Your Happy Smiling Face

Davin was being so cute and making me laugh when he woke up from his nap just now. I think I definitely captured his little happy, laughing grin. I love this baby so mcuh and I can't wait to see how his personality comes out in the next several years. Also, I had to post him wearing his BYU-Idaho shirt for Mel and Brad. Rexburg, whatup?!? Dav wasn't so sure about me sneaking in on his camera time, but he still looks pretty adorable, I think. Stay tuned for a little tag at the end of this post.

THE FIVE

10 years ago I:
1. had just started my sophomore year at Sonora High School.
2. was on the Raiderette Drill Team.
3. had just chopped off my hair and gotten layers (you know, like Jennifer Aniston).
4. woke up at 4:45am every day for early morning seminary.
5. had just returned from my first trip to NYC and decided that I wanted to live there someday.

5 things on today's "to do" list:
1. mop bathroom floors
2. empty the dishwasher
3. get Weston's hair cut
4. call Lex to plan a bridal shower
5. watch at least one more episode of "How I Met Your Mother"

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. cottage cheese with wheat thins
2. anything and everything chocolate (especially peanut M&M's)
3. apple with peanut butter
4. peanut butter and chocolate chip granola bars
5. Harvest Cheddar Sunchips

5 things I'd do if I were a millionaire:
1. buy a bigger house
2. buy a bigger car (I can't fit a Sam's Club trip in my trunk these days)
3. go to Hawaii with my whole family and to Europe (specifically Germany) with just Ian
4. probably buy homes for my family too (especially Joy, at least 3500 square feet)
5. buy myself a whole new wardrobe, advised by the chick on "What Not to Wear"

5 places I've lived:
1. La Habra, CA-with my parents
2. Provo, UT-in the dorms and several different apartments
3. New York City, NY-tiny 1 bedroom apartment in a slightly ghetto area, it was awesome.
4. Murray, UT-where we lived when Weston was born
5. Kearns, UT-our first house!

5 jobs I've had:
1. delivery job for a pharmacy in Fullerton
2. piano teacher
3. computer support dispatcher
4. receptionist at a talent agency (interesting. . .)
5. Recreation Therapist!!!

The Best of Feelings . . .

This weekend we were incredibly busy. I didn't see Davin on Saturday at all after 9am.

Friday morning I drove around Salt Lake City and went mattress shopping with my friend. It was actually pretty fun, especially the being chased by bees at McDonald's part. Also, laying on mattresses is always fun. Anyway, that afternoon we went and picked up Ian from work and went to Eagle Mountain for his chiropractor appointment. His back is still kind of sore, but better. Since we were all the way in Eagle Mountain already we decided to stay and hang out with the Burton's, so we had pizza and let the boys play until bedtime. Once the kidlets were in bed we watched "Run, Fatboy, Run." It sounds stupid, but we really enjoyed it. Very funny and sweet.

Saturday morning we got up early and headed to the temple. We ended up not making it in until the 10 o'clock session. We had such a nice time though. I actually was feeling pretty awake and alert for having such a late Friday night. Big shout-out THANKS to Ireland for babysitting for free for us. We so appreciate it.

We didn't end up getting home until 12:30pm, so we ate lunch and put Weston down for a nap and then I headed out to run a couple errands and then went to Sanctuary Day Spa where I finally used my gift certificate for a massage (from my birthday in March). I LOVE Sanctuary. It is such a nice place. I love being pampered and massages are the best. It was great. Thanks again for the gift honey (and for staying with the boys)!
I missed Ian heading out to the mall, so when I got home they were gone and I threw on a skirt and went to the Relief Society broadcast. I was glad I could be there. It is always nice to hear some inspiring words. I also got to mingle a little bit with the stake. I know literally no one, so it was good to meet a couple people.

Sunday I went to choir only to find out that I will be in CA when they are going to sing. I swear I am always gone when they sing. Over the entire time we have lived in this ward I think I have only actually sung with the choir 1 time. How sad. Oh well, at least I will be around for Christmas this year. I also taught Young Women's, which was only ok. I hate the dating lesson. It feels so lame. Anyway, it was a very busy weekend.

Then there was this morning. I had my dentist appointment this morning at 8am. I actually made it out of the house before Weston woke up, which made things easier.

