Utah

So here is the big trip to UT. I know this isn't the first time I've said this, but I was kind of hit and miss with the camera. So if I missed any family members, know that I love you! But I have been running on basically no sleep for two and a half months now. So please excuse the brain-dead...ness :)


Brynn is becoming such a little mommy to Bryce. This was at a party we had before the Johnson's played their concert (the three kids and Neil all play in the Wasatch Winds).

Fun at Kelly and Christy's house rough-housing with Uncle Kelly...

and Uncle Greg.

Brynn and her twin cousins, Landon and Carter, are SO cute together!

Working hard to get to Grandpa Johnson.

Picnic at Bryce Canyon.

It rained the first day we were at Bryce Canyon. I was so happy!!! Look at our sweatshirts!!! Jealous, Arizonans? :)

Usually Brynn doesn't sleep in the car. But when Grandpa Johnson started singing to her, she knew it was nap-time and went right to sleep. Look at that content little girl.

Family picture 1st attempt:

Second attempt:


Third time's a charm!

Awe!

Sigh...love this boy.

He was really a trooper during all this traveling.

Like the Mai Tai (baby carrier)? You can get them on Etsy from the Kitchen Sink Boutique. It was a life saver on this trip!



Why is it the first thing they did right after they got out of the car was to go and search for dirt?

Bryce at Bryce Point at Bryce Canyon.

Crazy Marty.

Loves her dad.

Wow, that's lots of kids in one car. They did great, though.

Brynn kept busy with the make-up in my purse.

Grandpa Johnson talking about his years on this stage at Bryce Canyon.

More dirt.

They might as well be the same person. You should have seen them when Marty had a goatee!

I love having sisters-in-law!

The cool tree on the cool hike (Wall Street).

"Messy hands, Daddy."

Three kids being carried up a very steep trail.

Two sleeping boys,

One tired girl.

What a gentleman! Carter is helping Brynn get her shoe back on.

We were so sad that Kris Anne's family couldn't come with us, but glad that we got to see them later.

Scotty and Georgia were really cute meeting Bryce for the first time.

I can't believe I didn't get more pictures with my parents! All the more reason for them to come back out soon, eh? My mom is a children's librarian and has impecible taste with books for Brynn. The first thing Brynn always says when she sees grandma Oldham is, "Read?"

Look at those rolls!

Because one wasn't enough.

Two clean kiddos.

I'm so glad my VA cousins could come out to visit, even though it was under sad circumstances (my grandma fell and broke her hip and shoulder, so the Virginians flew out to help).

We call this picture "Bryce Cream." A pint of Ben & Jerry's and a snuggly little Bryce. Does life get any better than this?

My cousin Christy and her kids. I can't BELIEVE it took us this long for our kids to play together! Ya know, Arizona is beautiful in the winter, Christy...hint, hint.

I always love it when Brynn finds a play-mate that will hug her back rather than run in terror. Brynn doesn' know the meaning of boundaries.

This is my sad week

On Monday I said good-bye to my husband. He went off to his first day of school for his Masters degree. I know that by saying this I am going to sound spoiled, needy, etc., because he will only be gone two nights a week. But I am really going to miss him! These past few years in AZ we have been able to spend so much time together. Life has been all about our little family. Marty comes home from work, and the three (well, now four of us) of us have this beautiful quality time together. I was wondering what I was going to do with myself all day on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I decided I would make a huge list of projects I would accomplish while Marty was gone. Unfortunately, I haven't even been able to start on the list of projects. I guess this is what I will be doing instead:

I have a very sad little guy. He started out nice and quiet. Then he got a little fussy. That's fine, I thought. Some babies are just fussy, right? Then he started to cry ALL the time. Then lately he started to scream ALL the time, and I knew something was wrong. So I took him to the doctor on Monday and my poor, sweet baby has acid reflux. Yesterday we started him on his prescription (Zantac), and he will be on it at least until his four month check up, and then after that we will see how he is doing.

It's a horrible feeling to know that your child is in pain. And I am a huge wimp. HUGE. When I took Brynn to get her two-month shots I cried harder than she did. The nurse had to try to calm me down...that's probably one of my most embarrassing moments. Ever since then Marty has had to take her to get her shots. We've been extremely lucky that our kids have avoided any real serious illnesses or injuries. I'd like to cross my fingers and hope that they will never have to go through anything, but I know that's unrealistic. I dread that day that one of my kids comes home in tears because they were picked on, and I dread our first emergency room visit. But I guess for right now, I am just grateful for a doctor who was willing to listen and work with me to get to the bottom of all this crying. I guess Bryce's screaming that could be heard throughout the whole office the entire time we were there was enough to convince him that something was wrong. :)

So, cross your fingers (or pray!) that either this medicine will kick in, or that I will be able to endure holding a screaming baby for days on end by myself!

