:~: Lehis :~:

Christmas Letter

2011-12-23T11:52:00.000-08:00

Season’s Greetings Family & Friends!

Sadly, we are not sending out Christmas Cards this year. I simply ran out of time. So, thanks to the internet, you get a digital one! And hopefully next year I can plan better :-)

I don’t even have a word to describe how crazy this year has been for us. But we have enjoyed every minute of it. Well… most minutes. First we moved. Yay! We are no longer renting, and bought our house. We love it! The Boss and I took a trip to Palm Beach, FL where we enjoyed being lazy, swimming in the crazy warm ocean, eating good food, riding jet skis, and making new friends. We took our annual Utah trip, where my brother blessed their first little baby... we just love him to pieces. And we have spent this Holiday Season doing lots of fun family things; Apple Hill, Columbia, Six Flags, The Polar Express, The Oakland Temple… lots of memories had.

The Boss is still working for Eli Lilly & Co. He is doing very well and hopes to continue to do so. He recently got called into the Bishopric. While this keeps him much busier than his last calling, we are happy we get to see him at church every Sunday. He enjoys working with the youth again and being a part of our ward. He continues to enjoy basketball when he can fit it in, and always finds time for his daily run or bike ride. He is still serving on the BYU Alumni Board and was able to attend a basketball game while we were in Utah. Go Cougars! He mostly enjoys wrestling with the kids and taking them on “bike rides”, which consist of walking around the block while they very slowly ride their bikes.

I entered the year in full swing dance festival mode. This was honestly my life until June 11th. It was a ton of fun and an experience I will never forget. I was the dance captain for our ward (it was a tri-Stake Dance Festival), but ended up performing in it also. I forgot how much I absolutely LOVE to perform. I served on the board of my 10-year class reunion, which was a lot of fun. While facebook keeps us pretty in touch, there is something better about interacting and seeing everyone in person. It was a great blast from the past. I’m now serving as the Relief Society Activities Chair, which is slightly intimidating, but I’m enjoying it. I teach two joy schools which has been a lot of work, but so much fun. I stink at updating our blog, finding time to read, scrapbook, exercise, and craft. But those are all things I love to do, and hope this next year will allow me a little more time to do them. Right.

Big Brother turned 4 this year. He is into his last year of Joy School and next year will start kindergarten. He is still a more quiet, calm, observer of sorts; cautious about life. He LOVES Joy School and learning. He especially likes writing his name everywhere. He loves to watch movies and would sit in front of the TV all day if I let him. He is still a picky eater and eats pretty much the same things every day. He says Mama's Boy is his best friend and doesn’t like sleeping in his room when he isn’t there. He has a love for learning and is such a gentle soul. The conversations we get to have with him now that he is getting older are so fun.

Mama's Boy turned 3 this year and started Joy School. He likes to go, and depending on the mood he is in will decide how much he will participate. We finally grew out of the biting thing, although he is still quite aggressive. He likes to tease Big Brother and Queen Bee and sits in time out often for it. He loves to play outside and get dirty. He is obsessed with trucks and trains still. He is always asking me, “mom, can you build me a train bridge?” He learned how to use the toilet and sleeps in a bunk bed with Big Brother. He is still quite the momma’s boy (literally) and doesn’t usually venture far from my side. He is full of love and energy and we enjoy the crazy silly things he does and says.

Queen Bee just turned 2. She is certainly the girl in the family. She loves purses, shoes, hair, makeup, dresses and skirts. She doesn’t like being dirty, and remains dainty and lady like most times. She loves to follow her brothers and wants everything they have, and wants to do everything they do. It’s very endearing. She is talking pretty well, not quite in real sentences, but she will group 2-3 words together. She especially likes to tattle on the boys. She loves her Grandpa. We all come second when he is around. She has really been such a fun little girl to have around. She is so independent and strong willed, nothing like the boys. Its funny to have that dynamic. We just love her!

My time has run out. I have little people crying all around me.

We hope this holiday season find you all well. We have recently taken some steps back from our crazy lives to enjoy more sacred family moments. As our children are just coming to a real understanding of Christ, it has made me reflect on our simple testimony of Him as a family. We love Him. We are grateful for ALL that He has blessed us with. May you experience something similar with your friends and families this Christmas and year to come.

We love you all. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Big Brother, The Mama's Boy & The Queen Bee

2011-08-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

I think its obvious that I have fallen into a funk and clearly neglected my blog. I have a million excuses... but you don't care. Right now I have time, because shutterfly is offering 50% off on photo books until Wednesday and I have about 8 to create by Wednesday and uploading over 1,000 pictures on 8 different albums takes some time. I can't leave the computer unsecured because Queen Bee will terrorize it. So... I've got some computer time. Why not blog! No better time to get back into it than the present. Writing is such an outlet and deep passion of mine and I almost never take the time to do it. One of my new goals. Sometimes I think... "no one wants to read about my rambling thoughts"... then again, I'm not really sure anyone reads this anyway, so what do I really care? Plus, we are in a technological world now... use your scroll pad and skip my ramblings.
How about an update on my 3 lovelies?
Since I last blogged, we have moved into our new house (I'm NEVER moving again), gone through dance festival, 2 Florida trips, a Las Vegas trip, planning a retirement party (for a teacher), my class reunion, and summer fun! We are now getting back to some sort of a schedule with 2 joy schools starting in a week. Here is the update...

The Boss:
The Boss has been busy with his calling at church. He is doing well at work and is enjoying all his success! He wishes "real" Boss would give him more attention, but us ladies know how that goes. The Boss is still busy running or biking everyday. He recently joined the board for the BYU East Bay Alumni Association. If the boss has even one free day... he finds a way to volunteer his time away. We sure love him!

The "real" Boss:
Life is finally getting into a normal routine. With Dance Festival, which was seriously insane, I was eating and breathing dance with the youth. It was tons of fun... but man was that a lot of work! My familia saved us by temporarily adopting my children. Thanks mom and dad! I haven't been able to start up the things I enjoy yet... I haven't exercised consistently in months, I haven't read a book since Christmas, I haven't blogged since January, I haven't done a scrapbook page in about 2 years. However, I am part of a card making group... Hopefully, I can start more of these things I love so much to keep my sanity. The Boss does a good job of letting me out every now and then, so I can't complain. He doesn't like it when I'm insane. I get to have plenty of fun. Plus, as much work as Big Brother, Mama's Boy, and Queen Bee are... they are such fun to have and watch grow. They say and do the silliest things. You trade great things for better things I guess.

The Big Brother:
Big Brother is starting his second year of joy school and is super excited. He has LOVED sun beams and has recently been practicing baring his testimony... we'll see if he'll get up and do it in church! He likes to boss everyone around and while he is quite slow moving, he is stubborn as they come. He is at that age where he loves to ask me questions about things. A sign my little boy is growing up! Tomorrow he and Mama's Boy are getting bunk beds. Big Brother is pretty excited about sleeping on top... we'll see if he actually does it. He still rides the tri-cycle while Mama's Boy rides his Lightening McQueen training wheels bike. He is starting to get more aggressive and is really coming out of his shell. He says he wants to play baseball, so next year T-Ball here we come!

The Mama's Boy:
Mama's Boy does not like to go far from home. He likes to stay nice and cozy by mom. He gets to start his first year of joy school in a week! He is so excited. Really. He picks things up super quick and has a determination to try things himself. He does have a tendency to get jealous of Queen Bee. Especially when it comes to mom holding her. They get along well. His "mama's boy" side just comes out. He sort of has this crazy erratic behavior. He likes to chuck things... especially toys. And especially in nursery. Mama's Boy is my slightly destructive child. He rips books, pulls out food, plays in the dirt, cuts things up... I call it being creative. :-) He can be a little rough, but he loves to cuddle and be held. Plus, he has such an embracing personality. He is such fun. Usually up for anything!

The Queen Bee:
I'm not even sure how to start this one. Queen Bee has thrown me for a loop. She is not nearly as laid back and easy going as the boys are. She wants to do EVERYTHING herself. She loves putting shoes on and doing her hair. I think it makes her feel like she is going somewhere. She likes wearing dresses and skirts. She plays well with the boys and certainly holds her own, theres no question about that. I never know when she is going to go all nuts on me... when she suddenly is not getting her way, she totally freaks out and throws her body all over the ground kicking and screaming. I calmly step over her and ignore it, but sometimes she flips out so randomly! She is starting to talk more and more which is helping the "freaking out" phase. As nuts as she is, she is SO MUCH FUN. Lots of drama. But fun. She has such a way of making your heart melt. When she isn't giving you a nasty snobby scowl look, her smile is infectious. She wants so badly to be a big girl. The boys are pretty good about tending to her needs and including her. Her and Mama's Boy have some battles over mommy sometimes, but I think that is expected when you have multiple chicklettes.

So there you go! Here are some pix of the last 8 months. Hopefully I'll be around more now!

Having fun with all their puppets after Christmas

The face and clothes may be dirty, but the bow in intact.

Mama's Boy turns 3!

Big Brother turns 4!

I just love her!

Why kids love playing in their car seats I will never know...

The kids loved the Aquarium at Mandalay Bay

Cheese Ball!

In Las Vegas! Bellagio to be exact.

The Cousins

Big Brother finished his first year of Joy School

The "real" Boss' of Joy School

Thanks Eli Lilly! The Four Seasons Palm Beach, FL

South Beach! Water was BE-U-Tee-Full!

The Fourth of July Parade!

Waiting for the parade to start

Waiting in their little camping chairs for the parade!

We tend to hang in our jammies when we don't have plans for the day...

What is that smell???

2011-01-14T10:38:00.000-08:00

It's me! I stink I know. I'm so lame. Sorry I've been so out of touch here. But we are alive. We are healthy... As far as we know. And we are happy! Just really really busy! Christmas was great with the family, the kids were so much fun! We are getting ready to move in a couple weeks. Which we are SO excited for! But everything that goes with buying a brand new home is sort of a headache. I'll just be glad when everything is done. Trying to take down Christmad stuff and pack... I'm feeling a little overwhelmed...
The Boss is rarely home, but we enjoy when he is! Between his job and his calling, and my calling, dance festival, and other community obligations, I feel like we are just passing eachother! But we do find time together to relax.
The kids are staying busy... Sorry I don't have any pictures! Queen Bee runs all over the house, trying so hard to play with her big brothers. They are nice to her for the most part :)
Mama's Boy plays with his trains he got for Christmas EVERYDAY!! Big Brother is enjoying joy school and is really starting to say interesting and funny things. I can see he is really taking on the big brother role... He has become quite the little bossy cow!
You probably won't here from me until after the move. Once we get everything together again, perhaps I can get back on a consistant schedule.
Much love!

A Giveaway!! Go check it out!

2010-11-08T23:25:00.001-08:00

Hello friends, just want you to check out my friends blog... She is great... And does some AMAZING giveaways! Right now she is giving away her camera (very gently used). Anyway, check it out! It closes Wednesday!

www.veronicaaustin.blogspot.com

... And updates to come... I promise.

Oh Boy! I've Got JOY!

2010-09-02T23:08:00.000-07:00

I totally have this little song stuck in my head... "Oh Boy! I've got joy! I do, I do!" and my fellow joy schoolers know exactly what I mean! That's right. Big Brother started Joy School this week! (Thats a bagel in his hand if you're wondering)

We have been so excited about this. I've been prepping him for it the last couple weeks. I won my very first bloggers giveaway "back to school", so we went and let Big Brother pick out a little back pack (Thanks Veronica! www.autincitylimits.blogspot.com). He was so excited. I was a little nervous about how he would do. I knew he would be fine behaving, (he's usually very good), but he tends to be on the shy side. I was afraid he may not participate well, but I've been told (and they could just be trying to make me feel better) that he is doing great!

He sings, talks, follows direction... I am so proud of him. He has come home both times eager to tell me what he did. And now, every time our doorbell rings, he says... "Mom... is that Miss Jen?" I think it is so adorable. I'm amazed at how much he already remembers. He sings me the songs, tells me about his craft project. He even tells me who was naughty... hehe. I can't wait until its my turn to teach. I'm so excited to see him in this element. And it has been so neat sharing this learning experience with him and being so involved. I've also enjoyed a little more quality time with Mama's Boy and Queen Bee. Although Mama's Boy has cried both times Big Brother has left because he "needs to go to school too mom".... I'm going to try and plan some extra fun things just me and him so he doesn't feel so left out. I just can't believe I'm already at the place where I have one at school for a few hours! My baby boy is growing up WAY TOO FAST!!!

A week ago, I "off the cuff" decided to try and potty train Big Brother before he started school. I know what you're thinking! He is 3 1/2... potty training should have happened a year ago! Well... Big Brother is on the later side. I envisioned it being a nightmare, and while I won't go into too many details (cause who really wants to read about someone elses kid using the toilet) it was a success! The first two days were... frustrating. We didn't have many accidents, but it was a lot of staying at home and crying. I got some great advice from friends that worked perfectly! Since Big Brother was substantially older, I hoped he would pick it up quickly and he did. No accidents since Saturday! So our little boy has taken some pretty big steps this last week. And I had no idea how nice it would be changing one less diaper!! Whooo Hoooo for meeee!!

And, I posted these two pictures of Queen Bee cause I think she is so cute! Plus, that top picture shows her Brand - Spankin - New -Two - Bottom - Theeth! Congrats little Queen Bee, you know have chompers!

Summer

2010-08-27T22:51:00.000-07:00

I know I have been completely MIA. So much has been going on, and once I got a little behind, it felt overwhelming to dive back in. I hope to return to the blogging world I have missed everyone so much! This will be an overload of pictures, and a pretty brief description of our lives the last 4 months.

As some of you know (reference previous blog posts), The Boss' mom became very ill very quickly. May 13th, She passed peacefully away in her home with children by her side. tears... there is a reason I have been avoiding this post...

Just shy of 9 weeks before she passed away, she was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic cancer. A Wonderful Woman. Wonderful Mother. Wonderful Grandma. We love her. We miss her. We talk of her often and take full advantage of the Temple that we feel so blessed to be near, and The Boss especially has found so much peace in feeling close to her there. Thank you for love, support, friendship, and prayers. Our family has felt very blessed during this process. We love you Grandma.

Just under two weeks before she passed, The Boss' only grandparent passed away. He was very old and ready to go I think. But it was still very difficult. He just LOVED The Boss... he always said "The Boss is my favorite person in the whole world". We hope to keep the Finnish heritage alive! Love you Grandpa.

The Summer has been so, that it really didn't feel much like summer. It's pretty hot right now, but it had been cool for the most part. We didn't take any trips or get any season passes. So most of these pictures are just random. Plus, I suck as a parent and forget my camera a lot. So we did take a trip to Marine World, Pixie Woods, Old Sacramento Train Museum, Monterey Bay Aquarium, etc... and have no pictures to show for it. But they were all a good time... I promise! Especially the Train Museum. What a treat! So neat. If you're in the area and have never been... GO. And if you ever come to visit... make a plan to GO! Its great for adults and kids. So here it is!

Dad and his Family were inducted in the Liberty High Hall of Fame. It was really cool hearing all the "stats" on the family, and how much they contributed to Liberty and still do. Very fun. Isn't my Daddy handsome?

On my birthday. Real exciting. 27. Whoo hoo. But- my kids are cute!

Family pictures with The Boss' Family.

Parties at Aunties house. Sure is fun having family members who are firefighters... Would you like a firetruck in your backyard? Yes please. Done. The kids loved it!

Oh... my little Queen Bee Girl. At about 6 months old. Just learned to sit up.

Mama's Boy is my dirty child. If he sees dirt... he must touch it, and rub it on something, or take it somewhere, or try and eat it. He must grab rocks wherever we go too. He LOVES to play outside. So here they are... after not being supervised, obviously. And yes, they are in their pajamas. Better their PJ's get dirty and gross than a cute outfit. I don't really have "play clothes" for my kids (you know the ones that they can totally trash and you could care less). So that's what we use jammies for. Anyway, they love to play in our small and extremely quaint-but-gets-the-job-done backspace... as you can see.

Father's Day. I can't even remember what we did. ...ah yes.... french dip sandwiches and my parents came over. We Skyped the Bro and Lucy, and Duni, lost in a "Skype Off" to the Bro. Haha... that was funny.

The Boss hanging with the boys on our porch swing from Boss' Mom. The kids love this swing.

Queen Bee 7 months old.

Scum with the Fam. I think this was on the 4th of July.

Haha... The Boss brought these HUGE lollipops home from a District Meeting for work, and the kids had a lot of fun trying to eat them. It was really funny to watch.

Big Brother striking a pose while we are house hunting. I hope he isn't trying to tell me something...
These are just some pictures I took the other day of the kids. Big Brother needed an updated photo for Joy School (a post coming very soon) and they were so insistent upon Queen Bee being in the pictures! This little girl is HARD to photograph. Here is a quick update on the kiddos:

Queen Bee has been on the move for a few months now, and she DOES NOT STAY PUT!! She is everywhere. A great baby. Very easy to please. But she is developing so much more quickly than my sluggy boys did. This mom was NOT prepared. She is 9-months old now. Very close to walking. Has two teeth that just broke thru. LOVES to eat whatever the boys are eating. She hardly cares about her bottle anymore. She loves her pacifier. Sleeps blissfully thru the night and has been for about 6 months. Still takes two naps. Loves to throw balls around on the tile and watch them bounce around. She also carries this really random plastic rock around in her fist. Totally weird. She is FULL of energy and is growing way too fast. She has been such a fun addition. I love dressing her up. The boys love trying to hold her and give her hugs and kisses. Still no hair, but she almost NEVER leaves the house without a bow.

Mama's Boy is 2 1/2 now and as I said before... loves to be outside. He likes rocks, dirt, sand, mud... you get it. He has so much personality. He talks ALL THE TIME. And will repeat anything you say. He loves trains, cars, and has really loved reading lately. He is so funny and just loves to laugh. We are lovin that he still takes a nap and sleeps in his crib. And for some odd reason he likes to try and stick his finger in Queen Bee's eye. We kinda have to watch him.
Big Brother is becoming such a big boy. He starts Joy School in a few days, we are FINALLY potty training him (what a horrible process this has been... don't be surprised if you see a post on this one), and he has turned into quite the mommy's little helper. He is still quiet and somber. Thoughtful and somewhat shy. He is getting more bossy the older he gets. He likes to tell Queen Bee and Mama's Boy what they're doing wrong. But he is so tender and loving towards them. He loves to tell me, "I'm playing nice with baby mom... don't worry." So cute. He is obsessed with books, letters (letter factory, which you should go out and buy if you don't have), numbers, and colors. He likes to watch movies and would sit on the couch all day if I had the TV on. But he is really coming out of his shell, another reason I am SO EXCITED for Joy School.

More to come! I promise.

2010-04-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

Easter was a lot of fun with the boys this year. They got to participate in four Easter Egg hunts! By Easter Sunday, they were pretty good at getting eggs. Mama's Boy would shake them each before he put them in his basket. In fact, since the first Easter Egg hunt they did, a week before Easter, every morning they would wake up with their baskets and say "we want to get eggs!", it was so cute! We started off by coloring Easter eggs at the Lehi home, with all the Lehi cousins. The boys actually did pretty well. Big Brother liked just throwing the eggs in the dye... we had a lot of cracked eggs. :) But they mostly liked to color on the eggs with crayons. That was the safest way to go anyhow. Once we pulled out the stickers to put on the eggs, all they wanted to do was stick them on themselves. Oh well! It was super fun either way!

Easter morning was especially fun. The Easter Bunny left eggs for the boys to get, as well as a basket of goodies. Of course all Mama's Boy cared about were the trains that he got... go figure. They were really cute though, they even put some eggs on Queen Bee's walker. She surely didn't get it, but she enjoyed the attention! Grammy Pammy and Grandpa came over and made a very yummy breakfast. They we got to enjoy a special treat this year, General Conference. I absolutely LOVE General Conference. We never miss a moment of it. Every talk, on Saturday and Sunday, is always spectacular. With Easter on the same Sunday as General Conference, it makes the true meaning of Easter so wonderful. I really do wish every Easter was on the same Sunday as General Conference. While Conference is great every time, it really spoke to our family in a special way given the trials we are facing at this time. It was just perfect, and it will forever be a Conference and an Easter we will always remember.

After the second session of General Conference, we headed out to Modesto for dinner and an Easter Egg hunt with the Lehis. We had a wonderful yummy dinner and enjoyed hanging out with Grandma and all the cousins. Our kids just love all their cousins. I have really enjoyed seeing them play and have fun together lately. I hope they will always be close.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter, that you were able to enjoy it with family and people you love. Reflecting on our Savior, and everything he suffered for us, that he rose and lives, and that we may rise and live again with him someday brings such peace to me.

Spending Time with Grandma

2010-04-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

Our family has had some unfortunate news lately. Grandma D (The Boss' Mom) is very very sick. We have been spending a lot of time in Modesto visiting with her and being together as a family. Grandma is very special lady. She has had a remarkable story, from the very beginning. A story which I would love to tell with her permission in a later post. But she truly is an ultimate grandma. She loves her grandchildren more than life itself. She kisses and cuddles them. She is especially close with Big Brother. Big Brother loves taking walks with his grandma. He also likes to swing with her on her porch swing in the backyard. A couple weekends ago, The Boss and his sisters were doing their moms yard work and decided to plant some flowers for her. The boys just LOVED helping with the flowers. Since Grandma can't plant them, the boys and her sat on the bench watching. While this has been an extremely emotional time for our family, it has been truly wonderful spending so much time together.

Birthday #1 and Birthday #2

2010-04-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

In March, we celebrate two Birthdays!! This year Mama's Boy turned 2 on the 14th, and Big Brother turned 3 on the 30th. I decided not to have big birthdays for either one. Instead we just invited some immediate family over for cake and ice-cream.

On Mama's Boy's birthday, I made him a chocolate cake, with his favorite candy on it... M&Ms! If you really know Mama's Boy, you know he LOVES trains! We got him some Thomas the train track and cars. He plays with them everyday and loves carrying the train cars around. Mama's Boy has grown so much this year! He LOVE LOVE LOVES to talk! He repeats anything you say. He is ALL boy. He loves playing in the mud, running around outside, running his trains and cars along the walls, playing in sand and with rocks. He also likes to bite his brother, and spends many a times in time out. But he is so loving too. He gives kisses and hugs. He really loves to share and plays well with other kids. He loves to sit on Mommy's lap and cuddle, but he loves going places with daddy. He eats pretty much anything and is literally an endless pit when it comes to food. He sleeps great. He naps great. He really brings so much fun and laughter into our home. Happy 2nd birthday Mama's Boy!!

For Big Brother's birthday, I made him a chocolate cake with oreos. Big Brother loves cookies. As well as lucky charms, fruit snacks, Costco pizza, apples, and yogurt. Big Brother got his first bike and a wagon. He can't ride the bike yet, but we are working on it. Both he and Mama's Boy love the wagon though. They want to be pulled all over the house! Big Brother is so sweet and tender. He just stands there and lets Mama's Boy bite and scratch him while he says, "no thanks, please stop". Of course Big Brother talks a lot also, only he is now talking in sentences and really comprehends things. This just boggles my mind, seeing him grow up so fast. Its so funny to hear him say certain things. You wonder how his mind is processing it. He loves watching movies. He would sit in front of the TV all day if we let him. We limit him to one movie a day, which he gets to watch while Mama's Boy takes a nap. He really loves books. Now, I find him flipping pages and reading (not really reading though) to Mama's Boy. I think its so cute! He loves letter and numbers, and will carry around puzzle pieces and blocks that have letters on them. Its really interesting how obsessed he is with them. While he is much cleaner about things, Big Brother too loves to play outside. He is mostly a car boy, but he likes to play trains with Mama's Boy too. The two of them are such pals I LOVE it! I can tell when Big Brother is getting bored... if Mama's Boy has been sleeping for a long time, he will say, "mom, lets get Mama's Boy up, its time to play". He loves bossing him around (but in a sweet way most of the time). And Mama's Boy gladly follows, always up for anything. They truly are so fun to watch. And while it was a little hard in the beginning when I first had Mama's Boy so close to Big Brother, it really is so much easier now. It really makes me think that if I wait long enough, I could do another two really close. Right now... I still have three in diapers, so we are in NOOOOO rush. But I love seeing them as best buddies. And I think its funny that everybody thinks they are twins. We love our little boys and were so happy to celebrate their birthdays!

Disneyland Photos

2010-04-05T13:50:00.000-07:00

I'm a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, blogger

2010-03-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

Here's my excuse... and it's real...

Our desktop computer has crashed. The Boss has a work laptop, which I can occasionally use to check email, but doesn't download photos well, and really is supposed to be used for work only. We've been out of town a lot, and fixing the computer has not been a priority. I still don't know when it will be fixed... our luck, we'll have to buy a new one... which we can't afford to do right now, so we'll go without. So, I may not be around too much.

Blogs without pictures are so very boring, so feel free to pass on reading this one. It will primarily be used for journal purposes.

Our family was supposed to take a trip to Florida, since The Boss was having to fly there for work. Last minute, the boys got sick and it looked like it was supposed to rain the entire time, so my mom, who was planning on flying to Florida with us, decided to stay behind with the two boys while Queen Bee and I went with Dad. Florida... Florida, Florida, Florida. It was such a bad experience, I really don't ever want to go there again! Sorry Floridians. First of all, the flight alone is just WAY TOO LONG. Its especially WAY TOO LONG for anyone under the age of like 14. Luckily, Queen Bee was incredible on the flight. She never made a fuss once. But, changing a baby on an airplane... not cool. Making a bottle on an airplane... not cool. Feeding a baby on an airplane with no extra room... not cool. We had to change planes with only a half hour to do so... also... not cool. Queen Bee and I stayed at my parents time share, which was extremely nice! (The hi-lite of my Florida trip). It had gorgeous pools, water slides, a lazy river and wave pool, it was FANTASTIC. At least, it WOULD have been fantastic if it wouldn't have rained almost the entire time. And by the way... I've never really heard anyone talk about the rain in Florida. You could say... for instance... your walking along Daytona Beach. The sun is shinning. It feels like 70 degrees. Your wearing short sleeves and a skirt. You are pushing your baby in a stroller, who also has short sleeves on. Since you are walking on the beach your car is about half a mile away. Then, out of nowhere... literally... out of nowhere, it starts POURING down rain. Not a cloud in the sky. No thunder to warn you. No cold breeze to tell you that you might want to start heading back toward your car. NOTHING. And I'm talkin monsoon rain. Not "Bay Area drizzle". Like I'm in a freaking rain forest. Then you get COMPLETELY soaked running back to your car with your stroller. ... you know... for instance.
On the up side, when it rains, its warm rain. So even when your getting soaked in your summer clothes, at least your not cold. Another downside however, was that Queen Bee and I got totally sick. First, Queen Bee started throwing up all her food. She was waking up in the middle of the night with fevers... I'm sure the neighbors appreciated that. Although the middle of the night thing could have partly been due to the time change. Which neither Queen Bee or I ever adjusted to. After the second day, I got sick. Also waking up in the middle of the night with chills, sweat, throw up. I just couldn't wait to get home. Really. Sorry Florida. It wasn't entirely your fault, but I have no desire to visit you again. I just wasn't impressed. Maybe Orlando and Daytona are not true representations of Florida. Either way, we won't be going back ANY time soon.

Three days after we got back from Florida, we went to Disneyland with the Lehi Family. I was expecting the very worst going to Disneyland. My kids are total fraiddy cats. I thought Mama's Boy was going to be horrible without a nap. I thought both he and Big Brother were going to be too afraid to ride anything. I thought we were going to blow way too much money on overpriced food. But.... none of that happened!!! It was SO MUCH FUN! Mama's Boy was AMAZING all day. We spent three days there and never once did we return for a nap and he was such a good little boy. The Boys stayed in the strollers most of the time, and when they wanted to walk they stayed right next to the strollers. They LOVED the rides! And we got to take Queen Bee with us on almost all of them. So it wasn't very often when The Boss or I had to stand outside and wait. It did take the boys a few rides to warm up. We did not spent ONE DIME on food! We brought sandwiches and snacks with us every day. The boys LOVED Toon Town. I think that was by far their favorite. We had so much fun, we ran out of time and never even made it over to California Adventure. Big Brother really like the Finding Nemo ride and Buzz Lightyear. Mama's Boy LOVED the cars (Autopia), and the train, of course. We can't wait to go again. It was so much fun!

From Disneyland, we drove strait up to Provo, UT. The Boss helped out with interviews for Lilly at BYU (he was in total and complete HEAVEN!) The kids and I went to visit cousin Tiff. My kids loved playing with ALL THEIR TOYS!! We got to meet baby Sammy, and just hang out. It really was a lot of fun seeing Maddie and Chloe too. I sure wish we lived closer to them, our kids are so close in age! We stayed with Uncle Bro and Aunt Lucy for a couple nights. Hopefully we haven't turned them off from having kids.... remember... you get them one at a time... not three at a time.... But I think the boys really enjoyed it. They hear us talk about Uncle Bro and Aunt Lucy, and they see them in pictures, but they don't get to visit them very often. The best part about it though, was that the boys got to see the snow for the first time. They LOVED ITTTTTT! When they woke up in the morning, it was still snowing. For about a half hour, they just stood with their little noses pressed up against the window watching the snow fall. It was cool to watch. Big Brother called all the trees with snow "Christmas trees". It was cute. While in Utah for our VERY short visit, we also got to see our good friends the Thompsons. We met up with them at the Mayan, for a quick visit and a quick bite. We got to meet their newest addition also, baby Isaac. He is a daddy look a like! It was so fun visiting with them. We miss them SO MUCH!! tear tear. Then we spent a night with Aunt Dani and Uncle Curt dawg and the Bigs cousins. Our kids always have fun with their cousins. We love you Bigs... move back to Cali!! That goes for you too Thompsons! We went to church with the Bigs, where they have Relief Society first, Sunday School, then Sacrament Meeting. ...yah... that REALLY didn't work with our kids. It was pure torture... kudos to anyone that has to do that every Sunday. Then we made the long trek back home. The kids did well in the car... but it is hard travelling anywhere with three little kids and all the crap you have to bring with you. Good thing we have a van!

Most recently, Mama's Boy had his birthday. He turned 2!! Mama's Boy really is the funniest kid. While he is our naughtiest and most grumpy child, he is also the one who laughs the most and has the most fun. It really is a funny combo. He is full of so much life. He is ALL boy, loving cars, trains, and most of all dirt. He eats everything. He pinches, he pulls hair, and he bites, (spending ALOT of time, in time-out). But he also gives the most hugs, the best kisses and loves to cuddle the most. He talks like crazy. He repeats EVERYTHING we say! He is finally doing well in Nursery and is really starting to warm up to other people, without having to be right by my side the entire time. He LOVES to give Queen Bee kisses and hugs. And is always bringing me her blankies and clothes. He usually insists on feeding himself now, and really likes to copy everything Big Brother does. Mama's Boy was so cute on his birthday. We just had a little family birthday party for him, where he got all things trains. He was satisfied after opening one gift (a train) and was completely uninterested about the rest. Which is why I didn't throw him a real party. We love him so much and are so glad he brings so much life to our family... even if he spends half of it sitting in time-out.

Our little Blessing

2010-01-04T01:13:00.000-08:00

We blessed our sweet little Queen Bee a week ago on December 27. Her Daddy, gave her a wonderful blessing. The Boss said that during the blessing, he felt like it was just he and Queen Bee, and nobody else was around. It was very intimate... and beautiful.

Having Queen Bee has truly been an amazing blessing. I was a little nervous about adding the #3. So many people told me about how it was their most difficult transition. I guess I set myself up for the worst... and it has turned out to be the best! She has been such a great baby. She sleeps great, she eats great, and she plays great! Of course I think she is the most BEAUTIFUL girl on earth. The boys just absolutely adore her. They love giving her kisses and hugs ALL THE TIME. Big Brother repeats everything I say to her. So, he mostly calls her "pretty girl", and "sweety". Mama's Boy gives her big kisses and every time he finishes he says "ohhhh, sooo sweeet". Mama's Boy also loves to constantly bring me ALL of her blankies. Then he drags them all over the house yelling, "memma bankies, baby memmas". Although I think sometimes she may feel like she is being attacked by them, (nothing like two little giant heads directly in your face), she smiles every time them come up and talk to her. It brings tears to my eyes watching the two boys interact with her. Neither one has shown the slightest bit of jealousy. They just love her so completely. I feel like they are already protective of her. I hope they will always be close and use one another to lean on in times of need. It is so special seeing them together.

She is growing like a weed and I'm just not ready for her to leave the newborn stage! She is already too big for her 0-3 month clothes! She is starting to coo and LOVES to smile now. Queen Bee has so many people around her that love her already. I am so grateful for everyone that came and participated in her blessing. I'm grateful for those that came to support her and those that couldn't make it, whom I know love her. We are excited about our growing little family. My wonderful husband and amazing children are the light of my life. I love them so much!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-04T00:16:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas this year came and went much too quickly. With the baby and moving, our house has been in high stress mode. It seemed like the boys were sick the entire month of December, making it very difficult to go out and do much. We had all these grand plans of things we wanted to do with the boys to celebrate the Holiday Season... but since they always seemed to be sick, we hardly got to do any of it.

At any rate, Christmas was fabulous, spending time with family, eating good food, and mostly watching AJ and Mikko get excited. I hosted Christmas Eve, with the "small" Schwitters family (my mom, dad, & Shaelie), Grandma and Grandpa Schwitters, and Grandma Donna. Barry and Lauren were there via web cam for some of the night, and while it was nice having them participate... it would have been MUCH MORE FUN to have them here in person. Maybe next year I can talk them into coming to California! We had a yummy dinner, opened some gifts from GG, read The Night Before Christmas, Played out the Nativity mixed with some songs, put the boys to bed, Played some Twilight Scene It, and went to bed. Grammy Pammy, Grandpa, Shaelie and Grandma Donna, all stayed the night with us. It was a packed house!

This year we really toned down the gift giving, due to a rough economical year for us, but I think it turned out great! We got the boys a few toys... a little shopping cart, that AJ loves to push all his stuff around in being one of them, but mostly they got books and puzzles (which they love)! I got Aaron some BYU work-out pants, a tie, and some stuff for the shooting range (Aaron's new hobby... shooting his gun). Aaron got me my very beloved glee CD, (which I listen to ALL THE TIME... LOVE glee!), some Uggs (which I never would have bought myself), and a board game I've been wanting for almost a year, Ticket to Ride. We decided Emma didn't need any gifts, since she can't open them anyway and she has everything she needs. Grammy Pammy got her some animal hand puppets, and GG got her a little outfit, so she did get a couple of gifts. Shaelie definitely took the cake for most gifts! We miss you Shae!! Grandpa made us a yummy breakfast after opening gifts, and then it was off to Modesto! We spent Christmas Day with the Lehikoinens (minus the Bigelows... we missed you guys!) We had a very delicous ham dinner, had a white elephant gift exchange, and played some loaded questions. We topped off the night by driving out to see some awesome Christmas lights in Mo-Town.

I am horrible and didn't take many pictures. It was too hard... I always had a kid on my lap! But her are a few from before Christmas and on Christmas morning. Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas as much as we did!

** The random pictures of the boys eating pizza is in there for fun. My boys LOVE pizza. They would eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if they could. And you're probably wondering why my kids are eating pizza in they're pajamas... well its not because they're eating it for breakfast, its dinner time, but I never got them dressed so they're in the nighth before pajamas. Don't worry, we bathed them and put them in new pajamas before gong to bed... DON'T JUDGE ME!!

Merry Christmas Tree

2009-12-23T00:09:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Tree is how AJ says Merry Christmas. I just love listening to him talk! Anyway... here is our Christmas Card for 2009, along with a few pictures.

Dear Family & Friends,
This has been yet another exciting year for us. I think I can just cut and paste this next line from our previous Christmas letters, “We have yet again moved and welcomed a new baby to our family”. We have two family goals for 2010… First, we are NOT moving next year, and second we will break our “having a baby every year streak” (2007, 2008, and 2009) right now! No getting pregnant and having a baby in 2010. Do you think we can do it? I hope so or you’ll be sending this mamma to the loony bin.
While the last six weeks have been insanely crazy, we are so very happy to welcome our new little girl Emma Renon, born November 16. She has been such a sweet baby. Of course I think she is the most beautiful little girl in the world, but I may be a little biased. She sleeps great, four weeks old and almost all the way through the night! She loves getting kisses and hugs from her big brothers and I’m pretty sure she already has Daddy wrapped around her little finger. Other than eating and sleeping, she really doesn’t do much. But I sure am having fun dressing her up in cute girly clothes and pink bows!
Mikko will be two in March and has become our little “Mr. Personality”. He loves to tackle AJ and wrestle with him. He also loves to talk, attempting to repeat everything big brother AJ says. He is completely obsessed with trains, and loves to gently run his cars along the walls. Okay, I lied, he doesn’t gently do it, he puts huge marks all over my walls by running those stinking wheels along everything. He eats almost anything you put in front of him and one of his favorite things to do is drive me crazy by going in the pantry and dragging out boxes of crackers eating one handful and moving on to another cracker box. We got smart and put a lock on the pantry in our new house. Mikko is always full of surprises, and we can’t wait to see what he does next.
AJ will be three in March. He has finally reached the age where he will sit and watch an entire movie. I cannot tell you how many times we have seen Cars and Finding Nemo. A couple months after AJ turned two, he suddenly started talking like crazy! He loves to ask questions and repeat EVERYTHING we say. We have had a few really funny moments with AJ repeating what we say, but I would feel inappropriate writing them in this letter, so if you want to know what they are give us call. AJ loves to sing songs and read books. He also loves to count things and point out letters. He carries the most random things around with him, and won’t leave the house without them. AJ has been so exciting this year with all the new things he wants to learn, it already makes me feel like he is growing up too fast!
Aaron and I are doing great. Moving and having a baby within two weeks of each other may have gotten us into a few arguments… okay, maybe a lot of arguments, but we came out of it still married and loving each other. Aaron is still with Eli Lilly and serving in his same calling at church as Young Men’s President (which he totally and completely loves). I am still lucky enough to stay home and raise my sweet beautiful children. And while some days Aaron comes home to a “ready to break down” wife who just wants a moment to take a shower, most days, we do just fine.
Our growing little family has been such an amazing blessing. Despite any hardships we have and will face, we are so very grateful for what we have. We are happy and healthy and during this time of year especially, we feel so fortunate for our knowledge and faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ. May you all enjoy this Holiday Season as well, and have a very Happy New year!

The Queen Bee has arrived!

2009-11-19T13:53:00.000-08:00

The day has finally come and gone! I went in to the hospital with a scheduled induction on November 16. Her due date was the 23rd, but she was measuring a little big, so we decided to take her a week early. We thought she may come on her own, since 5 days before my induction, I was already dilated to a 4 and 90% effaced. AHHH, I was so nervous! I had never gone into labor on my own before. But, we ended up making it to our scheduled appointment for Monday morning the 16th.

Everything went very quickly! I received the pitocin at about 9:30am, my water broke on its own at about 11:00am. I got my epidural about a half hour later (which worked great! As usual) and I could feel around 1:00pm, that she was ready to come out! When they checked me, I was right, we were ready to push, but since we weren't expecting it so quickly we had to wait for Dr. to arrive. Once she arrived, I gave it a couple good pushes and she was out in about 60 seconds.

Queen Bee was born November 16, 1:16pm, weighing 8 lbs, 9 oz, 20 inches long. She is SO CHUBBY to me! I just LOVE IT! She came out just perfectly! I was hoping she would be right between her brothers, and she was. However, she is a short little thing. Both her brothers were 22 inches long. She has some dark hair, but not too much. Both the boys had a lot more than her, but we'll take every strand of hair we can get, cause I'm pretty sure she'll be bald for a while.

Daddy was a great coach! He is always wonderful during labor. He got to cut her cord, and even got to help give her a bath (which was a first for us). He loves his little girl so much already! And she is already such a Daddy's girl. She has him wrapped around her little finger!! I have been recovering pretty well. The after labor pains are MUCH worse the 3rd time around. I was sort of expecting it, but hoping it starts to fade soon. I hate taking pain medication, and I'm sick of feeling tired and dizzy from it. But other than that, we are enjoying our little addition!

The boys weren't able to visit her in the hospital, so they had to wait until we brought her home to meet her. We only stayed at the hospital for one night. When we brought her home on Tuesday, the boys were pretty indifferent about it. Big brother said a quick hi, then ran off to play. Mama's Boy ran straight to me and was a little afraid of Queen Bee. He wouldn't touch her and didn't even want to look at her. But now he has really warmed up to her. He likes to watch her from a bit of a distance, but he will give her kisses and likes to point to her. He hasn't been mean to her at all yet, so I'm hoping he won't. Big brother likes to take her things and is already protective of her stuff when Mama's Boy tries to get into it. He says, "no, thats babies, no no". So our little family is adjusting.

We are loving having a little girl around. So far, she eats and sleeps wonderfully! But they all kind of do for a few days. So I won't say anything more, I don't want to jinx our good sleeping / eating baby.

Having three now has made things busy around here and its only been a few days, but I think we'll manage just fine! I'm excited for mine and The Boss' first night away tonight! We are going to see the midnight showing of New Moon! I am so excited and so grateful my sweet husband is willing to do this with me! We'll try to keep you updated on our little growing family, although we are moving in a week and a half, so it may be while before you hear from us again. But I promise... I'll try!!

It's official!

2009-11-05T12:03:00.000-08:00

I have two "It's officials" actually.

First, I went to the Doctor yesterday and we did the ultra sound. Queen Bee is about 7lbs right now and I am 371/2 weeks. So we decided to schedule the induction for Monday the 16th (a week early from my due date). We were thinking of taking her 2 weeks early, like we did with Mama's Boy, but she isn't quite as big as her brothers. My Doctor said if I deliver on the 16th, little girl should be between 8lbs - 8 1/2lbs. That is just perfect! I really don't want her to be any smaller than 8lbs. I like my babies a little on the chubbier side. However, I am feeling absolutely miserable right now. I'm starting to swell, my legs, arms and hands feel stiff. My belly really is growing to be huge (even though I'm not nearly as big weight wise as I was with the boys), its getting REALLY uncomfortable! I don't know if I am dilated at all, but I really feel like I am. Baby is head down (and has been the last few weeks). I just started having some contractions the other night, so it seems like we are getting into ready mode! We sure are ready for little Queen Bee to get her, but we don't want her coming too early, so I've been trying to take it easy and NOT do things that will induce labor (poor Boss, I think he was hoping it would be the other way around). We'll keep you updated!

Second "official" item, is that we are yet again... brace yourselves... moving. As most of you know the house we are renting now has been up for short sale for quite some time and was eventually going to go into foreclosure (although we have still faithfully been paying our rent to the owners who I'm sure haven't made a payment in over 6-months....). Well, the house is in escrow, and while there is still a chance it could fall through, we found something we really like, so decided to take it. We've been looking for the last couple months, knowing that the house could sell or go under at any point. Plus, this house is entirely too large for us. I haven't enjoyed cleaning it, or paying the rent and utilities for it. We want to start saving so we can buy again, so a downgrade is a must. We are just moving down the street, and we know the house won't be going under, because the owner just bought it in October and paid cash. This was one of the main reasons we went with this home. I am NOT taking anymore gambles on renting a house that's getting ready to go under!!! Its 2350 sqft (so still plenty big) and has 4 bedrooms. Its also has darker carpet!!! You have no idea how excited I am for this. Kids can make such a mess on carpet (especially light carpet) and I HATE dirty carpets, so keeping these clean has been a challenge. This house actually has tile through most of the downstairs anyway, so NO MORE SCRUBBING THE CARPET!!! ... silly I know. The biggest bummer is that we are moving the 1st of December. That's only a couple weeks after Queen Bee is born. So I am TOTALLY NOT looking forward to packing up and moving everything right after I give birth, but I would rather be all settled for Christmas. Our initial fear was that we would get our 30-day notice right around Christmas... so while it will be a pain, between The Boss and I (if you know us well), everything will get done and while "words" may be exchanged in the process and stress will be high for a couple days, we are pretty efficient and I am confident that within a few days of moving, it will look like we've lived there all along. Wish us luck!

Halloween fun... and a few naughty things

2009-11-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

Halloween was really fun for us this year. I didn't quite know how well the boys would "get it" but they did and it was SO FUN!!! We started out carving pumpkins (which they didn't "get" or care at all about) with the big 'ole Schwitters clan. Aaron and I had fun carving them though, and the kids had fun playing at GG's house. Its always fun getting together as a family and catching up with everyone.

(I thought this picture was so sweet! Mikko LOVES the swings, and he especially LOVES swinging with his Daddy)

Halloween night, we went to my mom's house for her annual Halloween Party. I think she was a little disappointed that the boys didn't want to jump in the "jumpy house" she rented... maybe next year. But all the other cousins LOVED it! Its always a hit! For trick-or-treating we were just going to take the boys to a couple of houses. We put Mikko in the stroller and let AJ walk. At the first house, I had to guide AJ a little... "say trick-or-treat... now say thank you and Happy Halloween". After the first house he TOTALLY got it! It was so fun. He and Mikko both LOVED looking at all the decorations that people would have out. They would point out the lights, the pumpkins, the ghosts, etc... The only problem we had with AJ is that he didn't want to stop! My parents neighborhood is a little spread out, and with AJ walking it was taking FOREVER! So we drove over to my cousins (Laurie) neighborhood where the houses are closer together and we did some trick-or-treating with them. At one point in the middle of it all AJ was holding my hand walking to the next house and he looked up at me and said "I like trick-or-treating mommy". Ohhhhh.... it melted me. I was actually surprised, AJ never cared about eating his candy. I think he just liked going up to peoples houses and having them put something in his little bag. He never once even tried to eat it. And the next morning when we were eating breakfast he said, "we go trick-or-treating mommy?" It broke my heart! I told him he had to wait a whole year, but I'm pretty sure he didn't comprehend it. So it was a fun Halloween! It makes me really excited for Christmas now that I know AJ gets excited about things. Hope everyone elses Halloween was as fun as ours!

(Mikko was Cosmo, the BYU Cougar mascot. This was what AJ was last year. I'm cheap and don't want to buy my kids new Halloween costumes. It seemed to work well!)

(The boys also got into the dirt right before we left for trick-or-treating. So as disgusting as it is, that's not candy or chocolate you see on Mikko's face... its dirt... maybe with a little cookie mixed in.)

(AJ was a little spider for Halloween. At first he wasn't too thrilled about wearing the actual costume. But we pointed out the spider on it, he liked wearing it. He also liked telling us he had a "spider" on him.)

(As you can see, Aaron and I came up with a last minute costume idea... being limited on what I can fit into... and being cheap and not wanting to purchase anything, Aaron was a ref and I was a BYU basketball player. Everyone thought I was hiding a ball in my jersey... nope, it was the real thing!)

These are just some pictures of some of the boys' favorite things to do... naughty things to do. They do many naughty things (not too naughty though... I have no room to complain), but these are their latest favorites.

(They LOVE playing in the car! As soon as I unbuckle them from their car seats, it is a race to the front of the van to get in the drivers seat. AJ says "I driving mommy" or he says "Cocoa driving like big boy". They can't really hurt anything right?)

(The other naughty thing they LOVE to do is get into the pantry and unload ALL the water bottles. They like to stick them in random places and tear off the labels.)

The end is in sight with little Emma. Tomorrow we do an ultra sound and schedule the induction. I am SO ready! Last night was horrible!!!! And her movement is hurting me so bad now! I don't know if shes extra squished or what. Anyway, I know the last few weeks are miserable for everyone, so I'll stop complaining. But we'll try to keep everyone posted. Most likely it will happen some time next week! Can't wait!!

New rooms

2009-10-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

Some of you may or may not know that we recently put AJ and Mikko in the same room, so Emma could have her own. They have done excellent sleeping in the same room together! AJ is in a big boy twin bed now. My little boy is growing up so fast! He loves to fill Mikko's crib with books and toys in the morning when they wake up. I think Mikko rather enjoys it! Here are some pics of their new room.

Of course I am terribly limited on what I can do since we rent. Which means no paint!! I don't get to do EXACTLY what I would like for Emma's room, but I've had a lot of fun doing little projects for it. We really don't have the money right now to do all the things I'd like, but it has turned out nice.

I made these really cute bow and picture boards. So cheap! And I LOVE them WAY more than any I saw online or at any store.

I also recently took a trip to Phoenix where I visited my cousins Devin and Tanya. Tanya was so sweet to show me how to make these little headbands with flowers. It was fun, cheap, and so practical. She also showed me how to make a little ballerina skirt. So I made Emma's first little ballet skirt. LOVE IT!!

I also made the letters we put over her crib. Well, I didn't make the actual letters... but I painted them, sanded them, and then stuck the little butterfly and flower on there (which I also painted and sanded). I've had so much fun with all this!

So, here is her room so far. We are all ready for little Emma to come!! Thanks to my mom and dad for getting Emma her bedding. I LOVE it, and it makes me feel ALL READY for her!

As I mentioned, Aaron and I went to Phoenix a couple weeks ago, where he had a business meeting and I visited friends and family. I don't have any pictures, but I hung out with Jill (and Kelli was there visiting), going to the outlets and eating at Rain Forrest Cafe. It was fun! My kids would LOVE that place! We were seated right next to the moving loud elephants!

I also got to visit my cousin Devin (whom I hadn't seen in years) and I met his wife Tanya and cutie kids Rylie and Ezra. It was so much fun hanging out with them. Tanya and I did some crafts (the headband bows & ballet skirt), we got to eat at Cafe Rio (YAHOO!!!), and just hang out with the kids and visit. Thanks for letting me hang out guys!

Sorry it has been so long since I've posted. I am just SO tired all the time right now. While in Phoenix, of course, I got the stomach flu. Then, a few days later, Mikko got the stomach flu... then AJ... then Aaron got sick. Now, I am sick again with a cold and possible respiratory infection. AWWWWWHHHH!!! Its not bad enough that I'm having a baby in a few weeks, (cause that doesn't make you tired), I have to be sneezing, and coughing, having headaches, heartburn, ear aches, completely drained of any energy, and I get to clean up other peoples throw up, hold crying sick babies, and not completely ignore my poor husband. Thats my rant. Hopefully things will get better soon. Aaron and the kids have been feeling much better, which is fabulous. I am getting an ultra sound done in a week to see how big our little Emma is, and once we do that, I think we'll be able to pin down when I'll be induced. Right now its looking like November 9th, or 16th. So, I'll try to be better about keeping everyone updated.

Dirt, bug bites, good food, and more dirt!

2009-09-10T16:06:00.000-07:00

For the holiday weekend we went camping up at Treasure Mountain. Barry and Lauren (my brother & sister-in-law) surprised my Dad by meeting us up there. He was TRULY surprised! Grandma Donna and cousin Tyler, as well as Grandma and Grandpa Schwitters also came camping with us. I was SO NERVOUS about this camping trip. I'm 7 1/2 months pregnant, and last time we went it was FREEZING cold at night! But our boys had SO MUCH FUN playing in all the dirt! I was pleasantly surprised at how good the boys were, although it helps tremendously when we have lots of grandparents, aunts and uncles to help us!! We had the most WONDERFUL food, compliments of my Dad, and way too many yummy treats!

On Sunday we had our own little sacrament and fast and testimony meeting. It was the best testimony meeting I've ever attended. It was just our family, and our friends the Andregos, with the quiet sounds of nature and beautiful scenery. Everyone in the family bore their testimony. It was the neatest thing hearing everyone in the family share their thoughts and feelings about the gospel and our family. The spirit was so strong and intimate, it really did feel like our WHOLE family (Lacie included) was there. I will treasure that moment and hope that it is something we can do again in the future. And I HIGHLY recommend it to ALL families.

We mostly just had fun visiting with each other, but an advantage to going to one of the girls camps is that there are TONS of fun things to do! We were all a little disappointed that we would be missing the first BYU game of the season (especially Aaron), but the caretaker of the camp was so sweet, he invited us all over to watch the game since his house was just down the road. And as I'm sure you all know, what a GREAT GAME IT WAS!!!! Ken (the caretaker) was also sweet enough to let us bathe the boys at his house each night, which made things MUCH easier!

They also had a little pond/lake that has a little beach where the boys played, with a little paddle boat. But most importantly it had a zip line that ran across it! Aaron, Tyler, Shaelie, Grandpa, Barry and even Grammy Pammy went across the zip line. It looked like a lot of fun and we bystanders, had fun watching them!

Tyler & the Zip Line

Aaron & the Zip Line

Grandpa & the Zip Line

Shaelie & the Zip Line

Grammy Pammy & the Zip Line

Barry & the Zip Line

They also had a shooting range. None of the guys brought any of their guns, but good 'ole Ken came through with guns galore! The guys had WAY TOO MUCH FUN shooting! We're lucky they all survived!

We played some cards, ate great food and snacks, threw around the football, took some great walks, laughed at each other, got really really dirty, and ended up staying pretty warm at night. It was such a fun trip, and while camping is EXTREMELY exhausting with little kids, the fun we had was totally worth it! Thanks to everyone for helping us out so much and thanks to Barry and Lauren for making the trip out so we could have some family fun!

(And I managed to get 6 bug bites on my foreheard. Seriously... I look like I have acne!)

