Rebers

What Passes for Excitement in our House These Days

2012-02-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

We're pretty boring.

You have been warned.

*Leo is afraid of everything.

I kid you not, if he get's put on his bed he won't come out of his bedroom unless I go in and get him. Even if I'm in the room right next to his. I literally have to be in his line of sight or he's too scared to move. The other day I went up the stairs too fast. He stopped at the landing (half way up) and just cried until I leaned over the banister and made him come the rest of the way up.

Any how, he's decided that having stuff in his bed keeps him safe at night.

Notice how he's way over on the side of his bed?

That's because the rest of his bed is filled with random junk.

Including, on this particular night:

a paper airplane,

a plastic pig,

a Zoobie with the blanket taken out,

and three little cars.

Also, the Zoobie blanket had to be on top of his pirate blanket.

Even with all of these precautions he still ends up in my bed every single night.

He's so good at getting in there that it doesn't even wake me up any more.

*Jay Alvin can roll his tongue on demand.

Here he is, stubbornly refusing to do it for the camera.

Then he did it, but I missed it.

And, here it is.

Adorable.

*We got a toilet seat with a built-in kid seat.

This was extra exciting to me for two reasons.

1. I was so done with the little potty that had to be dumped and cleaned ten times a day.

2. We bought a potty seat that just sits on the regular toilet seat and it was too small.

We made it work, but the bathroom was getting really gross because of it.

And last,

*I found a used diaper in the washing machine yesterday.

And yes, it was full of clothes at the time.

And yes, I had just run it.

And, yes, the diaper had exploded and strewn used diaper filling all over everything.

Fun times.

Sorry I didn't get a picture.

The Potty Train

2012-02-05T16:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the big day.

We rode the Potty Train as Leo's reward for being potty trained.

(It's actually called Roaring Camp Railroad but I guess all those weeks of telling Leo he could ride the train once he was potty trained got him a little confused. To him, it will always be "The Potty Train." Any how, it's an hour-long ride through the redwood forest.)

Here's the boys in the car, getting ready to head out.

The train station is about 45 minutes north of where we live.

On the train at last.

We were a little worried that it would be too cold once we got into the trees, but it was a nice, sunny day.

The train itself is a 100+ year old steam engine that was used to haul logs from the top of the mountain to the bottom. That cloud is the built up steam that it released once our ride was through.

Leo was very worried about his ticket and wanted to hold it himself.

(He's carried it around most of today too.)

That look of joy on Jay's face happened when he realized we would actually be taking a ride and not just sitting on a motionless train.

We were a little worried that one of the boys was going to fall over the edge. We could not convince them to keep their bodies in the car.

Jay spent a good portion of the trip saying, "Choo, Choo!" as loudly as he could.

Proof that I was there.

We stopped at the top of the mountain for a few minutes. There were several large logs left lying around. I'm not sure if they were remnants of the logging operation or just trees that happened to fall onto the tracks.

This is part of the old track that was burned in a forest fire.

And finally, a blurry picture of the boys with the engine.

And on top of all of that, we discovered an awesome farmer's market near our house. We stopped on the way home and loaded up on cheap fruit.

Money

2012-02-05T16:18:00.000-07:00

We've been playing "Dump the Piggy Bank" over and over at our house.

They boys would do it all day if I let them.

I usually let them go until someone puts a coin in their mouth.

(That's just a little too gross for me to handle.)

Jay can almost curl his tongue. I actually saw him do it today, but as soon as I pointed it out to him he couldn't do it again. He often goes around with his tongue hanging out like this.

*On a semi-related note:

Jay paid tithing for the first time today.

He was totally on board until he had to give the envelope away.

I guess it's one thing to put your money in an envelope for Jesus, and another thing entirely to hand that envelope to the bishop.

He survived it, even though he didn't think he would.

random

2012-01-25T18:11:00.000-07:00

This is the latest addition to our home decor:

We love it.

We've spent most of the past 3 weeks hanging around the house in our underwear.

It was totally worth it because . . .

Leo is potty trained!

(And, as of now, Jay is doomed to be in diapers forever.

I never want to potty train another kid, ever!)

This is Jay's new favorite past time:

It's called, "Climb on the Back of the Couch Until Mom Sees You and You Get Spanked."

Guess who taught him.

This is Leo's idea of posing for a picture.

Also, he's obsessed with that hat and gets mad when Ty takes it to work.

He does that often since it's part of his uniform.

Jay is really good at entertaining himself and will read like this for 20 or 30 minutes at a time. (Or as long as Leo is otherwise occupied.)

And lastly, a self portrait by Leo

Findings

2012-01-17T15:25:00.001-07:00

Like nearly everyone else, one of my New Year's Resolutions involves becoming less fat.

I thought I'd share a few things I've found that are helping me to accomplish that.

Fat free Reddi Wip

In spite of the ridiculous way they have chosen to spell "ready whip" this stuff is delicious and only 5 calories for 2 tablespoons. You can put it on sugar-free jello and get your sweet fix for only 20 calories. Or you can eat it by the spoonful. My record is 20 servings at one sitting. Still only 100 calories.

Skinny Cow Ice Cream Cups

These are definitely not as good as real ice cream, but they're one of the best imitations out there. And you can have more than a tiny spoon full and still eat other stuff without blowing your whole day. I especially like to scoop the ice cream into a cake cone (only 20 calories). It makes me feel like I'm getting more ice cream since it overflows the cone. And, cones are yummy. Especially when they're soaked with melted chocolate fudge brownie "ice cream."

Nabisco Fudge Petites

I randomly grabbed these from the plethora of 100 calorie snacks, and they are delicious! Melt-in-your-mouth, mint chocolatey goodness. More of an occasional splurge than an every-day snack for me, but that's because I like quantity, and these have a pretty small serving size.

Quaker Rice Cakes

These are good for salty or sweet cravings. I especially like the caramel and the white cheddar. You can also get the bags of mini rice cakes, but I prefer these because the serving size is smaller and therefore less calories. I'm usually satisfied with one and even if I eat two it's less calories than a serving of the mini-cakes.

Whole Wheat Ritz Crackers

All I can say is, "Where have you been all my life?" These crackers are so good! They still have that buttery flavor of regular Ritz, but also a nuttiness from the wheat. They are really good as a base for tuna or chicken salad, but they're best with cheddar. And you can have 5 crackers for 70 calories, which is about the same as plain saltines.

Ritz Crackerfuls

At 130 calories each this is probably the least diet-friendly item on my list. I really like it for an occasional treat though. It's just enough different from the every-day to feel like you're getting something special.

Special K Cracker Chips

These are a little weird tasting, but if you want a lot of something for a relatively small amount of calories, these are for you. A serving is 27 chips, and that's 110 calories. I usually use these as a base for tuna/chicken salad, since that hides their weirdness a little, and I usually only have 15 of them, which makes it even fewer calories.

Sara Lee 45 Calories and Delightful

There's nothing really special about this bread other than that it's 90 calories for two slices. Regular Sara Lee bread is 150 calories for two slices, and the really yummy bread is closer to 200.

PB2

Yes, that's right. Powdered peanut butter. I found this at the Commissary completely by accident one day. The ingredients are peanuts and sugar. You reconstitute it with water, so you save the calories that the oil usually adds. Now, it does not in any way compare to actual peanut butter, but at 45 calories per 2 tablespoon serving it's good enough. You can have an entire peanut butter and jelly sandwich (using sugar free jam and the sara lee bread) for fewer calories than 2 tablespoons of actual peanut butter. And it would probably be really good in something like no-bake cookies.

Leo

2012-01-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

This little boy:

*Hates the beach.

(Funny story: It's apparently really dangerous to swim here because the waves are really strong and there are riptides. We didn't know this until our third trip to the beach. Leo may have gotten knocked around a little bit by some rather large waves and now he's terrified of them. To the point that when Ty and I were in the water he was throwing a huge tantrum, clawing at the sand and begging us to come back out of the water. Now any time we suggest a beach trip he just says, "I don't like the waves.")

(This is before he developed a hatred of the beach.)

*Is in the midst of potty training (again)

and is actually getting the hang of it this time.

*Prefers to sleep on our bed.

*Loves movies about pigs, to include:

Charlotte's Web (animated and non-animated)

Charlotte's Web 2

Babe

Babe 2: Pig in the City

*Asks at least once a day if animals can talk.

("No, Leo, they cannot.")

And then asks why the pigs in the movie are talking.

("Look mom, he's talking right now.")

*Wants to be "big like daddy".

(Not to be confused with "big to touch the moon"

which is a scary thing to him.)

*Has the craziest imagination ever.

(The other day I saw him walking up the stairs, cradling the changing pad like a baby. I asked what he was doing and he explained that there was a boy on there, but he didn't have a brain. Then he ran into the other room and showed me the box where the brain was. Later I saw the changing pad laying on the floor and asked him where the boy was. He told me that he put the boy's brain back in, but he died, so he (Leo) buried the boy in the dirty clothes hamper.)

*Thinks he should be able to live on candy and soda pop.

*Struggles with being the only extrovert in a family of devoted introverts.

(I seriously need to get him in pre-school or gymnastics or something so he can re-charge his batteries without draining mine.)

*Loves helping around the house.

*Loves running (Still).

He's really into racing right now and losing is hugely devastating to him.

Jay Alvin

2012-01-03T11:01:00.001-07:00

These days this little boy:

*Loves books.

He will make you read to him all day and night.

He's even started taking books to bed with him.

*Talks a ton.

My favorite thing he says is:

"Shank Ooo"

which is immediately followed by

"Welcome"

over and over again.

His favorite thing to say:

"NO!"
He's also discovered "why?'
and asks it constantly.

*Knows animal names and sounds.

(The video is mostly of the back of his head because he'll stop as soon as he sees the camera.)

*Eats constantly.

*Likes to have his shoes on.

(Pants are optional)

*Covers his eyes when he is embarrassed, hurt, sad or angry.

(This happens a lot because, apparently, he's very sensitive.

In fact, I just flicked his mouth and he cried for Ty for a good 5 minutes.)

*Does not love nursery.

*Thinks he's big like Leo.

(Why yes, he is wearing a pair of Leo's underwear over his diaper.)

*Thinks he's too old for naps.

(Sometimes this is fine.

Other times, this happens:)

*Is perfectly happy to play by himself for a while.

*Is getting really good at matching patterns

and finding things in books. (ie. Where is the dog?)

*Loves to hold hands.
If we go anywhere, especially the store or in the car,
he immediately says, "han!"
over and over until he gets what he wants.

Merry Christmas!

2012-01-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

(Sorry this is late. We got the flu for Christmas and spent the next week passing it around.)

Christmas here was pretty quiet. We did get to see Santa 3 times in the weeks leading up to the big day. Neither Leo or Jay enjoyed it at all and only got near Santa in order to get candy.

Even though they didn't treat Santa very well, he still got them an awesome gift.

(Here's the tree before Santa came:)

(And after:)

I was so excited for the boys to get this gift. Leo has wanted a wagon for as long as I can remember. Every time he sees someone else with a wagon he cries when I tell him he can't get in it. And Walmart has had one of these babies on display for the entire month of December. Every time we went shopping Leo begged to "try it out" and cried when I told him no. I thought this would be such a big hit and I even recorded the boys coming down the stairs and seeing it because Ty wasn't home at the time. Their reaction was like, "Meh. Is that ours? Meh." I almost cancelled Christmas right then and there. It was a huge let-down for me.

The boys did love some of their other gifts though.

Like the Pez dispensers:

And all the junk I got in the dollar section of Michael's:

Note for next year: don't spend more that $2 on any one gift.

Also, don't decide in advance which gifts they will like best because you will be wrong.

Bonus Christmas Disaster story:

I decided to make quiet books for the boys this year. They're really loud during church and I thought it would be a fun way to keep things under control. I spent weeks coloring, cutting, laminating and assembling them. Finally Christmas day came and I was so excited to take them to church with us. They ended up being Opposite of Quiet books. I put the pieces together with velcro so every time they started playing with one there was a series of riiip, riiip, riiips. And then the, "Is this where this one goes? Mom? Mom?" and the, "I need another one! No, not that one. The other one." It was not quite what I had expected.

Benefits

2011-12-21T11:15:00.000-07:00

Sometimes being in the military stinks.

Like when they take your husband away for months at a time.

And other times it's really great.

Like when you get to live in a practically new, really huge house.

When they throw you an outrageous Christmas party in the park near your house.

I'm not kidding, it was insane.

There were ponies.

And pizza.

And a bounce house.

And games.

And prizes.

And Santa.

And snow.

Yeah, they brought in snow.

And an entire petting zoo.

And of course I didn't take any pictures.

(Leave me alone. Ty wasn't there and I had to keep track of two boys in a giant crowd.)

The boys had such a great time. Jay especially loved the petting zoo. Those poor baby animals had no idea what they were in for, but they tolerated in pretty well. There was even a giant rabbit that was, no joke, nearly as big as Jay. And Jay wanted to pet it so bad, but that rabbit was not dumb and was actually quite good at evasive techniques.

We ended up waiting in line for about 30 minutes to get Leo a balloon animal. (I kept trying to get him interested in other things, but he really wanted that balloon.) And it ended up being totally worth it.

Leo was absolutely in love. He carefully carried it all the way home and he nearly cried when Jay Alvin's bear balloon blew into the bushes and popped. ("Mom, he's just going to be so sad!")

But the best part of the whole day?

Both boys slept for 4 hours after it was over.

(Wait, is he sleeping with the Thomas balloon? Of course he is.)

Visitors

2011-12-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

We had our very first visitors this past week. Grandma and Grandpa Wheeler came and we had so much fun! They helped us get settled into our house, took us sight seeing and basically spoiled Leo and Jay so badly that they've been unbearable since grandma and grandpa left. While they were here we:

~Went to the Monarch butterfly sanctuary.

In the winter time thousands of Monarch butterflies from up north migrate to Monterey to avoid freezing to death. There are over 12,000 butterflies here right now.

Here is one of the cutest ones we saw:

We walked all over the sanctuary and only saw four or five butterflies in the air.

(Here's another cute one):

All the rest of the butterflies were in a single tree. (See that stuff that looks like dead leaves? That's them. I guess they're trying to stay warm.)

They even put butterflies on the port-o-johns.

Cute, right?

~Went to the beach.

The sandy one, the rocky cliff one and the tide pool one.

~Toured the point Pinos Lighthouse.

(It's the oldest, continually running lighthouse on the west coast.)

Jay thought it would be fun to go down the stairs all by himself.

~Played SkipBo almost continuously.

Seriously, it got to where you couldn't even remember if you'd won or not because all the hands ran together.

~Sat on Santa's lap.

(Against our will, apparently.)

We asked Leo what he was going to tell Santa he wanted for Christmas.

His response?

"Candy."

And would you believe that Santa granted his request immediately?
Leo held onto that little candy cane for two days before he ate it.

~Took lots of naps.

(Naps were not limited to little boys either.

We don't discriminate like that around here.)

~Went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.*

Twice.

It really is as good as people say it is.

Leo could sit at the Open Ocean tank for hours and be completely entertained.

~Went back to the Choo-Choo train park.

~And just had an all-around good time.

Come back guys! We miss you already!

*We got an annual passport to the aquarium that comes with 2 reusable guest passes. That means you'll get 2 free admissions to the aquarium when you come and visit us!

You're coming soon, right?

Dennis the Menace Park

2011-11-23T12:27:00.000-07:00

*Due to the length of my last two posts, I will do this one with as few words as possible.

We finally made it to the park.
There's a big suspended bridge:

Tunnels to climb through:

A rock wall:

Lots of slides:

Three separate play structures:

A hedge maze:

And Jay's favorite,
the roller slide:

(He made me take him down it on my lap over and over again.)

Jay thinks he's big now and is constantly attempting things like this:

Leo on the roller slide:

The big train (Finally!):

Jay taking a shortcut out of the maze:

Does anyone else remember these?
I loved them!

The train in all its glory:

There aren't very many pictures with the boys in them because they wouldn't hold still long enough for me to take any. They had a blast.

Tuesday A.K.A. Our first day in Monterey without Ty

2011-11-17T15:01:00.000-07:00

There's a really cool park here in Monterey called Dennis the Menace park. You can see it from the road that we take to get everywhere and we'd been wanting to take the boys there ever since we got here. Since Ty was going to be in class all day for the first time on Tuesday, I decided that was a good time to go and use up some of our free time. We made it to the park without incident, only there was a sign saying, "The park is closed today." Leo was incredibly bummed, since he could now see that the park had a big, old steam engine he could crawl all over. I told him that we would go to another park and come back to the choo-choo train park later. We ended up going to the park by our new house. (Which, by the way, is one of the coolest parks I've ever seen. And another one of the coolest parks I've ever seen is just around the corner from us. You really should come out here and see it for yourself. We have an extra bedroom you can stay in . . . I'm just sayin'.) While we were there I talked to another mom ans she said, "Oh, the Dennis the Menace park is only closed in the morning. You can go back later." So I told Leo that we just had to put Jay down for a nap and we could go as soon as he woke up.
3 Hours Later:
We went back to the Dennis the Menace park and it was still closed. Apparently they are not open on Tuesdays during the school year. So we ended up going to the park on the military base, which is nothing to write home about. (Which is ironic because I am, in fact, writing home about it right now.)

Jay is pretty much a pro at going up and down the stairs, but you have to push him down the slides kicking and screaming. (Don't worry, he usually likes it once he's going down.)

Leo has become aware of his mortality. He is now reluctant to do things that he used to do without a second thought. Like climb up these:

Jay thought it was hilarious to climb back and forth through these so I couldn't get a picture of him.

Leo, sliding like a pro.

Just being cute.

This next picture has a horrifying story. You might want to skip it if you don't like spiders.

