Angel

Sophie is a sweetheart.  Period.  She truly is a little angel.  Not to say that she doesn't have her moments.  When she's hungry she doesn't just sit back and passively wait to be offered something to eat.  Oh no!  She lets her need be known!  And for that I"m grateful!  But she really is so sweet!  She smiles at everyone; she'll make your day if you're feeling lonely, I promise.  Just give her some attention.  If you make eye contact and smile at her, she'll smile right back at you.  I love this about her!  But lately I've noticed how much she adores her big sister.  She could watch Lydia for hours and hours.  In fact, if you ask Sophie, Lydia may as well be a comedian!  She loves to laugh when she watches Lyds.  She loves to be near her.  I could be wrong, but I like to think that Sophie has looked forward to coming to earth and being Lydia's little sister and I like to imagine that she looks up to her so much already.  I wish that I knew what Sophie was thinking.  I'm pretty sure the veil is thin when these precious little ones arrive and I'd love to find out what they know!  Obviously that's not possible, so I'll just enjoy the sweet relationship these little girls have at this point and hope that they want to be each others best friend!

Little Doll

So I've been thinking of all the cute and funny things that Lydia says, and I'm not sure that I can remember all of them... but yesterday Abby asked Lyds what her name is.  She paused.  Looked thoughtful, I'm sure.  And finally said, "Listen! (Maleficent) Mean!"  I'm not quite sure what this fascination with evil cartoon characters is, but she certainly is intrigued by them!  I know that she knows her name is not Maleficent.  Pretty sure, anyway. ;)

She asks to "carry you" all the time.  One of these days she'll understand the difference between YOU and ME.  And maybe if I actually let her carry me she'll stop saying it!  I kind of really love it though.  One day she"ll figure out those tricky pronouns!

A few weeks ago she climbed up on one of our bar stools.  She labored fairly intensely to make it to the top and when she got there she gasped, "I made it!"  So triumphant!  I can't wait to see her run in her first race, provided that's something she decides she's interested in.  And I hope she is!  I'd love to cheer her on!  It's no longer difficult for her to get on the bar stool, in fact, she climbs right up on the counter and starts "cleaning" everything with the scrubbing brush.  Everything from the counter top and faucet to her feet and any of her animal's feet too!

Probably my favorite and most recent Lydia moment was listening to her when she was sitting in her high chair ready to eat, watching Sophie bounce in her bouncer.  "Learn to share," was what she said.  Still not real sure who she was talking to when she said it.  I think she was talking to herself, maybe reminder herself that learning to share is a good thing, but she very well could have been teaching Sophie.  Either way, what a great lesson!  And it hasn't stopped her from getting in Sophie's bouncer.  After all, it used to be hers!

 

She's been enjoying her new kitchen, thanks to Aunt Cathy and family.  They've been so generous!  Lydia woke up yesterday morning and the first thing she said was, "food time!"  She gets a little cup and spoon and feeds Sophie ice cream or juice or cereal.  I told her that she can help me feed Sophie when Sophie reaches six months and it appears she'd like some practice between now and then!  Sophie starting solids.  How crazy!  I had to include this picture of Lyds.  Doesn't she look adorable?!  That kitchen has been so fun for her!

Pioneer Day

The 24th was my birthday; 36 years old.  Becca said I could totally pass for a 30 year old.  I was hoping for 25, so 30 didn’t sound like much of a compliment.  It ended up being a really busy day for us.  I wanted to do something that we could enjoy together as a family, so we decided to visit the Museum of Natural History at Thanksgiving Point and the learning farm there as well.  We had been talking about dinosaurs to Lydia, and I was excited to have her see all of the full size exhibits that they have at the museum.  We drove all the way down to the museum, found a great parking space, and we were all so excited to go in.  We opened the door, and there it stood, a full size cast skeleton of an allosaurus.  Lydia took one look at the display, said “dinosaur mean”, and refused to go into the building.  I picked her up and carried her into the lobby where they had some other displays.  She kept her face buried into my shoulder and refused to get down.  We decided that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to fork over the $20 admission and skipped the rest of the museum.  I guess we’ll just have to wait on the dinosaurs…

