Thanksgiving

We drove up to Idaho Falls to be with Tyler's family for Thanksgiving. We were excited for a little "vacation" from work and school, but I think Jordy surpassed our excitement when he saw how much room he had to crawl around and explore! And of course to see his Grandma and Grandpa Davis. :) Jordy was in heaven! He was the center of attention and had volunteers left and right to take naps with him and entertain him! That ended up not just being a blast for him, but a huge blessing for us. Tyler and I were working on his personal statement and resume for his graduate school applications that were due that weekend and it would have been IMPOSSIBLE to do with Jordy's "help."

I always feel guilty around Thanksgiving time- knowing I need to do better about showing my gratitude. There are so many people that have blessed my life with all they do for me personally and for our family. I am really good about making it known when things are hard or not going just right (or how I think they should be), yet, I do a terrible job recognizing the blessings I do have and for all the things I should be grateful. Last year, Tyler and I wrote "thankful leaves". This year, we gave ourselves 2 min. to write everything we could think of that we were grateful for that started with each letter of the alphabet. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be...we could have used more than 2 min. on most. I also realized I take so much for granted. I never would have thought to list a shower-head before, however, earlier this year, at our apartment in south Provo, we weren't able to use the shower head when the bathroom was being repaired. We had to take baths and dump cups of water over our heads. Yeah. I know. I should have still been grateful for indoor plumbing and hot, clean water...and I was/am. But not being able to use the shower head made me realize how grateful I am for that and how much I missed it when it wasn't available! SO- when I start realizing the "shower heads" that I take for granted in everything else during my day...there is SO much I have to be grateful for. I won't even attempt to make a list here, but I do have to say I am grateful for Tyler and Jordy and for their patience with me and for making me laugh every single day. I am grateful for my family and am so lucky to be surrounded by such loving and supportive people. I am grateful for my good friends that keep me sane! :) I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that it gives me hope. I am so far from where I should be, yet, I feel that through the Atonement of Christ, I can change (as slow a process as it may be). I am grateful for eternal families. That knowledge alone keeps me going in so many instances.

So, I apologize for not doing better about expressing my gratitude and love and appreciation for those I love and for my blessings and opportunities...
Thank you for your patience with me.
As Josh says it best "There's so much to be thankful for!" 

I'm pretty thankful for this little man, even if he makes taking pictures difficult! :)

His shirt says "My first Thanksgiving!"

I swear he's thinking "Seriously, Mom. Enough pictures!" 

"Give me that camera!"

Tyler's parents have the best-behaved dog, EVER! Her name is Koda. She's a lab-retriever mix. She's HUGE, but so so great around Jordy. I would adopt her in a heartbeat. But then- she'd take up our whole apartment :) Someday...

Jordy would work up enough courage to touch her and she always let him!

Jordy LOVED his sampling of Thanksgiving dinner: stuffing and sweet potatoes and some roll, and of course- the JELLO! He wasn't a big fan of turkey...maybe he didn't get the memo about Thanksgiving being all about turkey! :)

I'm pretty grateful for both my cute boys! 

Ahh! I'm catching a glimpse of what his teenage-boy-look will be...

We were still finishing up Tyler's application essay, so we stayed for the Packer game. Jordy didn't seem to mind!

However, we didn't leave until 8pm- with a 4 hour drive ahead of us. I shouldn't even write this on my "grateful" post...but- our car died about 45 min. from Idaho Falls :( BUT- I am so so grateful that Tyler's parents were able to come rescue us and they had their older mini-van that they let us load up with our stuff to make it down to Orem. They told us they'd work out the details of getting the car from the mechanic that it was towed to and we'd just switch the cars back over Christmas. Not exactly how we wanted to end our fun weekend, but, maybe it was a blessing it happened that weekend...after I had been reflecting on our blessings and had a tiny reserve before breaking down again! Moral of the story: We wouldn't be anywhere without our amazing families! We love you all! 

Football Game

Tyler's parents bought us BYU football tickets for our birthdays- but the game wasn't until the 22nd of November. They arranged for Carly and Brad to watch Jordy for us and Tyler's dad was going to come down to go to the game as well...so everything had been arranged- except, THE WEATHER! It had been a gorgeous day on Friday (mid 60s) but all week the weather forecast for Saturday was: COLD & RAINING. Don't get me wrong. I love my cougars. But perhaps my in-person-enthusiasm in "rain or snow" has died down a little more now that I'm older...(Why can't I cheer just as loud on my warm, comfortable couch?!) Don't worry- I kept those thoughts to myself. I would have been disowned by Tyler and my father-in-law if they heard me saying those things-- as they are some of the most loyal football fans EVER (to them there is no such thing as "inclement weather"). SO- I layered up with my sweatshirts and doubled my socks and got a rain poncho and off we went to the game. BYU was playing Savannah State...who hadn't won a game yet- so again, I was thinking about my couch! But a football game is a football game and we still had fun!

Look at him...just like a little boy! Rain and cold couldn't keep him from loving watching his Cougars in-person! 

 And, just in case you wondered, BYU won: 64-0. Yup...

Jordy had fun with Carly and Brad and their little dog too! :) (Jetta) 

Fall then 2 days later it's winter

Yup. One day it got up to 65 degrees and I almost forgot it really was November. We even took a walk to go see our friend the emu...

Then, the next day, it was snowing. Ugh. Ready or not...it looks like winter is here.

If only I could look as cute as this kiddo in my warm-weather clothes! :)

Want some cheese?!

What about this kind of "cheese?!"

"Ok. Ok. No more pictures, please!"

"Fine. One more!" :)

Jordy took a nap and woke up with hair looking like this! Nice!

