two and a half years

Almost Halloween

Happy Halloween! We partied at our ward's Halloween Carnival yesterday. Heath was the cutest "baseball boy." I wore my kindergarten costume that used to reach my knees and Mike went as himself. Tammy and I were in charge of setting up the photo booth and taking pictures of all the families. 

I didn't get any great photos of Bobo by himself, I'll have a go at that on Halloween day. But we got a good one with his buddy, Calvin Spiderman. Calvin and his family are our new neighbors and they are awesome! It's so fun to see these boys play together.

Pumpkin Patch

We are making a tradition of heading to Bocalli's pumpkin patch in Ojai to get our yearly halloween pumpkins. 

 This is the only photo I could get of him looking at me with a smile. In 400 shots. I kept trying but he still thinks its funny to not look at me when I'm trying to take his picture. So even though it's not the best, it's probably my favorite.

 Chasing Daddy through the corn rows.

 This year he ran through the hay maze at lightening speed! He loved it!

 A little lost...

 Heath loved to play the pumpkins like bongo drums, then he'd dance to his own beat.

Heath saw the tractor towing people on a hay ride and froze. He stared at it without blinking till it was out of sight. Then he didn't stop asking to ride on it until he was walking up the back steps. 

 Looking at the rows of corn and pumpkins from his view on the hayride.

 We let him pick any pumpkin he wanted to take home. He kept picking them up till he found the biggest one he could carry...just barely. This was the last one he put down to find a bigger one. He's a tough boy. It was a fantastic afternoon at the pumpkin patch.

Heath's first year

This video is A LOT of Heath. I had it all timed out to music but you tube vetoed it, woops! So here's the video with youtube's music. Not as great, but still fun to see Heath as a little baby.

1st day of pre-school

I signed Heath up for a pre-school this year at an elementary school near by. It's only 2 days a week for an hour each time, and I go with him for the whole thing, but I still had to do first day of school photos. He has a fake smile now for photos, which is still cute, but drives me nuts. Today he thought it was very funny to do the fake smile and not look at me. So that's what we have!

 He thought it was so funny to not look at me.

Still wouldn't look at me and I couldn't figure out why he wouldn't put his foot down. Did he know he was kicking his foot like Mickey on his shirt?

Then he took off and we called quits on our little shoot.

catching up

Grandpa Ashby found this cute tricycle months ago at a garage sale and I'm so glad he didn't pass it up! Grandpa had to add blocks to the pedals so Heath could reach and now he really has the hang of it and rides on the sidewalks all around our place.

 Mike's parents came to visit us in June. We had so much fun with them. Heath showed them our zoo that we go to often. He even got to feed a giraffe with Grandma!

 For Heath's actual birthday we spent the afternoon in Ojai with all the grandparents. We rode the Ojai Trolley, stopped at Bart's books, and saw Heath's cousin, Jake, play in a little league all-star game. We ended the day with one of Heath's favorite foods, pizza! at Boccalli's in Ojai.

 Heath loved all the attention and play time he got with Grandma and Grandpa B!

 Mike and his boy on Father's Day.

 We took Grandma and Grandpa B. back to Ojai for Father's day and took a quick snap shot of our 3 generations.

I love this photo of all of us. Heath had such a fun time running around the back yard and showing off for all 4 grandparents. We miss them all so much now that Grandpa and Grandpa B. are back in Boise and the Ashby Grandparents are traveling the country.

 For the 4th of July, we drove to Utah for a mini Bishop family reunion. All of Mike's siblings and their families made it except one, we missed you Rob, Tonja, Ellen, and new baby Neil! While in Utah we went to a water park and Heath loved it! He is a fish! Mike took him on some BIG slides.

this is a close up to show how happy Heath was to go on the water slides.

 Heath also loved to float in the lazy river. He would keep his head up and just let his legs dangle behind him.

 We watched the fireworks from Auntie Nater's home and the kids loved getting sparklers and pop its from Grandpa. Thanks everyone for such a fun trip. I forgot to put my battery in my camera too often while we were there so I missed getting pictures of everyone, but we loved seeing all of you!

 Soon after we got home, we surprised Heath with a big boy bed! The first few nights were a little rough, but he now goes down with out any problems. We check on him before we go to bed and sometimes he is on the floor, so we put him back and in the mornings he comes to get me. I think he likes the freedom to get out on his own in the morning.

A couple Sundays ago Mike dressed Heath up real sharp for church. We slicked his hair back for the first time. Heath liked the pampering, but the hair didn't last. It was a fluffy mess by the time nursery started.


That is what we have been up to lately!

TWO!

Our little guy is turning into a big boy way too fast. We celebrated his 2nd birthday with family and friends and had a great time! I was excited to throw him another birthday party for months before the day actually came. I made this number pinata for the party and thought it would be fun to do his 2 year old photos with it. It was the hardest thing getting him to take a photo with that 2. He wanted to run at it, kick it, knock it over. Luckily, I was ready when he hugged it for a split second!

The day of his party finally came and we were so happy to have both sets of Grandparents there! I'm bummed I didn't get a picture of all of them at the party but we did get them a few days later. Below Heath is trying to show us two fingers. He hasn't quite mastered it yet, but I think he'll get it soon! We had his party at the park so we could play kickball! Heath and Mike made a very cute team, Heath got to kick it, then Mike got to kick it, for their combined turn. Heath loved it! He is a little bit obsessed with basketball right now. We tried to get him to put the ball down to play but he carries that ball everywhere! We did a Sesame Street party for him and Auntie Amy made his amazing cake! She is so good!

Heath loves to play with his cousins and the Ginn family, a family in Auntie Amy's neighborhood. The Ginn's have 4 kids about the same age as his cousins and are often all playing together. Heath loves to play with all the big kids! We also love to play with Layla, the cutie just a few months younger than him. He gets to see her during the week and at nursery! 

We love our big boy!




*the video in the last post is now working! sorry about that! and more to come about Grandma and Grandpa B.'s visit!* 

Ostrich Land

Grandma and Grandpa B. have come for a visit. Heath is loving all the time and attention he is getting with them and Mike and I are enjoying all the fun too! Today we took a trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo and to Solvang. On the way home we stopped by Ostrich Land where Grandma fed the ostriches! Take a look...

twinkle twinkle

Heath is learning a new song. It's hard to video him singing it because he likes to control whatever device we are using to capture his new tricks! We got through most of it in the video below before he took over. 

He has come a long way from his very first attempts at singing. I'm re-posting the video below to show just how far he has come from his screeching meows. I kind of miss it.

our Artist in Residence

 While he was painting, he pointed to his artwork and said "Donald Duck," "Dolphin," and "Giraffe," as well as many letter and number names.

Showing Daddy his masterpiece. We love our little artist!

brave or crazy

I was teaching a piano lesson this afternoon so Mike had a get bobo out of the house for a bit. Amy's family and Tammy were going swimming, so Mike and baby joined in the fun. I can't decide if our little guy is brave or crazy! The link is to a video Auntie Tammy took of Mike and Heath swimming today. it cracks us up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8-HYXsDTz4

conversations with baby

Heath has been expanding his vocabulary every day. Sometimes it's because we are trying to teach him new words and give him new experiences but sometimes I have no idea how he is learning so much and so fast. He really is a little sponge. I'm learning that even if he doesn't show that he understands or replies how I'd like him to right away, that doesn't mean the he is unaware of what is going on or what is being said.

The other day, maybe a few days ago, Heath and I were playing. I said something to him with the word "you" in the phrase. I wish I could remember exactly what is was but I can't. He responded to me and said "you" but he was referring to himself. So that prompted a few minutes of teaching him how to use the words "you" and "me." I quickly realized he wasn't going to pick up on it right away but he thought the whole process of me taking his hand and putting on his chest and saying "me" then putting it on me and having him say "you" then me touching him and saying "you" and then myself saying "me" was so funny. He just laughed and laughed and I thought we were just playing a little game.

Then today after his nap, and after he recounted his nap dreams to me (an amazing and super cute story), we started to the stairs. I took one step down, and before I could get to the second step, Heath asked "hold you?" It's his phrase for asking "will you hold me?" Sometimes he wants me to carry him downstairs, and if he asks, then I do. So I said "Come here, Mama hold you." Then he smiled and said "hold me." It was the first time he said it correctly and his smile told me that he knew what he was doing. My baby was listening during our conversation the other day. I stopped in amazement and gave him so many kisses and hugs and told him "good job baby!" I was so proud of my baby. A huge part of me loves to see how he is developing, I enjoy it so much. There's also a touch of sadness too when I see how fast my baby is growing up. I'm not ready for him to be a big boy.

It's not like me to write so much and also not have a photo. So here's bobo sitting on a ball and shooting a ball. He has been LOVING basketball lately. If he is awake he is either holding a basketball or asking for one.

