Dax's 1st time Swimming...

On June 9th, 2010, Dax went swimming at a public pool for the very first time ever, well first time at any pool for that matter. He loved it. He loves splashing around in the water. But he also has no fear and without me being in a swimsuit, it was a little bit hard. He wanted to just walk right in from the edge no matter where he was. Luckily my older nieces and nephews were also there to carry him around the 2 foot a little. I think next time I go I will either plan to get in the water, or sit over in the baby pool area and let him splash in the 1 foot. He is just like his big sister....they both LOVE the water and cannot get enough of it. I cannot wait to take them to Lake Powell this summer!

Here are some pictures of Dax's first pool adventure. I got one with him and Teyara and another with him and Dylan. Unfortunately I didn't get any of Rylee because she was too busy swimming around with her cousins and going down the slide. Plus she hates my camera these days!

~Trip to St. George~

We decided to take the kids and go stay with our friends Aldo and Jessica in St. George. Of course the weekend we had planned all along ended up not being the warmest of weekends, but it still turned out good and we had a fun trip and loved getting to see them and their three cute kids; Anthony, Talia, and Audrina. While we were in St. George we also took time to go to our good friend Gabe's wedding. It was nice getting to see him also.

While we were in St. George the kids did a lot of swimming in their pool, we played Just Dance on the Wii, which Rylee loved, we had good food with good friends, fed Dax watermelon for the first time, which he absolutely loved and could not get enough of, we listened to good music and laughed with good friends, Brett went hiking, Rylee played on the long board with Talia and Dax tried too, Dax held a lizard for the first time wile I ran from it, both Rylee and Dax met Audrina for the first time, and all in all...everyone had a great time.

I am so glad we got to spend some time with our friends Aldo & Jess and their cute family!

 

Seriously?!?!

I have got the cutest little boy EVER! Everything about this little boy makes me SMILE! He has got the cutest personality that any 1 year old could have....

Today he is 15 months old and such a little talker. He says so many words already. Both my kids seem to have started talking a lot at a young age. I know kids this age talk, but both my kids said so many words while still being so young.

Already, Dax tries to say just about any word you say to him. Every time I get the camera out he gives me the CUTEST grin ever, with the squinty eyes, and says "CHEESE". I love it! He also says cat, dog, up down, daddy, mama, Rylee, drink, thank you, hi, bye, more, done, ball, baby, gone, uh-oh, sun, on, ni-night, cracker, cookie, kucka, chip....and I am sure there are more than a few I cannot think of right now. When you ask how old he is, he shows one finger and says "one". He has even started putting a few two word sentences together. He has said "all done", "all gone", and the other day Rylee was sitting on Brett's lap and I asked where Rylee was and Dax said "on daddy". He also loves giving "high-five" and "knucks" but only to people that he knows. He learned how to drink out of a straw about a month ago, which I think is a pretty big milestone for a kid or maybe more for the parent.

He loves being outside and loves to be in the water, the sandbox, or on the bikes. He still likes to take a bite out of the dirt every now and then just to see how it tastes. It absolutely disgusts me and I get so mad because I can only imagine what is in it, but what do you do? He loves playing trucks and motorcycles and absolutely adores his big sister. He is also going through a stage where he is LOVING his daddy and his papa Rick. The other day he was holding a cell phone and put it up to his ear and said "Hi Daddy". It was so stinking cute! He waves at us all the time and when he gets shy he tips his head to the side with his ear to his shoulder, its the cutest little thing ever. 

He is not one to sit and watch t.v. much at all but one day he carried this blue chair into the living room and put it in front of the t.v. and sat there and watched Yo Gabba Gabba. I have to really watch him because every once in a while he will pull the drawers out on the t.v. stand and sit in it, which scares me really bad.
He is already quite acrobatic. Every time he see's Rylee doing any kind of acrobat, he starts doing front rolls. I got a picture of him in the starting stance of his front roll. What can I say, the boys got talent!

He is still such a good little eater and also loves to cuddle. He has 12 teeth so far; 4 front top teeth, 4 bottom front teeth, then 4 molars (2 top and 2 bottom). He is one ENERGETIC little boy and we LOVE having him in our lives every single day. I cannot believe he is already 15 months old....

Making Smiles....

...one 4-wheeler ride at a time!

Seriously, I don't think I have ever seen two kids that LOVE 4-wheeler rides more than my two sweet and adventurous kids. So any weekend that we are just hanging out at home, we usually end up going on a nice long 4 wheeler ride with the kids. They love it and it gets them out of the house.

This last adventure we went with Rick & Judi up on the West Mountain above Aurora. We loaded the 4-wheelers up, drove to a the start of the dirt road, and unloaded them for our ride. It was so funny because Brett's mom was really concerned that Dax needed sunglasses, but this kid does not leave on glasses or hats so I have never bought him any sunglasses. Well she had brought a kid pair with from when Cruz & Savanah were just little. They were the funniest looking things. So I put them on and he actually did leave them on as long as I put them on right as we were taking off and then when we would stop he wanted them right back off. I did get one picture of him in them. Brett and I could not stop laughing when he had them on. He looked just like the little boy on the movie "Meet the Robinson's". Too funny!

We all had a really good time. We stopped where the creek crossed the road and let the kids play in it a little. I walked in it with Dax and it was freezing. It was run-off from the snow and it felt just like ICE. But the kids were loving it. After that we hopped back on and rode some more. Dax mostly rode with me, Rylee with Daddy, and then Rick, Judi and their dog Lily. We made several stops for drinks, snacks, and to let the kids play in the water or run around in the shade.

We rode all the way to the top where we actually found a little bit of snow, which was funny because it was about 90 degrees that day. Kind of neat having a snow ball fight in 90 degree weather.

On our way back down we stopped at a camp spot and walked around a bit. We found a homemade swing in the tree that Rylee had so much fun with, and even Dax wanted to try it out.

Everyone had a great time and the kids loved every minute of it.

Memorial Weekend

I just love nice long weekends like these. I really couldn't ask for more! It was really nice because I have ran non-stop since March 1st and have had several things going on every weekend and during most weeks too, and finally this was the first weekend where I had nothing specific planned. Wow, we would actually be able to do what we want and not rush around, just simply enjoy each other. How nice does that sound?

Saturday morning I got up and made breakfast, then after little Dax took his nap we got the 4 wheelers ready, packed a lunch, some drinks, a blanket....everything for a nice picnic. Rylee and I LOVE picnics. So, Brett, Rylee, Dax & I hopped on the 4-wheelers and headed above Aurora for our ride. We stopped a few times along the way. We stopped to play around a little, then to have our picnic and another time to catch lizards. Dax & I watched while daddy caught them and Rylee held them. Along the journey we also saw a scorpion, which is not an often sighting around here. We were gone for a good 3 hours. By the time we got back, both kids were dirty and tired. We got them fed and bathed and to bed they went.

Sunday morning we all got up, I made breakfast, cleaned the house, went on my morning jog, then when I got back Brett and I decided to wash the car and truck while Dax napped and Rylee rode her bike and scooter around the yard. After we cleaned both vehicles and Dax woke up, we played in the sprinklers, rode the bikes around, tried to teach Rylee to ride a little without training wheels and then BBQ'd lunch. We did all of this fun stuff and it was only 2:45 pm. I have to say, it felt quite nice having accomplished so much and enjoyed each other so much already and it only being that time of day. Maybe there is something positive that comes from the kids waking you at 6:45 am. After lunch we went for a ride to take Rylee to grandma Dean's and Tom's. They had asked if they could take her to see some baby pigs, and we decided to let her go ahead and go this time. While she was off seeing baby pigs, we went to the cemeteries and then back home to hang out until Rylee got home. Of course daddy had to take Dax on a small 4-wheeler ride because that child is obsessed already. You cannot walk past the 4-wheeler without him doing the motorboat sound with his lips. Its so stinking cute! Rylee always called them vroom-vroom when she saw them and Dax does the motorboat sound with his lips. Such cute kids! They both love to ride and would ride all day if we would.

On Monday, we got up and got ready to go to Koosharem to meet up with grandma & grandpa Schaugaard, Rick & Judi, Lori & Lynn, Brandi & Presley, and Taylor. We all met there to plant trees for grandma and grandpa Schaugaard and then BBQ'd some lunch and loaded up for a 4-wheeler ride on Koosharem mountain. We all had a great time. When we got to the top we even found a little snow and the kids loved to play in that.

By the time we got home the kids were completely exhausted and it took everything we had to keep them awake until 7:30 pm. The weekend was great!!! It turned out to be completely amazing and we got to spend it with each other and have fun day by day without feeling like we had a schedule to adhere to. It was so nice. These are the moments I cherish....