Byron and Steff

I will call you squishy

2012-01-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

In my usual fashion, I will write cheesy, stupid captions for each of the pics. At the end I might even recap the last few months of awesomeness.

Brooke: "Look Wes, I see The Food over there."

Wes: "Hi Mom!"

Grandpa goin' for the cheeks...

Wes doesn't need pants... he's got TRAINS!

Grapefruit. The second best thing in Wes' life. (Our toaster is definitely #1)

Well, at least he's never fallen out of the bed.

Nice boots...but aren't they a little large? (Thanks Grandma)

Nothing cuter than a sleeping baby.

Taken moments after she saw the lastest cover of National Enquirer.

Take 2 with Santa (at the railroad park in Scottsdale).

Christmas morning loot...

Christmas dress including matching scarf to keep her chin warm.

(Don't worry Brooke, you'll have a neck... someday.)

SQUISHY!

"I will call you squishy, and you will be mine, and you will be my squishy."

Amen.

Can you count the rolls?

All smiles for great grammy

Nice shoes dude.

Mmmmmm....

Nothing makes her happier than a heaping pile of broccoli!

Looks like I've got another rock star eater on my hands.

Speaking of hands...I might not have any left by the time Brooke can feed herself.

Blackberries!

We sure love our squishy babies!

Wes is so cool. He constantly makes us laugh, and frequently causes me to question my sanity. (Today he removed the clothes from his middle dresser drawer, took off his clothes, stood in the drawer, and peed. In all fairness, I appreciate that he took the time to take the clean clothes out of the drawer first. His OCD cousin Sophie was mortified.) He is obsessed with horses, animals in general, Grandma Wynn, cars, trains, his dad, and his sister. He asks me, "Where's the Brookes?" a million times a day. After spending a solid month with my parents (we went to AZ for 2 weeks and they came to UT for 2 weeks), Wes thinks Grandma has moved in for good. He asks, "Where'd the grampas go?" on a daily basis as well. He loves to sing primary songs and any other songs that have actions. He loves to go to nursery. He loves to play outside (and eat the grass... pretty sure he's doing it to imitate the horses that live just up the street).

Our little Roxie baby is soooo happy. She just smiles and goes with the flow. Great eater (obviously), great sleeper, and great at sitting up so she can be part of all the action! She MUST be part of the action! She loves her alone time too though. She loves smiling and laughing at anyone who glances her way or gives her the least bit of attention. We can't go anywhere without getting comments about her cheeks, rolls, happy demeanor and smiles! She saves her biggest smiles and loudest laughs for her brother. She loves to sit up. She's not interested in rolling over or crawling. She has her first tooth (bottom, middle) and a few more about to break through. She just started her first solid foods about 2 weeks ago. So far she's had bananas, avocado, apples, oatmeal, broccoli, blackberries, clementines, wheat puffs, and little tastes here and there of whatever we're eating. Wes never ate jarred baby food, and I think it really contributed to the fact that he is a good eater. He learned to recognize and enjoy the texture and taste of fresh fruits and vegetables instead of only the texture and appearance of purees. I have the same plan with Brooke.

The best part about having two is how much they love to interact with each other! I didn't expect them to really interact until Brooke was walking and could tag along with Wes. Not so! They entertain each other all day long and love to be together. It is the sweetest thing.

Christmas Classics

2011-12-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

The following pictures are Christmas Classics. Really, it takes skill to get your kids looking this crummy for a picture. But I manage time and time again.

My awesome friend took the kids to see Santa during the ward Christmas party for me (I was holed up in the kitchen, up to my elbows in turkey carcass- whoop). I am soooo glad she took these awesome pics and a video since I had to miss it!

Drum roll please... my kiddos atop Santa's lap...

I know my son. And I'm 100% sure that the ONLY reason he waited in line to see Santa was because he knew he'd get a candy cane. You can't get that kid to stand still for more than one second unless there is food involved. He ate about 47 candy canes that night (seriously probably like 9). I was a little STRESSED, so every time he came up to me with a candy cane I just unwrapped it and sent him on his merry way. I still don't know WHERE he kept getting all the candy canes!

I love this pic. I can't decide if she looks like an orphan or trailer trash. And SHE definitely does look like a HE here. She had an adorable outfit on when the party started. Then she pooped all over it. I changed her into this fleece sleeper and handed her off to a flock of ward members who passed her around that night. She was overheating in the sleeper so they unzipped it (and eventually just took it off).

LOVE IT!

Wes is 2!

2011-11-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

Yeah, Wes turned two over a month ago... I'm really on top of things!

He is such a fun little guy. He cracks us up all day long.

For instance, he found this little bumble bee costume in Brooke's closet and wanted

to wear it around for a week straight.

He LOVES LOVES LOVES his train set. BUT, he gets soooo upset when the trains won't connect because he hasn't lined up the magnets correctly. When that happens he has a mini freak-out and usually tears apart the track and comes crying to me or Byron so that we'll set it up again. (I don't know where he gets that! Just kidding... maybe I do.)

His actual birthday was pretty lame-sauce. Thank goodness he didn't really know it was a special day.

The highlights were probably eating his favorite breakfast (oatmeal pancakes and scrambled eggs) and getting to play with aunt Cheyenne and her friend while they babysat for me.

Wes is constantly on top of Brooke. He has to be doing whatever she is doing.

It's usually cute. It's sometimes annoying.

He's started pointing at Brooke and saying, "Leave her alone!"

(Maybe he hears that a little too much.)

Don't mess with the boy and his food.

We went to the zoo for his birthday (actually a week later, but he didn't know the difference).

He loved it. He started saying all kinds of animal names shortly after we went.

It also helped that he got a set of little plastic animals for his birthday.

He loves to tell us all about the "her-affes," hippos, horses, and "ephants."

(Byron wants you to know that his real favorite was the dik-dik. For reals.)

Wes and Sophie looking at the "buggies" (spider stickers on our window).

Isn't she the cutest (chubbiest) thing you've ever seen?

We're going to have to stop saying "chubby" in her presence pretty soon.

If we don't stop I'm pretty sure she's going to start thinking her name is "chubby."

On Halloween a friend invited us to trick-or-treat with her kids at a nursing home.

We hadn't come up with a custume for Wes yet so he went as his favorite... the bumble bee.

I'm afraid this is going to be me when I'm old and in a nursing home.

For the real deal (trunk-or-treat with the ward and then trick-or-treating with aunt Lolo and her BF) we wanted to come up with something better.

We were trying to think of a costume that would be completely free to put together.

Byron came up with Noah. We borrowed a wagon and turned it into his "ark."

It was a hit!

Brooke's costume was a hit too. She was a contestant on the Biggest Loser and I went as her trainer.

He loved pulling around his "ark."

Lately

2011-09-26T14:42:00.000-06:00

Wes and Dad sharing Wes' favorite food

Go Cougars!

Linewoman?

I have fun with Brooke's bald spot occasionally

Obsessed with shoes lately

And yes, he isn't wearing pants, has food all over himself, and is sporting a massive goose egg.

This picture just melts my hear away! She is the sweetest thing!

Wes picked out his PJs... and unfortunately Dad helped put them on.

Missing all his girlfriends who are back in school and can't play all day anymore :(

Who's with me?

2011-09-16T14:26:00.003-06:00

Friends and family... Join me next year for the Utah Valley Marathon OR join Byron for the half marathon! PLEASE? It'll be fun! I've made a list of reasons you should join us...

The races are on June 9, 2012 -- that is plenty of time to train! (In fact, we probably won't even start really training until January/February. I will loosely follow Hal Higdon's novice training program (18 weeks). He also has a really cool novice supreme program for beginning runners (30 weeks) that I came across today. For the half marathon, the training really isn't even that rigorous. You could easily train for that it 2 months or just show up and run it if you're in good cardio shape already.
The course is absolutely gorgeous! It starts way up Provo Canyon (near Heber) and you wind down the highway around Deer Creek Reservoir and through the mountains. Breathtaking.
The weather is fabulous. You stay cool the whole time. My Dad did the St. George marathon last year and I will never do that marathon. It was WAAAY too hot. Holy Cow. It. Was. Hot. Not worth it.
You'll get in fabulous shape!
It's not as hard as you think! Now that I've done one, I feel confident saying that anyone can do it! Just do the training and you'll be fine!
It's cheap (for a marathon). If you register by Oct. 31 it's only $69 for the full and $49 for the half.

Okay, are you convinced? Here's the link to sing up.

And, there's one more thing. Anyone want to join me with this one too?

I'm giving up refined sugar for one year.
I started several days ago, and I already feel a difference.
Also, instead of being resentful every time I have to pass it up,
I actually feel a sense of accomplishment.
I like that!

Not allowed: white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, sucralose (Slpenda), aspartame (Nutrasweet)
Allowed: dates, fruit, stevia, raw honey, real maple syrup, molasses, agave, sucanat, raw coconut sugar

I got the idea from Robyn. I didn't realize how addicted to sugar I really am until I contemplated actually giving it up. Haha! I've always know (and Byron will tell you) that my weakness is sugar. Obviously I'm not tempted by most of the other things I don't (or rarely) eat (meat, chips, soda--including diet, fried foods, artificial sweeteners, the list goes on...), but I AM tempted by sugary treats. I don't keep sweets around the house much because when it's around I'm all over it. :-) Anyway, I tried talking myself out of doing it for two days, and it finally (duh!) hit me that my excuses were lame and I JUST DIDN'T WANT TO GIVE IT UP. Its yummy. BUT, that's exactly the problem. If I can't even bear the thought of giving it up for a year, then I'm addicted (even if I don't eat a lot of it in the first place).

So there you have it.

I'm pretty sure life will still be good without ice cream and caramel popcorn.

Plus, I'll take a healthy body over eating junk any day.

Also, I plan to reread this book...

it's a good one even if you don't want to give up sugar with me!

Massive Update Part 2: Beauty is Pain

2011-08-29T14:42:00.001-06:00

....but sooooooo worth it!

Can you see what I'm referring to?

Let me help you out...

Pierced Ears.