Unfortunately with the sudden cold- that meant an end to my little garden :( Hahaha. More like pots of dirt with some green sprouts coming out! My seeds actually almost all sprouted this year...but they didn't really do much past that. I held out thinking something would grow...so by the time it snowed, this is what had started: 2 tomatoes, a little cucumber and 2 green beans (and then I have a little window-sill planter of cilantro). I am just grateful we don't have to grow our own food...we'd never make it!

Here are some more pictures of Jordy doing what he does best! 

This is how he fell asleep...

Here is Jordy showing off how he can wave (to celebrate or to "dance" :)

Jordy has started fake coughing when he hears us cough. Of course he didn't do it quite the same when he saw I had the camera...but you get the idea! And he has started sticking out his tongue...

Again, Jordy will be doing something like standing or "dancing" or laughing and I think "I need this on camera" but the minute he sees the camera, he stops doing it! So this one I was trying to get him standing from behind, so sorry it's long and you see that side of him! 

10 months!

SO...Jordy has been keeping us both VERY busy!

Jordy does not like it when I try working on the computer. He either tries "helping" by pounding on the keys or just tries closing my computer. This means I basically can't do any work when Jordy is awake. However, the only problem with this is: Jordy is almost always awake when I am awake! The kid doesn't sleep! He usually takes a 30-45 min. nap in the morning (time for me to either get ready or scramble to get stuff ready for my sessions with clients) then he'll sometimes take an afternoon nap for an hour or so. But then he's up again and just wants to GO-GO-GO! He plays with a toy for a few seconds, but then is off exploring the cupboards, book shelves, DVDs, etc. Needless to say, I have gotten a little behind on even fun things- like updating the blog. And we won't even get started on my thesis...

Tyler was very dedicated and because work can't get done with Jordy at night, he was waking up early in the morning to study for the GMAT. He took it on November 8th and did very well! (He said he kind of panicked during the math section and said he could have done better, but he did get a better score than last time!) I am so proud of his diligence and hard-work studying and preparing for that test. Those tests are never fun and unfortunately seem to show such limited skills...but it's over with and now he's working on personal statements and applications!

Even if they are late...here are Jordy's 10-month-old pictures!

He's such a turkey! I was trying to get him to smile showing off his 2-new teeth...

There they are! 

He wouldn't sit still...so this is amazing that we got the ball while it was on his back! 

This is where he kept wanting to go...he loves pushing his high-chair around!

It's been so long- now I can't remember what he could do a few weeks ago compared to what he is doing now! But here are a few updates (with more to come in just a few days now!):

-Jordy has let go of the furniture a few times and stood independently for a few seconds! (In fact, when Grandma and Grandpa Hyatt were here the last week of October, Jordy just stood up in the middle of the room for a few seconds before sitting back down!)
- Jordy LOVES LOVES LOVES bananas. He can eat a whole banana in one sitting and still wants more! (He still eats them by grabbing them in his fist and then squeezing them into his mouth...making him really fun to clean up!)
- He blows raspberries on OUR arms and anywhere he sees skin...leaving LOTS of slobber!
- Continues to say ma-ma and da-da
- Clicks his tongue and smacks his lips together (mostly when we're trying to feed him and he's trying to distract us!)
- Loves playing peek-a-boo. He grabs a blanket or shirt or anything he can to cover his face and play!
-Goes to sleep at night now without crying...but it's not always a guarantee that he stays in his crib all night (I'm hoping it's because he gets cold in his room--we're getting a space heater- because he hogs the bed too much to be sleeping with us still :)
-Still shakes his head "no" (again, mostly while in his high-chair)
- He makes "ah-ah-ah" sounds while someone puts fingers on his lips (I think one of Ben's roommates taught him to do that!)
- HE HAS 2 TEETH ON THE BOTTOM! I almost forgot...but he got those mid-October!
- Loves crawling through tunnels or trying to squeeze through a small space
- He's been eating more of a variety...fruits and cinnamon bread and cooked carrots and olives...but we need to distract him and "trick" him a little to open for anything green... :(
-He gets so so excited to talk to his grandmas and grandpas on the iPad. In fact- he kind of thinks the iPad is his and gets super upset when he doesn't get to play with it. So much for keeping him "unplugged"...haha...
- Still has one of the most contagious smiles I've ever seen!

He keeps us busy and I wonder where he gets all his energy some days...but we sure love our little man!


The best part about being a mom:
...making Jordy laugh! He has always had a great smile, but he hasn't always been a real "giggly" baby. However, as I play with him and get him to laugh, it just makes me want to laugh! At times he has made me feel really stressed not being able to work or being kind of "clingy" and wanting me to give him 100% of my attention 100% of the time...but when I am able to just stop and play with him- he gets so happy and makes me almost (key- ALMOST) forget about all the other stuff I'm supposed to do. He helps me realize that in the big scheme of things, I really don't have much to complain about and we are quite blessed. When I go on campus with him or go to the store and others are smiling at him or the cashier is commenting on his big smile, I feel so lucky to be his mom! I never realized such a little person could make such a difference in other people's lives...making them smile! That's more than I usually do for most of the people I come in contact with in a day. He just really is a happy little boy that makes me happy! I don't know how things will be in a few years...if I'll have graduated/finished my certification, if Tyler will be in grad school, where we'll be living...but I do feel through all the uncertainties, we can still find HAPPINESS! And with a little smile-machine...he sure helps me be happy when it would otherwise be easy to get discouraged and frustrated with things. SO I love that I have a daily gift from my Heavenly Father to help me remember to LOVE LIFE! :)
*I have heard the quote on a number of occasions that goes something like "things will work out in the end, so if things don't seem fair, you probably haven't reached the end!"
**I also heard someone describe having kid(s) like having a little Christmas gift to open each and every day...I like that thought! (Most days!!! :-)

Other pictures from the month: