Oh what do we do in the summertime?

This summer has been infinitely better than last summer. Last summer I worked full time, the water at Bear Lake was too cold to enjoy and we were only able to go for a weekend, our trip to Colorado was for Daniel's funeral, and instead of a cuddly bug baby I had a stomach bug called morning sickness.

This summer I was in my second semester of clinicals which was very part time; I usually only did 20 hrs/wk. The weather and water at Bear Lake were perfect and we were there for an entire week, our trip to Colorado was to do Daniel's temple work, and we have the flipping fetchingest cutest dang baby to accompany us on all our adventures.

And plus also a hundred other things made it a smashing summer.

BEAR LAKE

Bear Lake was our wonderful vaca with the McKean side of the family, although you wouldn't know they were even there by my absolute lack of pictures with them....just James, Grace, and yours truly. The week was filled with sleeping in, jet skiing, games, HGTV, ridiculous "would you rather" questions, bike rides, running, walking, sitting,  reading, tennis,  M&M's, ice cream, guacamole, potato chips, yum yum take me back.....

Baby Grace chillaxin' in her rocker on the beach

Talk to the foot because this baby's too cool for the camera.

What good lookin' folk I call family.

Nakey baby. Mouth full of fists.

Not sure how she feels about Daddy's vacation scruff.

Happy family in front of a swamp.

Sunbathing under a blanket.

Hating on the paparazzi. Or maybe she's actually asleep.

Grace found something on the ground frustratingly fascinating.

 COLORADO

Grace's first flight. Glad that's over with. She had a well-timed blowout just before boarding and a meltdown when the plane momentarily stopped taxing, but other than that (as I've mentioned before) she was great.

The first day in Colorado was wonderful but difficult. It was the one-year anniversary of Daniel's death. As family and close friends, we gathered at the Denver Temple to do his temple work, and at least for me, it was an experience of joy and peace. It was the loveliest way to honor and remember him, and as my parents pointed out-the last thing in mortality we can do for him. It is so wonderful to have gospel knowledge to keep us grounded, motivated, and hopeful for "a better world" (Ether 12:4).

Photo cred to whoever took this. It wasn't me. 

I love this picture. It includes everyone except Grace (and Daniel, of course)

Photo cred to Shay. #evakate #totesadorbs

After the temple session we went to Outback Steakhouse where Daniel used to work (we went to a Denver location however) and was nominated employee of the month several times. James and I were able to visit his headstone for the first time which was very surreal. It was raining, the cemetery was still and quiet, and the headstone was beautiful. We found lots of flowers, notes, etc. near the grave left by Daniel's thoughtful friends.

This wasn't when we went to visit it, but it is a clearer picture. It says "Beloved Son, Brother, and Friend." And below, "Blessed are the Peacemakers," for Daniel truly was one.

It seemed out of place to smile in this picture.

This is Shay, cleaning off the grave. She's the sweetest.

Grace had her first cold while in Colorado, so we missed out on the Sky Sox game(minor league baseball) the family went to because she slept from 6pm-morning, but we got a Redbox and ice cream which is second to none...except maybe to the Dippin' Dots I was so anxiously anticipating at the Sky Sox game. We went on a double date with Morgan and Eliza to Garden of the Gods and to a restaurant to eat delicious bison burgers. We got to catch up a bit with Jimmy and Charina AND Shaleena (my two dear childhood friends who live in TX and OK). What an amazing coincidence that all of us were in the Springs the same weekend for three different reasons! We met both of their newest baby boy additions and now Grace has four choices as to whom she will declare her betrothed.

Garden of the Gods. Voted most beautiful park in the US according to something I saw on Facebook once.

Don't be fooled-I'm the only one keeping that rock from tipping.

Two blond men named James, two brunettes wearing pink v-necks. Unfortunately I forgot to get a pic with Shaleena.

Grace sure loves being outside. And Aunt Sterphenerph

And Eva loves Grace. :)

We also took family pictures in the backyard in Daniel's memorial garden. I don't have a pic of the whole family, but this is the whole family James and I have created thus far.

PARK CITY

I'm embarrassed to say I don't have more than one picture of Grace to document this trip. I'm not embarrassed to say that's because we were having too much fun! This was a two-day offsite/work retreat with James' firm (well, the firm he works for at least). We got to stay in a nice hotel and had access to pool, hot tub, alpine slide, coaster, DIPPIN' DOTS, and a number of other fun and yummy cositas. A great time was had by all. James works with awesome guys who have awesome families.

