So Behind!

I realized that there is so much I haven't posted! Ideally, each one of these should be a separate post, but it will just have to be one big one!

January 9

My good friend, Pam, was at Disney World with her husband. They live in Austin (which is, of course, where we first met), but came down to run the Disney half marathon and have a little vacation. I am proud of anyone who can run any long distance, but Pam is 6 months pregnant! She's pretty awesome. Since I am practically down the street from Disney, we decided to meet up for a bit before they left. Cannon and I drove down Monday morning and we met at Animal Kingdom. We had a great morning talking and catching up while we saw the animals. Pam and John had an afternoon flight to catch, but Cannon and I stayed a little longer. It was so fun to see Pam, especially knowing that it will probably be a long time before we see each other again.



January 14

We drove down to Apollo beach to see the manatees. It was really cold and windy that day, but still a lot of fun. When the water in the ocean starts to get too cold, the manatees migrate to this area by the power plant where the water is warmer.

They had a neat little visitors center. It was nice to take shelter from the cold wind and learn more about manatees. Cannon got to play with some manatee bones.

Here's everyone. Rachel with Micah and Savannah. John and Liz with their son Peyton. Liz grew up in Largo, so she knows all the ins and outs around here!

January 20

This was also Blue's birthday, but that's another post. Ryan and I went to the Orlando Temple and my friend Rachel watched Cannon for us. Since we were going in the evening, she said Cannon could sleep over. All three babies slept in the same room! She said that at first all three were talking to each other for about an hour, until the twins fell asleep, but Cannon kept talking until almost 9:30! Silly boy! Ryan and I had a great time at the temple and then afterwards had Chipotle for dinner (a very late dinner).

I picked up Cannon in the morning and Rachel and I took the kids to the farmer's market in downtown St. Pete. It really was a lot of fun, lots of music and fun things for the kids. There was a guy who made balloons for the kids and then there was a lady that did a great story time. We bought a bunch of produce too. The weather was so nice, so it was great just to be outside. After that, we stopped at the Holocaust museum. Not so great for kids, but Cannon enjoyed seeing a real boxcar. At the end they had a small prayer wall that you could write your note and then put it in the rocks. They take those notes and actually deliver them to Jerusalem! Cannon wrote his note and put it in the wall.

Here we are at the farmers market just after storytime.

January 22

Today was my friends Todd and Jessica's wedding anniversary. I watched their son, Ayden, so they could have a night out. Ryan left for Daytona that evening and we had to take him to the airport so he could get his rental car and drive there (it's only about a 2.5 hour drive). The boys had fun seeing the airplanes.

Back at home, we had a fun evening. The boys played really well together. We ate Mickey Mouse pancakes with bananas and whipped cream for dinner per Cannon's request. Then they had a bath. Ayden got sad when it was time to got to bed, but only cried for less than a minute. Cannon always gets worried when another child is sad, especially one of his friends, so he kept trying to find ways to help Ayden feel better. Whatever he did must have worked because in no time they were both talking and giggling. Ayden fell asleep first, and of course Cannon continued to talk and sing until 9:30 (they were in bed by 8:00).

They were so silly in the bath.

In the morning they had lots of work to do. Cannon is in love with that Blue hat!

It seems like we have been busy this month! Some parts of the week it seems like we are going places and being really busy, but other days we just hang out at home. I have redesigned Cannon's play space which is hard to do in an apartment. I don't like a lot of clutter and I don't like to be reminded that our living room is also Cannon's playroom. I think I have finally come up with a design that works for everyone. The flow seems better and each toy has a place. I've been rotating his toys based on what he is interested in and that makes a big difference. It also helps that we have a nice sized balcony. When they days are nice (which are most days) I can leave the sliding glass door open so Cannon can go in and out as he pleases.

Here are some of the projects Cannon has been working on:

I saved some boxes leftover from the Christmas packages we recieved. I thought Cannon would like to play in them. It started with the largest box and I thougth he would like it as a cave, but instead he wanted a train. So I made a smoke stack and then he wanted to paint it. We added the rest of the boxes and he painted those too. On this day he wanted to paint his train some more. This thing is still occupying our hall. It's kind of a work in progress. I tried to get rid of some of the "box cars," but Cannon was not happy with me! Oh well, I guess we'll see where this goes.

This is our "dramatic play" area. I love this little kitchen I got for him. It's simple and we keep just a few things out with it, but it's perfect! I set up that table because I thought he would like to make his food and set it at the table (he does this at our library in the kids section), but it ended up that he likes to draw and write there.

This has been a great purchase! Keep oil pastels and markers in the tray so he can draw whenever he wants. He uses this pretty much every day. I ended up putting play-do in one of the compartments below so he has access to it. In the other one I have a old t-shirt (for when we paint) and an old plastic shower curtain to put under the easil (when we paint).

My mom got him this barn for Christmas and he loves it! He loves playing with his animals and people.

When I was putting his easil together, I noticed that he was really interested in the tools. So I hammered in two nails into a wood piece and let him hammer. I was surprised that he knew what to do and that he had good accuracy. The pieces of wood were from the trunks of Christmas trees. When we bought our tree, I asked the guy if I could take some wood pieces home since they were just throwing them away.