Ahhhh! It is SOOOOOO ADORABLE!

I seriously can't stand it. I think it is the cutest thing ever.

I know ear piercing can be kind of a controversial subject, but we don't think it's a big deal (and we're her parents), so I decided to go for it. I had had my awesome aunt Robanne do it (who also pierced my ears when I was little) when Brooklyn was 6 weeks old. These pictures were taken that same day. And for the record, she didn't even cry. She let out a little yelp and that was that.

Did I mention that I LOVE IT?!

Wes has also been spending a little bit of time on the time out stool lately.

Look at that guilty face --haha!

This must be said. I love The Biggest Loser.

I haven't watched an episode in years, but if I could, I totally would.

For my birthday, I got the one and only thing I asked for...

Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred.

Best $9 Byron ever spent on me-- haha! Seriously though, I love this DVD (and so does Byron, but he will kill me for writing that). It is the best workout I've ever gotten from a workout DVD. I'm sure P90X is amazing, but I don't have time for that. This is 25 minutes -- that I can do.

Anyway, here's Wes giving Jillian hugs and kisses. Hahaha.... he loves her too!

RIP to the lovely TV, DVD player, and coffee table pictured here.

We said our final goodbyes to those lovelies in July (and their replacements are gorgeous, I must say).

Speaking of gorgeous....

Brooklyn is so smiley! Big difference from Wes who didn't smile until 10 weeks.

And again, LOOK AT THOSE CHEEKS! Love 'em.

Haha... I came downstairs the other day and found Wes packing up his space vehicle.

Looked an awful lot like he was packing up to run away from home.

Tragic. Who are his parents anyway?

Brooke's blessing day was Sunday, August 14.

Here she is in all of her cuteness.

The classic family shot in front of the house...

...and the group shot (missing a few). Thanks to everyone who came!

(Our paint looks a lot more mellow in person than it does in pictures... at least to me!)

At 2 months this little girl weighs 12 lbs 6 oz and is 22 inches long.

At around 6 weeks the front/top of her head started going bald. Nooo! However, she never lost the hair near her crown or on the sides or back. Now, at almost 10 weeks old, her hair is finally growing back (slowly). Yay!

And finally, we had Maria take some pics of Brooke when she was 2 weeks old. She snapped a few of the family and Wes as well. We love them, as usual...

Massive Update Part 1: I had a baby?

2011-08-15T14:57:00.001-06:00

Sometimes we forget that we just had a baby, because it feels like she's always been around. We've been going a million miles an hour since literally the day after Brooke was born. We adjusted pretty quickly because we had to, and then just moved right along with life. It's been a weird feeling. We didn't have a chance to really sit back and internalize that we have another baby. Instead, we just had to accept it and adapt to our new family of four pretty quickly. All I can say is we LOVE this little girl! She is cute, easy-going, smiley, and pretty AWESOME.

12 days old

See Wes holding her hand? Tenderness!!!!

He loves to snuggle her and do EVERYTHING she does.

Okaaaay. Wes never took a pacifier and hated this car seat when it was his. :-)

Cheesin' it up!

3 Weeks

Whenever Wes sees Brooke he points and says, "A Baby!"

Kisses all the time...

Again, wants to do whatever Brooke is doing...

Wes loves playing in the yard with the hose. Usually the little neighbor girls will come play with him (all of whom are 5 years older than him). It is sooo adorable.

Brooke loves the Bumbo! She has been sitting in it since she was 3 weeks. She has a really strong head and neck (at least I think so compared to Wes). At 3 weeks she was holding her head up in the chair for about 15 minutes. Now she lasts upwards of 45 minutes.

Here she is at 3 weeks again...

We had our annual Wynn family reunion at the cabin in July when Brooke was exactly a month old. We LOVED it! The kids slept great and Wes couldn't have had a better time... there was dirt, bugs, junk food, cousin, aunts and uncles! Only bummer was that half the family was missing... That's okay... all the fun people were there. :-)

No idea what he's eating? Bugs? Dirt? Your guess is as good as mine!

Wes and cousin Sophie. Bestest buds!!

Laughing and hiding from each other.

Hugs

Don't bother me guys, I'm RELAXING!

Brooke and Aunt Lolo nappin'

Family pic (minus half the fam, as I said...)

It took us forever to leave. Every time we'd try to get Wes and load him in the car

he'd run back in the cabin and try to hide and tell us "bye, bye."

Can somebody say "cheeks?"

We took Ellie and Sophie to the new splash pad by our house.... All I have to say is Sophie is a MANIAC. Seriously, she showed Wes a thing or two. He was pretty hesitant to get wet because it's COLD. But not Sophie. She ran around like a crazy woman with a permanent smile on her face (and shivered the entire time). This is a classic Sophie face...

When Brooke was about 10 days old I had Youth Conference with my ward. It was a lot of planning and work and stress, but it turned out great and Brooke was a trooper to get dragged all over the place for 2 days with me. She even hiked Ensign Peak in the sling with me. Then, I had girl's camp the first week of August. I drove to Heber each morning and came back late each night. All the driving and pumping was tiring (not to mention the planning), but worth it. Byron was awesome to handle both kids by himself. Brooke did pretty good taking a bottle that week, and I had a great time with my girls at camp! Here is a pic with about half the girls...

TBD...

"Mom"

2011-07-26T10:46:00.000-06:00

We have a good excuse for our blogging absence during the last month, but I'll get to that later. I have no pictures, but I just HAD to interrupt our blogging silence today to tell the world that my little boy finally said "MOM!"

Sunday was pretty much the best day EVER.

(And Wes... it's about time!)

1 Week

2011-06-30T07:05:00.001-06:00

Brooke is a week old! It already feels like she has always been part of the fam.

I don't take very good pictures. These don't do justice to her cuteness.

She is soooooo cute.

Love this one because it really emphasizes that double chin :-)

Brooke at 1 week:

She smiles all the time! While eating, while sleeping, while staring at you, etc. Wes didn't give us as much as a gas smile for 8-9 weeks so we LOVE this!
Her cloth diapers absolutely drown her, but oh well! It's comical, and they still work even if it does make her bum look huge! :-) Best part is that they are FREE!
She never fusses for no reason. If she cries it's because she is hungry or needs a change (or Wes is malling her).
She doesn't need to be rocked to sleep. I can put her in her crib drowsy but awake and she'll put herself to sleep.
The first few days of her life she NEEDED a pacifier. I mean NEEDED it BAD. She was sucking all the time and wouldn't stop. That passed and she hasn't used one in two days. I'm not opposed to the pacifier if she needs it, but if we can keep her from using it, we definitely want to so we don't have to deal with taking it away when she gets older.
She has beautiful skin. No baby acne or cradle cap. So far it looks like she will have Byron's coloring and not extremely fair skin like Wes and me.
She is an awesome sleeper. I don't like to schedule my babies, but she's already settled into her own little routine. She'll have a two hour stretch of wide awake time in the mornings, and another 2-3 hour stretch in the late afternoon. She' starting to have a few minutes of awake time after each daytime feeding as well. She eats like a champ every 2-3hours during the day and every 3-4 hours at night. If I feed her right before I head to bed I only have to get up with her twice. Not too shabby if you ask me!

Wes loves to peer into the bassinet at his sister and touch her little toes every morning when he wakes up. I wonder if he's thinking "Dang it! She's still here!" Just kidding-- he loves her. It's me he's usually mad at! :-)

Trying to be sneaky...

Actually being sneaky. He must have done this while he was "helping" me make Byron's lunch. I didn't notice until I opening the jar to get him some later that afternoon. Hehehe...

Wes at 20 months:

Saying a few more words -- still not very clearly though. We are pretty much the only ones who understand him. His new favorites are "again," "bird," "car," and "cool." Depending on his mood he'll also try to repeat just about any word you say to him EXCEPT "mom." For whatever reason, he won't even attempt that word. :-(
Now that his imagination has taken off, he can play by himself a lot more and doesn't need Byron or me to entertain him constantly. He LOVES to play with toy cars and trucks right now. It is sooo cute to watch him drive his little cars all over the house.
We have a small strawberry patch in our flower bed and Wes loves to go out each day and pick strawberries to eat. He gets so excited and wants to pick them all by himself, and he has to eat them immediately after picking them.
He still throws tantrums and has a little attitude. Sometimes it makes me so mad. Other times I have to try as hard as I can to hold in the laughter. But, in all seriousness-- it needs to END. I'm off to the library today for some parenting books. Or maybe to Wal-mart for some hand cuffs? Just kidding mom. :)
He is still having some adjustment problems with having Brooke around, but it's been getting better with each passing day. He was an absolute basket case last night at young womens when I had to feed her. I was mortified. I've turned into "that mom." You know... the one everyone looks at as if to say, "Control your flipping child!" Ugh.
He really loves her. He tries to squeeze her sooo hard and kiss her all over. But he gets soooo mad at me when I have to pull him off of her for not being gently enough (even though he tries), or when I have to feed her and he can't be on my lap or hip at the same time.
Yesterday morning I walked into Brooke's bedroom to find Wes had pushed a chair over to her crib and was leaning over the edge trying to shove his sippy cup into her mouth. And then I looked down and saw that he had placed a bunch of soft toys all around her. Tender!

We have KIDS!

2011-06-25T04:15:00.001-06:00

Brooklyn Roxie Martz

June 22, 2011, 9:00 a.m.

8lbs 1oz, 20 inches

*Brooklyn because we like it. Roxie after Byron's maternal grandma.

A note to our future babies -- you're all welcome to come as late as you want if you promise to come with hair and a double chin!

First pic with Daddy.

Getting some love from cousin Sophie who wanted to kiss her again and again...

Wes wasn't quite sure what was going on.

It was a huge relief to have grandma handy to help entertain him.

My midwife Adrienne in the left and her assistant Heidi on the right.

First car ride Friday morning to see our midwife for a checkup.

Wes got a little sleepy on the way and Grandma insisted on holding his head up to control the snoring...

Wes LOVES to hug and kiss her!

He's still working on learning to do it softly though.

Here Brooke was narrowly saved by something interesting on TV.

Poor Wes is having a little bit of a hard time with the adjustment. He loves his little sister, but he's not too happy with me lately because I can't give him every moment of my time. I'm sure it will pass, but for now we're just trying to make sure he gets some one-on-one time with each of us every day, doesn't hurt Brooke when he is "loving" her, and we're also trying to control his off-the-wall hyperness (I know that isn't a word). He has been soooo crazy with energy these past two days. He definitely wants some attention :-)

Brooke is doing great! Healthy, happy, sleeping a lot and eating like a champ.

We LOVE her! She is so tiny and adorable!

No baby

2011-06-13T13:15:00.001-06:00

The calls are starting to come in... so I'll just set the record straight here...

No, we don't have a baby girl yet.
Yes, my due date is Saturday.
No, that doesn't bother me!
No, I'm not "ready to be done." Really, I'm quite comfortable and doing great.
No, I will not be induced (nor do I plan to try any "natural" methods of induction).
No, I don't care how far overdue I might go.

She is healthy and safe inside my (HUGE, huge, very large) belly, and I am happy as a clam. No complaints. We just want a healthy baby, and I'm happy to wait for her as long as it takes.

Imagination

2011-05-22T21:11:00.001-06:00

Really old, but I never did post anything about Easters...

After Wes' little spill and freak out, he was totally done with dyeing eggs. I bought what I thought would be an awesome egg kit only to find out that Byron is an Easter egg purist and wouldn't condone any sort of egg "decorating" (dyeing ONLY). So, I was all alone decorating our six little hard boiled eggs (only 5 pictured because we lost one to Wes' freak out).

After Easter I got really busy with work and we basically didn't take any pictures (or do anything fun) for a whole month. So, we'll just skip right over that...
Last week we took Wes to Thanksgiving Point's Farm Country. It was our first time ever going to Thanksgiving Point. We normally don't spend money on entertainment, but I felt it was necessary to buy his love after I left him for a whole week on a business trip. (I also tried to buy Byron's love -except that I brought him offerings of meat and junk food instead of a pony ride. I think it worked.)

He lasted twice around the circle and then he was DONE with the pony ride. He wasn't sure what to think of the whole thing. It was like it wasn't scary for him, but it wasn't fun either. It was sure funny to watch though!

Just had to include this because the kid still loves to eat (can you tell?)! He will suck and chew on the core of the mango like he's doing here until there is literally nothing left to it and I have to pry it from his little fingers.

Why he insists on using the box as a slide, we'll never know.

We own a Little Tikes plastic slide, yet he still prefers the box.

Why do we ever spend money on toys?

I'll be very sad when this box finally gets busted...

And, just for kicks... this is Wes one year ago.

I know, I almost die when I look at this picture too...

19 Months:

     He's starting to get a little imagination (at least we think he is). He'll put two toys together and have them interact a bit with each other these days (whereas up until now, toys were STRICTLY for throwing or hitting things with). He'll also look at himself in the mirror and tell himself really important things several times a day. Lately he'll also play independently for a chunk of time and laugh out loud (at who knows what) when he's the only one in the room. (Of course, he'd still rather be hanging on me than playing by himself. He is such a spoiled mama's boy, and he spends 90 percent of the day on my lap or hip. I figure his perfect world of being the only child for a year and a half is about to end kind of abruptly, so I might as well indulge him while I can. That and I just love being loved.)

    At the end of April Wes had his very first dentist appointment! I guess it went like I expected it to. Wes was all happy holding Dr. Hart's tools and looking around at all the computer screens and equipment. Then they tried to open his mouth. Haha! Sealed like Fort Knox! He clamped his mouth and pursed his lips as tight as he could. They were trying to be all squishy and nice to him and sort of said, "Oh well. This happens a lot. Maybe he'll let us look next time." Of course I was like "No way! He's not getting away with this!" (Plus, I was sure they were still going to bill me for the visit), so I held him down and pried his mouth open and let them get a good look. No cavities, lots of teeth, and all is well. Oh, and they told us to start flossing his teeth! Haha! Yeah right! I'm sorry, but my fingers will get bitten off it I attempt that, so it's just gonna have to wait. Seriously, his chompers are sharp and there is no way on earth I'm doing that!

     Also, 26 days until baby girl is due. We're sort of still in denial about the whole thing. Everyone keeps asking, "So do you have everything ready?" I'm not sure how to respond. What does "ready" mean anyway? I'm afraid to ask because I know we don't have things "ready" according to most people's standards. :-) It's okay though -- We feel "ready" enough and that's all that matters - so no one needs to worry! Nothing was "ready" when Wes was born and he turned out okay (or did he?). Just kidding. (P.S. Lolo-- if this baby has a cone head like Wes, please whisper "What's wrong with the baby's head?" to Ellie a little softer this time so I don't hear.)

He Speaks!

2011-04-23T09:01:00.003-06:00

... at least in a sort of 18-month-old way! I have been so excited about it the past couple of days because we were seriously wondering if he's been trying to speak to us in Klingon for the past 6 months. He babbles ALL DAY LONG -- and you can tell he REALLY wants to tell you things, but we never have any idea what he's saying. It's hilarious.

The breakthrough came a few days ago when I realized that every time I would say something to him he would try to repeat me -- and a few times he actually said words that were intelligible (versus just getting the sounds and syllables pretty close, but no cigar).

Anyway, here are the things he says on a regular basis:

FAVES: "Yeah!" and "No" (hahahahaha--- that's my boy! Knows what he wants!)
Sounds: Cow, sheep, pigs (for pigs he actually says "la, la, la" because of this)
Animals: Fish, Dog, Snake (but it sounds more like, "fiiiihhhh" "DAAWWW" and "SsssnnnnAAA"
Other: "Hi," "Bye," "Bye Dad," "Please," "Go, go, go!," "Sooo" (for Sophie), "bababa" (for banana--and I think also for "mom"--haha)
He's said Grandpa, Mom, baby, water, more, and tons of other words before, but he doesn't say them on a regular basis like he does with the words above.

What he's up to at 18 months:

He finally hit the 25 pound mark! I know... If you've ever picked him up, you're shocked. Everyone though he weighed 25 pounds at 12 months, but I promise, he just hit the mark.
Praying - His "prayers" are the sweetest thing EVER!! We've been teaching him for the past year now to fold his arms when we pray at dinner or before bedtime. Usually we'd have to help him keep them folded. About 2 months ago he started folding them on his own. Anytime it gets quiet (whether we're at home, church, or the grocery store) he'll fold his arms because he thinks it is time to pray. PRECIOUS! Then about a month ago he started saying his own prayers. Of course he just folds his arms, closes his eyes (sort of), and babbles a bunch of words we can't understand. Then, he throws his arms apart with some serious force to signify that he is done and then claps for himself. I could die. Seriously. DIE.
He got another haircut! I thought it would be another 16 months before he needed another one, but NOT SO! About a month after his last one it was time for another trim! Probably because we were kind of chicken the first time and didn't cut it short enough in the first place--oh well! We were afraid of making him look like a baldy!
Still a climber-- currently loves climbing on top of his changing table and also INTO his crib (but not out of it-- the boy LOVES to sleep).
Still loves to eat and he'll still eat pretty much anything we give him. Now that this tantrum stage has started, he's gotten slightly more picky -- or at least he'll protest more before he eats certain things. But he'll almost always still eat them. When he's being a real stinker he'll take a bit, then stare you down while he wipes the food off of his tongue with his hands!! Grrrr!! Makes me sooo MAD! Sometimes it's even food he loves-- he just wants to throw a tantrum!
Loves the shower and tub. We say tub or shower and he starts running for our bedroom and trying to rip his clothes off while yelling, "YEAH! YEAH!"
Still loves to SNUGGLE all the time. Yesssss.
LOVES LOVE LOVES NURSERY! He's only been once, but it was heaven for both of us!! (Unfortunately, he overloaded on marshmallows and fruit snacks and then barfed them up when church was over. I should have expected as much. I think that was his first time tasting both.)
Loves to push the cart by himself at the grocery store. Isn't content being strapped in anymore... he wants to roam on his own. Good Earth has mini shopping carts for the kids to push around and I just about DIE when we go there because he has soooo much fun and it is soooo cute!

Baby #2 (8 weeks to go)

Healthy and currently hanging out in the ROT position which is just fine! As long as she keeps that head down I really don't care what position she's in. It definitely hasn't hit us that we're having another baby. We just can't wrap our brains around it. She can stay in my belly for as long as she'd like. (It's a major pet peeve of mine when people want to have their babies early! Makes no sense to me since their physical development in the womb is so important!)

18 months

2011-04-15T21:15:00.000-06:00

Our little buddy is growing up.

We miss our baby, but he does keep getting more adorable, so I guess it's okay.

About a month ago we packed up and headed to Arizona on a whim. We really needed the SUN! Wes has so much fun at my parent's house just hanging out (and destroying everything in sight-- oh yeah, and eating a zillion M&Ms that everyone kept sneaking him).

He LOVED the pool. Not so much getting in it (it was still kinda cold), but instead throwing things in it, or crawling in backwards to touch the water with his toes, or running around the pool like a chicken with its head cut off. He did fall in once, and it was hilarious because he thinks he's invincible (obviously he was fine -- he was wearing floaties and we were standing next to him).

You try telling a 17 month old not to run around the pool with his eyes closed...

He is obsessed with snuggling. Here he's getting cozy with Uncle Jake.

We also went out on my parent's boat. Ahhhh.... how I've missed the lake. Wes isn't as fond of the lake as we are (yet). He's pretty tuckered out in this pic.

He liked being on the boat, but the tube was his worst nightmare.... we thought he might have fun on there going REALLY slow with dad. Nope. Not even close.

More snuggles...

Chillin' with Grandma. He's gotten really into hats lately.

I get these emails every week that talk about what to expect with your child's growth and development. This weeks' email was RIGHT ON...

"Right now your toddler likely has a strong wish to do things for herself and be independent but she lacks the ability to satisfy these wishes and needs. She is not mature enough to bathe herself as much as she wants to; neither is she skilled enough to undress herself or walk on a busy street without holding your hand. Often frustration and anger sets in and that results in tantrums... The typical 18 month old tries to prove she is maturing by refusing to let you control her; almost every issue becomes a battle. At every opportunity she says a defiant 'No'. Her need to assert her independence is so strong that she even says no to things she wants. You might conclude that she doesn't even know what no means. She most definitely does. It is just that she wants to defy you on principle and wants to have her way too. So her solution is simple - she does both! (http://www.welcomebabyhome.com/parenting/parenting18month.htm)

Yes, tantrums have been the theme of the month. NO FUN! (Sometimes they are kinda funny though.)

Hard Hats and Space Vehicles

2011-02-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

Byron has been begging me to put this video on the blog... It sums up two of Wes' favorite things-- Riding around with Buzz Lightyear and putting things on his head. If he's not putting the hard hat on his head, it's the toy bin, or baskets, or boxes, or hats, or basically anything else he can fit over his huge noggin.

Longest video ever, but I just couldn't stop myself...

16 months old and he finally got his first haircut. Yes, you can laugh. He probably could have gone longer without one, but the back was getting a little long so Byron and I trimmed everything up. It turned out looking good, and he was totally cooperative (thanks to Sesame Street and being strapped into his booster seat).

Hmmm... Did you guys mess up?

Some of the funny things he's been up to...

I can't remember if I've mentioned this one yet, or not. But for about 2 months now he's been obsessed with walking around everywhere with his eyes closed. He is constantly running into things (HARD), and thinks it is so funny. If you say, "Where did Wes go?" He'll immediately close his eyes and start walking around.

He's mastered the art of folding his arms and being quiet during prayers. He randomly will fold his arms during sacrament meeting when things get a little quiet and he thinks a prayer is coming. It's cute. We try to pray before we give him food, but if there is already food on his tray when we pray, he'll fold his arms and close his eyes and try to grab the food while his arms are STILL FOLDED... all the while keeping his eyes closed, because, you know... that way we can't see him doing it... :-)

Sometimes, when he knows he is doing something naughty, he'll shake his head and tell himself "no, no, no."

When I show him my big belly, I'll say, "Give your baby girls kisses!" So, he'll come over, kiss my belly, dig his finger into my belly button for a minute, and then pull my shirt down over my belly like he's trying to say, "Gross mom! Cover that thing up!"

Goodbye baby, hello toddler

2011-02-07T19:32:00.001-07:00

Well, the little man is 16 months, and I think we've officially said "goodbye" to baby Wes and "hello" to toddler Wes. We miss our baby, but we love our toddler, so it's all good. To be fair, we don't love the tantrums and attitude so much, but we're dealing with it as best we can (although "dealing with it" usually means we just bust out laughing and ignore him...unless we're at church... then we're definitely NOT laughing).

Here we have a tender father/son moment in front of the TV.

"Helping" do the dished. He's now started putting on my gloves before he starts... awesome.

Guzzling his green smoothie

Helping himself to the peanut butter while we were making Dad's lunch

(promise I quarantined that jar... if you eat PB at my house, I promise it's safe)

At least I didn't find his hand in Dad's nasty margarine...

A few updates...

He now prefers to shower alone... that way no one can hog the water! He likes to stand right under the cone of water and if I'm in there with him, I'm crammed in the corner. It's hilarious. He'll just push you right aside to get to his spot!
We were wondering how he would handle the transition from crib to regular bed when the new baby comes. So, for kicks, I put him to bed about a week ago in our guest room which has a queen size bed. He laid right down under the covers and fell asleep like it was no big deal! He didn't try to get out off bed or mess with the blinds, or turn on the TV-- nothing! It was awesome and awful at the same time. He did roll off the bed in the middle of the night, so it wasn't perfect, but still... It kinda broke my heart to see our little man all grown up in a big boy bed. So he's been back in the crib ever since... I think I'll wait until April to move him to his new room (and BIG bed) permanently. Then he'll be 18 months and he'll have 2 months to get used to it before the new baby moves into his crib.

XX

2011-01-19T18:43:00.001-07:00

It's a girl!

Isn't she cute already?

The One-Man Wrecking Crew

2011-01-03T20:45:00.003-07:00

A few (too many) pics for your enjoyment...

Here we have Mr. Wes playing with his Christmas tree. This is a small tree I bought back in college. I didn't want to spend money on a tree this year, so we just pulled this one out and let Wes have fun with it. We put some felt and plastic ornaments on it and it became his favorite "toy."

He loves climbing up onto regular chairs to eat. Of course he still uses his high chair (because his attention span is... well... nonexistent), but I let him sit on a regular chair to eat whenever he is being good and not trying to climb onto the table. Here, he climbed up and grabbed a bag of grapes off the counter and then went to town on them. Yummm! Today he ate his first whole apple. I wish I had gotten a picture of it. I just handed him a whole apple to see what he'd do with it... and he just took a bite and started eating! It was adorable. Took him an entire hour. Now that's entertainment!

We spent Christmas in Arizona. It was WONDERFUL. It was 70 degrees outside (or more!) and sunny and LOVELY. I didn't work one bit (which was a miracle--I can never bring myself to do that), and I turned off my cell phone and didn't answer one single call or listen to messages. Sorry if you tried to contact me... I guess I just needed a break from everything!

Here's J-dog and Byron teaching Wes a thing or two about tether ball at the park (actually, this is my elementary school's playground). Oh, the good ol' days. I am still proud to be a Zuni Coyote!

Look at the Soph-ster. Isn't she the sweetest thing?

I think YES... at least until I have a girl of my own!

Wes wasn't sure what to think about my brother Zach. That's okay buddy...

no one knows what to think about Zach. (Just kidding Zizzle... I love you!)

One of his new obsessions... "talking" on the phone.

Opening presents (one teeny tiny piece of wrapping paper at a time) on Grandpa's lap!

Checking out his Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa... a Buzz Lightyear space vehicle! Really? They couldn't come up with a better name than that? Kind of a let-down. Regardless... it's pretty cool.

Examining Sophie on Christmas Eve in their matching PJs...

Loving his Sophie...really tight!

"Talking" on the phone at Great Grandma's.

My dad calls Wes the one-man wrecking crew. It is hilarious on so many levels. I'm pretty sure he has forgotten all about having little kids. He also must have been in outer space or something from the time Zach was about 2 until he was 7 or so. As if that wasn't enough to make me wet my pants with laughter every time I thought of it, he also said, "you guys really need to get this kid into a playgroup or something." Hahahaha... I'm not even sure what brought that on, but it probably has something to do with the fact that we are Wes' minions. Anywho...

Here's what Wes is up to at 15 months:

Running around. He used to attempt to run and would fall every two feet. Now he can actually do it without falling.
Climbing... he has always been a climber, but wow... he is not afraid of anything these days.
"Helping." He loves to push my step ladder around the kitchen and help wash dishes or make dinner, etc... It's good and bad. I love that he loves to be in the middle of the action with me. I don't love it when he sneaks off into the kitchen to "help" when I'm not there.
He cannot leave anything he sees in any sort of ordered state. Blocks that are hooked together must be torn apart. Lincoln logs formed into a house must be smashed apart. He can't even stand it if you try to line up wheat puffs or raisins on his tray. They cannot be in a straight line! Hence the one-man wrecking crew thing...
Loves to help clean up, but does it with such GUSTO that you should really wear eye protection if you're near him when he's putting away toys. He can't just put them back into their bin. He has to throw them in with all his might.
He still talks in mostly jibber jabber, but he says lots of words now... just none that he repeats on a regular basis except for "Dad." I have no idea who he thinks I am, but he definitely doesn't call me Mom. In the last couple of days I've heard him say "dog," "duck," "no," "yeah," "gapa" (grandpa), "fish," "so" (for Sophie), and some kind of "bababa" babble that was either supposed to mean baby or banana.
Teeth. He's got all of his incisors, one canine, and four molars --which were nasty little buggers coming out! They are still coming out a bit more and his gums are so swollen and bloody. Poor guy.
He also stopped nursing a little after 13 months. Broke my heart, but he didn't care one bit.
Still loves food. He'll eat anything we give him. It is sooo wonderful. I still firmly believe that I trained him to be this way :-) . We'll see if I still believe that when we have more kids!
We got a PIANO!!!! My parents inherited my Grandma's old baby grand and gave me their upright! Wes loves to "sing" with me while I'm playing, and he loves tinkering with the keys. He still loves to help lead the music at church to by waving his arms around whenever a song starts.
Goes to bed at 7pm now (ish) and sleeps until 7am (ish). Ahhh... it is great.

Alright--enough! I think we're just a little obsessed with this kid...

-Steff

P.S. Rent "Babies." It is the sweetest thing. I love it. I'm getting all kinds of great ideas from the movie... like how to keep your baby in one general area by tying a rope around his waist and then tying the other end around the bedpost! (Okay, just clarifying that I am JOKING... don't want worried phone calls over that one). :-) But it IS something they do in the movie, and I really don't see anything wrong with it, except that you would go to jail for child abuse here in the US if you did it! Of course, putting your child on a leash at Disneyland is totally appropriate. I love the African baby who tries to suck any tummy, arm or leg that comes near him. And the Mongolian baby has the best cheeks! Maybe if Nova would watch this movie he/she wouldn't think we are such bad parents!

Bipedal Wesson

2010-12-10T10:00:00.002-07:00

He's been on the verge of walking for months now and he would take a couple of steps until he realized what he was doing and would sit down and start crawling. Then one day about a month ago he was hepling me fold some laundry and was standing at the edge of the bed. He turned around and looked down the hall and just took off. He made it halfway down the hall before he got so excited that he fell over. Then he stood up andwalked back to the bed. That was it. There hasn't been any crawling since.

Nacho Halloween

2010-11-06T22:03:00.005-06:00

Sorry world, I hate to keep rubbing in how awesome Wes is (an by extension we are) but... Well, see for yourself:

Oh yeah, plenty more where that came from!

Our son is special

2010-11-04T07:04:00.001-06:00