The Fire station

2009-08-27T13:53:00.001-07:00

Today, the Mother's Club took a little field trip to the Fire station. You could almost throw a ball to it from our house... okay, maybe you'd have to throw two balls, and you'd have to have a really good arm, but it is really close so we took the stroller and walked right over. At first my kids didn't seem interested, and it seemed as though we would be staying in the stroller the entire time. But after 10-15 minutes, Big brother warmed up to the idea and started exploring around. They gave us a tour of the firehouse, showing the kids where they sleep, eat, work out, relax, and of course, get their gear on. One of the firemen even got all dressed up in the gear, with the oxygen masks on and everything, telling us why they wear each thing and how it works. They even let the kids come up and touch the gear! Big Brother liked his hard hat and big boots. Mama's Boy mostly stayed in the stroller and ate fishy crackers. But they both LOVED touching the big wheels! And at the end, the firemen got out one of the hoses and let the kids take turns holding it while it sprayed water. It was really neat and the firemen were so great with all the little kids. So thanks Fire station! It was a fun little field trip!

We have also done some other fun things in the last month... I'm just not great at always taking pictures... The boys spent a lot of time with their cousins last week. We went to the park, went swimming, had a family dinner, a sleepover, and loads of laughs. Mama's Boy, who doesn't like many people, LOVED his cousin Caitlyn. He always wanted to hold her hand and have her hold him. It was really sweet. Big brother plays well with all his cousins, but he seemed to want to copy everything his older cousin (by 4-years) Brian did. When Brian wanted to look out the window, so did AJ. When Brian wanted to lay on the couch, so did Big Brother. It was really cute. Of course I didn't take any pictures, but I promise... it was a good time. So good in fact, that's why I didn't have time to take any pictures!

This last month, we have also taken the boys swimming a few times at Aunt Julie's house. At first the boys weren't too big on it. But now, they do great! Big brother likes to kick his legs and Mama's Boy tries to blow bubbles. Of course, Mama's Boy only lasts so long... about an hour, but a huge improvement from the beginning of the summer. Thanks Grammy Pammy and Duni for helping us out. It's nice for ME to have a break once in a while!

(Mama's Boy and Aunt Duni)

(Big brother and Grammy Pammy)

We also took a little field trip to Pixie Woods with the Mother's Club. Its a really cute, inexpensive place to take the little ones. It has a whole bunch of themed playgrounds, and a picnic area, as well as a water area for kids to run through. They also have a few rides, but my kids are WAY TOO SCARED for those. But they had fun playing on the different themed areas and of course, their favorite was the swings... cause we don't have those at home!I have also gotten to take some MUCH NEEDED mommy time to do some fun things. One of my friends had a little So You Think You Can Dance Finale party, with yummy snacks and great conversation. It was really fun. We also had a great Enrichment this month, with a fabulous dinner and some classes on getting ourselves organized. The classes were great and it was fun hanging out with everyone. I also went to a Mother's Club "Moms Night Out", where we decorated cupcakes. It was much easier than I expected and lots of fun. We did Owls and Flowers with Ladybugs. ... and they were yummy!

And here are just some pictures of the boys hanging out.

(My sweet little boy saying "cheese" for the picture. It doesn't quite work out into a smile.)

(My recently "fuzzy-haired" boy. Doesn't it look like he has just gotten into something naughty and he's saying "it wasn't me".)

(Big brother helping Grandpa and Daddy fix his little motorized truck. He LOVES to help Daddy change batteries on toys and use his tools.)

(Mama's Boy getting food all over my couches... as usual...)

I won the "LETS GET A DOG" battle, but not the way I wanted to

2009-07-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

Dogs. UGH... sorry dog lovers. The idea of having a dog around, does not sound fun to me AT ALL!! Since the boys seem to LOVE dogs lately, The Boss has been trying to convince me, that eventually we NEED to have a dog. "Boys MUST have a dog," he says. Who will take care of it? "The boys," he says... yeah right. Cleaning up animal hair that will be ALL OVER my house... this is the one I have a hard time getting past. I guess since I didn't grow up with dogs, I really do not feel a need to ever have one. The Boss persists. How will I win this one?

Switch topics for a moment:

As some of you may or may not know, just over a month ago, we learned the hard way... the VERY hard way, that Big brother is EXTREMELY allergic to Cashews. After a rush to the emergency room in Tracy, an ambulance transfer to Children's Hospital, another emergency room, another ambulance transfer to a different Children's Hospital location, an overnight stay, a crap load of medication, IVs, a trip to our pediatrician the day after, and some blood work, we discovered he is not only SEVERELY allergic to Cashews, but EVEN MORE allergic to Pistachios, and mildly allergic to Almonds and Hazel Nut. So.....

Since that episode, I have probably been slightly paranoid when it comes to Big Brother. Every time he coughed or sneezed, or even rubbed his eyes, I wondered if he was again, having an allergic reaction. Lately, Big brother has been coughing a lot. Especially in the middle of the night. It seemed like he would get a cough reaction after he ate sometimes, so we made an appointment with an allergist to see if we could nail down any other allergies (food and other) Big Brother may have.

So yesterday Big Brother got about 20 FABULOUS skin tests. While I know it was necessary, nothing pulls at your heart more than seeing your child in pain, screaming, clutching to you, with tears streaming down their face. I hope we never have to do THAT again. Well.... Big brother has no other known food allergies. Which is a huge relief. Reading the labels on everything to avoid the nuts has been overwhelming enough. So what has been causing these coughing episodes?

Dogs.

Cats.

Dry Grass.

Did I ever mention the women who last lived in this house had a dog? Did you also know that we seriously live in the windiest place in California? Ugh... the allergist said his allergic reaction is EXTREMELY strong to the dogs and cats. She also said he probably does have asthma, but only as a trigger to his allergies. Thus the coughing when he has been around a dog, a cat, or outside windy MH. My poor child is inheriting the WORST things from me!! I too, am allergic to dogs and cats (mildly to dogs, but pretty bad with cats), but I can usually control it by not touching them, and taking something before I know I am going to be around them, and using an inhaler (which is always TOTALLY cool). Kids aren't so easy.

Well, I guess we won't be getting a dog. Mom yells, "WHOO-HOO!!!!" But this is NOT how I wanted to win this battle. Poor Big Brother. He LOVES dogs. And while I know it won't kill him to be around one once in a while, I also know how annoying it can be to be sneezing and coughing at some one's house, rubbing your eyes, and feeling itchy, due to a dog or cat, and then as a result having a hard time breathing. So, we will try as hard as we can to keep him away. But the mean mom has already had to come out. Yesterday, after hearing some barking at Grammy Pammy's house, I had to tell an anxiously excited Big brother, that he couldn't go pet Kona (GG's Dog). Mean Mom. But now, with the help of Zyrtec, and albuterol using a nebulizer (which as you can imagine is going REALLY WELL... right), but hopefully, we can have a happier, cough-free Big Brother. Mom really doesn't like to win like this. So while we will always have a DOG-FREE home, it has not come without a price. One I would rather not have to pay.

(Big brother asking me to sing a song with him before he goes to bed)

(Mama's Boy trying to grab my camera before I can get a good picture of him.)

(The Boys sitting on the bed. Mama's Boy LOVES to climb on Big brother's bed, and of course Big Brother wants to kick him off. We are working on sharing.)

(I just LOVE my little Mama;s Boy. He has become SO MUCH FUN, the older he gets. He always manages to surprise me, which is the complete opposite of Big brother, who is totally predictable. I just love his sweet little face.)

This past weekend we celebrated Grandma D 65th Birthday. It was a weekend event, staying the night in Modesto, going out to dinner, and throwing a surprise party. We were SOOOO tired when we got home (to top it off, Big Brother threw up in the car on the way home), but it was TONS of FUN!

Happy Birthday Grandma D!!

(Mama's Boy and Mom on Grandma's swing)

(Mama's Boy giving Daddy some loves... not really... he is our fiesty one!)

(Grandma blowing out her 65 candles)

(Big brother and Tyler at Grandma's party)

(The Boss, his brother Chris, and Grandma)

(Mama's Boy and Daddy at the party. That was a long night for poor Mama;s Boy.)

Coeur d'Alene

2009-07-14T12:01:00.000-07:00

This last week I took a trip to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho with my friend Anne, to visit our friend Jamie, who has lived there for several years now. Every time Jamie would come down to visit in California, we would have our kids, and a limited time to chat and hang out. So we decided to take a "girls only" trip to visit her.

It was SO MUCH FUN! First of all... Coeur d'Alene is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! I loved every minute of the scenery. The weather was perfect, it was nice and fresh outside, the people were nice, and absolutely everything you looked at was green and gorgeous. If you are EVER looking for an out-doorsy getaway... go here!!

We had a blast just hanging out at Jamie's house watching old high school videos and (like total nerds), listening to old choir CDs. We talked and talked and talked. We went out to a few restaurants and did a little downtown shopping, along with a great little hike around the lake. Aaron took care of the boys for 5 days while I was gone, and while I know it was a LOT of work, I think they had fun... I know I did!

So thanks honey for stepping up and allowing me to have a fun blast from the past. My house was spot-less clean (vacuumed and mopped... that was a new one), the laundry was completely done, and I was greeted at the airport with beautiful flowers. While it is always nice to get a way, nothing makes me happier than coming home to my sweet little family. Even after looking at all the pictures and videos of "way back then" and talking about all the fun we had and of course, how skinny and flawless we all looked compared to now... I wouldn't go back for a million bucks. I feel so blessed and am so happy with my wonderful husband and darling children, I just can't imagine life without them. Well... I guess I wouldn't mind getting the figure back from high school... but that's it.

Here we are on our hike around the lake in Coeur d'Alene. The water looked so refreshing and clear.

Jamie and Anne

Jamie and I

Anne and I

Dinner at Cedars. A fabulous steak house that floats on the lake. I know you can't see the water, but it was beautiful!

Having fun at Jamie's Grandma's Ranch. She lives in a beautiful cabin about 35 miles outside Coeur d'Alene, with horses, dogs, chickens, goats. Someone even brought her a baby deer whose mother had been run over, so she bottle fed it goats milk and now it lives outside her house and she feeds her everyday... is that not crazy?! It was really pretty.

A little behind... and "It's a Girl!"

2009-07-08T14:20:00.000-07:00

Summer has been so dang BUSY for us!! Sorry I haven't been a good blogger... and I don't make any promises to get better. But here is a review of the last month.

The Boss and I went to see WICKED in San Francisco. It was FABULOUS FABULOUS FABULOUS!!!! Thanks honey for a great birthday gift. There is something terribly romantic about getting dressed up and going to the city to see a show with your hubby! I recommend it for EVERYONE!

In Brentwood we have this wonderful thing called... fruit picking! I took the boys and Big Brother especially had SO MUCH FUN! These are some pictures of Big Brother and his best friend Ethan picking cherries... at the BEST cherry farm EVER... MAGGIORE FARMS.

Happy Father's Day DAD!! We have the BEST Daddy EVER! And while the boys weren't too cooperative for pictures, we had a fun day with Dad. More than anything our boys LOVE to wrestle with Daddy. I am so grateful to be married to such a wonderful husband who (so far) is the most AMAZING Father. I know little Queen Bee is just going to melt his heart! I am also grateful for my Dad. He always came to everything we did and he still does. Most of all, I love what an amazing Grandpa he is. Our boys LOVE their Grandpa and I have no doubt, that Grandpa would do ANYTHING for his grand kids.

Happy graduation! Duni graduated from High School and we are so proud of her. She was able to sing a song at the ceremony with DIVA and JAG. They did an amazing job! Although we were so late we didn't get seats... the boys did pretty well and the after party was really fun. Congrats Duni... we know you'll do BIG things!

And the 4th of July was a TON of FUN! We went to the little Community parade, where The Boss helped out with security, then we went to the picnic party that followed where I sang the National Anthem. the boys LOVED the little parade. Then we went to Modesto for a BBQ and fireworks. I know you can't tell from the pictures, but Mama's Boy LOVED the fireworks. He just sat on my lap and kept saying "whoooaaa". Big Brother loved watching them too. But he didn't want to sit on any one's lap. He wanted to sit in a chair all by himself. Its so funny how quickly they become independent. It was a fabulous 4th!

This is Mama's Boy's new favorite thing to do. It totally irritates me... but I think it is SO funny. We love our him!

And if you haven't already heard... we are having a GIRL! Both the boys LOVE saying. Although I'm pretty sure they don't get it. We are super excited!!

This is what I have to look forward to...

2009-06-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

I have been getting so many comments about how I don't look pregnant yet.... Here I've been telling everyone how huge I get when I'm pregnant and because I haven't gained 30 pounds yet... ( remember people... I'm only about 17 weeks... it will come) that I'm either #1- a liar, and I really don't get really really big. Or #2- that THIS TIME I won't get so big. Well, all I have to say is HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Here is proof. This is what I have to look forward to:

The day I went in to deliver Big brother (March 30, 2007) Gained a total of 48 pounds. He weighed 9 lbs 7 oz at 5 days early.

The day I went in to deliver Mama's Boy (March 14, 2008) Look at those sausage fingers!!!! Gained a total of 30 pounds... but remember I got pregnant again 3 months after I had Big brother, so I had only lost 25 of my 48 gained from him. So while the 30 pounds gained from mama's boy, is less than the 48 gained from big brother, I still weighted 4 pounds MORE when I delivered amam's boy, than I did with big brother. He weighed 8 lbs 3 oz at 2 weeks early. I'm sure you really care... right?

While I gain LOTS and LOTS of weight when I have babies and I CONSTANTLY get asked... seriously... CONSTANTLY get asked if I'm having twins... it has been worth it every time.

Because I also get this:

TOTALLY worth it!

Bet you can't tell which is which...

Picture Updates

2009-05-30T00:12:00.000-07:00

I've been really bad about posting pictures and updates... so here they are!!

Scum:

We had a goodbye "Scum" Party with the Thompsons and Hobbs. Aaron's BYU running cap (I guess that's what you would call it), was the scum hat. Notice everyone had to wear it... except me. Oh... and my Dad was there too... he stayed President the entire game except one round.

Easter:
We had to bribe our children with candy to get them to take pictures. That's probably why I wasn't in a hurry to post any... because none of them turned out!!! We had a great Easter nonetheless with family and friends.

Camping for Memorial Day Weekend:
We decided to go camping at Treasure Mountain for the holiday weekend. We went with both Grandma Donna and Grandma Pam, and of course, Grandpa. While this was a little bit of a challenge with the boys, all in all it was really fun. The boys TOTALLY enjoyed being 24-7 dirty. Mikko picked up and ate every kind of dirt, rock and plant... but he seems to be fine. And I can't tell you how many times AJ said "flower" and "hot" (for the camp fire) on this trip. Thanks to the grandmas and grandpa for making it so much fun... and much more manageable! Three extra adults sure does help!!!

Shaelie's Choir Awards:
Tonight we went to the Liberty Choir Awards Dessert. Of course we ate TONS of dessert. But we mostly went to hear Shaelie sing and get some fabulous awards. She sang a solo and sang with DIVA. Both were fantastic even if they were filled with lots of tears! And of course, when my boys weren't running up and down the aisle, they were eating as much dessert as their little tummies could take.

Just too lazy, finally 26, and yes... we're crazy

2009-05-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted lately. I've been VERY lazy. You have no idea how much energy it takes to walk upstairs to the bedroom, turn on the computer, wait for it to warm up (I swear it takes forever), load up the Internet and then begin. All while children are asleep, because mommy CANNOT be on the computer with the boys around. It is WAY TOO interesting. The green, computer "on" button, is so fun to push while mommy is in the middle of typing an email. The keyboard is so FUN to push buttons on... they make that cool sound... which makes trying to surf the net, really interesting! And of course pulling the mouse and (Mama's Boy's favorite) putting it in his mouth. It just doesn't work. Plus, now that it's getting hot, our bedroom (of course on the top floor), gets too warm during the day and I'm too cheap to turn the air on just so I can use the computer. Anyway, lame as they are, those are my excuses. It does seem like we have been busier than usual, and while I would have loved to give each of these events their own blurb... too much time has past so I'll just give you a little update from the past month:

1. My birthday! April 22, I turned 26... whoop-eeeeee. The Boss got me two books... which I have LOVED reading, and WICKED tickets, which I am totally excited to see. Thanks honey, you are the BEST!

2. I don't remember what day Easter was, but it was fun. We stayed home and had some family over and our friends the Hobbs (since their family is so far away). Big Brother finally caught on to the Easter Egg Hunts. It really was a lot of fun. Of course they mostly just liked the CANDY!!

3. Women's Conference. I took a trip to Utah to go to Women's Conference and it was SO MUCH FUN! I really may come back and do a blurb on this, because I have so many wonderful things to share. The day before I was supposed to leave, plans changed and I had canceled my trip. But last minute, thanks to some encouragement and support from my wonderful hubby, within a two hour time frame, I booked a flight, packed my bags, and drove to the airport. And it was SOOOO worth it. Thanks to Dani for letting me stay at her house and keep me company. And congrats to Lil Bro and Lucy on their new house. It looks fabulous and I can't wait to see it when we come back in August! And my fabulous husband had the house spic and span when I got home. He even vacuumed the whole house!

4. Our dear friends the Thompson's moved to Utah. We are VERY sad. I have nothing else to say about that.

5. Mother's Day. Ugh... While my handsome and most amazing husband is always wonderful to me on Mother's Day, and every other day during the year, this day never quite works out the way you plan. Both the boys got sick the previous day. Big brother threw up ALL OVER the Walmart aisle. I'm just glad I wasn't there, thanks honey for taking one for the team. And Mama's Boy had 101 temp. So naturally Sunday was a two-parent job. While I would have loved for the Boss to DO EVERYTHING, and me do nothing... with two sick kids... I wish that on NOBODY! He did let me go to church by myself, although I am in nursery, so I'm not sure what kind of break that is, but when I got home, the whole house was sparkling clean and vacuumed. That's right ladies! I have NEVER seen my husband vacuum a floor in the 6 1/2 years we've been married in one-week, he's vacuumed the whole house (our house is huge right now) twice! U R the BEST!!

