Fun in the Sun!

Yesterday we spent the day at Joemma State Park near my parent's house. We intended to leave the house at 11:30am but Lucas was so grumpy and just plain whiny so we put him down to get a quick nap in. We woke him up just before 1pm and he was in a much better mood so we headed to the beach. It was about an hour and 20 minutes out there and Lucas is now a talker, especially in the car, so it makes the drive seem even longer. This time he was only interested in talking to me and I was trying to catch up on my magazines (I have 4 sitting here waiting to be read) but it wasn't working. He constantly says, "mom!" and I say, "what?" and then he'll say something like, "car" or "dada car" or his version of "horse" and he'll continue to repeat these same words over and over. And you can't just say, "uh huh" or "ya" because he gets frustrated, as if you didn't understand him. So you have to repeat what he said so he knows you understood. It makes for a very redundant conversation. Then of course the last 15 minutes of the car ride he had had enough and just wanted out! He was whining and screaming and nothing I did or said would make him stop. So finally we arrived, unloaded everything and set up on the beach. I went on the jetski first, along with my dad, while Channing was still asleep in the carseat. The water was like glass which was fun because I went really fast (60mph) which I don't normally go that fast but then it got kinda boring because there were no waves to go over. I went back in to see if Lucas would get on with me. He did reluctantly, in his cute life jacket. I wish I would have gotten a picture of him in his life jacket but Josh was able to snap a picture of him on the jet ski with me.

After my ride, Josh tried to get Lucas to go out with him but all of a sudden he had no interest in dada, he only wanted me so I brought him back onto the beach. We all ate and hung out on the beach but the tide kept getting closer and closer. We moved all of our stuff further up on the beach but we were only able to stay in that spot for a little while before the tide came within a few feet of us. So we decided to pack up everything and head to the picnic area to eat dinner.

Lucas loves any kind of fruit, especially watermelon. He ate so much watermelon I had to cut him off!

Yummy 7 layer bean dip! Notice Lucas' hand in the chip bag=)

Channing is the smiliest and most talkative 2 month old I have ever seen! He is tooooo cute!



My friend from church got him this adorable octopus outfit with matching hat. I can't get over how cute he is in the hat! When I got this outfit, it looked so big compared to the others (It's 3-6 months!) I never thought he'd fit in it before Summer was over. I sure was wrong!



Cousins...Levi and Channing

Brothas from anotha Motha

Cousin Levi

A good nap in the carseat

After eating we made a quick trip back down to the water. The water was SO clear and clean, quite surprising since it was the Sound. Then we packed up and headed home. Lucas was so very tired but again, a chatter box once we got in the car. Then he started to melt but after a few minutes he dozed off and it was silence...at least for a short time.
I think the reason he was so grumpy is he wasn't feeling good. He started to get more congested as the day went on and looking back, he kept pointing in his mouth and saying, "ow". I thought he was remembering when he fell and bit his tongue a few weeks back because he's been remembering more events lately. But he really must have been referring to his throat. Josh started getting sick late in the week last week and his first symptom was a sore throat and congestion. Lucas had a rough night sleeping, I kept hearing him wake up and cry, only for a minute and then he went right back to sleep. He does that, sleeps restlessly, sometimes and thought we don't usually have to rock him back to sleep, his restlessness wakes me up and so we both have a rough night. He woke up even more congested but seemed ok otherwise. We still went to church and though he was extra clingy, he was still his bouncy, excited self. But as the day went on, including a very short nap (his are usually 2-3 hours, this one was just over an hour), I could tell he wasn't feeling well. I had a church meeting to go to so Josh stayed home with Lucas. I got home just before 8:30pm and Lucas was up. Josh said he put him down at 7:15, after a huge meltdown, and he only slept for 45 minutes. Hopefully he can catch up tonight and feel better in the morning. We're hopefully going to the Woodland Park Zoo tomorrow! You know it's a big deal when I bring the double stroller. I have yet to use it as I usually just carry Channing in the front pack and put Lucas in the regular stroller but the zoo is a bit much to have to carry around Channing the whole time.
I'll post pictures from the zoo as soon as I can. I'm looking forward to it as Lucas knows a handful of animal noises and the sounds they make. He hasn't been since last Summer so it will be very new to him. Until then, I need sleep or I'm going to be the cranky one!

Summer Fun!

