Christmas!

I love Christmas!  And it doesn't get any less magical when you get older.  I love that.  :-)  This whole month has been wonderful and packed of fun Christmas activities.  Is Christmas night depressing to anyone else?  Another whole year until we can do it again!  Boo!  Anyway, I won't harp on depressing things.  Instead, I'll just say that we had a fabulous Christmas and made many good memories.  As a matter of fact, all of 2013 was pretty great.  I'm hoping 2014 is just as good!

Instead of posting 100 pictures, I just threw several of our Christmas pictures into a quick slideshow.  (I'm horrible at them, but hey, they're easy and fun!  And I'm kind of on a slideshow kick.  Next up - Kate's first birthday slideshow!  Whoa!)  The song for this slideshow was chosen because it has pretty much been stuck in my head all month.  Ha!  There are pictures of decorating the tree, looking at lights, wearing festive clothes, visiting Santa, Christmas Eve, and, of course, Christmas.

Byram Family Christmas:

Thanksgiving 2013

This year for Thanksgiving we went to Vegas!  It was our first road trip since about April-ish so I was slightly nervous about how the drive would go with the kiddos.  While they both definitely had their moments, overall I was impressed with how great they did - especially for hardly sleeping in the car AT ALL.  (Seriously, my babies only sleep well in their own beds).  Getting Taco Bell on the way didn't hurt Matthew's feelings either.  Or Michael's.  ;-)

We stayed for a full week with Michael's mom (Kathy) and her husband Don, who were very nice to host us during our stay.  Kathy had to work most of the week so we kept busy seeing family and friends and finding places for Matthew to play in leaves and run wild.  :-)  (Kate mostly explored indoors).

The nice thing about Vegas is that there really are so many people to see.  We miss our friends and family there already.  We also made a quick trip to the Bellagio so the kids could enjoy the garden there.  And enjoy it they did!  I love that Kate is old enough to appreciate stuff like that now.  Well, "appreciate" as in enjoy it.  ;-)  I was kinda hoping they would have the garden all Christmas-y but it was still Fall-y.  Oh well - at least it was still cool!

We spent all of Wednesday and Thursday with my family.  It was so good to be with them.  I so wish we lived closer to cousins and grandparents!  And we really are not even THAT far.  Everyone come move next door to us.  ;-)

Sadie and Kate.  Cousins 2 months apart!  So fun.

Family pic on Thanksgiving

David and Melody Hales family - minus Michael and Laura and their kids!  :-(

The Winder clan - so good to see everyone!  

We then celebrated Thanksgiving with Kathy and Don on Friday.  Kathy is a pro - she made basically all of Thanksgiving dinner herself.  I'd like to say I helped, but I'm not sure it counts when all I did was make green bean casserole..... anyway, the meal was delicious.

Then that night we went to Henderson to some chocolate factory where they have TONS of lights.  The kids were tired from a long week so we didn't stay that long but it was super awesome and totally got me ready for Christmas!

We came home the next day.  And is it just me or is December FLYING by??  Geez!  Better get going on that shopping!  ;-)

Terrible/Terrific Twos

Matthew has been 2 for three months.  During those three months, I think that I have had some of my highest highs with him along with some of my lowest lows.  I was really, really hoping that none of my kids would ever throw a tantrum.  Ha. Hahaha.  Well, surprise surprise, that wish was not granted.  I'll spare you most of the details, but let's be real here.  It's not fun when my toddler throws an absolute fit in the store because I wouldn't buy him a $40 teddy bear or let him knock down a display of slinky's. 

Okay, so maybe I have come to understand where the term "terrible twos" comes from.  But you know what else?  I can't even begin to describe how much FUN he is.  He has always made me laugh, but as he grows, his vocabulary expands, and his personality blossoms, I find myself laughing and/or smiling at something he has said or done at least 100 times a day.  

