Here are some new things my 14 month old can do...


Now that my little "baby cakes" is really no longer a baby I should add some of the new things that he can do.

-He started walking at about 13 months, and now alternates between that and running.
-He can crawl backwards down the stairs.
-He can take off his own pants (only sweatpants or others that are loose like that).
-He can take lids off of containers and put them back on.
-He knows what the mouse is for the computer and will put an old one that we store in a cupboard up by the good one whenever he finds it.
-He loves to rearrange my kitchen drawers. I often find the tv remotes and toys in there, while my Tupperware and utensils are constantly being found in his toy basket.
-He is finally starting to cuddle more.
-Still loves all people and isn't afraid of anyone.
-He loves to play outside with the kids.
-Goes down the slide--his favorite is to go down backwards.
-He closes his eyes tight when you tell him to close them.
-He gets to ride in his big boy car seat and will fake cough to get attention, and then the minute we turn back around he coughs again!!
-He can reach anything on the table or counter that isn't at least 6 inches in, and has therefore broken a plate already :)
-He loves to talk on the phone and will turn ours on and off a thousand times a day pretending to talk to people.
-He babbles constantly, but unfortunately is not the best talker. At least we can understand him with the signs that he knows.


Signs he knows (I'm numbering them because I want to know how many he knows, and it's just easier for me this way):
1. food
2. more
3. milk
4. please
5. all done
6. banana
7. apple
8. bye-bye
9. blows kisses (this one took forever for him to get down)
10. claps for yeah
11. water
12. bath
13. love you
14. frog
15. monkey
16. phone
17. fish
18. yes
19. no--shakes head
20. book
21. wash hands
22. song
23. prayer
24. all gone
25. brush teeth
Words he knows (most of these are just sounds that he makes to refer to the word):
1. "de"--dog
2. "kiee"--kitty
3. "chee"--cheese
4. "hee"--horse, what it says
5. "jes"--Jesus
6. "sh"--shoe
7. "s"--sock

Hopefully he'll get some real words in there soon--most importantly MOM!! :)

So I've been trying to post some family pictures that we had taken a month or so ago, but I can't get my internet to upload any of my pictures. I tried twice yesterday and twice today, but nothing is working. So, I'm not going to post any pictures for the time being--this is why I never post, because I can never get it to work and something that should take 20 min. or so, ends up taking over an hour. Do you seriously think I have an hour of free time with my wild little monkey??? NO!
I am going to make this quick and catch you up on what's been going on (until I can get pictures and show you).
My little boy turned one, and is now such a big boy!!
He started walking here and there around then, but just recently has really taken off.
With a little bit of work, he is finally drinking milk better, and by 13 months, I was finally done nursing him. I miss so many parts of it, but am grateful for the freedom in so many other ways. I just feel lucky that he did so well breastfeeding for as long as he did, and that I got the opportunity to do so.
I get to work for the District Office a couple hours a week. So between the baby, tutoring, and that I am keeping pretty busy.
My tile still has not been cleaned (I sweep it regularly, but don't hand wash it regularly enough)--I won't tell you how long it's been.
I canned peaches, apricots, peach and apricot jam, salsa, and tomatoes...which is part of the reason that I never mopped my floor--it just kept on getting dirty :)
I am going to be an aunt (on my own side of the family). My sister is having a little girl in Feb.!!! Now I get to be the one that keeps her baby from taking her naps on time so I can spend time with her--just you wait Hayley!
We went to Texas and visited Creighton's brother and my dear, dear friend Megan and her family!!

That's about all of the major stuff. Hopefully I will get this dumb picture problem figured out and I will post some family pix and some pix of the baby's b-day.

Quick question...

How do you/did you wean your baby? Any suggestions or pointers? He doesn't take a bottle, but does drink from a sippy cup, and so we are trying to give him whole milk from that, but he doesn't seem to like the milk too much. I have dropped 1 of the 4 feedings he was having, but I'm not sure how to go about dropping the other 3, especially if he is drinking less than an 1/8 cup of milk a day...help please!