This whole play structure is covered with spider webs, but I hadn't seen any spiders. I assumed they were dead for the winter or something. While we were at the park Leo stuck his finger in a hole above one of the tubes. He immediately said, "Ow!" and yanked his finger out. It was followed by a furious spider who ran out so fast he fell down into the sand. I looked in the hole and there were at least two other spiders in there. Leo didn't actually get bit (I think the "ow!" was from scraping his finger on a little piece of plastic that was sticking out) but we went home right after that. While I was looking at his finger and asking if the spider bit him Leo asked, "Why was he so mad mom?"

The Miracle of the New House

2011-11-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

So, we're moving into our new house on Saturday. Yeah, this Saturday. That's before Thanksgiving, in case you didn't know. We were hoping to be in a house before Christmas, and that was us being optimistic. And the story of us getting our new house is pretty much a miracle that we can't really figure out. Seriously we don't really get it, but we'll take it. Here's a really horrible picture of our new house:

It looks like there's more off to the left, but there isn't. It's a duplex, and this is our half. Did I mention it's nearly 3 times as big as our last place? And it has fake wood floors and 3.5 bathrooms and, best of all, a spare bedroom that's waiting for you to use when you come and see us. You'd better hurry up and get out here or we might decide to turn it into a toy room.

Any how, here's the mysterious miracle story: (It will probably confuse you, because it still confuses me and I was there.)

While we were somewhere in Nevada we got a call from the military housing people. (Or maybe we called them? I really can't remember.) They said there was housing available to move into right away, but that we probably didn't want to move into it, but that we totally could if we wanted to. Did we want to? We decided that we would take a look before we decided and set up an appointment on Monday to see a model.

Monday rolled around and we went to our appointment. They acted like they had no idea why we were there or what we were talking about when we said we wanted to see the model. So they decided to look us up in their system, only we weren't in their system. So we were a week behind on the waiting list because they never actually put us on the list. So they try to nonchalantly add us to the list and the guy goes, "So with your rank that puts you. . .hold on just a moment." And then he ran off to talk to another guy and we were sure we were not ever going to get in a house. But when he came back he continued, "You're fourth on the list and we have a house that's available for you to move into on the 18th. (This was the 14th.) That's, like, just over a week from now."

So we're kind of confused because we were just trying to see a model of the old housing, but now we're signing the pre-lease papers for a new house that isn't supposed to be available for at least a month. When we finish signing the papers he pulls out a map to show us where it is so we can drive by and check it out. Only the house number he's given us isn't any where on the map. (At this point we're thinking, "Okay, so this really isn't real after all. Richard here is just a nut job.) So he runs off to talk to another employee and. . . our house is real after all. The map was just wrong. So, now we have a house and we figured everyone was just wrong for telling us it would take forever to get one.

Then on Tuesday Ty went to his class and they're going over housing and they say, "If you want new housing it's going to be one or two months because there are so many new people right now." And now we're not sure what we did that exempted us from the wait. But we're happy we did it, whatever it was.

Now, come and visit us.

Randomness from Leo

2011-11-16T13:47:00.000-07:00

While we were making our second attempt to go to the park yesterday (more on that later) Darth Vader said something along the lines of:

"In 200 yards. . .Veer left, to the Dark Side."

And then a few moments later:

"Veer left, to the Dark Side."

At which point Leo piped in with:

"Mom, he's just telling us how to go to the dark side but I want to go to the park with the choo-choo train."

Do you want to know my one and only regret about getting the Darth Vader voice? When we show Leo Star Wars for the first time he's going to wonder why the bad guy sounds like our GPS.

We Actually Did Something Fun Here

2011-11-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

First of all, let me get this out of the way.

Jay looks like a homeless man because all of his clothes were dirty.

He's wearing one of Leo's shirts to keep him warm.

His pants are too short.

His shoes are too big.

It's even worse because Leo looks a little GQ.

This did not stop every random stranger we saw from commenting on how cute Jay was.

(He's good at tricking people.)

Any how, these pictures were taken right outside of our temporary housing.

There's an obscene amount of deer here.

We saw 14 driving home from church today.

Leo loves it.

We went to Fisherman's Wharf yesterday.

It's really close and we had a lot of fun.

We walked to the end of the pier and watched the kayakers.

There was also a seal (or something like that) swimming around right beneath us.

It kept popping up above the water and diving back down again.

I'm pretty sure Jay Alvin thought it was a sea monster.

See how he's looking towards the water with a concerned look on his face?

When I handed him to Ty to take a picture Jay was sure he was going to be monster lunch.

The water was freezing.

And Leo was absolutely fascinated by it.

Jay got his feet wet this one time, and then refused to touch the water again.

Leo couldn't keep himself away from the water and ended up soaked.

Here's Jay refusing to put his feet in the water again.

The boats were also really cool.

Leo kept saying that he needed his coins so he could ride on one.

We had dinner on the pier and Ty was incredibly happy when Jay and Leo ate calamari, shrimp and clam chowder with gusto.

Their favorite part, however, was the candy shop we went to after.

I think we'll be spending a lot of time here.

P.S. We bought a GPS yesterday so we don't have to spend so much time going around in circles on one-way streets. We might have also paid $13 extra so it would give us directions in Darth Vader's voice. It was totally worth it.

We Made It!

2011-11-12T23:17:00.000-07:00

Our moving van had an AZ licence plate.

Even though we got it in Utah.

I took that as a good-luck omen.

And it didn't disappoint.

The trip wasn't nearly as horrible as I thought it would be.

(Though in all fairness, I thought it would be the most horrible thing I'd ever done.)

Mostly it was boring.

And monotonous.

And all the days ran together in a never-ending parade of roads and cheap hotels.

There was a lot of this:

Ice cream makes our hearts happy.

Leo's favorite part was this:

Jay Alvin was sad that he wasn't quite big enough to join his brother in the mad leaping from bed to bed.

Ty's favorite part was this:

Yes, we did haul our entire computer into our hotel each night so we would have internet access.

My favorite part was this:

Ty kept the boys with him the entire time.

Both boys.

All three days.

I got to be by myself for hours at a time.

It was amazing.

And we hit the 100,000 mile mark.

And I took a picture.

While I was driving.

Yeah, I know.

I rock.

I'll blog more about our new home tomorrow.

For now I'm too lazy to wait for my pictures to upload.

2011-11-06T21:42:00.002-07:00

We're all packed up and ready to go.

California, here we come!

2011-11-06T21:41:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure these pictures qualify me for the "Mother of the Year" award.

If you look closely you'll see my kid eating straight sugar.

If you look even more closely you might notice that he's plopped in front of the television.

What you won't see, no matter how close you look, is that he fell asleep with some of that cotton candy still in his hand and got a large crusty spot in his hair.

It was basically one whole side of his head.

It didn't get washed out for two days.

Yeah, I know.

I rock.

2011-11-06T21:37:00.002-07:00

Leo found some googly eyes and knew just what to do with them.

Halloween

2011-11-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

I don't have any pictures of Halloween.

We took pictures, I just don't have them yet.

(They were on someone else's camera.)

So until we get them you'll just have to make do with these:

Since the boys are still too young to be trusted with sharp objects we painted pumpkins this year. Leo was in heaven. Jay, not so much. In fact, he was playing around with a paint brush and pumpkin for a while before he actually had any paint. Once I gave him paint and he colored his pumpkin he was furious about the mess. He wouldn't stop crying until I washed the paint off. He ended up playing in the yard while Leo and I finished up. (And Leo ended up painting Jay's pumpkin once his was filled up.)

2011-11-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

Lately Leo has become fascinated with the camera. He sneaks off with it whenever he can and takes hundreds of pictures. Quite a few of them are just junk shots like:

the top of Jay Alvin's head or

Dad's legs.

He has managed to take some good ones, though.

Mostly of Jay Alvin.

Here are some of the best ones:

2011-10-09T23:28:00.000-06:00

Well, it's official. We've finally reached the stage I've been dreading for over 2 years.

"Mo-om. he's touching me!"

(Seriously, the only thing worse is, "he won't stop looking at me" and we're there too.)

When I found out I was pregnant with Jay Alvin I was so excited, but my excitement was tainted by the fact that we would be here one day:

Yep, that blanket is creating a barrier between them. When we go to bed every night each boy gets to look me in the eye while I tell them, "This is your side of the bed. Stay here or I'll swat your bum."

Jay usually ends up straddling the blanket. I'm not sure if he's being defiant or if he just likes to have his leg over something. Either way, we're looking forward to being in California with our separate toddler beds.

Braaaains!!

2011-10-09T23:22:00.000-06:00

Can you tell I've got Halloween on the brain?

2011-10-06T21:38:00.000-06:00

Did you guess "Superman"?

If so you are pretty amazing, 'cause I didn't give you much to go on.

Do you know that it's pretty hard to take a cute picture of a boy who's faster than a speeding bullet and leaps little brothers in a single bound?

It's apparently a lot of work being a super hero.

And I'm super glad that this costume is done.

Only two more to go!

