July 4th, Austin's birthday and Baby fun!

*WARNING*

This is going to be a long post! I've gotten behind!

Blake did well with his first time with fireworks.

 He loves to be outside so he was in his happy place to watch! Dad took the kids up on the roof to watch the sky light up. Gotta love that Utah FINALLY gets to legally light off the good ones. It was pretty amazing to watch the entire valley light up.

  Austin celebrated his 11th birthday this month too!

 Cash and a cell phone! What more can he need?! 

 Must wish a good wish......

 This one's for you Grandpa! Austin need a haircut and, well, I gave him an old man do! Ha ha ha!

 He wears it well!

Karlee was doing a good job last week taking care of Blake while I was working. This is what they were up to. Blake has a bin for his toys. When it's empty it's a perfect size for him to sit in! Sooooo Karlee put him in and snapped some pictures. Funny!

 Karlee also shared her apple with Blake. He loved it!

And who doesn't love a licorice covered face?! Blake is so much fun with everything he is discovering. He also learned how to crawl/scoot around last week. Baby proofing is going on big time around here!!

What a week!

Well we did it. We sold the old Focus Wagon. I wasn't sad to see it go. It was an ok car but I was never in love with it. So we said goodbye Monday to the car and "Hello" to the cash in hand. Car shopping S-U-C-K-S! Why is it that Jason and I always seem to sell our car or need a new car in the DEAD of summer and the only other car we get to drive has ZERO A/C! I don't know. Some day we'll figure it out. Poor Blake suffered the most I think. That kid has slept more today than he has all week. Though I'm sure it helped that we were house bound so he was actually able to take a real nap. Any way after many long days of searching we found the perfect car. It's a beaut! We can take 2 extra kids with us now which means we will hopefully be getting some placements from foster care soon. After all that's the reason we decided to upgrade. As if the dead heat and car shopping wasn't enough this week I threw my back out. I have NEVER, EVER been in so much pain before in my life. I wanted to D-I-E!! Thank heavens for good friends and family that are there in a moments notice to help you out. If it wasn't for them I may be still lying on Cindy's bathroom floor in excruciating pain. I also have to say how grateful I am for priesthood blessings. I don't think I would have survived the night with out it. I could hardly move with out the wind being knocked out of me and at one point while Jason was helping me to stand I was so close to passing out because of the pain. I'm so glad that there is a Heavenly Father who will show mercy on you when you are in dire need of help. I also have to praise the chiropractor that I got to see twice in one day to fix my back. Who knew pinching your sciatic nerve would hurt so flipping much?! I am feeling 75% better as of right now. I'm hoping that by the end of tomorrow I can be at 100% again. I have too much to do to be laid up feeling sorry for myself. All in all it's been an eventful week and I'm glad to be able to start a new, less hot (because we have a/c now), and less painful week!

Blake at 7 months

Blake has grown so much. Last month was a busy one for this little guy. He's going to kill me for one of these pictures when he's older I know it!! Ha! I couldn't help but put one of Karlee's bows in his hair. Isn't he adorable?!

 I love the look on his face. It's like "Are you kidding me Mom?" LOL

Blake also learned how to hold his own bottle for feeding time. What a time saver this has been! I'm sure all you mom's out there know what I'm talking about.

 Blake also got blessed the first Sunday in June. Sadly, this is the only picture I have from that day. He was handsome and Jason gave such a beautiful blessing.

 Blake turned 8 months old on the 16th of June and shortly after that got a sweet helmet. He has a flat spot on the back of his head so he gets to wear this bad boy for 3-4 months to round out his head. He doesn't mind the helmet at all and I'm certain he knows how cute he is in it! This picture is without the stickers we had made for it. My mom called him her Gnomeo. Cute!

 And here he is all decked out! He want's to play football when he grows up! Ha ha ha! 

 Go Pirates!