Happy Birthday Deagan!

My handsome little boy turned 1 last week!!!

I can't believe he is officially a toddler! It all just went by so fast.

We decided to have a small birthday party for him at a park with my family and grandparents.

 

Savannah absolutely insisted that Deagan wanted a spider-man themed party.

 

 

I thought he would tear into the cupcake, instead, he just made a mess of the frosting.

 

We had so much fun, and thanks to all my family for coming to his party!

I feel like Deagan has really grown up so much in just this last month. He started to walk about a month ago, and he cruises wobbly all over the place now. And he gets into EVERYTHING!

Example:

That's a TV remote in the toilet...

He also can say a few "sounds" (I wouldn't really consider them "words" just yet) 

He knows "Mama" and "Dada" and "Coco" (Our nickname for my brother Colter that Savannah came up with) And he tries to say "wassit?" (What is it?) And he likes to greet you with a great big "HEY!" or "HI!" when he sees you. And of course, there's always my favorite "Uh, oh!"

He's also the king of the meltdown. If he gets upset about something, he kneels on the floor and slams his head onto the ground. He's constantly got a bruise or 2 on his forehead because of this. He's also good at the "Back arch" and the "limp noodle" fits. 

Because of his ability to slam his head onto a tiled floor with no resulting consequence of pain, he also likes to head-butt people. I can't tell you how many times my glasses get knocked off my face because he suddenly thinks it would be funny to head-butt me. He is also a biter, and with 6 teeth, it HURTS! We took both kids to a movie the other day, and he bit Bryant on the arm twice, the cheek once, and my ear once. Then later that day, he bit Savannah square on the bum. I had to take him out of the grocery cart last night because he kept biting Savannah. He tends to head-butt and bite the most when he is really tired. He rarely gets fussy, just silly and belligerent. 

At his 12 month check up, he is, like always, right on track for everything. He is now 21 lbs, (about 52% if I remember right) and is 31 1/2 inches tall. He's in the 98% for height! And he's only 5 1/2 inches shorter than Savannah!

Deagan was walking around the room while the doctor was talking to us, and he told us that kids Deagan's age start getting a sense of stranger danger, and not to worry if he won't go to other people. Right at that moment, Deagan walked over to the doctor and lifted his arms up wanting him to pick him up, so he did, and DJ immediately started playing with his name badge and stethoscope. The doctor started to laugh and said "Well, I guess you're not going to have to worry about him being shy!"

Deagan has been such an amazing addition to our family. He is so funny, and he keeps me laughing all day long. He had me nearly in tears from laughing yesterday when he was chasing me around with a plastic pirate sword. He picks up on things, especially things his sister does, so quickly that it amazes me. He's a little trickster, who likes to play and tease. And even at only a year old, he has so much determination in him. I watched him a couple of weeks ago attempt to crawl down the stairs. He was terrified, shaking like a leaf, and quietly whining, but he did NOT want my help, and he was trying to put his feet down the first step, despite how scared he was. If he wants to accomplish something, he will do it!

I love you Deagan, thank you for allowing me to be your Mom, you are going to keep all of us on our toes!

On the Downhill Slope to Thirty

^Would you believe me if I said Bryant got a strike bowling like this? Because he totally did.^

It was my birthday last week. 26 guys. Thats officially on the downhill slope to 30. 

I had a pretty perfect day. The night before, Bryant, the kids and I went to Tucanos for dinner. Bryant spared me the embarrassment of making them sing to me. Instead, he sang me "Happy Birthday" in Portuguese himself. . 

The next day, I slept in. If I could ask for one thing for the rest of my birthdays, it would be to sleep in. 

I woke up feeling kind of sick though. But I refused to let it bring me down on my birthday. 

That afternoon, we went to Paradise Bakery for lunch. We were going to go to Zupas, but the line was ridiculous. The bakery turned out better though because Bryant got me a dozen cookies, and if you know Bryant, then you know that he's not a dessert foods guy, so I got them all to myself (and Savannah).

That evening, we dropped the kids off and went bowling. Bryant won. He even bowled between his legs and left handed, and he still won. And for the record, he looks totally drunk when he bowls with his left hand. It screws up the way he steps to the line. It's hilarious. 

When I went to pick up the kids, Savannah had made me a card with her hand prints on it will help from her aunt Sage. My parents also got me a couple of gifts, which Savannah helped me open. And Sage made me a delicious cup of hot white chocolate, because she's so sweet like that. 

It was a perfect day. It doesn't seem like 26 is so bad after all :-)

P.S. Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes last week! It's always nice to be thought of!

Of Birthdays and Lamps

On Sunday, we celebrated my grandma's birthday, and at the same time, we celebrated every girl in the family's birthday!

 

 

Savannah got a book and a dress, she loves them both!

 

(Deagan's bowtie is from HERE just in case you were wondering...)

Some of the great-grandkids!

Remember a couple of posts ago when I was saying that I desperately needed a new lamp for my nightstand?

Well, my thoughtful grandma got me one for my birthday!

 And it goes perfectly with my nightstand! 