Despite the mostly perfect weather here, there have been some really cold days (highs in the low 50's). That's cold to us! Cannon gets excited to wear his mittens and winter hat.

Ryan's parents got him this really cute outfit for church. I think he looks so handsome!

And finally, Cannon learned a new trick on his bounceline. He learned this all by himself!

A New Year

We have never really done anything big for New Years, but I think I like it that way. Up until this year, we have always spend that night at Ryan's parents house playing games and eating junk food. This year we had the Kanooth's over for homemade pizza, games, and sparkling cider. Leif (who is doing his medical residency) had to be to work at 6am the next morning, so they only stayed until 9pm. It was still fun to have dinner and play for a bit. After they left Ryan and I watched a movie and hung out until we went to bed at 1am.

Ryan had today off of work too. Since he has started his new job, we haven't been able to spend very much time with him. Even when he is not out-of-town, he often has to stay late at work. This holiday time has been bliss! Ryan finished his last trip the first week of December. And although he had to work this week and last week, the office was slow and he was able to come home early or at least by 6pm. Last night Cannon went to bed at 7pm. Ryan and I just talked on the couch for three hours! It was just what I needed to reconnect with him.

Today I am feeling a bit sentimental. Instead of talking about our goals for this coming year, I am going talk about the things I love about Ryan and Cannon.

Ryan is a good match for me because he balances me. When I am feeling irrational and scattered, he is clam and organized. We sometimes joke that he is a better housekeeper than I am. He can watch Cannon and keep the house clean at the same time. He doesn't mind doing housework and has admitted that he finds doing the laundry relaxing (it's now his eternal chore). When I am feeling stressed and neglect the house duties, he will pick of the slack without EVER complaining. Even though I am much better at the details in housework and cleaning, he is much better at the overall keeping things picked-up. I was never one to talk about my feelings and problems (it's something I'm working on), but I have learned that I can talk to Ryan. He is a good listener and will often say just exactly the thing I need to hear. He really is my best friend. I love that we think the same random things are funny. We can agree on most things or at least find a good compromise. Ryan has so much faith and always keeps a good perspective of things. Again, when I am feeling that life is hard or crazy, he is good at reminding me what's important. I love that he still finds me utterly attractive even when I look gross or don't feel very pretty. Ryan is very smart. He has intelligence in things that I don't understand, so sometimes he seems like a genius to me. I call him a scriptorian, although he won't admit to being one. I can tell him I need a scripture on a certain subject and he knows immediately where to look. This is very helpful to him as the gospel doctrine instructor at church. I like to watch Ryan learn. He wants to better himself and recognizes the need to grow. It has been especially fun since he has started his new job. He has found so much joy in learning and I love to see him happy. Ryan is patient and willing to go along with my ideas. We usually aren't very spontaneous, but if I ever wanted to be he would be right there with me. Ryan is a really good gift-giver. He has bought things for me that I never thought of, but that I have loved. Ryan is a great husband and father, I love him!

Oh Cannon, there's so much I can say about him! Cannon amazes me. When I truly listen to and observe him, instead of trying to push my own ideas on him, he tells me what he really needs at that moment. He teaches me patience. He teaches me forgiveness. I love to watch him play. I love to watch him invent new ways of playing and to work out things in his play. I have learned so much about him just by watching him. Cannon has a lot of energy and curiosity, but he can also be very calm and quiet. Ordinarily I am not very social, but because of Cannon I have to be and I am grateful for that. He needs to have time with friends and he likes to interact with other people. Cannon is balanced and doesn't have extremes with things. From time to time problems arise, but with love and patience they always get resolved. He can be flexible, but will let me know when he has had enough of something. Cannon is learning to be gentle and kind to people and animals. I have witnessed him show tenderness to his friends and animals. That always makes my mommy heart happy. He doesn't like it when people are unhappy. He doesn't like it when he is unhappy. Ryan and I don't "fight" in front of him (we don't really fight all that often anyway), but occasionally we have argued with Cannon around and it immediately stresses him out. When it's quiet again he asks me if I am happy and then that makes me feel bad that I made him feel that way. Ryan and I try show appropriate affection for each other in front of him. I can tell that when Ryan and I hug, hold hands, or kiss that it makes Cannon feel secure. We do a family hug with Cannon in the middle and call it a "Cannon sandwich." He loves it and it's a way that we all feel connected to each other. When people are upset I have seen him try to help them feel better. He might offer them a toy or try to talk to them. Cannon loves to make people laugh. Recently he has started making faces in an attempt to get me to laugh. I have to admit that it works every time! All he has to do is smile and it will melt you. I think that every mother worries about her parenting and has doubts that she has done the right thing. I know that I don't always make the right choice (even if I know what the right thing to do is), but I so very much appreciate the resiliency in him and how quick he is to forgive me when I apologize. Cannon has been a huge blessing in our life and everyday I am so grateful to have him. I love everything about him. Sometimes I tell him, "Cannon, I love you just the way you are." He always smiles when I say that. I should tell him that more often.

How blessed I am!



A new year and a new haircut. I only cut the sides and the back, but left the magnificent curls on top.