I've been busy planning Lucas' upcoming 2nd birthday party. It's a race car themed party at the park and I'm so excited! These first few birthday parties are definitely more for mama than they are for the birthday boy.=) Last week when I was shopping for supplies for his party, I found some crayons and a Bible coloring book at the dollar store. I knew I was setting my expectations high as Lucas has had many opportunities to color and he always chooses to do something else with the crayons-color the walls, throw them, eat them...yup, he's definitely a boy! But I'm always wanting a quiet activity to have on hand for those moments when I need a break. So I bought them, knowing the $2 might be a total waste or totally worth it. Here's what he chose to do with them:

He loves to stack the crayons...and then throw them all on the ground=)

I've also been working on getting Channing's birth announcements made and ordered. I really had nothing to do with the making of them, it was all my bestie Camie. She's amazingly talented in photography and just about anything creative. You should check out her work here. She's done many sessions for me and my family and she put together Channing's announcements, in two different versions so I could pick my favorite!

I've also had Halloween on my mind. Yes, it's still August, but September and October are very busy months so my mom and I start planning our family's costumes for our annual surprise costume party as early as possible. A few days ago we came up with an awesome idea for me, Josh and the boys and I'm excited to get started on them!

This past Saturday was the Kivley annual bbq. My grandparents used to throw this huge bbq potluck every summer when I was a kid. It was something my siblings and I looked forward to every year. When we were in our late teens, my grandparents stopping doing them. I think it was just getting to be too much for them. There were a LOT of people that would come so it was quite the task I'm sure to put it together. Well, about two years ago, my aunt and uncle, Tom & Cyndi started hosting them at their house. Last year it was rainy and cold (in August!) and there was hardly anyone there. This year, we arrived a few hours after the start time and it was packed! There were so many people I didn't recognize. My family had staked out a table and area, and so we spent the next few hours catching up and some people got to meet Channing for the first time and see how much Lucas had grown since they last saw him.

Yesterday Lucas had his first visit to the dentist. He had no idea what he was in for and I was a little nervous about how he would handle it all. The appointment was at 10am and he's been sleeping in until about 9:30am so I had to wake him up so we wouldn't be late.

It's rare to get a picture of him sleeping since he usually wakes up as soon as we open the door. I was happy to see he still sleeps like he did when he was a baby-butt up in the air.

Surprisingly, it was one of the easiest mornings I've had with both boys by myself. There was no yelling or tantrums (by mommy or Lucas=) and we left the house right on time! I wish all mornings could be that easy. Anyway, the dental office is specifically geared towards kids and decorated in a jungle theme. It was fun to walk around the waiting room and have Lucas point out the monkeys, frogs, rocks and water, all of which he knows by name.=) They put us in a private room and the assistant immediately started talking to Lucas to get him as comfortable as possible. He sat on my lap and she tried looking at his teeth with a mouth mirror. She was able to get a peek after a few minutes and with much refusal from Lucas. Then the dentist came in. They had me put Lucas on my lap but facing me and then lay back, into the dentist's lap. They expected him to cry and it's actually better because then they can see his teeth. He cried and it was so sad, tears running down to his ears and crying for dada. But then I told him he'd get a balloon as soon as we were done and he stopped immediately. They were able to remove the build-up from behind his lower front teeth and they said everything looked good. Next time they'll do a little bit more to get him used to even more instruments. As the dentist was leaving, Lucas yelled out "balloon" as if reminding the dentist that he promised him a balloon.=) It was precious!



Showing off his balloon and race car for being so good at the dentist!

 After the dentist, we met some friends at the spray park. The kids didn't play in the water long, Lucas was too hungry and the other kids were too cold. It was slightly breezy and that didn't make it very warm, plus the water was already cold and it doesn't get hot out until late afternoon these days. So we spent the time playing on the slides or "swings" as Lucas calls them.=) I didn't get any pictures of Channing because he slept the entire time.

Lunch: Bagel (His most recent favorite) and fruit (always his favorite)

Heading up to the slide



So excited! He was playing with my friend's daughter Ava. She was helping him climb the stairs to the slide and then would "catch" him at the bottom.

After dinner we spent some family time outside in the shade, eating popsicles and letting Lucas burn off some more steam. Even after a busy day this kid can still run and run and run until we make him stop. Of course after the messy popsicle it was bath time and bedtime.

Eating a watermelon popsicle mommy made



As cute as can be, even covered in popsicle juice=)



Attempting a family photo of my boys. Doesn't Josh look thrilled? One of these days he'll willingly smile for my pictures.



Hanging out with daddy



My little peanut



Lucas loves riding the lawn mower with Dada