"choo choo twax"

Christmas morning:  lots of toys, lots of smiles, lots of fun!

Bronson tryin' out his new bottles

At 10 months Levi is trying to pull himself up on everything but can't quite make it, resulting of course in lots of bumps and bonks.  A few days before Christmas I went in his room about 3 am and gasped when I saw him standing in his crib.  Luckily we had lowered it a few days before since he'd started kneeling up in there.  He has got the army crawl down, I'm sure in a day or two he'll be on his way.   Who needs presents when you've got wrapping paper?

funny boy

see his cute teeth?

Bronson is in love with his new  "choo choo twax"  It's the first thing he would say each time he woke up the first couple days after Christmas.   Levi, well he's in love with knocking down his tracks, and timing when the train will come by so he can grab it. 

and that is a glimpse of our fun Christmas morning.

highs and lows

December has been a busy month,  filled with the usual ups and downs of motherhood, and maybe a few more but I thought I'd share some of my favorite highlights.

~The other day I was washing some dishes while Levi was playing on the floor in the living room. I could hear him talking but when I looked over I couldn't see him anywhere.  I went on my Levi hunt and guess where I found him?  He brightened up my afternoon for sure.

~and of course nothing makes me smile like

 sleeping babies with their bums in the air :)

~Bronson sure had fun making his "anta choo choo" with Grandma.

~Just as satisfying if not more than your babies first smile, first steps, 

first words, 

is when they go on the big boy potty all by themselves. 

(it was even his idea too)  

Potty training here we come, hooray!

~ Today my dad is 60, and I'm pretty sure he's the best dad in the world.  

I don't know what I'd do with out him!

(and it's a good thing he's always wearing those silly hats, that way we can keep track of him)

~and oh yes, our basement is completely sheet rocked and looking FANTASTIC

 thanks to a hard working husband and father-in-law, yippee!

It's so easy to be overwhelmed with all of the negative things going on, 

I'm just very grateful for all the simple blessings I receive day to day!

december

In case you were wondering at 9 1/2 months, 

~no crawling, or walking, or standing up tall, 

but lots of laughing, and rolling and having a ball! :)

Levi the smiler

Levi the muffin eater

layton park

Love

And so at this Christmas season, we sing His praises and speak our words of faith and gratitude and love. It is His influence in our lives that stirs within us more kindness, more respect, more love, more concern. It is because of Him and His teachings that we reach out to those in trouble, distress, and need wherever they may be.

It is proper during this season when we commemorate His birth that we remember the Lord Jesus Christ in reverence and with love. He has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. He has brought meaning to our mortal existence. He has given us the gift of eternal life. He was and is the Son of God, who was “made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

God be thanked for the gift of His Son, the Redeemer of the world, the Savior of mankind, the Prince of Life and Peace, the Holy One.

Gordon B. Hinckley

"brown paper packages"

If I were a candle maker I would create the scent of my favorite hotel and call it "freedom"  (I think the smell is actually just laundry soap and lotion, but whatever it is, it spells vacation)  Jared and I had a fun getaway - our first ever, since having kids - to SLC.  I knew if we didn't go now we wouldn't be able to go till January and we were BEYOND READY to spend some time alone together.  It was wonderful to say the least, but much too short, and I'm pretty sure I'll never get sick of visiting Temple Square.  So Happy 7th Anniversary to us, a month early.  We wrapped up the weekend by speaking in church.  The topic was - How do Joseph Smith and the restoration help us apply the atonement more fully?   The week of preparation was GREAT, the delivery not so fun, but it was a good thing for both of us to focus our attention on.

Here's Bronson and Grandpa doing what they do best,

 riding "dampa's tactor - sweet!"

We had a great Thanksgiving this year.  I love the unstructured nature of the actual day.  It's all about relaxing and having fun with family, and we did just that.  This year I was in charge of the turkey, HA, not the relish tray but the turkey!  It was actually a lot of fun to prepare, and I think it tasted pretty good too.  Here is Levi, doing what he does best, making us smile.  I took him in for his 9 month check up yesterday and he's a healthy boy.  He is starting to slim down if you can believe it.  He weighs 20.15 - 56%, he is 28 inches tall 39%, and his head is 19in. 98%.  What can I say, big brains need big heads.  Levi also got his first two teeth a couple of weeks ago, and is about ready to take off crawling.  We love our little Levi!

Here's those 4 growing boys, and Bronson's best pals.  

Kody, Bracken, Brock, and Bronson.

Bracken and Brock really can smile, but posing

 4 little dudes makes it a little tricky.

On Sunday we came home from church and started having lunch as usual.  I noticed that Bronson had gotten pretty quiet, pretty soon he started snoring.  Everybody's gotta fall asleep at least once in the high chair right?  Bronson LOVES going to nursery.  As soon as we have to take a break from Sacrament and go out into the hall, Bronson starts making the rounds to each door, turing the knob and saying "ursery, ursery?."  It's a little hard to tell him "Sorry buddy, we still have to wait oh . . . . . . about 45 min.  Bronson is quite the little talker now a days, he doesn't have to learn words anymore he can just say them, he is getting so big so fast.

"tied up with string"

"the horn on the bus goes, beep beep beep"

as Levi's belly is a bit big for his bath chair, straddling his hammock 

is the next best thing to keep him from tipping over. 

 He loves taking baths.

i don't know why i thought i could bake a batch of cookies 

and not eat six, one of these days it will click, i hope ;)

"it's beginning to look a lot like a basement - tra, la la la laaaaa!"

starting dry wall this weekend hooray!

Our goal is to have it completed by Levi's birthday.

 

And here is my new window treatment.  Last night we made a Christmas chain with Bronson.  We had so much fun.  Turns out he is quite handy with a stapler.  Thanks to our first grade art teachers, Jared and I were able to complete the project.  I like it so much I'm thinking I might not take a link down each day but just keep it up till Christmas.

"these are a few of my favorite things."