My Little Reader

No matter how hard I try, I really am not a reader. When I have free time, reading is the last thing on my mind. But I know it's important to keep my mind sharp, so I try to do it. Right now I'm trying so hard to get into the Help. So many people have said it is such an awesome book, but I am seriously struggling. I'm sure I just need to get more into it. I will keep trying.

Anyway, I just wanted to share these cute pictures of my little guy. (Taken on my iPhone, so excuse the poor quality.) We got him A TON of books for his birthday and now he is way into reading his books. He loves pulling them out and looking through them. And he loves when we read them to him.

Obviously he didn't get this from me, but it is something I will definitely encourage!

I really had no idea what books to get him, so I asked on facebook. I got so many great suggestions! I had never heard of Sandra Boynton before, but I am a huge fan now! Our favorites are the Belly Button Book and What's Wrong Little Pookie.

Splish Splash

Corby and I hit up Seven Peaks today just the two of us. I've been hesitant to go without Rog, but today I decided to go for it. It was the best part of our day!

After he woke up from his first nap, it took me an hour and 15 minutes to get him (and me) fed, dressed, sunblocked up, and ready to go. I snapped this picture to send to Rog and then went to put him in his car seat... Only to find that he had just pooed. Awesome. So we went back inside, changed his diaper, and then we were finally on our way.

We went around the lazy river for awhile - he had a blast splashing with his hands. Then we went to the kiddy pool (the big kid kiddy pool because it was warmer today than the little kid kiddy pool) where he got so confident walking around. The water was almost up to his neck, so I made sure I had at least a hand (if not 2) on him at all times. He kept trying to drink the water - silly boy! He was giggling and having the time of his life. I finally had to get him out because I could tell he was absolutely freezing.

We dried off and got warmed up just in time for a thunderstorm to hit! So we spent a few minutes hiding out in the gift shop before heading home.

What a fun day with my little boy!

(And in case anyone was wondering, it was more crowded today than it was on the Saturday we went! But not too crowded to have fun.)

June Decorations

I've had my decorations for June finished and up for a few weeks now. They were up before things got really busy around here - you know, when my family came and we had a farewell, baby blessing, and funeral in a matter of days. Not to mention our half marathon, Corby's birthday, and all the regular stuff we do. I figured that since I'm already working on my July decorations, I should blog about my June ones.

I pulled out my June decorations from last year and decided to scrap them. Ok, not all of them. I kept the "o" from HOME. I've just learned so much since last June and I knew I wouldn't be happy with them. So this is what I came up with.

I'm particularly proud of this little baby. I love Subway Art, so I decided to create my own design for June. I just cut out a bunch of picnic words in different fonts on my Cricut in vinyl.

Here is my shadow box for June.

And my plates are from last year too - watermelons of course!

I love how everything ties together... Watermelons... Picnics... Lady Bugs... Sunflowers...

Happy picnicing everyone!

Last Week

After Corby's 1 year appointment on Monday, we started to make the transition from formula/breast milk to cow's milk. I had heard from a friend that she did the transition cold turkey. She got rid of all the bottles and formula and just made her little boy drink milk from a sippy cup. She said it took a few days of him not getting very much, but then he figured it out. That sounded pretty good to me, so I thought I'd try that. Ha ha. I did not last long. I just get so anxious thinking that he's getting dehydrated.

So now we are doing the gradual approach. Mixing formula with milk, heating it up, and giving it to him in a bottle. Gradually decreasing the amount of formula and increasing the amount of milk. And then we'll do the same thing to get him used to cold milk. I'm sure the hardest part will be breaking him of his bottle. My goal is to finish the transition by 18 months. Wish me luck!!

Other than that our week was pretty normal.

On Friday afternoon Corby's Aunt KD came and watched him while we went to the temple. We did sealings which was nice. We've been to a lot of sealings this year - my friend Stacey's, Roger's cousin Kyle's, and my cousin Brady's. But this was the first time this year we did sealings for the dead.

On Saturday we hiked to Stewart Falls. It starts at Aspen Grove and is an easy to moderate hike 2 miles each way. When you go to Aspen Grove, they take all the kids on this hike. So I grew up doing it every few years. It's a beautiful waterfall!

This year because of all the late snow we got in May, there was still a ton of snow covering where the river usually is. There was a cavelike opening where you could see the river running.

I've never seen it with snow like this, so it was totally weird to me!

It was probably better this way because we didn't have to worry about Corbyn falling into the river. He had fun playing with the sticks.

On the way back he fell asleep with his daddy carrying him.

We planned to do a few errands after our hike and then get home in time for dinner. But we didn't account for how long the hike would take. So we ended up eating at Five Guys. And we didn't have any food for Corby, so we bought some baby food while we were at Walmart and fed it to him while he was sitting in the cart. It was pretty funny!

