Summertime Joys and the Choo Choo

We have been having a fantastic summer this year and I can't get enough of the outdoors and making new memories with my kids. As a result this blog has been pushed to the wayside but I do have a lot of pictures and videos to share so I will try to catch you up eventually!


A couple weeks ago Jayden, Ava and I went to Rapid City for two weeks and DJ met us there for the last few days over the 4th of July. It was very memorable because not only was this Ava's first road trip at just 5 weeks old (it was a successful first trip!), it was also the first trip where Jayden was old enough to have a lot of fun with. I had so much fun taking him to all my favorite places in the Black Hills and he made it so very enjoyable. 


This video is from our experience on the 1880 train which is a ride on an old-fashioned train (like from the 1800s maybe??) through the hills between Hill City and Keystone (best known for Mt. Rushmore). It takes about 1 hour in each direction which in hindsight is a bit long when traveling with small children so next time we'll probably just take the one way trip. But given the heat of the day and the longevity of the ride both kids did awesome! Nana and Papa went along to help and I think we will always remember Jayden's first train ride and his absolute thrill every time the train whistle blew (which happened about 56 times during the ride, give or take)!

Happy Independence Day

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One Month - Photo

I didn't get a chance to include a picture of Ava as a one month old on the post the other day so here it is! Plus I love this outfit so an even better reason to take pictures!

Water Park

This week has been really nice so I decided to take Jayden to the water park. He seemed to have a good enough time that I think I'll probably try it again when we have another hot day. Ava hung out in the wrap and got to run through the water with us as a result! She didn't seem to care one way or another; she slept the whole time we were there.

Jayden spent a lot of time watching the other kids running around and holding his tummy. Ha ha

This is where he waited while I nursed Ava; he would only run through the water if I did it with him so I got wet too!

A Moment in the Life

...Of Jayden...


(I swear I will make a better attempt with my videographer skills in the future! Also I would advise not watching this video if you've ever had equilibrium or vertigo issues. Seriously it's bad; I don't know why I thought swinging the camera around was better than turning my body around...)

 Playing with homemade playdough

Reading his book

Learning how to take turns sharing momma's lap with this little girl

One Month

Ava is...

• Growing! She's starting to get chubby cheeks and a few rolls already! She was weighed on Tuesday and is now 10 pounds 5 ounces. It appears she is officially on the "Jayden track" of gaining about a pound a week! She is wearing size 1 diapers at night (and when I forget to do the laundry promptly) but is still wearing newborn diaper covers when we put her in cloth diapers during the day. She'll probably be outgrowing those really soon though. She is also wearing 0-3 month clothes now.
• More alert! She still sleeps a ton during the day but it seems like there are more periods of awake time now. She is usually always awake for a good 2 hour stretch between 6:00 and 10:00 every night and she usually wants to nurse every 45-60 minutes during that time as well. That is also her fussiest time of day.
• Happy! There have been about three occasions where I swear she has actually smiled back at me when I've smiled at her. It reminds me that soon we'll have another interactive member of the family instead of a passive newborn. I look forward to those days just about as much as I am enjoying these laid-back newborn days!
• A good sleeper! With the exception of about 2 or 3 nights, Ava has been the best sleeper a parent could ask for when it comes to nighttime sleeping. I really didn't know that babies like Ava existed especially breastfed ones, but she has gone as long as 7 hours at night between feedings which has made life so much easier for this momma!
• A great eater! Although not the best nurser... but she is getting better! Thankfully we haven't had too many troublesome issues in the breastfeeding department, but Ava has never had the best latch. She often takes in a lot of air when she eats and she has to be burped quite often and sometimes will spit up what seems like everything she just ate. I never had to burp Jayden much but Ava often gets gas/air bubbles and will cry a very specific cry/scream when she gets gassy so I have to be careful to remember to burp her often. Also Jayden was able to accommodate for, what I have determined to be, a very forceful letdown of milk whereas Ava often chokes and gags when my milk lets down. This also creates an issue with gas so I'm hoping that will go away as she gets older and she learns to deal with it a bit better. But she does like to eat and enjoys a good meal every two hours or so.
• A very enjoyable little person overall! The first month with our sweet girl has been easier than I could have ever dreamed. I feel so extremely blessed to have this sweet baby in our family!

Computer Fun

We bought Jayden a computer game that we figured we would bring out during these new baby days when I felt like he needed a change of pace. So last week, I decided it was time to bring it out. These videos are kind of long (a couple minutes each) but I think it's fun to watch Jayden's expressions as he experiences something new and I think they will be especially fun to watch again in a few years when he's a pro on the computer!