a half birthday and a full birthday

 

6.5 months

has perfected the army crawl

loves bath time

constantly has things in his mouth

I looooooove this kid … like a lot.

 

I tried and tried … to get Winter to put on some clothes for some pictures.  No deal.  Nude and crazy.  I love her.

I had a birthday … combined with easter and general conference.  Triple whammy.

30.

Not quite sure how I feel about this one.   Kind of a hard pill to swallow.

Its not the wrinkles or the weak bladder control that scares me … its the fact that life is passing too fast.  Some days just seem to drag but then birthdays and anniversaries sneak up on me and slap me in the face.   They seem to say, “Get your act together, Erin.  Stop focusing so much on the daily grind and start playing more with your kids.  Stop and breath and take in your surroundings.”   So I guess that will be my goal for my 30th year.

Mitchell put his handy dandy homemaking skills to good use and made an easter bread basket. 

That Mitchell is a keeper.

Speaking of Mitchell being a keeper ….

I was telling Mitchell before my birthday how I haven’t really felt pretty or even “put together” for a really really really long time.   He handed me this on my birthday.

I have been talking about how I want to color my hair for a while now.  I have wanted an “ombre” style but just couldn’t justify spending the money especially since we have set a strict budget.  Mitchell granted my wish and even threw in a little spanish humor.  Keeper, I tell ya.

high five! … and a half

 Yeah … its actually more like 5 months and 3/4 …. this whole two kid thing is cramping my blogging style.

This boy is a steamroller.  Rolls across the room, banging into any and everything.

He has only had ONE blowout in all 5.75 months of his existence.  TMI?  Maybe.

He has started solids and hasn’t turned down anything yet.  Such a boy.

Sleeping?  Kind of.  He will sleep from 7 –4 one night and then the next night cry for an hour around midnight.  Not so consistent … but it is progress from waking up every 2 hours.  I’ll take it.

He is soooooo cute.  I know all parents think that … but I seriously love just looking at his little face.  His smiles make bad days not so bad.

 

Behold!

Feast your eyes on those unders.  Hallllllelujah.

We started potty training (again) with some help from my most wonderful ahhhhmazing mom. 

Mission accomplished.

Winter has a lot going on in the personality department.

Her nursery leaders tell us that she is the mother hen.  She likes to feed the other kids and bring them toys when they are crying.   They also tell us that she is a very confident singer. 

Whenever I tell Winter not to do something or to be careful she will say, “don’t worry, its nuffing.”

She likes to call Forest “her baby” and its pretty darn cute.

 

 

goings-on

 

- We have started to follow the Dave Ramsey cash/envelope budget system.  We just started it at the beginning of January and well, I love it.   I love to be able to physically hand someone real cash and not just swipe a card.  It is so easy to go over budget when using plastic. 

- We are still living in the same apartment.  There is a family who is living below us with three kids, so we figure we can make it work with two kids just fine.  At times we feel crammed and trying to have a two year old and a baby who isn’t sleeping at night share a room is a not so funny joke.  (seriously people, any advice on kids sharing a room is more then welcome) Patience is something Heavenly Father wants us to learn I suppose when it comes to the whole house thing, so patience we shall learn.  And until the day we get a house, I will continue to happily live vicariously through my Pinterest boards HAHA.

Food kicks we have been on as of late:

• two words – Bahn Mi sandwiches.  If you live in Utah, go to the nearest Oh Mai and get yourself a sandwich right now.  Can’t get enough … I’m craving one this very minute.
• I have become somewhat of a tea hoarder these days.  Licorice tea with a bit of honey has won me over.  

- Mitchell is still in the Young Men’s Presidency in the ward and I am still the primary chorister.  For those of you who have been keeping track (I’m pretty sure the bishop and the primary pres have not), I have been in this calling for over 4 years now.  FOUR years.  Still blows my mind.   I love the primary kids,  so I can’t complain … too much.

 

Four month stats:

13 lbs 2 oz (7th percentile)

25.9 inches long (80th percentile)

Forest loves to laugh and hands out smiles to just about anyone.

Sleep …. ahhhhh sleep how I miss you.  We tried sleep training and the method that trained Winter in 2 days failed miserably.  So we started again last night and lets just say that there was a 2.5 hour cry fest which resulted in a massive splitting headache for me.   I am hoping and praying tonight goes better … if not,  I will be turning to more Downton Abbey and old Parenthood episodes to help keep me somewhat sane around 2 a.m. 

He is rolling over and is hating it.  He doesn’t like the helpless “beached whale” feeling

three months

 

3 months, say what?!

