I Think We Have A Dancer On Our Hands

I started dance lessons when I was 3 years old and I continued to take dance until I was 18.  I absolutely loved it!  Not only was it fun but I was able to meet lots of friends from other schools and it was great exercise.  I wish I could still dance just for the work out!  Ever since I was about 12 years old, I have always been excited just by the thought of one day having a daughter of my own that I could put in dance lessons.  I just love watching little girls get all dressed up in their costumes with make up on and going out there and shaking their cute little bums!  So, now that I have a daughter my silly dreams are coming true.  I am not going to push Stella into anything, if she hates dancing then no way will I make her do it.  But just look at the pictures below and I think it is a good indication that she is going to be a dancer!

Some Pictures I Forgot

I use this blog as a journal and a scrap book for our family.  It is so hard to keep up on all of the pictures we take, but this is the easiest way for me to do it. I print off a book in January of the previous year.  Because I do this, I hate to leave out any pictures.  As I was looking through the last few months of pictures I noticed I left out some pictures, so I am adding them in here.  

I love this sweet picture.  Stella is a cuddly baby. She falls asleep on shoulders, and likes to be held.  Both of my kids have liked being held by my dad.  I think it is because he is always warm and has big shoulders to lay on and big hands that hold them.  They feel secure and safe.

We got tickets to go to the Brigham City Temple open house a couple of months ago.  Even though Drake would not remember it, I still wanted him to come see the temple so he knew what we were talking about when we said we were going there.  We went to dinner at Maddox and then headed over to the open house.  Well when we got there it was already like 8:00 p.m. and they told us that it was going to be a 2 hour wait just to get in to the temple.  That wasn't going to to work with our two little kids so we had to leave and didn't get the chance to see it.  We were pretty bummed, but it just gives us more of a reason to go over and do a session.

Stella is always happy.  She only cries when she really needs something.  I just love this little girl.  She makes me smile and laugh every day!

I love witnessing little moments like this.  I walked into my room to find them watching a show together.  Drake could have sat on the chair and watched it all by himself and Stella would have never known or cared, but instead he put it on the floor so she could see and laid by her.  It made me such a proud mommy!

Lauren went to the Homecoming dance a few months ago.  Every time she has gone to a dance I get to help her get ready by doing her makeup and helping her with her hair.  It is so fun!  I enjoy the time I get to spend time with her.  I just can't wait for the time I get to do this on her wedding day!!

Watching cartoons together while mommy makes dinner.

And then eating that yummy dinner!

Drake is so good to Stella.  He always tells her that she is cute and says hi to her and gets her toys to play with.  Stella absolutely ADORES Drake.  She smiles every time she sees him and starts to yell when she hears his voice!  Drake was the only person that could get her to laugh for a long time.

My friend Nikki and I have been sewing some stuff for our girls.  One time when they came over the only way we could get anything done was to strap them down and put on a show!

Josh brought this little toy home for Stella from one of his business trips. I just think this picture is cute!

On the way home from Pocatello late one night both kids fell asleep.  It was heaven to ride in a silent car!

We still have two kids in diapers!!  It is awful!  At the rate we are going, Drake is never going to be potty trained!  

Because of Stella getting so much attention, it has made Drake think that being a baby is a good thing. He sometimes wants to be swaddled and rocked.  He laughs and acts like it is a joke, but deep down he really wants this at times.  That is why I am happy to play along, cause secretly I love it too!

Bye Bye Binky

So Drake absolutely LOVES his binky.  It is such a comfort to him and he loves it when he sleeps and takes naps.  He could suck that thing all day if we would let him.  We have tried taking it away a few times and it has been absolutely traumatizing.  The "binky fairy" came one night and bit the end off of one of his binkys and he was distraught!  He then hid all of his binkys in his sock drawer under his socks so the binky fairy wouldn't be able to find them.  I also loved the binky because it gave me some sanity and some quiet time!  So with all of that said, we have now taken the binky away and here is the story of how we did it.

We went to our 6 month dental check ups last week.  Drake did a great job and let them clean his teeth so good.  We were also really happy to hear that he didn't have any cavities!  When Dr. Theurer came in to check his teeth he simply told Drake that he was going to be 3 soon and that he didn't need a binky anymore.  He also told him his binky was going to ruin his teeth if he kept sucking on it. The hygienist and the dental assistants all chimed in and told him that he didn't need his binky anymore and that he was a big boy now.  He didn't really say much and kind of ignored everyone, but I was grateful that I had a good excuse to take that binky away.

When we got out in the car Drake asked for his binky and I was able to say, "Dr. Theurer took all of your binkys.  It is time to get rid of them because they are ruining your teeth and you are a big boy!"  He said ok and didn't cry like I thought he would.  Well I made a HUGE deal out of it and called everyone we knew so he could tell them what a big boy he was and that he didn't have a binky anymore.  We went up to my moms and she went and took him to the store to get any toy that he wanted. He has wanted a Dr. kit for a while so that is what he got.  

