I'm Loving Life

Graham is 2!!

2014-03-12T13:36:00.001-06:00

A couple of weeks ago my sisters came to town to visit. They stayed for a week and we did lots of fun stuff around Denver.

Walk along the Cherry Creek path

Graham is very good at giving kisses

Denver Zoo

Littleton Historical Museum

Denver Temple

Garden of the Gods

Manitou Springs

graham and grandma

2014-02-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

Grandma Olson came and visited us for a couple of weeks in January. Graham had so much fun playing with her. It was so nice to not be the only one to entertain him. Graham absolutely loves his grandmas and grandpas and asks for each one everyday.

2014-01-21T13:05:00.001-07:00

I know I should probably go and do a post about how awesome Christmas was and how much fun we had in Utah, but that will have to come later because right now I want to say how grateful I am for Graham. He is so forgiving of my faults. He will always come up and give me a hug or kisses, even when he is mad at me. I have a lot to learn from him and I hope that I can always be the mommy he needs because he deserves the best. I love this little boy with all my heart.

Our life in pictures

2013-11-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated in a really long time so I decided to just do a post of pictures from the past 3 months. I know I take a lot of pictures, I narrowed these down from over a thousand pictures so I'm not even going to apologize for them all. What can I say, I like pictures and I have a sometimes willing subject with me 24/7.

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

Visitors

2013-07-22T09:28:00.002-06:00

This past week was a lot of fun. Josh's sister Heather and her family came up to Denver for a few days so Graham and I hung out with them each day and had lots of fun. Also, Josh's mom came up to visit and Graham quickly learned that if he wanted good food he should go to grandma, not mom. Graham loved all the visitors and we are sad they all left.

The kids with their great grandparents. Not the easiest picture to take in hot weather at the park...

15 months

2013-06-10T17:18:00.002-06:00

I haven't been very good at blogging lately. Life is just busy.

Graham is now 15 months old. He walks everywhere. He screams really loud. He throws tantrums. He loves to eat grapes. He likes the way his new top tooth feels. He still takes 2 wonderful naps a day. He is growing. He loves reading books, especially a pop-out type book titled Heads. Minus the tantrum throwing that occurs way too many times a day he is still a great kid. It is so fun to see him growing and learning. He is the cutest little walker around.

There was nothing exciting he was looking at, just grass.

After 2 longs months of teething I'm sad/ excited to see this hill billy grin go away.

This kid makes faces all day. Love it.

almost 14 months

2013-05-06T17:50:00.001-06:00

Here are some cute pictures of Graham I've taken the past couple of days. I was trying to capture his silly hill billy grin but it proved harder than I thought. He has one top tooth which is cute but makes for a silly smile.

This is a recently new face he has given us a lot. It looks angry but it is his cheesy grin face.

This is the only one you can see his top tooth. Still waiting for those other teeth to come- they are having a hard time poking through the gums.

What we've been up to

2013-04-23T14:59:00.001-06:00

Graham:

Graham has been busy crawling everywhere, eating lots of food, making messes everywhere he goes, and crying/ angry squealing anytime someone leaves the room or he is unhappy for some reason. He seems to have no desire to walk on his own yet but he gets around plenty fast with crawling. He likes to babble a lot. Anytime we start laughing he will laugh as well. We have found this to be a great way to get him to stop crying. He cries, we start to laugh and then he looks around confused wondering why we are laughing and then he starts fake laughing. He has finally gotten a new tooth, and I think that is the reason he has been so fussy. he is also currently working on 3 more teeth. so fun.

Getting ready for the carousel. He held on so tight. When the horse would get to the top his legs would tremble then he would relax again as the horse went down. So funny.

Every once in a while he'll decide he can stand on his own. He doesn't do it for long and he doesn't take any steps yet, but maybe someday he will.

Our picture with Mickey after a great day at Disneyland.

Hanging out at Universal Studios with aunt Mckay and aunt Maddy.

A favorite activity of ours- playing in the tub with water! the soap bubbles was not a favorite part of this activity.

We had to go to the doctor for a weight check and they wanted to do some tests to make sure everything is okay since he is small. We were there for 2 1/2 hours waiting for him to pee and he didn't, so I had to take the bag home and wait for him there and then bring the sample back to the office to have it tested. While waiting the nurse let him play with blocks in the water. He made a mess.

He likes to pretend he is big and use a spoon himself.

Josh:

Josh has been busy with work and church. He works so hard and yet anytime I go somewhere and leave him home with Graham I come home to a clean house. He is awesome. He organized our small pantry and cupboards because it was frustrating me. Love him. He was able to take sometime off work so we could head to California for a few days. We had a lot of fun spending time at Disneyland, Universal Studios, the park and the beach.

