Willie, the big 18!

 

You are smart.

 

You are tall.

 

You are handsome.

 

You are ambitious.

 

You are funny.

 

You wear your emotions on your sleeve like your dad and your big sister.

 

You are a natural born leader.

 

You are a great uncle.

 

You got accepted into the University of Kansas and hopefully the University of Utah

and Stanford, too.

 

You never give up.

 

You work hard.

 

You make things happen.

 

You are faithful.

 

You take care of your friends.

 

I've been thinking the last little while that I don't know where the time went.  You went from being my baby brother to being this giant, amazing young man who is ready to step out into the world and own it in the blink of an eye.  I am excited for your future.  I don't know what you are going to do with your life, but I know you'll do a great job and it will be awesome.

 

Thanks for being my little brother.  I hope that it's okay that I'm your big fat sister.

 

Happy Birthday!

Year in Review

2012 is almost over and it was quite a year for our little family. 

Ross traveled to South America and back.

 

They boys did lots of baseball, swimming lessons and soccer.

 

We added a concrete pad, flower bed curbing, and a fence to the yard and painted a few rooms in the house and gussied up the laundry room.

 

Wyatt moved from diapers to big boy pants, a crib to a bed, and from a binker and blankies to nothing at all.

 

Elliott grew inches, learned a bunch of new words, and almost mastered riding his bike and tying his shoes.

 

We started and finished our 4th season of Shavy Jones shaved ice.

 

Elliott turned 5.  Wyatt turned 3.  Ross and I each got a year older.

 

Elliott started Kindergarten and Wyatt started preschool.

 

We swam a lot at Grandpa Huber's house and spent a lot of time hanging out in the gym and in the bleachers cheering on Uncle Willie.

 

We went to Sea World, Lego Land and Dinosaur Land.

 

We hosted a bunch of parties and ate a lot of really yummy food.

 

We went on A LOT of walks around the neighborhood looking for bugs.

 

The boys rode their scooters until their legs were sore and kicked the soccer ball into the street hundreds of times.

 

Ross and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary but 10 years of knowing each other.

My brother grew taller than me and I couldn't be prouder.

 

We grew our family by one first cousin, one second cousin, and one sweet and squishy baby boy.  

 

Yes.  I'd say that this was definitely a memorable year.

We wish you and yours a Happy New Year.

Christmastime was here.....

Blessed.

Blessed.

Blessed.

We have wonderful family who love us all lots and lots.

Generosity abounds on Christmas day.

I shed a few tears leaving my grandparents house on Christmas night because I wished so dearly to have my grandma be there with us. I made sure that on Christmas Eve I camped out in her chair so that I could feel her close to me. On Christmas Day I sat in her other chair, just to remind me that she was with us.

I love the traditions we are making with our children, and their cousins, and my parents. It was a really nice day.

With a lot of diet coke!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Chickaroo and his Christmas to-do

Life moves fast.  I'm a week late but couldn't let the year end without documenting Wyatt's preschool Christmas program.  He did such a great job and we were all so proud of him.

He played the part of a rocking horse in the program.  He learned his song before Thanksgiving and has been singing it for over a month.

I'm a Christmas rocking horse.

See me rock.  See me rock.

Santa brought me here today,

Just at twelve o'clock.

I'll admit I was a bit nervous about him sitting up in the bleachers with the other little kids.  And about him singing.  And about him being shy and goofy but his extrovert self shown brightly and proudly and he did an amazing job.

Grandma Judy, Grandma Connie, Grandpa Dick, Elliott, Quinn, and mom and dad were there to watch him.  One he spotted us in the audience, he caught our eyes and offered his famous thumbs up at least a dozen times.

He was so excited.

He was so proud.

He is such a good boy.

 

And, as a side note because I want to remember it forever and probably won't manage to get a recording of it any time soon, there is this:

 

Wyatt's favorite song is Silent Night.  He knows all the words to the first verse, and most of the words to the other two.  This has been my song to him since the day he was born.  In May.  Yes, it's strange that I started right out singing him a Christmas song, but in the three and a half years he's been alive, I can honestly say a day has not gone by when we haven't sung silent night.

