Our FOUR year old!

Weston turned FOUR earlier this month and he's getting so big!  It's been a big year for him becoming a big brother, starting pre-school, and graduating to a "two-wheel" scooter (as he calls it).  He was so excited to turn 4, so on his birthday I asked him, "How does it feel to be four?"  He responded with a little disappointment in his voice, "A little different, actually, I kind of feel the same."  I think he expected to wake up a foot taller and a whole new older boy.  If you asked him to separate our family into two groups it would be mom, dad, and Weston as "grown-ups" and Livi as the "baby."

At four years old, Weston loves riding his scooter more than just about anything else.  He would do it all day if I let him and he especially loves an audience.  We usually walk/scooter to pre-school and he is pretty disappointed if I show up in the car to pick him up.  On more than one occasion, I've had to drive slowly next to him while he rides his scooter on the sidewalk.  (It's a good thing we're just around the corner)

Pre-school has been great for Weston.  He has loved it from day one and would like to go a lot more often than two mornings a week. 

Weston has been a champ of a big brother.  He has been as sweet as can be to Livi since she was born.  He absolutely loves her and often tells us that he is Livi's favorite person and the she is his.  And he's right.  He hasn't had any jealously issues with her, and he can make her laugh better than anyone.  His only side affect of becoming a big brother was becoming clingy.  After Livi was born everything scared him:  going to bed at night, getting his hair cut, going to primary or a friends house, and especially having a babysitter.  We tried to reassure him that we loved him, but it's just taken time.  While I was pregnant with Livi he asked me once, "Will you still have me, when you have the new baby?"  It broke my heart, and I think it took him a while to believe me that we would.  He is now back to getting his hair cut, going to bed great, and LOVES primary.  He still prefers friends come to our house, but he will go to a friends house, and we're working on the whole babysitter thing, but he's doing a MILLION times better than a couple months ago and we are so grateful!  I actually love that Weston wants to be at our house all the time, but it's just sad to see the stress that everything was causing him.  And, it is nice to be able to go to the doctor without an audience:)

Weston says the funniest things. 

• Lately, his new word seems to be "actually."  He uses it correctly, but it's just so funny to hear him say it.  
• He still says gigantic "ginactic" and we love it.  
• He's convinced gooder is a word.  We keep trying to correct him, but he's determined.  
• Fairly often he'll say, "Sometimes you've just gotta use what you have."  I have no idea where he learned this, but I want to kiss the person who taught it to him.  He often says it when dressing up.  His pirate hat is also his puss in boots hat, 3 Musketeer, and Captain Hook.  His knight helmet is also a Shredder (Ninja turtles) mask.  His capes and belts work for MANY different costumes!  
• He is all boy and loves anything to do with potty talk or burping to our chagrin. 

He got his first punch in the face at our church Christmas party.  He asked Eric if he could go play with some other little boys and the next thing Eric knew he was on the floor, curled up in a ball, losing it.  Eric ran up to get him and couldn't get anything out of him except that he was punched in the face.  Soon one of the other boys came up and said, "I did that."  and then explained that they were hitting the other boys (teenagers- one of the little boys uncles) and Weston tried to stop them so they punched him in the face.  I think he was more shocked than hurt that someone would actually do that.  He's such a sweetheart.  The next day at church apologies were exchanged and all is good.

Weston's also starting to learn about money.  A few days before Christmas we were at Deseret Book and he saw a toy Liahona.  It was $19 and Eric was explaining to him that Christmas was a few days away and we couldn't buy any toys.  I walked up and interjected, "Maybe you can save your money and we can come back and get it."  He must have known he already had enough money because he was fine with that and we left.  He's been putting money in his piggybank since he was about 1.  Sometimes he earns it for helping out and sometimes he just finds it, but he had quite a bit in there.  He got a change counter for Christmas so we decided to empty his bank into it and found out he had $43.  We tried to explain tithing to him and he separated out 10% to take to church on Sunday and then we headed to the bank to change our change into dollars.  (It was interesting trying to explain to the kind banker what a Liahona was.  Pretty sure he thinks were crazy, but I'm really proud that Weston knows what the Liahona is and thinks it's cool enough to spend his money on it.  I actually think the toy was a bit overpriced and kept trying to explain to him that it was just a toy and not the real one, and "are you sure that what you want?" but he was SURE and is now the proud new owner of a Liahona.

We had a Super Hero party so we let him open a couple presents the morning of the party that he might need:

This was his favorite.  He had been wanting a Captain America shield like his friend Gavin for MONTHS.

Spiderman! 

Taunting the Villains

The Villains had dropped bombs on the city and our super heroes were trying to put them all out.

Capturing the Villains!

Tying up the Villans (Eric and Uncle James made awesome Villans)

Weston looks pretty shocked that his Villain tried to escape

Chasing the cake stealing Villain

Weston kept progressively got more and more help opening presents

Singing to the birthday boy!

This little girl was SUPER happy Taylor and James came to the party.  I don't how many hours she went without eating, but she was a trooper and happily hung out with her aunt and uncle!

The after party!

The ACTUAL birthday:

Trying to snap a 4 year old picture on our way out to school

I offered to take him anywhere for lunch and he chose peanut butter sandwiches at the park

Killer Moves...You may have to look closely, but yes people he is off the ground:)

For his birthday night, we met Grandma and Grandpa, Taylor and James, and Nic at Chuck E. Cheese!

West and Grandpa

Mom with the Birthday Boy!

Listening Close to Chuckie

Diving for tickets

West went to a friends birthday a couple weeks before his at build a bear and made "Sam."  When the party was over we learned that Sam was afraid to go to friends houses by himself too.  Weston decided he could take him and show him that it was okay.  This was the beginning of a very big change!!  So Weston got a hat to match Sam's for his birthday:)

We Love this little boy and are so grateful we got to spend the last four years with him!  Happy Birthday Weston!

A little about Livi

 Livi's growing so fast and I've been meaning to do a 2 month post, and a 4 month post, and now a 6 months post so I decided to do a little post dedicated to her.

She is a sweetheart, so easy going, and oozes happiness. She is so curious and wants to check everything out.  She absolutely LOVES Weston and smiles and laughs at everything he does.  In fact, he was asleep on the couch once and she noticed him and just started squealing and laughing.  He's caught on and has realized he can kind of get away with a little more if Livi's laughing at him.  Danger is a close second to Weston for her and then Mom and Dad come somewhere down the line.

One Month

For her first 3-4 months she rarely cried unless she was in her car seat and Weston looked like this.

Two Months - She began smiling and cooing between 1 and 2 months and it was so sweet.

 Stats:  10 Lbs 14 oz. (50%) and 23 inches (60%)

Three Months

Four Months- she began rolling over from her back to her tummy every time I sat her down, but then she's just stuck there:)
STATS: 13lbs 7oz. (40%) and 26 in. (99%)

Five Months-started solids and has done great.  Her independence shines through when eating.  She has to help with the spoon.  It was messy at first, but we're learning to work with her.  She's so curious about our food and I think she'd trade in nursing for 100% solid food if I'd let her.

Still Five Months, but I love this picture.  It captures her watching Weston be Weston:)  She can't get enough of him.

STATS: 15lbs 3oz (38%) and 27 in. (91%)

At six months, Livi is adorable.  I'm constantly getting asked "Is she always that happy?"  And, yes, she is.  I mean, she's a baby so she does get tired or hungry and cry, but she's pretty easily made happy and she loves to people watch.  Any attention and she glows.  She has made many an old lady's day while out running errands.  She is starting to turn into a momma's girl a little more and just as six months hit she's started to need a little more attention, but she's still as sweet as can be!  She has been rolling from her back to her stomach for two months and just started rolling back.  She has started to sit-up, but she's still a little too wobbly for me to not be close by.  She loves to be tickled or a little startled and will laugh so hard.  I could just kiss on her all day!

Fall Festivities and Halloween!

It's been a great and busy fall, but I'm almost caught up with my blog posts:)

Two seconds before he fell in:)

Carmel Apple Fondue- A pumpkin carving tradition that I LOVE!

Livi watching the pumpkin carving action

Our scary pumpkin and scary faces!

Our Handsome Knight

He was way too into being a night to get many pictures!

Getting a shot with the "drool-breathing" dragon

California 2012!!

Weston walked into our hotel and literally fell asleep standing up.  He was snoring:)

We decided to do a family trip to California and use up some flight vouchers we had.  I was almost going to let the vouchers expire and not go because I felt like life had been too crazy and I wanted to stay home for a little while, but I'm so glad we went.  It really was one of the best trips we've done as a family thanks to GREAT friends and a laid back schedule!

The trip there was interesting.  Eric met us there from a work trip so I was flying with both kids which really isn't a big deal, but it proved to be an adventure.  When we got to the airport, the kiosk wasn't pulling up or tickets which I came to find out was because our tickets were cancelled.  I never found out why, but after about 30 minutes the ticketing agent got us back on the flight and told us we'd need to run.  So we took off.  When it was our turn to go through security, I picked Livi up out of her carseat and she was covered in poop (sorry, but it's true).  At that point, I could do nothing about it.  So the security agent helped me get through security and I put her back in her carseat and we continued running to the train.  When we got off the train, our flight was supposed to take off in about 15 minutes, but we ran to the bathroom and I'm sure we were quite the scene.  I was stripping Livi down, I went through every wipe we had and I was throwing her clothes, wipes, etc. to the trash a couple feet away while trying to not drop Livi.  In the meantime, Weston was hysterically laughing at us.  We ran to the gate, where the gate agent gave me a dirty look and we quickly got on the plane and walked past every person to our seats on the very back row:)  The kids both did great on the flight.  We then had a 3 hour layover, and got back on another flight.  As soon as I sat down in my seat, I noticed my arm was wet...lucky it wasn't as bad this time as I only brought one back up out-fit for Livi, but I couldn't believe it.  I just started laughing.  Both kids were great on the second flight as well.  Once we got to LA, we found out Eric flight had been delayed so we ended up waiting about an hour or so for him before we caught the shuttle to the hotel.  Above is the picture of Weston when we finally made it:)  Love that kid!

DAY 1 - We kicked off our trip with a character breakfast.  We didn't want to do Disneyland, but Weston really wanted to see Mickey.  He was a little hesitant at first and then couldn't get enough of the characters!

Finished the Day with Mini Golf and the "kitchen sink" of ice cream.  We had so much fun hanging out with the Thomas and Brown Family.  I love when we have friends we love to hang out with and Weston loves it too.  He could not have been happier.  He's still talking about his friends a couple months later and wants to go back.  On the way to get ice cream, he told us a few times that he is going to marry Meg when he's taller.  We would love that!


DAY 2- Utah vs. UCLA football game and swimming at the hotel to cool off later!

Weston with his binoculars.  He had to get a few rows ahead of us.  I guess we were too distracting.  It was a proud moment for Eric:)

The boys!

DAY 3- We saw some sights in LA and drove down to San Diego to the Malfatto's (a friend of Eric's from work) Played at the park and just hung out.

Day 4- Sea World and Fire at the Beach

We had heard that Sea World was great for little kids and it was true for us.  We had so much fun, but wished it was open longer, you just can't fit everything in before they close at 5.  Weston is as tall as a 6 year old so he was able to go on most of the rides.  On one of the bigger ones he went with Eric and was pretty brave until after the first drop and then decided he didn't want to do it anymore.  It was too late, but he was still smiling when they got off.  I just couldn't convince him to go again with me:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAY 5- We didn't have a lot of time before we had to head to the airport so we decided to go check out the Mormon Battalion history site, which was actually pretty fun:)

This picture is just as we pulled up to return our rental car.  On the way to the airport we stopped to get gas and Weston really wanted to help Eric.  I'm not sure exactly what happened, but somehow the gas pump slipped out of the car and gas was pouring all over the side of the car and Weston.  Luckily we had our suit cases, but it was yet another outfit that had to be thrown away and Weston got a quick wash down with paper towels and industrial soap in the gas station/auto shop bathroom before we headed to the airport.  Oh, and Livi had another blow-out at the restaurant we were at right before we got gas.  Yes, I'm serious.  We decided flying scares the ____ out of her:)

The trip was perfect!  I hope we have many more family trips that are this fun in our future!

Thanks to all of our friends that made it so great!