i've been waiting...

i've been waiting for this time of year...since last january. i love the christmas season. we took sutton to see santa at the downtown macy's a few weeks ago and she loved the winter wonderland with all the decorations but didn't love the idea of sitting on santa's lap. she straight up stared santa down and shook her head no when we asked if she wanted to sit on his lap. but seriously, i would not have wanted to sit on his lap either. but, of course we made her. we're jerks like that and i really had to get a picture of her on his lap. she'll thank me for this memory when she is older. right???

we drove to nevada last saturday to spend the holidays with my family. we have been having the best time laying around and eating.  (i must add that john and i have gone running almost every day so i don't feel like a complete sloth) i've gotten dressed in real clothes once and am currently wearing the same sweats and sweatshirt i wore yesterday (don't worry, i do shower when i am here) so as always, when we come to nevada i wonder why i even bother packing real clothes. sutton blue loves being at grammie and grandpa's house just as much as i do.  she loves running around with all her cousins, playing hide-n-seek (grammie has lots of space and good hiding spots), riding her bike around outside and getting showered with attention. she knows where the special treat cupboard is and likes to help herself on a frequent basis. at least she still needs an adult to open packages so we have some control over what she puts in her lil' belly. she is getting some molars and is really into eating ice. all. day. long. the ice must feel good on her sore gums. she is so loved by all the family and it's amazing to see how everyone is just drawn to her. she's like the popular kid in school when we are at grammie's :) it's so fun to see how sutton and emmery interact with each other, especially now since they are older and more aware of other littles. emmery   is definitely more snuggly, sensitive and calm than sutton. sutton is busier and more independent. but with her teething lately and being constantly tired from all of the partying she has been more cuddly which makes for a happy mama. grammie bought her a dreamlight pillow pet for christmas and we just snuggled on my bed watching the colors light up the ceiling before i tucked her in. i taught her how to give eskimo and butterfly kisses and she loves giving them to me before bed. we also tell "secrets"-this is by far my favorite thing that she does. she just whispers little jibberish into my ear and then asks me to whisper into hers. melt my heart.
this was also the first christmas that uncle mark has been home from his mission. woo hoo! he was definitely missed the past two years during christmas. he loves his nieces and even bought them matching camo outfits for christmas. very thoughtful and sweet. i'm sure there will be a picture posted at some point. we plan on taking the ranger out for some more rides while we are here so the camo outfits will come in handy.

here are some of the picutres i've taken this past month.

this was it. the santa stare down.

sutton loved the winter wonderland

fail

oh the tippy toes...

sutton pushed the button over and over because she did not want that train to stop!

sutton with cousin kloe at church in lovelock

grammie bought them matching shopping carts. i don't think she likes having two granddaughters the same age or anything. wink wink.

mateo wrapped this gift for me all himself. he was so excited to watch me open it. the look on his face was priceless. i may have cried a little. such a sweet boy. 

john bought us matching jammies for Christmas! he picked them out all on his own and i had no clue. awesome surprise. we're probably going to expect this from him every year from now on.

markie and sutton blue playing lego's 

only a little spoiled :)

sibling love

happy girl on christmas

out of 300 pictures taken, this was the best. my deepest apologies. 

and....more presents

aunt chan came over and we went for a ranger ride to see some cows. this was sutton's face the entire time. pretty sure she didn't know what in the heck to think. 

girl chat

stealing daddy's glasses

 had to take a picture of how pretty the pogo nip on the trees was this morning. or the "coco nip" as john likes to call it.

18 month check up

blue!

today (i started this post on 11/13 but we've been having so much fun that i haven't had time to finish it until today-oops) we went to see dr moshofsky for your 18 month old check up. you decided to celebrate by waking up at 5:00 am! you NEVER do this and i hope you realized that it wasn't as fun as you thought it was going to be and then NEVER do it again. ever.  needless to say, you weren't very happy to see dr moshofsky's nurse. you screamed like the dickens when i had to take your clothes off to get you on the scale (i don't blame you-i do the same thing when i have to be weighed but just wait, when you're bigger you have to get weighed with ALL your clothes on. torture!) and then you screamed even more when i laid you down on the table so she could get your height and head circumference. you had big crocodile tears just streaming down your face. i felt so sad for you but then you stopped crying as soon as she left the room so i knew you were just being dramatic. you sure didn't cry when dr moshofsky came into the room. you are quite fond of him and i can't say i blame you-he's kind of a silver fox. you like the funny duck noises he makes and he even offered to let you hold the stethoscope but you declined. he says you are exceeding all your developmental marks and he also said that we should stop giving you a bottle because it can be bad for your teeth. that makes me sad because it means you are growing up and although i'm so excited for the age you are, i still want you to stay part baby. like a baddler. baby/toddler combo. could you do that for me, please? the good news is that he said the binky won't hurt your teeth until you are two so i'm hoping you enjoy the next 5 months. although, we are down to about 3 binky's and i'm pretty sure at one point we had over 400 so maybe this is a sign that you need to stop having one sooner? i'd just like to know where in the heck they all went.

today you weighed 24.14 lbs
you are 32"tall
your height is in the 47% and your weight is in the 74%

looks like you are going to keep growing.

you are such a FUN baby and i love love love that we get to spend so much time together. you are the best sidekick i could could ever ask for. you are starting to talk more and more everyday. some words that you say often are doggie, mama, daddy, plane, more, please, wow, yeah, soda, gum, water and ball. you don't really eat very much and you have become somewhat of a picky eater. but, some of the things you really, really like are cheese, pickles, olives, pizza, cucumbers, avocado, apples, mac n cheese, graham crackers and fruit snacks. we brush your teeth every night even though you don't like it. well, except the eating toothpaste part. gross. you're still a very good sleeper and you love to read books before bed. you would make us read 49 books to you every night if we would. you still wake up happy and chatty in the mornings and now that your hair is getting a little longer, your bed head is becoming more amazing. you love to spend time with other little people. going to the kids club at the gym and the nursery at church are some of your favorite times. a lot of times you mimic me when you play. driving your car (you always have to grab the keys and put some sort of a bag on your shoulder before you hop in), loving on your baby dolls, and taking your wipes and cleaning anything you can (you even got a wipe out of my purse when we were in the airport last week and proceeded to clean the table and chairs in the kids area). you loooove music and shake your booty and bob your hand like a rap star when you hear music that you like. your favorite songs are roar by katy perry, hold on, we're going home by drake and won't stop by sevyn streeter and chris brown. whenever a song comes on the radio that you don't like you make sure to tell us by shaking your head no until we change it to a song you like. seriously? so opinionated. playing hide-n-seek is your new favorite game to play. you love to come find me and giggle hysterically when you're startled. you always go and "hide" in the same spot that i was in when it's your turn. seeing you "hiding", trying not to giggle and happier than a clam might just be the cutest thing i've seen in the history of cutest things. we went to target for family date night and bought you a potty because you have been showing signs that you're ready to potty train. yay! you like to sit for a while (nothing exciting has come out yet), grab toilet paper and "wipe" your bum and then hop off and flush. and then you flush again. and if i didn't herd you out of the bathroom you would probably stay in there and flush the day away. flushing thrills you to no end. after peeing on your bedroom floor (daddy's rookie error) and pooping hard nuggets (thanks for not having diarrhea)in your bubble bath (thanks for clogging the drain, btw), i'm really stoked to get this potty training party started. not to mention, think of all the money we will save when diapers are no longer on our shopping list?! we'll spend it on ice cream, unicorns and gap. deal?

i've never felt my heart melt before becoming your mama and somehow, you've managed to melt it everyday since. bluebird, i love you! 

halloween, salt lake and a wedding!

blue celebrated this halloween by taking a flight to salt lake city in her fancy halloween outfit (thanks again aunt brooksie), eating some cafe rio (heaven), partying with her favorite "aunties", dressing up as the cutest cabbage patch doll ever and passing out candy (let's be honest...hoarding the candy) with brooks.  

having a little snack before our flight. too bad she puked it up later- all over her pretty halloween outfit and her mama too :)

our welcoming committee

this is the cutes thing i have ever seen. like in the history of ever. can you believe one of my awesome clients made this wig for blue? 

sutton blue was reluctant to give these girls any candy but eventually she gave two of the four girls a piece. when the other two girls put their pillowcases out she the candy close with a death grip and then shooed them away. it was HILARIOUS. 

she was determined to get as many pieces as she could in her arms all at once

my favorite kid dressed up as my favorite childhood toy

the whole reason we went to utah was for kisty's wedding! kisty is one of my very favorite people in the whole world and we were so happy to be part of her special day. it was such a fun wedding and she looked gorgeous!

hudson and blue

he's a little accident prone but i'd be ok if they got married one day

brooksie doing her thang

kisty and dan are married! and how cute is it that her grandma married them? 

i met all these girls my first year of college at dixie. how lucky am i that we all keep in touch and when we get together it feels like we are 18 again?

me, kette, heatha b and carisa

i wish heather lived closer to me

so, as usual we had a great time in utah and basically spent the whole weekend eating, laughing, talking, shopping and eating some more. here are a few more fun pictures from our trip. 

blue wasn't impressed with the snow

took blue to the disney store and what did she pick out for her souvenir? not a doll, toy, purse, tiara or stuffed animal. she chose a fork, spoon and a cup. i have no explanation for her odd obsessions. 

this sums up our trip perfectly

i love taking sutton blue places. she is the best little sidekick i could ask for. besides puking on the plane on the way to salt lake (eating candy+nasal congestion+a SUPER sensitive gag reflex=bad bad combo) we didn't have any other snaffu's. she is super chill, and loved all the attention from her "aunties". i am so in love with this little girl! 

{my girl} the funnest & the bestest

it's fall! fall is my favorite time of year-crisp air, time to bust out the boots, honeycrisp apples, pumpkin everything and i'll have to stop there because if i don't, i won't. sutton blue seems to be loving fall just as much as i do. we kicked off my favorite month with a visit from aunt brooks and she spoiled blue rotten! brooks was only here for a few days but we managed to take her to all our favorite restaurants. isn't that what you are supposed to do on vacation? we took blue to toys r us for the first time ever and aunt brooks told her she could pick out anything she wanted in the store. after roaming a few aisles, this is what she decided on. and she was pretty adamant about it.

naturally she was upset when i informed her she isn't a little baby anymore and that we would have to find something more age appropriate to buy. (side note..today one of the girls who works at the kids club in the gym told me that she hogs the infant bouncy chair and that when smaller babies are in the club they have to hide the chair from blue.) what's with this chair obession?! 

she finally decided on a toy shopping cart and a quick ride with kermit (which she acted like she hated but asked for more as soon as it stopped) and aunt brooks couldn't wait to put the cart together so she got right to work as soon as we got in the car.

ta-da! blue was quite pleased with the end result and it's quickly become one of her favorite toys. she really likes to steal random items from around the house and put them in her cart. for some reason she really likes the canola oil and vanilla from the pantry. why??? whenever i leave the cupboard open she drops what she is doing and tries to sneak them out when my back is turned. little weirdo.

had to share a few more pictures of our fun weekend with aunt brooksie. she is like a sister to me and the most amazing, beautiful, giving and talented person. plus she is funny. like pee your pants funny. she's also my scorpio twin so that makes me love her even more.

today sutton had to wear the cute halloween outfit aunt brooks bought for her. she got many compliments and kept patting her skirt all day with a proud look on her face. she kills me! 

sutton loves when i rub her back at night when she is laying in her crib, getting sleepy. she just lays there on her belly and occasionally looks up at me, binky in mouth, with a huge grin. i can't keep from laughing and then she starts laughing and before you know it we are having a full on giggle-fest. the other night i decided to be a really cool mom and  give her a baby foot massage. i even used lotion. i was curious if she would like it. i was going to kick her out if she didn't. lucky for her, she loved it! i should have known. she just kicked back and let me rub her piggies, not making a peep or moving an inch. she just had pure relaxation written all over her face. it's become our nightly ritual and i love it. 

remember that one time that blue was obsessed with chairs? ha. we sat by some friends who have a baby at church a few weeks ago and she immediately zeroed in on his carseat. she pounced as soon as his mama lifted him out. i was thinking "sheesh girl, why don't you just pee on it?". she spent the remainder of sacrament meeting taking selfie's and being all cozy. 

*she wasn't really taking selfie's. she was trying to find katy perry's roar video. it is her favorite song and she loves the video even more. 

so blue may have gotten the most epic hand-me-down gift of her entire life from our sweet friend emily.  everyone knows that she is not only obsessed with chairs, she is also obsessed with this car. she finally has one of her very own, right in her own playroom. the first few weeks it was home were pretty predictable because she wanted to play in it 24/7. like literally, 24/7. the first night it was home she woke up in the middle of the night crying and pointing downstairs. after asking a bajillion questions and getting only no for an answer, i finally asked if she wanted her car. bingo. big fat yes. i'm not joking. for a few days i even caved and fed her dinner while she sat in her car. it was the only way she would eat!  her shopping cart and red car are by far her favorite toys. she likes to get a "purse" (any kind of random bag she can find), put it on her arm, load up the trunk with a few things and merrily scoot around. 

oh my word. i can't even begin to express the amount of love i have for this little human. she has so much character and personality! she loves loves loves to play in my makeup and i usually let her... until she learned to unzip the pouch where i keep my eyeliners. she got into it the other day and began her first mural on our bedroom wall. as soon as she saw me come back into the room she frantically started trying to wipe it off. i had to turn and bite my cheek so she wouldn't see me laughing. it's still on the wall, i can't seem to bring myself to clean it off. 

.....and i'm sure it won't be the last time this happens :)

i can't get enough of her and neither can her daddy. he's looking over my shoulder as i write and just said, "i freaking LOVE that little girl!!!" amen brother, amen. 

*he's not really my brother, that would be gross.