 

That being said, on Christmas Eve, driving home from my Grandpa's house, Quinn was having a major baby meltdown in the back of the car.  He was frantic and freaking out and I had to cover my ears it was so intense.  But, sweet little Chickie, in as calm and quiet as a way that he's capable of started singing to his brother.

 

Silent night.  Holy night.

All is cawm.  All is bwight.

Wound yon birgin, mother and child.

Holy infant so tender and wild.

Sweep in hebenly peace.  Sweep in hebenly peace.

 

Yes, the baby Jesus was tender and wild.

 

In the absolute chaos of screaming, gagging, chocking baby in the car, this little boy made his mom and dad smile and laugh.  And for a brief moment got his afraid of the dark baby brother to stop screaming.

 

 

Merry Christmas!

Signing off for the holidays.  Hope we don't all lose our minds.

Lots of love from us to you!

Merry Christmas.

"More than just a hairy dude"

My brother made a movie in his art class.

Of course, it's about Bigfoot.

Enjoy!

When he's left alone...

I thought he was playing Curious George on PBS kids.

I guess he wasn't.

In a nutshell...

I love my family.  I love that my boys are safe with me everyday and that when I have to send them out into the big bad world, I pray that they will be okay, make good decisions, and that they will be protected.  I hope that I never have to fear sending my boys to school to learn and to grow and to make friends.  I pray that all the wakadoos in the world stay far, far away, leave me and my children alone.

I pray that this little boy with his crazy hair will grow up happy and healthy and be my sweet baby his whole life long.  Or at least my sweet boy but man he's growing up too fast.

I pray that my boys know I love them just as much as I hope they always love me.

I pray that I can learn to not spend all my time worrying about what to wear to dumb work parties, instead focusing my attention on more important things....like cleaning off the island in my kitchen.

I pray that I will always take the time to stop and breathe in the beauty that the world has to offer.  That I can go outside in the snow, in my bare feet for just a minute to soak it all in, because it is beautiful.

I pray that these boys will always get to grow up playing with their dad, snow or sun, and that they grow up to be just like him.  (Minus the headphones?)

I pray that this boy will always decided to NOT throw the snowball in my face.

I pray that my family, immediate and extended, will always stick together and love each other and spend time together.

And also that I remember, especially when everything feels too hard, that I'm super lucky to be here, right now, in my life, with my family.  I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

Let the anxiety begin....

Tomorrow night is Ross' company dinner in Park City.  There aren't a lot of instructions about the dress, but I figured it was one step above church, but limited on the number of sequins per outfit.  A tough road for me to haul considering my entire day, every day is spent in jeans and a stripped t-shirt.  Or jeans and a stripped sweater.  I own a lot of stripes.

Business causal?  Semi-formal?  Sunday dress?  Semi-formal?  I cannot figure any of this stuff out.

Anyway, thanks to my in-laws right after Thanksgiving I had a couple of hours to myself, which never usually happens, so I went shopping for something to wear.  Since then, I've tried the outfit on several times, not sure if it really works.  On Monday I purchased my first pair of Spanx to make the outfit fit a little bit better.   Still not sure.  I bought some new shoes, but fear the heel is too tall and I'll be towering over my husband.  I mean, I'm a bit of an amazon in my regular life, do I really need shoes with a heel?

I had a baby three months ago and I'm super jiggly and my hair is really short.  I pretty much feel like Fiona the Ogre from Shrek every where I go.  Jeans and stripped t-shirts and a little big of make-up to make life bearable every day do not a fancy night out on the company dollar make.

Today, the anxiety has hit.  Maybe if I don't wear the skirt?  Maybe if I find a different sweater?  Maybe if I go to another store to look for shoes?  Who is going to talk to me?  Who am I going to let make me feel like a dork because I'm a stay at home mom who they think doesn't have anything to talk about?  Who is going to say something to me that will make me feel stupid?  What happens if someone does try to talk to me but I get nervous and freeze like I did as a little girl and just stare like a spaz?

