Tardiness

So, I know that this post is coming a little late.  I also know that I am a terrible blogger.  Seriously.  Absolutely terrible.  I have missed my baby turning one, me turning 26 (although to be fair it is my fifth- year turning 26), M turning 34 (I married an old man - look at that 8 year gap), and Halloween.  It's not from lack of effort - oh wait.  It is exactly that.  I should say it is not from lack of thought because I think about blogging every week.  Yup, every Sunday night after the kiddos are tucked in I think, "I should really write a blog post.  M's parents are probably wondering if we are still alive."  After an internal debate, sleep has won out, as it usually does.  Now that I am 30, I mean 26, I need my beauty sleep more than ever, right?  So, I sincerely apologize for being absent for the last few months.  I will try to be better.  Although a little tardy, here is what you have missed:

George turned one!  What a crazy rascal this kid is.  Here are some things about George at 12 months:

• He still loves, loves, loves food.  I did finally find out one food he doesn't like.  Oatmeal.  Like mother like son, I guess, because I have always hated oatmeal.  Even now I have to grit my teeth to get it down, and I just pray it doesn't come back up.  And now, every time I try to feed George his the bowl of oatmeal ends up on his head, then thrown against the wall or cabinets, and all over my floor - which of course I just mopped.  His favorite food though is probably toast…and cookies.
• He can say 5 words: Mama, Daddy, ball, doggie, and book
• He loves to read, and he will carry his books all over the house, tugging at your pants until you sit down and read with him.  His favorite book is the one the Dastrups and Hicks gave him about puppies.  
• He is a walking machine.
• He has started to love his blankets and won't go to sleep without one.
• As of 13 months he is off the bottle.  He does still get his binky in the crib and in the car.
• He is a good trooper when it comes to his rowdy big brother.  He can handle some pretty rough wresting and is often the instigator of it himself.  
• He loves tub time.
• He likes to pinch arms and ears and necks when he is falling asleep.  As we rock for his daily nap he will try to pinch whatever he can get a hold of.  
• He takes 2 naps/day about 3 days a week.  The other 4 days he only takes an afternoon nap.
• He loves to go for walks outside, either in the stroller or walking on his own.  He still puts a lot of things in his mouth but is getting better.  

It was just the four of us at home celebrating George's first birthday.  With one set of grandparents on a mission and the other set sailing around the United Kingdom, it was a pretty small party.  George actually woke up from his nap that day with a fever, and he only wanted to be held and snuggled.  So, I decorated his birthday cake one-handed and think I did pretty good to make it look like a panda bear (James calls him "cubby" when the wrestle so it was appropriate we thought).  We Tylenoled him up for dinner, presents, and cake.  He actually did okay with the Tylenol in his system.  He unwrapped his presents like a pro - he knew what to do, no problem.  Since then he has had fun playing with his toys.

M & my birthday.  No pics, but we had fun celebrating as a family.  And do you see this amazing site? This is the first year I did a batch of pears without my mother.  I finally feel like a grown up.  Although next year, I am sure I will still ask for her help :)

Halloween!  Jay was so excited for Halloween.  The whole month of October he would wake up every morning and ask, "Is today Halloween?"  He loved watching spooky movies (Nightmare Before Christmas being his fav), decorating pumpkins, and dreaming about his costume.  And dream he did.  Jay was so particular about his costume; I kept asking myself, "is he really only 3 years old?  Man, we are in trouble."  At first he wanted to be a tiger, complete with a giant head with huge fangs.  He was adamant that I didn't make his costume; he wanted the large, store bought, $50 costume.  Thank heavens he changed his mind about 2 weeks before Halloween.  He decided finally to go as a werewolf.  The costume was pretty easy to make, and he made one scary (but cute!) werewolf.  Everyone in the neighborhood loved seeing him.  George was a dragon, and he didn't really care much for trick-or-treating.  He liked the small amount of candy he got, but he thought it was a bit cold out.  It has been fun to celebrate Halloween with Jay getting so into things.  It looks like Thanksgiving and Christmas this year are going to be really fun.

It's Where Fun Is!

We had a great time yesterday at Cherry Hill with my family.  Special thanks to my mom & dad for having the kids set reading goals and then treating us all to a day at the water park.  With a giant pirate ship to play on, Jay was in heaven all day.  When I asked him his favorite part of the water park, he just looked at me like I was an idiot and said, "the pirate ship, Mom!" He also liked sitting on the tube in the dizzy river (as Jay calls it) and finally admitted that the water slides weren't that scary.  Curious George liked the lazy river and the pirate pool, and M & I really liked the lazy river and the rapids slides.  Best of all though was being with family, and Jay was so sad when we had to leave his friends (he says friends instead of cousins).

Jay and his cousins sailing the pirate ship and getting ready to shoot the cannons. 

 Jay and his cousin plotting their next pirate move.

Instead of walking the plank, Jay got to slide down the ship's water slide. 

These crazy three cousins couldn't get enough of the pirate ship and pirate pool.  Here they are playing in the pool.  I have to say, listening to them plot and plan their pirate moves and hearing their conversation in the pool was an amusing lesson on what really goes on in the mind of a little boy.

Pretty sure he was pulling down his suit so the water could bubble up right near his skin. 

The day of fun tuckered Curious George right out. 

Cousins floating in the lazy river.

