Yellowstone 2011!!!

My Grandma and Grandpa Baum have spent time every summer in Yellowstone National Park for as long as I can remember.  Most of the family goes up during that time and spends time up there.  This year we were able to make a REALLY quick trip up for the weekend with Chris and Annie and Tara, Eric and their family.  We left Thursday night (July 15) and met up with the Wardell's in Rexburg, ID.  After some detours and a lot of hours in the truck, we pulled into our campsite at 2:07 am. (I remember because we made a bet as to what time we would get there and I guessed it exactly right!)  After setting up what had to be done that night we all crashed with the hope that the kids would sleep really good.  Derrick was great to get up with Madi when she was done sleeping way before the rest of us were.  We ate breakfast and were ready to go explore by 11:00. 

Here is Easton all dressed and ready for his first vacay!

There was elk EVERYWHERE this year.  In the past, it has been bison that ruled the park but this year they were off far from the road and the elk were the ones blocking the roadways and stopping traffic.

We didn't get to stop at very many waterfalls but we did stop at this one that I don't remember seeing in the past.  This is Chris and Annie.  I am SOOO glad that we were able to go with them.  We had so much fun and made some great memories that we will laugh about years from know!

Tara, Eric and their kids had never been to Yellowstone so Old Faithful was a must!  We toured the new visitors center and watched a short movie before going out to see the geyser spew it's hot self everywhere.  Madi saw several of her favorite animal... mans best friend.

I think this guy was probably the highlight of her trip.  She LOVED this dog and he was so friendly.  He couldn't stop kissing her and she kissed and loved on him right back.  (I am not a dog person and find it gross but the joy it brings to Madi is one of the sweetest things.  I love to see how happy dogs make her and have even thought about getting one in the distant future.)

And for me, camping isn't camping without some yummy smores.  I showed Madi how to roast the gooey marshmallows and put it all together.

On Saturday we were determined to find us a bear.  We planned to drive the upper loop.  Across from the mud pots were the closest buffalo we had seen, so we hiked down a little to see them across the river.

Madi was excited to see the buffalo and kept yelling and pointing at them.

We stopped at Mt. Washburn for lunch and then kept going.  Just past Towers by a little pond we saw our first bear.  It was fun for the kids to see even though we had to stay in our cars.  We just got a quick picture as we drove by.

Since we hadn't seen a bear or wolf in Hayden Valley we decided to check out Lamar.  We didn't see our bear or wolf but we did see some pronghorn and bison close to the road.  We only went a few miles in since there is construction on the NE side of the valley.

As we continued we on to Mammoth we saw three more black bears, a sow and her two cubs.  (I am not sure where that picture is.  I will add it later.)

As usual, there was elk all over Mammoth.  We toured the museum, got some ice cream and relaxed in the shade before heading back to camp.

This is some of the elk in the median in Mammoth.

I REALLY wanted to see a grizzly and a wolf but all we saw on our way home was more elk, a few far off bison and a few coyotes.

We got back to the camp after dark and and had our yummy taco salad before turning in.  Madi didn't sleep as well as she had the night before which means neither did we.  As soon as we got up we had to pack up camp and shower so we could stand to be in a car together for the ride home.  (OK, I don't think we really stunk THAT bad, but the showers were definitely nice.)

As we left the park we stopped at the Yellowstone sign to capture a picture of our first family vacation.

Chris and Annie...

Tara, Eric, Braden, Alex and Brynlee...

(It was so fun to spend time with them.  It has been a really long time since we have seen them!)

Another of Chris and Annie...

(there was an elk that walked across the river right at the bend.  It was cool to watch it go in.  In the center you just saw her little head bobbing across.)

I love this picture of Madi.  We almost didn't stop for pictures because Madi was asleep.  I am so glad that we did.

Madi and Brynlee... the two of them are only six months apart.  It was fun to see them with each other.  Madi enjoyed having some new friends around.  She is a social butterfly when it comes to kids and warms right up to them.

Tara and Eric had to park their van over by the laundry/showers due to the camp vehicle limit.  When they went to get it on Sunday morning they noticed that a couple of visitors had tried to get in during the night.  They had bear paw prints all over it.  There was at least two, a cub and an older bear. This is about the best picture I could get since there was a glare and a little someone put his hand print over the top of it.

