Saturday, December 15, 2012

What's Up, Tayen?

I can't believe my litte boy is going to be 9 months next week!! That means he will be a year old in only 3 short months! People said that they grow up fast and boy were they right. I feel like I just gave birth to him and he's already getting so big!
 
 
Tayen has been sitting up on his own for the last couple months, but is now on the move!! In the last few weeks, Tayen has gotten from one side of the room to the other by rolling and now he is officially on all fours. Dec 9th was the day we witnessed the crawler. I still can't believe he's crawling! Tayen can also stand up with the support of something or someone. He can't pull himself up yet, but I believe that will be the next milestone. Soon enough he'll be walking! He already is a totally different baby, especially because he knows he can get around now. He's more curious, active, more excited. I've got my hands full now!!
 
 
 
Tayen is finally cutting teeth. Not that I ever wished for it ha ha. He is getting his first bottom tooth and he's not too happy about it. He can be pretty grumpy and sad, but for the most part he does pretty good. The last few weeks, Tayen has woken up 2-3 times in the night. I'm used to it now, but man was I addicted to him sleeping through the night ha ha! Even though he's teething, he still manages to be a happy boy, but he still has his moments. Oh and he has been completely without a binky since 7 months. He hates it!
 
It was so weird when I first started giving my little boy actual food. He's not supposed to be that old! I know I've said it a thousand times but it just seems so unreal. It took forever for me to even get pregnant so for him to be almost 9 months kills me! Tayen loves rice cereal and oatmeal. He can eat almost 9 tablespoons in a sitting and it doesn't even need to be mixed with fruit or anything. He loves it the way it is mixed with formula. Oatmeal is his definite favorite though. When it comes to baby food, he also loves pears, sweet potatoes, and chicken noodle. His favorite snack is Gerber Puffs, which he goes through so fast. He loves those things! He has Parents Choice Gentle in between regular meals and also loves sitting in his highchair.
 
 
When it comes to talking as a baby, obviously there's not much. Gibberish is probably the best way to describe it actually. But, here and there Tayen throws out "Da da da" when he's happy, and "Ma ma ma" when he's sad ha ha. Go figure. He makes some pretty cute noises and has the sweetest little laugh. I love making him laugh; it makes me laugh right along with him. Tayen truly is a "wirey" kid as his Grandma O'Connor puts it. He is much more mellow right now though with him cutting teeth. But man he is a wild one ha ha!
 
Tay loves stuffed animals and anything soft. He gets really excited when Mickey Mouse Clubhouse comes on and loves watching Disney Jr. When it comes to toys, Tayen's favorite toy right now is the bucket that my mom gave him during Halloween. Imagine that! He loves to hit it with a measuring cup and roll it around the floor. He loves playing in his exersaucer and crawling everywhere. Tayen likes to take his socks off and suck on them as well as spit...a lot. He loves his stuffed lion, "Larry." He gets a kick out of it's tail. It's got a little fluff on the end and he will play with it and laugh.
 
 
I'm so happy that Tayen loves his family. Even though he's almost 9 months old, he recognizes all of his aunts, uncles, and cousins and loves all of them. He loves his Grandma and Grandpa O'Connor and Grandma and Grandpa Miles. They babysit him a lot, play with him, and spoil his little heart out. He loves them so much and loves when he gets to come over and play. He loves playing and interacting with his cousins. They are all so cute to watch together. I forgot to mention that he also has many nicknames ha ha. His cousin Brycen started calling him "Toe," and oddly enough that nickname stuck ha ha. A lot of my family will call him Toe in addition to Tay (which is the other popular nickname), Monkey, Tator Tot, Tay Tay, and Tiddly Wink ha ha. I'm so thankful for the amazing family members Tayen has in his life. We can't wait for Uncle Adam to Skype Tayen on Christmas! We sure love and miss him!
 
Tayen has been the biggest blessing in our lives and we are the proudest parents in the world. We feel so lucky and blessed to have such a sweet boy and are so excited for this holiday season as a family. Tayen's first Christmas will be a special time and we just found out that Dad doesn't have to work on Christmas Eve!! Yay! We are so excited to spend Christmas all together. We love you sweet Tay!

 
 Happy Holidays!

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Halloween 2012

 This year was so special for Halloween because it was Tayen's very first!! Halloween is a big deal at my house because we absolutely love it!! Next to Christmas, Halloween rocks our socks! A couple weekends ago, Alli and I celebrated our 28th birthday and had a girls weekend in Ogden. It was so much fun! I sadly don't have many pictures from it but we did get some amazingly cute pictures of our kiddos in their costumes! Brycen was a farmer, Boston a chicken, Carter a cow, and Tayen the "prize-winning" pumpkin (according to Alli ha ha). It's so funny how it worked out. This was unplanned completely! I loved how their costumes just all went together. It was so fun and quite entertaining taking these Halloween pictures. We had so much fun shopping, eating, and partying in Ogden. Thanks for a fun weekend guys!

 
Tayen's first Halloween
 
 
 Halloween day was quite a long one. We planned on visiting a lot of family, so we had to plan accordingly. We were so excited to show off our little pumpkin. I found this costume at Carter's when I was in Ogden one weekend. I'm a classic Halloween costume kind of girl so I HAD to have this pumpkin costume. Turns out, it truly was perfect for Tayen. He looked so cute in it and it was so convenient! Underneath was just a long black shirt and tight pants. All I had to do was unzip and remove the actual pumpkin if he got too hot.
First stop for Halloween was Blackfoot. We Trick-or-Treated to all the family houses there and also stopped for lunch at Wingers. It was so much fun! We really enjoyed seeing everyone's faces when they saw Tayen. We gave Tayen a bucket to hold and he had such a firm grip on that thing! He didn't want to let it go, it was so cute.
 
Looking at Grandma Miles' dogs 
 Tayen and Grandma Miles
 He even got a couple new toys from Grandma Miles! Grandma O'Connor also gave him the green bucket filled with loads of goodies inlcuding a Halloween book and pumpkin light. Tayen used the bucket that night for Halloween and we even brought his light...which he loves.


 Tayen and Great Grandma Hernandez
 We also went to visit Grandpa Miles at work in the shop
 Tayen and Great Grandma Miles
 
After Blackfoot, we headed back to Idaho Falls and relaxed for an hour or so. Then we took our pumpkin and were off to see more family!
 Tayen with Great Grandma and Grandpa Murri
Tayen and Grandma O'Connor
We went to Grandma and Grandpa O'Connor's house for chili and cornbread and it was so good!! We relaxed and enjoyed our Halloween night. Cousin Boston was also there and him and Tayen had a lot of fun playing together.
Tayen and Grandpa O'Connor
 
 Dad and Tayen
 Mom and Tayen

 We had such a fun day. It was an exciting first Halloween for Tayen, and he even filled the bottom of his bucket with some awesome candy!! Thanks to everyone who made it so fun!
 
Happy Halloween!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The Last Time

September 21, 2012 we all packed up and headed off to the cabin in Ashton for the last time. Because the cabin was sold, we wanted to spend some time there and take it all in before we couldn't go anymore. It was definitely hard knowing it was the last time, but we took full advantage and had a wonderful weekend. We labeled it as the first official O'Connor Family Reunion!
 
Hooray for a fun weekend!
Che, Tayen, and I decided to head up a little earlier on Friday and hit Big Judd's as a family. It was Deeeelicious! I had a quarter of a Big Judd and well...Che ate the rest ha ha.
And it was Tayen's very first time at Big Judd's!
The icecream was also fantastic
When we got to the cabin, we unloaded all of our stuff and didn't waste anytime starting the fun! Che has a 9mm that I still didn't know how to shoot yet, so he taught me how. It's been bugging me for awhile and now I know how to shoot our gun!! Most importantly, now I can sleep better at night when Che's working night shifts!

Amy joined in on the fun too!

It wasn't an O'Connor Reunion without all the cute nephews!! Boston
Tayen
Carter
Brycen
Saturday morning, all the boys went golfing and the girls decorated the cabin to surprise Aaron for his 30th birthday...and he was surprised as you can see!!
Opening presents
Happy birthday, Aaron!
After Aaron opened all his gifts, we all went to lunch where Aaron wanted to go...Pond's Lodge. I have never eaten there and it was amazing. They had the best burger ever!




What'd I tell ya? Looks divine, no?
On our way back to the cabin!
Later that evening, my sister Alli took our family pictures at the cabin. It was really a special day not only because we were having family pictures at the cabin, but because it was also Che and I's 5 year anniversary. I'm so thankful for him. So much has happened in the last 5 years, it's weird to imagine that we have an amazing son who's 6 months old and that we've been married that long! He's such an amazing father and husband, I'm one lucky girl. I love you, babe. Happy Anniversary :)

The cabin weekend is one we will never forget. As you can see from this picture, there is so much beauty and peace at the cabin in Ashton. The sun will warm your heart, the river will drift you to sleep, and the memories will never be forgotton. I've been going there my whole life and it has filled my heart with so much love and happiness. We will always remember the cabin. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for providing this wonderful place for your family to grow together. It is because of you that we are all so united with love.

Maybe someday we will meet again, cabin...Farewell

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Happy Fall Y'all!

This weekend was so much work and so much fun all at the same time. Che and I took on the garage by cleaning, throwing stuff out, and painting it. Tayen stayed in Blackfoot with Che's mom while we did this and we were able to get a lot done. With the help of my mom, we were able to get almost the whole garage painted in a night. The only thing to do now is organize and make it look good. It was quite the project, but the worst part is over. Che did an amazing job on the whole thing including put in new lights and pretty much rebuild the whole garage...I was just his helper :)
 
I love starting the Fall season off with projects, but what I love more is decorating!! I've already put up all my Fall decorations and it feels so good. We've been using an old coffee table as our entertainment center and my dad as kindly taken the time to spray it and make it look nice so I can use it in my living room. I'm so excited to decorate it! Che and I then decided it was time to get a real TV stand, so our new one should be arriving this week! Yay!! Can't wait to decorate that too.
 
The rest of the weekend, we went to Spud Day and had a great time. It was my first time going and I loved it!! I even liked it as much as the fair! I got my teriyaki bowl, funnel cake, and a huge Diet Coke, so that's all that matters ha ha. Che was shocked I had never been, but he also grew up in Shelley and knows all about Spud Day.
 



 Missionaries in the Tug of War. That was so entertaining to watch!






It was such a fun weekend and I am so grateful I was able to spend it with my little family. I feel so incredibly blessed. And to top it all off, we were able to go to church as a whole family today. Che's had to work so Tayen and I have been on our own for a few weeks. It was such a wonderful Sunday and Che was also set apart as 2nd Counselor in the Elder's Quorum. He's really excited and we're super excited for him! So far a great start to Fall! It's my favorite time of year (I think you all know this by now ha ha). We look forward for more Fall fun and more "firsts" for our little Tayen!
 
Happy Fall Y'all!