Lots of Firsts

Some fun and crazy things in the past few days--
*Easton went in his Elmo potty for the 1st time. He was VERY proud of himself.
*Keagan got her first tooth. Not the happiest of days for her. She got a runny nose and was very cross, but it is so cute--a little Chiclet tooth.
*Easton got his first fat, cut lip the other night. VERY traumatic for both me and him. It is starting to get better, but he keeps reminding me of his "boo-boo" and asks me to kiss it.
*Keagan is the rolling queen and I have to make sure none of the little toys are on the floor, or she will find them!

Easton's boo-boo. He bit his lip--on both sides, the out and inside.
Keagan--you can kind of see her tooth in this picture.
Our almost finished backyard-- in the upper right corner, I want to do a sandbox for the kids.

My sister, Laura just finished their backyard and had extra sod, so we got to use it!! THANKS LAURA AND DJ!! Their yard looks awesome--it is a LOT bigger than ours, but I am happy with our results!

Keagan--when she gets excited, she starts breathing fast--she does it in this video--it is so funny.

GIRLS NIGHT

My little sis, Shelley, left for the summer to live in NY, so we had a girls night this past Thursday. It is so much fun to get together with the girls, but sadly we don't do it enough. We usually get a little giddy and start giggling at EVERYTHING. Which is part of the reason it is so much fun! We are going to miss you, Shell, while you are gone!! Do tons of shopping!

me and Shelley
me, Laura, Mom, Ashley, Shelley and Andrea

We went to La Vigna for dinner.

YUMMY

CUTE!

One on one time with Keagan--Easton was taking a nap.

She was rolling all over the floor trying to figure out how to get Easton's cup, she finally did and I don't think she knew what to do with it. All the hard work and then what?
Easton, being the cheese
So serious

Aidan

Today is my nephew, Aidan's 4th birthday.

Happy birthday DUDE! We love you!

Ready, Set, GO!

Well, the Pinewood Derby for the Cub Scouts was last night. Interesting. It was really cute how the boys got so excited and Easton was excited for a while--two year old attention span--. The interesting thing to me, was the Dad's that got a little TOO competitive. This is for the Cub Scouts--right?? One dad actually made the race officiator redo a couple of the races because his boy's car didn't do that well. The excuse was "The track is crooked . . . ." HMMM. There were some dads who even made their own car and raced it against the other "Older Scouts". Parker vowed to me he would never do that. Thank you, honey!

One funny thing I forgot about--when the Webelos came over a couple of weeks ago to our house, Parker was trying to bond with them and pulled out his old comic books. One of the comic books Parker got when he was about their age, and one of the boys said, "Wow, this is ancient!" HOLY COW---am I so old to these boys that I am considered ANCIENT??

More Zions pics

Long, long drive, but well worth it. I would recommend to anyone to go down and see the beautiful mountains and go on a couple of hikes. We didn't do anything too hard, too many kids in tow, and too out of shape, but the ones we did were beautiful.

Cute couple! Keagan was snoozing in the Moby wrap and Easton was on Parker's back.
Lawton, Aidan, Olive, Opa, Abbey, Oma, Easton and Parker
Abbey and Aidan. I love this picture, I think it is so sweet how they were holding hands.
The fam
Miss Keagie stretching

Zions

We got back from Zions National Park last night. We went down with Parker's parents (visiting from Virginia) and his brother's family. It was so nice down there! The weather was perfect and it was great to spend some uninterrupted time with the family. I got a TON of pictures, but just picked a few of my favorites.

Our MOBY WRAP advertisement. Parker with Keagan and me with Easton. (If you are wondering why I was carrying the heavy child, Easton was having a traumatic day and didn't want ANYTHING to do with his daddy.)
The cabin Parker's brother found online for us to stay at! Good job, Lawton!
Keagan in the Moby, sleeping and Easton being dragged by me . . . .
Me and Easton
The whole gang.

me, Keagan, Opa, Easton, Abbey, Amy, Olive (on Amy's back), Oma, Aidan (behind Parker's Mom) and Lawton

Mother's Day

Here are some late Mother's Day pictures.

