Fun with Dad

We had another day with grandma and cousins this week. We all went to see the floats for the Days of 47 Parade. I forgot a stroller, but thankfully someone wasn't using half of my sister's double stroller...she saved the day! We enjoyed the floats and all the activities that went along with it. We took the kids to a park for lunch after. S loved playing with all of the cousins!

S's favorite float. Part of it blew bubbles too!

She loved the stars on this float :)

Playing with a ball at the park after.

S and I had a date with just the two of us. She loves Mexican food, so this was prefect! She ate lots and lots of salsa. She loves spicy. We didn't have any meltdowns, and she at so well :)

This kid LOVES baths. The only problem is that she treats them like the swimming pool now. She loves to try to float on her back, and blow bubbles in the water. She would live in the water if she could.

The picture I got when I asked her for her happy face :)

We don't let S watch TV, so going to the movie was an extra special treat. We saw Madagascar 3. She loved the animals, the singing, the dancing, and the music. She did really well. It was a great way to spend part of dad's day off with her. We also went swimming at the local pool another day. I love the long days of summer, and all the fun things we get to do together! This was truly a fantastic week. We got so much time with dad!!

Lots of Favorite Things

This has been a very full week for us. As well as a very tiring week too.

It's a good thing I take pictures. I would have forgotten part of the week if I hadn't. We met up with lots of cousins and grandma and went to see the birds at Tracy Aviary.

My side of the family has 11 grandkids 6 and under. This isn't all of them, but don't expect the group to all look at the camera :)

Striking a pose :)

Not a huge fan of the splash pad...her cousin just wanted someone her size to play with.

S and I spent some time together working in the garden this week. We are only outside in the morning or when we have enough shade in he evening....otherwise I feel like I might die.

our first cherry tomatoes

"helping" me with green beans

our first picking :)

The face of a sad, sad girl who's balloon got a hole.

The end of the week got busier. Brett got back into town late Thursday, and spent the evening at the church. I had started cooking earlier in the day, and did a bit more while he was gone. I was in charge of desserts for Brett's parents 70th birthday celebration (they are only 1 day apart). It was suggested to just buy 2 sheet cakes from Costco, but Brett's mom always makes everything for us so I thought it would be more meaningful for us to do the same...which I was completely happy to do. We planned on spending Friday baking everything for the party on Saturday. We got a phone call Friday morning from S's birth dad. He wanted to see her, and we feel that it's very important to keep that relationship open so we worked something out for that afternoon...while continuing to make desserts.

We met Tyson and his girlfriend at Thanksgiving Point to go to the Dinosaur Museum. It was my idea of the best way to interact and still have fun together. I am grateful I was able to get some good pictures of them together.

Building dinosaurs together.

Showing Tyson things from her level.

Having fun at the erosion table.

She LOVES fish!

Excavating for bones!

Saturday we did some more baking and getting ready for the party. It was a very full day. We went over to Nana and Papa's at 4:30 to help prep party stuff. We likely had close to 100 (if not, 100) people there. We had good visits with everyone as well as great food. Aubrey made a super cute background for a photobooth, and Mel had lots of fun props to use. I'll have to get copies from her. We left around 7:45...which was to far past Scarlett's bedtime. Brett went back later to help clean up :)

Banana Bars...if you haven't tried these, they are a must!

Nana's carrot cake....mmmmm

Left: Oatmeal crasin <- don't forget the "c", they're best that way! 

Right: Oh Henry Bars....delish!

Chocolate Revel bars. These were a special treat my mom would make when I was little. They're great...but you definitely need a glass of milk!

Texas Sheet Cake.

I won't tell how much butter I used this week....it was A LOT!

Gotcha Day

This week turned out being much busier than I had expected. Brett went out of town Monday morning and I decided to go pick cherries with S. She stood by me or sat on the ground the whole time and ate cherries to her hearts content.

I decided I should chill just a bit, and be more relaxed about things than I normally am. Its fun to just be spontaneous some days. After S got up from her nap on Tuesday I thought sprinklers and Popsicles would be fun. What better way to clean up a popsicle mess than sprinklers outside.

I love how she's trying to drink the water.

What happens when you ask for a happy face.

She's serious about that popsicle.

