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.

a tooth!

it's about time!  little lady finally has a tooth!  and i have to say, last week was not the best week we've had in her 8 month existence, so i'm glad that the culprit was a tooth and not a new phase of grumpiness. 

genius parenting moment...it's been a blazing the past couple of days.  mae has been getting sweaty at night in her normal pj's so, i got a little creative

enter the pirate pant pj's

i took a pair of too small pj's and cut the arms and legs.  some might call this ghetto, i call it genius!  she loves the freedom.



her new thing is crossing her legs.  well, i'm not sure if it's a new thing, more that i've been noticing it.  all the time.  in her highchair, carseat, bathtub, even in the pool.  she always crosses her legs.  and it's adorable!

she's also started making a granny face.  like she forgot to put in her dentures. 

it's pretty funny! 

she's becoming a daddy's girl.  whenever she sees her daddy that's who she wants to be with.  i knew this day would eventually come.  and that's okay, her daddy is a pretty special guy.

The First Swim

i've been so excited for the weather to finally be warm, and for my parent's pool to be warm, so we could go swimming.  we didn't get to swim much in it last year, so i've been waiting with anticipation for the weather to cooperate!

i'm not going to lie, i've been really nervous about how mae would take to the water.  i pretty much grew up in a bathing suit, and the pool and the beach were my favorite destinations (and still are).  so, i was scared that mae might not be a water baby...boy was i wrong.  she loved the water!  she was apprehensive at first, but my mom or i stayed close to her the whole time, and she was totally comfortable by the end. 

we had such a blast!  it was so much fun to share something with my daughter that brings me so much joy, and to see that it brings her joy as well!  it looks like we will be making many a trip to gram and gramp's house to play in the pool!

greased up and ready to go

in other news...as you can see in the pics, we're rockin' the pigtails!  

what's in a name?

my grandmother's name is eula mae, and for as long as i can remember i've loved the name mae.  i love the spelling and how sweet and simple it is.

when cody and i first found out i was pregnant, we went through a bunch of names, but this one was always at the top of our list.  when we found out it was going to be a girl, we narrowed it down to two names.

for the middle name, if we chose mae, i knew i wanted anne.  cody's grandmother's name is anne.  and  bev my mom's best friend and one of the greatest influences in my life, who has passed away, had the middle name of ann.  it seemed to fit so well.

we wanted to wait and see her before we decided on a name, but deep down, i was hoping that she would look like a mae anne.

when i had her, i knew right away this was going to be her name.  i don't think i even looked to cody to make sure he agreed, because it just fit her. she seemed to have the grace and sweetness of my grandmother, the spunk and generosity of cody's grandmother, and the intellect and personality of bev.  i know you can't really tell that much from just looking at a tiny (well, not so tiny on her part) baby, but for some reason, i could just see all of these qualities.  i knew that they were all qualities of these amazing women that i wanted my daughter to have.

she is one lucky babe to have these amazing women to look up to.  how many kids can say that they know great-grandmothers that they are named after?  but, i couldn't help but think that she would never know bev.

one night, when i was up with her, i remember being sad that she would never know bev, and i started to cry.  this woman was one of my favorite people, and she would never get to know my sweet girl.  as i was holding mae, she got a smile on her face, and i was overcome with peace.  in that moment i knew that she in fact does know bev, and that see is watching over her.

i'm grateful for that experience, it was such a testimony builder to me.  i know that heavenly father knows and loves each of us.  and i know that we will be able to see those that we love who have passed on again.

this little lady has some big shoes to fill.  and we're so blessed to have so many wonderful people to love her and help us guide her along the way.

i'm so grateful for each of these amazing women, and the influence that they have had on my life.