July Post

I didn't think I'd be late posting this, but I spent ALL DAY Thursday sorting baby clothes (much better than the 'all day and night' I expected). And Katie came into town yesterday, and we just ended up hanging out with her all evening. Fun! More on that in next month's blog! 

It's been another fun and busy month. 

Our freezer was broken for a bit, and we just got it fixed at the beginning of the month. Even popsicles can't immediately cheer up a grouchy boy after his nap . . .

It took a few minutes.

Unfortunately, our oven broke around the same time. Oh, appliances. Luckily, Brian was able to fix the oven himself.

Three continues to be a challenge, but a fun and interesting challenge. He's very independent. He wants to do everything "by his own self," even wipe his bottom and clean out his potty. Oh boy.

One of my favorite things he says is "I can't know." Instead of "I don't know." I'm going to be sad when he corrects himself.

Before going to the fair, we went to In-n-Out. At first we said he could get a chocolate shake, but then we asked him if he'd rather have a shake or cotton candy at the fair. He chose the cotton candy, but he didn't quite understand the trade, and when we got home he had almost a complete meltdown. Eventually he calmed down and said, "but I'm just disappointed." Aww. I was so proud of him using his words. It wasn't any of our best moment (not good to thoughtlessly promise a shake), but it was great to see our work talking about feelings paying off.

From facebook: Everett saw a video with Questlove and said, "he's like Bob Ross!"

Lydia turned 5 months old this month, and 5 months has been so fun! It was really the transition from more helpless lump to active, happy baby.

She's an amazing, wonderful baby. She sleeps well still. And she's generally very content. People are constantly saying, "she seems like a really mellow baby. Is she a mellow baby?" Yes, we're very spoiled.

But I think we're in for it when she becomes a toddler (and then for the rest of time). She's so independent, determined, and active. She's gonna do what she wants to do, I'm willing to bet on it.

Toward the end of the month, she started really moving. July 20th, using mostly her arms. Very end of the month, getting her legs in it a bit more.

From facebook: Of course, Everett's going through a "pulling wheels off toy cars" phase just as Lydia is going through her "scooting all around the room putting things in her mouth" phase.

We had a fun Fourth of July! We went to the Santa Margarita Parade with the Hunters, Arnolds, and Grandma Kathie and Grandpa George.

After naps, we went to Grandma Gion's and Grandpa Phil's. Lydia played on the porch and looked cute. This was before we started worrying she would roll or scooch off the porch.

Everett is so sweet with her. Squiiiiiiish . . .

We started putting Lydia in her bouncer this month. She really likes it.

It's a great way to keep her safe from her brother. He's less likely to run over her or squish her.

She also gets to use the jumper at the Asdel Grand's house.

We knew Garrett, Jessi, Weston, and Brody would be down, but we thought we'd miss them because of Everett's Spanish camp. We went to the park to find a car show. There was no car show, but our friends were there! They'd just gotten to town. Fun!

These pictures are from her 5 month birthday! Look at those little teeth coming through!! By the end of the month, they were all grown in!

 Cute, happy girl

July 8th through 12th, Everett went to Spanish camp with Señora Wallace from 9 to 11. He did really well. He absorbed the Spanish better than was expected. But 5 days of class in a row was a bit much for him. The last day he skinned his knee a bit at the end and had a hard time getting over it. She almost had to call for me to come get him.

Puppet show with friends! Payton and Westley on the left. Blane and Tyler on the right.

July 13th, our friends Darby and Katherine came down to visit with their daughter Eloise, who is a month younger than Lydia. Lots of people wanted to see them, so we had a party! Above, at the table, you can see Henry, Peter, Ben, and Melissa.

Good friends already.

This month, Everett discovered making forts. Lydia was also a fan.

We went back to Estero Bluffs, just the four of us. Lydia would not stay on the blanket. I guess we need a bigger blanket.

Sorry I cut Everett in half, but I think this is the best picture I got of Brian and Everett playing in the sand, E getting buried.

Play date with Adrian, Whitney, Marshall, and Miller at Juliette's house.

We can't see Lydia's body!! It's tie dye camouflage!

Everett's been practicing his disc golf game. When he goes pro, he'll be so happy we took these pictures. Appropriately at hole #3. I wish we'd taken a shot of him 2-years-old at hole #2!

We went to the fair, of course! In June, I thought I wanted to skip it this year, but by July, I was excited. It's just such an essential part of summer.

Everett was SOOOO excited about cotton candy. Somehow he got it in his mind that it was the best part of the fair. We got it earlier than I would have liked (before real food--he wouldn't eat his corn dog), just so we could move on from the cotton candy talk.

