Playtime and Teary Eyes

Tears for me, that is.

Today we went to the mall. My brother needed a hair cut so we headed down to the Tree house play area to wait for him. Elliot was in seventh heaven. He was beyond excited. Probably because we haven't really let him play there before (too paranoid about germs....but with bathed him in hand sanitizer when he was done so I'm sure he'll be fine).

I can't believe what a big boy he is. Actually he's still smaller than most of the kids, but he's oh so grown up. And so friendly too. Before I even had a chance to sit down he was running around playing with another little boy and just having the time of his life. At one point he almost collided with another little boy. The boy then pushed him over and Elliot did a face plant. He cried for a minute, but after a quick kiss to his nose he was good as new.

Later, I noticed he had moved to a different part of the play area. There were some older kids there and I don't think they really wanted him hanging around. They said something to him. And he started talking back to them. Now, when he gets excited or angry he generally starts to yell and pace back and forth and wave his arms around. The kids thought this was really funny. I sat there and watched as they would provoke him, watch him get worked up for a minute, drop down on their knees (so they were closer to his height), open and close their mouths in a very exaggerated way, wave their arms around and then just laugh and laugh at how hysterical they were for mocking him like that.

I was shocked. They were clearly just making fun of him. He's only three....he doesn't know. But it made his mommy want to cry. As they started into their third time of this routine I marched myself over there, took my little boy by the hand and said to him "come on Elliot, lets go play over here" then I turned to the other kids and said "these big kids are making fun of you and it's not very nice". Now it was their turn to be shocked. They didn't know I had been watching.

Elliot still didn't understand what I meant, which is fine. There was no reason for his feelings to be hurt....he wasn't doing anything wrong. I know I can't protect him from everything. And I know he's going to come in contact with tons of kids that will make fun of him for his size, or the things he likes, or just pick on him for no good reason. But I want to protect him from all of that. No matter what he will always be my little miracle. One of the things in my life that means more than anything else. My little boy.

Ugh....mean people stink!!

But he's a tough little guy, and he'll be just fine no matter what. Even if his mommy can't save him from all the hurt in this world. He's already overcome far worse than playground bullies.





On a lighter and more interesting note....Elliot went down the slide ALL by himself today. He's been scared until now. But today he did it! BJ and I weren't even close by....in fact it's lucky we even saw him do it at all. When I asked him about it after bedtime prayers he was SO proud of himself :) AND Evie ate her first slice of pizza (all cut up in tiny pieces, but pizza none the less). A WHOLE piece. Why do they have to grow up so fast?

Evie on Christmas Morning

This year was Evie's first Christmas. I think her favorite present was her first doll. We caught her opening it on video....she was just so cute I had to share.

Saturday Mornings

Saturday morning is one of my favorite times of the whole week. Somehow everyone ends up in our bed every week. Sometimes cartoons are on and some times they are not. But there is always a lot of tickles, giggles, and hugs. It's one of the few times during the week that BJ and I get to cuddle up with our two great kids and just live in the moment. For those brief minutes on Saturday morning it feels as though all is right with the world. It's a wonderful feeling. I wish Saturday morning lasted forever.

Thankful Thursday

I have missed Thankful Thursday for the past several weeks so I thought it was high time I started this tradition back up again....

The Disney Channel. Can I just say that this channel is awesome for a couple of reasons? First of all the shows keep Elliot's attention so I can actually get some things done (which is why I normally turn the tv on in the first place, I don't really want my child watching a ton of tv but sometimes it's the only way). BUT more importantly, THEY DON'T HAVE COMMERCIALS!!! At least not typical commercials. I turned the tv on the other day and for some unknown reason it was turned to Nickelodeon and Dora was on. That really caught Elliot's attention so I caved and let him watch it. Unfortunately, not even three minutes later he was attacked by an array of brightly colored, horrendously loud TOY commercials. So then I was attacked by a whirlwind of terribly whiny "I want"s and "I need"s. And before I knew it I was bald from tearing all my hair out because I didn't know what else to do. Okay, that last part isn't entirely true....I still have my hair. But I didn't know what to do. And I apologize that a "thankful" has turned into a rant. To sum it up......commercials = cranky, bald mommy.....Disney Channel = quiet children/productive, happy mommy.

