Hike: Fifth Water Trail

Our goal as a family this summer is to get out more, be more active, and expose our kids to the great outdoors more. We live close to three canyons so we decided that we wanted to hike a lot more this summer. So we got a baby backpack for my birthday in February, I checked out this book from the library, and last week the weather was nice enough for our first hike. We chose the Fifth Water Trail up Spanish Fork Canyon. It's a 2-mile hike up to some natural hot pots. Since this was our first hike and Molly was walking we just decided we would see how far we got. We didn't get all the way to the hot pots but we did go a mile in, took a break to eat dinner, then hiked a mile out. Molly did great and only had to be carried for about 5 minutes. Stockton also did great and even fell asleep in the carrier on the way back.

Here is our first "hiking" picture, hopefully there will be many more this summer!

Lazy Sunday Afternoons

We have church at nine, are home at twelve, and so when we aren't visiting family, we have the rest of the afternoon to relax and play. We usually try to squeeze in naps for everyone, Justin usually makes dinner, and usually around six we turn on America's Funniest Videos (or "the funnies" as Molly calls it). Sometimes the afternoon gets long so Molly makes up games to play...

Flying High

Justin's friend recently posted some good parenting tips on his blog. Among them was the following:

Go here to see the other tips.

I guess Justin didn't get the memo...

Easter Celebrations 1,2, and 3

I guess the good thing about having both sets of family close is that for each major holiday, we get three different celebrations: one at home and one at each sets of grandparents. We celebrated first at the Goodrich's. It's tradition to dye eggs with Grandpa and then hunt for candy-filled eggs hidden in the yard.At my parents we hunt for eggs as well. It was soooo cold and windy that day so the kids hunted inside this year. Grandma always includes a toy in their baskets.And at home this year the Easter Bunny came and hid baskets for the kids. Stockton's basket was in the dryer and Molly's was under the computer desk.

Family Pictures

(All pictures are still unedited...)

11 adults, 9 kids, and 1 dog

Not bad. At least we are all looking, even the babies.Now 2 adults and 9 kids. Classic. Hilarious. I really, really love this one.Later Molly told us she was sad because Justin and I weren't in the picture with her. We tried to explain that Grandma and Grandpa wanted one of them with their grandkids, but she thought it was "family pictures" and we are her family.

It had been a while since Justin and I had had any family pictures done. Molly was 9 months old. 3 years ago. Wow.Stockton became fascinated with sucking on his bottom lip that morning so we have a lot of pictures with him doing just that!
These are all pretty cute too.The mommas and the babies. 10 weeks from the oldest to the youngest.Family pictures...what an adventure! I think I know why we wait for so long in between!

9 months!

Oh, how times flies. Cliche, I know, but so true! At the doc, Stockton weighed 18 pounds...he dropped from the 19th percentile to the 11th. He just goes and goes and goes. Our trip to the doctor this time was humorous. Stockton would not sit still (surprise!) so he was crawling all over the little exam room. He was back and forth and was very interested in the doctor's shiny shoes. Then Molly started singing, and when she sings, he sings. And they were loud. Good thing the doctor has a sense of humor...and five kiddos of his own! He just laughed and said, "I see that you have your hands full with that one." He sent home a paper with us..."Normal Development: 9 months Old." Some of the things that a 9-12 month old might begin doing...

-continues to enjoy banging, waving, and throwing toys
-may resist diapering
-may pull self to standing position
-stands holding on to furniture
-may try to crawl up stairs

Stockton has proven to be excellent at all of the above. Justin's brother asked us what Stockton's favorite pastimes were and this is what we came up with: crawling, putting anything in his mouth, pulling mom and sister's hair, standing up, pulling things off of shelves, eating, and singing with his sister.

A few other pictures of Stockton in his 9th month...

His first time on a swing. He liked it! Although I couldn't get him to sit back so he looks very uncomfortable. Mostly I like this picture, because he is cute in his hat. Bathtime...not as easy as it used to be. He still loves the water but as soon as I put him in the tub he stands up. So I sit him down, and he stands up. It's like a game. I usually end up taking him out shortly after I put him in. He prefers to stand on the outside and watch Molly play. He's usually soaking wet by the time they are done playing.I forgot how good babies are at getting into things...he loves to pull everything off of anything. I'm constantly putting books, magazines, diapers, and Tupperware away.Stairs! One day I ran upstairs to get my shoes. I was gone for mere seconds but Stockton managed to make it to the 4th stair. I definitely underestimated him there. I have since bought a baby gate.After many, many ear infections, the doctor recommended tubes for his ears. So we did that a couple of weeks ago. Stockton did great! He couldn't eat anything after midnight and I was a little worried I would take him in and he'd been screaming and hungry but he was happy and smiling at anyone who looked at him. They also told me that he'd be too frantic and stressed after the surgery to take a bottle or let me rock him. But they brought him to me, I gave him a bottle and within 10 minutes he was sleeping peacefully. Glad to have it over and done and hopefully his little ears won't bother him again! (Did you know they made hospital gowns small enough for babies?)Since he started standing up, napping and bedtime is a bit more difficult. Stockton has always been pretty good at putting himself to sleep, but now...forget about it. If he's even a little bit awake, he rolls over, stands up, and cries. We're still working on this.Stockton definitely keeps me hopping each day, but we sure love having him as part of our family! I am enjoying watching him play with Molly each day and am anxious for when he can walk and talk. They are already the best of friends and play together in her room for long periods of time. She is still just the sweetest sister and is never mean to him. For that, I am grateful. Life is good.