But I have to keep growing up so I can...

Xander:  "Mom, you can't carry us anymore."
Me:  "Why not?"
Xander:  "Cuz we are growing up and getting too big."
Me:  "That's right.  It is hard for me to carry you now.  Maybe you should stop growing and stay little."
Xander:  "But I have to keep growing up so I can be a Daaaaaad!"

Isabela's New Conquest

The last couple weeks Isabela has done AWESOME on her Strider bike.  Today Brandon took her out on her big girl bike, no training wheels! and SHE TOOK OFF!  He held onto the back of her just to get her momentum up to go, but then she rode with no help, did circles, and turns, and even stopped all on her own.  Later I took the kids out, and she was riding all around us with no help at all.  I am so proud of the little girl who, lately, doesn't seem so little anymore.

5/14/14

For about three weeks, Chauncey has been free-standing a little bit.  He is still very wobbly, but it's starting to last a few seconds now.  Tonight, though, he took 3 tiny steps.  He laughed and got all excited with himself.  What a fun little boy!  He is at my favorite stage.  He laughs all the time.  The best part is he knows when he is funny, and intentionally makes us laugh.

"I am going to keep those on."

Give Xander kisses, and he will say one of the following:

"I am going to keep those on."
"Those are good ones.  I am not going to wipe them off."
"That's not a good kiss," and wipes it off.  (To which we give him more kisses, which he happily accepts.) 

Xander has definitely turned into our cuddly child, and we LOVE it!

Silly Hammock!

Brandon is laying in bed on his tummy.  Xander lays on top of him, and pretends to sleep.  "Aashhoo. Aashhoo."  The "bed" (aka Dad) starts to move and rolls over until Xander falls off.
Brandon: "Did you fall asleep?"
Xander:  "No.  My bed kept moving and talking."
Xander lays on Dad again, with the same results.  He turns to me, and whispers, "I think it's a hammock."  He gets back up on Dad, and says "Silly hammock!!"

Just want to say...

Hi!!

~Love, Chauncey

3/12/14

Chauncey broke through teeth 6 and 7 in front this week, this one to the left of his bottom two, and one on the right of his top two.  And, I think I feel a molar starting to come in... poor guy.  And today he has a nasty rash.  Researching online forever, it looks like an allergic reaction.  I am racking my brain to figure out what it could be from.  He was happy all day, though, and playing.  He chewed on his fingers a bit, but I figured that was unrelated.  It looks pretty red and blotchy (like hives), but didn't get bad until tonight.  I decided to wait til morning to take him to the doctor.  Then I got stressed  (the whole mom thing, what if something really is wrong, and I should have taken him in sooner).  But again, he ate all day, nursed well, drank water, and crawled around playing and laughing.  I moved his bed out right next to mine so I could check on him all night.  Then Brandon gave him a blessing.  He said that his Father in Heaven wants him to feel well.  He blessed him to get a good night's rest, and that the rash would slowly fade in the morning.  Sometimes I wish being a parent wasn't so hard.  But then I guess we wouldn't have to rely on the Lord.  And if we rely on the Lord, parenting isn't nearly as hard as it would be without Him.  I still have a few knots in my stomach, and I still check on Chauncey constantly, but there is peace in my heart.  Oh, and he stood by himself for about 5 seconds in the middle of the room.  It was the first time ever.  I was super surprised he stood up so long, so I counted.  We haven't been able to get him to do it again since.

Our miracle was short lived until this week.  Xander peed in his potty the night we got it, and a couple of times the next day.  Try as he might to sit on it all the time, he hadn't peed in it again until this week.  Just the once.  Yet he loves his potty! and we are pretty happy for him... oh, the hurdles we overcome ;)  Xander is going through another bipolar phase.  His tantrums are small, but frequent (and sometimes make me want to rip my hair out :D).  Then two seconds later, he is hugging me, rubbing his nose on my cheek, caressing my arms with his fingers, telling me, "I love you mommy."  It's perfect manipulation from an almost 3 year old.  It also makes it difficult to discipline him.  He is so sincere it melts my heart. 