Quick Post-I finally did it...

Yes, it is true, I have finally joined the throngs of others who are apart of the Facebook community. I have held out for quite some time now, even with my sister threatening to start one for me herself, but after a few of my friends connecting up with my husband to be able to connect with me, I figured it was time to get my own account. I've been trying to send invites to people I know, but it's a little overwhelming, plus I forget who I have searched, or already sent an invite too. So, if you would like to be my Facebook friend, and I haven't contacted you yet about it, send me an invite and we can be pals! (It all is a little cheesy for me, which is part of the reason I didn't sign up at first, it just seemed like everyone was doing it because everyone else was...and now so am I)!! But I would love to be your friend--I've got to beat my sister friend count which is in the high 700's (just kidding, I could never keep track of that many people).
More pictures will be coming, hopefully by the weekend, as we celebrate little guy's first birthday! They should be entertaining, as always!

It's been over two months...AAHHH!!!!!

(I am pretty sure that most people no longer check my blog because I have been a slacker blogger lately, so I guess this post is for my dedicated readers--mom, Hayley, Mandy and anyone else out there who is interested. I am going to try and be better at blogging, but our computer has literally been the beast from H..L and I am soo sick and tired of it, but not quite willing to fork out the money for the Mac I want (especially since we just got new brakes on my car, and my husband's job is a job-which we are grateful for-but a little on the low end of the "income" pole). Plus I was basically out of town for all of July, so that makes it hard to post too. But enough of the excuses, I will try harder.
And now for your viewing pleasure...



My baby is (almost) no longer a baby! It's sad but true. He is the sweetest thing ever, but growing and developing so quickly. Here are some things he can do (although some of them he does more consistently than others):

(new items updated in red)
sign-more
sign-fish
sign-mom (although he's only done this for one day)
sign-eat
sign-milk
wave
he has invented his own sign for food and yes
get into everything (literally, he even climbs the stove--while I'm cooking)
has 7 teeth
gives kisses
can say "ch" for a train, "k" for kitty, "s" for snake
clap his hands
raise his hands for "up in the oven," from pat-a-cake
feed himself (finger foods)
drink from a cup regularly
hold a spoon, and tries to feed himself but usually ends up gagging
open the top drawers in the kitchen
walk around furniture while holding on
speed crawl everywhere
climb onto the couches and ottoman by himself
make tons of silly faces
climb his chair to look out the window
dance
he loves to be chased around the house
play peek-a-boo
he loves to read books, alone and with others
behave in the car while driving from CA to UT (even while having the flu and throwing up on me at Carl's Jr.) and while driving from UT to TX and back...

He is truly the most enjoyable baby there is. He is a good sport about everything and is generally happy and content as long as he is fed and gets his regular sleep. He continually makes us laugh and enjoys laughing with us. This past year has been a whirlwind, but we are loving every moment of it. If only I could make the time go by more slowly so he could always be my baby.

Two great weeks of deals...

Since the beginning of the year I have become more and more aware of our grocery budget and have been trying to find different ways to cut our monthly bill down. One of the best things I have found since I started this was http://theobsessiveshopper.net/. I follow her system and use the grocery smart page to find out what the best deals are at the different stores and what coupons to use to go along with them. Albertsons is WAY over priced for me on a regular basis, but their sales are AMAZING!! So here is last weeks' finds (pictured first) and this weeks' finds. The best thing I have found is their weekly double coupons they have been printing, they are such a blessing :) Oh and last week I really needed some good deals because I accidently left the refrigerator cracked open on Sat. night and woke up to a fridge full of bad food--including $25.00 in chicken I had purchased on sale and was going to split up and put in the freezer the next morning. It was about $50.00 in food I had to throw away, so I definitely needed to replace some items and Albertsons sale helped some!

