February & March(ish)

Tessie's Birthday, the big 2-9! 

Mine & Liv's sugar cookies

 

I did Liver's nails for her first day of her new school, & my own for fun :)

 

Grammy & Poppy came over to help us hang up some new stuff I got. What would we do without them?! They are awesome!

 

Poppy showing Tater how to use a screwdriver while Grammy is taking a typing test with Liv.

 

Cutest kids :)

Me n Liv had an at-home-spa-day. You can see here that she didn't want me taking pics. It was fun though. We deep conditioned our hair, scrubbed our hands & did manicures, used my face brush & did masks, & I painted her toenails.

 

Another try for a pic

Hangin out with Poppy.

He loves my dad to drive him in a circle around the living room, laundry room, & bathroom in his little car. Poppy even lined the wheels with felt so it didn't scratch the floors & he could push Tater around all night :)

 

 

Disney On Ice "Dare To Dream"

We surprised my mom with tickets for this.

 

 All the cute girls

I was getting my hair cut & Liv talked me into spur of the moment bangs!

Yikes! I was nervous, but went for it. We took this pic & sent it to Bobby at work, & told him I cut ALL my hair super short. Hehe sneaky.

 

Haha. I sent Bobby this pic later. Bangs don't seem as drastic when he thinks I cut ALL my hair off, right?

This is the finished result. I have to say I like it & I'm surprised because I swear I haven't had my hair different in probably ten years! I wish I had Russie to do my hair everyDAY though!

 

We went to visit Gramma Sandi & Grampa Bob. We had so much fun! She has a gigantic toy box that Tater has learned to dump & LOVES to explore everything in it.

She also is an amazing cook & made us pretty much a Thanksgiving spread! She cooked the ham we got from work for Christmas. De-lish!

Tater tried pie for his first time. Chocolate & banana cream. Yumm-y!

 

Gramma & Grampa watched Tater while Bobby, Livy, & I enjoyed their awesome hot tub. It is so nice & felt amazing in the cool air. I want one!

 Thanks guys!

 

 

 

 

 

Tate is 7 months!

 

My baby boy is sooo big! This has to be my favorite month! ( I always think that, but for SURE this time ;)) He has more consistently slept through the night, he is so fun & interactive. He talks a ton, & he just gets squishier by the day! I love it!

What a joy this boy brings us ALL.

 

Tater is 7 months old!

What's new with Tate this month:

 

1.He can sit up in the bathtub

 

2. He learned to sound like a whoopie cushion with his mouth. He scrunches up his face & I'm not sure which is more funny, the sound or the expression!

 

3. His new favorite objects lately are the old VCR remote & the mini whisk Melissa gave me for Christmas. His favorite ACTUAL toys are his shape house, shark finger puppet, & his blocks. He loves banging them together & knocking over towers Mommy builds.

 

4. Stilllll loves the jumper. Thanks Gramma Sandi! It's a lifesaver!

 

5. He tried his first grown-up food, pureed raviolis we had from our dinner. He loved them!

 

6. He loves to stare at the other babies @ church. It's cute. He's so interested in EVerything.

 

7. We switched him to his big boy carseat. I think he likes it better because he will actually fall asleep in it sometimes.

 

8. He isn't crawling, but he scoots backwards good! He can also maneuver himself by turning around somehow because I will set him down, & he will be in a different spot when I turn around.

 

9. He loves to eat my face. My chin especially. It's so cute, but I have to admit the slobber grosses me out. He totally spit in my nose the other day!

 

10. He is wearing 9 or 12 month clothes & still in size 3 diapers. I'm not sure why jammies run so small, but he wears 12-18 months in those. Bobby likes to buy him the separates that are kinda tight & look so cute on his little bod.

 

11. He's still tough to feed. I will nurse him, have to switch sides twice to keep him interested, & sometimes he won't eat, so we will try to give him a bottle of breastmilk, which he won't eat UNLESS he's in his crib. Weird, but it works. However we have to get him full & sleep!

He is such a peculiar child!

 

12. He got really sick for the first time :( He coughed so hard he would throw up & cry :( Breaks my heart!!

 

13. He claps & gives high fives. We are working on blowing kisses.

 

14. He sort-of-kind-of-I hate-to-even-jinx-it (wince) has a routine. We will try for bed around 10ish. He will finally go to sleep anytime between then & 12:30a.m (usually the latter no matter how tired he is). He will wake up between 7a-8a (as I write this though he has woke up during the night hysterical & hungry the last three nights!) sometimes even 9am (or both-he got into a habit of waking up at 9 & can't shake it, even if he was just up at 7), eat, (sometimes stay up for a few hours (ugh)) & then nap until 11 or 12 to get up for good for the day. He will go down for a nap around 2-2:30pm & sometimes around 6pm (or not at all :) Yay) Reading over this it doesn't sound too consistent, but he's come a long way!  Way to go Tater!

 

Here are some pics of my gorgeous boy this month. I love him so so much I could eat him!

 

Seriously, how cute is this kid??!!

This is after Grammy gave him a bath.

They're so nice, they watched him so me & Liv could have some girl time

 

Still loves to read

 

Mommy grabbed her phone to take a picture & this is what happened!

Gigantic oatmeal mess!

 

Look at this body!

 

This is one of his favorite books, "Fingers & Toes." Zach, Tessie, & Dakota gave it to him in the hospital. He loves it. I have it memorized :)

His other favorite book is still "I Ruff You" from Grammy n Poppy.

Look how cute his fuzzy hair looks :)

 

I could eat him :)

 

First walk outside in a looong time.

It was around 55-60 degrees & felt sooo nice! Can't wait for real Spring!

 

Our nightly ritual of trying to get him to bed.

I sent this to Bobby @ work.

Can you see him wedged horizontally in the corner clapping & kicking his feet against the crib? He seriously takes about two hours to calm down & sleep sometimes.

He's crazy :)

Look at that thick hair coming in! I swear I can watch it grow daily!

Splashy splashy! He still loves the bath!

 

Sitting up in Mommy's tub like a big boy!

He's getting to big for his little hippo bath :)

 

Playing with favorite new toys. Ikea shape house & finger puppets from Grammy n Poppy for Valentine's Day.

 

Trying his raviolis & pureed pears Mommy made him. Yummy!

 

Sittin his new St. Patty's chair in his cute new jammers Daddy got him!

 

 

 

Salt Lake Overnighter

So I thought it would be fun & nice to take the fam for a little overnighter since Tate had been sleeping through the night for a few weeks. Except the week preceding our little vacay Tate started waking during the night WITH A vengeance (for me of course. He is always good for his dad. I kind of think he is a party animal with me & you know,  he HAS to wind down at some point, & lucky Bobby always gets those nights it seems). Anyways, I was nervous about it, but didn't want to let Livers down, & still thought we could possibly have a fun time. So still on for our plans. Liv helped me look up hotels (I was surprising Bobby). We came across the Shilo Inn, which is older, but had a 24 hr indoor pool, a hot tub, we could bring HoneyBun,&  they had free breakfast. Sounded pretty good. So I had Liv google it & Shilo Inn HAUNTED, Shilo Inn MURDERS, Shilo Inn GHOSTS all pop up. Yikes! So she proceeded to read & we found out in the 70's a mom threw all her children off the balcony, making the oldest help her, & then finished with tossing her off. One survived, I will have to google it later. Maybe. I'm a pretty big chicken. Liv was of course enthralled with the idea that it was haunted so she HAD to stay here. Nervous, but okay, I agreed. She finished reading how the maintenance workers had several encounters & said the "energies" seemed to be friendly & played little tricks on him frequently. We read another encounter from an out-of-towner there on business. She heard what sounded like children giggling & playing in her chest of drawers.

 FREAK-Y! Still, I agreed.

 

We had a great time at first, Tate loved the pool,then we ate at Squatters. It was SO delish! We had a blast back at the hotel playing Liv's games on her kindle & tryin to get Tater to sleep. Well...this is how the night went.

 

12:30- Tate finally asleep

1:30ish- coughing fit from Liv, yet she somehow is sleeping through it. I did bring Nyquil for her so she could feel good, AND if Tate was being a stinker keeping us all up.

2:15ish- Bobby wakes up (after keeping me up with snoring :)) His arm hurts, he goes to the bathroom, walks around, gets a drink.

3am- finally able to drift off to sleep & all of a sudden Tate wakes up SHRIEKING. I think he had gas pains. Poor baby :( He was inconsolable for about 20 minutes. After we got him to settle down I figured I would try & feed him since he last ate at 10pm.

4:30-Tate down & asleep. YES!

5:30- Nicki Minaj or some female singing some crazy song blaring on Liv's phone alarm. She silences it after we wake her up. It proceeds to alarm TWO more times.

5:45am- Bobby wants to tell me as I am trying to go to sleep about his ghostly encounter in the bathroom. Are you serious!!?? I say absolutely not. Tell me later!

6am-sweet sleeping slumber atlast!!!

9am-Tate is awake. Doesn't usually get up this early, so we try putting him back down after he eats. I go to get our free breakfast to eat later. Line out the door due to some "gun" convention in town. No luck.Back to room, Tate is still awake. Lay him in between us. Hold bink in. Swaddle (arms free of course, hated it since he was brand new.) Snuggle, Sing, Tickle face.

11am-Give up. Go home. Will not repeat the bickering back & forth between Bobby & I ;). Despite the evening we are all happy, & giggling on way home.

Success?

Not sure

............

 

K. FREA-KY! So on the way home I asked Bobby what he had wanted to tell me about his bathroom experience earlier. He said that he thought Liv & I were playing a joke on him so he didn't mention it because he didn't want us to think we had gotten him. I guess when he was in there he heard a little girl's voice talking & giggling. He said it was by the bathtub or just outside the door .He heard whispering (how kids whisper super loud ya know ;)) & giggling. He couldn't make out the words, but said it was too loud to disregard. He forgot about it until later.

THEN, when Tate woke up screaming at 3ish he said he rolled over & thought he saw me leaning over the crib, except he rolled all the way over & then saw me laying next to him! He looked again & whatever he saw was gone. K. I am officially freaked out! And might I admit, MAD! Did this woman wake my stinkin baby up after we FINALLY got him to sleep!!?? Jk ;)

SOOOooo glad he didn't tell me this until we were on our way home!

 

 

Look at that cute face & body!

Glad we got to use this swimsuit because I am afraid he won't fit in it by summertime even though it's 12 months!

Swimmin with Daddy & Sissy

 

 

Dad & Liv playin on her kindle. We played this hidden object game. It is superfun!

Liv is awesome at it!

I'm not so bad myself ;)

 

Tater helpin Liv ;)

Carryin Tater out with the luggage :)

Beauty Is...

My mom is the Stake Young Women's President & she planned a really great evening for mothers & daughters.The them was "What Beaty Is.." How appropriate for my beautiful mother to plan this!

 Now that we have Liv full time she got to come with me & I was so glad! We met Ashley & Tessie there, & awesome Poppy baby-sat Tater for me. Zach & Dakota were there too so it was a boys night at home! ;)

My mom found this wonderful young woman to speak about "What beauty is..."  She did such a GREAT job, & I was so thrilled to be there & have Livy hear what she had to say too.

This beautiful girl had cancer, went through chemo, & had made it through these trials a stronger, & more beautiful woman. She was so inspirational, & fun to listen to. She is one of those people you instantly like & could sit & chit-chat with.

She said so many cool things that really made you think. Tessie mentioned it in her blog too, but anyways she said, "When you wake up in the morning who do you ask if you are beautiful?" Satan? He will always try to make you feel like you aren't good enough. If you ask Heavenly Father he would tell you everyday that you are beautiful & he made you exactly how he wants you, indiividual & perfect, just the way you are.

Something she & also my mom talked about is how Heavenly Father made us in his likeness, most likely what our Heavenly Mother looks like. My mom mentioned that our bodies are gifts. If someone gives us a gift do we ever say:

I don't like it, can I have something else??

It probably hurts Heavenly Father's feelings that we ever think that about such a beautiful & wonderful gift he has given us. I know that really hit home with me & I totally agree that it is very important to look at it this way!

My mom did such a wonderful job planning everything! Two talented women sang a beautiful musical number, & at the end ALL the young women got up on the stage & sang a beautiful musical number that made you want to cry. It was really neat to see each girl & how different they were, each one special & beautiful in her own way.

It seemed likethe night went perfectly, even down to the refreshments (de-lish!)

Someone had made cookie dough balls & drizzled chocolate over them. Wow-SA! They were sooo good!

 

It was such a special evening & I am so proud of my mom for bringing it all together. Of course she got tons of compliments on it & everyone raved to us how much they love her & what a special & wonderful person she is.  This we know of course, but I'm glad they see it too :) My Mom is a person that radiates beauty inside & out, she is filled with love, there for you ANYtime, always has an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on (I'm tearing up right now just thinking of what a great mom she is), makes you feel beautiful & special, she  maintains a lovely & inviting home, she balances everything in life SO great & is a wonderful example of beauty.

 

Way to go Momma! You are awesome & a true example of what beauty is, INSIDE & out!

 

 

Cousin Craft Day

My cute mom is so much fun. She had been wanting to plan a cousin day forever, but we all kept getting colds at slightly different times. Finally, we were able to do it & it was SO cute & fun. She is seriously the best. So is Poppy, of course :)

We had a pizza party, & made snow globes! They turned out darling & Tater is fascinated with them. In fact, we were just admiring them today!

Thanks Grammy & Poppy!

We love you!

 

Finished products

I kinda screwed up Taters. Sorry buddy!

The cute display. I took a picture for Livy because she couldn't be there.

Kota had a blast!

Playing with Poppy

Kisses from Grammy

 

Singing happy belated birthday to Houston ;)

Chowin down

Snuggles from Grandma Marilyn

 

Don't mind the looks of Mommy. I worked the night before & had 3 hours of sleep.

 Total, not consecutive :)

Gotta love it

Hooray

I just got to do yoga & it felt A-MA-ZING! My poor, sweet baby is sick & it breaks my heart!!! It is so different than work. Of course I feel so bad for the little ones we take care of, of course! I have to say though it attacks my heart to the core to hear my baby cough like that :( he has been such a happy boy too, despite feeling awful. He is taking long naps too, which I do not mean to sound SO excited about, but I can't help it! He still doesn't nurse, eat, or sleep well, so it is kinda cool that he is resting his little bod & healing. Mommy enjoys a little alone time. Hence the blogging & yoga. It felt so good. I wish I could exercise more, but it is seriously impossible with all we've had going on. Any chance I get I try to take a nap, which usually never happens because as soon as I lay down Tate is awake. He has been up coughing all night too since he's been sick. Allll night. Poor baby :( Anyways, love my little man & I hope he feels better super quick, but hooray for yoga today!

Yay!

Liv's first day of her new school

Can I just say how proud I am of Liv?! She is such an amazing girl. She is so fun, brave, kindhearted, outgoing, beautiful on the outside AND INSIDE. She is funny, smart, has great style, she is a great daughter, a wonderful sister, such a big help around the house & with Tate. She is talented, a really good friend, and very sensitive to other's feelings. I can't say enough good things about this girl.

I am so proud of how well she is adjusting to her new school. She has made lots of new friends alread y& seems to be quite the hit. Not a surprise :) She has such a great attitude too, making sure to give it a chance.

Way to go Livers. We love you.