Mavrick @ 15 Months

Mavrick has been so much fun lately. He is starting to communicate and listen a little more these days which makes for a very happy Mom. A few things he is doing...

---He started to wave BYE BYE to people. Only sometimes...but its so cute!

---He has some molars coming in I think in the back some where. 

---He weighs 26 lbs and is 31.5" tall. He is in the 50th percentile for both weight and height.

---He has almost lost his fingernail...not sure how it happened but we are getting it checked out today too.

---Is HOPPING everywhere! Seriously. He is so coordinated its scary! People are always amazed at how he can hop off two feet which is usually a 2-3 year old trick. 

---Gets the saddest face when we get on to him. Haha. Its so cute and just melts your heart. But at least he is starting to understand what we mean by no.

---Jibber Jabbers ALL DAY LONG! Oh my goodness. He will point at things and talk and talk. Not sure what he is saying but Ryan and I try to still hold the conversation with him to encourage more. Haha.

---Current favorite person is Uncle Jordan. He just laughs and laughs at him when they play. Its so funny.

---Loves his table leaf slide that we put up for him on the sofa. But instead of sliding down on his belly he has graduated to hopping down. 

---Still likes to sleep with Mom and Dad. I know...I know we need to get him out. Working on it. Lol. =)

---Can say "ba" which is ball, "Da" for Dad and is STILL not saying Mom. Its just not fair. 

---He is such an animal lover too. If there is a dog around he will follow that thing around everywhere.
---Gives pulsating hugs. He hugs your neck and then releases and then does it again. =)

---Is starting to bark/yell at people if he doesn't get his way. Working on nipping that in the butt with time out. So far it seems to be doing a little good.

---Likes running around in circles over and over again.

---He is starting to pay attention to books more. I just have to have some cheerios to eat with him during our reading time. But he points at things and jabbers and hits at the items in the book.


---I made a little ABC wall art thing in his room and he LOVES it each day when I point to the letters and sing the ABC song. Not sure why...I think he is just very visual and likes pictures to go with the song.

---I am holding off on the mommy school thing until 18 months. He is still to young to understand the coloring or file folder activities.

---His hair is getting pretty blond and starting to go over his ears a little.

Typical thing for Dad to do to Mavrick and he actually likes it is what gets me.

Yellowstone/Utah Trip

Warning: HUGE Post w/ Lots of pictures.

So we recently got to go to Yellowstone National Park. I was so excited to go. We left on Thursday right after Ryan's last final. Not going to lie...traveling is stressful. Especially with a toddler. The whole time I had to think of how I was going to sedate him on the flight. Benedryl did the opposite of what it was suppose to. Haha. =) Not cool. But I will never see those people on the plane again I guess. 

Mavrick really liked the Houston airport.

Not sure what he was doing here...

We flew into Utah and the first thing Ryan said was..."awww...nice weather!" Texas has been pretty miserable the last few weeks. Not to mention the mosquitos that are attracted to Ryan's blood. But then we were picked up by Ryan's family and straight back into the car for another 3+ hours to Pocatello. I was not very excited about that. My poor baby was tired and hungry and was probably sick of riding. But he was a trooper. We got to the Hotel and were able to get about 5 hours of sleep which was good sleep but not enough. Mavrick was still on Texas time schedule so he ended up waking up around 6:15. But we were able to all shower and get something to eat which was nice. The last shower I would have for the next 2 days.

Grandapa LeBaron and Aunt Tacy found a hill out back where Mav had a blast. He would run up and then jump down. Haha. He is such a little dare devil.

Then it was BACK in the car. Just a little disclaimer: I do not like car rides over 15 min. I get super car sick so I usually have to knock myself out. But you can't do that when you have a baby traveling with you. So if I sound a little pessimistic about the car rides that is why. Haha.=) So after 5 hours in the car, shopping stops at super Wal-mart, and Costco we finally made it. We were all so ready to get out of the car. It was packed so tight that we literally had to hold groceries in our laps. Haha. I kept telling myself..."its all part of the adventure" so I wouldn't freak out. Lol. =) Mavrick cried a lot cause he was pretty much hating that car seat and van by that time. It was rough! But we made it to Yellowstone! =) I got Mavrick out as fast as i could put his little Shoes on and let him run around. He was so excited.

He was playing in the dirt and throwing it up in the air. Haha. He is such a boy. =)

He also helped Grandpa LeBaron set up tents. Those polls kept his mind off the road and river that were next to us for a little while. 

We were able to hang out and get to know this little guy! Haha. He is so cute. Brittany was feeding him in this picture and then Mavrick decided that he wanted some of Liam's pears too. Lol. =)

Babies usually feel pretty threatened by Mavrick. He is at a hard stage where when he gets excited he flaps his arms and hits but not being mean just excited. So Liam had a hard time adjusting to him at first...but by the end of the week they were playing pretty good. =) 

Camping is fun! Camping with a toddler and no shower...not so much. I would have loved yellowstone without my son trying to kill himself every 5 sec. I tried not to get to frustrated but it showed at times. As a Mom when your son is dirty and tired and won't go to sleep it makes you a little cranky. So trying to get him to takes naps and to get him down for bed was HORRIBLE! At home when he won't go down we let him cry himself to sleep...but you can't do that with a tent. All I can say was the camping with a toddler/baby was a learning experience. Haha. =) I learned that I might not ever do it again. Lol. Poor little Liam couldn't crawl around either cause the dirt and rocks. Poor guy. But everyone did a really good job helping with Mavrick and following him around so that Ryan and I could get a break every once in a while.

So Yellowstone: WOW! I was blown away by how beautiful it was. It was refreshing to be in the outdoors. The weather was nice, kinda sunny for the babies but good none the less. I mean...everything looked so picture perfect there it was almost unreal looking. If that even makes sense. 

"The human spirit needs 

places where nature has not been rearranged 

by the hand of man."  

~Author Unknown

We ended up seeing a huge and beautiful waterfall but my brother-in-law has those pictures. So gorgeous! Seriously. The colors in the river and the falls were so beautiful. I kept whispering to Ryan how I wanted to design a room around those colors. Haha. I guess that is the Interior Designer in me. =) We also saw some hot pots and geysers and BUFFALO! I think those were Ryan's favorite. I think we saw an Eagle and some Elk too. My husband loves that stuff. I like it but after the first two elk I think "ok...you see one you see them all" Haha. I know he wishes I was more of a Nature girl but I keep telling him that I appreciate it in controlled settings like, vases, planters, and in pictures. But it was so refreshing to be in that beautiful place. 

Here are some pictures from our adventures...

Aunt Tacy and Aunt Corrin

Little Liam Shmeeum. This poor baby was so tired.

Devin, Britt, and Liam

Grandpa and Grandma LeBaron w/ Liam

Daddy and Mav

We were nice to Mav at Yellowstone and didn't make him ride in the car seat while we were touring. He LOVED it! Haha.

When Mav would get upset Uncle Jeff would ride him around on the bike. =)

Haha. Grandpa on Mavrick duty w/ snacks of course. =)

We cooked dinner one night and we made tostadas. Ryan is frying them here but by the 25th one he was done with the frying. Haha. =)

Liam  and Mav (so tired)

Old Yellowstone. 

Britt feeding the babies....again. My son is such a little mooch. He had food but he just wanted everything Liam had it seemed like. Haha.

Mav went to town on this ice cream cone! 

Beautiful Old Fatithful was so cool.

So we ended up leaving Yellowstone with the babies ( me, britt, ryan and devin) cause with 6 hour drive ahead we thought that they would sleep better. But wrong again! Gheeze...Britt and I were in the back seat trying to get one to sleep and the other would cry. It was horrible but funny. Next time the boys can ride with the babies and we will drive the moving truck. But we made it there. The rest of the week consisted of hanging around with family and with friends. We had a big BBQ and volleyball night with all of our friends. Mavrick got to play in real grass! Haha. I miss Utah grass. Ryan and I decided wherever we live we are going to have to import Utah grass into our yard. Lol. =)

My brother Jay and his friend Keaton were also in Utah for Education Week at BYU so they hung out with us one night. Ryan took them around his old stomping grounds.

Eating off Peach Trees

PLaying in the sprinklers and water hoses

sprinklers + trampoline = fun!

Family Photos

We ended the trip with a little dodgeball night. Its a must when we go to Utah. Mav had a really hard time NOT playing. He wanted to so bad. Haha.

We had a lot of fun. We wish we could go more but with work, school and money it makes it a little difficult. We are going to try and come twice a year though. We will be up there NEXT Christmas for sure. Mavrick is at an age where he is starting to remember people so it was a good time to go up and see that side of the family.