Merry Christmas 2012

This is the Christmas card/letter I sent out this year...

Hooray! I’m going to start this letter off by patting myself on the back because this is my VERY first time EVER sending out a Christmas card! Every year I have enjoyed receiving cards and reading the latest news from our friends and family and I tell myself, “Next year I’ll send a card out too.” And then I don’t. But this year I DID it! So let me take a moment to reflect back on the year 2012 and share what’s been going on with the Cunninghams!

In January we bought a home in South Jordan. We love this house! We love the new floor plan and the extra space and we just love our neighborhood so much! We’ve also made some great new friends. We have had some unwelcome neighbors move into our backyard (gophers!) that have really torn up our grass but Clint keeps busy setting traps to kill them or convince them to go back into the field behind our house.

In February Clint and I were lucky enough to cash in some spare sky miles we had lying around and go to Hawaii for a much needed vacation. Seth stayed home and played with grandparents while we trekked around Oahu and Kauai. We got to see lots of tourist-y things and also see some family who were living in Kauai at the time. We loved the relaxation time but we both couldn’t wait to get home and see our little Seth-bug.

In May we found out that I was pregnant again! So a little girl will be joining our family sometime in early February. We are excited to add one more to this family and hope that Seth doesn’t torture his little sister the way he currently tortures our poor dogs. It has been difficult (and expensive!) to get this family put together so we feel so fortunate to have a second child on the way!

Clint, who just barely hit the big 30 in November, continues to work very hard at his job as an Operations Trainer for a property management company. He travels for a few days each month which makes me and Seth very sad but he gets to work from home on the days when he’s not traveling so that makes things a little easier. Clint still goes crazy about fantasy football, college football, NFL…pretty much football of any kind. Every now and then his obsession creeps into our date night and he will be texting his friends about trades and checking his football stats. I have to threaten to break his phone and then he puts it away for the duration of our date…I’m sure this kills him. He also keeps very busy working on my “honey do” list on this new house since we have lots of house projects on the horizon.

I am happily working part-time for an insurance consulting office. They have been very flexible with my schedule since I had Seth and let me manage my own work each day as I need to. I love being able to spend time with Seth in the morning and still have the opportunity to keep up with my career. This year I have also gotten really into cooking. I’ve always loved it but I got a cool cupcake cookbook for Mother’s Day and I just love trying out a new recipe each week. I always want to eat the cupcakes when I begin but by the time I’ve finished baking, icing, and decorating them, I don’t want them anymore. So I make Clint take them around to our neighbors instead. I’m sure they are sick of my cupcakes by now.

Seth is now almost 2½. Clint and I are amazed at the new little things he learns each day. And he is starting to say the funniest things and has developed such a little personality. He definitely is a little firecracker! He currently loves getting on Clint’s back and riding around the room like he is on a horse. And he will watch the same movie for days in a row. (Clint and I used to love Toy Story, Rio, and Finding Nemo but after watching each of them for 10 days straight…eh…you want to die.) We still haven’t had much success with consistent potty training and I am dreading having 2 children in diapers but he is stubborn and just isn’t really interested yet so what can ya do?

We love this time of year! We love spending time with our families and friends and creating new holiday traditions within our own little family. We miss those of you that we don’t get to see often and hope you all had a great year. We hope that this New Year brings blessings and good times to everyone!

Happy Holidays!!!

Happy 30th Birthday to Clint!

My man will be 30 in just a few hours.  He is such a wonderful guy.  In the spirit of this awesome birthday milestone, I thought I would share 30 reasons why I love this guy.  (I came up with way more than 30 reasons...I just narrowed it down to these few favorites.)

I love Clint because...

