Silly Billy

One of the things I love most about having a child and being a mom is there is NEVER a dull moment in our house. Between Chad and Afton someone is always making me laugh.
Chad has recently taken to calling Afton our little Pterodactyl. Mainly because of the screeching sound she makes whenever she's mad or unhappy about something.
So I can't help but laugh when Afton is mad about something because this nickname immediately pops into my head and makes her screeching rather.... cute. Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration. More like endearing.
The other day Afton was in her high chair making her Pterodactyl noises so Chad was trying to make her laugh instead. So he takes Oliver's rope toy and starts hitting it really hard on our ottoman. Afton thought this was hilarious for some reason. So Chad did it again and again and again and Afton laughed again and again and again. I think you get the picture, no?
The best funny moment in our house by far though happened yesterday. Afton was making mysterious trips back and forth from the living room to the kitchen. I thought Chad was in the kitchen so I wasn't too worried, until I saw Chad coming down from upstairs. Then I realized Afton had a piece of dog food in her hand (dog food is the girls best friend). I was about to take it away and shut the baby gate into the kitchen but before I could Afton marched over to Oliver and feeds him the dog food. She then continues to do this over and over again. Oliver of course is in heaven. You mean I don't even have to leave the couch anymore to eat? Heaven help us before he looks like a fat wiener dog. I think we laughed for a good five minutes straight while she "fed" Oliver. Don't ask me how she got the idea. She's just smart I guess.
Another funny Afton moment: I left a box of thread on the floor which Afton found, of course. She picked it up and dropped it, of course. Spilling it everywhere, of course. She knew she did something bad because she looked at me and then at the thread. Then she proceeded to pick them up and shove them haphazardly back into the box, very hurriedly might I add for a 15 month old. Then she looked at me like, "Mom, don't worry, I got this." But not before she had time to stuff a thread in her mouth. Everything goes in her mouth. Sometimes I am just amazed at how smart and funny she is.
Don't even get me started on her "crinkly nose face." I can't say no to that face. CAN'T.
I've been teaching Afton to wave at people that say she is cute in the stores or just when someone is saying hi. She is catching on quickly. Not only is she waving at the people I tell her to, but also the people I'm NOT telling her to such as the weirdo in the Dollar Tree Store and the complete stranger outside of the grocery store. I think we need to work on the whole waving at stranger's thing.
Afton is definitely watching and listening to EVERYTHING Chad and I do and say the last few weeks. Some examples:
1) I was blow drying my hair and Afton was playing in her room. I go in to check on her and she is taking her CLEAN clothes out of her drawer and putting them in her dirty clothes hamper. She sees me pick up her room of dirty clothes every day and do this, so she was trying to help fill the basket up I guess :-) I put them back and tried to explain not to do that. I go back to blow drying my hair and a few minutes later look in on her again. This time she is taking the DIRTY clothes out of her hamper and putting them back in her drawers. In her defense, I did that very same thine(only with the clean clothes) just minutes earlier. So she was just copying me. I am continually amazed at how she watches and learns.
She also is starting to copy me and say more words every day. I have gotten her to say "More" and "Dog" so far. She also knows that "Night Night" means to lay your head down and sleep. So whenever I say that, no matter where or what she's doing, she lays her head down like she's sleeping. She also grabs her diaper know when she goes to the bathroom or whenever I ask her if she has "Poo Pooed." She knows that word well.
She also is starting to copy our facial expressions, funny noises, etc.
I was playing peek-a-boo with her the other day with a pillow. Before long she was picking up the pillow and doing it to me. Her version was just putting the pillow in front of her face then dropping it and giving me an excited/scared/funny expression. I guess that's what my peek-a-boo face looks like.
My favorite thing that she does lately though is exclaim "da da" whenever we pick Chad up from work. Melts my heart.
She really is a Silly Billy. Just like her mom and dad. A perfect mix.

14 months

Afton-

Where to start? Where to start? You have such a personality now I can't begin to explain all the cute and funny things you do. But I will try.
Your favorite word is No. You repeat it back to me every time I say it. I highly doubt you actually know what it means which is good. You can also say mama and dadda when you feel like it, which isn't that ofton. So "No" is pretty much your only word now.
If you want to communicate however, you have gotten VERY good at screaming. You want food? SCREAM. You have a poopy diaper? SCREAM. You are tired? SCREAM. Can't drink your smoothie because a piece of something is stuck in your straw? SCREAM. I think you catch my drift...
You love to crawl in Oliver's bed when he's laying in it because it annoys him and he jumps out. Then you crawl out and he thinks it's safe again, but no, here you come again. Repeat 10 times.
If you could you would eat oranges, bananas or fruit smoothies every morning for breakfast. Oh wait. That's right. You can, so you do. Spoiled rotten you are.
You still eat almost everything we put in front of you, even vegetables. I am VERY grateful for this. You have a special fondness for teddy grahams and healthy fruit snacks though. Thank you Target for those.
You sleep great now. Usually 12 hours a night. But when you are ready to be out of your crib the whole house, no wait the whole neighborhood knows it. Remember the screaming I mentioned earlier?
You know have 6 teeth and weigh around 19 lbs probably. Still a little peanut though.
You can wave bye-bye and give high fives. You raise you hands high in the hair when you want someone to hold you. Even complete strangers. Let's work on that...
You still work with me every week. The one week I didn't take you with me everyone kept asking where you were and were very sad I didn't bring you.
You just got a bigger car seat and can enjoy sitting forward in the car for a change.
I don't think you can any longer be considered a crawler. You are pretty much walking everywhere now. And you don't even have to have your hands above your head to balance anymore. Now you can safely have them by your side. You are still pretty slow though and get easily distracted by dirt or well just about anything on the ground or eye level.
You are definitely a social butterfly. You get that from your dad. You love being around people, especially your grandparents and aunts and uncles. As long as there are 3 or more people you are good. But you also love your alone time with mom during the day.
Mornings are the best because we get up and you watch some T.V. while mom makes you a smoothie. Then we drink our smoothies together and cuddle on the couch. Then you proceed to take apart your toy chest and scatter toys around the living room. Then you get sleepy and it's nap time.
I honestly would be happy every day of my life doing just that. Although your tantrums and screaming wear on my nerves at times your silly smile or sweet laugh make it all better. Your cute little baby Buddha belly and your pierced ears make my heart melt. And the fact that you LOVE to rub food in your hair or throw carrots on the floor for Oliver to eat make you endearing.
Thank you for always reminding me that I can be better tomorrow and that I can continue to improve myself so that I can be a better mom and example to you. Heavenly Father definitely knew what he was doing when he decided to send us you. You have my determination and stubbornness and your dad's silliness.
We love you so much Afton from an oyster farm(as your dad would say)! Don't ask.