Christmas Lights Every year, for as long as I can remember, it has been our Christmas tradition to bundle up and drive around looking at lights on Christmas Eve. Totally fun. Totally LOVE it, but mostly because it's our tradition. It's not even Christmas Eve yet but I am getting the biggest kick out of the lights this year. Any time we drive anywhere in the dark I hear all kinds of ooooohs and ahhhhs from the back seat. Elliot is completely into the lights this year. "Look Mommy, there's Santa!" "Oh WOOOOOOWWWWWW! I really like THAT one!!" "SOOOOOO cool". Seriously, every night. It's way fun!

My Baby Girl. For many reasons. But on the top of my list this week is that she was a normal, full term, healthy baby. Evie caught a cold this week. Her nose was running the other day and after her nap she started coughing one of those croupy sounding coughs. This sort of thing would have lasted weeks with Elliot. More than likely it would have landed him in the hospital. But we just greased Evie up with some Vick's, planted the humidifier in her room, and said some prayers.....and she's pretty much good as new. Of course there is still a little risidual coughing and runny nose action going on, but it's only been two days. I'll take it! SUCH a difference....and a relief.

Now it's your turn.....go on. You can do it. You know you want to ;)

Lessons in Self Esteem

I have issues in the self esteem department. I've never been very good at it, that I can remember anyway (my mom swears that I had great self esteem as a child). So it's amazing to me how sure Elliot is of himself. He thinks he's pretty great....and he's right! Here's a small example...

We were running late, as usual. But I managed to get Elliot out of the car, run around to the other side, grab Evie and Elliot's school bag, get a hold of Elliot's hand and start our way across the street only a few minutes after preschool had started. As we were walking , we spotted one of the other Mommies leaving after dropping off her daughter . I smiled and nodded in her direction and she smiled back. Then she looked over at my little boy and said "Hi Elliot!". He was oblivious and just anxious to get to school. So I nudged him a little and asked him if he could say hi. He looked up, "OHh, HIIIIIII!!" and waved. She smiled and laughed a little to herself, probably because of his enthusiasm. We kept walking and Elliot looked up at me and said "She thinks I'm pretty cute". He paused. Then added, "I think I'm pretty cute too". I laughed and told him that of course he's pretty cute.

He's the self esteem master. Hopefully somewhere along my journey as his Mommy this ability of his will rub off on me. He does tell me I'm beautiful every day so that should help :)

Finally...

After more than a week of whining (on my part) to put up the tree.....we FINALLY got it up. My grandparents (GG and Papa Sampa) loaned us their very nice 6 foot tree. Thank you!! We love it and it looks great!

We put the big one up in the family room and Elliot gets a special treat....the little tree went up in his room. Super cool night light, huh? I'll post pictures of that once we get in decorated. Unfortunately we didn't have time to do both last night.

Here are a few pictures from our fun evening....

Poor Evie was trapped in her high chair for most of the festivities. We thought she would cause a problem by getting into everything.

But it was Elliot that turned out to be the real trouble maker :)

Evie just wanted daddy to take more pictures of her...and what could we do? The camera (and the photographer) LOVE her!

Eventually we let her down to join in the fun

Elliot was mostly just interested in playing with the ornaments. I think that nutcracker was putting the moves on Minnie....I'm pretty sure I heard him give her a kiss at one point hehe

Evie figured this out all on her own, and I wouldn't be surprised if she put more ornaments on the tree than Elliot did!

Elder Wirthlin

I'm sure most of you have already heard this, but Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin passed away last night.

He died peacefully in his sleep from health complications due to age, with some of his family members close by. He lived a long, successful life. It was just his time to go. I'm sure he's happy where he is now, especially being reunited with his wife(she passed away two years ago). For those of you that aren't members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he is one of the Twelve Apostles. He's a witness of Jesus Christ and he will be truly missed.

When I heard the news, I looked for more information on the internet. The article I read stated that many members of the church felt his last general conference address (from this past October) to be an instant classic. Unfortunately, I didn't remember the address.....I'm not even sure I heard it the first time around since I missed a lot due to noisy children. Luckily, the article had a link to the very address they mentioned, "Come What May, and Love it"

They were right. It is a very good talk. Here are a couple of my favorite quotes:

"But whenever my steps led through seasons of sadness and sorrow, my mother’s words often came back to me: “Come what may, and love it.”

How can we love days that are filled with sorrow? We can’t—at least not in the moment. I don’t think my mother was suggesting that we suppress discouragement or deny the reality of pain. I don’t think she was suggesting that we smother unpleasant truths beneath a cloak of pretended happiness. But I do believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life.

If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth, which in turn can lead toward times of greatest happiness."

"Because Jesus Christ suffered greatly, He understands our suffering. He understands our grief. We experience hard things so that we too may have increased compassion and understanding for others."


"Sometimes the very moments that seem to overcome us with suffering are those that will ultimately suffer us to overcome."

If you didn't hear it, or don't remember it, you might want to read it. It's beautiful and full of hope. I guess I posted all of this to say that I'm grateful for his witness, his legacy, and the things that I've learned from him.

Thanksgiving!

We had a really nice Thanksgiving this year (actually two)! Thanksgiving day was really relaxed. We spent the day with my family. Even Uncle Craig and Aunt Cyndy were in town. It was really nice to see them...it's been way too long! It was really low key and just pleasant....just like I remember Thanksgiving being when I was growing up. We even got a few pictures...

Elliot cheesin' it up before dinner

Evie knew something good was coming

Elliot diggin' in

Evie thoroughly enjoying her first Thanksgiving meal


Then on Saturday we had a second Thanksgiving with BJ's family. That was also really nice and relaxed and an all around good time. We didn't get many pictures of the actual eating but we all went outside after dinner to watch our niece April perform some of her color guard routines (I wish we had gotten some pictures of the actual flag tossing....she's really good!) But here's a couple of Elliot and Evie...

We hope your Thanksgiving was as good as ours!

A Day of Firsts

Today was quite the day for us. Elliot helped make his first apple pie (he LOVES cooking).

Evie started really clapping for the first time. She was sure to stop and clap every time someone said "Yay!".

Evie met Uncle Craig and Aunt Cyndy(my dad's brother and his wife) for the first time.

AND.......

Evie took her FIRST steps! I can't believe it.....our baby girl is walking!

She's so amazing. It's been really fun to watch her reach these milestones so quickly. She wants to be just like her brother and I think that really pushes her to do things.

She's going to be running around with Elliot before we know it....yikes!

Am I the only one...

that thinks changing the diaper of a ten month old should be an Olympic event? Maybe. How about if I throw in changing clothes.....into an outfit including tights?? :)

Blast From the Past

So for the past little while my friend Koreena has been doing some "Memory Lane" posts. They are so cute and it's been really fun to read them and learn some things about her that I didn't know. And now I think I'm going to jump on the memory lane bandwagon and share something that not very many people know about me. If you promise not to laugh! At least not to my face ;)

Growing up I was a total fan of these guys......

That's right. The New Kids on the Block. Yeah, I know. I'm not even kidding. Go ahead and laugh.....but I guarantee that at least some of you were fans too.

I was pretty young still when they were popular. I think their big rise to stardom was somewhere in the very late '80's/early '90's. In fact my mom was nice enough to take me to my first ever concert (I saw on another blog they said the New Kids "took my concertginity" and it's the same for me) way back, EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO in 1990. WAY back then I wasn't embarrassed to be seen with my mom(I'm not embarrassed to be seen with her anymore either...just to make that clear) and the fact that she took me to the concert made her the coolest mom EV-ER....even with the older girls at church. I would have been in the third grade. There were much older girls at the concert, but didn't mean I loved them any less. It's pretty safe to say that Joey McIntyre was my first crush. I had it all figured out.....there was a 9 1/2 year difference between the two of us. I knew back then that he'd never be interested in such a little girl but by the time he was 30 I would 21 and that was perfectly acceptable, hee!

I was totally obsessed. I had all their tapes. I had a couple posters and a sticker book (remember it was a million years ago and I wasn't old enough to know about Tiger Beat magazine yet). I had to buy new stickers every time we went to the store so I could collect them all. I think I even had a pillow case and wrote some fan letters. I got a t-shirt at the concert and the boys made fun of me at school. They were SO jealous...you know they were!

