Counting down!

Last week we got back from our amazing Frost family reunion in Florida! We had an incredible time at the reunion and spent 4 LOOOOOONG days in the car traveling to the reunion and back(2 twelve hour days each way). I cannot say enough that my kids did amazingly well on the drive. Even Miss Emery proved to be a great little traveler.

One of the fun things about this trip was seeing so many states that we had never been to. The kids knocked 5 new states off their lists and Allen and I got 3 states each. Both Al and I are on the tail-end of visiting all 50 states so we had to stop at each state line to get a picture to document it.

Louisiana:
6th last state for me, 9th last for Al:

Mississippi:
5th last for me, 8th last for Allen

Alabama:
7th last for Allen, 4th last for me

The states I have left: North Dakota, Alaska and Maine. Good thing they're close to each other and super convenient to get to! I have big plans to knock them off my list in the next few years.

The south was breathtakingly beautiful, green and smelled like a swamp! We loved it. I have almost 500 pictures to go through from our trip so expect lots of updates over the next week!

5 Months

Another month has gone by and I just wish time would SLOW DOWN! Emery is such a happy and delightful baby and I can't stand how fast her babyhood is flying by. This month Ems did a lot of the same things as last month but is now doing them better.

She is:

- sitting up on her own for quite awhile. We sometimes have to help her get her arms in the right place to balance but she is getting so good

- rolling from her back to her stomach. She can do it but she hates being on her tummy so she doesn't do it often

- getting on a MUCH more predictable nap schedule. She usually takes a morning, afternoon and early evening nap and is in bed by 8 p.m. most nights. She also loves to sleep with her blanket over her face. It freaks me out but anytime I pull it off of her face she immediately reaches for it and pulls it back on.

- waking up 1-2 times per night to eat. Better napping has meant less predictable sleep at night but it is a good tradeoff for me

- talking up a storm. I don't think we've ever had this verbal of a baby. She loves to make noise with her mouth and I can actually tell what she needs by the kinds of noises she makes. For example, I can always tell when she is poopy because she does a funny screech that she reserves just for that. So fun!

- putting everything in her mouth. She loooooooves her feet and is always trying to get them to her mouth. She also loves to suck on her clothes and will always pull them into her mouth.

- playing with toys. She loves her interlocking rings, Sophie the giraffe and her playyard

- laughing up a storm. She loves to have her belly kissed and will laugh forever afterwards.

- trying solids. So far, no luck, but she is warming up to the idea. She has tried rice cereal and pears so far and acts like we are trying to kill her with every bite.

- still very attached to me. She still cries if I walk out of her line of sight and often cries when strangers pick her up or talk to her.

- still spitting up a ton. It's so gross. It seems to be tapering off a bit but it is still bad. She is also the diaper blow-out queen.

- happy, happy, happy baby. She is the squishiest, most snuggly, loveable baby ever. I just love her to pieces and think she is our best decision ever! {I can say that because I was SOOOO on the fence about her even when pregnant and I still can't believe I considered my life complete without her. I knew I WANTED 3 kids but didn't know I NEEDED 4.}

4th of July

We enjoyed a super low key 4th holiday this year. We drove back from CO on Sunday evening and had made no real plans for the 4th. We did attend our annual ward pancake breakfast which was delicious and fun! After the breakfast we headed out to get some much needed groceries and then hit a movie. In the late afternoon we went swimming and had a super yummy BBQ with just our family. We contemplated throwing together an impromptu party with some friends but decided just to be together since we hadn't seen Allen in 2 weeks! We headed to Allen's office which has an incredible view of the fireworks and enjoyed a spectacular show (I've decided I'm obsessed with firework production. Allen said it's all chemical engineering - maybe I missed my calling in life). The kids were crashed out by the time we got home.

There were so many fun dessert, craft and party ideas that I saw for the 4th but this just wasn't the year for me to pull it off. My mom and I did make this cute wreath that I had seen online and I love how it turned out:

It is astounding to me that our summer is already more than half-way over! We head back to school on August 8th and we have lots more fun to squeeze in before then!

Colorado Trip

We spent two glorious weeks in Colorado in June while Allen held down the fort here at home and attended to his many Young Men's responsibilities this summer. My sister was also able to meet me there for 10 days and we got to relax and play and enjoy being together. It was a really relaxing trip and we didn't do a ton of BIG activities but we managed to squeeze in something fun every day and lounged at the pool every afternoon. I also read a couple books, did some shopping and caught up with a few of my favorite CO friends. It was really nice to get out of the desert heat and enjoy my parents amazing lush, green, beautiful yard. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Emery meeting her aunt and cousins for the first time:LOTS of swimming at the pool:{including the kids performing various stunts and making the moms rate them}Visits with "old" friends:{My kids with Melissa's kids, eating the YUMMIEST homemade fudgesicles ever}{My kids with Kayla's kids performing one of 3 plays they made up for us}{My close childhood friend Jenny and our 7 kiddos. We used to play on this trampoline together and our kids did the same - it was actually pretty surreal!}

A day spent at Belleview Park -

Playing with Grandpa's "friend" that was found in the backyard:Playing night games including egg tosses and a pinata:A day at the American Girl Store:A trip to our favorite candy store in downtown Littleton:A trip to Pirates Cove Waterpark:

The kids played endlessly in my parents fab backyard, we went to the movies a couple times and had a ball being together! It was a great time in CO that went way too fast, as usual.

{For more details on most of these activities, check out my 365 blog ----------> over there}