Shumway Family: 2014

Well, it has been five months since I made a post... which is like 100 years when you have an 8 month old and a 2 year old... so much changes in that amount of time! I don't even know where to begin.

In October we had Calvin's 2nd birthday. He LOVED it! Nathan's birthday was just a few weeks before and we made a huge deal about it. Then, we reminded him every couple days of his upcoming birthday, so we got him super excited about birthdays leading up to it so he knew it was a big deal. Ever since then he has loved when anyone has a birthday and he sings Happy Birthday really well! He loves to just sing happy birthday to anyone and anything when he is at home, it doesn't surprise me at all when he just busts out the birthday song.
One week after Calvin's birthday we had Halloween. Mary, Stephanie, and I threw a Halloween party at the Connemara clubhouse and it turned out SO cute. Calvin and I dressed up as pirates, Cora was the cutest little witch you've ever seen, and Nathan was a robot of his own invention... Scantron. It was a fun day, we took the kids to the women's clinic (where they decorate the whole building and go around to all the different offices) then we took them to the trunk or treat (which was FREEZING). They had a lot of fun. Nathan Muller came down to visit us that week since he was leaving on his mission soon, so we were able to carve pumpkins with him and have him at the party (also he was instrumental in helping me drag the kids all over for trick or treating).
The next big thing was our trip to Evanston for Nathan's "farewell". Our whole family went down the first weekend in November for our early Thanksgiving and Nathan's talk in church. Then, the week before Nathan left for the MTC the kids and I drove down to surprise everyone. It was really fun! I didn't tell anyone that we were coming; when we got to the house we just walked up to the door, rang the doorbell, and waited. Nathan answered the door and just stood there dumbfounded for a second. Mom yelled out, "who is it" and Nathan said, "ummm... Heather". It was so fun! It was great to spend that last week with Nathan before he left. Calvin just loves Nathan and I really wanted him to spend some quality time with him before he was gone.
The next few big things we had going on were (real) Thanksgiving at the Shumway's, traveling to Evanston, going to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert, and Nathan's and my anniversary. Our anniversary was super fun and kind of not at the same time. It was really exciting because it was my first night away from Cora since she was born. It would be only my second night without kids in over 2 years... so kind of a big deal. We said bye to the kids (who were in great hands with Grandma and Grandpa Muller) and went to Salt Lake. We went to see The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug at the IMAX theater, checked into our hotel, went to Benihana, walked around the mall, and finally went back to the hotel to relax. It was perfect! Except for one thing... I left my breast pump in Evanston. During most of the day I was doing okay.. I was able to hand pump enough to stay comfortable, but as the evening wore on I was getting more uncomfortable and getting less to come out. We went to bed and I thought that I could just sleep through the discomfort. At about 3:30 I woke up in a ton of pain. I tried to hand pump and just couldn't get anything to come out. I was extremely full and also super bruised from hand pumping incorrectly all day. I woke up Nathan and was trying to think of what we should do. Nathan decided we should just drive back to Evanston (after I suggested he nurse the milk out himself haha). So, at 4:00 in the morning we packed up our stuff and had a (very) early end to our amazing anniversary.
Then, we had Christmas! We had such a fun time at my parent's for Christmas. Nathan and I got new pillows and Nathan got a laptop (that he had opened early). All December whenever we asked Calvin what he wanted he would say, "people toys and guns", so that is exactly what he got. We got him the cutest little action heroes (that he LOVES) and a dart gun. He also got a Hungry Caterpillar book and dish set from Grandma. Since then he will only eat off of that dish set. Cora got a few random toys (all of which I picked knowing that Calvin would also love them). Calvin loved Christmas so much that he hasn't stopped talking about it. It is now February and EVERY time we go to the store he asks to see the "big Santa" blow up toy. We went to Evanston for Mom's birthday (a month after Christmas) and as we pulled into the driveway he yelled, "I get to see Santa!!!!" I'm so glad he had a good Christmas!
Well, that sort of brings us up to now...
Calvin and Cora are doing great! Over Christmas Cora learned how to crawl and she is all over the place now. She just follows me and Calvin around the house. She is always trying to see what Calvin is doing and she always gets rewarded with a smack on the head or a kick to the face. There are a few times that Calvin is actually nice to her, but they are very few and far between. He takes away everything she touches and doesn't let her play with any of the toys. I'm hoping it is just the age, I'm sure it has been a huge adjustment for him now that his baby sister is actually able to move around and take "his" toys. In just the last couple weeks Cora has started fighting back. It is actually really cute. When Calvin takes away a toy she will do one of a few things. Either she will crawl as fast as she can and ram him with her head down, jump on him and try to pull his hair, or slap at him furiously. She knows she doesn't stand a chance, but she definitely tries. It always ends with Calvin shutting her down and her crying. We are really working on trying to be nice and it is so frustrating!!! Hopefully things will get easier as they both get older.
Calvin has loved singing lately. He just bursts into song all the time. Mostly nursery songs or songs from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (or happy birthday). We also took him bowling for the first time last week and he was in heaven. Cora also just started to dance a little bit. We noticed that anytime a song would come on she would get all excited and kick her legs or swing her arms, then when the song stopped she would stop moving. It is really cute.
Well, that is a very limited recap of the last 5 months! Hopefully I can be more on the ball, these kids change too much every day!

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