An Asay Story: March 2011

Friday, March 25, 2011

Grandpa Morris

We traveled to Utah to visit my Grandpa's grave. My Grandpa Morris Hillyard is part of my Dax Morrison's namesake.

It was our honor to bring some spring flowers and share some memories of Grandpa.

I loved these photos of my Grandma. Her and Grandpa's marriage is one I strive to emulate, truly they spent their lives in love with one another. My Grandpa died just a week after our wedding and every time I'm in a temple sealing I think of the great man my Grandpa Morris was. We miss him and love him still.

Mr. & Mrs. Hillyard

While in Idaho, Dax and I went to my cousin Blake's wedding. It was beautiful and we had a great time at the wedding, luncheon, reception & open house (phew, lots of celebrating!). Dax wasn't a stranger fan this particular day, but everyone else looks great!

However, Dax is a HUGE Papa fan!

And Nana lover.

But I love Dax most of all.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Cousins Hailey & Sammie

Dax thinks that he is a big kid, just as big as my cousins Hailey & Sammie. He LOVED them. He would get so excited when they'd come to Grandma's and spent most of his time following them around repeating "Hi, Hi, Hi".

He even started walking with just one hand with them, first time he'd done that. He loved chasing these girls around his whole visit!

I'm pretty sure they were pretty fond of him as well!

Idaho Falls Temple

While in Idaho, Dax and I visited the Idaho Falls Temple. We were there for the marriage and sealing of my cousin, but it was special also because it is the Temple that my parents were married in. It was a beautiful Temple.

Dax and Grey wore matching suits and blue bow ties with pocket squares to match the wedding colors. They were quite the attraction, Papa was pretty proud.

Seriously, how cute are they? If I had a dollar for every time we were asked if they were twins.. sheesh, they look nothing alike, people! They are just both adorable and dressed alike.

The new Bride and Groom leaving the Temple.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Cousin Bathtime

One night at Grandma Great's both Dax and Cousin Grey needed baths. So we saved a little water and stuck them both in together. It was adorable!

They were pretty excited to see each other in the tub and spent a while on opposite ends just staring at their bath buddies.

Dax currently has a bad habit of standing up in the tub, which has caused many a tumble in the tub. This night he stood up and had his bare backside right in Grey's face. Well, Grey got the last laugh and first spanked and then went in for a bite of Dax's cheek! I was too slow with the camera, and got this picture right after the incident. Grey must have quickly decided that his car was better to chew on!

Someday these boys might hate us for these pictures.

But for now they are so worth it!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Playing at Grandma Great's

Dax and I spent two weeks at Great Grandma's house. Most of our day was filled with

climbing the stairs (we don't have stairs at our house and Dax loves them!)

and playing Grandma Great's organ. (Here with cousin Grey

and Here with Grey and my cousin Sammy who Dax adored!)

Before other family arrived Curtis and I spent a couple days at Grandma's house alone. Dax and I took a nap one afternoon and I woke up to find that Grandma had taught Curtis how to quilt and they were quilting, chatting, watching March Madness on TV and sharing a Mountain Dew. A memory I will always cherish.

My Grandma makes beautiful quilts for all of her Grandchildren when they get married. This one was for my cousin Blake and she was busy finishing the week before his wedding. We love our quilt and have it one display in our living room. But I have to admit I love it even more after seeing how much time it takes one sweet woman to hand quilt a queen size quilt!

We love Grandma and had such a fun visit with her.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

St. Patty's Pancakes

For St. Patrick's Day we were at Great Grandma's house and made GREEN Pancakes and eggs for breakfast, Dax thought they were pretty funny!

(We changed into green outfits after eating breakfast in our jammies but Great Grandma had a great time pinching us until then!).

Monday, March 14, 2011

Utah Asays

While in Utah it was my privilege to meet some of Curt's Utah relatives for the first time. Curtis and I have 'been together' for almost 9 years and I had never met these cousins that I had just heard referred to as the "Utah Asays". I had only met his Uncle and Aunt briefly on one occasion. We spent a day with them and had a great time. We met Brittany and Cade and their spouses, they were so fun and had adorable kids around Dax's age.

We promised to visit them again, before the next decade passes us by! (But we'd welcome them with open arms if they would ever like to head East.)

