Wednesday, November 30, 2011

M At 12 Months

I'm not quite sure where time has been disappearing to lately, but it seems as though it just continues to slip through my fingers at such a rate that I can't keep up. And let's be honest; with anything. Really.
I mean, c'mon. my baby turns 13 months tomorrow (and still not walking, thank you very much) and here I am doing his 12 month post?! At the rate I'm going, we'll celebrate Christmas mid-February. Which is unacceptable, so I better get my booty in gear. Double time. Here we go...

As we all know, the sad day came where my baby became a one-year-old and moved from baby stage to toddler stage. Although, I still call him my baby. Crazily enough, when Laylah was his age, I was 8 months pregnant with Jonah. I'll pause while you gasp.


I know, right?! Crazy to think back on it.

Anyway, isn't this guy just plain cute?


Sadie is not a fan of this behavior. She tolerates him, even when he's quite abusive towards her. And she doesn't quite know what to do when he decides to take over her bed. She sits there and paces around until he decides to crawl out and then she hops in and doesn't leave for fear he might come back. It's really fun to watch.






He's become much more smiley, cheesy and laughy (is that a word? It is now). I'll miss these serious-deep-in-thought-Baby-M-faces. They are few and far between now-a-days.

He still enjoys movies and tv. It's nice when I need a half hour to do something and it keeps him out of trouble. Which, by the way.... he's major trouble. It's funny how quickly you forget what a mess this age can make. I just follow the trail of destruction (everything pulled out of every cupboard/drawer he can reach) and I'll find him at the end of it with a spatula in one hand and a bowl in the other, happily smiling and banging them together.
And boy oh boy, can this kid throw a tantrum. You probably don't remember, but I mentioned in a post way back when he was a bitty newborn about how when he cries, he squels like a pig. And we have called him "piggy" ever since then when he is throwing a tantrum. He still squeals, but it is magnified 100-fold because now he is quite large and quite loud. We are in the middle of teaching him that he just can't do certain things and he can't get into certain things. He doesn't like that "no" word at all. It amazes me how much he understands and how he knows exactly what I'm saying when I talk to him. And he has started testing everything. For example, he loves to play with the blinds. He isn't supposed to (because the blinds in our rental home are cheap and they break when you barely touch them) and he'll stand right by the window, look for me (to make sure I'm watching, no doubt), point his chubby little finger towards those blinds with a silly little grin on his face and move that finger closer and closer until he's nearly touching them. He'll wait for me to say "no Magnus" and then he grabs them as fast as he can with the death-grip because he knows I'll be there to wisk him away and all the while he laughs like it's the funniest game in the world. Babies are really so clever.

Oh, this kid. I want to squish him and kiss him all day long. He is quite a snuggler and he allows it for the most part.He's really hit that independant stage where he wants to start doing everything on his own. He finally learned to hold his own sippy (well, he learned that he has to tip it up to get a drink, he's been holding it for months) and he's starting to use a fork and spoon. But mostly he just makes a mess. I can hardly believe how big he's getting. I really wish he would walk, he is so stubborn and immedietly sits down when you set him on his feet. We have spotted him testing his balance and standing for longer periods of time and also taking a few steps here and there, but for the most part he's still crawling everywhere. I hope it's soon. He weighed 30 pounds at his 12 month appointment, and that is hard for this mama to lug around on a dialy basis. He was 33 inches tall (or 34? I can't remember) and the kid is just a brute. He's in 2T clothing, but he has been for a couple months, so I think his growth just might be slowing down.



I finally weaned him about a week before his birthday and he was just plain mad at me for several days after that. He would throw a fit each and every morning that I got him out of his crib and didn't go directly to our chair to let him nurse. I felt bad, but it was time to be done. I had to get him the shirt he's wearing in the picture above because I joked that he was my little crab. He would sit and pinch me the entire time he would nurse. It didn't hurt exactly, but it was quite annoying. And if I tried to hold his hand or make him stop, he would throw an absolute tantrum, so I just let him be. Oh, the things we do for our kids, right? Good thing they're worth it :)


I can't even describe the joy and happiness this baby brings to me and our family. He is doted upon, adored, and spoiled completely rotten. He will definitely be the bratty baby of the family. And I don't even care. At least right now. I love you my little Magna-Doodle.

