Family Photos 2013

I absolutely LOVE how our family photos turned out this year.  Thank you, Fotofly!

David Turns 2!

My baby boy has now officially become a toddler.  There are times when I can't believe how fast he is growing.

David's Stats:

Weight: 29 lbs., 57% for his age
Height: 36 inches, 77% for his age

Little Quirks

• He is obsessed with letters!  He loves finding letters on random objects and trying to say what they are (he doesn't usually get them right).
• He loves flushing the toilet and turning off lights.  It can get pretty annoying at times.
• He has developed a new love for drawing.  He loves finding pen and pencils and drawing on random pieces of paper he finds lying around.  Sometimes he draws on the walls, too.  I do not approve of that.
• He calls all fuzzy animals "Sushi."
• He loves dancing and singing to music.  He mumbles the consonants and vowels from the words of the lyrics he hears.
• He calls bananas "cee-all" (cereal).  I'm not sure why he does that.
• He is very polite and always says please and thank you at the right times.
• He is very social.  He likes to greet everyone he meets.  He is not shy or scared of people.
• He has a fantastic memory for words and music.
• He growls at pumpkins.
• He is calm and easy-going about EVERYTHING.
• Lizzy is his entertainment, hero, and best friend.  Anything Lizzy likes he likes, too, including Barbies, princess movies, girly songs, and girly dress-up clothes. He looks really cute wearing Lizzy's pink sunhat and princess slippers.
• He LOVES to eat!  He's not picky about foods and likes to eat everything.  He is particularly fond of tomatoes and bananas.
• He likes to babble. He likes to say whatever letter sounds he wants to articulate at the time, along with the overall feeling or emotion he wants to convey.  He likes asking questions best.  Example:  "Ah, was? Wha-waa et is a-wadee sheee?  Oy-yoy oh-oh."  It's pretty cute.
• He stands right in front of me and wiggles his tongue back and forth quickly when he wants to taste whatever I am eating.  It's pretty funny.

Favorite (Real) Words and Phrases

• "Tank-u ma-much" (thank you very much)
• "Bye!  See-youuu!"
• "Izzy"  (Lizzy)
• "Sushi"
• "Cee-all" (cereal)
• "Yo gel-com" (you're welcome)
• "Eh-are-you?" (where are you?)
• "O you okay?"  (are you okay?)

Favorite Books

• He loves all of the Charlie and Lola books.
• The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin, by Margaret Wise Brown.
• Any version of The Three Little Pigs.
• Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies, by Carolyn Crimi.

Favorite Movies and TV Shows

• Super Why
• Curious George
• The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That
• Tangled
• Brave
• All of the Toy Story movies.

Favorite Songs and Poems

• Batman
• This Little Piggy
• A Dream is Wish Your Heart Makes
• Baby Mine
• Five Yellow Pumpkins
• I'm a Mean Old Witch (With a Hat)
• A Whole New World
• Once Upon a Dream
• When Will My Life Begin
• True Love's Kiss
• Alphabet Song
• Itsy Bitsy Spider
• Open Shut Them

David's Birthday

We had a small birthday party for David with our immediate family and Grandpa North.  Lizzy and I bought some orange and green balloons, which David loved.  We had homemade chili for dinner, and angel food cake with whipped cream and strawberries for dessert.  David loved blowing out his candles and eating his cake.  He was in such a big hurry to blow out his candles that Brad was afraid he was going to get burned, but he didn't.  He loved his birthday present, too-- a VTech Little Apps Tablet.  His favorite part was pushing the buttons on the tablet and sounding out the letters.  He's such a smart boy!  

Happy Birthday, my darling boy!  I love you, Davy!

Highlight of My Day: September 2013

Celebrating Hobbit Day on September 22nd

Something good happens every day. Here's what happened in September 2013:

Sun 9/1/13: Today was a nice, quiet Sunday. I enjoyed having two helpers in my Sunbeam's class today. The lesson was on homes. I think the kids enjoyed seeing pictures of different homes from around the world. The lesson went very well.

Mon 9/2/13: We labored on Labor Day. Brad and I got done a bunch of chores that we had put off for a long time, like calking the windows, and weather proofing our door. Not exciting, by any means, but there's relief in knowing that it got done. Plus, it's nice spending the day together. I love hanging out with him.

Tue 9/3/13: Lizzy started her first day of preschool today. I had convinced myself prior to this day that I wouldn't be one of those mom's that cries on the first day of preschool. Boy, was I wrong! I cried all the way home. Lizzy walked right up the steps to Miss Nicole's house and didn't every turn around to wave at me. A part of me felt the pang of "oh no, my baby is growing up," to, "I'm so proud of her for not needing me," to, "oh no, she doesn't need me anymore!" Overall, I am happy that she's becoming more independent and loving her new school. She was so excited when she came home. Seeing her excitement made my heart swell with happiness. I love being a mom. It's the greatest job in the world.

Wed 9/4/13: It's nice having Scott home tonight. I am so proud of the man he is becoming. I love that he loves going to seminary, that he has a testimony of the gospel, and that he wants to serve a mission someday. It's great talking to him. That boy inspires me constantly. Gosh, I love him!

Thu 9/5/13: Brad and I left Scott and Emma in charge of the little ones tonight while we went shopping at Walmart and Sam's Club. It was nice getting out of the house without little ones. Later in the evening, after bedtime, Brad and I watched more Alias. It's a fun show! I'm hooked.

Fri 9/6/13: We had a fun night with the Moons! We had taco salad for dinner and played Forbidden Desert while the little ones played in the backyard. It was our first time playing Forbidden Desert. The desert won this time, but that's okay. I'm sure we'll get the hang of it the more we play it.

Sat 9/7/13: Today was our last pool party of the season! My favorite part of the day was chatting with Bruce, Loralee, Marian, Brad, and James. We had interesting conversations about religion, human behavior, family, and marriage. I like hearing insights from Brad's side of the family. Everyone is so smart and eloquent.

Sun 9/8/13: I am so grateful for my wonderful kids. Scott, Emma, Lizzy, and David bring so much joy to my life. It was nice having Family Home Evening with them tonight. Scott gave a lesson on reading the scriptures. I am so happy that he is gaining a testimony of scripture reading.

Mon 9/9/13: We started the second season of "Alias" tonight. I was glad to see that Agent Vaughn did not die.

Tue 9/10/13: I made my delicious homemade lentil soup tonight. I added fresh lettuce and tomatoes from my garden to add more flavor. It was so yummy!

Wed 9/11/13: I enjoyed watching the show, "Extreme Weight Loss" on Hulu. It's such an inspirational show. I like seeing people change their lives around and work hard to overcome the challenges they face when they make such drastic life-style changes. The transformations are amazing!

Thu 9/12/13: Brad and I took the little ones for a walk around our neighborhood tonight, since they were so full of energy. We stopped at the park for Lizzy and David to play. They were having so much fun they didn't want to leave.

Fri 9/13/13: Tonight was our ward's annual Soup Cook-off and Cake Auction. I loved seeing all of the cute cakes on display. There are some very talented people in our ward. We ended up bidding on Christine Westerns yummy guava cake and won. MMM! It was soooo good! The soups were yummy, too. My soup won "The Heartiest Soup Golden Spoon Award." I made my delicious creamy chicken and mushroom soup.

Sat 9/14/13: I loved shopping at the DI today! I bought 4 pairs of shoes and 9 cute outfits for Lizzy and David, and spent less than $50 on everything total. It was a great deal! Lizzy was very happy with the shoes and play-dresses I got her.

Sun 9/15/13: It's amazing how good an ordinary frozen pizza can taste after being covered with fresh toppings and extra cheese. My family loves it when I do that. I added some mushrooms, bell peppers, olives, red onions, Parmesan cheese, and cheddar cheese. It was so good! Lizzy and Scott were, of course, the picky ones and requested only bell peppers and cheese for Scott, and olives and cheese for Lizzy. Crazy ones!

Mon 9/16/13: Brad and I stayed up late watching the Season Finale of the first season of Downton Abbey. Gosh, I forget how much that show makes me cry. So good!

Tue 9/17/13: I was surprised to see that my Alias holds were ready to be picked up from the library today. Brad and I watched some more tonight. Still on Season 2.

Wed 9/18/13: I've been enjoying babysitting Valenne on Wednesdays. This was her third week at our house. They played outside, watched movies, played with toys, and ate noodles, blueberries, and cheese sticks. For some reason, those were the hit today.

Thu 9/19/13: My husband was my highlight. I loved watching the BYU Women's Soccer game with him tonight. BYU played against Oklahoma University. OU scored 2 goals within the first half of the game, and stayed ahead for most of the next half. Their winning streak died when BYU scored 3 goals within the last eight minutes of the game. The winning kick happened right at the very end. It was so exciting! I haven't cheered like that in a long time.

Fri 9/20/13: Emma and I went for a walk to the cousins house with Lizzy and David tonight. Lindsey made some yummy garlic and pepper popcorn. It was very yummy!

Sat 9/21/13: Scott had a Minecraft-themed birthday party with his friends today. I used Pinterest to give me ideas of how to decorate and prepare the snacks and cake. It meant a lot to hear Scott say how much he appreciated my hard work. That made me happy.

Sun 9/22/13: We seemed to have a long afternoon together, since it was Stake Conference today. I prepared a large feast of hobbit food tonight, since today is Hobbit Day. We had roast chicken, sauteed mushrooms, greens, homemade Artisan bread, and berry cake with homemade whipped cream. Mmmm! It was YUM! To end the night, we watched "Concerning Hobbits," and "Bilbo's Birthday" on The Fellowship of the Ring special edition disc. It was so much fun!

Mon 9/23/13: Lizzy and Brad had a funny conversation tonight at dinner time. Lizzy came to the dinner table and said, very dramatically, "Oooh, my tummy is hurt." Brad responded by saying, "Why does your tummy hurt?" Lizzy's very serious response was, "Because I have a baby inside. OH!"

Tue 9/24/13: This morning Lizzy and David had fun watching home video clips of themselves when they were babies. We watched clip after clip accompanied by lots of giggles and laughter. I love my babies so much! Can't believe they've grown so much in such a short amount of time.

Wed 9/25/13: It was nice having Scott and Emma home tonight. I could tell that Emma missed being here and that she was happy to be back. We had German Pancakes, watermelon, and bacon for dinner. Scott and Emma went to their YM/YW activity as usual, and when they got back, we all gathered around the computer monitor and watched the new Marvel show, "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Thu 9/26/13: It was nice having time to myself to go shopping tonight. I bought some more yarn to make some minion hats.

Fri 9/27/13: Lizzy blew soap suds in my face today while I was washing her hair. Apparently, that was a really funny thing to do to Mama. She couldn't stop laughing about it.

Sat 9/28/13: We had grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato bisque for lunch today. David was a huge fan of the bisque. He ate all of his and most of Lizzy's, too.

Sun 9/29/13:  Lizzy was very enthusiastic to practice her part for the Primary Program rehearsal today.  She asked me to help her memorize it before church, while we were driving to church, and right before sacrament meeting.  Her line was: "Jesus Christ taught us how to serve others."

Mon 9/30/13:  My husband is so wonderful.  He cleaned up the bathroom tonight and made it look so nice.  I love being married to someone who notices things that need to get done around the house and does it without being told to.  I admit that it makes me lazy at times, but it also inspires me to do my part and get things done, too.  I love being married to Brad.