Keagan and Mommy
Easton, Keagan and Mommy
"DON'T TAKE MY PICTURE!"

Keagan's 7th Month Appt

Keagan had her 7 month appointment today. She is doing really well, meeting her milestones, growing, etc. She is 13 lbs. 14 oz, the 2nd% and she is 26.8 inches, the 60th%, so kinda tall and VERY skinny. But, the doctor said she looks good and is not worried about her. Yipee! She has had a little cold the past couple of days, but she is such a good, sweet baby and just wants to cuddle with Mommy.

eating a banana
Mother's Day

To Scout or Not To Scout . . .

That is the question. Parker's answer is a resounding NO.

We had our first Webelos meeting tonight. Interesting. We are supposed to have 5 or 6 boys, but only 2 came. One boy was really sweet and was very excited. The other one . . . a little strange (putting it nicely).
Let me start at last week. So, it took us forever to get a hold of the old Webelos leaders to get the information we needed. We finally did and Parker went over to their house to get the "gear". He came home with a HUGE box of -- well -- junk. That is my "non-scouting" opinion. When I first saw the box, I was a little overwhelmed and quite a bit frustrated. "What have we gotten ourselves into?" I kept asking myself. Looking through the material, binders, etc., was a bit daunting and it seems like this is more than the regular church calling. I know, I know, MAGNIFY YOUR CALLING. I don't know if I am there yet. Especially if I have to wear one of the ugly scout uniforms. (I am determined to get through this calling without getting one, but we will see. . . )
So, that is the update on our family scouting experience. Not much yet, but the Pinewood Derby is in a couple of weeks, so hopefully some great stories from that.

Girlie Night

So, last night I threw a baby shower for my friend Tara from high school. 5 other girls from the old gang came and it was so much fun to chat for a couple of hours! It has been too long since we have gotten together! I made a diaper cake for Tara with the help of my mom and sister, Shelley. I think it turned out so cute.
After everyone left, of course I remembered that I hadn't taken any pictures! I even had my camera out to do so, but I forgot!

To all of my girlfriends--love ya and I am so glad we got to see each other! Good luck to Tara with the rest of her pregnancy and her labor! She will be a great mommy!

Parker Pipes in

A few weeks back Julie encouraged me to write of my feelings for my children for posterity sake, here goes:

My young son Easton, from the moment I witnessed your big eyes staring at me wrapped in your first blanket I have considered you my angel. I think of you as miracle from god helping me to see that despite all the evil, death, pain, and misery witnessed that there is light, there is hope projected from Him, through you, unto me each day. I swore to raise you to be honest, righteous, kind, smart, and proud of who you are. You have so much strength. When I was your age my mother's friends would often tell her that I was the "angriest boy" they had ever seen. I thank god that you are kind and unselfish in your love, you have blessed me forever and I will always protect you and love you with all my heart.

Keagan, you are, with the exception of your mother, the prettiest girl I have ever seen, for the first few months you were with us I had a hard time being close and emotional with you, you seemed so soft and delicate (like a flower in full bloom). I, being who I am, wasn't sure how to treat something so pure, you intimated me. I have been in countless confrontations, I almost never hold my opinions in, and have only been intimidated by two other people (your mother, and Buddy) in my whole life, you scared me. Then one day, you leaned your soft head on my shoulder, your little hand resting on my chest over my thumping heart, your eyes looked up at me and projected a faint smile of peace and safety. I cried a singular tear, kissed your head and knew that you were mine. I will always protect you, you will never have to fear anything or anybody, I will always honor your mother who loves us all so much, and make sure that when you grow up, the man you marry honors these same commitments.

To both of my children, I love you very much. Please, love one another.

