Delilah at 5 Months

Ahhh look at this little cutie! She's growing bigger, stronger, and chunkier every day! :)

At age 5 Months (which was November 10th), these were some facts and stats about Delilah:

• Size 3-6, 4-6, and 6 month clothes (seems pretty true to size!)
• Size 2 diapers
• Breastfeeds 8-9 times a day for 10-20 minutes on one side each feeding.
• Has started waking up more at night to eat again. Usually just once, but sometimes twice.
• Bedtime is around 8:30pm and she wakes up usually around 7am or so.
• Rolls over consistently from her back to her front! Yay! She's rolled from front to back a few times (on accident I think), but usually her arm is out to the side and she gets stuck and can't turn back over. Then cue the crying. I turn her back onto her back dozens of times every day, and I'm trying to show her how to move her arm so she can roll from tummy to back. :)
• Her signature sound is a loud "Ah ah ah ah ah" when she's talking or happy. Sometimes she'll squeal or scream just for fun, too. Or cough. 
• She's become very "hands-y". She is excellent at grabbing things: her toy, paci, my face, my nose, my hair etc. She squeezes so hard that it usually HURTS! Haha. Especially when those tiny fingernails are getting long. She's just very precise and good with her hands! With those long fingers, I'm wondering if we have a pianist in the making!? :)
• Her favorite things are still watching and giggling with Charlie, getting cozy in her fuzzy pink and polka dot blanket, reading books, rolling over, and just being with people in general (especially sitting in the bumbo while we do things). She doesn't like to be left alone in a room with just her toys for too long.
• Naps 2-3 times a day with the mid-day nap being the longest. She loves to sleep in her carseat or swing, and we're working on transitioning naps to the crib.
• Ever since she was a couple months old, her little body goes through phases where, instead of pooping every day at least once, she just won't poop for a few days. During these times, she passes gas a LOT and it gets more and more stinky as the days go on. I mean, it can clear the room it's so bad!! It doesn't seem to bother her too much, but I definitely worry about it. When she finally does go, her poop is much thicker (more like pudding or paste). And then I'm really relieved! I hope things don't get too stopped up when we start solids! I don't want to have a poor constipated baby like I did with Charlie when he changed over to cow's milk at a year.
• Some nicknames that we call her are "sis", "sissy", "D", "miss D", "sister", and "sweetie".
• Doesn't laugh too often, but usually when she does it's when Charlie makes her giggle or we give her kisses on her cheeks near her neck. I think she's ticklish! :)
• Loves to grab my face or Trevor's face with both hands and pull hard toward her, and then she opens her mouth and sticks her tongue out and tries to "eat us"... or, as I like to see it, give us the most wonderful, slobbery kisses we've ever gotten! :D
• She's just so sweet and wonderful to have in our lives. I can't even imagine that I ever lived without her. She's so calm and fun to be around. The only times she gets cranky (and it can happen fast!) is if she's hungry, lonely, or really tired. But, hey, that's ALL people, right!? Haha

A Fruity Little Halloween

We had a fun-filled Halloween this year! More than anyone else, I know Charlie totally loved it. He hasn't stopped talking about "trick-or-treating" or going to "Meghan's house" for over two weeks now. I first found Delilah's costume, the little strawberry, at Costco for pretty cheap and knew I had to buy it. Then, trying to figure out a common theme, I convinced Charlie it would be pretty fun to be a banana and ordered his costume off Amazon.com. The first time he put it on I almost fell over laughing at how dorky/awesome/adorable he looked. And that's how this year's "fruity" Halloween theme came about. Trev and I are mainly just fuddy duddies and didn't dress up. Or maybe we're dressed up as good-looking parents in their late 20s. I'll let you decide ;)

As far as pumpkin carving goes, we didn't do it this year. Instead, I found these awesome sticky face-making kits at Target and Charlie and I just decorated our pumpkins a day or so before Halloween. It's totally a win-win-win situation. Win because I didn't have to spend 1-2 hours scooping and carving pumpkins (I've decided I'm really not a fan), win because the pumpkins turned out super cute, and win because our pumpkins are still in great shape halfway through November!

This is also the first holiday since having our new fireplace where I've taken time to decorate my mantel. I'm very happy with the results, especially the dried tree branch that's hanging out in my glass vase. I had taken the kids to the park one day earlier in October, and a couple of older kids from the neighborhood accidentally broke the branch off of an aspen tree nearby. Instead of just leaving it there to wilt away, I decided it would be a fabulous idea to take it home, let it dry out, and use it for decor! After spending 20 minutes cutting off all the little dried leaves, I was in love with the finished product!

