Spring Break and a Wedding

So, we stayed home for spring break. I know, not much fun. But, I tried to do SOMETHING sorta fun/outta the ordinary with Bubby just about every day. So, here goes:
Day 1 (Monday): I babysat a darling 6 month old all day. But, during the babies' naps, Bubby and I built a fort in the family room using 2 blankets, 2 towels, 1 couch, 3 kitchen chairs, a giant teddy bear (as a weight on a chair), a diaper bag and an infant carrier. Then Bubby moved some trucks in, and he and I played trucks in the fort for about 25 minutes until one of the babies woke up. Since we don't re-arrange the furniture often in order to build forts, this was a special treat and Bubby enjoyed. Simple pleasures!
Day 2 (Tuesday): During Little Man's morning nap, I sat outside on a law chair and watched Bubby ride his bike with the neighbor girl. Then, after Little Man woke up, we ate lunch, then headed to the park to play. Got hot and sweaty and came home. But, we came home a different way than we walked to the park, thus we had a little adventure learning our neighborhood a little better!
Day 3 (Wednesday): Bubby got to take a bubble bath in the middle of the day. This was fun because 1.) He doesn't get baths anymore. He has been taking a shower every morning before school for almost 2 years now and 2.) He hasn't had a BUBBLE bath for a very long time. He thought this was lots of fun. Oh, and the Little Man stood on the outside of the tub and laughed and laughed and Bubby in his bubbles. The shoe was on the other foot, as it were, since every night Bubby is on the outside of the tub entertaining Little Man during HIS bedtime bath. It was pretty cute!
Day 4 (Thursday): This day was a dud, since Little Man woke up with goopy eyes, a running faucet in place of his nose, and a low grade fever. AND I babysat for 4 hours in the morning. Having a sick baby makes the creative juices dry up! Thankfully, Bubby was happy to watch some movies that day. AND when D got home, he saved the day by offering a swim in the FRIGID swimming pool. Bubby loved it!
Day 5 (Friday): I don't remember what we did during the day, but in the afternoon we met up with D and the grocery store and purchased foods fit for a campout, and then we went home and had a back yard campout! Since we don't have any living plants in the backyard - it is a fenced pool, and gravel everywhere else - D dug a hole in the gravel, built a fire, and we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. And, he and Bubby pitched a tent to camp in the backyard. Alas, I did not join the tent party, since Little Man was sleeping in his crib in the house (We do NOT sleep outdoors in a tent with a sick baby, no no!), and SOMEONE needed to sleep in the house in case the baby were to wake up in the night! So, while D and Bubby hung out in the tent, I had a pamper mommy time. I took a bubble bath, gave myself a pedi, and read a book. All the while listening to my little Bubby outside coughing his guts out and wondering when D would pull the plug on sleeping outside and bring that boy in! After my bath and pedi, I went to bed and watched a chick flick. As my movie was ending (about 11:30 pm), in walked D and Bubby, having not slept at all yet and deciding the coughing was not going to stop while out in the cold. It was still a fun night, though!

And that was spring break.

The next week - just the past Friday (March 26), my beautiful niece got married. It was so much fun. D worked in the kitchen most of the time (he's just at home in the kitchen). And since some of my Colorado cousins had come for the wedding, I got all sorts of visiting in. And Bubby worked at the wedding, too! He and some of his cousins took on the role of clearing tables! They had cookie sheets and the lids to some storage bins (not sure where those came from) and went around for at least an hour clearing dishes. Bubby even got tipped a dollar from one guest! So cute! At one point, he came out of the kitchen with an empty tray, and as he past me he said, "Hi mom. I'm doing a good job!" Oh my heart just melted! Later when the dancing started, his dad had to convince him the dishes were all cleared and he could dance. And dance he did. In fact, most of the adults didn't dance because all the little kids were so fun to watch as THEY danced! So fun! Thanks for getting married, Wendy! It was so fun to get together with family!

Tender Mercy at 2 O'Clock

Two o'clock this morning, that's when my Little Man and I were privy to a little miracle, or tender mercy, call it what you may. My sweet baby boy fell victim to his first long-termish cold last Thursday. AND it's still going. At least the fever hasn't returned since Saturday. Now we are on to wicked coughing fits (which Bubby has been experiencing for over a week as well). Last night was the worst coughing fit yet.

I awoke at 1:20 am (THIS morning) after being aware of Little Man coughing for quite some time. I decided it was time to intervene. Since pretty much all infant cold medicines have been pulled, I haven't dosed him up with anything for the congestion, just put a humidifier in his room. But I digress. I decided to get a baby bottle, and a little Vicks Vapo-Rub, and headed into the baby's room. My poor little man was bent over his legs coughing and moaning. Sweet thing. I rubbed the Vick's on his chest, got him out of bed and started feeding him a bottle. Once he downed 6 ounces, he coughed so hard he spit up a bit. Then, he was restless. I rocked. I stood and swayed. I grabbed a blanket and snuggled it around him and tried to soothe. He remained restless. Not fussy. Just couldn't get back to sleep. SO, after about 30-40 minutes of failed attempts to get my sweet Little Man back to sleep, I finally whispered to him, "My sweet boy, you MUST go to sleep so your body can get well. You can either fall asleep while I rock you, or I can put you back in your bed and you can fuss it out in your bed. But you really need to go to sleep." I said this to a 10 month old (I know, I know). And you know what? He turned his head, took a deep breath and relaxed! Then, the tender mercy:

As I rocked my sweet baby boy, who was trying his hardest to relax into a sleepful state, I said a silent prayer. Here's the gist of it:
I addressed my Heavenly Father, and I bore my testimony to Him that I KNEW he had the power to heal my child, and that He had the power to calm my little boy's cough and help him to rest so that he could be well. Then, I asked with all the faith that I have for Heavenly Father to exercise that power and PLEASE touch my child with His healing hand and calm his cough and help him rest so that his little body can heal and be whole. I finished my prayer, tucked my baby back into his bed, and went to my room. He coughed two quick coughs, and his cough was calmed FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT! He slept restfully until 7 am, at which time he woke up HAPPY! He still has a runny nose, and coughs a bit, but our Heavenly Father heeded this mother's desperate plea to help her baby.

God is good. He loves us. And he indeed shows His tender mercies to his children.

Still Alive, Just...in a New House!

So, I caught some flack from my good friend Sara the other day for not updating my blog since Christmas. Well, I posted some pictures on Facebook. But apparently, that's not enough. Sheesh! (Just playing, Sar! You know - handing back a little flack...grin!).

So, since Christmas...
D's parents came to visit the week before New Years. We had a wonderful time hanging out, meeting pool fence contractors at the new house (okay, that was not a wonderful time, but it's something we did!), eating at Joe's Farm Grill - YUM!, playing with my boys, and doing a little shopping. Thank you for coming to visit us! OH - and of course, no visit with Grammie and Grandpa would be complete without a few presents! Both my little guys LOVE theirs! And we grown-ups are still trying to decide how to SPEND ours!

The week after New Years, we closed on our new house. Got a pool fence installed, painted our house - thanks to my brother for donating the paint, to my dad for countless hours of cutting in the ceiling, to my nephew for helping me paint Bubby's room, and my sister for helping us paint into the wee hours of the morning, and a HUGE thanks to my husband for painting ALL DAY that Saturday - then we started moving in (this process took 3 1/2 days before we finally SLEPT at our new house a week and a half after we signed papers). Boxes are unpacked, and we even have some pictures hung. AND I've hosted a Pampered Chef Show. Go us!

Bubby got a Perfect Attendance award for the second quarter in a row. Really, that's MY award, since I am the "taskmaster" every morning and make sure he gets to school everyday ON TIME! So, go me again! Also, Bubby is a VERY GOOD big brother. He loves to make Little Man laugh, loves to help his dad give his baby brother a bath, and has taken to picking up his baby brother and carting him around the house. I just love how he plays with his brother. Warms my little heart right up!

The Little Man now has 5 teethe - the two middle toppers, the two middle bottoms, and the one just on the left of the top middle. And he's working on the bottom one on that side AND the top right. They just keep comin'! AND he started crawling about a month ago. Now he crawls all over the house and is becoming quite the little explorer! AND he's close to pulling himself up to standing. AND he thinks Bubby is the funniest person on the planet! He has a very cute giggle, and is developing a sense of humor. When I go in to get him from his nap, He'll pick up his blankets and play hide and seek with them, and just smile really big! He will do this for at least ten minutes before I get done with the game and just take him out!

As we were moving into our house, the HOA D was in charge of ended their contract with the company he works for. That HOA was only 15 minutes from our new house. He has been driving in to the office ( a 45 minute to 1 hour drive, depending on traffic). Bummer. But, the company gave him a company truck to drive, since he is not only going into the office, but also has been driving all over the valley checking out some of the other jobsites to make sure they are running as efficiently as possible. So, he goes in pretty early - leaving the house at 6. But, he is usually home between 4 and 5, so he's still getting home at a decent time. Which I LOVE!

Over President's Day/Valentine's weekend, my good friend Liz and her girls came over. I made a fun Valentine's dinner, complete with heart shaped Chicken Roll-ups with pink gravy, Strawberry Lemonade to drink, Red table cloth, heart confetti on the table, and a little valentine gift for each of the kids on their plate. For dessert? Pink Heart shaped cupcakes, of course! Liz and the girls spent the night, and the next day (President's Day) we loaded up all the kids and drove down to the Tucson area and hiked around Catalina State Park. It was lots of fun! On the way there, we cranked up some tunes and sang at the top of our lungs - and the kids sang at the top of their lungs, too! Thanks for the fun weekend, Liz!

The day after President's Day was D's birthday. We went to Texas Roadhouse for his birthday dinner. YUM! Happy Birthday, Babe! Love you!

Well, that pretty much catches us up! More pictures will be posted on FB soon. I don't have internet at my house yet, so I use my mom's whenever I'm at her house. Thus, this post! So, thanks for your patience.

All I Want for Christmas...

is some front teeth....for my children. And, I'm gettin' them!
Bubby's two front top teeth are growing in nicely.
And Little Man's first tooth (on the bottom) broke through sometime last night. I'm guessing it was between 3:30 and 4:30 this am, when I went in for his nightly "snack" and he WOULD NOT go back to sleep after the usual 20 minute snack. And I went back into him 5 minutes after putting him back in his crib because he was screaming (usually, IF he is "awake" after the 20 minutes together, I can put him back in his crib and he will quietly put himself back to sleep). 15 more minutes of nursing, and I put him in his crib again. He fussed for a few moments before getting quiet again. So, I think that pesky tooth must have pushed through during that hour. Anyhow, I rubbed my CLEAN finger over his gums this morning and sure enough, there was a sharp little bugger there!

So, each of my little boys gets new front teeth for Christmas! Hooray for us!

Oh, and the Little Man is this close to crawling! He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth until he shoots himself forward (and sometimes backwards!). He does a combination of the lurching and some rolling side to side to get where he wants to go. He's pretty funny to watch!

And one more funny little thing about my Little Man. On Sunday, during the Sunday School lesson, he decided HE had something to say on the subject, VERY LOUDLY! An older (not so jovial) gentleman asked a person making a comment to PLEASE SPEAK UP because he couldn't hear them (and his look our direction indicated his afterthought of "over that loud baby, whose parents aren't taking him out of here"). D and I just laughed, and whispered "Louder, baby" to the Little Man. Because, let's be honest, he probably knows more about ALL THINGS Spiritual than the rest of us, seeing as he was more recently in the presence of our Heavenly Father than the rest of us in that room! D and I just laughed. And later, we agreed that had we been in Sunday School in our HH ward, there would have been LAUGHTER over his vocalization, rather than irritation. Oh well. We got a good laugh out of his "comments" anyway!

Dear Nosy Primary Teacher, Butt Out!

SO when I went to pick up Bubby from Primary today, his teacher (who is, how can I put this nicely?....aged)instigated the most irritating conversation. Here's how it went:

Teacher: Have you considered medicating him?

Me (Incredulous, and stern, but not mean): NO, I have NOT considered medicating him, NOR WILL I consider medicating him.

Teacher: Well, he just had so much energy today and seems to have difficulty keeping his bottom in his chair. And you know, not EVERY child gets called up to do something during sharing time and he had a difficult time dealing with not be called on.

Me: I know he has a lot of energy. He is 6. And if you consider all the changes in his life, he's had a lot to deal with and I am aware of the difficulty he is having with these transitions. He has moved from a home and a life that he loved, is living with his grandparents, and has a new baby brother. That's a lot for a person to deal with all at once, much less a 6 year old. We are actually looking into finding a counselor to help him deal with all that. It's been tough. But we are dealing with it. I have no intention of medicating him because at this point I have no reason to believe medication would help him.

Teacher: Well, I recommended medication to another family I knew who had a 4th grader who had the same behavioral issues, and they sought a professional's advice and let the child be involved in making the decision whether to use medication. Now, I'm not sure what the outcome was, but they took my advice and sought professional assistance.

Me: Well, good for them. My husband and I are doing what we feel is best for our son. I have no intention of seeking medication for him at this point. Perhaps when we are settled in our own home, and life has settled into a routine and is not so up in the air all the time, if he is still having difficulty coping with some things in life, I may pursue an evaluation. However, at this point, I feel very good about our current efforts to help him to be happy. We have to go.

At this point, I ended the conversation and walked out of the room. I mean really...she thinks I should medicate my NORMAL 6 year old, so life can be easier FOR HER once a week?!!? It's a good thing I was still feeling good from an amazing Relief Society lesson, because it may have been a HEATED discussion. As it was, I handled the situation with honesty and sternness, but NOT with anger. The Mama Bear anger didn't start to settle until I got home and told my husband and my mom about it (did I mention that this primary teacher is also my mom's VT and spent half of her last visit, just last week, bossing around my niece and nephew who were at our house while she was here? I didn't? well, she is and she did).
So, I have taken to my blog to vent. Thank you, Cyber-Blog-World, for lending me your, uh, eyes(?). I feel much better now!