6. And... in case you don't already know, however, I'm sure most of you do, Lehi Baby #3 is on its way! Due November 20th! However, if baby #3 follows baby #1 and #2, he/she will be coming a couple weeks early... here's hoping!! I can't wait to change 3 babies diapers in a day... 2 truly has NOT been enough.
... and yes... we're crazy! But seriously, if your kids were this cute, wouldn't you want to keep having them?!

Car seats are only safe when used properly...

2009-04-19T22:16:00.000-07:00

We have the BEST car seats for our kids. I did lots of research, online, in stores, talking to friends and family, and made sure that we bought the BEST car seats. BRITAX.

We have been 100% satisfied with our car seats. They are comfy, durable, and as safe as can be. Or at least I thought so until today.

On my way home from church, as I made a bit of an abrupt stop I heard a huge THUMP. I looked back at Big Brother to make sure he was still in his car seat. Now that he is getting older, he knows how to unbuckle himself, and I thought maybe he undid his straps and fell out. Nope. He was safe and secure. Hmmm.... must have been the stroller in the truck.

When I pulled into the garage and shut off the car I was completely startled by my little Mama's Boy, crawling up to see me down the center of the van.

HOLY CRAP! His straps came off in his car seat!! Theres no way he was able to undo them... that huge THUMP, was my child. Of course he sits directly behind me and I couldn't turn completely around while still driving to check and see if it was him that fell out. I never even thought to look at him, since there should be no reason he could fall out of his seat. DANG THAT BRITAX!! I could have gotten into an accident!! HOW DID THOSE DANG STRAPS COME UNDONE?!! Church is more than a couple minutes away, we're in the car for 15 minutes!! And why the heck didn't he cry? The kid didn't make a peep, and the THUMP happened only about 5 minutes into our trip!

Then it hit me. Did I strap him in? No. I strapped Big brother in. The Boss put Mama's boy in the car. The boss had just pulled up behind me (we have to take two cars to church). This is how it went...

The "real" Boss: "Hey, did you put Mama's Boy in the car?"

The Boss: "Yeah... why?"

The "real" Boss: "Did you strap him in?"

The Boss: "Of course I did!"

The "real" Boss: "Okay, well, I pulled in the garage and he was crawling down the center of the van. I heard a huge THUMP on the way home. So he fell out of his seat somehow."

The Boss: "Oh my gosh... I must not have strapped him in. Is he okay? I was talking to people and trying to get something for you. I knew I walked back over to that side for a reason, but then I started talking to Bean, and I just shut the door cause I couldn't remember what I went back there for."

The "real" Boss: "Great. So my kid falls out of his seat and I don't even notice? We could have gotten into an accident! Oh my gosh!!!"

Of course Mama's Boy was fine. And he Boss really felt awful. As did I. But Mama's Boy was happy and smiling when I found him on the van floor. He was having so much fun playing he tried to crawl away when I went to get him out.

So I guess BRITAX didn't let us down. Its still #1 car seat in my book. But just so you know... they are only safe when used properly. And when I say properly, I mean, when the child is actually strapped into it. They do fall out... when not fastened.

Those UTES fans are gonna get it!!

2009-04-10T16:30:00.000-07:00

It has taken me a while to put this post up... cause as you all know... I am VERY lazy with my camera. But we got the BEST April Fools joke played on us... and boy are they gonna get it!!!

April 1st, Aaron walked out to his car and found this...

Incase you were wondering, this is what our cars usually look like...

If you know Aaron, or even if you don't know Aaron, you should know that BYU sports means EVERYTHING to him. Therefore, naturally, he genuinely HATES the UTES. No I'm serious. If he knows you like them, or went to U of U, or even grew up there, he will FOREVER give you a hard time.

We have some VERY clever friends, whom Aaron LOVES to go back and forth with... THATS RIGHT SORENSONS, WE KNOW IT WAS YOU AND YOU BETTER WATCH OUT CAUSE BYU IS COMING TO YOUR HOUSE SOON...

Since it was the ultimate rival joke, and Aaron can appreciate some good rival humor, he has decided to keep it on his car for a month. I was completely shocked when he decided to do this... I thought he might immediately take it to the back yard and physically destroy it. But I think more than actually HATING the UTES, Aaron enjoys a good rival, and the fun trash talking that goes with it. So props and a "well done" to the Sorensons. We were had.

But I wouldn't laugh too much... Aaron's BYU wheels have been spinning, and I put nothing past him. So... you won't know when... or how... but we're coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CREDIT CRISIS... seriously?

2009-04-07T13:21:00.000-07:00

We are in a credit crisis!!!

People will do ANYTHING to get credit!

... according to my wonderful, handsome, slightly paranoid, husband The Boss.

The Boss has been having severe back pain. Not to go too much into it, he finally went in this morning to get cortisone shots in his back due to herniated discs. It is a pretty mild procedure. I was to drop him off at 8:30am, they drug him (of course), they give him the shots, then he would be ready to pick up at 10:15am.

When I went to drop him off, we said a little prayer before he went in, (just that everything would go smoothly), he asked me again (again, and again, and again) to make sure I was back here at 10:15am to pick him up, to keep my phone by me, in case something happens, and we all received a kiss and "I love you".

As we were stepping out he sat back down and started taking his credit cards out of his wallet.

Our conversation went something like this:

(The "real" Boss) "What are you doing?"

(The Boss) "Giving you my credit cards, I don't want to take them in with me."

(The "real" Boss) "Why not?"

(The Boss) "I don't know who will want to go through my stuff while they drug me up."

(The "real" Boss) "It's a hospital Aaron, I doubt someone is going to dig in your wallet and steal your credit cards while your on the table."

(The Boss) "People are desperate honey. Just hold on to them for me."

(The "real" Boss) "Okay..."

(The Boss) "Love you, see you at 10:15."

(The "real" Boss) "Love you too."

And I was handed a pile of credit and debit cards.

I just thought it was a little random... that's all. I suppose we are in a credit crisis and people are desperate. But as I drove away I was laughing to myself and thinking... seriously?

You've had a birthday shout HOORAY!!!!!

2009-03-31T17:13:00.000-07:00

March is "The Lehikoinen Children Birthday Celebration" month. You know how much we love parties... we love attending them... and throwing them.

Mikko turned ONE on March 14th. The first birthday is one of the most important ones. So of course we had to have a huge bash. I was hoping for a lovely sunny Saturday, so we could put our very useful backyard to work, but of course it was cold. And windy. And wet. So we had a BBQ "inside". We literally had to put the BBQ in the garage, because it was so windy out here, the flame kept blowing out. Anyway, it was a blast! We had roughly about 80 people in our house. Both family and friends. But most were children... so the number is a little deceiving. But it worked out great! We ended up having to put Mikko down for a nap during the party, and opened up the gifts later that night after everyone left and Mikko woke up (much happier) after his nap. But one-year-olds are unpredictable... just like our weather here in Mountain House! Thanks to everyone that came, and those who couldn't make it... we missed you!!

This is the fabulous cake my cousin made for Mikko. I couldn't even attempt something like this. Thanks Laurie!

Mikko really wanted to try and touch the flame.

This is Mikko reacting to everyone shouting at him to blow out the candles.

... what a spaz... it was hilarious.

He was a little hesitant to dig into it at first.

But he caught on... fast.

My boy LOVES cake!!

It was going into his mouth by the fist-fulls. He couldn't eat it fast enough.

And your first year would not be complete without the first haircut. I know what your thinking... "your kids don't have ANY hair!" This is true. But what little wisps they do have, were getting a little too long. I like clean cuts. I felt Mikko looked like a little old man hillbilly, with these random hairs growing over his ears and down his neck. No. No. No. No. No. He was actually very good. I think he liked the vibrating feeling on his head. I know he looks a little scared in the first picture. But that's just Mikko's crazy blank stare look. I think he quite liked it. And I think he looks SO handsome with his new cut!!

And at last AJ turned TWO on March 30th. While this is a fun birthday (turning two), it isn't quite as important as turning one, so instead of a huge birthday bash, we had a mini "two-year-old-friend" bash. Again, I was hoping to put our yard to good use, but the wind and cold took over once again. Having it inside worked out just fine. We had some Elmo coloring pages, snacks, and of course toys to play with. We had cupcakes and opened presents, then played some more. He LOVED ALL his gifts. My children now officially have TOO MANY toys. But after everyone left, it was fun to see him and Mikko fight over the new gifts. Aaron also had fun with some of the new toys... trying to teach AJ to catch a ball... hit a baseball off a tee... play golf... it was hard to get him to help me clean up! So thank you all! It was lots of fun!!

Singing Happy Birthday to AJ. He couldn't take his eyes off that flame!

When we tried to get him to blow out the candle, he just kept putting his face closer and closer to it. Maybe birthday #3 he will finally be able to blow it out himself.

He ate it very delicately... with his hands. He still NEVER wants to use utensils!

**As a side note. I cannot do ANYTHING on the computer while my children are around. The second they see the light of the green "on" button shine, and hear the light tap of the keyboard, they immediately swarm me and think its time to play on the computer. Mikko turns the power button on and off and crawls under the desk and pulls the mouse cord. And AJ slams his little fingers all over the keyboard while I'm trying to type. So... I tried to get this post done while BOTH children were napping. Of course, they woke up earlier than expected and have been crying for me to go get them for the last 20-minutes. One more minute-one more minute, I kept saying. Which has turned into 20. They have now stopped screaming, and I suppose are content with the fact that mommy is not coming to get them and screaming takes too much energy. Is it a little sick that I have no problem listening to my children cry in their cribs while I selfishly write on my blog?

Secret Secret... keep it keep it

2009-03-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

Shhhhh... I have a secret.

I am DYING to tell someone!!!!!!

I don't know how much longer I will be able to keep it all to myself.

But it is good! It's so juicey. But I'm not a gossip. So for now. I can't tell anyone!!

But I really want to. I want to tell all of you. Any of you. One of you.

Don't you want to know what it is? Who it's about? What it involves?

I promised I wouldn't tell. But now I'm mad I even know. Don't you hate that? Perhaps in time it won't be a secret anymore and I won't have to keep it.

But right now.... I have a secret... and I have to keep it.

Photos

2009-03-16T21:52:00.000-07:00

I FINALLY got Mikko's pictures taken. I really have been meaning to do it for the past couple of months, but between runny noses and bruises on the forehead no time has been a good time. But since Mikko was turning one-year, I had to get it done! So we got Mikko's one-year photos, and AJ's two-year photos done. I know they aren't smiling. They hardly ever smile for pictures... case and point, our Christmas letter photo. But I was very happy with the way they turned out.

It was really funny... there was a cat roaming around at the photo site and both the boys were completely fixed on it. AJ was walking around saying "meeee-owwww". It was really cute. i think my boys look so grown up! How does that happen?!

Mikko's birthday was lots of fun. He was hilarious with his cake! Post to come!!

My little Mikko all grown up!

I like this one because you can see how blue his eyes are.

Not my favorite photo, but at least he's not crying!

This is Mikko's signature look. He does smile... I promise! Just not very often.

This was the only decent shot we got of AJ. He was so concerned about following the cat around, it was hard to get a shot of him looking at the camera. But I think it clearly depicts AJ. That's how he usually looks!

These were just supposed to be some candids, but they turned out to be my favorites!

My two boys! I sure love them!!

Big Boy

2009-03-04T15:01:00.000-08:00

My little Big Brother is becoming such a BIG BOY!! Last weekend, we turned his crib into the toddler bed. Why you ask? I don't know! I thought he would be ready for it. My kids are SLOW at pretty much everything. This was the ONE thing, I thought he could do early. Not that it's early... the boy will be two at the end of March, but you know what I mean. On-time than. That sounds better.

(This is Big brothre getting ready for bed. He likes to bring all his blankies up with him and lay down on the pillow. I know I know... the pacifier is next to go. I hate that stupid thing. I'm going to ween him and Mama's Boy together. )

Anyway, it has surprisingly gone good. I'm sure I'm using some very unorthodox mommy no no's to make it work. But frankly... I don't care! The nights have gone AMAZING... the naps... a little tougher. But he does eventually fall asleep. How do you get him to stay in his room you ask? I lock him in there. Now, let me defend myself before you jump all over me. Big Brother is a very passive, compliant child. So while I do leave him in his room, he doesn't scream and holler to let him out, once he figures out he can't leave the room, he plays for a few minutes then crashes. If I let him go in and out of his room, he goes straight into Mama's Boy's room. And when Mama's Boy sleeps, I can't have anyone disturbing him... especially Big brother. So all I do, is put the baby gate up at his door, so that in theory, he can still open and shut his door... he just can't get out. When he is ready to get up, I hear him open his door and go get him. If Mama's Boy wakes up BEFORE Big brother, I take the gate down and let him come down when he wakes up. Not so bad... right? It has worked great! ... so far.

(crashing on the floor for a nap. I think as far as the naps go, he just gets tired and decides to crash on the floor. I'm pretty sure he doesn't fall this far from his crib. But whatever... he's asleep!)

The only thing I feel really bad about is that he is constantly falling off the bed. I don't think it hurts him cause the boy just stays fast asleep. But then he sleeps the rest of the night on the floor. Every night around 11pm, we hear a loud "thump" from him falling onto the floor from his bed. When we go to check on him, he's sound asleep on the floor! I feel bad. For two nights, I was going in there and putting him back in his bed. But a few hours later he would just fall out again. The funny thing is, I don't know how the heck he's falling out of it. The bed has the little bumpers on it. And his body seems too big to slide through the middle. All I can think, is that he's rolling OVER the little bumpers. I don't know. So... so far, its been a success. I feel bad hes resorting to the floor, but I'm not sure how to fix that. If you have any advice, I'd love to hear it.

(When he falls off his bed, he's usually a little closer to the crib. But I don't know... I guess he looks comfy. He is laying on top of a blanket...)

PS- I posted pictures from Valentine's Day on my "Happy Valentines Day" post from a couple weeks ago. Sorry it took so long.

From Hero to Zero

2009-03-03T01:14:00.000-08:00

I'm not ashamed to say I watched The Bachelor this year. The boss and I enjoy a little reality TV from time to time. I wouldn't say we're complete fans... but I was this year... until now.

I think it is so amazing how a guy can go from being viewed as one of the most amazing guys EVER to the biggest JERK (so not to use profanity) in the world... in a matter of minutes. I just think it's hilarious!

We don't usually expect these "Bachelor" things to work out. Trista and Ryan are making it work (and I DID watch that one), but most of the time, they're just crap. I guess our expectations for Jason were just TOO high... or maybe we expect people with children to some how be more responsible and respectful... or maybe we think someone who has been through it themselves, is better capable of making the "right" choice for the proposal... I don't know. Stupid.

I feel horrible for his son. The Boss would comment all the time on how "if he's such a 'great guy', why is he dragging his son through all this". Dully noted.

I of course wanted him to pick Melissa, but whatever. Apparently the "chemistry" wasn't the same. Things were "different". Yah you IDIOTS, it's called "real life". This is why relationships from these kinds of shows very very very very seldom actually work. It ain't always paradise!

I actually think Jason will get a worse wrap for this than he probably deserves. I'm sure he's a decent guy. A really STUPID decent guy. He knows he is seriously going to be hated by every female for the way it played out. I know it's not fair. But seriously, ABC milked this dry. They aren't doing him any favors. Its almost like they're TRYING to make seem more like an a**hole. Wait a go ABC! How decent of you. Such class. But be careful. You may have had a good night tonight, but you may have pissed people off just enough to stop watching the show. Which would make you a Zero. Enjoy!

I can't WAIT to hear what the morning shows have to say about this!

American Idol Blog Trouble

2009-02-25T20:50:00.000-08:00

I am alive. This STUPID laptop hates my blog and freezes every time I try to post pictures. That's why I haven't had any posts and the posts I have made, lack photos. Eventually I will get to my desktop and add the photos.

We have been so busy and things are not going to be slowing down. I know many of you are much busier than I am... I guess your just better at managing your time. :)

Right now I am in San Francisco. I am at The Westin, watching American Idol and trying to get Mama's Boy to GO TO BED!! This boy does NOT want to sleep in the crib at this hotel. The Boss had a big presentation to do last night, so when Mama's Boy woke up at 2am and wouldn't fall back to sleep, I took him in the stroller and walked around with him until 6:30am (so the boss, and our hotel room neighbors, could get some sleep). After walking around for 3 1/2 hours, I was confident he was completely out (about time!) so we came back into the hotel room where I left him asleep in his stroller until 9:30am. I was so freaking tired!! Then, (this is how wacky this kid is), he takes a 2 hour nap in the crib at 11am. I took him shopping for 5 HOURS, and he was nearly PERFECT! Now, it's almost 9pm, he's been sitting in the crib for over an hour and refuses to fall asleep. I am going to go CRAZY!!! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At least I have my American Idol. Which is sorta sucking tonight.

PS- The Boss surprised me last Wednesday morning and took me to Pismo Beach for 3 days, as part of my Valentine's Day gift! So sweet! And much needed!! It was so fun... we needed a few more days. I'll do a post next week after we get back from the cabin and I'll put some pictures up. I promise!! No... I don't.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2009-02-17T23:46:00.000-08:00

So, I know I have been so sporadic with my blogs... I'm sorry! I almost NEVER turn on our upstairs computer, I usually wait for The Boss to get home and I use his laptop. For some reason this laptop does NOT like my blog... so sad... I know. It just doesn't want to load. It takes FOREVER to load and then won't let me sign in. Anyway, I've been VERY frustrated! But today, I made it!!

Our Valentine's Day was great! I threatened The Boss with his LIFE that he better NOT spend too much money. We have a budget now (that's an entirely different post) and I have to threaten him into abiding by it. Anyway... to kick off Valentine's Day, we went to dinner and a movie with the Thompson's. We ate at Cheesecake Factory, where I seriously had the BEST orange chicken EVER! It was soooooo worth it!! We were running late in order to catch the movie so The boss was upset he didn't have time for his Cheesecake... (again, another post entirely). We went and saw "He's just not that into you", which was funny, but was very very very PG-13. That's all I'll say about that. Then we went back to the Thompsons and played "Trains" where of course I won!! :)

To continue, my real Valentine's wish was to sleep in on Saturday... of course... impossible. We went to my parents for my mom's "Family Valentine's Day Dinner" with red ice-cubes and everything! It was fun and of course very very YUMMY!! Then The Boss and I had to chaperon the youth dance, which was fun, but not exactly romantic. But that's okay. We had a great one and we hope all of you did too! Man how things change when you have kids... right?

