2 is a magic number!

I might be a little off from the School House Rock song, but in our family 2 definitely was the magic number on May 29th! Our 2 boys turned 2-years old and 2-months old! Braden had a blast and the only negative was that Anthony wasn't here. Braden had been waiting in anticipation all week for his birthday, for Uncle Mike and his family to get here and for his M&M cake! He had a smile on his face almost all day long. I went in to give him a kiss after he went to bed. He looked up at me, said "birthday" and then said "more." That pretty much sums it up!

Road Trip

We took a trip to see my Grandpa and Uncle. It was great to get a chance to see them and for them to meet Hunter. Another 4-generation picture... this time on the Utterback side.

We have had lots of visitors while we've been home and most bring a gift for Hunter and Braden! He has gotten quite spoiled with all of the new toys and things! This bubble maker is great fun and we think Addison and Devin will like it too when they get here!

We had to come all the way to Ohio for Braden to see his first tee-pee!

We stopped at a park before driving home from our visit with Gramps. Braden found a boy fishing off a little bridge at the park and thought it was pretty cool! He was catching blue gill and Braden was very into it.

Great views of the moon from his bedroom window! He asked me if I would get it for him. I told him it was too far for me to get. He then looked at me and said "Daddy will get it." Oh the innocence of children! I told him I wished his Daddy could get him the moon!


Braden had a blast with my friend Allison's girls (Logan and Peyton). He was laughing the entire time!

More Ohio Pics

Hunter gets more alert and attentive by the day. Smiles come regularly and we're waiting for the first real laugh!

First ride in the Snuggli... he's heavy!

He enjoys his Poppa.

Hunter (on top) and Braden (on bottom) at around 7-weeks... there's a resemblance!

Hunter had his first bottle.

Braden loves exploring in the backyard.

And helping Poppa do jobs around the house.

We went to the local train yard and he loved checking out all the trains!

And getting his picture in front of the Ohio train!

And even climbing on the train.

A little video of Hunter's first bottle (not that exciting, but I use this blog as my "baby book"\journal and I've so enjoyed being able to look back at Braden's posts to remember as Hunter goes through all these fun things, too! Believe me, it wouldn't be recorded anywhere otherwise!).

More Braden Adventures

Riding the rocking horse that was mine when I was a kid! I'm sure we'll have a video of this before we leave because he gets going pretty good!

Daddy and Braden checking out the waterfall. We miss Daddy now that's he's gone back to AZ.

Braden met a new friend named Tate (my Mom's friend Donna's grandson). They got to spend a day together doing lots of fun things, as you'll see below!

The Wilderness Center

They went to story time at the Wilderness Center and heard a story, sang some songs and colored on the white board with markers (Braden's favorite part!). The one story teller was one of my first swim coaches when I was a little girl!

We took a walk on the trail after the story time.

The boys on the trail.

There was a honey bee display that Braden loved. And then Donna got him a little bee finger puppet that he also loves!

The bees.

Tate's House!
After the WC we went to Tate's house for lunch. Braden had even more fun!

Tate lives right down the road from his grandparents and we got to ride there in a tractor (even Hunter!).

Checking out the backyard.

They rode the tractor to the pond behind the house to feed the fish.

So many fun toys to play with! Let's just say it was hard to get Braden to leave even though it was way past naptime!

Giving his new buddy a hug goodbye! Thanks so much for the hospitality Stacy, Donna and Tate! We all had a great time.

Braden decided to do some fishing while feeding the fish (by picking up a random stick and holding it like a fishing pole). This must be a hereditary trait because he hasn't actually gone fishing before... straight through the Harmon bloodline, I guess!

Hunter's Latest Trick

At 7-weeks, Hunter has impressed us with a new skill! And he's kept on doing it since!



"Checking out" the waterfall at the local park... well, sleeping while Daddy and Braden checked it out is more like it.

Just relaxing.

Swaddled and taking a nap in the swing. He's doing good sleeping... although sometimes he doesn't love going to sleep at night. He's still just getting me up once during the night to eat, so that's not too bad. Braden started sleeping through the night at 10-weeks. I hope Hunter does by then, too! It will make it much easier when I go back to work!

Mimi and Poppa's House!

I have to say that it is so nice to blog from my parents house! It's one of my favorite places to go and one of the only places I can truly relax... although I realize the definition of true relaxation has changed since having 2 kids of my own under 2 years old! Still, it's a great sanctuary and I'm glad that the kids and I will have a chance to spend a few weeks here before my maternity leave is over and we head back to the heat of the Scottsdale summer.

Braden is having a blast and did more in the first 2 days here then he had done in 2-weeks at home (and we don't sit around doing nothing either!). He's explored, planted, played, walked, built fires with Poppa, explored more and had an exciting new game/project/toy to play with with Mimi each day. It's cool to see him playing with toys that my brother and I played with as kids. He's pretty much always happy when Mimi and Poppa are around!


Both Braden and Hunter did a great job on the flight!

On the porch swing with Poppa.

This is Braden's "checking it out" position. He generally gets in this position whenever a bug or other sort of animal is in the vicinity. He's checking out some worms Mimi dug up this go around.

Helping Mimi plant flowers.

Helping Poppa get the fire ready.

We tried to do S'mores the first night, but there were too many mosquitoes. The downside of the pretty, lush greenness all around are the bugs that come with it... can't say that I miss those!

Playing the piano for Hunter and Mimi. And yes, he is wearing a tiara!

Daddy finding a toad (notice that Braden is in "his position").

The toad.

Hunter is having a great time!

And is relaxing, too. People always talk about how second children have so many fewer pictures taken of them. I think there is some truth to the fact that the first kid gets more because they are first. But I think another aspect is you realize how hard it is to take cute pictures of newborns and you're more discriminating on what you keep!

We took a drive to Amish Country (the largest population of Amish are near my hometown in Holmes County, Ohio). Braden saw some miniature donkeys, ate a good Amish meal and saw some horse and buggies.

Glad that Daddy was able to come for a few days before heading home!

Visiting with Gigi. We are glad that she was able to meet her new great-grandson!

It was chilly enough the second night to do S'mores!

Yummy!

Hunter got to check out the S'more making, too!


Playing t-ball at open gym! I guess one of the high school football coaches was trying to recruit him already... for defense of course!

Trying S'mores for the first time.


The "frog" toad.