maverick: 6 months old

The thought that my baby is half a year old seriously makes me question my concept of time in general because it just boggles my mind how this has happened so fast. HALF A YEAR! Maverick has turned a complete 180 from his colicky fussy days and he is so sweet and happy and angelic.

Eats: Five bottles a day, 7 ounces each. I put rice cereal in his dinner time bottle. We started baby food this month but he was not interested. He would do anything to not have the spoon in his mouth. We took a break for a couple weeks then came back to it and I realized it's not that he doesn't like the food, he just hates eating from a spoon. He jerks and yells and clenches his jaw but never spits out the food. He will swallow and then want more, but not want to open his mouth to eat it... we're working on it and experimenting. He also doesn't hold his own bottle completely by himself, although I'm sure he could. He prefers to have it propped up and drink by himself rather than being fed a bottle.. he gets squirmy.

Sleeps: He naps when he can in the morning, depending on what we are doing he will nap in the car or sometimes take a short one at home. I'm fine with this because in the afternoon he will nap at the same time as the others for anywhere from 2.5-4 hours. He naps both in his crib and his swing. At night he sleeps from about 9-7 and then gets a bottle in bed and usually goes back to sleep for an hour or so. When we go in to get him for the day he is SO happy and kicks his legs and smiles so big and is so ready to start his day! Occasionally he wakes up during the night and he usually needs to be re-swaddled and given his binky.


Plays: He rolls all over and also is sitting for short periods of time. He likes to play with toys and put things in his mouth and he likes Nolan's cars. He is very social and loves to be around people. He doesn't like to play alone, he rather have no toys and just be where people are. He loves to sit on the counter in his bumbo while I am cooking or be in the saucer/bouncer seat while the kids are at the kitchen table or in the family room.


Also: He is very smiley and will smile at pretty much anyone with minimal coaxing. I think he's the smiliest baby I've had. He giggles sometimes and Caitlin is the best at making him giggle. He LOVES Caitlin. He has also been giggling for Nolan and it's cute to see them becoming buddies. Nolan shows him cars and talks to him. I've thought a few times he must be teething but nothing to show for it! Also he got a tiny ear infection this month, after a few days and tylenol it went away.


Firsts: Valentine's Day, first trip to Moab



Stats from his 6 month checkup: He is gaining weight like he should and getting chunky and I couldn't be happier about it. He's filling out very nicely!

Weight 15.85 lbs 19% //  Length 26.5" 45% //  Head 17.5 82%

We had our traditional "half birthday party" for him with half of a cake and treats and family over. We sure love this little boy and are so glad to have him as part of our family.

Caitlin: 4 1/2 years old

Caitlin continues to be the princess of the family. She is so much fun and such a genuinely good girl. Four so far has been the year of the attitude and she is learning to push her boundaries a little and trying out new phrases that she hears from other people or TV shows and has strong opinions about what she chooses to feel strongly about. However she also has a very strong inert desire to please people and be a good girl and for that I am grateful. She rarely needs to be disciplined. she is very good at listening and following directions and she wants to do things just right and wants to be the best at everything she does. We have to remind her that it's ok if she's not always THE best, but more important to try to do HER best. She can be sensitive about things.

She has such an excitement for life and finds pleasure in the most simple things. She loves being with her family, she LOVES her daddy and loves going on dates. She loves play dates and any kind of party. She loves any kind of surprise. She loves her brothers and she is the best helper. She is always willing to help with things for the baby or things for Nolan or wants to help in the kitchen or with cleaning. She is very smart and knows how to identify and write pretty much all the letters of the alphabet. She sings every song in primary and asks very good questions. It's so interesting to see how her little mind works and puts things together and she continues to be very curious about the world and people around her. she talks almost non stop. She loves playing games and "doing crafts". She is creative. She loves princesses, dancing, my little ponies and dressing up. she loves having long hair and doing it in a side ponytail, or even better: an "Elsa braid".

She is also kind. She is a peacemaker and tries to look out for people. She is very loyal. She can be shy at first but once she is comfortable... you'll know. She is a confident little girl and she knows she can do lots of things and that her parents are very proud of her. My biggest challenge with her has been deciding about school. She will always be one of the oldest in her grade. I feel like she is very socially mature and sometimes the age gap in comparison to her peers seems huge.

I watch her getting older and learning and maturing and being exposed to new things and I can't believe how fast it all happens. Caitlin is the exact little girl that we needed to have first and she amazes me on a daily basis. She is so sweet and good and such a beautiful little being.  

