Big Boys!

I just wanted to do an update on my boys before things got even more crazy with the holidays. I took Dallan to the Dr. today for a well child check and it made me think about how fast my boys are growing up. I love watching them and it is so exciting when they learn something new but at the same time I hate seeing them turn into little boys instead of staying my babies. :(

Mason:
He is so fun! I am constantly blown away by him. He is incredibly smart and I think he completely understands everything. Here's some stats on him:
-23 months
-I'm guessing he's 33-35 lbs (still huge)
-Tall enough he has to wear 3T if it is a one-piece outfit or PJ's
Some things I want to remember:
-He loves music. He asks us to sing "fongs" all day long. He knows when to jump during Sunbeam, knows all the actions to Popcorn popping, if you're happy and you know it, and he tries really hard in head-shoulders-knees-and-toes but can't figure it our quite yet, and I have to sing "ABC book" and "stars" to him every night before he goes to sleep. He asks for all of these songs by name.
-Still a picky eater. He can find meat in any bite no matter how well I tried to hide it and that's if I can get him to take the bite in the first place.
-Most of the time he speaks in the third person and calls himself Mase.
-He's petrified of certain things but the biggest is the vacuum or anything that sounds like a vacuum (electric hand mixer, hair dryer, you get it. . .)
-Loves books. We read all day long. Even he has them memorized now and occasionally says the next word for me if I'm taking too long.
-He knows some of his colors and shapes. He can't seam to get the more traditional ones down but he can spot an oval, diamond, heart, or triangle from a mile away.
-Last week when I went to put him in his bed for a nap he spelled his name. (This was a huge shock and it came out of the blue).
-He is a huge helper. Every morning he throws his and Dallan's jammas in the laundry for me and he throws away all the wet diapers throughout the day. He gets mad if I try to do it and yells "No, Mase" until I let him do it. When I ask him to clean up his toys he looks around and says "Mase make mess" and then says "put-a-back" for each thing he puts back in its place. He's also a big help with Dallan. When Dallan starts to cry Mason gets so concerned and runs to Dallan to start talking and playing with him. When Mason sees me start grabbing the car keys and diaper bag he tried to pick Dallan up and is always worried I'm going to leave Dallan home alone. (I promise I've never left either of them so I'm not sure why he's so worried).
-And probably my favorite thing he is doing right now is making us beg him for hugs and kisses. When you ask him for a kiss he gets a huge grin and in this high pitched voice with his head slightly tipped he says "Please?" until you ask him "please give me a kiss" then he laughs and lays a big wet one on each cheek. He does the same thing for hugs.

Dallan:
Oh my little chunk of love! I can honestly say I've never seen a happier baby. He is so content to sit and play and watch the chaos (Mason) around him. He is incredibly ticklish but also laughs at anything else. Sometimes we can't even figure out what he is laughing at. Since I took him to the Dr. today I have some actual stats for him.
-6 1/2 months
-20 lbs 8 oz (92 percentile)
-27.6 inches (87 percentile)
Huge, but still slightly smaller than Mason was at this same age.
Things I want to remember about you:
-Dallan's smile. He is always smiling and laughing. I get comments all the time about how happy he is. And the answer is yes except for a 1 to 2 hour period in the evenings when he thinks he needs to be held. He has done this since he was a newborn. His own version of colic.
-He laughs so hard sometimes I am actually concerned he isn't getting any oxygen. He apparently inherited Mark's "asthma" laugh and there is a whole lot of wheezing going on when he is laughing.
-He is really ticklish. A few times he has really started laughing hard while I'm trying to change his diaper and I'm just not sure what to think about that.
-He has just now started to eat baby food after 2 months of attempts. He gags at pears seams to like his veggies. (I can't figure out where this comes from considering both Mark and I have to choke them down).
-He is just starting to sit up with a lot of help but given the fact that his head is literally off-the-charts huge, he has a hard time not tipping over.
-He adores Mason. It doesn't matter what Mason is doing it is awesome. Mason doesn't even have to be looking at Dallan, just standing withing 5 feet or so and Dallan will get all excited and light up.
-Still no teeth.
-Dallan still gets up 2-3 times at night but at least he is only awake for about 10 min so it could be worse.

This update is mainly for me. I haven't kept a journal or been very good about writing down when my boys hit new milestones so I need to have some sort of record. These boys are my life and I don't know what I ever did without them. I am blown away by how much I love them. Now I just need to figure out how to make them stay small!

Great memories-DC Temple and Cute Kids!

Mark had Veteran's Day off work so we took a trip up to Maryland. We went to the DC Temple and to visit North Potomac where Mark lived as a teenager with his parents as mission presidents. This is one of those days I don't want to ever forget. The DC temple is beautiful! I have seen pictures of it before but I was still blown away by how amazing it is. We couldn't do a session (our cute kids were with us) but still wanted to just go to the temple so we packed up the car and off we went. We laid a blanket out and had a little picnic on the grass and let Mason run around for a little while and let Dallan stretch from being in his car seat. Then we just walked around the temple grounds and through the visitor's center.

We then drove over to North Potomac. Mark showed me his old high school, the 5 mile path he used to run each day, his old bishop's house, and then the house he lived in. It was so fun to see all these places and hear Mark's stories about them. The boys were great the entire time and fell asleep in the car so we just drove around with Mark pointing out his memories. It was a great day with just the four of us making these new memories.

Mason loves books and has decided that Dallan will too. We spend a big part of every day reading Mason's books over and over. The other day I told Mason I couldn't read anymore because I had to make dinner. He starting throwing a small fit and went and fake cried in the other room. This only lasted about a minute then he was quiet. I walked in to see what he was doing and this is what I found.

He has gotten so good with Dallan. Other than having to keep reminding him to not drive his little cars on Dallan's head and to not practice jumping while he is standing too close to Dallan, they do really good together. Mason gets so concerned every time Dallan cries and is constantly playing with and entertaining Dallan. Dallan adores Mason. Everything Mason does is funny and Dallan just watches Mason all day. Last night I was holding Dallan while I was running around chasing Mason to tickle him and both boys were laughing so hard Mark and I both started laughing too. When I finally caught Mason instead of being tickled he wanted to give Dallan a hug and a kiss on the head then start running from us again. We repeated this about a dozen times before I had to stop. Another one of those moments I don't want to forget.

Dallan has discovered that at the end of all those rolls and thigh, there are feet attached. He plays with his feet all day long. He is the happiest baby! I love these boys (all three of them) so much!

American History Museum & Old Town Alexandria

Most of these pictures are turned sideways but since our Internet isn't working very good right now I'm just going to leave them because I honestly don't think I will be lucky enough to get them to upload again. On Sat the 6th we made a trip into DC to the American History Museum. I love this museum. I've been there twice in the last three months and I could easily go back again. There is so much to see. Mark wanted to see the coin collection they have there so we went to see that. We also walked through the First Ladies' gowns and the electricity exhibits. There is a "spark lab" there where kids can "invent" all sorts of things. Mason had a great time playing around in there.

When we were walking back to our car we saw all these tee-pees in the middle of the national mall strip. We decided to walk over to see what they were doing. They had about 6 set up and were setting up even more. The guy (totally decked out in Indian gear) told us they were having prayer there that night for all the veterans. It was pretty neat to see the Indian stuff and their tee-pees. Then we headed back home to let the kids nap and do some things around the house.

This weekend we drove over to Old Town Alexandria. It is a really neat place. The street has cobblestone sidewalks and is lined with little shops and restaurants. There is so much history there. Someday I want to go back without any kids and really be able to check it all out. This is a picture in front of the Carlyle house. It is one of the mansions from back in the 1750s. It was neat to see the old architecture and artifacts in the house.

We then hiked up the hill to the George Washington Masonic Memorial. I have to admit, it wasn't as great as I though it would be but that is probably because we didn't take the tour to the upper part. We just went to the main floor with the huge statue of George Washington in it. The room was gorgeous with marble, huge pillars, stained glass windows, and a cute little boy running around yelling and laughing at his echo :)

It was a fun day but after tears, sweat, and throw-up we were ready to be done for the day. (Mason took too big a bite at lunch and gagged and threw up). Maybe someday we'll make it back to really check things out better.