The next stop was at the learning farm located behind the museum.  This was a much better experience for Lydia.  They had several breeds of cows, horses, goats, sheep, chickens, llamas, pigs, and turkeys.  They had food that you could purchase and feed to the animals.  Lydia loved watching the horses and cows eat from my hand.  She would never get close enough to let them eat out of her hand, and when they were eating out of my hand she refused to touch them.  She would just let out a huge giggle and hide behind my leg.  The culmination of the visit was the pony rides.  They had several small ponies connected to a center pivot.  The kids got to sit on the ponies while the pivot rotated and the ponies walked in a circle.  Lydia loved it!  We got done with the first ride, and nothing else that the farm had to offer was good enough to keep her attention.  She kept running back to the pony ride no matter where we were at on the farm.  We ended up buying a few more passes for the pony ride because she loved it sooo much.  After her third ride we had to carry her kicking a screaming away.  The rest of the day all she could talk about was riding the ponies.

In the evening we met up with the Blackhurst family.  Everyone was coming over for a July 24^th BBQ to celebrate the holiday.  We were able to talk with everyone for a bit, and then we went to my parent’s home.  We had a great visit with them as well, even though we kind of crashed their dinner.  They had just gotten back from visiting my sister in Palmyra, New York, and we got to hear about the fun they had there.  They were out there during the Hill Cumora Pageant.  My brother-in-law is the elder’s quorum president of the Palmyra 1^st ward, and they always receive service assignments to help out during the pageant.  My dad got to work security one night for his service assignment. 

The rest of the week has been filled with family reunions.  Friday we got together with my mom’s side of the family.  It’s really odd because my mom’s mother left when my mother was really young.  Her father remarried, and the woman that he married is who I always knew as my grandmother, even though she was not blood related to me.  After I returned home from my mission, my grandfather passed away.  My grandmother ended up remarrying a few years later.  Now I have two grandparents that are not blood relations.  The family reunion had the family that I knew and grew up with, and my new grandfather’s family.  Needless to say the two sides don’t mix well.  Our family was outside talking on the patio, and his family was inside talking in the kitchen…oh well.  I suppose it doesn’t really matter because I was on Lydia duty.  I spent the time walking around the yard with Lydia as she explored.  I can tell the farm had a huge impression on her because every shed was a “barn”, and every “barn” had piggies sleeping inside.  

 

Saturday was the annual Frazier family reunion.  This reunion is a lot of fun, and tends to get really competitive.  This year my uncle Larry was in charge of the reunion, so we had it in Deweyville, UT.  Deweyville is just a few miles east of Tremonton.  The area is very beautiful and very rural, not to mention very far away from just about anything.  We gathered together at a park, and as luck would have it, it rained…all day.  Of course a little rain doesn’t stop the Frazier brood from playing games.  There were some water games that everyone played, and even if you didn’t need to get wet to play the game, at some point you would get wet.  We had a great time and we got to see members of the family that we don’t see often.   

And Sophie is rolling over like a pro.  Check out that back bend!  She's been rolling well for about two weeks now, and does it fast and like it's no big thing. Ü  Jon obviously wrote this post.  He sent it in a letter to Nate and I loved it so much I thought I'd paste it on here.  Happy birthday Jon!  You could totally pass for 25. ;)

I decided to include this picture because for about two weeks (maybe just one, but it felt like 2!  Or more!) Sophie was waking up at 1:30, then 3:30 and then again at 5:30 and I felt like we were back to her first days home from the hospital!  So exhausting!  That is why we are sleeping on the couch like this at 4:00 in the afternoon.  She's been sleeping much more peacefully at night and we think it may have been because she'd outgrown her bassinet.  She seems much more comfortable now and much better rested.  And for that we are all grateful.

