Easton::15 Months

note: Easton doesn't normally have a binki in his mouth ALL the time. However, while painting, it does aid in keeping paint out of the mouth!!

Three months have flown by since our little, big guy turned one! Easton continues to mesh into our family more and more and becomes more and more of himself. I think one of my favorite things about having kids is watching them become them. Totally unique, funny, cute, clever and perfectly them.

Easton loves his brothers. He wants whatever they want. Playing outside? He's going too. Any particular toy? He'll take it from them. Ice cream? You better be sharing. He has already started coloring with them at the table, which is really the cutest thing ever. So it was no surprise when I brought out the paints....he already knew what to do.

We went to his appointment yesterday. He weighs 27 lbs. Down 2 lbs from his 9 month appointment. Pretty sure at 9 months he was 29 lbs, then 12 months he was 28 lbs. He is back down on the charts though still near the top. Seriously, remember when he was rockin' way above the 100th percentile??? Holy, crazy breast milk. His regular diet has now brought him down to the 80th percentile for weight and 95th for height. That's more like it!

Easton is a swimmer! He wears goggles and goes under water and jumps off the steps. He swims pretty much twice a day. Every day. Which means so do I. He tends to be more tentative than the other boys EVER were. He doesn't like it if I let go of him in the water and he doesn't really care for all the crazy tricks that Rand and the other 2 used to do (and still do). Throwing, twirling, flinging, all that....he'd rather not. He hangs on tight.

Easton points instead of talking. He can talk. He just chooses not to. He doesn't even say Mama. He can say it, but he really doesn't need to. He just follows me around and hangs on my legs and reaches up as high as he can. If he wants something off the shelf...he points. If he sees something interesting...he points. If he wants the other half of the apple instead of the one I gave him...he points. I like it. :)

My very most favorite development over the last 3 months has been watching Easton just fall in love with Rand. Oh, it is soooo cute. It's like it dawned him that this guy is his Dad and he is a really awesome guy. We watch out the window for him to come home and then we squeal and jump off the couch when we see him. And then we run to the door for hugs. It. is. so. cute! He still prefers me for almost everything, but it is only a matter of time.

We sure love this guy!

One of the Best Purchases Ever

Oh. My. Word. It is hot. Let's just get this out on the table. I hate summer here. It is soooo hot. I almost threw up walking from church to our car. Ugh. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.

OKAY! Now that I got that out, let's move on.

The pool. The only saving grace in our backyard. Sadly the sun has shifted and our pool receives NO shade until about 6pm. If you haven't spent a summer here in the desert you really can't appreciate how intense the sun actually is. It is bright and hot and blazing. You practically need sunglasses to look out your windows from inside the house. So even though the pool will cool you off, the crazy, crazy sun will send you running for the house. I have been known to go swimming in a t-shirt, a hat, AND sunglasses when I go in in the middle of the day.

Well, low and behold, we made one of the best purchases ever. It is no where near big enough, but I will take what I can get! Easton and I hardly stray from the protective shield of our new umbrella. This thing is pretty awesome. It has several different settings and the arm can swing all the way around so you can really manipulate the shade.

Oh I just can't wait until the monsoons arrive. At least then there will be some clouds...

Staying Cool...And a Flashback

Staying cool in the desert in the summer is no easy feat. Even in the house (to me...used to about 68 in the house) it feels WAY too warm (try about 81). Yuck! Even the pool, while cool and refreshing for sure, is no place to escape the blazing hot sun during most of the day. (We are working on fixing that problem).

Anyway, on the hot days I like to take the kids to Desert Ridge to play in the fountains. It is becoming quickly more appropriate for Easton, and less for the older kids, but they still have a lot of fun...even though they are usually surrounded by just waddlers. However, there is lots of shade, and big comfy chairs, and Starbucks, and lots of cold water. We usually go early in the morning when it is still only in the 90's, but going at night is really fun too.

Here's my kid who still points. A lot!

And because I was feeling a little nostalgic looking at these pictures. Here are a few from about 4 years ago. Same place, some of the same people, and even one of the same towels! :)

(you can see Wyatt in the background)



Kid Quotes::Vol. 36

One more kid quote because it is too hot to do anything else...including managing all my recent pictures.

