July: In with a Bang, out with a Splash

July was busy month. It all started with a Bang, the fourth, of course. For the 4th we went to the Murray parade with all of Kent's family. It has been many years since I've been to the parade in Murray and it was really really fun! I felt like a kid again. Melissa was so excited about going to a parade, she bounded out of bed, was dressed in 5 min. and then proceeded to bug us about why we weren't leaving yet. Kent's brother played commentator which was hilarious, and his brother-in-law was dressed as wheres waldo. There were lots of fun floats and tons of candy. Nothing makes it seem like the 4th than a good parade.

After the parade we went back to Grandmas house for splashing in the pool, BBQ, and visiting and having fun with family. I got a kick out of watching the nieces and nephew play in the pool. Plus I got my hair braided for camping. After lunch me and the girls headed up to Kamas, where we picked up my sister Lisa, and said hello to grandpa. Then up the canyon to met up with other sister and her family for a couple of nights of camping.

Camping was fun but cold!!! Both mornings we were there I drank a cup of hot chocolate. It was very pleasant, possibly because it was the only 5 min of the day I sat and did nothing. I can see why people would really enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning. It a very relaxing way to start the day. Melissa and her cousin play in the dirt, literally, but they had so much fun. Also on this trip I went fishing. I haven't bought a fishing license since I was in high school. We didn't catch anything but it was fun anyway. But I think I still prefer birding. They are very similar in many ways, they're both outside, with lots of boring parts followed by exciting parts. But the bird boring parts are more fun to me the than fishing boring parts.

Although I didn't catch any fish my little nephew did. And of course as adults we had to capture the perfect picture....

Monday we got up and broke camp which took forever. (BTW if any of you are wondering camping with two kids is a lot of work). Then headed to Grandpas house in Kamas where we washed one or two layers of dirt and grim off the kids and some clothes, because we were headed to the Oakley Rodeo. I love the Oakley Rodeo. The kids were surprisingly good and so were the cowboys. Melissa wanted to stay for the fireworks of course.

Well the fireworks didn't end till well after 10 and its a long way home, so Tues morning came very early, but off we went again. Tues Melissa went to dance class with Aunt Krisi then up to Ogden with Aunt Krisi where we went to the children’s museum and the dinosaur park. The Wed we headed down to Cedar City with Aunt Krissy and her kids.

In Cedar City we met one of my best friends I haven't seen since she got married, played in the pool, and watched Court do some gymnastics. Once home again it was time to rest and catch up on laundry but not for long because the next week my brother and his wife were in town. So we went camping with them. Missa decided that Brooke (my newest sister) was where it was at. Poor Brooke had a shadow. Andrew and Brooke may have wanted some alone time but every time they turned around Missa was right there.

I was looking forward to my hot chocolate routine, but this time by the time I got up and dressed, out of the tent, and had hot water, it was just too hot to enjoy it as much. Oh well.

By the time we got home from that camping trip I was ready to stay put for awhile. And the BAR exam was looming very near. Kent was hitting the books hard and was stressing. With Kent gone so much it was easy to get restless around the house so we played in the pool. And one day I took the kids on the train downtown. We wondered temple square, played in the fountains at the gateway, and went to the church history museum. And then we bought a few fireworks to shoot off on the 24th of July.

And then Kent took the BAR. Yiks. He survived. And no we won’t know how he did for quite awhile.

And what’s a better way to celebrate the completion of the BAR exam than going to Cherry Hill with Kents family? It was awesome, and I only got a little sunburned. We had a great time.

Also in July Mia learned to crawl, and got another tooth.

This takes way too long to upload pictures. So for the rest go to www.kentandbeth.phanfare.com

My New Blog Picture

Don't you just want to reach out and tickle those toes? Well there is a story behind that photo which is silly but nonetheless am going to share. Feel free to stop reading here...

