Merry December

We're coming to the end of December and I've only done one blog post this month. That's probably because I haven't taken many pictures of the boys, which I know is a cardinal sin with boys so young and cute as mine. We've been pretty busy this month. Here are a few things we've been doing:

The number one thing that keeps me busy is taking care of 2 boys. Between taking care of them and basic housework, it's a miracle I get anything else done at all. But they're so cute, it's worth it. I spend a lot of time with them like this, changing their diapers:

Dallin usually hold's Connor's hand when they're laying next to each other.

I plan to take side by side pictures like this occasionally to compare Connor's growth to Dallin's. We'll see how long it takes Connor to catch up.

We decorated our house for Christmas.

Dallin loved helping his Dad.

My brother Neil and his family stopped by to see us a week ago. They brought some presents for us to open and it felt like Christmas morning.

Dallin was so excited to open his presents. He was happy to help open (and play with) Connor's presents too. It helped him get in present opening mode for tomorrow.
More than the presents, Dallin loved playing with his cousins and aunt and uncle. Neil was very tired after a long drive from Arizona, so he was trying to take a nap on the floor. But the kids thought it would be more fun to climb on him.

The month has been full of doctor's appointments. New foot orthotics for Dallin (3 appointments), Fluid in Dallin's ears and a round of antibiotics (2 appts), and a 2 month check-up for Connor. Connor is growing so quickly. He's getting so chubby and already growing out of some 0-3 month clothes, like this awesome shirt:

And the matching shoes don't feet his big feet anymore. Sorry Julie.

At 2 months old, he now weighs 13 lbs, 4 oz (a weight Dallin didn't reach til well after 6 months), putting him around 80th percentile. Having gone through what I have with Dallin's weight, I don't really put much importance on percentile numbers. But's it's kinda nice to have a big baby for a change and to not have people freaking out about his weight. At his appointments, we get to talk about little things like his dry skin and weird toe nail, rather than weight gain and heart problems.

Connor has started smiling and it is one of the cutest things I've ever seen, tied for first place with Dallin's first smile. I'm having a hard time capturing photographic evidence.

This is the best I've gotten.

Dallin's vocabulary is growing daily. He picks up new words so well. They're not perfectly formed, clear words yet, but we can usually tell what he wants. He's now mastering 2 syllable words like Connor and cracker (which sound very similar is Dallin-ese.) He has quickly learned the word and sign for "asleep" because he's always trying to cuddle Connor while he's asleep, and the last thing I want is a baby who was woken up early. Similarly, he's learning "hurt" in an attempt to help him understand that laying on top of Connor will hurt him.

I'm not sure where he learned this sign since we weren't practicing this one with him, but he picked it up somewhere and pulled it out when we were saying bye to his Grandma Crapo on the phone.

Of course, after trying to make him perform for 5 minutes, his talking and signing quality was diminishing for the video, but you get the idea.

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas tomorrow. I promise to take lots of pictures so I'll have something to post about.

Connor's Blessing

Part of the reason that we had family come visit for Thanksgiving is so that they could see Connor be blessed in church the following Sunday.

Connor did his part well. He stayed asleep and didn't cry at all through the blessing. He also did a good job of not spitting up all over his clothes or the beautiful blanket his Aunt Sarah made him. We're so grateful for the family who came to be with us. We're really glad that my parents were able to fly here for the weekend to attend the blessing.

We're happy that Connor is part of our family.

We love him a lot.

And I think he loves us too.

I love hearing the words of the blessing because it reminds me that Connor won't be a baby forever. Some day he'll grow up and be making his own choices and even have a family of his own. I just hope I can do the best I can to help him along the way, to teach him about life and how much Heavenly Father loves him.

Thanksgiving

We had a full house for Thanksgiving. Mckay's parents came to visit us, along with some of his siblings and their kids. we had 7 adults and 8 kids (ages 10 to 1 month old) in the house. It was close quarters at times but we had a lot of fun.

The boys played "hockey" in the entryway.

Mckay made a hockey stick from cardboard for the kids to use.

Dallin loved having lots of cousins around to play with.

I'm not sure how they figured this one out.

Dallin and Porter were pretty inseparable the whole time.

I loved hearing them grunt and jabber to each other as they walked around the house getting into things. They're only 2 weeks apart in age and despite each having unique difficulties and challenges of their own, they've managed to stay pretty close in size and developmental ability.

The older boys were really helpful with taking care of Connor.

They held him a lot for me while I cooked.

We made most of the traditional Thanksgiving fixings. I made the same brined turkey from last year and it was just as delicious and moist. There were three kinds of pie: pumpkin, pecan and apple with a streusel crumble on top. when I made the apple pie, there were quite a few sugared/spiced apple slices that wouldn't fit in the pie crust. So I put the bowl of leftovers by Dallin and he ate all of them!

And made a very sticky mess in the process.

We're not really big on black Friday shopping, but Mckay's brother had some deals scouted out that he wanted to shop for. Five of us went to Walmart so that we could divide and conquer to get everything on the list. I took Connor along, but kept him close in the wrap so he would stay safe in the chaos. Even though it was really crowded, it was kinda fun running around grabbing everything, and we didn't have to wait outside in the cold. Here we our with our cart.

None of the stuff in this cart was ours, it was all for Mckay's brother. We did buy a memory foam bath mat though for $6.97. I know, we're pretty daring.

While family was still visiting, we went to a place called Jump It. It's this fun place for kids that's full of inflatable bouncy houses, slides, etc.

Dallin loved it.

He really liked this little slide he could go down by himself.

I love the "moonwalk" crawl he does at the end! I laugh every time I watch it.

Connor didn't really do much at Jump It.

But he stayed warm and cozy while he napped.

Felt Crayon Roll

Dallin has a friend who is having a birthday party this week. I thought it'd be fun to make a little present for him, so I made a Crayon Roll out of felt. I used this tutorial and this tutorial from Skip to My Lou, and took the info from both to make one that worked for me and the supplies I had on hand.

Presenting the Felt Crayon Roll!

Now, I'm not very good with sewing, and my sewing machine with funky, weird stitching doesn't help things, but this was a very easy project for me. I finished it in 2 hours; one hour I had a baby strapped to me, and the other I had a toddler sitting next to me getting into everything. So it's very doable.

I used felt I had leftover from making felt food. They are basic 9x12 felt sheets that you can get at the craft store for 25 cents. If you want a crayon roll like mine, you'll need two 5x12 pieces and one 6x12 piece.

Next, fold the 6x12 piece in half lengthwise and lay on top of a 5x12 piece.

Mark on the felt where you'll be sewing lines for the pockets. Starting on one side, measure in about 1 1/2 inches. The next marks will each be 1 inch apart until you get to the end. The last pocket should also be about 1 1/2 inches, which should give you enough room for a crayon and a some extra space for stitching the edge.

Sew lines down the felt to create your pockets. Make sure you back stitch really well to give the pockets durability. They'll get pulled on a lot with little hands putting crayons in and out of them.

Then line up the other 5x12 felt piece on the back and sew the edges together, leaving a 1/4" edge.

(Wow, these colors are really off. Just wait, the last shots show a more accurate felt color.)

Before you sew it all the way up, take a good size (20+ inches) ribbon, fold in half, and put the folded edge in between the 5x12 felt pieces. Make sure the ribbon goes in far enough for the sewing machine to secure it as you stitch the rest of the way.

And there you have it! Insert crayons and you're good to go.

This is perfect for when you're out and you need something occupy a kid. You might also want a small pad of paper.
This makes a great birthday gift, stocking stuffer, Christmas present, etc.

And seriously, it was so fast to make. When Mckay came home that day and I showed him the crayon roll I made, he said, "Wait, you made that...? Today...? And you already cleaned up and put the sewing machine away....?" I think he's used to projects that take me forever while the sewing machine sits out for days and scraps of fabric and thread are strewn about the house....

Marble Track revisited

Apparently marbles aren't the only thing that will go down a marble track.

Square and triangle shaped blocks do too!

Comparisions

We went mini-golfing this weekend with some school friends, and we brought both the boys with us. It was a rather chilly night, so we wanted to dress Dallin is something warm. We remembered this snow suit we have.

Dallin was almost a year old in this picture. He's pretty much drowning in the huge suit.

Over a year and a half later, it finally fits him!

We got a small golf club for him and a ball. He had a blast running around the course and trying to get out of sand traps.

On Sunday I dressed Connor is this cute whale outfit that used to be Dallin's.

First, a look at Dallin wearing it:

And now here's Connor:

Connor is two weeks older in his picture than Dallin is in his, but I think they look pretty similar.

And lastly, the boys taking a Sunday nap together.

Well, next to each other.

Friday

Both of the boys are napping.

I made a delicious grilled cheese sandwich for lunch.

(avocado, tomato, swiss and provolone cheese on sourdough bread)

Life is good.

Now that we have another child to devote attention to, we don't always see what Dallin is doing until it's too late.

For some reason, he thought we would rather have all the toilet paper off the roll.

I love that he got up to sit on the toilet before doing it.

Dallin likes to "help" unload the dishwasher.

I'm not big on his method of unloading them on the floor.

But I think it's pretty cute that he sorted the plates one by one into their proper piles.

And I think this guy is pretty cute too.

Life with 2

It's amazing to me that after just 2 short weeks, I can already see so many differences between "newborn Connor" and "newborn Dallin." Connor is very relaxed. He will often lay content all by himself, just starring off into space for a long time (20 minutes... that's a long time for a newborn to be awake and content!). He certainly loves to be held, but I like that he can be happy on his own at times.

Connor loves riding in the car seat.

I guess most babies do, but Dallin didn't. He would cry and cry. I have so many memories of trips around town to run errands with Dallin screaming in the backseat, and me telling him (or maybe I was more telling myself): "We're almost there. We're almost home."

Connor will fall asleep laying down by himself and stay asleep that way. Dallin always wanted to be held while sleeping and would often wake up within 5 minutes if you tried to put him down. I'm not trying to say that Dallin was a difficult baby. He didn't cry for hours on end and he did sleep well (again, if he was being held). I suppose this comparison is more to illustrate how each baby can be so different. And that even at such a young age, their personalities can show through. Dallin clearly thrives being around other people and he needs that closeness and contact with others.

Connor enjoys "tummy time."

I've never heard of a baby liking tummy time, so this time Connor is the odd one.

Dallin is always hopping into pictures, reminding us that he's still here. I'm sure we'll have many pictures like this over the next few years.

Here's Connor all dressed up and ready for church.

Connor's first bath.

He was okay with it at first.

But then he got cold and mad.

Dallin is definitely growing up a lot. He has figured out how to climb up on things. His favorite is the kitchen table.

I'm not even sure what he expects to do when he gets up there, since it's cleared off most of the time.

He is attempting to say a lot of words and he's always learning more sign language. He has started "inventing" signs when he wants something and doesn't know the sign for it. He'll make some gang sign with his hand, mumble some jibberish and expect you to know what he wants. At least he's made the connection that signs equal communication!

My mom was here for 2 1/2 wonderful weeks helping us with the kids.

Dallin loved having her here and he's gotten used to snuggling with her in the mornings. He was very sad to see her go today. I was too because now I'm on my own during the day.

I managed lunchtime alright though, thanks to the wrap.

Having a water birth AND wearing my baby in a moby wrap: I have all kinds of hippie street cred now.