Random Thoughts

This blog is usually all about the kids but I wanted to share a random thought from me, and I mean random. I know ... the excitement the anticipation.

Are there things in your life that make you go "I'm on my way, I'm practically all grown up?" Every time I look at my banana hanger I think "wow, I have one of those?" It's silly but true. It's one of those things that isn't necessary but great to have. I thought the same thing this afternoon when I was putting towels in the linen closet. I whole closet just for my linens, amazing. Life is great! We may not have much but we're grateful for the things we do have. So here's to all the banana hangers in your life.

In Summary

I left my camera at Candis' for a few weeks so I'm behind again. But in summary we've ...

had our cousins Ayden and Gavin over for a few days. We learned all about Thanksgiving (yes we used the globe!) and colored pictures to hang in the window.

taken Audrey to her first Utah State Basketball Game! We beat the Utes soundly and had a great time. GO AGGIES!
enjoyed Thanksgiving at Candis and Joe's. Penn and Alexis enjoyed coloring togethervisited Temple Square and saw all of the Christmas lights. It was amazing, the boys loved the Christus Statue and this weekend Audrey started eating rice cereal! It's very very messy but she enjoys trying. We have no doubt she'll catch on.

So Big

I've fallen a little behind. Summing things up, we've been sick. Logan was so sick he not only threw up the bad bugs that made him sick but a great deal of his good digestive bugs. 2-3 weeks of little sleep means very little blogging. But we are getting over it. Penn was a little confused when Spencer explained the good bugs/bad bugs in Logan's tummy. He kept asking if Logan had bugs up his shirt?, kids say the funniest things.

Audrey has been growing. Earlier this month we went in for our 4 month check up. She's still in the 90th percentile for height and 80th for weight. She is just over 25 inches long! I love that the first thing Spencer said when I told him was "Good Job Love Love". He's right, it isn't easy feeding her every 3 hours and caring for her. It's a full time job ensuring her brothers don't love her tooo much. I should also say thanks to Spencer, without his contribution we couldn't have achieved such awesome results. I guess ... maybe ... we should also recognize Audrey's efforts. Good job baby girl you rock!

Audrey is truly an amazing baby. She loves the water and enjoys splashing her mama. She still sleeps so well and thinks her brothers are the most entertaining things ever. She loves to watch them play. Audrey has gotten very good at grabbing things and still jabbers all the time. She's got a great smile and pretends to be shy when she meets people. Audrey can roll from her tummy to her back, but only when she wants and never when mom wants. We have tracked her growth like we did the boys with fun pictures every month.

None of my kids have great balance at the beginning! Penn did the same thing. I just love it.

We love our Audrey and are so grateful she is part of our family. Keep up the great work sis.

Halloween Fun

We've had a great deal of Halloween fun. We took Jenny to a local farm to help find the perfect pumpkins and have some fun! It was a great way to spend a fall afternoon. We saw lots of animals, witnessed our first pig races and rode in large water barrels behind a 4 wheeler. It was great. What are we doing? We found the perfect pumpkins and needed to raise our hand to get help cutting it. There's reason to our madness.Logan didn't want to sit on the seat. But who can argue with that smile?Trick or treating was both a success and a failure. The boys dressed as dragons. It was their choice, I guess that dragon movie left quite an impression. Logan has had a terrible stomach bug (more to come on that) and didn't feel up to trick-or-treating until he saw Penn's sweet sweet success. I ended up carrying him around the block (not an easy task given how much he weighs! (I promise he isn't contagious))Logan wasn't feeling up to pics so we just got a bunch of pictures of him running away. Still pretty cute if you ask me.

What a Day

Last Saturday we had a DAY. Shortly after Spencer and I were engaged we set a goal to run or bike at least one race a year. This Saturday we ran a 5k together. We've biked around Bear Lake, ran in a number of USU races, participated in the Smithfield Health Days, and ridden 100 kilometers. It's great fun to spend time together and we always feel good when it's over. After the race we had the opportunity to go up to USU's Homecoming Game. Uncle Mitch and Aunt Jenny were also in town. Uncle Mitch rented a minivan so we could all ride together. It was a great day full of excitement... Until it rained buckets and buckets on us. But the boys loved the football game. We lost horribly but any good Aggie knows, there is always next year...

Audrey and I having a great time and staying warm. The boys were a little nervous at the beginning. I guess it was a little overwhelming.



There is always time for a quick nap. Isn't she the cutest thing ever?Is Logan saying "Are we staying through the rain Uncle Mitch?" or maybe "Did you see that run?"A big thanks to Uncle Mitch and Aunt Jenny for sharing this fun day with us.

Chatting with Audrey

Without a doubt Audrey tells some of the best stories. I'm not sure if her jabbering so much is an Audrey thing, a girl thing or a second time around thing. But we have enjoyed "talking" with her and look forward to a lifetime of conversations.

It's Raining?!?!?

It's finally happened, fall has arrived. It was raining so hard this morning we just had to cancel our daily walk to the park. It's only then I realized the problem. What am I going to do with 2 2 year olds ... indoors ... all winter? We have loved playing outside, but with the cold weather coming we won't be able to stay outside as long. Today's solution, fort building. It was great!

Both boys had to share the excitement of a fort with their puppies.

Earlier I had searched their closet trying to find warm clothes that still fit. Of course the gloves had to come out and go on.

But seriously if you have any ideas regarding fun indoor activities that preschoolers would enjoy, I'm all ears.

Cookies!

So this morning I suggested to the boys we make cookies. I thought we'd have plenty of time to squeeze a little cooking in. I've never been more wrong. The day was crazy. But the boys memories have greatly improved and after dinner they were insistant we bake cookies (Spencer may have agreed loudly with them!) But I made a promise ... so I kept it. We made my new favorite receipe. It has three ingredients and are literally ready to eat in less then 20 mins.

The boys helped stir things up. (If you've been to my house you know I literally do not have space on the counter for the two of them, I promise we just mopped)

They just had to taste things as we went, esp if chocolate chips were involved.

Done yet??

After a bath and wardrobe change ... Yummy! The cookies are pumpkin chocolate chip. Ingredients:

Spice cake mix

15 oz jar of pumpkin

Chocolate Chips

Mix, bake at 350 for 15-17 mins. If you make 30 cookies they are about 125 calories a cookie and not too bad. Plus they make the house smell great! Thanks to Liz for the awesome receipe!

You may notice a black smudge on the pics, turns out there is a little finger print on the lens, any idea how that happened?

Moments That Make Me Smile

There are numerous things that make me smile as a mom. But one of my favorites is when my kids show their love for one another. They can be so thoughtful and sweet. We aren't perfect, we still have our come a parts but there are plenty of sweet moments. Like when Logan or Penn won't go outside to play until "brother" can come too. From day one they have been so wonderful with Audrey. That's the question we get the most, "how do the boys do with the baby?" Let me tell you...

The other day Audrey was in her swing fussing a little. I had my hands full changing Penn's diaper (when am I not changing a diaper?) Both boys are great when it comes to locating the binki and giving it to Audrey. So off runs little Logan to get her binki. I guess he couldn't find it because she kept fussing, but I could hear him doing a lot of running. I come out to find 5 hot wheel cars in her swing. He was trying to make her happy by sharing his favorite toys. I can just see him trying a car to see if it would help her be happy and when it didn't work running to get another one. Very cute...

Penn is just as sweet. I found him "reading" to her the other day. They love the Thomas Train books Uncle Mitch gave them for their birthday. We read them numerous times a day. Penn was going through each page pointing out all of the highlights, the cows, the birthday cake, Thomas, etc. I was lucky to have the camera handy so I got a pic. I love that Audrey was actually listening and enjoying the attention her brothers where giving her.

Being a Mom has some awesome benefits!

Tummy Time

Audrey is only 2 and half months old and is already rocking tummy time. She is a mover and a shaker and well on her way to becoming a roller! Go Audrey.

Trains, Trains, Trains

I've gotten a little behind, but we really could just some the last week and a half up with one word, TRAINS. The boys have been in train heaven. For Labor Day we made the trek to the Golden Spike National Historical Site. The steam engines were impressive and loud. I had to hang back to feed Audrey so missed the first trains entrance however as I walked up Penn ran to me and said "Another train, coming!" They were both sooo excited.
They reenacted the original ceremony. The boys were a little confused by the funny clothes but enjoyed holding some of the commemorative spikes.

We had our first family movie night. We rented "Thomas the Train and the Misty Island Rescue". Spencer made it extra special and hung towels in the windows to black the room out. They loved it. They've talked about it nearly every day. "Train movie, in the dark". This is a pic of them in their sleepers before the movie.And finally we took them to the zoo and rode the train. It's a 2 and half min ride but again they loved it and cried when it was time to get off.
The zoo was great fun. The elephants, alligators and giraffes were all hits. Some of you are dying to see how we get around. So here is a pic of our totally awesome stroller. The seats recline individually and it keeps everyone separate so no more bloody noses! We use it every day and love it!

Who has time to smile for a picture when the monkeys are running around?

