Christmas 2011.... a little late!

Am I a slacker?? Um, yes. Every day I think about getting this post put together and then I think of something else I would rather do, which is about ANYTHING else! :)

We had such a fun Christmas. Daxton really got into it this year and that made it so much fun! He was always singing Christmas tunes, talking about Santa, and completely obbsessed with all the fun things going on. We tried to do lots of fun things with him so that he could really enjoy the season too. Thanksgiving Point is really close to our house and we heard that they had Santa's reindeer there to visit. To say that he LOVVVEEEEDDDDD the reindeer would be this years understatement! He is like his dad, like anything with big ol' antlers.


We went to New Mexico this year for Christmas to spend it with Landon's family. There are always lots of fun traditions and parties to go to when we visit. We spend Christmas Eve with one of Landon's uncles and his family. Yummy food, a great program, and a visit from Santa!


Christmas morning was so fun for Daxton! His Aunt Meme let him sleep in her room while we were there so we was waking up at like 4 or 5 in the morning. I am still tired! Anyway, so we were up EARLY to see what Santa brought. He loves his new Thomas the Train track, LOVES it. Infact, we have never taken it down. Good job Santa.


Nana and Papa got him a new tricycle! It is the cutest dang thing I have ever seen! It is like a little road rally/Harley lookin' bike. Adorable.


All gussied in Christmas duds for church. I really loved Christmas on a Sunday this year. It was a great way to focus on Christ and what Christmas is all about.


Goofy little googely-eyed guy!


Landon's grandpa has a tractor and had been wanting to take Daxton on it for a long time and it finally worked out. If you know Daxton at all, you know that anything having to do with tractors is like sweet HEAVEN for him. So this was a real treat! His grandparent just left on a mission to Florida so this was a sweet moment for them to spend together.

And finally, we always have a party with Landon's mom's family. It's always a great time. They cook an excellent meal and we have a white elephant gift exchange.

The kids waiting patiently to open their gifts (except for Daxton). I guess he just couldn't wait one....more......second!

Megan (aka, Meme or Landon's sister) works for the theaters in town as a secretary so she can schedule the theaters for early in the morning if she wants. So we all got loaded up for a 9am showing of the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie! It was Daxton's first movie theater experience and he loved it! He just sat there and watched the whole thing, with popcorn of course. The kid could love on popcorn alone.

Well, I feel better now that I am finally getting this posted! I am trying to be better at blogging and in the process of turning it all into a book. I want my kids to be able to see everything that we did while they were growing up. Wish me luck!!!!

5 Months

5 months!!! This month went by crazy fast due to all the holiday madness! Bodie is getting so big and strong and we just love to watch him change and become a little person.

Bodie is overly loved at this house! Daxton loves his baby brother and now that he can make him giggle and squeal he loves him even more. I love to watch them communicate, it is really dang precious.

Have you heard the little rhyme that goes:

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait for tomorrow,

For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs,

Dust, go to sleep,

I'm rocking my baby,

And babies don't keep.

Sweet and so true isn't it? Bodie is already an ear infection magnet and he wasn't feeling well this particular day and just wanted to snuggle. NOTHING in the world is better than that. I will take a baby snuggle any day!

But usually he is FULL of cheesy grins and yumminess.

And check out our biggy boy in his new highchair from Nana! Bodie's babyhood is going by so much faster than Daxton's and it makes me sad. I don't want to miss out just because I am busier, but I think I am missing out a little because all of a sudden he is SO big and loves solid foods, sits in highchair, is almost sitting on his own, rolling over, etc. etc. One thing that I have learned this past year is that we can't take our little ones for granted and to enjoy them every moment. I plan on doing just that. Love you little BodieBo.

Daxton Turns 2!!!

I can't believe that my firstborn child is already 2! It is even more of a challenge that I expected to make his birthday special at Christmas time. We are so used to only focusing on the excitment of Christmas, that I had to try EXTRA hard to flip that switch in my brain to focus on my baby's birthday and helping him be excited about that. He loves to tell people that he is turning two (all the while holding up 5 finger) and singing happy bithday to himself. This is what we did to make his birthday special:


Went to Kangaroo Zoo, a jumpy playhouse thingy. At first he was TERRIFIED and clung to me with dear life. He wouldn't even get on the baby jumper.




Then he warmed up a bit..... especially with the help of Maddie. She would just manhandle him and get him to go down slides.



And then we couldn't find him anywhere and this where we finally spotted him.... climbing up the at least 30 foot stairs after Maddie to go down the most ginormous slide in the whole place, without even a grimace! GO DAXTON! I am one proud mama! I know, my heart kinda skipped a beat too when I found him like this.

Then we had an Elmo party, of course. We gobbled pizza, ate Elmo cake, and opened gifts.

His prized tool bench. Him and Ella working on the bench together trying to build something spectacular I'm sure.

The birthday boy in all his precious glory! Yes, those jammies even have a bum flap and those boots are authentic Timberlands! He makes us so happy. If that doesn't make you smile then i don't know what will!

THEN, we went to New Mexico to visit Landon's family for Christmas and had another party! We ate pizza....

with his beloved cousins

opened gifts,

This is how Taylor felt about it not being his birthday! HA, he is so cute!

Sang and ate cake,

and played pin the nose on Elmo!

I just can't believe that it was two short years ago that our family began with welcoming this precious little boy into our home. He is just the best. Here are some things about Daxton that I don't want to forget about this age:

-He LOVES his dad, Grandpa, and Papa. I loves everybody, but those three are his most favorite.

-He loves Elmo, tractors, and trains.

-He loves Bodie to DEATH. They are already best buds and make eachother giggle like crazy.

-He loves to carry money and chapstick around, like all day. For some reason he always puts the chapstick on his chin. ????

-He loves his cousins, every single one of them and talks about them all the time.

-He says "CHEESE!" every time you point a phone, camera, or recorder at him.

-He loves books and once you get started reading them he won't let you stop

-He loves animals. It is just a matter of time until he begs for a puppy, I just know it.

-He do not prefer meat, my little vegetarian child. Like mama, like son I guess!

-He loves to color and be creative.

-He loves to sleep on a pillow lately and when I go check on him before bed he is all curled up with his turtle, Elmo, and blanket.

-He had such a sensitive, tender heart. I hope he stays that way.

-He is talking TONS! I can't compare him to his cousins that talk in full sentences at like 18 months, but he is doing really well! He pairs words together and is getting better at explaining things. I love to see him become so smart.

-He loves to get and give hugs and kisses and always says "wuv you" to us.

-He is one of the happiest little guys on earth. You can't NOT smile when you are around him.

Lately, I have been feeling nostalgic for some reason and I feel like I wish I had the kind of brain that remembers every single little thing. I am just loving my little kiddies and want to remember every sweet thing they do and say and all the silly things that make me so happy. Our mortal minds just aren't capable of that, bummer.

Well, I could go on and on and on. We love our little Daxton to pieces (if you can't tell) and cannot wait to see what the terrible twos will bring!

Santa

Going to see Santa today didn't go so well.....


This morning I started asking Daxton if he wanted to go see Santa and he would reply by saying, "HOHOHO, Merry Christmas," because that is what we have been teaching him to say lately (it's dang cute). Then I asked him if he wanted to sit on Santa's lap and he got this funny look on his face and started saying, "Lap? NO. Lap? NO." Well needless to say, he really didn't want to sit on his lap!

Aren't these pictures classic though? For sure.

4 Months

My little monkey then:

My little monkey now:

I is HARD to get cute pics at this age! They don't hold still for any length of time and it takes too much effort to get them to smile behind the camera! We love our little Bo. He is so sweet and totally adored by us all. Daxton gets more excited to see Bodie than anybody (which is saying a lot after you see how excited he gets to see his daddy)! Daxton loves to make him smile and bring him toys to make sure he is entertained all the time. He also makes sure that we never forget him at home if we are running errands even if he has to drag the car seat himself!

Bodie weighs in at 14 lbs 13 oz. (like the 45%) and about the same percentile for height. SO he is growing good..... never misses a meal, this kid. He has started on solids now, but I am having a hard time telling how he feels about them. He eats a little and spits out a lot, which it then ends up all over his face. I was so excited to start Daxton on solids at this age, but you quickly realize how much work it is. The only reason I started this early again is because Bo has stoped sleeping through the night (SO frustrating because he has since 2 months, until now). So we are giving it a go and hoping that it will help! He is starting to hold onto toys and play with them, grab at everything, roll over, and..... that's about it. Come on, they can only accomplish so many skills at once! He is a finger sucker so I have been trying to give him a binki more. I know that sounds crazy but, you can't take their thumb away and you can take a binki away.... so binki it is! He also won't take a bottle, the real deal ONLY. It is like I am feeding him poison when I make him take a bottle! We are working on that one.

Once again, I just can't believe how fast time has gone. These last 4 months have been wonderful and the transition to 2 kids hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be, except I look like a train when I go places. We love our little family of 4!

November

We have had a BUSY November! I can't believe how fast this time of year flies with all the holidays! WARNING: this is an extremely long post!

We have had so much fun getting together with my family this last month, especially because there are so many babies! I had a baby, my twin sister had a baby, and my little sister had twins..... so yeah, it's been a little nuts around here! This is Ty, Tyler, and Bodie. Next Christmas they will be a little over a year..... YIKES.


It's a little family tradition to all decorate the downstairs Christmas tree together. Now that we have kids we assign them to do it! All the ornaments are at the bottom of the tree this year and my mom loves it that way!

These are the oldest four grandkids: Maddie, Emrie, Ella, and Daxton. Daxton has to work extra hard to keep up with these three and will probably love when the three younger boys get a little older. But, he loves these girls to death.

They all happened to match this day.... I love love love my cute boys.

Yeah, see what I mean about a lot of babies! We all stayed at my parents house so it was just a little crazy! It is so fun to all have babies together though. Little Ava is the only girl, but that girl can already hold her own! She is such a pretty little thing.

Our family has gotten so big that it is hard to have Thanksgiving at my Grandma's house, so now we have it at the Malad (Idaho) Senior Citizens Center..... I know, AWESOME right??? :) They have a game room and piano to keep the kiddos busy which was nice.

Ahhhhh, a little brotherly (in-law) love. So sweet.

I always love seeing my sissies..... missed you Emily.

I know..... He is getting SO BIG right???? I can't believe it myself. He is so wonderful, we just love his to pieces! He is four months old this week..... HOLY COW!

Daxton is VERY into Christmas this year which has been fun. He loves his Rudolph ornament and helped put the star on the top of the tree. He is obsessed with Santa and walks around saying "HOHOHO" all the time!

We had a great Thanksgiving and have so much to be grateful for in our lives. Now onto Christmas!

These are some pictures that I had forgotten about, but just had to post them for Nana and Meme. We went to this little farm that had some cute little activities for kids. Daxton LOVED it... probably because he was with his Nana. :)