PB and gampa

When my mom came to visit after Zade was born, she brought 2 jars of homemade jam- choke cherry and saskatoon berry.  They look identical but have different flavors.  Dace loves his breakfast sammie.  It used to be a request for "PB Honey" but after he tasted gramma's jam that is all he wants.  For some reason, he has labeled the jam after gampa and not gramma.  So everyday, if not more than once, I get a request for a "PB gampa."  Here's the aftermath. 

Bonus pic- I finally snipped Zade's wingtips off.  They were cute but reminded me of hockey hair, which I cannot stand.  I can't believe how much two snippets of hair has aged him.  Not the best picture but it's all I could get out of him, post-morning nap. 

He's Teething...ya think?!

Oh my poor little munchie.  His cheeks have never been so red as they were Sunday afternoon.  This poor teething biscuit didn't stand a chance.  At least he stayed in fairly good spirits.  Any day now, his last front tooth will pop through and then we should have a break for a month or two.  This will be his 6th tooth. 



Christmas Eve/AM

Editor's Note:  the one thing that really urks me about Blogger is how ridiculously frustrating and tedious it is to rearrange your photos once uploaded to your post.  And since my day's allotment of patience was used up during a 30-minute temper tantrum thrown by Dace during sacrament meeting, just be glad these are getting posted at all!

 ....ahem...teehee.

So without further ado and in complete random order, here is a recap of our christmas. 

He was all super excited about his Elmo Christmas eve pj's until it camr to wear them and he wanted nothing to do with them. ....sigh......



The highlight of the morning- what Dace calls a yucky vroom vroom.  It was all he wanted Santa to bring.   That and a yo-yo. 



He's incredibly fast and strong. 

Santa was here. 

Merry Christmas 2010

...and a happy new year.
Love from the Dean Team



my new hair

Christmas Lights Tour 2010

The boys had a great time at dove street this year.  It was our FHE outing tonight.  Even Zade stayed awake WAY past bedtime to check things out.  We went with a couple other families from our ward.  It was a fairly quick walk through but the crisp evening air was great and the lights are always spectacular. 



beach Break

Last week, after many, many record-breaking cold days, we got a short taste of the lovely South Carolina winter that we so love and enjoy.  So, we did what any one does on a nice day on the South Carolina coast- we went to the beach.  We had the place to ourselves and Zade loved roaming free.  It was a great outing after a long, cold week. 



Dace moment of the day

We spent the afternoon doing different things on the island, killing time til Dallin gets home.  As we were heading home for supper, Dace said that he wanted to " go another bye-bye."  I explained that it was time to go home and eat supper, then have a bath.

"A bath, and movie?"  He asked excitedly, because that seems to be the trend these days.

"Yes, you can watch a movie after the tub.  Which one do you want to watch?"

After a moment of sincere pontification, he exclaimed, "Mar-meen!"

"You want to watch mermaid?"

He laughs, "yup!"

"Do you think mermaid is pretty, Dace?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says, "And mommy too!"

"Awww, bubba!  Thanks, sweet pea!"

He squeals then says "Mommy happy, right?!"

I laugh, grinning from ear to ear at the sweetest boy in the backseat.  "Yes, mommy happy."

No More Baby

Zadek is 10 months old today.  10 months.  No more single digits.  No more baby- all toddler.  He has gone from this teeny, tiny, little 'big baby' born with the most beautiful full head of hair I had ever seen-

to this big big toddler with the thickest head of dark curls I have ever seen-

It's been an interesting day of reflection in that regard.  He is now been living in this world longer than I carried him.  Ten months isn't any significant date but it seems like an end of a chapter for me.  I think it's because it's hard to think of him as a baby anymore.  Because he isn't- he's a toddler.  A toddler weighing in at 24.4 lbs, with 5 teeth, a bubbly, feisty, gleeful personality with the determination to touch everything and who is tired of crawling.  He just wants to walk!  You can see it in his face.  He thinks about taking steps but then backs down and regretfully crawls to his destination.  My dad loves to tell the story of how at nine months, I just stood up one day and ran across the room.  I never walked, they say.  I went from crawling to running.  Guaranteed Zade will be just like his mother in that regard because so much of his other characteristics are from me as well.  Some days that's a good things, others- not so much.  

He was a tougher baby than Dace.  Dace was an angel baby, a textbook baby.  Zade was high maintenance in comparison.  He ate more, slept less, cried more, cuddled less.  But now that he has gained some of that much wanted independence and is sleeping through the night, those frustrating memories fade into the background.  I miss the small baby.  Every mother does.  In that regard, I am ready for another one but in reality, I am not.  There are a few things to take care of before baby #3 is considered and I want some time to just be a 'normal' mom with my boys- not pregnant, not post-partum and not nursing.  Just being me and just being a mom to two awesome little boys who love each other and love their mama.  And that is really all a girl could ever want. 

Meeting Jolly Old St. Nick



Zade loved Santa.  He even gave his beard a little pat and a tug. 



Not sure what was with the puppy dog tongue....

Despite being very excited to tell Santa exactly what he wants for Christmas, Dace got shy at the big moment and started to cry.  Next year we should be over the shy phase and into the talking his ear off phase.  However, the candy cane and stickers from the elves made it all better. 

Renesmee's twin brother

Bella and Edward have got nothin' on my cute little vampire baby. 

He won't be a vampire for much longer.  You can see both middle teeth in this pic.  He has been a teething bear the last couple days.  These are going to cut through any day- to bring his total to 6. 

**This post only makes sense if you are a twilight fan. 

Ward Christmas party

Zade was ready for bed before we even got to the church.  He had the same expression all night.  But he did pretty good considering. 

Trying to get a picture of Dace.  He was not in the mood for paparazzi that night. 



We were missing Daddy at the party!



I guess the party was a hit. 

Dace moment of the day

We went for a nice walk in the cool afternoon air.  We walked down to see our friend Carrie at her yoga studio.  The boys crawled and ran around and loved that big open space. 

On the way home, we passed a man walking his pomeranian. 

I said, "Dace, look at the cute puppy!"

Dace gasped in excitement then said, "Mommy! No puppy!  A lion!"

I died laughing. 

This Years' Tree- a berry country christmas