7 Months

Another month has passed! Kylee is FINALLY sitting up by herself (kind of, she still can't be left alone while sitting up because she always falls over). She is happy being a baby and is in no rush to grow up and learn new things like sitting up or crawling. She is happy as can be just being held and watching everyone around her. She HATES baby food and closes her lips tight whenever I try to feed her. She loves mashed potatoes, watermelon, bananas, and grapes. She is always happy and laughs at anyone that looks her way.

School's Out

I can't believe that Ethan is finished with kindergarten! I remember first grade so well, I can't believe he is old enough to be in first grade next year!
The last week of school there was a big dance festival for the whole school. Each grade learned a dance and performed it for all the parents. They were all so cute. Poor Ethan, we went to find him afterwards and he was laying on the ground in tears. It turns out he was really sick, so we had to run inside with him and we barely made it to the bathroom in time. I took him home early and he had to miss the kindergarten teddy bear picnic that afternoon. He was disappointed, but truthfully I was relieved because I was already having a lot of anxiety about him eating outside with a couple hundred kindergartners, most of whom would be eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and would surely get it smeared all over their hands and faces, and then touch him. And since he's deathly allergic to peanuts, that would not be a good thing.
The last week of school they did lots of fun stuff. Every day had a theme: cowboy day, circus day, occupation day, etc. Ethan loved all of it, and really loved his first year of school.

Ethan on cowboy day


Here are all the kids dancing, Ethan is wearing blue, towards the back


Grandma Sue and Austin at the dance festival


Grandma Sue and Kylee

Itty Bitty Baseball

Austin played Itty Bitty Baseball at the Legacy Center last month. It was his first time doing anything like this, and he was very hesitant, but in the end he loved it.

Zion

Hiking the sand dunes


Grandma digging with the boys in the sand dunes


Aunt Kristin and the boys


Austin hiking in Zion


Grandma and the boys in Zion


The boys were not wanting to take any pictures


We finally got a picture of all of us, but we were looking pretty raggid by the end of the day



All my pictures from spring break were on my mom's camera, so I'm just finally getting around to posting them. I took the boys to St. George over Ethan's spring break. Adam had to work, so I invited my mom and sister to come with us. We spent our time swimming, eating, playing games, going hiking in Zion for a day, and hiking sand dunes. I hadn't been to Zion since I was a little girl and it was so fun to go back and relive all the fun memories I have from all our trips there when I was little. The boys loved the little hikes we took. We'll definately be going back again.

6 Months

How can my little newborn be 6 months old!?
At her 6 month checkup, Kylee was 18 pounds, 27 inches, and her head was in the 99% for size! This girl loves to eat!
Kylee is such a happy, sweet baby. She never fusses unless she is hungry or tired. I can lay her on the floor and she will lay there happily playing with a toy as long as I need her to. She is finally rolling over regularly and has almost got sitting up by herself down perfectly. She just started solids right at 6 months and likes them pretty well so far. She babbles a lot and likes to say mama, dada, and baba. And everything her big brothers do makes her laugh!

California

Warning: This post is really long with lots of pictures!
We went to California with the kids and Adam's parents and younger brother Landon (aka Cookie). We were using Buddy Passes to fly free (my mom works for Jet Blue), so we left a night earlier than planned because that flight looked pretty empty and Buddy Passes are standby only. Unfortunately, we got to the airport and found out that we were at the bottom of the standby list and we wouldn't make the flight. We felt a bit panicked since we knew the flights the next day were full too. There were still regular non-standby seats available, so we ended up buying those and were able to get on the flight. Shew!
The next morning we headed to the beach. Ethan LOVES the beach and had a great time building sand castles and running into the water. Austin loved it at first, but after getting hit with a big wave, he became scared for his life! In fact, he was afraid for all of us. If any of us even walked towards the water, he would start sobbing and begging us to come back. Ethan ignored the pleas and kept running into the water, causing Austin to sob uncontrollably and say over and over, "He's my best friend! Don't go in the water! He's my best friend!" It was so sweet and funny, but also annoying since it prevented Ethan from being able to play very long at the beach. There was a fun boardwalk at the beach with yummy food, vendors, and rides, so we headed over there for lunch.


Here's Austin crying for his "best friend" to come out of the water


Santa Monica Pier


Kylee loved wiggling her toes in the sand


I asked Adam to take a picture of KYLEE, not BOTH of us, so I didn't even realize I was in this picture


Boys on the boardwalk- those crosses behind them were part of a peaceful anti-war protest

Later that afternoon we met up with Adam's mom and dad and brother and went to eat Mrs. Knott's chicken dinner at Knott's Berry Farm. If you like fried chicken and are ever in California, Mrs. Knott's is a place you must visit! The chicken is amazing and the boysenberry punch and sherbet is to die for!!
Here's Kylee at dinner:


Monday morning we went to Disneyland all day. It was busier than we expected it to be, but the lines still weren't too bad, nothing over 30 minutes. We were nervous that Austin might be afraid of some of the rides (he's going through a bit of a scaredy-cat phase right now), but he loved EVERYTHING! He even rode Matterhorn and giggled through the whole thing. Ethan is the bravest 5 year old I've ever seen. He rode every ride, no matter how fast or scary. The only ride he refuses to go on is Tower of Terror, but I don't blame him, it's pretty scary.

I made this shirt for Kylee; it turned out pretty cute and it was so easy to make


Here's Ethan outside our hotel, walking to Disneyland


Austin riding on Papa Steve's shoulders


We'd just walked through the entrance, the boys were really excited...


Riding the train


Kylee with her Uncle Cookie on the train


Me and Austin riding the Astro-Orbitors


Watching a little 3-D Michael Jackson in Captain EO!


Tuesday we went to Disneyland in the morning, and then headed over to California Adventure for the rest of the day. Ethan bravely rode California Screamin' and wasn't scared at all about the upside-down part. Tuesday night, Adam, his dad, and Landon went to the Jazz-Lakers playoff game. They had a fun time, despite the Jazz's loss.





Family pic outside California Adventure, minus Kylee who was sleeping


By Wednesday we were all exhausted! We rode the boys favorite ride for the third (maybe 4th?) time, Pirates of the Caribbean. They sang "Yo ho, Yo ho, a pirate's life for me!" loudly throughout the whole ride. Adam's parents and brother had to leave part-way through the day to make their flight home, so we stayed at the park a little longer and got pictures with some of the characters and did some shopping.

Adam and Kylee outside my favorite ride... Haunted Mansion!


Kylee was sleeping for this picture


Austin is DEATHLY afraid of any dressed up character, so we knew coming to Disneyland we had to prepare him for lots of them. After lots of reassurances, he did GREAT and ended up loving the characters, especially Mickey and Goofy.


Kylee trying on some Minnie ears


While we were taking this picture, Austin kept saying, "He's touching my head! He's touching my head!" He was kinda freaked out by Pluto touching him, but loved it at the same time. What a funny boy.


Austin has been asking for Mickey ears for months now, and he was so proud of them when he finally got some.


Watching Pluto from afar, a little scared, but a little fascinated.

We woke up at 5 am the next morning and caught our flight home. We are exhausted!