Father's Day

For the past 2 years, Father's Day has kind of been overshadowed by Corbyn's birthday. Last year we brought Corby home from the hospital on Father's Day and this year was his 1st birthday, so I was busy all week getting ready for that.

Rog is the BEST dad ever. Seriously he helps me so much with Corbaby! I hate to admit it, but there are days {when Corbyn isn't being a perfect little angel} that I can't wait until 5:40 when I know Rog will be home from work to help with him.

He almost always gives him his bath. They splash and play and have a great time!

To celebrate Father's Day this year we took Rog out to dinner at Applebees on Saturday night. Then we let him sleep in on Sunday morning. We had to go in and wake him up at 10:00, so he could get ready for his Sunday morning meetings at 10:30. I had made cinnamon rolls (his favorite) Saturday night, so he had one of those for breakfast. And for dinner we had roast, carrots, and mashed potatoes.

But I hadn't had time to get him a gift (or make anything to send to our dads). Yesterday I finally got it together. I made these cards using this tutorial. And the popcorn treat using this post and printable.

And I got some shoes I knew Rog was wanting. This morning Rog opened his gift (only 4 days late).

Corby of course loved the ribbon on the popcorn.

And today I am going to mail the cards/popcorn to our dads. {I don't think either of them check this on a regular basis, so I figure I'm safe posting about it.} Better late than never, right?!

Seven Peaks

On Saturday we took Corby to Seven Peaks for the first time.

He looked so cute in his swimsuit and flip flops.

We took him around the lazy river in his tube. After he got over the shock of the cold water, he almost fell asleep from the smooth ride.

Next we took him to the kiddie pool where the water was much warmer. He was a little unsteady walking around in the water, but I'm sure he'll get the hang of it after another visit or two.

We also tried out his life jacket. And Rog wore Corb's tube as a hat to protect himself from the sun.

Maybe next time we go, Rog and I will actually be able to go on a few slides!

Birthday Par-tay!

I decided to do a monkey theme for Corby's birthday party because he is our little monkey.

Jared helped me make the invitation. It was my first creation in Photoshop and I think it turned out pretty cute. Unfortunately when I had it printed out at Costco, some of the colors turned out a little dark. So if you got an invitation, this is how it was supposed to look!

I ordered balloons from Zurchers and had Rog pick them up on his way home from work on Friday. He took the afternoon off to help me get ready for the party.

One of the balloons sprung a leak on his way home. We patched it with tape, but it was smaller than the others and had lost the helium. Corby carried it around and played with it all afternoon. He loved it!

For dinner we had sweet and sour pork ribs, rice, and a fruit salad. I realized too late that I probably should have done another side or two... But we had leftovers of everything, so if people didn't get full, they should have taken more! I couldn't think of any foods for dinner that fit my monkey theme, so I just picked something easy that I knew Corby would eat.

Corby was totally spoiled as far as presents go!

He got balls...

Books...

Swim stuff...

Clothes, pajamas, movies, and much much more.

I made this monkey cake for the adults. Thank you Wilton! It was so easy with their monkey pan.

And I adapted a design from Hello, Cupcake! for Corby's little cake.

He didn't totally dive into his cake, but he seemed to like what he ate. I think his favorite part was the oreos I used for the ears.

He didn't particularly like being covered in frosting.

I also made monkey cake pops to send home with everyone.

I think his first birthday party was a success. Thanks to everyone who came and made our Corbaby feel so loved!

1 Year

Can you believe that our little Corby is 1 year old?! It seems like just yesterday I was sitting in the hospital with my whopping 10 pound baby! Now he is my busy 1 year old that walks all over the place!

His stats:

Weight: 21 pounds, 6 ounces (30th percentile)

Height: 30 inches (60th percentile)

The Corb at 1 year:

*Is walking like a pro! Lots of people have asked me how long he has been walking and when I tell them about 4 weeks, they are very impressed because he is already so steady and confident.

*Doesn't like to sit still for anything. I don't think we're going to get very much out of church for the next 6 months. We just take turns following him around in the halls.

*Has 3 teeth - his two bottom middle and one random tooth on his top right. I didn't know if he would let me brush his teeth, but he actually likes it a lot.

*Gets frustrated when he can't do something or when something gets stuck.

*Says "nanana" for banana when I get out a banana. But recently he won't eat them anymore. That is so sad to us because Corby has always loved bananas. He babbles all the time, but doesn't say much else. This really worries me, but his doctor said he isn't behind yet and he isn't worried.

*Loves to carry around something in each hand - spatulas, wii remotes, drum sticks, etc...

*Loves playing in the pillows on our bed.

*Loves balls and throws them with pretty good form. It's only a matter of time before he breaks something!

*Is finally starting to turn around to get off things. He still goes face first if it's not very high, but he turns around to get off our bed and couches.

*Is becoming more confident on the stairs. He has gone all the way up a few times without screaming his head off.

*Loves being around other kids.

We tried to take pictures on his birthday, but we didn't have much luck. So these are from the day after his birthday.