Joshua at 18 months

Oh my goodness, this age is so much fun. Joshua is so full of personality and so hilarious. He is becoming more and more his own little person and we are all loving being a part of it.

Joshua is generally happy and well behaved, though like most kids his age, he definitely has his moments. He doesn't particularly like shopping of any kind unless we're in the toy aisle, the Halloween aisle, or he has a lollipop or some other form of candy. He'll also sometimes throw a fit if he's told no. He definitely won't hesitate to let me know how he feels about something! He is usually his grumpiest right before dinner, but does better while eating (as long as he likes his food, ha) and then loves getting into the bath after dinner.

Joshua speaks really well for his age. He can say almost any word we ask him to (or at least make a decent attempt) and has even tried a few words together a few times. It is fun to have him so vocal so young. He still has a cute little wobble when he walks and has recently started running. He's not a big fan of being in the stroller - he likes to walk and go wherever he wants to go. :-) If he hears the word "walk," he'll go bring you his shoes and fully expect to be leaving the house. Good luck if you're not actually taking him on a walk. Eek. Haha. His favorite foods are lollipops, crackers, peaches, pears, chips, pizza, and of course, any type of candy. He's an okay eater. Not terrible, but not awesome either. He can definitely be picky but at least he will eat some healthy foods.

Joshua is completely obsessed with the movie Snow White. More specifically, he loves the seven dwarves and the witch and the poison apple. "Heigh Ho" is his all-time favorite song. He isn't all that into any other movies or TV shows yet. He loves books, which I love. Some of his favorites include pop-up books, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Goodnight Beach, Row Row Row Your Boat, and Little Blue Truck. He definitely prefers to have me read to him, but sometimes I catch him reading to himself and it's super cute.

Joshua takes one nap a day, and sometimes (actually, usually) it's not a super awesome nap so he goes to bed pretty early. At times he's not a very restful sleeper, but most of the time he does pretty well and sleeps through the night. Joshua loves the bath, especially with lots of toys and "pop!" (bubbles) He really really loves wrestling, and will sometimes go right up to Matthew and try to shove him over. Matthew is a great sport and will usually wrestle with him when he does this. Joshua really isn't that into most nursery rhymes, nursery songs, or primary songs. Sometimes he lets me do Itsy Bitsy Spider with him, but he kind of seems to tolerate it more than enjoy it. Haha.

Joshua hates going to the doctor (even when he doesn't get shots) and loves going to the park. He likes to climb all over the park equipment and he also loves the swings. He loves all animals, especially dogs, cats, ducks, and anything that roars. He did awesome his first week of nursery but didn't do so great his second. Ah! So how he'll do in nursery is still pretty up in the air.

This boy is so much fun. He makes us laugh all the time and is just the cutest thing. His insanely long lashes, huge blue eyes, chubby cheeks, and bright blonde hair just kill me. He is a mama's boy and I kinda love it. Stay little forever cute boy!

Matthew's Fifth Birthday

So maybe I'm the worst ever, but this was the first year that one of my kids has had a friend birthday party. I see absolutely no problem with other people having big parties for their younger kids, but I've always just been happy to celebrate as a family - especially since my kids have been too young to really care. Well, I figured that age 5 was a good age to finally throw Matthew a big party. He was ready and I knew he'd absolutely love it.

We decided on a Dinosaur theme weeks (months?) before his actual birthday. It was the perfect theme for him, since it's easy to find decor (I am not one of those talented crafty people that could whip up my own decorations!) and Matthew has always been really into dinosaurs. He loved helping pick out some decorations for his party, and when it came time to make the invitations, he was beside himself with excitement, helping me put the invitations into the envelopes and carefully sealing it shut with a dinosaur sticker. He was also so happy to hand out the invitations to his friends.

His birthday ended up being on a Saturday this year so it worked out that his birthday and party were on the same day. His party didn't start until 1pm, so I knew it would be a long morning while he waited for his party to start. :-)

Friday night I (tearfully, of course) put him to bed and then got to work decorating his cake, putting out decorations, and giving Michael the job of blowing up a bunch of balloons. (I HATE blowing up balloons.) Matthew had actually requested waking up to balloons in his room (we'd done it the previous year) so I guess that it's now kind of a tradition. Haha. Anyway, he was super excited (though not surprised!) to wake up to that.

He was even more excited about the decorations downstairs.

I made him pancakes and we let him tear into all his presents from family. His biggest gift from us was a Razor scooter. He'd been asking for one for months.

We hung out for a while and he played with his new stuff until it was getting close to lunch time. I put Joshua down for a nap and sent Michael and Matthew and Kate to Chick Fil A for lunch. I stayed behind to prepare for his party and clean up a little. :-)

And then it was time for the party! They had lots of fun coloring dinosaur masks...