Isabela and I wrote her first entry in her journal today.  I tried to write everything she said, and asked if she wanted to draw a picture at the end.  She didn't.  She talked about her friend Summer Sage, and that we went to a play.  I asked her what it was called, and she sang, "Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match, find me a find, catch me a catch.  Matchmaker, matchmaker look through your book, and make me a perfect match.  Matchmaker, matchmaker I'll bring the veil, you bring the broom, slender and pale."  That's all she knows of the song, but I am impressed that she knows that much.  (It's more than I knew until we just learned it together.)  She usually says the actual name of the play, but I love that she sang the song instead.

All this guy wants to do...

... is walk, walk, walk.

Poor guy does fall and bonk his head a lot.

And get into all sorts of things...

It's my birthday!

Last week we made a birthday card for my dad.  The kids drew on a card, and talked all about it.  Everyday since, Xander has insisted it's his birthday.  Now everyday is "My birthday and Grandpa's birthday!"  And everyday he turns three again.  He begs and begs to go to Grandpa and Grandma's house.  I keep telling him we are going soon, but soon is evidently not soon enough.

Today, our friend Elsie came to play.  Evidently, it is her birthday too! (but not really)  Just as her mom walked out the door, Xander said, "It's my birthday!"  El cried a little, "No! It's my birthday!"  I put a quick stop to it... "It's everybody's birthday!"  They were happy to share, thankfully.  (Super glad that worked, by the way!  We wouldn't want to be fighting over something really important all day.)

Xander found my tea candles sometime later, and asked me to light one.  Not thinking, I obliged.  "Thanks, Mom.  It's my birthday!"  (Oh, duh! Of course we have to have candles for your birthday.)  We played, then I lit two more so he could turn three years old.  He then demanded we sing to him, which are these great big smiling pictures!  He hammed it up, I tell you!  I don't think I've seen a kid more happy to be in the spotlight--pretty sure that part came from Brandon. ;)  We sang.  I belted it out (well, because no one else was there to see it, so I could), which made Elsie and Xander laugh.

          
Then, he announced it was Elsie's birthday, so of course we sang to her.

Then it was my birthday, so he had to sing to me. :D
I admit, my 2 year old singing Happy Birthday to me not on my birthday (but on my dad's), made me feel pretty special.  So glad I am a mom.

Gingerbread Man

This morning, Isabela was playing in her room.  "You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"

As I peek my head in, she asks, "Mom, but can one gingerbread catch the other gingerbread man?" 

What a thinker, that one.

¿Huele bien?

A Little Birthday Tradition 

 For my birthday, Brandon and the kids took me to dinner Saturday night.  Sunday morning, they surprised me with gifts and cookies!  After church, Brandon made me dinner.  Then they all pitched in to make my cake.  Brandon told them Mom is not allowed to make her own birthday cake! 

 The happy crew before they tricked me!

 They tricked me and asked "Does it smell good, Mom?" 

 It looked so good, we all needed a lick...

What cute kiddos!

And usually Xander talks Isa into letting him sleep in her bed, but that night, she asked if she could sleep with him.  You don't get much closer than this.

Silly kids

2/15/2014

Xander loves wearing sunglasses.  The only problem is, his head is so wide, that they usually won't stay on his head (kids size is too small, and adults still too big).  We finally found a pair laying around that fit!  Yet, he said, "Mom, they falling down."
"No, they are staying on really well."
"No, Mom, they are falling down."
He puts the glasses on me.  I shake my head all crazy, and they still don't come off.  So we try it on him.  He shakes all crazy, and they stay on again.
"Mom!  They falling OFF!"
"Xander, silly, they are staying on perfectly."
"No, mom.  I need guwr hair."
"You need girl hair to keep your sunglasses on?"
"Yeah, mom.  I need guwr hair for my gwasses."

