Beckett turns 3!

So, as mom of the year, I was out of town on Beckett's birthday. I got in that night, but I felt like a total loser, especially because he actually knew it was his birthday. I guess he went around the nursery in church and told everyone, "Say Happy Birthday to me!" Silly boy. We ended up celebrating the next day with Grandma and Grandpa and plenty of presents and a Toy Story cake, per Beckett's request.

This boy. He is just such a yummy little guy, and such a stinker! He is my little buddy. He is an excellent talker and has quite a large vocabulary. I am surprised probably at least once a day at the sentences that come out of his mouth. He just makes me laugh. He is very determined and aggressive and will take anyone on in a fight or wrestling. He idolizes Carter. If we ever want Beckett to do something, we just have to tell him that Carter is doing it and he will be on board. In turn, Carter is the sweetest big brother ever. Carter is such a good sport at playing with Beckett.
We just moved Beckett to his twin bed, finally. He and Carter share bunk beds and he has had no problems with the transition at all. He never gets out of bed or his room. He still loves sleeping with his little swaddle blankets. He loves our poor kitten, Lulu, to death. He carries her around everywhere, pushes her around in our toy shopping cart, makes her ride on his bike with him, and just smothers her in general. I cannot count the number of times a day I tell him, "Leave the kitty alone!!!!" He's a good eater, not super picky. His favorite is playing with cars, trains, or balls. He loves riding bikes outside and shooting his basketball.
We really adore this boy.

Beckett's 3 year interview:


How old are you? 3
What's your favorite color? Orange!
What's your favorite food? Dinner. What's your favorite thing to eat at dinner? I don't know... Mac and cheese.
What's your favorite drink? Sprite. (I would say milk)
What's your favorite toy? Cars.
What's your favorite thing to play? Cars.
What's your favorite song? Follow the Prophet
What's your favorite game? On the phone? I like to play Mater.
What's your favorite animal? Bubble puppy.
What do you want to be when you grow up? I don't know.
What do you want to be when you're a big boy? Captain Hook
 Who are your favorite friends? Lukie and Everett. Those are all my friends. And Gray Gray. And Hudson.
What's your favorite book? Cars. Trucks.
What's your favorite thing to do? Swim.  (and I'd say ride bikes)
What's your favorite movie? Cinderella.
That's your favorite movie? Yeah.
What else? Cars. Toy Story.

Tayter-tot turns 6!

I missed this girls birthday. I might have cried a little bit. I was at girls camp. We managed to hopefully make this little ray of sunshine feel special on her special day. I mean, she did get to spend the whole day with GramZ who was watching my kiddos. Not a bad gig. Then after Jefferson got off work he took her out to dinner and drove her up to camp so that I could see my little lady for a minute. We hung out by the lake for a few and we gave her one present.

 I got back on Saturday morning and we were partying by that afternoon. We went swimming first and gave her her most favorite gift of all time. A real life mermaid tail. This thing is amazing... seriously. It has a monofin in it and this girl can swim fast in it. She was on cloud nine.

 Then we did dinner and presents and cake and ice cream back out our place.

 Tay got a Puppy Surprise, doll clothes, legos...

 On Sunday afternoon Taytum spend three hours straight building her princess castle lego set. She was determined.

July Summer

Here are some of the fun things that July brought. Our summer was packed full of fun every day.

This monster sip-n-slide was a major hit at our friends' house. Just add Dawn and water...

 I can totally see these two doing this same thing in rocking chairs on a porch one day. They are the best little buddies ever.

 There was much swimming.

 We tried to be consistent in our reading this summer.... and failed. We threw our schedule out the window really early on. We were too busy playing! However, I did catch this sweet sight one day.

 Carter opted for a little more comfortable location.

We love walking local trails. This one at Moore Park is a favorite.

 And as an added bonus, the sprinklers were on at the park when we reached the bottom.

 We love feeding the ducks at Veteran's Park. 

 Carter got a pocket knife and practiced on some plastic bottles.

 Andi got to go tubing with some friends at Lake of the Woods.

 

 Apparently we had gone to the park one too many times, or maybe it was just too hot, but either way, these girls opted to play a card game in the shade instead of play on the playground. There was an ongoing joke that I had the Mary Poppins car because I had pretty much anything you might ever need in my car: blankets, balls, sunscreen, snacks, bandaids, card games, bubbles, drinks, you name it!

 A little beauty salon: one of my girls' favorite pastimes.

 And a show to follow.

Our neighbors have a sweet nanny who is  a member of our church in a different ward. She had Taytum over a couple of times, and not only did she teach Taytum how to ride her bike, she threw a teddy bear picnic for the girls.

 Andi's selfie while we were getting our hair cuts.

 Pool time at our neighbors pool. It's so fun to walk a few doors down for a nice little swim with friends. We have amazing neighbors!

 If Carter's doing it, you better believe that Beckett will be right there doing it too.

 Practicing and perfecting Taytum's bike riding so she's ready for the Night Ride in Sunriver.

 Andi + Hartley

 Sometimes my kids get bored at church.

 Elder Adams was such a great elder and we were sad to say goodbye. We were told he often mentioned that he wanted his family to be just like ours.