And Another Year Goes By.

So it's what? The 28th of August now? Yeah, that's right. I had to check because I haven't been at work in over two months and keeping track of the date is not much of a priority. I guess I'll have to get used to it soon, though, seeing as I go back to work in nine days. Surprisingly, I have few complaints about it. Colt is sleeping through the night, pretty much, so the only thing I have left to worry about is pumping enough milk to get his dad through the first few days. Luckily, since I return to work on a Tuesday, I will only have to work three days in my first week back, unless there is overtime available (and from what I hear about unusually high volumes thanks to the stock market roller coaster as of late, there should be). All in all, I'm glad I've had the time off, but I'm ready to go back.

I'm not that bummed about going back to work, but I am bummed that the summer is ending with an unfortunate double whammy: the pool shuts down next weekend too. I haven't even taken the Baby Boy down there yet :( I'm going to try to get that done this week. He really likes his bathtime, so I think the pool will be fun for him. And for me. But for him more because he needs the distraction. So far walks and the nightly bath will distract him from his fussiness, but that's all we got so far. We'll have to find a pool to go to during the winter. The one at the rec center up the street will probably do fine. It's close enough to walk to at least until it gets really cold.

I'm getting distracted. It happens often these days, and it's mostly due to the fact that my baby boy is so freaking cute that his dad and I will spend hours just watching him, awake or asleep. Just thinking about him, sleeping soundly away for probably not too much longer, gets me distracted. I want to post pictures from my birthday. I'd better do it before he wakes up!

So, usually the Famdamly gathers at Bear Lake around my birthday (and by that I mean I insist that we go with the boat and the rest of them agree because Bear Lake is AMAZING), but this year it was decided that boating with a 6 week old baby was probably not the best idea. Honestly, I was okay with the idea, but that's mostly just because I am still naive about the process it is to take a 6 week old baby anywhere further than down the stairs and into the stroller for our nightly walk.

We ended up picnicking at the park down the street from my house, which was excellent. KFC and 10,000 Tacos to Go from up the street and we were in business. The picture taking commenced once the Baby Boy decided he was going to be fussy and Grandpa volunteered to remedy the situation with a walk around the playground in the stroller:Of course Chris and Tank had to go with him, and Chris may or may not be a total ham. And I may or may not have taken several pictures of Grandpa pushing the stroller, partly because Grandma kept asking if I had a picture and also because it has been a VERY long while since we last saw Grandpa pushing a stroller...There he is again! Actually, come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever seen my dad push a stroller. No wonder Grandma wanted pictures. I'd say he's got this Grandpa thing down pretty well.

All of my siblings save one were able to make it down, and it seems that all of us now have significant others, thanks to Geoff's new flame, Heather. Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of them, and Geoff told me they weren't an item, but from the looks of it that would appear to be a lie. She's a cutie, though, and I hope she sticks around for a while. This is pretty much the only picture of Geoff's face that I managed to get.

In case you can't tell, I now have two bearded brothers. Geoff had no qualms admitting that he's copying his older brother's style, but thanks to the honor code at BYU-I, he's probably already shaved it off. And speaking of bearded men, here's mine!
So relaxed, I'd swear he was taking a nap. If only he'd had this kind of help from my nephie poo:
Aunt Shnookie probably got herself into that mess. But it's okay because she repaid the favor with this back-straightening maneuver:It must have worked because this little guy is relaxed!


Of course it is worth mentioning that the newlyweds are as happy as can be. Aren't they cute?
Mostly my sister is just gorgeous.

All in all, turning 26 was not that big of a deal to me. Last year I was determined to party it up for the official passing of my youth as I moved from 24 to 25, but this year I was not so concerned about moving into the dreaded "almost 30" age-range. I'm just grateful that my family was willing to come hang out with me. And as an added bonus, I walked away with a Belgian waffle maker. I call that a success!