Yet Another Milestone

A few days ago we decided to take the front off of Creighton's crib and turn it into a "big boy" bed. I am extremely pleased to report that this has been successful! The first night we had two falls, but we had prepared for them with lots of padding on the floor. Creighton does great and stays in bed all night long.

Since removing the rail his bed has become his "reading spot". He likes to grab a book and hop on his bed and read to himself. Tonight I found him reading to Callie on his bed.

1 more milestone passed. No more crib for Creighton. 

Creighton, 21 months old

Creighton is growing up and surprising me with things that he is learning. He is much more observant than I think he is. Such a little sponge!

The other day we were putting on our shoes, ready to head out the door for some shopping. I could only find one of my shoes. So Creighton and I walked around the house saying, "Shoe! Shoe! Where are you shoe?" (Him, more like, "Soo? Soo?") Then Creighton brought me out a slipper to wear! So sweet. But thank goodness we found my tennis shoe so I didn't have to wear the slipper.

Creighon likes to help put away the dishes. His favorite is putting away the silverware. One day he was putting away the spoons and he wanted to put one in the cupboard and I said, "No, Creighton, in the drawer." He was adamant it go in the cupboard, and then I saw that he was holding my metal tablespoon. I was so surprised he knew the difference and that he knew where the measuring spoons went, he never puts those away.

Our little guy is an energy saver. He cannot leave a room if the lights are on. He likes all lights turned off, and all doors closed. In fact he has locked me out of the house twice now. When I go stand on the porch to talk to someone he loves to shut the door behind me. And then it locks. Once daddy was home, so it was ok, but the other time daddy was not. I had to call Cason to come home, it took about 5 minutes, and when we got in the house we found Creighton curled up in front of the front door, crying and sucking his thumb. It broke my heart!

Creighton loves to make sound effects. When watching TV he likes to say, "Uh-oh... Oh... Uh-oh... Oh..." He also makes sounds when he eats. He says, "Mmmmm..." after every single bite if it's something that he really likes. He likes to point at the lights on the Christmas tree and say, "Oooooh..."

Creighon has been growing taller, and it's amazing what a few inches will help this little guy to accomplish. The other night he pulled a carton of eggs off the counter, and set it down on the floor and then proceeded to pick at the egg shell of each egg until he managed to crack it open. What a mess.

Messes are common around here, but not as much when he eats anymore. Creighton has learned to use a fork and spoon and likes to use them to eat everything. He even uses the fork to eat his Cheetos. His appetite has increased since his sickness a few weeks ago, thank goodness. He has discovered many delicious foods, like: mashed potatoes, chicken salad, and applesauce.

Creighton is always ready to help plug something in. There is a little fan in his room that we turn on at night,the noise helps him sleep. But during the day Creighton carries it from room to room offering to cool us off. He also likes to plug in the Christmas tree in the morning and unplug it at night. Just the other day Creighton plugged in the space heater sitting in my craft room as I was working at my desk. He is so thoughtful. He knew my feet were getting cold!

Creighton is such a happy guy and loves to play and have a good time. Here is a picture he colored while at his Grandma's house.

Creighton loves to color, but that only holds his attention for so long. In 2 minutes he can go from coloring, to playing cars, to reading books, to riding his Buzz Lightyear car, to pushing around trucks, to block stacking. Phew! I'm wore out just watching him. He is so proud of all of his toys and wants to show everybody what he's got. He loves to share. If you come over, you might end up with a pile of blocks, cars, and assorted toys in your lap. And he is looking forward to Christmas so he can start playing with some new toys!

Last year, he got a bit anxious, just couldn't wait, and opened presents early! So this year we haven't even tempted him and all presents are hiding and probably won't appear under the tree until Christmas Day.

Telling you about Creighton brings me so much joy. It is so wonderful to help him learn, watch him grow, and love him to pieces!

This Christmas Season

This last Sunday I watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. President Uchtdorf spoke about it being impossible to ruin Christmas becuase Christmas is about Christ. I loved it. I often think back to when I was little and all of the fun traditions my family had around holidays. Especially Christmas. I want to do all of those things with my own family now because I loved doing them so much as a little girl.

