Switching to cloth

So, my brother and sister-in-law told me several months ago that they were switching to cloth diapers, and I thought they were absolutely CRAZY! I mean, Thomas and I have terrible memories of our mothers swishing the cloth diapers in the toilet, and looking for the pins to hold them on... I remember we had some cool pins with piggy heads... and the plastic pants that go over them... ick! Yeah, these are not those diapers. These diapers are AMAZING! They're pretty low maintenance, because they wash clean ridiculously well and easily. (I also bought flushable paper liners to catch the poo...) They don't leak, which is nice because I was getting really annoyed with having to clean up leaky poo if I didn't catch a stinky diaper quick enough. They also keep the kids' bums pretty dry, so Evan's redness has totally cleared up. Parker's finally gotten used to them, and loves the colors too. The diapers are also cost effective. We got the bum genious (don't you love the name??) 3.0 one-size... They have adjustable snaps so they fit newborns to toddler size. It's nice to be able to put the boys in whatever diaper I grab first. And, I'll never have to buy diapers again!!! I would definately recommend them to anyone who needs to diaper an infant! http://www.cottonbabies.com/

Best buds

Parker and Evan really are best friends. Parker LOVES it when he can sit next to Evan in the shopping cart (I think that's why he likes Costco so much...) and Parker loves the car carts. So, being able to sit next to Evan in a car cart was just excellent!

After a day of running errands, the boys fell asleep in the car (sometimes that's the only reason I run the errands... to get them to sleep!) I love how Parker reached his hand over to touch Evan before he fell asleep. They really do like to be together!

I remember thinking about how we won't always be close to the family and friends that we are now, and that the best thing we could do for Parker would be to give him a sibling close in age. That was about a year and a half ago :) (Evan's nine months old now...) I got to work in Nursery at church on Sunday because one of the workers wasn't going to be able to stay. It was so fun to see Parker in his element. Since I was in nursery, Evan got to stay too. He absolutely loved it. I think this past Sunday was the first time that Evan stayed awake all three hours of church. Parker pretty much ignored me most of the time, that is, after he noticed Evan crawling around playing with toys and told me, confused, "Baby nursery wid Parker?" I answered "yes," and Parker went his own way. It was cute to see how they tended to stay and play in the same area. Best buds.

Cheese sticks

So, my mom gave Evan a cheese stick for the first time. Evan was extremely excited, and Parker had fun trying to share

Mormon Miracle Pageant

A few weeks ago, while Thomas was still here, during our week to cram all of our summer activities into one week, we took the boys down to Manti for the Mormon Miracle Pageant, a deptiction of the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ, the translation of the Book of Mormon, and the Saints trek across the plains and the settling of Manti. It was so much fun. Parker and Evan loved it, until they fell asleep. But, it was nice to cuddle with them to keep us warm as the night cooled down! It's nothing like the Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra, but the Spirit was still there, and we're glad we saw it!

Parker v Table

So, Parker had his first official trip to urgent care today. He fell over and hit his chin into his table when he was goofing around while I was feeding Evan and split his chin. It was gross, as face wounds tend to bleed a lot. It was pretty deep, and although I cleaned it and slapped a bandaid and triple antibiotic ointment (it might even have been actual neosporin..) on it, it was still nauseating. I have a hard time with blood, and felt like throwing up every time I looked at Parker's bleeding face. I talked with Thomas and my mom, and the verdict was that if I was concerned, I should take him in. Thankfully he didn't need stitches, and just has a steri-stip holding his little wound closed. Yay for young, quick-healing skin. The cut had closed nicely, and was already starting to seal up really well. The doctor said it looked pretty clean (I'm a good mom!) and so he didn't want to reopen it again to stitch it. The steri-strip will keep it closed, and I just have the challenge of keeping a two-year-old's chin dry for the next 24 hours! Parker was an angel though, and very cooperative, which was great since I was holding a sleeping Evan during the whole experience. The hardest part was getting him to leave the building! But, I bribed him with the promise of a trip to Costco, and that got him moving :)

The funny thing was, we'd spent the early morning at Jump On It, a trampoline and bouncy house place in Lindon.. free for kids three and under :) Nothing like free fun! Well, we did stop for lunch after. Parker loves playing with his best friend, Logan Steele, and I love handing out with his mom, Sarah!

4th of July Weekend

Our family 4th of July pictures. Notice, Thomas was present via webcam.

Parker really wanted to "culloh" (cuddle) Evan. Evan tolerated it.

Parker was deciding to be extremely difficult. You'd think he was two or something!

All Parker wanted to do was talk to his daddy on the "pila" (computer.)

We had a really fun Independence Day weekend. Mike's (my step-dad) kids came up for the weekend, and Parker and Evan really enjoyed having their aunts and uncle to play with and give them extra attention. We woke up early so that we could attend the rotary breakfast and see the hot air balloons. We didn't make it for the balloon launch, no one wanted to be up that early, but we saw plenty in the air. Parker was SO excited about the balloons. It was so cute to watch him try to get his mouth around the pronunciation. It went from "loony" to something pretty much resembling "bloon." He sticks his toungue all the way out to pronounce his "l" sound. Adorable, and tres un-French! We watched the parade after eating a breakfast of ham, pancakes, yogurt, bananas, and juice. Evan especially loved the banana. My mom had brought back the shirts the boys are wearing from the Outlet Mall in NY, and was upset that I let Evan eat banana and Cheerios, because he was sooo dirty by the end of the morning. Parker also spilled juice all over himself, but none of it shows up in the pictures, and it all came out in the wash later. Anyway, Parker really enjoyed the parade, and Evan slept through most of it. Parker liked the horse, the giant balloon floats, and traipsing back and forth between Tanner, Brooke, and Kristi. We also scored free tickets to the Stadium of Fire, which was a blast. The boys fell asleep soon after it started, but Evan woke up for the fireworks, and LOVED them. It was sweet to see his face. We had a loong walk back to the car, and then traffic to drive the mile and a half back home, but the long day was worth it. Yay for our nation.

One of the best parts about the Stadium of Fire was the flag-burning ceremony. Don't worry, it wasn't revolutionary or rebellious, but according to the Flag Code's edict that a flag should be respectfully destroyed by fire when it is no longer in fitting condition to be used as an emblem of our nation. We didn't actually see the flag burning, as it was in its own cool coffer thingy. But, we saw the flames! It was neat to notice how strong the Spirit was during that ceremony. I really am grateful for this nation we live in, and the freedoms we enjoy. All in all, a great day!

Role Reversal

So, usually it's Evan in the walker, and Parker standing in front of him, but Parker has figured out how to climb in by himself, and Evan has learned to stand up by himself, and he's always curious about whatever his big brother is doing!

You can see that they love it though!

You can see that it's taking a lot of effort for Evan to maintain his precarious perch!

He crawls now!

Just a short example of Evan crawling. He was more interested in the drawers and books than in demonstrating his spectacular crawling skills... He's made so much progress! He started out inchworm crawling, and has moved on to traditional crawling. He's also started pulling himself up and standing. I find him either sitting or standing in his crib when I get him in the morning or after naps now!

Two babies!

We got to watch Timothy on Tuesday for a few hours, and Parker absolutely LOVED having his cousin over. He was really sweet with him, and helpful too! He kept telling me, extremely excitedly, that we had "two babies!" He kept trying to share toys, and trying to make "baby Timmy" smile. I didn't manage to capture Timothy's sweet smile though...

Reading buddies

Evan has devoloped a new love and appreciation for books, which coincides perfectly with Parker's new love of reading! These are some pictures of Parker "reading" to Evan. They both enjoyed it. I especially love it when they're cuddling. These boys most definately love each other!

Crib pals

So, Parker absolutely LOVES to climb in the crib with Evan. I actually have to make sure that I get to Evan when we wakes up before Parker does. Now that we've lowered the crib, it's even easier for Parker to get in there, but harder for Evan to get out...

Parker v Carpet

Parker's unfortunate...incident... involving his forehead and the carpet during a temper tantrum :( But, the bandaid made everything "all bellah!"

So, Thomas has gone off to North Dakota for another summer to be the amazing contractor that he is, to build grain bins, aiding farmers in desperate need of storage, and to help change the lives of everyone he meets! Really, he's just going to build bins, and earn money. Although, I'm sure that he will still be a wonderful influence on those around him!

Evan

Here are some beautiful pictures that my sister-in-law, Katrina, took of Evan at my nephew Isaac's 8th birthday. She's amazing! And, Evan's a cutie!