Baby Antics

The baby gate was a good idea. Gagging on a bit of apple and upchucking half a bottle? Not as good.

Enchanted Island

For Christmas, Nana and Papa got us Pogo Passes.  Tonight we used them to go to one of our favorite places: Enchanted Island.  Unfortunatley, I didn't notice the fine print saying they are only valid Friday and Sunday.  Fortunately, after a few, "is there really nothing else you can do" s and moving up two rungs in the management ladder (the owners got involved), we got in.  The while experience reminded me of watching my Dad in action as a kid.

Anyway, we got in and spent 3 hours riding little kiddie rides.

Of course, Asher and I just watched.  He was awesome, as usual, and just hung out in my wrap watching everything.

He was trying to chomp cheez-its right out of my hand while I ate them, so he also got to suck down a few baby cookies.

   

It was a much more enjoyable evening than I would have had at home counting down until bedtime while Ethan entertained himself by teasing Benton.

Oh, and my winter > your winter!

This is a picture of the sunset I got to watch behind the palm trees.  Behind me was the lit up Phoenix skyline.

Whopper Memory

I gave Ethan some ice cream this week that had malt balls in it.  He asked what they were so I started explaining malt balls/Whoppers.  He tried one and said, "Oh, yeah, I've had these before, at the movies with Nana, right?"  I called Nana to check, and yes, when he was visiting her at the end of June, they went to a movie and got Whoppers.  That means that over 6 months later, he immediately connected the candy to that experience, crazy!

Doting Brother

Ethan is very sweet with Asher and loves to entertain him.  Here is an example.  I especially love the belly laughs at around 35 seconds.

Asher is 8 Months

Did you know that the biblical meaning of Asher is "happy"?  How fitting!

Asher is 8 months old today!  I just did pictures with my phone to fit my schedule better.

 Guess who is crawling?!?  Only a little bit of forward motion, but lots of hands and knees.

 I decided to use the sticker as a prop this month.  Here he is crawling towards it.

 Here the sticker is helping him hold still for a diaper change...kind of.

 He can also get from laying down to sitting and can pull himself up to stand.

 And back up!

We love our happy little Asher!

Book Club Monday

One of the best things about having a van is the carpooling I get to do.  I love filling my car with all these cute kids and listening to all of their conversations.  This morning I picked up 4 extra kids, drove to our Walking School Bus stop, and walked to the school (it is one of my days to volunteer).  4 kids stayed at school, and I picked up another at the school.  On my way home, I stopped and picked up one more.  This was my crew by the time I got home, but by 8:40am, I'd had 10 different people in the van.

 I hosted a zoo themed book club today.  Here the kids are making lions (using forks to make the manes).  They also finger painted giraffes.  We played with zoo animal toys, colored animal pictures, played Walking Through the Jungle, and did a dice/counting game.

 We read Good Night Gorilla and played a few related games.  Here they would lay down when the zoo keeper said "good night" and then wake up when he shook the keys.

 Here, we are acting out Good Night Gorilla.  4 kids are in "cages", one is the zoo keeper saying good night, and one is the gorilla "unlocking" the cages.

 Then they all follow the zoo keeper to his house (the guest room).

 And go to sleep.

 Then we scattered a bunch of colored keys and had a color hunt (they had to find the color I called out).

It is so fun to get little opportunities to "teach" kids through book club and Primary, and it is also fun, that I don't have to work full time to get those teaching opportunities!

December

Our friend Mandy text one evening saying that the BYU Alumni Association made free tickets to a Suns game available, so the four of us went together to a Monday night game.  We were ahead the whole game until a very close back and forth in the fourth quarter that ended in us losing.  That was too bad, but it made the last quarter really fun and exciting!

 Asher loving being social at the grocery store.

 He falls asleep almost immediately when we drive.

In the Amazon era, Santa's bag is blue (and very helpful in hiding gifts until Christmas).

 The last weekend before Christmas, I realized that the boys were going to be getting a lot for Christmas, but weren't getting the chance to give.  So,  helped them with some home made gifts.

Benton made Ethan some rubber band shooters and Asher a fabric rattle.

 Ethan made Benton a light table (LED light in a plastic tub that he decorated) and Asher a crinkly blanket.

We also took a case of water bottles like Mike likes to take to work, and taped a personal note on each bottle, so that Mike will get an extra smile with each water bottle he drinks.

On the 23rd, we picked up Nana and Papa at the airport.  I decided to surprise them and bring the boys, even though it was their bedtime.  We stood and watched for like 30 minutes, and somehow missed them leaving the gate area.  We ended up walking up behind them while they were waiting for us to drive up to the curb.  And this is why Mike and I basically never do surprises: they never work.

They were awfully cute waiting, though.

 Asher was trying to stand up, but his footed jammies were too slippery and his feet kept sliding further and further apart.

 We went to a park on Christmas Eve, and Asher got to play with sand for the first time.  He loved it.

The boys each opened a gift on Christmas Eve.  Ethan and Benton loved their light up toys from Grammy, and Asher loves is Sophie giraffe from Grandpa and Grandma.

 Christmas day was very poorly documented.  I don't even think I have a picture of the tree and presents before they started opening.  They are both very into telepods this year, so they enjoyed those from us.

 Christmas dinner.

 The boys got so many fun gifts!  We have really generous family members.  I wish I took pictures of each, but we were having too much fun playing with them.

Grandpa and Grandma got Ethan and Benton lights for their bikes.  Ethan's tires are below the recommended size, I think, but my stubborness + 1 hour or more of effort=lit up tires!

 SO fun!

 Banana cream and caramel apple pies.

 We naively hit the mall near us the day after Christmas.  They boys had a lot of fun on the carousel.

 We also took Nana and Papa with us to the Children's Museum, and we went on a few mile jog (me)/bike ride (Nana and Ethan)/roller blading (Mike)/stroller (Benton and Asher) trip that ended at a near by park.  Unfortunately, Asher had a pretty high fever that weekend, so we didn't get out to do too much.

Mom and I went out and saw Into the Woods and bought some jewelry, though, and it was really fun to get out together.  I also attempted to put Jamberry wraps on her finger nails.

Benton ended up with an ear infection and maybe pink eye (mucus draining from his eyes just like his nose), so by the time we got that diagnosed on Monday, we had just enough time to hit a local park before taking Nana and Papa to the airport.  It is so fun spending the holidays with family, so we were so glad they made the trip out!

 Since then, we've been enjoying Christmas break.  Ethan has been working on thank you letters.  This was my favorite: "Dad, I like the playdough, but where is it?"  Mike got them little cans of playdough and hid action figures inside, but the boys didn't know where I put it away.

 We spent New Years Eve doing chores, then let the boys roast marshmallows before putting them to bed on time.  Mike wasn't feeling well, so we just went to bed early too.  Apparently, we got snow flurries that night! In Phoenix!

 The next morning I made pancakes in the shape of 2015 and we used our pogo passes from Nana and Papa to go skating!  The boys actually really liked it.  They had to use Fisher Price skates, so I am trying to find used skates to buy rather than rent every time.

 And a random picture of Asher in one of the predicaments he has gotten himself into with his attempts to crawl.  He gets up on hands and knees, but ends up going backwards.  This time, it was in between a bed and wall.