Five months

Man, life is busy. I thought the summer would be relaxing, but it's not. It's just as busy as ever. And time is flying by. This handsome fella is now five months old.

We went in for his four month appointment this week. A month late. That's how busy we have been. I was extremely curious to find out how much this little porker weighs, because he has been causing cramps in my left arm for weeks as I tote him about. He weighed 18 lb 10 oz. Yep, he's a big boy, just like his brother Damon was. He was 90th percentile for weight. And 50th for height. Short and stout. Just like the little teapot.

Damon took these pictures of Carter on the rocking chair. Not bad. Not bad at all.

At five months, Carter still hates his tummy, and has yet to come close to rolling over. The doctor said I should put him down for five minutes every hour. Five minutes is about all he can take. He starts like this:

But his interest quickly wanes, and he ends up like this:

Now that's some hard crying! He is also become quite the little drooler. If I didn't know better, I would say that he is teething. But my other kids didn't get teeth until about 9 months, so I'm not convinced that there are any chompers coming any time soon. He soaks his shirts, my arm, blankets...anything that gets near his mouth.

The other reason he never gets a lot of tummy time is because he is constantly getting mauled by his sisters. He can't get a minute of peace. You would think the novelty of a baby would have worn off by now, but it hasn't. He is still the center of the universe in our home.

My hair has been falling out by the handful. It happens every time. I try to hide it with my hair down (it's worst right at my temples, especially the right one), but I do favor a ponytail. So you can't tell in pictures, but I know it. Trust me.


I also put Carter in the swing at the park for the first time. He didn't love it, but he didn't hate it the way I thought he would. I'm guessing he's not going to be quite the sissy la la I once feared.

Here are a couple more. Damon took the one of me, Carter and Kyla. I love the summer tans and Kyla's hair that is getting blonder by the day!

Summer Games

**Thanks for the pictures Heather! I love blog stealing!**

This last week has been like a flash back in time. Somehow, we thought it would be a good idea to get a team together and play basketball in the Utah Summer Games. Never mind the fact that most of us haven't played competitive basketball since high school. And never mind the fact that we have 19.5 kids between us. We thought it would be fun.

And it was fun. It was fun to get together with girls I haven't spent a lot of time with in years and play the sport we all loved to play together. That part was amazing. What wasn't fun was the losing. Because lose we did. Because there were only 3 teams in the 25 and older division, we had to play our first four games against the 18 and older girls. And those college girls ran circles around us. And in front of us. And behind us. And they just never stopped running.

We learned quickly that we weren't going to be able to compete with any of those teams, much less win a game. But we played hard anyway, wondering how in the world we got so old so fast. Because we couldn't physically keep up with those young girls. Maybe it's the 19.5 kids. Or maybe it was the lack of practice, coaching, and recent experience that held us back. It doesn't matter. We got smoked off the court.

Here we are after our first game. I knew most of these girls from high school, and two were friends of friends I met that first day. Suzanne and Linzi Jolley, Tara, Heather, Hailee Adamson, Sarah Something, Cassie Warburton, Becky Semmens, me, and Kristin Hoffman. I went with maiden names because that's how I'll always think of them.

You are probably saying to yourself, "That doesn't sound like any fun at all." But you'd be wrong. Because it was so fun. And mostly because of #1 and #111, Tara and Heather. I was #11 in high school, and Tara took over after me. Heather was #32, but we ran out of 3's or 2's or something when we were making the numbers, so we thought it would be fun to carry on our 11.


This was the first time in a LONG time that none of us are pregnant. We haven't all played together in many years, and never like this. It was SO DANG FUN playing ball with my sisters. And even though we were getting spanked, my grandparents came to every game. And my dad was our next biggest fan. Those are special memories, and my aging body is telling me that there won't be too many more years where #1, #11, and #111 will be able to get up and down the court.
All day Thursday and Friday we kept saying, "When we play against our own division, things will be different." And Saturday morning we got our shot. We played against one of the two other teams and the game was much more competitive. They didn't have any more skill than we did, and they didn't run us out of the gym. But we couldn't get our shots to fall. It just wasn't our day.


We were happy with our bronze medal. We earned it. And we learned that with a little more practice, we could probably turn our bronze into silver. Or even gold. But we better make it quick. And we better bring along a massage therapist...

Carmel Water Rafting

There has been big talk in the Trapnell family for many years about taking a trip together. I never actually thought it would happen. Partly because we couldn't even plan a girl's weekend away (our girl's trips always turned into lunch, shopping and a movie. All the festivities were finished in a few short hours). And partly because I thought the boys would rather take their trips without us.

But this time around, Jeff's mom got involved. In October, she told the boys that we wanted to go on a trip with them. And we wanted to do a RIVER trip with them. And they planned it. AND everyone committed, except Jeff's oldest brother, who had already planned a trip to Africa. Secretly, inside, I thought it would never actually happen. But it did.

The Friday before Memorial Day, we crept out of the house at 4:45 am, loaded everything up, and made the drive to Moab where we met Al, a friend our husband's had met on the Grand Canyon last year, and our 30 foot raft. We had some trepidation about actually stepping aboard the "boat," as it appeared that it was headed swiftly to retirement, but the boys assured us it was indestructible, and proceeded to demonstrate by jumping up and down on the outer tubes to prove it.

In the picture above, you can see the beautiful raft I mentioned. All of our gear is under those tarps, which the men would secure every morning for us. We spent three and a half days lounging around on top of the gear (and anywhere we could find a free space, actually) as we maneuvered the Colorado River in Cataract Canyon. At the bottom of the picture, you can see a couple of brown bags of water. Those are the solar showers. They were filled with that crystal clear river water (cough, cough) and left to bake all day in the sun. When we got to camp at night, the water was a toasty 115 degrees, and those who were brave could take a warm shower. We lost them one day, after a particularly treacherous rapid, but they were all recovered floating in the river.

When we felt that we had reached the appropriate number of miles, we made camp. The men promised us that they would take care of everything, which may have been the reason Jeff's mom actually made the trip. They did an amazing job. The first night, they cooked salmon. The second night, steaks. And burritos the third night. Everything tasted great!

You can see the dinner crew here. Jeff isn't pictured (in fact, he isn't in any of the pictures. I'm not sure where he was...), and neither is his dad. But these are the rest of the men. Al, Ryan (soon to be brother in law),Dr Garner (a family friend), and Jeff's brothers, Chris, Russ and Greg. This was our first camp, salmon night. We also had a port-a-potty at this camp, something none of us appreciated until day 2.

And here are the ladies, waiting to be served. Nancy and Noel, Cheryl Garner, Julie, Laurie, Sheri and me. Don't ask why everyone looks better than me. I have no answer for that.

Besides eating, we had plenty of time to chat, read US Weekly, play a fun game called The Oatmeal Guy, and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

We didn't come upon any rapids at all until the end of day 2. This was probably the most disappointing thing about the entire trip. I had thought we would be having rapids every day, with only periods of flat water. But that wasn't the case. We spent most of our days floating along like Tom Sawyer, albeit in better company (and with a motorized raft). If you scroll back up to the first picture, you can see all of us in our rain gear. This was the third day, right before we took on the biggest rapid of the trip. We pulled over so the men could scout it out, making sure we took the best possible course so as not to flip the raft. We all waited nervously, decked out like we were on our way to the Arctic. I must admit, though, the rapids were awesome. "High adventure," as we called it. I just wish there had been more. Besides a one or two hour period on day 3, we had no other rapids.

But we did have plenty of time for lounging and enjoying the sun (one of my favorite past times). There was nowhere to go, nothing to do, no one to take care of...that was amazing. We ate when we were hungry, slept when we were tired, and spent the rest of the time just floating along.

This was our last day, floating toward our destination. It was still a bit chilly, as the sun hadn't warmed us yet, but I am still rocking that sweet water-proof hat I stole from Jeff.

The worst part of the trip was actually an object. Known to everyone as The Groover. Basically it was a metal box with a seat where we did our "twosies." And as we made camp on day 2, it made us REALLY appreciate Camp One, with its port-a-potty.

For those of you who are interested in taking a river trip, let me give you a little peek (ha! not literally) at what it was like. The Groover was placed in a secluded area, and a yellow flotation device with the words "Need Help" was situated where all could see. When you felt that inevitable call of nature, you took the flotation device (to signal "Occupied"), and followed the path to the location of The Groover (one time it was a path, one time it was through a tangle of weeds). There, in private, you had to pee in the river (or in a bush, just NOT in The Groover), and then back up to The Groover, plug your nose, lift the lid, quickly sit down, and do your business as quickly as possible. Then, without looking, you had to sprinkle some powdered bleach on top (to keep the smell down), close the lid, and quickly run away before you are forced to breathe in again.

You don't necessarily have to follow those directions, but I highly recommend it. A person could ruin the rest of the trip by satisfying their curiosity and breathing in deeply, just to see what it smells like.

But apart from the minor inconvenience of having to travel with a box of everyone's poop, it really was an enjoyable trip. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys relaxation, periods of high adventure, and doesn't mind sleeping under the stars. Or showering with warm river water.

Thanks Julie for the pictures! I told you I would steal them from your blog, and I am nothing if not honest.

Four Months

From this...

...to this.

In just four short months.

Carter at four months is a completely different baby. Not only does he look completely different (growing into those chubby rolls and all), but he acts completely different. If he had been out of my sight for any extended period of time, I would fear that he had been switched for someone else's baby and would demand him back. Actually, strike that. I would not actually want to trade back. I would never knowingly go back to the way things were. But I would write a long, consoling letter to the unsuspecting parents who were now forced to raise him. And apologize for their sleep deprivation.

That's how much he has changed in the past two months or so. The child who used to not sleep at all has now become a champion sleeper. He wakes up once at night (I really wish we could cut the 4 am feeding out, but it's not too bad), and takes many naps during the day (every 1.5-2 hours after he wakes up). Including one afternoon nap that is usually about 3 hours. In his bed. He has, effectively, gone from my worst sleeper to my best. And I couldn't be happier about it.

He also has started trying to reach out and touch toys, and bringing them to his mouth. This is a cognitive milestone I was hoping he would be able to reach. I love the awkwardness of his little hands as he bats at the offending toys I place in his way. I love the way he tries to maneuver objects toward his mouth, using both hands if possible. And I love how he just can't seem to figure it out. It just makes it all the more endearing.

To be honest, Carter cares a lot more about the people in the room than the toys. He will give any toy a quick glance, and usually will try to improve his skills by grabbing it, but he gets bored easily. He would much rather stare at one of the girls until they talk to him in their "baby voices," and tell him how cute he is. And quite frankly, who could blame him? I would stare too, if it meant I got complimented all day long.

Health wise, Carter has been mostly fine. He has had a few small colds, but nothing too serious. Right now, he is a little croupy, which doesn't sound very good, but so far, he doesn't seem too affected by it. In fact, he slept from 9:30 last night to 7:00 this morning. That was nice. I have a humidifier going 24/7 in his room and I gave him a breathing treatment this morning. I am hoping he will start feeling better soon and not have any serious problems!

Here is a little video (for the family, or the highly bored) of Carter and his new abilities. Mostly I like how he likes me.

Funny

Funny quote from Allie. I know you've been missing those.

"Kyla, you are my best sister. Heavenly Father is my best father." (Pauses for a minute, knowing that's not quite right). "Heavenly Father is my best...uncle."

I remember another one. Allie saw Damon carrying a baseball bat and asked, "is that your ball whacker?"

Allie, seeing her balloon lying on the ground, "My balloon ran out of Helaman."

Kyla loves her little princesses, especially Ariel. One day she was talking to herself, and I heard her say she was going to look for Ariel. She called out, "Ariel?," as if she expected an answer. From upstairs, I said in a high voice, "Yes?" Kyla came running. "Ariel!?," she called, as if she honestly expected to find that her princess had come to life.

Back yard finally!

We had such high hopes and lofty dreams for the money that was refunded us after taxes were paid. I mean, seriously, the list of things I would have liked to spend the money on is lengthy indeed. But we quickly realized that we needed to use it on our landscaping. Because I have been dreaming of my very own grass to lie on since we left Columbus (you all know how I feel about the "grass" in Florida).

Here are a couple of pics of the backyard.

This is taken from the deck. We are super happy with the way the firepit turned out. And I can't wait until we get it hooked up so we can use it (we ran a gas line out there so we need to figure out how we're going to turn it off and on).

This is the other corner of the yard. The gravel on the right is where my garden boxes are going to go. And hopefully one day they will be filled with yummy fruits and vegetables. The trampoline will eventually have mulch around it and some trees in the corner.

Carter's blessing

I neglected to mention that we finally did get around to blessing this little tubby. We decided we better do it before he could walk. I searched all over for a cute blessing outfit that was the right size, and most importantly, the right price. I found this gem on KSL for $10. Brand new. Can't say no to that. Jeff kept apologizing to Carter. I guess he thought it was a little girlie. Carter doesn't seemed too thrilled, either.

But he was perfect during the blessing. My brother said he even folded his arms and looked at the men in the circle. Probably thanking them for hoisting his ever increasing weight.

A man in our ward was recording sacrament meeting, and he brought over a typed copy of the blessing Carter was given. It was very sweet.

More to come soon.