JuJuJuly

The other day CJ says "Mom, do you have any rememberies of me from when I was Ezra's age?"

Me:  You mean "memories"?

CJ: Oh, yeah.  Memories.  My teacher said you can get them from your hippopotamus.

Me: You mean your "hippocampus"?  

CJ:  Oh, yeah.  Hippocampus.  Well, do you have any?

Me: Why was your teacher talking about a hippocampus?

CJ:  (heaving a large siiiiiiiiigh...)  I don't know, mom.  I'm only in Kindergarten.

 

Here's my rememberies about Ezra at age 2 months

(from my hippocampus):

 

- Best baby ever.  Not even kidding.  This kiddo is so easy compared to the other two- and both of them were awesome.

 

- His 2 month stats are :  weight- 11lbs, 15 oz (30th%)  height- 23&5/8'' (70th%) head size- 16&1/8" (90th%- for realz, HUGE noggin- big brains?)

 

- He is SUCH a morning baby!  He wakes up smiley, happy, and SO cute.

 

-He laughed out loud this month and really, is there any better sound in the world?  Nope!

 

-His little spirit is so calm and peaceful. 

 

And NOW, random pics from July: 

 

waterfight at Grammy Lay's house on the 4th!

Uhhh, I have cute American children.  The end.

USA shirts!!

Grandpa Vincent!! 

Cousin becky with CJ. 

Fireworks over McDonald Pass near Helena. 

 

 

 

Nolan being a cheeser for the camera one day at play group.  Love him.

Z baby smiles and giggles THE MOST for daddy.

Doesn't he look like a little monkey in this picture?  So funny.

Favorite!

Ezra's Blessing

 

SOOOOOOO, how old is my Z baby in blogland now?  A month?  Great- let's continue. 

 

Mike's parents decided to come visit us on their way to meet some friends in Canada at the beginning of July.  Since they were meeting their friends in Calgary, we decided to meet them at my parents house in Helena rather than have them drive all the way to the eastern side of the state and then all the way back again.  And while we had all the grandparents in one place, we might as well give Ezra his baby blessing, right? RIGHT!!!

Most of the time blessings are done in church in front of the congregation, but we decided to do Ezra's at my parents home on July 3rd.  My sister's family came and my Aunt Carol and Uncle Tony.  It was small and simple and absolutely perfect. 

 

We were so grateful that my parents opened up their home and that Mike's parents drove all the way from California.  It was SO fun for my kids to spend time with both sets of grandparents.  CJ kept saying "MOM!  Grammy and Papa Lay and Grandma and Grandpa Vincent KNOW EACH OTHER!   

 

If you're not LDS- baby blessings are simple blessings given by someone in our church with the priesthood- in our case that is Mike.  Mike and the other worthy priesthood holders who were there held Ezra in their arms and gave him a name that will go on the records of the church and asked God for blessings to come to him throughout his life.  It's really a wonderful way to celebrate a new life in your family.

The picture's fuzzy, but you get the idea....

 

These were the men who stood in the circle and held Zbaby while he was blessed.

Daddy

With Mommy and Dad.
PS- how darling is my child???

Grandma and Grandpa Vincent

Grammy and Papa Lay

 

I am still in love with his blessing outfit.

And his toes. 

Sittin' on the dock of Monterey

I'm still not done with Christmas vacation. Whatev.  I'm cool with it.

So, a few days after we went to SanFran, Mike decided he couldn't live without a trip to Monterey Bay. It is super beautimous and I have never been before so we packed up the car and scurried out west to the edge of America again.

We started off with a little stop at Casa de Fruita.  The coolest little fruit stand/store/park thing in Cali.  Well, that I know of...

Upon arriving in Monterey we hit up Dennis the Menace park, which lemmetellya- is huge and fun! We filled our tummies with peanut butter and jelly and sand and let the kiddos run wild.  It was kinda epic.



uuuuhhhh- cutest girl ever?  yup. 



He never stops moving

Then it was OFF TO THE BAY!  We walked around the pier by the hugest aquarium ever and had a grand old time.  I'm planning a stupendous day long trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium the next time we are in Cali, but this trip we just breathed the salty sea air and enjoyed each other's company. 



My child and her weird faces. Oh, dear. 

                                               

Attempting a family pic.... didn't work out so well...

At sunset we drove around the coast to take pictures, and then went to dinner and had yummy fish.  Well, Mike did anyway.  I don't really like fish unless they're battered and deep fried and served with a healthy portion of fries and tartar sauce.  And at that point does it even qualify as fish anymore?  It was OOOOOH so tasty, though!

