Fred the Frog

This was the little surprise Scott found in Easton's shoe after sitting outside overnight in the backyard. Scott had acutally picked them up and brought them into the house not knowing about the frog. When he went to put them on Easton he saw it and shouted out a little "Ahhh!" and headed straight for the door. . . . . then we saw what he got all excited about.




Easton loves frogs and liked the idea of the frog hanging out in the backyard BUT we also needed Easton's shoe. So, we decided to make a froggie house. Easton and I made it camoflauged and added some pine straw. We named the frog Fred so we could write his name on the house.




We moved Fred from shoe to house and posted him outside the back door. He stayed for a while but this morning when we check to see if he was there, he was gone. We'll leave our little froggie house out there in case any others passing by need a place to stay. :0)

Flashback Friday: The surprise!

This was a hillarious moment in time! We were in Mexico with my parents, it was Easton's first big trip. The guy on the right was our dive master for the week. Girl on the left is his girlfriend and assistant. Somehow my dad just knows how to find them because they are always great and we keep in touch and look them up year after year. As a baby Easton had a fettish with sticking his hand down my shirt all the time. So, to Irene's surprise . . . right when we snapped the shot there went Easton's hand! She has that look on her face like "what on earth is this kid doing?" She was pretty shocked and we all got the BIGGEST laugh out of it!

The Entourage

en-tou-rage (noun): 1. A group of attendants or associates. 2. One's environment or surroundings.

This is the little entourage that accompanies Easton during nap time and to sleep at night. The eyes will not close until all members are in place . . . . the monkey, which we affectionately call "Monkey," the little black dog named "Doby," the frog named (you guessed it) "Froggie," and the pirate blanket made by his Yaya. Sometimes it gets to be a pain making sure everything is in place but I'll admit it sure is cute! :0)

Mia

So, one of these days I'm going to have a separate blog for photos (it's in the works), but until then you will all just have to endure my addiction to the camera and my cute little ball of chunkiness.

Riding the Bike

Yesterday Easton and I went outside for a bike ride. Well, he rode and I walked with camera in hand. :O) He got his cool looking hot rod trike for his birthday last year and is just getting to where he is more interested in riding it. I told him he'd better get working on his pedaling skills so that he could work up to a big boy bike!

Flashback Friday: The Mummy Ride

I dug up this photo the other day and had a good laugh looking at it. This was when the whole fam went to Newport, CA for Christmas and we had a great time visiting some of the parks around the area. This was the ride at Universal Studios from the Mummy movie. It was suprisingly a great ride and caught you off guard at times as you can see by the looks on all our faces! :0)

Parris Island Tri: Mission Accomplished

The tri is over and what an awesome time it was! Despite the pretty cold morning (around 48 degrees) I was able to function well enough to complete the triathlon. Overall it was a great experience and I can't wait for the next one! Here's my countdown . . . .

10 . . . The number of weeks I trained for this event.

9 . . . The number of people I had to pass during the swim.

8 . . . The number of mosquitos bites acquired at packet pick-up the day before.

7 . . . The number of minutes of running it took to gain feeling and warmth back in my legs after the bike.

6 . . . The number of people in my fan club at the race (thanks to the Hardy's for joining the Orchard's!)

5 . . . The number of times I had to "farmer" blow my nose during the bike (remember, it was COLD!).

4 . . . The number of ladies that finished ahead of me in my division.

3 . . . The number of minutes spent in both transitions combined.

2 . . . The number of mini bagels I ate for breakfast (thank you Days Inn).

1 . . . The number of major lessons learned (never miss your designated swim time).

0 . . . The number of times I stopped to walk during the run!!! Yeah!

Fun!

Here's our rambuncious Easton. He was having all kinds of fun with a cardboard box this morning. :0) His dad has been out of town and he has been a good little mama's helper. He even helped me with a painting project that is still in the works. I'll post some finished results soon. Anyone who knows me knows that I always have to be doing some funky painting on my walls! But for now we are off to Parris Island for the triathlon tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Weather

The weather here the past 5 days has been AMAZING! Right about 80 degrees or even higher some days. We have definitely been enjoying the backyard! I went to the Columbia, SC temple over the weekend with the youth in our ward and wanted to share a pic or two.

Flashback Friday: Stay away from rusty nails!

Angie and Liz will definitely remember this exciting morning at the county fair (2007). Easton and I were going to meet up with Angie, Liz & kids. We parked at the opposite entrace so started to head toward all the action. I was just innocently walking along and all the sudden I hear this little noise followed by a pain in my foot. Come to find out, the little noise was the sound of a big old rusty nail punching through my crocs and into my foot!!! There was no one around for help so I had to do my best to make it on one leg, pushing a stroller to find help. Luckily it wasn't long before a couple of ladies passed me and they were able to go get the paramedic that was on duty at the fair. Long story short, I took about 10 minutes to decide to let him pull the nail out, which horrified me because it was in there good (about 1/2 inch right between 2 bones toward the outside of my foot). I then had to drive myself to the Urgent Care (Angie & Liz kept Easton) to have it cleaned out and get a tetanus shot. That was loads of fun (can you hear the sarcasm?) and do not recommend it.

My little Mia Moo

My little Mia is now 4 months old (and has been for a few days now). I haven't been very good at posting milestones or any growth info about her for posterity purposes so I'd better do a little of that now. If Mia would have been our first child and Easton the second, I probably would have never made it through! Mia is just the best little girl ever. She is following family tradition by sticking to the 90th plus percentile in all her measurements thus far. At her 4-month check up she weighed 16 lbs. 5 oz. (90th percentile) and was 26 1/2 inches long (96th percentile). She has the cutest little chubby thighs that her mama is proud of. :0) This girl is serious about her food! She eats every three hours on the nose and is drinking 5-6 oz. these days. She also likes to play with her rice cereal. Mia has rolled over from her back to her stomach once so far but it was probably an accident since it hasn't happened again. She goes to bed anywhere from 7:30 to 8:30 at night and will usually give me the wonderful gift of sleep until 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning. Last night when I was planning on a long night (since she had shots) she slept from 7:30 pm to 6:00 am. This would have been the perfect night if Easton wasn't up all night with a horrible cough! We just love having a her around. Hopefully at some point her mama will figure out how to tame that wild hair!!! :0)