francesca's little men

2011-03-09T17:33:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I wrote last. I feel bad about that. No excuses, I just stopped being consistent about this. But I love what this habit does to my attitude about the boys and being a mom, so I thought I'd start writing about the boys again ... here it goes:

Noah

1. He has this ritual, as of late, to pray for all of our ailments. Which is wonderful and thoughtful, however, he never takes into account that we heal and no longer need prayers in our behalf for an illness we had a few months ago, but he keeps praying for my throat (I had a sore throat at the beginning of February), Liam's eye (which he got stitches for in October of last year), and his own cough (which he currently suffers from). The other night he was listing the ailments off and he peeked out of one eye and whispered to Daniel, "Daddy, do you have anything wrong with you?" Daniel answered 'no' and so Noah ended his prayer.

2. He has begun to get embaressed about things. I knew this day would come. It's too bad. I love seeing children in their tactless way ask questions, take off their shoes in public and pick their noses. It's hilarious. Once about 2 weeks ago we went to the gym and I told Noah to take his snow boots off when we got there. He stood there motionless, got a scrunched up look on his face and whispered in my ear, "But then I will just be wearing my socks!" He seemed mortified by the idea. I told him it was OK and he took off his boots. Today at preschool it was "wear your favorite hat day", so Noah showed up in a hard hat form our dress ups. As we waited to go in, he noticed that some kids weren't wearing hats. He asked me why and I said they probably forgot to. That was not enough for him. He approached one of his teachers and asked, "Isn't it favorite hat day today?" She answered 'yes' and he seemed satisfied with that. sigh. He is getting older and concerned with what others think. He will waste so much time on that over the next 20 years.

Liam

1. Liam has become my little friend. He clearly enjoys my company over everyone else's, including Daniel's. But besides that, we spend every moment with each other. Noah will go to preschool and Liam and I will go shopping together, go to the gym together, or hang out at home together. I remember this time happening when Noah was about the same age. When they are 2, they aren't old enough to do very much alone, but they can walk and talk and go with me everywhere, so they do. And so Liam does. He is a fun pal, most of the time. He gives me lots of love and kisses and snuggles. He holds my hand when we walk. I like all of that.

2. We dropped off Noah at preschool yesterday and then headed to the gym. I turned on some music in the car. Liam requested a song. He asked for "Bust it" (Bust a Move). Right at the beginning of the song a guy says "Bust it!" I replayed that beginning over and over again until both Liam and I were laughing outloud. It was fun. Liam has a good laugh. It's not very loud, but it tumbles out of him in a melodious way. Almost a chuckle though. And he always gets hiccups when he laughs too hard. It's adorable.

2010-09-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Tonight at the dinner table I said, "Noah, your eyes are just glowing!" and Noah said, "what is glowing?" I said, "glowing is like shining". Noah stopped and thought for a few seconds, then I saw something go 'click' in his little brain and he busted out into song and sang, "I am like a star shining brightly! Shining for the whole world to see! I can do and say happy things each day for I know Heavenly Father loves me". It was a glorious moment.

Liam

1. He is currently saying "wook! I daw noah un daddy, wook!" He's sitting in the little vintage school desk I got at a recent mom to mom sale and drawing lines with a pencil on a paper. He keeps bringing it over to me and holding it about 1 inch form my eyeball and saying, "wook!"

2010-09-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Yesterday while sitting at the dinner table Noah said this, “Mommy, I’m SO glad you had me. Because if you only had one Liam and not Noah then you would just have one Liam. And that would be sad.” “Why?” I asked and Noah said, “Because Liam is super, super, super, super mean”. He’s right. Liam has been a living terror for the last little while – screaming, tantruming, hitting … ugh, the terrible twos. I guess Noah is noticing it too.

2010-09-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. We have a Primary Music CD in our car and listen to it everyday now. Today we were listening to the song "The Church of Jesus Christ" and Noah was singing it at the top of his lungs. He stopped singing halfway through the song and said, "Mommy? Did you hear me 'yell-singing'? I was doing that because I love Jesus. He's the coolest guy ever. He could walk on water!" It was an awesome moment.

2. I called Daniel when I was on my way home tonight. He told me that Noah was sitting there on the couch "reading" his joke book in preparation for the Ward Variety Show on Saturday. That brought a huge grin to me face. Noah is our little comedian.

Liam

1. His toes are wonderful. His little feet are still chubby and he has cankles.

2010-09-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Sometimes Noah says things wrong. Here are two from today:

without - "with-about"
poison ivy - "poison and ivy"

Liam

1. Last night while in the car I put on a Primary music CD to listen to. Liam LOVED it. His favorite songs were: Follow the Prophet, Sunbeam, Give Said the Little Stream, and Popcorn Popping. My favorite part was listening to him sing the chorus to Follow the Prophet. He sang, "fah-woah a pofet .... eee no a waaaaay!" It was awesome. He even raised his voice in pitch at the end. Totally adorable.

2010-09-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Our next door neighbors have a grandson named Adam. Adam is just a few months younger than Noah. Five minutes ago I heard some pounding at my front door - it was Adam. He wanted to know if Noah could come and play at his Gramps' house in their pool (wading pool). Noah was so excited. He threw on some swim trunks, I gave him a towel and had him wear his hat and as I was smearing sunblock on his body, Adam was staring at us in our front room from outside the clear galss storm door. It was totally cute. I love that Noah has friends, and that they can play next door and I can look out my window and see them laughing and jumping around. Yeah for Noah. I'm glad he's enjoying the sun outside.

2010-08-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Today Noah came up to me and said, "Mommy, I want to live right next to the beach so I can have a beach life" ... kid after my own heart. I want that too Noah ... sooooo badly. I'll work on it :)

2. He was so happy today because the Ordaz boys came over to play. When Noah gets excited he usually hurts himself and others. He flips around and kicks the air and runs around and waves his arms wildly .... ahhh, it's really crazy. He hasn't played with the Ordaz boys for over a month because they've been on vacation and so this morning when I saw him freaking out with happiness, I just smiled. He just couldn't contain himself and I guess I couldn't really blame him.

3. Noah, Antonio and Alejandro were talking at the lunch table (in and of itself ... that is awesome to watch). You have to see their faces. Antonio usually has a furrowed brow as he talks very seriously about pretty much everything. Alejandro smiles a lot and jokes. Noah is the most dramatic. His eyes get big, he uses his hands to talk and speaks with major inflection in his tone .... so hilarious. They were discussing the solar system, specifically the sun. Noah interjected, "the sun is not just a sun ya know. It's a (dramatic pause) star (said very slowly)" The boys said they knew that. Noah continued sharing factoids when he said, "Saturn is the planet with the rings around it". The boys then went on to discuss that other planets had rings too .... the knowledge was flowing over lunch today.

Liam

1. He's talking so much lately and I can actually understand most of it. When I heard him waking up after his nap, I went in to get him and I was on the phone with Daniel (who has been out of town all week in Colorado, backpacking with Eric and Ian). I asked Liam if he wanted to talk to Daddy, he said, "yeah". He usually just says "hi", "gee" (good) and "yeah" to all questions/conversation on the phone, but this time when daddy asked about what he did with the Ordaz boys Liam came up with "payee ties" (playing with toys). Good for you Liam! I love your sweet face.

2. The weather was so incredibly wonderful tonight that we got Wendy's and went to a nearby park to eat dinner and play inthe sunshine. I set us up on the only bench left at the park not being used. It was directly in the sun. Liam sat down and went to take a swig of his chocolate milk. As he raised the drink, he was staring right at the sun. I watched him. He put the drink down, looked upset, then tried raising it again, this time with eyes tightly shut, but he gave that up just as quickly. He turned to me and said, "Mommy, eee sun eyes". I told him to stand up and turn around and try again. He said, "ok". He did it again, not facing the sun but with eyes still squeezed shut. Halfway through his drink he popped open one eye cautiously, then happily opened the other eye as he ralized it was safe. I love watching this little person figure stuff out. It's beautiful. You can almost see the wheels turning in their head as they think through problems in front of you and I love it.