He is currently still waking up every two hours at night (which is killing me)  As much as I hate it, I smell some sleep training in the near future.   This mama is tired of having a zombie brain.

He is laughing and smiling

We hear he looks like Mitchell all the time … I don’t think I have heard anyone say he looks like me yet. 

He can roll onto his stomach

We are one physical therapy appointment away from being able to say sayonara to torticollis.  *fingers crossed followed by a happy dance*

 

Winter keeps us laughing daily. 

Every morning she picks out a shirt and shoes to wear and then dresses herself.  No pants.  Ever. 

She likes to pretend her name is Erin or Mitchell and thinks its the funniest thing ever.

Potty training is still a four letter word in our house.

Food staples:  greek yogurt, tomatoes, beans, rice, parmesan cheese, apples, carrots, noodles and goldfish. 

She LOVES nursery and church.   She always yells “Yippeeeee!” when she finds out its Sunday.

Her pajamas are “jammies” and if you call them by any other name you better believe she will passionately correct you.    

She is a huge fan of Dora the Explorer and gets so concerned about the poor animals who need help on the show.

Not So Silent Night

 

We were invited to spend the night over at my parent’s house on Christmas Eve and we took them up on the offer.   Winter and Mitchell slept in the same room while Forest and I bunked up elsewhere.  Winter decided to wake us up at 5 am and she just couldn’t stop laughing when she realized that Mitchell was sleeping next to her.  I was already awake (because you are ALWAYS awake when you have a baby), so I joined their party.  So 5 am – 7 am consisted of lots of songs (sung very loudly), rolling around and laughing.  I don’t know why she was even excited; to be honest we didn’t really even explain the whole Christmas morning thing very well .

For the past month or so, Winter has pretended to play Doctor.  She would feel our foreheads, look in our ears, write down notes and give us shots.  So the doctor play kit she got was just what the doctor ordered (har har).   Every time she gives us a shot she tells us, “to close our eyes and think of something happy” (all you Daniel Tiger fans will recognize that line).

  Forest enjoyed his Christmas as well … his two pacifiers.  I just can’t justify buying stuff for a kid that does not care.  I thought I had done a good job with just buying Winter four gifts … but after Christmas I realized that she would have been thrilled with half that many.  Note to self:  simplify Christmas even more next year.

Introducing Dr. Sassypants

 

You see that Instant Pot box?  Mitchell gave me a sweet pressure cooker and I gave him a sweet ice cream maker.  I think we have officially hit adulthood status:  both received kitchen appliances and we were both excited. 

 

And it wouldn’t be Christmas without some kind of weird family photos.

the torticollis & the hare

 

Our sweet little monkey has torticollis.  Summed up: his neck muscles on one side are crazy tight. 

He favors laying on one side and as a result is getting a flat little noggin’.  And his left ear and left side of his forehead are shifting forward as a result. 

I’m glad we are getting this taken care of now or else our poor little boy would end up looking like Quasimodo.   So now his days consist of a lot of exercises, stretching and going to physical therapy.

Here are his 2 months stats:

weight:  10 lbs 14 oz   (25%)

height:  25 inches long (95%)

head:  in the 25th percentile

We officially  have a lurp in the family.  But he sure is a cute lurp.

 

Oh, and just for the record:  those dang two month shots are just as killer for mom with child #2 … not one bit easier.  I was on the brink of tears. 

  

Forest was blessed on Sunday.

Two very good looking boys, if I do say so myself.

Hallow’s Eve

 

Goodness, I love this holiday. 

Costumes … candy … awesome fall weather … incredible pumpkin/fall food … parties

How could you hate it?

We had our annual Hicken Halloween dinner

I had other costume plans … until I tried on multiple costumes and realized that I just had a baby two weeks ago.   And when you have had a baby two weeks ago there is no way you are fitting into your old size unless you are a celebrity.  Silly me.  So we had to improvise fast … so Fantastic Mr & Mrs Fox it was.

 

Mirien invited us to come trick or treating with Hayley and Corinne (Winter’s cousins).  Winter loved it so much.  She had been saying that she wanted to be a dragon all week up until about 5 minutes before we left … Snow White it was.

I threw on some cat makeup (which Winter loved) … put Forest in the wrap and we headed out. 

***What you are not seeing in this photo is the massive amount of baby puke all over my chest Forest decided to gift me with as soon as I put him in the wrap.  The show must go on***

Mitchell had a costume contest at work.  He made an excellent Marv (Home Alone)  In fact, he won the contest. 

And here is princess Winter.