9 months old

Thomas is 9 months old this week! I can't believe it. I feel like he is turning into a little boy right before my eyes. He has been learning and changing so much lately. Here are a few of the big things our little man has been up to recently:

Thomas LOVES the bath tub. Though he has been splashing like crazy for quite a while now, his new thing is sitting up and playing with bath toys. He gets so excited. When we take him into the bathroom and start undressing him he starts kicking his arms and legs in a splashing motion... he knows what's coming!

Thomas has 6 teeth now! He got his top 4 over the past two weeks. Crazy! They are getting more visible everyday, which is changing his look. It is so funny to see his big grin with teeth in it now! He has been chewing on everything and his nose has been running like a faucet. Hopefully his mouth won't hurt him for much longer. This isn't the best picture, but you can see his top two from this angle when he smiles.

Thomas definitely isn't as attached to his pacifier as Maybrie was. But with all of these new teeth breaking through, he has been wanting it more and more. Also, I've managed to get some cuddle time in lately with him not feeling well... which is a rarity and is something I have been cherishing. Nothing better than cuddling a sweet, chubby sleeping baby.

Thomas is now MOBILE!!! Though he has been moving backward and sideways for a while, he really decided to take off forward today. This morning he crawled halfway across the family room into the kitchen after a scout rope Brian left hanging over a dining chair. I couldn't believe it! And all day he has been moving all over getting into things I thought were far out of his reach. He seems very pleased with himself.

Thomas chewing on his "victory" rope! Can you tell he is pleased that he got it all by himself?! What a cutie!

Thomas is a happy child. He laughs and smiles all the time and is just plain cute. He is a GREAT eater. He loves baby food, any kind. He is now eating solids for breakfast and dinner and he loves his little Gerber Graduates snacks. He goes nuts over them! His hair is totally coming in now, especially in the back and it seems to have a little curl. He also has Brian's cowlick. Thomas is such a joy to have around, we are loving him and having so much fun watching him grow (just going by a little too fast for me... though I am looking forward to a full night of uninterrupted sleep!). We love you baby Thomas!

I love my life

Before you read the title of this post and think, "Oh, great! Another post about how perfect someone's life is! Ugh!" read on and see that this is not a post about everything fabulous in my life (though I will touch on many of those too). A while ago I read an article titled "Carpe Diem" that was posted on facebook. A mother named Glennon Melton talks about all of the old ladies who stop her when she is out with her young children and say "Oh, Enjoy every moment. This time goes by so fast." She mentions how guilty that can make her feel because she doesn't always "enjoy every moment." She goes on to talk about Chronos time, regular time that is sometimes slow moving for parents and Kairos time, which is God's time, moments when time stands still and we cherish our role as parent.

I want to share some of the random moments I have experienced lately, taking place in both Chronos and Kairos time. Here are the two munchkins responsible for most of these moments in my life:

THOMAS

• Thomas has cut his top two front teeth over the past couple weeks, and another is almost through. He has four total now, which amazes me since Maybrie didn't have her first tooth till she was 11 mos. old! He has been fussy and his nose runs like crazy, but when he is happy he is really happy. His cuteness kills me every time he smiles and laughs with his funny little teeth showing!
• He is 8 months old now and is almost crawling. He moves backward but not forward, which often leaves him distressed. It is fun to watch him move and play with toys.
• Thomas is still the softest, squishiest, most kissable baby boy! I LOVE it!
• We have discovered Thomas is ticklish on high thighs, which are extra chubby and fun to squeeze... love his belly laugh so much!
• He is an awesome eater. He discovered Gerber graduates lil' crunchies snacks and it is so funny to watch him devour them. He gets so excited! He is really getting the hang of finger foods now.
• He LOVES the bath tub. He could splash and splash forever!
• I love him in his Thomas the tank engine shirt... the name fits!

MAYBRIE

• Maybrie LOVES to sing! She is constantly singing, making up songs about everything she does. Often you can catch a line from a primary or Disney song as well.
• She loves dresses right now and always wants music on so she can dance. Her favorite is "kid music" which refers to the Disney station on Pandora.
• Maybrie loves going to the library for story time each week and especially loves picking out two DVD's to check out each week. They have a good selection and we have managed to get many of the Disney movies we don't own. The best part to me is that it is free!
• She is completely potty trained now and has only had a couple accidents while sleeping. I love buying diapers for only Thomas now!
• She loves to help me cook, especially bake, in the kitchen. She always has to pull up her step stool and see everything that is going on. Her favorite part is licking the mixers and bowl when we make something sweet... of course, what kid doesn't love that?!
• Maybrie is very creative and is always retelling very detailed stories. I love watching her play with her dolls and barbies. My favorite is when she has them play church... so cute!