You get the point?  I can confidently teach a lesson to a ballroom of people no sweat.  I can host a small party with people I know at my house.  I cannot make small talk with strangers.  I cannot remember peoples names.  I cannot go find someone to talk to.  I can sweat and stutter and look like a dork.  New social situations paralyze me, let alone having to talk to someone while I'm eating.

So, I've been sick to my stomach all morning fretting over something totally insignificant (first world problems, I know.).  Okay, more than fretting.  Sweating and nauseous.  I've held my skirt in my hand.  I've looked at all my shoe options.  I've held the sweater up to other skirts in my closet.

I might cry.

Imagine how I'll be tomorrow.  When I actually have to get dressed.  When I have to comb my short hair in a way that I don't look like a boy.  When I have to put on a little bit more make-up than my everyday barely there, but I don't really know how to wear make-up.

I might need to call in sick.

12.12.12.

Today is a day that can go down in history and won't happen again in my life time.

12.12.12

Pretty cool.

I didn't have anything special planned for the day but it ended up being a pretty good one.

Wyatt had school and Elliott and I had a nice and quiet morning at home with the Quinner and Disney Junior on the computer.

After we picked Wyatt up from school we headed out to Hunter to take our favorite uncle his pre-game lunch of Chick-fil-a.  We were so happy to see the President during the day, especially because we were not going to drive to Logan for the game tonight (They lost by 1 and Wyatt threw up.  Glad we stayed home).  Uncle Willie ate his lunch with us in the car, in the parking lot (the "maneuver" as my husband calls it), and told us about his Sasquatch movie for his art class.  We then drove him from the parking space in the front of the school to the front of the school to drop him off.  I mean, it saved him at least 15 steps and it was cold, so totally worth it.

After that, we headed to my parents to finish our lunch, feed Quinn, and run around for a few minutes.  Then after that, we headed out to my grandpa's house.

One of my aunts organized an advent calendar for my grandpa this year and all of us in the family each took a day or two (I have three...go figure) and on our day we're providing my grandpa with a special treat or surprise.  We've already given him a really great Christmas CD.  He's also received black licorice, a festive wreath, a noisy penguin toy, fruit cake and a lot of other cool stuff.  But today, it was my turn to do something I'd been thinking about for a long time.  There is one wall, in the hall, that minus a drawing of my uncle's that has been hanging at least 30 years has been blank.  So I decided it needed to be gussied up a bit and hung 8 pictures today.  Each photo representing the children and grandchildren of my mom and her siblings.  That's a total of 41 grand and great-grand children (including spouses) whose pictures are now on the wall for my grandpa to look at every time he comes out of the bathroom.

While I hammered, nailed, and hung my photos my sweet boys were so good.  They lined up every single noisy Christmas toy in the living room and with their baby brother on the floor as their audience, turned every single one on, in turn, and danced and sang and giggled the afternoon away.

Can I tell you Internet how awesome it is for me that my boys love my grandparents house as much as I do?  It makes my heart swell with happy. 

 

The picture of course doesn't do the project justice and i hope my grandpa doesn't care that I poked 8 holes in his wall (well, 9 holes, actually).  But, I thought that when I was finished it ended up looking pretty cool.

 

And if nothing else, it was a great way to spend a little bit of such a unique day.

While were off track....

It's been 11 full days of off track life.  We are nearly halfway through.

Yeah!

My ever demanding boys have been ever demanding these days.  It seems that they are no longer cutting me any slack as the mom with a baby.  They are in full demand of projects, and arts and crafts, and popcorn.  Lots and lots of popcorn.

Here's just a little taste of what we've been up to.

They swiffered yesterday for 20 minutes each. The cleanest my kitchen floor has been in ages.

They camped out to watch, "The brave little toaster" one of the most mindnumbingly boring children's movies ever...except "Totoro". They were however, completely silent and glued to the television for almost 90 minutes. For that, thank you brave little toaster.

