Memorial Weekend part 1

Clark is the assistant coach for the Twin Falls Rapids U17 boys team.  They had the State tournament in Idaho Falls over Memorial Weekend.  So we made a little vacation of it.  They had a game Friday night so Clark left work a little early and we hit the road.  We made it to Idaho Falls just in time for their game.  Henry and I watched the first half, then we went and checked into our hotel.  It was right across from the falls and you could see the temple from our room.  It was pretty nice.  Then we went back and picked up Clark when the game was over. This was our first "real" vacation that we stayed in a hotel with a baby.... I don't recommend it.  We brought his Pack N' Play to sleep in, but since it is just one big room we couldn't really "hide" him anywhere so when it was time for him to go to sleep he just stood in the crib watching us and crying.  It was a long night of him finally falling asleep in our Queen bed around midnight, then moving him to the crib, then having him wake up at 3am and coming back in bed with us and then being wide awake at 7am.  The team had a game Saturday morning so Henry and I went and watched.  He fell asleep in the car on the way to the game (luckily) so I drove around Idaho Falls and found the Temple. When Henry woke up we went and "watched" the last half of the game.  Henry mostly just wanted to walk around and pick up garbage and other things off of the grass, or try to walk onto the soccer field. His favorites were a rock and a pine cone he found. He carried them around for a good hour.  The simple things that entertain a child!  At least he was happy.  The team had games on Sunday and Monday but Clark wanted to go explore Idaho so we didn't stay for the other games.  The U17 boys ended up taking 3rd in State, so Clark was a proud coach! All the boys signed a soccer ball and gave it to Clark, and I even saw a few give him a hug.  It was sweet.  We decided to hang around Idaho Falls for the day and went to their local zoo.  Clark's brother Brett and 2 of his kids had been in Yellowstone so on their way home to Utah they drove through Idaho Falls.  We met up with them at the zoo and then took some pictures down by the falls.  It was fun to see them for a couple of hours.  Then we drove to Rexburg to stay the night. This time in the hotel there was a wall where the bathroom was so we hid Henry behind it so he would sleep better.  It was definitely better than the first night.  But still not much fun with a 1 year old in a hotel room.  Sunday morning we got up and drove to the Craters of the Moon National Monument.  We went and explored one of the many caves/caverns formed by volcanic activity.  Apparently eruptions have been happening every 2,000 years and it has been over 2,000 years since the last one... Is Twin Falls far enough away from Craters of the Moon?  I sure hope so.  Southwestern Idaho really does have a ton of lava rock everywhere.  It's kinda crazy.  After our cave hike we made the drive home.  Henry did so well in the car.  He slept most of the time.  Luckily each time we drove it was only a 2-3 hour stretch with long stops in between.  It was a lot of fun to explore Idaho together as a family.  

Now for the pictures:

Cousins in Idaho Falls

Matthew, Liza, and Henry

Idaho Falls Temple 

Idaho Falls are cool since they are right in the middle of town, but the falls in Twin are way bigger (and cooler too!)

I'm not sure why I'm crouching down so awkwardly... I guess to get Henry to stay still.  You can tell in all of these pictures he just wanted to walk around and not bother with holding still or smiling. 

Random photo of Henry in front of the Tabernacle in Rexburg.  In the basement they have a little museum about the History of Rexburg and also about the Teton Dam & Flood.  

 These next pictures are of Craters of the Moon:

It was windy... What else is new?  Southern Idaho is ALWAYS windy.  

Cool Cave.  Henry was in Rock Heaven.  We were bad and let him bring home a lava rock.  Shhh don't tell the park ranger. 

Climbing out of the cave.  We were kicking ourselves for forgetting Henry's carrier.  It would have been nice to just strap him to our backs.  There's always next time. 

Oh look, it's Henry enjoying a rock.  

Pretty views of dark lava rock and then pretty green hills and mountains.

I'm gettin' artsy with the landscape photos, ha! 

More crazy lava rock formations.  

Now I'm sure you all want to drive to Idaho and visit Craters of the Moon.  You could actually camp there (but with the wind, I'm not sure why you would want to) and they had a lot more caves and rocks you could hike to.  It was pretty cool.  On Monday (Memorial Day) we hung out in Twin Falls and went to 3 different waterfalls.  I'll blog about that next.  

Spring has Sprung

Our latest happenings in pictures..

Henry is 1 and he loves to be outside any chance he can get. I love Spring because of all the pretty flowers that start blooming.

Mother's Day part 2... I didn't get a good photo with Henry on Mother's day so a week later we took one.  Henry & Clark bought me that pot and those flowers for Mother's Day.  That was my mother's day wish, to plant some flowers.  

These babies love to have baths together... This really has nothing to do with Spring, but they are cute.  I love squishy baby bums.

Henry looked so handsome before church I had to snap a picture. He was wearing his new spring tie!

Lovin' the slide... or maybe not.  Haha he looks a little worried.  I think it tickled his belly

I survived my first 10K!  woo woo!  We are all training for Ragnar (except my Mom on the end, she ran for fun)

Henry loves to watch Clark coach soccer.  In this picture he is practicing his headers

Cute picture of my Mom (Nana) with 4 of her 5 grandsons

(L-R) Henry, Max, Jack, Greyson (Merrick is the one missing.  He is too far away in CA)

One Year Old

** I started this post FOREVER ago.  Henry is now 13 1/2 months old :)


Can it really be true that I have a 1 year old?! Clark and I were saying how "grown-up" Henry seems all of a sudden.  Yesterday he was just standing at the coffee table eating a little snack out of his bowl like a big kid.  But then he had a rough night last night and was still my little guy cuddling on my lap and falling asleep.  That is the good thing about this age.  They are old enough to play independently and eat big people food but they are still babies and need to be cuddled.  He has had a runny nose the last few days, but I think it is mostly due to teething.  He is getting one of his molars in.  ouch!  I put a pillow in his crib to keep him propped up a little and for some reason he loves it.  We catch him cuddling with it after he wakes up.  He really likes to cuddle with anything soft, but mostly he loves his donkey!  He has a little gray stuffed animal donkey that my aunt and uncle gave Henry.  Thanks Curt and Barb!  He loves it!

Milestones for 12 months {These are a list I put on my phone and I'm sure I've left things out}

• Screams!! When you move him away from something, or keep him from something he wants he throws his head back and screams.
• walks holding onto something or pushing something
• loves to climb the stairs and is an expert at it now.  All I say is "turn around" and he will turn right around and go down on his belly.  I obviously still make sure I'm there and never let him go down alone. 
• He will point to our nose and eyes if we say "where's mom's nose/eye" but if you say "where's Henry's nose?" he looks at you like you are speaking jibberish!
• He loves to be outside (even in 20 mph winds).  He gets so made if we have to go back inside.  He discovered the slide at Grandpa and Grandma Pierson's house over Easter.  He now loves slides and going to the park
• He has always liked to pull on my hair when he would nurse and he still pulls it when I feed him his bottle.  But recently it seems like he is using it as a comfort item and he will hold it and suck his thumb.  He will also pull my hair in a mean way and kind of do this evil grin.... should I be concerned?!
• He also likes to bite!  He will bite my shoulder when I'm holding him and it hurts!  
• He will play alone for 10-20 min.  It is usually when he is emptying baskets and filling them back up. I love to just watch him play, it is the cutest thing
• He will play peek a boo with his blankets.  Especially at night when he should be falling asleep.
• He will kick his little soccer balls.  I think it's mostly that he walks into the ball and just happens to kick it.  But we are starting him young on learning his soccer skills.  
• Points and grunts/babbles at everything.  When we go to Fred Meyer he loves all of the balloons they have blown up over by the card section.  He just points and "talks" to them.
• He knows that socks/shoes go on his feet.  He will put the sock on top of his foot like he is trying to put it on. 
• Still drinks 3 bottles a day.  We are starting the transition to whole milk. We have to mix a little whole milk with his formula and warm it up so its not too cold. 
• Loves to eat all sorts of fruits.  He hasn't fallen in love with vegetables yet.  They are hit and miss.  But he will usually eat broccoli and sweet potatoes really well.  He also loves cheese.  String cheese & cottage cheese are his favorites.

Picture overload from his birthday--

Birthday decorations

The birthday boy waking up and finding his balloons

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  He is happy to be 1
  
  
  
  
  Trying to walk on his own
  
  
  
  This is what happens when we make him come inside.... 
  