Christmas post!!! Only a month late :)

2009-01-28T22:21:00.000-08:00

As promised (even if it is a month later) here are pictures of our Christmas extravaganza. An extravaganza is exactly what it was... (caution -- this may totally bore you!)

We decided to spend Christmas in Utah with Aaron's family. We planned on leaving the Monday before Christmas, but as some of you may remember, huge storms were all over Utah and California (Tahoe area). We were feeling reluctant about driving right through a storm and were going to cancel the trip. But me, not wanting to flake out on everyone, convinced Aaron that it would be no big deal and if we had to chain up (by the way, we drive a van that is NOT all wheel, so chains are required) I would help him put them on. So we headed up about 1pm.

What do you think was waiting for us in Tahoe? You guessed it! First a crap load of traffic, then a crap load of snow! We were completely behind schedule with the crazy traffic and were forced to chain up at the beginning of Donnor Pass. Traffic was moving about 5-10 miles an hour, which was fine because one of our chains fell off... twice... and we had to pull over and fix it. Notice how I say "WE", really it was Aaron. There was nothing I could do. Well, actually, I lie, I held the flash light, because it was totally dark outside... and freezing.

We finally made it to Reno (hours later) with Aaron totally mad at me for convincing him that this was a good idea. It took hours to get over Donnor and we knew that there were at least 4 or 5 more spots going through Nevada that would require us to put chains on again. And according to the weather reports, the storm was supposed to be getting worse, not better. I really didn't think Aaron could get any angrier at me, but when we pulled up to McDonalds, we found ourselves with a flat tire! We ended up shredding the tire, needing a brand new one. Of course everything was closed and it was official... we were going to have to stay the night in Reno and fix the tire the next day. Aaron had had it! He made up his mind that the trip was cancelled and when we got the tire fixed, we were heading back home. No more Christmas in Utah.

We ended up staying at a pretty decent Hotel for only $50 bucks (The Silver Legacy, check it out if you ever need to stay somewhere nice and cheap right downtown). So while we lucked out on finding a decent Hotel, we got totally ripped off buying our tire. Seriously. They raked us. It was criminal! And by the way, we didn't have any pack-n-plays so Mikko slept in bed with us for the first time and I seriously don't know how you people do it. I hardly slept at all. It was a nightmare. But Aaron felt much better after waking up (if that's what you call it, he barely spelt too) and decided that we would just make the trek to Utah and just vow to NEVER DO IT AGAIN!

So we were prepared to make several stops to put on chains, muddling through the stormy weather and wouldn't you know it? We flew right through Nevada and didn't hit one storm or flurry. It was crystal clear with no snow on the roads.

We spent a wonderful Christmas with the Lehikoinens. It was really fun waking up to a literally white Christmas Day. I mean really... we couldn't believe all the snow! The cars were completely snowed in. It was crazy, but fun. Well, Mikko and AJ didn't like it. They can be such wussies. AJ totally freaked out when I tried to take him out. Oh well, I'm sure one day he'll like it. But we got great gifts, had a great breakfast, a fun snowball fight, a yummy dinner, a girls Christmas movie night of Twilight, and unforgettable memories.

We came home and did a mini post-Christmas celebration with the Schwitters (Barry and Lauren included) and had a fun time hanging out with them. Hopefully next year will be a little more "drama free", but I guarantee this will be one Christmas, we'll NEVER forget.

*PS- The way home was crystal clear also

**PSS- Mikko is FINALLY crawling!!

The Boys & Santa Clause

Christmas Eve

Christmas Day

Post-Christmas Celebration with the Schwitters

A little of our week

2009-01-20T22:52:00.000-08:00

This last week has gone by fast. I know, I still haven't gotten around to those Christmas pictures yet (its because I have to download, edit, resize, etc...) it feels like such a process. For Christmas Aaron and I decided to buy a little snap shot camera that we can just take with us everywhere. Its easier than lugging my big fancy one around. So we did take a few pictures this week, they are nothing special, but here they are nonetheless.

We did do some fun things this week. First, we finally broke out our Settlers game (that we haven't played since Sept. 2007). It was so fun! We played two nights in a row! Of course I lost both times, but I don't mind. Just getting my feet wet again!

Mikko is SOOOOOO close to crawling! He gets on all fours and moves his legs, but he wont move his arms... He will sit there and scream like he is frustrated he hasn't figured it out. I try to help him, but I think I make it worse. Oh well... I'm sure any day now it will "click" in his little brain and he will just take off!

Lately I have been trying to make more of an effort to get AJ out, playing with other kids. I took him to the park last Friday (our ward does a play group at the park each week) and he just stood in like one place the entire time. He just stared at all the other kids playing and having fun. It was sort of creepy at first. It was like he didn't want to touch any of the equipment or kids... so weird! I think I need to get him out more. He is too use to just playing by himself at home. So we're going to work on that! I don't want to have the creepy socially inept kid.

We also hosted a youth fireside at our house Sunday night. I stayed upstairs with the boys so they wouldn't be a distraction, but they had a great turn out and Aaron gave me all the details (of course I went downstairs to visit as soon as it was over). I just have to brag about my hubby for a second. I am SOOO proud of him. For some reason he feels so "out of his comfort zone" in his (Young Men's President) calling. But I think he is doing so amazing! He loves the youth so much and has so much passion for the gospel, I just love seeing it! The leaders challenged the kids to a few goals as a ward, and when everyone left, Aaron sat down with me and explained that we as a couple needed to strive for these goals individually, just like the youth. He said he thinks it is important to lead by example. The three goals were, read the scriptures for 5 minutes daily, pray day and night, and smile! As a family, we do pretty well with the prayers and scripture reading. But Aaron and I have fallen short on reading our scriptures individually. I think this will be a great thing for me and my testimony... I started yesterday! Of course, I think I can do a little better than 5 minutes a day. We raised the bar to 30 minutes of scripture study a day, instead of just 5. And I can especially work on the whole "smile" thing. But Aaron inspires me to be better. I just love him and am so grateful I have such a wonderful, worthy priesthood holder as my husband. I couldn't ask for more!

Today was a special day as many of you know (and if you don't, you've been living under a rock). To me it was special because I got to witness one of the great things about our country- a peaceful transfer of power. I was a teenager when Clinton left and Bush came in, so I didn't pay any attention to the transformation. I just thought it was very moving. Despite what anyone may think of President Bush, I was a little emotional when I watched him. I can see a good man, that cares about the country as a whole and Americans as individuals. I also loved seeing President Obama with his family. The kids looked a little nervous, but so cute! And seeing Pres Obama with Michelle, speaks volumes of his character. I know it was an exciting mark for history, having the first black President. I think younger generations (I include myself in this) seem to be more colorblind and a little oblivious to the (Farley recent persecutions) that occurred just a few decades ago. I know we shouldn't forget the past, but I think it is a little okay to step forward, and not back. It doesn't make a difference to me what color the president is. When I look at Pres Obama, I don't think "he's a black president". I think "he is our president". I wouldn't think twice if it was a woman, a Hispanic, Asian, Mormon, Catholic, or Muslim. So while we celebrate today, I hope we continue to move forward. It shouldn't really matter WHAT you are, but WHO you are. I think Pres Obama has a tough road ahead of him, but I support him as my President and will pray for him to make the best decisions for our country. I do think we need some change. I hope he can bring the kind that makes us a BETTER, STRONGER nation.

Post-Christmas all-stress disorder

2009-01-12T17:19:00.000-08:00

I am so pooped. I just spent all day taking down my Christmas decorations, and man am I worn out!! It makes me wonder if it is worth it to put them all up... (I know it is... I forget all about it by the time Christmas rolls around again).
It took me an hour alone to vacuum up the pine needles (fake ones) from the stairs, and I have little cuts all over my hands from stringing out the pokey greenery from our stair-railings. I also have now found that I do not have enough home decor to fill this obnoxiously large house we now live in. Since we moved in during Halloween, I immediately put up Halloween decorations, then just replaced those with Christmas decorations. Now I have HUGE holes everywhere! My house looks so... empty. Its really sad.
Anyway, I also have a list of things that need to be returned. I am SO BAD at returning things. Usually The Boss just does it for me. But scrap booking supplies.... I'm going to have to take care of that one. I have pictures I still need to download from my camera, wrapping paper and boxes in my bedroom, Christmas candy tempting me, and kids that are still sick from BEFORE Christmas.
I just feel like everything is... well... everywhere. Things are not back to normal yet and I can't wait until they are. Is there a drug one can take for this post-Christmas all-stress disorder? And don't say chocolate... that's another contributor of my disorder.

(Sorry for no pictures. It is so low on my priority list. But I'm sure I'll get to it eventually...)

Shower Powder

2009-01-06T21:34:00.000-08:00

So I have been SOOOOO lazy. I still haven't downloaded pictures from Christmas. That's why I haven't posted. Its on my list of things to do this week. But I make no promises. I've missed all you!!! Hope your holidays were well. Our holiday was... interesting. It'll all be in the Christmas post. ... Something to look forward to (I promise no profanity this time).

Today something happened. It was... a little sad. I ran out of baby powder. Silly, I know. But, the thing is, I have not had to buy baby powder yet. At all. Thanks to all my friends and family, I got enough baby powder from my AJ baby shower (AJ will be 2 in March and I didn't have a shower for Mikko) that I have not had to buy any. My shower powder supply has lasted me almost 2 years with AJ and 1 year with Mikko. They both get a bath every night, at which time powder is "puffed" onto the bum. When there are rashes or large poops, I usually powder them fresh also. That is a lot of freaking shower powder. I calculated that I have probably done somewhere around 1,500 "puffs" of powder on a bum with my shower powder. But today... my shower powder ran out. I will now have to go out and actually buy some baby powder. Some non-shower powder. However, my friends and family are so wonderful that I still have NOT run out of baby lotion or baby shampoo. My shower supply is still stalked! While I love my shower powder, shampoo, and lotions, why can't I have this same problem with diapers? We just spent $150 on diapers and formula for the month... ouch! Do you know how much shower powder, lotion, and shampoo I could buy with $150? It would last a heck of a lot longer than one month. A girl can dream... for now... to Target I go for my non-shower powder.

As good as it gets... right?

2008-12-15T14:06:00.000-08:00

Christmas photos this year were a FREAKING nightmare. Next year I just need to pony-up and spend the BIG BUCKS to get it professionally done. I felt like it was impossible to get my kids to take a decent picture. If one wasn't looking the other was, and vice-versa. For some reason, I felt like my kids instantly wanted to tick-me-off trying to get a decent picture of all of us. As soon as the camera came out, so did tears, naughtiness, and squirming. Can't I catch a break?!! The one we finally picked was...okay. We had to give AJ a sucker just to get him to stop screaming. In case you have had similar problems, I have so graciously posted part of our nightmare. Perhaps this will not make you feel so bad:

(Ha ha ha, so funny AJ. Mikko looks like he is constipated.)

(Yeah, I love the drool all over your shirt... classy)

(The only one who looks good in this picture is Aaron. But he always looks good. Mikko has a scary evil-looking smile on his face and of course AJ is trying to get down off the bench.)

(Seriously AJ... you can't just look at the camera? Come on man! Mikko is trying to stand on my lap.)

(I am yelling at my mom to just keep taking pictures... we are bound to get ONE good one out of 50 shots. Maybe. This one is just all-around bad. But this was what most of the shots looked like.)

Following are the ones we narrowed it down to:

And the winner is.......

This is as good as it gets folks. At least I got them out... right?

Santa's little helper?

2008-12-15T13:59:00.000-08:00

Santa and I are not very good at hiding things. Apparently I have underestimated my child. I thought the closet would be a sufficient place to hide Santa's gift. I was wrong. I went downstairs and found this:

Oops! He found it! I thought it was so cute I just couldn't bare stealing it from him right away. He kept getting his leg stuck in the box trying to ride it. Eventually he gave up on that and decided to put some stuffed bears on it and PUSH/SLIDE it around the family room. Am I horrible that I let him play with it? When I did take it away, it was so sad. He only cried for a minute, but at least I know he'll like it. Lucky for me, I'm sure he'll forget all about it by Christmas and he will be just as excited to play with it.

Busy Christmas Season

2008-12-15T13:48:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It has been SO BUSY this month!! We will be traveling for Christmas so I feel like I am on an extra short time table. We had our ward Christmas party last weekend and the boys got to sit on Santa's lap. Seriously... my kids don't have a clue. AJ was scared out of his mind (which I'm sure is typical of children his age, and Mikko just wanted to chew on everything). This picture was the best we could do. But at least we have one. I don't have a Santa picture of AJ his first Christmas (bad mom). But I've got one this year!!!

We thought it would be fun for AJ to take a little ride in a race car at the mall arcade. I was wrong. He screamed. But Mikko LOVED it! It was so cute. He was like a wild man trying to touch all the buttons and turn the steering wheel. My boys definitely have two completely different personalities. Mikko is MUCH MORE aggressive. And AJ is MUCH MORE passive. In other words- AJ is more of a boob, and Mikko is more a crazy man. I love them both and embrace how different their personalities are.

Christmas Cards... ugh

2008-12-02T12:55:00.000-08:00

Oh Christmas Card, Oh Christmas Card. Why can't you buy yourself? Why can't you write a nice funny letter and print yourself on crispy clean beautiful purchased Christmas paper? Why can't you take an absolutely perfect picture of my family, where we are all looking at the camera smiling beautifully, develop yourself and paste nicely on your inside? Why can't you know all my friends and family and write a nice little personalized note to each of them and sign with love my families names? Why can't you address yourself, seal yourself, and place a nice stamp on yourself? And lastly, why can't you walk on down to the mail box so all my friends and family can receive you on the first of December and open you up and say... "wow, Brandi is so on top of things! Beautiful picture, great letter, and she even wrote us a little note. I wish I could be as organized as her."? Why, oh Why, can't you do me this little tiny favor my dear, sweet, yearly, Christmas Card?

Because it wants me to suffer.

I know Christmas cards are dwindling more each year. It is so easy to stay in contact with everyone with technology that sometimes it seems so silly sending the whole package (card, letter, photo, message). But I do it. I do it because one of my favorite things about Christmas is opening the mailbox and getting a nicely packaged message. Even if I regularly read your blog, or talk to you on the phone, I still love getting the letters and pictures. Something about it makes Christmas so wonderful. It reminds me how lucky I am that we have such great family and friends, and it reminds me how much I miss all of you who are far away. So I am going to DO it! I swore I was going to have them out by December 1st. Clearly, since I am complaining about them, I haven't even started. UGH!! I will spend two whole days doing everything at once. My house will be a mess, my children and husband will be neglected, and cereal will be served 3 times a day. But once its over, I will be so GLAD I did it!

By the way - in case any of you were wondering, the rest of our Thanksgiving trip went... okay. It was fun visiting family and friends, but very difficult with two sick babies (we had to take Mikko to urgent care). We ended up driving home in the middle of the night. The boys slept the WHOLE time. We are going to Utah for Christmas, and all driving WILL BE DONE through the night. And after this Christmas trip... we will not be taking long distance car trips as a family for a while. Here are some pictures from our trip. We did have fun - it was just really hard.

(This last one sums things up pretty well)

Hell... literally

2008-11-22T20:31:00.000-08:00

Hell. I know its horrible to use profane words, but this was the most mild one I felt comfortable publishing to describe my (our) day today. My children are finally asleep. Snoring to be exact. But it took awhile to get them here. Following are the reasons my (our) day sucked so bad.

1. The day we were leaving for Utah we found out our "place of stay" had a contagious sick little boy. (Poor Blake. We hope he feels better). We didn't think it would be wise to take a chance on the boys getting sores in their throat and mouth. So we had to change things up last minute. Never fun.

2. We ended up having to drive through the day. I hate this. And after actually doing it today, I hate it even more.

3. We had to wake our kids up at 5:00am. My kids don't do well when they are woken up.

4. Those same kids did not ONCE sleep longer then about 20 minutes. Big brother took ONE of those, through the entire trip and Mama's Boy took about THREE.

5. Because they would not sleep they screamed. They cried. They threw things. They wouldn't eat or drink much. I have never wanted to throw myself out a window so badly. I SERIOUSLY have NEVER heard my children scream and cry so much.

6. Big brother peed through his clothes. Yeah... that was fun unloading luggage, getting him clothes, changing him in the car, while he cried. Really fun.

7. BYU lost. I don't even know what else to say about that.

8. We went to my brother's house to watch the game where family we hadn't seen in a while waiting to greet us. We tried putting Mama's Boy down for a nap and he SCREAMED bloody murder for over an hour solid. Big brother was throwing food and screaming at people. And I had to hear someone say... "I thought your mom said your kids were good? She said they never cry and now all they are doing is crying." You never want to hear that.

9. Our kids were being so horrible we had to leave my brother's early, I had to skip out on Midnight Madness shopping, and we decided to screw it, save everyone else, including ourselves the hassle, and get a Hotel for 6 nights. OUCH! We weren't expecting this one, but for our sanity, as well as others, its probably for the best. No shopping for me this trip.

10. When we finally got to the Hotel, we went to bath our kids and found a huge rash on Mikko's tummy and back. (My eyes roll). So he probably isn't feeling well... this should be fun. Good thing I brought the Tylenol. That's probably what finally knocked him out.

I have no idea how the rest of this trip will go. But so far, I'm in Hell. My poor children are so screwed up they are in Hell also. Traveling here, there and everywhere with one child is NO BIG DEAL! Two children has been quite a different story. Does this mean we are doomed from taking these trips for the next 15 years while our family grows? Is it just because they are so little? Whatever. We are FOR SURE driving home through the night. No more day trips. This is BY FAR the most frustrating day Tyhe Boss and I have had in 6 years of marriage.

