november (For lack of a better title)

I was originally just going to write a thanksgiving post, but as I was sorting through my photos I realized I'd be leaving out some good things. So I'll just lump all of November together.

In the beginning of November, we went to a pretty park near us, scouting picture locations for our family photos. The park has a Ferris wheel, a carousel, a couple other little carnival rides, and a train that circles the perimeter of the park. So we made a fun little afternoon of it and walked around, played on the playground, then rode the train. I wanted to take some of our family pictures by the Ferris wheel and carousel but Jared wasn't having it!

Emmett also went to the dentist, and it was the first time he laid back on the chair by himself like a big boy.

 

Now every time I brush his teeth at night we have to play "dentist" and he loves me to pretend to put on his glasses and lay him back.

 

Here are a few shots of Tate while he was 3 months old

I love that chub picture in the bumbo. He was just checkin out Emmett's morning cartoons.

 

 

As you can see, month 3 was when this guy really started smiling and laughing

 

And a few shots of brotherly love

 

Despite what it looks like, Emmett does have underwear on in the big picture. Some day its just hard to get clothes on that boy (as evidenced in all shots above)

 

Morning snuggles are the best

Can you tell how much Emmett loves his baby brother?

 

(and Me too!)

 

Emmett had his share of fun in November

Fishing with Dad by our house (and catching one while we weren't paying attention!), playing in the rain, and taking another Pee Wee PE class. It amazes me how coordinated and athletic he is.

 

And now... we've finally made it up to Thanksgiving!

 

I wanted to add some more Thanksgiving décor this year. I've accumulated some Halloween and Christmas, but had nothing for in between. The problem was I didn't feel like spending money on it! So I was proud of myself when I pieced this together with scraps in my scrap bin.

 

 

For the first time in our married life, we didn't do Thanksgiving with our families this year. We decided to save our money and travel time up for Christmas Break. Fortunately we were invited to share Thanksgiving with our friends Josh & Aubrey and their extended family, so we weren't alone!

 

Josh's family all traveled in from out of state, and they rented a "guesthouse" while they were here. The owner of the main property was an ex tennis pro, and often uses his guesthouse to bring players in and train them.  So needless to say the compound (as I like to call it) was very nice!

 

 

Though the weather was still pretty nice (around the 60s), it was too cold for pool. The kids were happy to spend their time in the hot tub.

 

And playing on the tennis court

We also had a fun minute to win it competition, and I'm sad I can't find this cute picture I had of Emmett swinging a tennis ball around from a hanging pantyhose on his head.... lol. Can you picture it?

 

And  I didn't even take any obligatory food or table pictures! That right there tells you it wasn't your typical Thanksgiving :) We all ate outside buffet style since there were so many of us, and between that and the nice weather, the absence of our own families, and the mini resort we were at, you could almost forget it was Thanksgiving! I didn't actually didn't mind though, because being a little different than our traditional Thanksgiving around the table - made us not feel homesick the way I was afraid we might be. And Emmett had SO much fun, we had to carry him kicking and screaming to the car on the way out.

 

We have so much to be grateful for this year, and I swear the list of things just keeps getting longer and longer with each passing year. Since moving away from home I've been particularly grateful for my sisters (not that I'm not grateful for the rest of the family!), and the close friendship we share. I realize that not many people are blessed to have a relationship like us four. Since moving here they've each already been out to visit us here in Arizona, and I'd be concerned if a day passed and I hadn't heard from any of them! I'm grateful for Jared's job and this great place we live. I'm so thankful the move went pretty seamlessly, and despite never having stepped foot in the state other than coming to look at rental properties, it became home surprisingly quick. I almost don't even want to write about being grateful my pregnancy went well and Tate arrived safely, because I know no words can express that gratitude properly. I'm very grateful for our health and that of our extended family. I'm grateful for Jared and the great husband and Dad he is, and the opportunity he provides me to be home with our boys. I'm grateful for the new friendships we've made, and the ones that are just blooming. And lastly I'm grateful that to know that Heavenly Father knows me individually and all my wants/needs/strengths and weaknesses.

 

I think we will always remember this Thanksgiving, as it was a big milestone year for us and our first away from home. And I'm glad to say it was wonderful! :-)

all hallows eve (and its festivities)

I love the holidays (and you KNOW I particularly love Halloween). I love packing them full of as many events as possible. My affection has grown exponentially since the day Emmett was born. Kids just make every little part of them so much more fun. We attended a little community "Fall Festival" when Kirsten was still here (I had to strongly resist the urge to refer to her as Bicki - Her aunt nickname).

There was crafts and games and a little children's costume parade at the end.

 

Next up came our ward trunk or treat party. I couldn't let Halloween come and go without dressing up! So at last minute Kirsten and I ran to Goodwill and scored some finds. Jared was the party pooper... like every year! He just doesn't have the love for costumes like I do!