I told Cason, "For Christmas we need to make Chocolate Crackle cookies and Peanut Butter Kiss cookies!" He said, "Why?" I said, "Because that's what we do! It's the only time of the year to make these cookies!" Again, he said, "Why?" He made me realize my request for particular cookies on Christmas was a bit silly. And Christmas will still be Christmas without "Christmas" cookies.

This Christmas I have felt, more than other years before, the real meaning of Christmas. It started a few weeks ago. There is a man who stands on two street corners here in town, one very close to my house, and the other right next to my work, and he makes balloon animals for money. I have driven by him many times, at least once a day, and I always a feel a little bit sad that he has to stand outside in the cold and make balloon animals for very little money. Well, one night he was out there about 8:00 at night and the temperature was in the teens and it just broke my heart. I went home and felt so selfish. I have so much "stuff" and still want more. A few days later there was an article in the paper about him, and others in similar situations. That day there was also a food/clothing drive in town for a shelter. So many times I have driven by that man and wondered, "Should I give him money? How can I help him?" So Cason and I gathered together a number of coats that we had and are not wearing, and took them to the drive and donated them. I was so glad to know that someone would get to wear my coat and stay warm. There are so many who have less than I do. One Christmas tradition I hope my family will always have is giving to others. Sometimes I wonder why I have been given so much, while others have not. I don't have an answer for that. I don't know that anyone of this earth does. I am grateful that I am so blessed, and want to show my gratitude for my blessing by giving to others.

I am so glad that it is the Christmas season. I have seen so many people who act in the true Christmas spirit of love.

Merry Christmas! Our family hopes that your family has a wonderful Christmas season!

A Little Turkey and the Christmas Tree

We have been having a fabulous week. Cason has a week of vacation from work and I had the whole week off as well so we have enjoyed being together and doing whatever we want!

One thing we did do was put up the Christmas tree! It is the earliest I have ever put up a Christmas tree, but we had the time and I was a bit anxious to re-arrange the living room. I was also looking forward to having a good excuse to burn my "Cozy Fireside" scentsy. We bought a fake tree this year. I have been adamant every year that we have a real one, but last year it was a pain and not worth all the work. I love our fake tree! Here is Crieghton and our tree...

This little turkey has been in an "anti-photo" phase the past few weeks. At least I hope it's a phase. Perhaps I created some hard feelings after attempting all those Halloween pictures?

Speaking of turkey- our Thanksgiving with Cason's family was wonderful. We went up to Rexburg a day early and went to the park, out for dinner and ice cream, and then played a rousing game of Scattegories. Cason's brother(s) bend the rules to an EXTREME- so I took it upon myself to be the mediator/judge/final say in all matters of question. Then the next day the boys all played basketball and the girls did hair and watched the parade. When I was little I always watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and ate stuffed celery. Cason watched it for the first time this year!

Cason's dad invited one of his students to have dinner with us and after finding out he has been starting to date a girl seriously we all took the opportunity to give him advice and then somehow we all ended up sharing our dating/engagement stories and laughed and laughed until our sides hurt. And then of course what is Thanksgiving without a good movie and a nap?

Did you go Black Friday shopping? My husband did. I was sleeping. He has been wanting a flat screen TV for a while. And when we decides he wants something he can't get it out of his head. So we found a really great deal on a 32" flat screen TV at Walmart and Cason headed out at 10:30 pm and returned home at 3:00 am with a really big box. It is now sitting on top of our dresser and as I write this, him and Creighton are laying in bed watching Indiana Jones. 

Poor Creighton, he has had the throw-ups. As I scrubbed the carpet I couldn't help but smirk as I thought about the many times my mom cleaned up after me. 

Hooray for the holidays! I love them. Next on my checklist: get my Christmas cards ordered and mailed out. I love sending and receiving Christmas cards. A lot of gifts we are giving are already bought and I couldn't be more pleased with myself. I love to feel like I am ahead of schedule! (Please don't comment and tell me that ALL of your Christmas shopping is complete.) This year Christmas will be so fun with Creighton!

