Every year, the Hadfield side of the family gets together to camp up Payson Canyon at the riding club's "cabin." We've gone up a few times, but usually just for an evening.  This year, however, we decided to break out our new tent for the first time and try camping with an almost (at the time) 9 month old.  And a dog.  But only for one night :)

Matt gave me until 10am Friday before he would start harassing me.  We left at 9:30am :) and the only thing I forgot was my pair of glasses for at night after my contacts are out. (I'm really quite blind :p)


It is always fun when we get to hang out with family.  Mostly, we hung out around camp and talked.  The kids played games and had some crafts.  Aside from being my first time camping in a tent in years, Henlie's first time camping (and her having sleeping struggles anyway), and just the logistics of camping more than one night, I'm really glad we just decided to go up Friday to Saturday.  That's when most everyone was there.


When we got there, the littles were blowing bubbles and the bigger littles were having adventures and making bugs (from water bottles, that is).  We broke out our tent and didn't find the instructions until it was halfway put together lol.  It went up pretty easily.  It's a really nice setup too (thanks, Mom!).  And big.  So big.  Matt was talking about laying it out beforehand to make sure all was well since we'd never used it....but it is 11' x 11' - almost the size of our living room :)  Needless to say, we fit both sleeping bags, a pack and play, our bags, and the dog kennel in with room to spare :)


One of the crafts was making boomerangs.  Later, we walked down to the clearing to watch people throw them.  Good times, but I was done walking anywhere outside of camp.  The hill back was less than fun :)




It's a good thing Henlie has an awesome cousin with fun outdoor toys.  We played with Charlie's rocking horse, slide, and bike while we were up there.



Mocha had a grand time as well.  She got to be off leash, and she had Paisley, Chloe, Sadie, and Sasha to play with.  Plus, who knows how many people feeding her who knows what? Spoiled pudgy puppy.



Later in the day, Henlie even got to ride a real horse (thanks Grandpa, Aunt Jen, and of course, Jewel!) and we sat and chatted (and ate oreos and pistachios lol) while some of the fam headed over to Payson Lakes.  Devan and Curtis played a game of horseshoes with their wives.  We watched, and Jennifer did Matt's hair :)  




Matt was sitting so still for so long that he ended up with a butterfly friend.  In fact, afterward, he got up and wandered over to the kitchen/patio area and still had the butterfly on his shirt.  We'd forgotten about the poor thing until it flew away when Matt tried to put his hand in his pocket. 





That evening, Grandpa Hadfield came up to enjoy time with the family, and dinner.  Friday was also Dad's birthday, so we sang and had cake for dessert.  As usual, we had family home evening as well.  Henlie didn't want to go to sleep, so she got to stay up for the fun and the lesson.  In fact, she still didn't want to go down after that.  It was a long night.




After dark, Mom gave the kids glow sticks to put in their bugs.  Henlie got one as well.  It doubled as a pretty sweet night light in our tent. 



I wasn't tired the first bit we got Henlie to sleep, so I stayed up reading.  And then she woke up.  She screamed for quite a bit of the night.  Fortunately, most everyone else was still up.  There was even a game of Capture the Flag going on right outside.  And then Keep Away - they had to institute a rule of no throwing between the tents.  Poor Ian apparently tripped over one of our ropes.  He pulled the anchor out of the ground he hit it so hard.
 

It was a pretty warm night for the most part.  When Henlie's skin finally felt cool (after waking who knows how many times), I stuck her in my sleeping bag.  She nursed in bed a little bit, but that is how we got the most sleep.  

We don't have pads or cots, so finding a comfy spot around rocks was a fun challenge.  It was more fun trying to find somewhere to put the baby where she might be comfortable, and then still trying to lay down next to her...



In the morning, I thought Henlie was waking, but she stayed asleep.  So I got up before her, and before most people.  We had hot cocoa and yummy pancakes for breakfast (and Mocha had so many pancakes).  Then we took down camp.  We left camp about 10am.  Successful trip. (And since then, we have purchased our own mallet and tent duster haha)

Sunday, August 11th, was our 6 year wedding anniversary.  Six years already lol  I think this was the lowest-key anniversary to date.  Friday, Matt took work off, so we got to hang out.  We went to AT&T and got new phones.  Our renewal time was around our anniversary, and we'd both cracked the screens on our phones, so this was our anniversary present.  More exciting was Matt okayed getting the newest phones. (Previously, we got what was highly discounted or free).  I got the Samsung Galaxy S 4 and Matt got the S 4 Active.  The Samsung representative was there showing off the active - like putting it in a bowl of water and taking pictures.  He also had the Galaxy camera - so cool!  Only downside was, in upgrading to 4G, we needed new SIM cards - so our contacts had to be re-added.  Small price to pay for awesomeness :)

Yep, that was pretty much it. Happy anniversary!





(I worked all day Saturday and had to work from home for a little bit on Sunday night.)






So, these phones - epic! LOVE my phone.  I went with the S 4 for the better camera.  My Infuse was starting to replace my actual camera anyway, so I know that's a key feature for me.  The processor on this phone is so quick! I was way giddy playing with the camera.

After stopping by the UVU library for Matt to take care of his note taking stuff (he took notes for someone with a disability - and they pay you for that...), we went to his parents' house to show off our new phones.  Matt's dad apparently also got a new phone, and he got . . . . . . . . an S 4 Active! lol  Dad's is blue, though.  Matt got black - so we'll be able to keep them straight ;)  They also had the missionaries over for dinner, so we stayed and had dinner and visited.

My baby girl is already 3/4 of a year old! My how time flies!  She definitely thinks she's old now, too.  This month has brought on our newest adventure - mobility!

It didn't take Henlie long to figure out this crawling business.  For the longest time, I thought she may be one who skipped crawling all together as she hated being on her stomach but loved holding onto fingers to stand and walk.  However, within a couple of days, she had it figured out.  July 16th, she had backwards motion down, but forwards was still elusive.  The next day, the 17th, she managed forward motion.  What was it that finally convinced her to go forward? A nasty bone the dog had lying on the floor. Yuck.  Since then, she has gotten more efficient and can go longer before needing a break.


My next surprise in her growing independence came only a few days later.  On July 20th, I left her playing contentedly surrounded by toys and a diaper box in her room (diaper boxes make great toys) while I took a shower.  When I got out, I checked on her, and she had pulled herself up with the diaper box, and managed to get around to the other side!  I didn't know she could do that yet :)



As for food, we have gotten a bit more lax about what she can try.  (Mini Nilla Wafers were a freaking life/sanity saver on our trip to St. George.)  Henlie also shares more off of our plates, depending on the food.  She is a really good eater for now.  She hasn't had an aversion to anything or refused anything since ham in a jar.  She has had small pieces of lunch meat ham, though, and done just fine.  Some things apparently weren't meant to be bottled :)  She can also feed herself finger foods (helpful with those Mini Nilla Wafers!)  She can pick up Cheerios and pieces of bread and get them in her mouth.  It's cute to watch :)  A lot of times, to ensure she gets the food part, she eats her fingers too.


Along with this food business, she has gotten to the distracted nursing stage.  She still nurses about as often as before (sometimes more when she's having a rough night), but not for as long.  This has killed my supply.  Pumping at work has always been a struggle, but now my morning pumping is just as bad most days.  Oh well.  Three more months and I won't mind if she gets most of her liquid elsewhere :)


This month, she also had the worst runny nose.  Matt thought maybe she was sick, but she acted fine except for the leaking of her face.  Sometimes she gets stuffy and wakes herself up from sleep from not being able to breathe well.  She hasn't really acted sick at all, so there must be some other cause.  For awhile, we thought it might be a tooth.  She plays with her lower gum just left of center, and Matt says there is a bump there, but it has been a week or two now, and no tooth has erupted yet.  I'm not entirely certain it is the cause of the runny nose.  Or that we can really call this "teething."  At her check-up, Dr. Fullmer didn't see any teeth yet, either.  He figures it is just a cold.  Fortunately, she's doing lots better now!


Mentioning sleeping, my good little sleeper has turned into an awful sleeper!  I try putting her to bed earlier, and she just wakes up an hour later.  That is, if she actually went to sleep.  Her sleeping patterns are all off.  I've been really lucky that she hasn't woken much at night for most of her life, but this month has been a struggle!  One night was particularly bad.  I'd just gotten home from work at like 11:30pm, and she woke up.  I nursed her and held her, and she finally went to sleep.  I fed the dog, and food hitting the metal bowl woke her again.  We nursed, and then she was done nursing, but not done screaming.  When I finally put her down, I couldn't leave or she would cry again.  I slept about an hour on her floor before she woke.  After that, I was able to make it to bed, and she woke once more at like 4:30am.  Then she was up her usual time between 7am and 8am.


Since Henlie's growth spurt last month, she has caught up in her clothes.  It's weird to me because I'm used to her being about two months behind (ie. wearing 3-6 month clothes when she's 7 and 8 months....)  She is in her 6-9 month clothes, and she's actually 9 months.  Crazy :)  Probably by next month, most of her 6-9 month clothes won't fit either.  In fact, in a few things, she's wearing 12 month clothes (which is expected come 9 months, but weird for my petite baby).  She has some shorts and a skirt that she can wear already that are 12 month.  I also bought her a pair of 12 month PJs, since all of her PJs are only supposed to be good through 9 months.  (Finding PJs I think are worth buying and that aren't, you know, Dora, is insanely ridiculous.  Especially when I am cheap and don't want to order from Carters lol.  This is why she only has one pair so far.  Even walmart.com doesn't have any 12 month in stock of styles/designs I'd buy her.)


She is doing great. Developmentally, she's on par with average 10 month olds (the detailed questionaire they gave us to fill out was designed for 10 month olds...)  She looked to me when Dr. Fullmer was listening to her heart and lungs, which is a good developmental sign.  Only downside to our visit (besides getting her ears checked...she didn't like that one bit) was they didn't have her vaccinations recorded from her 6 month visit.  She got them, though, so they were just going to record she got them all for us.  (Different nurse than usual last time....)  Aside from our monthly weight checks for her baby book, we'll go in again at 12 months! Three more months! Craziness.