Aaron 2.5 Years!

I can hardly believe Aaron is 2 1/2 years old! It blows my mind.

He still surprises me every single day with new things he says!

Here are his stats!

                      

Height:                          3 feet!

Weight:                        27.5lbs

Some of my most recent favorite Aaron-isms:

• Aaron loves to pretend to be different things - usually animals or characters from movies. He'll run around in circles, roll over, sit, and play fetch as a dog, rub against my leg as a cat, and squeal high pitched loudly with intermixed grunts as Audrey - haha!
• I absolutely adore Aaron's prayers. He often prays for "daddy be nice" and "mama audrey daddy feel better" and recently, he prayed for a puppy ... hmmmmmmm
• Aaron loves to use our ottoman as a "toy box" like the one from Toy Story. The other day he invited me to join him inside the toy box. I informed him I was too big and he said, "oh, you mean you're too heavy..."
• Aaron loves to Freeze Ray me - haha. He loves Despicable Me!
• He loves to sit down and read his scriptures. When we read with him at night, he repeats everything Daddy reads. So when he reads by himself, he expects me to repeat him as he says words like, "Nephites," and "Jesus Christ," and "Joseph Smith." He even counted once and informed me that he saw "Three Nephites" - how cool!
• Aaron also assumes all food is his...
• He is spectacular at claiming my drinks - either he sticks his hand inside and grabs an ice cube (here ya go kid, the drink is yours) or when he has a runny nose, he pulls out the straw, licks it from end to end and then returns it, giving me a glance that says, yeah, I just did that ... surrender your smoothie,



• I made myself a pizza panini for lunch and set it down for 2 seconds. Suddenly, Aaron had acquired my sandwich and I had to ask him for a bite. He would feed me the areas with no pepperonis (thanks) and as I would take a bite he would say, "good job! That's a big bite! Yay mama!"
• The life of nachos in my home goes something like this:  Mama makes herself a plate of nachos and makes Aaron his own lunch. Aaron abandons his lunch for the nachos knowing he can eat his lunch after he helps mama dispose of her nachos. The race for the chips with the most cheese commences as chips with little or no cheese quickly pile up on the side of the plate closest to mama - courtesy of Aaron. If mama does not eat an entire chip in one bite, Aaron assumes she is holding it for him and he takes a bite saying a quick, "thank you." The nachos are then gone, the majority being in Aaron's stomach as he heads off to go eat his own lunch.
• Aaron gets himself dressed - all but his shoes. He can also undress himself at will. This often means his clothes are mismatched of he is wearing 3 pairs of underwear...
• Aaron plays so well on his own - I absolutely love sneaking in and watching!
• He is super creative! We were outside and he informed me that he had found me an umbrella - it was a large dead flower. But it had a long stem and a big head which makes the perfect umbrella!
• Aaron steals Audrey's headband every chance he gets because he wants to wear them. And he is always so proud of himself!
• Aaron can climb anywhere he wants. He watches where I put things - like the oreos (he'll eat the entire pack if I don't catch him quick enough) - and then gets them down on his own, even on the highest shelf! I've moved all of his favorites lower ... if he's going to get them anyway, might as well be safe about it.
• Aaron loves to sing! He has his favorites and often surprises me with ones he learned in nursery.

  Sorry this is fuzzy - but it's the one where he does it the best!
He is quoting Vector from Despicable Me.

Aaron quotes the opening dialogue for Megamind


One more movie quote - his own adaptation of the request to see the floating lights in Tangled



Sing After Me!


The monkey and the alligator

Aaron Hornibrook is 2!


I love this middle one - he looks like he's wondering where his super-suit went! 

 See? Takes clothes off at will...

6.5 Month Stats

We went to the doctor today and got Audrey's stats!

                      
                                  Height:                          26.25"                 57th Percentile
                                  Weight:                        14lbs 1.8oz            12th Percentile
                                  Head Circumference:        16.26"                  21st Percentile
                                  Weight for Height:                                   4th Percentile
                                  Eye Color:                      Gorgeous Blue-Green - Almost Hazel
                                  Hair Color:                     Strawberry Blond and getting longer!
                                  Clothing Size:                 3-6 month with a few newborn things thrown in

It's pretty crazy to think how old she is getting!

She says Mama and Dada as babble words now.

She and Aaron play super well together!

She is getting closer to crawling every day!

She sits up so well and loves to eat!

She loves the drums and playing with herself in the mirror.

And as always, she is such a happy baby!

 Everything is a toy to her :)

We no longer bother to put her on blankets - she is so mobile. We do, however, vacuum almost daily!

Why I Countdown

Some days, I count down to bedtime because the day has been hectic - Aaron has been difficult, Audrey has been needy, and I am ready for a break!

But most days, I look forward to it for a different reason - for the tender moments I get to spend with my kids.

Every day, I get to rock both of my kids. They are so sweet and special. Sometimes I rock them together and other times separately. Audrey gives me the biggest smiles as we rock. I feed her and then tuck her into my body to help her relax and calm down.


Aaron requests every night after we rock that we snuggle. We lie together and he asks what we want to do tomorrow. I will give my suggestions and then I will return the question. He will tell me of the toys he wants to play with and the movies he wants to watch. He will tell me of the friends and family he wishes he he could see. He then pulls me down to lay on his chest. He will smile and stroke my hair and then kiss my forehead.

We will say prayers and Aaron will pour out his little soul. I love hearing the desires of his heart. He always prays for Audrey, Daddy, and myself. He prays for his other family members and for his friends. He prays for his toys and that everyone will "feel better."

What a blessing these kids are.

When I met and fell in love with Eric I thought I couldn't love any more. I had so much love in my heart I couldn't comprehend having room for any more. But I love him more every day and our children as well. It blows my mind how much love we are capable of holding!

6 Months Old!

I can hardly believe this cute bug turned 6 months old today!!!

 In the last week and a half she has learned to sit up on her own! What a champ!

 She also started solid foods last week. Kinda crazy! We started with bananas.

We have learned that the chunkier we give her the food (rice cereal mixed in), the better! Otherwise, it mixes with her drool faster than she can swallow it! She enjoyed the bananas but she eats pineapple and applesauce too!
She has quickly become a pro at scarfing down her food fast.
Don't turn away from her, she'll use her lungs to let you know you're taking too long to provide her next bite.

When Audrey gets hungry, she becomes a special kind of cranky ... there is no calming her until she receives her bottle. And if you are eating and she isn't ... she is very mad at you and demands you share!

She also figured out the jumper! This little kangaroo will sit in there hopping non-stop for over 30 minutes!

She is also desperate to crawl. She gets on her hands and knees and does the cutest little scoot...

I promise I'll let you know when she fully figures out the crawling.

When she does, her cheer squad (Aaron) will be there playing peek-a-boo and calling out "Come 'ere Audrey!"

She is such an amazing addition to our lives! 

We are so blessed to have her, even though it seems crazy that we have had her for 6 months now!

This middle photo is Audrey's way of saying, "Mom ... move ... I can't see the TV!"

Crazy trivia - Aaron outgrew this pair of overalls when he was 3 months old.

Gotta love that smile!

A side note: we were gifted so many diapers - just the right amount of newborns and size 1's. 

Audrey is now into size 2 and we are only now opening diapers we purchased. 

Thanks to all who gave us diapers! 6 months of free diapers has been great!!!

A Picture for Mama

I was putting Audrey down for a nap and Aaron decided to do a craft ...

I came down to find this. There was some permanent marker on the couch but not much. I praised his picture, informed him the marker wasn't a toy and proceeded to try to clean the couch.  I looked online for how to remove the sharpie but the ideas they had weren't working - so I flipped the cushion over. Problem solved.

I went about my business and it wasn't till something drew my attention to the kitchen floor that I found this:

Dear Aaron,

Thank you for the beautiful picture.

Double Thank you for not drawing it on the wall as my tactics to clean it (steel wool, hairspray and nail polish remover) would not have worked.

And I will thank you to please not do it again.

Love, Mama

Aaron-isms

It has been a while since I posted one of these so ... enjoy! I also threw in a bunch of random photos :)

Aaron is into saying that my food is yucky - eeeeeeew - gross ... until I take away his drink ... then suddenly my cooking is "delicious"

I asked Aaron if he wanted soup or pizza for lunch and he opted for soup. So I got him soup and as he ate it, I got myself pizza. I set down my pizza and went to set up Despicable Me - his current favorite movie - for us to watch while we ate. He walked over, saw my pizza and said, "Why thanks Mama for getting me pizza!" and proceeded to take a bite #facepalm

While we were in  Utah, Aaron stayed up late all the time. One night, he even went to bed on time but woke up and was then up for what seemed like ages... I asked him, "Aaron, why are you awake?" He gave me a knowing look and said, "Because, Mama, I wake up!"  *oh, right ...*

Recently, Aaron wasn't listening to what I asked him to do so Eric put him in timeout. When he was released, Eric reminded him he needed to apologize. Aaron walked over to me and said, "What are you doing, Mama?" Eric said, in a chiding tone, "Aaron..." You could visibly see the wheels in Aaron's head turning as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to say ... He then got a very pleased look on his face as he decided he figured out what was appropriate, "You are very beautiful, Mama!" ... winner!

The other day, I was getting Aaron some chocolate milk. As I was screwing on the lid I accidentally knocked over the cup. I fumbled to grab the cup and in doing so, some of the milk sloshed and got on Aaron's face. He then, slightly enraged said,
"Hey! You hit me with chocolate milk! That was not very much nice! You should be nice. Just leave me alone! You should clean it up, I'm going over here!"

