The Pollard Place: August: Firsts

August was a great month, full of big adjustments and excitement! It has been fun to have all four of us at home now, and every once in a while I just look around at all of them and feel so grateful and blessed. We feel a lot more complete now with Adeline here, in a way I never expected. It's like this tiny part of my heart has been reserved for her to come and join us.

We had our first day at church! It was fun to get her in a dress and head off to church all four of us. It was also a lot busier; she kept grunting and making weird sounds in her car seat haha. A lot of our friends came up to see her and tell us how beautiful she is!

So for a while, we have been thinking about leaving Washington. It was never the long term plan to stay there, but we kind of settled into a nice groove. A few things kept running through our minds though: Rusty didn't like his job, we were far from family, and the last winter's rain almost killed us. So we started getting serious about looking for somewhere else to go. Rusty got offered a job in Oahu, but we decided to pass (SUCH A HARD DECISION!). Later, he reached out to a friend in real estate and got offered the most incredible job. So then we started looking for a place to buy-hopefully a rehab. Well, we found one, or rather Kyle did for us. There was a duplex in Orem about ten minutes away from Rusty's work. We finally decided to make the plunge and put an offer on the house and accept the job. While Rusty was on the phone finalizing things we were at Lighthouse Park and then we went over to Ivar's to get an ice cream to celebrate.

Two kids in the backseat

Then we went home and toasted with sparkling cider to our new adventure!

Now we kind of switched into a whole different gear. We had felt like we missed out on summer activities a little bit from me being so pregnant or having a brand new baby, and now we also knew that we only had a couple of months left to do everything we wanted to before leaving Seattle. One of the things we did was go to a baseball game for the AquaSox. It was so much fun! The Hudsons went and met us there and Henry and Bennett had the best time ever just running around the bleachers. For some reason, Henry was completely in love with the weird frog mascot. He kept asking to go see him again haha.

Another night we went and had s'mores on the beach with the Thompsons. This is one of my favorite summer activities, and it was just perfect. I love being down by the water and having a fire. We had to work pretty hard to keep Della in the shade haha, but it was a win for sure!

We also had a fun day at the lake! We took the whole gang (including Bailey!) down to Lundeen Park, which is where we were when I went into labor with Adeline. It was cool to bring her back there in my arms instead of my tummy. Henry had a blast out swimming and got a little bit braver with kicking his legs, and Bailey was not thrilled. She would stand on this log and just pout about being out there haha.

I got to have some fun girls nights! One night we went out with the ward Relief Society and we went boating, tubing, and paddle boarding on the lake. It was SO much fun. Amber and I rode on the weiner tube and I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long time hahaha. Also, I went tubing with Megan and Heidi and it so hilarious. I even tried to do some yoga on the paddle board after laughing at the dog riding her's ha! It was great. Then the next week I had some friends over for a girls paint night! Turns out, none of us are any good. But we sure had a blast trying and eating haha. And Analu's caterpillars stole the show for sure.

Before we knew it, it was Rusty's birthday again! Man how is the time going so fast? He turned 32!! Good thing he is the best, kindest, most attractive 32 year old I've ever seen. It got a little rushed because we were packing and doing so much to get the house ready to sell and to buy the other house, but we had a nice dinner at home with oreos and a turtle cheesecake to celebrate. How I love this man!

The original and the remix

Henry made this for Daddy's birthday. He just kept saying (for days after) "Happy Birthday to you Daddy!" One day, I asked if I could have a bite of his toast and he said, "No way Mommy." Then I told him that made me sad and he said, "Happy birthday to you Mommy, you can have toast" haha.

We also fit in some other fun summer things like looking at clouds, playing at splash pads, and visiting the fish at the library! Summer is such a fun time, and I love doing these things with my babies now! We even met the Hudsons down at the lake for a picnic and to take the canoe/kayaks out on the water.

H was so scared to go down this slide, but he eventually did it and loved it so much he did it a million times!

One night instead of going to the gym we decided to go to a fun park and I ran around the track a few times! It was so nice to be outside and have fun with everyone. Henry insisted on following me on my run, and doing some of my ab workouts with me haha. He is so fun! Adeline chilled in the stroller with Daddy.

My sweet nephew Braxton was in a terrible accident last month, just a few days after we saw them. He was working on a lawn mower with Josiah and it exploded somehow, burning just under 50% of his body. He is working so hard on recovering and being strong, so we decided to make these shirts so that could remember to be brave like him!

Henry's Highlights

He has started to feel a little bit left out with us talking about the move so much, so he will say to me "No talk Daddy, talk Hehy".
When he eats something he likes he says, "mmm. So good!"
Good brother. He always gets her a binkie. When we went to the doctor and Della got her shots, he yelled "Don't touch Della!" Later when Della wasn't feeling well he brought her a blanket and said, "Feel better Della."

He wanted to do tummy time with her

She's got dirt all over her chair and face because Henry thought she wanted her binkie while he was playing outside in the dirt haha.

Any time he sees an airplane he grabs his toy airplane and flies it while chasing after the real one.
He is a BUSY boy. He is constantly getting into things, and I am learning that if I am busy with Della for a few seconds, that is enough time for him to make a huge mess.

Yogurt for breakfast

I heard some rustling from the pantry and came over to see these marshmallows being shoved into that smiling mouth

His favorite show is Little Einsteins. He sings along with parts of the opening song and does the actions like buckling seatbelt, patting your lap, and raising your arms.
Henry has become quite social and asks to play with "other kids" or his "frenz".
He still loves to copy us! A favorite is working with Daddy out in the garage

He loves to count and can count to 10 (sometimes 15) on his own and 20 with help. When he sees two things he always says, "One two bananas!"
I had some chocolate on my face and Henry was sitting on my lap. As soon as he saw it, his eyes focused in on it and he just started licking my face haha!
He had a dentist appointment, and he did SO good!

Adeline

First smiles: Aug 10. She smiles so big that her eyes (especially her right one) squish up and she gets on dimple on her left cheek.

She has blue eyes!

To get her to smile the most, you move her arms really fast!
Her favorite song is Row, Row Row Your Boat.
She is the queen of expressions. She makes so many different faces!

She is happiest being held or on her changing table
Adeline likes her bath! She calms down right away

She grunts a lot, and it is so loud! I wake up to that sound not crying when she's hungry haha
Adeline smiles A LOT!

A lot of the time when she cries, once you give her whatever she wanted (food, pick her up) she will stop crying and then give you one final cry to let you know that she was unhappy haha.
She has the cutest/saddest little frown I've ever seen!

She has started to like her piano toy a lot.

She went on her first walk with us to a little playground close to our house!

One month old! She had her appointment and we also started to take her monthly pictures. This is something that I didn't do with Henry, but I thought it would be a good way to make sure that I am getting lots of pictures of the second kid. Turns out, I think I am getting plenty haha.