Temple Dedication

Sawyer

Sawyer still get's excited every time we drive by the temple or if he sees a temple picture or a temple in a video or anything that resembles a temple to him. His enthusiasm is contagious. "Look! Temple!" with a big grin on his face. The cedar temple has a window at the top that has a stained glass flower and Sawyer will point to it and say, "Star on temple belly." The cutest.

He's also started to "read" books but legitimately has the words memorized. So now we take turns reading to each other and if he doesn't remember the words for a page he's on he'll ask me, "What's that?" and then repeat the words that I tell him.

He's loving everything about Christmas. He hasn't made the connection between Santa and Christmas presents but he does get excited about the presents under our tree. He's liked our Christmas movie watching and has deemed his favorites (this year) to be Rudolph (the classic) and Kevin (Home Alone). We've driven out to Christmas Lane by the golf course to see the lights three times in the past few weeks. I think Sawyer mostly likes it because we let him sit in the front on my lap while we drive 0.5 mph through that neighborhood.

He's still potty training and I hate the roller coaster that potty training seems to be. Like it sucks. I would say that he's pretty much day time trained but nights and naps aren't working out anymore, which I just don't understand. After successfully waking up dry for a week and a half he started wetting the bed in the morning but was still dry for naps, then he started wetting the bed in the middle of the night AND in the morning but was still dry for naps, and now he wets the bed basically anytime he sleeps. I expected slip ups here and there but what's up with the full on regression? I know he's not doing it on purpose since it's in his sleep but I'm just so, so confused why his body would have it figured out and then do a complete one-eighty. He has been converted to the normal toilet successfully though so we've been able to put away the toddler potty and that's been nice (especially since he started to think he should clean it out himself...which was a disaster).

Dawson

Dawson started walking almost instantly after I posted last time (when I said he basically wasn't interested, figures). He just let go of the furniture and started walking on the 10th of this month, so he was not quite 14 months. He's doing pretty good at it. He hasn't figured out how to stand up if he falls down in the middle of the floor with nothing around him, so if that happens he crawls over to whatever is closest to him so he can stand back up and keep walking.

He totally prefers eating with a fork over eating with his fingers but he isn't coordinated with the utensils yet so mealtime has turned into this scenario- mom stabs the food, Dawson yanks the fork away and puts the food in his mouth, and then Dawson chirps, "ah! ah! ah!" and waves the fork at mom so mom knows to stab some food again. It's cute but also takes a billion years, which makes it a little less cute.

Dillon

Dillon and I were able to attend the Cedar City Temple dedication together while my parents watched the kids and were both amazed at the calmness of attending a church event where we got to sit together the whole time and actually focus on what was being said. We both left feeling spiritually uplifted and grateful for the temple in our city.

Dillon's been a good sport over my lazy date night planning this month. December is always so fun, but so exhausting at the same time. We at least had (and will have next week-- Star Wars) a couple of more thought out and fun dates, one of which was my Christmas Bunko party with all the girls and their husbands. We always play the Left, Center, Right (or LCR) dice game but instead of game chips, we use dollars. And every year we've been there, it always come down to three people- me, Dillon, and someone else. AND EVERY YEAR, Dillon and I lose because the dice hate us and we're never meant to take home that $75. But we enjoy the food and the company and getting to know everyone a little bit better. It's one of my favorite parties of the season.

Dillon also had his company work party. They do a raffle every year for some pretty awesome prizes and Dillon was determined that luck needed to be on his side this year so he could bring home a prize. Which he did. And it was a set of pots and pans. I was pretty delighted and Dillon decided to be happy that he at least won something.

DaNae

I got the freaking stomach flu and it was pretty much the worst. I had been on antibiotics after phase one of my root canal and thought at first that they were making me sick but quickly figured out that that was not the case. It was a miserable 24 (plus a few) hours with lots and lots of bathroom trips and almost zero sleep during the first half. Thankfully Dillon was able to stay home and keep the boys quarantined while I actually got the chance to rest (miracle!) which must have worked because I was the only one that ended up being sick (second miracle!). 

I had to reschedule phase two of my root canal since my appointment fell during my 24 hours of misery. The dentist office was really nice about it even though I was only able to give them like a half hour notice. My tooth is now finished and it feels so much better. So thankful for dentists.

My cousin Gavin and his (now) wife Megan got married in the Cedar temple the first weekend after it was dedicated. It was so nice to be with family in our new temple and to watch a new couple be sealed together. Watching Megan get all teary made me choke up and moments like that almost make me laugh because I was NEVER that way before kids. I was always a frustrated/mad crier (still am) but now all the feel good moments make me tight-throated and teary too. Those hormones, man. But it was a beautiful sealing and it felt so nice and peaceful to be in the temple. (The boys stayed with Amy since all of our family were at the sealing...and Sawyer lost it five minutes after we left and puked all over. So his anxiety is apparently still alive and well. Poor Sawyer. And poor, poor Amy.)

Unicorn horn that my mom got as a white elephant gift. My boys thought it was hilarious.

Trying to video this walking baby.

Enjoying a roll at Gavin and Megan's luncheon.

These two cousins are eight months apart though you would never know it.

Until you notice the eight month coordination gap ha.

Dawson is a little taller but Bennett weighs more.

Visiting the grandparents for Grandpa Dale's birthday.

Sharing ice cream with Brade.

Sawyer and Livy (she calls him see-soar and it's hilarious).

Bunko girls

And the guys.

I got to go to dinner with my old teaching department and it was so, so fun. There was so much laughing and it was so nice to catch up with these ladies. Lifelong friends right there.

He thinks snow is the best. Me, not so much. So I'm trying to be a nice parent and suck it up so that he get's to play in it.

I decided to shovel our walkways while Dawson napped and Sawyer was delighted to help.

