Summer Vacation 2015 pt. 1

Tracy finished off the class he was teaching for the first half of summer at the end of July. The following day we took off for our Summer Vacation to Utah.

We took a bit of a longer route and spent the fist night in Las Vegas at what James calls the Fun Hotel (aka. Sam's Town).

Stopped to feed Charles on the road to Vegas and James gets a geology lesson.

He has eyes on the top of his head!

Happy to be out of the car while we have lunch.

I wanted a picture of James and Charles at the fun hotel, but James refused.
So I got one of just Charles.

We spent the first weekend in Utah in St. George. There we celebrated our anniversary. Left the kids with grandma and had dinner at The Cliff restaurant and saw Mission Impossible III. It was nice to be kid free for an evening. It had far too long since that had happened. Also while in St. George Tracy and his cousin took the Jeeps off road. I stayed behind because Charles just isn't old enough for that kind of adventure.

Deep in thought!

These two play very well together.

Duck pond near Tracy's cousin's condo.

Looking for fossils in the rocks.

Playing at the splash pad in downtown St. George.

A cutie!

James fell asleep like this on our way to grandma and grandpa house.

After St. George we spent some time at grandma's and grandpa's house. James had fun playing (sometimes pestering) with grandpa. Tracy had a meeting at Thanksgiving Point, so we tagged along and met some friends there too. Too bad the two 5 years didn't remember each other after 3 years of not really seeing each other, but it was fun to see them and spending time with them again. 

Tracy at his meeting in the fish bowl.

I didn't get a picture of the boys at the museum,
so I got some at Culver's during lunch.

Wednesday, August 5th was a very anticipated day! My sister Kandace returned from her mission.

Awaiting her return.

I think we took over JCW's, well at least this back section.

The next couple of days we spent in Provo. We visited the Bean Museum, explored the Provo River Trail which brought back memories of all the times I use to walk the trail to and from work.

At the Bean Museum

Charles checking out the tiger.

I was happy to see Shasta was still here.

James loved the giant elevator. He's blurry because he was running around in it.

Figuring out their creature power. (Thanks Wild Kratts)

He really loved the Zebras

He loved the Provo River Trail

Charles slept almost the whole time.

I think the bridges were his favorite.

"This goes all the way to the mountains. That's a long way."
He was very astonished by this discovery.

Throwing rocks.

The 7th we had a day of spending time with family. We had lunch with my 2 best friends which are pretty much family and a dinner celebrating the return of my sister. It was a fun day spent with loved ones.

At lunch with my friends

Holding Charles

On the 8th we went to the Nephi Demolition Derby. James had a blast watching the cars crash.

On the 9th my sister had her homecoming so we spent more time with my family. It was lots of fun. James really enjoyed playing with all his cousins, especially the 2 that are his age.

My siblings their families.
Missing one sister and her family and one brother..

After that we headed to Moab, check out part 2.

5 Months!

This past month has been a crazy one. Little Charles has been a champ through it all.

Photo shoot brought to you by my inferior camera phone:

Charles is still in 3-6 month clothes and has graduated to size 2 diapers, but I'm still trying to finish off all our size 1 diapers before actually moving up. He eats 4 oz. of formula every 2-3 hours and can't wait to try all our good food. He sleeps about 9 hours straight at night and takes about 3 naps during the day. However he hates actually falling asleep.

This past month he got to meet almost all his cousins, aunts and uncles on my side of the family. He still needs to meet one of my sisters and her family. I'd say he was quite a popular little guy and stole the harts of many. :) He also had his first babysitter, Grandma Thomson, while Tracy and I enjoyed an evening out for our anniversary.

James will often say he doesn't like Charles but I know it really isn't all that true. He just doesn't like not being the center of attention any more. He has nick named Charles, Buck-E-Boo. Only he is allowed to use it.

He was very interested in his crib.

Charles will grab onto anything and everything, so watch out.

4 Months Old!

We have a 4 month old as of July 15! I probably will say this a lot but I can't believe how big he is getting.

Charles is now 26.5" tall and weights 14 lb. 1 oz. A tall guy like his daddy.

He still wears size 1 diapers, however he probably will be moving up a size soon. He just graduated into size 3-6 month clothing.

Charles is rolling now. He first rolled back to front on June 20 and rolled front to back on July 15.

He loves to chat and laugh, especially to James. You can really see how much he loves his big brother.

During this past month we have switched him the formula. Mostly because I wasn't making enough milk for him. He started nurse for at least 2 hours and still wasn't satisfied. He also went from sleeping great at night to waking every 1-2 hours again. At first I thought it was a growth spurt but it went on for two weeks. I know there are other options I could have explored to boost my supply but I had to make the choice that was best for all. Breastfeeding for me was hard, stressful and very tiring. I struggled with it more than I enjoyed it. From infection after infection, to just about all the other unpleasantness that comes with breastfeeding I was knew it was time. I still nurse in the morning and nurse or pump in the afternoon and evening. Since making the switch, we got our happy, very active little guy back. He sleeps great again. I compare pictures from the end of June to now and I can tell he wasn't getting the nutrients he needed. I know breastfeeding is the best but sometimes it just really isn't. I'm a firm believer that a fed baby is what's best whether it is from formula or breast.

On July 14th we went to the Oakland's Children's Hospital for a complete hearing diagnostic. Charles had failed in his right ear the newborn hearing screening both as an impatient and an outpatient after his birth. He was referred to the children's hospital for more testing. It was a two hour test which he had to be asleep for. He made it through just over an hour and a half before waking up and wouldn't go back to sleep. We have to go back next month to finish. The results from the test so far are good. He hears great in his left ear and what they could test on his right he hears great too. So we just have to finish and see if there is any loss. But at least regardless of the outcome he won't need any hearing devices right now. Great news! Now just hoping for more good news next month.

Pictures from the day in Oakland:

Mad at me for keeping him awake on the drive to the hospital.

Asleep and ready for the test.

We stopped at the Oakland Temple afterwards.

And then went into San Francisco to Baker Beach.

Sleeping after the beach.