Ten and a half months old

Logan noticed that I haven't blogged in four days, and he asked me what was wrong. Nothing, I said, except I keep forgetting. I didn't think that I had taken any recent pictures to show until I put my memory card in the computer and found lots of pictures I could post about. I guess I keep thinking that Leah doesn't look that much different than last month. But after I looked at the pictures again, I realized she does look older and not as chubby anymore since she's been crawling.

She woke up the morning I took this picture with a rooster tail sticking up in the back. I hope you can tell by the pictures. I couldn't get it to stay down, even with some water. As soon as the water dried again, the hair would stick up. I kind of just wanted to leave it since she was so cute.















The middle two pictures are from today where she was sticking out her tongue a lot. Last night in the bath tub, I was sticking out my tongue and making some slurping sounds. She thought it was so hilarious and then started sticking her tongue out while she was getting ready for bed. And she has been doing it all day today. It's probably not the best habit to teach, but it's so cute.


This last photo is of her playing with the small basketball and net that goes with a basketball hoop. I'm teaching her some dribbling drills now so she will be the number one recruited point guard out of high school in 2024 (I'm just guessing when she will graduate).

Cascade Springs

I have been slacking lately on my blog mainly because I haven't really had anything blog-worthy happen to me. That was until last night. We decided to go driving up Provo Canyon and then up past Sundance. I thought we would just drive around a little and then return home. But Logan had a surprise to show me. He wanted to drive all the way up to Cascade Springs. It wasn't that far in miles but the road winds through the mountains, and I was getting car sick in the backseat with Leah. So I kept complaining about driving so long and wanting to go back. And he kept insisting that it wasn't too much longer. And boy, was I amazed when we got there.

We arrived at Cascade Springs just as the sun was going down so it wasn't too hot. We walked through the trees on the pathway to find these amazing little waterfalls coming from a mountain spring. It was beautiful. I found this one spot where you could walk down to the water, and I put Leah's hands and feet in the cold mountain water. She didn't like it too much. She would probably appreciate it more when she gets older.

The only sad part of our journey was we didn't bring our camera to take pictures, but Logan said we could come up again another time to take some. Maybe when the leaves turn colors in the fall. This picture was posted on UtahOutdoorActivities.com so you can see more pictures of where we went. You can also see more pics at Utahpictures.com.

As I was driving back down through the winding roads, Logan was the one to get car sick. And we got back late past Leah's bedtime so she was pretty cranky and tired. But the trip was worth it to see all the beautiful trees and smell the pure mountain air. We would recommend it to anyone that hasn't gone.

Leah is FINALLY crawling

We thought Leah would never learn to crawl because she didn't like to be on her stomach. But she is surprising us with her enjoyment on the floor. Since we moved here to Orem, she has developed in so many ways. She started two weeks ago going down on to her hands from sitting and holding herself up, which was a huge step. She would also roll over on to her stomach in her crib after her nap. And while she was playing on the floor I would push her knees up underneath her and help her move along. Then little by little she has learned to do it on her own. I first had to use my earrings, my phone or Cheerios to entice her to crawl but now she pretty much just goes when she wants something.

She does get tired of crawling and will want us to walk around with her. But she can now play more on her own and doesn't need me to be right by her. It's been so nice. We're so proud of her. Enjoy the videos!

New HOT summer looks

Today we decided it was time to get our hair cut. We found a reasonably priced salon nearby and took Leah with us. She stood on my lap while the lady shampooed by hair and was so fascinated by the water sprayer that she kept leaning forward to grab it. Then while the lady cut my hair, she sat quietly in her stroller while I fed her Cheerios. I was relatively pleased with the outcome. I wanted something easy to fix and still long enough to pull back into a ponytail (my usual hairstyle during the summer).

Meanwhile, Logan was getting his hair cut, and we didn't see each other until we were both done. And you will see for yourself that it's considerably shorter. I think it took Leah a few minutes to realize it was her dad and not some strange guy. Logan wasn't very happy about his cut because it was blended way to short on the sides. He said he's never going to let a pregnant lady cut his hair again. He remembered how scatterbrained I was when I was pregnant, and he vowed not to go back to the same girl or any other pregnant woman.

