Bye bye Old Beds!

After the crib serving as Miriam's bed since about June 2008 starting back in the food storage/study room in the trailer, Miriam was ready to move on to a big girl bed. I had always intended to get her to at least her 2nd birthday despite 5 or 6 escapes she made from the crib.Hello new beds! On March 27th we started the great room switch.We took down the crib and moved out the rocking chair, cleaned the carpets, and moved in a dresser and set up her new big girl bed. She was able to use her new strawberry sheets and pillow she got for her birthday. She seemed really pleased with her bed, jumping on and getting into the pet net that was above the bed. Up to this point I had rocked and sang her to sleep about every night so I was interested in seeing what would happen. I read her stories in her bed and then sang to her and she fell asleep! Hooray! Now the other hardship was staying there all night, I had recently discovered that she cried every night, but not for long or hard. Yep every night when that happened she would come wandering into our room to get in bed with us. I tried putting her back in her bed as often as I could, but Aaron complicated things.Aaron continued using the co sleeper as much as I could get him to, which was mostly for his morning nap. Though as mentioned he was crawling out of it and standing up. However, I didn't want to move him immediately to the crib in his own room such that Miriam would feel usurped ie Aaron kicking her out of her bed so we waited about a week (also allowing for adjustment on Miriam's part) before setting up the crib.On April 1 Eric took down the co sleeper which was a relief because it was really complicated getting out of my bed to get to Miriam working around the co sleeper. Aaron is being a great help to daddy in taking it down! Aaron celebrated taking down the co sleeper by rolling out of bed that night for the first time and then doing it again the next morning- def time to move him to his own bed.We took down the co sleeper on April 1 but didn't get the crib up till the next night so this was how he spent his morning nap. I thought it was really cute fortress in by pillows.
Hello new bed! Aaron spent his first night on April 2 and I spent it on the floor next to him or constantly putting him back to sleep. Eric spent the night on the floor in Miriam's room so see if it would help her stay all night in her own bed, we also learned that she does roll out of bed, poor girl. When Miriam saw mommy and daddy getting out sleeping bags she had to have hers to sleep in too. Eric not thinking left the bed on the highest level which of course was no good, but ok the first night as he spent as much time out of the bed as in- besides I was right there so not much chance of falling out. The next night I had him move the bed down the next level, but it was still too high. Aaron sort of skipped most of that and the bumper pad stage. So the crib is where it spent the most time with Miriam and Aaron is slowly learning to sleep in the crib. At the end of the month he now will stay asleep when put into bed (before it seemed no matter how asleep we thought he was as soon as he hit the bed he was awake), and sleeping longer and longer stretches.

Where's Aaron?

Now that Aaron is more mobile he is definitely getting into more things so the question comes up more frequently, where is Aaron? There he is in the kitchen playing with the laundry- he sure likes grabbing clothes and shaking them up and down and all around. Also lately he is using the laundry basket to help him walk around.

There he is too- watching movies with sister. This is a constant sight now that he pulls himself up. He always has to be in the thick of things checking them out. It is so cute to see his little face peering over the edge of something.

Watch out someone is chasing me! Not sure why this loaded sideways but he is on the look out.

There I am! He and Miriam are playing more peek-a-boos and chasing more and more around the house. He is also enjoying sisters toys quite a bit, soon it will be time to put away the little baby toys! I already sent back the swing and put the bouncy chair in the basement, boy is he growing up!

Mommy's got him, the handsome little dude in one of his Church outfits. I went from having nothing to having several Sunday outfits, thanks Grandmas!

Caught him at the dishwasher! I love seeing him do the same things Miriam used to. When he sees the dishwasher open he has to go investigate and get out all the silverware just like sister.

where will he turn up next? Who knows wait and see.

Doing Big Girl Things

As usual running a month behind so I decided to do one big post though most of these pictures could be a post in themselves! Enjoy Miriam's growing up antics! Ah the microwave. She is really loving opening and closing the microwave for some reason lately. Whenever I use it she has to help also, by sitting up on one of the bar stools.

