"warm" winter and funny stories....

It has been so blasted cold here in the Artic.... I mean Rexburg. Seriously its anywhere from 9-20 degrees... FA-RE-EE-ZING! But the other day it warmed up! Hallelujah, to a whopping 31 degrees!!!! It was surprisingly glorious. And poor Hayden is so darn bored being inside all the time. He runs to the front door and pounds on it to go outside, stretching to reach the handle....poor kid. So it was a Saturday, I had Cory home for backup so he took him outside to run around in the snow :) He had a blast!

 If these seem blurry it's because Cory took them with his phone, which has a pretty good little camera on it but still.... it obviously snows here.....a LOT!  We see at least a few flurries if not full snow every other day.  It's crazy.

We are going to Utah this weekend! WOOO! I am sooo excited.  My family is going to die at how much Hayden has changed. And it's only been a little over a month.  I think getting the tubes in his ears has helped SO much!  He is babbling more sounds and mimicking so much more.  Some funny stories in the past little while.

-Cory and I were watching Hayden shoot hoops in his cute little basketball hoop he got for Christmas from Grandma Tracy.  It is so fun because it will grow with him.  He use to have to stretch and get up on his toes to dunk it in on the lowest notch.  He is now slamming it in the hoop and then throws his arms up in the air for "Hooray!"  So Cory lifted it up a notch and he can still make it in, but is tippy toeing it in again... I can't believe how much he has grown.  Here is the video we took with Cory's phone... he was so so proud of himself.

-He thinks its hilarious to play and then hide my phone.  So far I have found it: fed to his cow on his toy barn, in his crib AFTER a nap(Im not sure how he snuck it in with him while I was laying him down), and UNDER the fridge....He doesn't get to play with it anymore

-He loves to dance.  He dances to my music that I play while I am getting ready or cooking... and he also loves to sway back and forth and bust a move during Sacrament meeting.  I think he learned his moves from Cory, slightly all over the place and slightly off beat, hahahaha..just kidding Cory. :) LY.

-Speaking of Sacrament meeting... we FINALLY went to our ward that we are supposed to be in this last week.  This cute couple sat with us and of course thought Hayden was darling.  He then began showing off, pounding his head on the bench in front of us, singing, talking loudly, and more dancing.  By the end of the meeting(which had gone way over time) he was DONE to say the least.  He pushed his way past me to meet this new friend that had been sitting with us the whole time.  He looked at the girl's pretty sparkly bracelet and talked softly and then all the sudden, PULLS HER SKIRT ALMOST ALL THE WAY UP!  I about died... She thought it was hilarious, her husband thought it was more hilarious, Hayden was offended and started to whine that she wasn't allowing him to continue investigating(Cory then took him out.)  I was so mortified.  Then... after we came home early from church because Hayden was more bear-ish, than sweet boy-ish(nap time).  I notice a girl in a similar sweater that Hayden had tried to undress... I noticed them walking in the apartment DIRECTLY across from us!  The girl that he attempted to undress lives right there!  Then I was even more embarrassed. What a coincidence huh?  (Dont worry, Cory did give him the "man" talk of being turned down, and she's just a girl, and better luck next time....)

-Hayden thinks if he signs or attempts to say please, he automatically gets whatever it is he wants because he said please... that has been a rough discovery for everyone, that just because you say please you don't get what you want...he is really good at temper tantrums now....

-A sucess story this month: Hayden will now eat black beans, pinto beans, any beans like those, and carrots...(that's all Im going to say about his veggie intake so I dont jinx it)

-Hayden loves to help me mop, vacuum, do the laundry and the dishes,  cook, and watch me get ready and pretend to put on make up...don't ask Cory about the last one... it's a sensitive subject. haha....The other day I had made theses brownie sucker things.  He had somehow, without me noticing, reached the spatula that I used to get them off the pan and was walking around the front room saying "Mmmmmm." I look over and his face is COVERED in chocolate.

Helping mommy cook...

-Hayden has watched little, to no tv. EVER.  But there was one day we were waiting for Cory to come home(Hayden watches out the window for him everyday, he knows exactly when it's time for daddy to come home) and I could NOT entertain him anymore... so sue me, I turned on Blue's Clues... and he sat and watched and loved it.....(This still does not happen very often but I thought it was a cute picture of him just sitting...)

-Hayden also LOVES to color.  I've been trying to help him color everyday.  Even if it's just for 5 min.  Working for the school district in CA I noticed how much of a difference it makes if you start reading, and teaching them how to color and get those fine motor skills working early...Sometimes he will color FOREVER, sometimes it's only 2 minutes.

One of his latest creations:
We hung it on the wall in a frame from the dollar store.  He is so proud, he points to it all the time and I love that we have his art displayed in our home :)

Working on Valentine's :)

Hayden helping me decorate for V-Day/FHE activity.  One side is cute scrapbook-y looking hearts and on the other side is who we love and how we show our love.

He is just growing a ton and is so darn smart.  Probably to smart for his own good... Im in trouble when he really does start talking...He knows exactly what we are talking about and he knows exactly what he wants.  We are all learning :)

We hope you all have a Happy Love Day!

Also, I have a new blog with some really good friends.  There are lots of Vday ideas, fhe ideas, visiting teaching aids,  and other fun things and recipes...(including a download of the L.O.V.E. page I had Hayden color and the Valentine's we made will be posted in a day or two if you need ideas...)check it out! Click here: