a proud mama of this little boy.

I'm a proud of Nate for two reasons:

[1]

For two months now we've been pull-up free during naps and bedtime with no accidents. He wakes up with alot of liquid in that little bladder of his but he manages to keep it inside all night.

[2]

He got rid of his own binky. I know, a little pathetic we couldn't get rid of it until now [he's only had it at night since he was 18 months] but for months we've been telling Nate two things:

a). 3 year olds don't have binkys.

b). you can finally play with Woody who has been sitting up high on a shelf AND you can pick a toy when you throw it away.

He talked of throwing away his binky . . . but then followed it up with going to buy another one at the store. I didn't really believe he'd get rid of it on his own.

But then - he did.

A few days before he turned 3 he walked downstairs one morning and told Wes it was in the garbage can. The garbage man was coming that morning so Wes went and emptied the garbage can and they said a final goodbye to the blue binky.

And he hasn't asked for it since.

I guess he was ready to be a big boy.

someone turned 3 yesterday.

Our Naters is [3]. Holy moly.

It's crazy to think 3 years ago we were snuggling with this little thing.



[1]


[2]


[3]


Nate woke up on his 3rd birthday to a few presents from mom and dad. One of which is a little thing called a Wiggler. My Aunt Tina and cousin Jen introduced them to him while we were in Utah and he loved them so we picked up a few while we were there. Since our house is full of tile I let him ride it around inside yesterday and the kid is in absolute heaven. And it made for an easy day on my end, too!

Nate's birthday party is next week so I asked him what he wanted to do on his birthday and he decided on Chuckee Cheese. He's only been there once but apparently it was cool enough to pick to do again.

So off we went to Chuckee Cheese with Aunt Sam and a few friends. He had a great birthday morning there playing endless games and riding little rides. And Sam and I even got to re-live our Pistol Pete's days with a little skeeball. Luckily Aunt Sam was there to win us lots of tickets. We finished off the morning with a little In-n-Out.







He finished off the day swimming with dad.

He had a great [3rd] birthday. Thanks for all of the phone calls - even if he didn't talk to you he had a big smile on his face when yet another person thought of him on his birthday!

is it the intersection or the brand of vehicle that's just bad luck this month?

A few weeks ago Sam's Toyota Highlander just stopped working while she was driving through the Eastern & Serene intersection. Turns out she needed a new alternator.

Today me and the boys got stuck at the 7-eleven at the intersection of Eastern & Serene in our Toyota 4Runner. I stopped to get gas and then my car wouldn't start again. So out-of-the-car we went in to 100+ weather to wait for someone to rescue us.

That someone was Sam. She was my hero today. Luckily she was available because my dad was in a meeting. Wes was 40 minutes away. And Tripp, Ali & my mom are out of town.

At first we thought it was the alternator because my car was doing the exact same thing Sam's car was doing a few weeks ago. But then I decided it could be the battery even though everything else was turning on so we opted to jump the car before we had it towed. And it worked. Hallelujah.

Now to make this story complete - you must envision two Marz girls doing all of this with two little kids in really hot weather. Sam and I have never jumped a car without someone there who actually knew what they were doing but with Wes on the phone we figured it out. The entire time I was waiting for a nice man to show up to get gas in his car and come rescue us - but alas, that never happened.

So an hour and a half after I got to the gas station - I headed home.

Thanks Sam for your help today. You really were our hero.

you know you live in the desert when . . .

It's 6:00pm and you say . . .

"it's only 98 degrees outside! Lets go for a walk!"

And your walk is actually enjoyable at 98 degrees. Anything under 100 is fabulous these days.

our little swimmer

We've got ourselves a fish and his name is Nate.

{this video was of him at the beginning . . . he got a lot better as Wes was helping him!}

Ever since last summer he's been a great little swimmer with his lifejacket on. He gets himself all around the pool, he goes down the slide, jumps in, etc. He's never had a fear of going under, etc.

This summer, every time we swim we take his life jacket off at the end and have him swim around and kick just to get the feel of life in the water without a jacket. By no means did we expect him to start swimming. He got a little better every week - a little more daring - but he still sank as soon as you let go.

Wes started really working with him last week and while he was out of town this week my dad came over one night to take Nate swimming and I hear a call from the pool for me to come watch. Nate was swimming! He made it a 1/3 of the way down the pool swimming by himself! He even jumped in the pool, swam to the top of the water, and made his way to the side.

Lets just say I was one proud mama. And he's one proud little boy.

And every time we swim he gets a little better. I've been a slacker with swim lessons this summer so now I'm really glad a swim teacher is coming to our house next week to work with him!

nate's adventures

I love having conversations with Nate.

He kept calling all of our Salt Lake outings adventures.

So this week I told him we were going on another adventure.

We get in the car and we're driving and he asks where we are going. I tell him Target & Costco. He says in a very annoyed tone. . .

"moooommm, that is not an adventure. Those are stores."

an SLC adventure

We recently had our annual weekend with the Andrus Family in SLC for the 24th of July. Oh, we miss having them around the corner.

PART 1 of our SLC ADVENTURE:

The boys and I flew up a few days early with my dad to see my Grandma Florence {my mom's mom} who isn't doing all that well. I send her pictures regularly of the boys and she's been dying to see them in person so I wanted to make that happen for her. We spent some time at her house on Wednesday and Thursday and she loved it. Nate was shy at first but by the end was giving her hugs and telling her he loved her.



The boys and I also managed to take a mini-tour of Utah {that's what it felt like, at least!} to see some family and friends that we don't get to see very often. Nate absolutely loved playing with endless kiddos . . .

Nate & Zack Brown (my cousin Shannon's little boy). They were instant buds.



Nate and his good buddy, Seth who recently moved to Pleasant Grove a few months ago. We met him at the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.



We met up with my Aunt Tina and cousin Jen at Jen's beautiful home in Kaysville. There were around 10 cousins to play with - 4 of which were three year olds. They had fun!

The boys were TROOPERS on our driving adventures!

Part 2 of our SLC Adventure: The Andrus Family

We picked Wes up from the airport on Thursday evening and that began our time with Ryan, Leslie and their kiddos Millie & Tyler. We all had a great time but it was especially nice to have Millie & Nate play so well together. They both asked for each other constantly and overall had a blast together.

While we were there - Millie & Nate got to go to Wheeler Farm. We went to a Splash Park. Played at the parks around their house. In their little pool in the backyard. Ate yummy food. Talked alot. Ryan & Wes played a round of golf at Thanksgiving Point. Leslie and I had an afternoon at Gardner Village doing some shopping. Played a round of Rook. Watched a few movies. Fireworks for the 24th of July. Rode scooters. We had fun.

Wheeler Farm

Nate introduced Millie to a little Fraggle Rock.

Watching Fireworks

Having fun outside. Speaking of being outside - I love Utah summers. They are perfect. It was so nice to be able to be outside without literally feeling like you are in an oven. And the nights were actually cool instead of remaining at 100 degrees. I need to win the lottery to have a summer home there.

It won't be long before these two are buds.

Little Tyler struggled the entire weekend we were there. Poor guy just cried and cried. Turns out he had a double-ear infection! I know Ryan & Les were glad there was an excuse for his behavior because he was giving them a run-for-their-money! Hopefully he feels better soon.

Thanks Andrus Family for letting us stay with you and visit! We always enjoy seeing you. Escape the cold this winter and come our way.

our little family: July 2010