18 Months Old and Growing Like a Weed!!

WARNING: This post is mostly a journal entry for me so I can remember things later. You might find it boring.
Will turned 18 months old this past Saturday and today he had his 18 month check up.

Here are his stats:

Weight: 29 lbs~ 94th %tile

Head: 19.75 in.~ 98th %tile

Height: 36 in.~ 100th %tile

That's right, my baby boy is 3 FEET TALL! Holy cow! The nurse remeasured Will 3 times because she couldn't believe that he was that tall.

Will also got his last shot until Kindergarten, YAY!! He was a champ and only cried for a second. The doctor was also super impressed by Will's verbal and fine motor skills.

It was a little hard to go to a new pediatrician today. Will's pediatrician, Dr. Gregory Nielson passed away a few weeks ago and we went to see new one in the same group. Will was a little nervous around Dr. Lauret at first but he warmed up to him after a few minutes. I am so grateful for a great pediatricians' office that has amazing doctors. 

Here are a few things that are awesome things that Will is doing right now:

He's in size 3T. 

He wears size 5 diapers.

He LOVES being outside, the first thing he asks me to do in the morning is open his blinds so he can see the tree outside.

He can say 100+ words.

He loves to push things. He could push his little car around our quad all day and be perfectly happy.

He is great at sharing.
He has the best smile.
He still loves music and loves to dance. His favorite dance move right now is the turn and squat, it's pretty awesome to watch.
His favorite foods are; salsa, yogurt, bananas, oatmeal, cuties, spaghetti, salmon, and peas.
He loves to dip things. He dips EVERYTHING, sometimes it doesn't go so well.
He knows when he needs a diaper change and tells me.
He went to nursery, a children's class at our church, for the first time last Sunday and he LOVED it. He didn't even care that mom and dad were leaving, he was so excited to play with his friends and with fun toys :)
He loves going down the slide.
He loves his blanket and gets excited when it's bedtime because he can go cuddle with it.
He loves books. His favorites include; Good Night Moon, Skippyjon Jones, and Dr. Suess ABC book.
He sleeps from about 6:30 pm to 7:00 am.
He only has one 2 to 3 hour nap a day.
He loves tools! He has his own mini tool belt and some days it's hard to get him to take it off.
He loves bathtime.
He can't wait until Daddy comes home. Sometimes he'll knock on the front door and say, "Daddy, bye!"
He loves to mooch snacks off his friends, especially on the playground. It doesn't matter if I have the same snack, he wants it from someone else.
He's a pretty happy little dude.
His favorite animal is a monkey. Specifically his sock monkey, he sleeps with it every night.
Some of his favorite phrases are; "Look at that!", "I so silly!", "Dude!", "Hi, Buddy.", "I did it!", and "That so funny!"
He loves cars and trucks. He still makes those really guttural sounds for cars instead of just, "broom, broom."
He folds his arms for almost an entire prayer.
He is just starting to play with the other kids in our quad and gets excited when his friends are on the playground.
He tries to wink at me but just blinks, it's still pretty cute though.
He doesn't like to watch TV. He would rather read a book or play with his cars.
He does, however, like to watch Stephen play Zelda. He will bring Stephen the Wii controller and say, "see, watch" and sit and watch for a good 15-20 minutes.
He loves balloons! He gets super excited when we see them and exclaims, "boons, boons!"
He doesn't quite understand about jumping, he just squats and and then pops back up when you ask him to jump.
He tells me he "oves" me.
When he sees something he wants, he drops everything he has to focus on the new thing.
 He still loves to talk on the phone. Anything can be a phone to him, seat belt straps, cars, and remote controls, to name a few.
I am so grateful for my little Will!

Dapper Will

I have the most handsome son EVER!! Just saying. 

I know that some of these pictures are a little blurry, I was having a tough time getting Will to stay still and there wasn't a lot of light outside but the expressions are too cute not to share.

Pure Ridiculousness

Sometimes you have to enjoy the pure ridiculousness of life. That's what I have been doing for the last few days and I have to tell you, I love it! It really does make me a happier person. 

Will  put the hat on himself and was making the cutest faces in the mirror.

 There was a cute dog outside of out apartment building yesterday and Will was so excited to go say hi to him.

 

 Will and Ella love to sit in one of those electric toy cars that doesn't actually work. Maybe if they wish for it long enough, it'll start working.

 Look, the car magically started working again :)

 

 Sometimes ridiculousness gets out of hand and we need to take a break. Will's even cute when he's in trouble :)

We recently got Will his very own potty, he has been really interested in the toilet and bodily functions so I thought he would really enjoy his own potty. So far, all he's used it for is a step stool and to push around, it's pretty funny.

Will has started speaking so much! He repeats everything I say so I've learned to be careful. Things like "oh crap" are super cute coming from a 18 month-old but not something he should be saying.

Lately Will has decided he doesn't want to get out bed. We'll go get him in the morning and ask if he's ready to get out and he replies, "no," and rolls around. So we leave him in there until he's ready to get out.

