Happy Gilmore

Lincoln had a junior golf clinic with his Grandpa.  It was only 3 consecutive lessons (Tues, Wed, Thurs) for about 45 minutes each.  Lincoln LOVED it!  I'm still not sure if it was the golfing part or the getting one on one time with Grandpa part :)  Either way, Grandpa enrolled him in real golf lessons starting tomorrow.  It'd be great if he ended up really liking the sport.  Grant gets to do the clinic at the end of July.

Memorial Day

This year we decided to take the kids to SLC for the Memorial day weekend.  We hadn't been to the city since our big beach trip in early February, which is a record for us.  We usually go at least once a month, if not twice.  But since I've just started to FINALLY feel better, thanks baby sis, we thought this would be the perfect chance to get out of the house.  We stayed up at the snow cabin and the kids loved it.  They haven't been there since Christmas and they were very excited to have some hot tub time.  We ended up hot tubing (a lot), shopping at Sam's Club, City Creek (which is amazing) and The Gateway, playing at the Discovery Center at Gateway, eating lots of great food (Chick-fil-a, Old Spaghetti Factory, The Cheesecake Factory, Red Robin, and homemade beef stew courtesy of Aunt Janna).  The Farris family (Dave's sister's family) came up Sunday afternoon and spent the day playing and eating and making us dinner and having a great time catching up.  It was a great little vacay away from Vernal, but unfortunately baby sis decided that she wasn't too pleased about the trip.  We drove home Monday and that night I got sicker than I've been yet this pregnancy.  The morning sickness lasted 3 more days.  Blah.  I don't know if it was the altitude changes, sitting in a car for that long, or just over doing it in the city, but my body was not happy for a few days.  Thankfully I'm feeling good again.  Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us use your cabin!

First thing they wanted to do was get in the hot tub.

What we woke up to on Saturday morning!

Lincoln at Discovery Gateway

Grant at The Gateway with his insane sucker

Lucy at Discovery Gateway

The Gale and Farris Clans
minus the Mommies and baby Moose

Sorry ladies, he's taken

Being stubborn about how she'll drink from her sippy cup

Mommy and the monkeys at City Creek



Last Day of School

My boys are officially done with the 2011-2012 school year.

Grant: finished up his last year of preschool.  He'll be in kindergarten in the fall?!  Is it weird that it's harder for me having him go to kindergarten than it was having Lincoln go?  Isn't your first one supposed to be the hardest?  Anyway, here is the Bean in all his glory on the last day of preschool (which also happened to be the last day of speech class/riding the special bus).  Grant had incredible teachers this year, both regular and speech, and I'm very thankful to them for helping him learn and grow so much.  The one person I don't have a picture of him with is Gma Paula.  He's loved going to Gma Paula's school the past 2 years and really does love her like a Gma.  However, he's very excited to go to the big boy school with Lincoln in the fall.

This was his "special harness" he got to wear each time he rode the bus.
He did this pose all on his own by the way.

Teacher appreciation gifts

Miss Marla and Miss Anita
~speech teachers~

Miss Lisa and Miss Doris



Lincoln: survived his first year in the big school.  He loved kindergarten and did very well.  It's amazing how much he grew over the school year.  He went from just knowing how to write his name and abc's to writing full sentences (on his own) and math and reading.  He can read.  To those of you with older kids (or crazy smart preschoolers) this may not be a big surprise.  I'm very proud of how smart he is and of the kind of person he's becoming.  He loved his teacher, Mrs. Oaks, and says daily how much he misses her.  He also loved his principal, Mr. Morris, although I don't think they ever had an actual conversation :)  He never did like riding the bus, because according to him, it took too long.  I thought I'd be a good Mom and let him ride it home for the last time, but apparently the good Mom's went to the school and picked up their kids and took a picture with their teacher.  Now you know why there isn't a picture of him with Mrs. Oaks. 



The first time, all year, I let him walk to the bus stop
without me in the morning.  I liked to make sure he actually got on the bus.
If you know Lincoln, you know why it was a good idea to do this :)



Last time riding the bus and waving goodbye to his driver.





Lincoln's teacher appreciation gift

18 Months Old

Dear Louie,

  You are now 18 months old.  The changes you have made over the past 6 months are incredible.  You are no longer my baby, but now a toddler.  I wouldn't have thought it possible, being as you've been absolutely stunning since birth, but you seem to get more and more beautiful every day.

   At your wellness check you weighed 25 lbs (60-70%) and were 33 inches tall (above 90%).  You also had to get two shots, but they didn't seem to bother you much afterwards.  You hate the going to the doctors and don't like anyone there to come anywhere near you.  Dr. Woodward (your pediatrician) says it's just stranger anxiety.  I know better.  You're an incredible smart girl and you know that's the place where you get shots. 

    Like I mentioned, you're incredibly smart.  You still don't really talk, except for the occasional full sentence.  I've heard you say "no I didn't",  "that's okay" and "I can do it".  You mumble Mama and Daddy and sometimes brother and Issac.  But for the most part you just grunt and sing.  But you understand everything we tell you.  The other day I asked you to go get me a diaper so we could change your bum.  You left the room and came back a few minutes later with a diaper and the wipes. 
   You love to sing and one of your favorites right now is Itsy Bitsy.  You can do the hand motions, but your favorite is when Daddy sings it really fast and you just dance and go crazy.  It's very cute.  You also love to play "eyes, ears, nose, and mouth".  You will sit on my lap and actually hold still to play that game.  Which is rare.  You do not like to hold still.  You are definitely a mover and shaker.  You've become very good at giving loves and squeezes and kisses.  You also love to stick your tongue out (which goes down past your chin!) and make squishy face.  Your brothers love to get you to make squishy face and you love to do it and hear them laugh.  You already love to make people laugh and are learning that you're quit the entertainer.

   You're still great with trying new things to eat.  You usually will eat anything I give you, but some favorites right now are: frosted mini-wheats, olives, black beans, meat/chicken, fruit snacks, and mac-n-cheese.  You also started liking green salad with ranch.  You seem to go through phases of how much you eat.  You'll go a few days without eating much and then will have 3-4 days of literally eating more than anyone else in a single sitting.

    Now that it's warm outside, you want to be outdoors all the time!  You love it outside.  You finally like the sandbox and would play in the backyard with your brothers all day if I would let you.  You love the trampoline and your little swimming pool.  You're totally a water girl.  You love anything to do with it from the tub to the sprinkler to a swimming pool.  Thankfully you have my skin tone and tan really easy and don't burn :)  You are also a girly girl.  You love doing my hair, painting nails, "pretties", dollies, and watching me get ready for the day.





   You've become very independent and stubborn.  You know how to throw a fit and do when you don't get exactly what you want, when you want it.  That doesn't happen often, especially with Daddy or Grandpa around.  You are still the princess of the family and have no problem batting those big brown eyes to get any and every thing.  You are a climber!  Holy cow, you are my little monkey.  Your latest defeat is climbing up on the dinning room table and dancing on it.  You haven't figure out how to get in or out of your crib yet, but I'm sure that will happen this summer.

   You are still a Mommy's girl and I love it.  We are besties and I hope that we can figure out a way to continue being that, while also including your new sister.  It's going to be a tough balance for me and I pray that I don't mess it/you/your sister up too badly :)  I love you my Lou and am so blessed to be your Mommy!