Flying to Georgia

In our year of vacations, we were able to visit Georgia and North Carolina!  This was Nathan's, Henry and Clara's first trip to Georgia.  We did not get any pictures of Clara on her first flight but she and Henry both did very a great job being so good!

Mama and Daddy flew in the day after us, but that left us with a whole day to play and see Georgia!  We wanted to go to the laser show after we flew in, but I think that may have been too much for the kids.  Instead, we drove around Winder and got to see the sights.  Sunday we were able to visit the lovely people of the Winder Ward that were part of my childhood.  I wish I could have seen more people while we were there, but I am so glad I did see so many!

We were meeting Mama and Daddy in Macon that evening, so after church we started down.  On our way from Winder to Macon we hit up the first Brusters we could find and then drove to Stone Mountain.  We got there just in time for the last tram up to the top.  Some nice lady pulled us out of line and gave us her friends and family passes!  We all had fun seeing Atlanta from the top of its only mountain.  Some day we will go back and do the hike, see the laser show and maybe stay in the hotel in the park.

That night, we met up with Mama and Daddy.  The next day (Henry's birthday!!!) we drove to Albany to visit Grandmother, Faye, Cindy and Jan.  They had a birthday party all planned and ready for Henry when we got there.  Henry got to meet cousins he didn't know he had!  He still asks about the cousins whose names he does not know (my cousin Will and his family).  :)  

We enjoyed our trip to Georgia.  Next time we go, we are picking some cotton, seeing a laser show and visit more old friends.  If we really have time, I have a whole lot of things I want to show my little family, but we made a good start!

Washington Adventure

This year is the year of traveling.  After our Idaho trip we decided to go on a trip to Washington to visit Grandma Talbert.  This time we decided to try to make it all the way to Tacoma in one day.  When we go to the north west, we usually stop half way-ish and break up the drive.  The day before we left we decided that the car probably needed to be checked out by our favorite local mechanic.  The car needed a new timing belt and our wonderful Mr. Abbott took care of it before we had to leave in the morning.  (We really love our mechanic!)  But, because we had to have a new timing belt we weren't able to leave at 4 in the morning like we had planned.  We got out of the house about 9:30 and made it all of the way to Tacoma!

While we were there, we visited with Grandma, swam at the hotel and checked out Nate's old stomping grounds.  It was good to see Grandma and visit with her for a weekend.

It happened that we were in town for "Milton Days".  We were able to watch a parade (where someone in the parade recognized Nate and shouted at him but Nate didn't get a good enough look to figure out who it was.  I'm still curious about who that was.)  Henry also got to play on some tanks that were at the festival and play on the exact same playground equipment that Nate played on when he was little.

Henry likes to build himself a tent when were on road trips.  I love the tent.  We have good car kids.  I couldn't count the hours we spend in the car together going on adventures.

This adventure got a little more adventurous than we really care to get.  We were coming down the middle of Washington on I-90 when I decided that I was a little bored of the Pendleton to Boise stretch of the drive and that it would be REALLY fun to take the slightly longer drive home through northern Idaho and Montana.  We saw some cool new country and enjoyed the drive.  Then we pulled in to Spokane.  We were winging it and finding a hotel when we got as far as we wanted to go that night.  When we called the first hotel on our list we learned it was going to be a LONG night.  He informed us that ComicCon (or some Con) was in town, along with school starting back up, plus some other event and every hotel in a 200+ mile radius was booked solid.  WHAT?!  Surely that could not be true!  Clara was losing patience with with the car, along with the rest of us and we were ready to get out.  Nate and I started calling down the list of hotels in the area.  By area, I mean everything between Canada, Moscow, ID and Missoula, MT.  NOTHING!!!  Not even at the nasty, might be the lair of a serial killer, side of the road creepy places.  NOTHING!!!  We decided to just drive.  It was dark and I think we missed a lot of pretty mountains.  What I saw before it was totally dark made me want to go back in the daylight when there are open hotel rooms.  As Nate drove, I broadened my call radius and constantly harassed every hotel clerk, asking about cancellations.  About 10:30 I FINALLY found an opening!  It was at a Days Inn, 12 miles south of Missoula and the interstate.  It was well after midnight and we were so very grateful for, literally, the last room in the Inn, I mean in western Montana, northern Idaho, and eastern Washington.  The next day the tension had subsided and we were able to enjoy the remainder of our BEAUTIFUL drive.  We want to go back some time.  Certainly not an adventure we'll forget!

6 Month Cara

September 6th

You love blowing raspberries!  Your sentences consist of babble mixed with raspberries.  "Aaa baa baa *raspberry* baa".  It's adorable.  You have angry raspberry sentences as well.

Henry says his favorite thing about you is the way you roll over.  He did his fairly accurate impression of you rolling.  You throw your head into the floor and roll.  I wish I had a video of it.

You still stick your tongue out all of the time.  When your tongue isn't sticking out, you have your lip tucked in as if you are biting it.  Today you had your lip tucked in and smiled and I saw a dimple.  So sweet!

You had baby food last week.  Squash was your first food.  You ate quite a lot for your first solid food.  I don't know which is your next food, but I have been making baby food for your next few months.  Produce is in season, so I'm cooking it and saving up!

Two days ago you started hamming up a little cough.  The first few teeny tiny coughs were legit.  Daddy and I laughed and you GRINNED and kept coughing.

You can sit up now!  You are getting better every day.  You sit and play with toys and sometimes regain your balance if you start to tip over.

You and your brother are both big helpers with me working.  I have been doing a lot of that from home lately and you will sit in my lap and watch a show or play with toys.  With you sitting up, you just sit unassisted in my lap or play in your walker beside me.  Your favorite thing to do while I work is chew on my phone and take pictures of yourself.  I have a million really close up pictures of your face.  You enjoy watching Disney shows while I work.  You especially like the princess ones.  I think it's the singing and the colors, but you like them!  You now have your own Netflix profile so that we can easily find the stuff you might be interested in.  As I type this, I am feeling like an awful parent.  You do not watch that many shows or movies.  We only resort to that when you are sick of the computer, toys, or the walker and I need 10 more minutes.  I just got sick of fishing through Henry's shows.  It was much faster just to set up an profile.

You have started reaching me for me sometimes.  You always lean towards me when you want me to hold you but you've started to reach for me.  I love it!

Sleep Walking

Henry has taken to sleep walking.  This probably explains why he has been waking up SO early lately. He will come to our room painfully early and by the time all four of us are semi-comfortable, we are also all awake. We need a king sized bed.

Tonight Henry went to bed and Nate, Clara, and I came down to watch some t.v. I was just about to get Clara her p.j.s on when Henry came down.  I hear a soft "Mama" then almost a whole minute later we see him coming down the stairs. He mumbled something on his way into the family room, climbed on the couch and continued to mumble something about something. Clara was about to lose it, so I went upstairs to get Clara p.j.s.  Before I was able to come back down, Nate was carrying Henry up the stairs.  Walking into his room, we both discover several large wet spots on Henry's floor.  He mistook his clothes hamper for a toilet. This part has happened before. Last time I didn't discover the strong smell until the next morning.  His room always smells like boy, but I had to crawl around on my hands and knees before locating the stench.  I cleaned it multiple times.  Scrubbed.  Sprayed.  Scrubbed some more.  Two days later the smell was getting worse and I was beginning to question my choice of carpet cleaner.  I realized the laundry basket itself smelled horribly!  A load of laundry later and the room returned to smelling like boy.  Now I know.  Tomorrow, if the room still smells like urine, do laundry.

August

Cousin Time

Private Concert

Star Wars

Today, Sunday, July 27th, 2014, Henry is watching Star Wars IV.  He and his Daddy are having a lot of fun watching it together.  I am glad they have found something they can enjoy watching together.

I believe they are both enjoying watching this together.  Henry is asking LOTS of questions.  About EVERYTHING.  He wants to know the name of every creature, what different things do, what people are doing, how they do things.  EVERYTHING.

Here are some of the questions he is asking:
In a scene with Darth Vader:
"What's that sound?  What's that snoring?"
"Is that a man?  What's on his head?  Is it glued?"

When Luke hurries home to check on his aunt and uncle:
Henry: "Where are the lightening people?"
Nate: "Storm troopers?"
Henry: "Yeah."

"Why does R2 roll and that other one walk?"

"Are they bad?"

"Are they good?"

"Does R2 use levers?"

"How high is that space ship?"

At the end, he said "That was a good Henry show!"

5 Month Clara

August 6th

You are a teeny, adorable, easy baby.  You love sticking your tongue out.  It just barely hangs out most of the time but sometimes you stick it all of the way out.  You do it a lot when you're happy but sometimes I think you're just bored and wanting to see what that funny thing in your mouth is.  I love it.  Mama says I stuck my tongue out most of the time when I was a baby.  Once I had teeth, I almost bit my tongue off and Mama had to hold it together for a few days so it could heal.  I think about that every day and really hope you do not do the same.


You can ALMOST sit up.  If I balance you just the right way on my lap, you can do it.  If you are laying down and you feel like you are at an angle that you feel like you could possibly sit up from, you try so hard to pull yourself up.  You want to sit up!  When I tripod you on the floor though, you topple over in seconds.

You are a happy baby.  Everyone asks if you are "always this easy".  You have even gotten better in the car.  We took a long drive today so that you and Henry could take a nap.  You woke up before Henry and happily played with your car seat duck for a long time.  Sometimes you still have issues with the car, but we took out the head pillow that keeps your head from bobbing around and you have gotten much better.

Some day you will let your Daddy sleep in his bed.  By 3 (ish.  I don't know.  I don't wake up enough to focus on the clock.), you have come to bed with us and effectively run him out of bed.  I wake up in the middle of the bed with you comfortably in either his or my spot.

You have a "Mama Time" still.  Come 8, it is time for me to hold you.  Sometimes you will hold off 'til 8:30, but once it's time for me to hold you, it's time for me to hold you.  I love snuggling with you during Mama time.  This is the only time of day that I can just hug you.

You LOVE Henry!  You think he is the funniest, most fun person on the planet.  You watch what he's doing from the minute both of you are awake to the minute you or he goes to sleep, you are checking to see where he is.



When Daddy comes home from work, you give him the biggest grin.  You let him hold you and play with you for a couple of hours and then it's Mama time.  Poor Daddy!  Some nights I just can't hold you and Daddy gets you to sleep.  When this happens, he loves to hold you.

Speaking of holding you while you sleep.  You, like your brother, sleep hot.  My p.j.s always smell like sweat.  Especially the left side, where your head is.

You started blowing spit bubbles and doing a lot of raspberries recently.  You are pretty proud of this skill.  You have practiced pretty hard at it and have become very good at it.  It's adorable.

You went swimming for the first time in July.  You made some funny faces, but eventually fell asleep and took a nice nap, floating in the water.  Daddy was right beside you the whole time.

You like to watch everything.  It seems like you pay close attention to anything you find interesting.  It looks like you study everything I'm doing.  I wish I could know what you are thinking.

We love you so much!  And we are so glad you came to be part of our family!

4 Month Clara

July 6th

4 month Clara is just as happy as 3 month Clara.  Except for being grumpy from all of her shots, you're an easy baby.  Except you DO NOT like being in the car for more than one stop.  Usually it does not matter if that stop is 3 minutes after we left the house or an hour.  If we stop, you think that means you should be able to get out of your car seat and not get back in until tomorrow.  Too bad for all of us life does not work that way.

You like to tuck your hand in my arm pit now.  When I put you to sleep, your right hand almost always finds a comfy spot up there.

You spent a lot of time dressing up as me this month.  This dress and a pink shirt and bloomers outfit were mine when I was your size.

You still have a goopy eye.  Maybe some day that tear duct will come unclogged all on its own.  Also, that vein between your eyes was not my fault!  The doctor said that I did not give it to you when you were teeny and had that nasty eye infection.  I had to force you to do the first round of drops, but I did not scar you in the process!  It's just a normal thing that will get covered by thicker skin as you get older.  Yay.

You still love your brother despite him occasionally doing what big brothers do best.  Most of the time he loves talking to you, playing with you, singing you songs, and telling you all about everything in life that is important, but sometimes he feels the need to toughen you up.  For example.  Monday, July 9th (slightly after your 4 month birthday), I was squeezing in a shower before you woke up.  You were sleeping on my bed beside Henry, who was watching a show in the Kindle.  When I got out, you were happily talking to your brother, and he to you.  Henry says to me "Mama!  Clara is thinking 'Why did my brother poke me in the eye to wake me up?'" (With his impression of you being in a very high pitched voice.)  I asked him why did he do that to which he responded "I don't know.  Sorry Clara."  He loves playing with you and is sad every time you go to sleep.  I hope you two love each other forever.

You had your 1st 4th of July before you turned 4 months.  We spent part of the day at FantasyCon while Daddy worked a booth.  You had your picture taken with Darth Vader.  Henry did not want to participate, but he was there with us.

After FantasyCon, we went to Grandmas for burgers and fireworks.  You were pretty cute in your little patriotic dress.  Even with your grumpy face on.

I can show gratitude by thanking Heavenly Father for my favorite things

Henry frequently comes home from church with coloring pages that have something to do with their lesson from Primary.  One of the lessons in July was about showing gratitude and he came home with a list of his favorite things.  Here are a few of Henry's favorite things this month.

Favorite Animal: Cow

Favorite Place to Go: The Park

Favorite Veggies: Green Beans
Favorite Fruits: Hamburgers

July

We spent the 4th of July day at FantasyCon.  Nate had to work the BEAU booth in the morning and we picked him up that afternoon.  We were able to walk around and see all of the people dressed up and all of the people selling fun toys.  After an hour or two of people watching, we headed to Grandmas house for some fireworks.

We decided to go to Idaho for the heck of it.  The Residence Inn in Idaho Falls (aka the hotel with the waterfall) is very nice and has to be Henry's favorite hotel ever.  His idea of a vacation is going to that hotel and swimming in the nice warm pool every waking hour.  It is a very nice hotel, we were all feeling like getting out of town, Emily, Ian, Rubye, Chelsie and Mike were ALL living in Rexburg for the summer, so we decided to go.  It was a fun long weekend! 

Clara got to go swimming for the first time.  She loved it so much that she fell asleep.  

So much cuteness in this picture.

We couldn't get them all to look at the same time.

Playing at the sand dunes.

We found the biggest black widow ever!  It was just chillin' on our rock wall.  Seriously, the thing was HUGE.  I'm talking body the size of a quarter.  Yuck!!

This sweet girl spent a lot of time in the wrap and on her boppy pillow this summer.  Love the pose.

Clara Selfie!

June

Here is June in pictures.  Our little adventures together.

Notice the big brother pulling her around.

We spent an afternoon at the park in Salem one Saturday this month.  It was a nice afternoon to be out together.

I love that I do not have to run out the door to work in the mornings.  We get snuggle time in bed every morning.