The Townsends

Tidbits

2012-01-24T20:37:00.001-08:00

Nothin much has been going on this week. We’ve done the same old, same old which is awesome. Sometimes I just like when nothin much is going on. Sundays are a little different now since church is at 1:30. NOT my favorite church time. I feel like the day is just wasted away. But the kids got a lot done with their various little art projects. They come a lot easier now that they have this big paper that they got from their Oklahoma cousins. Bryce likes to trace huge things and then cut them out.

Sissy mostly scribbles and then says, “I did it!!!”

Bryce also draws houses with various routes. In this particular one he said:

“Our house is in the middle. Then up here is Grandma’s house, then over here is Grandma Townsend’s new house, then down here we go to Mara’s house and then over here…this is Daddy’s work.”

A video of Camryn singing the Popcorn Song:

A Few Thoughts

2012-01-14T14:00:00.001-08:00

Since I’ve gotten back from my vacation, I feel like a new woman. I feel a lot less frustrated, annoyed, and miraculously have a little more patience. I feel myself relaxing more and freaking out a lot less when it comes to the kids. The past few days I’ve thought about a few things:

-I wonder if any of my kids are going to have light eyes. Bryce has almost black eyes and Camryn has dark brown. Mine are hazel/green and my whole family has blue or green eyes. Maybe this next baby...

-I wonder if my kids are going to remember those times when I lose it and am beast-mom.

-I wonder if they're going to remember those times when I'm not:)

-I wonder if they are going to remember times like this:

-How do kids know when they really need to step up? I felt TERRIBLE yesterday and was in bed. I wanted to get the house cleaned because we were going out last night to Justin's boss's house and I have a weird thing about having the house clean for a babysitter. Weird, I know. So I scraped myself off my bed, terribly dreading the clean-up that awaited me and came downstairs to this:

Bryce cleaned the whole downstairs and was vacuuming when I came down. It was so cute I could have died or cried or something. Too cute for words. Then I got a load of laundry out of the dryer and he sat right by me and folded his clothes, put them in a pile and then in the basket. What a sweet boy.

-Why do I want to bite Camryn, she's so cute?

-I wish I could freeze time. Camryn is just the epitome of cuteness. She's so small and short and sassy and is talking so well in her little deep voice.

-I get a frog in my throat when I think about her falling down that hill at the park. 1-because she fell and I saw it coming and 2-because when she started falling she yelled, "Mommy, Mommy!!" and yelled it the whole way down and 3-when I picked her up her whole face was scraped up. If only I had lightning fast speed...

-Speaking of lightning fast speed, the other day we were at the park and Bryce was on his bike. He started going down a hill (and is still VERY timid on his bike) and lost control. He was on the other side of the park. Then he yelled "Mommy, STOP ME!!" And when I looked he was bolting down our neighborhood hill. I kicked it into high gear and booked it across the park, and down the street after him. Very soon after starting my "jog" I realized I wasn't going to catch him unless I starting sprinting. So I went into a full sprint - as fast as this plump little body could go. Can't you see it now? That actually would look pretty funny if you were watching it - a 7+ month pregnant lady in a full-on sprint. During the sprint I kept thinking "PLEASE don't let this put me into labor." But hey...I felt pretty good! Anyway. I finally caught up to him about 100+ yards down the street. Luckily Bryce wasn't too scarred from the whole situation and luckily my body allowed me to run a 100 yard dash without any aches, pains or labor:)

-I wonder when Justin is going to put the wires in the wall from the TV. I LOVE having the TV above the fireplace, but the wires are a little out of control.

-I wonder if I'm ever going to find my newborn box filled with all newborn necessities. That would be a tragedy if I lost it.

-I wonder how many nuts I can eat before I turn into one.

-I wonder why I'm so lucky. I married by far the BEST person in the whole wide world, have 2 healthy awesome kids and live in a beautiful mansion in my eyes. Too spoiled for my own good:)

This Week

2012-01-09T16:45:00.001-08:00

The other day when I was in the kitchen I heard Bryce from around the corner, so I peaked:

"Sissy get on my lap. Now look at me in my face. LOOK AT ME!!” (Then in a really high voice) “Sissy! What do you want for Christmas?! A baby? You wanna baby dolly, Sissy?! Be a good girl! (In a regular voice) Good. Now get off my lap and go home. GET OFF!!” I wish I could have video taped it. It was hilarious. And yes…he has the chair on top of the ottoman…

They’ve also enjoyed playing with Camryn's playhouse from Grandma and Grandpa Townsend. I have caught them on several occasions playing with the people in the house. Sometimes Bryce likes to get his GI Joes and invade MUCH to Camryn’s dismay.

Camryn even uses her big bottles to feed the Little People baby.

Then I found Camryn like this:

Me: Did you get into the cupcakes?

Camryn: Nope.

Sure you didn’t…

7 Months or 28 Weeks

2012-01-09T14:18:00.001-08:00

Well time is marching on. I went to the doctor this week and now go every 2 weeks. I always hope my doctor will let me go longer without starting the 2 week thing. We’ve been talking about the new little sister with the kids lately, but they’re letting us know they don’t know a thing about what we say:) That could be a good thing or a bad thing. On the other hand, Camryn is SO obsessed with her babies and putting them to bed, feeding them their bottles and giving them their pacifiers that it makes me think maybe she’ll like the baby because she’ll think it’s her babydoll. We’ll see.

PHYSICALLY: I’ve hit that point where I’m uncomfortable most of the time. Especially when I’m sitting down. I feel like I can’t breathe and I need to do a back bend. I think I’m carrying this baby A LOT higher than the other ones. If I don’t drink 3-4 liters of water per day I feel swollen in my hands, which is super annoying. I have noticed though if I keep up on my water then I feel MUCH better all the way around. I have severe sciatica pain every once in a while. A few times in the last couple of weeks I’ve fallen from it. I can tell it’s going to be bad sometimes, obviously when I’ve done too much and a lot of bending. I got stuck once where I couldn’t move for about 5 minutes and then had to hop to a chair and almost screamed when I sat down it hurt so bad. If I watch myself and try not to do too much I’m in the clear most days.

CLOTHES: Now that I’ve fully committed to maternity clothes I guess I’m a little more comfortable in that regard. Some of my tops have gotten too short which I think is pretty early for that to be happening.

FOOD: Don’t have much of any cravings. I do have to make sure I have something to eat about every 3 hours AND I can’t eat that much or I feel TERRIBLE for the rest of the day. I guess I feel like eating nuts and granola more than anything. That ALWAYS sounds good.

EMOTIONALLY: Since the vacation at my mom’s for 2 1/2 weeks I feel like a brand new woman! I haven’t cried AT ALL since I’ve been back, or even when I was there for that matter. I guess I just needed a little break:)

MOVEMENT: This baby moves constantly which is always reassuring. Then she tucks away at night and doesn’t make a peep. It’s perfect.

SLEEP: My sleep is still not affected, which is a miracle. I can still sleep the majority of the night on my stomach too, which helps. Don’t know how long that’s going to last, but for now it’s a huge blessing.

Visitors!!!

2012-01-08T20:30:00.001-08:00

We were SOOO lucky to have some visitors this weekend. My Uncle Shawn (my dad’s brother) and Aunt Maria and cousins Ron and Cassie came to town for the weekend. OH the stories I could tell about Maria:) She’s one of my favorite aunts.

One of the cutest things about this weekend was how Camryn took to Shawn. We kept saying that it was because she might have noticed the resemblance to Grandpa (my dad.) If you know the Curran brothers, you know they put on a hard exterior…but man, when it comes to a baby girl – they’re putty in that girls hands. Every morning she would gather up her babies and run to him with open arms. There he would be stuck…playing with the babies. What a good sport!

The Curran Family in front of Mandalay Bay

These kids were angels all weekend! They fooled our guests into thinking they were like that all the time…little jokesters. We went to the Strip ALL day on Saturday and Camryn didn’t cry, complain or make a peep all day even when she fell asleep in the stroller at 3:30pm – 4 hours after her nap time. What a trooper.

Wow…this make me realize how we NEVER take pictures as a whole family, or even with just me. Maybe that should be my new years resolution…

Shawn and Maria SPOILED us and kept sneaking around, buying us stuff. Like when we went to the Shark Reef Aquarium in the Mandalay Bay. It was like a fight every time we tried to pay our own way. I also was able to go with them to see The Blue Man Group show on Friday night!! (Thanks to Justin for staying home with the kiddos.) So spoiled!!

Cassie with Camryn

Ron showing the kids the exhibits

She caught him again!!

Bryce looking at the sting rays

They had one room where you were surrounded by the water and sharks in the tank. There were windows above you and below you to see. Camryn got REALLY freaked out that there was a “hole” in the floor and spent the majority of the time figuring out why she wasn’t falling when she would step onto the glass. At first she would sit down and scoot onto it. It was hilarious. I wish I could have gotten a video, but it was too dark.

What an awesome weekend AND great company!!

Christmas Leftovers

2012-01-07T18:23:00.001-08:00

WARNING!! There are a TON of pics, so beware!

The day after Christmas the kids got the idea to have a little yardsale. So they gathered up a few things like pencils and seashells and tried to sell them. They made $6!

Cousin Bunko party!!

Paytin also got baptized while we were there. On Grandma Petie’s birthday in fact. I think that’s pretty special! She’s such a great example to the other kids…being the oldest and all:) I didn’t get a picture of the Paytin, but I got one of these three handsome boys:

Playing with Uncle Mason:

Kendall ate her first rice cereal and was a pro.

