Gessell Guests

Alicia, Bryce and Addy visited us last week. 

That Adelaide is one charming little girl, even when she has a cold.

One evening after dinner at the prestigious Pizza Pie Cafe we made Bryce and Addy go for a walk around Manila Creek Pond by our house. 

We also hung out at the park on a morning that was much too hot to be outside without swimming. So naturally I let Bryce and Alicia play with my kids on playground while I sat in the shade with the babies. I also allowed Bryce to pull all 100 pounds of kids in the wagon. 

On July 4th we waited around all day while Daniel did yard work. We planned to eat dinner late so we didn't have long to wait between dinner and fireworks. We went to the Highland splash pad from 4:30 to 7:30, which was great because no one was there. 

Below is Sadie and then Alicia running through the fountains. 

We got home and cooked up a quick dinner. It was so nice to eat outside. Daniel thinks I am crazy but I love eating outside. 

Bryce & Lou had a hilarious noodle battle while Daniel got the fireworks stuff set up. Noodles are the best toys. I bought them for $.99 each and they have never made it to any kind of water, but our kids play with them constantly. I love that they can't actually hurt each other with them. 

We set up our small fireworks on the side of our house since we live on a busy street. 

Hey, it's me with no makeup/shower! And an adorable baby girl. 

Then we moved to the front yard for the main attraction. Our neighbors had told us that we would see fireworks all around Utah Valley throughout the night but I wasn't prepared for how awesome it would be. Several neighbors behind our house were setting off huge fireworks as well.  It's pretty much impossible to capture how cool it all was on camera, but here is a video I took. 

My kids had never seen fireworks in person. Elise kept yelling "dreams come true!!!!" It was the best. 

At 11:30 PM after the kids were all in bed we had a patriotic strawberry shortcake dessert. Patriotic both in color and in size, because, obviously, it is so American to eat massive serving sizes. 

Go America!
Not pictured: swimming at the Lindon pool (one of the most fun activities) and Alicia and I shopping for 5 hours one day. 

Picture of the Day

Camille is coming to Spain with us (and the BYU women's basketball team) in August so we had to get her a passport. And it is awesome. 

June Summer Lovin'

The last couple weeks of June were good to us. We tried to get out and do stuff as we continued to adjust to life with 3 kids. The older girls came up with creative ways to have fun at home as well.

Stirring bowls of dish soap bubbles in the sink

The bizarre faces I get when I ask for a pose

Camille working on her follow-through

Another round of stomach flu a week after we returned from Boston

Tuckered out from the ride to visit Daniel at work. I had to scream in Sadie's face to wake her up.

First splash pad trip of the summer and Sadie voluntarily went into the fountains that sprayed her face for the first time ever. 

Millie's 2 month appointment

Just the view when taking the trash out

 Sadie was too busy admiring her shadow to notice the view

Going Yard

 When we moved into our house last August no one had lived in it for 3 months. They completely neglected the landscaping and even stopped watering the grass after we went under contract. There is a ridiculous amount of landscaping in both our front and back yards, so you can guess that it looked terrible. 

Daniel spent hours and hours in the months after we moved in just trying to get all the weeds out and the grass to come back alive. There were several things we thought were shrubs, only discover they were gigantic weeds, taller than Daniel. This spring he got back to work trying to get it all looking nice. Well, I think we can officially declare that he was successful. My only contribution was purchasing the hanging plants and the flowers. Daniel was annoyed about the flowers but still spends time every day watering them individually to make sure they establish good roots. 

We like to hang out on our front porch and watch dad work. We frequently have dance parties as well. 

Then Daniel sits down to admire his work and promptly goes to sleep. 

Two Months Down...

Miss Millie is 2 months old. She is one awesome baby. I think my favorite baby so far. 

The past month has brought a lot of changes:

-baby acne flared and then just recently faded. For a while her face felt like sandpaper

-cooing (see here)
-crying if she can't see any people
-lot of smiling

-just recently laughing a little bit

-no more daily blowouts. Poop slowed down to once every 3 or 4 days.

-much less spit up

-usually has to be quiet for her to sleep
-terrible at tummy time

-she prefers to be held by her mom. If not mom, then dad. If dad can't hold her then the bouncer will do as long as she can see a parent. 

-lots of general cuteness

-had her 2 month checkup and at 46th percentile for height and 28th percentile for weight, she may end up the runt of our family. She also barely cried with the shots.
-last but not least- SLEEPING AT NIGHT!! Starting at 6 weeks she began sleeping 6 hours straight and then built up to 8. Last night she did 9 hours. Most amazing 8 week baby ever. I just change her diaper, swaddle her arms down and she out for the night.

2 Month Picture:

Sisterly Love

I am pretty sure this girl is loved a whole lot. 

Millie's Faces

If you look through my phone it is pretty much filled with pictures of this little rascal. 

The past few weeks Camille has gotten really animated and responsive. We are all frequently pushing each other out of the way to try to get her to smile or coo at us. She actually kind of laughed for the first time today- two separate times. We are loving this stage. 

 *we think she looks like Dewey from Malcom in the Middle