{we love}family visits

last week my brother and two nephews came to visit from nevada. here are some pictures of our adventures!

sutton was in heaven when the boys were here! she loved having extra bodies in the house and the more people to entertain her, the better. she especially took a liking to mateo, who is 6. i loved watching them play together. we went to the zoo, swimming, to the oregon coast (it was ethan's first time going to the pacific ocean!) and ate lots of yummy food. mateo said he wanted to move here as soon as he discovered that we live across the street from a nice, big park. i asked him if he would miss his mom, dad and emmery. his response, "but we have a baby here". that's what i like best about the kid, he's always thinking. 

i said smile kid, not grimace

that's more like it!

this is the park he wanted to abandon his parents and baby sister for

we had a great time at the zoo. i always have a little bit of parking anxiety when we go, especially during the summer months. i know, i'm weird. i own it. anyway, it was a cloudy day and the forecast called for light rain and apparently that scared tons of people away so we ended up having the whole place to ourselves. it was awesome. and it didn't rain one single drop. 

pure joy

we went swimming a couple of times while the boys were here. they had a blast.  i think they really appreciated swimming in clean water. not the mystery farm irrigation water in the ditch back on the ranch, aka "farm swimming pool". swimming in the ditch was one of my favorite things to do as a kid. now i say gross. but hey, maybe that is why i have such a good immune system. maybe swimming in cowpie infested water wasn't such a bad thing. 

peyton working it. well, that was until she realized that teo was only six. waaaaay to young for her. she quickly moved on to ethan when she realized he was 16. old enough to date. she told him she was 8, no 12, no 15. she must have been flustered to not even remember how old she was! 

sutton blue didn't really want to give piper a ride but persistent piper wouldn't take no for an answer. 

she preferred people watching over swimming

we decided to take the boys to the oregon coast for one night over the weekend. john has a patient that owns a motel right on the beach in rockaway. we had never been there before so it was a fun adventure. i think john and i can both agree that we don't really need to go back. it was fun to stay right on the beach but the town wasn't our favorite. the highway runs right through the middle of it and it's safe to say it lacked the charm that some of our other favorite beach towns have. however,  john and the boys had fun playing football on the beach with headlamps at night and the boys (mainly isaac and mateo) had fun getting in the ocean. john and i got up early the next day and went for a run with sutton and then packed up for the drive to manzanita, which is our absolute favorite beach town. we grabbed some breakfast at wanda's (super yummy) and continued onto cannon beach. it was such a perfect day! the boys played around haystack rock and in the ocean while sutton and i hung out on the beach. she loved how the sand felt and was perfectly content just sitting there watching all the people and doggies go by. we had to hit up bruce's candy kitchen and grab some fish and chips (another first for the boys) before the ride home. ethan and isaac loved them and teo...well, not so much. i did give him two thumbs up because he tried it 3 different times with different sauces. looked like he was going to barf with every bite. so i fed him fries and cotton candy instead. it was a great weekend and i'm so happy to be able to say that ethan finally got to experience the pacific ocean for the first time ever. 

i love this picture of the boys racing to the water 

we had to stop by the tillamook cheese factory for some lunch. aka ice cream. 

big girl chompin' on her big girl cone

i loved having the boys here and we were sad to see them go home. there was minimal fighting, only one broken picture frame, no one peed the bed (yay!) and i think i taught ethan how to wash dishes! sutton kept looking for everyone for a few days after they left. tear. i just asked her tonight if she wants to go see the boys at grammie's house and she nodded yes. she doesn't say yes or no but she sure shakes her head to let you know what she is thinking. 

{love} first birthday pictures

i'm finally getting around to posting some of my favorite pictures from sutton's first birthday photo shoot. these pictures were taken at her grandma and grandpa's ranch in nevada on her actual first birthday. sutton's cousin, emmery elisabeth, had her first birthday only twenty days before sutton so we had to get some pictures of the two of them together. have i mentioned how blessed i feel that my sister and i have babies the same age? beyond blessed. it is so fun to watch them interact and can already tell they have such a special bond.

