Sunday, June 29, 2014

MASSIVE PHOTO OVERLOAD!!!

It has been a long long time since I have put just random photos from our day to day on the blog. So there are quite a few pictures. 
So for your viewing  pleasure... 
Owen, just being his adorable self. 

June heading off to her friends tutu birthday party 



Swimming at the rainforest rec center pool. So much fun! 


June not wanting to get dirty, so she had daddy hold her ice-cream sandwich so she could eat off pieces! 

days spent at the park, chomping grass, eatin the good stuff

When did she get big enough to run and play by herself on the playground?!? 

This girl is a book worm. She asks CONSTANTLY to read books, and when I am unavailable to read to her, she just sits and looks at them, or makes up stories that goes along with the pictures. Her imagination has really taken off recently and I love it! 

Naps 

Learning new skills, like how to feed yourself

Staying cool on a hot summer day, otter pop and all

resting after a hards day work 

One lazy morning after a workout. We didn't want to get dressed

Owen learning to move and twist his body until he is under the bed or stuck in a corner. 

Too happy for a 6am wake up call. 

Workin on his fitness

And June wanting to get involved

Whenever June hears baby Owen awake, she goes and lays by him in his crib. She loves to get in by herself, but hasn't quite figured out how to get out... I hear "MOM, I'm stuck" a lot when she's in there

Walking our babies down the block 

Baby Owit doesn't get a bath to himself very often, I think he was enjoying the nice calm bath, instead of the constant splashing and having water dumped all over him. 

June had an early morning one day, so we went and played for a bit in the playroom. Later on, OD woke up, so I went to change him and get him breakfast. I realized June was being awfully quite and came and found her zonked out. I just let her sleep to her hearts content. 

We went to the Perot Museum with friends 


Owen loves himself in the mirror. Don't die of the cuteness!



His usually sleep behavior, having a blanket shoved into his mouth. I'm talking like 5-6inches in there. It's a constant worry 

baby meeting baby 

More days at the park.  We have so many parks around here, that we could hit up a different park everyday if we wanted, but June has her favorites so we tend to stick to those

Dan being out of town, I decided I needed my little sidekick to stay up late with me one night so I could have some company. We ate pizza, painted our nails and watched a movie with popcorn in our bed. It was such a fun little girls night 

That girls night led to a sleepover for June and I. We both crashed during the movie. I liked waking up next her though. 

And another day at the park. Our weather here, has been rather... well, sucky this past week. Super windy, rainy, but with the humidity. I just don't like it. We stayed as long as we could at the parks but it was just to muggy. 

Have you died yet? If not the adorableness will do you in for sure. 

And then look at our peach tree this year!?!?! OH MY GOSH!! I am so excited. It has like quadrupled in fruit this year, and is already so much bigger than last. Hopefully if the squirrels don't eat them all then we will have LOT'S of peaches! Don't worry I will share! 

June wanting to watch "Tangled" in our bed one night 

And then the last picture. Dan and I face timing while he has been in South Carolina. I had down in the dumps day... Not a bad day, just a sluggish day, He made me feel better. He always does.

Lot's of random awesomeness going on over at the Lancaster house. I hope you all are enjoying your summer!! 





Tuesday, June 24, 2014

8 Month update


Dear Owen, Owit, Baby Owen, Chub Chubs, Chunks, OD, Otis, 
Oh my gosh, you are just becoming my best little buddy. I seriously have loved this past month with you. Not that the other months haven't been enjoyable, but you have just changed and accomplished so much this past month, that you are starting to loose your just sit like a blob stage and becoming so interactive and SO MUCH FUN!! 
This past month has been a big one for you, from eating and sleeping, to moving and rolling! It's been a good month. So let's get it all. 
You have taken the whole suck food back to a whole new level. You are eating solids so well now, and take most food. You are even starting to take chunks of breads and solid vegetables. It's fun to feed you little bites from out plates and watch your face try to figure it out. You love squash, carrots and sweet potatoes... The orange vegi's seem to really suit you. Apple sauce on the other hand get's spit right back out as soon as it hits your mouth. You have also figured out drinking from a straw, which will make the transition from bottle so much easier. Good job son. 
Bottles have become your main source of feeding. You are still getting mom's good old milk, but just bottle form, and formula. You haven't had any issues taking both milks so it's working out rather nicely. It's hard to believe that in just 4 short months you won't even be needing a bottle. SLOW DOWN TIME! 
You are on a fabulous schedule, which has helped our summer days be successful. You are waking up between 6-6:30am, eat and then go back to sleep until close to 8. You eat breakfast with your sister and then we play for a bit. You get a bottle around 9.. which you feed yourself! Another pat on the back. We play a little bit more and then about 10 it's nap time. I feel a little bad about this, but you spend a lot of your morning naps in the carseat. Your morning naps are usually only about a half hour-to an hour long anyways, but that's such prime time for play dates and running errands. I promise I do keep you home sometimes! You wake up around 11ish, we play some more. Then around 12-!2:30 we have lunch with June. At 1:00 you have a bottle, we read stories with June and you both go down for nap/quiet time. You can take up to about a 3 hour nap, which just leads to June and I spending a lot of time outside waiting for you to wakeup! Then we play for a bit more, dinner at 6pm, bath and bottle, stories, prayers and off to bed by 7. It's working out very nicely and I really hope this routine stays throughout summer. 

