A Better Thanksgiving

Finally, we had a good Thanksgiving! The two years prior we were dealing with a sick child, but this year, both kids were happy and healthy. We really enjoyed that. We also really enjoyed the great food. We had two dinners this year and I will never complain about that because Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I always look forward to the food that you usually only eat at Thanksgiving. Although, Colby and I stock up on turkeys and then when we cook one, I usually make the sides to go along with it. You can never have too many turkey dinners.
We blessed Mason on my birthday and Colby did such a great job. I was happy that Mason cooperated as well. We almost had a blowout just before church started though. Something about this kid and his diapers, Korina never had this problem! I guess that's the difference between girls and boys! He is always such a happy and smiling baby. We love him so much!

Korina is getting excited for Christmas. She loves to see Santa in pictures or on the TV, but when she saw him at the mall, she made sure to keep her distance. I don't think she'll be sitting on his lap for a picture anytime soon. She helped me set up the Christmas tree and let's just say I wasn't surprised when she dropped an ornament and it broke. Guess I'll have a memory for the first time we put up a tree. She sure loves turning the lights on each night and reminding me that she help put the bows on too! Holidays are a lot more fun now that she is old enough to understand what's going on. She is excited for when Santa will bring her "prizes". I love this time of year and we are looking forward to seeing family members. We hope everyone has a great holiday season!

Here are some family pictures we got taken a few weeks ago. Korina wasn't as cooperative as she was at her 2 year pics, funny how things are so different in just 6 months.

Happy Halloween!

Mason had his 2 month appointment today and he weighs a hefty 13 lbs 14 oz. This tops the charts above the 95th percentile! Korina was never that big. But she also wasn't eating close to 5 oz at each feeding. He is such a cutie though and he smiles a lot now which we really enjoy. As a bonus, this past week was awesome as far as sleep goes. Every night except one, he went between 7 and 8 hours at night. Needless to say, Colby and I are feeling much more rested as a result. He's such a good little baby! Poor little guy wasn't doing too well though after his vaccinations. That was the worst I have heard him cry and we couldn't calm him down like usual. Thankfully it passed quickly and he was back to his normal, smiling self the next day.
Korina had such a blast going trick or treating. She loved getting dressed up and she loved getting a lot of candy even more! She got 3 full size candy bars and filled up her little bucket with other treats. I was afraid she might be too scared to knock on strangers' doors, but I guess she was up for the challenge if it meant she would walk away with candy. She is her mother's daughter after all! She was definitely the cutest Minnie Mouse I have seen:


And here is our little devil for the night, even though he is totally an angel for us all the time. He looked so darn cute, I just love this little guy!

Recent Happenings

Not much is happening around here, just that it's getting easier to survive since we are getting a consistent 7 hours of sleep a night. That's the total amount, I wish it were consecutive, but he is still getting up around 3:30 to eat. Then the problem is that my mind starts thinking about things and it takes me a while to go back to sleep. Good thing he's so darn cute! Not to mention he is quite the chunk! These are a pair of pajamas that are size 3-6 month, and I'm pretty sure they shouldn't fit him that well when he is only 7 weeks old.

Korina still loves her brother like crazy too. She loves to just lay beside him and hold his hand. Or she leans over him and tries to make him laugh. She is a great big sister and a good helper for me. Mostly picking up burp cloths or putting the binky back in his mouth, but she is always happy to help. And here is a picture of when Colby did her hair. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with the result.

Happy One Month!!

I can't believe that our little Mason is already a month old today. I sure am happy to be past the first couple of weeks though. I feel that they are the hardest part of having a baby. Everyone is starting to get on somewhat of a schedule and the sleep is slowly but surely getting better. Korina is definitely in love with her baby brother and sometimes we just have to tell her to give him some space because she kind of smothers him at times. We love when he is awake and just stares into our eyes and we've even gotten a couple smiles already. He is such a sweet baby and we are so lucky to have him in our family.

