lagoon

We got to go to Lagoon (our local amusement park) twice this summer!

Noah LOVES it there!  He talks about it all the time.

Noah was a little scared on the pirate ship.

He LOVED the swings!

He liked these cute little cars too.

tiny airplanes

I love this picture!  He kept getting his bumper car stuck.

They got soaked on Rattle Snake Rapids.

(and no, we didn't mean to have Noah and Abe be matchy-matchy)

Mini roller coaster!  Puff the Magic Dragon!

He loved the "helidoctors"!

We had lots of fun and hope we get to go again next year!

the potty

We started potty training Noah in January of this year.

yes, that's his underwear on his head

Nobody warns you how terrible potty training is.  

I can easily say that it is one of the most frustrating things I've ever done.  

It was soooo hard.  

He just didn't like it.

He took a good six months before he was ok with it.

He was tall enough that he could stand, so I figured out that he was much happier about it when he could stand to go potty.  "Just like daddy!", he said.

Now he does a really good job.

Yay, Noah!  You did it!

Daddy and I are so proud of you!

jumping

Another favorite thing for us is...

...jumping on the bed!

These pictures were taken in March of this year, just a week or so before Lola was born.

Now he likes to bounce Lola on the bed.  I'm sure he has lots to teach her!

He looks so little and fat in these pictures.  I miss that.

camping in escalante memorial day weekend

Abe took Noah camping in Escalante (south-east Utah).

I stayed home with baby Lola since she was only two months old.

It's a beautiful place!

They went on several hikes that were pretty long and Noah hiked them all by himself!

He had so much fun!

What 3 year old wouldn't have fun here?

Such a cool picture!  Here is Noah with his cousin Hank.

It was a super fun trip for the boys to bond and a lovely relaxing time for us girl to bond at home!

lola's blessing

We had Lola's blessing on May 1st at our church.

here's a little family photo afterward

Abe gave her the blessing and it was beautiful.

Her lovely little dress was made by my mom.

I really can't even put into words how much I love her dress!
It's a creamy eyelet fabric with white lace trim.
So beautiful!  Thank you, mama!

here is a picture of four generations of women

My cute grandma, Gayle Maxwell, on the left.  My sweet mom, Maurine Harris, on the right.
And of course baby Lola and me in the middle.
The women on my mom's side are very strong, smart and capable women.  I only hope Lola and I can inherit those traits.

While we were sitting in church, Abe and I were overwhelmed with gratitude and love for our families.  So much of my family was able to make it, which is rare due to the large number of us.  Five of my seven siblings made it along with my parents, grandma, and a whole bunch of my nieces and nephews.
Abe's younger sister, parents, grandparents, aunt and uncle were able to make it as well.

We are so thankful for our family and friends and all the love and support they give us.
We are especially thankful for the gospel and how blessed we are because of it.

Thanks to all our family for basically doing everything for us!  Cooking, serving, cleaning, entertaining, etc. so that we could relax and enjoy the day.

It was a beautiful day that we will always remember.

bike

This summer, we helped Noah with his new training wheels and helmet on a great little hand-me-down bike.

He loved it!

Since we have a gravel driveway, we have to go next door to Grandma Apple's to ride in their driveway.

He's starting to catch on.

A few times I took him to the park and walked Lola in the stroller while he biked around the whole thing.

We'll do a lot more of it next summer I'm sure.

In addition to riding his bike, Noah kept Lola busy this summer.

He treats her a bit like a little doll sometimes.

big brother

Noah is a very good big brother.

He loves his "stister" Lola very much.

He's certainly had to adjust, but he's doing really well with it.

he ALWAYS makes sure she has LOTS of toys to play with

he's learning that maybe some toys are a little too big for her just yet

he pushes her in her swing

he makes sure she has LOTS of toys to play with

holds her hand and comforts her when she cries

and... makes sure she has LOTS of toys to play with

In this one, he had given her a pair of his (clean) underwear in case she had a poopy diaper.

I thought that was pretty thoughtful of him.

He's such a good big brother.



anniversary #4

Today is our wedding anniversary!

Abe and I have been married 4 years.

We think it's funny how short 4 years is because it feels like we've been married forEVER.  I mean that in a good way.

Abe is such a sweet man, he is so good to me. 

He loves me like crazy despite my MANY faults.  He always makes me feel capable, worthy, beautiful and happy. 

That's no small task when you're married to me.

He has such a laid back attitude

that compliments my high-strung attitude.

Whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed or upset or crazy, he can make me feel calm.

We find each other funny.  We have fun giggling together.

I find him quite handsome.

He's a wonderful husband, an amazing dad and I love him so very much.

I love you, dear!

Happy 4th Anniversary!

a picnic

It has been such a cold spring this year, we have to grab any bit of sunshine we can.

A few weeks ago, we had a day that was just over 70 degrees.  Noah was loving the warm weather!

So instead of pulling him away from it, I put some lunch in a basket and brought it outside for a picnic on the back lawn.

Lola lounged in her car seat.

Noah was very happy with this idea.

It got warm enough that we moved it into the shade.  Noah rested his little elbow on my knee and talked my head off.  He talked about the birds in the tree, what shape the clouds are, the bugs and worms he'd been digging up.

Then for nap, he decided to snuggle my boots and crashed within minutes.

It was a good day.

two months

Lola has already passed her 2 month mark!

She's 22 inches long, weighs 11 pounds and flashes us the cutest smiles all the time!

She has a reflux issue, but the doctor put her on some medicine that is helping a whole lot.  She's much happier... maybe that's why she's smiling so much lately!

She's such an easy baby.  So laid back and rarely makes a fuss.  So sweet and snuggly, she burrows into my neck when I hold her.

And YAY... she still has all her hair!  It's so thick and long all over her little head.  And the color is so pretty with more than a hint of strawberry in it.

Her cheeks are getting so fat, I can't help but kiss them all the time.

I was so amazed after Noah was born at how much I could love him, I just couldn't imagine it would be possible to love another one as much.  But it's like my sister told me, your heart just gets bigger with each child.

She is such a sweet addition to our little family.

It's hard to believe she just got here because it feels like she's always been with us.

little noah moments

Let me just preface this post by saying I have a LOT of catching up to do.  But Abe took Noah camping this weekend while Lola and I stayed behind, so it got me missing my little buddy.

Here are a few fun Noah moments I happened to catch on camera:

he loves it when I help him build things to drive his cars on

he loves to wear glasses or goggles of any kind

he likes to pretend his stuffed animals are his babies so he piles them into Lola's bouncer

he LOVES to snuggle with his daddy

What a bunch of cuties!

What a sweet life!