Debbie asked me to help her plan a surprise bridal shower for Merridee, after a month of planning it finally happened last weekend. It was great. I think it really was a surprise, which is really hard/impossible for me and it was the hardest to hide in the last 24 hours! Keeping the secret included hiding packing slips and cards in packages Ben and Merridee opened the evening before the shower which really were gifts sent from friends and relatives unable to attend. As well as all of us smuggling dishes, vintage sheets and lots of food into the house while no one was home or looking.

Invitations are by far my favorite part of any event, I go crazy looking for ideas and smashing them altogether  to get exactly what I want. I am pretty proud of these babies, I water colored half a dozen options then scanned in my favorites to make these double sided beauties. I forgot to take good pictures of them and with the post sunset lighting in my kitchen this what you get. 

Internet = awkward blurring of addresses

We had a picnic theme going, that I was really excited about, I had this fantastic afternoon lunch envisioned for all of us and then the wonderful 90+ degrees weather hit. So we set up eight pop-up tents and pulled out as many chairs as we could, a few of us younger ladies ended up on sheets but it was still a great time. We were all sweaty and hot, but it was so worth it. 

We decorated with old furniture and my sweet husband ran to farmers market that morning to pick up fresh flowers. We stuffed all those flowers into beakers and test tubes which turned out way better than I hoped it would. 

 Check out that awesome green plant!^

After filling our bellies with sandwiches, salads and fruit we gathered around to watch Merridee open gifts. For dessert we had home made ice cream sandwiches, perfect for the hot spring day.  

Merridee got lots of nice things and we had a blast celebrating her and her coming nuptials.

 Poor Merridee had no idea what she was doing that day and wore jeans. Probably should have planned that better, oops. 

Naturally Scott wanted to help Merridee open everything, he was right in the middle of all the commotion. He loves Merridee so much. 

This would be one of those gifts we had to steal the note out of before she read it. We decided to re-wrap it just for kicks. 

Congratulations Merridee we are happy to have as part of the family!

Jeremy's grandparents made the drive to Merridee's bridal shower last weekend, and although it wasn't the first time all four generations were together it was the first time we got a picture. And a pretty good one too. It only took 50 tries, but everyone is smiling and all but the one year old is looking at the camera with their eyes open!

Time is going by so quickly. Some days I just want to yell SLOWDOWN! There are a lot of big changes coming up in our life and we are excited but at the same time over whelmed. Graduation, moving, career decisions, you know only minor stuff. But the main thing is the toddler who is becoming a man. I kid you not. There have been multiple occasions this week that I have had to stop and go pick up my one year old and hug him and kiss up until he finally gives up and gives loves back. Example número uno: on Wednesday Jeremy was in our room with the door closed getting dressed Scott missed the door being closed by 1.2 seconds, he stood up and knocked. With his little fist clenched saying "da da. Da da." When daddy didn't answer he stood up on his tip toes and tried his hardest to open the door. I swear for 3 seconds he was 17. Standing there in his stripey V-neck and cargo shorts waiting to ask dad to borrow the car for his 6:00 date. 

Example número dos. While driving through town we saw our missionaries walking down a street carrying their backpacks. You could tell they were headed somewhere important doing something they really cared about. They walked with purpose and they looked so happy. (We have awesome missionaries, I would be proud to call either of them my son/brother/friend. They are awesome.) I couldn't help but think about their Mommas back home and then my little hear melted. In less than 17 years I will be putting my (grown-up) son on an air plane to anywhere. Alaska, south Caralina, Panama, Guatemala, seriously anywhere. And for half a second I felt like that was where we were headed. If the next 17 years goes as fast as this last year has then I need more time. Do you think if I keep him in onesies and rompers and let him run around without pants on he will stay little forever? It hasn't worked yet. 

Example número tres: today I was holding Jeremy's phone next to mine. The background on his is a picture of itty bitty swinging a few months ago and on mine is a picture of Scott swinging just a couple weeks ago. Holy smokes. His little face has changed so much! He's gotten bigger, his teeth have gotten bigger, his hair longer and fuller he is growing up so fast! Please slow down! 

