New Things All the Time

There seem to be a lot of changes going on here lately!

On the 8th we got Elliot his very own "big boy bed". It's just an inexpensive little set that we found at WalMart. It has a bed, a table with two stools, and a shelf.......ALL of which have Mickey Mouse Clubhouse things on them. He LOVES that thing. I really thought we were going to have to wrestle with him to get him to sleep in a bed after nearly three years of sleeping in a crib. I was bracing myself for a long night of repeating "Elliot, get back in your bed" over and over again. But that wasn't the case at all!

When he saw it, his face got so happy and it was the cutest thing. He even "helped" daddy put it together. Once it was built he kept climbing in it saying, "I so esited, I so esited". And when it was time for family prayer he waited until we had our eyes closed and he climbed into his bed. And then, most surprising of all, he went right to sleep without get out of bed once! And it's been that way ever since :)

Evie has also decided that she's ready to start growing up. On Thursday I went to the temple with my brother and parents while daddy stayed home with the kids. I called home when we were done to let BJ know I was on my way home. He told me that Evie had been rolling over all evening. I was shocked! And a little sad that I missed it. But she's demonstrated her awesome rolling abilities for me several times since then. She's just growing up so much faster than Elliot did.....she's amazing!

This past month just has me in awe of my beautiful children. Every day brings more adventures and discoveries. I'm excited for what tomorrow has in store!

The Sillyness Never Ceases

We have a nightly ritual at bedtime with Elliot. First we change his diaper and put on his pajamas. Next, as long as we're getting to bed on time, it's story time. Then we kneel down and say a family prayer. After that BJ always tells Elliot to "give mommy a big kiss and a hug" and then it's off to bed. It's a pretty easy routine and Elliot knows how it goes.

Tonight after the prayer he started whispering "kiss a mommy, kiss a mommy" but he was saying it SO quietly that I couldn't understand him (BJ told me later what he was saying). So I asked him what he was saying and he said "quesadilla". What a silly boy :)

Elliotisms

Elliot is quite the chatterbox (I know, I know, he gets that from me) but seriously, he says the funniest things! So I figured it's time to start a list, both so that they rest of you can get a feel for our day to day conversations, but also so we can remember.

Here are a few to start (but I'm sure we'll add more as time goes by)

"Hapack" He has an Elmo back pack that he loves and wants to wear everywhere. He even wore it to the park yesterday.

"Hepopter" We went to the Discovery Gateway and he got to play in the hepopter (helicopter) they have there. We went to see the Sesame Street exhibit but the hepopter was the hit of the day!

What's Happening? Most kids just ask why but that's not good enough for Elliot....he always wants to know what's happening with EVERYTHING.

Since I spend a lot of time sewing, he's around sewing machines quite a bit. But somehow he's gotten it in his mind that they are time machines. So if you hear him say something about a time machine, he's actually talking about a sewing maching.

The other day we went to let my parent's dog out (they were out of town) and Oscar was chasing Elliot around. Elliot had some food and Oscar wanted it. After I let Oscar out, Elliot said, "Oscar's a jerk". Very funny, but I tried not to laugh as I was telling Elliot that he probably shouldn't say that word.

I'm sure there are more, but it's past my bedtime and I'm having a hard time remembering them at the moment. I'll add more as they come to me!

Don't Be Surprised......

If I'm bald the next time you see me. Seriously, I think I'm going to rip all of my hair out.

Screaming children and Mommy's nerves do NOT mix well. I like attention, so I should have expected my kids to be the same way......but do they honestly need my undivided attention 24/7? Luckily, Elliot seems to be okay if he can just watch Cars or "happy giants". Evie, on the other hand, seems to need me hovering right over her making silly faces and sounding like a crazy woman. Oh well, they're only little once, right? They grow up too fast, don't they? Come on, someone reassure me.....quick :)

All I can say is thank goodness for Elder Ballard's talk during General Conference. I swear it's the only one I heard and it was written just for me. Just re-reading it right now is helping me to relax a little bit.

I particularly like this part:

The first question: What can you do, as a young mother, to reduce the pressure and enjoy your family more?

First, recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.

Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”(Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11).

Yippee! Moments. I can handle moments. I'm so glad that I'm not expected to make every single minute of the day sunshine and rainbows.

I can do moments.

The little, fun things are the things they'll remember. Like when I let Elliot spend a few minutes licking Nesquik powder off of his fingers. Or the days we spend at the park this summer. Or the bedtime stories and tickle fights.

Now that I've reminded myself that not all moments here are chaotic and loud, I think I'll go to bed and think of the fun times :)

p.s. here's a cute little chocolate face that might make you smile......it works for me anyway.

After the Sugar Rush......

I know that Easter was forever ago, but I wanted to at least share a few pictures. We had such a wonderful Easter. It was a beautiful day, and the first time since fall that we've attended the full three-hour block of church (Hello, my name is Brooke and I'm a germaphobe).

Elliot was thrilled to be able to go to "church" (that's what he calls nursery) instead of just sacrament meeting where he's expected to be reverent. He got to socialize, sing, play, run around, and fill his already sugar lined tummy with cake and ice cream....yummy! After church (and a nap) we had a nice dinner with my parents and an "eesker egg" hunt. It was a super fun and exciting day, but the thing that made me happiest was when we asked Elliot what Easter is about and he told us "Jesus" instead of candy!

Princess Dress

We were so happy to see many of our loved ones last Sunday. It was Evie's blessing and friends and family came from all over the grand state of Utah and even one from as far as Texas (thanks Grandpa!). It was a very nice blessing and our little girl will grow up to be an amazing woman, I'm sure of it.

My mom worked really hard and finished a BEAUTIFUL dress just in time. It really is quite lovely, and I'm sure that's why Elliot calls it "Evie's princess dress". I hope it will be passed down through future generations for quite a while. Take a look.....

Here Come the Cardons

Well, it looks like we've finally decided to give in to peer pressure and start a blog of our own. It really is a smart way to keep everyone posted on what's going on here. I'll do my best to keep it up to date so our family can see how Evie and Elliot are growing and changing!

I decided to call our blog "happy family" because of Elliot. The happy family song is his favorite right now. Every time I turn around he wants to sing it again. "I love mommy, she loves me....." and so it continues until everyone loves everyone else and "so you see, we are a happy family". He really is such a sweet boy, and teaches me so much. Really, what's more important than our families and being happy? I'm hoping this title will remind me of that on the days that I'm ripping my hair out from the pressures of being a parent. No matter how tough it gets, I want to make sure we're always a happy family :)