I am thankful...

I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for the sacrifices made to spend Thanksgiving together. I am thankful for the friendships that were deepened. I am just overwhelmingly thankful for all the love felt this week.

Our first Thanksgiving in Arkansas. So much of my family made the trip to spend the holiday with us. My sister and her family drove for days from Utah. We need to live closer so these kids can play more. Myles really bonded this time with Grandma (or Barnum as he called her (?) and Grandpa. That really made me wish we lived closer to them. Jesse was a blast to hang out with. Susan and Laura only got to be here for the day but it was wonderful to see them again and next time stay a little longer.

It was so nice to be able to spend time with everyone.
Great food, lots of fun. I miss them already.

I am especially thankful for these people...

All about babies!

Not for us but just some cuteness I wanted to record.

My adorable friend Emily had a stunner of a babe this past weekend. I was reading her blog and crying. Not because I want one so bad... No, because her pictures are beautiful. I could just feel how in love they were with her. I could feel the spirit of that new little life. Her cute little lips. Oh, I could almost smell that sweet new baby smell... Okay, maybe just a little baby hungry... Anyways, I'm crying, Myles comes into my room, takes one look at me and say ""it's otay mommy. be a big boy!", (because this is what we say to him when he is crying) climbed up on my lap gave me a hug and I said "Will you stay a baby forever?" Smiling he said "Nope, sawee!" and ran off to play... followed by more tears...

Then today. A perfect daycare day. I babysit. I don't know if I have ever mentioned that. Two + Mine. Three kids under the age of 2. We are quite the sight. Whenever we go to the store I swear to you people give me "the look". Anyways, again I digress... Perfect daycare day, all three kids took a two hour nap, at the same time. AMEN! I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to go through the rest of my baby stuff to send to my BFF Adrianne who is having a baby. No tears were shed during this process. I am just amazed at how little newborn cloths look compared to the GIGANTIC 2 year old asleep on my couch. How was he ever that small? Anyways, when he woke up he was watching me. I told him that these were his clothes when he was a baby. He jumped up, ran to his room, came back with his two babydoll sidekicks, started rummaging through all the clothes, picked out the perfect ensembles for his babes and we dressed them. They chilled the rest of the afternoon watching Noggin.


Not surprising, baby A is in a football onsie and baby B is in basketball jammies. Why did I assume his baby dolls were girls? Humm...

A, your package is almost ready to send (minus 2).

A day to record for all time

Because of this...




This happened twice at our house yesterday!

To clarify, a million thanks to Krista for letting us borrow this video. We are forever in debt to you. Secondly, the baby sat on the potty for the majority of the day with no results. Not surprising though. Also, this baby is not a "fast reader". Never moved past this same page. But Myles went #1 and #2, in two different sittings. YEAH! MYLES!!!

However, he is now obsessed with washing his hands with soap and wawer. (and our water bill had just recovered from his "20 baths a day" phase)

Happy Birthday A! To one of my bestest delights (sorry, one day late)

I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for a shout out to my best girl A! We have been friends for 17+ years. I know, right, you are totally thinking that we must have been friends since preschool. Close...

This girl has been my rock. More times then I can count. We have been through everything together. Junior High. Rebelling. Crushes. Marriages. Divorces. Babies. Trying for babies. Deaths. Family "issues". Really, really good times. Really bad times. Not talking for long periods of time. Calling each other 5 times a week. This is the girl that I can call in the middle of the night and cry to and she will cry with me. And then threaten to beat up the person who made me cry. I know that she would drop everything to be there for me, and me for her. We can do something or nothing and still have the best time. We have so many memories, both good and bad, but all important. This is a girl who will stand up for me no matter the consequence. I know that I can say whatever is on my mind and she will not judge me but she will tell me when I am being stupid. I love her family. Like my own. They have made a huge impact on my life. I am a better person because of them. She is going to be a mommy. She is going to be a fabulous mommy. I can't wait to meet her new little man. My kids love her. In fact, when Liam found out she was having a baby he asked if it was going to be his nephew or his cousin. We can laugh at each other. We can laugh at other people. She is fiercely loyal. She is crazy domestic and she always cooks for me. My family will eat recipes if I "claim" they are from her. As far as friends go, this girl is the real deal. I hope everyone has the privilege of having a friend like her. I consider myself so lucky. A few weeks ago, while driving the kids to school, there was a caller on the radio named Adrianne. The conversation went like this...
Liam (in his most excited voice): Mom! Oh my gosh, it's adrianne.
M: Yeah, It is probably not my friend Adrianne...
Liam: No, they said it was Adrianne.
M: I know but I think it might just be another Adrianne.
Liam (sigh, slump down, give me a disappointed look): I still think it might be the REAL Adrianne.