Spiderman is ready for the holiday. The boys are super into superheroes lately. But, they both cannot be a super hero at the same time. One of them will be, oh, superman and the other? He must be scooby doo. Have you ever seen Scooby shoot out webs and fly between buildings? I have.

Checked air pressure.

Selling t-shirts for a basketball fundraiser at the home games. They are pretty persuasive little sells people.

Loving on that sweet baby brother of theirs.

We've also seen the return of the summer failure: Mom School. Yes, my 5 year old is so desperate for kindergarten that we've broken out all our workbooks, lined paper, left-handed scissors and gotten to work. We've done hard math problems and read lots and lots of books. It's been awesome.

And, we've done some super cool and easy art projects. This one only took some milk, food coloring and some dish soap. It kept us busy off and on for the entire day.

Good Evening....

Not the most flattering photo of my little squishy, but he does bear an uncanny resemblance to a certain horror/suspense film director of the 1950's and 60's.

Hello Baby Hitchcock.

Are you afraid of birds?

We need a little Christmas, right this very minute....

The trees are up

The Christmas cards have been mailed

A few presents have been wrapped

The big guy and his lady have been talked to

The first of many parties has been attended and the first gifts have been received

The scented pinecones are on display

And the letters to Santa have been written.

I guess all of this means that we're ready for Christmas. 

Year Round School

November 30 was Elliott's last day of school for the year.  He's on a year-round elementary school schedule and on "B" track.  This means that he started school on August 2 and went until the end of August.  He then had three weeks off starting September 10 - right when we brought home a new baby.  Those three weeks - new baby, recovery, health scares with blood pressure, 3 year old and anxious 5 year old with no school every day made for a pretty anxiety ridden life cocktail.  As soon as he went back to school, it felt like life finally started to find it's "normal".  Elliott was in school all of October and November and now he has 4 weeks off of school.  He goes back right after new years in January, has a three week break in March, a two week break in May and then graduates from Kindergarten on July 2.  He then has three weeks off and starts first grade at the end of July.

As soon as she went back on track in October, I swore to myself that I'd be more prepared for off-track this time.  Today is the 4th day he's been home all day and today is okay.

Monday was hard, but Wyatt went to school and my in-laws fixed me dinner.

Tuesday brought me to tears.  It was the hardest, longest, day I'd had in months.  It was also day two of a sweet little baby not having a nap.  What little soul can nap with all the screaming and chaos his older brothers create.  I think both Quinn and I were ready to throw the big boys into the garbage can.

Wednesday was stressful, but the baby had a 90 minute nap.  Score!

Thursday, today, we're doing better.  But in just the morning I made them clean their rooms, make their beds, vacuum the entire upstairs, clean up their toys, and do mom school, which included hard math problems.

Our home has been so loud and chaotic and up until today, it looked like some one had broken in and ransacked the joint.  The big boys have no volume control and scream and fight and wrestle and kill each other in an ebb and flow pattern that makes me think the tide is coming in.  They build and destroy.  They jump on beds and almost sprain their ankles.  They hit and claw.  They play and love each other.  They both look at being home every day as if someone (the other) is invading their territory.  It's been like living in the brain of someone who is bi-polar.  These boys of mine are complete opposites and though they get along really well with each other, when they don't, it's out of control.

Having a very smart and capable 5.75 year old at home every single day, when he should be at school learning, demanding every ounce of my attention, recognition, praise, and affection is so hard.  Elliott is such a good help.  I love him so much.  Quinn LOVES him and Elliott will lay on the floor with his baby for a lifetime talking to him, tickling him, and singing softly.  But, he is a little boy that struggles to invent his own games and activities.  Wyatt will lay on the floor for hours lost in his imagination.  Elliott only finds his imagination if I tell him it's okay first.

Thank goodness its the holiday season and we have a lot going on.  Thank goodness for helpful grandparents, lots of basketball games, and a daily advent prize or activity to keep us busy.  

Other wise, just four days into off-track, I'd already be in the loony bin.

Year round school is so dumb.

