Thursday, June 25, 2009

Little Vacation

Disclaimer: I realize I just made a huge posting. However, even if nobody else wants to see a ton more pictures of my kids, I can safely bet Grammy does. And since this blog is essentially my journal, I don't want to leave anything out! More pictures to follow in three...


Two...



One...


NOW!



The vacation was a weekend in Utah to visit my sister and celebrate her oldest son's graduation. Here is said handsome graduate. Yay Paul!




Wyatt and Mommy- not too bad for post-4.5 hour drive, huh?




I had to keep Wyatt pretty distracted, because by this time he was tired beyond all reason. Buckling Mickey into Jana's car seat over and over and over kept him busy for a little while.





Aunt Marianne got a bunch of balloons the afternoon before the party. Wyatt has encountered balloons before, but never like this!





At first he just looked at one.





Givin' that balloon some loves.




And then...he let go of the string and it flew up and bopped into the ceiling. And that was it- the kid was totally enthralled for an hour.




He'd gather a few balloons up and then let them all go, laughing hysterically.




Soon he wanted to hold more at once.




He'd count off, "One...twooooo...FWEE!!!" and let them fly. He had a blast.




Weeks later, he will still look at me randomly and say, "Ba-oons? Aunt Me-ee-anne? Ba-oons?" The Balloon Playtime formed some pretty strong neural pathways, it would seem.



Getting Drenched Part I



Since it's usually just Jana, Wyatt and Crabby Tired Mommy at home all day, we don't get out much. Wyatt has a whole new world to explore when there are extra people to watch him. I was glad he got some good, wet playtime and that it didn't involve ME getting wet!




He was pretty determined to get in there- not that he would get any MORE wet than he already was!


Look at that sheer joy. No wonder he asks about going to see Aunt Me-ee-anne all the time, her house is SO FUN!


Meanwhile, I was chopping lettuce. I peeled off the outside leaf and it looked exactly the size of Jana's head. So we double checked. Yep, it was.


Jana and Kate with Lettuce Hats, and me with the chopped lettuce for our tacos.

Another reason Wyatt loves to visit Aunt Marianne's house is his cousin Wade- he reads Wyatt to sleep at naptimes while we're there. Wyatt LOVES it, and he falls asleep every single time. He has never fallen asleep while I was reading to him. Wade just has that magic talent.


Mommy and Jana, on the other hand, can sleep anywhere, any time.


By the next morning, those poor balloons were all played out and we had to hang them from the ceiling...


...but don't worry, we got more!

Playing on the slide

Peek-a-boo!


This face just made me laugh. What a cutie.


Uncle Dennis, holding a plate of the most divine Bulgoki EVER. I could eat that stuff all day, every day and be perfectly content. YUM!

I really admired Paul's graduation gift to himself- a distinguished mohawk. I quite like it.


The baby in Anja's tummy made a perfect Jana-sized perch.


Me and my Katiebug


Jana puts everything in her mouth, especially jewelry. At least having Jana go for Aunt Anja's necklace gave my watch a much-needed break.



Getting Drenched Part II: Now The Hippo's In




Not wanting to be wasteful, we used up the balloons after the party was over. Who's up for a rousing chorus of Follow the Yellow Brick Road?



Look at that view! This trip darn near convinced us to move to Provo. If we could just find jobs...

Yay for getting put on call- now my house is clean and my blog is all updated!
Lots of love and more Bulgoki (mmm-mm!),
Melody & Co.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Marathon Post!

You may think I titled this post the way I did because it's about the marathon Lee did last weekend. Well, partly yes. But mostly because it's long, long, long and if you finish it, you deserve a medal and a free t-shirt.

Lee is doing great. His inadvertent weight-loss related to the marathon training has left him about where he was when we got married 7 years ago. In fact, the pants I got him for Father's Day are a tad too big- I told him to gain some weight back and they'd be fine.


I am all right, just trying to hold on for the ride. I have such a wonderful little family, and we have so much fun together. If only my house would just stay clean, and my laundry folded and my bank account full, I wouldn't have a care in the world!


Wyatt is at such a fun age. He is talking up a storm, and is really starting to notice things. Yesterday at dinner Wyatt turned to me and said, "You tired, Mommy? You need a nap?" Yeah, how'd you know? He loves to make engine sounds ("brrrrrrm! brrrrrrrrm!" every moment he's awake lately), and drive around anything that has wheels.


Jana is just on the edge of becoming independently mobile. Oh dear. She had her monumental first roll down the stairs (there's only two) last week, and she's able to sit up without help. I'm not sure I'm ready for this! She is SO smiley, especially to Daddy- she just lights up when he comes home. It's very sweet. She watches and laughs at Wyatt constantly, and is just a little doll.

Skeeter has had a good time with all the dog company we've been having lately. Duchess has stayed with us a couple of times, once for a whole week, and Anne has been staying with us too. He just loves having someone to romp with and tease. As Jana is learning to feed herself there are suddenly many more messes around, and I am once again finding myself grateful for his floor-cleaning skills. What a good boy.

The other day Uncle Chris was mowing the lawn, and Wyatt wanted to help. He pushed his wagon around by the handle and made *brrm! brrrm!* sounds as he went.



The grass was pretty long after all the rain we've been getting. He eventually figured out he could push the wagon more easily on the already-cut parts.


When Uncle Chris started the mower again, Wyatt would imitate the pull-start motion. It was very funny.


I have to be careful when I tell him to say "cheese," because cheese is exactly what I'll get!


Everyone else was out in the driveway, and I laughed at the line of curious dogs.


Anne and Duchess


This made me laugh out loud- Anne is blind on one side, and by trying to see outside better she kept getting whacked by the hanging blinds. In frustration she finally attacked the offending drapery.



My cute little graham cracker fan.


Sweet baby Jana

Wyatt LOVES to "dip dip dip" things! I was over the moon about these awesome little corn dog bites we found at Sam's Club- he gobbles them up and I don't have to worry about him gagging himself with the dumb stick.



There is something very liberating for the mommy whose baby begins to feed herself. Yay!




Hammin' it up. I sure love this little squirt.



Just playing


Too tired to get up, but still playing



Mommy and Wyatt

One morning I heard Wyatt calling me for help. Turns out he had found my secret treat stash in the diaper bag, and since he had already eaten all the ones he could open himself, he needed me to open the rest...



...Which I did, figuring the damage was already pretty well done. He was very happy about it!



I accidentally left a bottle of baby puffs in the front room, and Wyatt opened it to give some to Sis. A few spilled.

I love his face- he's smiling but you can tell he's still worried I might get mad at him.

Jana was quite content with the way things turned out for her.



Nice hat, Wyatt.

I got them these cute stripey jammies, and couldn't resist a few pictures.

They really like to be together- I hope that lasts!


Since I had extra hands to help, I braved a trip to the Nature Park last week so we could feed the ducks.

Wyatt and his cousins Ally and Ashleigh. We had a really fun time.

Lee did the Teton Dam Marathon last weekend with his sister Holly. This was about mile 22- doesn't Lee look great? It was around 70 degrees and it was overcast all morning- perfect running weather if you ask me.

Coming into the home stretch- Ashleigh and Ally ran in with them.

Yay Daddy! Someday I'd like to do a marathon- not only to know I could accomplish something like that, but also because Lee lost about 25 pounds training for this one. That's incentive enough for me.
We hope you are all well and happy and not too waterlogged by this constant rain! I don't might putting off the summer heat for a while, truthfully, but it's hard to get a nice tan during a downpour.
Lots of love and raspberry muffins!
L,M,W, J & S