Trick or Treat!

As the post title says, this is a strictly a "trick or treat" post. But before I get to writing about the adventures we had on halloween night, I need to update you on my trip to Las Vegas. Although that mini-break didn't land on halloween weekend, it was still full of tricks and treats. The treat was that Sydney, Jake and I got to go down and spend a couple of days with Jess, Nate and my adorable nephew Sawyer. The trick was that Jake actually got a terrible cold, and was horribly fussy and miserable for the better part of the weekend. And besides all that, it always feels a bit like halloween walking down the strip--you never know what kind of weirdos you'll come across there :)

***Disclaimer.. if you read either of my sister's blogs, you probably already saw most of the vegas pics--feel free to skip down to the halloween part of this post ;)

The drive down to Vegas couldn't have gone better. I broke down and finally invested in a DVD player for Jake, and he was kept thoroughly entertained with that. We stopped in St. George for a couple hours and did some shopping and got some In N Out (of course).

Jake was so happy to be out of the car and stretching his legs!

We arrived on Friday evening and stayed at Nathan's parents house. On Saturday we headed out for the Vegas strip!

I brought down my doubles kit so we were able to spend the day pushing around one stroller. It was so nice to pass it around between the three of us!

Jake was pretty unhappy for most of the day, due to what we later learned was the start of a nasty cold, but he did have a lot of fun at FAO Schwartz! Looking back, I feel sort of bad--we didn't realize he was sick yet, and he ran all over the store grabbing everything.. needless to say, he spread his infection to probably a hundred other kids in the process--yikes.

A happy moment--Recently Jake has become obsessed with Sesame Street. Meeting Big Bird was an exciting experience for him!

I think he wanted to take cookie monster home with us!

At the end of the long fun/stress filled day. Sawyer hit his limits at that point, and Jake was (finally!) passed out under his blanket, sick and exhausted. Vacations with kids are not exactly relaxing!

Since Jake was just getting worse, Syd and I decided to take off a little early and left the next morning. It was so nice to spend a couple days with my sisters. we are planning the leave the kids behind next time! ;)

Onto Halloween! So Jake had a rough week trying to get over his cold, and by the time Halloween night rolled around, he was all better but still kind of a tired grouch. We were planning to take him trick or treating around 6 with his cousin scott. However, Jake decided to throw the biggest tantrum he's ever had. We sent Scott and his parents on their way, and I spent about an hour trying to calm down my insane child and convince him to put on his costume.

At 7 o'clock I was just about ready to call it a night, and decided to try one more tactic. I forced his costume on him and took him outside.. as soon as we got out there, he was happy and ready to go!

He was a bit hesitant to walk up to the houses.. but after a couple he realized that his bravery would be rewarded with a piece of chocolate per door.

Within a few minutes, Jake become a fully converted trick or treater!

It got even better when we went home and let him enjoy his spoils.

I don't think we'll have any problems from him next year! :)

While walking around the neighborhood after the tantrum, I joked around with Sydney asking if spending time with us would be good birth control for her in the future.

The truth is, there are always going to be hard days, but I still stand by my claim that being a mom is the best gig ever. I feel so lucky to have such a healthy and smart little boy. The times of chaos just make me more grateful for all the tender moments. And lets face it, how abnormal would it be if your kids were always perfect little angels? I love Jake's spunky personality, and all that comes with it--tantrums included. After all, the treats wouldn't be as delicious without a few tricks! It could be argued that I should have dressed him as a monster this year to reflect on his behavior.. but Jake will always be my lovable little pumpkin.

First time for everything

I have this small problem called poor followthrough. My husband and those lucky enough to spend a large amount of time with me can tell you it's true. I generally have good intentions, and often bore Wesley with all my schemes. My house is littered with good intentions... a guitar and flute that mostly collect dust, half empty photo albums, pieces of fabric that I swear will one day magically turn into a quilt... the list goes on forever. I find that the more I go on about them, the better the chance that I will shame myself into actually going through with my plans. Take this blog for example. I have NEVER kept up a journal, and I feel like this blog is a representation of something I would very much like to be--a person who finishes what they start. So it's 11 PM, and I just know if I don't update now, another week will go by before I find a chance to sit down and write. So feel honored, because I am giving up reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for you. (and no, it's not my first time reading it--if there is anything you should know about me, it's that I will read a good book over and over... thats actually why I don't have more time to blog. It hasn't got much to do with being a mom.. I just like to spend all my free time reading and re-reading.)

So on with the post. I would like to share some of our recent adventures and firsts, naturally with a bundle of photos.

Jake had a very inevitable first--a big whopping shiner. I knew it was coming. The question was how, when, and where. Well he got it climbing the steps in front of the Provo Temple. It was about 3 weeks ago, while my Aunt and Uncle were visiting from Germany.. and it was right between the eyes. Poor little guy. I had just set him down and he got so excited about reaching the pretty fountains, that he rushed the steps like he would the carpet ones at home. He was pretty shaken up, but I let him splash his hands in the fountains for awhile, and pretty soon he forgot all about it. I didn't forget though.. Once I managed to stop replaying the loud crack I heard when Jake collided with the pavement, I still had his bruised and puffy souvenir to look at for about a week.

At least his nose didn't break right?

My Uncle Siggi was doing press photography during General Conference, so he and my Aunt were out here for a few days and had some time for a visit. Jake loved them and we had so much fun!

For the first time since I moved to Utah, I went to the Cornbellys Pumpkin Fest at Thanksgiving Point. Let me tell ya, it was well worth the wait, because going with my cute boys was so so so fun! If you haven't gone, make plans to do it sometime. You won't regret it!

Jake was a bit skeptical of the pumpkins all over the place..

...But he LOVED the "Corn" box!
...and I'm am pretty sure he had a thing for the Pumpkin Princess

We practiced Lassoing bull horns, but he didnt like sitting on the saddle very much..
we all LOVED the spooky hayride through the cornfield!
They had these little wagons to pull your kids around in.. definitely a hit!

I decided that since I'm not so great with the crafty projects, I needed to start with something a little simpler than a quilt. I have taken on refinishing some of our furniture. We have these 4 hand-me-down book shelves that are totally functional, but don't match any of our stuff. So I have been turning them black. And no, I'm not awesome, they are just laminate on the outside and I was able to just spray paint them. But they represent a desire that I actually followed through with. Here was my first completed one! yay me! I think if I can actually finish doing ALL FOUR bookshelves, I may even do the dining room table! (we'll see, that would actually involve sanding and priming..)

Lastly, a quick rundown of some new "Jake things".

1. He sings.. not in tune or anything.. but he loves to shout during the church hymns, and "la- la's" along with the Elmos World song on Sesame Street.

2. Speaking of Sesame Street.. as soon as Jake hears the harmonica that signals the start of the theme song and a new episode, he will drop what he is doing, run to the living room, and begin waving his arms and spinning in circles til he falls.

3. Not only is "no" still the favorite word, but he now shakes his head furiously while saying no.. just to make his point more clear.

4. Second favorite word.. shoes..which also secretly means socks and gloves, and sometimes coat.

5. Jake will often shut his door and climb into his tent and play.. if I try to join him he usually pulls the tent flap down. There is a strict "no old people" policy going on in there. The other day I caught him lounging while casually flipping through a harry potter book, and I managed to snap a picture before he kicked me out.

Last but not least, here are a couple pictures from the park. I just thought they were cute.

If you made it through the entire post, thanks for reading!

Love Sick

Last Sunday Wesley and Jake were sick, so they stayed home from church together. I went by myself (which felt SO weird, by the way) and when I came home, I quickly discovered that my boys had made a very speedy recovery in my absence. Luckily I had my trusty little FLIP video camera on hand, and was able to capture the chaos.

No wonder Jake loves his Daddy so much.

Also, I just wanted to write a quick little progress update. Last week, Jake learned the word "shoe" (no surprise there), and now chants the word while trying to put on any shoes he can find. Last night, he gave Wes and I kisses for the first time. Usually, if we ask for kisses, the most we can expect is a quick blown kiss, and then he will run away before we can catch him. But last night, we got real ones! Moments like that really make all the craziness worth it :)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week, and enjoying the fabulous pre-fall weather!