He loved the rides. I didn't expect that. I half expected him to try one and say he was done. But he wanted to go on all of them. Especially the ones with cars. He was repeating "speed, I am speed" and "the checkered flag is mine" through each ride (both quotes from his beloved Cars).

Country girl in her fair dress at Zoo to You.

I've actually been painting! On Tuesdays when Everett is with Phil and Gion, Brian's been taking Lydia all day (and making all the meals) so I can paint. I've also been trying to sketch every day. I know this is a special time when Brian's on vacation, but I'll take it! If I can vow to paint a bit during each one of Brian's breaks, that's still more than I've been painting the last 3 years.

Our friend Nemiha was in town with her kids Avi and Liev. We visited them twice and swam in her parents' pool. Lydia's first pool/bathing suit experience. She wasn't sure about it.

On the 26th, we went to a SLO Blues baseball game. It was part of John Hunter's birthday celebration. And, yes, John and Rachel have some awesomely silly children. Julie has mastered the photobomb.

There were fireworks. Could these have been Everett's first fireworks?!?

From facebook: Overheard Everett tell his Grandma Gion "I got a blue mark on my hand, and then mom wiped it off." Baseball, friends, toys, family, food, play structure, FIREWORKS!! And he chooses to tell her about the mark he got when he left the stadium so he could get back in. That's 3 for ya.

Brian's been growing lots of cucumbers in the garden, so of course he had to start pickling. He's made dills and bread and butter. The ones we've tried are really good.

On the 31st, Lydia ate some watermelon. I want to say this was her first food, but the day before, Brian had let her suck on a strawberry popsicle and a (Trader Joe's) cheeto. Daddy's always way more fun.

Everett loves playing with Phil and Gion's neighbor Alyssa. She's 8 and is a cheerleader. She's been teaching him some moves.

So many cute pictures from Katie's visit! I can't wait to share them next month!

June Post

Another awesome month! Besides the knowledge that I'm compiling and saving our pictures and memories for the future, my favorite thing about the blog is getting to, monthly, look back on all the amazing things we've done and realize, "man, we really have an active, fulfilling life!"

We have awesome friends like the Hunters who are so fun to play with!

And our kids are already building a remarkable relationship.

Which includes Sister laughing at Brother's emotions.

And Brother overestimating what Sister is capable of (not Row Row Row Your Boat).

This month, he said "I think Lydia and me are the best people in the whole world!" I wonder who he got that idea from? 

And she adores him. She's so happy to watch him play (when she can keep her eyes on him. He's so fast!), and sometimes he makes her laugh.

Lydia turned 4 months this month. She's still wonderful and lovely. She's a great sleeper, partly because of this sweet finger sucking.

We went to the zoo for a puppet show. Rachel and Brian swapped babies. Sadie really didn't know if she was ok with that. She's such a mamma's girl. Love that.

The obligatory zoo turtle head pose.

A couple pictures of Lydia on the 8th, her 4 month "birthday."

On the 9th, she rolled from her back to her belly for the first time (and the next day, she was also going from her belly to her back). It was fun that my parents were there to see her accomplish this big milestone.

On the 10th, we went to MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM!!

Everett hadn't been since he was 21 months old, and what a difference a year (and some change) makes! He was so interested in everything. He sat in front of the big tank for longer than I ever have declaring, "that's a hammerhead shark! That's a sea turtle!" but mostly "that's a hammerhead shark!"

He surprised this volunteer by saying about the sea cucumber not having bones, "how can that be possible?!?" He also mimicked her British accent when she told him the names of things. How would he know not too? That could get confusing.

Lydia was more interested in the fish in the tanks than we expected her to be.

The wave crash exhibit is a winner with all kids.

We decided it's a little far to buy a pass. So fun and educational, but the 2.5 hours is tough with 2 kids. Totally worth it occasionally, though. We brought a picnic and ate lunch at Dennis the Menace Park beforehand. Once Everett stops napping, we'll plan our aquarium trips to include playing at the park longer (although I'm not rushing stopping naps).

Everett had his first dentist appointment! He did great! He got to meet Claudia, my hygienist since I was a kid.

Then Dr. Farr. We were mostly there to show Everett it was a fun place to go. They looked around, counted teeth, everything looked fine.

He also had his 3 year check up! He got another A+! He's 33 pounds, 37.5 inches. Apparently this means he's slightly shorter than average and slightly heavier than average. I bet he'll be having a growth spurt soon!