I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again - he has a heart of GOLD.  He is extremely protective of Kate and even though he gets jealous sometimes, don't you dare mess with his sister.  He loves to run all over the place and play in the sand and the dirt.  He loves reading and learning new sight words.  He asks me for "nandy" (candy) and "bookies" (cookies) several times a day.  He will now plug my nose when I'm singing with him so that I sound funny and then he'll erupt into huge fits of giggles.  He enjoys "helping" me (with anything) any chance he gets.  He likes to explore and learn about new things.  He loves driving by the temple, and I can't wait to take him to the open house in a couple months.  When Michael comes home every evening he RUNS to him to give him a big hug and then immediately requests, "Horse!"  :-)  (Michael knows he'll be turned into a horse within a few seconds of coming home).  When we praise him for something good he has done, he lets out a giddy squeal.  He likes to point out shapes.  He has already asked me for a dog.  (Sorry kid, Dad's allergic!)  When we are about to go up or down the stairs, he'll ask for a "hug" as a way to request being carried up or down.  Manipulative and lazy?  Or funny and adorable?  ;-)  I mostly think it's funny and adorable, especially since he is content with holding my hand if my arms are already full of Kate.  :-)  He is smart and talented and I absolutely love watching him grow.

Matthew, there may be hard days, but I can't even begin to tell you how much I love being your mom.  Thanks for being SO forgiving on the days when I'm not nearly as patient as I should be.  You are the coolest little boy I know!

Fall

Growing up in LA, summer was by FAR my favorite season.  This didn't really change when I went to college in Utah and discovered that I really didn't like to be cold.  :-)  Everyone always talked about how much they loved Fall and while I never disliked Fall, I didn't really get all the hype.  Well, reality hit for me when I stopped living in CA every summer.  What do ya know - as it turns out, California is basically the only place where it's nice to be in the summer. Ha!  No but really.  Summer = death everywhere else.  Go ahead, tell me I'm dramatic.  Then come visit me in July and go for a walk around the block.... or try to entertain two kids under two all day every day when it's 115 degrees outside.  You'll be a drama queen too.  It's very sad, and has turned me bitter towards my previously favorite season.  BUT, I have learned to embrace Fall and really really enjoy all the Fall festivities.  And I agree with the masses - they are fun!  Seriously... October rolls around and I'm just giddy to be able to go outside again and get my kids to a pumpkin patch.  While "sweater weather" really only exists here for a month or so in the winter, (and my winter jackets are totally pointless now) I quite enjoy wearing shorts in October (and probably November) and I have once again remembered that hey, I LIKE living here for half the year!  ;-)

Anyway, Fall has been fun and exciting around these parts..... here are some things we've been enjoying:

Going to the park at least every other day.

Festive clothes and festive pictures!

Visits from family!  My kids adore their grandparents.

"helping" my dad work

And my parents coming to town and offering to babysit meant me and Michael got to finally use a gift certificate to a steakhouse he got at work.  I love date nights!  I also love steak!

Kids in costumes.

The pumpkin patch seems to be a "must" for young moms these days... ;-) .... I'm not complaining - it was a blast!

Arizona State Fair.  SO overpriced but oh so fun.  And let's face it, I'll pay good money for a good funnel cake.  Apparently I'll also pay good money for a giant corn dog.

Arizona sunsets aren't too bad either.  We love to go to the park by the new temple and feed the ducks and enjoy sights like this:

Looking forward to all the holidays!  Woohoo!

One-On-One Time

Something that has become pretty important to me lately is one-on-one time with each of my kids.  Don't get me wrong - I absolutely love the time we all spend together, and it makes my heart jump for joy when I watch Matthew and Kate play together (which is happening more frequently now -yay!) but some of my very favorite moments with the kids have come when I am one-on-one with them.  You'd think that with our relatively simple lives and the fact that I only have two kids it would be super easy to have quality one-on-one time, but it's not as easy as you'd think.  So, with the help of my wonderful husband, I have started putting more effort into getting out for mommy/son and mommy/daughter dates.  (And Michael has been getting more one-on-one time with each kid too).   I have also been putting more effort into making sure that my one-on-one time with each kid really is quality time.  Obviously I am far from perfect from this, but when I am mindful of what I am trying to do, I usually end up making much better use of that time.

This one-on-one time is so important, especially for Matthew.  He needs as much of it as he can get.  Without it, he starts to look like this:

Upset.  Overly clingy.  No bueno.

Luckily, Kate is pretty good about taking a nap for an hour every morning and I always spend this time super focused on Matthew and his needs.  We read stores, sing songs, and have "learning time." (Which is when we work on words, colors, shapes, etc)  We both love this time.  He is a total sponge right now and he impresses me every single day with how much he picks up in such a short amount of time.  

