Palmer's First...

...Pool Experience! It was so much fun. Darcie took us while Garth got some alone time back at her house, recovering from his wisdom teeth extraction (see below post). Palmer didn't know what to think right away but saw his cousin Zoie having so much fun and warmed up right away. It's amazing that they have a natural ability to swim already. Plus he has no problem floating. He is very buoyant!

This was the only picture that turned out of us in the pool. That is me w/Palmer though. All the others were blurry. Maybe because he was swimming so fast! Haa haa!

...Rice cereal! He loved it. I've heard such funny stories of babies just hating the stuff but he smiled and cooed and opens his mouth for more! I really wanted to wait until he was 6 months old and exclusively nurse until then but when I go to work, he really fights Garth on the bottle. So I wanted to try another option so Garth can feed him while I'm gone for hours on end. It can be really frustrating for both of us and a little heartbreaking that he will get so hungry rather than take a bottle. We've been practicing a lot with an Adiri bottle, which seems to be working the best, and he may be getting a little better but definitely prefers nursing. We have tried every bottle out there, I swear, and every kind of pacifier (which he doesn't like either)...so after his 4 month check up, the doc gave the okay to start trying foods when we felt ready.

Palmer is in the 50th percentile range now with his weight, height and head circumference. We are so proud. He started out so small (4 lbs) and has caught up so fast! He now weighs 14.5 lbs, and is 25 inches long! It must be all that nursing :)

Wisdom Teeth...

Poor Garth got his wisdom teeth out on Saturday (the 16th) in Salt Lake at a place called Wisdom Teeth Only. Meaning...exactly that. All they do all day is wisdom teeth extraction. Garth and I walked into the office around 10:15 and were on our way (minus 3 wisdom teeth) by 11:00. From the waiting room I could hear the drill going almost the whole time as the doctor had to drill Garth's bottom teeth and suck out the pieces rather than just pulling them because they were so badly impacted. Garth should have had them out 6 years ago but put it off until now. And only because I made the appointment and then told him the time and date he was getting rid of them. They've bothered him pretty badly for the past 4 years on and off. They've been the worst the past 2 years and I'd had enough of him complaining and never doing anything about it.

He thought it would be a walk in the park...

We made it to Logan and decided to stay the night with his sister Darcie rather than continue the suffering in the car. She and Andy were such awesome hosts and took such good care of all three of us.

Garth is just feeling better now. And it's been over a week.

During the week of recovery-on Monday, the 18th was our 2 year wedding anniversary, Palmer's first pool experience, he tried rice cereal for the first time, and liked it ...

Random Summer Happenings

This summer has gone by so quickly that I haven't blogged about all the fun things we've been doing. Garth is so busy with work, training to get ready for snocross, and now hunting season is upon us, that it seems like he doesn't get a lot of time to just relax at home with me and Palmer. So we try to combine some of those activities and spend the time together. One of the best ways to do it is hiking. We go places that he can bring binoculars and look for traces of deer and elk and try to get a little exercise at the same time. When his sister Darcie and her partner Andrew were here with their darling daughter Zoie, we rode the lift to the top of Targhee and hiked all around the backside. It was scary (for me) at times walking on very steep side hills on shale with Palmer in the front pack and ledges with steep drop offs. It was beautiful. Then Palmer had a massive blow out about 2 hours into the hike. We brought a spare onsie (always...Palmer loves to blow out his diap) and got him pretty clean with wipes but it's hard in the dirt. We've gone hiking several more times since then and it gets more and more enjoyable as I get in better hiking shape. Plus Garth carries everything. Including the baby. What a nice husband right?

Then last Saturday we went to the Tauphus Park Zoo with some of my family. My sister Melissa and her husband Zac are moving to San Diego so we had one last hurrah. My mom and Grant were there with Rachel who turned 11 that day! Combined party. Brian and Elise came too with their 3 adorable kids. I love seeing all the animals. We went to Leo's pizza after that for the kids to play on the toys and we binged on pizza...

This has been the shortest summer I can remember. It's about half way through August and it's already cooling off. I am looking forward to winter though because snocross season is so fun. I don't have to work and we get to travel around with fun people to races. It feels like one big vacation.

We have lots of fun together and love each other more and more everyday. We are surrounded by people who love us and couldn't ask for anything more...sorry for the cheese but I'm just feeling really blessed and lucky to have the life I do.

Reading is Fun!!

After a long break from reading, years, I'm embarrassed to say...I have renewed my love for it. The Twilight series has something to do with it, I'm sure, but before I read those (obsessively) I read some other greats. I recommend: Not Without My Daughter, The Kite Runner, Memory Keeper's Daughter...I recommend reading. It's a great pass time. I've have the TV on less and less which is such a great feeling. I don't want Palmer growing up to be a vegetating TV kid. We plan to use the TV less and less and replace it with enriching activities and games for Palmer that require active imagination, not to mention activity. So I thought it would be easiest to start early. I've been reading to him since he was about 2 1/2 months old and he truly loves it. It calms him if he's fussy and entertains him endlessly. Now at 3 1/2 months, I can see him actually looking at each page's pictures back and forth while I read.

Last night after a short hike up Teton Canyon, he was crying pretty hard once we got in the car. I think it was a combination of being hungry, tired and a little over stimulated. I sat in the back with him and he was inconsolable. So I pulled out a Slednecks magazine from the back of the seat and started showing him the pictures and reading random things off each page. He stopped crying right away! He looked excitedly at each page and I know that if I hadn't read books to him everyday before now, that magazine wouldn't have interested him at all. Thank goodness for books!

So read to your kids!! And read for yourself...

Palmer absolutely loves The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The bright simple pictures on each page are so fun for him to look at. Plus the story reminds me of Palmer. ...but he was still hungry...