Talia's Firsts, etc.

As you saw in the previous post, Talia had her first bath in the big tub on Monday. She loved it. I love it less because I have to kneel down to bathe her. Plus it means she is growing up fast, but it's fun to watch her kick and splash.

On Tuesday she tried her first solid food, rice cereal. She loved being in the high chair and was happy as can be . . . unless I was trying to put food in her mouth. None of my kids have liked eating rice cereal, so I wasn't too discouraged. However, on Wednesday I mixed her cereal with a little squash and she shuddered and gagged just as impressively as before. She even ended up throwing up the few bites she had managed to swallow. Sigh. I know she will get better, but it's a long, messy road.

Another random thing I have been wanting to blog about is Weston and his Webkinz. I'm sure Webkinz are old news to those of you with older kids, but Weston is just getting started with them.

He got a Webkinz cocker spaniel puppy, Max, in his Easter basket this year and loved the whole adoption process, earning Kinz Cash, buying outfits and food and furniture, playing games, doing daily activities online, etc. Enter my bribe . . . a few weeks before school ended Weston was having a hard time doing his morning jobs without a fuss/doing them at all. I told him that if he could earn a smiley face on the white board (for doing all his morning jobs without any fuss) every morning for the three weeks until school was out, then I would buy him another Webkinz. He LOVED this idea. He did really well too, so on the last day of school we sat down and picked a new pet to order from Amazon.

It wasn't supposed to arrive until Saturday, but it ended up being delivered on Friday afternoon! Weston was SO excited to get his new lemon-lime gecko. He named it Sam (after much debate between limey, lizardy, and Sam) and officially adopted him on Saturday.
I have to admit I love the Webkinz too. I think they are fun, cuddly loveys, and they are so affordable! They also come with so much fun stuff to do online. If you have a 5-8 year old who is into computer stuff and animals, this is a perfect gift!

And finally, so as not to leave out the middle child, here is a funny little Davin-ism:
As we were walking into Chick Fil A this afternoon we walked through a handicapped parking space, right over the big blue and white symbol. Davin looked down at it and said, "Dat say you haf a use da potty." I corrected him and told him it meant you could only park there if you were in a wheelchair. Not entirely accurate, but close enough. :)

Bath Night

Last night was Talia's first "in-the-actual-tub" bath.

I did a quick search of YouTube... and of all the "Talia Bath" videos, this was clearly the cutest. (seriously...114 hits...try it...)

School's Out for Summer!

Can I admit I'm a teeny bit nervous?
I will no longer have any hours of dropping off my kids
guilt free so I can grocery shop or take a shower in peace.
I am looking forward to having more play time with my boys
and not having to be up early in the morning.

Weston and Davin finished up preschool last Thursday. Weston is now officially done with preschool forever. I was a little sentimental. He has been with a lot of the same kids for the last two years, so it was fun to watch their little program and see their progress. They sang their alphabet sounds song and did a few nursery rhymes. Weston got to use the ABC stick to point at the letters they were singing. He did a great job and was very cute.

I am so proud of my biggest boy Weston. He is smart and fun. He was nice to everyone in his class. On his end of the year testing he got 100% on almost every category tested. He aims to please and he did not disappoint his teachers. They loved having him, and Weston loved preschool. In the Fall he will be a big kindergartener!!!

Pardon the less than stellar pictures. I was trying to take them from the back row while holding Talia.

Davin got to go to preschool for the past 3 months also. He had fun playing and socializing. I don't have tons to report about his "Early 3's" preschool experience except that he loved his Teacher Tami, the water table, and puzzles. On his last day they got to go outside and blow bubbles and run around. I am so grateful that our boys have been able to have this great preschool experience.
This is our first week off of school and so far we are keeping busy! I am anxious for the Utah weather to catch up with the fact that we are out of school for the SUMMER! We had a fun Memorial Day weekend despite the lame-o, cold, wet weather. Friday night Ian and I went on a date to the temple and then out for cheesecake. It was so nice being in the temple. This was the first time we had been since Talia was born. I know! It had been a long time. Anyway, I was glad it worked out and we got a babysitter last minute.

Saturday morning I ran a couple errands while Ian hung out with the kiddos. We had lunch then took the boys to see Kung Fu Panda 2. Talia stayed home with a babysitter so we could all just enjoy the movie. It was a fun one, but I like the original better. :) We ended up inviting friends over for dinner and grilling. It was raining, so we ate inside, but we had a really fun time and Ian's burgers were SO good!

