The Other Days

I tend to blog about the sparkly moments in family life - birthday parties, rosy cheeked children, grins on the playground and overall bliss. But today? Today I'm going to record a little bit about the "other" days. They also happen around here with regularity and I would feel remiss in not giving them a bit of airspace too. When I'm old and grey and look back lovingly at having young children I want to remember the happy days and the days where I'm pretty certain if an entire pan of brownies were sitting in front of me right now I would eat them all. 

Every. Single. Last. Brownie.

You know ... days like today. 

The ones where I'm pretty certain I should change my name. Anything will do - as long as I don't hear "Mom? Mom? MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM,"  one more time. At least until at least tomorrow.


Days when I'm tired of little friends that cause more messes for me to deal with. Or come out of the bathroom declaring "Um, I think the toilet is exploding!" (true story)


Days when fruit snacks are both my best friend and worst enemy (Do you know how many can be asked for and consumed by 3 & 4 year olds? Or how many can manage to get spilled all over the garage floor?)

Days when I struggle being patient during diaper changes ... because we've hit the age when they are an EPIC battle. The type of battle that includes lots of indignant screaming, arm flapping and twisting as if his life depends on him escaping the evil wet wipes.


Days when I just don't know if I can make it until nap time ... let alone bed time with my sanity (somewhat) intact.

And the moms who manage to never yell? Yep, I'm not one of them. This is not a fact I'm proud of. But unfortunately it's a fact of life. I yell. Some days more than I want to.  We always talk about the situation after, in calm tones. But my kids have definitely heard me yell a time or two (possibly today alone). 

You might think I'm bad, or crazy. But I hope there is a force of of moms out there that think, "yep, sounds about right." If so, please feel free to band together with me and repeat "we can do this!" together. 

I'll bring the brownies.

It's the Little Things

Friday night we made calzones and rented Turbo for a family movie night. And it turned out to be one of those nights I hope I never forget. 

We spread out a blanket picnic-style on the floor of the basement and settled in to watch. Turbo is a cute movie about a snail who dreams about being in the Indy 500 - lots of race cars and hip hop music are involved. 

Jeff and I had so much fun just watching the kids watch the movie. Landon was so into it he stood up half the time ... and had to turn on his race car track and race cars in the middle of it. Any time music came on Liam started dancing in his high chair while still shoveling food in his mouth (his whole calzone, fruit and then a LOT of popcorn ... he's a bottomless pit!). 

We kept exchanging looks that said, "they are so cute!" and "aren't we lucky to have such sweet kids!" There are so many parenting moments that are wonderful, and some that aren't quite so wonderful, but in that moment the world was perfect. We were together and happy, and I wanted to freeze that moment in time. Unfortunately that isn't possible, so instead, I'll write it down and remember these beautiful, simple, wonderful moments with our two favorite little guys.

One!

Liam is officially one!! I've been putting off writing this post because that makes it more real somehow. I'm always surprised at how quickly time goes, but Liam's first year seems to have gone quicker than any other time in our lives, and honestly it makes my heart break a little. 

This guy stole our hearts a year ago. He took us by storm and we all fell in love instantly. And how could we not?

Liam is the happiest baby. He loves to be loved on. And he loves us - each in different and very noticeable way. He's a mama's boy through and through. If I'm an option to put him to bed, that was exactly what happened. And I LOVE IT! Life has been busier with two, and every second he wants me, or insists I put him to bed is a special moment just for us. 

He has figured out that dad is the fun one! He loves to wrestle and play rough already. He loves to roll or throw a ball, play cars and ride on his horsey - and he knows that dad is always up for a fun time. And daddy is always willing to read a lot of stories!

And boy, does Liam LOVE Landon! It's the sweetest thing - those two together. They already wrestle and play rough, but will also sit together and play cars or read so sweetly. Landon is always so eager to go get Liam up in the morning, and Liam doesn't want to go to sleep without loves from Landon. He lights up when Landon comes into the room! 

In addition to being super sweet, Liam isn't afraid to share his opinion, or let us know how he feels. He also already thinks he has quite the sense of humor. He loves books and to be read to, and is very pleased with his page-turning skills. He wants to be one of the big kids so badly - he plays well in the same area and is just happy to be a part of things. 

I love his smile! It's contagious. At one he had three bottom teeth, and his gums look like several more aren't far off.

He started crawling at 11 months, and is delighted by his new skill. I love it when he starts laughing in delight when crawling fast. He is already pulling himself up on things, so we'll see how soon walking comes. He hasn't mastered the stairs yet, but isn't afraid to go right up to them and look over the edge. He LOVES to dance - anytime music is on, he's moving to the beat.

Liam folds his arms in the absolutely CUTEST way possible. And is good about reminding the rest of us to say a blessing on the food. Melts my heart.

He will sign more, all done and please (sometimes). He's also starting to try to say words. "Mama" means most things now. Like Mama, more milk ... and pretty much that he wants whatever he is pointing at (but if you saw his chubby finger pointing, you would be tempted to give him anything he wants also). If you ask him what a cow says he'll say "mmmm." Again, so stinking cute! He also says dada and ba for "brother." 

For his first birthday bash we went to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point so he could ride the ponies. Then we had dinner at the cafe and came home for presents and dessert. We didn't go the traditional route, because Liam LOVES brownies and mint ice cream - so that's what we had! He didn't hesitate to dig right in ... our little bitty loves to eat!

We love you Liam, and are so glad you are part of our family!!

(Disclaimer: Picture overload ahead ... I have taken thousands of pictures of this cute boy, but not been nearly as good at blogging them - so here goes!)

Sunbeam!

With the New Year Landon became a Sunbeam at church! I can't believe how fast time flies and how quickly they grow up. 

We were a bit worried because he really wanted to stay in nursery. But his wonderful teachers visited before the first Sunday and made him feel so welcome that Sunday that it was a huge success!!  

Here's our little Sunbeam!

Holiday Happenings

Every year the holidays seem to pass much too quickly. But I like to think we live up every moment possible during that magical time of year!

This year was so much fun! Landon really understood what Christmas is all about ... and he definitely understood Santa in a whole new way also! And watching Christmas unfold for the first time through the eyes of a baby is just about as magical as you can get! 

A few highlights from our Christmas season:

*Landon played Joseph in the Joy School Christmas program. Cutest. Thing. EVER! 
*Telling the nativity story before bed. We have the Fisher Price nativities in each of their rooms so they can play with them. And each night we tell the story of Baby Jesus. I love watching them learn, and begin to understand the real gift of Christmas. 
*We started a new tradition of a "Christmas Eve Box" that includes the kids' jammies, a new Christmas book, a new movie and a treat to open on Christmas Eve.
*Taking the kids to see Santa. Landon was very jazzed up about the big guy in red this year. Liam on the other hand was feeling like he might be a bit sketchy.

*Fun parties! We had our church party, friends invited us over, we decorated cookies with the kids and Jeff's work had a fun get-together.
*Christmas lights! I love the lights on temple square! It's a special date for Jeff and I each year, and we always take the kids as well.
*Seeing Frozen. I don't even like animated movies and I've seen it twice - it's really that cute. The kids like it too :)
*Landon putting us on the "Naughty List" or the "Nice List." Generally we moved lists a few times a day depending on how his day was going. Also, it was the first year we could hold said "list" above his head. Worked like a charm :)!
*Babies wearing elf jammies.
*Landon received a special message from the North Pole letting him know that he made the "Nice List!" His face was priceless!

Christmas Day was magical! Landon tore through his presents. It made us happy to see how much he loved what he got, but sad in a way too. In past years he opened slowly to play with and enjoy each toy. His favorites: race car set (this actually kept all the boys - old and young - busy for hours), dinosaurs, Jake's Island and a kitchen for both of them.

Liam was just delighted by new toys and all that WRAPPING PAPER! He would just look at us and grin - fascinated by the whole process. His favorites: Rocking pony (it sings while he rides and he dances and rocks ... and has the CUTEST smile on his face the whole time), dinosaur that pops balls out, bath toys, books and the kitchen.

