Week 4 in Washington

On my mom's day off we went to Bonneville Dam to watch the fish swim up the river. Easton was pretty interested in the fish for the first little while but then thought it would be more fun to run around the building. Blair is such an easy baby. Whenever we go out all she does is sleep all day. I feel a little bad sometimes because I hardly get any pictures of her of when we go out. When I do get pictures of her they are generally of her sleeping. I guess I should just enjoy the time with her sleeping because soon enough I will have two little ones to run after.

My sweet little angel sleeping.

Video of Easton and the fish.

Grandma and Easton

Grandma rocking Blair to sleep. She does this almost every night. Blair is becoming more and more of a cuddlier and I love it!

The other night my mom thought it would be fun to show Easton some videos of me when I was a little girl. On one of the videos it had some of my sister's dance recitals on it. We watch a few of them and Easton loved them. He kept trying to copy the moves he saw the the video. Here is Easton's dance recital.

Grandpa took us to the river to play on the playground and throw rocks. There were a couple of boys there playing as well and Easton of course followed them all around. Easton loves to throw rocks and other things into water. When we got to Grandpa's house after the park he put rocks into the bird bath and got in trouble. When we came inside the house he put a peach into the fish tank and of course go in trouble. Two weeks ago he dropped a rock into the fish tank and yes he got in trouble.

Later that night we went to a wedding reception. One of the girls I used to babysit got married. I can't tell you how old I feel now.

Video of Easton throwing rocks. Apparently I thought he could throw farther than he did.

To Grandmother's house we go.

I had my Dad and Sharon take us up to see my Grandma and Grandpa Flynn this last week. We all had a great time eating lots of wonderful food, playing tons of card games, and just visiting. Easton had a lot of fun playing with my cousin Tony (I can't say the same for Tony). I think Tony had fun with Easton the first day but then got a little tired of having a shadow follow him around all day. Tony kept hiding from Easton. I think at times it was a game but mostly I think it was to try and get some alone time. Easton of course thought it was the best thing ever. He would run around the house looking for Tony and yell, "Tony, where are you?" Eventually he would find him and the game would start all over again. I thought it was great having free entertainment for Easton but I think Tony looked forward to Easton's nap time so he could finally have a few hours to himself.

Video of Easton chasing Tony around the house.

Easton, Grandma, and Tony eating apricots and peaches from the fruit trees.

Easton watching Tony look for more ripe apricots to eat.

Grandpa Whiting giving Easton a horsey ride.

Video of Grandma Flynn playing ball with Easton.

I just think it is so cute that my 82 year old grandma is playing ball with my 2 year old son.

Grandma Sharon and Blair.

Blair is holding her head up so well these days. She is smiling and talking so much more now too. Our last night at my grandparents Blair was in bed just kicking, smiling and talking away at herself or the ceiling (I couldn't exactly tell) for at least an hour before she finally closed her eyes and fell asleep. Her smile is so sweet. It just brightens up my day whenever I get to see it. I just love it.

2nd Week in Washington

We went over to Sharon's mom's house so she could see the kids. Easton loved all the cats that were over there. At first he was a little scared but then he warmed up to them and wouldn't leave them alone. One of the cats was so patient with Easton for a good hour that is until she finally had enough of him bugging her. She swatted at Easton with her paws and of course that scared Easton and he began to cry. He wasn't too interested in her after that.

Video of Easton chasing the cat.

Thursday we went to the library for story time. Easton had a blast. He sat in my lap the whole time and was so focused on what was going on. I love story time at the Camas library. The first story they read they pass out the same book to each kid so they can follow along. The librarian will read a couple more books, will sing songs with the kids, say activity verses, let the kids play with different musical instruments, and then the bubble machine comes out. It's so much fun.

Saturday we went to Barnes and Noble for story time. It was a beach theme. I dressed Easton and Blair in Hawaiian outfits for the beach theme but also because we went to a Luau later that night. I thought it was pretty fun. Easton had fun but he had a hard time sitting still for so long. They read a few stories while they ate a snack (Easton sat for the first story but didn't want to for the second). Then they made leis. Easton made half of it and then I had to complete it. They took pictures with the back drop (we took a picture of the three of us but you can't see Blair's face because her flower is covering almost her entire face...oops). Lastly, they played limbo. I don't think Easton really understood what was going on. He just followed everyone else. He was so small that he just walked under the bar every time. Later that evening we went to my Dad's ward's luau. They had a band and dancers there. It was neat to watch the Hawaiian dancers. They had the luau outside which wasn't all that great since it was pretty cold and I had Easton in a t-shirt and shorts and Blair in a dress. Luckily I remembered to bring a jacket for Easton and a blanket for Blair but I think Easton was still a little cold.

Blair in her Hawaiian outfit.

Video of Easton limboing.

Grandpa Whiting and Grandma Sharon with Blair at the Luau.

One of the dancers.

Easton is having a lot of fun with his grandparents. Here are some random fun pictures and videos of Easton at his grandparents.

Grandma Sharon reading to Easton.

Grandpa Whiting playing Lego's with Easton.

Check out those shoes!

Video of Easton with Grandpa.

Those shoes are the same size as Shaq's shoes.

Easton loves this antique wheel chair.

Easton riding the toy elephant.

Video of Grandma Whiting rocking out with Easton. You have to watch this video. It is by far the best video ever!

Easton playing with lots of sticks and rocks!

You know it is a really stinky diaper when the one who pooped their pants is plugging their nose.

Easton is starting to say sentences. These are the latest: "I want that, too!" and "Mommy, where are you?"

Happy 5th Anniversary!

Dear HANDSOME,
I'm sad that we can't be together today to celebrate this SPECIAL day, but I want you to know that I LOVE YOU. Five years ago today was the BEST day of my life. It was the day you became my ETERNAL companion. I'm grateful that we will be together FOREVER because I don't know what I would do without you. You are my BEST friend and I LOVE every moment we spend together. THANK YOU for: being PATIENT and LOVING with me, always making me LAUGH, being there and LISTENING to me when I need you, making me want to be a BETTER person, putting your family FIRST, working HARD so that I can stay home with our adorable kids, being a WORTHY priesthood holder, being a WONDERFUL father, and of course being an AMAZING husband. Happy 5th anniversary Handsome! I LOVE you and MISS you!

Love,
Ashes


Nathan was so sweet. He surprised me by sending me beautiful flowers. Thanks Handsome! That made my day. I love you so much.

First Week in Washington

We are in Washington right now. Nathan came out with us for a week before he left for Texas for his first radiology interview rotation. So far he is really liking this rotation which is good news. We are definitely missing daddy. Easton crys every time he has to say goodbye to Nathan on the phone. We have been keeping ourselves busy but for some reason I keep forgetting my camera so I don't have many pictures from this last week.

I finally got to see my nephew, Kannon. My sister in law, Mykle, came to visit my family for a few days before she and Kannon went back to Kansas. Kannon is such a cute little guy. He is almost always smiling that is until he gets hungry.

On Tuesday we went to the river and out to eat with my mom. Easton was pretty funny. He kept rolling in the sand and the water. My mom said he looked like a swim suit model posing on the beach. Later that night we went to my dad's to eat dinner. Nathan made brown sugar salmon for everyone. I think Nathan was in heaven because it is not very often that he gets brown sugar salmon or salmon for that matter.

Wednesday we went to the Ape Caves with my dad. All the kids were really good. Easton seemed a little scared with it being so dark but he eventually fell asleep like Kannon and Blair.

Thursday was a crazy day. I went to take my mom to work and her car wouldn't start. Mykle was nice enough to left us use her car so I could get my mom to work. We ended up having to get my mom's car towed to a mechanic. After replacing her battery they thought that maybe we were using the wrong key. It turns out that last year my mom had a new key made and apparently if you do this you need to have all your keys there at the same time (which she didn't) so that they all have the same code (or something like that). I was trying to use her old key (spare key) and it didn't have the correct code so it wouldn't work. If we would have used my mom's key (the key she got made last year) we wouldn't have had any problems and the car would have started. I felt so bad because my mom had to spend so much money on all these unnecessary things when the whole issue was just a stupid key.

Friday we celebrated my mom's birthday (a day earlier) so that Mykle could be there. We got my mom some flowers for her garden, some grass seed, and took her out to eat at Applebees. We came home and ate cake and ice cream. Easton of course had to help Grandma blow out her candles. Easton thinks that all burning candles means it is someones birthday. At home right before we came to Washington I had a candle burning and he kept walking by saying happy day (happy birthday). He then kept blowing towards the candle to try and blow it out.

Saturday my mom watched Easton and Blair while Nathan and I went to the $3 movie theatre to watch the wolverine movie. Thanks mommy! It was really nice to go out on a date with Nathan since it doesn't happen all that often. I must say it is really nice to have family around to watch our kids for free!

Monday my mom and I went shopping. We started out at a kids consignment shop. This was probably the best consignment shop I have ever been to. They had a lot of good stuff that was pretty cheap. I actually found some jeans for Easton that won't fall off his butt! I also found a couple cute dresses for Blair and some books for Easton. We also went to Kohls and I found some good deals on clothes there too. Easton finally got a stuffed animal (Gorilla) with his birthday money from G&G Stockton. Easton loves it. If I think about it I will have to get Easton to say Gorilla on tape because it is pretty cute how he says it. We also went and watch Monsters vs Aliens. Easton sat through the entire movie. Blair woke up half way through the movie. When I picked her up she wouldn't stop smiling and talking to me. She definitely had a lot to say.

Easton is getting better and better with his talking. He is copying everything that everyone says. I'm glad that he is getting better at communicating but at the same time I'm also sad because I'm going to miss how he says certain things. I've been trying to teach Easton his colors but its not connecting just yet. I tried to trick my mom into thinking that Easton was really smart with his colors because if you ask Easton what color something is he will always say green first. After green comes yellow. I picked up a green car and asked Easton what color it was and of course he said green. Then I picked up a yellow car and did the same things. I couldn't help but laugh (which gave it away) because I knew Easton really had no idea what color the cars were. On our plane trip here Easton's ears were hurting a little bit when we were landing so I gave him a piece of candy to suck on. I told him that it would help his ears. He took the piece of candy and instead of putting it in his mouth to suck on he put it up to his ear to help with the pain.

Blair is now officially two months old! She is such a good little baby. She is smiling and cooing so much now. I love listening to her stories and I find that my checks start to hurt from smiling back at her so much. My mom got a balloon for her birthday and it is Blair's new best friend. She absolutely loves it. She will smile like crazy at it.

Here is a random picture of Nathan's legs. The leg on the left is the before biggest loser picture and the leg on the right is the after biggest loser picture. Okay not really. Nathan actually got stung by a bee. This was the second time he got stung in less than a week. The first time he swelled up even more.

2 Month Appointment

Blair had her 2 month doctor's appointment today (even though she won't be 2 months for another 10 days). We are leaving for Washington on Monday so we had to get her in to get her shots before we take off. She is getting so big. She is currently 11 lbs and 22 in long. She definitely didn't like her shots but she calmed down pretty quickly afterwards. She is such a happy little girl. She will smile and coo at anyone who will give her attention. Blair is also starting to sleep through the night. Last Saturday she slept for 8 hours and on Monday she slept for 9. I'm so lucky that my babies are very easy and very happy.

Here's a video of Blair smiling and talking.

Easton is starting to like his sister again. She is HIS in case anyone was wondering. "No, mine!" This is what he has been saying to me all week whenever I try to take her away from him. This last week he has constantly been trying to pick Blair up and hold her. It is very cute to see him so interested in her but a little scary at the same time. I don't think he realizes what gentle really means. There is gentle (what adults know as gentle) and then there is "Easton gentle". "Easton gentle" is not always very gentle. We still need to work on this.

Here's a video of Easton giving Blair Eskimo kisses, forehead kisses, and raspberries. Notice the "Easton gentle".

Just some random pictures of the kids.

Dad and Blair taking a nap together.

While Nathan Was Gone

Nathan is finally back! We definitely missed him all this last week while he was away playing doctor on the “battle field”. He had a lot of fun which was great but we weren’t able to talk to him at all while he was away. This is the longest I have gone without talking to him. It was not fun. All of us (Easton, Blair and I) survived this week without going too crazy so that was good. We tried to keep ourselves busy and I think we accomplished that goal. This is what we were up to this week:

Tuesday: In the morning we went with Heather and Savvy to the Nature Center. I took Easton there about 6 months ago. He seemed more interested in it this time since he could tell me what he saw and in some cases tell me what the animal says. Later that night we met up with a couple of friends and went to the DinoRock concert. It was pretty cute and I think most of the kids enjoyed the show.

