Family Fun

Found some camping chairs just their size at Cabela's:

 Target practice:

 Drawing on my "teaching" whiteboard:

 He writes his name pretty well...just kidding.

We spent all day yesterday at Mountasia Family Fun center.  Dylan was cracking us up with his Lightning McQueen quotes as we rode the go karts over and over:

 It was my favorite part too:

 Passed out even though it was pretty noisy:

 Another car ride.  Freaky looking, no?:

 He golfs like a left-handed Happy Gilmore and cheats horribly.  He picks everyone's ball up and puts them right by the hole before tapping them in.  Thanks, buddy:

 Little Slugger and Big Slugger:

He got to the top even though his "forearms were on fire":

We stayed through nap time to get our money's worth.  Dylan fell asleep on the way home clutching the 7 little "go karts" he won at the arcade:

We know how to have a good time.

Dylan's 33 Month and Colton's 3 Month Update, with Videos

Before the updates, I was going through my camera videos and found a few I hadn't ever posted...as well as a few new ones.

Video of Dylan playing pretend upstairs back in February:

Video of Dylan going down the backyard slide into the little pool at the beginning of the summer:

Video of Dylan "playing" with Colton while he was "tanning" the bilirubin away:

Video of Colton not thrilled with tummy time:

Last weekend I froze Dylan's finger puppets in some ice and let him hammer them out to "save" them:

2 videos of the hammering:

Tummy time:

Video of Colton talking and almost rolling over:

Dinner with the Hewitt family (Adrian, Stephanie, Addy, Derek, and Avery), our dear friends from Euless right before they moved to Garland, TX:

 1st BBQ with daddy:

Dylan 33 Month Update:

*"Excuse me, but what are you doing?  You should go hold baby Colton sometime."  (As if I don't.  Sheesh.)

*"Hey, what do ya fink (think), mama?"

*"Eat your food, brother.  It's yummy."  And then he tries to push Colton's face back into my chest to help him stay focused.

*As he's walking out the door with Autrey: "I feel like I'm forgetting something."  I may have said that once or twice lately...

*Me: "Let's go ride your bike."

  Dylan: "Ok, mama.  I'll give it a try.  Let's get going."

*Dylan said "Hello" to a guy on our walk who said "Hi" back.  Dylan then says to me, "I just made a new friend."

*Walking to the car on a hot day: "Let's turn on the ABC."  (He meant A/C)

*When he is eating he will sometimes randomly say "Ech!  Tiggers don't like honey" even if he likes whatever we're eating.

*During sacrament while at church with Nana: "Where's Buster?" in a loud voice as Buster passed the bread and water.

*He likes rhyming words.  We continue to work on colors and counting objects.  I'm going to start introducing individual ABC letters.  The other day he pointed out all the "E"s on signs as we walked to the school park and back.  He also pointed to the "F"s, calling them "E"s, but that's pretty good.  He also knows "X" from the treasure map on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD.

*He still likes cars/toys to "watch" him eat/go potty/etc.

*Dylan and I love to chase each other around the kitchen island.  It is so fun.  We laugh and laugh.  It's actually a good workout for me, which shows just how much my body atrophied this pregnancy.

*During a nap he got out of his twin bed for the 1st time on his own.  We found him 'reading' his books after he had pulled them all off his little shelf.  I guess it's better than emptying his drawers or going out of his room.  It's been a few weeks and he hasn't done it again.  Hasn't earned the title of "flight risk" quite yet. 

Colton 3 Month Update:

*Colton is now in size 1 diapers.  He can still fit in most of his newborn clothes, but he is also wearing 0-3 month clothes.

*I am loving how chunky he is, especially the rolls at the top of his thighs.  His skin is so soft.

*He does the "bow and arrow" position with his arms.

*He now enjoys his nightly baths.

*Unlike Dylan as a baby, Colton will take a binky.  It's nice, but it makes me nervous that it will become a bad habit.  It's a better alternative than having him use me as a binky and nursing forever like he was though.  I'm planning on letting him use it for a few months and then phasing it out before he becomes attached to it.  I want to avoid future "sleep prop", teeth, and language problems down the road if he were to hang onto it. 

*He is starting to do better about not having to be held all the time.  He will be content in the swing or on his blanket on the floor for short stretches.

*At the end of July he had slept 5-6 1/2 hours in a row before but it wasn't the norm.  On August 1st he slept 8 hours in a row and on August 10 he slept for 10 hours in a row!  Light at the end of the sleep deprivation tunnel!! 

*Daily naptime is what we are working on now, since Colton is Mr. Cat Napper during the day. 

*It is cute to see him reach out and "play" with the objects on his crib mirror toy.





Weekend in Ruidoso, NM

On Thursday, we flew to New Mexico to meet up with the Dukes at Nana's house for the weekend.  The boys did great on the plane rides.  On the ground was a different story though.  Colton is a typical needy infant and Dylan is going through a phase where he is either good as gold or a little terror.  Adding lack of sleep to the mix from staying up late and getting up early caused Dylan to have a tough trip.  Unfortunately, I was still not recovered from mastitis and was low on patience to properly deal with the crying and the throw-himself-on-the-ground tantrums over sharing toys with his cousins even though he loves being with them.  That explains why there are not a lot of pictures.  Oh, well.  Life goes on.  It won't be so bad when I start consistently getting a good night's sleep.  Anyway, enough whining.  Here are the boys hanging out in the airport while Autrey was getting the rental car.  Is it me or does Dylan look grown up and tall in this picture?

 Dylan and Tommy in their twinkie Toy Story jammies:

 The boys and I took a nap on Nana's bed.  I woke up 1st and had to take pictures of the cuteness:

 We attempted to get a picture of the 6 grandkids, but this was as good as we could get with shadows and crying and blinking:

 

 Dylan riding Nana's tire horse he named Dunny, of course:

Despite the craziness, I'm glad we went to Nana's.  We got to see everyone, Autrey got to golf twice, and we escaped the blistering 100+ degree Texas heat.  That's a win in my book.   

Utah Family Reunion/Colton's Blessing Trip

This has got to be a record.  I've only been home from my Utah trip for 3 weeks and I've already compiled the pictures from my camera, Kristen's camera, and my mom's camera to put together this marathon post.  Thanks, dad, for taking time out of your busy schedule to burn them onto a disk so quickly!

I flew with Dylan and Colton by myself *gasp* at 6am *another gasp* to Utah for a week.  I was nervous, but the boys did great!  Dylan was a great helper in the airport pulling his little puppy suitcase and watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the portable DVD player during the 2 flights to Salt Lake.  Colton was chill on his 1st plane rides and just ate and slept the entire time.  Victory!    

I needed to wash clothes before I packed and Autrey brought the laundry bag downstairs for me...with a stowaway: 

So happy to see G-ma!  She gave him the Vegas style shirt.  It says, "What happens at grandma's stays at grandma's."

Bath tub time in GG's spa with Ashlyn and Jackson.  Aunt Meagan showed them how to make giant soap bubbles:

Playing with the motorcycles:

Ash and Colton:

My cousin Tyler's little girl, Kaydee, doting on sleeping Colton:

Colton and GG:

GQ/Pensive Sleeping Colton:

My mom made a friend named Irma during her morning swims at the Orem Rec Center.  This friend and husband sold most of their land (that is currently the Provo Riverwoods) but still board horses.  She invited us to come and take the kids for a ride on Dunny.  We loved it!  Dylan still calls all horses he sees Dunny:

Grandma Holdaway took us boating on Utah Lake.  None of us could go skiing (Mom's back, my recent C-section, Kristen's pregnancy, Meagan's busy schedule, Desiree's recent broken nose surgery/BYU summer classes), but we had fun on the tube and introducing the kids to the orange H-board, which Dylan referred to as a skateboard.  JaNae was driving slow for the kids while we were on the tube.  So slow that another boat's wake came over the front and dumped us all into the water.  Oops.  After the kids stopped crying it was really funny: 

A little stiff in the life jacket, no?

