September

We kicked off September with a trip to Lyon's for Labor Day. We met up with the Merrill's and Bryce's and had an awesome day! It was sunny, warm, and perfect for water play. Jay loved the outdoor playground the most. He loves Uncle Jason and I was very grateful when Jason scooped him up to help him make it back to the car after a full day of play. 

The carload!

Jay and Betty Jane

Jay about to "go!"

Jay mastered this rope ladder by the end of our time at the park

All the cousins, playing in the water! It was cold water, but all the bigs jumped all the way in at some point.

Uncle Jason to the rescue!

Tia, Kade, and Jay playing with bubbles. 

We got to attend beautiful Hope's baby blessing. She's already a lovely girl and it was fun to be close by for her blessing. I've made it to 4 of 5 of the Merrill baby blessings, and I feel very lucky! Oma and Papa spent Monday at our house helping us fix our sprinklers. Papa moved a couple of our sprinkler heads for us so they'd be more on the edge and lower in the ground. We broke the head off two times this year, so it will be super nice to have it lower and out of the middle of the lawn. Papa worked his magic pretty quickly, and we enjoyed the rest of the day on a walk and chatting. They had to leave too soon, it was hard to see them go. 

Roxy, Kylee, Hope, Tia, Betty Jane, Allen, Abby, Jay, Kade

All the boys - Jason, Kade, Hope, Jack, Allen, Papa, Brother Merrill, Jay, M

Jack, Papa, Jason, Hope, Brother Merrill, M

M, Me, Jay, Lindsay, Roxy, Jack, Allen, Betty Jane, Papa, Oma, Abby, Jason, Hope, Kade, Katey, Brother & Sister Merrill, Kylee, and Tia

Like father, like son - they both got good naps in Sunday afternoon

Jay helping Papa with the sprinklers

Jay and Oma looking at a book

On September 7th, we went to our 20 week ultrasound. M was able to get off work, which was a huge blessing. He's had minimal time off, and we found a sitter for Jay so we could go together. I love ultrasounds, they're fascinating and it's so fun to see the baby move. I've been able to feel this little one for a few weeks, which is way earlier than I felt Jay. We were so excited to find out we are having a boy! I really wanted a boy so Jay could have a buddy. I loved having sisters so close in age, and I hope these two little boys will be best friends someday. I had fun getting supplies to do a little gender reveal that involved Jay. One nerve wracking item they found was enlarged ventricles in his brain, the consequences of this are scary and could have some lasting effects. Every possible scenario went through our minds over the next two weeks as we waited to see the high risk doctor and get another ultrasound. I am grateful for all the family who offered prayers those two weeks in our behalf, at times it felt all-consuming and without prayers I am sure it would have been worse. No matter what we learned, we knew this baby was a son of God and God would make sure his son has what he needs to be successful on earth. A neighbor came and helped M give me a blessing the day before the ultrasound. Katey came and watched Jay, and we went to our appointment. The tech looked over everything again, and the baby was heads up, which allowed us to get a good visual of his brain. The ventricles went from about an 8 of 10, to a 2 of 10. The doctor reassured us at a 2 there was nothing to worry about. Tears flowed in gratitude for the miracle. The doctor said she wasn't sure why they were concerned, but we know it's through faith and prayers the ventricles decreased in size. It was an amazing feeling walking out of that appointment knowing our baby was as healthy as could be. 

Sweet little profile, with his arm up

It's a baby brother!!

Jay telling Katey to "go"! As she pushed them both Jay and Hope. 

20 weeks!

Jay at 20 weeks, Baby Boy #2 at 20 weeks

Jay continues to woo many people in the ward, including a couple of empty nesters who had us over for dinner. He grabbed their hands, took them everywhere, and gave them hugs before we left. He'd never met them before, but wanted to take Sister Thomas home with us when we were leaving. I love seeing the light Jay takes with him everywhere. He's so happy, joyful, and loving. He never judges and wants to be friends with everyone. 

Uncle David and Aunt Gaylynn texted me late one evening and asked if I'd be home on Friday and if they could come visit. I was so happily surprised and it was the best overnight visit! They got here a little after four, and left early the next morning. Jay quickly noticed Uncle David's nice truck outside, and took him out there to check it out. We thought they'd gone on a walk, but Jay was just happily playing in the truck and asking Uncle David to put him up into the bed and out and back in, etc. I miss living close to them, their home was a home away from home for me during my time in Utah and they were like second parents. It was lovely having them! 

We had some fun adventures with the Merrill's throughout September. M went and did archery with Jason, Kylee, and Tia. They all had a blast and later that night we babysat the kids so Katey and Jason could go to Stake conference. Kylee and Tia also performed at half-time at a high school football game. M went to his first every high school football game to support them. They did awesome, and it was very cool to see the excitement they had afterwards. 

Dogpile on Kylee! As you can see, Jay is very relaxed

He loves these sunglasses! He finds them every time we visit.

How many kids can ride Uncle M at the same time? They loved it. 

The best part of September is when September 15th is past. M is still really busy, but the major deadline is met and he gets a little more sleep and a little more time away from work. He works so hard to support our family, and we love him for it! I am grateful I don't have to work outside our home, and I've been able to enjoy Jay and summer to it's fullest for the first time in a long time! Even during the small breaks, we tried to get outside and enjoy the sunshine as a family. 

I learned from Kara that squirt bottles are way better than squirt guns.

Jay is often sleeping in odd positions and pants-less.

I made one more bib for a friend, this one turned out way better than my last two.

Jay blowing kisses saying BYE, as he heads to work for Dadda. He's got M's shoes, socks, and backpack all ready. 

Naptime equals empty dresser time....

I finally got our Blaylock measurement board hung up and finished! I love it! 

Here's a pic of our happiness when Daddy comes even for a small break outside. 

One morning after a bike ride to play pickleball, these guys ran around having a great time at the park.

Late September we finally got to try out a new cooperative game. Some of the rules are foggy, which makes it a little difficult to know what to do. 

These two learned they could hand stuff to each other and think it's great fun.

Jay filled this bucket all the way full of rocks all on his own! I was amazed! He usually only puts a few in, but I am hopeful this is a start of better focusing for him!

My workout buddy will often lay on the couch to watch me as I sweat. 

August Thriving & Surviving

August and September honestly feel like survival months, and I've really tried to thrive at the same time. We planned as much fun as we could into every week, not wanting the summer to pass without taking advantage of the good sunshine and warm weather even if M had to work A LOT.

I invited Kylee and Tia to come over for a sleep over and to enjoy a day at the Aurora Reservoir. We had a lot of fun hanging out together, and it was an easy way to give Katey a little break. Several ward members were going to the Reservoir so we made the journey out there. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and we had a great time. The water was pretty chilly, and Jay stayed close which was nice. I appreciate his hesitancy around large bodies of water. The girls loved playing in the sand and some in the water when they got too hot. We were originally only planning on one night, but opted for two when we got back late from our trip to the lake. The extended stay made everything a little more fun. I feel very blessed to have been around Kylee and Tia since they were small, only 2-3 when I moved here and they've grown so much. They are wonderful girls who bring so much light and energy with them wherever they go. 

Jay stayed in the shade and played with the shovel in the sand the majority of the day.

Tia, Jay, and Kylee

As part of my goal to soak up the sunshine, we hit up various splashpads. Jay still isn't totally sure if he loves them, but he loves being outside and the water flowing through a park makes me feel a little better about it being so hot outside. Jay's my adventure buddy, and is always a good sport when it's an outside adventure. I have also started to play pickleball every week with some gals in the ward. We bring our kids and lock them into one court with toys, bikes, snacks, etc. while we play for an hour on the other court. Occasionally we'll play at 7 AM, and I'll leave Jay at home with M. Luckily, Jay isn't quite tall enough to open the gate and we almost always play for a little bit on the playground before we bike or walk home. We've discovered our love for popsicles, the bubble gun, and water beads which made life a lot more entertaining!

