Lovin' the Simple Life

So life with two kids hasn't been too shabby! I am tired- that goes without saying, but we've still been able to get out and about. I am getting used to this staying home thing (by that I mean not working- I rarely actually STAY at home all day), which is bad since I have to go back to work in a couple of weeks. I try not to think about that, though. (How the crap am I supposed to get everything done and be out the door by 7, and try not to act like a zombie for my patients when I don't have that extra time to sleep in or take a nap to recover from so little sleep during the night?!?)

I have been trying to get Ari out as much as I can.
We have been to the park a few times

 This is us riding on the dinosaur together. 

 Splash park. She plays for all of 5 minutes before she wants to go on the playground instead.

Ari had the "Best Day Ever" a couple of weeks ago. Well, I think it should have been the best day for her because we started out by going to Thanksgiving Point with Katie and cousin Rose. Then she got to have a picnic in the back of the Jeep. Sometimes we leave the farm too close to lunch and she falls asleep in the car, so I pack a lunch to eat in the car just incase. We left early enough to make it home, and she was mad we didn't have a car picnic there, so we had it in the garage instead (with the door open, obviously). I am sure my neighbors think we're weirdos. THEN we got to go to Draper Days that night where she was able to get her face painted and ride a horse (again). She was mad that she didn't get to go on the bouncey houses there, but they are cesspools of germs, and it was too expensive.

 Riding the horses at the farm. I love when I can get genuine smiles in pictures. 

 Feeding the goats. 

 They held hands pretty much the whole time. I'm so glad they love each other so much!

 Locke was there, too. 

 Jeep Picnic. She made me get in with her after I took a picture and shut the gate. It was pretty squished, since I was holding Locke, too. Silly girl, though I do love me a good picnic. :)

 Face painting at Draper Days. She wanted a spray on tattoo like she got last year, but they didn't have any there, so we settled for face paint. This stuff was a BEAR to get off around her eye. It took about 25 minutes in the shower and us using every face wash/makeup remover I had- turns out coconut oil worked better than anything, and she still had a hint of blue around her eye for about a day. 

I LOVE this picture. 

Uncle Tay and Amanda were able to come up for a visit the next day. We were all able to get together as a family for a yummy brunch. We sure miss having them around. Ari was seriously giddy when she got to see him. She was "showing off" by telling HORRIBLE knock knock jokes. This girl cracks me up so much!

Last weekend we were able to go to Liberty Park with Ryan's parents. Ari had been looking at old pictures on my phone of her playing at the Seven Canyon Fountains and really wanted to go there again. It's such a cool, beautiful park. We really need to go there more often. 

 This is how she poses for a picture....

 I just can't get enough of the daddy-daughter hand holding....

 Aria was VERY excited that there were rides at the park.

I have been trying to get out and walk a little more, and have so been enjoying how pretty it is up where we live. I know people complain about how hot it's been, but I soooo enjoy the warm summer weather. Sometimes I have to go out on our porch just to get out of the AC and soak up some sun and vitamin D. 

We also had a fun 24th of July at Ryan's parents. It was super low key. This is the only picture I got:

This girl seriously has me wrapped around her finger.

Papa Hawkes came for a visit this weekend so he could finally meet baby Locke. We all went to breakfast this morning, and Ari was so excited to sit by him!

I feel bad that all of Locke's pictures are just of him snuggling and sleeping.... but that is all he does. He is such a sweet boy, and he loves to snuggle, which I certainly won't complain about. 

 I was trying to get them both in the pic while sitting on the couch. It isn't a great picture- but look! Locke has his eyes open!

This is from today. I love my snuggly boy. I can't help but kiss those cheeks all the time!

We've had a very exciting weekend sitting on our butts watching the CrossFit games. I can't wait to get back to the gym!!! I miss all the people there, and I'm so ready to get my sweat on (and to be able to lose some baby weight so I can wear regular clothes again.... that will be nice. :)  ) We have a busy couple of weeks before I go back to work, so I will actually have more stuff to blog about in the near future. Yay!  

