Merry Christmas!!

To all our friends and family all over the place:

We love you and wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Stairs

Yesterday Joseph fell down the stairs from the bedrooms to the main floor. He cried and had a few scratches, but he was fine. Later I asked him what happened. His comment, "I was running out of my room and forgot to stop." Funny kid. It must have been quite the feeling knowing that you were going to fall. Meanwhile, Samuel is a fanatic for stairs. He likes to climb them at any opportunity and gets very upset if you don't let him do it. We have him blocked from the stairs, but he is always trying to find a way around our barricades. If he succeeds, the first place he goes is to the stairs.

Flu shot

Yesterday we went to the health department to get some booster H1N1 flu shots for the boys. They were free and we had an appointment. The closer we got the where they gave us the shot, the more distraught Joseph became at the prospect of getting poked. He started to cry a little, so I talked to him about being brave and we could go to get him some popsicles after it was all said and done. We finally made it to the registration table and Joseph started to scream and pull away from me and yell no, no, no. Not a pretty sight. It was a tantrum like I have never seen him throw before. I talked to him again and said that he was still getting the shot, but that he was jeopardizing his chances of getting a treat. We made it into the room where they give the shots and then Joseph started to yell and scream and yell at me, all the while pulling away. Not fun. I know every parent in that room was probably irritated with me and my inability to control my tantrum throwing toddler. I was not happy with Joseph and was so upset that he wasn't behaving. I know he doesn't like shots, but this was a little over the top. He got his shot first which meant I needed to put Samuel on the floor and pin Joseph down. After he was done getting his shot, he calmed down a lot. We spoke and I asked why he did it. He thought that if he yelled loud enough, that he wouldn't have to get the shot. Instead, we went home and he sat in time out for a while. We didn't go to the library, he didn't get treats during the day, and he didn't get to watch any TV. All in all, he promised never to act that way again. After an apology and a long day of him entertaining himself with no TV (quite refreshing actually), I told him that we could go to the library. We had a good time and I hope that he learned a lesson. Maybe.

Joseph

For electronics: "goodtronics"

To daddy: "I won't tell you what color your white shirt is till Christmas."

Daddy: "Did you get me a tie for Christmas?"
Joseph shakes his head and then realizes he is lying, so he then nods his head and smiles.

Daddy: "What else are you getting me for Christmas?"
Joseph: "We still have to find a book for you, and a shirt, and..." (I think Joe has been told what most of his presents are by this point)

Joseph explains evolution:

"People didn't live with the dinosaurs. They came much later and they weren't like normal people. They were like monkeys."

Joseph likes to pretend that he is a t-rex. He holds out two fingers like claws. Today he was roaring around the house saying: "I am a carnivorous t-rex. He is a predator."

FHE

We had fun at FHE tonight. We painted dinosaur pictures as our actvity. Joseph loved it. For our lesson, we read the story of Jesus walking on water and Jesus stopping the storm. Daddy asked a few questions to see what Joseph learned:

Wind and the waves obey his will:

Daddy:"What do we do when we get scared?"
Joseph: "Wake up Jesus."

Jesus walking on water:

Daddy: "What happened to Peter?"
Joseph: "He was shrinking."

In the picture, Peter is sinking into the water, so Joseph thought he was shrinking. I will post pics of our artwork later.

Samuel

He is getting big fast. He likes to try and stand on anything now, of course, walking still makes him nervous. He likes to grab fingers and move around. It is more like a shuffle around. Samuel is babbling a lot more everyday. At night, he is still having a rough go of it. He wakes up at least once. Saturday he was up from midnight till 4 in the morning. Yeah...church was not so fun yesterday.

Joseph has decided that he doesn't want to go to the Lost World anymore. His reason, "It is too dangerous."

Thanksgiving

The kids on Thanksgiving day. This is after the feast. I didn't get any pictures of it.
The family gathered together to eat. Of course, this is after the meal. On the way over, I spilled ham juices all over my jeans and had to borrow some pants. As you can see, the kids are almost taller than me.

Happy Thanksgiving! As we spent time with our family here in Utah with my family, I am grateful that we were able to eat good food and enjoy good company. My brother came in from California. It is great to see him. Edward had to have stitches. He got hit in the eye by some guy that they were playing flag football with.

I am thankful for:

My husband. It is hard to believe that we have been married for almost 7 years. 2 boys, 2 houses, 1 graduation and many challenges later, he is still the man I love. I am grateful that he is around and that he likes to establish traditions. He is a great father to our boys.

