Valentine's Day

Valentine's was pretty low key this year. The Sunday beforehand the girls and I made Chocolate Thumbprint cookies with Valentine's sprinkles on them. We took some to our next door neighbors.

On Valentine's Day the thing I was most excited about was doing the girls' hair. I came up with Maya's hairstyle on my own, and I felt proud! All of the other things I do are taken from photos or videos I've seen.

I was running late getting ready that day, and asked Maya to make lunch for her and Brianna. They had school that day so we had to get lunch made by 11:40 so that they can get to school on time. Maya made them turkey sandwiches with chips and strawberries. All by herself!! I didn't do anything to help at all - she got everything out (including the plates) and put it all together. I was so grateful to her and so glad that she paid attention enough in the past to know how to make lunch.

Brianna happened to have a field trip to the fire station on Valentine's day. Dallin and I got to go with her. (Note to self: teach kids fire safety!)

The firefighter did his best to make sure the kids knew he wasn't scary in his gear but Brianna was still pretty nervous about getting close to him.

At the end of the tour the kids got to go through the firetruck. 

She thought that was pretty neat!

The kids were going to sit on the front of the fire truck for a picture but right as they got ready to snap the photo, their alarm went off and the firefighters needed to skedaddle on out of there! It was a rush to get the kids off the truck and it made me laugh a little.

Snack time!

Thankfully there was another truck outside and the weather was quite warm (although very windy).

She is a goof sometimes. :) 

After school my friend Lauren and her boys, Stratton and Briggs, came over to hang out and have dinner. Ryan had Young Men's that evening so we didn't have anything planned. It was still a nice day and I'm glad we have a day designated to showing love to everyone around us!  Happy Valentine's Day!

Dallin - 7 months

Mister Man is 7 months old! He graces us with the sweetest smiles any baby ever produced. (At least for right now.) When he is happy or satisfied in some way he does a cute little dance by moving his body up and down. He especially does it after I put a piece of not baby food in his mouth. He was doing it the whole time I was trying to take pictures of him, which is why all of the photos are blurry. Oh well, at least I know it was because he was happy and excited!

Dallin rolls all over the place now, and has connected the fact that if he keeps rolling he will get to something he wants. He enjoys playing with his toys and is usually content to sit and play for 20 - 30 minutes. He can now sit for extended periods of time!

Dallin is wearing 3-6 month, 6-9 month, and 6-12 month clothing. All of my babies have been really good about stretching out their wardrobe for a while! He nurses 4 times a day, once at night (I am finally actively weaning that last feeding. I get so lazy about getting it done, but I am close now!), and eats a breakfast and dinner of baby food.

He has 2 1/2 teeth and is currently cutting 3 more. If I forget to give him Tylenol before bed at night we are in for a rough ride. During the day he is still happy as a clam which I appreciate very much.

He has a fear of hanging lights. Or any light really. From a distance they're fine, but if he gets too close to one he gets pretty anxious and starts to whimper. It is basically the cutest thing ever, and I admit that I really enjoy the extra tight hugs when he is scared.

He is down to two solid naps a day. Both are usually 1 1/2 - 2 hours, once in the morning around 9/9:30 and once in the afternoon at 1. He stopped his evening cat nap a few weeks ago. When he did that, he was wanting to go to bed at 7 PM, but that was too early for our family's schedule and lifestyle. I have successfully pushed that back to him going to bed around 8 PM instead, and he is waking up for the day around 7/7:30 AM instead of 6 AM. Hallelujah, sing praises.

Dallin is super into wanting to try every single thing I am eating. I am starting to give him little pieces of food at dinner, and he is learning how to do the pincer grasp and feed himself. Yay! He makes a really cute pursed lip face when he is trying to pick up food.

His favorite word to say is "Dada." He doesn't know what it means yet, but once he realizes it, I think we can safely say that it will be his first real word. On that note, he is our first baby that gets really excited to see Ryan and wants to be with him. Sounds sad, but it's okay, our girls love their daddy very much. It is sweet to see Dallin reach and grab for Ryan when we are sitting next to each other, and I think Ryan really likes it too. :)

Dallin is a very happy baby (the only time he REALLY cries is in the middle of the night - and he can sure get angry then), and is always smiling at people around us. He gets a lot of attention from strangers.

He is very fun and I am loving getting to watch his personality start to shine through!

January Came and Went

January went by so fast!! We had a great month with lots of fun things.

I, of course, tried some new hair styles. By the way, Brianna doesn't have a sneaky mole on the back of her head. That is a scab from falling backwards and hitting her head on a windowsill. I wanted so bad to pick it off but she would yell at me and say, "Don't!  My body will heal it!" 

The girls often ask me to print pictures for them to color. These are all of the horse and My Little Pony pictures that I printed and they colored. 

I loooove this hairstyle. Looks elegant but is so easy to do.

Dallin went on a three day nap-strike. I would lay him down for his nap and he would just scream for an hour until I got him back up again. I told him if he wasn't going to nap then he was going to learn! 

I did some hair and stuff.

Brianna has been dressing herself for a while, and most of the time her outfits match just fine. But on this day I wasn't so sure. There is a pineapple on that shirt that you can't see. It was a school day, so I wanted her to change, and I tried explaining to her why. Then I realized something. I wanted her to change because I was worried what other people might think. I decided that she could wear whatever she wanted to because shame on me if I instill the mindset that what other people think matters more than what she wants to do (as long as it is appropriate and good).

One day after school we went to a new park in town called the Twin Silo Park. It was our first time and I think that subsequent times will include Daddy. It's a huge playset and needs a parent to help little kids. Very fun though!!

The zip line was a big hit. 

We spent a Saturday in Erie to say goodbye to our dear friends, the Techeras. They moved to Grand Junction and who knows when we will get to see them again. We went out to lunch at 5280 Burger Bar (super yummy) and then we went to The Butterfly Pavilion. Afterwards we had dinner at their home and then headed back to Fort Collins.

A butterfly landed on Walter three times! You can see it flying off of him in this picture.

A butterfly landed on Maya's head! She was funny about it and made us all laugh.

Their baby girl, Belen, and Dallin are 8 days apart. They had the same due date! Someday they will get married, we think.

Ryan has been working really long hours lately so when he is home he is loved to pieces.

Heart hair.

Dallin showing off his mad sitting skills.

The kids all want to hang out when I'm getting ready in the morning. I must be pretty great. 

At World Market the girls found a book and comfy chairs to sit on. That store is so much fun and I wish I could buy so much of it!

For "C" day at school (circus) Maya dressed as an acrobat. I tried to make her hair match the part.

This is her acrobat pose. Why, hello, teenage Maya. (How does she know how to stand like that?!)