It's a parade, hooray!

Spanish Fork Parade 7/24/2010

Yesterday I took the kids down to Spanish Fork bright and early to be part of the float for FSA. FSA or Families Supporting Adoption is an organization of adoptive parents, birth mothers, and adoptees that, well, support adoption. They are a sister group to LDSFS, and all of our couples are members. So basically, it is a large group of mostly our clients. They provide our adoption training for our couples, and also plan different community events to raise adoption awareness. One is the birth mother's day celebration every year, and then participating in various parades.

When I told Carly that we were going to be in a parade, she was very excited. We spent some time practicing our waving; even Wes practiced, which was great because he was an awesome waver on the float. But Carly can't say 'parade.' Either that or she continually misunderstands me. Instead, we were going to be in a "hooray!" All morning long, "Daddy, I'm going to be in a hooray!" The parade was fun, it was great seeing some of my clients outside of dark skirts and nylons, and the kids had a good time.

One year older, and wiser too

Okay, maybe not wiser. But I did have a birthday last week.

I am now the big 2-6. For some reason, 26 doesn't feel old, just normal. Like I was already 26. I think 27 will feel old. Just like how 25 felt 'old,' and 23 before that. But 26 feels insignificant.

Without further ado, my birthday:

I got the camera out and tried to get a self portrait. I figured that I am usually behind the camera, but should at least have a picture proving I'm in this family too on my birthday. Wes was more interested in the camera strap.

Then we left to go to dinner. Carly refused to get in the car and instead got in the tree, providing an impromptu photo op.

Then we went to my favorite restaurant, Tepanyaki. The show is fun and all that, but I love the food. Soooo good. I got my usual, an unagi roll (eel) for my sushi, and then the filet minon and shrimp with fried rice from the hibachi grill. Yum Yum!

Carly loves the fried noodles and the salad. Wes is a fan of the rice. They both hated the flames when the chef set the grill top on fire. Wes even cried. Too bad I didn't think to get a picture of his reaction. Too cute.

We then headed home for cake. I got two cakes this year. Fantastic!

If you ever buy these candles, let me know if you get them all lit in time. I can't imagine there is a way to light them all before the first ones burn out and wax all over hte cake.

Here's to being 26!

More cabin trip

Other things we did while in CA:

- We watched Kalen for a day and practiced being a family of 5. I discovered that 3 kids is more than 2. Amazing revelation, huh? We took the kids on a long walk to a park and let them play on the playground and the swings.

- We visited Marshall's family cabin by Tahoe. It is actually at Echo lake. We, okay I was so excited to go fishing! I drug Marshall and Kier out of bed at a disgusting hour the first morning and we went to the lake. 3 hours later we returned home, having just caught trees and rocks, and having nothing but a bunch of broken line to show. Marshall told me that for the last 6 years when I have wistfully dreamed of fishing, he has cringed and pictured exactly our experience- sunburns, boredom, and no fish. Although my big fishing vacation yielded NO fish, I still have fond feelings for fishing. I hear you need to be in a boat to actually catch anything, so we'll try that next time. And I think (hope) that actually reeling one in makes up for the boring hours.

We stayed at the cabin for 3 days. Those 3 days were full of great food, boardgames, Uno, and mega s'mores. It was awesome! This was Wes' first trip to the cabin, and the first time Carly has been since she was just weeks old. The kids had a great time! We were there over the 4th and got to see 6 or 7 fireworks shows on the shoreline of Tahoe from the cabin. By the 3rd day, the kids were filthy, so we bathed them in a makeshift bathtub.

- Back in Rocklin, we took the kids to the splashpark. My kids hated it. Kalen loved it.

- We also picnicked at the Sacramento temple. This temple has beautiful grounds. There is a large wooded park area full of lush grass, shade, and picnic benches. Carly caught a frog, and Kalen and Wes got in a brawl over a binky. Wes ended up in the mud.

It was a lovely trip!

First birthday party

We did Wes' first birthday party out in California at Marsh's parents' house. Kier and Londa basically did all the decorating. They are so talented!

Kiernan had a #1 cake mold, so we made a cake in that shape, and we did a smaller smash cake for Wes.

We had just some of Marsh's family over for dinner and cake. It was really low key and fun.

Wes enjoyed the cake....

...but not as much as Marshall!

12 months

Wes turned 1 year old on the 8th! What a year!

One minute old

One week old

One month old

Two months old

Three months old

Four months old

Five months old

Six months old

Seven months old

Eight months old

Nine months old

Ten months old

Eleven months old

Twelve months old

At his 12 month appointment with the pediatrician, his stats were as follows:

Weight: 20lbs 9ozs - 17th percentile
Height: 30.0 inches - 57th percentile
Head circumference: 18.1 inches - 38th percentile
Diapers: size 4
Clothes: 9-12 months

- Wes now has 4 teeth, the two on the bottom and 2 new ones on top.

- He now walks completely proficiently. He hardly crawls at all now. He even tries to run from time to time. I love his walk; he kicks his legs straight and looks so jaunty.

- Wes still has the milk allergy. Ice cream at his birthday party confirmed it. Poor kid.

- Wes is now on soy milk. One day, the same day I kicked Carly out of pull-ups actually, I just stopped with the formula. I expected a rough transition, but it's like he never noticed a difference. 1 can of formula, the generic brand, was 23 dollars. His soy milk is 6 dollars for a gallon, which is more than a can of formula makes. Thank goodness.

- Wes gives the best hugs ever from a baby. Full arms around the neck. Nice firm hugs. I love them so much!

- Wes also gives very enthusiastic open mouthed kisses. What a sweetheart! Though, watch out! He might bite your lip mid kiss if you aren't quick!

- Wes mimics any noise or face we make. If we blow a raspberry, he does. If we bark like a dog, he does. If we make a siren noise, he does. It's so fun.

- Wes loves peek-a-boo. He just uses his hands to "hide" and just places them on top of his head- not actually covering his face or eyes. But it never gets old and he loves to wait and giggle, prolonging our anticipation while we question "Where's Wes? I can't see him! Where's the baby?" until he throws his hands in the air and yells "BOO!"

- Wes can say a few words. Still with the 'mama' and 'dada' and 'hi.' A new one lately is "dance!" He'll start bobbing up and down chanting "dan dan dan" and we all know it's time to boogie.

- Wes has started pointing, and now he walks around most of the time with his index finger outstretched, ready to indicate something new, something funny, or something he wants.

- We all decided that Wes is very much a boy. Even as a baby. He has a lower little voice than Carly did. He's a boy of fewer words. He has an innate desire to throw and growl. And his little torso is already shaped like a V. He's got the broad shoulders and the narrow hips, and no neck. When we were in California, he spent the week in basically just a swim suit, and he just walked around like a little bulldog. He's all boy.

We sure love this kid!