4 years old!

Jocelynn Autumn is 4 years old!

Favorite Movie: Cinderella

Favorite Food: Bananas

Best Friend: Sarah

 Jocelynn is VERY talkative and is ahead for talking, understanding and sentence formations. She has an incredible imagination and motherly touch. She is a very hands on child and loves most activities. She is helpful and sweet. We are so happy she is ours! We love you Jocey babe! Happy Birthday!

Family Pictures 2013

This year we had our friend Anna do our pictures and they turned out great!

late 1 year old post!

Vivian Celeste turned 1 on October 15th!

She can walk, say mama, dada, nod yes, say yes, climb, dance, sing, give kisses, hugs, plays with her sissy and many more things!

She really hates being thrown up in the air, being left alone, eating normal food, not having the attention on her etc.

We love her and cannot believe she is 1! Especially since she is still in 6-9 month clothing and weighs 17 pounds!

Tree Skirt

This year via the request of Andrew, I am making stockings and our first tree skirt * we have been married 4 years and this is our first tree skirt, don't judge!*

Here is the site I used for the cut out of the main skirt.

I used a pre-made piping and added super wide red ribbon for the back ties.

Materials:

1.3 yards red chevron fabric

36 inches (at least, this amount only makes a knot)wide red ribbon

5.5 feet pre-packaged Scarlet piping

Scissors

Fray check (for cut ends of ribbon)

Plastic cup for center tree opening measurement

Chalk pencil for half circle

What I did:

1. Made all the cuts as site instructs above

2. Surged all edges of fabric (optional)

3. Pinned and sewed piping along all edges

4. Spaced and sewed on ribbon and fray checked the cut ends

Girl Pascal

For Halloween Jocey is going to be Repunzel! So I thought, " Hey, I want Vivi to be Pascal!" However, I cannot find that costume ANYWHERE. So me, being me, decided to make it. I am super stoked about this costume!

Materials:

Old footie pajama's that were my 11 month old's size

1 yard of Green Fleece

1/4 yard White Fleece (or just enough to make eye balls)

1/4 yard Pink Fleece ( or just enough to make a bow)

1 small sheet of Black Felt for the pupils

Flexible Wire to put in the tail

1/4 " Elastic for the hood

12 inch green zipper

Green thread

Small amount of Batting

You cant really get an almost 1 year old to not take a blurry picture!

Update

Today I was sitting around thinking of all the stuff that has happened this year and it has been packed with lots of things! Let me update you on the past few months.

Andrew: Has gone off all carbonation and caffeinated soda's. He has lost 6 pounds in a month from just doing that! GO ANDREW! Andrew had his 23rd birthday on the 28th of August. I decorated the house and made him breakfast, we also went to the temple and up to the canyon with a few of our friends. It was a pretty great day. He is also in DOA ( Dean of Admissions) training at work this week, which is a huge THUMBS UP! He is almost done with his 3rd quarter this year which means 5 more quarters left and 1 internship before he graduates! We are sooo excited!

Starrie: I am still recovering from surgery, mostly just sore. I can't really work out yet which is a bummer, but I lost 11 pounds! 3-5 of which was the derrmoid, the rest is most likely from my hormones getting back to normal. Other than that I clean and take care of the girls, basically 24/7.

Jocelynn: She is super independent and is becoming more and more helpful as the days go by. She has little chores/favors that she does for me which include, taking the trash upstairs, cleaning up her room, watching sissy (while I'm in the shower), watering and helping weed the/her garden and wiping the bathroom counter top. She also gets on her little stool and helps me cook/stir things. I am thinking of getting her the little kids kitchen helper set, so she can be more involved. She is super smart and knows a lot of church stuff, she has given a few talks and prayers in primary already. If you want to get her to love you, just talk about temples with her. She's got a whole spiel.

Vivian: Totally could walk if she wanted, but she gets too scared and does not trust herself. She is also really independent. Jocelynn taught her how to clean up the toys and Vivi totally does it all the time now! She also thinks that she can just crawl upstairs and play in their room for hours on end without being bothered. She can get bored pretty quickly, so she is starting to occupy herself. Her favorite things are the trash, bowl cupboard, being messy,getting behind the rocking chair and throwing shoes down the stairs. She is so stinking smiley, you can get a smile out of her any time of the day.

Face Mask

Making brownies

Playing in daddy's birthday balloons

Rice cereal is better to play in, then to eat. Sink bath!

High Chair Redo

I've had this project on my mind for quite sometime. And I finally did it. This high chair is from my mom who bought it 15 years ago, I think it needed a little update.

Supplies:

Satin Rustolium spray paint

Laminated aqua chevron fabric (fabric mill)

Non-slip grip fabric (Joann's)

Elastic

Stapling gun

Time and patience

Basically I took the whole thing apart spray painted the whole metal frame, sewed slips for the old rubber handles and sewed / stapled the chevron fabric on. Then screw everything back together and voila! A beautiful new high chair!

Old High Chair

New High Chair

And its Boo Approved!

My little boo boo has learned to do quite the amount of things these last weeks! I am super de super excited for her!

She fully broke through her 2nd tooth.

Learned how to CRAWL!

Pulls herself up to couches and walks around the edge.

She has learned to say "yaya"/ "dada" which both mean she wants Andrew.

She coos, squeals, makes random noises, laughs, fake coughs and much more!

At 8 months Vivian is turning into being mischief , but lets be honest I knew that ever since I was about to have her. We also like to say that Vivi has "little sister syndrome". Meaning, she feels the need to not do anything because Jocey will do it for her. Which is why she has not crawled until now. Little sister syndrome also means that Viv is a tattle tell and can be whiney at times. Luckily her and Jocey absolutely adore each other, and she is such a sweet smiley girl!

Surgery

WARNING GRAPHIC SURGERY PHOTOS

Oh my Lanta have I (Starrie) been through the ringer this week!

Last Saturday,the 15th, I had excruciating pain in my left lower abdomen. Andrew took me to the ER and after an ultrasound we found out I had a type of lesion on my left ovary, they were not 100% sure what it was so they highly suggested I go to my doctor the following Monday. I had strict orders to not go to church, no heavy lifting and to know I would need surgery ASAP.

After getting referred to a surgeon, on Tuesday, I met with Dr.Rees and he informed me that it was a softball sized dermoid cyst sitting on my left ovary. It's also called a non cancerous tumor that continues growth (up to the size of a cantaloupe) and has to be taken out by surgery. They also contain hair, nails, skin and teeth because they come from your reproductive organs. Regular cysts are small and the body eventually gets rid of them usually creating no further problems.

Friday was my surgery and it took about 3 hours because the dermoid was tangled with my ovary. They had to take it out C-section style. I was extremely nervous because I've never had surgery before for anything. Everything went well and I am doing great. I was totally out of it all Friday and only remember being extremely nauseous and I kept passing out. Apparently I was jumbling all my words around and tuning into random conversations.

That's about it. Also Andrews cousin Josh was in the hospital the same day to get his appendix taken out so he stopped by for a visit.

Here are some pictures. View at your own discretion.

Giant nasty dermoid cyst/ tumor. Don't worry it was just sitting right under my skin.

After it was cut open, you can see the hair in it.

Awe I am no longer drugged up and out of it.

Cute little Josh in his bottle cap glasses. Surgery buddies!

Its official!

JOCELYNN IS POTTY TRAINED!!!

I did not want to officially say anything until she had no accidents and was poop trained. So here we are! No accidents since June 5, poop or pee. Jocey is full on in underwear (other than at night, not necessarily because of accidents. Mostly to be safe. ) and tells you when she has to poop, she still has to be asked to go pee otherwise she holds it for hours and hours. But that is A OK with me. Anyways just wanted to share the super exciting news with everyone, because you know this is a huge milestone and I would argue the hardest part of parenting thus far!

A Beginning To Potty Training... Win!

So the last few weeks Jocelynn has been asking all about potty training! But she has not been 100% mentally ready until now. Every night for the last month Jocey has personally prayed to Heavenly Father each time asking if he will please please please help her get potty trained. Last night before Jocey went to bed she told me this," Mommy I want to get potty trained so that I can have my Barbie movie, can we please use the piggy timer and get me potty trained?" Me: " Yes Jocey... we can try again (half brushing it off my shoulder)". So we had a go at it AGAIN today. Although she is not fully potty trained she is peeing on the toilet trained as long as we go to the toilet every 30-45 min. She cant wear real underwear until she has done this for 3 days in a row, so she is in Pull-Ups until then. But it is a awesome improvement and I AM ECSTATIC!

What we did:

• Bought a piggy timer to set every 30-45 min for a reminder.
• Stayed home ALL DAY.
• Got some Dora the Explorer Pull-Up's. (Totally against them in the beginning but they ended up working nicely for Jocey) 
• Let Jocey eat and drink whatever she wanted all day.
• Called daddy after every-time she went pee.
• We used basically all the concepts of potty training in a day.

Accidents = 2 (1 poop, 1 pee)
Going to the bathroom on the toilet = 9 (all pee)

I expect getting her to poop on the toilet is going to be a struggle, but this is such an improvement and she is so determined all of a sudden to get this done. I am one proud mama and Andrew is a proud daddy! I'll write another post when she is no longer in the transition stage.

Today Jocey, Vivi and I all went to the park for 2 hours with one of my bestest buds Sage and her son Thor. Then we came home and gardened. It was a great day. I am pleased. Very pleased.

Time, Sweet Sweet Time.

So in case you did not already know we de-activated our Facebook account for the time being.

Why? Well we were both sick of dumb people and tired of wasting time on that time sucker.
Who? Well Andrew is the one who suggested it, gave me a weeks notice and BAM it was gone.
When? "Well we are not re-activating it until the middle of June", says Andrew.
Thoughts? We thought we would be miserable or it would "feel weird" not being on Facebook social media, but we were brave and went through with the de-activation. We have LOVED it. We only accidentally went to the site out of habit once or twice. We deleted the  Facebook app off of our phones so that's not a problemo. And we really don't talk or think about it. Also, I (Starrie) am still on Instagram under @starriewhittle and I am also still doing the blog thing. 

In our new founded undistracted time we have been doing the following:

Learning to scoot

Reading books with daddy

Baking delicious chocolate chip cookies

Reading the "Ginny Book"  aka scriptures

(Ginny is what Jocey calls her great grandma Bunker)

Making Texas Sheet Cake from scratch

Having some sissy time

We have always done these things, but it's just nice to not have any distractions while doing them. I am really hoping to finish the high chair re-do that I have been planning/working on for a while.

6 years

Mikey (as Andrew calls him) has been gone from us for 6 years now.

It seems like it has been nowhere near this long.

Andrew thinks about Michael everyday and misses him more than anything. Michael dying was extremely hard on Andrew and it is still hard to remember the good times without getting emotional.

I (Starrie) have personally felt Michael's presence in our home frequently and I feel as though he is a sort of a guardian angel on our family. I know that him and Andrew were very close especially the last 6 months before his death, which is why I think I may feel that connection.

It is hard to explain to Jocey who he is and to not just expect her to remember him as I or especially Andrew does. It's hard to explain the concept of heaven to a 3 year old. I know she has at least felt Michael and more than likely other members of our family, but is just too little to let us know how and when she does. I know she does by the things that she has said.

We are grateful for the gospel in our lives because we know that we will see Michael once again. Andrew was able to do his work for him on October 22, 2010. Which is not only our 1 year wedding anniversary date, but also the day Andrew and I had our work done. Michael is close to our hearts often and we look forward to seeing him again or as Andrew has said, "I cannot wait to be greeted with the same hug that Michael gave me the day before he died."

We love you Michael, please continue to watch over the family and help us celebrate your life!

Jocey giving uncle Michael a drink of Dew

                 

It's Jocey time

Ok so I feel bad because I always feel like I need to update on Jocey, but then it is hard because she is growing at a more stable pace than Vivi so I tend to update Vivian more often. Vivian changes basically everyday and Jocey is kinda mostly out of that stage. So here is Jocey's update.

Jocey is the funniest/sweetest/most dramatic/ loving child I know. And she is all ours!

Independent:
Jocey can pretty much do everything on her own. She gets her own food, clothes, blankets, puts her shoes on, feeds herself, can get her own drinks, puts on her own movies and TV shows etc. etc. The only thing she still cant do is go potty on the toilet. It is frustrating for us as parents and are trying to let it happen on its own time.

Playing:
Jocey loves playing, babies, barbies, horses, running away from vacuums, playing pretend with anything and everything, dancing, primary (not really playing but, she loves being there more than anything. Much better than nursery) etc.

Movies:
Tangled (she knows all the songs), Sleeping Beauty (her favorite), The Little Mermaid, Cinderella (it's hard to not catch her singing this all the time), Thumbelina, Snow White and The Princess and the Frog.

Funny Kid:
Jocey know's how to makes someone laugh, I must admit she is pretty dang funny. Her favorite thing to do lately is make Vivian laugh. No matter what that en-tells. Sometimes Jocey's personality is why she is so funny, she just says things in such a way that it puts a smile on your face.

So Much Love:
It does not matter what happens Jocey ALWAYS tells us she loves us everyday, on her own. Sometimes when she calms down for the night all she wants is mommy, daddy and sissy snuggles and she can't get enough. She will always ask how I am doing, if she can do "favors" and asks how she can help with anything. Jocey loves temple's, when she prays at night she prays that she can get older so she can go inside and get married. It is adorable. She also always looks out for her sissy. One time we joked with Jocey saying," Jocey? Should we put sissy in the oven and cook her up for dinners?" and Jocey's response was," No! She is my best friend! And I am her best friend! Please don't cook her!"

There is sooooooooooooooo much more but alas my hands are getting tired of typing. Here is an adorable picture of my beautiful daughter. We love her to death. 

6 dandy months

Vivian is ^ as seen above.

Today was her well baby check-up.

75%- Height- 26 1/2 inches

29%- Weight - 15lbs

49%- Head Circumfrance

When she was born:

40%- Height - 19 1/2 inches

20%- Weight - 6lbs 9oz

16%- Head Circumfrance

Vivian sits up (with help), say's "mama" (not on demand), chew's chew's chew's her hands and whatever she thinks taste's good, loves being held 24/7, LOVES to smile and laugh, stands up on her legs most of the time, snuggles, grabs, rolls over, lunges (she thinks she is big like sissy and can walk) and recognizes her name.

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE.

We love our baby and that is all.

North Dakota

So we took a spontaneous trip to ...... *drum roll please*........North Dakota! Don't worry we drove out to Andrew's sister Nicia, so we're not totally crazy. It was much needed for our little fam. We were out of Utah for almost 10 days. On the way there we drove to Mt. Rushmore, it was super awesome and the landscape out there was really cool. The rest of the time we were in Cavalier with Joe, Nicia, Alyssa and Logan. It was nice to have no worries and be with family.We are grateful to Nicia and Joe for being so hospitable to us. It was good. On the way back returning to Utah we went to Bismarck, ND. We had the chance to go to the Bismarck LDS Temple and it was quite the experience for Andrew and me, I really do not think anyone will ever know exactly how we felt. We both felt so safe there, happy and comfortable it was actually quite surprising. All in all everything was good!  Along the way Andrew and Jocey got to play their temple game, where they found at least 7 temples on the way there and back. It was much needed and a good "time away from Utah". I am not sure what more to say so here are some pictures!
P.s. Vivian said her first word on this trip "MaMa", Jocey's first word was "DaDa" so I (Starrie) was pretty stoked!

Mt. Rushmore

Pretty good for most the car ride there

Playing in the heavy Cavalier snow with the cousins

Sad to go

Cute little Jocey Crossing a temple off her list.

Bismarck Temple

Swimming with aunt Meecia ( as Jocey says )

Jocey at the hotel in Bismarck