It's Official...

Cameron is sitting up!!! He is still a little tipsy but he can sit up for a good minute or so all by himself! So cool!

Ethan is Two!!!!

Today Ethan officially turns 2! I can't believe it! Two years ago I held the newborn Ethan in my arms...having no clue what was to come. Now my little baby is TWO! I still have no clue what is coming but I have two wonderful years of motherhood behind me. I have learned so much from Ethan and my love for him continues to grow. He is such a joy.

We aren't doing a lot to celebrate his birthday today because we had his party with my family on our Disneyland trip, but I couldn't let the day pass without a tribute to my sweet Ethan.

Ethan playing outside with a birthday balloon he got today from a very sweet friend.

Here are some things about Ethan at age 2:

-He says TONS of words and now puts together two and three word sentences often

-He is very detail oriented...he notices minute details...he can cut with scissors and has figured out how to actually use nail clippers YIKES. (I have to start hiding them)

-He likes coloring but loves to color himself (meaning his own skin)...ugh...at least it isn't the walls yet

-He loves to play with cars, puzzles, balls, blocks and toys that make sound

-He is very good at getting into just about anything

-He loves going for bike rides and walks

-He loves music and songs...he often asks for songs and will not take a nap or go to bed without getting a song first.

-His knows all of his colors

-He loves books...he says the name of everything in his books and often names the colors too.

-He likes rough housing with daddy

-He is such a BOY! I just have to bonk my head or do something silly and he will laugh and laugh

-He can jump and actually get both feet off the ground.

-He loves to sing along with "I Love to See the Temple" his new favorite

-He is pretty fearless, which scares me

-He not so fearless if I leave him...he can be a little clingy

-He loves to be a part of everything I do no matter what it is.

-He counts 1-10 but often out of order and still doesn't exactly get why he is counting

-He knows letters A, B, and C and will point them out when he sees them.

-He is actually going to nursery without screaming and doesn't really cry the whole 2 hours!

-He has a very hard time sitting still, sacrament meeting and FHE are a battle

-He still struggles with having a little brother sometimes but is very sweet sometimes too. He will say "mommy, Cameron sad", if he hears Cameron crying. He also likes giving Cameron hugs and kisses.

-He says "excuse me" when he burps

-He talks a LOT! He mostly tells me the name of anything and everything within sight and then waits for me to repeat the word back to him.

-He can say long words pretty clearly like "sacrament", but he struggles with words that have the sound "moo" at the beginning. He calls movies "ooovies" and music "ooosic".

Mommy and Daddy love you Ethan! Happy 2nd Birthday!

Pumpkins for My Little Pumpkins

We went to a pumpkin patch for FHE (Family Home Evening) last night. It was a huge hit with Ethan. He ran all over the patch trying to pick up pumpkin after pumpkin and yelling in excitement.

He climbed on and off the hay bails and tried to pick up pumpkins of every size. He was ecstatic.

Ethan found his pumpkin...he was SO excited!

Daddy gave Camron a pumpkin while he was sleeping...

He didn't like it much

After we got home from the pumpkin patch we got Ethan ready for bed. He cried and cried because I wouldn't let him sleep with his new pumpkin. I did let him keep it on his night stand but he wanted it in bed with him. I am such a mean mommy. This morning when I got him out of his room he had his pumpkin in his little arms and he keeps carrying it around today. I think he is in love.

Howdy!

Our church did a Foot Rodeo this past weekend (October 23rd). They had a whole slew of activities from sheep riding to chicken chasing. I felt like I was back in Idaho for a few hours. Ethan was too little to participate in most things but he did try some of the food, horse shoes, and a ride on a cart pulled by a pony.

He was fascinated by the horses...and to be honest, so was I. YEEHAW!

Ethan wanted to be the camera man for a little while with the assistance of Daddy, of course. So cute!

Boise State Bronco Fan

We got Ethan a Boise State "Bronco's in Training" shirt for his birthday. (We had his party while we were in California, but he still has a week to go until he is two). To be perfectly honest the shirt was more for Grandpa Banner and Daddy than for Ethan. Here is a cute video of Ethan cheering for the team, with a little help from Mommy!

Ethan in his BSU shirt! GO BRONCOS!!!!

(I took a ton of pictures and this is the BEST one I could get. Toddlers are very difficult to photograph...I'm just say'n)

And Cameron being cute as usual. Check out the fuzzy hair!

Posts and pictures of our Disneyland trip and Ethan's 2nd birthday party to come.

Like Father Like Son

Ethan found Daddy's hat today while I was getting ready. He said "hat" then he picked it up and put it on his head backwards. He wore it around like that for about 20 minuets. I thought it was so cute! My mini Jared.

Big

Cameron hit the four month mark on September 27th. He laughs and smiles a great deal of the time. He just rolled over today for the first time. I put him down for a nap on his back and he started crying. When I went in to check on him he was on his tummy. So although I haven't seen it with my own eyes, Cameron can finally roll over! YAY! Here is my 4 month photo shoot of Cameron.

Ethan just hit the 23 month mark. I will officially have a two year old in a month! Ethan is always doing and saying new things. He has started to say a few full sentences like "Put the chair away". He knows all of his basic colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, black, white, and grey). He has learned his first letter "A". Ethan cuts with scissors like a big kid and he holds his pencil like mommy with the pencil pinched between his two fingers instead of holding it with a fist. He loves balls, cars, puzzles, blankets, and books. His new favorite stuffed animal is Kermit the Frog. He is getting really good a cleaning up. He has to put everything away in his room before he will go to bed. Maybe he is just stalling but I don't mind if he's stalling by cleaning his room. He has just recently tried to sing. The only songs he sings along to are, "I Am a Child of God", "Popcorn Popping", "I Love to See The Temple" and "Follow the Prophet". Speaking of prophets... all during conference this last weekend he kept pointing to all the speakers and kept saying "Prophet". So cute!

Ethan playing in the rain

Ethan "Singing"

I took this video today of Ethan "singing" the primary song "I Am A Child of God". It was so cute. I just had to share. He only made it about half way through the song but this was take number five so I don't blame him.

Brotherly Love...

Better Late Than Never

We had a baby...almost four months ago. Three months, two weeks, and three days, to be exact. I am almost embarrassed to post this because it is so late, but here is Cameron's long awaited birth announcement!

So, in case anyone didn't know, we had a baby boy on May 27, 2010 :)

Party Decor

Okay, I knew I loved graphic design and interior design but this week I have found another new hobby that I am just in love with! I love designing party tables. I hosted a book club this week and I had so much fun putting together the dessert table. I may have went a little over the top but I had a blast doing it! So fun!

Cupcakes

I ran out of time on the cupackes...clearly my next skill set I need to develop is cake decorating :)

Center pieces

More center pieces

The final product

Party favors

Bookmarks for the party favor bags

PS: I got everything from the Dollar Tree or at the dollar section of Target except for the napkins, the "cupcake holder" and the cupcake cups. My cupcake holder is my kitchen spice rack. I wrapped croquet balls with crepe paper for the large glass vases. The rose center pieces I also made out of crepe paper and I stole the idea from House of Smith's. I found a bag of ball forms at the dollar store for the rose center pieces! I spent $3 for the supplies to make 13 book marks and I found all of the supplies for them in the dollar section of Target. Cute but cheap...that is my moto.

Mopping

Ethan has become a little helper lately. He loves to help me sweep and mop. Here is a video from last Saturday. Now all I have to do is teach Ethan to do dishes, laundry, and to clean toilets and I will be set!

Cameron's Blessing

Cameron was blessed on August 1st. His blessing day was very special. My mom, dad and my little sister, Jennifer, came from out of town for the blessing. Jared's mom, stepdad and Jared's little brother, Jacob, also came from out of town to be there. Thank you to all of our family and friends for being at Cameron's blessing. It meant a great deal to us. It was a very special day!

Jared gave Cameron a very special blessing. I felt, and still feel, an overwhelming sense of gratitude to my Father in Heaven that I was sent such a sweet, beautiful little boy. Two sweet little boys actually. I also feel an enormous sense of responsibility that I have been entrusted to raise and teach my two boys all about their Father in Heaven and help them find their way back to Him. It is truly humbling to be a mother. I am so thankful that I have my wonderful husband as a partner and best friend to share this great responsibility with. I couldn't do it without Jared or without the guidance of the Lord.

