Family Pictures 2015

 

13 Months: Welsey

Wesley seems like he is growing so much lately. He is communicating and playing more and more and it's so fun! Here are some of what he's up to lately.

*Starting signing more and more. He signs dog, more, all done, and milk.
*Says Hi (he really says hi-ya and it's adorable), a-du (all done), hello, mama, dada
*Still taking his two naps
*Has become such a cuddle bug. He loves to cuddle after he gets up from his nap.
*Loves his mamma! If he sees me, he will almost always reach for me. However, he doesn't really have stranger danger either. He is fine going to other people, he just prefers me (and I'm fine with that). He does get shy when he sees other people look at him and it is adorable. He will smile and lay his head down on my shoulder like he is hiding.
*Cutting four molars but thankfully they don't seem to be bothering him so much. Every once in a while when he eats he will start crying like he is hurting but other than that, he is a happy boy.
*Started to stand up on his own but still no walking in sight. He is getting braver and braver so hopefully it's soon. We'll see.
*Loves his Emry sister so much
*The other day I was holding my nephew who is 4 months old and he did NOT like that. It was kind of funny how possessive he became of me.
*Loves to be tickled and laughing.

Happy 4th of July

We spent our 4th of July in Grantsville with the whole Gardner gang. It was really fun. We spent the morning going to the town's parade. It was so hot but the kids (and adults) still had a lot of fun. Happy 4th!!

Emry's fun star hair!

 Gardner cousins

 Happy 4th from the Gardners

 Shoulder ride from Grandma and Grandpa

 Hanging out in the hammock trying to cool off in the shade

Fun With Cousins

Since we convinced my mom and Kelli to come up for the kids' birthdays, we made the most of it and had a blast!

Cameron was so sweet pushing Wesley on the swing. Nothing is cuter than a sweet little boy (except two sweet little boys!)

 One day we decided to go to the South Jordan Carnival and this pretty much sums up how we feel about our cousins being with us. It just makes everything else better!

 Riding the ponies

 Trying to be just like her big cousin Cadence

 

Cute girlies

 Riding the rides

 One day we took our cousins to the aquarium. They had a blast.

 Cousins riding the whale

 

We had a dinner date at Corner Bakery to finish off a great day!

Their stay is always too short and we can wait for all these crazies to be together again soon!

Emry's Birthday Party!!

 Happy Birthday to my sweet girl! 

For her birthday party we went to the reservoir and had a swim party. Emry wanted an Aurora party because she is her favorite princess. I think it turned out pretty cute and fun! And as an added bonus, I convinced my mom to come out for the kids' parties so then she went and convinced Kelli to come with her three kids and Emry was in heaven with all her Whitaker cousins there to celebrate. Also, best present for me because I love having family there!

 Lynne and I (Ok, mostly Lynne) made this awesome Aurora cake. Emry thought it was awesome!

 

  Happy to have her Aurora Party!
 

Closeup of the cake (with cute princess crown candles)

 

 Eating lunch with friends (Addison and Emry)

 More friends (Brady and Jayden)

 Poor Ollie wasn't feeling well at all

 Wesley was feeling better and had a blast in the water!

 Owen having fun!

 All our friends (Owen, Lila, Gabby, Maddie, Emry, Cadence, Addison, Tilly, Jayden)

1 Year: Wesley!!!

I know everyone says it will, but really time totally FLEW this last year! I have been enjoying my Wesley boy so much lately! He is the cutest, happiest, sweetest boy I know!

Weight: 22 lbs 6 oz (40%)

Height: 29.5 inches (40%)

Head: 18.75 inches (80%)

*Crawls everywhere, pulls himself up on everything, cruises all over the house, but still has no interest in walking on his own. He has tried balancing a few times but mostly when I do this to him, he just falls into me and thinks it is so funny!!
*Started following a few commands: clap, say hello or goodbye, give me a high five, splash!, go get the ball (when I sign "ball" he knows what I'm talking about and will go get it),
*Taking 2 naps (10-12 and 3-4:30 usually) and goes down at 8 and up at 7. I feel like I'm going to jinx it but he has been doing pretty good at sleeping recently *knock on wood
*Had Hand Foot and Mouth last week and man was it miserable. I felt so bad for him because the first couple of days I just knew he wasn't feeling well and he would just cuddle and not let you put him down. Poor kid. Tylenol and Ibuprofen got us through that and now he is as good as new.
*Really really really hates getting his nose wiped. Like he will scream so loudly! Poor thing...
*Taking whole milk like a champ (started him on this about 2-3 weeks ago). I'm so glad we are done with that formula stuff. We stopped breast feeding and I was sick of doing formula so we tried milk and he has done great with it! So glad because it makes my life a lot easier (and cheaper!)
*Such a picky little eater. I get a little frustrated with him when it comes to feeding him. I never know what to give him. He eats a pb&j every day for lunch. Thank goodness for those squeeze pouches so he will actually eat his veggies.
*Along those lines, he knows what he wants and if you are trying to do something different he will for sure let you know. Like when he is eating something and he has too big of a piece in his hand, I will take it to break it up and he will have a mini panic attack, thinking I'm taking it away from him. Don't ever come between him and a cookie or you will be his worst enemy! 
*Has 6 teeth
*Always wants to play with the big kids. Whatever they are doing, he wants in on the fun!
*Wearing 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers
*Started to dance when music comes on. It is just adorable!!
*Loves everyone.

So glad to have this cute boy in our lives! Love him so much! Happy Birthday little man!!

 

And She's 3!!

Emry turned 3!!!

My sweet baby girl is growing up to be such a fun, happy, helpful, girl. 

All Emry wanted for her birthday was a princess balloon. She was so excited to wake up to this balloon! Happy Birthday Girl!!

Height: 37.5 inches (60%)

Weight: 33 lbs (72%)

*Knows how to spell her name. She can also write an "E" and kind of write an "M" We are working on writing the rest of it.
*I told her a couple of months ago that when she turned 3 she could go to big girl Gymnastics. So she often told me about how she was going to go when she was 3! The day after she turned 3 she had her first day and she loved it! She is quite social so it was a little rough for her to stop talking to the other little girls in her class but I think she will get the hang of it soon. Her favorite is to go across the balance beam. She just loves that!
*Still singing all day long. Primary songs, princess songs, made up songs (we call these "silly songs"), anything really. And I really love it!
*Favorite Princess is Aurora
*Her favorite color is pink. She loves to tell me that whenever she sees pink, "Mom, that is my favorite color!" all excited! She has a zest for life!
*Mostly has quiet time now instead of a nap, except when he hasn't been sleeping well or is exceptionally cranky, then I make her take a nap.
*She loves her daddy. Always wanting her daddy to put her to bed, sing her songs, play princesses with her. He obliges since he loves her so much too!
*Loves to make new friends and play with any little kids she sees.
*Favorite tv show is Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.
*Favorite movie is probably Sleeping Beauty.
*Loves anything princess. Basically if anything has a princess on it, she wants it.
*Started to love coloring and doing water colors. 
*Always wants to help mom and dad. She loves to help me cook dinner. Also, her chore is to put away the silverware. If she sees me doing this, she gets very upset and says, "I was gonna do that..." like I really hurt her feelings.

We love you Emry Kate and can't wait to see what the next year has in store for you!!

Here are some pictures of her actual birthday. We woke up that morning to Wesley having hand foot mouth so we were stuck at home all day but we made a fun day out of it because our cousins came over for a day in the mini pool in the backyard. Fun day!

 She got this cute little princess book for her birthday and she seriously sat here and played with them for an hour straight. Present win!!

 Lounging in the sun

 Wesley was pretty miserable and slept a lot but he still loved being outside in the pool!

 I'm so grateful for this cute girl!

We went to dinner with Daddy for her birthday to Texas Roadhouse. Wore her birthday crown and everything!

 Sitting on the saddle while they sang her a birthday song!

St George

 We decided to go to St George to visit the grandparents. We had such a fun time!

The Children's Museum is our favorite place to visit in St George. It's so cute! This is Grandpa Gardner teaching Emry how to fly the plane.

 These Two!

 Emry loved being Anna

 Riding the Carousel with Grandma

 We walked over to the candy store near the museum and this boy was so happy to have his first sucker. He loved it!

 Loved rocking on this!

 Nice bonfire complete with s'mores!

11 Months: Wesley

*Finally learned how to crawl!! It started out slowly (a little after 10 months) but then he got the hang of it pretty quickly and now he's all over the place! He even crawls over to things and pulls himself up all the time. He has "cruised" a few times but doesn't do it consistently. Now that he crawls he is such a happy baby. Instead of sitting there whining, he can actually move and go get what he wants. This is really nice!
*Has begun the process of weaning himself from breast feeding. He has very little interest in breast feeding (except in the morning). Actually this has been going on for a while but I've forced it because I love it too much, but now I'm at the point where I'm ready to finally let him win. I'm sure in the next week or so we'll be completely done and on to bottles... Does that mean my baby is really growing up? I hope not!!
*Will occasionally say "mmmmom" when he is crawling toward me (usually when he is unhappy and wants me) but doesn't say it on command or anything. Also, I think he is started to know what "dad" means. Mostly however, he doesn't say much. He also started saying "ya" a lot so that might be his 3rd word. haha.  (so much better than "no"!)
*Picky picky picky... He is a great eater if you give him something he likes (ie peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) but if it's not something he knows he likes, he doesn't often try it or anything. It is quite frustrating. I will keep trying but seriously, who's ever hear of a kid that doesn't eat hot dogs or mac and cheese!!! Thankfully, our little veggie and fruit packages help us stay a little bit healthy...
*Started to enjoy reading books. He loves the books with little lift the flap things on the pages. His favorite book is "Dear Zoo"
*Loves to play peek-a-boo
*Started waving when we say "hi!" It's the most adorable thing when he opens and closes his hand and looks at it like, "ya, I CAN do that!" It's so fun!
*Learned how to clap. So now we say "Yay Wesley!" and he claps and gets the biggest smile like he is so proud of himself!! 
*Is adorable and has me completely smitten. Every time he looks at me and gives me a big smile, it just melts my heart! I love that boy so much!!