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. :)