• ...he can always make me laugh
• ...he isn't threatened by my feisty nature
• ...he is SO loyal to his friends
• ...he tears up during sad parts of movies
• ...he will go get me anything I'm craving (even when I'm not pregant) no matter how far he has to drive or how late/early it might be
• ...he willingly changes poopy diapers
• ...while his knowledge of sports can be annoying (ie during fantasy football time) it is fascinating to me that he can soak it all in like a sponge
• ...he is the most loving and affectionate daddy.  Our children will never question whether or not he loves them
• ...he has the most adorable smile when he is laughing
• ...he has this gorgeous smile but he somehow can't figure out how to smile on cue for a camara
• ...he made me a fan of Harry Potter
• ...not only does he NOT complain about me having a girls night out, he actually supports me in having that kind of time out to myself
• ...he is way better at painting things than I am
• ...he loves his mom
• ...he will rub my ankles or feet and play with my hair anytime.  I don't even have to ask him to do it
• ...he does the best "Kermit the Frog" impression of my OB/GYN
• ...if he has to hold my purse he refuses to carry it by the handle.  He will hold it like a football
• ...he has toned down his dislike for BYU because of me...even though I'm sure he would love to rag on them more
• ...he loves Pepsi Max almost as much as he loves me...almost
• ...he makes a mean grilled cheese sandwich
• ...he plays the catcher position in baseball, he's really good at baseball, and he looks sexy in his catcher uniform
• ...he is so forgiving
• ...he doesn't get mad at me for buying shoes or decorations for the house
• ...he put Danny Devito on my 'list'
• ...he makes up his own lyrics to songs and actually thinks they are the correct words
• ...he helps me tidy up the house after Seth goes to bed because he knows I sleep better when things are clean
• ...he can't help but give commentary/trivia tid bits during any movie we are watching
• ...not only does he support the baby/disciplinary routines that I want to use on our children, he actively participates in the process
• ...I have NEVER had to tell Clint to put the toilet seat down...EVER
• ...I never feel inadequate with Clint because he constantly tells me how much he loves me, what a good mom I am, that I'm a good cook, that I look pretty even when pregant or just after rolling out of bed in the morning.  He makes me feel important!

So there you have it!  30 reason why I am the luckiest girl to have snagged a handsome, younger-than-me, amazing man like Clint!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLINT! 

I LOVE YOU!

Quick Update

I'm trying to do too much this morning but I really wanted to get a quick update on the blog from the past few months.  I know most people don't read this but it is more of a personal history that I like to keep for our family.  Eventually I will find the time and money to print it all out and put it in a book.

Seth went to his first movie in August.  We saw Brave.  It was a family night sponsored by UHC and they gave my office a lot of tickets so we figured a free movie was probably the best way to try it out for Seth.  He was really grumpy right before we left for the theater and we considered not even going but decided to make an attempt.  And he ended up being soooo good.  He sat quietly through the whole movie with his little mini pizza on his lap and just stared at the screen.  When the scary part with the bear came on I looked at him and he seemed concerned but not frightened.  So I just put my arm around him and he instantly climbed into my lap and just roared out loud like he was also a bear.  It was cute.

 I also received a flyer from Chick Fil A in August that they were doing a "Mother Son Date Knight."  We got all dressed up and went to dinner...just me and Seth.  We got our picture taken in Knight and Queen costumes and Moo was there.  Seth was obsessed with this cow.  He wanted to go say 'hi' to him like 10 times.

 Seth finds some unusual ways to entertain himself while I try to get him to go potty.

 We decided it may be time to transition Seth to a big boy bed.  So near the end of the summer we got him a bed from Ikea.  He was so excited for it.  We kept the crib in the room just in case and he asked to sleep in it about once a week for the first month but now the crib is history.  He is pretty good about staying in bed in the morning until we come to get him.  We just have a little trouble keeping him in bed at night.  We will find him lying on the top of the stairs outside his room and we will have to ask him to go back to bed and threaten to shut the door.  That usually works.

 I decided I wanted to get better at baking yeast breads so this was one of my attempts in October.  The rolls actually turned out really well.  Usually they are really dense and the dough isn't very smooth but I think I was putting too much flour in before.  So this batch was a winner. 

 The finished product. 

 I am still into cupcakes.  The cookbook I got has tons of cupcakes for the holidays so there are a lot that I have wanted to try out.  I thought these orange flavored pumpkins turned out so cute.

 These skeletons were a little harder to make.  Plus they were just a boring chocolate cupcake so I added a cream filling to it to make it more fun.

 My sister Kaylyn loves Halloween so much that for the last few years she has planned a huge Halloween party with my mom.  This year's party was so fun.  She and her boyfriend Ben were Red Riding Hood and the Wolf.

 I hate dressing up for Halloween but Kaylyn begged me to so I found a $5 cat outfit at Walmart.  Clint was a Mormon missionary complete with his hair parted.  He looked strange.

 My parents costumes were the best.  They were nerds.  My mom's costume was so frightening that some of the kids cried.  It was hilarious!

 Kylie and Colette...two pretty witches!

 Seth had a Nemo costume but refused to wear it.  So we put his skeleton pjs on him as a backup.  Good thing we did because he took his Nemo costume off about 5 minutes after we got to my mom's house.

 Parker was the best Captain Hook I have ever seen.  He was so into his character too.

 Seth's daycare did a trunk or treat the night before Halloween so we took Seth to it.  He had a great time!  Notice the bag he is carrying for candy.  We forgot his pumpkin bucket so we had to use the plastic bag that the Nemo costume comes in for his candy bag.  He was holding it by the hanger.  It worked though!

 It didn't take him long to get the hang of how to say "Trick or Treat!"

 I love this picture.  Seth looks like such a big boy here.

 On Halloween we took Seth to Clint's dad's work again.  We go every year and meet up with Aunt Char and cousin Thayne.  This is the third time I have taken this picture of these four in this spot at South Jordan City Hall.

 My parents had their 25th Anniversary earlier this month and Kaylyn and I wanted to plan something special for them.  So we surprised them by taking them to a nice dinner at Carvers.  We ordered some special cupcakes from One Sweet Slice and had sparkling cider with dinner.  The staff at Carvers is awesome.  They put us in a private room and were so great!

 Happy 25!!!!

 Seth was too young to play in the snow in 2010 and we really didn't have much snow in 2011 so this year was his first time getting to really play.  Kaylyn helped him make his first snowman.  He even rolled the head of the snowman by himself.  I hate snow so I stayed warm inside.

 This year I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for the first time.  I love table decorations so I had to take a picture of the table.

 I always try for the elegant look...

 I also made some more fun cupcakes for the big day.

 Here is a picture of all our food.  I made the turkey.  It was dry but I made notes and put it in my recipe book for next year so hopefully if I make a turkey again it will be better.  Clint was so great to help me plan, prep food, and clean the house before people came over.

And here is the family pigging out.  Kaylyn doesn't look thrilled.  I think it's because she had gone to Ben's house for dinner a few hours earlier and she was pretty full. 

Seth's photo shoot (age 2...ish)

In September we FINALLY made an appointment at FotoFly to have pictures taken of Seth.  I had wanted to do this in June when he turned 2 but had to cancel because of the leper-like hives he got all over his body.  Then I had such bad bouts of morning sickness in July and part of August that I didn't have the energy to get it scheduled.  So this is his 'age 2ish' photo shoot.  He did awesome.  The photographer would say, "Can you put your hands in your pocket?" or "Can you come stand over here?"  And Seth would say "Yes." The photographer said he didn't think he had worked with a toddler that age that had ever said "Yes" so many times.  (sigh...if only that were really how things were in the Cunningham house.)



The photographer would put Elmo on his head and sneeze him off so, of course, Seth had to try too.





I think this is my favorite picture.  I just love how his eyes smile.



I AM a BYU fan but how can you not root for the Utes when your child looks this adorable in a Utah hoodie???

We also took a few family shots but pretty much only one turned out "ok" because Clint somehow still doesn't know how to smile with his teeth and I have a fat face from being pregnant so I'm saving that for our Christmas card this year.   

What Seth is 'all about' these days...

Seth is talking more and more every day and his personality is really starting to come through.  Some of the things he says are below:

"What happened?" - He says this any time one of us gets exasperated or yells out.  But the best part about it is that he will keep saying 'What happened?' until you explain it to him in a way that satisfies him.  For instance, I will loudly say "Go!" in the car when someone driving in front of me isn't going as fast as I would like them to.  Seth will ask me what happened and I will try to say, "This lady in front of me doesn't know how to drive." That doesn't do it for him.  So he'll ask me again, "What happened?" And I will finally have to admit, "Mommy is just being mad right now."  It sometimes keeps me in line with the things I choose to say (or yell.)