She also took the first bath in the new Farmhouse kitchen sink. What a perfect sink for a bath!

And the kids played out back some more.

Then we made a trip to the Sacramento Temple.

So many priceless memories made. The End.

The Marshmallow Guns

2012-01-05T22:26:00.001-08:00

The kids went crazy with the guns in the house and then we quickly realized that ended with a bunch of lost, sticky marshmallows. So we took them over to the church gym to have a showdown.

How did they stand ALMOST from oldest to youngest?

Then they went crazy…

And Camryn was having the time of her life because she thought she was a part of the rat pack.

Perfect gift!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-05T22:01:00.001-08:00

Camryn got a baby and LOVES feeding her the bottle and giving her the pacifier…and even steals it for herself sometimes:)

Bryce got a stomp rocket and the two boys immediately took it outside to try it out. REALLY COOL thing!!!

Camryn joined them outside to watch and was FREEZING!

LOVE this picture

Chase became a cowboy for Christmas:)

LOVE this baby!

Then all the cousins came and opened the cousin gifts. Mason and Alyssa had an awesome idea to have each kid sit in a present chair and have the attention all on them while they opened it. Definitely LOVE this idea.

Camryn got her first purse and some strawberry chapstick…which she continually tried to eat, so I had to take it away. Crazy kid.

Bryce got an awesome Nerf gun and the game Mouse Trap. He loves them both.

Then they gathered together to open a cool extra gift from Grandma.

Marshmallow guns!! Perfect idea if you ask me.

Then the kids all showed off the loot they got and had a great time.

Merry Christmas!!

PS: I have a TON of videos that I just can’t bare to think about posting…maybe in the next few weeks:(

Christmas Eve

2012-01-05T21:26:00.001-08:00

On Christmas Eve we have our Curran party with all of my Dad’s siblings and my cousins. Every year that my family (my siblings and I) come we completely overwhelm the party with our enormous crowd – since we contribute 11 great grandkids vs. only 1 other great grandchild! We eat great food and open presents.

Callie and Paytin

Kendall and Uncle Dave

Camryn got an enormous dog that’s 3 times her size and she thought it was the best gift ever! When she saw it she squealed, grabbed it by the head, buried her face in it’s face and screamed “Doggie!!”

Cohen and Bryce

Corbin and Camryn

Bryce and Corbin

Then we end the evening with a performance from the Vicari brothers and Uncle Dave. This is the kids favorite part. It’s just like we hired a professional band and I’m always amazed at how good they are. They did an array of Christmas songs and the kids danced the night away.

Video of the band and dancing:

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-23T14:03:00.001-08:00

Love, The Townsends

Bryce: 4 1/2 Camryn: 21 months

Horsies

2011-12-22T20:55:00.001-08:00

The trip out back to see the horses today:

Trying to attempt the tree house…both kids got too scared:)

Camryn was scared for them too. Or maybe she was upset because her face was so dirty…

Playing in the leaves:

Fun with the Cousins

2011-12-21T15:52:00.001-08:00

Bryce has been having a blast playing with his cousins. I love having them all together. I take pictures as often as I can for fear I might miss some memory. That’s basically all I have from my childhood…pictures. I don’t want to gyp these kids! So we took a picture of the kids on the stairs at Spencer and Ashli’s. We got this picture:

After about 20 like this:

Paytin is the best babysitter!

Then we decorated rice krispie’s in the shape of a Christmas train. AWESOME idea if you ask me!!

Here’s the lunatics trying to harness their energy into something other than…being lunatics. They basically just fought over who got to eat the candy. These three are a CRAZY bunch!

Corbin and Paytin

Cohen, Bryce and Camryn

Whitney has also been around, helping with the kids. Thank goodness!!

We also brought Bryce’s bike from home, since we had so much room in the car. He’s been riding it all over the place. It’s so hard for him to ride it at home since we live on a little hill.

We’re enjoying every minute we get to be at Grandmas!!

A Night at the Temple

2011-12-21T15:29:00.001-08:00

On Sunday we made the trek to the Oakland Temple to see the lights and to see the Temple Hill Choir. Uncle Matt and Aunt K’Lyn are on a mission there and she’s in the choir. The choir was absolutely amazing and the temple grounds were beautiful! I was so excited to be back there, since the last time I was there was at my wedding, 7 1/2 years ago. I can’t believe it has been that long!! It was so worth the long drive with the kids so I could show them where our little family legacy began. Too bad Daddy wasn’t there:( We are definitely going to have to make an effort to come back more often!

We also had Paytin along for the ride which was AWESOME!! She’s 8 now and is so entertaining to chat with and such a huge help.

They had a nativity set up so you could take your picture and Paytin wanted to because Camryn could be baby Jesus, she could be Mary and Bryce could be Joseph…

Quick trip, but so worth it!

We Made It! Well, Barely…

2011-12-15T11:19:00.001-08:00

We got to Ione last night. The kids were so excited that they stayed up till 10pm and then woke up at 7am rearing to get exploring. As soon as breakfast was over Bryce said, “Grandpa we need to work outside.” So they headed out to rake the leaves. Man, it’s COLD here in the morning!! Didn’t phase the kids though.

When they were getting close to done, Camryn looked back and saw the horses and said, “See da horsie!!” So Bryce took her hand and said, “Come on Sissy!! I will take you to see the horses!” And off they went…hand-in-hand. So cute I could die.

Then they were off on another adventure…to sit on padded seat covers on the front porch.

I can’t tell…Camryn may be a tomboy, but she’s SO in love with her babies!! She keeps a very close eye on them! She loves wearing Bryce’s hats. Most of the time it’s on backwards like this.

So we got here safe and sound Tuesday night. Thankfully. The day started out early cause I wanted to leave as early as possible for the 9 hour drive with just me and the kids. We get the car packed and ready to go and I turn the key and…nothing. The engine doesn’t even turn over (cue my stream of tears…of course.) Justin doesn’t seem too concerned about it, jumps the car and then I follow him to work to see if it runs OK. I’m crying saying I shouldn’t go…and it’s a sign…and I don’t want to get stuck somewhere. Justin’s positive nothing is wrong and that we just left a light on in the car on accident. So I turn the car on again and it starts just fine. I decide to leave and drive away in a heap of tears (oh my gosh I’m so dramatic!) I’m about 2 miles away and have a feeling, “I never asked Justin to show me how to change a tire if I get a flat.” I’ve never figured it out on this new car. But I shrug it off because we had just gotten new tires 3 days prior and that is the LAST thing that would happen!

I make it to Bakersfield, CA (about half way) with no problems and the kids are being ANGELS. I pull in to the gas station, get gas and then pull up to a spot in front of the station so the kids and I can go to the bathroom. I put it in drive and the car sludge's along and is driving funny. I immediately know I have a flat tire. I go to the back, right tire…flat all the way down to the rim!! I make a mad dash back into the car (maybe let out a few words I shouldn’t have) and burst into tears!! This is the LAST thing this nutty pregnant lady is going to be able to handle! I call Justin 6 times and he doesn’t answer so I call my mom. Then I’m sitting there, like a LOSER because I didn’t listen to that prompting to figure out the tire change on the Suburban before I left. My mom called a tow company to come help me (this, by the way, was the first time I have EVER wished I had an iphone so I could use the internet) change my tire. I felt like a helpless little lady…barefoot, a heap of kids and 6 months pregnant. He feels extremely sorry for me and is very kind. He puts the spare on which ends up being flat (I can just see me now…struggling to put a spare tire on, when I can barely reach my toes, only to find it to be flat!) and uses a pump on his truck to pump it up. He tells me I shouldn’t drive too long on this spare since it’s 10 years old and helps me find a tire place to get another tire. So I find the tire store, get it fixed and after 3 hours, I’m finally on my way again. Phew!

In the meantime, the kids are absolute angels. I was annoyed, spent, frustrated and upset to say the least…until I got on the road again. I thought about how we had said a prayer before we left for our safe arrival in Ione. Then I would think about what happened and was upset that the whole situation happened. Then I realized…how weird is it that my tire went completely flat AT the gas station? How weird is it that there happened to be a tow company a block from the gas station? How weird is it that it took him 4 minutes to get there AND the guy was extremely nice and sympathetic? How weird is it that my insurance company fully covers everything that happened and the whole situation cost me NOTHING? How weird is it that my kids were not a problem AT ALL the entire day? Well come to find out it’s not weird at all (Oh man, cue the tears again…what a crazy pregnant lady!) I was protected because we prayed for our safety…there is just no way around it. It was not the ideal situation by any means. But what would have happened if I popped a tire while driving 75 MPH on the freeway? Or if I tried to change the flat spare by myself? Or if the guy I called to help was a total creep (uh…considering I was in a not-so-good part of town.) The fact is that we made it here safe and sound! And THAT is more than anyone can ask for!

Christmas Program

2011-12-15T08:36:00.001-08:00

Bryce had his preschool Christmas program. They did Christmas around the world where each kid represented a different part of the world. Bryce represented the Philippines. He did very well and had his line memorized, which was “We have fun making paper lanterns.”

The only problem was that he refused to sing any of the songs. I don’t know if he was embarrassed, or nervous but he was the ONLY one that didn’t sing. So different for this kid. But he was as happy as a clam to sit up there with this friends!

Video of Bryce doing his part:

Then Santa came at the very end and made all the kids day…well I guess not Camryns…

6 Months

2011-12-15T08:25:00.001-08:00

I am rapidly becoming uncomfortable. This has come early this time around. I already feel like an apple on toothpicks. I guess that’s what happens when you move on to #3. I feel like as soon as I got pregnant my body said, “Oh yeah, we’re doin this again…” and then instantly popped out to what it was at the end with #2. A little frustrating…and uncomfortable. My hips seem really loose too.

Clothes:

I am almost solely in maternity clothes now. I bought some maternity jeans for the first time in all of my pregnancies. With my other pregnancies I was able to wear my regular pants the whole time, but this time it just wasn’t gonna happen! Whatever, I’m more comfortable and that’s all that matters. It’s hard to find anything that fits/looks good, which sometimes makes for a LONG time getting ready and A LOT of clothes on the floor:)

Food:

I don’t have a lot of cravings. I have a terrible taste in my mouth constantly that never goes away. I still get nauseous ALL the time, for no reason. I have to take a Prevacid every morning otherwise I can barely make it through the day because I’m so nauseous. I don’t really feel hungry a lot, but when I start getting more and more nauseous I know I need to eat something.

Emotions:

Oh boy. I’m a complete nut house. I’ve never felt like this before – not even in other pregnancies. I’m completely out of control and I feel like I’m not able to change it. It’s a really helpless feeling. I’m also ALWAYS on the verge of tears – which is very odd for me. I’ve cried more in the past 6 months than I have in my entire life. And there is no reason for this. It’s just the reality. If I’m happy, I cry. If I’m nervous, I cry. If I’m frustrated, I cry. Nutso. I’m not used to being this out of control! NOT one of my favorite things:)

Sleep:

I’m actually sleeping very comfortable. Well, for me that is. I’m not a good sleeper when I’m NOT pregnant. But so far my sleep has not been affected because of pregnancy. I’m still able to sleep on my stomach, which has been a lifesaver. I LOVE sleeping on my stomach. Actually, I have a super hard time getting out of bed every single morning because I’m so comfortable and that’s really the only time I feel this way.

Activity:

I’m still able to go to the gym every day, which I’m grateful for. I love it. Sometimes I have a problem with a little sciatica in my left leg. It’s weird. I know I’m going to have a hard time from my first step in the morning. I have to take the first couple of steps with extreme caution because if I don’t I may fall straight to the ground. If it starts out a problem in the morning, it usually carries on throughout the day. Weird. I still have enough energy to keep the house up and take care of business and rarely feel exhausted.

So far this pregnancy has been more of an emotional struggle than a physical one. I actually don’t know what’s harder:)

Daily Happenings

2011-12-04T20:30:00.001-08:00

I’ve been enjoying the new grass this past week…mostly because I just send the kids outside to play and then forget about them:) Just kidding. But really, they LOVE it out there!! And it was nice that it was in the 70’s a few days. It gets pretty muddy now because we have to water it so much so I like to send them out there with basically no clothes on. Ha. Makes for easier clean-up.

Always has to have a baby…

Bryce mowed one day. He was pretty serious about it.

This particular day we had gone to the library and checked out the movie, Dumbo. The kids had a movie afternoon with popcorn on a movie blanket.

Video of Bryce Mowing:

Video of Camryn talking:

In other news: Does anyone have those times where you get SOOO tired of your little routine and are burnt out on ideas for entertaining the kiddos and all of your genius ideas that you have been doing are, well, too boring and too repetitive for you now? (Cue “switch-it-up” suggestions) Well, that’s me these past few weeks. I’m burnt out and maxed out. Sometimes at night I think about the next day and I cringe. Like “ouchy…I have to do this AGAIN!?” It’s like the Groundhog movie on repeat. Let’s switch it up people! But then again, I have no enthusiasm to switch it up. (I mean, come on, I’m pregnant and emotional, completely irrational and the size of a small planet.) Oh, the vicious cycle! Luckily I get to switch it up next week by going home to I-TOWN!! Whoot!! I may or may not be counting down the days:)

Dear Santa

2011-12-03T21:39:00.001-08:00

We went to Bass Pro Shop for the kids to see Santa. When we got there the line wrapped around half of the store and I was NOT about to wait in it. Until Bryce asked for the 5th time, “Is it my turn to see Santa now?” He just wanted to SOOO bad. So we did it. We waited in line for about 1 1/2 hours for this kiddo to see Santa. I’m not going to lie…I was more than a little annoyed that the line moved about 2 inches every 30 minutes, but to see the look on his face when he got to talk to Santa…PRICELESS.

He LOVED it! This is the first year he didn’t cry, freak out, or look completely devastated about seeing Santa. So far he’s asked Santa for a helicopter and an airplane. We did see Santa at the mall a few weeks ago and Bryce told him he wanted apples for Christmas. The kid is all over the place!

I was so amazed at how Camryn reacted too! She walked right up to Santa with open arms and listened intently to everything he said. Didn’t phase her AT ALL.

Then we did the rest of the Bass Pro Shop things.

Saw the fish:

And played with all of the toys:

Great Day!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-27T17:18:00.001-08:00

We were SO fortunate to have Justin’s family come to Thanksgiving at OUR house this year!! The only down side was that his sister, Jenny, and her family couldn’t come:( It was a busy and fun-filled week.

We played a lot of games…board games, Wii games and phone games. I think Bryce needs to go to gamers anonymous now:)

We also took a trip to the Strip a few times. This time we stopped to see the lions at the MGM. We got a front row seat and they came right up to us.

Camryn also got to see Minnie and Mickey Mouse. She loves Mickey.

Then we made a stop at the M&M Factory. Camryn was so excited she could have died. I let her wander freely and she touched and picked up every stuffed animal in sight. She was in heaven.

Here’s Camryn with the stuffed animals. She held them:

Sat and stared at them:

And even pulled a whole shelf of them down to hold them all at once. The kid LOVES stuffed animals!

Then we went to the Circus!!! It wasn’t a big circus, but it was still very entertaining. Bryce loved the clowns and laughed out loud at them saying, “What are they doing!!” They had a petting zoo, pony rides and elephant rides.

Here’s the petting zoo…with llamas?! Kinda weird, but whatever.

Then Grandpa bought a ticket for Camryn to ride the elephant. We all knew that Bryce would have died before he would ever get on an elephant, so we sent Camryn. She’s usually fearless. She was doing fine till the guy at the top scared her and then she continued to scream for the whole ride. At least she can say she rode an elephant, right?!

Grandpa also bought a this sword for Bryce. It has since been attached to his side…even to go to bed.

The best part was the end when the elephants came out and did their little show. Awesome.

I guess the advantage to a super small circus is that you get to sit extremely close. It was so fun! On the way home we gave Camryn ONE tiny chocolate candy and she turned it into this:

Then on Saturday our sod got delivered!!…at 5am. So at about 6 Justin and Lonny got up to start the process. I joined at 6:30 and then the rest of the cavalry came to finish the job. It was a tough job!! We were all tired, out of breath and sweating by the end.

And the finished product!! In our neighborhood you can’t have wall to wall grass. There has to be a 3 foot border from the wall. Remember, we DO live in the desert and are basically breaking the law by even putting 1 square foot in!! We put in as much as we possibly could. Our water bill might be hundreds of dollars now, but I say it’s more than worth it.

Then we jumped for joy when it was done cause we could barely lift our arms.

All I know is that as soon as it went in Bryce and Camryn squealed for joy and were the first ones to run and play on it. I’m even so excited I could squeal. This morning when I woke up and came downstairs I did a double take when I happened to glance out the window. The yard looks enormous and lush compared to what it used to. I just want to go out there and sleep on it, roll on it and kiss it. And look! The sprinklers work perfect! Keep in mind that Justin did this ALL by himself. When I asked him if he would do it again he said definitely. He might think he’s invincible now…

We also played at the park. It was 71 degrees one day – kinda hot for me for this time of year, but it made for good park play.

Then we tried out this new bakery in town called Bread and Butter. It was absolutely delicious. The food was superb and filling and the owner even gave us free pastries. We ate and then we drank...rootbeer:

But the bad part was that this was our last day together. We seriously had a GREAT time!! I love having company at my house. This ALSO was the first time I’ve ever cooked a turkey. Supposedly it turned out good, but I’m not a connoisseur of turkey or meat in general. We ate well and too much and now I’m going to have to explain to my doctor why I gained so much weight in one month. All worth it though! Too bad it’s going to be SO long before we see these people again!!

Video of the kids:

Weekend Update

2011-11-13T15:23:00.001-08:00

Justin was gone to work a lot this week. I mostly felt bad for HIM since he was working from 5:30am to 8pm…what a nightmare. Too many deadlines at once. When I know this, I know I need to get more creative and organized with our time at home so I don’t lose my mind. Sometimes I like to pull the car out of the garage, close the garage door, prop the door to the house open and let the kids go to town in there. It stays pretty warm in there and they go crazy. This particular time they wanted (or Bryce wanted and then Camryn just yells, “yeah!!” after everything he says) to eat dinner in the garage. SO that’s what they did.

Every morning I bring the kids clothes downstairs for them to get ready. I was changing Camryn’s diaper when I heard Bryce crying and flailing all over the place saying, “These pants are too tight!! I can’t put them on!!” I was annoyed, didn’t look over and told him they weren’t tight and he needed to stop being nuts. He continued to cry and when I was done with Camryn I looked over to him and saw this:

He was trying to squeeze himself into Camryn’s pants! He got them all the way up and was trying to button them. I laughed almost to tears. Bryce didn’t think it was that funny.

Lately I’ve been enjoying doing Camryn’s hair like this:

It’s getting longer and will stay better in a pony and pigtails. I love it.

We enjoyed yesterday by doing this:

Trenching the yard to lay the sprinklers. The kids enjoyed the day doing this:

A video of them playing together:

The Update

2011-11-10T12:32:00.001-08:00

I went back to the doctor today for an update on my…situation.

We had another ultrasound to see the progress our littlest Sissy was making and to check my cervix. I wasn’t even nervous. Actually, I haven’t been all that nervous about my situation since the day after I found out. I kind of thought everything was just fine. Well it turns out…it is! Miraculously. My cervix grew back. It’s now 3.6cm. If that’s not a miracle, I don’t know what is. I asked my doctor if that was common and he said “No, but the body is a miraculous thing.” Like he wasn’t surprised at all. He probably sees miracles every day. So with a healthy, thick cervix he let me OFF bed rest!!! YEAH!! I’m free to do as I please as long as I feel good. I was so excited I could cry. The world is as it should be. I also picked up this little number for #3…just couldn’t resist:

A few Bryce quotes:

*Bryce: When that baby comes out of your tummy it's going to be toy-sized and then it can fit in that new dress.

*Me: Bryce! We can go back to the gym now!

Bryce: No we can’t!! You’re belly is still SO big!!

*Me: Bryce, do you see how Mommy's belly is getting bigger?

Bryce: Yeah.

Me: There's a baby in there.

Bryce: No there's not!! That big belly just means that you ate too much food!

Kiddies

2011-11-06T12:39:00.001-08:00

These kids have been a little bit of a struggle as of late. We’ve had the stomach flu around here. NOT so fun. And then the weather dipped into the 50’s and it’s cloudy and rainy the past few days. NOT so fun. I was so upset about the weather the other day and while I was complaining about how cold it was Justin said, “Well it IS November!” Oh yeah. It’s just hard to get used to when it’s been in the 70’s for so long…AND I was a more than a little annoyed that I used my air conditioner last week and then had to turn the heater on yesterday *Sigh* Don’t fool with me Vegas!! I’m dangerous lately:)

Since we couldn’t go outside, the kids liked to sit at the slider and watch the rain.

When it wasn’t so rainy I caught them outside getting dirty and laughing hysterically together.

The Girlie:

She’s been quite the character lately! Her vocabulary expanded profoundly in the past couple of weeks. She says anything and everything. It’s quite nice:) Some of her new words:

Get Down!
Open this
Sit down!
All done
Watch this

A do dat (I want to do that)

A hold dat ( I want to hold that)

A hold you - when I'm in the kitchen making lunch or dinner she grabs and hold on to my legs until I pick her up

A boogie - wipe my nose
Suckie - sucker
Towboy - cowboy
Bye,bye, See ya
When asked if she wants to go somewhere like the park she says, "Yeah!!"
Whoops!

Soda – means any drink with a straw even if it’s water

Milk – means any drink straight from the cup with no lid or straw

Says Nope instead of just No. Do you want a drink? “Nope”

Some more things about Camryn:

-She says her own little prayer. Folds her arms, closes her eyes and puts her head in her arms, mumbles a bunch of stuff then says "Amen"
-Understands directions - put that in the garbage, sit down, come here, get your drink, bring that to me
-Has a fussy time like a newborn from 4pm until she goes to bed at 7
-LOVES toothbrushes - carries them around and we never know where they are
-DOESN'T listen. When we tell her not to do something she does it anyway. SO annoying and the complete opposite of how Bryce was and still is.

-We’ve started time-out. She’s gotten a little too sassy for us:) Surprisingly she understands, stays on the time-out chair and says “sorry” when her time out is over. She’s thrown quite the screaming tantrums.

-Likes Mickey Mouse. That's the only thing she'll even think about watching 1 minute of. She loves the Hot Dog song.
-She LOVES music and to dance to it
-Likes for you to sit and read her books
-Picky eater

-Favorite foods: Peanut butter and homemade strawberry jam sandwich, cereal, oatmeal, mandarin oranges, grapes, strawberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, carrots, pizza, macaroni and cheese, yogurt with cottage cheese, quesadillas, anything candy...the kid LOVES candy!
-LOVES her babies.
-Still has her pacifier because she's so whiny. It literally is the only way I get through the day sometimes. She mostly just needs it to go to sleep, but lately I've let her have it more cause she's SO emotional and I've decided I'm just not going to take it away for MY sanity:) The kid might have it till she's 5! And basically, I don't care enough right now.
-Likes to play catch with Bryce, she giggles the whole time
-Loves playing with Bryce and when he's gone to school she wanders the house yelling, Bryce!
-She's getting a lot better at walking and balancing. Her physical therapist came on Wed and was blown away at how well she was doing. She's basically at an 18-19 month level now instead of 14 month. She got 4 months better in 2 weeks! Yeah! The only thing she has to work on now is walking up and down stairs while holding on to something. She doesn't even attempt this yet and still crawls up and down. The physical therapist said after her next appt she might not have to come anymore because she's doing so well. What a relief!

The Boy:

Bryce is definitely getting older. He’s usually a HUGE help to me and does whatever I ask him to. He has this book called “Daddy Adventure Day” where a little boy and his dad have a whole day that they spend together doing things like going to a baseball game, getting ice cream, buying presents and watching a movie. Bryce kept asking when HE was going to have a Daddy Adventure Day. So on Friday Justin took him to get ice cream, bought him a little present (the Mater hat and gloves), rented a movie and watched it with him on his bed. He LOVED it! Looks like we have a new tradition:)

Bryce and Camryn have been loving to dance. Justin started it a few weeks ago. He went upstairs to get the kids ready for bed and then all I heard was booming music. So I went upstairs and the kids were dancing all over our bedroom. Then they were jumping from the bed to him and he was throwing them back on the bed. WOW…this is NOT how I pictured “getting ready for bed”! So from then on they want to dance before bed. Just this morning actually Camryn wandered into our room at 6:15 (thank you daylight savings) whining…”Dance! Dance!”

Bryce LOVES preschool

He recently got into Transformers when Justin let him watch a fight scene from the movie.

Favorite Food: Turkey roll-up (cream cheese and turkey rolled up into a tortilla), “Cheese Sandwich” (turkey and cheese sandwich with mayo and mustard, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, big carrots, celery, cereal (especially chocolate Shredded Wheat), chocolate milk, oatmeal, yogurt, hot dogs, string cheese, bananas, grapes, strawberries.

He likes to read books, play the Wii, watch movies, play at our park across the street, do crafts like cut paper, glue and color, and play games.

Here are a few of his quotes from the past few months:

Bryce: Mommy, it's breakfast, lunch, dinner, then candy.

Bryce: Mommy we go to the gym today.
Me: Nope buddy, not anymore for a while.
Bryce: But Mommy!!! It goes Church, preschool, then gym...like a pattern.

Making cookies
Bryce: Hey, toss me that spoon so I can see if this dough is good.
Takes a bite
Bryce: Yep! It's good!

We went to our next door neighbors to drop off some bread. They hang out on their front patio during the day and he had left his glass of wine on the table. Bryce ran up to the door and rang the doorbell then said:
Bryce: Hey! Our neighbor left his juice out here!! That crazy guy...

Some videos:

A Halloween Party

2011-11-01T10:00:00.001-07:00

For actual Halloween day we were able to get together with our friends and have a Halloween bash. We had Mummy Dogs and pizza, decorated Halloween sugar cookies, and then headed out to trick-or-treat. What a crazy bunch of kids!

Camryn was all about the trick-or-treating as soon as she figured out she was getting candy.

I thought Bryce was getting over his phase where he ran to each house as fast as he could because he wasn’t too thrilled about the trunk-or-treat at the church, but his true colors came out once again on the actual day. He LOVED getting candy and would run from house to house, giggling the whole time. By the end he had a string of meltdowns though…probably from pure exhaustion!

Boy were we a hoard of kids!!! Every house we went to was so surprised at how many kids there were! It made it more fun for Bryce though! There were even a few houses that tried to scare the kids…and they sure did. Bryce cried at 2 houses because he was so scared. Man I wish I were videotaping!

Camryn lasted longer than I thought she would. She walked to a lot of houses and was very pleasant the whole time. When her bucket got too heavy to carry, we put her in the stroller with a sucker…you earned it kid!!

We’re lucky to have such great friends to spend Halloween with! I’m so grateful for this since we have no family here…it makes it a little less lonely:)

Happy Halloween!!

2011-10-30T15:35:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Bryce was able to trick or treat twice…lucky guy. Main street in Henderson had a little festival. He wasn’t too excited about the pictures:

Sheriff Bryce

Deputy Camryn: You see that shirt she’s wearing? That’s MINE from about 27 years ago. It’s old-school Wrangler with pearl snap buttons and I LOVE that my mom saved it!!!

Then it was the ward Trunk or Treat. Ours is the best because it’s a tri-ward one…TONS of cars and kids!! They also had a lot of games for the kids. Justin and I were both surprised about how UNenthused Bryce was about the whole thing. This is the first time this has happened. He’s usually jumping out of his skin with excitement. He must be growing up… :(

They had a bunch of blow-up decorations going with music and that’s where Camryn spent most of the night. She LOVES music and lately her thing has been dancing:

Backyard Part 2

2011-10-30T15:08:00.001-07:00

The next step to the back yard was tilling and mulching. Here is a before picture of the yard:

Tilling:

Tilling uprooted a ton of huge rocks (since that’s basically the soil here) so Bryce was in charge of getting those out. I’m always so surprised at how big of a help he is with stuff like this. He loved every minute of it.

Then it was time to spread the mulch.

Bryce: Look Daddy!!! I made a Y!! Like BYU!

Bryce cleaned up all of the bags by himself.

Spread the mulch.

Camryn watched from the inside because the tiller was a little too loud:)

After spreading the mulch you till again to mix the mulch with the dirt. This created a HUGE rock problem! We have a lot of rocks in our dirt! That’s ok…just one more step to getting our grass in and that’s the only thing I care about. Bryce asks every day when we’re getting grass. The next step is putting the sprinkler system in. This can be a long process when you’re doing it yourself and the man of the house has absolutely no free time and the woman of the house is on bed rest…

The Cowboy Kids

2011-10-28T10:23:00.001-07:00

Since we have to basically stay home all day now, we’ve had to get creative around here. Yesterday I decided to scrounge around for the pieces of the Halloween outfits we have scattered all over the house. We tried everything on to see if it fits. Shockingly EVERYTHING fit for Bryce, even down to the boots still…I was so excited. Camryn’s boots don’t fit and I was devastated, but everything else did. Ever since yesterday Bryce has been all about being a cowboy. This morning when I came down he was already dressed back up in his cowboy gear. He was just too cute not to take his picture…so here’s a preview to Halloween!!

Oh and I almost died when I saw Camryn. She’s been wearing this hat all day and couldn’t be any cuter. Especially when she’s running around in these pants where her legs look so short. When I came downstairs she said, “Cowboy!!” Doesn’t she look like she’s getting ready to shoot her first buck?

Just don’t ask them to take a picture together…

18 Weeks, a Trial, and a Surprise

2011-10-25T22:20:00.001-07:00

18 Weeks…about half way! Yeah! Week 16 brought some relief from the sickness thankfully. It still likes to sneak in there in the evenings, but for the most part, I’m golden. The best time of day is right when I wake up. I LOVE mornings. That’s when I have the most energy and motivation. By the evening, I mostly just like to lay on the couch:)

Clothes: This is pure struggle. Clothes that I wore at the end of my pregnancy with Camryn are too tight and just plain uncomfortable. I’m slowly going into maternity clothes…early for me this time around. That’s OK though, it makes for a more comfortable me.

Eating: Since I pulled out of my sickness funk I’m back to liking healthier things:) I’m enjoying my fiber cereal, hard boiled eggs on toast, yogurt, grapes, pears, big carrots (they are so much more appealing for some reason), and FINALLY my desserts!!! Oh how I’ve missed them! I really don’t crave much of anything anymore, although a subway sandwich loaded with pickles and mayo seems to hit the spot EVERY time.

-For as long as it lasts I’m still enjoying sleeping on my stomach which is going to be a HUGE adjustment soon.

-I’m still missing a lot of my energy which is really discouraging.

The Trial (could be more info than you want):

A few times recently I’ve had a little bit of spotting. About a month ago I had an episode, but didn’t worry too much because it was brown and stringy…but still, VERY odd for me. I’ve never had any sort of bleeding at all with either of my other pregnancies. A few weeks ago I had another little bit of pale pink. Then yesterday I went to the bathroom and found BRIGHT RED…like a period. OK, I’m officially worried. It lingered in very small amounts the whole day. I called the doctor and they said I definitely needed to come in. At this point I did everything I could to be able to feel the baby move to make sure baby was still doing good. It’s so hard when it’s this early and you don’t feel every single movement cause they’re too small.

At this point I was worried, but still kept saying to myself, “There’s nothing really wrong and the doctor will say everything is just fine.” For some reason I think of my body as being super strong – meaning I can carry any baby with no problem because my body is made for this. So you could only imagine how surprised I was when the doctor was so worried. She first checked the baby's heartbeat. It took her literally 2 minutes to find it and BOY is that a long time!! But she found it and I felt better. She immediately said I needed an ultrasound to make sure it wasn’t placenta previa or a cervix problem. I thought…no way is there any big problem like that – my body wouldn’t let that happen cause it’s made for this. And since I heard the heartbeat I wasn’t as worried anymore.

Well right off the ultrasound tech ruled out placenta previa with no problem. Then she checked my cervix and kept looking and looking and looking and not saying anything. Anyone who has ever had an ultrasound knows that when they stop talking you know there’s something wrong. She then decided to do and internal ultrasound to look at my cervix more clearly. After she was done she left, I got dressed and she came in and said I needed to see the doctor so I had to go back to the waiting room. At this point I was really upset that I didn’t have Justin come with me. If nothing was wrong she would have told me herself and let me go home. I waited for 30 MINUTES!!! By this time I was in a dead sweat and had bitten my nails to the nub – to the point they were all sore. I kept going over the confrontation with the doctor in my head so I would be ready for bad news so I wouldn’t completely lose it there in the office. Man I was so nervous.

The doctor came in and told me that my cervix is too short…meaning it’s not as thick as it should be. A normal cervix in a normal pregnancy should be between 3.5-5cm. Mine is a 3. Now this isn’t in the high-normal range, but it’s low. A cervix that is 2.5 and below is a problem and requires a cerclage – where they stitch the cervix shut as to reduce preterm labor chances. Then comes more devastating news – “You are on modified bed rest.” Excuse me? Do you realize I have 2 other children? If you did, you’d know this is virtually impossible.

Because I’m not in the “danger zone” I don’t have to be on full bed rest at this point. I go back in 2 weeks for a follow-up ultrasound. If my cervix has thinned at all, more drastic measures have to be taken. But, if it hasn’t changed my doctor said we could re-think the bed rest thing and I might be able to go back to semi-normal life again. We just need to see if I have any more “episodes” while I’m on mod bed rest. Why did this happen? Is it something I did? Nope…it’s completely random. She did say that I have gone through 2 other pregnancies and it sometimes is just an “occupational hazard” of having children. Is 3 that many? It doesn’t seem like it. I know so many people that have had way more than 3 kids and didn’t have this problem…

I took the news OK and left the office. Then I started thinking (never a good thing in these situations)…why is my body failing? I thought my body was made for this. What if I can’t have more kids. I want that to be my own choice, not because my body is decrepit.

Despite all these thoughts, the reality is that the baby is doing great and is developing perfectly. I’m still growing a healthy baby, which is a miracle in itself. Sometimes you might not realize that until something doesn’t go perfect. It’s a miracle that I even got pregnant and have kept a healthy baby. It still is a miracle that I’ll make it to the end – as it is with any pregnancy and birth.

But amidst all the worry came a big surprise…

IT’S A GIRL!!!!!!

Our regular ultrasound wasn’t till Nov 10th, but since I had to have to ultrasound anyway, the tech asked if I wanted to know what the gender was. I was hesitant because I wanted Justin there. So she said she would keep it a secret and print it out and put it in an envelope for Justin and I to open together. So clever. That was tough not to open when I was waiting 30 minutes for the doctor:)

So we got home and sat down as a family. We asked Bryce if he wanted a boy or a girl and he said “A Brother”. Then Camryn chimed in “bother”. NOPE! Sorry folks. I was shocked. I guess my maternal instinct for these things is completely off cause I was SURE Camryn was a boy, just like this one. A little shell shocked, but happy – we’re prepared for a girl!!!

A little later I was in the bathroom and Bryce walked in with the ultrasound photo.

Bryce: We need a brother.

Me: I know, but we get to have another sissy!

Bryce: We already have a Camryn. Just look at this baby! (pointing to the black and white ultrasound photo) It’s black!! That’s going to make your tummy hurt. This girl is black!! We need a brother…

Visitor Weekend

2011-10-16T15:54:00.001-07:00

Our bestest friends ever came from Utah to visit this weekend! I was so excited I could barely stand it. They’re those kind of friends a lot of people don’t find in their lifetime…the one’s you could spend weeks on end with and vacation with and NEVER get sick of. That’s a rare thing. Not to mention that their so cool, they took us out to dinner for my birthday…LOVED IT! Couldn’t have asked for a better birthday weekend.

We started out on Saturday by going to the Hoover Dam. I love taking people there cause it’s just so cool. The kids got along so well. They even had sleepovers in Bryce’s room every night together! So cute I could barely stand it.

Cathy and I both gushed about this pic of our guys cause we realized we had married pretty much the best guys in the world. They are such great dads.

The Leslie Family

Then we went to the Strip to show the kids the lights and overwhelm them with the chaos.

We were SO glad to have such good friends come and hang with us! We miss them WAY too much!

A few things I want to remember about their trip here:

-Cramming into the Suburban just so we could all be together…although Cathy and I though it would have been an extremely awesome idea to have her and I take a different car by ourselves:)

-Letting the kids have a sleepover in the same room. I NEVER thought this would work, but they all cooperatively went to sleep without jumping on the bed, talking or laughing.

-Eating at Smash Burger for the first time – YES PLEASE!!

-Staying up WAY too late and having to get up with the kids.

-Scott educating us on all superhero facts and trivia and then watching Thor in HD streamed from his computer to our TV while he used his iphone as the remote…technology I never knew was possible.

-Eating Godiva chocolate cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory while watching the fountain show at the Bellagio.

-Watching Scott navigate the stroller up and down stairs and cutting people off while on the Strip.

I wish we didn’t live so far now! Thanks for a fabulous weekend guys!

The Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-09T16:19:00.001-07:00

We hit the pumpkin patch yesterday. We’ve driven by it a few times and Bryce begs to stop. It was the first time we’ve gone somewhere without the stroller because Camryn is getting pretty good at walking! Yeah!

They had a petting zoo and horse rides. Camryn was ALL about the animals and especially the horses. Grandma Petie would be so proud:)

Video of Camryn walking and petting the horse.

Here was our attempt at a posed picture of the both of them…struggle.

Camryn absolutely thrilled to be in with the animals.

Bryce, not that thrilled.

Bryce agreed to go on a ride, which is HUGE for him. He’s usually too big of a scaredy cat. He did fine until Justin started spinning their seat and laughed as Bryce freaked out and clung on for dear life. For the rest of the ride he was completely stressed out.

Camryn loves swings so we thought she would love this. She got in no problem…

Then when it jerked to start she did this…

for the rest of the ride. Parents standing around us were saying “That poor baby!” and “They should stop the ride!” In the meantime Justin and I just laughed. I love this last picture cause Justin is laughing in the background. We’re such great parents:) We still don’t know how we got kids that are scared of everything!

Project: Backyard

2011-10-09T15:13:00.001-07:00

Our latest project around here is the backyard. That was the one thing I didn’t like about this house when we bought it. It’s just full of rocks and dirt. Then when we moved in it was too late to do anything because you can’t plant ANYTHING here from April to September…it just gets too hot. So we had to wait till now. Justin has been working hard going from store to store learning how to put a yard in. He claims he’s going to do it all himself. I love a motivated guy:) The first step was to get ALL the rocks out. So that’s what we worked on yesterday.

Bryce was ALL about helping. I love this quality about him…he’s always up for a project. He stuck it out till the bitter end and actually contributed significantly! I thought it was going to take all day, but surprisingly only took 3 hours. And because we didn’t have a wheelbarrow, Justin just loaded our garbage can in the wagon for easy transportation. Clever guy.

Camryn pretty much slept through the whole thing, but hung out for a while.

Next…tilling and trenching to put the sprinklers in…

She Walks!!!

2011-10-02T08:53:00.000-07:00

She's doing it!! Yesterday she just stood up and walked from our room, down the hall and then into Bryce's room! We were shocked! I guess it's true when they say that one day she'll just get up and walk out of nowhere. She walks the best upstairs on the plush carpet. When we're outside, she ususally doesn't want to try as much. She's getting better!! Yes!

Cowboys and Slides

2011-10-01T10:44:00.001-07:00

When I asked Bryce what he wanted to be for Halloween, he immediately said a baseball player…big surprise. I told him that we should think of something different since that’s what he was last year. He then said, “I wanna be a golfer!!” He was that 2 years ago! What a crazy kid. He definitely is obsessed with sports. I finally convinced him that being a cowboy would be pretty awesome, especially since we pretty much have all the gear for a stellar cowboy getup. We have Wranglers, cowboy shirts, boots, cowboy belts, guns, rifles, and bandanas. The only thing we didn’t have were the hats. So we ventured out and found some cute cowboy hats.

Sissy got a hat too. I wasn’t going to have her be a cowgirl, but she loved the hat so much! After we bought it, she wore it the rest of the day. And hey, she has all the cowboy gear too so why not? Bryce found the hat and said, “Sissy!! Look! You can have a Jessie hat!!” Meaning Jessie from Toy Story.

We’ve been going to the park every day cause it’s FINALLY cooling down. Did you hear? It’s out of the 100’s now! Camryn LOVES going down the slide. Even though she can’t walk, she gets around pretty well.

Video’s of her going down the slide.

Family Fun

2011-09-25T13:38:00.001-07:00

The past weekends have been a blast around here. Yesterday we went to a ton of yard sales in the really rich part of Henderson and scored some AMAZING deals!! Such as a large square leather ottoman for $20, a fold-flat children’s picnic table still in it’s original plastic for $20, a wireless printer/scanner/copier that works great and numerous paintings to fill the house. Justin and I had a GREAT time!! I LOVE yard sales…especially the ones where they sell quality items for cheap. But by the end of the day the kids were wanting to do something fun for them:) We went to the park…

Bryce pretended he was playing baseball while we watched from the stands…

His version of sliding…so cautious!

One of Bryce’s quotes lately EVERY day when we get in the car in the morning: “Mommy!! I’m growing!! Look how big I am!!”

Yes, you’re growing…now quit it!

Then we went to the car show. The biggest car show in Southern Nevada is right here in downtown Henderson. It was fun, but WAY too hot! I’m ready to get down out of the 100’s, how about you?

Last weekend we entertained the kids with a trip to the Carousel. There is a Carousel here in Henderson that is free for everyone and you can ride it as many times as you want. The kids loved it, but Mommy had to get off after the first ride…too much spinning! They also have free outdoor movies every Friday and Saturday night. Awesome!

In other Sissy news, she’s getting better at walking! I think the shoes have helped her immensely. We take her walker everywhere we go and she’s doing well with walking while only holding one of our hands. Yeah!!

Portraits

2011-09-17T20:53:00.001-07:00

I needed some updated pictures to put on the wall, so we headed to the Springs Preserve today. This is the most beautiful place in Vegas. Period. Kids did great, although every time we would sit them down and point the camera at them they both would say “cheese"!” and give me crazy, over-the-top smiles. I REALLY wish I could have gotten a great shot of the two of them together, but they feed off each other – it’s like a cheese-fest. Either way I LOVED how they turned out!

The Mobility Verdict

2011-09-15T21:31:00.001-07:00

We all know it’s been a struggle for this little girl to get walking. We FINALLY met with Early Intervention on Wednesday to see if she qualified for physical therapy. She had to be 50% delayed in 1 area or 25% delayed in 2. They evaluated her and she BARELY squeaked by because she was only delayed in 1 area. They said because she was pulling herself up to standing and was starting to cruise along the furniture that she probably wouldn’t qualify. But then they started testing her in other areas like going from laying to sitting and squatting down to pick up toys…she failed on these. By the end they said she definitely qualified and that her official diagnosis is Hypotonia – which is low muscle tone. At first I was worried for her and her future – if she would be delayed in most physical things for the rest of her life – but they reassured me that toddlers with hypotonia go on to lead very normal lives. Kids with hypotonia typically do things to try and use major muscles as little as possible and are VERY flexible, which is the definition of Camryn.

So after they qualified her they then showed me all of the little things that needed to be corrected. This is where I got really overwhelmed. Then it turns out that her weird scoot she’s been doing for so long has actually been detrimental to her learning to walk. By doing it, she has strengthened one leg and one side of her core more than the other, which led to her doing a lot of things differently. So after the evaluation here are the things that are a problem:

-When she does walk, she steps with her right leg (the dominant one) and kind of gimps the left one and has it turned out a little more than the right.

-When she tries to walk, her feet are turned out to use as little quad muscle as possible. This is also a problem when she stands up to anything.

-When she pulls herself up to standing, she kind of leans on what she’s pulling up to to use her leg muscles as little as possible, then when she is standing, she just leans up against whatever she’s standing up to with her body instead of only holding on with just her hands.

-She doesn’t ever try to stand on her own and has no stability and can’t even take one step between two things.

-When she’s laying down on her back she won’t try to get up by just lifting her head and use her abs – she’ll just roll to her stomach and get up that way

-When she goes up the stairs or pulls herself up to standing she only uses her right leg because that’s the one that’s the strongest.

-She can’t push pegs into a soft peg board or pull or twist something off. They say this is because of her low muscle tone…that was the only fine motor skill that she failed.

So after this overwhelming bout of things that are wrong, they gave me exercises to do everyday to help her get stronger.

-First order of business was to get her in shoes. A normal baby should learn to walk with bare feet, but kids with hypotonia should have shoes on at ALL times because it gives them more stability since they’re not getting it from their muscles. They need to be supportive shoes with very flexible bottoms that have real soles.

-Get rid of the scoot TOTALLY. When she tries to scoot, direct her to crawl

-When she sits, playing with toys, she may NOT have her left leg bent back – both legs have to be in front so her balance can start to be equalized.

-Stand her up to something other than the couch (so she can’t lean on it) and make her squat down and pick up a toy from the ground and then go back to standing without collapsing to the ground.

-When she is standing up to something, make sure her feet are parallel, facing forward, not out

-Put her on her back and roll her to her side and make her get up without rolling to her stomach.

-Sit her up with her legs out in front and push her back slightly so that her abs can catch her from falling. This is a tough one cause she has the tendency to just give out and flops back and smacks her head. She has NO ab strength!

-Put two kitchen chairs a little bit further than arms reach apart and encourage her to go between them.

As you can see, I basically would have to follow her around all day and night correcting things constantly because all of the things she does are what she’s NOT supposed to do. It’s kind of overwhelming! I just figured, when I catch something, I’ll fix it and then twice a day work with her on all exercises a few times through. It kind of got me a little down because this whole time I just thought she was lazy. It confirms that she has a little bit of a problem. But I just took it in and realized that there is a solution and she’ll get there. I’m just hoping it’s before this next baby comes:)

On an exciting note, she just started attempting to walk with a walker 2 days ago!! I was one proud Mama. I could have watched her all day...

The Struggle

2011-09-13T11:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a struggle around here. Actually, maybe it's just me. I am so grateful that I'm able to get pregnant so easily and have children of my own, don't get me wrong. But, MAN!! This pregnancy is a tough one! They've all been tough in the beginning, but this one is just...I don't know...different. My body is just NOT handling the third very well! I already feel like my body is out of whack. My hips feel out of place, my upper back hurts ALL the time, my digestive system is ALL crazy, and I'm expanding exponentially. What I DO know is that I'll be as big as a barge by the time this ones through. Then I might be a cripple! HA!

