Update

So here are somethings that have been happening for us in the last week.

1. I took Kemp to his six month appointment. He is now 7 1/2 months but because of the move and insurance changes, I just barely got the doctor thing done. Here are his stats (for 7 months of age)-

Head- 80 percentile

Height- 40 percentlile

Weight- 25-30 percentile!!!

I thought he was smaller than Gracie was at this age, but I had no idea he measured up so small. With his blonde hair and small size, we wonder if he is really a Smithson. Gracie at 6 months was more in the 80 percentile all around. Kemp is a little boy with a big head! We think his small weight is because for the first 5 months he was a MAJOR spit-upper. When he stopped spitting up so much he got the stomache flu. He is also VERY active. In fact he is now army crawling all over the floor. He likes to play so much that I have problems getting him to concentrate on eating. Sean gives him an extra bottle before bed now to try and fatten Kemp up.

2. I was called in our ward to be the ward music leader. This includes leading in sacrament meeting, picking the hymns, and arranging musical numbers. I am actually pretty nervous. I guess I know how to lead, but I get all flustered standing in front of everyone and mess up. Ugh. This is the first time I have gotten a calling and had worries about it. I am considering deligating the leading in church to someone else. Especially because Sean is on call on Sunday about once a month and so I have to figure out what to do with the kiddies while I lead.

3. I am realizing more and more that Gracie is a sweet little girl with a heart full of music. At any time during the day she is usually singing to herself, Kemp, or me. Now she not only sings countless songs, but makes up her own, too. Or she uses a familiar tune and changes the words to tell about her thoughts. If she isn't singing to the music in her heart, she is dancing to it. I get daily performances of her dance routines complete with stage entrance and a dramtic finish-topped with a round of bows.

Modern Technology

Gracie (in her PJs) checking out our blog

How crazy is it to raise a kid in a world with so many gadgets like cell phones and computers. I know every little kid likes to play with the keyboard, or try to push the nifty power button, but Gracie is older now and things have gone a step further. Is mine the only kid who likes to use the computer? OR MAYBE I should ask- am I a bad mom if I let my daughter use the computer? If I ever leave our blog on the screen Gracie loves to scroll down and look at all of the pictures. What kid doesn't love pictures of themself? Our mouse has the little center scroll down wheel thing on top so she has figured out how to move up and down the page. AND maybe once a week she asks me to play the ABC game. It is a Fisher-Price online game where she can press the letters on the keyboard and hear their name along with an animal that begins with that letter. If you want to follow my bad lead, here is the link.
http://www.fisher-price.com/us/fun/games/abczoo/default.asp
And that is how I go about raising a computer geek!

Say Cheese!!

Two weeks ago was a big event in our family history-we took family pictures for the FIRST TIME-EVER! The good news is that we used a coupon and they were super cheap. BUT, it was so hard to get Gracie to smile! Most of the pictures were of her with her mouth wide open and tongue hanging out. All of the attention was on her (trying to get her to smile) and she realized that she could do whatever she wanted and we would still be nice. We BEGGED her, teased, did cart wheels, and here is what we got...not bad.

The official portrait

The cute portrait.

Can you tell Kemp had spit up on his chin? I photo shopped it out. And Gracie's hair thing bothers me, but oh well.

The Kiddies

Fruit of Our Labors

I am so proud of our little garden, and I think it is really fun to take care of-SO I thought I would do another special post about my developing green thumb.

If you remember, here is our plot when we first planted it....

(we cheated and started from seedlings, not seeds)

About one month later...

Our first strawberry! Actually it was our second, but birds stole our first one. Look how little it is! More like the size of a raspberry

Funny Boy

We were driving in the car yesterday when we heard Kemp in the back seat start laughing. Sometimes Gracie will smile and "boo" at him to get him to laugh. When we looked back we realized she was just staring out the window, while Kemp was having a blast entertaining himself. He would blow raspberries, and then laugh histerically. Soon we were all laughing. Kemp just thought he was so funny! Here is a little video we got. For the first 30 seconds he is distracted by Sean filming. Then Gracie gets in on it so that he will start laughing again. For about 20 seconds you can see just how much fun he was having. At times when we didn't video it, he was laughing so hard he almost couldn't breathe.

Independence Day

First of all I want to express that I am so grateful to live in the United States of America. Even if I don't express it a lot, inside I think I am a really patriotic person. I love this country and pray for the people in leadership positions. I am also extremely grateful and awed by those who risk, or give their lives to serve in the military.

Now that I said that, here is how our 4th of July went down...

Horrible picture of me, but for some reason I like it anyway

Provo Parade. I was suprised- it had balloons, floats, and all

DELICIOUS food that Sean made. Ribs, corn on the cob (also grilled), my yummy potato salad...it was amazing



The street fair in Provo. Complete with Star Wars characters, snow cones, and cotton candy

FIREWORKS.

We didn't go to the big show, but thats okay because it rained. We did our own at home and it was fun.

Potty Progress

OK- I know you probably don't want to read this post- and thats okay. I just have to celebrate because Gracie is FINALLY POTTY TRAINING. I realize I am just going through the same thing as every other parent, but for me this is a big deal!

I was getting so nervous because it seemed every other kid her age was running around in panties. Then, a week ago, she went on the pot for the first time. After the busy weekend I jumped on it and this week she did such a great job. We sing songs, have candy, and talk about it constantly with her, and it seems to be working.

Potty facts-

She wore diapers at times this week (like when we were away from home or she was sleeping)

If we were at home for a while she wore panties

She had 0 *let me repeat* 0 pee-pee accidents

She went poop on the potty once

She has even taken off her diaper to go pee, even though she wasn't in underwear

So now we just have to work on the old #2 part of the whole thing. She is doing awesome!!!!