We all got T-shirts! Even Grace!

Okay, and here's the other picture I took. Haha. Grace asleep in a restaurant.

Since we're talking about James and work...here's James' work pic. Sorry honey, couldn't resist. You're too handsome! :)

ST. GEORGE

I have to admit, our trip to St. George was the epitome of vacation (for me at least. James continued to work hard on MBA applications). My in-laws share a house down there with a few other families, and they reserved this weekend for us. We went to half of a Tuacahn show (rained out after intermission), went on a long walk and small hike in Snow Canyon, took Grace swimming, went shopping, went out to eat, read, watched movies, went to a park, and never wanted to come home. Oh, and Grace learned to roll over, slept four hours EACH WAY on the drive down and back, and was the most pleasant, amazing baby the whole trip.

This face illustrates the kind of baby Grace was ALL weekend.

Testing out this hiking bag at the park. She actually didn't love it. Good thing it was borrowed.

But she did love riding on my shoulders.

Always spitting, but always cute.

Rainy Beauty and the Beast Tuacahn date (cancelled after intermission)

Doughnuts from The Fractured Prune. French toast, banana cream pie, and caramel bliss. SO DELISH.

Cinnamon rolls at the Saturday street market/fair/thing at Tuacahn

James loved this hand-carved wood vase. So we bought it.

We loved this man driving this tiny car that said "Street Legal" on the front windshield. So we took a pic of him.

Books+Grace make for a lovely time outside.

Such a sweet face.

Grace loves this tube.

Our appetizer was the cutest lil "frito slider." Sad face means he was pretending it was his main course.

LOVE

Grace just chilled while we cleaned up the house before leaving.

We had a picnic outside the St. George temple.

And took a family selfie.

And we've done a lot of other fun summer things aside from trips.

Pool time at home

Oakley Rodeo

Hokulia shave ice 

Walks in the stroller 

Friends

Some seriously grumpy reclining on the balcony in the diaper. Actually she's just content, but her resting face when she's outside looks like this.

Shoulder rides at BBQs

More pool time

Healthy picnic dinners

While baby sleeps, parents eat

Walks in the carrier

Free outdoor concerts at the park

Errands with mom...like napping at the church while mom practices the piano

Bowling

Walks in Grandma's stroller

Books sales at the library

Homemade pizza with Grandpa

Holding hands with cousin Lily

In between all the fun James worked on MBA applications and went to work like a man and I did clinicals in the hospital and did online classes like a woman. I am officially halfway done with my ultrasound program!!! Next August I will be done with school and we'll be getting ready to move so James can start school.

Five months of Grace

I'm so grateful Grace is ours forever, because every month she just gets exponentially cuter! I'm sure that might change around puberty, but up until now it has proved to be true.

She is 5 months old today!

Her adorable outfit is brought to you by Morgan and Eliza, who gifted it to us just a few weeks ago and the timing couldn't have been more perfect! It's a 3-mo-old outfit but it fits her wee body and it's short and revealing in all the right places. She wears these shorts all the time now because they show off where da chub at: her legs. Yummy yummy baby thighs.

Okay anyway, here are all the wonderful tidbits of sweet Gracie girl these days:

• She can pick up and put her own binky in her mouth. Sometimes it's backwards but sometimes it's not.
• She can roll over, although she's a bit reserved about it and she definitely has an easier time with the right side. Today, though, she's rolled over more than ever before. A few times I've looked at her and been like "what the?! You were on your back until I turned around for a second!" She's sneaky like that.
• She can hold up her own bottle, which is very convenient at times
• She is WAY more smiley and is giving us some giggles
• She is more responsive to her name
• Her arms are outstretched and she shakes when she's really anxious to eat
• She usually gets really smiley and playful when we lay her down for bed which makes it so hard to just turn the lights out and close the door
• She grabs at our bowls, plates, cups, and bottles, and seems especially aware of ice cream
• She cries when we're playing with her and then walk away
• Her favorite toy currently is the pouch of wet wipes
• She still sleeps through the night but she throws her legs around and whines so she's a little disruptive haha
• She sticks out her tongue and blows bubbles
• She is just incredibly observant everywhere she goes
• When sitting in her bouncer chair she fully extends her legs and then rolls both her ankles in circles
• She loves to suck on her toes
• She tried solids twice (rice cereal) and maybe kind of swallowed a bite or two. It wasn't a big success.
• She loves to go outside. Sometimes it is the only thing that will soothe her.
• She has tried out swimming and decided she's a fan.
• She went on her first flight and decided to have a meltdown when the plane stopped taxing, but other than that she was swell
• She jabbers, grunts and squeals a lot, especially in her car seat
• Sometimes she gets SO excited and screeches around active babies and little kids
• She sticks all blankets and spit rags in her mouth and she tries to eat everyone's fingers
• She has outgrown her bathtub but loves taking showers 
• She has started rubbing her eyes when sleepy
• She got her first cold about three weeks ago and is still recovering a little. We love her cute little cough but not her hacking and stuffy nose in the middle of the night. She has remained pretty pleasant despite not feeling well.

She is such a cute face and we cannot ever stop kissing her. We feel so lucky. :)

Four months of Grace

Grace hit her 4-month mark on Friday and I can't believe how much she has changed and is changing at this age!

Don't be deceived-she usually is not this pleasant during tummy time.

She's so wiggly she's got some blurred limbs, but how can I not post this smile?

Four-month-old Grace:

• Weighs in at 13.5 lbs, 30th percentile
• Is 24 inches long, also 30th percentile
• Has a head circumference of 16.22 inches, 70th percentile
• Smiles so much more than she used to, especially when she wakes up and especially at men
• Is laughing a little and trying to laugh more
• Almost always prefers standing (not on her own of course) to any other position
• Gets closest to laughing/really excited when we stand her up after we change her diaper
• Constantly sucks on her hands and prefers both at the same time
• Carefully observes and envies all the food she sees people eating
• Is so playful and social and always wants to be entertained
• LOVES being outside
• Still does her hilarious fake sneezes
• Has jabbering conversations with people she really likes (often that's James)
• Eats so much more quickly
• Screams and squeals and squirms when we try to burp her
• Hardly ever cries herself to sleep. She just lays there wide awake smiling and then falls asleep on her own.
• Sleeps 10 solid hours every night
• Has outgrown her bassinet for sleeping
• Is more alert and difficult at church
• Grunts for no apparent reason ALL the time
• Can often hold her bottle
• Sucks on blankets and spit rags constantly
• Pushes her binkies out with her tongue
• Sucks on her tongue and bottom lip
• Has started drooling some
• Is a merciless hair-puller
• Likes to sit up in her little frog chair and watch me in the kitchen....basically a bumbo chair
• Enjoys being kissed all over her face...evidenced by the tongue hanging out, the panting, and the stillness

She is so sweet and the love of our lives. We are having so much fun watching our little bug grow up.

No months of Grace's parents

So it happened. We had a baby and she became our world. Now it's all about her, and rightly so. But we're going to pretend like you're all interested in some updates about Grace's parents. We're both smiling and jabbering and growing out of our clothes just like Grace, but we're also doing other things too.

Aleisha

I, for one, am obviously not doing that 10-day health challenge anymore that I wrote about...52 days ago. The summary with that goes thusly:

I got tired of taking pictures of food I mostly didn't like.

It  was, however, a great kickstart back into working out as I could just do different workouts (T25, P90X, 21 Day Fix, Insanity, etc) here in the apartment (because our neighbor below us moved out. Otherwise....I still probably would have done it haha). I was reminded of and introduced to some excellent and more healthy snack substitutes to finger-fulls of frosting. Such substitutes include:

• apples and almond butter
• bell peppers and hummus
• cottage cheese and nothing
• peanut butter and honey rolled up on a tortilla

That last one is just my favorite snack that I've eaten all my life and will never give up. In recent years it has been a 100% whole wheat tortilla, so calm down.

Speaking of getting back into working out...I'm really not working out. I actually went in to see a doctor this past Monday and was told (2nd time in the past 2 years) that I have IT Band Syndrome and need physical therapy. Don't know what exactly caused it or why it caused it when it did. It didn't really hinder me during pregnancy because I didn't try to run much, but now that I'm wanting to get back into running (I was never a "runner" per se, but I ran a little, yo), it's very apparent that my first bout of PT did not do the trick. So I'm a little discouraged and a little muffin-toppy, but no matter....no matter.

I am in my summer semester of clincials with SLCC's Diagnostic Medical Sonography program, or shall we call it "ultrasound school?" In August I will be halfway done! And oh yeah, back in March the week before Grace was born I passed the physics portion of my ultrasound board exams!! I am learning SO much and loving it SO much. It brings out my inner nerd when I talk about anatomy all day and get so jazzed to see patients with such photographic liver vessels. I am doing two online classes in addition to clinicals, so no physical class time, and I only have to do 16 hours of clinicals per week to stay on track of my hours. It's flexible though, and my lovely mother-in-law watches Gracie baby while I am away checking for goiters on people's thyroids. 

Other than that I started a book club this year that is A) massive (we hit a record of 7 people last month!) and B) further evidence of my inner nerdiness. It has gotten me really excited to have friends over once a month for treats and book discussions. Goodreads is becoming my new Facebook and I frequent the library....frequently. (Anyone reading this can join via Facebook or physical presence at an upcoming book club meeting.) 

I am busy practicing the piano for the choir, gawking at everything on Food Network, LOVING the summer weather and walks with hubby and baby, and tripping over furniture.

James

James is a busy bee with a longer lifespan than an actual bee. He started up a tutoring program in our ward this past semester and it really helped some kids out. He was called as the ward executive secretary at the beginning of the year and so he spends Tues evenings hanging with the Bishop Rick (more commonly known as bishopric) and meeting people in the ward. He's always busy scheduling appointments and also serves as the ward choir pianist's babysitter, so instead of coming to choir with me, he spends some quality time with his girl Grace.

James is the awesomest of all the awesomes. Let me tell you a little something about J Frank. He is spectacular about setting goals and following through with them. Anyone who knows him knows this. And that is why he has accomplished so much in his life. Here are two of his current goals (in my words, of course):

• Run. He just wants to run more, run harder, faster, be in better shape, spend some more time enjoying the summer weather, etc, and he's totally making it happen. He has his week of workouts planned out and he gets up early each morning and runs. Sometimes 3 miles, sometimes 10. Always sweaty. I told him the other day I wish this increase his physical fitness would automatically increase my physical fitness the way an increase in his income affects us both equally. Alas.
• Rock MBA applications. (These are definitely not his words). He is also on a schedule dedicated to applying for business school this fall. He's revamping his resume, brainstorming and writing essays, and doing all sorts of research on the schools he's interested in. It will be many months until applications are over and even more months until we know where we'll be moving next fall, but that's okay. We'll just continue to love Draper while we wait.

The dos of us

We have done lots of fun things together since I last wrote about US, but I will only tell you about them if I have a picture of the event, because I'm tired of using so many words.

Oh dang, all I have are pictures of Grace.

The tres of us

Three months of Grace

I feel like Grace has been three months ever since she hit two months, because she's been wearing almost exclusively 3-month clothes. But it is official; today she is three months old!

Some things you should know about 3-month-old Grace:

• While she is not the most smiley baby, she is giving a LOT more smiles these days, especially in the morning, and especially to men.
• She sucks on her hands and fingers constantly
• She licks her right arm during tummy time when she needs to give her noggin a rest
• She jabbers like crazy, especially during tummy time
• She wants so badly to talk and is very interactive and observant when people are talking to her
• She gets excited and is trying to laugh, although for now it mostly sounds like breathlessness accompanied by arms and legs wildly akimbo
• She is calmed down by being in a sitting or standing position
• She's a great sleeper. To celebrate her 3-mo-mark she slept 10 hours!
• She can hold her head up really well
• She's increasingly more social and wants to be where the people are
• She seems to like music and when people dance with her
• She is very attentive to the TV (not sure how much I like that)
• She is grabbing, holding, and taste-testing the different fabrics of her blankets and spit rags
• She still likes us to hold the binky in her mouth and will hold our hands and fingers as we do
• She always wants her carseat cover open so she can observe everything
• She is is so expressive
• She is still a major spitter and it looks like she probably has eczema
• Her fake sneezes have gotten increasingly more hilarious, almost like she's doing it for her own entertainment
• Although it seemed impossible, she just keeps getting cuter.

We love our tiny Grace face!