 Jeff and I both took a couple days off after Christmas and we had a great time just hanging out together as a family and relaxing. 

New Years isn't a huge deal to us, but we wanted to do something fun with the kiddos. We went out for Chinese and then had a party in the basement ... complete with balloons, noisemakers and watching the ball drop on the big screen. Don't tell the boys ... but it was a YouTube video of the ball drop in 2010 :)! 

Now here we are ... in 2014. I really can't believe it! I'm grateful for the wonderful Christmas season we had - spent with family and good friends. We feel incredibly blessed and I hope we can keep the magic of the season with us throughout the year.
 

Gratitude

It's funny ... November is the month to celebrate gratitude. But really, I think it just starts it off. I might not have listed out each thing I'm grateful for this year, but I assure you, the list is long. The other night, in particular, I was reminded of everything we are blessed with.

We went to a local "live nativity" where people act out the Christmas story. It was done really well, and was a great experience for all of us. But, wow ... it was COLD. The majority of it was outside, and it took us about an hour to walk through. When we got back in the car we realized it was only 13 degrees outside. Since then it hasn't been any warmer than 25. Nippy to say the least :)! 

And I'm grateful for each freezing, snowing day because it reminds me to be thankful.

I am grateful to be able to bundle my kiddos up to keep them warm outside, and have a warm house to keep them safe in. That they have snuggly PJs and plenty of blankets to cover up with. That their bellies are full. That we have family and friends who love all of us so much. 

But it is also a sobering reminder that not everyone is so fortunate (in fact, I can't get it out of my head). At this time of year, and in this freezing weather, there are people who aren't able to keep warm, so let's look for ways to help. 

Maybe you can do a little, maybe you can do a lot ... but let's all do something, okay? Together we can make this holiday season a little warmer in more ways than one. 

An Update ...

To say it's been a busy Fall would be an understatement. We have so much fun just trying to keep up with life and these two busy boys! (Warning ... picture overload!)

We have very exciting family news ... Grandma and Grandpa Terry are missionaries now! They are serving the Nauvoo Temple Mission. They started officially today, but a few weeks ago we went down to St. George to celebrate as a family. It was so fun to see everyone - the boys were in heaven with their cousins. The kids all sang I Love to See the Temple in sacrament meeting. These are pics of our trip!  

You should have heard it ... it was adorable!

I was really proud of Landon. It was his first time singing in front of people and he sang his little heart out. Then the big kids got up and sang by themselves, and it was amazing! My boys are lucky to have such great cousins (the first cousin missionary leaves this January!!).

Grandma and Grandpa right before they drove to Nauvoo!

Halloween was SO much fun this year. I really wanted them to be Sully and Mike from Monsters, Inc. I knew they would be SO CUTE! And they did not disappoint. I love these two monsters so much!!

Cutest Joy School kids ever! It was so fun to go to Landon's party!

My little monsters!!

Liam is 10 months old and still not "officially" crawling (which, for the record, I think is fantastic!). He can get around ... he's a talented roller and scoocher. Just last night he got up on all fours and moved backwards :)! He's clapping, signing "more" and chattering away as if he is having a full conversation. And boy ... he loves his big kid food!

So. Cute.

Apparently he needed his blankie and two bears... we're in trouble!

Landon has started trying to teach him things - like how to play cars! It's pretty cute to watch. Liam has definitely already caught on when it comes to wrestling and how to antagonize your brother. It kills me to see how much they love each other! I foresee a LOT of wrestling in our future.

Landon teaching Liam how to play cars and planes.
He's a very captive student!

First "real" drawing ... of a shark!

We are in a dinosaur phase :)

This last weekend we made our way to the Traverse Mountain Tree lighting. It was a lot of fun!  Watching the boys look at the Christmas tree sparkle and see the fireworks is exactly what I needed to put me right in the holiday spirit. Children truly embody the magic of Christmas!