Drastically Reduced!

Drastically Reduced Baby who WHINES! We are firm on our price!

17 months. Like a fork to the head.

This really could go either way Van. You are now 17 months old. The past few weeks have been so funny and I have been writing things down that you have done on a piece of scratch paper and of course I have misplaced it.
We went to dinner a week ago tonight with Afton to Olive Garden. It was late and you were tired and a pain in my butt! Afton and I sat on one side of the booth and you and Dad were on the other side. You got restless and so naturally you got on top of the table and came across to me. As our food started to come out I made a plate for you and stood up to put you back across from me and next to your Dad. He put his arms out to take you and you picked up a fork and jammed it into the side of his head. Oh the look in his eyes! Speaking of eyes, the fork missed his eye ball by only a very small measure. He looked at me and said "take him, take him now!" Now I have had people tell me that one day when Dad and I want to go out or when we want to be spontaneous and pick up and leave for the weekend I will wish for you to be back in my stomach. I have never wished this, maybe because being pregnant was by far the very worst 10 months of my entire existence but I think at that very second as the fork made 4 indentations in the side of your fathers head he may have for a split second wished you back in my stomach. I have also had a few friends tell me that they just don't understand why people want kids so bad. This is not something that is remotely explainable until you have laid eyes upon your own baby for the first time, and in the exact instance you know why. It is still not explainable in words but as a parent you know.
You love us, in a way that we have never been loved. You fulfill every expectation and far exceed them. You love books and will bring me or Dad a book when you are starting to get sleepy, you will crawl up on our laps and hand us the book. Last Saturday I was folding laundry and Dad was sitting on the couch watching a show. You brought him a book and crawled up next to him and starting pointing at the animals on each page and putting your own Van sound to each one.

This is one of those moments you point to when someone asks why you would ever want a child.

Speaking of forks! The other day I was cleaning the kitchen, you must of gotten a fork out of the dishwasher. I came over into the living room to check on you and found you with a fork, stabbing into our leather couch!!! Speaking of couches.....
I fixed you a bowl of oatmeal and poured it into a bottle because you wouldn't sit and eat it otherwise. I again walked into the living room to check on you only to find you pouring the oatmeal out into the creases of our leather couch!!!! I don't know if I am a bad mom or if you are a bad child, one or the other must be true.
Your love affair with balls is stronger than ever. You love anything that even resembles a ball. You have a million and one toys and you do not care about anything but the balls and books that show you cows and horses. Right as I am pushing the point of wishing you back in my stomach I turn around to look at you because the dining room light has mysteriously just turned off. I find you throwing a ball up against the light switch and turning it on and off with the ball. Do I need to say more? Your accuracy kid!!!

When you got so sick about a month ago and were running such a high fever Dad and I made you sleep in the middle of us so we could keep an eye on you. This was the biggest mistake I have made in my parenting so far. Now when I ask you if you are ready to go ni-night you will shake your head yes and walk into my bedroom! This has made for a miserable sleep for both Dad and I. You will migrate to one side of the bed when we are lucky, allowing the other person to get a few minutes of real sleep but most of the time you sleep horizontal. By horizontal I mean your head burrowed in one of our necks and your feet on the other persons face. Dad woke up the other night because you were rubbing his lip with your big toe. I have asked a few of my friends what to do... "just put him back in his room and let him scream himself to sleep." So I tried this, you started to crawl out of your crib head first, I would hear you land on your bedroom floor and just as I was running to your room you would be opening the door, stars in your eyes from the fall and barely able to stand. Aunt Jenea suggested ordering a crib tent so you couldn't get out of the crib, I did this and was talked out of it by Grandma Angie. Our neighbor Amy suggested taking the front off of your crib and turning it into a toddler bed. We tried this and now you can get out of your bed without the possibility of breaking your neck but you just open the door to your room and walk on out. Julie at work told me that she just locked her son in the room and he eventually learned that he had to sleep in his own room. I tried this and you hang on the door knob until it breaks. Last but certainly not least our other neighbor Jeanette suggested a new door knob turned around so it locks from the outside, a round one that you can't just pull on. This is the point where we are at now. I am trying to get enough sleeplessness built up that I don't care if you hate me and I scar you for the rest of your life, causing serious emotional issues that you will have to see a therapist for all the way through to the end of a midlife crisis. Please don't hate me for locking you in your room. I love you, I just need to sleep!

I love you, you 17 month old monster!
Mama

We (Dad, me, you, Landon, Jade, Ammy, Kari and Brandon) went fishing last week. You played in the sand and dumped it all over me. The sand was EVERYWHERE!! Aunt Ammy and I had it in our ears, our clothes and our teeth. Like I always say, don't rock the boat!












We went camping over Memorial Day weekend with Afton and her family. Your very first horse ride. You were in all your glory! Your love horse!

The first of many battle wounds.

13 AnD 14 mONthS oLd & as SOLID as cAn Be.

So I haven't updated my blog for a long time!!!! I have a blog that I write letters to Van and post pictures as he grows and I update it all the time so I forget to do this one. My sister-in-laws keep telling me I need to update this one so they can see the pictures. I have copied and pasted this post from my other blog so of course it includes my sappy letter to my baby...read on if you want :)




When we pull out the camera and tell you to smile this is your pose.

