Dallin - 9 months old!

Aww little Dallin. How are you already 9 months old? I both love and hate how fast the first year goes by.

Dallin weighs 16 lb 6 oz (5%), is 28 inches long (32%), and his head circumference is 46 cm (78%). I have been instructed to not feed him pureed baby food anymore because it doesn't have enough calories or variety (and it's turning his nose and cheeks orange!). He will love that! He is always way more interested in the food we are eating at dinner than what I'm trying to feed him. He is a little behind on his gross motor development, so we will be making him work harder for what he wants, i.e. putting things out of his reach so he has to move to get them.

Dallin now has 6 teeth, and due to his shirt being wet from drool all the time, I'd say another tooth is not too far off. He loves to go outside and squeals every time we open the door. He also loves watching the cars drive on the road behind our house.

He is starting to be a little clingy to me. He is okay without me if he can't see me, but the moment he hears me or sees me or heck, even smells me, I am all he wants. He also has a great love for his daddy, and loves to give him hugs when he gets home from work. 

He can now clap and throws his hands up in the air to exclaim, "yay!" (or "So big!"). He is starting to lean forward to try to get somewhere, especially to me. It's only a matter of time before he figures out that his knees can hold his weight.

He has started waving hello! He most often does it when he's in his highchair. He likes to dance and bob to music.

He is no longer afraid of lights, thank goodness. I'm glad that one didn't last too long - he would have gotten teased mercilessly. 

His night time sleeping is still a bit all over the place, but we are getting there. 50% of the time he goes all night without eating, especially if Ryan is the one who goes in to get him to go back to sleep. I'm hopeful we can finally reach the milestone of sleeping through the night consistently by the time he is 10 months old, especially since we are going to try to up his calorie intake during the day with table foods.

When I present him with a piece of food to eat, he talks to it a little, blinks really hard, and squishes up his face before he gingerly takes it from me. He is such a fun little boy! 

Easter Time

We had a very nice Easter holiday this year. More low key than last year as far as activities go, but still very nice.

On the Monday before Easter we spent some time as a family watching videos about Christ and why we celebrate Easter. Even though the Easter bunny, eggs, baskets, and candy are all very good and fun, we want our children to remember and cherish the true reason we celebrate Easter. We talked about it more throughout the week, more so than usual.

On Good Friday the girls and I baked and decorated Easter sugar cookies. We love having that be a tradition with each major holiday, even if it does make a monster sized mess! Ryan is happy to take care of the baby for me so we can accomplish our task at hand. 

After dinner we decorated the cookies. I let the girls do theirs on their own, and decided the mess was worth it. They both did such a cute job and watching them concentrate on each cookie was pretty adorable. I didn't end up using my icing piper this time around, so I don't think they turned out as pretty as other times, but they still taste yummy! I used my Honey Sugar Cookie recipe again. I love how the shapes stay looking the way they did when I put them in the oven.

After all of our hard work, we had to taste test the result! Thumbs up all around.

On Easter morning the girls ran into our room at 6:45 to show us their favorite thing from the Easter Bunny: a writing board. It's kind of like a magna doodle but with ...a green line. I don't know to best explain it, but it's cool! They also each got a book, new sandals, a big chocolate bunny, and an Easter egg filled with candy. 

Dallin got a stuffed giraffe, sunglasses, a couple of new snacks to try, and a book. He slept a little later than the girls (!!).

When he woke up he was pretty happy to dig through his basket!

For breakfast we had amazing crepes, sausage, and fried eggs, compliments of Ryan. My parents came over and joined us for that meal. It was wonderful!

After breakfast Dallin went down for his morning nap and then the girls scavenged for the Easter eggs around the house. It was too cold to do it outside this year. They found all of the eggs, and it was so fun to watch them. I think it's funny how they will find a group of eggs but take only one.

After the egg hunt we watched General Conference (it was a big year for announcements! President Russell M. Nelson was sustained as our new prophet in the Solemn Assembly, the High Priest Group and Elder's Quorom was combined to one group, home teaching and visiting teaching were retired as we know them, and 7 new temples were announced!) and did hair.

We basically skipped lunch because of the big breakfast we had. Right at 2 PM our friends, the Cooks, came over (I really need to take some pictures of them...) to spend the afternoon and have dinner with us. My parents also came back to join us for dinner. 

It was a great Easter Sunday.  I am so grateful to my Savior for His sacrifice that has allowed us all to repent and live again. Easter is one of my favorite holidays because of the reminder it is of the blessing of the Savior and of what He did for us.

March Mayhem

Lots to report for the month of March. It was so fun, as we welcomed Spring and got to spend more time outside enjoying warmer weather.

We had lasagna for dinner and Dallin got to try some. He loved it!

One morning the kids all played hide and seek together. Dallin really got a kick out of the game, and I had fun finding places to hide him.

Tried out some more hairstyles this month! I have a feeling this is going to be a long term trend, as long as the girls will let me (they have been asking to get their hair cut short for summer...we will see what I can emotionally handle).

We went to the park one late afternoon to enjoy the sun. It was a busy outing! We started out with being at the park while I nursed Dallin.

After that we walked along a trail at the park for a while.

We stopped at a field so the girls could kick around a soccer ball for a bit.

We walked back. Brianna's little legs were tired from riding her bike.

Then we played at the park again for a while.

Sunday morning hair. :D

In Relief Society at church we have started sitting in a circle to make it more inviting. Or something. Dallin sometimes ends up in the middle of the circle at the end of class.

We made sock bunnies for our Easter craft this year.

Maya made lunch before school one day. She does so well when she is given responsibilities.

Their hair was the reason I needed her to make lunch that day. It took me a long time! This picture is of Brianna's, and Maya wanted the same thing in her hair. 

After school drop off Dallin and I had lunch with my dad for his birthday. It was very nice to see him and spend time with him! 

Criss-cross French braids. I did this so that they would have wavy hair for church on Sunday, and loved the way it looked as braids, too!

Daddy and Brianna went on a date to the Chocolate Cafe one evening. They got all dressed up and Brianna even got to wear a little make up.

I got out the play tent that was hibernating in our garage for two years. It was a hit for a day or two, but will be coming back down again soon. They don't play in it as much as I thought they would.

Another warm day, so we had a picnic in the park with our friends Camille and Emma.

That same day the girls played in our backyard for a couple of hours. 

Dallin is starting to love books.

We did another sticker chart (they had to be obedient for 7 days) and the girls earned the privilege of playing with all of my old Barbie stuff. They love it!

Our dear friends, the Techeras, came to visit over a weekend. They moved to Grand Junction in February, and we were so glad they came to see us!

Our neighbors across the street have snakes. The girls are braver than I am about touching them!

Ben and his fiancee, Sarah, came to visit for a week. Sarah is great and I'm excited to welcome her to the family! One of the days of their visit was spent at our house hanging out.

Sisterly love. Elsa and Anna have some competition.

She spilled milk (I think that's what it was) on her clothes at breakfast. I threw them in the washer and she was excited to have them come back out.

Bubble braid with a twist!

And 3 mini braids into one braid. 

Palm Sunday hair styles! Easter was on general conference Sunday this year, so we did the dressing up special thing a week early. The girls wore the same dresses as they did last year because they still fit.

Brianna had a cough that day though so we she got to spend second and third hour of church with me. She was so good!!!

My sweet babies after church.

I told Ryan I was about to go crazy after Maya talked to me/asked me questions for two and a half hours straight. He jumped right in and started playing a game with the girls to let me have some time to myself. I love him for taking care of my needs so quickly and willingly!

I am training Dallin to be okay with taking a bottle. It only took a couple of days, and now he willingly takes one and drinks it all. 

Maya has been taking reading lessons since the beginning of January. She read this whole book by herself one morning!

Pull through braid - one of my favorite looks.

That pointing finger is just too cute!!!

Loving the books.

Conference and coloring time! 

We finished March with a bang by going to Disney On Ice: Frozen with my dad. It was such a fun family event!