July

July started off with a bang! Baby Kade arrived on the 2nd and I already did a whole post dedicated to him so I won't mention any more.

Me and Kade spent our 4th of July at home resting and snuggling. Nate took Spencer to our friends house as their neighbor puts on a great show. They had fun and stayed for hours and I loved the quiet time with my new boy!



We sort of forgot about Spencer for a while after we got back home ;)

Have I mentioned I have some really great friends in this ward?? Not only did I get so many delicious dinners, but Bekah took Spencer one day to Cars 3 and I think even other things that I've already forgot (and we just found out they're moving and I am devastated!!!).


We had Kade's newborn photos done when he was 9 days old by a great family friend. He was kind of a stink for it. He wouldn't go to sleep or stay asleep and would just cry. We'd get one good pic, he'd cry, I'd sit and feed him for 10 min, we'd get another good pic and the cycle would start over. There were lots of jokes about "tit for tat" ;). But the good ones turned out SO good!! I love them! Jeannie did a great job!




this is my favorite, our little baby Moses in the basket



My birthday was a little understated, which was fine since having a baby was far superior! But I suddenly feel old being in the LAST year of my 20's! I am noticing "fine lines" and also weight not coming off like I'd like ;) I don't think we got any pictures, but my parents came over for dinner and my mom made my favorite strawberry angel food cake.

It's a small world. My neighbor from growing up, Ren, and his family are moving to none other than Waynesboro, PA! They were going out early to look at houses and I convinced them to check out Krumpes Donuts in Hagerstown, MD. They brought me a souvenir. If only it was a donut...


We had a visit from Allison and Dallin on their way to a long summer vacation! Spencer and Lizzy had fun playing as always! And Max was so cute following Nate all over and playing with Callie through the sliding glass door.

We went to the Library for some reptile show/exhibit. Spencer loved touching all the lizards and holding the snakes, except some kind of horned lizard, he said it was too pokey.




And here's some random July photos:

Having a baby brother is exhausting!

we checked out the Lego exhibit at the mall.

pretty impressive!

have I mentioned I have great friends who were so willing to take Spencer to have some fun while I recovered and tried to sleep?

7 month difference.

Kade Robert and his namesake. 

we stopped by the Canyon County fair to check out the animals and of course the tractors.

Kade's signature look.

My dad and Nate took the 4 oldest grandsons on an outing to Celebration park (I think? Opa, am I right?)



Funny things Spencer said this month:

July 1: Spencer asked me "mom, why does birthday cake don't wanna come out?"
July 2: Welcome baby Birthday Cake! And a whole day early at that!
July 22: Spencer- "hello humans, we come in pieces!"

June


June started with a drizzly, dreary trip with friends to the petting zoo! Spencer loved feeding all the animals and learning what they were. He also loved playing with his friends and running through the rain.


Side note: he has a bandaid on his head in all the pictures because he got a tiny scrape and then refused to take the bandaid off. By the time I finally ripped it off (after at least 2 weeks) there was no marking or anything underneath it. However, 2 days later he did face plant and road rash his head...



We were actually more than happy to go on such an overcast and cooler day, as we've heard that going in the middle of summer in the heat is brutal, it's crowded, and there is no shade.


We spent a lot of time in the monkey/reptile house when it got really rainy. It was stinky but the monkeys were cute and interactive. The bigger monkey that I didn't get a picture of kept grabbing ponytails and things out of people hands.


The above picture is the smaller monkey hiding under a blanket. Spencer thought it was cute and was one of the first to realize there was even  a monkey underneath!


Nate and I have been blessed with super great friends in the last few wards we've been in and this ward is no exception. I have a group of really really great friends who were so sweet and thoughtful to throw me a surprise baby shower at one of my favorite places...Costa Vida! Baby birthday cake, me, and Spencer all got spoiled. We got so many cute baby clothes (which I think I've determined I am a baby clothes hoarder!), baby blankets, toys, and of course diapers! 


Many people were so thoughtful to think of Spencer too! I didn't get home until like 10pm and he reopened every present plus his right then! I really had no idea about this. Nate told me we were going to "ladies night" at Sportsman's Warehouse and then to run errands. I did think it was funny/odd that a so many people asked what my plans for the night were. But I'm clueless and never would have guessed. Nate was a trooper when the tome came, for putting up with my attitude about him driving the wrong direction, stopping at Costa when we'd already eaten, and then begging me to go inside. The only time I realized something was up (though I didn't know what) was when he was almost laughing asking me to get out of the car just so he could get horchata. 



Later in June, Spencer did a session of swimming lessons. He would rather have just played and usually was a little timid to do much, but it was good to get us out of the house a bunch before the baby came. And he's definite;y way more comfortable in the water now.


