one

I can not believe this little guy is 1!

The last year went so fast and yet he fits in so well into our family that it seems he has always been here.

Here is a snapshot of Charlie at 1 year old.

*He babbles constantly. It almost sounds like he is carrying on a conversation. He also says Dada (For Dad) Da (For Jack) Ananana (for Ana) Ma (For mom) and anytime he drops something or sees something on the floor or wants to be put down on the floor, he says "Uh-oh"

*His little personality is starting to emerge and it is BIG. He already has thrown a couple of temper tantrums and yells when he doesn't get what he wants.

*He loves to laugh and laughs easily when he is being played with. Tickles, silly noises, being tossed around (gently of course), and peekaboo are some of his favorite games. 

*He adores all 3 of his siblings and they adore him right back.

*He crawls super fast and has very little interest in walking, though he does try to stand up in the middle of the floor. We have gotten him to walk a couple steps in between us a few times, but he mostly just does it for the applause.

*He gets into the trash, unrolls the toilet paper, pulls books off of the bookshelf and generally likes to destroy things.

*He doesn't sleep through the night anymore. He usually wakes up once around 4 but goes back to sleep really easily. He is still hanging onto nursing before bed, though its only essential if I am putting him down. He doesn't seem to miss it if Dave does bedtime.


We celebrated his birthday with a cake and giving him his own cell phone. We're starting them young. haha! Just kidding. But really, we gave him a toy cell phone that is about the same size as mine and lights up when you press it. He makes a bee-line for my phone whenever he sees it and gets mad if I turn the lights off. He seems to like his well enough so hopefully it will help sway him away from mine.

I can't imagine life without our little guy.

weekend update

It happened in the front of the kids' school.

 I was there taking Ana her crutches she got for Christmas. (Yes, we gave our daughter crutches for Christmas. She loves them.) Her friend had hurt her ankle and Ana really wanted to let her friend borrow them. Ana called from the school and said that her friend was having a hard time walking and that it was okay with her teacher and everyone if she used the crutches. I told her "no" at first. I had a whole list of things I needed/wanted to do. But then I thought about how grateful I am for Ana's generous spirit and her thoughtfulness of her friend and how much I want to encourage that kind of behavior. And I thought about my New Year's Theme and how as part of "saying less" I want to really think before reacting and how I had not done that. So after questioning my parenting for a good 30 minutes, I decided to take her the crutches.

And then I wrecked my car.  I slid into the curb of the drop of lane and totally messed up the front wheel. It was undriveable. So I called my trusty insurance and a tow truck came and while they were pulling the van onto the truck it pulled the bumper off the front end. Not completely off, I guess, but enough that it looks really bad. We are now awaiting word from the shop what the verdict will be.

Sigh. In the words of my sister. "No good deed goes unpunished." Ha!

Saturday I went to the Temple and it was so grounding and peaceful. Then I spent the afternoon with my sister and some of her kids and we had a lovely time. And Dave had the whole weekend off (including today!) so that's been great.

Life sure is messy. We keep on trucking along.

thematic

In 2016 I resolve to:

SAY LESS:

*Don't just talk AT the kids. Make the words I say meaningful to them, instead of rambling and lecturing 
(Because I don't just want to talk. I want to say meaningful things.)

*Lower my voice. 
(Because things are loud around here.)

*Build relationships by listening and validating others. 
(Because what other people say is part of their story.)
*Be still. 
(Because not every moment should be noisy)

DO MORE:

*Run a 10k 
(Because I can.)

*Run up to the H-rock and watch the sun fill the valley. 
(Because the light-filling inspires me.)

*Read the entire bible straight through. 
(Because I never have.) 
*Read The Book of Mormon again. 
(Because it never gets old.) 
Focus on my theme while reading.

*Get rid of 40 bags of clutter. Donate it or throw it out.
(Because enough is enough.)

*Read, paint, sew, play, work, teach, study. 
In other words, DO THINGS.

It's going to be a great year.

homage to 2015

The new year is upon us.

2015 was quite the year.

Here are the happy highlights:

January: Our little Charlie was born. I can't imagine life without him.

February: We stayed home, sanitized our hands, and snuggled our baby boy.

March/April: California trip to see our amazing friends.

May: Dave and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary! And I turned 31, which was a big deal for me because it was my golden birthday and I had looked forward to it ever since I was a little girl and heard about Golden Birthdays. (It's when you turn the age of your birth date.)

June: Jack had his golden birthday and finished up baseball.

July: We spent the entire month in Idaho.

August: We tried to squeeze in as much summer stuff as we could.

September: An amazing visit from our awesome Vermont family.

October: Amazing trip to Arches National Park. Also, Star Wars Halloween!

November: Hosting my first ever Thanksgiving with my lovely sisters. (Also, I read the last 3 Harry Potter books in 1 week. Don't judge.)

December: Awesome Christmas celebrations.

These are the happy things. Sandwiched in all of that was Dave working like crazy,  the big kids' constant bickering, a lot of raised voices, and  Charlie getting 3 ear infections and learning how to get into everything.  And I went through a grumpy phase. (I think it was caused by, among other things, all the turmoil and angst I saw on social media that somehow seeped into my soul. ) (2015 was messed up on social media, amiright?)

I tried to stay focused on my goal to Reach Out. One thing I incorporated this year was reading that theme in my scripture study as well. It was so enlightening to me. There were times when I was really diligent about serving others and times when I wasn't. I will say this, it saved my sanity this year. The times when I focused on service were the much happier times in my year. I felt good. I felt productive and proactive. I felt like I was making a difference. In the busy-ness of the end of the year it seemed to fall by the wayside and I felt a difference.

And now I look forward. My love for New Year's resolutions is well-documented. It feels like a clean slate and fresh start. And I feel really good about my theme this year. But that will have to be for another day. Because it's midnight and tomorrow is back to the grind.

Here's to a New Year!