On March 6 Grandpa Delta was up and wanted to play with the grand kids so a lot of them got together at Home Depot to do the kids craft. They made a rain catcher to measure rain fall. I sent Eric off with her and enjoyed just being with Aaron for the morning. She came back with a cute apron and pin to represent the craft. Eric said she enjoyed working and did pretty good for the first time with a hammer. The rest of the family continued on for a walk on Provo trail but we had a baptism to go to.

Miriam has definitely continued her love of books though lately shes drifted to bigger books. It seems the bigger the better and they don't have to have pictures either. She looks through cook books and as shown here our Primary lesson manual. Our baby is growing up!Eric wanted to take his favorite treat with him to Front Sight for snacking so the night before he made sugar cookies. Miriam insisted that she help which I found interesting because all the other times I've made cookies she hasn't seemed to care about doing anything. Eric and I wonder all the time how she knows how to do things that we don't think she has ever done much less seen a lot of such as rolling out the dough. I apologize for the fracturedness of the video clip I cut it in half with just the most interesting parts so it would load better. She certainly looks like a master chef (though Eric was a little frustrated as he was in a hurry)! The Easter bunny brought our family some new cookie cutters we need to try out soon and it will be funner for all not being in a hurry.

March 21 I was trying to get her ready for bed when she spied this outfit in the box of clothes I was sorting through and wanted to wear it. Mind you it was bedtime so I wouldn't put it on her. She decided I don't need you and put it on herself with one little help from Daddy. This is the first time she has fully dressed herself (note the shirt sticking up on the side). For awhile now she has helped me in the dressing process she is pretty good at zippers, but she still can't figure out snaps. Also lucky for me she doesn't randomly take off clothes just when ready for baths or something like that. One morning she wanted to play in the bathtub and showed up naked in the living room. With initiative like that of course I let her play in the bath for awhile.

On March 25 for some reason she decided that all of Aaron's toys and many of hers would do better outside on the porch. Many days I don't feel like I can keep up with her. This also represents another problem we have, she can unlock the front door now. She takes the computer chair over to the door, climbs up and unlocks it. Luckily she also likes to take the lawn chair on the porch and ring the doorbell, at least I know shes around! Miriam certainly has her own agenda and what she thinks will work best.

One morning (the 29th) I was sleeping and Miriam came to check on me, I asked if she had breakfast. She said yes or something like it and I asked if she had pancakes, she enthusiastically said "pancakes" and ran off. After I managed to get up I find this in my kitchen (above). Apparently she thought we needed more pancakes so she was making them; she had poured batter (left conveniently by the stove by Eric) in the frying pan and was stirring it. Never mind without heat nothing but a mess was going to happen.
Well we got the pancakes cooked, I prepared for eating sat down to feed Aaron in the high chair. After a bite I thought I needed more syrup (which did not have the lid on as it was waiting to be cleaned). I go back to feeding Aaron then look over to my horror to see that Miriam also thought it needed more syrup and had poured at least half the bottle on the pancake! It had filled the plate overflowed to the table and was dripping on the floor! Ah independence, will we survive?!?

Too Good Hiding

A couple of nights ago, after our trip to the zoo we were getting to bed late. I was helping brush Miriam's teeth and Eric was putting Aaron to sleep. While brushing Miriam's teeth I hurt her and she went off upset afterwards, I continued to brush my teeth. When I finished the house was pretty quiet so wondering where she went off to I go looking. Doors locked- not outside, baby gate up- not downstairs, and all other rooms looked unoccupied so I figure she went into Aaron's room. I go in there to find Eric and Aaron sleeping but no Miriam, hmm this it weird where could she be? While there I decide to take his car seat and my shoes out of his room so I don't trip over them in the night. Usually I would put on far side of couch, but just decided to put on the couch which I did and was heading back down the hall when I hear Miriam crying. I still can't quite tell where its coming from, it sort of sounded like she was behind the couch and that didn't seem possible. As I get to the couch I realized I had put the car seat on top of her as she was laying on the couch with the couch pillows over her. I felt terrible and apologized profusely, poor girl! I comforted her and promise to read story after we pray with daddy. As it turns out when she was giving daddy a hug goodnight she also fell asleep in the rocker! I wish I could have got a picture of the 3 of them snoozing!

