A little more of our life in January

Adam is finally learning how to pull-up on things.  This was probably the first time that he pulled himself up. He as also mastered climbing up stairs- but not getting down them.

Little guy is adopting the same under-bite smile that Jake will do sometimes.



Poor Adam's first real injury- from his crib falling apart (with him in it) thanks to his crazy big brother.  Thankfully the bleeding stopped quickly and no stiches were needed.  He ended up with a pretty sweet shiner for a day or two- but that's about all.



We found a new donut store on this side of town.  Jacob specifially asked for the donut with "chocolate and coconut"...who taught him what coconut is?!



Our new (from goodwill) kids table and chairs.  The boys love to eat there, play there, and entertain their guests at their very own table.




Tyler got a Red donut.  Possibly to try to get as messy as possible :)




Adam's first experience with donuts.  He chowed down on the donut holes like a champ...and then gave them back a little while later.  I think his eyes were bigger than his stomach! 




One Saturday with daddy home we went to the Las Vegas Temple as a family.  Ryan was the only one who had been there the entire time we have lived here.  The boys were a bit testy that day so it was a quick visit, but the next day Tyler was already asking when we can go back and see the angel Moroni.




The boys- Not enjoying the cold and bummed that the water fountain wasn't running.  Oh- and there was a wedding taking place so we talked about getting married in the temple for time and all eternity.  Tyler still says that he isn't ever getting married.  He wants to live with mom and dad forever and work at CarMax with daddy.  Jacob's response- he's going to marry Georgia.  Not sure if that is a name, a place, or something else...but he thinks he's hilarious when he says it!



Being Productive is F-U-N

We generally pass our days doing what everyone else does, but then there are those days where I actually get stuff done.

Last Saturday Adam took a good morning nap and I actually got to clean the downstairs.  We're talking, vacuum, sweep, steam mop, counters, bathroom, table, chairs, picked-up, clean.  It was awesome.  It was even better because the boys helped- without fighting...too much.

Then today- we started dinner while Adam napped because I took dinner to a family in the ward for my new calling- compassionate service- then we went to Target to get Adam's birthday present and score some coupon finds (which is VERY rare for me to actually figure out how to get any kind of deal so I was pretty pumped), took the boys to lunch (with a coupon), played at the park for 15 minutes before preschool, dropped off Tyler, went home and got Adam down for nap, played computer games with Jake, made phone calls for my calling, read stories with Jake who decided to not nap, when back to pick up Tyler, came home and set up the rest of dinner, got a call to go play soccer at the park with Heather and the cousins, played until 4:45pm (oops) came home, woke up Ryan and finished the pasta and rolls to go with dinner, got the boys fed, ran dinner to the family we were taking it to, came home, finished feeding the boys, sent Ryan out the door to work, helped poor, sick, Tyler into bed, played a little more, got the little boys dressed for bed, brushed teeth, read books, sang songs, and tucked 3 little heads into their beds....whew!

It feels good to get a lot done sometimes.  Today I earned my pay ;)

Sacramento Trip January 2012

Closing, Injuries, Ear Infections, and Stuff kids say

We are so lucky to finally have a closing date, 1/30/2012.  Let's just hope that the world's worst phase 2 negotiator doesn't screw it up again :)  (so optimistic, I know.  I'm working on it)

Adam got his first real injury Sunday afternoon.  He was waking up from his afternoon nap and Tyler heard him.  It isn't unusual for the boys to go say hi to him while I finish up whatever I'm doing and then I'll go grab him out of his crib.  This time, I was putting a batch of cookies in the oven that the boys just helped me make.  In the time it took me to put the final 3 cookies on the tray, put it in the oven, and wash my hands, I hear a frantic Tyler saying, "Mom, come quick. I think I hurt Adam really bad!"  Not the words any mom wants to hear.

I flew up the stairs 3 at a time and run to Adam's room to find his crib has completely collapsed on him and he is pinned under the mattress and support board.  His eyebrow is cut and bleeding and as I try to pull him out, I find out that his arm is pinned too.  Great.  Momentary freak out, a few hasty maneuvers, and I have my poor, bloodied, crying baby in my arms.  I must say that I am proud for not loosing it on poor Tyler.  I just sternly told him to wait in his room for me and hurried about to rinse off the blood and see how bad the cut on Adam's head really was.  I know head wounds can bleed a lot, so I was relieved when the blood stopped fairly quickly and the cut was decent (about 1/2 inch) but not gnarly enough to require a Sunday ER trip- those are the best.

We got little guy all fixed up, checked his eyes to make sure he didn't knock his head too hard, then talked to Tyler.  Come to find out Tyler had crawled under Adam's crib and was pushing up from the bottom- which totally makes sense how everything happened.  All Tyler could say was, "I am so, so, sorry!"  over and over. We explained he did the right thing to get us right away but he should never play like that again.  I don't know who was more shook up by the ordeal, Tyler, Adam, or me.  After calming down the boys frosted some cookies and we dropped them off at the cousins house.

That night, Adam didn't sleep well again and he threw up so now I was up all night worrying about if the throwing up was from hitting his head or just from crying so hard.  I was already pretty convinced that he had an ear infection again, and our appointment this morning confirmed that poor Adam has ear infection #2.  More antibiotics for our poor boy.  He's still weighing just under 22 lbs.  Tyler had a well check today to get his shots for preschool that he go into on our new side of town.  He is 45 lbs right now (4 1/2 yrs old).

On to the funny things the boys have been saying.  My favorite involves Ryan.  The boys both keep saying how excited they are to work at CarMax with their daddy some day.  They really think it's the coolest place ever.  They love to check out the cars that Ryan brings home each day.  Tyler got to visit Grandpa Crooks at work a few times when we were visiting Roseville and he said, "Why does Grandpa work in an office?  That's boring. He should work at CarMax." If only we could get paid for Tyler's marketing campaign for CarMax ;)  Somehow the topic of marriage came up and Ryan and I were telling Tyler that someday he would get married and move away but we'd love for him to come and visit us with his kids.  He got upset and told us that he's never moving away.  He is going to work at carmax and live with daddy forever.  Later that night he told me he didn't want to marry a mommy because they are too whiny (better step-up my game!)
Tyler has also been full of questions about Heaven and how we get there and what do we do when we die.  He's giving me a run for my money!

Jacob has been doing awesome potty training.  He kept real underwear dry for two whole days including running errands and playing at parks.  He was phenomenal!  He is just a stubborn headed boy and it has to be on his terms.  We bought him some "Mater" underwear (he actually ended up picking out Buzz and Woody) and he loves to wear them.  I was still nervous and had him wear a pull-up to church but he has been doing awesome.  I think he's had maybe 2 accidents in the past 5 days or so and those were only when I got too distracted to remind him to go try every hour or so.  So proud of my Jakey!

Adam is a doll as usual. He will be a year old in a few weeks and I can't believe how fast it has gone.  It makes me  a little sad to realized that this is about the time that we typically would be getting surprised with another little one and knowing that it's not possible anymore (I can't have any more kids due to complications)  Bitter sweet.  We are excited to see these boys grow and turn into amazing young men.

So- that's the update.  I do have some pictures somewhere- just no time to do anything with them.  Life is good for now.  The boys are learning and growing and Ryan and I are trying to be good parents and love the little rewards we get from the boys when we succeed!

Keepin it real

Just for reality's sake....

I have given the disclaimer before that this blog is typically positive because the happy, calm, times are the times when I can catch my breath and  blog a little.

I think it was Sunday and I said to Ryan, "look at our boys.  I love to see them playing so well together and having so much fun.  You've got to take it in now because you never know when it will change."  ... then I went upstairs to print something...and it changed.

I push the "print" button and hear the most awful sound I've ever heard coming from our printer.  I rush over to inspect it and see at least two pens being sucked into the inner-workings.  I quickly cancel the print job and retrieve the pens, but the printer continues to make an insane noise.  I search, I open, I start to swear in my head about those "cute boys playing so nicely together".

After about 30 minutes of hide and seek I find part of our blinds from our old house stuck in the printer- don't ask me where they find these things, but they do.

Well, the printer is fixed, and that small crisis has ended.  I'm sure there will be more though. There always are.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

I want to upload everything!

Ever have one of those, I-really-love-my-kids-and-they-are-actually-kinda-cute-nights?  I just uploaded Christmas Eve to present from my camera, and I think every, single, picture makes me smile. 

We were all sick, but it was so fun to be around family. It was so special to see two kids get crazy excited about presents this year. To see the kids reaction to a swing-set appearing overnight was awesome. Laughing at my brother's humor. Listening to Great-grandma's stories. Even nursing a family back to health.

I love what it is. I love what it stands for. I hope I can find the time to share it in pictures. Here's a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  I think it really is going to be a great year!