Evacuated from Girl's Camp.

I went to Girl's Camp this week and left my baby for the first time overnight. I totally thought I would be a wreck while I was gone, but surprisingly, it was no big deal. Leo's mom came down and stayed at our house Tuesday & Wednesday and I think they probably just partied it up while I was gone. When I finally got in the car to come home, I got teary eyed and was ready to hold him, though.

I left Tuesday morning around 8. We were camping in tents up in the mountains. There have been several forest fires in the last week or 2 and so we knew there was a possibility of getting evacuated. Well, we did. On Wednesday morning, we received notice that a nearby fire was getting close and winds were predicted to change so our sweet girls had to pack everything back up and finish out the week in the Stake center.

It was quite the experience. There was never any real danger, but we could see huge amounts of smoke coming over the mountain and by Thursday, the smoke had made it to Provo. Yesterday, Jackson tried to play outside but the smoke made my eyes burn.

I think the funniest part was the fact that we had 150 girls to relocate and since they drove up on buses to girls camp, we had a tricky time figuring out how to get them out of there. They finally got buses to come but it's a 90 minute drive, so it was a lot of waiting. Local sheriffs said we had to get them out of the canyon and down to the nearby state park to wait for the buses. Since most of the leaders' cars were full to the brim with camping gear, we only had our front seats open. So literally, we had to shove 2-3 girls in the front seat and drive 15 minutes north, drop them off, then drive 15 minutes back and pick up a few more girls. It was pretty funny.

Goodness, though, I love girl's camp. I do wish we could've stayed in the mountains because it was just beautiful. I'm so impressed with these teenage ladies that are amazing. They really are good examples to me.

Of course, I don't have pictures. I didn't take up my ghetto camera because I knew there would be lots of people taking pictures. If I get a hold of any of them, I'll put them on here. Our ward's color was orange and we got these gorgeous neon orange construction vests and bandanas to wear. Strangers actually came up to us during the evacuation, thinking we were official... Good times.

Too much free time.

 Jackson is the ultimate snuggler. If you knew how much time we snuggled and watched TV, you would probably judge me. But... it's one of my favorite things to do. And I figure, since we also go to parks, go swimming, go for walks, read books, play outside, color with markers (my carpet regrets that I let this happen), build towers of blocks, and laugh all day long, it balances itself out.

Here's proof of our snuggling. No, I don't have on makeup and yes, I apparently thought the closed-mouth smile was a good choice. (P.S. Leo's concerned Jackson has a lazy eye. I said "No, he looks more cross eyed." We're good parents.)

I thought you might appreciate some bloopers.

 This one has a nice glimpse of his jacked up teeth. 

Annnnd because I'm actually a 5 year old, I thought it was funny to take a picture of my knee crack. No, really though. I laughed so hard when it pulled up on my computer.

Bubba boy

He looooves cream cheese. 

  

I used to make fun of overalls so much. But, these are absolutely adorable.

He's actually miserable right now. Teething and a yucky cold. Possibly related? I don't know. But he's just following me around, yelling at me and clinging to my leg. 

So many crumbs in my life.

I feel like there's always a layer of crumbs on my feet. Like always. We have "hardwood" floors downstairs and we did have a big rug in our front room but it was looking severely stained and not the original color, so we threw it out awhile ago. I did like having it because it was softer for all of Jackson's bonks, but he's steadier now. Plus I'm pretty sure the germs from the rug would hurt him more.

But now, it's like all I do is walk on crumbs. I honestly sweep my entire downstairs (my house is small, so it takes 2 minutes), at least twice a day. I've also been lysol-wiping the main traffic areas almost every day. And yet, here I am with crumby feet.

Yesterday, I was trying to cook dinner with Jackson on my hip and I stepped on a leftover potato from lunch, all mushy and in between my toes. Then last night, I sit down at our table and what is waiting for me, but an old banana from that morning's breakfast. Again, all mushy and in between my toes.

What's the moral of the story? Whitney, put on socks or slippers. Jackson, sit in your high chair. 

But then, he makes this face and I think, you can do whatever you want. You're perfect. Go ahead, have a chocolate chip cookie for breakfast. You don't want to wear clothes? Well, of course. You never have to wear clothes again.

 Father's Day matching ties. Yes, my boys are adorable.

My baby is so fun right now.

Jackson is such a doll lately.

It's been a good month of happy boy time and I'm loving it.

He loves to just play by himself with his cars or blocks or if daddy's home, they're playing trains together. Leo's taught him to gently push the cars on the track and push them down the bridge to go fast. He's got it figured out, which I thought for sure he couldn't do for another couple months. He's also started stacking blocks really well.

We have a book that has different animals that open up (kind of like a pop up book). Anyway, he ripped the lion head out and he carries it around "roaring". Adorable. I've been trying to teach him monkey noises too.

He still looooves to snuggle on my lap and watch cartoons. And he looooves watching Leo or I play Wii. Especially Mario.

He think he's funny when he puts my sunglasses on his head and a couple days ago, he kept putting one of Leo's hats on his head and walking around. If only I could get him to wear his hat outside...

Yesterday he started getting mad when I would try to hold his hand when he walked. He's getting so much faster and more coordinated.

He's figured out how to walk in circles and 2 nights ago, he kept doing it and he got dizzy and fell all the way down and then just laid there.

He also started getting in the somersault position and then bouncing his bum. Seriously, I just giggle at him all day long.

I'm loving this warm weather and being able to do so many fun things with him now. I really am so glad to be a stay at home mom.

Feel the burn.

My back got burned so badly today. I keep making my husband lotion me so I don't peel. We'll see if it works.

I also have some super fun chafing on my inner thighs from some new swim shorts I wore today. (It stressed Leo out that I used the word chafing on my blog.)

Jackson's sleep schedule is weird ever since I weaned him, so I've got to get creative with jogging. I'm still doing 30 day shred, but 20 minutes doesn't feel like I'm burning enough calories.

I'm trying to stay motivated though.