GG let Dylan drive for a while.  Let's just say he doesn't exactly go in a straight line:

This one was taken after we all got dumped.  No one bothered to tell me my "mas-scary" was all over the place, giving the look of a black eye:

My BYU roomie, Alison Merritt, drove up from Arizona while I was in town.  She's pretty awesome, especially since she just had knee surgery.  We drove around together visiting some of our old roomies.  Sarah Godfrey, with her sweet little girl she worked so hard to get here:

Becky Taylor, prego with miracle baby #4:

Traci Purser, with her miracle twins, Liam and Logan:

We went to Aunt Elaine's house to meet up with the Manti Millers.  G-pa and the big boys:

Puppy love:

Grandma Miller meeting little Colton:

Snuggling with Norma and her warm blanket:

Hairdresser G-ma giving Dylan his 3rd haircut.  She's fast.  She was done before he finished his Creamie:

"This little piggy..."

Who knew water and bowls could be so entertaining?

Love this little goober:

Water fun continued back at GG's house:

 Cute Grandpa and GG draining the water:

 We had dinner one night at Arctic Circle.  I lost count of the number of times food and drinks were spilled, but the kids enjoyed the play place:

Autrey flew in late Friday night and went with us to the Gordon family reunion (GG's maiden name)at Vineyard park on Saturday:

I'm sure Meagan would like me to clarify that's my baby, not hers.  Haha:

Yup, Ken is braiding Desiree's hair.  Lost his Man Card for that one:

"Fishing" for prizes with my cousin, Jan:

Dylan's favorite part of the whole day was riding the various cars in the "trains" pulled by the John Deere riding mowers.  Best babysitter ever.  He did NOT want to get off: 

Kristen, Meagan, Desirae Holdaway, me, and Meechelle Talbot:

Volleyball time:

Desiree' was serving, but my camera's a little slow.  I think I like these pictures better though:

Atim serving:

Underhand, Autrey?  Hmmmm...

Desiree' going for the kill:

Tinkle toes, Ken.  It's what happens after your Man Card is taken away.  (Ken, you know I love you.  I know you can take it and dish it right back.  Bring it.)

Dylan and Uncle Atim:

Colton with Uncle Atim and his bulging bicep:

Not just for the kids, apparently:

Even GG and her sisters got in on the fun.  I'm loving the bags over their heads to protect the hairdos from the rain.  Classic:

Dylan blowing his whistle:

The Holdaway clan...at least those who could make it.  We were missing quite a bunch:

Miller crew, minus Danny:

GG and her girls: Aunt Karen, Aunt JaNae, and mom:

Autrey and Ken playing baseball after Uncle Keith's temporary golfing holes he had set up were taken down.  Ken got his Man Card back:

After the reunion we met up with the Duke's and swam at their hotel.  Colton meeting Nana:

The crew attending Colton's blessing on July 15th:

Holly was the photographer of the group shot:

Dukes:

Millers:

Millers & Holdaways:

Aunt Norma, Aunt Marilyn, Aunt Elaine, and Aunt B:

With our 2 boys, the sleepy one and the squirrely one:

He looks good in the tux we borrowed from Jackson:

The 3 Great Grandmas:

Dad and his namesake, who he calls C.D. (Colton David):

G-pa and G-ma (with their plot of land they will be building their new house on this year behind them):

Aunt Desiree':

Uncle Ken and Aunt Meagan:

Mimi and Papa:

Mimi stealing Colton's sleeping sugar:

GG and Grandpa Holdaway:

Mimi:

Colton's 2 grandmas:

Papa:

G-ma:

Nana:

Shorty:

What Dylan was doing the entire time, but you probably could have guessed that!

So glad to see everyone and have you meet sweet baby Colton!

For posterity, G-ma took notes at Colton's blessing.  Colton, these are the things your dad blessed you with:

*To know you are a special spirit, that you are loved by your family.

*To know you can go to your family for help and comfort.

*That your body will grow strong and healthy.

*That you will overcome challenges you will face.

*That you will have a bright intellect.

*That you will learn the gospel and the scriptures.

*That you will learn in your youth the value of hard work and service to others.

*That you will be an instrument to the Lord and to His church.

*That you will receive all the ordinances of the gospel: That of baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, that you will receive the priesthood and blessings of the temple.

*That you will serve as a missionary and then take a worthy daughter of God to the temple to be sealed for time and eternity.

Counsel given you:

* Learn to listen to the spirit and follow the promptings when you need guidance.

*Stay close to your Heavenly Father.