Bookworm

I'm so grateful we have a good library close by because Spencer's latest favorite pastime is reading books and it helps to get a fresh supply every few weeks. He often places a book on the couch and stands facing it, turning each page and repeating the words he remembers or recognizes from the pictures. He can go through a whole pile and then go search for more books, tuning us out sometimes and other times telling us what he's reading. He doesn't usually sit down unless we read to him, but he found a new spot to try out tonight. (And you can hear that he actually recognized that I wanted him to smile since I had the camera out and was trying to take a picture, but he hasn't quite responded to smiling on command yet ... we'll see if he ever does.)

A bit late, but I just discovered we had it on video

Beginning with Spencer's birthday this year and then going to other birthday parties since then, he's caught on to the concept of wishing someone a happy birthday and it's my favorite thing to hear him say. The quality of this video is pretty crummy, but it's the audio that I like anyway.

Journal Entry

Here's an excerpt from my journal entry today that I thought I'd share with all my faithful blog readers:

"When it was time for dinner, we got the leftovers out of the fridge, but I was having trouble finding the chicken enchiladas. We had them Friday night with Kristy and I hadn't planned on making anything today, especially since it was fast Sunday, knowing we had yummy food ready to go. After searching the whole fridge and not finding anything, I felt a little pang of panic. What could have happened to them? I couldn't remember putting them away but I assumed Daniel must have. I checked the freezer and then asked him and he couldn't remember either. I checked the cupboard and didn't even see the casserole dish we had baked it in. It was not looking good. As Daniel tried looking in the fridge one more time, I remembered. I had put the dish back in the oven to keep the enchiladas warm during dinner and we both had completely forgotten about it. I told Daniel and we opened the oven to discover the leftover enchiladas still in the casserole dish where we left it two days ago. I had to start laughing so I wouldn't cry because I had been so set on that for dinner. Fortunately we had just enough other leftovers to keep from going hungry, and I got to the point where I would just start laughing as I thought about what had happened. That's a mistake we'll remember for a long time and one we hopefully won't ever repeat."

Thanksgiving

We joined up with my brothers and sisters who live here in Orem for a good-old-fashioned Thanksgiving meal and were all surprised at how well it turned out, considering we were all making dishes for the first time. With Daniel's suggestions, and motivation from Kristy's blog with the great pictures, we attempted to make "Grandma Rolls" that Daniel's grandma would always make at holidays. Much to his pleasure, they turned out great! The baked ones didn't look quite as pretty as the dough after I shaped them, but maybe next year they'll look a bit better. Daniel was very happy to have lots left over, but discovered that there was no point freezing them because they are going fast.

Neil cooked the turkey and it was DELICIOUS!!

I heard a radio DJ complain how the focus on Thanksgiving is gluttony when we should be remembering the things we're thankful for. I'd have to say I disagree, because really, one very large, very yummy meal eaten with family and friends all around is hardly a bad thing. And that's the place to say what you're thankful for anyway, if you choose that tradition. What I would complain about is the extreme focus on shopping, with all the "Black Friday" and other Thanksgiving sales that pop up at this holiday. Having said that, here's a photo Daniel got of Spencer and me looking at the ads we received for all those smashing deals. So, in spite of my complaints, Daniel and I stayed up late Wednesday night shopping online (Daniel's preferred method) and I ventured out on Friday to do a bit more shopping.

But I am thankful for a great many things: the fun time I had with Daniel and Spencer this vacation, wonderful parents and in-laws who have set great examples for me, my Savior Jesus Christ and the hope of eternal life He brings us, good books to read, yummy food, to name a few, and that I'm down to just two months before "baby sister" comes!

Hooray for Birthdays!

Thank you everyone for making my birthday so good this year! It doesn't hurt as much to get a year older when it gives me an excuse to have some fun. The best part was getting some time alone with Daniel because of nice babysitters (thank you Emily and Stacie!) and the next best part was hearing Spencer say "Happy Birthday Mommy."

One of these things is not like the other...

Most of my family considers me to be a nerd so I thought I would post some proof that the trait is being passed on to Spencer quite early. Note, however, that it is Becky's calculator and not mine :)
-Daniel

Halloween Fun

My mom found a pattern for a gingerbread boy and thought it would be fun for Spencer to be one for Halloween this year. It turned out great--he looked so cute! I only managed to get him to wear his hood once for a picture, and even the suit took some bribing to get on each time he wore it. We went to a party with our ward on Monday, a party on campus for children on Thursday, and though we hadn't planned on it, we went out for some trick-or-treating Saturday night. I decided last minute that it sounded fun, even though Spencer won't be eating the candy, and it turned out that he loved it. He tried to walk inside the first house we went to (since that's what you normally do when you go knock on someone's door) but then he got the hang of it and kept saying "more homes" after leaving a house. He had no fear knocking on the doors, talking with perfect strangers and taking the candy they offered him. I kept smiling and laughing as I watched him at each door--it was just so funny to see him walk up resolutely and knock with full expectation of being greeted by someone who was happy to see him. This may be a good sign that he'll do just fine tracting when he's a missionary some day.

(His mouth looks funny because he's eating candy, it was the only way I could get him to wear his costume.)

He had so much fun with his friends at the ward party, as well as the balloons, and even got to try eating a donut without using his hands.

It was impossible to catch a clear picture of him on this slide at the campus party so I took a video that shows how much he likes it. As soon as he got down he would run back over to climb up and do it again. He is certainly an energetic little boy and it's fun for us to watch him discover new things he can do. I have a feeling he's going to be excited for Halloween next year, we'll just see what he thinks about wearing a costume.

Birthday Boy

It's hard to believe that Spencer is 2!!!!!!!! We had a great time celebrating with all my siblings who are in town, Kevin making it back just in time to join us. We've certainly hit the "terrible twos" but I can't imagine life without our happy, talkative, energetic, precious son. It melts my heart when I see him folding his arms for prayer or when he says "Thanks, Mommy" when I hand him something he's asked for, and all the tantrums and power struggles don't seem quite so bad anymore. Thanks everyone who joined in our celebration and for being so good to us and our little family!

He was getting pretty zoned so I didn't get any good smiles, but he really did have fun with everyone and loved his fun new toys.

Spencer was more interested in playing with the party hats than wearing them, but Neil made up for it by putting on a few extra ones.

For Spencer's first birthday I broke all American tradition and fun and did not make him a birthday cake. My main motivation was that I didn't want him to have all that sugar, and though we still keep desserts to a minimum for him, I decided to be a good sport and make him a cake this year. I decided on carrot cake, because it sounded delicious to me and I could at least feel good about there being some good stuff in it along with the sugar. I even attempted to make it look cute by cutting it and frosting it like a bunny, as you can see. Well, all my guilt for not having a cake last year melted away when Spencer didn't even try the cake. All he wanted was ice cream. But for posterity's sake he'll at least have a picture with a good-0ld-fashioned birthday cake, even if he's not smiling.

Videos from Iowa

Though it's a bit late, I wanted to post these videos of Spencer playing with his cousins and Aunt Nancy while we were in Iowa this summer. It was a treat for him to see Olivia and Charlotte, his cousins who came from Chicago for a day just to see us. He loves watching home videos, and while so many of his cousins are so far away, this is the best way for him to remember who they are. That's one way technology really shines.

We're excited to announce ...

... we're having a girl!!!

For those who haven't yet heard, the due date is January 26 and we are as happy as can be to welcome a little girl into our family. The pregnancy has gone really well and it's hard to believe we're already half way there. Woo-hoo!!!

We had a great visit to Iowa and were so happy to see everyone there. Spencer had a blast with his grandma and grandpa, both of whom he called "Grandpa" and also played lots with his aunts and cousins. It was a relaxing two weeks, minus some car troubles, and I'm so glad we went in the summer. Once again I'm writing this post at night when I'm tired but I wanted to get the pictures up even if I don't feel like writing very much. Thanks everyone for such good times!!

I didn't get pictures of everyone but it seems that I got a lot of Spencer with Evangelina. He had no trouble warming up to her, or anyone else, even though it had been a full year since he'd seen them. Here they are sneaking up on a squirrel, Spencer learning how to tip toe as quietly as possible.

Yummy popsicles.

My mom wanted Spencer to dress up in some pioneer clothes for a picture and the surprising part was that he loved it! We may need to have some more costumes for him to play with at home.

We got to visit Kalona, a small Amish town close to where I used to live about an hour from Davenport. It was fun to visit some of the Amish-owned shops we used to go to and to see the horse drawn carriages.

This "family portrait" didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped, but the corn sure is beautiful.

And, surprise Amy! I caught this picture after talking with you out on the swing. What cute cousins: Katie, Spencer and Annabelle! (I'll email you the original if you want it.)

Stringing words together

Spencer has been putting more words together just the last week or two with a lot of two word phrases like "no bath" and "Daddy book" (for "Daddy, read me a book") and an occasional full sentence with a subject and verb, as in the video below. I think it helps that he's been hanging out with some older kids at the playground and wanting to copy what they say. It is fun to see how excited he is to express himself better, though some places aren't as good as others. Today in sacrament meeting he was eating some craisins and at a particularly quiet moment he practically shouted in my ear "I drop it!" when some craisins fell out of his hand. We now have the new challenge of teaching him to have an indoor voice, or at least when to be quiet at church.



(I called the pens crayons because that's what he calls everything you write with.)

Celebrating the 4th

We've had a mini family reunion this week with my parents and sister Jenny who came out from Iowa, my brother Kevin who came up from Arizona, and my aunt Margaret and cousin Sarah with her nephew Jonathan who came up from New Mexico. Another bonus for still being in Utah. It would have been cool to have everyone together but it was great to have this many at one time. Family always makes a holiday more meaningful. Thanks for coming everyone!

Daniel, Spencer and I started out the 4th by going to a nearby duck pond which Spencer absolutely loved.

He has this habit of walking with his hands behind his back which always cracks me up. He seems so serious and intent on getting where he's going.

I think he looks so much like Daniel right here!



We got caught in a little rain and Spencer tried out the umbrella while we waited it out under some shelter. We got more wet later when we went swimming in the afternoon, and though Spencer was hesitant at first, it was hard to get him out of the pool by the end.

Sarah, Emily and Jonathan joined us for fireworks in the evening after a yummy BBQ at Neil's.

Spencer was so excited at the fireworks but I think it was more because he was outside so late than it was to see the fireworks. He slept in till 8:30 this morning, which is 1 to 2 hours later than he usually gets up, so it was worth it after all. Plus, it was great to end a fun holiday with my two favorite people in the whole wide world. (And that strange glow in my mouth is just from the flash as far as I can tell.)

Sir Spencer

This is a video from April that I never posted but it cracks me up so I thought I'd put it up now. He insisted on keeping his bib on, it probably was the best armor he could come up with, and where he learned to use the stick like a sword/javelin I have no idea.

Mr. Copy Cat

I really can't complain about this one, his dentist will love him.

Spencer realizes that what Daddy does every morning is harder than it looks. (And the grunts are for Spencer's sake, something he CAN copy.)

3 Very Happy Years

Daniel and I enjoyed a whole 6 hours together alone celebrating our anniversary yesterday. (Thanks Emily for watching Spencer!) One of the advantages of being in Utah still is that we've been able to visit a different temple each anniversary without travelling very far. This year we went to the new Draper temple since we missed the open house and it's only half an hour away. It was beautiful and reminded me of the Nauvoo temple with all of the dark wood used in its doors and decorations. The stained glass windows were also beautiful, from the inside of and outside the temple. I'll save all the mushy stuff for my journal, but I sure am one lucky woman to get Daniel--thanks for the best three years of my life!!

I love my job

I should have been a better mom, but I couldn't resist ...