Licking the mixing spoons after making brownies... I think she got just as much on her face as she did in her mouth!

Being silly wearing daddy's shoes

Random tidbits:

• The other night at dinner Maybrie was wearing this cute puffy white dress that I happen to love. Without thinking I poured her some grape juice. She has never spilled it before, but of course I should have known this night would be different because of what she was wearing. Sure enough she bumped her straw sending the entire cup pouring down the front of her dress! I pulled the dress off and left Brian to clean her and the floor up so I could save the beloved dress! Brian didn't think I could get that much grape juice out of a white dress... but, lo and behold, it all came out! Apparently the spill shocked Maybrie so much she wet her underwear... Brian said her reaction and concern was hilarious. Needless to say, it was a rather eventful dinner!
• Maybrie can be very loud and obnoxious sometimes, and usually at the moment I can't stand it anymore she gets Thomas laughing so hard that her annoying behavior actually becomes acceptable and entertaining! She is great at making him laugh.
• I am in the best shape of my life... probably healthier than I ever was before having kids, even though I was always skinny. I exercise and eat better now and I just feel stronger overall. It is nice to enjoy being in my own skin.
• I have been doing really well on almost all of my goals for the new year. I have especially noticed the difference daily scripture study has made for me, and the added spirit is wonderful.
• Maybrie has discovered her illustrated Book of Mormon and loves to follow along in her book with the DVD reading it. I am amazed by how much she actually remembers. Her favorite story is Lehi's dream, fondly referred to as "the fruit one." I caught her singing "Hold onto the rod and get the fruit" at the table during snack time the other day, it was pretty cute.

Life can be very crazy sometimes, and I often can't wait for Brian to get home at the end of the day or for the hour or two of quiet after the kids are in bed. But I really have a lot of "Kairos" moments that keep me going and make me realize what a truly great life I live.

In a nutshell, life is good!

I love Sundays

This past Sunday while making Valentine's with Maybrie I looked over and saw Brian playing with Thomas and making him laugh. Brian had pulled out the camera to catch Thomas' adorable smile. As I sat on the couch watching Maybrie play with Brian after Thomas was in bed, I thought to myself, "Awww! I LOVE Sundays!" Brian is home, I get to enjoy the spirit at church, I get to relax and enjoy my family at home, there are no chores calling my name, and after everyone is in bed, I get to enjoy the Masterpiece classic Downton Abbey on PBS. Yes, I definitely love Sundays!

My smiley boy playing before bed

My favorite boys- Brian and Thomas

Brian on the phone with Maybrie (in the same room)

Brian's phone is a very cool happy meal version!

Maybrie's hilarious conversation with daddy went on for about 30 minutes straight! I got to coupon clip and laugh on the sidelines. Love it!

Here is a video I caught of the ridiculous energy and humor Maybrie displayed on this particular Sunday evening. It was too long to upload right onto the blog, so follow this link to you tube. Maybrie loves to sing primary songs... and usually while multi-tasking!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kXRqRtxd-6I

Valentine's 2012

On Sunday night Maybrie made her first Valentine's for a little party my friend Melani threw for our preschool age kids on Monday. I thought about buying some valentine's, but then I realized I have plenty of supplies already. Besides, kids just end up throwing them away anyway. I cut hearts out of cardstock and Maybrie had a ball coloring them and putting stickers on.

Decorating sugar cookies at the Valentine party. Once it was frosted Maybrie put some sprinkles on and then just wanted to eat it rather than decorate! I don't blame her, they were yummy!

Her friend Avery on the other hand couldn't get enough frosting and candy on hers!

Halfway through eating her cookie Maybrie decided to add some candy.

On Tuesday, Valentine's day, I made chocolate dipped strawberries for Brian. We had some leftover chocolate, so Maybrie and I dipped graham crackers and marshmallows in it. Yum!