  
  
  
  Then we find his Donkey and all is well again
  
  
  
  
  Birthday Cake
  
  
  
  Classic picture with all your birthday loot. 
  
  
  
  Trying out the new toy
  
  
  
  
  
  

Happy Birthday to Henry!  What a wonderful year it's been.

Bullying

I just read a blog post someone shared on Facebook and it was about bullying. The blog author's nephew has been being bullied at school, and it sounds like no one is helping the poor kid.  It breaks my heart to think of children that are afraid to go to school and feel stress and anxiety because of a bully.  I don't remember bullying being a problem when I was growing up.  No one stole lunch money or stuffed kids in lockers.  Or I'm naive and it was happening all around me.  I'm sure kids were bullied, but it just didn't seem like the problem it is today.  If any of my own children or nieces and nephews are bullied I will become an angry momma bear and get the problem taken care of!  

In my last post I talked about those handouts I was making for my old work.  Well I made one about bullying so I think I will share it.  Along with the link to that blog I read.  People need to be informed! The blog is http://trytobebrave.blogspot.com/  I guess the aunt named it that because the little boy told his mom when he was being bullied he would try to be brave and not cry.  That just about made me cry!  Poor little kid.  Breaks my heart.  

I especially like the part for Parents & Caregivers. Children learn a lot from adults! We need to make sure we are teaching our children how to be kind and how to be a friend.  Remember: Actions speak louder than words.  I hope that little boy can one day go to school and not be afraid.  I hope he doesn't have lasting issues with stress & anxiety.  That is just too much for an 8 year old to have to deal with.  Let's all be a little kinder today, and set a good example for those children around us.  

Child Development, Parenting & Marriages. Oh My!

The past couple of months I've been doing some work for my previous employer.  It's a long story, but I had signed a contract for work stating that I would work until Nov. 2012, but with Clark getting a job down in Kaysville for the summer and then us moving to Twin Falls I had to break my contract.  So to repay them I'm doing some work for them.  They are revamping their website and wanted some "handouts" that would be helpful for people in the community.  They sent me a lot of different topics and I've been finding information for them.  I thought I would share a couple of them with you.  Most of the information are things I've gathered from college courses and my work at the Child and Family Support Center.  The only way I could think to share the document was to save it as a jpeg and upload it as a picture.  I am not "computer" savvy at all.  So I hope you can read it. 

These were just a few of my favorites.  When I'm finished with all of them, maybe I will do another post.  I really love some of the information I found on Parenting.  Children really need our love and support.  They don't need to be harped on and ridiculed.  I find myself saying "no" to Henry and I feel bad.  I don't like saying such negative things to my one year old.  Obviously, if they are in danger then saying "No!" is appropriate.  But I'm going to try to use words besides No.  Children need rules and limits, but they also need love, attention and positive interactions.  And speaking of positive interactions, our spouse needs that too!  I love the "magic ratio" of 5 positive interactions for every 1 negative interaction.  John Gottman is a smart dude.  So I better stop blogging and go give my hubby some positive interactions.

Lovely Sunshine

On days when we are stuck inside, Henry finds entertainment by going in his room and playing with the bin of socks.  He likes to empty it out then fill it back up.  Who needs toys when you have socks.  

Over Easter weekend we enjoyed time out in the glorious sunshine!  Cousin Liza was so nice to take Henry down the slide over and over.  

One day when we were visiting my sister Adrienne who just had a baby, we decided to let the new mom and her baby sleep so I took crazy, loud Henry out for a walk and we found a park!  This was his first time swinging, and I think he liked it.  Or maybe not.  I think he was actually pointing to the swing, and tried to climb out of the swing moments after this picture.  He also just really liked to eat the wood chips.  

My wonderful Sister Allison drove me and Henry home to Twin Falls a few weeks ago.  All the kiddos did great on the 2.5 hour drive!  I was so proud.  Max even set a timer on the ipod so he would know exactly when we would be there and didn't have to keep asking us.  Although, half way through the drive he said he dropped the ipod and didn't know where it was!  Silly kid.  

Since they were only here for about 24 hours we quickly went to see Shoshone Falls on Wednesday before I had to go to mutual.  I love this picture of the three boys looking at the falls.  It also made me a little nervous and anxious.  I don't like heights.  

We played at a park both days since the weather was so nice.  Savannah was such a sweet little girl and just sat on the blanket nicely.  Henry was a monster and was either trying to crawl away and eat gross things or steal her toys (it looks like they are holding hands, but Henry was making a grab for her toy.  Savannah squeaked at him and wouldn't give up her toy to the bully!  Good girl Savvs!)

I'm sure Allison would tell you she had a lovely time in Twin Falls, and it really isn't that bad of a town.  We had fun, even though it was a very quick trip.  I'm glad we had nice weather so we could just play outside the whole time!  When the wind isn't blowing 20-30 miles an hour, its quite enjoyable outside.  

11 months old

Henry turned 11 months on March 10.  That already seems so long ago.  Good thing I wrote down his milestones or I would have no recollection of what they are now.  I definitely lost "memory" brain cells after having Henry.  It's worth it though.  Who needs brain cells, right?  

Around 11 months is when he started to get "angry".  He arches his back and goes stiff or he screams.  They could occur because of various reasons such as taking something he can't have but wants, ie: shoes, books and paper.  All of which he tries to eat.  He is still our little goat.  He is always on the move and likes to push the laundry basket around.  He is starting to learn to climb on and off of things.  When we go somewhere with stairs he b-lines it to them and refuses to leave.  And if we make him leave, he arches his back, goes really stiff, and screams.  He is always moving, but I love when he will just sit for 15-20 minutes just playing with his toys.  It usually involves taking things out of a container and then putting them back in.  

He still takes 2 naps a day with one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  He drinks 3 8oz bottles and has breakfast, lunch and dinner meals with random snacks in between.  If he finds the container of the puffs, he will take the lid off with his teeth and just help himself.  He's so independent.  He also loves Greek Yogurt, Blueberries and pineapple.  Those were some new foods he recently tried.  He has 4 bottom teeth and 2 top teeth.  He has been drooling like crazy again, so I wonder if more teeth are coming in.  His little teeth are sharp and dangerous!  He bites my shoulder all the time, and it hurts! One time there was even a little blood.  Don't put your finger in his mouth or you might loose it.  He has some sharp little chompers.  

He is still a sweet little boy and is generally very well-behaved.  He loves Clark way more than me.  Sometimes when Clark is holding him and Henry has to come to me he cries and reaches for Clark.  I'm glad he loves his Dad.  I think it is sweet.  Clark adores him, and they are the best of friends.  When Clark gets home he will take Henry down stairs in the basement just so Henry can climb up and down the stairs and explore.  It is unfinished (but we keep it clean and actually have a big rug down there) but it's still a dark, cold basement.  I'm not sure why he likes it so much.  But Clark is a good sport and always goes down there with him.  Or if Clark has to move his car to the street so I can get my car out, he takes Henry along for the "ride" and lets him steer the car.  It's things like that, that make Dad's more fun than moms!  But in the middle of the night when he wakes up crying I get to be the "nurturer" and go pick up my baby and cuddle him back to sleep.  Mom's and Dad's have very different styles of "play" and babies need both!  

We had to get a baby gate to keep Henry out of the kitchen because the stairs to the basement are off of the kitchen. At 11 months he still hadn't mastered going down by himself.  

He still loves to stand and look out the window.  On this day he was waving bye to Dad as he went back to work after lunch.  

On Saturday before Easter we had a little party with my family.  My Step Mom has a tradition of rolling eggs down Old Main Hill at USU.  I always hated this tradition when I was a student there and had to fight off the swarms of Seagulls as I walked up the steps to get to class.  I really hate birds, especially when there are hundreds of them eating nasty hard boiled eggs after Easter.  But now that I don't have to deal with the birds, it's fun to watch the kids roll the eggs and chase them down the hill.  Last year I was VERY pregnant with Henry (I was induced the next day) and Clark went running down the hill to catch an egg and he totally biffed it and rolled multiple times.  He had grass and egg stains all over his clothes and shoes.  This year he played it "safe" and didn't chase any eggs.  All the nephews were sad they didn't get to see uncle Clark roll down Old Main Hill again!

We were in Kaysville for Easter Sunday and had an egg hunt at the Pierson's.  Henry found the $20 egg!  woo hoo!  We are bad parents and kept the money. I'm sure we spent it on Henry though :)