February 14th {The Day of Love}

Today is Feb 14th and I must say that this year I am super happy that it is Valentine's Day! I don't think today is just about sharing and claiming love for your spouse, but also for your family including your children.

Jensen and I made a lot of gifts this year for the ones we love. I made an alphabet book for Corey where each letter was for something that I love and appreciate him for. I tried to stick to our relationship and not just about him being a great dad to Jensen.

Jensen made a "10 things I love about you" book for his dad and it turned out so cute! I used pictures from my cell phone so the quality wasn't the best, but it was the thought that counts. Jensen also did a cute card from Walgreens (I love them for printing) that had a robot on it and said I love you from here to mars. If you know anything about Corey, you know that he loves reading and watching anything to do with space. He made a Twitter account just to follow NASA!

Last night was one of my new happiest moments. Corey decided to register for school! He is going to attend Weber State and take his classes online like I did at Phoenix. He will be getting his Associates in Computer Science. His ultimate goal is to get a Bachelors in Computer Science, have a good solid job and make a lot of money. The dream for me is for him to do something that he loves, make good money, and let me be a stay at home mom.

Here are few pictures from the day so far. Jensen isn't happy because he hit is head really hard this morning on the edge of the table and instantly got a huge bruise and goose bump. Poor little man!

                                                    Sample page - Corey loves pistachios!

Family Pictures {1 year}

I forgot to post pictures of Jensen's birthday party! I still don't have them posted anyone but on the home computer, so here are the professional ones we had by my fav photographer Mary with DMC. We did these in September so I could have pictures for birthday party invitiations. Here are a few- what a handsome little man!

January {15 months}

Today is February 6th, 2013 and you just turned 16 months, so I better post about January now before I forget!

The first part of January you got incredibly sick and Dad and I were freaked out. You couldn't break a fever of over 101 for at least 4 days. We took you to Dr. Omura on a Sunday and he said you just had a bad virus and all we could do for you was keep you comfortable and give you Tylenol. You broke out in a bad rash all over which really scared me. You wouldn't eat and you hardly drank anything. You wanted to be held all the time and you would whine since you can't say many words still. Dad and I stayed home with you every day you were sick to keep you feeling secure that we were there. You finally started feeling better after nearly a week. Now I know what it is really like to deal with a sick baby and it is no fun! Hopefully you don't get that sick in a long time!

Since the first part of January was dealing with you being so sick, the rest of the month was fairly uneventful trying to get you better. You didn't have much energy for another week after that. Here is your 15 month update:

When we took you to Dr. Omura the day you were sick you only weighed 22 pounds. You actually lost weight. You went to the Dr. Omura again the week after you were sick for you scheduled 15 month appointment and you gained a pound back. You had to get shots too which was not fun and didn't help you get any better. You were in the 29 inch range still so your stats didn't change much since you were 12 months old. Dr. O said that you were due for a growth spurt before 18 months.

You LOVE hiding toys and other objects and then having Dad and I look for them. Luckily you haven't hidden anything important like car keys (yet).
You play the hiding game in the bath (which I find hilarious) because you will hide a bath toy under your leg, make me look all over the bathroom for it, and then when you go grab it from under your leg you realize it isn't there anymore - it floated away! It is a fun game that we love to play together.
You still love the bath, bath toys, and splashing. You HATE having your hair washed though! You cry the entire time. You also got a light-up rubber ducky for Christmas from Gma that you love playing with in the tub and you make me turn off the lights. It is pretty cool!

You have a love-hate relationship with The Little Gym. You aren't a big fan of the red mat time, but you like climbing all over the big equipment and you are really good at walking on the balance beams.

The second week of January you started eating like a horse! I think you are finally getting that growth spurt we were waiting for. You will eat what we are having, but you HATE eggs. We have cooked them every style and you still will not touch them. It is the one time that I have to make something different for you. You still love the same foods and a few new ones: mac and cheese, Eggo waffles, spaghettios, grandmas chicken noodle soup, green beans, rice, etc.

You now have 9 teeth - you finally got your first molar that came through. Your second molar has broken the skin but is not all the way out. I am sure it will soon. The molar that came through is on the top left.

You still love the vacuum and Daddy bought you your own Dyson vacuum to match - see this adorable photo!? Here are a few others from January

December {14 months}

So it goes to show that blogging is not my forte since I can never keep up! I have been putting "memos" in my phone of Jensen each month though of what he is doing, likes, doesn't like, etc. That way I can transfer all of it here and not forget anything exciting!

I was really looking forward to December this year because I figured the holidays would have been so much fun with Jensen. I was right! He loved messing with the ornaments on the Christmas tree and would try to be sneaky about taking the ornaments off. Such a silly boy! He looked like he was up to no good with the expressions he would have on his face while playing with them, knowing we would tell him no.

This year I was more prepared for Christmas than I have been in years past. I did a lot of shopping starting in September so I wouldn't have to put everything on a credit card in December. I also was able to use a lot of good promotion deals and saved a lot of money. I never thought I would start living a frugal life, but I have learned that my money is hard-earned and I deserve to chose where that money goes. I am not sure if it was because I was prepared or not in terms of shopping, but I was not prepared for all of the gift wrapping. It is not my favorite! I don't mind wrapping a few here and there, but I procrastinated and then hated it this year! I at least loved my wrapping paper and wired-ribbon bows that I tried out for the first time this year. Success! I love when wrapping paper matches and has a "theme". This year the theme was peppermint candy canes, since that is the theme my mom and I also picked for our Christmas Eve dinner. I hosted this year and it was the first time I have had a huge group of people in my home at one time. It was a success and all the hard work was worth it. Plus, every family member brought a charity item to donate to the Fire Departments Warm Up program. Here is as picture of the dessert table I did for the party and also the pictures I had done at FotoFly Santa for our Christmas cards. I also created an advent countdown linked chain with activities, charity, or something just for Jensen each day. I will admit that the closer to the 25th, the worse I got at following through. It was good to start traditions though and I am happy to say I will do it again next year and will probably be better at doing the assigned task each day.

Jensen at 14 months:
You are getting better at eating other foods. You now will eat more protein like hamburger and chicken. You still love applesauce (the squeeze kind), fruits, veggies (GREEN BEANS!), yogurt, and french fries
You have started classes at The Little Gym but due to the holidays you only went twice, but you loved it. Dad went with to the second class and thought it was going to be beneficial for you as well.
You love climbing on the furniture, stairs, and you are great at running. I can barely keep up.
You LOVE ice cubes and get upset if Dad gives one to Dakota and not to you. You can say ice pretty well.
You have 8 teeth - 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom
You love to be tickled and you have a fantastic laugh. You throw your head back and laugh like your mama
You love to dance and hear music. Your dance moves consist of squating, clapping your hands, and spinning in circles
You don't have many words still - no Mama yet. I am sure soon though
You LOVE the Sesame Street book that was Mama's from the 1980's called: I Can Do it Myself. You want Dad and I to read it to you over and over and over again - every day! You love when we make sounds for each page and you make sounds with us too.
You are still obsessed with the vacuum and corn popper. I am not sure if this phase will ever end. You love cleaning too and when we are cleaning you want a rag to help.
You also love when we play the Gigglebellies on YouTube, but Dad is getting sick of them!
You have gotten better at sleeping through the night since you started eating better and you are on whole milk. Boy, your bottles of milk!
You don't like being told no and you are not the best at sharing toys, but I think playing at The Little Gym will help with sharing. We also use the art of distraction instead of yelling no all the time. It seems to be working!

I love you little man!