamin would look at Olga and push at her face to say don't look at me. It was pretty funny! Oh and Olga totally fits between our car seats in our Tiguan. I knew she would!!! Jared didn't think she would. I was right!!! Olga says she has plenty of room and is comfortable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We could really feel the difference from being in the sunshine near the Highway and being in the woods near the river. It felt great. Doesn't mean we didn't get sweaty!

 

 

The breeze coming down this section and the spray from the falls felt so good!

 

 

 

This is a classic Olga picture!

 

 

Benjamin grabbed his daddy and led him out to this point on the rock.

 

 

 

Benjamin is pretty fearless and wants to get up to high places or as close to the water as possible. This means you've got to keep a close eye and a tight grip on his arm sometimes. Jared has a death grip on Benjamin in a lot of these pictures.

 

 

This is another spot where Benjamin really wanted to go. It's underneath the bridge kind of. I will admit my heart was racing a little bit watching them down there. But Benjamin looked so happy!

 

 

Olga trying so hard to get a quick good photo with Benjamin.

 

Well we made it through our hike and had a great time. When we got back to the car Benjamin sat down in Elizabeth's car seat with his Forza 4 book.

 

 

Then Olga got in Benjamin's car seat! It was pretty hilarious!

 

 

After a nice hike we had a nice drive home...almost! We came to a stop outside of Index and stayed in stop and go traffic for the rest of the way home. Elizabeth had slept so nicely in the front pack on the hike that of course she woke up and was hungry. I kept hoping traffic would lighten up but no such luck. We pulled over and I took care of Elizabeth and we had a lot of people looking at us and wondering what we were doing. I am sure some people wondered if we were the reason for traffic. It took us 2 hours to get home from Index which is typically a 30 minute drive if that. Needless to say dinner was late that night. But we definitely had a great time and enjoyed being together again out in nature with Olga.

Cleaning Things Out

I've been cleaning my house out for several weeks...little by little. We had several piles around the garage to go to the Goodwill or to the dump. My cousin Theresa came over to hang out and helped clean out my garage to help us get ready for Olga coming to visit. She filled up her van and took things off to the local 2nd hand store. We still had a trip for Goodwill and the dump afterwards but it made a big dent. Saturday August 11th came and we worked on cleaning things out as we had Jared's parents truck.

 

 

We put Elizabeth in the front pack and hung out in the garage together going through things. We finished going through everything in my dad's van and other belongings and figured out what was going to be kept, donated and trash. This was incredibly hard for me. I had very mixed feelings. Feelings of anger...feelings of sadness...Jared could tell I was having a hard time but pushed forward to get it done. Which I am very grateful for.

 

Benjamin had fun climbing in the truck and climbing on top of everything.

 

 

 

 

 

Olga got up and had fun hanging out with us. She took Benjamin for a walk up and down the street in his stroller. It was nice to have our garage cleaned out again!

 

Stupid Daddy Tricks

I've been really blessed this summer to be able to hang out with my family. I am back to working full time right now but I still get to enjoy time with my family. August 10th I went back to work and got to be entertained by my husband and son. They were doing what I term as a "stupid daddy trick". Jared does lot's of different tricks and cracks me up as Benjamin just loves them and wants to do them over and over.

 

This "stupid daddy trick" was taking a little rubber ducky and sticking it to Benjamins forehead or cheek. Benjamin wanted it on but would touch it and it would fall off.

 

 

 

A Change of Clothes

These pictures don't do this scenario any justice.

Benjamin likes to climb up into our bathroom sink and turn the water on. Along with pulling all of the q-tips out of their container and throwing anything else on the counter into the sink...like my hair brush and a book. I caught Benjamin in the act and since he knew he wasn't supposed to be up there I refused to take his pants off right away since he got himself all wet. His walk was pretty funny.

 

Here I have Elizabeth through the phases of getting dressed.

 

 

 

She is adorable huh?!

 

One in a Hundred

I can't help but take a ton of pictures of my kids some days. I can go days or weeks with nothing but then I take around 100 in one sitting. I will save you from them all but here is one of Elizabeth propped up on our couch on Monday July 30th.

 

Benjamin of course is climbing up the side of the couch. Climbing is like second nature to him.

 

Here is Elizabeth in a new outfit. We decided to go out for dinner if I remember correctly. Elizabeth's onsie says "One of a Kind". That is so true!

 

 

I threw a bow on her head quickly and snapped a few shots before running out to the car as Jared and Benjamin were already outside. Can you see how she blocks her face from me? My kids learn early to hide from the camera.

Can I Hold Her?

Life has gotten a little busier since I've gone back to work. So blogging has taken a back burner...

Here we are back on Saturday July 28th. Elizabeth was laying down on her back chillin' when her brother would come up and try to cuddle with her or just lay next to her and stare. Every time I brought my camera out to take a picture he would move away. Benjamin didn't want anyone to know he actually enjoyed his little sister.

 

Elizabeth is definitely a momma's girl (both of my kids are). Daddy can be fun sometimes but if you look closely in this picture you can see her lower lip hanging out getting ready to whimper.  

Here we are all dressed up. There was a girl in Jared's primary class that was getting baptized. I had been asked to play the piano but wound up leading the music instead.

 

 

At the baptism I had several women volunteer to hold Elizabeth while I was conducting the music. It was nice as Jared was going to have to wrangle Benjamin. Sister Wendy Carroll asked first so I gave Elizabeth over to her and of course crying ensued so she took her out of the Relief Society room. Jared shared with me later that Benjamin was very concerned. He grabbed his dad by the hand and led him out of the room and found the room Elizabeth was crying in and made his dad open the door. Once in there though he was fine and decided to play. It was pretty sweet that he wanted to know where his sister was. For the closing song Sister Meredith Stone took Elizabeth for me and yet again crying ensued. Once I was done I sat down because I didn't hear any crying but while the closing prayer was being said she started again. Let me tell you it was the longest prayer of my life. It was so hard to sit there. I was saying my own prayer of please let this lady finish...I know bad right! By the time I got out there Elizabeth was under control again.