Easy to Please

SO tonight, D asks Bubby what he wants for Christmas. Here's how the conversation went.
D: So, what do you want for Christmas.

Bubby: I want what you got me.

D: What did we get you?

Bubby: Oh, I don't know what it's called.

Me: What did we get you?

Bubby: You know. What you got me when you went shopping.

Me: You want whatever we bought you when we went Christmas shopping the other day?

Bubby: Yeah. I want whatever you bought for me.

Me: So, you only want two presents?

Bubby: I get TWO presents? (big smile on his face). Wow, thanks! I'm so excited~

Me: Bubby, I love you so much! You are so easy to please!

post script:
seriously, can you think of ANYONE who is THAT easy to please?

Post post script:
he's getting more than 2 presents. really.

12 Years, Inspiration, a Wish and an Apology

This weekend D and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. 12 years since we entered the doors of the Jordan River Utah Temple and made covenants that sealed us for eternity. Man, I LOVE the sound of that! I get to be with my best friend FOREVER! And he is amazing. In light of it being our 12th anniversary, here are 12 things I LOVE about D:
1. I love that D is kind and thoughtful and selfless.
2. I love that D make dinner more than I do! And man alive he is a GREAT cook!
3. I love that D is a really sweet daddy. Our boys ADORE him, and he adores them right back. He is DEFINITELY the fun parent around here!
4. I love that D works so hard and goes the extra mile, even if the people he works for may not notice or appreciate it. He just has such an honest, put in 110% work ethic!
5. I love that D is always trying to learn more about everything. Right now he has 2 books from the library on how to design web pages and use the internet to build a business. Because he wants to create a business with an online customer base, and wants to increase his knowledge of the internet so he can do it right.
6. I love that D loves to play. He talks of having more money than we "need" so that he can play with his family; vacations, a cabin, a camper, four wheelers - all things he wants so he can spend leisure time with his family.
7. I love that our family is important to D.
8. I love that D likes to talk to me, and that I don't have to do all the talking! I love that he WANTS to tell me about his day and what is happening at work, even if some of the things he talks about go over my head and are a little boring, I love listening to him talk about what is pertinent in his day, because he is willing to share that with me!
9. I love that D LISTENS to me. He tells me about his day, and I get to tell him about my day, which coincidentally involves our children and the people who are important in our lives. And he offers commentary and suggestions (when they are needed), which lets me know he has actually listened.
10. I love that D loves things to be beautiful. He made our yard in Utah so beautiful, and has made the yard in our current home pretty, even though it is a rental and he is NOT "invested" in this home whatsoever. He loves to come home and see a lovely environment around him.
11. I love that D is funny. He makes me laugh every day. And some days are just crappy, and on those days my sense of humor is lacking. But D somehow manages to make me laugh!
12. I LOVE THAT D LOVES ME! I know that is totally self-absorbed, but oh well. I LOVE HIM AND HE LOVES ME! Is there anything more comforting than that knowledge? I think not.

As a show of his love, D honored me yesterday by spending the day with our family, spending the day with my very dear friend, who is an inspiration to me. My friend Liz has spent the past year or so training for and raising money to participate in the Breast Cancer 3 day. Let me do that better justice. She has worked her TAIL OFF helping her 6 team mates raise money (each teammate must raise $2400), even though her portion was raised by early spring this year. She helped with fundraiser after fundraiser all summer long. AND she walked miles and miles and had blister after blister on her feet, and continued with her training walks, all to prepare for walking 60 miles in 3 days this past weekend. And she walked. She walked over half of the 60 miles. A knee injury prevented some of the walking. And then she met up with her teammates and she finished the last miles of the walk on Sunday amidst a firestorm in her life. My family and I hung out with her 3 darling girls waiting in the stadium for her triumphant completion of all that work. It was inspirational to be in that stadium with thousands of family members, friends, and coworkers who were there to show their support of those brave men and women who raised the money and walked the walk in the name of ENDING BREAST CANCER. And you know what? The Phoenix 3 day alone raised 4.1 million dollars for the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. And in the words of the 3 day theme, "Everyone Deserves a Lifetime".

So, while we were busy with my friend's family, I went and forgot to call me sweet niece Alyssa to wish her a VERY HAPPY 10th Birthday. So, here I WISH YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALYSSA! I apologize for not calling you yesterday. I hope you had a great birthday. We miss you, cutie pie! And we love you!