Friday, September 28, 2012

Family Pics 2012

 
We had family pictures taken a few weeks ago by my childhood friend, Amber Sagers.  I love how they turned out.  She did a great job.
 
 

This picture just makes me smile.  It is his "I'm up to no good and I'm determined to do it anyway" look.  We have been seeing this look quite a bit lately :)
 
 
And this little munchkin never can keep a serious face for long. 
 

 
 

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Heber Valley Railroad

I think I have mentioned before that each summer we make a list of all the things we want to do/places to go that summer.  We never even get close to checking everything off our list so this year we just kind of went off of the list from last year.  Heber Valley Railroad has been on the list for several years now and the timing was perfect. 
...Beautiful weather...
...Leaves turning color...
...Great company...
...It was a great day...
 
 
 

Claire was pretty excited to finally get to ride on a train but kinda disappointed it went so slow.



So she passed the time by making faces at the camera.


 
 
 Crue passed the time by kicking back with a bag of popcorn.  Give this kid a bag of popcorn and a cup of ice and he is one happy camper.  He did great on the long ride until he threw his bottle out the window and then realized he wasn't getting it back.  However, the look on his face was priceless and the passengers around us got a good laugh out of it. 


TOU Half

Earlier in the year I blogged about trying new things, stepping out of my comfort zone, challenging myself, blah,blah blah.....
Well my moment of insanity arrived last month -- The Top of Utah Half Marathon.
It was a great experience and I am so glad that I did it.  It was fun, exciting, and the last two miles were extremely painful.  (haha....Guess I should train a little bit more next year)  It was great seeing so many of our friends running it as well.
For years Luke has been trying to talk me into doing a 5K with him and I have refused.  Then I decided I would run a 5K with him even if I walked half of it....and I did walk half of it.  Last year my goal was a 5K without walking at all.  And this year was the half marathon.  Now I can check that one off the good ol' bucket list. 
 
Yep, this is the only picture we have.  I was hoping for a picture of us over at the finish line but walking was too painful by then. 
 

And one more thing...Luke is awesome!! During my last mile I saw him walking back to find me and then he ran with me until just before the finish line.  Im not sure I could have finished if not for him telling me not to stop.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Milestones


It has been a week of milestones for us.  First of all Crue turned 18 months old and is officially in nursery.  Yay!!!  He has actually been going for the last month on the weeks that I had primary stuff to attend to.  So does he like it???  Nope.  Not at all.  But he is doing much better since our favorite babysitter just got called to be in nursery and he just loves her.  The downside...our ward just got split and when we go back he will have all new leaders and all new kids to get used to. 

 
That smile just melts my heart. 
 

And now a few milestones for Claire. On Tuesday she started her dance class.  She has been talking about this for months and was so excited.  I bought her a leotard last Thursday and she has insisted on wearing it everyday since then.  Her reasons for wearing it were awesome. "But Mom, I think daddy really wants to see me wearing my dance costume."  or "But Mom,  I think I need to go show ___________ my dance stuff".  And she thought EVERYONE needed to see it.  My fav was when she insisted that her buddy Braxton needed to see it.  We could see him across the street waiting to go to kindergarten so Claire insisted that we go show him.  This is how it went. 

Claire:  Braxton, come see my new dance costume.
 He walks over to her without saying a word.
Claire:  Braxton, don't you like my new dance costume.  I look pretty.
Braxton gives her a weird look, rolls his eyes, and walks away and goes back into the house. 
Claire:  Mom, why is he acting weird?
Me:   He's not baby.  He is just acting like a boy.
Claire:  Oh.  Okay. (confused look)

 

She is in a ballet/tap/jazz class and she absolutely loved her first day.  She was excited when she saw that her best friend from school was in the class too.

 

Then today Claire started her second year of preschool.  She walked in, found her best friend Alabama, and never even bothered to say goodbye to me.  I think she was getting tired of summer and she was ready to go back to school weeks ago.  I just can't believe how big my beautiful little girl is getting. 

 




Saturday, September 1, 2012

18 Months Old

Happy 18 Months Crue Buddy!!
 


My little man is eighteen months old.  He is such a sweet little boy and we love him so much.  He likes to play with his sister, jump on the trampoline, swing really high,  try to ride Claire's plasma car and trike, play in the mud, eat dirt, throw rocks, and go on walks.  He absolutely loves being outside and can throw a huge fit when it is time to come inside.  He gives the best hugs and kisses ever.  Rocking him and singing primary songs will almost always get him to calm down when he is upset. His favorites primary songs are I'm Trying to be like Jesus, Follow the Prophet, I am a Child of God, and Families Can be Together Forever.  Crue really just wants to be a big boy and do all the things he sees the other kids doing, especially his sister.  If he wakes up first in the morning he will go by Claire's door and whine until I open it so he can run in and climb on her bed and jump on her until she wakes up.  He also loves to play horsie with Claire or Daddy and starts laughing when he gets bucked off. 





Crue talks nonstop all day long and most of it is unrecognizable but here a  few things he says.
Yes
Stop
Mama
Dada
Sissy
I see it
All gone
Uh-oh
What
What is that
Hot
Pop, Pop, Pop (from popcorn popping song)
Thank You
I stinky
I pooh-pooh
Grandma

 

He is such a big help too. 
-We dont have to worry about what to do with too many tomatoes because he picks all the green ones.

-I no longer have to search for the right size lid to a pan while I am making dinner because he has successfully broke every single one. 

-I don't have to worry about my can of hairspray lasting too long either because he figured out that if you turn the can of hairspray upside down and push it on a hard surface it sprays all over the place.  And he loves that!!

-When we are watering the garden he thinks he should have complete control of the hose.

-He helps us get rid of things such as when he threw a bottle of baby shampoo down the toilet and flushed it. 

-When I am changing laundry over he likes to put the clothes in the dryer.

-He loves helping us clean out the dishwasher. We just have to do it really fast because he gets impatient and if you don't grab whatever he is handing you fast enough then he throws is on the floor. 

 


Favorites:
Songs:  Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree and If All the Raindrops Were Lemon Drops and Gumdrops 

Food:  Bananas, fruit smoothie, cracked wheat, pizza, peas, corn, chicken, and watermelon.

Toys:  wagon and cars. He has started to make car noises when he plays and it is the cutest thing ever.

 
 

Tantrums started a few months ago and at first he would start screaming and throw himself down on the floor onto his back and then throw his head back onto the floor really hard.  So of course then he would really have a reason to be crying after hitting his head.  He learned real fast not to do that. Now he will whine as he very carefully lies down on the floor and even more carefully puts his head on the floor and then comes the screaming. 

He likes to put his bottle in a cup and then drink it so he will go from room to room until he finds a cup that was left out that will fit his bottle.

He prides himself on being able to get to almost anything by pushing a chair around and climbing on anything he can.

He thinks that everything needs to be climbed on, climbed over, or climbed under.  Every drawer should be emptied.  Every shelf, nightstand, table, desk, and counter should remain clear with everything going onto the floor. 
 
After months of hating the water when we would go swimming, he now absolutely loves it and will run right for it.
 
He has the best little laugh ever and a smile that will just melt your heart. 
 
He is still a total mama's boy and saves his best hugs for me. 

 
 
We love you so much Crue.  You bring so much happiness, laughter, and love into our home.