Camping at Lake Havasu

One of the things I love about living in Phoenix is that we are surrounded by so many fun places. With less than a full tank of gas, you have a wide variety of places to see. The Grand Canyon, Mexico, Las Vegas, Disneyland and San Diego...the list goes on and on. We decided this weekend to do a quick, over night camping trip to Lake Havasu (which is about 3 hours from us). Fill up the truck, buy a few groceries, pay a small camping fee and voila!! A little mini vacation!

Brychan was in heaven. He loved everything BUT sleeping in a tent (unfortunately!!). Helping Daddy with the cooking was at the top of his list!
It was hot!!! Bug relaxing in the shade with mom's shades.

Just hangin' out!

The campers next to us had a very friendly cocker spaniel. They were kind enough to let Brychan and Lucy hang out.

LaLa and baby trying to keep cool.

We decided on this trip that camping with an infant is wonderful! So easy and nice. Camping with a toddler? Completely different story. While we had a lot of fun during the days, nobody (except for Kehlton) got any sleep at night. Was it worth it? I think so. Will we try it again? Of course!

Lake Havasu - Playing at the Beach

The water at Lake Havasu is beautiful and very clear. Not nasty, dirty lake water like some places. It was, however, pretty chilly!! With sunscreen generously slathered, we tried to spend as much time as possible down on the beach.
Happy boy!

This was Kehlton's first time dipping his toes in. He didn't like it at all to start out with, but quickly warmed up to the idea!

Brychan loved, loved, LOVED playing with his sand toys. We spent several hours just playing in the sand. Digging holes, filling them with water, collecting little shells and rocks and throwing them back into the water. Great fun!

Is this the boy who hates getting his hands dirty? He did start off keeping one hand help up in the air, but quickly got over it and just dug in. By the time we were done, he was covered in sand from neck to toes and loved every minute of it!

Bad Dad vs. Good Dad

This weekend, we went on a quick little camping trip (I'll post more about that later). Last night, David, Ashley and I were sitting at our picnic table playing Mexican Train when a little boy (I'm guessing 7 or 8) stuck his head out of his family's RV door vomiting uncontrollably. After several minutes of this, my sister and I started wondering where his parents were, when suddenly we heard his dad say from inside the RV "Go tell your mom you're puking". Dad then proceeded to literally push his son out the front door and shut it behind him. The little boy just laid right down in his own pool of puke, too tired and/or sick to do anything. Again wondering where his mom was, I started getting up to go help him when his mom came running over from their grandparent's RV next door. She was wondering how she was going to clean the mess up, and my husband not only took her a large bag of water, but he also cleaned up the mess for her!!! Can I just say how much I seriously love my husband?!? That poor little boy's father was totally unwilling to care for his own son and clean up a very nasty mess (we also heard him calling his children dumb and telling them to shut up all day...I was already NOT a fan of this dad) and my husband took care of it. Not his son, not his problem, but he did it anyway.

I've been ranting and raving about this for the last 24 hours...I am just so in love with the fact that my husband would be willing to do that. And it's nice to know that when it comes to cleaning up our own children's ickyness, I don't have to worry about doing it on my own! :) Honey - I've told you a million times - you are THE BEST!!!

"Honey, Come Look at Your Son..."

Aren't really words I want to hear first thing in the morning. That phrase usually means somebody is up to no good.

I walk into the living room and stumble across this... (there were several other piles just like it)

And then I found this. Just sittin' in the corner, minding his own business, enjoying an early morning snack. Sunday, I made a peanut butter cup cheesecake. There were leftover mini-pb cups in the fridge, which Brychan helped himself to. Granted, he didn't take the entire bag out of the fridge; just took one handful at a time. When one handful was "finished", he went back to the fridge for another handful. I think a refrigerator lock is in order.

And this little guy was watching just like this. He obviously thought the entire ordeal was too funny!

Kadydid Designs

When Kehlton was born, my sister-in-law (Michelle) made me a baby seat cover very similar to this one. I LOVE it. I don't have to carry a blanket around, I don't have to worry about the wind, rain, heat or extreme sun hitting my son and it keeps nosey, germy people away from Kehlton's face.

Apparently, everybody else loves it too. Every time I go out, somebody (if not several people) ask me where I got my cover. And every time, I wished I could say "well, I made it and would love to make one for you too!" With Michelle's permission, David and I made a few slight changes to it and my sister and I are now making them to sell, along with burp cloths (some that coordinate with the seat covers, some that don't). I also plan on making bibs just as soon as I figure out the perfect pattern (I know I want the bibs to tie in the back. Just have to figure out the best way to do it).

