Where has the summer gone???

We have been such slackers with our blog lately! Every time I take a cute picture or have something happen, I think, "oh, that'll be perfect for our blog" and I just keep forgetting! So, here are a few random posts in one.

This summer, our niece on Shawn's side got married. While the family was all together, we decided to go on a little family outing to Willard.

Our niece zonked right out with the nature sounds all around her.

This is Shawn's mom with our oh-so-cute baby niece.

My brother-in law taking in the beautiful scenery

Oakley missed his nap and was super tired. I expected him to be beastly, but he just sat in that chair and watched everyone. He sat there for over an hour-basically asleep with his eyes open.

This is just a shot I couldn't resist. We've been loving having Daddy home all day.

Do you think Oakley may be outgrowing his swing??? He pushes himself.

My favourite ;-)

For those that remember about Shawn's fashion sense, here's a new one for you to giggle about. Shawn's been playing Mr. Mom lately, and this is what I found when I got home from work. I got a good laugh out of it! Oadie added the single shoe on backwards, of course!

Here's Oakley helping daddy work. I finally have switches in my house!!! My project that I wanted done was to put some in our living room because we used to have to walk through the dark room and pull the chain on our light. Now, not only do I have switches, but I have 4-way switches at every entrance into my living room! And, I can turn on my kitchen light without having to walk through the kitchen and reach behind the microwave. Shawn decided that while he was at it, he put switches in our room and Oakley's room for our fans. It's so nice!!!
This shows the true cowboy side of our son. He was supposed to be taking a nap, and I kept hearing him grunting and struggling with something, but he wasn't asking for help, so I just left him. After he stopped, I went in to check on him...and this is what I found. He had been working so hard to get his boots on. I now have to keep his boots out of his sight, or he has to wear them all the time-he even throws fits if he had to take them off to get in the tub!

Congratulations!

I've been absent from my blog for some time now (cough *two months* cough). I noticed my birthday ticker for Oadie Toadie said, "Oadie Toadie is now 2 years old. Congratulations!" Did my blog even doubt my parenting skills??? I'm glad we've all made to see his 2nd birthday. Here are some pics to prove he had one ;-) More pics from our grand travels will be posted later.

We started the day off right by going on a hike to see the Assateague Island light house. Here we are with my family.

and my second family-the Receveurs

I then spent the rest of the day making this (with a little help from my mom and Miss Tina-the cake decorator!)

He's still figuring out the whole blowing concept.

My favourite shot from the day. He picked up the cake and started playing with it right away ;-)

My little Picasso

Is there a better way to end the day?

I can almost count the days on my fingers!!!

I know we've been major slackers lately keeping up on our blog. It happens ;-) I chalk it up to the fact that we've got a big trip planned on the 21st. I'm soooooo excited about this trip. First of all, Shawn and I could really use the break from reality. Also, Oakley's just at such a fun age right now, I can't wait for my family to see him. He shows off, mimics, plays, and even tells his own jokes-it'll be so much fun! We are flying back to PA then driving straight down to VA for my big brother's graduation from UVA Law. On the way down to VA, we are stopping at some long-time friends house and visiting them for a day/night. From my brothers graduation, we are heading straight to a sea-side condo in the Chesapeake Bay where we will spend the week playing games, fishing, crabbing, and playing on the beach with some other long-time friends. From there, we head back up to PA, drop Shawn off at the Philly airport for his return flight, and continue straight up to another condo in the Poconos. There, we get to do the same thing...play, swim, relax! After that week, we go back to my parents' house where we get to go to my little brother's high school graduation, spend a few more days visiting, then fly back to UT. There will be a lot of driving involved, but it will soooooooo be worth it! I can't wait!!!

Sneaky Little Devil

I went downstairs to trim my family's hair and this is what I found.

After searching the entire basement for close to an hour, I started getting a little suspicious of Oakley's toy trike. My suspicions proved correct when I found

this...sneaky little devil!!!

Model Train Show

For the past few years, Shawn has gotten so excited about the Model Train Show at the Union Station. Every year, we've forgotten about it and missed it. This year, I even put it in my trusty phone. It reminded me about it, we hopped in the car, and went! Oakley liked it, but got bored with it pretty quickly. I think he'd appreciate it a little more next year.

Oakley ignored the trains at first and ran straight into the Car Museum. He got a little mad at the fact that he couldn't grab them and play with them.

Watching the trains go 'round

I took this pic, noticed Oakley's face, and tried for another one. I was so focused on Oakley's face that I took another one and didn't even notice my hubby.

This is what I saw when we got home...what to do with him?!

It was amazing to see all the detail they put into the models. I'm glad Shawn's not quite as obsessed with his trains.

