Playing catchup and just playing!

I could complain about a lot of things like the economy, my pant size, the fact that I live by a college football stadium in the fall...but the thing is today I am so blessed. I shared a few of these photos on my photoblog, but I didn't want to give too much detail, because who knows who reads that thing sometimes.

We have been stuck indoors for the past two weeks with toddler diarrhea. Trust me, taking stool samples was an all-time motherhood low. Then Adam came down with a bad cold. He has been pushing so hard to finish up his degree and he only has ONE WEEK left. I can't believe that he actually will be completing his MBA after 6 months. It went by so quick. So last night we took a much need time out and went to the park with our kids. They were elated to be out of the house and the weather was perfection.

Max-Max. Doesn't he look so grown up in the photo above?
I want to tell you why I love this photo.
Max is looking at me.
My boy, who a few months ago I wasn't sure would ever speak or look me in the eye again, now will look into my eyes the whole time while I sing the alphabet to him. After almost nine months it brings a tear to my eye, because I know he can say "mama" again.

He still has a long road to travel, but he is making his way back to us.

¡Aye Mi Niña!

My baby turned ONE on September 30, 2011.

PHEW! I won't lie. It's been a long tough year, but we made it together and after all that hard work we've all put in we are not about to give up now!! We love this sweet girl. Here is a list of things that my Dempsey-girl does that make me smile:

-she has lightning fast reflexes and when we go to get her out of her bed in the morning it's almost like seeing a triple flip up to standing position, because she is so excited to see us!
-loves to tap things with her index finger.
-does little random dance moves moving her shoulders up and down.
-can say mamama and dadada, but has a very pronounced BaBaBa and will even wake up in the middle of the night to say BaBaBa.
-she's got a huge gap in her two front teeth and it reminds me of Mater from the the Cars movie, so I am always saying she has "two buck teeth for one buck"
-she wears a shoe size 6 already! she's going to be tall like her daddy!
-she is in 18-24 months clothes.
-her hair is coming in slowly, but surely and though we try to deny it, it seems to have a tinge of red.
-she's a climber and I am constantly pulling her down off of the furniture and stairs.
-she will have nothing to do with dolls, jewelry or anything "girly". However, if you give that girl a ball, she is very happy!
-she has a strange fetish with the posts on our bed. she gets overly excited to go into our bedroom and try to get her mouth on that bedpost.
-she loves playing outside and if ANYONE goes out the front door without her she throws the biggest tantrum ever.

She is pretty fond of playing with Adam and he likes to throw her around. By the time these kids are old enough for tumbling, they may think it's too boring. :)

Happy Birthday my beautiful girl. We love you so much!

Birthday explosion!

September is definitely the month to be born in...6 people in my and Adam's family were born in September. We had a giant party, complete with piñata, for Me, Becca, Roy & Dempsey. This is how it went down in Hurricane...




It's pretty much pure torture to expect a fat kid to sit and stare at a chocolate cake.


We have a drama queen on our hands. If meals and naps are not kept on a strict rotation we have total meltdown. I'm pretty sure she gets it from her dad's side of the family. 'winky face'






After about 5 minutes of digging, she finally got to the actaul cake, but by then she was already spiraling into a frosting induced coma.



The rest of us had to share a cake, which pretty much proves that life doesn't get much better after after childhood ends. Live it up while you have the chance, my children.



Becca's mom, who hails straight from the motherland i.e. El Salvador, was attempting to teach us gringos proper piñata etiquette. It involved blindfolds, spinning, counting, and the crowd heckling a dizzy person with a bat...it was like trying to recreate a drunken riot without the alchohol.



Of course, everyone was surprised at my pent-up rage. All I need do is imagine the roaches, mice, and ants that once bombarded that very kitchen and no piñata within 20 miles is safe.



Trent(right) was having a nice time making us all look silly as we swung into thin air and missed the dancing target.

Adam gets the award for killing the piñata as he continued to beat it's lifeless cardboard frame long after it had exploded all over the ground.



Then propor protocol states that you use the cones from the piñata to collect the candy...yum, candy canes in September, just what I had been wishing for. :)

Labor Day of Love.

Labor Day weekend we took a drive up to Pine Valley. It is just perfect up there this time of year. There is a quaint little chapel nestled in the panoramic countryside. A little while after we got there the congregation got out of their afternoon meetings and the grounds were filled with beautiful mormons all in their colorful summer sunday best. It made me feel like I was on the set of a mormon movie. Everything just looked so perfect. I know. I should have taken a photo.

The chapel grounds were gated,
which is so nice because we can let Max run free.
He and Dempsey are happiest when they can cut loose and explore to their hearts' content.
Dempsey LOVES to climb stairs. She is stellar at going up. But her technique of coming down face first...needs work. I keep trying to show her how much easier it is to come down feet first, but apparently she's already decided that Mom doesn't know anything. And of course, she will still blame me when she has to learn the hard way. She is finding parent-training to be quite challenging.

Max, on the other hand, thinks he has us whooped.
Which may or may not be the case when he whips out those baby-blues and long lashes. Resistance is futile.

Labor Day Monday we headed into Snow Canyon Park to have a little lunchtime bbq with Uncle Trent and Aunt Becca!

They brought their doggies along for the fun: Cinnamon and Coconut. They showed us their synchronized spin moves for pieces of cheese. (The dogs, not Trent and Becca. ;) However, I have been known to perform for cheese as well.)


Dempsey hung out in the BOB(love the BOB dualie!!!) and Max wandered around kicking rocks, frequently checking the occupancy of the outhouse...you know, boy stuff.


Then things REALLY got cooking! LOL.
mmmmm.......kabobs and hobo dinners over charcoal on a cloudy afternoon. Perfect.
Dempsey had her first taste of lollipop. She wanted her hands all over that thing!
Being only a 10 minute drive to the park from our house...I can't wait to do it all again! Sooo fun!

Max Episode 2

My heart breaks just a little bit to write this post, because when I think back to this post 6 months ago, that little boy seems to be lost to us. Don't get me wrong, much of Max's stong will, stubborn, defiant personality has been consistent since the beginning. However, in the last 6 months he has completely stopped talking. Perhaps once every other day we will hear him mumble a familiar word, but he will not be encouraged, coaxed, or even bribed to speak. In fact, the more we make a big deal about it, the more upset he becomes. At the moment his main form of communication is whining, crying, and pulling us in the direction of things he wants. There is no attempt at pointing, making gestures, or anything that resembles language. As parents, it leaves us frustrated and confused as to whether he is refusing to speak or is truly not able. He also enters any type of social interaction with his peers with great anxiety. Coming face to face with other kids or even his baby sister, he just tenses up, flees the situation, or cries as if he has encountered a large dog.

For months we have told ourselves that it is probably just because we have moved, or he is the oldest and he is just getting used to his baby sister. However, Dempsey will be a year old next month and he should be adapting to the situation better than he is now. We took him to the pediatrician and they threw out the dreaded "A" word...autism. Of course, there is no official diagnosis, and we are certainly NOT going to put a label a him just to have an answer. Autism is a spectrum disorder and the assessment process is very long and involved. I have a younger brother with special needs and I know how devastating it can be when you don't know how to help a child that cannot properly communicate his thoughts & feelings with the world. In the end, this may be simple and it may be serious, but either way Adam and I just want to know how to help Max be a successful and happy child.

On a positive note, he interacts with Adam and I very well. He cuddles, laughs, and plays. We love how he can hardly contain his excitement when he watches his favorite videos. The excitement literally physically takes him over and he starts running back and forth and shaking his hands back and forth as if he can't help himself. He is always excited to see us whenever we come down the stairs. When we play outside and he has been running around for awhile he will come up to me with mouth wide open as if he is surprised and I know that is my cue to tell him how glad I am to see him. I love how he loves to be loved...and he reminds me everyday how lucky I am to be his mother. I love my beautiful boy.

The Big 2

Well, it happened. Overnight we went from counting months to counting years and our little Max is 2 years old. Max is not one for all the crowds and festivities so we just had Nanna, Gramps, Uncle Trent, & Aunt Becca join us for some Tritip on the grill.

He may be shy around people, but him and that chocolate cake got to know each other very well!