Monday, November 21, 2011

The Day I Cried Because My Baby Turned 1.... I Mean, Happy Birthday Magnus!

Birthday picture with mom and dad, which obviously as not on Magnus' list of favorite things to do





All day on Halloween I kept thinking about the year before, when I was very LARGE with child and how my baby would be a year old the next day. My baby. 1 year old. My baby. You get it? It was sad.

But also happy, because birthdays are fun and I love them! I made waffles for Magnus' birthday breakfast, because that's his favorite. We ran some errands that day, played at the park, snuggled my (giant 1 year old) baby and made a cake.
I had been wanting to try this recipe for awhile. It is a variation on the Lion House Chocolate Cream Cake, which happens to be one of my very favorite things to eat, ever. I knew Magnus would eat whatever I placed in front of him, so this is the cake I made. The kids loved how it looked like a giant oreo cookie before I frosted it.
This has got to be one of the best things I have ever tasted. Divine.

Anyway, since it was just our little family for the birthday party, I decided to not to do the brown and green polka-dot theme I had planned on. Even though I love parties, I've never made a big deal out of my babies 1 year old birthdays for a few reasons. First of all, they don't care. Second of all, they don't remember. Third of all, I was feeling pretty lazy all week and just decided to get a few balloons, a few gifts, make the cake and voila. A birthday party for M.

And see? He loved every minute:

I really thought he would love this balloon. Turns out, he was scared of it and wouldn't take his eyes off of it once I tied it to his highchair. Until the food distracted him, of course :)
We had all of his favorite foods for dinner: (not that he told me this info or anything. I just based it upon what he eats the most of :) grilled burgers, homemade fries with frysauce, deviled eggs, oranges, and broccoli.


I love how much all of my older kids adore their baby brother. Baron really wasn't sad. He just hates pictures lately and refuses to do anything I want him to do. Like smile. Stinker.

I guess he got over his aversion to the Big Scary BalloonI was surprised how much Magnus enjoyed opening gifts. He loved getting the wrapping paper off, and once he realized there was something fun inside of each brightly wrapped package, he would happily open the next one. He received a ramp and car toy from my parents, new jammies and a book from Andy's parents, a baby cell phone from the kids, and walker/ride-on toy that plays music and talks from Andy and I. He also receievd some money from great grandparents and aunts and uncles. He loved it all!

Thanks to the walker toy, he almost has walking down. But not quite.












Cake time!







I gave him a fork and he thought that was just great. Mostly he used his hand to shove the chocolatey, creamy, sugary goodness into his mouth, but he occasionally tried the fork out too.

He just loved it, and wouldn't stop. He had a fit when it was gone and I pulled him out of his highchair to bathe him.






Still got that fork in his hand. There was no way was he letting it go...

Bathtime baby (and you can't see it, but he's got that fork in his right hand still)



Clean and fresh in his new jammies. Still has that fork...
He ended up going to bed with it and was still holding it the next morning. I guess I should let him feed himself more often if he really enjoys it that much :)




HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY M!!

Halloween and Stuff

I love Halloween. I love this time of year and all the delicious sights, tastes, and smells that come along with it. We had a fun Halloween this year with a ward trunk or treat, Halloween parties and dressing up at school, and of course.... Halloween Day!

We had some Mummy Dogs for dinner. The kids loved them and ate super fast so they could get out and gather up the goods.

Here we have the lovely Taylor Swift:


And a Beautiful Bride:



We have the sherriff around here, Woody:


We forgot his badge in the first picture. Also, his gun, but he cried if I even tried to get the holster around his waist. I take what I can get.



