More of December

My attempts at slowing down our December mostly worked. I wasn't stressed and I really enjoyed our time with family.

 Peter and Panda with their sort of matching pj's. Peter hates his clothes changed, so we didn't push him by messing with his shirt.

 The lights at Layton City Park. They were pretty awesome. We went right as it got dark and it was great. No people, still a decent temperature, and then we went to dinner.

 Peter's finished Christmas quilt that I made.

 Christmas movies in a box. Little kids are funny.

 A lunch at my grandparents with Aunt Sally, Caitlin, Raygan with Genevieve, and Peter and Kinley.

Someone made a mess of my dominoes in my Christmas tree. HE learned about cleaning up when you make a mess.

 Opening presents.

 Peter was pretty excited about his new bear.

 Panda was stoked for his new Tonka Dump Truck

 Christmas time can tucker out any kid. This particular time was a morning nap.

 Cute matching boys again.

 Look at those smiles! One genuine, one forced.

 How cute are these two boys!

Peter is almost as big as Panda! And he's only 10 months!

I am so excited for Caitlin and Ben and Peter to move to Utah this summer!

Hoping to Adopt in 2018

I am doing a 60 day get to know us post thread on Instagram. I know some people are not on Instagram or Facebook, so I am going to post them here!

Day 1:
As many of you know, we are trying to add to our family through adoption again. For the next 60 days I will be posting a couple things about us each day to help you get to know us and to help keep us on your mind in hopes that YOU will be the connection that helps us grow our family. Day 1: Us/Green. Us: Here we are! We are a family of 3. Our son, who we lovingly refer to as “Panda” joined our family in January of 2015 through a quick adoption that was guided by the hand of God. He is our pride and joy and why we get up each day. He is so sweet.
Green: My gym shirt today. After being sick and busy over the holidays, I finally made it back to the gym. Yoga was on the schedule for today and it was what my winter body needed. This shirt fit the bill. I truly believe anything is possible.

December!

What a fun time of year! We had lots of fun. I tried to do a daily Christmas activity with Panda, and we succeeded some of the time. Here are a few of our favorites.

We decorated his own little tree with blue ornaments. He loved his little tree and played with it all season. The ornaments came off and on over 20 times.

One day our friends came over. This is Panda's best friend, who is also adopted. They've been friends since birth. This day we had pizza and watched a Christmas movie.

We did coloring pages. We have a love/hate relationship with crayons. He loves to scrape his thumbnail on the ends. The dogs love to eat them. I hate the mess that ensues afterwards.

Cotton ball snowman! Panda's favorite part was the glue. This boy loves glue! especially squeezing it out of the bottle.

Thank goodness for washable paint. We did a hand print Christmas tree. We ended up with more of an abstract tree than anything else. But we had fun, which is the important part, right?

Pine cone Christmas trees. I cleaned up a lot of green paint.

I was playing the piano one day and Panda wanted to play too. Years ago I got a book for pre-reading piano lessons. We talked about the fingers and their numbers. He loves music.

Snowman pancakes with chocolate chips and marshmallows. Sugar is his favorite food group.

Christmas cookie cutters for our sandwiches. He really enjoyed cutting them out.

Shaped sandwiches taste better, right?

I'll post more December in a couple days. Right now I am enjoying the slower pace of January.

Instagram

Did you know my Instagram account is an open account? Find and follow me @luckypandamama to see quick updates to our days and see how Panda and I spend our time. I’ll still post here, but I feel like the more the better, right?

November

A couple weekends ago I spent Friday evening and most of Saturday with two long time friends at the Time Out for Women in Sandy. It was great.

 This was taken while everyone had their phones lit up and waving to Nathan Pacheco singing. I love his music.

 Grabbed a picture with my two friends. There were so many inspiration messages shared. I felt fed in a way that I desperately needed.

We got Panda a big boy bed! And he "helped" put it together. He actually was kind of helpful. I find that letting him help is a way to teach, rather than telling him no and having him in my way all the time. He is my partner in all I do every day. He loves to be helpful.

He posed for this. It is so hard for him to stay in bed. We have the baby gate up so he can't get out of his room. I hope he gets better quickly.

When I went to Ikea to buy his bed, I found this swing. Daniel put tings in the beams on the ceiling of the toy room, hooked up the swing, and we now have the funnest play room ever. Panda loves it. He does it on his own too. But this picture is to show you that I do more than hide behind the phone camera.

During Stake Conference he needed to run off some energy so Daniel took him outside and he found these leaves for me.

 

Such a thoughtful boy. 😂

 

He's been quite silly lately. His energy is giving us a run for our money. I didn't take a picture of Thanksgiving, but it was fun. We spent it with Daniel's parents and Panda loved playing with the cousins.

Then on Saturday the 25th, we had the annual Hellewell Christmas party. Grandma Hellewell (GH) will be 99 in January. This year there were over 200 people in attendance. All related to her. She has 10 children, 51 grandchildren, and I think she's up to 118 great-grandchildren. Panda was number 105.They had the most wonderful Santa and Mrs. Claus. Panda was not shy at all. He is a people person.

Look at his grin. I just love this kiddo.

Are you ready for December? I am. I have an advent calendar and it will be filled with an activity a day to do with Panda. I will post more about that while we're doing it.

Then my sister comes to town with her little on Dec 13! I am so excited to see her and her baby!

Am I caught up yet?

In October, Caroline and I took the kids (I say kids because she has 3) down to This is the Place State Park for the "Little Haunts" they do at Halloween. The boys had a blast. Another friend joined us and the kids were loving all the candy from the trick or treating. We rode the train a few times (Panda's favorite) and Panda did well despite his cast. (It was on from Sept. 30-Oct, 23, just in case you are getting confused about the time line! )

Cutest little Harry Potter!

He is pretty good at selfies. This was when his cast was getting taken off. He was very intrigued by the saw that cut the cast.

At the end of October Daniel and I had the chance to help with a service project for his work. It was great. It was kind of a date night. I love doing things to serve. I never feel to happy as when I get to help others.

My dad used to put his ties around his head occasionally and be silly. I couldn't resist this. My dad may have passed away, but he is still with us and I want Panda to know things about his Grandpa Joe and why my dad is so special to me.

My dad is third from the left.

Daniel and his Maggie puppy he got for father's day. She great, but silly. She's a clumsy, ditzy dog. But she is sweet and she will calm down with age. This is when she thought she was in trouble. Which she generally is.

More catch up!

I love being busy with my little guy. Time goes so swiftly and building memories is the best way to spend the time.

By the time the cast was cut off, he had collected quite a few signatures of people who loved him.

His first bath after the cast removed. We were both happy about that!

 Our almost 11 yr old Lacy dog is the best dog in the world. She and Panda are best friends. He loves to snuggle her while watching TV.

Sweet little Panda sleeps with his arms behind his head. It is too cute.

We were stopped somewhere that Daniel just ran in and left us in the car. Panda was pretending he was asleep. I started talking pictures and this is the series.  

He is so fun.