Spring cleaning

Here are my 3 boys. Joe just loved having his picture taken. Joseph was trying to curl up with his dad. Samuel was cuddled up against daddy's chest.

Well, we are getting everything ready to put our house on the market. Alison and Ryan came to help us clean yesterday. Ryan and Joe drove a lot of trash to the dump in Springville. Alison did a really great job in Joseph's room. They helped me get the wood floor room cleared out and clean. It looks awesome. Now we just need to pick up furniture from my mom's to put into the room. Joe tore down the balcony that is off our room and he plans on rebuilding it next weekend. Yesterday turned out to be a really nice day. Today it looks like it might rain or snow. It is overcast outside.

Happy birthday to everyone! Friday was Elena's birthday, yesterday was Dad Rankin's birthday, and today is Ziggy's birthday. I hope Elena liked the books we got her. I meant to call Dad Rankin all day yesterday, but we were so busy cleaning. We will have to call today. I should get to cleaning the kitchen, but I am tired.

I got a job as an independent writing contractor. I work for a company called Orangesoda. They are an online marketing group. Basically, I will write articles on different topics that optimize a search for a company. I won't be able to talk about who I write articles for. Ziggy told me about the job at Orangesoda. It was posted internally, but there are a few of us who were referred to the job by family or friends. I tried working on an article today. It took a bit of time. I will be paid per article I do, and because I am an independent contractor, I will need to withhold my own tax money.

Joseph is learning to play computer games. Right now he is on Noggin games. He is currently playing a Go, Diego, Go game. He catches on pretty fast. Joe's mouse is just a little bit too big for him. He is growing up so fast. He has become a very picky eater. Speaking of eating, Joseph has his first dental appointment on Tuesday morning. I had mine on Friday (yay, no cavities!). He started to cry when I told him he had an appointment. I just hope it isn't painful for him.

Here is Joseph at mommy's work playing a game on Noggin.

Samuel fits into size 2 diapers. Crazy. He is sleeping at least 5 or 6 hours at night. On Thursday night he decided he wanted to eat every 2 hours, so I was up at 1, 3, 5, and then again at 7. Hopefully that doesn't happen too often. He is much more alert and smiley. I still can't capture his cute smile. We have lots of pics where we are trying to catch him smiling. He likes to talk to us.

Snowing again

It is snowing outside. It is hard to think that it is still cold. At least it warmed up for a few days. We have less than a week before we put our house on the market. Alison and Ryan are coming over to help me really clean our house on Saturday!! Thank ya'll so much. I need all the help I can get. Joe has been working till late at night getting things ready. He is so driven. I just hope to sell our house quickly so he can rest till we move. I also hope he can find a job back East.

Yesterday Alison and Ryan took care of Joseph. Alison had fallen asleep on the couch and so when Joseph woke up, he didn't realize that someone was home. He wandered from room to room looking for someone, but he didn't see her because she was covered and asleep. He told that story to daddy and mommy when we got home. Today Esteban is watching him. He woke up before we left this morning.

I have a dental appointment this afternoon. Scary! I hope I don't have issues with my teeth. I don't have a lot of time to fix anything before I stop working. I also have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and Joseph has a dental appointment on Tuesday. Life sure is busy.

Notice

Today I went and talked to my department chair to give notice that I wouldn't be working much longer. It was hard to do, but I am acting on a lot of faith. The department chair, Mark, and I talked for a long time. It was really nice. He gave me some good advice. Now I am waiting to see what they are expecting of me in the next little while. I am hoping to officially done by April 15th. I might still work part time or hourly, but I have yet to see what they will decide to do. Pray that we sell our house quickly! :)

Why do weekends go by so fast?

This is Samuel at 2 months. Friday we took him in for his check up. He weighed 12.96 pounds (80th percentile), was 24.01" long (87th percentile), wiht a head that was in the 64th percentile. They must have changed the scales because Joseph at 2 months weighed 13 pounds 15 ounces and was in the 77th percentile for weight. He was 23.8" long and was in the 66th percentile for length. I'd have to look for the sheet that told his head size, but I want to say that it was in the 90th by that time. Samuel coos a lot more. He is still very easily angered if he doesn't get food right away.

We were trying to get a picture of Samuel smiling. This was as close as we could get at this point.

Joseph likes to pose for the camera. He likes to put his hands in funky positions and do funny things with his face. It almost looks like he is rocking out in this picture. Today he gave me 2 pennies so that I could stay home with him permanently. Don't I wish that was all it took.

This was a great smile. He was looking over at his older brother. They both went to work with me last week.

It was nice out, so we went to a park. Here is Samuel. He lost his socks in the car, but it was nice out, so I didn't worry too much.

Another day of work

Well. Today was a good day. I went back to work yesterday. I had Samuel with me and I dropped off Joseph at Grandma's house. It was so hard to leave him, especially when he has been saying in the past couple of weeks that he will miss me. Now he is volunteering his money so that I can stay home. The decision has been a tough one, but I think I have made up my mind. Today I opened a fortune cookie and it said, "Children will play an important role in your life." Joe's fortune read, "A miracle will soon occur." I am hoping so. We are putting the house on the market on April 1st. We figured that we have till July to sell. We still need to paint the whole house again, tile one floor, pack and clean a ton. It is overwhelming to think of all that needs to be cleaned. I don't even know where to start.

