Off to the beach!

We headed off to the lake with some ladies from the ward and some of their relatives on Wednesday.  We had 6 moms and I think 22 kids or so as well.  It was crazy, unfortunately I wasn't able to get a picture of all of them together.  Let me just say my kids are fantastic.  Carson got a little fussy as it got later and later in the day but my kids stayed close and didn't go wandering off.  It was really nice to be able to talk some.  We headed down to the beach about 10:30 and it was chilly in the shade.  There weren't very many people though.  The sand had been freshly combed and it was nice and loose so they could actually dig and play with the sand.  That's what they spent the majority of the trip doing.

 Dillon was having a good time running out of the water making the biggest splash he could.

 One bucket of water?  No, give me TWO!

 Carson is discovering the wonders of standing and playing, and walking!  Last Friday we were at Grandma and Papa H's, they were watching Aunt Anna and Uncle Scott's kids which means Brett (who is 6 weeks older than Carson) was there.  Well guess what, Brett is toddling around everywhere.  This interaction made Carson suddenly interested in walking.  He has been going ever since.  So yesterday (at the lake) was his first time walking on lumpy, bumpy sand.  Today he was walking all over the grass and in shoes!  He has decided that he likes walking better than crawling and will even get up to walk again if he falls or sits down.  He gets better everyday.  In the picture about he is throwing sand into that bucket, he would squat down, get a handful then stand back up and toss it in.

 The first thing Kayda did there was start digging a canal.  By the end of the trip the big boys (including Dillon) had turned it into a whole water way.  They would put the spouted buckets at the top and keep them full so the water was constantly running.  It was pretty clever.

 Kayda and Olivia.  They're in the same Sunday School class and I've decided that Olivia's mom and I are good friends so it works out great.  Unfortunately they won't go to the same elementary school.

 Dillon did this several times.  He thought it was very entertaining.  The only problem was that then he decided it was fun to dump on OTHER people too so we had to have a little discussion about that.

 Dillon and the big boys.

 Perfect example of what they were using our spouted buckets.  Carson loved playing in the puddles Kayda kept creating.

 Carson and Buster are right about 2 months apart and were playing great together.  This is Olivia's little brother so again... it works out perfect.  They kept trying to give eachother baby kisses.  SUPER cute.

 Then they kept playing together.

 ...and kept playing with eachother.  Pretty good for two kids right around a year old.

 This is Kayda and Olivia's cousin.  Nothing like matching swimsuits to instantly form a bond.  They played together pretty much the whole time once she got there.

 Whenever Carson wanted to get to the water he would do the bum scoot.  He would stretch out his legs and pull himself forward on his bottom until he got close enough to the water to kick it.

Two little mermaids...

It was a great time at the lake and I'm totally excited to do something like that with all the ladies again.  Tomorrow we're headed to the splash park.  Hopefully we'll have some pictures of that as well!

Catch Up!

This last month has been a blur, now it's time to catch up a little bit.  Not much is going on with Kayda and Dillon, they're done with preschool so it's been speech and playdates.  I really need to start bringing my camera for those!  But Carson, that little man is growing up so fast, I'm home with him everyday and yet I still feel like I'm missing it!  Not to long ago he took his first steps, his interest in that seems to come and go, he can climb onto couches, into chairs (one of his favorite places to sit are in Kayda and Dillon's kid sized chairs), he is eating anything he can get his hands on, walking around pushing anything he can (step stools, chairs, walkers etc), he LOVES to clap right now and will start most anytime you say "yay!".

 One of the places he enjoys climbing...

 Papa G was getting some good snuggle time.

 Kayda and Dillon decided the laundry basket was a great place to hang out.

 AHHHH SO CUTE I CAN HARDLY STAND IT!

 Look at those big blue eyes!

 Carson got a new toy, Thanks Grandma and Papa G!  So of course we had to walk around the loop to try it out!  Kayda and Dillon have really enjoyed riding their bikes around the loop.  Dillon needs help up the hills but Kayda managed to go ALL the way around without help!  That includes the BIG hill!

 This little dude LOVES stairs, well any climbing really.  I love the way he keeps stopping to make sure you're watching!

 This is one of the faces he likes to make he does this and kind of hisses in and out.  It sounds weird but it's actually kind of cute!

 He has started scooching to the edge of this step and then standing up, when he's in the mood he'll even proceed to take steps to someone!

Getting ready to launch!  Course then I had to get my hands free to catch him!

Carson's WALKING!

Last Thursday, exactly 1 week before he turned 10 months old, Carson took his first steps.  He managed to get up to 6 controlled steps at a time sometimes stopping and balancing for a few seconds before continuing.  He was SO proud of himself and loved being the center of attention with everyone clapping and cheering for him. 

He still has his moods when he is willing to try walking some more but he likes to crawl and will often times just sit down the second you let him go.  He doesn't fall down, he sits down in a very controlled way.  He is such an active, curious little boy that once he starts walking we're REALLY in trouble.  He already gets everywhere just with crawling and pulling himself up to standing!  He is growing up SO fast!  SLOW DOWN BABY!!!

Sibling Bonding

Having three kids is a wonderful, busy and often exhausting experience.  I get so much love from these three babies of mine.  It seems like Kayda and Dillon are getting so mature now. 

Kayda is totally ready for kindergarten.  I'm so exciting for going in to work in her class and walking her to the school bus and back home at the end of the day.  She is back into her dress kick again, maybe I need to take pictures of her in her many, many dresses.  She doesn't want to wear anything else...ever.  I'm not sure how I ended up with a girl that loves to dress up so much but she looks so goregous I can't help but encourage her.  She is working on reading, she picks it up very quickly and can count to 100, we're working on adding and subtracting now.

Dillon is getting so smart!  Grandma G and I went in to work in the preschool for a center day where each person runs a station.  I was running a station where the kids were given a worksheet, they were supposed to read the number and color that many of a certain picture.  For instance, there might be the number three with four cows next to it.  They had to leave on of those cows blank.  Dillon was one of two "bumblees" (kids who turned 4 this school year) that could do this without help.  He's writing his letters and is such a good student.  I am so glad that both of my children follow directions and focus when a task is presented to them.  We are constantly being told how wonderful they are.  (We have parent conferences Tuesday for Kayda, SO excited!) 

Carson is on fast forward, he's as big as Kayda and Dillon were at a year,keep in mind he's 7 months old.  He's doing his little army crawl, cruising the couches, getting himself from stomach to sitting, pulling himself up to standing on just about everything, crawling up a step from the family room to the kitchen at Grandma and Papa G's, and he mimicks how you play with things (we were playing a drum and he proceeded to play the drum right after us).  He is back to loving baby food, though he is much more interested in our food.  He loves to go upside down an d "fly", he smiles at pretty much everyone, he is fascinated by animals and his big brother and sister. 

 Kayda and Dillon can get Carson to smile even if he's mid cry. He wants to be playing with them all the time. A favorite play place of theirs is Uncle Justin's couch. They love all the pillows. Don't worry Uncle Justin, we're being careful with it.

 Here's Carson sleeping on me, he is SO cute!

 Carson wants to play trains too!

 But that doesn't mean big brother and sister always want him to...

 Well hello beautiful blue eyes!

He wants to stand up ALL the time!

They get big so fast!

Kayda has been a little bit interested in her potty over the last week or so. She'll have me take off her diaper and let her sit on the potty. The other day she had me do that and she kept sitting there so I shut the door and went to make Dillon a bottle. Well... apparently she actually needed to go potty because she got off the potty and peed all over the floor... I guess she kind of got the idea after that. Today at Grandma G's, Kayda told her "pa pa" for potty so Grandma brought her in and took off her diaper. Kadya sat on her potty and Grandma waited a while. She asked Kayda if she was done. Kayda said "no" so Grandma left to take care of Dillon. Grandma came back a few times to ask her if she was done and each time she said "no". Eventually Grandma came back and Kayda was standing up pulling her pants up. She had peed IN THE POTTY!!! She used toilet paper and everything. Hurray for the fact that she is such a quick learner. It didn't end up on the floor again!!! Hopefully she'll keep doing it!

Dillon's latest, though not as huge as Kayda's, is still exciting! He is starting to stand up without holding on to things more and more. He's even starting to try to take steps to get where he wants to go. He is definitely interested in walking! It's so exciting but at the same time I wish I had a pause button! Both babies are in such a fun phase that I'm not ready for them to move on. I guess that's something all moms and dads have to go through.

Anyways, on to the pictures! A few days ago Kayda decided that Dillon needed to go where she wanted him to. Well, he's pretty independent now, just like she is, and wanted to go play with the little kitchen. The entire way there Kayda was holding onto his onesie trying to drag him another direction saying "no". It was hilarious. I didn't get pictures until they were already at the kitchen but even then she was trying to get him to go somewhere else!

Last thing I promise! Yesterday morning Kayda was sitting on the couch watching her morning cartoons (this is the routine while Daddy gets ready for work). She wanted to hold Dillon so he was sitting in her lap for a little while. When Daddy HAD to go take a shower he moved Dillon next to Kayda and Kayda decided to share her blankie with Dillon. She spread it out over both of their legs and they sat like that, all cozied up together watching TV! They are such loving siblings!

A whole new "playground"

Dillon has decided that Kayda's bouncing zebra is great fun to play with. The only problem is that he'll stand up next to it and can't quite figure out how to get back down to crawl to the next thing he's interested in. He's getting more and more adventurous.

Today he decided that the kitchen chairs were the perfect thing to stand with and he was just hanging out under the table. Of course big sis decided that she should be under there too! After a couple of minutes Kayda decided that her chair belonged under the kitchen table, she kind of took up all the space and left Dillon feeling a little crowded and crabby.
Kayda gave me an excellent shot of her fake smile today. This picture just cracks me up!

She has such a strong personality! She has become VERY attached to her baby doll. A few days ago we went by Kentridge to visit and she showed everyone how baby can wave and "crawl" (She pretty much puts it on its stomach and pushes it). Today I finally got a picture of it!