Titan's Birthday Party

We had a birthday party for Titan on the 18th. Here is a picture of some of the kids that came.

This was the main event of the party. Running through the sprinklers!!!

Then Titan got to open presents. The other kids helped.

Cupcake time!!

This was supposed to be the other main event at the party. I found this bounce house on craigslist. None of the kids wanted to play on it, though.

After the party, Titan finally started jumping! He had a blast.

Titan is 2!!!

Titan turned 2 years old on the 16th of July. I can not believe my baby is so old and so big! His whole life people automatically assumed he was older than he really was. He has always had a mature face and has been very tall, so, of course, people would assume that. People have assumed that he was closer to three than two for the past 5 or 6 months now. But now, he really is 2 years old!!! I can't believe time has gone so quickly (I know, all parents say that)


Here are some pictures of some of the birthday gifts that his birth mom sent to him. He loved them so much that we did not give him any of the gifts we got him until a couple of days later.



His birth parents sent him a huge box of toys.

Titan got a couple of planes.

And some cars! He loves to play with his cars. He really likes to line them all up and then look at them.

He loves the huge dump truck that they gave him. I think that was his favorite of all.

Thank you birth mommy and daddy!!!

MARCH

It has been a crazy couple of weeks.

On Tuesday the 10th, Dixon called me from work and said "Buy plane tickets for tomorrow" He had just been told he was going to be sent to Utah to help someone re-qualify in the F16, and he was leaving the next day. So I bought tickets for the same commercial airplane that he was riding and we all flew together. Dixon only had to work on Thursday, so Friday and Saturday we just played! Dixon got a great day of skiing and I got a (wonderful!!) massage at the Homestead resort. We stayed at the Kidtrap (Dixon's parents house in Midway) and had a great time. We got to visit with old friends and spend some good family time together. I love family trips!!!


On Saturday we went to Soldiers Hollow. ( S.H. is sledding hill with a sled lift to pull you up the hill on your inner-tube) It was the first time that Titan has gone sledding. Boy, did he hate it!!! First, he scared to sit on the inner-tube and be pulled up the hill. Then he was terrified going down the hill! Poor little guy :( He is usually so brave and dare-devilish that I was shocked to see him be hesitant about something! Maybe next year he will like it! We made up for the horrible experience by taking him to "Train Burger". (T.B. is a hamburger shop with a train theme decor.) It has a electric toy train going around the restaurant and lots of pictures of trains. Titan loves trains!!!!




On Sunday, we returned home to find that the neighborhood girl who was taking care of Rocky (our dog) had let some friends into our house. These kids had gone through the house and spat on our walls and furniture, ate our food and skateboarded through the house and let their skateboards slam in to the walls and put holes in them. We were (still are) FURIOUS!!!!! After getting all the information from the girl about what had happened, Dixon was able to go talk to all of the parents of these kids, and one by one, was able to get the parents to make the kids come and work off their misdeed. (except one set of parents believed their lying son and said he did not have to come work it off with the rest of them. Fortunately for us, his friends told him that he better come or they would not hang out with him anymore) So on Thursday Dixon had all of the boys and the girl at our house pulling weeds, digging a trench for our (soon to be) garden and picking up dog poop. These boys knew that we had already called the cops and that if they did not do what we asked then we could still press charges, so they did the yard work. It helps to have a strong, military husband who can intimidate punk kids and get them to own up to their actions.

On Friday Dixon's sister and her family came for a visit. We had lots of fun with them. We went to the zoo with them, played dominos, went to the Children's Museum, and went to a spring training game between the Kansas City Royals and the Oakland A's. They left today, Wednesday the 25. In a couple of weeks we will have more guests at our house. Some military & church friends are in a middle of move. They will bring their kids to our house for a few days so they can get the house settled. We will have 4 children under the age of 4. They are good kids so I am not too worried. Last time they were here they played together very well.

Cute and Not So Cute


Titan has recently been interested in using the toilet. Not just playing in the toilet, but sitting on the toilet and "going potty". I don't think he is quite ready for toilet training yet but I think it is pretty cute when he sits there, fully dressed, with a big grin on his face, then gets off and "wipes" the front of his pants and then flushes the toilet. So, in the meantime, until he is ready, I am starting to teach him the sign for "poop". Since he has learned to sign "poop" he has been saying it a lot. We went a petting zoo the other day and Titan pointed to the poop on the ground and then signed it again. And he will point to the ground in the back yard and sign poop cause he knows that is where Rocky does his business. A couple of times he has also told me that he just pooped and then tries to pull his diaper off. He is getting very close to potty training time.



Titan's newest words are "Papa", "pop" (which sounds like "bop"), "cookie" (which sounds like "geekey"), "ball", and "dude". Titan likes us to sing songs when it is time for bed. A couple of songs we sing are "One bottle of pop" and "Pop goes the weasel". Titan always gets to sing the "POP" in the songs.


Goal Update!

Last month I did not fast. But I will this next Sunday.

I did go to the cannery and got a good supply of food. Now I just have to find more recipes to make with the stuff I canned. I have been making bread with the wheat grinder we got for Christmas. (Yeah for me!!)

I have not sewn anything. I need to get started on that one. My first sewing project will be to put a border on my too short drapes. It will just be a straight stitch but it will be a start. Those of you who commented on my "you can win" post will get something sewn........I just don't know what it will be yet.

I have been meeting and talking to more people around the neighborhood (not just the punk kids who went into our house). The house next door to us is up for rent and I have gone over there every time I have seen prospective renters outside, and talked to them. I have also signed up to play "CRUD" with the squadron wives. (FYI: crud is a pool table game that fighter pilots play)

As for cooking?!?!?! Well.... lets just say we have not starved.


(Now, come on guys! I really need you to help me reach my goals. Please! Please! Please post comments on my blog to make me stay accountable! . . . . . . . . . THANKS!!!)

Heather Tagged Me!

I've been tagged!!

Here are the rules:
1) Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the six '8' items
3) Let each person know by leaving them a comment.

8 favorite TV shows:

1. Heros
2. We don't get T.V. ........ so I don't even know what shows are on the air now, (but I have season 1 of Heros on DVD!!!)

8 things I did yesterday:

1. Took Titan to the E.R. (he's fine...just a bump on the head)
2. Grocery shopped
3. Made Banana Bread
4. Gave Banana Bread to neighbors and talked with them for a while
5. Sang songs to Titan
6. Took Rocky for a walk
7. Made Dinner (sort of)
8. Read books with Titan

8 Things I'm looking forward to:

1. Croft Family reunion in July
2. Throwing a birthday party for my son and husband in July
3. Going camping in the grand Canyon (hopefully in April or May)
4. The next Date Night
5. Going to bed!!! And getting some sleep
6. I look forward to the day that my house is organized and "guest ready"
7. The end of this recession
8. the yard getting landscaped

8 favorite restaurants:

1. Chasa di Giai
2. TGIFridays
3. Karen's Kreamery
4. Black Eyed Pea
5. Benihanas (did I spell that right?)
6. Chipoltes
7. Top of the Hill
8. Outback

8 Things on my wish list:

1. More Time
2. More Patience
3. More understanding
4. A Happy Family*
5. To be the best mom and wife*
6. That my house just stayed clean all of the time (maybe in heaven huh?)*
7. More Fun
8. New socks
* I stole these answers from Heather

8 people I tag:

1. Ann
2. Kelsey
3. Heather M.
4. Darla R
5. Deb P
6. Emily
7. Becca J
8. Sabra

Friday the 13th!!!! My new year's resolutions are.......

My birthday was last Friday, the 13th. I love having Friday the 13th birthdays!! They are fun. This year my husband took me to the ballet for my birthday. We saw "Romeo and Juliet". It was amazingly well done. I did not really think they would be able to do Shakespeare justice, but they did. The dancers movement were so emotional that it was very easy to follow the story line. I was very impressed!!!

I usually save my new year's resolutions for my birthday. January 1st does not really have any significance to me. But my birthday?!?! That means something to me! So I made my goals for my 33rd year!

I need your help (all of my blog readers)!!!! I need you to help keep me on track. Please post notes on my blog to remind me of my goals and ask me how I am doing towards reaching them. That way I will have more than just myself to answer too. Thanks!!

So here are my goals for this year!


Have a purpose for each fast Sunday. Don't just fast because I am supposed to.

Make dinner for my family on a (fairly) consistent basis. Find recipes that my family likes, easy to prepare, economical, healthy, and can be made with items from food storage, and make them into a cookbook for our family.

Food storage....
A) purchase 6 months worth by the end of 2009
B) Set up the food storage areas & use my sister's plan for rotating food
C) Make a food storage cook book / meal plan and follow it
D) Either Dixon or myself will go to the cannery at least once a month (3rd Thursday- our ward cannery day)

Do one thing each day to help organize myself/my family/my home....This can be a 5 minute project or doing one portion of a large project.

Make more friends. Once a month (minimum) have someone (or a family) over for dinner and games. Make an effort to talk to more people at church and the B-course wives at the squadron.

