Mr. Handsome

It's kind of ridiculous how much time has past, but I'm going to move forward without guilt.  I don't want to miss a minute of documenting these babies.  

Samuel has been a joy in every way.  He is such a smiley baby and doesn't often cry, unless he's over tired or his sister is attacking him.  Rae doesn't know how to love softly.  She is a very physical child and even her loving is a little intense.  She can't help it, this little guy is so cute and she just squeezes a little too hard sometimes (as shown below).  Audrey saved him this time because I was having too much fun documenting her covering her ears afterward proclaiming that he was too loud.  

Samuel is six months old.  It some ways I feel like I blinked and in others I feel like I have lived every one of those days sometimes hard and sometimes so full of joy I can hardly believe that this is my life.  

I still find myself daily looking back on my life just 4 years ago without my two latest miracles.  I can't believe how beautiful the journey has been.  I can't even put into words how I feel about how the Lord has led me through so much growth, sometimes it was painful and full of heartache and other times I could feel his light just at the edge of my vision.  Right now I would say that that light is in full view and I can look back at the journey and appreciate everytime he let me cry and comforted me, everytime I felt his strength pushing me forward, and everytime he would show me he was there.  

God lives and his plan for my life has been far better than any 10 or 20 year plan I tried to make for myself.  I'm blessed to have him walk beside me everyday. Everytime I'm tempted to start worrying about the future I try to take a step back and let Him lead.  Don't get me wrong.  I feel like things never go perfectly, that's the hard part of mortality.  Paul still struggles with his health everyday, and everyday I pray for a miracle for him to be healed.  It's hard to watch the struggle, but I know, like every journey there will have to be times when we are carried because life is too heavy for us alone.  I know that He is there still.  Paul describes it as feeling like you are walking toward the Red Sea with the hope that God will part it, or maybe even standing at the waters edge waiting.  Someday I know we'll see the whole picture, like I have with my journey with infertiliy and I'm sure at that moment we will come full circle in the knowledge that He was there all along guiding, loving, comforting, and strengthing us.  In that moment we probably won't recognize ourselves because the becoming process will have changed who we are and made us who He knew we could be.  

As always, I started this post with the intent to talk about Samuel and my thoughts carried me away. 

This kid is such a birght spot in our day and I'm grateful he joined our family.  

He is obsessed with our living room fan.  He studies it like he's an engineer.  It's funny because most of my kids by six months were done with the fan and on to other things, but this kid still loves it.  I often call it his best friend.  He also loves our stair well light.  Everytime I descend the stairs with him he almost bends over backwards in and effort to look at it for as long as he can.

He likes his tongue.  He is either sticking his tongue out or he's sucking his bottom lip in.  It makes me giggle every time I see it.  

He has such bright eyes.  I often sing the song Yellow Diamonds (which has no business being a song because it's hardly music but that's a side note), only I sing, "blue diamonds in the sky!" because that's what his eyes look like to me.  

He favorite words are Na na and Da da, or screaming Aaaa (I think sometimes he thinks he's singing with this one because he'll hold it for a really long time).  

I could call him Mr. Smiles because he will literally smile at anyone if they smile at him, although he's in the stranger danger phase so even though he leads people on and smiles at them he doesn't want to be held by them. 

He is soooo ticklish. and his giggles are as Audrey says, "a window to heaven".   

He has started sitting, although he is not perfect at it.  And if he's laying down he likes to scooch with his legs like an inch worm on his back.  On his tummy he gets his knees under him but his arms aren't strong enough for a crawl yet.  

I love having a baby boy, mostly because it's like I'm seeing Paul in baby form and I think it's the cutest thing ever.  I often tell Paul that we just copied and pasted his genes because Samuel looks sooo much like him.  There are times when I see myself in him but it's not very often.  

I can always tell when Samuel is tired because when he wakes up his eyes are so wide and the more tired he gets the smaller they become.  

