Patriotism

 This was my favorite pic that was taken that day. Maggie teaching Dax to put his hand over his heart. Such a good girl.

Rockin the Red, White and Blue!

To celebrate Pioneer Day Dax along with most of his cousins slept over at their Nana and Papa’s house for 2 nights in Mapleton.

They played games, watched movies and ended up all sleeping in the family room. Apparently, Dax did really well sleeping on floor with everyone. This makes me extremely happy and reminds me of when I was little spending the night at my Grandpa’s house with my brothers and cousins all the time. They’re some of my greatest memories.

The next morning they were all awakened by the fire engines driving around town with their sirens on alerting everyone to wake up for the raising of the flag, the fireman’s pancake breakfast and to start the day!

Mckay, Grayson, Sammy and I woke up and made it down to Mapleton for the quaint and little parade, but most of all to kiss and give our little man a squeeze!

The parade is very short and kinda boring, so basically perfect for Dax. Plus, it goes right in front of my parent’s house.

We spent most of the day hanging out in the back yard playing in the water, throwing grapes really high in the air catching them in our mouths, eating lots of good food but pretty much just chatting with family and friends all day.

That evening we set off some pretty small fireworks in the driveway

 then we all jumped the back of my dads truck to head over to the town fireworks.

Mapleton is known for and becoming more popular for its fireworks. For good reason too! They're super awesome and loud. Not only does Dax love them, but also they’re very relaxing for him. Actually, Dax and Gray both fell asleep in the middle of them. 

The highlight of the day for me was that Grayson was going to everyone and letting anyone play, snuggle an even put him to sleep most of the day. He's not so much of a momma's boy anymore. Bittersweet. (sniffle sniffle)

Mapleton’s Pioneer day is a fun tradition for my family. I always looked forward to it growing up and love seeing my own kids enjoying it now.

Coleman holding Lil' G. That's what all of Jacks kids call him.

Dax stomping on the snaps. If they didn't pop when he threw them he was more than happy to go jump on them :)

He saw some of the older kids snapping them with their fingers and tried to copy them. It didn't work.

Grace and Gray are quit the pair!

Watching the parade

Gracie, Dylan, Jacksen, Dax and Maggie

Gray liked the parade too!

Best seats around! Not only were they in the shade on the porch, but in the laps of Nana and Papa!

Pretty sure Papa enjoyed Lil' G  more than the parade

Waving to all the pretty girls!

Coolin off in the pool. All his cousins are so good to him by helping him with EVERYTHING;) I love it!

"Throw the ball to ME!"

Lovin on his Nana

Look at Gracie's face. I love it! Grayson was smiling then making really sad faces. I'm guessing by Gracie's face right here, Gray was being sad :(

4th of July

Over the 4th of July we were up at Zermatt enjoying the nice weather with McKay's parents and his sister's family. We packed in tons of fun stuff like....... fishing, trips to the park, the fireman's pancake breakfast, swimming, the Park City parade and so much more!!!! McKay had just finished his residency so all this good family fun was much needed. It was so much fun having him around without him worrying about projects and papers pertaining to the residency.

Dax liked to reel in the fishing hook

...but he liked playing with the worms more. If you look close enough at his mouth you can see he even tried to taste one!

That's our boy! Skinned knees playing with the dirt and worms!

Grandpa Mark showing Dax the fish jumping in the water.

It was so pretty up there.

Park city parade waving their flags!

Gray even had his own flag to wave around....or slobber on.

I spent most of the time snuggling with my sweetie here in the shade during the parade

Later that night we went home and set off some fireworks with friends in the neighborhood. Lucky for us Dax and Grayson loved them. 

There were a couple of huge loud ones that I was sure Gray would freak out over, but he must be like his big brother. The bigger and louder the BETTER!

Sweetness at 3 months

This little sweet thing is 3 months old and couldn't be more perfect. He is a total mama's boy and its clear that he knows when I am in the room or not. He loves a routine and when we stick to it he goes days, seriously days without fussing or crying. This means that he struggles with lots of stimulation and lots of family and friends wanting to hold him. (Totally opposite of Dax)  Sad. Of course I am more than happy to hold and comfort him since he is definitely the happiest and most kissable baby ever. 
Honestly, there are so many times I catch myself in a great position to set him down to play or nap, but choose to hold and rock him in my ever so relaxing glider. These are undoubtedly the happiest times of my life and I know these are the moments that I am going to miss the most. Looking in his bright blue eyes and his happy sweet face while he is awake and adoring me, or staring at his cute button nose, long eyelashes and pout lips as he snoozes away. 

Here are a few things and habits that makes up his fun little personality.

He gives us this look a lot. I imagine he is feeling calm yet happy :)

~He is now sleeping 6-8hrs at night.
~Eats every 4ish hrs during the day and he prefers it in  silence with me laying down on the bed. It's not easiest thing with a crazy 22 month old running around.
~He didn't like his car seat when he was about 2 months old but we ended up getting a new one and he loves it now.

He sleeps best laying on his side

~He loves going for car rides, walks in the stroller and trips to the grocery store watching all the fun things as they go by.
~Enjoys going to the park watching the trees and feeling the cool breeze while I play on the playground and swings with Dax. 
Dax is sure lucky that he lets me. 
~Gray is a huge fan of his baths. A handful of times he has actually fallen asleep during them and the others he is super happy and splashing. Giving Gray baths is probably one of my top favorite things to do to him.

This is how he falls to sleep holding his hands.....

.......and he's out!

Sitting up on the couch like a big boy!

He thinks his big brother is pretty cool. He watches Dax everywhere he goes and giggles when Dax tickles his toes. Speaking of tickling, he is very ticklish especially under his arms and collar bone.

Gray loves it when his big brother helps buckle him in his cars seat

This makes both of them smile soooo big

Off to church! He's so handsome.

Tummy time is so much better especially when Dax and Dad join in to watch Baby Einstein 

This is how we sometimes go grocery shopping. We live close enough to a Harmons so we walk there and throw the groceries underneath. They love it.

Easy getting my peanut to smile

We call these next pictures "bink smiles." We love them because when he smiles with the binky in his mouth you can see his smile through his eyes.

"Bink Smiles"