The Still Hot Days of Septemeber

Dave says: In September, it seems like fall should be almost here and yet the temperatures are still plenty hot. We spent a lot of late afternoons in our pool and Skye has been an excellent swimmer this year. One Saturday we went over to the beach pool at Val Vista Lakes.

A benefit of the heat was lots of very early morning bike rides. One of our favorites this summer when we could pull it off was out to Canyon Lake on the new smooth pavement that they just put down out there. I also saw a few rattlesnakes on early morning mountain bike rides. In early mornings and late evenings, we found that the kids enjoy going on wagon rides around the neighborhood now that Jade is able to sit up in the wagon. She is really well-behaved and will sit there for an entire ride playing with a toy or old food wrapper. Skye does a bit of riding on her bike, scooter, and pretend horse. Often, I am carrying this object on the way home though.

We also had some fun trips to Payson to escape the heat. One weekend we were up there with Christine's family and did some hiking and looking for crystals and geodes. She got to sit in a RZR which she calls "jeeps" and now she has been obsessed with pointing out jeeps everywhere.

At work, September was my busiest teaching time with three sections of the online MBA ethics course. However, I had great students and it turned out to be another good year.

8 Months and on the Move

Alisha says: Jade has grown up so much this last month. First of all after one particularly rough night where she was up 5 times in 5 hours we decided it was time to move her into her own room. The first week was a little rough as she still woke up multiple times wanting to be fed but we have since settled into a steady routine where she goes to bed at 7:00 PM and will usually sleep until 4:30 AM and get a snack and then she will go back to sleep until about 6:30 AM.

She is officially crawling and can go from a crawling to seated position and back. She even enjoys doing a little bit of standing. It is fun to watch her maneuver herself around to get different items that she wants. She is already getting into cupboards and the tv buttons.

Although she is a mommy's girl and wants me whenever I am around she will also sit and entertain herself a little bit. She also enjoys going on walks in the wagon and will just sit and look around and play with her toys. We love her so much and I love her smiles, giggles and growls.

Baby in a Bucket

Alisha says: I saw this idea on pinterest the other day and so when strawberries were on sale for .79 a package I decided to give it a try. Dave mostly just rolls his eyes at some of the things I do but I think that I got some adorable pictures of Jade.