Halloween Fun

We had a lot of fun for Halloween this year. We started off by having a few friends and their kids come over for Family Home Evening and we all carved pumpkins and ate treats. Since we had 8 kids there and the oldest kid is 3 yrs in was pretty entertaining. At first the kids were really excited but then they got tired so we put in a movie and the adults finished the pumpkins. Mason really didn't know what to think of the pumpkin seeds. Mark kept trying to get him to reach in and grab some seeds but as soon as Mason would touch them he would pull his hand back and say eewww.

Our ward did a trunk or treat Sat night since Halloween was on a Sunday. Mason was a monkey and Dallan was a tiger. Mason caught on so fast. I stayed at the car with Dallan and handed out candy while Mark walked around with Mason. He would hold up his bucket and say tick-a-treat and as soon as the candy was in his bucket he was running to the next car. He loved it and I'm so glad the ward did this so Mason could have some Halloween memories.

After we got home from the trunk or treat Mason had to check out his loot. The candy necklace from Grandma is a huge hit. Mark isn't eating sugar and Dallan can't eat it yet so that leaves just Mason and me to eat all the candy ;). It was a fun Halloween this year and although we misses the festivities back home it was nice to spend the holiday with our little family.

Christmas!

I am so excited for Christmas! I know that we just had Halloween but Christmas is always a huge deal for me. I have always loved Christmas and even as an adult I still have a hard time sleeping on Christmas Eve. I am so excited for Christmas this year with Mason. He is going to be so fun! Plus, Mark and I have bought our plane tickets to go home for Christmas, so that alone is enough of a reason to start my count down.

So now to get ready for Christmas. I thought about hand making each of my Holiday cards but am totally deciding against it- too much time, work, and money. Not to mention my almost-two-year-old who would have too much fun with scissors, tape, etc. I also wanted the card to have a family pic in it so that created another problem. So I am going the easy and smart way. I'm getting my holiday cards from SHUTTERFLY. And you should too. Here's the top 5 reasons why you should use Shutterfly this year:

5. Tons of selection. Hundreds of choices instead of a dozen or two choices.

4. CUTE. I have ordered birth announcements from both Costco and Walmart before and both times I thought the card was kinda lame. I haven't even looked at all the cards Shutterfly has and I already have too many in my "love it" list to choose from.

3. If you are extremely busy you can even have Shutterfly address and mail the cards for you (this does cost extra).

2. Their site is easy to use. Even just getting on their site for the first time it is easy to navigate where you want.

1. FREE!!! That's right fellow bloggers F-R-E-E. Shutterfly is doing a deal where if you blog about Shutterfly and their products you get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly. Here's the link so you can too. http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Shutterfly does more than just Christmas cards here's some of their other links for some of their other products.
*Holiday Cards www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards
*Thanksgiving Cards www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/thanksgiving-cards
*Birthday invitations www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birthday-invitations
*Birth Announcements www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birth-announcements

So seriously, I know this was basically a sales pitch, but they're free christmas cards (and they really are cute) so I figured it is way worth it.

Cox Farm

On Friday Mark took a much deserved day off work and we drove over to Cox Farm. It was pretty chilly but we bundled up and decided we were going anyway. We had so much fun! It is this big fall festival and they have so much to do there. The first part of the farm we went to was the "farm chores" area. They had these little tractors that Mason could sit on and steer and play with the gear shifters. He was in heaven. They had this huge plastic cow with a rubber udder that would squirt water into a little bucket if you milked it. They also had a sandbox-like thing filled with corn kernels you could dump onto a big belt that would carry the kernels up and the kernels would rain down into the sandbox.
After dragging Mason away from the farm chores we ate our little lunch we had packed and decided to try some of the slides. I had heard they had some big slides but I wasn't expecting them to be this big. As if the slides weren't big enough, you sit on a piece of material while you slide down so you seriously get flying. Mark was laughing and screaming just as loud as Mason. We didn't even get to all the slides but they were probably the best part of the farm.
They also have a big hayride that takes you around for about 20 min. There is wood cut out and painted to look like different movie characters and props that Mason liked. There is also a big corn maze but we didn't go in it. I didn't think the stroller would do very well or that Mason would really enjoy it.
There are all the classic farm animals there too. We walked around looking at each of them but the goats definitely steal the show. They have "Goat Village" where the kids (and parents) actually go in with the goats and get to feed them goat food from an ice cream cone. These goats and so little-they only went up to Mason's hips. Mason found an especially tiny one and followed him around the whole time.
To top it off, they serve you free apple cider and as many apples as you can eat all day. Then as you are leaving you get to pick a little pumpkin to take home with you. Mason's little pumpkin goes everywhere with him. It sits at the dinner table while we are eating, it sits on my lap while I read Mason stories, it rides in the car with us. You get the picture. But, I refuse to let him take the pumpkin with him to bed. So each night we have a little break down and have to say bye to the pumpkin for the night. He has started rolling it around like a ball (the stem broke off long ago) so I doubt we'll have a pumpkin around for too much longer.
Cox Farm was great and we loved having Mark with us for an extra long weekend. Thanks Hun for working the extra hours so you could take the day off to come play with us!