3. Liam doesn't like to get dirty. A few days ago, we were at a park. Liam was wearing his flip flops. I watched him as he walked around the park. He kept getting tanbark in his flip flops and everytime he did (which was about every 15 seconds) he would stop, rip off his flip flop, pick it up to his mouth and blow on the flip flop to get the tanbark off, then throw the shoes down and try to slide his foot in. This only worked a few times, then he must've gotten too sweaty, because his fat little feet had tanbark stuck to them and when he'd throw the shoe down and try to slip his foot in them, his foot was covered in tanbark. He looked so frustrated and deflated when he yelled out to me to help.

2010-08-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

OK, I feel bad in just posting a sad movie, so here's a few good ones too, so it balanced out a bit ...

This is what Liam did when Noah and I asked him to dance:

Singing Liam:

There's one more video of Liam re-situating his "beek-ink" (blanket) for like 3 minutes and singing, it's great, but I'll have to post it later.

2 year old Liam

2010-08-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

Liam has been pretty ridiculous these days. He gets upset and screams all. the. time. It has been tough. I know you are all saying, "what?? Sweet little Liam? Angel face Liam? He wouldn't!" So ... I am documenting it with this little video. This is so indicative of what my days are like. Little fights and screaming fits are the norm around here lately. It happens about 15 times a day, maybe more like 27 times .... hmmm, tomorrow I'll count.

Since pretty much the only people that read this blog are my sisters and mom, I feel safe in posting this video. It is sad:

2010-08-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. This morning Daniel made eggs and pancakes for breakfast and let me sleep in. I hobbled into breakfast this morning in my jammies and the boys were already eating with Daniel. Noah leaned way down in his seat so his foot would reach mine under the table and tapped my toes with his. I asked why he did that and he replied, "I was just giving your toes a high five with my toes. It's called a toe high five!"

Liam

1. Repeats everything we say, especially Noah. It's just priceless to listen to his interpretation of what was just said. He sounds like someone from another country or something because his English vowels are usually wrong and so he pronounces things wrong. I tell him he is the cutest little foreigner ever, because he is.

2010-08-20T12:29:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. The difference between boys and girls: "Girls wear leggings and boys have adams' apples", "Girls and boys are different when we go to church. Girls wear skirts and boys wear fancy pants. And they wear different shoes. Girl shoes have different stuff on them and boys have nothing.", "Girls have curly hair and boys have spikey hair".

2. We had a rough morning filled with errands to run - Costco trip, JoAnn's to use my coupons and the library to return overdue books. It was stressful. Liam was really the worst - crying, yelling, dumping bottles of water on everything in our cart and pinching Noah's cheek so hard it left a scratch mark (more like nail marks). So we came home and Liam went straight down for a nap and Noah played outside. Noah has very good ears. He hears stuff before I do 80% of the time. He can hear Daniel drive up, neighbors talking outside, birds, other animals and .... the ice cream truck. I felt so bad for Noah after the morning of rough trips that when he heard the ice cream truck and asked for ice cream, I said, "sure". We both ran outside and the ice cream truck was nowhere to be seen or heard. I thought maybe Noah had made a mistake, until 30 seconds later, the ice cream truck came around the bend way down at the end of our street. Noah's hearing is phenominal. Noah was pumped. He got the Shrek ice cream. He was so excited that after he got his ice cream, he just started talking to the teenager who was driving the truck. He told him Liam scratched his face and that he was excited about his ice cream and "goodbye". It was great. Noah looked happy and it made me happy.

2010-08-08T12:59:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. He kept his "Sunday hat" on all day today at church.

2. Today in Primary I was in charge of giving the sharing time lesson and leading singing time. We were talking about the miracles Jesus performed and specifically about the ten lepers. I asked if anyone in the Junior Primary (kids from 3-7 years old) knew what a leper was. Noah's hand shot up. I called on him and he said, "I know about lepers because you told me about them on the way to church one day. There are ten of them." I love him so much.

3. Noah loves to help. And sometimes he's actually helpful. Today after church he helped Daniel take the dishes out of the dishwasher and then helped me by licking the cookie dough off the spatula. What a good helper.

4. Noah sounded out the word "dog" in Sacrament meeting today. He's so smart. He spent the majority of Sacrament meeting drawing letters and numbers on his magnetic drawing board. But really, his favorite thing to do with letters is to write out a line of letters that nowhere even comes close to resembling a word and then asks Daniel (because I refuse to do this anymore) to sound it out and tell him what it says. It usually comes out sounding pretty funny and Noah loves it.

Liam

1. He asked for and wore his "Sunday hat" all day.

2. He makes what Daniel refers to as "friendly eyes" at people. He tries to catch peoples' eyes by staring at them and not saying a word, once they look his eyebrows raise and he smiles all demurely ... oh man, it is so fantastic to watch. Sometimes people (and when I say "people", I really mean individuals who are trying to listen to the talks in Sacrament meeting and sitting in the rows behind us) will smile back at him or wave or something. When they do this, he usually laughs. It is gorgeous to watch. What a little flirt.

3. I am going to get in a car accident someday because Liam is so gosh darn beautiful. It's easy to appreciate his gorgeous little face when we're on the way home from church because it's holding very still and looking ever so serene. I looked back to check on the boys at a stop light and noticed Liam just staring out the window, holding prefectly still. I took a silent picture in my mind of the light illuminating his eyes, cheeks and lips. It was so breathtaking. As I stared, he turned and looked at me with his huge, dark brown eyes deepset under his little eyebrows. A tiny, tired smile stretched across his lips just slightly before he turned back to the window. Just so pretty. I kept looking back to catch more glimpses the rest of the car ride home. It was so tempting to watch him and not the road.

2010-08-04T19:20:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. His Playlist right now:
21 Guns - GreenDay
Life is Highway - Rascal Flatts
Hey Soul Sister - Train
Un Do It - Carrie Underwood
I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
Glitter in the Air - Pink

2. Noah is my little pal. I had to go to Kinkos tonight and get some color copies and laminate some stuff for the boys. I took just Noah with me. He stood very close to me and hugged my arm for about a minute before he warmed up to the place and started wandering around. He was first drawn to the greeting cards. He would find silly ones with a dog wearing a hat on the front and point it out to me. He made friends with the ladies behind the counter, syaing "hi" and talking about Liam (like they should know who he was). He helped out with cutting the papers and laminated tags. Then one of the Kinkos ladies behind the counter asked Noah to come help her do something. I finished up at the cutting counter before I walked over to see what they were up to. Noah was sitting there, chatting casually with the lady and using the price tag gun to show the sale price on the snickers bars. I offfered to buy him one and the lady said we could have it because Noah worked for it. My little Noah. What a pal.

3. Today Noah asked me about telescopes (I have no idea where he even heard about telescopes). He asked if they could see through trees and buildings. I said no. He asked if they could see the universe. I said yes. I think he knew the answers before I said them. Sometimes I feel like he's just testing me or something. What a little man.

Liam

1. His Playlist right now:
I asked Liam what his fravorite song was and he said, "un-doit! ... truck, firetruck .. firetruck song" - I think he got distracted ...
Un Do It - Carrie Underwood
My Little Buttercup
Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam
Barges

2. He LOVES to play ball outside. I will find him in the backyard just throwing balls around all by himself. Tonight Daniel was throwing footballs to the boys. Liam had the most serious face on as he would wind up and then toss the football. He throws pretty far for a 2 year old. He walked over to me with the football in his hand and he looked very serious. He started "explaining" something to me. I honestly have no idea what he was saying but he was so focused and so serious and he ended his explanation by stamping his fat foot so hard on the cement I expected him to flinch in pain, but he didn't. He just looked at me from beneath his eyebrows with a slightly menacing look and lips slightly pursed. Oh man, it was so awesome.

