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.