My alone time with Kate during the day isn't quite as predictable, but it's a blast as well.  We read books, practice crawling, and/or play with as many toys as possible.  She is just the sweetest little thing.  

While this alone time during the week is great, it's usually still not quite enough since the activities we can do are limited to what we can do in the house.  This is where the weekend comes in handy.  ;-)  Yesterday (Saturday) I took Kate shopping and we had a blast.  She's at the age where she wants to see and touch everything, and it was nice to be able to take our time and look around since there wasn't a bored and impatient toddler whining at us.  Ha!

And then I took Matthew on a mommy/son date to the pool.  We both had an amazing time.  There was so much laughing and playing and it was oh so good.

Love these kids of mine.  I know that as life gets crazier and busier it'll be harder to get that quality one-on-one time, (and it probably won't happen as often) but I hope to always make it a priority.  

Matthew Turns 2!

Well, we're counting years now, not months.  Can't believe my little boy is 2!

Here are a few pictures from the day:

A few things about Matthew:

- Sometimes he can have a fiery personality, ;-) but he is such a good kid and has a heart of gold.  He is very kind and never a bully.  He is protective of his sister.

-He loves attention and applause.

-He knows most colors and most letters.  He was a very late talker, but that is coming along too.

-He is busy and likes to always be playing and doing something active.

-He loves to swim, wrestle, run around, and read.  He enjoys learning new things.

-Most of the time it seems like he's going to be left-handed, but other times we're not so sure.

-For how active he is, we are very impressed with his reverence during prayers and scripture study.  Once we tell him we're going to pray, he immediately stops what he's doing and folds his arms.

-His favorite song changes every couple weeks, and he only ever wants me to sing whatever his favorite song is at the moment.  If I try to mix it up and sing something else, he gets mad.  :-)  Right now, his favorite song is, "Whenever I Hear The Song of A Bird."  We sing it before every nap and at bedtime.

-He is obsessed with buses.  Whenever he sees one, he points and screams, "BUS! BUS! BUS!...." at the top of his lungs.

-He loves any and all animals and bugs.  Except for flies.

-He is so good with technology.  He loves the iPhone.  His favorite thing to do on the iPhone is watch videos of him and Kate.

-He only likes/watches one TV show - Super Why! 

-He loves to come with me to get Kate when she wakes up from naps.  He loves his sister.

-He gives the best hugs and kisses.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTHEW!  These last two years have been the BEST!

TWO!

My little man is 2 years old!!!  I put together a short slideshow of his first two years of life.  It's my first slideshow ever so don't judge me for its poor quality. ;-)  

Love you buddy!

Home

Whew!  Moving sure is hard work!  Especially with little kids!  However, the dust is settling and while we still have some work to do to make this place look nice, the boxes are unpacked and life has calmed down a bit.  Well, other than us all getting sick over the weekend.  Yuck.

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about the word "home."  I have always tried to make my house a home, even before I had an actual house.  However, I think that deep down I didn't really believe that I could give my home everything I wanted it to have until I had a comfortable house. (Instead of a small apartment).  From this moving experience, I've learned that that isn't true.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE our new house and hope to never ever not live in a house ever again, but I have really come to appreciate that what makes a home is so much more than the walls and the space.

For example, I was absolutely certain that I would have NO problem leaving our apartment.  However, as I walked out the door for the last time I was surprised to feel kind of emotional and sad.  When we walked in the door of that apartment for the first time almost two years ago, I was carrying my newborn Matthew and was so excited about- funny enough- all the space.  ;-)  (It was more than our previous apartment).  In that apartment, I could show you exactly where Matthew crawled for the first time and where he took his first steps.  I could show you where Matthew, Michael, and I spent countless hours playing on the floor and where I danced around the apartment with Matthew when I found out that our family of 3 was going to become a family of 4.  I could also show you my preferred spot in the living room where I spent countless sleepless hours of the night with both Matthew and Kate as tiny babies, feeding them and trying oh so hard to get them back to sleep.  It definitely wasn't all roses and butterflies in that apartment, (I will never forget the endless noise at all hours of the day and night from the apartment above us!) but it was our home because it was full of love and memories. I was sad to leave.

