Got Me a Job

I now have two ways that I make a little extra money and have fun too. 

On Wednesday mornings I help teach our car seat class at All Children's Hospital.  The class is free and is open to anyone who wants to learn how to use their car seat or to make sure they are using their seat correctly.  It's also for inpatient families (like babies in the NICU) who will be discharged that week.  For those who are low income, they can purchase a seat from us for very inexpensive.  During the first part of the class the families watch a video and then we go outside for the installation in their cars.  I'm usually there for about two hours.  It's a perfect job for me!  I love driving to downtown St. Pete and I love being back in the hospital again.

The other fun thing I get to do is watch baby Ella every other Friday.  She is eight months old and such a delight!  It's been so much fun to have a baby in the house again.  She is so content and plays and sleeps really well.  I think it's been a good thing for Cannon too, learning about what babies are like and how we take care of them.  

You know what's creepy?

When you suddenly see a masked person out of the corner of your eye. 

Melbourne, FL

We spent the past week in Melbourne, FL.  Ryan had a work trip and Cannon and I got to tag along.  The best part was that Ryan was home (well, back to the hotel) early almost every day, sometimes by 3:00.

Cannon thrives on routines and quickly established one at the hotel.  Every morning we ate our breakfast buffet at the same table.  He ate the same breakfast every morning: bacon, scrambled eggs, french toast, apple juice, and some fruit.  Then we would go swimming in the pool and/or to the beach.  Then upstairs for quiet time and back to the beach and/or pool again.  We brought his bike along, so we threw that into the mix every now and then too. And then dinner at a restaurant.  Oh, and Cannon decided that his job was to push the buttons for the elevator.  He knew to push 1 and 7.

The Atlantic is definitely cooler than the Gulf.  Some days it felt a little too cool for me, but other days it was perfect.  Although still hot and humid, it really wasn't that bad.  There was always a cooler breeze.

Our walk on the beach turned into a swim

We had a super long hallway perfect for riding a bike!

Ryan liked to take Cannon out far

We found TONS of jelly fish one day!

We took some back to our room and put them in water

Football on the beach!

It rained every afternoon or evening

And Cannon surprised us with his swimming skills! One time he made it across the short end of the pool (15-20ft) in one breath! The more he swims, the better he becomes. I'm glad we still have a good two months of swimming here!

We all had a fun and relaxing time!  

In Play We Trust

I"m a big advocate of letting your child play the way he wants to without much formal direction from the parent.  One thing I learned when I worked at the children's hospital was that children know what they need to do to heal.  Meaning, that when kids came to play in the playroom we always let them decide what they wanted to play with and how they wanted to play it (so long as it was not hurting themselves or anyone or destroying things).  Because play is a child's work and their way to sort out the hurt and the crazy and the scary and the confusing and the fun and their ideas and so forth.

I carried this idea into my home once Cannon was born.  I leave things open-ended for him and I usually don't suggest ways for him to play, he gets to decide that.  Last year I noticed that he played with his trains the same way every day.  He would drive them around the edge of the coffee table, line them all up, and drive them off the edge.  Then he would drive them up on the TV stand (which was a little taller) and do the same thing.  This lasted for about four or five months.  I wondered why he played like that and wondered what could he possibly be "learning" from that sort of play.  I was tempted to interfere, but I never did.  I just stayed close by and watched.  At that point in his life he had pretty little impulse control, like most other two-year-olds, but his somehow seemed a little bit worse.

A few months ago I learned that when children drive their cars/trains on tracks and in lines, that helps them learn impulse control.  That was one of those "Aha" moments for me!  I am so glad that I let Cannon play the way he wanted to because he instinctively knew what he needed to work on.  And I have to say that Cannon's impulse control is so much more improved!

Last story.

Cannon has two trains named Bash and Dash (actually *had*-we left them and we've waiting for them to be sent back to us).  I guess they're like twins, but Dash is orange and Bash is grey.  When Cannon first got them he learned their names and could tell them apart.  Then a little while later he mixed up their names.  I knew he could tell them apart and it seemed like he was just doing it on purpose, but I didn't know why.  I SO wanted to correct him, but I would just tell him, "Okay."  Yesterday we were playing together and he said that he was Bash and I was Dash.  He is always Bash, because in real life he likes to bash things.  Then he said, "You are grey and I am orange."  And then I finally realized why he switched their names.  Bash is his favorite name and orange is his favorite color, so logically they must go together!  Aha! Once again, I'm glad that I let things be and it was really fulfilling to have that insight into his mind.

Cannon, Cannon, and More Cannon

We have been enjoying our summer this year and Cannon seems to be growing up right before my eyes.  When it's not a thousand degrees outside we do try and spend as much of our play time out in nature.  We have the best adventures!  Cannon's newest interest is bugs.  We checked out this cool backpack from the library that was filled with books about bugs and it also came with binoculars, a magnifying glass, a net, a bug grasper thing, and a clear box for bug storage.   I don't like catching live bugs, so we look for dead ones around our pool.  Those are the best ones because you can hold them, touch them, and see them up close.  So far we've been able to find a dragonfly, katydid, sphinx moth, a bee, and lots of little beetle type bugs.

Fun with friends

When it's just too hot to play outside, we swim!  We probably go swimming three or four times a week.  Cannon is getting much better at swimming, but I can't really say that he can swim yet.  We also look forward to the rain.  It rains almost every day in the summer which makes for great puddle jumping!  I found some rain boots on clearance and surprised Cannon with them.  He LOVES his boots and he wears them every day for every occasion.





 Last Saturday we went to a Ray's game.  That was Cannon's first major league baseball game.  He brought his little glove and was so hoping to catch a ball.  That never happened, so he was a bit disappointed.  However, he had a great time!  He quickly realized that this was a place where he could yell and heckle and be rowdy and not get in trouble.  He was cracking everyone up with his remarks and expressions!  He also had his first taste of cotton candy and did not like it! 

A long time ago I bought Cannon a Winnie the Pooh CD to listen to in the car on long drives.  He hasn't been interested in it until lately.  I think it all started when he found Ryan's beloved childhood Pooh Bear (actually there are two of them).  We borrowed the Winnie the Pooh books on CD from the library and listen to them in the car everyday, well actually just tracks one and two which is the story of the honey tree and when Pooh gets stuck in Rabbit's hole.  It's kind of a nice change from music and I like listening to their accents.

What else?  He is improving on his balance bike and can balance down a hill.  His favorite candies are M&M's (he calls them "yummy yums").  And we have to read the three same books before bed each night (and in the same order): The Little Blue Truck, The Adventures of Frog and Toad (all five stories!), and Roxaboxen.  Oh yes, and he tells me he loves me about 20 times a day!

Ryan is in North Carolina this week and Cannon had a good cry about it today, but the good news is that we will join him for his next trip to Melbourne, FL in a couple of weeks.

Big Kid Room

I think we finally have Cannon's big kid room complete!

Here's the view from the door.  I know the drapes are kind of an eyesore, but they are very functional.  He actually has two lovely and large windows, but the curtains keep out the heat and the light (at 6am).  His windows have long vertical blinds (I hate them with a passion).  They don't come off and a regular curtain rod doesn't fit, so we just draped the curtains over the existing hardware.   

He loves his bed!  It's actually pretty cozy with the tent. 

I also love that he has his own bathroom.






The train table in his room has been a big hit!  We don't have enough space to keep it downstairs.  He will spend almost an hour each day playing trains in his room by himself.  Of course, he often invites me to come play with him too.  Sometimes he likes to go in his room and read books to himself.

He has a pretty good sized room.  I keep more toys in the closet that he will bring out sometimes (like his marble run). 








I finally feel like we are mostly clutter free.  Cannon's closet is packed, but organized.  It's nice to have everything unpacked and put together!

Utah Trip and More!

I have so much to catch up on!

I think the biggest thing that has happened was that back in June I was called as the Relief Society President in our church.  This means that I am responsible for all the women in our area and making sure that their spiritual and temporal  needs are being met.  It's a heavy responsibility, but I know it will bring welcomed blessings as I serve.

For the 4th of July we had a not-so-brilliant idea of going down to Siesta Key Beach.  It's down in Sarasota (just a little over an hours drive for us) and we've been meaning to try this beach because of its pure quartz sand.  The sand is white, oh so soft, and it always stays cool to the touch (even in the hot sun)!  It sounds ideal, but everyone and their dog was there!  Ryan and I both dislike crowds, but we stayed anyway.  The beach itself was awesome and the shallow area is really long so Cannon has a large place to swim and play.  We had a good time anyway and now we can cross it off our list of Florida beaches to visit.  

We weren't sure about taking Cannon to watch the fireworks since he is really sensitive to loud noises.  One time was stayed for the fireworks at Disney World, but he got really upset.  We just decided to spend the rest of the evening at home after we got home from the beach.  I bought some sparklers and we did those in our back area.  Cannon liked those at first, but after it died he touched the end and burnt his finger.  I felt bad and that tainted the rest of the evening.  He still like to watch them, but he wouldn't hold them anymore.  And poor Blue got burnt when a spark of a sparkler fell on her nose.  It just wasn't our luck!  After sparklers Cannon had a bath an then we watched the big fireworks from our huge bedroom window.  It was actually really nice.  We laid on my bed and you could see them really well.  I think next year Cannon will be ready for the big ones!

On July 5 I headed to Utah!  It was a miracle that we were able to pull this off!  Ryan had purposely scheduled a work trip for Provo and Bountiful so that we could use our frequent flier miles and go with him.  Well, we didn't have enough miles for two tickets and one ticket is about $500 so we figured we would have to do Utah next summer.  But when Ryan was on his way back from him Memphis trip, they overbooked the flight and he volunteered to take another one and they gave him a $400 voucher!  I asked Ryan to take a second look at flights to see if we could make it work.  Just that day they lowered the tickets to $350 and we had just enough points for the "lowest fare" ticket with our miles.  Cannon had to fly with Ryan, since the voucher was in Ryan's name, and Ryan had to fly out at specific times for his work.  I used the miles and they only let you book certain days and times with the low-fare, so I had to fly out on a different day.  So I went out on the 5th and Ryan and Cannon didn't come out until the 9th.  It was really weird to not travel with Cannon and to be without him for a few days, but it was also kind of nice to have that time alone too.

Madelyn, me, and Heather roasting Starbursts

On July 7 (Saturday) I went out to dinner with my friends Heather, Madelyn, and Stacey.

Me, Heather, Stacey

Afterwards we hung out at Stacey's house.  It was so much FUN to be with them again!  Stacey has a fire pit in her backyard.  We sat around there and talked and roasted s'mores and starbursts.  We had a great time catching up and laughing hard!  I miss those girls.

Ryan's birthday was on Sunday, which I was sad to miss, but we celebrated it later at my mom's house.

Sprinklers!

Riding Trax

Cannon and Ryan came out on Monday the 9th, but didn't get to my mom's house until about 10:30.  It was great to have them back.  The rest of the week was pure fun!  The weather felt so great to us, even though other people said it was hot.  Cannon had so much fun just being able to play in cool soft grass and to run around my mom's backyard whenever he wanted to.  We went up the canyon (Cannon is obsessed with mountains right now), went to the zoo, went to Park City, saw my grandma, rode Trax downtown, visited Temple Square, and just played!  We spent a lot of time outside which was perfect.  Cannon loved to play with the cats too.  It was also nice to spend a lot of time with my family.  My niece, Kennedi, is just six months younger than Cannon and the last time they saw each other was almost two years ago!  They were happy to see each other and mostly got along, but Cannon really knows how to tease girls! Cannon got to see his great-grandma Mimi.  He has a picture of her holding him when he was a baby, so he knows who she is.  When we were at her house he put it all together.  He said to her, "You're my great-grandma," to which we all agreed and then he said, "Where's my great-grandpa?"  I didn't quite know what to say, so I just told the truth and I said, "He's dead."  And he left it at that. 

Moose in Uncle Dave's front yard!

Merci

Climbing the real mountain!

Climbing the fake mountain at Largo Central Park

One of Cannon's favorite times was going up in the canyon.  We went up Little Cottonwood and just found a place to pull over on the side of the road.  We walked down to the river and hung out there for a while.  Cannon loved to climb and scale the rocks.  He loved throwing rocks into the river.  He took off his shoes and let his feet touch the cold water.  He like to walk on the rocks in the water, but was careful since they were slippery.   It was a perfect environment for Cannon, my sensory guy.  He could hear the river and feel it's cool.  Climb the big rocks and throw the little ones.  Smell the pine trees.  Hide in the bushes.  It was so peaceful and relaxing and made me miss the mountains.