Miriam Birthday Part 2

Happy Birthday Miriam!! She is two years old now, wow! It doesn't seem possible that she's been around that long, as they say my how time flies! Here is the birthday girl in her cute birthday outfit from Grandma Nicee. As soon as she got up I insisted she put on this onesie than we led her into the sitting room where all her presents were wrapped and waiting for her. She had a great time opening though we had to be careful she opened her Pixar books last because she would stoop opening and read the whole book first!

Here she is after opening presents trying out her new sleeping bag we got for camping with the rocking chair, strawberry shortcake bedding/pillow that Grandma Delta got her. We also got a bike, toy truck and train for her.

Next was her birthday breakfast of pancakes with strawberries and ice cream. Usually for our birthday breakfasts we have waffles as opposed to pancakes. The rest of the day went like usual with the added stress of getting the house and dinner ready for all of Eric's family to join us.

We had the Jones clan over for dinner of BBQ hamburgers and hot dogs, green salad, chips, and fruit kabobs. We were going to have it at the close park, but it was way overcast so we changed to our house which worked great! All the kids ran around outside and the adults hung out together inside where it was warm.

The best parts of this video clip is hearing Miriam say happy day and then watching her try to blow out her candles and the only thing moving is her bangs! She is so cute! For some reason she didn't want to eat any of her cake though. The bad news was our camcorder for some reason was set on low resolution and so the quality stinks. Anyway, thanks everyone for coming!

Aaron's Rigby Milestone

Aaron's big milestone was crawling! When we got to Rigby I went with mom to a relief society activity leaving the kids with Dad and Jennifer. After we got home they said Aaron had crawled two or three times and I kind of brushed it off ya, ya; but then the next day I saw it! He had kind of a funny hitch in his crawl, but he was getting places. I kept trying to capture it on video, but you know how it goes when you actually want them to do something! By the end of the week he was crawling clear across the living room floor, boy was Eric surprised! Now a month later he is crawling all over my house, finding interesting things to put in his mouth and having a great time with Miriam. I think Miriam is also enjoying the increased ability to interact. Though she leaves the room and either closes the door or he does and gets stuck, he doesn't like it so much then.

Happy Birthday Miriam- Part One

As mentioned we were going to celebrate Miriam's birthday Sun, but that didn't happen so we did on Wed. Aunt Heather gave Miriam some cute clothes, a strawberry swimming suit, a "Happy Birthday Baby" flap book which is her favorite. She was saying happy birthday for Eric but somehow she has shorten it to "Happy Day!" which she says all the time and that's what she calls her book as well. By the end of of my visit I had taken so many pictures and movies I didn't have much space left on my camera and didn't bring a back up so I didn't get to document her Idaho celebration as much as I would like. We ate dinner, opened presents from Grandma and Grandaddy, and sang happy birthday. By now she is an expert present opener and enjoyed it very much. I had wrapped the presents while she napped and stacked them on the piano bench. She didn't notice them for several hours but boy when she did she had to open them right away.

She was totally spoiled. She got an art kit with coloring book, some cute outfits, "Brother Bear"movie, and some books.

I thought for sure she would be able to blow out her candles but she kept blowing up instead of out. Finally she took my face and pulled it over so I could blow them out.
Miriam's big milestone she reached in Idaho was talking way more and started to string words together more. She often says 2 and 3 word phrases now. In one way we can understand her better and in another we are just as lost. we know she'll be fluent soon though!

