Thirty ?!?

This weekend we celebrated my 30th birthday. On Friday Thomas and I went to a new steakhouse here in Beaumont. It was super yummy and really fancy. It worked great for us because it was so close we got to take our time and not have to add driving time. The crowd was definitely older (and we did have a reservation for 6:00) so it made us feel really young! :0) Always a good thing when you turn the big 3-0. Thomas got me new skis, boots, and poles. Since I am getting older I have decided that I am not going to get any better at snowboarding so I might as well stick with skiing since I enjoy that so much more. On Saturday Jonathan stuck with Thomas to work on my car and I went with my mom, Alyssa and David to go thrifting. Our newest favorite store had 30% off so that was fun. It was so easy to push around the single stroller and David is such an easy baby that we had a great time! On Sunday Kaitlyn drove up from Newport and we all met at Benihana for dinner. It was yummy as always and we had fun watching the show. I have to say I am excited about my 30s and I only have a few goals: to do whatever I am doing on a given day with a good attitude and do it well (from staying at home to working at school). To enjoy each day to the fullest. I also want to make 29 when I weighed the most in my life. I never really lost all the baby weight after Jonathan and then I gained alot with David. so basically I don't want to go back up just down. :0) So whenever someone tells me "wow thirty... you know it is all down hill from here." I will say it sure is and just be thinking about a number on a scale and not anything else! :0)

School at home

Since every once in a while I get to missing Kindergarten I have to bust out a few of my old tricks with Jonathan. He loves doing "school" things with me. We practice letters and sounds and numbers together. He knows most of his colors and shapes but we still practice those too. We are always reading tons of books together. It is so cute to hear him read the books he has memorized. The other day it was rainy all day so we did a few science experiments (he called them "procedures"). When I don't need to clean during David's morning nap we try to do something special together. I just hope that when he actually goes to school he doesn't tell the teacher "my mom already did that with me..." and just has fun !

- I made a big "flannel grab" as he likes to call it. We "won" a big canvas painting at a white elephant exchange and I covered it so he could use my old felt animals and numbers. We practiced sorting, counting and a little number matching.

This started out as a little color mixing and making shapes but turned into finger painting. He likes wearing his old pillow case smock.

Since I don't have any recent pictures of him helping me cook (we usually prep dinner in the morning or bake something talking about ingredients and measuring). I thought I would include this one of him helping Auntie Kaitlyn cook/ make margaritas :0). He was so thrilled at Costco a month or so ago when we went and they had samples including a small cup of blended margarita mix (no alcohol). "Margarinas just for KIDS!" he was so excited.

David Lately

- 5 months old

- 6 months old

Little Mr. David is now 6 months old!!! He is getting more and more fun everyday. Sometimes I wish I could just press the pause button with my two boys at this moment. Both of them are at two of my very favorite ages. To be honest the newborn faze is not my favorite but I LOVE right now! David is still a snuggle-cuddle bug but he can be put down to play. He is a very content little guy. Today at his drs appointment he weighed in at 18 lbs 10z. He is in the 70th percentile for height... 75th for weight... and 90th for head.... he has a big head... the dr had to re-measure and ask if it ran if the family... and it is not unusual for Thomas to have to look for hats that are a little bigger than normal... so it is an Odenbaugh trait to have a big head! :0) He is wearing mostly 6-9 month clothes and quickly growing out of them. He started on rice cereal right before his 4 month birthday. This boy LOVES to eat. He has to maintain all that chub somehow right?? He has had yams, sweet potatoes, banana, peas, carrots, and today a little avocado. He still nurses or takes pumped bottles like a champ. I tried a little mum mum (rice cracker) at dinner last night but he wasn't a fan yet. We are going to start with a sippy cup of water soon too. He is able to roll around but is a little hesitant on the hard floors. He is starting to sit up and he is soooo happy to sit in the high chair with us at dinner time. David is very ticklish and has the cutest little laugh and chuckle. He is constantly chewing on his fingers and drooling but no teeth yet. He sleeps through the night most nights but sometimes we have to get up to give him back his pipie and he goes back to sleep (not sure if he was waking because of teeth, a little cold, a little tummy trouble.... who knows!) He take a good morning nap for me (not the grandmas....) and an afternoon nap as well. He falls asleep many times if we are out and about too long. He has started talking more and does some pretty impressive yelling (not angry... just loud!). He is figuring out conversation works and will watch one person talk and then turn his head to the other person so they can talk. He adores Jonathan and it is so fun to see them interact more and more. Their favorite things to do together are listen to stories, be in the stroller on a walk, or play "sleepover". David can lay on the floor and play peak a boo with the blankie, momma can lay on the floor and Jonathan can boss us around turning the lights off and on telling us to go to sleep or wake up. Its a win- win for all of us! David does like to watch TV so we try to turn it off whenever he is in the living room. David also loves to be held. He is so much more snuggly than Jonathan was and with those kissable cheeks and soft head it is so hard not to!

Happy Valentine's Day

Today Thomas and I were realizing how much things have changed since our first Valentine's Day. I was a junior in high school and he was a senior. We went to the Jade Inn in Highland. While we were eating dinner he realized he had a huge hole in his pants. :0) He gave me a diamond ring. I think I decided then that he was a keeper... mostly because we could laugh about the hole in his pants but the jewelry was nice too. While we were in the car today talking about how things have changed... how we used to go out all the time and now we never get out... a little voice piped up from the backseat "Stop talking! I am hungry! Can we go to Freeeuuugoooss?" and another little voice piped up " wah" (translation- are we home yet? I am getting hungry!) hmmmm maybe these two are part of what makes our lives so different from 1998... but I think they help make this valentine's day is the sweetest one yet! It's just another season of our lives and I wouldn't change it for the world!

- I love my boys!!!

noises

David has been finding his voice. With a big brother who talks non stop you know it was bound to come sooner or later. :0) He likes to yell at us to get our attention. He is not really mad or sad... just LOUD! He also makes the most adorable cooing sound. I think it sounds like a cappuccino machine. I have been trying to catch it on video but I am not so good at that so some cutie pictures will just have to do.

Havasu with Grandma Utah

This past weekend we finally got back out to Havasu.... it had been WAYYYY too long since we had all been out there. Thomas' mom met us out there on Saturday morning. We had a great time hanging out at the channel and the park enjoying the sunshine. Both boys did awesome of the trip out there and both slept for most of the trip back (no stops!) We also had fun checking out the swap meet on Sunday. The boat stayed parked in the garage the whole time. Thomas had some problems with it when he went out with his friends for his birthday in August and we had it in the shop several times but it never really was fixed. He found another mechanic who took the engine out and basically told us it was toast. We might be able to sell off some of the parts but it is going to be a "spicy meatball" to replace. So this summer might be one with no boat. :0( while we are bummed about the boat we know what David is too little to stay out all day on the lake anyways. Thomas has been searching for other options but with three mortgages to pay each month we don't just have thousands of dollars laying around :0). Good thing playing in the sand and feeding the ducks is free. Poor Jonathan is the most upset about the boat being empty with no motor!

Its all fun and games till you want to get out.