Sunday we had a busy church morning, then as soon as we got home Eli, Emilee, and Ivy came over for lunch. They had been in Provo visiting Emilee's family, and stopped in for a few hours on their way back to Washington. They hadn't met Talia yet, so that was fun. We had grilled pork chops and zucchini, with salad, strawberries, and mashed potatoes for dinner. It was delicious. Today is Ivy's 2nd birthday! Happy Birthday Ivy! We gave her a new Pooh coloring book and a new box of crayons. She got right to work. :) In other fun cousin news . . . Eli and Emilee are expecting baby #2 in December! We are excited for another Bowles cousin!

Please excuse grumpy Talia. This was right after church and she hadn't napped all morning.

Post nap Talia :)

Ian ended up having to work all day on Monday, which was a bummer. I had to do the first holiday our YW put up flags for their fundraiser. Since I'm YW president I have organized this fundraiser. Let's just say I had a rather stressful time getting it all ready to go for yesterday. I'm hoping by the next time we do it things will be settled and it will all go a little more smoothly.

In the morning after I got flags finished I took the kids to the dollar theater to see Gnomeo and Juliet. It was ok, but I'm glad we only paid a dollar to see it. Plus we all had to leave to go to the bathroom at a pretty critical part, so we may end up Netflixing it anyway. After the movie we picked up Ian and his boss, Steve, and we all went to lunch at In N Out. It was nice to see Daddy a little bit on the holiday Monday. This is the second Monday holiday that Ian has had to work though. And I'm pretty sure there have only been two. This does not bode well for our summer.

Today I am being a little lazy and hanging around the house getting caught up on stuff. The boys have been playing relatively happily, the sun is shining, and Talia got a good morning nap. We will probably go to the park this afternoon (unless I decide it's just way too windy). Happy day.

Boys' Weekend

I know this post is a little late in coming, but I've had a rough mommy week. Today is actually only marginally better. I offered to take the kids to the aquarium if they cleaned up their toys, but so far there has been no move to clean up, so we may end up inside all day. Sigh. I'm having a good hair day too. What a waste.

So, last weekend while Talia and I basked in the sun in California, Ian played with his boys in sunny/rainy/you-never-know-what-you're-gonna-get Utah. He was definitely Superdad! He took Friday off of work and spent most of the day at the Gateway. They went to the Apple store, which everyone loved, and got a new mouse for our Mac Mini. The boys played around the fountain.
Then they went to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum. That pass has been worth every penny and we still have two months left to use it! I cannot get over how hilarious this video is of Weston doing the news and Davin chiming in with random words. I think I caught "naps" and "hot dogs" in there.


On Saturday they enjoyed some nice, sunny weather. Ian worked in the yard and the garage while the boys played. They also released our painted lady butterflies! They started as tiny larvae and ate and ate and ate until they got big and climbed to the top of their little cup and formed chrysalises. After about a week they started emerging as beautiful butterflies. We fed them and watched them flutter in their little enclosure for about a week, then they got released into the wilds of our yard. It was a fun experiment and very cool to watch. For a much more insightful post about this butterfly experiment, check out my friend, Lori's blog HERE. Amazing.
They took advantage of the nice weather and headed to the park later that afternoon.
I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed their weekend. I know the boys love their daddy so much. I love him too and I so very much appreciated his willingness to spend the weekend playing with his boys so I could enjoy some much needed time with my family. We are all lucky to have him. :)

Weekend Getaway!

All last week was wet, cold, and gloomy here in SLC, which meant I was more than ready to hop on a plane with baby girl and escape to California last Thursday! This was a last minute trip sponsored by my awesome parents. I was in serious need of some sun therapy. It was wonderful. Talia was a pretty good baby on the plane. She was tired by the time we landed and, unfortunately, was rather crabby for our quick visits with her great grandparents. It was still nice to get to see them and introduce them to Talia.

Grandma B and Talia

Great Grandma Ardean Olson, Grandpa Bob, me, Talia

Great Grandpa Arnold Olson, Talia

Great Grandma Ruth Snowball, Talia

me, Grandma B, Great Grandma Snowball, Talia

Friday morning Mom, Jules, and I got up early and took the train up to Ventura to visit my sister, Joy. She hadn't met Talia yet, and I hadn't seen her new house yet. It was nice to take the train so we could relax and visit while we traveled. Driving in traffic is much more stressful (and not necessarily faster than the train). It was SO fun to visit with Joy and her girls and play with baby Talia. We picked up Lizzie and Mimi from school, then I got the grand tour of the new house. Talia took a nap while we ate a delicious lunch Joy fixed for us. Then we all played with the baby and visited for a while before heading back to the train station. It was a long, but wonderful day.


One of the best things about going home is the food. My dad is a fantastic cook. I got gourmet meals and didn't even have to think about making them. Friday night Dad made the best grilled salmon with grilled zucchini, yummy rice, and mango/blackberry salad. Saturday we ate carnitas tacos in corn tortillas with cilantro, fresh salsa, and a little cheese. Sunday morning Dad made me this amazing poached egg dish with avocado and papaya on the side. And Sunday dinner was just as delish. Dad made pork roast with spicy blackberry sauce, rosemary red potatoes, sauteed veggies, salad, and watermelon. Sigh. It was worth the trip just for his cooking. Thanks Dad!!!

Friday night after dinner we did a little shopping. We hit up Babies R Us and Target. I got some cute summer clothes, binkis, burp cloths, and the most adorable white sandals for Talia (thanks Grandma!). I think Jules was more than done with Babies R Us by the time we checked out, but I swear I could browse that store for hours. By the time we got to Target we were all running out of steam, but I did find some really cute silver sandals to go with some of my summer outfits. I'm really excited about them. Our last stop was Golden Spoon, of course. I actually branched out and tried new flavors, cupcake swirled with cinnamon. Mmm.

Saturday morning Mom and I went and practiced our musical number for Stake Conference with our accompanist (yes, I got roped into singing at Stake Conference during my visit j/k loved it!). We went to a friend's baby shower that morning too. After the shower I got to spend some one on one time with my dad. We took Talia in the spa. This was her first experience in a pool of any kind. She loved splashing and didn't seem to mind getting water in her face. It seemed to surprise her every time she would splash and it would land on her face, but it didn't bother her. Plus she looked adorable!

Talia was exhausted after her swimming experience, so Dad and I got to enjoy lunch outside in the sunshine without interruption. It was really nice to have that time with my dad. He's the best.

Saturday afternoon I went shopping with Mom again. Do you sense a pattern here? Eating, shopping, playing, more eating, more shopping. That's how we roll. :) Anyway, we went to Kohl's and I spent my Mother's Day gift card on a really cute summer top and new sunglasses! They felt like such a splurge. I love shopping guilt free (thanks Jim and Den!). Saturday night was the adult session of Stake Conference. Our song went well. We sang a duet of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives." I love singing with my Mom. One treat I really wanted while I was there was a good donut shop donut, so after conference we went home and ate donuts and watched TV. It was a good end to the day.

Sunday was so relaxed. We went to Stake Conference in the morning, then spent the rest of the day napping, watching movies, playing games, and playing with Talia. Usually when we go to my parent's house I am busy entertaining my kids and stressing about the mess they are making. It was just so great to have some down time with my family. It was so quiet, and I didn't have to worry about keeping anyone else happy (Talia doesn't really count. She's happy if she's fed and napped). My Dad cooked for me, Jules babysat, Mom shopped with me and snuggled Talia every chance she got. Even though I didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked, I feel so restored from my getaway!
Talia and I flew back to Utah early this morning. It was, of course, gray and raining today, but there is sunshine forecasted for later this week and it's the kids' last week of school. I got all the laundry done today and vacuumed the house. I have to give a HUGE shout out to my wonderful hubby who was so quick to take time off work and plan fun things to do with the boys so I could enjoy my trip. That means so much to me. I'm a lucky girl. Next post: the boys' weekend.

Camping and Primping

This weekend was fabulous! Ian took the boys camping with the scouts on Friday as soon as they got home from swimming lessons. They were gone for less than 24 hours, but they had a blast. It was Davin's first time camping overnight. The first thing he said to me when he got home was "Mom, I pee on pwants!" Only two of the young men ended up going on the camp out, so it worked well for the kiddos to go too. It was also perfect weather for it. Almost 80 and didn't cool down too much at night. A couple hours after they got home on Saturday though a storm blew through and dumped rain across the valley, so it was good that they didn't stay too long.
While the boys were gone I cleaned the house (which was kind of a waste, but I enjoyed it for one night and a morning). I mopped the kitchen and entryway, vacuumed, cleaned the stove, tidied, folded laundry, etc. I ended up staying up a little bit late to paint my nails and watch Psych. Talia was a champion sleeper and we both had a great night's sleep. It was nice having the bed to myself and not having to worry about being kept up by snoring. Talia was only up once and then slept in until 7:30! It totally made up for my having to get up early all of Mother's Day weekend. Maybe next year I'll ask for Ian to take the boys camping. ;) I didn't get any pictures of Talia while the boys were away because she honestly slept most of the time, but here's a shot from this morning of my littles playing on the bed while I got dressed for the day. I love my job.