Today we were driving back home. We rounded the corner and there was a man (assumed of Mexican decent). He was carrying a weed-whacker and wearing an awesome huge hat. It was like a straw cowboy hat but the brim was HUGE, like the size of a sombrero. My reaction was instant.

Me: Wow! Awesome hat!

Wyatt: Yeah! It goes with his mustache.

(and it totally did!!!)

Kid Quotes::Vol. 35

Wyatt: Hey Mom, does Dad ever get bothered by you?

Me: Oh yeah. He sure does.

Me: And sometimes I get bothered by him.

Wyatt: And sometimes Brendan gets bothered by him. Like when Dad says, "Tonight we are going to have stink bug casserole."

(classic Rand)

Me: That's for sure!!
Wyatt: Mom, I love your laugh.

Me: I love when you make me laugh!

Chicken Chronicles::Vol. 9 (First Egg)

Today was the day! After weeks and weeks of faithful checking (especially Brendan), his daily chicken duties have paid off! He came right into my room (where 3 of us were sleeping...actually, let's be clear. 2 of us were trying to sleep and one was flip flopping all over the place) holding the prize!!! One, lone, little egg. She laid it in the lower nesting box, just like I was hoping she would do. They all sleep together in the top one because it is a tad higher than their roosting bar and they just can't stand to not be at the highest spot. So she picked the lower box to make a little nest.
I had a feeling it was coming and am fairly sure which chicken laid the first egg. I'm 90% sure it was the red one, Hattie, because she has been acting weird the last 2 days. She has been separated from the group a few times (which is very rare. They stick together big time!) and I've gone to check on her thinking for sure something was wrong, but she would just hop up and trot off like she was fine. Yesterday she was making all kinds of noise and acting weird enough that I actually went and checked the nesting boxes that afternoon...And it looked like someone had been in the lower one (which no one has been in since we got them.)
And I was right! It's a little, puny thing, but they say the first ones are. Brendan has made a chart to keep track of each chicken's production (ever seen Chicken Run?) and so we will be keeping you posted!!! :)

Easton Dances

Hey. Don't make fun of my music. It's my kid's favorite "picking up the house" music. They really do work faster with some good jam music, and they happen to be Toby Mac fans right now.



Christmas in June

The boys now know, that when boxes arrive from Aunt Joanie....it is Christmas...no matter what time of year it is.
Aunt Joanie is Rand's Aunt. She is Rand's Dad's sister. She is the oldest of 10 kids, grew up on a farm in South Dakota and has a really cool life story. She started her own company that she just recently sold and she and her husband live in Minnesota. They do not have children of their own, but have loads of nieces and nephews that they have loved as their own....Rand being the oldest of them. Rand and I are the only ones of that entire crew of nieces and nephews that have kids. In fact, we may be the only ones that are married even. So our kids have been slightly spoiled by their Great Aunt Joanie. Some boxes arrived last weekend, loaded with tons of summer fun as well as anything else she ran across that she knew we could use and would love....including paper and pencils and pens and toothbrushes and.....

We got nerf guns and water balloons and sprinklers and slip 'n' slides!

It really was so fun. And of course we had to open and use it all as fast as possible.
Thank you Aunt Joanie! You totally made these boys' day!

Lazy Summer

A few people have been begging for a new post. I just have nothing to say. We pretty much do the same thing....every. single. day. It's hot, so there's not a lot of going and doing stuff other than in our yard once the sun is almost gone...or in the pool (which everyone has seen enough of)....or in the house (which always seems to be a horrific mess).

I took a few pictures recently, though. Let's see what we can come up with!

The boys play "pickle" almost every day with Rand. It's their favorite baseball drill. We had to get a helmet because it is rather dangerous for the runner and the helmet has already saved about a million brain cells.
Other then playing pickle, Rand spends a lot of time obsessing over the lawn. It is looking great! I spend a lot of time observing the fruits of his labor and listening to his schemes to make it bigger and better! :)
The chickens are still getting into trouble even though I clipped one of each of their wings. They may be getting an enclosure to spend most of their time in.
And then besides that, the big boys are spending the week at VBS. They went dressed as "coal miners" today. They are having a blast!

Here's the proof!

Easton's favorite activity while the boys are playing pickle:

Pickle!

I think this is the quintessential summer picture. Little boys playing baseball in the grass in bare feet.

Rand's yard!

While I was taking pictures these 2 came over to see what I was up to. I'm sure they thought I might have treats or something.