No one likes a complaier, but everyone likes to complain, right? I'm certainly guilty of it, and I must say after I throw myself a good old fashioned pity party (fully equiped with Peanut M&Ms and Diet Coke) and I've recieved my fill of pity from anyone in earshot, I feel better and move on. So, if your one of those people who are anti-negativity, only put positive energy into the universe, and live The Secret like it's "The Good Book," you may want to stop reading now. I'll give you fair warning before, that this post all about "Our Family Vacation that Wasn't," "How Summer is now my Least Favorite Season," and how I manage to kill petunia's every year.

Summer...My Least Favorite Season

So, this summer like every summer of our married lives, has been filled with climbing temperatures, windows that don't open, and of course summer college courses. Brian once again was so ambitious and motivated at the beginning of the summer and took an accelerated course. It was 7 weeks of pure misery, but he made it through with flying colors! He is still persevering through his other class and has two weeks left. However, the poor guy is running out of fuel. He's getting burned out, and we're not sure his brain can take any more information. It's just seconds away from overloading, so if you see him stumbling around on the streets like the undead while muttering phrases like, "Da...ta....base con..figure...ation,"  just give him a Mt. Dew and it should recharge his batteries enough so that he can stumble back home.

Because Weber State so effectively sucks the life out of my husband, (and my bank accounts) every summer, I'm afraid the Summer season no longer holds those feelings of carefree fun that it once held when I was younger. It's now just busy, busy, busy. Brian is always tied down with classes, so vacations are few and far between, and since we are paying tuition as we go, well that does not leave much room in the budget for many fun activities. Hence why Summer is now my least favorite season. All is not lost though, Fall will be here shortly and that is when Brian takes a break and we can have some family fun as the temperatures cool off.

The Family Vacation that Wasn't

Casen's 8 month Update

At 8 months this little tank weighs 24.5 lbs and is 28 inches long. He is getting more active, and more wiggly every day! He still rolls everywhere, but now he gets up on his hands and knees and has crawled forward a bit! He is days away from figuring it out completely. He is ready to get moving and start chasing his sister. I on the other hand am not ready. I feel like every stage is going so much faster with my second baby. 

 

As far as sleeping goes, it's getting worse! He's been up every 3 hours this week. I feel like I have a newborn again! I'm pretty sure it's teeth. He's been fussy during the day, drooling everywhere, and has been running a low fever every few days. He is typically not fussy, and this is quite out of character for him, so it's got to be teeth! 

He still doesn't love baby food, but he is starting to eat some table food! Yay! He loves gram crackers, noodles, and scrambled eggs. I'm so glad he is starting to eat some solids!

We've taken him outside a lot this summer, and he loves looking around and scooting off his blanket onto the grass. He also loves stroller rides and water! He loves the water. He will sit in the kiddie pool while splashing and kicking forever. 

Having fun at the Park

Such a cute face!

Fun in the Sun! Check out that kid's belly! So cute!

Eatin' some Prunes

Daddy loves his boy. He can't wait to take him on all sorts of adventures and teach him all about the farm, video games, and the ways of a Jedi. It will be so much fun watching these two boys both grow up. :)

7 Month Update

We have had rotten luck with computers at our house these past few months. My Mac that I've had for over 7 years has finally died. It won't even turn on anymore. Luckily I backed everything up, so nothing important was lost. Brian's computer has also suffered some injuries lately. Lydia stepped on it and now there is a huge crack in the screen. Grrrr. I can still manage to use it, in fact I'm using it right now, but it is a pain! Needless to say, blogging has been difficult lately, but I'm determined to get caught up!

At 7 months this boy weighs 22.9 lbs, is 26.5 inches long,and has the biggest thighs you've ever seen! He is still super happy, and talks a lot! He like to blow raspberries and says "Dadadadada."  He'sleeping OK. He wakes up once, or twice a night. I'm just dying for him to sleep through the night. Eight hours of uninterrupted sleep sounds heavenly! I can't complain too much though since he is never up crying, he just fusses and wants to eat.

 He is wanting to play with Lydia so bad, and tries to scoot after her on his belly. He rolls around to get to what he wants, and he LOVES toys. He is always wanting to play with something. He also loves dogs! He thinks my sister's dog and my mom's dog are the funniest things he's ever seen. He loves grabbing their fur, and he just cracks up when they are running around.

 He still hates baby food! It's so weird to me cause Lydia ate really good as a baby, she just got pickier as a toddler. Casen not liking baby food is kinda driving me crazy. I'm told I shouldn't be concerned and that he gets most of his nutrition from breastfeeding, I keep hoping that once he starts eating more solids he'll sleep through the night.

 I wanted Casen's 6 month pictures (which actually turned into 7 month pictures) done in just a diaper. I want to remember his cute chub when he gets older. Sure when he grows up he'll think these pictures are embarrassing but they are just so cute! I will most definitely have to keep them on hand when he is a teenager and show them to all of his dates!

OK, this one just kills me. Is it not the cutest! I love all those back rolls and that giant baby tushy!

Casen is such a sweetie! He brings so much happiness into our home. We all (including Lydia) just argue about who gets to hold him next! Now though, he isn't wanting to held as much as he did a few months ago. He is wanting to scoot around, and play. My heart is going to seriously break when my baby boy is no longer my baby. I want him to stay my little squishy as long as possible! So please little Casen just stop growing up!

Casen's 6 month Update

Where has the time gone? I blinked and my baby turned 6 months! 6 months is kind of a big deal! It's the age where babies are no longer tiny. They sit up, roll over, start eating solids, and bits of their personality starts to appear. It's a milestone age, one that is so fun to document.


 I can't wait to get Casen's 6 month pictures taken in the next week or two.  He is getting so big and I has changed so much since he was a tiny newborn. So for now all that will be on the blog are some pictures I've taken.

Casen is so smiley! He smiles all day long and it's pretty much the sweetest thing you've ever seen! He is starting to laugh a lot and loves watching Lydia run around the house. He loves company and whines whenever I leave the room. Daddy is second favorite to Mommy still. Casen smiles and giggles when Brian comes home from work and picks him up. It's so sweet.

So, did I mention that Casen is now 21.5 lbs! Yeah, he is a big boy. The the first reaction I usually get from people is, "Wow look at that chunk!" He is wearing 12-18 month clothes, and I feel like I'm constantly buying him new pajamas. But having a cuddly, cubby baby is the best! I just love his cubby thighs, and big belly!

He still isn't too impressed with solids. I've tried cereal, but he hates it. I decided to try vegetables and that seems to be working a little better. He still doesn't love it, but today he ate almost a tablespoon of baby food, so I'm hoping he starts liking it.

He was sleeping awesome for like a week. He even slept for 8 hours one night. Then I don't know what happened. This past week he has been sleeping terrible!! He is never up screaming, and I've never once walked the halls, but he wants to eat constantly, and be held! I'm crossing my fingers that tonight will be better.

He rolls over from back to front and front to back, sits on his own, staring solids, and grabs everything he can! He loves toys and growls the whole time he is playing with something. He is just getting so big and I'm kinda sad about it! With Lydia I was excited for each stage, but with him it's just going by way fast and I want to savor every minute!

Lydia of course wanted her picture taken too. I can say that I have a whole new respect for photographers. This was seriously the best picture I could get. Lydia would not look at me and smile, and she wiggled all over! I don't have the patience for photography so kudos to all of you who do!

Here's another one :)

Another failed attempt....

Another one.....

And my favorite one :)

Well, we love our Casen boy so much! He is the Best Baby Ever! I don't know what we ever did without this sweet little guy. 

I'll be updating the blog again shortly with his official 6 month pictures once me and Kami have a spare minute to get them done. :)

Casen's 5 Month Update....

So my cute boy is tipping the scales at 20lbs these days! He is as chubby and happy as ever. He wears 9 month clothing, and even 9 month sizes are starting to get too tight. He grows out of everything so fast I have such a hard time keeping up with him! He thighs are seriously, so big that I put him in some 18 month pants and just roll up the bottoms!

So big milestones have been happening this month. Casen is now sitting up by himself! And we've started solids! However, Casen is not impressed with solid food at all. He makes faces, arches his back, and refuses to open his mouth for the spoon. I thought my chubster would be all over baby food! But, this guy couldn't dislike it more. Maybe by the time we get to six months he'll like it.