A little R & R

So, Parker and I took the kids up to my parents condo in Park City this weekend. We just needed to get away for a few days. I stopped at a fast food joint in Heber for dinner for Easton and I (Parker drove separate), and early Sunday morning, I woke up with violent stomach problems! It has been YEARS since I have thrown up, but apparently my streak is over. Easton also had symptoms of food poisoning. It was miserable. But, luckily, it got out of our system quickly and we were fine today. I went shopping at the outlets with my mom and sister and we found some CUTE things at Motherhood for Laura (she is 5 months pregnant). It is quite fun maternity shopping when I don't have to try the clothes on and I don't have to pay for the clothes!
So, while us ladies were shopping, my dad took Easton and Laura's boys to the park and he called while we were out and asked me when we were going to be done. I asked him how the boys were and he said, "They were having a lot of fun, but then the Mexican kids came." What he meant by that was, the Boys and Girls Club meets at a building in the park and the majority of the members are of Latin descent and they were quite a bit older than our boys, so they weren't playing well. The way he said it--I had to give the phone to my mom, I was laughing to hard!!

Max and Keagan

This is Keagan's cousin Max--who LOVES her! He loves to kiss her and sometimes tackle her. She takes it good most of the time--she is used to Easton doing it!

Smile!

Some fun pictures from this week.

Keagan and Easton in Easton's crib

Keagan--now that she can roll over, she won't stay on her back! Which is good, unless she has just eaten! (pressure on tummy, food comes up . . .)
Keagan and Easton--I interrupted Easton during Nemo to take the picture--hence the face!
Naked pictures!
Look how high Keagan is lifting herself!! Go Keagie!

Sand Dunes

Last Saturday, my sister, Laura and her family were down at the Sand Dunes and they invited whoever wanted to drive the hour and a half to join them. My mom, sister Ashley, me and the kids went down. When we got there, the wind was blowing so hard, we had to stay in Laura's trailer! We were hoping the wind would die down so we could go 4wheeling, but alas, we sat there for a couple of hours and packed up and headed home. Ashley and my nephews went on the 4wheelers for a little while, but they came back with so much sand in their hair and eyes, I didn't want to brave it! We got some fun pictures though!

Easton
Keagan and Laura
Me and Easton

What?

So, the 2nd Counselor in our ward called a few weeks ago and wanted to meet with Parker and I. We were figuring it was a calling or something, because the Bishopric had just come to meet us a couple of weeks prior to that. So, we go and meet with the 2nd Counselor and last Sunday Parker and I were sustained as Webelos leaders. Now, when we were first asked if we would accept this calling, my first thought was, "What the heck is a Webelo?" --I didn't voice that aloud-- (A ten year old scout) Growing up in a family of all girls, I have had NO prior experience to scouting and frankly, don't enjoy the whole nature thing (I like to sleep in a BED)--but I am going to give it my all. Parker isn't exactly the most "scouty" person I know, but we know the calling came from prayer, so we are going in with (mostly) good feelings. Hopefully we won't ruin these poor little boys scouting experience with our lack of knowledge!! Wish us luck!

Hot Stuff!

Easton got these in a kids meal and he thinks he is so cool! He loves putting them on and looking at himself in the mirror! They are surprisingly durable too--he bends them every way possible and they have stayed together!

Loves

Feeding the ducks down at GG's. Easton was having SO much fun! I think the ducks gained a few pounds from Easton's contribution to them.

Parker and Keagan

So sweet!
Excuse the drool on Parker's shirt! (It is Keagan's, not Parker's!)

Spiritual upliftment

Conference was wonderful! Even with Easton climbing all over me, Keagan babbling, and Parker listening intently (snoring) it was wonderful. We are so blessed to have the gospel in our lives and to be able to hear the Prophet and the Apostles speak. We are also spoiled to be able to watch conference on TV, in our pajamas, while eating breakfast! I loved sustaining the Prophet (I did it everytime because I didn't know what they were doing) and I felt so blessed to be able to do so!