May - Part II

It has been fabulous weather. We have been so anxious to spend time outside, and we can feel the warmth of the fast-approaching summer. At the end of May, we spent as much time outside as we could. Charlie and I met up with friends from the ward, usually weekly, and headed for one of the nearby parks. I have really loved the friends I have made here. It was especially nice to have busy days while Jason was away in Roosevelt. Jason and John had a big job up there, so they ended up staying in a hotel there for two nights while they completed it. That left Charlie and I home alone, but it wasn’t bad at all with the delightful weather. It is also nice now that Charlie is a little older... we kind of have an understanding of each other and a typical routine. The day goes pretty smoothly, for the most part. I am so thankful that he is such a good nighttime sleeper.

We had another game night with two couples in our ward. Our goal has been to get together each month, alternating the host house. It has been really fun. This time we headed to the Gibbs. We enjoyed Telestrations, as well as their own version of the game. We always enjoy good company, good games, and good food.

We also visited our friends, the Wingers. They had their new baby, Boston, on May 3rd (sharing my birthday). We actually were with them having dinner at Texas Roadhouse the night before he was born. So a couple weeks later, we took them dinner and finally got to the meet the guy. He is such a cutie and so precious...as all newborns are.   

Naked baby time (Georgia & Charlie):

 

Future techies

Sorry, no pictures of Boston...fail!

For Memorial Day, it was just the three of us. We thought we would have a nice BBQ up the canyon...but apparently that is what every other person in Utah County thought, as well! The canyon was packed! It was a madhouse! We couldn’t believe it. As we drove from one park to the next, we just kept looking at each other in complete disbelief. We would just laugh in the face of our shock! We had to keep driving up, up, and up to still find a park that was full of people, but at least had one grill and one parking spot open. Big Springs Park was where we ended up, and it turned out to be perfect! We had driven by it one day last year, deciding that we would try it out in the future...so it was fun to finally make it there for a BBQ. We had a nice, shaded table and grill. There was a paved path that Charlie loved to walk and explore. There was a tiny stream, that was enough to interest him, but small enough that I wasn’t scared Charlie would fall in and drown. There was also a huge field that we could run and kick a soccer ball in. We grilled up some tasty steaks and corn on the cob, and enjoyed our dinner. Even with the crowd, we had such a great time. The surroundings were gorgeous, especially the backdrop of snow-capped mountains. As we observed the other large family gatherings there, we only wished we had our families with us to share the beauty. We definitely hope to return with a large family group another time.

A field practically to ourselves after the big crowds have gone...

I just love the refreshing beauty of the mountains. My appreciation for them has only increased since having Charlie...maybe it is seeing the pure joy that the mountain air brings him. I love it!

Charlie's 23rd Month

22 Months to 23 Months

(April 19-May 18)

And Charlie continues to grow! It is amazing how long and lean he has gotten. He definitely doesn’t have that baby look anymore. He is a full-on little boy. I swear he just gets cuter and cuter every day.

Charlie STILL hates being changed! It is always such a problem, but now it is a real problem because he keeps kicking his pant legs off and starts reaching his hands down in there while I am trying to clean his dirty diaper. I used to give him his bottle, and that would pacify him while I changed him. But now that we are over the bottle, I didn’t know what else to do other than give him my phone while it played a short video. Of course, this is after trying to distract him with toys, sippy cups, and books...no success. With the phone playing a video, his hands and mind are occupied so there is no kicking, squirming, or poopy hands. I absolutely hate creating that habit for him, but I don’t know of a better option at the moment. Toys and books just don’t seem to do the trick consistently. So this is our routine for now.

Charlie has adjusted to only sippy cups and cups. However, now he has an attachment to them (notice the sippy cup in his hand in the first picture). The good news is he is drinking way more water than he ever did and is more hungry for real food. Luckily, he is still sleeping through the night without drinking a bottle of milk beforehand. However, now he is starting to demand to go to bed with his sippy cup. I resisted him at first, but his demands just got more and more intense with each night. The sippy cup only had water in it, but I feared creating a habit that would harm our future (far-future) potty training efforts. I didn’t want him used to sleeping with water and peeing the bed every night. I came to a compromise: he can keep his sippy cup with him, but I only put a tiny bit of water in it. For right now, I don’t think he so much wants the sippy cup because he is thirsty, but I think it is a comfort thing. He has also been teething a lot lately (molars are coming in), and so I think it gives him something to gnaw on. So we will see how it goes. Hopefully, it is just a phase and he won’t always need it to go to bed.

