8 Month Old Macey Jo

Yes, she just continues to grow and is now 8 months! My mom keeps telling me, "She's not even a baby anymore! Look how big she is!" Yes... she is getting so big and independent... but she still lets me snuggle her to sleep at night! I love my baby Macey Jo!

She picked out this outfit to wear on her 8 month birthday. What would it be like to look so gorgeous in everything you wear? I wouldn't know. But when Macey Jo starts to talk I will ask her because she must know!

We both love our sweetie pie so much. I am just sure that no matter how many children you have the milestones that they meet are never boring or less meaningful. Cason and I have been just as excited to share news of Macey Jo's first signs of crawling and first words with each other as we were with Creighton. However, as a friend shared with me today, "But you will just have less pictures!"
True. I do have less picture milestones of Macey Jo, but I am sure I have almost 1 picture of her in every outfit she owns. I don't know if I can say that of Creighton!

Yes our Princess is now mobile! I am writing in the baby book that the date of the first official crawl is: September 13th. Grandma insists she has been crawling much sooner than that. She definitely has been mobile for several weeks. But not official crawling. It was more like a: lay on the belly, stretch out the arm and wiggle on the belly, and then stretch the arm out some more to reach what she wanted.

For weeks she has been pulling herself up to stand. It is wonderful to go into her room in the morning and see her standing at the side of the crib. Her beautiful smile greets me and I can't help but smile as well! (Even if it is VERY early.)

As far as talking... she says "Momma" but not much else. She can really start to jabber, but often she is very quiet. She mostly is talkative at nighttime when she knows she should be in bed. She also gets giggly then. When Creighton goes to bed Mommy and Daddy and Macey stay up to play and it is a lot of fun. But when she is ready to sleep she snuggles with mommy for a few minutes. How I love it.

Her favorite place to play is in her brother's room. The toys there are awesome! And he doesn't even mind that she slobbers all over them. She can be very happy to sit with a basket full of toys. She loves to take each one out and chew/suck on it and examine it until she is content she has explored it thoroughly and then discards it and is on to the next one.

She continues to enjoy baby food and recently tried Chicken and Rice. Which she loves! (Creighton wasn't much for "mixed" baby foods) Her love for fruit continues to increase but vegetables are her food of choice right now. She has been introduced to Cheerios and Saltines and just can't get enough. Of course the Saltines create a huge mess, so I am trying to coordinate that snack with a time I am already going to be sweeping the floor. Yet, she still has NO teeth! I am so surprised because Creighton had his first tooth erupt at 5 months. And no signs of any coming any time soon!

She continues to enjoy the bath though she is much too brave for anyone's liking!

We recently found out that Macey Jo and Creighton will get their first cousin on Mommy's side of the family- a boy! Macey Jo is happy that Baby Cook is a boy because 1) she likes all the attention she gets for being a girl and 2) she can't wait to be entertained by another (crazy, messy, loud, silly, rambunctious) boy. Just a few nights ago at a family get-together someone commented it was hard to get a reaction out of Macey Jo. (It can be true... ) Another person said, "That's because she watches Creighton all day! No one is as entertaining as him!" (Another thing that is true...)

Macey Jo loves her pacifier and hates the car seat. She doesn't mind being woken up suddenly but is not happy when I take away the shoe (daddy's muddy and grass-stained shoe) she is nibbling on. She also loves to eat grass and again, hates when I take it away or move her away from grass. She loves to see mommy or daddy when they get off of work and she can be stubborn when it comes to taking a day-time nap. Macey Jo dislikes strangers very much but she giggles at the funny noises daddy makes. Mommy loves to paint Miss Jo's toenails when she is sleeping but has decided not to pierce her tiny ears.

Happy Eight Months to our precious baby girl!

(another post below)

3 1/2 year old Creighton

Just a few days ago my sweet boy reached his half year mark!

 Well, only today can I call him "sweet". Why does everyone complain about the terrible twos? Maybe my memory of a year and a half ago is poor, but I am pretty sure that three years old has been much worse than 2. At the beginning of the summer I felt completely wore out with him. It just felt like constant disobedience and constant destructiveness and then throw in that we were STILL trying to potty train. Yikes! 

But at the end of July it felt like we crossed a bridge and all of the sudden his behavior reversed and we are now on the upswing of things. So today, he is sweet. 3 months ago, it would probably not be appropriate to type too many of my thoughts.

This summer besides being with Grandma and Grandpa a lot (post below) he has done some other things he loves. He has gone to two movies: Planes and Despicable Me 2. He loved both. My boy is a movie lover and sits through them very well. Though he insists he must have popcorn! 

He also went to the zoo (not as interested as I hoped he would be.) 

He has become a chef for a new brand of dog food... He likes to try to get the dogs to eat the apples that have fallen off of the tree. He asks, "Can I go outside and make the dogs some food with apples?" 

 Besides dog food he has also been making "real" food as well. He loves to help in the kitchen, but being gentle isn't a talent of his yet and frequently we get extra messy. Daddy and Creighton started shopping for Mommy's birthday several weeks ahead of time and apparently spoke of "cake" because he just can't stop talking about it and we have made several cakes since.

 He almost tried Buttermilk a few days ago! (Needed it to make his Big Momma Cake!) His palate is becoming more refined. Though if he doesn't like something he insists it tastes like soda.

He has become quite the artist and now is the proud owner of paints and likes to use them as well as decorate with stickers. Though we are still learning they only go on paper... He also would be happy to use up all stickers in a matter of minutes. Grandma Chambers sent Creighton six sheets of Thomas the Train stickers and they are being rationed.

 Creighton also loved "floating boats!" We have had several massive rainstorms (serious flooding) in the past weeks and daddy has taken Creighton outside to show him how to float boats in large puddles. Oh boy!! 

 Of course mastering a myriad of things was on his summer to-do list: forts (bigger and better), crashing things (louder and messier), and watching cartoons (memorizing theme songs and quotes). Speaking of memorizing... this momma now has the first several pages of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" memorized due to my son's serious obsession with it. 

Of course busy summers mean harder naps. And of course Creighton decided his nap time should be about 5:00 pm. Lucky me. He had many long nights.

 And playing with little sister lots was really fun. We had our occasional whacks in the head ("Sorry, Sister...) or incidents of smothering her with blankets and pillows (He was just trying to "make her cozy.") But really overall he is awesome! He is a big help for grandpa during the week and at home as well. He is happy to keep Macey Jo entertained when I need him to or assist in retrieving whatever I might need. Bath time is so fun for these two. He makes her giggle by splashing, so then he splashes more, and she giggles more, and then consequently more splashing. Of course I am a party-pooper and ruin all the fun by abolishing all water splashing.

He has also been given many nicknames this summer: poopsie (from another favorite book, "Zach's Alligator"), smoochie McQueen (he gives good smooches), porcupine-Creighton (don't remember how Daddy came up with that one), and of course whatever else we think to call him at that moment. Creighton doesn't like nicknames and says, "I am Creightion Eli!!" We have tried teaching him about his last name, but it is a concept he is still trying to grasp.

And lastly... the most exciting thing to happen to Creighton this summer (probably to our whole family...) is that he is now POTTY-TRAINED!! Yes. It is TRUE! I was sure I would never be able to say those words. He is 100% potty trained during the day and even during nap times. At night he wears pull-ups and about 50% of the time they are dry. I swear it all happened in about 2 weeks time. I have learned my lesson with child #1 (poor Creighton, the guinea pig).

I started WAY too early with him. I felt pressured by so many to start potty training him around 2 years but he just wasn't ready. I forced it so many times. We "tried" potty training more times than I have fingers for. Alas, it has finally happened. It is such a nice sound to hear him go into the bathroom, get out his stool, lift up the lid, hop on the toilet, go potty, and then go back to playing. Awesome.

HOORAY! CONGRATULATIONS CREIGHTON!!

(another post below)

Grandma and Grandpa's Day

Since I was working more this summer Creighton and Macey Jo had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with their Wilde grandparents. They spent 3-4 days there every week while I worked. They loved every minute. 

Creighton began calling it "Grandma and Grandpa's Day" and looked forward to it every evening. Most of the time we could get him to go to sleep by saying, "When you wake up it will be Grandma and Grandpa's Day!" He would rush into his room and pull the covers over himself so it would quickly be morning. And he wasn't grumpy to be woken up early in the morning when he knew he would soon be with his grandpa. 

Grandma and Grandpa's house is a lot of fun.

He loves to play in their dirt! They even bought him a special dirt toy. It is especially fun when you add water and it turns to mud! This little guy is so happy to play outside in the dirt with a shovel and bucket. Outside is also a trampoline! There are also cartoons there (like Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Doc McStuffins). And of course the treats... But the greatest part really is his grandpa. They are great buddies. Sometimes at home Creighton will say, "I miss my grandpa." And that is right after walking in the door to our own home after he has been there all day! I am glad they have a great relationship. 