New Family Pics

After a summer in Virginia with our parents, my sister Sydney is now back in town, chipping away at her BYU undergrad. I am so happy to have her back on a number of levels. She fills many roles around here, including, but not limited to:

Awesome sister

Fabulous babysitter

Perfect shopping partner

and last but not least: photographer extraordinaire

Naturally, the second I could get it together, we planned a family picture outing. It's amazing how fast Jake grows and changes, because we just took pictures 6 months ago, and he is already so different! To those of you who already saw all these (and about a million more) on facebook, sorry to subject you to it again. But Jake has grandma's who want to always see pictures, and let's face it, I really love how these turned out! So, yes, here they are once again for your viewing pleasure. I hope you like them almost as much as I do. Thanks again Syd--You have a special talent for catching the perfect moments. Because really, this photo session was a nightmare, and getting jake to hold still and smile was a nearly impossible feat. But once again, Syd came through. Love you Syd!

Summer Updates

I'm way overdue for a new post.  We have just been soaking in our last wonderful weeks of the summer sunshine.  I can't believe we are already changing seasons.  It has been an awesome summer, and Jake and I have been spending as much time outdoors as possible. All I can say is, it's a good thing that the fall is packed with holidays, BYU football games, and multicolored leaves, because that's what it takes for me to say goodbye to the heat :)  But, I've lit my apple cider candles, and am preparing for the upcoming cool weather, already feeling those holiday jitters.  

As usual, I have a bunch of random pictures to post, and will try to give a good summary of our happenings along the way. I hope all of you have had a great summer!

First things first.  End of August I got to see Jess and her fam for a few days.  They were visiting Utah for their annual family reunion with Nate's side.  They stayed for 2 nights before going up to the Larsons, and after it was over, Jess and Sawyer stayed behind to hang with me and Jake for a bit before flying home to Nathan.  We had so much fun, and as usual, it went by way too fast. So fast, in fact, that we snapped maybe 5 pictures.  Woops. But here are a couple anyways. 

Going for a walk with my snazzy new stoller.  The jump seat in back actually comes off, so this was the maiden voyage for my stroller as a double.  It went very smoothly, and I'm excited for the day I can fill it with two little babes of my own!! 

Jake introducing Sawyer to the wonders of the exersaucer.  

 One night when Jerai and Phil were here, I was just going to give Jake a quick bedtime bath.  Jess and Jerai decided to get in on it too.  What these pictures don't show, are all the parents on the other side of the camera.  All 6 of us squeezed into the bathroom to watch our cute boys having their first group bath! 

Negative milestone--Jake figured out how to climb on all the furniture a few weeks ago, and I now have a master climber on my hands.  Wes caught him trying to climb up the entertainment center yesterday. holy moly, I am so scared of what I'm in for!

Jake loves to color.  Now if I could just get him to enjoy coloring in his book instead of all over himself...

Around mid-summer, Jake dropped his second nap.  Most days, things run pretty smoothly.  Occasionally his nap gets cut short, and then he tends to crash during dinner in his highchair. 

My cousin Jerai and I have been taking advantage of the hot summer by arranging play dates together with our boys.  Her little guy, Boyd, is just 5 months younger than Jake.  These pics are from her backyard. Thanks to a hose, a kiddy pool, and a dog, the kids were entertained and we were able to relax and work on our tans!

Poor kid. Jake thought it would be fun to water him. (and that water was FREEZING).  Luckily, Boyd is a lot tougher than Jake, (even though he's younger).  If roles were reversed, Jake would've cried like a baby, but Boyd took the bullying in stride.  

A couple weeks ago, we went shopping at the Gateway.  I brought along Jake's swim stuff and we let him play in the sprinkler playground as a reward for being such a good shopper :)

Unfortunately, Jake was afraid of the huge crowd of older kids splashing around.  Wesley took one for the team, and faced the fountains, getting drenched in the process.

We got Jake his very own chair at Ikea a few weeks ago.

He loves watching Cars, Bolt, and High School Musical 3 the most. 

Daddy and Jake eating chicken nuggets together.  One of the many reasons Jake prefers to hang out with dad.  Mom never lets him eat on the couch :) 

These are just a few pics I snapped of Jake at the park the other day.  It used to be a lot easier to take his picture, back in the day, before he could run away so quickly.  But I got a few cute ones anyway :)

As always, thanks for reading!

Caught red-handed

So Jake hit his 15 month mark last week.  With all the growing up he's been doing, I find myself constantly entertained.  It's so funny watching him slowly turn into a mischievous little devil.  I'm amazed at the trouble he can get into, and the stuff he does when he gets bored.  I have a few funny stories to record in my online journal, so hopefully you enjoy them almost as much as I did :)

First off, a couple weeks ago, Jake discovered my chocolate stash.  Its a lower drawer in the kitchen, and it's filled with all sorts of delicious German sweets.  One day I was cleaning the house, and noticed that it had gotten quiet--too quiet.  I went into the kitchen and found jake bent over the stash, about to put a shiny, tin foil wrapped, easter egg into his mouth.  I called him out and told him to drop it, which he reluctantly did.  That's when i noticed the steady stream of brown drool coming from his closed lips. I got down eye level with him, and realized that he had very large chipmunk cheeks.  I stuck my finger in, and pulled out two mashed up easter eggs, complete with foil.  so gross.  I explained to him about how he was not allowed into the sweets stash without mommy or daddy. 

Later that evening I caught him leaning over the drawer again.  I silently pointed him out to Wesley, so he could see what his sneaky little boy was up to.  Ok, so here's the funny thing.  Jake listens A LOT better to daddy, because as soon as Wes said "Jake?" he dropped his handful of chocolate, slammed the drawer shut, and looked up, innocent as could be.  very tricky. 

And now, for the third strike. A couple days later, I thought Jake had finally gotten over the drawer obsession.  He was playing on the kitchen floor while I cooked dinner.  All of a sudden I see this little body whiz past me, making a beeline out of the room.  I called after him, and he dropped a monstrous load of goodies and kept running. When I caught up to him, he clamped his mouth shut, and as I tried to coax him into opening it, he began to cry.  Let me tell you, watching jake throw a tantrum with a mouthful of chocolate, while trying to keep his mouth shut was one of the funniest things I have ever seen.  Eventually, I got his mouth open, and realized he had unwrapped an entire bar of chocolate, shoved it into his mouth, grabbed an armload of other stuff, and booked it out of the room.  We've kept a better watch on him and we haven't had any chocolate incidents since.  I love my little sneak thief.

(no, we didn't put him in jail, he climbed in there all by himself :) )

Another great story--

Ok, so obviously Jake has a sweet tooth, but the nice thing is, he is equally obsessed with brushing his teeth.  I generally will help him brush, and then let him run free with the toothbrush afterward so he can get his mouth nice and clean.  (I suspect it has more to do with eating the yummy toothpaste, and chewing on the fun brush than oral hygiene, but I'll take it!)

So anyway, I have been going through toothbrushes like crazy.  In fact, over the last week, Jake lost all his kid size ones, and I was letting him use our extra adult ones.  A couple days ago, I was getting something out of this trunk in my living room, and opened the lid to find this:

Apparently Jake was starting a small toothbrush horde, shoving them through the handle of the trunk.  Sooo sneaky!

Every day Jake is learning new things that make his and our world so much more exciting.  Although life can sometimes be harder with all the mischief, I wouldn't trade it for anything! It gives me so much joy being able to see him experience life, and really, we generally have a blast together.  I'm sure he will get even trickier as the months go by, and I'm happy/nervous to see what he comes up with in the future.  I have a few more pics with some of jake's weirder moments.  I hope you enjoy them :)

jake has recently become obsessed with trying on shoes.  any that he can get his hands on..

It's pretty funny watching him try to walk with my flip flops.

Last week we bought Jake a pair of those squeaky shoes from a boutique shop.  They have quickly become his favorite toy, and he will carry them around, nudging me in the legs until I help him put them on.  I can get on board with the obnoxious squeaking all day long (they keep him so entertained!) but maybe I shouldn't have chosen such a dressy looking pair... because he wears them with just about everything.. including his sleeper the other night. He is so wierd, but how could a mom deny that sweet little face?

