Birthday Extravaganza 2010

We had a combined birthday party for the kids this last weekend and of course as I watched the weather forecast for the weeks leading up to it the weather kept looking crummier and crummier. Dave and I decided that we are bad luck since we got married in March in St. George and it SNOWED! Logan's party got rained out last year too so I guess next year we'll have to plan it for some time other than June. We ended up eating and opening presents at our little house instead of at the park.


Logan checking out his new Lightning McQueen bike...



Tessa chillin' with Grandpa H.

Tessa's cupcake. We were in such a hurry to get down to the pool after we found out we could go that the kids didn't even get to eat their cake until later.

We had the pool reserved but when I had gone by around 4:o0 they were closed because of the crappy weather. Dave checked with them while we were eating dinner and they were open and said they'd still let us come if we wanted to and the pool was 82 degrees. I KNOW the temperature outside probably wasn't higher than 65 but we ended up going and it was a lot of fun.

P.S. Have I mentioned how wonderful it is to have a photographer as a sister? I just need to get better at grabbing her camera and turning it on her more often! Thank you Lisa for the great pictures!

36 Months - June 2010

I think every year as you celebrate your birthday I will secretly be celebrating the fact that I've suceeded in keeping a child alive for x-number of years. I'm confident that's why you were my firstborn because you seem pretty resilient and haven't suffered too much from my lack of parenting skills.

Time goes by so amazingly fast and because of that I am so grateful I have been able to be home with you for the last year. As I see Tessa learn and do little things I am always hit with some sadness that I missed that with you. I couldn't have asked for better babysitters while I was working, but I missed so much. The changes in you from turning 2 to turning 3 haven't been nearly as drastic but that's why I'm glad I was here for all of it.

You didn't take your first steps this year, but you did learn how to pedal a bike. First this one that Grandma and Grandpa Veater got you for your 1st birthday and then the Lightning McQueen one we bought you for your birthday this year. It's been fun to see you learn another skill that will be so important to you in the next few years.

You didn't say your first words but instead now have such a large vocabulary and a mind that goes so fast that you stumble, repeat, and mumble your words to the point where I have a hard time deciphering them. It makes me laugh because you always spoke pretty clearly (every mom probably says that) when you were younger and I truly do think it is because your brain is going 100 miles an hour and your mouth can't keep up. I still love to listen to you talk and the things you come up with. One of the funniest things this month was when your dad was driving you crazy by blowing on your face and you looked at him and said, "Don't blow on me - I'm not scrambled eggs!" When he started laughing and told me what you said I laughed so hard. We blow on your eggs every morning but I had no idea you'd say something that funny because of it. On your way to Panguitch to spend the night last weekend you told your dad that you were worried about me and Tes because you were going to be so far away. When I got the call from your dad telling me what you said I got a tear in my eye thinking about how cute it was that you wanted to be here to protect us.
You love watching the movie Cars and even more than watching Cars you love pretending you are Lightning McQueen by "starting your engine." In the movie Lightning starts his engine by making a face and kind of growling so that's what you do. I count to 3 and you make this hilarious face and growl. It's pretty funny. That face has replaced your monster face most days and I'm glad for the change of pace.

Bath time with Tess is still one of our favorite times of the day and the 2 of you crack me up dumping or spitting water at each other and fighting over toys. Some days I doubt if you even get clean while you are in there and other days you leave a ring of dirt and a pile of sand in the bottom of the tub.

We've been going swimming quite a bit since the pool opened and you have a blast there. Some days I have to talk you into going because I want to go, but no matter how I get you there it always ends the same way: with you crying because we are going home. One day you told me you wanted to stay there forever. The funny thing about it is that you kind of hate the water. You wear a floatie around you pretty much nonstop and won't jump off the side of the pool unless I'm holding your hands. If I get you too close to the part of the slide that sprays water you scream and freak out. I hope eventually you will trust me and let me teach you how to swim.

Your dad said something to you yesterday about you being a boy and you yelled back "I'm not a boy, I'm a KID!" We laughed at you but I know you realize you are getting older and are definitely asserting yourself. You and I are a lot alike and that's why we butt heads. I'm not willing to let even a 3-year-old tell me I'm wrong and there's no way you're going to give in without a fight either - and I definitely try to stay out of your way when you are tired. Two was difficult no doubt, but I think we'll be able to understand each other a little better and make 3 better.

As for some advice for you? Don't ever quit being silly - it's lots better than taking yourself too seriously.

Love you buddy,

Mom

Your stats as of 6/16/10:

Weight: 38 pounds (94%)

Height: 40" (95%)

Head: 20" (looks like the girl wrote .0%! - that's a small noggin for a big brain!)

12 Months - June 2010

Lots has changed in the last 12 months little bit - lots. One year ago as your Grandpa Hillier and I got ready to walk out the door in the middle of the night to make the drive to the hospital in Cedar I remember kissing your sleeping brother goodbye and feeling so sad that he had no clue what he was in for, I sent a text-email to my boss telling her that I wouldn't be coming to work that day, or again for that matter, and I knew that our family would finally all be back together in the same house - but in Kanab. What a blessing all of those things have been to our family.

Logan looks so small in this one!

At 1 year old I don't think you look anything like you did when you were born. Those pictures from the hospital make me laugh. Girl, you were BALD! You still don't have hair on the sides of your head so I end up either putting a big curl/mohawk on top or trying to comb it down without making it look like a tupee. I have tried a ponytail right on top a time or two but the other day you banged your head pretty good and have a lovely green bruise. I guess we'll have to hold off on your 1-year-old pictures for a couple weeks...

So far you get the award for being my best-sleeping baby. Granted you don't have much competition with Logan, and I know I'm tempting fate by mentioning that you sleep well, but I'll take my chances. Usually I put you down between 7:45 and 8:30 and you sleep until 9:00 a.m. Then you go back to sleep for your nap between 12 and 2 in the afternoon and sleep for 1.5-3 hours. It's a pretty nice deal if you ask me.

You are also still a super-smiley baby and pretty much every day I wish I could freeze you at this stage for at least a year. If you aren't hungry or tired or getting toys stolen from you, you can pretty much bet you are smiling.

Wild hair and HUGE binky-smile.

And this picture doesn't show this face in its true form so I'll have to keep trying over the next month but you have this silly face you do where you squint your eyes, stick out your tongue and smile. It's your dad's face and it is pretty darn adorable when you do it.

You've decided you like to eat a few more things and lately I've been putting food in your mouth every chance I get. You're 12 months old and I'll be surprised if you grow out of your infant seat (20 lbs.) by the time we take you for your checkup later this month.
Mmmmm... Blue popsicle!

Mmmmm.... Blue crayon!

I've been stressing over the last week or so about what I wanted to say in this letter to make it special. I felt I needed to say something profound or touching or give some advice but at the moment I can't think of much that I think will make this letter different than the others. All I know is that the fear I had about not being able to love another baby as much as I loved your brother was gone the moment you were born 1 year ago. There is nothing I could write that would explain how I feel about the 2 of you. I hope that as you grow up you will always know of the love that your dad and I have for both of you. We are far from perfect as parents but everything we do is what we feel is going to be best for you.

So that's what I've got for touching and profound. Ready for my advice?

Walking is much easier than stink-bug crawling. One day I hope you will trust me on that.
Love you Lindy-Lou,

Mom

Your stats as of 6/16/10:

Weight: 18 pounds 14 ounces (14%)

Height: 29.25" (49%)

Head: 18.5" (92%)

35 Months - May 2010

Not a whole lot must have gone on this month - I can tell by the number of pictures I have - not very many. We did take a funny one of me and you goofing around with my cell phone camera. you love to take pictures and always say "cheese please!" or make a monster face. This looks like kind of a mix between the two.

You did help daddy build our table this month. I think my most favorite part about that table isn't how it looks but more the fact that WE built it. Daddy, me, you, Tessa, were all there and have memories of making the table where I hope we will spend years eating dinner together, doing homework, frosting Christmas cookies, etc. Maybe you'll even be reading these letters at this table one day. With that said I had to include one of the pictures of you crawling on the table during construction.

You've started to have some bad dreams in the last month. We went to Cedar one weekend to help Uncle Dusty and Uncle Derick put in their lawns. While we were there you played with Quade at his house and apparently he has some kind of racecar that scared you. One morning you woke up, walked out to where daddy was eating his breakfast and yelled at him for not closing the door so that Quade's racecar couldn't get us. We laughed but I have to admit I wasn't ready for the bad dream stage. Then another morning you had a long story to tell me about the scary lion in your dream. A few times since then I've had the chance to lie down next to you at bedtime and make up stories about Prince Logan and his dog Toby and I've tried to tell stories about lions or racecars so if you dream about them they might not be so scary. This little experience with has me worried about other parenting milestones we still have yet to reach with you as you grow out of the toddler stage and into the "kid" stage way too fast.

Earlier this week me you and Tess made a trip up to Northern Utah to visit some of my old roommates and friends from Snow. I wasn't sure how we were going to make it seeing as how the farthest trip you'd ever made before that was from Cedar to Manti last year before Tessa was born, but it wasn't too bad. We did okay on the way there until we stopped in Beaver. After we visited some friends there and stopped for lunch I bet we made 6 more stops between there and our destination. First you had to pee so I took the exit at Manderfield and let you go on the side of the road. Then Tessa had finally fallen asleep and had only been sleeping for about 10 minutes before you decided you needed to do some more serious business. I carefully got Tessa's carrier out of the car at a gas station in Meadow only to have her wake up screaming while we were in the bathroom. She didn't sleep again either. By the time we made it all three of us probably looked like we'd been beaten for the last 5 hours (yes 5!) instead of just sitting in a car.

