The Summer of Craziness Has Begun!

So after making our exit from Provo, we spent a couple days in Manti, then drove from there to California. We stayed in Placentia with my dad for Father's Day, then headed out to Hemet about an hour away for Josh's grandparents 50th anniversary/family reunion. We came back to Placentia yesterday and will be here until Friday, then it's off to the beachhouse in Delaware for a week, then back to Manti for the rest of July, then back to California until August 25th when we leave for Dominica. So yes, that means we will be living out of our suitcases for the next two months. What were we thinking?! Anyway, here's some highlights of the trip so far. Here's Shane, putting on his best crazy face:
He braved his first California/Utah drive, and did better than I was expecting. He did some of this

Quite a bit of this

And a fair share of this

We crammed a lot of fun things into our week with Josh's family. Here's the proud daddy and his boy at the San Diego Zoo on Tuesday.

On Wednesday we went to a big pool with a play area for the kids. Thursday we went to Knott's Berry Farm. Friday we had a barbecue at the park with his whole family, and Saturday was the big party for his grandparents' 50th. And we could've gone to Sea World or Six Flags with his family on Monday, but we stayed at home with his grandparents, and I think that was one of Shane's favorite days! (Besides staying with you of course, mom:) ) He sure loved his Great Grandma Elkins. I think she might've liked him too.

We definitely enjoyed ourselves, but after being in a house with 23 adults and 8 little kids we are happy to have a little quiet again!

Here's To You, Provo

I can't believe we are actually leaving Provo! Don't worry, we're not leaving the country yet, just going to be vagabonds for the summer at each of our parents houses. But I think 6+ years of living here merits some kind of tribute post. We really have loved living here, and honestly, I couldn't really think of much I won't miss- not even the snow! Okay, well I guess I won't miss digging my car out of it. And I won't miss my shady neighbors. But I will miss...

BYU football games
great friends

having a temple so close

Jamie and Tim

The mountains

Our landlords and our house. That kind of seems strange, but they have been so great to us, almost like family. Shane loved them too!

We will definitely miss Provo, but we are excited for the adventures we have to come!

Ladies Man

Fathers: lock up your daughters! Unless you want them kissed by Shane! Last night we had some friends over and they have a little girl who's a month older than Shane. He was anxiously checking her out, and as soon as she crawled over towards him, his arms started flailing. As soon as she was close enough, he grabbed her face,
and brought her in for a big wet kiss! He couldn't keep his hands to himself! She wasn't so sure about him, so she started crawling away. Shane isn't mobile, so he couldn't chase after her, but he did grab hold of her booty to try to get her to stay! Too bad I'd already put the camera away. We might be in trouble with this little boy!

A Regular Fatty

At Shane's 4 months checkup the doctor was pretty concerned about his weight gain (he hadn't gained any weight in 2 months). Well he certainly made up for lost time this month! After struggling with my milk supply for over a month and a lot of frustration and heartache, I decided to stop nursing. While I still feel sad about it sometimes, I was happy to see that Shane is growing and thriving. His 6 month stats were:

Height: 28 1/2 inches (96th percentile)
Weight: 19.6 pounds (84th percentile)
Head Size: 18 inches (94th percentile)

Happy Half Birthday Shane!

My baby turned 6 months today! We gave him his first taste of rice cereal this past week, and he loved it. I'm not sure he realizes it's really food, but he sure thinks it's fun to play with.
His favorite thing to do these days is to sit in the grass. Really to do anything outside. But he will sit in the grass content for half an hour just staring around at who knows what.

He loves going on walks and especially loves when I take him running in the jogging stroller.

He also gets a kick out of his jumper.

But of all his toys, this little thing is his favorite right now. Aunt Jamie even figured out the same thing while she was babysitting.

And he is still very much a cuddler. He loves to grab your face with both hands, pull you in, and give you a wet sloppy kiss. Well, either that or he's trying to eat you!

And one of my favorite things is singing to him at night before I put him to bed, and without fail he reaches his hand to my lips as if to say, "Oooh mom, I like that."

Don't get me wrong, he definitely has his moments, but we sure love this kid!