going on a bear hunt, in a corn field...

so last weekend we went camping with friends and had a splendid old time. it was quite the different adventure than what our last camping trip was like. my cute friend was the master mind behind it all. we drove just beyond the city limits and after passing corn field after corn field, we arrived at our camp site. we pitched tents, everyone cooked their different dinners over the fire and let the children run wild. in my case children running wild really meant making sure maxson didn't crawl near the fire. after dinner was settled we devoured tons of smores and tons of delicious cobbler. those of us who stayed the night put the kids to bed in the tents and sat around the campfire until late in the evening laughing at favorite movies, high school memories, dating stories, and funny things kids do. it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

the weather was fantastic all evening and then at night time it took a u-turn. thunder, lightning, rain, rain and more rain. luckily we stayed mostly dry and completely warm. maxson did great snuggling with us half the night and pretty much nursed whenever he made a peep so as not to wake up the camp. probably his most favorite night ever. however he did wake up at around 5:30 and think "hey! let's get up and play!" we both laughed it off and i think he finally fell asleep around 6:15 or so.

in the morning we stood around the campfire, warmed up our egg burritos and made a little hot chocolate

yay for camping at least once this year!

if we're to go again we either need a bigger tent or we can't sleep on an air mattress in order to save room for a pack n play.
we shall see :)

and like last time, a few points not to be forgotten:

-casey still had to get up in the middle of the night to pee...in the cold rain, haha

-neither of us slept from about 3:30-6 though we were laughing together most of the time, such a funny night.

-in the beginning casey said we were just sleeping on the ground, i insisted we bring the air mattress. in the end we both got our wishes. although we had an air mattress it's next to worthless and deflates during the night so casey end up practically sleeping on the ground all night, heh heh.

2 items of business

firstly and most importantly:

the great maximus is standing by himself!

it's so fun watch him balance and wiggle back and forth, we love that munchkin.

secondly, due to recent requests

i'm offering mini photo sessions for the holiday season!

details:

30 min.

$45

at least 15-20 specially edited photos

dates and locations:

arizona (mesaish area) Oct 19 and Oct 21

utah (provoish area) Oct 23 and Oct 28

nebraska (lincolnish area) Oct 1-Oct 14 and most the month of November
november may be coldie so i'd shoot for october if i were you.

as always, families is post-grad schooling: ask me for special pricing

a peek into last week

some of my favorite pictures are the ones i take on a moments notice.
real everyday things.
like looking outside to see a few of the husbands outside talking while watching the children, all for no reason.

a giggly boy in his high chair.
the 2 top right teeth are in as well as the 2 middle bottom, the two top left have officially popped through today as well!

popping his knee up while eating

easy frittata with the over abundant supply of tomatoes and bail on hand.

quick and easy baby entertainment:
1. the dishwasher, he loves when i have to put things in it
2. our front door. he looks out the window for at least an hour total everyday. who knew watching the outside world could be so enthralling for a little one. i will make sure our future home has a window like this babies can peek out of. cars are constantly going by, people walking to school, neighbors coming by talking to him, we both just love it. i especially love how he has to stand on his tippy toes to look out :)

also as i side note: i wanted to put it out there that WE ARE A PRO-VACCINE family and we loved how this article says it. i urge other pro-vaccine families will voice their opinion too.

AND i listened to an incredible rendition of i need thee every hour. i think i'm going to start singing that song when i'm having a difficult time with maxson in the middle of the night.

i watched this video which reminded me of why to use paper towels instead of hand blow dryers. ewwwwwww.

AND tonight i'm headed to a church meeting especially for women to strengthen and uplift us as daughter's of God. you can/should watch it live here too! (it starts at 6 pm mountain time 9/28)

sometimes

Motherhood is wonderful. You get to grow a person  in your body, feel the progress, bring that little one into the world, worry about their every need, care for all the details of their life. In return they smile, and giggle for you, growing into a human being with a personality and feelings and in turn love you. It's such a joy, so fulfilling.

But sometimes, motherhood is hard. Sometimes that little baby loves you so much that as soon as they see you they come crawling to your feet to whine and beg and crawl up your leg until you'll just hold them (they do not do this to anyone else). Sometimes they can't quite communicate their needs and very loud, unhappy sounds ensue. Sometimes cleaning up the same mess for what seems like the billionth time that day is pure exhaustion. Sometimes they think it's funny to grab onto your hair and pull it out which really hurts. Sometimes wrestling that baby for a diaper change for the 5th time that day is a dreaded task and you rock paper scissor your spouse to see whom will have to get on their own big boy/girl pants on to conquer that 20 pound baby. Sometimes they decide napping is stupid and fight and fight and fight you to go down until they win. 