 

 When he realized that everyone else in the family was going dressed up, he consented at last minute to let me shove a pillow in the back of his shirt. (I was dressed as Esmerelda and said he could be the hunchback). But you know Jar, he was too bashful and took it out as soon as we got there.

 

 

 I just love both my little superheroes

 

 

  Next up on the Halloween bucket list was taking Emmett to a fun pumpkin patch. I was totally going through withdrawals for Cornbelly's. I LOVE Cornbelly's! Everyone was posting pictures and making me jealous. We found a pretty good substitute, called Vertuccio Farms. STILL not Cornbellys, but it worked and Emmett had a grand ole time.

 

 

That smile in the left photo is what I do it all for. Nothing can explain how fulfilled I feel when I see Emmett purely happy.

 

And THEN on Halloween day, I gave in and decided to take the boys to Schnepf Farms - the big attraction around here. There was a ton of stuff to do (even carnival rides), but since it was the last day it was far too busy for my taste. If we go back again I'll make sure to go early in the month!

 

We went with our good friend Whitney - who, believe it or not, lived in our basement in Provo. We both got hit by a wind that landed us in the same place! :)

First we headed over to Farmer Bob's pig races (which was pretty hilarious)

They even had a goat race, which was far less entertaining. The goats missed the memo it was a RACE.

After the races we played at a park, waited in line for some rides (then after 15 minutes decided the lines weren't moving and decided to get OUT of line, ate Italian ice, then walked over to the pumpkin patch area. Em was thoroughly occupied by pushing pumpkins around in his wheelbarrow.

 

 

 

Whitney had to take off early, but being early on in my reign of two boys I was feeling pretty brave, so I decided to stick around and take them on the hay ride.

 

They had some type of reindeer from (Africa? I cant remember), but we got to stop, pick some orange leaves and feed them, which was pretty neat.

 

When the hayride was over, Emmett stared to go crazy/run off - and in a crowd of that many people where I couldn't chase him because I was tied to the baby's stroller - I had to think quick! I spotted a candy store up ahead, lured him in, then told him I'd only buy the candy if he'd be a good boy and walk to the car with me after. Hook line and sink 'em. Bribery never fails.

 

All that was left in our Halloween extravaganza was getting ready for the actual night! I got the boys all dressed and forgoed my own costume this time. I didn't want to be that weird mom walking around all dressed up by herself for trick or treating.

 

ahhh heart melting

 

Emmett loved all the decorations

 

OR I just made him pose by all the decorations. You decide.

PHEW!! Are you still with me?! Congratulations! That takes endurance. I know it did on my end. This may be the most time consuming post I've ever done. But man does it feel good! Remind me not to get so far behind next time...

As you can see we really did pack Halloween full of a lot of fun things. Aside from just being plain fun, I hope to create strong memories for the boys. When they're grown (which will never happen, because they're going to stay babies forever!!) I want them to look back with fondness and remember what good times we had as a family, and how much their parents loved them.

Stay tuned for lots more holiday adventures to come! Hopefully sooner rather than later... :)

tate 5 months (3.5 months?)

Having a preemie is confusing. It's always hard to know exactly what age to consider them. And Tate is so big, I tend to rule out the fact that he could be 3.5 months - but technically he's somewhere in between the two ages development wise. By any standard he's doing good! That's all that matters right?

I'm way behind on all my posts but have been feeling guilty that poor Tate is getting nothing recorded. I was all over Emmett's first smile, laugh, first walk outside, first poop (okay just kidding but you get the jist). And poor taters over here hasn't been written about since his birth post. Being a mom of two is hard ok?! And by the time they're asleep and I have a minute of free time, blogging requires too much brain power.

Here is a little bit about our Tater tot though:

Can you say HAPPY ?!?!?!

He is the smiliest, happiest baby. EVER. He really is SO easy and I thank my lucky stars every night because we all know I had room for nothing else with Emmett!

He's just a big cuddly teddy bear. He loves to be snuggled and he's so soft and squishy he's the best cuddling partner ever.

Here's some pictures I took of him a few days ago.

I love his big blue eyes. Don't know how we end up with these light eyed boys! Emmett's were light too but were much greener in comparison

 

To me this picture screams my Dad, my sister Kaity, and my brother Caysen. I see all of them in there so much

 

 

 

I realized how glad I am that I documented what Emmett was doing at certain stages because it's a nice guideline to follow/compare. So I need to try and do the same thing with Tate. It may not be interesting for others to read, so don't feel obligated - it's mostly for me :)

 

Things he's doing:

 

• Talking - mostly cooing. It's funny because I was looking back at Emmett's stats when he was around this age and I wrote a lot about his "angry talk" and "lectures"- which is so funny to me! It brought back the memory of it, and I can remember so clearly what a little firecracker Emmett was. He just had so much spunk. (Emmett had happy talk too, but it's just the fact that he even POSSESSED the attitude- and so young!). Tate doesn't do that angry talk, or delight in shrieking and making "dinosaur noises" the way Emmett did. His is pretty much happy babble.

