Rule #57: Babies are big business

We went out to the zoo on Monday to see all of the new babies. I was a little concerned that since it was Columbus day it would be crowded. Apparently Columbus day isn't a big deal anymore. Kids don't even have school off. So it turned out to be a perfect day, really nice weather, and minimal crowds.

The baby Elephant was a highlight of the trip. It was so active and playful. The mom just sat there and ate the entire time, but the baby was playing with the ball and log, rubbing up against the fence, trying so hard to get the right spot...cute stuff.

The baby giraffe, well...it was a little disappointing. It didn't move at all!! It just started at the wall the whole time! Boring! Don't get me wrong, it was cute and little...but sometimes that's just not enough to keep me interested. Alex emailed the zoo to find out the name of the Titi monkeys. Turns out they are sisters, Beni and Trinidad. The zoo is working on finding a male for them.

Our last trip to the zoo we got a really good view of the tiger cubs. They looked so cuddly, but I bet they really aren't. :)

Evan seemed to really SEE the animals this visit. It could be because they were so active, but it was cute to watch him follow the animals...instead of stare off into space, or watch the people around him so intently that I can't even get him to LOOK in the direction of the animal! (Turns out he's a people watcher like his mom)
There were also baby meerkats! They were adorable! I took a little video of them wrestling, sorry if it's jumpy and a little hard to see. They had rolls of toilet paper to play with, those little guys had TONS of energy! I think they might have even stolen the spotlight from the baby elephant! Tough to do!



All in all it was another great visit to the zoo! Thanks again Mom and Dave, we are certainly getting your moneys worth from the passes!

Rule #56: Walking is better than clapping

Big News Big News!! Evan is finally walking!!! *confetti* Truthfully, he's been walking for a few weeks now, but it's finally becoming consistent enough that I can say, "my baby's a walker" now. Evan is very excited about his new skill. He will still crawl about 40% of the time, or occasionally hold on to something for emotional sake, but he's definitely a walker!

Since he can walk, you'd assume he can do something most 6 month old babys can do right? So wrong. My son still can't clap. Or chooses not to. I'm not sure which. But at least he continues to progress and develop in other ways right? He is walking after all!

He's started carrying around a blanket with him around the house. He has three special blankets that loved ones made for him, one is rather large, so of course he wouldn't drag that around, but the two from Grandma Emma and Nana are a good size, does he favor them? Of course not, they're special, that would make sense. No, he favors a blanket that my cousin bought him, very cute, and soft...that must be what he's going for? Who knows. Maybe it feels the best to bite, because that's what he does to it all. day. long.
He's also started to play Peek-a-Boo with said blanket. Usually it's with me, but when I was trying to take the video, he turned his back on me...so I guess he just wants to play by himself. (stubborn boy) I love him anyway!

Rule #55: You can't beat free pumpkins

We went to Black Island Farms last week to celebrate my favorite season! True, it's already to cold for my liking, but soon the leaves will change, fall and get crunchy...then I can put on a fall sweater and go for a walk with the wind blowing all around me....going out of my way to walk through piles of leaves! Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face.

*it's a fact that I can't be angry when walking through leaves. Last year I was grumpy about some non-important issue, so I went for a walk, planning on stewing and huffing the whole time. Half way through my walk I realized I was smiling and jumping through leaves. Good ol' fall.*

We got free admission because we bought a house last year, pretty sure that's the only reason Alex was willing to drive all the way out there in the first place. Nana was able to come with us.

It was a tad bit chilly, but we all bundled up and were suitable dressed. Evan at first was a grump, who knows why. He was not interested in the "petting zoo" in the slightest. In fact, I think he was a little annoyed that the cows just wouldn't STOP mooing! But then we took him down the slides. That was a big hit! He loved it. (So did the adults) He got his first taste of a doughnut there, and no surprise he loved it. (Sorry that the video is off the to side, I'm not sure how to fix that)

There was a kiddie train pulled by an ATV, but despite the name they let us adults on as well.

There was the cutest "sand" box, filled with corn kernels! It was great and Evan had a good time there as well. Don't worry, we took out that kernel and quickly put in his binks for the rest of the playing
As for the corn maze, I had seen the picture a few weeks ago of a corn maze of Edward and Jacob's faces...and laughed at the lameness of it all. Turns out that's the corn maze we went to. We didn't go through the whole thing because it was getting late and we wanted to catch the next hay ride.
Waiting for the hay ride

Which also despite it's name had no hay. Just benches on a long trailer pulled by a tractor with the BIGGEST wheels I have ever seen. Evan really liked the wheels.

I was surprised at the end of the hayride when they parked the trailer in a huge field of pumpkins and told us each to go pick one out! Awesome! We now have free pumpkins that are just waiting to be carved, and even better, pumpkin seeds waiting to be roasted! Mmmmm!

I love fall!

Rule #54: vacations should end in hot tubs

We went to Yellowstone with my Papa, Emma and our collective families. The Lawson's were unable to come due to the distance and the ever increasing belly of my sister. :) Jason/Laura and kids were also unable to come due to the distance, and Jaymes, Robbie and Lyle were missed as well, for work related reasons. Hopefully someday we can all take a vacation together.

But for those of us who were able to go, I think I can speak for us all, it was fantastic! Papa and Emma rented a beautiful "cabin" in Ashton, ID. It's about an hour away from Yellowstone. I use the word cabin loosely, this place was amazing! Unfortunately I wasn't thinking about blogging and therefore did not take any pictures of the cabin. To see pictures check out my sisters blog. Click here It sleeps 30 people, several bedrooms, hot tub, pool table, ping pong table, air hockey, theater room...you get my drift. This was no dumpy drafty cabin. And to top it all off, it was right on the lake, with a large grass area and a fire pit! Have I sold you yet? You wanna go too right? I don't blame you.

It was only about a four hour drive to Ashton, which is very doable. Especially if you have a champion traveler like my son! I had high hopes that he would sleep...I was wrong. But even staying awake for most of the trip, he was very pleasant.

Pretty content to just read his books!

We all took turns cooking meals during the trip. Hands down the Millers out shined everyone else with their mexican meal. Mmm, delish! But thanks to all who cooked, it made meals so nice and simple.

Ryan and Morgan

On Monday we went to yellowstone. I haven't been since I was a little girl. I had a really good time, but I had forgotten that once you are in Yellowstone, you still have a LOT of driving to do to go see any sites. And there was a very inconvenient road closure that blocked off the quickest route to the falls. Because of that, we all went to see Old Faithful, and then ate lunch together. After lunch our group split up. Papa, Emma, Jenny, Emma's brother Scott and his wife Melanie and the Miller clan all drove the round about way to go see the falls. The Daly's and my own little family opted to stay with the geysers and then head back to the cabin. It was so nice to be able separate like that, so everyone was able to do want they wanted to. I don't think we felt any pressure to stay together every moment. It was a very chill, relaxing vacation that way.Emilie, Tennyson, Karaia, Melanie in the back, Emily and Brooklynn

The weather got down right hot while walking around the boardwalk, but we all had a wonderful time. Beckham and Karaia never leave me bored. They had to take turns reading the signs of the geysers. Sibling rivalry, even when minimal is somewhat amusing to me. (We'll see how I'll feel when it's my kids.) And Alex was almost banned from being their uncle with a few of his blunt/adult comments. "if you fell into the geyser you'd die" etc etc. Brooklynn and Beckham! How cute is that?!

After our loop around the geysers then we split up once more. The Dalys wanted to see one more site, while Alex and I, but mostly Evan were pretty much done. Alex wanted to stop in West Yellowstone to find a rock shop. And boy did we ever! We spent over an hour in one store! Evan was so relieved to finally be able to crawl around! There were two cute old ladies running the store who practically fell in love with Evan. (who wouldn't?) There was a VERY large table piled with polished semi-precious stones. Evan couldn't get enough of them. He kept wanting to crawl onto the table. Finally one of the sweet old ladies said he could, that it happens all the time. I very well might have been the highlight of the trip for Evan. While Alex was still deciding between this rock or that rock, evan played and babbled in his pile. Alex took a picture with his phone that I'll try and remember to upload later. This is Evan, pretty much done with the stroller. But super cute in his new vest!

Then on Tuesday, to further demonstrate our laid back vacation. We just kicked it at the cabin. Evan let Alex and I sleep in even! The kids played in the river, Ryan and I played a few games of badminton, I remember being better at that game when I was younger. Many a pool game was played and I just about knocked my fathers fingers off playing air hockey.

The adults sat in the hot tub every night and gazed and the stars. And at the bat, it was officially decided it was a bat we kept glimpsing in the night. Every vacation day should end in a hot tub.

We left Wednesday morning, wanting to make it home early enough for me to take a nap for work that night, which we did. Evan was again a wonderful traveler. Myself on the other hand, I was so sick of being in that car! The last 3o minutes felt like 2 hours! Brooklynn and Morgan keeping Evan entertained while the adults cleaned up!

Thanks again to Papa and Emma for provided such a fun and wonderful memory! I'm so glad that we were able to go. What's more, going on vacation and not having to use any vacation time is pretty awesome!

Rule #53: You're never too young to read

Evan was playing alone in his room a few weeks ago, and I heard him talking....not really talking mind you, the boy still won't say a single word. But I heard him babbling excitedly. So I crept around the corner, and there was my son "reading" to himself. He has really been into books lately, I just had to take a quick video. It was so cute!!

Rule #52: China is meant to be seen

Alex and I celebrated our four year anniversary yesterday. If feels like a lot longer than four years, and I mean that in the good way. It feels as if Alex and I have been with each other forever. Granted, Evan mixed things up a bit for us, but it feels like Evan has been with us for more than a year also. Strange, this thing called time.

Anyway, we had just planned on kickin' it at home this year. So we decided to go out to the RC Willey Outlet store. We have bought many items of furniture there over the years. We didn't really have anything we NEEDED, but more often than not you have to browse a few times before you find anything you want. We pretty much just went for the outing.

But this is what we found!!!

When we first got married, we were given china that belonged to Alex's Great Grandma. It sat in a cupboard in our condo, used maybe once or twice, hardly ever seen. Then we moved into our home in October of last year. And our poor china didn't even have a cupboard to sit in. There just wasn't any room. So it sat boxed and packed for nine months.

It made me sad every time I saw the box. "China is meant to be seen" I'd say to myself, and then I would sigh, and say "someday". And that someday finally came!
I was giddy when Alex brought it home and we started to unpack all of the china. I had forgotten how much I love it! I am thrilled with Great Grandma's taste! I may not have chosen this pattern, but I am in love with it all the same. And for something so old, I can't tell you how excited I am that the accent is silver and not gold. (I'm just not a yellow gold fan)
So thank you honey for the very unexpected anniversary present! It makes me smile every time I walk into the dining room. An effect I expect to last a very long time! Love you lots!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Rule #51: Some trains of thought are hard to follow.

Before I jump into Evan’s birth story, I’d like to share with you a typical conversation with Evan’s pediatrician. Keep in mind, during this entire 8-10 minute monologue, I nodded, said uh huh, and otherwise just sat there while he did Evan’s exam on my lap.

Dr. Black: Is Evan walking?

Me: No, cruising around furniture, but not walking.

DB: How about talking, saying mama or dada?

Me: Nope.

DB: Well, some kids walk and some kids talk…..
But I guess yours isn’t really doing either is he? *chuckle
(Starts to move Evan, so I try to hand him over)

DB: Oh, sorry, I just wanted him to lay down, sometimes I forget when I’m talking that I haven’t told people what I want them to do. My wife tells me all the time I need to work on my communication. Sometimes it’s easier to just do it yourself then try to explain it. If you don’t know what I mean, give it 15 years and then you will.

M: *nod

DB: Like with the bed. I want to just take over bed making every day. My wife has blankets that are too small for the bed. So every morning she goes through quite the ordeal trying to make the bed. I want to tell her every morning to just buy bigger blankets!

And she has to make the hospital corners; you see her mother was a nurse, so she was taught to make hospital corners.

And we fight all the time about which way the pillowcase is supposed to face. She thinks the opening should go out and I tell her that it should go in. I ask her if she’s ever gone to a hotel…the nice seam is always out.

That sounds like we always go to swanky hotels…but you know, even if you do, you lay down in your $400 dollar a night room in Chicago where the mattress is decent and the sweets aren’t that bad, but all you can think about it how your mattress and sheets at home are better than this.

I spent a night in a hotel in Ephraim to visit my brother, and I’m pretty sure the sheets were made of burlap! They must have been 50-thread count. I had rough spots on my knees in the morning from moving in the bed!

M: wow, that sounds uncomfortable (Or any other statement of that sort)

DB: But even that hotel doesn’t compare with European hotels. Their standard is different from ours. Our son went on a mission to Paris so two years ago we went over to pick him up. He picked out all the hotels and told us how great they were. They were upgraded campers. *chuckle....I kid you not, they had a clip on the bathroom door to keep it closed. And you couldn’t get to the bathroom with the bed down, that’s how cramped they were.

M: That is cramped. I’ve heard that about the hotels in Europe.

DB: We mostly just slept there, that’s all we really needed anyway. I think it was originally used to house the Nazi’s years ago, but I could be wrong.

(This part gets a little hazy for me…I’m really not quite sure how we got here….)

DB: We went to a bunker outside of Normandy and I wanted to talk a picture, but then I noticed two French women sunbath topless on the concrete bunker. That’s when I knew I wasn’t in Utah anymore. *chuckle I decided not to take the picture after all……sigh.

*pause

DB: So, Evan is looking good.

And there you have it folks. That is a typical appointment with Dr. Black. After his monologue he asks if I have any questions, and he does answer them…so I don’t feel completely ignored. But, we went from questions about my son, to topless sunbathing in Normandy in minutes!

He then went over Evan’s stats with me, which are:

Height: 30 inches (50%)
Weight 19 lbs 12 oz (5%)
Head circumference: 45 cm (25%)
The nurse had written on the papers that Evan’s 19 lbs was in the 65%. Yeah, that’s right, he jumped from 10th to 65th while only gaining 3 lbs! I knew it wasn’t right, but I also knew I could just look it up at home. Which I did. (Hence the 5% which is more consistent for my son).

*********

One year ago I was pregnant. And while everyone around me was telling me how small I looked, I felt huge! I was ready to have my body back and I was more than ready to meet my son.

I had been dilated and effaced for a few weeks and I was a little disappointed that I was coming up to my due date and still no labor. I went in for a regular OB appointment on Friday and bless her heart she stripped my membranes.

Nothing really happened immediately, a few contractions here and there, but nothing to get excited about.

Our friend Steve was having a summer party complete with outdoor movie that night. We prepared to go and I started feeling a little uncomfortable. We ate some food, played some games and it just got worse and worse. I guess I didn't hide it very well. A fellow pregnant friend told her I was making her a little nervous for labor. I wasn't making any noise, just every now and then I'd stop breathing....squeeze Alex's leg, and then play my card. By 10:30 I had had it! I just wanted to go home and try to sleep it off. I remember saying to Alex "if this isn't real...." leaving the treat hanging. Because if it really wasn't labor, there wasn't a darn thing I could do about it!

We were in the process of buying a house. We still needed to sign some papers on an offer that our agent and left at her house. So we trekked up to the neighborhood of mansions where all real estate agents must live, signed the papers and went home.

I was fairly convinced this wasn't false labor anymore, but I was afraid of going to the hospital too early and having them send me home. So, we got ready for bed to try and get some sleep before the big event.

Alex slept. I, of course, did not. I moaned and squirmed for about an hour, then decided that I had waited long enough. We packed up and headed to the hospital.

We drove down to Murray, got set up in a room and was trilled to hear I was dilated enough to stay! A called was made to my mom around 1am, a now infamous event where my mother drove down to the hospital while under the effects of a sleeping pill and has no recollection of how she got there. Dave has since starting hiding her keys at night. I'm grateful that she was watched over that night.

She made it there safe and sound and I was given my epidural at 2:30. It was WONDERFUL! It went in without any problems and I plan to get one with every child! I was still able to move my legs, they felt tingly as if both my legs had fallen asleep, but I could still move them. (Without feeling the pain of my contractions!!)

With nothing to do but wait, the three of us slept. My mom made some crack about sleeping with my husband, now I understand why. (the sleeping pill) and we slept for four hours. It was fantastic.

Around didn't start pushing until after 8 am then next morning, and then pushed FOREVER!! I didn't realize it had been that long until Evan was born. "I did that for an hour and a half?!?!"

My beautiful baby boy was born at 9:52 am on July 26th. He came into this world just screaming, but mellowed out quickly to become a very pleasant boy.

We stayed an extra day in the hospital for Evan to sun bath under the bili-lights. I was very grateful that I was able to stay also although I had been discharged.

In some ways I have a hard time accepting that my baby is one year old. And in other ways it feels like he's been with us forever. He's a very sweet boy, who lets me love on him whenever I get the mind to. (which is often). He has a very laid back attitude, as evidenced by his late crawling. I live for his smiles and giggles and love his personality that keeps getting stronger and stronger every day.

Happy Birthday Son!

Rule #50: Cake is better eaten in the buff

Today was a HUGE milestone in the Davis household! Evan had his very first birthday! I can't believe that my baby is a year old. Nor can I believe that I will be hosting many many more parties in my lifetime.

Things went really well, there is just a lot involved; more than I think I realized. Thanks to all of our friends and family that pitched in with food and came to celebrate our son!

We had a BBQ in our backyard, we were a little late cooking the food, but it all turned out fine. Thanks to my sweet husband (and father-in-law) for cooking the meat!

I made the two cakes Saturday night, and had quite the time frosting the blue #1. Alex said that it looked liked "a lot of love had been put into it". Awww, thanks hon? Evan's personal smiley face cake was a bit easier to do.

Evan did pretty well eating his cake in his birthday suit. He didn't seem to LOVE it, but he certainly didn't hate it either.

I love this look, "What's going on....?"

Here's the damage.

He got a lot of WONDERFUL presents, thank you thank you to everyone! Two things I got pictures of are the baby swing from Grandpa and Grandma Davis, and his chair from Nana and Papa. He's still a little unsure about the swing, but in time he's gonna love it.

My Step-dad Dave makes a child sized chair for each grandchild's first birthday. Then my mom paints their name on it and on Evan's chair, some cute bee's. He REALLY liked his chair, it's just his size, and he can bang on it like a drum. I don't think he knows it's for sitting yet.

Later I will add a slide show showing the fun time had by all...don't worry, I couldn't leave out all your cute faces! It's just getting late, and I don't want to figure it out right now. And stay tuned for tomorrows post of Evan's birth story. (those of you who might care but can't remember it)

Rule #48: Some things are cuter from behind.

I can't believe how much Evan is growing up and learning. While he can't walk yet or even cruise around the furniture, he has learned to crawl up the stairs! It's the cutest thing to watch, and now when he sees stairs, he really REALLY wants to get down and explore. He's not good enough for me to just let him have at it, but as long as someone is behind him for the "just in case" moments, he's good to go. And he loves his new independance!

The phone is the back pocket is courtesy of Alex (super cute eh?)