This month has been quite the month for you and your movement. You are rolling around like crazy, and have figured out how to get onto your belly. You kick kick kick and it eventually get's you around. Your backwards scooting skills are great! But you back yourself into things and it drives you crazy, and mom too! But it's just a phase, and I know that, so just keep backing yourself into things as long as you would like! 
You are a smiling chub chubs. Oh that smile makes people fall in love with you. I think it's the dimples that you have going for you! Or your bleach blonde hair that is so much like your daddy's when he was your age. 
You have one tooth that has officially popped through, and one that has split the gums, but is playing a cruel joke and won't come out. It's causing some unfortunate discomfort, but chewing on EVERYTHING seems to make you feel better. I feel like I am constantly pulling things from your mouth or washing it because it has drool all over it. Don't worry, I'm staying on top of it. 
June and you are really starting to play and interact with each other... or better yet learning to take each other's toys, and you pulling her hair. She isn't too fond of that! I love watching you two play! Owen, your sister adores you. She sings to you when you are sad, she rubs your head, and wants to sit next to you all the time. If we go anywhere she always asks if baby Owit is coming and to make sure you are included in everything we do. 
We love you so much little buddy. You are becoming so much fun and I can't help but smile just thinking about you and all the happiness that you bring into this home and our lives. You fit into our family so perfectly! 

Happy 8 Months little Otis! 
Love, Mom 




June said...

Starting to cry over something she can't have...
Me: " do you need to go cry in your room?"
June: "No, I just want to cry in the playroom... Just let me mom! Please!" 

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Let the Countdown begin

Well. Brent and Suzan Mendenhall are officially President and Sister Mendenhall for the next 3 years. It's finally here. I can't believe it. It's been such an exciting and scary and sad time watching my parents prepare for an up root in life and serve so selflessly to 100's of young missionaries. 
My parent's said goodbye to their house on Thursday and headed down to Utah where they would enter the Missionary Training Center (M.T.C) on Saturday. 

Friday, they met up with Elder Oaks, an Apostle of the LDS church and Elder Christensen, a member of the 70. Some of my siblings and my Uncle were able to be there with them to be set apart. That is where a special priesthood blessing is given to my parents that officially gives them specific blessings to their calling as mission president.  I wish so badly I could have been there. 



Saturday they entered the M.T.C. I have a feeling it was a bit different then what a missionary goes through. They got to go to a movie "Meet the Mormons" and chow down on popcorn and soda. Not to bad of a life style... 
I seriously LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing their missionary name tags on. It just is finally real and I cannot wait to hear all about their experiences and plus go visit as much as I can. They are such incredible people! 

They learned that there are spanish speaking missionaries in the mission that they cover. Which means some spanish will need to be learned! They just learned that. haha the unexpected surprises are already started. 

They will be in the M.T.C until the end of this week and then they head to Colorado. 

I know I have said it A MILLION TIMES and I probably won't stop! My parents are so amazing and I am so beyond grateful for their example. I know they are only in Colorado and I can still call and text them as much as I would like, but there is just a different spirit now, and I love the thought of writing them letters, and telling June and OD all about their missionary grandparents. How they are leading the missionaries. It's such a sacrifice, but an incredible one. It already sounds so incredible. I love President and Sister Mendenhall and all those missionaries will too!! 
Let the countdown begin! 

Who killed Stephanie Stephens?!?

Just real quick...
Dan is out of town, the kids are in bed and it ended up being a beautiful night after an all day drizzle of rain. I love being outside and able to blog, listening to music quietly and just enjoying the fresh air that I take for granted a lot. So remember to enjoy a little out door time this week, and remember how incredibly lucky we are! 