Only minutes after waking up this morning Scott brought us his shoes, with him still in his jammies I velcroed those tiny little TOMS on his feet and he wore them all morning long. After nap time I lathered him down with two coats of sunscreen, got him dressed in a shirt he had clearly outgrown, put his chubby little feet in his baby sandals and before we left his room he insisted I put his baseball hat on his head. He (sort of) patiently stood at the door knocking and waving bye-bye waiting for us to get our crap together. He talked his little heart out on the way to the park, because he knew we were going to his favorite place and the second we got out of the car he pointed to the swings, begging us to go there first. We took turns pushing him, until we couldn't stand the squeak and sequel of the beloved neighbourhood baby swings any longer. Some days the kid is really hard to please, but most days he just wants to be outside enjoying the sun and perfect spring weather. --- He kept his shoes and hat on until I took them off him at dinner time. I can't believe how fast my baby has turned into a little boy.

"The trick is to enjoy life. Don't wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead."

-Marjorie Pay Hinckley

I have been really busy with project lately, I love projects, I feel like I always have to be doing something with my hands. I have tried really hard not to work too much on projects while Scott is awake, I like to be able to play with him and give him all the attention he needs and deserves. I am so grateful he lets me know if he needs more of me than he is getting. He amazing me daily with the things he knows and learns. 

Afternoon in the Park

After our post church nap we drove around looking for the best park, we quit once we found swings.

I apologize for the lack of words in this post, but I figured after yesterdays three page post it would be okay.

14 Months

Disclaimer: this is a long post about how perfect my child is.

I figured it was time for an Itty Bitty update; these are all things I want to remember about Scott at this age. Our sweet Scotty Boy is 14 months old. He wears mostly 12 month (some 18 mo) clothes; I think he will be in them for a while. He is about 22 pounds and probably 29 or so inches.

He has been eating non-stop. He hasn't ever really refused any food, ever, but there are times when he doesn't want to eat things, he just wants what he wants. His favorite color to eat is orange; carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, cheese, cheddar bunnies, shells and aged cheddar (mac and cheese, he also loves the white cheddar version), mangoes, and peaches, very rarely does he refuse anything orange. He loves peas, broccoli, black beans, tortillas, bread, gorilla crunch cereal (like Kix), baby muffins (made with fruits and veggies and whole wheat flour), avocado, bananas, rice, chicken, ground turkey, apple or pear sauce, Greek yogurt, Ritz crackers, and anything in a pouch. He will occasionally eat tomatoes but he is funny about them, he will even take them out of his mouth sometimes. 

 There are a lot of foods I won’t let Scott eat yet has his entire life to try and discover new foods so I feel like there is no rush introducing him to the junk most of America lives on. For example: anything fried, artificially flavored or colored, loaded with sugar (or any sugar really), processed meat (chicken nuggets, hot dogs, lunch meat…), fruit juice (occasionally mixed with vegetable juice), and anything else I deem “unhealthy” or “unhealthy-ish”. There are also a whole list of food he hasn’t tried yet like fish, beef, pork, peanut butter, choking hazards and his little bum seems to be sensitive to citrus.

Scott loves to drink milk, he expects it first thing when he wakes up, and he drinks half of his cup during his diaper change and pre breakfast play time. The second half gets saved for breakfast. He finishes off his two servings of liquid dairy by his morning snack time and he throws his cup across the room and yells when it is empty before he is ready to be done.

The kid chugs water. Like there is no tomorrow. He has a minimum of three sip cups filled with water around the house every day, one always goes with us and his absolute favorite thing to drink water from is a plastic tumbler with a straw. He has half a dozen toddler straw cups but none of them are as good as the real deal Mom and Dad drink from. If he sees us drinking (or hears us refilling our cup) he opens his mouth real big at us and waits. And waits. Until we put that little straw in his mouth and let him guzzle/back wash. It is so sweet, but we finally bought him his own tumbler last week, we got sick of washing the cheddar bunny chunks out of our water. 

The kid can crawl faster than I can walk. He loves to be chased around the house and thinks it is so funny when we try to keep up with his lightening fast moves. He has taken a few steps on multiple occasions, but is taking his sweet time walking. We are completely fine with that, there are times when we wish he would just walk already, but we are happy just letting him do his thing. He loves to push his little stand and go cart around the house he runs with it and jerks it around when it is time to turn, it is hilarious. He stands up on everything and has been trying to stand up on his own in the middle of the room, it is so funny to watch but it seems like he tries to do it when no one is looking. He recently learned how to crawl up on all fours, he tucks his head down to watch what is behind him between his legs, it cracks us up.

Scott can be quite the naughty boy. Don’t let his cute little face, chubby legs and shinny blues fool you. The kid has a bit of a temper and is as stubborn as can be. He stands up in shopping carts (doesn’t matter how tight the seatbelt is), he grabs things off shelves and racks and throws them in the shopping cart (no I don’t need a quadruple xl men’s shirt, or that size 12 women’s left running shoe, thanks though). He gets upset if you put something in the shopping cart without handing it to him first, like he has to okay it first. He stands up in his highchair and yells and THROWS his food, even if he is actively eating it. Sometimes he will even stand in his high chair and bend over like he trying to get to food he dropped, mini heart attack. He climbs on couches, knocks over dining room chairs, opens and closes all the cupboards and drawers in our house and reorganizes their contents. He can even open all the dresser drawers in our house. None of the dressers in our house are younger than I am and they all have broken sliders, I have issues opening them sometimes, but he can open them just fine. He learned how to open the fridge yesterday. The FRIDGE! people. He closes himself in rooms all the time and can make his way outside before you even knew he was in a room with an open door. He finds new hiding spots for things all the time (under the stove, behind his crib, under couches and dressers and closed doors). He can find the iPad or an iPhone anywhere. He can answer phone calls, send texts, talk to siri, unlock them, he tries his hardest to figure out passwords, he deletes emails and pictures, and he can take a million and two pictures in just under 60 seconds. 

Photo Credit: Jeremy

Scott loooooooves to be outside. Loves, loves, loves, loves, loves it. It doesn’t matter what you are doing, but he prefers to be on the ground crawling to something dangerous. But if he is outside he is one happy camper.

Scotty loves people and people love Scotty. We can’t go to a store without half a dozen people stopping us to talk to him or him waving and talking to someone. In the last few months he has really started to notice kids, before it was a lot of adults he would talk to, not so much anymore. If he sees anyone under twelve he wants to talk to them and be their best friend, he would probably even be content going home with them. We walk the mall a lot in the mornings while Jeremy is at school, it is mostly older retired people that are there walking and Scott just eats those people up. I carry him in ERGO, strapping an extra 22 lbs to you can seriously intensify a workout, and he will have himself almost out of the thing to look my shoulder to keep flirting with all the old ladies, and he loves the attention old men give him too. 

Photo Credit: Jeremy

 Scotty love to play and sing songs, Row Your Boat, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Pat A Cake, and Itsy Bitsy Spider are among his favorites. He will crawl up to you (sometimes in your lap) and start doing the hand motions waiting for you to start singing. He stops doing the hand motions five seconds after you start singing and will grab your hands if you don’t start doing them. He plays Peek A Boo with us all day long, behind anything that separates us and with his hands over his eyes/forehead/head. When reading books he will grab your finger in his little palm and stick his pointer finger out so you can “help” him point at stuff on the pages.  He loves to turn pages while reading. His favorite toys right now are Mega Blocks and Little People, he also loves this truck that little balls go down the chute and roll out the back, but in his mind EVERYTHING goes down the chute. Little People, Mega Blocks, easter eggs, the Little people sized R2-D2 and C3P0, snacks, everything. He spends all day dropping stuff inside it and fishing them back out again with the truck won’t go.

Besides Momma and Daddy Scotts main sources of comfort are his little thumb and his elephant. I love that he sucks on his thumb I think it is absolutely adorable, but I know it is going to be one heck of a habit to break. To say this kid and his elephant are besties is a huge understatement. They are nearly inseparable. He won’t get out of his crib without him in his hand, he won’t go to bed without him, he goes looking for his elephant during the day when he board, lonely, or anything else.  

