Christmas Prep

 We have been busy getting ready for Christmas over the last few weeks. Despite the fact that we have been married over seven years, we got our first ever Christmas tree this year! I love how festive it makes our house feel. Darcy is old enough to be excited about the tree, Christmas lights, Christmas cards, and lots of the other fun things that go along with Christmas, like gingerbread houses! My mom, who is a woman of many talents, crocheted some big snowflakes to go on our tree. We had a family home evening party at our house to starch the snowflakes, and make a gingerbread house. It was so fun to have everyone here, and I love the snowflakes on my tree.

Drew and my dad were in charge of babysitting Matthew and Ezra, and they handled themselves quite well. (except for the multiple times we had to tell them to come get the babies away from the frosting and candy) :)

Darcy loved this activity! Especially the eating part. Everyone was trying to get her to save the gingerbread house so it could be decoration for the Christmas season, but it was basically gone by the next day. (Drew and I might have helped)

We eventually set some chairs up to block the boys. Darcy slipped through the back of the chair, so my dad thought he would try too. He wasn't quite fitting so Darcy tried to help pull him though. We all had a good laugh over this one.

My mom and I hard at work starching the snowflakes.

The finished gingerbread house. It took some work to convince Darcy it would be ok to put a dot of frosting and a little piece of candy on her nose. That just didn't seem right to her.

Our Christmas tree. I spent hours making that popcorn and cranberry garland, but it didn't last long.

A close-up of a snowflake

The reason the garland didn't last.

We have to redecorate the tree every once and a while. This was Darcy working on it one day after dance.

Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving with the Jenne's this year. I was in charge of bringing cranberry sauce and making a couple pumpkin pies. I was pretty much worked to the bone! :) This year my mom's birthday landed on Thanksgiving day so it made it even more exciting (especially for Darcy who loves birthdays). My Grandpa made us all weigh in before and after the meal to see how much we had eaten. It's been a while now so I'm a little foggy but I think I ate something like 2.5 lbs. of food. Haha. I was really pushing myself to try to get a good number on the scale! I love Thanksgiving, but it is always hard to accept that it's all over in about 1/2 hour or so. Darcy is just getting old enough to get excited about these holidays and was pretty excited about Thanksgiving which made it even more fun for us. Everyone was so sweet to make a second version of almost all the food that was safe for Ezra, which I really seriously appreciated!!

Mmmm, pumpkin pie!

Almost ready to dig in

Ezra is 15 Months

Ezra is coming up on 16 months now so I figured I should really get this post done. Our cute boy is a ball of energy these days, and he is definitely keeping us on our toes!

Some things we want to remember about Ezra at 15 months:

- 23 lbs. (25th percentile) and 30 inches (also 25th percentile) and I don't know the number for his head circumference but I know it is in the 99th percentile!! Plenty of room to grow some big brains I guess! :) I am happy that he is moving up in percentile with his weight and height.

- He was just retested for a couple of his allergies. The wheat and soy allergies are usually the first to go, so they just tested him to see if they had gone away. Honestly I wasn't surprised to find out he hadn't grown out of them. They will retest him for all of his allergies in a year.

- The thing that is keeping us on our toes most of all is his climbing! He loves to make his way onto the table and throw whatever is on in onto the floor. He also likes to dance up there which is scary. I am amazed he hasn't fallen off yet. We end up with our little chairs up on the table or counters, so he can't use them as his step stools.

- He says a few words these days, but none of them are really consistent. He is getting there though. He says Mama, Dada, Da-y (Darcy), hi, and ball (This is my favorite. He says it like "ba-O" with lots of emphasis on the O.) He also says a lot that we don't understand. :)

- He uses the signs for please, more, and all done.

- He loves to wave good-bye. If he ever hears a car drive up, drive away, drive by, or even just start he will immediately start waving. If someone opens the doors, steps outside, or walks away he starts waving. So when we are out shopping he is doing lots of waving in the parking lot as all the cars are coming and going, and then inside as people are walking passed us. It always makes us laugh.

- He is a pretty content little man, but most of the time he has a really sober expression on his face. It takes some effort to really get him to smile. If you do get him to smile or laugh though, it's especially fantastic!

- He still loves to push things around. He loves to knock over the block towers we build. He loves to throw a ball around. He likes toys he has to sit and figure out.

- He loves clomping around in shoes other than his own.

 The only place I can get him to sit still for a picture is his high chair. Even with a little milk on his shirt he is ridiculously good looking. :)

One of those smiles we love.

Looking smooth in Haley's sunglasses.

During Darcy's dance class Ezra and I get to hand out in the pickup together. He likes being able to roam and get his finger prints all over the windows.

He has had some awesome bead head lately!

Wearing some heels around the house.

Same day, new shoes. Darcy's this time. It takes a real man to pull off sparkly pink shoes!

Learning, Climbing, Playing

I miss summer!! We have been desperately working on finding things to do inside this fall/winter and here are a few of the things we have come up with.

 I decided to do a letter a week with Darcy to help her really learn her alphabet. It has been more like a letter every other week though so far. 

 I bought some glitter a while ago for a little project for the kids, but they weren't the ones who actually used the glitter then. One day Darcy saw it and was pleading with me to use it. I honestly have a hard time with messes, so I had to fight my inner voice shouting "NO WAY" and decided to let her her try it. I had her draw pictures with glue and then sprinkle the glitter on and then dump it off into a bowl. At first she was doing a really good job and I was amazed. After a while I just let her do whatever she wanted and it got everywhere, but really the mess wasn't so bad to clean up and she really loved it. So I guess it was worth it.

 This picture doesn't show all the tiny glitter specks all over as well as I had hoped.

 The other day I walked into my bathroom and was very surprised to find this! Ezra really loves to climb these days. He pushes things around to get up where he wants to be, and if we take him down he will just do it again and again and again and again!

A couple weeks ago I had to go to the dentist and my mom and Haley came to watch my kiddos. Haley took this picture out the screen door of my mom having a tea party with Darcy and Ezra. Darcy would have a tea party all day every day if she could.

Darcy is also really into building with blocks. Ezra is into destroying everything we build. :) So one day while Ezra was taking a nap Darcy and I took advantage and built the tallest tower we could. (Disclaimer: She put her outfit together that day. Haha.)

Halloween

 Halloween was pretty intense for me this year, but still good. It was fun to watch Darcy start to get into it and see her excitement about all the fun things that go along with this holiday.

 Carving a pumpkin was the first bit of excitement. I am so thankful Drew is willing to do this one, because it really is not my favorite. Darcy loved it! She loved scooping out all the seeds, and actually did a pretty good job of it. I told her to say "Happy Halloween!" to the camera and it made her giggle and I got this really genuine smile for the picture which I LOVE!

 We cut a chunk off the lid that was really thick and let Darcy have at it which a spoon, and she thought she was doing some serious work. Eventually Ezra found a little chair, pushed it over to a big chair, crawled from chair to chair and then on to the table. Crazy climber had to get in on the action.

 The finished product. (Oh how I wish I knew how to use my camera.)

 At the last minute I changed up Darcy's Little Red Riding Hood costume and I decided she needed an apron. I went from store to store to store trying to find something that would work. I eventually found this plain little apron at Joann's (which I was actually so happy about I almost cried from joy) and decided I could spice it up.

 The after photo. I was pretty happy with how it turned out!

 Little Red Riding Hood before trunk-or-treat without the hood. (I put a little makeup on her which was so fun!)

 Our little trunk-or-treaters getting it done.

 I really would be happy if I never had to dress up for Halloween again in my life and didn't plan to this time, but as we were about to leave the house Drew walked out dressed up! So then I couldn't be the only one not dressed up. Here we are all dressed up together. Drew's fabulous suit is always a hit with everyone.

 Darcy got to wear her costume to dance on Halloween so I dressed Ezra up too and took them to the park for a photo shoot on the way. This little girl just has to be the cutest Little Red Riding Hood ever! I just want to squeeze her.

 Hood on.

 And this little man has to be the cutest Peter Pan ever! I made his belt out of felt because I was unaware of how much it would stretch. It eventually became this string of a belt. Drew whittled him a little knife (Super Dad!) but we forgot it for the photo shoot, so his scabbard is pulled up funny for the picture.

 Darcy dressed up with the other girls at dance.

My mom brought Ashley and her friend Myrla to come trick-or-treating. I felt bad that they drove an hour and we only lasted for about 20 minutes on the doors. It was too cold, and the kids got plenty of candy!