She also got me a beautiful leather journal, that I took some time to sit out on the deck the other night and just wrote and wrote and wrote in it. Until a silly little toddler came out on the deck half-naked and asked if she could sit with me :-)

It's always fun getting together and celebrating with family. If you've ever met my grandma, then you know how special and loving she is. Happy birthday Grandma!

One Year

I can't believe it's been a year since I got up to make myself some toast, and turned to Bryant saying "I think we need to go to the hospital". Seven short hours later, Savannah was looking into my eyes and my life was changed forever. It was almost like in the story of the grinch, my heart felt like it grew 3 sizes. I was so in love with her, and I felt as if I already knew her, like we were re-uniting after 23 years of being apart. I can't imagine life without her in it. 

 (When I first found out I was pregnant. I think I was 7 weeks along in this photo. When she was still the size of a grain of rice! Oh how I wish I had that body back!)

(Exactly 39 Weeks along, taken the night before I had her!)

 This last month has brought a lot of new, exciting and funny developments for Savannah. The biggest being that she is walking...well, kind of... She can walk short distances and often likes to walk from the chair to the coffee table, from the coffee table to the couch, from the couch to the nearest person. She's even getting braver and will stand up by herself and attempt 5-10 steps into wide open living room before she topples over. It's been so fun to see her test her boundaries and push them. Within a couple of weeks (or days!) I think I will have a busy walking girl on my hands!

 (Just a few days old! Wearing her biliblanket to help with her jaundice. She slept with her arms like that for months and hated being swaddled!)

(I think she was around 5 months old in this photo)

 She is becoming such a copy-cat these days. I am an avid user of lotion and Chapstick and she loves to put them on all by herself! She can also brush her own teeth (all four of them...) and brush her own hair (all ten of them...)(kidding... She's actually getting enough hair for me to clip a bow or flower in it. Not that she keeps them in long or anything though.) She even likes to pretend to put makeup on like mommy! She's such a smart cookie! 

 (One of my favorite photos! She was around 6 months old and getting ready for her first Disneyland trip!)

 She is still a champion eater and prefers the food you are eating as opposed to her mashed up baby food. For months she has been a self-proclaimed vegetarian and hated anything with meat, but she happily ate some ham slices the other day! Her favorite things to eat are girl scout thin mint cookies, marshmallows, and freeze-dried yogurt. If your have any of those within her sight, you had better give her some before she has a meltdown! We have also finally switched her to cows milk as of last week. I had been kind of putting off the switch for a while because I know so many people who really struggled to get their kids to drink cows milk, but she polished off the entire bottle like it was no big deal. I am so happy that I don't have to buy formula and mix bottles anymore! 

 (Another favorite. Probably around 6 months old here too.)

 She is finally back to sleeping through the night (hallelujah!!!) we found that sticking a big stuffed animal in her crib helps her feel like she is sleeping next to us and she's only gotten up once in over a week and that was while we were on vacation. She's also gotten into a really amazing sleep pattern, where she's been sleeping in until 10am, taking a 2 hour nap (instead of two, 1 hour long naps) around 4pm, then going to bed around 9pm. It's amazing!

 (Around 9 months)

(Her blessing day. July 2011, at 3 months old in Mt. Shasta California)

 It's been an exciting year. Savannah has taught me patience, she has taught me unconditional love, she has taught me to celebrate little achievements, no matter how small they seem. She has brought so much joy into my life that sometimes I feel so overwhelmed with happiness. She opens my eyes to just how amazing our little earth is. Everything is still new to her and it's fun to see life how she sees it. She has all of the personality traits I wished I had. She's not afraid to go after what she wants, she loves EVERYONE, she's tender and caring of people (and stuffed animals), she forgives quickly and acts silly just to see people smile.

 (1 Year! At her birthday party enjoying a cupcake!)

I love her so much it feels as if my heart could burst!

Happy Birthday beautiful girl!

(Sorry for the lack of posts! I've been busy with birthdays, vacation, work schedule changes and school finals. Hopefully I can catch up soon!)

Crepes, Fairs, And My Birthday!

Sunday was my 24th birthday. We started the morning off right by being lazy and watching sesame street with Savy.

 

 

(I love these two pictures. They both looked at each other all serious like, and then when I was about to snap the next one, they both started laughing. Like it was some kind of inside joke! These two are like peas in a pod and Savannah, even at only (almost) 6 months enjoys teasing him. It's too adorable.)

Then Bryant took me out for breakfast. There is a fairly new place in Provo called the "Awful Waffle" that I have heard good things about and have wanted to try for a long time, but it seemed that every time we made plans to go, they would fall through last minute.

So Saturday, we headed down for breakfast (more like an early lunch) and the place was PACKED! There was a line that stretched the length of the parking lot and it took us a good 15 minutes to order. But it was definitely worth the wait. 

I got a crepe with bananas and nutella, and Bryant got one with strawberries and cream cheese icing. I think next time, I'm getting a crepe with bananas, strawberries, nutella and cream cheese icing combined. 

I was in heaven.

After breakfast, we headed up to the south town mall to look for a necklace I had seen there before  to get as a birthday present for myself, but they didn't have it, so we continued on our way up to Salt Lake.

My brother has been working at the Utah State Fair and had gotten us free tickets. We met up with my mom and sister there and had a great time! Savannah really liked the animals, but would scrunch up her nose every now and then and make a face like she was smelling something bad, which she was. Those cows are stinky!

 

My favorite thing was the homemade crafts. I was so impressed with all the things people have made! Especially the handmade lace. There were a few people doing demonstrations and it looks like such a time-intensive process! I would never have the hand-eye coordination, the skill or the patience to make lace.

 

After the fair, we went shopping for a few birthday presents, and, like every year for my birthday since I married Bryant, I picked out a new CD. I always try to find one that I like, but that I'd like to introduce to Bryant. Last year was a success with the She and Him albums, so this year I got Mumford and Sons, and Bryant and I have been listening to it non-stop all week!

That night we cuddled up and watched the BYU vs. Utah game. I'm not even going to say anything about that... Other than it was sad.

Sunday we got up and made it to church late because Savannah had had a diaper blowout, then decided to roll ALL over her crib. So needless to say, I spent my morning cleaning her, her crib, and throwing her sheets and jammies in the wash and giving her a bath (after I had given her one the night before.) What a stinker!

Church was great, and I met two other moms there who invited Savannah and I over for a play date (which we went to today. Major success!). I have been dying to make some new friends, and they seemed really great!

That afternoon Bryant and I went out for a motorcycle ride, and came home to my mom having the kitchen all decorated! My grandparents, aunt and her husband and kids came over for dinner and cake and ice cream. It was a great way to celebrate my birthday!

 

(Yes, those are cake-pops on my cake! So Yummy!!!)

Happy Birthday Bryant!

Tuesday was Bryant's 26th birthday!

We tried to celebrate all weekend long, since school started Monday and he's a busy kid going to school full time and working full time. Saturday, his Sister Chantel came to visit from Idaho (where she's going to school). It was so fun having her here (and not to mention, a HUGE help! I got a lot of stuff done with her here to watch Savy.) Sunday, we went to church, came home and had homemade lasagna (which, I made. Go me!) and chocolate and peanut butter ice cream cake, which Bryant requested weeks ago. That evening we went for a walk and watched a lightning storm that was hovering over Provo, and made it home in time to play some games while it hovered over our house.

Monday was hectic, and we didn't get to do much. I spent the day standing in lines at the DMV and UVU and running to BYU and a couple of banks and stores... you name it, I was there. And Bryant was at school, then work, then school again. 

That evening, we spent our time indoors watching movies and hanging out.

Tuesday, Bryant had an hour and a half break so Bryant, Chantel, and Bryant's Brother Tyler and I all met at Tucanos for lunch. I love Tucanos, but I always come out overly stuffed! After Bryant went back to school, Chantel, Savannah and I went to the mall to go birthday shopping for Bryant (and maybe a quick stop at the Disney store for Savannah...) And that evening, my mom had bought ice cream, made brownies,and I decorated her kitchen. After brownies and ice cream, we played games, opened presents, and watched more movies together.

I think Bryant really enjoyed his birthday. I always wish I could do something really fun and outgoing for his birthday, but unfortunately, it falls on the wrong day and it's always during the first few days of school. Maybe next year we will have to plan something huge and do it a couple of weeks early.

I love Bryant more than anything. He's the best husband a girl could ask for, and an amazing dad. Savannah and I are so lucky to have him in our lives!

(I had the entire weekend and I didn't take ONE picture of Bryant! Geeze, I feel like a terrible wife haha! So instead, you get this picture from our thanksgiving trip to Mt. Shasta when we were dating. I think he was about 23 in this pic.)

All grown up!

Wednesday was my sweet little sister's 12th birthday!
I can't believe she's all grown up! I was 11 when she was born, I feel so old!
She will be in Jr. High next year! This seriously freaks me out...

Last night we went out to celebrate.
Every year, she chooses to go to the Mayan for dinner.
If you've never been there, it's a Mexican restaurant, themed like the Mayan jungle, complete with massive, working water fall with a diving show.


My brothers gave her the new Taylor Swift CD

And my parents gave her a Chia pet. I didn't know they still made these, let alone that my sister knew what they were and wanted one!
It's donkey from Shrek. Pretty awesome if you ask me.

Bryant and I got her a gift card to the movie theater. She is always asking if we can take her to see a movie but we never seem to take the time to do it. She was excited and said she wants to go see Harry Potter!


And she got deep fried ice cream (burrito flavored ice cream, as my dad calls it) with a firework in it! That was pretty awesome too. We didn't know if you were supposed to blow it out or what, but after a minute or two it went out on it's own.


My brother and my Dad
My sister sharing her ice cream!

I for got to get a picture of my other brother. He brought a date to dinner and she was super nice and really cute! Hopefully she sticks around!

I also forgot to get a picture of my sister's whole outfit. My mom made her this adorable skirt and my sister looked beautiful!

I hope she had a great birthday because we had a lot of fun being with her!
Happy Birthday sweetheart!