You had a good time (for the most part) playing with the kids that were there. You and Parker got along pretty well and I know you liked Brielle because I had to chase you out of her room twice while she was trying to sleep. You didn't quite know what to think about Eli chasing you down trying to hug you but I thought it was pretty cute. There were some fights over toys of course and by the time we tried to get this picture of you and Parker you had had enough for the night...

We did manage to get a picture of the group (minus baby Adam) before Kiki and her boys had to go home. Aunt Taren had a feature on her camera that takes 10 pictures on a timer which was SO nice when trying to get 6 kids to sit still and maybe even smile!

I think you had a good time though and I was so proud of you for how well you shared and interacted with so many other kids while being away from home in a strange place. The ride home was much better too since you and Tess decided you would actually sleep for half of it. I had debated whether or not to take you guys but I am glad I did, and the trip went better than I expected. Hopefully we can continue to get together and you kids can be friends.

I can't believe you are going to be 3 next month, even though you are big enough that you have been mistaken for a 3-year-old for months now. But I guess I'll cross that bridge next month when we come to it - and with LOTS more pictures.

Love you buddy,

Mom

New Table

So remember when I posted about wanting to use these plans to build a table like this one from West Elm?

Well we started out with this...

Then Dave did a LOT of this...


and Logan did some of this...

and then Dave did MORE of this...

and then I did a LOT of sanding, staining, and topcoating to get this...

Without the $599 price tag for the table and $299 a piece for the benches. Now we just need to find about 10 guys to help us get it in the house cause it is HEAVY!

Check out www.knock-offwood.com!

11 Months - May 2010

I don't even want to think about the fact that you are 11 months - 1 more month before you are a toddler. It has crept up on me more with you than with Logan, mostly because you are still wearing some 3-6 month clothes and wear mostly 6-9 month stuff. By this time Logan was in 18-24 month clothes so there is definitely a difference.

You went to your first Easter Egg hunt earlier this month and had a pretty good time crawling around in the dirt and charming everybody there. Even cousin Brent couldn't resist your little black eye and held you for quite a while. You got the black eye without help from anyone which is kind of surprising the way Logan and you "fight". You were sitting on the floor playing with one of his toys when I heard you tip over. I turned around right as you turned to look at me with tears rolling down your face and a little bruise already showing up - which turned into a black eye. It just made you look tough during the candy hunt so no one would mess with ya.

See, no one's messing with you and your candy.

You LOVE being outside and get pretty upset when I let Logan go out without you if it is too cold of if you have been sick. The water table he got for his birthday last year is your favorite and you splash and splash in it. I think you are going to be a water girl. We took you guys swimming earlier this month and you kept dunking your face. Even now in the bath tub you dunk your face or even try to get water from the tap and end up drenching your face.

You've discovered Logan's sandbox too and love to crawl over and see what he's got going on in there, even if it means getting sand dumped on your head or in your face. I've got you wearing socks on your hands again in this picture, but I think it was the last time. You just crawled right up in the back of that dump truck too, it was pretty impressive. You don't seem to care much about walking, although you have started doing more standing in the last few days. If anyone tries to get you to take a few steps on your own though you drop to your hands and knees before we have a chance to catch you and off you crawl. I guess that means you'll walk when you decide it is faster than crawling.

You got, or I guess I should say are still getting, two more teeth this month. Finally. You started getting them in March and although they have finally come through a few times this month they also keep going back in. And yeah, that means you are 11 months old with 4 teeth, another big difference from Logan who had I think 10 or so by this time.


You are kind of a momma's girl lately and while sometimes it is nice it can get kind of, hard? I can't do much without you attached to my leg screaming at me or putting some food down in front of you and running out of the room before you notice. You're pretty spoiled. And speaking of eating, it would be nice if I didn't feel like I spent my whole day trying to get you to eat. You still love chicken nuggets but you have also added strawberries, grilled cheese sandwiches, White Cheddar PastaRoni (and ONLY that kind, I've tried others - fail), pancakes, and a few other things. It all depends on the day though because as soon as I find something you like you decide you won't eat it for a few days and throw me off the trail. We're wasting a lot of food on your petite little frame.

You are mischievous and love to do the baby/toddler things like taking stuff out of drawers and cupboards as well as picking on your brother and trying to play with his toys - when he is playing with them. You are definitely fun most of the time though and the best part of our day is when you smile your big smile at us or hide behind the couch to play peek a boo. I dread writing your next letter because I can't believe it has come so fast and writing a letter for your birthday is only going to remind me that even though you are small you are growing up fast. You can stay little for as long as you want, ok?

Love you Tessa Lindsay Woo Woo!

Mom

Helping daddy build the table.

(you might want to growing some hair on the sides of your head...)

(and I guess I should start dressing you in clothes that match)

11 Months

Coming soon.

Or at least sooner than later.

Or maybe later.