SO...you know how everytime you go to get new baby pictures taken they always suggest taking pictures of their feet. I always thought that was so silly. How could you tell it was your babies feet, don't all baby feet look the same? So I always say no.

But then I got ta thinkin...I thought it might be cute to have ALL of our bare feet in a picture. So then you could see the size differences, Mia, Missa, Mom, Dad. So when we went in for family pictures I requested this particular shot. She looked at me as though I was crazy. Okay I know its a bit different but aren't I allow some creativity in my family portraits? Anyway she said she had never done the baby feet picture thing. Should have been a BIG warning flag. Well the pictures turned out totally lame. So I didn't get any of them. But I still had this "idea" for a really cute picture. So I did it myself.

Kent wasn't around and I never thought to use the timer on my camera, thus the pictures I took of three pairs of feet, girls and mom, didn't turn out as cute as just the girls. I wasn't so sure they turned out at all until I made them in black and white, then I think it turned out close to what I had envisioned.

And that's the story.

My M&Ms

One of the benefits (I think) of adoption is sending updates to the birth parents. They become a journal of thoughts, feelings and milestones your baby is making. So here are some excerpts from Little m's last update.

The week after Kent left for Utah, (about one week before we left), she finally figure out how to roll over from back to her stomach. When she learned to roll from her stomach to her back she would do it once and then not again for a week or more. This time was totally different. The first time I notice she did it was Monday, by Tuesday she would roll one way and then the other like 5 times. She is getting so close to crawling and will sometimes get on her knees. But even without crawling or scooting, she is really mobile. She rolls and pivots in a circle and is quite good at rolling to what she wants. J She no longer stays where you put her. Sometime I’ll walk back into a room and say “now how did you get all the way over there?” She also loves to stand up and sometimes thinks she can do it on her own (which she can’t) and tries to let go of your hands. And you should see her in that walker you gave us in my mom’s big kitchen with hard wood floors. She can cruise in that thing in any direction that she wants.

Since coming to Utah we bought Melissa a new bike. (Okay technically Grandma bought it for her, yea for grandmothers who spoil). She has a two wheel big girl bike with training wheels. She LOVES that thing and is really good at it. She can get cruising. So we have been going on lots of bike rides/walks. We love to go down to the park by my mom’s house. Mia loves being outside too, and is usually perfectly content in the stroller.

We also put Melissa in swimming lessons, she has enjoyed them once she’s in the pool. Melissa loves the pool, swim lessons she tolerates so she can play in the pool. Mia has LOVED the water as well. We have taken her swimming a couple of times. She is so funny, she goes totally spazz, kicking and wiggling, and splashing. It is so cute to watch.

Mia also cut her second tooth soon after getting here. She had one little tooth for a long time. I think she just cut her first one on top today. Maybe that’s why she has been driving being crazy all day today. ;0 She picks up all kinds of new noises every day. She can coo, and say da-da-da, ma-ma, and a whole lot of other sounds. My sister has a baby girl just two months young than Mia, she sounds so dainty compared to Mia. She will be da da da, Mia is DA DA DA. She’s going to be a talker just like her big sister. She has been very social and has warmed up to all of our family really easily.

Mia loves to laugh and giggle and Melissa can still get her to laugh faster than anyone else. She is a really easy going baby, and a delight to have around. Her personality is starting to come through and she is a wonderful addition to our family. While they are small it’s sometimes hard to see beyond the baby stage. But before you know it they are little people with thoughts and minds of their own, walking around demanding things. LOL! We are reminded everyday what a lifelong commitment being a parent is and we love it.

We have some fun things planned for the summer; including the 4^th of July parade, and camping with my sister and her family. We are also going to go down to Southern Utah (about 4 hours drive) and visit some other family, and Beth is going visit a dear high school friend that I haven’t seen for 10 years. Kent stays busy studying and studying. It’s a daunting test but I’m sure he will be fine. We are still in the process of finding a job.

Since writing this Mia is even closer to crawling and can take a few crawl steps.