One year later...

It is amazing what can happen in a year. I can't believe it was one year ago that I had this sweet baby. He has grown so fast. I can only hope that someday all my memory will be restored and that I can remember holding and loving this sweet little baby.

We celebrated on Monday (the 15th). This is pretty good considering the last 2 birthdays my kids had, we had to have them on other days. We celebrated Wayment style with a FIESTA! Salsa, guacamole, and spicy chicken tacos. YUM. Then we had homemade vanilla icecream and chocolate cake. Logan was so cute tearing into his cake. He'd been sick, so he wasn't really in to eating it. My little mess maker loved smashing and squishing it. Then, he dumped it into his lap. That is when I said enough.

We got him a high chair that hooks onto our bar and he LOVES being able to sit up there with his brothers. He loves those two. When they are napping and he is awake, he always crawls into their room to play. He is extra noisy trying to wake them up.

Logan has just started walking. He takes a few steps here and there. He is such a good baby. He has a peaceful little spirit. He likes to be held and played with. He is a silent busy one. This means mischeif. Robbie's mom says that this is just what he was like as a baby. He loves to eat candy. He loves his teddy bear. He got it when he was born from Grandma Marsha. If he throws it out of his crib, he cries and cries. He is a tender heart. If Logan gets into trouble, the tears always come.

Now that he is one, I find myself comfortably settling into three boys. But a little part of me is feeling like my baby is all grown up and that makes me sad. I find myself feeling like hmmmm…maybe it is time for another! YIKES! But, if they come as cute as him, I'll take as many as I can get!

I Heart V-day...

This year we had such a fun and busy Valentine week.

Monday, I made sugar cookies for Carson's preschool class. Each cookie was pink and decorated with white frosting and had the kid's name on it. It was fun to do. My mom did this for my class at school every year. She always brought the cookies and all my classmates were SO excited. More than anything, I just loved seeing my mom at school.

Then on Wednesday, it was Carson's V-day party. I was so proud of him. He wrote all his classmates names and his own on his valentine. I glued a plastic dinosaur to a paper and wrote, "You are DINO-MITE!" on it. The kids loved it. Carson got a ton of candy. Whatever happened to one little piece in the envelope of the valentine? He got so much. Well, Logan is a little sugar bug and when I came into our family room I found this:

 

Three suckers he'd found, unwrapped, and was eating. Plus, chocolate everywhere.

Thursday, we went to a Valentine party…more candy! It was really fun. The mom, Erin, read a cute book called Pinkalicious. The kids loved it.

Friday, we went to Idaho Falls to do some shopping. Robbie needed new work clothes SO bad. My dad kept the kids and we did a little shopping. We came home on Saturday, and then after church on Sunday we gave our kids their valentines. I thought it would be so fun to give them these dinosaur eggs. I had no idea what a mess that they would be…and a disappointment. Carson thought they had a real dinosaur in it. He was a little bummed. Let's just say it is a good thing that we learn from our mistakes. This was a lesson learned.

After this, we had Robbie's parents over for our traditional Valentine dinner. I made this for Robbie the first time when I was pregnant with Carson. I wanted to surprise him for Valentines, so on the Friday before, I got the groceries and made the meal before he got home from school. He LOVED that. SO, here is our menu: salad (varies on the type…this year was a red onion vinegarettte with romaine, candied almonds, parmesan, strawberries, and oranges), breadsticks, chicken Alfredo, chocolate dipped strawberries for dessert. YUM! It is a fun tradition. Good thing we only have this about once a year…it carries a pretty hefty load of calories.

One thing that I realized this Valentines, is that it is not about giving a card or a present or declaring one's love on one day per year…it is about the little thing we do each day that add up to the love we feel on this day. I feel so blessed to have a wonderful husband that tells and shows me that he loves me. A few things that he does that show this are that he always kisses me good bye(even if I am still in bed), he'll change a stinky diaper without me asking, and he lets me sleep in on his day off. That is true love!

This is of thing 3's last mess. I love this little boy, but he sure is busy.

The Reward, Thing 3 stikes again, and Pink eye

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to do a reward jar with the boys. If they obey, they get to put a marble in a pint size jar. They also get to put a marble in if they do something nice for someone else. The first day, Carson was supposed to be getting ready for school. I came around the corner and saw that he was making my bed. Cutie. It has been pretty effective. They have been unloading the dishwasher every day. They each get to put in two marbles for that.

The jar is filling up. It is a little over half way. Carson said to me this morning, "Our jar is getting pretty full. I think we should choose our reward. Maybe you can take us to a football game." Nate chimed in, "Or a baseball game." Then Carson got the biggest grin on his face and his eyes lit up, "I know...You can take us to Grandpa Bob's house!" Grandpa Bob's house it is. They both were jumping up and down and clapping. I love it that they love each other so much...but it is not just Grandpa Bob...Grandma Marsha is pretty high on their list of favorites.

