Big Boy Bed

Little Spencer is sleeping in the trundle bed for the first time tonight (he tried last night but kept wanting to snuggle with Garret...they were having a little too much fun...back to the crib he went...tonight he didn't make a peep!)- How did he get so big?!

Trenton's Graduation

Tyler went to his little brother Trenton's high school graduation today. I can't believe he is graduated he was 11 when I met him. Tyler said he had a great weekend, he loved seeing his family and being a part of Trenton's big day.

Memorial Day

Tyler got home today!!! Here the boys are waiting for him!
I asked them how excited they were to see him and these are the faces they made!

We had a great afternoon all together. We went to the duck pond, to dinner and shopping. Here is the first outfit for the new baby!!! It is so nice being back together. I will post pictures of his trip soon.

Here is my big ole baby bump at 20 weeks...I can't believe I am only half way...I feel so huge!!!

Service Week 21

I think this week I will gather items for two hearts for hope. They ship items to an orphanage in Kazakhstan. Each month there is a different item requested. This month is hygiene. I think I will try to put together at least a couple hygiene kits. Let me know if you want to join me.

"Like Brother's Do"

Tyler left Thursday and let's just say we are ready for the other referee to be back! Things really have gone pretty well. We have spent a lot of time outside and with friends. The nights are a bit of a drag and everyone seems worn out. Tonight the kids were in the bath and I told them to stop wrestling in there. They didn't listen very well and Spencer got this nice little shiner. Garret said "I'm so sorry Mom, I didn't know that would happen....I was just lovin him like brother's do", I guess that means brother love each other by wrestling....that's a relief I thought all that wrestling and fighting indicated other emotions! I am no longer in nursery at church. I think I was ready for a change. I had been anticipating a a while with nothing to do at church but sit in class and listen. Instead I am the Relief Society secretary. I am not really sure all that entails yet...I really haven't been in Relief Society much ever so I guess I will get to learn as I go.

Here she is...

Here is her spine and head (sorry it's turned wrong). There are her fingers.

And her little face!

I thought I scanned a foot print as well but it didn't come up for some reason. It was so fun getting to see her...20 more weeks and we can hold her!

Duck Pond

I know I promised pictures of the ultrasound!!! I really am going to scan those soon so everyone can see our baby GIRL... but for now here are pictures of the boys. Tyler is out of town for the weekend (his brother is graduating from high school). I asked the boys what they wanted to do they came up with a few things...the first thing was go to the "duck Pond". So we headed there this morning. (They wanted Daddy to see everything they are up to so I'll try to update this often for him!)

As soon as Tyler left they started waving to the airplanes and yelling "Hi Daddy". This morning there was a message from Tyler on the phone. It started playing and the boys came running into the kitchen looking for Tyler because they heard his voice. They sure love their Daddy. Hopefully we will have a fun weekend here even without Tyler.

On another note-

I wish I recorded more of the funny things Garret says. He is constantly coming up with great lines. I forget them too fast though. Spencer is starting to talk a ton and seems to be amusing us all the time as well.

Garret came to me this morning and said "Guess what Mom?" I said "What?" he said "Some people have TWO bathrooms...that's so cool!".

Every time he sees a cigarette on the ground he says "Mom look it's one of those things we don't blow in."

He loves to tease Spencer (which sometimes is funny...most of the time it just makes Spencer scream) anyway he will go "Spencer Josh is in the bathroom". Spencer falls for it every time and goes running to see a friend. Then is totally confused when no one is there.

He calls Dandelions "Dandy flowers" and gets so excited when there are lots of "Dandy flowers".

He talks no stop about the "turkey trot" he is going to be in and how Uncle Dan is taking him hiking this summer. He practices all the time!

I will have to think of more funny things they say so I can record them.

Drum Roll Please.....

We had our ultrasound this morning...despite the popular belief that we can only produce adorable, handsome little boys....we are having a GIRL...yep that's right....baby three is a GIRL- a cute little baby GIRL...a GIRL!!!

We are super excited (we like to think we would have been either way). Tyler got in the car and said in a very excited voice "I've never been a girl Daddy before!". We had planned to put a picture of a boy ultrasound up and pull everyone's leg but Tyler said there was no way he could keep it a secret, even for a day.

I will post the ultrasound pictures soon!

Multiply and Replenish-2009

Each year some of us have gotten together and taken a picture of our kids. Each year the group gets bigger and bigger. I think next year there will be at least four more on the couch! Garret, Ella, Chase, Crew, Spencer, Ruby, Jacob, Marcus, Trey, Jude and Quinn

The Drive-In

Monday night we decided to head on over to the drive-in. We took the backseat out and made a big bed for the boys in the back. They watched a movie on the laptop while we watched on the big screen.

After their movie ended they thought it was so exciting to sleep in the back of the van. They were actually pretty upset about being woken up to sit in their seats on the ride home.

Even though it might take us a day or so to recover from the lack of sleep it was worth it to get out together.

Service Week 20

Wow, week 20 already. It feels like I just started working on this little goal of mine. I keep thinking I will get more organized and plan ahead better...I better get on those things or this year will be over before I get to it. I am happy with what I have accomplished so far. I love when people participate with me, I love that my mind is thinking outside my bubble more, I love that I am starting to look for and see need, I love when my kids are involved. The hardest part for me is planning what I am going to do. I run out of ideas or just keep doing the same things (not that that is bad). Lots of weeks I plan something and then end up doing other things as well (which is good). So once again if anyone has ideas for me....let me know!

This week I think I will try to make a few things for the organization Newborns in Need.

Us + two = Lots!

We babysat for some friends while they went to New York City. I was pretty nervous to have them all for so long (Thursday night to Saturday night), but it really wasn't that bad. It was busy but everyone got along pretty well and everyone slept good.

We kept busy playing outside, going to the mall play place, shopping, going to a birthday party, reading and lots of playing. Their parents told us their daughter can be dramatic...we never saw that side of her...she was so cute and easy. We decided if all girls are like her we just might have to get ourselves one (we find out Thursday!).After letting them run around in the sprinkler they "worked" in the garden. After that I had four muddy kids, so I gave them all a bath together. It was pretty funny seeing them all in there. They thought it was soooo cool!

The last night we let them "camp out" in the living room. Spencer couldn't stop talking so he took his sleeping bag into his bedroom and camped in there but the other boys did so good. I think after me taking Spencer into his room they were all so worried they might not get to "camp" that I didn't hear a single word out of them.

By the end we were all tired but it was fun and I think their parents had a good time. It ended up being a good trade since we got to go away a month ago.

This has nothing to do with our busy weekend of babysitting. But look how gross it was behind my couch...you would think it had been years since I cleaned back there...it wasn't!

Mother's Day- One to Remember

First of all I want to give a little shout out to my Mom and Tyler's Mom for being great Mothers. We are truly grateful for all you have done for us. Thanks to all the great Mother's and women in our lives- We have been touched in so many ways by so many examples of love and kindness. 

My Mother's Day started off by breakfast made by Tyler and the boys- mmmm it was good! They also made me cards and Garret sang me his song a couple times. We got ready for church and we were off. Garret was so excited to sing up on the stand! His turn came and he was all smiles. I winked at him and he tried to wink back (he covered one eye with his hand), he gave me the "I love you" sign and he sang really well!  I am such a baby but I had a tear or two in my eye, he is just getting so big and I love him so much!

During the closing song they had us stand up. Somehow, we are not sure exactly, Spencer hurt himself. We think he must have held onto the bench in front of him to get down and hurt it. So the rest of church I was in the hall with him. He kept crying and saying "owie". It was really bothering him. He cried to sleep for a minute and so I thought "I will try to move it while he is asleep to see if it really hurts". It did- it woke him right up and the screaming started again. 

When we got home we have him some medicine and he seemed to calm down. He would only cry when he moved his arm not all the time.

He refused to use it, if we moved it for him he cried so we took him to the ER (we have been there way more than we should be). After waiting a while we went back (Spencer seemed a lot better and I was worried it would be nothing- don't get me wrong that would have been a good thing, I just would have felt bad for coming to the ER). The Doctor took a look at it and did a little arm twisting and popped the elbow back in. Apparently he had dislocated it. Within minutes of it being popped back in he was using it again and all better.

He missed his nap though (that is not a good thing). He was so grumpy, I finally asked him if he wanted to lay by me for a minute. Literally as soon as he snuggled in he was asleep (that doesn't happen with Spencer- I love snuggling him though). I let him take a little nap but it was pretty late in the day by then. As a result we had two rather grumpy kids for the afternoon. I kept trying to say "it's Mother's day you have to be happy" but they were just so tired.

They made me a yummy dinner.  And rather than being to bed early the days events caused them to go to bed late- so I am sure tomorrow will be interesting as well. It really was a day packed full of sweet moments and a bit of craziness!

I love being a Mother. I love my kids. There are hard days and easy days but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have learned so much from being a parent. I feel so blessed to have the two wonderful kids I have. They make me smile everyday. I am excited for our new baby and all the adventures in parenting that are ahead!

Here is cute little Garret boy singing to me!

Service Week 19

I have a few things I have started and havent finished from other weeks...I think that will keep me busy this week.

Dear Grandpa Bob-

Dear Grandpa Bob-
The birdies are in the nest we made a long time ago. There were five babies and one egg. They were really cute. I named one "shashaboomboom". They really like the house. Thank you for helping me make it.
I love you- Garret
(That was straight from his mouth!)

- We decided to take a peek inside the bird house (it was made so the top can come off). We lifted Garret up first and oh boy was he excited when he saw babies in side! I love their enthusiasm!

How can I be frustrated with this...

Little Garret didn't take much of a nap...I heard him humming in my bed for an hour or so. Then I heard his little feet prancing around. I was about to go tell him to lay in bed til I told him nap time was over...before I got there he burst through the door saying "you are gonna be so happy". He had cleaned my room for me (it was interesting...but sweet). I thanked him and told him how happy I was and then we discussed the best time to do nice things for people....(not when we are suppose to be napping).

After nap time I went upstairs to work on something and the next thing you know I hear "come see this, you are gonna be so happy". He had taken the entire laundry basket full of clothes and "put them away" (he stuck some in each drawer!). He was so excited about it...I thanked him again and then we discussed how we should help people by doing things we know how to do and that certain jobs he should ask me before doing!

We will see what he comes up with next!!!

On another note...Spencer had his two accidents this morning and has since gone back to telling me when he has to go...I am hoping this morning was the fluke and this afternoon the norm!

Some good news- Tyler finished his finals today!! Yeah!!! Now he is technically a fourth year dental student! He has a three day weekend before he heads back for spring extension!!!

Regression

Spencer has been doing so well with the potty, he tells me most of the time, he rarely has had an accident, he hasn't gone back to diapers once since we started not even at night, I can take him out and not worry too much. It's been awesome....until today!

I don't know what is wrong with him. I will ask him if he has to go and he says no then he goes number 2 in his pants (comes looking for me screaming "YUCKY"). It is a bit softer than normal so maybe he just doesn't have as long to react to it but it's sick and frustrating. I am hoping he is just having an off day...UGH! (I know I shouldn't complain he is barely 22 months old and generally speaking doing amazing- but cleaning out the underwear is not one of my favorite things).

Speaking of regression let's talk about Garret. He used to suck his fingers all the time. We told him when he turned three he had to stop. He did- except the occasional time I heard him when he was sleeping. Gradually I started hearing it more and more at night. He never really sucks on them during the day but at night he does. So I put some tape on his fingers to help him remember not to. The next day I go in and he is sucking on the other hand (that he never sucks on) so that night I put it on two fingers on both hands. The next morning he is sucking on his thumb (which I don't think even as a baby he ever did). So last night he went to bed with tape on every single finger. Hopefully a few nights of this will break him completely. It really doesn't bother me but I don't want him to mess up his teeth.

