Easter in Utah

So, I am about to make up for the appalling lack of pictures on the blog lately. I tried to limit myself, I really did! But Max is just too cute. Anyway, we spent a very special Easter in Utah. We got to be with Joe's entire family for the first time in who knows how long?! (Most, but not all, were together for Christmas.) And we got to spend some good time with my family, too. We weren't planning on going anywhere for Easter, but I am so happy we had a reason to.

We started out by decorating some Easter eggs with my family. We like to draw on the eggs with marker and then use some dye. Some of us really get into it. This year however we were doing it very late at night and although I made several eggs there are just two I am going to document.
This is Max's egg. I decided to draw things that Max really likes. We have a basketball hoop and basketball, microwave (he loves pushing the buttons), slide, lips (he likes to give kisses) . . .
Dog, book, heart (cuz he loves us), light bulb (he is obsessed with lights), and cheese (his first word and favorite food).
Also, I made a egg for my brother with a picture of his kitten, Drogba (named after his favorite soccer player). And my mom used the eggs for placecards on the table for Easter breakfast. Is she cute or what?
On Saturday morning we had a delicious breakfast with my family. We had a fun assortment of things and I thought everything turned out amazing (even if there were a few unanticipated adventures).
Then it was time for Max and his cousin Bella to hunt for eggs! I knew Max would be adorable wandering around the yard with his little Easter pail, but I didn't know he'd catch on to the idea so fast! We showed him an egg, told him to put it in his pail, and he was off. He started spotting eggs all over the place. It was so cute!!

This is Max's happy face that he makes ALL the time. What a funny boy.

As Max was reaching for an egg he couldn't really get to, the rest of his eggs spilled out.
But it turned out ok because as he was picking them back up he discovered that lo and behold these things open up and there is food inside! (For this hunt, we did cheerios and goldfish.)


Max got some fun things in his Easter basket - crayons, a cute Easter cup, sunglasses, bubbles, fruit snacks, and an outfit.
This was his first experience with bubbles and of course he LOVED them. Waiting with anticipation ...

Max is obsessed with this little Buzz Lightyear thing my parents have and played on it all the time. He even wanted to push cousin Bella.
Later in the afternoon we got together with Joe's family for a BBQ and another hunt! Max was ready.
He seriously was so cute wandering around and finding his eggs. He kept saying "Whoa ... whoa!" the entire time (which is a new thing).
Our best attempt at a cousin picture. Not sure what Max is doing with his finger in the air but you'll see that pose again.

And this time the eggs had candy. Although we didn't actually feed him any there was many a time we reached into his mouth to fish out m&m's, jellybeans, and chocolates (still with the foil wrapper on) that he had found somehow.

Five Dastrup sisters and two sisters-in-law!! How fun is that?? I love them so much.
Here we're showing off the darling aprons Joe's mom made for each of us. They are all different and SO cute!
An Easter family picture. I told you you'd see that pose again.


Max and his Vati (Grandpa). I always feel so bad for Max when we go back home because they are such great pals.
Um, how did my baby get so BIG?? There is almost no baby left at all!

One of my favorite parts of the trip was reuniting with sweet Reese! She is 5 months older than Max and they both have an unbelievable amount of personality. They were cute together and gave hugs and kisses (well, sort of) ... when they weren't screeching and yanking away each other's toys.


While Joe headed back home to work Max and I stayed and hung out a few more days (plus an extra day because Max was throwing up the day we were supposed to leave). We were thrilled to enjoy a nice afternoon amid some chilly days.




One of Max's favorite things to do at my parent's house was DANCE to my dad's juke box. Holy cow, the boy never stopped. He has his squat and bounce move down! Also he likes to run around like a crazy person, turn around in a circle, wave his arms frantically, and move from foot to foot. After a lot of dancing we were able to discover he has a favorite beat that is not too fast, not too slow.

Aunt Kate also taught him a bit about foosball.
Giving "bones" after a job well done.
The end.

Jimmered

This weekend we totally got Jimmered. It was incredible. Not sure who loves Jimmer more, me or Joe. Anyway, who doesn't love Jimmer? If you don't, stop reading right now. Or, keep reading and find out why we love him so much.

My Dad is the fan of all BYU fans ... obviously that's where I get it from. So of course he and my mom decided to come to Denver for the 2nd and third round NCAA tournament games. We were just lucky that they were able to get enough tickets so we could go, too!

First game: Thursday night vs. Wofford. We were completely stoked and I was screaming and waving my poster before I even got to the arena. We screamed, we shouted, and we tried not to get too nasty with some not-so-pleasant Wofford fans in front of us. But it was all good cuz we beat them! I would have liked a bigger spread so we wouldn't have been so nervous the whole time, but other than that it was great. Most of all I just needed them to win so I could see Jimmer and the rest of the Cougs in person at the NCAAs one more time.

Saturday: second game vs. Gonzaga. Not gonna lie, we were scared. We saw part of the game where Gonzaga beat St. Johns on Thursday and they were huge and they could shoot and they just looked pretty dang good. We knew the team had to be at the top of their game to beat them, but we knew they could be.

On a side note, my parents had 3 really good seats behind the basket and 2 seats higher up, so Joe and I elected to share a seat and be a part of the action. It was awesome and definitely worth the sore tush from sitting on 1/10 of a seat. We liked to stand as much as we could anyway, but the people behind us probably didn't like that as much.

