July Insta-Dump

Toddler art.

Chris and I went to La Caille for a fundraiser for his work. He won the $150 cash prize from the raffle. Lucky duck!

Henry didn't want to go to bed one night. We propped him up on our bed in between the pillows and discovered he is a TV couch potato.

Henry's first try with a teething biscuit. He was not impressed.

 

 Doc McEmme checking up on her very patient patient.

Raaawr!  Emme the dinosaur.

 Emme's first time in sponge curlers.

 Poor Henry gets assigned to be the "sister" every time we play house. Such a good sport!

Emme got sent to timeout and the poor thing fell asleep in the corner.

Big Boy Tub

We've started putting Henry in the tub with Emme now. I lay him down on his sponge to give him the scrub-down and then I set him upright in his bumbo, fill up the tub a little more and let Emme jump in. This picture is from his first tub experience as a big boy. He was in heaven! He discovered how to splash with his hands and his feet and he loved it. We also discovered that he is obsessed with duckies just like Emme was. He wants to hold them & suck on them the entire time he's in the tub.

We love you, little butterball boy!

Face Painting

We went to our friend George's birthday party and Emme got her face painted for the first time. "I look like a princess, mom!" She loved it so much that she wouldn't let us wash it off that night.

Happy 24th

 

 

 {This boy never gets tired of being loved on.}

Pioneer Day

Before my parents left, we got together with my siblings and had a big meeting. We wanted to make sure we'd still get together while they were gone. We got a big long piece of butcher paper and hashed out which holidays are Pace holidays and which holidays are in-law holidays for the next 3 years.

We decided Pioneer Day is permanently a Pace holiday. We wanted to do some sort of a breakfast like we've done in years past. Well this year we stepped it up a notch and had a giant sleepover at my parents house and then made breakfast in the morning. It was a fun way to celebrate the day with everyone. Can't wait for next year!

Henry At 6 Months

"Whaaaat? I'm six months old already!??"

 I know, Henry boy. I know.
 

Henry's six month stats:

Height: 27 1/8" (75%)
Weight: 17 lbs 4 oz (50%)
Head: 17 1/4" (50%)

This boy continues to be a tall, delightful chunkster! (At least by our standards anyway.) 

A few notes about Henry:

• He still hasn't kicked cradle cap all the way. I mean seriously. We've tried every home remedy and every fancy shampoo they sell, even the ones my pediatrician recommended. Apparently some babies just have to grow out of it? Ugh.
• This boy still doesn't love solid foods. Not apples, pears, bananas, watermelon, avocado, sweet potatoes, rice cereal made with breastmilk -- not anything. Chris says he's just a boob man. (Har, har.) We are persevering with the solids, though.
• Henry's nicknames have transformed into Boo-Boo-Chicken, Bubba and Henry-Boy.
• Henry is still sleeping great from about 8:30 pm to 6:00 am. He's taking 2 naps - a short morning nap (~1 hour) and a longer afternoon nap (~2 hours). But he loves driving in the car so much if you put him back in his carseat he'll fall asleep no matter what time of day it is. I often have to ride home in the backseat to keep him awake on our way home from Grandma's house on Sunday nights!
• Henry is babbling and squealing a lot these days. He's mastered the D, M and B consonants.
• We just moved to size 3 diapers. It's keeping the blowouts to a dull roar at present. Fingers crossed it stays that way.
• Henry loves to sit up but he's still quite tipsy. If you set him in between your legs he'll play for hours.
• Henry is rolling ALL over the room. He can get to whatever toys he wants by rolling this way & that. No more leaving contraband on the floor. This boy is mobile!
• Henry is a champion jumper, in his jumparoo that is. Best. Invention. Ever.
• This little man just figured out how to splash in the bathtub with his feet. He kicks and kicks like a madman! I now come out of the room wetter than he is when all is said and done.
•  Henry loves laying on Emme's bed to read stories for naptime. He loves books. He'll scratch and touch the pages while I read to them. He especially loves the touch & feel books.
• Henry still loves to be held. Such a snuggler!
• No teeth yet. His drooling & chomping on things are deceiving! We hope they're on their way soon.
• This boy is tough. He had 3 shots at the doctor. Wimpered for a second with the first one. Didn't bat an eye at the second one. Wimpered for a second with the third one. Atta boy!  My big, tough teddy bear.

 We love you Henry boy, and we're so glad you're in our family!

And just for fun - here's Emme at 6 months. Look like siblings much?

The Bus

Emme has had a little obsession with buses lately. Every time she sees one she has to excitedly point it out to everyone around her.  When our car needed the oil changed,  I thought it would be the perfect time for a little bus adventure with Emme, Henry & Myself. Rather than hang around the dealership's waiting room, we thought we'd hop the bus down the street to Fashion Place Mall to run some errands. (The guy at the dealership thought I was crazy. "We can drive you!" He didn't understand that we actually wanted to take the bus with 2 kids, a stroller & a diaper bag in 100+ degree heat, ha ha.)

Waiting for the bus was the hardest part. We sang "The Wheels On The Bus" over and over and over until it got there.

Once it got there and we hopped on, Emme was in awe! She loved it. She actually cried when we got off. I guess I should have planned a longer ride!

We did some shopping, ate, saw the fishies at Nordstrom, and then headed out to the curb to catch the bus back.

Henry was loving it.

Overall it was a successful trip! (And we only ran in to one creepy dude in our travels.) Til next time, bus!

Happy 6 Years!

Six years & two beautiful kiddos later and we're still having the time of our lives. Happy anniversary to us!

Bear Lake

 Over the fourth of July we went up to Bear Lake with the Spencer family for a giant Spencer reunion in Paris, Idaho. We stayed in the Sweetwater Condos and had a blast! We swam, relaxed, ate, went to the Pickleville Playhouse (highly recommended!), hiked the Minnetonka Cave, etc. The highlight of the week was probably renting a jet ski and one of those floating trampolines for an afternoon on two of the days. What fun!

The day of the reunion we went to the Paris, Idaho parade. It was hotter than hades but they threw candy so Emme was in heaven! Hannah was so nice to Emme on this trip. (She's always nice to emme.) But she played so well with her that Chris actually paid her for babysitting her one of the days.

After the parade we drove up to the land Chris's dad still owns in Paris and he showed the tree he was sitting under when his dad taught he and his brother about the birds and the bees. So funny!

And of course, no Bear Lake vacation would be complete without a trip to La Beaus! (Hopefully next time I won't be nursing so I'll be able to partake.)

{brainfreeze}

Thanks for such a fun vacation, grandma & grandpa!

Idaho Trip

At the end of June we went to Idaho with our friends the Schanz's for a little weekend getaway. Sadie and I drove up a day early with a suburban packed full of kids. The kids had a party in the back while they watched a movie and we chatted all the way up. Then Chris & Nathan came up after work the next day.

We went to Bear World, which is a zoo park that you can drive through and see bears up close. Then they have a little petting zoo area and some rides. It was a blast!

 

Emme was pretty fearless on the rides. I was surprised!

However, when it came to touching the wild animals (like goats, pigs & deer), she was a total wuss! But Chris and I had a blast petting them. :)

We planned to drive up to Sadie's parents' cabin in the Palisades, but we ran into a little mice problem once we got there, so we detoured it back to Sadie's parents' house and spent an extra day there. We floated the river in tubes, ate square ice cream cones, napped and hung out. It was such a fun little vacay.

Thanks Schanz's (& Shippens) for such a fun weekend!