Oh yes and that tops it off. Tomorrow is our 6-year anniversary. Happy Anniversary Honey!! I love you I love you I love you. Even in Hell.

A little behind the times

2008-11-21T18:44:00.000-08:00

I don't know why it has taken me so long to do this, but The Boss finally bought me Twilight.

I started reading it last night at 6:30pm and finished today around 5:00pm. That's right. I read it in less than 24 hours.

I was going to see the movie on Wednesday. I think I'll be trying to go tomorrow or Monday.

Why has it taken me so long to discover what EVERYONE else around me already knew? That these books are impossible to put down. Seriously. Impossible. My poor children suffered.

And Edward Cullen. What can I say? I have a new love for Vampires.

I may have been a little behind the times on this one. But I think I'll catch up real fast!

(I also heard the movie is disappointing. But the movie is never as good as the book. That's why you always read the book first. Isn't that kinda a given? I still want to see the movie.)

Watch out! I got my Red Rider BB Gun

2008-11-18T15:17:00.000-08:00

Last night for FHE we took the boys to the Bass Pro Shop. It was SOOOOOO fun! Everyone in our ward has been telling us how they went and took all their kids and how much they enjoyed it. I was thinking... seriously? Isn't it like a big fishing store? I hate fish. However, we went and had a BLAST! It was all decked out for Christmas (I love that the stores do that). We missed Santa Clause by a few minutes, but I don't think Big Brother knows who he is anyway. They had a little TV area where "The Christmas Story" was playing and the kids could sit on chairs or rugs to watch. They had a craft area for the kids to have fun with a little project. They had trains, elfs, snow (little pieces of garbage, that he enjoyed picking up and throwing), they had reindeer, presents, the works. Not only did they have cool Christmas stuff, they also had stuffed bears, wolves, ducks, etc..., waterfalls, fish, a little general store with candy and fudge (made right there for you). They have little shooting games too. The Boss and I played and I think he barely won. Ok... he won by A LOT! He tried to get Big brother to hold the gun and shoot. He wasn't quite interested. The boss now thinks he needs to get Big brother a Red Rider BB Gun for Christmas... I think he's a little young... he could barely hold it up.

(Excuse the quality of the photo. This is what happens when you forget your camera and have to use the crappy camera on your phone)

Damn sick!! (pardon the language)

2008-11-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

Caution - I am very angry right now and since I have no one to vent to, except a couple of toddlers, I choose you, my dear blogging friends. Because I can hardly take it anymore. So if you don't want to hear me rant, or you don't agree with my rant... just pass on by and I am sure I will feel better tomorrow.

I am getting DAMN SICK of being treated like a bigot, intolerant, discriminative, prejudice, person who is trying to take peoples rights away. I have people getting fired in my community for donating to YES on 8, I have people protesting at my temple telling me I am prejudice and hateful, I have my favorite talk shows having people like Ellen DeGeneres on voicing why the YES on 8 people lied to get votes, and I have a freaking news story on every night about how the Mormons promote HATE, not LOVE, since they came together on YES on 8. I have a few points I would like to make:

1. Everyone SHOULD have the same rights. I personally believe that gay couples SHOULD have the same rights as a married couple. Just don't call it marriage. Marriage is between a man and a woman. You are husband and wife. A gay couple is different. They ARE NOT husband and wife. I'm not sure how they identify each other... partners maybe... But it is DIFFERENT. Just like a gay individual is not called a heterosexual. They are called a homosexual individual. There is no "second class citizen" about it. IT IS DIFFERENT!!!! If domestic partnership does not offer the same rights as a marriage, then go fight that! I don't have a problem with that. (I have no idea what the church supports). Visitation rights, inheritance rights, taxes, health care, etc... I think they should all be available for gay couples as well. But I do have a problem with changing the definition of the word marriage.

2. It's all the MORMONS! Why is the Mormon church the only group that is being held responsible for Prop 8 passing? Although it is nice to think that perhaps our time and energy could make that big of an impact. Credit should be made to all other sects and religious groups of people that donated lots of time, energy, and money, as well. Did you know that LDS people make up about 2.5% - 3% of California voters? That means even if all the LDS people decided not to vote, Prop 8 STILL WOULD HAVE PASSED!

3. The upper hand. I also love how "the Mormon church" donated "absurd" amounts of money. First of all, "the Mormon church" didn't donate ANY money. The members of the church made personal donations. And hello? And forgive me if these numbers are a little off, but I am pretty sure it was something like YES on 8 donated 29 million, NO on 8 had 40 million. Not only did No on 8 have 11 million more in donations, they had Hollywood all over the place, doing celebrity ads and endorsements. I think YOU had the upper hand, not us.

4. A double standard. Since when did having different moral beliefs become such a crime? Don't No on 8 supporters believe in ALL tolerance? Why then do I feel like I am being attacked for believing marriage should be between a man and a woman, to pro-create, which is a fundamental belief of my religion? I LOVE my gay friends. I have many. I do not want to hurt them, and I certainly don't think of them as "second class citizens", (which I am being accused of doing). I believe most YES on 8 supporters were very respectful. No one was yelling out words such as "sin" or "abomination". Supporters respectfully passed out fliers, donated money, made phone calls, held signs on the sides of streets. We did not picket outside a church where gay marriages are performed. We did not hold signs up and yell outside predominately gay neighborhoods or hangouts. But NO on 8 supporters have no problem calling ME names on signs and yelling and protesting outside MY temple. Can you imagine what the headlines would be if it were the other way around? Aaron has had people at work approach him about his views, (since they know he is LDS). They strike up a spirited discussion against his beliefs. Aaron would be FIRED in a second if he EVER brought up anything like that in the work place. I am not the one who is persecuting people for their beliefs. I AM the one being persecuted.

5. City Hall? Why are NO on 8 supporters protesting outside MY temple? There is nothing the LDS church can do now. Do they want the church to come out and say "Okay, your right, lets re-define the word marriage. All LDS people change their votes". Shouldn't you be protesting at the Capitol Building or City Hall Buildings? Just a thought.

Lastly, I just want to say I have no animosity for anyone individually. But can you understand my frustration? While NO on 8 supporters are trying to protect their supposed rights, they are stomping ALL OVER mine. Please don't hate me or call me names because I think marriage is ordained of God and that its purpose is to procreate and raise God's children. I do not hate you or call you names for your beliefs. We just disagree on this moral issue.

I have to think there is a better way to go about all this. And the way it is going right now... isn't working for ANYONE.

*Here is a link to the article regarding the Sacramento theater artistic director who had "resigned" a.k.a (pushed to resign before being fired)

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1387273.html#comments

Baby Bologna?

2008-11-10T16:48:00.000-08:00

I know this may be disgusting, but lately I cannot get enough Bologna! I am not talking about all the BS I hear on CNN or KRON 4 News, I am talking about the fatty, salty, you-don't-want-to-know-whats-in-it meat. I have had a Bologna sandwich at least every other day for the past week. When I am pregnant I CRAVE Bologna sandwiches like CRAZY!!!! But I am not pregnant. Really. I can say with a surety I am not pregnant. So what does this mean? Is someone trying to tell me I should try to get pregnant? I know you all think I am crazy but after interpreting this the past few days, I feel like that's what the Bologna is trying to tell me. hmm...... I am going to have to think this one through. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!!

2008-11-03T23:27:00.000-08:00

We had a fun and busy Halloween. Big Brother was our favorite college mascot... can you guess? COSMO! Mama's Boy was a little fireman. They were so cute! We went to a Halloween party with The Boss' family, carved pumpkins, went to the homecoming parade (totally lame) and finished things off at Grandma P's Halloween party. It may have sprinkled rain, but that didn't stop us! We had lots of fun and look forward to next year. Here are some pictures from our fun-filled Halloween celebration.

The Boys in their costumes!!

Carving Pumpkins. Mama's Boy liked chewing on the pumpkin scooper.

Trick or Treating!

Party time and TOO MUCH CANDY!!

Crash and Burn - Sugar high has run off!

The CUTEST boys in the WHOLE WORLD!!

Focus please

2008-10-26T23:56:00.000-07:00

When we attempt to do family home evening or scripture study, this is how my boys pay attention.
When I am having a teaching moment about animals, body parts, or food, this is how they watch me.
When I want to get some cute photos of them together, they both simultaneously look my way and listen to every direction I give them.
And when they have done something naughty, I sit them down and talk to them about their behavior and this is how they respond and take in my words of wisdom.

I have the BEST boys ever!!

Okay--- I lied. They're watching Elmo's World.

HELLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't get them to focus on me for one second. But once the red, furry, high-pitched voice, puppet comes on the big screen.... the eyes don't move.

I have a feeling these moments will be taking place for years to come. ugh.

Viva Las Vegas for the BIG 3-0

2008-10-23T00:45:00.000-07:00

Well, we just got back from Vegas after celebrating the big 3-0. Not my 3-0... I'm not THAT old! Just kidding. The Boss turned 30 on Saturday, October 18. I surprised him on Saturday morning with a trip for TWO (kid-less of course. We love Grandmas!) He was surprised to say the least. I gave him one hour to get packed and we were off! We spent 4 days and 3 nights staying at the Venetian Hotel & Resort. The boss said it was BY FAR, the best birthday EVER! It was SO MUCH FUN!! The Hotel was PERFECT (and worth every penny). We ate, slept, went to a show, laid out by the pool, went shopping, cruised casinos and of course, there was TONS of ... ... ... making out! (to keep it G rated) Here are some pictures from our trip:

As I said, the Hotel was fabulous. It was 5-star top-of-the-line. We had a TV in front of the bed, one in the family room (which we watched a movie on one of the nights) and one in the bathroom. All the window coverings were remote controlled, the bed was to-die-for-comfortable, and the bathroom and a separate private "chick" area for me to do my hair and make-up. We gave it 2-thumbs up!

We truly do love Vegas, but one of the main reasons we like going, is that it's the only other place out side of Utah where we can enjoy our FAVORITE place to eat... CAFE RIO!! And yes, we ate there 3 times in four days. It was worth the extra pounds gained when we got home. We LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVED it! It's good every time. We always left our plates bare. We also treated ourselves to Cold Stone after all 3 times to Cafe Rio. That could have had something to do with the weight gain.

We HAD to do a buffet. Even though they are over-priced and over-rated. It's not Vegas if you don't do a buffet. We went to the Treasure Island Buffet. It was... okay. We won't go again, we'll try a different one next time. The Boss was hilarious. He would take ONE bite of everything then toss it. I kept saying... "your wasting food!" His response was... "it's a buffet, that's what you do." No - its people like you that make it so expensive!

Aaron also had Dunkin Donuts for the first time. He LOVES donuts, and Dunkin Donuts lived up to his expectations.

The most amazing thing we did is see Phantom of the Opera. It was absolutely amazing. The stage was custom built at the Venetian for the Phantom production and it was truly beautiful. I have seen Phantom two other times and this one was BY FAR the most amazing. The cast, the special affects, the orchestra, everything was PERFECT. If you go to Vegas, this is SO worth the money to see. Really.
This was the Red Bug we rented. So COOL! We called it our "Lou-Bug". (That was for you Alyssa) The Boss said it was a total "chick" car, but it was fun to drive around and REALLY easy to park!

We did a lot of hanging out at the Hotel.

Thanks for the memories honey. It was a BLAST! Happy 30th!!!

Packing tape anyone?

2008-10-13T16:28:00.000-07:00

We are moving this week. Do you know how much I hate moving? Thats why I haven't made any posts and probably wont for the next week. I hate moving so much I am writing this post when I SHOULD be packing. I don't even really have anything to write about... except I hate moving. I guess this is what happens when you rent. I also hate renting. Why don't I just burn my money with a match and then let them kick me out whenever they want... Oh... that's pretty much what they did. The guy we are renting from has declared bankruptcy (big surprise). We have known this for a few months and have been looking for another place. We finally found something else we like but reality is setting in and I forgot how much I HATE MOVING!! Good thing we signed that 1-year lease... right? At least we went through a real estate company and got our whole deposit back. BIG DEAL- I still hate moving. However, I have used this opportunity to clean all my decor. I found two pacifiers and a sippy cup with moldy milk. Luckily the sippy cup had only been there a few days... but it was still foul. I guess I better get back to packing. I so HATE this. HATE is not strong enough, I need a better word. Abhorrence, detestation, hatred, odium, revulsion, disgust, extreme dis-like. This is what the thesaurus gave me. Any others?

Fingerprints, Laundry, and Toys

2008-10-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

Conference was so wonderful. I laughed, I cried, I felt inspired, I felt guilty, I pondered, I sang, I listened and I watched. The Boss gave me a detailed report of the Priesthood session, which he always argues is the best. I always end the weekend feeling uplifted and motivated to "DO" more good.
As I was putting both boys down for their morning naps, I looked around at everything I had to do. This is what I found:

Fingerprints - All over the fireplace, fridge, oven, sliding glass door, and yes, the stainless steel trash can. (I know that's gross).

Laundry - Overflowing all over the house. Mine and The Boss' laundry basket is literally exploding, with clothes cascading over the top. The boy's laundry is overflowing with dirty, slobbered on blankets, stained clothes, and bath towels.

Toys - Dragged all over the family room and the house. This also includes kitchen utensils, which are taken from drawers and cupboards and plopped in various rooms downstairs, as well as sippy cups, pacifiers, my bathroom things such as curling iron, brush, curlers, lotions, and towels.

I looked with an overwhelming smile on my face. The conference talk given on Sunday regarding the fingerprints, piled laundry, and scattered toys, being a time of joy that we will one day wish we had back, brought tears to my eyes. I love the fingerprints on my glass. I rarely clean them off, because they return again moments later. To me it says, "I have kids, and its okay if your kids put their hands on the glass too". The scattered toys will get picked up during nap time, taken out again later, then picked up again once bedtime has arrived. To me it says, "My kids have fun playing, and yes I let them drag their toys through the house, get into my kitchen drawers and cupboards, and play in my bedroom and bathroom closets". The laundry may take a day or two to complete, because it wont be a priority and I will forget I have clothes in there. Ironing may not get done for a few days, but it will get done and we will have nice clean, ironed, clothes. To me it says, "we have too many clothes".

I love my family and I love my life. There are no sweeter faces than these two. While I may have some hard days where I feel like pulling my hair out, I am mostly grateful that I can stay home and enjoy the everyday-ness of my sweetest blessings. So bring on the Fingerprints, the Laundry, and the Toys -

I LOVE them, and I will MISS them when they're gone.

Mommy - "ME" - Time

2008-09-29T21:31:00.000-07:00

I am one of those selfish mothers who take advantage of grandparents who live close by to watch their children while they take a mommy time out. Yes, I have been kid-less since 7:30am. When opportunity knocks, where I can have a little "ME" time, I jump all over it. I love my children more than anything. But I also love doing other things. And following are some things I did today, without my sweet little blessings.

1. Drove in a car for 5 1/2 hours solid, listening to talk radio, HAIRSPRAY, and my husband.

2. Had a passionate discussion with The Boss regarding the caliber of various California State Colleges, in which we called to survey friends and family to try and prove the other wrong. I won. Of course.

3. Walked around some clothing stores and tried on clothes for the heck of it. I wasn't rushed and I didn't buy anything.

4. Ate a delicious hamburger that literally melted in my mouth and finished it off with some light and crispy fries.

5. Caught up on my blog reading. I went through and read every new post on my friends and family list. This took a couple hours.

6. Watched an entire Lifetime Movie.

7. Worked out in a fancy, air-conditioned gym for 2 hours, with my own little TV at each machine. (I don't get that at home)

8. Took a 20-minute, scorching hot shower.

9. Sat down and read 2 chapters of my book, which I plan to continue doing as soon as I am done with this post.

I must admit, being able to do all these things has been quite relaxing for me. These are all things I enjoy doing, but don't always get the chance to. However wonderful this is, I SO MUCH miss my sweet little boys. I will continue to enjoy myself I'm sure, I will take advantage of this time to rejuvenate my "ME", but I will be ready to come home and sweep my boys up in my arms. I sure wouldn't trade them for all the ultra-relaxing days in the world.

Going-Going-Gone

2008-09-27T21:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am still here. We have been busy this week. Last night we attended the temple, where our friends the Bess' were sealed as a family. It was so wonderful. I was completely filled with the spirit, especially when they brought their little girl Shyla in. I had tears in my eyes. She cried during most of the ceremony (which is typical), but it was sweet and special nonetheless. Thank you Jake and Christina for allowing us to be a part of your special day. It always reminds me of how special my own sealing was... and still is. It makes me love my husband more every time I witness someone else receiving those same blessings of being sealed. And it especially made me think of my two sweet boys, whom I love so much. We are an eternal family.

Today I sat the boys in the shopping cart together for the first time. It was the "double wide" ones at Food Max that have two children seats. They looked so cute sitting so close together. Every time I would give mama's boy something to play with... Big brother would immediately take it away. He also kept taking his borhers pacifier and putting it in his own mouth. But Mama's Boy caught on and started stealing it BACK! We were so proud.

I also watched the debate today of Obama and McCain from last night. It was predictable. I don't think one said anything I hadn't heard before. Their lines were the same lines they have been using in their speeches for the last several months. I don't think I really learned anything new about either one. I don't necessarily blame them. I have been following the campaigns for months now. I think I pretty much have my vote set in stone. Unless he goes out and does something ridiculously STUPID. I guess the debates are more for those who are still undecided or maybe haven't been following the news/campaigns. I'm not sure. What did you think?

I will also be taking a little trip. So wish me some good, much-needed relaxation. I am going to sit with a book and read read read read read. Tah-Tah!

Has anyone seen my spider?

2008-09-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

I seem to have lost my spider. If you know me well, you know I am DEATHLY afraid of spiders. Yes I know most don't hurt you, yes I know they are all around me, yes I know you will eat about 7 in your lifetime. But I am still afraid of them, and frankly I just don't like them one bit. I can't kill them, because I think they will jump on my hand/shoe, run up/down my body, into my ears, mouth, or nose, get into my brain, and kill me. You think I am exaggerating... I'M NOT!!

The other day a dear friend of mine came by (Anne). I won't go into details, but before she left she said, "oh, by the way, you have a HUGE spider above your walk way, it's pretty creepy." I walked them outside to see this "creepy" spider. Folks, let me tell you something, this was no ordinary "creepy" spider. He was big, black and hairy. He looked into my eyes and said, "I want to jump on your head, crawl into your brain, and suck the life out of you!" I couldn't hardly move. (I still don't know how you could have walked under him Anne). Anne asked me if I was going to kill it. I said, "no way, I'm waiting for The Boss to get home... he can kill it." Of course, by the time The Boss got home, that big, ugly, hairy, eight-legged, creepy killer had slid away in a hiding place.

I look out my front door at least once every couple hours during the day to see if he has returned. I know he is out there, creepily crawling around outside, or dare I say, INSIDE, my house. HE MUST BE FOUND and HE MUST BE KILLED!! I tried to find some pictures of him online so you will recognize him if you see him. (This was very difficult for me. I can't even stand to look at pictures, so I didn't look for very long.) I think he is a baby tarantula... seriously. They can be found in fields, or around homes. (I live by a field and in a home). He was black and hairy, not a black widow... much bigger than that. He did look similar to the jumping spider. But the jumping spiders looked a little small. I'm telling you, this sucker was HUGE! He is a cross between these two pictures. So, if you happen to see my dark, hairy, friend lurking around, please let me know, so I can send someone to KILL him IMMEDIATELY!

RIGHT-WING-CONSERVATIVE-PALIN-LOVERS

2008-09-16T17:37:00.001-07:00

Okay all, I think we need to take a pause and really think about this Saturday Night Live skit on Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton. I thought it was BRILLIANT!!! It was hilarious, and if you didn't laugh, there is seriously something chemically wrong with you. In case you've been hiding in a closet in some remote third-world country and haven't seen it, I have attached it for you so you can view it for yourself (don't take my word for it). I mean come on people... if we can't laugh at a little satire anymore... we're in trouble. Whether you love or hate Palin or Clinton, this was too funny to pass off as sexist. Even if it is from the ALL-LOVING-OBAMA-IS-GOD-NBC network. Give credit where credit is due. Tina did an AMAZING impression of Palin. And Amy's Hillary was great too. So... lets calm down, RIGHT-WING-CONSERVATIVE-PALIN-LOVERS, this will go down as one of the best skits EVER.

Aaron hates when Tina Fey uses SNL as her personal agenda to rip on anyone conservative. He tried not to laugh... but he couldn't resist.

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/

Go Cougars!!!

2008-09-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

A big win for the BYU COUGARS!!! It was Mama's Boy's first BYU football game (on TV). The whole family dressed up BYU gearified... except for me because I had somewhere to go afterward and all I have are t-shirts, but I usually gear-up myself. Although this was a close game (only by a point), it was full of action. We had a lot of Boos, hi-fives, cheers, yelling at the refs, and crossed fingers (good block boys!) at our house. We love our BYU football and as usual, The boss is desperately trying to figure out how he can get back to Provo for a game. We'll see... But the Lehi family room will have to do for now. Go Cougs!!!

I thought this was fun:

Big brother a year ago for the same game

Mama's Boy

Big brother

Mama's Boy

So... do you think they look alike? They are exactly the same age when the pictures were taken and are obviously wearing the same exact thing. I am curious to know what you think.

Camping, shmamping - no big deal

2008-09-03T11:57:00.000-07:00

That's right folks. Aaron and I took AJ & Mikko on their first camping trip. Everyone thought we were crazy- putting two pack-n-plays in our tent, but it was no big deal. Three and a half days of tents, bugs, dirt, and camp fire smoke. I have to say it was such A BLAST!! I had extremely LOW expectations for this trip. We went to Turlock Lake, only about an hour away, just in case it turned out disastrous. But there was no need to take off early, in fact, it went by SO FAST! We could hardly believe it was time to go. I could go on and on with all the details, so I am going to give you the 10 best things about it and the 10 worst things about it.

The Worst
10. The first day we were there, it was 105 degrees outside. What were we thinking?

9. Community showers. I guess its nice they even had them, but come on... they are gross and no one really LIKES having to use them.

8. AJ split his lip open 3 times, falling in the rocks. He also skinned up his knees and hands pretty good.

7. Heating bottles for Mikko. So annoying. We had to fire up the stove every time he needed to eat.

6. Dropping pacifiers in the dirt. This was CONSTANT! I felt like I was washing pacifiers all day.

5. No soap or towels to wash hands in bathroom. Yuck!

4. Mikko constantly wanted to be held. We couldn't let him cry because it echoed through the whole campsite. So now that we are home... he thinks he needs to be held 24/7. HELP!!

3. This is gross. Really. We were giving AJ a nap in the tent and because it was so hot, we just put him down in his diaper. Well, we heard him playing/crying for a while so we went to check on him and found him naked as a jay bird. He had torn his diaper off and thrown it out of his pack-n-play. To make it worse, he pooped in his diaper. There was crap everywhere. Luckily it wasn't "messy" crap, they were more like little pebbles. But it was still disgusting. Heat and crap, just don't mix. Especially in a tent.

2. Mikko had a 100% true blue melt down the second night. His voice literally echoed through the entire camp... when people were trying to sleep. Aaron had to put him in the car and drive around with him until he fell asleep. A first for us. Luckily it didn't happen again.

1. BUGS!!! I have about 12 bites on one foot alone. Aaron too. Luckily the boys didn't have any... how did that happen? I'm glad it was me and not them, but still... they itch!!!!

The Best

10. The last 2 days of camping were 70-80 degree weather. It was PERFECT and BEAUTIFUL.

9. The campsite was nice and shaded. There were trees everywhere. It made for really nice scenery.

8. A stream right by our campsite. This was actually really nice. The water was cool and refreshing. It was very shallow, in fact Aaron and the cousins walked all the way across it. AJ walked out to the middle of it and loved splashing around in it. He also kept trying to bend down and drink the water. It was really fun. A lot of other campers would take their chairs out to the middle of it and get some sun, while feeling the cold water on their feet. It was a nice treat to have close by. We enjoyed it.

7. No dress code. As you will see in these pictures, I gave no thought at all to how me or my children matched or looked. I kept my hair in braids or a pony tail the whole time (no blow dryer or curling iron) and no makeup. However, we did make sure everyone got a good shower/bath before bed. But it was refreshing not to worry about "looking good". And I let my boys get as dirty as they wanted!

6. Our tent. My parents let us use their two room tent. It was really nice, we had plenty of room. We had our queen blow up mattress and a pack-n-play in one room and AJ's pack-n-play with the walker and bouncy chair in the other room. We kind of used that one as a play room too. It worked out really well. Thanks mom and dad!

5. Wide open space. AJ was in heaven! He ran ran ran ran ran. He could have walked around all day long. There were practically no limits on WHERE he could go. He was always ready to be on the move.

4. The food, the food, the food. Yummy breakfasts and dinners and lots of treats!!! AJ tried bacon for the first time (he loved it of course) and drank capri suns all day (I know, that's so bad). We had extravagant breakfasts with eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage, toast, pancakes, french toast and fruit. For dinners we had tacos, roast with potatoes and carrots, spaghetti with corn on the cob, garlic bread and vegetables, and snacks and treats galore. I gained a pound over the 4 day trip. Aaron, of course gained nothing. Thanks mostly to Dad. You are the best camping cook! Grandma Donna also. Mom... you helped too, thanks!

3. The Lake. Saturday we went to the beach. AJ loved to play in the sand. The water was nice and cool. Mikko did well in the shade. He didn't like the cold water.

2. Spending time with Grandmas, Grandpa, and cousins. This was so much fun. Its nice to spend time with family without having to eat out, have the TV on, go to a theme park, or some other extravagant thing. I felt cool, calm, and relaxed. AJ almost ALWAYS had a grandma with him. And he loved following around his older cousins. Thanks everyone for all your help with the boys!

1. Exploring new things with the boys. There were so many firsts on this trip. It truly is something wonderful when a parent gets to see their child experience something fun for the first time. I am grateful that Aaron had the time off to spend with just us and that as a family we could grow and experience new things together.

These 10 best things 100% outweigh the 10 worst things. I can't say enough about it. So all in all it was a success! Totally doable- no big deal.

AJ pushing Mikko

A Birthday Wish

2008-09-02T22:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Lacie!!

Today, September 2, is my little sister's 19th B-day. She is no longer here with us, as she died in a car accident 11 years ago. But we love her and miss her very much. I think of her often especially lately, now that I have kids. I see how close my even younger sister Shaelie is to AJ and Mikko and I wish they could be as close to their Aunt Lacie. I like to think she watches over them and I hope they can know her by the pictures I keep up in the house and the memories I have to tell. So, Happy B-day little sis. We wish you were here, we love you, and we can't wait to see you again.

Thank you to Jeni for the pic. Our scanner is not set up yet and I had no pics of Lacie on the computer. So I stole this one from Jeni's blog. Which was a tear-jerker for me. Luv you Jeni!

Open Wiiiiiiiiiiide... good boy

2008-08-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

We are just now starting to feed Mikko baby food. He is a little small for the high chair (as you can see in the pictures) but he is getting better. He definitely is not a natural with baby food. AJ just opened his mouth right up and gobbled a whole jar the first time. He ate anything we would give him and NEVER spit anything out. He was SO NATURAL at it (What can I say he loved food... He was also SO CHUBBY). Mikko isn't sure he likes it. He tries to suck it like a bottle and it comes right out. UGHHH! So we use words like, "open wiiiiiiide... that's a good boy... keep it in... good boy!" I have ZERO patience. But here are some pics of his first try.

I also decided that AJ needs to start feeding himself with his utensils. I will usually put the food on the spoon/fork for him and then he grabs the utensil and puts it in his mouth. He has done very well with this method. But I think its time he learn to scoop it on the fork/spoon himself. So I gave him a bowl of cereal to start with. I thought it would be a huge mess. But most of the milk actually stayed in his bowl. He got frustrated that he couldn't get anything to stay on his spoon, so he decided to use his hands. But at least he is still holding the spoon. I was proud that he didn't get it all over the floor... I think he was proud too.

However, after being so proud that I had such a mature, clean, well-behaved little boy, this morning (day 2 with the cereal), he poured the bowl on his head and on the floor and threw his milk-soaked Apple Jacks on Mikko (who sits in his walker watching AJ eat every morning). Milk and Apple Jacks were EVERYWHERE!!!! I did not get a picture because I was so MAD and found absolutely NO humor in it at the time. But I do now. And we will try again tomorrow. I think I will keep a better eye on him this time. And if the milk does get all over the floor again, I will clean it up, just like I did today, and I will not take a picture because I will be too ANGRY, just like I did today, then I will laugh about it to Aaron that night, and try it again the next day. And hopefully the day will come when he picks up that spoon, scoops up his Apple Jacks and carefully puts it in his mouth... all by himself. And I will not have to clean milk off of his head, the floor, or Mikko - and I will proudly give him a big kiss and say "good boy".

Did you know?

2008-08-26T16:39:00.000-07:00

Hopefully most of you know that this week is the Democratic National Convention. I have been paying close attention to the speakers, trying to watch and get as much information as I can about Barack Obama. I have learned a lot about the democrats just in the last two days. For instance, sometimes democrats get pinned as being anti-American and anti-Religion. However, did you know that the DNC opens everyday with a prayer, the salute of colors & flag, pledge of allegiance, and the National Anthem? I didn't. I learned something new. I think it is no secret that I consider myself as a Republican, but I feel it is my duty, as an American Citizen who will be voting for the next President of the United States, to learn as much as I can about BOTH candidates. Whether I like it or not, Barack Obama may be my next President. And instead of complaining about him and all his policy, I have been trying to watch this DNC with an open mind and look for things I DO agree with. I encourage everyone to do the same. It is not enough to turn on the 10:00pm news and get a 5 min brief on NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, etc... and their SPIN on what is and is not important. Shouldn't WE the voter decide what IS and IS NOT important? And you just might learn something you didn't know before.

Hairspray for HAIRSPRAY

2008-08-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love HAIRSPRAY. Tonight I am taking Aaron and his Mom to see HAIRSPRAY at the theater. I have already seen it and absolutely LOVED it!! Personally, I think the movie was below par compared to the exciting Broadway rendition (no offense John Travolta). I had to drag... literally drag, Aaron to see Phantom at the theater and how well do you think he liked it? He LOVED it and constantly wants to see it again! I have a feeling he will feel the same after seeing HAIRSPRAY tonight. I swear I know my husband better than he knows himself. And not to add confusion, but I do love hairspray. Now I am talking about the actual hairspray I have sitting on my bathroom counter. My sister-in-law introduced me to the Tres Semme aerosol can Extra Hold (Thanks Sariah). With an easy push of my index finger it lightly mists my artificially colored blonde hair and helps shape it into whatever I have done for the day. Sometimes strait, sometimes curly, sometimes extra curly, sometimes braided, sometimes up, sometimes down, and all around. Tonight I think I will go curly and up- perhaps a french twist with curls pinned to the top and sides of my head, lightly misted by my wonderful Extra Hold Hairspray for my night out to see HAIRSPRAY.

10 Ways to Gain 20 lbs

2008-08-19T23:21:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, I have been on a little bit of a health kick after having Mikko. As I have been loosing weight I have asked myself… how did I get this FAT?! And while yes… I did have 2 babies in one year (and not at the same time), which helped me gain 50 lbs, I actually gained 20 lbs my first 2 years of marriage at BYU. Looking back, I have noticed some rather interesting habits that I think may have been contributors to my 20 lbs of weight gain before baby, and then which inevitably helped me with the 50 lbs with baby (you are only suppose to gain 25-30 when pregnant). Anyway, for those of you who may be looking to gain 20 lbs… I have 10 ways that helped me, so I have no doubt they can help you. These are real-life 100% true statements that yes- I really did. But I warn you, this may make you physically ill, and I will understand if you can’t look at me the same again. Here they are:

1. Avoid living among stairs. Live on the bottom floor apartment or a one story house. You don’t want a daily activity of constant up and down stairs. Its way too hard.

2. Eat out at least 10 times a week. This can be breakfast, lunch or dinner. The trans-fat loaded meals go strait to those “you’re getting fat” places. My personal favorites include; Chili’s (at least once a week), Denny’s (sick… I know), Krispy Kreme Donuts, Café Rio, Fazoli’s Italian, and Cold Stone.

3. When eating out, you want to save money. So when possible choose low class, fatty, fast food restaurants such as; McDonalds, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Arby’s, Burger King, etc… They provide the most grease, fat, salt and calories for your dollar.

4. Start wearing your husband’s clothes. (If you’re male, try your Dad’s clothes) This makes you feel like you have room to grow since “hubby’s” or “Dad’s” clothes fit nice and loose. You don’t notice them getting too tight, they simply are starting to fit better.

5. Go to the Hostess Shop and buy crème filled pies, chocolate donuts, ding dongs or any other sugar-filled fatty snacks. Buy enough so you eat 1-2 a day.

6. Get a job that requires very little to no activity. Such as sitting in a chair for 4-5 hours a night picking up the phone and conducting interviews. I hear now that some companies automate the numbers so you don’t even have to dial. This will help significantly.

7. Start a Sunday ritual where you drink 1-2 cans of soda (your choice) and down half a can of Fritos Cheese Dip with Jalapeños and the bite sized tortilla chips. This is tasty and will insure tremendous weight gain.

8. Always drive. Avoid walking or riding a bike whenever possible. Even if it is 100-200 feet away.

9. If you must eat at home, don’t worry. You can still enjoy salty, fatty, greasy foods. Any of the following will do: Spaghetti Os, Frozen Totino’s Pizza, Mac & Cheese, Hot Dogs, Raviolis (in a can), home-made Cheesy Gordita Crunch, or frozen Corn Dogs.

10. When making a batch of brownies, cakes, or cookies, eat half the batter before baking. You can cook the other half using a smaller pan. This way you can enjoy half right away, and the other half a couple hours later nice and baked. You must do this 1-2 times a week.

I think I just threw up.

The kid who doesn't like getting wet in the pool

2008-08-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

It has been a little hot the past few days so we decided to get AJ a little pool. Aaron was proud of himself that he got a cool little pool with accessories for AJ on clearance - since technically its the end of the season. We were so excited for him to try it and what do you think he did? He WOULD NOT let go of Aaron. Aaron had to sit in the little pool and hold AJ so he wouldn't cry. He was scared of the water! I just don't get it! He loves his baths.After about an hour of sitting with him (by the way, the pool only fills up about 3-4 inches), we finally got AJ to the point where he would sit in it without holding Dad. But he still wouldn't get up and walk around or anything.

So... task for this week, I am going outside with AJ everyday and putting him in that pool so he can get use to it. I don't want to be the one with the winey kid who doesn't like getting wet in the pool... that's annoying. Wish me luck!!

Piggies. the roll over, and YOUR BALD!!

2008-08-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

Piggies:

Last Sunday Mama's Boy suddenly started grabbing his piggies (feet). Now he does it ALL THE TIME. Yeah... a small milestone for him! I think he looks so cute while doing it.

The roll over:

So about 2 weeks ago Mama's Boy rolled over for the first time. He has only done it about 10 times since then, but this is a picture of him getting ready to roll over onto his back... which is unusual. He will usually only do it stomach to back. He doesn't like being on his tummy :)

YOUR BALD:

It is almost 100% official. Mama's Boy is bald. He has some wisps of dark hair barely holding on, but I think I can confidently say most of it is lost. He looks like a little Yoda to me. And the ears are protruding out farther and farther. However, I still think he is the most adorable little 4 month old. And of course he doesn't seem to mind he has lost his hair. Now I am anxiously waiting to see what color it grows back as... dark, which is how it came out... or blonde like big brother. Only time will tell...