3 Cute Videos

2011-10-02T12:39:00.001-06:00

I'm apparently the meanest mom ever. A few months ago Jay Alvin got stuck in a baby swing. Every time he tried to get out it would start rocking really hard. He was terrified and screaming for me to help him, so I ran and grabbed the camera. Then I made him try and get out 3 more times. (I know, right? But he'll thank me one day for getting this awesome video.)

Since Leo is becoming such a grown-up little boy we've started making him clean up more of his messes. A few days ago he closed the door to his bedroom and smeared Desitin all over everything. I probably could have cleaned it all up in about 10 minutes, but Leo decided it would be more fun if he took over an hour. He literally cleaned the entire mess up at this pace, and we laughed at him the whole time.

I spent the last two days canning pears. Yesterday, once I was done, Jay decided to help himself to the leftovers.

2011-10-01T15:24:00.000-06:00

You wanna see how I spent my last 3 days?

Don't worry. I ended up with more than the two jars in the picture.

Lots more.

And I learned that it's definitely easier to buy fruit pre-canned.

Though it doesn't make you feel like a domestic goddess.

So I guess there are positives to both methods.

(But I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be thinking, "I wish I could can more fruit so I felt like a domestic goddess again," for a very long time.)

Halloween

2011-09-29T23:50:00.000-06:00

Can you guess what Leo is going to be for Halloween?

(No guessing if you already know, Tami!)

Here's a hint:

Ty supports his costume wholeheartedly even though he did not support me taking this picture.

In fact, he accused me of scarring Leo for life, not only for dressing him this way but also by documenting it for posterity.

Here's another hint:

(The blue part is the newly dyed leotard and tights.)

2011-09-24T15:46:00.000-06:00

Several weeks ago Leo decided that it would be a good idea to climb into the fire place. And, of course, he did it right after getting a bath. I'm almost positive that there has never been a fire lit in the fireplace in the 10+ years that my parents have lived here. However, that apparently didn't mean that there were no ashes in there. Leo was covered. In fact, he was almost completely cleaned up by the time I took these. I'm only putting them on here because when I took them I though to myself, "Having a blog sure has saved my kids lives on numerous occasions." And the reason for that is when something happens and I feel like I want to kill them I often say, "Well, at least it will make a good blog post." And I grab the camera instead of their little necks.

Sleeping

2011-09-23T09:40:00.000-06:00

I have about 500,000 pictures of my kids sleeping.

There are several reasons for this.

1. My kids are not very good sleepers. (So being asleep is seen as something rare and special.)

2. They often fall asleep in strange places or positions.

3. Sleeping children are quiet and do not cause disasters for me to clean up, therefore I love them best when they are in this state.

Here's a few of the one's I've taken lately:

The Family Reunion

We had a family reunion a few weeks ago. Leo fell asleep in the middle of the deck like this two days in a row. He tends to play until he drops.

And Jay took several very sweaty naps.

(It wasn't nearly as cool in the mountains as we were hoping it would be.)

The Pool Floaties

If you're considering buying your child a new mattress or bed: might I suggest pool rings?

Apparently they are very comfortable.

(This didn't even happen on the same day.)

Sleeping With Grandpa

Always a classic.

Brothers

Trying to put these boys to sleep in the same bed is somewhat of a nightmare. They cannot be touching (or even in range of touching) or else they spend all night fighting instead of sleeping. Once they fall asleep though, they often end up like this:

Living on the Edge

Lately Jay Alvin has started sleeping as close as he possibly can to the edge of the bed.

He falls off a lot.

Saved by the Chair

I went in to the boys room one night and saw Leo like this. I'm pretty sure he rolled off the end of the bed and just happened to land on the chair. He's pretty adaptable though, and didn't let it interrupt his sleep.

I'm Back!

2011-09-23T09:25:00.000-06:00

We just went on an amazing family vacation.

Seriously, we had so much fun.

The weird part?

We just went to Utah.

You know, the place we've been living for most of the last four years.

The one that I hate.

Whatever.

It was fun.

Here's some highlights:

(*"some highlights" is actually going to be a bunch of pictures from the state fair and two from Cabella's. Apparently I didn't take as many pictures as I thought with the camera and I'm too retarded to get the ones off of my phone. I'll try and make Ty figure it out later.)

State Fair

We were really bummed that we were going to miss the Utah State Fair this year. We've gone every year since we got married and we love it. When we got to Utah and realized that it was still going we were super excited.

The Dairy Farmer's Association has this little exhibit set up to teach kids about being a farmer. It's super cute. They get to go from building to building doing farm things, then to the market to "sell" their stuff, then to the store to buy something with their profits.

Here's Leo harvesting grain:

The boys walking from one building to the next:

and Jay getting his apple:

We also saw all the animals that were still there.

(Since it was the last day of the fair a lot of them had gone home already.)

The yearly sheep picture:

Jay was fascinated by the sheep:

Here's the boys with an 800+ pound pumpkin:

Jay decided to chill on the table during lunch.

And both boys thought it would be funny if we paid a ridiculous amount of money for them to get a meal and then they only ate the bag of chips. (Approx retail value: $0.50)

And, of course, they passed out before we even got out of the parking lot.

Other Fun Things We Did

*Attended the Military Intelligence Ball

(Without kids.)

It was awesome!

Did I mention we didn't take the kids?

It was really fun.

(Don't worry. Aunt Krystal and Uncle Dan kept them entertained while we were gone.)

And John Schmidt was the entertainment.

If you haven't heard him play you should probably stop reading right now and visit YouTube.

It's worth your time.

*Went to family day at Fort Williams.

They had a parade and a bunch of activities for Governor's Day.

(I'm pretty sure that's not a real thing, but who am I to judge the military for celebrating made-up holidays?)

They had a bounce house that I couldn't tear Leo away from.

He only got off of it long enough to ride the mechanical bull for approximately .33 seconds.

*Went to Krystal and Dan's open house and then watched them open all of their wedding presents.

*Hung out with some old friends.

*Went to Cabella's and saw the huge fish:

And other, assorted dead things:

*And just had a good time hanging out with each other.

We'll have to do it again some time.

Best Batter Beaters

2011-07-08T19:47:00.000-06:00

Jay Alvin had his very first experience with licking the beaters tonight. He was skeptical at first, but once he tried it he was a real fan.

And, of course, Leo joined in the fun. He was incredibly bummed that his brother got to lick the batter from his birthday cake, but he got over it when I let him have the bowl.

Happy Birthday Leo!

Summer Time!

2011-07-05T19:40:00.000-06:00

Here are a few of the thing we've been up to lately. . .

eating watermelon:

(and sometimes strawberries or mangoes)

We seriously go through about a melon a day.

We're well hydrated.

swimming lessons:

running around in diapers since it's so darn hot:

(Don't worry, only the boys are doing this one.

Though I'd be lying if I said I haven't been tempted to join them!)

And playing until we drop:

Being a super hero is hard work!

And the fact that Leo is trying to stop napping helps too.

2011-07-01T21:00:00.000-06:00

Jay has become fascinated with jumping.

He's trying super hard to figure it out.

I'd say he's just about got it.

2011-06-22T19:34:00.001-06:00

Apparently I don't feed my kids enough. . .

2011-05-26T17:25:00.002-06:00

*I picked a winner.
(I even used a random number generator, even though only three people asked for it.)
And the winner is. . .
Janie!
Congratulations!
I'll send it your way ASAP.

Give Away!!!

That's right, folks.

Free stuff.

I'm giving away a half-finished craft because I'm too lazy to complete it. (Ha! Ha!)

Though in all fairness, the half I did was way harder than the half you'll have to do if you win.

Here's the idea I stole:

And here's what I'm actually giving away:

(It's just the front piece.)

All you have to do is put a back on it and stuff it.

Voila!

Pillow.

Or you can frame it.

Or use it as a dishrag.

I don't really care.

So, if you want in just leave a comment.

I'll randomly chose the winner on

June 5, 2011

2011-05-18T17:19:00.001-06:00

If you've ever thought to yourself:

"I wonder what would happen if I had a little cold and I sneezed while I was eating a chicken nugget?"

Here is your answer:

Family Outing

2011-04-11T16:03:00.000-06:00

Today we took a little field trip to Bass Pro Shop. (because it's a cool place to go.)

Jay Alvin fell asleep on the way there. (Mid-chicken nugget, as is evidenced by the crumbs on his face and clothes.)

Leo thought it was way cool to jump over the seats and had to be let out the back way.

Here's Griffin getting ready to head out.

We saw the giant fish in the fish tank.

And we rode the elevator up the side of the waterfall.

You can see the back of the fish tank from inside of the elevator. It's pretty cool.

We got to feed the trout under the bridge.

The water is all churned up from the fish fighting over the food. They were jumping around like crazy!

Jay Alvin decided to put his feet up and chill for a while.

And then we let the kiddos ride on the quad for a little bit.

They had a blast! It was definitely worth the trip.

2011-04-06T13:45:00.002-06:00

We found this Mickey Mouse costume lying around my parent's house.

Leo insisted on wearing it around all afternoon.

