in other news...

-We went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point the other day with a few other moms. It's been a tradition to go every year and I was really excited to take the kids. Unfortunately Caitlin decided to be a stinker for the majority of the time there was acted uninterested in almost everything. (Good thing you don't have to pay admission for kids until they are 3!) There were a few moments of happiness for her, one being when she got to put on the pink princess dress and run around on the "pumpkin princess play area" stage. She also liked the jumping pillow and looking at all the pumpkins. Nolan was an angel as always and just enjoyed his ride around in the stroller.

-I've been doing the "Insanity" workouts for a little over a month now (it's a two month program) and they are indeed insane. Very hard and very sweat-producing. I'm hoping to lose all my baby weight and obviously get a rockin' body. It's been really hard so far but I've kept up with it and Paul was nice enough to agree to some nice incentives if I succeed in my goals so I've got good stuff to work towards. I usually work out while Nolan is taking his morning nap so Caitlin comes down to the basement with me and sometimes she joins in and it's pretty funny.

-Paul went deer hunting in southern Utah and unfortunately was unsuccessful (for him that is, I'm sure the deer see it differently). But he did have a good time with his dad and brothers.

vivint likes to party

October 16th was the vivint end of the year party and it was quite the sha-bang. They had a carnival with rides and all kinds of prizes and treats and then there was a show including BMX tricks, dirt bike races and RZR races that were all quite entertaining, although not for Nolan--somehow he slept through most of it. There was also a fireworks show, mixed with plenty of incentives and give-aways. Our friends Robin and CJ were in town (Paul and CJ were high school buddies) so we brought them along and had fun braving some pretty sketchy-looking rides. Cassie and Matt also came later on. (Cassie and I showed up in matching outfits no less). Caitlin got a pony ride and a few carousel rides so basically she was in heaven. We also convinced her to go in the little cars ride and after 3 failed attempts she stayed in the car and loved it (we knew she would). So beat that all you people who think a good company party includes a free dinner and some white elephant gifts.

Nolan: 4 months

Our little chunk is doing great! He is such a sweetheart and so chill. He is so smiley and good natured. He is pretty much always happy until he's  hungry. We love him to pieces.

-Eats: He has moved completely to 7 ounces. At first it was just at night or when he still seemed hungry and now its all the time, the whole bottle. He is getting so big. I feel like he is so much older just because he is so huge. He tanks his bottle and doesn't spit up too often. He eats 4, sometimes 5 times a day about every 4 hours.

-Sleeps: He is a great sleeper. I haven't really done any sleep training with him because of all our travels so luckily he is naturally good. He takes at least two naps a day (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) for about 2 hours. Then he will catnap in the evening before bed. He goes to bed around 9:30 and will wake up around 6-6:30 at the earliest but sometimes he has slept later, even until 9 one time. When he wakes up early he goes back to sleep until 10 or so. Another thing I love about him is that he goes right back to sleep it's so nice and easy when he wakes up during the night. To put him to bed we just lay him in his crib, give him a blanky and sometimes a binky if he wants it and say goodnight. He likes to stretch out and go to sleep on his own and rarely even makes a peep.

-Plays: He loves playing with things like the hanging toys from play mats or his bouncer. He also likes toys that play songs. He is starting to become a lot more aware of his surroundings and he follows things with his eyes as tracks objects. He rolled from back to front on September 21 so he can now roll both ways and he does so pretty often.

-Likes: He likes interaction. He doesn't have to be the center of attention but he likes to be around people and in the action. He is very vocal: he likes to coo and goo and babble. He likes his blankies and specifically likes to have them by his face and cheeks. He likes sucking his fingers.. pretty much any or all of them will do. He also likes to be held facing out.
-Dislikes: Burping, and being left alone (if he's not going to sleep). He doesn't love "tummy time" either. Now that he can roll he pretty much avoids it at all costs.  

-Other: His hair is thinning out and he is getting a little bald spot in the back that I'm hoping won't get bigger but in better news his eyes look like they will for sure stay blue and they are so beautiful! Between him and Caitlin he is getting accidentally scratched all the time. My kids have the sharpest fingernails-- I have to cut them like twice a week! It's so sad. We tried him out in the regular forward-facing stroller while in Texas and he did great! His 4 month stats at the doctor were:
weight: 18 lbs. 6 oz. (94%)
length: 25.75 inches (77%)
head circumference: 16.9 inches (89%)
He also did great with his shots while we were there, he just let out one little shriek and that was it. Such a brave little boy! He got a little sad later on in the day but overall did great.

St. George 26.2

Over conference weekend (October 5-7th) we went down to St. George. Originally the hope for this trip was to be going to see Paul compete in the St. George marathon with other members of his family. But, then the broken foot happened. We went down anyways to enjoy the weekend and support the others but it was definitely bittersweet for Paul... wish he could have run. Everyone else did very well and we were proud of our group. In addition to running, we also got to see some family and friends, go out to eat and play outside in the beautiful weather. All of us stayed in a condo together and the 4 of us slept in one little room which actually went a lot better than I was anticipating, just don't ask the rest of our family that we probably woke up during the night. Caitlin was so worn out from her lack of sleep and our non-stop vacationing that she passed out on the way to dinner and didn't wake up the whole time. that as never happened before and it was an incredible event. Caitlin and Madison were two little peas in a pod the whole time and just couldn't get enough of each other it was really cute.

neither here nor there

the rest of my instagram pics from September:

photoaday September

September "photoaday challenge" on instagram looked like this:

joys of motherhood: september

-Trying to get Caitlin to sit and eat a full meal is a chore. She has a hard time focusing. I usualy end up having her sit up on the counter for breakfast, and sometimes lunch. So anyways we do all kinds of bites, but we started doing big daddy bite, medium mommy bites and little baby bites. I thought she was getting it that the bites correlated to a certain size until she started asking for "jenna bites" and "mike bites"... so just know if you are a part of our family you have had bites dedicated to you.

-Locks on doorknobs have become all-important and meaningless all in the past month between Caitlin locking herself in her room by accident, to needing to lock her in to sleep, to her learning how to unlock them. It's been interesting.

-Caitlin has an amazing memory of places. Whenever we drive somewhere and pull up she remembers where we are. Even the other day I got lost going somewhere and I went past Mike and Jenna's apartment and she started asking for them. Or she notices where Aunt Chelsea works. Whenever we drive past Cabelas she starts talking about seeing the fish.
-Nolan snores so loud whenever he sleeps. It's hilarious. The other night I went to a church thing with my mom and we were listening to a speaker so it was quiet and he fell asleep and started snoring and people around me kept looking to see who was sleeping.
-Christine and I found a new song we love while I was in Texas: "some nights" by FUN and it's our new feel good song. One time it came on the radio as we were pulling into the driveway and we say in the car and finished listening to it before we went back into the house and entered the madness of 4 kids under 3. Sometimes that's what you need as a mom: a friend and a feel good song.

a vacation from my vacation

Oh Hawaii...

Paul went on a business trip to Oahu while I was in Texas and he called and said that "I just had to come out and meet him". His boss had been out there with him and encouraged him to bring me out so... Don't have to twist my leg too much! Since we were already in Texas, my parents offered to watch the kids and off I went to Hawaii! (After all... it just seemed so meant to be!)

Let me just start by saying it was an amazing trip. Honestly one of the best of my life. Not just because (duh) we were in Hawaii and it is beautiful there with amazing weather but also because I got to be with Paul 24/7 with hardly any distractions. We felt supremely spoiled the whole time and made lots of fun memories. Paul is my best friend and there is absolutely no one else that I have a better time with or love being with more than him.

So here are the highlights of our trip:

-Friday: I left in the morning and had a direct flight (8 hours) to Honolulu. It was so weird to be alone with nothing to do for such a long time but it was a nice feeling at the same time.

- I got into Honolulu around 2 PM and Paul picked me up in the rental jeep.. That was such a fun car to drive around.

-We went and checked into our hotel: The Modern Honolulu. It was an awesome hotel. I loved the decor, the service, the amenities. All of it.

 

-We got lunch at a patio restaurant and then went out to Waikiki beach.

-That night we got to see fireworks on the beach from one of the day beds by our hotel pool.

-We went to downtown Waikiki-- they have a really fun downtown area with tons of shops and restaurants. We walked around for awhile and shopped a little then got some food at a lounge place right off the beach.

-Saturday morning we went to breakfast at Wailea coffee house and got macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup. (food played a very big part of this trip!)

-Then we went to Hanauma Bay and went snorkeling. Which was amazing. The most fish I have ever seen. They were everywhere along the reef. I loved all the bright tropical colors and varieties.

-That afternoon we went to northern shore. We stopped at Matsumotos and got shaved ice on the way. The large size was only 50 cents more than the small so obviously we got the larges with ice cream and ate every single bite. We also went to one of the shrimp trailers that are all over.

-Went to Polynesian Cultural Center that night and saw the show there called "HA the breath of life" it was awesome and so much fun to watch.

-Sunday we went to church in the morning and then went to the pearl harbor memorial. It is a really beautiful memorial out on the water and it was interesting and also heartbreaking to learn more about what happened there and see it in person. Afterward we relaxed, went downtown again and then came back and went to dinner at our hotel. The restaurant is Japanese style and they had amazing sushi. They thought it was our honeymoon so we got a complimentary dessert (we thought that was pretty funny). Then we decided we needed more dessert so we got ice cream at Lapperts. I got coconut macadamia but fudge in a waffle cone and it was one of the top 5 best ice creams of my life (which is saying a lot).

-Monday we went scuba diving in the morning. It was my first time to actually go after getting certified a few years ago and I totally loved it! We got to do two dives: a deep one (about 100 feet) around a wreck and a shallow one (about 30 feet) around a reef. I told the dive guide all I wanted to see was sea turtles and as soon as we had popped under water to start descending the rope we saw one! We ended up seeing 5 during the dive and got really close to them so I was very satisfied. We also saw cool fish, a starfish and an eel. We came back and laid out by the pool and then moved to the beach. That night we went downtown for dinner at Wolfgangs Steakhouse with another couple that is working for vivint in Oahu.

-Tuesday I flew home. I was sad to leave our amazing trip but ready to get back to my kids. They did great while I was gone and my parents did a great job watching them. It was another long day of flying, but all well worth it for getting to go on such a fun trip! I would definitely recommend Hawaii in September. Ok fine I'd recommend it any time of the year.

9.25-10.4: Dallas

In Dallas we got to spend time with my parents and grandparents and of course.. the kitties. Caitlin was OBSESSED with the cats. She loved chasing them around and giving them loves and petting them. We had a great time and my parents went above and beyond by agreeing to babysit the kids last minute for me while I took a trip with Paul! I know the kids loved spending time there and my parents had fun with them (although I'm positive that Caitlin completely wore them out!) Here were some highlights:

-We went to Grapevine Mills Mall and shopped a little then went to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch. Caitlin loved all the fishies and animals around but wasn't sure what to think when they started making noises. There was so much to look at in there so she was definitely entertained. She also got to go on the train ride around the mall and waved at everyone.

-We also went to the Arlington Mall to ride the carousel and Caitlin loved it. She is obsessed with carousels! We rode so many times she got an unlimited rides bracelet so we kept riding and then had some lunch and walked around then kept riding more. She was so cute on it and would point out features of each horse that would make her have to ride that particular one. She rode an ostrich and called it a "big duck" the whole time. 

-With my parents the kids went to the aquarium, went swimming, and spent lots of quality time together (even though some of it was during the middle of the night while Caitlin wouldn't sleep!) 

-This time on the way back I had Stewart and Lorraine flying with me which was so nice to have so much help! The kids were good for the flight. We were feeling ready to get back home, although Caitlin still misses Texas and asks to go there about every other day.

9.18-9.25: Austin

I packed up the kids and we went to Texas for two weeks. I split the trip between Austin and Dallas and it was so much fun! It was a long time to be away from home but it was great to be able to spend time with family and see cousins and enjoy the Texas weather. Caitlin was on an insane sleeping schedule the whole time (i.e. learning how to unlock doors and waking up at all hours of the night) but other than that everything went well and most of all we had tons of fun. Here were the highlights + pictures:

-Tuesday the 18th we flew there. I was absolutely dreading flying alone with the two kids. The first flight was to Las Vegas and by that point we'd had major spit up and a melt down by Nolan, a minor blowout by Caitlin and gate change across the terminal... that I walked to with my fly unzipped the whole time. Luckily the final flight into Austin went really well: Nolan slept and Caitlin was good. Definitely could have been worse!

-Went swimming and hung out with Christine and Cason and Corinne. We loved being with the little cousins! We got to see them everyday and Stewart and Lorraine were so nice to babysit a few times so Christine and I could also hang out by ourselves. 

-We went to The Austin Zoo, the kids loved it and I was able to meet up with my friend Leah from high school. It had been a couple years since we saw each other so it was really fun to catch up and see her. That night Christine and I got our tutus ready for the race and got emotional with the Katy Perry movie.

-Played at park, and got shakes for dessert.

-On Saturday Christine and I did our Mud Run!  We had so much fun doing the 5k with obstacles and mud pools. We pretty much laughed and chatted the whole way. Stewart, Lorraine and my kids met us at the finish line and we made the most of the mud! 

 

-On Sunday we went to church with Meads, then that night Christine did my hair and I LOVE how it turned out! She always does such a great job. Caitlin also got a little trim from Aunt Tine and she did WAY better this time with it.

-We took the kids to "The Big Bounce" which is a place full of bounce houses! They loved it and I'll

admit I had fun there too. We got lunch then I went over to Christine's during nap time. That night I met up with my other high school best friend Brittany and we all went to Chuy's for dinner.

-On Tuesday Christine and I went and met Chris for lunch by his office, then that afternoon we met my parents halfway and finished the drive to Dallas. 

 

I'm so lucky to have in-laws that I enjoy visiting and feel comfortable with because the more people I talk to the more I realize this isn't always the case! I love the Dicksons and I had so much fun with them.