Rule #47:Monkey language is hard to decipher

My mom and I took advantage of the rain free weather on Tuesday with a trip to the zoo. Evan seemed to at least see some of the larger animals this time. He seemed to really enjoy the bird show. (Even though some doves almost flew into his face!) Thanks mom, we had a great time spending the day with you!

This is my third or fourth time at the zoo this year- getting good use of our Christmas present- and each time something is a little different. Usually neither good or bad changes, just slightly different from the previous visit. One time the bears were quite playful, another time our favorite tiki monkeys mysteriously vanished (that was a little sad--cutest monkeys ever!) But most of the zoo is the same time after time. (again, not bad same...just consistent). That being said, I don't think I'll ever get a chance to see this again.

There was a black and white colobus monkey making the strangest noises I've ever heard. I'm not sure what he was trying to say, it sounded sad. My mom said it sounded like he was mourning. I tried to look it up later this week before I blogged about it. (I wanted to look smart) but I couldn't ever find any other sounds like this.

There was a pubescent boy hanging on the fence goading the monkey, repeating the calls and laughing. I'm not sure if he contributed the what the monkey was doing or not...but you can hear the boy once in the video. *I know the video isn't the best, I wasn't very steady...I got bumped a few times by fellow gawkers*

You could hear the sound from almost anywhere in the zoo. It went on for a long time. I hope the monkey wasn't really mourning. It bothers me that I'll never know what he was thinking. So if any of you out there are monkey experts please enlighten me. Or if you just want to take a stab at guessing, I'm game for that too.

Rule #46: "There is great enlightenment where there has been great wonder" -- Muso Kokushi

Early in May we went to the Red Butte Gardens with Alex's parents, brother, grandparents and Laurie (Doug's cousin). It was quite the family outing. We went that weekend because they were having a bonsai exhibit. Anyone who knows Alex well, knows of love of bonsais. The rest of us looked around in about 15-20 minutes and were satisfied. Alex was not. So we left him and ventured off to the rest of the gardens. He joined us 30 minutes later. (I think it's safe to say he liked the trip).

Here are a few of the MANY pictures that he took. These are some of my favorites.



Don't you just love the plants growing out of the rocks!?!? I think they are fantastic. This is Alex's new goal. He picked up some volcanic rock in Cedar City for just this purpose. We'll let you know how it goes.

The rest of the gardens were beautiful. I ended up walking barefooted for half of the trip due to broken flip flops. I loved those shoes, and have had them for 5-6 years. I was a little sad. I enjoy walking around barefoot, so I didn't mind initially. Although towards the end, the path was getting quite warm. My poor unconditioned feet just weren't used to the hot pavement. I didn't have my summer feet ready.

There is a children's garden with Massive Lizards laying on the grass. Evan was too interested in the dirt, it took several pictures just to get him to look up.

I love this face. I don't know what he was thinking, but I find it darling.

Finally we get a good shot.

It was a wonderful day spent with family, and although I broke my shoes AND got stung by a hornet (or bit...I didn't know hornets could bite) we had a fantastic time. Thanks Doug and Susan for the memories!

Rule # 45: Free publicity is good publicity.

Prismatic is done and ready! It’s available on Xbox 360 and Windows PC. Just go to our website at www.mythicore.com/prismatic to download the PC version.
It's a puzzle game (like Minesweeper or Bejeweled) that is G-rated and appropriate for all ages. It continues the story of Sleeping Beauty as Maleficent’s evil sister plots a cruel revenge on Aurora and her kingdom.

On both Windows and Xbox, there is a trial version that you can download for free. Don't feel pressured to buy it, especially if it's just not your cup of tea, if you'd like to do us a favor, publicity is more valuable than anything else. If you have a blog or website, just put a link to http://www.mythicore.com/prismatic/ on it, surrounded by words like 'casual puzzle game,' 'Sleeping Beauty' and 'best game ever!' … ;-) In other words, if you like it, tell everyone you know about it!

Thank you in advance, we hope you enjoy it!