One week later

Lydia is so much happier this week. It's great.  She decided baths are okay again and survived her doctor's appointment.  She was not so happy to have unknown people poking her but she is healthy and growing well. (18 pounds and 28.8 inches compared to 15.5 pounds and 27 inches at 9 months) I can't decide if it was the nurse and doctor or the doctor's office she disliked so much.  At church Sunday a sister asked to hold her so she could have a "baby fix" and she did great with her. Maybe she just remembers her shots from 3 months ago.  Anyway.  She got over it quickly and I am happy she is doing so well.  Mark was disappointed she didn't weigh enough to turn her car seat around. We are hoping we will be able to turn it for our trip to Arizona for Spring Break.

I am not really sure what to do with Lydia's hair.  It is so baby fine and so crazy!

She was sporting a fancy Mohawk the other day.  I am not sure if I could get it into a pony tail and it would just stick straight up if it did anyway. I did see this cute hairstyle on Facebook today and I think I could actually do it!  Who knows how Lydia will react to me trying to do her hair anyway.

Lydia also decided she was ready to climb all the way up the stairs.  Now we have the joy of her climbing up there, getting stuck and squawking until we rescue her.  She has crawled up the bottom 3 stairs for a long time but just randomly (well it seems random to me) decided  to go all the way up on Sunday (Jan 27).  She gets so excited to do it almost like it surprises her when she gets to the top.  It will be a great day when she feels brave enough to come back down the way we have showed her. 

We have also had fun getting ready for Valentines day.  I was at the store the other day and saw these super cute Valentine pajamas and got Jared and Lydia each a pair. Holidays are such a weakness of mine. Although, in my defense we have been really fortunate to receive pretty much all of Jared's wardrobe from Mark's sister Cathryn and all of Lydia's from a friend in our ward so we have probably bought each of them 20 or less pieces of clothing so I think its okay if they get more pajamas then they need.  Jared loves them.  I think he has definitely picked up on my love of holidays.  We baked 4 dozen peanut butter blossoms Monday night after FHE and they  are all gone. I did give about a dozen to a sister I visit teach but really, we ate way more then we needed to.  We didn't even make it to February! Mark said if they were all gone before the 01st we should make more. We probably will, they are so good and we pretty much only make them for Valentines.  I think its funny that we have certain cookies we make for certain holidays.  Most people have them for Christmas but we go a little beyond that in this house. 

I really feel so blessed to have my sweet little family.  At church Sunday I was singing to Lydia to get her to sleep during Sunday school (1-4 church is hard, really hard for both our kids), and after I finished singing "Families Can be Together Forever" a song I don't really like very much I felt the spirit pour over me and I felt so incredibly blessed and grateful to live the life I live and to know what I know.  I looked down at this sweet little girl sleeping in my arms and felt So very peaceful.  More at peace then I have felt in a long time.  More sure of what I believe.  It was a special tender mercy. Often I go to church and it's kind of exhausting. Jared is really pretty good for sacrament meeting but it would be less exhausting if Mark did sit with our family and it is going to get harder as Lydia gets more mobile.  I don't write much about personal beliefs on here but should my children ever decide to read this blog I want them to know I know.  It's good for me to write down spiritual experiences anyway so I can remember them when I need to.

Life is so good you know?

Happy Birthday Lydia!

I can't believe it is already January 23rd! We are so lucky to have Lydia in our family.  Its so fun to think back to how I was feeling last year at this time and reflect on how much fun it has been to have this little girl.  Lydia loves pancakes so we started the day off right with birthday pancakes.

And then I spent the rest of the day following her around trying to get cute pictures of her. She was just so sad though. She totally skipped her first nap, was disgusted by her lunch spilling it all over the place, me included and then went back and forth between her normal cheerful smiley self to some other alter ego.  SAD.

After Mark got home we opened her presents, ate dinner and got her ready for bed. 

We decided to get her a stroller and baby doll but I am apparently quite snobby when it comes to baby dolls.  I went to a couple of stores to try to find her one and didn't like any of them so we ended up ordering her the one that I really liked online so it should get here next week.  I am not sure why I care so much since it is not for me.