6 years

Happy Anniversary to my sweetheart! 

we call it ice cream

Heath has been asking for ice cream a lot lately. In the morning for breakfast, for a snack, at lunch, before dinner. We have ice cream in the house here and there but we don't buy it a lot because when we do it doesn't last long. So the last couple days when Heath has asked for his ice cream we've been putting some greek yogurt in his mini cones. He loves it! It's messier than ice cream but he's so happy about it that we don't mind at all. apologies for the blurry cell phone picture. 

Swing Time

Baby, Mike and I had a wonderful time at a park today. Heath did the stairs and slide and when Mike started walking him over to the swings I yelled out "he doesn't like those!" Because, he hasn't for a very long time. I'm going to guess it's been a whole year since he's smiled on a swing. I try every time we go to the park to make swinging fun but he wants none of it. Auntie Amy barely got him to sit on her lap and swing just a couple days ago. Before I could say "he doesn't like that," she was telling me "he doesn't really like swinging." He was not happy and holding on to her like a little monkey! Like this...

But today, Mike put Heath in his own swing and he LOVED it! I must have taken a thousand pictures of him swinging because I couldn't believe how happy it made him. His smile makes me feel like the luckiest mama in the world.

some recent fun!

It's only Thursday but this week has been a ton of fun. On Monday Jesse, Heath and I drove to Ojai to see Grandma and Grandpa Ashby, and to check out the location of an engagement shoot that is happening tonight. I'm really excited, a little nervous, but mostly thrilled for the shoot. I wanted to be super prepared so Grandma came with the three of us to check out the area. I was taking pictures of the location and I should have been paying more attention to how cute Heath was. I was just snapping away and I wish I had got him in focus in this picture because i love it! He is looking at some horses I think. The outfit he is wearing is one of my favorites too. I love the shirt and shorts combo outfits on him.

After our little look around, Grandma took us to my favorite hole in the wall mexican food place, Reuben's. We got burritos and crossed the street to Libby park and ate while Heath played. After a little playtime he asked Grandma for candy, so our next stop was Ojai Ice Cream.

He got Candy and Jesse and I got Ice Cream. Heath didn't like that we had cones and he didn't, so we got an extra and I scooped some of my ice cream into his cone. He loves his ice cream! We had a fun playing with Grandma!

Yesterday we went to the Santa Barbara Zoo with Jesse. Every time we go back to the Zoo, Heath remembers a little more than the time before. Yesterday he remembered that the zoo had flamingos. He really wanted to see them. He asked for them as we walked in, as we were looking at Snakes, and parrots, then finally he got to see the flamingos. I didn't get a picture but he loved it.

A new treat for us this time was feeding a giraffe. There is usually a long line so we just pass by but there was no line at all and I wanted Heath to see one close up. He wasn't scared at first. He even tried feeding him lettuce but as soon as the giraffe touch him with his long tongue Heath didn't want any more of it. Thanks to Jesse for getting great pictures of us with the Giraffe, it was so cool!

Jesse and Heath get along really well. They sometimes get on each others nerves like a brother and sister but for the most part they play like best friends.

A favorite zoo activity that we can't leave without doing is riding the train. It's been fun to see Heath react differently to it each time we go and see him get more excited for it each time. On our first train ride, he wasn't amused. He looked like it was just another trip in a car. But yesterday he wanted on that train right away! and he didn't want to sit on my lap or hold hands. He wanted to be a big boy!

So we let him think he was but Jesse kept a close hand guarding him during the bumps and turns.

We love to play and have fun with our little boy!

Easter and 22 months!

We prepped for Easter with some family Easter egg dying. Heath has loved eggs since he got to collect them everyday from Grandma Ashby's chickens. He was very excited to play with eggs. 

 Heath loved to toss the eggs in the cups. We told him to be soft but we only had a few eggs that were not cracked when we were all done.

We had so much fun going through Easter baskets and finding surprises in the eggs on Easter morning. We "hid" so many eggs around the living room for Heath. After the first two he only wanted to eat the candy he found, he didn't care to grab any more.

We dressed up nice for Easter and I should have taken better pictures of Heath but he was too busy playing and eating his Easter candy.

We had a great Easter weekend! We started another great weekend today by taking Heath's 22 month photos. He is growing into such a big boy. He loves to play with his daddy, color, count cars (sounds like "1,2,1,2,1..."), eat cookies, run outside, jump and spin in circles. He talks quite a bit. I don't know if I can even list all of his words now. He is always making us laugh and smile.

Here is our 22 month old baby...