The Hecht's Big Move!

We were lucky to get to spend one more day with Aunt Sarah, Uncle Ryan, and Baby Alexis. Last Saturday we went out to their place to help move. I actually had the fun job and got to play with the kids while everyone else worked hard packing, moving, and cleaning.

Super Kids!

Part of our California fun was these amazing capes that Grandma made for the kids. We've been searching for some good dress-up clothes for the boys- and these did the trick. The boys got their two-sided Superman/Batman capes and Maddy has her sparkly purple cape and skirt. If you look closely too you can see Ben's cowboy vest that grandma made too!

The day has come!

Tyler is officially, completely, 100% potty-trained. We're talking day and night, home and away, no more "night-time underwear" (aka pull-ups).

We are so proud of Tyler! He has essentially potty trained himself beginning to end.

We finally ran out of pull ups so that he can just wear big-boy underwear. Tyler has already kept his pull-ups dry for over a month. He gets up in the middle of the night to go potty if he needs to and goes back to sleep.

We love our big boy! Can't believe he'll be three in a few short weeks.

We caught the stomach bug

We made it through the ER...then Jacob ended up puking all night :(

It was so sad. Poor little guy was soo sick that he needed a 12:30am bath (just imagine puke EVERYWHERE, matted in his hair, etc.)

We almost went back to the ER because all the phone nurses were worried it was a concussion or something bad.

I have never been relieved to feel sick to my stomach, but once I got sick too at least we knew it was just a stomach flu or something of that sort.

Little guy couldn't keep down anything so we doped him up with some Zofran (anti-nausea medication) so he wouldn't get dehydrated and end up back in the ER.

Luckily, by about noon Jacob and I were done with the yuckies and on the road to recovery. Hopefully by tomorrow we'll both be enjoying more than gatorade and apple sauce.

Jacob's 1st ER Trip

Welp, we can check that one off our list.

Went to the ER tonight with Jacob for a busted lip. Little guy is quite the climber and decided to take a spill off of a little chair- and fell right on the edge of the tile stairs. Two ERs (the first wait was too long) and and hour and a half later my sweet boy was given some Motrin and an ice pack :) Dr. decided not to traumatize him with shots and stitches since the cut was all on the lip and didn't go on to the skin of the face.

Tyler stayed at Aunt Heather and Uncle Taylor's to finish Sunday dinner and play with the cousins...of course we ended up on the other side of town back at our own ER!

Such a fun Sunday!

California

Fun in the Sun

Today was another beautiful day. Not too hot, not too cold, slightly overcast. We thought it was a great time to go enjoy the park and get out some wiggles.


The boys haven't been sleeping very well so I have been trying to keep them busy. Today we made necklaces with fruit loops and yarn, or as Tyler called it his "own candy necklace". They both enjoyed chowing down on them while playing at the park.

This was probably my favorite moment at the park. Tyler finally wandered over to where Jake and I were and wanted to push his baby brother in the swing. Jacob obviously loved it! I love these sweet moments.

Another sweet moment- lately whenever Tyler gets put on time-out (on the stairs) Jacob follows him over and sits with him. Always concerned about how his big brother is doing! Unfortunately Jake usually laughs and claps and kinda makes the time-out a bit less effective.

Playing around in boxes at home. Jake enjoys crawling in and out and spilling over on occasion.

Jacob has been introduced to sweets way too early- but if Tyler is having a sucker he usually wants one too. At least he's cute devouring his sugar :)

Nothing better than a baby in a diaper. Love our little albino baby.

This is Jacob's new favorite place to play. Not in, not out, but on the sandbox. He also loves the paintbrush that we bought to clean the table...but he just tries his best to help out ;)

Cutie-patootie big brother with some sweet sand in his hair. What a goofball.

Love my happy little boys enjoying the backyard, playing together, and Jake is practicing walking more everyday. Maybe soon!

Things to Remember

It has been awhile since I actually did some journaling with this blog.

Mother's Day made me think...a lot of things actually.

Of course I am grateful beyond words to be a mom. It is miraculous that I have two perfectly healthy, normal, energetic, adorable kids...and I keep being told it is normal that I want to scream at least once on most days.

As I thought about motherhood, more specifically about me being a mother, I realized there most definitely has to be a direct connection to Heaven for us. I have had to have c-sections with both of my boys. It was only with the second that my dr. could conclusively say that it was because I have a rare pelvic bone structure that literally won't allow the baby through. So, without the help of modern medicine, I really wouldn't have been able to be a mother.

Along those lines, there are days when I think maybe nature was trying to say something...being a mom has been the hardest thing I have ever done. It challenges me and drives me crazy because I have been so used to being the best at everything I do and now, with this mothering thing, I am lousy.

However- there is hope. I love the accomplishment of setting goals and reaching them. I love that I have challenges to overcome. I love trying new things and finding some that work to keep my overly energetic little boy entertained, happy, and not quite so grumpy. We have made a few simple changes like less TV which has helped a ton! I am doing my best to be more consistent- which is way harder than it sounds. We are playing outside more. We are being creative more. We are working together more. We are hiking more. I hope to have the energy, courage, and strength to keep trying even if I fail. I hope to find a way to be a better mom, one day at a time.

I love that I have Ryan by my side (when work allows) to be my better half. He has a ton on his plate, but he can be such a great dad and the boys best buddy. The boys might take a little convincing at first, but then it's mornings like today when Tyler is begging, "daddy no leave!" and even Jacob gets extra excited about waving good-bye and then whines because his buddy is gone.

Ryan knows me even better than he realizes. He keeps apologizing that he didn't do anything grand for mother's day- but really he did. He got up early and had breakfast with us, just for me. He spent the morning with us. He helped get the boys ready for church, made sandwiches for lunch so that I wouldn't have to with screaming kids after 9 am church, and even cleaned up the breakfast dishes. Later he cleaned up all the lunch dishes, dinner dishes, and cleaned all of downstairs- just so I could wake up to a clean house the next day. Oh, did I mention he also wrote a 1700 word paper for school, and did about three other assignments and his calling all that day. I couldn't have asked for anything better. Those little things are all the ones that would have piled up on my plate and left me feeling overwhelmed- but not that day (and actually, many other days too. Ryan is soooo good at cleaning. I totally lucked out). I love my boys. All 3 of them.

I am trying to be more grateful for the blessings we have. Life hasn't been totally peachy lately, but when is it truly stress-free? The key that Ryan and I talked about the other night is finding a way to be happy now. Sure I could make a fairly good argument for why things are difficult right now. However, I could also make a convincing argument that I am one of the truly blessed people in this world. It all depends on which I decide to focus on. We are blessed with employment, with a house, with loving family, with nice cars, with clothes, with food on the table, with enough in savings that we can handle the surprises, with health, with kids, with intelligence, with faith, with a marriage built on solid principles, with a greater understanding of this life, with knowledge of Jesus Christ. Really, what else is there? I know, sadly, that sometimes this doesn't seem to be enough. But my hope is to make those moments small and let the happiness and joy and gratitude be the driving force in life. This season of life is too short to be disappointed all the time. I am choosing to be happy so I can enjoy my kids and the many blessings I do have. I am choosing to be happy so I can be the woman that my husband met and fell in love with. I am choosing to be happy because I should be...and I am.

This goal of mine is a lofty one, and it will take some time to change focus completely, but I am already seeing how much better life is when we can focus on what is good. I love to see more smiles in my home and feel more love in our little family.

I hope that Mother's Day next year will remind me again how blessed I am to face the tests that life gives me. I hope next year I will have been a better mother and wife every single day. I hope next year my kids will know even better how much I love them and I truly can't imagine my life without them. I am so lucky...so blessed.

Flag Football

We have been meeting up with Ryan after work on Fridays at Western Trails park to watch him play flag football with his coworkers.
The first week there were about 14 and this week there were 12.
It was so good to see Ryan have some fun and get out some aggression that gets all built up at work. They all enjoy venting about how crazy work is and running around getting all crazy.
Tyler loves to say, "go team daddy!" He loves to run all around the park while we're watching Ryan play. Jake loves to just crawl around and check out the grass.

team huddle...as if it helped.

Ryan was QB and loved every second of it. He was such a stud!

Jacob is still resisting the urge to walk- but he's got his bear crawl down pat. He does like to practice walking more at least...some day we'll join the walking club.

Tyler wants to play with the big guys so badly. He brought his own football this week so he could warm up with them at least. We hope that we will get to do this again!

La Madre Springs

We are making good use of our annual pass to Red Rock. Ryan called on his break from work and asked if we could go hiking again with the boys.

Well, Tyler zonked on the way there but woke up and did a 3.3 mile hike with us. If we're being totally honest he did just over half of the hike. I carried him piggy-back most of the way back since dad took Jacob at that time.

We didn't quite make it to the springs, but after hiking out we realized we were probably only minutes away from finding them. Unfortunately Tyler was seriously dragging so we thought it best to head back so he could walk it on his own (ha!).

I am loving all these outdoor adventures with the boys. I hope they (and we) develop an appreciation for the beauty in this blazing hot desert!

Mountain's Edge Ward Building Ground Breaking

this morning (at 8am?!) we had the ground breaking ceremony for our new ward building being constructed just a half mile from our house.

It was an EXTREMELY windy and cold morning, but it was beautiful and so special.

We are excited to have our church so close after traveling nearly 30 minutes to get to church right now. Our current building is technically even in another stake!

We'll be anxious to attend our new building in 10 months (so they say)