                                      

                                     

{she loves} old men

sutton is 13 months old. 13 MONTHS OLD. people, do you hear me? how and when did this happen? i'd really like to know. and, she isn't a baby anymore. she is morphing into this toddler/little sassy lady who flirts with older men (i'm not talking her daddy's age older men, i'm talking her grandpa's age older men) and is especially drawn to ones with grey hair. don't ask...i have no clue. yesterday we went to visit dr moshofsky for her 12 month check up. yes, i know it was a month late.  i wanted to put off the FOUR shots she had to get for as long as possible. then i realized i would feel really bad if she got chicken pox or measles because she didn't get her immunizations on time so i reluctantly took her in.  dr moshofsky has an incredibly sweet nurse who has seen sutton every she has gone in for a visit. she usually likes her but yesterday you would have thought she was cruella deville by the way sutton was acting. she screamed when she got measured and weighed. and obviously neither event caused her any physical pain. she must have baby psychic powers and knew that shots were coming. eeek! she finally calmed down when the nurse left and we had a little snack and a snuggle while we waited for the dr. and then he came. and she was SO happy to see him. for once i am not being sarcastic :) she was giggling and showing him all the tricks she can do. she let him poke at her belly, shine a bright light in her eyes,  peek around in her ears and mouth...and all willingly. he is a pretty cool guy (*and yes, he is probably old enough to be a grandfather and guess what color hair he has??) so it's completely understandable that she feels comfortable with him. as ridiculously funny as she was acting, i am thankful that she gets to see such a great pediatrician. he came highly recommended by several of my friends and even one of my clients who took her children to him when he first started practicing many years ago.  can't say i blame her. like i  mentioned above, she got FOUR shots. two in each leg. luckily she calmed down pretty quickly with a bottle and a trip to Target. baby girl likes Target, what can i say?

Blue's 13 month stats are:

height  29 1/2 inches (41%)

weight 22 lbs 11.5 oz (81%)

she is developing perfectly and above the game on her vocabulary according to dr moshofsky. i'm hoping she will be a chatterbox and i have a feeling she will not disappoint. she says mama, dada, doggie, tucker, jaxson, water, yeah, hello, chandra, baba, nana (for banana) and a few others. she still loves to sit in her crib and read books and has actually started to show more interest in her toys. she LOVES puppies and every morning when i go into her room she gives me a brief smile and then is looking for her doggies. i'm not jealous. well, maybe just a bit. she literally lights up when she sees them. one of her favorite things to do is to get into the pantry (when the lock isn't latched) and get the dogs a treat. she knows which bag is theirs, how to open it and how to hold the treats so they can gingerly take it out of her hands. they sure aren't that gentle when i feed them something! it makes her happy and the dogs especially happy so it's safe to say that we are going through a lot more dog treats these days. she is getting better at standing and cruising around furniture. today she stood by herself for the longest time yet. she was even doing squats and keeping herself balanced enough to get down low and then stand up again. she took one step but i don't know if you can really call it a true step because she fell forward and immediately sat down but wanted to keep trying. i bet she will be walking in two weeks. i'd like her to wait as long as possible because i am so in love with her little pirate/chimpanzee scoot that she does. i will have to post a video of it. in no way does my crappy description give it the accolades it deserves! she is starting to wear out the left knee of all her pants because of the way she drags it on the ground. it may just be one of the funniest things i have ever seen. and i've seen some funny things. 

oh those feet!

new obsession. straws. 

daddy and baby girl

can't get enough of this face...ever

sutton blue loved the screen door. who doesn't?

out to dinner for aunt channie's birthday. our dinner took so long to arrive that sutton was forced to entertain.  i gave her two thumbs up.

we had to hurry and get to the park on the ONE nice day last week

these are faces filled with joy, amusement and excitement. you just can't tell in this picture :)
(i think they were both distracted by a dog)

see mama? see that doggie?!

sutton blue, her ridonkulas bow and mama

only cousins can facetime while shoving their faces and washing their bums

{we love} first birthdays!

my little bluebird turned one on april, 22nd. yes, one year old! what the what?! i'm in shock at how fast this past year FLEW by. i was snuggling her earlier this evening before bedtime (or trying to anyway..she gets wild sometimes)... and it just HIT me that this little girl who is desperately trying to keep herself awake by ripping off my necklace, jamming her fingers up my nose, trying to pull off my eyelashes and suffocate me with her blankie (i know she sounds violent, doesn't she?) was JUST barely a teeny peanut who loved being swaddled and wanted to nap all the time. now she hates being constrained in ANY way (she especially dislikes her new car seat that I spent hours painstakingly researching for over five months-and yes, my indecisiveness may have also played a part in taking so long to decide on one. guilty.) and pretty much is anti-nap. she doesn't want to miss out on anything. with each day that passes, she learns more tricks and keeps us entertained with her goofy, yet charming personality. she has mastered the art of walking between furniture and along things but has yet to stand on her own for more than a millisecond or take her first step. take your time baby girl, take your time :) she loves to open and shut things, especially the door to the pantry in the kitchen. she knows there are lots of naughty things to get into in there. she prefers dog treats and water bottles. she likes to take out as much as she can and voila! a mini baby home, just for her. it even comes equipped with a week supply of dog food and a fire extinguisher in case things ever get crazy up in there.