Oh, and another side note - didn't get to meet Jimmer, but at least I said hello to his brother TJ. My parents and sister have talked to him, though.

One of the posters right behind us that didn't make it on TV. Pretty clever. (Although I really liked the one saying 'Stockton is really here to see Jimmer.' Haha!)

The awesome thing about this game is that we SCHOOLED them. Jimmer went 7 for 12 for 3's (not just any 3's ... 28 footers over multiple defenders, and just gorgeous!) and scored 34 points. The rest of the team did amazing as well. Emery's steals = hot hot hot! We were still pretty nervous for most of the game, even though we mostly led by double digits all through the second half. But when Gonzaga fans started leaving around the 5 minute mark, we were feeling pretty confident and could finally start breathing again. We still kept screaming, though - the players completely deserved it.

The news reported that the arena was filled with mostly BYU fans - so not true. There were tons of Gonzaga fans, and it seemed to me like most of the neutral fans went with Gonzaga. Whatever. We still cheered louder! Probably because our team gave us something to cheer about. :)

The feeling after we won? So on top of the world. We came home and rewatched the game on DVR, much more relaxed and able to appreciate the beauty of it all.

Final score: BYU 89, Gonzaga 67. Heck yes!!
This morning when we were getting ready for church Joe said to me "It's hard to think about anything except BYU, huh?" And I was like "Totally! I was just thinking about them!" So funny, so true. Florida better watch out. We will be ready!! GO BYU, & GO #32!!

Oh, and teach me how to Jimmer!

My 13 month old

Yes, I took a bit of a break. I had to study for/ take the bar exam and stuff like that. And since I can't stand going back in time, we'll start with today - an absolutely gorgeous day! :) Max and I spent it at the park ... well, 2 hours of it anyway. That is a long time at this age since you have to watch their every move to make sure they aren't choking on a woodchip or worse, dog poop. But Max was loving life.

First we shared an apple as a pre-park snack. Yummmmm.
Once we got there I got started shooting away because it has been a while since I've been able to get any good pictures of my boy. It's hard when they are constantly moving. And even harder when you're not a good photographer. So, these were the very best I could do. He is SO GROWN UP. Don't you think???

Running away from Mom to check out these people and their dogs.

We are huge BYU fans around here so I had Max in his gear for the first day of the Mountain West tournament. Seriously, he looks so old!!! (And so cute!!)
He loves pushing the stroller.

This is what happens when he wants something he can't have (the camera).

So I give him the phone instead. ;) No one wants pictures of a crying baby toddler.

Although he still likes woodchips he wasn't quite as obsessed with eating them as he used to be, which meant we could actually play on and around the playset.
Max had fun on the playground - climbing up the stairs, crossing the bridge, and sliding down the slide. Oh and trying to climb back up as well, and putting handful after handful of woodchips on the bottom of the slide after he saw another little girl doing it. He is quite the imitator.

Always exploring!
What else has Max been up to lately? Hmm, just more of the usual of being Max-the-destroyer, I think. Recently he's been more than obsessed with my kitchen pots and pans and loves taking them out of the cupboards and banging lids, etc. He used do this with my bowls but now it's ALL the pans as well. Pretty sure we need to figure out how to Max-proof that cupboard before he breaks something ... for the most part we are fairly baby proof around here.

He is talking up a storm, but without any real words yet. He comes up with something new every day or so and says it over and over "buta buta buta buta" or "dohdel dohdel dohdel." Still waiting for him to call us Mama and Dada! I tell him "Max, say mama" and he says back "dada!"

He is understanding us pretty well, though. I tell him "go get monkey," "go get dino," or to get a ball or a book, and he does it. I tell him to stop doing something and sometimes he does it. He is always impressing us in little ways with his cleverness ... or not so much his cleverness, but just his memory and his ability to communicate in ways he couldn't before.

Max is a friendly kid. He goes right up to people he doesn't know and is eager to make friends. He had an awesome time with my mom (who came out for a couple days so I could study more) and then my Dad (who came out while I took the test). He went all over the place and I'm so glad he had a great time and I didn't have to worry about him at all during those days.

And a few other things which aren't really new but I want to mention since I haven't posted anything in a while:

- Does some signing (more, all done, sometimes milk and drink)

(** Does anyone else have any ideas of other signs that were helpful to teach your kid? I have a couple signing videos but I can't decide what would be both useful and possible to teach.)

- Gives kisses! ... if he feels like it. So cute.

- Stopped breastfeeding at 12 months and has been great about switching to whole milk .... he loves his milk (but only at bedtime and before naps)

- Is usually a decent eater but is tough to figure out. He likes broccoli though!

- Helps me empty the dishwasher by handing me all the silverware. I love this because it's the first really helpful, cooperative type of thing he's done with me.

- I love how he points to things when we read books and waits for me to tell him what it is.

Anyway, that's my Max. I agree with a few of my friends who have said that 9-12 months is one the the best stages because they are so fun and pretty easy. Since hitting 12 months he has gotten more opinionated and whiny, which gives me glimpses of what is to come! Yikes. I need to figure out a disciplining strategy pretty quick or this kid is going to be walking all over everyone. But, as always, life with this boy really just gets better and better.