Mango Pepperoni Pizza

Ammon was really excited yesterday when we had pizza for dinner. It is Digornio Pizza from Sam's Club - a family favorite. But, to make it simple and buy in bulk, it is plain pepperoni. Normally Ammon loves it, but yesterday he announced (with grave disapointment), "It is not my favorite!"

Without exception, when we order out for pizza, our family preference is Canadian Bacon and Pineapple. I guess that is what Ammon had expected and what caused the disapointment over the normally acceptable pepperoni. Fortunately, Andy thought fast and suggested the Mangos are kind of like pineapple. So Ammon happily "fixed" his pizza and ate it without further complaints.

Ikea

Ammon, Peter and I spent the last couple of days in Phoenix with Aunt Jennifer, and cousins Michael and Sophia. One of the field trips we went on while we were there was a fun outing to Ikea. We arrived early, so we enjoyed breakfast, and then Michael and Ammon played while Peter and Sophia shopped with Jen and me. We all had a lot of fun together. Peter especially enjoyed exploring the kids area, and Ammon was happy as could be to get to play with Michael in the ball jumping place.

Awareness

Recently, Peter's acute awareness of life has become more and more obvious to me. Yesterday he really seemed to take charge. He woke up from his nap, found a diaper and positioned himself on the floor ready for me to change him. Totally hilarious.

Later, I fed him some yogurt (by which I mean I put him in the highchair with a spoon and bowl of yogurt and he smeared it all over his face occasionally getting some into his mouth). When he was done I took off his shirt (should have done that first!) because it was covered with yogurt, and then I washed his face. I set him down and next thing I knew, he had marched his way into the bathroom and was pointing at the tub. I guess he knows that after a messy meal it is bath time!

Finally there was his reaction to Andy getting home yesterday. Andy left for work at 6:00AM and Peter didn't wake up until 6:30 so he didn't get to see Daddy at all. Peter's bedtime is 7:30 PM, but Andy still wasn't home. I let the boys stay up a little bit late and Andy came in just before 8:00. Peter was down the hallway knocking on the door where Ammon was when I called back to the boys, "Daddy's home!" Ammon was a lot faster than Peter and ran into Andy's arms immediately. And there was little Peter, running down the hall shrieking with delight on his way. It was really cute!

Peter has also been really pushy about bringing me a pillow (to rest on) so I can nurse him, and yesterday I found him crying by his crib as he was trying to retrieve a blanket through the slots. He also got really possessive on Mommy when Ammon was on my lap and seriously tried to start an all out physical brawl with that brother of his who is twice his size! That boy has no fear when it comes to protecting his "territory"! He is an opinionated one!

Seven Years Ago

Seven years ago I could not have guessed or imagined the way one simple word would shape my life. I had no idea of where it would lead me or what my life would be. I certainly didn't even conceive of the idea that I would be married to a Federal Agent, who carries a gun every day and that I would be living in the desert where temps of 105 are considered cool.

Seven years ago my sweetheart asked me to be his wife and seven years ago I said yes. These years have been an adventure. They have had their ups and there is no denying that they have had their downs. In seven years I find that my love has grown stronger, my devotion greater. I adore my husband and have never been happier in seven years than I am now.

I woke up today with a soft kiss on my lips and in my ear I heard the whispered words, "Thanks for saying yes." I am so glad I had the chance. So to Andy I want to say, "Thank you for asking the question in the first place! I love you with all of my heart!"

Reptile Day at the Library

I guess this guy is an anual attraction at the county libraries here. We knew that there was going to be a guy with a snake and I pretty much went expecting little more than that. But this man came to impress. The room was packed full and he spent about an hour introducing us to various lizards and snakes, educating us about reptiles all the while. He was really entertaining as well as informative, and the kids loved it.

One thing the man made clear was that although he was really happy to answer questions, he didn't want to take the time for the children's "stories". Almost as if to illustrate his point, several children raised their hands and started their question with statements like, "My mommy said," or "Once my sister did." He very humorously shut them down really quickly and ended his Q&A session for the moment.

One of the things he pulled out was his snake "Godlie". Actually, she was a lizard, but she was the first reptile that looked like a snake. Immediately I saw Ammon's hand shoot up with a question. He didn't get noticed right away, and the guy wasn't ready to take more questions, but Ammon persisted, and eventually he was called on. His question was, "Carolyn has a snake!"

Reptile Man had several different pythons he showed us. The one in the picture above lives in trees so he demonstrated the snakes hanging abilities as he waved the snake over the crowd of screaming children. They loved it!
The other thing that was fun was the chance to touch a few of these unique creatures. I didn't get a picture of Peter, but he also touched the giant lizard. (I was holding him and helped him do it.)
Ammon went through the line to touch this snake twice! It sure was a fun afternoon, and I am looking forward to the rest of the summer and all the fun things they have planned at the library.

Our Little Walker

I have had a couple of people ask for video of Peter walking so here he is. This is when we were at Friendship Park the other day. He does fall in the end, but I am pretty impressed because he is also wading through water. I also love how Ammon comes running to the rescue the second he falls, although Andy picks him up and whisks him away immediately. Anyway, here's the proof - Peter really is a walking pro!

Fruit Snack

It seems like less than a week ago Andy was complaining when I asked him to grab a bag of fruit snacks to feed Peter at church. He knew that Peter and fruit snacks turned into an uneaten gooey mess. So I am not exactly sure when it happened that Peter started actually digesting them leaving nothing but the empty wrapper behind as evidence. But sometime in these past few days he has begun scarfing down fruit snacks faster than I would have thought possible, and they have become his favorite food. Now he gets so happy when I sit him in his highchair and give them to him.

That being said, I was still caught off guard the other day, when we were all sitting down at lunch, he turned around to point to the cupboard (the cupboard that holds NO food EXCEPT the hidden fruit snacks) and said, what sounded to me like, "Fruit Snack". I know it is a stretch, and I am frustrated because the video was kind of a bust and he never really said it so clearly again, but you had to see the deliberateness in his pointing and meaning, and the obvious joy as Andy got them for him to understand that there is no doubt that he has said his first word: Fruit Snack.

Beat the Heat

We are back to the insane heat - around 115, I believe. I thought we would absolutely die, and it seemed crazy to attempt going to a park. But Ammon was restless and we really needed to get out. So we went back to Friendship Park where at least there would be some water to help with the heat.

The park was a lot more busy than last time. AND it was flooded. I am guessing that the water (which goes off after a certain amount of time) had been used ALL day long, and that is why there was so much excess built up. It was like a small wading pool and was tons of fun! Not only that, but between the shade and the water, it felt just fine being out there. I know! I'm turning into a crazy AZ person. In what sane world is it OK to be out in 115 degree temps!???

Of course Ammon dove right in. He also found a friend to run around with, so that made it extra fun. Peter was more tentative at first, but he ended up absolutely LOVING it! We had a great time at the park, but the best part came later - when the boys went home and crashed for the night!

Sunglasses

You don't need to know Andy for very long to realize that he is obsessed with Oakley. He loves their sunglasses and currently has 4 different pairs! Even Ammon, being the true apple that did not fall far from the tree, gets very excited to point out the "Oakley O" if ever he sees it. BUT I am starting to think that we are only seeing the beginning of sunglass obsessions with those two. Peter seems to have them beat. I learned early on that I need to get my contacts in before I do much with Peter. When I wear glasses he is always grabbing at my face. I didn't think much of it, though. Most babies seem to be that way. Then Peter was introduced to the concept of sunglasses.

Ammon, being Andy's son, has about three different pairs of sunglasses. Mostly bought when Andy decided Ammon needed sunglasses for a specific thing, and we didn't know where the last pair was because Ammon never wears them. On our drive from UT to AZ we pulled out two sets of sunglasses and Ammon wore one and shared the other with Peter. Of course, half way into the trip we had no idea where Ammon's were (we found them later) but Peter had his the whole way. Now he is constantly grabbing at everyone's face when there are sunglasses near - especially when we are in the car because we all gear up then.

I have noticed him getting more and more insistent on grabbing for the glasses, but he actually broke "his" pair a few weeks ago, so he didn't have any to use anymore. The other day I found the third pair of children's glasses and let Peter put them on. You should have seen the grin he got! I have not seen that child happier. If I had ever tried to put glasses on Ammon when he was that young, he would have been immediately clawing at his face taking them off. Not Peter. He was so thrilled to have the sunglasses on that he actually went down for his nap wearing them grinning up at me in absolute bliss!

Moving Forward

Peter is finally walking! He has been working on it and taking steps for months. This past week, though, I can say he is offically a walker - spending more time on his feet than on his knees. I love watching him toddle around. It cracks me up. He thinks it is the funnest thing and especially loves carrying a ball or toy to me.

