August Already?!

Holy cow, where did summer go? I can't believe this is our last month of summer before heading straight into the fall/winter season. I am also down to my last three weeks of being at home before I go back to work. It's going to be quite the adjustment after being home for 6 months. Luckily, I was able to secure a half time teaching position this year. I will only be teaching 3 classes and I am really excited about that. Not sure if paying for daycare for two kids on a part-time salary will be worth it, though. Blake and I figured we'd give it a try this year and see how it goes. Luckily, we are in a position where working for me is not neccessary, but I do really enjoy it...so many parts of it: getting out of the house, interacting with my students and coworkers, being social, being creative with my lessons... and the extra income isn't bad either ;)

beautiful rainbow after a summer storm

Brooke's imagination is in full swing. I love listening to her talk to imaginary friends and play pretend. She is really into playing doctor/vet right now. Here she is giving her puppy a checkup.

 I think since Brooke was born, Blake has been living for this moment. We got Brooke her very first waterski. We've been waiting for Brooke to master swimming on her own before we tried this and finally she is ready! It's an easy ski for kids to use too. The ski rope goes from the boat to the bottom of the board. Brooke holds onto a different rope attached to the board and just leans back. Easy-peasy for little kids to learn on. Unfortunatly, at the end of her ride, Brooke got a huge face full of water and that scared her and she was reluctant to try again. There's always next time, right?

I do not lie when I say that Brooke and Porter are best friends. He adores her and Brooke loves talking and playing with him. She is always asking me to put Porter by her so they can laugh and play together.

 And finally, my baby is six months old! He's turned into quite the little chunky monkey too.

Loving his feet 

He is constantly moving and  I love that this picture captures his blurry arms and legs.

 So happy to be six months old!

Love those baby blues...

 And this is probably my favorite photo ever! He is so cute with his hands tucked up under his face. Playing in the jumperoo is hard work ;)

Chillin and Grillin

We did yummy BBQ chicken pizzas with a homemade crust on the grill. Blake was doubtful that grilling raw dough would work, but it did!

 My munchkins:

 Brooke loves this doctor set my mom has at her house.

 Swimming Time:

 I love The Little Red Barn at our county fair. Such a fun and free activity for toddlers to do. They get to act like a farmer, planting seeds, collecting produce and eggs, feeding animals, milking cows, and selling their harvest at the market for "money" to buy a treat at the end.

 Getting a bail of hay for her tractor

 "milking" the cow

 Porter was oblivious that these two baby cows thought his foot was a tasty treat!

 Brooke was thrilled with her strawberry milk and the ribbon she got at the end.

10 Years...Wicked Fun

Last weekend was my 10 year high school reunion. I wasn't going to go, but at the last minute decided to. I was glad I did! It was fun seeing old friends and catching up (although, with blogs and facebook that's pretty easy to do). As you can see, even though we are nearing the end of our 20's, we are just as immature as ever!

Travis, me, Erin, Katie, Julie, Stephani, Sandy

Julie, me, Sandy, Stephanie

 The same weekend, I was also able to attend a showing of "Wicked" I LOVED IT! I had such a good time and really, really enjoyed the show.

 I think anyone who has been, has this same picture :) It's the only time you can sneak one in since cameras aren't allowed. This is a view of a map of Oz with the Emerald City in the middle. A big dragon with red eyes hangs above. After seeing the show, it really makes me want to go back and re-read the book.

 I spent a ridiculous amount of money on a shirt from the show. Brooke says it's my "scary shirt" and says "mom, why do you have a ghost on your shirt?" And in case you can't tell, it says "Defy Gravity" on it. One of the best songs from the show! And yep, I am that big of a nerd that I feel the need to take a picture of myself wearing it.

Reunited

We had a very busy first week of July and were reunited with all sorts of family and friends. First  Saturday-Tuesday Blake's siblings were in town to celebrate an early 4th with us. We had fun catching up, hanging out, laughing about playing Words with Friends with each other, quoting movies, and letting the kids enjoy some cousin time. Brooke was especially in heaven when her cousins dressed her up as a fairy princess and carted her around in their own little parade:

Tuesday night my dad and his wife made the drive from Arkansas to visit us. We love having them out to see us. It was their first time seeing Porter and they hadn't seen Brooke since last summer.

waiting for the parade to start

fireworks time!

Blake and Brooke  kept busy waiting for fireworks by wrestling

 This ball makes an appearance in a lot of pictures. Brooke got it from a float in the parade by being a good girl and not running into the street for prizes. The lady on the float saw her waving from the sidewalk and ran over and gave it to her. Brooke was thrilled.

 Brooke did so much better this year with the fireworks. It helped that we talked about how pretty and cool they were several days beforehand. We also talked about how they were loud, but not scary. We also sat in a field that was close by, but not right underneath so the noise wasn't so loud.

 Besides 4th of July celebrations, we went swimming at the hotel and went to the dinosaur quarry before my dad and Carol left for home Friday morning. Friday morning I also made a trek out to visit my mom for a few days. Friday was spent recovering from the drive and eating at one of my favorite places: Bajio. Saturday my mom helped me take the kids swimming and I met up with my good friend Sandy, her husband Matt and their girls Monroe and Lochlan.

Brooke and Monroe

Even though our babies are only 6 weeks apart, Lochlan is bigger than Porter

Sandy and Lochlan, Me and Porter.

 Saturday night was another fun event. My friend Crenda and I organized a reunion for our USU married student ward. We got a great response from our past ward members and even had several out of state families come visit. Our old bishop and 1st counselor also came. The bishop took most of the pictures at the reunion, so hopefully he'll figure out how to share them on facebook ;)

it was so fun to catch up with everyone and see everyone's families. 

5 Months

Oh, how we have loved having this little guy in our home. When you think about it, 5 months is not long at all to have been on this earth, but it feels like Porter has always been part of our family. In fact, I know that is true. I know that Porter has always been ours and was meant to be in our home. He is such a happy boy and loves his big sister. He loves to watch her and anything Brooke does gets a big smile or laugh from him. 

Porter at 5 months:

• Still waking up at least once a night to eat
• Likes to eat during the day about every 2.5 hours
• Takes several cat naps during the day and one long nap (thankfully while Brooke is also taking her nap so I get some time to myself)
• has started solid foods. I have been working with veggies so far, and so far he likes everything. My goal is to spend more time with veggies before I move onto to fruits. With Brooke, I think I was too anxious/excited for her to try new things and she never really did like veggies and still doesn't.
• I would guess weighs about 15lbs and is around 30 inches long.

Still a little small for his jumper, but enjoyed a few minutes in it

loves his exersaucer in the mornings whiel mom gets ready

this is his "I'm so excited I want to eat you!" face

Just Chillin on the beach