Same Room

Last night was the first night that Maylee and Dutch slept in their bedroom together. (I keep wanting to just say Dutch's room, but it's now both of their room, so I'm trying to say it that way.) They did very well. Maylee woke up at 1:00 to eat but she didn't wake up Dutch, so it was perfect. However, she did wake up again at 5:00 to eat, it woke Dutch up that time and David was already up for school and taking a shower, so needless to say neither one of them went back to bed. So we all got to get a very early start on our day. Except the kids each took two naps today and I didn't get any, oh well.

Here are some more pictures. We took these ones after she had a nap and was in a much better mood. They turned out better than I could have ever hoped for.

Maylee's Six Month Photos

So my mom took Maylee's six month photos today. She did such a great job and she got great pictures which really surprised me because Maylee was crying and upset the entire time. It just goes to show you what a great photographer my mom is. Are those not the cutest pictures ever? I just love how they turned out. The last photo is how she was behaving the entire time, she wasn't in a good mood, but who is when they wake up at 5:00 in the morning.

If any of you want some cute photos check out my mom's website... www.cjcarrollphotographs.com

Maylee is so funny. While I was making the post on Wednesday about how she only sits up if she supports herself, she started sitting up without using her hands. She did it a couple of times that day and then on Thursday she was sitting up completely unsupported all day long. And now she hardly lays on her stomach because there is no need to since she can sit up all by herself. She hardly ever falls over and if she does she usually catches herself before she hits the ground. It's almost as if I say she can't do something, she is quick to prove me wrong. But now that she can sit up, Dutch thinks of her as a little target that he needs to push over. So now he is running up to her and putting his hands on her chest and pushing her back, then she hits her head really hard. Which is very frustrating to me because I can't seem to get it through to Dutch that he needs to be nice to her. I know he loves her, he just also loves to pester her. But she's survived this long, so hopefully she'll continue to do so.

Dutch is doing so well in his big boy bed. The second night he slept in it he got up once and ever since then he hasn't gotten up at all. We put him to bed and then he wakes up in the morning, we don't have to fight him at all to stay in there. He's such a good boy. But the cutest thing ever that he just started doing is.... he has a little stuffed monkey and he'll hold his monkey like a baby and say, "Night Night" and then take the monkey into his room and he puts it in his bed and then comes out. It is so cute. And then today he sat up at the kitchen table all by himself, he wasn't even eating, he had no food, it was just him and a little toy bee, anyways him and his bee are sitting at the table and he would bow his head and then say, "Amen", he did it like three times in a row. Which melts my heart to know that he is understanding the whole prayer thing.

Half a year old

Maylee reached her sixth month mark on Sunday. She had her 6 month well check today. I can't believe she is already getting to be so big. Her stats are:

• Weight: 14lbs 6oz... 18 percentile
• Height: 25 and 1/4 inches long.... 39 percentile
• Head: 43 centimeters... 66 percentile

So she is just a little peanut with a slightly bigger head. She is such a fun baby and I am so grateful to have her as part of our family. Her doctor did say that she is extremely advanced in her mobility. She has been rolling and scooting since four months, and she started army crawling a few weeks ago. She is now getting up on her hands a knees to crawl more, although she still hasn't really mastered it, she only goes forward about two paces and then she's down and then up again. But a few days ago she will go from her hands and knees to a sitting position. She sits up all by herself, she still supports herself with one hand but she's doing it, she can sit unsupported if I put her in the sitting position. Her and Dutch are already getting into little fits with each other. If Maylee has something Dutch is quick to steal it from her and then she just sobs and sobs. And if Dutch is laying on the floor playing Maylee always crawls to him and grabs at him which makes him so mad sometimes. The other day my mom was over here and she put Maylee her her pack in play, which we hadn't lowered yet, anyways we were watching her from short distance away, when all of the sudden she sat up, grabbed the side of the pack in play and pulled her self up and almost over the side. We lowered the bed that night so she couldn't pull herself out of it. She is a pretty happy baby, however she is a bit of a momma's girl and tends to cry if somebody else tries to hold her, which I don't mind at all that she's a mommas girl, Dutch is such a Daddy's boy that I wanted one to myself. She quit taking a pacifier or a bottle a couple of months ago. She now sucks her thumb, which is pretty cute right now, but I'm not going to like if she it's a habit that she keeps until she's three or four. Anyways she is such a joy in our lives and I am so happy to have her. I love her so much. I was trying to get a good picture of her but she doesn't cooperate very well, she doesn't believe in being still.

Big Boy Bed and Bath time

Dutch slept in his big boy bed for the very first time last night. The bed is almost completely finished being built it just needed the drawer fronts on it and then it will be done. But it is taking up so much space in the garage that David finally just brought it into the house yesterday and said we can just finish it in there. (Which gives us a lot more incentive to get it done). Well Dutch was so excited to have a big boy bed in his room. He played on it all day long yesterday, he thought it was pretty cool. But when bed time rolled around he didn't like it very much anymore. I think that it scared him to be sleeping in something different all by himself. We put him to bed like we do every night but he cried and cried and cried in there. So I finally went and laid down with him and then he was fine but I wanted to leave before he fell asleep that way he knew it was ok to be in there by himself. After I left he got up a total of three times that we had to put him back in there but after the third time he feel asleep, it only took like 20 minutes so not bad at all. But then he woke up at 1am and came into our room. So David just let him sleep with us. We are going to have to put a stop to that. I think I'll just lay down with him in his bed in the middle of the night if he keeps waking up. Now I am really excited to make him a little quilt for his bed. I have been going through all of my old pottery barn magazines trying to find the quilt that I want to make, I think I know how I want to do it but I'm not sure yet. But I sure am excited to make him one. My goal right now is to get Dutch sleeping in his big boy bed every night and then we will move Maylee in there. I want to wait at least a week or two to move Maylee in there because I don't want Dutch to feel like Maylee is stealing his crib. So hopefully by the end of this month they will both being sleeping in there together. But now I really want to redo their bedroom, I want to some how make it look like a girl room and a boy room not just one or the other. Right now it looks totally boy, so I've got to work on that. I'll post another picture of the bed when it's all done. Dutch always wants to be doing want ever Maylee is doing. Especially when she is taking a bath. He loves to take a bath and he doesn't find it fair at all that she should be able to take a bath with out him. So today I let him get in the tub with her. He loved helping me wash her. He got his own washcloth and kept helping me as I was washing her. It was really cute.

Knoll Lake

This past weekend David and I took the kids camping up at Knoll Lake for a little family trip. It was our first family trip that we have taken since we have had the kids and we had such an enjoyable time. David's Dad gave us the good idea to go up to Knoll Lake. Neither one of us had ever heard of it but we thought it would be fun to try something new. It is about 45 minutes north of Payson and it is gorgeous. We left Friday around one o'clock and headed out of town. Now I knew the car rides would probably be pretty miserable because Maylee absolutely hates her car seat and she didn't let me down in this way of thinking. She pretty much screamed the entire way there. David and I kept joking about how she wonderful it is to have Maylee to keep us company and to sing for us, joking about it was the only way for us to stay sane. Since we have never been to Knoll Lake neither of us knew how far we had to go and where our journey would finally end. So we were started to get really edgy from all the screaming when finally we hit the turn off to Knoll Lake. We had to take a dirt road for 29 miles through the forest until we came to the camp grounds. Once we pulled off the highway onto the dirt road, I pulled Dutch and Maylee out of their seats and they got to sit on our laps for the rest of the trip. Dutch loved it. The weather was beautiful so we had the windows rolled down. Dutch was like a little puppy, he kept going back and fourth between our laps and putting his head and arms out the window, it was so cute. Once we finally made it to the campgrounds, David got the tent set up and Maylee was finally able to get down on the ground and play, which is her favorite thing to do. The only thing I forgot to bring was a warm jacket for Maylee, so she wore Dutch's pajama top when it was cold. I'm sure the other campers thought we had two little boys. Here's Maylee enjoying herself in the tent. When we first got to camp, Dutch wasn't really sure what to think. He wasn't sure what to think about the whole camping thing on Friday night. He kind of just stuck close to us and just hung out around the picnic table. He really enjoyed eating smores though. And he really wasn't very excited about sleeping on the ground. He had to lay on Davids chest until he fell asleep. The next morning he decided he enjoyed camping after all. He loved taking a walk through the forest and playing in the dirt. We didn't do much on Saturday. It was really just a very relaxing little day. The kids woke up bright and early, which I am sure the other campers weren't very thrilled. Dutch tends to wake up really crabby, so at 6am, he was up and crying for awhile. But once he got past that we just hung out around the campground for a little bit and let Dutch play. Here's Dutch driving his matchbox car around the picnic table. That kid always has a car with him, he's obsessed. Maylee and I Dutch eating breakfast... Here's the only picture we got of the four of us on our trip... And Maylee and I again... And then we decided to find the lake. The campgrounds aren't around the lake which I thought they would be. But they are only about a 10 minute walk or a 2 minute car ride away. So we packed up and headed to the Lake. The Lake was so beautiful. We were a little disappointed to find out that it isn't a swimming lake, it's really cold and they load it with trout for people to fish. But you can take boats or canoes out on it. I would love to take a canoe up there and explore the lake. The lake is also a lot bigger then what I thought it would be. You can't even see the whole lake from the parking lot because it divides and goes back into the forest. So maybe one day when we have a vehicle big enough to take a canoe there, we'll go back. Daddy and Dutch playing by the Lake... Mommy and Maylee.... After hanging out at the lake for a little bit we decided to start heading back since the kids were getting ready for naps. We were hoping they would sleep for the trip home, no such luck. We took our time coming out of the forest and we went a different way so we could make some other stops on the way out. Again we didn't' strap the kids in their car seats while we were on forest roads only going about 25 miles an hour. We took Maylee's seat out and let Dutch play in the back while we drove. He thought we was the coolest thing ever, being able to play back there. And it's amazing how big the car looks when Dutch can stand up back there and not hit the roof with his head and run on the seat. For awhile on the way out Maylee fell asleep so we laid her on her tummy on the back seat and she slept so good. The reason she hates her seat, and doesn't' sleep in the car is because she hates to be on her back, so she did get a little nap in before Dutch decided he wanted to lay with her back there. Here's Maylee sleeping... Dutch waking Maylee up.... Dutch playing in the back... When we were loading up the car we put Dutch and Maylee on the front seats to play. I told David that this is how it's going to be in 15 years when Dutch has his license and they start driving everywhere. On the way out we came to east Clear Creek and we got out to stretch our legs and let the kids have a break. There were a bunch of people there catching crawdads, they said they were trying to catch a total of 5000 and then they were going to eat them for dinner, gross. So David and I sat in one little spot and let Dutch throw rocks in the water and we protected those crawdads from being boiled to death. Right before we hit the main highway and had to put the kids back into their car seats we pulled over and had a picnic. Again hoping that they would sleep with full bellies. It kind of backfired though, Dutch thought that a picnic was for running around and exploring not for eating. But he sure had a good time playing, which did tire him out for the first 45 minutes of the drive back. The drive back was pretty miserable. Maylee screamed the entire way home. Finally when we made it to the 101 we pulled over so I could nurse her, only to find out she had a very full poopy diaper. That made me feel really bad to realized she had been sitting in that. So we got her cleaned up and feed and then she had to go back into her seat, oh she did not like that. Her screaming got louder and then Dutch got in on the action. We were only about 20 minutes from home and it seemed like the kids were trying to see who could cry and scream the loudest. I finally just started laughing so hard. It was just one of those times where you either need to laugh or cry and I just started laughing. Which made David start laughing. So the kids are screaming and we were laughing. But we finally made it home and the kids got to get out of the seats and be set free again. Here are just a few more pictures from our trip.

Happenings...

David and I have started running. I really would like to get good at running and be able to run in a marathon and David enjoys running over most workouts, so it is the perfect solution for us. Right now we are going when he gets off work at about 5 or 6 and it is so so hot. And since we take the kids with us, we each get to push a stroller. We put the kids in just their diapers and take a squirt bottle to spray them so they won't get overheated. We are slow and not in great shape for running. And even through I am doing P90X, I am not in running shape. Its weight lifting and not cardio and boy do I realize that when I am running. Right now we are only running 2.6 miles. Not very far I know but we got to start somewhere, right? But we really enjoy our runs together, so hopefully we will keep it up. Dutch loves playing in our backyard, especially when Daddy is home from work to play with him. So we spend time every evening playing outside. Maylee is finally getting big enough to start being able to enjoy the fun toys out there. She is now big enough to sit in the swing, well she's still really tiny in it so we only push her just a little. And I put her in the wagon yesterday, she can't sit up very well but the straps hold her up, so now she can ride with Dutch. It's so stinking cute.

