Happy 2nd B-day!

We had huge plans for Hayes' second birthday. The crate paper was out, decorations in check and party a go. Only problem? The dang weather.

We had plans to go to Logan for baby animal days on Hayes' actual birthday so you could imagine how bummed we were when it rained poured flooded the entire morning. We decided to go anyway and try our luck with the animals inside the barns. Hayes loved it despite the rain and gushy mud. We didn't last very long before we took shelter at a nearby McDonalds and let the kids warm up and run around. So much for cute decorations, but hey the thought was definitely there.

Here's Hayes spread out birthday week...
Did you expect anything but a Buzz lightyear party?

Where did my baby go?

{I obviously never posted this because I never got around to uploading the pictures...oh well, here it is waaaay late, haha}

A two year-old? Really? I can't believe Hayes is going to be 2 in a couple short days. Even though I miss my sweet little baby, Hayes is so much fun now.

About our almost two-year old, (sigh)...

• Our house right now revolves around "Bight-year". Oh gosh, Buzz is his favorite thing in the entire world. No joke! He used to yell "mom" for me to come get him out of his crib but now more times than that he yells, "where's Bightyear, where's Bightyear?" He'd watch Toy Story all day if I let him. 
• He also obsesses about everything little boy like helicopters, airplanes, trains, tractors, cars, remotes, puddles... His favorite time of day is when the garbage man comes.
• He'd definitely move his bedroom outside if we let him. He'll grab his shoes and coat and he lets me know when he thinks it's time to go outside.
• He's a list maker, especially when we are in the car. The other day we were heading out to Kami's and I told him where we were going so he made a list that went something like this, "Ridge, Navie, Pop pop, Ridge, Aunt Kam, Pop pop, Dax, Pop pop's bachoe..." and he says it so matter of fact like.
• He likes to sing before we tuck him in at night. If he doesn't know the words he makes them up as he goes. 
• Hayes is quite the little counter. We went through a period where he hated the numbers 1 and 7 and always left them out but now he finally includes them and counts to ten like a champ. He totally uses it to his advantage too. It's like if he goes to all the effort to count, we had darn well better do something special when he finally gets to ten like applaud him or swing him in the air or how could we possibly get mad at him for jumping down the stairs if he just counted so perfectly before take off?!?

The last few months

I'm comfy at 80 degrees, Hayes is comfy at whatever the temperature is outside.

 We tried to do this cute little St. Patricks dinner for Hayes, he wanted absolutely nothing of it.

We have a little routine at our house. At least a hundred times a day Hayes heads over to our leg with the death grip and with all his might tries to pull us. With a little strain in his voice he tells us, "uuuup, please mom, uuuup." The persistent little stink won't give up until you get up, "come on, come on." Most the time he takes you to the kitchen and asks for a "treat please" but the other times he takes you to the door and wants outside. To say we are excited for Spring is an understatement!

Our biggest victory since the last update. No more binkie. I know I should be embarrassed it took this long to get rid of it, but the kid was obsessed with it and with Chris' crazy school schedule it wasn't a battle I wanted to tackle. BUT we finally did it and he still talks about it like we took a limb or vital organ from him. He asks me daily where his binkie is and before I can tell him for the millionth time it's broken, he gives me that famous Hayes scowl and tells me, "momma broke it!" Yep, I'm mean.

My favorite thing he does lately is his fake cry. The kid literally says (not cries, he says), "boo-hoo" with his lip all puckered out and it's so adorably fake. Hence the it's-almost-bedtime pout. Now dad's the mean one? Bully.

Happy Valentines!

Cornflakes 21 months

The Before:

My little guy looked so sweet this particular morning so I had to grab out my camera. He wasn't quite ready to wake up for the day so he layed back down on the front room floor and took another snooze...

And when he finally did wake up he looked so adorably cuddly...

 

 The Question:
How did we get to this point just seconds later?

Everything in Between:

I guess he decided he could get himself breakfast.You little turkey.

When I pulled out the vacuum to clean it up I broke his little heart.

20 months

Oh Hayes, you are too cute for your own good!

This morning Hayes and I went on a little adventure. Sure, the hospital might only be a couple hundred yards from our front door, but today we were explorers on an extensive voyage. By the time we got back home there wasn’t a single puddle that wasn’t jumped in, not a person in that hospital that didn’t get a “hi” from Hayes, and not a solitary car that wasn’t waved at (occupied or just sitting in the parking lot). The sweet little bus driver at the hospital was the only one to wave back and you should have seen Hayes' face when he realized after all that waving, the bus driver was actually waving back at him. Hayes’ lips squished together like a fish, “Ohhhhhhhwaaaaaa,” he said and when the bus driver kept waving as he turned the corner, Hayes squealed like a little girl. “Bus, bus,” he kept saying as he tried to drag me back to meet his new idol -the bus driver.

