Sunday, February 10, 2013

15 Months

Time is flying and I can't believe Deacon is 15 months! Now I realize I post a million pictures and tons of stats when I do these monthly updates but I am so glad I do. I have had an app on my phone where I have documented all of Deacon's milestones since he was born. I have been pretty precise as far as exact dates of nitty gritty things he has done. Well I just got a new phone and all the info from that app was deleted. I was seriously hysterical but the only thing keeping me sane is the fact that I have documented Deacon's life on a montly basis on my blog. That being said, I still feel like a horrible mom!
15 Month Stats:
Weight: 22 pounds, 7 ounces-18th percentile
Height: 31 1/4 inches- 45th percentile
Anyway, Deacon keeps getting busier and more fun by the day. He truly is such a joy and we love him so much. He is quite the talker as far as jibberish goes. He has a handful of words which include: mama, dada, nana, papa, cheese, go, bath, and this (if that counts as a word). We have realized how much we say "this" to him and it is a hard habit to break! He is still signing but mainly uses milk, water, more, all done, and dog, fish, and book. He loves the signing time DVD's and will sign nearly every word when he watches the show. It is pretty cute! He knows the following animal sounds: horse, cow, pig, dog, elephant, and cat. He is pretty good at pointing to his body parts (eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, ears, belly button, hands, feet, head). He loves to find mom and dad's belly button and does so by lifting up our shirts! He has started doing this adorable cheesy face this month. I have tried so hard to catch it on camera but have not been able to but it is hilarious! 
He now has 8 teeth...4 on top, 4 on bottom. 
He got his second ear infection last month which was in both ears. He had a cold but I really didn't think it was anything more until he started grabbing at his ears like crazy one night. I quickly decided to take him in before the clinic closed and I'm so glad I did! He was pretty miserable!
He is really into trucks and cars lately. He loves to push them around and make sounds with his mouth. 
He is a pretty great eater. He is very independent and won't let us feed him. He is awesome at using utensils. Some of his favorite foods include: cereal, any kind of fruit, corn, turkey, cheese, macaroni, and bread. He is pretty good about eating whatever we are having for dinner. He loves those Gerber fruit and veggie puffs. He would eat them all day if I would let him. 
He loves playing on stairs, which drives me crazy sometimes! However, he just recently learned how to go down on his tummy and he is pretty careful so that makes me feel better. 
He is OBSESSED with phones and remotes to the point of throwing tantrums if he doesn't get them. Anytime he hears a phone ring he immediately puts his hand up to his ear as if he's talking on the phone. We have some pretend phones that he talks on and constantly says, "dada, nana, and papa" into the phone. He also likes to pretend to talk into other objects like remotes or anything resembling a phone. 
He loves our cell phones and has gotten pretty good at working them and can get to the games he plays. It is insane!
Church is a joke lately. He literally will not stay in the pew for more than 5 seconds. We spend the whole 3 hours in the hall. 
He's a t.v. fanatic. Not sure how this happened because I really limit the amount of t.v. he watches but he loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse more than anything and it is the only guaranteed thing that will always cheer him up. 
He sleeps from about 8 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. and takes a two hour nap around 1 p.m. Sometimes he sleeps longer. 
He loves to play pat-a-cake. He will clap his hands to let us know he wants to sing it and he throws his arms in the air to "throw it in the oven". 
He loves peek-a-boo and will cover his eyes with his hands then uncover them and yell. 
He is kind of needy as far as wanting us to play with him at all times. It is hard to get anything done!
He has learned how to climb onto things that aren't too high. 
He really hates to share and cries if other kids takes his toys or even comes near them. 
We go to the library 1-2 times a week for story time and I'm starting him in a gymnastics class this week. 
He loves bath time but absolutely HATES having his teeth brushed. He has still been getting a bottle before bed. He loves it and frantically signs "milk" when he gets his jammies on. However, last night I put him to bed without a bottle and he did great! I'm hoping we will be able to cut him from the bottle, although I'm really going to miss holding him before bed! He goes to bed great and goes down for naps pretty easily. It takes him awhile to fall asleep but he usually doesn't cry. He still takes his binkie for naps and bedtime. Not sure when I will dare take it away!
He really is such a sweetheart and we love him so much! He keeps us entertained all day everyday and has such a fun personality. I really wish everyone could see him in his element because he's one of a kind. He has so much spunk and loves life so much! 
He is so strong willed and can be quite dramatic when he wants to be yet can be so sweet and can be quite the little ham. He is constantly getting people's attention when we are in public and knows how to put on a show when he wants to. He cracks us up!
We love you more than you'll ever know Deacon! I wish time would slow down but I love seeing you learn and grow. You amaze me and I couldn't be more proud to be your mom!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Heber Getaway

We have some awesome family friends who have a house in Heber, Utah. Alan's step-dad actually built the house and Damon and Missy bought it. It is absolutely beautiful and such a fun getaway house. Damon and Missy have been so generous to let us use the house several times since we have been married. We actually went there on our first honeymoon. We were trying to plan a trip over Superbowl weekend but the house was booked so we quickly arranged to go last weekend. 
The Hubbards and Wards went with us and we had a blast!
We bundled up the first day to do some sledding. The hill in front of the house wasn't much of a sledding hill so we basically just played in the snow and pulled the kids around in the tubes. Actually, the Hubbards and Wards did this because Deacon was HYSTERICAL and wanted nothing to do with being bundled in his snow suit! I guess I can't blame him! 
{Charish, me, Cali}