Needless to say, I have been very busy sewing the last couple of days. I've made 2 1/2 seat covers, a couple patterns from scratch, and probably 25 burp cloths (and I have to admit I'm loving making girly stuff!). We are in the process of getting an Etsy shop set up and will have them in a craft fair coming up (thanks Mom!) in another week.

So...if you have a baby or know of somebody having a baby, here you go! The burp cloths are flannel and terry cloth OR cotton. batting and terry cloth. The seat covers are cotton with flannel backing (a perfect cover, summer blanket or nursing cover...I've used mine for all three) and have light weights in the front corners to keep it from blowing up and away from your baby should a breeze pick up.

And there's my little sales pitch. We'd love to make a baby seat cover just for you!!

All About Brychan

Getting Bug to bed last night was an event. He came out several times after being put to bed. We eventually let him lay on the couch and watch tv with us for a few minutes, until David put him back in bed again. This time he stayed. Or so we thought.
Before we went to bed, Dave went to check on Brychan. This is what he found.
While he was laying on the couch with us, Kehlton wanted to hold the corner of Brychan's blanket, which Brychan was less than okay with. I eventually told him that if he didn't want to share the corner of his blanket, he needed to go lay in his bed. Evidently, Brychan decided that Kehlton wasn't going to have any blankets...as Brychan was sleeping with every single blanket in their room. He must have fallen asleep during the process of collecting them all.
On a better note, Brychan enjoyed pancakes this week. He ate 5 of them!! Yes, they were laced with chocolate chips, and no, he didn't eat another bite of food for the rest of the day, but he LOVED the pancakes!!

Couch Potato

Number 1 and Number 2! This evening, Brychan figured out how to work the VCR all by himself. Seeing as it's the end of the day, I wasn't going to fight him to turn it off. In fact, why not let baby brother join him?

Sweet Baby Boy

We've just discovered that Kehlton sleeps SO well when nestled in/on our down pillows. And he loves having a soft burp rag to snuggle with. He looks so big to me in these photos, but he's still just teeny; still mostly wearing 0-3 month clothing (although some of it is finally starting to get to be too tight).

Waking up from an earlier nap today. A little blurry but still adorable.

Project List

Since we sold my car, and work has been steadily picking up for David, I often find that I am at home, with the boys, doing nothing but cleaning and changing diapers without leaving the house for days. I was starting to get more than a little frustrated with my current lot in life, so after perusing a variety of "Super-Mom" craft blogs, I started making lists of things I wanted to try to do. Needless to say, since I've started doing these little projects, I am a much happier momma!! I had to call my mom the other day to tell her just how good it felt to be doing something NOT baby related. All of you know just how much I love my babies and love being a mom. I don't, however, love feeling like my brain is turning to mush. (I really don't want to sound like I'm complaining...certain sacrifices have to be made in order for us to achieve our long term goals. It's just that those sacrifices sometimes get a little boring and tedious)

So here's what I've been working on lately.

Better meal planning. I'm trying to have our meals planned out and posted on the fridge so we can easily pick what we want for dinner that night. I'm trying to make them more diverse (hoping to get my son to eat something) and healthy. This week? All vegetarian.

I taught myself how to make bread (and am now addicted). I've made whole wheat and regular white. Next batch will be a quest for the perfect blend of the two. Love the light airiness of the white, but also love the nutrition of the whole wheat. I even figured out how to keep it from cracking (the photo below was my very first attempt at bread making). Thanks again, Natalie, for the super easy recipe - I love it!!

I stole my sister's sewing machine and took an entire morning remembering how to use the dang thing. (I think the last time I used one I was sewing Barbie clothes) However, within a few hours, I had made a slew of these:
These burp cloths are far from perfect, but they serve their purpose and helped re-acquaint me with the sewing machine. I now have a list of sewing projects I want to attempt, including a new one I hope to start today. If it turns out, I'll share. If not, we'll just pretend it never happened.

I am also working on updating our 72 hour kits to not only include supplies for our two children, but also make them more child friendly and provide a little nourishment for the dog. I'm still in the beginning phases of this one. It's going to take me awhile, I think.

That's it...for now. If you have any brilliant ideas I should tackle next, feel free to share! And for any lonely, bored moms in my area (surely I can't be the only one...) you are more than welcome to join me for any project!!

Funny Story...

