1 year old!

Michael is 1!!!!  I really can't believe it!  In the last month so much has changed.  Michael has:

• started crawling everywhere!!
• started jibber-jabbering like crazy
• become even more of an attention seeker
• started listening to commands
• started ignoring commands
• learned that the house is for him to explore
• found a fascination with plugs, door stops, and heater vents
• figured out how to un-babyproof a few things
• discovered his love for tubs, toilets, and laundry rooms, but he still hates the shower
• pulling up everywhere, and holding himself up really well!
• figured out how to pull up on the piano bench, scoot over and grab the piano, and start playing it
• copy whatever Josh and I do

For Michael's birthday Josh came home a little early from work.  We took him to get his first hair cut.  I can't believe how much he needed it!

Before the hair cut in his cute little car

I asked for the easiest hair cut to maintain and he got a faux-hawk

Playing with the balloon he got :)  He loved this balloon!! I felt bad taking it away, but he was trying to eat it and pop it with his teeth

After we went to a party store to pick up stuff for his party on Saturday.  We were going to take him out to dinner but he started getting really fussy.  So we stopped by Wendy's and get him his favorite food, french fries.  He enjoyed more than half a medium fry by himself!  Normally I would freak out about that, but I figured it's his birthday and all he gets at home is formula, fruit, cheerios, and occasionally snippets of our dinner.  

Here is just a little (okay, big) overview of how much he has grown in the last year

About ten minutes after birth

The first time I got to hold him

Leaving the hospital

1st week home

First bath

6

7

8

9

10

11

12 months!

We have been lucky enough to have you with us for the last year!  You've given us some scares, and many sleepless nights wondering if we were going to make it (mostly before you were born). We've learned a lot from you, like patience, burping while you squirm, diapering while you squirm, and laughing when you puke and poop simultaneously on us.  Happy Birthday little man, we love you!

What we've been up to...

I feel like we've been up to a lot of random things lately that I want to blog about.  So here are what we've been doing (I'll save stuff about Michael for his birthday post tomorrow):

• Michael and I have made quite a few trips out.  We went to the zoo one day when Josh had a break between classes.  We went to the aquarium (which really is more fun for me).  We've walked around Trolley Square and City Creek.  We went to Gardner Village and bought some cute head bands for Elli (you can get the stretchy head bands for $1 at a little kids boutique there, they are usually $4 everywhere else). Josh has been able to meet us uptown quite a bit so we've enjoyed a lot of family time!
• Attempting to get ready for winter.  It took the first snow like two weeks ago for us to realize Josh needed to do that stuff.  Since then Josh has had an eternal struggle to keep the lawn mower 'winterized'.  It isn't ours and we don't know how his grandparents have winterized it in the past.  After watching 5 hilarious attempts of Josh driving the lawn mower up planks to get it into the too small shed it ended up outside under a tree.  We ended up covering it with a tarp, but that refuses to stay on it.  Every few days Josh is out there putting more and more rocks on the tarp to get it to stay put.  
• Seeing a ton of deer.  If we bought a tag we wouldn't have to go anywhere, just sit outside and wait for the deer to come eat our plants.  We see one on average once a day, they are usually in our driveway at night.
• I've been getting bigger and bigger.  If you haven't noticed I have posted very few pictures of myself lately.  I believe that the camera adds 10lbs, but when you're pregnant it adds 30lbs.  In reality I don't think I'm bloated like pictures make me look...so I refuse to post them.  People keep asking when I'm due.  I think they expect me to say in a week, but I still have one trimester left :(.  When you're as short as me the baby just doesn't have anywhere to hide.
• We've both gotten new callings...sorta.  I'm an activity days leader and have my first activity on Friday, but still have no idea what's going on.  Josh is soon to be in the scouts.  He was told to do all the certification stuff for it.  We still feel out of place in this ward.  I know it takes a while to fit in, but this is a deep rooted ward.  People have been in it for the last 40+ years.  They know each others grandkids.  So it will take a while to find a place.
• My sister had her 30th birthday party and we had a murder mystery party :).  It was pretty awesome and worked out great!  Josh was basically an Italian mobster and I was his pregnant fiancé, who was really impregnated by his twin bother who was killed.  Then we had an amazing cheesecake! 

 Life has been moving at a rapid pace.  We feel like we are just running and running.  It's hard to imagine that a year ago today Josh and I were out eating spicy food, going on a walk, and trying to get our baby boy would be here.  

Halloween

I've been so slow to update because Josh's computer is the only one I upload photos to, and he's had it at work and school a lot lately.

For Halloween we did our usual, went to my sisters for dinner and trick-or-treating around her neighborhood.  We love this tradition and hope it continues.  Usually we walk around with my nieces to a few houses and head back and watch a movie.  This year we took Michael out.  Josh didn't really want any candy so we walked around to houses but only went to one or two doors.  Here is our adorable little lion!

He wasn't thrilled with the hood

Josh trying to get Michael to roar

Kids and Rejection

As I've mentioned before, I read blogs on babycenter.  There are a few I love, some that annoy me, others that never interest me.  There is one blogger that always annoys me.  She knows what to say to make me think I'm never going to be like her.  Anyways she has one daughter in elementary that isn't completely there socially.  She blogs about it a LOT (poor little girl).  Well today she blogged about the injustice of kids not being invited to birthday parties.  She generally seems to want to get rid of every form of "bullying" that could possibly hurt her child.

Here's a news flash for this mom:

Everyone gets rejected at some point in their life. 

It might suck that your child didn't get invited to a party, but your child isn't the only one, and you don't understand the circumstances.  There are thousands of reasons for being rejected.  In the birthday case, there is: 1) they can only invite 3 people 2) they have to have the same number of girls and boys 3) the parents must know the parents of the children being invited 4) the party only included one friend and the rest family 5) a million more reasons that may seem ridiculous but are completely legitimate. 

It's a harsh reality, but the fact is that since everyone gets rejected, it is better that it happen younger in life, and over something so meaningless.  We live in a world where parents tend to coddle their kids.  It isn't surprising that the first time some kids hear the word no is when they aren't accepted to a certain college.  Imagine the damage that does to their psyche.

So kids will be rejected.  Plain and simple.  So what do you teach your kids about rejection? 

• Rejection is rarely personal.  There are more reasons to every decision than you could ever imagine
• Not to reject because of a personal reason.  Reject for logical reasons.  It is logical to reject someone that asked you to a dance when you've already been asked.  That's not personal. 
• Rejection happens.  Every day.  It doesn't happen because the world stinks or is unfair.  On the contrary, it would be unfair if one person was never rejected while all others were. 
• Make the connection between rejection not being personal and not letting your child take it to heart. 

Now the thing that is hard is when rejection is personal.  Maybe this is why I got so upset over the post, the mother took it as a personal rejection without looking at the logic of it.  If is seems personal you have to step back and see if it really is.  We are so protective of our kids that it always seems personal.  If in fact it is, then what do you tell your child?  You can reinstate that this is why they don't reject people on a personal level.  You can tell them that sometimes this is just what happens in life.  Maybe they just need a shoulder to cry on, and one I know moms are willing to spare (no matter how many boogers will get on that new shirt).

You might look at your young child and want to make everything bad go away, but sometimes you can't.  It's better they learn rejection early, and ways to cope with it. 

So to this mom who takes everything surrounding her child as a "bullying" experience: you are only teaching her that all rejection is personal, especially since you take it personally.  You are also teaching her that her world should change to accommodate her, which we all know doesn't happen.  From now on I'll make sure you didn't write a post before I read it!