Our Little Two Year Old

1. Seth is a two year old! And he's in a very classic two year old stage at the moment. :)

2. He weighs 28.4 pounds and is in the 69th percentile.

3. He is 35 inches tall and in the 64th percentile for height.

4. Seth loves touching my hair. He's always giving me hugs and grabs on to my hair to swipe across his face so he can smell it maybe? Not sure what he's doing, but he loves my hair. He also likes to pull at Scott's short hair in the back by his neck.

5. Seth is very particular on who does what for him. He used to want me to do most things for him, then he went through a stage of only daddy doing things for him, but now it's gone back to me most of the time, daddy for some things and a lot of times it has to be himself. If it's not done exactly how or by who he wants then usually there is some crying or tantrum involved.

6. Seth is still sleeping with us. He goes to bed and falls asleep well in his own room but usually joins us around 2am. We used to have to go get him and carry him back to our bed and he would get upset if the wrong person showed up but lately he's been coming in on his own. He can open the door between our rooms and he'll make his way himself. He's very cuddly in bed and when he's not sleeping well, will always throw an arm around my neck and plays with my hair. It's cute, but does make sleeping a little difficult for me.

7. Seth is our little crazy child. The kids have taught him how to act like a puppy or little monster. He loves to chase them around. He growls, he's already learned how to pretend to fight and I'm constantly trying to teach him he can't hit and kick people. He loves to wrestle and climb on us. He's our very wild boy. Along with the aggressiveness side to him though, he is still my best huger and most cuddly child. 

8. I feel like it took him a while to start talking, longer than our other two, but then once he started talking, his vocabulary just exploded. He's talking so much now, it's so cute.

9. Seth loves planes and loves to fly with daddy. Loves to ride on his shoulders and loves the show Super Wings.

10. Some of Seth's favorites that we know of are- song: Popcorn Popping, show/movie: Super Wings, food: hot dogs or mac and cheese, dessert: cookies, activity: playing superheroes with siblings, animal: cats and dogs, book: Numbers, drink: chocolate milk, toy: Jett transformer plane

Seth's Birthday

Seth's actual birthday was spent mostly driving and visiting with family, so the Monday after getting back from Oregon, we celebrated Seth's 2nd birthday. After such a crazy weekend, his celebration was pretty low key. We went to the park earlier that day and we had hot dogs and cantaloupe for dinner. He really likes hot dogs. :) He opened his presents, which I think he was pretty happy with. And then we just bought an already made Sunday Pie and put two candles in it, and invited family upstairs to come down to sing with us. He knew exactly what to do - it's so cute. Being the last birthday in the year, he's seen what everyone else does and he just knows when it's his turn. :)

becca and leo's wedding

so many years ago, in a land far away, this girl and this boy met. well they each took their own separate paths in life, but when the time was right, the fates found a way to bring them back together. my sister becca met leo way back in high school and they rekindled their friendship a little while back. well the time was right, the stars aligned, i'm sure that eclipse had something to do with it, and pretty quickly their friendship blossomed into more. 

leo is currently living up in washington, so they decided to be nice on us and get married somewhere near the halfway point between here and there in ontario, oregon. i guess leo's family has a farm there so it made for a perfect spot. so we packed the car and made the drive up north. we got there just in time for the big pizza party/meet & greet with the families. after that, we all gathered together for my niece's baptism. after that we had a fun awesome ice cream party. we then headed to the hotel to get some sleep.

the next day was spent mostly prepping for the wedding. that evening, just around sunset, we all headed over to the farm in our sunday best. claire was a flower girl and amber was taking photos, so us boys found our seats for the show while the girls went to work. it was a beautiful backyard ceremony. after the two lovebirds said "i do", we moved the chairs out of the way and started some dancing. it was such a wonderful time.

the next day was sunday, so on our way home, we headed to my grandma's church in idaho before having a yummy french toast lunch at her house. we then bid our sad goodbyes to everyone and made the long drive home. we couldn't be happier for becca and leo. my big sis is the best and i'm so glad she has found someone that will make her happy.

Five Year Old Facts

1. Everett is five years old!

2. He weighs 37.8 pounds and is in the 29th percentile.

3. He is 43 inches tall and is in the 53rd percentile for height.

4. He loves playing with action figures. He's got a good collection of Marvel and DC superheroes, Star Wars characters, and just recently, got some dragon figurines to add to his epic battles.

5. Everett loves playing games. Card games, board games, video games, active games - whatever it is, he loves it. He is always up to learn new games and really picks them up well. He's really into this Harry Potter trivia game right now, and though he knows almost nothing about Harry Potter, he loves the game because it's a game.

6. He really is getting good at monkey bars. And he loves showing off that he can do them so well. While it's a little scary, letting him do it without providing a little support in case he falls, he's proven that he's just about got it mastered, and he's proven he can handle the fall when it occasionally happens.

7. He's a pretty crazy kid. He loves to make everyone laugh and prefers physical forms of comedy such as bonking himself with things and running into walls and falling down. Anything for a laugh. Unfortunately he's getting a little into the potty humor, as all little boys seem to, but we're trying our best to curb that interest. But I suppose there's much worse things than a little boy laughing at a toot. :)

8. The kid is a funny eater. While he loves some traditional kid favorites such as pizza and hot dogs, the kid, for some weird reason, does not like some of the best like ice cream and popcorn.

9. Since his birthday is right on the border of the cutoff dates for school, we decided to hold him back til next year. But even without going to school yet, Everett is such a smart kid. Because of his close relationship with Claire, he is always so interested in whatever she is learning.

10. Some of Everett's favorites this year are- song: I Am a Child of God, show/movie: Minions, food: pizza, dessert: oreo milkshakes, activity: video games, color: aqua, animal: dog, book: Hop on Pop, drink: chocolate milk, game: Mario Party, toy: action figures, holiday: Christmas, day of the week- Monday

Everett's Birthday

so our little buddy is now 5 years old! unfortunately his special day was on a tuesday of a very busy week, but we hope we made it a fun week for him to remember. we started the fun week with father's blessings on sunday. on monday was the big solar eclipse so we got some glasses to check that whole thing out (a little blah but interesting). after checking that out, i headed off to my first day of school while amber and the kids went to claire's open house to meet her teacher. for fhe we headed up to scheels to ride the ferris wheel, which has become a tradition that everett looks forward to every birthday. unfortunately, the ferris wheel was closed for maintenance. saddened, but still determined to have some fun, we stopped for ice cream with the promise we'd come back soon.

the next day everett was officially 5! we started the day off with some birthday donuts before claire had to take off for school and i for work. amber took the boys to the park before coming home for lunch. amber then got to work making one amazing dragon cake. we got pizza for dinner, then opened presents. keeping in theme, we got him a bunch of dragon figurines, which was a big winner. we then carved that dragon cake up and ate him with a side of ice cream. :)

on friday, which was actually seth's birthday, we headed up to oregon for my sister's wedding. along the way north, we stopped at scheels again with the hopes that the ferris wheel was running once more. it was, so we got in a ride to cap off everett's fun week of turning 5.

First Day of School

Claire started 2nd grade! She decided she didn't want to continue in the dual immersion program and we were okay with that decision. I think it's a wonderful program for some, but it wasn't a right fit for us. She loves school and she was super excited to start again. She already loves her teacher, Mrs. Bergeson and is doing great. She's growing up so quickly and showing so much confidence. We love it. :)

Hang Time

To celebrate some August birthdays we went to Hang Time with cousins. It was so much fun! :)

Our Seven Year Old

1. Claire is seven years old!

2. She weighs 48 pounds and is in the 43rd percentile.

3. She is 46 inches tall and is in the 19th percentile for height.

4. Claire is in the second grade and is reading more and more. She is reading the Harry Potter books with her dad. She likes getting the Never Girls books from the library and reads them herself. She most recently has been getting into the Magic Tree House books. She gets them from her school library and likes to read before going to sleep.

5. Claire is in the process of learning how to ride a bike. She's almost got it, but still struggles a little with the balancing part. Scott has been trying a new method by wrapping a large beach towel around her waist and while she rides, he holds onto the ends of the towel so he can correct her balance slightly without actually touching her. I think it's helping.

6. Her most recent accomplishment is being able to swing on the swings herself and not have to be pushed. She was so happy and excited to show us how high she could swing herself. :)

7. Claire is a very caring sister. She has an obvious affection for her brothers. Everett and her get along really well and play together most of the time. And she's always acting like a second mommy to Seth. She's super patient with him and helps him whenever she can. She's excited for another baby brother to come soon and keeps talking about getting to hold him. I love seeing her excitement.

8. I think she's a little OCD like her daddy. She loves to make charts and lists to keep herself organized and to organize their pretend playing. She also went through a phase when she was writing in a journal just like her mommy almost every night. She chose to write on her own, and I'm sure would still be doing it if school and other interests didn't get in the way. :)

9. Claire loves art. It's her favorite subject at school. She's always loved coloring and drawing pictures, but she also loves making things and being crafty. We've gotten her beads that she's enjoyed making necklaces and bracelets out of and she loves decorating things with glitter and stickers. And we very often find piles of scrap pieces of paper around the house because she loves cutting up little snowflakes and hearts and the such. :)

10. Some of Claire's favorites this year include- song: Gethsemane, show/movie: Moana, food: spaghetti, dessert: cake, activity: coloring, color: aqua, holiday: Christmas, day of the week: Saturday, animal: draco lizard, book: Harry Potter, drink: root beer, game: Harry Potter trivia board game, toy: Rainbow (stuffed elephant)

Claire's 7th Birthday

Claire turned 7! She chose cinnamon rolls for breakfast and her favorite - spaghetti, bread sticks, and watermelon for dinner. For her birthday "activity" we had gone swimming at the Provo Rec Center the day before. Some of her cousins were able to come and swim with her and we all had a blast. She's been reading the Harry Potter books with daddy and wanted to watch the first movie that evening. She opened presents which included a flip sequin shirt she asked for (that we went through great lengths to find) and a little pet hedgehog that she really wanted. Since we were having family come over the next day, we were waiting to have her birthday cake til then. But we still sang to her and celebrated with small birthday milkshakes the day of. I think she was pretty happy with her special day.

The next day we made Claire's birthday cake. She wanted a "sky" cake. And since we were making two for all the family coming to celebrate with her, one was the sky and one was the sun. She had fun decorating them though with clouds, birds, and a rainbow. Claire was invited to multiple birthday parties over the school year and asked to have her own birthday party this year. I'm not great at planning parties, but we did invite both our families over and she had a lot of fun playing with cousins, eating cake and opening presents. Scott even set up the projector so the kids could watch a movie while the adults talked. It was a fun evening.