meet jingles

On November 30th, we heard the doorbell and went to answer the door and all we found was a package from the North Pole! Santa had dropped it off so quickly! We opened our package and inside we found: pajamas, slippers, treats, AND... Jingles the elf! Santa had sent one of his elves to come live with us until Christmas! {Jingles} would stay at our house during the day to make sure we were being good and then at night he goes back to the North Pole to tell Santa how we are doing. Every morning he brought us a special treat or activity to do that day!

A few of our favorites were:

*Making North Pole pancakes:: Jingles brought us the food coloring and toppings and we made Santas, Christmas trees, and Lightning McQueen for Nolan.

 *Christmas Crafts:: Caitlin colored a pillowcase, we all worked on the little gingerbread house and we also did a few other crafts and card making and cooking project throughout the month.

*Visiting the festival of trees:: We went with Christine and her kids and spent a few hours running around from tree to tree and still didn't even see all of them!

*Growing our own candy canes:: Jingles told us exactly how to grow our own candy canes like they do in the North Pole! Here’s what you need to do…

1. Put the magic seeds in a cup.
2. Cover the seeds with some ice cubes from your freezer. You can fill it up to the top.
3. Sprinkle on some magical North Pole snow.
4. Now put the cup in the closet.
5. You have to leave it in there for the WHOLE DAY and you can’t peek! Candy canes are VERY shy when they are growing and if they don’t have their privacy, they wouldn’t grow.
6. After one day, your magical seeds will grown into swirly candy canes!

Ours turned out amazing and it was very magical!

*Driving through the lights at Thanksgiving Point:: We put pillows and blankets in the trunk and packed all the kids back there to drive through.

*Building a gingerbread house:: We were all very hands-on in the process of our wonderful gingerbread house.

*Riding the Polar Express:: We got to ride the Polar Express all the way to the North Pole and see Santa! It was awesome! We read the story of the Polar Express the night before then the next morning Jingles brought us magic gold tickets. On the train sang songs and got a cookie and hot chocolate. Then once we made it to the North Pole Santa came on the train to say hi and gave us each a jingle bell. It was our most successful Santa encounter yet.. no tears and he even got a hug from Caitlin!

*Jesus' birthday party:: We read a book and I told the kids the whole story of the Nativity. Then we acted it out using our little nativity and we played a Nativity trivia game where the kids got to take turns picking a question out of the bag and answering it. Then we baked cupcakes for baby Jesus!
 

*New Christmas Sunday outfits:: December 21st, the primary children sang and Caitlin did a lovely job. Nolan made an ornament for us with his handprint in nursery and he was so excited to come home and hang it on the tree.


*Seeing the lights at temple square:: We went on December 23rd with the Meads and Stewart and Lorraine and it was packed! We got dinner and ate it as we rode up on the Frontrunner train. It was a fun change of pace! Then we went to Temple Square and admired the lights amongst the million other people there. Then we realized that we had to catch the 9 PM train or else we'd be stuck there until 10:30! So we literally ran to catch the next trax train and then transferred over to the front runner. It was exciting!

maverick: 3 months old

I fell in love with my baby this month. That's not to say that I haven't loved him, but he really stole my heart this month. We are coming out of the fog of sleep deprivation and colic and he is just the cutest sweetest little thing. Everything has improved so much over the past month and I feel very optimistic that he is growing out of his newborn troubles and turning into a happy delightful baby.

-Eats: every 3.5-4 hours, 4-5 ounces. He moved from formula supplementing to full formula during the month (as my milk supply decreased). After trying similac sensitive and then soy, we landed on Enfamil gentlease and he seems to do really well with it. He seldom gets bad tummy aches anymore although he does spot up quite a bit but it doesn't seem to bother him.

-Sleeps: No real set schedule but usually will sleep in then take a good afternoon nap and doze in and out in between. He is getting better about going to sleep on his own and getting faster during his night time feedings. He usually goes to bed between 9-10 then wakes up between 2-3 AM then again between 6-7 AM. He still sleeps in his little cradle and naps a lot in his swing.

-Play: He sits up really well (when being held) he has a very strong head and neck. He loves being social and having people play with him and talk to him, which he responds to with lots of smiles and cooing. He seems to be very vocal. He gives big closed-mouth smiles that are so cute. He has also been playing on the floor map and kicks the toys around.. he kicks his legs a lot. 

-Likes: having his head rubbed and having soft blankies by his face. He also loves his baby swing and is happy to be in there even when he's awake. He also seems to be a mamas boy which of course I love too. Really he seems to prefer ladies in general. He likes to be held looking out. 

-Dislikes: being cold or being left alone (can't blame him on either) He also dislikes being in his car seat if we are not actually in a moving vehicle (shopping carts are included as vehicles though). He also is not fond of tummy time. 

-Also: He still struggles with sensitive skin and so we keep a steady regimen of washing, lotions and ointments that seem to help. He has the softest, fluffiest hair that grows in a perfect buzz cut (several people have asked me if i've buzzed his hair!) ... and a big bald spot in the back. It is still staying pretty light and his eyes are still very blue.

-Firsts: first thanksgiving, first time at the movies (saw "Big Hero 6" and stayed awake for pretty much the whole thing and watched) first time going in the bumbo (he loves it)

joys of motherhood: november

My kids are still doing funny/embarrassing/crazy/naughty/unbelievable things, but this month I wasn't as good about writing them down. And one thing i know for sure: if it doesn't get written down, it doesn't get remembered. This used to all be for documentation and scrapbooking sake, now it's because I have Mom Brain.
-Rantings of a tired mom with a baby still not sleeping through the night: Why was my mom ever mad when I slept in as a teenager? Think of it as an IOU for the years of sleep she wasn't getting when I was little. Dang daylight savings. Fall back sounds good for one day then it's just your kids waking up earlier.
-A lot of people ask how the kids are with the baby and especially how Nolan is. Nolan can be so aggressive and physical that is really is such a wonder that he is SO incredibly sweet with Maverick. Never once has there been an issue of not "being soft" with the baby. Nolan is an amazing big brother and he totally understands this little person that we have in our home and he loves Maverick so much.

-Caitlin came over to tattle tale on Nolan and we started talking and I was telling her she needs to get along with her brother. She asked me if I had any brothers and I said "No, I only had sisters. See?You're so lucky... You have TWO brothers!" 

She sighed and said, "Yes ...and one of them doesn't share."

-Nolan's new current obsessions: Orange juice-- we literally go through a gallon a week, sometimes faster and mostly because of him. He used to be an avid apple juice drinker but now he is pretty strictly on the OJ and he LOVES it. I like to think it may keep him from getting sick this winter. "spicy stuff"-- including minty things and also carbonated things. Caitlin on the other hand does NOT like spicy things and make it very clear and asks if it is spicy before trying so Nolan has discovered he does like all sort of "spicy things" and make that clear then takes Caitlin' share. Candy canes are a big hit. Also obsessed with gum -- (another "spicy thing") he will stuff like 5 pieces in his mouth before I can stop him. He for sure has a huge wad of gum sitting in his stomach because he doesn't understand the concept of not swallowing it and he really loves it.
-I'm SO excited for Christmas with my kids this year. They are at such fun ages and they are so excited about everything, it's going to be so magical.
-Picture proof:

Had to snap a picture on my way out the door one day to document my kids and their polarity. Caitlin is all girl in her tutu and ballerina princess world and Nolan is all boy in his cars shirt and cars in hand. They all share a special bond thought and for the most part my kids get along and truly love each other I'm so thankful for that.

 #1 Caitlin is an avid colorer. She can color for hours and she loves it. She is really good at it too! She loves for people to color with her and she is very complimentary to anyone's drawings.
#2 Nolan likes celery! A new discovery as of late and the perfect shopping snack. He saw it and yelled "Celery! can we take some home?!" (aka buy it) and anytime your kids asks for celery, you get it. And anytime your kids will actually sit in the cart for the whole shopping trip and chew on some stalks, you feel so thankful.

 #3 Nolan decided to apply almost the entire container of hair wax to his hair about 3 minutes before we were supposed to leave for the chiropractor. He insisted it "wasn't too much" as i puled globs out of his hair and tried to wash it out with a washcloth and then comb through (nothing helped). When i told him he gets to wear a hat to the chiropractor guess which one he picked out and insisted on wearing: his dumb Lightning McQueen foam hat from Disney on Ice. Nice.
#4 Typical Nolan.. perched on his horse sneaking something from the counter that he probably shouldn't be having. With "big mickey" close at hand.

#5 He got a tiny scratch on his forehead but it was taking awhile to heal because at night he would mess with it so we finally got him to wear a bandaid and of course the only one he would keep on was this gigantic cars one.
#6 Nolan genuinely loves his horsie. H has named him "Clodie" (mixture between Cody and cloudy we think?) and the name has stuck for awhile now. He takes his horsie on all his greatest adventures.

neither here nor there

This month on instagram I shared #dailythanks everyday. It was a great reminder to look for the positive blessings in my life and recognize how blessed I am.

ⓝⓞⓥⓔⓜⓑⓔⓡ

There's now a chill in the air and I think its safe to say that winter is here. I usually wait 'til closer to Thanksgiving to bust out the hot cocoa maker and the Christmas songs but the kids have pushed me to do it even sooner this year. So by mid November we were drinking our hot chocolate every morning, watching Mickey's Christmas and listening to "santa songs" in the car. And to be honest I didn't mind one bit. Luckily this month slowed down a bit but we still found some fun things to do before the crazy Christmas-time rush.

Nov 5th: We had a little tea party at perennial gardens to celebrate Bella's one year anniversary of begin diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia. She's been a tough cookie through it all and it's been a sobering experience for me to watch her and her family go through the trials and sacrifices and hardships of heath issues and especially those of a child. We love Bella and the sweet friendship she shares with Caitlin!

 Nov 6: Cason's Bday! On his actual birthday we went to their house for a pizza night and watched Planes Fire and Rescue. Then on the 8th we went to his planes birthday party, complete with a bounce house and all the Dusty stuff you could want! We love Cason!

Nov 9-15th: Paul went deer bowhunting in Kansas. It was freezing cold and unfortunately came back without a deer. Although he did shoot a turkey-- his first kill using his bow. We both decided a week was a little too long to be gone with limited phone service. 

Nov 12: I took the kids to Disney on Ice with the Meads and McCulloughs. They featured Little Mermaid, Tinkerbell, Cars and Toy Story so it was pretty much a win all around! Our seats were awesome and the kids were in awe. They loved seeing all the characters. I splurged and got eh $12 cotton candy which also had a foam Lightning McQueen hat with it that made the whole thing worth it... Nolan loves it.

Nov 13: We got our first snow! We've had a coupe skiffs since then but nothing major. the kids were SO excited to get out there and play in the snow!

 Nov 14: Cassie's first Young Ambassadors show. I took Caitlin for a little date and we both enjoyed all the singing and dancing. And of course Cassie did an amazing job!

Nov 15: Meads threw a Mustache Party for Chris' birthday! We played some really fun games and had yummy food. And of course admired the mustaches.

MWF all month: I did a 6 AM Bootcamp class this month at the Cedar Hills community center. Honestly don't really know what I was thinking signing up for a 6 AM with a baby who doesn't sleep through the night. It was really hard to drag myself out of bed. At the class we did a lot of heavy weight lifting which I wasn't as used to so it was interesting to mix things up a little. I still have a long way to go before I am back to my pre-baby weight and shape.  

Nov 17th: Caitlin got to bring Maverick in to school for show and tell! She had been asking to a few times to we decided today was a good day. She actually got to have both brothers come and she was ver excited and proud to show them off. When I first got there she was bringing all her friends over to see him and saying "This is my baby" then when the actual show and tell time came she got a little more quiet but still told her class about her baby and how she helps with him. She is such a great big sister.

Nov 19th: I got to go to the Hunger Games movie with Jamie, Missy and Christine. It was a really fun girls night!

Nov 22nd: We had planned to take the kids to the BYU football game but woke up to a very rainy day so we decided to forgo the game and took the kids to a movie instead! We saw  Disney's "super hero 6 movie" and it was darling, we were all very entertained.

Nov 23rd: We had an open house for my cousins Sydney over at my grandparent's and it was fun to get together with everyone. I'm very proud of Sydney for completing her mission and being such a great missionary! 

Nov 27th: Thanksgiving! We had dinner at the Mead's this year with the McCullough's and also the Bevans (from Paul's work). Everyone brought things and everything turned out so amazing! We felt like real adults and so proud of ourselves. We had some crafts for he kids, ate dinner, then some took naps, some talked and played games. Unfortunately Paul got really sick the day before and spent a lot of time sleeping and resting. 

Nov 28th: We went up to Deer Valley for a little family getaway to stay at The Chateau. It was gorgeous! Some snow around but still 50 degrees and sunny. We stopped at the outlets for some Black Friday shopping, then got checked in and went straight out to the pool! The kids LOVED being able to swim. Then we all took a nap and got some pizza and watched a movie with popcorn in our room. They gave us a room with 2 queens and also a whole family room/kitchen/eating area with an additional bed. It was so dreamy. Beautiful weather in a gorgeous setting and undivided family time. We had so much fun together.

Nov 29: Paul's cousin Katherine Gottfredson got married in Ogden. We went (from Deer Valley) in the morning and left the kids at the Gottfredson's house with sitters while the adults attended the luncheon and sealing. Then we went back to DV for another swim and naps. Then once more to Ogden for the reception! It was a long day with lots of driving but fun to see family and be a part of the wedding. Stewart and Lorraine came into town for it so we spent as much time with them as possible.

My friend Tiffany was kind enough to take a few pictures of me and the kids in her home. Even though the kids were wild and Maverick was crying most the time, she managed to make it all look so dreamy. Being a mom of three is no joke but seeing moments captured like this makes me realize how blessed I am and how much I love my kids. I will treasure these pictures for giving me those feelings and fond memories.
(pics taken 10.18)

 The kids went upstairs to play while we started taking some of Maverick and I and then Tiff called the kids down to come take a few. She said "Come on Nolan let's take some pictures" and he stopped in his tracks on the stairs and said "oh, ok just a second!" and then came back with the Batman mask on! Gotta look good for the pics right?  That Nolan Man really will be Maverick's superhero one day.

maverick: 2 months old

Maverick is a feisty baby. It's one of the first things the nurses said about when when he was born and it's been said many a time since, both by people who know him and by total strangers. He seems to be somewhat temperamental, and vocal... making him my hardest newborn to date. But everyday we get to know each other more and Maverick is learning that we are all trying the best we can.... And it's a good thing he is so darn cute! He has sparkly blue eyes and the softest fuzziest hair that reminds me of a baby chick. He can be so sweet and wants to be good we just need to find our rhythm and make him more comfortable.

His baby acne was horrible and was in combination with cradle cap. It was crusting over his whole forehead, ears and eyebrows and just looked painful. We tried leaving it alone for a few days to let his natural oils take care of it but when that didn't seem to be working we started washing his face with Aveno baby wash and a washcloth everyday and then using Aveno lotion throughout the day and a thick coat of Noodle & Boo ointment in the morning and at night. Eventually that combination cleared things up!

Eats: He went through a few growth spurts this month which led to irregular eating and snacking and was a little hard to keep up with him. I started pumping almost exclusively to try to keep track of how much he was getting and wanting. I had to supplement a lot with formula and also started experimenting with different formulas to find one that will be easier on his stomach. He is still having tummy troubles quiet often. However, the best thing about his eating is that he will drink a cold bottle. Both of my other kids were so picky of their bottles being warmed so Mav definitely gets points for not caring about that!

Sleeps: occasionally. He sleeps well when he doesn't have a tummy ache. He will sleep in smaller chunks through the morning and then I can usually get him to take a good nap in the afternoon. At night he will do a long stretch followed by a shorter stretch. I got a baby swing from Chelsea and it has been wonderful! He sleeps in that quite a bit while he is being swung. He loves it.

Plays: Continues to surprise me buy his head/neck/shoulder strength! He also is starting to smile more often and even make some noises. He will follow things with his eyes although not super intensely.

Likes: having his head rubbed and having blankies by his face. He also really likes music and often when he is crying in the car I'll turn the music on really loud and he goes right to sleep.

Dislikes: still messy diapers and also being alone.

Also: I started taking him to a chiropractor who specializes in babies and children. Dr. Bill has helped us a lot. He said that Maverick's muscle tone is very tight for a baby and he is working on relaxing it in general and keeping everything aligned so he can be more mellow. It's really helping and I've seen improvement.
Stats from his 2 month check-up: weight: 11.16 lbs (29%) length: 23" (56%) He is fitting into size 0-3 month clothes perfectly and seems to be getting a lot longer.

Firsts this month: moved into his room to sleep (although he still sleeps in his little cradle), first time to go to church, first Halloween.

neither here nor there

October fun through instagram

joys of motherhood: october

Oh my heavens... these kids of mine are full of it. "it" being: personality, sass, spunk, defiance, attitude and a few other things I can think of. But also sweetness and cuteness and snuggles and I love these little hooligans.