3. Liam doesn't like cold or hot food. He likes everything to be luke warm. Tonight after dinner, we had ice cream cones (yes, I have cones in my pantry ... what?! Noah is a bad influence at the grocery store ... especially when they're only $1.50). Everyone got an ice cream cone with one scoop. Liam licked away at his for a few minutes before putting it down and saying, "eee ah-nt mee pah-tah" (I want more pasta). We gave him some, then he said, "eee ah-nt wah-ee-men" (I want watermelon). How awesome is that? To have a 2 year old that asks for pasta and watermelon over ice cream?! I love my healthy little Liam.

2010-07-12T15:23:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. I was working on some stuff on the computer and Noah and Liam were in the office with me, doing crafts. They were cutting and gluing and taping. Anyway, Noah says, "I'm going to make a kite for Haley, you know Haley?" I said, "yeah, I know Haley. How are you going to make a kite?" And Noah says, "You know, easy. Like this" and he started cutting out paper and a piece of string. He's an awesome little crafter.

Liam

1. I was changing Liam's diaper and he started making conversation while I worked on a pretty heinous poopy diaper. He said, "Noah eee tine out", I said, "Yup, Noah's on time out". Liam says, "Noah cuh mommy's peepee", "Yes, Noah did cut mommy's paper. Was that good or bad?" ... "bad!" He totally gets it these days. I think he really understands most of what's going on now.

2. While dressing Liam for church yesterday he got away from me and ran over to his closet, then pointed up with his fat finger and said, "Sunay hut!" (Sunday hat). So I got his awsome Easter hat down and let him where it to church. It is a light blue, white and gray striped newsie hat that Aunt Christina let us borrow for a while. Since Liam was wearing his hat, it inspired Noah to wear his and my boys looked so awesome at church yesterday .. that got lots of compliments. Liam has style.

2010-07-10T09:49:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. I told Noah that we needed to buzz his hair, so he had to take off his shorts and tshirt. Noah quickly responded, "I can't do that! Then everyone will think I'm wicked". I asked why he thought that and he said, "Because I will be outside in just my underwear!" Such a modest little man.

Liam

1. Liam got up this morning, ate some vitamins, had some juice and a little breakfast, then walked around for a while, then asked Daniel, "eee nap, daddy, nap!" He only wanted to be awake long enough to eat and take a small break before he was ready to be unconcious again. What 2 year old is like this?! It's hilarious. Nobody else's 2 year old asks to be put down for a nap at 8:30 am after sleeping for 12 hours until 7:30 am. It's awesome and funny and a little weird all at the same time.

Good Boys

2010-07-08T16:43:00.000-07:00

I wanted to add a little side note to my boys:

I remember holding a grudge against my parents until a few years ago. I thought they really did me wrong. I felt I was unjustly punished and never understood. I felt like I was a "bad kid" and I didn't like that. A few years ago, I was visiting my family for Christmas in California and my whole family (parents, sisters, bros-in-law) went to the Oakland temple together. It was a wonderful experience. While in the Celestial Room, my dad came up to me. He sat down next to me and just said, "I am sorry for any mistakes we might have made as parents. I hope you forgive us. We did the best we could and I know we made mistakes and I'm sorry for that." I sat there and wept. I hugged my dad and all was forgiven. I have not thought another bad thought about my growing up years.

I want my boys to know that in case I forget to tell them: they are good boys - no, they are great boys and I love them very much. I want them to know that they are incredibly smart and loving and are capable. I am doing my best at being a mommy and I make a LOT of mistakes. I yell. I get frustrated. I take out my sadness on them. My boys should know it's not their fault.

I have dealt with depression for a long time now. I think it's genetic. I spent the better part of the past 8 years of my marriage trying to find out why I am sad. I blamed Daniel for a few years, then I blamed pregnancy and Noah, then I blamed Liam and having two kids as being too much for me. I blamed my circumstances, my stress, my callings and I have finally found out that I am just sad sometimes and it is nobody's fault. I simply feel depressed sometimes and that can feel like: anxiety, frustration, anger and deep sadness at times. To my boys, I must seem very hard to please, like they can do nothing right. I do not want them to feel that way.

I'm sorry boys. I love you. You are the highlight of my life, as is your daddy, Daniel. I will do my best not to blame anymore, but to move forward and work harder to be grateful and happy. You are so beautiful. I can see your little spirits radiating everyday. You are excited about everything and you are so funny. You are open, honest and sincere. You are my little buddies, my friends that I hang out with everyday. You try to make me happy and I love you for that. Whenever you see me crying, you always come close, hug me, kiss me and Noah even tells me, "Why are you crying? Why are you sad?", "I care about you Mommy", "I love you Mommy". Thanks. I love you too.

2010-07-08T16:08:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Daniel isn't coming home tonight because he has school until 9 pm, so the boys don't get to see him before bedtime. So, our schedule is off a little and we found ourselves having a late lunch at 4 pm and at target looking at toys around 5 pm. Noah has been earning money slowly over the past 6 months or so doing "extra chores". Noah has his own chore chart, but in order to earn money, he has to do "extra chores" and after looking at all the toys at target tonight, he was motivated to do "extra chores" galore! Since we'v been home, he has cleaned up the front room, cleaned his room, made his bed, cleared off the kitchen table and currently, he is vacuuming the kitchen floor. He keeps hopping around and asking me for more chores to do so he can earn money and go back to Target to get one specific truck that he latched on to. I love it. He has goals.

2. I had to sit down with Noah and break the news to him that even if he earned all the money he needed tonight, we weren't going back to Target until tomorrow. He was very worried that the truck he wanted would get taken by somebody else. I remember feeling that way. Infact, I can recall feeling that way as early as a few months ago at a mom to mom sale. I stood in line shifting my weight from one foot to another, counting the women in line ahead of me and wondering if they'd find that perfect set of boys' clothing that I needed for MY boys. It's funny. I wonder if Noah or I will ever learn how to be patient and calm.

Liam

1. While at Target, Liam foundthis little "finger skateboard". It's a tiny skateboard about 1 inch wide and 3 inches long. It came with a set of extra wheels, a tiny screwdriver and stickers to decorate the board with. It was $2.50. Liam found the same kind of "finger skateboard" in the sand while we were camping this past weekend and held on to it for two days before loosing it somewhere. So when Liam saw this skateboard in the store .... he got very excited. His face lightened up, he pointed his fat pointer finger and yelled, "WOOK! Mommy, wook! bate-board! bate-board!" He grabbed it and carried it around for the entire 20 minutes we were at Target. When we started for the check out lines, I told him we had to get money from his piggy bank if he wanted it and we could come back. He looked confused and clutched the skateboard tighter. It was as if he sort of knew what I was getting at, but wasn't sure and wasn't taking any chances with letting his skateboard go. I told him again we didn't have his money with us and to leave the skateboard. His face switched from confusion and anger to total sadness. He looked like he was going to cry. I couldn't take it. I bought it for him and said we'd take the money from his piggy bank when we got home. I am a wimp. Liam is too cute. And he has not let that skateboard out of his sight all night. Worth it.

2010-07-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Today I asked Noah to draw me some "space pictures" so I could frame them and hang them up in his room as decoration. He asked what he should draw and I said, "How about a spaceship with windows and lots of people inside, looking out the windows?" Noah immediately corrected me, "Mommy, people aren't in spaceships, only ASTRONAUTS are in spaceships". He's too smart for me these days.

2. Noah needs a Daniel in his life, just like I do. Right now, I am in the office typing away and all I can hear is Noah speaking non-stop at Daniel. I don't even hear Daniel responding, but Noah has been a run-on sentence for about 20 minutes now. He came into the office about 5 minutes ago and said, "I'm playing Family Home Evening with Daddy. I am telling him stories. I already told him all of the story of the fireman and the firetruck and the dog." He just loves it when Daniel comes home and he can just talk and talk and talk at him. I feel the same way.

Liam

1. I was showing the "space pictures" to Daniel. We were doing this in the bathroom because the boys were in the bath. I asked Noah what one of the pictures was of and Noah said, "It's a spacer sausage" (he means flying saucer) to which Liam quickly jumped in and said, "eee ont sausage peash" (I want sausage please). I think Liam only knew what sausage was because we had some on our camping trip for breakfast with eggs. It is so funny that my little eater, Liam, wanted to put in a request for food as soon as he thought it was available.

2. Today it was hot - in the 90's and like 120% humidity, so we were mostly staying indoors, except for Liam. Liam is such a little man. He likes to putter around in the garage and throw balls and do manly man stuff, all the time. Today I was outside transplanting my little tomato plant and Liam came up to me with one of Daniel's leather work gloves that was on the work bench in the garage and asked "on?". I said he could put it on and so he did. Then he ran into the garage and grabbed a football, ran back to me and said, "ee catch? ... guv ... beeball" (want to play catch? I have my glove and football). Such a little athlete - even in 90 degree weather.

2010-07-01T12:23:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Out of the blue, Noah walks in fro outside in the backyard and we have this conversation ...

Noah: "Are tigers visus?"
Me: "vicious?"
Noah: "Yeah ... can squirrels, racoons and tigers be visus?"
Me: "yeah, they can"
Noah: "why are they visus?"
Me: "I don't know"
Noah: "maybe because they don't like you"

2010-06-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

Yes, you're reading this right .... my daily blog has been neglected for a week ... am I going to try and catch up you ask? No. I'm moving on ...

Noah

1. The conversation Noah and I had in the car ride to the gym this morning:

Noah: Mommy, I think I am going to say a little prayer now.
Me: OK
Noah: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day and oh Lord and in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Mommy, I'm done.
Me: OK, that was a nice prayer.
Noah: Did you know that Tow Mater says "oh Lord" even when he's not saying a prayer? That's bad right? You only say "oh Lord" when you're talking to Heavenly Father in a prayer, right?
Me: right, Noah, you are very smart. Good job.
Noah: yeah.

2. Tonight we all went and swam at Aqua Tots as a family because it was "bring a friend to Aqua Tots" night - so me and Noah were the friends. Noah had a noodle under his arms and I was holding his tummy up as he swam around the pool. He turned to me after several minutes of this and said, "Can you let go of me Mommy?" My little fearless Noah. I hope he doesn't seriously hurt himself one of these days being so fearless.

3. Emma Butler came over with her mommy and little sister, Katie, to have a play date with us this afternoon. Noah and Emma played outside. I have a hard time differentiating between a sad cry and laughing really hard sometimes, when it comes to kids. You'd think that wouldn't be hard to tell the difference bewteen, but if you have kids, you know what I mean. So Emma was laughing hard at Noah and Noah just LOVED it. He did the same little flip on the swing set over and over again just because Emma was laughing so hard at him. Noah glows from the inside out when people find him funny. I know how he feels.

Liam

1. He calls every truck we pass a "fire truck" and requires me to repeat what he's saying so he knows I know what he's saying. It's pretty distracting to do this while I'm driving because we see a truck about every 30 seconds. It's amazing I haven't been in an accident, but I count y blessings - Liam is talking so much these days!!

2. Liam loves his bed (crib). I don't know how we will ever convince him to move into a "big boy bed" one of these days, he just seems so completely content in his crib. And I know this because for the past two days, Liam has had 4 hour naps! And I finally go in to his room to rouse him and find him lying there with a serene look on his face, his blanket in his hands and a grin when he sees me. And yesterday when I finally pulled him out of his bed he said, "no, bed! bed!" ... this kid is totally awesome.

3. Liam calms himself and lulls himself to sleep by gripping the softest, fleecy part of his favorite blanket in his hands and rubbing it ever so gently across his lips and fingertips. The other day I noticed him dragging around his blanket. He stopped in his tracks in the middle of the office when he looked down and saw an old scrape on his knee. He bent over and carefully rubbed his blanket across his knee. It was hilarious. Then I started noticing him rubbing his blanket gently against several other items - a stuffed animal, some legos and me. He's sharing the love I guess.

2010-06-23T19:10:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. We were driving to the library for Storytime this morning and the following conversation insued:

Noah: Mommy! Mommy!
Me: What?
Noah: ... I love you.
Me: Ah, thanks buddy.
Noah: That's a special gift.
Me: yes, it is, thank you.
Noah: why is it a special gift?
Me: Because love is special and when you give it to someone it's a special gift.
Noah: ... is love exquisite?
Me: yes
Noah: Do you know where I learned "exquisite"? My cartoons. Like a butterfly is exquisite.

2. Today Daniel and Liam went to Aqua Tots while Noah and I stayed home and finished making dinner, ate and waited for them to come home. While waitng, we danced. He would do a dance move and I'd copy him, then vice versa. It was fun.

3. Noah kept whispering in my ear tonight to ask if he could have cinnamon rolls yet and it tickled my ear and everytime I started laughing, he started laughing, but harder.

Liam

1. After dinner tonight, we had cinnamon rolls. When everyone was done eating and had all had their cinnamon rolls, Daniel asked if Liam was all done and ready for bed and Liam simply said, "ah bite seenmomon rooooows" (I want a bite of cinnamon rolls).

2. He loves baseball now. He woke up from his nap and asked to go outside and play catch. Noah was plaing with the neighbor's grandson, Adam, and Liam jumped in and brought a foam football with him. It was so fun to watch all 3 boys throw the football then run after it and tackle it on the grass. Liam was screaming, "ball!" and running and flailing his arms about. It was awesome.

3. He and Noah "talk". They do it mostly when they play or when they're supposed to be going to bed at night. I don't know if Liam understands Noah, but he seems to respond and Noah communicates enough for the both of them, so it all works out. It's just hilarious to hear Noah ask Liam questions, have Liam respond in his funny broken English and then hear Noah clarify what Liam said and respond. Just beautiful, the two of them.

2010-06-20T19:49:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Tonight Daniel told Noah to brush his teeth before bed or he would get cavities. Noah asked, "Daddy, what are cavities?" Daniel said he'd tell him after he was all ready for bed. When Noah was ready for bed and he sat down with me to read a book he said, "I will read this bookw ith you Mommy and then I want Daddy to tell me all about cavities. I want to know what Daddy can tell me about cavities because I don't know what they are, so he needs to tell me." Noah is my little inquisitive man.

2. He pulled out our "Bog World" book we got from Gammie. It is a children's book about 2 1/2 feet tall and 2 feet wide with cartoon pictures of the world, the USA, maps etc. Noah and Liam opened it up and sat on top of it and pointed out stuff they saw. "Look Liam, sheep!" or "Wook! a boat!" It was beautiful.

3. During Sacrament meeting, Noah snuggled up next to Daniel and whisered in his face, "Happy Father's Day!" then hugged him. This morning he was so excited about making breakfast for Daddy before he was awake. Noah was doing a good job of helping out in the kitchen by doing the toast and setting the table. Liam got a little loud at one point and Noah fiercely whispered, "Liam! Not so loud, Daddy is sleeping! We're trying to do a surprise for Father's Day!" and Liam answered, "oh. ok."

Liam

1. He and Noah were downstairs with me while Daniel took a nap this afternoon. They started playing this game where they threw all of the couch pillows on the floor, then said, "one two three - ahhh!" and they'd fall on top of the pillows and each other. They looked like they were having so much fun. What cute little chums.

2. He passed out in the carride home from church. It is so cute to see him all dressed up in his little man suit and tie with sweaty bangs and totally unconcious. It's like a business man passed out after a long, grueling week of work coming home on an overnight flight from Europe or something ... but Liam has just barely survived 3 hours of church ... same look though.

3. Liam has been pretty excited about the glove and softballs that Noah and Daniel came home with yesterday. So excited, infact, that as Daniel was carrying a barely concious Liam inside the house from the car, on their way to put Liam down for a nap Liam slurred out, "onna catch ball ...", then he was out like a light in his crib about 30 seconds later. So cute.

2010-06-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Daniel and Noah went to Play It Again Sports and got a small glove for Noah and a few softballs to play catch with. They have been playing in the backyard off and on all day. Noah is getting better and I loved watching both Noah and Daniel play catch outside.

2. Noah wanted to make a Father's Day gift for Daniel, so yesterday at Michael's I got some air-dry clay. Today Noah made a shark for Daniel (with Daniel's help) and a turtle too. They look so cool. This was a great idea, I hope it dries well. It's supposed to take 2-3 days to dry. I love projects with Noah.

3. Noah is a good eater. This has taken years to perfect. We have been training Noah to eat food when it is placed in front of him for 4 years and over the past week (including tonight) I realized that Noah eats his food, without us coaxing him and then puts his plate in the sink. OK, he's not always like that every meal, but it's definately better than before. We have set te timer for him to eat and he used to spill everything all the time (which coined the phrase "the squirrel cage" when we were referring to the area around Noah's seat at the dinner table). It's much better now and that makes me happy.

Liam

1. All of his "ers" he pronounces "ees", for instance, "covers" he says "covees" and "diapers" he says "diapees" and "water" is "wawee". It's adorable.

2. Daniel and Noah have been playing catch outside and Liam wanted in on the action, so Daniel gave him one of his old gloves (way too big for Liam) and he loved it! Daniel was concentrating mostly on Noah and teaching him how to throw it, but Liam would come within 18 inches of Daniel and throw the softball as hard as he could (and Liam has quite an arm). Daniel would grab it and then throw it and Liam would run after it. Everytime Liam found where the ball had landed or rolled he'd say, "OK! gah-deet" (ok got it). Then he'd run up to Daniel about 18 inches away and throw it without warning as hard as he could. I watche dhits go on for about 15 minutes. It was great.

3. As I am writing this, I can hear Liam in his room. He's supposed to be asleep. It's 8:24 pm. Liam doesn't require a lot of songs or book reading or anything to go to sleep, we just usually put him in his bed and close the blinds and door and make sure he has his blanket and that's it. We wave goodnight and close the door and that's that. But I can hear him right now saying stuff. He's not yelling and he's not singing (which is what Noah does), but he is just saying stuff. I can't even tell what, just stuff, in his little voice. I love him.

2010-06-18T17:34:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. He's amazing in the water these days. We went to a pool today and he was so fearless. He was dunking himself under the water and in the toddler wading pool he was trying to swim - kicking his feet and doing "arm circles" (all of which he learned in swim lessons - yeah for swim lessons!). He looked s comfortable in the water and so happy!

2. I told Noah we should get some flowers to put in a jar in the kitchen and he said, "ok! Let's go look at the Growing Boy!" (he named a plant in our front yard "the Growing Boy", it's a vibernum) .... we walked out front and he said, "There's the Growing Boy! Let's take a look!" As I write this out, I am realizing it is not that amazing of a moment, but Noah makes everything seem so exciting and amazing and funny ... I think it's te animated way in which he talks. Or maybe it's how his tone or inflection. It just makes everything more awesome.

3. Liam woke up from his nap and Noah said, "I have a great idea (he says this for pretty much any idea he comes up with) - let's go on a bike ride to the slurpee store and get a slurpee! Then we can go to the bike store and not buy anything and then go to the park!"

Liam

1. I made a stuffed monkey for Liam for Christmas this past year. He hasn't touched it in 6 months. Today I washed it and he saw it sitting on top of the dryer and he grabbed hold of it and has been carting it around off and on today. This morning he was holding it and turning its face away then saying, "whuh ah ee monkey?" (where are you monkey?) then turning the face around and saying, "oh! ah see oo!" (oh! I see you!). Then later when Daniel came home Liam ran into the office to show Daddy his monkey and he rushed in and hid te monkey behind his back and said, "whuh ah ee?" (I had to prompt Daniel and tell him what Liam said). It was so cute.

2. Liam is a champ in the pool. We checked out a community pool this afternoon, as a family because Daniel came home early from work! Liam loved it. We told him what we were going to do and the whole way in the car ride there Liam would ask, "ee shwimming?" Once we got there and in the toddler wading pool he was a little water baby. He was jumping off the side of the pool and blowing bubbles with his mouth and he even got dunked a few times and was fine - came up sputtering and smiling.

3. He cries the saddest cry ever. I can see it coming on. Daniel usually offends him. Liam will be disobedient or knock over cups of water or do something bad and when he does, whether he meant to do it or not, when he gets a dismayed reaction from either Daniel or me, he loses it. At first his little face looks straight ahead and he tries to be strong for about 2 seconds, then his mouth shows the first signs of "losing it". He begins to pucker his bottom lip out, then the eyes well up with tears and within a few seconds you will get a full on wail, mouth wide open, and alligator tears streaming down his fat cheeks. Also, when he cries, he holds his hand in his mouth, over his bottom teeth, like he's holdng his mouth open or something. It's unique to Liam and so sad. The whole picture is just so sad. He lost it a fw times today - I think it was because he woke up after only 2 hours. He really requires a 3 to 4 hour nap each day - poor guy.

2010-06-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Learned the word "uncomfortable" today. I think I said it in the car, and he asked what it meant. He must have understood, because later he got out of bed several times, saying, "it makes me uncomfortable when you close my door at night."

2. Right before bed, Noah was going to give me a kiss goodnight, but Francesca distracted him for a second, and he ended up head-butting me in the cheek. I imitated what he had just done and he couldn't stop laughing. He tried to re-enact what he had done about 7 or 8 times, but kept cracking up in the middle and couldn't get to the head-butt part.

3. When we left the Jamieson's house, Naomi was saying goodbye out the window while we were pulling out of the driveway. She kept saying, "Goodbye Noah!" and Noah kept saying, "I love you!"

Liam

1. Liam was the most advanced swimmer in his aqua tots class today. This is monumental, because Liam is not usually advanced in any setting compared to his peers. He was the only kid in aqua tots to jump from the side of the pool into my arms. And after he did it the first time, he wanted to do it about 30 more times. I think all the other parents were jealous.

2. Liam really likes the Jamieson's cat, Harry - he tries to give it love, but ends up torturing it, lifting it by its tail, that sort of thing. It's sad and hilarious.

3. Liam is getting better at talking now, mostly fueled by his desire to express his wants and needs. He asks for a lot of stuff nowadays. Today in the car he dropped his pen cap and yelped, "Mommy! wook! cup! cup!" (cap, cap) and I reinterated to him what he wanted then told him we'd get it when we got home and out of the car. He responded, "uh-kay". That is usually what he says. As long as I can tell him I understand what he wants, whatever I say after that, I end with, "is that okay?" and he always responds, "uh-kay" and he seems satisfied with that. I love that. He is a good natured soul.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Noah

1. Noah loves to make people laugh. Since the Jamieson girls have been here for a few days, he has been loving it, because all of his old tricks and jokes are new to them and he can unleash them on the girls and they seem to think Noah is pretty funny. Noah loves this. Tonight Stella was in a cranky mood. Noah was trying to jolly her out of it and kept saying, "Stella, look at me!" Then he'd whip his body around and fall to the ground and Stella would chuckle and say, "Noah is funny". I got the feeling that Noah is probably going to be doing this the rest of his life - trying to make some girl happy. He is going to be dealing with little emotional girls the rest of his life and he's going to marry one someday and continue trying to make her happy forever. He will be great at it.

2.
3.

Liam

1.
2.
3.

2010-06-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

Noah

Liam

(these pictures are from a few weeks ago, but I haven't posted them anywhere yet and I thought they needed to be shared and because I came across them today, I thought I'd share)

2010-06-13T19:17:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Today I was conducting the music for Sacrament meeting and Noah kept on catching my eye and waving me down to sit with them. Everytime he'd do it, I would shake my head no and smile and he'd laugh outloud. It was cute.

2. He has been playing with Naomi so happily all day. He and Naomi seem to have so much fun pretending. They talk and make up stories with stuffed animals and toys. It's adorable.

3. He ate his dinner tonight and finished everything (including his salad) before everyone else.

Liam

1. He asked for us to sing "My Little Buttercup". There are no words to describe the beautiful way in which he says "My LIttle Buttercup" - you must see it to love it as much as Daniel and I do.

2. He hurt his foot/ankle somehow while playing with Noah and he is limping. It his hilarious, cute and sad all at once. His feet are so fat and he already has cankles, it's really hard to tell if his ankle has swelled a little, so we're not too worried.

3. Everyone loves him in nursery. He is so mild mannered and hardly says a word. He just has a very different demeanor than any other 2 year old in there, so he stands out. And I love that.

2010-06-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 12, 2010

*So I've kind of been freaking out about this blog. It is a little stressful to do everyday and make each one of the 3 things heartfelt or funny. So, I'm gonna try and relax and just do short and sweet entries every once in a while, so this stays fun and light and not heavy and a responsibility on my list of things to do.

Noah

1. hHs red, wet lips make me happy.

2. His big brown eyes that are so excited and alive.

3. His crooked smile.

Liam

1. His legs that look like mine when I'm fatter and pregnant.

2. His olive skin.

3. His sweet sense of contentment most of the time.

2010-06-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. He had to go on time out for screaming like a crazy man and throwing Liam's cracker on the floor. After his 4 minutes on time out I asked him what he did wrong, he answered, "I was in a bad mood", "what else?" I prompted, he said, "I wa sin a bad mood and I threw Liam's cracker on the floor". "And?" .... he says, "And ... I was in a bad mood?" I told him he screamed too. He confessed and said sorry. We hugged and then I told him to finish his lunch because he would be in a better mood and much happier if he ate some food and Noah said, "no no, but when I was on time out and I was sitting there like this (he did an angry face) but then I was like" (and he lets a wide grin creep across his little lips). I told him he still needed to eat food, but it was pretty cute.

2. He knows how to wipe his poopy bum now. One day I told him to try and then come show me and he did and he did it! I am so happy to have "wiping Noah's poopy crack" off my list of mommy duties. Infact, I love that.

3. Noah has a few favorite shirts. They are awesome. One is a green one with a sunset, palm trees and a surfer on it and it says "surf beat". The other is a blue "Incredibles" tshirt and the other is a bright orange spiderman tshirt. He will pick one of these 3 over any other shirt in his drawer.

Liam

1. LOVES bananas. It is so nice that he has such simple needs. He will be generally happy if he is fed and gets in a good 3 to 4 hour nap everyday and then gets to bed by about 7 pm.

2. He's good in the gym childcare area. He used to have a hard time with nursery at church and when I left him at the gym childcare area I'd always have to leave him with plenty of snacks to drown his sorrows in, but it occurred to me today that he's fine in there now. I walked into the gym childcare and started signing in the boys and Liam opened the gate and walked right in, then smiled his little "Mona Lisa" grin at me as I waved and left.

3. His fat feet.

2010-06-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. This morning I was zonked because I stayed up late with some lady friends chatting away into the wee hours of the morning. So this morning I heard a series of events in the hallway outside of my door and it went something like this:

Noah: Mommy! Liam has the batteries!
(Liam screams something)
Me: OK, take them away from him and put them away. (great parenting, I know)
Noah: Liam, you're not supposed to be playing with this.
(lots of screaming and yelling from Liam ... then crying)
Noah: Mommy! Liam still has one battery!
Me: Then get it (again, the lack of my parenting astounds even me)
Noah: No Liam.
(yelling and thumping from Liam)

Then the cutest thing happened. I heard that Liam was a mess in the hallway basically throwing a tantrum because of what happened and Noah in his sweet little voice said, "It's OK Liam, you're just not supposed to play with batteries. Do you want me to sing 'Buttercup'? OK ..." then Noah launches into "My Little Buttercup" and Liam calms down. The crying stops, it turns to sniffles and then silence as Noah finishes the song. It was beautiful to listen to before I passed out for another 10 minutes. What a good big brother. He knows just what to do. Evidently he's paying attention and I love that.

2. This morning, after Liam went down for his nap, I sat down with Noah. Noah has a LOT of artwork. One favorite subject has been aliens. So, I took all of his aliens pictures that I had saved and piled them on the kitchen table. Then, with Noah next to me, I asked him about each picture and transcribed his responses onto each page. I took each finished page, complete with descriptions and put them in page protectors, then went to Target and got some folders. Noah and I made a cover and viola! We had "Noah's Alien Book". It is awesome. I loved doing every minute of it. Noah is hilarious. There was no hesitation at all, as soon as I put a new picture in front of him, he sailed into another story or explanation about that alien or monster. His little creative brain is like New York City - it never sleeps.

3. I read "The Quiltmaker's Gift" to Noah tonight before bed. It is a pretty long bedtime story book, but it is good. I loved sitting next to him and reading to him tonight.

Liam

1. He calls strawberries "gapes".

2. He loves babies. Today we went to the Butlers' house for dinner and they have a little girl named Katie who is 8 months old. Liam just stares at her and hands her balls and pushes her over (oops!), but he just seems fascinated with little babies. He'll point at her and say "baby!". He also found a baby doll at their house and brought it to me and pointed at the baby's eyes, ears, cheeks, nose ... it was so cute.

3. He doesn't fight bedtime. He usually loves it. He likes brushing his teeth (he can pull the stool up to the sink and everything) and he'll kneel for family prayer (most of the time) and then go to bed. I lay him down, give him his blanket, close the blinds and shut the door and he goes to sleep. It's so pleasant.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Noah

1. He is my little performer. He made Ean (my visiting teacher's little boy) laugh by doing a silly, jolting break-dance-like move on the floor. So he continued to do it until he hurt himself. But it was so funny to see Noah get so much joy out of making someone else laugh.

2. Noah gets cash for doing extra chores. I usually ask him to clean up the front room each morning and he does a great job! He is detail oriented and knows where everything goes. He is becoming so capable and I love that.

3. I heard him playing in the front room while I was in the shower. He talks for his "guys" now. It was awesome.

Liam

1. What a little helper. I was cleaning up a little before my visiting teacher came over and Liam wanted to help clean up too. He got the vacuum out for me and helped me wind the cord when we were done. He said, "elp? elp?" as he handed me the plug at the end. He carried around the dustpan as I swept the floor, then handed it to me when I asked for it with a huge grin across his face. He asked for "up ipes" (disinfecting wipes that he calls "wet wipes") so he could wipe down the table and front of the cupboards and other random objects that Liam deemed dirty and thought they needed a good swipe - like the leather chair in the front room, the doorframe and a little of the carpet. He was so cute. The whole time he looked so proud of himself.

2. He loves playing outside. He says, "ah-side?" (outside), then "cocs!" (crocs) or "feep fops" (flip flops) and finally he always asks, "ga-ahge? opin? ga-ahge!" (garage? open? garage!). He also plays with the lawn mower almost everytime, no matter how many times I tell him he can't play with the lawn mower, I always see him pushing it out of the garage and standing on it in the driveway. I tell him to play with HIS lawn mower ... the cute little plastic one that is his size, but no. Not good enough. He needs to roll out our huge lawn mower and play with it. It's so not exciting .. but to him it must be. Everytime.

3. He goes where Noah goes. It's super cute to watch. He follows him, not necessarily to play with him. Just to be in the same place as Noah and then play near him. It's funny.

2010-06-08T20:30:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Loves his "BFF" Braeden and we were sooo lucky that he stopped by for a playdate while they are in town for a week. Noah just beamed. He laughed and talked and played hard. It was so fun to see him so happy.

2. He says "hi" to everyone and everything he sees. Sometimes, like today, he yells it to total strangers who just happen to be walking past our house. It's alarming to people at first, then they usually smile and say "hi" back. When they don't respond, he says in a loud voice, "Mommy? Why didn't they say 'hi' to me?" Usually the person is still within earshot, so I can't say something like, "well, maybe they're not as friendly as you", so I usually just say, "I don't know". Noah needs to say hello and I love that. He is friendly and happy and I hope he stays that way, no matter how many people don't say hi back.

3. He got himself dressed for bed tonight by himself. He is wearing a macthing Lightening McQueen shorts and t-shirt jammie set. You'd think that would be cool, right? Well, not really. It's a little obscene. The jammies are a size 5T, so I thought they'd fit him perfectly and they SHOULD, but they don't. They basically look like he's wearing hot pants. It's hilarious and he has no idea, he just loves them because Lightening McQueen is on the front and it has racing checkers down the side. Oh man, he looks like one of the chicks at the starting line or something .... hahaha, but it made me smile tonight.

Liam

1. He props at least one foot up while he sleeps. Now THIS is from me .... finally something, sheesh. My dad props his left foot up while he drives and I do too. Liam gets comfy by propping one of his fat little feet in the bars of his crib. I noticed it again tonight.

2. This morning he looked really happy to see me. I woke up and he yelled, "mommy!", then came over to the door of the bathroom (yes I was having my morning pee) and just looked all adorably at me. He batted his big brown eyes and swung his little foot around while hanging onto the doorframe with his chubby hands ... it was like he was being flirtacious and I loved it.

3. He and Noah had an awesome discussion tonight in the basement, it went something like this:

Liam: ook mommy! ook! uh ant!
Noah: that's not an ant, it's a beetle
Liam: ant
Noah: no it's not. It's a beetle Liam. Mommy, there's a beetle!
Liam: ant! mommy ook!
Me: then scoop it up and take it outside.
Liam: Ok. ah-side
Noah: Liam, we need to take it outside, c'mon. It's a beetle.
Liam: o-K! ah-side eeee beets.

2010-06-07T21:18:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. He sang on the phone to Aunt Steena today. Noah is my little performer. He sang Rascal Flatt's "Life is a Highway" and Train's "Hey Soul Sister". It was awesome.

2. Noah is a good big brother. He tries to keep Liam from doing "bad things". Today he stopped Liam from rolling our lawn mower out of the garage and came and told me what Liam was trying to do. Noah is my little informant and I like that. I can use all the help I can get!

3. He has been asking me for two days to read him "Goodnight Moon". Today I finally did. On the second page, I read it and then asked him about something on that page. Noah stopped me and said, "No no mommy, just read it. That's how Daddy does it". Noah knows what he wants I guess. It was cute.

Liam

1. Tonight for amily Home Evening Liam was in charge of the opening and closing song. I asked what he wanted to sing for opening song and he said, "eee, ap ununn shheee on up eee uh buttah cup!" (my little buttercup) I only understood the last word he said and I said, "My little buttercup?" and he said, "uh HUH!" (insert huge grin here). It .... was ... adorable. We sang it for the closing song too.

2. Tonight when Daniel and I went in to check on the boys before we went to bed Liam said something in his sleep. I don't know what he said, but he said it like he was completely awake. His tone sounded slightly bothered and it sounded like, "eee dink" ... your guess is as good as mine. But it's funny because it reminded me of Daniel. Daniel talks in his sleep too and it sounds like he's awake too. They talk in perfect clarity and inflection like they are concious. I didn't know until tonight that they had that in common too.

3. Sometimes Liam asks me questions. About half of the time I know what he's asking. If I know what he wants, I can explain to him why he can or cannot have something, drink something, eat something, etc. It's absolutely priceless to see his face watch mine intently as I respond to his question. After I am done explaining, most of the time he says, "Ok". But it's his tone you have to hear. The "oh" is higher than the "k" and it sounds as if he's tired but resigned to do as I told him. It sounds so agreeable. I love it.

2010-06-07T20:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, this has been harder than I thought. Doing it every day is a challenge sometimes. I try to be as consistent as possible, but have missed 2 days!!! I feel like I’ve missed so much.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Noah

1. He knows how to party. We had dinner over at a friend’s house with a few couples and their families. Noah knows how to hold his own. He made himself at home by figuring out that the toys were stashed in a drawer below the TV within 5 minutes of being at their house and immediately started pulling them out and playing. Later, Daniel found him in the backyard by himself just playing, staying occupied. He shared toys and always talks to kids whether they are older, younger or his age the same. He is no respecter of persons. He thinks everyone is just like him. It’s pretty cool.

2. He will eat anything if you give him a finite number of bites to eat. 5 bites? OK! And he’ll hork it down.

3. He can dress himself and he loves his helicopter t-shirt. I was getting ready to go to our friends’ house and he asked what I was doing and I said, “getting dressed” and Noah said, “well, if I was you, I would wear some shorts and a helicopter shirt and flip flops and a sweatshirt”.

Liam

1. He just came and sat on my lap while I was talking tonight. He just sat with me and enjoyed snuggling up to me and holding my hands, then he hopped down and ran off. I loved it.

2. His wake up voice. It’s a little gurgled and hoarse and his lips are still a little swollen from being so relaxed. It’s gorgeous and hilarious at the same time. Sometimes he wakes up and just starts naming things in the room that he knows how to say.

3. Today he loved the ribs we ate with our friends. I love that he is an open minded eater. Also … he LOVES BBQ sauce.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Noah

1. Today Daniel and I were talking after Liam went to sleep. Noah was still up. We had to talk about some stuff and not be interrupted so we closed our bedroom door. Noah let us talk for about 2 minutes before he came knocking. We told him that we needed to talk and we’d be out a little later. And he kind of whimpered, “But I need to have someone to talk to”. It was adorable. I love my little social Noah. He has LOTS to say everyday and needs his mommy and daddy. I love that.

2. Noah is in a “what if” stage. This stage is not quite as intense as his “why?” stage (which has been in effect for about a year and he’s still going strong), nevertheless, it is a stage I have noticed lately. It is completely ridiculous. He asks the most nonsensical things – the starting point is ridiculous and he moves farther from reality and sense from there. I cannot give an example. It just happens. I need to record it, because it is too bizarre. But definitely cute to hear his little brain sort through things out loud.

3. His eyes are a little lighter brown than mine and absolutely gorgeous. I hope his wife appreciates his eyes someday.

Liam

1. His giggle is melodious. When something really strikes him as funny he does it. His giggle is different than the forced, loud laughter he does with Noah when they are being naughty at the table, not eating their food and making messes. His giggle bubbles up out of him like it’s coming from his soul and it is so beautiful. It shakes his little shoulders and belly and he unknowingly throws his head back when he does it. His mouth is slightly open and his eyes are half shut. His hands are limp and it is the most beautiful thing in the world.

2. He doesn’t like having poopies in his diaper. As soon as he does it, he will not sit down and will find me and say, “ee pee-oop” (I pooped).

