Loco Coco

A week and a half after Meredith's visit Courtney arrived late on Friday night. When she got Sadie out of bed the next morning Sadie smiled and said "Coco!".
We started right in on the fun activities.

Our old reliable: the Highland splash pad. Free and not usually too crowded.
Sadie finally went into the actual splash pad. She has always stuck to the man-made stream with small rock fountains, but Daniel convinced her to go into the spraying water and she LOVED it. I was so proud of her.

We grabbed some "pizta" (Sadie can't keep pizza and pasta straight so she decided to combine it and call it good) on the way home from Highland. Sadie stuffed her face. Elise was in her bouncer on the table because she insists on being able to see people at all times.


As usual, Courtney brought adorable clothes for the girls. She gifted Sadie her first pair of Toms. Toms shoes are perfect for kids. I think I will buy her another pair when she grows out of these. They instantly became her favorite. I had to hide them on Sunday so she wouldn't pick them out for church. Thanks for keeping my kids stylish Courtney.

Sadie has loved having all the visitors who pay her much more attention than I do. She especially loves all the visitors with iphones so she can scroll through pictures. She prefers pictures of herself, but she may look at others.

Elise has liked the visitors too.


We went to the park one day and Sadie showed off her newest hairstyle- pigtails. Oh man they are cute.


On Sunday we had a big Blood family dinner where everyone got to meet Elise. Unfortunately, she was having a fussy day so people traded off trying to keep her happy. Elise didn't realize you have to be on your best behavior when meeting extended family- otherwise they don't like you. It was great to see Grandma and Grandpa. Sadie enjoyed playing with her second cousin, Jack, and harassing his dog, Alice.

The next day we went over to...what do you know? The Highland splash pad again. This time Uncle Tylo came along.

It was all fun until some dumb baby had to eat and her dumb mom somehow locked the keys in the car when she was done feeding her. Do the clouds look ominous in these pictures? Yeah, we had about 2 seconds before it started pouring. Since Tyler had driven his car too we all piled in and drove the 5 minutes to Ron and Lani's (where we had eaten family dinner the night before).

The womenfolk hung out in Alpine while Daniel and Tyler drove home to break into our house and get the other set of keys. Sadie was thrilled to be going back to Jack's house. He showed her how much fun it is to bang on the glass door. We conveniently showed up right around dinner time and mooched a second meal off of the Bloods.


On Tuesday we went up to Lehi to swim with Ella and Hunter.

Sadie hit another milestone with water. She jumped off the side to me or Courtney over and over. Up until now she has been terrified of deep water. I don't know if I have ever been more proud of her. I even let her jump and go under and she would pop back up with a big smile. A few times she jumped when we weren't close enough to catch her (she had her puddle jumper on). Hopefully this trend continues.


Sadie loved showing off her bedhead for Coco after her nap every day.

Elise was only fussy most of the time Courtney was visiting. The rest of the time she was adorable.

On Tuesday we got a super quick visit from Bear Paw!

He came bearing gifts from Mimi/Cici (Sadie calls her both) and Whitney. This adorable dress and the matching one for Elise behind it were a big hit.

Whitney made Sadie the coolest slippers ever. They are pink and orange dragons. They got cut off in this picture, but I'll try to post a picture soon. This was Whitney's first foray into sewing and I hope it's not her last because those things are seriously sweet.

We all headed over to the Provo Beach Resort so Sadie could ride the merry-go-round while 3 of us furiously flashed cameras.

Apparently the lighting was a little too bright in Malawi Pizza during dinner because Sadie donned her shades after inhaling 2 pieces of pizza.

Next we headed over to Blickenstaff's toy store to play with all their cool toys and try on some dress-up clothes. If you haven't been to Blickenstaff's you need to go. And bring your kids.

Courtney got Sadie the cutest little set of play donuts there. There are 6 different donuts with velcro and 10 different frostings you can velcro on top. I haven't mentioned it before, but Sadie is a little obsessed with donuts- especially watching them made at Krispy Kreme. Sadie now makes us donuts all day. Elise never gets a full donut- just the frosting. I guess she's not big enough yet.

Coco had to leave the next day. We were all sad to see her go.


Come back soon!

Sadie & Briz

If you are a committed reader of our blog then you should remember Sadie's predetermined BFF, Briz (See here, here, and here).