Audrey has been very patient and really has just enjoyed the ride. I wonder if the boys will be so understanding when she wants to watch something a little more girly.

This is a Baby?

I really do have great kids. Audrey just had her 2 month check up. She is doing so well. I can't believe my little baby all ready weighs 11 pounds! She is in the 90th percentile in height and the 80th percentile for weight. I don't want to jinx things but she is such a wonderful little baby. She smiles at the littlest things and hardly whines or fusses. Audrey has slept through the night beginning in week 4! I feed her around 10:30 pm and she wakes up around 6 am. The other morning she slept until 7:30, it actually scared me when I woke up and realized what time it was. She really is patient with her brothers who are not always super soft. Spencer and I are so grateful for our newest addition. They may not always be soft but they try. I think it's cute that Logan wants to hold her hand in this picture and Penn is just checking things out.

The boys are also doing great. They are the typical 2 year olds. They can be so independent and mischievous. The other day I caught them with my camera. I deleted nearly 20 pictures of Penn's shirt. These are a few of their best pics.

A Blessing

On August 22 we were able to celebrate the blessing that Audrey is with our family and friends. We were also able to give her a name and a blessing at church. Spencer gave her a truly inspired blessing. I was reminded at how blessed I am to have such an amazing husband as well as how blessed my children are to have him as a Dad.

Unlike the boys, Audrey didn't seem to mind getting dressed up or all the attention she got. I think she is perfect in every way, but I may be biased.

After the meeting we had everyone over for a BBQ. We are so grateful for all those who came to celebrate. I think we had around 40 people in our little house! Our kids don't know how loved they are and how many people care for them.
We needed to update our family picture. This was the best we could do. It's hard to sit still when there are so many people to play with. It may have been a little overwhelming for the boys.

A huge thanks to everyone that came and helped. It was great to see so many of you. We feel so loved.

Nuther One!

This last week I got the guts to take the kids to their first movie in the theatre. During the day the local theater has a mommy and tots show. The theatre is full of kids but the tickets are cheap and if the boys made noise I wouldn't have to worry about it. The only down fall, I had to do it by myself. Three kids ... 2 and under ... in a dark theatre, it was gutsy but we needed to get out.

We saw "How to Train Your Dragon". We met some friends there who saved us some seats. However the boys were not heavy enough to hold the seat down by themselves. We had to wedge our legs between the seats to keep the boys from being folded up. It was more fun watching them then the movie. They loved it. I wasn't sure how much they were picking up until Logan began whispering "run, run" during a tense part. Penn managed to fall asleep the last 10 mins, during the climax. In his defense it was right before nap time. Audrey just slept the entire time.

When it was over they didn't want to go! I was so worried they would whine and wiggle during the show, I should have been worried about leaving. They cried and sobbed and refused to move. I ended up carrying the car seat and Logan in one hand and dragging Penn down the stairs with the other. When we got outside Logan was sobbing and pleading in my ear "Nuther one, Nuther one" Penn did the same thing all the way home, not even a trip down tractor street was enough to console them. I think we'll go again, but we'll take Spencer to aid in our departure.
I took a quick picture at the end of the movie. I love how Logan relaxes with his hands behind his head.

Say A Little Prayer

As the kids grow I'm afraid I'm forgetting all the cute little things they do. So here's an entire post just about the little things they do during prayer.

Since the beginning we've had a picture of Jesus in their room. They've been able to point Him out since before they were 1 and they could say His name before 18 months. When we prayed they always said "Jesus?" Then we would explain that we pray in Jesus' name too Heavenly Father. Then last week we took them to the Ogden Temple and talked about how it's the House of the Lord and how we can be together forever as an eternal family. We even talked about the angel Moroni. I'm not sure how much sunk in but we are trying.... Anyway back to prayer. So now when we pray the conversation goes something like this nearly every time.

"Fold your arms for prayer"

"Jesus?"

"Yes we pray too Heavenly ..."

"Father!"

"... in Jesus' name"

"Temple!!"

"Yes, the Temple is the House of the Lord"

Penn is esp enthusiastic about this conversation, while Logan participates but I think he just wants to say the prayer so we can eat.

To top it all off, every time we are closing the prayer Penn always - I mean always - jumps the gun and yells "Amen" too early. It's adorable and troubling, I hope that doesn't happen in church.

I thought I'd include a reverent picture of all of my children sitting together but as you can see things didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. I'm sure eventually I'll get lucky and capture a cute picture ... I just need more time.

I think in this picture the boys look devious. Poor Audrey, she is going to have to be one tough girl.