Top 5 - December

Payton Millie - 4 Years 6 Months

1 - She is my snow bunny.  During the summer time she always asks me when it is going to snow.  She loves to eat snow (no matter the color).  I have to continually remind her that you are only supposed to eat the clean white snow.  She went sledding down a huge hill all by herself and didn't want to leave.

2 - Payton says the most genuine thought felt prayers every night.  It melts my heart to hear her pray for "everyone who is cold and doesn't have a house to sleep in".  She also prays to be "grateful for everything she has and not ask for more".  And she doesn't ever end a prayer without saying "please bless Uncle Ryan's rooster to not attack grandpa".  Funny girl.

3 - She has mastered her cartwheel and backwards somersault in her tumbling class and got her name up on the board.  She was so excited.

4 - All of sudden she has HATED taking baths and she will never get near a shower.  Bath time is fun at our house.

5 - She is a great leader.  She loves to help people and always organized the funnest play dates when her friends come over.

Cooper Seth - 21 Months

1 - Now that he is talking it makes life so much better.  Every time anybody gives Cooper something or does something for him he replies, "thank you bum bum".  I have no idea where he picked that up from but it is so hilarious.

2 - He is the definition of a momma's boy.  Anytime I leave the room or Tyler is holding him he yells for me and won't stop until I pick him up.  He loves to snuggle me and I love it.

3 - In the car while he is reading a book he constantly yells my name until I turn my head and then he points at the book he is reading and laughs.  He won't stop calling my name until I acknowledge him. It is adorable, but also super obnoxious.

4 - Every single present Cooper opened for Christmas this year was the best present in the world.  Even socks.  He was so excited.  

5 - He is a great sleeper, but a horrible eater.  Hopefully he will start eating more soon.  

Top 5 - November

Payton Millie - 4 Years 5 Months

1 - Tyler and I tried the Jimmy Kimmel challenge on Payton this year for Halloween and told her that we ate all of her candy.  She was sad for about 5 seconds and then turned to me and said "It's okay mommy I got to eat lots of candy already from my Preschool Halloween party."  Seriously!  She is such a sweetheart.

2 - Payton loves to collect things.  Rocks, torn up pieces of paper, sticks she finds out on walks, even dead bugs.  She doesn't take very good care of her toys, but for some reason these collections will always be kept safe.

3 - She came home from preschool one day telling me that she wants to have daddy help her go and hunt a turkey so we can kill it and eat it for Thanksgiving.  What?!?  

4 - We went to the farm and I forgot to bring a quarter to get food to feed the goats.  Payton is a problem solver.  She really wanted to feed the goats so she went over to the food machine and started picking up all of the corn that had fallen on the ground.  She did this for about 15 minutes.

5 - She is such a good helper around the house.  The other night she volunteered to wash the dishes (and there were a lot).  She worked hard until they were all done.  I am so lucky to have her as my oldest.

Cooper Seth - 19 Months

1 - This boy loves to play hard.  I love that whenever he falls down and scrapes his knee he stands right back up and gets back to playing like it never even happened.  He is a tough kid.

2 - This boy is obsessed with cows.  Whenever we go to the farm the cows are the first things that he visits.  I have to tear him away from the fence to go visit the other animals.  

3 - He just started learning how to pose and smile for the camera and he loves to say "cheese" and make the cheesiest face ever.

4 - This boy hangs out with older kids all the time and keeps up with them really well.  He always wants to do whatever the big kids are doing.  

5 - He is just barely starting to call me "mama" and it melts my heart every time.  He was pretty slowly to start using a lot of words, but he finally has turned a corner and he is becoming quite the talker.  

Top 5 - August

Payton Millie - 4 Years 2 Months

1 - Payton loved swimming this summer and as long as she is in her floaty she has no fear.  I tried to do my own version of swim lessons with her without her floaty on and people probably thought I was torturing my child.  When she is very afraid of something there is no way to rationalize with her.  So I gave up on that very quickly.  She has made such progress this summer so I am happy with that.  Next summer we will try again.

2 - We have a dog in our neighborhood that Payton loves to take on walks.  Even since she started doing that she asks me constantly for a pet.  She found a snail in my moms garden and brought it home.  She tortured the poor thing and spent hours in the backyard playing with it.  But it was the highlight of her summer.

3 - Payton got to spend 2 months straight with her cousins from Scotland and loved every second of it.  They both love super heroes and they persuaded Payton to step outside the box of princess land.  Payton asked to be Iron Man for Halloween!  It's fun to have a little change of scenery around here.  

4 - She has making friends down to a science.  Everywhere we go she has a best friend within 5 minutes.  One day she even gave me a 10 minute explanation of how she makes friends so fast.   

5 -  Payton mastered her balance bike this summer.  She loves to take it down steep hills and is awesome at balancing.  I think she is ready for a real bike.

Cooper Seth - 16 Months

1 - He finally learned to walk last month and he couldn't be prouder.  

2 - He is seriously the biggest cheese ball.  He laughs at everything.  Even when he just sees people laughing.  He laughs right along with us even though more than half the time he doesn't know why.  

3 - He takes the word HANGER to another level.  If we don't get him a banana to eat within 10 minutes of waking up he gets MAD.

4 - He loves to hide in our kitchen cupboards and play peek-a-boo.  He also loves playing hide and go seek.  Payton will hide and Cooper will be the first person to find her.  

5 - This boy is all about sticks, rocks and dirt.  He is not afraid to get dirty.  We went camping and within minutes he was covered head to toe in dirt. 

Top 5 - June 2016

Payton Millie

 4 Years

1 - Payton had her first birthday party with friends this year.  She was so excited to invite all of her friends and the day of the party she asked me every five minutes when it was going to be time to go the park for her party.

2 - Payton has cycled through 3 different names she wants to be called now instead of Payton.  First it was "Kissa" then "Kenna" and finally she has been set on "Lucy" for a week now.  Everywhere we go she tells them that is her name.  She is pretty adamant about it.

3 -   She finally LOVES swimming.  She will go in all by herself and swim around as long as she has a floaty.  But seriously....that is a HUGE accomplishment for her.  This summer will be a water filled summer for her.

4 - We took her to see The Little Mermaid musical on her birthday and during the Ursula song she told me to stand up and ask Ursula nicely to stop singing because she is singing mean things. 

5 - Payton is very lovable.  People seem to gravitate towards her.  She has an infectious energy and is very expressive.  When we went to her doctor's checkup, he spent 10 extra minutes just talking to her and asked me if it was okay if he took her on a tour of the office.  He wanted to show her off to his wife who was painting murals on the walls of the rooms.  I love seeing her be LOVED by so many people.

Cooper Seth

14 Months

1 - He has learned how to blow kisses and wave and it is the most adorable thing ever.  

2 - He can't say very many words but he sure is good at communicating what he wants.  All he needs is his finger to point and his cute grunting noise.   

3 - He can stand up all by himself now without climbing up on anything.  He has taken one step but I think it was on accident because it hasn't happened in a few days.  But he loves to walk everywhere as long as he is holding on to my finger.  Tyler thinks he won't walk until he is 16 months old, but I'm pretty sure it will be sooner.

4 - This boy is SILLY.  He loves to laugh and make people laugh (especially Payton).  

5 - He has a special love for anything animal.  100% of the time he will bring me any book with an animal to read him.  If I read him a truck book or car book or train book he shuts the book and gets off my lap to get an animal book.  

Top 5 - April 2016

Payton Millie

 3 Years 10 Months

1 - This girl LOVES to take pictures.  I always seem to "lose" my phone only to find it later with a ton of random new photos on it.  We went to the Tulip Festival and she took so many pictures.  I think I'm going to get her a small little digital camera for her birthday.

2- We bought Payton a balance bike for her for Christmas in 2014.  She didn't really take to it and for al long time only wanted to ride her scooter around, but this month she has risen her bike almost every sunny day we have had.  She is getting so fast and she lifts both feet up and can balance really well.  This seriously was the best invention ever.  No more training wheels fiasco....well hopefully.  

3 - I've got to be really careful with what songs are on the radio when we are driving in the car because she remembers EVERY word of the songs she hears.  

4 - Payton loves to draw pictures and she insists on using a pen.  Not crayons, not colored pencils but a pen.  She draws the most intricate pictures and she spends about 20 minutes on one picture.  She is definitely a perfectionist.  

5 - As of late Payton has started eating really really well.  She will choose a bowl of carrots over a fruit snack.  What?!?  She love to go over and "help" grandma with her garden.   More like eat grandma's garden.  She will pull out carrots and radishes and wipe them off so she can eat them right there.  She also pulls off leaves of her lettuce plants and just eats it plain.  She is my little vegetarian.  Cooper on the other hand.....

Cooper Seth

12 Months

1 - This boy can EAT.  But I can count on maybe two hands the things he will eat.  Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, toast, cheese, yogurt, peas, raspberries, blackberries, smoothies and chex cereal.   I sneak veggies in anything I can.  I even sneak avocados into his yogurt.

2 - Cooper has 4 teeth all the way in and 3 more on their way.  

3 - He loves to wave, clap his hands, splash in the tub, dance and point at EVERYTHING.  Anytime he gets upset or sad I know that as long as I start singing the wheels on the bus everything will be okay.  

4 - I can finally say confidently that he sleeps through the night.  It was 11 hard months of not sleeping, but now he sleeps like a champ.  He take two really good naps during the day and sleeps from 7:30-7:30 or 8.  It is glorious.

5 - While driving in the car Payton and Cooper think it is hilarious to scream back and forth at each other.  Unfortunately now Cooper does it randomly by himself.  Specifically at church.  During sacrament.  It's awesome. 

Top 5 - March 2016

Payton Millie

3 Years 9 Months

1 - Payton has been learning letters in preschool but it seems like the past month she recognizes them everywhere.  She points out all kinds of letters while we are reading or out and about and she even knows if they are uppercase or lowercase.

2 - We were taking Tyler to the airport the other night for a work trip and Payton was really sad that he was leaving.  She has this little dog named Maddy that she carries around everywhere and she told her dad that she didn't want him to be lonely while he was gone so she wanted him to take Maddy with him to keep him company.  She said that she was going to miss Maddy but that "daddy needs her more then she does".  It was the sweetest thing.  

3 - Payton gave her first talk in Primary this week and she did so well.  She was so proud of herself and I was pretty proud of her too.  Everyone in primary loves her.  She loves to talk and answer questions and tell stories.  I wonder how much dirty laundry of ours she airs to her class.  Yikes... 

4 - Payton has always loved princesses, but lately she has taken a special interest in super heroes.  I'm all about it.  She always wants me to tie a towel around her neck for her super cape and she rounds around the house "saving the day".

5 -  All of a sudden Payton can draw a picture and I can actually tell what it is without her explaining.  They are really good.  I have a feeling she is going to be very artistic.

Cooper Seth

11 Months

1 - This month he finally mastered drinking out of a sippy cup.  Thank heavens.  He officially stopped nursing this month on his own and loves water.  Even over juice.  No complaining here.  Payton was the opposite.  I had to mix a little juice with her water to get her to drink enough water.

2 - This kid finally loves to explore.  For the past two months between teething and countless bugs he has been attached to my hip, but now he is anything but that.  He loves to crawl, pull himself up on things and cruise around furniture.  He even can walk while pushing his little walk toy.  Poor kid spends most of his time following us around the house into one room just for us to leave to another room right when he catches up.  

3 - This boy loves to babble.  He doesn't really say any distinct words yet, but he likes to mimic what we say.  The other day I got him to roar like a lion. It was so cute.

4 - He loves balls.  He just learned how to throw the ball.  After every time he throws it he gets up on his knees and holds his hand up in the air like he is so proud.  It is my favorite thing.

5 - Cooper is obsessed with eating.  But unfortunately only a select few things: yogurt, anything with bread (toast, pb&j sandwiches, grilled cheese), cheese, peas, raspberries, blackberries,  oatmeal and buckwheat cereal,  smoothies (I sneak in all the veggies I can in there), chex cereal and those little dried yogurt snacks.  He eats every hour it seems.

Top 5 - February 2016

Payton Millie - 3 Years 8 Months

1 - Payton has SUCH a good memory.  A year ago Tyler took her to Disney on Ice and Payton was so excited the whole time to see Elsa and Anna.  She kept asking Tyler when they were going to come out.  They never did and to say she was devastated is an understatement.  Tyler told her that they couldn't come that night because they were sick.  Lol.  So this year they have Frozen on Ice and Tyler told Payton they were going to go again.  Payton responded by asking "Are Elsa and Anna going to be sick or will they be there this time?"  Are you kidding?  Not only was it a year ago but she was 2 then!  How does she remember that?

2 - The past month Payton has made a decision to test out the waters of defiance.  She has always been a very obedient girl (I got really lucky with her being my first and am in a rude awakening with the rest of my kids).  Although the past month it is like she has flipped a switch.  Maybe it is all the moving we have been doing and maybe it is just a phase (I really really hope so), but she says NO to everything.  I swear I hear the phrase "Mommy I want to make a bad choice right now" at least 20 times a day.  It is definitely testing my patience.

3 - Every time we get in the car to go somewhere Payton has her hands full of about 5 or more toys that she wants to bring with her.  It is such a process to get her down to just 2.  I feel like my car is a breeding zone for toys.

4 - Payton is so sweet.  Cooper was crying the other night while I was making dinner and after only a few minutes she went over to him and started singing him a song she made up on the spot about how she loves him and why he shouldn't cry anymore.  She kept hugging him and giving him kisses.  It melted my heart.  

5 - Everything turns into a pretend character that she plays pretend with.  Her chore in our house is to put the silverware away from the dishwasher and she used about 10 different knives/forks/spoons and had a whole conversation with them and was playing some sort of princess scenario with them.  Everything these days is princess.  I can't wait for Cooper to throw some less girly things in the mix at our house.

Cooper Seth - 10 Months

1- We finally found Cooper's ticklish spot.  If you tickle him right on his lower tummy around his sides he starts giggling like crazy and squirming.  

2 -  He loves his thumb a little too much.  A few months ago I remember whenever I would bring him into his room from nap time or bed time the thumb would automatically go in his mouth.  That doesn't happen anymore because it is ALWAYS in his mouth.  Even in between shoving food into his mouth.  It is going to be a serious problem when he gets older...but right now I don't care because it is so dang cute.

3 - He has become a MOMMA's boy for sure.  Whenever I am not home and Tyler is watching the kids Tyler says that he is so happy and crawls around and plays, but the second I get home and he hears my voice he starts crying and crawls over to my feet for me to pick him up.  

4 - His two new skills that he is really proud of is clapping and pointing.  Sometimes I have no idea what he is pointing at but he will sit there and point and babble to himself.  

5 - He still wears 3-6 month shoes and his feet don't seem to be growing anytime soon. 

Top 5 - January 2016

Payton Millie

3 Years 7 Months

1 - Payton gave up naps when she turned 2.  It was a few weeks of hit or miss napping, but within a month she gave them up completely.  The past 2 months Payton has been sick 3 times and has spent a lot of the past two months like the picture above (which NEVER happens).  She also takes a good 2-3 hour nap every day.  It breaks my heart to see her so sick.

2 - She started primary this month as a sunbeam and after her first day her teacher told me that she volunteered to give a prayer in sharing time and do a lesson for the next week even though her class obviously wasn't assigned.  Haha....that's my daughter.  

3 - Payton absolutely LOVES the snow.  Last year it only snowed twice and hardly stuck, so this year she is in heaven.  She spends more time eating the snow then playing in it.  I actually had to tell her 3 times not to eat the snow off the bottom of her shoes.  Crazy girl.

4 - Whenever Cooper starts crying Payton all on her own starts singing him a song and he immediately stops crying.  It is the cutest thing.

5 - I probably sound like a horrible mom but Payton has absolutely NO pain tolerance.  She full on cries every time I brush her hair and every time she falls down.  It has been trying my patience the past few weeks because she has been full on sick and if she full on cries when I brush her hair you can only imagine her when she is in a lot of pain and feeling miserable.   

Cooper Seth

9 Months

1 - We officially have a crawler.  And he is so proud of himself.  I forgot how tiring it is to have a mobile baby.  I am really glad he didn't start crawling at 6 months like Payton did.

2 - Whenever someone laughs and Cooper is in the room he does this little fake laugh right after.  It is my favorite.

3 - We thought that he finally slept through the night but apparently he was just teasing us.  I feel like we have a newborn again (for about a month now).  I am really hoping it is the fact that he has been sick and he is in a new room.  

4 - Whenever I start walking Cooper down to his room for his nap he immediately puts his little thumb in his mouth and snuggles up to my chest.  I seriously love it.  Payton never snuggled as a baby so I am enjoying it while it lasts.

5 - If I am feeding Cooper something with a spoon he insists on grabbing the spoon and feeding himself.  If I take it away from him he FREAKS.

Top 5 - November 2015

Payton Millie

3 Years 5 Months

1 - Payton has been asking me a lot of questions about Heavenly Father and heaven.  It is really fun to teach her what I believe and share my testimony with her.  We were driving to preschool one day and she said "Mommy I think Heavenly Father is magic because he knows how to turn the sky on and off."  I would have to agree with her.

2 - Payton LOVES to jump.  She throws all of the pillows off our couch and runs on the couch and jumps off onto the pillows.  Since we are moving we have boxes stacked up high in almost every room.  She has been climbing up to the top and jumping off onto a beanbag for hours on end.  It's been great entertainment for her while we are busy packing.  

3 - Payton has made it her job to entertain Cooper and I love it.  She loves to be silly and make him laugh.  Nothing is better then watching them interact with each other.

4 - She has always been amazing at bedtime and going to bed quickly without our help, but she is definitely pushing her limits lately.  She probably comes out 10 times once we have put her to bed asking for water, another hug and kiss, saying she has a scratch and needs a bandaid, has to go to the bathroom, etc.  

5 - She has learned to write her name and is getting really good at it.  The only letter she needs help with is the "y".

Cooper Seth

7 Months

1 - Cooper is mobile now.  He isn't quite crawling but he army crawls on his elbows and stomach.  He can manage to get anywhere.  Perfect timing while we are packing...

2 - Cooper has cut his first tooth and he loves to chew on EVERYTHING.

3 - He loves to play with anything that isn't one of his toys.  His sisters toys, bowls, hangers, boxes, empty plastic water bottles, even trash.  But the second I put one of his toys in front of him (even a new one he hasn't seen in a while) he doesn't touch it.  

4 - He loves to sleep all cuddled up in a blanket.  He wraps it all the way around him while he is napping.  

5 - We have discovered that he does not sleep well unless he is in his own crib.  We had a couple of nights away from home this month and he woke up 3-4 times when usually he sleeps through the night.  When he is in his crib though he sleeps so well!

Top 5 - October 2015

Payton Millie

3 Years 4 Months

1 - She LOVES to color lately.  I know most kids this age do but for the past 6 months or so she showed no interest what so ever and now all of a sudden she asks to color everyday.  She is really good at it too.  She colors general areas of the picture and only gets a little out of the lines.  I don't know if that is common for her age but it surprised me.

2 - She is very musical.  She loves to sing and lately she likes to make up her own words to familiar tunes.  For a 3 year old they actually are very creative.  Whenever we go to my parents house she wants to play the piano and she plays songs (not just pounds on it) and sings her own words.  It is so cute.

3 -  She is so excited for Halloween.  For a good two weeks solid she said she wanted to be a doctor for Halloween.  I was so excited because I thought for sure she would want to be a princess.  But I made the mistake of taking her to get the costume with me and then of course any princess trumped doctor.  So she is Ariel this year.  The other day she asked me if she could be three costumes all at once.  Ariel, a spider and a fence?  Where did she come up with a fence.  Funny girl.

4 - She got really sick this past week.  Sicker then she has ever  been.  The past 2 times she has been sick I was lucky if I could get her to take a nap.  If you know Payton you know she never sits still.  She is constantly on the go.   She has taken 2 naps almost every day this week and she asked to take them.  Poor girl.

5 - My absolute favorite thing since Preschool has started is that everyday when I pick her up she says "Mommy I missed you so much at preschool!"  I just love it. 

Cooper Seth

6 Months

1- He can sit up now and he is so proud of himself for it.

2 - He finally sleeps through the night.  Hallelujah.  He sleeps from 7-6 and then I feed him and he goes back to bed until 8:30.  It is glorious!

3  - He was not interested in eating purees when I first gave them to him around 5 months old.   When he turned 6 months and still wanted nothing to do with them I tried an alternative route.  I just gave him big chunks of food that we were eating.  He loved it.  His favorites are softened apples, sweet potato fries, cucumbers, avocado, pears and bananas.  So far he has only not been interested in broccoli and steamed carrots.  He LOVES to eat now.  And the nice thing is that at dinner time I get to eat too and not spend the whole time at dinner spoon feeding him.

4 -  He is such a happy and relaxed baby.  I feel so blessed to have him as my second child.  Especially the past week when Payton has been sick.  He is completely content playing independently while I have been taking care of P.

5 -After he is done eating he starts putting the extra food in his mouth and gumming it and then spitting it out.  He thinks it is the funniest thing ever.  Me not so much. 

Top 5 - September 2015

Payton Millie

3 Years 3 Months

1 - Payton started preschool this month and she absolutely LOVES it.  She gets so excited on the days she gets to go and talks non-stop about it.  The very first day she came home and told me that Miss Connie taught her how to raise her hand when she wants to talk.  I have been trying to teach her how to not interrupt for months now and bless Miss Connie's heart for teaching her in one day.  She now raises her hand all the time when Tyler and I are talking and she wants to interrupt.  It is so cute.

2 - She just learned how to spell her name and she continually tells me that she wants to spell her name with two P's.  She tells me that her name is spelt P-P-A-Y-T-O-N.  

3 - She loves to dance.  Particularly "ballerina dancing".  She puts on her tutu and has me put on ballerina music and she starts twirling and turning and skipping.  She actually is quite graceful about it.  It is probably my favorite thing to watch her do lately.

4 - She is the sweetest girl and tries really hard to be friends with everyone.  I was watching her interact with a girl she had just met (without her seeing me) and the girl was telling her that she didn't have a mom or a brother after Payton had told her that she did.  The girl then began to yell at her that she didn't have a mom.  She was quite rude and the mom in me wanted to go in and deal with it myself but I just sat back and watched.  Payton folded her arms and scowled and walked away.  Later that day she was telling me about this situation that I actually already knew about and she told me that she made a bad choice and was mean to the girl.  She thought that scowling and walking away was mean.  Bless her sweet heart.  I love that girl.

5 - She is so inquisitive.  I swear she asks "Why?" fifty times a day.  I realized the past few weeks that  explaining the reasons behind everyday things in life is quite difficult.  She is putting my knowledge to the test.  I was showing her all the different colors in the leaves and ended up giving her a complete rundown on all the seasons and what happens in each season.  She loves to learn.

Cooper Seth

5 Months

1 - This boy is always happy.  He is very relaxed and easy going.  I feel really lucky having him as my second baby because Payton has been needing a lot of attention lately and he doesn't seem to mind.

2 - He decided to stop sleeping well again and consistently wakes up 2-4 times a night.  Especially the last few weeks since I'm pretty sure he hit his 6 month growth spurt a little early.

3 - I started to feed him solids and he HATES anything that isn't milk.  I've tried rice cereal, bananas (who doesn't like bananas), butternut squash, apples and carrots and he spits everything out.  I hope he starts eating solids soon.  We'll see...

4 - He discovered how to make the zerber sound (is that what it's called?) and he does it ALL THE TIME.  Payton thinks it's hilarious.

5 - He is a tummy sleeper.  No matter what I do he always ends up on his stomach.  He sleeps so much longer during the day and at night since we discovered this.

Top 5 - August 2015

Payton Millie

3 Years 2 Months

1- This girl finally got over her fear of water.  Usually I try to be right by her and help her in and distract her from her fears, but lately I've taken a stand off approach and that seemed to do it.  I should have known because she only likes doing things if they are her idea.  

2 - She is starting to understand the concept of time now.  She always asks me "Can I do it now or in 5 minutes or in 20 minutes?"  Apparently those are the only increments of time she knows though.  The other day I told her that we could play with play dough for 10 more minutes and she immediately said "No mom, how about for 5 minutes?"  For some reason it always has to be 5 minutes.

3 - Payton starts preschool at the end of this month and she couldn't be more EXCITED.  She has this obsession with school buses and she always asks me if she can ride one.  A year ago before preschool was even talked about, I told her that she gets to ride one when she is 5 and goes to school.  Last month when I told her that she gets to start school soon she said, "No mom I don't get to go to school until I'm 5.  I'm only 3 mom."  I stand corrected.  This girl remember EVERY LITTLE DETAIL.

4 - She is the most thoughtful, caring person.  She is always gravely concerned when anyone is injured or hurt.  Not only that but one morning when I woke up I noticed that she had gone to the bathroom all by herself and forgot to flush (which she never does).  I went in her room and she was wide awake playing with some toys on her bed.  I asked her when she went to the bathroom and she said "I went this morning when I woke up all by myself.  And mom I didn't flush so that you wouldn't wake up!"  Are you serious?!? How did I get this lucky?  She is seriously so sweet and considerate.   

5 - Just this past month she has developed a love for dancing.  Especially her "ballerina dancing".  She puts on a big tutu and asks me to turn on ballerina music and she will dance all day long.  She is actually very graceful and it is my favorite thing to watch.  

Cooper Seth

4 Months

1 - Cooper officially mastered rolling over.  He can roll over both ways and he sure does it quick.  

2 - The day he mastered rolling over was also the glorious night that he slept through the entire night. Not only that but it has been a week now of continuous sleep that I thought would never come. It is GLORIOUS.

3 - He is not conservative with giving out smiles, but it is really hard to get him to laugh.  I have been able to do it twice now in the past month and it was HARD.  But it was so worth the effort.  His laugh is so adorable.

4 - This kid LOVES his feet.  He loves to grab his feet.  But he especially loves to suck on his feet.  If he is on his back, those feet are in his mouth.

5 - He doesn't cry a lot, but if I try to feed him when he isn't hungry it is the end of the world.  Sometimes he will go 4-5 hours without eating so I try to feed him thinking he must be hungry, but he will not eat unless he is ready.  

Top 5 - July 2015

Payton Millie 

3 Years 1 Month

1 - This girl is FINALLY 100% potty trained.  She has been mostly potty trained since February but for a while would have to be reminded to go or she would have an accident.  She hasn't had an accident in a month now and always tells us when she has to go.  One time I asked her to just try even though she told me multiple times she didn't have to go.  She turned to me holding her hand up to my mouth and said very dramatically "Mom I don't have to go, I DON'T have a feeling in my tummy."

2 - She is so silly these days.  She will randomly burst into her crazy dancing and flail her arms and legs everywhere.  She loves to make up funny words and then turn to us and say "I'm so funny huh?"

3 - She recently begs me multiple times a day to play house so that she can be the baby.  She wants me to pretend to feed her, burp her, swaddle her and put her to sleep in Cooper's crib.   

4 - Payton has finally taken to Cooper.  It is so precious to me when I see them interact.  She asks to rock him to sleep for his naps and she sings him Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  She also loves to help me change his diapers.  I hope that lasts for a long time.

5 - She used to be the best sleeper.  Going to bed was never a problem, but now all of a sudden it is like pulling teeth just to get this girl in her pajamas let alone everything else that comes with the whole bedtime routine.  

Cooper Seth

3 Months

1 - This boy loves to coo, but he always makes this hilarious noise that sounds like a dinosaur.  It is pretty cute.

2 - He is always hot and his feet are constantly sweating.

3 - He loves to blow bubbles and boy does he like to drool. 

4 - He decided to trick me into thinking he is a good sleeper.  He was sleeping through the night for 3 days in a row and before that would sleep from 8-4 and then wake to eat and would fall back asleep until 8 or 9.  The past few weeks he has been waking up 3-5 times a night.  I seriously want to pull my hair out.  Good thing he's so cute.

5 - He started grabbing at toys and blankets and hair and really anything he can get his little hands on.

Top 5 - June 2015

Payton Millie

3 years

1 - Payton turned 3 this month. When did that happen? She is the sweetest and most sympathetic girl. Anytime anybody gets hurt or anyone is sad she is gravely concerned. She always wants to play doctor and put neosporn and band aids on anything including all of her animals and dolls. 

2 - She is really into singing lately. Not one song in particular. Actually she basically just talks in song. She narrates everything she is doing in song. It is pretty hilarious. The other day she sang "I am singing and making music and singing in the car with my blankey in my lap!"  It cracked me up. She reminds me of Will Ferrel from elf when he sings a Christmas gram in his dad's office. 

3 - My all time favorite thing is that out of nowhere she will say "Mom, I love you this much" and hold her arms out as wide as she can. Then she will say "Show me how you love me" and I will do the same to which she responds "that's a looot..."  It melts my heart. 

4 - I don't know if you have heard of Magic clip dolls, but they are Payton's favorite toys. She takes at least two of them with her everywhere she goes. She is really creative these days and is always laying pretend with them and making them talk. Any long car ride I make sure she has them because they keep her very entertained. One time we forgot them and as I was driving I heard her in the back seat having a pretend conversation with someone. I look back there and she has her two hands in a fist and is making her hands talk to each other like they are her dolls. Who needs toys when you have your hands? 

5 - A few weeks after Cooper was born we asked her how much she loved him. She held out her thumb and pointer finger about an inch apart and said this much. Then said, "but I love you and daddy this much" while stretching her arms out wide. That worried me a little but I thought it was probably normal. The other week out of nowhere she looked at me and said "Mommy I love Cooper this much now" and stretched her arms out wide. So cute. 

Cooper Seth 

2 months

1 - He loves smiling these days. All I have to do to get him to smile is get close to his face and use my annoying baby voice and that kid is one happy baby. 

2 - He is cooing and talking like crazy. It is my favorite thing in the world. I try to capture it on camera but every time I try to record him he stops talking and looking at me and stares at my phone in awe. 

3 - The first month he literally cried 75% of the day. It was so hard. But at month two it was like a switch was flipped. He is so chill and calm lately and I love it. We went to seven peaks this weekend and he fell asleep in my lap in the wave pool for a good hour.

4 - I feel like I am going to jinx myself but he has slept through the night a solid 6-8 hours straight the past week. I hope it continues. 

5 - He has discovered his hands. He doesn't quite have the dexterity to suck just his thumb or just one finger but he does find a way to shove his whole fist in his mouth. It's pretty amusing. 

Top 5 - May 2015

Payton Millie 

2 years 11 months

1 - She is EVERYTHING girl.  I literally have to trick her somedays into wearing pants and only because she doesn't own enough dresses.  From here on out I am only buying her dresses.  She is always talking about princesses, playing with princesses, singing princess songs.  She is obsessed with putting makeup on and always joins me in the bathroom while I am getting ready.  I occasionally put eyeshadow on her (which she calls sparkly stuff) and lip gloss (which she calls lip stuff).  One evening it got really quiet and Ty and I noticed that Payton disappeared.  We found her in the bathroom putting on my lipstick ALL over her face.  

2 - This girl LOVES to talk.  From sun up to sun down she will chat my ears off - or anyone that will let her for that matter.  She is very inquisitive and creative and is always telling us stories about anything and everything.  We recently took a road trip to St. George and the last 15 minutes we decided to tell her about the "quiet game".  She didn't buy it.  This is a video (it's dark so it's really only audio) of her about 2 minutes after we suggested that game.  

3 - Anytime we get together with friends and their kids Payton always spends her time talking to the adults (particularly all the men).  Even though in the next room all the kids are playing and having fun, she insists on telling all the guys about everything that happened to her that day and anything else she can think of telling them.  It is pretty dang adorable.  Luckily, the guys are smitten by her cute little voice and love it.  

4 - The first few weeks of bringing Cooper home from the hospital she was smitten by him.  She was so worried when he cried and helped put his binkie back in his mouth when it fell out.  Lately though she has started to realize that the world doesn't revolve around only her anymore and she is not happy about it.  When I am feeding Cooper and she wants me to do something with her but I can't, she just looks at me and grunts and walks away.  She is constantly doing that little grunt, immediately followed by the phrase "Mom I'm frustrated!"  It is pretty dang cute and it is hard not to laugh when she does it.

5 - She is a very sweet girl, but also very stubborn.  If I suggest something for her to do or something I want her to do to help out there is a specific way I have learned to go about it.  If I ask her to eat her carrots or clean up her toys or help throw away a poopy diaper she usually first says no.  Then I say "Okay you don't have to." to which about 90% of the time she replies "Okay I want to."  It is the weirdest thing but I'm not complaining.  I LOVE it.  

Cooper Seth

1 month

1 - He is freakishly tall.  He is 54% in weight, but 98% in height.  His 3 month old pajamas aren't tight on him, but they fall off his shoulders so I had to buy him 6 month old pajamas when he was 6 weeks old.  

2 - He is our little turtle.  Whenever he gets burped he stretches out his little neck and rounds his lips like the picture above and sticks out his tongue.  It is the cutest thing ever.

3 - He loves sleeping in his carseat.  The second we get in the car he is out.  Even if he just woke up from a nap 5 minutes earlier.

4 - He hates tummy time.  I guess every baby does.  He hates it so much that he already figured out how to roll over from his tummy to his back.

5 - He is very curious and interested in Payton.  Anytime he hears her voice he looks around until he sees her.  It is really cute.  He is always staring at her.