Gauge is 11 Months!!

Look at that face!  It's the cutest face I have ever seen.  I have grown so in love with this sweet boy over the past 11 months.  I cannot believe he will be ONE next month.  That is CRAZY.  

At 11 months, he enjoys playing with any toys, "helping" me put dishes and laundry away, and smiling and waving at anyone he sees.  He has no stranger anxiety and strangers LOVE him.  I don't love going to the grocery store and having a thousand strangers touch his hands and face.  

He LOVES being outside.  It is so nice living somewhere where we can spend most every day of the year outside in the beautiful sunshine.  He plays outside forever and gets mad when I bring him in.  He'll sit at the door and bang his forehead against it until I let him out.  Once out, he immediately goes to the planter boxes and starts playing, eating, and digging in the dirt.  This kid gets dirtier than anyone I've ever seen in less then 5 minutes.  

He loves bath time, is starting to love cuddling, and still will not let me read him a book.  He is such a sweet, happy boy and he fills my life with so much joy, happiness, and purpose.

New Year, New Goals...New BABY

I thrive on goals.  I am constantly making lists, setting goals, and trying to make improvements in my life.  January 1st is the perfect opportunity to take a look a my life and see where I am excelling, where I am doing average, and where I need to make major improvements.  I love stepping back, re-evaluating whats important and then re-prioritizing and setting new goals.

This year I decided I think I want to home-school Lexi. It isn't because the schools and the world is too scary to send her into, although it is scary, I know that it is my responsibility to let Lexi's light of Christ shine to the world and show everyone what a good place the world could be.  We can't lock our kids in our homes or surround them by only good, LDS people.  We need to let them be missionaries and let the world see their true happiness.  They need to be tested in order to strengthen their testimonies and grow as a person.  The main reason I am home-schooling her is because I literally love her so much it hurts.  It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about sending her to school all day (even though it is 2 years out!!).  I would be lost without her.  I would miss her so much.  I also want to be able to travel and come and go as I please.  I want to be able to teach her the things I find most important and things that will constantly challenge her.  Most importantly, I want her to love to learn.  I think that by really focusing on things that interest her and teaching her in the way she learns best (hands on) that I can foster that love of learning.  

We are starting our home-school journey tomorrow with a preschool curriculum that I put together using bits and pieces of a few different ones.  I think I will really love it.  She is excited and so am I!!

2013 is going to be an amazing year for our family.  We will be blessed with one more sweet spirit in our home this Fall.  That's right!  I am pregnant.  Yes, it was planned.  Yes, Gauge and the baby will only be 19 months apart.  Yes, it will be challenging and hard and some days it will feel nearly impossible, but I am ready for it.  I love my children so much and I love my family so much.  For some reason I am feeling this sense of urgency to get all my children here.  I don't know if they are pressuring me from the other side or if it is just a feeling I'm having, but none-the-less when I prayed about the feeling there was no doubt in my mind that it was time to have another baby.  I couldn't be happier that it happened so quickly.  I am only 6 weeks along and haven't even been to the Dr. yet.  I go the 23.  

Just as I was feeling like I have so much to do and not enough time, plus finding out I was pregnant, I got a phone call.  The first counselor in the bishopric called to see if I would accept the calling of first counselor in the primary presidency.  I accepted right away.  I am soooo excited, but I am also so nervous.  Being in charge of so many sweet children is such a huge responsibility.  I feel like it is so important for me to help give these kiddos a good foundation and base of a testimony for them to grow and expand on.  My mind was set at ease today as I was set apart.  Heavenly father blessed me that I would have more time in my day, I would be able to feel inspirations in regards to the children, and that my marriage would benefit from my service to the Lord.  

I am constantly amazed at how Heavenly Father knows and loves each one of us so fully and so completely.  He always knows exactly what to say to put our minds at ease.  I love my Heavenly Father and I am grateful for the love he shows me each day.  I am grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I am grateful for eternal families.  I am overwhelmed by the blessings Heavenly Father bestowed upon our family in 2012 and I look forward to seeing what he has in store for me and my family in the upcoming year.

New Years Eve

It was the day before New Years Eve when we got back from Colorado.  I wanted to do something fun so we decided to have a family oriented party.  (Complete with a ball drop at 9 pm.... I am getting too old to stay up til midnight these days!!!)  We invited a bun of friends over and enjoyed a  photo-booth (it was my first time doing one... it turned out a little lame), a pinata, good company, great food, and fun games.

"My baby just wont look at the camera mom," said Lexi.  I'm thinking, "yeah, mine either LEXI!!"

She's a goof, but I love her so so much!

My whole world.

