I've Decided

That I am not a fan of "adult Halloween". Or, in other words....."let's see how little clothes I can get away with wearing" day. Last year I went to the mall and I was SO shocked at how many girls were very scantily clad. Girls that I suspect go to BYU. The honor code doesn't just apply when you are on campus! I don't like naked girls. I don't like blood and guts. I don't like haunted houses. Blech!

BUT......

I DO love Barry Pan and Tinka-BoBo (aka Peter Pan and TinkerBell)


I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I LOVED watching Elliot trick or treat last year and he's much more "in to" it this year, so it will be that much more fun. Plus, it's Evie's first Halloween. Doesn't she look so cute in her costume? AND it's Elliot's first school party. Hopefully we make it out the door with the camera and all the corresponding parts ;)

We are going to have such a blast! Kid Halloween is awesome!

A Couple Things I Love About My Kids

So I was thinking last night and throughout the day today just how content I am with my life right now. I feel like I'm starting to hit my stride a little with this mommy thing. I know I don't really get it all. I'm still learning everyday. But I feel like I'm finally really enjoying myself, rather than holding on for dear life. So I thought I would take this chance to list some of the things that I just LOVE about my kids......

The way they smell (when they are clean, of course). But I'm not talking the smell of the baby soap or lotion....I love the smell of my actual kids. I don't know what it is, but I do.

That Evie has loved to be told she's pretty since she was just itty bitty. I know you think I'm making this up, but I swear from the time she first learned to smile she has smiled EVERY time we tell her she's pretty. She knows what it means. I promise.

How "I love you" is the first thing Elliot says when he comes into our room in the morning. I also love that he tells me I'm beautiful and that I'm his favorite.

The brief moments throughout the day when Elliot says "I wanna hold you" and he really means it. Sometimes he only says that to get down from the kitchen table or because he's jealous when I'm holding Evie, but there are other times when he really wants to be held. I know those moments won't last forever so I'll take as many as I can get.

Similarly, I love it when Evie rests her head on my shoulder and sucks her thumb. That's her way of giving a hug and it means just as much as when Elliot wants to be held.

Watching Elliot wave and blow kisses to his daddy when we leave in the morning.

How Elliot can be found singing various songs at the top of his lungs throughout the day. He'll sing anything and everything.....from Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam to the Indiana Jones theme.

That no matter how many times he has pinched or knocked her down, Evie still LOVES Elliot and follows him everywhere.

How Evie loves ice cream (whoops, I mean of course she hasn't tasted any yet) as much as her mommy does. And how her smile just lights up the room and gets everyone's attention. Her happiness really does spread like wildfire. She's our little angel.

When I'm lucky enough to be able to hold Elliot for a while, I love to put my hand on his chest to feel the gentle rise and fall from his breathing. And the feel the strong steady beat of his heart. There was a time that I was worried he wouldn't be able to do that on his own, and now that it's second nature to him I am so grateful. He's our miracle.

Maybe now each of you can take a chance to list the lovely qualities of someone special to you. If they are old enough to understand, maybe you could even tell them a couple.....you might just hear a couple in return :)

Perspective

After hearing about them on a friend's blog (thanks Angela!) I've really gotten hooked on two blogs

c jane

and

NieNie

they are both now a part of my "favorite things" list to the right....if you want to check them out. They tell a (true) story about a family coping with unbelievable heart ache, but how they are able to stop all along the way and recognize the hand of the Lord. And to show gratitude for the miracles in their lives. They have made me smile and cry. They have made me laugh and have caused my heart to skip a beat (when reading about Nie's recovery). They have reminded me of my own miracles and taught me that life is to be cherished.....even if it seems mundane at times. They have given me perspective.

So this week I will try to laugh a little harder, cuddle my kids a little longer, and love a little more. Truly cherish the things that are important to me.

Thank you Courtney for helping us to all be a little more Nie-ish!

Field Trip -- Take Two

Today was another field trip for Elliot's preschool. After the disaster that was last month's field trip we decided we better be on our A game. I had BJ charge the camera battery last night and get the camera ready. Then we set the alarm for bright and early and hopped into bed.

We got up after just a couple times of the alarm going off...that's HUGE for us. BJ started getting ready while I laid out the kids clothes. Then I made some eggs so as to not have a case of the empty tummy troubles that we had last time. The kids woke up as BJ was shaving and brushing his teeth. Then he changed diapers and dressed them while it was my turn to get ready. There was a lot of other scrambling around including grabbing coats and the camera and making sure the diaper bag was packed. We got the kids to the car, said goodbye to Daddy, rushed to Magah's house and made it to school with 7 minutes to spare....this is also HUGE since we've been late every other day of school for the past two weeks. Woohoo! We did it! We were totally ROCKING this field trip.

We hopped back in the car and headed for the pumpkin patch. It was SO much fun! There was a corn maze and a playground. Not to mention the bunnies and other animals and the TONS of pumpkins. Elliot was here and there and everywhere just having the most fun ever :)

The problem is, you're just going to have to take my word for it. Unfortunately, when I took the camera out to take the first picture I realized we had forgotten one little thing......the stinkin' BATTERY! Ugh!

Guess we didn't rock this field trip as much as we thought.

It WAS tons of fun anyway.

Thankful Thursday

It's that time again. We'll just skip the pleasantries and get down to brass tacks....

This week I'm thankful for/that:

My mom saved all of our kids books. About the 452nd time through "Walter the Farting Dog" (which is not the only book we own but rather we have read the others at LEAST 452 times) I decided that we need some new books. LUCKILY, my mom has boxes of children books in her basement that she was all too willing to share. So now Elliot get's to hear brand new (to him) stories and Mommy gets to reminisce.....and everyone wins!

Macey's. Nope, I didn't spell it wrong....I'm talkin' about the Utah grocery store not the department store. This week they have a great deal going on where if you buy a Stouffer's lasagna for $9.99 you get a bag of lettuce, a loaf of french bread, and a 1/2 gallon of ice cream all for free. Sweet! And yummy too :)

Good friends that will tolerate my talking their ears off and tell me about good deals like the one above. I had the chance to go chat with a friend yesterday (the same one that told me about the Madame Alexander Happy Meall dolls) and she told me about that rockin' deal at Macey's. Plus she just let me chat with her for like a half hour while I left the kids with my husband :) Love ya, Steph! And last week we got to visit some friends we made right after we got married. It was so nice to chat with them for a while and to see their A-DOR-ABLE twin boys. Hang in there Jill and Nate....your boys are precious and they WILL get less fussy as time goes by.

Facebook. I've reconnected with SO manny old friends this way and it's awesome! So instead of just wondering how they are, I can ask them.

I'm sure there are a ton more things I could add to my list, but alas, it's time to get the kiddos to bed and spend some time with my hubby. But what are you thankful for this week? Come on, give in to the peer pressure.....you know you want to!!

I Can't Believe...

He's already in to this sort of thing!


We went to get some ice cream the other night. The store has two floors. The first floor is where you buy the ice cream. The second floor has comfy couches, a TV, and arcade games. Elliot could NOT get enough of the games. He was content to "play" most of them without spending a dime but that wasn't good enough for the Dance Dance Revolution game. He NEEDED to play that one for real (of course it was the most expensive one, hee). He didn't really know how to play so he basically just stood there and danced while Daddy, Magah, and I all tried to hit the arrows at the right time to keep him going (against Aunt Ashley no less). He LOVED it!


Sorry that the pictures are blurry....they were taken on Uncle Brent's iPhone.

PS....if you think Elliot looks REALLY tired, that's because he was. He's trying to give up his nap even though he clearly still needs it :)

Yikes!

So today I had to go get an oil change in the car. I went to WalMart even though I hate it it's not my favorite place in the world.....it's just so dang convenient. So we left the car and loaded the kiddies in the cart and wandered for a while.

We looked at toys, which led to a lot of whining. That gave me a headache was fun. Why do I torture myself like that? Then we went to look at movies. Then we picked up some diapers and found some tights that just might work for Elliot's Halloween costume (yes, I'm putting my son in tights.....he's going to be Peter Pan, what do you expect?) then we ran to meet Ashley in the cosmetics area. My mom was standing by the cart and was helping Ashley pick out some facial cleanser. I turned my back for what I swear was just a second, and turned back and Evie was no longer in the little seat in front of the cart. The floppy seat was still there, and it took a second for it to register that she wasn't sitting in there. UNTIL I saw a little foot poking up over the top of the seat from behind. I RAN over there and she had flipped herself over the back of the seat into the cart and was hanging there by the floppy seat safety belt around her waist. AHHHH! She wasn't crying at all, in fact she got to her bag of Cheerio's(which I'm sure is all she wanted anyway) and was perfectly happy just hanging there. But she nearly gave me a heart attack! I got her back in the seat and everything was a-okay but it took nearly 30 minutes for my heart to stop racing.

I guess I need a reminder every now and again that I can't turn my back on them for even one second.

A quick side note: She had her 9 month check up today and she is 17 lbs, 27 inches and officially less than three months away from being a year old! She is growing up TOO fast *sniff, sniff*.

Thankful Thursday

This Thursday is already almost over but I thought I would try to make my thankful list anyway. So here we go......

Family We got to hang out with my family tonight to watch the BYU game (I know it didn't end so well) and it was nice to just be around everyone. To just laugh and have a good time. I'm glad to know that our kids will grow up being close to their grandparents especially since they all live relatively close to us. Plus we had some yummy snacks that could also be added to my list. We'll also be visiting BJ's family soon and that is always nice.....we don't see them as often as we would like but we will be seeing them several times over the next couple months.

Along those same lines, I'm thankful for my Mother in Law. I know, I know, most girls wouldn't say that, but really....I am. I've never met her. She passed away when BJ was just six years old. But the things I know about her, I love. From what I've heard, she is a beautiful, strong woman. There are many qualities I see in my husband that I can see in his father but others, not so much. I like to believe those came from his mother. I'm grateful for the impact she made on him during the short time they had together. I look forward to meeting her someday.