Sophie's First Girl's Camp

 Our Ward Girl's Camp was July 8th, 9th and 10th this year.  Having a four month old does not lend itself easily to participating fully in such activities; however, Sophie and I did make it up to Mantua on the 9th and were able to bond with the Young Women for a few hours before heading for home.  Sophie definitely did more bonding than I did.  The girls could not get enough of her!  Someone would be holding her and then suddenly there would be a big cluster of young women surrounding her, cooing at her as she grinned back at them with her enormous smile.  You know the one, the one where she's smiling so big she might actually eat you!  Then a girl would come over to me to show me what a cute picture she'd taken of my little darling and how she'd be sure to send me a copy because Sophie is just so darn cute!  She fell asleep in the arms of our Bishop's wife who can't believe her own baby is getting so big!  She's sixteen months.  And that's how the afternoon went.  Sophie was passed around and just smiled and smiled and enjoyed herself.  Our Young Women President made her this adorable bracelet with value colored beads to remember her first girls camp and I was beginning to think that Sophie was born to camp!  And then she let me know how false that was.  At about 9:00 pm started hollering and would not stop!  I was having the hardest time comforting her and everything I tried backfired on me and made her yell louder.  It seemed like FOREVER that she carried on.  It was probably only a half hour, but then she was asleep and it was almost time for testimony meeting.  My favorite part of Girls Camp and the main reason I chose to head up there Tuesday.  It was amazing.  These Young Women are amazing!  I don't think any of us will forget the way we felt when sweet Emily, who is down-syndrome, bore her testimony.  And Sophie slept through it all.  Until I stood up to bear mine.  I was just beginning when she decided she'd rather I didn't, and so I made it as short and sweet as I could.  What a memory!  I still think she was a champ, and so grateful for how sweet everyone was with her.  When she cried so many ward members told me how unlike Sophie that was.  She's such a sweetheart whenever they've seen her that it couldn't possibly be otherwise!

  Clearly these pictures weren't taken in the wilderness but they're just too cute!! 

Staycation

June was a big month for our family.  Sophie was blessed, we had family in from New York and DC, several siblings participated in the Utah Valley Marathon, we sent Nate off on his mission and had baby showers for little Milo and baby Leila (who will be here next month!).  We spent lots of time together running to various places for the little ones enjoyment, and for the adults sanity.  It was a joy to spend time together as siblings since distance makes that nearly impossible most of the year.  Definitely good times, but unfortunately Jon was in Farson for two of the three weeks that my family was here and he wasn't able to participate in much of what we did, so we decided that the week of the 4th Jon would take some time off of work and we would have a vacation here at home.  Just fill our days with fun and local activities.  Tuesday the 2nd we spent the afternoon at the Bountiful Rec Center and had a blast!  The girls got to wear matching bathing suits (I need to take a picture!!) the first of many matching outfits to come...  It took Lyds a bit to warm up to the water, but by the end of the afternoon she couldn't get enough of it.  Especially the slide.  I think I went down that ginormous roller coaster of a slide twenty consecutive times (though it felt like a bajillion) in quick succession before I passed her off to Jon and took over caring for Sophie.  We took turns with the girls and went back and forth between the fun outdoor options that included a ship with a steering wheel that Lyds loved being in control of and the cool indoor options that held the super rad slide and lazy river.  Such a fun time!

Wednesday we traveled all the way to Sandy and spent some time at The Living Planet Aquarium.  Lydia was dressed in her BYU tennis attire and Sophie in her U of U cheerleading outfit.  What cute girls!  Lydia could have spent days and days in the water at the Rec Center, but tired quickly of the Aquarium.  What a neat place!  But probably one to be enjoyed when the girls are a little bit older and can really appreciate it... just a thought.  She enjoyed the fish, and seemed interested in the sea horses, loved sitting on the huge plastic frog, but the 13 foot snake scared her quite a bit more than the creepy, crawly spiders did.  And to say that she did not care for the spiders is an understatement for sure.  She was so ready to be done with the animals by the time we reached the end that she didn't even want to look at the penguins!  Not only did she not want to look at them, she became boneless and we had a difficult time getting her back in the stroller.  That soon changed when she realized that there were stuffed animals in the gift shop.  So many fun fluffy friends!  But she was tired and had already let us know it, so we didn't linger there for long, but returned to the car and headed for home.

