"... but I WANT to be a Baptist!!!"

We recently went to a family baptism for our niece and nephews in October. (I guess not SO recently). It was FINALLY time for 'The Quads' to get baptized and what an event it was! Hundres of peole packed into the chapel for their baptism.

When it came time for everyone to move into the very small room where the baptismal font was, Mason pushed his way to the very front of the crowd, and immediately pressed his nose to the glass. He was so so intrigued by the kids getting baptized. We had talked a lot about it earlier in the week and explained to him that he will too get to be baptized when he turns 8 years old, just like his cousins.

After they all had their turn and it was time to return to the chapel for the rest of the service, Mason became very upset. When his Daddy asked him what was wrong he said, "Daddy, It's my turn next!!" We again had to remind him that he was only 3 and he needed to be 8 in order to be baptized. He was NOT happy with that answer so he turned to me and asked "Mommy, can I be a baptist?" With a little giggle, and corrected him and said "Baptized? You get to be BAPTIZED when you are 8! Wont that be exciting!?" He then again in a VERY loud voice said, " BUT I WANT TO BE A BAPTIST!!" We were now starting to get heads turning, so we quickly had to escort him out of the chape.. but the entire time he was screaming "I WANT TO BE A BAPTIST!" "IT'S MY TURN TO BE A BAPTIST!!" lol! Too cute!

Mason's First Day of Preschool

I put Mason in Preschool in November. He has done so great and I've really seen some really great changes in him since he has started. I took these pictures as we were running out the door on his first day! He ran right into his classroom and never once looked back at me. I cried the entire way home... I just didn't know what I was going to do without my 3 year old! Then I had 4 hours of quiet and I quickly came to my senses and now CHERISH my Tuesdays and Thursdays! lol!

A Day Out with Thomas & Palm Springs

Over Veteran's Day weekend in November, Shane and I got tickets to take Mason for a "A Day Out with Thomas" at the Perris Railroad Museum.


It was as fun day for Mason as well as Mom & Dad.

Mason enjoyed the Trains both large and small.

Shane's parents own a home out in Palm Springs, so after our big day out with Thomas, we continued on to Palm Springs for a fun and relaxing weekend. We had so much fun that I really didn't take many pictures, but one I did capture was of this display of American Flags that was set up just around the corner from where we were staying.

Here's Mason enjoying a bubble bath in the BIG BIG TUB! Too cute!

Capturing my Favorite Moments in October 2009

I really have been SUPER behind on blogging these last few months, but I really just wanted to share some of my favorite pictures over the last few months starting with October.

Shane, Mason and I stayed up late carving Pumpkins one night.
They really turned out cute! Here's their finished products!

Mason was so proud to display them on our porch!

The biggest bummer about October was when we found out that Charlotte had RSV. She really was a sick baby girl for a few weeks and I feel VERY blessed and lucky that she didn't ever get as bad as I knew she could get!

Siblings! Mason just LOVES his baby sister! I think this pictures says it all!

Visiting with Grandma Nancy (I just love little Char's CHUBBY-ness in this picture!)

And this Darling picture with Grandma Dahl

Matching cousins! Luke came over to our house for a few hours with the same shirt on as Mason! Mase was SO excited about this and just HAD to have a picture! They're just too cute!

And last but not least some pictures of me and my babies!

I love Charlee's cheesy smile in this picture the very most!

Halloween 2009

Before I forget some of my most favorite moments of the night, I wanted to quickly get them in!

My most favorite was Mason's Trick or Treating!

Each House that we Trick or Treated at, Mason would RUN up the walk, Ring the door bell, knock a few times, and ring once more if they hadn't made it to the door already.. Then he would happily SCREAM "TRICK OR TREAT!!!!" Followed by a full 3 minutes (at each house) explanation to each neighbor about how they need to watch out for monsters, and if they knock on your door, DON'T answer. They're scary, scary guys! (picture his eyes getting bigger with each SCARY!)" lol! I even heard him lean in close to a neighbor who was trying to follow closely and say "The monster will GET you!!! don't let them in!!" So funny! He also got good at sticking one foot in the door, or just barging right into the homes. We quickly started calling him the Trick or Treat Door to Door Salesman. They'd answer the door and he was prepared with a Trick of talking their ear off!

