Bye Bye Binky

Dear Binky,

You have been a very good friend. You comforted my sweet little boy from his very first few months of life to his ripe old age of two! How he loved you, Binky. Tears were held at bay with your presence and sleep came quickly when you were there. Weston's mischievous little face when he found you under his pillow (when he wasn't supposed to have you) will always be a dear memory for me. But, alas! It is time for you to go. And so we bid farewell. We are mailing you off to other little babies who need you. (Well, that is what we are telling Weston). Don't worry! We made sure he would have a new friend to take to bed. And some special things to help make bedtime happy. We will miss you, Binky. Thank you for all the comfort you gave to our little guy! We will see how things go...

-- One nervous Momma

Coloring the package

Collecting all the Binkys (there were quite a few floating around!)

Taking it to the mailbox

Sending it off

Seeing what special things the Binky fairy brought!

1 new buddy to cuddle with at night
+
1 new set of pjs
(that can be stored inside Elmo, how cool)
+
1 new bed time story
+
1 set of Stickers (Weston's fav.)
+
1 yummy treat to snack on before brushing teeth

=

1 very excited little guy
and
2 nervous parents

We'll see how this goes...

One Week Later...

Dear Binky,
You have been missed. But Weston really has been so brave. Naptimes and nighttimes have been a little bit rough, but overall, he is adjusting to you being gone better than I expected. Don't worry. You will always have a space in our hearts, but better there than in his teeth. This new step in Weston's life was hard for ME. (WhAt?!) I didn't expect to miss you and to be sad that you were gone. It means that my baby really is a little boy. A great little boy. He is so fun. And doing so well with out you. That's sad to hear, I know, but it's what we both wanted!

Thanks again for all your hard work in the past,

One Happy Momma!

Dad's visit (aka Gra-pa)

My dad came to visit after his hunting trip in Idaho. We had such a fun weekend with him!
Thanks, Dad for spending some time with us. We loved hanging out, playing, and having fun. You are an awesome Grandpa & Dad! Weston sure misses you! (and so do we!)

Weston was intrigued with my dad's toys:

this is also known as the deer-slayer. haha. My dad was the only one on his trip to get a deer. Weston was fascinated:

The Pumpkin Patch:

Family time pretty much means "Okay, what is something fun we can do that the kids will enjoy?" So, Dad/Grandpa was a great sport and went with us to Pumpkin land. I know he was jumping up and down with excitement. :P Seriously, though, it is fun to see the kids have a blast, no matter how lame the place might actually be. Shar, Trav, & Kapria came too, for a quality family night.



This tunnel was definitely one of the highlights:
And this slide was another:

Grandpa & Tave..having fun!

This picture is just darling. She kept peeking out of the big pumpkin. Love this girl!

4-Wheelin

Grandpa pretty much brings lots of cool stuff. Weston had so much fun hanging out with him. (I'm sure the soda Grandpa gave him had nothing to do with it...)

Lest you think we are terribly irresponsible and horrible parents...we only went about 15 mph around our townhome... we were safe.

Weston first insisted on riding the yellow one..and then wanted the green one. So I took him around on the green one. It was a lot of fun.

Weston was so sad when Grandpa left and kept asking for "more Gra-pa"

We love and miss you Dad! Thanks for such a fun few days!!!

Tave - 5 months old!

Tave is so much fun! He has had such a great month. Here's what he's been up to:

• He is still our super smiley guy!
  
• He loves being talked to and will reward anyone with this darling, adorable, fabulous grin. He really is so much fun!

• He started laughing this month! YaY!
  
• He has laughed for all of us now, but he really gets a kick out of Weston. He justs busts up laughing when Weston talks to him or laughs with him. SO cute!
  
• He is already best buds with West. Weston can sit on him, squish him, hug him, kiss him, smash him, whatever: Tave will still be smiling at his big bro.
  

• 

• He discovered his toes. And oh my. He sure LOVES them. He always holds them now and won't keep any socks on!

• 

• He loves watching people. Well..he just loves people. He is happy and content as long as he is with us. He loves to be right in the middle of all the happenings!
  

• 

• His eyes are still blue! We are hoping they stay that way! They are just so beautiful.
  

(and it makes him look so much like his daddy!)

• He tries to roll. He really wants to get all the way over...but gets kind of stuck on his side.
  
• He also loves playing with toys that make noise.
• He loves sucking on his fingers ... he has figured out how to keep the binky in his mouth while sucking on the fingers as well. So funny!
  

• He got to spend lots of time with Grandma Kare this month!

He was looking so sweet... I had to throw this one in!

• 
• He loves his daddy. As soon as he sees Jeff he is ready for daddy to play with him. He loves being held, talked to, played with and snuggled by dad. (of course Jeff is thrilled!)
  

• He loves the baby bjorn.

• He loves being able to see and watch everything around him.

• He has started saying mamamama!!! (just like that) I LOVE it!!

We love you little guy! You make our home so happy.

Growing up...

Weston is learning so many new things. It seems like each day brings a new skill and more words. We are absolutely loving getting to know is crazy fun personality.
He makes us laugh constantly and we have such a blast with him.

What Weston has been up to:

He started using sentences!!! (Sun. October 5th)
That may not be a huge deal to some of you..but, previous to the sentence phenomenon, this was a typical conversation with Weston:

Me: Weston, what do you see outside (when we're driving)
W: deer. see deer. see deer. see deer.
Me: What else do you see?
W: see sky. see sky. see sky.
Me: What is in the sky?
W: clouds. white clouds. white clouds. white clouds.
Me: Oh how cool. Do you see the truck by us?
W: big truck. big truck. big truck.

I have loved these sweet conversations, but I am just THRILLED to pieces for him to be able to tell us more of what is on his mind!!

So Weston wanted a mint and wanted to share one with Tave. I told him that babies don't eat mints. Then Weston said his first 3-word sentence:
"Baby eat milk"

Yup. That's it.
I'm not going to claim my son is a genius, or that those words are so profound. Because I know they are not. And, quite honestly, kids younger than him are talking more. But it was exciting for me, none-the-less.
And I was so proud.

And now Weston has been talking up a storm. He learns new words every day and says the funniest things.

He has also become even more of a daredevil, if that's possible. He loves running, jumping, climbing and anything that scares his mommy.
He loves to chat with Tave. They laugh back and forth and have a grand old time together.
He loves helping in the kitchen.
He absolutely loves doing crazy things with Dad.
He has started requesting things for breakfast, dinner, etc.
He is really into little figure toys. Right now he likes Mickey & Minnie.
He loves reading. (Yay for me!)
AND...drum roll please...
He knows most of his shapes & colors. So exciting! He can not only point to them (receptive learning which comes first) but he can also say them (expressive learning with comes second)
And the other day he counted 4 carrots on his plate. All by himself.
Sigh. My little boy is growing up.

It is just incredible to watch these little ones become their own person.
I always knew I wanted to be a mom.
Now I know why.

My Mom & Dad...

Have started a blog!!! YaY!!!

So for those friends and family members who want to keep in touch with them...
here it is:

http://danandkarensfamily.blogspot.com

And some of you have asked where they bought a home: beautiful, wonderful, perfect, perpetually warm & sunny CA. (can you tell I am NOT looking forward to winter here?!)

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

I am going to be terrible, mean, and lazy and make you click here for the recipe.
I posted it on the recipe blog and don't want to retype it. Like I said, lazy. Or just tired. Maybe both.

Either way, click here. Or here. Or here. (Have I given you enough chances?!)
It's worth it! So easy, so delish, so practically perfect in every way.
You won't regret it.
But your waist might. hehe

Monkey Bread coming soon. Sorry... my recipe book is downstairs.

How to get the most out of General Conference...

when you have little kiddos!


#1. Have Dad help them get out as much energy as possible.

#2. Put on Music and the Spoken Word. (If it's the Sunday morning session...on Sat. put on some soothing, inspiring music)
Tave & Weston BOTH loved watching this while we did some last minute stuff getting ready. I was pleasantly surprised.



#3. Build a fort. We started this tradition last conference and it is quickly becoming a favorite. Jeff builds a fort with the kiddos while I make breakfast. We set it up in front of the t.v. so that, once the session starts, they can see the speakers while they are playing. This way they are still hearing the speakers and seeing our beloved leaders and prophets.



#4. Monkey bread. I don 't have a picture, but this is another Conference tradition (thanks to James & Amy). We LOVE making it and eating so much yumminess throughout the session. Weston even requested it this year...which was fun. I'll post the recipe soon!

#5. Have fun games for the kiddos to play with. Weston really liked doing puzzles with mommy. Which brings me to:

#6. While kiddos are young, they probably aren't going to be okay with mom & dad ignoring them for two hours, oh I mean, letting them play on their own for two hours... so we took turns. We were all in the living room together but one of us was on kid duty while the other one took notes.


This picture goes with #6: Weston liked doing what I was doing. Here he is crocheting.


#7. Have a picnic or playtime outside in between sessions. This goes along with #1.

#8. Time your kids naps during conference. Weston always takes an afternoon nap (usually around 1230 or 1) but we just kept him up a little bit extra so that he would go down right before the session started. This made it easier on ALL of us: he didn't have to sit through another two hours and we were able to listen and have a very good afternoon session.

#9. If all else fails: just stick them in a box. ;)


Well. This General Conference was fantastic for us. We really loved having some quality time together as a family. It was so wonderful to have such a successful few days. The kids did great and we were definitely uplifted and inspired by the wonderful leaders who taught us. This conference truly was an answer to prayer!

Happy Happy New House!!!

While my mom was here visiting, my parents signed on a house!!! YAY!! We had to do some celebrating since they weren't able to be together on this most joyous of days!!!













3 cute kiddos + park + Cafe Rio (mmmm) + feeding the ducks + Jeff got out of class early and surprised us = ONE GRAND CELEBRATION!!!

Congratulations Mom & Dad!!! We can't wait to come visit!!!

What's cookin?!

My wonderful friend, Stephanie, started a recipe blog! I get to be a contributer, which is so much fun.
SO if any of you are wondering what to make for dinner tonight...go check it out:

http://recipesbetweenfriends.blogspot.com/

There are already some delicious recipes that I can't wait to try and more get added all the time.

Have fun!

On another note...
Weston helped me make dinner last night:














It was awesome! He loved dumping water from measuring cups into pots on the other side of the sink. The spatulas were great fun too! He was entertained the entire time I cooked AND my counters were sparkling clean. Happy boy = Happy mama!

What a week!

We are having a crazy-fun-exhausting-some tears-but-lots of laughter week!

Kapria is staying with us while Shar & Trav are in New York. My mom came out to visit and to help. Here are a few pics to show Shar & Trav that their little cutie is having fun with us!

My mom has been awesome, I don't know what I would have done without her! And Kapria was happy during our 'dance party' but the picture doesn't show it. :)

So proud of her new accomplishment: she can climb into (and all over) the chair.

We're having fun...

I haven't posted in awhile...so here are a few of our favorites from the past few weeks!

Halloween. I couldn't resist. Aren't they adorable?!

My sweet little Tave.

Weston is teaching Tave how to talk on the phone.

So I made the mistake of showing Weston his new fall shoes. (They are a size 6 but he still fits in a size 5) He has insisted on wearing them every day!!! I just couldn't resist getting them because green is his favorite color. So cute!
This outfit is also one of his new, cooler weather outfits from Grandma D. He wasn't in the mood for pictures, but I had to take one anyways. Love this kid!

Tave LOVES his daddy. He gets so excited and does this cute little body wiggle when he sees Jeff. I love that Jeff can always calm him down. I love seeing my guys together!

Enlarge this pic and it speaks for itself...
What a cute little guilty face!

Sunday afternoon....love naps!

Weston LOVES nursery. He always comes home with cute little things that he made. He loves telling us all about the things he learned and what his pictures mean. Recently they made crowns and he insisted on wearing it for about a week. Love this kiddo!!!