MILESTONE PORTRAITS

Sorry it took me so long to get these up, Mom! Here are the kids' recent portraits:

CJ's 2 yr picture

Mattie's 6 mo picture

Our attempt to get the two siblings photographed together...

THE BIG 5-0

Bryce's dad, Greg, turned 50 on October 1st. We weren't able to be there on the actual day, but we drove out to Seattle the next day to spend the weekend enjoying Conference and celebrating Greg's special birthday. While we were there we got to...

...give Bryce's dad his birthday gift (it's a memory book with pictures from his life and letters from his family)

...see Bryce's little sister, Kelsey, go to her Homecoming dance

(Paige wanted a pic with just Kelsey because she did Kelsey's hair...it turned out really pretty)

...play at Papa's party

...give everyone a "cheesy" smile


...get stuck under the computer desk


...and most importantly, we got to spend time with Papa!!

GOING BANANAS...

...and squash and biter biscuits

Do we even need to mention how much Mattie likes to eat? :)

click on the grid to enlarge

SWING TIME

Mattie's first time in the swing

GOOD TIMES WITH CJ

"Who wants chocolate?"

CJ's first time on the big boy swing

"Give me that camera"

BATHTUB FUN

Now that Mattie can sit up on her own, she's been taking baths with her brother and LOVES it! This is the first picture we've gotten of them together, and if you notice the green ball in her hands, it speaks loud and clear of Mattie's anything-you-can-have-I-can-have-too attitude she's had toward CJ lately :). For the most part, CJ does ok with it, though we're pretty sure that CJ will probably teach Mattie one of her first words: "Mine."

BECCA'S BABY SHOWER

One of my close friends, Becca Adams, is about to have her third baby - but FIRST BOY - so one of my other close friends, Heather Dobbs, and I got together to throw her a little baby shower.

Becca with all the yummy treats at her shower. Don't you wish you looked as great as she does when you're pregnant (I sure do)?!

Becca with all her fun gifts

All the ladies (minus Polly Anderson, who came later) L-R: Misty Wells, Becca Adams, Mauressa Juassi (and London), Erin Mayfield, me, Heather Dobbs

It was so nice to be able to get together and hang-out with just the ladies (it doesn't happen enough), but it was even better to be able to do something small for Becca. She is such a great mom and wonderful friend that she really deserved it! We love you, Becca!

IT'S NOT THAT BIG...

...but there IS some sort of crafty bone in my body somewhere. Here's the proof:

Baby shower decor (and then the guest of honor took it home with her)

Homemade cake-pops for aforementioned baby shower (we won't get into how long it took me to make these, but I will mention that they actually tasted pretty yummy :)

*I know it may seem like I'm boasting, but really, this post is for personal record only*

IS IT OCD?

When you walk into your two-year-old's room after he's awoken from a nap and find this:

you know it can't be good.

But instead of being startled by exploding Pop-Its with my next step, which is what I expected, I found this:

Did you notice how most of the tails are pointing up? The best is the lone Pop-It in the hay loft :)

So CJ's either the next Einstein...or he's the next Rain Man. Should we be concerned? :)

MATTIE - 6 MONTHS OLD

Go, M's!

On September 9, Mattie turned 6 months old! Here's where she's at:

Height: 27 3/4 in (98th percentile)

Weight: 17 lbs 15 oz (86th percentile)

Head: 17 1/2 in (94th percentile)

- Loves crinkly toys - the wipes container, plastic bags, etc.
- Hates having things taken away from her
- Loves just about anything CJ does - thinks it's hilarious
- Very ticklish - laughs when getting her bummed wiped, lotion rubbed on, and even when getting her gums brushed
- Takes long naps
- Has no brown hair left...it's all white now
- Loves to rock to music, literally
- Loves to take baths with her brother
- Reaches for everything and gets upset when doesn't get it
- Puts everything in her mouth

- STARES at us when we eat...we can tell she wants some SO badly
- Started solid food about a month ago. Has eaten rice cereal, carrots, peas, squash, pieces of raw banana (through a mesh container), and anything else CJ has given her that we're unaware of. The only thing she hasn't liked is smashed raw bananas in rice cereal
- Almost out of the spitting-up stage
- Sits up without any assistance (it's her favorite position), and rolls both ways - belly to back, and back to belly

