Little Loves: March 2014

So as usual, time has sped by without me realizing it. Elizabeth is getting closer and closer to turning two years old...which is totally crazy to me... while Samuel is already four months old! These babies of mine will be getting married before I can blink!!
Okay that is slightly dramatic (and by slightly I mean VERY) but that is the mood I am in apparently.

Lets see- I will try to share some brief pieces of each person in this growing family! Starting with the most handsome of all... drum roll.... AARON!!

Aaron is amazing. He turned 27 a few weeks ago!! He is gracious enough to do these things before me ;-) Anyways, he is going to school full time studying Political Science with an emphasis in international relations. He constantly amazes me with how much he knows about world politics. It is a passion of his that really shines through when he tells me about it. He will finish up his bachelors degree next spring- two semesters away! Lets see, on top of full time school he is working full time at the University Hospital doing security. He has been there over a year now and it has been a wonderful job for our family. It is really the only reason we were able to have Sam so soon. Thank goodness for insurance! Aaron works hard managing those two areas of his life and still leaves plenty of time for us. We have a lot of fun together!

Elizabeth is 21 months now... closing in on two years! She is a ball of energy and happiness. She is an awesome sleeper- she sleeps at least 12 hours straight at night and about two hours for a nap each day. Lizzie eats everything and anything that we give her. She loves eating veggies and fruits as much as treats. She isn't too crazy about meat yet but is getting better at that. Lizzie is a smartie-pants! She learns so quickly and has many many words that she will say! My favorites are: Sam (which sounds like Nam!), work, treat, hot dog, hold you, happened?, bless you.... oh the list can go on forever! She is becoming very adventurous with her climbing skills. She has no problem climbing on the kitchen chairs and even the table now. It freaks me out and we are teaching her not to do that but I'm secretly proud of her for it :) Lizzie is aware of her body and tells us when she needs to go potty.... not that she is ready but it is on the horizon!!! Lets see... she is learning to name shapes and colors, she pretends to read, she loves Winnie the pooh and mickey mouse, she has a play kitchen, shopping cart, and purse that she enjoys playing with each day. We bought a small playground slide thingy that Lizzie can climb and slide down on her own! It has a small basketball hoop on the side that she places a ball through. She knows the names of most animals and likes to pick a different stuffed animal to sleep with each night. I am totally biased but I think she is such an amazing little lady. She is sweet and caring towards Sam, always asking to hold him or give him hugs and kisses. If she wakes up in the middle of the night the first person she asks about is Sam. She loves him and it shows!

Samuel is 4 months already... I blinked and this happened! He had his checkup yesterday and is in the 96th percentile for length and 40th for weight.... He is tall and skinny like his daddy!!! He has outgrown all the 3 month clothes and I am finding it a challenge to keep ahead of his clothes! As far as his personality goes, he is turning into such a happy boy. He laughs quite often now and will smile all the time. He doesn't fuss much and he goes to sleep easily. He loves to play on the little play mat where he grabs onto the toys and yanks them around. He is getting better at tummy time though he is not a big fan of it. He takes a few 1-2 hour naps each day, not really scheduled yet but pretty consistent. He will sleep for 5-6 hours at night waking up only to feed and go right back to sleep. He has practically outgrown his bassinet so we borrowed a crib from my sweet sister and he moved out! He and Lizzie share a room now and that has been an adventure. They had two good nights together and two semi-bad nights... but we are not giving up on it! They will adjust soon I hope! Sam is starting to roll onto his sides and likes to be propped up to a sitting position though he is just as happy on his back. We fed him rice cereal for the first time today and I had forgotten how it is to start at the beginning! Most of the cereal was pushed back out onto his bib :) Lizzie loved watching it though, we all had a good time teaching Sammie how to eat.

Hmmm.... what to say about myself..... I am recovering from having my second child. I feel that after having two c-sections in 18 months my body has a long way to go. I am formulating plans for how I want to change that but I'm not stressed about it. A friend told me- it took 9 months to gain that weight so you can take 9 months to loose it! I like that motto :) I am at home with Lizzie and Sam but have some secret projects on the side. I keep pretty busy with three church callings as well as attending Sunday meetings alone with two babies (Aaron has to work Sundays right now)... it is quite the experience! I like to cross stitch and would love to learn how to crotchet... still waiting for the motivation to start that! I have thought about masters programs but decided I would rather spend my time with Sam and Lizzie during the days and with Aaron at night when he is home! I am reading more which is something that I had missed. But when Aaron is working on homework at night, I find myself with the time to return to that wonderful outlet.

We have a fun little family full of love and laughter. I am very grateful to Heavenly Father for Aaron, Elizabeth, and Samuel. We are blessed with so much. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I am so far from perfect and need the Atonement in my life. I am really enjoying the scriptures lately, they are full of inspiration. I think I am a happier person just by reading them each day. I feel the Holy Ghost more frequently throughout my day. Small changes make a big difference. I love my life!!!!! I love all of you reading this! Thanks for reading my roaming, random thoughts!!!! Have a great day!

These pictures are from the last few months, enjoy!