National Zoo

I tried to get a picture of the two boys together but appearantly next to the monkey cage is not the best place to make this attempt. Mason couldn't hold still and kept making a monkey sound so this is the best of the dozen or so pictures I took of the two of them together.

These pictures are in the opposite order I wanted them to be in but, oh well. We went to The National Zoo a week and a half ago and had a blast. It is part of the Smithsonian museums so it is really well done and it's free. We had beautiful weather. We have taken Mason to the zoo before but now that he is older this was a whole new experiance. He was so excited and thrilled by all the animals all day. Nap time didn't matter-he couldn't get enough of the zoo. Besides, that's what the car ride home is for right? When we were in the monkey house Mason was jumping up and down in his stroller squealing at the monkeys. Everyone in there kept looking at him and would laugh and make come comment about how cute he is. Dallan on the other hand couldn't have cared less about any of the animals but was still the content little thing he always is and just enjoyed the ride in the stroller (and sleeping in the stroller).

To anyone thinking about visiting D.C. I highly recommend visiting this zoo-especially if you have kids. We spent most of the day there and still didn't see everything. Although with the two boys being so young we are extremely slow. It was a ton of fun and I can't wait to go again soon.

Dallan-What a Blessing!!!

We blessed Dallan in Beaver last week and it was great! We were able to see so much family and spend some time with them. It was a pretty quick trip but we were still able to do quite a bit in the shout time we were there. We flew into Salt Lake on Thrusday. Mark's mom flew in at almost the same time as us so we got a rental car to share. We met up with Mark's brother, Neal then had to run a few errands to get some things for the blessing dinner. We then drove down to Beaver. When we pulled up to my parents' house Mason's cousins were there to greet him and he was thrilled to see them and couldn't wait to go outside and play. I can't even describe how good it was to be home and see everyone. I know it hasn't been that long since we saw everyone but it is different knowing you CAN'T see or visit.

Basically Mark's whole family came to the blessing. They all live so far apart that it is rare to get together. On Saturday the guys drove to Provo to the BYU game. The cougars won -a miracle ;). Mark loved spending time with his brothers and nephews. I stayed in Beaver with our boys since they are too little to enjoy a whole football game and adding 4 more hours of travel to our weekend just didn't sould good at all. So me and the boys had a blast just hanging out playing outside (we can't do this in DC) and swimming in Grandma Graff's hotel pool.

The actual blessing was great. I was pretty nervous that Dallan would cry through the whole thing since he was wide awake and surrounded by an army of men. He didn't make a single sould though. Even Mason was good through Dallan's blessing. Dallan is so blessed to be surrounded by so many priesthood holders. It was touching to see so many men supporting and blessing my baby. Plus, considering that Dallan is over 4 months old, and huge for his age, I'm sure Mark appreciated the physical support they gave as he was trying to hold Dallan through the blessing.

After the blessing we had a big dinner. Man, I don't know what I would do without my mom! I didn't do a single thing as far as planning or preparing for this dinner and we had about 100 people there. Thank you so much to everyone who brought salads, desserts, and everything else. I am reminded again and again of how great family is. We had such a good time just visiting with everyone. After the dinner we all went over to my parents' house and hung out in the backyard. All the nieces and nephews loved playing around, the guys loved checking out the cars, and the girls just hung out visiting with each other.

We had to leave the next morning and it was hard to say bye but we had such a great weekend. Thanks to everyone who came and to those who helped with the dinner. We love you all and hope to see you again around Christmas!

More pics from Dallan's Blessing Weekend

My mom watched our boys for a bit so Mark and I stole their truck and headed up the mountain. Mason has major separation issues since moving to DC and Mark has been working crazy hours so we haven't done a date or anything for quite awhile. I LOVE the mountains. They are definately in the list of top things I miss about Utah.

Just hanging out in my parents' backyard. This might be the first and only picture we have of all four of us together.

My happy baby right after his blessing. Man I love him! He is such a fun and happy baby. He is a cuddly little thing and loves to be held or to at least be holding onto a blanket he can cuddle with. He also loves Mason. Mason has started showing Dallan all of his toys and talking to him and Dallan just laughs and squeals. Mason loves that he gets this kind of reaction so he starts laughing and dancing more. So the two of them just laugh and squeal at each other. I LOVE IT!

Labor Day Weekend

I really need to figure out how to rotate these pictures. Mark and Mason were playing "soccor". Mason loves balls. He runs around the house kicking any ball yelling "football" while he does it. Guess those months of Mark being with Mason made the important things-like football-sink in.

Our ward played a softball game on Labor Day. It was completely informal and tons of fun. Only about 4 maybe 5 people would bat and it would be three outs because there were about 20 people playing in the outfield all the time. It was a blast though. Mason sat in his stroller and just watched the whole time. He loved it. Dallan slept through the whole thing so I was able to just sit on the bleachers and enjoy visiting and watching. It was so fun.

We had a blast over Labor Day weekend. We had no plans but ended up doing something fun each day. On Friday Kara called and invited us to swim and BBQ with them and the Ripa family on Saturday. We have a bunch on community centers close by and they all have swimming pools. The set up of the pool was nice so although I sat on the side with Dallan I was still pretty close to everyone else. I can't wait till next summer to actually get in with both boys. Mason loves swimming (and anything else that has to do with water) and Dallan already loves getting in the tub so I'm sure he'll be just like Mason when it comes to water. The above picture is Mason and Makenna, one of Mason's new friends.

Mark was teaching Mason how to hold his breath under water. He kept plugging Mason's nose and would then dip under the water. I kept waiting for Mason to get a mouthful of water and to freak-out but he just kept laughing. He would come up out of the water and rub his hair and yell "Allll Weeeetttt". The pool has a water slide and even though Mark and Mason would both go under water for a second before they would pop up Mason still loved it.

I can't figure out how to get this picture to turn. Mason was having a ball and Mark is such a good sport. Mason was a little nervous so he kept grabbing Mark's face to hold on to. At any given time Mark had one of Mason's fingers in his eye, nose, or mouth but Mason was having so much fun Mark just dealt with it.

Dallan was as good as he always is. Man I love these boys! Dallan is always smiling and has started laughing all the time now.

Sunday we taught our new sunday school class. These kids are so cute and funny. We didn't have a manual so we just played a get to know you game. When we asked what they want to be when they get older it was wierd to hear answers like politicians and lobbiests (sp?). After church Jenny and Greg came over for dinner. They don't have any kids yet but they are having a baby in a month. It was so fun to hang out with them.

We have had a lot of fun since we got out here. I can't believe the difference making some good friends has made. Our house is starting to come together and we have even started hanging up decorations. I'm hosting a baby shower at my house in about two-three weeks so hopefully I get everything cleaned and put away by then. Wish me luck!

Changes!!!

So my camera has mood swings and only turns on about 1/3 of the time and apparently now isn't one of those times so be warned this is a long boring post without any pics. Yes, I am a huge blogging slacker but things have been pretty crazy for us. So much has changed since the last time I posted. Just to name a few:

Mark-
The law firm Mark was working for closed on really bad terms and Mark was left cleaning up huge messes. (That's the gentle version). He was then left unemployeed for 13 months. Luckily I still had my job so he stayed home with Mason and looked for another job while I worked. He did some interviewing and testing with the FBI but their hiring process is so long. He was finally offered a job with Homeland Security in Washington D.C. so that is where he is working now. He loves what he does and the people he works with. It is getting close to the end of their fiscal year so he is working crazy hours-about 70-80 a week. Plus it is an hour commute each way so we never see him but we are soooo grateful to have a job.