Then there's the sickness. OH the sickness!! I know it was bad the other times, but it always seems like it lasts SO much longer than it really does. A day seems like a week, a week seems like a month...you know what I mean. Sometimes I just lay on the couch, bawling my eyes out, and watch the clock, counting down the seconds till Justin comes home to rescue me. Then there's some days that aren't so grim. But the fact remains that the sickness NEVER goes away...EVER. It's like having the stomach flu 24/7. Then try to find something to eat! Good luck!

Here's a story: Sometimes I just sit and cry on the couch because I can't find anything to eat and if I make it myself, well then just forget about it, I can't eat it. So I knew I needed to eat something because if I go longer than 3-4 hours without eating the sickness just escalates until I'm almost too far gone to even squeak something down (oh boy, you don't want to be around then.) We tried to go to this restaurant, but it was closed...on a Tuesday...this was the beginning of the end. So then we drove around while I sobbed (and maybe let out a few curse words...) until we drove past a restaurant that "sounded" good. About an hour later it ended with me having to run to the bathroom and then just try an force a carb down to keep from dry heaving. That was a special day. See, these are the things Justin has to deal with on a daily basis now. I bet it's his favorite thing:)

It's SO hard to function and do normal life. And while I'm struggling, my family is suffering. The kids are bored cause sometimes it's impossible to leave the house and we only have so many movies:) Then I feel guilty that their toddler-hood is being robbed because Mommy just can't get off the couch. Then there's Justin...the poor guy. He's taken on all roles of parenting in this household. He gets up with the kids in the morning, comes home for lunch and does the dishes, then comes home from work (most of the time with dinner) and takes care of the kids, puts them to bed, then cleans the house. Sometimes I wonder if it's really worth it. I mean, I know it is, but it's SO hard to see now. Cause really, you're pregnant for 9 months, then you have to struggle with a newborn for 3 months, so there's a whole year that's just a blur where you're in "survival mode". WOW. That's a long time.

I hope this lets up soon, so at least I can get back to a semi-normal life.

Weird things at this point:

-HORRIBLE taste in my mouth at all times. I have to brush my teeth after every time I eat and chew gum (if I can handle it).

-I NEED anything sour. The more sour the better. I once bought 3 different kinds of lemonade to make sure I got the one that's most sour (Simply Lemonade being the winner). I would suck on lemons all day if it didn't acid-wash my teeth:) I also sometimes enjoy a good orange or grapes or anything citrusy/sour.

-Nothing sweet. EVER. Or anything with a sweet aftertaste. Eww, just thinking about eating something sweet makes my stomach turn. This is VERY bizarre for me since I'm basically a chocoholic normally.

-Brothy soups - yes please! Wow, that actually sounds really good right now.

-Saltines and Ritz are a part of me now - they're giving me padding on my hips and thighs:)

-Cereal, cereal, cereal. I bet I could eat this 6 times a day and call it good. The good ones: Special K Red Berries, 80 calorie Fiber One, Corn Chex, Rice Krispies.

-Oooo, Salsa!! Only homemade or fresh though.

-Went through a little phase there of Totino's pizza. GROSS, I know, but there was something about the super crispy, crumbly crust... (my sis-in-law Ashli put that idea in my head...ha)

-PICKLES. So typical, right? Loving chicken salad on toast LOADED with pickles right now.

- Went on a kick of Ruffles with Ridges Sour Cream and Cheddar chips.

Basically anything that's NOT healthy, give it to me. And anything that's whole grain, whole wheat or healthy - take it to the lady down the street. It makes me crazy cause I'm such a health-food freak when I'm not in this condition. But guess what, I do what can to survive. That's all I can do at this point. I'm surviving. My kids are still living and breathing, I, somehow, have not passed in the night from being so sick, and Justin still claims that he's happily married to me (the big liar). Happier, brighter, fun-filled days are on the horizon. I'm betting I'll make it to see them:)

Canoeing

2011-09-11T15:41:00.001-07:00

On Saturday the youth went canoeing and since I’m a leader, I was expected to go. Sometimes this is hard when I LOVE Saturdays so much for family time. So…why not have the WHOLE family go?! And that we did.

Justin was really adamant about our family going on a canoe together. Well why not?

Cause evidently our entire family is afraid to tears of it! I got in, then the kids, then Justin tried to get in and rocked the whole boat, tipping it almost over and got a bunch a water in it. Well, this was the end for me, Camryn and Bryce. I was yelping and the kids were a-screamin.

This ended our family canoeing venture. No thank you. It lasted seconds…maybe a minute.

Justin was VERY disappointed in us and made me feel so bad that I went on a little jaunt with just him. We had to face each other cause when I tried to turn around he almost tipped us again. (*sigh*) What can I say…getting into a FILTHY lake is not something high on my priority list! Anyone who really knows me knows I have a “thing” with lakes…I don’t know…the stagnant, muddy water, just sitting there, no movement, no turnover…and who knows what’s been dumped or “let go” in there:) Bryce was excited because after the YM’s Pres found out I was bringing my kids, he brought Garrett. These two are best buds! And both LOVE throwing rocks into water. The perfect pair:)

Sissy was there too and was a TOTAL angel.

By the end, most of the canoes looked like this:

Looks like most of the youth had a little trouble keeping water out of their canoes too. In fact I might not be able to count the number of times they flipped over!

And just look at this beautiful scenery! ha. Lake Mead is GROSS and VERY ugly. But we all had such a great time that it’s all worth it.

The Pair

2011-09-08T21:15:00.001-07:00

These two are quite the pair lately. When Bryce wakes up he runs into Camryn’s room to make sure she’s awake too. Then they start to run wild.

Sometimes they get into a lot of trouble too. I think it comes with the sibling title. Like yesterday and this morning for instance. They got into the game cupboard and unloaded all the games and threw all the pieces of every single game all over the house. Bryce is usually the instigator cause he can actually walk, but then Camryn follows along in his destructive path. Then this weekend Justin and I woke up at about 8am…this was VERY weird since our kids wake up at 7 on the dot. We were just glad to have been able to sleep in:) We didn’t hear a peep, so we assumed the kids were still asleep. Well, this was NOT the case. Bryce woke up bright and early, ventured to Camryns room, unloaded her ENTIRE closet (all tubs included) and threw everything all over the room. When we tried to walk in, we couldn’t even open the door. I’ve NEVER seen a mess this huge! In the mess we found Camryn with pink paint all over her face…WHAT!? I guess my acrylic paint was in her closet and they found it! Luckily it wasn’t anywhere else, but we still worried that she may have eaten a good amount of it:)

It’s just so weird cause Bryce nor Camryn would ever do any of these things on their own, but when they’re together the house comes down. I guess it’s how they bond.

On the other hand, Bryce is VERY concerned for Camryn. If she can’t get to something or is struggling to accomplish something, he’s right there helping her out…especially when it comes to places she can’t get to cause she can’t walk.

They are just best buds. Even yesterday when Bryce was at preschool, Camryn looked around then looked at me and said, “Byce?” Then crawled all around the house yelling his name. Even though they can cause a lot of trouble and create A LOT of messes, it’s so great to watch them become such good friends. I love it!

Communication

2011-09-04T20:31:00.001-07:00

Camryn has developed quite the vocabulary lately. She’ll pretty much repeat anything and everything you say. To be honest, it’s wonderful!! It’s WAY better than guessing what she wants. Here’s a few of her regulars:

baday – blankie

nigh nigh – pacifier

gink – drink

mick – milk

mush – oatmeal

eat

nack – snack

Byce – Bryce

Mama

Daddy

Ah Duh – all done

buise – please

A hodge you – hold you (meaning she wants me to hold her)

toys

cash – “catch” with Bryce

nana – banana

book

wakie – walk

wada – water

tub

want – means she wants something (and then she’ll point to it)

mo – more

NO!! – usually this happens when Bryce takes something from her or is threatening her in some way

doggie – dogs and any sort of stuffed animal, dog or not

Oh and her latest rebellion is throwing food from her highchair, whether she’s done or not, and then covering her eyes like I can’t see her…mischievous little thing…

First Day of Preschool

2011-09-01T17:43:00.001-07:00

Bryce counts down the hours till he can go to school. That was the only motivational factor that kept him together when we were leaving Grandmas. The kid LOVES school and is too social for his own good. Then when I pick him up he continuously asks when he gets to go back.

And after we got there we realized that his shoes had to have at least a strap in the back…OOPS! Well this was cause for great concern since ALL of his shoes from less than a year ago are ALL too small. This is very annoying. So the kid had to get new shoes which he was also thrilled about. Surprisingly enough he likes shopping, which is very odd considering neither Justin nor I like shopping at all.

But see how happy he is?! You wanna make his day, tell him he gets to go to school. Love this kid.

The Mommy

2011-08-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

Being the Mommy isn't all laughs a giggles you know. It's tough stuff. But through all the stress, struggles, failures and triumphs it somehow all seems to be worth it. I might keep these kiddos cause I like them a little. I guess that's what happens when you have kids. Two years ago on this EXACT same day I had a little surprise...and so it begins...AGAIN...

#3 coming on the EXACT same due date as Camryn...April 6, 2012

I don't know what I'm doin here...I could be nuts...

Ione Summer 2011

2011-08-28T18:28:00.001-07:00

We took a last minute trip to Ione before school started. When we got there, Chase and Callie greeted us at the airport. I was so excited they were able to come. It’s been WAY too long since we’ve seen these cuties!

We got home and Chase watched a western with Grandpa.

And he played so cute with Camryn the WHOLE time.

Then the kids helped mow the lawn.

Or Chase does it by himself…

Grandma had a slew of games that the kids enjoyed playing.

Then we went over to Spencer and Ashli’s and picked up the rest of the crew. When you’re in Ione…you don’t need carseats:)

Boy were these kids happier than Christmas morning to be all together!!

Every day the kids would wake up, immediately put their swimsuits on and head outside to swim, run through the sprinklers or just spray each other.

Then when their lips were blue, we would wrap them in their towels and they would huddle together and just giggle.

Boy…these two can cause some trouble!!

Then Grandma pulled out all of the trophies us kids won growing up…she saved ALL of them. Chase and Corbin were going through them and separating their daddies trophies and Bryce said crying, “Mommy! Where are my Daddy’s trophies?!” I think he was a little shocked to realize that MOMMY actually had accrued some trophies herself:) Then he would point to the trophy and say “Mommy, this says Randa.”

In the meantime, the girls gave each other pedicures.

Chase and Corbin are two peas in a pod. When Corbin had to go back to school, Chase got discouraged and said “Well who am I supposed to play with now?!” These two are best friends!

All the cousins before we had to say goodbye.

Just a few pics of Camryn on the front porch and in the front yard…look at all that GRASS!!! I’ll just say it was more than a little hard to leave this perfect weather and all this greenery!!

The girlies

Chaser

See these flowers? You’re not going to find anything of the sorts in Las Vegas…I had to soak it in…

The trip was short, but man was it worth it!! The kids played so well and it’s just so amazing to see them together, developing relationships. I’m so glad that Chase and Callie could come! It’s just been WAY too long. Maybe this can be a tradition…all the grandkids meeting at Grandma and Grandpas in the summer. The whole trip…priceless.

Bryce Update

2011-08-10T21:11:00.001-07:00

This guy doesn’t seem to get a lot of blog attention. But mostly it’s because when the camera comes out he darts the opposite way. What’s a mom to do?

He is completely obsessed with baseball though, can you tell?

Two baseball gloves (that were Justin’s, by the way), a baseball glove, a baseball bat, a baseball hat, and of course, a baseball. You’ll find him this way most of the time.

There’s more than a few things I like about this kid. There’s more than a thousand things. He’s one of a kind and I would change NOTHING. Here are some of the latest Bryceisms:

-When I was doing my makeup one day: “Mommy, this brush for your makeup can brush on your face like a soft blankie.”

-Me: Bryce, we need to clean this place up.

Bryce: Why? Is someone coming here to stay?

-Me: Bryce, you need to pick up all these blocks.

Bryce: Mommy, don’t bother me, I’m shopping.

-Everything is counted in minutes: “I just need to go to Grandma’s in five more minutes.” “I just need to do this a lotta lotta more minutes.”

-He LOVES the Wii and breaks a pretty good sweat while doing it.

-He’s been into drawing lately. And writing his name on “the road” aka preschool-lined paper

-He loves playing games. His two favorites are Chutes and Ladders and Candyland. He’s a great sport and it doesn’t matter who wins, he jumps up and down saying “You won!!”

-He loves other kids. Whether we’re at the pool, the park, or the gym, he’s on the hunt for a “friend.” Just today at the gym when we were leaving he said,”Mommy, I just need to stay here a lotta five more minutes and play with my friends.”

-He’s been into arguing lately. When we ask him to do something or not to do something, he argues and won’t let up. This is NOT one of my favorite things:)

-He likes to eat Chocolate Shredded Wheat for breakfast. He’s also partial to strawberry.

-He still says he’s hungry about every 30 seconds.

-After he got a haircut the other day he walked around saying, "How did my hair get so small?" and "Look at my hair, it's so small!" and "Sissy needs a haircut cause her hair is so big!"

-If you want to make his day, send him a card, or ANYTHING in the mail. He gets SO excited about the mail.

Playing "swords" on the Wii.

Untitled from Miranda Townsend on Vimeo.

Grandma Came

2011-08-09T10:50:00.001-07:00

Grandma Curran came for the weekend. She did have a convention for work, but we all know the REAL reason she came:) It was perfect timing cause I needed help figuring out where I was going to put all of my new furniture. She also brought this:

A new bed for Camryn. Can’t you tell she loves it?! It has to be the cutest bed I’ve ever seen. It goes from this tiny little midget bed (for my little midget) to a full twin bed. It is ADORABLE…just like my little midget.

She’s slept on there several times and doesn’t mind it at all. I still prefer for her to take naps in the crib, but we’re takin it slow. Actually last night we put her to bed on her big girl bed and she woke up at 2am on the floor…whoops. She’ll learn.

My mom also brought this:

It’s a handmade cradle. It was MINE when I was a little girl. A lady in Ione (who happened to teach my mom how to weave – who knew) made it for me when I was a baby. Isn’t it ADORABLE?! She loves it just as much as I do. She plays with it, wraps her baby in a blanket and puts it to bed, then rocks it to sleep. So cute. I LOVE it when my mom just comes out of nowhere with things she’s saved that were mine…it might be one of my favorite things. She also helped us paint these:

Bryce helped too…he was lovin that. We also let the kids bang away on the piano.

It’s become their new favorite thing. PLEASE keep this enthusiasm when piano lessons actually start:)

I always hate it when my mom has to go home. She is just so motivating and when she’s around A LOT gets done. We sanded, primed and painted furniture, she figured out a new way to rearrange the furniture in my bedroom and living room, she rearranged Camryn’s room to accommodate her new bed and we even made two batches of homemade strawberry jam! I don’t know how she does that. It’s an amazing quality and I hope to have inherited a fraction of it. Then when she’s gone the house goes to pot and I’m mostly unmotivated. It’s just a fact of life. And a fact that I want to go home. We haven’t been back to Ione since we moved here…SOOO I booked a flight the second she was leaving. Here we go again…ANOTHER trip and only in a couple of weeks, but I have to. And I want to. And I need to. So there.

A Sissy Update

2011-08-03T12:28:00.001-07:00

So after all the appointments the verdict is……she’s extremely lazy!! YES!! Haha. We went to a Neurology Specialist and he ordered blood work done to see if she had some chromosomal abnormalities or some sort of imbalance that would affect her not walking. They all came back negative…phew! When he was examining her he kept saying “She’s not strong” (there was some sort of language barrier there…so that was a little bit of a struggle). His first diagnosis was Hypotonia, which is low muscle tone because she just flat out refused to use her legs. And of course while we’re in the appointment she completely refused to cooperate with anything the doctor wanted her to do. CLASSIC Camryn. Just look at that face, little stinker.

So then he told us she better start some physical therapy. Well at this time I was leaving to go to girls camp for a week and then the day after I got back from that, we were going to Utah for the Townsend family reunion. So I decided I would look into it when I got back…what’s a few weeks going to hurt?

Literally a day after we went to the doctor she started crawling NORMALLY. Now, not her weird scoot, but a REAL crawl! I was so impressed:) Don’t worry, she still sports the freak scoot all the time, but throws a normal crawl in there for good measure. You know, whatever she’s feelin like.

After we get back from the reunion I’m set on calling to get her into some physical therapy. Psych! The night we walk in from the Utah trip she shocks us by crawling all the way up the stairs!!! Then starts pulling herself up to everything.

She likes to fool us into thinking she has some sort of disability. Silly girl!

She’s all over the place. Now I’m wondering why I wanted her to move in the first place. Now if she can just walk already!! Get goin girl!

She’s also developed a pretty awesome attitude, not like that’s any surprise. Just look at that face! I might bite it. Or squish it. Or eat it. There’s no way of knowing.

So the verdict is: she does what she wants. What a surprise. She’s well on her way to full mobility, but in the meantime she is a kick to have around. So hilarious. Here are a few of her latest tricks in video form:

Her favorite thing to say now:

Going up and down the stairs:

Going up the stairs:

What she likes to do in her highchair now:

Crawling for basically the first time:

Untitled from Miranda Townsend on Vimeo.

Grandpa Townsend Came

2011-08-02T20:51:00.001-07:00

I don’t think I could have married into a more awesome family. Justin and I are super spoiled. Our parents help us out WAY too much. On top of everything else Justin’s parents have done for us, Justin’s dad drove all the way from their house in Washington in a Uhaul to give us some furniture. And I’m not talking about used, tattered, hand-me-down furniture here. This is VERY nice, high quality furniture. We ended up with a leather couch, leather loveseat, white bedroom set (including an armoire, dresser, desk and nightstand), computer desk with matching cabinet, secretary desk and 2 bookshelves. I bet we’ve saved well over $10,000 or more here. It’s so nice it’s almost overwhelming how generous it is. I don’t even know how or if it’s even possible to repay them. We will forever be indebted to them and my parents also. A HUGE thank you to Lonny for taking the time to do this!

You know Bryce was excited Grandpa was staying here! He also brought a FULL train set that they saved from when Justin was Bryce’s age. It came with a train table and all. The kids absolutely love it!

Then we went bowling!

And played arcade games. Thanks again Grandpa!!

Before and After

2011-08-02T11:20:00.001-07:00

Before we went to the reunion we stopped at Wyatt and Jens and stayed a couple of days. I got to take pictures of this babe…who reminds me A LOT of my baby Bryce.

After the reunion we stayed a night at Rodger and Mara’s to recover for a night before driving all the way back home. It happened to be the weekend of the 24th of July, which is a holiday there, and so we got a slew of fireworks for Bryce. He’s all about them now.

We’re so lucky to be able to come back here so often:)