2011-04-06T13:42:00.000-06:00

We bought a Groupon to AquaTots swim school for the boys. And then we dressed them in Speedo's for all four lessons. ('Cause we're mean like that.)

Aren't they cute?

2011-04-06T13:40:00.000-06:00

We were all really, really sick about a week ago. Poor little Jay Alvin zonked out on the couch one night because we were taking too long to get him to his bed.

Aren't those eyes sad?

2011-04-06T13:37:00.000-06:00

Leo has finally reached the stage where he begs to have his picture taken. (Doesn't that usually happen earlier?) He's also become quite a little poser.

Some of his other favorites are:

*swimming (even in the ice-cold pool)

*being outside

*eating (especially sweet stuff)

he says, "mommy, my hongee" (I'm hungry) all the time

*playing with his cousins, especially Meghan

*helping grandpa mow the lawn

*playing with Jay Alvin

*causing trouble in any way he can

2011-04-06T13:18:00.000-06:00

Jay Alvin had his first encounter with Recess Peanut Butter Cups.

He loved it.

Obviously.

I'm pretty sure he ate them both in one bite.

(I thought he had thrown it on the ground because it was gone so fast.)

In fact, he's started eating pretty much everything in one bite these days.

Like apple slices.

I just can't help myself. . .

2011-04-06T13:10:00.001-06:00

2011-04-06T13:05:00.001-06:00

Jay Alvin is turning into quite a vocal little boy. He knows what he wants and if you don't give it to him you'll get an ear full. Most of the time what he wants is to be outside. (And you have to go with him.) This morning grandpa was outside mowing the lawn and I let Leo out to "help." I was holding the door open for Jay Alvin to follow, but he was so busy staring longingly out the window that he didn't notice.

He's just tall enough to see over the sill.

This is what he was looking at:

*He did eventually go outside and had a great time helping grandpa "give the grass a hair cut."

2011-03-10T09:55:00.000-07:00

This boy:

is obsessed with birthdays.

A few days ago I was putting away laundry and we had this conversation:

L: Happy Birthday Mom!

Me: It's not my birthday, silly.

L: Sing happy birthday?

Me: You can't sing to me if it's not my birthday.

L: Happy birthday to . . . my rock? (Holding up a little piece of gravel he was playing with.)

And then we all sang "Happy Birthday."

To a rock.

Man-icure

2011-02-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

I have man hands.

I decided to get fake nails in an attempt to make them look more feminine.

Halfway through the process I thought:

"I'll probably end up looking like a drag queen."

What do you think?

If you had to judge solely on my hands would you think,

"Wow, what a nice looking, feminine hand!"

"Wow, I can barely even tell that's a man!"

2011-02-27T10:08:00.000-07:00

Leo hangs out with a lot of girls.

I like to think this will contribute to him one day being an amazing husband.

Ty likes to think that it will contribute to him one day being gay.

On a totally unrelated note, being able to put these two in the same bed is basically the best thing ever.

Mostly because my body is not in the midst of that tangle of limbs.

And these two:

are pretty much besties.

I love it.

2011-02-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard. . .

All of my dreams have come true.

As of Feb. 7 we are living in the happiest place on earth.

That's right, friends.

Disneyland.

No, I'm just kidding.

It's Arizona, and we are loving it!

Last Friday we took the boys to Freestone park and rode the little train.

Leo was in heaven.

Jay was pretty fascinated too.

He leaned over the side like this the entire time.

And here's video evidence:

(No joke, I take videos of things just to prove to our kids that we did fun stuff with them when they were little.)

And just for fun:

(How cute is that?)

Happy Valentines Day!!!

2011-02-14T20:49:00.000-07:00

Hope your day was as love-filled as ours was!

Sledding

2011-02-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

Friday afternoon we went sledding at Jolly's Ranch. It was our very first time going since we moved here 3 1/2 years ago, and it was Ty's second time going ever. (His first time was on Wednesday with his deacons quorum.) I was worried that Leo would hate it. (Mostly because of this incident from our trip to the state fair this past year.) But he loved it. We couldn't even get him out of the tube. No joke he would ride down the hill, usually by himself, and then wait at the bottom for someone to come down and pull him back up. Then, as soon as he got back to the top he would say, "My turn." and then point to the hill he wanted to go down. (What a spoiled kid, right?)

Jay Alvin, on the other hand, did hate it. That didn't stop us from sending him down repeatedly though. This video is of his very first ride. He's in a tube with Leo, which seems like a really mean thing to do, but we only sent them down half the hill.

Jay Alvin was the first to get too cold to keep playing, but Leo followed shortly after.

And, as always, Leo fell asleep on the way home.

*Bonus*

Here's the video of Leo's first time down the hill. He's riding with his Aunt Melissa.

Here is Leo climbing the pile of snow on the side of the parking lot:

And here is me and Jay Alvin. (Proof that I was there.)

Talent

2011-01-28T22:52:00.001-07:00

Jay Alvin decided today that he was ready to walk. Up until now he has refused to even try. As soon as you let go of his hands, or if he even thinks you might be about to let go, he'll drop to the ground. So this evening I set him down expecting him to sink to the floor, but instead he took a step so he could reach the cabinet. Then, the took four or five steps. Then we took this:

He had already taken a few steps and when we turned the camera on he froze.
*P.S. This morning we tried to get him to do it again and he absolutely refused. As soon as we let go he dropped to the floor. I guess he needs to be really tired so he doesn't remember that he's afraid.

And while we were looking at video clips we found this little gem:

Yeah, he just ate half a banana in 3 bites and he didn't even choke on it.

That's my boy. :)

Random Catch-up

2011-01-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

Let me just start by saying that I really didn't take very many pictures while we were in AZ. We did a TON of things that aren't going to make it into this post, but this is the least stressful way for me to get this done, so there.

*Jay Alvin was in love with the memory foam mattress we slept on. He slept so well the entire time we were gone, and I couldn't get enough of that little bum sticking up in the air.

*I only took two pictures of Christmas morning. The boys were too excited to hold still. This one is (obviously) Leo with his Buzz Lightyear. He got way too many toys but still insisted on taking all of Jay Alvin's toys too.

*And here's Jay playing with some of his cars. That's mostly what he got (since Leo is so stingy about sharing).

*Jay Alvin had a dirty diaper while he was over at his great-grandma's house. Rather than bring him back for a diaper change, Grandma Reber just borrowed one of great-grandma's.

*It was hilarious and ridiculous. When he first came back over the diaper was neatly tucked into his onesie. It didn't take him long to bust out of it though.

*Jay loved trying to steal Grandpa Wheeler's pen and/or glasses.

*Lots of treats were consumed.

(And Jay is not wearing a shirt under his sweater vest because he pooped on it, not because I was trying to make a fashion statement.)

*I feel like this picture sums up our trip. It went by in a blur. We just went from one fun thing to the next and, before we knew it, it was over. We miss you, AZ!

*This might be my favorite picture of Leo ever.

Even though it's totally blurry.

*We spent a lot of time just hanging out and, despite the less-than-thrilled look on Leo's face, we really enjoyed it.

*And this is my favorite picture of Jay Alvin. He looks like some kind of crime boss.

*Believe it or not, all that mess was caused by a single Oreo.

*And to finish up, another of my favorites. My dad found this Jeep that someone was just throwing away so he snatched it up. The only problem was that it didn't work any more and was ridiculously hard to push. You can see that he figured out a way to solve that problem. Leo is still talking about it.

2010-12-02T13:08:00.000-07:00

Chocolate makes us happy.

That's all.

2010-11-29T10:58:00.001-07:00

Speaking of food:

Jay Alvin loves food. Any kind. (Except for baby food. He's decided that he's too good for pureed food.) Any how, the other day he and Leo were playing on a mattress on the floor. They had some goldfish crackers that got spilled onto the floor. When Jay Alvin went after them he ended up falling on his face, but he didn't let that stop him. He was shoving fish into his mouth before he even rolled over.

And yesterday he decided to take a nap like this.

(Which is totally unrelated to anything in this post.)

2010-11-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

Leo loves ice cream. He would eat it all day long if I would let him. (I wonder where he gets that from?) This morning he rolled out of bed and said, "Mom. Dora?" (This is how we usually start the day.) I dragged myself out of bed and pulled up Dora on Netflix. I started a random episode and went back to bed. Well, the episode I chose just happened to be one where Dora and Boots go chasing after an ice cream truck. Within minutes Leo was in our room asking for ice cream. When I told him we were out of ice cream he informed me that I could get some from the truck. So I explained to him that all the ice cream trucks in Utah were hibernating for the winter, and that seemed to satisfy him. A few minutes later however he came running up to me (I was in the bathroom at this point) and told me that if I went across the lake I could find the truck. (Just then I heard Dora say, "Help us get across the lake and to Coney Island so we can find the ice cream truck.) How do you argue with that?

I didn't. I just got the boy some ice cream.

Sad Story

2010-11-29T10:45:00.000-07:00

Walmart lost Leo's picture with Santa.

Huge sad face.

They told me, "Come back tomorrow. (Yesterday.) Santa will be here again."

