{Merry} Christmas

love, the nelson's

tyler.heather.cohen.talon

Halloween 2011

Halloween gets better each year! I loved Halloween as a child, but as I got older, I didn't enjoy it as much. After teaching elementary for the last 5 years and having two little boys, my zest for Halloween is back. This year Cohen and Talon dressed up and came to my school for the annual Halloween Parade. I thought Cohen would love to walk around the school with my class, but he was being shy. Talon, on the other hand, came and loved it! It was way too hot for him to be in his Tigger costume, but seeing all the kids made up for it. For Halloween night, the boys went trunk-or-treating with their cousins. Cohen had to be reminded several times to just take one. I don't think we ever offer him a whole bucket of candy and let him choose one like that. He savored every moment of it!

Our Sweet Baby Boy...

Our sweet baby boy is changing every day. Being a working mom makes it challenging to record all the little things that Talon can do on a daily basis. I wanted to do a little update for me on the new things Tal has learned how to do.

6 months:

Weight 19 1/2 lbs. (79 percentile)

Height 27 1/2 in. (83 percentile)

Head Circ. 17 in. (32 percentile)

At six months, Talon learned to roll over both directions. He found his hands and loves to put them in his mouth. Usually, he got tired between 5:30 and 6:00 and would go to bed shortly after that. Talon loves Cohen! I am so happy he has an older sibling to watch and interact with. Some of the best moments I have with my kids are watching them play together. Now that Talon can interact back, Cohen is starting to like him more and will randomly want to hold him or kiss him which never happened before!

Talon also loves food! You probably couldn't tell based on his weight, but he really enjoys eating. Tal will eat almost anything except peas and green beans. Some of his favorites include: sweet potatoes, bananas, and carrots.

One thing I love about Talon is his happiness. I look forward to the moments where he finds me in the room and just smiles! When Talon is sad, I am the person that he usually wants to calm him down. When Tyler comes home from work, Talon lights up. He loves his daddy and giggles with him.

This weekend we had a lot of errands to run and Cohen refused to go with us. He begged Tyler to let him go to his Uncle Brock's house. During the errands, it was so fun to have some one-on-one time with Talon. At seven months now, he has started to change. His personality is coming out and he is loud! At the mall, he giggled uncontrollably and loved hanging out in his stroller. When we walked in the Disney Story, Tal got really excited and tried to grab all the stuffed animals. We gave Cohen Tigger when he was this age so we figured we better find one for Talon. We ended up buying him Sully and Simba for Christmas. Hopefully he will love them as much as Cohen loves his Tigger! Now that Talon is getting older, I can see the benefits in having some alone time with your children. Whenever we take both kids anywhere, I am the one to take care of Talon while Tyler takes care of Cohen. I could tell Talon loved the attention he got from his dad.

At seven months, Talon can now sit up and is playing with toys while sitting. My sister-in-law is amazed that he can be so chubby, but yet so mobile. He is a mover and goes non-stop. Talon is starting to remind me of Cohen. People forget that Cohen was a sweet and innocent boy until he discovered how to move. I tell people all the time that Tal is our mellow child, but I am beginning to question that. I guess time will tell...

Don't you just love his chubby cheeks and bright blue eyes?

Sundays...

I have a new appreciation for young mothers and children at church. I thought church was rough with Cohen as a one year old, but to now have a 7 month old and a 2 1/2 year old, church is hard. Each week it turns into a game of trying to keep Cohen occupied with treats, books, toys, milk, and more treats...and that is to only get through Sacrament. Then it is on to nursery which isn't much better because Cohen refuses to let me leave him alone. I am not trying to be an over protective mother either. I truly have left him several times and it always ends the same with Cohen crying and breaking out one way or another.

I love our new ward meeting, but the handles are too easy for young ones to escape. Cohen has explored many ways of breaking out of nursery. I will share a few for your enjoyment. The first happened a few months back when his teacher keep blocking the door from him. Using his best problem solving skills, he choose the window for his escape. I mean I don't blame him. Being lock up in a ten by eight room isn't easy for anyone. Just a little FYI for the story, I was in the room about 3 feet a way when this happened. One minute he was playing with a car on the chair. The next he jumped on the chair and flew out the window. Luckily, a nice leader saw the jail break escape and grabbed his leg before his face met the cement outside.

Another nursery escape story happened just last week. During snacks and coloring, Cohen was the only child that had to continually walk around the room. He walked at least 30 laps during the 45 minutes we were there. During his laps around the table, every few minutes he would check to find me in the room. If I wasn't watching (and sometimes when I was), he would make an escape. The first time I wasn't too mad. I figured he is two and needs a little break out of the room, but after the 3rd going on 4th time I was DONE! Mind you, the 4th time he made it out the nursery door, through the main entrance door, and was about to enter the parking lot when I frantically caught up with him. His timing couldn't have been any better because the 1:00 Ward was just walking in for Sacrament and held many doors open up people. Little did they know that a two year was breaking out during that exact moment. Sadly, I gave up. I took him home and put him down for a nap. It truly was my only sanity for the day. Good thing I love Cohen more than anything in the world and still continue to take him each week along side Talon (who is still as sweet as ever). Otherwise, I don't think I could do this week after week!

Nelson Family Pictures

Last Sunday, we got our family pictures taken with Tyler's side. I couldn't believe how different family pictures were this time around versus several years ago without any kids. With 3 toddlers and a baby, I didn't know how they were going to turn out, but I am glad we got a few. After this experience with family pictures, I don't know if I am ready to venture out for Barney family pictures with 14 kids under 10. I guess I should be glad Photoshop was invented! Enjoy!

Five Months...already?

Talon hit the big 5 months this past week! My little boy is doing new things every day. I forget how quickly they learn to adapt to the world around them. Talon is truly the best baby ever. He goes to sleep between 6:15-6:30 and sleeps until 6:30 or 7:00 the next morning, usually about the time Cohen starts banging on their door! We have discovered he stays pretty content if he can sleep when he is tired and eat when he is hungry. If we mess with either of these two things, he has found his voice and he will let us know! It doesn't happen too often, but when it does we know what it means.

One of Talon's favorite things to do is to get ready for bed. He loves being naked while splashing in the tub and snuggling up with his binky while watching his mobile spin around and around. At five months, Tal loves baby food. With having two little boys, I forget to feed Talon his baby food frequently. Opps! I am so busy feeding Cohen that I neglect my little baby. I didn't realize it would be so hard managing two kids during meals! Hopefully it will get easier...

My adorable boys! We sure love them to pieces!

End of Summer Vacation

All good things have to come to an end, at least that is how the saying goes. My summer vacation has come to an abrupt halt. I now go back and join the working class tomorrow and meet my adorable second graders. For my last week of freedom, I tried to do fun things we Cohen and Talon throughout the week, which was exhausting. One of my favorite things I discovered was Payson Pool. Tyler had a work party there and we decided to try it out. Everyone has told me how great it is, but I always replied by saying no pool works for Cohen. After actually visiting the pool, I was happily surprised to see that it was perfect for Cohen. The kids pool and adult pool are separated by a building so Cohen didn't even know there was another option. The pool doesn't get deeper than 3 feet and most areas are 1 foot. I could carry Talon in the pool while chasing Cohen as long as he stayed in the 1 foot range. The play place was a blast and Cohen giggled every time he went down the slide. I feel like I missed out on a fun place to take my kids all summer. This will definitely be on the agenda for next summer.

Nolan and Cohen spent one of the days destroying the house, slip-n-sliding outside, and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. To two toddlers, this was an awesome day. For me, I didn't get anything accomplished, but I did get to spend the day enjoying Talon while Cohen and Nolan entertained one another. I am hoping this is how it will be next summer when Talon can follow Cohen all over the house.

On my last day home with the boys, we met some friends at the city park. I didn't realize how perfect this park was for Cohen and Talon. For one, it is shaded completely so I could take Talon out of the stroller and let him lay out in the shade. Another reason it worked better than other parks is it isn't a huge park. The equipment is fairly close together which makes it easier to watch Cohen. I will have to bring my boys back there to play! Now on to BYU soccer and volleyball games! Fall here we come!