Powell time

Here's what happens after a long drive and desperate parents. You give a 10 month old a piece of licorice and never look back. Well you only look back when it's over and you take full credit for the mess and of course snap a picture. Probably best 20 minutes of Ami's life thus far. We had time to kill before we met the Johnson's at the Wal-Mart in Page and so we went to the visitors center at the St George Temple. It was a good time.

Family Picture!
Team Cash and Ollie, back together again.

Captain Ollie and Captain Cash take the wheel to scout out our sweet spot.

Prego Mary looking gorgeous as always. I'm so excited to see another baby girl Johnson!

Ryan's totally rad 80's lifejacket. That jacket had Ryan written all over it.

Ollie sporting his own life jacket looking stylish.

Johnson family photo on Roxie.

This is basically how Ami was 80% of the trip; nacked, in the sand, playing by the water. The beach that we pulled up to was so perfect for the kids. It's funny being at a beach where you're not worrying about your kids getting taken out by waves. Kinda nice.

This water was the most glorious water, seriously. I have a little phobia about deep water. I admit, there may have been a water shoe purchase made before the trip on my account. I know, they are so dorky but they just make me feel safer. Well my friends, I did not put on my water shoes once. Not even while I went surfing. It's good to conquer your fears.

I just have to say that I can already see a connection being made here with Ollie and Marley. And don't even get me started on the love between Cash and Ami. So they might grow up feeling more life cousins than friends but is it still ok if we force them to date?

Mary charging the waves. You almost can't tell that she's carrying a baby bundle under that jacket. I must say that Mary and I both rocked at surfing, well until the second day when I couldn't get up and got frusterated. But that first day I was proud of myself.

My husband doing what he does best. Such a natural. And so good looking too.

Check it.

Playing in the water. Oliver is a water child in every way. He always wants to be in it and always wants to be doing whatever his Dad is...as you can see below. He is a fantastic swimmer.

He could have done this all day.

Just a couple sunbathers.

Ryan tubing with the three kids.

Marley Jane being cute.Well gente festejana (as Ryan would say). It was so much fun. Thanks for inviting us along. We can't get enough of you. When will we resolve this California/ Idaho issue? Or better yet, when will we vacation in Hawaii three months out of the year so we can all live in the water together. We love you guys, thanks for the awesome trip.

Visitors from Florida!

My brother Brian and his wife Amanda came all the way from Florida for a visit with their kids Katherine and Adam (who I had never met)! When some in the family come to visit, all the rest seem to follow so Leah and Steve came from Northern CA, and Annie with her little guy Gage came from Colorado where they just bought a house. I had also not met Gage yet so this was exciting time to meet two of my newest nephews.

Sometimes it is still crazy to think of my little brother as father of two. He is a pretty amazing Dad I do have to say.

Amanda with the newest Kelley addition, Adam. I love this boy, he is such a sweetheart.

The three smallest grandchildren Adam, Gage, and Amelie. Oliver found a friend in Uncle Steve who knows what it's like to play like a boy.

Annie's little guy Gage. Such an easy, sweet baby.
Ollie giving Auntie Amanda some lovin'.

Ollie and Dad get some of their own loving time in.

Amelie with Auntie Chelsea. Since Chels is the youngest Aunt, she's bound to be the coolest, hippest who can totally relate to girl talk. They'll be great friends.

Leah at 20ish weeks ready to add yet another grandboy and son to her own family!

Ollie really appreciated Uncle Brian because he, like Steve, knows how to play rough. Brian might have decided on a few instances that maybe in fact Ollie's rough was a little too rough.
Seriously, this face.
Carson getting into all kinds of mischief but being very cute at it.

Isn't this dress just to die for. My mom and I got it in Ecuador when she came before the Amazon trip. We just knew at some point I'd have to have a girl. I didn't imagine something as sweet as this!

Dad is officially Amelie's favorite person. She loves him, puts her head on his shoulder, laughs at all his jokes and in general pays attention at all times to where her father is. Two peas in a pod I tell you.

I'm going to have to go out on a limb and say that Katherine is the funniest, most entertaining little thing I have ever met. I cannot wait to watch her grow into this little person.

Father and son.

Three little lady's. I love family.

Lake Powell Teaser

So I have too much to blog about and not enough time. Here is a little video that pretty much sums up our time at Lake Powell to hold you over until I get with the program.

i'm a baby nerd...to the max

I've always been a little jealous of those people who find something that they just love. Like a job someone just can't live without and their desire to read, study, and discover all they can about that thing never ceases. I've always wanted that.

It's funny to realize that I've always had that. Noticing every single pregnant woman in the mall and admiring her growing belly wishing to touch it and talk to it. Getting into extremely detailed conversations with total strangers about their birth experiences and not thinking a thing about how easy it is to be totally engrossed in every word. I can't get enough and I feel so lucky to love it like I do.

By the way, have you ever noticed that every woman remembers with perfect clarity her birth experiences, the good and the bad. No matter what your age, you can remember how you felt, who was there, who said what that made you happy or anxious, and what you thought when you met your baby for the first time.

My friend Libby who has grown kids now said something so interesting. Back when childbirth was extremely medicated (well, still is) but when there wasn't a whole lot of support to birth naturally without a lot of intervention and husbands were not heavily involved, she had opted for an un-medicated birth and felt totally alone in it. In the midst of transition and pushing, she asked her nurse, "am I doing this right" and that nurse said, "you are doing perfect". That was all she needed to know she could do it. Those simple 5 words gave her that support to believe in the process and that she naturally knew what to do, and that she was doing it.

I hope that every woman, whether you're getting pain medication or not, choosing a home birth or a hospital, whatever your preference, has the knowledge that this is your birth and you have a choice to make it whatever way you want. If you don't want something, voice it. If you do want something, voice it. If you don't decide someone else will for you. And you know what, that works for some people. But if this is an experience you will remember all your life, make it your own. Don't let anything be taken from you. Get educated...don't just follow the system.

There it is, my first child birthing rant. We all knew it was coming at some point. I'll try and keep it under control. Promise.

yesterday at the beach...

Some days I wake up in the morning with only one thought in my head, well a few thoughts in fact. The beach, the ocean, the sun, the waves, the people, the sand, the smells, the sounds. Like, I feel like I just need it and I won't get through the day without it. I love that you can go and sit on the beach with your kids and do pretty much nothing and get home and feel like you accomplished a lot for the day. Actually packing up and getting two usually hungry, thirsty, sweaty, and sandy kids back in the car sometimes does feel like quite the task. I LOVE my first sight of the ocean when I'm aching for it. It's like relief that it's still there, still the same, waiting to be enjoyed. Heavenly Father, thank you for making something so joyous and incredibly beautiful for us to love.

Is it seriously late July?

So I have had no motivation for blogging lately, I have no idea why, sometimes I just go through spurts. July is flying by and I just can't believe it. Especially when it's just now starting to feel like summer. So far this "summer" has been a lot of cloud cover and fog which I have to admit I sort of love, but it was starting to get old. It is still foggy at the beach but it's been clearing up earlier and earlier so hopefully those summer beach days will commence. The nice thing about living 10 minutes inland is that it is always sunny here, so that's kinda nice.

Ryan's job is officially closing out which usually takes a couple weeks. We were hoping he would be moving to Irvine this week but no such luck. He's been going to Santa Monica because there is a lot of "hand holding" as Ryan calls it, to be done. I don't think when Ryan took this job on, he could have imagined what a nightmare it would be. Learning and experience is what he's taking from it, and leaving all the rest behind! I seriously miss my best friend. In another week he should get word on what and where his next job is.

My amazing, wonderful parents came this past weekend for a night to watch the kiddies while we took a night away and went to La Jolla. It was absolutely wonderful to just relax and be together. My mom was so funny and called a few hours after we left and was like, "I love this, can we do this all the time". The answer is yes, mom.

I have had quite the scare this past month. My period was over 3 weeks late and I was maybe freaking out a little. I finally went into the Dr. to get my iud checked and get a pregnancy test. Gratefully, we are not expecting our third and everything looked fine with the iud. My period for some reason had just decided not to show up. Go figure the day after I go to the Dr. after an awesome vaginal exam, my period shows up. I love myself babies, don't get me wrong, but that would have been terrible timing:)

My doula work is really starting to move. I am interning at a wonderful Birth Center in Irvine with some pretty amazing people. Sometimes I feel like the luckiest girl to have found the thing other than motherhood that just feels like a calling. I am on call as we speak for my practice labors. So exciting. I don't think I'll really get rolling on the business aspect until I work with lots of moms first, just to know I am experienced enough and ready. And I plan on watching the midwife and mentor doulas every move so I can learn as much as possible.

Oliver is hilarious and darling. I keep having to remind myself to enjoy the moments with him when he is acting like a crazy person. Like he is 3, I just need to embrace it and love every moment of it. He is singing the babe theme song downstairs on perfect pitch as we speak. Amelie is a mover these days. She can climb all the way up the stairs all by herself and I just don't know what to do about it. I will try and avoid a gate at all costs because they are just so annoying. She is a wild woman in the pool and just tries to jump out of my arms. She watches every move her brother makes and laughs at every single thing he does. I love them together.

Summer nights

Tonight was a total Rexburg summer night. Out of nowhere these thunder clouds rolled in this afternoon and then started raining. All I could think of was how much I missed those summer night's in Idaho. It made me think of singing Dashboard with Brooke and Lane to the top of our lungs in the pouring rain, watching movies out our back window on the grass, driving back from the sand dunes smelling smoke and wet grassy fields, late night runs to Dairy Queen with the girls to get a georgia mud fudge blizzard and fighting for brownie bits, drives through the fields consumed by thoughts and possibilities, mattresses pulled into the front room for a huge slumber party, scotcharoos and confetti cake, love and heartbreak, jogging all alone and relishing in the peace of being in total seclusion, leaving the library after some awesome he said she said chats instead of studying, finishing a last minute essay with a total procrastinators high, and the magical glow of that little town full of so much energy right in the middle of nowhere. I love that place. There is nothing quite like it. Be there now.

Gardening 101

Tip#1 Get creative and make it your own.

Tip #2 Enlist some help from a friend. It's always more fun with two!

Tip #3 Be really excited, you're gardening! Oh and don't mind if you get dirty.

Tip#4 Water your plants.

Tip #5 Relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

An injury, a birthday, and the fourth!

Saturday morning we went looking for surf but unfortunately there was none to be found. We headed to San Clemente to get some Rainbow Sandals for my Dad's birthday at the outlet and then decided to go and hit the state beach for some skim boarding and sun soaking. On Ryan's first wave he came back in with a deep cut on his cheek. His board had come up and sliced him across the face and was bleeding pretty bad. He headed over to the lifeguard station where they cleaned him up and told him to head to the hospital because he probably needed stitches.

Ryan's thoughts were as follows:

First, great, now we have to leave the beach and we just got here.

Second, if I get stitches they're not going to let me surf for a while.

Third, we have a to pay a hundred bucks to go the the ER.

Fourth, now we are going to waste a perfectly good Saturday sitting at the hospital.

My thoughts were as follows:

Your face is sliced open and bleeding profusely. We should probably do something about that soon. I don't care if it takes time or costs money.

That it was cool that Ryan got such a great battle wound and why wasn't he more excited. I wish it were me.

That this battle wound might end up looking kinda hot. Ryan was excited about this prospect.

And I secretly thought that if they didn't let him get in the water for a while, I might get my husband on Saturday mornings. Selfish? Yeah, sorry babe. (He only has to wait 5 days so no harm done).

So yeah, we called Jill for directions to the nearest hospital, dropped Oliver off with his uncle Jon (can you imagine 2+ hours with Ollie at the ER, thanks Jon) and six stitches later Ryan was repaired. Ryan still says it hasn't hurt once. He's super tough.

Then my family came for the afternoon to celebrate my Dad's birthday. We went swimming, ate dinner at Ruby's in Laguna, classic Kelley family tradition, and had a darling cake my mom brought. Oliver loves celebrating birthdays and especially singing the birthday song. He couldn't resist helping grandpa blow his candles out.

The next day we celebrated the fourth by going to church and then eating a yummy summertime dinner.

Then we walked to Grand Park in Aliso for the festivities and fireworks. I was surprised at how great the show was considering Aliso is a small town. The music was great and the crowd was roaring. I had a few tear up moments as I thought about my blessings. Oliver loved the fireworks and Ami wasn't completely sure what she thought. Good thing she has those fingers. Both kids crashed on the walk home. It was a very successful fourth of July.