My favorite picture spot...

I have had success taking pictures in this same spot on two different occassions, so I've decided it's my new favorite spot :) There is just something I love about these little steps and cute kids! I think it may be time to take my kiddos to the spot and see if we can get something. Hopefully they cooperate and make it 3 in a row! (Insert nervous laughter here...)

This is what I got tonight........

And previously......

And something about this spot screams that the pictures should look sort of antiquish or something.....

Wondering where this spot is? Gardner Village. Go try and find it :)

Imagination

I often hear that Gavin has a really great imagination. He being my first, I'm not really sure what's "the norm" but he does seem really creative and imaginitive to me. I try and write down a lot of the things he says or comes up with, but I really could do better at it.

He really likes to pretend we are different people. Mostly we pretend that someone is Phoebe (our old dog) and someone is Carlie (Phoebe's new master). If he is the one being Carlie, he always likes to point out that he is a "boy" Carlie, not the girl Carlie. It's funny how into gender he is.

The other day he watched Aladdin and as soon as it was over he informed me that he was going to be Aladdin, I was the genie and Billsy was Abu. He kept telling me how he needed a magic carpet. I got the rug from the front door and set it down and told him he could use that. It apparently wasn't good enough because he really wanted me to let him fly on it. I tried to explain that magic carpets just aren't real and there wasn't anyway for him to fly on it and if I lifted him up on it he would just fall off. Boy was I wrong....

He sure found a way! Now if that's no imaginative, I don't know what is.

In just 2 short months...

....my baby will be year old! I seriously cannot believe it! Where did the last 10 months go. I know I've done stuff, but it's honestly just FLOWN by. Max gets bigger every day and just the other day while we were camping he decided he would start doing what I call "big boy crawling". Both of my boys have done that funny little army crawl, scoot thing at 9 months and then 10 months they both started "real" crawling. They are so different in so many things, but they have hit so many of those baby milestones at similar times. I don't know why I get so excited when they crawl for real...knowing me and how sensitive I can be about my kids, it's probably because I'm afraid others are laughing at them and their funny crawling. In any case...here's a little bit about Billsy:

He is the HAPPIEST baby in the world! I know a lot of people say that about their kids, but honestly, you just don't get much more content than Max. He already has such a zest for life and the cutest little personality. I have a feeling he's going to be my easy going kid. He is RARELY without a smile.

He loves food. It's so nice that he can eat small pieces of whatever now. He really enjoys it and the second anyone starts eating, he finds his way to them.

He goes to bed like an angel. It's almost sad how easy it is to put him down for a nap or bedtime. He does not want to be rocked or cuddled, you just lay him right down. I miss the cuddling part but I will take the ease with which he does this. I still get plenty of loves.

He says Mama and Dada, and we were pretty sure the other day he was saying Tay when she was tending for me!

He LOVES his big brother. Unfortunately Big Brother doesn't always think it's the best to have Max playing with his stuff. I'm sure that's just normal and there will be plenty of battles to referee between the two! Sometimes Gavin can be incredibly sweet with him though. Especially when Max will wake up, Gavin loves to say, "Good morning, Brother! How was your sleep?" and give him big loves.

At his 9 month check up he weighed in at 21 1/2 lbs (Gav was that by 6 months, so I still feel like Max is small!)

He still only has 2 little teeth and he hasn't even had those for very long. That is something Gavin and Max have differed in for sure. Gav had teeth by 5 months and got them fast. Max has so far been a better teether though!

He is pulling himself up to furniture...he loves it! You can just tell he thinks he's pretty big!

I am sure in love with this cute little guy! Here's a video of his big boy crawling and saying mama, but I took it sideways and I can't find a way to flip it.

Camping...Again

We love to camp. Seems like we should do it a lot more than we do. Camping trips with my family are some of the greatest memories I have from growing up. I remember silly things about someone (eh-hem, Brittani) being worried the watermelon was going to float down the river, getting completely drenched just about everytime we would go camping and the feeling we had when we first went in the trailer and it rained, my brothers making up jokes while we were all trying to go to sleep (always about farting...) and the WONDERFUL time we spent together as a family. I think Keith's family was much the same and many of his memorable family experiences were from camping trips. In any case, I'm glad we're taking the time to do these things with our kids, and although they might not remember these few trips while they are young, hopefully it will start to build a family tradition and instill in them a love for the beauty of nature.

We headed out to Whitney Resevoir and I loved the selclusion of it. We probably only saw 2 other cars the entire time we were there and that was just people passing us to go to the lake. Keith, Gav and Cecil spent lots of time fishing while Max, Carol, and I got to chat and relax. The first fishing trip yielded 12 fish but the second day wasn't quite so prosperous with only 1 fish caught in the last 10 minutes of fishing! We ate lots of good food, played horseshoes (which I learned I am TERRIBLE at) and played a card game called Quiddler that I will be investing in because I never got a chance to win and will be needing some practice!

I feel very fortunate that we have a trailer. I doubt I would have wanted to brave camping at all this year with Max if we didn't. It's already hard enough where he can't get down in the dirt, but it's not as bad with a trailer. I'm really looking forward to next year when he's older and I won't have to take care of quite so many "baby" things.