Life as the 4 MC's Thus Far

Picking up where I left off, we got home on Thursday, July 3rd with our family complete. Aria was dying to hold her little brother, so even though she was already up way past her bedtime, we let her have a moment with him:

And then the first thing she did the next morning was ask to hold him some more....

 And then she wanted to hold him again..... you see the pattern, right?

Ari also thought it was important to get Locke started on sign language flash cards right away, since he can't talk. This kind of freaked me out a bit because Locke failed one of his hearing tests (he's since been re-tested and passed) and I was worried it was some sign that I needed to prepare myself for him to NEED to know ASL. That is what happens when you are a mom- you are crazy and paranoid!!

So the first day home was the 4th of July, which Aria has been SO excited about. We started the day off just relaxing at home, and then went to Ryan's parents for a BBQ and fireworks. It was low key and perfect. Riverton Days were going on, and they had a bunch of carnival rides that Aria had seen while driving home from the hospital one day. She got all giddy and made sure she didn't forget the name of the place that had the rides and the ferris wheel. Ryan was an awesome dad and took her (the other grandkids went with their dad's, and Grandpa, too) after dinner while we were waiting for fireworks to start.

 Even Locke was dressed for the holiday!

 We had s'mores for dessert. Tasty and messy, like any legit dessert should be. ;)

 Summer nights are the best. Ryan always ends up being the firework guy on the 4th. 

 Riding the roller coaster with cousin C at Riverton Days

Fireworks at the park. I had to stay back at the house to feed the baby. It's been fun for Ari to have so much fun time with her dad. 

So far life with 2 kids has been what I expected. Busy. It's difficult to split your time between the two. I am lucky that my recovery has been pretty quick. I feel good- almost too good, because I forget to take it easy then I pay the price later. Ryan and I are tired, but that is to be expected. Ari has adjusted pretty well, and really loves her baby brother, but did mention the other morning that she didn't want to be a big sister anymore. I know she doesn't really feel that way. She loves having a buddy in the back seat with hear all the time, and gets super excited when he will hold her hand in his car seat. Locke is a good baby. He loves to snuggle, and is pretty easily consoled. He mainly gets fussy because he is a gulper when he eats and then has the gas to show for it. He has mastered the art of pooping right before you are about to put him down at night. We're still trying to get our schedule figured out, but generally he's pretty chill. I love watching the faces he makes when he sleeps. We're all trying to figure out who he looks like. I see some of my dad in him, but he also looks a lot like Ryan's newborn pictures. I guess we'll see as he grows!

We've spent lots of time riding Ari's bike since we've been home, either in our neighborhood or down at the park. Ryan was able to take Ari to Seven Peaks last week so she could play with her friends from Moab, too. We are trying to keep her busy, and none of us are very good at sitting around the house. Here are some pics of the past week:

 Kickin' it in the shade. His pants are riding up and he looks like an old man. 

 My beautiful girl. I'm so proud of what a great big sister she is. 

I love this handsome boy! 

 I love this sweet girl!! Thanks to our Moab friends for the dress for Aria!

Movie night in our room. Ari wanted to watch Ghostbusters (she already likes the classics!). She has a thing for ghosts. It's so fun seeing her grow and become her own, unique person. I love how Ryan is just sitting there, holding a binky. 

We had Locke's 1 week pictures taken, and had a couple of Ari done, too. We'd planned to just do the Baby Bella pictures that they do in the hospital, but we weren't able to do that with Lachlan being in the NICU. He was a bit grouchy for the shoot (they asked if he would be sleeping when I scheduled it. I figured he would be, but who knows the schedule of a 1 week old??). We still got some good pictures, though. 

 I love Ari's smile in this one.

 This wasn't supposed to be an actual "shot." They were just testing the light while we tried to get Lachlan calmed down. 

 We had to do these pics twice. The first time Ari knocked the bench over when she got off of it, waking up baby brother in the next room. Then those got deleted from the girls camera, somehow. The second time, she laughed so hard, she lost her balance and fell off the back of the bench, hitting her head pretty good. Poor girl cried so hard. Good thing the people had some fruit snacks to make everything better. :)

Life is good. :)