But sometimes when you're exhausted and you want to just give yourself a 10 minute break you throw that baby in the bathtub hoping it will contain and entertain them long enough to recover yourself. You just sit outside of the tub close your eyes, relax and let the water splash on you without a care. And then out of the corner of your eye you watch that wet baby crawl all around the tub with such excitement slipping everywhere and in that moment's eye you remember how fun motherhood really is. And you continue to laugh as you watch that baby try to crawl up the backside of the tub where it's rounded but since there's no traction or hand holds they fall backwards like a penguin on their tummy and slide all the way to the other side at least 10 times not giving up until they get up.

Yes it's days like that that makes motherhood wonderful

applejack festival 2013

so an hour away there's little city called nebraska city with a not so little orchard called kimmel orchards that has the cutest applejack festival at the beginning of every fall. people come all over to pick apples, watch a parade, shop around the local booths and enjoy time with your family in the sun eating bushels of apples. the experience of walking up and and up and down all the rows trying different apple species to find the perfect one to pick seemed almost magical.

it's quite convenient going with tall men who can pick out the most perfect apples from the tip top of the tree

it was enchanting to just look out and see trees and trees and trees full of little red dots

we were fortunate to get to go with some of our very favorite neighbors whom are also in dental school.
fyi- this momma is super mom, literally. she's a mom by day, and a PA at the hospital at night. when does she sleep????? yeah, i don't know, but she never let's the lack of sleep get in the way of making memories, participating in fun, or planning the fun. we love this family so very much!!!

if you ever go apple picking we recommend bring a pocket knife so everyone can try those yummy apples before loading them in your bag

we loved all the apple taste testing BUT the grapes kind of stole the show. we happened to walk into a bunch of grape vine rows and went to town. when you popped one of those babies in your mouth, it literally tasted like a burst of grape jelly. but really good natural amazing grape jelly that felt perfect. our little family was overwhelmed by their goodness! especially maximus, he continued to whine for more and more and more!

not maxson's most photogenic picture...hahaha.
we were laughing so hard at his face

what's really funny was that the first apple type we tried we all loved.
but we had to spend over an hour walking through the rest of the orchard tasting at least 8 different other kinds to make sure that was our favorite. sure enough, it was!

maybe better than the apples: the apple cider doughnuts THEY WERE AMAZINGGGGG!

we now have apples coming out of our ears.
i'm trying to find as many apple recipes as i can without only making apple pie (because making apple pie from scratch scares me).
we shared this candy apple pie with friends and it was spectacular :)

if you have any yummy apple recipes i'd love to hear them!

pictures on life lately

dental BBQ
last year we got all the LDS dental students together and had a little bbq in someone's backyard.
so this year the "2nd annual lamb roast" was planned!
it started out as just LDS families but we all can't help but invite our friends who aren't LDS, so it's really just a BBQ for dental families
last minute it got moved to our backyard but turned out just fine.
all those families are such quality  people.
these truly are lifelong friends we're making and we absolutely LOVE it!
there were so so many DANG good desserts this year. like seriously, that turned out to be most everyone's main dish they kept going back and back and back for.
bravo friends.

watermelon eating

all the LDS dental wives in casey's year

as the sun slipped away, some folks went home for the night, some stayed with their babies all night, and some went home (aka across the street) to put their babies to bed and brought the monitor back over so we could keep playing corn hole.
yay for the life of dental families!

the park.
we have walking group Tue/Fri at 9 am.
it's good for the kids.
it's good for the moms.
maxson is apart of the baby group that plays on the blanket or is pushed in the swings.
if i let him loose on the sidewalk and playground he goes CRAZY with putting all things rocks, sticks, and leaves in his mouth. when does that end?!?!?!?!

our view everyday out the front window.

playing with toys.
i just recently divided all our toys into 3 piles to rotate through.
best decision ever.
a) there's not nearly as many toys to clean up
b) there's not nearly as many toys stored in our little toy corner cluttering up the room
c) he plays with those small amounts of toys longer now giving them more attention
d) each weekish it's like he gets all new toys again!
i think we are all loving this.

the morning after a rain storm

maxson makes some of the funniest faces these days
this is only a small glimpse of the face i love that he makes.
add squinted little asian eyes and more puckered lips.
he often makes a grunty ooooh sound on this one
we love it.

also he does a hulk like face.
he tenses up his whole face, neck, arms, and fists.
his eyes get all watery.
and it's like all his muscles are going to explode.
he does both of these often, just for fun, at the most random of times.
not sure if he's trying to tell me something, ha

and that's that friends.
it's been rainy-overcasty lately, fall is here.
i just hope it doesn't get too cold too soon!