Tooele County Fair

Tom and I love going to fairs! It's been a tradition for the last 3 summers now. We decided to go to the Tooele county fair this last Friday even though we had heard not great reviews. Well, everyone was right, it really was pretty lame. But it was one of those things that could be so great if more people were to go and make it great! Like a stake dance, ya know? Anyway, Ian really enjoyed the sheep and that was cute. We were glad we upheld tradition even if it wasn't as fun as some of the other fairs. We plan on going to the state fair this summer to make up for it :)

Yes, we used hand sanitizer before, during, and after. I'm all for gettin' down and dirty but that was a new level of gross.

The better part of the Tooele County Fair was the demolition derby! Tom's parents watched Ian while we went with Kenna and Ky. It was my first time to a demo derby and there were lots of really interesting people there haha. The best of Tooele county! ;) All jokes aside we had a really good time and I can totally see how people get into demo derbies! For the rest of the night we would say "DERBY!" and pretend to run into each other or imagine running into other cars. After the derby we grabbed a small cake with 4 flavors and a gallon of chocolate milk and ate it at the tables outside Costa Vida. It was a really fun night!

To Market to market

Tom and I started making pallet signs last summer as a way to do some fun cheap gifts for Christmas. Fast forward and we're sort of starting a business with it! We went to sell at the Farmer's Market this last weekend and had a lot of fun for our first time and had some great success!

This was our booth! It will look different from now on (we have our own canopy, more decor, etc.) but I was really happy with what we were able to pull together for this first time.

Ian was ornery for the first while but fell asleep on my shoulder for a bit and that seemed to help him - getting a nap does that for me too, bud! Tom did homework and I watched over Ian in between visitors. Ian was so cute jabbering away!

He looks like a boobah here! He chews on everything and was smiling/chewing/standing in this picture, so I had to snap it! He just likes seeing himself on the screen ;)

He likes to use the pieces we use to stand up the pallets to make drums! Good thing these pallets are rustic, right? ;)

We're excited to go back nearly every week through October, so if you're nearby come check us out at the Benson Gristmill in Stansbury, UT every Saturday from 9-1!

Little Things from July

This is a DUMP of all the little things I took pictures of but didn't post about. Or maybe I did, it's possible.

Ian loves reading and/or chewing books

Shopping with Grandma Andersen at H&M

The pallet sign we made for Tim and Lauren, specifically for Lauren's bridal shower.

A mega blowout when he was sick and teething :( Seriously this was the worst one of his life and I had to quickly take the picture to send to Tom so he would believe me that it was up to his armpits on both sides. EW. Poop truly defies the laws of physics.

Playing with leftover balloons from cousin Kiah's birthday party

At Lauren's bridal shower! I can't wait till she's OFFICIALLY part of the family! I love this girl.

Work-in-progress picture of the t-shirt quilt I was making for Tom as an anniversary gift. At this point I sent it to my Mom and she quilted it and sent it back for me to bind. Tom loves it!

We bought Ian a front-facing car seat. I know, I know, "isn't that a little early?" Probably, but he seemed ready to me and he loves it so much more. We're not in the car all that often so it's not really a big deal to me. This is probably the only place I would post it because I don't think many people read my blog and I hope that nobody would put mean comments - prove me right!

For a while Ian was getting up at 6:30 every morning so on one weekend morning I stayed up with him while Tom slept. He had fun slapping me with straws while I tried to take happy pictures.

Sitting outside in a big boy camping chair during FHE. He just kills me!

Kenna taking Ian to do some laundry ;)

Taking turns with Daddy with the weights!

I babysat a little boy in our ward named Enoch and Ian loved having a friend around! They took toys from each other and didn't get mad so it was great!

Ian learned to climb stairs!

Tom and I went on a date up to the foothills for our annual 'decorate a pillow case for each other' date. We rode the 4 wheeler up there and it was a gorgeous evening!

Every time I go to get Ian out of his pack n play from his naps, he's standing up waiting to play peekaboo!

First picture on my new phone! We switched to T-Mobile and got a screamin deal on the new iphones!

King of the living room

Suckin' on oranges

Working out with Daddy!

Tom and I working late on pallet signs one night in prep for the Farmer's market.

Grandma Cook has some "sit n' spin" toys that Ian has recently taken interest in and it's so funny to watch him as I spin him around!

Chic-Fil-A Day!

Last week (Tuesday?) Tom came home from work and said "Guess what today is?" I couldn't think of anything and didn't even try to guess as I am so out of the loop (we never watch TV and I'm usually home all day so I don't get much radio...). He told me it was Cow Appreciation Day and if we dressed up we could get free Chic-Fil-A! I don't think a better sentence was spoken all week! We looked up the details to make sure we would do it right. Then at the end of the day we headed to West Valley. I cut out the cow spots, made "EAT MOR CHIKIN" signs and cow ears for Tom and I on the way, we taped them on when we got there, waltzed in and got $15 worth of the greatest food on the planet. It was a really really good day.

Ian is normally really smiley, especially for pictures! But the sweet lady who took our picture was trying to get him to look at her and smile and since she was a stranger to him, it totally freaked him out. So, our happy little calf. Still cute!

He was spastic at he restaurant, I think he was feeding off the excitement and happiness of the place! He loved watching the kids on the playground and playing with a ziploc bag I had in my purse.

The kid just loves himself! Whenever we turn the camera on him he smiles and says "ooooo!" or "mmmmm!" He is hilarious!

Thanks, Chic-Fil-A, for a free meal, and for giving me an excuse to put on my cowboy boots!

Ian is 8 months!

