THREE WEEKS OF FUN EXPERIENCES!!!
July 20th - August 10th, 2008

Sunday, July 20th was the day Dean was blessed. As Latter Day Saints we traditionally have the father of a new baby give that baby a blessing within the first few months of life. The blessing is much like a prayer, given or offered through inspiration. Each blessing is unique and very special. All blessings do have two common purposes however, which are to give the baby a name, and to also give encouragement to the baby in his or her life ahead. It is also common for immediate and extended family to attend these blessings. We were very delighted to have many family members come to Dean's blessing. Above is a happy Aunt Laura holding a tired little Dean! And for some reason the camera angle was really weird and made Dean's head look extra tiny. Sorry Dean!

After church, and before a small luncheon we held over at Brian's parents' house, some of my extended family came over to our house to visit for a little while and hold the new baby! We all sat in the living room and just enjoyed talking with each other. Here's Momma working on the very cute baby blanket she made for Dean. I love the colors!

From left to right in this picture are my Uncle Gary, my Aunt Kelly and my brother-in-law Dustin (Lindsey's husband). All three of them were trying not to encourage a group of girls that happened to be sitting across the room and giggling out of control! And....

...here they are! (Aunt Kelly's mother is on the far left). Whenever we get together with my cousins two things inevitably happen: 1) There are many HILARIOUS jokes made and 2) We wind up laughing so hard we want to throw up! And actually, Uncle Gary is the biggest culprit in making this happen. He likes to pretend he's not the cause, but he really is the biggest "jokester" teddy bear I know besides my dad. Uncle Gary's sense of humor is extremely witty and very weird! Example: one time at Thanksgiving one of his daughters came to sit down at the table and join the conversation. Uncle Gary looked up and said (about a sit it the middle of her forehead), "What's with the third eye?!?" His daughter rolled her eyes, as did Aunt Kelly, and then his daughter punched him in the arm! Then Aunt Kelly said, "It's no wonder they've turned out the way they have!" Uncle Gary is the biggest tease I know next to Poopa!

My youngest sister Lindsey and her husband had also come down from Idaho to attend Dean's blessing. I was so happy to see them there, as I don't get to see them very often. Lindsey and Laura were so sweet, showering Dean with hugs and kisses. I have to admit, there is nothing like holding a new baby. They are just so tiny and helpless and precious! You just want to protect them at all costs! We had such a good time with our family that day! Thank you all for making it such a special day!

The next day, Monday the 21st of July, Brian had a family reunion up in a canyon above Ogden, Utah. I didn't think it was a good idea to take a new baby there because it was a camping reunion. But I was sad not to be able to go. I was glad though that Lindsey and Dustin decided to stay longer. They came over to my house for a visit, and as you can see, Dustin very kindly sat down and started shelling peas! Between him, Laura and Lindsey, I got a ton of peas shelled! I told them they all did a "shell of a job!" (Yes, I know it was a bad joke)!

Dustin and Lindsey had to leave later that afternoon, but before they left, Ben and Emily called to invite everyone out to lunch at a restaurant called The Bombay House. I've never been one to enjoy Indian cuisine, but I'm telling you, this place was AWESOME!!! It was so dang good! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves eating great food and visiting with each other. And I have to say, I think Ben and Emily are so cool. They really do a great job at giving their kids a well-rounded upbringing. They are always doing the coolest things!

Little Prairie was so tired that she couldn't take it anymore, so Ben put her on the floor and she fell fast asleep! It was so funny to see her sprawled out like that while we were all enjoying this fabulous Indian cuisine! I just want to say a big "THANK YOU" to Ben and Em for being so generous and taking us all out. It was a lot of fun and some great food!

A few days later on July 24th, Brian and I had an unusual opportunity to go to an outdoor concert up in Orem. One of Brian's bosses had some VIP tickets that he wasn't going to use and gave them to us! We got VIP passes to a dinner before the show began, and we also got to take photos with the group that was performing. And that group happened to be......ABBA!!! They weren't the real ABBA, but they were from Sweden. And they are the only group in the world given the full rights to wear the clothing designs that ABBA wore, and to sing all the ABBA songs. So it was pretty much like seeing and hearing the real thing! Here we are in the blistering heat, waiting for the concert to begin! (Brian may look a little annoyed in this picture because of the next picture....)

This next picture shows nobody performing! It was really weird, but they did so many weird introductions and announcements and odd gimmicky type things for almost an hour while we waited for the group to come on. And right when we thought they were going to come out, the announcer got back up on stage and said we would take a short 15 minute break before the show began. Brian was ready to poke his eyes out! But eventually the group came out, and they did a GREAT JOB!!! They sounded almost exactly like ABBA! They even had one of the original guitarists there who had toured with the original group. They also had all the dance moves and quirks down for each member. It was really fun dancing and singing and enjoying a blast from the past. P.S. We weren't allowed to use photography or video cameras of any kind during the performance, so sorry we couldn't show you what we saw while they were performing! It was a nice night, and a ton of fun with a hot babe!

Moving into August....On August 4th, (I think that was a Saturday), Brian was really enjoying the warm weather. He was itching to be body-boarding off the coast of California. Unfortunately, those beaches happened to be too far away at the moment, so he opted for the next best thing....a kiddie pool and an adorable son! Vaughn was so excited to finally get his Daddy into the pool with him!

Brian took great delight in showing Vaughn how to properly spray the water hose in water combat situations. Those two must have been out there for a few hours just splashing around and being guys! When they came into the house however, their fingers and toes looked like perfect prunes, so I knew it had been longer. I was so grateful though for Vaughn to be able to have such a fun time with his daddy.

When I was about six or seven months pregnant with Dean, I forced myself to plant a garden. I knew that I would regret it if I didn't. My next-door neighbor, who happens to be a great friend, told me that I'd go nuts if I didn't have a garden. She knows me very well, and I was glad she gave me a little push. But, I did something different this time. I laid out landscaping fabric BEFORE I planted to keep the weeds out. And do you know what? IT WORKED GREAT!!!! I will ALWAYS use landscaping fabric from this point on! A sweet older couple that lives down the street from me recommended I do it, and boy did it pay to listen! I only had to weed a handful of times, and for just a few minutes at a time. And I harvested a LOT of produce!

Above I have onions, potato plants, tomato plants and a few pea plants that are barely visible. It's funny because we had a very odd year as far as weather, so everything BUT the tomatoes produced well. In fact, NOBODY I talked to in my neighborhood got tomatoes this year EXCEPT my next-door neighbor Dawn. I was lucky that she happened to plant about 24 tomato plants, because that was really my only source of tomatoes for almost the entire summer.

To prove how ridiculous our tomato harvest was, I have pictured above our first tomato. I think I picked it just after the first week in AUGUST! That's ridiculous! And, it happened to be one of the most pathetic-looking tomatoes I've ever seen. The year before I remember picking 40 tomatoes at a time, so this was definitely a disappointment. But like I said, my neighbor Dawn was extremely kind and let me get at some of her tomatoes. One thing I did learn though is when your tomato plants have green tomatoes on them, but they won't ripen, DON'T water them for several days. This forces the tomatoes on the vine to ripen! After I tried that with this year's crop, I began getting some great results! If you look up at that tomato one more time, you'll notice a few cracks at the top of the tomato. This means that the plant got too much water too fast. We had a very wet season this year, so that's why I didn't get as many tomatoes as I wanted! Better luck next year!

On Sunday, August 10th, just two days before Vaughn's 3rd birthday, we decided to go out in the evening for a trip to a local park. We had never been to this park before with Vaughn, and it was quite a delight to see him play and interact with the kids there. He was actually very nervous at first, and took his time getting up enough guts to walk across the bridge. However, as he was in the middle of the bridge, an older kid who weighed a lot more than Vaughn ran across the bridge, and poor little Vaughn got so scared! He grabbed the side rail as fast and he could and stood there for a little bit, trying to calm himself down! I've never seen a kid that is so apprehensive and careful when being exposed to situations for the first time. But eventually Vaughn got up enough courage to finish the trip across the bridge!

After that initial experience, Vaughn made a Bee-Line for safe and solid ground. I couldn't blame him. You should have seen me and Brian sitting on the park bench giggling at him!

Vaughn decided to play it solo for a while as he decided if he would try to mingle with the other kids again. And.....

...luckily he saw the other kids going down the giant slide! Vaughn really wanted to go down, and most of the way up the stairs he looked back at me for encouragement. Eventually, Brian and I realized that Vaughn wasn't going to take another step without one of us there...

...so Brian went up with Vaughn. It was so cute to watch Vaughn get excited as he saw his Daddy coming up to be with him! I just wish I could have gotten a picture of it!

Once Brian and Vaughn had made the trip up to the slide, and then down the slide together, Vaughn was totally fine. He turned into a regular monkey child and ran all over the play equipment, swinging from things, jumping on things, and interacting with other kids. And I'll just point out that when Vaughn is really excited about something, he usually doesn't smile! As you can see in the above picture, he gets a stone-faced look like he's concentrating really hard! In reality, he is holding in all of his energy and eventually releases it by jumping up and down and shaking his arms. Only once in a while will he crack a smile as he's doing it! We like to call this entire process "Spazzing."

Our evening wound up being extremely pleasant. Little Dean, who was almost two months old at this point, was very calm and peaceful. I enjoyed just sitting there with him in my arms and watching Vaughn play. Brian and I also enjoyed some nice time to just talk together. Just as we were getting ready to leave, the sun began to get lower in the sky, and it provided a beautiful goodbye for us!

Love, Lisa

JANUARY 2009....

[Yes....it's been SIX MONTHS since I last published a blog entry! I can't believe it's been so long! But I do have a good excuse...a baby with digestive problems that couldn't sleep for the first six months of his life! It took us literally six months, about 100 doctor visits, and trying seven different formulas to finally figure out that Dean has a problem digesting proteins found in cow's milk, dairy products and other common foods. He has had such a hard time his first six months, crying almost constantly and not sleeping. And that means that I haven't slept either! Dean spent his first four months of life napping for no more than 15 to 20 minutes at a time, and only doing that from two to six times a day (that means every period of 24 hours)! He was literally sleeping at most only two hours a day!!! I honestly don't know how he's been able to grow at all!

Over the last two months Dean has slowly begun to sleep more as we have been able to get him on a formula he can digest. And now at 7 months, Dean can sleep between two to four hours at a time, but usually sleeps about two to three hours at a time. It has been a very trying experience to say the least. I don't know how we've all survived it! But, I think we've finally gotten Dean on the right track, and things are beginning to look up. Towards the beginning of December there was a night where I actually slept for four hours straight! I couldn't believe it! So that's why I've neglected my blog. I just haven't been able to do anything but take care of the kids! Hopefully as Dean continues to grow, his cute little digestive system will mature, and he will sleep better, which will give me more opportunities to update the blog! And speaking of the blog, I'd better get cracking before that cute little boy wakes up again.....!]

GREAT GRANDMA OVIATT'S VISIT, and
TIME WITH MOMMA ISIS AND AUNT LAURA
July 6th - July 19th, 2008

On Sunday, July 6th, we were VERY HAPPY to have Great Grandma Oviatt come down for a visit. It was quite a special occasion for two reasons...first was that Grandma got to see Vaughn, and second was that Grandma had made the trip down to see us. We were so grateful!
Here's Grandma, Dean and me enjoying some time together.

Dean was totally loving be held by Grandma. You can see him stretched out, and Grandma just making him all the more comfortable by wrapping the blankets around him!

Another cute shot of Grandma and Dean...

Grandma was very thoughtful to also make Vaughn feel special during her visit. She had brought a very cute outfit for Dean, and she also brought a special gift for Vaughn! Here's Vaughn opening it!

Grandma had gotten Vaughn a truck!....The PERFECT gift! It also had a little car to tow around. Vaughn went to playing with it immediately. I really enjoyed Grandma's visit because we got to talk for quite a while. We just sat there while she held Dean and had the most relaxing time together. Then I took Grandma out to the garden to show her how well it was growing. It was a very special afternoon for me, and one I will always cherish. I love you Grandma!

A few days later, Momma was over just visiting with me, and she pointed out to me the ADORABLE position Dean was in on the couch. Momma has a very good eye for photo opportunities, and of course I couldn't pass this one up! He was just this tiny ball of cuteness!

Momma had her hands on Dean in this picture, which showed just how small little Dean was! It's amazing how tiny babies are when they're born. I'm grateful though, because it's pretty tough to get a small one out! I can't imagine trying to push out a toddler-sized baby! Yikes!
About this picture....I just have to say Anne Geddes anyone?

On July 12th, which happened to be Momma and Poopa's anniversary, Momma and Laura were over for a little while. I thought it was pretty sweet of Momma and Poopa to sacrifice spending their anniversary together so that Momma could be in Utah for a visit. It really meant a lot to me to have Momma there to spend time with us. Back to Momma and Laura coming over....
Our pea plants had really been producing pretty well, and Laura saw the big mound of them and offered to shell them for me. I was SO GRATEFUL!!! It's exciting to shell your first few pea harvests, but after a while it gets a little old. So having Laura help me was so nice!!! Thanks Laura!

Here's Laura hard at work shelling the peas. With that ARMY shirt on, Laura looks like she's in boot camp and I've punished her with shelling peas instead of the usual peeling potatoes. But she looks happy enough!!! By the way, I LOVE Laura's smile. It's just so perfect!

While Laura and I shelled peas and talked, Momma enjoyed spending the time holding Dean.

Momma said how great it is to be a grandparent because you get to do all the fun stuff. You get to hold the babies and play with them and spoil them, and then when they start to cry you can just hand them over to their parents! I definitely think she and Poopa have earned that right! Momma has "the special touch." Dean was in pure heaven!

For some reason I have a full week's gap in between photos here, so I'll just skip ahead a week. Here's Laura with Dean at our home a week later. She looks so happy in this picture! Laura has been so great with Dean. She also has "the special touch." I don't know how she does it, but she can get Dean to fall asleep within about a minute. He just seems to melt into a ball of goo when he's in her arms. He is so relaxed! I know how he feels though. Laura likes to play with my hair sometimes, and the second she touches my head, my whole body instantly relaxes. I think Laura might have some magical powers she's not telling me about.

This has to be the one for the road.......! (Are you seeing the same double chin I'm seeing?!)

Love, Lisa