Wednesday, August 25, 2010

August Recap

August has been a fun and busy month for us.....
For some reason I thought it would be REALLY low key and laid back...not so much! Especially with this cute little face keeping me on my toes! :)

With Shawn working later nights and longer days than we are used to, we have really been focusing on spending quality time together and just playing as a family! There is this really sweet video on lds.org that really hit home with me about really being there for your kids, not just physically but mentally. If you haven't seen it, it's a great one and I recommend it! Anyways, so we have been spending a lot of time doing things like this...
and...
Jaden has become really into sports. He still prefers going outside and playing soccer with daddy but also has been loving playing baseball, and golf...but usually what happens (as you can see in the previous picture) is when we play golf we usually end up playing pirates and swords with the golf clubs....


As you can see something else that has been going on this month, and taking the majority of our time is potty training!!! I know Jaden is really young still to be potty training, but he seemed ready so I just figured I would give it a shot! He has actually been doing a great job! I wouldn't say that he is fully trained, but we are getting there! He is still anti pooping in the potty but I hear that is normal! I am just so proud of him for how well he is doing! Yesterday we headed down to Ogden to run all my errands and were gone for almost 5 hrs and he stayed dry the entire time! I put him in a pull up, but he kept it dry and even told me inside winco that he had to go! I can't believe how much he is growing up! Here is a shot of him in his Thomas underpants!
This month we also ventured to the zoo...I even brought my camera but am lame because this is the only picture I got and I didn't even take it! Jaden was totally creeped out by the snake but just couldn't get enough of it at the same time!


We have been doing some fun art projects too...here is a pic of J marshmallow painting with pudding! Well...eating and painting :)

More proof my baby is growing up...this last week he learned to peddle his trike all by himself...he can actually reach the peddles if he scoots up far enough!
More fun art...easel painting. I decided that since I have hardwood floors I should take advantage of them and let Jaden paint upstairs....He had fun but spent most of the time painting his fingers :)



Now Shawn and Jaden's favorite thing that has happened to us this month is probably this....

We knew when we moved up to Eden that we would have to get a car with 4wheel drive before winter hit (last winter we came up to visit in the Altima and got suck in the snow....in the driveway. Not to mention with my due date being the end of November, we needed a vehicle we knew could safely get us down the canyon no matter the weather...I am not having my baby at home! :) So, a few weeks ago we put the Honda up for sale, and it sold rather quickly. Well, Shawn has been wanting a truck for awhile now and since it was his car we sold, I didn't fight it and my only request was that it have a back seat that can fit car seats. Well Shawn found this beauty and that was that...it barely fits in the garage and has a 4 inch lift and no step to help me get into it (yes please imagine me trying to climb into this 7 moths pregnant...I can only imagine how humorous I look and will continue to look more and more humorous for the next 3 moths) so that has been interesting. But he loves it and so it works!

Well that's about it! Sorry its such a long post!

Friday, August 6, 2010

Family Fun



Last week my sister Annie and her family came to visit us up here in Eden and we had such a great time! My sister Amy had planned a family trip to Cherry Hill with just us girls and the kids! We honestly had such a great time we are thinking of making it a yearly tradition! All of the kids had a blast playing together. Here are some pictures:

Jaden absolutely LOVED the Pirate ship!!!! We spent a lot of time on it! My mom got him a pirate ship water table for his birthday so we have gotten VERY into pirates.
He just kept screaming "ARG"! Love him!

Jaden got such a kick out of Baby Johnny, hopefully he takes to his sister as easily!

Libby and Jaden had an absolute ball playing together, they both take a little while to warm up to things but before you know it they are running and screaming and jumping up and down doing "bum drops"
Sarah is the aunt of all aunts, always playing with the kids its no wonder she's the favorite! She took Haylie and Jaden down the lazy river numerous times! We only had one mishap...but no need to get into that :)
After you know...7hrs at Cherry hill, we attempted to go to Red Robin for dinner...I have no pictures...it was not pleasant...the kids were done...so was mom...next year we might re think that part! Thanks for planning everything Amy!!! It was a summer favorite!

One of the days the Norats were with us Annie and I packed up all the kids and ventured to the beach while the guys stayed home to do homework and study. I have been here all summer and this was the first time I have taken Jaden (pathetic I know) but it was so much fun.

We found a shady spot which was nice, and set up camp.

Johnny was a champ! and chilled in the stroller while we set things up.

The water was actually quite warm and the kids all enjoyed it! Haylie is our adventurous one so she was strapped to the life jacket the majority of the time, which is a good thing because knowing her she would have tried to swim out to the boats!!

I was suprised at how much Jaden enjoyed himself, but he had a great time digging in the dirt and throwing it back into the lake! We even made our first sand castle!!!


We had such a fun time having them up to visit and I wish I would have taken more pictures! We spent a lot of time just letting the kids run and play...and occasionally duke it out!
Thanks for the fun Norat family! We hope you will come up again soon!