summa summa summertime

summertime is in full swing around here.  we love it!  just a few short weeks and we'll be at the beach for our yearly trip.  in the meantime, we are doing all we can to keep up with our little lady, and to keep her busy!

in our efforts to keep the munchkin busy, we decided to buy a kiddie pool for the backyard.  (not as exciting as gram and gramps pool, but fun nonetheless.)  we went to fill it up, and cody reminded me that the hose bib in the backyard doesn't work, so we had to use pots and pitchers to fill it up...aren't we classy?  Luckily there's a bathroom in the basement so it didn't take too long.

It took her a bit to warm up to it, but once she did she had a great time.

love this picture.

 i try to get this girl outside as much as i can.  partly because i can't stay inside all day, and love to be outside.  but mostly because she loves it, and it wears her out!  so, we go on lots of walks around here.

 we also make trips to the playground.  she loves watching the big kids run around.

mover and a shaker

i think mae might be the most photographed baby.  we're so lucky to have grandpa bryan close by.  he has taken her picture each month, and it's been so neat to have those pictures!  and i'm not going to lie, it makes me not feel like a bad mom for not taking more pictures.
mae has gotten used to the camera.  as soon as grandpa gets that thing out she starts cheesin'.  cody and i tried to record her walking a little bit the other day, but when we got the camera out she only wanted to strike a pose.
these are some of my favorite pics that grandpa took last month...

she is keeping mommy and daddy busy!  she scoots all over and can actually get going pretty fast.  she pulls herself up on pretty much everything.  and has even started taking steps on her own.  she is a mover and a shaker.  but, with how much she moved in my belly, i had a feeling this is how she would be.
my friend kelly gave us her daughter hayden's old walker, and mae absolutely loves it.  when we went to visit them, she was cruisin' all over their house in that thing.  sadly, we don't have as much room in our house, so she gets stuck a lot.
her aunt and uncles love her, and she loves them.  she probably loves all of the attention that she gets from them.  there is no shortage of that when it comes to this homegirl.
she's very much the daddy's girl.  it's super cute.  even in the morning when cody is taking a shower, she wants to be in the bathroom waiting for him.  he's an awesome daddy.

fell asleep drinking my bottle

Class of 2013

this past week my youngest brother graduated from briar woods high school!  what an awesome accomplishment.  it was fun to be part of all of the festivities, and to be able to see him walk across the stage. 

it's still hard to believe that my baby brother is a graduate!  i remember the first time i held him when we went to see him in the hospital.  i can't believe that was 18 years ago!

he is one awesome kid.  and i'm so lucky to have him as my brother and my friend.  it's been so fun to see him excel in so many different things, and to watch him grow into the young man he is today.

here are a few of my favorite pics of reid and i from the past few years...

and here is the graduate!

 i helped him decorate his cap with the utah state logo!  what a fun thing to do, i wish we could have done that in high school.  it was really neat to look out and see all the decorated caps.  (it definitely kept coleman and i busy during a few long speeches)

BWHS class of 2013!

so proud of you reid! on to amazing things at utah state!

...and another one

we have another tooth.  two on the bottom.  i would post a pic, but mae's tongue is constantly in the way, so it's hard to get a picture.  but they're there!

we have also started an unconventional method of scooting.  she now is everywhere and into everything.  i thought we had done a fairly thorough job of baby proofing, i was sadly mistaken. 

she is also pulling herself up on anything and everything. her favorite is the stair bars, she's learned how to move from one end to the other.  luckily we already have a baby gate on the stairs!

she is still sleeping in awkward positions...

she's holding her bunny/blanket that uncle reid got her.  she loves that thing. 

and she's still loving the pool!

keeping up with this girl is hard! she has so much life and energy, and is a busy little bee.  i'm trying to just enjoy her, and find the joy that she kinds in all her new skills and discoveries.  i'm also trying to learn how to be okay with things not always getting done around the house...it's hard!

we've been super busy with relief society, family in town, and graduation festivities for reid and shelby to name a few.  luckily cody doesn't have any classes this summer so we've been able to have more time with him. we're loving spending time with family.  and mae has been so good about being toted all around town.  and has been great meeting all these new people.