Scotty isn’t much of a cuddler, but oh man the kid give loves all day long. He will crawl on top of you to lay his little head on your chest and hug you, for two seconds, then you get a heel to the jaw and he is off again. He loves to sit on our laps and play, it just isn’t the same sitting next to you parents while playing, it is so much better if you can sit in their lap. He gives kisses. Lots and lots of kisses, every time we sneeze, cough, yawn or blow our nose he opens his mouth extra wide and saws awwwwwwwe, and waits for you to come and kiss him. It is so sweet. The only time he won’t kiss us is at nap time and bed time, but we cover his little face and neck with them anyway. We love Scott so much and are so happy to have him in our little family. 

Photo Credit: Jeremy

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Today was day three of my photo challenge, we had a busy day so I didn't have a ton of time to take pictures but I am pretty happy with the ones I got (the first three in the post, the other three are from Jeremy, he loves our new camera too). I decided to post mostly black and white pictures because I am trying to focus more on lighting and less on colors right now, I am really trying not edit my photos at all right now (other than turning them to black and white) because it makes me really frustrated sometimes and I really want to improve my photography skills right now, I can work on my editing skills later.

Day Two

 Some days I am a super rad mom. I wake up to the sound of baby gabbers coming from the room next door, jump out of bed and go in to snuggle my baby while singing good morning. I feed my baby all the best stuff and make sure he gets four servings of dairy, fruits, and vegetables; six servings of grains and two servings of protein rich food a day. I get dinner made by five o’clock so we can all eat together around the kitchen table. My floors get swept and steamed and we are all bathed and well hydrated. I wash, fold and put away three loads of laundry and vacuum the whole house after I make our beds. We make it to story time at the library after getting in our hour long walk with at the mall. I teach my child where his toes are and read him lots of books. And then there are days like today, when I am not so super rad, probably more just like awesome.

It all started when I turned off the baby monitor when Scott started screaming because I needed 5 more minutes of sleep. I let him shove a handful of Gorilla Munch cereal into his mouth then fill it with milk for his breakfast. I let him eat from pouches three times today when he stood in his high chair throwing food on the ground because he didn’t want to chew or swallow anything else. And when he begged for a refill of cheddar bunnies ten minutes later I gave them to him. I forgot about the load of laundry I started in the washer two days ago and there are two more baskets overflowing that still need to be started. I taught him to throw balls in the house and completely neglected our exercise routine. I talked him into a second rest time an hour after his first. I have sent him on more man hunts for his elephant than normal. And a five o’clock family dinner at the table isn’t looking too promising today. I wouldn’t say today was a failure by any means and I am sure it’ll get better when Jeremy gets home from school, plus we always have tomorrow. But is occasionally eating dinner after bedtime on the living room floor really that bad? 

It has been a long time since I have blogged. A very long time. Six months long time. There are days when I really miss it and say "I am going to start blogging again," then I think of all the catch up I would have to play and my desire to start blogging again goes away. Completely. Well, I am here to tell you, I am back. I have a goal of blogging at least weekly. I might eventually play catch up, but today I am choosing not to.

Jeremy just bought me my first "big girl camera". I am so excited! It is a Nikon D3200, I am in love with it and have only been able to play with it for a half hour. I have begged, saved and drooled over this camera for years, and when he told me we were really buying it I was jumping up and down for four days.

I have loved taking pictures for as long as I can remember. I would always make my friends and little siblings dress up and go outside with me so I could take their pictures, to this day they hate me for it, but it was something I loved doing. And still love doing. I have a real deep love for good photography. So when my someone tells me they hired a "photographer" and I ask who it is, if I haven't heard of them I really worry. I want to cry for those people. Not that I know every photographer ever, but I have a pretty good memory and I have spent hours days looking at photographers websites and facebook pages. I long to be as great as the good ones someday, and hope I am already better than the bad ones. I almost cried when my mom didn't want to pay for a real photographer at our wedding and for our engagement pictures. It was something that was so important to me, we do have some awesome pictures a friend took of us for our engagement pictures and Jeremy's parents were sweet enough to pay for a fantastic photographer for our wedding, and although hardly any of those pictures are hanging on our walls (I am really horrible about things like that) they are pictures I love and look at all the time.