This bear towel has been a staple for our water play at parks. 

This was an outdoor splashpad at an open mall, we met up with our friend there for a couple hours. They enjoyed a playground nearby as well.

Jay loves to be a helper, and insisted on carrying his own things back to the car. 

I finally got to meet baby Hope! She's a beautiful little girl, and the perfect little one to add to the Merrill clan. It's sweet to watch Jay interact with her as he's started to say, "Baby", in the cutest non-growling voice. 

Jay and Hope

Klaire came to visit and we got blessed with airport pick up and drop off. Her trip was timed perfectly with the peach sale at the grocery store of 99 cents/pound, so she got to experience canning with Katey and Kitt and a whole crew of kids. She was a HUGE help, and we loved having her. I hope we didn't scare her out of ever wanting to can again because it's quite the project. Klaire mainly came to help Katey get the kids through the first week of school, so we didn't see a lot of her. Jay and I did go play for a couple days and I got the best hug from Stanton at the airport. FaceTime is an amazing gift which allows me to video call Klaire and Stanton on a regular basis, plus all of our trips to AZ/ID, so I feel I know Stanton and he knows me decently well. 

We bottled all 5 cases! I can't believe I didn't get a picture of the final product.

Abby and Jay

Kade, Abby, and Jay at dinner at the Bryce's

Matthew's birthday comes at a hard time of year to really be able to celebrate, but this year he actually took the evening off. He went into the office for the day, but once he got home he didn't log back on! It was beautiful! We went for a family walk after dinner to enjoy the fresh air, then came home for presents and cake and celebrations. M coming home from work or finishing work is the highlight of my day and especially Jay's. Jay runs and jumps for joy when he hears the door upstairs open or sees the car pull in. M is the best dad, full of energy, love, and happiness. He makes the best husband too because he's got the biggest heart, the most patience, selflessness, and calmness. He's my rock (and Jay's rock too), we are so blessed to have him! 

Jay helped me with the sign and really loved using marker for the first time!

M, Me, Jay

Jay was a very happy helper with opening gifts!

Caramel brownies were the dessert of choice, that we ate on Sunday.

We did one house project in August, which was a big deal. Jack came and helped M install some window lining in our family room. The sun pours in our upper window, which I love and which also will eventually bleach our furniture and heats up the house a lot during the summer. With two tall ladders and two tall men, they had it installed pretty quickly. It looks great! 

Putting on the first section! 

Jay was very excited to climb Uncle Jack's ladder when he got up from his nap. 

August was a free month of public transportation, so Jay and I decided to take an adventure to Littleton on the train. We rode with M to work, then he walked with us downtown to the connecting train to Littleton. Jay was really excited at first, loving the "choo choo". He was waving bye-bye to everyone we passed. However, when we stopped for a long time at one station, he was ready to get out. He hung in until we got the Littleton station where Grandpa picked us up. Grandpa watched Jay while Grandma and I did a session at the Denver temple. Our session was totally full, which I haven't seen in years. Being together in the temple was lovely, and a great break. We loved the rest of the day at Grandma and Grandpa's, and Jay really wasn't sure about getting on the train again when it came time. I was grateful he was willing to get on, and we met M downtown to catch the other train back to the car in Commerce City. I loved the extra time with M in the car, and enjoyed getting out of the house for a day. 

Jay and I leaving Denver

Watching all the things pass by.

Jay and I on our way back to Daddy!

Here are some other picture highlights from the month! 

It's amazing what some kid power can do for a little one. 

We practiced biking in the garage in the shade while waiting for Dad to come home. We haven't quite figured out peddling yet, but we're working on it. 

All my Roma tomato plants got bottom rot, and grew in split. I was so sad!!

Jay loves using my hot mittens. 

Sometimes after working out, Jay will put on my shoes and socks and wander the house.

Jay's really good at mooching snacks off random people at the park. I guess I have started to assume if it's not killing one kid eating it, it won't kill mine. 

We met up with the twins for a play date at a park in Platteville, it's a great halfway point.