So, even though it was Sunday, I dragged Leo back to sit on Santa's lap again.

But Santa had the flu that day.

*Sigh*

He won't be back again until after we're gone.

Sorry Leo.

P.S. If you want to shop for Christmas without the hassle of holiday crowds go to Walmart in Utah on Sunday morning. I think there were only 10 people there.

2010-11-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

I love Walmart.

I know some people refuse to shop there, but I'll never understand why. Everything you need is right there in one place. They have the lowest prices and they'll price match if they don't. And today, they had Santa. Now, I have never had any intention of taking my kids to see Santa. Every time I hear someone talk about it, it seems like a nightmare. I just don't care enough to stand in line and then pay a bunch of money for a picture of my kid crying on some strange man's lap. But today there was no line, Santa was incredibly nice, and the pictures were free.

Yes that's right.

FREE.

I love Walmart.

Leo's picture will be posted soon. It took all of our shopping trip to convince him to sit on Santa's lap so his picture wasn't printed when we picked these up.

2010-11-15T18:04:00.002-07:00

When Jay Alvin wants to be picked up he does this really adorable thing. He'll crawl up to you and bump his head into your leg. Then he'll just keep rocking back and forth on his hands and knees, bumping into you repeatedly, until you pick him up. If you're sitting in a chair he'll even bump up against the chair until you get him. We've been trying to get it on video for weeks, because he's starting to use other methods to get what he wants. Of course, as soon as we pull out the camera he won't do it. Well, this morning he started crawling towards Ty so I grabbed the camera and started filming. Only, instead of what he usually does he just crawled up to Ty and stopped in front of him. So Ty picked him up, moved him across the room and we tried again. This is what happened:

What a little stinker! He's totally laughing at us. Good thing he's so cute.

Oh, and I cut Leo's hair yesterday. No more pony tails.

2010-11-11T11:00:00.001-07:00

Sometimes when I'm combing Leo's long, thick, blonde hair I just can't help myself. . .

Sorry son!

2010-11-09T18:59:00.000-07:00

Today I am thankful that I have so much to be thankful for.

As I was putting this adorable turkey on our wall I was reminded once again that we are so blessed.

(I emphasized adorable because Ty thinks it's obnoxious looking and he wants to punch it in the face every time he sees it. "It's the beady little eyes.")

Some of the feathers are a little silly, and quite a few are trivial, but one of the things I've been feeling extra grateful for is that I have a Heavenly Father who knows me, loves me, and has a plan for me.

I know this.

I've always known this.

But for some reason it often slips my mind.

This past year we have made a lot, and I really do mean a lot, of changes to our life plan.

There were many, many times when I felt like we had no idea what we were doing.

(Probably because we didn't.)

We had a vague end-goal in sight and I felt like we were stumbling blindly towards it.

These past few months though, things have really started to come together.

I'm starting to see how Heavenly Father guided us to make the choices that would lead us to this place.

If you would have told me 6 months ago that I would still be in Utah, not only now but for the next year, I probably would have killed myself.

But that's the plan and I just feel peace.

I'm so thankful.

Random

2010-11-08T08:16:00.003-07:00

This is what Jay Alvin's hair looks like if you don't comb it right after he takes a bath:

Leo wishes he was a girl so he could wear headbands all the time.

We're letting him grow his hair out so he can see what it's like. (Actually, we're letting him grow it out because getting a haircut is super traumatic for him.)

Jay Alvin thinks he's big enough to walk. He's been pulling himself up on anything and everything. A few days ago he pulled himself up on my leg and then let go and stood there on his own for a few seconds.

He also gives kisses now. It's my current "favorite thing ever." Even though they're totally drool-filled, they're the best.

Leo is becoming a scooter-riding pro. His poor ankles are covered with bruises and scratches.

He loves to get dirty. On Saturday he dug a big hole in the front yard. (Don't worry. We filled it back in.)

I think it's funny when my kids eat dirt. I don't even try and stop them.

That's all.

We Had Visitors!!!

2010-11-06T16:24:00.001-06:00

As you probably noticed in the Halloween pictures, Grandma and Grandpa Wheeler came to visit us. We had so much fun with them! We went to the park several times.

And to the Farmer's Market.

(Every time Leo saw them he would run to them and give them a big hug. It was incredibly cute and definitely made grandma and grandpa feel loved.)

We ate lots of good food.

And just had fun hanging out together.
Leo even got a new truck.
(Which he adores.)

We sure miss you guys!!!
Especially since we went from being totally entertained for an entire week to being totally on our own since you left. (Even Ty's been gone most of the time.)

Come back soon!

(Pretty please!!!)

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-02T20:23:00.000-06:00

2010-10-26T13:32:00.000-06:00

Last night we took Leo to the movies for the first time ever. He did so good and we had a lot of fun. We even got to leave Jay behind. We saw Toy Story 3 and loved it.

(We were a little late so we didn't get to take a picture with the lights on.)

2010-10-26T13:29:00.000-06:00

Ty's sister Krystal watched Jay Alvin for us while we were at the movie. We we got home I found these:

hidden around the house. Most of you know I'm terrified of spiders. I hate them more than anything, but I've really been trying not to pass my phobia on to my boys. I really try not to freak out in front of them when I see a spider, but there have been a few times when Leo's seen me screaming about one. This morning as I was getting out of the shower I could hear Leo saying, "Bug, mom. Bug." I thought he was talking about a fly or something so I just kept saying, "Oh yeah? Cool." When I got out of the bathroom he was staring at the plastic spider that was down between the stove and the heater. I pulled it out, told him it was just pretend and tried to get him to touch it. Yeah right. He wasn't having anything to do with that. So then I threw the spiders over toward Jay Alvin so Leo could watch Jay get them and see that it was okay. As soon as Jay started moving towards them Leo yelled, "Baby, stop! Don't! Spiders!" And ran over to protect his brother.

It took all morning, but he did eventually pick one up.

But he still keep his distance from them when he sees one.

2010-10-26T13:21:00.000-06:00

After the movie we came home and had Leo try on his Buzz Lightyear costume. (Aunt Krystal brought it up from Arizona.) I thought he was going to be so excited about it. Especially since we had just seen the movie. He was not. I had to force his limp body into the costume and then he lay on the kitchen floor like this:

for a good three or four minutes. So I thought maybe he would be excited once he saw himself looking like Buzz. Into the bathroom we went. Again he was limp as a noodle and he refused to open his eyes and look in the mirror. Finally we just left him on the bathroom floor. A few minutes later he came out in full Buzz mode.

He kept showing me his wings and saying, "Look, mom. Fly." And then, of course, he didn't want to get out of the costume to go to sleep.

*Sigh*

(Thanks for letting us use the costume Julie!)

2010-10-26T13:16:00.000-06:00

Lately Leo has decided that he needs a bottle. (Which is doubly aggravating because he refused to take a bottle as a baby.) Since we generally take them away from him when we catch him, he's started hiding them around the house.

2010-10-26T13:12:00.000-06:00

It's sweater-vest season.

I'm lovin' it!

(P.S. Now that Jay Alvin can crawl he thinks he's big enough to do things like stand at the piano. He's going to be climbing things in no time.)

Update

2010-10-15T11:30:00.000-06:00

Jay Alvin

This boy is growing faster than we can track. Every day he's doing something new. He just started crawling and he is into everything. He doesn't like you to see him crawling though. Whenever we leave the room he'll start moving towards wherever we are, but as soon as we come and look at him he collapses on the ground and starts whining like, "It's too hard. I just can't make it." Also, any time we try and get pictures or video of him crawling he acts like it's really hard for him. He goes really slow and sits down every couple of inches. If there's something he wants, however, he can move lightning fast. And, even though he's only been crawling for about a week, he is dying to walk. He is constantly trying to pull himself up on whatever is available. It's so much fun having a mobile boy, but I don't love that he can get whatever he wants now. Every time I come back into a room I have to check his mouth to make sure he's not eating something he shouldn't. It's a lot harder to keep small things off the ground with Leo around. He doesn't seem to get the idea of choking to death. And speaking of Leo, Jay Alvin just loves him to death. He thinks Leo is so funny and loves to be doing whatever his big brother is doing. I can't wait until he's a little older and they can actually play together. So fun.

Leo

This boy is becoming quite the little helper. He especially loves to help me in the kitchen. Even though it makes a huge mess and takes twice as long to make anything with his help, I'm trying to remember that one day soon he won't want to help any more and I'll wish he would. (He's already starting to tell me "stop mom" when I sing to him or play with him when he doesn't want me to.) Leo is talking more and more every day. I'm constantly surprised by the things that come out of his mouth. He loves Jay Alvin and is constantly telling me what "my baby" is up to. The other day, after Ty had called Jay Alvin a stinker son, Leo said, "Mom, the baby is a stinker son." I guess we're going to have to watch what we say a little more closely. Leo still loves to play outside and runs everywhere he goes. Hopefully he'll keep that up so he can be a big-time track star and get a scholarship to the college of his choice. (No harm in planning ahead, right?) He loves trains, trucks, planes and tractors of any kind. There's a little train that you can ride around the Provo mall and Leo loves to watch it go by. In fact, the train conductor recognized him because he gets so excited and bought him some cotton candy the last time we were there.

