Cornbelly's

2009 - The tradition begins.

McKay was there in spirit (and in fetus).

2010 - The tradition continues.

Thanksgiving Point hosts this kid-friendly fall festival. This year was super fun. Matt and Lynsey and Anne and Paul came with their kiddos as well. The activities are endless. Gavin was in heaven.



Uncle Paul bought smores to occupy the boys while the babies were fed. I may or may not have killed Paul in a teatherball game soon after.

And for my favorites...
I cannot get enough of these put-your-head-in-it pictures. Our family of four. Getting two kid heads in there was no easy task...
See you next year!

Six Month McKay

Dear McKay,

Today you are six months old. How is it even possible that one-half of your first year has passed? I truly cannot believe it. Times goes more quickly every day and I blinked for one second and you're no longer my little newborn. You're a full-blown baby. A sweet one at that.

You are such a good natured little guy. I feel like this past month has been a good one for you. I know I may have said you were a high-maintenance divo, but I think you're growing out of that. You certainly have your preferences, but I no longer think you are the "hard" baby from a few months ago. I think it was the whole binky thing...I know, I'm obsessed with the binky (or the lack of one). You love sucking on your hands instead. Whatever works, I guess.

You are super smiley and fun to talk to. You love people paying attention to you and get a little stressed out when we walk away for too long. You are grabbing and pulling and squealing and laughing. I have to keep your nails trimmed or else you get serious scratches on your face and feet.
You are consistently rolling over from your tummy to your back. Your head is strong and I can hold you with one arm and not worry that you are going to fall backwards. You love to be held. The world is right when you are in someone's arms. But, you are getting better at playing alone on the floor for a bit. You prefer standing in your bouncer and can stay there while Gavin and I get breakfast. You laugh and squeal the whole time. Loud. Gavin doesn't love your screaming and gets frustrated and tries to tell you to stop. Really, you're just talking to us in your own little language. He's just going to have to get used to it.

Speaking of your brother, he has recently taken a bigger interest in you. He is very concerned about helping you. He's been trying to put a binky in and hold it there for you. He fetches age-appropriate toys for you to play with. He kisses your head constantly.
You were getting pretty hungry and wanting my big people food, so we started you on rice cereal about two weeks ago. Boy, were you ready for that. You love it. You sit in my lap and literally grab my arm to pull the spoon to your face faster. As of today, we are done nursing. It's probably equally me and you, but I think bottles will be better for us. I didn't think you were getting enough. And you were hurting me. Ouch!

You have the cutest mouth. Lately it goes in a straight line and you do this smile or you suck in your bottom lip. Just to die for cute. See??
I have never seen a more ticklish baby. You laugh SO HARD! I love it. Wiping under your chin with a baby wipe is almost more than you can bear. Hearing that real belly laugh - I can't help but smile. I think you will grow up to be a pleasant little thing.

You are reaching and grabbing. Just in the past week or two you have gotten good at reaching out and grabbing what I put in front of you. Everything goes in your mouth. You're just exploring and figuring out your world.
We are so grateful to have your in our family. I hope the next six months doesn't go quite so fast, but I have a feeling it might. I love you to pieces, my little munkin.

Arizona Trip

After the reunion we drove to Mesa. Brian flew home on Monday and the boys and I stayed for two weeks. I did some allergy treatments for Celiac and just hung around between appointments. Lynsey and I did something almost every day. How do I not have a picture of the two of us toting five boys around town? We got pedicures, visited boutiques, shopped at the mall and just sat around while the boys napped. We ate with Nate and Allison and Karyn and Dave at their houses. Stayed at mom and dads and then with mother for a week.

There was also no shortage of Matta's mexican food while we were there. Maybe 4 or 5?? Bahama Bucks twice. China China once. Picaso's once. Yes, lots of eating. Some exercising. Lots of fun.
One of our favorite activities - taking pictures of ourselves!
Gavin got an ear infection and a fever of 103.4. Not a fun day. He slept in the bed with me that night. Every time I'd move he'd say, "Don't leave me, mom" or "Stay by me." Sweet boy - long night.
Met up with Shelly and Jill with some of their kids at Mesa Yogurt and Neds. Gus and Gavin ran circles around the joint while we visited. I love these girls. Sad that Marijo wasn't with us and that I didn't get to see Ann. Next time.

Grandma and Grandpa Woolf

We had a great time but were ready to get a move on. I drove to Vegas alone with the boys and Brian met us there. We were SO happy and ready to see our daddy. I missed him. The boys missed him. Being away made me miss him even more. He's a good one, that's for sure.
We drove to St. George to stay at the condo for a couple of days. Super fun and relaxing (now that I wasn't in charge 24/7!)
Visiting Clint, Melanie, and Jenna Nielson on Sunday.

We had such a fun time. It felt so so so great to have our little family together again. I have a wonderful life. Love my boys, love my home, love it all.

Snedigar Reunion

The Snedigar Reunion was held Sept 3-5 in Pine, Arizona at Mother's cabin. I'll have to count officially, but I hear there were about 80 of us there. Buckets of kids. Loads of fun.

*insert group shot here*

Our little family left on Thursday afternoon and drove 10 hours until we made it to Flagstaff. We stayed the night at a hotel (our first time with both kids) and then made it the rest of the way in the morning.

We stayed in a little cabin about five minutes from Mother's place. It was nice to have a place to rest for naps.

