Mitch is walking!

It is about time! ;) Just kidding, to be honest I would have been sad if he had done any sooner I think! I mean yeah my back is hurting cause he is heavy, but I'm just glad he is taking his time growing up! Since it is going by way too fast already! He took his first couple steps on May 17th, with Daddy. Daddy was nice enough to tell Grandma(my mom) about it a few hours later, as I sat there thinking "WHAT THE HELL?!!"!! I couldn't believe it! I have been really good not encouraging him to walk while Seth is gone and Seth had been gone 3 days over the weekend working and gets home Monday morning and Mitch walks for him AND he doesn't even think of mentioning to me first! His response to my horror.. "Oh I didn't tell you????" NICE! Oh well, luckily he did it again for me a couple days later... Anyone feel bad for me? LOL!! Got to get it somehow! So he was only doing a couple steps here and there for a few days and then on the 20th at Grandma and Grandpa Andres house he got all into it and started walking like a mad man, literally a mad man.. he looked like a mini Frankenstein! :) We were so excited and his grandparents were super excited! I am glad they were able to witness his sudden burst of confidence, it was SO CUTE!!! He walked back and forth between Seth and I for a good half hour! We luckily had our camera and got some awesome video to share, check it out..


After a little bit I moved further away and this is video of that..


So our big boy is starting to toddle around and with that comes falling down here and there. Trying to minimize that as much as possible, wish I could put him in a plastic bubble sometimes! ;)

Accidents happen..

So I got in an accident.. :( Completely my fault too, unfortunately! I rear ended a truck. I had completely stopped after slamming on my brakes after the 2 cars in front of me did the same, I looked back to make sure Mitch was ok and when I turned back the car was crashing into the truck in front of us! I was wearing slippers and didn't feel my foot come up off the brake. I was so upset! We are just thankful that Mitch and I weren't hurt and that we have really good insurance! So sucky after having such a great driving record for over 10 years! AND I have had this car for over 8 years and hoped to have it at least 1 more year! It was completely paid off, was so nice not to have a payment!! Sadly it was completely totalled because the cost of repair was more than it was worth. So we had to decide what to do! I had always thought that my next car would be a Hyundai too, a more family friendly SUV to be exact. Well after researching and driving a rental SUV(Ford Explorer) I was sold on getting something more pratical and less expensive and I hating having to lift Mitch up that high to get him in! ;) Hey he is HEAVY!! Anyways we punched what we were looking for(more seats, good mileage, under 20k) into a Kelley Blue Book website and it brought up only the Mazda 5 (AKA Micro Mini-van) and I remembered that my girlfriend Fran has one and I had really liked it!! So we checked hers out and searched for used deals online and ended up finding a really great one...
I love that we were able to find such a great deal in Silver!! I prefer it since it stays looking cleaner longer! HA!! It seats 6 and has sliding back doors with windows that roll all the way down! I also LOVE that it has great mini van features but doesn't really look like one! It will definitely be a good "Mom Mobile" for me!

Mitch is 14 Months!!

This is a week late, but I can't let it go by without jotting down a few things I want to remember! He is growing so fast!!! He has become very hands on and is curious about so much!! We can show him how to do something and he just picks it up so fast!! He turns off the lights when leaving his room, he plays with our phones and pretends to text and talk into it, he opens and closes any type of door or drawer he can and tries to copy hand motion to songs(SO CUTE)! The list goes on and on! I love being able to hand him a bag of snacks now since he can now eat without making a huge mess, most of the time! ;) He loves strawberries and cucumbers now, so healthy! As of May 13th and turning 14 months he still hadn't walked on his own, but now is getting it down(I'm going to do a seperate post for that)! He will be losing his baby fat pretty quickly I think! He sprouted his first molar and we had no idea until my sister pointed it out!! He is so good when he is teething, we never really know unless he has a temp or is snotty. He is a little tough guy! He has had a few bumps and bruises which we know comes with the territory of trying to walk.. just makes me sad to see on his face especially!! Since turning 1 he has been rather beastly when not getting his way, but that is finally starting to get better luckily!! We really attribute it to letting him know we are the boss and not giving in too easily! It has been hard, but we are so glad we have stuck to our guns cause he is already much better at understanding we mean business! Doesn't mean he is an angel and never has "a moment", but it is so much better than it was!! He is getting back to his old self! We are loving this fun new active stage with him and are really excited to have him walking on his own and our backs are especially relieved! HA! Here are pics of our cute big boy this last month...

Grandpa Bills and Mitch at the Wild Animal Park

Playing around the Elephant Statues

After eating it while trying to walk around! :( So sad! Was more mad that he had to go back in the stroller tho!

After he got the boo boo clean and bandaged up

Getting a haircut, his hair has been growing so much lately and is starting to curl!



Mitch and his little girlfriend Brooke...

He loves giving kisses to other kids especially! Here Brooke is getting more than she bargained for tho! LOL! Just like his dad!

He is really into the rides at Disneyland now! So serious checking it all out!!

Mitch and all his cousins on the Bills side at Disneyland

Chillin on the honey pots!

At Disneyland with Auntie J

Mitch and his new favorite teething toy!

And some fun videos..

It's that time again!!

Water and Pool time!!! It is hot enough already to enjoy the water and Mitch is LOVING it! We took him to our pool area for the first time, enjoyed the sprinkler area in downtown Fullerton and a blow up pool in the backyard these last couple weeks! We had our first pool playgroup today too and he was definitely a fan, despite falling and getting his faced scratched AND falling a couple times under the water, luckily all us mommies are on top of watching the kids and wasn't anything worse than scaring him a little!! Didn't stop him from playing more luckily, but did help him want to hang onto the side better! ;) We got a little water baby for sure! Here are a few pics of his fun the last couple weeks!
1st time at our neighborhood pool area this year!


So happy!

In the blow up pool in our backyard, our neighbors gave it to us! Nice huh? It unfortunately has holes tho so not working out so well! :(

Mitch got distracted by Daddy's nipple..

Hilarious!!

Downtown Fullerton Water fun at the Farmers Market!



And a couple videos to enjoy..

Happy Mothers Day

Mothers Day was special this year, mainly because of Mitch and how blessed I am to be his mother! Seth unfortunately had to work that day, but took me out the night before to sushi with our good friends the Harris'! He also surprised me with flowers, card and balloon the morning of.. not sure how he pulled that off, but I loved it! Church with Mitch has been kind of a struggle lately, but he did SO GOOD on Mothers Day!! I was actually able to pay attention!! The opening song was "Teach me to walk in the light" which is the song I sing to Mitch at bedtime and that totally made me cry right away!! It really made the day special for me and it was also so sweet to see Mitch recognize it too! He just seemed extra reverant, at least during Sacrament! ;) When all the primary kids got up to sing he thought he was supposed to go too and started to head on up there SO FAST! I almost didn't get to him in time, he was a few feet away from the stairs! He was pretty upset when I grabbed him up! Oh well, its the thought that counts right? Can't wait till he can be up there singing his heart out for me! ;) After church we enjoyed a nice nap and then headed over to my sisters to hang out with the family. We had a great time, enjoyed a yummy BBQ and Amazing Race Finale together. Mitch loves being around his cousins and especially enjoyed the trampoline, swing and Toy Story on the Big Screen TV!! He is at a very fun, yet very demanding stage and I gotta say I'm enjoying being his "mama" as he calls me especially when he is upset! I just love him SO MUCH and cannot believe I went without him for as long as I did!! I'm so thankful for my own mother and the friendship I have with her, she is the best! I'm also thankful for Seth's mom who did such a good job raising him! We have great examples for parenting! I'm also thankful for all the other mothers in my life who have shared their stories, time and children with me, especially while I was struggling with concieving! You have know idea how much that meant to me, I am a much better mother for it! I know others are still struggling with trying to become mothers and to you I say Happy Mothers Day! Such a righteous desire to want to be a mother and I know it is probably a tough day to get through right now, but with faith it will one day be a day you will celebrate with your children! I KNOW IT!! Love you all, Happy Mothers Day!
Mitch and his Grandma Bills(my mom obviously!) on Mothers day

My Mama's Boy

Mitch chillin watching a movie

Pretend City!

A few weeks weeks ago for Playgroup we made a trip to the Pretend City Children's Museum in Irvine. It was so much fun!!! I was really impressed with how much they had much stuff they had for the kids to do and all the kids of every age LOVED it!!! You just go on in and the kids can farm, do construction, fish, shop in a super market and even use an ATM(Ashton was really into that and had a huge basket of Pretend City cash at the end, so awesome! Watch out Matt and Kyra! LOL!!)!! So cool and it made me wish I was a kid again to experience it that way! Can't wait to go back again, here are all the fun pics...
Olivia loved pretending to wash her hands! So funny!

Hunter cooking, so sweet!

Julia fishing

Brody the Fireman, such a little cutie!

Sailing a boat, they had this sweet air pressure system set up!

Boston and Olivia ridin in style!

One of the many trips to the ATM for Ashton, love this pic!!

Ashton and Tera in the supermarket

Mazzi loved the gardening area!! It had the rubber chip things that made it look dirt/mulch, so awesome!

I'm so sad this is blurry cause it is so cute of Nathan with the little shopping basket!!

Reese and Susie

Checking out the produce in the supermarket

Brody and Mazzi, so cute!!

Olivia was a natural on stage!

Mitch doing some gardening

Nathan the Construction Worker, he was really into everything! Loved watching him enjoy it all!

Brody Dispatching, so cute!!

The Thompson family, Ashton on his way back to the ATM!

Ashton counting his cash! :) Love it!

:)

Just like Daddy!

At the "Dr office" we tried to weigh Mitch.. as you see it says EEEEEEEEE for Error!! We thought that was hilarious, Mitch is just confused! ;)

We thought this was funny too! WOW we are great parents! LOL!!



Olivia Fishing

Out little family at the "Marina"

Thinking about what they want to build! Love this pic!