Me and Ty

I spend most of my time doing "mom" things like cleaning, entertaining boys and cooking. We're trying to take advantage of the last little bits of warm weather so we've been spending more time than usual outside. I also started taking advantage of the library again so I've been reading two or three books at a time for the last few weeks.

Ty joined the National Guard. So far he hasn't had to do much with that, but he's still going to BYU and will finish his last class in December.

2010-10-11T20:36:00.002-06:00

Today I

*Washed and folded two loads of laundry.
*Cleaned the connections on our car battery (again) so we could get the car to start just one or two more times.
*Entertained 2 kids at the mall for over an hour while Ty got his eye exam.

*Cleaned poop out of two outfits.

*Played FrontierVille 3 times.

*Made a batch and a half of Greek Yogurt.

(Homemade is way better and way cheaper than store bought.)

*Ate cotton candy that a random stranger bought for my boys.

*Made lunch and dinner.
*Put boys down for naps.

*Checked blogs.

*Washed dishes.

(Don't worry. There are still plenty more to be washed.)

*Met a girl that (maybe) worked at the US Embassy in Israel at the same time as Ty.

*Spent more money than I should have buying skin care products from previously mentioned Israeli girl.
*Watched Dumbo four times in a row without stopping at Leo's request.

("Mommy, I watch effant?")

*Changed the sheets on Leo's bed.
*Spent approximately 20 minutes feeling like I hadn't done anything today and trying to figure out how to manage my time more wisely.

*Blogged.

Enlistment #2

2010-10-08T17:26:00.002-06:00

This took place this morning:

I enlisted in the Utah National Guard, I will be 35L counter-intelligence agent. It was a 3 year commitment. I hope to eventually go to the Defense language Institute for Arabic, but that isn't a for sure thing, yet.

They weren't in the video, but Leo and Jay Alvin were there and were well behaved for the several hours that we were there. Kristen did the filming.

Laughing

2010-09-30T11:32:00.000-06:00

Jay Alvin is an incredibly happy baby. He'll laugh at just about anything, except the camera. We've been trying to get his little laugh on tape for ages now and this morning we finally did it.

Enjoy!

2010-09-27T13:29:00.000-06:00

I did laundry this morning. When I went to put a dryer sheet in the dryer I found this:

Also, Jay Alvin likes beans.

That's all.

Random

2010-09-22T19:29:00.000-06:00

*When you comb Jay Alvin's hair straight back after a shower it naturally goes into a little faux hawk. It's pretty cute.

*This is Leo's new favorite spot in our house:

From here he can watch TV, oversee everything that his brother is doing and jump to me when he can get my attention.

*The construction in front of our house is finally coming to an end. Everyone is excited about this except for Leo. He's going to miss those trucks.

*Jay is really trying to figure out how to crawl. He mostly does it on the bed since he doesn't like the feel of his face against the carpet.

*We decided to try the 3 day potty training method. I didn't even last a day. Leo is perfectly capable of, but totally unwilling to go in the toilet. It made me angry.

Ever since we gave up (after one day) Ty and I have made a big deal of going potty, getting a treat and eating it in front of Leo in a gloating manner. We enjoy it way too much and Leo still refuses to use the toilet.

*Even though he stinks at potty training he's getting better and better at playing with his brother. I love it!

*We've been taking advantage of the last bits of good weather.

*And last night I found Leo singing a made-up song and dancing by himself on the kitchen table.

Fun at the Fair

2010-09-17T16:55:00.001-06:00

Today we made our annual trip to the Utah State Fair.

It was tons of fun.

Maybe the best year ever.

We started by taking Leo through this little demonstration they had set up to show little kids what it would be like to be a farmer. He got to go from building to building doing things like milking a cow, harvesting apples, driving a tractor, gardening etc. Each place had an item that he got to put in his basket. At the end he went to the "farmer's market" and turned it all in. Then he used his money from that to go to the market and get a treat. (He picked strawberry milk.) At first he was a little hesitant, but by the end he was all for it. Here he is sorting through his items at the farmer's market:

After that we went to the big, yellow slide. I was so excited for Leo to love this. He didn't. In fact, he hated it. When we got to the top I set him down and he wouldn't even stand up until I held his hand. Then when we sat down he kept saying, "No, no, please, no." We made him go down it twice. (Because we bought 6 tickets in advance.) This is his second time down. You can't tell, but he's screaming the whole way.

I know, we're mean. We like it.

Next we introduced Leo to the joys of the Beef Feast. (Thank you Cattlemen's Association of Utah.) This is the real reason we go to the State Fair.

After that we went to the sea lion show and then to the animals.

I'm pretty sure this chicken was bigger than Jay Alvin:

And this turkey for sure weighed more than Leo:

Here's the yearly goat picture:

Around this time Jay Alvin pooped out.

So we let Leo spend some more time at his favorite part of the fair.

And then we left. Leo, of course, fell asleep as soon as he got buckled in.

2010-09-11T19:26:00.000-06:00

Goodbye summer!

We're gonna miss you!!!

(It's officially cold here. We pulled out the winter clothes today.)

2010-09-07T11:21:00.000-06:00

In case you don't know, this is Buzz Lightyear:

Leo is Obsessed.

We watched Toy Story round the clock until I thought I would scream.

Then I bought Toy Story 2 just for a little variation.

I'm pretty sure we've watched it at least 3 times a day.

This morning (after watching it yet again) I decided I was done with Toy Story.

I pulled out a selection of other movies that Leo likes and asked him to choose one.

He carefully considered all of the choices then said,

"More Buzz, mom."

Sigh

Invasion of the Bed Snatchers

2010-08-27T17:14:00.001-06:00

2010-08-23T11:27:00.000-06:00

This one:

is growing up faster than I can believe.

He has so much energy and is constantly testing my limits of endurance.

Lately he's been such a talker.

In addition to his constant jabbering we've been hearing a lot of actual words.

English ones.

He loves to say, "Thank you, momma."

And he sometimes calls Ty "mom Ty."

The other day we went swimming at the public pool. He was absolutely devastated when we had to leave.

He came out of the locker room where Ty had gotten him dressed and, sobbing, said, "He took my suit, mom. He took my suit."

It was adorable and kind of sad.

He's also (finally) able to do puzzles.

As in, he figured it out this morning.

It's pretty cute and he's quite proud of himself when he gets them all in.

He's still the master of naughtiness.

He's so creative.

I'm trying to focus on that instead of the mess/frustration.

That's him pulling all of the "bunches" out of the Honey Bunches of Oats.

The rejected flakes got dumped on the floor.

And we're still seeing this:

quite often.

It's okay though, because we're getting a lot more of this too:

He's a good brother and he loves Jay to death.

Sometimes Jay even loves him back. :)

2010-08-20T21:21:00.000-06:00

This boy:

is getting cuter by the minute.
(Literally, you can sit around and watch him get cuter.)

It kills me.

I love him to death.

Lately some of his favorites are:

*food

He notices everything that goes into everyone's mouth.

And he wants it.

He's even started trying to charm it out of you.

As soon as he notices you eating he'll start cooing and smiling as if to say, "Aren't I cute? Don't you want to share with me?"

You think I'm making this up, but after he cutes it up real good he'll start glancing back and forth between your face and your food, just in case you didn't get the hint.

It might be my favorite thing ever.

*bath time

He loves being in the shower.

He spends the entire time trying to grab a hold of the water.

And when you let a little stream of it hit him in the mouth his tongue darts out to get it.

Adorable.

*being naked

(Don't you just love that chub?)

I'm pretty sure he gets poop on his clothes just so he can get away with being naked.

He's sneaky like that.

2010-08-12T12:55:00.000-06:00

Yesterday the weather was perfect.

We took advantage.

Boys

2010-08-06T12:21:00.000-06:00

Jay Alvin

This boy recently started eating solid foods, and he loves it. In fact, I'm pretty sure his entire world is now categorized into "things I can eat" and "things I can't eat." Every time he sees something new you can see the little wheels in his head turning, trying to evaluate its food potential. And he gets really angry when you eat in front of him and don't share.

He's also getting more and more happy and interactive every day. He loves to watch Leo and he thinks Leo is the funniest person ever. He still hates his car seat, but he's loving his bouncer. He's pretty good about jumping long enough for me to get a shower and even do a little cleaning. We sure love his cute little face.

Leo

This one is becoming more and more independent. I can't leave him alone for any amount of time without worrying about what he's getting in to.

He absolutely loves his little brother and wants to be touching him constantly. (This is a bit annoying to Jay Alvin and also to me because it makes Jay scream.) He loves to share (unless you ask him to) and lately he especially wants to share his food with his brother. The other day I handed Leo a package of fruit snacks and he immediately ran into where Jay Alvin was. I didn't hear him make any noise so I rushed in and, sure enough, there was a fruit snack in Jay's mouth. I got it out before he choked on it, but Jay was sure mad about losing his treat.

Leo continues to amaze me with his ability to come up with new and exciting ways to get into trouble. Just when I think he's exhausted every possibility, he surprises me yet again. Just this morning he flushed a barrette down the toilet, covered Jay's hair in hand soap and flooded the bathroom floor all in about 5 minutes. Every day with him is an adventure.

2010-08-02T16:07:00.000-06:00

"Little people like you and me, if our prayers are sometimes granted, beyond all hope and probability, had better not draw hasty conclusions to our own advantage. If we were stronger, we might be less tenderly treated. If we were braver, we might be sent, with far less help, to defend far more desperate posts in the great battle."
C. S. Lewis

2010-07-26T18:05:00.000-06:00

Today a surprise rainstorm kept us trapped on the porch, but we didn't really mind.

"Why not?" you ask.

That's right, my Arizona friends. It's 75 degrees here right now.

The Rest of the Trip

2010-07-26T17:54:00.002-06:00

The rest of our trip went something like this:

(in no particular order)

*Spend the Day at the Lake

*Play Hide-and-Seek in the Cool Chest

*Swim

*Mow the Lawn

*Have a Birthday Party

(Get a Really Cool Truck)

*Play in the Hose

(without permission)

*Just Because

*Get Held a Lot

*Swim Some More

*Fly Home

We had such a great time and wish we could do it again. We love you all! Come and play with us sometime.

Grandpa

2010-07-26T17:44:00.000-06:00

One of the reasons for our visit to AZ was to see my grandpa, Jay Ballard Coombs. (He's the one Jay Alvin is named after.) Grandpa had Alzheimer's for about 6 years and he passed away earlier today. We're grateful we were able to say good bye and that he was able to meet Jay Alvin. Grandpa always loved babies and that's something that the Alzheimer's never took away from him. When we took Jay Alvin over he said, "Who's this? Let me hold him." I'm grateful that grandpa is finally able to be rid of the mortal body that gave him so much trouble these past few years, but I'm sure going to miss him. We love you grandpa!

2010-07-09T17:25:00.000-06:00

We've been in Arizona for three days now and have already gone swimming three times. We're loving it! Leo has absolutely no fear of the water, but he also has absolutely no ability to keep himself from drowning. None. It makes for quite an adventure. I am seriously chasing him around like a maniac the entire time. Especially when he gets out of the water because he'll just randomly jump in whether or not there's someone there to catch him. On Wednesday night he did this:

at least a hundred times without stopping. It was insane and hilarious. At one point he even fell in the spa on his way around. It didn't even slow him down. He just climbed out and jumped right back in the pool. I think we'll be starting swimming lessons when we get back to Utah.

2010-07-09T17:20:00.000-06:00

The day before we left for AZ the construction workers who are re-building the street in front of us were kind enough to put an eight foot high pile of dirt right in front of our house.

(This is our house.)

At first I thought, "Oh great. I'm going to have to keep Leo out of that dirt pile all day." But then he didn't even seem to notice it. After we'd passed it by three or four times on our way around and around the block I started to think, "It would be pretty fun to climb all over that. I mean, it's a little boy's dream." Then I started thinking, "Shoot, I want to climb all over that. . . . I'm gonna." And I did. It was a lot of fun.

Leo must have climbed up and slid down at least a dozen times.

Jay even got in on the fun.

At one point Ty was using Jay Alvin's foot to kick dirt on Leo while Leo was trying to climb up. Leo finally stopped and totally gave Jay a, "What the crap?" look. It was hilarious.

I'm almost sad that it will be gone by the time we get back.

Leo's Birthday Bash

2010-07-05T21:40:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Leo's second birthday today (since the boys and I will be in AZ for the big day). May I just say that birthday number two was way more fun than birthday number one? Because it was. Leo was so excited about his presents.

In fact, he could hardly make himself set one down to open the next one. (See how he's holding his new sunglasses in one hand and trying to open the next present with his other hand?)

We had to take several breaks in between presents so he could get a little play time in.

Leo's favorite gift by far was the lawnmower. (Thanks grandma, grandpa and Krystal!)

He did not want to stop playing with it. In fact, after he opened it he barely took his hands off of it until we made him come inside for cake and ice cream. (And he's been crying about not getting to eat that ice cream for the past two days.)

I, of course, broke the candle in half trying to get it out of the box and we had to melt it back together again.

Leo was really cute blowing the candle out. It took him about 20 tries, but he did eventually do it.

And Jay Alvin got his first taste of real food. (He was hoping for the ice cream, but watermelon was a pretty good second choice.)

Happy Birthday Leo!

2010-06-13T17:08:00.000-06:00

29 years ago today this handsome hunk of a man was born.

I'm so grateful that he was.

Love you Ty!

2010-06-12T21:31:00.000-06:00

Life has been a little overwhelming lately.

Here's some of what we've been up to:

-Packing to move to AZ.

-Getting Ty through his last two classes before graduation.

-Ty deciding he wants to get a minor in Arabic.

-Fighting all day long with BYU to postpone Ty's graduation.

-Cancelling all plans to move to AZ (3 weeks before the scheduled move date).

-Running around like crazy trying to find a new place to live.

-Finding a basement apartment that we love. (Our land lord and his wife are a little crazy in a good way.)

-Realizing that there is no possible way for us to get our couch into said basement apartment.

-Sneakily retrieving our neighbors old recliner from the dumpster just hours after we see them take it there.

-Not so sneakily accepting an old dresser from the same neighbors.

-Breaking the sad news of our decision to the people back in AZ. (If you're just finding out now, I'm sorry. I could only make so many calls without collapsing in a sobbing heap on the floor.)

Any how,

Here's a cute picture to cheer you up:

AZ Trip

2010-05-31T20:33:00.000-06:00

Sorry I've been MIA. The boys and I took a last-minute trip to Arizona and it was so much fun. Leo spent a lot of time playing with grandpa's tractor.

(This one and the riding mower.)

And we got to spend a lot of time playing with cousins.

These three were all born around the same time. (Jay is actually two months behind, but Ryann and Gage are just weeks apart.) Poor Ryann has the least hair of the bunch.

We also went swimming several times. It was freezing and I didn't take any pictures. Leo turned blue both times but he wouldn't get out while everyone else was still in.

Jay got to meet a couple of his great-grandparents for the first time.

Here he is with Great- grandma Reber.

He spent a lot of time naked because it was hot and also because I love his rolly belly.

Grandma and Grandpa Reber got a new puppy a few weeks before we got there. At first Leo was afraid of him but by the end of the week Kaiser was the one running away.

Another one of Jay Alvin, just because he's cute.

And one of the boys with Grandpa Wheeler who was a huge help all week long. (I think he put Jay to sleep more often than I did.)

Thanks grandpa!

Hiking

2010-05-10T10:48:00.001-06:00

On Saturday we took the boys on their first hike. We did the Stewart Falls trail up by Sundance. There was still quite a bit of snow so it was a bit treacherous in places. It was a lot of fun though. Leo started out on Ty's shoulders (so he wouldn't slip on the snow and fall to his death).

I carried Jay Alvin in the Snugli.

It wasn't too bad except for the fact that I couldn't see where I was putting my feet. I slipped and fell about five times, but Jay never even woke up.

Once we got past the snow Leo took off. He kept tripping over roots and rocks at first. Then he figured out how to look where he was going and he did really well.

(He's pointing out a root so we don't trip on it.) Eventually he got so confident that he did part of the hike backwards.

Except for the parts with snow he hiked in all by himself.

When we were almost to the falls we came across a place where an avalanche had covered the trail earlier this year.

It was an adventure to get over. (This was the first place I fell.) But it was really cool to see.

You could even see where the fault line was.

(I'm a big nerd and this was exciting for me.)
Shortly after this we made it to the falls and sat down for a quick lunch.

Leo wanted to go swimming until he got close enough to feel how cold the water was.

Because it was now his nap time Leo started getting a little cranky.

And Jay Alvin just slept the whole time. (I'm not trying to look contemplative in this picture. I just didn't know that my face was in it.)

Any how, Leo wanted to be carried the entire way out. (And I didn't blame him. I wanted to be carried out too!) He actually fell asleep on Ty's shoulders and didn't wake up until we got off the mountain.

I was laughing at him the entire way. It was pretty cute.

I think we'll be sticking with shorter hikes until he's a little bit older. :)
Here's one more of Jay Alvin that we took at the very end when he woke up.

P.S. I love the way Blogger uploads pictures now. Way easier!

2010-05-09T12:33:00.000-06:00

Jay Alvin is turning into quite the smiley little guy. (Especially when Leo is napping. :))

I love his little gummy grin.

I'm pretty sure Ty and I make the cutest babies ever. (Sorry to disappoint all of you other parents out there who think your kids are the cutest.)

He gets a little upset if you try too hard to make him happy.

2010-05-09T12:28:00.000-06:00

Lately Leo has been spending a lot of his time here:

Even though I am constantly getting after him and pulling him down, he just waits until I'm not looking and climbs right back up again.