Chocolate dipped strawberries. The kids and I surprised Brian at work with these. It made his day, so I was glad I went through the effort to do it!

For dinner I planned on making homemade pizza because that's what I did on our first Valentine's together, and I kind of want to keep up the tradition. I was so wiped out from the events of the morning and I was babysitting my friend's kids in the afternoon, so I really didn't know how I would fit it in. Thankfully, Brian suggested getting a heartbreaker pizza from Papa Murphy's. I was relieved, and it totally hit the spot.

Maybrie and I decorated the table for our festive dinner consisting of heart-shaped pizza and red juice.

We had a great Valentine's and hope all of you did too. Even though I lost my patience at moments throughout the day while trying to make things extra special. Overall the day was a good reminder of how many people I love, especially my dear husband and children.

Haircut

So, I forgot to take a good before picture of my hair before I cut it. This is one of the best pictures I have showing the length of my hair, and it was taken in October, almost 4 months ago, so it was even longer just before I cut it.

BEFORE

AFTER

Up close

I got it cut for free. A hair school needed models, so I decided to go for it. They didn't take the time to dry and style it, and when I left the salon I was actually kind of upset. Thankfully, after drying and styling it at home, I found I do like it. I am glad I didn't have to pay to get it fixed or go shorter than I want right now. I cut off a good 5 inches or so probably, it was getting really long. It feels much healthier and lighter and doesn't take nearly as long to dry. A much needed change.

And just for my own sake to see my weight loss progress, I decided to compare a picture of myself back in October when I was finally fitting into my size 6 jeans with a picture of myself today. I am now wearing a size 2. I have dropped 2 jean sizes and have gone from a large top to fitting small & medium. Now that I've lost all of this weight, 35+ lbs. in the past 7 months since Thomas was born, I am wishing that I took more pictures of myself so I could see the transition. Oh, well.

Homemade Bread & Scones

I have been meaning to learn how to bake bread from my mother-in-law for a while now. She is known for her delicious bread. I finally got bread pans for Christmas this year, so I am officially out of excuses! Today was the day. My mother-in-law came over and gave me a tutorial. I made 3 loaves of bread and a batch of scones for lunch. I was so pleased with how they turned out. And Brian was so excited! Now the true test will be whether I can have the same success all by myself!

Scones

Bread

Yummy yummy in my tummy!

Kicking off the month of LOVE

I have always loved Valentine's, especially the decorations. I just love the red and pink and hearts... it just makes me happy! I know some people who hate the holiday and are bitter because they don't have a Valentine, and honestly this could have easily been me too since I never had a Valentine on Valentine's day until I was married! But, this was never the case. I was always content with a bag of cinnamon lips or cherry hearts shared with my family! I decided to ignore some of the dreary weather outside and brighten up my place with a simple and free craft. I made a heart wreath. All it took was a heart cut out of cardboard, red and pink tissue paper cut into 1" squares, a pencil, Elmer's glue, and a little time... though it went by really fast. This is totally a kid's craft, but I think it turned out pretty cute and from a distance it almost looks like I bought it! :)

Tissue paper squares

Gluing them on

The finished product on my wall

This week my mom came from Utah to Pasco to watch my sister's three kids while they went to Mexico. I don't get to see my mom nearly enough, and since Brian would be busy with end-of-the-month inventory at work, I decided to head to Pasco for a few days. I didn't realize how much I miss talking with my mom until I got several days full of great conversation with her. Whenever we go visit Utah now there is always so much family to talk to that I never get all of the visiting in that I would like. It was nice to have one-on-one time with my mom. Plus, yesterday was her birthday so it was fun to be with her on her special day to celebrate. We went to lunch, and it still cracks me up that she chose Burger King. I would have taken her somewhere nicer but she just wanted a burger. She said it has been a long time since my dad is so serious about his weight watchers goals! ha ha!

My mom with Thomas and Ren

Maybrie and Naomi (when they were playing well together! :))

My mom and the kids eating birthday cake. As always I forgot to get a picture of me with my mom. I am always taking the pictures or too busy with the kids to get around to it! Oh, well. At least I caught a couple shots!

Kicking off this month of love I just want to leave a special love note to my sweet mom! I love you mom and had a great time visiting with you this week. Thanks for your constant love and support and the amazing example you are to me. I love you so much!