Catching up with B and G

Thought we'd do some posting about our sweet babies.

Grayson is a crawling boy now.  He is SUPER cute and such a happy little (or should I say big?) guy.  As long as he is feeling well he is just this happy little man, I LOVE IT!  He LOVES following his sister around, he absolutely adores her and she actually not only tolerates Grayson but it seems she really does care for him which is the cutest and most heart-warming thing on the planet.  He started crawling about a month ago and he is already trying to pull himself up on things with not much success.  He loves jumping in his jumper and he is a joy to bring with me to run errands.  He actually falls asleep in the car and on the go which is a whole new concept to me.  He likes to blow raspberries with his mouth.  Since his surgery to fix his tongue-tiedness he has been having a hay day playing with his tongue!  He loves to stick it out and curl it up, it is so cute.  Grayson is an easy going baby and I thought he would be my cuddler but as things are right now, not so much a cuddler, darn it!  He cut his first tooth on Valentine's Day which was such a blessing because he was having a really  hard time teething.  Not looking forward to more teeth coming in, poor thing.

One of Bella's favorite games with Daddy is the throwing the big red ball down the stairs, it totally cracks her up and gets her so excited.

Bella is doing awesome right now.  Granted she has her moments, terrible two's and everything, but really she has been doing so much better!  We've even been able to attend most or all of church which is wonderful for us!  Her communication skills are developing quite well and we are able to figure out what she is saying or she can communicate what it is she wants which saves everyone from a nightmare.  She still has her tantrums and that is usually when she is out of her element.  She is a joy at home and is so great with Grayson and man, when she gives you a hug, you just melt . . . you really earned it from her if you get one.  She is so sweet and is very concerned for the well being of others, asking if they are "okay" or "alright".  She is absolutely obsessed with all things Toy Story.  She loves Buzz, Woody, Jessie and Bullseye.  She likes pretty things but could care less about princess things.  She is a joy to have and we love her SO dang much!!!  It is also really cute that she has some of her favorite people, Grandpa, Uncle Mark (none of us get this one), Natasha, McKayla and Stacia, of course, and when the Wassoms come to town she is ALL about her cousins Dallin and Bobby!  She is loads of fun to play with.  She doesn't really have fear which then scares her mommy because she will go down the HUGE slide at the park and jump off things, I guess she is kind of tomboy because of all this but she also loves pink and purple . . . my kind of girl :).

Birthday Weekend

First, I have to say that I hate myself because I didn't take ANY pictures of this wicked fun event!  I really cannot believe it.  So I will just have to tell you all about it.

Dave put together an amazing 30th birthday party for me this past weekend.  Family and friends were invited and it was held at Mt. Pisgah arboretum - a beautiful setting.  Here is a picture of the pavilion where the party was held (it is not with the decorations for the party but similar, the Japanese lanterns were there).  It was in the evening in January and as you can tell the pavilion can open all sides, so it isn't made to hold heat in.  Dave set up lots of heaters to get the place warm but we still ended up needing to wear our coats and some an extra blanket - but still fun!

Dave had purple iris and white gerbera daisies on the tables.  Lilac and pearl colored balloons all over as well.  And the road leading up to the pavilion was lit with twinkle lights and torches.  You get the idea . . .

The food was AMAZING!  He got a TON of king crab, shrimp, Outback bread (which I LOVE), chowders, salmon, a vast array of cheese and crackers, Martinelli's, smoked salmon, Pork tenderloin, burgers (for those non-seafood lovers), homemade fries, mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, delicious fruit salad, (I am sure I am forgetting something, there was a TON of food) and for desert 6 different kinds of Cheesecake Factory cheesecake!  It was WONDERFUL!  Of course he had to embarrass me with a "how well do you know Teresa" game and a slideshow (yikes!).  Other than the embarrassing me thing and it being not so warm, it was so much fun!

Dave also set up babysitting for those who needed sitters.  He commissioned several of our nieces to be the babysitters (they range in age from 18-13) and our home to be the babysitting location.  I thought that was a brilliant idea as finding sitters can be extremely difficult and our nieces are the BEST!  Even our nephews helped in entertaining the young ones.  So great!

I know Dave had A LOT of help from my sister, Debra, and her family and, of course, Stephanie Sasser whose family came down from Seattle just for the event!  Dave really couldn't have done this without Stephanie and Debra so a BIG thank you to you WONDERFUL ladies!!!  And a big thank you to all of you who helped and celebrated with us, it was amazing!!  I go forward with not as much trepidation to the my 30 + years.

Dave, I love you, you are amazing and wonderful!  How did I ever get so lucky to land you as my forever companion and soulmate?!  I love you and thank you for loving me too!  Thank you for putting this all together for me!!  I LOVE YOU!

Project Time

 Lately I've really been in a crafting mood, at least when I can break away from being a mommy and a housewife long enough to do anything.  Here are some projects I've been working on:

A Christmas wreath.  It is amazing how easy these are to do!

Dave and I saw similar ideas in Hawaii for these signs and figured we could make them ourselves at home, so when we got home we got started.  Dave and I both worked on these and we are pleased with the outcome.

I've always wanted to make a quilt and I've always been to afraid to do it.  While Dave's mom was here helping me with pretty much everything, she made Grayson a quilt and I watched her some and figured I might be able to do it . . . just not nearly as good.  Anyway, I wanted to make Grayson a play quilt, one with lots of colors and just super busy so he would have fun looking at it while doing tummy time and rolling around everywhere.  This is what I was able to come up with.  It really looks like a 4 year old did it, but I am proud of it!  He received it for Christmas :)

I also thought it would be fun to just have a fun cuddle blanket full of soft goodness for Bella.  You can't tell by the picture but the Hawaiian flower blanket is SUPER fuzzy and soft, better than any fleece.  I also thought it would be helpful to make Grayson a fleece blanket since the boy is 7 months old and still sleeps better swaddled.

These are the projects I've been working on as of late.  I thought the blankets were important to have for the kids so they would have something made by their mother.  I'm happy with the fact I've been able to do them all even if they aren't perfect.

Hawaii

First let me say I love my babies . . . maybe too much, as I cried several times while in Hawaii because I was away from them.  Pathetic, I know.  Second, I'd been having a strong desire to go to the place where Dave and I began, so Dave went online and found some tickets that were a steal.  My sister was more than happy to take my babies, as I swore I'd never take Bella on a plane (at least not until she was much older).  So, we went!  What a great time we had!  No diaper bags, getting a good nights sleep, just hanging out without having to give yourself completely for their care.  It was nice!  But 8 days of it was too long, it would've been better to be about 5.  Call me crazy, but I felt naked without my babies.

Anyway, here are a few pictures to commemorate our vacation:

Sunset in Waikiki after I learned how to stand up paddle board (which was awesome!).

Of course we had to hit up the Dole plantation!  I think we made three stops (they were on the way) to get the pineapple ice cream - SO GOOD!

Ahhh, plumerias, the best smell on the planet, gosh I miss that smell.

We went to an authentic Korean restaurant suggested by one of Dave's old mission companions.

When we lived in Hawaii as a married couple, I hated it to be honest.  I hated how hard we had to work at school and our jobs so we didn't get to enjoy it.  I hated being so far from family and not seeing them very often.  But now that I have been away for 5 years (yikes!) I realize that part of my soul belongs there, particularly in the water.  I had to get in the water everyday, I HAD to.  To me Hawaii is kind of like going home, Dave and mine roots.  It definitely recharged my low batteries.  I am glad to be home now (just not glad that we've been dealing with illnesses since).

Crazy couple of days!

Thought I'd post some updates on Grayson as well as some fun adventures we had over the past couple of days :)  I know I haven't put many pictures up of Grayson so here are a few.

Love this picture because it shows my "mommy mark" spit up on my sleeve, gotta love it.  I can't believe how much this little guys spews but is still growing very well.  I love how the tops of his ears kind of stick out, too cute!  Grayson is such a great baby and SO sweet!  He actually likes to be held which is amazing because Bella never did.  So I, of course, eat that up!

I love how Grayson still tucks his feet up under his bumb like a newborn, just absolutely LOVE it!  He is three months old now, crazy how fast those months went.  Babies grow WAY too fast, they should be babies longer :)

So the kids and I met Dave in Newport on Tuesday.  Dave had been there the day before and was at a conference until Wednesday.  Tuesday evening they had a dinner catered in the aquarium!  How cool is that?!  We ate amongst the fishes.  The super ironic thing is that one of the choices for dinner was grilled tuna, I couldn't help but giggle.  We were literally sitting right next to swimming fishies.  Bella LOVED the aquarium.   She especially enjoyed playing in the touch pool with the urchins and star fish.  She just loves playing in water, what kid doesn't?

The next morning Dave had one more meeting to attend and then we had the rest of the day.  We decided to take the kids swimming in the pool.  Both of the kids LOVED it!  It was so much fun and it was even better because the water was so warm.  Bella likes to count to five and then do something fun.  That is what she is doing here with Dave, counting to five then falling into the pool.

Grayson got real tuckered out.  How cute is he?!

After swimming we packed up and headed south.  Dad and Leora met up with us too as they were camping south of Florence.  How many places can you go and drive one hour and pass three lighthouses?!  That was really neat.  The Pacific Hwy 101 is just a beautiful drive.  We stopped at a beach to play but both kids were asleep in the car.  Yes, you heard right, Bella actually fell asleep in the car, this is a whole new phenomenon to us!  So they didn't get out, which was just as well, it was starting to rain and it was pretty cold and windy out there.  We looked for agates on the beach and tried to find some whales.  We did stop at Mo's for some grub.  Bella hates restaurants, I think because she has to sit.  So after she and Dave were done he took her outside, which she loved, of course.  Even though it was raining pretty hard, she doesn't care.

After Mo's we went to Dad and Leora's campsite and hung out for a while.  Bella liked playing outside in the rain and LOVED the puddles.  Good thing I had multiple changes of clothing for her.  We went for a walk with Grandpa and he picked some black huckleberries for us which were yummy and Bella loved them.  She also loved feeding them to Grandpa.  We hung out in the trailer for a while and then headed home, what a fun filled 28 hours!  I'm pooped.

K, Cupcake?

Our sweet little Bella, eating a cupcake :)

Thought it was too cute to pass up :)

We also went to the beach with Dave's parents, it was a lot of fun and Bella had a blast playing in the freezing clear salt water.  Her poor feet were frozen by the time we left and she was soaking, but super happy.

Bono even had fun, he kept lapping up the salt water though.  Too funny!

Elephant what??

Garlic.  Yup, you heard right, Elephant Garlic.  Maybe I am the last one to hear of such a thing, but I found out about it this past weekend and am in awe!  Look how huge it is!  It is the size of a grapefruit!

Yes, this is just one clove of the elephant garlic.  WOAH!

We had kabobs for a family gathering and I only needed to use one of these babies for a quadruple marinade.  It was so dang juicy!

Worth Something

Well, Bella has found a good use for Bono:

It's a good thing Bono lets her do stuff like this!

Favorite sweets

There are a few candies that I just LOVE.  My favorites, sadly, have either been changed or completely removed from production.

These are my FAVORITE, Nestle Caramel Treasures.  I am not a big caramel person, but the caramel inside these babies is just TOO good!  I remember being in 5th grade and there were some other kids selling candy bars for a fundraiser.  Those candy bars had the exact same caramel and were delish!

Sadly these treasures are now made by someone called DeMet's.  SO not the same caramel or chocolate even!  SO SAD!  :( 

Next up are these!  Crispy M&M's . . . mmmmm.  These had little rice crisps in the middle and I could eat these like popcorn!  So yummy.  These also used to be one of my mother's favorites and we would take special trips to the grocery store to pick them up.  Dave and I also would get these as an occasional treat while we were in Hawaii.  Again, these are off the market completely.  Super sad day. 

What are some of your favorites and why?  Hopefully, I will be able to find another favorite soon :)

Sitting Poolside :)

Living it up in a 1 foot deep pool  :)  I was chillin' poolside soakin' up the sun!  This was also Bella's first experience actually holding a popsicle and eating it herself, it was awesome!  Yeah, I know, she is 19 months old and this is the first time I allowed her to do it, I just hate sticky and messes!

Baby Grayson just being cute.

Bella's second experience holding Grayson.  We were THRILLED that she actually wanted to, up to now we've just figured she didn't like him!  She even tried kissing him which is also amazing because she just learned how to kiss, she's always taken kisses, not given them.