Thanksgiving

"Gratitude makes what you already have enough."

 This year was Tai's first Thanksgiving! But unfortunately Kyle had to work. So last night I surprised him with his very own pumpkin pie WITH a can of whipped cream to go with it!
This morning he did get to go play in a Turkey Bowl with Dakota and Jake, so that made me happy that he at least got to go play some football before going to work.

 This year I spent Thanksgiving at my Grandparents home in Aurora. I hadn't been down there for Thanksgiving since 2011, right before Kyle and I got married.

Tai napped during the meal, but I saved her a plate with turkey and sweet potatoes to eat when she woke up. Of course she loved it!

 I think all Kasen ate was olives, jello and a roll.

He did take 1/2 a bag of wheat thins home with us though! He ate the whole thing in the car then asked me to go buy more at the store.

Kasen spent most of the day playing out on Grandpa Ward's old tractors. His hands were black when he came back in and when asked what was on his hands he said, "Poop!"

His other most favorite part of the day was "cream mouth", he loves having whipped cream sprayed right into his mouth. He didn't even eat any pie to go with it!

 I'm so thankful that I get to be a wife and mother, especially since I have the knowledge of the restored gospel to help me figure out how and why to keep doing it during the times that get rough!

I'm also grateful for the example of my Grandparents that have been married for 57 years today!

#relationshipgoals

I guess I'll give a shout out to Peeka too. It's her first birthday so here's to hoping that the puppy phase will now be phasing out!

#happybirthdaypeeka

Memory

Memories are funny things, the way they work.

Some things you try so hard to remember, but can't quite. The details just aren't there and it's all a blur. Then there are other things so vivid that you will never forget them.

Memories are never perfect or complete, which can be a blessing and a curse.

And sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory.

That is why this blog has become so valuable to me since having kids!
I go back and read things that I don't even remember now. Things from just last year. And I love reading it and remembering. Remembering how much JOY I receive from my children and my family. Joy from learning about them, learning with them, joy from laughing with them and sometimes there's the joy from laughing at them too!
These are just a few more things that have made me smile and that I want to remember :)

KASEN

• Sometimes when I tell him "No" he'll then tell me to, "Be nice Mom!"
• He's started to eat more of his meals sitting at the counter, while Tai sits in his high chair and they both love it cause they can reach each other to share food. Especially since his solution to not finishing his food is to feed it to Tai! He will eat yogurt for breakfast by the bowl full though!
  
• He's learned that he can squeeze his fruit snacks hard enough to pop them open so that he doesn't need to wait for me to eat them.
• If Kasen is watching one of his shows then Kyle doesn't let him play games on his phone so now when Kasen wants to play games he tells Kyle that it's "Dad's turn show. Football? Grandpa? (Blue Bloods)" Haha We had a good long laugh about that!
• He got a picture of Jesus in nursery and was showing it to Tai. I asked him if he was teaching Tai about Jesus and to tell her that Jesus loves you. He walked up to Tai and said, "Tai, Jesus loves ME!"
• At night after we read and sing I ask Kasen to tell me about his favorite part of the day and we talk about everything we did. I love being able to talk with him more now! He's memorized a few of his books and will "read" them to me too. He also has a night light and sometimes we do shadow puppets. Or he'll lay down and fake snore. He usually gets out of bed after I leave to turn the light on though. I have to go in after he's asleep to turn it off. 
  
• He LOVES venison! Jake and Kristi gave us some of the deer meat he got and Kasen had 4 servings. He never eats that good!
• I let him color with markers for the first time and without even telling him, he knew how to take off the lid stick it on the end of the marker and to put the cap back on after he was done! Whaaaa?!
• I love when he says, "Come with me!", "Snuggle me", "Feel better Mom?", or "Mom, where are you?!" before he comes looking for me. Then when I can't find him and ask where he is, he'll answer, "I'm right here Mom!"
• When he asks what something is and I tell him, he says, "Oh!" and repeats what I said. I love it.
• Sometimes when Tai is in her church dress he calls her a princess. Something he picked up outside of me and Kyle cause we don't call her that. We call her Stink.
• He's started to say sorry for different things, whether it's something that deserves an apology or not. I like it when he apologizes for accidentally hurting me though!
• He calls Kyle "Ky-low" now.

TAI

•  She's starting to walk! November 16th she walked across the room for the first time and I didn't even stand her up and tell her to come to me. Whenever she pulls herself up she'll try walking away now.
• For a couple weeks Tai was waking up in the night again. She has 5 teeth now, but is back to sleeping through the night! Yay! 
• When Peeka barks sometimes Tai will say, "Oh oh oh!" sounds like she's trying to bark too.
• When you can see all of her teeth then you know she is fake crying.
• She likes climbing in drawers and baskets lately. The fun part for us is when she tries to get back out and sort of falls out. She always goes back for more though!
  

"Christ doesn't just make up the difference, He makes all the difference." -Brad Wilcox

Our November temple date last night was a GOOD one guys!
I even put on a real bra for the first time in 2 1/2 years! No more of that comfy, nursing bra stuff here ;)
We went to the Salt Lake Temple then to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then Kyle took me to see Trans Siberian Orchestra!
There were parts that got a little weird and crazy, but there were some amazing parts too!
We decided it was a good show to see one time.
And I learned that Trans Siberian Orchestra is not a full orchestra and they are not just instrumental. There was more singing than instrumental songs I think.
We decided we want to go to a new Christmas concert/show every year as our little tradition. There are always so many good concerts going on around the holidays. Yay for fun new traditions!
And yay for amazing weather. I walked all around Salt Lake, in a dress, at the end of November, and wasn't even cold. Loved it.

11 Months and Grateful

 I made it 11 months which means I am quitting nursing! Hopefully I have enough milk stored up from pumping to last another month. Woo woo! I have either been pregnant or nursing or both since September 2014 so I am ready to have my body be just mine for a small second.

 

She fell asleep like that, holding onto her little handle! Also, Kyle is the baby snuggling king :) They fall asleep on him 90% more than they will with me.

• Tai still eats anything and everything. I'm pretty sure she holds a records of sucking an applesauce pouch dry in less than 10 seconds. She would never even be able to tell you the flavor.
• Aaanndd she's obviously still bald.
• BUT she finally grew her 4th tooth so she doesn't look like a can opener!
• Still not quite walking, but will walk with the walkers!
• Sometimes while I'm pumping and can't hold her, she'll come lay her head on my leg and let me rub her back while she sucks her thumb. It's the cutest little thing! The only time she'll kind of snuggle.

 October Temple Date!

"Strong eternal families and spirit filled homes do not just happen. They take great effort." 

-Cheryl A. Esplin

I was so proud of myself for almost going an entire month without ever eating out, but we went to Olive Garden after the temple. I'm not even sorry.

 Naomi came to sleepover one night and they were so cute watching "Roo!" together :)

Kasen is a little to crazy for the girls in the tub though.

 Yes, they both love to sleep with blankets over their heads. Freaks Kyle out, but Tai won't stop.

Her favorite thing ever is crawling around the house with a blanket or pajamas on her head too.

I think Kasen was covering his head to sleep though cause he was scared of the glow in the dark stars that we put up on his ceiling. We thought he would love them, but they lasted a week.

 

He LOVES this Duckie sticker book that Grandma Annette gave him though! He carries it around everywhere with his handful of stickers and is so cute when he licks them to stick them on. I have had to tape up his book a few times already.

He's gotten so much better about sleeping in pajamas and in his bed too, but sometimes he'd still rather sleep next to his pajamas than in them...

• He asks for glasses whenever the sun is too bright for him in the car.
• He is not into potty training at all. We've bought him underwear and sat him on his potty seat multiple times a day and nothing. He says, "No Way!" every time. Although we are trying to get him to say "No Thanks" instead.
• He has started to Shush me when I sing sometimes and tells me to just listen.
• He threw up the week after Halloween and kept asking me to kiss his tummy cause it hurt. It was so sad, except that he refused to throw up in a bucket! He prefers to toss around when he feels sick and make a huge mess. Then a few days later he had a fever all day and took like 4 naps on the couch by Kyle. He's all better now though!
  
  
• When he wants me to get something or do something for him he tells me that he is busy.
• He asks for cookies sometimes and when I tell him we don't have any he tells me to "Mix it"
• Sometimes he stands on our scale and says, "30 pounds, good job!"
•  After I was his hands after he eats, there is a certain tile he'll stand on then count to 4 and run to the living room. Their little rituals are so funny!

I'm excited for the holiday's coming our way. It will be busy, but magical!
Plus I have already bought our matching Christmas pajamas and our 2017 Christmas tree ornament so I feeling pretty on top of life right now. We'll see how long it lasts ;)