Learn to sew. I want to sew my son's Halloween costume this year. I have the sewing machine already and can sew a straight stitch, but that is about it. I need to set up a "sewing station" in
the "craft room" and practice. I need to find small projects to practice, also.

So there they are....my goals to reach before my 33rd birthday!!! I really hope you will help me by commenting on my blog making me be accountable for them! ( I know it seems like a lot of goals but I actually narrowed it down quite a bit. )

YOU CAN WIN

My sister, Ann, posted this on her blog and I am took her up on the offer. So here it is:

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year. {might be a little while}
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or maybe even some creation I haven't even invented yet. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.The catch?
Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

*Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!*

Christmas, January and cute things!

We went to Midway for Christmas. We got to see all of the Crofts. Titan got to meet all of the Croft Cousins (except Ashleigh). It was great!! We had a lot of fun hanging out with them. Below is a picture of Papa Jim and Grandma Jo with all of the Croft Grandkids!
Titan loves hats. He got lots of hats for Christmas. Papa and Grandma Jo gave him a biking helmet to wear when we go for bike rides.

It snowed a lot in Utah while we were there. About four feet in four days. Here are a couple of videos of the fun that Dixon and Tyler (Dixon's younger brother) had in the all the snow. Dixon is in black.

More cute and not-so-cute things that Titan has been up doing lately;

A few times in the past couple of months Titan has "caught" Dixon and I kissing. We will stand in the kitchen, living room, hall-wall, where ever the mood strikes us and start to kiss. When Titan see us doing this he wants in on the "action" too. He will literally try to pull us apart so that he can kiss one of us.

We have a pretty good bedtime routine for Titan. We will sing songs as we go up the stairs. Then change his diaper, get into pajamas, and then say prayers. After prayers we sit in the rocker/glider and sing more songs and then put him in the crib when he is just about asleep. Some nights Titan is more tired than others. When he is really tired he will point to the crib to get us to put him in there. One night I was singing and rocking with him and I didn't want to put him in the crib just yet. I sang and held him for a long time. I think he pointed to the crib a couple of times, but I really couldn't see what he was doing cause it was so dark in the room. After about the third round of every primary song I can remember he raised his hand and covered my mouth to get me to stop singing.

While on the cruise Titan started a new habit (for lack of a better word). There were not very many other children on the cruise but anytime we saw one Titan did one of two things. If he saw a little girl, he went up to them and gave them a hug or did some little cute gesture to flirt with them. Sometimes he would do this for ladies too. One time Titan and I were walking down the corridor and we came upon a pretty lady walking and holding hands with her 3 or 4 year old son. Titan went up them and pulled their hands apart and put his own hand in hers and tried to walk away with her. . . . . But if he sees a little boy he was not as nice to them. He would go up to the little boy, as calm and casually as can be, then grab and scratch their face. Many times he made big marks on their faces before I could stop him. We figured he was just trying to limit the competition. (That would make Dixon proud, to see a competitive edge in Titan) I feel so bad for the other kids. I had to keep a very close eye on him for a while. It seems as though this faze has past now. Thank goodness!!!! (although, he still hugs the girls)

Titan has recently been battling a cold. He has had a cough and runny nose. After the first couple of days and I started to realize that he was coughing onto other kids. That is when I started telling him to cover his mouth when he coughs. It took a few times and a couple of examples but he now covers his mouth when he coughs (most of the time). He will also cover mine or Dixon's mouth if we forget to do so when we cough/sneeze.

We have started using "Timeout" as discipline. Titan will get sent to timeout if he gets on the table, or hits, or throws something. The timeout spot is the corner of the room created by the couch and loveseat against perpendicular walls and the ends pushed together to make a "box". For a while it worked pretty well but then Titan realized it was easy to pull himself out of that box by squeezing between the place where the arms of the couches don't quite touch. When he pulls himself out of the corner, before timeout is complete, we tell him to go back to time out. And he does! That the crazy thing. He will just cry all the way back to the corner and climb over the couch and put himself back in timeout, and continue crying there. One day Titan did something that he thought he would get in trouble for. We did not see him do it though. Titan came up to us and then started pointing to the time out corner. Usually, when he points he wants you to go in that direction. So we stared walking to where he was pointing not know what he was doing. Once we got there we watched as he crawled over the couch and put himself in the timeout corner and sat down.

Titan has had to learn to say "sorry" and give loves (hugs or cuddles). As all toddlers do, sometimes he will (usually unintentionally) hurt someone by bumping into them or hitting them. I make him go to that person and sign the word "sorry" to them and then give them a "love". One day at a park a little girl was crying. Titan went over to her and watched her cry for a minute. He looked really concerned for her. Then he went over to her and gave her a hug. It was too sweet!