First time eating solids. Daddy helped :)

He is starting to roll over more from his back to his belly, but he his pretty slow. Hahaha, it takes a few minutes, but he can do it!


He no longer really fits in the bumbo. Which is fine, he doesn't like the bumbo seat for too long, but he'll stand in the exersaucer forever! He loves that thing. Just one other thing my babies have differed with; Lydia loved the bumbo as a baby, it was her favorite thing, and she didn't care for the exersaucer as much.

Here is a picture of Casen not fitting in his Easter outfit. I thought it was so funny, but I was kinda bummed about it too. I bought it in a 9 month size at target and I was sure it was going to fit him, but his thighs are just too chubby!

So on Easter the Easter Bunny brought Lydia a Trike. It is one that grows with the kids, and you can actually put a 9month old on it. There is a seat with straps and a tray. It also has a shade canopy. We thought it would be fun to put Casen in it when Lydia outgrows it.  So, Casen woke up earlier than Lydia on Easter, so it was only fair that he got to ride the bike first.

We sure love our little man. He is the best baby. I can already tell when he becomes a toddler I'm going to bawl my eyes out because he's been such a fun baby. I'm going to keep this boy little as long as I can!

Casen's 4 month Update...

So my sweet, cuddly, smiley boy's 4 moth stats are this: 18 lbs 4 oz and is 27.8 inches long. He is in the 97% for weight and 99.82 in height.

He rolls over now, but not often. He usually gets about half way over from his back to his belly and then gives up; ha ha. I think it's just too much work for my little, chubby guy.

Look at that cute chubby boy! I took these pictures so I can remember those cute chubby thighs. :)

He loves the water! We took the kids swimming for our niece's birthday and Casen just loved it! It was so cute, he just lounged back in his little raft thing and kicked, grinned, and looked around. He was in the water for hours and didn't fuss once! It was so much fun!

He loves bath time, and still wants to be held all day long. He is super snugly, and actually sleeps best snuggled up to me or Brian.

Speaking of Brian, Casen loves his Daddy. Lydia has always been a Mama's girl, and when she was a baby often times only me or my Mom were the only ones who could really console her when she was upset. But Casen is just as happy to have Brian pick him up when he is sad as me. Sure, when he's hungry of course he wants me, but when he is tired he'll snuggle up to Brian and go right to sleep. Brian just loves it.

He is getting pretty good at belly laughs now and still Lydia is one who can really get him laughing.

I love these cute siblings! Lydia just likes to lounge in her swimsuit, even though it's the middle of March. :)

As far as sleeping goes, once this past month he broke his record and slept for 5 hours straight, but for the most part he is still up every 3 hours eating!! I'm ready to start solids, but sadly I don't think Casen is :). I hope that soon he'll start to go longer between feedings, or start liking solids so I can get some sleep!

Even though he is up a lot at night, we still love our chubster. He is never up at night crying, so I really can't complain much. He is always smiling and happy to see me in the middle of the night, and even though I'm exhausted and frustrated when I hear him fussing through the baby monitor, as soon as I see him smile up at me I smile back feeling like my heart will burst with love for this sweet baby. Then I think, it's OK he won't be my baby forever, I'll enjoy these nighttime cuddles when it's just me and my baby.

Casen the Chunkster 3 Months...

First off, let me apologize for the picture quality. I'm no photographer, and I usually take pictures with my IPad or phone, both of which have poor cameras. Time to invest in a camera or better yet a new smartphone!  I will tell Brian I'm investing in a new smartphone for our children. They are the reason I need a high quality cell phone, it's not for me at all. :) I need it to capture their childhood, because they grow up so fast, ;) Yep, that will convince him.

Anyway, look at that adorable chunkster sitting so cute in daddy's chair! He is just so squishy! I can't get enough of this sweet chubby boy of mine. 

If you have been reading Casen's updates you'll know that we had to put off his 2 month check up for 3 weeks until he was fully recovered from a nasty cold. So, his 2 month stats are more like 3 months. So this kid weighs 15.8 lbs and is 26 inches long! He is almost off the charts in height in the 99.71 percentile. 

If you follow me on instagram or facebook you may have already seen that Casen laughed for he first time yesterday! Is that not the best sound in the world? 

He also has found his hands and his thumb! I keep taking his thumb out of his mouth when he starts sucking on it and I try to get him to take his binki instead, hoping he will grow to prefer the binki. However, I've been told that thumb suckers are great sleepers, and this week both me and Brian have been up a lot with both of our children. So as of right now, I'll take the thumb sucking.

He is a great eater, obviously, and typically is a pretty good sleeper. This week he hasn't slept as well. He's been eating more too, so maybe a growth spurt is coming?? He is already in some 6 month clothing so I really don't need another growth spurt!

This boy is still a cuddler, and honestly I hope he doesn't outgrow it ever! Sometimes I admit it is hard to get things done when he just wants me to hold him all day. But now that I have a busy toddler who would rather play then cuddle most days, it's a good reminder that they grow up fast, and these days won't last that long. So it's ok if laundry doesn't get put away right this second, I'll hold my baby a bit longer. :) In fact I'm typing this while holding Casen on my lap. Multitasking is a mother's greatest talent right? 

A sibling shot is totally necessary since Lydia LOVES baby Casen. She asks to hold him all the time, however, now she doesn't like to hold him as long. She holds him for just long enough to get a picture and then says, "Mommy, he heavy! All done!" That's my cue to step in a grab Casen before she drops him.

Casen is the sweetest boy. He brings so much happiness to our home. I just want to keep him little as long as I can. We all just love him. Brian takes him as soon as he gets home and rocks him in the chair, then Lydia will want to hold him, and when Lydia is in bed Mommy gets to rock Casen some more. I'm doing my best to make him a Mama's boy (honestly what Mom doesn't want a mama's boy). I'm probably spoiling him too much, but I'm not worried. My plan is to love him so much that no other woman will be good enough for him. :)

The Dark Side of Christmas...

Christmas is a time of year that is filled with traditions. As families we watch What a Wonderful Life, decorate our trees, go to temple square, and read the Christmas story from the Bible. For our family this year we of course participated in all the traditional Christmas activities; however this Christmas was not going to be all traditional. December of 2015 was a much awaited month for the Rose family not only for Christmas but for the long awaited Episode 7 of STAR WARS.

I consider myself a true Star Wars Fan. I'm proud to say that I grew up watching the original trilogy on VHS (remember those?) NOT the remastered versions.

www.fowllanguage.com/comic/star-wars-denial

 I remember my siblings and I would pick our favorite movie out of the trilogy and take turns watching them over and over. My favorite was The Empire Strikes Back, I thought Luke's training with Master Yoda was awesome, and I would find myself day dreaming about my own Jedi training.   However, since marrying a Star Wars super fan,  I've been informed that my knowledge about the Force is incomplete. I've recently been exposed to what Brian likes to call, "The Dark Side of Christmas."

In honor of The Force Awakens we each got a Star Wars ornament in our stockings this year. Brian got the Darth Vader ornament, I got Chewbaca, Casen 3CP0, and Lydia scored on the Yoda ornament.

During the Christmas season like most mothers, I thought it was important to try and teach my children about the true meaning of Christmas. Since Casen is 2 months old, he was the perfect pupil. He sat still, didn't talk out of turn and smiled whenever I talked to him about baby Jesus. Lydia was also a good pupil. By the end of our Christmas Story she was able to identify baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the Shepard with our family Nativity we had on display. Brian, however, felt that this year more teaching was needed. He began to teach Lydia the ways of the Force and made sure that she was proficient with identifying the major Star Wars Characters. I had to film it cause it's just too funny.

We've established that Brian is on the side of the Empire and I think that he has successfully turned my toddler to the Dark Side. As you are about to see, Lydia prefers Darth Vader over any other character in the franchise.

A Few Minutes Later...

The Rose Family has experience the Dark Side of Christmas. "There has been an Awakening," in the Rose Family household. New Christmas traditions are about to come forth. I have a feeling that Star Wars will be a part of our Christmas for years to come.