Wimple's Pumpkin Patch

When I was growing up we would go to a place called Apple Hill during the fall, usually on Conference Weekend, to take pictures and just have fun as a family. Seeing as Apple Hill is about 4+ hours away from where our little family lives, we decided to take the kids to Wimple's Pumpkin Patch, which is about 25 minutes away instead! It is nothing like Apple Hill, but was fun nonetheless for my little kids! They had all the things that our kids were interested in. Hay rides, tractors to play on, animals to look at (Peyton wasn't too interested in this part), pumkins to find, a small haymaze for toddlers and a small play structure for the kids to play with after lunch (and an AWESOME shop for the mom!- with GREAT prices!). We went with some family friends (Dodges, Autenriebs, and Wedemeyers). Lance had to work that morning, but we took tons of pictures for him to be a part of our trip!

Riding in her wagon on the way out to get some pumpkins (that is her friend Jack in the background)

"I found a good one mommy!"

Peyton holding her pumpkin that she picked

Her wagon is full!

Parker riding his John Deere tractor

Holding his baby Pumpkin (that is Caitlyn holding him...so glad she was there to help me with the kids that day! She was a lifesaver)

Me and my friends (clockwise from top left: Reagan, Julie, Me, Jaquelle)

Scootchin around

The day has come! Actually, it came last Friday. Parker is now mobile. He isn't quite on all 4s yet, but he is going, going, going! And fast too! I turn away for 3 seconds and I am pulling him out from underneath the kitchen table. Or out from under the coffee table, which has a 3 inch shelf that he crawls onto and pushes the magazines off of. It was so fun and exciting for the first little while, but now it is just something that distracts me from doing things that I should be doing (washing dishes, folding laundry, scrubbing toilets, blogging, playing on the computer) ;) But he is oh so fun! He is about to get his little teeth in on the bottom, and he smiles constantly. Even when he is crying, he is smiling, and sometimes he can't figure out if he wants to cry or laugh. He is completely in love with his big sister (who would have nothing to do with him if it was her choice). He would follow her to the ends of the earth and loves to watch her all day long.
Peyton is also growing and changing on a daily basis. She has started to make up laugh by the things that she comes up with to say to us. The other day, her nana and papa were here to visit us here in Susanville and she was playing with Peyton and her shape blocks. She held up one of the blocks and asked me "Ashley, what shape is this?" to which Peyton promptly replied "Nana, it's a quadrilateral!" We all just cracked up. Sometimes the things that she has in that little head of hers far exceed any of the expectations I have for my 2 year old!
Here are some of the things that she is doing now:
*Counting 1-50 with ease
*Counting 1-10 in spanish
*Knows all her ABCs and numbers by sight
*Knows all her colors and shapes (including a quadrilateral, penta-, hexa-, and octagon)
*Loves to have picnics out in the front yard with Mommy and Parker
*Sings 5 little monkeys with hand motions by herself
*Can open, start and find her games on my phone (I have had to put a passcode on it to keep her from getting on all the time)
*Hopping on one foot
*Knows the 1st article of Faith
*Knows 5 or 6 Primary songs that she sings by herself
*Knows most of her Body Parts in English and in Spanish
*Helps mommy get things around the house, or pick things up
*Joyfully proclaims "There's Bubs!" when I get Parker out of bed
*Knows her daily routine, and HATES to diviate from it in any way shape or form
*Knows, by heart, word for word, at least 30 different Mickey Mouse Clubhouse shows (I know this puts me in the bad mother category, but sometimes a mom needs a break, and no kidding, she can go MONTHS without seeing a specific one and she still knows it WORD for WORD)

Sorry if it sounds like I am boasting about my kids...but I AM! They are great. They make me happy. They are my reason for getting up every morning. Literally. I just wanted to be able to remember some of the things they were doing at this time, and to share them with all of you! And of course you wanted to know, or why else would you still be reading this? ;)

Stuff

I figured it was time to update you all on our doings and going ons this last month. In the middle of the month Lance took 2 weeks off of work and we went down to Sacramento to see my family cause my brother came home from his mission. He looked so good and so happy! It was great to see how he has changed, yet stayed the same in many ways. He is such a great guy and I am so happy for the choices he has made in his life. It was the first time ever that we were able to have all of us together, with all of our sposes and children at one time, EVER! It was really awesome to have all of for a couple of days. After we spent about 10 days with them we drove to see Lance's parent for a couple of days and had some fun on the boat (well, most of us did, Peyton, not so much).

We got home and have kind of been unwinding ever since (I know, it has been a week and a half~). Last week I taught Peyton how to say the first Article of Faith. We repeated it over and over for awhile until finally, 4 days later, I overheard her saying it by herself. It was such a feeling of pride to know that my daughter, though merely repeating what I taught her, knew the basis of what we believe. It amazes me everyday how close to the spirit our children are, even when they may seem closer to the devil at times!!
We also have been going to the park a lot. It is so fun to have Parker sit in the kids swing and just chill while I play with Peyton. He is happy to just watch her frolic and have her own fun. He really is the best baby ever. For the most part...he has been having a hard time going to sleep for his afternoon nap. He goes down fine at night, and fine for his morning nap, but he fights and fights me when it is time for his afternoon nap. I am glad he does it then though. Peyton used to do the same thing at this age (rolling over and becoming more mobile). But the princess did it in the middle of the night. I will take it this way over that anyday!
All in all the Lively's are doing well. We are aware of all the blessings we have in our lives. Lance has been blessed to have his schedule switched to have Saturday and Sundays off and the coveted 6-2 shift. People who work in the same field try for 20 YEARS to get that job and he was asked to do it! It is only temporary, but if he works hard, people will notice. I am glad to have such a dedicated hard working husband to take care of our family.
*My computer is being slow...and won't let me upload my pictures so I will have to wait and try again tomorrow. *

Football!!

