merry christmas!

A few days late, but here's our Christmas card! Merry Christmas!

*Photo by the amazing Heather Bliss*

the lights at temple square.

A couple of weeks ago, we drove up to Salt Lake City and saw the Christmas lights at Temple Square. It's one of my favorite Christmas traditions, and having a son to share it with made it that much more special.

Franz was loving looking at all the lights, and kept biting his mitten, trying to pull it off. I don't know why, but I really like out of focus Christmas light pictures. Also, Zac and I don't like other people taking our picture with our camera, so we waiting until no one was passing us, and took a really awesome, close-up picture of one half of our faces and called it good.

I love Temple Square during Christmastime.

thanksgiving 2014 in a nutshell.

I am awesome and the only pictures I have of this day are Zac filling up our flat tire and a naked, blurry Franz running around in an Indian headband I made out of construction paper.

We started the day off by driving up for breakfast at IHOP with my family, where Franz was only interested in walking around the restaurant. He fell asleep on the drive home, and Zac and I sat in the car for a good, long while, waiting for him to wake up. While Franz was sleeping, we realized that our tire was completely flat, so we drove to the car wash near our apartment, passing a cop on the way there who was trying to tell us that our tire was flat, and filled it up. Franz woke up, and we went inside and spent a few hours together, just the three of us, trying to watch the Macey's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but we were too late.

For dinner that night, we went to Zac's parents' house, but not before filling up our tire again. We ate some of the most delicious turkey I've ever eaten, and Franz played with his cousins who were here from out of town. Apparently he cried because they were too loud. I wouldn't know, I was too busy stuffing my face.

On the way home, we stopped at a gas station to fill up our tire yet again, but the air pump was broken, so we drove back to Zac's parents' house and filled it up with a manual pump (ha!), and then drove home.

The next day, Black Friday, instead of going shopping for fun things (like we were going to anyway... online shopping all the way), we went to Costco and bought ourselves a brand new set of tires! And I was so excited about them (I'm serious). My car has needed new tires for a while.

This was one of the most hilarious Thanksgivings yet. It was very memorable. :)

franz's first birthday & celebrating one year as parents.

On the day my baby turned one, November 13th, it snowed for the first time of the season. In the morning, we let him open his presents. We got him a few musical instruments, a book, and some toy cars, among other things.

In the afternoon, we got bundled up and headed out in the snow for a walk. We got to the edge of our complex before realizing that it was Franz's nap time. So we went back inside. But Franz was in awe of the snow!

After his nap, and after thinking and thinking of what we could do to celebrate his birthday and coming up with nothing, Zac and I decided to celebrate our first year as parents instead, and drove down to Provo and got some hot cocoa and walked around downtown and talked about that special boy of our who made us parents.

Before putting Franz to bed, we gave him a birthday cupcake and sang Happy Birthday to him. He didn't touch the cupcake (again), so we ate it for him (again).

Next year we'll definitely do something more fun and aimed toward him, but I actually really enjoyed celebrating our first year as parents together that day. It was like, Yes! We made it! We both helped each other, and it was hard a lot of the time, but we made it, and look at our beautiful boy! It was very nice.

franz's first birthday: the party.

The weekend before Franz turned one, we had family and a few friends up at my parents' house to celebrate his first year! I ran with the fall decor my mom already had in her house, and Franz's love for pumpkins, and decided on a fall pumpkin theme. Plus, it was the perfect excuse to make all the fall desserts I had been wanting to make without having to eat all of it. ;)

We also made a little video of the little video clips we recorded of him during his first year to show. It's my favorite, and everyone kept asking if I was pregnant, because we sneakily broke the news last year to our families with a slideshow. (No, I'm not pregnant.)

Franz was not interested in opening his presents or eating the cake, no matter how hard we tried. So we opened his presents and ate his cake for him. It was so nice having people who love him celebrate his life with us!

halloween 2014.

For Halloween this year (ya know, a month and a half ago), Franz was Max from Where the Wild Things Are. His costume turned out cuter than I had hoped (thanks, mom!), and he was adorable. He loved carrying around his scepter, and his love of hats worked in our favor.

We spent Halloween night at Zac's parents' house for some Halloween dinner and treats while trick-or-treaters knocked on the door, and then headed over to Zac's grandma's house to say hi. Franz got spoiled and got a couple of goodie bags from grandma Jill and great-grandma Gay. He is loved.

It was a low-key Halloween (and Franz's last first holiday!), but I think he liked it. :)

twelve months.

Well, I guess I should post Franz's 12-month update now that he's 13 1/2 months. I cannot believe that I am the mama to a one-year-old! I'm still not used to it. This big boy has learned how to walk in his 12th month; his first steps were taken when he was just 11 1/2 months old. I was a proud mama when that happened.

Thinking back to a few weeks ago, he's been starting to leave little messes around the house everywhere he goes, and says even more words now, his favorite being "pumpkin!" (puh!), right in time for Halloween. Every time he sees a pumpkin, he'll shout "Puh! Puh!" It's pretty much one of the cutest things I've ever seen. And speaking of Halloween, that was his last first holiday. He loved it, mostly because he got to hold a king's scepter (he was Max from Where the Wild Things Are). He loves to growl at himself in the mirror, and says hi!

At 12 months, Franz...

• wears size 5 diapers, and 24 month sized clothes. He wears clothes made for babies twice his age.
• stood up on his own.
• took his first steps and can walk!
• loves to eat, especially bread.
• still has poof on the back of his head. I'm not sure that his hair will ever lay completely straight.
• has 7 teeth.
• nurses throughout the day and the night.
• still doesn't sleep through the night.
• loves everything he can't have and throws a fit if you won't let him have it.
• gives kisses.
• loves cars and books mostly.
• sleeps in his crib for the most part.
• learned how to clap his hands.
• learned how to say "turtle" perfectly.
• loves to be outside.

I feel like this boy got a whole lot more crazy/mobile/messy/whiney the minute he turned one. Some days it's hard to keep up with him (especially since I haven't had decent sleep in over a year), but boy, do I love him. It's truly insane to me to think about the amount of love you can feel for someone when you thought you already knew how much you could love. It turns out my heart is a whole lot bigger and can hold even more love than I ever thought before having Franz. This mama thing is alright.

...

eleven months.

It's crazy to think that my little baby will be a year old in less than a month. I remember when he was a newborn and time went by soooo sloooow, especially those nights. And now here he is, eleven months old, almost a one-year-old. I can't believe it.

This little boy is so funny. Throughout the day, I'll just look at him while he's in his own little world, talking to himself or playing with a toy or a book, and just laugh, because he is so funny. And then he'll look up at me and laugh back. One thing I love about this fiesty kid is that, while he's stubborn and strong-willed and has an attitude, he is all smiles and laughs all the time. He smiles at strangers with his signature "hey!" and looks for any opportunity to laugh, whether it's trying to get me to chase him down the hallway, or making papa do a dance for him while he's in the tub, this boy loves to laugh. It brings me insane and pure joy.

One thing also worth mentioning is that he loves to nurse. Loves it. Like, he still nurses 4 or 5 times a day, and 3 or 4 times at night. This kid loves my boobs, and I don't see him weaning in the near future. And because I'm going to let him self-wean, I joke that he'll probably be done breastfeeding by the time he enters Kindergarten (and a part of me knows that it probably isn't a joke).

At eleven months, Franz...

• crawls, and crawls fast.
• is getting 4 new teeth all at once. One on each side of his top and bottom front teeth.
• wears mostly 24 month clothes and will be in size 5 diapers when the rest of the size 4's are gone. Seriously.
• is getting long hair, which I refuse to cut, and it's laying straight down now, except for the part on the top of his head.
• is fascinated with pumpkins and fire (from our candles) right now. Happy Halloween!
• loves reading books (I've caught him looking at the pictures by himself quite a few times) and loves helping you turn the pages when you're reading to him.
• can say "mama", "papa", "more" (muh), "book" (buh), "bum bum" (buh buh), "pumpkin" (puh), "puff" (puh), "turtle" (tuh tuh), "toys" (tuh), "monkey" (muh), "duck" (duh), "rawr", "ball" (buh) and "bear" (buh). Not only does he say these words, but he knows what each one represents. He knows that is he says more, we'll give him more food (so mealtimes are spent saying "muh muh muh muh muh muh muh!"), and he knows that bum bum means diaper change, and he knows that the pumpkin on our bookshelf is a "puh." I know this is ordinary for his age, but I am so proud and so impressed!
• just got over his third cold to date. I feel fortunate that he hasn't had more colds than that. I've read that the average amount in the first year is five.
• has discovered the wonder that is opening drawers and cupboards and pulling everything out.
• loves pizza. He is our son.
• hates bibs. This may have something to do with us never putting them on him.
• has lately started to make a kissy face (or a duck face) and say "ooh! ooh! ooh!" when he's excited or wants something.
• has learned to clap! And it is precious.
• still doesn't sign, but the fact that he says some words now makes my life easier.
• can't say his C's or K's. So when we ask him where his car is, he says, "bah".
• gets ornery and clingy when he's tired. It only took me 11 months to pick up on my child's cues. No big deal.
• still doesn't sleep through the night, but is starting to wake up less and less (slowly, but surely) and is easier to put to sleep most of the time (we rock him until he's almost asleep and then put him in his crib).
• loves raspberries blown on his tummy, and loves being tickled. A guaranteed laugh with those.
• gives hugs and kisses on demand... most of the time.
• loves Zac's fox shirt and our Audrey Hepburn poster. He gives the fox kisses without fail, and says "hiiii" to Audrey whenever he passes her.
• can stand up by himself, but gets nervous and sits back down whenever he does.
• cruises along furniture like a pro.
• still sleeps on his belly with his bum up.
• loves playing with the tub's faucet when mama's getting ready, as well as the toilet paper, the toilet, and the bathroom garbage.
• bites everything he can get his mouth on. Books, toys, tables, the tub, but thankfully, not people.
• loves being scared.
• loves his binky. I don't see him weaning off of that any time soon either.

This boy. I can't even. He is so special to me. I can't wait to celebrate this last year with him in our lives! It's been such a good one.

conference weekend.

We spent conference weekend up at the cabin, like we do every October. It was Franz's first time, so this trip was extra special. Franz loved playing outside, picking up rocks and leaves, and pushing his cousin Kaleb's toy car all around the cabin floor. We had to move the coffee table in front of the old wood fireplace because Franz was so enthralled by it. That boy likes fire, I tell you.

We enjoyed our time shooting bows and guns, listening to 8 hours of conference (more like... oh, I dunno... 2 hours for me, because Franz is a wild boy), eating pizza from a restaurant down the mountain and donuts that Whit and JT brought up, and playing Farkle--just me and Zac. 

During the last stretch of one of the Sunday sessions, JoJo and I took turns taking pictures of the other one sleeping through it. There's just something about being cozy on the couch next to your husband with the fire burning in the fireplace while your baby is napping that makes you so relaxed and so tired. It was bound to happen, really.

Before leaving on Sunday, Zac, Franz, and I found the tree where we carved my name next to Zac's back in 2011 (when we were newlyweds!) and carved Franz's name underneath (leaving room for a few more babies!). I can't wait for him to grow up and come up to the cabin and see his name carved there by his mama's and papa's.