We decided to eat in the cafeteria while we were there and there wasn’t a person around that didn’t comment on how “busy” one year olds are (a nice way of saying how busy my one year old is). First he wanted to take all the candy canes off their tree. Then he booked it across the lunchroom to pet a dog for the blind (he has a small obsession with dogs), then off to the pop machines, back into the cafeteria, under the chair… all while being chased by his mom holding a spoonful of his soup. When I took him to dump our tray, he decided to “hide, hide, hide” from me around the corner. I guess that’s what I get for playing hide and seek with him at home (except at home he is ALWAYS behind the curtains or next to his crib). The poor kid needs a friend. He’s even resorted to hiding his blanket around the house and then finding it himself. He walks around saying, “Where’s nie night, where’s nie night? There it is!” Of course there it is, you hid it there two minutes ago. Silly boy.

Its cute moments like today that make me forgive him for being so sassy/hitting/kicking/hiding our keys/poking his new baby cousin in the face/not sharing/writing on our coffee table/running around the store/not staying in nursery at church... I was thinking about how awesome he's talking lately and I remembered what a proud mom I was when he said his first word  “mom” (that sweet little innocent boy). Then I realized how muvh he’s changed since then. His official first sentence was, “I told you no, dad.” Haha, we love our little animated boy.

Giveaway!!!

I had so much fun selling my temple pictures at a local boutique that I'm going to keep on selling! Hello, get your Christmas presents for everyone!
These pictures are printed metallic too so the color looks awesome!

Introductory Prices

8x10 print - $11

8x10 mounted - $16

11x14 print - $18

11x14 mounted - $25

16x20 print - $30

16x20 mounted - $40

8x10 float wrap - $56

8x10 canvas - $77

11x14 float wrap - $90

11x14 canvas - $120

Please ask me about prices on other sizes and custom orders (if you want special wording like "Torgersen Est. 2005" or black and white, etc).

CLICK HERE TO BUY

and to see all the details

Or visit http://buyldstempleprints.blogspot.com/

Oh man, you know me better than that! To think I would do something like this without a

GIVEAWAY!

One lucky winner will get whichever print they want in a 11x14 or 8x10 (mounted or not, words or not)

it's up to you!!!

Enter on my photography blog *here*
http://www.mitzitorgersenphotography.com/
by November 7th!

If you win and already purchased a print, you can either get another one for free (hello, Christmas is soooon) or I'll return your original money back. This way you don't have to wait to see who wins to get yourself one, you can buy it now! Saweet!

18 months

(another post never published, oops. I want to remember them still, especially now the puking finally stopped)

Dilemma. What do you do with a child that pukes? Nope, it isn't reflex anymore. Hayes pukes when he doesn't get his way. Sometimes he will cry for so long and so hard that he gags himself. Sometimes he'll just stick out his tongue and force the puke to come on purpose.
It's a lose lose with sleeping. Whenever he wakes up and we decide to leave him in his crib to cry it out, you better believe we are just sitting outside his door just waiting for the gagging/puking to start.

Gagging is such a dirty word at our house. It's a recipe for another load of laundry and it's a code word for mom's going to be so frustrated (and covered in puke) in just a few short minutes.

Do you let him cry it out and just clean up the puke or do you pick him up to stop it from coming (which reinforces that he just got what he wanted and now next time he wants something he'll just gag again).

I was at lunch with my dad and Kami the other day and Hayes didn't want to sit in the highchair so what do you think his solution to get his way was? Yep, he just started gagging himself until I had to run out of the restaurant to let him puke on the side of the building (we would have never made the bathroom).

When he's not being a stinker, he is pretty dang cute though. This kid is so funny. I find myself telling Chris everyday on the phone (because I hardly see the poor guy) what cute things Hayes does. He dances, tries to jump, finally expanded his favorite word "no" to include "no night night" (and you can't imagine how much attitude is behind it) and "no mom".

We find ourself just laughing at him and it's so hard to scold him when he's just so dang funny. We've been trying to teach him not to hit so we'll take his hand and tell him to be nice or be soft and rub his hand on our faces softly (Kam's good advice). So now he'll hit you or throw a ball at you and then immedietly run up to you rubbing your face saying "niiii-ce" with a big smile. Oh boy.