new do

We cut his hair. Up until now it's only really been trims so it was a little hard for me to see him change from a baby to a toddler right before my eyes.

I have 47 blogposts I need to play catchup with. Yikes.

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subway

Van has gone from seeing 5-10 people tops a day to thousands upon thousands. It's fun for me to see him interact and flirt with new people.

We are loving our stay here in NYC. I'm extremely bummed that tonight is our last night. I don't want to talk about it. Let's just say we're living it up with homemade gelato and a movie! I'll relive it through my blog posts, even though I'm a month behind.

Thanks to our lovely and thoughtful hosts. You're the best tour guides ever!

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date night

I bribed my brother into babysitting Van
so Randy and I could go out on a date.

We drove an hour after work to hit up the Rio.

It was a perfect evening.

It was even a Thursday night
free concert at the plaza.

I saw this cute couple leaving just ahead of us.
They had their little boy 'riding' their bike.
Adorable.

I wanted to take a picture of us:
proof that we actually got out of the wilderness for a date.
Oops, zoom.

We hurried home but it was almost 9 PM.
Derek had fed, bathed, changed and . . .
put Donovan to sleep.
Tio sang all the lullibies he could remember,
and then all of the Primary songs,
and then resorted to some Eminem.

That did the trick.

So any parents out there trying to get your baby to sleep
don't forget some Slim Shady and 8 Mile.

{Thanks again Derek}

boy's best friend

Donovan's first word was {mama} probably Dog.
I'd like to think he was calling me,
but he spends most of his time chasing Prana around.

While we're jetting around NYC
we've left Prana with both sets of Grandparents.
I'm sure he's having a good time,
but I sure do miss that guy.

kitty cat

I never knew that my little guy loved cats. For the longest time he would call them dogs. Understandable. This guy he kept kissing and stroking and loving. I'm allergic to cats so I was worried that Van might be, but he didn't seem to mind at all.

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hanging out in the bathroom.

So this is something I never thought about
before becoming a mother.
How do you go to the bathroom at a store
while taking care of your wiggly squirmy little kid.

These little seats are genius.

We are going to be traveling {across the country}
this week with our
wiggly squirmy little kid.
I'm a bit nervous and TOTALLY excited.

fun with ma

Grandma came to babysit Donovan in July
so I could work at the IHC BHU as a CTRS :)
We went to the Farmer's Market, walked up GC,
played with new toys and . . . learned to walk!

Donovan generally calls me mama or ma'am.
He calls my Mom, ma.

I love these two so much!

When we went to the Farmer's Market
my Mom asked a wood carver if he had her name:
Carma.
He said probably not, sorry.
We took one lap around the booths and ended up passing him again.
He was twirling her name on his finger.
It was a great find.

I found this. . . .

then found Van suspiciously playing with his toys.
Stinker.

14 months

This is Randy when he was 14 months old.
That is how old our Donovan is today.

Donovan loves sticks as swords too.

b.l.

{July 27}
We decided to hit up Bear Lake to visit some friends.

Prana wasn't allowed on the beach
so he stayed in the car.
Good boy.I hardly got any pictures.
I wanted to remember Van eating a ton of sand.
Hot {learning the word hot} sand.
Lots of birds.
Swimming in the lake.

Van thinks Bo is such a big boy and wants
to grow up to be just like him.

I was nervous about taking my baby into a lake.
At first he was hesitant, but then kept making the sign
for WATER and MORE,
so out we'd go for another round in the lake.

{thanks to the Dittmer's}
for letting us crash their family reunion.

colton's little man

So Colton is Randy's BFF
so it's only fitting for little Colton aka Ashton
to be little Randy aka Donovan's BFF.

Sweet Sheleena reading to the boys.
She's 8 months pregnant + 2 boys.

It doesn't hurt that the Rogers
have some of the coolest toys ever!

Every time we come over Ashton chants Dono! Dono! Dono!
It's the cutest thing ever.
I'm not sure what I would've done without
these guys this summer.
They have been the biggest lifesavers.

cutting trees

{July 9}
Randy's friend Colton needed help cutting down some trees.
In Cokeville, Wy.

Van ate some treats and played outside pretty much all day long.

Colton's family anxiously awaiting for the tree to fall.

Getting all of the tools ready.

And then there was no tree.

I think that Randy is Superman.

Willow Park Zoo

{July 8}

i've been wanting to take van for forever.

this is the day that he really got the sign BIRD.
now it's his favorite.

Sleeping albino&not albino porcupines.
raccoon.

birds everywhere.

he wanted to look at this duck for 10 minutes.

funny story: this lady was trying to trim the grass
but the bull elk did not like her in his space
so he kept trying to fight her through the fence.

thank-you-come-again

i love seeing van learn new things.
such a sponge these days.

baldy mountain

I wanted to hike Bald Mtn all year long.
So when we had the chance---I jumped!

To keep the little one entertained we let him play with
rocks & sticks.

There was one big snow drift that we had to hike around.
Prana was a running machine-I don't think he ever stopped.

At the top looking down at Mirror Lake.

Peak.

Some fun flowers.
I learned their names and have promptly forgotten them.

Family photo 2011.

I keep teasing that I'm going to make Donovan
some duct tape chacos, mainly so he'll get the cool z on his feet.

He has been walking a ton lately
with his arms out ready for anything.

Also the other day he said, 'awk. awk. rawk.'
I was so proud.

You can't really tell but in the middle of this picture
is a billy or nanny goat.

We got a phone call from some people in Logan
asking if they could come over for a visit.
Oops. Sorry, we're not home.

Happy hiker.
Thank our lucky stars!

I love being outside especially with my family.
I know that Donovan loves the trees and rocks
and being outside too.
We heart the Uinta Mountains.