Ford at 18 months

Ford had his first official day in Nursery today and it was WONDERFUL.  For him and us.  He has been so ready for three months now.  Before taking him in I went outside and snapped a few pictures of him.  I just can't get over how cute this kid is.  There are so many times that he's doing something and Aaron and I look up at each other as if to say, "This has got to be the cutest kid in the world."  We are biased for sure ;)  And you better believe there are moments where we also look at each other as if to say, "This kid is CRAZY."  But that's 18 months for you, all the highs and all the lows you can imagine.  But overall this stage is my jam and I really feel like we are in a good groove.

So for a quick update, here's Ford at 18 months...

Ford's vocabulary has grown exponentially in the past couple months. He's saying hi, bye, dada, mama, wawa (water), baba (blankie or pacifier), nana (banana or his Nana), a-ma (Grandma) and night-night (goodnight).  And his favorite word is "MINE!!!" And beyond those words, he can communicate so effectively through hand motions and noises.  It's not very hard to figure out what he wants these days.

Aaron is his favorite, hands down.  If Ford hears any noise in the house at all, Ford assumes it's the garage door opening and that Daddy's home.  He'll run to the back door and wait there for Aaron to walk in.  I feel bad breaking it to him 95% of the time that it was just the AC kicking in or the dishwasher starting.  He prefers Aaron for going to bed and definitely if he gets hurt and needs comfort.

He has now had three haircuts but has probably needed double that.  Haircuts are not my strength.  I can only manage getting my own hair cut once a year.  I love his little gentleman's haircut.  I'm sure the day will come when he gets his first buzz cut but the thought of that currently horrifies me.  I will hold on to this wonderful stage of adorable haircuts and cute suspenders and sweet little moccasins for as long as I can.  

We are constantly hearing from people that he's "all boy."  He is a born climber, runner and tinkerer.  Thankfully he's given up eating soil and some other crazy things but he loves to climb on the table (I can't get this to stop for the life of me!) and pull chairs up to the counter (he's even ignited our gas stove!).  Give him a ball or a toy car and he'll squeal from excitement.  

He's learning to deal with his frustrations, meaning lots of throwing himself on the ground and smacking his head repeatedly on it (even tile!).  He's in a hitting phase and he definitely does it intentionally now.  We're working on it.  Tantrums are a real thing.  

However, Ford is no terror.  He is such a sweet cuddler and loves to rest his head on your shoulder, especially as you sing to him before bedtime.  And he gives the sweetest hugs and kisses.  His hugs are full body hugs.  

He now confidently walks into the gym's babysitting center without crying.  And when we go to pick them up at the end of a workout, we find Eleanor and Ford playing something together.  So heartwarming.

This kid loves him some music.  Turn on the Moana soundtrack and he can't help but stomp his feet and shake his hips.  He feels the beat and it just overtakes his little body.  He treats the fireplace hearth as his stage and loves to put on a show with Eleanor.  Adele's "Hello" has also been a favorite of his for a while now.

When we sense he has something he shouldn't and yell "Fooord!" he looks at us, cackles and sprints away.  He's mischievous for sure.

Ford is sitting better for books and loves pointing to pictures. 

Currently, Ford is transitioning to one nap a day and it's a rough transition.  He's clearly tired by 10:30 am so I put him down and he sleeps for a good two hours. But then he refuses an afternoon nap when he clearly needs it.  He's usually down at night at 7:30 pm and sleeps til 7:30 am.  We have been getting uninterrupted sleep at night for so long now and it's amazing.

Ford is playing with Eleanor for longer and longer stretches.  I'll find them quietly in her room playing together or at least side by side.  Of course the minute Ford spots me spying he runs out to me.  As a result, I'm usually too scared to check no them playing for fear of their independent play ending.  So I pray they aren't dying and hold out til I hear a cry. 

He's still on the small side, averaging about 15% for height and weight.  At his last doctor's appointment, his doctor said, "Well no wonder he's not gaining tons of weight.  He hasn't stopped moving once this whole time!"

With two of his four teeth chipped (he still only has four teeth!) and legs full of bruises and scratches, you can tell that he's just a little reckless.  Nothing stops him.  He's a tough cookie and try as we do to keep him safe, he's had his fair share of run ins.  I'm hoping it's all contributing to him learning some healthy boundaries and will keep him safer in the long run. 

Ford passionately loves his little blankie and pacifier.  We have been working on getting him to leave them in his crib after waking up but he manages to sneak in and grab them out still. 

He puts up a mean fight when he's getting his diaper changed or his teeth brushed.  He has an excellent back arch.

We mostly call him Ford and Fordy.  Occasionally he gets a Fordster and my mom calls him Mr. Ford.  

He currently loves yogurt, fruit, beans, breakfast shakes, avocados and bananas.  He does pretty well with meats. I've had to stop giving him berries all together for now or else he won't eat anything else.

Admittedly, Ford has had way more fruit snacks and Mac 'N Cheese than Eleanor ever had at this age.  In fact, I don't think Eleanor had a single fruit snack until she was two years old (#firstchild). 

Ford has a thing for eating crayons and has started sneakily writing on walls, floors and cabinets.  Thank goodness for washable crayons and markers.  We have currently banned markers from the house and crayons may be going soon.

He's starting to notice if I'm holding Eleanor or a friend's baby and manages to scoot himself onto my lap and claim his territory.   

He fold his arms for prayer by sticking his hands in his armpits.  Kills me every time.

His giggle is seriously the best thing ever.  He's had a good, hearty laugh since three months and it's so fun to get him on a laughing roll.  

I find myself taking tons of pictures of him throughout the day because I just can't get enough of his blonde hair, chubby cheeks and happy smile.  He is seriously so darling and sometimes my heart just bursts when I see him doing simple things like eating in his high chair.  The tantrums pale in comparison to all the seriously amazing things he's accomplishing each day.  We love our little Fordy. 

Aaron at 29 years old

Aaron turns 29 years old today!  I've now known him for ten and a half years and can attest to that fact that he just gets better and better with age :)

This morning we let him sleep in til a whopping 7:15 am.  I intended to let him sleep til 7:45 am but he got up earlier because he heard the kids and wanted to play with them.  Eleanor stormed in the bedroom and gave him a big birthday hug followed by Ford toddling in with squeals of excitement.

We had a traditional bacon and egg birthday breakfast.  He makes amazing eggs so I made him do that part of the breakfast himself ;)  After breakfast he headed to work to discover his room decked out in Ron Swanson birthday decor thanks to his fun co-workers.

He came home at 2:30 pm and built a mega fort with Eleanor.  As soon as Ford woke up we had a family birthday party with presents and cake.  I told him Aaron could go out after that and do anything he wanted by himself.  So he's currently choosing to use his free birthday time to go to the DMV.  Crazy man but I love him.  We have a babysitter for tonight and can't wait to do a little shopping and then get dinner P.F. Chang's.

In the spirit of the birthday updates I've done for the rest of us so far this year, I thought Aaron deserved his very own.

At 29 years old, Aaron...

-continues to enjoy grilling meat, his current specialty being pesto chicken. It's SO GOOD. He still uses a charcoal grill and has now enlisted Eleanor to be his grilling helper.

-still loves to finish off a night with a sleeve of double stuff Oreos and a cold glass of milk.

-follows sports as much as ever, with an emphasis on BYU sports of course.  He loves doing fantasy basketball with friends and has a constant text conversation going with groups of friends over what's going down in the sports world.

-is a dedicated dad.  He loves time with the kids and thinks of new fun activities to do with them.  He's been reading Shoe Dog recently (about the man who started Nike) and was impressed that Phil Knight would make up bedtime stories for his son that involved his son helping historical figures.  He immediately implemented that with Eleanor, telling her stories about "Eleanor and Paul Revere" or "Eleanor and Abe Lincoln" (of course, Eleanor always insists there is some dancing element to the story).  He's by far the "fun parent," building forts, being the tickle monster, dancing to Nutcracker, pulling the trailer on family bike rides and on and on.  Aaron will be the first to admit that parenting is no cake walk (constant sleep interruptions, dealing with tantrums, etc.) and yet he gives it his all every day.

-in that same vain, Aaron is a supportive, loving and fun husband.  He texts me throughout the day asking how I'm doing and telling me what a great wife and mom I am.  His appreciation and encouragement helps me so much because I am often feeling less than great at that particular moment.  He reminds me to laugh and lets me sleep in most mornings while he changes diapers, makes breakfast and deals with early morning meltdowns.

-has developed a love of going out to eat :) He loves a nice meal and gets excited about trying out a new restaurant in town.  This has been the focus of our date nights and it's so fun to just go without kids, eat a good, long meal and talk over various topics (right now we talk about London).

-enjoys living the gospel.  We took our kids on a walk around the Fresno temple last month just after a spiritually uplifting Stake Conference weekend and on the drive home he said, "I'm all in.  I just want you to know I'm all in with the gospel."  And he means it.  I find him reading the scriptures by himself at night and telling me about his personal spiritual goals.  He really believes in Christ and wants to center his life on Christ.  Aaron's the one that reminds us to have a real family home evening or to have family prayer before he heads to work.  Aaron has given again and again with his time to his Stake Clerk calling, attending bi-weekly early morning meetings and dedicating himself to Ward and Stake Conferences.  Giving this time isn't easy.  We constantly have conversations about how to juggle family, work and church time.  And yet our conclusions in those conversations is that no matter how difficult it is to fit everything in, we have faith that all the time we give to these good pursuits will be worth it.

-is currently playing basketball two nights a week with the guys at church.  He really looks forward to these games both as a chance to get out and move and as a chance to get to know the guys better.  He comes home and gives me a report of how he played.  He loves that he's been making more 3 pointers lately :)

-is still just as frugal (cheap) as ever when it comes to spending money on himself.  I recently succeeded in convincing him to invest in some new clothes.  We went to Nordstrom Rack where he was shocked to find t-shirts going for $20.  He was like, "I'm looking to spend $10 or less on a t-shirt. I can't imagine spending 20."  So we headed to Old Navy and he managed to find t-shirts for $7 and was as happy as can be.

-works as a financial advisor at Veater Financial Group.  His favorite aspects of the job are meeting with clients and doing presentations.  He loves that he can help people and enjoys thinking about how to help the business grow.  We are so grateful for his work schedule (9 am to 5 pm Monday through Thursday and then he gets off at 2 pm on Fridays) and that he lives just ten minutes from his office.  We've been able to spend so much more time as a family as a result of those hours.  Such a blessing!

-spends his Saturdays trading off between helping me with the kids and doing outdoor chores.  He was really looking forward to working in the yard when we bought the house but has realized what a daunting task it is to maintain a yard with mature trees by yourself when you really just have a Saturday to take it on.

-continues to make excel spreadsheets in his free time.  I'll open my computer and find a complex spreadsheet he's left behind.  I'm so grateful for his budgeting skills and math brain.

-is a good friend and thoughtful family member.  I am amazed at all the people he has been able to stay in close contact with.  He's constantly calling people just to chat.  He's very aware of friends and family and if any are in distress he's quick to text me and ask how we can help them.

We love him dearly and think he's the world's greatest.  Happy Birthday my love!

6th Anniversary Getaway

Come November, Aaron and I were super antsy to have a night away and get some good sleep.  We decided to do an early 6th anniversary getaway and stay in the Lafayette Park Hotel, the same place we stayed on our wedding night.  We dropped the kids off at my parents that Friday night and headed to a fancy steak dinner at Vic Stewart's in Walnut Creek.

Gotta love cheesy anniversary pictures over dinner.

Then we headed to the hotel and enjoyed swimming in the pool and making a cozy fire in our room. Really our main hope was to just get a solid night sleep and even sleep in a bit.  But in a funny (very sad) turn of events, Aaron ended up getting step throat that night and was up all night.  We enjoyed a quick breakfast (the same one we had ordered six years earlier) and then headed off to the urgent care.

We stayed one more day at my parents house and enjoyed cousin time, quilting and church.  This was also a significant weekend because we had Eleanor throw away all her pacifiers (peekos) at my parents house before heading home to Fresno.  She was okay with it at the time, saying, "I'm a big girl!" but the coming weeks proved to be not so fun.  Good thing we threw those things all away or else I would have gladly reverted back to them when she was refusing to nap and crying herself to sleep at night (ugh!).

 ^^Meeting Jeff and Juliana's sweet new daughter

^^Our big after throwing away her pacifiers :)

But I digress.  Despite Aaron getting sick, we enjoyed the chance to celebrate our anniversary early and spend some time just us.  And a big thank you to my parents who watched the kids and even got up for Ford's 5 am feeding to give him a bottle on weekend :)

Turning 29

It's my birthday today and I'm turning 29.  I'm happy to be 29 and just feel like I'm at a great place in life.  I do feel really strange about being on my last year of my 20's though.  Life just seems to be chugging along at a rather quick pace and I really hope that I'm fulfilling my potential and achieving all that I want to be out of life :)

The morning started off with Eleanor giving me a big sweet hug in bed.  She was very excited that it was my birthday (come to find out later that her excitement had a lot to do wanting my birthday cake ;)).  Then Aaron brought Ford in the room and Fordy gave me a big kiss.  We are halfway through the day and I've already had the chance to get my nails done thanks to wonderful Jessica watching my kids.  An afternoon to myself feels like the best gift these days.  And I've been so grateful for the family and friends who've reached out today to share the love. Man, birthdays are just the best.

Whenever Eleanor and Ford have a birthday I post about what they are doing at that age so I thought I'd do that for myself.

So at 29 years old, I am...

-hitting my stride with two kids.  We have a set schedule, I am sleeping pretty well, I officially weaned Ford as of today (!) and I shower almost regularly now (showering is it's own kind of wonderful freedom).  I'm finding a lot of joy in watching Eleanor do forward rolls and watching Ford roam wherever his two little legs will carry him.  Ford bends his arms, clenches his fists and sticks out his chest when he walks and it's adorable.  We make and eat far too much cookie dough but Eleanor and I try to counter it with our 7 minute workout (Eleanor doing squats kills me every time).  Actually, now that I'm feeling more on top of life I really do want to prioritize exercise more.  Maybe this will be the year of regular gym attendance??? I'm getting there, we will see!

-dreaming daily of our trip to London in two months.  I'm reading books on Queen Elizabeth II and Clementine Churchill now with others in the queue.  We are nailing down our itinerary and I am most excited about going to old British homes and antique markets.  I want to bring back some kind of artwork.  This will be our first trip out of the country together and we are feeling very grateful and excited.

-spending nights cleaning up the house and actually enjoying the cleaning process.  I love the feeling of everything being put away at night, the counters wiped clean and the floors all swept.  I stayed up last night vacuuming so that I could wake up to a clean house on my birthday.  I didn't always prioritize cleaning like this but now at 29 it feels key to my peace and happiness.  I still wish the bathrooms would clean themselves and the floors never needed to be mopped but maybe someday I will learn to love those aspects of cleaning too.

-depending on weekly date nights with Aaron.  We started making weekly dates a requirement when Eleanor turned 2 years old and it's been a game changer for us.  We don't really do anything grand but a good meal out just us does wonders for the soul.  And there's no better feeling than having someone else put your kids to bed!

-constantly dreaming of home stuff.  I probably spend too much brain power on this hobby, but I just love thinking of how to improve our home and seeing how others are improving theirs.  I love figuring out my style and trying to implement it.  My latest obsession is wallpaper, particularly this blue one (maybe in my laundry room or powder bathroom?!) and this one (maybe a future little girls room!).

-thoroughly enjoying my Young Womens assignment at church.  I work with the Beehives (girls ages 12-13) and I think it has got to be the single best calling in the church.  I was at our mutual activity the other week and caught myself thinking, "I can't believe I get to do this for my calling.  I'm so lucky."  Young Womens callings can be all consuming (so many activities and meetings and texts, etc.) and yet I've really loved throwing myself into it and being there for these really wonderful girls.

-listening to and loving podcasts.  When I get Ford down for his afternoon nap and Eleanor in her room for quiet time, I turn on a podcast and start checking off my to-do list (usually starting with dishes).  It feels like it gives me that little bit of adult interaction that I'm needing right about then.

-making temple attendance more a focus.  I was able to go three times last month and already once this month.  My track record was pretty low last year with having a nursing baby so it is wonderful to be getting into more of a groove.

-hoping to paint more.  Aaron gave me a set of acrylic paints for Christmas and I have been wanting to master the art of the seascape.  I've decided that painting is a good outlet for me because it forces me to accept imperfections and just enjoy the process.

I'm sure there's more to say but Ford is awake now and it's time to get to dancing class and then on to more birthday fun.  Hope everyone else is enjoying February 16th.  I think it's the best day of the year :)

Happy 1st Birthday Ford!

Ford is officially 1 years old today!  I just can't believe my sweet little babes is already grown up.  He got his first hair cut yesterday and suddenly looks like a baby no longer.  His baby chub has been long gone for awhile now and he's walking all over the place as of just a few weeks ago.  So while I'm in shock that it was really one year ago that I first had Ford on my chest, all the signs are there that he really is becoming a big boy.

At one years old, Ford is...

-saying his mamas and dadas

-loving grapes, broccoli, bananas and sweet potatoes.  He's a good eater and quite impatient when it comes to getting his food.

-opening cabinets, banging pots and pans, putting balls in and out of containers, opening and closing lids, copying his sister, climbing into Eleanor's bed, banging his head on everything, trying to draw on the chalkboard, attempting to eat the potted plants, playing in toilets and flipping through books.  He is officially into everything!

-walking!  He rolled over at 4 months, crawled at 6 months, pulled himself up to standing at 7 months, furniture cruised at 8 months and walked by 11 1/2 months.   I am not used to such a little guy walking all around (Eleanor first walked at 16 months) so it has been an adjustment for sure.  And yet I don't mind saying goodbye to the dirty knees and putting every little spec in his mouth.

-napping twice a day (usually an hour each), going to bed by 6:30 pm, waking up to nurse at 5 am and then going right back to sleep until 7 am.  I'm looking forward to dropping the 5 am feeding (I'm trying to wean him as we speak) but I can't complain too much I guess.

-loving Eleanor.  He clearly misses her when she's not around.  The other week Eleanor was playing peekaboo with him in the car and he was cracking up.  Aaron and I looked at each other with big smiles and said, "It's happening!  They love each other!"  Eleanor and Ford love bathing together before bedtime and playing alone together in Eleanor's room for small stretches of time.

-throwing tantrums when he doesn't get his way.  He lets you know it when he's upset that you took away his toy or closed the cabinet he really wanted to get in to.

-obsessed with the phone.  He wants to hold it as he crawls around and then every once in a while he'll sit up, put the phone to his hear and say, "a bla bla bla" and laugh.  Facetiming is nearly impossible with him around these days cause he will just cry until he gets to hold the phone.

-playing with his toy cars non-stop.  He loves riding them, pushing them around, climbing in the trunks.  He knows just where we park them and races to them first thing after his nap.

We love him to pieces.  More birthday pics to follow :)

Ford's Semi-Monthly Photos

Ford turns ONE tomorrow!!

Aaron and I stayed up last night going through all of Ford's photos from his birth on and just couldn't believe how much he's changed.

Over the past year, I tried to mostly keep up with taking photos of Ford and thought I'd share the highlights now in anticipation of his big day.  I trailed off taking these monthly photos in the last couple of months so this post doesn't even really capture how big he is now (and the fact that he's WALKING!! still can't believe that!) but I just didn't want to neglect getting these photos up somewhere permanently to record all the cute early progression.  So here's a bit of Ford over the past year...

March 12th, 2017 (just over one month old):

 April 22, 2017 at 2 1/2 months old:

June 3, 2017 and a couple days shy of 4 months:

July 4, 2017 and a couple days shy of 5 months

July 29, 2017 at 5 1/2 months:

 September 5, 2017 and a couple days shy of 7 months:

October 7, 2017 and one day shy of 8 months:

 November 1, 2017 at almost 9 months old: