POTD

I'm still plugging along on my Project Life. I've taken a picture everyday this year and I am already LOVING the results. I just got my first batch of pictures back and into the album. Here are a few of my favorites.

Watching tv.

The day I got my kit!!

One Saturday, Noah really wanted some pancakes. I didn't have any Bisquick so we resorted to Mickey D's. Here's Griffin chugging some orange juice.

My baby.

Trying on Mommy's jams. : )

Noah loves to take pictures.

This was the Sunday that Noah and I both gave talks in church. He practiced so hard and did a wonderful job.

My boys playing in their "tent". Or just under the sheet on our bed. It's the little things...

Mom and Noah.

Play-doh. I thought Griffin was watching a movie... 'til he came down the stairs looking like this!

This was NOT posed. I walked down the stairs and happened upon this precious moment. If you look closely, you can see the bird Noah is watching.

Griffin feeds himself!

This was at a friend's birthday party. While we were singing Happy Birthday, Griffin hammed it up for the camera. I think he thought we were singing to him.

Playtime!

Noah's hair is much shorter now but, for awhile, I really enjoyed giving him mohawks (or "Drew hair" as Noah calls it... my brother, drew, spikes his hair)

Beautiful eyelashes. Beautiful boy.

Got these for Christmas and I wear them ALL THE TIME.

I love when our room looks like this!

Noah's first day as a Sunbeam! I cannot believe that my baby is old enough to be in Primary. It blows my mind. And makes me hug him a little tighter, a little longer.

Big Boys

Ammon keeps asking me if I'm EVER going to blog again. I don't know why I've been in such a blog rut lately. I want to blog. I really enjoy documenting bits and pieces of our beautiful life. It's especially fun to go back and read previous posts. It's amazing how easily I can forget little things my kids say and do. I'll do better, dear husband. I will.

A little over a week ago, we were cleaning Noah's room. The whole family was there and we were all helping out. We have wood floors throughout the house and things get pushed under furniture so easily. Ammon pulled out the trundle to clean under it. There were so many blocks and cars under there, he had to resort to a broom to get it all out. Anyway, Griffin LOVED the trundle. He kept laying on it and snuggling right in. Ammon suggested we let him graduate from his crib (in his own room) to the trundle. I was hesitant. Ammon was persuasive. The first night went ok. Griffin climbed up on Noah's bed and banged on the walls for awhile (happily). He and Noah talked and laughed for an hour and a half. We went to check on them after hings got quiet.

Griffin was back on the trundle and Noah was exactly where we left him, tucked in his bed.

The next day I asked Noah "How did you like having Griffin sleep in your room?"

"It was good. But, he keeps wanting to get on my bed and talk to me."

"Oh yeah? What did you do?"

"I didn't talk to him. I just pet him on the head."

"You pet him on the head? How?"

Then he rubbed his hand so gently across my hair over and over. It made my heart melt to realize how well he takes care of his little brother.

Here's how they were the second night we went in and checked on them. I like to think that Noah put Griffin to sleep by petting him on the head.

: )

And here's the 3rd night.

They're doing really well adjusting to the change. Well, mostly. Griffin likes to get up after we put him in bed. He gets up on Noah's bed. He turns the light on. He bangs on the wall, and the door. He cries. Sometimes he makes it back to his bed. And sometimes I have to scoop him off the floor in the middle of the night to tuck him back in his bed. Maybe with a little more time, this won't be an issue... We'll see. Noah has been extremely understanding. Even though Griffin wakes him up much earlier than he would like, he still is happy to share a room with his brother. And since they're now sharing a room, we've changed things up in this house. Griffin's room is now the boys' bedroom. And Noah's room is now a playroom! I am so excited about this change. I always hated that Noah's room doubled as a playroom. No more toys in the bedroom. No more tv in the bedroom. No more MESS in the bedroom. All they have is their beds, their clothes, and a couple books. It's refreshing to have a place designated for sleeping, and nothing else. I'll get pictures of the switch soon.

Bradley and Tara

I'm not sure if any of my readers are in a position to help this wonderful couple but, you never know! Tara served a mission in Idaho the same time that Ammon did. They've been great friends ever since and I hear wonderful things about her. I wish I could meet her in person because I just know we would hit it off. I don't know all the details but I do know that they desperately want to expand their family and are hoping to adopt. Click on the button above to learn more. Our prayers are with you Bradley and Tara!

Back to life...

...back to reality

We're coming to the end of our first "real" week after the holidays. It's been nice to get back to some normalcy but I really hate sending Ammon off to work everyday. I wish he could stay home with us... I'm very grateful for his job -- don't get me wrong. I just miss him a lot when we're not together.

