Seven Months Old

On July 23rd Matt and I kept telling Ollie it was his 7 Month Old Birthday Eve and he thought it was so funny, he would laugh every time and we would laugh right back at him. The fun continued on his 7 Month Birthday. He already feels so grown up that it makes me happy and sad all at the same time. I was taking his pictures with his bear every week but I think it was a little ambitious of me, so the first six months of his life will be every week, and from now at least until he is 1 he will get a picture with his bear every month. I think they were all starting to look alike and the biggest changes are really in the first few months- that is what I tell myself anyway! Even though he hadn't seen his bear in a month he knew exactly what to do when we sat him down by it...

 I really couldn't decide which one to use they were both so cute, and the other choices weren't any easier...

When we got his clothes on him he got a little crazy- well a lot crazy I have a ton of shots, but they are all of him attacking the bear or rolling around having a good 'ol time but not really cooperating. I think he even got his button undone somehow, but here are my favorites...

Happy Seven Months Ollie!

Hanging out with Rocky

I try to resist pulling out the camera every time we go swimming, but today when Matt let Ollie sit on the wall with his big gentle giant dog Rocky I couldn't help myself because it was so cute. Ollie loves Rocky, he loves to touch his feet or head or whatever he can get his hands on and Rocky of course loves him right back. He has always been great with kids. Knowing our time is growing short with Rocky makes me sad. I know Ollie probably won't remember him but at least we will have pictures to show and stories to tell him about his old bud.

Why I'm late to church

Everyone knows I struggle with being on time, and now I have one more reason for being late. It isn't so much that I haven't figured out that we have to start getting ready earlier now that we have a little guy to get ready, a diaper bag to pack, etc. It's that after I get him dressed we both sit there and adore him. This morning was no different except for the fact that he has finally grown big enough to wear the little surfer shirt Nicole sent him, and since it was his first time in the outfit and he looked so dang cute, I couldn't help but stop and take pictures. In my rush though I didn't check them or the settings I was taking them on so the first ones came out a bit dark and blurry but I still have to share them anyway.

How could I not stop and pay attention when he is giving out his cute little grins? Ollie does have his moments though, when I moved him to the floor to take a few more pictures, he wasn't too happy about it. I still laughed at his little pouty self trying to protest. He just wanted me to pick him up. What a little bugar!

And yes, we were late to church. I have to now start planning in extra time for cuteness!

Surf Lessons

Ollie has moved from being able to put his feet in the water, to holding his breath under water, to splashing, and today after practicing some of his tricks he got his first ride on daddy's surfboard. Matt of course has a surf trip coming up, which means he will suddenly do a short spell of working out, eating right, and paddling on his surfboard in the pool in order to get ready for the real waves. Tonight when work was over it was time to pull out the surfboard and this time Ollie got to take a ride. Matt and I keep laughing over these pictures, he's such a little chubber! Look at that belly!

Ollie was all ready to do his own padding, he started slashing around like he was trying to get the board to move somewhere!

Matt took him on a ride across the pool...

He loves it already!



Just because you can't resist making this little guy laugh...

Here kitty kitty!

Missy and I have a love hate relationship. She showed up at our back door a nearly three years ago and I was the one to rescue her from the dogs, they chased her across the yard and she fell into the jacuzzi, somehow swam out of it and I picked her up soaking wet before the dogs got to her, but it was Matt that really let her stay. I left town the next day for work with instructions for him to get rid of her, but by the time I got home they were best buds, he let her snuggle up with him on our bed while I was gone and she has been with us ever since. She is a sweet cat, but there are things that come along with having a cat that I hate, namely it is the fur, she throws up a lot, and there is a the cat liter. Nearly every day the things I hate start to out weigh the things I like about her and I threaten to get rid of her. But if that is to be done it needs to be done soon because little man has taken an interest in her, he gets excited and squeals when she is near and I'm afraid he is going to get attached and then there will be one more reason for me to keep her. Of course Ollie in his innocence isn't all that kind to her so it may be an act of compassion for me to find her a new home before he really starts to terrorize her! Surprisingly she takes him rather well and actually lets him grab all over her.

Today when he woke up from his nap I sat him in the office with me on the couch, which happens to be Missy's favorite place to hang out so it wasn't long before she appeared. I couldn't help but stop and grab the camera to capture her encounter with Ollie.

Holding hands/paws

What are those things poking out of your face?

You can't get away from me!



New best bud

Ollie's face when he sees Missy

She's so soft he can't resist touching her

Hasn't quite learned how to pet, he just grabs her fur and somehow she tolerates it.

But then he went for the tail and that put her over the edge and she was gone

Ollie with a mouth full of fur...he thought it was funny

Thinking about what to do next now that his bud is gone

An idea must have popped into his head

And he must have liked it...

What did you say?

Why didn't I think of that before?

Tired face

Diapers can be entertaining

And then there are these things on his feet he hasn't figured out yet

Another yawn

Done with self discovery, time to see what that thing over there is all about

From sitting, to getting ready to crawl.

So fun to watch him exploring and learning new things every day!

Arches National Park

On Thursday we all said our goodbyes early in the morning. Barbara and Richard had to get back so they took off while we finished up packing and closing the house. It really was a great place to stay, so close to town yet it had such an amazing view and it felt like you were a bit more remote. Plus we loved the house- thank goodness for vrbo.com there is always a good deal to be found there. The only problem was we could have stayed another week! I stopped to take a few pictures before we left.

Kate thought the guys on the wall were creepy, but it was cool that there was a loft up above them.

Ollie seemed to like the place :)

View of the outside



View from the back patio

Living room

Kitchen and dining

Lots of cool details

They even put a bit of Moab into the shower

Right before we closed the house up Matt went in to go to the bathroom and minutes later while he was on the toilet I heard him practically scream. He had discovered a GINORMOUS centipede on the wall a few feet away from him. Here is a video of my manly man getting rid of the thing. Haha, I'm pretty sure we both scream in it, but the house is now a safer place without it. We might need to let the owner know they need some Bulwark Pest Control!

Since we didn't have to rush back, and we knew it would probably be a while before we got back to Moab we decided to take a drive through Arches National Park which is just a few miles out of Moab. The weather was amazing, it was a bit rainy, but that also meant it was cool. Suddenly we were no longer in 100 degree weather it was around 68 degrees which made for a pleasant day for hiking around. We didn't do the entire park, just hit some of the popular arches that were an easy walking distance from parking. It was pretty breathtaking and I was so glad we hadn't missed the opportunity to be there. Plus it was just fun the three of us driving around taking pictures and short hikes.

Our first stop, we got Ollie out and ran through the rain to get this picture.

Pretty amazing to see the rock sculptures

Didn't even have to get out of the car to see this one.

Took a hike up to the North Window



Ollie was his happy self loving life!

Some perspective of how big the arches are



Sitting in the north window there are great views of other arches



My cute boys

Another arch looking from the north window

They call it the north window because there is a south window on the other side! I couldn't get a great shot of both though.



I was intrigued by this artistic dead tree



Delicate Arch

Tired little boy

The last arch we made it to was Delicate Arch, the symbol of Moab. You can actually hike to it, but it is a bit of a hike so we opted for a lookout that was only a short walking distance. Good choice since by the time we got there Ollie was fast asleep. Even when we got him out for the short hike he didn't wake up. After that we headed out of the park happy to have spent the morning with my boys and to be headed home. We did stop in Moab for lunch and hit some crazy rain that was nearly a flash flood within minutes of coming down, but we drove out of it and 8 hours later we arrived safe and sound back in the heat of Arizona! Farewell Moab, I hope I get to see you again.