3

Michael is 3 now and I'm still floored by how fast time has gone by.  This kid brings a lot of laughs and love to our family.  Of course he brings plenty of craziness, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Here are a few things about Michael:

• He is fully potty-trained, even night-trained.  I'm so thankful I really didn't have to night-train him.  
• His favortie movies: Monster Inc., Toy Story, How to Train Your Dragon, Brave, Frozen, and the Princess Diaries 2
• His favorite TV shows:  Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Daniel Tigers Neighborhood, Super Why, and Chuggington
• Favorite Foods:  Mac & Cheese (the Dragon kind), Peanut Butter, Spaghetti, Quesadillas, and any kind of fruit
• He is amazing at puzzles.  I've noticed that he likes to find order out of them, it calms him down and holds his attention.  He has mastered all of out 24 piece puzzles.  He is pretty good at the few 60's he's done.  We have a few 100 piece puzzles that he likes working on, especially his Dragon one and his TMNT puzzles
• He is interested in reading, but doesn't sit still long enough for me to teach him what sounds the  letters make.  He does like me to read to him a lot.
• Loves Ethan.  Whenever Ethan is laying on the ground he goes up next to him and cuddles.  He picks out Ethan's clothes and PJ's whenever possible.  He helps me change his diapers.  He sings songs to him and talks to him.  Ethan even "talks back" to him.
• Loves having Elli as a partner in crime.  They are generally really good together.  Unfortunately they get into trouble together too.  Nothing too bad, but I will say lately I've had to wash marker off the cushions on my chairs multiple times.  
• Thanks to homeschooling he knows the first three Articles of Faith.  It's cute when he recites them...loudly....in sacrament meeting....because I told him to think about Jesus.
• He managed to escape the terrible two's with only a handful of tantrums that weren't diffused in less than 2 minutes.  I can only remember two horrible ones, one at his cousins baptism, and the other a few days later at home where he sat in a corner and screamed for a half hour.  

Three will bring us a whole new challenge.  I'm worried about more back-talking, fighting with Elli, and completely getting rid of naps (he still takes about 3 a week).  I'm grateful potty-training, deciphering every word, and explaining the difference between girls and boys is over with!  

Happy Birthday little man!

That time he got stuck in the chair and couldn't get out.  It only took 5 minutes to get him out of it.

First big boy bed

The shoe fettish phase

Oh buddy, how you've grown.

Michael's 3rd birthday party (parties)

Like I said before, life has been a little crazy.  Michael turned 3!  I still can't believe he's 3, time has gone by so fast.  Oh well.

Since we have a lot of family, we have to do multiple birthday parties for our kids.  Michael really wanted to go to Jungle Jims, so we decided to take the kids and a few cousins.

Michael loves my sisters kids.  LOVES.  So much so that I'm surprised he hasn't tried to run away to their house.  Sometimes I think he believes they are his older sisters.  He'll hate when he realizes they aren't.  Anyways, they had fun helping Michael and Elli get on to the rides.

They had fun picking out prizes and candy to munch on.  We went out to lunch to celebrate Michael's birthday with my family.  

Two weeks later, closer to his actual birthday, we had a joint party with Josh's side of the family.

Michael had a lot of fun at his parties.  So much so that he keeps thinking that every birthday we celebrate is his too.  I've had to tell him multiple times that he doesn't get a gift on my birthday, only I do.  You can imagine how well that went over.

Tidbits

I don't take many pictures (or I never get around to uploading them) of things that don't involve my kids.  I also don't blog too much about things they aren't involved in.  So I'm thinking once a month or so I'll just post a little of the random stuff that's more about Josh and I.

First off, we celebrated our anniversary!  Josh took me to the Melting Pot and we had a good time.  We had Ethan with us but he was decent.  Awake, but mostly content.  I liked it a lot but Josh wouldn't give it 5 stars.  Only Ruth's Chris gets 5 stars.  It was nice to be able to get out alone-ish so soon after having a baby.  Next year is 5 years....what will we do?

