A take on a favorite children's song:

"Oh, what do you do in the Summertime,
When it's 110+ degrees (even in the evening)?

Do you swim in a pool
To keep yourself cool?"

The end.
That is all.
This song could also be called "Cabin Fever."

 

Here is the kid's swim teacher, Miss Jennifer.  I hope she doesn't mind if I post pics of her. We went through quite a lot together, trying to get Brynn to the point where she'd leap in (rather than just try to step in while hanging on to her teacher). 
 

  Bryce didn't mind the jumping in so much....

 It was trying to find his way onto his back, and then getting back to the side of the pool that he wasn't a fan of. 

He just needed some more time. Like I said, it was survival swimming.  Bryce is pretty young and only had a few lessons.  I'd rather not think about what would happen if he fell in a pool.  I wish I would have put him in lessons earlier.  Brynn would survive.  It probably wouldn't be pretty, but I really think she could swim back to the edge and climb out, even if she was pretty far in.

 

Other really random and weird summer things: 

Bryce came down with strep throat.  I wanted to put him in a cool bath to get his fever down, but have you ever tried to run a COOL bath in Arizona in the summer?  Thus we stumbled on a new fun thing to do:

 Ice cube baths!  See all the ice?  Ahhh, feels so good....

Something that I loved doing with my toddler girl was crafts.  Then along comes Bryce and everything I make seems too girly for him.  So Marty is helping me with my boy activities.  Here is a milk jug mask and shield he made with Bryce.

Another day Daddy came home for lunch because he forgot to bring his.  Bryce was asleep, but Brynnie and I got pretty giddy for this because it has like never happens.  She decided to make a nice restaurant meal for him.  She put on the apron, helped me cook the food, made a menu, decorated, etc.  When I asked her what the restaurant was called she said it was Chef LouAY's.  No idea where she got that.

 Anyway, as soon as Marty walked in she said, "HELLO!  Welcome to Chef LouAY's.  Would you like to see a menu?  You can sit right here." 

I know I shouldn't encourage this, but I just love her curly letters.  I guess once she goes to preschool I'm going to have to start making her write them the right way.  :(

We also put on a little concert for Daddy.  We said at the beginning of the year we wanted her to know the 13 Articles of Faith, and so far she is right on track and knows them through number 8!  I'm a little worried about the next ones though, they are a lot longer and more complicated. 

 Bryce got to sing "Sunbeam" and some other things and was a great announcer.

 Combing brother's hair.  A lazy day.


And lastly, I should hate this picture, but I don't.  It's not flattering of any of us, nor is the big mess very flattering.  Brynn took it yesterday. 

I guess that I like that it captures our afternoons.  Daddy comes home a little drained (if you've ever seen him teach teenagers, you understand).  He usually finds me a little drained on the floor (if you've ever met Brycer, you understand).  Looks like this day we had been playing trains and Bryce decided to give me the snuggle of a lifetime.  And Marty and I are talking.  After-school talking time is sacred to me.  I think the kids understand this.  Every day is the same.  The kids hear the garage door open and they drop whatever they are doing and go hide somewhere.  Daddy comes in, follows the giggles, gives the kids a big hug, and then Mommy and Daddy get to talk about their day.  It's one of my favorite parts of the day.

And that brings me to the cabin fever.  After these types of things (not that they are anything big), I'm feeling tapped out.  A few days ago I felt like every 15 minutes I had to find some big new thing to entertain the kids to keep them from fighting over toys and things.  That was in addition to going to the store, to the library.  We even went to the park at 6:30 a.m. and pregnant mommy only lasted a half hour there.  At the end of that day I couldn't believe how exhausting it had been to have to entertain the kids like that every second.  It's not usually like that.  I think they just needed to get out.  So the next day we got to spend most of the day in Mesa at the Miller's house which felt sooo good.  I love being with someone who knows more of our family's history, as we've been friends with them since not too long after Marty and I were married.  Most days Brynn asks, "So who are we going to play with today?"  Play dates are a life saver in the summer.  It's making me start to feel more ok with sending Brynn to preschool in a couple of weeks.  She's absolutely going to love it, and it should cut into the summer boredom a little.

It's ANOTHER....

Baby boy!!! Brynn sure had a lot of fun calling our family members to say: "I was right, it was a boy!" I am so proud of myself for having the self-control to not go buy baby boy things and baby girl things as soon as I found out I was pregnant, but to wait it out. But the very morning after we found out what it was, I took Bryce on a date with me and let him pick out a present for the baby (he picked the softest, cutest lovee!) and a tiny blue newborn sweater. I know, they only wear newborn things for like a month, but it was so TINY and CUTE, I HAD to!!

I am getting so so excited to give Brycer a little brother. My brothers have always been so cute together, and they are a similar distance apart as these two will be. And I'm not really worried about leaving Brynn in the dust, because she's already so bff-y with Bryce. I forgot, have I mentioned how excited I am?

Rambling baby details, as promised

Ok, so I'm 20 weeks and 4 days. Early in the pregnancy I had a couple of ultra-sounds because of hemorrhages (which is all totally fine now), and one showed my due date at December 5th, the other showed it at November 28th, but we stuck with the December date because it was the first ultra-sound. However at my appointment yesterday my OB said I was measuring a little big, so who knows. I wouldn't be surprised if I was a little farther along right now because of how quickly I felt morning sick. You see, rambling? But basically, so far, so good on all counts.

I can't believe I'm already half way through! This pregnancy is the first time I've been able to say that, meaning this has for sure been the easiest first half I've had. Not that it's been much fun, but I'll TAKE it! Through the first trimester, I felt sick 100% of the time, but I just took my Zofran and had much less puking. Then the nausea has slowly declined to what it is right now. Now and again I feel like I'm going to throw up, but never do. The fatigue has been milder than the other two pregnancies, too. It actually wasn't every day that I felt like I'd been hit by a bus. However, I do still crash at 8:30 at night. Literally, that's when I like to be in bed. :) I get endless teasing from my night-owl husband about that one.

What else?

Well, I have my 20 week ultra-sound TODAY!!! This afternoon! When people ask what I hope the baby is...I don't know, I hope for both (NOT meaning twins). It would be really convenient to have a girl since Brynn was a December baby and Bryce was a summer baby, so the clothes would work out way better. But that's obviously minor when I'm considering the perspective of another eternal family member coming into our home. :) I also hope for a boy though, because Bryce needs that. Brynn is girl enough for 10 girls. There is quite enough estrogen in this house. I would love to see Bryce get rough-and-tumble with a brother. But apparently, we don't need the ultra-sound. Brynn is totally and completely convinced it's a boy. We keep asking her things like, "Don't you think it would be fun to play dolls with a sister, or dress up with a sister?" And she says, "Yeah, but it's NOT a sister though, it's a brother." And then if we push too hard she gets mad. To be honest, I just keep thinking of this baby as a boy because, let's face it, my four year old is more spiritual than I am. :) I think more than anything, I just want to know if Brynn's right!!

I'm not sure how much Bryce understands. He points to my belly and says "Baby in Mommy's tummy!" He has started diapering all the baby dolls in the house, so who knows. Maybe he comprehends more than I think. He's already the same age Brynn was when he was born. We were actually trying to close the age gap, not widen it, but the Lord has his timing and we have ours, and I can't complain. I have learned to not only trust, but love His time table, even if I become impatient at times. I'm remembering how much I loved having a baby at Christmas time. Even though they'll probably resent me for a Christmas time birthday later. Speaking of which, with TWO December birthdays now (plus Christmases for everyone), that month is going to be pretty hard on our pocketbook, but I just heard the best idea. A friend of mine has this system that they use for Christmas presents: A want, a need, a wear, a read. And that's that. Simple. I love it, but we'll see if my will-power holds out as I do love to spoil my kids. Send me some good, "You can do it!" vibes.

Hmmm....yep, that's enough rambling for now.

Letter to Arizona #2:

Dear Arizona:

Don't be hating. I promise I still love you. I'm planted here for as long as you'll have me. I am so over your heat. Even being pregnant in July, I'm over it. You gave us a beautiful Spring, after all. You have the BEST people in the world residing here. I am a happy camper and excited to raise my kids here. But Arizona, I have a quickly growing beef with you, and it is this: please stop being so ugly (not you, Grand Canyon). If you have any complaints with this, take it up with Durango. I spent 4 beautiful days there in the pine, and around the (REAL) mountains, lakes, and rivers. I took nature walks in the GREEN, which is everywhere. It even smelled pretty.

You may also take my complaints up with Utah. In your attacks, you may specifically target the soft grass, Spanish Fork's nature trails, the Wasatch Mountains, Arches National Park, and Goblin Valley. And...everywhere else in the state.

I mean it Arizona, if you can't find a nice, quiet, pretty place for me to take a walk with my family I'm out. Just to prove I'm serious, Marty and I looked up real estate in St. George, and THAT city is my new paradise. I know, it could never happen any time soon. But I hope you feel sufficiently threatened.

I'll tell you one thing - you beat Farmington and Ship Rock, NM.

Still yours lovingly,

Emily

Changes, changes

Amazing how people (well, kids mostly) can change so much in one summer. Here's what we're all up to....


Bryce:

Bryce still loves trains (he asks to watch Polar Express about every day, which is so painful in July), but he has found a huge love for lots of other big machines that move, namely tractors ("trackers"). He points them out everywhere, similar to how Brynn used to point out the tiniest princess she found in, say, the soup aisle at the grocery store. It's cute and boy-ish.

He likes to pretend he's a little dare devil. One day I came up to the loft and he had filled up a cup of water and put it on the floor. He said, "Wah DIS, Mom!" (watch this) and tried over and over to jump over the top of the cup without spilling it. Random. Entertaining. So boy.

Bryce is...assertive...intense...decisive...lots of things I'm not. Add to it the fact that he is two, and he is a total and complete roller coaster of a child. Hot or cold. I'm either on the verge of tears because I can either answer to all of his (billions of) demands, or I can not. Either way it is NOT pretty. I'm trying so hard to either ignore the demanding orders he gives me, or insist he ask me nicely for what he needs. Either way he says it, I refuse to take him down the stairs 50 times a day (for NOTHING, I've found out once I get down there), and other such nonsense which results in tears. So we are back to Bryce 1.o. On the other hand, his payouts are the BEST. His belly laugh, his tight squeezes and kisses all over your face, his fun games he comes up with, his adorable high, squeaky voice, and the million of times a day he makes me laugh. That's the intense relationship we've always had together, but lately the ups and downs seem more pronounced. Oh well, he won't be two forever. Sometimes that statement makes me breath a sigh of relief, and at the same time makes me want to cry. You see, intense!


Brynn:

She's been changing probably more than anyone. She took a session of swim lessons at the beginning of the summer. It was survival swimming, so she was completely traumatized the first few times she went. But she started catching on and stopped crying, and I think started believing in herself a little bit. Then she made huge strides the very last day and I didn't want her progress to end there so I signed her and Bryce up for a second session. I am soooo proud of how far she came. She became this confident, brave girl and it was the most exciting thing in the world to celebrate her victories together.

A funny thing happened on the way home from Utah. In "Brynn world," she has quite a few imaginary friends, but that has been really dying off for some time. Well, when we were in the car she randomly started talking to herself saying, "Ok, Goodbye Moses, goodbye Joshua. It's time for me to go be with my real friends now. I'm not going to be able to see you guys again, ok? You have to go be with your friends, too." Marty and I just looked at each other shocked, but didn't want to say anything and get in the way of her...closure, I guess. Well, we haven't had any birthday parties for or weddings to any of them since then, so I think maybe it's done for good. We'll have to see....

Brynn is such a beautiful child inside and out. She has been feeling guilt so strongly. In Durango, Marty went outside to get Brynn and she ran away from him crying. When he finally caught her she said something like "I don't like the bad feeling, I don't want you to know about the bad feeling." I guess she had first put rocks in the car and then blamed it on her cousin and was totally beside herself. Then yesterday she lied about waking up a little girl we were watching. She told me she didn't feel good. I asked her what she felt like and she said she felt like there were icky things inside her feelings. Then she started to cry and told me that when she got in trouble it broke her heart. At that part I was tempted to laugh, but that wouldn't have been a good idea. She has always tried so hard to be good.

Her interests still lie with princessesses or anything else girly, but she has moved from puzzles to paper dolls.


Daddy:


Daddy starts school next week. He loves to play Plants V. Zombies. He is a total and complete saint every time I am pregnant, and this has been no exception. Something ironic happened in my life - a ridiculously big mistake I made turned out to be a marriage boost. I was buzzing his hair with a number 5 (which is pretty long), I took it off the clip to clean it out, and buzzed two big strokes on his head before I realized I hadn't put it back on and he was now bald on that side. First I screamed, then I cried, then I said, "What do I DO?" a thousand times while jumping up and down, then I told him I was never cutting his hair again. This is why Marty is a SAINT. He had a smile on his face the WHOLE TIME. He NEVER ONCE got mad at me, or even seemed frustrated. He stayed positive the whole time was just kind of like, "Alright, let's finish the job!" While I was a total raving mess buzzing off the rest of his (beautiful) hair, he kept cracking adorable jokes like, "Hey, better you do it to me, than me to you, right?" Ok, so I don't know what I ever did right to deserve a guy like that, but...sigh. It turns out, Marty has a very symmetrical head, and looks a little hard as a big bald guy. Like I could almost see him riding a motorcycle or something. Which is...comical. Every time Marty walked through the door at the end of the day my thought process was something like:

1. Oh yeah, remember that one time a couple days ago when I accidentally robbed my husband of his beautiful strawberry-blond locks? I am such a....(insert a myriad of insults here)

2. Awe, look at that big, beaming, loving smile on his face, a man with no guile...

3. I am so madly in love....

Sadly, we only have a cell-phone pic of bald Marty, I'll try to get it on there. But before I end this story I just have to say............ok, he was totally asking for it because he was SHAMELESSLY flirting with me the entire time and it's all his fault I got distracted!!!! The end. :)


Mommy:

I need to hurry and end this post so I won't go into too much detail on the pregnancy just yet. I have a Dr. app on Thursday and then I'll give a proper update on the whole thing. But I am half way through, feeling great, and giddy every time I feel the baby move.


I've recently become gluttonously addicted to Nutella. But there are worse addictions in the world, right?

I have a strong desire to decorate my house, which never happens to me. Decorating is one of my defective girl genes. Maybe it's a pregnancy thing?

We went on vacation, were gone for three Sundays, and I came back to find out that not only are we in a different stake now, but I was released AND already called to something else by the time I got back. That's what I get. I already miss my young women like craaaaazy, I got so attached to them all. Brynn drew a picture of me "to give to your young women, Mom!" and I thought I was going to cry! But I've been in for years, it's been complicated to have Marty in Young Mens also, and I got called to teach Brynn's primary class, which I am sooooo excited for!!!!

(abrupt ending)