Atlantis

If you know me or anything about my bucket list, then you know that I have always wanted to go to Atlantis resort. Ever since I was little and saw the commercial where they go down the slide into the fish tank I knew I HAD to go.

Paul told me a few months ago that vivint was taking a year end corporate trip that we were invited to go on to... of all places... Atlantis! I've been so excited as we had been preparing to go and pinching myself that we were so lucky! Almost too good to be true!

It did not disappoint at all. We spent a week on "paradise island" as a family (with about 50 other vivint people) and it is a week I will never forget. We loved the resort so much we never even ventured into the city of Nassau, except to get to and from the airport. We probably would have if it had just been the two of us buy getting to be with my little family and especially Paul 24/7 in such a fun atmosphere was heavenly.

Caitlin LOVED all the fish and water around. She could have stood in front of the fish tanks all day and been perfectly happy. She loved swimming and making sandcastles. She got to touch a starfish and also swim with a dolphin! She rode the lazy river and the rapids and loved the ride. She was too little for most of the real water slides but she was also too little to know what she was missing out on so it worked out fine. She got to play with lots of little friends. I took her to the souvenir shop and after looking at every single stuffed animal and trinket and t shirt i told her she could pick one thing to bring home and she picked an "Under the Sea" lift-the-flap book. So cute. We went to the movie theater a couple times an she liked that. She also liked room service. we ordered food for her a couple times to have while we went out to eat and we would often find her playing in the room at other times on the phone ordering her "chicken bites and dip its" She played hard all day everyday and was worn out at the end. She truly loved it all.

 

Nolan was like a little celebrity over there. Everyone just loved him and all his chunk. The Bahamian people especially. We got stopped by literally almost every single worker who wanted to see him and ask how old he was and comment on how big he is. He was cute and smiley and accommodating as always. We rented a stroller from the hotel (forgot ours) and he was so happy to just ride around and look at things. He also liked floating in the pool and napping at the beach. He did great with the non-stop schedule and a different crib. He was also worn out after every day (being so adored can be tiring).

Paul and I got to ride all the rides (including the famed one from the commercials!) we enjoyed the amazing weather (low 80's and sunny everyday except for one little rain shower) and we also both took advantage of the spa! I got a couple massages and after my foot massage the lady was kind enough to tell me I had been snoring! Awkward. Paul and I got to go on fun dates almost every night (Their office assistant Chandra came and helped watch the kids whenever we needed her to and the kids loved playing with each other) We ate like kings at the amazing restaurants there and had lots of good conversations and laughs around the dinner table. We met Magic Johnson in one restaurant. We also went to some fitness classes at the gym. We scuba dived in the shark tank and were within reach of several large sharks. We were able to get closer to and make new friends. Mostly we enjoyed everyday making new memories and having a blast.

baby's first christmas

Nolan loves Christmas so far! We've been reading lots of Christmas books and listening to Christmas music but i think his favorite thing is the tree. He rolls himself right over and likes to look at the lights and pull on the branches. Definitely the cutest thing that will be under our tree this year!

babies in boxes

Caitlin at 6 months vs. Nolan at 6 months

same jammies, different box

half birthday, full grown.

We had a little half birthday party for Nolan on Sunday with some friends and family. He is always up for a good time, and if he could eat the desserts yet I'm sure he'd be a fan of those too. I made the half a birthday cake and again it wasn't my best work but at least it didn't fall over mid-party like Caitlin's did.

Lucy Pack and Nolan: 6 weeks vs. 6 months

I took him for his 6 month check up on Monday and he is doing great and healthy. His stats were no surprise:

weight: 21.60 lbs. (97%)

length: 27.25 inches (75%)

head circumference: 17.5 inches (81%)

weekend review

Friday night we took the family down to Temple Square to see all the Christmas lights. The weather wasn't too cold and we had a great time with Mike and Jenna. We went to Crown Burger for dinner and then went to temple square and started looking around. Caitlin LOVES temples so she was so happy to be so close to one! She got excited to see Angel Moroni and wanted to make sure we all saw him too. She loved looking at everything, she was dragging Paul everywhere too go see more. She got so excited when Paul told her she could go touch the temple. It was really sweet how excited she was to see the temple up close. Paul took her aside and told her that the temple is Jesus' house and it is a special place. She started saying that she wanted to go inside and say Hi to Jesus and then we told her she couldn't go inside right then so then she was saying "Jesus! Come out please!" (little bit of a backfire on our part but really cute nonetheless) She walked up the steps with daddy then came back and told Nolan all about the temple. Nolan just tried to stay warm and happy, not a fan of the clod but I think he liked the lights too. Afterward we went over the Deser Book at city creek for a few minutes and then went to Bruge's for waffles! They were delicious belgian waffles and the perfect ending to a great night. When we all got back in the car after waffles the first thing Caitlin said was "That was fun Mommy." Sweet success.

 

 
Saturday we ran a bunch of errands and did some Christmas shopping and then that night we went to the movie "Playing for Keeps" with some friends.

on having 2 kids.. six months in

Here's a "my blog is my journal" really real moment, so feel free to scroll down to more pics if you'd like. 

My baby boy is six months old. STOP. Seriously? My baby is half way to completing the first year of his life? Halfway done being a full-on baby? I knew that time went by faster once you had kids, but I didn't know it kept getting faster the more kids you have!! 

I'm seriously emotional just thinking about what that could mean. 

I'm not going to completely lie and say that being a mother of two has been an easy or seamless transition for me. It's been hard... harder than I thought it would be. I feel like nowadays I've got things down pretty well. I can get out of the house close to on time, I can run errands and keep my kids alive and (most of the time) happy and I even sometimes do fun things with them and see them learning things and growing up right before my eyes. I do feel really good about my life, I absolutely love being a mom and I know what I am doing is a very important work. That being said... being a mom is HARD. I still have hard days, and when both kids are screaming or Caitlin is throwing a fit right while I'm trying to help Nolan with something I just have to think to myself "ok, this will all be settled in 5 minutes.. 5 minutes from now I will have solved the problem and both kids will be fine. This current craziness is only temporary." That's what I have told myself for the past 6 months every time I have a moment that I want to pull my hair out and cry with them I just think "This is only temporary. Figure it out and it will be done."

One thing that has hit me though is how truly temporary it all is. Not just the crazy fit-throwing moments but also all the good and amazing moments. Those moments when I'm thinking "I love this, I love them, please never end." But they do. Every stage of life is so fleeting. Just when I adjust to one, it's gone and we are onto another stage with the kids and life just chugs along. All things come to an end. The night time feedings and never ending diaper changes, and other things that you thought you'd never get through but you do. They end. And then in a weird way you look back and think how much you miss them. Or maybe that you didn't soak up that time enough.

I feel like an old person writing all this but these are my thoughts. I want to live life with no regrets, i want my husband and my sweet kiddos to know how much i love them, and that even though being a  mom is hard work, its the most amazing job ever and I wouldn't trade spending my time with these precious little souls for anything. The wonderful moments and days far outweigh the bad ones, and that makes it all worth it.

Nolan: 6 months

HALF A YEAR OLD! How is this even possible?! The past 6 months have been a wonderful blur of baby fat and sweet smiles. I just love Nolan. He is such a good baby I feel so spoiled by him. He is so sweet and always brings a smile to my face. I'm so blessed to have such a happy healthy baby!
Eats: Rice cereal twice a day and 4 bottles, I've recently started experimenting with different sizes of bottles so that we will eventually eat more and drink less.But he really loves his bottle, and still isn't a huge fan of eating off a spoon. He is starting to be able to hold his own bottle when he eats.

Sleeps: Like an angel still, 2 naps a day for 1.5-2 hours but if he doesn't get a good nap (like if we are out running errands) he just needs a little snooze and he's good to go. Sleeps 12-13 hours at night.

Plays: He rolls over all the time, both ways and all over the room. Sometimes he gets "stuck" on his tummy and gets fussy so we reset him to his back and he's happy again. He can sit if you get him perfectly situated for (literally) a few seconds by himself but he's not sturdy at all. He plays really well with his toys. He gets really focused and likes looking at them.

Likes: When we come in to get him from naps or in the morning he kicks his little legs and gets so excited and smiley. He also likes his mommy... I'm still his favorite and I love it. Although he's really not picky at all. HE also still really likes his sister. Whenever she talks to him or plays with him he gets so happy. He likes to be on his back on the ground most of all. He prefers this to even being held most times. He also likes watching TV! That might be a bad thing to admit, but it's totally true.

Dislikes: Eating solid food still. He is doing better but we still have to wash everything down with milk. He also dislikes being cold. He is like me, doesn't like to be out in the elements even if we bundle him up.

Other: His hair is getting longer and he's getting more, but its very straight and thin and fluffy so there's no real chance for a style right now. He has also started teething, no teeth yet but we are in the chew-on-everything-and-drools phase. He is an expert grunter. He makes lots of noises. He is constantly growing out of his clothes. Pretty much every week after I am folding laundry I have at least a few things to set aside because he has grown out of them. He wears anything size 6-12 months but a lot of things that are 6 month size he has grown out of. He wears some 9 month things. Even so, he can only wear pants with a very elastic waistband. So he pretty much lives in onesies and sweats. Also, he and Caitlin wear the same size of diapers! Size 4. Wow.
Firsts: He celebrated his first Thanksgiving this month. He watched the parade and feasted on rice cereal. He also rode sitting up in a shopping cart for the first time.

 

Christmas Elves 2012

The Christmas elves came! The kids put out their shoes and the elves brought a note from Santa to remind the kids to be good and also some goodies for the long plane ride we have coming up.

Jenna & Bailey's baby shower

I threw a baby shower for Jenna and baby Bailey. We are so excited to have our next niece join the family!!

The shower had a storybook theme and of course I stole most my ideas off Pinterest but I still thought it turned out super cute and it was really fun.

I decorated with the primary colors plus pink. Bailey's cute little ultrasound pic says: "a person's a person, no matter how small" (Dr. Suess)

The invites and the favors. I also had all the guests write advice on notecards and we did a "Children's Book Title Scramble" worksheet game 

The food table

All of the food coordinated with a book: veggie plate = Peter Rabbit, Pineapple with coconut dip = chicka chicka boom boom, strawberries = The Big Hungry Bear and the Red Ripe Strawberry, meatballs= Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, eggrolls = The Five Chinese Men, grape skewers = The Very Hungry Caterpillar, mini quiche = green eggs and ham, chocolate chip cookies = If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, moon pies = good night moon and brownies = Brown Bear Brown Bear What do You see?

neither here nor there

instagram pics from november:

joys of motherhood: november

-Caitlin is starting to say some funny stuff. She picks up on the most random things and will also mimick just about anything so we are watching what we say around her and things are getting funny. Everything is "too cute" and sometimes when something happens she says "oh gosh". Other current favorites are: "be back in a minute" or "excuse me!" another not-so-favorite is "stop it mom"
-Some of Caitlin's current obsessions are: Tinkerbell and Cinderella.
-The other day Caitlin asked where Paul was and I said:
me: "He's at work"
Caitlin: "oh, daddy at work..."
me: "Where does daddy work?" (I kinda just wanted to see what she would say)
Caitlin: "B Y U.. Utah!!"
So apparently Paul works at BYU.
-Nolan is so LOUD sometimes he just talks and talks and it's cute except when we are in church and trying to be quite haha And there he is yelling and gooing and grunting.
-Caitlin has been really into coloring lately and wants to color all the time. Here she is coloring with her bunny, "writing" out her abc's (as she was saying them) and talking about Terrence and Tinkerbell.

-She knows her colors really well, but if you ask her what color white is, she almost always responds "Snow White". She also knows most shapes and numbers 1-15, but we are still working on ordering them correctly.
-I've mentioned bfore that she has a realy good memory of places. The other day we drove past he BYU football stadium and she started talking about seeing the fireworks there! (We went to stadium of fire back in July)

'tis the season

We've been doing lots of fun things lately to start enjoying winter and the holiday season:
-Paul and I got to go skiing at Snowbird. My first time in awhile since I was pregnant with Nolan last season. The snow was ok, but the weather was beautiful. While we were standing in line for the tram I had a celebrity encounter with Dennis Quaid! I took my picture with him but that's about all. I was pretty excited though. Then we got off the tram and Paul totally showed him up skiing... that's my man. Paul is always so patient and fun to ski with.  

 
-We went and saw the lights at the Riverwoods. We got dinner at Malawi's and also stopped in to see Santa. Caitlin still won't have any physical contact whatsoever but she did say hi and goodbye and blew him a kiss, which is a huge improvement. Nolan didn't mind sitting on his lap at all.

-Paul got all our house Christmas lights up and we also added lights to our big tree in front this year and they look awesome! I love the way our house looks in Christmas lights.

-We got the kid's tiny passports in the mail. Ok fine they are regular sized but they just feel tiny because the kids are so little.We are so excited for our trip to the Bahamas that we have coming up!

-I've done Christmas decorating for a few clients and it's been fun to get back out there and use my talents. Plus it always puts me in the Christmas mood. I forgot to take pictures at the first two houses but I did remember at this last one.