Saturday, June 27, 2009

What a great day for a pool party!

Today we went over to our friends the Anderson's for their daughter's 3rd birthday party. It was a Princess/Pirate theme, which was absolutely loved by all. Most of the little girls brought their own princess dresses and they had tiaras that were so cute. The boys had pirate masks, which Emmett did not want to wear. Plus they had the party horns that unroll when you blow into them. Emmett had his torn apart and used it for blowing bubbles in the pool(he even had daddy blowing bubble sin the pool-see picture below!). Anyway, pretty cute. Emmett was yelling "Happy Birthday, Darby!" before we even got him out of his carseat and I think Darby was opening her present before we entered their backyard! Such a great age. There were tons of kids, mostly the same age and they all played so well together. It made for great conversation time for the adults since no one was haggling with their kids or having time outs with tantrums. The pinata was shaped like Cinderella and was never broken by the kids. Courtney wound up pulling out the bottom so all of the candy would scatter around the grass. They loved it all the same. All in all, it was a great afternoon of fun in the sun, followed by amazing nap times. Now I just have to convince Luke that Mexican food is a must for dinner. Zapata's craving....hopefully taken care of.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Introducing....Bruno!


Everyone, this is Bruno, Emmett's new found love. The other weekend when we all went to Billings, we stopped at Kohl's to get Luke a few new shirts. While checking out, Kohls always has their $5 stuffed animal/book deals at the end of the counter. Emmett fell in love with this dog and who could say no to a $5 dollar contribution to the children's hospital here in town(I mean, what if we should ever need their expertise?). He didn't put that dog down all day and hasn't since. Well, Bruno(not sure how he got that name), had a boo-boo yesterday and Emmett brought me the dog and a Cars band-aid. The band-aids these days are way more sticky than what I remember as a kid and we couldn't get it off the dog once it had been on for a few hours. After Emmett went to bed, I took some goo gone to the dog's leg and low and behold, the band-aid came off. We stuck him in the wash and Emmett had a healthy puppy when he woke up this morning. I have to mention that he is now covered in peanut butter from my toast this morning, but Emmett doesn't seem to mind.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Almost.....

Well, we are on the final countdown. 30 days-only one more month- til Jolene arrives! I think because we are busy for the next few weeks, the time should pass pretty quickly. We are starting to have warmer weather and less rainy days, so we are spending quite a bit of time outdoors. Sure makes life easier with Emmett! Luke and I planted the garden this past weekend. Seems to be holding its own. And the rabbits haven't found the open-all-night buffet yet! Since the driveway is mostly completed, we also planted a few flowers in the turnaround. I figured they are better to look at than dirt. Eventually we will landscape with a tree and more substantial plants.
Emmett is doing well in his final week of swim lessons. He is with an instructor, while I watch from the sidelines. He cried the first week but it seems to be a thing of the past. He had a great time in class yesterday and we look forward to class this morning. I am going to put him on the waiting list for the next class in July to keep up the fun. As long as I don't have to don the bathing suit....he can keep swimming.
My mom and sister arrive in less than two weeks for the Fourth of July festivities. We don't have much planned this year. Kinda looking forward to an easy going weekend: food, some drinks, fireworks, the rodeo and just darn good company.

Monday, June 15, 2009

All grown up


Well, Emmett is growing up too fast. He just moved into a twin big boy bed this weekend. He loves it! We bought him race car bedding and cool race track decals for the walls. Emmett and I got out of the house Saturday morning so Luke could take down the crib and set up the twin bed. By the time Emmett and I got home he was asleep in his carseat and took a nap without knowing it in his big boy bed. When he woke up he was so excited! That's when Luke and Emmett put up the decals and I took a few pics to document the momentous occasion. He seems to go to bed pretty easy and naps have been going alright so far.....
We've also started swim lessons without me in the pool with him. He seemed to really enjoy the water and his instructor til about the last 10 minutes or so. I think part of that was nap time, cause he was asleep by the time we pulled into the driveway. I guess we'll try again tomorrow and see how it goes.




On Sunday, we took a family trip to Billings for one last Costco shopping extravaganza. We also needed to bring home a few bags of soil for the garden, so Lowes was another stop. Emmett fell in love with the outdoor water features and it sure made for easy shopping while he was entertained. Luke also was celebrated as a great Dad, a weekend early, by shopping for some new clothes. We had a really great lunch at Old C's and overall a really nice day away from home.
Aunt Chrissy. She is the greatest toy giver in the world, but then she gets to go home! Last time she was here to visit, she brought Emmett a Shake-um-up/talking Ramone car from the movie Cars. He loves it, but it seems to have influenced his vocabulary. He now calls me "Holmes" as in "C'mon Holmes!" and says "Hello baby!" only it sounds like "yellow baby" because of Ramone's hispanic accent. Cute as it is, I really prefer Mommy.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Last we've seen of John

This is a video from a while back. I just took it off my camera. Pretty cute. He sure loves when John is working.....me too. It means I can plant my garden and get on with the landscaping when he's done!

Done with the rain, already!

I am in serious need of sunshine. Having an outgoing, rambunctious 2 year old, stuck in the house for almost 2 weeks is driving me crazy. More rain is in the forecast for this weekend. Keep your eyes open for my freshly dug resting spot in our mud pit of a back yard.......

Great news for the Canales' family. They are having a baby girl! BRING ON THE PINK!

Luke put his touch of decoration up in the house this past weekend. He purchased a really old pair of skis and hung them between the kitchen and living room. They look great and match the cabinets and hardwoods exactly. Who knew he had it in him?! Maybe he's seen one too many episodes of HGTV. Lucky for me, huh?!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

What the.....?

