Finally Summertime

It has been raining here so much lately that it hasn't really felt much like summertime to me. Finally, this week has been warm, and it feels like summer has really started at last.

Last weekend the weather mostly cooperated for the Father-and-Sons-and-Arden campout (see previous post). They ate "hobo dinners" which took Preston forever to cook because he had to keep stopping what he was doing to keep Daxton from trying to eat rocks, charcoal, paper plates, etc. and to try to stop Arden from setting herself on fire in their eagerness to "help." After dinner and some blueberry cobbler that he made in the dutch oven, Preston put the kids to bed in the tent. Arden and Dax spent the next two solid hours giggling at each other. They finally fell asleep around 10:45p.m., but Arden woke up an hour or so later and Preston had to take her to pee in a hole by the light of his cell phone (he forgot a flashlight). Dax had a hard time sleeping too because he kept kicking his blankets off. So, it was a pretty rough night in the tent. Of course, the kids both woke up with the sun around 6 a.m., and breakfast wasn't being served until 8. So, Preston fed them the rest of the blueberry cobbler for breakfast. Arden got her hands all dirty on the dutch oven and then of course rubbed them all over her face. By this time, Preston was out of wet wipes, so this is what the kids looked like:

They looked just like this (maybe even a little dirtier) when they pulled into the driveway at 8:00a.m., except Dax was fast asleep. I woke him up, threw the kids in the tub and cleaned them off, and put Dax to bed. Arden then said she wanted to take a nap too, which is a verrrrrrry rare thing for her to say. They were both fast asleep in their beds by 9:30 a.m. Overall, I think they had a good time, but they wore themselves (and their dad) out. It has taken almost all week for them to fully recover.

On the other hand, Cora and I had a nice, quiet night. We watched a chick flick, did some scrapbooking, and I finally caught some smiley pictures of her, here are a couple:

Awwwwww.

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The temperature was in the high-80's today, so Arden and I took Dax for his first run through the sprinklers. Here are a couple of pictures.

Arden had a blast, and Dax and was all smiles too...until he actually tried to run through the sprinklers. Since he is so short, the sprinklers hit him right in the face, and his top speed is 0.1 miles per hour, it took him a really long time to turn around and get back out of the sprinkler's range. He didn't love it. In the end I had to pick him up and run through the sprinklers carrying him (sorry, no pictures). He liked it much better since the water was hitting his legs instead of his eyeballs, and laughed and laughed. Maybe we'll try again when he gets a little faster.

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And maybe next time I will wear my swim suit too.

Tooooo quiet

Tonight is our ward’s “Fathers and Sons” campout. This is the first year Preston has had a chance to go and he was so excited. Last year, Dax was only 2 weeks old and Preston thought I was kind of mean for not letting me take him camping. So be it. I am mean. But this year he was determined to take Dax and go. Preston set up the tent in our basement to make sure he still remembered how since we haven’t been tent camping since Arden was born. The second Arden saw it I knew there was no way that she was going to be left behind. She has been talking about going “tenting” nonstop for the last two days, so Preston finally gave in and agreed to take her too. So I guess it is the "Fathers and Sons and Arden" campout. Preston took enough food and snacks to feed the three of them for at least a week, so they should be all set.

So…me and Corbie are here at home by ourselves. I have been looking forward to being able to give her all my attention for an entire evening, since I am usually spread so thin. But she is still napping. So seriously, what am I supposed to do? I should catch up on some work, but that doesn’t sound very fun, does it? I cleaned up a little, checked my email and my blog, updated my Facebook status….and they have been gone an entire half an hour.

I can’t believe I miss them already.

This is actually the first night Arden or Dax have slept away from me, and I can’t help but worry about them. What if they fall into the campfire? Or get lost in the wilderness? Or eaten by bears? Or mountain lions?? I have even tried to call them to make sure they found the campground ok, but they must be out of cell phone range.

How pathetic am I???

