Keira had her 6-month checkup last week. She's 15.2 lbs (45%), 25.5 in. tall (50%), and 12% for head size. As hard as I try to make her stay little, my baby is growing up! She loves rolling everywhere and recently she's gotten very good at sitting up. Keira must be teething because she gnaws on everything she can get her hands on, including her own toes and Avery's fingers. Keira is still a HUGE momma's girl!! I love how much she adores me, but it can get frustrating when she won't let anyone else hold her. Going on dates together has been pretty much non-existent because Keira cries the whole time we are away!

Keira still takes a daily antibiotic but I started giving her a probiotic to counteract the negative effects of the antibiotic. This has helped so much! Her tummy doesn't seem to bother her as much, and she doesn't get yeast infections anymore either! Overall, it's definitely made her a happier baby, which makes mommy very happy!  Also, Keira's first word is "hi," and she says it in the same intonation as me. :)

We love our little Keira Bagheera!

She likes sitting in her saucer and her hair is long enough for a little piggy on top!

Sitting up

Avery always wants in on the action when I'm trying to take pics of Keira. :)

Cutie

We've had so much fun going camping this summer. We've been about 6 times. In August we went camping with the Randalls, some new friends of ours from the neighborhood. They invited us to camp at Rus' grandma's cabin in the Uintas. On our drive up to the cabin, Nate realized that he had been to the SAME cabin before! Nate served a mission with Rus' cousin, Polly, and she had taken him and a group of friends to the cabin for a ski trip! When we got to the cabin, Laura and I looked up in the "cabin log" and sure enough, Nate had signed his name in the journal back in 1998! Such a small world!

Rus and Laura have 4 kids (3 boys and 1 girl) and Avery had a blast playing with them over the weekend. We roasted marshmellows, went on an "adventure" hike (it was an adventure because we hiked through muddy, fecal-infested, nasty water!!), swam in the river, relaxed, and played games together. Another "adventure" was the drive home because our car got stuck while we were trying to get to the main road. We tried getting up this steep, rocky hill for about a half-hour before our friends towed us out. Good times! Thanks Randalls for the fun-filled weekend!!

Caleb, Aves and Gavin

Sun-screen face

Hiking

Walking through the muddy, nasty water!

Nate and Rus with kids

Some parts of the mud went up to Nate's knees! Needless to say, we were very dirty afterwards!

The girls and I spent a few days with Grandma Kay at the beginning of August. Nate joined us at nights after work, which wasn't too much further of a commute than what he usually does from Salt Lake. The girls always LOVE spending time with Grandma Kay, who spoils them every moment! We got to hang out with Liz and Jade (Nate's cousin's wife and daughter). Jade is just a few months younger than Aves and they became instant friends. We just wish Liz and Waylon lived closer so we could hang out more (they live in Maryland).

I've decided that Huntington/Emery county would be a nice place to raise kids. Nate had a great childhood growing up in a small town. There are so many fun things to do and places to explore. I enjoyed escaping "city life" and relaxing for a few days. I felt spoiled not having to cook or clean. I could use a vacation like that more often! :) Thanks for the great time Grandma and Liz!

Free swim day

Jade and Avery @ Emery county fair

Sisters

Keira has been eyeing food for a few weeks now.  Any time we eat something, she stares at the food or tries to grab what we are about to consume. She acts so jealous that she's not eating what we are! Avery was not this way as a baby so it was a bit of a surprise to me that a child took notice of food. We decided to start her on some solid foods and she loves it! She knew exactly what to do and barely spit any out with her tongue (as most babies do). She also loves eating "puffs." Here's some pics of her first rice cereal eating adventure!

Seems so little in there!

Aves getting in on the action by holding Keira's hand

Yummy!

