Naked Nap

Nathan learned a new trick the other day. I put him to nap in just a diaper since it is really hot inside and out. I had a fleeting thought about putting at least a pair of shorts on him to ensure his diaper stayed on. I ignored it though since he has never taken it off yet. Well...there are always firsts. He was playing a lot before he fell asleep and I was going to go and check on him, but decided he would just get more mad if I left him in there. So, when Nathaniel brought our naked boy down the hall after his nap I burst out laughing. He had yanked his diaper off and chucked it over the side of the crib. He had peed in his crib and a small stream hit the floor. I had a good laugh and have now been forewarned. I considered myself lucky that we didn't have to clean up more. I don't think I would have been laughing quite as much!

I'm Done!

Nonverbal communication is very effective, don't you think?

Clarification

When I was announcing my pregnancy I wrote the P.S. as a joke to show my husband because I do get sick of the rude comments and I thought he would get a kick out of it. I never intended to post it though. I was going to erase it but Nathaniel thought it would be funny to post it anyway. I was on my way out the door to girls night so I was going to erase it the next day, but the internet was out the next two days and by then I figured people had already read it and so I didn't bother changing it. I have had several comments made to me wondering why I was so blunt/harsh and how that was kind of taking away from the joy of the first part of my post. Like I said, it was just me blowing off a little steam to my husband.

Fun in Yuma

We had a great time in Yuma as we always do. We got to celebrate Dad's birthday with the family. Mom made a really great rice crispy train stocked full of candy that the kids just loved. We went swimming everyday and Eliza is really loving it. She has turned so much more bold and brave around the water and it is fun to see. Kate was terrified of the water (or at least to go under water) the whole time we were there, until the last half hour as I was packing to go. Then she gave it a try and loved it. Last summer she was such a fish and could swim half the short length of the pool. This summer she has been so timid that it was fun to see her start to be her old self again. We had Autumn spend the night the first night and then Eliza stayed with her for a night. I can't believe she is getting old enough to do that kind of thing. Nathaniel wanted roasted marshmallows and Eliza joined in the fun. They grabbed the roasters and decided to go ahead and do it inside, right over Mom's clean stove.
We always have so much fun it wears the kids out. This is Kate at lunch one day. She was trying to sleep on the two stools.
Uncle Matthew had these masks from a party he had recently had with his friends. Eliza loved them and made sure everyone was wearing one. I was glad Matthew and Nathaniel played along. They looked great in them. (Matthew had just got done doing a swimming lesson, hence the shirtless look.)

The river is one of my favorite places in Yuma. You can see in the picture that it is really narrow and shallow. It is so fun for the kids. We had a really good time as a family and with Nancy, Quentin and kids.
Nathan just loved the mud. He couldn't get enough of it. You can see that from his face. He kept eating it...and we saw proof of that for the next few days.

Summer is Here!

This is just one of the joys of living in the extreme heat. These nasty creatures are called Palo Verde Beetles and this is a small one. Disgusting, huh? They also have pincers on the fronts of their head and FLY! I had to catch one and freeze it to send to my nephew, Taryn. I better get aunt of the year for that one! The cell phone is only in the picture for size purposes. The other fun things here in southern Arizona are the humidity and the monsoons that bring some crazy thunder and lightning storms that I love. Humidity drives me crazy though. It makes the heat so much more unbearable. I am really excited to see the huge downpours that come with the monsoons. We have only had light rain thus far. Something to look forward to. Unfortunately, the bugs get worse during monsoon season as well...oh, joy!
(Don't worry Megan, he's not dead, just frozen forever in still life!)

Change

We have had a few changes lately that are bittersweet. We had some boundary changes in our ward and stake that gave us the boot. We are now in both a new ward and a new stake. We left our closest friends in the last ward, but we know we will keep in touch just as well. Close friends like that don't end with boundaries. Our new ward is very large with a lot of young families in it. We are very excited about getting to know people. We have a ward campout tomorrow that will help us in the getting-to-know-you process that we hope will be a lot of fun. Let's hope the weather will cooperate!

"Gus"

Kate has started to call Nathan "Gus" or "Guts". It is hard to tell. She hasn't done it just once or twice, but several times for the past couple of days. She made it up all on her own. Today though she has started calling him "Boots". I don't know where she gets these things, but I think it is adorable.
Nathan and Katelyn have been quite the match lately. When one of them has a toy and the other wants it, they just use brute force against each other. Nathan will hold onto the toy and use all of his arm strength and then all of his weight to get the toy away from Kate. Katelyn is an equal match and will not release the toy from her grasp. She will sit there and yell, "Mom, get him, get him!" It was funny the first few times, but now the battles are more frequent and therefore the refereeing is constant. What a pair! Sometimes I admit it is still a little funny ;)!