Midseason Form

Time for an update now that Summer is over and Fall looks to be here any minute. First thing is first, lets recap our last vacation...

Family shot at the beach!

Jane's family tradition is heading to the Outer Banks in North Carolina for a week every summer, if not most summers. This was the first time we had been able to go since our first summer married. Needless to say lots has changed since then, the most glaring change would be the third person in attendance for our family! Jane went out almost a week in advance to spend time at home in Virginia while I stayed back to work for a few more days. It was Dorothy's very first plane ride and she did a great job. Only a minor episode when she got hungry mid-flight but a quick bottle was the remedy and all was well. She had fun playing with her Grandma and Grandpa out in Virginia and then heading off to the beach. I was able to meet up with everyone on Sunday, though my getting there was slightly traumatic for me as my GPS wouldn't work and navigating to the beach took a few wrong turns but I made it. We had a ton of fun at the beach. The weather was good for the most part, though we had a couple of days of rain here and there but it was no big deal. Between swimming, fishing, flying kites, the windy sand dunes, hanging out on the beach and delicious food all day long it was a blast. Dorothy took a little warming up to the sand and the ocean but after a few times she got to liking it. She picked up a little cold while we were there so that was no fun but she was a trooper and even did great on the return flight home, thanks to Uncle Steve volunteering to sit next to her and help keep her happy.

Getting used to the water with Daddy. 

A trip to the sand dunes that was a little too windy for Dorothy's taste.

 Giving rear view spectators a goofy look.

Dorothy thinks her feet are hilarious. 

Dorothy and Grandma hanging out.

 Snoozing with Grandpa.

Four generations for the Deckers. 

After vacation time was over it was back to work for the both of us. Jane doesn't love having to go back to work and be away from Dorothy of course, but if she does the gig she's got is about as good as it gets. She just teaches half days now so she goes in early and is home by noon each day. I can stay home with Dorothy in the mornings most days and when we need help Aunt Kate and Grandma Cox can help out. Thanks to the two of you! For me, we are four weeks into the season now and everything is going well. Not quite the season start we'd hoped for but it has been a good learning experience for me with different responsibilities this year and what seems like a lot more to do. Trips with the team up to SLC and Boise were good as far as traveling goes...not so good as far as results. We'll get back on track though!

 Uncomfortable feeling on this field...

 Blue?

Dorothy is concerned as the Cougars currently sit at 2-2...

Meanwhile, among all our activities Dorothy continues to grow up too fast. She just passed 7 months on Sunday and is such a happy little girl. She laughs and giggles and is constantly talking and smiling at people. I don't think she's scared of anyone, at least not yet, and she loves to give away smiles to anyone who gives one to her. She is learning how to eat in her high chair with Mommy and Daddy's help. Dorothy loves to play with the spoon on her own, not so much to eat with it, just to fly it around and poke stuff with it and try to eat the spoon itself. Her favorite baby food so far is carrots and she loooves to try and get any sort of bread. The D Train hasn't quite figured out the whole crawling thing yet but that doesn't mean she isn't mobile by any means. She believes rolling is the best mode of transportation and can get all around the house via rolling and wiggling to her destination of choice. The time for baby-proofing is beginning as we've found her going after cords and anything low to the ground she can get her hands on. But she's our happy little lady and we love her so much.

 

Our little lady getting ready for church.

MMMM.

 That's becoming the classic Dorothy look.

 This tongue-out smile is also common for some reason.

 Trying to fly, crawl or something...

Other things of note:
-We sold our scooter. It was a sad day but an entertaining one as two parties showed up to buy it at the same time and a bidding war ensued. I asked for 475 and got 575. Not bad.

Farewell scooter.

-We purchased a firearm! Weird huh? Never had or was around guns much in our family growing up. Jane's sister and her family have some and we've felt the pressure to get in on it after a few shooting trips with them. It has been fun to go shoot and spend the day out and about with the fam.
-In my third year of intramural softball with my office, we had arguably the best team we've ever had and were poised for a deep run in the tournament. I hadn't gotten out all year until the last game when I got out three times, including a strikeout. Ouch. You know how this ends, we fell apart and were knocked out after three tournament games, about three or four short of a title. Bummer.

Team Kyle Chilton. Although Kyle Chilton is not featured in his own team's team photo.

All is going well and we can't complain. We are excited for the fall weather with cooler temperatures, pretty colors and all sorts of fun things coming up for us.

Summer time

Well I am sitting here by myself waiting to leave for the airport to go meet up with Jane and her family at the Outer Banks for a nice beach vacation before Jane goes back to school and the season really kicks off. So here is a summary of the last while.

On the Fourth of July we all ran/walked in the Freedom Run 5K in Provo. Jane and I ran it sort of together...I finished in 25:46 and Jane was right behind me in 26:29. Dad ran the 5K also (he's 73...pretty awesome) and Mom pushed Dorothy in the stroller in the one-mile walk. It was a lot of fun and we are excited to do another run sometime. It was the capstone event of Jane and I's fitness plan post-Dorothy. Jane is skinnier than before baby Dorothy and I have dropped about 25 pounds or so since she was born. I got on the scale and it read 201 (sympathy weight) and it was depressing, thus sending us into action... Before the plan I'd barf after about half a mile too. Here is a picture of us a week or so after Dorothy was born and then after the race!

Our next big event was the Cox family reunion in Yosemite. I had been looking forward to it for YEARS since I missed out on the last few it seems like. We were a little nervous about Dorothy's first camping trip but man she was so awesome! She truly was a happy camper. She slept great at night and was smiling all the time. She got to meet lots of cousins and play with everybody. She even met her cousin Kirra, born just a week after her. The highlights included a talent show, hanging out by the icy cold river, a boys backpacking trip to the top of Half Dome and a girls hike (featuring Dad) on the Panorama trail. Jane even hiked to the top of Vernal Falls via the Mist Trail with Dorothy on her back! We had a blast and were so glad Dorothy liked camping.

 Our happy camper playing in her favorite bug.

 Such a goofball.

 Mommy looks nice and Dorothy thinks she is funny.

 Hanging out by the river.

 Getting pretty daring there...

 Look at me!

 Aww, look at the happy ladies.

 Our daddies are embarrassing...

 Dorothy loves Grandpa's songs.

 Dorothy's version of a kiss.

 If that isn't the cutest thing you've ever seen.

 Roarrrrr!

 Smitten by Grandpa again.

Literally on the cables at Half Dome!

So now were are off to our last vacation (tears and frowns) of the summer before we get back into the swing of things. We've had lots of fun this summer with our little family. Dorothy is such a happy baby always smiling and talking. She is a big chatterbox...especially at church. She isn't naughty and crying a lot, just talk talk talk making noise. We love it. I've missed Dorothy and Jane the last few days since they went early to go visit Jane's parents before the beach. We'll give a last summer report when we get back!

Daddy-daughter snuggle time.

Nothing too exciting minus Mother's Day

There hasn't been too much exciting going on here the last few weeks. Jane's is finishing up the last bit of teaching (T-minus 8 days!) and then she's off for the summer. Dorothy is continuing to grow and grow and is getting so big. She is so much more playful now. She smiles and squeals and wiggles all the time. Little D as she gets called a lot these days has also been sleeping all the way through the night the last couple of weeks. She gets her last bottle at about 10 pm and then usually conks out until about 6 am, and the last few days made it to almost 8 am actually. It has been pretty awesome. Her new favorite thing is to sit in a chair or on the couch. She gets a big smile every time she gets to sit up there and watch some ESPN with Daddy of course. And that Daddy has been busy working and enjoying his job. Kenny also gets to spend a few hours with Dorothy all by himself in the mornings when Jane leaves for work and he has a blast playing with her and getting her ready for the day, complete with outfit and bow selection.

We also celebrated Mother's Day, Jane's first official one. She got surprised with a homemade craft that Dorothy (I helped some...) made for her. She also got some Amazon gift cards to use for some Kindle books as well as some of her favorite candy. She love's being a momma. We also surprised Grandma Cox with breakfast in bed, although she was already out of bed so we made her get back in!

We are excited for summer, vacations and getting to do a lot of fun things together. Only a few more days! Oh and we also had a recent impromptu family photo shoot...

Dorothy has discovered how to pull Mommy's hair, Jane is concerned...

The ladies!

Daddy and Dorothy

For fans of Bill & Ted's, this pose makes sense, as in, I am Dorothy Jane Cox S. Preston, Esquire...or every rose has its thorn, just like every cowboy sings a sad, sad song...

The Fam

The Goofy Fam

The Goofy Fam 2.0

Growing by the minute!

Dorothy is seven weeks and then some now. She seems so much bigger than before but still so little. Tomorrow is doomsday . . . Jane has to go back to work for the last six weeks of school. A definite bummer but luckily we have friends and family ready to help watch her and everything. It will hopefully be a fast six weeks and then it will be summer time and time to party it up! Anyways, over the last month or so we had Dorothy's baby blessing, Easter and some other fun things. Dorothy's blessing was great, we had lots of people come including grandmas, grandpas other family, friends, old roommates and more. Thanks to everyone that came out to support us on Dorothy's special day.

The Easter Bunny visited Dorothy for the first time, bringing her a nice soft bunny to snuggle with as well as some sweet primary tunes to sing along to. He also included some candy for Mom and Dad! What a swell guy. We had to go looking for it though and luckily Dorothy and Daddy found it hidden in the bathtub, one of Dorothy's favorite new places. She loves bath time now. At first she hated it, but now loves to soak in some nice warm water and splash around. Still hates diaper change time though. She has been a good baby so far though, sleeping anywhere from at least three to the occasional six hour stretches each night. Still pretty quiet though learning how to scream every now and then. She smiles some and just loves to bat her big eyes which are currently not brown, not blue or green, but somewhere in between at grey. They aren't dark at all so we'll see what happens. We are so grateful for little Dorothy and are excited for this next six weeks to be over with so we can play with her all summer long.