UWYO!

Today was the first football game of the season and we had lots of fun cheering on our POKES! The Cowboys played Washington and we won 17 to 12! It was a rainy chilly afternoon but we love being out there to cheer. Easton was pretty good considering the cold, rain, and the delays causing it to be a 5 hour game. He loves to watch all the action on the field. Here's to a great season for our UW Cowboys. He's a high falootin rootin tooting son of a gun from gun from ol' Wyoming rag time Cowboy (talk about yer' Cowboy) rag time Cowboy Joe! C-O-W-B-O-Y-S Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys!

Our Very Busy 15 Month Old!

I am so behind on blogging. My baby boy turned 15 months old on the 19th and I am just now posting about it. Things have just been so so busy around here. Between chasing our busy boy and my photography business and now I have started babysitting my friend's little guy so it has been quiet the craze. But today I have some down time so here I am to tell you a little bit about our magnificent 15 month old little guy!

This month has been a busy one for Easton. He is all over the place and getting into everything he knows he isn't supposed to be in. If it's off limits you're sure to find him there! Anytime he is quiet I know to look in the "no no" places ;) He keeps us on our toes thats for sure. Go, go, go is Easton's style. He runs more than walks anymore and he likes to play chase any chance he gets. We go to the park every night to run off energy and he looks forward to it. In fact it is as if he knows because on the dot every night he runs to the door and begs to get in the stroller. He loves the park though he loves to slide down the slide and climb on the playground. He loves to swing and dig in the dirt with sticks. Heck he loves to carry sticks every where he goes. We found 6 sticks in our house the other day. He stashes them like a little doggie! He gets upset if someone walks out the door and doesn't take him with them. He stands at the door and cries until someone lets him at least walk out onto the porch. He is a boy through and through.

Easton takes two naps a day still for the most part. Sometimes he skips his morning nap and pulls through til after lunch but at the point he is very grouchy and very tired! So we try to put him down for a nap around 10 until 11:30 or 12 and then again around 1 or 1:30 til about 3:30 or 4 on his sleepiest days. He is an excellent sleeper we are very lucky. He sleeps pretty good at night too. He has been waking up a little bit during the night because he is getting teeth but other than that he tends to sleep from about 8:15 or 8:30 until 8:30 or 9 am! That is the perk of a 15 month old- more sleep than at newborn stage! In this sense I don't mind him turning into a toddler! When we get him out of his crib in the morning he gets so so excited! When we walk in the room he grasps the rail and does a little feet shuffle dance that he does when he is excited! Its in these moments I adore him even more if that is even possible!

Easton is our little ham! He has the biggest personality out of any little Mr. I know! He makes the cutest expressions and walks around with is lip curled out. When he is being extra funny he gives a cheesed grin to the sky and makes squealing noises. He is truly the funniest and makes us laugh all day long. Along with this big personality comes stubbornness! He is such a little booger when it comes to getting him to do anything. Its his way or the high way and everything happens on his timeline. This goes for eating, signing, getting his diaper changed, getting dressed, and getting him to say words. Easton can comprehend a lot of what we say but he still confines himself to saying "momma" and "dada". He has said the following words a couple time in the past month but doesn't repeat them too often- "tractor" and "thanks". Just this week he started saying "milk" only it sounds more like "mal" but I know he is trying because he goes to the fridge looking for his milk when he says it. His pediatrician says he is very verbal. He knows exactly what he wants and will start saying more words in the coming months. I try not to worry too much but I am just eager to have little sweet conversations with him! I love that he understands so much of what we say. He will take his diapers to the trash and get his shoes to go outside! Dr. Anderson said his motor skills are excellent and that is what he is working on most. He likes to climb and takes any chance he can get to do so. We have to watch him very carefully now. Like I said he is into everything- he burned his pinky and ring finger pretty bad this past week on the straightener- AGAIN! I asked the pediatrician if he will ever learn… she said boys are slow and sometimes it takes 3-4 times or never to learn that things are hot! That was really fun to hear haha! Guess we have to resort from putting it in the sink (including the cord) to somewhere higher because this little mischievous guy can do anything! Easton has gotten more picky eating wise and doesn't eat a whole lot most days. He is very picky with lunch food but then with dinner like last night will scarf down a whole bowl of taco salad in minutes. We are being patient and though we waste a lot of food lately we continue to give him variety and plenty. His favorite foods I can always count on him eating are; yogurt, cheese puffs, applesauce pouches, cheese, berries of any kind, olives, and pickles. Everything else is a mystery until he decides to eat it. Easton started to play "3 little monkeys" and cutely bounces one finger off his palm when he wants to play. He hasn't really caught onto "bonked his head" yet but he loves to play the game with momma. He loves his tractors and I swear he has a gazillion of them now. We don't leave a garage sale weekend without a new one! He doesn't really play too much with the other toys but loves to drive his cars and trucks around the house. He makes a cute "vroom" sound when he does this and I fall even more in love with my little boy!