And here's the decor on my porch. We decided to keep it simple, but the light-up witch and spider on the pillar are this year's new decor additions. Also, we left out a bucket of candy since we went to Springville for trick-or-treating. I left a sign that said "Please take ONE! (We are watching you!)" and I think it actually worked because we still had about 1/4 of the candy left in the bucket when we got home! Haha!

The week before Halloween, our ward at church had a Halloween get-together where we got to enjoy a chili and cornbread dinner followed by a trunk-or-treat. I signed up to hand out candy, but didn't have time to decorate the trunk beforehand. The whole night was a blur. By the time we got our food after talking and waiting in line, I barely had time to eat before rushing out to the car. The trunk-or-treaters had already started before I even had my trunk open. It was a mad rush to try to get some decor put up and open my bags of candy. Basically it was craziness and next year I'm not volunteering to hand out candy if it's optional. Haha ;) I didn't get any pictures of that night, but Charlie and Delilah had their same costumes as on Halloween night.

And now here are all the quick iPhone photos I snapped when we went trick-or-treating in Springville on Halloween. The weather was so nice! It got just a bit chilly near the end as the sun started going down and the wind picked up. I wish it were that pleasant every year! Also...I'm just loving my cute little strawberry girl! Charlie really hated having to stick his face through the hole of his banana outfit, so we just pulled the face hole all the way over his head and called him a "partially-peeled" banana for the rest of the night. :)

He was so excited to get his candy at every house! And also to show Grandma his spoils. Even though he walked the whole time, he could barely keep up with his speedy older cousins. By the time we walked around a block or two, he was asking when we could go back to Aunt Meghan's house. I think his poor little legs were done!

We finally arrived back at Aunt Meghan's house where we got to enjoy our candy and some Krispy Kreme doughnuts. (We also had some delicious soup before going out to trick-or-treat.)

Delilah got to spend some quality time with Grandpa and Grandma. Look at that adorable strawberry bum! Haha!

And we changed Charlie into his skeleton PJs (from last year!) and let him sort his candy and eat a little, too! No wonder he hasn't stopped talking about it... Halloween is a little kid's dream come true!

Cornbelly's Fun

We purchased a Thanksgiving Point pass a few months ago, and we've really been enjoying some of the venues there. Another perk of having the pass is that we get 25% off at Cornbelly's when it comes in October! We had a very busy month, but fortunately we were able to squeeze in a trip on the last Tuesday in October.

Here are my two kiddos all dressed up and ready to play!

We got there when the sun was still out and it was chilly, but not too cold. The first thing we did was ride the tractor-pulled train. Say cheese!

Next, we wandered around and let Charlie play. He enjoyed the spiderweb ropes, the ball toss games, mini hay mazes, and the corn kernel pit!

Trevor and Charlie then rode the cow train, which seemed a little too crazy for a 4 month old to ride. ;) It looks like they had so much fun! Afterward, we had duck races in water troughs and Charlie played in the life-size tractor they had parked there for quite a while, and then some wooden play sets with slides. In the meantime, I waited in line WAY too long for some roasted corn. I usually LOVE the corn at Cornbelly's, which makes the wait worth it, but this time it wasn't cooked long enough and it really wasn't good at all. There's nothing worse than biting into a half-cooked corn on the cob. At least my hot chocolate was tasty, as by that point the sun had gone down and it was really getting cold outside! I snapped this last photo from our car as we were about to leave. I love seeing a late October dusk over the mountains and corn fields. :)

Creepy Crawly Bug Themed Birthday Party

Charlie's birthday fell on a Saturday this year, so he got to have his 3rd birthday party on his actual birthday! Hooray! Once we decided on the bug party theme, I got to work taking Charlie's 3-year-old photos, making the invites, and delivering them to friends and family. I also got to work making plans for the food and the cake! This year's cake was a 3-layer chocolate boxed cake with chocolate frosting between the layers, but then I covered it with a homemade semisweet chocolate ganache and oreo crumbs to look like dirt. We topped it with some awesome plastic bugs I found at my local dollar store. That cake was SO delicious. I need to use ganache more often!

Most of the people we invited were able to make it this year, and so for a few days before the party I started to panic that we wouldn't have enough room or food for everybody! Fortunately, with the help of my friend Chelsey (who is an AMAZING party-thrower!) we pulled together all of the cute bug food ideas I found on Pinterest.

Like these classic worms in dirt (crushed oreos, worms, and chocolate pudding mixed with cool whip and more oreos):

Babybel Cheese Beetles (partially unwrapped Babybel cheeses with a blackberry stuck on using a toothpick) and Ants on a Log (celery sticks filled with peanut butter--or, in my case, sunflower seed butter--and topped with raisins):

Caterpillar Grape Kabobs (grapes on a skewer with mini chocolate chip eyes stuck on with chocolate frosting and frosting antennae):

Chips and Bug Guts (aka chips and queso - velveeta cheese plus rotel):

Since I focused so much of my efforts on the food, I didn't put up much decor. We bought some bright-colored balloons, left up the bats hanging from my ceiling that were there for Halloween, and put all sorts of little bug crafts, toys, and decor on my dining room table. I'm pretty sure the kids had a blast and made all sorts of crafts (and a mess!) on my table! :)

After everyone enjoyed their food, it was cake time! Charlie's face totally lit up when we started singing to him and Trevor brought the cake over with candles all lit up!

I was so proud that he successfully blew out one of his three candles this year! And also proud that I caught the moment it happened on camera! :)

He worked at it a little longer, and then Trevor came over to help him finish blowing them out. He's still working on his blowing skills. He tends to blow with an "F" sound shaped mouth (upper teeth on lower lip) instead of an O-shaped mouth. Haha :) You can kind of see what I'm talking about in the picture above.

Soon after we all devoured the delicious chocolate on chocolate on chocolate cake (mmmm!), it was time to open presents. Charlie got so many awesome gifts from his thoughtful family members and friends! This big dump truck was from my friend Chelsey and her daughter Jade (far left in this pic). He also got some awesome books, tractors (even a remote control one!), a bucket of gadgets from Grandma, and lots of great things to play with!

Probably his favorite gifts from his entire birthday were this cool kid microscope that he got from his cousins and the plastic blocks that encase real dead bugs from his friend Aunika. They have these blocks at the local Curiosity Museum and Charlie loved them when we went with Aunika and her mom Brittnee, so that's how Brittnee got the awesome idea to get him some for his birthday. Such a cool gift! And totally up my little scientist's alley! :)

The party started to thin out and die down a bit and Trevor and his friends went to the basement to play a few games of ping pong. :) It was such a fun day, despite the fact that Charlie truly embodied the concept of "It's My Party and I'll Cry/Pout/Scream if I Want To!". He was such a little meanie to any kid who tried to take the bugs he was playing with at the kitchen table. He would scream at them and cry until he got it back. I was quite embarrassed, but later realized it probably would have been a good idea to mentally prep him for his birthday party before it happened. Now I know it's good to tell him that friends are coming over and they are going to have fun and he needs to share his toys BEFORE it's happening to him!

You can tell in this photo how he was pretty worn out (both physically and mentally haha) by the time the party was over. See his little pout/sassy face?

We sure loved having everyone there! It's always a lot of work to throw a party, but we have so much fun that I always think it's worth it by the time it's all over with. And mostly, I still LOVE having a house to throw parties in! Thank goodness for that!

Here's me with my sweet 3-year-old! Oh, if only I weren't on the verge of a blink, this picture would be perfect! Happy Birthday, my boy!

Charlie Turns 3!

I feel like it's a pretty neat coincidence that Charlie's 3rd birthday is my 300th blog post! Hooray!

I can't believe how much my "little" Charlie has grown over the past few months leading up to his third birthday. I was warned by dozens of people that my toddler would look HUGE once I had my baby, and I remember thinking that he did seem big, but not as huge as everyone made it out to sound. Then, about a month after her birth, I swear he went through a growth spurt! Even I could tell he was growing, which is saying something because normally you don't really notice the growth because it's so gradual. Almost overnight he filled out and nearly outgrew his size 2T clothes and jumped right into size 3T!

