the backa yo head is ridiculous. . .

and these days, that's just about all I've been seeing. My baby-no-longer-baby is on the move. And can I say that I love it?

I never really grow tired of Jenny Lake/Cascade Canyon. . . so close to the house and a free boat ride after hiking? Good times. 

 Did a flat 9 mile hike yesterday with Sven, Brenna and Trisha. Saw 2 bears (both while driving though, thankfully). Split an ice cream cone with Liesel. Had a cookout. No photos, but a very happy Memorial Day. 

one and a half

Loves "pips" (tortilla chips). Takes showers (no tub!) and likes them more than baths. Climbs into her chair for dinner. Folds her arms for prayer and says "hmhmm" for amen.Will fake blow her nose in washcloths and towels. Has grown a sense of humor and makes a funny face (pulls her lower lip over her top lip) and laughs hysterically when I mimic her. LOVES swimming and will purposefully put her head under water. Loves to come over and hug your knees and say "up!up!" (but you better pick her up!!). Eats fish. Loves to "read" to herself (makes all the noises). Obsessed with animals. Doesn't seem to care when left with strangers (nursery, babysitters), but is terrified of men with beards. Is an excellent climber. Loves being talked to. Likes to ride in boats. Loves learning new words and will repeat them over and over. Eats crayons. Can follow simple commands (get your shoes!). Knows her body parts. 

all tuckered out after 1hr of jumping on the bed. . . as a matter of fact, I gave up today and put her in the pack-n-play. Still not asleep. . . !

Can I say that this little person has stolen us completely? Watching her learn is both hysterical and incredible.  Her resilience is astounding and she bounces back so quickly after falls, scraps and bruises. She seems to thrive in social situations and loves people (mostly). She can groove, and when she does, everyone watches (cutest. thing.ever.) She has never even looked back when we drop her off at nursery.There are things she definitely likes: reading books with us, crackers, saying the word "pigtail," being outside, bugs, dancing to music, when we sing to her, dogs, birds, drinking from a Camelback hose, eating snow . . .etc. 

sharing a chocolate chip cookie with mom

And things she doesn't like: olives (she begs for them-- maybe because she likes them on her finger or for the salt? but then I'll find chewed up piles all over the house), cantaloupe, potatoes, waking up at night cold (who would like that?!), not being picked up when she says "up!", being in her carseat too long (more than 10mins), when I take away the Vaseline container she was sticking her fingers in, getting dressed . . .etc. 

Boating on Leigh Lake

She gets in goofy moods- esp in the evening when Brian is home. I secretly love to hear them in the living room playing and he's good at making her laugh. He comes up with things to do with her that I never would. For example he made a swing out of rope and a  Trader Joe's canvas tote on the beam inside the house, showed her knots and set up speakers so she could dance and hear the music better. 

If I want pictures of her these days, I need to increase my shutter speed-- she's constantly moving and exploring. My little blur is growing so fast!

Words she says: tacto (cracker or tractor), shoessss (she holds the s), moo! (moose-- always said with such enthusiasm. . . especially now that she's seen them at our house), ma (milk), wawa (water), flowa (flower- she points them out on everything), cheeese (emphasis on the ee's), bu (bug), snai-o (snail), no (very clearly), See-sull (Liesel) and tons of others. 

Charleston, S.C. (day two)

My mom and dad agreed to watch Liesel while Catherine and I headed down to Charleston, South Carolina to visit Emily. What a great sister's weekend! Although we were missing Lindsey and Sarah and it's never quite the same when we're missing some. . . Here's the shakedown:

We decided to rent bikes instead of driving so we could really tour the area. It ended up being such a great idea and allowed us to be as spontaneous as we felt like. We ended up passing a huge farmer's market, several historic streets and pre-Civil War homes. I felt like I was biking through Gone With the Wind. Charleston has done such an incredible job at preserving their history. 

We got to see Rainbow Row-- an area of historic homes-- and hear about the history by carriage. We biked to the pier, the battery park and caught a glimpse of ft. Sumter (where the first shots of the Civil War were fired). 

This is us on an audio tour of one of the homes-- we learned that a lot of wealthy cotton plantation owners would buy summer homes in Charleston to escape the heat (they could rely on the ocean breezes). 

This weekend was also a total glutton fest. Charleston, while famous for it's history, is also the food capitol of the south; chefs come from all over to cook here. I REALLY wanted southern seafood so where better? The verdict? Go shrimp and grits. You won't regret it.  

We dropped off the bikes and headed to the coast where I was hoping to light off fireworks. Not allowed, so we busted out our own explosive moves:

Cypress Gardens (day one)

On day 1 of the Charleston weekend-o-fun we hit the Cypress Gardens. Droopy Spanish moss, thick algae,  lilly pads so dense you could almost walk on them and alligators lurking under water was a definite welcome to the deep south.  Side note: a scene from The Patriot was filmed here. 

So stoked!!! (is that a really Utah word)?

Love this for several reasons: Emily and Catherine's expressions in the top right are totally genuine. This is right during our sighting of the alligator seen below right. This was about 1.5 minutes into our unguided paddle of the swamp and every stump, tree and log brought on a few screams. Not to poke fingers-- I was pretty freaked out a few times too (can you believe the guy who gave us the boat said that swimming was allowed? I was joking!!!)-- like when we crossed under a cobwebbed bridge, paddled in thick algae and saw two more gators. . . and then saw the "Do Not Enter-- Danger" sign. 

Afterward, to continue on our slightly eerie theme of the day, we headed over to an island off the coast to a little (but very popular) joint called Poe's Tavern; a restaurant devoted completely to Edgar Allen Poe's literature. Care to read "Tale Tale Heart" while in the bathroom stall? No problem. 

This picture below is purely because I didn't have a single normal one of Emily from the entire weekend. So, this one's for you. :)

good news for people who love offspring

(*not the band) 

WE'RE ADDING ANOTHER BABY GIRL TO THE FAMILY IN OCTOBER! 
Hooray for 1/2 way there today . . . 20 +/- weeks left!

"I think I'll try defying gravity!"

*be glad you can't hear me sing this post's title. 

When I was growing up, Durham was the county that you didn't want to admit you were from. While we could boast the first cigarette company and factories in the U.S.(thanks to Washington Duke who later built Duke university-- at least he did something good with the money after getting 70% of the US addicted to smoking), the inner city was sort of lacking. It boasted a Lucky Strike smokestack, the Durham Bulls stadium and old Brighleaf tabacco buildings-- but now it has turned over a new leaf (and it's not tabacco)! Durham could rival Chapel Hill in coolness factor. It has tons of community events, boasts a new 30 mile bike trail (albeit it is called the American Tabacco trail) built a HUGE mall, and built a new Performing Arts Center. . . which happened to be playing Wicked the week I was home. 

My mom and I went in to buy tickets a few days early and found that all they had left for sale were the very back row of the entire theater. My friend Nicki had just told me about a lottery that they do for this show where you can enter your name and if you get pulled, you and one other person would get 3rd row seats for $25. We decided to try our luck gambling and found that we should go to Vegas! All three of us were pulled out of the 30 people there. 

Cath and I headed to Cosmic Cantina-- yet another amazing location Durham boasts-- and probably my all time favorite hole-in-wall eatery. All of that food on my plate (including the best burrito in the world) is $2.50. Cheap delicious food=way to my heart. See the joy on my face here? 

And now the show: WICKED WAS AMAZING!!!!! Third row seats let us see the costumes, facial expressions and choreography so well. I was totally sucked in and couldn't stop singing the songs all week. The special effects were stunning and I loved, loved, loved it! 

Jean's Berry Patch

"Bare-we? Bare-we?" Pretty much all we heard lil' L say all morning! Notice in every picture but one she's got a berry in her hand. 

That there is about all I picked all morning. Between eating, chasing Liesel and talking I was a sorry excuse for a fruit picker. 

Liesel and Grandma. Don't judge my mom's Joseph Smith shirt-- these are her berries-can-stain clothes. I can't justify the hat however.  . . that's all her. Just kidding mom. Better a UV protected hat than a freckle-stache!

look at that stained face. . . sigh. She is dangerously adorable these days.

Cath and I made a seriously delicious trifle that night which was promptly devoured during an intense game of Taboo. 

my roots

Why is it so satisfying to see your child love something that you love? I felt like that the whole time I was in North Carolina. She was eating cracked wheat cereal, peas out of the garden, running around the grass barefoot, getting dirty in the garden, climbing into the red wagon and inspecting every bird, rolly polly and bug that crossed her path. She loved Grandma and Grandpa and I in turn loved having a 100% break. My parents would even come and get her when she woke up so I could sleep a little longer! Who does that? And cooks for you and tells you you need a break and to go sit down? And puts a peonies bouquet in your room because they're your favorite flower? And indulges your TCBY obsession? And takes you out by yourself so that you feel special? Yeah, I feel darn lucky to have my mom and dad. 

It was so great to see my sibblings also! Jana and her kids (Liesel's cousins) came down. Here they are sharing a nude wagon ride while Liesel drinks the hose water off the bottom. Delicious. 

My girls. I love having sisters. They make my world a better place and I really don't know what we would do without each other. Emily should have been in this picture, but there will be plenty more of her from our trip to Charleston SC in her neck of the woods. 

My mom reading to Kayla and Liesel. 

At the Museum of Life and Science with everyone. 

Catherine, Liesel, Allyson and Spencer. Emily-- where were you? I couldn't find any pictures of you and Meggy!

color palette

We've traded in the warm colors of the desert-- the reds, oranges and pinks-- for the cool greens, blues and grays of the mountains. As I drove in this afternoon and caught my first glimpse of the range jutting out from the foothills, I felt so excited about the new leaves on the aspens, the melting snow and the thunderheads above me! But before I jump ahead, let me explain my lack of blogging lately:

Wondering where we've been? You'll be sorry you asked: after moving out of our house in Moab we moved down to the Needles in Canyonlands for a week, then I flew out of SLC to North Carolina for a Hatch family visit. Meanwhile Brian drove up to the Tetons and started work. 

Sounds simple, but this involved a ton of scrubbing, shining, dusting, washing, lifting, packing, stuffing, crashing in friends houses and a few bouts of throw-up (Liesel at the Needles, me in the airplane. . . thank-you turbulence). While traveling I felt really overwhelmed with the kindness of people. Like in the book A Streetcar Named Desire, she keeps saying, "you can always depend on the kindness of strangers. . ." Thanks to our friends and a few strangers we were able to pull the whole thing off. 

Here are a few photos of our last few days in Moab:  

This little one LOVED collecting caterpillars. Although she kept squishing them when trying to pick them up. 

playing at the park-- a much needed break from "helping me" clean the house.

more to come!