We had to use a plastic sword to hit the pinata... yeah, it works as good as it sounds like it would... not at all.  But Ty gave it a couple good drops and out exploded the candy!

Lexi was VERY selective in which candy she chose.  Here is her loot of suckers.

Gauge and his buddy Miles

Watching the ball drop at nine, in bed by ten.  My kind of new years :)

Christmas at the Cabin; the final Christmas of 2012

We left Grand Junction Dark and early on Christmas Eve morning to head to the cabin.  Everyone was exhausted, but we were excited to enjoy our first ever Christmas at the Cabin!

Thanks to my awesome sister and brother-in-law, the cabin was all decorated... lights and all (I cannot believe Chris got up on a ladder in icy, freezing conditions to put lights on the cabin to surprise his mom!  What a good son)  This cute tree was cut right outside the cabin :)  How fun is that?

Aren't lexi and I stockings adorable?  (they're made from fur)

The boy's stockings

the kids were excited to be reunited once again :)

auntie jess helped the kiddos bake sugar cookies for Santa

 

Then Papa helped decorate.

We went sledding.  A lot.  It was a blast.  Lexi only made one (well half of one) run down the mountain with uncle Chris on his sled before she fell off the front of the tube, face first, in the snow, and got ran over.  The snow was so powdery she got pushed right down in it.  I ran (as fast as I could, but it took forever in the knee high snow) up the mountain to grab her.  I pulled her up and she had a bright red face full of snow and tears and vowed never to go sledding again... EVER.  She held true to her word until I forced her to go down a little hill with me.  She yelled, "this is NOT fun!!!!!"  After that she stuck to be pulled around on the little kid sled.  Better luck next year, Lex.

"This is fun mom.  This is ok."

Gauge loved being pulled with his sister!  He loves her to pieces.

Grammy and Papa got everyone matching jammies for Christmas!! So much fun!!

I love my little family.

The jammies ran a little big.... Uncle Chris is silly!

So fun to all be together for Christmas!

Trying to get four kids to look at the camera, at the same time, while smiling might be impossible.  I'm not saying it CAN'T be done, I'm just saying we couldn't do it.  This was the best picture out of 15... yes, I am not exaggerating.  FIFTEEN photos.

Lexi's face when she opened her new gun :)  Priceless

Can't believe it's been 5 christmas as a married couple.... nine as a couple.  CRAZY

Papa got everyone new ski hats.  

Yep, Ty too.

I am one lucky mom!

We got Max a stick horse, cowboy hat, and some six shooter for Christmas.  He's easily the cutest cowboy I have ever seen!!

Santa brought Lexi a new Cricuit! (Its a single shot .22 rifle for little kids, the one she asked for... pink and all, she is definitely her father's daughter!)

Gauge loved the snow (even if he did have to use his sister's old pink snow-boots)

Lexi's favorite thing was to stomp around in the snow.  We couldn't build snowmen because it was too cold and so the snow wouldn't stick together AT ALL.

Lex took great care of Gauge all week.  I cannot believe what a great sister she is.  

Well, Christmas is done and over with.... until next year :)

Christmas # 2 Thygerson Casa

We finally got to grand junction at 12:30 in the middle of the night on Decemeber 15th.  Fun times... Lexi had been praying her little heart out for snow.  My mom had said Grand Junction hadn't gotten any snow yet and wasn't looking like it was going to be getting any.  A small, early Christmas miracle greeted us as we got to my parents house that night... great big snowflakes started to fall.  Lexi goes, "see mom!  It's snowing!!!! I prayed and it snowed."  

She was surprised it was cold.  She thought snow was more like cotton balls. 

Gauge loved it too.

Cutest girl I've ever seen.  I just love her!!

Papa 'D' was an instant hit with Gauge. He walked right up to him and stayed with him the whole time :)

We had so much fun visiting my family.  Lexi loved playing the guitar and making up songs with Grandpa, and her uncles (who are getting quite good at guitar. we might have some rock stars on our hands).   Lexi loved having Grandma read to her and play with her.  her favorite thing besides guitar and singing though, were the nurf guns.

We celebrated Christmas early with my family. I made a delicious dinner of prime rib, sweet potato casserole, green beans, rolls, and  a pie.  We exchanged presents and had a blast.

I honestly don't know why I buy my kids Christmas presents, or for that matter presents for any occasion.  They get so spoiled by aunts, uncles, grandparents, ect.

For the life of me, I could not get this kid to even try and open a present.   He just didn't care.

Lex knew the drill.  "I love presents!!! Give me the  next one!!"

Christmas outfits were dapper.

Lovin' them some grandma!

Its always fun to see Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Thygerson.

Overall, Christmas # 2 was a great success.  I'm already missing my family and the beautiful snowy weather of Colorado!

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