16 Months

Grant turned 16 months on the 23rd. He seems to noticeably grown more and more every day. He's really into trucks right now and loves to push them around the house while making the appropriate sounds that accompany them. He basically does whatever Lincoln does...wants to be with the big boys all the time. He's trying so hard to talk, and while he says a few words, most of the time it's just whining and pouting because we can't seem to understand him. He says: Mommy, no, Daddy, want down, no, want some, up, no, yes, please, thank you, hello, bye-bye, no, and stephy. He's developed quite the little attitude. He makes a squishy face and screams when he doesn't get his way. He hates when you tell him he can't have something and usually throws a fit. Unfortunately for him, he's the second one to try this tactic, and now that his parents are use to it, it doesn't work very often. He's really gotten into reading the past month and has a favorite book, "Binky". We read it about 7 times every night before bed. He still has to have 2 binky's to sleep, but hopefully that habit will be broken soon. He's good about at least trying anything we give him to eat and still takes 2 naps a day. He's very loving and makes us laugh everyday. Our little blessing Grunt-a-bee.

Boys of Summer

Here are just a few random pics I've taken of the boys over the past few weeks.
Lincoln decided that it was time for Grant to wake up from his nap and this is how we found them.
Grandpa took the boys for a bike ride with Uncle Shawn's bike. They loved it!



Lincoln is a fan of the "choke-hold" pose with Grant...Grant doesn't seem to feel the same way about it :)

SEATTLE

This past weekend Dave and I flew to Seattle for Chad and Erinn's wedding. Erinn was Dave's first co-anchor in Lewiston. She and I quickly became like sisters and she's been one of our favorite people since then. I was honored to be one of her bridesmaids and Dave was honored to work a camera during the wedding :) We left the boys with Guy and Amy who were nice enough to take them for a few days. The boys had a great time playing with Hannah and Brinlee and big thanks again to the Mackays for taking such good care of them.

When Dave and I flew in Thursday we had a couple of hours to kill before the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner started. We made our way over to Pike's Market and took in all that was Pikes. It was awesome! We got to see the fish-throwing-singing-men, all the fresh produce and flowers, the biggest doughnut I've EVER seen, and the ferry boats. Dave bought me this hugh beautiful bouquite of flowers for $13! He's such a sweetie. We decided to go eat at a nice restaurant for lunch instead of riding the ferry. We ate at The Metropolitan Grill and it was divine. Our steaks were amazing and the banana fosters was so good that we ate way more then we should have.

Then we went to the rehearsal at the Hollywood Schoolhouse (where the wedding took place). After that we drove over to Chad's parent's house for the rehearsal dinner. They have an amazing house that overlooks the water and Mt. Rainer. Chad's family is so nice and friendly and we had such a great time getting to know them better. They are the most athletic family ever...seriously. His Grandpa played goalie for the US soccer team when they won the gold in the 70's. His Dad played football for Penn State and still looks like he can play with the best of them. His Uncle played college football and then for the Seahawks for a bit. His Mom was on the cover of Time Magazine in '79 for playing college lacrosse and totally kicking butt at it. His sister played soccer in college and Chad was drafted right after high school (for baseball), but decided to play college ball first. Like I said, pretty athletic.

Friday we got to sleep in and it was fabulous. It was so nice to just take our time and snuggle and get up when we wanted to. I went over to the schoolhouse and played makeup artist for a few hours. I did Erinn's makeup and 3 of the bridesmaids. Then Dave and I went to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory in Bellevue. Again, awesome food.

Then I went back to the schoolhouse to get ready myself and we took pictures and did all that pre-wedding stuff. The ceremony was beautiful. It was very personal and touching and the vows were so cute. We then went inside for the reception. Now being the Utah Mormon that I am, I haven't been to a lot of non-lds weddings. This one was just like what I've seen in the movies. Open bar, lots of good catered food (not that I have anything against chicken salad and nut/mint cups), no receiving line, and lots of dancing. It was a blast. Saturday we had 30 minutes to spare before we had to be at the airport, so we drove to the space needle, paid $6 to park, got a picture or two of us standing outside of the needle, walked back to our car, and drove to the airport. Sweet.

I must say, I missed the boys like crazy, but being able to sit down at a restaurant and hold a civil conversation and eat peacefully and then also getting to sleep in two mornings in a row...priceless. Obviously I don't get to eat out (at a good restaurant) often or sleep in a lot :)

When we picked the boys up Saturday, Dave put Lincoln in the car to buckle him in his seat. Well Lincoln jumped in the driver's seat and played around for a minute before Dave made him crawl back to his car seat. Dave buckled Lincoln in, shut his door, then proceed to open the driver's side door with no luck. Lincoln had locked the doors while he was playing up front and was now locked in the car in his car seat. Luckily the car was running with the AC on AND that the Mackays have a police officer and tow truck driving man that live 3 doors down. They both came and had the doors unlocked in no time.

All in all it was a perfect few days and I'm grateful that we were able to support one of our bestest Chindens. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Coder :)

TAG

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you. (De'dy Meng)
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

I love reading. Love love love it. My biggest weakness with reading is I can NOT put a book down until it is finished. I finish 800 page books in two days. I neglect everything when I read. The house is a mess, dinner is something instant from the freezer and the boys watch way too much tv. That's why I try not to read new books too often.

I hate to feel breath on my skin. When the boys where babies it wasn't so bad...I could handle that. But now that they are getting older, I can't do it. Or when I cuddle with Dave, I can't have "breaths" anywhere near my face. Or even on my back, neck, arms, etc. I hate feeling other peoples breath on me. Even when it's the breath of the people I love the most.

I have to have some type of blanket when I sleep. When it's 100 degrees outside, I have to have at least a sheet on me. I can't sleep without something covering me. I also have a really hard time sleeping without Jim...he's my stuffed turtle I've had since 8th grade. Have to have him.

I love taking pictures. I love being able to look back on memories and actually have a photo of the memory instead of just the image in my head. I almost always have a camera with me, just in case :)

I'm OCD with a lot of things. I love our house to be clean and organized. Everything has it's place...fridge, cupboards, linen closet, food storage, movies, boy's book case, etc. I'm very particular about how things are put away. Like I said, OCD.

I'm a big bakery person. The older I get, the more pronounced this becomes. I'm pretty sure I get it from my Dad. I can't pass a cookie or doughnut or cupcake without buying and eating it. Doesn't matter if I'm not the least bit hungry...it's a doughnut, gotta eat it. And if I see something and for some crazy reason don't get it, I crave it until I do. Really crave it. Drives Dave crazy sometimes that all I want is a white cake doughnut with white frosting and colored sprinkles and ONLY that specific kind.

I now tag: Tiffany, Kelly, Ben, Stacey, Aimee, and Gina.

rain, rain, go away...but not really

This week we have been pounded on with rain. This was probably the first time that Grant can remember being in the rain and he loved it! While it was raining on Tuesday, the boys and I played out in the front yard for a few hours and weeded the flowerbeds, searched for worms, had a mud fight, and of course got drenched. They had such a good time. The best part was it's warm rain. It wasn't cold outside at all and was the perfect weather for weeding. I hate weeding when it's hot outside-yuck. Lincoln lost his shoe in the mud and thought that was the funniest thing that his shoe was stuck. Yesterday the rain was a different story. It was coming down really hard and brought along some hail. Needless to say we didn't play in that rain. We did go over to my parents house for dinner, as did the Martinsens, and while we were over there the rain turned into a light drizzle. So we let all the boys go outside and play in the puddles. They got drenched again, but it was still really warm outside. So it's not like I'm this really bad Mom that lets my kids go outside and get wet while it's freezing and their catching a cold or anything. Just sayin' :) The boys seemed to have inherited my love for the rain.