Curious George at 11 months

What!? My baby is almost one?  When did that happen?  Here are a few things that Curious George is into at 11 months:

• He is a crawling maniac.  He crawls so fast and loves to do the "bear crawl".  He can stand on his own for over a minute and will take a step or two if he doesn't realize what he is doing.
• Georgie loves to ham it up.  You can see his mood and what is he is feeling right on his face.  
• He loves, loves, loves to eat.  He eats 3 meals a day with 3 bottles a day.  He has recently started using utensils, and he feels like he should be feeding himself all the time.  He does pretty good, even if he uses the wrong end of the spoon sometimes.
• His favorite word is "Mama", and it melts my heart every time he says it.
• Curious George lives up to his name and is very curious and independent.  He loves to explore the house and the yard. His favorite rooms in the house are the bathrooms and the kitchen because, hello!, so many drawers to unload!
• About 90% of everything he touches goes right in his mouth.
• Following in the footsteps of his master Jedi brother Jay, Georgie has already mastered the art of sword fighting.
• He loves to play Chapstick Game with his dad and brother.  Mom stays out of this game, as it involves a lot of wrestling and trying to pry Dad's chapstick away from each other.  
• He can go up the stairs successfully but still heads down the stairs face forward.
• He gives the best hugs after naps and loves to give kisses.
• Georgie loves to get into the tub and will go stand by it during the day (if we don't forget to close the bathroom door), calling out "Mama" and trying to climb in for a little tub time.
• Curious George does have trouble with his naps, and who can blame him?  There is too much to see and too much to do.  He has started to really refuse a morning nap (when he takes one it is only ~30 min) and his afternoon nap is usually only an hour or less.  I am seriously sad to be losing my favorite workout time and some of my sanity time.  Jay was 14 months before he transitioned to only one nap, and George doing it this early has been really hard.
• He has got great rhythm and loves to bounce and "dance" anytime there is music.  He can keep a beat pretty good, and Jay has upgraded him to the maracas when we have our family marching band.
• Like father, like son - Curious George likes to play video games with Dad.  He holds his controller and sits right by M as he plays.

Georgie has found a new favorite food.  He loves to eat corn on the cob and will eat an entire ear at dinner. 

Curious George swimming at Cherry Hill.  This guy is fearless in the water.  He will crawl out in the middle of the swimming pool, even if he can't keep his head above water.  What a crazy guy.

I just wanted to document a little of how Curious George is at this time in his life because time is moving too fast!  Why is it that time with the second child moves faster than with the first?  I swear Jay was a baby forever, but George is already growing into this little toddler.  Oh well, we love our little Georgie and I am just trying to enjoy him every day.

Cabins and Cousins

The last week-and-a-half has seen us up and back and up and back to my parent's cabin in the Uintahs.  Each time we were lucky enough to go with family.

The first time we went with M's family - all the siblings came, even his youngest brother drove up from California.  It was so fun to see everyone and get all together, and of course Jay loved being with his cousins.  They swung on swings, went searching for sticks, spotted a ton of deer, hiked to the beaver pond, and caught some pretty big fish with the uncles.  

Because M's sister follows a restrictive diet, I volunteered to make all the treats.  Although this was not so great for my continued efforts to lose the last of that baby weight, Curious George thought it was pretty awesome.  He would stand below these cookies and try to reach up and grab them.

Jay and his cousin swinging.

Jay and his uncle fishing at Butterfly Lake.  We actually caught quite a few fish!  I even caught my first fish ever, but I lost it before I could get it out of the water.

Jay, Curious George, M's youngest brother, and 2 of the cousins showing us what all those deer looked like. 

The second time we headed up it was for a "girl's week" at the cabin.  It sounds more glamorous than it really was because we all brought our kids.   And yes, I didn't shower for 3 days but with all the smelly boys in that cabin no one even noticed :)  Jay, once again, loved being with his cousins.  They disappeared outside to explore teepees, have wheelbarrow pulls, ride the four-wheelers, make bows-and-arrows, and who knows what else.  Well, we do know what else because ever since the trip James has refused to sit down to use the bathroom.  He has to stand up now, "just like outside at the cabin!" He has been so excited about his new skill, that I am not even complaining (yet!) about having to start daily bathroom cleaning duty.  Somehow, we all survived the crazy 3 days, 2 nights with 12 kids ages 10 and under.  We missed Maggie & the Shippens - for sure next year!

 The whole gang minus the newborn

Curious George conked on our short hike. 

Jay 4-wheeling.  He was pretty nervous at the start but ended up loving it. 

The dirty three.  I don't know if you can see these guys faces, but they are so dirty.  I have no idea what they were doing that made their faces so dirty, and I am not sure I really want to know.  

Post One

I always have trouble writing the initial post.  Do I introduce our family? Do I just dive in and start with what happened this week?  I will say that this blog is primarily being created to help me journal the comings and goings of our daily lives.  The timing also coincides with M's parents leaving for their mission, and we are hoping to help them keep up with all the major growth spurts that are going to happen while they are gone.

So, after much thought, Post One is going to be a very short one all about brothers.  M and I have two boys - we will call the older Jay and the younger Curious George.  And rather than use up all my words talking about these two boys and their brotherhood, I instead opt to show you a picture of how I believe most brotherhoods operate.

Really, is there anything else left to say?  I think not.  I hope you will follow along with me as I document our spectacular ninja fights, our amazing fort building skills, and our adventurous jungle escapes.  I promise it will be a ride full of imagination and curiosity.