Marci-
I kept my job at the lab and worked as much as I could. I was only part time so I was only guaranteed 24 hrs/wk but I picked up shifts all the time so I worked quite a bit. I missed being with Mark and Mason but was glad I still had my job. After Mason was born I considered quitting my job and staying home with Mason but we didn't feel good about it so I kept working. Now we understand why and I am so grateful to heavenly father for that guideance.

We sold our house in June and I lived with my parents for about 8 weeks while Mark started his new job and got things settled for us here in Virginia. It was a great summer packed with fun. I was able to spend a lot of time with all my family and really just enjoyed the whole summer. Being away from Mark was so hard but being surrounded by family helped a ton. Now I am a stay at home mom and I love it! My house is still a disaster and only about half of the boxes are unpacked so we definately aren't settled but it is so nice so finally start getting into a routine and not be in limbo anymore.

Mason-
Wow. How do I describe the way Mason has changed considering the last time I posted he was only 5 months old? He is now 19 months old and is so much fun! He is just as intense and busy as he has always been but I love it! He makes my day everyday. He moves non-stop and climbes on everything. He is starting to talk more (or I am starting to pay more attention) and I think he is so funny. He weighs 29 lbs and being the lousy mom I am I can't remember how tall he is. He's pretty tall though. I get comments all the time about how tall he is for his age. I wish my camera would decide to play nice so I could post an updated pic of him but oh well. He had a great summer playing with all his cousins and being spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa. We went swimming a couple times (he loves water), went to the lake, stayed at the cabin three times, went to st. george every week or two, and played outside in Grandma and Grandpa's amazing backyard everyday! This boy loves being outside.

Dallan-
Surprise!!! That is the best way to describe Dallan. For any of you readers who haven't seen or talked to us lately we now have a second baby. He will be three months old next week. Dallan is the sweetest thing ever! He is so easy and just a content little thing. He is a good eater and sleeper and is happy to just be there when he is awake. He lives up on our counter top or kitchen table, which ever is available at the moment. Mason loves him and loves to give him loves so we have to keep him out of Mason's reach. Just this last week Mason has taken extra interest in Dallan. I was walking by Dallan and started talking to him in a higher pitch and Mason came up and got about a foot away from Dallan's face and in this incredably high voice started saying "Hey-oo Baby" (Hello Baby) over and over. It was the cutest thing ever. These two have been like lost friends the last few days. Dallan just stares at Mason with a huge smile on his face and Mason thinks it's hillarious that Dallan laughs at him when he talks to him. This ends up with both boys sitting there giggling at each other and it almost gets me choked up.

We have had some health scares with Dallan throughout my pregnancy and since he was born but after alot of Dr. appointment, specialists, and different tests the doctors are say he is completely healthy. A section of his aorta (main artery leaving the heart) was only about 1/3 the size it is suppose to be. The doctors were talking to us about the possibity of putting a stent in. According the the doctors the pressure of his blood flowing through it stretch it so it healed itself naturally. What really happened though is the night before Dallan had his last Echo and EKG with his pediatric cardiologist we made a trip to Salt Lake. Mark was already here in Virginia so a few of his brothers gave Dallan a blessing and in the blessing Dallan was told he had a mission to do in this life and his organs were healthy and he would live a long healthy life. The next morning the doctor was stretching for some explaination for Dallan's heart healing so fast. I have been blessed to have always had the gospel in my life and have heard countless stories of miracles but this single event has been the biggest strength to my testimony of the priesthood. I am so thankful for my beautiful, healthy boys.

If anyone is still reading this novel, I am impressed. We have had so many changes in the last year and this is kind of a way for me to document them. We are blessed to have the best family support anyone could hope for. We love and miss all our friends and family but we are excited for this new adventure.