Aquatic Center

We went to the Aquatic Center yesterday evening with our friends. We froze. It was about 80 degrees, but we had about 20 mph winds. It was cold. All the kids had blue lips. Emma hated it. She looked cute though in her swimming suit. Thanks Nanni Vicki and Boppi Brad. We still had a great time.

The boys trying to get warm before we leave for evening.
Eating dinner.
I love this picture. Giggling with daddy.

Yum. Swimming makes you hungry.
Swimming with Uncle Nic. Cooper wore his goggles most the time.
She started to cry right after this and we got out and just watched.
She is not sure about this at all.
Introducing Emma to the water.
Charlie trying to get away from Uncle Nic. Both boys went down this tube slide multiple times. They loved it.
Emma and mom ready to go swimming.

Emma at Five Months

Emma is getting so big and she is so alert these days. She hasn't rolled over in about a week. She loves to talk, giggle, and smile. She is a very happy little girl. Hardly ever cry's. We started feeding her a little rice cereal with fruit. She is still getting used to it, but grabs for the spoon and puts it in her mouth.

Cooper likes to feed Emma. She isn't too sure about this.

Stirring it up. She is very interested.

Daddy and Emma on the hammock. I love this picture.

Emma playing with her rings after she woke up. We heard her from our bedroom. This is a first for her.

Emma loves to swing with the boys.
Ready for a walk.

Mom, do I really have to do this?

Tired girl.

Heyburn State Park

We took Emma on her first camping trip to Heyburn State Park. We met up with some wonderful friends and had a great time. Fishing, playground, campfires, hikes, swimming, roasting marshmallows, and wonderful food. Megan took the boys on an hour and 15 minute scavenger hunt through the campground. They got a lot of goodies. We finished last place. I think they felt bad for us. :) The weather was perfect. There were a ton of mosquitoes and we forgot spray. Everyone got bit except Emma. We saw a ton of wildlife. Many deer and a muskrat on our walk down to the marsh. What a wonderful camping trip with our fun friends.

Emma sleeping.
Charlie and Coop. Charlie rolled in his sleep and woke up down in that far left corner. :)
Chloe, Cooper and Charlie. Great friends!
Here we are.

The O' Loughlins brought cookies for dessert. So yummy! Thanks!

Nate and Levi swam out to the buoys.
Cooper's turn to float on his belly.
Charlie and Chloe having a great time.

Charlie loves hanging out with Levi!
Charlie floating on his belly.

Our happy little girl. Hanging out in the grass while all the children play on the playground.

Charlie and Yeags hanging out with the O' Loughlin's.

Not sure what Cooper caught here. Not a fish. :)

The boys fishing. They didn't have any luck.
Going on a walk to the river.
The boys roasting marshmallows.
Cute kids!

Breastfeeding Study Wash Out

I am now in a two week wash out period for the breast feeding study I am doing. I actually lost weight on the whole fat dairy diet. I would have never thought I would lose weight. I figured it would have the opposite effect. I think I might go back on that when this is all over. It is nice to take a break though from all that dairy fat. I can now enjoy ice cream with the kids, butter and popcorn.

The boys LOVE gymnastics

The boys have been going to gymnastics a couple times a week for the past six weeks. This is the last week. They are enjoying it so much. It is great for listening skills for Charlie. Charlie couldn't balance at the beginning and now he is doing great. They both enjoy the bars, which Coop hated when he was younger and why we stopped going. They begged me to go. Cooper works very hard. I am glad they have enjoyed it so much.

Emma and dad watching Coop and Charlie.

Charlie was very cautious.

Cooper swinging high. He wasn't too sure of this.

Charlie swinging high. This is his favorite thing to do. He asks every time if they get to go on it. They get to swing on this once a week.

Charlie on the balance beam. He is much faster now.

Jumping in the pit is another favorite.

Emma rolled over

Today Emma rolled over for the first time. She rolls from her back to her belly. She turns over on her left side. Mom missed the first roll. I turned around and she was on her belly. I missed the second roll as well because I was putting on a show for the boys. Cooper yelled, "She just rolled again, I saw her." So, I sat and cheered her on and she rolled again. Pretty cute. Coop was four months old when he rolled and Charlie was five months. She is right there with her brothers. She will be five months old is two days.

Breastfeeding Study

Megan is taking part in a breastfeeding study at the University of Idaho. It is a study involving the consumption of high and low fat dairy foods. The purpose of this study is to begin to understand how dietary dairy fats affects the expression of genes in the mammary cell. It is a seven week study. I have made it through the first two weeks. The first week I went in two days in a row and gave a sample. Then I started the fat dairy diet on July 1st. Yes, I get two 8 oz glasses of whole milk a day, a cup of cream yogurt and a slice of Tillamook cheese. I thought all of this dairy might upset Emma, but she is doing very well. I notice her spit up is creamier and thicker. I'm sure this is not helping my baby weight come off, but that is okay. I will finish the fat dairy diet next Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday I will go give a sample. I will continue on my normal diet starting next Tuesday for two weeks. Then the low fat dairy diet begins. It will be interesting to see the results from the study.

4th of July Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend. We started out by going up to Camp Lutherhaven for a couple nights. We passed about 14 deer off the highway to Lutherhaven. We had a campfire and made smores on Friday night. The boys were very excited and couldn't fall asleep. They loved playing on the bunk beds. Cooper tried to sleep on top, but then was ready to come down to the bottom bunk once he was settled in. Saturday we went to worship for an hour. After, the boys went to kids camp for two hours. It was awesome. Nate enjoyed playing music and I read. The boys went canooing, played basketball, made crafts, and did some archery. After lunch Nate and the boys went out sailing for a couple hours. They enjoyed that. Emma and I went back to the cabin so she could get a nap. I enjoyed reading and soon fell asleep as well. After dinner they had a talent show. Nate played a guitar and sang a song. We had to leave early because the boys were very tired. After the kids got to bed, Nate and I read for a while. Sunday we enjoyed a fabulous brunch and then worship.

The boys posing in front of our cabin.

Cooper in his bed.

Getting all tucked in.

Getting ready for our walk to the campfire down by the Lake.

So excited to be at Camp.

Waiting for breakfast.

Smiley Charlie.

Daddy and Emma. It was a chilly weekend.

View from the dining hall where we ate.

The boys are headed to go sailing.

Getting life jackets on. Charlie was excited.

The boys are down in the boat and Nate is ready to help sail. He has a huge blister on his finger from the ropes.

Sunday evening we went to the ball field in town, set off some fireworks with some friends and enjoyed watching everyone else's as well. The boys made it until about 9:40. Emma slept through most of it.

Our pretty girl. We tried to get a smile out of her.

Snakes. I dressed the boys in jammies thinking they wouldn't be lighting fireworks off. ;)

Yeags was going nuts.

Don't let Charlie burn anything. He burned me and himself with the punk. They had fun lighting smoke bombs though and running through the smoke.

Today we got all the camping gear out to prepare for our camping trip this weekend to Heyburn State Park. The tent is set up and the boys enjoyed helping Nate. Nate cooked us a delicious meal with the dutch ovens. And we even had a camp fire after dinner and made smores. What a fun weekend!

Having smores under our pine trees.

Thanks dad! What a great idea.