This summer, Amelie went to a handful of day camps up at Thanksgiving Point. One day, they learned about astronomy, one day was art, another day they toured a restaurant kitchen and learned about cooking. One of these days was a bug day. I wasn’t quite sure how Amelie would like it, but I thought it’d be good for her to get up close and personal with some bugs. Little did I know she would come home with two new pets and a love for the magnificent mealworm. I wanted to encourage this interest and watched (from a distance–not a worm lover myself) with a smile as she played with her pets. Before long, she had christened them Shayla and Fast Freddy and even built obstacle courses for them.

The budding entomologist with Shayla. Or Fast Freddy. I think she could actually tell them apart.

One of the obstacle courses. It was so fun to watch her set it all up and then encourage her little buddies along.

Both worms have now left this life. Amelie’s excitement and devotion to the critters made me want to get her a real pet sometime soon.

Life with three little ones is definitely full–full of laundry, full of smiles, full of chaotic moments, and full of milestones. Here are a couple milestones we’ve been celebrating around here recently.

This cutie pie turned 4 months-old on Friday. 4 months old! Watching your babies grow is so bittersweet. Part of me wants him to stay this small and innocent and perfect. But I also look forward with excitement to all that the days ahead have in store for him.

A couple weeks ago, Easton started rolling from his back to his tummy. It's so funny to watch novice rollers. It's almost like this inevitable thing that they can't control. Watch. Here he is--"You want me to do what?"

"Oh, no! It's happening again!"

"Ugh, not tummy time again. I hate tummy time."

"There. You happy now?"

"How can I get back over? Think, think, think..."

"I give up."

And this guy? He's potty trained! He's so tall and big and talkative--sometimes it's hard to remember he's only 2 years old.

Until I find him like this. Then I see my baby again.

Just for fun, I decided to go back through some of my old Facebook Status updates. I realized that Facebook is where I’ve recorded a lot of the funny little things that I might not otherwise write down. Here are some of the gems I dug up:

July 27, 2011: As I was pulling some banana muffins out of the oven, my 2 year-old came in and said, “Mmmm…they’re so muffiny!” And yesterday, he pulled me down to his level and whispered in my ear: “I is growing up!” Love that boy.
May 25, 2011: My two year-old just made a pretend phone call to Andy Warhol. Thank you, Little Einsteins.

March 18, 2011: Giggling to myself as I listen to my 4 year-old explain the rules of her latest game, “Aliens and Astronauts Get Married”, to her little brother.

February 16, 2011: My 4 year-old as she was practicing writing: “That’s not a very good ‘y’, I said to myself.” Gotta love self-narration.

February 3, 2011: Best feeling ever? Walking in to two happy smiling kids first thing in the morning and having your 2 year-old give you a big hug and say, “This is my mommy.”

January 4, 2011: You know you’ve just come off the Christmas season when your 2 year-old proclaims to all of Wal-Mart: “Know me better, man!”

December 29, 2010: My 4 year-old daughter just suggested what I think to be the perfect name for our baby boy: Unicorn Maiden. Wear the name proudly, my son.

December 16, 2011: My 4 year-old just told me, “Mommy, you do a really good job cutting bananas.”

August 10, 2010: My almost-4 year-old daughter just came in and announced, “Mom, I am going to wear this tutu for 3 days!” Alrighty then…

Being a mom is simply the best.

Today we celebrate Pioneer Day here in Utah. In honor of that day, I present: A Bunch of July Miscellany.

To celebrate the 4th of July, we headed down to Provo for the hot air balloon festival. This picture was taken at 6:30 a.m.--an early morning, but definitely worth it.

There's just something magical about hot air balloons. And it's doubly fun when you get to see them take off from the ground just feet in front of you.

Some guys from Belgium even graced the festival with this awesome Darth Vadar balloon. Pretty cool. Wonder how much it costs to ship a hot air balloon from Belgium to Utah...

We also went to the Freedom Festival parade down in Provo. Bryce ran the 10k race with Brad, Brock, and Kathleen (she ran the 5k) and then we all sat and enjoyed the parade.

Oh, and we just inherited this awesome bunk bed. Thank you Mark and Brenda! The kids adore it and it's so much fun to play on. And see that cute boy on the bottom bunk? He's potty trained! Hurray!

Life gave us figs and we made fig newtons. They were delicious--very very tasty!

This past Saturday I ran my first 5k! I have never considered myself a runner, so this was a pretty big deal for me. I came in at 32 minutes and 32 seconds. My goal was 34 minutes, so I was very pleased! Thank you, Bryce, for inspiring me!

At my 5k, they had a kids race, too. Hilarious to watch.

Apparently, hot air balloons have been a big part of our month. This is me with Amelie and Calder up in a tethered balloon just after my 5k. I'll admit that I got a little nervous up there, but the kids had no fear. It was pretty cool!

It’s been a great month! To top it all off, Easton started rolling over this past week. Pictures of that amazing feat to come.

We blessed Easton in church on Sunday, June 12th. I love this tradition of giving these sweet babies a blessing–it never fails to bring a couple tears to my eyes. Easton was lucky enough to get to wear the same blessing outfit that Bryce wore as a baby. Calder wore it, too. I am so glad Brenda kept this darling outfit!

Here's Bryce in his outfit, back in 1981.

And Calder in 2008.

And Easton in 2011. Isn't that blanket gorgeous? Brenda's sister, Betsey, made it for Easton. It matched his outfit perfectly--it even has a light blue ribbon running around the edge! Thank you, Betsey!

Turns out, it's really hard to photograph squirmy babies.

My sweet baby boy.

It was a lovely morning–thanks to everyone who was able to come and support Easton. I fall more in love with him every day. His sweet personality and easy smiles just melt my heart.