I have tried on a lot of nicknames for this kid in an effort to find the perfect one but none of them have quite stuck, other than "Handsome"  because he is. Here are just a few: Chompy, Sam-I-am, Bub, Buddy, Samuel Wamuel Bo Bamuel Banana Fana Fo Famuel Me My Mo Manuel Samuel (this one goes along with a song), and stinker.  

He just popped his first tooth and with it has come a lot of biting of things, which can be painful.  Hence the name Chompy.  We love him though.  He's our best boy and always will be.  

 

Park City Vacation

We took a quick trip with the girls to Park City for a weekend.  I was determined to get away with our family even if it was short.  I found a hotel that was reasonable and was supposed to have a realy nice pool.  It was nice and the pool was great, but I feel like when I got there I was a little disappointed with the size of everything.  We opened the hotel door and it opened right in front of the bed.  The couch was a step from the bed and the pull out couch barely fit in the small space in front of it.  There was supposed to be a kitchenette but it was sndwiched between the door and the bed so if the door was open there was no way to get to it.  and the bathroom was a step in the opposite direction.  To say it was a little squishy for 4 people was an understatement.  We brought Raelyn's blow up bed and Audrey a mattress pad because a pull out couch is never nice to sleep on, but I wouldn't have been able to fit either of them on the floor in front of the couch.  We ended out pulling out the couch and both girls slept together.  Rae didn't sleep much at all but it worked out to be just fine despite my hope for larger.  

The pool was much smaller than it looked online but again it turned out just fine and the girls loved spending time swimming, eating ice cream, walking around looking in the downtown shops and art galleries, eating good food, and spending time together as a family.   

Paul and I were able to go out on a date while there which made me super happy.  We had pizza together and then went swimming.  It was a good break and Audrey was sweet to watch movies while she made sure Raelyn didn't wake up in the bed next to her.  

There was a pretty epic calendar sundial there.  I've never seen one and Paul was super glad to tell me all about how it worked which I was grateful for.  Audrey's favorite part is always the shops. We never buy anything but that girl loves window shopping, trinkets and books are among her favorites.  My favorite was of course my date with Paul but also the art galleries, especially the photography ones.  Raelyn's favorite was swimming.  At one point she thought it would be okay to just run and jump in the pool.  It's a good thing Paul was there.  We definitely have to keep our eye out for her.  

Over all I'm sad I didn't get more photos.  I haven't been very good at remembering my camera lately, hoping to remedy that and record more of Raelyn's life.    

 

My Birthday

Today was the best day of the year.  Do you want to know why... because I was born!  I started celebrating by helping my Mom decorate the night before.  Decorating is one of the best parts of a birthday and I can't miss out on helping, even of it's my birthday.  

The next morning I woke up to Rae singing as loud as she could Happy Birthday.  Then we ate pancakes, bacon and eggs.  Pancakes are still my favorite!  

Later in the morning I decided to go bowling for my birthday.  I felt like there was a high possibility that I would win.  I kept getting strikes and my parents were doing terrible.  Little did I know the little munchkin would take the lead.  She did have help but she won on my birthday.  It was a little frustrating to be beat by a 2 year old. 

My grandparents came over to drop off some stuff and they were able to stay for games.  We played my favorite, 5 Crowns.  Mom made the best chocolate cake I have ever had, and of course Dad made his famous ice cream to go with it.  I was excited to see what was in the boxes my mom wrapped, but Raelyn may have been even more excited.  I got a squishmallow, a book, and an outfit.  Raelyn decided the squishmallow was hers and was hauling it everywhere.  I didn't mind because she was so cute jumping and rolling around with it.   

When I blew out my candles Raelyn really wanted to blow out candles too.  My Dad let her have her own piece of cake and her own candle to trying blowing a candle out herself.  She's gotten really good at blowing.  I can't wait for her birthday.  I have already made and bought her gifts.  