And of course, the Super Mario Brothers, Mario and Luigi:

Funny story: Bear actually wanted to be Luigi, but they didn't have his size at the store. When I brought home Mario for him and Luigi for Jonah, Bear was a little sad. Jonah said, "Bear, it's okay! I'm taller and skinnier, and you're short and you look more like Mario anyway."
So that made Bear happy, because whatever Jonah says to Bear he believes :)

Oh, and of course we can't forget Sadie the Lady in her lovely leaopard print cocktail dress. I know, it's a little short. I need to have a chat with her about using Halloween as an excuse to dress like a hooker:


At this point the kids were like, "Um, enough mom, can we go trick-or-treating yet?!"


They rang out doorbell as soon as I shut the door after they left. You know, to trick-or-treat. I told them to get lost :)


We have the most perfect neighborhood to go trick-or-treating. We are one of the very few neighborhoods in Fredericksburg that has sidewalks. Plus, there are tons of kids in our neighborhood. I love it. It was so fun to have the doorbell ringing all night and see huge groups of kids tromping up and down the streets. The kids joined up with a big group and Andy took them around for a couple hours.


Magnus hung out with me all night and got super excited every time the doorbell rang. He would crawl as fast as he could to the front door and after I would open it, he would sit at the edge of the step and just sit and wave to all of the kids trick-or-treating. It was adorable.


The kids came home and immedietly checked out their loot.


It was a fun night!



Happy Halloween!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

So Then, Bear Had To Have His Head Stapled Shut

Well, hey! I'm back from my trip and already experiencing post-vacation depression. My body seems to be on strike as of late, and although I came home to caught-up laundry and a perfectly clean house (thanks my love, you're a peach!) it certainly isn't in that same state any longer. I haven't been feeling very well, and have also started some new medication that has made me a bit ill. I've mostly been lounging around and catching up on some (much needed) sleep. Tomorrow is a new day though, and I vow to whip my house back into shape!

In that same vein, I thought I should start blogging again. I've missed it! Since I'm pretty far behind, I thought I'd start off with something small and quick and easy to document. It's pretty self-explanatory. Bear split his head open. Fun stuff, huh?!

Actually, the details are a little fuzzy. It was the Friday evening before Halloween, Andy and I had deep-cleaned the house from top to bottom (we were having friends over that night, and sometimes I just invite friends over so I can make myself deep clean my house! Ha) when we heard a LOUD thud in the basement followed by some terrifying shrieks. Andrew ran down to see, and from what we could gather, the boys were wrestling on the couch, Jonah tripped and knocked Bear off backwards. Bear slammed his head into the corner, and voila, had a big-nasty-bleeding profusely-gash. That story came from Jonah. Neither of the girls saw what happened, but Bear claims that Jonah threw something at him. We still don't have the story straight. I'll spare you most of the gory details, but let's just say that there was a LOT of blood. I am well aware that head wounds produce a lot of blood, but I really wasn't prepared. Andrew had to take care of it while I scrubbed the carpet (and continued to calm down a hysterical Jonah, who felt terrible).

Anyway, we called around to some urgent cares ( and also made a quick call to my super smart and talented brother Doug, who is a PA at an urgent care in Utah) who recommended the emergency room just because they could only do stitches, and with the description of his wound, they thought he would definitely need staples.

It just so happened to be our ward's trunk-or-treat that evening, so Andy took off with Bear while I got the other kids ready to go and gather some candy. As the story goes, the emergency room was pretty deserted, so they were in and out. They distracted Bear with the TV and the doctor recommended they just go ahead and do it without any numbing agent or anything. They said they had a topical cream, but it didn't really work on the head. They could also give him a numbing shot but told Andrew that it burned so badly that it hurt worse than the actual staples going in.

So, they just went ahead and did it! I'm so glad I wasn't there, I probably would have lost it. After the first staple, Bear turned around and glared at the nurse and said, "Ow!" He went back to the TV and after the second staple he turned around again and said, "Stop it! That hurts!" so she quickly finished up with 3, 4, and 5 and he had started crying right as soon as she finished up. He earned that Happy Meal that Andy had promised him, and they met us at the trunk-or-treat just in time to get some goodies.




He had them in for 10 days, and our pediatrician took them out. All in all, it wasn't too bad! I don't know, maybe Bear would disagree :)