Our life, as of late

In most recent news, we had a snow storm last night, which was nothing spectacular. I didn't think it was any worse than any other snow storm we've had this year. Luke and I both woke up at 2:00am to the sound of a huge crash. Luke looked around the house to find that the tree in our backyard had broken and crashed to the ground! If you look at the first picture, you'll see that it fell within 1 foot of our house! I can't imagine if it would've fallen on the house! I was up all night worrying about another branch breaking, or what if it was 5 feet to the left, who do we call to clean it up? Mostly, I am grateful that we all are OK. No one was hurt and nothing was damaged. I'm grateful that the Lord was looking out for us and kept us safe when there really was nothing we could do to prevent it.

As for catch-up, it has been a crazy past few months. I went from working full time, to staying home with Dax for a couple months, working part-time from home, working full-time again, and picked up another part-time job that I do at home at nights . . . in all my spare time. We are lucky to have found a great day care for the time being. I am training in my full-time job to be able to work at home by the first of next year. The ultimate goal is to be at home with Dax, and the Lord has provided this opportunity as a way to reach that goal. I sure miss being at home with my little guy, but I look forward to the time that I will be able to and cherish every moment that I have with him now.

So, here's a little glimpse of what we've been up to since Dax's birthday in November. (**Disclaimer - there are a couple naked baby pictures on this post, so don't continue if you're not comfortable with that!**) Can you tell that we love bathtime?

(The pictures are in backward order - most recent pics are first - and I didn't want to make the effort to switch them all)

Dax is so fun and developing his little personality. This was a day that he wanted to wear his shoes and nothing else. I think he's pretty much adorable! He doesn't like to sit in his Bumbo anymore, unless he's playing in it. He is a huge reader and loves all books. I wonder what goes on in his little mind?

We spend a lot of time playing - as all kids do. Dax loves to help in the kitchen when I'm cooking. He gets his own set of pots, pans, measuring cups, wisks and makes something delicious. (It's all imaginary, of course - I'm trying to avoid the mess as long as I can)
This was a time Dad was chasing Dax as we were trying to get him into pajamas. He thought he was pretty funny to be running away from Dad. Check out that cute little leg muscle!
Definitely an Oreo fan!
Over Christmas and New Years, Luke's sister Nikki got stuck in Logan with her kids because of the weather. I'm sure they wanted to be home, but we were happy to have them stay for a while, since we don't see them often. Dax and Corbin were best buds and looked forward to playing together everyday. He missed his buddy when they left.
Christmas was great this year. We spent 4 nights in Bear Lake with Luke's mom and all the Cottle's and Nesbit's. The cabins were incredible! Luke's mom rented 2 huge cabins for all the family, so there was plenty of room to spread out. Each family had their own huge room with attached bathroom. We were definitely spoiled! The kids slept in one room with 8 bunk beds. How cool! I'll probably put more pictures up on facebook, so you can check it out there. We had movies, games, delicious food, video games and relaxing at the cabins. We were just a drive away from snowboarding, snowmobiling, sledding, and cross country skiing. It was a great few days.

Somehow Luke's truck keys got lost in the cabin and we spent hours searching. We ended up getting the truck towed to Logan where a locksmith could read the code for the key and rekey it. That ended up being a $215 mistake. And to make it worse, someone found the keys a couple months later. Grrr!!! We learned our lesson and now have spare keys.

Christmas day was so much fun. Dax didn't really grasp the concept of opening gifts, he just wanted to play with all the other kids toys. Maybe next year he'll understand.
Here's most of the Bear Lake crowd. Those who didn't make stockings at the last Cottle/Nesbit Christmas were required to make them this year. It was fun to do something crafty with everyone.
A week before Christmas, we celebrated with the Adams'. Steve and Kristen came from Ohio and it was great to be together with everyone. It wasn't nearly a long enough holiday, but we had a lot of fun.
Dax got this train from Lindsey and Tyler and I think the picture below shows how much he really likes it! I love those cute chubby cheeks!

This year we cut down our own Christmas tree. Dax and I didn't go because he was pretty sick, but Luke went with his uncles family and brought home a beautiful tree! I've never done a self-cut tree, so I was pretty excited.

Dax did pretty well not touching the ornaments. I had to put the balls out of his reach though - they were too hard to resist.

I think it turned out pretty good. It looks a little Charlie Brown-ish, but that's what self-cut trees are all about, right?

The only problem with a tree from the wild, is the creatures that come a long with it. I found a very intricate web one morning. Yuck!

One night, while Dad was watching football, he rested his arm over his head. I looked over to see Dax staring at him, putting his hand on his head, trying to figure out just what Dad was doing.

We did our family pictures just after Dax's first birthday. Our neighbor has some huge trees and was willing to keep them on his lawn a few extra days so we could come take pictures in the piles. It was fun, although cold. But I think we got come great ones.

I don't think Dax likes nature. He even has a hard time stepping on the grass, even with shoes on!


Dax had his first sink bath, although it wasn't really a bath. He was just playing in the sink. This boys loves water!
I found Dax one morning in his corner where I keep his toys. He had pulled most of the books off the bookshelf, toys out of the box, puzzles off the racks and was happy as could be. Why do kids like making messes so much?
Dax got to wear his snowsuit a few times this winter. It's a little big and he was walking around like the kid on Christmas Story so Dad had to help him out a little bit. I don't know if he's really a fan of snow. He doesn't keep his gloves on very long and then his hands get cold. Hopefully next winter, he'll understand the purpose of gloves.
Dax's birthday fell on a Monday this year. We waited until Saturday to celebrate it. I reserved the kitchen and gym at the church and it was a great space to have a big group and let kids run around.

I did a pirate theme, mostly just because I thought it was cute and something I could pull off. Since I wasn't working at the time, I had plenty of time to do something cute and fun. I made the cupcakes, powder sugar frosting and the pirates are cookies. I found a bear cookie cutter and used that for the shape, but cut the ears off before cooking them. The trees are pretzel sticks with lime slices. I had so much fun putting it all together.

I made a little iron-on shirt for Dax, which was almost too small for him by the time his birthday rolled around. It's crazy how fast these kids grow!

Well, that's what we've been up to. Nothing really exciting, but at least you know we're alive now!