4 Months



Miles had his 4 month old check up at the doctors yesterday. I'm way into stats. Here they are:

 

Weight: 17lbs, 6oz (93%)

Height: 26 inches (85%)

Head: 16 3/4 inches (60%)

 

Love you little one! You bring so much joy into our lives!!!



All About My Boys

So this is a post full of pictures from the last few months. Both boys had their 2 month and 2 year old doctor appointments in July. Here are the stats:

 

McKay:

Weight- 27 lbs 8oz (45%....dropped a big percentage!)

Height- 36 inches (85%)

Head- 19 cm (30%)

 

A little about McKay:

* Doesn't love food like he used to. Has turned into a picky eater...hence the drop in weight gain. I have a tall but skinny child.

* Food he does like: Ice cream, Mac and Cheese, ice cream, sugar, Cheerios, honey (on toast and sandwiches, ice cream...did I mention SUGAR???

* Still loves his papa. "Papa's house," "Papa's church!," "Papa's horses."

* Talks a lot, usually pretty easy to understand.

* Loves to be outside, especially following daddy around the yard as he works outside

* Started climbing out of his crib and would not stay in his room. So currently his mattress is on the floor as we are looking for a bedroom set. We also had to change out his door handle and put a lock on the outside of his door. Stays in his room at night but we have major issues at nap time. Only takes a nap about 30% of the time but I make him take a "quiet" time in his room. His room is usually a mess by the time I get him out. His famous words are, "No lock a door, no lock a door!"

* Is starting to pay a lot more attention to Miles...doesn't always know how to be totally soft. Likes to wrestle with him

* Still loves his bath time

* Says prayers and doesn't like help saying them from us

* Loves books and is a total imitator. It's amazing the way his mind works. We think he is so smart!

* Can find Netflix on our phones and will watch "Bob the Builder" or "Sesame Street." My dad also introduced him to Mickey Mouse cartoons on YouTube and he can pull these up as well. How does a 2 year work a smart phone? Asks to watch "Price is Right" during breakfast. This is his mom's fault...

* Favorite thing to do? Help mom make dinner and loves to be my taster. Wants to taste everything...so I let him taste everything...good or bad. Hey, I figure it helps him to learn

* Favorite thing #2? Take pictures on our camera. Says, "I want CHEESE!"...aka, I want the camera

* A big tantrum thrower and we are working on being consistent. Has to be held down in time out most times because he keeps getting out. This part breaks my heart but I hope he is learning and will catch on soon

 

A little about Miles:

* Is my chunky-monkey...has rolls all over!

* Loves to eat, still is just breast-fed

* First smiled just one day shy of 6 weeks...such a smiley baby

*Cannot roll over yet...I assume it's all the weight he has to take with him!

* Goes to bed around 8:30pm and sleeps until 5:00-6:00am, eats and usually goes back to sleep for a few hours

* Horrible napper...cat-naps. Falls asleep in my arms but wakes up when he is put down most times.

* Loves to be held. Was a fussy baby whenever he was put down until he was about 3 months. Now he is as chill as ever and can sit in his bouncer or bumbo just watching whatever we are doing

 

Love my little boys!! They sure keep me busy



 Got an awesome tool set from his cousins for his birthday and it will keep him busy for many hours

 Waking up from his nap. He was cranky and wasn't happy I put Miles in with him

 For McKay's 2 year birthday, we took my grandma and cousins to Liberty Park to play on the splash pad. Miles fell asleep on my mom's lap

 McKay loves tractors. I tried to do him a tractor cake but it did not turn out the way I wanted at all. But McKay knew what it was right away so I guess that's all that matters. This is a homemade red-velvet cake though and it was SO GOOD...as was the cream cheese frosting!!

 McKay licking the frosting before we could sing to him. Like I said, he adores sugar!

 Ice cream

 Love, love, LOVE sleeping babies! So peaceful! Mmm, I just want to eat him!!

 Taking pictures, what else?

 Lovin' on his brother

 I'm such a big boy

 For FHE a few Monday's ago, we decided to go to the Bountiful temple and teach McKay a little about temples. I taught him the song, "I Love to See the Temple" and he caught on to it so fast. He sings it all the times and it melts my heart. It's amazing the things that stick in a child's mind. They are far smarter than we even know!

 My cousin Larissa came with us to the temple. She was such a good help with the baby

 Families can be together FOREVER!!

 McKay loves holding Miles now...Miles isn't so sure about it

 Miles with his cousin Tate. Look at those fat legs! Go Cougs!!!

 Bubbles in the tub

 2 year old pictures

 2 month's old

Island Park

Every year my mom's side of the family gets together to go to Island Park and camp for a week. Gary and I just started going last year. I am NOT a camper in any way, shape or form. I don't like to get dirty or smell like campfire, I like sleeping in my own bed and I want a flushing toilet at my beck and call. But we actually had fun last year (my aunt and uncle were gracious enough to let us stay in their cabin there) and McKay of course loves the dirt, the food (treats), the fire and all the kids to play with. Unfortunately, Sherry and Jay sold their cabin which meant....we had to tent it. BOO!!! All the other families besides my parents and siblings have trailers but since none of us love camping, we don't even own much camping gear. Gary's family loves to camp and that is usually the family trip each year so we have a few essentials..but not a ton. I was worried about taking a 2 month old and a free-spirited 2 year old but it wasn't too bad.

In order to spare the other campers of Miles's cries in the night when he wakes up to eat (he only wakes up once between 5:30am-6:30am), I decided to sleep in the back of our van with him. I thought it would be a little warmer as well. It was but it was not as comfy as I was hoping. Oh well, it worked for us. Gary shared a tent and a flat air mattress (looks like we need to re-stock our camping gear!) with McKay. McKay would start on one side of the air mattress and through the right would rotate around Gary's head and end up waking up on the ground next to the air mattress. No blankets or anything but Gary says he never woke up and fussed. Gary on the other hand didn't sleep as well due to the traveling 2 year old! We went for 3 days and the consensus was we were glad we went!

We boated for 2 days and did a lot of tubing since the lake was so crowded. My dad rented 2 jet skis and those were enjoyed by all. On our last day I got a really good ski run in that made my whole trip. I learned to ski behind my uncle's boat probably about 15 years ago and it is still my favorite boat to be pulled behind. He is a pro-driver too though! We had so much good food. Every family was in charge of one meal and provided food for everyone. Lunch and snacks were on your own. Both boys were pretty good although I don't think Miles was put down AT ALL and when we got home, we had to go through a little rough period when he realized it wouldn't be the same treatment at home! And McKay found every treat to be had in camp and always wanted, "Sugar!" or "Nummy!" So fun to see and visit with family we don't live around. Thanks to my sister-in-law for the pictures. Yes, I brought my camera but didn't get it out once. I fail at picture taking!

 So this little girl adores Miles. She was always asking to hold him. She even admitted, "He is just so beautiful, he takes my breath away!" Out of the mouth of babes. Love her, love him!

 McKay taking the reins on the jet-ski with daddy.

 Riding the tube with the youngins'. Felicity and McKay were having a blast. Every little wave McKay was laughing and saying, "Bump, bump, bump!"

 Felicity and McKay..favorite cousins.

 The kids were making a "magic potion."

  I adore this face!

More tube rides

Gone Fishin'

Once again my sister hooks us up with fun things to do this summer. Our latest adventure was going fishing. There is a trout farm in North Ogden. It is free to fish and they provide the rods. All you do is buy a little fish food, hang your line into the pond, throw some food in and literally hundreds of fish are jumping all over your hook. So, it isn't that hard to catch them. You have to keep what you catch but you take your fish into a little building there and they clean and fillet the fish for you. You pay for that to be done to your fish (and that is kind of pricey) but it's the whole experience. Once again, McKay wasn't afraid at all and was so excited to see all of the FISH! He loves water so much I thought he was going to get in and swim with them!

 Just waitin' for a nibble

My sister took this picture with my i-phone. I don't know how to make it bigger but I had no idea his hat was over his eyes until I looked back through the pictures. Poor boy couldn't even see the fish he caught!

A Boy Loves Him a Horse

McKay loves him some horses, or as he so fondly calls them, "Papa's horses!" Any horse he sees is "Papa's horse." No, my dad does not own any horses but most Sunday's we go to my parents house for dinner. After eating, Papa takes him and Chase on a wagon ride to see and sometimes feed a neighbor's horse some carrots. I guess he doesn't quite understand that they aren't "Papa's horses"...but just the fact that whenever he gets to get close to a horse, he is usually with Papa.

Well, Shani's mother-in-law, Jan, works with a nurse who owns some horses. Horseback riding was on Jeneveve's "dream" list of things to do in her lifetime. (She is 3). Jan was kind enough to ask her friend if she would let a whole bunch of kids ride her horses. So off we went to ride horses...well, at least the kids. Let me just say, McKay is not afraid of anything or anyone. The horses were brought out of the trailer and he was the first to go up to this little pony and start "introducing" him self to the little fella. 

 McKay and Jeneveve riding together...their helmets kept hitting each other with each bounce.

McKay acted like a total natural on the horse. After one circle around the ring, we looked up to see him with one hand on the saddle horn and one hand resting on his knee...looking like a total cowboy! He is awesome!!! I keep wondering what he is going to be or do when he grows up???

