five into forever

today we are celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary. it's a pretty big deal.

back to business

we're back! we've all had an amazing last couple of weeks. So many new memories have been made and so many fun times. Obviously i have a million pictures to go through and my posts will be huge but i am excited to share about everything! First I'm working on unpacking, laundry and taming our massively overgrown garden! Happy to be home but I hate that feeling of being home from a wonderful trip and suddenly everything feels so normal like it never even happened and you just want to go back and savor that vacation feeling.

foto friday

(taken 7.2)

these moments melt my heart.
(meant to post this awhile ago)

here we go.

I wanted to document this before we go on our actual trip, so here goes.. Paul and I are going to
GHANA

Wait what?! I know.
This trip has been in the works for awhile now and definitely at the back of Paul's mind but I didn't think I would go and we didn't know if it would really happen for us and then we basically decided to make it happen. So in the last 2 weeks we have decided to go to Ghana for a week. (welcome to our last minute life... it drives me crazy) The kids will get to have a fun week at Grandma and Grandpa Dickson's house in Texas. Paul's old mission president will be on assignment in South America for the next few years so this is his last trip to Ghana for a while. He is going with people from his charity to do humanitarian work and also have a few very spiritual highlights to the trip. It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime setup for an amazing trip that he was gracious enough to invite us on.

If only the once wasn't exactly RIGHT NOW in my lifetime. But it is so I had to decide if I was going to go or not. Everything else has aligned in a way that the timing would be perfect except for the fact that we have a tiny baby! And Africa is no place to bring a tiny baby (yellow fever anyone?) I just want to openly state that I have experienced so many levels of emotion and guilt and uncertainty in deciding whether or not to go and if I would be ok leaving my babies and if Nolan would be ok. I finally decided that although the actual timing is not ideal for me, I can't miss this opportunity. Once I made the decision (through many tears and prayers and doubt) I was done and moved on and decided to stick with it, regardless of what anyone else thought about it. It definitely involves certain sacrifices but I'm hoping the experiences shared and perspective gained on this trip will help me be a better wife and mom when I get back.

With all that being said, I am so excited to go see the place where Paul lived and worked and served for two years. This place and people that I have heard so many stories about and tried to imagine in my head. A place where we have sent our own spare money or supplies and now I will meet the people whose lives they have blessed. I'm so excited to make a connection with this place that I have been trying to imagine after these years with Paul. West Africa and the people there  were, and still are, a huge part of Paul's life and his testimony and his becoming the man he is today and I'm so excited to now take a part in it and to go serve and learn and see for myself.

So, I bought some chacos and mosquito repellent, I've gotten three shots, and I'm packing my hot weather clothes. We've had some extremely nerve-racking times making sure we can get our visas in time (again with the last minute thing!), but we are going. Here's to hoping for more air conditioning than I'm expecting and that I don't come back with anything but amazing pictures and stories!

wordy wednesday

 this made me laugh today

dickson visit

As I've mentioned, Jeff, Melissa and Madison came up to Utah over the 4th of July and got to stay with us for a few days. It was so fun to have them! They got to meet Nolan and as usual, we stayed up late every night with Jeff and Melissa. The little girls were so cute together and loved giving each other hugs and kisses and chasing each other around the house. They have their own little language with each other and Caitlin loved having a constant playmate at her house. As soon as she woke up every morning she was asking for Madi (she calls her "mameye") and Melissa ("missa") She liked Jeff too but he didn't quite get to the requested status. They also both loved having the little baby around. My back seat was crowded with car seats everywhere we went and it was so fun! Having cousins around the same age is priceless and I'm so glad we got to spend some time with all of them!

Nolan : one month

On July 6th, Nolan turned one month. This little boy has been the sweetest baby from the get-go. We are so lucky to have him in our family and he has such a calming effect on me because he is (almost) always perfect. He is so sweet and I am completely smitten with him, well, we all are.
Here's how his month went:
Eat:
-He eats every 3.5-4 hours during day. At night we will go for a stretch of 5-6 hours.
-He is a good eater. He has been good at nursing although it seems to give him tummy/digestive problems.
-He spits up a lot and is horrible at burping still. It's hard to get decent ones out of him thus the spit up. the spitting up doesn't seem to bother him but the tummy aches do.
-He poos ALL THE TIME, and when there is one squirt, there are always 2-3 more to follow! So i am sure to wait it out a little before I rush to change him.
-He is growing like crazy! I feel like he is already so much bigger than is surprises me when people see him and say "oh he's so tiny!" He has already grown out of all his newborn clothes and fits really well into 0-3 month size, and can fit into a few 3 month things.
Sleep:
-He is still a great sleeper.  He is definitely starting to be awake more often which is really fun but he does really well sleeping at night.
 -We are still experimenting with the swaddle, he seems to not really care if he is swaddled or not and kicks his little legs when he wakes up so I usually find him with his feet out.
-He still likes to cuddle against my chest which I love.

Play:
-He gives the cutest smiles. Usually right after he eats or when he is getting his diaper changed. I love his little open-mouthed grin and of course try to make him smile all the time.
-He has always had a really strong neck. He likes to lift up his head and look at you when you hold him against your chest and will also lift is when he's on his tummy.
-He is totally cross eyed. It cute and kind of funny.
-He likes to arch his back and look back really far and stretch out.

 Likes:
-(loves) his binky
-laying on his side.
-laying in our bed.. he sleeps so well in there! One night after i fed him i wrapped him up and laid him down in my spot then went to the bathroom and got a drink and by the time i got back (to put him back to sleep) he had already fallen asleep on his own!
-being held OR chilling.. such a great second child. Likes the attention when he gets it but is also happy to lay on the floor or sit in his seat if he needs to.
-observing
-music

Dislikes:
-burping
-being in his car seat.. he will cry for like 5-10 minutes then usually zonk out. I think he doesn't like the position it makes him sit in because of his tummy aches.

Also:
-He enjoys his baths
-He has had super dry skin, doctor said it is just learning to adapt coming from a wet environment to a dry one.
-He has baby acne really bad right now and it gets worse when he gets hot. Poor little guy. He really is so handsome!
-He is a noisy sleeper! He always snores when he gets into a good sleep. It's cute. He's also a noisy eater.
-He is very patient and sweet and calm
-He is such a trouper! He has been through a lot his first month of life, with visitors and being taken here and there and out in the sun and in the car. Life took a short break for us and then we were busy again so he has been along for the ride and has been the perfect baby for it.

(caught him at a bad moment for the laundry basket pic... sorry bud!)

god bless america

We celebrated our Independence day to the fullest, with a very full day.
-We headed out as early as we could get out of the house to get to Provo for the parade. Unfortunately with two little kids and two tired parents that wasn't quite early enough and sadly we missed most of the parade. But Caitlin still talks about the horses she got to see (honestly i think they were like the clean-up crew we were that late) but she liked them so I feel like it wasn't completely in vain. We met up with Cassie and Lemmons and Whitney and walked with them to center street and hung out there for a little while with all the "freedom festival" booths.

-Then we went to a birthday party for our little friend Liberty who was born on the 4th of July. The party was so cute with the patriotic theme and they had rented a bounce house so Caitlin was very happy.
-After the party we headed home for naps and to cool off. It was SO hot during the day and all of us, including poor little Nolan, were sweating like crazy.
-That evening we went to the Peterson's for a vivint party. It was amazing. There were tons of people there and they did a carnival theme and there was anything from swimming, to face painting, to bounce houses, dessert bar, jdawgs, BBQ, cotton candy, live music and more. We ate a lot and Caitlin continued with her super healthy day of eating mostly snacks and treats.

 


-Then we went to Stadium of Fire! We went with Cassie and Jeff and Melissa and none of us had ever been, just watched from outside so it was super fun to be in the stadium and see everything! Our kids were party animals and LOVED it. Caitlin was dancing and singing and the people behind us even gave her one of their glow bracelets and she was in heaven. Nolan was content looking at all the lights and listening to the music and chilling. Even the fireworks went well! We plugged their ears and Caitlin looked a little scared and wanted to snuggle but also watch. And then after when we asked her about them all she said was "woooow". Nolan didn't have a reaction until the very end during the last round he started crying and then promptly fell asleep. The big performers this year were Scotty McCreery and The Beach Boys. We LOVED seeing the Beach Boys! Their music just makes you feel happy. They sounded so good and were really fun to dance and sing along to. The fireworks show was so amazing. They were so close to us and the the show just kept going and going. We were all in awe. The perfect ending to a very fun day with the family.

quail fire

Utah has had a lot of fires lately. On Tuesday I was at home hanging out with Melissa while the kids were down for naps and I got a call from Paul and he said he had heard there were fires in Alpine and Cedar Dills. I said I hadn't heard anything and he told me to look outside and see if I saw anything. I looked in the backyard: nothing. Then I opened our front door and saw this:

Oh. Yes, there is a fire. It was crazy how close it was and how much smoke was billowing.  Melissa and I sat on our front porch for at least 20 minutes watching the flames at the bottom and the smoke rising everywhere. At first when I saw it I thought we needed to leave. Then I realized it was far enough away. Then at one point the wind changed and it looked like it was going to hop over that ledge and come straight for us and I panicked. Then the wind changed again and we were fine. We saw plane after plane coming to help put it out. It was a very interesting situation to be watching something so destructive be so close to you.

The fire was named "the quail fire" becuse it was on the quail mountain ridge area. It was started by sparks from a tractor being used by a worker who called in a small fire within 5 minutes and within 2 hours it had spread up the mountain. Alpine was most affected by it, having people evacuated and even some houses burned. What a tragedy for those people but a blessing that it was not a more catastrophic event.

The weather forecasts completely changed when it rained on Thursday. Not hard enough to create mud slides but enough to give the fire fighters some help, as the fire was still burning two days later. An answer to prayers.

news articles:
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=21104059
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=21111024
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=21123910

weekend review

The main event of our weekend was probably the haircut but here are a few other highlights:

-playing in the new little play thing that our neighbors gave to us, also playing in the mud and sprinklers

 -just chilling (doesn't everyone chill on their back steps in tutus hats and socks on saturdays?!)

-eating those dang suckers two at a time

-family dinner date (yes, Caitlin's 3rd wardrobe change for the day)

-We took Nolan to church for the first time on Sunday. I stayed for 2 hours. He wan an angel and slept the whole time. Caitlin was happy to be back in nursery and i was happy to come home and snuggle.

 

Caitin: first ever hair cut

Saturday we decided it was time. Caitlin's hair has been in the orphan-looking stage for some time now and we decided we better do something about it. It was always hanging down into her face and looking stringy at the bottom. And keeping a ponytail or bow in is a challenge. Pigtails looked cute but she would rip those out too. What to do...
 So we took her to cookie cutters and decided to give it the much needed trim. Caitlin was NOT into it. As soon as we strapped her into her little pink car the tears started to flow and screaming ensued. We really pulled out all the stops: about 5 suckers, a balloon, Disney channel and even bubbles. She calmed down during certain points but overall was not a happy camper. After it was all over she was fine of course. The girl cutting her hair was SO patient and sweet and did a great job, especially considering what she had been put through.      
It was worth it though. Her little bob looks so cute! It makes her hair look a lot thicker and she looks so grown up with a little style. We may still grow it out but at least now i feel like her hair is in a better place to do so. My little girl is sure growing up!

After her haircut we got lunch and a treat and while we were driving around there were some people giving away free kittens. Paul was the closest he will probably ever be to getting a cat because of this reaction:

So cute but still didn't work.

joys of motherhood: June

I feel like i have already done quite a bit of (over)sharing on my joys of motherhood this month, but here are a few more little things for good measure.
-Caitlin can now reach our doorknobs and open doors.. this is a whole new world for us. She has fully escaped out the front door once without me knowing and that was the scariest minute and a half of my life once i realized she as gone and not in the house until i found her sitting on our front porch step. Don't worry i keep all the outside doors locked now 24-7. 
-Caitlin is my human baby monitor. Anytime she hears the slightest peep out of Nolan she yells "baby!!" and goes tearing into his room. It's really cute but I'm thinking it's going to be a problem if he ever becomes a lighter sleeper.
-The other day we were outside playing and I was holding Nolan but Caitlin was playing on our play place and insisted on being lifted in and out of the swings and up to hold onto the bar.. so there i was holding my baby in one arm and lifting Caitlin with the other. I definitely got a workout and i'm sure would have been very entertaining to watch.
-This morning I woke up and looked in the monitor at Caitlin. She wasn't crying but i could hear her making noise so i knew she was awake. The noise? It was her saying "two... go!" (her version of "1..2..3!" + "ready..set..go!") and then doing front roll somersaults across her crib.
-Caitlin is really into picking her nose. So gross. Of course I'm trying to put the kabosh on that as soon as possible but unfortunately I feel like this phase lasts awhile.
-at any given point in time, we usually have about 3-5 pairs of Caitlin's shoes out around our house. she LOVES shoes and wants to put them on and change them out all the time. 
-Caitlin has been really into putting on socks too. Mostly just at bedtime she will get her jammies on then open her sock drawer and demand to have them on. So we put them on her and put her to sleep and by morning she wakes up like this:

 socks on her hands. This has happened a few times now. So weird!  

neither here nor there

my camera phone has pretty much been my BFF lately so here are the remainder of my instagram pics from June that i haven't already posted on here: