'sliding'

The boys wanted to go sledding, or as Cam called it, "sliding". Scott was the one who drew the 'short straw' and ventured to the hill behind the elementary school for some winter fun. He first went down with each boy then just sent them flying on their own. He thought Jorden would be fine, but it turned out that Cameron was the fearless one, he was loving every minute of it and would go down anyway Scott sent him.

NINE months old.

Garrett is now 9 months old. It is hard to believe the time has sped so quickly. He is crawling and has started pulling himself up to furniture, his two front teeth may never break the gum barrier and he is saying Da Da.
He weighed in at 17 pounds 15 ounces (11%), he is 28 1/4" long (51%) and his head is 18" (62%)...all said very Messel-esque. He is healthy and did great at his check-up even with a heel stick for a hemoglobin (12.7). Dr. Evans is so nice and is patient with my many 'concerns'--being a nurse can be a good thing and a bad thing, I tend to notice EVERYTHING.

Click *here* for developmentally-appropriate ideas for 8-12 month-olds

Early morning ramblings

So, yes, I live in a city that made breaking news regarding the fact that the roads were not plowed...Sunday's gift from Mother Nature was beautiful but when it was 12:30 p.m. and the dutiful city trucks had not made an appearance we kind of wondered what was wrong...now this was a great storm, Scott shoveled the walks around our block twice and an hour later you never would have known he had--I think the snow knew I had to go to work and that I was worried about my snow driving (being married to Scott has definitely snuffed any snow-driving ability I may have had, he is really good at it and actually has been known to get up early just to drive in freshly fallen snow, eeirly similar to a skier that wants virgin powder...anyway, he always drives when it is icy out). Well the roads never did get plowed after that storm and the story made the 10:00 o'clock news. City Hall got inundated with calls regarding the matter...made an exciting day for Scott.

Today we got snowed on again, I have to say I love how snow gently rests on bare tree branches making them look like lace and the way Christmas lights on bushes glow through the snow...*sigh* it is so pretty. But said snow is cumbersome when you are late getting your child to school, especially when you slept-in and had your 1st grader coming in to wake you up 20 minutes before the bell rings. I looked 'great' as I checked Jorden in late, I found one of Scott's Grandpa's red plaid flannel jackets, Scott's boots, my hair in a messy ponytail and all of this topped off by my glasses and retainer because I was in such a rush. My goal tomorrow, to get Jorden to school on-time, and perhaps get myself dressed before noon. Reallly, lately my expectations are not very high. I should work on that--New Year's should be fun, I have a laundry list (no pun intended, Scott) of resolutions to work on.

so it is now nearly 2 in the morning which means it is Garrett's 9 month mark, our baby is growing-up, he goes in for his well-child check-up on Thursday, so we will have to give the stats then.

But now I really should go to bed if I am going to stay true to my goal...

Turkey-day Cameronism

On Thanksgiving Day we were at my parent's and I had sneaked out to feed Garrett--Cam followed me in and was chatting with me, everyone had just started eating and so I told him he should go in and eat some dinner so he wouldn't get hungry. He said he didn't want to. I then told him, "Bud, you really should go in and eat, this is Thanksgiving Dinner."
Cameron: "Thanksgiving? hmmmm, well we need popcorn and we will sit at a ping ponk table."

(do you remember the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special?....it will all make sense if you do!)

Crawling!

Garrett started crawling and now we can hear the cute pitter patter of little hands and knees on the wood floor. He is so curious and it is fun to watch him learn and explore...we did find the need to go get another gate to rope off the front room where the sparkling twinkle lights and pretty ornaments are adorning our 'Charlie Brown' Christmas tree--the tempation was simply too great!
He is just too cute!

I'm grateful for...

We had a fun Thanksgiving at my parent's house, we had all the kids running around and after a run to Wal-Mart for more potatoes we enjoyed a beautiful dinner. I feel so blessed to have a wonderful, loving and supportive family. I am thankful for the wonderful blessings in my life and all I have to live for! We are truly blessed!

Countdown to Turkey Day

We are excited for Thanksgiving and the chance we have to be with family, to eat some yummy food and play games...It will be slightly amiss this holiday with the weather being so lovely. Don't get me wrong, I love 60 degree, sunny days, but for Thanksgiving it seems a bit mild. I wonder if it will snow for Christmas.

And not to any one's surprise, but we have been doing more "projects". The extremely functional, durable concrete has yet again been a medium of choice. We decided to do the kitchen counters this time. And, YES, I knew about it. Scott poured one section and had two neighbors help carry it from the basement to install it, then he reused the forms and poured the second half and put it in place this weekend.

(from left to right): picture from when we were looking at the house before we bought it; in the middle of the project; the completed view

are you comfortable?

As I was feeding Garrett this morning I could hear Cam in the kitchen eating his breakfast and then it was quiet, I wondered what he might be ransacking or if he had just gone downstairs to watch cartoons, but I came into the kitchen and found him asleep like this. After gulping down 2 glasses of milk then devouring two Eggo waffles and the half-eaten Eggo Jorden left, do you think he was hungry?..the poor kid was exhausted after eating everything in sight!

These are just a few of the other funny places I have found Cameron sleeping (don't ask how he got up on the dryer--I really don't know!)

"isms"

For story night a while ago Cam chose "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and "The Best Mouse Cookie".
Scott said, "I thought those were the same book."
Jorden chimed in with, "They are different books they just have the same actor."

Just now I was giving Garrett a hug when Cameron looking up at me with a look of disdain said, "Don't squeeze my baby brother."
So I went over and gave Cameron a hug.
Cameron: "Don't squeeze me I am going to pop."

Cameron: "I am a big, big boy, I am tiny boy too."

Cam has a unique style of dance, not to be equaled, well earlier he was jamming out swinging one leg out in front of him, I asked what he was doing and Cameron replied with, "These are just my piggies."

nananananana...

Scott's mom sent this to us and we died laughing--it just so happened that the big boys have been fighting over which cartoon character they are (Bugs Bunny or Elmer Fudd, etc.) and so this just hit home, especially with the amount of 'bodily noise' produced in our household...
P.S. if you can't quite read it click here to see it bigger :)

Debbie's B-day

So I just saw on my mom's blog her 'cake' that she made for Debbie, I had to laugh because it said "Happy Birtboy" I love my mom and I love Debbie--Happy Birthday Deb, hope it has been happy! And just so you know you can have a custom song anytime you want, we will even sing off key again if you like... ;)

Trick or Treat

It is so fun to see your kids get so excited about the holidays and seeing their anticipation and remembering the fun you had when you were their age. *sigh*

I worked Halloween night and was a little bummed by that prospect but it was okay, the school did their Halloween carnival the night before and so I was able to go with the kids to that and then I got the update on the evening...Cameron was pretty excited about all of the candy he got and both big boys hung out in their costumes all day.

Jorden was Optimus Prime, Cameron was Woody and Garrett was Jack-Jack, on our way to the school carnival Cam told me they were all cartoons and asked what Scott and I were dressed up as--we were decked out in Hawaiian garb. (I donned my coconut bra that Verdean brought back for me, Jorden and Cam both asked me what it was...hmm, umm, yeah)

It was a fun night even though it started raining while they were in the middle of the treat-topia. Work even went well, but I might need to find another Halloween-themed scrub top, apparently the one I made with material I bought at Wal-mart was too scary--really, it is Halloween, can anything be too scary, for sure the babies don't care.

I hope Halloween held all sorts of memories for you as it does for us...

P.S. isn't my little pumpkin cute?!

It's about time, gosh...

So yeah, I have been the biggest slacker and while my mind instantly tries to think of excuses to save me from this, alas I just have to chalk it up to being busy with life--whatever life is at the moment for us.

Here is the simple run-down of what we have been up to:

1a) Cam is potty-trained (yeah!), don't mind that just tonight he was freaking out in his bedroom shrieking at Scott that he hated 'undeewear' and wanted to wear a pull-up. Note to 'future-self' we probably should be keeping up with the sticker chart and treats and constant praise...the sudden lack of Cameron attention is taking it's toll.

1b) We did finally end up going to the zoo, we went with my brother and his family on 'Boo at the Zoo' day...*whoa*, everyone and their 2nd cousin's, sister's friend were at the zoo that day, subsequently we had to park by the University Village on Foothill Blvd and walk about a mile to get to the entrance--cars were parked all along Sunnyside Ave and once inside there were lines a block long at every 'trick-or-treat' station, [seemed like a lot of money to spend just to wait for a peppermint], but the weather was fabulous and the animals were out, as evidenced by the instant traffic jams around exhibits where a tiger, giraffe, or monkey decided to do anything

2)Garrett is sitting up now and has two bottom teeth

3) Jorden finished up soccer and his last game was won by default because the other team didn't show-up, they kicked the ball around for a bit, we handed out the snack and then we left.

4) We dragged our bikes out of the shed and took a family bike ride, it was pretty fun, with Jorden now proficient on his two-wheeler we are able to go farther.

5) My cute friend had her baby just over 2 weeks ago, she is absolutely adorable and looks just like her sister. Congrats Natalie & Jeff!

6) The day after Scott's birthday we went to the dentist--me, no cavities...Scott, needs a crown, poor guy. So that will be a fun Christmas! heh heh... :(

7) We had a quick trip to Provo, after the dentist, and went to Tucanos with my parents...mmmmm, meat. The visit was way too short!

8) My sisters surprised me by coming up to our house and we were able to hang out for a few hours...how I miss my family being close!

9) We got together with Scott's brother and his family and went to the castle park to have a picnic and let the kids run around...it is such a great park!

10) This past Monday we had family night at our friend's, the Rawlins, and had pizza and carved pumpkins--it was way fun and has become a tradition of sorts, especially since Brett graduated with his Masters in Nursing, they aren't quite as busy ;)

So now I can hide out for another month or so, right?! ;)

until next post....

Happy Birthday Scott!

Happy Birthday to the best husband, dad, friend, son, brother, grandson, uncle, cousin, etc, etc, etc...you deserve the best day, I hope you have had that. Your kids adore you, you are liked by all and I love you more than words can say!

Now let's go eat some birthday pie!