Lydia also had her 4 month check up this month. She's still big!

We painted our house!! Well, Brian and Shaw (and Shaw's boss Frank) painted our house. The body of the house just took a few hours.

Then it took a few more days to paint the trim. He still has to add trim around the windows. He would have done it this weekend, but it's so HOT!

We also got a new door and painted it YELLOW!! Our old door was hollow, really. And the holes cut in it for the old hardware made it tough to change out (and we were desperate to change the old hardware--half of it didn't work). Luckily we got a good deal on an indoor/outdoor plain, solid door.

We had a pretty laid back Father's Day. Breakfast, bloody marys, and chilling out with daddy.

Then we went to Phil and Gion's for a delicious (thanks to Gion) Father's Day dinner.

One morning (Wednesday--the day we used to have Mommy & Me), I got really motivated to have a fun, mellow morning outside. I got out the bubbles, chalk, tub and brushes for sidewalk water painting. I got out the pack n play for Lydia to hang out in. We were out there for maybe an hour, and it was COLD and windy!

I remembered some friends were planning to meet at the Children's Museum in Paso, so we packed up and went!

It was my first time, but Everett knew the ropes. His favorite "exhibit" was the elevator . . . the actual elevator.

This is what Lydia and I thought about the Children's Museum. Just kidding. It was fun.

Since we were in Paso anyway, we went to visit Brian at his classroom. Everett got to see the kids get on their buses, which he found very exciting.

Gion's been taking Everett to swim lessons with Lance at Kennedy. She's also been taking him to family swim days. He loves it! One of those days he tripped over his towel and got a fat lip. I realize now that this is the closest thing we have to a picture of his swimming activities. We need to remedy that.

Daddy and his two kiddos playing in the yard. I think they need more trucks. See his lip! That thing healed so fast. Kids are incredible!

A little more about Everett. He's become obsessed with Cars, the Pixar movie. He'd seen the movie a few times before, but something just clicked and now he LOVES it! He'd watch the movie over and over all day, every day if we'd let him.

He decided he wanted to use his birthday money to by a Mack toy (Mack is the truck that hauls Lightening McQueen--the main race car in the movie). We went to Target to see if they had one. They didn't, which was disappointing, but he handled it really well (we wouldn't have tried this if we didn't think he'd do well with possible disappointment). He was ok with the idea of ordering one "from the computer" and having the UPS guy bring it to him in a few days (like when the UPS guy brought the Dinosaur Train playset to Grandma Gion and Grandpa Phil's house).

In other pop culture news, Brian has been reading Everett The Hobbit graphic novel, so Everett talks about Smaug and his love of gold, all the dwarfs, and Gandalf the Grey Wizard. Nerd alert!

Our long time friend Sarah got married on June 22nd. It was a lovely wedding. We are very happy for Sarah and her husband Trevor!

It was an exciting night for us because we actually went without the kids! Phil and Gion watched them while we were there. Everett spent the night and we picked Lydia up on our way home.

I was also excited that, when I was getting ready for the wedding, Everett wanted me to paint some of his finger and toenails with clear nail polish. I rarely paint my nails, so this was his first opportunity in probably a year and a half to get in on the glamification.

Rachel and I actually took a picture together!! It's a miracle! We had a nice time hanging out with John and Rachel and Heidi and Shaw at the wedding.

On June 25th, Everett went to his first movie in the theater!! Gion and Phil took him to see Monsters University. He did great! I was mostly worried that he'd forget to tell them he needed to pee and go on the seat, but he didn't (he's been doing great in the potty department, btw--still using pull-ups at night).

On a super-mom-kind-of-day, we made play dough (after painting!), and then we played with balsa wood planes. There were some bubbles too.

Lydia got a high chair!! She's still a little floppy for it, but we're gearing up to start including her in meals (not eating, but including).

So, as I mentioned before, it's HOT here! It's been over 100 degrees in north county, 105 & 108 are numbers I'm hearing a lot. We're very lucky to have air conditioning, but we still decided to escape to the beach on Saturday with friends Anna, Max, and Paloma.

I'm going to end this post with a historical reference. 10 years ago this month (June 13th), I had my thyroid taken out. So, I have been caner free for 10 years!!

To celebrate (party animal), I went and got a fancy blood test done for cancer markers, and it was clear!!

We were such babies. Going through a situation like that at 20 really affected me, that's for sure.

But I had so many amazing friends and family to help me get through it. 

Right after the surgery, Brian and I left for our 15K mile road trip around the US. I'll have to do a post just commemorating that!