The friendship really hit its stride last week when the Cottles were in town.

Can you tell the girls are holding hands in this picture?
Well they are. And it was adorable. Almost as awesome as Briz' tan lines.

The first time we got together they bonded over eating a clothing-optional dinner.

When toddlers eat pasta the clothing has to come off.
This may be good advice for adults too.

The girls ran around the house together, occasionally fighting or sharing, just feeling each other out a little. It had been a whole year since they saw each other.


Next, we hit up the Scera pool.

Sadie insisted on going down this kiddie water slide immediately. Unfortunately, Brizzy did not share the same affection for the slide. Sadie was constantly trying to get Briz to come on it with her. She'd cup her hand and put it out for Briz to hold and say in the squeakiest voice " 'mon Bizzy"

But Sadie soon set her sights on the big slide. I could not dissuade her so here she is coming down with Sierra (Brizzy's aunt). After 3 trips down I convinced her to go back to the kiddie area.

Then it was snacktime, poolside

Yes, that stroller behind Sadie contained Elise, who laid quietly in her stroller- AWAKE- the entire 3 hours we were there
Second child syndrome (getting ignored/less attention) is in full force

The best moment of the day was when this shark washed up on the shore.
Sadie had been asking for this "shawk" the entire afternoon and when it's owners let it go we took full advantage.

Click on this picture. It is one of the cutest pictures ever.

Another day we went swimming up at Daybreak. The girls held hands singing "Ring around the Rosy" for at least a 1/2 hour. They really bonded over a near-death experience together. Sadie followed Briz into deeper water, which resulted in Briz just swimming back to shallow water and Sadie freaking out. It was actually pretty funny- only because Sadie was wearing a puddle jumper so she was completely fine, floating with her face totally above the water and screaming.

Sadie loved the afternoon. She cried for 10 minutes on the way home.

Brizzy, some day we'll come visit on your turf.
Thanks for coming to Utah 4 times in the past 2 years so we could see you!

Meredith

We were graced with the presence of my sister Meredith for 10 whole days. It was SO great. I love having someone to help me bring the girls on outings each day. Plus, Meredith is awesome. We did a whole lot while Meredith was here: park trips, the Provo Farmer's Market, lots of swimming, Sadie's first movie in the theater, fireworks, bbqs, shopping at Old Navy and loving on the mannequins, toddler birthday parties, visits from friends, and more. Do you have a drink and a snack ready? Because this post is gonna be a long one. As usual, pretty much all the pictures are of Sadie. I only got a few with Meredith.

First up- we returned to the Highland splash pad. We ran into Toni (and Anna and Eliza), which meant Sadie followed Anna around giggling for a while. That is, until she fell for the 20th time and hit her head. It is really slippery- especially for a 1-year-old trying to keep up with an older kid. At that point I forced Sadie to wear her Crocs in the water, which apparently, is akin to torture.


Another morning we went to a birthday party at Airborne, a new trampoline arena in Draper.

Sadie and her little friend Jenna LOVED it.

They have a little toddler arena perfect for kids

Jumping with the birthday girl, Winni


Just a picture of crazy Sadie- she is really so nutty

I caught some pictures of Sadie on one of our park trips

Nielsen's Grove park in Orem is absolutely gorgeous

The playground doesn't have much shade so it's not good for super hot days (like the day we were there), but Sadie enjoyed the pond

Another birthday party was at Veteran's Memorial pool in Provo. They had the whole place rented out and Sadie was in heaven.

She went down the little water slide over and over. I love this picture Daniel caught. Makes me laugh every time.

So does this picture. This kid was showing crack all night. Sadie was clapping for herself for climbing up the stairs alone.

Sadie spent a good portion of the party following older kids around. Here she is with one girl who never actually acknowledged her. They just sat together for a while. I took this picture when they asked all the kids to get out of the water to sing "happy birthday" to the birthday boy. Sadie was not about to leave the water for one second.

Later on Sadie made a friend! Her name was Sadie too. Sadie was overjoyed to have attention from an older girl.

Daniel even came on this outing (a rare occurrence- I guess that's what happens when you have a job)
We actually stayed at the pool for the Stadium of Fire fireworks. Sadie was excited to wait at first, but that excitement quickly waned and we ended up watching a few fireworks from the parking lot and calling it good.


The Cottle family spent a day with us. Sadie and Briz took a while, but finally connected once they could play in their diapers together.

Another post on Brizzy's visit is coming.

Finally, a few random shots from other days:

Sadie's newest weird habit- plugging her ears. There doesn't appear to be much reason for it. It occurs at random times.

Elise and Meredith- the whole reason for this blog post

Meredith, we LOVED having you here! Please come back soon. As in, tomorrow. Even if Sadie did get mad at you a few times when you tried to make her obey rules. We cannot wait to find out if you are having a boy or girl (Meredith is due the beginning of December).

Two Months Down...

Elise has reached 2 months. We are pretty much out of the newborn stage. After we got through those early weeks with her the next month and a half flew by. Probably because I just dragged her around with me and Sadie. We love her more every day. Especially now that she cries less and sleeps for longer stretches at night. Sadie has to know where Elise is every second of the day-usually so she can go jump on her. Elise has a few nicknames: Leesie (Sadie calls her this and now we all do- I am frequently asked if we are calling her Lucy), Lou, Leesie Lou, Leese, Li'l Leesie, Lou Lou- you get it.

(Wearing cute size NB pj's that are too short = diaper busting out where the snaps don't come together)

Some bullet points about our second-born:
-Size stats: 76th percentile in height, 45th percentile in weight
- She has been regularly smiling for about 2 weeks now. She is the smiliest in the early morning- when I appreciate her wakefulness the least
-Elise is very sensitive to sound at home- small noises wake her up. When we go out places she will sleep through anything (ie- an entire movie at the theater sitting 6 rows back)
-She is super alert when she's awake
-She likes it best when mom holds her (it's really annoying when I need to get stuff done), but she has been getting better in the last week
-She furiously licks her hands whenever they come near her face
-When she is hungry she will not calm down for anything but food
-Elise usually sleeps for one 5 or 6 hour stretch at the beginning of each night (finally!!)
-She is up with the sun. The other morning I opened my eyes and Elise was staring right at me from her cradle swing (where she sleeps). It was a little freaky, but at least she wasn't crying
-She has started cooing a little
-Elise definitely recognizes Sadie's voice and I can actually see her body tense up in preparation for Sadie's "hugs" (getting laid on top of)

-She'll take a pacifier sometimes
-I have to put her to sleep before I put her in bed- she cries if I try to put her down when she's awake (Is this normal? Sadie always just went to sleep after I put her in bed)
-She still opens her eyes up mega-wide like she has done since birth (see below)

(2 week wide eyes and 8 week wide eyes)

In conclusion, we like her a lot, but we'll like her even more once she completely stops the crying spells and inconsistent sleep patterns.

First attempt at a 2 month picture yesterday

Attempt #2 today with strange lighting since the sun was going down

Happy 2 month birthday Leesie Lou!

Blessing

Daniel gave Elise an official name and a blessing on Sunday, June 26th.
Sundays are generally the most stressful day of my week, but this day wasn't too bad. Sadie stayed in Nursery alone for a little while and Elise didn't cry. Elise did poop twice and Sadie did whine and cry through Elise's blessing so I didn't get to hear much. Luckily, a woman in the ward wrote it down for me.
Meredith arrived just in time for the blessing.

Pics from Meredith's busy visit coming next....

Summer Activities

We have been playing hard since summer finally decided to show up in Utah. Swimming, parks, barbecues, friends- it has been a busy few weeks.

At a barbecue a couple weeks ago the weather turned bad so Sadie and her friend Ella found new entertainment- jumping on the bed. (Sorry Brooke and Seth)



By the way, Sadie loves Ella. She's a little obsessed and it is occasionally creepy. She asks for Ella all the time. She calls most of her friends Ella during playdates.

Aunt Alicia came to the Highland splash pad with us.

Sadie was a little hesitant at first.

Maybe she was just worried about Elise. But once she made sure Elise was alright, she settled right in.

This may be the picture of the summer.

Hunter came and played one day too. These two spent hours chasing each other and giggling. Sadie was so sad when Hunter moved away, but she's so happy he's back!


We've also spent a lot of time swimming with the Dunns. Sadie loves any opportunity to see Ella.

Snack break

Cooper and Elise hang out in the shade while the girls swim