Brodi's first zoo trip.

We have really missed going to the zoo this summer and can't wait for it to cool off again so that we can start going to the zoo more. The other day I was loading Sam in the car to go pick up a babysitter and for some reason Sam got it into his mind we were going to the zoo. Mind you it was like 6:30 PM. He kept chanting "Zoo, Zoo, Zoo." the whole way to our babysitter's house. I kept trying to explain to him that we weren't going to the zoo but he was not convinced. When his babysitter got in the car and we started heading home and he realized what was really happening he gave this look as if I had totally betrayed him the the whole way home. I knew then that even though it was still warm we needed to get to the zoo. Last Friday we got to take Brodi for her first zoo trip.


We took Brodi's new wagon with us. The awesome thing about taking the wagon to the zoo is that when you get home you can spray it down with the hose to clean up all the smashed popcorn, crackers, lemonade, etc. The bad thing is there is no cup holder for Mommy.During one of our last zoo trips last spring I found out that if you get a kid's souvenir cup, they refill it for free. I wish I would have known that the rest of the year. So Brodi got one on her first visit. Now no one has to share their drink. This is especially important for Mommy.

The first of many zoo trips Brodi. Yeah!!

Brodi's birthday

Brodi turned 1 last Thursday. We had a fun family party with her grandparents, aunt, my family and BJ's family. For the simple party that we were going for it was pretty big. There were 15 adults and 10 kids and 3 babies. It was great to get all of Brodi's family together. We love open adoptions because our family just grows bigger and bigger. I mean how many kids can boast that they have 3 sets of grandparents in the same ward? Brodi and Sam can. We love you Monterey Ward!!!We gave Brodi a new wagon for her birthday. Here is Sadie, Brodi and Sam trying it out.

Here is Brodi with her 1 year old twin cousins. It's not an easy feat taking a picture with 3 one year olds in a wagon. This was our best attempt.

Here is Brodi's smash cake. It didn't look too different after she was done with it.
Brodi was not impressed by the tradition of smashing cake. She didn't like the sticky frosting on her hands and thus didn't want anything to do with the cake. After she started crying we decided to end the fun.

Ava her cousin was happy to finish up.

Cute Brodi, so happy to be running around with her dress finally off.

Bakerman

One of Sam's favorite things to do right now is to watch me cook. Believe or not one of his favorite things to watch me cook is cake and one of his favorite things to do while watching me make cake is to lick the beaters. You would have never guessed that looking at these pictures.

Pretend that the kitchen is clean.

Balloon Fight.

I'm sure like all little kids Sam loves balloons. He made a fabulous discovery the other day. I had a balloon pump and a bunch of old twisting balloons in a box. About the only thing I can remember how to make with twisting balloons is swords ( a pretty no brainer) so I pumped them all up and we had a glorious balloon fight. Balloons create static and since I no doubt have the longest hair in the house right now my hair started to stick up. I guess that means I lost

Sammy and Brodi

A lot of people have been asking how Sam is doing with Brodi. It kind of depends on the day. The first day she came over he was super possessive over everything in the house and wouldn't let her touch anything. However, Brodi took a nap at BJ's brother's house so I could take Sam to his physical therapy group and he was very concerned that we had left her. He would also just randomly go up to her and give her a hug. We know that he likes her, he is just not sure what to do with her quite yet. He knows enough that there is something different about Brodi than other little kids that come and play.

The next day she came over Sam decided to change tactics and decided to just compete for my attention. He was hilarious because he was in ultra showing off mode all day. For instance Sam will usually only let me sing to him when he goes to bed, I actually get hushed by him if I even try (I haven't decided if I should be offended or not). I sang a little song to Brodi and she started to dance. I said "Brodi are you dancing?" Sam piped up and said "Mommy sing dance." I started to sing and Sam started to bust out moves we have never seen before (like his parents he's not much of a dancer). Since then as they are getting more used to each other sometimes he really likes having her around and sometimes he becomes really possessive. You know, like any other sibling. It is really cute to see him get to know her better. When ever she comes over he will get really excited and race to the door yelling "Brodi, Brodi, Brodi."

We are so excited to see our family grow. We found out that she should be coming to live with up permanently around the first of November. We are really excited because it is a couple of months earlier than any of us had anticipated.

I have yet to get a picture of them, together, both looking at the camera.

Sharing lunch.

Sam and Brodi playing basket ball.

Mommy and Brodi

Daddy and Brodi.

Shower fun

The other day, Sam was in the bathroom while BJ and I were getting ready. He watched as BJ shaved so Sam wanted to shave. We let him put the electric razor to his face to feel it vibrate. After shaving Sam decided that he needed to do what Daddy does next, he needed to get in the shower. He started pulling his clothes off so BJ and I just decided to go with it and let him stand in the shower if he wanted. He didn't want to just stand in the shower he wanted the shower turned on. We turned the water on to a good trickle and Sam had a blast. Wow, a self contained mess that actually gets him clean, it's wonderful.

After he was done with the shower, the fun didn't end. I got his towel and tried to get him out of the shower, but he would have none of that. He took the towel and wanted me to close the door (see Daddy dries off in the shower). After he got sufficiently dry he started to reach up for the squeegee. He then squeegeed (or did his very best at least) the shower and then was ready to get out. We have such a smart little boy on our hands it's scary. It's amazing to us how much stuff he soaks up by just watching us. I have to put in a little plug for Montessori education. They really emphasize the process of how to do things. We have been amazed out how much Sam is able to figure out lately.

Where would you sleep?

Sam has 2 choices when he goes to bed at night. "Do you want to sleep in your bed, or your tent?" I bet you will never guess what his choice usually is....the tent. However, sometimes it switches and we will put him to bed in the tent and go and check on him and he will be in his bed, or vice versa.

We went shopping for a family the other night. Sam had never had so much fun shopping in his life. The only way that we could get him out of the stores was to tell him we were going to find more tents.

When we bought the tent, we set it up in our living room. Good thing Sam had on a pull up because he probably did pee his pants. No kidding for 10 minutes while BJ and I were setting it up he chanted, "A tent, a tent, a tent, a tent, a tent...."

I think we have a natural born camper, now if his parent would just taking him camping!
Sam's Tent. We do have the mattress from his old crib in there, so he is actually sleeping on a bed.

Sam's boring bed.