The same day that Drake got rid of his binky, Stella FINALLY decided to take one.  It was the weirdest thing.  She has never taken a binky and now all of the sudden that day she started to suck on it and has loved it since! It is awesome. I have wanted her to take one because like I said it gives me some sanity and them some comfort.  Although I am dreading the day we have to take it away from her, I now know that we can just plan to do it after a visit to the dentist and tell her that Dr. Theurer has them.  The good thing is, is Drake will be able to tell her that is who took his binky's too.  

Drake has had a lot of fun with his new Dr. kit.  He has given everyone check ups and we are all healthy!  When he was giving Lauren a check up he said, "Your heart looks great, the shot will only hurt a little bit, and you have a birdie in your throat that I need to get out!"  He is a funny kid!  

It has been a little over a week now since we took the binky away and he has done pretty good.  He has never cried about it but he has asked about it a few times and has asked my mom if she would go buy him a new one.  The other night when I was laying by him he said, "The only thing I want for my birthday is a new binky!"  That melted my heart and almost made me just give in and let him have it.  But don't you worry I didn't and he hasn't said anything since and that was 2 days ago.  He has been throwing a lot of tantrums and has had a hard time falling asleep and I think it is because he misses his binky.  I do think in a few days though he will have forgotten all about it and hopefully we will be back to somewhat normal!  

We Love Fall

We love this time of year.  The cooler weather, the smells, apples from Grandpa's tree, cooking yummy dinners and making yummy desserts.  There is just something about being inside where it is warm and cozy!  Although we have been really busy this fall, we have had a really good time.

Dressing Stella has been so much fun.  I know that sounds silly, but seeing these cute little outfits on such a cute little baby is just darling.  I have been used to her being in summer clothes and it is fun to now change it up a bit with some warmer clothing.

Drake has had a few sleepovers at Grandpa and Grandma's house. He loves sleeping there.  Probably because he gets to play on their iPad, read stories, eat whatever he wants and my mom lays by him until he falls asleep.

I stayed at my parents house with the two kids and Lauren one weekend because Josh was out of town for work, and my parents were both gone.  Drake came in and woke me up one morning and said, "Mom I want some breakfast."  I looked over and this is what he had brought me!

Drake is really patient with Stella and likes to show her what he is doing and playing with.  He was teaching her how to use the iPad.

Stella found her tongue and for a good week she wouldn't put it in her mouth, it was always out!

 

Stella got to meet Great Grandpa Baird for the first time. He was so excited and just smiled the whole time he held her.

We went to The Crepery one night for dinner.  It was so good and Drake loved the chair swings they had.

Drake is getting so big and wants to do big things. He doesn't want to sit in his high chair much so he gets to sit at the table with us.

I love fall because of the sweaters and hats.  She looks so dang cute in this owl hat.

Free slice Wednesday at Village Inn.

Stella has learned to sit up and is doing so good at eating solid foods.  She will eat anything that we give her and does it all with that cute Stella Smile!

Grandma Lisa came out one night that Josh was gone to help me get the kids ready for bed. (I am so glad she lives close by)

I made caramel apples for the very first time.  They turned out so good.  They tasted great and looked pretty too.  I had fun making them and I think it is a new tradition I am going to start doing every year.

I get to snuggle with my kids every morning.  Due to the time change, my kids are waking up a lot earlier these days so that means some good cuddles in the morning.  I love it!

Some days I get so busy with life and taking care of two kids that I forget to do some things... like change Drake's diaper!  YIKES!!

 Unfortunately Josh's Grandma passed away a couple of weeks ago.  We went to the funeral in Pocatello.  It was nice to be with family and visit with people we haven't seen in a while.  Her funeral was so good.  There were so many good stories and memories shared.  She lived a great life and did so much for her family and those she loved.

Stella has finally learned to take a bottle.  We tried really hard for a long time and finally one day she just got how to do it and has done great ever since.  She can now hold it by herself!

She has this cheesy grin on her face most of the time!

There is something about a sleeping baby that just makes me so happy!

I have been working on a few projects this fall and painting that rug was one of them.  I really like the way it turned out and I think it looks so cute in Stella's room.

My friends and I were able to go to the park in November with no jackets on.  The weather was so nice, and the kids loved playing.  we stuck all of the babies on the swings and they loved it!

Stella and Addi shared a swing for a while.

Drake and Ben

Another cheesy grin from Stella.

Josh has meetings every other Sunday at 6:30 a.m. He usually gets home the same time as the kids are getting up and is able to enjoy those morning snuggles watching cartoons while I get ready for church.

We have had a hard time lately getting Drake to go to sleep.  He wants us to read like 10 books and then sing him songs and lay by him til he falls asleep.  Well this process takes like 2 hours every night. We have been just leaving his room after about 30 minutes of all of that and just hope that he eventually will fall asleep.   When we leave his room he tells us he is going to wait for us to come back up and lay by him some more. He says he is going to wait for us on the rocking chair.  This time he fell asleep waiting and this is how we found him an hour later.  I love this crazy kid!!

Such a big girl!

Drake is such a good big brother and is always trying to help Stella do things. It is usually a good thing and he is so sweet, but other times.....

he does things that she hates and just keeps telling her, "It's ok Stella, don't cry!"

She loves her food so much... ha ha ha this picture made me laugh so hard because she looks so intense getting that spoonful of food.

I love these two kiddos so much, and I hope they always know how much I love them!!