Left Behind

I've moved enough to know how painful it is to leave behind wonderful friends.

This month I've also learned how painful it is to be left behind. 

4 of my dearest friends are moving away and I've been surprised by how many times I've spontaneously burst into tears knowing they're leaving. 

Last night I said goodbye to my dear sweet Becca. She was the first person I met when we moved here and quickly became like a sister to me.  We trained for a half marathon together, went on beach trips, saw Wicked in Boston, watched each others kids, had game nights, date nights, temple nights and just a lot of fun together. She taught what it means to be a good friend, serve others with joy and compassion, teach my children with patience and love and always speak kindly of others. She has a zest for life that is absolutely contagious and I will miss her more than she knows.

I also said goodbye to another dear friend, Suzanne who moved last week.  I'll never forget how on my first Sunday here she offered to watch my kids so we could unpack and get settled in.  I was touched that she didn't even know me but was eager and willing to serve.  I soon found that Suzanne and I shared a love for parties, girl's nights out, karaoke, Lost, and the Biggest Loser. She was my visiting teaching companion and someone I could always call at a minutes notice to help with my kids.  The day I saw the moving truck in front of her house I sat in my car and cried. I'm glad she'll only be 2 hours away in Connecticut because I WILL be visiting her whether she likes it or not ; )

My good friend Amanda moved last week as well. We had them over for one last dinner before they began their long trek out to Utah and it was so sad saying goodbye. I was Amanda's visiting teacher and our girls were in the same primary class together at church.  Amanda was so fun and easy to talk to, our visits sometimes lasted close to 3 hours because we couldn't stop gabbing! She was always so willing to help out with my girls and never made me feel like it was a burden. Love that girl and will miss her a lot!

Laura D is also moving but thankfully she's still here for another month. Like Suzanne and Becca, Laura is one of the first people who reached out to me when we moved here. She invited us over to dinner after our first Sunday at church and we became fast friends. We ran a half marathon together, she helped me decorate my first fondant cake, we've done countless babysitting swaps and she is the best hairdresser you could ask for.  One time she came to babysit so we could do a Valentines date and she brought us chocolate dipped strawberries just because she's awesome like that. She also came and made us sushi and tempura on New year's eve when I was 9 month's prego with Cam and didn't feel like going out anywhere. I will miss her spontaneous free spirit and easy going personality.

Before they left I organized a final girls night out at Angela's pizza to say goodbye . Amanda couldn't make it but we had a good turnout and enjoyed lots of chatting, laughing and of course, eating good food.

Girls Night Out

Me and my Becca Boo

This is my "I'm mad at you guys for leaving me" Face.

I will miss these amazing, wonderful and awesome ladies.  I will try to be brave and not cry every time I pass their empty houses.  It's tough being left behind but I'm happy for them and know they will do great things and be a huge blessing to everyone who meets them.

Camden at 6 months

6 month stats:

Weight: 18.5 lbs (What Teya weighed at 12 months) 65th percentile
Height: 27.3 inches  75th percentile
 He wears 9-12 month clothes and is growing out of the 9 month stuff fast!

Favorite Foods:
Mama's milk (he absolutely refuses to take a bottle)
Rice cereal with formula
Sweet potatoes
Carrots
Squash
Pears


Least Favorite foods:
peas
prunes
peaches

Nicknames:

For a few weeks we experimented with calling Cam by one of his middle names, Kekoa, to see how it fit him. We love it as a nickname but we kept going back to Cam so that's what we're sticking with. He still has many nicknames though, including, but not limited to:

Cam- Cam man

Little T

Koa, Koa bear, Ko Ko puff, Cooey Ko Ko.

Tootie-Tootie boy-Tooter-Toots

Gooey- Goo-ster- Goo Goo

Chubby wubby, Chub Chub

(in case you were wondering, most of the nicknames were given to him by the girls ; )

Cam is a social little guy and a shameless flirt. I thought all those smiles were for me because he thinks I'm so special but apparently he gives them to anyone who will look his way and make eye contact.

He can roll over both ways now, so when we put him down he just rolls all around his crib till he's wrapped up in his blankey, then he pops in his thumb and passes out.

He has 6 pearly white chompers in that little mouth of his! The bottom two came in a couple months ago and the top erupted a few weeks ago with 4 at the same time!! Makes for a a rough night of sleep but you gotta love that toothy grin!

He's got enough hair to rock the faux hawk now. Little rebel!

He's still not sitting up too well on his own but he'll do the bendy lean thing for a few minutes before he face plants or falls over.

This picture makes me laugh because it's so Cam. The big dark brown chocolatey eyes with the long eyelashes, those fat pouty lips and the ever constant drool.  Love that baby : )

He continues to be beloved by his sisters and is getting used to their constant smothering. In fact, I think he gets a little sad when they're not around to kiss on him.

