MOMMA & POOPA OVIATT MEET DEAN!!!!
June 29th - July 1st, 2008

The day after we went to the China Light with Brian's family, we met over at my brother Ben's place for a family gathering. Ben's birthday was the next day, so we were kind of combining that with our gathering. Momma and Poopa had just gotten into town, and they were very excited to meet their newest grandchild. Momma got to hold Dean first, and she looked beautiful!

I thought it was pretty cute when Dean seemed to crack a smile.

I tried to get a picture of Poopa holding Dean, but I wound up standing in the light, and Dean was wiggling too much. Sorry Poopa!

But at least this one turned out. I LOVE this picture of Momma, Poopa and Dean! It reminds me of happy times growing up as a kid. I always felt very safe with my parents around because they made me feel that way. They were not only good parents, but good friends to me. Dean looks like he's in heaven.

Autumn and Prairie wanted to take turns holding Dean. Autumn looks so grown up in this picture! I can't quite put my finger on who she reminds me of. But I will say that I LOVE Autumn's hair when it is pulled back like this. It really brings your attention to her pretty eyes.

Prairie had just gotten a CUTE haircut, so when she smiled like this I just about died. She was very careful with Dean. She was so excited to hold him, as you can tell from the picture. Brian and I had to look at each other and grin when we were watching Prairie with Dean. What a CUTE KID!!! You did good Ben and Em!

Here's Poopa, Autumn, Prairie and Dean. I think at this point Poopa had to play referee for a minute because Prairie and Autumn both wanted to hold Dean so badly. It's hard for me and Brian too, although Vaughn usually wins out over both of us!

After a little while, Autumn took Vaughn under her wing and they went off to play together. Vaughn really liked having Autumn show him the ropes. Autumn is very patient with Vaughn.
It was cute to see them getting along so well together.

Poopa tried and tried to get Vaughn to sit with him, but Vaughn is a very shy kid. It takes him a while to warm up to anybody, especially someone he hasn't seen in a while. We were lucky to have him get this close to Poopa! It was a nice evening visiting with everyone, and extra special since everyone got to be together.

On Sunday after Church, Vaughn and I decided to shell some peas we had picked from our garden. It has been so much fun to go out to the garden with Vaughn this year and pick fresh peas. We have found that he loves to pick the peas as well as shell them AND most importantly, he likes to eat them!!!

As you can see, Vaughn couldn't keep himself from touching the peas. I couldn't even have them on the counter long enough to take a few pictures without him getting into them! I love that his little hand got in this picture!

Here Vaughn is, finally content in his high chair, shelling peas. ADORABLE!

I love how he concentrates on getting the shell open, and very carefully picking out each pea. Who'd have thought he would enjoy it so much?!

Just another picture I liked!

On Monday, July 1st, Poopa came by with Momma to say goodbye. Poopa had driven Momma out so she could stay for a visit after Dean was born. Then Poopa would go back to Iowa and return a few weeks later to pick up Momma and be here for Dean's baby blessing. Poopa had found a few really neat things at Goodwill out in Iowa, and wanted to give them to us before he went back home. Here Brian is checking out the AWESOME double stroller Poopa found.

Momma had a few cute presents that she let Vaughn open up. One of them was this adorable little bunny that made kissing sounds when you pushed it's tummy. Momma also got Vaughn a little bottle so he could feed the bunny. Vaughn really enjoyed doing that because it was just like me and Brian feeding Dean!

Vaughn was playing with a marble game while Momma and Poopa were here. Vaughn was a little nervous when Poopa came over to check it out. I think he wondered if Poopa was going to somehow take it away from him. It's funny what little kids think sometimes. But...

...Vaughn's worry turned to delight when Poopa made the marble do some cool tricks. It was so cute to see them interacting together! It was so nice to see Poopa for those few days, and to also know that he would be back soon!

I'll leave you with a few pictures that were taken that same morning before Momma and Poopa came over. Here's Vaughn and Dean next to each other in our bed. One of Vaughn's favorite things has been to come into our bed in the morning right after he wakes up and "hold" Dean. Vaughn is a very affectionate, tender and protective older brother. I can see Vaughn and Dean being best buds. Dean obviously loves having Vaughn as a big brother!

And here are my guys...
P.S. Vaughn was trying to be as still as possible so Dean wouldn't get upset and he would be able to hold him as long as possible!!! What a nut! You can see how much he is concentrating. I love it!

Love, Lisa

Dinner at the China Light Cafe
Saturday, June 28th, 2008

The weekend of June 27th - June 29th, Brian's sister Rebekah, her husband Jim, their kids, and also Jim's parents were in town for a family reunion. Naturally we wanted to get together with them, so we all decided to go out to eat together at the famous Chine Light Cafe up in American Fork. The food is well worth the drive! Above are Jim and Rebekah and their kids, as well as Jared, enjoying their meal.

Jim's parents and Mom and Dad Higginson decided to sit together. Jim's father can make anyone laugh, and his mother is GORGEOUS, not to mention the nicest lady you'll ever meet! Jim inherited his father's sense of humor and his mother's good looks and kindness.

Brian, Vaughn, Julie, Robert and I all ate together. It was really funny to try to divide the food up between us all. For some reason, Brian kept thinking that it wasn't being divided fairly, and was making a fuss. At one point, Robert imitated Brian and it was so funny even Brian laughed at it! I told you, the food is really good. I think they "put an addictive chemical in it that makes you crave it fort-nightly!" (That quote was for Laura!) It's no wonder Brian was so worried about getting his share. But we wound up having a really fun time and eventually everyone got enough to eat!

Here's me and Brian looking very tired! It's no wonder since little Dean had only been born two weeks earlier. I'll also mention that he was really struggling digesting things, so he barely slept at all! He kept a schedule of literally being up every hour on the hour. I don't know how he or we managed to survive! You can see how exhausted we were!

Vaughn was more interested in playing with the ice cubes in his cup that eating, as is evidenced by the giant water stain on his shorts. He did however, pause to sort of smile for the camera, but got distracted by Aunt Julie...

...Aunt Julie was trying to make the same face Vaughn was, and seeing the two of them was quite a sight! I'm surprised we were able to keep the food from shooting out of our mouths because we were laughing so hard! And by the way, doesn't that food look so delicious?!?

And in keeping with tradition, I have to take a picture of the scary dragon with light bulbs for eyes. I'll also mention that the plastic has never been taken off of this dragon. It keeps the dust off, but makes it look so tacky! But that is what we love about this place!

Thanks Jim and Bek and kids, and Jim's parents for a really fun outing! We love you!

Love, Lisa

A VERY RESPONSIBLE BIG BROTHER
June 23rd - June 26th, 2008

On Monday, June 23rd, Dad Higginson stopped by to pick up Vaughn so he could spend some time with Mom and Dad that day. Vaughn convinced Dad that before he left, he needed to play a quick game of Dominoes!

I wound up going with Vaughn, and actually staying over at Brian's parents' house for several days because Dean was struggling with some eating and sleeping problems, and was up every hour at night. Brian's mother would watch the kids while I took a nap, and it really helped! So here's Vaughn a few days into our stay, concentrating very hard while he held Dean all by himself!

He did eventually let himself crack a small smile!

Here's Vaughn a few days after that. He saw Dean's binkie fall out....

...then he went to find it....

Once he found the binkie, he tried to find Dean's mouth.

And of course, Dean tried to block the incoming binkie!

But Vaughn won out....

...and Dean accepted the help.

And Vaughn was very proud of himself!

And he kept checking to make sure that darn binkie stayed in!

Love, Lisa

Some Brotherly Bonding
June 22nd, 2008

On Sunday, June 22nd, Brian had taken Vaughn to church while I stayed at home with little Dean. Dean woke up from a nap bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, so I decided to try to take a few pictures of him.

I couldn't believe that he was actually opening his eyes and keeping them open!

Here he is showing only one of him dimples. I failed to mention in the last few entries that the nurses at the hospital called him "Dimples." He really does have very cute dimples!

Vaughn and Brian got home soon after our little photo shoot. Vaughn immediately went to Dean, and tried to get him to play with him. Here Vaughn is "talking" to Dean and planning out their game strategy.

First on the list was pulling a few faces. Vaughn went for the open-mouth face, and after watching carefully, Dean followed suit!

Then Dean pulled a fast one on Vaughn and stuck his tongue out at him! Vaughn found this very amusing!

Then Vaughn thought he would show off and try to block the camera! Dean cheered him on saying, "Nice one Big Bro!"

Afterwards, Vaughn really wanted to take Dean on a walk. So we put him in the stroller and let Vaughn push him to the front of the yard.

We are still amazed at how tiny Dean is compared to his big brother!

Once he got to the front yard, Vaughn begged his daddy to take them on a longer walk. And since it's so hard to say "no" to two cute faces...

...Brian was more than happy to oblige.

And here's one for the road...


Can anyone say, "Professor" and "The Dean's List?"

Love, Lisa