24 years and a lot more to come

I have seen this done on a couple of blogs. Some people have done this for their birthdays and others just for fun, they wrote 100 random things about themselves and I thought it was just so cute, so I put the idea in the back of my mind so I could remember to do that for myself when my birthday rolled around. Well today is the day, so I'm going to share 100 random things about myself. So here goes... Happy Birthday to me.

1. I don't like to paint my toes a color, I like having a French pedicure but not the whole nail colored.
2. Driving terrifies me
3. I memorized the Proclamation to the World when I was 18
4. I've never had a cavity (knock on wood)
5. I love cook books, I collect cook books, but I am not very good at cooking so therefore I don't really like to cook
6. I am obsessed with hands. I have never really liked my hands but I absolutely love watching other peoples hands. I can pretty much remember ever person who was significant in my life, what their hands looked like.
7. I hate to carry purses
8. If I am walking next to a person I have to walk on their left side, I can Not walk on the right, it feels really funny and I just can't do it.
9. I've had four pet chickens in my life, one I raised from an egg and it lived in my house with me
10. My favorite thing to order at a restaurant is a salad and it's not because I am trying to eat healthy but I truly love salads yet I hardly ever eat them because I only think they taste really good when someone else makes them
11. I don't like to stay up late, I would rather go to bed early and wake up early, David and I are exact opposite on this
12. I hate ketchup, the smell of it makes me nauseous and if it gets on my hands it makes me freak out
13. I love musicals, especially going to plays like at Tuacahn
14. I am not very good at talking on the phone, I wish I where better but since I am not I don't keep in touch with friends like I would like to
15. I love to vacuum, I vacuum everyday sometimes more than once, I love vacuum lines and once I vacuum a room I just hate to have to walk in there and make a foot print on my lines
16. I hated high school
17. I loved college
18. I love to have a clean fridge, it drives me crazy when it's disorganized
19. I hate souvenirs, I think they're a huge waste of money, pictures are the best memories
20. I love camping, I would go every month but sadly David doesn't get into it as much as I do
21. I love hiking
22. I want to be the best of friends with all my sister-in-laws
23. I hate having piles of paper and clutter laying around, it stresses me out
24. I love taking hot, burn your skin hot, showers
25. I worry a lot about what other people think about me
26. I love step aerobics
27. My family are my favorite people to be with
28. I have never lived out of Arizona
29. I am terribly shy in a big group of people, I can't even answer a question in Relief Society because I feel so intimated, I've heard that I come across as snobby because I don't talk to people but it's really because I am so horribly shy
30. I fear of dying young and not being able to raise my children
31. My sister Stormy is one of my most favorite people in the whole world, I love being around her
32. My favorite holiday has always been Thanksgiving b/c that is when all our extended family gets together and I can't think of a better way to spend my time than with family
33. I use about 3 washcloths in my kitchen in one day, I believe a washcloth should only be used 2 or 3 times before you get another one
34. I think my parents are the greatest people and truly feel blessed to have been born into their family
35. I am a very paranoid person
36. I am constantly picking my kids noses or wax out of their ears, it drives them crazy
37. I am probably the easiest person to surprise, I never suspect anything
38. I love having long hair
39. I love watching our old family home videos from when I was a little girl
40. I hate ironing, I hate wrinkle clothes but I hate ironing more than I hate wrinkled clothes
41. I love to brush my teeth and I usually brush about 3 to 5 times a day
42. I like to have things organized but I never know where to start so I always put it off
43. For the first time in my life I can truly say that I am happy with my body and for those of you who really know me will know what a big deal that is
44. I don't like to drink out of glass cups, I prefer plastic
45. The first year of my marriage was the hardest year of my life
46. I feel the same way about bath towels as I do about washcloths, they should only be used two maybe three times, that is why I have 26 towels for just David and I and I usually wash two loads of towels a week
47. I prefer summer clothes over winter clothes. I know everyone always says that they love winter clothes where they can wear layers and cute sweaters. Not me I love shorts and flip flops and swimming suits.
48. I love to ski
49. Nectarines are my favorite fruit
50. I haven't eaten chocolate or had a soda in eight years
51. Digital cameras make me sad because you never get to see anybody else's pictures any more. I loved how with film camera when any one who would get a roll developed everyone was always so excited and we would all sit around and look at the whole roll
52. I will not watch a scary movie, I don't see any reason in making myself scared
53. I want to have a Golden Doodle one day
54. I love getting TV episodes on DVD and watching the whole series
55. My favorite color has always been blue, in high school my bedroom was painted blue and now that I have my own house my bedroom is still painted blue
56. I love to play board games and card games
57. I hate for my kids to watch TV
58. I will only use blue ink pens
59. The last time I wore earrings was on my wedding day almost four years ago
60. I love doing physically demanding work, such as yard work
61. I think pictures are the best wall decorations
62. Christmas is my favorite holiday to decorate for, if I had the money I would go all out, I would even change my shower curtains to Christmas curtains
63. I am afraid of the dark
64. I love shoes although I don't own very many
65. I am a huge money saver, by the time I was 17 I had saved 7000, from my part time waitressing job
66. I love to play tennis, even though I'm not very good
67. I do not like red meat
68. I started doing a vigorous weight lifting routine three days a week, 4 months ago and I love it, I can't image ever stopping
69. I want to hike the Grand Canyon rim to rim
70. I feel like I am way to realistic of a person
71. My blinds have to be shut as soon as it is dark outside, otherwise I feel like people are looking in at me, even the windows that face just my backyard
72. I love writing in a journal, that's probably why I love blogging so much
73. I have always wanted to go to Australia my whole life ever since I was a little girl, I hope to make it there one day
74. I want to run in a marathon one day
75. I waitressed for a total of four year and I loved it
76. I love to swim and it drives me crazy to go to a pool and watch women who will not get their hair wet and have their makeup on, I mean come on play in the water
77. I am such a "home body", I just enjoy being at home
78. I am obsessed with books and reading
79. I don't indulge in this very often but every once in a while I love to take a really long bath and just read a book
80. I never want to disappoint my parents and I just hate every time that I ever have
81. I love movies that make me cry
82. My dishwasher has to be loaded a certain way, if David puts something in there "wrong" I am always changing it, and the dishes have to be completely rinsed off before going in there, there can not be a speck of food on anything
83. I love to play with hair, Stormy always wanted to sit next to me in sacrament meeting cause she knew I would play with her hair the whole time
84. I enjoy sewing and making quilts
85. I am a country music girl through and through
86. I don't like to be away from my kids, even just a few hours it makes me anxious
87. I often give myself a headache from running my fingers through my hair so much
88. David and I have only gone on two dates (that did not include going to the temple) since we have had Dutch by ourselves without the kiddos
89. I never want my kids to have video games
90. I enjoy refinishing furniture
91. I like to sleep with one leg under the covers and one leg out of the covers
92. I exercise six days a week, if I don't I feel stressed
93. I love using coupons and seeing the savings at the end of a grocery receipt
94. I like having things planned out, for instance I know that every Thursday I will mop my kitchen floor and every Monday my bathrooms get a very through cleaning
95. I hate hearing people cuss
96. I don't play team sports, I am no good at all
97. Skittles and starbursts are my favorite candy
98. I don't like to waste energy, I can't stand to have lights on in a room if no one is in there
99. I tend to be more of a pessimistic person, I really want to and am trying to change that about myself
100. Spring is my favorite time of the year