Now. WHO KILLED STEPHANIE STEPHENS?
Murder Mystery Dinner set back to 1985. And the class mates of Stephanie were invited to Misty Island British Columbia for a reunion, when the next day Stephanie's body was washed up on shore with her hands tied and a bump on her head. 
Let thee interrogation begin! 

Dan and I, along with our awesome friends had a Murder Mystery Dinner and it was so fun! We all got to dress up as different characters and solve the murder. We interrogated each other, called each other out, and blamed each other on Murder. We had some pretty good laughs and I think it brought our friendship to a whole new level. 

The Anderson's were the ones to set it all up and did an awesome job, setting the theme and picking who would play which characters. 


Meet Monica, The uptight Neurosurgeon, who worked very hard and was kind of a brat to everyone. But she had a secret love for Dave who had no interested in her, but actually dated Stephanie! Motive?!
Then Dave, was a 5' 2" computer genius. Super geeky, and super sexy. I mean how could Monica not want a piece of that hunk of man meat? 


The girls. From left to right:
We all played our parts very well. Aly,(Krisiten the house wife) Me (Monica the neurosurgeon) Amanda ( Melinda, the glitzy tv star) and Makenna (Gertrud, our house mom from college) 


I can't believe we didn't get a picture of the guys. They did so good at dressing up! but we got so wrapped up in the murder and Makenna's delicious hawaiian haystacks that pictures were the last thing on the boys minds. 
In the end it was Kristin, (Aly) that killed Stephanie. She was super jealous that Stephanie was also secretively married to her husband! WHAT?!?! 

It honestly was so much fun!

The kids did awesome. Our original plan was to get a babysitter, but turns out all our youth were on trek that week, but they did so good. The girls just played and watched movies, and Owen fell asleep within the first 10 minutes of being there, so we just put him upstairs. It worked out great! 

It's going to be such a sad day when these girls will be split apart. The Watson's are moving this week about 40 minutes away. Thankfully we still have many plans to see them, and next year when the Anderson's are done with residency and move, might just be the saddest day... I can't even think about it! 

It was a blast of a night! 

Thursday, June 19, 2014

June said...

While reading a story out of "The Friend" magazine, there was a picture of President Monson... 

"Let's text him and say hi" - June

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Little Elm

I don't usually do a designated post for a weekly activity we do, I just throw it in there with the random photo posts, but there were too many photos and I figured it was our first trip out there this summer so it was deserving...

Little Elm is a Sandy little beach off the a lake and it is so much fun to play in. The water is warm, the sand actually is sand and not just tiny rocks, which some Texans seem to think is sand.. it's not, trust me, I'm married to a geologist and I know all about what makes sand, sand! 

We love it here. It's about a half hour away so we don't go all the time, but it's definitely a regular spot on our summer to do list. 

I loaded up the car and then met our little friends at the beach around 10. 

I built a little make shift shade spot for little OD, just so he wasn't baking in the sun all morning long. He didn't seem to mind it under there until it was nap time... He wouldn't lay down because it was A. Super hot, and B. windy, which means constant sand blowing in the little guys face. I just held him though and let him take a nap on me. Can't complain too much about that. 

We played and played and played. All of June's little friends are drawn to Makenna. They just love her, and June loves her. It's a good thing too because she will be June's teacher in the fall! Makes June starting preschool a little more easier and not such a tear jerker. 

splashing and laying in the sun with Emma and Liam 

Emma kept turning her head to look at Owen and he was loving it. She is such a little sweetheart!


Sun babes

I might die of the cuteness of June's face in this picture.

Our plan was to just stay until lunch time, but everyone was having so much fun we ending up staying until 2. A solid four hours in the sun wears anyone out. It was a quiet ride home, but as soon as we got to the house, June wanted to go swimming in the pool. I decided it would be best to take a break from the sun for a while and enjoy some indoor activity time. Owen went down for a nap and June was playing quietly in the playroom, so I went and got into the shower. 

I had NO IDEA I got so burnt! It wasn't until I was taking my swim suit off and saw in the mirror how bad it was. I did put sun screen on. The spray kind, and as you can tell I did a really good job at rubbing it in... NOT! Total fail. I have a nice splotch on my shoulder where the sunscreen was and a nice line running down my arm. Real nice. Good job me. 

It was really fun and though sand was everywhere, and seems to still be... can't get it all out of my ears, it was a very successful trip to Little Elm Beach and I can't wait to go again!