Noah has had a very busy week. He started swimming lessons again. He's in a class with 4 other boys and is obviously the youngest one there. These other boys are very wild and not afraid of the water at all which is good for Noah. He's not scared of the water but is very timid and cautious. His teacher, Miss Michelle, is coming to understand that Noah needs a little push sometimes. (he now calls my sister "miss michelle" due to swimming lessons. cute!) So, swimming lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

On Wednesday, gymnastics started up again. Noah loves gymnastics. He got one of those hippity-hop balls for Christmas. You know the kind, right? It's a big bouncy ball with handles. You sit on the ball, hold the handles and jump. Well, they use these balls in his gymnastics class. And since Noah is timid and cautious (already mentioned) he would never jump. He would sit and hold on but no jumping for him. He would just bounce in one spot. We've been working with him and he finally got it! He jumps all over the place. He couldn't wait to show Miss Holly. I didn't get to go to his class because I had a YW Presidency meeting but Ammon said he did great. I'm so proud of that little guy. He amazes me all the time.

Like last night. I took him to the gym and put him in the daycare while I went to shake my thang at Zumba. When I came back an hour later to pick him up, he was teaching Miss Demi sign language. Miss Demi is an older woman, I'd say in her late 60s. Noah used to call her "Grandma". (which she LOVED) I think she'd admit to everyone that Noah is her favorite child. Everytime he comes in, the hug eachother and just talk about life. So back to signing. I walk in and I hear him saying, "put your hand up like this. and put your thumb in and that's B. Now shake it and that's blue. And this is white. No, not like that. Like this. And this is yellow. Make a Y. No, with your pinky promise and thumb. Yeah! Ok, shake it and that's yellow." It was adorable.

This is Ammon's last week of class. Well, this class at least. It's been a really tough class but, I'm so proud of him. He's so disciplined. He'll be taking a break after this week and I can't wait to get some more time with him. We'll have to live it up before his next class starts.

I'm pretty much recovered from getting my wisdom teeth extracted. Today is my 3 week mark and I just stopped taking Ibuprofen 3 days ago. I still have holes in my face but they don't hurt anymore. My jaw is just slightly sore but not bad. That was the worst part for me. Pain in your jaw is miserable! I'm glad that's over.

I haven't talked about Griffin in this post. I guess because nothing new started for him this week but here are some things he's saying these days:

dad

mom

noah

uh oh

dude

diaper

nononono

He are his signs:

dad

mom

candy

more

eat

please

thank you

There might be more in both of those categories but, I can't think of them right now. Ammon - can you think of any more?

So that's been our week, more or less. Oh! One more thing. Ginger took the boys Monday evening and Ammon and I got to go on a date! We went to my favorite Thai restaurant and then we played Scrabble at our local coffee shop. It was so great to spend some time with the cutest man on earth!

Project 365

I am SUPER excited about this! In the year 2010, I will be taking a picture every single day. I love to say that I scrapbook but honestly, I don't remember the last time I really sat down and did a layout. It makes me so sad. If you scrapbook at all, you must know about Becky Higgins. She is super talented and has already had an amazing career. She is branching out on her own now and has made a kit called, Project Life. When I came across this kit, I knew it was just what I needed to get back into scrapbooking and photography. It is simple. I can do this. I still want to create and come up with new layouts but for right now, when life is so hectic, I know I can at least accomplish this much. I'll post my POTD (photo of the day) weekly on this blog so I have them in digital form. Here's to a wonderful year -- documented!!

Christmas Trip to VA

We spent this weekend up in VA at my parents' house. It was a short visit but we all really enjoyed it. I have been experiencing some pretty intense pain in my ears these past few days. I guess that has to do with getting all 4 of my wisdom teeth extracted last Friday... I had my dad and my Ammon give me a blessing last night. And while it still hurts, it doesn't hurt as bad as it did yesterday. With all the pain, I didn't even think about taking pictures of our trip. Sad. If I had pulled out my camera, I would have taken pictures of these things:

• Griffin sitting on the piano bench, playing us a beautiful song.
• Mom's beautiful Christmas decorations. Noah kept saying things like, "this room is so beautiful!" or "i love all your Christmas stuff!"
• Poppy laying on the floor, playing with the boys.
• Griffin laying his head on Nana, giving her some love.
• Me rocking Noah for "10 minutes". That's the time limit he put on this activity.
• Soft pretzel and beef jerky from the Dayton Farmers Market.
• The boys having a blast chasing Sloopy around. (the dog)
• Both boys jamming on Josh's drums.
• Noah and Poppy snuggled on the couch watching Horton Hears a Who.

We really had a wonderful time. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Christmas Card 2009

I'm not going to feel guilty about taking the digital approach this year. We have been so busy and some things had to get crossed off our list. Sending out Christmas cards, unfortunately, was one of the first things to go. And hey, if you desperately want our adorable family adorning your home, just print out the picture above and there ya go. Feel free to frame it and treasure it always. ;) Merry Christmas!

No Will Power

It snowed over the weekend. A lot! We got about a foot of snow. Everything was so beautiful and white. We were all sitting in the living room together and honestly, it felt like we had no choice. I mean, there was lots of snow on the ground. We were staring at our Christmas tree. The presents under the tree were begging us to open them. It just felt like Christmas. Ammon and I decided to exchange gifts. I gave him some Smurf buttons to put on his messenger bag. I also made him a photo book which he LOVED. It was full of pictures taken this past year. He's excited to show it off to everyone he sees. : ) He went all out on me. I knew I was getting a netbook and a case (we ordered those last week) but he surprised me on Saturday with a beautiful pearl necklace! I've been wanting one for awhile and he can take a hint. : ) The netbook was supposed to be delivered on Saturday but due to all the snow, they said it wouldn't get here until Tuesday. I was bummed. Then tonight, the doorbell rang and Ammon came upstairs carrying my cute little computer! It was such a pleasant surprise. Merry Christmas to me! I'm blogging while laying on my back in my comfy bed. I love it!

We're making the boys wait until Christmas to open their presents... We're so mean.

Free Stuff

Ammon LOVES getting free stuff. We usually get free things in the mail every single day. Most of it we don't need but since it's free, Ammon has to have it. Some of the things we've received free of charge:

lotion

dry heel cream

gas medication

tampons

face wash

chocolate

dog food

cat food

jar opener

caulk

diapers

and most recently, breathe right nose strips.

Neither one of us snore, unless we're congested, but we both wanted to use the nose strips. We were curious to see what they felt like. So last night before we turned out the lights, we put on our nose strips -- so sexy! They weren't uncomfortable and I got used to them very quickly and fell asleep. When the tv came on this morning (we use it as our alarm clock), I was exhausted. Ammon asked me how I slept, like he does every single morning. I told him that I didn't sleep well because I had dreamed all night long. At least that's what I thought in my head... I'm not sure how it came out. I remember him saying that he dreamed all night as well. And this next part might not be accurate. See, it takes me quite awhile to really wake up. I think he said he had a dream that he and I were shopping. And then somehow, my little sister came into the dream and she shot someone! I'm sure there was more to the story but, I don't remember. Just like I don't remember any of my dreams from last night.

So, back to the nose strips -- I don't think we'll be using them again.

Pilot Mountain

A few weeks ago, we stumbled upon a Saturday where we didn't have any plans! It was so nice to decide for ourselves what we were going to do. It was a beautiful day so we decided to head to Pilot Mountain. It's about a 15-20 minute drive and it's beautiful up there! This was the first time I had been there (along with the boys). Ammon used to go as a teenager to rock climb.

Anyway -- the kids LOVED every minute of it. They were both running and jumping up the mountain like it was nothing.

Noah was playing in the leaves and Ammon kept tossing pebbles his way... Noah had no clue what was going on. : )

Griffin got to play with sticks.

Crazy face!

This kid loves dirt.

Yelling at the sticks. Ha!

So adorable...

And here are the obligatory handstand pictures. Griffin.

Daddy.

And Noah.

Blurry family picture. I think I need to get a point and shoot camera... For many reasons really. One of the most important being other people have NO CLUE how to focus my DSLR.

The men in my life. They make me so happy.

It was great to get out in nature for a few minutes. I love where we live and I'm grateful for the beauty of the earth.

So far behind!!

What is up with me not blogging lately? It stresses me out to think about editing all the photos I want to post so... I'm not going to. I'm going to throw a bunch on here and worry about editing them later. Or not.

So I'm sure I'm THE LAST person to blog about Halloween. We had a lot of fun festivities planned but on the actual day of Halloween, it rained. And my boys were sick. We were able to go to a Halloween playgroup that week and visit with Granny.

Ever since Noah saw a Diego episode about Spectacle Bears, that's what he wanted to be. So we searched the internet until we found one that got his approval. We found Griffin's adorable lion costume at a thrift store for $4!! He was completely in love with his costume. We got it months before Halloween and Griffin would find the costume, bring it to us and sign "please" all the time. He wanted to wear it everyday.

Noah in his costume. This was taken while we were at Granny's house.

The boys and their playgroup friends. : )

Griffin at playgroup. Cutest lion ever!!

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Gratitude

I came across this doodle today and it really connected with me. I am so grateful for my life and all the blessings that have been sent my way. Big and small.

doodle via.