Just getting overly comfortable on a visit to Grandma Paula's work.

This baby's newest favorite food- snap peas.

Potty Training

Sawyer

We decided to spend some one-on-one time with Sawyer and took him to see Despicable Me 3 at the theater. Minions are kind of his jam right now and he did really well. He only got squirmy maybe the last ten minutes. During the movie he would lean over to me and whisper, "I love you" and then lean over to Dillon, "I love you." We're talking melt your heart sweetness. I love that boy so much.

He has a new phrase that he uses to follow up his own question asking, usually when he wants a particular activity or snack. He'll ask me something -watch J masks (PJ Masks)? play tato (play dough)? drink choc milk?- and then quickly follow it up with, "Probly do dat?" in the nicest, questioning tone it's pretty hard to resist.

Amid all the sweetness, we started potty training. About five days in I was pretty confident that potty training = purgatory. Days 1 and 2 went surprisingly well with Sawyer going about his day half naked. As soon as I put him in pants, it all went to crap (literally) and had me thinking I'd just let him chill in diapers until kindergarten. But I'm happy to report that almost two weeks in and he's waking up dry in the morning and after naps and has minimal to no daytime accidents. And we got to completely skip using Pull-ups. Knock on wood, but things are looking pretty good.

Dawson

Dawson is still so hot and cold. He is the sweetest and at a really fun stage, but he's also a little bit of a holy terror. His terrorizing moments usually have a reason but I don't know that until they are over. The latest bout, I believe, was from teething. He does not take teething well at all (we're talking three hour long screaming sessions) and he's got a couple of molars he's been working on so...send me all the chocolate and any spare sanity you have.

He likes to play peek-a-boo and let's you know he wants to play by putting his little hands haphazardly on his head and waiting for you to respond. Then he laughs and laughs when he gets you to put on the peek-a-boo show.

He's started taking steps when we give him some encouragement/bribe him. He'll take a few steps from my arms to Dillon's, or vice versa, but then is kind of over it and goes back to crawling his way around.

Dillon

Dillon got the lights hung on our house. He's a good sport for doing it since he's not a fan of heights. We had a couple of strings that weren't working and he figured he could put in a new fuse or two but that didn't work out. So we grabbed a couple of new strings that allllmost perfectly match and called it good.

He's been on the lookout for Dawson's last Christmas gift and it's really cute how much thought he's putting into it. At first I was like, "Dude, there are at least thirty toys at this store that he would probably like. Just pick one!" because I thought he was just being weirdly picky. But after watching him at a couple of stores, I got all swoony when I realized that he was being really thoughtful and careful about the present he picked because he wants Dawson to really LOVE it.

DaNae

I've been soaking up all the Christmas-y things and enjoying the season to it's fullest. Cheesy holiday movies have been helping me through some laundry folding sessions. Christmas Prince on Netflix is so cute and completely predictable and I love it. So if you're looking for one of "those" Christmas movies, that one's a winner.

While we were in Delta for Thanksgiving, one of my top front teeth started to ache and wasn't getting better. My teeth are really sensitive and will sometimes act up so I didn't think too much of it. It kept hurting and even started getting worse after a week and a half though so I decided to call the dentist. I ended up having to get a root canal but the dentist wasn't surprised at all since it was one of the teeth that I shattered while riding my bike back in fourth grade. I didn't know that if you injure a tooth it's pretty much guaranteed to need a root canal down the road. So I can look forward to the other tooth I broke needing it sometime soon. The actual procedure wasn't too bad at all. In fact, I'd take being all numbed up and getting a root canal done any day over a cleaning. My sensitive teeth reeaally hate cleanings. There has been some soreness but it feels way better than it did before the root canal.

Oh Dawson and the things that end up on his head.

He'll put his toys in his mouth like this all the time and, when not in the bathtub, haul them around like a little dog.

Helping mom deliver visiting teaching treats.

Peek-a-boo

Hanging lights with his "Kippa" (skipper).

We've made it four Sundays with zero throw up! We've been sitting out in the foyer during sacrament which was, for some reason, the cure. Sawyer still comes to classes with us but we're on the right track. We'll probably try to make our way back to the chapel soon though because children in foyers are pure chaos.

Dawson and G playing in the dog kennel at Grandma and Grandpa's

Decorating gingerbread houses.

His finished minion house.

Not too shabby when your dentist sends you a birthday card with a coupon for a free drink from Slurp's Up.

I was telling him that the dentist sent him a card so he could get a drink and, after thinking about it for a minute, he responded with, "That's really awesome." You're right kid. It is really awesome.

Little G turned two so we went over to celebrate his birthday. Sawyer thought G could use his own "Papa Steve" toy and since G likes the Old McDonald song, I figured Sawyer was probably right.

Couldn't keep his eyes open with all the anticipation of the party favor unraveling.

All the cool kids have matching dinosaur pj's.

About as good as it get's when you're trying to get a picture with a 3, 2, and 1 year old.

The boys got to see Santa at the bowling alley. They did really good. Sawyer was pretty chatty and Dawson was super serious trying to twist and turn to check out the jolly guy's beard.

Just a cute boy being happy in a cute chair at TJ Maxx.

Sawyer burned his knee on our space heater. Those little hexagonal marks are all blistered. I swear these things always happen in a split second. I was running bath water for the boys and Dillon was cleaning up Dawson and all of the sudden Sawyer ran in crying big fat tears of dismay. It was so sad. He's good though and didn't seem to notice it anymore after a few minutes.

Bundled up for a short walk to see Christmas lights around our neighborhood.

Family Pictures

Thanks to Julie Davis Photography for our pictures! The boys were not the most cooperative but she captured some great moments for us. We loved working with her and love how our pictures turned out.