Friday, September 30, 2011

the celebrations continue...

max is definitely loved around these parts.

a few days after his birthday, lynelle {our neighbor + the secretary at the seminary}
brought max a gift. not just any gift though.

a bubble-blowing lawnmower gift.

he was/is one happy boy:

ps. who else is so excited for conference tomorrow?!?
it feels like christmas eve!
hope you all have a wonderful conference weekend...i know i will!

Monday, September 26, 2011

24 months + 96 words later...

on september 26, 2009 at 1:13 p.m. our little maxwell scott was born!!
what a wonderful two years it has been!

we are so incredibly blessed to have max in our family...life just wouldn't be complete without him. we thank our heavenly father every day for this sweet addition to our family.

he is energetic, funny, sweet, so loving towards avery, crazy at times, adventurous, such a good eater, a lover of the outdoors, very observant, and just an overall great boy.

he has recently become much better at talking...yay!! we still can't decipher a handful of his words, but we are getting there! i counted up today all of the words i could think of that he says + we understand. i got to 96!! he has come a long way:

mom, dad, "e" (for avery), bapa (grandpa), bri, matt, alli, heavenly father (melts my heart!), jesus, dog, lawnmower, tractor (he uses the same word for truck), "nope" (for milk), more, "peez" (please), two, water, "tine" (for nectarine...we got tons from my grandparent's tree...they are delicious!!), bounce (for avery's bouncer), ball, kick, book, poop, pants, boots, shoes, keys, phone, hello, oh yeah, holy moly, oh "dosh" (for gosh), nuts, swing, fly, walk, boat, horse, choo choo, duck, kitty, meow, dirt, peas (those were his fav in our garden), "bat" (for bath), noise, bowl, spoon, fork, "tiptures" (for scriptures), light, blue, "bite" (for bike), slide, "nack" (for snack), "tant you" (for thank you), "bess" (for bless), yeah/yup, no, "reen" (for rain), boom, shirt, "bankie" (for blankie), "bubbos" (for bubbles), eyes, nose, ears, bite (whenever he sees avery chewing on her blanket or a toy he yells "bite!"), toes, hair, towel, fish, nigh night, jump, "zoap" (for soap), "yan" (for fan), bob (spongebob jammies), outside, binky, bird, "how" (for aaron + missy's dog howie), bean, flip flops, socks, cheese, "sire" (for fire), hot, run, and star!

he has gotten totally spoiled for his birthday, which we have been celebrating all weekend long. first, grandpa frank + grandma debbie came down on friday and brought him his very own shiny red tricycle!! he loves it. however, he refuses to have any help while he is on it, and he doesn't seem to want to learn how to work the peddles...one of these days!

saturday, he got a letter from great grandma mckinley with $10!

and on sunday, grandpa jim + grandma shaunna came down with alli, tony, bri, and cami. we had a party!! i made lawnmower cupcakes (which i was very proud of, i must say!) and we had yummy chicken enchiladas for dinner. we scored some little people on ksl so we gave him some for his b-day, and are saving the rest for christmas (we actually have way more than we need, so if any of you are interested in some little people sets, let me know!) grandma and grandpa got him some new fall clothes, and five hot wheel cars. he didn't know what to do with all those toys! we ended the day with just our little family--everyone but danny snuggled up on the recliner! what a great {exhausting!} day.


{max would have been happy with just the box!! what a little cutie.}


today, on his actual birthday...we just kinda took it easy and played with all of his new toys! we went for a walk/ride around the block on his new bike, and he could hardly finish his breakfast because he was so excited to go play with his new boat + tractor!

max, we love you!!! don't ever forget how wonderful you are.
xoxo.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

solid


we started the little miss on rice cereal!!!
i can't believe it...she is growing up wayyy too fast.
she is already FIVE months old + life would just not be complete without her!

recently she:
discovered her toes!
started solids
has become a horrible sleeper!!
{any suggestions?? we were hoping cereal would help...but so far it hasn't.}
loves to play with her binkie, rattle, and caterpillar
has grown a tiny bit more hair! :)
has begun to giggle
loves to kick kick kick
started squealing...loudly!
found out how to suck her thumb
has continued to be incredibly adorable.

and here are three random little video's of our girlie.

babbling + squealing:

avery's 1st rice cereal experience:
{sunday morning, september 18th}

{make sure to notice max saying "OH YEAH!" in the background...he was talking on his "phone" to someone! haha}

this last one happened during sunday dinner. danny was getting avery undressed so we didn't get her dress all dirty but it kind of got stuck on her head. max thought that was the funniest thing. and then when danny started swinging her...max couldn't stop laughing. he is one silly boy. and avery is one cute girl. did you notice her chunky thighs??? i am in LOVE.