We're Baaaack

....and as cute as ever. Don't worry about that. Cuter, if possible. Yep, it's possible (See above).

So we got a lovely virus on our poor computer and due to limited funds were not able to fix it for about, oh, three months. So I have some catching up to do. And catch up I will. I've missed my creative outlet and my place to brag shamelessly about my baby.

Hope you have as much fun reading as I do writing three month's worth of Afton. Can't wait :-)

Afton's First Birthday Party

Afton's First Birthday Party was perfect. Small, simple and all about Afton! We just did a small party with our family and a few close friends. I made some decor, because what is a party without decorations

 My first Happy Birthday banner...

 We kept it simple with cupcakes and I had so much fun making them!

 Instead of making Afton her own cake I just decided to write her name on a few cupcakes and give her the "A" cupcake to eat.

 The birthday girl. Happy to be the center of attention as usual!

 Cody, Ariana and Grandma Budge enjoying the festivities.

 Grammy and Papa Bringhurst and Noni and Papa Terry.

 Afton is one lucky girl to have three sets of grandparents that adore her. And Great Aunts to boot!

 Getting ready to consume some birthday sugar... Can you tell she's excited?

 She wasn't quite sure about the candle however. This face kills me! "Mom, what's going on?"

 But don't worry, once the candle was gone, she thoroughly enjoyed her cupcake.

 

And she did have fun opening presents, although not as enthusiastic as I expected.

 We were so lucky to have all our family around us for Afton's first birthday. She really is blessed to have so many people that love her!

Favorite Baby Sitter

It's terribly unnerving, leaving your child with a babysitter for the first time. Luckily, we had a great one. Katie, Chad's younger sister was pretty much our go to babysitter for the first year of Afton's life. In fact, until we moved to Santa Rosa, we never had to leave Afton with anyone but family and that was mostly thanks to Katie. 

Sometimes it felt as if Afton liked her better. I know, I know, that's crazy. But Katie could often get Afton down for naps much easier and with much less crying than I could. Just call her a regular Mary Poppins. I just hope she wasn't giving her spoon fulls of sugar to get her to sleep!

  

 

 I hate to say Afton has a favorite Aunt or Uncle, but simply due to the amount of time they spent together, Katie would win favorite.

 I honestly never had to worry about Afton being unhappy while Chad or I was away, when she was with Katie. I always had a peaceful feeling and just knew she was in good hands. Now that we don't live by our families anymore we definitely miss all our wonderful baby sitters, but most especially Katie.

So thanks Aunt Katie for being a wonderful Aunt and a wonderful sitter while we were away!

My Turkey Day

I am writing this particular post almost a year after Thanksgiving 2011 so to be honest it's grossing me out just a little. Why you ask? Well I've been eating more vegetarian lately and the pictures of the turkey are just making me want to gag a little. Not sure why. I am not writing off meat forever and it's not that turkey makes me sick but for some reason that picture is.

Anyways....This was my first year cooking a turkey and it turned out delicious if I don't say so myself (ignore the comments above.) What's not to love about turkey smothered in butter and herbs and roasted to perfection.

 We spent the day with my mom, step-dad, brother and sister and grandparents who drove in from Utah. 

And Oliver, can't forget Oliver. He spent pretty much the entire day huddled by the oven keeping warm and sneaking whiffs of the turkey. Silly dogs, Turkey is for humans.

Chad spent most of the day napping on the couch and cuddling a sweet baby named Afton. I also have fond memories of this day because it is one of the last pictures of Afton with her binky. Only days after this we went cold Turkey with the binky. Get it, cold Turkey, Thanksgiving?

 Some Wii was played, some silliness was witnessed, some sibling love was felt.

 Oliver, ticked we kicked him out of his spot by the oven.

 Grandpa Hill. This may have been the first year he didn't try and pull my toes to see how many boyfriends I have. Quite possibly could have been the first year he also didn't try to give me an oil check (poking a finger in the hollow of your throat). But believe me, we heard plenty of grandpa Hill jokes and stories to make up for it. :-)

 My wonderful parents!

 It's almost thanksgiving time again and I am aching to eat some more turkey and spend a day with the people I love and call my family. Oh and Oliver says he really wishes he could curl up by the oven right now.

A Birthday for Dad!

Afton and I talked. 

We realized we often take for granted the wonderful dad we have. 

Afton said she forgets how many times he rocks her to sleep or plays with her. 

I forget how loving, sensitive and hard working he is.

The bottom line is we are lucky to have such a great man in our life.

 So happy birthday to our wonderful dad and husband!

(Hopefully Afton won't mind me taking a little creative license here and typing what I THOUGHT she would say.)