Korina has also been keeping us busy. And by that I mean she doesn't really listen when we ask her to do something and so we have to get mad and she ends up crying. I'm sure it's because there is a new baby in the house, but also just the fact that she is trying to be an independent 2 year old! She is still our little princess, we just can't let her know it! Whenever she comes downstairs from sleeping, she insists on bringing her blanket and each one of her friends. It makes us a little nervous for her safety. This was what I found one night at 10:00 just as we were about to go to bed.

She still loves Mickey Mouse and her new favorite movie is Rio. She loves when the birds dance. And she is always asking for a cold treat which is an otter pop. She can't get enough!

2 Weeks!

So our little man isn't so little anymore. It's already been two weeks since we first met him, and he is growing like a weed! Even the doctor was pretty shocked. He informed us that by the 2 week mark, they like to see the babies get back up to their birth weight. Well, Mason pretty much shattered that number (6 lb. 15 oz.), and he is already up to 8lb. 8 oz.!! And he has grown an inch in length. I guess a normal amount for babies to be eating at each feeding is around 2-2 1/2 oz of milk, and Mason usually eats about 4! We're not sure what to think about our little chunk, we are just happy that he is a healthy little boy. Here is a picture of him dressed up for a wedding reception that we went to. He is so handsome!

He's Here!!!

Our precious little boy is finally here and we are so excited. He was born on Tuesday, August 30 at 1:33am. He was 19" and 6 lb 15 oz.

And he looks just like Korina did when she was born so we're pretty sure that they are related.

Korina just loves her little brother.

It's definitely been an adjustment from one child to two, especially because Colby is right in the middle of moving the factory up to Clearfield, so he hasn't been able to be home as much as he was with Korina. Luckily, Mason is a great baby and he is super cute, so it makes it a little easier to get up in the night. Also, this delivery was easier than Korina's, so I feel like I'm getting back to normal a little bit faster. I only had to push for 5 minutes! I couldn't ask for a better delivery. I will try and post a little more often since I know all too well how fast he is going to grow up.

A Baaaaaaaby!

That's how Korina describes it whenever she sees a little baby. It's so funny and she couldn't be more loving and kind around them. It makes me feel a little more comfortable bringing home a newborn. So I went to the doctor and he informed me he is leaving town on September 1st for Labor Day weekend so we are going to schedule and induction to make sure the baby comes before then. I wouldn't want to risk the baby coming while he is gone and have another doctor deliver him. At first, excitment was all I thought about since I am getting super uncomfortable these days and I can't wait to meet this little guy! Then I got thinking about reality and noticed that the induction would come in 25 short days from now. Colby was a little freaked out by this news and we decided that we should probably get going on everything that we have been putting off. With Korina's pregnancy, I pretty much had everything ready to go for a couple months before her due date and then I just sat around waiting for her to get here. So I told myself with this one that I didn't want to do that since it would make the time go by slow, but now we are needing to still get some things done and who knows, the baby could even come early! Plus, Colby is in the middle of moving the factory up to Clearfield while still filling orders and we are moving the office part of it to our house. So things are a bit crazy around here anyway, so I know these next couple of weeks are going to go by pretty fast. I am just trying to enjoy these last days where it is just Korina as our only child, but I can't wait to see her be a big sister. She has been such a blessing in our life and we couldn't have asked for a better or sweeter daughter. And here is a picture with her best friend Jovi. They are way too cute when they get together!

Warm Weather!!

I am so excited it has finally warmed up a little bit. Korina loves to go outside and play, which is nice since it really wears her out and she gets in a good nap during the day. We decided to buy a membership to the zoo this year since she is a little older now and able to enjoy the animals. I was hoping to go before school got out, but it never warmed up enough so today was our first time up there and it was super busy! Hopefully we can find some days where there won't be as many people. Korina sure did enjoy herself though. She loved the elephants and monkeys the best. We were a little disappointed that we couldn't see any of the bears. They are totally redoing that section of the zoo and it won't even be open until summer of next year. It looks like it will be really nice, but it's a bummer the bears are gone for now. Korina will also enjoy the carousel and train, but they both had long lines and we needed to get her some lunch and home for a nap. Now we know for next time and we will definitely get there a little earlier and go on the rides. Here are a few of the pictures we got today:

Finally Settled......Mostly

I honestly don't mind the moving process. Packing everything into boxes wasn't so bad and then unpacking was nice to have a chance to do a little spring cleaning and reorganize everything. The only problem is that we had certain places in our old house that we don't have in this house. For example, no linen closet and no medicine cabinets. You'd think that those things should come standard on a house! There is plenty of space for them so I'm not sure why they weren't part of the house. That's okay though, this is only a temporary house and we are happy with the rest of the features. It has just taken a little bit longer to get all the odds and ends put away out of the boxes. The other bummer about moving is that things inevitably get some dings and scratches along the way, but I just tell myself that it's just furniture and life will go on. I think I've gotten better over the years. Having children teaches you to let go of the little things and focus on what's really important. I have to tell myself that when Korina is driving me crazy sometimes! And most important about moving is that we got the TV hooked up:

I thought of one more bummer about moving. I guess the surfaces and visible areas in our house were clean, but I realized how dirty our previous house was once we moved all the furniture and cleaned up for the new owner. And then I saw how dirty our new place was. That guy defintely didn't do any regular cleaning around here. At least I feel good it's clean now and we can start over, although it's not my idea of fun to wipe down a whole house and get ready for a birthday party all in two short weeks. But at least we had a helper:

Korina's party went pretty well I would say, I just have a complaint about the weather.....again! I guess I should know by now that just because her birthday is in the middle of May, doesn't mean you can count on the weather here in Utah. Last year and this year were both colder than normal and rainy. It's becoming a bit frustrating when you plan to have a party outside. Other than that, we were really happy with the turnout and are glad that so many people were able to make it. Korina didn't mind all the attention on bit! Here she is in her birthday outfit.

My mom made the cake just like last year and she did another amazing job! My goal is to make one of these someday:

She ended up getting a little bike for her birthday. She loves to get on and then say "Go!" So she puts her feet on the pedals, we push her about 5 feet and she says, "Enough!" and wants to get off. Hopefully she'll get the hang of it.

A Good Excuse

So I know I haven't been keeping up with posts the way I would like, but as of now, we are living out of boxes at my dad's house since we had to get out of our old house, but couldn't move into our new place yet. It has been nice to kind of rest for a couple weeks after having to move all our stuff, but we are ready to get settled down again. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for moving day and also for Korina's birthday, which is in only a couple weeks. I can't believe how awful the weather has been for it almost being May! I am desperately hoping the weather will be good for us to have a BBQ outside. I'm pretty sure Spring is way past due! So when we finally get settled, I will try and post some pics of our new place and Korina's party. We will have a very busy next couple of weeks.

New Hairdo

So I actually did something with Korina's hair other than just a simple ponytail on top of her head. We are getting her pictures taken on Tuesday and I wanted something a little more fancy. It turned out pretty good for my first time I guess, but her hair has been combed to the side for months now, that it was hard to get it to go any other direction. Good thing we still have a couple days to work with it before the pictures are taken. She probably felt better anyway just having the hair out of her face.

And here is just a picture showing that she still loves to put on all my shoes. She always manages to make a mess, but she has a ton of fun trying to walk around with my shoes on. Although I didn't let her walk in these out of fear for a broken ankle!

Training Day

Lucky me, I didn't even have to teach Korina to clean the floor like this. She just loves to clean things with the wash cloth. Even when I wipe off her tray after she eats, she's the one that wants the cloth to wipe the food away. Hopefully this habit will stick around for a long time.

As for this type of training, she doesn't seem as eager to get started. We bought it a couple weeks ago hoping that we could set it out and she would eventually get used to it a little. The only problem is that she doesn't really know what "yes" means. She has always said "no" to everything we ask her. She'll tell us "pee" and if we ask her if she has to go, she just says "no". It's definitely cute and funny, but not really helpful when trying to potty train her. We'll keep working on it!