Ammon cracked us up this morning. Andy made one of his deluxe breakfasts for us (pancakes, sausage, scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon, and hashbrowns). Of course to Andy and Ammon it isn't really breakfast without chocolate milk. Ammon wanted to open the chocolate milk which still had the plastic seal on it. Andy wasn't sure if he would be able to do it, but Ammon started biting at it to open it with his teeth. Andy looked at me, puzzled, "Did you teach him to open everything with his teeth?" I guess he'd been using this strategy a lot lately. I was also confused - I had thought he would have learned something like that from his Dad. Before I had a chance to respond, Ammon chimed in, almost disgusted at the suggestion, "No," he explained "Carolyn taught me!"

We sure do miss that girl who is not only a great big sister to her own siblings, but who has been an invaluable older cousin to Ammon as well. We love her and the great teacher and example she has been to Ammon.

On a different note, today is a happy day for us - it is the first day of work on Andy's new salary! He is six months into his job, and his raise kicks in today. Yay!

Visitor

We had a great time with Dad visiting. It was fun to have him down. He has been worried about whether or not Yuma was a habitable place for his daughter and grandchildren and he think he left really pleased with where we are.

The visit was a quick one. He got here on Friday night just after Andy had left to work. I took him on a little tour around our "foothills" area and showed off our grocery center, the Curves I joined, and our Wal-Mart. We needed a couple of things for dinner so we ran into the Wal-Mart really quickly.

We were just getting to the main door of the store when I realized something didn't feel right. It took me a second but I realized that I had let Ammon come out of the house with his Border Patrol shirt on (big no-no and way against the rules - I think I still haven't admitted to Andy that I did this). I handed off Peter to my dad and rushed Ammon back to the car where we had an extra shirt. But I had done my cleaning and gotten the extra shirt out of the car at home, so I had no idea what I should do. I opened the trunk and found Ammon's goofy sweatshirt. It was over 100 degrees outside, but Ammon knows that we don't wear that shirt in public and was quite agreeable to us covering it up with the sweatshirt. I tried to roll up the sleeves and make it as comfortable as possible, but he loves his sweatshirt and he pulled the sleeves back down and even put the hood on. Crazy boy.

We had a nice dinner and I even changed the menu for Dad's benefit but when he checked his blood that night he looked at me and said, "You are trying to kill me". Maybe we should have just had the pasta instead of the chicken...

Everyone was exhausted. This was the day after my rough night with the boys, and dad had been going from one trip to another so we all called it a pretty early night.

Andy's shift got bumped up an hour so he was home by 3:30 AM instead of 4:30 and so by 9:30 he was up and hanging out with us. Dad wanted to do some exploring and go see the Colorado River. I have to say that his part of the day was kind of a bust. It was just the bling leading the blind as we went into the main part of Yuma and tried to find something interesting to show Dad. We never did get to take him to the parks and places we have been because we needed to get Andy back in time to sleep some more and get ready for work.

After Andy left to work we went exploring again. One thing we had wanted to locate was the library. We found it, but only minutes before it closed. I still went in and got some good information about when story time is etc, but we still wanted to do more looking around so I decided to take him down to Yuma Palms.

We got sidetracked on the way and decided to also look up the college/university campus (it is a shared campus). That took a while, but we found our way around. At Jordan Palms we went to Jack in the Box for dinner.

Little Peter is adorable. For all his calm demeaner, he is also very opinionated and knows what he wants. He saw my milkshake and started whining for one. It took several minutes before I realized what was wrong. As soon as I gave him some of the milkshake, he was happy (although insistent that he got constant refills until it was all gone).

At home the guys played some hoops and then it was off to bed. Dad and I started a cribbage tournament but called it good after we each won a game and figured we could play our tie breaker the next day.




Sunday was church and games. Dad one the tie breaker with me on the last hole. We started the hand with him about 8 points out and me about 6. We pegged the whole way and it literally got down to the last two cards. I was going to win with "last card" but Dad stole away my victory with a "fifteen". And of course he trashed me at Gin Rummy. I got mine in the end, though, when I hammered both Dad and Andy at Ticket to Ride.



Dad left early Monday morning. I realized that I had some pictures of him with Ammon but none with Peter so before heading to bed I tried to get some of him with both boys. As you can see from the one I posted, it didn't go to well. Peter was exhausted and crabby and Ammon was hyper as always. We really did have a great time though, and I was sad to see Dad go.