August recap

August has come and gone and we were pretty busy and had a few quick weekend trips. Thatcher is growing and is such a flexible baby, we can hop in the car and go and he is right there with us. 

Munching on the spatula and helping mommy make fresh peas into baby food

One of our quick trips was up to Stanley to help with diabetes camp. Thatcher and I headed up on Friday and enjoyed the drive. Thatcher slept most of the way, we made a quick stop for lunch then around to camp. The big forest fire was only about a week old at that point but the smoke was pretty thick, and had settled in. 

Alturas Lake, Stanley- This is usually one of my favorite pictures but the smoke was too thick to really see the mountains

Thatcher's first trip to the zoo was a hot afternoon. When we left the house it wasn't too warm, but by the time we made it into the Zoo it was pretty warm. Thatcher wasn't too interested in the animals. The larger animals were a little more exciting for him. We will plan to go back in the fall to see if he is a little more excited about it. 

Grandma's raspberry plants were ready to pick and we were up for the task. Thatcher watched from the comfort of the exersaucer in the shade of the  rose arbor while we wandered through the butternut squash jungle 

The butternut squash plant has pretty much taken over the raspberry patch and back garden at Grandma and Grandpa Beals. I didn't realize how much it had really grown until I had to wander through it without trampling the plant too much. The squash has even started growing up the raspberry supports! Good thing Thatcher loves squash, because we will probably have a freezer full in a few more weeks. 

Jack went with us to pick raspberries at Grandmas too, this is about all we saw of him the entire time. He was just the right size to sneak under the squash leaves and behind the other larger garden plants. He slept in the car and took a nap in the sun when we got home. 

We had a fun game night at a friends house, their little girl was born about two weeks before Thatcher. They were great floor buddies and shared toys pretty well. It was fun to watch them play together. 

Our second weekend trip was to visit Lara and Mike in Rexburg. Lara's baby shower was that weekend and we wanted to spend some time with them before their baby comes in a few weeks. 

Cleo helping us pack- we have learned to check all the bags before  putting them in the car or storing them

Thatcher's major photobomb at the baby shower. Somehow I didn't get very many pictures from the shower, I am  guessing it had something to do with the "helper" on my lap. 

Lara opening the present we got for her and baby

Thatcher is getting pretty good at working with the Ipad- we have a little app that makes noise and pops up shapes whenever he touches the screen. 

 Since we were able to go home on Monday we decided to take a little trip on Sunday after church. Mesa Falls is only about an hour drive from Lara and Mikes. It was a fun little car ride and hike/walk to watch the falls. Thatcher was fascinated with the running water and noise. Trying to get him to look away from the water to snap a picture was a challenge but we snagged a few before we loaded back in the car. 

August in Boise isn't complete without a day or two in the scorching heat at the Western Idaho Fair. It was fun to walk around the booths and see all the 4-H projects, animals and other fun things. Thatcher was a ham  when we came to the photo cut outs at the U of I Ag exhibit. 

The last Saturday of August was also the first BSU game, so we crashed the watching party at Grandmas. Thatcher and Cocoa are becoming good friends now that Thatcher has some yummy food in the high chair. 

Thatcher and Grandma on game night

August 2- Happy Half Birthday!

6 months

26.5 inches

16 lbs 1 oz

Favorite foods: butternut squash, applesauce, peaches, avocado with banana, watermelon, green beans, carrots, sweet potato, prunes, gerber puffs and mum mum crackers (these are his all time favorite because he can feed himself!)

Dear Thatcher,

Happy half-birthday to our sweet boy! I can’t believe you are already six months old. You are such a joy in our home. You always wake up happy, smiling, and “talking”. We love watching your little personality develop, you are quick to smile at just about anyone and have become quite the chatter box. You love to pull on Jacks ears and “pet” Cleo. You have started giving “puppy kisses” (giant slobbery open mouth kissed on the cheek) and love to snuggle and be close to mommy and daddy.

 You are pretty good at sitting up by yourself and think that you are such a big boy sitting on the floor to play with your toys. You can roll both ways when you want to but usually you just lay on the floor close to your toys.

You are a great traveler- we have made a few trips to Rexburg, Pocatello, Twin Falls, McCall and Stanley. You like to look out your window and usually fall asleep before too long. You love being outside looking at the trees and water and animals we can find.

You have so much fun playing in your exersaucer, your moose Norton is always close by too. At night you snuggle with your little blanket bear and we frequently find you “talking” to him in the mornings. You get a quick bath at night before bed to help wash off all the spit up and stickiness from the day. You like to splash in the water and play with the little rubber duck.

We couldn’t imagine our life without your sweet spirit. We are excited to watch you grow and help you learn new things.

We love you forever and always,

Mommy and Daddy

July!

July started off with a great big bang... literally! (I know- a super lame pun). We loved having the 4th of July off to hang out with friends and family. We started that morning at Eagle Island to enjoy the sunshine and HOT weather. Thatcher was less than enthused about the water this trip- he decided sleeping on mommy was a much better thing to do.  We spent most of the morning and early afternoon lounging in the sun and sand and enjoyed a fun picnic lunch.