Ready or Not

If you can't tell what her shirt says, it basically means our lives are about to double with happiness! We are excited to announce that we are expecting another baby around the first part of September. We tried for a few months and we were really wanting another one, but now that it's coming, I'm realizing that we are setting ourselves up for more sleepless nights and thinking that my shirt is clean only to find a spot on it. Once the excitement fades a little, reality sets in and we start thinking, "Wow, here we are starting all over again." For the most part, the "Wow" is just because we can't believe how fast the time goes by. It seems like we just brought Korina home. I can't wait to see if we are having a boy or girl and how different it will be from Korina. And to think it will be here in only six short months, especially with summer coming. Summer seems to go by too fast anyway.

Short Vacation

We went on a much needed vacation this past weekend to St George. We have some friends that have a condo down there, so it was really nice that we didn't have to pay for a hotel. We took a couple days and went around to see some beautiful homes. Some of the homes can get pretty big and fancy and I like to joke around with Colby that I would actually buy one of them. They are completely not necessary for ordinary living, but all joking aside, I really would buy one if we had money we didn't know what to do with. Colby says he'll make sure we never have that much money, just so I don't go overboard! But just in case we ever do become super wealthy, I picked out this house in St George. I'm pretty sure it would meet our needs. It was absolutely amazing!

What's Korina been up to?

Pretty much eating "treats" and posing for the camera.


When she holds out her hand, whatever we give her becomes a "treat". So she always thinks she is getting something special when we put it in her hand. And a treat always comes with a big smile!

And as you can see, she gives just the biggest smiles for the camera. That definitely wasn't me when I was a little girl. I absolutely HATED the camera! I still do to some degree these days, but it has gotten a lot better.
A few other random things... She loves to wear my shoes and she's gotten pretty good at sneaking into the pantry and stacking soda cans. She was quite proud of her accomplishment!

Merry Christmas!!...A Month Late

Let's see.... For the past two months, pretty much every day I think, "I should write on our blog (or in my journal)." And for whatever reason, I decide there is nothing important or interesting to write about and it doesn't happen. Then it gets to the point that it's been so long that I dread having to write so much in one sitting because things actually happen around here that I should write about! So my new goal is to write more frequent, but shorter posts. Maybe it won't seem so daunting that way. But since it's been a while since that last post, I guess a lot has happened, especially with the holidays and all.
So Thanksgiving was a disaster, we covered that! Thankfully Christmas was a whole lot better. We had about a week of celebrations with Colby's family since his siblings came in from out of town and there were a lot of activities going on to make sure that we got to spend quality time with each other. I can't believe how time flies when we think about how long they have lived out of state, but luckily they always fly in around Christmas so it's fun to catch up. We were able to get some box seats at a Grizzlies hockey game. The game wasn't so great, but it was fun to be there with a lot of friends and family. And of course Christmas Eve and day were really fun. Korina knew more of what was going on this year and was able to unwrap her presents. The only problem with that is she thought every present was hers to unwrap! Maybe next year we can work on reading names on the presents. Probably her favorite toy was a stroller for her doll that my mom gave her. She pushes it all over the house and we even took it to the mall and she covered a lot of ground. We also discovered a train and the carousel at the mall that she loves to go on. It's a great Friday night activity to get her out of the house and not spend too much money. She loves it and ends up saying "Choo Choo" for the rest of the week. Here's Korina with all her Christmas loot:

For New Year's, we got invited to a party so it was probably the first time since we've been married that we stayed up until midnight. I know, we are super boring! It was such a fun party though. We got to know our neighbors maybe a little too much by playing the Newlywed Game. There are no secrets left after playing that game. And the food was delicious. We got to taste an authentic Australian hamburger and we will definitely be making them again! It seems like we were just at that party a couple days ago and now it is already February. I certainly won't complain though because January is my least favorite month of them all. The weather is so cold and bland and it just seems to go by so slow. I guess now that I am looking back on it, it went kind of fast! Once we hit February, it seems I can see a little bit of summer ahead and that makes me happy. So hopefully you will hear from me in the near future. That is, only if you enjoy reading this blog.