2/16/2014
Brandon was grading papers last night, and I fell asleep with Isabela.  At some point in the night, I awoke to: "Dad.  Dad?  Dad, what are you doing?"  I listen and wait.  "Mom?  Mom?  Mooom?" I wait.  "Moooom?"
"What?" I reply to the sleeping Isabela.
"What is that?"
"What is what?"
"What are you cutting?"
Um... thinking... "Piña." (Pineapple)
"Oh, ok.  Great!  I am starving!"

This morning, she had no recollection.  We ate fresh piña for breakfast anyhow, and "made her dreams come true."  The kids were quite giddy as they ate it, laughing that we could make real dreams happen.

2/10/14
Oh, and yes, Chauncey's fifth tooth did break through (just to his right of the bottom two), as suspected. I still can't believe how fast their teeth come in. (He did great a couple of days after it finally broke through, but today the 17th, he is already chewing his fingers again and crying.  Poor guy!)  

Chauncey Crawling

Valentine's Day 2014, so almost 8 months old!

A Little Miracle

After months of sitting on the potty, with absolutely nothing happening, Brandon took the kids tonight and Xander got to buy a new potty.  (Brandon and I had been discussing the inability for him to push correctly as he sat on the toilet seat and his legs sticking out, thus deciding to bite the bullet, which really isn't that much compared to a box of diapers.) 

Walking in the door, Xander was already proud to show me his new potty.  We set it up in the front room, and I asked if he wanted to sit on it, just to see how it works.  He tried to sit down with his clothes on.  I pulled off his pants and told him I wanted to really show him.  Then he sat on it backwards, which was weird because it has a lid, so it was a little awkward for a second.  So we turned him around.  Then, he peed in it!  You should have seen the surprise and shock on his own face.  Then it turned into joy! and jumping up and down, and shouts of jubilation.  Yes, still naked on the bottom half.  He even threw in a couple 360's in his excitement.  "I did it!  I went caca in MY NEW POTTY!!" (even though it was really only pee).  Isabela was just about excited as he was. She hugged him, kissed him, and wrapped her arms so tightly around him that we thought he might choke, and said, "I'm so proud of you."  It came out high pitched with so much excitement, I think her voice cracked.

This memory from our little investment: PRICELESS!

Chauncey

Three days after his top right tooth broke through, the top left one did, too.  Now it looks like another bottom one is coming in next to the two already there.  He finally seems to be free of teething pain, though, at least for awhile.  That is a relief.  Xander got two front teeth, then a set of molars before getting the top front teeth.  I haven't noticed any sign of molars in Chauncey yet.

He is pulling himself up to stand against chairs and anything else he can manage.  All he wants is to hold my fingers and walk all day.  Often he grabs things that are not heavy enough to support his weight, so they usually fall over on top of him.  He is strong and only cries sometimes when he hits his head. ;)  The kid really gets around.

So I don't forget

Jan 23  - Chauncey became an expert crawler, after months of "almost crawling" and moving around everywhere, he can now officially crawl correctly. 
His top right tooth also broke through today.  A small corner of the top left tooth is pushing through as well.  Soon he will have his four front teeth. In a day his biting me went from a pain level of 0 to a 13, on a scale from 1-10.  But his laugh is so contagious now, it makes up for it.  He laughs so hard, and inhales air with a squeal that seems to get caught inside, that you wonder if he is going to calm down to let it out again.  Obviously, he always does.  But then we can't help but start it all over again.

Mid January - Chauncey started clapping, and can sit himself up from crawling position

After two years of being potty trained, and no accidents, Isabela wet the bed.  Walking out to us in the middle of the night, she was a little disoriented.  Brandon woke up to help.
"Dad, my pants are wet."  She seemed very confused.
"Did you wet the bed?"
"No. Not at alllll, Dad," her tired, whiny reply.
She wasn't fully awake yet.

Xander is as funny as ever. Surely his intelligence is average for his age, but I can never get over how smart he is, and the things he comes up with.  (Not that this story denotes his intelligence, but definitely his ability to humor us.)  He is fascinated by my moles.  We moved to Colorado when he was just shy of 4 months old.  Sometime before that in Logan, I had a mole removed from my collar bone because he had picked half of it off, and it was bleeding.  Yeah, that hurt, in case you were wondering.  At the same time, I had them take a couple off my neck that were much smaller, but he could also reach them.  No more bleeding, but for almost a year now, he finds the one, very small mole I have on each arm almost up to the shoulder and rubs it.  In church (and everywhere else), he slides his hand up my sleeve and rubs it.  At bedtime, he asks to touch my arm.  I lay with him, and he lightly tickles my arm until he falls asleep.  While playing, he runs up, jabs his finger or thumb into one, yells, "I got you!" and runs away.  Fascinated is an understatement.  Today, he kept squeezing both arms right where the moles are, then starting hitting them (obviously trying to play, though, as he did it).  "Xander, why are you hitting me?" I asked.  "Because I love you," was his sweet reply.  It's like my arm is his comfort blanket.  You can't help but love the little guy!

I love being a mom.

1/21/14

At bedtime last night, during personal prayers, Isabela prayed: “Please bless the entire world, and all the countries in it, and all the strangers that live in them… and please bless my friends like Wyatt, Sadie, Beckett, and Cindi (everyone in her primary class and her teacher), and please bless Xander, and Chauncey, and please bless Daddy.  And please bless mommy that she can clean the house better!”  From across the room, she couldn’t see my smirk.  Sitting right next to her, Brandon couldn’t hold all of his laughter in, even though he turned his head away from her, and she asked, “Daddy, why are you laughing?” right in the middle of her prayer!  He said, “Just because I love you so much,” and gave her a big hug.  Then she finished her prayer.  What a punk.  But she is so innocent at heart.

1/17/14

Xander's ability to pronounce more words and syllables is expounding quickly.  This morning he said, "carros" and rolled his R as he did so.  If you recall, Isabela only recently did that for the first time a couple of months ago.  He is saying 3 to 4 words together in Spanish now, a far cry better than the one or two syllables we had been working with.   He also is using everybody's full names sometimes.  If you ask him my name, he says Stephanie Amber Forster.  He is working on adding in the Hawkes.  I tease him that Dad's name is Brandon David Merlin Henry Forster.  He replies matter-of-factly, "No.  That not my daddy's name."  A bit of irony last week.  Isabela was whooping and hollering as she ran around.  Xander screams at her:  "Bella, be quiet.  Chauncey Joel Forster Is SLEEPING!!"

Isabela told her friend this morning her trachea was having a hard time.  She had to cough to get her food back up so it could go down the esophagus. She pointed to her throat on each side as she explained.  Yesterday, Brandon was teasing Isabela and told her we she was going to live in Alaska.  She said, "If you send me to Alaska, I will pick up a big rock, and throw it all the way back to Silt and knock your house down."  She finished with hysterical laughter following her statement, which made us all bust a gut laughing.  What a weirdo.  Wonder where she got that from. :D

I take back what I said before.  Chauncey squeaks as he laughs all the time, but he doesn't talk or coo much anymore.  Overall, he is still a very happy baby.  He is so close to crawling.  I would like to say he crawled a knee or two over Christmas, but it was just pretend.  On all fours all the time, but usually on his hands and tiptoes, rather than on his knees.  A hole even wore in the toe of his pajamas he pushes on it so much.  It is fun to see him working on it all the time.  He laughs, even, when he knows he is perfecting new feats.  The piano also excites him.  He sees it and flails his arms and legs until he is lowered down to play.  Pounding away at the keys always puts a smile on his face.  It is fun to let Chauncey play as an infant since we didn't have the piano when the other two were so small.