Doesn't Talia look so much like Davin here?!?

Weston and Davin were exhausted on Saturday from staying up way too late the night before, so they took naps and everyone rested and hung around the house while I went and got my hair done. I am so bad about waiting and waiting to get it done until my hair is a desperate situation and I just cannot put it off one more day! Needless to say I am loving having fun color (we did dark mixed with a bright red) and a cute cut again.
It's kind of refreshing and renewing to get my hair done right in the middle of My May Challenge. It is motivating to keep taking care of myself, you know? Speaking of the Challenge . . . we are on to Week 3 and going strong!

I may have sort of failed at last week's treat goal, but in my defense I baked the batch of cookies I ate with whole wheat flour! :)

Week 3 Goals:
-Do 30 Day Shred Level 2 at least 3x.
-Eat 5 servings of fruits/veggies per day.
-Choose healthy options on my CA trip this weekend!

That last goal is a bit of a cop-out, but I honestly believe that life isn't worth living if you can't have food you love, so I'm not going to make any unrealistic goals for my trip, however I am going to try to be mindful of what/how much I am eating.

Tidbits

Tidbit #1:
Talia Christine is officially 5 months old (yesterday)! I swear the first year goes by faster with each child. I just barely got out the baby toys for her because I just realized that she is old enough for them and has probably been bored for the last couple weeks. Talia is now reaching out and grabbing and gumming toys (including my hair and jewelery), laughing, trying to sit up constantly (but usually failing), and sleeping on a more reliable schedule at night. She is usually only up once between 7:30ish pm and 7ish am. I know this picture is a little fuzzy, but I love it as her 5 month photo because of her huge, cute grin. Love my baby girl!

***Is her bow far enough to the side for you, Joy? ;)

Tidbit #2:
The boys are taking swimming lessons! They are actually pretty close to finished with this session, just 3 classes left. I have brought my camera every time, but kept forgetting to get it out and take pics until Wednesday. Whoops. Better late than never though, right? This is Davin's first time and he loves it. He is going to be my fish.
Weston is having a grand ole time too. He is in the same class as his friend from last year, so that's extra fun! The boys got these cool goggles with holograms of monster eyes on them for this summer and they can't seem to swim without them.
I have enjoyed having swimming lessons in the afternoons too. It keeps us from being on the computer or watching a movie every afternoon. Every SAHM knows that the hours from 4-6 (or 3-5 if your hubby gets home earlier) are the hardest, so having something to do during those hours has been nice. Plus it's a bonus that I get to sit and visit with my friend (Weston's friend's mom) for half an hour.

Tidbit #3:
Healthy eating. It's coming along. I was surprised by how hard it is to eat 4 servings of fruits/veggies each day. I really have to think about it. Thank goodness for V8 VFusion juice! :) It also takes lots of time, energy, and planning to eat healthy! I spent awhile on Tuesday in the kitchen chopping up veggies to use for the rest of the week. It paid off though because I have been able to throw together salads and wraps for lunch and dinner pretty quickly and easily because of that hour or so of prep.

I am also surprised by how quickly I am going through fresh produce! Yikes! I already ate the big cucumber I bought and an entire bag of carrots. I only have about 2 salads worth of romaine lettuce left from the big Sam's Club bag too. I guess that's a good thing, but I'll have to go shopping twice in less than a week. I have to say how much I am liking this increasing fruits/veggies goal because I'm basically not saying "no" to any foods. I eat what I like, but by the time I eat that many servings of fresh produce I'm too full to eat too much else, you know? I'm really trying to listen to my body and not eat emotionally (which is a big problem for me). OK, enough about that for now. I will do a full wrap up of what I am learning from My May Challenge at the end.

BTW I had almost this entire post done and ready to post yesterday morning, but by the time I went to actually post it at lunch time Blogger was having maintenance problems. And apparently they lost what I had already written, so blah for having to re-write everything! Not cool, Blogger. Not cool.