Let the good times roll

We went with the youth on a day trip to Abiquiu Lake (1.5 hrs away) to canoe and swim. The water sure felt cold at first, but you quickly got used to it (and that's ME saying that). Avery was sure happy and could have stayed forever. She voluntarily sat off the edge of the canoe to stick her feet in the water... that kid! She's not afraid of the water. We had a great time together. later that night, Brian and I went country dancing about 2 minutes from our house at the Sheriff's Posse Lodge. Yay for going on dates and DANCING! Did I tell you I really love Los Alamos?

scrunchy faces :)

A darling girl

She wanted me to give her space to do it by herself. What a kid!

Aspen 7 months

Growing and growing. Mostly we see it in her maturity, not as much in size and hair quantity, but those do grow too and she's not a runt by any means. We love this baby! Aspen is sitting up with occasional tipping, and sleeping for most of the night (except last night... teething...). She is so so dear and too much fun to get giggling (usually it's when she's supposed to be going to bed)! I love, love, love, absolutely LOVE her!

Funny how all they want to do is eat it.

Love those eyes. People love them 'cause they're pretty blue (and yes I'm partial to that) but I just love how curious, sweet, and invested those eyes are.

Avery and I having fun with the camera... (her daddy did her bangs this time. It's a good thing kids are just cute no matter what, right?)

Dating & miss mommy

I'm happy to tell you Brian and I are dating again. haha, yes, yes, it's easy to forgot how that's done... or rather, make it a priority in the budget when factoring a babysitter these days. However, we finally made it happen- and thank goodness! It was a blast!

We went swing dancing in town (actually at a house) hosted by the swing club here and they taught a lesson for free and everything. Some of our friends came too. We helped do some teaching while rotating partners. It was small, but fun to be a part of. It's fun to dance with Brian and I was impressed how well he did even though we're both quite rusty. Thanks for the good time, babe! ;-)

The following day we went to the temple where volunteers from church did babysitting. Another sweet date. It really meant a lot to me for them to make the trip down and volunteer to watch our kids. It's hard to get to the temple as often as we'd like and actually attend simultaneously. Huge blessing.

Oh yeah- and here's cute Avery for you coming home from the temple:

A: "Fun at da temple." [I had fun at the temple]

"Great!"

A: "Sad too."

"Why is that, Avery?" [expecting to hear how we had to pry her away from Aladdin.]

A: "miss mommy."

Have I told you how much I love my kids?

$20 Tomato

I'm proud to say it was delicious! This is the first tomato picked from our very own garden. I took very great care not to pick it too early; it's a pricey one. Considering the amount of money we've invested in our garden, and the only thing that grew were the tomatoes, they are very precious. Someday I/we hope to get better at this stuff! I'm proud of our very first garden nonetheless.

Square One

Potty training. It should be a foul word. I'm no longer soliciting advice about it because, I think I'll just go crazy.

We've been through a plethora of tactics, none of which have succeeded. Some have helped, none have completed the job. We started roughly 6 months ago. Two weeks ago we gave up diapers for what I thought was for good. I stayed home 3 days straight to nail down the concept, having her go potty often (not waiting an hour between). She did well as long as I told her to go, otherwise we could expect an accident. This isn't bad for learning, but she hasn't improved for 2 weeks. It is necessary for her to learn to tell us when her body needs to go.

We've about resorted to punishing her, but I don't feel that will do the trick at all. It has to be her will. So, we decided to give her the choice: underwear or diapers? She chose diapers. So here we are again. Square one.

I'd like to let her lead from here on out. No coaxing from me. When she's ready to go potty or wear underwear, she will be the initiator. It will be hard for me to stop reminding her, but it's like kicking a dead door nail; she's not taking it upon herself to learn. I really just hope she will want this by the time she's 4.

Dear, sweet Avery. We really do love her to pieces, just can't stand to potty train her anymore. I just hope putting her back in diapers won't make me just as irritable again for other reasons. :-/ Sorry to vent guys!

Ma-ma

Aspen starting saying ma-ma 3 days ago! It's always a "mah mah mah" when she's fussing and sad, but I love it! She can sit up by herself now, with only occasional tips. She can prop herself up on her arms and tuck her legs under her (not simultaneously). She has begun going to sleep by 8 or 9 (instead of 10 or 11) and only wakes up once (at 2 am)... twice she has slept all through the night. Rock on, little baby! Love this kid to pieces!!!!!! She is such a sweet and happy baby.

Charmer

Avery: Mommy, hurt-a-arm?

Mom: Yeah, mommy has an owie.

Avery: (gently clasping my arm) Kiss-a-better?

Avery is such a sweet girl. She is polite, kind, and affectionate. She is fun and gets excited for things like: friends over, pee in the potty, candy, swimming, Aspen waking up, watching Dora or Elmo. Last night she went to mutual (church) with dad and cute-ed on him the whole time. She was very obedient, kindly asking to play with a ball or hold a drink instead of fussing for it. She even asked to go potty when she needed. That girl is a true charmer; dad was certainly won over.

I took the girls out for a bike ride for the first time this summer and for Aspen's first ever. All went well and I look forward to getting more exercise like this!