Madi slept a lot of the way home but enjoyed playing games on the phone too.

Easton did great!  He was a trooper and hardly fussed the whole time. We had a fabulous trip and can't wait for the next one!

This one is a little out of order but sometimes that's how it goes. :D

out of order...

She's an All Star!!!

Derrick got tickets to the All Star game at Bee's Stadium last week.  We were on third base.  The game wasn't super great, in fact it was pretty boring, but Madi had a great time and it was nice to enjoy some family time and they had an amazing firework show at the end.  It was Madi's first game and she didn't pay attention to any of it.  (I didn't think she would :D)  She loved going up and down the stairs, climbing in and out of chairs and over the backs of them. 

While she was getting some ice cream with Derrick she saw this monkey that she went crazy over.  (She has a bit of an obsession with ANY animal).  During the last inning she was asking to go for a walk and she wrapped it around her neck and walked all through Fanz loving on this monkey.  Lucky for her, grandpa had given Derrick a little bit of money to get her some peanuts and other snacks.  After her $6 scoop of ice cream, $4 bag of 30 peanuts and my $4.50 bottle of water she had just enough left for the monkey.  What a lucky little girl!

Merry Christmas...

I never got any pictures of Madi in her Christmas dress and I LOVE it so I had to take some when she wore a couple weeks ago (minus the deep red velvet coat).  Derrick is a guy that does not love lace and frill and fluff on dresses, so we compromise.  I get to get a "fancy" dress for Madi for Easter and Christmas as long as it isn't TOO extreme and it is one he can tolerate.  The funny thing is though, Madi gets more compliments when she wears this dress than any other dress.  We have at least three or four people tell us how adorable she looks and how much they love the dress every time she wears it. 

mommy's little guy...

Easton is 11 1/2 weeks.  I can't believe that he is almost three months old.  He is getting stronger everyday and loves to be held in the sitting position so he can see everything going on around him.  He has the biggest smiles and loves to talk to his mommy which I LOVE!  He is starting to really chunk up and is too long for anything newborn.  (He still fits best in newborn shorts though.)  He LOVES to be outside which is good since we are out there a lot.  He adores Madi!  She always gets a little grin when she talks to him.  Here are some ten week pics of our Easton.

Fun on the 4th!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

We had an awesome day filled with lots of fun, family and pictures.  We started our day at the parade.  It was Madi and Easton's first parade.  They brought around Krispy Kreme donuts while we waited for the parade to start.  Madi wasn't sure about the whole thing until they started throwing candy at her and then she couldn't get enough!

 I tried to get one with both kiddos lookin' but no such luck.

After some much needed naps we went to the park to enjoy some dinner and fireworks. 

 Madi was in heaven!  What's better than a cookie and a big slice of watermelon? :D

 She played with daddy on the playground and played with the container her glow bracelets came in.

 Mama snuggled with Easton for minute.

 Got a picture with both of my kids.

 And even one of the family!

 Madi was funny about the glow bracelets.  She insisted that they scare her.

 She did eventually warm up to them and thought they were ok by the end of the night.

 Again, I tried to get a good picture of the little ones together.  These are the best I got.

 I love this one of Easton!

 Madi had her first experience with a bounce house and LOVED it!

 She didn't even mind the big kids knocking her down with their bounces.

 We were so glad that Chris and Annie

 and Tiffany and Rick were able to come and share in the celebration.

 We love hanging out with our family and creating new memories.

It was a great day and we are already looking forward to next year!

Sparklers...

We bought some sparklers, snaps and flowers for Madi to do this weekend and it didn't go as well as we had hoped.  Madi was TERRIFIED of them and kept saying "scare ya" and "I scared" while clinging to Derrick or I.  She did like the aeriel fireworks as long as they were at a distance.  The noise of them scared her if they were close. 

All smiles...

Our little boy is really starting to show his personality.  He seems to be a bit of a mama's boy and I LOVE that!  Last night after playing with his auntie all day Derrick fed him and put him to bed.  He was wide awake and we were pretty sure he was not going to go to sleep.  I picked him up and cuddled him for ten minutes or so and he drifted off to sleep.  He just needed a few minutes with his mommy.  He is so smiley and starting to become very vocal.  I love when babies start to interact more.  Of course I love the newborn stage but I think that as they reach a new stage it just makes being their mom more and more fun.