The Holidays I know it's not even Halloween yet but I'm already getting excited for Christmas. In fact I have Christmas songs running through my mind :) I'm looking forward to all the most wonderful parts of the holiday season....family, friends, food, and fun! And another "baby's first Christmas". Plus, I have some ideas (thanks to some friends) on how to make this Christmas fun and hopefully help Elliot to know what Christmas is REALLY about.

Target Evie needed some new warm clothes so we went to Target yesterday. I got several new outfits and a coat for her, plus some new jeans and a shirt for Elliot and a few other things we needed for a pretty good price. And the clothes we got were REALLY cute. AND the pants I bought for Elliot were a size 2T! That's HUGE! I couldn't believe it!! The waist is still way too big, but they look way cute on him :)

New Discoveries Evie has been doing a lot of new things lately. She's cruising all over the place and getting pretty good at standing unassisted. She had her first ponytail today (so CUTE...I'll post a pic later). She clapped for the first time today. AND she has said her first word, besides mama and dada, which surprisingly enough (or not, really) is Wall-e. Why not, right? I mean, she DOES hear her brother say it about 5,000 times a day. I LOVE all the new things!

So how about you? What are you thankful for today??

Little Copycat

My brother has a new 2 1/2 foot shadow. Brent recently came home from his mission and Elliot can NOT get enough of him. He follows him everywhere and wants to do everything he does. The other night we all went to the store together and when it was time to go I heard Elliot in the back seat saying "we not go home Mommy, we need to go to Magah's house". I told him that we weren't going to Magah's house because it was dinner time and getting close to bed time. That was followed by an ear-splitting scream and shouts of "Brent, BRENT!! NO! I need my Brrrreeeeennnnttt!".

Well Brent decided it was high time he got himself a fancy new iPhone. Now Elliot wants one too! (Yeah, right buddy.....get in line......Mommy first) Thank goodness for his budding imagination....

Elliot now follows Brent (and his iPhone) around with his very own.....otherwise known as the box. You can see it at the very bottom of this picture, courtesy of Brent's iPhone :)


ps. He needs a hair cut in case you couldn't tell :)

I Actually Did It!

I actually followed through and entered the 8th International Art Competition that I previously talked about. It took til the very last minute, but I finished the picture and submitted it yesterday. The first round of judging isn't set to be complete until the end of the year. If they like it enough they'll ask me to bring it to the museum and then judge it again. We'll see what they think. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out though :)

Here it is.....



For those of you who are interested, it is graphite on illustration board, measuring 19 inches by 19 inches. The title is Fear Not, I am with Thee. And here is the description I submitted with it.....


"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest…
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matt. 11:28 and 30)

"The meaning of this scripture was made very real to me shortly after the birth of my first child. Not only was I filled with the normal fear and apprehension of a new parent, but I was also afraid for his life. He was born premature, extremely small, and unable to even breathe for himself. All I could do during that time was to rely on the love and promises of our Savior. As I prayed for my son and for the strength to face this trial, I felt these words at work in my life. Just as I held and protected my son the only way I knew how, I knew I was being cradled in the loving arms of my Savior. And He gave me rest."

There you go. I'll try to remember to let you know how it turns out.

Oh, and since I missed Thankful Thursday because I was working away.....I just wanted to give a quick shout out to my mom. She took time out of her busy schedule to watch my kids and allow me to follow my dreams......even though I waited til the last minute. So what else is new....right, Mom? Thanks for everything!

Should I Be Worried....

That when my son pretends to talk on the phone, he's usually talking to his pediatrician?

Let's Get Ready to Ruuuuummmmbble!

It's official. Today is the first day of the 178th Semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Or, more affectionately known around these parts as General Conference Smackdown. In the first corner we have two overtired and slightly frazzled parents, known as Mommy and Daddy. In the second corner we have 6 time, all around champion.....the slightly riled up Elliot (and his new accomplice Evie). Who do you think will win? Only time will tell! But my money is on the little ones.

There's always nap time. And Elliot DOES think that President Uchtdorf (or as he says, Prestident Ooofdorf) is pretty cool so maybe he'll listen some during his talk. It always works out somehow though, and no matter how little we do end up hearing, we will be spiritually fed and uplifted. I'm counting on it:) Plus, there's always the Ensign, right?

Thankful Thursday

Today, I'm thankful for trials. I know it sounds a little obscure but hear me out. Right now, one of my favorite people in the world is going through something difficult. Something that I never dreamed would happen to this person. Something I know he is hating right now. But also something I've been through myself.

At the time I could not figure out why this particular trial had entered my own life. But as time went on I was able to see some benefits. It put my life on a path that I otherwise wouldn't have taken. It made me stronger, more compassionate, and less judgmental. And now I see another purpose for this trial.....to be able to help this person through. I hope I can do that for him.

Oh, and just because I can't be all deep and thoughtful for too long (seriously, my head might explode) I am also thankful for the A1 Peppercorn Burger from Red Robin......and the leftovers that are in my fridge right now. It's delicious. A million times better than a Happy Meal cheeseburger. If you haven't had one, you need to. Right now. But keep your hands off my leftovers! ;)