Josh had his Birthday.  We used our bounce back passes at Lagoon, split up the kids, and went out ALONE!  First time kid free since Ethan was born.  It was fun.  It was so hot when we first got there, but luckily within an hour huge black clouds came rolling in.  After ten minutes of rain it cleared up a little and was twenty degrees cooler.  We went out to dinner with Josh's mom and grandparents on his actual birthday.  

Our TV broke.  On the 4th it turned off suddenly and we thought Josh hit the power button accidentally.  Well it wouldn't turn back on.  We thought it was the remote because out kids have practically ate it multiple times.  Turns out there really aren't buttons on our TV.  There is a weird way to turn it on, but I don't think it's ever worked.  We had a repair guy come out and the board is fried.  So after two years we've had to say goodbye.  It isn't worth it to replace the board when it's not too much more to buy a new one.

I started running again!  Does this need any explanation?  I've ran a few miles and hope to get my endurance up quickly.  I do need to go to the chiropractor though.  There is something out in my lower back that I can't pop or stretch back into place.  

There are a few other things that have happened, like Ethan's baby blessing and Elli make dirt angels, but those deserve their own posts.

Elli's Brithday Party

We did eventually throw Elli a birthday party, we just did it a little late so we would have room for everyone.  Anyone who saw our old apartment knows that we could maybe fit 10 people in there, and that's really pushing it.  Since there are so many families we decided to wait until we got in the house.

First thing we did was open presents.  Elli wasn't very into it.  I was a little surprised because I took her to a baby shower about two months ago and she was trying to rip all the paper off of those gifts.

She got a lot of clothes which was exactly what she needed.  After opening presents we had cake.  I don't have any pictures of Elli eating her cake, my MIL does, but I keep forgetting to get them from her.  She pretty much ate the frosting off the cake and left the cake alone.

Yay for cheap Costco sheet cakes!

After she ate her cake I ran to give her a bath.  At this point she decided she was done with everything and everyone.  I didn't figure out until two days later that she was getting another tooth.  She let grandma give her a bottle and went to bed early.  Good thing she won't remember her party!  

Elli is still enjoying her party though, she tackles and lays on the balloons any chance she gets.  If Michael stops popping them we might still have a few for the next month.

Bye bye baby

It's creeped up on us once again.  Sadly, our baby is no longer a baby anymore.  Elli has turned one!  The first three months went by slow enough that I remember her newborn stage.  The last nine months have gone by in a blur.  Good thing I have some cute pictures and memories written down.  Here is what Elli has been up to lately:

• She's pulling up on things, especially people, and can stand by herself a little bit.
• She will walk along things a little bit, but not much.
• She says dada, uh-oh, hi, go, and sock (maybe socks because she puts a "z" at the end) clearly enough for us to understand her.  She does not say mama, it is rare to hear and has been heard a total of ten times.  She also doesn't say milk or water in any way because it's a fight to get her to drink anything.
• She has her front four teeth now.
• She's been giving Michael kisses a lot, but rarely anyone else.  She will randomly crawl next to Michael and the next second it looks like she's trying to eat his face.  Luckily he doesn't care.
• The only foods she hasn't liked so far have been green beans and broccoli.  She loves carrots, zucchini, avocado, and all fruits.  
• She has a very distinct personality.  We've decided that she is exactly like me.  She can be very independent, but when she wants attention she will let you know and she better get it.  
• Most of her day is spent chasing Michael around or playing quietly with her toys.  
• She enjoys singing, especially wheels on the bus which she dances to.
• Her favorite toys are Michael's cars, legos, dinosaurs, and tools.  She has never really liked baby toys unless they make a lot of noise.  She adores stuffed animals.  She sits and hugs them for a really long time.  
• Her hair is growing at a rate of 1/8" per month, but it is growing.  It will probably stay bright blond, but we're not sure if it's curly or not.  
• She responds to peanut, bean, and stinker as much, if not more, than her name.
• Her attention span is ridiculous.  If we turn on an interesting kids show she could watch the whole thing.  She can play with the same toy for a long time if nothing distracts her.  However, when Michael's around it seems to be that of a normal baby/toddler.
• She is still adorable and gets away with far too much.

Because the best birthday pictures are of kids covered in chocolate...

She looks at her hand

She eats her hand

She enters a chocolate coma

She emerges victorious!

22

Last week I turned 22.  So old, I know :)

Since mine and my mom's birthdays' are a week apart, we celebrated on the night of her birthday by going out to dinner.  It was a fun dinner and the kids weren't too crazy.  Then again, I've apparently learned how to successfully tune them out, so who knows if they were crazy or not.

The day of my birthday wasn't too exciting.  Except my dad took me and the kids to lunch, which was a really fun outing!  Michael loves his Grandpa, and his truck.  The truck wasn't there but Michael kept asking for it every few minutes.  We laughed at Elli eating faster than we could tear up chicken tenders and fries.  It was fun to spend time with Grandpa.  Josh had to work and had a late class so we didn't see much of each other.

Last Saturday my parents watched the kids so we could go to dinner and a movie.  We went to the Mandarin, a great Chinese place in Bountiful.  Then we headed to The Hobbit.  I really wanted to see the second Hunger Games, but there wasn't a good show time, so Josh got to see the movie he's been wanting to see for a while now.  It was pretty good, except pregnant me really wanted to fall asleep the whole time.

Josh got me Ticket to Ride Europe for my Birthday.  We've played twice now.  We had to change the rules so that the game went faster, but it's been fun.  Also, despite how competitive we can be, no one has slept on the couch yet.

Overall it's been a good Birthday.

On my last Birthday I wrote a list of 22 things I wanted to do before I turned 22 and was shocked to see that I've done about half (originally I thought I'd only done two or three).  I've been thinking I should write up a list for next year, but maybe I'll make the tasks a little simpler.  Like #1 have a baby - can't really avoid this one!

Two

Aww, two is finally upon us.  Or better yet, another birthday is upon us!  It seems so recent that we celebrated Michael turning one...

While so much has changed, so much hasn't as well.  He's still our cute little guy.  He still loves cuddles and back scratches.  When new situations occur he is always cautious, then dives head into whatever it is.  He loves singing, especially pat-a-cake, head shoulders knees and toes, and a little hello song with clapping.  He loves naps and milk.  Water is still his favorite thing, the bath has always been a go-to, but he loves pools, water slides, and sinks.  Elli is still his favorite person (even though she technically didn't come around until he was 14 months).  So not much has changed that way.

Now for things that have changed.  Michael speaks all the time, ALL THE TIME.  It's actually hard to get him to quite down for a few minutes, but he's always been hard to quite down.  He has learned to listen and help around the house.  He loves the trash.  Whenever I change Elli's diaper he puts it in the trash.  Whenever he sees a wrapper on the ground he puts it in the trash.  He loves to sweep, even our carpet.  The hamper is always full of some dirty, but mostly clean clothes he has pulled out of his drawer and added so he can help.  The dishes and laundry are his favorite.  When he needs a diaper change he informs me and then lies down on his pad.  He loves people.  Anyone and everyone, from the family members and friends he asks for all day to the random people at the grocery store he says hello to.  If he hears anyone saying good-bye, he will also say it.  He loves the park and the slides, he has slowly grown out of running straight to the slide and started looking around to see what else the park has to offer.  He loves grass and snow, stomping leaves, and playing with dirt.  Our favorite place to go to is the zoo, and he has a book at home of all the animals and can point a lot of them out.  He can't decide if he prefers the giraffe, the rhino, the elephant, or the polar bear.  His favorite toys are his Lego's, which he even sleeps with.

A lot of this has changed in the last year because he wasn't walking then, but now he is.  And running everywhere.  Oh, and skipping, marching, and as of today, hopping.  He also spins around in circles on demand.  He dances by shuffling his feet really fast, shaking his head, and swinging his hips.  He climbs all furniture and chairs, any way he can.  He climbs my dresser by pulling out drawers and then climbing into them.  He runs away with my shoes, spoons, and utinsels, and hides them from me.

He is a cute little guy and we love him very much.  His baby is fading a little more every day.  We see his stomach going away, his arms and legs thinning and getting longer, and his facial features become more defined as the days go by.  He has a head full of hair and a mouthful of teeth.  Next year he won't have any baby left to him.  I'll try not to focus on that too much and enjoy everything new he's accomplishing.

Happy Second Birthday Michael!

Michael with his partner in crime, Max