grand canyon...

On Father's Day weekend, we headed up to the Grand Canyon North Rim. The National Parks are doing a few "Fee Free Weekends" this summer, so we thought we would take advantage. It's only about 3 hours away from here, and it was so nice to get away for a quick trip. Zane had a little anxiety about going there beforehand - he was worried about me tripping and falling on the edge and dropping the baby. I found some pictures of when I went there as a kid and showed him how there are railings everywhere, etc. He seemed to feel a little bit better about it.

Once we got there, I was the one with the problem! I have a fear of heights, but didn't think about it causing me any problems. Of course, the trails all are right on the edge of the canyon, and in some parts there are just narrow trails with drop offs on both sides. I almost had to turn around a few times. Zane loved it, and had no problems at all going right up to the edge, leaning over the railings, etc. (That only added to my stress!).

Despite that, we had a really nice time. The sky was overcast most of the time. It downpoured a couple of times, and was quite cool. The few times the sun came out was enough to give John a good sunburn, a little bit on Lily, and half of baby Evan's head. I was carrying him in a Baby Bjorn, but had a blanket covering his arms and legs. Unfortunately I didn't think about the top of his head - so just the side of his head and a little bit of his cheek got red. It wasn't bad at all though, just enough to make me feel guilty. I love spending time with my family, especially when everyone is happy!!
These first few are from Bright Angel Point. One of the places that I almost turned around. There is a little narrow section with railings, but drops on both sides. Scary.

Love that you can see the thunderstorm coming across the canyon. It started to rain right as we got back to the parking lot to head to the next hike.
Lily zonked out on the Bright Angel hike. Such a funny picture of her squashed face.
This is where we had our picnic. As you can see, the table is only a few feet from the edge of the canyon. No railings here. Yup, I was slightly freaked out.

Angel Window - this hike takes you out onto a piece of rock that has a large hole down in the middle of it. The only "family" picture we got - only you can't see Lily (on John's back) or Evan (on mom's front). This is what it looks like from the side. I couldn't believe I actually walked out onto it. Really.
These last few are from Cape Royal. The best place to view the North Rim in our opinion. You can see the river from here, and you get a nice, big view of everything.

Lily was finally done with the carrier at this point. She was such a trooper!

2 months old!...

We had Evan's 2 month appointment yesterday. He is a whopping 14 lbs. 6 oz. He is 24 1/4 in. long. This puts him at the 93% for weight, and 88% for height. The Dr. is always so thrilled when I bring my big babies in, it makes him so happy to have such chubby babies there. Evan was really not happy about the shots. He cried longer than any of my other babies have. So sad!

I asked the Dr. about Zane, and he was very encouraging. He said to get play therapy for him, and that a psych evaluation wouldn't be a bad idea. After we get some therapy started, they will be able to tell us if medication would be helpful or not. He said, a lot of times, that all it takes is la year or so of meds to help the child get through it and figure out how to deal and then they can go off. I am feeling really good about this course of action for us. There are no psychiatrists here taking new patients that we have found. So, any psychiatrists out there...come to St. George and you would have a TON of patients! We are going to have to get an evaluation in Salt Lake, but we should be able to find some good therapy here. Feeling really good about this, wish us luck!

love this baby...

Evan is growing so big! He is smiling and cooing all the time (when he is awake). I love watching my babies grow up. I think he looks so much like John - and it looks like he will even have the same color of greenish brown eyes. What a sweetie!

rough patch...

We've had some issues at our house. Since about 3 months before the baby was born, Zane was obviously having problems. He has a hard time managing his anger in general. I remember it starting at 13 months, him throwing himself on the floor and wailing and wailing on and on about things. We have learned a lot of what tips him off through the years, and he goes through phases - where he is able to manage it better, then something like a holiday comes up and it gets worse, etc.

Here we are in a rough phase again, only it has seemed to last a lot longer. Reminiscent of his 2 year old days. He used to try to hurt us at 2 years old - hit, bite, throw things, etc. As he got older, it was much less frequent, etc. It has returned with a vengeance (almost one major outburst every day again), only he is much stronger, and there are more people in the house (sister and baby) that can be accidentally in the way. Try and get a 6 year old to sit in the quiet chair (timeout), or go to his room to calm down. This last attempt was 1 hour on and off the chair before he could calm down enough to do his "time", including spit on the floor, and him stripping down to nekked and threatening to pee on me (don't know what that was about). Oh, the jekyll and hyde of a 6 year old. We've always had to deal with Zane, as he is a more intense in every way kind of kid- but this has been really hard on us this time around. If it doesn't turn around soon - I really think that we may need to get some professional help. I'm starting to keep a sort of "event" journal so that in case we do need to go that route, I have some sort of a baseline of his behavior. Please tell me this is a phase, and that major temper tantrums at 6 years old is still in the "realm of normal" - or tell me it's time for help.

p.s. I'm not looking for parenting advice, just sympathy.

happy 6th birthday zane!...

Today was the big day! Zane had a great birthday filled with Bakugan, Pokemon, Hot Wheels, and the biggest present of all - THE SLIME GUN. Yup, it is just what it says it is. Picture a big water type gun that shoots purple sticky gooey gunk. Yipppeeee! (and I bought this for him?) We had the usual cake and ice cream, and went swimming with the cousins. Then since Zane told us he was having a "chinese" birthday party - so, we went to Panda Express for dinner (about as "chinese" as it gets here). It was a great day. Happy Birthday my smart, loving, cute boy!

a day at the park...

We walked over to the park today and had a picnic. It was just a lover-ly day. Cuties!