Duncan @ 8 Months

Duncan @ 8 Months

Eats fingerfoods

Trying to sit up/crawl

Scoots backwards if he's on his belly

Makes funny faces

Pull's Mommy's hair every chance he can get

Didn't like his first swim

Loves bath time

Gives you a hug when you get him out of his crib

Is a good traveler 

Puts up with his sister Lucy constantly bugging him

Laughs and shows off his dimple

Duncan @ 7 Months

Duncan @ 7 Months

He sat up by himself 

Eating lots of veggies and fruits (not picky as of now)

Enjoys his baby walker 

Always giggles when he does the trick now with Daddy. 

Finding that thumb more and more

Still likes the stinky bink

Has a bunch of hair on top of his head perfect for a fohawk

Takes baths in the big tub 

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa Knudsen

Started eating baby crackers

Loves to give Mommy kisses

Rolling over on tummy but isn't happy when he gets stuck that way though

Memorial Day '14

Quick recap of Memorial Day Weekend:

We had a great visit from my parents the week before Memorial Day. I love that they are visiting us more! We got to celebrate their 41st anniversary with them at Cheesecake Factory. What great examples to us! 

Jensen woke up on Memorial Day and told everyone it was Mario Day. He thought it was a whole day of playing his favorite game.

We dragged Jensen out of the house and went to Boulder City to a try out their Splash Pads. They turned out to be a big hit with the kids. Then we went to the park in BC that has the big horned sheep. At first we only saw one and were kind of disappointed. Then we went to leave and saw that they were all sitting in the shade on the other side of the tennis court. There was probably 30 or more just sitting there enjoying the day.  Jensen wanted to get home to play Mario so we headed home and him and Daddy played for a while. 

When the boys had had enough of Mario (not possible for Jensen) I drug them to the outlets for a quick shopping trip. Then we hit Cafe Rio and Neilsons. It's weird not doing decorating grave's on Memorial Day, that's all we did growing up. But we were with family on those days and that is what we did today, a great family day. 

We Made it!

Lucy, Jensen and Mommy made it to the end of their school years. It wasn't easy but we did it! 

Lucy was the first graduate around here. She finished up in May which wasn't exactly the best thing for Mommy while she finished up teaching for the year. She sure missed her friends and wanted mommy to play with her. This is Lucy on her last day of preschool. They didn't have a graduation for her since she still has one more year of preschool (sigh).

I also snapped a picture of Lucy with her friend Wyatt. Remember they exchanged love notes a month ago? They might just meet up again for Kindergarten.  

She loved all three of her teachers Ms. Megan, Ms. Tami and Ms. Tanisha. 

Jensen had a few field trips and an unforgettable cockroach performance at the end of his school year. He got to go twice to the splash pads with both of his classes. I was able to chaperone both of them. 

As for the performance, all of the kindergartners dressed up as different bugs. Jensen was one cute cockroach. I am sure I will never say a cockroach is cute ever again. He was really into his mustache that they gave him for his costume. He kept feeling it and making sure it stayed right in place. His hat also liked to fall down so he couldn't see half the time what he was doing. 

The family attended Jensen's graduation ceremony. They read his name and he shook his teacher's hands then left the stage without his diploma. He got a good chuckle from everyone. This picture is blurry but is the only one (big sigh!)

Jensen was blessed to have two amazing teachers this school year. Ms. Sharp is his Autism teacher. She took great care of him and gave us a lot of support. 

Mrs. Lewis is his general education teacher. He would spend all morning with her before going back to Ms. Sharp's class. Jensen learned a lot from these amazing teachers! 

Of course last minute I was making their thank you gifts. These were bouquets of whiteboard markers with paper flowers on top. 

Jensen had his last day a week before mommy did. Lucy was so glad to have him home to play with her. Mommy was too. 

Mommy wrapped up her first year of teaching 5th grade in the second week of June. It was a great year and I really loved my class this year. You don't think you get attached to your kids when you teach virtually but you do! 

Jensen's and Mommy's summer break didn't last too long since we are both doing summer school. Keeps us out of trouble I guess!

Quincy Special Week

Father's Day and Quincy's birthday usually fall in the same week. That means it's a one stop party around here for Daddy.

We made our daddy a waffle for breakfast and then headed to our old, old ward to hear a missionary farewell. So good to see everyone. Then we hit our regular ward too. Father's day isn't as celebrated as Mother's day in our new ward. We only had sacrament on Mother's day. Super nice! Daddy collected cookies from both wards. Then after church we made daddy use his new grill to cook us some yummy steaks. 

Quincy likes lots of fuss on his birthday so I tried to give him what he wanted. Not really. He is a minimalist. Maybe one of these birthdays I will throw him a surprise birthday just so he can't fight me on anything. 

Quincy wanted to go out to lunch and last minute he picked Cheesecake Factory. Win-win for everyone! The kids all wanted to go there for their birthdays too. We told the waiter that it was his birthday and they brought him the smallest scoop of ice cream I have ever seen (I guess they want you to buy the $9 cheesecake). They did sing to him and gave him lots of fuss. 

After, we headed home to gear up for our next activity. Bowling! It turned out to be cosmic bowling and Hawaii night at Sunset Station. We haven't taken the kids bowling for a long time and we had a blast singing along with the good music. The ladies next to us really got decked out in Hawaii gear and ended up giving it to Lucy when they were done. I wasn't nice to the birthday boy since I took back the bowling crown. 

We sure love our Daddy! 

Birthday Trip

For my birthday this year Quincy gave me tickets to a Braves baseball game. It was a gift for all since we all got to go for a weekend getaway. It couldn't have been a better weekend since it was the weekend that school got out. I think we all needed a little vacation.

On Friday, we headed down to Phoenix trying to make batting practice but we only caught the last few batters. It was Hawaiian night and they gave everyone lays when entering the stadium. It had been awhile since we have been to a professional game. This was Lucy's and Duncan's first game. Lucy loved that they bring refreshments to you. The game was more enjoyable after buying her a $7 lemonade. Duncan was all smiles as always. My Brave's line-up had changed a lot since our last trip to see them but they still pulled off a win. After the game they had fireworks to put a perfect end to the game.

The next day, the kids woke up and wanted to go swimming at the hotel. I realized I forgot their lifejackets on the way down but it turned out to be a good things since it made them practice their swimming skills. By the end of the day both Lucy and Jensen were swimming to their daddy. Duncan tried to get in for his first swim but he wasn't too happy about being in the water. So we just watched the fun from the lawn chairs.

After the morning swim we went to Mesa to grab lunch at Chick-fil-A. I think I converted Quincy but too bad they aren't in Vegas. Then we made a quick stop to the cemetery to see the kids great - great grandparents (Lucy Jane's namesake Sally Jane). We also located Nancy's headstone, Quincy's cousin that passed away almost four years ago.

We then headed to Amazing Jakes which is an indoor activity center that had rides and a buffet. Quincy had called his friend from college to see if they wanted to hang out with us while we were in town. They suggested this place and that we meet there. It was fun seeing their family of seven with one on the way. They had some new faces to the family since we last saw them.

Too much fun for this little guy

The kids loved the rides of course while we laughed and caught up from the sidelines. After many hours later and many cookies later we said our goodbyes and headed back to the hotel. The kids swam until it was bedtime. The next morning we went to church with the Whites before heading home. It was a quick trip but just what we all needed. Thanks for the great present Quincy!