i see london, i see france :)

she has been shaking her head no for quite some time now but just yesterday she shook her head yes. finally! she loves to clap, blow kisses, give nice big open mouth kisses and does the fishy kiss better than i can. and oh, the waving. to everything and everyone in sight. she loves everyone the same. she is getting her two top incisor teeth and two molars. one on each side. she has the cutest vampire smile you ever did see :) i really love (NOT) when she grinds her new fangs onto her two bottom teeth. it makes a lovely sound. nails on a chalkboard, ever heard of it? i kid. i love watching her become aware of the new things going on with her body. she is such a good eater and chews food very well. the only thing she needs to work on is a little pacing when she eats and to learn that you don't have to shove it in all at once. she may have learned that trick from her daddy.  why eat only one puff when five fit in your mouth? seriously. she shovels food in like a starving, wild animal. she is so trusting when i offer her something new to eat. the only thing she absolutely despised and spit right out was tuna fish. i can't say i blame her.  she has started to say a few more words. last week (on April 16th to be exact)she said MAMA! i was sure it was a fluke until she did it again repeatedly the following day. and then this happened...

                                                            me: "sutton, say mama"

                                                            sutton: "da-da" (followed by a big, mischievous grin)  

she knew what she was up to. i smell sass. she now says water (it comes out more like wa-wa but it's clear enough that we know what she means) she is a happy camper when i put water in her little lady sippy cup. she loves music and is now a music conductor! she conducts with her right hand and if it is a song that particularly tickles her fancy, she uses both hands. like the justin timberlake jam she heard this morning. his music must speak to her soul or something. she loves it.  this is most entertaining when she does it in sacrament meeting at church. her version of conducting usually includes high pitched bird-like squawks and a few ear piercing shrieks.  hey-she wants these peeps to know she is helping lead the music! i pray her love of music will stay with her as she grows and develops.  

pops came to visit for sutton's first birthday ALL the way from ohio. ain't he sweet? sutton sure took to him quickly and they were best buds. the day after pops arrived we were off to nevada for a fun 5 days with my family. it was sutton's sixth trip on a plane in less than a year. she needs her own rapid rewards number. 

every passerby was incredibly interesting. can't you tell?

she stole my vanilla steamer and wouldn't give it back

i didn't know my daughter was so incredibly flexible. i'm jealous. 

 this is the face of pure happiness after stealing the coveted baby doll from Emmery.  

napping was not going to happen. ever. 

my niece emmery was born on april 2nd, exactly 20 days before sutton. i love that these two babes are so close in age and that they will be able to grow up together. i'm thankful that my family lives close enough that i can get to them in an hour flight or a days drive. (i'll always pick the flight option i have the choice) emmery LOVES sutton and vice versa. she gets so excited when she sees her and they have a lot of fun playing together. we had a little birthday party for the girls on sunday, april 21st. it was low-key, just my family and my friend brittany's family. the highlight was definitely watching the girls with their cakes that grammie made. have i mentioned how thankful i am to have a crafty mama? who can also cook? well, i am. very much so. here are some of my favorite pictures from the party...

cutest cake. ever. thanks mama. 

Char and Kloe wanted to be in all the pictures with the birthday girls

stealing candy from a baby. tsk tsk tsk...

they strongly disliked the grass! look at their little legs...straining hard to lift them up so they wouldn't touch the scratchy stuff.

emmery strained so hard she lost it. gotta work that core girl :)

what is this weird thing you have placed in front of me?

i know what it is and i want it NOW!

not afraid to get her hands dirty. at all. 

sparrow didn't appreciate sutton's attempt at sharing

emmery still trying to figure this mysterious object out. sutton wasted no time getting at it!

emmery quit before she even tried. her cake was devoured by four other munchkins that were lurking in the shadows, waiting for her to throw in the towel. sutton still going strong 40 minutes later with no sign of stopping. get it girl.

present time? or hammer time? Elliott looks confused. 

cousins and my dad's old truck. don't tell mom that his truck made it onto my blog. it might put her over the edge.  

our little family

oh bluebird. so pretty. 

grand finale. and yes, she did all that work on her own. that's my girl.

we had such a good time with my family in nevada over sutton's birthday weekend. she got to see lots of farm animals and even got to pet a brand new baby goat. she loved it. so many people love that little girl and i know she feels it all, even the love from across the country :) she is our miracle and we are absolutely crazy in love with her. she has blessed our lives beyond measure. thanks for being the light of our lives little bluebird. we love you!