While Jonny Studies....

Jonny's clerkship is such a blessing, but he wasn't able to study for the California State Bar for more than two hours leading up to testing day. His judge gave him the week before the Bar off so he could do a studying blitz at home. So, I bought all of his favorite snacks, made him dinners for the week, and hightailed it out of there to Utah to see my parents' new house. Here are pictures to highlight our fun-filled week there! Harrison was thrilled to drink Sprite on the plane.

We got to see Grandpa's new hospital. 

Grandpa and I took Harrison to the community pool; he loved it.

We had the Gilmore cousins over the dinner one night. I loved spending time with these great people!

The view of the Great Salt Lake after dinner.

The house came with a bidet. Wow. No words.

Grandma Betty walked her first 5K. So proud of her!

Harrison and grandpa have a good talk in the living room.

One very good thing about my parents moving to Utah is that I will see my old roommates from Utah a lot more now. I first met up with Amanda and Michelle in Heber. 

 Timmy and Harrison enjoyed chasing each other around the house during dinner.

On another day I headed up to Logan to visit Jillian. She has chickens!

Harrison and Norah helped each other on the slide.

We went up Emigration Canyon one night for dinner with Grandma Betty.

And last but not least, Nona and Harrison loving the jacuzzi! 

Thank you to my mom and dad for hosting us. We had so much fun and gave Jonny the space he needed!

Wallys come to Pepperdine

Mandy and Andy got to attend the Newport Beach Stake Youth Conference up at Pepperdine. How convenient! So, I watched the kiddos and we had a blast. We roamed around campus a little bit. Here are the kids hanging out with George Pepperdine. Sorry George.

Then I took the kids to my office.

Next stop was the beach. These four know how to play in the water!

We had fun going to the pool and relaxing in our little apartment. Thanks for the fun day Wally kids! Harrison was struggling in the picture below.

A Heart to Heart

After our fun filled East Coast trip way back in April, Harrison got off his sleep schedule. And since we jumped right into Jonny's finals when we got back, I was hesitant to let him "cry it out." Jonny needed his sleep! Long story short: Girlfriend was tired. And with his new job and bar study, I continued to be hesitant to get Harrison back to sleeping through the night. Jonny still needed his sleep! A few weeks ago, I had inspiration. The thought "Talk to Harrison about sleeping through the night" came to my mind. I really think it was heaven sent. So, that day, I had a heart to heart with the little man and said that his momma loved him but that she was not going to come in to pick him up in the middle of the night anymore. I told him that he was my big boy and could sleep through the night all by himself. I reminded him a few times before putting him down that night, with the faint hope that he would do it. Well, I kid you not, Harrison has slept through the night since. He just needed a good heart to heart. 

Here is his first "selfie"

Staying up late for Dad

Harrison is asleep when Jonny comes home from work each day. That means we cherish the 30 minutes we get with him in the morning before he takes the bus. I'm usually pretty vigilant about getting Harrison down at his bedtime, but there comes a time when a son just needs his dad and vice versa. So, I kept the little man up to surprise dad on Wednesday night when he got home from work. I figured they would play for 15 minutes or so and then Jonny would put him down for bed. 

When Jonny walked through the door, Harrison was sent over the moon with joy to see his dada. I'm pretty sure the feeling was mutual because those two played for a solid hour (remember that 15 minutes I was estimating?). Their play date involved dancing, wrestling, and dumping water on each other's heads. Mom even got involved when Jonny told Harrison to go throw water on my head. A family that throws water together, stays together. Right? This was probably the happiest hour these two boys have had in a while. I loved watching it. 

Look at that face!

Play Date with Riley

M.E. came over to our house for a few hours yesterday. We love having them close for the summer! So, as we prepared to jump in the pool, we tried out Harrison's inflatable rocket ship to test its capacity. It certainly can hold two babies. 

I put way too much sunscreen on the little man.

Success! Two darling babies, one inflatable rocket ship. Harrison really enjoyed wearing M.E.'s Kanye sunglasses. 

Prayer Time

These guys were sleepy tonight during family prayers.

Fourth of July

We spent the Fourth of July with the Clarks in Santa Monica. We loved walking to the beach and playing in the sand! Harrison and Riley wore coordinating outfits to celebrate the holiday.

The Waggoners Leave

Amber and Ryan Waggoner left for Indiana. Amber is going to be a first grade teacher at a prestigious private school and Ryan will be a law associate at a big law firm in Indianapolis. I don't think Jonny and I would have survived law school without these dear dear friends. We love them and miss them already. Ain't nobody got time for them to move across the country. Come back!

Classic Waggoner/Smith quotes:

"Bev or Bust!"

"Ain't nobody got time for that."

"That condo is really booshy."

"Tweet me!"

"We go to marriage counseling."

"Mimi"

"I think it's a good idea to find a hobby when your husband goes to law school. So, that's why I got my masters."

"Preach"

"E: Ryan, did you get your grade in Evidence? R: Oh, I'm not talking about that." 

"Okay, so I might have given Harrison a cookie."

21 Months Old

Little man is just 21 months old now!

1. For a long while, Harrison did not have any words and so I taught him how to sign "more", "please",  and "thank you." Now he can "moh" and "peeeese!" He can also say: baby, mama, dada, Nona, Mimi, Grandpa, Chase, bye, ball, and car.

2. Little man has learned how to pray. He kneels down, folds his arms, bows his head, and closes his eyes. If we are lucky, we get all of these things combined, but usually he is doing just one or two of them. 

3. Harrison likes to tell secrets! He comes up to you and whispers into your ear a couple of nonsensical words and then pulls back with his mouth open as if to say, "Can you believe that?"

4. This kid loves bodies of water, whatever the size. He loves to go from jacuzzi to pool and back again. He loves to play at the beach. He loves to jump in puddles. 

5. He is testing boundaries right now and so timeouts happen daily. 

6. He just learned how to pretend a few weeks ago. I'll tell him that I have yummy food in my hands and we'll pretend to eat it!

7. Despite my best efforts, Harrison's diet consists of peanut butter, whole wheat crackers, raisins, bread, soy milk, and an occasional string cheese. 

8. This kid loves dogs. Anytime we see one while walking around the neighborhood, he perks right up and says "doggie!" He loves his big doggie and little doggie that he snuggle with as night. Here he is petting the dog at Old Navy.

9. He likes to play in his crib with his doggies and pretend he is asleep. He really likes it when dada or I get in with him and play.

10.The splash fountain is open for the summer! We were not aware it was open and Harrison went right in. Hence, the stripped down baby. He loves the water.

Catching some rays.

11. He loves to play with his toys! Current favorites are: the farm, pirate ship, balls, blocks, and cars.

12. He loves babies. Loves loves loves babies! Here he is with his betrothed Molly Mooring.

We watched Baby Trevor for a few hours and Harrison was in heaven.