At the Cabin - Pt. 3

Jericho welcomes you to July ;)

Avery and Malachi playing superheroes.  Avery was a bit obsessed with the Colorado fires during vacation.  We had to check the news and pictures every day.  She would pray for the people in Colorado, her friend Josie, and for the firefighters.  She decided she would be a superhero and stop the fires. :)

My dad's birthday is July 1st.  He loves dessert... so I tried this pinterest find.  Cookie dough, peanut butter cup, then top with brownie batter.  Good gracious they were too rich for me, but everyone seemed to like them (in small quantities :))!

Love my boys.

Ezra wanted to try on Jericho's hat.

Chris just being Chris :)

You know how Ezra likes Adele?  Well, Grandma Bubba is the BEST at making Ezra laugh.

I got Ezra ready for the bath, turned around and this was happening.  I didn't realize he could pull up that well!

Joe getting the hang of the wake surf board.

Jacklyn got it! :)

Enjoying a boat ride. :)

Watch out, Avery's driving!

I thought about having a post dedicated to Ezra's journey to crawling... but I realize he probably did it like most babies... right?  I just love having a crawler!!  Avery didn't crawl, so this has been fascinating and fun for me!  Here is what Ezra was doing at the beginning of vacation.

This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it... Jericho looks like he's saying "what are you making me do?" and Sam is just kissing Lily. :)

Speaking of dog kisses, Avery and Syrius really bonded this summer.

Some pretty cute boys...

Grandma Bubba is so fun to play with.  What may seem like a simple balcony becomes the setting for a variety of adventures!

Look at that chubby boy.

We learned something about Ezra on this vacation.  We knew he was very sensory, but we didn't realize that lots of people/noise would overwhelm and over-stimulate him (more so than the average kid).  He handled that by screeching.  LOUD.  Daddy did a great job of helping Ezra - he would take him out to the deck and swing with him.  Ezra loved it.  It got him away from everything and calmed him down. :)

The walk down to the water.  Not bad unless you're carrying a big baby or toddler.  Ha.

Lily would play 24/7 if we let her.  She lost almost 20lbs on vacation!!

At the Cabin - Pt. 2

Here's the end of our June!

My Dad bought a wake surf board for Joe (and others :)) to try this summer.  Here is Joe's first run!  You use the rope to get up, then you throw the rope in and surf on the wake.  It's crazy!  I'll have pics later of Joe mastering the surfing! :)

Avery said she needed floaties to go fishing.

Avery and Malachi shared a room for the first time this summer.  My step-mom-in-law sent bunk beds in the U-Haul and my parents took them up to the cabin.  Perfect.  They aren't stacked yet... perhaps in years to come.  Anywho, Avery got to help pick out bedding for her bed at the cabin.  I love what she chose. :)

Ezra and I enjoying the swing.

Mommy-son time on the dock. :)

I love his cheeks!

Some morning sibling snuggles...

Ezra laughing at something... :)

This is what happens when you don't have any doorways to put a johnny-jump-up in and you HAVE to have a way to contain a mobile baby boy. :) He wasn't officially crawling yet, but he would reach/roll/climb to get wherever he wanted.  He is hanging from the log beam in the living room. :)

I love how Ezra looks at his daddy.

3/4 of a family picture (Ezra was in bed). :)

At the Cabin - Pt. 1

On June 27th (my sister's birthday), we packed up the car, loaded up the kids and the dog, and hit the road!  At last, our vacation had arrived!

Thanks to the cartop carrier, we ended up with a decent amount of room in the back for Asher!
All ready to go...

Avery couldn't stop smiling and giggling.

Avery was afraid that since we were leaving on Aunt Tassy's birthday, she wouldn't get to sing to her.  I told her she could sing on a video and we would text it to Aunt Tassy. :)

Ezra was all smiles.  I prayed it would stay that way.  I packed lots of snacks to keep him happy. :) Actually, this trip was the FIRST time that I spent any money on food for Ezra.  With breastfeeding and baby-led weaning, I haven't had to spend any money on baby food!  I bought puffs and yogurt melts.  I thought new foods would be exciting and help us get through the 12+ hour trip. :)

I bought these great lap trays for the kids.  I LOVE them.  Ezra could eat his snacks without them going anywhere, Avery could color or play games, and they clipped to their car seats to keep them in place!

I had to take one picture of my view... for a decent amount of the trip.  It was easier to travel if we gave Ezra bottles because I could pump in the car and not have to stop to nurse.