I grabbed Caitlin real quick during her quiet time and asked if I could take some pictures of her. She said yes and asked if she could do some poses. This is Caitlin to a T... random outfit (probably about her 5th for the day and of course a skirt) with her home made necklace and freshly applied chap stick. And she was full of poses. Love this girl.

neither here nor there

February instagrams:

joys of motherhood: february

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed. The fact is that most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high dregree of mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old-time rail journey, delays, side tracks, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride." 

Gordon B Hinckley quoting Jenkin Lloyd Jones.

I thought this was an interesting quote when I first read it. So interesting I looked up the talk that I came from. Pres Hinckley gave a speech to the students of BYU at a devotional and used this thought. He then went on to talk about faith for the rest of his speech. He ended with, "This, my brethren and sisters, is what our presence on this campus is all about: that faith might increase and be manifest and reflected in our lives and through us in the lives of others." 
I'm all about looking for moments of bliss, and also all about having faith. Having faith through our trying times and coming out and enjoying the ride when it's not so trying. Having faith as an everyday action and mutually having gratitude. I pray that my faith increases each day and shows itself to those around me and I pray that I remember to enjoy my journey and be thankful to the Lord for the wonderful, challenging, amazing, blissful and trying times in my life. 

-Nolan is getting more into super heroes and he got a few capes in his dress up box at Christmas,. Lately he was been wanting to "woosh" everywhere. He put on a cape and runs aroud saying "woosh! woosh!" and many times he wants you to do it with him. i.e: "Nolan time for bed lets race to your room!" 
N: "No! Let's woosh!"
(goes back to his room and comes out with capes for both of us and we have to put them on and woosh together)

-Caitlin has the idea that if you run and are active it gives you energy. She doesn't really know what energy is but she knows its good to have and I think somewhere along the lines she learned you have to have energy to be active, or maybe she just heard "get energy (OUT)" and missed the last word. Anyways a few of the lines are a little crossed. Regardless, she'll often say "Ok I've gotta run around a little and get some energy!" 

-The other day Caitlin said, "Maverick is just off the hook! he's so cute!"

-(2.4) The kids loving having dance parties! Caitlin especially likes incorpoarating as many outfit changes as possible then dancing and singing on the"stage" (the ottoman in the family room) Usually Disney songs are the favorite but they are expanding their repertoire to some top 40 songs also.

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Other highlights from our month of love:

-(2.6) Paul was traveling a lot at the beginning of the month (he travels about twice a month, this time they were back to back plus some). I planned a girls night with friends and we got pedicures, dinner and dessert. Everywhere we went they kept closing so we were the last people in each place. It was lots of fun, lots of good conversation and girl time.

-I got my hair cut and colored. I tried a new girl and it's been a big change. I've had my hair like this before but not for awhile and so it always feels different. With having had extensions and my hair falling out with hormones changing after Maverick I needed some serious help! I feel like I got a complete overhaul and my hair is thanking me for it.
On the flip side, Paul has been growing out his hair for almost 6 months now. He has a bet going with a few friends that no on can cut their hair before April 1st. Luckily it's turned out to be a good look for him and he's loving it!

-(2.16) We spent Presidents' Day in Moab. We went down the night before and hot tubbed and stayed in the hotel room then Jeeped all morning. The weather was a little crazy.. windy and even ended up snowing for a little bit! Definitely not the typical Moab weather we would want but it made us glad to be in a Jeep and not the RZR. The kids loved it as always and Maverick did great for his first crazy ride around the Moab trails! After Jeeping we got lunch and then went swimming at the Moab Aquatic center. They had a huge slide and pool and diving boards and Caitlin even went off the high dive! Very proud. Then we showered off and headed home. It was a really fun day to spend together.


-(2.20-22) I took a girls trip with some ladies from my ward (our old Young Women's presidency). We went to Scottsdale, Arizona. We shopped, ate, layed by the pool, hiked, went to a movie, and talked and played games late into the night. It was a blast. I had to buy another bag for all the stuff i bought, and we stuck by our tradition of letting no meal go wasted and I tried Thai food for the first time and ended it all with Sprinkles cupcakes on the way to the airport. I had so much fun, I'm so thankful for the friendships I have in our ward and neighborhood and how much I love and admire and learn from the ladies around me!






-(2.23) I took Caitlin on a date to see the "Pinkalicious" musical at the Scera theater. This has been one of her favorite books since she turned one and we had her pinkalicious party. She knows it by heart and when I was buying the book for her party (3+ years ago) I accidentally bought the musical CD instead of the book! So we've had the CD of all the songs of the musical for years now and have been listening to it in the car, so she knows all the songs by heart as well. I knew I just had to take her. It was fun, although extremely cheesy as expected. But Caitlin loved it, and I loved taking he













-(2.24) The Turnbulls are moving to San Diego. It's all happened really quickly and still seems surreal. We had a going away party for them and played games and held a lip syncing competition. At the end we lip synced "Every Step you take" by P Diddy and it was super emotional! I'm excited for the Turnbulls to have this opportunity for a new adventure but so sad to have them go. Ever since Paul and Taylor got back from their missions our families have been together - dating, getting married a week apart, having our kids... I don't know Utah life without them! They will be truly missed!  


