My Baby...

 

Turned ONE last week!

 

It was a super crazy day filled with a gazillion (at least) last minute wedding reception preparations for my sister-in-law. So we didn't get to have a party for her, watch her stuff her face with cake, sing to her, or any of those memorable first birthday things.

 

Obviously, she didn't know or care, but it still totally broke my heart that we couldn't devote more of the day just for celebrating her. What made me the most sad was that every time a special day rolls around for us we are always without any family, so that is all I wish for. This time, however, we were actually with tons of family and we still didn't get to do anything special for her. Can you tell I was totally bummed about this? Sorry little girl. I'll make it up to you some how.

 

Here's some fun pics of the birthday girl that totally capture her sweet personality . . .

(In the tub at my parent's house.)

 (On our way to Ashley's wedding reception. I am in dire need of a major haircut.)

(She still will eat just about anything. How do I keep her doing this and stop her from turning out like her brother?)

 

At one, Livy totally melts my heart on a daily basis. Probably because she loves me more than anyone and gives me a hundred hugs a day and breaks into a smile whenever she sees me. She no longer looks just like her brother--she has turned into her own little person. I am in awe daily at how beautiful she is. Her sleep is slowly improving (knock on wood). She is a great napper (two a day, usually two hours each) and is developing quite the sense of humor. We sure love her.

Speaking of Growing Up . . .

As if James isn't growing up too fast, his little sister is quickly heading down the same road.

She'll be a year old next month. I wish I could say this year sped by, but with how little sleep I've had, it has actually been one long year. Regardless, I sure love this girl.

She's starting to talk a little more. She can now say "Mom," "Dad," and "More." I can't wait for the day she says "James." She also signs "more" which is super cute. She still loves food. Every time we go to the grocery store she signs "more" every aisle we turn down. It's kind of funny.

She started officially walking last month. She'll only crawl now if she's super tired, which is a lot these days. The poor girl has been so sick. We've had two trips to the doctor in the last 48 hours. She got the horrible runny nose we've all had but to top it off she also caught a nasty infant virus (Roseola?). She had a terribly high fever (up to 103.7 one night), earaches, a sore throat, a cough and today developed a rash. Poor kid. Just in time for us to leave town for three weeks. Awesome.

All I have to say is thank goodness for tylonel. It saved us. She has been waking up every two hours the last few nights, but without the meds I don't know if she would have slept at all. She was so uncomfortable I was usually up half the night just rocking her little fevered body. She totally broke my heart.

Here's to a better March and no more sickness/doctor's visits! We'll be in Utah most of the month for Brian's sisters weddings. I'm excited to be there but not excited for the additional lack of sleep that usually comes with vacations!

My Rascal

My little boy is growing up way too fast. Brian and I were just discussing how much he is changing in every way. He's definitely more independent and his thought process, and therefore conversation, is totally evolving. Here are some funny tidbits that have come out of his mouth recently:

 (I found this picture on my phone today. He loves taking pictures of himself.)

I've started trying to teach him about history a little more. Mostly random things. For instance, since he loves boats, the other day we discussed the Titanic. This week we just so happened to be driving through Pigeon Forge (a way touristy area here near the Smoky Mountains) where there is a Titanic Museum. The museum's exterior was designed to look like the Titanic, including depicting it ramming into a giant iceberg. So, we pointed it out to James as we drove past. It struck his little brain as amazing and he wanted to talk about it the whole way home. Last night as he was saying his bedtime prayer, it went like this, "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, we ask thee to bless us, and please bless the ship that ran into the iceberg." We've been trying to teach him to personalize his prayers a little more, and well, there you have it.

Today during quiet time I told James he could watch 101 Dalmations because Livy has been sick and not sleeping well and I knew a movie would ensure James actually would stay quiet. We haven't watched it in months and just as I was starting it he told me that his favorite part was "where the bad guy gets his bum burned by the fire." There is, indeed, a part where Jasper gets his rear-end burned, but I never would have remembered it or thought James would have either so I mentioned that fact to him, that I was surprised he remembered that part. etc. He then asked, "How did I remember that?" and I replied, "I don't know, buddy, probably because you have a good memory." I guess he was expecting another answer because a second later he asked, "Did the Holy Ghost help me to remember that part?" I had to think for a second how to respond to that one. Try explaining to a three-year-old that the Holy Ghost probably doesn't care if he remembers parts of a movie.

A couple nights ago I was giving him a bath. We've all had runny noses the last couple weeks (it just won't end) and so I'm constantly telling James to go get a tissue to wipe his nose. Toward the end of his bath his nose was starting to run and he slyly said "Mom, turn away. Cover your eyes for a minute." I very casually covered my eyes, of course watching to see what he didn't want me seeing.
He then grabbed one of the foam alphabet letters he'd been playing with in the tub, wiped his nose with it and then threw it behind his back. Seriously, kid? So gross (but also kinda funny)! We had a little chat about that and I made him scrub it with soap afterward.