Nolan

-More breast feeding blunders: while I was feeding Maverick, Nolan came running up and observed for a second then said, "Is he eating YOU mom?!"

-Driving in the car and Nolan suddenly exclaims, "I see lion king!" I look over and there was a beautiful sunset between the mountains that looked like the opening scene to lion king (cue Swahili music... I know you can picture it right now)

-I was getting ready and nolan was by me and said "Mom, You look handsome" I said thank you and then I explained that actually boys look handsome but if you're a girl you look pretty. Boys are handsome and girls are pretty. He stopped for a second, looked at me and said "Mom... You look cool"

-each of my kids seem to go through a Lion king phase where that's all they want to watch and they are obsessed. Nolan is actually pretty obsessed with Lightning McQueen from Cars but sometimes when he says it is sounds like "lion king" so I think when he has babysitters, etc they put in the Lion King movie for him and it has turned into another obsession. He wants to watch it all day everyday!
-Nolan has started incorporating "actually" and "of course" into conversation. 

Caitlin
-Caitlin is jealous of Aria in her preschool class because she can snap her fingers and also of Sam because she has her ears pierced... both really big deals. 

-when Caitlin and I went to the homecoming spectacular show we saw the ballroom team perform and Caitlin LOVED it. She loved their sparkly dresses. At the beginning of the number one girl came out to center stage and was dancing solo then the eat of the team came out and started dancing in couples. Caitlin exclaimed, "but, She doesn't have her prince!"

-we drove home the other night in separate cars from Paul and Caitlin's Competitive driver side really came out. She was absolutely determined to win and get home before dad and was telling me the whole time to "driver faster" "go speedy! We gotta win!!" It was cracking me up... Talk about peer pressure! At one point she told me to hurry up and go fast and I said "Caitlin I'm trying in but there's cars in the way!" She said, "just go OVER them!!" Haha what?! For the record, we did win.

A High Seas Halloween

Halloween was a non-stop day this year and it was a blast:

-pumpkin pancakes for breakfast

-Preschool Halloween party for Caitlin, the grocery store for me and the boys (I always think we are going to run out if candy then I bought way to much this year) then the kids helped me make gingersnaps.

-Trick or Treat at Vivint. There were a ton of people there and the kids had fun running around with their friends and talking to everyone. One of Paul's co workers (Tessa) dressed up as Paul and it was pretty funny.

-Trick or Treating in our neighborhood. We stuck to our 3 closest streets and the kids were running from house to house. Chelsea and Tyler and Zoey came up too and my Grandparents came up and passed out candy back at our house. We took the RZR to the farthest houses. The kids were good at saying "Trick or Treat" and "thank you" and any other comments they felt like. Nolan started asking everyone if he could come into their house. And Caitlin went up to one of our friends houses who said "hi Caitlin!" And she said "what? You know my name?!" As if she was so un-recognizable in her costume. Maverick slept in the stroller for most of it. The weather was PERFECT. Not even a chill in the air it felt amazing and made it so pleasant to be out!

-Finally: the costumes. Our theme this year was "the high seas" Caitlin was a mermaid, Nolan was a pirate and Maverick was a fish. I loved how all their costumes turned out and they loved them too! Caitlin was ALL ABOUT the makeup, so she got to have eyeshadow and lipstick and sparkles and she totally loved it. I bought her costume, made her headband and added the necklaces.

Nolan has been into pirates lately and he will say "ahoy mateys" and sing "yo ho a pirates life for me" so I picked up his costume and added the socks and bandana. He wasn't sure about wearing his costume at first but then once I gave him his sword he found his true pirate character and was all about it!

I made Maverick's costume from a baby nightgown, added the felt tail and fins. When we put him on the ottoman to take his picture he was wriggling around on his tummy and he really did kind of look like a fish. Just keep swimming...

Paul and our friends had our annual couples Halloween party on November 1st. We had the hardest time picking costumes so I finally asked Caitlin what she thought we should be and she said "you should be ninions!" with a giggle. So we were "ninions from spica me" ...AKA minions from despicable me. The party was so much fun, lots of food and funny games and funny people. I found my secret talent of sliding an oreo down my face into my mouth with no hands in record time.