 Now that her tooth has broken through (she now has 3 or closer to 2.5) I am hoping our sweet Lydia will be back.  For the past few days she has been terrified of her bath.  Before Mark even gets her in the water she is crying and clinging to him. We are really not sure what happened to her. She has had no problems with baths before so we hope it gets better soon. Really soon. Neither Mark or I think she is saying any words yet. Not even Mama or Dada.  Jared really wasn't talking much at this age either but I thought with her having an older sibling around and being a girl (because so many people tell me their girls talked way sooner then their boys) she would be talking more or at least some. I know when I take her to the doctor next week for her checkup they will ask me if she is saying any words and I really don't think she is.  She has not yet started walking either.  She is getting closer then she was a month ago but not willing to let go of furniture.  Jared began walking right around 13 months so maybe our kids are just that similar. I do think she is looking less like Jared now then she was a few months ago. For awhile there they looked so very similar. 

She loves pancakes and black beans and signing "more." She has become really interested in books lately and her favorites are: "Where is Baby's Belly Button" a lift the flap book and a book we have about the zoo. She loves it when we grab her foot as she is crawling away and drag her back towards us. I love her cute little laugh.  Jared still thinks Lydia is great and she thinks he is pretty fun too. After I get her up from her nap he always asks if he can hug her. It's sweet.  

We are just so happy to have Lydia in our lives and look forward to each day with her.

Pre birthday celebrations

We celebrated Lydia's birthday on Monday since Mark had the day off. We celebrated with a trip to the zoo, delicious cake and a major photo shoot.  Poor Lydia celebrated her official birthday (Wednesday) by cutting a new tooth which brings the total up to 3.  It made for a sad first birthday today so we were really glad we celebrated on Monday.

 I made Lydia a number one cake just like I did for Jared. 

Lydia and Jared had similar reactions to their cakes.  Their birthday cakes were the first real dessert items they ever had. Lydia ate a little more then Jared but in the end she just dropped it on the ground. I chose to not take offense.

I made Lydia's TuTu for one of her presents.  It costs about 10 dollars and was very easy. I looked up lots of tutorials and will probably make her some more. I am thinking a Fourth of July one would be super fun.  I may wait and see if she actually likes wearing it though.
We love Lydia to pieces and are so happy she is in our family.  It was really sad that she was so sad today for her actual birthday so I am so glad we had a fun day Monday.

Passing the time

With:

Bath time with glow sticks. Jared loved having the glow sticks in his bath.  I told Jared the glow sticks would not work the next day but of course he was very sad when he woke up and hey weren't glowing anymore.  

With 150 plastic balls! We got these balls for Lydia for her birthday.  I saw someone put them in a pack n play for their kids and after we did that we decided putting them in the bath would be even more fun. It was great.

Miniature volcanoes:  We have done big volcanoes before but for this activity we made lots of miniature ones.  After Jared had his fill of small ones we poured all the colored vinegar water in the pan and had one big one.  

 Colored rice:  I have been meaning to make colored rice for at least a year now and I finally did.  Jared was helping me shake the bags of rice and we shook a little too hard and the bag exploded; sending rice EVERYWHERE!  It was quite annoying but it is really pretty now.... I am thinking of making an "I Spy" bottle for him I love them!

I love all the amazing ideas you can find out there. I get pretty stir crazy in the afternoons. I do fine in the mornings they go by fast and I can get lots done but I start to run out of steam and feel anxious for Mark to get home and Tanner to go home around 3:30.  I find that if I have some activity planned for after naps it really helps me get through that last hour or so.

We Teach By Example

"Bummer"

"Let's Do this!"

To Mark "You should put your clothes away"

"My day was Good"

"I am so frustrated"

"That's so annoying"

"I Love You"



 

Apparently I say these things a lot therefore Jared says these things a lot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jared has been a good example for Lydia thus far. We figured based on how much he loves his blanket and him constantly bringing Lydia hers she would soon develop a love for hers.  She got this cute car from my Mom for Christmas and after she watched Jared push it she decided she could do it too. Both of these examples could have happened without Jared but they demonstrate how powerful your example is.   