We sure love our little Camden Taber Kekoa and can't get enough of his squishy awesomeness : )

Bonus: Click Here for a 15 second video of him burning up some energy in the Johnny jump. One of the best baby gear inventions ever.

Fitness University: Finals Day

After 8 weeks of Fitness University running clinics the kids got to show off their skills on Finals day last weekend. 

All the kids got  Fitness University graduation T-shirts and running bibs then headed off in their age groups to do a warm up lap.

Parents had to stay off the track and sit in the stands except for those of us with 3 year olds. We got to be down on the field with our kiddos to help their coaches keep them contained. 

Brinley doing her warm up lap

The first event was the 9 year olds doing 3/4 mile (3 laps) so they kept the little ones entertained at the snip-its tent with hair painting. Brinley got hot pink swatches with blue sparkles and Teya went for an orange pony tail with gold sparkles.

Then it was time for the 3 year olds to warm up. They had a super energetic fitness instructor up there leading the kids and she was great! 

When they were finished they lined up for their 100 yard dash. Brinley was adorable and I got a short 19 second video of her running into the finish line. Love how she gives me a big cheeser smile as she passes me. You can tell she was enjoying herself.

At the finish line they were rewarded with fancy medals

They also had a food tent with bagels, oranges, juice, and more water. Brinley filled up on the oranges.

 Teya's 400 meter wasn't till near the end so by the time she was up the clouds were gone and the sun was blazing down. She still ran strong and finished with a kick at the end. Here's a little clip of her starting out.

There she goes, looking controlled and confident.

Here she is about half way through, right before the kick.

And this is her kicking it in at the end, passing the other kids who stopped to walk. Her goal was not to walk the whole time and she did it no problem.

All smiles at the finish line.

My proud little runners with their shiny new medals. 

We came home and had peanut butter toast with bananas (a great pre or post run snack) and talked about how sad we were that it was all over.

Teya said, "I'm going to miss fitness university, but maybe we can still go to the track and run just by ourselves." 

The purpose of the program is to get kids excited about being active. I'd say mission accomplished!

Brinley's Barnyard Birthday Bash

Little Brinley Grace turned 3 last week.

For the past 6 months (not kidding you) she has been asking for a horsey party. 

 I ended up leaning more towards barnyard animals with a pony in the mix and a some cowgirl flair thrown in there as well.

It was a huge success and the birthday girl was all smiles on her special day. My friend Brandon was kind enough to take pics of the party for me since I was busy with my hosting duties. They came out awesome so I decided to post a bazillion of them on here because I want them all in my blog book.

Anyway, prepare yourself for picture overload : )

Highlight of the horsey party was the horsey (naturally) but before we get to that here are some of the decorations.

 When I walked in the door with the farm animal balloons Brinley's eyes popped out of her head and she said, "THANK YOU MAMA! THANK YOU FOR MY HORSEY BALLOON!" So sweet how the simple things make kids so happy.

 Nothing like crepe paper and balloons to give the room a festive feel.

 Outside we had a little petting farm with chickens, ducks, rabbits and a baby goat.

 The kids got to go inside the pens and feed the animals, pet them and play with them. This is one of my favorite pics of Brinley with the baby goat. She just looks too precious.

 Happy Girl with her friend Hazel and little goaty

 Besides the animals in the pens, the farmer also brought some baby bunnies and ducklings for the kids to hold. She LOVED that little bunny.

The ducklings were also a big hit

 She was pretty excited that the ducky was sitting right in her lap.

 Koa wanted to eat the ducky. He pretty much wants to eat everything.

 When they brought out Pearl the Pony that's when things really got exciting.

 Brinley had the honor of taking the first ride.

 She looked like such a cutie cowgirl on that pony.

 Also I'm in love with her boots. Totally worth the hunt online to find them. Every cowgirl needs her boots : )

 Teya taking a ride on Pearl

Chub chub and his sissy's on the pony. Look at those squishy knees! Chub-a-licious!

 Another ride for the birthday girl. She was loving it.

Taber and I workin' the party with our cowboy hats. (yeah we're kind of nerdy cool like that ; )

 After Farmer McDonny left the kids ate hotdogs, watermelon, strawberries, blueberries and potato chips while the grown ups had pulled pork sandwiches.

The kids chowed down on their food.

 And Koa bear chowed down on his buddy Desmond's toes. I told you he'll eat anything.

My friend Darby, who made Teya's  Fairy cake, also made Brinley's barnyard cake. All the animals are made from fondant. She is amazing.

Blowing out the candles.

We did a barnyard craft, the kids got cowboy hats and handkerchiefs, then it was time to gather their goody bags and head home.

The birthday girl loved her party and seeing her reaction made all the work of putting it together worth it.

Happy Birthday Brinley Grace! We love you!