He says “whoa” a lot. He especially loves to say that and then look at you for your repetition or confirmation. It is really cute. Sometimes he will mimic a sound of a word, like “uh” when we are walking up the stairs together and I am saying “up, up, up” with each step. This is inconsistent, but I have at least heard it a couple of times...so I know there is potential.

He has been “chatting” it up even more lately. It seems like he is enjoying being more and more social and having more interactions with people.

He loves our neighbor, Misty. She is ten or eleven. He threw a huge fit one day when she couldn’t play with him after she walked home from the bus stop. He just stood at her door, hung on her doorknob, and cried. It was heartbreaking, but made me happy to see him show such care towards another kid.

Speaking of his molars coming in, he has been a demon! His tantrums are really starting to come on strong! He will fall to the ground, or if I am holding him, he will flail everywhere and throw his head back. He is near impossible to hold at that point. Anytime I go upstairs, especially if I have to go up to the bathroom, he freaks out at the bottom of the stairs and he won’t stop crying until I come down. He seems to be even more fussy and demanding when I am around. If I am gone and others are watching him, he is a happy little boy. So unfair!

Trying out the "scooter-on-loan"

Lots of coloring time, and "lining-up-the-crayons" time

One of Charlie's favorite things to do - throwing rocks into Grandma and Grandpa Gruber's creek

I'm not sure if those are quite your size...

How Charlie "eats" and organizes his orange slices...

Exploring with Play-Dough

May - Part I

I was really looking forward to May 1st. That marked the date of the Ellie Goulding Concert! As a gift to Amy Stallings for Christmas and her birthday, I got tickets for us to go see her at the Saltair. I remember discovering Ellie while Amy was on her mission, and I knew that Amy would just love her. I couldn't wait to introduce her to her music. So May 1st finally came around, and after a quick dinner at 5-Guys, we headed to the middle of nowhere to arrive at the Saltair. I can't forget to mention the "one of a kind" t-shirts we were wearing. The night before, we got together and designed and painted some Ellie shirts. The paint colors didn't quite turn out as we hoped, that's what you get for using really old paint, and actually we both ended up deserting our original designs, but it was a fun memory and it made them all the more special. We arrived early...which meant a couple of hours worth of pre-show bands. I keep forgetting that you don't have to show up early to these things. Finally, it was time for Ellie to take the stage. She was fabulous! I was so impressed with how good she was live. I wasn't sure how she would be, but she was spot on. She is such a fun performer, too...something I didn't expect. We both had such a blast and loved all of her energy and all of her songs (even the ones we didn't recognize). I am so glad that my pregnant body was able to last through the whole concert (with only one or two sitting breaks).

At The Saltair

Not sure what happened to my camera in this picture...but the effect is pretty awesome!

Next exciting event was my birthday, May 3rd! It was a very busy day. Our nephew, Alex, got baptized. We headed to Riverton to join him on his special day. Alex is so sweet, he had actually asked me to give the talk on Baptism. Admittedly, I was nervous, but I was honored that he would choose me from the Gruber side to participate in that way. It made it especially memorable and special for me. After his baptism and confirmation, we headed to their house for a tasty lunch. It was fun to have the Tuttle family still in town so they could also celebrate with us. Congratulations, Alex, on your wonderful decision to be baptized!

A special garden visitor

That evening, Nancy tended Charlie while Jason treated me to dinner and a movie. We ate at JCW's, (one of my absolute favorites!) and then we saw Divergent at the Thanksgiving Point Megaplex. We were both excited to finally see the movie. We had both read the book and really enjoyed it, however, based on the previews, we didn't expect much out of the movie. I think that must be the best way to go into seeing a movie...with low expectations. The movie definitely exceeded our expectations and we both really enjoyed it! I was so surprised and was excited to encourage others to see it. It seems like every time we go in with low expectations, we are pleasantly surprised. So there you have it.

