Picture a Christmas and Amazing Nativity Games.

One of my favorite things about being in the Primary is singing time. The fastest way to help me feel the spirit is to put on an uplifting song.  This month especially has touched me as the kids are practicing the song "Picture a Christmas" to sing in sacrament. I tear up every time it is sung in singing time. It's simple message seems to reach out and helps me to feel the true meaning of Christmas amongst all the buying stress. I was online the other night trying to find some nativity clip art for our primary class and came across this blog titled preparednotscared.blogspot.com  It had some great games and pictures for not only Christmas but FHE and of course emergency prepardness ideas.  I printed out some of the games to put in my own files. They would be great for familys with children to help us remind them of our savior this time of year.  They would also be great for sharing times for those of you in the presidencys.  I have to say that I am sad to see the year coming to an end and will be saying goodbye to our sunbeams. They have such tender testimonies and honestly crack us up each week.  Here is just a sample of some of the things they have said. 


1.  My little sister doesn't drink from my moms boobies anymore because she turned two. 


2.  (after needing to be taken out in the hallway) I hate you so much. I hate you more than the mountains and the mountains are big.   When people hate you they do bad things to you like hit you and kick you. 
I hate you so much I wish you would go in the ocean and a shark would eat you.  (This child is very dramatic and very smart.I had the hardest time not cracking up during this.  After his rant he asked to hold my hand, ah children.) 

3. I'm starving to death, and death means you die. 


4. Oh my freaking heck he stole my crayon.  (obviously someones parent substituties swears.)

5.  (during the childs prayer) Please bless that we don't get eaten by zombies.


6. If you really want to kill them you have to shoot them in the head (again more zombie talk) 


Seth has reached a pretty whiny stage, he cries at the drop of a hat.  I keep telling myself that one day we will be able to reason with him as we do our sunbeams.  I am excited to hear all the funny things that he has to say. 


I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Yet another picture update.

In September we went camping with my brother Cory's family to Smith and Morehouse Reservoir. We had a great time relaxing, fishing, eating, and sitting by the fire. It was so nice to get away for a few days.

We played at the park with Grandpa and cousin Zeke. Eating peaches whole is the best treat.

Enjoyed the rain puddles in the gutter. 

Went to Raging Waters and loved loved loved the water.

Had some silly moments, spilled comet cleanser all over and said goodbye to Ainsley and Aubrey

Went to Lake Powell. Seth loved being in the sand and the water at all times Dad had to work so it is a good thing there is a lot of family to help mom.

Boating trips with Brandon and Eden and Taisa and Andrew

Went to the Rodeo and excitedly watched the whole time. 

A small update

           Life is definately different now that Justin is working. We see each other a lot less and Seth re-learns each week to like going to the babysitter. I feel really lucky to have found a great sitter for him.
Aubrey is an amazing person and is such a great mom. She has a daughter a month older and while that essentially gives her twins she says having two is fun. They entertain each other and are even competitive with what they do. It seems that Ainsley is only learning from Seth at the moment. She has improved her climbing skills immensley but Seth is still not using real words. Ainsley knows a ton so the fingers are crossed that she will rub off on him. It might be that his mom is an SLP and so he is meant to be a late talker. I call it a tired mom who doesnt give him the language attention he deserves or needs. I am trying to work on this. He Jabbers constantly but it is definately nonsense at this time. He also is pretty limited on his consonant repetoire so I have some work to do. He tries really hard to produce/imitate sounds when I ask him to and does well to use signs or pick up new signs as we introduce them. So there is hope that he will hit those milestones as needed. I think he is too busy mastering every gross motor skill he can and doesn't have the patience for such a fine motor skill as speaking. A good example is his ability to climb. He loves ladders and a few weeks ago Justin was helping his mom fix her swamp cooler. I went into the house to get something and when I came out Diane was yelling at me to help. Seth had climbed the ladder to the top of the roof. She had happened to look over and see him before he could attempt to climb onto the roof with them. He is constantly learning new motor skills to help him get what he wants and he has to do everything himself it is pretty frustrating for someone so small to be so independent. .
            Justin seems to enjoy working and likes the people he works with. It sounds very diverse and he always has stories to tell. He is getting out of the what am I doing stage and is feeling more confident each day.   On a crazier note Justin and I celebrated our five year anniversary in the beginning of June and I can't believe how fast it has gone. It has not always been a smooth ride but I think we are doing pretty good of holding on to each other in the hard times and celebrating the good times. I know I don't tell him enough that I love him. But, I must because I had a moment of insanity and bought him the dog he has been begging for forever. The condition was that it had to shed little to none. So he researched and came up with golden doodles. Ares is a cross between a golden retriever and a poodle. He has been a puppy through and through with the chewing and potty training but he is so good natured and Seth loves taking him for walks, playing fetch and playing in his food dish. So for now we have our next baby and are trying to enjoy every minute our whole family can be together.


Anything that drives he has to try out.



Ares

Seth and Mom at Willow Park in Logan

Uncle Andrew and Seth, buddies at the park

I spent a few days in Logan visiting Taisa and Andrew we had a great time.

Showing off his scars with pride.

Ready for his shampoo as he waited for mom to get her hair cut.

What mom I just wanted something on the top shelf.



Thirsty, try drinking from a sprinkler.



         

change

I don't have a lot of time to specifically tell all the stories so I am just going to list some of the things that have happened.

1. Sold Justin's Car. Now on a mission to save money for a little bigger car.

2. Got a great tax return to pay off the windows we had installed in October. Even though we didn't end up qualifying for the 1500 window credit.

3. Justin got a job. He is officially a working man a year after his graduation. He is a fab specialist for Fairchild Semiconductors in West Jordan. It is mostly a stepping stone to what we hope will be a better job and allow me to go down in hours but for now it is a job.

4. Still unsure about what we are going to do with Seth two days a week for child care. Makes me really appreciate when I didn't have to worry about it.

5. We are almost finished with our Laundry room/hallway/bathroom remodel. If I could just get justin to put the toilet back on we would be in buisness. I will post pictures later.

I guess its really not that much but they have all been things that really affected our lives. I feel like we are hitting a big change and I can't wait to see what becomes of it.

Long lost Blogger

I am going to face reality that I have turned into a horrible blogger. Please be patient as I randomly put posts on. I do however try to read others more than I actually blog my own. Maybe it is because your lives are more interesting to read about than mine is to post.  Here are some updated pictures of Seth until I have more time to post something longer.

blood, birthdays and stats

Seth attended his one year check up this past week. I know, one year where has the time gone. For the past three weeks I have been playing the what I was doing at this time last year game. It started with the weekend of his birth. I kept saying at this time last year my water broke, at this time we went to the hospital, at this time you were born etc, Then it was a year ago you were just a week old and you slept better then than you do now. I think I am driving Justin crazy with all the flash back talk. He was declared to be healthy at his check-up weighing in at 23lbs 9oz and 29.9in long. He did not like having his finger poked for the iron test but was fascinated afterwards with the band-aid the nurse put on his finger. He played, sucked and pulled on it until it came off. So much for scooby doo. What fascinates me the most is how much he is learning everyday. He knows how to verbally say mama, dada, dat(with a determined point), and he makes the same sort of noise everytime we see a dog so we are assumming he has a word for them as well. He signs please, all done, and again. All done also means "mom hold me" because he always crawls over to me and signs it. I wish I could pretend that he is not asking to be picked up but a lot of crying insues if I do. He seems to be especially clingy the past month and every minute that I am home from work he is under my heels or in my arms. He has really started working on his dance moves and knows what button to push on his piano for the rap beat. He will also push buttons on the IPOD and then start grooving to the music this is very cute. He continues to cruise furniture like a pro and loves to climb on anything and everything. He is now able to get up on the coffee table with no assistance and for higher places has learned to use other objects around him to boost himself up. He is becoming braver everyday as we are dilligently practicing walking between objects to mom and from dad to mom. (His obsession with me is paying off in this regard because he really wants to get to me.) He has eight teeth now and loves to use them to bite random objects as well as your limbs. There is no mess too big for our little monster, as we affectionately call him, this is demonstrated best at meal times. We are lucky to feed him a few bites before he starts screaming to hold the bowl and utensil himself. For the most part he is pretty good at putting food on the utensil and getting it to his mouth. It is when he decides that is taking to long and digs in with his hands that we have a problem. He still eats a variety of purees but definately loves to chomp on table foods including things like steak and Dots. I can not believe my little boy is so grown up and I now understand why mormons have babies one right after the other, don't worry we are not having another anytime soon.

Christmas

If your happy and you know it.....

Aunt Taisa and Uncle Andrews Wedding

Look Mom no hands

The balloons  were a big hit

We had some family over for cake and presents on Friday

Seth loves all animals. I went the easy route and found this simple cake design online.

He tested it with his finger for a few minutes before he decided to destroy it.

Destroyed



We went to the aquarium on his birthday and to mom's favorite, Johnny  Carinos for dinner.




He loved the Sea Rays not because of them but because there was water.



Our first blood in one year. He bit through his bottom lip when he fell face first into the firplace ledge.

learning new skills is fun.

We were downstairs enjoying a little down time and I looked over to see Seth standing on his push bike. He thought he was pretty clever. His climbing skills seem to be increasing all the time. Now if we could just work up the courage to let go of objects and walk unaided we would really be making some progress.