Grandma and Grandpa were also a HUGE help in potty training Creighton. They bought him his own toilet seat (Cars) and were very dilligent in taking him to use the toilet frequently. Grandma also bought him a book (Creighton calls it the "poop book") to help him want to go poo poo in the potty. I think it really helped!

He is so lucky to have a wonderful Grandma and Grandpa here in Pocatello and we as a family are so blessed that they are willing to watch Creighton and Macey Jo while I work.

Just like Grandpa has a special place in his heart for Macey Jo, so she does for him! When he walks past Macey Jo she reaches her arms up at him and he will always pick her up! He just can't resist those beautiful blue eyes. And if he is nearby she will stare at him and try to get his attention.

Grandpa has also been watching another little girl recently, Ali, and Macey Jo doesn't like to share her grandpa very much. She does like Miss Ali, they are only a few weeks apart, and Ali has given Macey the courage to start crawling. However, Macey Jo will be glad when soon Ali is gone and she is the only girl grandpa gives his attention to.

Now that mommy is back to a 2 day a week work schedule Creighton has expressed his displeasure of only having "Grandma and Grandpa's Day" only twice a week. He asks, "Is tomorrow Grandma and Grandpa's Day?" I say, "No! You get to stay home with me and we can play together all day! Doesn't that sound like fun?" Creighton then replies, "No. Can I pack my lunchbox for Grandma and Grandpa's Day?"

But oh, how nice it is to know that my children are loved by so many than just me!

(another post below)

Macey Jo 6 Month Photos

There is no denying our Macey Jo is a beauty!

Photos by Adrianne Vaughan.

Creighton Eli's Prayer

A few nights ago after putting Creighton to bed I hear, "Mom! Mom!" I head into his room and say, "What's the matter?" He says, "I'm scared, sing me a song." When I asked him which song he wanted me to sing he said, "No mom. Say a prayer I won't be scared."

My heart was completely softened and I began to cry. We said a prayer and he seemed happy enough and went back to sleep. Then I headed to my room to say a prayer of my own.

I was so full of gratitude to my Heavenly Father for answering my prayer. 

For the past several months Creighton has refused prayer, scripture reading, and Family Home Evening. It is always a fight and his behavior is awful. He hits and kicks and spits and screams. I have worried over what we should do. I know that just giving up isn't what should be done. I know that prayer, scriptures, and FHE will strengthen our family and create an early testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ in Creighton. I know through these things he will understand how much the Savior and Heavenly Father love him and how much his mom and dad do as well.

I have prayed what should be done. I have had many experiences I won't share in this blog, but that evening was one simple answer to my prayers. Though he seems as though he hates prayer and refuses to participate a lot, it IS sinking in. He does have a testimony that his Heavenly Father can help him not to be scared if he prays. What a simple reminder and tender mercy from the Lord to encourage me to continue in my efforts.

Creighton is having a great summer! He loves going to Grandma and Grandpa's house 3 times a week. He likes to take his lunch box with him and his backpack full of toys! He loves to play with his dogs outside and try to feed them apples from our trees. He loves to find treasures outside like rocks and sticks and leaves. And he has decided that Play-Doh is alright! He has been making the family lots of ice cream and pizza. Delicious!

Being his mother has sometimes been trying and difficult, but there are so many moments that make it all worth it. He brings so many blessings into my life.

(another post below)

Macey Jo at 7 Months

Macey Jo is 7 months and it sure feels like it! What a big girl I have on my hands!

She may crawl any day... She is so close... I can tell she wants to so bad! 

It is time to retire the fish swing. She has decided it is better suited for pull-ups that relaxing.

Her hair is growing so long and continues to change colors. Daddy likes to style it in a mohawk and make us giggle.

She can sure jabber and says "mama".

She likes to grab your hands and pull up to help herself stand.

She eats baby food every day and Gerber puffs. Her favorite foods are vegetables. 

She drinks from a sippy cup and holds her own bottle when half full.

Big girl has decided to nap less frequently.

She still wears 6 month clothes but I am itching to get out the cute 9 month clothes! 

Big girl Macey Jo at 6-7 months: 

(Macey Jo and Lucy Sue with Grandma Chambers)

She is still a sweet and content baby. At her 6 month check-up the doctor called her somber. I don't like that word. So with the help of others I came up with the word content instead. She is happy to take in her surroundings and doesn't always need to be entertained.

However she is not content around strangers. She does not like to be baby-sat by strangers (anyone other than grandma and grandpa basically) and will scream most of the time. Darn.

I love to go in her room in the morning and see her big toothless grin. What a sweetie pie she is!!