Cormac turned 2 last month

Our boy is getting older. He's such a funny kid. He makes me laugh every single day. I'm so glad he's here. His birthday was pretty low key this year. Cormac has a horrible time sharing his toys. I had thought about a party, but realized that he would just be upset and in trouble the whole time since there would be kids there playing with his toys. Rather than have my son in time out for his entire birthday party we decided to skip the traditional party. Instead Cormac and I met a few friends and their mom's at the park to play and eat cupcakes:

Cormac really loved the cake part but didn't like the frosting on top. All the other kids ate the frosting and left the rest of their cupcake. Such a strange boy. He loves his chocolate.

That night I made homemade macaroni and cheese because Cormac loves mac and cheese. He wouldn't eat any of it. I guess he only likes it from a box. Then we broke out more cupcakes and put a couple candles in one. When Ammon and I started singing Happy Birthday Cormac fell apart. He just started bawling until we stopped singing. I wish I would have gotten it recorded. It was so funny. Poor boy. He just wanted his cupcake.

For his birthday Cormac got an awesome tricycle. The kid is in Heaven every time he gets a chance to ride on it. It's an outside toy, but luckily it has been a pretty nice Fall and we've had a lot of chances to go outside for him to ride.

Things about Cormac that I want to remember at age 2:
~Still not speaking hardly any English. But sure is speaking. He'll talk your ear off; you just can't understand him.
~Cormac loves trains. He loves making the train noise. He says "chupta, chupta, chupta, choo, choo." Half the time he makes the "choo, choo" noise in the back of his throat.
~He is still a picky eater. I can always tell when he's going through a growth spurt because he'll actually eat, but for the most part he eats very few foods which drives me crazy.
~ He can do summersaults.
~ Cormac is learning to jump. He gets his upper body really into it, but his feet barely leave the ground.
~ He is in the 95th percentile for height at 37.5 inches, 50th for weight at 28 lbs.
~ Cormac loves to have his teeth brushed and flossed. So much so that if we forget one of them he gets extremely offended.
~ This boy has mastered fit throwing. He gets over it faster than he used to, but he can sure throw a good fit when he feels his life is not in harmony with how he wants it.
~ Cormac loves to play with cars.
~ He's very curious and likes to figure things out.
~ He listens well and throws things away when asked, picks up his toys when asked, and even lays down in the right spot when you tell him it's time to change his diaper.
~ This boy loves to be tickled. A lot. And any time he can climb on Daddy he's happy.
~Speaking of his daddy, Cormac loves to follow Ammon around and "help" with all his projects and imitate all his actions.
~He's very affectionate. He gives hugs and kisses when asked. And he'll just spontaneously run up and hug your leg when he feels like it. He also likes to give kisses to the random kitchen appliances and various doors around the house.

And we are so glad he's here. I think he's going to be an awesome big brother once he gets used to the idea. He loves to be helpful. He is sure a sweet boy. I'm so glad he's mine.

Remember how I destroyed Ammon's hair once. . .

Do you remember a couple years ago when I wrote this post about cutting Ammon's hair way way way too short? I mentioned in that post that perhaps I should never cut Cormac's hair after that mess. Well, Cormac was bald for a long time so it wasn't a concern. Then he needed his first haircut and Ammon took the scissors and did an amazing job. But it was time for a cut again:

He wasn't very happy with me when I took this picture, but you can see that his hair is long. It was coming over his ears. We had been putting off the haircut when one day I decided that I had had enough. I got out the clippers, put on an attachment that I thought would be sufficiently long for his little head, and then took a pass at the back of his head. Oops. He was nearly bald in that spot. So I went up a size and finished the job. When I told Ammon the sizes I used he just laughed at me.

It is safe to assume that I will not be opening a barber shop anytime soon. Cormac still looks handsome. Actually the short cut makes him look so much older. But it's still much shorter than I had ever intended. Oh well. It grows.

For Great Grandma Garrison

My grandma, Cormac's Great Grandma, recently took a spill that required surgery. She's doing well from what I understand, but as we all know or have heard, recovery from surgery is miserable. I know for me, one of the things that makes me feel better is this little boy I have running around my house here. I figured it might do the same for her. I mean, how could looking at her darling great grandson do anything else right? Besides, I have been horrible at keeping up this summer and thought you might all enjoy a little preview of what the hot months of summer held for us.

Cormac is obsessed with shoes. Especially Daddy's.

We hiked up to this awesome little natural hot springs up the canyon in Spanish Fork. It was really fun. There are water falls and little man made pools (made with rocks) to catch the warm and cold water for little dips that are just the right temperature. Cormac loves water. We were planning just to wade in it, but we couldn't keep him out of it, so we figured we should just let him go for it.

This is where he discovered mud at the bottom of the pool. A little boy's dream come true. Bathtub warm water in the great outdoors and mud. What more could a kid ask for?

He had it everywhere. And that poor diaper was so full. We didn't bring a swim diaper, but since we weren't alone we left the diaper on. Those things really absorb, I'm surprised he could walk.

Cormac loves to be helpful. Here are a few shots from when we were out visiting Ammon's parents in Nevada. Cormac helped Grandma pick the green beans for dinner from the green house.

Not the greatest picture since the bush is blocking Coralee and Cormac is clearly in his own world, but it's the best I got of both of them paying attention to the camera (sort of).

Cormac loves to climb. He, unfortunately, figured out how to climb up the slide. As you can see it's a tall one. Once he got to the top he'd get scared and need help making it to a sitting position. My solution was to go inside and pretend the slide wasn't there anymore after I'd gone down with him a few times. But Ammon is a little more creative.

Cormac really wanted to ride this tricycle, but he was a bit small. I had pulled him around for a while and got tired of bending over him, so I went into Mark's shop and found a rope to tie to the handle bars. Just like leading a horse around. . . right? I also got tired of that activity, but lucky for Cormac he had Grandma there to take over. Spoiled little guy. He sure loves attention.

Cormac with the two Ammon's. Little Ammon is not so little. He is nearly a year younger than Cormac and has caught up to him in weight. Just like his namesake. You know, big and round.

Another great thing about Grandma and Grandpa's is that there are plenty of hats to be found. Cormac found this one and we found Cormac wearing it around the house. So cute.

At home again. Helping out with the laundry. I think he looks good in Daddy's shirt.

We often have to hide Cormac's helmet. He loves to go on bike rides. He'll find his helmet, get it on, and then head for the door. Next summer I think he'll be needing a tricycle of his own.

Feel better? I'm pretty sure that face can cure almost anything that ails you. I know it works wonders for me. He just turned 23 months. Can you believe it? We are about to have a 2 year old. But this poor little boy is in for a shock when his little SISTER gets here. That's right, we are expecting a girl. At least we are 90% sure we are. Her foot was in the way during the ultrasound, but from what we could see both the tech and the doctor (during two different ultrasounds) independently thought it was a girl. And both Ammon and I have thought girl the whole time. So, we are now buying pink. This little girl is super active. She wouldn't hold still during the ultrasound, and for the last 2 weeks now I've been able to feel her move. I have a feeling she's going to cause me some internal pain here in another month or so. But she's got to keep up with her big brother somehow. Thank you for joining me on this journey. Pregnancy has returned insomnia to me, so maybe I'll get better at updating my blog. I've always been better at updating in the middle of the night for some reason.

Get better Grandma. We love you and hope your recovery is speedy.

Our Ranch Trip/Picture Overload

At the end of July our family was supposed to have a big family reunion up at my grandparent's home in Helmer, ID. But before that happened my mom had a catering accident and burned the living daylights out of her hands. I'll keep this next picture small, skip over it if you are squeamish. This is one of the less offensive ones for the record.

Anyway, her hands were bad. Cormac and I decided we ought to go up and help. This was right at the beginning of this pregnancy and I was rather sick. I didn't think I'd be much help, and I was right. But Cormac was a nice diversion for my mom. Plus Cormac got some quality time with his Grandpa and Uncle Nick. It was nice. Let's just say that the drive was less than awesome. Twelve hours in the car with a toddler and morning sickness is hard. But we did it. Unfortunately we didn't make it back for the reunion. But we really enjoyed the time we did have. And now, for the pictures.

Great Grandma spent time pulling Cormac around in the wagon. He was in heaven. 

These next pictures are Cormac making faces at Uncle Nick. I didn't get the best expressions. As soon as the camera came out he toned it down a lot. So sad. But I got a few. I'm sad this one is so blurry, but I love it so much I had to share it anyway. 

 While we were there we got to visit Troy Days. The parade was probably Cormac's favorite. That or the park. He got to gather up candy and see the sites. At one point he ran across the street for a piece of candy and stopped the parade. Oops. Luckily Papa was right behind to rescue him.

 Cormac gave a good portion of the candy he gathered up to these kids. I think they liked having him close.

 While we were there the men folk were putting down a new sidewalk for my grandparents. Cormac was excited to help out. Below you can see my cousin Jared in the background hard at work. Though probably not working as hard as Cormac:)

 And Uncle Nick also trying to keep up with Cormac.

 Papa taught Cormac how to drink out of the hose. Great Grandma let him indulge in it as long as he wanted. Cormac would take a drink and then he would insist that Great Grandma take a drink. We had some very wet diapers that day.

It was a good time. Not included in pictures: Cormac loved the horses and would say goodbye to them whenever he saw them. He also loved the 4-wheeler. Both Papa and Great Grandpa took him out and he loved that. His favorite game while we were there was "Go Fish" with Grammie. The best part was probably having so many different people around for him to get attention from. We also got to release a turtle into the pond. He really loved watching the turtle.

I enjoyed visiting with everyone, resting, and the cool weather. I got very little done for my mom, but she was sweet enough to just let me be pregnant and miserable. Next time we go up we'll hope everyone will be feeling better.

The Haircut

So I have to admit that I avoid this blog lately. Before I had kids I was certain I would still blog about things other than Cormac. But I have nothing else to blog about to be honest. And truth be told, you all probably just come here for pictures of Cormac anyway. So I suppose I should stop ignoring this blog and just post the pictures you want to see.

Anyway, we finally gave Cormac his first haircut back at the beginning of July. I loved his wispy little curls at the back and side of his head. They were so adorable. But it was time. Ammon did the cut and I think he did a great job. I'll let you see the before and after.

Before:

After:

Cormac's Secret

I'm 12 weeks today. It has been a long, sickly 12 weeks.

When I first tried to get a picture of Cormac in his Big Brother shirt this is the look I got:


Perhaps this is a bit more accurate? I guess time will tell.