The Great Salt Lake

Curtis' Aunt and Uncle drove us out to the Great Salt Lake to take a walk around Salt Lake City's name sake.

Curtis' Uncle Ron & Aunt Debra with Curt & Dax.

As dared by his Uncle, Curtis tasted the Salt Lake. He admitted it was indeed salty, smelling it was enough for me!

Curt impressed us with his rock skipping skills.

It was beautiful, especially with those mountains!

The Salt Lake City Temple

For Spring Break this year Curtis, Dax and I flew in and out of Salt Lake City and drove up to Idaho to visit my Grandma. We took a couple days to visit Salt Lake City before heading to Idaho.

Curtis and Dax had never been to Temple Square or seen the Salt Lake Temple. We had a beautiful day looking around!

Dax slept through most of the tour!

Temple Square really is beautiful, we had such a fun time.

1st Plane Ride

Dax getting ready for his 1st Plane Ride!

He did so great on the plane. He waved and said "HI" to everyone on the plane and in the airport. In preparation for the ride we watched YouTube videos of planes, learned the sign and sound of airplanes (Shooom!). It paid off, he was so excited to see all the planes. We sat in the window seat and out our window he could see the wing of our plane. He would point and say "shooom!" at the wing the whole flight! Adorable kid.

Anecdotes of our "story"

Some life moments worth remembering...

-I was running late for a play date and had the boys in the car, when from the backseat I heard Dax yell "Vvvrooom! Watch out, it's Mama!". (4/2/12)

-While playing with Rockwell I said "Can you say Mama? Ma-Ma, Ma-Ma". I heard from over my shoulder "No, say Say-wah (Shayla)!" (2/22/12)

-This morning I stepped on the scale in my bathroom, looked down at the number and felt a little defeated. Until I heard a little voice peering around the corner say "Good Job, Mama!". I quickly remembered that every pound and stretch mark is well worth it. (2/9/12)

-At dinner tonight I said a blessing on the meal and afterward Dax threw his arms out and asked "Where Dax prayer?". Curtis: "Dax would you like to say a prayer?". Dax "Sure" (with enthusiastic nodding). Curtis: "Would you like help?". Dax: "No help prayer". We said okay, bowed our heads and listened to our son offer his first independent prayer: "Heavenly Father, thank thee for day, thank thee for day, thank thee for day, thank thee for Mama, Jesus Christ Amen. I did it! Hooray, Good job Dax!!". We all 'amen'ed and clapped with him. (1/5/12)

-We own a compilation Disney Story book that has parts of all the Disney Classics. Dax and I were looking through the book, just at the pictures and talking about who everyone was "Simba, Nemo, Aladdin" etc. etc. We got to a picture of Sleeping Beauty dramatically tipped backward and being kissed by Prince Charming and I said "Oh yuck, Dax, who is that?". (Hoping for a typical little boy grossed out reaction). Instead he said "Is Mama and Dada", shook his head and turned the page. (12/2011)

-Today I heard Dax jabbering in his room and went in to get him up from his nap. When I entered he said "Hello, Shayla. How are ya?". (11/9/11)

-We have been preparing for Halloween at our house. Whenever Dax passes our little bowl of candy we have out he asks for some. Yesterday at one instance when I told him he couldn't have a piece, his eyes lit up and said "Trick or Treat!!?"

Dax has a Halloween coloring book and was working on coloring a picture of a vampire. He showed me his coloring and I asked if it was a vampire, he said "No, One-ah-ah-ah!" (Mimicking 'The Count' from Sesame Street).

Today while running errands in the car Curtis asked Dax "What is a pirate's favorite letter of the alphabet?". Dax was quiet for a moment and then yelled "D!!". We laughed and told him he was right. (10/19/11)

-Today I was nursing Rockwell while Dax played on the floor nearby. When he looked up and saw that I was burping Rockwell and no longer feeding him, Dax came over and stood right at my feet and clapped softly (like a golf-clap) and said "Good job, Mama!". He also claps at me and says "Good job, Mama" whenever he says something repeatedly and I finally guess the right word he is trying to say. And the other day clapped and "Good job"'d Nana when she gave him a slurp of her pop. (10/18/11)

