Grandma Gwen's

A couple months after I started dating Eric, he took me to a family reunion up at his Grandma Gwen's house. On the way up he was telling me how awesome her house was, how it was the ideal Grandma's house. It has a swimming pool, a laundry shoot, a barn, a sweet swingset, 4 floors in the house, and a little "hidden" room off one of the stairwells, and an amazingly cute grandma to top it off. Well, I got to spend a few days there a couple weeks ago and had such a GREAT time. Reese and I swam with Eric's mom Jill and sister Amber a ton. It was the most relaxed trip I've had in a long time!!! Eric's mom is still down from BC for a couple weeks longer so we've gone up a couple times since and it has been so fun. Eric was right, Grandma Gwen's house really is the ideal Grandma's house.
I often times still think of things that seem crazy to me and make me think, "I can't believe I actually got to marry Eric". I remember when we were dating and went to Grandma Gwen's house, I thought "hmmm, that would be cool if this was my kids great grandma's house, they'd have so much fun." Well, my dream came true. I don't know how many of my kids will get to experience times with Grandma Gwen and her fun house, but I'm glad they have her as a great grandma for eternity :) And I can't believe I got so lucky to marry Grandma Gwen's grandson, who is so much like her late husband Moyle. I've heard story after story about Moyle, and Grandma and Eric's mom continually remind me how similar Eric is to him both physically and some of their personality characteristics. I'm excited to meet Moyle one day, Eric idolizes him, and I'll thank Moyle for passing on some handsome, kind, friendly, and loving genes.

We bought Reese a lifejacket for Lake Powell (in 2 weeks baby!!). She liked it, especially because she could lick the top of the zipper. It gave her the cutest chipmunk cheeks.

Reese loves being outside, so this was a great trip for her, since we were outside the majority of the time.

I hope that Reese can make some good memories, that she'll remember, with Grandma Gwen. Reese, Grandma kept commenting on how pretty you were, and what a perfect little nose you have.

On the 18th of July (I think) we had dinner with B-Money and friends to celebrate Bee's 32nd birthday.

Me and my friend Terra decided that we wanted to go on a nice walk up in the mountains behind our house. We decided it would be much cooler and more enjoyable than walking where we usually would. We drove for a really long time, which wasn't bad since it was a pretty drive, and finally decided on a place to pull off and start walking. Well, we walked for a while and were getting eaten by deer flies so decided to turn around. Poor Aubree (the newborn) had a deer fly stuck on her face biting her at one point even though she was covered in a blanket.

After we had turned around we realized that we had been stupid for walking downhill, because the walk back to the cars was a grueling uphill stretch, and that combined with the heat and freaking annoying deer flies, made for a not so cool and beautiful walk. When we got back to the cars Terra was getting Aubree out of her frontpack and into the car when she saw two little black legs sticking out of Aubree's mouth. Terra reached in her mouth and pulled out a dead deer fly. NASTY!! At least Aubree won't be a picky eater when she starts foods since she thinks solids taste like dead flies :)

There were beautiful flowers everywhere!

the Fourth

This post is long overdue. We had a busy 4th of July this year.

-Camping at Burriston Ponds in Mona (Complete with Eric doing a backflip on the ropeswing - so much braver and more coordinated than me)

- Parade in Provo

- BBQ at the Jenkin's and Freedom Festival with Naffzigers (Terra, I've got to tell you, when you sent out Aubree's baby announcement I thought to myself, "oops, she spelled their last name wrong", but wait obviously I'd be more likely to be spelling your last name wrong than you would. Sorry for the extra "g" for the last year and a 1/2.

- An amazing game of Marco Polo in my parents' pool

- Five Guys Burgers and Fries

- Stadium of Fire

Reese slept maybe 30 minutes the whole day (poor gal) but was happy and excited to see everything going on. She almost lost it around 10 but luckily the fireworks started and she was happy once again. She LOVED the fireworks.

Happy Surgery Cam!

Just wanted to wish Cam a happy birthday on the 21st and a speedy recovery to her left foot (which was operated on yesterday). I love you Camla!!

Camla started off the celebration by swimming pretty much all day long and finishing off the frosting container. YUM! OH Camla, you're too funny (notice that the frosting is all over her.)Eli and Reese hanging out. Chelsea was behind Eli, but as soon as she heard I was getting my camera she jetted. Sometimes she wants her picture to be taken and other times she'll freak out if you take her picture. Such a funny princess.

Update on "Peaceful Sleeping?"

Eric tells me Micah will get a kick out of this one.

Two nights ago it was my turn to say our family prayer. Eric fell asleep after maybe the third sentance of my prayer. After a minute or so Eric in his sleep-filled state recognized I was talking but had forgotten I was saying a prayer. While I was praying Eric all of a sudden said, "yeah." Then I prayed some more, and he said, "Yup." And then I prayed some more, and he said, "Uh-huh." I was laughing pretty hard, seeing as he was trying to be a good conversationalist, even in his sleep, by giving feedback. Oh the joys of having someone to make your life so much funnier! Thanks for being HILLARIOUS Eric - even in your sleep!!

Peaceful Sleeping?

A couple mornings ago after Reese woke up, I put her in bed to play with her daddy while I did a couple things downstairs. Five minutes later I walked back upstairs and saw this precious sight. Eric and Reese both back to sleep. I thought, "maybe they're faking", but then I remembered that Reese wouldn't fake to be asleep.Ever since Reese was born, our nights haven't been the normal deep sleep filled experiences they used to be. Well at least not mine (except the last week and a half, I'm thinking she is getting the hang of sleeping through the night). Eric experienced what I experience most nights for the first week or two, but now he doesn't hear her. Somehow he has learned to block her noises out at night. Anyway, sometimes when I climb back into bed after fixing Reese's problem, Eric wakes just enough to start talking but not remember it in the morning. I wish I could remember all the things he has said but here are a couple.

Eric: "You're dirty."
Nakita: "What?" (wondering what sort of dirty)
Eric: "Ewe! You're dirty. Go take a shower!"
Nakita: "Whatever."

Then yesterday morning I caught a glimpse into his mind after listening to Clive Cussler books on disc.


Eric: "Why do we have to stand in the middle of the crosshairs?"
Nakita: "I don't know."
[long pause]
Eric: "Do you know the answer or not?!?!"
Nakita: "What is a crosshair?"
Eric: "It is where the guns are aiming"
Nakita: "Where are the guns?"
Eric: "All around us".


It was kind of fun. Made me realize how much fun it will be to have little boys with imaginations full of weapons and war. And made me realize Eric still has that mind, just doesn't typically share those thoughts openly :)

Botts

My sister Aubrey and her family came up a couple weeks ago for dinner. It was a lot of fun having them over. Chelsea and Eli are SO cute with Reese and she LOVES them!! She always giggles so much at the things Chelsea and Eli do. Chelsea, 'the princess', is coaching Reese on being a princess. Reese is definitely learning from the BEST!!

The whole crew

After dinner we drove up to a lake above our house. FYI - there will be no pictures of Eli because he got carsick and threw up all over his clothes so he had to where Chelsea's Disney Princess nightgown. Didn't want to creat blackmail worthy pics for the sweet boy.

Reese happy to be out!

Family Pic

My Beauty of a sister Aubrey and her daughter Chelsea (notice the Princess shoes - I wasn't lying, she IS the princess.)

Aubs and Jer

The guys kept seeing things in the lake and finally caught one of those "things". Twas a salamander.

Halbjahr [1/2 of a year auf Deutsch]

My sweet little peanut is 6 months old. I can't believe we are already to that mark. Kind of sad, but VERY exciting! She was fed up with me not paying attention to her while taking pics of our friend's baby. She looks like she's been working out huh? Sweaty grey shirt (don't worry it's drool) and sweatband on her head. HA!

Some nicknames she's acquired thus far (all pretty similar and I'm probably forgetting some):

- Rizzle

- Reese's Pieces

- Reesey Piecey Puddin' and Pie

- Reeser

- Peanut

- Reesey Reese

Reese is SO chill. She definitely knows what she wants and lets you know when you're not giving it to her, but she goes with the flow. Eric and I are REALLY spontaneous people, you never know what we'll end up doing each day, but she's great and is happy going along for the ride (whatever it might be).

There is something deep within this child. I feel as if she is wise beyond her years. It is kind of strange, but it seems like she is so much smarter and aware of the world than she ought to be according to her physical development. I think I may be sensing her immense spirit stuck in a tiny little body. She's going to do some great things.

She's a happy camper. Reese has the sweetest little giggle and she loves to smile and I love her smile. Makes my eyes water 95% of the time. Oh, and she sits up amazingly well and moves around the house by rolling from her back, to her tummy, to her back....and pushing herself off of items in the house with her legs and arms. I have to childproof our house - TODAY!

Reese loves food. She wants to try everything. We give her tastes of pretty much everything, unless it is on the "Do Not Eat until 1 year old" list. She gets pretty mad when you take away something she's been eating or sucking on and she doesn't want to be done. She'll throw a fit until you either give it back or distract her with something else. She LOVES chewing on the sides of glasses and drinking a little water out of the cup. I think the cold glass feels good on her gums.

Reese, you've brought a lot of happiness to us and taught us how to love deeper. You're teaching us things every day and making us into better people. Thanks for being our sweetheart.

Now for the 6 months stats:

Weight: 16 lbs 1 oz = 50th percentile
Height: 25 1/2 inches = 50th percentile

OFC: 17 inches = 75th percentile

Man you are getting BIG Reese, and what can we say, you have a good smart brain ;)

The Ever-Daunting Yard

If you've been to our house you know that our yard is big but unusable (covered in scrub and other unwelcome plants/rocks/etc.) Well, finally we decided that we needed to make part of the yard usable so that Reese would have somewhere to play while she was too little to hike around through the rest of the yard. And of course, so I could sunbathe and we could have picnics and such :) It isn't finished, we are waiting for the grass to come in but here are some pictures of the progress we've made. Thank you Travis for bringing your tractor over and spending the greater part of a Saturday making us a wonderfully smooth area to plant grass. And a pretty shape if I might add.

The pic above is right after we seeded and watered the dirt.

Thank you Dan for letting Eric and I get rocks from your property! It made our yard look a lot prettier.

Another portion of the yard

The last portion of the yard.

The yard turned out much larger than I was expecting and I was pleasantly surprised. Thanks Eric for ALL your hard work and all the long hours you've put into getting this yard going. Thanks Reese for being a doll and being happy even when we drag you in between our house, Dan's lot, Home Depot, and town, and wake you up from your naps 1 1/2 hours early to run an errand for the yard, and being a champ while playing in your stroller or backpack while we work on things.

Once the grass is in I'll post a last picture to show off the beauty :)

Chopped

Long hair is beautiful, but not when you where it in a 1.97 second pony-tail 29 of the 30-31 days a month. And not when the only time you where it down is when luckily the night before when you went to bed with your hair wet it dried magically well on your pillow, so you think it is presentable for the day. And not when that long hair is shedding because your post pregnancy hormones are raging (or not?), and clogging your shower drain to the point that it needs unclogging every 3 days.

I always swore to myself that I wouldn't be a chopper (one of those mother's who chopped their long hair off), until I figured out why they do it. Now I respect women who chop their hair off. Just means that they are filling their lives with a lot of meaningful things and don't have more than 10 minutes a day to devote to getting "pretty" for the day, but do want to look pretty. Not saying the long haired moms that style it every day aren't doing meaningful things with their lives, just saying I now COMPLETELY understand why a mom might want to chop their hair off. [Want to be hottttt for their husbands, yet want to spend time with their babies, and need to do house work, and need to take care of the yard, and need to blog (is this a need), and need to pay bills, and need to run errands, and need to call so and so, and need to write so and so a thankyou/happy birthday/ get well card, and need to fulfill their church callings, and need to...... you get the point).

Anyway, here are the before and afters. I LOVE short hair; I have since the 6th grade when I chopped maybe 2 feet off of my L-O-N-G hair and recognized all the pros to short hair, plus the cuteness of it (in my opinion).

Whit and Tula

We had some visitors the other day and boy were we grateful that they made the drive up to hang out with us. Whitney Taylor (formerly Bonnett) and her little Tula came and hung out with us. We had a mighty fine time going on a walk and just chit chatting.

You know how you have some friends that even if you don't see each other a whole lot, when you do see each other, everything picks up just as normal and it seems like nothing has changed. Well, Whitney is that friend to me. We luckily see each other pretty often these days because we like to get together with our girls, but even the times when we wouldn't see each other for a real long time (like when she went to Ukraine or BYUI, or right after we both got married), things picked up like always. I always love being around Whitney and am glad we met at Centennial Middle School about 10 years ago.

It's fun that Tula is only 2 months younger than Reese. They really enjoy one another's company :) Whit, we should plan for a P.C. Shopping trip next week....what do you say??