December in Picture Form

 Our ward Christmas party was an "Ugly Sweater" theme. This little girl's "ugly" sweater was pretty darn cute being worn by her!

 Me and some friends at the Ugly Sweater Christmas Party.

 Emry loved singing with the Primary kids!

 Wesley loved the desserts (Also, we realize that the sweater Ryan is wearing is an actual ugly sweater even though it doesn't look very Christmas-y)

 Decorating the Christmas tree while listening to Christmas music is probably my favorite thing to do with my family! It puts you in the Christmas spirit so easily! Also, this was the first year we had a fake tree. Emry kept telling everyone who came to our house that our tree was fake and we weren't going to get a real one this year.

 Family decorating... I was proud of myself for not being too OCD and actually letting the kids decorate. It made it more special to have us all participating even if the tree didn't look "perfect"

 Hot Coco has become our very favorite thing ever so we had to have some in our Christmas PJ's after decorating the tree.

 This girl loves snow so much this year. It really dumped on us two days in a row so poor Ryan was out there shoveling early in the morning before he left for work and Emry was right there beside him. She was in heaven!!

 These cuties have been having so much fun together lately! Especially at bath time. Emry always gets Wesley laughing which sends Emry into a laughing fit! Fun kids!

 Running errands and Emry holds Wesley's hand and says, "Mom, take our picture." She just knew she was being cute!

 Dancing around the Christmas tree!

 He's the cutest

 They were watching a show and Wesley climbed right up on Emy's lap. Emry just held him there like the good big sister she is!

 We went to see Santa and Emry was excited to tell him she wanted an Anna and Elsa dress and that she had been good all year.

 Wesley was having none of it and was clinging to Ryan so tightly like he was completely terrified.

 We had this table set up for awhile after one of our family parties and this little man loved sitting at it so much. He thought he was so big!

 One of my new favorite traditions: going to see the "tree of life" at the Draper park. I love going to Temple square to see the lights but it is far and really cold to be outside for so long so this was just perfect. The trees were amazing, the kids had a blast, and we didn't all freeze our tooshies off...

 Emry and I at the "Tree of Life"

Dance Recital

 Emry had her first dance recital and it was adorable!! I didn't think she would do the dance up on the stage because she would get very distracted when we would practice but man, she did awesome!! It was so fun to watch her on that stage and see my little girl growing up. Love her so much!

18 Months: Wesley

Weight: 24.2 lbs (26%)

Height: 32 inches (38%)

Head: 19 inches (64%)

Well, we officially have a toddler now. Wesley has grown and has become such a cutie pie! I can't imagine life without our little man! He is so much fun!

*Really started talking. He will actually try to repeat the words you say. It sounds right about 50% of the time. 

*He can say a lot of words now so I won't remember all of them but some of the words he can say: Hi, bye, Grandma, Grandpa, Emry, Daddy, Mommy, Dog, work (like I will ask where Daddy is and he says, "work"), Jesus, drink, no, poo poo, potty, shoes, Elmo, book, bird, mouse,  bite, treat, snack, please, thank you, baby, eyes, mouth, more, cracker, all done, water, juice, amen,

*Loves to take a bath and splash around.

*Loves going outside but he didn't really love his first experience with snow. I don't have any snow gloves for him so the first time, I just sent him out without anything on his hands. Well he inevitably fell down and came over to me crying holding his hand up at me like, "What was that? It was freezing!!" He's gotten a little better with that one but mostly he isn't a huge fan. 

*Loves doing puzzles. He will match which animals go where and then I just have to help him actually get it in the spot. He is really good at them now. 

*Started nursery. So far, we are doing okay. He doesn't throw a fit or anything when we leave him (we just walk in there and he starts playing with toys and then we leave so he doesn't really know we are leaving). The teachers say he does really well. He has moments where he gets sad but he recovers quickly. We are glad that is going smoothly so we can have some peace and quiet for another 3 months before the next baby comes. haha.

*He will tell me when he goes poop. He knows where we keep his diapers and he will go get them for me and when I tell him to lay down, he will lay down with a diaper in his hands. Funny boy!

*Loves to bring us our shoes. If he sees shoes laying around, he will bring them to me and say, "shoes" and then he tries to put them on my feet.

* Loves to read books. He would read all day every day. 

*He loves animals so much, especially birds. In books he just flips the pages looking for pictures of birds (a lot of Emry's princess books have birds in them). 

*He is still a pretty picky eater but he will surprise us sometimes and ask for a "bite" of something we are eating and he will devour my dinner. I'm glad he is branching out. 

* He LOVES babies. I was worried he would not like his new sister when she came but he has surprised me with all the new babies in our family (Lynne's and Kelli's) because he just loves babies. He is always patting their heads and saying "baby!" over and over again. It's pretty adorable. 

*He is really learning how to say prayers. Like he will actually fold his arms and then when we are all done he says, "Amen" It's pretty adorable.
*Ryan started having him "read" the scriptures. He will say a word and Wesley will repeat it. Again, it only sounds right about 50% of the time but it's pretty adorable. I think the more we do this, the faster he will learn to talk.

Whitaker Family Pictures 2015

 She really wanted a hug from her brother. He obliged for a second but then he was off.

Wesley was not cooperating for a sibling picture so this is the best we got. Oh well...

 He is so handsome!

Halloween 2015

 This year we decided to do a family themed Halloween. So here is Little Red Riding Hood, the Big Bad Wolf, the Grandma, and the Lumberjack. We had so much fun dressing up this year.

Here we are at the ward Halloween Party

  Passing out candy at our ward trunk or treat

 He was too cute to be a bad wolf...

 Having fun at Daddy's work party. This is always a highlight of Emry's Halloween. She loves it! Wesley was kinda freaked out by all the people dressed up so Emry gave him a hug. It was darling!

 Halloween Night with her loot of candy

 Emry enjoyed passing out candy just as much as getting it. She sat there by the front door just waiting for people to come. Cute girl!

 Trick or Treating with our friend Tilly (Ariel)

 

 He loved the candy!

Some Fun Fall Pictures

Watching conference in the tent

Hanging out at the aviary in Salt Lake

Wheeler farm--driving the tractor with our friend Tilly

This little man loved driving these tractors. So cute!

Riding the wagon with our friends

More on the wagon ride

We've spent about once a week at the aquarium. We love to play there and visit all the animals. It's been a great thing for us this year!

Spills in the pantry? Emry to the rescue! She told me in a hurried voice, "Don't worry mom, I'll clean it up so it is clean for Daddy!" She's my little helper and she's the best!

Pumpkin Patching 2015

One thing I love about where we live is the large pumpkin patch down the road. I love picking out our pumpkins every year. It was a fun night together with my family. Happy Fall!!