It's the Holiday Season!!!

How can you not LOVE this time of year?! Sweat pants, sweat shirts, fleece blankets, hot chocolate, heaters, hats, mittens, Christmas movies, extra cuddles, decorations, and so much time with family. It really is the best time of the year :)

We had a great halloween! Colten and Clara were dinosaurs, and neither of them minded wearing their costumes. We took them to our ward trunk or treat, and Colten ran back and forth through the parking lot over and over again with his little dino tail bobbing up and down. Adorable. There was a pie and chili cookoff, a bounce house, and plenty of awesome trunks handing out goody bags & toddler treasures.

 We were so glad Gavin the cow and Brooklyn the giraffe came too!!! Wish these pictures wouldn't turn side ways on me :(

My lover boy. Colten is such a mommy's boy. He cries pretty much anytime I leave the room. The last few days have been much better, so maybe he's growing out of it? He'll be 18 months next week, and he started nursery 3 sundays ago! He's done surprisingly well. Cries when Andrew drops him off, needs to be held and loved a little bit extra, and then is fine :) Having him in nursery is AMAZING. Clara is so easy to juggle between our callings, so I am indeed very grateful for our wonderful nursery leaders.

Colt "says" lots of words and loves to help me do whatever I'm doing. His most recent word is"chee" for cheese. He still loves to sing and dance. Last night while my mom and I were watching The Voice, Colten got his guitar out and stood in front of the TV playing it, singing, and dancing. He loves to be chased, tickled, thrown on the couch, taken outside, and so much more. He is a bundle of excitement... if I'm around :P

 I feel so blessed to have this little girl as my daughter. She is simply easy. She has started to really acknowledge Colten, and she laughs when he jumps, runs by, or smiles at her. She doesn't love the swing much anymore. She'd rather be laying on the floor, rolling onto her tummy. She gnaws on her hands constantly still and loves the binky when she sleeps. She is a great napper, but still wakes up happily talking away in the middle of the night. I still cannot eat any dairy products because of her "allergy". I tried a Hershey kiss last week and she turned into a cranky beast that poops 4-5 times a day. Not worth it one bit. I think today she is finally back to herself :)

 Andrew and I have been trying to listen to one General Conference talk each night before bed. Last night we listened to this wonderful talk from President Uchtdorf:

READ ME

No matter who you are, how rich or poor, how happy or sad, how proud or humble, there is a place for you in our church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints will change you and your life.  It will make you happier than you have ever been. Ask questions, have doubts, and build faith. We are a church of love, service, gratitude, agency, and truth. I am so grateful to be a member.

This Sunday is Thanksgiving at the Zimmermans' and then we'll go to my grandparents' next Thursday! I am so excited to eat, talk, and enjoy the company of those I love most <3 Hope you are able to do the same!

Breakfast, snacks, complaining & gossiping

Soo... what do you and your family eat for breakfast?? I am so tired of cereal, especially since it only fills me up for an hour. I do love grapenuts, but they get old pretty quickly. I'd eat bacon and homefries every day if it were healthy and cheap, but it's not. I can't eat anything with milk in it, but I can substitute butter and milk with the fake stuff. So tell me, what do you eat that's filling and healthy-ish?

And what about snacks?? I'm on a nut cluster, grapes, and Ritz crackers with pepperoni kick.. but I want new "healthy" snacks. I eat very often, and I eat a lot, so I need to be making healthier choices :)

 Even though this blog isn't about them, I have to post pictures!! :)

 Sometimes her hair is red!! Sometimes blonde.. sometimes brown!

 Seriously delicious tamales. Colten kept asking for "moy" and dug the husk out of the trashcan while I was nursing Clara. Sweet boy is talking so much lately!

Clara sporting her Vera shoes and onesie from great grandma temple! LOVE.

Ok, so now onto complaining. How do you break the habit?! I don't walk around complaining to anyone I see, but I do complain a lot to Andrew and those I talk to daily. I complain that I'm tired, the babies won't sleep, we're poor, I'm hungry & there's nothing to eat, and that Andrew works too much. Dumb stuff. I need to stop. I am so, so blessed. My 24 hours with no complaining went really well.. maybe I should just try that every single day? What helps you look at your life more positively?