Halloween was super fun this year for Mason, but also partly a BIG Bummer when we found out the week before that our sweet little 4 month old baby girl had RSV. She got through it pretty fast, and LUCKILY we didn't have to take her to the hospital. Just LOTS of breathing treatments at home, and prayers!



Mason had TWO Halloween costumes this year. The first one was Peter Pan, with his baby sister coordinating as Tinker Bell. I didn't get many pictures of this cute little twosome since the baby was still VERY sick with RSV and we didn't dare take her out... so Mommy took Mason out to our Ward "Trunk or Treat", and Daddy stayed home with Baby Charlee.



Halloween night, Mason decided he wanted to wear his KNIGHT dress up costume. He actually made a VERY cute Knight in Shinning Armor!



I did put Charlotte in her Costume for a few minutes to try and snap some shots of the two kids together, but she was miserable and never once cracked a smile. Poor Baby!

And Halloween wouldn't be complete without dumping the loot bag and seeing whatcha got! The minute we got home from Trick or Treating, Mason IMMEDIATELY wanted to put back on his Peter Pan Costume! I REALLY do love Halloween for the dress ups and imagination! So so Fun!

She's 4 months Old Today!

My baby girl is 4 months old! I can hardly believe how fast the time has gone!

Charlotte a joy to have in our home. She has a very easy going mild personality. She's been sleeping through the night since two months and she has a go with the flow kind of personality. She addores her Daddy and lights up when Mason even glances in her direction!

Shane's Birthday

For Shane's Birthday Present, I thought it would be fun if Mason took Daddy to Medievil Times. Shane and Mason both had never been, so I set it up and we made a party out of it and invited Shane's brother, Darian, his wife, Jacque and they brought along two of their boys. Shane's best friend Jeff and his fiance Robin also came.

When we first got there, Shane wasn't really sure what to think! Lol! But once the little boys got into it, it didn't take long for the big boys to follow! We were assigned to the Green Knight (luckily because Mason had already made up his mind that we were going to be Green before they assigned us our seating!). He didn't win, but he put up a good fight! It was a LOT of fun!




Here are some of the many pictures I snapped that night.

Happy Birthday Shane! I hope you had fun!

6 years ago...

... Shane kid knapped me from work and took me on a little adventure.

It started off with him showing up at my work just after 8 am with a big bouquet of flowers. Then he handed me a change of clothes and said.. go change, and let's get going. (WHAT? You realize I'm at work, right??) So he tells me he's already aranged with my boss to have the day off work, and I can go ask him myself.. which I did of course! Lol! So I hurry and change all the while wondering what the heck he was up to. After I changed and double checked that I wasn't crazy and it was really okay to leave work.. off we went to who knows where!!
We had just got passes to Disneyland so I kind of thought we were going to go there.. until he started heading North on the 405 freeway.. then before I knew it we were heading towards the Long Beach Docks where I became really confused. Where on earth were we going??? It all became a little bit clearere when he pulled into the Catalina Flyer parking lot where I could see Helicopters landing and taking off. Next thing I know I'm on a helicopter flying to Catalina Island.

As we landed there was a fun banner that said "Collette, Will You Marry Me?"


I obviously said YES! It was such a fun fun day! And it's fun to look back on that Adventurous Day. We were so young and had NO idea what kind of real life adventures were were about to embark on, but we both knew on that day it was going to be with each other and were were both completely excted and ready for what ever life had instore of us.. together! I'm so grateful for my creative husband! He really is the best! Love you babe!

Charlotte's Blessing Day

Mormon Night at Angels Stadium

We had so much fun at the Angel's game last Friday night. 10 of our Dahl cousins were there and it was fun to socialize and hang out with the family! All the kids had Rally Monkey's and they loved cheering for the monkey to come! Mason got himself a blue monkey that he has been carting around with him since last Friday. Charlotte is such an easy good baby.. she just went with the flow and had fun cooing and talking to the big lights around the stadium. Can't wait to do this again!

Smiley Girl!

My baby has been so fun these last few weeks! She's talking and smiling and cooing! I just wanted to share some of my favorites!

Charlotte

The last 3 1/2 weeks have been busy for me! I'm still getting into the groove of being a mommy to two, and haven't had to many chances to update my blog and post pictures!

Charlotte is growing and doing VERY well! At her 2 week Dr. Apt. she weighed in at 8 lbs, 14 ounces, and 21 inches long. She wasn't quite her birth weight at that appointment, so they had me go back again 1 week later where she re-weighed in at an even 10 pounds! They were all shocked at how much she gained! We weren't.. in that one week she turned into an eating machine (poor mommy!) and we started noticing her rolls were developing quite nicely!

Mason has been the BEST big brother! He kisses her and wants to hold her all the time, but NEVER without asking Mommy first. He's been so good and such a trooper these last few weeks! (I was a little scared I have to admit.. I guess I should have given my boy a little more credit!)

We also had some newborn pictures taken of Charlotte by Shari Hanson. You can catch a sneak peak of the pictures here.

I have taken so many more pics of Charlotte and Mason that I've been dying to share! I'll have to work on that another day though since I can hear my precious little one screaming! Mommy Duties call!

Our newest edition to the Dahl Family

Yesterday we welcomed Charlotte Eden Dahl into Our Family. Charlotte was my Maternal Great Grandmother's name, and also happened to be Collette's Maternal Great Grandmother's name. So she has a special heritage to follow of wonderfully strong righteous women.

Charlotte was born at 12:37pm on June 15th, 2009. She weighed a healthy 9 pounds even, and was 19 inches long. Both she and Mom are doing really well and recovering quickly. We were also really excited to welcome our Nephew Colin James Dahl born a little over 5 hours after Charlotte in the same hospital by the same Doctor. Christy and Brenden's baby was past due and I guess Heavenly Father had a plan and wanted them to come into this world on the same day. We had planned our C-Section weeks ago, and Colin held out and Christy went into labor in the morning and they joined this world shortly after saying goodbye to eachother in Heaven. We are eternally blessed to be a part of the creation of such a beautiful spirit. Mason loves his sister and so far is adapting well. Thank you to all of you for your kindness, and I'm sure you will be seeing many more updates soon, but for now I have to go to bed, Charlotte kept Mommy and Daddy up all night singing and eating. We love you all!

I have a BAD Blog Addiction.. and now I'm having withdrawals!

Somehow I managed to delete the column/section to the right of my blog that lists all of my friends and family and their blog addresses. You don't even know how this has damaged me! I am completely obsessed with going and checking each and every one of your blogs and hearing what is going on in your lives and how you are dealing with the world.. and now they are gone. ALL GONE!

So if any one is out there reading this.. and you have a blog address that you would be so willing to share with me so I can recreate my blog roll.. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE share them with me again! Some of them I was smart enough to bookmark and I can link myself via friends and family to your blogs.. Others.. well they are gone. So even if you're a lurker and you'd LOVE to share.. please please please do!

I'm hoping to get all of this taken care of before our bundle of joy comes on Monday.. yes.. MONDAY she will be here! So expect an update again on here VERY VERY soon!

Time is running out...

So if you haven't noticed.. I've been neglecting my blog a little bit more. I wish I was doing better at keeping it updated, but I just feel like I have this time bomb ticking away in the back of my head!

For those who I don't talk to on a frequent basis, I have scheduled my repeat C-section for Monday, June 15th! I CAN NOT believe that's only in a little over 2 WEEKS! (TWO WEEKS!) On one hand I can't wait to meet this little person face to face. On the other hand.. I'm SCARED to DEATH! Mostly because I will have a 3 year old AND a newborn to juggle. The newborn part doesn't scare me nearly as much as the 3 year old part. How in the heck am I going to manage?? (Mom's of 2 or more.. your suggestions on how you learned to do this would be greatly appreciated!)

I've become SO comfortable in my little world of just the 3 of us. Shane, Mason and I have a great routine.. we're able to do things like Disneyland almost every week, and lunch dates with Grandma, and play dates with friends, and preschool, etc. And family date nights Where we do dinner and a movie. I feel guilty that all these things are going to be pulled out from under Mason in one swoop! And we're going to have to start getting into a different routine all over again.. I guess I'm more worried about the transition for Mason than for myself and a newborn. Is this normal!?

I find myself thinking.. I should take him to Disneyland, just the two of us.. for one last time. Or maybe I should take him to that favorite park.. or have a beach play day... and then I find myself thinking.. I wonder if I'm shooting myself in the foot for planning all these fabulous things for us to do together right now.. and it's all going to come to a halt when this cute little girl comes into our world.

I'm also feeling like I'm NOT ready! I don't have this done, or I don't have that done and I'm rushing like crazy to wash clothes, clean the house, organize my bedroom, my closet, Mason's clothes, The office, The kitchen! (I guess this is what you call nesting?!) lol! Okay.. so I'm getting a little neurotic... lol! But it sure feels good to know that the hall linen closet has every single towel and blanket in it's place!

My fellow Mom friends.. please tell me what you have learned as the numbers in your family grows and changes.. Things you wish you would have done with #1 when #2 came, or suggestions to make this transition a little easier for ALL of us!

So far the best suggestion I have heard so far is from a Mom of 11 (that's right eleven) kids.. She told me that the nursing newborn doesn't need 100% of my attention.. and that's the perfect time to have your older child bring you his favorite books and read stories. I LOVED that idea! Best one I've heard yet! So you better believe I've already got the book box set up next to the nursing spot for this very thing and I CAN'T wait!

Pregnancy Brain...

Last night I was making dinner and went into the fridge to pull out all the things I needed for my meal. I look in and see a blackened mushy banana sitting there.

"GROSS!" I said.. and ran it to the trash. Then I started thinking.. I don't remember sticking that in the fridge... these hormones must really be messing with me!

So I go back into the fridge to get some more items and I notice my 2 gallons of ice cream sitting in the fridge, half melted and all over the bottom of the shelf... Now I'm really confused. Why would I SACRIFICE 2 gallons of ice cream? So I run those to the trash... the whole time beating myself up and wondering what they heck was I doing to put all these random things in the fridge (and not to mention RUIN all that ice cream!!)

Then I walk around the corner to find my 3 year old.. in total bliss with two popsicles in his hands and it all starts making a little more sense! I'm really not loosing it.. I just have a little busy body in the house that now knows how to raid the fridge whenever he wants!

Celebrating with Mason turning 3!

Mason DID not lack in the celebration department for his 3rd birthday.
We did SO many things for this cute little boy!
We started out the day before his birthday by taking him to the Rain Forrest Cafe at Downtown Disney.

Then we got into Disneyland just in time for the fireworks and to ride the Buzz Lightyear ride (one of Mason's personal favorites!)

His birthday was on Sunday, so we invited the entire Whitaker family over for dinner and ice cream cake.
It was really fun to be able to share his special day with all of them and I think Mason REALLY enjoyed himself!
One of the presents he got was a bowling set. His uncles Duff & Danny convinced him that in order to throw the ball towards the pens and knock them down, he had to have his tongue out, one eye shut, and standing on one leg. Needless to say he nailed this down perfectly and went on to throw a strike!
One week later, we threw a combined birthday party with two of his other little buddies at church. The 3 boys were all born within 4 days of each other in the same hospital. We're all in the same ward and though it would be fun to all celebrate together with a Race Car themed party.

It was complete with a Race Track, A Fueling station and games such as a Tire bean bag toss, Red Light/Green Light, and Mason's most favorite.. A lightening McQueen Pinata!

I was completely surrounded by 2 talented mom's who got their creative juices going. They took over games, decorations and birthday cakes and I was in charge of the fuel (the easy part!) and we provided the pit stop (potty). It really came together nicely and the boys were surrounded by their friends from nursery and family members!

Thanks Alex and Jodi for putting together this fun and fabulous party!

Here are a bunch of my favorite pictures from the party!
Here are the 3 birthday boys!