My B-Day

It's hard to believe you're only 25 when your body feels twice that old! I got to celebrate with my 3 favorite men. The two that live with me, of course, and my dad got to fly out and visit his grandson! He told me it was for my birthday, but I know the real reason my parents make these semi-monthly trips!!! Shawn teases me every year for being able to drag my birthday out all week. It's just mad skill ;-) Before I knew my dad was flying out, I was a little bummed because Shawn was going to be at work all day, then he had physical therapy right afterwards, and as soon as he got home, I'd have to go coach bball so I wouldn't really get to see him at all. He ended up surprising me before he left for work, then I got to spend the day with my dad. He took me to Ruby River for lunch, and to Target for a little birthday shopping! Anyways, it turned out to be a really good birthweek.I got to celebrate with friends, and lot of family. Oakley's favourite present that I got was a yard full of balloons.

I had some issues with the layout-sorry! The first is of my dad and Oakley at lunch on my bday. They were dancing to the music, but of course, as I pulled my phone out, they stopped. The second one doesn't have sound for some reason, but I like the fact that it looks like an old silent movie. Just imagine him running up to each balloon, and yelling at them in his "tough guy" voice, then laughing hysterically when they wiggle!

Valentine's Day...long overdue!

Due to my pneumonia-induced laziness lately, I haven't gotten around to updating my blog. I wanted to share our Valentine's Day fun. Shawn and I celebrated the Saturday before because we had a free babysitter! On Sunday, it's our tradition to make heart-shaped pancakes and have a red/pink breakfast. My sister got to come up and celebrate with us, also. We were looking forward to a fun sister's weekend, but instead, I was sick so she just got to help with Oakley (which I don't think she really minded!) I had made cookie dough to cook on Valentines Day. She and Oakley got to make the cookies.

These are Oakley's cookies-he'd grab the extras, roll them into "balls", and throw them onto the pan. He also was copying Larissa cutting out the cookies by stabbing them with the spatula after they were on the pan. They still tasted delicious, though!

She took him for a walk afterwards and he came back all sweaty. This is what we do to him when his hair's wet like this...poor kid!

Pics finally!

Here are the pics I've been promising ;-) This is a glimpse into our lives last month.

I added this one just because it blows me away every time I see it. It doesn't look anything like the Oakmeister, but it's him!

The real Little Man


Helping Bobshi shovel the driveway the day of Shawn's surgery. Yes, that's my crazy hubby in the shorts!!

Bobshi helped Little Man build a snow slide to play on...it was his favorite!

Bobshi spoiled me rotten...we got to watch movies on her computer

and she bought me a new bike to ride around the house

He got to play with Grandma and Grandpa, too. (Shawn's parents)

Here's the gang vegging after our surgeries-Oakster's helping us feel much better

Helping Daddy do his stretches

Oakster entertained us while we vegged

This is his favorite hat-it's half of his shapesorter!

Our "basement dweller" had carpet put in our basement-it looks so much better!!!

My life as a game of Charades

I'm starting to feel really guilty because every time I check up on friends' blogs, I see my blog on their list of blogs, and see "1 month ago" under ours. Shame on me. I really don't have an excuse for it, either-we've been doing nothing but sitting around at our house! We just haven't quite felt up to it, though-here's the story.
Back in November, I needed to get my tonsils out, but we decided to wait until the new year to start out fresh on our insurance since I was no where near meeting our maximum out of pocket for last year. I scheduled it for Jan. 14th because my mom was flying out to help with Oakley and she found a good deal then. I had everything ready for my surgery. The Saturday before the 14th, we went sledding at a park near our house. Shawn decided to go crazy and blow out his knee. It was actually a recurring problem from his mission, but this time, he couldn't get his knee to "pop" back in place. We took him to the doc and he said he needed surgery asap. (yay!) Luckily, my mom was here to help out ( I don't think she minded being around her grandson for 3 weeks!), and we have an awesome ward that took great care of us! Did I mention we thought Oakley broke his ankle during this time, too? He had a lot of swelling, but luckily it was just a sprain. (It sure was fun to hold him down to take the xrays!)

There were many good things that came from my silence and our surgeries, though.

1.)It took such an effort to get my point across, that I only tried when it was really important. It forced me to realize what was truly important.

2.) I realized my sweet hubby knows me so well that I didn't even have to say anything. He was really good at predicting my needs and taking care of me sometimes before I even knew I needed anything.

3.) Oakley because very good at reading body language as well. It pained me to not be able to say "I love you", but he knew I did ;-)

4.) Shawn and I were both "couch-ridden" and unable to pick Oakley up, so over the last few weeks, he has become extremely cuddly. I love it! He'll randomly walk up to us all the time now, and just give our legs great big bear hugs.

5.) We are all healthier now!!!


P.S. For anyone needing a tonsillectomy, here's a word of advise. If you ever feel the urge to cough, simply take a drink instead. Life will be so much better!!!

E-I-E-I-O

During our trip back East, we got to visit with some good family friends that made the trek down from NY for Chocolate Days. One of their little boys was singing his new favorite song, Old MacDonald. Odie Toadie here picked up on it, and has been saying E-I-E-I-O ever since. This video shows the first time he actually said it at the appropriate time. Now we're working on the animal sounds ;-)