The other day I was chasing James (probably trying to get his pajamas on) through the house and he yelled "You can't catch me! I'm the speediest guy you ever saw!"

James and I have our good days and bad days together. There are definitely days where he is a total rascal and pushes all my buttons or days when I am just so tired that I have no patience, even when he's probably not being that bad. A couple weeks ago we were having a really good day together, both of us were in a good mood, I hadn't yelled or had to send him to his room, etc., and as I snuggled with him on the couch to read a story he took my face in his hands and said "Mommy, I love you," then he kissed my hand and said "Good job being a nice mommy today!" I was overcome with a mixture of both love and guilt by that comment. It was a nice reminder that I have a lot to work on as a mother.

Last Sunday, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, of the Quorum of the Twelve, came to meet with our stake. It was a huge deal here because apostles don't come here often. It reminded me how much I took for granted growing up in Utah. He was scheduled to speak at 10 on Sunday but by 8 a.m. the chapel was already full. Crazy! Luckily we got there early enough to sit at the front part of the overflow. Elder Oaks showed up at 9 and went around and shook nearly every person's hand. I was in awe at his generosity (especially compared to an experience we had with another apostle a few years ago who didn't seem so excited that anyone wanted to meet him) and kindness, etc. I tried to explain to James what this meeting was all about and who was coming, etc., but he didn't seem interested so much. Even when Elder Oaks was shaking his hand, I could tell he had no idea what was going on or how special the man shaking his hand was, but it still made me a little emotional that my sweet little boy was shaking an apostle's hand. It reminded me of Jesus' love for little children and for the capacity that children have to love. Even though James probably won't remember that moment, I always will.

I sure love this kid.

Long and Lean

James and Livy both had check-ups last week. Both are in the 75th for height and 25th for weight. I guess we make them tall and skinny around here.

Livy at 10 months: My love for this little girl grows by the day. She is oh so adorable. I've started calling her my "Sweet Pea" because she is just the sweetest little thing there ever was. She loves to give hugs, kisses, and laughs and smiles so easily. Seriously, all you have to do is walk in the room and her face will light up with a million dollar smile. She is almost always happy and when she's not you know it's usually nap time.

Brian and I joke that she is our little puppy. She crawls around after us whimpering and sits up and begs when she wants attention. She constantly eats things off the floor and sometimes when you offer her a snack, she'll just eat it right from your hand instead of taking it herself. She eats anything and everything (total opposite of her brother these days).

She is still crawling around like a little speed demon. She also takes a few steps every day and is always so proud of herself. She loses her balance and falls over just out of pure excitement for what she's doing.

She absolutely adores her brother. She gets giddy around him she loves him so much. She wants to do whatever he is doing and she loves to wrestle with him.

She also loves me. She started saying "Mom" a couple weeks ago and it melts my heart every time.

Her nights are improving ever so slightly, knock on wood. I remain hopeful that some day in the near future I may get more than four hours of consecutive sleep.

I don't even know what a favorite food of hers might be because she will literally eat whatever you give her and act like it's the greatest.

She loves music and is starting to dance when she hears it. She absolutely loves the piano and I can hardly practice these days without her begging to sit on my lap to play, too.

I could hold and snuggle this sweet girl all day if it didn't kill my back so dang much. Even though she's getting so big, she's still got the softness and warmness of a new baby and I could just eat her up she's so dang snuggly.

James at thee years: Oh where oh where to begin with this sassy boy? He can go from one extreme to the next in minutes, which causes me to go from one extreme to the other in minutes. He makes my heart want to burst with pride and joy one minute and makes me want to pull my hair out the next.

He is asserting his independence increasingly, still has a love-hate relationship with his sister, and currently has about four things on his list that he will eat without putting up a major fight about it. Getting him to eat is a chore and a half. I knew toddlers could be picky but I never imagined it could be this bad. I've resorted to spiking his milk with pediasure just so I know he's getting something in there. I really hope this is just a phase and not the start to a childhood of extreme pickiness.

He is SO into rhyming these days. He rhymes every day requests and sentences like it's totally normal to ask for a "Piece of banana bread-whama bread." Brian and I have to hold in our laughter when he prays and says "Dear Heavenly Father-Wather." The other day on the playground at the park he was playing with this little built in piano thing that had a busted key and a little girl came over and he told her "Sorry, we can't play with it. It's broken-hoken." I don't think the little girl knew what to do with that message.

He plays make-believe like a pro. It's hilarious to sit and listen to him. I could do it all day. He has some major imaginative bones in his body.

