rewind.

lets just pretend that i am not over a whole entire month behind on posting. then lets pretend that we are back to fourth of july weekend. alright, are we all on the same page? great.

we started off the weekend right by attending our annual block party {think street shut down, bouncee houses, meat grillin & loads of fireworks}.

then we joined our friends the christensens & the rest of the zoobies & hipsters in provo at the rooftop concert featuring 'beatles' covers.

saturday night the festivities continued when aaron's family joined us on our front lawn to watch fireworks from the stadium of fire and set off a few of our own.

mimi strawn flew in sunday and celebrated the official holiday with us. after my dedicated husband stayed up until four in the morning saving our prime spot we watched the parade just a few blocks from our home and ate scones with our fellow ward members.

the holiday was fabulous and i could not be more grateful that it lasted all. weekend. long.

of my own heart.

after a long day of driving to and from salt lake during rush hour on a friday night for absolutely no reason, my dear four month old was, spent. after pulling off of the freeway twice to soothe said dear four month old and getting back on the freeway only to listen to more of my sweet screaming baby i finally got the notion to turn on music. as soon as the piano keys from 'the fray's album filled the speakers said unconsolable baby calmed and was soon snoring in the back seat. at that moment, at that very moment i knew that the crying baby in the back was mine. more than that, i knew that he was ours-aaron and mine.

i see so much of me in him when i look at him and when i hear his laugh and watch him sleep peacefully i see aaron. as each day passes and our little nuggets' personality blossoms and in turn i get to know him better i feel more and more like he is really my little boy. aaron makes us both laugh, he is ticklish in the same spots as his dad, he sleeps on his side just like aaron and i do, he loves the outdoors and calms down when we are exploring and socializing just like his dad, he is wide-eyed and loves the world and most of all appreciates music . . . just like his daddy and i do.

ode to roe.

dearest bebe roe,

you make me smile every, single day. morning arrives around 7am these days and some mornings i just look up at the ceiling, not ready for the day begin. still drowsy, i make my way to your room and then . . . i see you. you recognize your daddy and i now and each morning i am reminded of what an incredible miracle you are in my life. regardless of how much sleep i got the night before every morning is a little treasure i hold dear. you smile so big. we tell you we love you and shower you with kisses and you smile even bigger. while we hold you in bed with us, you eat up the attention from both parents at once and you coo with sublime happiness. i ask you how you slept and daddy asks about your sweet dreams and most of the time you look up at us with your fist in your mouth, but some mornings you tell us all about your previous night. some mornings we will play music for you and you sit captivated and wide-eyed. mornings are blissful.

july 2nd, you laughed for the first time. it was the most incredible experience, proving yet again what an amazing and vibrant little miracle you have become in our lives. we were at the zoo, it was a hot day and you had tolerated well as we dragged you around to see things you still have yet to gain an appreciation for. daddy had already changed two big blow-outs in a patch of grass in the shade by the monkeys and we were preparing to change the third. he gathered the necessities while i held you trying to keep you entertained while you fought sleep with all your might. i started bouncing you up and down and . . . you laughed. of course the world stopped in that moment and both your daddy and i looked on giggling and cooing with you. video documentation was made and has since been shared with everyone we come in contact with because we are just boastful, proud parents like that. you have laughed a handful of times since and you are ticklish on your back ribs right under your armpit {how specific is that?!}. which, if you are tired enough and we tickle in just the right way will trigger laughter as well.

four months means more shots and more milestones, but this month you weighed in at 17lbs. 12oz. i am so glad that my milk is doing you some good!

you have gotten so good at tummy time and your daddy and i could not be prouder. you hold your head up so well {which is really a miracle in and of itself, seeing as your head spans the width of your shoulders and is in the 90%} and your little arms have gained the strength to support your shoulders as well. i lay on my tummy with you and just tell you how well you are doing and how proud i am of your accomplishment. you just smile a shy, toothless grin at me and i can tell you are proud of yourself as well.

we introduced you to the bumbo chair and an exersaucer and you seem to like the independence for a short while and then you realize that either your legs are squished into the bumbo or you feel stuck in the exersaucer and you yelp for assistance. you enjoy yourself most, laying on your back, kicking your legs, flailing your arms, reaching for anything near you and rolling from side to side. gone are the days when we can leave you on the couch and run and grab your diaper supplies. you are squirming constantly and anything that is within your reach subsequently goes to right to your mouth. in fact, you have learned to pull out your binki and return your binki from your mouth. obviously your daddy and i are agreed that you are the smartest baby to ever grace this planet.

more than anything, you enjoy being outside. just yesterday evening you laid on your back on a blanket outside and chatted with the clouds, trees and birds above you about their beauty. you love taking walks in the stroller or attached to the front of your dad or i and you calm down immediately as we step out the front door of our home. grammy visited last week and you sat on her lap and watched with bright eyes while the rain came down heavy on the windows, the thunder rumbled in the mountains and the lightning crackled bright in our living room. you enjoy going to the pool, no so much because you love the water, but because there is so much to take in around you. your head turns when kids scream at the pool and your eyes follow cars and motorcycles as they whiz by while we are on walks.

we got off of your schedule for awhile there, after returning from the oldham houseboat on lake powell, but you are back on track. after a few tortured evenings of allowing you to cry, you have learned to sleep in your crib both for naps during the day and bedtime at night. you have also discovered how you are most comfortable sleeping and you soothe yourself by sleeping on your side. of course i think that is the most darling thing and send your daddy pictures of you sleeping on your side at least twice during the day.

you have acquired quite a few nicknames and go by roe, rodeo, baby roe, son, nugget, buddy and punk, to name a few.

roe, we love you. we are proud to call you ours. there are days that daddy and i turn to each other and question what we did to deserve such a darling and cooperative baby. regardless, we thank our heavenly father daily for sending you to our family and for blessing you with all the smarts and chubby cuteness a baby could posses. you have become our entire world and my full time job and we could not be happier.

muah - mommy & daddy

*knitted afghan, compliments of grammy! <3

million reasons.

there are beyond a million reasons why i love my husband, but one of the most incredible things about my husband is that he is a rock star. not in the stereotypical 'girl screaming-fan chanting-head banging-drugged out-long haired-tattooed-sunglass wearing' way, but in the 'anything he puts his hands on he understands and makes beautiful' way.

lake powell is a great time to chill out, throw caution to the wind and sing at the top of your lungs. thus, husband learned 'nobody' by johnny cash.

neglect.

i have neglected the blog and in turn have failed to post our lake powell trip, bebe roe rolling over, fourth of july weekend celebrations, grammy's visit from portland and bebe roe hitting the fourth month milestone. ah well, all in good time.

for now, a few shots of me and rodeo in lake powell.

family stroll

aaron and a took the bebe on a stroll up to bridal veil falls the other evening. it was a fabulous & relaxing evening ever reiterating what a beautiful place we live in.

{nevermind the fact that we had a little excitement on the way home, plowing over a deer who left our car majorly jacked!}

some days.

there are days, like today {when you drive almost all the way to the pool and then realize you left your munchkins swim suit at home, mostly because you got five hours of sleep that night}, when i feel like this.

thank you oliver ross for helping us all express our emotions - i love you more than you know.

jowels.

need i say more.

chilly waters.

in true form, we applied our sunscreen. obviously, bebe is not quite sure about this one.

then proceeded to get on our gear. still . . . unsure.

and then went for a little dive. as if the frigid water was not enough of an adjustment?! bebe was quite a trooper.

monumental.

today, roe said "hi".

three times in a row.

he was sitting on my tummy this morning while we still lay in bed and i said, "say hi to daddy!" and he turned to aaron and said, "hi". did i mention he did that three times un a row? i dont care what you say, i am raising a boy genius.

oh aaaaand he rolled over. all by himself. of course aaron was going to the bathroom and i ran to get his jammers and lo and behold we arrived in the living room to a baby on his tummy. and of course we tortured the poor child trying to get him to do it all again, so we could capture it on camera, to the point of tears {on his part}. no luck.

for the record though this kid brings us more and more joy each and every passing day <3

we're baaack.

this last week we spent in lake powell on the oldham family house boat. over the next week i aim to tell our little story through the zillion pictures that i shot.

the nights were rough . . . as always though, the nugget was quite a champ.

padre.

i always pictured in my mind what aaron would be like as a father, but i never imagined how fantastic it really would be. from the first moments that aaron talked me through what baby roe was experiencing from across the delivery room as he stood by his side and shot pictures of those first precious moments, i fell further in love with him and felt so assured that he would always care for and love our son unconditionally all the while letting me know that he loved me first. he has struck a perfect balance between being a fabulous father and the perfect husband that i have known for years now.

i am so proud to call him my husband and child-raising-counterpart.

as of late.

today marks the third month that our buddy roe came into this world and made our family complete. it feels like ages ago that he arrived because i can vaguely remember life without him. although errands take ten times longer and our house is constantly in disarray i can say that i have more joy in my life than ever before.

to: roe-deo

three months has whizzed by, but you have accomplished so much during that time. you are sleeping through the night in your own crib and in your own room. the first night that we left you in there all alone i about had a panic attack that someone was going to come in the back door and steal you and so, needless to say, i didn't get much sleep, but you were {obviously} wonderful. now when you wake up around 6am when your daddy or i come to get you, you are so excited to see us and give us the biggest grin and start wiggling your little body in your burrito sack {which you will not sleep without!}. as soon as we let you out of the little straight jacket to feed you, you stretch your little arms and legs so tall and then sigh with the relief of a good nights sleep.

you have always had an affinity for sucking on your hands and i am sure that one of these days you will figure out how to suck your thumb because that affinity has not passed. at times you will even gag yourself trying to stick all of your fingers in your mouth. you have gained more control over your hands and your arms and can now pull down the toys we have hanging from your play mat {a lesson you learned while i was doing dishes, only to come in the room to a fussy baby because you had hit yourself in the face - boo}.

you are so talkative these days. we have full conversations and at times it feels like you know what we are talking to you about. when you are not blowing bubbles with your lips or spitting, you are trying the tricks that dad taught you with your tongue and making tons of noises. i laid you down for a nap the other day and you just laid in your bed staring up at the ceiling laughing, talking and cooing to yourself. i like to think little angels were there hanging out with you.

you are sitting up so much better now - we are sorry you inherited an enormous head, but you are not letting that hold you back from the adventures that you want to have. in fact just today you actually enjoyed tummy time and i laid on my tummy with you and cheered you on. i think you felt proud of yourself.

you LOVE being outside. dad's new trick for getting you to fall asleep is to take you out on a stroller ride, to which he has calculated, you fall asleep after two blocks. you love the wind in your face and although it takes your breath away {literally} you seem to want more. there are so many colors and sounds around us, now that it is finally spring/summer, and we can just see you soaking it all up with your big blue eyes.

you want to be apart of everything and you are a very social baby. you are at your happiest when you are laying on your back and both your daddy and i are talking and playing with you. we could not ask for more. you are such a fun, cheerful and happy baby. we really got lucky with you buddy.

love: mommy

bebe

roe is no longer fitting into his 0-3 month clothes, so until we buy new clothes . . .

gag reflex.

sorry for all the sappy posts. for the record aaron and i are not in a fight, nor were we during the previous post. also, our kid is the cutest. okay, im glad we got that all cleared up.

undeserving.

let me introduce you. to my husband.

many of you know him as the funny, talkative, jovial, cheese-finger-licking man that he is, but i know a person of much more depth than that. he is a man of his word and will pull through for anyone, whatever sacrifice that may be on his part. he is a wonderful friend and thinks constantly about those he cares for. he is a dedicated and loyal son and brother and would quite literally give his right arm for a family member that needed it. he gives everyone the benefit of the doubt and holds no grudges or judgements against anyone. he is determined and he accomplishes all that he sets his mind to. he is a talented plumber, carpenter, electrician, drummer, singer, guitarist, stand-up comedian, gardener, cowboy, painter, cartoonist. he is a beyond fabulous father and tends to carefully and lovingly for our little one. he is the perfect husband and caters to my every whim and puts my happiness at the top of his priority list. he is my everything.

today i am feeling very undeserving. first, i am feeling that my dear husband in no way shape or form deserved the chiding that i handed him over the phone. and second, i am feeling that i do not deserve the patience that he exerts with me and my daily outbursts.

i love you boo. i do, i do, i do.

m is for monroe.

these days we {otherwise, roe} spend our days kicking our legs, sucking on our bottom lip, sticking our tongue out, blowing bubbles with our spit and mowing down on our hands. life is good.