Brrrr

 This week saw some realllllly cold temps in Fort Collins, and we were so sad to watch how much the cold is hurting in Texas. We've been checking in on some Texas friends and just feeling some PTSD from seeing their grocery store lines and empty shelves. None of us have recovered from 2020 and 2021 has already had some of its own curveballs. I loved our Relief Society lesson today about prayer. It gave me a renewed commitment to making my prayers more sincere and specific.

Michael:

Finished up his first week of call, which only ended up needing him to come in one time. He's loving work, missing outside projects (snow and cold), and is Camden's #1 guy.

Maddie:

Is working on Kickstarter stuff each night and during random breaks in the day, and I spent Michael's day off on Wednesday driving to our packaging store to pick up all our custom boxes and packing envelopes. We placed a big order for all our inventory and I was so bummed to see how much it cost to ship shipping supplies (the irony just hurt), then I looked at the address and realized it was just about 50 min from me. So Michael helped me empty the van of all car seats and seats so I could fit it all in one trip. We put the van back together pretty quickly and it was one of those moments were I felt like we are now seasoned parents. Car seats are the worst, and when you're proficient there... you're just skilled parents. I took my time coming home after that and went shopping by myself in person for the first time in months and months. Kindal and I are going to be on Good Things Utah early next month with our book, and I decided that called for some new shoes :) I had fun with my boys this week. Westin especially is just older and so fun to observe. Bennett's heart. Camden's little personality. They're just all so lovable.

Westin:

was so thrilled all week when he'd talk about getting on an airplane soon to see grandma and grandpa in Kentucky. He doesn't remember much of any of his plane rides in life, and he was stoked. We got the nicest note from Westin's teacher this week all about how he's a hard working, kind leader in the classroom with just the right amount of spice. I thought that was such a fun way to describe him and I'm grateful he has such a great teacher that he likes so much. 

Bennett:

ALSO couldn't stop talking about getting on an airplane this week. He even told his speech therapist all about it and about Kentucky. That may sound so small but it just made me so happy that something really out of context was both shared by Bennett and understood by someone he loves. I know that he doesn't share all he'd like to because of his speech delay, and that not having context makes him extra hard to understand. But when I picked him up his teacher told me how excited Bennett was to go on a trip, and Bennett just seemed like he had had a really good time at school. He's getting more comfortable there and talking more, and I want to do all we can to help him be understood more. 

Camden:

is so cute to watch when he takes steps! He'll take zero every time you try to stand him up and send him off walking somewhere. But if he stands on his own, and is in the mood, he can get 4 or 5 steps in. He loves Michael SO much and is so cute and cuddly when we put him to bed. He still booty scoots around more than anything else, but he's also made it up 5 or 6 stairs, goes backwards off our couch and bed, and crawls more often when it makes sense to. He's making progress all the time, always on his timeline.

President's Day felt like a mini vacation -- not having to make our typical three trips to the school just makes the day feel wide open. We celebrated with an extra long and extra splashy bath.

This shipping label printer was not cooperating with me...
and I need to print 500+ labels next month very very quickly, so I'm antsy to get it figured out.

This table constantly looks like a kindergarten bomb went off.
Valentines style, this month.

Watching our bunny friend, who didn't even care about the carrot we strategically threw by him.

Ready for boxes!

Books are going out in the world in less than a month!

Bennett loved listening to one of Michael's headphones when Michael was vacuuming.

The boys thought the empty van was super cool.

Bird Feeder: Squirrel Feeder.

Even the train to your gate is an adventure for cute little boys.

Camden was so weirded out by our security and airport experience.

The fun thing of having a total daddy's boy right now means my flight was suuuper easy.
I tried to take my turns, I did. Camden wouldn't have it.
He just wanted to be with Michael, and play peek-a-boo/dance with the nice family behind us.
They were so sweet to indulge him during a ton of the flight.
Camden stayed up until 10pm our time on this travel experience, and slept 8 hours and then took a 4.5 hour nap the next day. I was grateful he caught up on what he needed so fast and has been happy happy.

Looking for fossils!

Westin's snowman dreams finally came true.
Our snow has been too wet or too fluffy every time in Colorado,
and he's just been dying to make a snowman "the real way."

Grandma let Bennett crack eggs and help her with some homemade noodles.

He loved cranking the noodle machine.
"I've got lots of power to do this!"

Just so happy and laying there awake when I went to wake him up 4.5 hours into his nap.