Today is the 7th of June. We had a long night with a feverish little boy ~ about 102.5. The nights seem to be worse, but he has had a rough morning too. Then to top everything off.....it is snowing outside! We probably have about an inch of standing water in the yard and a half an inch of snow on the deck. The yard is never going to get finished with all of this wet weather we've been having. They can't run the tractors in heavy mud. AND Monday's weather is more rain!!! It sure would've been nice to have some grass seed down prior to all of this moisture. By the time I get a chance to seed, I will be moving hoses around the yard at 8 months pregnant!

By the way, it is Luke and I's 6th wedding anniversary today. We decided instead of sugar or iron, the traditional 6th wedding anniversary gifts, we'd have the gift of landscaping- rocks and lots of dirt. I might stop and get Luke a Blizzard from DQ (gift of sugar!) on my home from visiting my friend Courtney's new baby boy, Dane. I have to keep reminding myself that I only have about 6 weeks left, but I sure wish it was me with the new baby. I could really stand to be finished with this pregnancy stuff. Trying to sleep is really hard, especially with a writhing, whining 2 year old with a fever in your bed. It sure makes you appreciate the end result.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Luke's new ad

Luke put a new ad in the paper for Wyoming Financial. Now tell me, who wouldn't buy insurance from a handsome man with a beard and a son that adorable?!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

John the tractor


Here's the other funny video! It's raining today, so "John" is not working today! He should be back tomorrow! Stay tuned for upcoming funny stories and videos.





Monday, June 1, 2009

What an eventful day...

Our day started off kinda strange with the craziest tantrum I have ever experienced(and I'm sure it's not the last!). Emmett and I were in the basement. Me, I was posting the last blog and Emmett was playing with his cars. He brought a few to me and asked if we could go upstairs. Sure...so we head to the stairs and Emmett wanted to be carried up the stairs. He is getting too big for me to be doing that and I simply said no. WOW! He sat on the bottom stair for about 10 minutes wailing. I just went about my morning like I didn't hear him. After a bit I called my mom to make sure I was doing the right thing. I put her on speaker phone and she tried to coax Emmett up the stairs(now it is a battle of who is going to hold out the longest). I do not want to give in and get him cause he'll think he can pull this crap all the time. I hung up with mom and tried talking to him and he eventually came up the stairs and climbed in my lap. He asked for a binky and his blankets and off to bed he went. Mind you it is only 9am! We've been up since 6:30am but he doesn't take a nap til 1pm or so. That whole ordeal lasted about 20 mins, but I was worn out when it was over. Then he woke up about an hour plus and ate lunch and we headed in for his first swim lesson of the summer. It went great. When we got home, there was an exciting surprise for both Emmett and I. The land was being grated! Yea! Landscaping! For Emmett, he loved watching the "caterpillar" push dirt around. It is certainly the most expensive event to make your son happy, but I am going to live it up for the next 3 days! The videos are pretty funny. I tried to capture Emmett asking me what the "caterpillar's" name was, but never got it on tape. They are using a John Deere, so I told him the "caterpillar's" name was John. Now he goes to the window to see where "John" is. Boy if my dad could have only heard that conversation.....He's either laughing or crying(cause it's not CAT!).

Emmett and Jack on carnival ride

The Canales family came for a visit

We had a great visit with Carl, Julie and Jack this weekend. They drove up from Denver on Thursday night and we got to play around all day Friday and Saturday. We took it easy on Friday and had a picnic lunch in the park. The weather was great and the boys got so dirty digging in the sand. They were covered in sunscreen and dirt....of course they loved it! We headed home for a bath and naptime, and then out to a nice dinner. It was also the weekend the carnival was in town. After dinner, we walked around the carnival to take in the lights and music. The kids were amazed at the rides and the lights. They had a few rides that did not have height requirements and were made for the toddlers. Jack and Emmett rode in cars and then took a helicopter ride. Emmett loved the car at first and then we think he lost track of Luke while the ride was spinning around. They had to stop the ride so he could get off. He really loved the helicopter ride, but I think it was cause Daddy was riding in the back of the helicopter with him. We shared a funnel cake and headed for home. On Saturday, we decided to head up to Pahaska Teepee for lunch and a short ride(basically we drove to the east entrance of Yellowstone). We only saw one lone buffalo. Kind of a bummer. We talked the animals up to the kids. I KNOW! It's not a zoo........ Emmett and Jack loved playing with the bear statue and running around in the grass, so it wasn't a total loss. We enjoyed a nice lunch and went back to Cody. The kiddos only napped about 20-30 mins on the ride home and then played hard outside for another 4 hours. Needless to say, they ate dinner and soon after went to bed. Julie, Carl, Luke and I feasted on steaks and lived up the quiet time. Julie and I, being the bumps on the log, aka the pregnant ladies, were asleep by 10pm. Sunday morning was a biscuits and gravy extravaganza with pancakes for the kids. Then off to Denver went the Canales family. Emmett had such a great time playing with Jack. Only a few meltdowns over the Cars, but otherwise they had a ball. Can't wait to hear what Julie and Carl are having: boy or girl. They find out next week. Stay tuned!

Bill Cody Ranch




Luke, Emmett and I went to the summer opening of the Bill Cody Ranch. It is a beautiful ranch and lots of great food and drink to be had. They had a fun life size Connect Four for the kids to play with. Emmett loved it, mostly to run circles around, but who cares, it kept him busy for awhile. He also loved the horses. It was nice to get out and be a part of something different. I think Emmett agreed!