Scouty Girl Turned 1

In August that is....

We had a small celebration in our teensie tiny of a home with our families. We actually celebrated a few days early since TJ had to work a night shift on her actual birthday. My two little girls are so lucky, they have so many aunts, uncles, and grandparents who adore them.

Even though we said no presents, she still got spoiled and loved every single one.

Scout Loved her cake, she almost ate the enitire thing and I am not even kidding.

Proof... this is all she left when we finially decided for her that she was done!

Well, She did have some help from Tahsha she just couldn't help herself. I guess Scout made it look that good!

On her actual birthday she opened her gifts from us and then we took her to the park. She loved the swings and playing with Toby. After roasting to death we headed for some frozen yogurt to cool down.

I can't believe that this little love is 1 (well now technically 16.5 months which is even harder to believe) She is such a happy and fun baby. She is mischievous and gets into everything, but she adds something to our family that we didn't have before. I can't even imagine life without her. We love you Scouty girl, thanks for coming to our family.

Summer in a Nutshell (A Big Shell)

Oh goodness where to start, where to start... This poor little blog has been neglected big time! So here is a quick version of our summer.

Lots of sprinklers and watermelon smiles.
At the annual Morgan Memorial (yes, I said Memorial day I realize that was long ago!) The kids found tons of snails around Nana's flower gardens. The kids were more than willing to help alleviate her of this problem.

My parent's added two cute little goats to their mini farm. Bonnie and Bella. They were fun to help feed, hold, and watch them run around jump and ram into each other. They are pretty entertaining to watch.
We had many fun trips to the pool with friends. Ha, I love all the food stuffed smiles (and a thumb)
Thanks to my parent's for the bed and some awesome spray painting skills from TJ (we weren't quite digging the cream and gold combo) Toby upgraded from her crib toddler bed to an actual big girl bed. We moved Scout in here and yes it is a tight fit, but a perfect space for them. Toby loves having Scout in here with her. Whoever comes to our house she always asks them "Do you want to see my new room?!"

Toby then rolled out of her bed in the middle of the night and split her lip open. It bruised all the way down the inside of her lip. So sad, she was not a happy camper about it. Her face kills me in these pics. Haha

I bought tickets to take my sisters to Thompson Square performing at the Utah County Fair. We show up only to find out that they cancelled. Bummer. We watched Artie Hemphill and the Ironhorse band instead. It was so fun to hang out just the 3 of us. We can definitely make our own entertainment!
Toby got her first haircut EVER! She had never had sissors touch these lovely locks until she was 4!
I love having Kara who can cut her hair in my mom's kitchen. Ahh so nice!
She ended up cutting off 5 inches! It looks so much better!
For my sister Jamie's birthday, most of my family went to St George to see Little Mermaid at the Tuacahn. It was AWESOME! Toby Loved it....

Until she zonked, she held out until just after intermission... It was so dang hot going in Aug. Luckily we have a Awesome aunt and uncle who live in St George and let us stay with them and my aunt watched Scout!
Toby had her first day of pre-school. She was not the least bit sad or scared. I had to force a goodbye from her. To be honest it kinda made me sad. I leave her to go to work and various other things, but this is the first time she has left me.... sniff. She has a blast with her friend Cannon and still Loves to go.
We met the boys during the archery elk hunt. It just so happened that they chose the dustiest place on the planet for the camp site. Seriously one step and a puff that billows up to your knees. Not fun with a crawling baby. Although, your supposed to get dirty camping right?
A sheep herders dog made a home not to far from our camp under a big pine tree. She had 6 puppies under there which she let the kids hold. Toby was in heaven, her and her cousins sat under that tree All day long!
Went for paddle boat rides... Toby loved this.
And lastly.... Our little car got in a little fender bender (Eh heemm, this was not due to my driving skills. Just in case you were wondering. I won't name names, but he sure is good looking!) which made Toby sad. All is well and our car is back and running great!
So, there is our summer jam session. I have a few other summer things, for when I stop being blog lazy I will have something to write about :)

Better Late than Never Right?

Clear way back in July, (man, I'm a slacker) I insisted that this little girl not turn 4. She insisted that she would... One guess as to who won out on that battle.

She awoke to her bedroom full of balloons and freshly made sprinkle pancakes. She wanted a Little Mermaid Cake. So, we headed over to the Disney Store for some figurines to go on the top. The lady at the store gave her a crown to wear along with a button pin that had her name on it. All day long, this little girl was on CLOUD 9! She was so dang excited it was her day. We stopped at the hardware store to buy the tarp for her slip n slide party. She had a quarter in her pocket from the birthday fairy to hopefully find a gumball machine. She found one, put in her quarter and then exclaimed. "I hope a pink one comes out!" A pink one made its way out into her hand. She then jumped up and down with the biggest grin and yelled "This is the best day ever!!"

Later that night we had the best party ever! Seriously, I'm not really sure who has more fun... The adults, or the kids. Last year I was 6 weeks away from having Scout, I was the waddling video taker. Oh, but not this year....

I will take some of that back, I was still the video taker only a little less waddling, a little more wet, and I got to lug around this little love on my hip instead of in the belly!

The boys, er the big boys kept having these contests once the 100 feet of slide ended, who would go the farthest on the grass. Really? Does that look like fun? My answer would be no. They would grit their teeth, close their eyes, then come to a stop. Slowly stand up, bellies raw and gleaming red and then laugh like giddy little school girls while giving each other high fives...

One friend Brandon topped them all when he braved the run in the nude. Nobody believed he would actually do it!

Ok ok! not really, but it sure dang looks like it huh?? I laughed my butt off when I saw these pictures!

All in all it was a great birthday for a great girl. We sure love our little Toby Girl! And no, she will NOT be turning 5 next year! :)

Toby had a dream about a wolf last night. She killed it with her hands... Yes, strangely that made TJ proud. She didn't want to go to bed because she was worried she would see a wolf shadow on the wall. I laid next to her, cuddled up to her little body until she fell asleep. My little Scouty girl woke up about 2 hours after I had laid her down for the night. I went in and pulled her out of bed. We went into the living room and I rocked her in the chair. I watched her eyes rapidly blink and then slowly close over and over again. She is usually not a cuddly baby. She likes her own space and her own bed.
They are growing up to fast, I want them to stop. Since that won't happen I need to stop. I need to learn to savor the moments. This is the phase of life I am in, and I know I will look back and miss it. All of it.
Sometimes it hits me just how lucky I am. Tonight I felt it, I savored it.
I. Love. Being. A. Mom.

Coolest Mom's Ever

In February, Tahsha, the 3 girls and I took a road trip to Moab for my sister in law Ashley's reception. Her and Traykon were married in Hawaii in January and live in Moab. We left Saturday morning following behind my in laws. We had the wedding party dinner at the Moab Brewery and then left from there to the reception. We stayed there for a bit I couldn't get enough of Leah's dancing.... Man, that girl has some moves, It was hilarious! I wish I had video! We left the reception early to let the girls go swimming. I can't get over my little squishly ball of a chunk! Scout is almost 6 months, wearing Toby's first swimsuit.

Here is Toby on her first swim in Zions at 9 months old! It is crazy to me the difference in these two!Mike, Susan, Britt, Bridger, and Ellie had to leave first thing Sunday morning. Tahsha and I had planned on taking the girls for a hike to the Arches. I strapped Scout onto my front, Tahsha loaded her pack and we were off.We hiked upon a little bear cave which happened to contain two little bears! eeeehhh!The girls did AWESOME! Their little legs hiked them almost the whole way up. They went and went and went. Towards the top we had to stop at the little trail markers and let them have a rest. After a while their dawdling got longer and longer....So we loaded them up... double load for me! This is where I felt like the coolest mom EVER!! :)We finally made it to the top! It was FREEZING! The wind was blowing like crazy, Toby was done. She was cold, tired, and in no mood to smile. Scout was Screaming, hungry, cold, and super tired... I gave her her bottle, flipped her around, put my jacket over her head and she zonkered out.We left the arch and started to head back down. The wind never stopped, the girls were tired, and whiny so Tahsha threw Leah on her back, I threw Toby on my back and we started back down the trail. :) We sang songs, looked for cool rocks, and eventually made it back to the car where we had lunch, strapped the girls in their seats and had to most quiet ride all the way back home! They woke up probably 30 minutes before we got back to Tahsha's.Even though the girls got a little grumpy, It was so fun! They really were such troopers! Many more cool mom adventures to come! :)