August 31, 2009

A couple weeks ago when Keric went in for his 15 month checkup, Dr. Barr said that the bottles had to go for good! He is at the age now where bottles are more of a comfort item, and his teeth could start getting bad if we continued to put him to bed with a bottle.

Getting rid of his bottles was really not what I wanted to hear, but I knew it was coming. So we went cold turkey the next day. I showed him his bottles and showed him the box I put them in. I told him the bottles were all gone now, and showed him where I was putting them. I don't think he cared at all, but I did it anyway. I thought maybe there was a chance he would understand some what. He does love the straw sippy cups, so that wasn't as hard as I thought, but the going to bed with no ba ba part was not fun! I felt so bad for him! He missed his "ba ba" so bad, and he would scream and cry for so long before he would wear himself out and finally just go to sleep. For a couple nights he would wake up in the middle of the night screaming and crying too. It was horrible!

Well...it's been two weeks now since we took the bottles away, and he is going to bed and down for his naps without them fairly well. I did what the books suggest doing, and replaced his bottle with another comfort item. He has this little stuffed puppy that I have been putting in bed with him. At first he could have cared less about the puppy, but lately he has been snuggling up with him. It's so cute. I miss the little ba ba face, but this one is just as sweet.

Bye Bye Ba-Ba's. You were a good friend to us all!

August 30, 2009

Bubby is at the age now where I keep being reminded of a story I used to love when I was a little girl. It was called something along the lines of "The Very Big Helper". It was about a little girl who was at the laundry mat with her Mom and she desperately wanted to help her mom with the laundry. Her mom of course didn't think she was big enough to help, so instead the poor little girl just kind of kept getting into trouble by riding the laundry carts, and playing with the candy machines and all the other things a kid would do if they were stuck in a laundry mat all day long!

On one of her many mischievous adventures she ends up meeting a kind of shady looking man with a weird mustache, who tells her she can come and help him with his laundry, and he teaches her how to fold all of his socks. Of course in the end the little girl becomes a "Big Helper" after all, and the story ends with hopes and illusions that maybe next time they come to the laundry mat her own mother will let her fold all of their socks. I don't know why this story was such a favorite of mine, but it was.

So anyway...in order to keep my own child from going out on mischievous adventures and finding his own semi-shady looking man with a mustache who offers to teach him how to do things I think he is too little to do, I've decided to go ahead and let him do some of those silly things that he, for whatever reason, wants to "help" me with.

One of these silly things is loading/unloading the dishwasher. It takes me twice as long usually to do this semi easy task with his help, and sometimes by the time he is done "helping" with some of the silverware or dishes, I just end up putting them back in the dishwasher to be washed again, but who knows? Maybe he'll grow up to LOVE doing dishes. In any case, I can rest a sure he isn't out learning how to load a dishwasher from some weird-o that he meets in an appliance store.

August 29, 2009

Tonight was the Pinewood Derby. Poor Cameron's car had one issue after another! It was time to go weigh in, and we were still trying to get a half way decent paint job on it. Chris worked his magic, and Cameron actually ended up winning the "Coolest Car" Award.

The races were all pretty close. Cameron's car did fairly well, but he didn't place in the actual race. Chris however won the Dad's race. His car won every race it was in, and Darian's car took 3rd in the Boy's race. I don't know how they were all so different, since they were all made the exact same way, but oh well, I think everyone ended up having a good time.

Keric was half way decent...we only had some minor "problems". He was crawling around trying to climb up on Chris while he was helping the boys with their last minute car details and he ended up with graphite all over his head, hands and knees, but nothing else too major. I swear that boy is just simply ALL boy!

August 28, 2009

Life behind bars! It's truly a fun time for all involved! I hate it almost as much as he does! I don't enjoy the screaming, and I also don't enjoy having to almost kill myself climbing over the dumb gate, but the little monkey won't stay off the stairs! OH....how I long for the days when he was immobile!

August 27, 2009

Tonight was Cameron's first Soccer game of the Fall Season, and he scored the first goal of the season!

Reagan decided not to play this year, so Chris gets a break from coaching. He says that maybe when Bubby gets old enough to play, he'll coach again, but for now, we just get to be spectators. I hope it's a nice Fall this year, and not too cold!

August 26, 2009

Chris has been helping Cameron and our neighbor Darian with their Pinewood Derby Cars. Today was the sanding and painting stage. They actually turned out pretty cool I thought! Chris has been good to supervise and not do too much of the actual work. We're getting excited for the big race on Saturday!

August 25, 2009

Well...The stairs have now been completely conquered! Tonight while we were getting ready for bed Bubby took off and climbed every stair, without stopping!

August 24, 2009

Reagie Mae

Whammers

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! I can't believe the Summer has already come to an end! Time really flies by way too fast! It is especially way too fast when I stop and think that Cameron was going into First Grade when Chris and I got married! Now we are walking down the First Grade Hall with Reagan!

I think Cam and Reag were both a little aprehensive at first about being in a new classroom, and a new environment, but they sure looked cute didn't they!

Reagan has Mrs. Newkirk this year for 1st grade, and Cameron has Mrs. Walker this year for 4th grade.

Since Cameron's school burned down this summer, he is in the same school as Reagie, which I think she is very happy about. Every little girl should have her big brother around to watch out for her. ha ha

Poor Cameron is outside in a portable...basically a gutted out mobile home. I suppose in all reality it's the same size as a normal classroom, but it sure felt awfully small and stuffy in there! I feel horrible for all those teachers having to teach in there this year!

That school will be an absolute mad house, but it looks like it should be a fun year for both of them.

August 23, 2009

Look who is standing up on his own!! Keric is able to go from a sitting position to a standing position without any help! We are all pretty proud of him, and clap for him often! I'm afraid it won't be long until he is walking now! Heaven help me!

August 22, 2009

This afternoon I made a cheesecake for the BBQ that we are having tomorrow. Bubby of course was right there next to me "helping"! He LOVES to open all the cupboards and drawers and take whatever he can reach, or lift, out of said cupboard or drawer!

It was starting to get somewhat dangerous in the kitchen! Seemed like every where I turned I was either tripping over him, or some odd object he had placed on the floor!

It's a wonder any of us, including the cheesecake, made it out of there in one piece!!

August 21, 2009

Today Keric and I had a very exciting day. We had visitor's come!! We hardly ever have anyone come over to our house, so it was quite fun...for me at least.:)

My Grandma and Grandpa Hopkin were in town for my Great Uncle Wayne's 80th birthday party, and it also just happened that Kimball and Eliane were headed back to Missoula today after hanging out with her family for the last week or so, so they also stopped in to see me! I got to have them all here together for a little while too.

I haven't seen Kimball and Elaine since Christmas, and I've never met little Danny, so I was so happy that they stopped by on their way home. Danny is SUCH a cute little baby! His pictures are adorable, but he's even more adorable in real life. I love his little chunky self, and he's such a happy little guy. He is almost as big as Keric is! Keric wasn't too sure about Danny at first, but he seemed to kind of warm up to him towards the end. Maybe it's because they have the Daniel thing in common? ha ha

I hadn't seen my grandparents since Easter, and it's always fun to see them. My Grandpa always has something funny and witty to say that keeps me laughing for days after I see him, and my grandma was gracious enough to bring me 3 jars of her homemade pickles! MMMMMMM I love those things! I'm gonna have to pace myself and make them last a long time. Who knows when I'll get some more. :)

It just so happened that they all came to visit right around Keric's nap time, so he was none too pleasant to be around! I felt bad that he was being so naughty. Usually he is a very friendly and nice boy to people, but guess he wasn't in the mood today. I hope no one took offense to his beastliness. :)

Thanks for coming to visit us!! We loved see all of you! The rest of you, feel free to follow their example!

August 20, 2009

Today while I was doing breakfast dishes, I noticed that Keric was being awfully quite. I called his name, but he didn't answer. If he's up to no good, he remains quiet, if he's doing nothing "wrong" he'll usually answer me with an "Ack!" So I quickly began investigating his whereabouts!

I found him up on the 4th stair! It kind of scared me, but I didn't want to scare him! He has been adventurous enough to climb up the 1st stair, but then he usually screams for someone to come and get him back down. I guess today he decided to tackle the whole thing at once. When he saw me he kind of turned around and I thought "oh great, here we go, he's gonna fall backwards down the stairs!" I went to grab him, but actually he started to climb right back down them. I was really shocked he was able to go up and down them.

So sadly this probably means that I am going to have to get out the baby gates now. I don't like him climbing up the stairs alone, even if he can get back down. My luck...he would fall down the next time he got that high up there!

August 19, 2009

Bubby has recently started wearing his "cools", but he will ONLY wear them if he is the one to put them on. Sometimes he puts them on upside down, or they only get half way on his face, but he wont let anyone else help him put them on.

I will once in awhile catch him crawling around with his cools half way on his face or up on top of his head. I've tried to get a picture of him doing that, but no luck yet. He is so dang fast!

Today he put his cools on while he was waiting for his lunch. Looking at him sitting over there in his highchair reminded me of that song "I'm too Sexy" that was popular in like the early 90's, So I started to sing to him, "I'm too sexy for my lunch, too sexy for my lunch..."

August 18, 2009

Today I watched my friend Lissel's two little girls while she went and got her hair cut. Her little girls are always so well behaved, it's actually fun to watch them. They have been here so many times, that they know right where all the toys are, and they go up and get the ones they want, and just play until it's time to go.

Keric on the other hand...he has been a little more aggressive lately with other kids. I don't know if it's the age or what, but I honestly worry about him getting to the nursery age, and wonder if he is going to be the "mean" kid all the parents talk about. He doesn't share very well. He screams when kids play with his toys, and of course automatically wants what someone else has. I was a little worried that he would be mean to Ava. Don't get me wrong, he had his moments of meanness, but this moment of niceness just cracked me up!

Keric and Ava were pulling out books and toys from his diaper bag and sitting on the floor playing very nicely with one another. I was holding Cambrie, and watching to make sure that Keric was being nice to Ava. I noticed that he was "reading" his little Elmo Nursery Rhyme "Wee Willie Winkie" Book. He hates to sit and listen to ME read to him, but he likes to open his books and jibber jabber to himself while he turns the pages and opens and shuts the book. I looked over at little Ava and she was sitting there so nicely, listening to him "read" the story! It was so funny it was hard to keep from laughing out loud! The only word I could pick out from Bubby's story was "uh-oh" but Ava didn't seem to mind. You would have thought she understood every word he said! Maybe she did?

So perhaps there is hope for Keric in Nursery and other public settings after all...that is as long as whom ever he is playing with agrees to do what HE wants to do, and sits nicely and patiently while he does it. Ugh...I SO have my hands full!

August 17, 2009

Today was Bubby's 15 month "birthday" and also his 15 month check up. He is still kind of a little guy, or at least he isn't breaking any records! I mean he only gained 1 lb 2 oz in 2 months! I think his little 3 month old cousin Danny is gonna pass him up in the weight category. I'm betting Danny hits 25 lbs before Keric does!

Poor little guy had to have 2 shots too, which he was NOT happy about, but he lived through them eventually. He gets more and more mad each time he has a shot. He cried for a good 15 mins AFTER the shots, he was so mad this time.

He was so funny with his Dr. He LOVES his Dr. I love her too, she is so great with him, she is also very pretty, and Bubby knows it. After his appointment she bent down to tell him good bye, and he gave her a big hug and kiss! It was so cute! He always has been quite the little ladies man! Guess he's not shy about it either. haha

August 16,2009

He won't wear a hat, but he'll put pretty much anything else on his head!! HE of course has to do this...no one else is allowed to put anything on his head, and then he gets upset when he takes off crawling and his fruit snack bag fall OFF his head! Such a weird kid!

August 15, 2009

Not a baby anymore!!!!

I made Chris cut Keric's hair today because it was getting so long, and it was sticking up really bad in the back. After his haircut we had dinner. As I was getting dinner ready I looked over to where I normally look to see my sweet little "baby"...but instead I saw a little boy sitting in his place! Wow! Time goes by way too fast!

August 14, 2009

One of these days I will remember to CLOSE the bathroom door, BEFORE I find Keric already exploring it!

August 13, 2009

This is what happens when you are doing too many things at one time! Your BBQ burner and handles melt!

Chris says that a person who has a good sense of humor should be able to laugh at themselves...but I still have not seen the humor in this!

I turned the BBQ on to get it warm, and apparently, I left it on the "light" setting. I don't remember when exactly I turned it on, but it had been awhile before Chris went out with the steaks...he came back in with this weird look on his face and said "Um...the BBQ is ruined".

The handle had melted off, and the burner had completely burned all the Teflon off and caved in the middle!

Needless to say...I wasn't happy! Guess I don't have a very good sense of humor!

August 12, 2009

Oh how Keric LOVES his bath time! I finally got him some toys to play with, and if I would let him, he would play in there all day long. I let him play in there while I put my make up on. It's so much easier than fighting with him about opening drawers and throwing things out.

He gets so crazy in the bathtub! By the time I get him out...we look like we've BOTH been in the bathtub!

August 11, 2009

Chris left this afternoon for Ohio. He wont be back until Thursday so it's just me and the kids. I am OK being alone for the most part, but I do hate it when he is gone at nights! There is something about knowing he isn't just downstairs, that makes it really hard for me to sleep!

Mama Anne took all of us out to Dinner at Denny's tonight since Daddy was gone. She said she figured I didn't want to have to cook! I seriously have the coolest mother in law! So we all met down at Denny's for dinner. It also happened to be Tuesday, and I guess kids eat free on Tuesday's? Who knew!?

Anyway, they had these really cool kids cups that Cameron and Reagan were just dying to have, so I gave in and got them each one. They were sort of cool. They are divided in two, so you can have two different drinks in them, one on each side, and you have these two cool straws. Of course Bubby had to have one too. He had a little bit of a hard time with the straw at first, I had to kind of hold the cup for him, but he loved his lemonade!

Thanks for dinner Mama Anne! We had a great time!

August 10, 2009

OK he comes by it honestly...! Both Chris and I LOVE our fountain drinks at Maverick and apparently so does Bubby!

Chris has been up late working on his QBR for this coming Wednesday and he had been drinking his famous Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi. He left his "Cold Drink", as we call them, on the coffee table that night. It was totally warm, and had no fizz in it what to speak of, but when Bubby came downstairs he crawled right over to it and started sucking away on the straw! He seemed very happy with his new found treasure! GROSS! Such a silly boy!

August 9, 2009

I went in to check on Bubby before I went to bed tonight and this was what I found. A naked little bum in the air!

There is a children's book that is called "Good Night Moon". It has a picture of a little Bear looking up at the moon on the front cover. I however am nominating this picture to be the new front cover! hahaha

August 8, 2009

This is my new favorite picture of Bubby. His hair is getting so "long" now that it always sticks straight up in the back no matter how many times I wet it down. I think his hair looks like Kate Gosselin's hair. All slicked down and nice in the front, combed over to the side, and then the back is all wild and spiky. It totally does this on it's own, it's like a baby mullet...business in front...party in the back!

Don't ya love his little lipstick kiss? I forgot to wipe it off after I got him up from his nap. Oh well...guess he will always know and remember that his Mommy LOVES him tons!

August 7, 2009 Happy Birthday Chris

My two boys! Happy Birthday Honey!! We love you! xxoo

August 6, 2009

Tonight I was outside trying to BBQ, but the wind was so dang bad that the BBQ wouldn't stay lit. While I was outside Bubby kept banging on the window, and screaming. I couldn't figure out if he wanted to come outside with me, or if he was just talking to me. He kept putting his mouth up to the window and making these funny faces. It was really making me laugh.

And I wonder why my window is always so dirty! I used to blame Chompie, but guess I can't do that anymore.

August 5, 2009

A day in the life of Bubby! You would think that I would be a bean pole with all the running around and yelling "no!" that I do...but alas...I am not!

August 4, 2009

Lately Keric likes to dump out his whole diaper bag, along with anything else he can get his hands into, and find all his books. He's always had books, but lately he has seemed a little more interested in them. He likes to open them up, point, and say his little jibber jabber words. Today I found him "reading stories" to Chompie. It's pictures and moments like this that remind me of what a sweet little boy he can be, instead of what a "monster" he has been lately!

August 3, 2009

It's kind of hard to see in the picture what is all over Keric's face, but amazingly enough it's tartar sauce and salmon! Cameron and Reagan hate fish, and Chris isn't really a huge fan unless it's really really fresh fish, but I love fish. I especially love Salmon. True Wal-Mart isn't the ideal place to buy really good fish, but once in awhile I can talk Chris into grilling some Salmon for me. Tonight was one of those nights. Keric LOVED it! In fact, he ate most of it. Seemed like every time I tried to put a bite into my mouth he would scream and reach for my bite.

I guess maybe he did inherit a couple things from me...one being my taste in food...or maybe just my love of food in general.

August 2, 2009

So the whole point of this "project" is that you are supposed to take a picture everyday and then obviously post it and put a caption of some sort on it. Mine usually end up being huge long stories, but the point is that I have done that faithfully since Jan. 1 2009. Some days I get a little frustrated with this project because more things happen on some days and I have TONS of pictures, and then there are days like today where I am struggling to find something at least semi picture worthy.

True, I could have taken a picture of Keric throwing ALL the wipes out of the box and onto my floor this morning while we were trying to get ready for Church, but I was a little too upset to take a picture of that at the time. I also could have taken a picture of the tantrum he threw in sacrament meeting, but that would have been a little tacky a. because the tantrum was not at all flattering, and b. because taking a picture in sacrament meeting, especially of a tantrum, is pretty sad. I also could have had someone take a picture of the big smile I had on my face when they announced that we were changing to the 11 a.m. schedule on Aug. 30, but there again...tacky.

So...as I was getting Keric's bottle ready and getting ready to take him up to get ready for bed, I saw Chris snuggling him on the couch. He was singing or talking or doing something in Keric's ear, and it was helping him not to scream so loud for his ba-ba. So I thought...perfect, here is my picture of the day! So I took this really cute picture of the two of them on the couch only to be informed afterwards that "That isn't going on the blog!" When I asked why...Chris informed me that he had appeared on the blog the day before (true) and that he didn't want to appear two days in a row. I didn't know this was a rule?! Note to self for next time I guess??

So I was going to just put it on here anyway, and deal with the consequences later when I discovered something. I don't know who, I am assuming Cameron, and I don't know why, again I assume, just because they were playing around, took this picture of Reagan and Chompie. I have no idea what they are doing, I can only yet again assume, she is telling Chompie "No" about something, but as luck would have it, the date stamp was Aug. 2.

So...here is a random, rather blurry, picture of Reagan in her big huge night shirt that she loves, doing something with Chompie. Fabulous picture I know! ENJOY!

August 1, 2009

I know this picture is blurry, but I had to kind of sneak it. One of my favorite times of the night is when Chris helps Bubby say his prayers. He does this funny little voice that we call the "Bubby voice", and Keric sits and listens. It just cracks me up. I'm gonna miss it when Keric actually starts talking on his own and starts saying his own little prayers.