Labor Day Weekend

Ben and I have a constant desire to travel and show the kids the whole world. When we start talking about fun places to go and see, we are frequently reminded that we live by so many wonderful places that the kids haven't experienced yet! So we recommit to exploring more of our state, because Utah is so diverse and beautiful and has so much to offer! We decided Labor Day weekend would be a good time to take the kids out to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. In my mind, I thought we'd been there more recently, until I realized that it's been 3 years since we were there! Hudson was just a baby last time. So it was definitely time to go again!

The kids were excited to go on an adventure, they dressed themselves up in their little adventure vests. We left early in the morning and were delighted to see the wildlife as we drove onto the island. We immediately saw so many bison, which is great since they are one of Hudson's favorite animals (also including elephants and grizzly bears). Hudson affectionately named this one "Mudbump". The boys were also happy to see a fox and an antelope. We started out at the Farm there on the island. It's kind of a great place for kids, they can touch and explore everything and they loved seeing how people lived 150 years ago. We have pictures of them on this exact saddle from three years ago, so we thought we'd recreate the pictures!

 There was a herd of bison out in the distance, so they were able to put their binoculars to use! They loved exploring this place!

Then we made the trek out to the beach. The lake is really really low right now, so it was quite the walk from the car to the water, but I really wanted to boys to be able to say they've been IN the Great Salt Lake. If we would have brought their swim suits I'm sure they would have gone all the way in!

I realized I have no more pictures of the rest of the weekend, but we swam a whole bunch, the kids played with friends, and I canned 43 jars of tomatoes, tomato sauce and marinara sauce. It took ALL DAY Monday, but between Ben and I we got it done! 

Davis- 6 Months Old

Somehow our sweet little Davis turned 6 months old! I can barely believe that this sweet baby has been in our family this long. He's been such a bundle of absolutely joy and cuteness and we are all pretty obsessed with him! His hair is coming in a little thicker these days and it's becoming more and more obvious that it is RED! I love it. I think it's so darling! And because of his coloring, we call him our little sweet potato.

Davis loves food! He's still nursing all day (and all night) long, but he gets two meals a day of solids and loves them! I'd say peaches and sweet potatoes are his clear favorites, but he also eats squash, green beans, peas, applesauce, carrots, bananas and avocado. Chase sometimes will feed him while I'm busy with something else and it's fulfilling a dream of Chase's (he's been talking about helping to spoon feed him since last fall when I was pregnant!).

 Davis gives great smiles and cute little laughs. He's a very social baby and will grin at just about anyone who engages him. His little dimple wins everyone over.

 Davis loves to be outside. When he gets really fussy (usually in the evenings) all we have to do is go walk him around outside and he usually calms right down. He's starting to love toys now and is interested in everything! The other day we handed him a washcloth and it entertained him for like 15 minutes!

 Sleep- oh man, he's the worst sleeper! We've now tried to have him cry-it-out twice (3 nights each time) and it FAILED. He's persistent and apparently really not feeling it! So I still feed him at least twice every night, and frequently have to make 1-3 other visits into his room to put his binky back in and calm him down. He breaks out of his swaddle, but then he can't sleep unswaddled. It's been a process. We are hoping once he learns to sleep without a swaddle that overall sleep will improve.

 He's still just a tiny thing. At his 6 month doctor appointment he was 13 pounds 14 oz- which puts him on the 1 percentile in weight. He's 25 inches, which puts him on the 7th percentile. He's just a little thing. But otherwise totally healthy and strong and happy (as long as I don't set him down). I guess it's nice that he's such a lightweight since I carry him around all day long.

 Davis has really been such a joy in our family. We are all so thankful this sweet baby came to us! I love all my chances to snuggle with him. When he's really happy to see me he tries to eat my face (possibly he's trying to give me kisses, I can't really tell, I'm just covered in his slobber all the time). He's brought so much love and happiness with him and we are so lucky to have him!

Back to School

I love back to school time- it's just so exciting! I was so excited for Chase to start a new school year. He got the best teachers (Mrs. Jones and Mrs. DeMoux) and lucked out by having all his little friends in his class too! We did our back to school feast the night before school started. I actually had a lot of fun putting this together, it's fun to decorate and celebrate! We had, per Chase's request, grilled salmon, broccoli and grilled peaches. We had poppyseed cake for dessert. The boys loved it and Ben and I did too! We finished the night with special fathers blessings for both boys.

The next morning Chase was up at like 6:00 am and was so ready to go! We got breakfast and got his lunch packed just to his specifications (a pita sandwich, cucumber slices, some leftover poppyseed cake and a capri sun. He came home and reported that he loved his lunch but I "went overboard with the cucumbers!" Duly noted. 

 After we got his lunch all packed, Chase let me know that his stomach was hurting. The nerves were setting in! I started to feel anxious for him! He was still so excited to go, but a little nervous too. I get it Chase, this happens to me too!

Creekside PTA makes the first day so fun, they have balloons and music going when you walk in! Right as we walked up "It's always a good time" was playing, and for some reason it made me emotional! We listen to that song all the time and it just made me think of all the good times with my little guy and how he was going off into the world! Luckily, we met up with all his little friends quickly. This year he's with Luca, McKinley, Jaxon, Jazmyn, (Ella and Quinn- not pictured) all of whom are in our ward! Then cute Paisley came running over and immediately gave him a big hug! It was so sweet and melted my heart. He's still planning on marrying Paisley someday. 

He came home totally happy and is absolutely loving first grade. I think it's going to be a great year for him!

The first week of September Hudson started preschool! He's going to Mrs. Young, just like Chase did. He's been waiting for two years (ever since Chase started) for his turn and it's finally here! He was super excited to go and ran right in with zero hesitation! He also told me "Mom, I'm sure glad we have Davis so you aren't lonely when we are at school!" Me too buddy, me too!

Torrey

We decided we needed a little end of summer vacation. We were so lucky that my Aunt and Uncle let us use their beautiful vacation home in Torrey, which is in the most beautiful place on Earth. We only had three days, but we enjoyed every second of it! We got down to Torrey on Thursday afternoon and immediately made ourselves at home. Chase was delighted to find a chess board (he's recently gotten into chess) and we played a LOT of chess while we were there!

 Friday morning we left bright and early for the park. It was nice to get there before the heat and crowds! We hiked up Hickman Bridge, which is one of my favorite hikes there. It's just about 2 miles round trip and you get to see a beautiful land bridge! The boys wanted to play in every little rock formation and hole they could find. Hudson climbed into one and declared it was a rare "tugalug's house" (A tugalug is an elephant/peacock cross breed, straight from Hudson's imagination). And Ben and I just breathed in the beauty of the red rock, blue skies and amazing views everywhere we went!

 My kids love adventure, but they especially love staying in Torrey. The house there is beautiful and spacious. The room the boys stay in has some toys that they love. There is a sandbox they spent hours in. Ben and I love being comfortable and being able to cook all our own food. It's just such a great set-up for our family. Ben and I kept Davis in with us and I snapped this picture early one morning when Hudson came in. These two just adore each other! It's the sweetest. Unfortunately for me, vacationing with a baby doesn't actually mean resting or sleeping in (or sleeping much at night for that matter) but it was still so great to get away as a family!

 On Saturday we went exploring in the Fishlake National forest. The boys found this little stream and loved playing in it. Ben and I talked and watched them and loved on Davis. It was such a sweet, fun morning!

 

Then we packed up and headed home! Davis was having a ROUGH time on the way home. After almost running out of gas and barely making it to Scipio, Davis screaming for a big portion of the drive, we were mostly just feeling done by Provo. So Ben decided to pull off and show the boys our old stomping grounds! We stopped at the creamery first- man we forgot how great that ice cream is! The boys agreed. Graham Canyon for the win!

 Then we walked them around the campus. They were even more excited than we expected, which was darling. I showed Chase the SWKT where he went to class with me (in utero) for a whole semester right before I had him. Then we showed them the Benson building where we met- they were obviously super excited about that. Mostly, they loved the Eyring Science Center and seeing the fun hands-on exhibits there. Since it was a late Saturday afternoon, campus was pretty much deserted. Ben and I reminisced and relived all the happiness and memories we had there!

Out of the Mouth of Hudson

Hudson was telling one of his traditional "tall tales" one night at my parents house. Chase leaned over and whisper to my mom, "FICTION" and Hudson immediately leaned over to her other ear and whispered "SPANISH".

The first time Hudson saw me nursing Davis he was super intrigued. Our conversation went like this:
Me: Hudson, can you give mom some privacy while she nurses Davis?
Hudson: Nursing?! I want to see! (Runs over and plops himself on the bed next to me)
Hudson: Huh? Where's the bottle?
Me: I'm not using a bottle. He's getting special milk from mommy.
Hudson: Oh yeah. It's celebration milk.
(and ever since then he's called nursing "celebration milk" which has helped my attitude towards these hard first weeks of nursing immensely)

When my mom told him that Davis's middle name was Jack he responded with "NO! It's supposed to be Davis Michael Jack-went-to-monkeys Hugo! Quick, someone FIX THIS before he gets any bigger!"

While burping Davis, he told me that Davis "needs to pop his bubble." and then went on to explain "Davis has sharp bones in his body that pop his bubbles."

Chase: Mom do you cook for fun?
Me: I don't mind cooking for my family, but I don't really cook for fun.
Hudson: So you just cook for boring?

Hudson: Dad can we go get donuts now?
Ben: No buddy, it's too close to dinner.
Hudson: But dad! I promised you yesterday that we could get donuts today after naps.

Heidi gave him this cute little log for Christmas that had five little woodland animals in it. He loves it and plays and imagines with his animals all the time. One morning right after Davis was born he brought his little bear, fox, raccoon and chipmunk in to me and said "Mom, these guys kept me up all night they were so fussy!"

And then later Heidi asked him if the animals slept in their log at night, and he replied "No, that's how they get neck injuries!' (Neck injuries?!?! We laughed so hard at that one)

He said one day, "Mom, I couldn't figure out what to get Monkey for her birthday. Then I figured she could use a new nursing cover!" (And then he showed me how he turned his Paw Patrol pillow case into a very functional nursing cover for Monkey, under which both Seamore and Chipmunk nurse. A few days later I asked him to go play in his room and he replied "I can't, Monkey is nursing in there and she needs peace and quiet." Sure enough, he had Monkey all set up, laying against a pillow, with her nursing cover on and Seamore nursing underneath.

One night he said, "Mom, we are having a meeting and you and Davis are invited."
I came upstairs to find the meeting on the landing area in our hallway, on top of his carefully spread paw patrol blanket, with all his animals lined up on one side. We were instructed to sit by the animals. Then he called us up, one at a time, to "take the stand." Once on the stand we were to share our favorite food, then he "recorded" it in his little book. It was hilarious. (For future reference, Bear's favorite food is blueberries, Chipmunks is "chipmunk nip", Seamore's is peaches and celebration milk (just like Davis), Monkey's is peaches (just like me)- I can't remember the rest.)

One day I overheard him telling Davis "Don't believe mommy Davis! Don't believe her!"

Ben: Hudson please go clean your room.
Hudson: Oh figgle-bars! (throws up hands in exasperation and then falls face forward in the hallway and lays there for awhile to really make a dramatic point)

Hudson started telling me all about a friend he met at the gym day care. "I call him Max" he kept telling me. So I questioned what his real name was, "Holden? Eden? Something like that mom. But I just call him Max."
So the next day at the gym "Max" greeted Hudson right by the door and they ran off to play together. I asked the workers there if that little boy was named Max. They answered, "No, that's Eldon" "Does anyone else call him Max?" "Nope, just Hudson."
So then I asked Hudson afterwards why he calls him Max-
Hudson: He's just fine with it Mom!
Me: Why don't you call him Eldon?
Hudson: Eldon is just a funny name. I like Max better. And he's fine with it.

All the Other July Stuff

July was an emotional roller coaster, full of fun activities, lots of family time, and some major disappointment. It's all part of our life journey, so I'm recording it all here.

7/11 was free day at Chick Fil-A if you dressed up like a cow. Ben usually hates stuff like that (dressing up, plus crowds) so when I off-handedly mentioned it to him around 5:30 pm he said, "sure! let's do it!" I was surprised! I hurried and made cow spots that would go on our shirts and we went! True to my boys natural personalities, Chase was super hesitant to wear the shirt, afraid of looking silly. Hudson, on the other hand, asked if next year I would please make him cow pants and cow ears to go with it. We had free dinner and it wasn't even too terribly crowded. 

We had a fun adventure to the Treehouse Museum with Nana and all the grandbabies. The kids had a great time. They were so cute playing in the diner (for a long time) cooking up a storm and serving us all food. They all love that place and it was such a fun morning, complete with a delicious lunch at Blue Lemon (which we did last year and the boys still remember it and talk about it). 