This was just a cute picture of Spencer and his friend Markley. We went on MANY walks with her and her mom and other friends this summer! 


The Discovery Center had a shark exhibit that was pretty cool. The hammerhead was Spencer's favorite and we spent a bit of time reading and learning all about sharks there!


We went to the livestock auction with Opa and the Rices to look for sheep for Opa. The memorable thing from this trip to the auction was the percentage of bum sheep. Lots of them had bad legs, one had a bad neck and the auctioneer even joked about him being drunk and unable to straighten his head. It was odd how many there were so when these 3 normal lambs came up, Opa wasn't sure how many more there be and snagged them up!


The funny story is that when Opa went to pay with his debit card, they only took cash or check. There wasn't a bank very close and we were about 40 minutes from his house, but only like 15 from ours. Nate had worked that Saturday so I called right as he was getting home to bring our checkbook out. So Nate and I actually ended up buying 3 sheep that day :) Opa paid us back later so I finally had to quit saying that I bought 3 sheep at the auction.


This tie is from primary for Father's Day. We were cracking up at Spencer's answers about Nate and cooking. 


Spencer thought he was so funny fitting into the baby carseat. And we tried to squeeze in as much pool time as we could before baby brother came! I even signed Spencer up for the first session of swim lessons (which ended 4 days before my due date...call me a risk taker). It went alright, Spencer didn't love it and it was just him and another very timid little girl in class. She had a really hard time participating or wanting to do anything which then made Spencer not want to do anything either, so it wasn't very productive and he said he didn't want to do anymore swim lessons. Guess we'll try again next year.



Nate had his LAST day of grad school class!! This is a picture of him in fall 2015 on his first day and then this June on his last day! He also likes to cut it close, his final paper was due the week before my due date. He could turn his paper anytime until Friday and he waited till Friday to officially finish. :)



May

May was a fun month for us!


It started out with me, Spencer, Katie and 3 of her boys running/walking in the Tutu run on a cold, rainy Saturday. Most of the little boys started out walking/running but about a mile in Ev and Spence hopped in the stroller and I pushed them the rest of the 5k while Katie ran with Lincoln and Porter. A few women cheered me on as they passed me pushing the double stroller. At the end one of them even came up to me and said, "I didn't realize you were pregnant AND pushing that stroller, now I'm even more impressed!" I thought that was sweet, and a little bit funny.









We spent Mother's Day weekend in Washington with Nate's sister and family. We checked out their cute little town, saw the grizzly bears on campus, walked around some cute parks, ate like kings thanks to the wonderful hosts, explored the empty land behind their house, and even drove up to northern Idaho to go to Silverwood! It was so fun to hang out with them for the weekend and Spencer was in heaven playing with his cousin Lizzy and all her toys!



We thought Silverwood was super fun, even though it was a bit of a cool day. But the lines were mostly short and I think Lizzy and Spencer rode every ride they were tall enough for! After a while Nate got a little frustrated that he had to go on every ride with Spencer since pregnant women were banned from every ride. The log ride was the only time I got a little sad I couldn't go. It's always been my favorite!

After 2.5 years of living here we finally painted our front door, even though I forgot to take a before picture. A fun piece of information is that we painted it the same color as our best friends from Waynesboro (thanks, Paige!).


We also had a fun little BBQ with our good friends the Ashtons. They made us bomb teriyaki hamburgers and then had a fire to roast s'mores!



We tried to go to the zoo with some friends but it was crazy busy and none of us wanted to fight the crowds so instead we drove over to the MK Nature Center and then played at the park next door and had a picnic, way more fun I thought! And we even saw a brand new fawn that the employees figured had just been born early that morning.

And here's some random May pictures and random May Spencer stories/quotes:

May 7
Today at church one of the 3 year olds asked me, "umm, why is your belly so fat?!"

32 weeks pregnant.

May 2
putting Spencer to bed tonight I told him, "Thanks for picking me to be your mom Spence, I sure love you!" To which he replied, "Thanks for picking me to be your son"





May 16
Spencer told me my bubble bath smells like T-Rex breath (he would know).


May 18
Me: Spence you wanna wear your big brother shirt today?
Spencer: Yeah! Are you gonna wear your BIG mom shirt?!


May 24
Nate was out of town for 3 days and here's what happened:
- the deep freezer with 100+ lbs of meat died at 9pm and I had to load up all the meat and take it to my parents/grandpas so it didnt go bad
- the 3 yr old throws an epic tantrum when we have to go home because its 1030pm. When I tell him if he acts like that when when Birthday Cake gets here, he won't be be able to be around him, he says, "But I want to! I just love him already!" 
Now how can I stay mad at that?!