In a completely unrelated matter, everything is going well since Logan joined the army. (He thinks his new haircut is an army cut, but both Haley and I agree that Logan still looks handsome, and we're not just saying it to be nice.)

Let him know what you think about his stylin' new do by leaving a comment.


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After:

Fourth of July Celebrations

This year the Fourth of July was a busy, but exciting day. We woke up early (7 a.m.) for the Annual Hillcrest Ward Breakfast, which raises money for the scout program and provides a delicious meal. After stuffing ourselves with pancakes, eggs, hash browns, fruit, cinnamon rolls and juice, we walked back home to put Leah down for her morning nap.

As soon as she woke up, we drove over to the Deseret Towers swimming pool where we met Logan's cousin Natalie and her family. We all had such a good time swimming, except for Leah because the water was a little chilly at 11:30 in the morning. I even jumped off the diving board several times, something I haven't been able to do in a long time. It was so fun!! I didn't want to get out of the water but the kids were done swimming so we set up for lunch. We went back to their apartment, made some sugar cookies with their son Isaac, and chatted with them until it was time for the kids to have a nap. Boy was I tired after swimming! I meant to take some pictures of our activities with them, but I forgot to take the camera out of my bag. So you'll just have to imagine.

Braden and Haley came over later in the afternoon to make some sugar cookies and decorate them with Fourth of July colors. It was my first time making the dough, and I have to say that they turned out pretty good! We had fabulous holiday food with Braden and Haley including watermelon, corn on the cob, bratwurst, angel food cake, and root beer. I have to go running the rest of the week to make up for all that food.











That night I went to the Stadium of Fire with my brother Brad because Logan isn't a big country music fan, and Brooks and Dunn were the featured band playing at the stadium. Logan won these tickets in a raffle at the Daily Herald. We had great seats on the upper deck so we were right next to the fireworks, though they were really loud. I was surprised at how many of the Brooks and Dunn songs I could remember after not listening to them in a long time. By the end I was pretty tired because I had been slumped over all night sitting on the bleachers. And by the time I got home from the stadium it was almost midnight, and it took me about 45 minutes just to get through all the traffic. Ugh!!

I'd have to say that we did as much as we could on Logan's day off (Hooray for paid holidays!). I almost need another day off just to catch up on sleep. Here is a video I took last night of the fireworks. They were pretty loud, but still amazing! Enjoy!

Watch my star reporter husband

At the Daily Herald, Logan has been featured on their Nightly New Updates and Video Archives. He gets to talk about some easy Fourth of July dishes. Click on the link below and then scroll down inside the box to Fourth of July food. Or you can watch it from start to finish. I love seeing him on this, and I think he does such a good job.

In the Loop

Crazy Girl

Leah will be turning 10 months old tomorrow, and I can't believe how much she has grown. She has her own little personality and makes her demands known very quickly. And then other times, she is just as laid back as can be. She's getting more confidence with walking and with moving around on her stomach. Here are my favorites pictures taken recently.

I took this first picture after her nap where she had laid on one side the whole time to make this fabulous hair style. I tried to capture the essence of her hair, but believe me, it was much funnier in person.






Here's another picture where she was playing on her stomach, a rare moment. I laid down on the floor facing her, and she looked up at just the right moment to smile. (not every photo was this cute). If you look closely, you can see her tuft of hair poking up in the back. It seems that her hair is growing everywhere else except in the front.






She was sitting over in the corner just playing with her toys for about 20 minutes. Logan and I were just hanging out using the computers because she was being so good. Then after awhile, she pokes her little face up to see what we were doing. When we saw her do this, I said "Logan, get the camera!" It was so funny to see her little eyes behind the ottoman.



I tried to spike Leah's hair last night in the bath tub. Logan grabbed the camera so we could remember it, and she pulled her hands together in a little pose. She knows how to melt her heart with her smile.