Doughnuts

Adam was eating this cereal today and was calling it doughnuts. Oh how I wish I could fill my bowl with doughnuts every morning and eat it without the guilt!

Shared Parenting

Hunter & Adam have come to an understanding regarding this stuffed chipmunk ("Chipper" to Hunter). Hunter got this stuffed beanie baby at a visit with Santa this last Christmas. Chipmunk has recently become a favorite of Adam, resulting in a few squabbles over it. Hunter has been very generous to share his chipmunk with Adam and they have come to an understanding. Every morning, when Hunter goes to school, he hands his beloved Chipper over to Adam for the day. After school, when we go to pick up kids from school, Adam hands Chipmunk over to Hunter in the car. Adam will then lurk after school for the moment that Hunter puts Chipper down. Then Adam will quietly pick up Chipmunk and sneak off with it. I am very impressed with the way they are learning how to share happily on their own. Is there anything more wonderful than when your kids get along?

Snow!! Snow??

We brought some snow back from Flagstaff to share! It may have melted soon after it hit the ground, but it was truly falling in flakes. Such a rare occurrence!  We had to be outside to enjoy it. I even let the kids quit cleaning the basement so they could go outside and enjoy this rare experience.

I'm not sure why we have a trash can in the middle of our yard. I'm going to go with my gut and blame the boys.

Jacob had fun jumping on the trampoline with all the snow it caught. He was drenched from head to toe when he came inside.

Brrr! Adam told me after he went inside that his hands were cold.

Yes, Hunter's pants are falling down. At one point, Hunter asked me if he could go get in the shower. I said yes. Next thing I know, he is back outside with new, dry clothes on, geared up for more snow fun!

It is so funny how the sky will so be dark and gloomy one minute, then the sun will just pop out of no where.

Rainbow..courtesy of heaven!

Boys Will Be Boys

I have 3 boys. Life gets a little rambunctious over here sometimes..most of the time. Tonight some of these boys were fighting so Trevor made them hug for 2 minutes.

Adam felt left out and turned it into a group hug.

Hunter is usually happy to serve his hug time.  He just has to survive Jacob's attempts to break the hug.

We threaten Jacob with more hug time if he doesn't cooperate. It usually gets him back in line, because the last thing he wants to do is hug his brother for longer.  Adam's faces in these pictures crack me up!

After hug time, it usually turns into silly wrestling time.

These boys sure keep it lively over here!

Sad Milestones

It is official. Adam now knows how to climb out of his crib. I had hoped he would just be satisfied to wait for me to come collect him when he called for me for the rest of his life. I think he figured out it was possible because of our trip. We brought his pack 'n play for him to sleep in and he found he could easily climb over the side and did so quite a few times when it was bedtime. This morning, as I was getting kids ready for school, he just showed up in the kitchen all of a sudden. It is such an odd feeling when your baby starts to get out of bed himself. He did it again for nap time today. Luckily, it only happened 4 times before he settled down. But it freaked me out again when he came walking into my room after I had laid him down. I'm not ready for him to move to a big bed!!

Another unavoidable milestone I am not ready for, is Hunter losing his first tooth. That day is rapidly approaching as it is getting looser every day. He keeps telling me it hurts him and wants me to pull it out.  I just can't do it! Please stop wiggling it! Keep your baby teeth for as long as possible! They are the cute teeth I have come to know and love! Now they are disappearing and being replaced with their gigantic adult counterparts with little jagged bumps on top that are too big for your precious little mouth! While Hunter has been SO excited for this rite of passage and a visit from The Tooth Fairy, I SO dread it! It just means he is growing up and I don't like it. I just want him to be 5 forever. I may or may not have said the same thing when he was 1, 2, 3 & 4 years old. Just quit growing..please!!

Valentines & President's Day Weekend

We celebrated this last weekend (and Valentine's Day) by tagging along with Trevor on a business trip to Flagstaff. It was originally going to be just the 2 of us, but we decided it would be fun to bring the kids. There were a quite a few times during our trip that we questioned what the heck we were thinking when we decided to bring them along, but for the most part, it was a fun weekend getaway with lots of snow & sledding. The kids had a BLAST!

They were SO excited to see snow all over the ground. We couldn't make it past this snowy area in front of our hotel without all three boys (and sometimes Trevor) tromping through the snow and having an impromptu snow ball fight. It was FREEZING when we arrived but we were happy to find that it got warmer each day throughout our trip. It went from being in the 30's & 40's to being in the mid-50's, which we can definitely handle.

The night we got there (Valentine's Day), it was about 11:00 p.m. before we got the kids settled in their beds. At 4:00 a.m, we woke to the kids talking and the light on in the other room. We both jumped out of bed to find Jacob and Hunter wide awake and playing like it was Christmas morning. Adam was still conked out, thankfully. We quickly got them back to bed and warned them that the sun better be shining next time they even think about getting out of their bed!

The next day, the boys & I went shopping at Target while Trevor went to work for a few hours. Target was conveniently located just across the street from where he needed to work, so we stayed there until he was done. Our best Target find was an inflatable sled on clearance. When Trevor was done, we took our new sled and headed to Wing Mountain, near Snow Bowl, for some sledding. This turned out to be the highlight of the trip. The boys were in LOVE with sledding, including Adam. Every time the ride ended, he was saying, "Gain Daddy!" Trevor carried him up the hill multiple times.

Hunter had his heart set on making a snowman. He made it all by himself!

