A Good Kind of Hard

Grant is getting along much better with Audrey these days. I wonder if he can remember what life was like without her...hmmm. I have been trying really hard to include him in every aspect dealing with Audrey. Diaper changes, bath time, reading time, tummy time. He has been a part of it all. It seems to be working. The other day he gave Audrey a kiss! Having two young kids right now at this point in time has been fun. It has been hard, but a good kind of hard. It has tested my patience, made me exhausted, and is having me do things that I never thought I would do. I love it. I love looking around my living room and seeing toys everywhere. I love the hugs that I get around my legs at any random part of the day. I love the sticky wet kisses. I love the smiles first thing in the morning. There are things about this time that are not so appealing, but right now, I am truly happy being a mom to two awesome young spirits. It has been amazing so far!
I will try to remember this moment when we are camping this weekend...heaven help us! :)

Robbed

So it happened too fast...my Audrey cut her first teeth on her five month birthday. I can hardly believe it! Grant was seven months before his first tooth popped up-I feel a little robbed. I feel like I didn't get to enjoy her toothless grin for very long. So I took some pics of her while she still has toothless smile.

First of all, Audrey has the best smile! She can smile with her eyes-her whole face just lights up, like she can hardly contain herself. It makes my heart sing whenever I see it! It honestly is soooo cute. I can't explain it! She also is really easy to get to smile. All anyone has to do is say hello to her, and she can turn on the charm in a heartbeat! I love it!

Since she is teething, she has been drooling a lot! I feel glad that so far for getting teeth, both of my kids have been pretty easy. Both have drooled incessantly but that has been all. We just have to keep putting bibs on her! That's what we had to do with Grant!Too help with Audrey's teething, she has been gnawing on this star on her Baby Einstein saucer.

A Family Trip

This past weekend, James and I took the kids to meet my family in Salt Lake. I have to gush for a moment and say what wonderful travelers my kids are. Audrey was a typical baby...she'd cry, and I feed her, and then she'd go to sleep for a long stretch. Grant was great. Just give him his Leap Frog Learning pad, and he was content for the whole trip. Really amazing! James and I packed up the car with every intention on leaving first thing in the morning. We didn't actually get out of Casper until about quarter to 10! Too funny. We tried though! We met Grandma Jeanne and Grandpa and Kirk at Cafe Rio in downtown Salt Lake. So excited to see my family and have them love on my babies! If you happen to live close to family, don't take for granted this luxury. I sure wish we did! We like Casper, but I love every moment my mom gets to hug my babies! Anyway, we walked around Temple Square, and took a tour of the conference center. Well...all that the kids would allow was the main conference area and the roof! We learned a lot though and managed to get a few pics!

The day was gorgeous! Clear and sunny, a little chilly. I was fine in my sweatshirt. This picture with James and Audrey, we actually learned about the landscaping. The landscaper wanted each person to have a pioneer experience, so on one side is trees to represent the woods, wilderness and all that the pioneers left behind. The water represents all the rivers and streams crossed a long the way. On the other side of the trees, its the view of Salt Lake, and their is a field of flowers and vegetation.

The next day was Sunday. We decided to meet my family in Tooele to visit my grandma. since we weren't going to see them until the afternoon, James and I took the kids to Liberty Park. Grant had a great time running around:

I love this picture! James took it. I asked him about it, and he said that Grant was to running so fast he was too quick for the camera! So this is where Grant used to be.


We got a chance to see my Grandma early Sunday afternoon. She will be 95 this year, and she is not doing so great. Seeing her is really hard for me. I visited her last year when Grant was just a year old, and she didn't recognize me. It makes me sad, because she knew how hard it was for us to have kids, and I know she would be SO excited to see them and love on them. This time, when we saw her, she managed a smile, and she could not get enough of Audrey. I LOVE that Audrey got to see her, and we got some pics:



One I never thought I would get is the four generation picture. I have been to see my Grandma but never with my mom there. I love how my Grandma is looking at Audrey. She did that pretty much the whole time we were there.

Afterward, we went to my uncle Gary's house in Grantsville for a barbeque. It was way fun, and reminded me a little of when my Grandpa used to have barbeques for us. Thanks Gary and Colleen! We loved it!

That night we got back to our hotel, we decided to take the kids swimming. Getting them ready is quite the project. It reminded me of how hard it is going to be to take both of them swimming at the same time without James there. (I shudder at the thought!) We ended up staying in the pool for a whopping 20 minutes, before the kids decided that they had had enough. The water was warm, but not warm enough for Grant to want to stay. I think Audrey enjoyed it more than Grant did. On the way back, James said, "Well, at least he looks cute in his suit." It's true. Both babies looked pretty cute!

The last leg of our trip was Hogle Zoo. James and I were excited to take Grant.

The carousel was kind of fun for Grant. At first he was scared, but by the end of the ride, I think he kind of liked it. I say kind of, because look at the look on his face:
I felt bad we couldn't take Audrey out of the stroller for very long to see all the animals, so we got her out to see the giraffes. She looks thrilled.


This ostrich came right up to Grant like he knew him! WE had a pretty good trip to the zoo, but I have to say, the Denver Zoo still ranks as the top that we have been to so far. Well, we have only been to three, but we really did see a lot of animals at Denver Zoo, and we could see every animal in their exhibits. We had a great time on this little vacation, and still two more to go this summer. We have camping with the Killpack's and a trip to Canada planned. We will have more soon!