Josh looks a little too happy in this situation.

We like going to the park.

Alana:

I love staying home with Graham. It has been a little more difficult these past couple of weeks since Graham has been not as happy, but I wouldn't change it for anything. I have been trying to work out more and strengthen my heart but I get bored working out at home by myself. I feel pretty bad about that. I studied exercise for 3 1/2 years and I can't even motivate myself to do it now. Hopefully when it stops snowing I'll be able to get out more.

Graham helped me paint this frame.

ONE YEAR OLD

2013-03-10T17:43:00.004-06:00

Happy happy birthday Graham!!!

I love my little boy. He is so fun and I am so lucky he is my son. It feels like he has been here with us forever and yet it seems like he was born yesterday.

At one year old Graham likes to walk around all the furniture, eat, pull out all the pots and pans and bang on them with spoons, pull out anything he finds in a drawer or on a book shelf, eat, take off his socks while in the car, put lids on containers, eat, wave at people, clap, play with cell phones, and crawl to other people and see if they have food he can eat.

He started off his birthday with falling at church and hitting his cheek on the metal part of the chair giving himself a bruise on the cheek. It is so sad to look at but he is a boy and he is growing and learning and I know it is just a first of many he will have. I am glad he is growing and learning and I can't wait to see what he'll learn this year.

March 10, 2012

March 10, 2013

We love you buddy!

ski week

2013-02-24T16:24:00.001-07:00

This past week my sister Mckay came and stayed with us. We sewed a lot, shopped, played ticket to ride multiple times and had fun. She helped me take some pictures of Graham, but it was freezing so we didn't get many, and he wasn't too excited about it. Overall it was a good week and I am glad she came and we had time to hang out and talk.

11 months

2013-02-11T17:07:00.003-07:00

Time flies. next time I do a Graham update he will be one! Here is what he is up to now as an 11 month old.

He loves to stand and walk with our help.

He LOVES to eat. Some days he eats more than Josh and I do. And yet he has yet to gain much weight. It'll be interesting to see what he weighs in 1 month. He is also not a quiet eater. We get many comments during church because he "enjoys" his food very loudly and he lets everyone in Relief Society know that he is hungry. If anyone in the room pulls out food he starts screaming for some. It is so fun... He is actually a relatively clean eater but one day i wanted too see how he would play with some yogurt. It turned out he really just tried to eat it the entire time.

He is trying to cut some new teeth. This has resulted in lots of tears, drool, some sickness, and too much sleep lost. I am hoping he soon returns to sleeping through the night, even though so far he has only done it for 2 weeks. But I am hopeful he'll return soon.

He is finally crawling on his hands and knees full time. He is slow, but getting faster.

This boy loves to be in the same room as me. If I am ever in a different room he comes and finds me. Seeing this cute little face appear on the side of the door just makes me smile.

Even though some of these pictures may make it look like Graham has red hair- I assure he does not. It is just a result of bad lighting in our apt. He is a a dark blonde.

10 months

2013-01-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

I don't know what to write, but I feel I need to record this. Graham is getting so old and I can't believe he is 10 months. That sounds so much older than 9 months ever did. Although Graham is tiny compared to others his age, he eats a lot. People are usually amazed at how much he can eat. He never really stops, he just slows down and doesn't open his mouth quite as wide for each bite. I am hoping that one day soon he will be able to gain some weight from the food. Until then I will enjoy holding him and laughing at him when he crawls out of his pants because they are too big around his waist. The doctor said he'll be what he'll be and I am happy with that answer. I'm not worried because I believe he is healthy and I know we are doing what we can to help him get all the nutrients he needs.

This cute little boy makes me laugh everyday. He struggles on Sundays because church is 3 hours and he wants to go to sleep. He won't sleep in my arms though so we resort to standing the entire 3rd hour at the back of the room and this usually helps with the tears. After church one day I was trying to capture his sad tired face, because it was so cute, but every time he noticed the camera he would smile. He had been crying and screaming for the past hour, but he knows what do when a camera is involved. He really is such a happy little boy in general.

We are trying to get him to crawl on his hands and knees but he is content with his army crawl. Even if all the other kids crawl faster and get the toys first, it doesn't seem to bother him.

For Christmas he got his 2 front bottom teeth. He did great getting them in. Why do baby teeth have to be so sharp? He only bit me once but that was enough.

I love this little boy. I haven't taken my camera out a ton since we got home from our vacation but I'll post some pictures from my phone. Not as good but they still record the time we spent.