Little Buddies

This summer a family moved into our ward with a girl right around Darcy's age and a boy right around Ezra's age. We were pretty excited about it! Our whole family has been enjoying spending time with them and getting to know them. I have loved watching Darcy and their little girl Marley become fast friends. This is Darcy's first real friend and it makes me so happy to watch them together. We go to story time together and Darcy and Marley are in the same dance class. On our way to those places and to church Darcy always has to make sure Marley will be there. Marley is a little older and happy to participate in things, and I love how that has helped influence Darcy to go be a part of things. Such cute little friends!

This was their first real encounter, where they first became friends. :)

More fun on the boat

We had their family over for the BYU game a few weekends ago and the girls got dressed up and had a little tea party. 

Drew and Marley's dad played on a soccer team together this fall and the kids played on this huge dirt pile during the games. (We got some really great messes from this activity!)

Sliding down the dirt pile together

Something for the Wall

The cords to both of our lap tops were ruined and I have gotten behind in my blogging, so I'm playing catch up again.

I have been looking for something to put on the wall of the landing. I wanted a saying that was something like a family moto. I saw this sign on Pinterest (of course) and loved it. I don't think it is going to be our permanent family moto, but I do like it while I keep searching for the perfect thing. I love the double meaning. I love that is encourages positive thinking about the people around us, and also encourages us to be amazing.

The other day I called my dad to ask where a good place to get cheap wood to make a headboard was, and he told me he had lots at his house. We did get wood for a headboard, which we haven't made yet, but we also hit the jackpot for pallets! He has hundreds of pallets that he doesn't need. So we got some for a couple different projects.
 
I copied the Pinterest sign almost exactly. I had to make all my own stencils which took a while, but I really do love how it turned out. Now I need to find some other things to go up there with it so it doesn't look so lonely.

Messy

Saturday morning we made a last minute decision to run to Mattawa to get some wood from my dad which meant we left the house suddenly and it was a mess. Then, in a very rare moment, I ended up sleeping in this morning so I didn't have a chance to clean up once again. It stresses me out big time to have the house so messy for so long. So, Drew took Ezra for a drive at the end of sacrament meeting because Ezra was cranky and tired and needed to sleep. While he was sleeping in the pickup Drew came home and cleaned the house. Made beds, put away laundry, cleaned up toys, emptied and loaded the dishwasher, cleaned up the table, cleaned the kitchen, put away the ironing board and iron, etc., etc., etc. Oh my goodness I was so excited about this surprise when I got home!!

So I was going on and on about how awesome this all was, and Darcy walks over to the toy bins and states loudly and happily, "Now, I'm gonna make a mess!!!" She wasn't being spiteful or anything. She said it like we would be so excited about it and we couldn't help but laugh. Silly girl.

Mish Mash

I had a few random pictures on my camera I wanted to blog about. So here they are.

 

 I always put Darcy up on a stool to do her hair and Ezra had been anxious to have a turn up on the stool. So I put him up and brushed his hair. He loved it. Then he took the brush and brushed his own hair for a while. He tends to use the wrong side though.

 Another favorite lately. Both my kids have been into downward dog. :) Ezra loves to do this and have us look at him through his legs.

 I saw on their family blog that my nephew was making his own bed and he's just a little older than Darcy. I was shocked because I hadn't even thought of having Darcy make her own bet yet! Whoops! So the next day we started working on it, and she was so excited about it. When I tell her it's time to make her bed she runs upstairs, excited to do it. I had no idea she would be so happy to make her bed!

 I saw this idea for sidewalk paint on Pinterest and it was a hit! Darcy and Ezra both loved having freedom to paint all over without having to be careful. Ezra had never even gotten to try painting before this and he was a fan. I thought it was fun too!

 They got to clean up in the pool.

 It was a little chilly for getting wet so they were happy to get wrapped up in the towels.

This week I have been watching my cousin Cruz while my Aunt is working in the area. The first day he was here we blew up this air mattress in my room and these three had so much fun playing on it together.

 Yesterday I took a deep breath and let Darcy paint my toenails. I was worried she would get the polish all over everything, but she didn't get it anywhere besides my toes. Not exactly where it's supposed to go, but close. :) She was so happy to get to do this and it was definitely worth it! We were both laughing that it was all over my toes.