 When I got home from the Treehouse that afternoon, Ben had some bad news for us- he lost his job. It came as a surprise and such a sucker punch. We both just felt sick and so sad and frustrated. He has loved this job, and put so much into it. A few weeks prior they let Ben's boss go- and the guy who took his place was a real dirtbag. Ben told me right when it happened that he was worried- he did not trust this new guy. And for good reason. Ben realized quickly that everything this guy had ever told Ben was a lie. As we processed and talked about what happened we came to the conclusion that a company that acts this way (let's people go with no notice, no reason, no warning) isn't a company he should be working for. But it didn't really soften the blow by much. My mom watched the kids so we could go to the temple that night, which was probably the most emotional we have ever been attending the temple. We found it interesting that while we were there we were able to feel a little peace, although it didn't take away the feelings of hurt and betrayal.

I can say a little time has helped heal this wound. For the first few days we both struggled with eating and sleeping and I cried a lot. As time has passed it's gotten much easier to swallow. One thing that really helped was that just  two days later we had a camping trip planned with our good friends from BYU. Ben and I really didn't want to go, but our boys were looking forward to it so much that we packed up anyway and went. It was the best thing for us. We camped up Hobble Creek Canyon and it was beautiful. We had so much fun with our friends and the boys had the best time playing, getting dirty and sleeping in the tent.

 Bennetts couldn't spend the night this year, but Virgins did. We put all the kids to bed and stayed up until 1:30 am talking with Russell and Ashley by the fire. It was probably the most therapeutic thing we could have done (although we were all so tired the next morning). Russell and Ashley are kind and wise and encouraging and not at all judgmental. We talked all about life, the crazy job thing and all kinds of other stuff. It was honestly the best, and something I'll remember as a bright spot in an otherwise dark time. I know this all sounds a little dramatic, but for a little while it felt that way. We quickly realized that we have so much to be grateful for, our healthy boys, each other, supportive family and friends, living in America, the list goes on and on. But this night I was so thankful for these wonderful friends!

Our big boys have really bonded this summer in a really great way. They spend hours playing and pretending together. Every night all summer they've slept together on the bottom bunk of their bunk bed. They usually have some blankets and sheets hanging from the top bunk, making it a "fort" or "ship" depending on the night. They giggle and play and read and pretend in there until late into the night, but Ben and I don't really even care because we love the bond they are forming. When summer ends we will probably make Chase start sleeping up in his bed and make them both go to sleep at a better time. But for now, this is darling and so sweet. 

Chase really wanted to do a lemonade stand this summer. I just never got on the ball to do one with him. Luckily his sweet friend Paisley invited him over for one! He was so excited. Paisley's mom does everything up really cute, hence the matching aprons and cutesy sign. He loved it. It was a pretty hot day so they only last about an hour, but he made $4.50 and was thrilled about it! He was even more excited that Nana stopped to buy some lemonade from them (not even realizing at first that Chase was there). Chase loves Paisley and plans on marrying her someday.

 The great thing about Utah is that after the 4th of July, we get to do it all over again for the 24th! The boys really wanted to go to the Bowman's pancake breakfast, so we did. We met Nana and Papa there and all enjoyed our pancakes. Later in the day I took the boys back for the kids activities there, including bounce houses, cotton candy, hot dogs, face painting and balloon animals. I had to laugh at the face paint they chose (totally unprompted by me) because Ben and I joke that Chase's spirit animal is a puppy and Hudson's is a bear.

Our last fun outing in July was another Nana adventure to the Museum of Natural Curiosity! We hadn't been there in three years and the boys LOVED it. In fact, Chase says it was his #1 favorite thing he did all summer. This place has a whole mini city, a jungle to climb in, a whole room of water play (Chase's favorite), a science room, a bear cave, playground and so much more! We stayed for several hours and the boys loved every minute of it! 

I'll say, this new baby in our lives has made this summer really different than the last several. I'm desperately trying to do lots of fun activities for my big kids and trying to preserve a good nap schedule for the baby- which has turned out to be really tricky at times. Somedays the big kids have a more boring day so the baby can nap, some days we go out and do fun stuff and tote around a slightly fussy, tired baby. Mostly it's worked. I actually like looking back on these pictures because they remind me that we did get out and have fun- but it has been a lot more work than the last few summers. Either way, I'm so glad we had these experiences. I love doing activities with my kids and seeing their little world expand.