I wasn't as brave as Adam when it came to sledding. I started on the small hill for my first run. After gaining some confidence, I moved to the big hill. My 2nd run down the big hill, the sled turned sideways, then backwards. I was screaming like a little girl, afraid the whole sled was going to tip over. I let Trevor take over as sled chaperon for the rest of the trip, while I happily snapped the photos.

Adam waved and said bye to me every time Trevor carried him up the hill, which was almost every run.

Toward the end of our sledding experience, Trevor decided to teach the boys to go down the hill on their belly. I don't know if this happens to all mom's, but when we do activities where my kids could potentially be hurt, I have a small knot of worry in my stomach the entire time. When it's time to go, the knot melts into relief because nobody got hurt. I told him we had been lucky to not have any accidents or injuries so far, I didn't want to jinx that. He ignored me and sent Jacob flying down the hill, face first. Luckily, it turned out fine.

Hunter was the next to go on his belly. Jacob thought it would be fun to run down the hill as Hunter was going. The sequence of the next few photos make me bust out laughing every time I go through them.

Luckily, he was not injured and got up with a smile on his face. PHEW!

The next day (after everyone slept great that night), we went to a snow area for some snow play.

I found that my kids really enjoy throwing snowballs at others. Unfortunately, they found that it's not so fun when the snowballs are thrown back. 

Jacob got his feelings hurt almost immediately.

Hunter was a good sport until he bent over when Trevor chucked one at him. It smacked him in the back of the head and he started bawling. I declared an end to ALL of the snowball fighting. Adam wasn't ready to stop throwing them. But he sure did NOT want them to be thrown back.

He continued to throw snowballs at people the entire time we were there. If anyone threw one back at him, or even sprinkled a little snow over his head, we got an earful.

We headed home once the kids started fighting. That's when we know it's time to move along.

We all slept like logs in our own beds that night. We had a fun time making some new memories!



Potty Training (Beginning Stages)

I had it in my head that I wasn't going to start potty training Adam until he was closer to 3. I don't really mind changing diapers and sometimes it's just easier to not drop everything to run to a toilet every time a newly-trained child has to go or worry about cleaning up accidents. Up until recently, Adam hasn't been too interested in learning to use the potty and I couldn't have been more supportive. He is barely 2 and has plenty of time before it would become concerning to me. Lately though, he has been telling me when he has to go number 2. I was worried that not doing anything about it would be holding him back, so I've been encouraging him to go on his potty chair when he tells me he has to go. We have had a few runs, with zero results. He will wait until I re-diaper him & go a few minutes later. I felt like a little nudge was in order. My golden opportunity came earlier this week when he told me he had to go. I could tell from his face that he really had to. I asked him if he wanted to go on his potty & then get a piece of candy (my bribe attempt). He told me no. I knew that meant he really had to go and decided to rush him there and make him go on his potty. I got him situated and he wasn't very excited about it. I got books and a space heater (I was very chilly on that bathroom floor and assumed my half-naked kid was cold as well) and we camped out for what felt like hours. He kept getting uncomfortable, squirming, saying "ouch" frantically, then relaxing for a minute until it happened again. It dawned on me that if he could hold it for this long, he probably should be potty trained. It took FOREVER for him to finally let it happen. He was so surprised when it did that he jumped off the potty right away. When he did, some of it dropped on the rug. I started cleaning him up but apparently he was not finished. He went again and it landed on the floor underneath him. (He also peed on my shoe at this point). Then he stepped back right into it with his socked feet and started tracking if around the bathroom. As I was trying to get him to stop walking around & spreading it, he went some more. I knew I had to get him back on his potty ASAP but it was filled with the first round & the all the wipes I had used. I grabbed him & placed him on there anyways. He was very uncomfortable but was able to finish up without any more floor piles for me. When I was sure he was done, I decided a bath was in order. I got him situated in there and got busy sanitizing. I don't think I have ever seen him go so much in his entire life, and lucky for me, most of it was on my bathroom floor. I am really proud of myself for not freaking out at all. Jacob would not have been so lucky! Poor first child never had it this easy! Adam was probably so confused that I was so excited & cheering for him as his poop landed all over the floor. How is this better than going in a diaper? For a few days after "the incident" he would still tell me when he had to go. I asked each time if he wanted to go on his toilet & get candy. He has said no every time. When he does, I say ok! I think we were both a little traumatized by his first potty chair experience. This morning, he was brave enough to try again. I had just poured my cereal & sat down to breakfast when I heard Trevor ask Adam if he was going to go on the potty & get some candy today. Adam answered "yes!" Then Trevor told him to tell me when he needed to go. He ran right over to tell me he needed to go. At 2 bites into my cereal, I wasn't too thrilled to have to be interrupted to camp out on the bathroom floor again. Trevor was in the middle of working on something in the house, so I had no choice, but to comply. I brought my bowl of cereal along and ate it on the bathroom floor while we waited. After reading a few books in the bathroom we relocated to the kitchen so I could get my stuff ready for my church lesson. Trevor needed my help in the family room for a minute & while I was doing that, Adam came to tell me he went. I went to investigate & found nothing in the potty, but a puddle on the floor of the kitchen. I was grateful for the bazillionth time to no longer have carpet in our kitchen. After these few potty training experiences, I have no problem whatsoever keeping him in diapers for a little while longer. I'm kind of tired of cleaning his potty training off the floor.