10 Months Olds. . . let's get caught up on his life

This little "hot dog" turned 10 months old this past week!

Let's get caught up on his life. . .

7 months

Kody at 7 months was ADORABLE!

He loved that he could sit up and be a part of everything!

His smile was infectious!

And his eyes could tell you exactly what he was thinking. . .

It was at this stage that he really started eating anything we put in front of him. . .

His teeth were coming in like crazy by now. . .

And he always had something in his mouth. . .

Kody began to be very curious about everything around him.

His eyes never stayed in one place very long and he always wanted to touch and hold everything he could see.

He was always so content.

No matter where we took him or what we made him wear.

He was just happy.

And a little loved. . .

And at 7 months old he was big enough to be busting out of his little cradle so he made the big move upstairs into his big boy CRIB!

8 Months

At 8 months old. . .

Kody got a much needed haircut.

I had held off for way too long, but couldn't bring myself to make him look like a big boy. . .

(he wasn't too on board with the whole idea. . )

until Grandma brought out the "sucker" and then things were just fine. . .

At 8 months Kody had mastered the art of sitting up. . .

And the little stinker was already trying to pull himself up to things. . .

He got his first real taste of adult, right off the table foods at Thanksgiving. . .

and his favorite. . . 

MASHED POTATOES!

He loves being around people.

He has to be where the action is.

This particular day, the kids were all the dining room playing air hockey and Kody was eating in the kitchen. . .

He was whining and I couldn't figure out why. . .

then it dawned on me and I moved him in with the kids and he was content!

And my favorite thing about him at 8 months was his fascination with the Christmas tree!

He would stare at it.

He would really never try to grab at it and when he did I would calmly just smile and say no and he was content to just sit and stare. . .

(please tell me this is how easy it will be to parent him all the way through his teenage years)

9 months

and standing up. . .

every chance he can get!

His first Christmas. . .

and he LOVED Santa.

He was fascinated.

He loved his bells and his beard. . .

you know it's the real Santa when you pull on his beard and he actually cringes!

And his smile. . .

I swear it gets cuter with age!

(by the way this is the best photo bomb picture ever!)

and you could still find him staring at the Christmas tree!

He loves BATHS!

and needs many of them after crawling around and getting into trouble!

I call him my "shoveler" because he doesn't just eat food. . .

he shovels it in his mouth!

 I love to just watch him play with people!

 He loves attention!

And is usually the center of it!

 I love this sweet, sweet boy!

 And it just wouldn't be the same without him!

A few extra "I love you's" this morning. . .

I tried to write this blog post all weekend. . .

I even wrote it all out before I started typing (which I never do), and then couldn't find the notebook I wrote all my thoughts in. . .

So here goes. . .

Friday I was a mess.

I'm sure everyone had those feelings of "I don't know how to feel".

My children are the world to me.

(Along with my husband and I could do an entire post about that. . . maybe I should)

And when I heard the news on Friday it shook me.

But to be honest my initial reaction wasn't fear about losing my own children,

it was complete devastation for the families who lost theirs.

And then I thought about those teachers.

And the families children, moms and dads who now feel so alone.

And then I thought about my mom.

My mom passed away 4 short months before 9/11.

I thought of my mom welcoming all those parents into heaven and being there to comfort them and letting them know it would be ok. Their children and families would be ok. 

And in some small sense it gave me comfort.

This time I thought of my mom embracing each of those children

and it made me miss her.

So I was a mess.

I broke down in the bank of all places.

Right there as I was handing the teller my mortgage payment.

Tears streaming down my face.

She walked around the counter and gave me a hug.

It's funny how your kids get older and you go through little things and your kids have to do things which teach you that you all of a sudden don't have complete control over them.

I remember for me that moment was a time that Kyle and I were going to the temple.

It happened to be on a night where both my boys had baseball practice.

I had a babysitter come over to the house with Kara and had arranged a ride home for Kale and a ride home for Kris, but it was the first time that I wasn't going to be home to make sure they got there.

And being at the temple I knew I wasn't even going to get a phone call letting me know they were safe.

That was a big moment for me.

All moms have to go through those moments.

And it's hard.

When Kale got home from school on Friday he asked me if I had heard what happened.

 I told him yes and we started to talk about it.

When he realized that it was an elementary school and that small children were killed, 

I could tell he was concerned.

His thoughts immediately turned to the lockdown our elementary school had a few weeks ago.

There was a man with a gun "around" the school.

The children were never in any danger and our school and local police handled the situation perfectly.

BUT, Kale looked at me and said,

"what if that had been Kris's school?"

I looked right at him, and trying to hold it together I said,

"Kale, it is so sad for me as a mom to not be able to say to you that I can PROTECT you and keep you safe from everything in this world"

That started a conversation between him and I.

I told him that today more than any day, I was grateful for my knowledge of the

Plan of Salvation. 

We talked. I talked. He mostly listened,

until. . .

I thought the conversation was coming to an end and he gave me the biggest hug and said,

"Mom, you don't have to worry about not being able to PROTECT me, you PROTECT me because you PREPARE me".

There it was.

A lesson from my 12 year old.

And all of a sudden I gained an entire new perspective on Motherhood.

One I think I knew but had never thought about it in such a way.

We are so concerned about PROTECTING our children.

and my 12 year old taught me the most important thing we can do for our children is to

PREPARE them.

Prepare them by arming them with a knowledge of who they are.

I am even more thankful now for the 2013 primary theme

I AM A CHILD OF GOD.

Prepare them by giving them opportunities to build their faith.

Prepare them so that if and it's a big if they are ever faced with a situation like what happened on Friday that they won't be afraid because they were prepared.

Still, there were a few extra "I love you's" this morning as I dropped each of the boys off at school this morning.

Thankful . . .

These three girls put on their aprons and went to work to create. . .

A Thanksgiving Masterpiece!

Karalyn was a great little helper. . .

UNTIL. . .

it was time to help with the TURKEY!

Somehow she put the correlation together that Turkey is an animal, and that was really gross to her, so every time she saw the turkey she would cringe and tell me that she was having FRUIT for Thanksgiving.

Kody even got his first taste of mom's homemade mashed potatoes!

He loved them!

I love him!

And. . . my plate of Thanksgiving Heaven!

So here goes one post of a whole lot of things I am thankful for.

I Am Thankful For. . .

This little family of mine.

I am thankful for these kiddos!

 I'm thankful they are friends.

I'm thankful they have fun together!

I'm thankful that they love each other. . .

alot.

I'm thankful that my kids are a little adventurous and will try new things even if it is eating chocolate covered crickets in the middle of a candy store!

I'm thankful for the good friends my children have.

I'm thankful for the good friends I have.

I wouldn't wear sleeves like these or my hair like this for just anyone!

I'm thankful for where I live.

I love that my kids can wear shorts with hats and gloves when it gets a bit chilly!

We have to find the positive in California!

I'm thankful for my children's smiles. . .

And for the fact they have things to smile about.

I'm thankful for warm beds when life gets too much for a growing 12 year old on a Thursday afternoon!

I'm thankful my kids are active!

I'm thankful for my calling.

I love working with the Primary Presidencies of our Stake.

I love being able to be in Primary and am so thankful for the opportunity to teach the children next year that they truly are children of our Heavenly Father and what that means to them.

I'm so very thankful for my freedom.

 And lastly. . .

because this post could go on and on and on. . .

I'm even thankful for all the rain we've had these past few days. . .

because without the rain,

we wouldn't get moments like these!

kinda like life.

I'm THANKFUL.

Fall. . .

Fall is my favorite season!

And for no other reason than the colors!

I think it goes back to growing up in Utah and to see the colors on the mountains each year was amazing.

My mom even made up a little song that we used to sing. . .

I don't remember all the words but to this day I can still remember her made up tune and these words:

"Trix on the mountain, trix on the mountain, we can see the trix on the mountain"

(brought to you by the kids cereal!)

Anyway. . .

I have missed Fall since moving to California.

Yes. Leaves do change color here, but usually if you blink you missed it.

BUT NOT THIS YEAR!

This year we actually had a Fall. A real honest to goodness Fall season. The leaves changed colors and stayed on the trees for awhile. Actually a long while. And I loved every minute of it!

No where was more beautiful this year than

APPLE HILL!

Kody's first time visiting Apple Hill.

The kids ran and played for forever. 

And they were so excited to find a little snow!

Snowball fights galore!

 And our favorite thing about Apple Hill. . .

THE APPLES!

And...

since Kris opted for a caramel apple this year. . .

Kale got a Walking PIE al a mode

all to himself!

FUN!