Kraft Special--I bought:
1 Miracle Whip
1 Mayo
9 Jello's
3 bags of Kraft Cheese
2 pkg. of Oscar Mayer Lunch Meat
4 CPK pizzas
4 DiGiorno Flatbread Pizzas
1 McCormick Grinder

The orginal prices on these items would have cost me $80.35, but I paid........ $6.67!! (Which is about 92% savings!!!!--one of my best shopping trips yet!)

This week it was a GM deal:
2 boxes of Golden Grahams @ $.70 each
6 boxes of BC pasta mix @ $.45 each
4 jars of Ragu @ $.45 each
2 jars peanut butter @ $.40 each
3 Wishbone dressings FREE
1 Wishbond dressing @ $1.00
1 KEN's salad dressing FREE
1 KEN's sald dressing $ 1.00
1 BC Cake mix @ $.75
1 BC Frosting @ $.40
2 Skintimate shave gels @ $.75 each
3 Old Spice deodorants @ $1.50 each
1 Secret deodorant @ $2.79
2 Bertolli pasta sauces @ $.45 each
2 Breyers ice creams FREE
4 bottles of ALL detergent @ $1.70 each

For a grand total of....$28.39, which would have originally cost me $136.57 (Which is about 80% savings)

Pretty crazy huh?! Now I just have to find room for it all in my pantry or under my stairs (my new food storage room :) )

Swimming lessons have begun...

On Monday we started swim lessons, and to say that he enjoys them is quite the understatement. He is the youngest in the class, but doesn't even flinch in the water. He has always loved being in the bath and shower, but a huge pool is something totally different. I was so relieved to see how much he enjoyed it. He really isn't learning too much, like some of the older kids are. But I'm learning how to help him, and he's getting comfortable with the water which is what I wanted most of all. I am so glad that I have the opportunity to do this with him. It's so much fun for both of us, and definitely worth it. Here's to many more days of fun in the sun!

A quick check on the sleeping babe...

Monday night I went in to check on the baby while he was sleeping and this is what I found--

How on earth do you sleep like that with your legs all caught up in the crib bars??? After the 3rd picture he just pulled his legs out and turned over in his sleep. It was pretty cute :) (Oh, and can you see the lovely teeth marks all over the rail? They are horrible, it makes me so sad to think that we spent so much money on something and he is just destroying it--even though I knew that would happen, I still hate it).

Where Does the Time Go????

I seriously have no clue as to where the time goes each day. I feel like I have just woken up for the morning, and the next thing I know I am putting my baby back down for bed. It honestly tears at me each night when I have to put him down for bed. It's just another day that has come and gone. Another day that I won't get back. Another day where my baby is growing up way too quickly. Another day that I don't want to see go. But of course I love to see him change and develop each day. I love all of his discoveries and new adventures. I love absolutely everything about him. I just wish I could enjoy each day longer, and I wish I could remember everyday perfectly so I wouldn't feel like his life was rushing past me at full speed. I know this will sound stupid (and obviously I will have more kids one day but) but there are so many times when I can't even fathom the idea of having more children, because I am so afraid of what I'll miss in his life. Plus, I know that I will never be able to dedicate as much time and attention to any of my other kids, like I have to him. And if my time with him seems too short already, I don't even want to think about how much shorter it will be with the ones to come...I know, I know-that sounds stupid. Oh the joys of motherhood-literally :)

Now on to a happier note. So I finally completed one of the many sewing projects I have been working on for about 6 months now. I had everything done on it, except for the quilting and binding. I am not dedicated enough to hand quilt, but however had no skills on machine quilting--hence the 6 months of nothing. Finally in Feb. I got a machine quilting book, and this last week I did some practicing (still need soooo much more) and decided to just go for it and try quilting a Halloween table runner I made. It definitely could be much better, but it could also be much worse. So, I'd have to say it's not too bad for my first time. I learned a few things from doing the quilting and the binding, so hopefully my next ones will get better each time. I am going to try a different type of free hand pattern on the next one I do, and see if that one flows more easily for me. Hoepfully one day I'll feel like I can do it well enough to make a nice blanket or something--we'll see!

Also, my friend Julie had a baby girl on Friday and I got to go see her at the hospital Saturday. It was so fun to hold a newborn baby again. I haven't held one so little since it was my own I was holding. She is such a sweet and cute little thing! Congrats Julie! Oh, and her labor was approx. 3 1/2-4 hours long. She was in the hospital less than an hour before the baby came. AND the baby was about 1/2 way out, while she's telling the Dr. the baby was coming out, before the Dr. looked under the drape and was like, oh she is here! Julie delivered naturally--she's super mom!

Next week I start my "Mom and Tot" swim class. It should be fun. He absolutely loves bath and shower time, so I am hoping the pool isn't too much of a transition. I need to find out if we are suppose to bring a flotation device of some sort for him...I'll have to call on that one. I'll be sure to post some pictures, and maybe even some video (if Creighton gets the computer updated and uploads some video-hint hint :) ).

I guess I will end with some fun pictures--enjoy! Happy Memorial Day!!

This is a constant expression on his face--yes, and the drool is a constant too (just look for the drenched shirt or glistening spots on his chest in the following pictures!!).

Just a cute overall outfit picture.

Do you like the mohawk?? Can you even see it? :) Yeah, he doesn't have much hair, and what he does have is pretty light.

On Thurs. we attempted to go on the Stewart Falls hike out of Sundance, but that starting point was closed off, and we didn't want to have to pay to go on the hike (plus a storm was coming in). So he got to enjoy about 10 minutes of the carrier--but he loved every minute of it!!

He loves how the grass feels in his fingers and is always picking it (and putting it in his mouth of course!)

Here he is trying to call Grandma :) He actually does listen to people when they are on the phone, but after a minute or too, he tries to push buttons and eat the phone!

(I have no idea if that is water or slobber on his neck)

Please ignore the make-up(less) mom in this picture, but I just love how he looks at me sometimes.

Enjoying a picnic and a day out at the park.

(Told you so).

"Oh Mom, I'm so parched after all of my delightful snacks, may I have a please have a drink of water?"

BYE!!

Yeah!! Finally!!!

(Lots of pictures and a little note at the end)

So here's a quick run down of what's been going on with us, well the baby mostly :)

7 month picture with Snoopy (notice the Snoopy shirt he's wearing!)

First time in his new high chair! He loves every type of baby food, which is soooo nice. He's not picky at all, as long as you keep it coming. He even slaps his hand on the tray to remind you he needs more :)

Easter Sunday! We celebrated Easter on Friday since my mom and two brothers were in town. So my sister and her husband came down after work and we had a nice Easter dinner together. It was fun. But we were very sad to see them leave. We spiked his hair for the first time on Sunday. It's hard to tell though in the picture because he doesn't have a lot of it, and his hair is lighter so it doesn't show up as well. He looks so grown up in this outfit. Where's my baby gone??? I love every new stage of life for him, but I miss all of the old ones too...

He now pulls himself up into the standing position and walks around the ottoman. Just about every time he wakes up from his naps or first thing in the morning, we find him standing up in his crib (chewing on the rail with his new bottom teeth) waiting for us to come and get him.

8 month picture. I told him to get Snoopy, and this is what he did. I wish I had video taped it too, so you could hear him growling at Snoopy while he slobbered all over him. I was laughing sooo hard!!!

Getting to enjoy some sun, finally. He absolutely loves to be outside, and I am trying to let him enjoy it every chance I get. We tried out the swings by our house a week or so ago and he just squealed the whole time with delight. He had so much fun, in case you couldn't tell :)

He wouldn't leave his sunglasses on very long, but we are trying to get him used to them since he looks so studly in them. What a handsome guy! He's one cool dude!!

The last couple of weeks have been a little busier for me because I am now the Treasurer of our HOA, and since we are taking over the HOA from the builders that means a lot of work for us. I've also been helping out the district with some math stuff, which keeps me busy, but I get paid for it, so I can't complain.

I signed up for a mom and tot swim class at the AF rec center, for the first week of June. I'm excited to have something to look forward too, plus the baby loves taking baths and showers so I think/hope it will be a lot of fun for him. I want him to be used to the water so we can go swimming frequently this summer (gotta enjoy the summer since I spent last summer pregnant and afraid of seeing my old students in a bathing suit-he he!) and every future summer.

This Friday I met up with some old college roommates and we went to dinner and a movie. It was so much fun to catch up and see them again. We were just missing one roommate, missed ya Erin! Dinner was delicious--you can never go wrong with CPK, but the movie was awful. Heads up, don't go see, "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" we ended up walking out of it (along with about 15-20+ people) it was just really trashy, but luckily they gave us a refund on our money. So we went and got some yummy ice cream and talked some more till it was getting late and we had to get back to families. I really hope this is a tradition we can continue in the years to come. I loved living with those girls and it is so much fun to get together and reminiss about the old times, and learn about the new and upcoming things in each others lives as well.

So overall it's been a busy, but fun week. I just hope it doesn't rain too much this week, so I can get outside some more.

I know, I know...
It's been a while since my last post. Things were busy and fun a couple of weeks ago, and now...I don't know. I don't seem to have a lot to say right now. Who knows, maybe tomorrow:) I do, of course, have some pictures that need to be uploaded, but our crappy (and that's putting it mildly) computer is so here and there, that it isn't worth the effort right now to try and get them uploaded, only to have them deleted or something to that extent. So, yes, I know I need to update my blog, but at this moment, I'm just not in the mood.

A finished product for Hayley...

Here's what I worked one day last week. I took these two cute fabrics my sister picked out, and then...after a little bit of cutting, pressing, and sewing...

I got this. I think it turned out pretty cute actually. The sewing isn't perfect, but it is still cute, it was easy to make, and all it cost was the price of the fabric, so hopefully she likes it. Now my sister just has to come over and try it on to make sure the length is right, and then it's hers :) Hope you like it Hayley!

Playing Catch Up...

Obviously it has been a while since I have posted. I was in CA again for about 2 weeks, and then our internet was down for about a week, and after that...I don't have an excuse :( But I will try and catch you all up on what we've been doing.
In the middle of Feb. the baby and I went to CA to see my brother who returned home from his mission. It was fun to get to see him again and here him speak in Tagalic (sp??). It was hard to leave Creighton here in UT all alone for such a long time without getting to see the baby. We also had our first flight together, it was a little hard at the airport all by myself, but we made it. He was a really good baby too. All in all, it was definitely a success.

Here's a picture of him on an airplane for the first time. This was the second leg of our flight, we had our own row--heavenly.

Creighton ended up surprising me with flowers on Valentine's day. They were delivered to my parent's house. They were absolutely beautiful. It was so sweet of him. Then 2 days later the best surprise came when Creighton showed up at my parent's house to visit for about 5 days. We had a great time and got to go visit some fun areas in San Diego.

Here's a picture of my brother Logan with the baby!!

He had his 6 month check-up at the end of the month and is now 30% in weight (16 lb. 8 oz), 75% for height (26.75 in) and 30% for head circumference. He is growing quickly! The best part of the visit was when he got his shots. He let out the slightest whimper and then smiled at the nurse!! What a tough guy! We had to take a picture of him with his soccer band aids to commemorate the day.

And as you can see below, he now can sit-up all by himself, and as of yesterday, he can pull himself up into sitting position. He is scooting all around, but isn't quite crawling yet.

He also started eating cereal last month, and he loved it. He has done so well with it, not a single problem. In fact, as far as he is concerned, the only problem is that there is never enough for him :)

On the 5th of March we went to the Draper Temple Open House. It is such a beautiful temple. And I absolutely loved the fact that the three of us were able to go there together. It is not very often that parents and children get to be in the special areas of the temple together, and so it was a very memorable day for us. We look forward to going to the next Temple Open House when the other new one opens in a couple of months.

Other than that, not too much else is going on. I am going to be making an apron on Tuesday for my sister, so when I get that done (and as long as it looks ok) I will post some pictures of the process. I still need to quilt my table runners together--anyone know how to machine quilt and want to give me some pointers???? But other than really needing to do some heavy spring cleaning, not much is going on. Oh, but I am loving the weather. The baby and I got to go on our first long walk with a friend of mine the other day. It sure is finally starting to feel like spring!! I can't wait for it, and for summer!!!

One Year Older and Wiser (Hopefully) Too...

On Thursday, I gained another year in age...28 now!! (I'm getting way too close to 30-AHHH!!) The scary thing about it, is that I told Creighton the other day how I worry about losing some of my brain power, since I'm not teaching kids anymore. I know I only taught 3rd grade, but I did train teachers in how to teach math, plus you really do use your brain a lot more when you are working with students and adults, and not just singing nursery rhymes to your baby. So that is why I added the word hopefully to my title.

Overall my birthday went pretty well. When Creighton had asked me if I had any plans for my birthday, I told him I was going to spend the day with my students. (That's what I've done for the last 5 birthdays, so it was kind of a downer to not have students around, excited for me to have my birthday). I did however to a couple of fun things. I got to go to breakfast at Kneaders' with some friends--love their all you can eat french toast. I did some tutoring, then later went and got a free ice cream from Cold Stone--free for me, but not for Creighton! After that we also got my free birthday movie from Hollywood video. (Oh, and to top it all off, on Friday we went out with some friends, who had a birthday on Friday, to Tucanos for my free birthday meal!) Yes, I get in every free thing that I can! Don't you???

For my birthday Creighton (or I should say the baby) got me another figurine for my Willow Tree collection :) and he also got me these beautiful roses!! Thanks hon!


For some reason, this year I have been a little bit more reflective about my birthdays in the past. So while I am not going to share things about all the ones I remember, I thought it would be fun to jot down some of the most memorable birthdays I have had!

~On my 7th or 8th... I can't remember, birthday my mom had the "cake lady" from our local grocery store make purple roses for my mom to put on my birthday cake. I got to carry my cake out of the house (we were eating it outside--only in CA can you do that in Feb.) and I dropped the cake on the ground. I was so sad and embarrassed!

~On my 10th birthday I got to have my first sleepover party. Well, we ended up staying up and talking too much so my parents separated us and made us sleep in different rooms-yeah, that's all I can say about that one!

~On my 16th birthday my parents threw me a surprise birthday party. I was totally surprised (which doesn't happen often to me) and it was a lot of fun!

~On my 19th birthday I was a Freshman in college, and I had a crazy friend hide ice cream sundae ingredients in trees around the dorms, and made me climb them to get all of the stuff so we could have sundaes--it was a lot of fun--totally a college birthday!

~On my 23rd birthday I was teaching school for the first time and brought treats to my class. A boy in my class was highly allergic to practically everything, but said the treat should be safe--then had an attack in class!!!!!

Those are the best and the worst of my birthdays, that I can remember.

Copy Cat...
Now, for a confession--I am a total copy cat. I am always looking for projects to do, and copy whatever I can find. Whether it is copying a scrapbooking idea from someone (Mandy and Becca, that's you) or copying a craft. So these two crafts I'm posting pictures of, originate from my friend Sharla's blog, but the letters can also be seen at Jessica's and Michelle's blog!! (I guess that's how you know it's a good idea, everyone copies it from you).

These were both easy, and inexpensive--two of my favorite things. Oh, and fun too!

Now for a quick catch up on the little guy! He's still growing like a weed, and as fun as ever. We love it when he does this (sucks on his lower lip). A) We think it's cute. B) We hope it stops some of the constant drooling!!

I just like the next picture of me and him! I think it's sweet!

Since he has been rolling over so much, he now sleeps on his tummy. Actually, it is more his knees, since he is a stink bug sleeper. The picture below doesn't really do the "stink bug" position justice, but let's just say that he wakes up every morning with red marks on his knees from moving around on them all night. Too cute! Oh, and do you notice his blanket tucked under his arm? He loves to have stuff near his face to cuddle with!