This afternoon, I noticed Brychan was on his hands and knees licking my couches. I watched him for a minute, then went and sat down to watch closer as he continued licking the couches, the pillows and eventually me. I squealed for him to stop licking me because "that's yucky" and asked him what he was doing. He just looked at me, and in the sweetest possible voice said "meeeoowww". While he and David were looking at houses this morning, I guess Brychan made friends with a little kitten that he immediately fell in love with. Evidently he's still missing his new friend.

Easter Day

After we had such a wonderful Easter Eve, I was excited for a wonderful Easter day. It started out great...nice big breakfast (pancakes w/strawberries, eggs), LaLa came over, we dyed Easter eggs and I started prepping for Easter dinner. We caught what glimpses we could of morning session of conference and put Brychan down for his nap. While he was napping, the Easter bunny made her visit.

I waited until after nap to put the cute Easter clothes on (when I bought the Easter outfits months ago, I forgot that it was conference weekend. However, I wasn't taking them back...they were too cute!), and things quickly went downhill.

(There are half a dozen or so photos similar to this)
This little guy, however, was more than happy to show off his smiles and cuteness!


The attitude improved drastically once we got outside. Although it took awhile to get his focus off the pinwheels (which he loves) and get him to start looking for eggs.

So excited to find an egg with a truck inside!

After all was said and done, I really just wanted one good photo of the boys together. Unfortunately, this is the best we got. There is a series of not good photos of the two of them which consist of Brychan pushing Kehlton off, smushing Kehlton's head, or just screaming bloody murder while Kehlton is smiling and cooing.

Once the Easter "festivities" were over life, and attitudes, went back to normal and we enjoyed the rest of our evening!

We really had a wonderful holiday weekend. I wish days could always be like this...spending fun time with family, relaxing, not having to worry about normal responsibilities or work. Reflecting on our blessings and our gratitude for our Savior. We hope all of you enjoyed such a wonderful weekend as well!

Easter Eve

The Saturday before Easter we took Brychan to a city Easter egg hunt at the baseball stadium. We had SO much fun! After his egg hunt, we played carnival games, slid down the inflatable slides, went to the petting zoo and rode a circus train. We really had so much fun and can't wait to go again next year.

Daddy and Brychan waiting for the egg hunt to begin


Getting ready... (check out the video below to see him in action!)

Daddy and Kehlton

Mommy and Kehlton riding the train

Brychan had a blast with these huge baseballs


Then, Saturday night, LaLa joined us for the Easter Pageant at the Mesa temple. We stopped at 5 Guys Burgers and Fries for dinner, then went to the temple to wait for the pageant to start.

Our blurry little family (it's the best we could get in the dark).

Pepsi Project Break Down

I'm going to expound more on my husband's Pepsi Refresh Everything Project.

I'm sure you've all seen the Pepsi commercials. David's idea has the potential to donate millions of dollars to an endless number of charities. This year, he has already donated to Make A Wish Foundation of AZ and UMOM New Day Centers. In order to spread this nationwide, he needs funding to market it.

If you follow this link http://refresheverything.com/dropadimetoday; it will take you directly to David's project on Pepsi's website. All you need to do is register and then you can start voting! You can vote once a day. Do you have multiple email addresses? Register all of them, and you can vote for David that many times each day.

Voting ends at the end of the month, so we have to get lots of votes, every day FAST! If you wouldn't mind passing it along to your friends...that would be great. Thanks for your help!!!

4 Months Old!

Geez. Where does the time go? This morning was Kehlton's 4 month check up, and he is strong and perfectly healthy. It looks like we've started the beginning stages of teething...yay! Here are his stats:

Length: 24 3/4" (50th percentile)
Weight: 13.5lbs (25th percentile)

Did you notice the percentiles? He's so LITTLE!! Just as a comparison, at Brychan's 4 months check up, he weighed 16.2lbs and was 25.5". After Brychan, who has always been in the 85-95th percentiles, Kehlton's just a tiny little thing.

Funny story...the other evening, Kehlton was napping and David, Brychan and I were sitting in the office looking at something on the computer. We were having lots fun talking to each other and playing! Kehlton woke up and started crying, so I told Brychan (who was sitting on my lap) that he needed to go see his daddy so I could get Kehlton because he was crying. Brychan immediately started this awful, yet hilarious, fake cry. When I called him on his fake cry, he covered his face with his hands and really started "sobbing" hysterically...looking out the side of his hands to see what I was doing. The "crying" stopped as soon as I walked out the door. Too funny! Where do they learn these things?!?!

Pepsi Refresh Project

David needs your help generating votes for his charity contribution program. Please take just a minute once a day to place a vote for Drop-A-Dime. Together we can make a difference! http://pep.si/b6Dfkd