{can't get this video to post at the moment...check back soon!}

Monday, September 19, 2011

celebrating three years

our anniversary was almost a month ago {crazy how time flies!} but just like our first + second, this one was mighty fine. it wasn't quite as romantic as we would have liked...max woke up with throw-up all over his crib...but danny made sure to make me feel like a queen even when i was feeling very un-queen like cleaning up + caring for a sick baby boy.

i woke up to fresh flowers, which were SO beautiful!!, and 161 little paper butterflies scattered on top of the dining room table. remember this sweet talk by elder scott?? danny thought he'd recreate that. hands down the best note i've ever received in my life. i didn't get it lined up until later that day, but i absolutely loved it.


and later that night we loaded up the bike trailer with our little kids and rode over to reed's drive in...our town's best burger joint. we got greasy burgers, fries, and a peanut butter oreo shake + ate it picnic style at the park.

later that week, when we were visiting in layton, we snuck out after the kids were in bed and went to see the help. i read the book and LOVED it so that was my request :) excellent movie! i may or may not have cried multiple times.


thanks babe, for being my biggest fan these last three years.
i love you!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

i'm a BYU college grad!!**

did you ever think the day would come?!?!?

i sure didn't.

but miraculously, it came + went...and i couldn't have been more pleased.

initially, i really really didn't want to walk. my specific college is one of the biggest at BYU and when we went to danny's ceremony it was almost three hours long!! trying to juggle a wiggly baby + listen to the sappy talks was about all i could handle! but when it came time for my graduation, i decided i wanted to put my sweet husband through the same suffering.

except this time, it wasn't. my ceremony was about 1.25 hours from start to finish. it was amazing! the talks were even somewhat interesting :)
and our two little kiddos did exceptionally well.
{the picture below may lead you to believe that max sat that still the whole time...he didn't! but what can you expect from an almost two year old?? he did really well considering.}


after pictures, we headed to my parent's for a little post-graduation party. danny's mom brought down an ice cream cake from cold stone!! it was heavenly. and it may have even made graduating from college worth it :) my dad + danny's dad were both out of town but my brother and his family were able to come celebrate, as well as my cousin + her family, and my aunt. thanks to all who came to support!! it has been an incredibly long journey...one i didn't think i would finish at times. THANK YOU to everyone who babysat max, who helped me with my homework, who encouraged me to finish. i couldn't have done it without you.


oh, and for your viewing pleasure...below is a breakdown of my college experience.
eleven semesters + some independent study classes in all!!!
phew. it's making me tired just looking at all of those.
but after all that, i received a bachelor's in home and family living.

favorite classes are highlighted in pink.
least favorite classes are in brown.
and classes i took with danny will be bold.

classes taken at byu-idaho

fall 2006
college writing
design basics
intro to interior design
presentation 1
book of mormon
asid/portfolio

winter 2007
fit for life
visual arts lab
color theory
presentation 2
architectural drafting
math real world {love you britt!!}
teachings of the living prophets
asid/portfolio

classes taken at byu

spring 2008
intro to lit: fiction, drama, poetry
lds marriage & family

fall 2008
american heritage
biology
humanities 1 {how in the world did i survive this?!? it made boring look FUN}
new testament {not sure how danny + i pulled off having 3 classes together! it was awesome}

winter 2009
flexibility
geography
physical science
d&c
basics of clothing construction
human development {taught by larry nielson}

spring 2009
floral design {took with my mama! such a fun class!}
family finance {taught by dr. isrealson...he is one amazing man}
statistics {barely scraped by in this one...thanks to danny i passed!}

summer 2009
persuasive writing
book of mormon
strengthening marriage & family
food prep in the home

fall 2009
religion in the home {excellent class by dr. dollahite}

winter 2010
women entrepreneurship {one and only class taken with j.pate!}
basic entrepreneurship skills
the living prophets {AMAZING!! taught by bro. matthew richardson, 2nd counselor in the sunday school general presidency}
work & relationships in the home

spring 2010
pearl of great price
home and family living

summer 2010
history of creativity 2
critical inquiry & research methods {katie, i'm sure you can agree with me on this one!}
temporal welfare in families

independent study
intro to family processes
parenting & child guidance
children's lit {quite possibly one of the all-time FAV classes ever!! i am going to do a post just on this one class soon! i read so many good books! can't wait to tell you about it.}
marriage enhancement
weight training {taught by my dad}
landscape design

ps. the little asterisks are in the title because technically i still have two classes to finish up...but i am so dang close so i walked +
now i am having a wonderful time getting motivated to totally finish!!
but i'll get there. i will.

Monday, September 12, 2011

the diaper duo

having two children in diapers is awesome, let me tell you!
i have been seriously considering potty training max to cut down on diaper costs + stinky diapers but i've gotten mixed reviews on when to start with a boy.
{don't you get mixed reviews in all areas of parenting??}
i read this awesome post + she had her son trained before he was even two! amazing. but, a lady in my ward pointed out that as nice as it is having them out of diapers, it's not nice when you have a grocery cart full of food, a crying baby, and a toddler that has to go "now!" when you put it that way...maybe i'll wait until he's four :)

i'm interested to hear when your take on potty training is...what secrets have you heard/tried? what worked for you? when would you recommend starting? i'd love to hear.

until max upgrades, having two children in diapers makes for some great pictures!
i love our little diaper duo:

oh, and in the picture below--max figured out how to take his diaper off!! what an accomplishment :) last time i put him down for a nap in just his diaper...

Friday, September 09, 2011

family pictures 2011


whew! family pictures are exhausting! while my brother + his family were in town during august, my mom wanted to get some family pictures since it has been over a year and a half and two little girls have been added to the family. my mom's brother todd took the pictures and he was fantastic!! he was excellent with the kids + worked fast which is what we needed with five little ones. we took them at nielsen's grove/park in orem and i love the way they turned out!! besides the fact that our children have their fingers shoved in their mouths...haha i laugh every time i see that picture :)


todd captured some priceless pictures. some of my favorites are: the very top picture, the group shot directly below, tallest-shortest, and the picture of me + my sisters. we took a picture almost identical to that one over eight years ago...i need to find it and compare :)


which ones do you like??