Bear Lake!

Last weekend we got to go to Bear Lake and stay in my brother-in-law, Bob's, cabin. It is so beautiful up there. Bob's parents were so nice to share their beautiful lake-side property with us. They were the perfect hosts. The only sad thing was that Steve wasn't able to come because he had to study for the GMAT. We sure missed him!

The beautiful view from the back yard.

Bob, Cody, and Sara after playing in the boats. You can tell this picture was taken after playing in the water because Cody isn't wearing pants and shoes anymore. He must have had a good time out on the water.

Bob and Cody are great buddies. Bob spent a lot of time hanging out with Cody. He is definately Cody's coolest uncle (and his only one). Here they are with their matching fireman hats on.

Cody, Tiffany, Brooke, Aubrey, and Sara from the cabin balcony

Thanks again Rich family for the great time!

Kylee & Cody Growing Up

Kylee rolled over on Sunday. Steve is so proud of his advanced 3 month old daughter. Just ask him and he'll tell you.

Kylee is still a happy little girl. She is also sleeping 10 hours at night in her own bed. This makes her mom a happy girl as well.

Cody loves his sister so much. He is always trying to sneak a kiss or hug. I love this picture because he is looking at her like he just can't get enough, which is exactly right. He loves sharing a room with her, having her next to us no matter what we are doing, and making her laugh. Making Kylee laugh is not hard for him. She laughs and smiles at him like he can do no wrong. One time he was elbowing her arm and she was laughing out loud. All I have to say is that little girl is in trouble if she lets her brother know that she likes treatment like that.

If it wasn't enough that Steve is a mega computer nerd, he has created a miniature of himself. Cody has adopted our older laptop and is convinced that it is his own. It's actually pretty entertaining to watch him change his desktop picture, play computer games, draw pictures and save them, and turn on music. Luckily, he has his own user and very limited access so that we don't find out the hard way that he can uninstall software and crack passwords.

Cody has had this tricycle since Christmas, but wouldn't pedal it. Well, yesterday he decided it was time to pedal and away he went. It is always amazing to me that he can do anything as long as he feels like it. But if he's not ready, don't hold your breath. (Potty Training comes to mind...maybe someday)

Cody Makes Us Laugh

Cody is always making us laugh with the things he says and does. Here are just a few recent things:

1. Cody likes to sing made-up songs to Kylee when she needs cheering up. This morning he sang "Kylee is my little sister. Kylee is my fat little sister." How did he know that 13 lb. at a 2 month check-up is almost off the charts?

2. The other day he was helping me switch the clothes from the washer to the dryer. He was handing me one item at a time. He kept saying, "Here's a clo. Here's a clo." I couldn't figure out what he was saying at first. Then he said, "Oh, mom, you dropped a clo," when I dropped a piece of clothing. I started laughing so hard when I realized that "clo" is the singular form of clothes.

3. Whenever Cody wants to know where an item (like a toy or something) belongs he asks, "where does it live?"

4. The other day Steve was helping Cody wash his hands and Cody didn't want the water to be too hot. He said, "Dad, hot water is for dishes and cold water is for boys."

We love this kid.

Cody had a Birthday!

Cody and his Arthur cake and birthday banner with all the Arthur characters.

Cody got a Lego boat that really floats and has a motor. It actually goes pretty fast too.

Arthur is so cool. Cody is already talking about his next birthday party. He asked if it could be a D.W. party.

Cody was so excited for his birthday and it made it fun for everyone.

Cody, Natalie, Rissie, Lauren, and Matthew at Wheeler Farm.

Cody and Matthew became great friends right off. They are only a few months apart in age. Here they are chucking crackers over the fence for the ducks. Matthew felt bad that they forgot to bring a present for Cody so he decided to give Cody two of his favorite cars that he brought to play with. Cody is now the proud owner of a used Mater and Lightning McQueen. They are definitely a favorite. I thought that was so cute of Matthew.

Cody and his gluten-free Arthur cupcake.

Another cute pose at Wheeler Farm. Natalie, Lauren, Blair, Matthew, Cody and Rissie. Baby Anna and Baby Kylee are not pictured, but they were there too!

As of July 31st Cody is now 3! During the day we met two of my cousins and their kids at Wheeler Farm. It was a miracle that the three of us were in Utah at the same time and could get together. The kids had fun checking out the animals and feeding the ducks while the moms got caught up. That night we had an Arthur birthday party with Grandma and Grandpa Duncan, Bob and Sara, Brooke, and Aubrey. We played pin the bow tie on Arthur, opened presents, and ate cake and ice cream.

Memory Tag

My friend, Becky, did this "tag" game on her Blog and I thought it sounded like fun.

1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. So, those of you that only get my posts through email are actually going to have to sign in to respond :)

In case you forgot how:
cramerclan.blogspot.com, sign in, and click on comments at the bottom of this post.

Highlights From this Week of Summer Fun

Kylee is growing fast. She will be 7 weeks old on Sunday. This week she has started smiling and laughing a lot. It has been so fun to watch her personality come out.

On Monday we went to East Canyon for the day. We played tennis, Tripoley, and went swimming.

Cody stayed in the kiddie pool at East Canyon for 3 hours! He would have stayed longer, but everyone else was ready to go in.

Cody is the best big brother. He always has a kiss for his cute sister. And she seems to always have a smile for him. Cody loves his bear, Harry, so much that we decided to get a little friend for Kylee. Meet Roberta the Rabbit.

Steve fell off his bike this week when he was riding to class. He was talking to his wonderful wife on the phone and crashed, hitting his front tooth on his wheel, despite a specific warning from me that he was going to get his teeth knocked out (a fear of mine). He got it fixed the next day. At least we know what Steve would look like if he was a hillbilly. He told his co-workers that his wife threw a beer bottle at him again and that our trailer is too small for our family sometimes. They weren't convinced.

Kylee's Baby Blessing

Kylee Faith was blessed last Sunday. My dad found these cute little white shoes and Steve's mom made a cute little corsage. Kylee looked so cute.

Two Kids is Definitely More Than One

That statement is so true! It's unbelievable how true that is. It has been nutsy around our house lately. For the past few weeks I have been wondering where my cute little boy has gone. The stories are endless and I have decided to not wait 10 years before I am ready to laugh about these incidents. There are two stories I would like to share (just two).

Story #1
First of all, last Monday I was feeding Kylee while Cody was eating some lunch. I usually help him wash his hands when he is done eating but I was unable to and he didn't want to wait. He told me he would stand on his stool in the bathroom and wash them himself. I thought that would be harmless and even helpful. He has done it before totally on his own and, although the counter is usually soaking wet, he gets the job done fairly well. A few minutes went by and then I heard the toilet flush. Cody likes to blow his nose and then flush the tissue down the toilet so I thought that that was probably what he was doing. A few more minutes went by and I started getting suspicious (it was the silence that sent up a red flag). I asked him what he was doing. Silence. I asked him to come back. Silence. Then I heard the bathroom door close. It was the first time in my life I used Cody's full name. Still no response. Doesn't he know what the full name call means? I put Kylee down and went to check out the damage. Cody was playing "Bigger Better" with the toilet. It turned out that he had flushed a piece of clothing (mine) down the toilet. The toilet had taken it well, so he went for something bigger: a towel. The toilet didn't handle that one as well and spit it back out. Fishing things out of the toilet is never fun, but losing things entirely via the sewer is worse.

Story #2
The next day Cody was playing in the living room while I was feeding Kylee (noticing a trend here?). The next thing I knew I was waking up. I realized I had dozed off for a few minutes and Cody was no longer in sight. This time when I called for Cody he came. Cody was completely greased from head to toe (including his t-shirt and shorts) in a thick layer of vaseline. Sometimes we put vaseline on Cody before he goes to bed because of his dry skin and he was looking pretty proud of himself thinking he had done a great thing to help out. I layed Kylee down and followed his trail. I found an empty jar of vaseline and a greasy patch of carpet in his room. Does anyone know how to get vaseline out of carpet and clothes?

So those are my latest and greatest crazy stories. I hope you are laughing about it. I know I am now (otherwise I will cry).

This post is dedicated to any and all who continued having children after an experience similar to this and a warning to anyone who has not had more than one child-or any at all-that parenthood is not for sissies.

Relaxing at the Ranch

Brooke, Tif, Sara, and Aubrey (the champions)

Cody on the 4 wheeler

Steve and Cody visiting the horses. Cody almost got Steve kicked by the horse because he spooked him. Cody doesn't seem to have Steve's way with animals. (That's why Cody is not smiling)

Steve and Cody in the canoe. It's too bad you can't tell how fast Steve can paddle a canoe from this picture.

Cody with Grandpa's new submarine he got for Father's Day

Sara, Kylee, Tif, Aub, and Brooke

We just got back from Star Valley where we spent a few days at a ranch. What a beautiful place! There were horses, cows, canoes, four wheelers, and ticks. I liked everything but the ticks. My sister, Sara, had a following of them. I hope she didn't bring any home with her. Although I wasn't up for too many of the activities I did take part in the canoe racing time trials with my sister/teammates and we won the girls division by 15 seconds. I am sure we were very entertaining to watch since none of us really had a clue what we were doing. Mostly I enjoyed being in the cabin with the other moms and babies. Cody enjoyed canoeing and the four wheeling with Steve.

Polka Dots

I don't have anything new to say. Just the same old stuff. I love my little family! These were taken on Kylee's one week birthday (and my due date).