Thanks for letting us crash your trip, Mom and Pops! We had a great time!

He forgot to put his pants on before his boots...it was hilarious!

This is apparently a great shot...don't ask me, I suck a horseshoes!

After a long day of fishing...

He's so sweet

Best Friends and Soccer

I don't know that at 3 you really have a "best" friend, but Gavin sure plays well with a certain friend. Keith's best friend growing up and his wife had a baby about 2 months before we had Gavin. These 2 little guys have grown up playing together and we're getting to that stage in life where they start actually "playing" together. It's so cute to listen to them and hear what they say to eachother.

Grant and Jason invited Keith and Gavin to go to a Real Salt Lake soccer game with them the other day. I wasn't there but Keith said Gavin enjoyed it and now Gavin keeps talking to me about soccer. His Aunt Tay will be excited to know this since she loves soccer. Maybe Gavin will take after her!

Best Buds...Gavin and Jason

Here's the skinny...

I hate skinny jeans. Whether it's just the fact that they are called "skinny" jeans, or the actual look of them, I'm not sure, but I despise them. If you're reading this right now wearing your skinny jeans, it's not you I hate. I won't even mock you if I see you wearing them. You probably look cute in them. I think it's the fact that I know I would NEVER pull them off. Maybe I'm slightly jealous that I know it would be a completely humiliating process to try and pull these things up over my rear. I can see it now....IF (and I mean IF) I could possibly squeeze one pant leg up over my calf, I would still have the second one to conquear. If I could in fact pull that off, I can just picture myself desperately flailing on the floor as I try and wriggle them up the rest of me. And forget trying to button and zip the darn things. Not a pretty picture. I take a deep breath and calmly assure myself that they probably don't even make them in my size so there is no need to try and conform. Only, I know this isn't true. I've seen one too many girls wearing these concoctions who, eh-hem, should not.

So I'll suck it up (or in...) and not wear the latest fashions. And be thankful every day of my life that these things weren't popular when I was younger...

Some cuties...

My sister has been bugging me to take some family pictures for awhile. Finally she roped me down...it's not that I don't enjoy it, I have just been so BUSY lately. (Doing what, I'm still trying to figure out...). It always feels like such a big stress to get my kids taken care of so that I can do this, and I worry so much about the pictures turning out. Then I get out there and remember how much I love it. I wish I were better at it, and hope to one day learn more. But for right now and where I'm at in my life, this works.

I could not love these little kids more than I do. They are so sweet and precious. I'm so blessed to be their Auntie. And so blessed to have an amazing sister. Oh, and Chris is alright too :)

I can't even stand how cute she is....

and this little one is sooooooo SASSY!

They dont' get much cuter than this....

And this one just makes me want to giggle!!!

and this is too sweet...

Chris is a great dad....you can see how much they love him!

From a child's point of view...

I hesitate in posting this because there are certain people in this world who are very suspicious. Am I making sense? Let me re-phrase...there are certain people in this world who if you look at them just a little bit funny they immediately suspect you are pregnant. Does anyone else know people like this, or is it just something about me?

So, please take note:

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT, DO NOT intend to become anytime in the near future, pregnant. Understand? Glad we could work that out.

Now that we've settled that, I would like to share a little conversation Gavin and I had while I was getting him ready for church yesterday.

Gavin: "Mom, I just don't want to do my hair. I just want to wear my hat."

Me: "Bud, we don't wear hats to church. We never wear hats to church."

Gavin, "But, Mom, I just want to wear my hat to church."

Me: "Honey, we don't wear hats to church because it's not very respectful to Heavenly Father."

Gavin (looking astonished): "He's going to be there?!?!"

Me (surpressing a giggle): "Yes, he's always there."

Gavin: "With my sister?"

I lost it at that point and honestly don't remember what was said next. Probably something to the effect of "You're going to be waiting a long time for a sister."

I think Keith really wants a girl. I'm not saying I wouldn't like having one, but I'm pretty sure Keith won't feel like his life is complete until we have both boys and girl(s). He would in fact not mind having one sometime in the near future (refer to disclaimer). Since I am apparently being stubborn (I forgot that selflessly giving your body up for 9 months is being stubborn...) Keith is always saying things to Gavin like, "Tell Mom you need a sister. Wouldn't you like to have a sister, buddy?" Gavin responds with telling my parents he's going to have a sister, and telling me he needs 20 sisters. Ugh. And what if our next baby (again refer to disclaimer) happens to be another brother? Well, we will be thrilled because a baby is a baby whatever way you look at it and we'll just be happy and call ourselves blessed.

Out of the mouths of babes...

What's your make everything better song?

Music is a big passion of mine. I love it. Inspirational, country, rock, you name it. I think music is one thing that many people can share in common. I truly believe that music is very powerful. Whenever I have a rough day I have a particular song that I will play that helps to change my mood. Is this corny? Maybe, but it works for me. And my song has been the same one for as long as I can remember. Travis Tritt's "It's a Great Day to Be Alive". I'm considering starting every day with it and see how it works :) If you've never heard it, I'm posting a YouTube video of it (and my white trash, country roots will definitely show...). Now, I want to know YOUR song! Leave a comment and tell me. Who knows, maybe mine will change!