 

 Merci and I took the kids to Hogle Zoo.  They have made many improvement since my days of going there!  Cannon's favorite exhibit were the seals and sea lions.  He laughed every time they poked their faces out of the water. 

Like father like son?

Ryan on our honeymoon (Dominican Republic)

Carousel

Giraffes, another favorite

Cannon and Kennedi

Rolling in the soft grass!

Salt Lake Temple

On Saturday we took Trax downtown to visit Temple Square and the new City Creek Mall.  Cannon loved riding the "train."  It was a nice day except for when it rained.  I waited for Ryan to buy me an umbrella and of course it had stopped raining by the time he came back.  

We all know how much Cannon loves Angel Moroni, so we went upstairs in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to get a closer look.

When we got inside the visitor's center, Cannon really wanted to run up the spiral ramp that goes upstairs.  I kept telling him that this was a place where we needed to walk and be reverent.  As we got to the top I could tell that he was just about to bolt, but I stopped myself from grabbing him.  As he turned around to run he saw the Christus statue and his eyes got wide!  He was in such amazement and he yelled out, "There's Jesus!"  I can't remember if he walked or ran to the 11' statue, but he was completely drawn to it. That was a special moment. 

Then we walked over to the Conference Center.  Cannon kept thinking we were going to see the prophet there and he was disappointed to say the least. 

 Sunday night we went to Park City to hang out with my Uncle Dave and his family and have dinner.  Dave and Jill have two boys, Alex (almost 8) and Ben who is 4.  The weather was awesome and it was so nice to just be outside.  On the drive up the canyon I told Cannon to keep a lookout for deer on the mountainside.  When we pulled up in the driveway we were in shock when we saw a mama moose and her two babies resting in the front yard!  It was really amazing!  We got a better look from their closet window. 

Ben, Kennedi, and Cannon

Alex

Cannon enjoyed playing with all their trains and toys galore!  After dinner we played outside and Dave took the kids for a ride on their four-wheeler. 

Cannon, Kennedi, Dave, Ben, and my mom

Eddy the dog

 They have an air rocket toy that launches the rockets in the air when you  jump on it.  They had so much fun playing with it that I think I will need to get one for Cannon!

Ryan's dad's side of the family had a reunion in Junction, Utah.  It was about a three hour drive for us.  We got there on the evening of July 16 and stayed the night.  We had to leave the next afternoon though.  We were able to see Ryan's parents and his grandparents.  Ryan's grandpa has cancer and is not very well, but both of them have failing health.  We were surprised that they felt well enough to make it.  We have a picture of them in our house, so Cannon knows who they are.  He recognized them right away and gave Grandma Rees a hug.  I'm glad that we got to see them since this will probably  be the last time we get to see them.  It was also fun to see lots of Ryan's aunts, uncles, and cousins.  I wish we could have stayed for the whole reunion, but my flight was late Tuesday night so we had to get back.  

For the family reunion we stayed in an old courthouse.  It was kind of neat and they have many of the original properties of the courthouse.  All the rooms have a sign above the doorway that tell what that room used to be.  It has been converted into a type of house now that they can rent out for things like family reunions since it can sleep a ton of people!  Our room was the vault and the door was an actual vault door.  Plus there was a nice big grassy area for the kids (and adults) to play and to camp in tents for those who like to do that. 

 

The Old Courthouse in Junction, Utah

 On Tuesday morning Cannon participated in all the kid games.  Later that day the adults played bocce ball and I won the championship game!

Uncle Steve helping Cannon shoot the nerf gun

Trying it himself

Bean bag toss

Bowling

Coin toss

Darts

Frisbee toss

For each kid game, they got beans and then they could use their beans to buy things from the kid store.  Cannon quickly learned about buying things with beans and he could do it himself. At one point he came back with a bag full of candy and toys!

Cannon decided to snuggle up with Grandma Rees.  He sat with her for a long time and told her lots of stories. 

Great Grandma and Grandpa Rees

The whole Utah trip was great!  It went by fast and I wish we had more time to see everyone and do more things, but I could tell that Cannon was ready to get back home.  And we missed Blue.  Our body clocks are all messed up, but we have enjoyed Cannon sleeping in for us!  Definitely a rare treat!