Wow that was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be but I am so glad that I was able to get it done.

I just want everyone to know that I have finished, Breaking Dawn, and it is so good. We had a girls night out on Friday and we went to Barnes and Nobel to get our books. Lucky for us we were about the tenth in line so we didn't have to wait in a line forever. But it would have been worth it anyways. I just loved the book. I am crazy enough to admit that I will probably be reading it again in a few days, because it was just that good. And well... I love reading books over again. I actually started doing this thing where I put I check mark in my books so I know how many times I have read them. I have some books with five or six checks marks in them. I told you, I'm crazy about books and reading. And I really don't like to borrow books (although I will since I can't afford to buy a ton of books), I would rather own them, for the whole purpose of being able to read them over and over again. Anyways we had a great girls night. We met up for dinner at Red Robin and then headed to Barnes and Nobel. Let me just say that I had no idea what we were walking into. I have never been to a book opening before. The place was crazy. We actually felt out of place, we didn't think we were quite nerdy enough to be there. People were dressed up as Bella, and vampires and it was just hilarious. Anyways it was a great night and an even more amazing book. For those of you who have never read the Twilight series, you need to hurry up and start reading. Here we are at dinner... And here we are at Barnes and Nobel. We are waiting in line and we only have about 30 more seconds until the balloons drop and for the clock to hit midnight so that we can buy our books. We were so excited.