'Tis the season!! For football that is! This is my husbands favorite time of year. Baseball postseason is coming up, golf is at its peak (well lets face it...when is it not?) and Football is about to start! Can it get any better than this? To him it can't! I am just excited cause I found this cute background to go with it! And the blue is for my favorite team...The Indianapolis Colts!! Enjoy!

Parker 4 months

I know I just posted about Parker and how fast he is growing, with all of his stats too, but I have gone back to look for Peyton's stuff and it is nowhere to be found, so I am posting again for my records only. We took Parker to the Dr. on Wednesday for his 4 month check up. He is getting SOOO big! He weighed in at 15 lbs 7 oz (60th %) and heightwise was 27 inces long!!! (over 95th percentile). We have a big boy on our hands! It was also found out that he has an ear infection in his left ear, poor little guy! He took his shots like a champ. He seems to do a lot better than Peyton did afterwards. Our neighbor came over to chat last night and mentioned how happy he seemed after just having shots in both legs. He came home and slept for 3 1/2 hours and then was back to normal. He stood on his legs, laughed, allowed me to touch him...couldn't ask for a better baby. I am so blessed with the little guy that I have! He is such a sweet baby and so easy to read. He is getting close to rolling over and loves to reach up and grab at things. I took him into the pool when we were in Tahoe, and he just laughed and loved it! We consider ourselves to blessed to have him and are enjoying him more and more everyday. We have also started to try and feed him solids. He had some rice cereal with breastmilk the other day and actually did very well with it. He got most of it down and none of it came up after! I can't believe how fast he is growing up! Attempt at solids He tries to fit his whole fist in his mouth! He likes the lights in his bounceroo!

Lake Tahoe

This past week Lance and I decided to pack up and head to Lake Tahoe. We went so Lance could go to the celebrity Golf Tournament. We left Tuesday morning after we woke up and sstayed until Thursday afternoon. It was a great little getaway for our little family. We stayed at the Montbleu Hotel, which is within walking distance to The Edgewood Golf Course where the Tournament was, so Lance was able to walk as were we to go SHOPPING at the Heavenly Shopping Center. The hotel we stayed at has an awesome pool. The first day that we were there we took Peyton down to look at it and didn't think she would be too impressed. But she wanted to get in with her dress on! We took her dress off, left her bloomers on and set her on the first step. She had the time of her life! She was sitting on the step (big improvement from last time we went to a pool) splashing, kicking, and even venturingdown to the second step where the water came up to her waist. We had to go to eat dinner, but we took her again after dinner and she was hesitant again, she got in, but didn't really want to splash or venture out very far. The next day however was a different story! She was literally JUMPING to the next step and at one point went completely under the water. Lets just say it was a good thing I was standing right there! I freaked out, not cause she went under, but because I was afraid this would deter her from ever wanting to experience swimming again! She popped right back up and asked to go "swim with mommy". SHOCKER! I took her in my arms and showed her that she would be fine if mommy was holding her. She had a great time! She kicked and held her breath to go under the water and cried when it was time to get out! I wish we had a pool here in Susanvill so I could get her swimming lessons! All in all it was a fun-filled relaxing trip. So nice to get away even for just a couple days!


Sorry these aren't the best pictures! We had to take them on Lance's phone cause our battery ran out on the camera!

Its my potty and I'll cry if I want to

The weather here in Susanville has finally changed to Summer. It was late coming this year, but it finally came. This week has been especially warm, with temperatures in the upper 80s to lower 90s. Nothing like back home, but still, I'm not a big fan. What I am a big fan of is that I get to spend time outside with my family. Peyton would play outside ALL DAY LONG if I let her. She is so happy when she gets to ride her bike or even just play in the dirt.
We have been able to go to the lake a lot lately (at least once a week) and she loves it. For some reason, it takes her a little while to warm up to the idea that we are there and not going anywhere. After the long drive (it is about 45 minutes away) the first thing she has to do is go to the bathroom. Because she is just learning and getting the whole potty thing down she won't let me put a diaper on her, nor will she just "pop a squat" (such a priss!). She also will not go in the lake. Because there is no bathroom at the lake I had to come up with a plan, or she would have probably held it until she exploded. Or cried until my head exploded. Either scenario; no bueno. So...my brilliant mind came up with the idea of giving her her $1 bucket from walmart to go tinkle in. At first, she was very against this idea as well, but I calmly told her she would be fine and then coaxed her into going. SUCCESS!! She went and now everytime we go to the lake, the first thing she says is "I go potty in the bucket?" Such a crackup.
I think that her funniest time of day (most days) is right when she wakes up from her nap. She has the best demeanor and is just happy happy happy. Here is a picture of her right after she woke up from her nap (you can tell by her hair) and she was wearing daddy's shoes and shuffling around talking to me.