3.27.13: Cassie's MTC day

A long anticipated day... Cassie started her 18 month mission today. We all dropped her off at the Missionary Training Center at 1:30. We went to Cafe Rio to eat beforehand and then took pictures by the Provo temple. Then we got in the long line of cars and finally got into the MTC gates and dropped her off. She kept it together and didn't cry at all. I on the other hand, did. The send off was short and sweet and she had said before that she was nervous but when we were leaving she was all smiles. I did cry because it hit me that this was real and happening but I am sincerely very excited for her and excited to see how her mission adventure unfolds. I'm a very proud sister.

all of her mission letters and pictures will be posted to her blog: http://classyadventuresofcassie.blogspot.com/

if you want to follow along too!

Crazy to think how much the kiddos will change while she is gone... Nolan will be Caitlin's age, and Chelsea's baby Zoey will be over a year old!

 Mom & Dad were on speakerphone through the whole event.

 Last Goodbyes, and away she went.

weekend review

Thursday night Paul and I attended an event at the State Capitol building. It was a tribute to Shawn Brenchley, who just retired from vivint. Paul has really enjoyed working with Shawn and becoming friends with him and has learned a lot from him. The even was really well put together and nice and it was also fun to get dressed up and see the inside of the capitol and have yummy food!

On Friday (3/22) Brad and Kinzie had their baby! Eliza Sue Hancock was born in the afternoon and we got to go visit her that evening. She is a beautiful little baby! We are so excited for Brad and Kinzie they will be wonderful parents.

Saturday Paul and I had a fun date night: tried out the new restaurant "Melty Way" and had some delicious grilled cheeses then got massages then met up with a few friends for bowling and ice cream. 

On Sunday the kids coordinated and Caitlin was wearing one of my old dresses from when i was little so of course I had to get a few pictures, and of course they were not the most willing subjects but they sure are cute.

so long, farewell

This weekend I had my first ever mom away from home trip to go to Texas for Cassie's farewell. We figured if the reason I was going was to hear Cassie speak in church.. I would probably want to be able to actually listen and I'm not always able to listen the best with my kids (shocking i know). Paul so nicely agreed to be Mr. Mom for the weekend.

Everyone survived the weekend, Paul did a great job with the kids. They had a lot of fun together and he of course had to encounter a few bumps along the way (sleepless nights, wetting the bed... Just typical things) and I had a wonderful time at home getting plenty of rest, enjoying the amazing weather, and having lots of fun!

I got there late Thursday night, on Friday I slept in then we went to lunch at Cheesecake Factory with my mom and Cassie and another friend at town square then walked around and went to a few stores. That evening we went to the Kimbell art museum to see the Bernini exhibit. It featured the latest collection of clay sculptures that were used to create Bernini's large sculptures. Bernini is my favorite sculptor... I fell in love with his work when I went to Italy in high school so it was fun to see them and reminisce about Italy and art history.

Saturday we ran a few errands to get ready for Sunday and then that evening we went to Pappadeaux restaurant for dinner and it was delicious!!

Sunday was the big day. Church was wonderful and I was indeed able to listen and truly feel the spirit. Cassie did a wonderful job speaking and brought tears to my eyes. Her mission will no doubt have its share of difficult experiences but she is ready to face them and she has a testimony of the gospel that is both sweet and inspiring. I'm so proud of her and so excited to see what she faces. After the rest of church we went back home and had a luncheon. Several of my parent's old missionaries from Spain had come with their families as well as my grandparents and Stewart, Lorraine and Christine. We mingled, ate, told lots of mission stories, and even sang hymns with a few at the end. It was fun to visit with everyone.

BTW...

I so enjoyed being able to talk and spend time with my family. We missed Chelsea being there and I also missed Paul and the kids but I'm very glad that I was able to be there.

weekend review

This weekend was a memorable one:

On Friday morning, March 8th at 4:10 AM our best friends had their first baby. Baby Brox Walker Taylor was born! 8 lbs. 5 oz. and 19 in. long.
 
I just can't wait to meet him. Whitney and Morgan are going to be pro parents.     

Friday night Paul took Caitlin and I on a date to Disney on Ice! Nolan got to hang out with Chelsea and Tyler. The show was called "Dare to Dream" and it featured the Frog Princess, Cinderella and Rapunzel (Tangled). It was actually really well done, the skaters were talented and it was creative the way they used the rink and props and of course the songs from the movies were fun. Caitlin was in HEAVEN. She could not have been cuter about it. Cinderella is her absolute favorite right now so she was enthralled with the whole scene. She kept asking if she was going to put on her blue dress, and get waving to her and at one point just yelled "Cinderella!" so loud, she was just so delighted. Intermission was during that scene and the entire 15 minutes she kept asking me if she was coming back and if she was going to wear her blue dress again and if she could say hi to Cinderella. And she told me "when Cinderella comes back i want to give her a love" She was so real to her and she was completely enchanted. She liked Rapunzel too (and "fwinn why-do") and she sang along to a bunch of those songs. At the very end there was a ballroom scene where all the princesses came out and Mickey and Minnie and they all did one last number and then said goodbye. We tried to prep her and have her wave goodbye to everyone but when it all ended and the lights came back on a look of distress came across her face and she started full-on bawling. She was so sad that it was over. She said "no go bye bye, I want Belle to come to my house!" There was a huge backdrop castle that they used onstage and all the characters had gone into it at the end and she said "i want to take the castle" She was so sad it was so cute/funny/sad. It took her a few minutes to get over it and realize it was truly over but she still talks about them and tells me "we go to see the princesses a different day" I think one of the funnest parts of being a parent is knowing your kids and their personalities and knowing what they will love and then being able to spoil them a little bit. It was a magical night.      

Saturday we did some things around the house and also took a trip to Cabelas, and then that night Paul and I had date a night and went out to dinner. Paul had been out of town the whole week and also the week before so we were sure happy to have him back and all to ourselves for the weekend.

On Sunday we got to spring forward (even though I feel like we JUST fell back) and Paul and I had high hopes of getting to "sleep in" (really jut seeing the clock look later) but alas both kids woke up super early for some reason and we had kind of a long day with them. We went to church and then to a friend's house for dinner so it was a fun day nonetheless. We definitely have a mild case of spring fever going on around here.

nolan: 9 months old

I just feel like 9 months is so old.. my baby has now been out of me as long as he was inside of me. Nolan just keeps going strong. He continues to be is happy sweet self while mixing in a little more adventure and mobility. I'm sure my mischievous boy is yet to come but if he keeps being so sweet and cute I'll never be able to get mad at him.


Eats: Same as last month, with the addition of a few solid foods now that he has teeth! He has had some crackers and juice a few times. Liked gnawing on the crackers, wasn't a big fan of juice. Also not a fan of the sippy cup. He now has 4 teeth with another one on the way. He cut three teeth within 4 days! And the fourth came abut 5 days later. It is both tops and both bottoms. I was amazed they all popped through so close to each other, definitely explained the previous struggles. What a champ though!

Sleeps: His naps have gotten back to being better after his teething month. Still will occasionally wake up at night once or twice when he is cutting a tooth. Other than that great sleeper, although he is completely partial to his crib.

Plays: He is sitting up so much better now and will sit and play with toys or watch TV for a long time. He is mesmerized by the TV, especially if it is a show with songs in it (which most are at our house). He can't get from his stomach to sitting yet so he is either one or the other (usually starts sitting and end up on his tummy and back). He still loves to roll around and scoot on his tummy. He has gotten on all fours a few times but hasn't done a true crawl. He also is tarting to want to stand more. He will pull on your fingers, but not pull himself up by himself, he just holds on and want you to help. He peeks over the bumpers in his crib and will pull them down to see things. He doesn't stand in his crib but I find him in all sorts of positions when I come in to get him. Usually pulling himself up on the bumpers and peeking through the slats or also I will find him laying down with his feet kicked up on the side on the bumpers.

 Likes: He still likes to be independent. He rarely snuggles for long. He likes to be around people but just in his own little space doing his thing. He also likes to make noises! He yells and grunts really loudly. He can say "da da" and "ta ta" and "la la" but not with any regularity.


Dislikes: Taking medicine... we have had to pull out the Tylenol many a time this past month and he doesn't like it.

Also: He is wearing mostly 12 month size clothes, and I even bought 18 month size pajamas.
-His laugh is a grunty laugh that sometimes completely sounds like Donald Duck.
-Firsts: He celebrated his First Valentine's Day. First time getting sick... he caught some sort of stomach bug and threw up 3 times over 3 days. He as showing some other symptoms and I thought for sure he had an ear ache from teething but I took him to the doctor and he said it was a virus. Luckily it passed quickly. He was so sweet about it the whole time.

-his eyes are still very light and blue. Although when I was looking at Caitlin's pictures from this age hers were still a bluish-gray she was born with, they hadn't quite turned dark yet. So I guess they could still change but I hope they stay this way because they are beautiful!
-Stats from his 9 month check up (3/11/13):
weight: 24.27 lbs. (97%)
length: 28.75 inches (65%)
head circumference: 8.2 inches (82%)

Just for fun, here's a comparison of Caitlin and Nolan at 9 months:

And HERE is what Caitlin was up to at this age.

joys of motherhood: february

-Everyday Caitlin HAS to wear dance clothes and/or a tutu. I actually think it's really cute and I would probably just let her dress like that except for the fact that it is literally freezing outside and a leotard and tutu just isn't going to cut it. Pants and coats have to be worn. So getting her dressed is a little bit of a fight. And then as soon as we get home and she strips down and insists on either being naked (in a diaper) or in a leotard and tutu.
-Nolan is loved by all we meet, especially people in our ward. There is even one family that calls him "rolly Noley" just came up with that on their own... so one Sunday Paul had him during the last hour and before the lesson the guy that was teaching (who is not a small man) announced to the whole class "Well i just went through my closet and I've lost some weight so now i have a couple pairs of old pants that will probably fit Nolan." I love my fat and happy boy. 
-Caitlin wants to dance ALL THE TIME. First thing she says in the morning is "Mom, can you turn on some music?" so we put the music on and she has us put out "her stage" (a blanket on the floor.. but a particular one) and she goes to down and dances all over the house. Praise and applause at the end of each song are mandatory. But I like it.
-Conversations with Caitlin heard throughout the month:
"Caitlin are you done eating?"
"mom.. i'm SO done"

What does the red light mean? "STOP"
What does the green light mean? "GO"
What does the yellow light mean? "FASTER!" ...wonder who taught her that one?

Watching a show on TV and randomly she says "i like her dress" about one of the girls. she has stated giving us compliments and says "thanks!" when we give her one. 

-We celebrate lots of birthday over here. One of Caitlin's party things to play is birthday party. She makes a cake and you have to sing the birthday song at least 5 times. The other day was the bears birthday (Paul's bear rug hanging in the office) So we brought him a cake and a present and sang to him. And then she started petting him and saying "oh you are such a big boy! You are so tall!"
-We were watching a cartoon with her the other day and two characters kissed. She was staring at the tv at them kissing and then turned to Paul and I and said "ooooh how sweeet. He loves her... how sweeet." We were cracking up.
-Everytime I get Nolan to look and me and I say hi to him he smiles. And every time it totally melts me heart. I'd say he is happy 90% of the time. (and considering about 8% of the rest of that time is spent sleeping he is really happy).
-Nolan completely has buck teeth. His two top teeth are gigantic and I'm slightly worried. They are growing out of the front of his gums opposed to downward. Braces here he come. But at least I'll have a little bunny rabbit for Easter :)
-At the beginning of the month we went to "Color me Mine" with Mike and Jenna and Cassie. I had a hunch that Caitlin might love it and I was right. She picked out a little ceramic horse to paint and she went to town on it. It actually turned out really cute (kind of tie-die-ish) and She was really happy with it. She keeps it in her room and often likes to hold it and watch TV with it and she always tells me she painted it. We also made a little plaque for Nolan's door to his room with his name and his foot print. It was a really fun outing.

-We've been going to Provo Beach Resort lately as a good indoor outing from the cold. The kids love all the arcade games (the candy crane is play til you win!!) and the carousel. Last time we were there we were sitting at a booth eating and Caitlin got up and went over and sat on a stool at the bar. Paul went and sat with her and the girl came over and asked if they needed anything and without skipping a beat Caitlin said "pink ice cream please!"  

-I had to get Nolan new pajamas because he had outgrown all of his so we went to Carters and I got him a few pairs and then I told Caitlin she could pick out one new pajamas to have. Their whole back wall was filled with tons of cute pajama sets and she had a hard time choosing but ultimately decided on the "blue princess dress" that has a little castle on it and has wanted to wear it every night since. I got Nolan size 18 months (more than double his age) and they fit him pretty well with HOPEFULLY some room to grow!


-(this doesn't have to do with my kids or being a mom but wanted to mention it somewhere) Our ward missionaries along with the youth leaders put together a "youth mini-missions" program the last weekend of the month. It turned out to be a really cool experience for everyone involved. Every young man or woman got a mission call and then on Friday night all of the 12-13 year olds went to the Draper Temple and then everyone met at the church to hear some speakers and then the older kids got to go sleep over at a few houses and learn more about places in the world and missions. On Saturday morning we got to have 3 young men over to our house and listen to them try to teach about the church. All of the youth got really into and did a great job. I loved going to the beautiful Draper temple with all the kids and seeing what a spiritual experience that was for them. I'm so thankful for missionary work and that the youth are so enthusiastic about it.

niether here nor there

I did the photoaday challenge in February and the prompts got a little lame so i strayed but i still posted a photo everyday so here they are:

And a few extras:

Peltons in town

My parents came up for a visit and to help Cassie move back down to Texas before her mission. Very conveniently (for me) they came to stay while Paul was out of town so it was not only nice to have visitors, but truly nice to have the company! Here are some highlights:

Tuesday night we went to dinner at Corner Bakery with come of the Stuart clan for the big announcement from Chelsea and Tyler. They are expecting, Chelsea is due July 31st and they announced to us... it's a girl! I was shocked,  had guessed for sure a boy but earlier that day I told Caitlin that we were going to go see Chelsea and Tyler and see if her baby was a girl baby or a boy baby. And immediately Caitlin said "it's a girl." I tried asking the questions differently and telling her i thought it was a boy but she never wavered.. "no, it's a girl".... out of the mouth of babes! They will name her Zoey and we will finally have a cousin on the Pelton side! So excited!

Wednesday night we had a Cassie farewell party/Pelton mission reunion at BYU. We got a room in the Wilkinson Center and many people came to say goodbye to Cassie and many of our old missionaries were able to come and say hi to my parents. It was a nice night and I ate way too many BYU brownies. Afterward we were leaving and all of the social dance classes were having a dance in the Ballroom. Caitlin was in awe and HAD to watch the dancers. I felt pretty awkward standing there with my two kids watching a bunch of college kids mingle and foxtrot but Caitlin just stood there so still with her arms folded and watched the whole thing. One boy even came over and asked her to dance and she just looked and him and said "no" and then looked away. haha. But she still talks about it. Luckily there were only 2 songs left and then the dance was over or else we may have been crashing that party all night.
 
My kids were complete angels while my parents were here (Caitlin even took a nap everyday). I don't know if it was just natural timing or what but it's just another compelling argument for them to move here.

Caitlin: 2 1/2 years old

Ever since Caitlin turned 2 she has seemed so much older to me. More talkative, more accountable, more emotional. She has always been and continues to turn into her own little person. She is such a character and we love her so much. My life would not be complete without her, and I mean that in every way possible. She brings out the best and probably the worst in me and teaches me patience every day. She is a combination of so many of her parent's best and worst traits and she shows them all to the fullest. Her love for life is amazing and inspiring and non-stop.

This girl...
-She keeps me on my toes 24/7
-She makes me laugh really hard.
-She has more energy than anyone and probably even herself knows what to do with
-She is very into people's emotions. She always wants people to be happy. We have found that telling her that we are sad or mad is harder for her than anything sort of physical punishment. She is very aware of how other people are feeling.
-She loves being physical: rough housing or playing or snuggling or giving people loves.
-She loves interaction and hates being alone.
-She loves to laugh. She thinks lots of things are funny.
-She loves to sing songs and read books.
-She loves to learn, she picks up on things quickly and she is very curious and inquisitive. I don't think I have ever heard her respond "i don't know" to a question, if she doesn't know she just makes something up. She loves for us to ask her questions for her to answer.
-She is a daddy's girl through and through. But she does have some sweet moments with me that I treasure. And she also LOVES her little brother.
-She loves water and also anything with a pump top (like soaps). Too many messes have been created in our house because of these two.
-She is inherently a very messy girl. She likes to get in there and get her hands dirty and push the limits.
-She loves Jesus and the scriptures and saying her prayers and although she is not very reverent she can be tender. 
-She is still wary of new people sometimes but I wouldn't really describe her as super shy.
-She doesn't respond well to discipline so I'm constantly researching and finding the best methods.
-She is very smart and I think sometimes too smart for her own good.
-She has the cutest little body that she likes to show off all the time by being naked.
-She has more energy than the energizer bunny.
-She is a girly-girl. She LOVES dressing up, putting on makeup, putting on lipstick and nail polish.
-She has the ultimate sweet tooth and would prefer to be snacking on sweets and only sweets all day everyday.
-She is wonderful and I love her.