Final story: Jake loves playing peek-a-boo, except he likes to be the one hiding and jumping out.  This morning, I heard him giggling and saying "bye-bye" from my bathroom.. I went in and found this..

He was cracking up, waiting for me to come in so he could scare me.  I ran and grabbed the camera, came back in, and began saying "where's jake?" "where's jake?"

and then, he jumped out to surprise his unsuspecting momma. 

Could I love him more???

Inevitable

**Disclaimer*** This post is very wordy, personal and probably to much information for some people.  But I'm writing it anyway. So read if you dare :) Also, there are no pictures (i know, a first for me!)

This morning, around 6, I heard the usual cry coming from Jake's room, and as usual, a few minutes later, Wesley brought my not-so-little bundle of joy into my bed so I could feed him a little breakfast.  And for the first time, I noticed that I had only the tiniest bit of milk to nurse him with.  And this got me to thinking.  Actually, it got me kind of sad.  

Let me give you a little background info.  Jake and I have had a wonderful experience with nursing over the past 14 months.  After his first 3 weeks of life, Jake refused bottles in every form, so I nursed exclusively until he was about 5 months old.  At that point, I began a long and frustrating road of new foods.  Until Jake was about 10 months old, he was extremely picky and I struggled to get him to eat regular foods.  The doctor was actually a bit concerned at that point, because for a baby who had pretty much lived in the 70th percentile for weight, dropping to the 8th was a big jump.  Apparently, breast milk isn't the most fattening diet for an active toddler :).  But we kept at it, and by the time he was a year old, I had Jake doing about 50% nursing.  

I consider myself very lucky for several reasons.  I didn't have any major issues with nursing, and neither did Jake.  I know a lot of people who have all sorts of problems, especially at the beginning, and some are just never successful in this endeavor.  And then there are just people who prefer not to do it.  So I'm grateful that I was both able, and excited for the experience.  It's always just been something we do well together.  However, over the last couple months, something changed.  Jake began pulling on my shirt constantly and whining for milk.  You wouldn't believe how many times his antics caused me to flash the unsuspecting public.  But I worked on it, and by the time he was 13 months, we were down to 3 feeds a day.  

Then, when I went home to Virginia, two things happened.  First of all, Jake kept seeing his 2 month old cousin nursing, and nearly every time Sawyer got to eat, Jake would pull on my shirt and fuss until he got his way.  For those who don't know.. 2 month old babies tend to eat about every 3 hours.. needless to say, it got a little frustrating, and embarrassing.  And the other thing that happened was more like an epiphany for me.  Watching my sister feed her tiny little runt made me notice just how enormous Jake was.  

Ok, so this was my situation 2.5 weeks ago.  I felt like it was finally time to wean. And really, they say the best thing for babies is to let them wean themselves.  But I know my son, and thats just not something he will do for himself, unless I want to nurse him 'til kindergarten. :)  So I set out to do a gradual weaning process, figuring it would take until the end of the summer.  I dropped one feed at a time, and although he was very frustrated at first, within 2 weeks I had him down to one feed a day.  

Ok, so back to my story about this morning.  I've been doing my one feed in the wee hours of the morning.  We've had this routine going where Jake gets up around 6, Wes brings him to me, and we have a good cuddle and feed for about 30 minutes.  Then I put him back to bed for a couple hours.  It's worked well for us, and I think it's safe to say that it's been the hardest feeding to give up.  So here's the thing: If you don't nurse at least 3 times a day, your milk supply goes down.  And with only one time a day, it's dwindled to almost nothing.  

And basically, I'm just sad.  I mean, I made the decision to stop nursing, but I kind of thought it would take a little longer and that I would have more time to get used to it.  I love the closeness it brings.  Jake isn't very cuddly and so it was my special time with him when he would hold still and just be with me.  So, yes, I'm happy in a lot of ways to be moving on, but I do have some mixed feelings.  And I wanted to write them down.  Thanks for reading, I feel a lot better just being able to get it on paper.  I never thought I would love nursing as much as I did, but there ya go.