 

 



 

Each night while Mark is giving Lydia her bath I try to read my scriptures. Jared is often my little reading buddy. If I have not already gone into the room to read he tells me "You should go read your scriptures."  He comes in and says he needs to read the bible.  I am not sure how it started but I am glad he comes to read with me and reminds me.  I tell Jared that I can't talk to him but if he wants to stay then he can.  Most nights he does pretty well. Other nights he doesn't but isn't that true of all of us? Sometimes reading my Scriptures or just life in general does feel a little bit more like this:

 

Yesterday was a whole long day of the above picture. (Jared's face)

But now its a new day and already much better. I am grateful for these moments to think about what my actions and words show Jared and Lydia. I hope that when they are grown up they will remember these moments and I hope I provide lots of good moments for them.

 



Our Sunbeam

Sunday January 06 2013

I have had really mixed emotions about sending Jared to Primary. I get that it is not that big of a deal, it is a church class once a week for 2 hours and I am in the building with him but for some reason it just made me sad. I know he has been going to Nursery but his just seems so much more grown up.  There are no snacks or play time. He is just growing up so quickly! He is growing up into such a sweet, thoughtful, obedient, happy, willing child.  

 I have been doing my best to get him (and myself I guess) ready for the past few months.  We made a countdown chain for the holidays and included 6 extra links so he could count down to primary.  We would go to the Primary room before church started and I would have him sit down in the  little chairs in the front. We talked  about how we raise our hands and practiced it and how we do NOT touch the microphone unless we are asked to.  And you know what?  It worked. I dropped him off and he sat right down and folded his little arms.  He sang the songs and was just fine.

Unfortunately I didn't prepare him very well for class time. As I was sitting in Relief Society I suddenly heard his little voice out in the hall.  I walked out to see what was up and saw him walking with one of the presidency members.  After she dropped him off in class she came over to tell me what had happened.  He somehow got separated from his class after they went to the bathroom.  They all walked to the classroom and he walked back to the Primary Room.  She told me he went right up to the front raised his hand and said "I'm Lost".  I can so hear and see him doing it.  A little while later I went out into the hall because Lydia was exhausted tired and a little fussy and I went to peak in his classroom.  The kids were sitting on the floor looking at pictures with their teacher except Jared who was wandering around the room. Then he went to go play with the lights.  I am hoping he at least stayed in his seat for the lesson part.  I watched for awhile and then 2 other kids started roaming around.  3 year olds are hard to entertain teach for 45 minutes.  We talked to him about not touching the lights and staying with his teacher so hopefully next week will be a little smoother. I am happy that when he didn't know where to go he went back to the Primary room so he could be with an adult.  I think its time we had a real talk about what to do it you get separated and what to do about strangers. As a side note, I recently read this ARTICLE about guns in houses and think its a pretty good question to ask. I am not even sure Jared knows what a gun is. I know I have never talked to him about them. There are so many things we need to or should prepare our kids for.  It seems tricky to not be paranoid about everything and let your kids live but to also make sure they are aware of situations and know how to handle them.  Jared is still young enough that I typically go where he is but the time will come when that will change. All to soon I think, he is already a Sunbeam! 

He also has been working hard on his letters and was pretty proud of the ones he wrote today so to further prove how much he is growing  up:  

 

He loves writing his name but I have been slowly having him work on other letters too.  He makes pretty awesome J's he told me they are his favorite.  He is my favorite three year old. 

Visitors

We had some visitors from California this past week.  My sister Katie came out with her two boys Cade and Cameron. We had fun showing them around Colorado Springs and hanging out at home playing board games and with Jared's trains. We visited the Olympic Training Center, one of three in The United States.  The other two are in San Diego and Lake Placid.  We also went up to the Air Force Academy. I never really thought about it but these two "sites" in Colorado are pretty unique. There are no other "Air Force Academy's" to my knowledge. It was fun to go visit them again.  The Air Force academy is in such a pretty setting. Mark also took the boys to go play Frisbee Golf.  Mark sadly came down with Strep Throat (New Years Eve) so that was a bummer.  Luckily he felt well enough to go play with the boys. Katie also took us out to eat at Tucanos which is a fun restaurant to go to. We really love having family come out. I think its great that Katie would bring the boys out so they could get to know Jared and Lydia.


As we all know Jared is really into trains. When Cameron was his age he also loved Thomas The Train so he and Jared had fun watching and playing with Thomas.