Probably my most favorite ridiculousness is Will saying, "I so silly!" It makes me so happy, I can't help but smile. Also, when Will yelled "POOP" at the top of his lungs, in the doctor's office, that was pretty funny too :).

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day was never a big deal at my house growing up. You see, my Grandmother, Aunt, and Great-Grandmother were killed by a drunk driver that day when my mom was 19. It gives you a different view of one of the biggest drinking days of the year.

Anyway, because I want it to be a good day for Will, I decided to celebrate a little. Things like green food popped up on our table and perhaps next year we may make a rainbow craft or two. 

P.S. As I write this all snuggly in my apartment, outside looks like this...

4 Years Ago Today...

4 years ago today, I met someone who would change my life forever, become my very best friend in the entire world, become my confidant, my comforter, my love. I didn't know it at the time but March 9, 2008 was the day I met my eternal companion.
I had been at BYU-Hawaii for 2 months and I was having the time of my life. I had never been happier or felt more confident. I was loving school, my job, living so close to my mom's extended family, and best of all living so close to the beach. I was taking a boy break and not taking life too seriously.
It was a Sunday. I gave a talk in church and didn't do a particularly good job. After church a handsome guy came up to me and said, " Hey, I enjoyed your talk." I smiled and replied, " Thanks." And he moved away. I needed to make an appointment with our bishop so I signed up for a time and left. I later had my appointment. When I was done, I was going to go out a certain door but I got an impression that I needed to go out another door and when I turned the corner, guess who was sitting in the hallway? That handsome guy who had complemented me earlier. I smiled and walked over to him. We started talking and talking, and talking. We talked all evening long and made plans to see each other the next day. The next day we made plans to see each other the next day, and then the next day, and so on. A month later we were engaged and three months after that, we were married. And it turns out, Stephen signed up to meet with the bishop after me so he could see me again and if I had gone the other way we wouldn't have seen each other and things would have gone differently.
I know what you're thinking, that's pretty speedy, but when you know, you know and we didn't want to delay spending forever with each other.

Fast forward 4 years...
We have lived in San Diego, CA and Provo, UT.
We are not much closer to graduating from school than we were then.
We have been through more injuries and illnesses than most couples deal with in their first 10 years of marriage.
We have an amazing little boy.
We love each other more than the day we got married.
We definitely know each other much better than the day we met.
We are still as silly as we were 4 years ago.
We still love to be together as much as possible.
We couldn't be happier. Well, I can not speak for Stephen but I couldn't be happier.
I am convinced I made the right decision in marrying Stephen and I have not regretted it once.

Our first picture together, I went to see Stephen in the play he was in. He was playing a doctor in All My Sons. Yes, he's wearing makeup and he looks a lot older than he is.

 

 The beach where he proposed, twice, but that's another story.

One of the engagement photos that my dear friend, Jen, took.

  Our Wedding Day, June 21, 2008

The day Will was born, September 24, 2010.

Christmas 2011

Count Your Many Blessings, Name Them One By One...

When I was a child and I was having a hard time or was sad for some reason my mom would break out in song, singing, "Count your many blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done." I would roll my eyes and laugh at her but it would always head me in a happier direction. The last little while has been a study in counting my blessings and remembering what the Lord hath done.

If you'll remember from a previous post that Stephen and I have been trying for over a year to get pregnant,  two miscarriages, dealing with irregular periods, and not ovulating regularly. I have also recently found out I have Endometriosis which can eventually cause infertility. My amazing doctor decided that this past month we needed to step up our game and put me on a medicine to help me ovulate.

Fast forward a month to now, this morning I found out, even with the medicine, I didn't ovulate this month. I know it's not too big of a deal but it's still devastating. 

While this has been going on we have also had some sad news in our lives that have really taught me to count my blessings. 

Yesterday morning I received an email letting me know that Will's pediatrician had passed away. I was devastated. We have gotten to know Dr. Gregory Nielson well over the last 17 months. Will has been going to see him since he was 2 days old. Will was also hospitalized at 2 weeks old due to an E-coli infection on the back of his head. Dr. Nielson came every day to see how Will was doing and spent many hours reassuring this first time mom that her tiny son would be OK. He was an amazing doctor who took the time to listen to my concerns, make thorough assessments, and noticing any little changes. He was caring, understanding, and competent. To make things worse, he left a wife and very young children. The pain and sorrow his poor wife and children must be going through, I couldn't even imagine loosing Stephen right now. I can only pray for Dr. Nielson's family. 

A friend of mine also recently lost her 15 month-old nephew. Again, I can not even imagine the pain of the little boy's parents and family. My heart aches for them. 

This week I have shed so many tears for other families and through it all, it reminds me that I really do have so much to be grateful for. My family is healthy, sure we have our problems but when all is said and done, we are sealed together forever as a family and we can get through anything.

The Magic of Music Class

We have an amazing mom in our ward that holds a music and movement class every Tuesday morning. Will and I love to be able to get out of the house and dance and sing with our friends. Charlotte, you are the best! Thank you so so much for making our winter bearable!

Last week I brought my camera to class and took lots and lots of pictures. It's so fun to see the pure joy, and sometimes concentration, on the kids faces.