first time to the gulf

On Sabbath, we took the kids to the beach. It was Khloe's first time to the Gulf of Mexico. (Her second trip to the beach.) We met Billy's sister, Brenda, and Ethan, along with his "sister" Heather and her friend, Mel ... and a lot of other people. Heather and Mel (and others) came down to Orlando to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon, so they took time on Sabbath afternoon to drive down to visit us. The beach was a good idea, because it was a beautiful day--aside from some strong wind. The nice thing about Clearwater is that they provide shade/wind barriers that you can rent, so we did that and it kept the kiddos well protected from the chilly wind.A couple of cute pictures of the kids with Heather and Mel.

It was Ethan's first trip to the beach, and aside from waking just enough to eat a little bit, poo, and cry some (to remind us he was there, too), he slept through his visit.Khloe wanted to say 'hi' to Ethan and check him out a little bit. He was making some little noises. I think she likes him.Ethan is just relaxing ... waiting for Mommy to finish her lunch, so he can have some lunch, too. He even gave us a little peek-a-boo!Ethan and I had a little photo-op. He was enjoying his little sleep while I documented the cuddle-time.He even took a minute to look at the camera.A little snuggling with Aunt Tasha.He got a little lot of Mommy-love, too.

Colton had a blast, as always. He was having a lot of fun playing football with Heather and eating "Mel Candies" with Mel. (a.k.a. M&M's) Billy made a "smart" move and took Colton to feed the seagulls ... and then there were a ton of them flying over us trying to grab some grub. So, we told Colton he could feed them sand, because seagulls like sand ... he wouldn't stop talking about wanting to feed the seagulls!

He liked playing football with Heather.And digging holes with Daddy, too.

Khloe had a great, relaxing time, too. She hung out on the blanket for a while. She let everyone hold her for a little bit, and then she took a short nap in my arms.
Little girl gets some love from her Mommy.She did a great job for her first (long extended trip) to the beach ... even with the chilly wind.

Both kids were pretty sleepy when we got home, so we laid them down for a nap. They had a great time, and we decided we'll have to buy one of those wind/sun shades. They come in pretty handy!

Sunday we went to Billy's cousin's daughter's (whew!) 6th birthday party. Colton loves Emily, so he had a great time running around with her and her cousins (from the other side of her family). He chased them, and they chased him all around. Colton was having so much fun that he didn't really eat much at the party.
It was a luau themed party ... Emily dressed Colton up this way. He stayed like this for about a minute ... Billy on the other hand ...Luckily Emily doesn't only have girl toys! Colton loved playing with her monster trucks.He jumped into the middle of the bean bags, and he got stuck.Glad cousin Emily was there to help him out!

When we got home, he crashed into a nap. He woke up in the absolute WORST mood. We didn't know what to do. He just cried and cried. He was furious about everything, and the more we tried to get him in a better mood ... the angrier he got. I asked him if he was hungry, and he said "NOOOOOOOOO!" (In a very whiny, annoying, angry voice. Followed by some fake tears.) Finally, I said to Billy, "Do you want a grilled cheese?" Colton immediately says, "I WANT A GRILLED CHEESE!" And he proceeds to follow me around the kitchen begging for a grilled cheese while I make it. He gobbled up an entire sandwich and two bowls of ABC soup ... along with some treats Billy gave him after dinner. He was so hungry. Immediately toward the end of dinner, Colton said, "I'm going to finish my soup, and then I'm going to give Mommy a kiss." We knew right away that he was feeling much better. For the rest of the evening, he was our sweet, little Colton again. I guess he doesn't deal well with hunger ... and apparently, he was so grumpy, he couldn't tell us what he needed!

For good measure, I'm going to throw in some pictures from a few weeks ago when Mom and Dad H were here visiting. There are just a few random pics that I wanted to post of Khloe and Mom holding Ethan when they were visiting us.This makes me nervous for many reasons.Grandma settling Ethan down during game time on Saturday night.A little floor time a few weeks ago ... I just thought she looked especially sweet.This is for all of my famly and friends who live in the "north country" and by that, I mean ... anywhere not humid subtropical like our state ... this woman was selling papers on Sunday morning on at a local intersetion. She is wearing a parka with a fur-lined hood ... it was 66 degrees out.

florida state fair

Mom and Dad H visited us again before they finally headed back to the cold north. They stayed with us last Wednesday through last Monday morning. We enjoyed having them here throughout this winter, and we look forward to seeing them again next week in Utah.

Last Sunday (a week ago), we took the kids and Mom and Dad to the Florida State Fair. I had no idea that it was located in Tampa. I saw the flyer at SweetBay (a grocery store here), and Billy and I thought it would be a great place to go while his parents were visiting us. It was kind of a windy and rainy day, but we still had a lot of fun.Colton with Daddy and Grandpa ... watching the tractor races.Everyone at the fair ... and me behind the camera! Granpda got to be the pusher for a while; Colton got a little Daddy-time; and Khloe was getting some good love from Grandma.

Colton got to ride his first rides! He rode a caterpillar "train" roller coaster. Billy told him it was a train, so he would want to ride it more. They went on together, and Colton did a great job. He is still talking about the caterpillar train that went "bumpity-bump" ... according to Colton it did "a lot of bumpity-bumps!" He also went on the carousel with me. By then, it was the end of a very long day, and he had had no nap up until this point. He wanted to sit on the horse, so I put him up there. I stood right next to him, and he seemed excited. The ride took forever to begin, and once it did, he was happy. Then it started to go a little too fast for him, and he started to cry. I had to show him Daddy trying to take our picture each time around ... and eventually, he stopped crying. All in all, I think he liked his first two rides.With Daddy on the caterpillar "train" roller coaster. Notice in one picture he is holding onto Daddy's hands pretty tightly!You can tell he was pretty tired. You can see his 100-mile stare here.You can see mid-ride he was less than thrilled to be on the carousel.We finished with a smile.

We ate some good fair food, of course. We all shared some roasted corn, fried green tomatoes, nachos, fried pickles, and cotton candy. Colton got a little old-time candy, too. (Like penny candies.) Khloe didn't have as much luck in the food department. I went to warm her bottle in the thermos I had brought, and when it was ready, I took it out and searched for the nipple ... but I had forgot the nipple at home! So, Mom and Dad went all over the fair in search of a nipple. She was so mad ... and hungry, I couldn't get her to breastfeed either. Finally, Mom and Dad returned with a bottle (that I'm sure has travelled with these "fair people" to many cities, but I was so thankful to be able to feed her that I rinsed off the nipple (it was a new bottle) and fed her. She sucked it down!

We saw a lot of animals, too. There were ponies, pygmy goats, dogs, llamas, chickens, and rabbits. Colton liked to see the animals. He, also, talked for days about the tractor races (which were lawnmowers, really). We watched them race around for a while and even saw some wrecks. Colton remembered that the orange one was the fastest and the blue one fell over. He has talked about it all week.Colton had a good time meeting the ponies.Even Khloe got to meet the ponies.

I thought it was a pretty good fair. Not as large as the Minnesota State Fair (which is my only other comparison). I never went to the Kansas State Fair ... I guess it was held too far away from where we lived. Still, it was fun, and we will probably go again next year.Wiped out from all of the fun!

The Strawberry Festival is coming up in March, so we will take the kids there, too. I think that will be fun, because of all of the strawberries we can eat! I hear it's a smaller version of the fair. We'll see!

5 months

Khloe is five months old today! These months are just flying by. I feel like I just had her, and now, she's rolling over and spinning around on her tummy. She rolled over from her tummy to her back yesterday. I watched her do it this time. (I'm sure she did it at the beginning of last week, because she ended up too far away from where she started not to have done so ... but I didn't actually see it.) On Sabbath, she began spinning in circles on her tummy. She starts in one spot and rotates to the right until she's back where she started. It's fun to see her becoming mobile. I'm sure she'll be crawling before I know it! It's exciting and sad all at once. It's sad to see her growing up so quickly, but it's, also, exciting to know she's becoming more independent and moving closer to being at an age where she can play with Colton.

I'm not sure if Khloe is going through a growth spurt or not, but she is sleeping an awful lot lately. For the past five days, she has been taking LONG naps. I have to keep waking her up ... which is unusual. She is usually pretty clockwork. But she has been sleeping for 3 hour naps, and I still have to wake her ... and she still sleeps through the night. I really think she must be going through a growth spurt. I'm not complaining ... it's just a weird thing that started last Friday.

I am excited to start making her baby food this month. It'll be exciting to feed her in a month. I say that ... but I, also, know how convenient it is to only have to feed her milk right now. Once the food starts, feeding time is much more complicated and busy ... but it's fun, too. I remember being so excited to feed Colton food ... and then I realized that it was easier to just give him milk! Oh, well ... I just want to see how she'll like it.

She has been so vocal lately. She gurgles and goos and coos. She is a little chatter box. I love to hear her happily playing or talking to me when I change her diaper or clothes. She's such a happy baby. I've been really blessed with two laid back, happy kiddos. I love them both so much!

Happy 5 months, Khloe!Khloe with her tiny cherry pie to celebrate ... Daddy wanted pie!