My idea about how to clean her didn't go as well as I'd planned. See that dribble hanging off her thumb and how little popsicle she had eaten...that should give you an idea of what her body looked like when she finished...and she didn't want to get in the sprinklers again :) So, off we went to the tub :)

This is a newer love of hers. She specifically asks for it...it comes out sounding more like "eyesss".  And she eats it a lot!

We were also able to see S's birthmom this week. We got some great pictures of them reading together and just enjoying each other. 

Reading "We're Going on a Bear Hunt"

Playing with a magna-doodle.

This week we also celebrated S's "Gotcha Day"... in the adoption world it's the day of finalization where everything is legal and complete. We are celebrating it as the sealing day, which is officially today. We made her a special breakfast to start the day off. 

Pancakes made in different shapes....a special dog one for S with raspberries, strawberries, and bananas. She also had chocolate milk which she loved! 

We slowly did a few gifts throughout the day then had family come over in the late afternoon to play and have dinner. I would say it was a success!

Brett was so excited to give S this toy he made years ago when he was making them for his nieces and nephews as well. 

A fun toy she got when she was born that she's now old enough for.

Cousins playing in the water.

A picture of the 4 cousins big enough to sit still long enough for a shot...we had 2 more here.

Trying out her new bike.

LOVING the new balloon nana and papa brought for her.

18

S officially turned 18 months today (July 7). It's 10:37 pm and I am just starting this post. I can assure you I will not be finishing it tonight. I am WAY to tired for that. I want to make sure that I get down all those things that I completely love about this kid, as well as things about her at this age.

We are SO, SO blessed to have this sweet baby in our lives. She truly is the most perfect baby there could be. Meltdowns are few and far between. She is happy day and night. She is the love of our lives and has brought so much joy to us. We love her birth parents, Crystal and Tyson, so much! They gave us such a selfless gift that we can never repay. We will love them forever!

She  has at least 10 words that she says. She is becoming a very good communicator in so many ways!

She loves both of us and at times makes it very well known who she would prefer to be with.

She is happy around the clock (that's not new thought).

She loves to run.

She has the most contagious laugh. I laugh when she laughs, which causes her to laugh again.

She loves to ride in the baby jogger while I run (or try to).

She loves music, and asks for music to be on multiple times during the day by twisting her torso and putting her hands in the air.

She loves to dance. She has multiple toys that make music that she loves to dance to.

She loves water in its many forms: pool, bath, rain, sprinklers... I love the look of pure joy in her face in this one!

She makes me happy in SO many ways!

She loves all things freezer temperatures...especially ice. I think she gained a love for this from her several trips to California. She eats it by the cup full. I love this Popsicle face! She has the last two inches of what she was working on in her mouth.

She loves books, and has several that she will request when she wants to be read to. Tonight when I read to her at bedtime we read Guess How Much I Love You. With each of the different things Little Nutbrown Hare does she does the same thing. It warms my heart. She is SO fantastic! 

Tonight, 30 minutes before bedtime, she looked at me and said, "night, night" then went to the baby gate and started shaking it. I followed her lead, grabbed her milk, and we went upstairs to her room. She picked a book to read and went to bed quite easily! I love how she is learning to communicate.

Happy 4th!

Every other month we have the youth in the ward over for a bishop youth discussion. We got most things ready the day before, but there were a few last minute things to do the day of. S really wanted to help her dad finish things up!

She was also pretty proud of herself that she learned how to stand on the step by herself, without any help.

Brett came home from work early one night so that we could have some fun family time together. We decided to go to the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point. While we were there we saw Elder L. Tom Perry taking a tour as well. We spent a good amount of time in the Water Works portion. She really loves water, and this area was perfect for her!

I started playing with this bucket with S and she thought it was pretty great. She kept asking me to help her put it on and continued putting it on.

This one ^ has to be my favorite.

We are getting ready to celebrate S's "gotcha day" this week. Technically we brought her home from the hospital, but we want to celebrate the day she was eternally made part of our family. I have been on the hunt for a tricycle since the great one she loved at the children's museum in California. We went to try them out to see if we could find a good fit.

She was thrilled to try these out. We ultimately decided on something else, but it was a fun outing for us!

On the morning of the 4th we went to the hot air balloon festival. S was in heaven. She was so excited to show them to us any time she saw them in the air. It is something we definitely want to do again with her in the future.