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...

New tooth

Samuel finally had his first tooth break through his gums. It is the lower right tooth. On Wednesday is when I noticed it. I have been checking his gums periodically each day because he is gnawing on his fingers so much...especially because at his 6 month check-up the doctor told me one was close to coming out. Needless to say, he has only tried to bite me once while feeding, but that was before the tooth...so technically he gummed me. :)

His therapy is going okay. He is doing better but he is still not where the therapist wants him. It is funny because he wants Samuel to lean his head 45 degrees each way. He does to the left, but to the right he doesn't. As he was explaining to me what 45 degrees would look like, he drew a diagram. He then explained that Samuel has a big head and no neck, so 45 degrees to the right would be his ear squished into his shoulder. He also wants me to go back next week because he said that Samuel is big and I am petite and he is afraid that I am not able to do the stretches as effectively because he is so strong. I agree there. It is hard to do them.

Joseph has also started to pee by himself in the big toilet. He is so proud of himself, as am I. He likes to say, "I will go to the bathroom by myself." It makes me happy, especially because that means in the morning I can lay in bed for a few more minutes.

We went to lunch with Grandma Nunez yesterday and then we went to D.I. We found a kitchen set from 1987 that was dirty and had a lot of the toys. It was the best $3 spent at D.I. ever. Joseph loves it. After I cleaned it and the stuff with soap and water and then disinfected it, I let him have it. He has been cooking and washing dishes. His favorite part is the phone. He has been making phone calls to his friends and inviting them to dinner. So far, his favorite person to call and talk to is his friend Bryan.