I was sure that I was going to have like 10 cavities since I hadn't been to the dentist for almost 2 years. I am so excited to report that I had ZERO cavities. I did have a little spot that would have probably turned into a cavity, so I got a sealant put on it, but other than that, it was pretty uneventful. Once again, I was told that I needed my wisdom teeth out, however, this new dentist has an oral surgeon on staff that comes in once a month and can do anesthesia and everything, so I can get all 4 of my wisdom teeth out while put under for $120! I can't believe how much cheaper it is going to be! Thank you Verite for shelling out for the good dental coverage: 90%. I am finally home and on the computer for the first time in days. I was almost going through withdrawals (apparently that is the correct spelling). It is nice to have a little down time to catch up on laundry, dishes and blogging.

BTW, Mom, did I win the dentist bet? I do believe you owe me some See's in October. :)

Happy Half Year!

My baby is 6 months old today! I just can't believe how quickly that went by. We are a little behind, so he doesn't have his 6 month check-up until the middle of October, but in other updates, he is finally sort of sleeping through the night. Most nights he still wakes up once, but goes right back to sleep after I put his binki back in and re-tuck him in. He has started eating baby food (just carrots so far) and he enjoys his sweet potato puffs. He is mellow and happy and we all just adore him. Yesterday I got out the walker for him. He is growing up so fast!
THE PAST 6 MONTHS BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
The amazing Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium Swing. It has only been in the last month that he has transitioned to napping in his crib. We still pawn him off on the swing in the early morning when we want a little more sleep. This swing is a lifesaver!
Tiny Love Symphony-in-Motion Mobile. This mobile, which I thought was overpriced when we bought it for Weston, was worth every penny. Both my boys have loved it. Davin would lay and watch it and babble for 15-30 minutes at a time. It can still keep him entertained for at least 5-10 minutes while I help Weston at the potty or whatever. It also sings him to sleep sometimes.
Aquaphor Healing Ointment. Poor Dav had/has really bad eczema and horrible diaper rash his first few weeks. I have probably used about 5 tubes of this in the last 6 months. Nothing else seems to work as well. I also swear by (against my will because it feels nasty on my skin) Eucerin Plus lotion for keeping the eczema away.
I love my boppy. It is the ONLY comfortable way for me to nurse. I still use it to feed bottles to Davin so my arms don't get tired. I also love it for helping him practice sitting up on his own. If he falls it doesn't hurt (unless he nose dives, which happens a lot more than it should).
Gerber Flannel Burp Cloths. These are far and away my favorite burp cloths. Not too big and thick, not too small and wimpy. They are soft, have cute patterns and wash well. I think I have 12 or something and I use them ALL the time from day one.
In addition to all my favorite baby gear (the list could go on, but I named the favs I use on a daily basis, the essentials), the past 6 months would not have been possible without Ian reconnecting me to adult, outside world life and helping out with both the boys. Getting up with Weston when I had been up 3 times with Davin and taking Weston to the park so I could get stuff done in the evenings, etc. Thanks babe. I am nowhere near ready to do this all again anytime soon, so don't ask, but it is kind of sad to see the newborn phase at an end.

Case of the Monday's

10 Things I'm Happy About Today:
1. The rain stopped and the sun came out during the hour and a half I was grocery shopping this morning.
2. I LOVE the new genius function on itunes! (it creates playlists for me based on one song I feel like listening to)
3. I scheduled a massage for this Saturday.
4. It's my awesome, cute, fun, always-online-to-chat-with-me, little sister's 22nd birthday today, so we get to call and sing when Weston wakes up from his nap. :) Happy Birthday Jules!
5. I finally did some organizing of the pantry and garage food. I enjoy being organized.
6. I got a 20 minute nap.
7. I love watching my boys play together. Weston likes to make Davin laugh and he also is helpful in giving back all the toys that Dav throws on the floor from his high chair.
8. I am planning on watching "While You Were Sleeping" tonight since Ian will be working late. Me, my movie and a bowl of ice cream.
9. I feel so good that I rolled myself out of bed at 5:45am this morning to swim, even though I was still in full on dream mode and it was raining.
10. Story time is back in full swing. I love having a built-in activity involving other children and learning at least once a week right down the street!