Between the two of them they keep me busy!

Questions

I saw this on someone else's blog and thought it would be fun to see what Garret had to say...enjoy!

1. What is something mom always says to you? Not to poke Spencer (I didn't know I said this a lot!!!)
2. What makes mom happy?When I make her smile (He loves to smile and me and say "are you so happy now?")
3. What makes mom sad?when I make bad choices (True)
4. How does your mom make you laugh?tickle me
5. What did your mom like to do when she was a child?you had pets (He always wants me to tell him about the animals I had when I was little)
6. How old is your mom?I don't know
7. How tall is your mom?really long (!)
8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV? Just TV I guess (He never really sees me watch TV)
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?Do different stuff, boring stuff (He thinks anything that doesn't include him is boring)
10. What is your mom really good at?helping me with stuff (This boy thinks I know the answer to everything)
11. What is your mom not very good at?I don't know (Someday that answer will change)
12. What does your mom do for her job?clean the house and stuff (All the time it feels like)
13. What is your mom's favorite food?Jello (I think I have made this for the first time last night)
14. What makes you proud of your mom?When Spencer got potty trained (?)
15. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Maybe the duck from the library movie (it was a duck that spelled everything so I guess I resemble that)
16. What do you and your mom do together? go outside
17. How are you and your mom the same?we are not the same- you're big and I am little
18. How are you and your mom different?Because you are big and I am little
19. How do you know your mom loves you?Because you say "I love you"
20. What does your mom like most about your dad?that he likes to go to the playground (I am easy to please!)
21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?Chuck E Cheese (Maybe he heard the question wrong!)
22. What is one thing you wish you could change about your mom?She could be even sillier
23. What would your mom do with a million dollars?I don't know, just put it back
24. What do you wish you could go and do with your mom? Go on a date with Mommy, please can we do that? (Of course!)
25. What is one thing you hope never changes about your mom?That she never turns into a TV Character. (He was a little concerned after that cartoon character question)

It was fun asking Garret and seeing what he said. Being his Mom is so much fun!!!

It's finals week....

...so I am home while Tyler is off studying. I can't complain, Tyler does an amazing job of spending time with his family, but finals week is extra busy. So here i sit trying to decide what to do...I don't really feel like doing much so I guess I will see if there are any new pictures on my camera.


Here is one we took of our house. We thought it would be good to take a picture of it in the spring time since we will be selling it in winter and winter is not so pretty. Unfortunately the sky was kind of grey so we might try for another one on a sunnier day. This may look like just a garbage can...it's not. Inside there is a rat- yep a RAT. Tyler found it in there and stuck the lid on real fast. We couldn't decide what to do. We just couldn't bring ourselves to kill it...come on we could barely lift the lid. Then we thought about taking it down the street and dropping it off but decided the neighbors may not like it. Then we thought we could find a cat and through it in there with it but most of our friends with cats have inside cats that aren't really that tough and we would hate for them to lose to the rat. Then Tyler looked up rat poisons online and found something that was suppose to kill it right away (we didn't really enjoy this, we don't even squash ants in our house). It did not kill it right away. The next day it was still moving around in there. But Tyler had to go to school and I wasn't going to go out and play with it so it's still in there.

We roasted hot dogs Saturday night. These boys have no idea how lucky they are to have a Daddy that is so patient with them. They loved roasting the hot dogs and marshmallows. I was actually cold sitting outside and thinking "why didn't we just eat inside" but as I heard Garret talk about what a great night it was I realized that that was reason enough to sit out in the cold.

