Dallin and the cheerleaders

The boys have been participating in the Jr. Giant program this summer. Dallin is in t-ball and Tanner is in coach pitch. 

Lately there have been fires in surrounding towns, and since we live in a valley the smoke has been settling where we live. Here is a picture of the sky at Dallin's game. Half the teams showed up to play. Today they canceled all games. It has been horrible to go outside.

Doesn't he look like he is having so much fun? I am being sarcastic. He doesn't appear to be enjoying himself all that much, but he always says he is excited to play. 

Ashlyn spends a lot of time watching the boys do activities. She did it during Dallin's swim lessons, and then Tanner's soccer, and now the boys' baseball. I can't wait to have her do something. She loves to run, and has good endurance. Maybe soccer? She likes tumbling around, but her elbow pops out very easy, so I am not sure that is a good idea.

 I was looking at baby pictures of Ashlyn today and it is amazing how similar these girls look as babies. 

Cookies in the car

Did you know you could bake cookies in your car? Yep. We did it. It took about 2 hours on a 100 degree day. Nothing special about the dough. Some sources say to not use eggs, but we did.

And here is Amber these days.

Railroad Park

We got to join friends and family at the railroad park this week. Dallin literally rode on the train every single time it went around while we were there. Tanner would have too, I imagine, if he didn't get sick and puke. It was probably 100ish degrees outside, so that + junk food + motion = sick Tanner. Poor guy.

The kids' cousin Ty also rode the train every time it went. He is OBSESSED with trains. He was very cute to photograph.

Oh, I guess Ashlyn went every time too. She sat in the lap of someone different almost every time around too. She's not shy.

The babies. Emma went. Amber did not. 

Maylee's face is my favorite. This was the only smile I got out of her.

Here is pretty much the whole group. Thanks Kay for a fun evening!

Nate came strait from work, and didn't have shorts to change into, so he rolled up his pants. :)

See, look at Ty in all these pictures. Pure excitement.

Luau

We went to a luau this weekend where my cousin, Chawna, and her kids performed. I joined their dancing group last year before I got pregnant, then dropped out. I am debating on whether I want to go back or not. I enjoy hula, but I am not a fast learner and I get frustrated. 

The Luau was at a park, so here is Ashlyn in a swing (of course, she loves to swing).

Dallin has always loved the swings too. And being goofy.

What a clown!

Then there is Tanner, who can paste on a smile with ease.

Nate and Ashlyn, and Ashlyn with Toki (below). Toki is Chawna's youngest. The two of them remind me of Chawna and me as little girls. 

Dallin adores Amber. Always wants to hold her and feed her.

Here are some pictures of some of the dances. These were the two Hawaiian looking dancers. :) The others were haloes (Hawaiian for white people). 

Chawna's daughter, Aili, doing a Tongan dance.

Chawna's other daughter, Nia, before dancing.

Before the luau, we visited my grandparents so they could meet Amber. 

One Month Old

I have seen so many cute ideas on Pinterest to show a baby's growth over the first year. I decided to put Amber next to one of her stuffed animals to see her growth over the year. There is one idea I love where you use a balloon for every month old they are. I might still do it. I will have to hurry if I want to do her 1 month picture. 

Britt Children's Festival

I have fond memories of the Children's festival, and it is pretty much the same as I remembered it. They have the same crafts and booths that they did 20+ years ago when I went as a kid. Even though I have fond memories, it was not fun to take my kids today. It was 100 degrees, and I had Amber strapped to me, and we were both sweating. Ashlyn was whining that she wanted to go home after only being there 20 minutes. Luckily, my cousin Chawna, was there to take my boys around so they could have a good time. The girls and I sat in the shade, ate a snow cone and watched some girls doing gymnastics on the stage.

 Of course we had to do face painting. And feed the talking dragon some trash.

Mural painting was fun too. 

It is amazing how much attention a new baby gets. Seemed like everyone I made eye contact with commented on Amber, or Oooh-ed and Aaah-ed at us. I think a volunteer even snuck a picture of her on her iPhone. Weird...

 Cutie Pie getting an ice cream cone on her face. 

"You are so beautiful to me..."

We got the movie "Little Rascals" for Nate's birthday and the kids love it! The are saying "O-Tay" now and singing "I gotta pickle. Hey! Hey!" My favorite is when they sing "You are so beautiful". Dallin and Ashlyn did it for me to record. Tanner was too embarrassed.

I love this face! She has turned into such a confident little girl. 

She used to be shy and wouldn't smile without covering it or trying to hold back, now she just lets it shine. I hope she says this confident. I read this article called "When Your Mother Says She's Fat"  that I really liked. It talked about how our daughters pick up on how we feel about ourselves, and they take on a lot of our attitudes. I would hate for my girls to have low self esteem because they perceived that I have poor self esteem. I am really trying to be conscientious of how I act, and what I say around my kids, so they feel good about themselves. 

4th fo July

I forgot to post about the 4th of July. We didn't do too much, that is probably why it slipped my mind. Nate worked part of the day, then we met up with my cousin, Chawna, and her family in the evening to watch fireworks. We got back late, so we ended up doing the fire crackers we bought a couple days later.

My sister, Tracie, was with us and took pictures of the boys because Ashlyn was upset from getting her finger smashed in a door and needed to be held. Then the noise of some of the louder fire crackers freaked her out. We watched from inside the house.

 She got some great shots of the boys and Nate.

Unafraid

Dallin decided it was time to ride a two wheel bike. He tried a couple months ago, but quickly changed his mind. Balancing was harder than it looked. This time he was determined. Tanner claims he taught Dallin, but it was really Dallin's decision and persistence.

 He got this helmet for his birthday.

More Amber

I took a few more pictures of Amber. I just can't resist. 

She has been a great baby. She sleeps well; eats well. She lost 14 ozs in the first couple days, which is 11% of her body weight, so the doctor had me focus on feeding her really well to get her up some. She was getting a big jaundice too, but as she got better at feeding and my milk came in she seemed to be doing better. 

I am anxious to get back to normal. I am very impatient with the healing process. I am dying to get a good sweaty workout. I got diastasis recti with this pregnancy, which is where your abdominal muscles separate leaving a little bulge. Gross. Totally fixable with core exercises though. 

Amber's newborn pictures

I was so excited to do Amber's pictures. I don't think I am done yet. I like being able to leave up my backdrops and things, and just bring her in when she is nice and sleepy. I don't have that luxury when I have a scheduled photo shoot. I have to work with what I get.

Anyway, here is my beautiful Amber.