Pictures of Summer Part 2 and day 1 of my photo journal

Austin loves to take baths with crayola bath dropz he loves to watch them disolve and he thinks it's really fun that mixing two colors can create a new color.
Kate loves her binky....but loves her bear even more. In the morning she won't part with either until she gets food. She loves this bear so much I actually went to the store and bought 3 more as back up just in case this one doesn't make it. We learned the hard way with Austin that one bear is not enough.

This is how we find Austin in the mornings...undies, flip flops and of course sad Mr. Bear

Kate loves to pick her nose...this is how we most often find her. I don't think it's possible for her to stick it up any further.LOL Click on this picture and it will bring it up even bigger for you to see exactly what I mean.

At the Fair watching the baby chickens hatch.

Our friend Paige as corn.

Farmer Devon

Farmer Austin

Paige is two years older than Austin. They really like to play with each other and it's fun to watch. While at the Fair she kept wanting to hold his hand. His dad called her a Cougar LOL Devon and I almost died.

The Bryants

This is how Kate sat in her stroller almost the whole time....lounging with her feet up.

All these next ones are Austin feeding animals. He loved it because it tickled!

Paige, dreaming about going on all the fun rides.

Kate's ready for the night. She was so good all night. Sat in her stroller for like 3 hours and didn't make a single peep.

These are my new shoes....fun huh LOL

Picture time...in a big way

Okay, so I have tons of pictures to post and it's just not going to happen LOL. I will post some but I've now waited too long, taken too many pictures and would have to recap way too much. So the bad with the good. I will post some pictures but not all and to avoid this happening again I am going to challenge my self to have a daily picture post. I know this might sound crazy but I really want to try. I saw another blog where she tried to post at least 1 picture every day. It was really cool and I loved it because it was like a picture diary. I think it would help me become a better photographer and used to taking quick pictures instead of picture sessions. I also think that maybe my kids won't be such cheese balls around the camera if I always have it out. So, that is my plan. We'll see how it goes. Wish me luck!. Oh yeah, and I am also posting almost everyday on my other blog for my vinyl so hopefully posting on both blogs everyday will remind and inspire me to get it done. If you haven't seen my other blog check it out here! (sorry about the order being crazy and that some of them are centered and others not)

Kate and Austin

Kate has been doing so good lately. She is crawling/scooting around everywhere and it is so fun to watch. Lately she likes to scoot over to Austin and try to take his toys. I love to just sit and watch their interactions. I love how Kate tries so hard to follow Austin around and how much he watches out for her and tries (a little too much some times) to help her out and give her loves. He doesn't quite understand that she isn't as strong as he is and that although he is trying to do something nice or be helpful, he is usually hurting her. Right now I am trying to teach him that if he's doing something and it makes her cry....he should stop. LOL

Kate is so quick to smile and is content to roll around on the ground looking for something to put in her mouth. She sleeps like a dream and is so easy for me to take care of. The biggest challenge for me is figuring out what to feed her. She is kind of picky and between what she can't eat and what she won't eat meals are hard to come by. Also, she has started to notice when we eat something different from her. Like today, Austin and I made some pistachio pudding during lunch and after lunch ate it, Kate saw that we were eating it and wanted some. Unfortunately for her she can't. So I tried to distract her with other foods but no, she just cried and whined. Finally I got her down and took her into the other room. It's got to be hard not to be able to have what others are having and not understand why.

Austin....oh Austin. 90% of the time he is such a good boy. He is good about playing by himself and playing with Kate. Most of the time he runs in circles around Kate and she just lays on her back and laughs and watches. He loves to help with anything and everything especially if it means working with Dad, working in the garage, or helping with the lawn mower. He likes to help me cook and do laundry he loves to brush my hair and rub my back with the little messager (and I didn't even train him to do this....he really just does it!). He is happy to take naps in the afternoon, but not so happy to go to bed at night. He refers to us as Devon and Stacy instead of mom and dad, no matter how much we correct him. Sometimes if we are just hanging out he calls me Stac, like we've been friends for years LOL. He loves snuggles and when I put him to bed he says Stac, snuggle me! The first thing he says EVERY morning is ....Where's Devon? I say "dad's at work" "oh yeah, dad's at work on the computer" (even though Devon hardly works on the computer, the only time we go see dad at work is when he is in his office doing computer work LOL) It amazes me how well he is talking now and we have to be so careful about what we say because he is totally a little parrot....but not the kind that repeats is as soon as you say it, the sneaky kind that says it later and I am left thinking.....where in the world did he get that from?!! His favorite thing to say now is "are you kidding me?!" and instead of say okay mom he always says "sure!" What I think is really funny is that he always says Thank you...now I know it doesn't seem funny but it's just the way he says it. It's not like thanks mom, your great or even like a true THanks, it like T-h-a-n-k Y-o-u, really slow and determined like he's being sarcastic....like "thanks for taking a million years to do that mom"....i don't know how to explain it....but it's really funny and he always says it after everything. He " Woves" (loves) lots of things. Stacy, I wove crackers. Stac I WOVE AUNT ASHEY, I WOVE NOODLES, I wove sheep...they tickle me. Any time something feels funny it "tickels" him. The other day he had an upset stomach and he started laughing and said .."Hey, my tummy is tickling me!".....which meant we better hit the bathroom quick! LOL He really is such a good boy. Right now our biggest struggle is church and more specifically sacrament meeting. He WILL NOT is and be quiet. It doesn't matter if we have books, toys, food, coloring, new toys, old toys, if he reads by himself or if we read to him....he just can't seem to make it. It' s driving me NUTS. we've started having him read at night so that he can get used to sitting and having quiet time but it doesn't seem to be helping. IDK, I'm not sure what to do I'm just glad we only have to do it once a week LOL.

Anyway, there are some fun updates on the kids. It's late and I'm sleepy but I will post pictures tomorrow.

night

So much going on so little time.

While we were in Wyoming I spaced it and didn't bring the pack and play....so Kate slept in a suitcase. LOL
I love all her little leggings. She wears them often to help encourage her to use her legs.

Kate trying to figure out the rolling thing.

Sometimes while we were driving Austin and Kate would just hold hands. I thought it was so cute!


Yikes! Time is just flying by so fast I can hardly focus. So much has been going on lately I don't even know where to start. Here is a list of some of the stuff we have been up to.

Funeral in Wyoming
Trip through Yellowstone
Camping over 4th
Tons of days at the waterpark
Trip to Canada
Girls Camp
Visit to Rexburg and BYU-Idaho
Long hours at work (for Devon)
Busy busy with vinyl
Kate's Birthday
My Birthday
Grandma and Grandpa came
Nana and Papa coming Wednesday
Weekend in McCall
....and that's just the big stuff

Things have been so fun and the kids have been good for the most part. We had some drama getting the right paperwork to cross the border to go to Canada but it all worked out and everyone now officially has passports/cards so we won't have to deal with that again for a few more years. Kate is doing good. She is starting to scoot everywhere, she is really happy that she is mobile and I hope it encourages her to shift it into second gear. Austin is being a typical 2yr old and is really fighting me for independence. My #1 goal right now with him is to not yell. I know that I still do and it is just second nature to me but I know that I can get the same results if I ask in a normal voice or in a yelling voice so I am super concentrating on NOT yelling. If I start yelling I just stop..give it a second and say it again. I am learning that he works really well with concesquences so instead of yelling for him to do something or stop doing something I just have to quickly tell him what I want and what the consequences will be.

Example: Austin loves Kate to death, and because of this he usually ends up hurting her so normally I would yell (and not always yelling yelling, sometimes just speaking very sharply). Austin! Stop! You're hurting Kate! Now I say something like, Austin let go of kate or put your nose in the corner 1..2..3. Counting is magic for Austin. 9/10 times if I count he will react. He's learning now that when I count he has a little bit of time before it has to be done. Before I would count 1....................................2...........................................3................................ but recently as soon as I say 1 he knows he has a little time so he will run away or run outside or go do something crazy but by the time I say 3 he's on his way to doing what I asked. So now I count 1.2.3. and he quickly does what I ask.
Example 2: I notice Austin needs to go to the bathroom.
I normally would ask a couple times then end up yelling "Austin go potty NOW!" But I don't want to be one of "those mom's" who has to yell for there kids to move. So now I say Austin you need to use the potty then you can get a treat. Go now. 1.2.3.

This is (although I am sure boring to read about) so hard for me and I catch myself slipping daily but it is really something I want to fix. So wish me luck as Austin tries my patience as he gains his freedom. LOL

New news. We are house hunting! While I was gone to Canada Devon met with a loan officer and got the ball rolling on a home loan, then found an amazing real estate agent. We met with him last week and he sent us tons of home while I was at camp. We are going to start looking at some of them and hopefully get into a house soon. Definantly before the end of the year because we want to cash in on the new home buyers tax credit. We are looking to stay in Star and are trying to buy in our ward but don't know if it's going to work. Right now there are only 2 houses for sale in our ward that meet our requirements...and both of them don't really met the requirements....but we would make due to stay in the ward. ( we want 4 bedroom the ones in the ward have 3 bedrooms and a bonus room. I need a room for an office so we will have to check them out to see if they would work.) I'll keep my blog up to date on our house hunting. Now that we got a feel for it in California it should be fun here.

I think that's about it for now. Hopefully things will calm down and I will post more frequently.

Stacy

Kate

Kate's Birthday Cake

The cake looks so good...but don't touch!

These were for passports...but she is just so dang cute!

This post will be all about our dear little Kate.

Kate turned 1 on June 14th YAY!!! Some days I can't believe it's already been a year, then on the other hand I look at all we have been through with her and I feel like it has been a LONG year. Between her food allergies, her need to be permanently attached to me, and her inability to crawl/walk I seem to always be questioning what's going on with her. She is beautiful and when everything is good then she is content and smilies so much and really is a joy. The older she gets the more of those moments we have. She has kind of been a hard baby but when she sits and giggles and grins it makes every moment of it worth it.

Our latest devlopment with Kate is her need to go and get her pelvis x-rayed. We have been taking Kate to the Physical Therapist becuase she isn't crawling, standing, or walking. After going to the therapist for 1 1/2 months without much progress they wanted us to go and get x-rays to make sure everything is okay. We were able to go today and it went really well. Kate was so happy and cooperative which was a miracle. I really liked the doctor (we went to an Orthoepedic specialist) and we were in and our fairly quickly. We went in, talked with one nurse then had another nurse take x-rays then the doctor came in. We had a good chat about what she could and couldn't do. Bottom line is that she's fine. The x-ray came back clear, he said that it's not "normal" for her to not be crawling but it's not a problem yet. He said some babies will NEVER crawl and that's okay. He isn't worried about Kate because he said she has great head movement and torso balance, he said that her arm, hand and finger dexterity is good and other than her legs she is Very healthy and strong. He told me that if she isn't at least standing by the time she is 19 months (6 months from now) then to bring her back in and they will start to run test and send her to a neuroligist but until then to just work with her. The doctor also made me feel better because he said one of his daughters never crawled and didn't start walking until she was 17 months and now she's 12 and perfectly normal and even plays sports LOL. So that did make me feel better knowing that not only will she be okay but that he had the same thing happen.

Kate is gettting really good at rolling and spinning around. She loves to play with Austin and is a good sport when he is a little too rough with her. She sleeps SO good and is a dream to put down for naps and bed. Even when we went camping this last weekend she layed down for every nap and went to bed and slept all through the night without crying even once! I was so surprised and happy.