My Joseph. He is getting so big and is so inquisitive and fun. He is my little chatterbox. I love that he loves life and is so excited about everything. He is a great big brother and is always watching out for Samuel. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father blessed me with him. He loves family home meeting, as he calls it. We are always singing the "snowman song" witha slight variation to the "pumpkin song" around Halloween.

My Samuel. My crawling, curious boy is always trying to get to things that he shouldn't play with. He loves wires and stairs. It is so fun to see him smile and interact with his big brother and his daddy. I love his little smile and how excited he gets when he pulls himself up to standing. He is my bouncy boy.

My family everywhere. I have so many supportive and loving people around me that are there for me and my family. It is hard not to be close to everyone and see them more often, but I am grateful for the moments that we have been given, no matter how long or how short they are.

Our health. We have our moments of sickness, I am just grateful that we pull through them and are still happy. I have been cancer free for 3 years now and am so grateful.

Time. I am grateful that I have time to spend with my boys. They are such a great blessing. It reminds me of a song that I loved to hear, but that I don't get to listen to often since Joe despises country music. Some of the words to the chorus are:
Let me watch my children grow, to see what they become...
Oh Lord don't let that cold wind blow, till I'm too old to die young.
Those words echo in my mind often as I look at my two little boys and it is a prayer that I pray for everyday. I am grateful that I can rear them and do things with them.

Chocolate. What more can I say there. :)

I may continue with more later, but for the moment I need to get my little boy who is starting to cry because I closed the door to the closet where the mirror was hidden.

Conversation with Joseph:

Joseph: "I see the Provo temple." (Driving home one night, coming down a hill)
Mommy: "Yes that is the Provo temple."
Joseph: "I am going to get married in the Provo temple."
Mommy: "That is where you are going to get married?"
Joseph: "Yes. God lives in the Provo temple."

Pics

Things are always hectic around our house. Here are some pics of our boys.
Joseph high-fiving a dinosaur...or at least the print.

Joseph wanted to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house, so I bundled them up because it was cold. Samuel was not happy about his outfit that made him look like a smurf. It is a little small on him, but at least he was warm.

Samuel couldn't wait for me to lay him down for a nap, so he took one in his seat instead.

I walked upstairs to go to the bathroom and I found Joseph in bed reading a book instead of sleeping. It was cute. I ran downstairs to get my camera. He likes books that require him to find things. The book he is looking at is one that you have to find things that are not right in the pictures. He laughed everytime something funny was on the page.

Samuel and daddy. He enjoys it when daddy tickles his belly with his chin. This is right before a tickledown.

My candid boy

Joseph: "Danger, heading for danger!" (Everytime Samuel crawls into a situation that Joseph views as precarious)

Yesterday on the way to church:

Daddy: "I'm hungry. I could really go for some oreos and milk."
Joseph: "Why didn't you get it?"
Mommy: "We are fasting."
Joseph: "What?"
Mommy: "We are fasting."
Joseph: "What?"
Daddy: "Do you know what fasting is?"
Joseph: "No."
Daddy: "It is when you don't eat."
Joseph: "But you 'eed to eat." (he always leaves out the n on need)
Mommy: "It is to show Heavenly Father and Jesus that you have faith and need help."
Joseph: "If you are hungry, you 'eed to eat."

Right now Joseph is walking around with 2 "claws" and roaring. He is a t-rex.

Santa and the chimney conversation aka "why we don't have fires in the chimney on Christmas":

Joseph: "We 'eed him to give us presents."
Daddy: "What if we have a fire in the chimney."
Joseph: "He will burn his butt, butt, butt. Then he will leave our house and we won't get new presents."

As for Samuel, he now climbs stairs and has started to pull himself up to a standing position. He babbles a ton and is starting to act shy around people he doesn't know or even people he recognizes. He likes it when his Uncle Ziggy comes over and tries to get his attention. Speaking of attention, he also fake coughs if we look at him after he coughs once or twice. His two top teeth are finally showing.

Song

Periodically I make up songs that I then sing to Joseph and Samuel. We were leaving Target:

Me (as I am loading them in the car): "cutie patootie, I have cutie patooties, da, da, da, da, da, my 2 cutie patooties." (Not a very good song).
Joseph: "Mommy, will you sing it again."
Me: "Cutie patootie, I have cutie patooties, da, da, da, da, da, my 2 cutie patooties."
Jospeh: "You need to put that song on the Xbox."
Me: "The Xbox. Why?"
Joseph: "So everyone can hear it."