- Close to crawling
- Still a little confused about sleeping at night - wakes up every few hours and needs her binkie and then wakes up between 5 and 6 AM for a feeding
- Still smiley as ever - smiles at everyone everywhere
- Has just started giving kisses (leans toward you with an open mouth), but is very stingy with them :)
- Just started wearing her 6-12 mo clothes and looks like she's gonna be out of them long before she's 12 months
- Still has skinny feet...has outgrown her size 0 and 1 shoes, but only in length (never even wore most of them because her feet weren't fat enough)
- Has a little purplish birthmark on the nape of her neck
- Not as drooly as she was
- Loves stories, songs, and watching tv with CJ
- Loves to look at herself in the mirror

- Loves to exercise her voice...especially when she starts to get fussy and when she first wakes up - she is a chatty-cathy, but only if she's by herself :)

- CJ is her best friend

CJ's FIRST FHE

Ok, so no pics, but we HAD to record CJ's first Family Home Evening. Now that he's in Nursery, and is picking up words left and right, and really gets a lot of concepts, we thought it was time to really have FHE - not just go get a treat and call it Family Home Evening :). Here was the rundown:

Song: "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam"
Opening Prayer: Mommy
Lesson: I Can Pray to Heavenly Father (from the Nursery manual), by Mommy
Scripture: 3 Nephi 18:19, by Daddy
Closing Song: "I Pray in Faith" (second verse)
Closing Prayer: CJ

That's right - CJ said his first prayer! Sometimes he mumbles when we're saying CJ's prayers, and about half the time he says, "Amen," but this was his first prayer with actual words (we assisted him, of course). It went like this:

"Heavenly Father"
"Thank you"
"Bless treats"
"Amen"

We LOVED it!! And of course, we headed out to Coldstone and all shared an ice cream for our FHE treats. It was a wonderful night and a great start to a regular Monday night thing!

IT'S ABOUT TIME...

...Paige had some time with the girls! Since her good friend, Heather, is about to have her second baby - another boy - and she REFUSED to allow anyone to give her a shower or to even get her a gift, Becca, Misty, and Paige decided to pamper her a bit with some relaxing pedicures and yummy treats afterward. Even though it was for Heather, Paige totally felt pampered too and can't wait for another excuse to get out of the house and get together...just the girls!

Love you gals!!

LIL' BUDDIES

CJ had a play-date with his friend, Brody Dobbs, so that Brody's parents could go on a date-date for their anniversary. As you can see, Brody and CJ had loads of fun! We were practically one pillow fight and two sleeping bags away from having a sleepover. But based on the craziness that ensued last night, hopefully sleepovers are still a few years away :)

First we played in the play tent. Look at Brody's eyelashes!

CJ was obviously having a blast!

Mattie had a good time too

After the play tent, we played some basketball and then went crazy on the jumper

Then we headed outside to swing and eat marshmallows. Apparently, Brody is a more refined eater than our CJ :)


Then we wrapped up the night with a classic movie, Follow That Bird

P.S. Heather and Tyson, sorry that CJ taught Brody how to say, "Mine." Now if we could just figure out where CJ learned to say it... :)

HE SMILES, WE PROMISE

Lately, our pictures of CJ seem to not really reflect the fun-loving little boy we know. It just seems impossible to really catch those great moments, and we end up with a stone-faced toddler in all our shots. Anyway, CJ loves encouragement - who doesn't - so as we were cheering him on today as he ate ONE-FOURTH of a grilled cheese sandwich (don't get us started on our eating woes with our picky eater), we grabbed the camera so we could actually document his adorable and infectious smile!

Love it!

Multi-tasking: eating and smiling at the same time

Hammin' it up for Mom and Dad...that's CJ's fake smile

LABOR DAY 2009

We woke up to this smiling face

The kids watched tv and ate breakfast with Daddy

Then we headed downtown to

PIG OUT IN THE PARK

(yes, that's what we did, but that is actually the name of the event too)

where we all got FRIED:

First, wok-FRIED soba noodles - yum!

Then a block of FRIES and a deep FRIED corn dog

CJ liked the FRIES


For dessert, Bryce's FRIED elephant ear



and Paige's deep FRIED Snickers candy bar (shoulda gone with the Twinkie)


After eating that stuff, we all kinda felt like this...


But Mattie was the only one who actually got to do some of this :)

We got a little perked up when CJ and his friend, Brody Dobbs, took off for the fountain (Bryce definitely got his second wind when the fountain suddenly rained down on him :)




Though we left feeling gross, we had fun with our friends and enjoyed pigging out. But if you can't tell by the pics, CJ wasn't feeling too well...


The only smile we got out of him all day was when Daddy touched his head to the ceiling while we waited for the elevator at the mall (that's where we had parked)


By the time we got home, both boys were feeling sick...like cold sick (though all the fried food sure didn't help)

So we ended our Labor Day with an Elmo movie and some popcorn