The Rocket!!! Tyler has been helping the boys work on the rocket at night. They love it. Garret and Spencer just sit and watch and help when they can. Then they run around and pretend to be rockets. They can't wait to "blast it off". I hope it lives up to their expectations. (Garret keeps saying that he wants a rocket for his birthday now).

As far as other news. I went to the doctor today. Everything looks good. The heart beat was in the 130's. My ultrasound was rescheduled for May 21st- only a couple more weeks and we can see the little one.

Service week 18

Last week we babysat, worked on the blanket and took flowers to "Grandma Bates".

This week I think I will take it as it comes.  I am going to try and watch for and pray about someone I can do something for.  

--Sorry to all of you that are sick of having my weekly service post pop up in your reader but I love the idea of my kids looking back and seeing me strive for this goal.  Also I love the weeks that people join me the very best.  It's fun doing it together so if anyone ever has ideas or wants to do something with me let me know...

May Day

May Day is not a very big holiday...I did not know this until moving away from home. When I was growing up we always celebrated May Day. I remember in Elementary school making baskets to put flowers in to take to people. We always gave lilacs to our bus driver (I love lilacs). My year to give them to the bus driver I was so excited. I stepped on the bus and it was a sub and a man. I had a moment of shock then just handed him the flowers and sat down.

Then I met Tyler and he didn't even know what May Day was. I remember telling him on the phone about May Day (we were apart for a summer while we were dating). I read him what the encyclopedia said and then told him all my May Day memories. The next day he sent me flowers...I guess he decided to keep May Day alive.

This year I let the boys pick flowers from our yard (the ones they aren't aloud to touch) and we took them over to Grandma Bates our next door neighbor (that they love). She loved them and the boys thought it was so fun.

When we went home they thought the flowers were fair game and started pulling them out...I stopped that pretty quick. They have been getting into a bit of mischief lately. They are fairly well behaved little guys but the other day I found them giggling under the crib with a pack of graham crackers (that is just one example!).

*side note- I think Spencer might be potty trained (I will probably retract that statement tomorrow), he has started telling me when he has to go and he has had several accident free days in a row!

April 30th

April 30th is a big day at our house for two reasons-

The first being it is Tyler's birthday.

The boys crawled in bed with him when they woke up. Then woke him with kisses.It was finally time to open the presents. Most of his presents were not that exciting. However, the boys picked him out a rocket about a month ago. It has been wrapped waiting. They were so funny about it. They would not say the word rocket around Tyler, even if it came up in conversation (they would say "oh we can't say that"). Then as soon as he left for school they would run around and say "Rocket, Rocket, Rocket". They were really excited for him to open it. I think they thought that he could play with it right away. I am sure they will have fun making it together. I think a couple years from now they would have enjoyed it more but they were just so cute picking it out that I couldn't resist.

Enjoying his breakfast! (Something besides oatmeal is always exciting at our house!)

Then Tyler was off to school. He had two tests on his birthday. We dropped him off some treats at school and then met him for dinner. We went to a really good Italian restaurant.
At home we had to put on the hats, sing the song, blow the candles and send Tyler through the spanking machine!!!

We all had fun trying to make it a special day for Tyler. We love Tyler so much. He is the best daddy and husband in the whole world. I hope his 28th year is a great year.

The second reason April 30th is a big day is it is our Anniversary!!! People love to say to Tyler "good thing your anniversary and birthday are on the same day, you'll never forget"...here's the things about that- Tyler would never forget. Even though we celebrated a couple weeks ago by going away he still made sure to do something special on our anniversary. I found a note waiting, it was very sweet and inside there was a riddle. They were really tricky, they led to the next clue. Some of the riddles had gifts with them...it was so fun!!!

This is our fifth anniversary! These last five years have been so great. Married life is so fun. I know it sounds cliche but we are best friends. We never run out of things to talk about, we never get tired of being together, we really do love each other more all the time. Tyler is just the greatest, I hope he had as fun a day yesterday as I did!!! Thanks Tyler for everything!

April 30th was a big day!!!