Our time was spent visiting, ziplining (no pics of that one), and having a great time. Game playing, auctioning, and pie eating. My conversations with Brian went something like: "Do you have Gavin?" "Where's Gavin?" "What's Gavin doing?" "Will you find Gavin?" I was only a little paranoid about him toppling over the edge of the deck.
Gavin eating with Dallin
Cousins Ben and Carson
Some of us gearing up for Minute to win it. Dana, Liza, Juel, Shane, Natalie & McKay, Elle, Mother, Matt, Lynsey & Tanner, Karyn, Dave, Ellie, Kassie
My cute cuz Holls and her fiance Tyson. You two are darling. One word of advice: wait for just a second before having one of these little cuties.
Minute to Win it team Robinson/Roylance. The Robinson team took us down fast. Darnit. Brian and the staples, Natalie and the shake the booty. Neither a good combo.
Lyns and Nat with our matching babies. Gavin and Blake have a matching cousins picture too. Tanner is three months younger.

A great time was had by all. Love this family. Double props to Jourdan for planning the event.

Etching

The boys keep having these moments where I feel I have to hurry and grab a camera. I've stopped putting both cameras away - it's just too hard to pull them out of the case when I need it on a moments notice.

Yesterday I was out in back yard and had McKay on my lap. It was a perfect day - the weather here has been beautiful. Gavin ran by as a blur on the new sidewalk pushing his lawnmower in the hat that Papa Robinson gave him. My first instinct was "Where's the camera?" I decided that it was just too much work to run and grab it and besides, it probably wouldn't make a great picture anyway.

He went back and forth like that several times and I just sat there watching. The more I think about it, it's moments like these that I just need to carefully etch into my memory. Not just sights, but sounds, thoughts, and feelings. I'm sure that I won't be able to remember them all, but these happy thoughts seriously make me smile. And even laugh out loud. I am certain that someday when we are older and alone in our house I will be sitting across from Brian at the table saying, "Remember when..." and then fill in the blank with something like Gavin speeding down the path with his lawnmower.

Or better yet, remember the speed in which he goes down the same path on his little trike without using the pedals at all.

Or the way Gavin runs. Arms and elbows going side to side. It just isn't in his genes. Sorry, bud.

Or maybe like today, when McKay was on my lap on the bench on the front porch. Gavin was inside sleeping and the little dude and I were having our one-on-one time. We were visiting, like we do, and he tilted his head back three different times to look at me. His eyes held mine for a moment and then he went back to observing his surroundings. Melts my heart. I love those eyes. And that smile.

Or when Gavin, all on his own, recently put his back up to one of our aspen trees and started bouncing his knees to scratch his back singing, "Look for the bear necessities the simple bear necessities." When he saw me laughing, he laughed the best laugh I've ever heard and really amped it up. That's what you do when you know you're funny.

But I'm soaking it in. Trying not to forget. Taking a mental picture. Knowing that this time with these sweet boys at these ages won't last forever. Enjoying the ordinary days.

Wannabes

Since I was little, I had this fantasy of playing on a softball team with my husband. I have always loved the game and wanted to find someone who liked to play as much as I did. I found that in Brian and for the first time in our marriage we got to play on a team together. Brian's body was finally ready for the challenge. We started just a few weeks after McKay was born. It felt so good for me to get up and run around!

We had a few great Robinson to Robinson plays at second and short - so fun! Dreams do come true.

I won't lie - the Wannabes were just that...I think we won 2 or 3 games all season. But we had a blast and loved the people we were playing with. Mostly Brian's work friends from Summit and their wives. We will do it again for sure!

August

I can't believe how fast the summer has gone. For me, I feel like although it's the end of summer, it really doesn't have to be. This is the first August that I've hardly glanced at the calendar. My former self would have been at Walmart a month ago purchasing 150 notebooks and folders and now I can just walk by the aisle and smile. All of my work friends are busy gearing up for a new school year to start next week. Not me - I just scheduled another week of swimming lessons! I think I've finally wrapped my head around being home full time and now my 'to do' list looks a lot different than it used to. I'm thinking of all of the things I can do around here. Loving and playing with the kiddos will be 1st on my list. I believe they will remember that time spent more than a dust-free, spotless house. But, I do have some serious goals in the home improvement/organization/food storage/FHE plans/cleaning areas and that's a really good thing for me.

BUT I'm still trying to find the energy and motivation to do all of those other things. My list looks nice and long, but things are not quite getting crossed off yet. I find myself having a rest on the couch or on my bed pretty much daily when the boys are sleeping at the same time. My heart and my mind are in a battle every day about whether or not I'm lazy. I've decided to not beat myself up about it. Once I give myself permission to sit, things go a lot better for me. Even this morning I clocked in around 6:00am - I'm pretty sure sitting down at 2:00pm isn't a crime.

The other thing I've been working on is me. For the first time I have been really consistent in taking care of myself physically. When McKay was born, I realized that I needed something to do just for me that didn't cost a lot of money. No jogging or double strollers. Just me. All alone. It's been really good. I look forward the an hour or so by myself. Brian is so supportive and helps me get out of the house. I've been strength training and cardio-ing and really working on the nutrition part. I'm happy to say that for the first time in my life I feel like I'm being successful. I'm getting to where I want to be and it's a good, good feeling. AND I stopped biting my nails at the same time. How's all that for motivated? So very un-Natalie-like.

I was looking back at things I'd written back when Gavin was little. I'm glad I took time to do that. I'm going to do better at keeping track of those little things again. It' s been fun to lok back and remember. Because this blog is for me. I always think I have to have a cute picture or something clever. Nope. Just us is good enough.

Poor McKay. I think I've written three sentences about him. Time to repent!