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.

Crafty Tina

I am doing this for Michelle.

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! Lucky, lucky you! haha I even get to choose what amazing gift I am going to bestow.

Only time will tell...This game DOES have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! Only, it is from ME so what's NOT to like?
2- What I create will be just for you. Awww...don't you feel special?!
3- It'll be done this year. Good thing it is only February...that gives me plenty of time!
4- You have no clue what it's going to be. Mwahahahaha
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. Sweet!The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. (Although, if you don't have a blog, I don't care if you don't follow through...I'll still make something...it just might be related to numero cinco, above).

It has been a long time since I have tried to be creative like this. We'll see how it goes.

Long time no post

Wow. It has been awhile since I have posted. Samuel is doing well. He only wakes up a couple of times at night to eat. Of course, I am tired. Joseph enjoys having a baby brother. He does get irked with mommy for not playng with him all the time.

All in all, life is good. I don't really want to go back to work, but I still have another few weeks before I have to worry about that. I plan on taking Samuel, but that makes my heart break for Joseph. I want him with me too. Here is a little game. Here are a couple of pics. One is Samuel and one is Joseph at birth. They look like twins.

Samuel looks different now. There are still similarities to Joseph, but he looks more like Joe's dad and Joseph looked more like my dad. I think that it is Samuel's eyes that make him look like Grandpa Rankin. Joseph's face shape is more like mine and Samuel's is more like Joe's.

Joe's mom left this week. I was sad to see her go. She is amazing. She cooked, cleaned and took care of her grandkids and me, as well as her grown kids. I am so thankful that she came out to help. Thank you mom Rankin for being an awesome example. I haven't eaten so well in ages and I can only hope to eat that well now. That means that I have to cook more.