First Big Boy Mess

 

One of Lillie's crayons fell onto the ground while coloring and I missed it when cleaning up. Henry found it, though, and made his first big boy mess. He chewed on the crayon and slobbered so much that it made his hands all black and then smeared it all over the floor. Thank goodness for nontoxic, washable crayons.

Toofies

Henry has finally cut his second central incisor and we are so grateful. That kid is not a good teether. We've been enjoying sleeping through the night again the past week, and he's even been sleeping in- YAY! Last night we were tickling him and Eric said that he saw that his gums were bulging, next to his upper teeth. Oh no! Here we go again. I wish that kids didn't get teeth until they were 18 so that they could do it out of my house. Okay, I'm being a bit dramatic, but so is Henry when he's teething. Should get bad right about the time that we leave him for a week with grandma while going on vacation. Uh oh.

Final Countdown

Yesterday we turned our notice to move out in 5 weeks. I spent this morning taking down pictures and curtains. Gulp. This is actually going to happen. So weird to have lived here almost 4 years and then in a couple weeks, in one day's time, some men will pack up everything in our apartment and we'll be outta here. This move has sneaked up on me because 1. Eric is still super busy. In fact, he's been stressed out to the max. And 2. because we're not packing anything ourselves. In past apartments, I would have already had most of the place packed. But then, I didn't have kids back then. Man, I am glad that someone else is doing all the hard work. I can't believe that this is actually happening.

10 Months

Another month has flown by and we're one month closer to having a one year old. Henry turned 10 months yesterday and we spent the day doing nothing much out of the ordinary. We watched a neighbor in the morning and went to the pirate park for the afternoon. Then ended the day with a long walk in the evening.

Henry's personality has come out a lot more this past month.
-He lets us know his preferences in food by spitting it out or throwing it on the floor if he doesn't like it.
-He still loves to play with balls and loves to spin things. Like wheels in Lillie's bicycle or the toilet paper roll in the bathroom. He's also got a great throwing arm.
-He also discovered the fun of splashing in the toilet, so now we have to use the baby gate. Only problem is, with Lillie needing to use the bathroom, it's hard to make sure that the door stays closed or that the gate stays up.
-Henry cruises around the furniture and even stood by himself for a few seconds, but doesn't want to be walked around by holding our fingers and doesn't like to use his walker. So I think we'll be a little later walking.
-He hates having his diaper or clothing changed.
-He has also started to hate being put down for naps. Sigh. Can't wait for the "rejoicing when put in the crib" stage. Hopefully that will happen.
-Hank's also added the "N" sound to his repertoire. He goes around babbling "nun" and "nah" all day long.
-He has started to clap and is close to getting the waving "bye bye" down.
-Tooth number 4 has ALMOST broken through. I know I said that last month. Man, it is taking forever for these central incisors to come through. It has been a painful couple of months for you and me, but you're feeling better now. I just hope it's a long while before any more come in.
-Henry is kind of a big softie. Lillie will get into trouble for various things and she'll start crying as we take her to time out and Henry cries every time that she cries. Annoying but cute too.
-He still loves to be held by me, wants to always have me in his line of sight, but has also started to want to be put down to go crawl and explose, some of the time.

I can't believe I have a ten month old, he still seems like such a baby. But then it seems like Henry's been in our family forever.

 

Not a good one, but the most recent photo of Hank

Beach Days

The weather has finally gotten warm, well, hot even, as yesterday got up into the 90's. A big change from the cold and rainy 2 weeks before. So we've been able to take a couple trips to the beach lately, just the kids and me. A good sized group of moms and kids from the ward go on Wednesdays and it is so nice! Lillie has tons of playmates and I get to have adult conversations, which doesn't happen enough. Eric has been BUSY this semester and so we need to find things to do everyday to make them go by faster. A trip to the beach is a good time filler and really, really fun. A BIG thing that we will miss.

Henry spent the entire time of our last trip sitting on my lap. I thought he would have been in high heaven crawling all over and eating sand, but instead, he wouldn't even let me put him on the towel next to me, he had to be on my lap.

I am really bummed that you can't hardly tell from this picture, but Lillie's face was covered in sand. And it really collected in the sunscreen that I put in her eyebrows. Seriously, it looked like she had two brown caterpillars growing off of her face.

Howdy!

Lillie went to a fun Wild West themed birthday party this weekend and so I, of course, had to make her something to wear. I got the pattern for the vest off of the MADE blog, link located at the end of my "crafty blogs" list. I was going for the Jessie from Toy Story look. Whole thing only cost me $3 for the cow print, I had all the rest. It gave me something to do while we were stuck inside all last week with the stomach flu.

9 Month Stats

We finally got around to taking Henry to his nine month check up. Here were his stats:

Height: 30 inches-- 75th percentile
Weight: 20 lbs 12 oz-- 50th percentile

His growth curve has taken a nose dive, guess we won't get that linebacker out of him, but that's alright. :)

Yucky Germs

Last Monday Lillie started throwing up right before we went to bed and kept at it for three days. But was better by the end of the week and so I thought that we were done and that the rest of us had scraped by without getting sick... I was wrong. Eric said he was starting to feel sick on Saturday night and shortly after started to throw up. And once he was sick, I knew that I was in trouble too and here I am lying in bed after a difficult night last night. Thankfully, it was just a 24 hour thing for Eric and I'm feeling much better now too. Surprisingly, Henry has been the least affected one of all of us, although I knew his stomach had been bugging him the last couple of days.
Needless to say, it was a BAD week. And even with this rough start, I have high hopes that this one will be better.

Best Week of the Year

In March, every year, there is a week where the air smells so strongly of flowers at night. It's like diving into a pool of lilacs. And it's this week. Every night we were out, we'd roll the windows down while driving and breathe deeply. Words cannot express how amazing it smells. I'm not exaggerating. Just ask my sister, Wendy, she was down here last year when it smelled SOOOO good...I'm gonna miss this.

The picture doesn't really go with the post, Eric just took it of the kids today and I liked it. He's a much better photographer than I am.

Winter Dance Recital

Last weekend Lillie had her second dance recital. It was pretty dang cute, wish my memory card hadn't gotten full halfway through my videotaping her dance...but thank goodness we did get a few pictures. There was one specific time during the dance where they were doing steps called sugars and Lillie tried to for a second and then yelled off stage at her teacher "I can't do these!" But she actually did really well besides that, WAY better than dress rehearsal and better than I was expecting. And Lillie loved the wilting flowers that we gave her afterwards. I'm glad she understands that it's the thought that counts.

Mardi Gras

To get in the spirit for our future southern home, we decorated Mardi Gras masks, put on our beads and watched The Princess and the Frog today. Too bad I don't know how to make gumbo, huh? I guess I should say yet...

One Great Morning

Our awesome friends, Melissa, Hayley and Cole, scored free tickets to the local botanical gardens this month and were nice enough to share them with us! We had a lot of fun at the children's garden and then ventured down to the Japanese gardens to see the koi fish. Lillie has two little friends that she absolutely loves and talks about all day; they were so fun to watch running around together. Even Henry did pretty well being pushed around in the stroller all morning, better than he ever does while I try to go shopping. The weather was perfecto, the company was impeccable, and to top it all off, Henry and Lillie took naps afterward. Both of them, at the same time!!! I won't lie, I did a little boogie dance to celebrate.

Mornings like this we will definitely miss. Sure, the botanical gardens, but mostly the friends.







These last pictures were ones where I told Lillie to pose for Daddy. At first she wasn't too in to it, but then started hamming it up. Funny girl.

Happy 3/4ths Birthday

Today Henry turns 9 months! Where has the time gone??

Here's what Hank's all about these days:
-He is still a huge momma's boy. Wants me to hold him all day, every day... but occasionally wants down to explore, which is good news for me, gives me hope that this is just a phase. But I cannot be out of his sight.
-Has developed quite a little scream for those times which I put him down when he doesn't want to be.
-Pulls himself up to standing on everything... even very unstable items. Constantly has bumps and bruises because of this.
-Still just has two teeth, but we can see that the top two will come in someday.
-Is SOOO slobbery. He goes through at least two shirts a day plus bibs. And after I change him, his shirt's soaked in less than 10 minutes. He often smells like clothes that were forgotten in the washer. Stinky!
-Loves to throw objects and watch them bounce across the floor. LOVES this.
-Balls are his toy of choice. And that's about it, everything else he likes is anything but toys (remotes, pens, bulb syringe, pin cushion, cell phones, etc.)
-Has been wearing the same size of diaper since I think, two months. Still wears the same shoes since about 3 months. And he's still a BIG boy. I never had a "baby".
-Has an orange nose from eating too many carrots! Almost all baby food dinners in the third level have carrots. Cannot get away from them... hope this doesn't become permanent.
-Sleeps in the same room as his big sis. After I wrote my whiner post, I moved Lillie's bed back into their room. The first night was a disaster (at 5 am Lillie and Henry were both screaming and Lil kept crying "I'M SO TIRED!!!!) but things have gotten better, even with Henry being sick.

I can't believe how old my man-baby is getting. Next thing I know, he'll be walking!!! Better brace myself.

Best Day

Henry said Mama today for the first time! Yay!

My Potato Heads

Lil and Hank, playing after breakfast. Funny kids.

Whiner Post, Please Ignore

There's going to be some whining in this post, but this is what's constantly on my mind right now. If you're gonna think bad of me, don't read it.

So I don't know if I've shared where we'll be moving once we're done with dental school, but I don't think I have. Anyway, we're moving to the South. I'm not getting much more specific than that because I am still fully aware that this is a public blog. I think it's safe to say that it's going to be a whole new world for us and we're kind of excited, kind of scared, but all in all we know it'll be interesting if nothing else.
However, since we've known where we were headed, we've been really trunky, at least me. Every single day I say I can't wait to get out of here. I am sick of this old, too small of an apartment. I am dying for a backyard and some privacy. I know there will be a lot of things that we'll miss, people, places, etc. in SoCal, but man, I am ready to move on. Nothing like being students for all of the almost 8 years of marriage.
Lillie's mattress has been on the floor of our bedroom pretty much since Henry's been born so that he can get as much uninterrupted sleep as possible...and the same for us too. But there's nothing fun about banging your shins on the corner of the bed as you try and sneak in the dark every night. Or when Lillie starts talking in her sleep and wakes you up. I guess I should be really grateful that she doesn't sleep in our bed, but it's still not the same. I feel like I'm a kid again, wanting my own room. Henry wakes up about 2 times a night where he half-wakes-up and whines for a minute or two before going back to sleep but I know it would wake Lil up. So this is our current sitch. I keep begging Eric to let us put Lillie in with Henry but I know that it will end the same way it did the last two times we've tried. Ugh.
Another MAJOR problem occurs every time Henry takes a nap. Good thing, right? Well, it keeps Lillie out of their room to play and so toys end up all over the rest of the apartment and she ends up watching more tv than I want her to, so that I can try to catch up with all over her messes. She doesn't nap, so I spend too much time cooped up within inches of her. Sounds like I'm a mean mom for not wanting to be around her, but you try it for a day. She is constantly whining for me to find something for her to do, begging to watch a show or to get her something to eat, etc.
The solution to this problem is space. We need another bedroom. We need a backyard. We've still got about 5 months before we're settled into our new home (we haven't gotten any place yet), but only 2 1/2 months til graduation and it's couldn't happen a moment too soon. Get me outta here!!!!
I love my kids, both of them. I think they are the perfect distance apart in age, especially when I see them playing together, it makes everything, yes even the sleeping sitch, worth it. Lillie told me yesterday that Henry was her best friend. Totally melts my heart. All of these probs could be solved with a little more space.

Siblings

 
Love these kiddos

Daddy Daughter date

Dad decided he and Lillie needed to spend some quality time together. Look at those canines .... is she part vampire?

Princess Tea Party

Today Lillie hosted her first tea party and I'm sure it won't be her last, because she loved it! It was so fun to watch these girls acting like little princesses. I can't believe how mature they are becoming. It was cute, they would hold the little cups properly and taking small sips. And Lillie had a ton of fun playing dress up with her friends, even switching dresses at one point. A great way to pass time on a Friday. Bring on the 3 day weekend!!!

First Word

Henry has been saying baba pretty much every time we bring him a bottle, so we think this is officially his first word. I mean, he babbles dadadada and babababa and other things every once in a while, but not like this. Yay, buddy!