Aren't these boys the cutest?
{Hubbards & Wards}

The boys did some snowshoeing or should I say hiking up the mountain?
{Alan, Clayton, Spencer}

The girls got pedicures that day while the boys watched the kiddies. I don't think I'll ever get a pedi in Heber again. It was literally the grossest experience of my life. There was just 2 men working, one of which was sick and literally had snot dripping out of his nose onto the floor while working on our feet! I'm still disgusted just thinking about it. 
That night we headed into Park City and ate at Red Rock. The Sundance Film Festival was going on so it was pretty crazy busy. 
Deacon ran around in the freezing cold while we waited for our table. 
After finally being seated, the waiter got our drinks and just so happened to drop the entire drink tray on Charish. She was covered in sticky soda! It was quite the experience. We for sure thought he would cover our tab but only offered to buy Charish dessert. Pretty lame, but it was the best dessert I've ever had. Thanks for taking one for the team Charish!
Sunday we mainly relaxed and the guys watched football. 
The girls went snowshoeing. It was my first time and it was tons of fun and quite the workout! Charish was awesome and went even though she's 20+ weeks pregnant. 
Deacon was adorable and found this photo collage and immediately pointed out his Granddaddy!
The neighbors had horses so we took the kids to feed them apples. 

It was such a fun, relaxing weekend and it was fun to see all our boys together. We did learn, however, that Deacon is entering that lovely phase of not wanting to share any of his toys. We have our work cut out for us!

College Roomies

Over Christmas I was able to get together with my college roommates...minus Emma who we greatly missed! There are 6 of us and between all of us we live in Pocatello, Arizona, St. George, Texas, and Salt Lake. So you can see it is quite difficult to coordinate schedules to get together. Plus, the holidays are always crazy in general. Luckily, it worked out and we had so much fun chatting and catching up. I love these girls so much and I am so blessed I met them at Utah State. I don't think it was a coincidence we all met and I will forever be grateful I chose to go to Utah State because of these amazing girls! I have the best memories of our college days and I laugh out loud just thinking about some of our crazy adventures. Those were definitely some good times! It is crazy to think we are all grown up with husbands, babies, houses, and real jobs...or still in school! 
Thanks for hosting us in your beautiful house Kimmy!
{Kylee, me, Kim, Skye, Natalee}

Friday, January 18, 2013

Christmas Day

We spent Christmas morning with Alan's family. While we waited for all the boys to wake up to open presents, Deacon had a little jam sesh with uncle Mikey. 
Back on Black Friday (or should I say Thanksgiving night) Alan and I waited in line at Toys R Us for two hours to get Deacon a little cleaning cart. I have never really braved the Black Friday madness and we really just did it to experience it once in our lifetime. I don't think I will ever do it again but it's a great memory and it was a good deal. 
I really thought Deacon would like it because he loves pushing around the attachments on our regular vacuum. He ran straight for the little cleaning cart as soon as he saw it. He loves the mop and broom but hasn't quite yet figured out the vacuum and he gets scared when we turn it on. 
Mikey got Deacon this basketball hoop and Deacon loves it! Mikey is the best uncle and seriously is one of the most giving people I know. 
One of Deacon's favorite toys was this $5 truck we got him...go figure!
Deacon got some darling new pajamas. 
I'm so glad we decided to do Christmas in Poky before we left for Utah. Deacon was so out of sorts on Christmas morning and was quite a little grump. I think he was in major sensory overload and he was running on very little sleep. 

Alan and his brother's with their Grandmother and Granddad. 

Around lunch time we headed over to Alan's aunt's house to spend some time with his Dad's family. Unfortunately, I had to leave early to put Deacon down for a nap because he had had it. 

Later that night we got together with my family for dinner, presents, and the traditional matching game. 
A couple years ago my mom started this fun tradition of a matching game with awesome prizes and gift cards. It is so much fun and gets quite competitive. This year she also did a matching game for the grandkids. We look forward to it every year!
Deacon wanted nothing to do with opening presents and instead played with this phone and climbed up and down the stairs. Needless to say, we were exhausted by the end of the night! 
We had such a fabulous Christmas! We all received some amazing gifts and most importantly loved spending time with our families!

Monday, January 14, 2013

Christmas Eve

I LOVE Christmas Eve and this year it was so much fun! We spent the morning at Alan's house for a brunch Laurie hosted for friends and family. Deacon was the center of attention and entertained the guests. He loves playing by the fire, although we have to keep a close eye on him. 
 We always spend Christmas Eve night with my family and we look forward to our fondue dinner all year. 
As we were just about to sit down to eat, Deacon tripped and started screaming. He hardly ever cries when he falls so I knew it was bad. I ran over to him and found a mouthful of blood. I freaked out because he has never had a fall this bad. He must have bit his lip when he fell. It was quite traumatizing for both him and me. Needless to say, he ended up with a fat, bloody lip!
After dinner we acted out the nativity story and opened some gifts. 
We missed my sister's family this year, but it was fun to face time them while we opened our sibling and cousin gifts. 
We ended the night with chocolate fondue...so delicious! 

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Christmas Sunday

I love Christmas Sunday because it gives us a chance to really forget about gifts and shopping and focus on the true meaning of Christmas. I love listening to the Christmas program...unfortunately this year we spent most of the time wrestling Deacon during Sacrament to really take it in. Oh well...maybe next year! 
Deacon started throwing a fit before we could get a family picture so this is the best we could do! I sure love this little boy of mine!