One last thing. Because I now feel bad for raining on Marty's parade...

Good luck in school, Marty!

I love you and I am so proud of you!

life and the zoo

Recently we finally made it out to the Sonora Desert Living Museum in Tuscon. It was really cool! Bryce was great and slept the entire time, and Brynn loved the animals (especially the otter). Oh, and we got to try out the new double stroller - I can't believe I have two kids!

(Prairie Dogs)

This is old news, but I am becoming quite used to being behind on everything. In early May, we had an early heat wave. 14 strait days over 100 degrees. In May. Ugh. Soon after we had a couple of cooler, overcast days, so of course we spent LOTS of time at the park. I do NOT take cool, or even COLD weather for granted. Here in Arizona, NO day is too cold for me!!! I love them all, they make me feel less homesick. I can't say the same for Utah's cold days....

See the clouds? Hooray for clouds! Sometimes I get sick of the sun.

I guess Bryce didn't care about the cool weather. Sleeping as usual. During the DAY. And NOT at night, grrr.

As you can see, we are ALL suffering from lack of sleep. It's usually been extremely rare for Brynn to fall asleep anywhere other than her bed, but not anymore!

On another unrelated note, Marty and I had a fun date tonight! We saw the movie "Night at the Museum 2" and really liked it! I love movies like that, and Marty (the history major) especially does. It's not like we expect a comedy to be historically accurate or deep, but it's just fun to see how they depict the characters. And then I have fun picking Marty's brain later about some of the different people and hearing about what they really did, or were really like. We discussed it over awesome burgers at Johnny Rockets! It's a fun 1950's-looking diner. I told Marty that this is our big date of the month and that I was going for it - I was getting a root beer AND a strawberry shake and no one was going to stop me! But then I saw that shakes were 5 bucks and I stopped myself. Of course my SWEET and WONDERFUL and THOUGHTFUL husband picked one up for me later on his way home from grocery shopping. Even though he hasn't been eating sweets and ice cream is his favorite thing in the world. Sigh. I love my husband.

Well, that is my random post. :)

New smile!

Over the past couple of days Bryce has been finding his smile. Here is what the process looks like:

I think seeing your kid smile for the first time is one of the best mommy experiences ever!

Close call

On Sunday, Marty was asking Brynn about nursery.

Marty: Brynn, did you have fun in nursery today?
Brynn: Ya!
Marty: What did you do in nursery?
Brynn: I played with poo!
Us: Uh..........
Me: Brynn, did you go poo-poo in you panties?
Brynn: (silence)
Marty: Brynn, did you go-
Brynn: Winnie-the-pooh!
Us: OOOOH! That's great!

Alaskans

My brothers and sister-in-law flew in from Alaska last weekend and spent a couple days with us before heading up to Utah (my freaky-genius brother had a physics convention and he brought Corey and Helen with him). We had so much fun! We played games, and ate TONS of ice cream...I mean we REALLY pigged out on it.

Apples to Apples (fun game)

Alaska is so far - I am SO glad my brothers have been able to see both my newborns

I like these guys :)

They were here for Mother's day, and it was SO great! I think I need to have three awesome men around every Mother's day. Marty made a fabulous breakfast (as usual), and the boys and Helen made the BEST BBQ salmon dinner that night. All I had to worry about that day was the baby, and it was wonderful.

Then they surprised me with the start of a garden. I keep saying I am going to start one, and since they are really into gardening (they are building their own greenhouse in AK!) they really helped me out. I love the pics of Brynn helping. I wish I could have been there to see it, but then that would have spoiled the surprise. :)

I wanted them to try out the popcorn game they gave us, and Justin became the first person ever to make a basket.

They entertained Brynn with some partner juggling...

she cracked up every time they dropped a ball
and then she tried it, too.


They gave Brynn these really cool window markers, which I think will come in very handy when I am trying to get anything done in the kitchen (which just has NOT been happening lately).

I get the feeling they like their niece and nephew. Which is a really fun feeling to get.

More random Mother's day pics

Also random, Daddy and Brynn had a really fun time washing the cars together.

Something to show for it

Well, at Bryce's two week check-up, he was already 9 pounds - an entire pound more than he was at birth!





Check out the rolls on this kid! I love the feeling that I have something to show for all that feeding, since I am pretty sure that's all I EVER do, day OR night.

Double chin!

Leg rolls!

My sleepy guy can't even stay awake for a bath!

Marty and I fight over who gets to part his hair after a bath!