Let's go swimming...

[Since I was trying to manipulate picture order on a post I am WAY behind.]

Two Saturday's ago we decided to take the kids to the Roy Aquatic Center.  Madi LOVES to swim and play in the water but another thing she loves is to accessorize.  This is what she wanted to wear to the pool.  I didn't take the picture with her feet but I should have since she was sportin' her hot pink furry snow boots.  This kid cracks me up!  I love ya Mads!

It's true what they say...

I always thought that I would make sure that I took just as many pictures of my second as I did of my first but alas, I am wrong again.  It just doesn't seem to work that way.  The luxury of time to do a photo shoot no longer exists with Madi begging for attention.  Besides the fact that I am still trying to capture all that Madi is doing and she seems to be "doing" a lot more than our little Easton.  I will try to be better though since my sister recently pointed out that Easton does not have enough pictures. :D

Wahoo... you're two!!!

[I have been working on this post for days but Blogger is being lame and I can't get my pictures in the order I want, so just pretend they are. :D]

Madi's friend, Guire, turned two a couple weeks ago and got some fun water toys for his birthday.  He invited Madi to come play.  The last two times she had been, I had left her to take Easton to the audiologists so when we pulled in the driveway she started crying saying "no, mama" thinking I was going to leave her again.  (As much as she loves Chani, Guire, Nash and Fenway, she likes when I'm there)

Here is Guire in his new pool.  He was having a blast but Madi refused to go more than five feet away from me for the first hour.  Silly girl!

Madi LOVES their dog, Fenway.  She talks about him all the time and gets so excited to see him.

Her other love, Nashy!

One of the highlights for the kids was peek-a-boo with the pool.  They thought it was the funnest and kept asking for more.

Oops...

Since I wanted to see those beautiful eyes, we decided to cut some bangs for Madi.  I've done it several times so wasn't worried at all about doing it myself.  I didn't factor in the fact that she is one.  So, I started to cut and she turned her head leaving them totally uneven and TOTALLY shorter than what we wanted, by at least an inch.  They still aren't even because I couldn't bear to cut any more.  I was so sad.

 But, they do look pretty cute swooped to the side and those bright blue eyes are as beautiful as ever!

The best daddy ever...

I'm a little behind on my blogging.  So, Happy Father's Day to the best daddy ever!!!  This is how he spent his morning.  First he painted Madi's toenails and fingernails and then she returned the favor.  Such sweet moments.

What's happnin'...

Well, we have had a very eventful day so I thought I would update you all at the same time on what is going on with us.

Easton went in for his two month checkup today. He weighs 11 lbs. and is 23" long which is the 50th percentile for both. He is growing well and healing from his circumcision. The only thing that we are worried about is one of his testicles was HUGE compared to the other. The doctor said he has hydracel which is a fluid filled sac around the testicle. He said it isn't anything to be super worried about but he does want me to take him the a pediatric urologist just to be sure there is nothing else. He also went to the ENT today and he has fluid behind his ears which is why he has been failing the hearing tests. So, they don't think he has any permanent hearing loss. They don't do tubes until they are three months old so I take him back on the 11th of July and if he still has fluid (they think he still will) he will need to get tubes. He is starting to hold his head up pretty good. He still wakes up once a night to eat but I can't complain about that. He did great with his shots. He smiles a lot and coos and laughed for the first time yesterday. He has almost outgrown his newborn clothes. 0-3 still look big though. He is so cute and LOVES Madi. He smiles so big when she plays with him.

Madi also went to the ENT today. She has an ear infection. Both her tubes are in her ear canals. They think her tubes got plugged and the pressure popped them out. She also has fluid behind her ears. If she still does when I take them back on the 11th, she will be getting tubes again. That is kind of what the doctor is thinking. She is usually a pretty good helper but has proved to resist punishment. She asks to put herself in the corner or if I ask her she claps her hands and says "yea, corner!" I have started having her sit on her bed and that seems to be working since she HATES being alone. She cries when we drop her off at nursery but absolutely LOVES it. She talks about and gets excited when we get to church. She wants to sing primary songs ALL DAY LONG! She LOVES music and is singing or wants to watch a musical or movie with lots of singing. She knows how to turn on our radio and switch it from am/fm to CD and even knows how to change the CD to hers. She likes the Mamma Mia soundtrack and asks me to sing "Money, money, money" by ABBA all the time. She walks around the house on her tip toes and wants to be in the water any chance she gets. She LOVES her pool and playing in the bath. She doesn't even mind the freezing cold water from the hose, she just hops right in. She adores her friend Guire and his little brother Nash and talks about them several times a day. She is usually so sweet to Easton. She still gets upset when he cries but I can tell her that doesn't help and she will either hold his hand or hug him and say "oh, honey" in a sympathetic voice over and over. (I must call him honey alot.) She likes to cook and always wants to help and know what we are doing. she has started to really like the Disney Princesses, especially Ariel, but Tinkerbell is still her favorite.

As for me, I am still in the primary presidency and I love those little kids in there. I feel like I am not a good enough teacher for them and struggle to know how to teach them how important the Gospel is. I worry that I will teach it wrong or they won't listen or realize what an impact it can have on their lives. It is so important for them to learn it now! They are such amazing little kids and so sweet to be with. I really enjoy seeing them each Sunday and hope that they will learn something from me. I have started watching a little girl that is two weeks older than Madi. It is my friends girl, Kaitlyn. It is fun for Madi to have more friends.

Derrick was released from the Elder's Quorum Presidency almost two months ago and doesn't have a new calling yet. He wants one though. He is still working on becoming A+ certified but doesn't have any interest in it at all so it is hard for him. We have already paid for the training and test though so he is going to get it anyway. He likes his job and looks forward to learning and progressing with the company, making management his career goal with Admiral Beverages (the parent company). He is amazing and always such a great dad and husband.

I am so grateful that he is a M-F, off at 5:00 kind of guy because that is something I always wanted for my husband and kids since I rarely saw my dad. I love that he can be involved with them and they can have the consistency of him being there for them. I am grateful to be able to be home with our children and to teach them and help them as they learn and grow. I love the example Derrick sets for me and our kids of sacrifice and serving. He is one that never has to be asked and is always willing to help. He is a quiet guy but is always thinking about others and how he can help them, especially his family. I love my little family and am so blessed to have them in my life.

Ouch!!!

WARNING: Due the the graphic nature of this post, please proceed with caution (I say penis)...

Today Easton got circumcised.  I know what you are thinking...  Why did we wait so long?  Well, I wanted it done at the hospital when he was born.  The pediatrician there told us that Easton didn't have enough foreskin to do the ring and that is the only kind he did.  He told us it isn't a big deal and just do it at our two week appointment.  Easton's pediatrician went to Africa for the month of May.  We saw his nurse practitioner and she told us that she had only performed one circumcision and we should probably wait for Dr. Wade to come back.  She assured us that it was fine to wait, we just need to make sure we have it done before he turns one. 

Since it didn't seem like anyone thought I needed to get it done right away, I figured I would just do it the same time I do his two month check up.  I called this morning to schedule that and the receptionist started freaking out.  She wanted to know how far away I live because I should have already had that done and we couldn't wait until next week (when his two month check up is) and said it is much harder the older they are and so on and so forth. 

Well, everyone of them were right.  It can be done later.  Our doc even said he has done it on an adult.  However, it is harder on all involved.  Even at two months the nerves in the penis are more developed.  They gave Easton the numbing shot and it didn't work.  The poor boy felt the whole thing.  The other draw back... the older you are the more risk of bleeding.  We came home and when I changed his diaper his penis started gushing blood.  I called the doctor and they told me to bring him back.  (Our doctor is in south Bountiful so about 35 minutes away).  So, I brought him back.  They tried to cauterize the spots that were bleeding but it didn't work so in the end, Easton has four stitches, lots of cauterizing and a VERY sore and swollen penis.  If I had known I would totally have brought him sooner.  The poor guy!!!   

The Wood Connection...

Ok, you all know that I LOVE the Wood Connection.  They are having a contest.  Here's the details:

Facebook Giveaway
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To enter this giveaway, become a fan of our Facebook page.
For a second entry, share this giveaway on your Facebook wall.
For a third entry, share this post on your own blog.
For a fourth entry, suggest The Wood Connection Facebook page to your friends. 

There is a link to their blog on my side bar under Family, Friends & Blogs I Love...

You really should check them out!