Also, last week, Thing 3 struck again. He dumped out a whole bucket of flour all over the floor and was rolling in it. He stuck his face in it. It was EVERYWHERE. Then Carson and Nate wanted to help clean up. It was very nice, but I ended up with white footprints all over my entire house on the wood floor. It took me over an hour to get it all cleaned up.

One might ask, "Where were YOU while all this was going on?" The answer is that I was in the family room by our kitchen (essentially the same room) picking up toys. This one is silent. And busy. That is a very bad combination. He has also started to open my drawers and empty them out. He especially loves to pull the ziploc bags out of their box. This one is trouble.

Poor little Nate had pink eye this week that caused a little vessel in his eye to rupture. He keeps getting mad at us when we say that we want to check his pink eye or his red eye. "My eyes are not pink. They are blue," he says every time. He is also adding SO in front of every sentence. "So mom, you are making cookies. So mom... so mom..." It is funny.

It is crazy to think that he will soon be three and that in one week, Logan will be one. Time goes by in a blink.

C is for Cookie...

Yesterday at lunch time, Nate was singing "C is for Cookie, that's good enough for me..." in a Cookie monster voice. Robbie asked him to say the blessing. With out missing a beat, he said his whole prayer in a Cookie monster voice. We were cracking up. Sometimes I think that we can get too serious in life. I hope that Heavenly Father was laughing on the other end.

Date Night

Last night, I had a date...not with my husband...with my 4 year old. It was SO fun. We went to Wendy's for dinner and then went to see our little community production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I knew it was risky taking him to this, BUT he loved it! He was still as could be...except his little feet tapping to the music.

As soon as it began, the tears came. I was taken back in time about 11 or so years. I was taken to a time when I went with my mom and dad to see the Donny Osmond verson in Salt Lake. I remember my mom whispering to me when Joseph was in jail (and in only a loin cloth), "I thought I was over him...I'm NOT!" Then, just 3 and a half short years later, I listened to my dad listen to the music all night long...longing for something to keep his mind off losing the love of his life. My heart was full of memories. I couldn't keep the tears back.

Carson was sitting on my lap and noticed that I was crying. He said, "Mom, are you sad?" No, Carson, I am not sad. Carson: "Then why are you crying?" I am just remembering Grandma Elaine. She took me to see this in Salt Lake when I was a girl. I just miss her. Then I got one of the best hugs ever. He is such a good boy with a very tender heart. He could sense my ache and did what he thought would make it better. He could have ignored my feelings, after all, he is 4 and life is all about him, but he didn't.

Now, today is a new day, and that is another memory I have tied to Joseph. I have to smile when I hear Carson singing at the top of his lungs, "Jaaaaaaaacob, Jacob and sons..."

meandNate

This is pretty funny. Carson and Nate are always together. In fact, they may be a little codependant. They, for the most part LOVE each other. When ever Carson asks to do anything or to eat anything, it is always, "Mom, meandNate..." Always. One hundred times a day.

Well, now when nate wants something, it is, "Mom, meandNate..." It cracks me up. They are 2 funny little boys.

Thing 3

Why is it that I can spend hours cooking a fabulous meal and my baby won't eat it? But a few minutes later he is eating a Crayon? Go figure...

That leads me to my next question...why do babies grow up so fast? When I was pregnant with Logan, it seemed like my pregnancy lasted about 3 years. Now only 11 months later (which seemed like a blink), he has turned into "one of them". Let me explain what this means.

When I found out that we were having our third boy in about 3 and 1/2 years, I was fine. In fact, I was excited. I love my little boys. I had just found out that Logan was a boy when I had one of those days...the type that make you wonder if anyone survives being a mom. It was on this day that I said to my dad, "I don't know if I can have another baby boy." He asked why. I responded, "It is like Heavenly Father tricks us. He sends us a sweet little baby. But, dad,he is going to turn into one of them." I could only think of the chaos he would add to our already crazy home.

Not long after this incident, my brother told me that he figured out who Carson and Nate reminded him of…Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr Seuss's The Cat in the Hat. He said that I better hope that this new baby was NOT Thing 3. I was hoping for a fish in the pot…that would keep a watch over the other two and tattle tell.

No such luck. Sometimes he doesn't want to nap. He doesn't want to eat (unless, of course, it is Crayon or some dried up piece of food he found on the floor). He enjoys shoving popcorn in by the handful, spilling it everywhere. He pulls all the toys out. He pulls all my Ziplocs out. He throws hand fulls of flour all over...the list could go on and on. Good bye to my sweet little baby. Now it is official...HE'S ONE OF THEM/THING 3! YIKES!