My all time favourite style of photography is lifestyle photography. I could spend hours looking at pictures of people living their life, every single photograph seems so perfect. Because the people in them are doing what they are best at, and I looooove it! Especially because Jeremy and I don't pose nicely, we always look so awkward. You know those awkward pictures you see on Pinterest and Facebook? The lady with three arms? The girl with two heads? The one who looks naked? Well I am pretty sure 90% of the pictures that have ever been taken of us could be posted RIGHT NEXT to them. We are awkward people in general, then you throw a camera in front of us and all heck breaks loose.

My new camera has given me a new creative outlet and with that I am giving myself a challenge. A challenge I hope to rock at. I want to become a super RAD photographer, who doesn't? And this challenge should help me get there. I am challenging myself to take pictures everyday, to improve, and to blog about my progress. You didn't want to follow a photography blog? To bad! But there is a pretty good chance most of the pictures I will be taking are of my adorable baby (he is 14 months old by the way!!!) so it will still be our family blog. And please hang in there with the bad photography, I am learning. I would love suggestions, help, criticism and love in the comment section.

Day One

This is the only good picture we got today, the darn battery had to charge. 

Seven Months

12 lbs 11oz

25 inches tall

Our little Scotty Boy is just that, little. Teeny tiny, itty bitty, small, short, skinny, petite, whatever way you like to say it, he is little. Scott's six month appointment was a month late, we knew Scott was little and we were starting to worry about him. At Seven months he still fit into 3 month clothes and was wearing size 1 daipers. He was doing well, seemed happy and met all the milestones babies of his age should have been meeting. But people we go to church with have babies much younger than him, much bigger than him and it was obvious to us he wasn't growing. We kept telling him that just because we wanted him to stay little forever didn't mean he had to. In just over three months Scott had only gained 3 ounces and barely grew an inch.
After re weighing and measuring Scott the Doctor expressed his concerns with us, he was shocked at how small he was, he said he looked completely healthy and didn't seem "short" but his little dot wasn't on the growth chart anymore. After disusing our options we all decided it would be best to supplement Scott's diet with formula and "stuff him like a Thanksgiving turkey". And just to be sure the Doctor sent us to get lab work done and asked us to return in two weeks for a weight check. After a urine and blood samples were taken, we all just wanted to cuddle up and pout, it was a LONG day for all of us.
We spent the next two weeks feeding him and feeding him and feeding him. We could tell he was growing, he chucked up well and started sleeping better at night. At the two week appointment Scott weighed 14 lbs 3 oz and had grown almost 1/2 an inch. All of the tests came back clear and we were sent on our way.

It amazes us how much Scott has changed over the past couple months. He is so curious and smart. The day he realized he can find things we hide from him was probably one of the funniest days for his life. He army crawls all over the place and he is getting quick! He sits up very well now, he loves to ride in shopping carts and sit in high chairs. If only he was taller and the straps didn't hang him by his arm pits! He still loves baby food! Has lost interest in nursing and insists on holding his own bottle. He loves to take baths and splashes in the water like his life depends on it. He has learned how to drum, on everything, his favorites are his legs, my face/neck, a mixing bowl, hard floors and uncle Dakota's drum. He also learned how to pull himself up on short things, he had been keeping him in the bassinet insert of the pack-n-play because he hadn't reached the maximum weight and he wasn't doing anything dangerous until one day I came in and found him like this...

He finds cords EVERYWHERE we go. He knows where they are in our house and what they are hiding under/behind.

I suck real bad at this whole blogging thing. There is no six month post...and he turns eight months next week. Oops.

Watermelon

Today we let Scotty try watermelon for the first time. This kid and his facial expressions kill me. He wasn't sure what to do when he got a chunk off, he eventually spit it out. Then we cleaned off in the pool!