July!

July was such a fun month! It’s one that I look forward too and this year did not disappoint! For starters, that husband of mine got a promotion! He started at Pro Vison last July and had worked his butt off to prove himself! Luckily they saw that and promoted him a year early and I am SO PROUD!! He’s now Tax Senior and working on his CPA. There’s always SOMETHING after you get your masters, don’t let them fool you!
Then we come to the 4th! I always look forward to spending time with family and friends, eating way too much delicious food, and sweat my way through some fireworks. This year we invited over to one of Jim’s boss’ house to swim and eat the most amazing smoked pulled pork ever! It was fun, and Nixon LOVED playing with all their trains! They love in a cul-de-sac and they do not disappoint on the fireworks! We sat outside with the entire neighborhood and enjoyed all those pyros put on a good show!

But the best part about the fourth? My best friend had the most adorable baby girl! Hadley Jo Coats! She’s adorable and I can’t wait to squish those cheeks!!! (Is it Christmas yet???)

On July 11 we hopped on a plane and flew to Utah to spend some time with that crazy family of mine! And knowing that family, we knew it would be anything but a vacation! Jim spent the entire weekend outside, being dragged from here to there by my dad and brothers. It was great! Jim was only able to stay for about 5 days but I got to enjoy a Utah summer for a full 3 weeks.

We kicked off the weekend with a great parade in Farmington, Nixon was on the fence about it. He doesn’t do very well with change and new things, but we survived thanks to the the Fat Boy semi that came through throwing Fat Boys instead of Candy and it was great! Don’t be fooled, we did get a ton of candy though! We then went and spent the rest of the afternoon at the bubble swimming!

We were able to spend a ton of time just playing outside with cousins! It was so nice to just sit in the shade and watch the kids run and play! Nixon loved it until I went inside or out of sight and he would have a melt down. Talk about mamas boy.

Paisley told grandma that she wanted to go for a ride on a train, so ride a train we did! We took frontrunner into SLC and went to the Gateway to see How to Train Your Dragon 2. From the little portions of it I actually saw it was really good! But it was nap time and lets just say I am a schedule mom. We are home at nap time everyday and never a minute late. After walking around the theater Nixon eventually fell asleep for a little while but when he woke up he made sure to let everyone know he was PISSED!! I was sweating the whole way home on the stupid train and I was extremely anxious to let him out and run.

But Wednesday, that was a day I will never ever forget. We went to Lagoon as a family and I was nervous but excited. I think we can all agree that as a child it was the best place on earth. The last time we went I was pregnant and I couldn’t ride most of the rides, so I was determined to make it extra fun for my little family. It turned out to be the perfect day to go! It was hot, but those mega huge trees keep it manageable, and the middle of the week made the lines minimal if at all! That was a definite plus because Nixon is apparently the least patient person in the world. We rode all the rides no less than 10 times each and Jim and I were even able to sneak away and ride some pretty intense roller coasters! A+ Lagoon, A+. It was so fun to watch Nixon love the rides I loved when I was little, and watch as Jade and Paisley would get excited to sit next to Nixon on the rides. I’m so lucky to have the cutest nieces in the world! He rode Bulgy the Whale practically non stop with a smile on his face the entire time. Ridge and Nixon also rode the weird space like ride, who knows what its called, over and over! There was never a line, and that’s probably because all the parents were terrified their children would fall out of it. No? Just me? Well one time it just stopped mid air and one of the girls and Nixon I think were just hanging out up there until it reset and let them down. Talk about heart attack!
And that brings up to the last day Jim was able to spend with us in Utah. The three of us rushed home to get Jims bags and run to the airport just in time for him to be notified that his flight was delayed. He didn’t end up leaving until about 9! But we hurried about to Lagoon and rode all the rides we could for the rest of night! Nixon really could have gone all night long! And now I’m tired of writing this ever so lengthy post so I will leave the rest of July to another day. So here is a million low quality selfies of our day at Lagoon!