Gossiping. It's a tricky topic. Sometimes people need to vent. Sometimes friends confide in one another. Sometimes people drive us insane and we want to tell someone why. Sometimes we talk badly about others to make ourselves feel better. Sometimes people talk about those you know and you might actually agree with the negative points they are making. Sometimes you might totally disagree. Sometimes you try to say something positive about the person that is being targeted, but it doesn't help the situation. Sometimes you just "listen" and aren't sucked in. Sometimes you are sucked in. Sometimes I wonder what people say about me when I leave the room after I hear what some say about others. Sometimes I need to be more bold. Sometimes  I need to stand up for people. Sometimes I need to walk away. I need to be better always. How do you avoid the trap of gossiping? I'm not talking about sharing situations in confidence with good friends or  casual conversations about friends' lives. I'm talking about nasty, nothing-but-mean, gossiping. I am not remotely close to being perfect in this area..It's something I REALLY want to work on, so help me :)

Searching for #3..

For about 6 weeks the strangest thing has been happening to me many, many times each day. While I'm holding/nursing Clara and reading/talking to Colten, I find myself listening and looking for "the baby". If I hear a little noise, I perk up my ears to see if "the baby" is crying upstairs. Then I look down and see that my 2 children are right in front of me. I peek over at the swing to check on "the baby" while I'm smiling at Clara and listening to Colten play in the corner. Each time I do it I think to myself "you only have two kids & they're both right here, are you going crazy?!". I think it happens mostly on "good" days where I like AND love both babies and can't believe having 2 kids is so easy... and not so much on "bad" days, where I might not like one or either of them :) We know we are going to have more children, so I don't think it's a sign that one is missing from our family. It's just weird how often I find myself doing it!

 (Arty brought the tractor over to help my dad and Colten got to ride in it on daddy's lap!!!)

 

2 months :)

 This is the best sibling picture I have of them, haha!

 Happy, scrumptious baby girl <3

 Andrew says Clara likes being on his shoulders :)

 (Colten was introduced to Sesame Street 2 weeks ago, and he LOVES it)

Speaking of "bad" days, there have been many more of those recently. I was sick last week, which made things hard. I knew that I needed to sleep to get better, but Clara didn't want to sleep when Colten napped. It was hard. Colten has been pretty moody and clingy, too, when we're at home. He can be the happiest baby in the world, then instantly a terror who tries to do everything he knows he's not supposed to all at once. He'll run up and bang the tv, run to the fish tank and take out things he shouldn't, go under the sink and get out the chemicals, and take Clara's binky all the matter of minutes. Stinker. Overall, he's still a super wonderful little boy. He looooves being outside & is very brave at the park now. He thinks he's big enough for all of the equipment. He also loves to smell flowers and he loves finding the spider and "cricket" in the Mercer Mayer book my parents have.

  

 This is one of my favorite pictures of Colten ever, because it captures his every day, in the moment look. We tried to recreate the picture with Clara, and it was harder than we expected. This will do though :) They are the exact same age in these pictures- 2 and a half months. Look how different they look from each other!! It's crazy.

 

Clara is still very easy. She has her rough days/moments, but usually she is relaxed, happy, and a great sleeper. A few weeks ago she started waking up a lot at night and I thought I was going to die, but she's back to 1-2 times a night over a 10-12 hour period.  I am ready to have her in her own room! Hopefully in a couple weeks we'll be in our new home and I can make that happen! I'll have to blog about the house soon, but it's time for me to take a nap. Today is a good day, thank goodness :)

Postpartum

All kinds of crazy things can happen after you have a baby. For some of you, this may be TMI, so you might want to stop reading now :) First of all, I still can't seem to remember anything or do things correctly. I lost my phone when Clara was 3 days old and never found it. I lose my keys... VERY often and it is so frustrating! I never, ever know what day of the week it is. I seem to just be on my own "stay at home mom" planet. I also think I'm still pregnant sometimes. Like at the end of the day when Colten is in bed & I'm sitting on the couch staring at the mess all over the room that he's made throughout the day, I think to myself "I just can't do it.. my belly is too big to bend over and pick up those toys. Andrew will do it when he gets home." Hahah.. then I remember that I actually am fully capable of bending now. Happens in the grocery store too. Pretty pitiful.

 (Why is it downloading them rotated like this when they aren't like that in My Pictures??)

His favorite place. Grandpa and Daddy give him lots of rides in the laundry basket.

Still trying to work out what this sad rash is.. it's a little better now.

Colten loving on the Hendrick's dog, Wrigley. He is definitely his father's son. Animal lover.

So these are the strange things that I'm experiencing since Clara's birth:
-I only poop once a day. For anyone that knows me, that's a biiig change!
-My breath stinks so badly. It's like I'm breathing death. Watch out!
-I don't grow armpit hair, hahah. So awesome, right?
-Ah nuts, there was another but I forget.

Clara is 11 1/2 pounds at 6 weeks and Colten is 26 1/2 pounds at 15 months. Clara is pretty mellow and chills in her swing a good portion of the day, whereas Colten is into everything. He learned to unplug and plug in cords to the outlet. Super safe! He loves light switches and my parents' chemical cabinet. He can now open the cabinet under my mom's fish tank with all the fish goodies. He can climb onto the bed and couch and loves jumping on them. He prefers to walk down the steps facing forward. He is a mess, but he still manages to be so sweet and loving. Kisses and hugs all day long <3

Mother of two!

So far so good!! :) Adjusting to having 2 babies has been much easier than I expected for many reasons. First of all, we're in the process of buying a house, so we are living with my parents until it closes next month. Having their help has been a DREAM. Colten loooves his grandparents so much. I've gotten to go shopping, to the park, and to the doctor with only one child, and I've gotten to take extra naps and sleep in because of them. Secondly, Clara is an amazing little girl. She sleeps alllll day & only gets up twice a night. She doesn't need to be held a lot, and she loves her swing. She gets fussy from about 7:30-9, but even that is easy compared to so many other babies. Third, Colten is just a sweetie. These last 5 days have been rough.. I think he's cutting some teeth, but usually he is a ray of sunshine.

Here Clara is one month old! 10 lbs 14 ozs :D

 

Photoshoots are not working out so well, haha.

Love her leg rolls!

Possibly his favorite toy..

Colten's first tattoo! He kept scratching it saying "uh oh, uh oh!!"

Our first big family adventure was going to the boardwalk for FHE a couple weeks ago. We let Colten ride a few rides, and then we walked on the boardwalk. It was a beautiful evening and we ran into some of our good friends there who hadn't met Clara yet. The kids were amazing.. well, until Colten face planted on the wooden boardwalk. Ouchy.

Park date with Gavin. grandma, and grandpa!

He pinched his leg in the cart where he was supposed to sit, so as a special treat he got to sit in the big part of the cart. So lucky.

This is Clara's favorite sleep position. If she's on her side, she'll sleep for hours and hours!

Spaghetti anyone??

We took our first family walk about 2 1/2 weeks ago.. I've been wearing Clara on walks and in the store & she sleeps in it the entire time. It makes grocery shopping pretty easy. Well, aside from loading 2 babies, the groceries, unloading, feeding, and putting the groceries away. You know, typical mom stuff.

Last week I was fed up with my hair, my parents and Andrew were gone, and I needed it cut NOW. Sooo I took both of them with me to get it cut. It was an adventure. Clara screamed... almost the whole time. I had to put her binky in her mouth 400 times, then when she finally fell asleep, Colten dropped his big toy on her in the carseat. Fun. Colten just drank his bottle & was very good until the time I had to pay. I was so glad to have that gnarly, long hair gone & it was totally worth the stress. I never want long hair again (I'll change my mind next week).

 

...that's all for now.. I love my babies, that's for sure. They do drive me bonkers sometimes, but thank goodness for Ellen and The Price is Right that get me through each day <3