Easton went to his 15 month checkup this week… here are his 15 month stats: Weight: 23 lbs 11 oz (40th percentile) Height: 31 1/4 inches (51st percentile) Head: 47 cm (48th percentile)

He is our growing boy. He had his first dentist visit this week too because his incisor tooth came in too far over then another one came in between the front lateral teeth and the incisor so I thought his canine came in the wrong spot. But he is getting his canine on the other side of the incisor so we took him in. Turns out he has an extra lateral tooth and they don't need to do anything with is until his permanent teeth come in then they will pull it and do orthodontic work to fix the gap. So phew! Nothing to worry about right now. His mouth is full of little chomppers! He got his 1 year old molars this month and now has 13 teeth!

I can't believe how big my little man has gotten. He is such a little joy in our lives and we love to have him in our family. We couldn't consider ourselves luckier to be his parents. We love you little Mr!

Jacob's Mission Farwell- End of summer adventure!

This week we headed to Burlington to visit my family. My little brother Jake will be entering the MTC on the 20th of August and reported in church today (the 17th). We decided to go spend another week with him and the rest of my family before he leaves. We had a fun time on the farm. Mark and Jake went spotlighting three nights staying up until 1 sometimes 2 am! Bethany and I went one night but had to be dropped off early because it was too late for us babies! They stayed out two hours longer than us! We are wimps! haha :) They went out looking for deer too and saw some pretty nice ones in the process! Mark is excited for hunting season I can already tell!

Thursday Easton and I went over to Charlene's to swim with her kiddos at the whale pool. First we went to lunch with my friend Jourdan who moved to Cody earlier this year. Easton takes a while to warm up to the pool temperature but soon wanted to swim with his cousins. We had fun chasing energetic Ian around and tickling him. We stayed most of the day. I helped Charlene with some vinyl projects for her home. They turned out really good. We went home later that evening since Charlene had young women's. We went to Billings the next day to do school shopping for Bethany (my sister). Charlene and the kids were there too because Ian has therapy from 10 am to 3 pm ever friday. So Chloe and her met us at the mall and then we went to Steak & Shake. They were super busy and the waitress must have felt bad for the kid making shakes because she said we couldn't order any but then every table next to us ordered them. We were pretty peeved. On the way out of town we stopped at this really neat old fashion candy and soda shop. They have every candy you could ever think of. It is like a fat kids dream! I swear I gained 15 lbs just staring at it! We got ice cream to go.. it was very delicious! We got to go to my cousin in law/friend Nicolette's baby shower. She is having her third baby and 1st girl in a few weeks. It was fun to see some of my old high school friends! Easton loves the farm! It is so fun to see him running around with his cousins and the chickens. As weird as that sounds there is something awesome about having grown up on a farm. I think back and remember hating living so far out of town- while all my girl friends would hang out together after school and on the weekend I was stuck helping out on the farm or just sitting around the house because it was too far to drive all the way to Burlington to go hang out. But now that I have a little guy it is amazing how my perspective has changed. I wish we lived closer because a farm is a great place for a little man to explore and get dirty! He walked around with sticks almost the whole time. And talk about my mom's garden! I am very envious!

Saturday night we had extended family over for cake and ice cream. I made Jacob an elder cake. It was only my second fondant cake but I think it turned out pretty darn cute! We also practiced for our song we sang for his farewell. We were pretty nervous about it but it turned out all right. And we were told we sounded good ;) I got to see some "long lost" cousins of mine that I have been missing badly so that was nice! Sunday was the big day! My baby brother is all grown up and leaving on his mission in a matter of days. My emotions were worn on my sleeves today and it was very noticeable. I swear I was shaking like a seizure during our song and crying like a baby. It only got worse as soon as he started speaking… i'm talking about blubbery bawling baby now! It's not that I am sad - well not sad sad. Yes, I will miss him dearly but in that moment listening to him speak I was just so proud of him and proud to be his sister. I know he is going to be an amazing missionary and will change so many people's lives! Jake got set apart right after sacrament meeting and is officially an elder! It is so neat to see the transformation he has made on this journey to becoming a full time missionary and I can't wait to see the continual changes he will make in the coming months and years.

All in all we had a fun time. On our way home we stopped in Riverton and saw our friends. It is always fun to see them on our traveling through the area. We got back to Laramie and it was back to reality. Mark heads to Steamboat Springs for a retreat with his department. I'm not sure if I wrote about it but he got a Graduate Assistantship position with the Campus Activities Center. They will be paying for his tuition and giving us a living stipend each month in exchange for 20 hours per week. Not too shabby my friend! He starts training for the GA next week and is very excited to learn more about what he will be doing this next year. He doesn't start school until the first week of September so he has a little bit left of summer before the crazy begins! Summer is almost over I can't believe it!