Monday, March 17, 2014

Leprechaun Day

St Patrick's was kind of a questionable thing up til the wee hours of the night, then it seemed like silly leprechaun ideas come to life and the kids woke up the next day super giddy just like Christmas (although I wish the leprechauns had kept it all low key!) They kept waking up during the night, which I am sure made for a really tricky thing for the leprechauns, but they delivered and did something totally new - the kids' hair had green paint, undies were strewn all over the house *eww!*, and a green ribbon maze was found throughout the house, which was actually annoying because it made for a really slow trip up the stairs, except if you were less than 3 feet tall.





Ashlyn was in the hospital so Jasmine and Dylan came to stay the weekend.  Lucky them, the leprechauns found them too.




Creativity courtesy of Pinterest, I couldn't come up with cute labels like that!

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Mason is 13 months old!

I realized yesterday when I was feeding Mason lunch that it was 1/17 and he turned 13 months old the previous day.  Life is much busier now for this little guy.  He wakes around 6-630 every morning, sometimes a little later, but definitely on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I have preschool (so he can go back to nap at 10 a.m.), or when it is my turn to drive to the junior high on Wednesdays and Fridays.  He is a patient baby to just go along with the flow! 
He still "asks" to nurse every morning when he gets up and has been able to do without the night nursing.  He is my only baby who has lasted this long with the nursing thing, and I haven't known what to do since all the other ones usually wean themselves at 10 months.  He won't drink any other type of milk though, so I feel like I have to keep it up until he can get used to the taste of milk.  Flavored milk does not work either. So the doctor told me to just give him dairy in other forms - cheese, yogurt, etc.
He is a big eater - his typical breakfast includes 2 waffles and a pouch of pureed fruit/vegetable.  His lunch - maybe chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, toast, another pouch of baby food.  Dinner - he just pretty much eats what we eat, and gobbles everything up.  He's come to expect the latching of his high chair belt so that when we put him in it, he grabs the belt parts and tries to belt himself in.  So funny.
He loves to take baths with Zaney after breakfast, while I get ready for the day.  When I get them out, he is usually ready to settle down for his long morning nap.  After his nap, he eats lunch and we usually have to go pick up the kids from school shortly after.  Then he is in the car for a while, til about 330, then home for a bit, then back in the car to pick Allie up from cheer at 430.  Like I said, he takes those car trips really well!
He is so mellow and has such a cute little personality.  He has recently started "throwing a fit" when he doesn't get what he wants.  Ha!  I just have to laugh.  He sits on the floor, then makes himself fall back, but looking back to make sure he is falling on a pillow or soft blanket (he will usually find a soft spot first).  Then just as his head hits the carpet or pillow or blanket, you can tell he tried to stop himself falling completely, then he lets his head fall back carefully.  He starts to cry with his eyes closed, then open them and look to see if I am watching him.

He has 6 teeth now, loves to crinkle his nose and wink both his eyes, and loves to make messes everywhere. Since he learned how to open our doors, no room is immune to Mason's little mess tactics.  Our school room is his favorite place to mess up, and frustrating for me to have to clean up every time.  Somehow our door lock in that room is not working properly so if he toggles the handle long enough, he can get the school open.  He has a couple favorite items to scatter - the pom pom balls, and plastic nails for hammering.  Every single time.  He always leaves a trail wherever he goes so I've kind of given up and just accepted it's going to be that way until he is a little bit older. ha!

He now has figured out how to climb chairs and walls and look out the windows in his room.  Another climber like Zane!  I am glad he has such an easy going personality - he is always so glad to see anyone, he loves to play and be held by everyone at home.  He likes to wake Maddie up and loves her especially, and Zane, he always has a laugh for everytime he sees him.  Because I am in primary, he hangs with Kevin every Sunday and he gets to sleep on his Dad's shoulder for two hours cause Kevin doesn't mind being a baby carrier for that long (especially when he is 22 lbs!).  One Sunday, I decided to take him out (Kevin usually does), and Mason was still not happy once we got out to the foyer.  A little while later, Kevin came out of sacrament meeting and came over and put his arms out to Mason. Mason instantly lit up and went to Kevin and was so excited to see him, melted right into his shoulder and didn't even look back!  He loves his Dad.

Other favorite things to do:  spin around in the rocking chair, ride his train ride-on with Zane pushing the toy and him around the house, sucking his fingers, jumping in his crib. Here he is trying to get on the scooter but figured out pretty quickly it wasn't happening:
We sure love this little guy!!
Now for the month's photos:
This was right after he turned a year old -12/18 when he went in for his one-year check and shots.  Weighed 21 lbs 8 oz!




Christmas eve
One on Christmas day
He thinks he is invisible when he has this on his head.  He loves this bucket!

What he and Zane like to do
He tripped and fell outside and Maddie, Zane, and Collin set up a little "hospital" for this guy.  He was not happy.
Always caught with a can from the pantry

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Young Women In Excellence Night 2013

So Allie didn't care for phone photos so she had me upload all the photos from tonight's event - and since I have them processed, here they are!  It was such a fun night - the theme was Awards Night (kinda like the movies) and they had presenters and awards (golden shoe filled with golden treats).  Allie was the only value project for Faith, so she got to go first.  Her "acceptance" speech was funny, making sure to emphasize that I her mom, made the map and she painted it.  I hope everyone understood what she meant!  She meant I outlined it and did all the research before she spent 20 plus hours painting it.  It was a weekend of work over President's day holiday.  I did all the research prior to her painting and embellishing the map, but it still took that much time getting it done!  I thought it would never get done.  All I can say is I am glad we did it together, and she was very creative as to how she wanted it to look!

So here are in-progress photos of her working on the map:









I should have printed these pictures for everyone to see - haha, I bet she wouldn't love these!  Anyway, and then just since the beginning of February, which is when we did the project, she grew up and became this tonight:

The above notes capture exactly how we all feel about scripture study (which by the way got switched from 630 a.m. to 530 am this year - which is nice because Kevin gets to be in-charge of waking everyone up!).  Yes, the map has been super helpful for setting purposes.  Knowing the setting of the story has made the scriptures come alive.
 Accepting her award: (I love that she has Converse shoes on.  It's just her fun personality. Where did she get that from?)
 Making her "acceptance" speech:
 Being made to pose by her mom, of course:
 Cute awards:
 Allie and her awesome dad:
 Allie and Zane, who got to come, because we didn't dare leave him at home:
 Allie and her friend Nikki:
Nikki and Me:
 Allie and me: (I know it's crazy that she is going to be way way taller than me - I asked her to be nice and bend at the knees a little)
and last but not least,
 beautiful Allie and her lit-up dress scene.
She wishes she had a dress like this!  
I am so happy to get to have a daughter like her.  She is hardworking, smart, beautiful and super resilient. She juggles school, cheerleading, a second choir, piano, and home life very well, and in spite of all her accomplishments, she is pretty humble and not cocky.  She even has been very good at leaving her room clean and bed made every day so far of eighth grade (or pretty close to that).  I love her so much and how did Kevin and I get to lucky to be blessed by a daughter like her?