Eat, Livvy, EAT!

So Livia hasn't been wanting to eat much lately. I think it's a combination of teething and finally being weaned, but regardless...it has been a huge battle getting her to eat anything. And so I've been trying to come up with new things. She's always loved straws, so I stuck a straw in her yogurt and voila! Suddenly that yogurt she'd been refusing to even take a bite of all day long tasted awesome and she ate the entire thing within a couple of minutes. Encouraged, I made her a smoothie for breakfast, popped a straw in it, and she loved it! Hooray! Hopefully more successes will follow, and she'll be back to her normal, hungry self.

This, ironically enough, is a picture of the last time she let me feed her yogurt with a spoon. Yes, that means she got that messy when I was feeding her.

And with summer in full swing, we let Livia eat a popsicle. Slightly baffled at first, she did polish the whole thing off, and was upset when we took away the popsicle stick.

Oh, the joys of feeding a toddler! (And the many accompanying baths)

Why we love our little Livvy

I love her two little teeth on bottom. She got them first, at six months, and then got 6 top teeth. I can see two more on bottom starting to poke through, and it makes me kinda sad.

She sleeps weird.

She wants to be just like Daddy.

She gives me a good reason to go to the zoo and get really close to lions. She's such a funny little girl--she managed to switch our television settings into Spanish today--and we love her so much!

Road trip!

Last week Livia and I hitched a ride with my grandparents and headed down to the wonderful and blustery city known as Apple Valley.

During the drive we actually had a lot of this:

Definitely some of this...

And a ridiculously small amount of this:

Livia had an absolute blast at my parent's house! Not only was she doted on by aunts, uncles, and grandparents, but there was a DOG to play with, FISH and pet MICE to look at, STAIRS to climb, and a big HOUSE to explore.

She watched her Aunt Emily hula-hooping, and decided to give it a try herself. I was out of the room at the time, but apparently she held the hula hoop around her middle and spun herself around in circles. Ha!

She loved playing outside in the yard with this toy lawn mower.

She had her very first bubble bath, and had fun "painting" with the bubbles

We all went to the park one day and Livia learned how to use a bucket and shovel (kind of)

But of course Livia's not the only one who had a good time. Here's a picture of my mom and Uncle David

And now we come to the whole reason we were there! To celebrate Jon's graduation from high school! Congratulations, J!

Jon was one of the valedictorians, and we are all so proud of him and excited for him to head off to BYU this fall!

Have I ever mentioned I'm the shortest one in my family??

Since you've been gone...

Last week we--well, really I--decided it would be a good idea to do a little experiment. "Let's turn off the tv for an entire week, Chase," I suggested, hoping it wouldn't occur to him that the NBA finals started later that week. He did remember, of course, but not one to back done from a challenge, he agreed.

I wanted to see what we could accomplish in our evenings if we didn't have our trusty ol' television to turn to when we were tired or bored. And here's what we did:

• Went on a long walk one evening and spent some time playing at the park with Livia
• Played a board game
• I made throw pillows for our couch
• Chase played soccer
• Read (John Adams for Chase, and Mayflower for me. Chase has gotten me on a history kick)
• Planned our primary lesson in advance
• Listened to past airings of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me
• I went running for the first time in two years. Here's a little piece of advice: if you're out of practice, don't think you have to prove anything to yourself. I only ran a mile, put pushed myself so hard to get a good time that I very nearly vomited all over some bushes.
• Made cookies
• Went on another walk to Krispy Kreme to participate in free donut day Ü

Did we miss our TV? I wish I could say no, but there were a few times where one or the other of us really just wanted to relax on the couch and watch a show. Luckily we had each other to report to--peer pressure can work wonders. Plus I hid the remotes.

Overall though, it was nice to do other things with our time. We talked a lot more, accomplished more, and our apartment is cleaner. So while I don't think we'll be getting rid of our tv anytime soon, I do think we're going to be more selective about when and why we decide to turn it on.

Take a hike

About a week ago we went on a hike in the hills near our home with our friends, the Laytons. Livia rode in her stroller most of the way, but we let her get out and run around for awhile, which she obviously enjoyed...

Some scenic shots:

(Dad, this is the part where you admit that the bay area is WAY prettier than AV :)

Our little family

Livia thinks Leah is just about the coolest girl ever.

Paparazzi shot

"We spotted Livia at her residence in Mountain View, checking her stocks on the way to a photo shoot." -- Baldwin Weekly

Saturday is a special day

Between Stake Enrichment activities, parks, primary pool parties, and BBQs with friends, we had a pretty awesome Saturday.

When Livia's toes first touched the water in the pool she. freaked. out. Clinging to me with all her might, crying and shrieking, I'm pretty sure we had all eyes on us at that moment (which is exactly what we wanted with our twin farmer's tans Ü). It took about 10 minutes for her to consent to even getting her feet wet, but I persevered! And eventually she got all the way in and had a great time, splashing and playing with a beach ball.



The BBQ in Palo Alto was a lot of fun, and Livia was in toddler heaven. She ran through the field, collecting bottle caps and sticks, and soberly studying deer. I've never seen her so dirty, and just tried not to think about it. She fell asleep on the way home, but we woke her up for a bath anyway, as there was NO way she was getting into her bed like that!
Playing with Daddy, with her shirt tucked into her diaper as it is wont to do.

I didn't get a single picture with the Mayfields or Maxfields, but thanks everyone, for a fun evening!