-(2.27) Vivint Solar new campus groundbreaking ceremony. They broke ground for the first of three new buildings for their new campus, set to be finished March 2016. The governor came and spoke about business growth in Utah Valley. Very exciting! Paul has been heavily involved in executing this project and we are excited to see it unfold. After the ceremony they let Paul drive a track hoe and that was probably the highlight for him.

-(2.27-3.1) What we are now referring to as the "Cowtown Cancelled Trip". Over a month ago we told my dad if he did the "Whole 30" eating program with us then we would come down and run the Cowtown 10k with him as part of our training for the marathon we are doing in September. We signed u[, along with Stewart and Lorraine and made plans to come down. Little did we know that Dallas would be having crazy winter weather and a Texas snow storm would stand in our way! We got the call from my dad when we were literally on our way to the airport that the race had been cancelled! Since we already had everything in place and there was nothing we could do about our tickets we decided to go down anyway! Dicksons came up and we had a fun, although unplanned weekend in Southlake. Suer enough we landed in Texas to more snow that we had left (like 2-3 inches!) We went to dinner and played games that night. On Saturday we got outfitted with new running shoes, looked at model homes in the area, had lunch at Chuy's, talked, hung out and had BBQ for dinner! We left early Sunday morning. The company and food made the weekend worth it!  

Be My Valentine

Valentines was on a Saturday, which made it really fun because we could celebrate for the whole week and weekend!

Starting on February 1st, I "heart-attacked" the kids doors. I added one heart every day with someone that I love about them. They were excited to see what their hearts said every morning and they would get so proud when I would read to them their little quality that I loved:

Maverick:

I LOVE YOU BECAUSE:

you like to try to talk to people

you give the cutest giggles

you have the softest, fuzziest hair

you like to be social

you have the sweetest smile

you love you mama!

you love your brother

you love your daddy

you are a good sport

you love your big sister so much

you have beautiful sparkly blue eyes

you are perfect to snuggle with

you have the cutest round baby face

you are happy every morning to start a new day

Nolan:

I LOVE YOU BECAUSE:

you love cars and mickey A LOT

you love your family

you are a great snuggler

you are fearless

you are very determined

you are so handsome

you have the best cheeks and blue eyes

you are friendly

you are fun

you are fun to talk to

you like to be tickled and laugh

you like to be wild!

you are smart

you are a great big brother

Caitlin:

I LOVE YOU BECAUSE:

you like to be silly

you love to be creative

you are a good friend

you are very smart

you are so beautiful!

you are friendly

you are so sweet

you always try to be good

you love to learn

you always want everyone to be happy

you are a great helper

you like to have adventures

you are the best big sister

you are so much fun

On the 13th: Caitlin had her Valentine's at preschool and she was SO excited for it. I had taken her to the store to get Valentines for her classmates. I had all these cute and creative ideas for what to make for her friends but once we got there she decided she HAD to have the Hello Kitty heart ones. We had fun packaging them and writing out the tags and doing the glitter. She got a new heart dress and her her little heart braid and she was ready to go. She can home from her party so excited and told me about each person's Valentine that they had given her.

After that we went to Mead's house and decorated Valentine cupcakes and cookies with them and Packs. The kids were really into it and they did a great job. No shortage of sprinkles or frosting for anything.

That night Paul and I went to "Valentine's Prom" hosted by the Turnbulls. They had rented out a place in Salt Lake and there was dinner, dancing, and games and everyone got dressed up. It was a lot of fun! The "newlywed game" is always a crowd pleaser and the dancing is always top notch.

We stayed the night in Salt Lake and the next morning got to sleep in and then got a knock at the door... my beautiful flowers! We enjoyed brunch at "Eggs in the City" then we went to Snowbird for skiing! Unfortunately the snow wasn't great. But the weather was amazing.. so nice and sunny. We headed to the top to find some god snow and didn't really so we skied to mid mountain and found some adirondack chairs at the lodge and sat in the sun for a while. It was delightful. Then we skied down and did a few more runs and headed home.


That night we had a Valentine's party with the kids! We hid their Valentine's presents and had then search for them then we made personal sized pizzas with heart-shaped pepperonis. We played a few more games and then made chocolate covered strawberries that were DELICIOUS. Caitlin ate about 12 of them ( maybe more but we couldn't keep count) without blinking or stopping for breath.

I hope it goes without saying that i am completely obsessed with my little family and I just love them to pieces.