California Trip

When Miles was just 3 weeks old, we packed up and went on a road trip to California. I felt crazy for taking a 3 week old and was very antsy because I was so worried about germs. But Gary's brother Adam was graduating from UC Irvine with his PhD and it was a big deal for his whole family to be there to watch him graduate. His family decided to make it a week long trip starting in San Diego and making our way up to Anaheim...for a quick 2 day trip to DISNEYLAND!!!...and then on to Adam's graduation that Saturday. Gary and I were nervous to have all 4 of us in the same hotel room seeing that McKay still sleeps in his crib. He ended up sleeping in a double bed every night with Gary and I had a bed to myself so I could get up to feed the baby and try not to disturb the other 2. After the first night when McKay was jumping all over Gary thinking he was playing "games" with him, he slept pretty well. Gary on the other hand pretty much got pushed to the very edge of the bed each night. It's easy to say McKay really moves around when he sleeps.

Here is a quick run down of our time in California and then I will unload the massive amount of pictures!

We left on a Friday. Gary came home a little early from work so we could get a head start and beat the afternoon traffic in Utah County. We were headed to St. George to stay with Ron, Gary's dad for the night. I'm so glad we broke the trip up. The baby slept the whole way except for one stop to feed. McKay watched movies on my dad's portable dvd player. They both travelled really well I thought. One little mishap...McKay had just had fruit snacks. Soon he started coughing and next thing we know, he had thrown up everywhere. I think he has a tad bit of car sickness. Good thing we were almost to St. George and had a washer and dryer at our convenience!

Saturday Gary and McKay went 4-wheeling with Ron. McKay did not want to get in the quad but when they got back, Gary said McKay loved it and kept saying "more!" We left St. George and headed to Las Vegas where we stayed with Natalie and Jason for the night. We introduced them to a restaurant Gary took me to in Washington DC and has now become my new "tied with The Olive Garden" favorite Italian place. It is Maggiano's and only found in a few cities across the USA. Thankfully Vegas is one of them. We left the kids home with a babysitter and us 4 adults enjoyed a few hours of being "kid-free" and a delicious dinner. Creamy pesto four cheese ravioli is to die for!

Sunday Gary and I got up, went to church then we headed on our way. We got to San Diego and had a yummy dinner at a little Mexican restaurant. Janna and the Campbells got in that night.

Monday was cold and overcast. Of course that was a beach day. We went to look at a light house and look at some tide pools. The Giffords got in town and we headed to the beach. We were there only a short time because it was so cold. We went back to the hotel to let the kids swim in the hotel pool. We got ready and then went to dinner at a Italian place. I totally forgot the name of all of these places we ate at. After we went in search for some ice cream.

Tuesday it was nice and hot. We went to the San Diego zoo this day. The kids LOVED this day and I will have to admit, I don't need to go to another zoo again. Nothing will beat how big and massive this zoo it. I can't think of many animals it didn't have. We stayed until it closed and then went to In N' Out burger on our way to Anaheim.

Wednesday was spent at my most favorite place...Disneyland! I love, love, love that place and can never get enough of it. I love that McKay is getting older and is understanding it more. He liked all the rides he could go on which I thought was quite a few. He was so good this day. Gary and I took him back to the hotel in the afternoon for a little nap both days and that was really smart. With all the fast passes and child swaps, we all got to ride on pretty much everything.

Thursday was California Adventure day. I loved the Toy Story ride! We saw World of Color for the first time and it was pretty amazing. I love how magical Disney is to even an adult!!!

Friday I was able to stay in the hotel for the morning with McKay and Miles. Everyone else went on a whale watching boat. We met up with them that afternoon for a fun day at the beach. McKay loves water and sand. That night we got Cafe Rio and went to eat dinner in a park. Gary bought me and Leslie a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake since today was her birthday and mine was the next day.

Saturday was spent packing up and doing graduation for Adam. On the way to his graduation, Gary got pulled over for being on his cell phone in California. We even have wireless connection in our car and he just hadn't hooked his phone up. 3 other cars were following us and Gary was stressed about people keeping up. Anyway, sadly his ticket for even a first time offense was $173!!! OUCH!!! Lesson learned. That night we all had a celebratory dinner at the Yard House. Dinner was delicious and after it was over, most of us drove through the night back to Natalie and Jason's in Las Vegas.

Sunday we spent driving home. It was a long drive but once again, both boys did so well. It was a great week but Gary and I were exhausted from lack of sleep. You will notice the bags under my eyes and tired look in most pictures. Now for the pictures...

 Miles getting some lovin from his cousins. Matthew and Tate loved Miles

San Diego temple. Once again I was in the car feeding the baby

 These packed full vans belong to us!

 Adam and McKay. McKay has definitely found his nose!

Toy Story!

The Carousel at California Adventure. McKay rode this over and over...probably his favorite ride!

 My beach boy

 McKay loves him some treats...especially ice cream!

Ryan and McKay getting a ride on the luggage cart

 I missed family pictures. I was in the van feeding a very hungry baby

 McKay was wiped out from a busy day and no nap. This is him in Miles's car seat at the restaurant. He stayed this way all through dinner

I carried Miles around in our Ergo pack the whole week. He loved being close and this is what he did most of the time