So it's been a while since I did an Ian update and he has doubled in age since the last one! So much has changed about our little sunshine boy.

Ian is crawling everywhere, and fast! He is so fun to crawl around with and chase. He goes EVERYWHERE and has no sense of danger yet so we have to watch him pretty good if he gets near the stairs.

Ian loves being surprised/scared! It's hilarious and I love scaring him. 

He now has two bottom and 4 top teeth! The top ones aren't quite all the way out but they're all through so the worst is over. At least for now. Teething is the WORST. Ian is not a good teether - he gets a fever and is cranky and won't eat, drink, or sleep very good. Good thing it won't last forever!

Ian babbles a lot! He has started babbling "da da" and even though he has no idea what it means yet, we are really pushing for him to say it more. I realized that he's getting old enough that soon he will understand better and so I am trying to be more intentional with how I talk to him, repeating phrases, etc.

Ian loves being outside! He loves the grass, loves the animals, and generally being in the sunshine.

He still LOVES the water so much. Bath time is always a hit and now that it's hot we have taken him swimming a few times which he loves so much! Being a swimmer and spending so much time in a pool growing up myself, I am so happy he loves the water. Tom and I both hope he grows up to love swimming so we can do triathlons as a family!

I just love this picture! We went shopping with my mom and Ian had a super bad blow out. I didn't have a onesie for him but he had a swim suit and shirt, so that's what he wore, hence his belly pokin out! We were at H&M trying on hats and he just looked so darn cute!

Ian is such a happy boy. He is very easy going for the most part and doesn't fuss unless there's something wrong, and then stops when it's fixed! 

Ian loves playing in the bathroom - chewing on the shower curtain (a no-no!), chewing on the straightener cord (another no-no), trying to chew on the toiled (the biggest no-no), and other naughty things. 

Ian is such a joy to raise. I'm so grateful that he is our first. As he gets older I continue to learn a lot about him and about myself! I would never say that being a mom is easy, but Ian is a huge blessing and I feel like I got extremely lucky with him. He's growing so fast! I love this boy more than words!

Independence Day

I figured out that my phone pictures are uploaded to Dropbox and I can access them on my computer - WIN! So here you go, promised pictures from July 4th. Tom has more on his phone but I don't have those so this is what you get.

When we both got up from our car naps, I nursed Ian. He was pretty darn happy afterwards - that's what a nap, A/C and food will do for ya!

Either that, or he just loves himself a lot. I think probably the latter.

Not the best picture, but I had to capture my dad holding Ian. It took him a while to warm up to Grandpa (Ian has stranger danger like crazy) but he was happy with him by the end of this long day!

Just before putting Ian to bed we took a family selfie because I realized we hadn't gotten a single picture of all of us...oh well. I love my little family so much!

New Mexico

When my brother Tim got called to France, my family started planning to pick him up all together. Most of my siblings went, however, Tom and I are simply not in a place to take a vacation to Europe at this point in our lives! Which is totally okay with us. So while most of the fam was galavanting around France, I got to go to New Mexico to babysit the Webb kids. Steph and Andrew were so nice to fly Ian and I out there and make sure everything was prepared for us. I won't lie, it was difficult! Going from being a mother of a 4 month old and getting to see my husband for several hours a day to being a mother of 4 kids with no husband around was tough! Tom and I had never spent a night apart in our marriage up to that point (we were lucky!), and now we know why! But I learned so so so much. And despite it being a challenge, I can honestly say that we had so much fun with the Webb's and are so glad we went. It's been a while so I'm not going to try to write a lot about the experience, but here's pictures!

At the airport - we flew to Phoenix, then to El Paso. That's 2 new airports for both of us!

It was a LONG day traveling with a 4 month old by myself. I was exhausted by the time Ian fell asleep and then realized that I forgot my toothbrush at my in-laws. Oh well!

On the first day, we went to the park and had a picnic. Ian got sunburned, as did I. Us Rexburg folk aren't used to the sun!

The kids adored Ian and he loved the attention! The boys were so funny saying "We're all Ian's!!" as they kicked and squealed just like him.

Eva was the best little helper to Ian. She loves babies!

Ian trying out the swing for the first time. He didn't react much to it but I'm going to say he loved it.

Spanky's Frozen Yogurt! Eva and Dean enjoying theirs.

Leighton and I enjoying ours.

Eva was always drawing awesome pictures. She is quite the little artist!

Eva had gymnastics and when we went to pick her up we got to watch her for a couple of minutes. She is so cute!

Watching the kids play outside on a windy day.

They are all pro roller-bladers!

Enjoying pizza and ice cream and a move on Mom and Dad's bed

They drew this sign for me :) Those kids are so funny!

Playing with Play-doh

A nasty sickness went through while we were there. First Dean was throwing up, then Eva, and Ian and I both got sick in the middle of it all. Not fun! We stayed home from church while one of Steph's friends (a saint!) took the boys to church.

Playing a card game that they won as a prize.

We went to the zoo one day!

When it was hot enough, we played on the trampoline with sprinklers and then ate a picnic outside on the back porch.

Of course we had to make a trip to Daylight Donuts!

We also went to eat at the Thai food place. Ian was awful. It was terrible. But yummy food!

Leighton practiced doing front flips and made lots of charts to mark off his flips.

Eva and Dean fell asleep in bed together a few times :)

Eva decorated some material as a "burp cloth for Ian"

Getting frozen yogurt on our last night together!

Making a welcome home sign for Mom and Dad!

Then I flew home for a short weekend with Tom before heading to New Jersey. I'm so glad I got to come to New Mexico! Love you, Webb family!