At first I was scared to turn older  I never want to grow older.  I was worried everyone would expect more of me.  Every year I tell my mom, I just want to stay little forever.  It turns out, it didn't turn out as bad as I thought.  A year was added to my age but that's about it.  That doesn't mean I won't be scared to become a teenager next year though.  I really don't want to become a sassy know-it-all teenager.  

Happy Birthday to me!  It was the best!  

 

Arches

I lived in Utah a lot of my life and yet I have never explored any of the State Parks.  Paul's parents go to arches quite often and we finally were able to make the trip with them.  The girls love sleeping in a tent and we found a pretty good solution for sleeping arrangements.  

I had terrible morning sickness so it was hard for me to go near any food and eating is always selective and hard during that time.  Luckily it went pretty well as far as that was concerned.  It was really nice to hike because the hiking and the beauty of Arches kept my mind off feeling nauseous all the time.  I had no idea the dessert could be so beautiful. 

While there Audrey was able to start her first fire and we stayed out till late almost nightly watching the stars.  We probably ate too many smores and Rae ate too many granola bars.  She had one in her mouth every time I turned around.  

Hiking the first night was the best.  It had cooled off quite a bit and we were walking down through tall rocks on either side.  It was beautiful and the weather was perfect.  At the end we saw the first arch of our trip.  

Audrey liked wandering off to the view behind our camp.  She sees beauty in the smallest things.  It's one of her gifts.  Where there is beauty to be seen in anything it will be seen by Audrey.  She would often walk Rae to her spot and share it with her.  

The next day we took a hike to Delicate Arch.  It was a little more straight up than I had imagined.  Rae hiked half of it on her own.  She was a champ.  I had anticipated us carrying her most of the way but Paul was spared half the hike.  The other half he carried her, himself, snacks and a bunch of water, let's be honest, he was the true star of the hike.  Part off the hike was right next to this shear rock face and the other side was a drop off.  It was really cool to see and it had a beautiful view.  We rounded the corner and there was Delicate Arch.  I can understand why it seems to be the most photographed place in Utah.  It's crazy to see something like that up close an personal.  The beauty of the earth is truly endless and I'm grateful over the last five years we've been able to see a lot of it.  

Later we went and played in the sand.  Raelyn was not a fan, she didn't like it getting everywhere and she didn't like walking in it.  Audrey did her best to change her sister's mind.  It was an oasis to Audrey, she could have stayed another couple hours playing in the sand, which is why she had to take a shower when we headed back.  She was covered head to toe in sand, including her hair.  

Our next stop was in the evening while Rae was sleeping.  I owe Anne for watching her.  It was not really a hike, mostly just walking up to all these arches and rock formations.  There were several that looked like elephants, one that looked like a face, and one that looked like a tea cup with a lid.  

Audrey did a little climb up some rocks and found another arch out of view and we took pictures.  It was high enough  up that she had to slide down on her bum on the way back.  In her older age she's getting braver with climbing and I'm proud of her for challenging herself.

The last thing to see and the last hike we took was to landscape arch.  It's crazy to see something so thin still standing. A lot of the arch has already fallen, it probably won't be there forever and I'm grateful we got to see it and get pictures. 

I felt like I could stay for another week, probably not to hike, being pregnant, but just to take cool photos of everything there is to see.  I was amazed by plants and trees that could grow in such a harsh environment. Audrey as per usual couldn't help but get down to get a closer look and the flowers. She also is a fan of rocks and for a rock lover there is nothing  quite like arches.  I couldn't find Rae's hat before we left home so she ended out wearing mine which was too big.  It was windy a lot and she was worried about her hat falling off so she was constantly holding it with one hand.  She hiked more than she didn't and loved exploring our camp gathering little sticks and rocks.  Her favorite part aside from hiking like a big girl was probably the snacks and eating breakfast in the trailer.  Anna always had cereal and I think she ate it every morning with a smile.  

I'm so grateful that everywhere we have lived we have been able to explore the surrounding parks, cities, and states.  It has been one of my favorite ways to create long lasting memories with our girls.  Here's to our next adventure!

Pictures loaded backwards but oh well!