Blueberries

For family night this week we went blueberry picking. I've been wanting to go for weeks now but couldn't get myself to go alone with two kids so we waited for a time when Max could go with us. (he was gone all last week rafting, which will be another blog post.) Good thing we did too, we were able to get a whole bunch more blueberries, not to mention we got to enjoy this handsome man's company.  

We heard about this farm from our friend Marissa, it is a couple properties away from where her parents live. The picked berries were less than a dollar a pound! And we were free to fill up on as many as we wanted during the picking process. 

This was the perfect family night for Charlie. He filled up on healthy berries, contributed his own picking skills, he got to be outside, and the terrain was too rough and prickly for him to run away .Perfect! 

There was only one other couple in the fields and Charlie decided that he was going to be supper chatty and help them pick berries. I was kind of surprised, he's usually not much of a social bug but he just wouldn't stop talking. They loved it. 

I've been eating berries all day and my mouth still waters looking at this picture.

Charlie's bucket! He found some blackberry bushes too and he has the scrapes on his legs to prove it!

Taking a rest! 

I love blueberries. I may have mentioned the following story on my blog before but I'm going to tell it anyway. My absolute favorite summer childhood memory was swimming at my grandma's house. She had an above-ground pool that was surrounded by lush blueberry plants. I spent nearly everyday of summer swimming and eating blueberries. Then I would go inside and eat homemade chocolate chip cookies. It was the good life I tell ya! 

We came home with about 12 pounds of blueberries and we sure are enjoying them. An evening well spent!

Charlie Boy

Charlie hasn't had his own update blog post in awhile. I think he needs one. So this is his 2 year 8  month update.

Charlie is about 33 pounds.  I'm not sure how tall he is.
He is just about as sturdy as a 2 year old little boy can be. He is constantly running and jumping and his solid thighs are proof of that.

Charlie has no fears and unlimited excitement for life.  Sometimes this leads him to leave the house without my permission. He doesn't usually get far before he's caught and disciplined but oh man...he's a free spirit.

We have started doing timeouts with Charlie as needed and it has proven to be much more effective than I expected. He will stay on the bottom stair and by the end of two minutes he has usually calmed and is ready to go on to the next thing.

His eating has become more picky recently. But then again, sometimes he surprises us and suddenly eats something that he had been refusing.

If being outside is an option Charlie will run with it. (literally) This kid loves being outside and I'm so grateful we are able to live in a place that accommodates that.

He has also decided that he really likes books and now that I can understand his speaking it is fun to hear him tell the story.

Charlie definitely took his time starting to speak but recently it seems he has been putting everything together. He is developing coherent thoughts and being able to verbally communicate them. I love this, partially because hearing a toddler speak is pretty adorable but mostly because I now have a better glimpse into what Charlie thinks and understands.

So here are some funny things that Charlie has said that bring joy to us.

Yesterday I was in the garage looking for some nails to hang some pictures. Charlie was standing in the doorway watching me. I told him that I was looking for nails for our pictures. He then looked at his hands and said "I found nails on Charlie"

A couple weeks ago Charlie was searching through the Home Depot bag and looking at supplies that Max had brought home. He found a door knob still in its package and brought it to us and said it's a new door bob, He then got to help Max install it on his bedroom door and he seems pretty proud of his new door bob.

3 Months

Our little Miles Spencer is now 3 months old. I really feel that time is going so much faster this time around. Charlie moved out of our bedroom at 3 months. Miles probably could but he sleeps pretty deeply so we've barely noticed he's there. Over the next couple of weeks I'm sure we will move him out and enjoy the space in our room. 

Miles keeps growing and he is still drinking mostly breast milk. I will probably mention this every month because of what a miracle it is. I still work hard to make this happen and I'm proud. It's fascinating to seem him grow soley from something I'm producing for him. I know that's how it was when he was in the womb but it just wasn't as visual to me. 

Miles' Smiles have really been coming out this month. I love his dimples so much. We have been able to get him to laugh pretty hard on several occasions which brings me so much joy.

Along with the extra smiles, there seems to be more tears going around. Miles is not a fan of car rides or his car seat. We feel grateful if we can get through a quick trip without him crying in the car. I hope this stage doesn't last long. It has discouraged me from going on more outings.  He's usually so pleasant. 

He has mostly grown out of Newborn clothes and is wearing 3 month clothes. His sleeping schedule is still about the same where he will sleep for 8 hours then wake to eat and sleep some more. He has been doing much more baby talk and cooing but he will only do it if he has somebody' eye contact. I guess he likes to hold deep, focused, conversations.  I'm not sure what else to say, we love him and here are some photos from his 3 month day!

Later in the day, Miles got to go swimming for the first time at the pool at Max's parent's apartment. We met Lisa, August, and Justin there.

Miles seemed to tolerate it. The water was pretty warm. Charlie is still pretty clingy in the pool.

And just to end this post, I want to point out that Charlie still loves his baby brother. I know his love may not be as prevalent in the future so I'm really trying to appreciate it while it lasts. He will still mostly leave him alone and then he occasionally wants to hold and kiss him. These times are usually on his own terms and unprompted by us. We love seeing the protective big brother come out of Charlie. We feel so blessed to have these two beautiful boys.

The fourth!

We filled our Independence day with food, family, and friends. We started our morning with a good early workout. Then, after showers, Charlie and I went to get doughnuts and picked up some pizza for lunch. During this time Max went around cleaning the whole house with his feet. He recently has had a bulging disc which has caused a lot of pain in his back but he does not know how to rest. The extra funny thing is that later, we caught Charlie cleaning up some things with his feet. I love those boys of mine. Anyway, when we got back, we worked on cleaning some more. We then cooked the pizzas in time for some friends from BYU to stop by. We hadn't seen them in years. So it was exciting to catch up and meet their little boy Henry. Just before they left on their way, the three sister missionaries came over so they could celebrate part of Independence day with us. Our friends, The Jensens, also came over so we all left together to go to my grandma's house for the parade, a BBQ, and the firework show at the High School.  

We like bringing people with us to my grandma's house, there is always plenty of food to go around and it's fun to celebrate with friends at the high school. 

Funny Side Story...When we walked in we immediately found out that my cousin Kim had previously dated Spencer Jensen. Haha, and there they were with their respective families 10 years later. 

Shortly after arriving we went out to the parade. It is just a local neighborhood parade that goes down my Grandma's street but it is still pretty impressive. 

Lexi waiting for the parade

Kim and Chloe

'

Charlie...patiently waiting in the heat!

Seeing as we don't live on a street, I don't think Charlie will ever learn to not run in the street. 

The parade started with three police motorcycles circling the street. 

There were even horses. 

and fire trucks!

And this thing!

After the parade we prepared our shish kabobs. and Max fired up the BBQ. there is always an excessive amount of food at these gatherings. 

We stayed inside most of the time because of the AC. It made for not as great photos.

Miles and Charlotte

These kids were all about pretending they were puppies. 

Daddies and their babies. 

Sweet Cora

Looks like Cora and Aaron are becoming great friends. 

Little Charlotte

A little after 8pm we headed over to the high school with the Jensens and the Elders. (The sister missionaries left and the elders came.)  

Charlie was pretty excited about riding the police motorcycle, then he pushed a button and a loud alarm went off and startled him. 

So then he got to "drive" the ATV

We then found our spot to set up camp on the football field.  Max took Cora and Charlie to go climb on the life-flight helicopter. 

We passed the time by dancing. They were playing loud music over the stadium.

I'm pretty sure YMCA as playing...I'm guessing they were on the "C"

I was impressed with how much Max could dance with Charlie with such a sore back.

The Jensens were dancing too!

Cora and her Cheeto fingers.

The crowds.

We were also able to meet up with our friends, The Thornton family. 

This was Miles' happy place...for awhile. 

Just before the fireworks were about to start. Miles started getting fussy and even though I was giving him a bottle, he started getting mad that he was in the Moby wrap.

As the fireworks started Miles was still screaming. Once Max held him close with Charlie he was completely calm watching the fireworks. I'm glad my boys aren't afraid of the fireworks. 

And then, I was super excited to try out my new tripod that Max found at a garage sale for me. I really love practicing with my camera in new environments so it was fun to play with long shutter speeds and get the full effect of the explosions.   

After the show, which seemed pretty short, we cleaned up our space and walked back to my grandma's house. I was surprised at how warm it was still. We didn't even need our sweat shirts like last year. 

Anyway, we had a fun and we were so glad the our friends and the missionaries didn't mind hanging out with us and my crazy relatives. My boys had a great time and it is always a great reminder of what a wonderful place we live in.