Spoiled! again...

Daniel spoils me so much! We went shooting the other day and I mentioned how much I love the lever action .22 because I felt like John Wayne. He decided that I NEEDED (haha) a revolver to match. He then came home asking if I wanted a revolver or a nice camera. Tough decision! Seriously! I could have so much fun with both!
I decided that maybe I could enjoy the camera a little more. So we got a refurbished Nikon D1500. I am loving it! I am definitely not very adept at it yet, but I am amazed at how much better my pictures are turning out than our point-and-shoot camera. So if anyone has any pointers or tutorials they like for creating wonderful pictures...send them my way!
I had to put my new skills to the test and of course Oakley is my willing (sometimes) model. (he has taken to telling me "no" every time I pull out the camera)
Here are some of my first attempts I thought you could enjoy.

Single Hand Countdown

35 weeks pregnant! I am so excited that I can now count down to Baby's due date one one hand. 5 weeks to go. I keep saying that he can come in 3 weeks which will give me one week to get settled in the house (fingers crossed) before he is born.
I am still feeling pretty good. My SI Joint pain has mostly subsided and only aggravate me when I do a lot of heavy cleaning and running around with Oakley.  Braxton Hicks contractions are becoming a norm and my craving for steak and chocolate (not together) are becoming stronger. Haven't gained nearly as much weight as I did with Oakley, which is largely in part to it being colder so that water retention isn't a problem. I love being pregnant and feeling this little one move, but, aside from moving in 1-2 weeks, I am ready for him to come to our family!
Here is my new belly shot. Just because.

Powder Bomb!

I have been wanting to share this photos for quite a while. I laugh every time I think about this experience.
Oakley was having nap time...or so we thought. He was so quiet and we never heard a sound.
Finally when I opened the door. This is what I saw.  I was speechless for a second then just burst our laughing and told Daniel to grab the camera.

Just look at that face. I'm sure he had fun creating this masterpiece, but Oakley sure felt bad about it. He started crying when I took his clothes of to wash. (see how white his pants are?)

Who would have thought that one bottle of baby powder (full bottle, too) could create such a fantastic mess!

 Powder was everywhere! Needless to say, we spent a good half-hour cleaning and vacuuming. We even had to wash every piece of clothing and bedding to get all of that powder out. What a mess!.

I couldn't be mad at Oakley. Don't you think it would be fun to sprinkle that stuff around? You could pretend it was snowing or draw pictures in it. Sometimes it's the messes that you remember most because that means life is happening. Love this boy!

President's Day

We took the opportunity for a trip to Delta/Oak City during the President's Day holiday. We love escaping Logan and visiting family. Once again not a lot of pictures, but I know Grandparents will appreciate the ones that I did take.

Oakley with my parents

Oakley got a kick out of stacking the rings on the ball then going Godzilla on them.

We just love chilling and not really doing anything. It's the best part of vacation!

Oakley has been really into stacking things lately.

Oakley with his Grandma Kunz. We are so lucky to be able to visit often. Oakley loves playing with his grandparents!

Valentine's Day Pictures

We had a low key Valentine's Day. It was nice to relax and have fun with my boys.

I started the day taking lots of pictures, but then slacked off. I really need to be better about photos. So enjoy the ones that I did manage to take.

Oakley was surprised to see what was waiting for him at the breakfast table. I love his excited face and hope to be able to catch it on film one of these days.

Oakley couldn't wait until after breakfast to use his new markers. He insisted on coloring right then while I made us some pancakes.

I made Pink Pancakes with strawberries and (supposedly) heart shaped bacon. Yum!

After breakfast Oakley was finally able to open his valentine that Grandma and Grandpa Staheli sent. He had been looking forward to it all week.

We also made Valentines to give to grandparents. Oakley did such a great job with stamping and coloring. He loves to do anything with art.

Oakley also made a special card for Daddy. He loved being able to use the glue stick.

For Dinner I planned on making my mom's homemade spaghetti sauce to go with our spaghetti and breadsticks and jello and lemonade pie.  But...pregnancy got the better of me and the recipe I was going to use for the jello salad was no longer on the internet.  I ran out of time and only was able to make the sauce. I was happy that I had finished the pie early in the day while I still had energy and all of my brain power! It was the highlight of dinner (after the delicious spaghetti sauce).  But it all turned out delicious anyway. The best part of the day was being able to be with my boys and let them know how much I love them.

18 months!

My little baby is now a little boy. I can't believe how much he has grown. I keep thinking about all the growth and learning he has down in the past year. What a smart little peanut he is.
Here are his 18 month stats:
Weight 27.2 lbs  55%
Length 33.5 in    80 %
Head Circ. 19.1 in   69%

I have one tall little boy! He has been wearing 24 month clothing for about 2 months now. Oakley still enjoys sign language and is beginning to say actual words. So far we understand Dada, Mom, Nana (banana), Ball, More, Cheese (which is really just a cute buzzing type of sound), Yes, Yeah, and of course NO.
He loves to play with his kitchen and dishes. Oakley is a big helper in the kitchen. He enjoys helping with the loading and unloading of the dishwasher.

If I am cooking, he has to but up on the chair helping me measure everything out. Oakley has recently discovered the drawer under the oven and loves to pull out the pans and make them into drums.

We have also been experimenting with different mediums of art. So far we have tried colored pencils, crayons, watercolors, and slick sticks.

We also made play dough this week and he enjoys using the cookie cutters to cut out shapes. I have to laugh when he sneaks a piece of the dough to eat just like when we are making cookies or biscuits.

Books are still a favorite pastime. He especially loves looking at our family yearbook and Mom and Dad's wedding book.

Oakley also loves songs. We often turn music on to dance to and Oakley will spin around. He regularly asks for "Twinkle, Twinkle" by make a diamond with his fingers. I love that he is starting to "sing" along with me. He also enjoys rocking his baby and Zobbs.

Transitioning to one nap was a lot easier than I thought it would be. He took right to it. We moved his mattress to the floor from his toddler bed because he kept falling out, but will now sleep a good 12 1/2-13 hours at night.

He loves getting his picture taken, but don't expect a smile from him! He is such a goof and loves to play on his bed.

30 Weeks

I am so excited to be able to count down the weeks on my fingers now! I can't believe that there are only 10 weeks left of this pregnancy. It has gone by incredibly fast. I guess it helps having an energetic little boy around to pass my time.
This pregnancy has been fairly easy again. I do still have SI joint pain, but even that is not as bad as it was a month ago. I absolutely love feeling this little boy dance, especially all night long. Oakley loves to feel his baby brother. He is always putting his hands on my belly and pushing. I guess the teasing had to begin sometime. Oakley will even give "baby brother" a hug and kiss.
I fell huge. Daniel is good to remind me that it is only because I have nowhere else for the baby to go but out.
Last week I was asked if I was having twins or triplets because I still had so long until April. It gave me a good laugh. What do you think? Does it look like I'm having multiples?