"I did it!"  - This is my favorite because he says it when he's accomplished anything.  Whether it is going potty or helping me to clean up his toys...or even when he has torn apart one of my holiday decorations that I have told him a hundred times to not touch.  As soon as I catch him in the act he freezes and then gets this big grin on his face and says "I DID IT!"

"I don't like it" - This phrase is said a lot each day.  From what I've made him for dinner to what clothes he is going to wear to daycare.  And I've found that if Seth says he doesn't like it, it doesn't matter what I say to try to convince him otherwise.  The battle has already been lost.

"Please..." - I know this is just one word.  But man, does this kid have the manipulation tactic down!  He went through a recent phase where he would wake up in the night and want us to hold him or bring him back to bed with us.  So one night I insisted that he lay back in his bed.  And he stood there with his arms stretched out and this desperate look on his face and he kept saying "Please....please!"  How do you say 'no' to that?  It was very hard.

"I sleep all night!" - This is his latest and greatest phrase.  We transitioned him to a big boy bed several weeks ago just to start preparing him for all the changes that will be coming with this new baby arriving.  He has been pretty good about staying in his bed but I would say to him (very excitedly) in the morning, "Good job, buddy!  You slept all night in your big boy bed!"  So now he says it every morning to us to reiterate what a good job he's done.  He did wake up at 2:30 am a few nights ago and when I went in to cuddle him he said "I sleep all night" and was halfway out of bed when I had to remind him that it was still nighttime and that the sun was still sleeping so he had to go back to sleep too.

Seth also loves to wear my shoes.  Flip flops, high heels, whatever....he loves them.  It disturbs Clint a little bit but I think it is just adorable and I try to take a picture to document it wherever possible.

Trying to be a more Responsible Mommy

Clint and I really don't eat vegetables like we should.  So it makes sense that I can rarely get a veggie in Seth's mouth that doesn't get spit back out on his plate.  So I decided I needed to be a little more "sneaky" in the way I give him the healthy little plants! 

One night I had a leftover zucchini and yellow squash so I grated it really small into the spaghetti sauce and voila!  Seth scarfed it up without hesitation. 

Which gave me an idea....

Why not puree a bunch of vegetables that I KNOW Seth would NEVER touch and mix them into some foods?!  A friend of mine happened to have a book (I forget what its called) about pureeing veggies into recipes that kids like so I borrowed it and copied some of the recipes.  And then one morning I just dove right in and pureed carrots, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, red peppers, zucchini, and yellow squash.  The house smelled horrible after steaming the cauliflower (just an FYI if you are going to try this) but I am pretty excited to make some new foods and get some healthy things into all our tummies while I'm at it.

And yes, while I'm trying to get some healthy things incorporated into our life, I don't want to be the boring Mommy.  I found a recipe in a magazine for raised doughnuts and I thought maybe I should try to master these little pieces of heaven  as well...while I was feeling all domestic.  This is a picture of my first attempt:

Clint said they were great but I didn't love them. I'll have to make them again and try to let them raise a little differently next time.

Heber Railroad

We decided to take a little overnight trip to Heber last month.  Why Heber?  We figured that that was far enough away from home to feel like a "vacation" but the road trip wasn't long enough that Seth would start screaming his head off.  Plus, one night away was a little nicer on the wallet than the Colorado trip that I really wanted to do.  Maybe in a couple years...

We got checked into the hotel and then Seth and Clint took a dip in the pool.

Then we went on a dinner/ train ride on the Heber Valley Railroad.

The only picture we could get of all three of us...why Seth is winking in all these pictures...I don't know.



I really need to stop giving him Coke.  Look what it does to him.



Clint thought it was strange that I took a picture of the conductor.  But come on!  He's all decked out in the clothes and he yelled "Tickets Please!"  It was just so authentic!

Seth was a little startled by the train whistle

We stopped for a little BBQ dinner and entertainment.

Seth absolutely loved hanging out in the hotel room.  The last time we did this with him he was only 9 months old so this seemed all new to him!









On the way out of Heber we stopped at a fun playground for Seth.