Somebody Found Her Thumb

Evie will often suck on her hands as she tries to self-soothe herself.  We always know she is tired when she starts rubbing her eyes and then sucking on her hands.  She sometimes sucks on just one or two fingers, sometimes the top of the hand, and in this case . . . she found her thumb.  We thought it was so cute that we couldn't resist taking a picture of her.

And, then she woke up and continued to make us smile.  She loves to just lay down and kick her legs (she's bound to be a swimmer or a soccer player by the way she moves . . . it's amazing).

Here she is playing, blowing bubbles, showing off her cute belly, wondering what in the world I'm doing with this camera contraption, and pushing off on her feet.  She's figured out how to put her feet down and push off.  

And, here she is showing off her beautiful eyes.
What a beautiful baby girl!

Packing with Scouts in the Uintas

Beau had the exciting opportunity to take the Varsity Scouts on a backpacking trip in the Unitas (August 2 - 4).  This trip took A LOT of planning and preparation to make it happen.  Next to work and family, preparing for this trip consumed most of Beau's extra time.  The good news is that the planning and preparation paid off because the trip was a huge success.

This is the "starting line" for all of the backpackers.
From Left to Right:  Kaden Miller, Jordan Hicken, Nathan Gray, Joe Osmond,
Zack Leloux, Nick Edlefson, Tristan Maupin, and Cam Roberts

Beau and Bret Pierce were able pack horses/mules into camp.  Here's Bret and his load.  This helped
to lighten the load of each backpacker, plus take in MUCH better food.  I think everyone was
SUPER happy that they didn't have to eat dehydrated food for every meal.

Here's my handsome Beau with his load.  Beau loves to pack and he's gotten to be mighty good at it.  He ties his loads securely on and hits the trail.  Don't forget to notice that our Codee girl got to go on the campout too.  

This picture is a little blurry, but it captures the fun that Beau had with his good friend (and fellow scouts leader) , Cam.  Beau and Cam woke up early one morning and these two had the lake to themselves.  Being naturally competitive, Cam and Beau continued to work hard to pass the other one up with the number of fish they caught.  I've spoken to both and I don't know that I really ever found out who the clear winner was, but they both said that it was neck-and-neck the whole time.  They had a ball!

Here's Cam with one of his catches.

Here's Nathan (one of the scouts) who caught the biggest fish.

Here's a look at some of the scenery, as well as the horses as they were let out to pasture for a little dinner.

I had to show this picture because it shows off my gentle giant, Tiny.  Doesn't she look good out there?
I also love how Beau's shadow made it in the bottom-right corner.  

Here's Swasey Lake - The lake they hiked to and then spent 2 nights and 3 days.

Here's the group as they make their way out of camp.  

The trip was a lot of fun.  Beau said that he's had some of the scouts asking if they can go again . . . which I think is a GREAT sign that the trip was a smashing success.

They only thing Beau says he would do differently next time is . . . stay an extra day! 

Check Out Those Toes!

Evie loves watching her toes and feet.  We're not so sure that she's figured out that those moving toes/feet are actually attached to her and she's the one making them move.  Regardless, she loves to watch them wiggle and can be entertained by their movement for quite some time.  I gotta say . . . I'm pretty impressed with her form.

Evie Loves Sophie the Giraffe

Evie has a new friend.  It's Sophie the Giraffe (we did not name the giraffe; it came with the name).  Sophie has a little bell in her belly and when we give her a shake, Evie can't help but be mesmerized.  She will sit and follow Sophie for quite a while.  Evie will even just sit and stare at Sophie . . . right in the eyes.  It's been the cutest thing to watch.  Evie recently started reaching out for this cute giraffe and will sometimes grab and/or hug it (as you can see).  So cute!

By the way . . . perhaps you will be interested to know that Evie giggled today.  She's kind of giggled before, but today there was no "kind of" about it.  She full-on giggled.  It was the most infectious giggle ever!  She brings SO much joy into our lives.

Look At That Lip

Evie fell asleep in her bouncer (which she loves to hang out in) and one of the times that Beau peaked at her, he saw this cute face.  The picture doesn't REALLY do it justice, but she had sucked her upper lip right underneath her lower lip . . . making that lower lip just stick out.  It was too cute.  We also LOVE her chubby cheeks.  Just in case you were wondering . . . they get kissed ALL day long.

13.1 Beautiful Miles

Well, I did it!  I actually completed another half marathon.  I even beat my goal.  I wanted to finish it in two hours or less, and I ended up finishing it in 1 hour and 57 minutes.  Yay!

We had to wake up a smidge early . . . okay, it was 3:45am.  I suppose that's MORE than a smidge . . . of which I haven't had to do that since Evie was 3 weeks old.  I met up with my darling sisters and friends at 4:30am to load the busses.

Those busses hauled us all the way up American Fork Canyon to our starting destination at Tibble Fork Reservoir.

Here we are just outside of the "Honey Buckets" as we all make our last efforts to empty our
bladders.  I love these beautiful girls.  From left to right:  Amber, Me, Jen, & Becca.

This is also at the starting line.  I had to snap a picture with my good friend, Jen.  We had a similar training schedule as we were both plagued with some challenges (me = newborn and Jen = travel and international moving).  We even hooked up and ran a couple long runs together before race day.  We haven't run in a race together for YEARS (like at least ten) so I cannot tell you how happy I was to be at the starting line with this fine woman!  

Jen and myself.  Besides that I love that we're together, I love seeing the canyon behind us too.

The run went well.  I actually paced with Jen and Becca for the first 6 miles (they are fast runners) and then had to pull back a little on my pace to ensure that I would make it to the end without wanting to die.  That was a good thing, because it was pretty tough to finish when I did.  I love this run because I love American Fork Canyon and it always makes me happy to run while surrounded by such beautiful scenery.

This is an event where every person who finishes, gets a medal.  I think that's only appropriate.

Jen, Me, Becca.  We all met up at the finish line. 

Amber and I at the finish line.
This was the 2nd year in a row that we both conquered this amazing event! Go us!  

I was SO happy to see my little training buddy at the finish line too.  Beau and Evie came to see me finish and I might have to say this was one of the highlights of my day.  Evie deserved to be there as much as I did.  She logged A LOT of my training miles right there with me.  Maybe one day she'll actually be running with me, instead of rolling with me.  Either way . . . I'll take her!

When I found Beau & Evie a random runner looked at me and in amazement asked, "Is that your baby!?"  I proudly responded, "YES!"  She then asked, "And you just ran that race with her being so new?"  I could tell that she had assumed I had carried & delivered Evie (I mean, why wouldn't she?), but I played along and took the compliments of how incredible I was to finish.  However, I broke down & told her that Evie was adopted.  That being said, I still deserved some extra credit.  After all, training on a newborn's schedule is hard and not very convenient.  So, I am VERY happy to have finished so well.  (That being said, I would like to go on the record and say that I would give up running for my baby girl if that was what was needed or required.  She is SO worth it.)

These two are my support & cheer group!  It's probably not the easiest to be married to a runner and I thank Beau for supporting me, working around my training runs when he could, sacrificing some of his Saturday mornings so I could go on long runs, and for coming to see me finish!  I love my family!!

I love these two SOOOO much!

I love how much Beau loves & adores little Evie too!

Beau took me out to breakfast to celebrate my victory.  Evie & I then relaxed by the pool for a few hours.  I figured I deserved to do next-to-nothing after putting in all those miles.  Really, I don't deserve anything.  I'm just SUPER grateful to be healthy and fit enough to accomplish such things.

Here's the proof that I made it (this is my GPS watch that I wore during the race).  The top number is my overall mileage pace.  Man, I barely stayed in the 8-minute miles. . . ha, ha!  The bottom, left number is my total time which was 1 hour, 57 minutes.  The bottom, right number is the distance I ran of 13.1 miles.

I'm so gonna beat that next year!

She's Perfect - 2 Month Wellness Check

We've been anxious to get Evie in to see Dr. Mumford for her 2-month Wellness Check.  We wanted to see what her actual weight and height progress was, as well as ask the doctor some simple questions.  Beau was able to make arrangements at work so he could be to the appointment with us.  He loves to be with his girls and he didn't want to miss this!

As you can see, Evie now weighs 12 pounds, 4 ounces.

That puts her in the 55.68 percentile.  I'm not going to lie, Beau and I thought she would be off the charts, but she is pretty darn close to average.  What a healthy, little girl!

Her length is now 23.5 inches and she's a bit higher on the charts here.  This lands her in the 73.71 percentile.  She's got some long legs and she loves to kick them!

They also measure her head and she's in the 46.88 percentile there.  (You might find it odd, but people often give us compliments on her head shape.  We hear about how beautiful her head is.)

So, in summary, Evie is growing perfectly.  It's one thing for us to say she's perfect, but so did the doctor.  Thus, it's TOTALLY true!  No questions asked!  In fact, Dr. Mumford said she is baby contest material and she could totally win.  Of course she can!  (While we believe that Evie would win by a landslide, we are also not too naive and we're guessing he tells most parents this about their babies.)

Next on the agenda was getting Evie's immunization shots.  We were not looking forward to this event!  We fed Evie a little bit before the nurse came in with the needles.

Come on girl!  Let's get you ready for your shots.  You're strong, you can do this!

She got three shots.  One in one thigh, and two in the other.  The nurse was super fast, but this baby girl was NOT happy about the pokes.  She cried like Beau and I have NEVER seen/heard her cry before.  Her sweet face was red and tears were overflowing out of her sparkly eyes.  I could not calm this girl down for minutes.  Even singing to her wouldn't help much . . . and it usually works like magic.

Doesn't his face just break your heart?  It broke ours!

I held her as tight as I could and eventually she calmed down.  I think she mostly calmed down because she had worn herself out from such a hard cry.

Oh, how I love this girl more than words can say!

At least the nurse had some cool, purple band-aids to put on her wounds.  Besides, how can you not love those legs?  Seriously!

After she calmed down, she ate and then we made our way home.  She was SO wiped out that she took a much needed, long afternoon nap.  Then she was back to her happy, smiley self.

That doctor's visit wore me right out!

We are happy to have such a strong, healthy baby girl.  She's growing right like she should (even though it's faster than we would like) and she's our little angel.