I love how much Aaron loves to snuggle - today, he crawled up on my lap while I was at the computer and promptly fell asleep.

Aaron has a crazy desire to always be on the counter and find treasures... the other day he found a banana and carried it around all day - poor bruised banana. Today, he found the butter - and brought it to me, in his hand, and placed it in my hand ... gross.

A Little New Year's Update!

Hey there! Things have gotten crazy around here and I just thought I'd send a little update your way!

First off, while we were in Utah, our ward was split. We didn't know many people in our ward because we only attended one Sunday before we received our callings in the YM and YW. We were a bit sad since we had made a few friends, but the fact that Sunday Church was once again moved to 1 pm means we didn't cry for too long (we love sleeping in on Sundays). We went to our first meeting and right after sacrament meeting I was pulled aside and given a calling (jumped on that pretty quick, eh?) in the Primary (now I really won't get to know anyone) as the Assistant Secretary. I am actually excited about this calling and have enjoyed getting to know the kiddos a bit. It also gives Eric some time with Audrey as he takes her to Sunday School and Priesthood.

Dance festival has started and it has been a blast so far! The youth seem to like me (maybe?) and they are picking the dance up so quickly. It is wonderful working with the older teens - one day I dream of being a high school ballroom coach ... having a class during school hours and a before school or after school team. Perhaps when all my kids are in school I can make that happen.

I am so grateful for the dance festival because DanceWell Ballroom's kids program hasn't grown. I still only have 4 kids and as such, the director is thinking about cutting the program. She is going to teach now instead of me (one less person to pay). She says she is marketing the class and her prices are competitive, but they are more than double what I would ever pay for my kids to learn dance ... We'll see if she is able to bring me back next month or not. I sent out my resume to other studios but none of them are hiring right now. Again, so grateful for the dance festival!

Eric is still in IT at work and he honestly couldn't be happier with the department he is in. He loves the people he works with and really enjoys what he does. He loves being on the phone with people in the field helping with their tech problems and he enjoys floating around the office fixing computers and setting up systems... Eric is teaching me some new games - One called Netrunner (I seem to be getting better at this one) and one called Hearthstone (I am definitely not getting better at this one... but I refuse to give up!). Both are card games and I enjoy playing with him! Eric also let me teach him a little night club two step and dances it with me in the kitchen sometimes. See? We are both learning each other's passions!

Aaron is a crazy little bug as always. He has pretty much given up naps unless he falls asleep to a movie or while snuggling with me. I'm actually more ok with this than I thought I would be. He plays so well by himself now - especially with the play kitchen and the train set he got for Christmas! Thank you Grandparents! I love sneaking in and watching him play. We keep the kitchen upstairs with the cars and other toys and the trains downstairs with the foam blocks. He is great at building his train set and making towers with the blocks and then ... drum roll ... putting them away!!! I love it! And he adores asking Eric and I to come play with him. What a treat! Then he runs up to his playroom to make me "chocolate milk and taquitos."

I will shamelessly admit that Aaron is easy to manipulate and that I exploit it all the time. Here is how it goes, "Aaron, come back please." "No Mama, I go this way." "Aaron, I need your help! Can you be my helper?" "Oh, Ok Mama, I can help you. I coming!" And he races over to see what made up job I have for him. Such a sweetie!

Audrey is such a hoot. I'll give you more specifics on her with her 6 month birthday post coming up soon, but basically, we loooooooove having her around! She is such a special angel. Being in Utah threw her sleep schedule for a loop but she is almost back on track with sleeping through the night (thank goodness).

Well, that's it for us (at least, that's all I can think of). We are doing great and love where we are at!

Kicking Cancer's Butt

I don't know that I've posted about this before or not, but in February, 2012, Eric's dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Melanoma. He was basically given a few months to live. You can read about the journey over on Eric's parents' blog. To cut an incredibly miraculous story short, through faith, prayers, diet, and an experimental drug, the cancer not only stopped spreading, it is gone. He stopped treatment a year ago and the cancer has still not returned. Today, we had the privilege of visiting his doctor, Dr. Urba, and touring the research facility/hospital where Mark was treated.

What an incredible blessing to be able to have Mark still be a part of our lives, influencing us, and the world for that matter, for good. He is such a thoughtful man who goes out of his way to send compliments and well wishes to my little family. Thank you, Dad, for your sweet and caring nature. 

And thank you, Lord, for granting us more time with him. I know you miss him and are probably anxious to bring him home and I appreciate you sharing!

Joke #1

These guys seriously are the best...

In High School, Eric was part of a band called Joke #1. They were (and are) spectacular.

It was so fun to have them all over!

 

They are pretty much the One-ders. Haha, and I'm Fay -  I even married the drummer!

 They were so sweet to let Aaron jam with them!

 Aaron and Aaron copying each other ;)