And because I found this gem of the guys day hiking and fishing in the Uinta's… but you probably got that.

 

Also, to prove he is my child, I dug this up and, well, it’s almost as amazing as the above picture.

Oh Lagoon… so much has changed, but its still exactly the same!!

May and June Catch Up

So May was a pretty important month, Nixon FINALLY started walking! He took probably 10 steps two different times while we were in Utah in April, but never tried again. Then after lots of moral support he started getting more confident and just took off!

We also lived at the park! When the weather wasn’t too hot us moms would plant our butts in the shade and the babies (and dogs) would run (or crawl) like wild men! Nixon ALWAYS took the best naps after that. Sigh… soon enough fall. Soon enough. We also were lucky enough to drag those husbands to the park too! They made for some of my favorite “date nights”.

If we weren’t at the park, you were sure to find us enjoying the splash pad. I’ll be honest though, Nixon really hates it. He just sits and eats snacks for like 2 hours and I occasionally drag him in the water when I’ve over heated. But its gated in so I know he isn’t going anywhere and for that reason alone we continue going back.

Nixon didn’t really understand that you don’t eat the stick, and apparently really didn’t want Calvin to share with him

Preston also turned 4 in May! And LUCKY FOR US Tay was able to stop by for a half a second, and that was one of the best moments of my life. I just really miss her! Sisterwives reunite!

This was also about the time I took away Nixon’s Morning nap. Truly bittersweet. He went from 2 2hr naps, to one 3-4 hour nap. It really opens up my mornings! buuuuuuut that means I NEVER shower before 2. like ever.

 

June! What a month. I can’t tell you just how many times a day Nixon hits his head. Literally like 10, at least. And he cries every. single. time. There is usually at least one time that I would say is cry worthy, but every other time its just him being clumsy letting that big ol’ noggin get in the way. But this time really took the cake. Face plant into the dresser knob. It didn’t bleed, but it was a HUGE pump that almost had a hole in the middle? Even now 2 months later when he scrunches his nose you can see the dent. It was dramatic and traumatic for sure. So funny that I took this selfie (Clearly he loves a good selfie) right before it happened, and then right after. It gives you a nice idea of how huge it really was. I’m shocked no one called CPS!

Probably my favorite part of June however was the transformation our backyard took! When we moved in I can not exaggerate how descusting it was out there. I wouldn’t go out there. Ever. Not to take out the trash, not to even envision where I wanted it to go. Never. One afternoon shortly after we moved in Jim spent all day out there just clearing out crap (literally. Stale old dog crap) and creating piles of garbage, and trimming the few bushes we had. He found an old Christmas tree (or two??) some weights, a wheel barrel a fire pit and even a pipe and lighter inside the outlet cover! We knew we had to do something with the nasty broken hot tub still, but what a difference! It gave me hope! And then busy season came and kicked our butts and all projects took a back seat until after the Holidays, and then busy season was here again, and before we knew it it was 110 degrees outside and we still had a useless backyard. In January we had the hot tub removed, a few months later removed the pavers, and scooted all the rocks to the side of the yard. I have to give my husband major props! He did 99.9% of the work by himself! I did however move some pavers and rake gravel around all night, but that’s about it. Once he started digging the trenches and I saw things really moving I think I put the pressure on him… SORRY! But it was so exciting! I could actually SEE things changing! After the trenches were in it was about a week until we had a completed backyard. Every night after work he would come home, go to home depot, eat dinner, put Nixon down and head outside. We (mostly HE) would work until about 11 and then go to bed. But every morning I would go outside and just be thrilled with the progress. $500 later I’d say we made a huge improvement and it was well worth his effort, even if it was 10,000 degrees outside! Unfortunately I don’t have very good before pictures, these were from January when it was looking pretty dang good.

June was a good month! I just wish it wasn’t so dang hot so we could enjoy our backyard! July was extra fun too, a trip to Utah and some exciting news! But we will leave that for another day.