I just wanted you to know, to us, you will always be the REAL ADRIANNE.

Catch up...

Happenings this week... Warning: Picture overload.

Halloween. It sure was. Not my favorite holiday that is for sure. The kids collected an abundance of candy and had fun with their friends. I forgot to take pictures. I did get a picture of the loot (thanks for the awesome pillowcases Grandma) . And a picture of my favorite item of the evening. After an exciting evening of trick-or-treating Liam, Matt and I went with some friends on a Haunted Hayride. Way fun. Right up Liam's alley. That kid is a scare junkie. He loved it.

Matt has been staying super busy with work. He works really hard to provide for our family and I am really grateful for him. I couldn't resist this picture. Myles helping Dad with his lesson plans. Love these boys...

Jessie went back to her roots. Well sort of. She was ready for a change. We color matched her roots and this is what is closest to her "natural" color. She has been highlighting for so long I kinda thought she was blonde. Makes sense though. She looks stunning. Way easier to maintain. She is ending the myth that blondes have more fun.

The Classic "BEFORE" picture
{notice the aforementioned ROOTS}

AFTER
Simply gorgeous

This past Tuesday we wrapped up football season. The 9th grade panthers ended with a 9-1 season. I haven't posted all of the scores but they did lose last weeks game. It was rough. The Refs were brutal. You know it was a "bad" game when the refs have police escorts to take them off the field. But I was proud of James and his example. He had an awesome season. Grandma and Grandpa were able to make it to his last game. We were so excited to have them here. That is definitely the hardest part of being away from family. We miss them terribly and were so excited that they got to have the FOOTBALL experience with us.

Myles has a little friend that lives down the street. He thinks they are BFFs. He wants him to come over everyday, much to my dismay. He never wants to see him leave. He chases after him yelling "Come back Titty, Come back Titty! Mr Titty!" {I am not sure if this is his real name}

And finally, to wrap this exciting week in review, today I was held up at gunpoint by the cutest dang naked armed robber ever...

What the heck!

Frustrations of a two-year-old who IS a football player. Since he is a football player he has to wear his football head at all times, just in case he gets an opportunity to make a touch down. How the heck are football players supposed to eat? Really, How do they do it? Maybe they take off their football heads... No.

FYI: This particular football player has enough padding and prefers to just wear a diaper and his red crocs. It is more aerodynamic. He's just faster that way...

Seriously!

Two things made me smile/laugh today...

I paid $1.98 for gas this morning. Can you believe it?!? Under $2 a gallon. Crazy. I was so excited.

Second, I saw this sign at the grocery store. I had to get a picture of it.

What!? Really? Wrong but funny. Maybe they should clarify which thing they can get "rid" of... the 2 small children or the small dog. Either way, wrong but made me laugh, out loud.

Some people...

Trunk-Or-Treat

Tonight was the ward trunk-or-treat. Seriously some good fun. Myles didn't get the whole concept of the event. He was perfectly satisfied with the first four pieces that he got. Didn't need anymore, couldn't hold anymore in his little monkey hands. Liam made up for his younger brothers lack in the receiving department by making more than one round. Here are some of the highlights of the night...

Our Crew



My favorite family costume... so fitting
(Krista IS an angel)


"The Sisters Rock"


Elder Gift and Elder Pratt


Two Little Monkeys


Cherstin and Jess


My favorite Miss Q



Cereal Killer and Free Puppies. Too cute guys.

you scream...

Today 10/21/2008

They are still working to locate the specific gene but I am pretty sure it is hereditary...

photo taken 10/2007

Friends

Best Buddies, Three Amigos, Three Musketeers, Three Stooges... Whatever you call them, these are Myles' sidekicks. They laugh, they play, they fight... I just love this picture of them. ** Myles just loves his friends.


These boys are how we convince Myles that he wants to go to church every week. They have made nursery a fun time for him. Okay, so maybe Sacrament meeting (in the middle of the sacrament) isn't the time to catch up with your guys. Especially when all three families are sitting in different locations in the chapel.

The conversation went like this: (In their LOUDEST two-year-old voices)

Brod: MAMMAAMAA!

Myles: Brody?{sounds like Brobie} Brody? Mom where's Brody? BRODY? That's Brody!

Brig: What did he say? Birdie? Myles? What did you say?

Brod: Myles?...

They are too much fun.

{** Disclaimer: Both Brody and Brig arrived at our house with scratch and fat lip. Myles was not present when these injuries occurred. } After reading this post I realized Myles has a suspicious smile and his friends have injuries. Nothing, I repeat, nothing to do with him.

Our weekend...

Yep... that's what it included. Two trips to the Emergency Room. Two different kids. Funny twist of events. Myles got really sick over the weekend. On Saturday afternoon we decided we needed to take him down to Children's. We were going to wait for James to come home so he could watch the other kids. BUT... When James came home he had an emergency of his own and we realized it was going to require medical attention. Matt stayed with the kids and I took James in. HIPPA require me to stop James' story here... Everything worked out just fine with James. We are confident that he will make a total recovery. Then yesterday Myles needed to go in. Long crappy story. He was given some medicine on Friday. He developed a horrible rash, which we assumed as an allergic reaction. We stopped the medicine. The rash got worse. The doctors we so glad that we had thought it was an allergic reaction and stopped giving it to him. Apparently, the medication is not recommended to children under the age of 6 because it can be fatal.

What a weekend. They are both still pretty miserable but James has Vicodin and Myles has chocolate milk.

Poor baby...

This has been our life the past couple of day. He said it just perfect.

"Mamma Myles betty hurts"

Poor baby.

Happy Birthday James!

Love ya James. We hope you have a wonderful 15th year. Wishing you success and happiness...

Man, I can't believe he is 15 already. It seems like it was just yesterday...

Friday!

Yeah! It's Friday. Another fun filled week. There is one really special thing I would like to document. Every week I go on a date. A very special date. I have lunch with Liam. Sometimes I bring him some fast food, sometimes we eat school lunch. It started when he was in kindergarten and he still enjoys it. I know it won't last forever. I am savoring it now. Before Myles was born I told Liam that I might not be able to come every week (thinking finding someone to watch him for 20 minutes) and Liam made it very clear that he wanted Myles to have lunch with him too. It is now part of our routine. We love it. We love Liam. I love how proud Liam is of Myles. I love that he shows him off to his friends. I love that he wants to spend time with me.




More football. It seems that the sports seasons consume our lives. Another awesome game. They won. 22-8. Myles is seriously the only 2-year-old I know that can sit through an entire game. It is funny to listen to him mimick the crowd. He would shout out... "Come On, BOYS!" and "Way to go Defense" I also wanted to share my favorite part of the watching James' games. At the end of each game they kneel and pray. It is quite humbling and moving to see.

Football

Another awesome game for South! Final score was 6-0. James did just awesome. I am learning the game but it makes me so proud to hear my kids name over the loud speaker. Hard to describe.



Myles has been obsessed with football lately. Anytime he sees a football he smiles and says "fuball, James play fuball." So tonight we took him to James' game. He loved watching it. He would get so excited when he would see James. He loved the treats.



Just as a side note. I didn't take a shower right before this picture was taken. It wasn't raining. My hair is soaking wet because it was 85% humidity. So gross. I looked around and this wasn't happening to anyone else. So obvious that I am not from here. Gross. And even grosser. It literally was raining bugs.




These crazy A#* beetles were falling out of the sky. No, falling isn't the right word. Shooting. Shooting from the sky. And they hurt when they hit you. I meant to get a picture of the bleachers littered with their carcasses but I just wanted and needed to take shelter. Gross.


Awesome game James!