Eventually the group broke up. There were no new albums. I grew up and focused my attention on other cute boys. I didn't even look back. In fact, had you asked me last week if I liked the New Kids on the Block I would have answered "Ummm, I DID....like forever ago". Sadly, my friends, it turns out that my NKOTB loving days are not yet over.

I heard a few months ago that they were reuniting and going out on tour. I had moments where I thought it would be REALLY fun to go. But being the "responsible" adult that I am now I just couldn't see spending the money on tickets when there are so many other things we need and want. So I just pushed the idea aside. Then on Friday I got an e-mail from the March of Dimes saying that the concert was on Saturday and they had a code for up to 6 free tickets (see could things come from supporting the fight againts prematurity). No WAY! I couldn't believe it. I gave BJ my best ever puppy dog face (yes, all that time spent practicing in the mirror paid off!) and he agreed to watch the kids so I could go. The problem was finding someone to go WITH. Hmmmm.

My little sister gave in even though she didn't have the slightest clue who I was talking about. She was only three when they broke up after all.....BUT she gets the boy band thing. There was that stint when she was in the third grade with NSync and of course now with the Jonas Brothers. Yes, Ashley, I understand that the Jonas Brothers are NOT a boy band (but they kinda are). Or it could be that she was grounded and this is the one thing our mom would actually let her do.

Anyway, when we got there I thought maybe I had made a terrible mistake. I wasn't too into the opening act and was feeling a little bored and a little tired already. But then they came out and the place EXPLODED! Ashley even said at parts it rivaled a JB concert haha! I could not believe all the now Mom's that were instantly sucked into a time warp and transformed back to their 8-14 year old selves. Many of them were there with their daughters who are fans now because thier moms have passed that NKOTB love along to them (it works, BELIEVE me, or else I wouldn't have been caught dead at that Donny Osmond concert with MY mom) It took me right back to that concert, 18 years ago, and before I new it I was yelling and singing along. Ashley couldn't sing along (she didn't know any of the words) but she was a good sport and yelled with the best of them. And she's had The Right Stuff stuck in her head ever since.

It was funny to me to see so many grown women, many of which are now married, screaming for these boys (actually 40 year olds) that they loved from their childhood. It was little weird but so fun at the same time. The events center was oozing with nostalgia. I even saw my best childhood friend and a former babysitter there. PLUS boys are like a fine wine (or so I'm told I've never had wine so I wouldn't know) they only get better with age.

Oh and at the risk of sounding like an old fuddy duddy....with all the booty shaking and crotch grabbing that went on I'm surprised my mom took me to that concert all those years ago (but she deosn't remember that happening then.....neither do I really......but I do remember it from Saturday). Yikes! How times change, right?

Thankful Thursday

Here we go again :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. There's just something about them. Maybe it's the fact that you don't eat them all year round so they seem more special once Autumn shows up. Or maybe it's just that fact that they are cookies. If someone dared me to eat my weight in cookies I think I would be very tempted. I might even do it if no one reminded me that it would make me really sick.

Elliot. Yeah, ok, I'm always thankful for him (and Evie and BJ too) but this week Elliot has been really good. Not just kinda good....REEEEALLLLLYY good. Yesterday I swear he didn't get into anything or scream or whine or throw a fit at all. And today he was good too. So polite and obedient. I hope this is a new phase that will last for a little while. I'm also thankful that he likes to help bake and go to the store with me, even if his Papa says those are girly things ;)

Headphones. For a couple of reason really. BJ can wear them while he's playing his games and I don't have to hear the sounds of guns or whatever else is going on in there. AND when Brent is practicing his, umm, how do I put this delicately? Oh, nevermind....I can't. When he's practicing his BORING songs on the piano, I don't have to hear those either. I still love ya Brent :)

The Scriptures. I love how whenever we read them the spirit is instantly brought into our home, even if the kids have been screaming just a few seconds before. I also love that Elliot gets them. We like to keep it short and sweet, just reading a verse or two and then a little explanation and Elliot always adds something that we didn't explain but that is exactly right.

I'm sure there's tons more I could add but I'm going to go work on some projects while I have the chance. What about you? What are you thankful for this week?