- At Nursery when they sing the song "I am a child of God" the teacher passes around a hand mirror for each kid to see themselves as they sing. This morning Dax was playing under the sink in my bathroom and found a hand mirror. He brought it out to where Rockwell was laying, held it in front of him and sang "of God" to his baby brother. (10/15/11)

-Dax is a friendly little kid. Today I took Rockwell to his first Dr's appointment and Dax came along and stayed with Nana in the waiting room while I went back. When Rockwell and I came out I found that Dax had made friends with everyone in the waiting room and reception area. Nana relayed that whenever someone new came in Dax would jump up and run over to them and keep repeating "Hi! Hi!" until he got their attention. At which point he would point to the fish tank in the corner and yell "See fish! C'mon!" and usher them over to examine the fish tank with him. Regardless if the kids were more than twice his size and age or newborns, he made sure everyone saw the fish. When people were heading out the doors Dax would jump up, run over to the doors and push the handicap button so the doors would open for them and then stand in front of their exit yelling "I did it! I did it!" (with the accompanying side fist pump and jump), so excited to have helped. He makes us laugh everyday. (10/10/11)

-The other day Curtis and I drove through an ATM. When we rolled down the window to work on the ATM, Dax yelled from the backseat at the top of his voice "FRENCH FRIES... POP... KETCHUP!" (That's a clear sign we have had too much fast food lately!) (10/1/11)

-Dax has been to several movies in his little life and LOVES them but gets a little dramatic. For example we took him to the movie Rio today and there is a scene where the main character bird gets captured. Dax yelled at the top of his voice "OH NO!" and covered his eyes with his hands. And then slowly moved his hands down to his cheeks and kept them smooshed there until the scary scene was over. He had several rows of people laughing. He also yelled "hooray!" and "woohoo!" while clapping or fist pumping at happy parts. He's a great critic. (10/1/11)

-I've been telling Dax the color of things for a long time, but never have asked him about them. Today while playing I held up a frog and asked "What color is this?". Dax looked up and said "green" and then leaned over and pointed to the lions mane and said "red" and just got up and walked off. I sat there dumbfounded, I guess he's been learning his colors without my asking for his repetition! (9/28/11)

-I love that Dax calls muffins "cookie bread". Today he asked for "drink treat". I opened the fridge to find he was pointing to the KoolAid he helped me make last night. Who knew that adjectives were so adorable? (9/27/11)

-Dax's blocks have pictures of animals, numbers and shapes on them. While playing with blocks this morning I picked up a block with a cow on it and showed it to him asking "what is this?". To which he replied "a Moo". He did a double take at the block and said "uh-oh, cry!" (I guess it looked like a sad cow), took it from my hands, cradled the block in his arms and said "shh, alright, alright", comforting the sad block while rocking it back and forth. We hope he shows the same initiative and tenderness towards a crying baby we'll be bringing home in the coming days! (9/27/11)

-Dax loves the Moon. He squeals with excitement every time he is out late enough to see it. He has also been equally excited to find "moons" in other places lately. The Nike 'swoosh' on his tennis shoes and the fingernail clippings after a recent trim all received squeals and were called "Moooooo-Nuh"! (9/2011)

-This morning Dax was being silly and I asked him "How come your such a stink-pot?" and he answered by starting to sing "I am a child of God". Nothing like a toddler to put you in your place! (8/29/11)

-Dax hasn't quite mastered the art of fake-crying. Today when I told him "no" and it wasn't the answer he was looking for, he pulled a pouty face and walked around the house signing and saying "cry, cry, cry" as slowly and as pathetic as he could. (8/18/11)

-Today I got Dax's lunch all ready and sat it in front of him. He looked it over and said "Ohh cookie, where are you?".(8/15/11)

-In preparation for us going to the Temple in a couple days, I've been showing Dax pictures of the Temple and practicing with him saying the word Temple. I mostly practice "tah-tah-temple" to him, since he has trouble getting the "t" sound out first. I heard him walking around talking to himself practicing and saying "tah-tah-football"! (7/12/2011)

-Tonight we got Dax ready for bed out of order than usual and were off our routine. I went to put Dax in his bed and he squealed and said "Noo!". I looked at him questioning what the problem was and he said "Brush teeth? Please?". He was right, I had forgotten to brush his teeth! I love that not even 18 Months old he knew his routine and LOVES to brush his teeth! (7/11/2011)

-Today I was playing with Dax on the floor of my room. Whenever Dax would walk out of the room I would pretend cry and say I missed him too much and he would come running back in with a big smile. He'd run right over to me, wrap his arms around me and tip his head to rest on my shoulder in a big hug. We did this over and over again. Until, I peeked my eyes open from my fake crying to see Dax turning the corner into our room with toilet paper in hand still attached in the bathroom, stringing through the house. He brought the tissue to me, dabbed my eyes, wiped my nose and said "bye bye Mama". It must have been time for me to get over my separation anxiety! (6/28/11)

-Tonight while changing Dax he said "Mama", "Yes?" I asked and looked up at him. "I love you, Mama" he said. (Which sounded more like "uhyuhyoo, Mama" and there's a chance no one else would have known what he was saying). But, it was probably my favorite moment of motherhood so far. (6/19/11)

-Sitting at dinner tonight Curtis burped an quickly covered his mouth and said "Excuse me". Later, Dax let out a big burp and snapped around to look at me and put his hand to his mouth and said "Thank you!". Not quite "excuse me", but for a 16 month old little boy, I'll take it! (6/6/11)

-Dax loves to tell his Nana & Papa's dog to "come" and "sit", even if she has already come and is sitting. During the Gibb Family Reunion this year he started also telling his cousins to "come" and "sit". One incident with an older cousin who knocked him over caused this cousin to be put in Time-Out. Dax sat in front of his cousin and when his cousin tried to sneak out of his Time-Out, Dax would point and yell "Sit!". (5/2011)

-Today Curtis and I took a scenic drive and picked out some of our old Cd's for tunes. I put in an old Middle School mixed "NOW" Cd and Curtis and I busted out our best Boy Band dance moves while driving along with the music from our youth. I looked in the back to see Dax dancing his best too; BIG smile, rocking back and forth as best as he could in his carseat, nodding his head and doing the motions to the Eencie Weencie Spider (aka Itsy Bitsy Spider)! He looked so proud of himself that he knew some fancy dance moves too! (5/1/2011)

-At lunch today Dax did a great job finishing his meal so I asked if he would like a cookie to finish. Of course got a great big smile and nodded YES. I gave him an Oreo and watched to my surprise as he dug his thumbs in and opened the cookie up, licked out all the filling while saying "Yummm", then tossed the cookies on his tray and said "all done". He reminds me more of his Dad everyday! (4/27/2011)

-While on vacation, Dax crawled into the room his Aunt Kalie was staying in. I heard him saying "Ch Ch Ch Ch" and went looking for him. I found he had opened her toiletry bag and pulled out her toothbrush. He was singing all he knew of the song "Brush your teeth, Ch Ch Ch Ch" and was pretending to brush his teeth. I didn't see that he had actually put the toothbrush in his mouth, but made no promises.

-Tonight I went into our bedroom to find that the laundry basket on the floor was now full of socks and Curtis' underwear. And the bottom drawer of our dresser that usually holds said socks and underwear was open and completely empty. I guess someone was busy while I wasn't paying attention today!

-Dax loves folding his arms to say prayers and will throw his hands up and yell AMEN and then clap when prayers are over (more commonly when he is done with the prayer and ready to eat but the prayer is not over). We've been working on saying prayers and saying Thank You's. Dax was done with dinner and Nana offered him a cookie for dessert, he was really excited and gladly took it. I asked Dax "Will you say Thank You for your cookie?". He nodded his head "Yes", folded his arms, bowed his head and paused in silence. After a couple moments of silence he said amen and shoved the cookie in his mouth. I had intended on Nana being thanked for the cookie, but Dax knew better.

-Dax very clearly can say "Papa", which he calls Shayla's Dad. A couple weeks ago, Dax was taking all of my magazines off my shelf and pulled down an Ensign Magazine that on the front cover had a picture of President Monson on it. Dax gasped and said "Wow! Papa!" as he pointed to our Prophet and leaned down to give him a kiss.

-Very recently Dax developed a fear of horses. We couldn't figure out where he got it, since he has been around horses since being a newborn. Until, we had on 'Beauty and the Beast' as a background during our day and Dax pointed to the Beast on screen and yelled "NEIGH!". There's a big difference between the horses we ask Dax to pet and the Beast, but I guess he doesn't see those differences yet.