Tennis

We always try to spend as much time as possible outside. Chad and I both get a little restless when we are inside too much. Luckily my mom and dad are the same way so we usually have company wherever we decide to go. My mom has been wanting to go play tennis together so we hired a babysitter for Vance and went to the park one Saturday morning before it got too hot.

Here's Chad giving my mom some tips on her serve -
He's a beast on the courts when he wants to be. No matter how good I think I am, I'm pretty sure he will always beat me.

Here's my dad, mom, and me -

Lucky for me, I had a black tanktop to wear. It had a little bit of a slimming effect which was greatly appreciated. Being 7 months pregnant and trying to run around the tennis court isn't exactly the most flattering thing ever. I will proudly say Chad and I still managed to win even with my handicap ;)

Annual Graduation Party

Chad and I had our annual graduation party for all of our nieces and nephews. It's always a LITTLE crazy but LOTS of fun!

We started out by having the kids write down their top three accomplishments of the last school year. We used the things they wrote down during the ceremony later that night.
Then it was time for pizza and pop. I've decided pizza, pop, donuts, and chocolate milk are the easiest ways to win kids' hearts over! Here's Chad and the older boys -

Vance & Colton -

Me and the girls -

Then we played what used to be one of my favorite games when I was growing up - hide and go seek on the street. Most the kids hadn't played in the neighborhood before so they had a blast. You could spot kids hiding everywhere!

Briton helping Vance and Colton be the finders -

Then we went inside to get ready for the graduation ceremoney. Don't tell Grandma that Vance and Colton were being monkeys on her couch!

Chad led the ceremony and did an awesome job. He was hilarious and the kids ate up every word he said!!! Don't you like his podium?

Aspen and Kelsie helped lead everyone in the singing of the national anthem.

Then Carson led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance. It was so cute to hear all the kids say it.

Next up was recognizing each kid. Chad would call each of them up, read the list of accomplishments they wrote, and give them a certificate. Everyone would cheer and holler for them and then we moved on to the next kid.

Here's me with all the kids and their certificates after the ceremony was over.

Next we showed them a slideshow we made. Each slide was a picture of one of the kids with a funny caption.

The kids laughed through the entire slide show. I would say the slide show was a definite success!

After that the kids just played for awhile. As always the boys decided to jump/wrestle on the trampoline.

The girls were good to sit and visit with me.

Then we set up a photobooth . We had some funny props set up in one of the bedrooms and the kids took turns coming and being silly while I tried to capture the moment.

Here's the girls -

Colton and Vance -

Me & the girls -

Zach, Carson, Camden & Logan -

Mason, Brayden, & Chad -

After that we had ice cream sundaes and then all the parents came to pick up the kiddos. Chad and I have done a lot of stuff with our nieces and nephews but the graduation party is by far my favorite of all of them. I hope the kids don't get too cool for us!!!

On the Tramp

Vance has also been enjoying the backyard this summer. He loves to run in the sprinklers and jump on the trampoline with the hose on it.
I was messing around with my camera and snapped a few pictures of him playing outside!

He thinks it's hilarious when he sits on top of the hose.

He's also convinced he can do a front flip. I have to give him some credit, he is pretty daring. When he really tries to jump and flip he lands pretty hard on his head/face/neck and it never seems to bother him. I'm sure he'll be flipping much sooner that I would prefer.

The trampoline is falling apart but it's gotten PLENTY of wear and tear over the years.

Vance at Home

Vance is usually pretty good around the house when it's just him, but he has been FABULOUS lately! It's so nice!!! I am starting to worry I might be getting a little lazy and a new baby is going to kick my butt. Maybe Vance is just giving me so much appreciated rest.


He plays with his Cars on the coffee table for hours - literally. This is where you can usually find him. I've spent more money on Cars and monster trucks than I ever wanted to but THEY ARE WORTH EVERY PENNY!

He has also loved playing outside lately. The other day he insisted on putting on his soccer clothes my sister gave us and playing soccer out front.

Isn't he so stinking cute?!

Thanks Vance for being such a good boy! Mom loves you!!!

32 Week Ultrasound

My doctor had me go in for another ultrasound to see if anything could explain why I'm still measuring so big. It was fun to see the baby again now that he is looking more and more like a baby.

He is DEFINITELY a boy!
His spine -

Legs criss-crossed -

Cute little footprint-

Profile (it's not that great because he wouldn't move his hands out of his face) -

My fluid level was normal which is great. The ultrasound did show my baby is in the 80th percentile. He weighs 5 lbs even right now. It seems so crazy that he's already that big! The ultrasound tech said the baby had a big belly and that's where most the weight was concentrated. Vance had the same thing and that's why I had to have a c-section. Apparently I grow babies with Buddha bellies ;)

The last 3 or 4 ultrasounds I have had the techs all commented on Keller's full lips. They say it over and over again throughout the ultrasound. I have to admit that I'm getting a little nervous about my baby having HUGE lips. Hopefully they are just a little plump and not overwhelming.

On a pregnancy side note - The other day I went out to dinner with some of my family. I was wearing this black and cream striped dress. My brother-in-law looked at me and said, "You're like some crazy-huge Where's Waldo?" I kind of feel that way lately. You definitely can't miss me!

What do you think?

Behind The Name

We have had a really hard time coming up with a name for this baby. For some reason we can think of tons of girls' names but that doesn't do us any good. It also doesn't help that my taste in names changes every 2 weeks. I'll love a name and then decide I actually don't like it at all.



Well, I think we have finally decided on Keller Rand Waldron. We have some friends who have a little boy named Keller who is so cute! See for yourself -
Well the name had been in the back of my mind for awhile. It's different, but not too different. It sounds like a solid boy name. I read Keller's mom's blog and came across a post about Keller and his best friend. You'll never guess his best friend's name...VANCE! What are the odds of that?

That pretty much sealed the deal. I SO want my boys to be friends and I know that technically the name has nothing to do with that but it couldn't hurt to name them after two best friends right?!

Then I looked up the meaning of the name Keller and found two possible meanings. The first was "companion" which fits perfectly with my reasoning above. The second meaning was "champion" which is pretty awesome too!

Here is a picture of Keller (left) and Vance (right). Hopefully my Vance and Keller will be best buds too!!! The middle name - Rand - is Chad's dad's name. I think it's perfect for a middle name and I'm excited to use it!

***I didn't start blogging until Vance was 5 months old so I thought I'd quickly write down how Vance's name came to be. It wasn't long after we found out our baby was a boy that Chad started insisting his name was Vance. He said it was just a name he had always liked. I wasn't so sold on it. I wasn't against it but at only 20 weeks I wasn't really ready to commit to a name. He kept telling everyone that our baby's name was Vance - end of discussion. At about 35 weeks I still had no names that I was loving so I finally caved and said we could name him Vance. Chad was thrilled! He said I could name our next baby whatever I wanted (I'm holding out for a girl to take complete control). Vance's middle name is A. Just the letter "A." I know it's not your typical middle name, but it works for us. A is actually Chad's middle name after two of his great grandpas. I always thought it was a fun fact about Chad. Also my name obviously starts with an "A" so we thought it was the perfect way to name our first child after both of us. That's how we came up with Vance A Waldron.

Busted!!!

The other day we were at my sister's house waiting outside for her to get home. Vance was throwing the decorative rocks in her front yard to pass the time. A couple of his throws were getting out of control so we warned him to be more careful. About 5 minutes later a rock accidentally got thrown behind him and hit our window (on the driver's side door). It immediately cracked in to tiny, tiny pieces. GGGRRRRRRRR!!!

We put Vance in his car seat and told him to stay there while we pushed out the window and cleaned up the mess. We also told him he was in trouble and that we needed a minute to think of the consequence. Of course he started crying, "I don't want to be in trouble! It was just an accident Mom!" Some of you may think he was right, but we had just warned him about paying attention to what he was doing so I think I little discipline was in order.

When we got home we talked about what happened and asked him what he thought his punishment should be. He decided he probably needed to do some chores to earn money to pay for the window (we told him how it costs lots of dollars to fix a window). He's a little young for chores still but he quickly learned how to clean baseboards!
Isn't his face so pathetic here?! It almost, ALMOST makes me feel bad for making him do chores.

He scooted his way along the floor and cleaned the baseboards pretty darn good for a 3-yr-old.

We have both learned our lesson. Mom and Dad - throwing rocks is probably not the best way to pass time. Vance - throwing things (besides balls) is not a good idea.

We now have a zero-tolerance throwing policy. The problem has been brewing lately and this is the tip of the iceberg. He throws harmless things like his socks and clothes when he is getting dressed and not so harmless things (aka rocks). The new rule is any toy he throws is mine for the rest of the day. If he throws a non-toy object then he can choose between the two toys I pick out which one he wants to give me for the day. If he throws rocks, THE HAMMER COMES DOWN!!!

Hopefully we'll be a throw-free household (minus all the balls of course) before anything else gets busted! Gotta love life with little boys right?

Big Bear

We went to Big Bear with Chad's family over Memorial Weekend. It was a much needed get away. It didn't quite satisfy my need for a vacation but it was better than staying home!

Vance had so much fun with his cousins, especially Macie and Ty. He was so nice to share all of his toys.
Uncle Zach is having Macie and Vance help burp baby Eli. I'm not sure how that's going over ;)

There was a secret tunnel (hallway) that the kids thought was so awesome. They loved running through it over and over again. I'm sure the people who had rooms right there loved us.

Baby Emmy had a good trip too. You can always find Grandma holding one of the kids. It's one of the many reasons we love her!

The resort had an indoor pool that we took advantage of one afternoon. It was nice and relaxing.

Vance showed off some of his swimming skills he has been learning. This kid could swim for hours! He doesn't ever seem to get tired of it.

Chad likes to remind his younger brothers (I can't say little because Chad is the shortest) that he will always be stronger than them. Here he is showing Zach who's in charge.

Chad and I had a great trip. Chad's parents got each of us our own room. It was beyond nice of them! It was great to be able to hang out lots together but still have a place to go when you need a second to yourself.

Ty and Vance played cars or monster trucks almost every second they were together. Macie was a little reluctant at first but eventually decided she liked monster trucks too. Watching the 3 of them play together revealed the inherent nature of boys vs. girls. Macie wanted the cars to pretend to get married and Vance wanted to "KILL THEM!!!!"

Look how cute and cheesy their smiles are! They had a so much fun together!!!

Grandpa took some time to make playdoh creations with Vance (an activity I hate). He also took us on a few boat rides but I didn't take any pictures.

On Sunday we went treasure hunting - aka geocaching. It was FREEZING, but we still managed to have a good time!

We were pretty successful. I think we ended up finding 6 out of 9.

Vance was really into a few of the treasures.

We even let him "find" a few of the hiding places.

Doesn't it just look cold outside?! The lake was beautiful though.

We went out to dinner one night at a pizza place. It was yummy and a nice break from cooking.

On Monday the weather was much nicer so we headed to the Alpine Slides. Unfortunately pregnant women aren't allowed to ride so I was on camera duty.

Vance didn't say he was afraid of the lift but look how tight both of his hands are holding on to Chad. He isn't about to let go!

Grand was excited...maybe a little too excited for the slides ;) He took a little tumble the 2nd time down.

They made it down!

Chad's mom is always a good sport. Here she is going down the alpine slide.

The group who went to the slide minus Zach. It was all so pretty and green!

My last attempt at a family picture for the weekend. It didn't turn out too great but it's the thought.

The guys went for round 2!

Vance was super excited when he made it to the bottom the second time. He would have stayed there all day if we let him.

I got a quick cuddle and picture with my favorite boy!!! I love this little rugrat...I can't wait for another.

Thanks Waldron's for a fun Memorial Weekend. Hopefully we can do it again soon!