Avery was intrigued by our GPS.  She then drew us a map and told us we didn't need the GPS anymore because her map would help us get to the cabin faster. :) We put it up front and referred to it the whole way.  What would we have done without Avery? ;)

Ezra usually takes a bottle well, but I think he was delirious or something... he was being so silly!

Avery hit her own delirium during the time she normally would have been napping. :) At least she was happy!  She used this little mirror to reflect light around the car.  She would ask me to catch it, then move it so I couldn't - and then crack up... :)

Avery asked me to take a picture of her and Spunky looking in the mirror together.

My studly pilot.  Joe was my rock star.  He drove the WHOLE way!  We were going to trade off... but every time we stopped, it seemed that I would need to pump right after that... so he kept driving.  He said it was even because he had road duty and I had kid duty.  At the end of the trip I agreed - turning around in my seat 837, 234 times and keeping kiddos happy was as hard as driving 750 miles.  Ha. :)

It was about 9:30pm and we were about 30-45min away from the cabin.  Avery and Ezra were both wide awake.  Avery from excitement and Ezra from fighting sleep.  Thankfully they were both happy the entire way up until that last half hour. :)

We made it to the cabin, went right to bed... and woke up to this.

Beautiful water, beautiful place... we are so blessed.
Not many people would look forward to living with family/friends for a month, but we do. :)
Bring on vacation!

June Pt. 3

My nephews came over to play one day.  I love them.  Avery does, too. :) She gave Jericho good morning snuggles.

Avery and Malachi started a band.  They are good - good at being really loud. :)

Malachi and Avery are so silly together sometimes.  I found them with random shoes on their hands and feet...

Here's a video of it - I have no idea what they were doing. :)

Avery NEVER lets me fix her hair.  She barely lets me brush it.  For some reason, she let me put her hair in a ponytail one morning!  She even left it in for a while... AND asked me to put a bow in it. :)

Asher is so great with the kids.  She loves them and they love her.

Ezra is so happy in the mornings.  When I go into his room, he is always pulling the bumper down so he can see me.  So sweet.

Playing outside one day, Avery starts coloring on the bottom of her feet with chalk.  I asked her what she was doing and she replied "I'm getting ready for the color race!" I guess she heard us talking about friends doing the color run... ha ha.

Ezra is a fan of the slip-n-slide. :)

Next up - our vacation!

June Pt. 2

Look at those teeth coming in!

One of Avery's favorite games... "helping" sweep while chasing me with the hand vac.  She laughs so hard when I act like she surprises me with it.

Ezra loves Asher.  In fact, after "Da da" his first word was "dog" (DAH!).  He says it every time he sees a dog, so it seems he has made the connection. :)

Avery enjoying her "new white stage".  Yes, in her jammies.  Again.

Avery also thinks her stage is the perfect place to preach just like Daddy.  For some reason, when she preaches she does so in an unintelligible language (except for a couple of phrases). Ha.

I came back from a photo shoot and my family was hanging out in the back yard.  I had to take a *few* pictures. :)
Boys in the hammock...

We have awesome next door neighbors.  Kale thought of Avery when he rescued a baby rabbit out of a window well at their house.  So he came right over.  I'm glad I had my camera!

So cute!

I wish I had gotten a picture of Avery's face.  She even reached in the bucket and petted the rabbit... but I was more concerned with her being careful than getting a picture of it.  She loved it.
Thanks Kale!
Bye bye rabbit!

Omigoodness I love those baby blues.

Look at my scruffy hubby!  Handsome man...

One of Avery's new favorite places to play... in the cradle that we got from "Grandma Chelle".  Avery puts her babies to bed in it, she puts her animals to bed in it, and she puts herself to bed in it. :)

As we I prepared for our trip up to the cabin, I realized that I might be a tad bit OCD...

Joe got a care package in the mail from some friends in Ukraine.  They were so sweet to include face paint for Avery!  She would play with it for an hour at a time!  I did the butterfly, she did the "caterpillar".

Ezra - just do it!  So close to crawling...

Some of Uncle Steve's old trophies have become favorite play things for Ezra.

Avery got a new bedtime chart.  She aced it for a week, so this was her reward.  We love that Applebee's has tiny desserts. :)

This had to be one of the funniest moments to date of Avery and Ezra together.  She would wave the flag at him, he would try to reach it, and they would both laugh hysterically!

More June coming up...