What is a mom to do?

I have been having more bad days than good. I knew something needed to be changed, but didn't know what. I have pinned a lot of things on pinterest, but never read any. I finally did at work. I found some good blogs and I know they will help. There is one that really hit home for me. It probably hit home because the author is LDS and I can relate to things she did. I had added the info onto another of my blogs so I can refer to it often. I am hoping this will help so things really will be calmer at the Voris household.

Bells Canyon

 Last Saturday, we went for our first hiking as a family and for the summer. We decided it would be fun to get outdoors more this summer and do things together, especially with Tyler not having school for the first time during the summer. Our first hike is called Bells Canyon. It is up Little Cottonwood Canyon. It was intense for a first time, but we did it! We didn't make the first waterfall, but we make it to the lake and with two kids, that is a success for us. We did try to go to the waterfall, but Taryn started fussing and so we turned around.

We went with some friends and that was fun. It was nice to have others join us on our adventure. We are excited to try some more this summer. I have a few that I am excited to try. Here is a link of some that we will be doing this summer.

If you would like to try the hike out, here are the directions:

From Utah County: Take I 15 N to 9000 S. and go East. Follow 9000 S all the way up toward the mountain. The road will turn into Little Cottonwood Canyon Rd. Go through the light on the road Wasatch Blvd. The trail head is right there on the right.

From Northern Utah: From Interstate 215, take 6200 S exit and turn south on Wasatch Blvd. Follow Wasatch Blvd to 9600 S. Turn east on Little Cottonwood Canyon Rd, and the trailhead will be on the right.

Destination-Lower Falls

Difficulty-Strentious

Roundtrip-4.6 miles

Hiking Time-4-5 hrs

Restrooms-Yes

1 year old!

My little girl is one!! I cannot believe that a year ago I was giving birth to this beautiful little girl!

My parents were in town for Tyler's graduation, which we are so excited that he is officially done with school! He even graduated with honors! Super proud! That Friday after graduation, we had a BBQ for Tyler. That Sunday is when we had a small party for Taryn. It was fun to watch her enjoy her cake though. So different than Cameron. He only put his finger in once and was done. She was hesitant at first, but as soon as she had frosting in her mouth, she was in heaven and went at it. It was a hard day because she wasn't feeling well and teething. It took a little motivation, but she got it.

We went to the doctor the following week to see how she is doing. She is a tall girl 29", but very skinny 16 lbs 6 oz (less than 3%). The doctor is concerned about her weight. She has to go back in one month for a weight check. She eats so much, but I guess she just can't gain the weight. I was suggested to give her Carnation mixed with her milk so hopefully that will help. She sure doesn't look skinny.

She has learned to crawl, finally! At least a type of crawling. We call in the worm. She can now finally get up on her knees but still won't crawl that way. Funny girl. I think she is happy now that she can "keep up" with her brother. Her hair on top is long enough for one pig tail and I love it! I have too much fun.

She is at a very fun age and we are loving it! Excited to see what else she will learn!

10 months

Guess I am a little behind on this. Our little girl is almost one! Not too much is happening though. She is SO much better at sitting up by herself. I just need to be better and let her fall. I know that sounds bad, but she doesn't know how to catch herself, so she needs to learn. We are trying to work on crawling too. She wants to crawl so bad, but not enough to crawl. She just cries until I go and get her. I have tried to just let her cry, but she has cried so bad that she throws up! I just hope soon she will get it so she will be happier.

She still LOVES her brother. She will turn to look for him when he is talking, running, etc. I am glad they get a long so well...right now. I guess we will see what happens as they get older.

She finally has her first tooth! It is nice to have some relief, just in time for another tooth to come in. The biggest thing right now is just hoping that she starts crawling soon. I know I will probably regret saying it, but I want my little girl to be happy again. I know crawling will help so much. Guess we just wait and see when it happens.

11 Months

We had a rough end of the 10 months. Taryn got her second cold, not too long after the first. She then became really, really fussy. I knew something was wrong. Saturday morning, I was getting her ready. Couldn't go to the instacare until 8 so I was going to go early because it had snowed. As I was walking into the garage, she threw up. I instantly knew it was an ear infection, but to be safe, we still took her to the doctor. Luckily, we didn't have to wait long. The doctor confirmed our theory. She had a double ear infection plus a cold.

Unfortunately, the medicine didn't kick in right away. She wasn't throwing up, but her appetite changed drastically, she wasn't sleeping well, and still really fussy. Then around the third day, she broke out in a rash. We thought for sure it was an allergic reaction. Nope. It is a cold rash. I guess now kids get rashes when we get a cold too. Makes it so hard! Finally, around the 5th/6th day, she became happy! I had my little girl back! It is so nice to have her eating and sleeping again. Now I know what to look for if (knocking on wood) it happens again.

While at the doctor, she was weighed at 16 lbs 6 oz. She is our light little girl. She eats so much though! I guess she will be our petite little girl, but I am okay with that. I still love her chubby checks tho.

Recently, she was learned to push with her toes while in the planking position and the moves. She now "crawls" to some of her toys. We are hoping that soon she will catch on to getting up on her knees so then she will really crawl, but this is what we have for now and we will take it.

Next month, we will get to celebrate her one year! It will be a busy weekend because my parents come into town the Wednesday before to celebrate for Tyler's graduation and then a birthday party!! We are, of course, excited to have them come and very proud of Tyler.

9 months

We went to the doctor's office on Jan 31st to see how Taryn is doing. I knew she was 9 months, but I guess it really didn't dawn on me until they said we will see you in 3 months for her 1 year appt! I can't believe she is going to be 1! Time really flies when you have two kids keeping you busy. You don't know where the time went.

Taryn is doing well. She was 15 lbs 13 oz (5%) and 27 3/4" tall. She is tall and skinny like her brother. I am shocked she is 5 % because she is constantly eating! She is so different than her brother. She loves food and tries to grab it out of your mouth if she wants it! I am glad she is less work when it comes to food though because Cameron sure struggles. I guess I learned from Cameron of what to do and what not to do.

There are some developmental things they are watching, but I am not too concerned. She is just taking her time like Cameron did. She will get there. She still is working on sitting up by herself. Sometimes she just pushes herself too far backwards and falls over, but she is getting better everyday. She has learned how to roll to her stomach and even though she gets so frustrated, she refuses to roll to her back. She also gets frustrated because she can't move. I know she will just take off one of these days, but I guess we will see what happens.

She is doing great at feeding herself. Sometimes she likes that we help, but she loves to feed herself. She is LOVES Cameron. She is constantly checking to see where he is. She will hear his voice and will instantly turn to try to find him. She has to play with his ears or hair too. Kind of funny.

We love having her in the family and enjoy everyday with her, even the hard ones :)

8 months!

Our little girl just turned 8 months! It has been like a whole pregnancy already! I didn't realize how much faster it would be with two kids. I feel like time is just flying by! Sometimes I am glad though because there are days I just can't wait to be over.

Taryn is starting to learn her fine motor skills. She is starting to get better at feeding herself. She hasn't learned to pick it off the tray yet, but I can give it to her and she will put it in her mouth. She has learned how to clap with her hands and feet. Kind of funny that it is her feet too. She loves to say 'dada' and 'baba'. She is still working on sitting up. She is still struggling with that for some reason. We practice everyday since 6 months and she still struggles. Oh well. She is finally standing up better. I don't have to support her 100%. I am hoping the same will happen with sitting up.

I am still happy that she is content with just laying on her back though. There are other kids her age that are already crawling. I am so happy she isn't. I know it will be fun when she does, but right now I am not ready. We still don't have teeth either, but I am sure that is close. I still love the gummy smiles anyways.

She still loves big brother and he still loves her. It is fun to watch them interact, even though she gets beat up from him. I sure hope they remain close.

Christmas

Christmas was a lot more fun this year. Cameron is now old enough to understand what is going on. He has been really excited and it has shown. This little boy has so much energy! I put together a list of 25 activities to do with him too to keep him busy. I think he enjoyed it since everyday he would ask me what our new activity was. I enjoyed our little time together too. We would do it while Taryn was asleep so it would give us our little one on one time.

Cameron asked for a truck and a movie this year. So nice when they are young. It is a very small list :) He ended up getting a police truck from Grandad (gave us a gift card and we bought it) and a Mickey Mouse movie from Santa. Taryn got a dog and an outfit. We do three presents each and a couple of things in the stockings (what I want, what I need, and what I will wear). Very simple Christmas, but that is okay. We don't want to go over board anyways.

This Christmas, we wanted to bring in the real reason as well and not just Santa. I kept telling Cameron it is Jesus' birthday. He eventually got it :) I found a cute scripture advent chain on Pinterest and I decided to do that with him everyday. That was his scripture for the day. It helped me remember the real reason too. I didn't realize how much I needed it to. I think it is a keeper and we will do it every year.

We had Shad and his family over for Christmas dinner. This was my first time making a ham. So much easier than turkey lol. After dinner, I had put together some games to keep the kids from going crazy. I found some fun minute to win it games. I wish I would have taken some pictures, but it was a lot of fun. At least we had some family to get together with.

Next year will be fun because Cameron will be 4 and Taryn will be 18 months! Cannot believe it!! I am looking forward to that and hoping to get shopping done way earlier :)

7 months

I am a little behind on posting this and I will have to write the next one before I know it. Where does time go? It is also hard when it is the holidays. So busy making goodies and getting presents ready. Sometimes I feel like a chicken with my head cut off. I try to get things done when the kids are down for a nap, but I get so tired I take a nap too; 2 hours later it is time to get the kids up again. Oh well. Naps are my friend :)

Taryn is getting so big. She takes 2 naps a day (2-2/12 hours) and then 12 hours a night. It is AMAZING!! With these kids, I need all the sleep I can get.  She is great at eating. It is weird having a kid who basically grabs it out of your mouth. Cameron never did that at all. Taryn will stare at you as you eat too. Who needs a puppy?!? LOL I am trying to give her a taste of everything we do eat (being safe too of course) and hoping she won't be as picky as brother.

She is growing so fast! She has the cutest chubby cheeks ever! I love it so much! I love having a little girl. I am having lots of fun making girly things :)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was really quiet this year. We stayed home and I made a small turkey just for our little family. It is nice to have a quiet day, but holidays make it hard when you don't have family. It was a day I wish we had someone close by. Oh well. These are also the times when our small family can become closer too.

I did make the typical food that goes with Thanksgiving, but this year, we are working on our picky eater. I think that made it hard too. We wanted him to eat the food too and boy is he stubborn. It took him a long time to eat it, but he finally did. Taryn loved the little bit I was able to give her. It is such a big difference with them, but it is fun too. I think next year I will make my regular turkey that I make. I sort of missed it this year. Oh well. I will be ready for next year.