Zoo Lights

Last night Colton, Karlee, Karlee's "friend" Nate, Grandma, Grandpa and myself went to Zoo Lights at the Hogle Zoo. Besides it being FREEZING it was fun. Colton was so bundled up in the stroller I'm not sure how much he saw but every once in awhile he did say "wow" so I know he saw some lights!

Poor kid was so cold!

Christmas Day

We had a GREAT Christmas.

Short story...Got up. Waited for everyone else to wake up. Saw what Santa brought which was a hit (man that Santa is a smart cookie). Opened gifts. Took a break to watch Barney. Took a nap. Ate brunch. Opened the rest of the gifts. Played with said gifts. Went and saw Grandma Lambert. Came home and played and ate the rest of the night.

I LOVED my Christmas this year. I love Colton and am so grateful to have him in my life. The way his face lite up when he saw his kitchen and the way he said "WOW" with wide eyes when he opened his gifts made my heart melt. Christmas would have been pretty boring without him. There are A LOT of pictures so I will just choose a few of my favorites.

Grandma was entertained by Elmo more than Colton was all day!

Christmas Eve

This year we changed things up a bit and went over to our cousins Don and Margaret's house. They made a really yummy ham dinner and we got to sit around and talk and relax. My parents and Karlee were gone all week to San Diego at the University of Utah Bowl game (which yes they won!!) so between the snow, working earlier than normal two days this week, and stressing about getting Colton to friends or family to watch him I was ready to just sit and relax. Colton loved playing with all of Lucas' toys and being the entertainment for the evening. Colton got to open the traditional Christmas Eve presents of Pajamas over there so he could wear them. We had a great night and I feel so lucky to have such great family. Thanks Don and Margaret for hosting us!

Grandma and Margaret

opening the gift

so tired

Snowbird Take 1

Every year my Step-mom and Dad get a timeshare in Snowbird at the Iron Blossom Lodge. They are always there for two weeks over Christmas. Last Sunday Colton and I got to go up there and spend the day. My Step-sister Jenny and her family always come up for Christmas since they live in Arizona but since she is having a baby any day now(!) she didn't get to make it up this year. Luckily her kids Brandon and Michelle got to come up for a few days though and Colton loves playing with them. Our friends Matt and Cindy were also up there with their adorable kids Hailey and Jake. We spent the day eating, playing games in the game room, eating, watching football, eating, decorating the tree, running around and going up and down the stairs a bazillion times and did I mention we did some eating?! We had a really fun day and I can't wait to go up there next week and spend a few days. I know my dad can't wait also! Here are a few pictures from the day

They loved spinning in the chair over and over

Colton is going to be a great driver!

Helping me decorate the tree

I love this picture of cute cousins Colton and Brandon

Sitting in front of the BEAUTIFUL tree decorated solely by the kids!

15 Months Already

Seriously where does time go?! Last year Colton was just little in his cute Santa jammies and this year he is big and running (not walking) all over! He is 15 months today and he got to go to the doctor. He was in such a good mood, which honestly he normally is anyways but I always worry he is going to be grumpy.

His stats:

Weight: 21 lbs 13 ounces (10th percentile)

Height: 31" (50th percentile)

Head: 50th percentile (can't remember the actual measurement and too lazy to go look:)

The Dr. told me that he is growing length wise but has plateaued on his weight but not too worry! If by two years old he doesn't start to gain weight then we need to start looking at it but for now he is fine. I can't understand where he gets being "thin" from it definitely doesn't come from my gene pool! I just think that although he is CONSTANTLY eating he just doesn't slow down enough to let the food turn into any fat.

Warning: Mom bragging moment :)

The Dr. also told me that Colton seems very socially advanced. That he was very impressed with his interactive skills and couldn't believe how friendly he is and not at all shy. He was making good eye contact and just "talking" away with the Dr. He made the same comment at Colton's 12 month checkup also.

His speech is pretty much right on target with his age though and he seems to think that within the next couple months he will start saying and understanding more and more.

He had to have three shots but that included the H1N1 vaccine. Yay!! That always breaks your heart when they poke him and his face goes from smiling to very sad :(

I still can't believe he is 15 months already and am amazed with how fast time is going. I don't know how it's possible but I love this kid more and more everyday!

P.S. only FOUR days until Christmas...WAHOO!!

Thank You

I love friends.

I love the feeling of knowing someone is there who will listen

who will give advice

who will let you cry

who will not judge

I love that most times we are one mind.

I love that even strangers recognize we are soul mates ;)

Mostly I love that when times are hard and I'm feeling overwhelmed all it takes is a deep breath and a hug and I know I can keep going.

Lately I have been having a hard time and I'm so grateful to have people in my life who can uplift me and make me laugh so hard I'm laying on the ground. I need that and I'm thankful.

So THANK YOU

from the bottom of my heart.

I have so many people in my life that help me out daily and I love them all and can't express how grateful I am for them. I don't know what I would do without my support system. I love you all and hope you know how much you mean to me. I'm not sure where I would be without you all :)

It's hard to be neat when your trying to eat!

Independence has hit.

One day Colton was content being fed messier food the next he was not.

He will NOT eat something unless he feeds it to himself.

Resulting in all meal times basically turning out like this...

Even though it's a complete mess and pretty disgusting I'm glad (also a little sad) that my baby is learning to do things on his own. I love watching him trying to figure things out. He is stubborn, just like me, hardheaded, just like me, and doesn't give up until he has it figured out.

Time is going way too fast...

p.s only 8 days until Christmas and we can't wait! SUPER EXCITED for Santa! I love being a mom!!!

Big Helper

We decided to brave the COLD and get bundled up to go outside tonight. There was a TON of snow. When I would put Colton down it was up to his waist making it very difficult to walk or move in it. Instead he decided that walking on the sidewalk was a lot more fun. We thought since he was out there he might as well learn how to shovel since he really is the "man" of the house when Grandpa works out of town during the week. He was such a good helper!

awww...I know I'm biased but isn't he soooo cute!!

Fort Building

Friday night Colton, Karlee and I decided we were going to watch Shrek the Halls and some other Christmas cartoons. We put the movie in and pushed play when Shrek started speaking Spanish to us. See my mom has this Mexican DVD player (that I ask her if she bought on the black market in Tijuana) and unless you change the settings before beginning the movie it always defaults to Spanish, either speaking or subtitles. Re-realizing this it figures we can not find the remote ANYWHERE (Colton has a tendency to hide remotes, phones ect...) After pulling the whole family room apart and still not being able to find I looked around at our mess and decided that tonight was the night I was going to "teach" Colton how to build a fort. After strategically placing cushions and blankets everywhere it was time to play. Colton had other thoughts. He looked at me like I was nuts if he was going to crawl under that contraption. I tried to show him how fun it was by getting in there with him but he was mostly interested in trying to collapse the whole thing on top of me instead I finally gave up and we brought my DVD player down and watched Shrek. Overall it was a fun night and I have layed the foundation for some good fort building days ahead of us...

Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

I have been a very good boy!

I would like some fun toys and books this year.

I will leave you cookies.

I Love You

Love,

Colton

**side note**

Mom has also been very good and would like a Christmas miracle of some sort if it's not too much to ask

;)

Santa Baby

We went and saw the "real" Santa Monday night. I was worried with how Colton would act but he did great! We walked up and Colton reached right to him, sat on his lap and carried on a "conversation". He didn't want to look at the camera because he was too busy talking to Santa. Colton let him know how good of a boy he was this year and how he can't wait for Christmas morning to see what he brings him!

Christmas is such a fun time of year and it only gets better when there are kids around to share it with!

Happy Birthday!!

Yesterday was my beautiful mom's birthday. Our family is not big on birthdays and usually we don't do anything special. This year we had decided we were going to go to "Zoo Lights" at the Hogle Zoo but since it was sooo cold and Colton has a cough and runny nose we decided to wait until next week. We went to Sweet Tomatoes instead and drove around and looked at Christmas lights. We went to the house in Murray that coordinates music to his lights (way cool) and "The Night Before Christmas" street in Taylorsville. Colton loves looking at the lights and gets excited when he sees them.

We love my Mom very much and are so grateful to her. She does so much for us and I don't know how I would have survived the last couple months without her. I am very lucky to have someone there for me and supporting me in all my decisions I make. Colton is very lucky to have such a great Grandma who loves him very much. She does so much for him and he loves playing with her every day. I know they have special moments in the day and I am so grateful that I can go to work knowing that Colton is in such great hands.

We love Grandma!

Let the Festivities Begin...

This year we had a great Thanksgiving weekend. On Thanksgiving Colton and I spent it with my moms side of the family. We had dinner in Kamas at my Aunt Lori's house, she did a great job hosting. I of course forgot my camera but I got one picture right before we left.
Friday I had the pleasure of working at 4:30 am for those crazy Black Friday shoppers. I actually really enjoy working that early on that day because first, I like to see the crazy people and second the day goes by waaaay fast! Colton also got to spend time with his Aunt Jenny, Uncle Rick and cousins Brandon and Michelle. It was fun for him to play with someone new for a couple days. We can't wait for the next time we see them because Colton will have a new baby boy cousin to play with! Uncle Trevor was also in town and that was fun. I'm kicking myself for not getting any pictures!

Saturday was the big University of Utah-BYU football game. We went over to the Jacob's to have Chili and watch the game. Although my team didn't win it was a GREAT game and we had a fun time with Don and Margaret. Before the game Colton had a fun time playing on Lucas' slides out in the backyard with Grandpa. I guess I now know what I will be buying this summer!

I can't believe it is already December 1st. This year has gone by so fast and so much has changed. I am looking forward to the next month and have a lot of fun things planned for Colton and I to do for the Holidays. Although there are days I feel overwhelmed with life and every curve ball that is being thrown my way, life is good right now. I feel very blessed and lucky for all the people that love me and support me. I hope everyone has a fun, Stress Free and joyous holiday season!