I heard that it usually takes several months for a new place to feel like home.  However, I am very pleasantly surprised that this place already totally feels like home.  And I can't wait for all the new memories we're going to make here.  So grateful to have a beautiful new house and that I get to share it with my family that makes it a home.

Now I am totally looking forward to Fall, so that I can walk outside without wanting to kill myself and be reminded that hey, I DO have some pride in my home city.  (I forget all that pride from May to September).  And!  We have someone's big second birthday coming up next week!  Excited for that too.  ;-)

Pictures of life since the move:

boxes make great toys

 don't ask

New House!

We bought a house!!!  Woohoo!  I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am to get away from apartment living.  Some apartments aren't that bad, but ours is pretty terrible.... not to mention we have completely outgrown this place.  I have been beyond antsy to get somewhere where we have a bit more room.  :-)  And I'm so excited to finally have that place!

On our porch.  I'll have to get another pic of the whole house.

Anyway, we closed on Tuesday and then on Wednesday my dad drove up here to help us transform the loft into a fourth bedroom.  Lofts can be great, but at this stage in our lives, another bedroom is WAY more useful.  In just a couple of days, the room went from this -

to this!

So glad my dad is so handy, because he saved us a TON of money.  Plus, Michael loved learning so much.

We are now working on a couple of other small(er) projects before move-in, which should be next weekend.  These projects are mostly painting.  Then, after we finally move in and get settled, someone come help me decorate!  :-)

Kate at 6 Months

My little Kate is 6 months old already!!!  Ahh!  Halfway through her first year, and no matter what I do, time just keeps getting faster and faster.

Shortly before Kate was born, someone told me that the second child is often "the child of comparison."  I thought that that sounded bad, but you know what?  It's really not.... at least not in our case.  I think that after your first kid, you have a timeline of when you think your second child will hit all their milestones based on when your first child did.  It's actually fascinating and super fun to see all those differences among your own children.  Those differences keep me on my toes!  (As if I need another reason to be kept on my toes with my little munchkins!)  :-)

Kate is a total sweetheart.  She is very giggly, wiggly, and interactive.  The most common noise she makes is a happy, high-pitched squeal.  She absolutely loves her family and the fact that she gets to be part of more and more activities as she gets older.  She is amenable to not always being on a perfect schedule.  She is not the best sleeper, but she is certainly not the worst either, so I'll take it.  She still hasn't slept through the night, but it won't be long until she does.  And when it happens?  Oh man, I'm going to be one haaaaappy mom!

Kate doesn't love solid foods very much, but she has recently started to do a little better with them.  Woohoo!  I'm excited to introduce more and more flavors.

Kate is a wonderful sister.  She loves to watch Matthew run around and play and is a great audience for him.  She puts up with his messing with her like a total champ. She will definitely be one tough little girl with Matthew as a big brother! She thinks he's hilarious, and it melts my heart to watch them together.

Kate loves simple picture books.  She also loves her ExerSaucer, being in the baby carrier, (facing out so that she can see) toys that light up and/or move, and anything squishy and noisy.  She always wants to steal people's cups of water, and also Matthew's sippy cups.  Luckily she also likes her own sippy cup.

Kate can sit like a pro, but I think it'll still be a while before she's on the move.  I can tell she wants to be more mobile, but the girl will hardly even put weight on her legs.  I could be totally wrong though, because when babies decide they want to do something, the progress can happen lightning fast!

As for teeth, Kate still has none, and there are no signs of any coming in.  I kinda love that my babies take forever to start teething.  Teething can be rough.  Her hair is coming in, though mostly just on the very top of her head, so it kind of looks like a mohawk.  Ha!  I have to clip her nails twice a week.  And it looks like me and Michael (both green-eyed) will have another blue-eyed baby.  I love it.  Both Matthew and Kate have the prettiest eyes!

I feel like I'm at a point with Kate where things have gotten easier.  Definitely still not easy, because let's face it - babies are a lot of work - but certainly easier.  Some parts of her first few months of life are kind of a blur of two babies that needed me, crying, diapers, feedings, and trying to coordinate two schedules.  But I definitely feel like I've gotten into more of a groove.

Me and Michael have often talked about what a LIGHT Kate is.  She has such a sweet and happy personality and is just so happy to be a part of this world.  It really is inspiring to watch.  It's amazing how much my 6-month old can teach me.  We love her to pieces and are so so happy that she joined our family.