He tries my patience but I sure love this kid.

Insanity

Brian and I are currently in week two of the "Insanity" workout. Oh help me. It truly is insane. Only six more weeks to go. We can do this, right? Right?

Livy. Oh Livy. I love her to pieces but she makes me want to scream and pull my hair out. She's almost 10 months old and sleeping through the night is still a struggle. Every few weeks she'll tease me and sleep 9 or 10 hours straight two nights in a row. Then she goes back to her old ways before I have a chance to get my hopes up too high. I never knew sleep deprivation could go on this long without a person snapping. 

Jamers started going to Sunbeams on Sunday. I think he's going to love it. He loves being with the older kids. All week long he's been rehashing bits and pieces of his lesson. I love hearing him play with his action figures and tell them things like "Jesus is just like us!" and telling the firefighter guy to put out the "burning bush."

James got the above Jeep for Christmas. The first few days we were back from Utah/Idaho it rained nonstop so the Jeep stayed in the house for James to test out. It was cute watching him take Liv for rides. A few days later, Brian took James out to the garage to show him how it really works and it has been there ever since. After adamantly enforcing into his little head how important it is not to go out into the road or even anywhere near the road or the sharp decline that is our driveway, I think James is officially too scared to drive it now. Too bad it's not Brian's size. He'd be in it in a heartbeat.

James woke up with a terrible cough, runny nose, fever yesterday. This is the month to be sick, I guess. We've been sick more the last two months than we have the last two years combined. I hope after this one passes that we'll get a free pass the rest of the year because taking care of two little energetic rascals while you're sick is just about one of the hardest things I can think of.

I just got called to be the primary pianist in our ward. Seriously? It's quite laughable if you know my true piano playing skills, and musicality in general, are quite lacking. I tried explaining this to the primary president but she thinks I'm just being modest. I took maybe three years of lessons and was by far the worst out of all my siblings. I just didn't care. It's just proof that you can't hide anything in our ward. No talent or half-skill goes unnoticed or unused, which is nice in a way but totally weird in my case when you really can't play the piano and they don't believe you. They'll regret it when the primary program time comes around.

Last thing, and this one is funny: our favorite Mexican restaurant here celebrated Elvis' birthday earlier this week. Brian will kill me for sharing this, but it has to be done. They sent out an email saying if you dressed as Elvis and Priscilla Presley, you got a free meal, so naturally, two Halloween-hating people like ourselves decided we had to give it a go. Brian pulled out the tight t-shirt and leather jacket, rolled up his jeans, etc., and completed the look with hand drawn exaggerated side burns. He actually looked pretty good. I couldn't decide what to do. My baby fine hair won't go big no matter what I do to it, but I tried anyway. It would stay big for a few minutes and then go flat again. The final look was just ratty. But I did have some crazy 70s eyeliner and a shortish dress (as short as I could go without being immodest) with boots and that was about all. The result was Brian looked like Fonzy from Happy Days and I looked like a prostitute. We got the free meals all right but both of us agreed we were far too self-conscious to enjoy it so we won't be doing that again. Ah, fun times. I may post a picture soon.

Month Nine and Sleep Still Not Mine

My sweet little nearly nine month old has decided that waking up two times at night is no longer enough. She's now at four times. FOUR. What the!?!

My only comfort has been knowing that she has good naps, consistently 2-3 hours each. But that is not to be either. She decided to stop that last week. Her new norm is 45 minutes to maybe an hour and a half. HELP! I seriously might go insane.

Before we left for Chicago last month, she was starting to only wake up once a night (you know the thing that most babies do, if that). Then traveling messed that up and life hasn't been the same since.

Seriously, what do I do? Letting her scream for hours in her crib all night long hasn't helped and is even more torturous.

Oh, Livy. You're so cute though.

This is what happens when you never get enough sleep so you rub your eyes while you eat . . .

Here she and James are being rascals. James was walking around wearing Brian's puffer vest telling everyone he was Santa Claus.

 

On a bright note, as you can see, she remains as cute as ever. She's also hilarious. She mimics everything we do, loves to wave goodbye to us as she crawls away, crawls at an alarmingly fast pace, pulls up onto everything and even stands on her own occasionally.  I predict she'll be walking within the next few weeks. Yikes!

Gift Card

Have you ever won a blog giveaway? No? Me either. In fact, I don't think I even know anyone who has ever won. Maybe some day . . .

At any rate, The Pink Peonies blog is doing a $100 J-Crew gift card giveaway. And we all know how I love J-Crew, so if you're feeling like you have a chance, give it a go:

http://www.thepinkpeonies.com/2012/12/jcrew-giveaway-5-winners.html#comment-form