All the kids: Lucy, Parker, Easton, Savvy, and Bella

Wednesday: I was going to take the kids to Barnes and Nobel for story time but we were running behind and didn’t make it so I decided to take them to the mall so Easton could play at the kids play area. Since we were going to the mall I thought I would check out JCPennys and use the rest of my gift card I got for my birthday. I found and bought two shirts! I wanted to check out one more store to see if they had any good deals on kids clothes. I figured since I had Easton already strapped on my back and Blair was content in her stroller it would be easier to do it right then instead of waiting until after Easton was done playing. We weren’t there for very long but as soon as were leaving the store, Easton felt a little heavier and he wouldn’t answer any of my questions. It turns out that he fell asleep. I felt really bad that he didn’t get to play. Later that night we went over to Heather and Savannah’s to eat dinner. We had pink pancakes. They were really good. Thanks Heather!

Thursday: We went to the splash park with a bunch of friends. Easton doesn’t like to get splashed (his face wet) so he spent most of his time playing in the puddles (of course), running around, and watching the other kids get wet. It was a lot of fun and I’m glad we did it but I think next time we will just go to the fountain were the DinoRock concert was and play in that fountain. It’s free there and I like free stuff.

Friday: Heather was nice enough to take Easton to playgroup so I could get some stuff done around the house. It was a much needed break from Easton. I love Easton but I (not to mention Blair) definitely needed some time without a toddler around. Later that night we went to McDonald’s to eat dinner before we went to a baby shower.

Saturday: We went to a Safari Festival. They had a petting zoo which Easton loved. I was a little worried that Easton wouldn’t like it all that much because he generally likes animals from a far (not so much up close). It took him a little while to warm up to the animals but once he petted the first animal he was excited to pet the others (well the ones that weren’t taller than him). We watched and listened to one band play a few songs. I was a little surprised that Easton didn’t dance all that much with the other kids but he did have fun running around. He even followed the monkey bar Congo line up on stage. It was pretty funny because Easton was the only child up there that wasn’t dancing. He just stood there staring at everyone else. Eventually we went to the playground where I almost lost Easton. He ran out of the fenced baby playground and I couldn’t find him. Luckily he was over at the big kids playground. It was definitely a scary situation.

Video of Savvy dancing and Easton running:

Video of monkey bar Congo line.

Sunday: We went to church and Easton was a nightmare. I definitely think he took advantage of the fact that there was only one parent and two kids. He kept standing on the bench, putting his feet up on the bench in front of ours, crawling under the bench, banging his toys on the bench, etc. It was horrible. I finally gave up trying to get him to behave and took Blair (who was sleeping) out of her car seat and grabbed Easton’s hand and took him out into the hall. I gave him a timeout but that didn’t even faze him. Blair eventually started to cry because I woke her up when I took her out of her car seat and also because she was hungry. Of course I didn’t grab the diaper bag or a pacifier but I wasn’t about to go back in with a crying baby and a misbehaved toddler just to get the diaper bag. I went to the nursing room to feed Blair and of course Easton had to come with us. The whole time we were in there Easton wouldn’t listen to me and kept bugging me and Blair. By the time I finished feeding Blair and got back to sacrament meeting it was time for me to go and set up for nursery. It probably looked weird for me to walk in, put Blair in her car seat, grab all the bags and Easton, and walk back out. Everyone probably thought that I had had enough and was going home. I must admit the thought did cross my mind. The only thing that kept me there was the thought of being Easton free for two hours. Little did I know, two nursery leaders weren’t going to show so we combined the two nurserys. Yes, that meant that Easton was stuck with me for those two hours and yes my child was a devil child. I really hope that Easton was just having a bad day and that he isn’t normally that bad. I was very embarrassed with his behavior. It is a little hard to expect everyone else’s kids to sit down and listen when I can’t even control my own kid. Come January I either need to be released from nursery or I’m moving to the younger nursery because I don’t think I can have Easton in my class. Soon after church Nathan came home to my rescue!


The Friday before Nathan left we took Easton mini golfing. I thought Easton would have fun since he is constantly hitting balls with a stick around our house all the time, but he actually didn't seem to care much for it. It might have been because there were so many more fun distractions for him to play with like animal statues, lots of water, and hills to slide down. At least he had fun with those things while Nathan and I had fun playing mini golf. Nathan and I took turns carrying Blair in her carrier. I won by two strokes but that might be because Nathan held Blair for two more holes than I did. He probably would have won if I would have held her for half the time. When Easton would play with us he generally would hit the ball once, pick the ball up, run to the hole and then drop the ball in the hole.

Dad and Blair golfing.

Video of Easton golfing:

Random video of Easton trying to do a somersault: