Hokie Pokie

Lachlan learned how to do the Hokie Pokie. As many of you know, she enjoys a good "boogie woogie". In fact, she will downright shake her bootie to anything--including church hymns and the weather forecast. The best part about watching her do the "hokie" is that she turns herself around while singing the chorus to "Wheels on the Bus" (which she learned at swimming lessons). She tends to bounce like a rapper and purse her lips together (think Zoolander), there is also a bit of head bobbing and swaying. It really is something that we should get on tape. It is hard to remember to go get the camera because it is a bit captivating in a very odd sort of way.

We had our 6month visit to Dr. V. Jack weighed in at 15 lbs. 7 oz. and was 25 inches long. That puts him in the 10th percentile for weight and the 3rd for height...yeah, pee wee, but very cute. His head, of course, was in the 70th percentile- to cover up all that brain. Lachlan weighed in at 16 lbs. 7 oz. and was 29 inches...folks, we have gained a pound and a half and grown another TWO inches. I also can report that her foot grew an entire size (up to a 3). This is fantastic news. I am glad that all of the butter, cheese, whole milk, and extra fat is starting to pay off. She really is starting to look healthy. Now if only her hair would grow!

Back from the Dead

For those of you who have been wondering if Elvis really died...well, in our house he didn't. Lachlan has these jammies that are literally (at least in my mind) hideous. The collar will not stay down and they are just an overall bad fit. And let's not even get started on the color scheme. The disagreement about the jammies started months ago--Jeff enjoys having her wear them because she can't take them off and they allow her to move around before her bedtime. I may have mentioned (every single time) that I really would like hime to "discard" the pjs and choose something different. The rub for me is that it is impossible to get both children ready for bed at the same time so I must rely on Jeff to bathe Lachlan and prep her for bedtime. He does a great job--EXCEPT for ELVIS!

The pjs have officially been tagged "Elvis" because he has started to leave the top two buttons undone just to make a point. So tonight I finally just conceded that Elvis is back and he is here for the long haul. It will be months before she outgrows them and it is pretty darn funny when I sing "Hound Dog" and she wags her head back and forth and moves her butt up and down.

In other news, we sold our Toyota truck on KSL.com in literally 6 hours. The guy called at 10:30AM and said that he would be by this afternoon to take a look at it--he didn't even drive it around the block, just kicked the tires and picked up the keys for the roof rack. Okay. That was easy. The best part was that it only took Jeff about 10 minutes to upload the information and pictures he took this morning before work. I will NEVER sell another car any other way.

Sun and Sand

Jack, Lachlan and cousin Sierra took their first trip to Bear Lake on Saturday. The weather was absolutely perfect. It felt so good to be out of the heat and into the water.

Lachlan loved floating out on the waves in her inner tube. She also dug holes, helped Sierra build a sand castle with Uncle Miner, filled a Maverick cup with sand (about 400 times) and drank some lake water (hence the massive diarrhea at dinner tonight).

Jack also enjoyed his visit. He always loves to watch other kids playing...and then he gets worn out and has to take a nap in the stroller.

The best part was that nobody got sunburned. The lake is notorious for the "sneaky burn". I was beyond paranoid so the kids had about 10 coats of 50SPF. I'm pretty sure that it would take quite a bit to get Lachlan's skin to burn, but Jack can turn pink on a trip to the mailbox. The only bad thing was that we discovered at the end of the day that Lachlan's sun hat had gotten too small for her head. The hat was pulled on so tight (by her crazy mother) that it literally left a bruise on her forehead! No good deed ever goes unpunished.

In other good news, Bruce and Fritz have decided to reconcile. Hey, someday the cat pheromone extractors are going to get a little bonus from an anonymous donor. It was a very long and stressful week for the family because we were constantly making sure that they were separated. I am relieved that we will not have to find Bruce a new home. I wasn't sure who in the world was going to sign up to take a 15 pound cat that has to sleep on a Winnie the Pooh blanket.

Finally, NEW pictures

Jack likes to get an early start. We usually get our best smiles around 6:30AM!

Lachlan showing me her new "silver grills". She loves to eat ice cream
now that she has her new teeth!

Team USA at the Murray Family 4th of July picnic.

Okay, this is a crazy picture, but I totally love it. Seriously, the details in this

photograph are so indicitive of our real lives. Lachlan is totally wet from

drool, no pants on...and Jack is flipping the bird. Way to go, son.

Beat the Heat

I know that it has been a long time since we even thought about keeping this thing up to date. My cousin, Logan, has re-inspired me tonight. I checked out his family blog and it was so fun to have so many neat pictures...

First of all, the people in the family are doing well. The cats...not so much. Fritz got out on Monday night and spent the night outside. Well, the stress of having Fritz gone for 8 hours "broke Bruce's brain" because when we let Fritz in the next morning, Bruce FREAKED out. These two have been lovers (make-out partners) for years, but all of a sudden, Bruce thinks that Fritz is a new stray that we have made a part of the family. There have been numerous cat fights all week long. Fritz is now terrified of Bruce and consequentially wants to be my lover all night long. Last night he practically smothered me. We have been so distraught by the discontent that we even purchased some "miracle spray" that is loaded with cat pheromones. The odors are supposed to calm the cats down and help them find love again. Seriously, I can't believe that I spent $40 on "love potion #9"--but hey, desperate times call for desperate measures. We are going to continue to hope for the best.

Lachlan has been taking swim lessons with her cousin Sierra all week. We only had one day of major crying (mostly related to fatigue). She really enjoys going under the water to get her "ring". She doesn't dive or anything, she just throws it out there and I dunk her under the water and grab the ring at the same time. When she comes up for air, wow, there is the ring. She also likes to tickle Susie and Sierra while they are swimming and pretend that she is a crocodile and swim next to the edge in the shallow end.

Jack is getting so big. sigh. He wants to sit up--all the time. He doesn't want his bottles. He only wants to eat "big boy" food. He wants to be in the tub with Lachlan. He thinks that she is the funniest person ever. He is constantly watching and smiling and giggling at everything she does. We are talking sister worship. He is getting quite a bit of blond hair...although it mostly just stands straight up and I have to mold it into a fro-hawk. Oh, and did I mention the rolling, and rolling and rolling. It is his main mode of transportation. He just keeps going until he gets to where he wants to be.

Our life has been so crazy--can you believe that we are almost to the 6 month mark with Lachlan. We are doing our post-placement accessment with the social worker next week. She has come so far...I suppose that we all have.