The thing I loved most about Monterey was seeing my husband there.   That man is just so at peace on the California coast.  Yes, we were crazy with our 2 kids, and Mike's siblings, and everything else, but it was worth it.  For some reason, the ocean calms and excites him at the same time.  I think it makes him feel alive, and when we truly feel alive our spirit is calm and we are at peace.  Same goes for me and my Montana mountains.  It's in the blood somehow.  And that is a great thing.   

I Left My Heart.......

A few days after Christmas, Mike's parents took us all to San Francisco.  Oh, my.  San Fran is so lovely and we had a wonderful wonderful day.   There is something that completely enthralls me about big cities!  Places like New York, Seattle, Chicago and San Fran have always fascinated me, even thought I'm a small town gal at heart. 

 

 SO anyway, San Francisco is one of the most beautiful, cultural, and fun places to visit! We started off the day with a tour of Alcatraz. I'm a history lover, so this was SO STINKIN' COOL. What was so amazing about it was that after the prison was shut down, everything was just left there. Nothing really changed. It's not like its all been "restored" to the way it was back then or anything, it just is. I loved every minute of it. And my kids were crazy (as per usual).  

 

These two girlies.  I tell ya- they were so funny together.
This pic is from the boat ride over to Alcatraz

 

The "1866" is from when the island was a fort back during the civil war era.
Stuff like this makes me giddy. (I'm a nerd! I know!)

The whole gang (minus Laura- who was sick.  Boo!)

Rachel's too sexy for her own good

I know this photo is silly, but Nolan had so much
 fun teasing his Grandpa Vincent.  He kept saying
 " I will 'neak up on Gampa, Mom!" 
This is why we visit California even if it takes a 24 hour drive to get there. 
Love, memories, and time with the Vincents. 

 

Looking at SanFran from Alcatraz

Nolan sure loves his Uncle Eric.  They're both goofballs!

I love my boys.

So, pretty much my camera batteries crapped out right after I took this picture.  BOOOOOOOOOO.  I have no pictures of our clam chowder bread bowls.  I have none of Ghirradelli square.  I have none of me whining and crying because my sciatic nerve hurt..... oh, wait.... you probably don't want those.  But anywhoo, the day was filled with family and good memories. 

 

Christmas!

 

The beginning of December was all a blur, to be honest........ I was so stressed getting ready to go to California to visit Mike's family for Christmas that my life took a back seat to my preparation.  I got most of my Christmas cards out..... if you didn't get one and wanted one- I'm so super sorry.  I was a crazy lady.  Can we still be friends??  Maybe next year??

 

On the 10th (6 days before our departure) not only did our (one and a half year old) Washing machine decide to break, but the people who were renting our house in Billings called and said they were going to break the lease.  Not a good day, my friends. 

I'll go in to the renter saga later, but for now: suffice it to say that it was not good news 6 days before we were supposed to leave. 

 

The kids and I headed off to Helena and spent the first night with my parents, then we drove to Twin Falls, ID to spend the night with my awesome brother Ryan and his family. 

THEY ARE THE COOLEST! 

They actually let me stay an extra night because Donner Pass (the ginormous, awful, snowy, terrible, slick, sucky pass between NV and CA) was supposed to be a covered in ice, and I didn't want to risk death.  It was so nice of them.  The night before we left I told CJ she had to go to sleep because we had to drive all the way to California the next day and she said "Awww, MOM!  Can't we just stay here forever?  Because this place is AAAAAWESOME." 

CJ and Olivia (Ryan's 6 year old daughter) were totally best friends and had lots of fun watching "Barbie: The Princess and the Popstar" 7 dozen times.  CJ keeps asking me when we're going to buy it.  Uhhhhhhh, soon I'm pretty sure, honey. 

 

We finally got to Cali Tuesday night, after nearly 4 days on the road, and it was SO great to see the fam!  We don't get to see Mike's family nearly enough and we wish we (or they?) lived closer for sure. 

Mike flew in on Friday and we had a great few days just hanging out and spending time with the siblings and parents. 

Here's a play by play of our Christmas Eve/Christmas Day festivities:

Feel free to scroll through fast- Truth is, I probably do it to your blog as well. 

Smooch.

Christmas Eve Cookies for Santa

See's Candy line with the extended family.  A Vincent Tradition!

Me creepy photobombing

"The Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher" 
Another awesome Vincent tradition.

 

 

Christmas Morning presents!

 

 

The whole sleepy family (except Laura?)

The whole crazy family

Bren wearing the boy's dress up clothes.  Awesome.

CJ had a nervous breakdown when she opened the
dressup gowns and she didn't get Cinderella, but Brielle had.
  Luckily, Brielle  was AMAZING about it and she traded. 
Don't know what to do with my drama queen!