~June Fun~

I have loved being home the last few months with my boys and am so glad that it is still June! I am not ready to go back to being a working mom. This last month has gone by quickly, but we have tried to make the most of it. My sister Lindsay was visiting during June so we were glad to spend time with her and her 3 kids. Cohen was able to play with all of his different cousins these last few weeks and has enjoyed every minute of it. One of his favorite things we did was go to the splash pad at North Park with his cousins and friends. We attempted this a few weeks ago, but changed our plans when we saw how many people were there at lunch time. I got smarter this time around and went much earlier; we didn't have to compete with the crowds and I was able to watch Cohen easier. Cohen stayed entertained most of the time we were there, but towards the end, he got bored and needed a change of scenery.

Besides the splash pad, Cohen has spent time playing at the park, slippin' slidin' in the backyard, and swimming at Grandma Pat's house. I have found the secret ingredient to Cohen's enjoyment and my sanity this summer is: being outside. It is so simple, yet hard to do sometimes with Talon. Cohen LOVES anything to do with being outside from baseball to swimming to running. Tyler and I spend several nights a week playing in the backyard with Cohen. I can't wait until we get a fence so I can feel better with him running around. Talon also loves to be outside if he is out of the direct sunlight. He is so content to sit on my lap or in his bouncy chair enjoying the outdoors.

This last weekend, Tyler's mom planned a sleepover with Cohen. Of course if you tell Cohen you are going to do something, he talks about nothing else. Needless to say, he didn't forget about the "trip" he was going on to "Gama" house and dragged his Toy Story suitcase around the house most of the week. Once Friday came, we packed his bag and he was ready to go a few hours too early. I guess sunshine means a chance of rain in Utah so he put on some rain boots in case they were needed. Cohen loved his sleepover to Grandma Pat's house, but decided to come home a little early when we stopped by to pick up Talon. Maybe next time he will make it through the actual sleepover part!

Our boys have discovered, well Cohen has anyway, that they love to bath together. Talon enjoys watching Cohen splash around and pour water everywhere. Cohen loves making Talon laugh in the bath tub when we pour water on his belly. It is so fun to see these two start to interact with one another. I was a little nervous at one point that Cohen wasn't going to warm up to our Talamander. I hope the rest of the summer is as great as all the fun we have had in June! I love the summertime!!!

Talon's Blessing Day

Today was a very special day for our little Talon; he was given a name and a blessing from his Dad. Tyler did a fabulous job and it was wonderful to have so many family members come to support Talon and us. Afterwards, we had a little party at the park and enjoyed some yummy food. Thank you to everyone that was able to come!

This is the only picture I have of all of us together!

May...

May is usually a very busy month in the Nelson household. In years past, I have a hectic last month of school with grades, end of year program, parties, field trips, and not to mention, testing! For the most part, I didn't have a whole lot to worry about up at the school thanks to the great people I work with and an awesome substitute. I was able to enjoy being a full-time mom during my maternity leave. The weather wasn't as cooperative as I would have liked. I wasn't able to take the boys to as many games as I had planned. I spent a lot of time indoors entertaining an energetic two year old. We did, however, attend all the state baseball games and had a fabulous time. Cohen loved every minute of watching Papa Shoe coach; he even would go dugout and yell at his grandpa until he acknowledge his presence at the game. We were excited to watch the Spanish Fork Dons come back from the losers bracket to win the 4A State Baseball Championship for the 3rd year in a row! It was awesome to see the boys play so well. I was also thrilled to see our Lady Dons win another State Softball Title! I was sad I wasn't able to attend their games as well since they were playing usually at the same time at different complexes.

May also brought some exciting news for me, not so much for Tyler or our budget. I was surprised to open up a Gap coupon to find I won (well technically Tyler's name was on it) the Royal Treatment from Gap which is employee discount for a year!!! I think I got a little too ecstatic in the car and was screaming just a little bit because before I knew it, Cohen was yelling right along with me even though he had no idea why! It is funny because I entered every day and even made Tyler's cousin go into Gap to enter with me. He ended up finding out he won the next day and promised to let us use it since we didn't win. I don't know why I didn't get the email saying we won, but this was much more exciting to find out this way.

On the downside to my luck, I went into the crawl space to find 7 inches of water and tipped over containers. Our Christmas trees (yes, I said 2 trees), 15-20 Christmas books, maternity clothes, and some other things were submerged under the water and ruined. I have spent the last 2 days washing and rewashing my clothes to see if I can salvage them. Hopefully the rain slows down in June and we don't have anything else ruined.

Cohen spent most of the month of May doing what he does best: baseball. He watched numerous Varsity and Freshman games with his Grandma Pat. She was great to pick Cohen up to take him to a game when it was too cold to take Tal out. I can't even count the times Cohen woke up from a nap and said, "Ball game, Mom!" He knew most games were played right after nap time and was always ready to go. There are three things Co loves after baseball: Mack trucks, fire trucks, and Papa's bus. Well, after the boys won, he was able to get on "Papa's bus" for a minute which made his day. Along with that, Cohen got the baseball royal treatment and was able to join the team on the fire trucks for a victory lab down main street. Now he wants to ride in a Mack truck, but I don't think that one is going to happen any time soon. Cohen has also turned into the sweetest big brother. He doesn't like to leave Talon too often, other than a baseball game of course! Today he came up to me while I was getting Talon ready for bed and said, "Great job, Tal!" Apparently being a happy, smiley baby deserves a hi-five and some positive praise from the big brother. Oh boy, Cohen is at such a fun age! He is a non-stop talker and I love listening to all the funny comments he is learning to say. His latest sayings include: "Mom, help me", "You get it", and "Mom, Mom....Heather!"

Talon is growing up and getting bigger every day! I forgot how fast these little ones grow. Each day I find something new he has grown out of including the Skinny Mini jeans his uncle Brock gave him. At one point, we thought these cute jeans would fit him in the fall. However, our little guy isn't so little and Skinny Mini jeans aren't for him (at least not now)! Talon's newest accomplishment is smiling and I love every second of it. It is the sweetest thing when I see him smiling at me. He is also discovering his tongue and is experimenting with sounds. He can't do a lot yet, but he is doing it more and more each day. Talon is such a great addition to our family. Two children have definitely been more challenging, but I am slowly figuring out how to do our regular routine with these two little boys.