Aves has been counting down the days until her birthday for some time now. She is so excited to be 3! Avery has grown up so much lately. She LOVES playing barbies and with princesses. She also has such a cute imagination. Everywhere we go she'll tell me of her made-up adventures, "Now we're going through a spooky cave! We better watch out for that big, big, big, scary deer!" Aves' best friend is her imaginary friend "Joni." She even pushes Joni in our swing outside. Avery also LOVES Keira! She has become my big helper with her sissy and I'm no longer afraid to leave her in the room alone with the baby. :) Avery loves to learn. She knows her ABC's and has even started writing her own name. She's excited to start preschool next month.

For Avery's birthday, she wanted to go swimming. We had a great time at Murray pool with all our family and friends. Nate's sister and mom even came from Huntington and stayed the next day as well. Avery was so spoiled with fun gifts.  Thanks to everyone who came!

I took Aves for her 3 year check-up. She weighs 31 lbs (50th percentile) and her height is 37 inches (55th percentile). She also has 20/20 vision. She cried a little when she got a shot, but was brave for the rest of the visit. I can't believe I have a three-year-old! We love our little princess.

Brandon and Suzy

Cameron and Aves

Kids after swimming

Birthday girl!

mmmm...cake

Aves with her cousin Nikai

Besties!

Kori and kids

Keira with Grandma Kay

She crashed on the floor that night from all the fun!

Going mini golfing with Nate's fam the following day

Grandma got the first hole-in-one!

Even Aves had her own little pink club and ball

My little flower girl, Alexa, is growing up!

Aves at her doctor's appt

We had an amazing time visiting Holly and boys in Missoula! Besides getting my first kidney stone the day we planned to leave, we were still able to drive 8 hours to Montana. Holly SPOILED us! She prepared delicious, healthy meals the whole weekend, let us sleep in her bed, and planned lots of fun activities. The first day she drove us around Missoula and took us on a short hike that showed a pretty view of the city.

The next couple days we spent in Glacier National Park, about 3 hours from Holly's house. Glacier is absolutely gorgeous!!! The views of mountainous peaks, lakes, and waterfalls are incredible. We did a short hike the first day and then camped that night. I was a little scared that we would see a bear, since it's bear country up there, but we did buy some "bear spray" in case we ran into one. Even though we didn't end up using the spray, it still brought me peace of mind. The second day we drove on a scenic road to the trailhead of our hike. We hiked up to Hidden Lake through the snow. The scenery again was beautiful. We even saw mountain goats, big-horned sheep, deer, and a marmot on the trail. When we stopped for lunch, a mommy and baby mountain goat came right up to us!

The last day of our trip we visited downtown Missoula and played at a fun dragon park, walked around the farmer's market and saw Jed's work. I could tell that there's a strong community feeling where people take pride in where they live. It's a perfect place to raise a family and Holly and Jed fit in great there.

On our last night, Holly and Isaac planned a little birthday party for Avery. They had some fun games planned, made a yummy cake, and even gave Aves some cute presents. Thanks for everything Holls! We had a great time and can't wait to come see you again!

Holly and Ike playing with Keira

Link and Aves

Fun picnic at the park

Downtown Missoula

Lunch at Flathead Lake on the way to Glacier

Hubbies with Kids

Gorgeous water fall - the water was so blue and clear

Hiking to Hidden Lake

Lunch intruders

Pirate Aves

Pirate Keira

Playing at a cool dragon park in Missoula

Cousins that look more like siblings

Holly and Isaac even planned a little bday party for Aves! She loved it!

July was reunion month for us! We went to Idaho for two weekends in a row to attend the John Hansen reunion in American Falls, and the Smith reunion near Fairfield. It was fun visiting with family and catching up. It was especially nice to see my Grandma Smith, who has had a few health scares in the past couple months. I also enjoyed seeing cousins that I haven't seen for years. We camped at both reunions and the girls did great! We are becoming pros at this camping-with-kids stuff. :) Avery loved going swimming and wadding in the creek.

Her clothes got wet so she stripped down. This was the same creek I played in as a kid at the Smith reunions, so it was fun to see her playing in there too.

My cousin's little girl Emme, who became my best little friend

Emme & Coulson - my newest little friends

Me and Lee

Little buddies

Dirty face! She got soooo dirty while camping!