Utah 2009: Day 4

We spent most of the day watching conference. But of course we had to sneak in a few photo ops. Ahem. I must admit, I kinda went photo crazy.


But who can blame me when you have a cutie like this!


I guess Jared and Krys are cute too :)


I love this photo of Jared and Cole. Those overalls are darling and Cole's expression is so dang cute.


I have been known to swap a few faces from different pics to make the perfect picture. But I am happy to say I didn't have to do it in this shot. I still can't believe that we got everyone looking at the camera in the first shot. Ava's even smiling.


During the break between Saturday's conference session, we decided to go on a walk. The weather was perfect.


Krysten keeps thinking that she's taller than me. I completely disagree. I'm taller. She just look taller because her hair is curly.


Awwww. Who knew Utah could be such a romantic place :)


Ava loved all of the sunflowers that were blooming.


We decided that we needed to get one for Nana.


Ava and Reid adore their Nana.


Reid especially loved it when Nana would growl at him. No joke. He still giggles anytime any of us make a growling noise. He's such a boy!


Reid would get the biggest smile on his face whenever Shelby came over to pick him up.



After the afternoon session, the boys were off to the priesthood session. The lucky ducks actually scored some tickets at the conference center. While they were gone it left all us girls (plus Reid and Cole) to do whatever we wished. Which of course was to take more pictures.

Here's my best shot of trying to get all three cousins lined up on the floor.


Ha! Now Cole knows how it feels to be Reid.


I wonder who Reid learned this from? Reid would want nothing to do with any given toy UNTIL it was given to Cole. Then he found it irresistible. Other things Reid found irresistible: Cole's ear, Cole's head, and Cole's hand. We actually found Reid sucking on Cole's hand a few times. I guess he must of seen Cole sucking on it and decided that looks good!


Here's Ava trying to entertain the masses.


I think Cole was having a good time with his cousins.


This little boy loves to be upside down. When he's sitting on our lap, we've got to make sure we have a good grip on him because he's been known to fling himself backwards so he'll be upside down.


By the end of the day Ava was trying to take pics herself. By the end of the weekend she figured out how to take pictures without her finger on the lens!


By the end of the photo shoot, this is how Ava retaliated.

Reid's method of retaliation.


Cole decided to just to go to sleep. I think my kiddos seriously wore that kid out.


We even wore out the energizer bunny, aka Ava. This is a first, but she actually fell asleep at the dinner table.

Utah 2009: Day 3

We spent most of the day at Josh's parents house, except for a quick trip up to the Park City Outlets. Later that night we were planning on taking the kids to Josh's mission reunion. But that was before Ava got carsick on the drive home from Park City. Poor little girl. By the time we got home we decided it would be best just to take it easy.

Here's Ava and Grandpa chillin' on the couch waiting for the BYU game to start.


Want to know a secret...


Reid secretly wants to become a jedi. Hold on, doesn't red mean Sith. Do I seriously know that little Star Wars tidbit? Ugh. Anyways, Reid was dazzled by the lightsaber and couldn't stop trying to suck on it.


Here are Reid and Ava playing before our guests arrived later that night.


My sister, her husband Jared and my nephew Cole made the drive down from ID to see us. YIPPEE! Cole and Reid are just over a week apart. Sadly I haven't gotten to see my nephew. Isn't that horrible? Reid is 4 inches taller than Cole. We couldn't wait to lay them side by side.

Utah 2009: Day 2

I've been wanting to cut Ava's hair for some time now. Her ends were starting to get a little stringy and I've been dying to see how she'd look with a bob. So after calling a few sisters in the ward, Shelby tracked down a place that would see us that morning. Yes!

Here's the before:


Here's the after:


I can't believe how much older she looks now. She definitely does not look like a baby anymore.


Anyone else experiencing a canned pumpkin shortage? I have been wanting to make this recipe for the past month. Everytime I've gone to the store to get a can of pumpkin, the shelves were empty. But that was not the case in Utah! I whipped up a batch of muffins that night. I totally recommend making these muffins. They are finger licking good!


Here is a pic of my favorite little guy. Reid turned 5 months at the end of Sept. I can't believe we'll be starting him on solids at the end of this month.