Suprised face!

Sad tired face...

i see a camera! I better smile!

Enjoying our day out as a family at Garden of the Gods.

Disneyland

2012-12-27T23:25:00.001-07:00

On the 26th we headed to Disneyland! We had so much fun. Graham did awesome! He loved the rides we went on, which included Dumbo, the carousel, small world, casey's train and the storybook boat. It was so fun watching him look around and be so excited and happy. Loved it. Most of the really cute pictures are on Josh's phone so I'll have to add those later. Fun day.

Christmas Eve

2012-12-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

A tradition of the Gillette family is to walk around the LA temple on Christmas Eve then have treats and hot chocolate. I love it. The temple is so pretty.

Christmas Morning

2012-12-27T23:17:00.001-07:00

I just can't stop taking pictures. It's so fun to get the camera out and capture Graham's little smiles and laughs. These aren't perfect but they help to capture Graham's first Christmas. It was so fun watching him get excited about each toy. I've never seen him crawl so fast to get a new toy! It was so fun.

Manhattan Beach love

2012-12-15T23:30:00.000-07:00

I miss living near the beach. It is absolutely beautiful. Although I am glad that Graham does not get the opportunity to eat sand everyday, because apparently he thinks it is worth more than one handful...

I love that Katelyn enjoys Graham. She loves when he is in the same room and she is so cute with him! She is always making sure he is okay. So cute! I hope they can always be good friends.

Love them.

9 months

2012-12-11T15:45:00.001-07:00

I love my fun size baby boy. He is army crawling, kind of. He has his own way of getting where he wants to go. Despite his size he is a great eater. The dr said he probably won't be getting teeth for awhile. Love him.

Thanksgiving and swings

2012-12-01T10:12:00.001-07:00

We feel so blessed to be living in Denver. We love living near grandma and grandpa Mickelsen and Lane and Jerry. We are grateful that we could spend Thanksgiving with them again this year. It was wonderful. Graham loved the sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. The food was all amazing.

On a nice sunny day Graham and I walked a couple blocks to the park. He got to swing for the first time and he enjoyed it. We also found out that he likes the stroller much better if he can listen to some music. Thank goodness our stroller has a speaker for him. And don't worry, not all his pants are this short. It's hard to dress him since the pants that fit his waist are short and the ones that fit in length fall right off. At least he is cute no matter what his pants look like.

These are a few of my favorite things...

2012-11-19T13:21:00.001-07:00

Not all these pictures are amazing, but they all represent something I love each and every day.

Sorry for the bare bum, but I love this little body. He loves to look at the water as it fills the bathtub.

One of his parents really wants Graham to be able to crawl. This is his attempt so far. He reaches as far as he can and when his arms will stretch no farther, the leg goes up. He has been pretty successful at getting cheerios this way. I love it every single time. And I am not the one that wants him to crawl. He is rolling fast enough for me.

The scowl. He gets mad anytime we feed him food he doesn't like. The list includes any meat, green beans I have made (he'll eat the jarred ones fine), avocado and cheese.

The cutest batman ever.

The scowl. again. This time it was because his cheerio was too far away. It is in the very left hand corner.

Every morning Graham and I have a picnic in the living room. He loves it.

When I first put him in the front seat in the cart he held on for dear life. He did not let go the entire shopping trip.

Such a sweet little face.

8 months

2012-11-12T19:03:00.000-07:00

Graham is so much fun. He still sleeps a lot, but it has been more lately since he hasn't been feeling well. He got croup this weekend and it was no fun for anyone. I tried to enjoy holding him every second of the day, but even 13 pounds get heavy after awhile. We had a lot of snuggle time and I was grateful that he was able to fall asleep in my arms, something he has struggled doing since he was 3 months old. After getting a steroid he is doing much better and is able to sleep in his crib and breathe a lot easier.

Before he was really sick we went to Gavin's 3rd birthday party where Graham was able to dress up in his very own batman cape and mask. He did really well with the cape and he tolerated the mask for a minute or so, then he pulled it down over his eyes, but I thought he looked really cute. Thanks Chelsea for making him a cape, it is so cute! I stole this picture from her blog but I'll try to get more pictures of him at 8 months when he is feeling better.

This is a picture someone else took of us before Josh's swearing-in. It's not the greatest quality since I took it from their website but I love my little family and I am so grateful for my boys. They are the best.

so proud

2012-10-31T13:18:00.004-06:00

This month we have done a lot of celebrating. Josh passed the bar exam! He did really well on it actually and we are super excited to be done with it. On Monday the 29th he was sworn in as an attorney that is able to practice in the state of Colorado. It feels so great to feel done with the whole process (one of the speakers said to not say that because it is never really "done" but I'm going to anyways because it feels pretty good).

I am so proud of Josh. He has worked so hard in law school and then he studied a ton for the exam and now he is really an attorney. He really is amazing and he makes me want to be better everyday. The night he was sworn in I went to a friends house after the ceremony. When I got home I found a clean house, dishes done and clothes folded and put away. He had spent all day working and then he came home and served me. He is truly wonderful.

It is hard to get a picture of someone next to you standing, but here is a picture of Josh taking the Oath.

We went out to eat after the ceremony and Graham liked lounging in the high chair sucking on squash. It was the only way to keep him from screaming. The foot up makes me laugh.

Is this not the cutest little tiger you ever did see? He'll even grunt at you like I'm sure baby tigers do.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Pumpkin Patch

2012-10-27T18:10:00.001-06:00

Maybe it is silly, but I really wanted a cute picture of Graham in a pumpkin patch. We headed to pumpkin patch hoping to see lots of pumpkins and maybe some animals. Well, we had to pay to see the animals so we didn't do that but we did see pumpkins. I was able to get a few of Graham sitting among the pumpkins and I was very happy. I was glad it decided not to snow today so we could spend some family time outside. Any day we get to spend the entire day together is wonderful, and unfortunately rare.

I can't believe how old he looks in this picture. When did this happen?

My two favorite boys. Aren't they so cute?

He was fascinated with this ugly blow up pumpkin.

Me telling Graham to stop taking off his socks. I try to be a good mom and keep his feet warm but he just doesn't like it. Oh well, at least he thought we were great parents when we gave him some frozen yogurt.

fall

2012-10-21T09:12:00.003-06:00

Being from California I never realized how wonderful a real fall season can be. I learned about leaves turning yellow and red but I never saw it. I can now say I love fall. The cooler weather, the changing leaves, the good food people make, it is all wonderful. As long as there is no snow on the ground I am going to love it!

Yesterday I snapped a couple of pictures of Graham outside with the beautiful colors. He was more into eating the leaves then looking at me, but that's okay.

random photos

2012-10-12T16:18:00.001-06:00

My computer is being a little weird, and I don't want to lose all my photos so I thought I should post some of the ones that I liked that haven't made it into other posts. These are all random.

He really did cheer for BYU. He did this by himself. Now if only BYU could do better...

I was in the back doing something when I came out to this cute face. Josh had put his little taggie over his head and Graham kept it there for a while just playing like it was totally normal. I laugh anytime I remember how serious Graham was about his new little hat.

I realize I probably don't need pictures of Graham everyday, but I probably won't be stopping anytime soon. So deal with it.

7 months

2012-10-10T14:24:00.001-06:00

why can't time slow down?

So awhile ago I thought Graham was teething because he kept getting cranky, apparently that wasn't because of teething, he was just mad at me. I know it takes a while for teeth to come in, I've been told it takes about a month, but that was over 2 months ago, so I was wrong before. I have no idea if he'll be getting his teeth soon, I can't tell at all. He loves to chew on everything, especially his socks. He shoves as much as he can in and just chews on it and looks at me like I should be so proud of him. In my opinion he really is getting cuter each day. I didn't think it was possible, but it is. I find that to be true about a lot of things I am learning as a mom.

One thing we have been trying to do a lot of is eating. Graham hasn't grown a lot since last month so we're trying to get him to eat more. He is doing pretty good so far and it makes me happy. I took these pictures one day when I wasn't patient enough to wait for him to open his mouth for each bite. He used to take 2 bites of food and he was done, he would refuse to open his mouth and I would do my best to not get frustrated. I usually did pretty good but this day I didn't know what to do. He had to eat, he had to gain weight, so I just dumped his sweet potatoes on the tray and let him do the work. I'm not sure how much he actually got in his mouth, but ever since then he has been eating better. Not that I think this helped much, but he enjoyed it so it was worth it.

Yes, he sits in the high chair with his feet up every time. I do not know why. He also smears the food on his face every time. Sometimes between each bite, sometimes when he is done. He does this when I spoon feed him too. So far he has liked all the veggies, although he prefers to not each green beans by themselves. He loves apples. I know I need to feed him more fruits, but I really want him to like the vegetables and get used to eating those everyday. I'm still learning, I don't really know what I am doing most of the time but thankfully Graham loves me anyways. Here's to eating lots and hopefully gaining weight this next month (I know I have no problem gaining weight this time year)