That is a great way to start a singing career. Quality. :)

Joseph and the Lost World

In many of the cartoons and movies that Joseph has watched, people run across dinosaurs in a lost world. Joseph has contemplated this often and asked me on several occasions, "Mommy, where is the lost world?" Obviously, if it is lost, that means that no one knows where it is, but that is beside the point. This morning, as Joe and I were sleeping, Joseph brought in his dinosaurs and set them up on our comforter that is at the foot of our bed. He set up his dinosaurs in his own little lost world. He then pretended to visit it. He stomped around for awhile pretending to be a t-rex and Samuel was the baby t-rex. Joseph was teaching him how to roar and it scared Samuel a little. He then quickly said, "I'm sorry Samuel." Here is a conversation we had:

Mommy: "Joseph, when you grow up, are you going to find the lost world?"
Joseph: "Yes. I am going to find the lost world. I will be careful and be safe. I will take daddy with me so I won't be alone and scared."

It was cute. Another question he asked today, "why do we have bones?" This he asked himself and I overheard as we were watching "Legacy" during primary. He sat there examining his wrist and holding it with his other hand before he asked the question. At dinner tonight, he asked us the same question and we answered it. He then said that we are made of water (we have had the discussion before and I told him that most of our body is made of water, not including percentages).

Primary program

Today was the primary program in our ward. The past few weeks have seen a lot of practice and judging (on a scale of 1 to 10) for each song. Yesterday was the 2 hour run through/practice at the chapel. Most of the kids were extremely tired by the end of the 2 hours (we went through it 2 times). Yeah. So today we got to church and sat down for the sacrament and then went up to the podium. Joe sat with Samuel in the back, trying to entertain our hungry and sleepy and wiggly almost 10 month old. I went to the front to sit with the 4 boys in our class. They did really well. Joseph got up for his line and said, "Adam and Eve is the first family." It was said in his cute little high pitched voice. I let Joseph use my scriptures for the scripture power song. Sometime after that, he dropped them over the edge of the stand, behind the piano. He turned around and started to pout to me and said, "mommy...the scriptures fell!" His teachers reassured him that we could get it afterward, but he almost started to cry. Afterwards, the primary had treats and watched "Legacy" (note to self, kids can't sit through a movie that is made for adults). One mother said she wishes that they would have let Joseph speak more because she loves hearing his little voice. A lot of people seem to like it...I know I do. Afterwards we had class. I thought it would be a great idea to have our class make a collage or picture of something that helps them remember Jesus on the Sabbath day. Nope. Not such a great idea. It was a long church day.

Dang alarm

Samuel has gotten into the awful habit of waking up at night and refusing to go back to sleep. He purposely wakes himself up. Last night he screamed and cried from 11:30 till he finally fell asleep around 1:30 a.m. I was carrying him and trying to rock him, which only served to anger him more. I think it is time to let him cry it out. We haven't tried before because we are afraid he will wake up Joseph, plus the crib is at the opposite side of the house.

It took Joseph 3 nights and then he was good. Hopefully it will only last a few nights. Joseph cried for 3 hours the first night, about an hour and half the second night, and 30 minutes the last night. It was hard, but I don't think I can take too many more nights of trying to get him to sleep and he just screams anyway. Tonight the crib goes into the basement bedroom so I can sleep in the family room on the couch while he screams it out. I want to be close, but I will have to be strong, otherwise he will continue to stay awake and keep us up with him.

I forgot to turn off the alarm. Joseph was scared last night, so fell asleep in our room, so rather than move him, Joe went to sleep in Joseph's room. At 6:40 this morning, the alarm went off (radio talk show) and it took me awhile to realize it was on. Of course, the talking woke Samuel up. Darn it. I am tired, won't be able to take a nap, and have a long day ahead of me. I guess I will start to look for more jobs.

Interviewing again

My first interview was for a care coordinator position with AmeriCorps. It only pays a living stipend, but it seems like it would be a fun job. I think they liked me. I sent in my resume and cover letter and received a call for an interview, all within an hour of each other.

My second interview was with Gymboree. Yes...a retail store. I love their clothes and thought, why not. I enjoyed working retail summers in college. They will let me know if I get a second interview. It is only for seasonal work and I know I won't make as much as I did at UVU, but it would be fun.

I also interviewed for a position at UVU. It is a part time advisor position with graduation and transfer. I met 2 of the other candidates that were interviewing. It makes it awkward because you know they are your competition for the job and it would be counter-intuitive to say "good luck" because that means if they have good luck you weren't so lucky. Anyways. I think it went well, but I guess we shall see.

I don't know if I will be offered any positions, but until I know for sure, I will keep applying. That is what I need to do now.