 

• Can't remember his exact measurement but I know he was 50th percentile in height and 90th percentile in weight! Haha. A whopping 19 pounds, 7 ounces

 

• He's starting cereal and stage one baby foods this week. Wahoo!

 

• Getting a lot better at lifting up for tummy time and starting to pull his knees into crawl position (not bearing weight on them, just pulling them in briefly) . No rolling yet.

 

• LOVES his big brother. Seriously. He thinks Emmett's the funniest person ever. I even get a little jealous sometimes. He cracks up at whatever crazy thing Em is doing, and whenever I'm scolding Emmett for being too rough with the baby, I get surprised that Tate just belly laughs.

 

• HOWEVER he already knows when he's "had enough" of brother, and if he's not in the mood he'll get ornery if Emmett even approaches his bubble and cry out in complaint.  It's hilarious/amazing to me to see the interaction/relationship between these two little people.

 

 

• When Jared comes home from work, he gets really excited and starts kicking his chubby little legs and flailing his arms and breathing really fast/loud

 

We love our little Taters. He's the perfect complement to our family. 

 

birthday shebang and visitors

October was stuffed to the brim with visitors and birthday celebrations (basically it was awesome. Top it off with Halloween and it's a pretty good contender for the best month of the year!) Also yes, I'm just now writing about October. oops.

It's midnight and I was doing some late night web surfing, then thought "what are you doing! You have at least five blog posts that need to be written! So I'm going to try and condense at least two of them into one here.

 My dad surprised my mom with a ticket out to visit us for her birthday! Of course with a sweet little babe she'd barely gotten to meet (between the NICU and short trip at his birth) there was nothing she wanted more. I'd heard really good things about The Coffee Shop and its right near the airport. So as soon as I picked her up we headed straight over! It may be one of my favorite places here so far. It's totally my kind of place - similar to Kneaders but more of a hipster/urban feel to it. Very coffee shop-esque. A coffee shop/bakery/grill. They serve gourmet sandwiches, wraps, and do breakfast too. Afterward we walked around the grounds - it's out in a cool farm area called Agritopia.

The following day was my moms birthday and we made sure to pack it full. We started it off with the firefighters breakfast and then came home for a bit, headed to Oregano's for lunch (and a free birthday pazookie of course!), then were off the Phoenix zoo!

This guy was a favorite

But after seeing him yawn, we quickly decided we wouldn't want to get on his bad side.

Right?!?!

Emmett got to have lots of time playing with Gramby in his playroom, and we made sure to hit up the hot tub a couple times. When it was time to say goodbye, we were all sad. We sure love Gramby and are so happy we got to spend her birthday with her!

The next weekend was MY birthday, and it just so happened it was the weekend of a cheap flight for my sister Kirsten! The coffee shop was such a success the first time, we (I) couldn't help making a pit stop on the way home again. Well actually The Coffee Shop is in the same place as Joe's Farm Grill (another delicious place that was on Food Network's Diners, Drive ins, and Dives). And Joes Farm Grill gives you a whole free meal on your birthday. So we went there first and split my birthday meal then walked over to the Coffee Shop for dessert.

This burger may look ordinary but it was topped with sauteed mushrooms and fresh blue cheese crumbles... it was delish.

Good thing we split our cupcake, cause when Jared come home from work he surprised me with this torte from Wildflower Bakery -which I'd never been to but am now a big fan!

Love this boy!!

Here's what the inside looked like... Yum. The bottom layer was like a soft homemade english toffee. And all that thick cream on top was heavenly. Almost cheesecake-ish

Oh and I forgot to mention that we went to Verizon the night before and picked out my birthday present!!

That's right, I joined the modern world and FINALLY got a smart phone!!! Ive been waiting for so long! And just like everyone says, I now don't know how I used to do without it! (Not sure that that's a good thing) Anyhow, I was beyond excited and love the cute buttercup yellow color!

That night we got MORE free food at Joe's Real BBQ (yes its the same Joe as Joe's Farm Grill. He does real well around these parts. And for good reason. His food is ahhhmazing). Gee on this post I'm realizing it seems like we just ate and ate and ate the entire day long... which I guess we did! 

Kris and I got up early on Saturday and headed out to Nordstrom Last Chance where we cleaned up with my birthday money! We then headed over to Scottsdale to Sprinkles Cupcakes which I've always wanted to try! 

I don't know if I can say it was without a doubt the best cupcake I've ever put in my mouth... but it was pretty darn good! You can tell its made with much finer ingredients than the average cupcake. 

That evening we went to my ward halloween party, but I'm saving that for the next post :)

I was so lucky to have family here on/around my birthday, cause really that was the best gift I could have asked for! I love them and miss them so much and had the best time partying it up and eating ourselves sick. haha what are birthdays for?! Emmett was beyond thrilled as well. Thanks to everyone who called, texted or left a facebook message for me - you all added to the wonderful day!