My birthday was extended (as typical) for two Sunday birthday dinners. I had an early birthday dinner with the Grubers on April 26th. Again, the Tuttles were in town so the party was even bigger. Jason and I were especially excited because we had a plan to surprise everyone with our "baby news". However, to our surprise, earlier that evening our nephew, Oliver Tuttle, had a story for all of us. He is three and he told us about some bald eagles they saw on their drive to Utah. He also told us that his mom was pregnant! That's right, the Tuttle Family announced to us that they were expecting! Due November 11th! And they were not going to find out the gender beforehand. They have three children in their family, two boys and girl. After their announcement, everyone was shocked again when we made our announcement. The way we did it was we included a framed picture of Charlie with a bubble by his head saying, "I'm going to be a big brother!" among the birthday presents. When I opened it, I pretended to be admiring a picture from Jason, and when I turned it around to show everyone, they saw the message. Everyone jumped up, cheered, and ran over to give us hugs. It was very exciting! Just perfect! It is so fun that Amy and I told the family the same day and that we are only two weeks apart! So lucky! None of the other cousins have ever been so close together. Wish they lived in Utah!

The day after my birthday, I had a special birthday dinner with my family. We hadn't told anyone from my family about me being expecting, either....so, again, we were very excited to share the news. We surprised them the same way as with the Grubers, with a framed picture disguised in the birthday presents. They were full of congratulations and were very happy for us! It felt so good to finally have the whole family know. I was 14 weeks pregnant and anxious to start sharing the news. I was especially anxious because I was already starting to show. I can't believe how much quicker I started showing this time around. I had always heard that it happens a lot quicker with your second baby, and so on...but never really considered it for myself. Man, it sure hit me hard. I have a new commitment to be in better shape next time around.

During May, my parents were making frequent trips to Idaho to help take care of things pertaining to my grandparent's house. It is a big house with a huge yard, and it is filled with countless things and memories. Bryan didn't want to keep making the trip every weekend (especially with lawns that needed mowing), so the siblings kind of took turns staying with him on different weekends. Unfortunately, the weekend we were with him, Jason was not feeling well and it was quite rainy. But we still made the best of it, including going to dinner, watching movies, and playing video games. No monopoly this time.

Before I knew it, it was Mother's Day! Jason showered me with fun and thoughtful gifts. The day proved to be another action-packed day. After church, we sped away to Draper so we could make it in time for the special Skype call with Sister Arbon. It is so cool that the missionaries get to use Skype now! So different and so awesome! It was fun to be able to see Kimberly again...and share the special pregnancy news "in person"....or at least as close as it gets. After the call with Kimberly, we scurried over to the Grubers to catch the Whites, Hadley's, and Hymas's before they left. They traditionally come to Alpine for dinner for Mother's Day. We just barely caught them as they were leaving the driveway. We did, however, miss the food...so George and Nancy were kind enough to put together an impromptu freezer dinner. Super nice of them!

Our nice neighbors invited us over for a movie night. They had a new projector put into their basement, complete with a legit, old school popcorn maker. We put Charlie down to bed in another room (it worked like a charm) and enjoyed the evening watching Delivery Man. The plan (and whole purpose for the movie night) was to watch The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It had finally come to Redbox and I was anxious to watch it on a big screen due to the high recommendations I had heard. Well, we were responsible for picking up the movie, and by the time we went to get it, all nearby Redbox machines were sold out. We settled for Delivery Man, which turned out to be a decently entertaining Vince Vaughn movie.

Speaking of Idaho visits, I joined my mom and Camry one weekend to go to Bri's baby shower. My mom went up a day early, and Camry and I drove up Saturday morning. It was fun to have a good chat with the sister. We got there around three, and headed to Parker to visit the graves of my grandparents. Next up, we headed to Rexburg for the shower. It was a beautiful shower, and fun to chat with the cousins. (Sidenote: Bri's baby was born two days ago! Bexley is finally here!). Since Ross's family is still living in my grandparents house, Camry and I spent the night at Aunt Arnae's. She had the guest room all done up for us, complete with a heater and strewn with Christmas lights. The room has kind of a cabin/wilderness feel to it. It is very cozy and inviting. We loved it! We left early Sunday morning to make it back for our church meetings. Before we left, Aunt Arnae spoiled us with a delicious breakfast and a goodie-bag for the road. She was such a good hostess...I definitely want to take some lessons from her book.

Such a cute cake!!

And here is a look at a few more pictures from the early part of May:

Beautiful wild rose bush behind our apartment

One of Jason's projects while I was in Idaho...our own, portable air conditioner

Excited for grilling season!

Out with the tulips, in with the garden:

Here we have our green beans, edamame beans, and a cherry tomato plant.

Here are the onions and two tomato plants.

Two salsa peppers

We love this summer dessert: strawberries and cream