Along with the physical growth has come some new mental growth as well! He started speaking in sentences, remembering people, places, and events, and realizing he has a mind of his own. That last bit has pretty much made our life miserable for the past few months. I'm not sure if he just hit the "terrible twos" late, or if life's dirty little secret is that three is, in fact, MUCH worse than two! Regardless, he has become demanding, whiny, and basically an all-around "NO monster". Literally days after his 3rd birthday, he learned how to open doors and take his clothes off. A lot of the boundaries I've been enjoying as a mom have been smashed with that door-opening trick. Time to buy some knob locks or covers so I can keep him out of where I don't want him going! At least he hasn't figured out how to open the outside doors... yet! Part of me is glad he knows how to open doors, so when he's finally ready to potty train (yes... he STILL refuses! I'm positive he knows how to do it, but I'm pretty sure he just doesn't care), he can get out of his room and into the bathroom by himself without having to call for me. The other part of me cries inside every morning when he comes bursting into my bedroom earlier than I'm ready to wake up shouting, "Good mor-geeen!"

Some other things to note about Charlie at three years is that he loves to talk about and control the lights ("lights on? lights off?") and all the fans ("fan on? fan off?"). If he doesn't get his way, or he's not in control, he gets pretty upset. I think he might actually have a fear of fans, but knowing he can control them helps make him feel better. His favorite food is a "peanu'butter sannwich". If I ask him what he wants to eat for lunch, he will request one without fail. Every time. And since I'm allergic to peanuts, he actually gets sunflower seed butter instead, but he doesn't know the difference! ;) He also loves to eat cereal and requests some form of it by brand name every morning. Kix? Chex? Crispix? Lucky Charms? Pops? etc. Which reminds me how cute it is when he tries to say something but it comes out in "toddler" form. Like, one piece of Kix cereal is a "kick" and one piece of Chex is a "check". Also, one time he pointed to a piece of ice that fell on the floor and said "Oh no, i!" That smart little cookie is trying to de-pluralize words! So cute! Also, today after his bath he stood up and said, before his towel was around him, "Ooohhhhhh it's too colding!". It's fun to watch a little one try to learn and apply the rules of English, especially when it's incorrect! :D

(Look at that sweet, cheesing face... and that amazingly saucy face!)

He also recently discovered his love for trick-or-treating this last go-around. He enjoyed it so much that he has talked about and prayed about thanking God for trick-or-treating and Aunt Meghan's house (where we went trick-or-treating) every single day since. It's really quite endearing, and I'm glad he doesn't fully understand what I mean when I say we have to wait a whole year before we do it again. He's already getting excited for Christmas and I bet that he will be obsessed with it after all is said and done this year! :D

Some of his favorite things to do are to play in the bushes and plants outside our house (or anywhere, really), collect toys in a container and then take them out and throw them all around or tinker with them, go to gymnastics, read books, make his sister laugh by screaming at her, say "no", watch movies (especially Cars, Cars 2, Toy Story, and A Bug's Life) and learn about and play with bugs. Which brings me to the subject of his third birthday party! For a while, I kept asking him if he wanted a Cars theme party, but he kept saying no. Then, it hit me that he would LOVE a bug party. I asked him about it and he said "YES!". I'm a genius, I tell you. :)

I'll post all about his big bug party in the next post. For now, though, I just want to finish by saying how grateful I still am to be Charlie's mom. Even though sometimes he makes me want to scream or pull my hair out or bang my head against the wall, at the end of the day I am always glad that he's mine. That crazy kid made me a mom and is helping me grow and become a better, more patient person every day! Sometimes I seriously worry that I might totally mess him up, and often I blame his bratty behavior on my parenting skills (or lack thereof). I know I can always do better as a parent, but I'm trying to remember that a lot of his behavior goes with the age that he's at, and he's just par for the course as far as human development goes. My biggest hope for him is that I can help teach him how to be a kind, loving, sharing little boy. Someone who is thoughtful and who can compromise. I haven't been focusing as much lately on teaching him his ABCs and 123s as I used to so often. With the time I have to allot to him, I've been trying to teach him how to be nice and share and use his words and help others. Some days are great. Others are total disasters. Hopefully when we emerge from this crazy tunnel called toddlerhood, he will have picked up some good traits that will help him succeed in his life! :)

Lastly, here are just a few pictures of him opening his gifts from the family a couple days after his party. Look how excited he is for presents!

I love my little family! And Trevor looks pretty excited about this gift, too! :)

A tunnel! Like they have at gymnastics!

And some books to try to help get him excited about potty training! Haha.

And this cute little puzzle/playset from my Aunt Kristen.

Happy Third Birthday, Charlie!