Kids Say the Damnest Things

So Grant has been cracking us up lately. He has really been trying hard to say new words. He has been doing really well. He's been experimenting with different mouth movements and shapes that help to form new words. They are really doing amazing things with him at school.
One word that he's been saying for a while now is "Dada". It has been very clear and recognizable until the last few months. Towards the end of last year he started to say "dim" which has now changed to "damn". At first Jeremy thought he was trying to say something else, but when we ask him to say "dada" he now says "damn". Mikkele has been a little upset that her little brother has picked up swearing. We have just had to tell her that he doesn't know better, and she understands that it's still not ok for her to do it just because her little brother is doing it. We also keep repeating back the "dada" to him and hope that it will one day return to that instead of having a potty mouth 4 year old.

Grant's 4th Birthday

Monday, February 2nd was Grant's 4th birthday. He knew that it was his big day, and he was all smiles because of it. He started out his day with a present of this cute crown from Grandma Roberts. He wore it to school to let all of his friends know that he was King Grant for the day. We took in some sugar cookies to share with his classmates also. All of the kids at school really like Grant. They call him their class mascot. They all had fun wishing him a happy birthday. After school we spent the day shopping with Grandma Roberts and Aunt 'Lisha. What 4 year old wouldn't want to do that on his birthday??? That night we had a fun Spiderman birthday party.

Grant, Connor, and Dillon showing off their Spiderman masks.

We had some slightly unexpected visitors come to the party, which we were really excited about. My Grandma and Grandpa Jones were in town from NY, where they have been in the temple presidency for the last 2 1/2 years. We don't get to see them very often, so it was great that they were able to come and join in on the fun. Jeremy's Grandma and Grandpa Decker were also in town from Page, AZ and were able to come. We get to see them a little bit more often, but still not as much as we would like. So it was great to have these extra guests come that aren't able to attend usually.

Jeremy's cousin and his wife have opened up a cute bake shop in Provo, so we decided to have them make the cake this year. Let's face it, I have no creativity left in my mushy pregnant brain. It turned out really cute, and tasted really yummy, I might add.


We couldn't get the sugar into him fast enough. This kid has really turned into a sugar freak since his last birthday. Ice cream is his all around favorite, but anything with sugar will do.

Check out that big smile while we're singing Happy Birthday.


Grant got a lot of fun presents. Jeremy was put in charge of the picture taking at that point, so we don't have too many pictures. :( He got lots of new clothes, which was great! He has grown quite a bit in the last couple months and isn't fitting into his 2T stuff anymore. So it was great to get some clothes that fit. (At least in length. I don't think anything will ever fit around his tiny little hiney.) He also got a cute and cuddly dog and number book from Grandma and Grandpa Gallier, (who weren't able to attend because of sickness) some awesome sunglasses, an MP3 player (see the Texas post to know why), and some money.

We had a fun day celebrating this great little kid that we are so lucky to be able call ours. He is such a sweet little boy, and we wouldn't trade him for anything in the world.

Free Photo Session

My cute friend Haylee, from high school is an amazing photographer. Check out her blog! I love the way she captures little kids. She has such a fun, unique style. She having a contest right now for a free photography package. Anyone can enter, so check it out!

The Ultrasound

We had our ultrasound today! We were a little shocked when the tech showed us this.

TWINS!

OK...just kidding. Leave it to the tech to try to pull a fast one and try to be funny. I told him I would have dropped off the table onto the floor if it was really twins. Then after I was picked up off the floor, I would have to be checked in to the mental institute. But it's not twins, whew!

But everything looks good. Nothing is there that isn't supposed to be, and everything's there that is supposed to be. The only thing that's missing is a little tallywacker. That's right, IT'S A GIRL! The baby is measuring right on to where we had predicted, so the due date remains the same, May 31st for me, June 1st for my doctor. She wouldn't let us get very many shots of her face because she kept putting her hands in front of her face, but she was not shy in showing us that she was a girl. She was very active while we were doing the ultrasound. Every time the tech would get into a position of where he needed to do some measuring, she would move. She went from head down to butt down a few times during the appointment. While Jeremy is starting to feel a little outnumbered, we are all very excited for the new little girl that is going to be coming to us.

You might have to click on the pics to see a little better, but I'll try to narrate. I'll go from left to right. The first picture is the gender shot. Notice how spread eagle she is. The next one is both hands/arms and her face is in the background. The next one is her waving hello. The next one is another shot of her right arm, face in the background. The next one is her buff little bicep. The tech was funny stating that she has my buff arms, but then the next shot he pokes fun and says that she has dad's big nose. You can hardly even see her little face behind her arm.


The next one is her head to the left and faced down with her spine. Followed by her right foot trying to kick herself in the head. Next is really the only real face shot we got. But you can see her Eye sockets and her nose. Next is her left leg and foot. Skipping the twin shot, and lastly another picture of her spine. This time it's a shot of her whole back.


So there you have it. It's a girl! Sorry it took me so long to get it posted. You've got to give me a little bit of a break though, we share a computer, so really I only have it in the morning and late at night. And let's face it, at night I'm too tired so it just didn't happen. Now we'll just see if this little one cooperates over the next few months and comes when she's supposed to and not early like her brother.

Jesus Wants Me for a Sun-BEAM!

The first Sunday of a new year always brings new things at church. For starters we moved from 9:00am church to 1:00pm church. All this really means is that I don't get my usuall Sunday afternoon nap. I guess I'll just have to try and sleep in on Sunday's now. Right. It also means that we move from studying the Book of Mormon to studying the Doctrine and Covenants in Sunday School. Church history is always fun to talk about. But the most important thing that the kids move up a class in Primary. And this year I now have a child in the....

This is a HUGE step for us. Grant never did the regular schedule of going to Nursery when he turned 18 months like other little kids. He probably only attended Nursery a handful of times in the almost 2 1/2 years that he should have been going. But over the last few days as we have known that this Sunday was coming we have been thinking that we should give it a try. He goes to school and does just fine, but new things for him are always a little more scary I guess. Maybe it's more just scary for me than it is for others involved, but I was a little nervous. We have been talking to Grant over the last few days about going to Primary and being a new Sunbeam and he has gotten very excited about going. Mikkele has also been excited and telling him all about Primary and what to expect, ie: what songs they're going to sing, singing to him for his birthday next month, the treat he's going to get for his birthday, assignments to give talks/prayers/scriptures, etc. I've asked myself, "Does he really know what's going on and what we're talking about???" But the answer is of course he does. He is so close to the vail and he knows so much more than I could ever hope to about our Heavenly Father. We are so lucky to have his sweet little spirit in our family.

So we took him to class today. I talked to his teachers and made sure they were comfortable taking him, answered some questions, told them where to find me if they needed to come get me, and then I left and went to Sunday School. I sat and worried through most of Sunday School. Everytime the door opened I looked to see if it was his teachers coming to get me, but it never was. After Sunday School was over I went in and peeked on him. He was doing GREAT! I eased up a little through Relief Society, but still worried a little bit when the door would open. Again he made it through, and most importantly I made it through. Whew! Now for the report from the teachers. He did AWESOME! They said he was the best kid in the class and he hardly even made a peep. What a relief. Why was I so worried anyway??? Because I'm a control freak, that's why. Because he's my baby and so much can go wrong. But basically just because I'm a control freak. I jut need to remind myself to take a deep breath and relax. So we'll do it all over again next week. But maybe this time I can actually listen to what's being taught. :) And maybe this is just the next step in being able to handle this baby that is on it's way, because pretty much either this works or we'll be becoming inactive once the baby comes. But I know it'll work, because in his tiny little body he knows that being in primary is where he's supposed to be.

Christmas-the short version

This Christmas was a very different year than every other one we've had. Instead of running around like crazy, we stayed home and relaxed for most of the day. It was pretty nice. We even fit in some naps, which for this pregnant mommy is nice. :) After hanging out and relaxing at our house for most of the day, we went over to Jeremy's parents house for some games. We are a big game playing family and so we always get new games for Christmas that we get to try out. While we missed family that is away from us, we still had a great Christmas this year. We hope everyone else did too.

Christmas Eve always brings new jammies. Grant doesn't seem like he likes his too much, but he was just tired and ready to get to bed so Santa could come. Love that kids pouty face. :)

Mikkele sitting with her Santa stuff.

Grant and Mikkele with Grant's Santa stuff.

Mikkele trying out her new sandwich maker that Santa brought her. Apparently her mom won't make her grilled cheese whenever she wants one (which is all the time) so Santa brought her a sandwich maker and a children's recipe book so she could start learning how to cook. It's never too early to learn, right.

Grant and Mikkele reading the book "That's not my car" that Mikkele gave him for Christmas. It's a touchy feely book that's great for sensory play. His smiley face says he likes it.

3rd Grade Christmas Program

Two of the 3rd grade classes put on a really cute Christmas program. Mikkele was part of the stuffed animals. She was a baby leopard. We used her hair to make ears, as I didn't feel like having an additional project to put together right before Christmas. But I think it turned out cute. They did a show called Christmas Around the World. They learned a lot of different songs from different countries. They also learned Silent Night in German. Mikkele's favorite song was called Christmas in Kalarney.

Mikkele, Zoe, and Rietta waiting patiently for the show to start.

Singing one of the songs.

More singing.

This part was the stuffed animals doing their scene. They danced to a song from the Nutcracker. They each had their own part also. I was a bad mom and didn't get video of her part. :( Woops. But she did have another little extra part. She got to help lead the music when the audience was supposed to sing along. My mom and Grandma would be so proud of her leading. She wasn't on beat, but it gave me some laughs.

New Background

I decided that about the time I changed my last background to the snowman/snowflakes, is about the time we started getting storm, after storm, after storm. So I have decided to send warm vibes on my blog instead of cold, snowy ones. I know palm trees aren't going to start growing here in Utah, but maybe some warmer, drier weather will come. Call me a bah-humbug, but I just don't like the cold. So here's to warmer weather.....

Little Entertainers Christmas Performance

For the past few months, Mikkele and her Little Entertainer's group has been practicing for their Christmas performances. During the month of December we have had on average 3 performances a week. (This explains why Christmas is 6 days away and I am still not done with my Christmas shopping.) The show is really cute. They have been mostly performing at rest homes/retirement homes. Here are a few pictures and a couple clips of Mikkele's parts in the show. She has one solo, and one speaking part. Even when the whole group is singing I can pick out her voice as one of the loudest/strongest ones in the group. The teacher really relys on Mikkele to pick the group up when they are singing too quietly. Enjoy!

The whole Little Entertainer's Group

Mikkele and Alanna hamming it up for the camera. Alanna is Mikkele's friend that lives across the street from us. It is fun for the girls to be in the group together. It helps us mom's out too.

After the performance the kids go around to the residents and introduce themselves and wish them a Merry Christmas.

Elf Yourself

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I used some pictures from our trip and turned Mikkele, Grant, Alisha, Albert, and Adam. Enjoy!