How to Train Your Dragon to Take a Picture

When trying to take a picture of your dragon, make sure to choose an appropriate backdrop. Fall leaves are always beautiful.

 But if he doesn't like that, you could also choose a nice bench for him to sit on.

That didn't work so well either? Well, maybe the dragon would like to take a picture with the princess.

Should have figured that wouldn't turn out so well. They're not really known for getting along too well. While you're at it though, make sure you catch a photo of the princess.

Sounds like your dragon is rather sensitive. I suggest you let him play on the swingset and then attempt to catch a smile AND his eyes at the same time.

 

 Yes, this worked very well. Dragons love to swing and slide!

They also love the hose...

 and driving! Beep, Beep!

 Halloween 2011 was festive! Creighton made a fabulous dragon and of course received lots of  "Oh, he is so adorable!" and "You are the cutest dragon I have ever seen!" This year I did take him to a few trick-or-treating events. He liked receiving the candy. His favorite candies are Smarties. We returned home in time to pass out candy to the kiddies in our neighborhood. Oh boy, that is definitely his favorite part! Lots of excited squeals as we received funny-dressed visitors.

Creighton is so sweet to put up with his silly mommy who tries so hard to get good pictures. He really does a good job posing and giving big smiles. Taking a picture of this dragon turned out to be successful!

Happy Halloween!

Your Chambers Is Showing

One of Cason's "oh-so-endearing" qualities is that he HATES a mess. Twice a week I usually make Creighton chocolate-chip pancakes. He loves them. And this little guy is so small he's not even on the weight charts anymore! Boo. So whatever he'll eat-he gets. Even if nutritional value has to be put aside. Well, when Creighton is having breakfast Cason can't even walk in the room. It makes him too sick. He gets all anxious watching Creighton rub syrup and chocolate all over his face, hands, hair, and anything else within a 3 foot distance. Seriously. He's a disaster.

But I don't care. I plop this little guy in the tub and all traces of the breakfast fiasco are gone.

When Cason feeds Creighton breakfast he usually gets Cheerios or a Pop-Tart. Boring.

It's no secret the Chambers' are...shall we say... clean? Cason just can't hide his genetics and often times I think, "Your Chambers is showing." Due to our daddy's anxiety when it comes to messes, he came up with a brilliant plan for solving the disaster that can usually occur with traditional pumpkin carving.

Coloring pumpkins!

 With the help of Creighton, Cason drew a face on Creighton's pumpkin and then let Creighton color it for about 40 seconds. Creighton was happy to have a pumpkin just his size! Daddy was very calm due to the lack of mess. And mommy was giggling on the inside thinking, "This is so not going to fly when he is older..."

Unfortunately, no picture of Creighton's artistic abilities. Only daddy's.

In other news: the Chambers can't tell time either apparently. This last weekend ISU played BYU and we thought it would be fun to head down and watch the cougars slaughter the bengals. Well, we thought the game started at 3:00. We showed up at 4:00 and the game had only a few minutes remaining. We were seriously so confused. Did the game really only last 75 minutes? We have just come to the conclusion the game must have started at 1:00.

By the way, BYU did stomp on ISU. 56 to 3. ISU may not make good football players, but they do make good dental hygienists!

We were a bit late to the game because we had a fabulous time at Gardner's Village in West Jordan. This time of year is their "Witch Fest". I so badly wanted a picture of Creighton with just one of the one-thousand witches the were hanging around the village. But this un-cooperative one only let me take a dinky photo in his stroller. Despite the fact we totally missed the game, we had a nice mini-vacation on Saturday.

Creighton may have inherited his dad's "unique" cleanliness. He is OBSESSED with the vacuum. Especially the attachments. He likes to walk around the house vacuuming with them. He also likes something to be put back in the EXACT place it was before. That's only slightly annoying, mostly nice. He has some talking/dancing stuffed animals at his Grandma and Grandpa Wilde's house and he only likes them to sing and dance in their designated places that he assigned to them. Tonight a corner of the rug in the kitchen was turned back and as soon as Creighton saw it he rushed over to fix it.

I am going to learn how to harnass this obsessive behavior for the positive. Hopefully.