So you keep me so busy that I don't have a lot of down time to just sit and get this journal updated. I am so behind that it is actually a part of my to do list, I even have a reminder that beeps once a day in my phone reminding me that you are now 8 days older than 14 months and I have yet to document it.
You are SO mischievous! You are so close to walking. If I tell you to stand up and walk to me you will stand up and carefully toddle over to me and then you laugh, you want praise from all 4 walls. You have become one of my very best friends. I love to lounge with you, wrestle around with you, take walks with you and fight the battle to try to get a quick snuggle from you.
Last weekend we went up to SLC and met Amanda and her 2 little girls and had a fun day together. We went to the Gateway Discovery Museum. I didn't think there would be anything there that you would enjoy but we ended up staying for 2 hours. When we finally left and I put you back in your stroller you threw a temper tantrum that threw me for a loop, I didn't know you were capable of something like that. At the museum they had a Little Tikes car that you have to flintstone yourself around in. I was trying to entertain you so I could visit with Amanda so I put you in this car. You wouldn't get out for anything. Kids would come up and ask me if they could have a turn. The first 2 that asked me I said yes and tried to get you out, you held onto the car with all your brute strength and screams and kicked. I ended up telling every kid no to a turn in the car. You couldn't figure out how to go forward but you could go backwards. You would turn and get yourself to where you wanted to go, just all in backward motions. When we got home I left you with Daddy and went to Wal-Mart to try to find one of these cars for you. They don't carry them in the stores so I got you something a little different. A car that I push you in. You love this car! I push you all around the house in it. We go to the kitchen and load your food in the little trunk and drive over to the high chair, you eat and then get back in the car, you sit in it while we get your clothes out or prepare your bath. Daddy was tending you the other day while I was at work and he sent me a text that you were kissing your car and laying on the floor next to it petting it like it was a prized puppy.




You loved when Uncle Landon pushed you around and carried your cabbage patch kid in the trunk with his head hanging out. You love to put anything that will fit in the trunk.




One most Tuesdays and Thursday (my days off) we usually just hang out at home and clean and do laundry. The days I work you usually go with Dad to work, to feed the cows. If we ask you if you want to go see the cows you will pull out your binky and say "MOOO." The other day Dad asked if we would both go with him to work instead of staying home, he wanted me to see you in your element as he calls it. I rode along and sure enough kid that runs in your blood. Dad puts the truck in low gear and you drive the truck with the window down so you can yell at the cows. If Dad takes you through the middle of the cows on foot you will scream at them like you have obviously heard your Daddy do and you will pet them, or hit them, or kick them......
Even though I have never liked animals like this I love that it very obviously runs in your blood and you love it with no fear at all.



You worship your Daddy. I have seen a very special and intense bond forming with the 2 of you over the past few months. You have been lucky enough to spend a lot of time with him. You want to do everything like Dad does. If he wears a hat so do you, you love to wear his hats more than your own. You love to wear his sunglasses. You wear his glasses so much that I got you a pair of your own. You love to wear yours if Dad has his on too.

I know it is hard to believe but I wasn't even freaking out when this mut was licking my babys face.



You are learning how to go up and down our stairs and love it. Every time I take the gate down you are right there going up and down, up and down. You also have this new thing you do, so cute and yet so irritating. You grad our faces and make us look at you to tell us to look at something or to tell us what you want, you do it constantly. If there is a basketball game on and I look away from the TV you instantly will grab my face and make me look at you and then point to the TV to tell me to watch. I LOVE YOU!
You love to play peek-a-boo. You HATE to lay down and get your diaper changed, you are always rolling over and crawling away from me as fast as you can and it is a battle everytime we try to change you. We are learning that if we simply play peek-a-boo the whole time we are trying to change you that you will be good.



Have I ever told you that I worship you? Well...I do.

Love Mama.

Just a Small Taste of Personality

The Last Month

The past month has been a whirlwind, lucky there is such a thing as cameras to document or it would fly by without me even knowing it. These are in random order of our past month but to be honest it is 1:33am and I am to sleepy to organize them so this is what you get. To sleepy but I can't sleep? We have had a blast this past month soaking in the first holiday season with Van and watching him take it all in. Life couldn't be better!


The light parade in Spanish Fork, the day after Thanksgiving.

We went on the Polar Express for family night. Van loved Santa and tried to pull his beard off and eat it.

Christmas Day, not sure what I was laughing about.

Christmas Day. Jordan and Landon decked out in their snowmobiling gear. They honestly think they are so funny...they kind of are I guess.

Christmas Eve. Van was so...done and Daxton sat and held his bottle for him. I am so..grateful that these 2 love each other so much!

This is just how done he was....

...................

Christmas Night. Van letting his Aunt Ammy love him for 2.3 seconds before knocking her in the face and crawling away just as fast as he could. It seems to be a game they play, he adores her and to show just how much he has taken quite a liking to punching her.

Jaylee and Dacia loving their Daddy on Christmas Day.

Christmas Eve at Shaun and Jenea's house. All of the nieces and nephews that were in attendance. Whitney, Crystal, Dax, Dacia, Jaylee, Trevin and Van. I love this picture!

On New Years Day Jordan planned a snow day. We took the snowmobiles down to the farm and played all...day long. Jord built a fire and we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Van rode on his sled behind the 4-wheeler and then while it was in use doing over 1/2 mph Grandma Angie pulled him around. Uncle Landon would run after him in slow motion and tackle him. He had a ball and was such a good sport.

He ended up adopting my goggles because his little eyes would water while we were riding on the snowmobiles. He left them on all day long. So stinking cute!



This was my Christmas gift :)


and last but not least I just wanted to document my ability as a first time mom to allow my child to look like this.....

Happy New Year everyone, We hope it is a great one!