Valentine's Party

A couple days before Valentine's Shantelle had a fun party at her house. We started off with pizza and then let the kids write a message on a heart to grandma and papa. They held up their messages while posing in the photo booth. Alicia had also made/bought some cute props for them to use.

The kids had tons of fun taking all sorts of silly pictures. Jordan took all those pictures and turned them into a book to send my parents. It turned out super cute.

Then we ended the night with some cookie decorating.

18 Month Harvey

Harvey's 18 month birthday was February 6. His stats this month are:

Weight: 24 lbs 6 oz (52%)

Height: 32 in (33%)

Head: 49 cm (88%)

Developmentally he is right on track, although I laughed as I left the doctor's. They asked if he could say eight words and I was thinking it was good they had such low expectations because I think he can only say eight. He has figured out the most important words, he says: mom, dad, no, stop, don't, cheese and kitty.

 He loves to watch himself on my phone and says cheese and makes silly faces whenever he sees me bring it out (which usually means I don't get a picture of what I'm actually trying to capture but it's cute none the less).

 He likes to have me put dress ups on him so he can play with the big kids. He really likes cars and trucks and all animals. He is funny when we drive because if he sees something he likes he says, "ma, ma, ma" while pointing. He does this until I tell him what it is. Usually he has found a cow or a horse but when we are on the freeway he does that for EVERY truck that passes.

 He had his first week in nursery went alright but didn't love it and has cried every week we've tried to take him since then. He is a mama's boy and really doesn't like me to leave him with anyone at all. 

This age changes so fast, I love to hear whatever new words he learns and see how his personality grows and changes. 

Accident Prone Harvey

Harvey is so accident prone it's crazy. I actually asked the doctor if there is something wrong with his ears because I swear he will tip over without any outside influence. The jury is still out on  the balance issues (Demzi did have issues and needed tubes to resolve it) but in the meantime it has made for some really bad goose eggs.

This one he was walking across the road and tripped right before he got to the gutter. It looks worse than it actually was because of the mud puddle he fell in.

 Then while walking towards the stairs he tripped and hit his head right on the edge of the door frame. I have never seen something swell so big, so fast! It was crazy. Even though I kind of assumed he was fine I still felt a little panicked just by the size of it.

 Alicia happened to be driving home and so I had her come look at it just to make sure he thought he'd be fine too. Once she got here Harvey leaned for her and then wanted nothing to do with me. I wasn't even by him when he got hurt but still he wouldn't come back to me and cried when he left.

We definitely went through a phase where I felt like I couldn't leave the house since he looked so beat up. Luckily his clutziness has mellowed a bit.

Funtopia

Kris took Martin Luther King Day off and we had planned to take the kids to Funtopia. They did a summer camp there and have really wanted to go back ever since. I didn't realize when we pulled up though that you needed a reservation and unfortunately they were full.

I felt really bad, they were all so disappointed that I made an appointment to go that Saturday. I was impressed with how well each of them could climb each wall. Even Tad, who seems to be a little afraid of heights, was willing to try just about all of them.

Provo Temple Open House

We were able to take our kids through the temple open house. It is such a beautiful temple! It is amazing to see the transformation from tabernacle to temple. I love the peace the temple brings and the opportunity to be able to talk to my kids about the temple as we walked through.

Random January

Kris's parents gave the kids money for Christmas. They loved being able to go shopping and pick out whatever they wanted. We went to a toy store and Tad found this soft jaguar. He really REALLY wanted it but I talked him into waiting because it was $3 cheaper online. As we left he was crying, "I just really want that cheeto." (I love that he calls cheetahs, cheetos) He was so excited when it was delivered a couple days later.

Tad also bought himself a little star wars playset. He slept with it every night for a week. As I'd leave him at night he promised he was going to sleep he just needed to play a little.

 Who needs toys when you can play in boxes?

 Harvey figured out that getting on Liam's bunk bed was as easy as climbing some stairs. It is more than a little terrifying.

 Harvey also likes to play dress up. If the other kids are playing he usually brings me something random and has me put it on him. It is surprising how well he keeps it on.

 Harvey is in such a needy phase. He just wants/needs all my time. I'm more than happy to play with him but there are some days he doesn't want to be put down at all. It is so exhausting sometimes. He is most content when we go outside. He will stand by the door and cry until I finally give in and take him out. This day it was only twenty degrees but we still were outside for almost an hour and he still cried when we went in.

 Harvey found more dress ups. He found Kris's hat collection and decided to wear them around the house.

 Tad was laying on the floor being grumpy when Harvey decided to dog pile on top of him.

 Tad wanted to show me how he could write his own name. He is getting really good at the T at the beginning. While he writes the "a" he says to himself "circle and tail." We're getting closer. He just wants to be as big as everyone else.

 Harvey is a born cleaner. I came downstairs the one day to a whole thing of baby wipes all over the floor. He would pull one out and then go wipe a wall, then throw it and get another.

Then he emptied my washcloth drawer as he pulled out one at a time and washed down the cupboards.

He also likes to get the mop and bucket and try and mop the floor

 On Sundays I've been letting my kids take turns making cookies.

On Liam's turn we decided to try out a new M&M cookie recipe. The recipe wasn't great but no matter what we did we couldn't get Liam to spread his cookies out on the pan. In the end we had a giant crumbled mess. They tasted fine though so that's all that matters.

 Liam was playing dress up the other day and decided to be a space ranger-ninja. He was hiding behind the door to try and scare the girls when they got home from school.

 Harvey loves to play in my cupboards or dishwasher. Usually as I'm trying to clean it ends up being easier to just give him a bowl and spoon and let him play. It keeps him content long enough that I can usually get the kitchen all the way clean.

 The week of Martin Luther King Jr Day it was my turn to teach preschool. Our theme that week was Hot and Cold so we did some hot and cold art projects by painting with ice cubes and melted crayons

Cheese!

Harvey is such a ham these days. As soon as he sees me take out the camera he says, "cheese" and makes this face. I think it is so cute. 

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve we started out the afternoon with my family doing the chocolate dipping party. We went right from there to Kris's parents where we had dinner and played games until but 9 when we all headed home to finish our New Year's Eve at our own houses.

Before we left Kris's parents I asked Tad if he wanted to be taken to bed after falling asleep in the car or woken up. He was insistent that we should wake him up. He did not want to miss out on anything. He wasn't easy to wake up, but he was happy enough when he realized he got to stay up and play a little longer.

We went out and let the kids play with sparklers and watched the ball drop on tv. This is the first year that we've ever stayed awake all the way until midnight. The kids had tons of fun, they definitely were ready to outlast me and Kris.