 Thursday.  What a day.  6:00 am found us up and moving!  We needed to be at my parents ward in Bountiful by 7:30 and didn't want to be late!  My dad was in charge of the annual 4th of July Breakfast that's held after a flag raising ceremony and music and a speech dedicated to America and those who have or who are currently fighting for our freedoms.  It's a wonderful tradition and a great way to start a fantastically fun and family packed day.  We enjoyed catching up with friends from the ward and family we don't often get to see.  And then we were off to the Kaysville parade!  I imagine that Lyds will appreciate these things more in future years, but despite her disinterest, she was up close and on Jon's shoulders periodically through the parade and saw the princesses as they waved to everyone and she was right up front again to see the horses of course.  But for the most part she didn't want a front row seat, she wanted to eat her snacks on the picnic blanket and sit in the wagon.  By the time the final horses had ridden through and we were packed up and heading back to Mom and Dad Fraziers it was clear that Lydia was exhausted.  She couldn't keep her head upright as Jon pulled her in the wagon and before we'd made it to the school Lyds was bobbing back and forth in that wagon.  Good thing she was belted in!  She must have been spent to fall asleep sitting straight up with nothing to support her, and eventually crashed face first onto our wagon supplies for the final leg of our return trip.  Then she slept for another hour inside before waking up to enjoy a hot dog.  Yum yum.  We only rested at our house for a few minutes before heading off to my parents for hamburgers and some time on the trampoline!  And then we were back in Kaysville for the fireworks.  So much food!!  Great meals and tasty snacks.  I felt like all we were doing was eating eating eating!  No wonder we were stuffed!  So good thing we had some distance to trek before we found Mom and Dad Frazier and our spot on the lawn for the big show.  Watching Lydia was highly entertaining once the fireworks display began.  She HATED them at first!  So loud!!  Jon held her tight and she pressed one ear up against his chest while he covered her other ear.  Then she decided it wasn't so bad and was actually enjoying herself for a few minutes, but that didn't last.  Before the finale she was bored.  Ready to be done.  And wanting to go home.  And Sophie's response to all of this?  She was tired.  And crying.  I honestly think she would have been fine.  Maybe even slept through the whole thing if only she could have fallen asleep to begin with.  Instead she had that look of being so tired she couldn't sleep and on top of that dealing with the noise.  Which certainly didn't help.  We didn't bring head phones for her, but that most likely would have made all the difference in the world if we had.  Was it worth it?  Screaming girls and such a late night... but yes.  It was definitely worth it.  Another memory.  Jon and I have decided to enjoy the moment the best we can no matter what.  Sure beats staying home and doing nothing!  We made it home around 11:00 and I changed and put a sleeping Lydia into her pajamas while she was totally oblivious.  Sophie was completely out as well.  She really was a champ today!  In and out of her car seat.  Again and again and again.  Sleeping anywhere and everywhere.  Constant movement- lots of it in the Bjorn.  All in all it was rather a lot to deal with so it's no wonder both girls slept soundly through the night and our tentative plans to visit the zoo on Friday were cancelled.  We needed to recover from the previous days festivities and just take it easy.  So that's what we did!  It was so great having Jon spend all that time with the girls.  Lydia struggled when he went back to work the following Monday.  Poor babe!  If only she could spend as much time with him as she wanted...

Uncle Nate

Uncle Nate has already been in the MTC for almost a month.  Wow!  And Lydia still talks about him quite a bit.  Right before he left we tried to spend as much time with him as possible, knowing that we wouldn't get to see him for two full years.  Knowing that little Lyds would be FOUR before he comes home and she gets to see him again.  That Sophie would be two, and essentially meeting him for the first time.   Helping Lyds understand why Uncle Nate isn't around because he's on his mission has been a good thing for the family.  Jon and I write to him weekly and plan to continue that until he's home.  We sing "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission" and "We'll Bring the World His Truth" at bedtime and talk about what Uncle Nate is doing, and when we're at Grandma's and Grandpa's we remind Lyds that Nate isn't there because he's preparing to share the gospel in the Netherlands.  Just the other day Lydia and I were coloring and she wanted me to draw Dada.  Then Lydia, then Baby, then Mama, then Uncle Nate and finally Dada again.  I love that she still thinks about Uncle Nate, asks about him (in her little way), and I know that she misses him.

Before he left we were able to go to the Zoo with him, the Heiselts, Aunt Abby, and Aunt Jess.  Lydia had a great time.  She loves animals.  She has a different favorite animal daily so the zoo was a wonderful way for her to spend her day.  She was fascinated with the elephants, thought the otters looked like snakes, and ran around like she owned the place by the time we reached the giraffes.  Sophie loved... Aunt Abby.  And being in the Bjorn.  In the past few days Sophie has revealed her cute little laugh consistently.  I've heard her laugh before, but now it happens often, and I love it!  It's amazing how much she sounds like Lyds when she's laughing.  I think Aunt Abby is still sending her messages telepathically, but that's a story for another day.  The Zoo was awesome.  And that evening with Uncle Nate was very special.  It's no wonder we all love him!  He is amazing.  Lydia went and hugged him probably ten times before and after he was set apart and then again when we left to drive home.  I was a mess.  I felt like I didn't get enough time with him and was so sad for Jon because he wasn't able to be with us for anything that day.  Nate looks up to Jon a lot and they have a great relationship.  We decided that driving down to Provo the next day- the day he entered the MTC- would make everyone feel better.  Jon would be feeling up to that, Lydia could give him one more hug, I would get a chance to talk to him a little bit more... So we joined in on a last family meal with Uncle Nate at Cafe Rios in Provo before saying farewell to him until June 2015.  It was perfect.  True, we didn't get to see him off at the curb outside his new home away from home, but we were there until the end and that was the best.  Uncle Nate is going to be one fabulous missionary.  In fact, he already is.  Uncle Nate, we miss you.

Sophie's Blessing

 

Sometimes it feels like everything goes wrong.  Sunday morning we woke up extra early so that we'd have plenty of time to get ready for and even arrive early to church.  I went to get Lydia out of her bed, and found a huge wet spot on her sheet.  More like a puddle.  I figured that her diaper must have malfunctioned, but when I went to change her she was bone dry.  So how did her shorts get wet??  It surely wasn't a drool puddle...  Or was it?  Maybe.  I guess we'll never know.  Anyway we pulled her sheet off and blankets and then threw them in the wash with her mattress saver.  It wasn't a big deal.  We were still able to bathe the girls and get to church with plenty of time to spare.  Then we were watching for family to arrive and everyone was filing in.  We looked back to see the Bountiful crew enter and felt great knowing that everyone had made it.  And then Simon threw up.  Right in the chapel.  Several ward members stepped forward to assist us, in addition to family members so that it didn't take long to clean things up.  A sweet sister in the ward offered to help watch the boys during clean up, and then the meeting began.  When it was time to bless Sophie Grandpa Blackhurst was nowhere to be found.  Everyone else was standing in the circle.  The brothers kept turning around to see if he was coming.  I kept turning around.  Abby stood up to see if she could locate him.  Then the ward members started looking around.  I started feeling anxious.  I gave Jon the go ahead and we later found out that Dad had gone to throw away Simon's puke bag and made it back in time to hear the blessing- if only I'd waited just another minute or two!  Dad could have stood in the circle.  I'm just glad that he was there.  I think Lizzie and Simon needed him more at the moment anyway.

Even though things didn't go exactly as I would have liked, everything came together in the end.  The blessing was beautiful, and Sophie was quiet through it all.  In fact, she was a sweetheart through the whole meeting and slept peacefully in Grandma Frazier's arms.  The food afterward was delicious, and the company wonderful.  I love family!  It was awesome to see everyone helping each other  (both at the chapel and afterward at our house) and we were so grateful for the food that was brought and the time we spent together.  Mostly we just really appreciate that everyone who could make it came for Sophie.  That meant more to me than I can say.  I think there are moments in our lives when we realize what really matters and even though the day got off to a rough start, it didn't stay that way and we were able to spend it with people we love.  I'm so grateful that Jon holds the Priesthood and was able to bless Sophie.  It means so much to me knowing that he can give our girls blessings at times like these in addition to any other time when they might need one.  And that is a huge blessing!