Here are a couple of pictures of my sweet Cameron in his blessing outfit. Mommy and Daddy love you more than we could ever express!

Waffles

I made waffles for lunch today. Then I put Ethan down for his nap. I forgot to put the waffles away. Ethan woke up. I got him out of bed and went back to getting stuff done on my never ending To-Do List. Then I heard Ethan from the kitchen say, "waffles". I went to investigate and this is what I found.

Ethan took a bite of every single left over waffle and then staked them up on a plate. Lovely. I guess Ethan will be eating waffles every morning for the next seven days. This must be his new "I'm not sharing" tactic.

Cameron's First Laughs

These are not Cameron's first laughs ever but pretty darn close. They are the first ones we got on video, so I guess it counts.

3 Months

Yesterday Cameron hit the three month mark. He has continued to be a PERFECT baby! I am just so in love! Cameron is now sleeping from about 8:30pm-5:30am! I am getting so much sleep and it is a welcome change.

Cameron is pretty easy going, for the most part, but will loudly let me know when he is hungry, tired, needs a diaper change or if he just wants to be cuddled. I sure love my little guy! He is chunking up! Can I just say I LOVE this stage. So FUN!!!

New Family Pictures

Jared and I had some pictures taken of Cameron right after he was born. The studio then gave us a free 10X13 so we went back and had some family photos done for the free print. Here they are...our first official family pictures since Cameron was born.

Big Boys!!

Cameron and Ethan were both born on the 27th (of different months) and that means they turn one month older on the same day!

Ethan is now 21 months old!!! He continues to pick up new words every day. He talks and talks and talks. He loves to "say" prayers. He actually will repeat the words of the prayer one word at a time and he thinks it is always his turn to pray. He has an obsession with the movie Cars, he loves his basketball (to the point that he will sleep with it). He still loves his stuffed animals and books. He likes cell phones, electronics and Daddy's tools. He just figured out how to get both of his feet off the floor when he jumps and he loves doing summersaults. He is such a joy...even if he does throw a tantrum every now and again. Ethan is 33.5 inches tall and he weighs 27.4 lbs so he is a little on the short side and in the 50-70th percentile for weight.

Photo by April Austin-Ethan at Temple Square

Cameron is now two months old!!! I can't believe how fast time goes by. Cameron smiles and has started cooing a little bit. He still sleeps quite a bit during the day. At night he sleeps for a 6 hour stretch until 3:00am. I feed him and then he lets me sleep until around 7:00am. He has been a great baby and he is putting on the pounds. Here are his 2 month stats: 24.5 inches long (75-90th percentile), 13.4 lbs. (50-75th percentile), and his head circumference is 15.5 inches (10-25th percentile). We sure love him and I have personally loved having a newborn again. He is so sweet!

Weddings, I Love Weddings!!!

Jared and I had the chance to attend the sealing of Jared's sister, Janae, on July 13th. It was a beautiful wedding and we had a great time in Utah. We also had the chance to go to Idaho to visit my family. We were out of town for a total of about 10 days and we had a wonderful time. Unfortunately I lost my camera on the second day of the trip so I only took two or three pictures the entire trip...SAD. My camera was found and mailed back to me a couple days ago (thanks Janae). So I stole some pictures from my sister-in-law, April, since I had absolutely NO pictures to document the trip. Can I just say, again, how sad I am about that. So here we go...a few pictures taken by April...

The happy couple, Jamison and Janae Campbell, coming out of the temple (photo by April Austin)

The delicious dinner after the wedding (photo by April Austin)

Brothers Jamin and Jared smile for the camera on the way through the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point (photo by April Austin)

Jared, Jamin, Ethan, Marcie, Janae, and Jenna at the Museum of Ancient Life (photo by April Austin)

Cameron and Daddy at the Museum (photo by April Austin)

Ethan at the museum posing for April (photo by April Austin)

Our family at Temple Square

The mountain man copying Jared- Idaho City, Idaho

The mountain man stealing Jared's wife

Grandma & Grandpa Banner and cousin Abby at Idaho City