Rock Star Birthday

I can hardly believe it, but my Millie is six years old (and has been for a month . . . I'm just a little behind on blogging about our summer). And to celebrate we had family over for a rock star birthday party. The invites (above) were supposed to resemble concert tickets (oh, how I wish I had photoshop . . . and knew how to use it).

The only children invited (two cousins) got sick right before the party! So the only guests were Millie's grandma and grandpa . . . but luckily she didn't mind. There was lots of dancing and singing.

And Mark cut out these wooden "electric" guitars before the party and put them together at the party. The tops are paint sticks from the hardware store with rubber bands strung through grooves Mark cut at the top and bottom. Then everyone decorated their own and gave them names! Millie named her guitar "Rose", Ivy named hers "Islafina" (pronounced: eye-la-FEE-nah) and Millie's grandma named hers "Bob" (after Bob Dylan I think). Then we rocked out and sang karaoke.

Of course we had cake and ice cream and opened presents.

Millie didn't even mind that there were only two gifts since one included MAKE-UP! All her birthday dreams came true in that moment. Later we went out for dinner at the conclusion of which Millie told her daddy "This was my best birthday every!" Super cute.

A few days later she received a gift from my mom. Lip gloss, press on nails and accessories and a hair clip. She looked every bit the glamour queen.

Right after the party Mark's mom took Millie to the craft store to pick out a pattern and fabric for her gift (Millie's idea). The completed project is absolutely adorable (dress and matching purse). Sorry I don't have a better picture. I'll have to get one.

Happy Birthday Millie!

Bear Lake Summer 2011

The End.

I love cloth!

Who knew diapering could be fun? Yes, I know I'm crazy but I love knowing that my choice creates less of an environmental burden than disposable diapering and saves us loads of money (between $1,000 and $2,000!!!). They really are not as difficult or icky as some might imagine. There's no pinning, no soaking and no need to shake anything out in the toilet. I also love this make-shift clothesline Mark put together for me. The sun truly is the best disinfectant! The diapers come off the line spotless and completely non-toxic (no chlorine bleach for my family thank you). Using the clothesline reminds me of my Grandma Nora and makes me look to simpler times when people weren't too busy to appreciate the little things in life.

Oh, and did I mention how cute the diaper covers are? And the cute onesie and burp cloth were a gift from Mark's talented sister Julia. I love the elephant.

I don't know what's come over me but I am just enjoying motherhood so much more these days. I guess I am finally starting to grasp how precious this time is with my children and that doing what's best for them is truly worth any amount of extra effort on my part.

Which is why we are also practicing natural infant hygiene (frequently referred to as elimination communication or ECing). I am just in awe of how intelligent little babies are! Even if our culture tells us otherwise.

I look horrible here (right after a workout) but this picture just reminds me how special it feels to share this experience with my baby. I only wish I would have started earlier . . . like six years earlier!

Mommy's Charms

The Wheels on the Bus

Millie and Ivy have been begging to ride on a train of late, but they settled for an LTD bus ride instead.

We caught the bus Saturday morning and rode out to Rockhill Creamery in Richmond. It was a long ride, but we all enjoyed the experience.

Luckily it was a nice sunny morning at the bus station.

On the bus Ivy couldn't believe there weren't any seat belts! And it was quite a long, bumpy ride. And yes, we did sing a verse or two of "The Wheels on the Bus".

We missed our stop in Richmond and ended up walking back from the next one, but no one complained (amazingly enough). Once there, we took a little tour of the farm and Millie fell in love with this Brown Swiss calf. She wanted to name him or her "Goldie". She also fell in love with two small dogs there, but they kept their distance from her loving attention.

Ivy on the other hand, was less than thrilled about all the animals and wanted her daddy to protect her.

And Oliver napped through all the excitement.

For lunch we headed to the farmstand for bread (from Crumb Brothers) and cheese from the creamery. Then we caught the bus back to Logan. And after a break at home we rallied for a visit to Summerfest for dinner and dessert (Forbidden Fruit caramel apples. Yum!). The perfect ending to a great Saturday.

Meet Cocoa

My children don't have security blankets, instead they have security bear rugs (weird, right?) Anyway, Millie received "Smoochie" as a baby gift and she loved it so much that we got . . .

"Snowflake" for Ivy, who she later re-named "Snow Snow"

And now Oliver has his very own "Cocoa".

Cocoa's a bit bigger than his predecessors but at least that way it's a very manly security bear rug.

Baby Blessing

We blessed Oliver in church the Sunday before General Conference. I specifically charged my camera battery for the occasion and then promptly forgot it the next day. So all my pictures are from my mom. Thanks mom! It was a nice day. Mark gave a nice blessing and we enjoyed seeing everyone. The worst part (other than the lack of camera) was that I had a bad headache for most of the day. Blah. Most of my family made it up Saturday night. One of my sisters told the girls she would come do their hair and paint their nails for church. My family spent the night at a motel and the next morning Ivy and Millie woke up very early asking for Aunt Ariel and Deanna ad nauseam. (They seriously asked every 10 minutes!) Once my family finally made it over to our place there wasn't enough time for hair styling but the girls did get their nails painted.

Oliver had a good day. Here he is fresh from his sponge bath, still shiny from the coconut oil I put on his face.

Here's a better look at his blessing outfit that I picked up on clearance at the BabyGap in Las Vegas back in January. It's a good thing we didn't wait until May to bless him or else I would have had to find something else for him to wear in a bigger size!

I wish I had more pictures of those who came and the food etc. but I don't, so that's all.