Quinner: 3 months

You smile, you laugh, you talk a lot.  You have the stinkiest farts in the entire world and make me gag.

I love you!!!!

Yes, my boy, you are another month older.  I was talking to your dad the other night and said, "Right now, he's three months old.  Before I know it, he'll be 5, then 18 and on a mission.  He's growing up too fast."  Your dad, ever the practical one in our family said, "No. He isn't going to be five tomorrow."

He's right.  You'll just be three months plus one day tomorrow.

In the last month my boy you are doing amazing baby things.  Last week, we switched you officially to 9 month clothes.  You started sleeping through the night a couple weeks ago (bed time between 8:30-9:00 and up at 5:00, drink a bottle and then go back to sleep).  You are turning into a creature of habit, just like your mom and dad and it's awesome.  We figure right now, you weigh 17 pounds, you're trying to sit up all by your self when I've go you on my lap with your back to my chest, and you can pull your legs all the way off the ground and pull your butt right up with them.  It makes my abs hurt just thinking about it.

You love your brothers and they love you back times 10.  All they want to do is hold you, talk to you, rub your head, and tell me that you stink.

Have I mentioned your stinky?  Seriously kid, you have THE WORST GAS in the history of babies.  You fart louder than your brothers.  It makes us laugh a dozen times a day.

You eat your fist.

You talk to angels on the ceiling.

You like to listen to music.

You do not like to ride in the car in the dark.

The fattest part of your whole body is your thighs right where they meet your hip.  It's a good thing that fat part of your legs is covered by diaper or I might just squeeze them all day long.

You have beautiful eyelashes and your finger nails grow super fast.

I think you love me.

When you wake up for good in the morning, even though you are starving you don't cry.  You just talk in your crib.
You have a good dad who feeds you bottles at night so I get to stay asleep.  I love you dad because he does that for us.
You aren't a very good napper.  In fact, you are on a strange schedule where one day, you have no naps and the next day you sleep all day.  It's your deal so I roll with it but the no naps days are pretty exhausting for both of us and by the time dinner rolls around, you and I have both had it.

You are getting good at sitting in the bumbo chair, but your legs are too fat and it usually makes you puke.  Your brothers spend more time sitting in it than you.  They both fit better now than when they were babies.

As much as we've tried, you are not a binker kid.  You like to use mom as your pacifier and if that doesn't work, you suck on your fist and make a super loud popping sound when the suction is released.  It's pretty funny.

You have been to several Runnin' Utes basketball games now and you really have a good time.  You either spend the whole game asleep in your chair or laying on a quilt, on the row behind us, talking to the seats.  They apparently have a lot to say.

Yesterday, you went to your first Christmas party.  You slept through all the chaos until it was time to see the big guy himself.  I'm not sure what you said to Mrs. Claus to make her seem so disinterested in holding you, but a picture is worth a thousand words.  

Maybe you farted on her lap?

I love you baby!

You are my squish.  You are my smile.  You are my boy!

I don't deserve you, but I love you.  

Giving Thanks

Today was a great day.  We spent time with family.  We ate good food.  We talked and laughed and had a grand old time playing with kids and little babies.

 

I'm thankful for these two turkeys and that they love their baby brother.

 

 

 

I'm thankful that these little boys get to grow up together and be best good friends.

 

 

 

I'm thankful that this boy married me and helped me get three more boys that I like a lot.

 

 

I'm also thankful for these folks - my sister and her family and my brother. I don't know what I'd do without them. Or, my parental units. I don't know what I would do without them, either.

I'm thankful for Ross' parents, and his grandparents.  For Parkie Warkie, his mom, and all my other aunts and uncles and cousins.  I'm thankful for all the family that helps me to take care of my little chillin's.  I'm thankful that I live in North Provo and that I've got a great home, a car that works, and some sweet cooking and baking skills.  I'm thankful that I get to teach relief society on the third Sunday of the month, and that I believe all the grandma's in heaven are looking down on me and my family from above.

I'm a lucky, lucky girl.  And I'm thankful for that, too.