24th of July

We had a fun 24th.

Rich, Mike, and I ran the Deseret News 10k in the morning.  I had to get up early to feed Jake before I left (John stayed with the kids - and they were all still asleep when I got home :))  Rich and I left at 5 o'clock to meet Mike at Liberty Park - which ended up that Mike slept through his alarm (funny story in itself) and we just met him at the starting line.  I have never done a 10k before and have decided that it is a perfect race to do - doesn't require a ton of training, but just enough to have something to work towards.  And I was happy with my time.  Below was what was posted on the internet of the results:

Female 25 to 29

                                                                                               Chip         Gun        Chip 

    Place    Name                              City              Bib No  Age   Overall         Time        Time        Diff        Pace 

      26    Becky Mortensen                   Salt Lake City  UT   2445   26      687        51:03.7     51:49.8      0:46.0      8:13/M

The kids and I spent the afternoon at the Bowen's (John had to work).  The younger kids played on the trampoline with water balloons in their swimming suits and Jeannette, Mike, and I watched.  I love watching Brooklyn play with her cousins because she loves them and acts like she is a big kid like them.  The pictures below crack me up because Brooklyn is on the ground most of the time on the trampoline because she couldn't get up with the older kids bouncing...but she didn't care...she loved it. 

 

 

Jeannette and Mike

The rest of our siblings, the Cowden's, and Graf's came over for dinner and fireworks later on.  It was another fun time together.  I am going to miss these family get-togethers so much while we're in Arizona!

I love this picture of the little girls watching the fireworks.

Jake - 2 months

Jake the tank is 2 months old.

Where has the time gone?

I thought the time went fast with Brooklyn, but with each kid it must go faster because I swear I just had him.  (It could be too the busyness of trying to pack, starting to work again, getting everything in place to move, etc.)

I say Jake the tank because that is exactly what he is.

Soooo chubby and so cute!

I took him to his 2 month appointment this past week.  These are his stats:

weight: 13 lbs 14 oz (97 %)

height: 23 1/2 inches (76%)

(and his head circumference was 65%)

Some things about Jake:

• is a great sleeper (he has been since birth) - He sleeps 5-6 hour stretches at night now and takes a few good naps during the day.  He always goes down easily at night...sometimes for naps now he wakes up easily because the binkie has fall out again (I have a love/hate feeling for binkies...once they can keep them in their mouth they are great).  So I've fixed this problem...strap a headband around his head and it holds the binkie in place :)
• is still usually a happy/content baby.  But now, when he is hungry, he is hungry and will let you know it!  He goes from being dead asleep to screaming instantly.  Whenever we are out in public and this happens I get a lot of looks because you'd think he just lost an arm or a leg :)
• is a great eater (obviously).  He still eats about every 3 hours, but I'm hoping to start going a little longer in between feedings.  He will also take a bottle, which is nice, when we are on the go and I can pump out a feeding before we leave.  
• wears size 3 months.  And it won't be for much longer!  I would put him in 3-6 or 6 month clothes, but those are all packed up.  So hopefully he can squeeze into 3 month clothes for one more week.
• is cooing and smiling a ton now and I love it!  It always melts my heart when I talk to him and he gives me a big gummy grin and coo's back.  I love my boy. 
• put's up with his sister :)  Brooklyn actually has done great with him and just recently started showing a little more interest in him.  She's held him twice now and gives him lots more kisses than she used to.  My favorite thing that she does is call him Buddy.  I sometimes call him this and now when she hears him crying she says, "Ooooh......Buddy." 

 likes to sit in his pink bouncer :)

gives a good scowl, just like his sister

Brooklyn - 18 months

This 18 month old of ours is quite the girl.

If I had to describe her perfectly in two words, it would be social and busy. 

I never thought I'd have such an outgoing, social child.  John and I were both pretty shy kids, so I don't know where she got it from.  Everywhere we go she is waving (her Miss America wave) and saying hi to everyone.  If she says hi to someone and they don't say it back she'll say hi again.  And again..but louder this time.  And again...even louder...until they finally say it back.  She cracks me up.

She is a busy one (like all kids this age).  My brother Mike calls her 'fidget' and it sure fits her.  She can't sit still for long and always has something to do, something to explore, something to make a mess of.  She wears me out each day, but I do love this age.  She is learning so much and growing up way too fast.

Some random pictures and stories of her from the last month:

Her new favorite way to sleep in her crib - with her legs out the side.  She falls asleep like this most nights now so when John or I check on her before we go to bed we pull them out so they don't get stuck.

Here she is eating her Daddy's plate of dinner, before he got home from work and just after she had already finished her own.

Her new favorite thing to do - put as many things in the bathtub as fast as she can when she hears the water running.  The first night this happened I started running her bath water and went upstairs to get pajamas.  I came back down and found these things in the tub...

 all the magnets from the fridge, a tablecloth, and 2 plastic bags.  I caught her just in time...as she was about to throw my shirt in too.  

    She wasn't happy when I wouldn't let her throw anything else in.  Since then she does this every night, with my supervision of course, so she doesn't throw in the cell phones and books that she wants to.

Another new favorite thing is playing with play doh.  After my friend Mandy brought over some homemade play doh one day and Brooklyn seemed interested in it, I made some too.  Now Brooklyn asks to play with hers every day.  

She has started feeding herself completely - by that I mean with a spoon/fork and does it all on her own.  She would eat finger food of course by herself before, but now I've started letting her do even the messy stuff.  These pictures are her at breakfast with some yogurt.  Even though it gets everywhere, it's cute to see her do it all by herself (and it takes her awhile so I usually get a lot done).

And just a few other other random pictures...

Brooklyn and cousin Sophia having a bath

Brooklyn and cousin Lucy playing ring-a-round the rosie with their dolls :)

And the best thing about having an 18-month old.....NURSERY!!  We actually started sending her at 17 months because John was teaching and no way I wanted to try and have 2 kids in Relief Society.  But she did great (I knew she would or I wouldn't have sent her early)!  I love checking in on her during Sunday school and seeing her sing the songs and do the actions....makes a mom proud :)