It is just weird to have it this quiet at 5:45 in the evening, when everything is usually so loud and hectic this time of day. I guess I need to pull myself together and try to remember what I used to do when I actually had free time. Hmmmmm.

I can’t remember.

Well, I guess I will wander off in search of some entertainment. But a post isn’t a post without a picture, right? So here is one I took of Dax yesterday.
He was "helping" Arden color chalk pictures on the sidewalk. And by "helping" I mean "trying to eat the chalk and smearing her pictures with his bum."

Feeling lucky about the Corbietoe

As some of you know, Cora was born with an extra wide big toe on her right foot. It looks like she almost grew two big toes, but they didn't quite separate. The medical term is "bifid," but we call it her "Corbietoe." I actually think it is kind of cute, but obviously it will be hard for her to wear shoes and we were worried it could cause her problems when she is learning to walk. So, we finally had an appointment today with a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Primary Childrens to see what we need to do to fix it.

The visit didn't take very long...except for the part after they took us to one of the little examination rooms to wait for the doctor. There was nothing in there to read except an old Cat in the Hat book and a Seventeen Magazine ("learn 50 new ways to flirt!" didn't seem to apply to me), and Cora and I were in there alone for almost half an hour. Bo-ring. I started to wonder...is there a time limit that you should wait in one of those little rooms before you can come out and make sure that someone remembers you are in there? And if so, what is it? 15 minutes? Half an hour? More? Are you just supposed to wait in there forever? I hate those little rooms, they are so small and claustrophobic. I would much rather wait in the big waiting room where I can see other people and not be worried that they evacuated the building and forgot to tell me. Anyway....

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The doctor said that it will be a pretty simple outpatient procedure to remove the extra bit of toe, but it is best to wait until she is 9-12 months old. In the meantime, it shouldn't cause her any trouble. So, the Corbietoe will be around for a few more months. I was so glad that it wasn't going to be a big problem to have it corrected and that it wasn't going to cause her any permanent trouble (the doctor said she can still get a track scholarship!).

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On our way out of Primary Childrens, we walked by several families with children who obviously had much more serious conditions than just a Corbietoe. As we walked close by one family, the mom looked up at us as we went by and I noticed that she was crying. It broke my heart. I couldn't help but realize how lucky I was to be walking out of that hospital with my beautiful, healthy little baby and driving home to my other two beautiful, healthy kids (thanks for watching them Cheri!!). I am so thankful to be so blessed, and hopefully I can remember more often how lucky I am.

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Corbie turned two months old on Sunday, so we took some lamb pictures...it is amazing to see how much she has grown in such a short time!

Somersaults, baby steps, and blinky smiles

Tonight was Arden's first gymnastics show. It turns out it is pretty much just like a regular class, except there are a lot more kids, a lot more parents, and a LOT more camcorders. It was fun to watch though, even though more hectic than a usual class. Here are some quick clips:

Ta-da!

I give her a 10! I am so proud of my little gymnast. She just loves it, and is always somersaulting around the house, using my couch as a trampoline, and doing tricks on the handles of my exercise bike as if it was a gymnastics bar. We start her new class on Monday, I hope she likes it!

In other news, Dax is now walking more than one step at a time! He has been taking one or two steps for a couple of weeks, but anything longer than that, he would just get down and crawl. He is still a little shaky, but getting better. He loves pushing Arden's doll stroller around, too. I kept forgetting to get video of the walking until a few days ago. It was right before his bedtime and he wasn't in the mood to show off, so we had to use his blankie as walking-bait (he loves his blankie!):

Finally, I am still in search of a decent picture of Cora smiling. I ALMOST had one earlier today, but of course she is blinking:

She must have learned it from me. I am a notorious picture-blinker. Preston and I had to get our engagement pictures completely re-shot because I was blinking in more than half of them the first time around. I can't help it! Especially if the person taking the picture says "1-2-3" before they take it. My eyes just HAVE to blink on 3...I have no control over them.

Mommy Essentials

I have a friend who is going to be a new mommy soon, and she was asking me what things that I thought were essential for every mom to have. It got me thinking about what things I have really got the most use out of (other than the obvious bottles and diapers), and here are some of my "Mommy Essentials:"



The SwaddleMe from Kiddopotamus: This was seriously the key to getting Dax to sleep through the night. He could NOT sleep without being wrapped up in this thing, and Corbie loves it too. I am not the best blanket wrapper, so the kids would squirm free in no time, but the Velcro on this keeps everything snug and tight. We have nicknamed this "the tortilla."




A high-quality diaper bag you actually like. (see my previous posts). I say go big for your diaper bag. You are going to be using it every day for at least 2 years, and maybe more if your kids overlap, so you might as well get something you love. I personally prefer the ones that just look like big purses but that are still diaper bags (with tons of big pockets inside and outside to keep everything from becoming too big of a mess...at least at first). If your diaper bag is girlie, obviously your husband needs his own, and there are some very "manly" (read: non-purse-looking) bags out there, this is the one Preston has, it is from Diaper Dude.


Baby carrier. Arden practically lived in the Baby Bjorn. She LOVED it. Dax wasn't as much of a fan. Corbie LOVES being in the sling, but isn't a fan of the Bjorn yet. I use these all the time, it is sooo great to be able to "hold" your baby and still be able to use both hands. I'll admit, I probably carry my kids around too much, and this is an enabler for me :) I can even pick up Dax and carry him around on my hip while Cora is in the sling. (Arden took the picture of me...see her cute little thumb? And below is a close-up of Corbie hanging out in the sling.)




















Diaper Genie II. Two words. Not stinky.












A good, light stroller. The stroller we liked best when we had only one baby was a McClaren Quest Mod. Very light, but very sturdy (we still use it) and fits any baby from 3 months to who knows when (Arden still fits, but doesn't like to ride in strollers for very long). Folds and unfolds easily, works for tall people, and sooooo easy to maneuver.

A TiVo/DVR. Seriously. If you want to actually "watch" TV, it is going to have to happen after bedtime. We hardly ever watch anything live. Plus, commercials are boring.


Does anybody else have any favorites? If so, please share in the comments. We are all looking for something else to make our lives a little easier!

Almost-smiles and baby wrestling

Another week as gone by already! Preston is out of town again, but we are hanging in there and things so far are going much better than they were in my last post (sorry for the whining, I don't mean to have such a whiny blog!) I am getting better at the 3-on-1 defense, and with the help of family and friends we are doing pretty great. My house is still messy and my yard is still messier, but...oh well.

Corbie has started to smile now! Her smiles don't last long and I haven't caught one on camera yet. As soon as I pull out the camera, the smiles disappear. I will keep trying! This is as close as I have come, it is kind of the leftovers of a big smile:

She looks a little weird, but I promise it was a really big smile about 1 second before this picture was taken. I will keep trying! Those smiles make everything worth it! Even faces like this:
And since those last two pictures aren't the best, here she is just looking like she looks most of the time (cute):

Daxton is getting better at being gentle with Corbie, and I think he has finally decided that he likes her. He kissed her foot the other day (or what passes for kissing with Dax), and has given her some "hugs" this week too. I am not sure Corbie has enjoyed any of the kisses or hugs, but I sure did! I am so glad they are starting to be friends.

Dax has also learned to say Arden...well sort of (he says "Awww-nnnn"). Arden and Dax love to play together. However, they can get a little loud and a little rough. Sometimes it is like the World Wrestling Federation in my living room:

Everyone is blogging about graduations lately, and I want to fit in! Here is as close as I can get: Arden's gymnastics teacher has decided to move her up into the next-level class, so that is sort of like a graduation! She really loves going to gymnastics, and is not afraid to try anything and everything. Next week they are doing a "show," whatever that means, so I will hopefully have some pictures to post. Arden also "graduated" from her first swimming lessons class last week. She had a rough time for a week or two, but she got over her fears and did SO GREAT the last couple of weeks. I am so proud of her. She is such a great helper to me even though she is so little herself. I would be lost without her!!