More videos

Here is a sweet video of me going into Natalie's room in the morning to show how happy she is when she wakes up. I love her huge smile, how she's chewing on her blanket, and how her little feet are kicking together like crazy. 

A few days before Mother's Day Natalie gave me a wonderful present, she said, "Mama." In this video I am trying to catch that wonderful sound on video, but of coarse when the record button is on she doesn't want to say it. But I like this video anyway, because she is so excited. It's like she is saying, "Good job Mom... you say that really well."

Here is a video of Jordan and Natalie having some sibling hang out time. This was a first for Jordan but I'm sure it won't be the last. Super cute! Watching these two enjoy being around each other is so fun. 

We Found Water

On Saturday we decided it would be fun to find some water. It took some online looking, but we found some. We went to Silverbell Lake in Marana. It is a cute little man made lake that is stocked with fish. Here is Jordan with his stick aka fishing poll. He loves going fishing. 

  I love this face Natalie makes. This is usually how she looks when she is saying Mama. So cute!

We hung out under a huge deciduous tree. It must have been 40 years old or so. I love huge trees so this was wonderful to be by. It also kept us cool with the shade it provided. You wouldn't believe how long it has been since we heard the rustle of leaves from blowing wind. Ah, the sounds that bring back familiarity. 

Here is Natalie hanging out by the water with her Dad. What a cute pair.

Mommy and Jordan throwing sticks in the water. It is fun how much Jordan loves anything to do with water. 

Here's Mommy getting ready to throw Jordan in the lake... just kidding. 

We had some friendly ducks drop by for lunch. Jordan was happy to share his pretzels with them. 

We had a wonderful time playing by the water and enjoying being together as a family. 

Natalie 7 months

Natalie is 7 months old. It is always amazing to me how when a single month goes by she has already changed so much. She sits up on her own with ease now. She loves to grab anything within reach and she is much faster at grabbing then she looks.

Natalie gave me a wonderful Mother's Day gift. Just a few days before Mother's Day she said, "Mama." It melted my heart. It's so cute when she says it because she tucks her lips in, which makes her checks stick out even more. Soooo adorable! 

She is, as ever, our happy little lady. She goes to bed at about 8:00 p.m. and wakes up around 5:30 am.., then she'll go back down till 8:00 a.m. She has about three naps a day, each about an hour long. She goes down great in her crib. I just rock her for a few minutes with her blanket, give her a kiss, and lay her down. She knows the routine now and falls asleep after a few minutes. She's such a good baby!

Natalie is also beginning to give kisses. It's funny because we'll give her a kiss and she'll return us with an open mouthed kiss. It's slobbery but oh so cute. 

Here big bro Jordan loves to be around her. On this day he heard her making some noise and knew that since she was done with her nap, she probably wanted some company. What a silly. Natalie thought it was great fun. 

Here we are before going for a walk to the park. Natalie thought the front pack was awesome!

Natalie is very interested in everything that is going on around her. In this picture she heard Jordan and Daddy playing in the other room and wanted to see. She is so happy when she sees her family. She lights up and squeals... it makes us all feel so loved. 

Our little girl is also eating all sorts of purees... she eats everything from sweet potatoes to pears. Her favorite flavor is carrots, which is interesting because that was Jordan's favorite too. She has even had prunes out of necessity, not because of her delight in them. We love having her as a part of our family. She is our sweet little lady. 

p.s. She's got her Daddy wrapped around her little finger. It's adorable.

Father Son Campout

Here is Jordan at his first campout in the desert! We had a father's and sons campout with the ward to a rather unique place called Picacho Peak. You can see from the picture that Jordan found the grill lighter and a donut.

For some reason Jordan was just plain shy at the campout. You can see he still had his lighter but was not interested in smiling for the camera.

Another picture of Jordan, his lighter, and his donut. It is the little things that make life special!

We went on a little hike with his friends, Cooper, Kyai, and Cirdan, but Jordan was being a grumpy boy.

Picture of Jordan around the campfire with his precious lighter.

Jordan and his daddy having a great time in the desert on a fun camping trip!

Here is some commentary on my thoughts of this camping trip. Hill read through this post and said it was not good enough. So here is try #2. This one has much more feeling to it.........here 'goes...

I really enjoyed going on this camping trip with Jordan. It was so much fun to see him play with his flashlight, then later his lighter and see him explore this strange world of the desert. He enjoyed pretending to hit the cactus with his sword (lighter), and when I was carrying him he was very protective of me so that I would stay away from all the cactus. He would say, "Daddy watch out for that cactus!"

It was fun to see him interact with his friends around the campfire, roasting and eating marshmallows (this really means getting it all over his face and hands). He had so much fun that he did not want to go to sleep when it was time. Then, he was up at the crack of dawn (just before 5 AM) and ready for more fun. I on the other hand, had not had my beauty rest.

Jordan had a lot of fun on this trip and I hope that he will remember the good times the next time we go camping. 

Good job Preston :) -Hillary