Trip to Rigby

When Eric went off to Front Sight for his training the kids and I headed north to visit my parents for the week. In many ways it was a low key visit where we enjoyed being with family in others the kids hit some milestones.
On the way up we went through Logan and had lunch with our friends Audree and Zayda. We wanted to introduce Aaron to them and meet her new little girl Kelcie (then about 7 weeks old). Miriam and Zayda played together about the same as usual though Zayda was ready for her nap. Kelcie looked tinier than ever still sounding like a newborn. Nothing like a smaller one to make me feel Aaron is practically grown up! We then went and visited for a little with one of my college friends, Jennifer. I haven't seen her since before my mission! She had recently moved back to Logan after living in Billings Montana all that time. The kids were super good driving up!While I was up there I had some energy work done which brought up another painful layer of healing and I was glad to be there with my mom to help me. Unfortunately for me the kids didn't sleep very well. The first night we tried all of us in my old room, but the daybed was not big enough for the 3 of us when Miriam woke up. The rest of the time Miriam was in a portable crib in my old room with Aaron and I on the living room hide abed. Below is Miriam playing on my bed.

Friday night my best friend Heather came over with her new boyfriend Bryan to play games. We most always get together up there and of course I had to check out the new beau! For some reason we didn't take any pictures with the kids and Aunt Heather. When she got there she had a bag of presents for Miriam to open, some just because and some for her birthday which earned Miriam's trust and excitement quickly. Bryan is a juggler and was showing us some stuff that Miriam thought was way cool. She would catch the balls and throw them back in to him.

We were going to celebrate Miriam's birthday with my grandparents (whom we also always try to visit when up there) and Heather with dinner, cake and presents on Sun, but the cake wasn't done and my grandma had bronchitis. I'll do another post about when we did Miriam's birthday. My nine year temple anniversary was on Sunday so I for sure wanted to get to the Idaho Falls temple while I was there to commemorate it. Tue I went and did initiatorys while the kids slept in the car. Afterwards I headed over to a friend from high school's house. Sandi has a daughter that is only a month or so younger than Miriam. We are amazed how much they are similar from our blogs and I wanted to see how they would get along. It was fun seeing them, though I didn't get a picture-drats! Wed we celebrated St Patrick's day by having green shamrock pancakes for breakfast and broccoli and spinach alfredo linguine. We also did Miriam's cake and presents. Thur we got up and came home by way of an eye doctor appointment for Eric and I, the kids did great travelling straight through!

Aaron had fun playing with Grandma and Granddaddy. On the left he stood for a brief second alone. Both Miriam and Aaron love playing in the dish cupboard that mom put behind the front door with toys for them (top right picture). Aaron had a great time emptying his suitcase on bottom right (its not fun packing and keeping track of three peoples belongings! the joy of being mom eh).

Miriam was really helpful. Grandma and Granddaddy are really good about letting her help cook and getting her involved with things (I'm not so good, not sure why). Top left she was stirring dinner Fri night and bottom right helping peel potatoes Sun night. Top right she was 'reading' Grandma's scriptures- lately the bigger the book the more she likes and it doesn't have to have pictures either. Bottom left Miriam is laying in Grandma and Granddaddy's bed to watch moos, she watched Cinderella enough that she likes it.

Thanks Grandma and Granddaddy for a terrific visit! We love coming to visit!

Stroller Ride

Who is that pushing Aaron? Is it Daddy? No! Ne wouldn't wear purple! Is it Mommy? No! She's not tall enough! It must be Miriam! On March 1 Grandma Nicee was visiting and didn't feel good so she was resting in the late afternoon, well that wasn't right she was supposed to play with Miriam. So Miriam kept going downstairs and entertaining her though not letting her rest. So, I got them ready for outside and thought, "hmm Aaron is big enough he's sitting on his own; he actually would probably be ready to sit in the stroller by himself instead of in his car seat". Miriam has always loved pushing around her trusty umbrella stroller (it has gone many miles already in service) from the time she could just start walking, so she insisted on pushing baby who was quite happy with the arrangement. This commemorates Miriam's pushing as well as Aaron's first real stroller ride! Overall she did pretty good considering she can't see over the sun shade. Her ability to maneuver was off as she had a tendency to weave, but there were no problems being strong enough to push it. She was really proud of herself that she could push baby herself!