Castle Park

Today we went to story time at the West Jordan library. It was a very fun morning about counting. They did "This Old Man" and it's now Weston's favorite song. I think I've sung it 4 times since we left. We met up with Tara and her kids, Makenzie and Jarom, at the library and then we all went over to the park afterwards. The West Jordan park has this amazing castle playground. It is HUGE and so fun. Anyway, Kenz and Weston ran around together while Tara and I talked and pushed the babies in the swings. They were both really tired and they totally fell asleep in the swings, so we stopped pushing them and let them nap. It was really funny. Poor babies having to stick to the big siblings schedules.
This was Weston's favorite part of the park. There were 2 of these diggers. It was really funny watching him do it because he didn't quite get the mechanics of it and he would use all his body weight to help move the big handles.
This one random huge red swing was in the middle of all the baby swings. It was kind of cool. I think it's maybe supposed to be for kids with disabilities or something.

We're Home!

Well we are back from our Oregon vacation. It was such a wonderful trip. The day after our beach adventure we tried to relax a little and let the boys catch up on some rest, so we left them with Papa and Great Grandma while Ian and I went over to Eli and Emilee's apartment to play Wii. It was a lot of fun. I had never done Wii Fit and it was really cool. Let's just say I totally reset their high score on the hula hooping game. Woot woot! :) Great Grandma and Papa Squire came into town from Seattle that afternoon too and we had a fun dinner and played games with them.

On Friday G&G Squire treated us all to a day at the Oregon Zoo. It was perfect zoo weather and doing the zoo with a 2 year old is just about my speed. Weston's attention span is short (like mine), so we got to see pretty much everything. We did miss the penguins. Sad. Anyway, here are a few pics from our zoo day.

Weston got up close and personal with an orangutan that looked like Harry and the Henderson's to me.
Weston and Uncle Eli took a rest in the shade while we waited in line to see the brand new baby elephant. The baby elephant layed down to take a nap just as we came in to see it, but it was still pretty cute, as is this photo.
After we saw the elephants we ate our picnic in the shade.
Me and Dav after lunch hanging out in the shade.This was Weston by the end of zoo day. He did so well, but that last half hour he was starting to lose it and his little legs were tired, so we let him hitch a ride. I do think he had a blast and enjoyed seeing all the animals. The highlights were the elephants, the giraffe, the "stretch" zebra(s), and the monkeys.
Davin was a happy little camper on zoo day too. He didn't even sleep as much as I expected, but at the end of the day we let him out of the stroller since there were so many willing people to hold him. Here he is with his Great Grandma Margaret.
Saturday found us watching the awesome BYU Cougars shutting out UCLA. It was a fun game to watch and it did Papa's heart good to see his cougs play so well and win by so much (59-0). We mostly spent all our down time just visiting and keeping the kidlets entertained. Here is Papa with Dav. That mustache is quite the distraction.
I think this picture is my new favorite Davin face. He must have been either surprised or really excited about something. Too funny.
Great Papa Larry or "Old Papa" made these cat ears out of his hanky for Weston. He thought they were so cool and liked wearing them around the house and showing them to everyone who hadn't seen him wearing them yet. Also, he's wearing his sweet Oregon Zoo shirt that Ian/Weston picked out.
I think this picture was actually taken on Thursday while Ian and I were gone and Weston was so tired, but kept telling Grandma that it wasn't his nap time yet. Apparently it really was. :)
While playing outside in the backyard on Sunday we found a fuzzy caterpillar. Weston was so excited and liked holding it, but kept dropping it because it really did tickle a lot.
Grandma and Papa got this little fold out bed/couch for Weston to sleep on while we were there and both boys really liked it. This was while we were all watching the BYU game against Washington the day we got there.
Whenever we had down time and Weston needed to expend some energy we headed to this cool little park. This was the tunnel that Weston finally got brave enough to go in by the 3rd or 4th time we were there.
Aunt Aly was home on Saturday when we got to OR and then she left on Sunday to fly back to Idaho for school. We let Weston wake her up Sunday morning. She was thrilled. ;) Good luck in school this semester Aly! We missed you the rest of our trip.
I have no idea what day this was, but Papa and Uncle Eli are working on restoring an old VW bug and Weston decided to be one of the guys and help out. Not sure how much they actually got accomplished while he was "helping."
We got home Sunday night after a full, but uneventful flight, and have spent the last couple days settling back in, unpacking, doing laundry and catching up on sleep. Weston took a 3 and a half hour nap yesterday! Also of note, Weston was the most awesome 2 year old ever and used the potty almost our entire trip. Now that we are home, he has not done nearly as well. Weird, right?

Ian has jumped right back into work and came home with an additional rush project yesterday, so he will be gone LOTS this week. Probably we won't see him again until maybe Saturday. :( Me sad. At least I will have time in the evenings to catch up on some blogs and reading. Wow, just going over our trip makes me tired all over. I think I'll go grab a power nap.

Oregon Trip-Part 3

Wednesday we took a day trip to the town of Seaside to visit the coast. In all the times I have been to Portland I had never been to the Oregon coast, so this was my request for our vacation. It was amazing. We had such a great time. I have already mentioned how wonderful the weather has been, but really this was a PERFECT Oregon beach day. We got on the road ahead of schedule and made a stop at the local Dollar Tree before heading out of town because (drum roll please) Weston pooped in the potty earlier that morning! His reward was that he got to pick out a prize from the dollar store. He ended up picking a mini monster truck. We also found the best one dollar investment ever: a handheld electronic version of the game 1 v. 100. We picked up a dollar pack of batteries and Ian and I played trivia a good part of the drive. Yes, we are nerds. :)

Both the boys fell asleep about half an hour into the drive and napped most of the way. When we got there I had my doubts about our day. Weston was whining, it was kind of chilly, he didn't like walking on the sand and he had to go potty (with no public restroom in sight). So, we walked down to the water carting both boys and a little bit of our stuff.

We ended up deciding to do the non-shore Seaside stuff first, so we loaded back up in the car and drove in a big circle to end up one block from where we started and found a bathroom and the main drag of shops. This included the Seaside Carousel Mall. Weston did a ride on the carousel, which he LOVED. He was also very brave and took one hand off and waved every time we passed Daddy and Davin.
We continued wandering the shops and stopped in The Buzz, a big candy store, and picked out treats. Ian had a chocolate dipped twinkie. Wow. It was pretty yummy. I picked some homemade fudge, naturally. Anyway, after walking the rest of the interesting looking shops we got back in the car once again and drove over to the McDonald's to grab some lunch, feed Dav and use the potty again. When we got back we loaded up all our stuff and headed back to the shore. It was a much better timing. We were all fed and pottied and it had warmed up quite a bit. There was just a light wind and it was almost cloudless.

Weston started digging and seriously just sat there digging all by himself for a good long while. He filled up all his buckets and then would dump them out and start over. He said he was building a castle where people could get married. There was a little swing set on the beach too, so both the boys took a turn there too.
Davin hung out in his little cabana we made him out of a towel draped over the footstool of the camp chair. It was perfect!
After some major digging, Weston and I walked down to the water. We took our time getting through the sand. I showed Weston how to make his own footprints. It was cute.
At first Weston wasn't completely sure about the water and I had to hold his hand the whole time. After about 15 minutes and me showing him how to chase the waves and jump in the shallow water he was having a ball. He would run WAY out past where the waves would get him and then finally hear me calling him and stop. Then he would run all the way back and jump in another wave. We just had so much fun playing in the waves. The water didn't even feel all that cold.
Davin spent a lot of time in the Snugli at the beach and after this picture was taken we switched and put him on me. After about 5 minutes he conked out and I had to hold his head up. It was hilarious. Poor kid was worn out. Here are the handsome men in my life playing at the beach.
Back to diggin! At this point he was calling himself, and requesting that we refer to him as, the Digger Man. What a cute nutter.
At the end of the afternoon Ian busted out the kite and Weston did so well helping to fly it. I was kind of chair bound with a snoozing Davin in my lap during this part, but I could still see the whole kite-flying experience.
We ended up staying at the beach longer than we planned and decided to just stay in Seaside to eat dinner and then head out post-traffic. It was a good decision because I was totally craving a bowl of hot clam chowder and I got it and it was fabulous. Weston played hard and was starving. He scarfed his mac and cheese at the restaurant and ate all of my oyster crackers. Here is our family at the end of our day in Seaside. Big contented sigh. It was wonderful day. Good times.
The boys slept all the way home and Ian and I got some good conversation in. I knew it was a successful family trip when the first thing Weston said at 5:30am this morning (yes, AM) was, "Playing at the beach is fun. Thanks for the fun outing Mom." You're welcome.

Oregon Trip-Part 2

On Monday afternoon/evening Ian and I snuck off for a marathon date. We had such a fun adventure. I don't think we have been on this long and carefree of a date in . . . well . . . since we had kids! :) First off it was awesome because we managed to leave while Weston was still napping, so we didn't have to deal with the separation drama. We went to this cheapie theater in Milwaukee, a somewhat ghetto little town about 20 minutes from the house. We decided to see 2 movies there. Our first feature was "Kung Fu Panda," which I actually quite enjoyed. It was pretty funny and well-voiced. Totally worth $2.50.

After the movie we went to get dinner at Mike's Drive-In. It was amazing. Such great burgers and fries. Yum. We stole away to the picnic tables behind the restaurant shack so we could people watch in private. Ok, so dinner was great, but we still had an hour and a half to kill before our 2nd movie was going to start, so we decided to see if we could find the house that Ian lived in when he was 6. We consulted the map and were all prepped to wander aimlessly, but instead we made some snap navigating decisions and found the house in about 5 minutes. We drive by to check it out. It's kinda fun to look at places you used to live.
This is Ian's old house in the background. With another hour to go we kept driving back to Milwaukee Main Street to see if any of the random shops were still open, especially this store called Things From Outer Space. It was closed. The cool thing about Portland is that there are rivers and lakes and water everywhere, so we happened to be right by a river (not sure which one), so we pulled in there and Ian taught me how to skip a rock. I actually did it twice in a row! We also called home to say goodnight to the little one. He pretty much didn't miss us at all. He spent most of the time on the phone giggling about his silly secret he had with Grandma. :)
Anyway, we STILL had a little time before the movie, so we went back to Mike's and got shakes. It took about 15 or 20 minutes to get out shakes (oddly slow), but luckily a guy got pulled over in the parking lot, so that provided some entertainment. BTW when the cop finally left, the guy totally got in line and ordered food.

Finally we went back to the theater for our second movie of the day, "Get Smart." Also fun and enjoyable. The theater was really cool. Small, but cool. They played random foreign music in the lobby (we couldn't tell what language it was, but were leaning towards Portuguese), had a completely pink women's bathroom and we were the only ones in the first movie and shared the theater with one other couple during the second. We will definitely be going back someday.

Anyway, it was just such a fun night and it's always nice to get to hang out with the one you married and remember how much you really liked/like them in the first place. Big THANKS to Grandma and Papa and Great Grandma for doing kid duty that night.

Oregon Trip-Part 1

WARNING: All of the Oregon Trip posts contain LOTS of pictures. I just couldn't narrow it down any further.
We are here in beautiful Oregon! So far we are having an awesome trip. The weather has been absolutely perfect. Sunny and warm and gorgeous. Our flight out was half empty, so we could take Davin's carseat on the plane. He slept almost the entire flight. Weston was not as perfect, but did pretty well (for a 2 year old).

We spent the day Saturday just visiting and watching the BYU v. Washington game. We also discovered an awesome little park right near the house, so we checked that out too.

Monday we went to visit Multnomah Falls. I hadn't been there since Ian and I got married, so it was fun to go back and reminisce. Weston thought the falls were cool. He kept saying "there was a big waterfall and a little (said in his funny voice) waterfall." He picked out a truck (of course) from the gift shop. Great Grandma Bowles came with us and we picnicked at the base of the falls.

Davin's first plane ride (5 1/2 months).
Both boys swinging at the little Damascus park. Davin could hardly tear his eyes off his big brother.Weston and I at Multnomah Falls. He was being slightly clingy.
The not-so-newlyweds in front of the falls. We hadn't been there since our honeymoon almost 5 years ago.
When the weather is nice it's hard to imagine why everyone doesn't live in OR: it's so green and temperate and beautiful, but then you remind yourself that it does rain 250 days a year. Here are the boys crossing the bridge on the way down to the base of the falls.