Work has been okay...not too busy yet. I do have to work with marketing to create t-shirt designs. I have some ideas, I just am not the most artistic of people. Typically I have good ideas, just not the best manner of demonstrating said ideas. I did have a surprise meeting yesterday with UVU's biotechnology advisory board. It was at McGrath's fish house. I ordered shrimp (Yay for seafood!!). My supervisor wasn't expecting me, but when he saw I was back, he invited me to come. I had Samuel. Part way through the meeting I had to feed him. There was no place in the bathroom, plus I felt it was gross to feed him in there. I asked an employee and they led me to an area of the restaurant that no one was in. She closed the blinds for me and everything.

Today I had Joseph and Samuel with me. Samuel was more fussy today than yesterday. Joseph was really good. I have such a sweet boy. He can be bossy and whiny at times, but he is a little angel.

Before I forget, it is so much to watch Samuel and Joseph interact. Samuel watches Joseph when he gets close to him. Of course, Joseph is overly zealous when he plays with his baby brother. For instance, tonight Samuel was on the bed. Before I knew it, Joseph was hopping right next to him. Any closer, and Joseph would have landed on Samuel's head. Whew. I am glad it didn't happen. It is cute when I am feeding Samuel. He has taken to having "conversations" with me during his meal. I will feed him on one side and when I try to feed him on the other, he pushes away with his little arms and looks at me and starts to babble. It is the cutest thing. His face gets very expressive and he keeps his eyes on me. He smiles a lot when he is "talking." I love it. He reminds me so much of Joseph as a baby, only more tempermental.

Joseph's prayer tonight

"Bless that a spider won't bite mommy and that grandma will give mommy money and I give mommy my money so mommy can stay home."

It made me cry a little. I want to be home with him. He needs me.

And $300 plus dollars later...

Our electrical box is finally fixed. Yay!! Thank you Tyler from Shock Electric. If you need a reasonably priced electrician and you are in Utah, he is a great person to call. He is super nice, very reliable, and his price was oh so much better than the other quotes we received. Provo Power on the other hand, came 3 and a half hours late to shut off the power (picture our electrician waiting for them from 9 till 11:30 a.m.). They were supposed to shut it off at 8 in the morning. At least they turned it on quickly.

So...what do you think?

I chopped my hair off today. I have been wanting to do it for a long time. I donated my hair to locks of love. They cut off over a foot of hair. This style looked longer in the picture that I saw. Joe is very diplomatic and says that it is just different. He won't say it looks good or bad. I have to agree. For me, the jury is still out. It is shorter than I have had it in at least 12 years. Time goes by fast. I look old. In some of my pics, I look like my grandma Olivia. I also have a huge zit that won't go away. It has been around since before Samuel was born. At least I have only found a couple of gray hairs and the haircut and style were free because I donated.

I had Samuel and Joseph with me. Joseph needed to go potty a couple of times while she was cutting my hair and Samuel woke up hungry wanting to be carried and fed. Joseph also rearranged their hair products on the shelves. It made for a long time in the salon.

I love it when Samuel falls asleep like this after a feeding. It looks like he has just breathed a sigh of relief and drifted off to rest.

My two boys sleeping next to each other. Samuel vomited after a feeding and Joseph had gone into our room to sleep in our bed, so I took the bouncy chair and went to sleep in Joseph's room. Joseph came back in later to sleep with mommy. Samuel was asleep in his bouncy chair.

He sleeps better when he is swaddled. For 3 nights he slept for a six hour stretch when swaddled. Last night it was 5 hours. He only woke up for a feeding at 4:30 and didn't wake up again till about 8 a.m. I hope this keeps up. isn't he cute?

Joseph's other new sayings:

1. "That's an idea."

2. "Let me think," as he holds his pointer finger to his chin and taps it.

3. "I have a color and its name is yellow." or "I have a snack and its name is applesauce." or he has something and its name is ___________(fill in the blank).

4. "Let's pack this so we can take it to New Jersey."

5. "I am going to miss you when you go back to work." This one makes me sad. I almost cry everytime he says it.

Joseph's new sayings

I wanted to write this before I forgot to again. Joseph has picked up a couple of new sayings. One is courtesy of Grandma Rankin and one must be one that I say often, but never realized it. From Grandma, he says, "oh dear." From me (I guess), he says "what the heck?!" I need to pay attention to what I say.

Joseph's prayer

Joseph is enjoying prayer time again. He likes to volunteer for prayers. Saturday was Kayla's baptism. We went and he loved the attention the kids gave him. My mom wrote a song about Joseph Smith and the kids sang it on Saturday. Joseph ran up to sing it with them. He mouthed the words to the song. I will post a pic once I get it from my brother. After the baptism, we went to my parents' house. They were having a luncheon to celebrate the baptism. Joseph volunteered to say the prayer. It was cute. He definitely has conversations with his Heavenly Father. He said he was thankful that we got to go to see Grandpa and Kayla play in the water. In our FHE prayer tonight, he said he was thankful that we can play huckle buckle bean star but that tonight we were going to play MarioKart Wii. He is very expressive.

Tonight he wanted to perform the song. He sang a song about dinosaurs that he made up and then ended the song like he would a prayer. Funny kid.

Congratulations Ernest and Lydia and Elena!! We are excited to find out if you are going to have a boy or a girl. Joseph and Joe are betting that it is another girl. I haven't decided yet.

There's a party in my tummy...so yummy!

I don't know if any of you have watched Yo Gabba, Gabba! They sing random songs and this is one that Joseph happens to have taken a liking to. When he eats anything, he will sing this or say that the food he is eating is joining the party in his tummy. Today it snowed a little, but that did not deter Joseph from wanting to sit in our flower bed with his work trucks and play in the dirt. I was going to get a video, but he was inside before I could.

Speaking of tummies. Here is Samuel enjoying tummy time. He handles it a little better than Joseph did.

I sold my wedding dress. I figured that I had stored it for long enough (6 years). It is a gorgeous dress and I will miss it. I figured that I will never have daughters, seeing as Samuel is our last child. I did keep my tiara. The girl who bought my dress was so grateful. I guess she and her family have been going through a rough spot and they were afraid she wouldn't have a nice dress for her wedding. I wore the dress four times and I lent it to a friend for her wedding in Brazil. I am happy that someone else can look beautiful on her wedding day!

Samuel slept for 6 hours last night! Yay! Of course, I kept waking up because I couldn't believe that he was really asleep. Yesterday afternoon, I even got a nap in. Joseph came and napped with me (he hates naps). Today I slept for about 20 minutes while Samuel napped and Joseph watched Chip and Dale. I don't know if Samuel will sleep as long tonight, but here's to wishing.

I have been waiting to hear back from UVU to see if I will recieve the severance package. Everyday I check the mailbox like I am waiting for a college acceptance letter. Part of me thinks that it won't happen because I don't know if I make enough to warrant their attention. It would be a big blessing because then I can stay home with Joseph and Samuel. I know my mom can't watch both of them and we don't have enough to pay someone to watch them. That is one big reason we are planning on putting our house on the market. It will free up our options for work and for me to stay home. Joe's work is not giving raises this year because of the economy. His supervisor is going to see if they can get him a promotion, but I doubt that will happen. They work him so hard and don't reward him nearly enough. I think he needs to find a new job.

I finally downloaded pics to my computer...

Here are Samuel and Joseph dressed up for church. We still couldn't take Samuel, but I wanted to see him in this outfit, just in case he outgrows it too fast. He is a lot longer than Joseph was, so there are many outfits that he hasn't worn that are too tight to put on him now. Lots of the long sleeved shirts fit him short and some of the pants look like capris. Joseph was very excited to be holding his baby brother. There is mommy's hand to make sure that baby didn't fall or that Joseph didn't lean in too hard.

Joe loved the profile shot. That is what my belly looked like with Samuel on the inside. I look tired. Boy am I ever. Kudos to mothers with more than one child. I am beyond exhausted, but I manage to function each day. That doesn't mean a lot gets done, but I do what I can.

Here is Grandma Rankin with 3 of her grandkids. She missed Nathan lots too. Mackenzie was fascinated with Samuel. In pics before this, she had her hand on his head and kept leaning in to see what she was holding.

More pics of my 2 boys. Crazy. I have 2 little boys. They are so sweet. Joseph has since gotten a haircut. He really needed it. Joe begged for me to let him have a mullett, but I wouldn't let him do it. Joseph did okay for part of the haircut, but proceeded to cry. He says that it was "not nice" to cut his hair.

This picture shows why he needed a haircut. Also, how happy he was to be holding his brother and his cousin. Mackenzie looks happy also. Samuel just looks like he is in a daze. Look at how loose those sleeves are on him. He is in that outfit right now and they almost look like half sleeves and are not nearly as loose. I exaggerate, but only a little.

Superbowl Sunday. Can you tell who we were rooting for? Great Grandpa Azro would be so proud. Joseph wore that outfit as did his father and uncles back in the day.

Joseph during the superbowl.

Samuel during the superbowl. Already he is mimicing his big brother.

Uncles Eddie and Esteban taking turns holding their nephew. I thinkit is funny that when Joseph was born, they didn't think he was that cute. When Samuel was born, they thought he was cute. Of course, they adore Joseph and think he is "soooo cute" to quote them. They think Samuel is cute too. When they come, they hold him and burp him. They still haven't volunteered to change his diaper. :)

Look at his cheeks in this picture. Now close your eyes and picture them chubbier. That is Samuel now. I tried to show his blue-gray eyes. They are still that color now. I womder when they will change?

Joseph kissing his brother's hand. Did I mention that Joseph loves his brother?

My 2 boys asleep in the car. They are wearing matching outfits, but I never had a chance to take pics when they were awake. Another day.