The End of Summer

Summer is coming to a close here in Oregon and boy oh boy am I ready for Fall!

I have a TON of photos and I'll be honest, I am a bit too lazy to go back and edit them all.

But, at least you get to see them!

 August seemed to take forever ... Seriously. It dragged on. But, we definitely had some fun!

Aaron: Hi Mama! We're just looking at the sky! See? There's an airplane

Audrey: Plane!

Aaron: Look Audrey, I see a bird, do you see it?

Audrey: Bird! Blue!

All of these things are imaginary, but that doesn't make them any less real to Audrey as Aaron points them out.

We enjoyed the last bit of super warm weather!

 

 We've loved having our garden and using our fresh peppers & tomatoes in our meals!
We have made tons of cobbler and parfait with the blackberries too!
 Our zucchini ... not so much. This is the only one we got! And it rotted so fast we didn't get to eat it.

 

We had to say good-bye to my friend, Jamie, and her family as they headed back to Utah.

Come again soon!

Aaron was so excited when he found a nickle and I explained it was worth 5 pennies!

Audrey is more about singing, Let it Go in her fashionable helmet than actually riding her bike.

Sitting at dinner, I noticed Aaron has a mark on his cheek. He was unable to recall how he got it so he made up a story: "the man scratched me..." What man? "Uh, a Lamanite!"

 Note to self: take off the headband before nap time! Also - has anyone else managed to spit and have it land in their ear? Adelynn has skills!

Each year, we take Aaron to a Pediatric Ophthalmologist in Portland so we can "keep an eye on his eye" - and every year, I get lost. This time around was no exception. Aaron noticed as I was driving that something was amiss and asked, "Mama, why did we go right back out the way we came?" "Because," I said, "I'm confused and a bit lost..." "Oh! You have to believe in yourself and you can do it!"
So super cute... don't worry, we made it just fine in the end.
 I like to think I'm a nice person ... but I get murderous tendencies when someone messes with my kid! They wanted to put drops in Aaron's eyes. I tried to explain the process to him and the doctor kept interrupting me trying to speed things up. When I finished, she corrected me saying he couldn't sit up, he had to lie down and I had to pin him. Suddenly, he started to freak out. As I tried to calm him, she motioned for her assistant to come over and as I was talking to Aaron, she came behind him and started pulling him back. I almost smacked her! Instead, I barked, "back off and give us a minute!" She looked so surprised. In the end, Aaron was still freaked out and we had to hold him down, and I honestly don't blame him! He would have been fine sitting up - and if the lady hadn't started yanking him down, I might have been able to calm him. Time for a new doctor...

 

Sometimes, this is just how I feel...

GP (my grandpa) sent the kids some old photos - one of them was my 6th grade school picture. Aaron saw it and decided to describe it to Audrey. "Look Audrey, it's a picture of mama when she was ... a little girl *looks at the picture closely* ... or a man ... or something..." Eric reassured him that I am and was a girl. Aaron looked at the image one more time and pointed out, "Daddy, Mama is flat!" This kid really knows how to boost my confidence...
GP also sent a check for the kids. He wanted me to purchase them some fun, flavored applesauce. After that purchase, they could pick whatever they wanted to finish out the amount on the check... It was like Christmas for them, haha! They chose 4 boxes of flavored applesauce, fruit bars, chocolate chips, otterpops, and yogurt! (Adelynn is lying down in the front of the cart)

I believe as a mom leaves the store with her children, there should be balloons, confetti, and a blinking sign that says, "Achievement Unlocked." Why do I think that?

1. Everyone made it out alive (including the other people in the store).
2. Moms have to say things like, "stop trying to ram your head into everyone that passes," or "get that egg out of your mouth," or "stop hugging the bread!"
3. Mom managed to track down the binkie that rolled under the grapes display (that was lost as she was carrying the baby who didn't want to be in the cart and pushing the card now full of food and 2 other kids).
4. No grapes were eaten before mom pays per pound.
5. Again, everyone made it out alive -- this is more of a miracle than you'd think.

I started to cry one day thinking of how my kids are growing up. I called Aaron over and begged for a hug. As we hugged, he asked what was wrong. I told him I don't want him to grow bigger, I want him to stay little. His reply was, "But Mama, I want to grow big. But don't worry, one day you will grow too; like me and Daddy!" ... was that a short joke?

 Sometimes, this kid is so creative, I can hardly contain myself!

Adelynn learned how to roll over during the month of August - both directions! Seriously, who said that was allowed?

 
We had to move Adelynn from the bassinet to the crib because she was doing things like this and getting stuck! As it is, she rolls over and over and over - slamming into walls or getting stuck against the side of the crib. Silly girl!

Sitting in another room, I hear Aaron, who was apparently looking for me, say, "Now, where is that humongous mama?" O.O Excuse me?!?
Aaron has also, apparently, started saying, "oh my cow," which is a saying I used in High School, but haven't used in years. Not sure who taught it to him, but it sure is funny!

We had to say good-bye to more friends :( We keep losing our friends to UTAH!

Luckily, we keep making new, great friends. Jake & Taci took Eric and I out to lunch for our combined birthdays! They surprised me with pre-arranging a song and dessert with the restaurant. I even got to keep my sombrero!

  

Aaron, why is Audrey crying?
Because ... I helped her ... really hard ...

I have started doing a Zumba work-out several mornings each week. The kids love to dance along side me, go under me, and in the end, they love to stretch with me. They will tug and sit on me to help me get a deeper stretch, and they'll invent new stretches for me to try, like this one Audrey demonstrated!

Aaron saw Eric and I having an ice fight (ya know, where you try to put ice down each other's shirts? We're mature, I promise...) He clearly saw how much fun we were having because I've since had to have several discussions with him about how it isn't ok to sneak up on people and put ice down their shirt without them knowing you want to play ... I apologize in advance to anyone my son surprises in this manner. I also apologize to my poor, cold, back.

Adelynn has learned to play with toys and loves them!

 

Audrey wanted to "ride" me - I guess it's my own fault for lying on the floor.
When I informed her she would have to wait for Daddy to get home, it escalated quickly... Notice how she brought a sword into the mix?

I love how much fun everyone has on D&D night!

Quiet time and nap time are hard these days ... especially since Audrey is figuring out every method we've come up with to keep her in her room!

 

Adelynn absolutely adores her brother!

We made sure to get one last visit in to Kelsey before summer ended!

 

Somewhere along the way, Adelynn turned 3 months old. I love how she smiles with her whole face!

 

Aaron is great at participating in Primary! He loves getting called up to the front to help!
We were struggling for a bit to have him grasp a desire to participate (or even sit on his chair...). While he was never disruptive, I wanted him to gain an appreciation for Primary. So, I set a reward system in place. After 2 weeks, he was hooked and rewards were no longer necessary! Way to go kiddo!





Aaron wanted to play hop-scotch and asked if we could go outside and draw it on the ground with chalk. It was raining, but I proposed this idea. The kids loved it. I slowly hated every number that had a curve in it ...

I am of the opinion that if you can't take care of what you've been given, then you have too much and need to downsize. After purging Aaron's toys twice he still was not cleaning his room - getting distracted and flat out refusing. So I took everything. Every, single, toy. He has slowly been earning them back one type at a time. And he knows that if his room is not clean when Daddy gets home, everything on the floor is taken again. Luckily, we haven't had to take anything a second time around. I'm definitely drawing this out and keeping his favorite toys to return very last so that the lesson sinks in. I don't want to have to do this again! He is learning how to be responsible, and I love it!
Taking in the snuggles!

Aaron came to me freaked out that he went in to wake Audrey and couldn't find her ...
Sometimes, you have to look in places other than the bed.

Good thing she's cute! Otherwise I might start to get frustrated that she rolls away when I reach for the wipes while changing her diaper...

Aaron spent the morning throwing up - so I limited his diet to applesauce and toast. He was so sad that he couldn't have a honey sandwich, so his little side-kick supported him and joined in his diet.

These kids LOVE their daddy! Especially story time!

Audrey does not like it when Daddy leaves. She doesn't throw a fit, but she uses her body language to let you know she's unhappy. She was even hanging on the knob at one point, but I missed it.
Some mornings, she hollers out, "Daddy! Come Back! Ive, Four, Tree, Toooooooooo, One! Uhoh! Trouble! Come Back!" She'll then growl at the door when he still isn't listening.

My kids are obsessed with carrying around their "things." Notice, under Aaron, is just about everything from his room ... Yes, I am aware my kids look homeless after playing in the dirt and drinking kool-aid.

Me: Guys, please don't fill the puppets with rocks...

Aaron: But we need these to get married!

Me: You need puppets filled with rocks to get married?

Aaron: Yes! We are on our way to the temple now so Audrey and I can get married!

They headed to their "temple" (aka, the shed) - the ceremony was quite cute; Aaron even called her Princess Audrey. Following the ceremony, they danced and then entered their play house, both exclaiming, "We're Married! Welcome Home!"

Adelynn is determined to suck her fingers - so much so that she will be gagging herself and still not take them out. She tries to keep them in her mouth while holding her own bottle (FYI - not physically possible). And she's my only baby to prefer them over a binkie!
Few things are cuter than painted, fat, baby toes!

 

Being an adult is hard ... but then I remember, I can buy whatever I want at the grocery store!

Hooray for macaroons!

Audrey is super smart. She is learning her colors and she is pretty great at counting! She counts backward from 5 really well, counts up to 3 consistently, and most of the time counts correctly to 10.

She likes to think she knows her letters. and sometimes she gets them right! I mean, when you're guessing a letter, you have a 1/26 chance of scoring big, right?

She also loves to pretend to sing songs...

Cute, right?
The kids and I love playing with the selfie-stick Ane got Eric for his birthday, haha