.... and playing games like Pin The Head On The Dinosaur Bones and Don't Eat Pete. (Dino version!)

And then we sent everyone out for water fun! We filled up the kiddie pool, had a bunch of water balloons, and gave them water guns with a mission to shoot all the tiny dinosaur figurines over. It was a big hit and the boys (+Kate!) all had a blast.

Then they came inside, dried off (sort of) :-) and Matthew got to tear into his presents. Then they had cake and hung out (AKA ran around) for a few minutes before everyone's parents came to get them.

Matthew enjoyed spending the rest of the day playing with all his new toys. He requested spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. I had a feeling he would, so luckily I was prepared. ;-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTHEW!

I love this boy to pieces. I say it way too much, but he has a heart of gold. He very much is beyond his years in his desire to connect with people, especially his family. He feels everything deeply and isn't afraid to talk about those feelings. I love my alone time with him when I get to just focus on him, partially because I know how much he absolutely loves it too. He loves life and still gets excited about all the little things, such as a store putting out holiday decorations or a turtle sticking its head out of the pond or getting his little brother to laugh. He makes me so proud in his desire to learn and become a better person.

Matthew is smart. It was a very difficult decision for me to have him wait another year for kindergarten because I know how much he will absolutely love it. He likes structure and is easy to teach. When I ask him if he wants to learn about ___(fill in the blank)___ he will say yes 100% of the time. He is always down to do whatever and is so much fun to have around.

Matthew loves dinosaurs, Legos, water guns/nerf guns, sharks, puzzles, art, sports, the park, the beach, cooking, and playing games. He is an amazing reader but still prefers that I read to him. He is an amazing big brother and is so good at trying to include Joshua in the things he and Kate are doing. He has a freakishly good memory. He'd like to do a lot of things when he grows up, but his latest desire is to be both a chef and to "work with dad." He wants to go on his mission to China, Japan, Mexico, or "Grandma and Papa's house." Currently, his favorite show is Bubble Guppies and his favorite movie in Ninja Turtles. He also loves to watch home videos and hear stories about when he was a baby/toddler. He has learned to swim and can do it quite well, assuming he doesn't start to panic. 

I am thankful every day that I get to be Matthew's mom. He is so patient with me and forgives so quickly. I love you forever Matthew. Now please stop growing up!!!!!!

The End of Summer

I guess that summer around here pretty much goes until the middle (or end!) of October, but I'm starting to get into Fall mode despite the weather so I'm gonna pretend summer is over.

After we got back from Utah we still had a week with Michael before he went back to work so we got a lot done around the house and also did some fun things together as a family. I found an awesome deal on Diamondbacks tickets, so we took the whole family to a game. It was Josh's first game, and I was reminded why 1 year olds are pretty much the worst at baseball games. ;-) Haha! No it was fun, and super cheap, so totally worth it! (I love stadium food!) Also, Chase Field is awesome and VERY kid friendly. It has kids play areas, a kids batting cage, etc.

We also had a family pass to the Arizona Science Center this summer. We went probably 5 times. (It was financially worth it after only 2 times.) The kids liked it and we went both with Michael and without. A good activity for those super hot days! These couple pictures were taken at the Bug Exhibit. Matthew was in absolute heaven. I was nearly traumatized by the giant scorpions and tarantulas they had there.

It is hot hot hot here! Check out the temp on this afternoon! Eek!

Swimming and more swimming. It's always nice to go on Saturdays when Michael can be there.

S'mores in the oven! Not as awesome, but still oh so delicious! (By the way, make them with Reese's! Oh my goodness.)

Kate was having bad dreams about bad guys, and one morning she came in our room crying and said, "I had a bad dream that there was a naughty guy in my room and DADDY DIDN'T SHOOT HIM!" Hahaha. So that night I walked into Kate's room to find this. Protector Dad! :-)

I sent that pic to my mom and she sent this back. Protector Papa! Haha!

It seemed like a mild monsoon season this year, but we did have a couple smallish storms. The kids loving using their umbrellas.

Little Miss Independent loves painting her own nails. Lots of nail painting going on this summer!

And we celebrated 6 years of marriage! Our anniversary this year was on a Sunday so we went out the night before to this cool steakhouse named Steak n' Stone. They bring out your steak sizzling on a stone and you can take it off whenever you want. It's actually super awesome and delicious.

The kids also got sick a LOT this summer. Agh. The summer is definitely our sick season. We finished it off with a bang - HMFD! Awful!! But other than all that, it was a great summer. We are all more than ready for Fall though!