Later that afternoon we met up with a family friend who was hosting their neighborhood block party (we were pretty jealous of their super fun neighbors!). We had a great pot luck dinner/BBQ with them.

To watch fireworks we found the best spot in the valley... Belly Acres (aka- Grandpa and Grandma Campbell lawn). We were a little worried about the noise level for Thatcher, so we decided to enjoy the fireworks all over the valley from the lawn. Grandpa's yard is south of the freeway almost to Nampa so we had a great view of all the big shows from downtown, Hawks stadium, the Meridian Speedway, and all the "private parties" as Grandpa called them. Thatcher fell asleep shortly after we settled into our lawn chair and hardly stirred when I buckled him into his car seat to head home.

(Avocado face- isn't he cute?)

(The "boys" playing on the floor before bed)

I saw these cool "mesh feeders" when one of my cousins was visiting a few summers ago and made a mental note to pick up a few one day.

Thatcher is getting rather interested in "regular" foods these days and pretty good with getting things into his mouth so I thought we would give it a try! I was cutting up some watermelon and he thought he needed to try some... At first he wasn't too sure about it (as evident from the picture), I think it was still pretty cold from being in the back of the fridge.

After a few more tries he decided it was yummy and loved that he could feed himself, as long as mommy kept putting more in :) He was a huge sticky mess when he was done, nothing that a bath wouldn't fix.

We made yet another trip out to Eagle Island with some friends from Aaron's work, we were trying to beat the heat. I am not a fan of the 100* weather we have been hosting lately. Our poor air conditioner at home can't even keep up most days!

This trip we borrowed one of our friend's little inflatable rafts to float around in. Thatcher thought it was pretty fun and liked looking around at all the people on the water. We tried to keep cool by dunking our hats in the water and splashing water into the raft.

(Lounging in the sun tent)

We have also made a few trips to a friends pool! (Thanks for inviting us Mark and Romy) The first time Thatcher wasn't too sure about the water, but he is starting to be more comfortable the more times we go. He was loving floating around, splashing, and kicking his little feet. Some times he would just lounge back with his little feet pulled up and crossed at the ankles (the camera wasn't waterproof enough to capture this but take my word for it- it was pretty darn cute).

(He was more interested in the dog instead of smiling for the camera)

(This is one of my favorite summer pictures! Isn't he so cute?)

Well, that's our summer so far... we still have a few adventures in the works and are looking forward to cooler temperatures, hopefully soon! Thatcher is growing so fast, it is amazing to look back at pictures from February, or even June and see how much he has changed and is quickly turning into such a sweet little boy! We are so blessed to be his parents.

5 Months

Happy five month birthday sweet boy! I love that he is getting more expressive and interactive. It's a good thing there wasn't someone taking pictures of Aaron and I trying to get Thatcher to smile and pay attention to the camera... These are a few of my favorites- thank goodness we have a digital camera when I uploaded all the pictures there were over 100! Whew! It easy to click away when the subject matter is this cute...

 

(he posed himself for this one- and we couldn't get him to crack a look other than this)

We sure love this sweet boy and watching him learn and grow and become a handsome little guy!

June

June was a crazy busy month, it started out quiet and ended in a whirlwind of fun things! June included Aaron's first father's day (somehow the pictures have vanished- sorry- hopefully I will be able to find them). We wanted to start a new tradition for Father's day by taking a pinwheel to Grandpa Campbell. It was a good walk and we enjoyed the quiet time and telling Thatcher about his Grandpa. We gave Aaron some pictures mounted on canvas for his desk at work. 

We also spent some time at Eagle Island. It was Thatcher's first trip and we hadn't been there in years! It was fun to soak up some sunshine and splash in the water. Thatcher didn't seem to mind the water too much. He just looked around and would reach out and touch the water. 

We also spent a few days in Stanley at Diabetes Camp. I was so glad Thatcher and I were able to go up for a few days and help out. He was a huge hit with staff and campers alike! We stayed the first night in a cabin with seven little girls and five women. I hardly slept because I was worried Thatcher would wake up and wake the girls up. He did great- he slept all night long and hardly stirred. The next morning we walked down to breakfast and he was snug in the moby wrap and just looked around at all the chaos of kids trying to serve themselves, count carbs, and take their insulin. We tried to stay on the perimeter and out of the way. Aaron and Grandma Campbell drove up later that morning to meet up with us and help watch some of the campers siblings while their parents were busy. Thank goodness for the moby wrap- it meant cozy naps and a great view of the mountains for the baby and I was still able to get things done.

(nap time in the cozy wrap)

(The beautiful Sawtooths- we didn't think to take a family pic until we were about ready to head out of town! On our next trip up we will be better about pictures!)

(Thatcher is a great traveler! He is usually falls asleep in his car seat before we can even get down the road too far. Hopefully he continues being such a great traveler.)

Our trip to Stanley was a success! I couldn't imagine skipping a summer of diabetes camp and I was glad I could share it with my son and husband.