And it's still going on...

Samuel is screaming in his crib because he wants to be picked up. I have till tomorrow morning to get the house clean because someone is coming to look at it. Joe has gotten the basement clean, but I have to clean the kitchen and wood floor room. I have scrubbed both toilets and one tub and want to be done. Considering we pulled out a lot of things from the garage to go through them, we have been busy and the house was a disaster area. We have cleared out some of it, but there is lots to go. I still have to vacuum upstairs. :P

What a day

It is only 4 and it has been quite the day. To begin our day, I took Joe to work in the morning. I got home and fed Joseph breakfast so we could get to preschool. I started to load the boys in the car. First, I opened Joseph's door to have him climb in. I left it open and ran inside to get Samuel from his high chair. He was going to be fed when we got to preschool. When I walked back in the garage, Joseph was in the front seat playing (passenger side). I opened Samuel's side and asked Joseph to get to his seat. My hands were full with Samuel, so I hurriedly placed the comb and keys on the front passenger side door. Joseph climbed into his seat and I got Samuel buckled and closed his door. I went to Joseph's side and buckled him in. I checked my pockets for my phone and keys and remembered I had placed the keys on the passenger side seat and could see them. I closed Joseph's door and went to open mine. It was locked, as were all the other doors. My boys were locked in the car, buckled safe and snug in their seats. Samuel was hungry and Joseph has a different seat, so he couldn't reach and unlock the door. Great...now what to do. I called Joe. Conversation:

Me: "Sweetie, the boys are locked in the car with the keys."
Joe (repeating): "You locked the boys in the car with the keys."Sounds of his coworkers repeating what he had said and laughing.
Me: "Joseph had been playing in the front seat and locked the doors while I was buckling Samuel in, and... (you know the rest). What should I do?"
Joe (laughing and asking his coworkers what I should do): "Call the police. They will unlock it for free."
Me: "Can you get me their number?"

Joe gives me the number and I called the police and they had me repeat what happened. They told me they would send an officer. While I was waiting for the police officer, I played peek-a-boo with Samuel to keep him entertained. He was hungry and strapped in and not happy. He didn't cry much. When the officer arrived, he began the process of trying to unlcok the door. Meanwhile, I see Joseph mouthing something, but can't hear him. His new favorite question to ask everyone is, "What is your name?" That is what he wanted me to ask the officer.

So here is Officer Austin working on getting our door unlocked. He was nice and told me that another police officer had locked his keys in the car with it running, so I wasn't his first call of the day.

Samuel looking at me trying to figure out what is happening. Joseph is in the flash spot. The police officer got me in and we headed to preschool. It was fun and I was stressing about my interview that was going to happen at 2 p.m. I don't own hose or pants other than jeans that fit me, so I ran to Target with the boys and then picked up Joe for work. Grandpa came to babysit and I left for my first of 3 interviews this week. I made sure I fed Samuel and then left.

The interview went well. We'll see what happens.

I rushed to the bank to pay for our car and then ran to the library to pick up a book that we had on hold. I got home and found Grandpa trying to entertain a tired Samuel. Joseph wanted some "Mexican bread" (pan dulce). I walked Grandpa to the door and turned around. There was something weird about what I saw...there was a huge patch of spots on the wall behind the fake tree.

Joseph apologized and I had him try to clean it. I had him sit in a chair while I fed Samuel. I was angry, but didn't know what to do. He is only 4 and he was probably thinking that it would look nice.

Here is his artistic contribution to our wall.

These are the little ghosts that Joseph had stamped all over the corner. I am waiting for Joe to come home because he is so much better at knowing how to talk to Joseph.

Samuel's success!!

He is getting big so fast. I have discovered that Samuel loves to eat paper and one of his new favorites, his wipes. If the container is open, he dives in. I have to be sure to leave the container closed. For instance, today I changed his diaper and left the room. I closed the container and heard lots of rustling in my room. What did I find? Samuel eating a whole in a grocery ad. Anyways...this is my cute baby crawling. He kind of hops still when he crawls and his right leg seems to get caught under him. With more practice, he will be a pro in no time. As it is, since Saturday, he has made great progress.

My boys :)

What cute and adorable kids!!

Pirate Halloween

Mommy the map, Samuel the treasure and Joseph the pirate trick-or-treating at daddy's work.

My little skeleton. He wore this under his costume on Halloween night. His favorite pajamas at the moment.

"Arrrrrgh" favorite little pirate!! His cousin Elena was a pirate as well.

Daddy with his boys. They enjoy playing with each other.

Trick-or-treating with the kids. Destiny was sick this night and Kayla and Robert would follow in the days afterwards. So would Joseph. We got lots of candy and the kids even heard a scary story about Jack and not keeping the Sabbath holy by fire on cushions outside. We even went to the mall before this, so there was even more candy.

Birthday pics

The cake, courtesy of Joe. It looks great and tasted great too!

Our birthday boy. He was so excited to have friends come over for a party. He is wearing one of his birthday shirts.

The goody bags. Candy, toys, and play-doh...what more could a kid ask for...

How about more candy and toys and play-doh? Our pinata that you have to pretend is a dinosaur egg. It split in two after a few rounds. And yes, I did have the kids blindfolded the first time around, but soon realized they were to small to do significant damage even without the blindfolds.

Presents are fun for everyone. He loved everything he got from his friends.

Samuel "walking" before the part began. He is learning fast

Uncle Eddie helping Samuel get goodies from the pinata...or wait...maybe they weren't for Samuel after all.

Pure candemonium. The kids left with lots of sweets and little goodies. Fun was had by all who came. I guess I can't vouch for the adults. :)

Scared

We took Joseph to one of Joe's coworker's homes for a haunted house. Since then, we have had issues with Joseph being scared of things that he never used to be afraid of till now. Last night he ran downstairs after I put him to bed and said that he heard a noise that didn't sound like talking. I put him back in bed and he asked me to check his closet. I showed him there was nothing there. He was still really scared and wanted to sleep in our room. After discussing it with Joe, we agreed and he came to sleep in our room. I turned out the light/fan in our bathroom. He looked over at me and said, "Whew. I am glad we found out what was making the noise so I don't have to be scared anymore."

After a week of fevers ranging from 100 to over 102, Joseph's temperature tonight was normal. We didn't go to church today because he has had a fever since last Sunday. My temp was a little high, I just hope I don't get sick. I wasted my time and money going to the doctor on Thursday because he said it is a virus that would run its course and to make sure he rests and gets lots of fluids (as if I wasn't doing that already).

Samuel officially crawled last night. When we tried to record it, of course he wouldn't do it. He has been moving lots, but this is the first time he held himself up and moved. Also, he has decided that he likes to chew on his wipes. I can't get him to suck on a pear or eat pasta, but give him wipes, paper and plastic and he opens wide.

Last night I had Joe help me sort through Joseph's toys. It is hard for me to get rid of anything, so Joe was a big help. All our over abundance of toys are listed on KSL to sell. Joe also listed some of his stuff. Most of his sold already.

On another note, my time as a stay at home mom are nearly at an end. I am looking for jobs right now. I have applied a few places, so I guess we shall see if people want to hire me. It will be sad to leave my boys everyday again. They are my life and I love them so much. Spending time with both of them makes me happy. Don't get me wrong, there are trying times as well, but I am grateful for the past 6 months. I do hope and pray that we sell our house so that I won't have to work, but until then, I will do what needs to be done so that we can have a house and food on the table.

Question:

Joseph: "Mommy, why do we sleep at at night and wake up when it's day?"

Conversation with Joseph:

Joseph: "Mommy, I wish I had 2 mouthes."
Mommy: "Why?"
Joseph: "So I can kiss both your eyes."

Sick again?

So Joseph has a fever right now. It is a low grade fever, only 100.7. Samuel's temperature was at 99 when I put him to bed. At least tomorrow is Joseph's 4 year check-up and Samuel's 9 month check-up. Kayla and Destiny are both sick and we went trick or treating with Kayla, Robert and Jessica yesterday.

Joseph learned a couple of new dinosaur names because he got them for his birthday: pachycephalosaurus, utah raptor, and camarasaurus. He loves dinosaurs so much. Today he set them up as a country.

Samuel is on the verge of crawling. He rocks back and forth and kind of hops to where he wants to go. He may not crawl but he is everywhere. Everyday he gets stuck under the fireplace ledge in our basement family room.

It is so fun to see Joseph and Samuel interact. Joseph makes Samuel laugh a lot and he follows his big brother's actions. Tonight he would roll and hop to wherever Joseph happened to be playing. He would then proceed to laugh when he caught Joseph.

I forgot to mention that we got called as primary teachers. Of course we have been in the ward for almost 2 years and this is our first official calling. We have the 7 and 8 year olds. There are only 4 boys in the class. Today Joe stayed home with Samuel who was having a very rough go of things and had a slight temperature (apparently he screamed the entire time Joseph and I were gone). I only had 3 of the 4 boys today but man were they a handfull. I was at my wit's end by the time we were done with the second hour of primary.

Craziness never ends...

Life has been so crazy lately. Here is a brief synopsis of the past few weeks:

1. Joseph turned 4. He is so excited and recieved so many great gifts. He had a fun dinosaur themed birthday party with pinata and games.

2. We went trick or treating tonight. Joseph loved getting lots of candy. Samuel also got candy...but mommy and daddy will have to eat it. ;) At the last house we knocked on, Joseph took a step back from the door after getting his candy and he didn't realize how close he was to the steps. He fell backwards and rolled down 4 concrete steps before getting stopped by a brick wall. He cried all the way to my parent's house. Poor kid. I kept him up longer to watch him and see if he was okay.

3. We got H1N1 flu shots on Tuesday. It was cold and we waited for 4 hours in line. That is because we found a friend who let us get in line with her and she was about 700 in line. Otherwise, we would have been like number 2000 or so.

4. Speaking of H1N1, one of my mom's kids might have it. We found out tonight after I had taken the other kids out trick or treating and had left Samuel with grandpa at their house. :P Hopefully my boys won't get sick.

5. We had an offer on our house but then found out they wanted us to pay an additional $9000 for closing costs and repairs. After realtor fees and other things, we would have lost too much money on the house. Needless to say, we are waiting for more offers. I will start looking for and applying for jobs this week. I just hope and pray we sell before I have to go back to work. In the past week, we have had tons of people come and look. Hopefully that translates into lots of offers.

6. I discovered more foods that Sameul will eat. He likes food that has chicken and turkey. He liked his green beans and rice. Unlike when we first began, he gets very excited to eat solids these days. He still can't drink from a bottle.

7. Uncle David came over last night to watch scary movies with us. We watched a Korean horror movie called "A Tale of Two Sisters." It had me so confused until the very end. There were some creepy moments. We also watched Faces of Death. It was pretty gross.

8. I have read a number of books, including the first Fablehaven. I liked it soooo much more than Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo. The characters were more engrossing and the story better written. After reading the first Leven Thumps, I decided I didn't want to read more. I am still waiting for the next Fablehaven book from the library. I also read Syren. It too was much more interesting than Leven Thumps. I finished Helter Skelter. Not my typical read, but I was amazed at how they built the case against Charles Manson and his "family."

9. Joseph loves preschool. We do themed lessons and Joseph enjoys being with the other kids. During the firefighter unit, they played a game where they needed to save a turtle from a fire. The teacher put blue lines on the floor that the kids needed to follow. They also had to avoid the fire which were red balloons. Joseph was the best firefighter because he followed directions to a T. He was the only kid to do so.

I am so tired and need to get to bed. In the next few days, I will post some pictures.

Oh the joys...

Joe came home early from work yesterday and had a sore throat. Last night he hardly slept and had a fever of 102 when he woke up this morning. I left with the boys to run errands and to let him rest. He had a fever and lay in bed most of the day. I cooked some homemade chicken noodle soup for him. He started to feel better this evening. We decided to watch a movie.

At about midnight, Joseph woke up to go to the bathroom. I helped him and then I asked if he wanted me to carry him to bed. He said, "Yes. I hurt all over." Feeling his little forehead, I could tell he had a temperature. Sure enough, it is at a 102 as well. Joe and I tried to calm him down so we could give him medicine. He started to hyperventilate (something he does when he gets overly excited). It took about 20 minutes to calm him down. We gave him a popsicle and tylenol and he is now back in bed. He wants his covers on him because he is cold. I turned on his fan and humidifier to help him out.

Ironically, we are supposed to be sustained (Joe and I) as primary teachers tomorrow. I don't think we will be going to church. Samuel has had a runny nose, Joseph has a fever...I am just hoping that I don't get sick. I especially hope that Samuel doesn't get a fever. My mind keeps imagining febrile seizures and I don't want to experience that ever again. It makes me shudder to think of it.

Samuel is peeking out at me from his crib right now. Joseph cried a lot and it woke him up. We don't know where Joe was exposed to being sick. I don't think that flu shots can get other people sick around you unless you get the flu. Oh well. Here is to a long night with a tired baby, a sick boy and sick husband. :P

Preschool

Today was Joseph's first day of preschool. It is free. He had a great time. There are 5 other kids in the class. There are 3 other boys and 2 girls. Parents can stay, so that was nice. I have my turn to teach in a couple of weeks. A room full of 3 to 5 year olds full of energy...yikes.

Raspberries

Joseph loves berries...in particular, he loves raspberries. He still loves his blueberries and strawberries, but he will always eat raspberries first. They have been on sale, so we have bought them to eat. Joseph is very protective of his berries, so here are some situations that have arisen due to his love for them.

Situation 1: Joe and Joseph are watching something together on T.V. I bring Joseph some raspberries to snack on. Joe asks him for one when there are only 3 left. Joseph pretends not to hear him, promptly eats the 3 berries, and then looks at Joe and says, "They are all gone daddy."

Situation 2: I am eating dinner tonight and Joseph and I are eating raspberries with our dinner. I don't notice that he has finished all of his, but I do notice that he gets out of his seat. He typically does this to go to the bathroom at meal time. Well, the next thing I know, I see a little hand over my berries grabbing them. I look down and there is Joseph eating my berries. He smiles at me. What a cutie.

Joseph's mission and other tidbits

Joseph enjoys doing map puzzles, so I was talking about where mommy and daddy served their missions with him. He informed me that he was going to go on a mission to the jungle. I told Joe, so today Joseph told him. He said that Jesus would tell him where to go and he would walk there. He said that he and Samuel would go on their missions together. It was fun to hear him explain that Jesus would show him where to walk.

Samuel is a lot of fun too. He is so dang cute. He smiles a ton and is just getting bigger and more vocal. He grunts when he is not happy and likes to say, "dadadadadada" while biting his finger. He laughs a lot and is just a little joy in our lives.

Joseph is almost 4. We are planning a dinosaur birthday party for him. He is going to be a pirate for Halloween, but the costume I won on ebay has yet to arrive (over 1 week and counting). Samuel is going to be the treasure and I am going to be a treasure map. Joe thinks it is silly that I want us to have a themed Halloween, so he is going to be a Mexican wrestler.

Joseph enjoys:
1. Dinosaurs (still, especially daddy's old definitely dinosaur toys)
2. Raspberries then blueberries/strawberries (tied)
3. Thundercats (Panthro and Monkian are his favorites)
4. Ducktales
5. Going to the library. We have checked out tons of books. Some of the ones he has liked are:
How To Be
Runaway Bunny
I Spy books (I think we have checked out every single one)
Pirate Pete's Great Adventure
Others that I can't think of right now
6. Asking what begins with the letter that he learns about at the library (What begins with C?, What begins with R?) all day after his lesson.
7. His little brother Samuel. He is always giving him hugs and kisses.
8. Playing with daddy.
9. Mommy being home.
10. Maps.
11. Signing Time.
12. The Lorax movie. Mickey and the Beanstalk.
13. Coloring.
14. Talking and making up songs (once upon a time...)
15. Cooking and washing clothes/dishes.

Samuel is 8 months. He enjoys:
1. All toys (especially ones that spin).
2. His family.
3. Smiling.
4. Eating prunes, peaches, banana, pears, pear strawberry granola, harvest vegetables with whole grain, prunes with apples, banana peach oatmeal, among others.
5. Gnawing on his fingers to feel his first tooth and the second one that is coming in.
6. Milk.
7. Touching everything, especially feeling material.
8. Rolling everywhere.
9. Babbling.
10. People carrying him.
11. Bouncing.

I love my boys so much and am so grateful for them. They are my joy as is my husband who still amazes me every day. :)

And so...

Sunday was a hard day for Samuel at church. After the meetings, there was supposed to be a munch and mingle, but because Samuel was super tired, I decided not to go. They let me take some bread for the road. I got a piece of cinnamon raisin bread for Joseph. He ate it on the way home from church. We pulled into our garage and he started to chuckle to himself as we were coming into the house. He showed me the bread and said, "It looks like a parasaurolophus head." Here is a picture of the bread. The left portion is the head of his imagined dinosaur.

My hubby's back!!!

Joe got back from Austin this morning. We are so happy to have him home. He had a wonderful time in Austin with his brothers. Thanks Michelle for planning such a great birthday surprise for Jeff.

Go BYU...

Joe is not here, so I decided to take the boys to the BYU tailgate party to occupy some of my day. Alison and Ryan dropped by, so we all went together. I got a couple of coupons good for $2 off a meal at Bajio (just thinking of you sweetie). They also gave me a Bajio t-shirt.

Samuel supporting the BYU cougars. Unfortunately, Joseph's only BYU apparel is a winter sweatshirt, so he wore a blue and white shirt. I just wore white since I have no BYU shirts to wear at all.

Joseph...a self-portrait. This is right before we took off to the tailgate party. He is buckled into the Joovy Caboose.

The boys all ready to go in the Joovy Caboose. Samuel enjoys looking out at everything as we walk. I did put sunglasses on him, but that only lasted about 10 seconds before he took them off to chew on.

They had games to play, but most of the lines were too long. Joseph got to play one where he tried to make the football in the hole. He got a little help from the guy who then rewarded him with a pen. Joseph also got a Go Cougars banner. He likes it and went to bed with it tonight.

My hopping baby

This is what Samuel likes to do when he is tired but fighting sleep. I tried to record him doing this in his pack and play. It is funny because you will periodically see his little butt jump up in view. For Samuel, it is a very effective way of traveling where he wants to go. :)

Family Home Evening

Monday we went to the Provo Library for a magic show. It was fun to go out with the family for an FHE activity. Samuel was already in his pajamas in case he fell asleep on the way home (and he did). Joseph really enjoyed the show. He loved the leprachaun that disappeared and appeared on a boy's back.
Here are Sameul and daddy at the show. Samuel was super smiley before it began. I couldn't get any good pics of Joseph because he was in the front and middle of all the kids.

Daddy and Samuel again.

Samuel loves to play with his tongue.

I need to find the picture where Joseph has a look just like this.

He was just making us laugh before the show started.

I had better run. Samuel is crying up a storm in the room Joseph is sleeping in. He is tired but refuses to sleep. It might be more teeth, but he needs to get some sleep. Joe is in Texas with his brothers. I hope you are having fun sweetie!! :) We love you and miss you.

Murphy's law

So, I went to dry some clothes that I washed last night to dry again this morning. I thought that the clothes didn't feel warm, but when I walked in, it was on cool down. I tried again and to no avail. Alas, I realized that our dryer died. Go figure. It is part of what is staying with the house when we sell and I still have more clothes to wash. I am looking at getting a new dryer.

On a better note, for FHE last night, we went to the library for a magic show. At least Joseph enjoyed the magic show. :) I need to run so I can color with Joseph. He finally picked up hsi toys in his room (I have only asked him to do it like 10 times today). :P

Joovy caboose

Having 2 kids is a lot of fun. One thing that gets hard is when I am pushing Samuel in a stroller and Joseph is tired and he wants to be carried. I concluded that I needed a good way to get both of them around without buying a large double stroller. I did a little research and decided that I wanted a Joovy Caboose. It is a sit and stand stroller. Well, last week my mom took me to SLC and we bought one from someone that sold it on KSL.

It is an awesome stroller. It rides smoothly and Joseph loves to sit in the back while I push Samuel. It is a tad heavy, but I didn't want to shell out almost $300 for an Ultralight Joovy Caboose. I got mine for $60 and it came with a drink holder. It is red and black, so it matches our car (not that it would have mattered to me in the first place). Now we need a booster seat for Joseph and we can sell our Graco Snugride with the 2 bases and the Snap-n-Go stroller. I am leaning towards the Recaro Booster Seat. It is relatively inexpensive, about $100, and has good reviews. Samuel will then graduate to Joseph's Britax Marathon. He is getting to heavy for the Snugride.

Family pictures

So Saturday morning we went to Target for family pictures. It is amazing how stressed out I get when I don't want the boys to spill on themselves or have their hair a mess. We finally made it to Target and they were running behind because their 11 o'clock arrived right before we did for our 11:20 appointment. Samuel was tired and Joseph now likes to cover his face with his hands when we take pictures, so it made for an interesting time. :P It is not letting me upload more than one at the moment.

As for Samuel, he is all over the place now. He doesn't technically crawl, but he gets into anything that interests him by rolling and by planting his face in the ground and pushing with his little legs. The past few nights have been rough with Samuel not wanting to sleep.

Joseph is practicing his letters and is a sweet boy. He loves to play and is learning new signs with baby signing time. The other day he was showing me lizard and caterpillar.

My little artist

Art and Photographs courtesy of Joseph Azro Rankin, age 3 years and 11 months.

Painting: "Daddy growing up"

Photograph: "Samuel stepping"

Photograph: "Bubble wrap on carpet"

Photograph: "Instrumental toy"

Photograph: "Samuel is dog-gone cute"

Photograph: "My lunch"

Photograph: "Samuel's lunch"

Photograph: "My size toilet"

Photograph: "Plant and Rock"

Photograph: "Revolving Doors"

Joseph loves to use the camera now and likes to take pictures. He also is a good abstract artist.

"Cheesy" cards

This will be out for all the realtors that come on tour tomorrow. It has a little note from us on the back. They will get cheese and crackers as a treat. Maybe it will work...