Utah 2009: Day 1

This past week we packed the fam up and flew out to Utah. Josh and I have been looking forward to this vacation for months. Doesn't a entire week to enjoy the crisp fall air, see the fall colors, and spending time with the fam sound wonderful? Oh wait, I forgot to add eat at Cafe Rio!

We weren't the only ones excited for our vacation. Ava has been telling anyone who'd listen that she'd be flying on an airplane to see Nana. Here she is stuffing her face with yummy snacks while looking at her princess sticker book.


Here's Reid on his very first flight.


The flight just happened to take off around the same time Reid usually takes a nap. The turbulence actually put Reid to sleep.

Love you always

While putting Ava down for her nap, this is the conversation that took place...

Me: Sweet dreams Ava bug.
Ava: I love Daddy. I love Reidy. I love you always Mommy.
Me: (choking back tears) I love you too!

Those few little words just made a hard day feel a whole lot better. Ava bug, you can skip your nap and mess up your room as much as you want!

Freebies

A few weeks ago Josh was helping a family in our ward move and came home with this gem.


This little girl has been busy driving to the grocery store, delivering the mail, and taking baby for a drive.


The same weekend one of our friends was cleaning out their garage and gave us this gem for Reid. Their oldest is 8 years old. So this toy has been around since my Freshman year of college. But I actually really like how big the shelf part of the toy is. It's actually big enough we can put stuff on it. and plus, it was FREE! As you can tell, Reid is a fan too!


Reid continues to use his rolling skills on a daily basis.


I've seen him roll from his stomach to his back a few times. But he hasn't made the connection to roll consecutively yet. Ava better enjoy it while she can because soon enough he'll be going after her toys.


Ava loves to hold her "small brother" (as she puts it). She was looking at our Bunting family picture that we took at Christmas and asked, "Where's Reidy? Is Daddy holding Reidy?" I don't think this girlie even remembers life without her little "Buddy" (another name Ava calls him).


This kid is a drooler. My pants, shirt, arm, fingers, the floor, his clothes, his socks, all his toys, pillows, and blankets are completely drenched.


Not only can he drool he can do this with his mouth. Add toes to the list of things he sucks on.


How can that possibly be fun? Ava and I tried it. Ava was shocked that there was something Reid could do that she couldn't.


This pic is a little blurry but I just had to post it. This is what Reid does every time he sees his sister.


I don't get it. This girl pokes him, takes his binky away, hugs him nonstop, steals all of his toys, and he still can't get enough. But I guess Ava is pretty sweet with him too. Like today he dropped his toy while playing in the above mentioned toy, and she ran over and picked it up and gave it back to Reidy. She always wants to make sure that he's happy.


I didn't realize just how much of a big helper Ava is with Reid until she took that 2.5 hour nap today. Entertaining Reid by myself for that period of time was exhausting. I couldn't wait for the little buggy to wake up!

Nap or no nap

Josh and I always thought we had dodged the bullet when it came to sleeping with Ava. That was all before she decided to go on a nap time strike. Every afternoon when nap time rolls around Ava protests saying, "Mom, I sleep last night!" Ava is quite the little negotiator.

Last week I went to check on Ava and found her like this.


It didn't surprise me that she was on the dresser. This girl can get onto anything. Notice the changing pad hanging off the side of the crib. It was strapped on vertically to stop Ava from climbing into the crib. Sidenote, she discovered that she could climb into the crib without getting on the dresser. Another sidenote, Reid will not be sharing a room with Ava until he is a little more sturdy!

Doesn't Ava look so peaceful in this picture? It didn't last long. After snapping the picture I decided it was not safe for my little princess to sleep up so high, so I gently and slowly moved her into her bed. And that's when the dragon was released from inside and she had a full blown tantrum for an ENTIRE hour. To the extent she screamed so hard she threw up. Ugh.


This is how I found her today. This child does have a bed! I guess she just doesn't realize how tired she really is and just conks out while playing.


Today Ava took a 2.5 hour nap. Yay right?! But that meant that instead of falling asleep around 8:30 pm, she fell asleep around 11 pm. So here's the real question. Is it even worth having her take a nap if she doesn't fall asleep until 11 pm? Don't get me wrong, she will definitely still be going into her room for quiet time. But naps just seem more of a hassle than they are worth.