3. Liam is scared to death of the toilet. I thought since he was recognizing when he was pooping, that it was the first signs of potty training readiness (yes, I’ve read “potty training for dummies”). I tried asking if he wanted to go on the potty. He said, “uh HUH!” So I took off his diaper and picked him up and held him on top of the toilet seat, since the potty chair is still downstairs. His poor little body shook and he gripped me fiercely, then in a nervous tone, “all done, all done!” Oh man … this is not a good sign for potty training ahead, but so cute that he was willing to try.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Noah

1. I was getting ready for a girl’s night party for me and friends in the ward and was very busy today. I always feel bad for Noah when I have busy days. Liam sleeps for a major chunk of the day, but Noah is up and about and a mover and a shaker and likes to be a part of things, so days like today are hard for him. But he was a trooper, thanks buddy. Noah stayed busy doing things in the basement, hanging out outside when I was outside and asking every few minutes if he could help. What a sweetheart. It broke my heart to have to tell him it was just a “mommy job” and I tried to include him as much as possible. I’m just thankful today that Noah is sweet, helpful and can entertain himself sometimes.

2. I felt so bad for basically ignoring Noah’s needs that by the afternoon, I sat down and ate a sandwich with him. We talked about what we would do this summer since preschool was out for the summer. I told him we could have “school time” everyday and learn about things he wanted to learn about. I asked him what he wanted to learn about this summer and this was his list, “cows, cats, dogs, horses, radios, sheep, the letter N, all letters, all letter sounds, frogs, crabs, do coloring, do science experiments and do art projects”. Then he took over the list I was writing and scribbled letters and his name over the rest of the list.

3. Noah kept asking when we were going to do preschool stuff. I told him we would do it this summer but today was a busy day and I didn’t have time. I felt guilty and finally walked downstairs with him and asked him what we could do for preschool time. I asked if we should read a book together and he responded, “ummm, they usually do that at the end of preschool. But at the beginning we do centers”. I told him we could set up an art center. So I grabbed a few pieces of paper, some buttons, stickers, glue and scissors and told him we’d make an “underwater scene”. I drew a few pictures of fish and then a shark and Noah did the rest. He cut them out really well! He cut probably within a ½ inch of the lines! He glued everything himself and stickered it …. It looked amazing. I’m keeping it in his journal. I love my creative Noah today.

Liam

1. I love that he slept for 3 ½ hours today … thank you!

2. I love that he talks to me. He is so quiet around others and it makes me feel special that he talks to me. He tries soooo hard to say things too. It’s really adorable. His prayers are especially awesome. Here’s my best effort at sounding out what he sounds like while saying a prayer (are we allowed to video prayers??) I dunno … “Dee Heavy Fah-uh. Purple (I swear his “grateful” sounds exactly like he’s saying “purple”) uh pood (food). Bess uh pood. Nem Gheesus K-eye-st, uh-mun!” The cutest foreigner ever.

3. I love how his hair is especially thick on the very top of his head (and slightly wavy too) and the back is just luscious. His little moppy head is beautiful.

2010-06-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. I was putting Noah down for bed tonight. He smelled like baby shampoo because I had just given them both a bath. I tucked him in and gave him kisses and said, "You're my favorite Noah" and he responded, "you're my favorite". I asked why and he said, "because you do everything for me ... like cut the chicken and the apples and put them in a bowl and mix it". I said, "so you like it when I cook for you?" and he said, "yeah ... and everything else too". Oh, I needed that today. I guess I do everyday. My back aches, I'm tired, Daniel had a lot of school and he has more to do this weekend. Most days I feel alone, tired and overwhelmed. I need to know sometimes that I am sombody's favorite.

2. & 3. No words ... just video:

Liam

1. I love that he says "cupees" for "covers"

2. I love that he came and sat on my lap while I was talking to Christine tonight and just sat with his blanket and let me squeeze his little, fat toes.

3. I love that he wants to say and do everything just like Noah.

2010-06-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. It was 8 pm and Noah was supposed to be in bed. Daniel and I were around the house getting stuff done when we came upon Noah talking at the front door. He was leaning his head out the screen door saying, "Helloooooo! Just checking on you guys". Daniel asked who he was talking to and he said, "the birds. I was just checking on them".

2. I was about to get in the shower and I had just put Liam down for his nap. I found Noah in the front room playing. He is so cute. He had lined up all of his little trucks in the entryway and was playing with his little plastic frog which he calls "Space Frog" and he was talking (in voices) for his different characters. He plays so awesome. His little imagination is just brimming these days. I told him I was jumping in the shower and asked if he needed anything and he said, "no, see ya, have fun!" then turned back to Space Frog and the gang ... I love him.

3. I was in the shower when I heard Noah throw open the bathroom door and walk in. He said, "mommy? Are you still in the shower?" I paused because it seemed painfully obvious, then answered, "yes, I'm still in the shower". Noah said, "oh, okay ... my mommy is still in the shower". I was immediately alarmed and asked who he was talking to. I peeked around the shower curtain ready for anything and saw Noah grinning huge with my cell phone open and pressed to his ear. I asked who he was talking to and he answered, "I heard your phone singing and I answered it. It's Aunt Steena. I told her you were in the shower". I was relieved. I told him to tell her I'd call her back and he turned and started chatting away on my phone as he wandered into the front room. What a little man.

Liam

1. No one is going to believe me, but he yells ... ALL ... THE ... TIME. He is so silent and reserved around other people, just smiling all coy-like and batting his huge brown doe- eyes ... seriously, he yells. It's kind of how he communicates these days. He yells at Noah a lot. He screams a blood curdling yelp anytime Noah even touches something he wants (whether it's in his hands or not). He screams to eat, to get out, in, up, down and when I wash his hands and face. It only makes me laugh when he is yelling a question at me and he scrunches up his little fat lips into a snarl, furrows his brow and looks confused. You'd have to see it.

2. He and Noah were absolutely the cutest things in the world today in the baesment playing together. Oh my gosh!! Usually they just argue over the toys, but today after Liam's nap, they were being such little buddies and it made me so happy. Noah was cutting out paper pieces and taping them to the walls of the basement, pretending to create a "party for daddy". (side-note: while Noah was preparing the party, he said, "oh daddy is going to LOVE this party I am making for him! He will be so proud of me!" ... too cute right?) Anyway, Liam came downstairs and they just started talking to each other. Noah talks to Liam like he's the same age and fully expects Liam to respond correctly, and usually Liam says something coherent too, it was awesome. Noah asked if Liam wanted to make signs for daddy and Liam siad, "uh HUH", so Noah said, "OK, here's some paper for you and paper for me and here's some pens. We have to draw something and THEN we cut it out". They cut and Noah asked Liam to cut some tape off for him, and Liam did. Liam asked for crayons and Noah gave him some. Liam asked for scissors and Noah gave it to him. Then Liam went into the fort for a while and Noah went to the fort door and made knocking noises with his mouth and Liam actually answered the door! It was just wonderful to see my little men play together and not fight or yell or destroy something. ahhhhhhhh.

3. I love that he calls birds "beesh".

2010-06-01T17:44:00.000-07:00

Today was terrible. They were making me crazy. The boys were whining, arguing, mean, yelling .... I only have pictures today. But they are great. I turned on the sprinkler and let them go in the front yard.

Noah

Liam

2010-05-31T19:47:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Tonight we went over to our friends' house to celebrate Memorial Day by BBQ-ing and playing on their new swing set. Noah loved it. He was so happy to eat hot dogs, jump down from the table and run around outside in the sprinkling rain in his bathing suit with their daughter Naomi. He swung on the swings, watched movies downstairs, ate homemade ice cream, played with Naomi, talked to Naomi, asked her questions ... it was pure Noah bliss. We didn't hear one peep from him for about 6 hours. I love that he loves to hang out with people and can keep himself busy.

2. He doesn't ever just give hugs ... it's always a hug AND kiss. Tonight when we left Jamieson's house he hugged and kissed Bobby's leg before he left (Bobby is Daniel's age - the daddy). It was awesome.

3. He is always entertaining to watch when he speaks. He uses his hands a LOT, his face is incredibly animated and his inflection is varied and exciting. I love to watch and listen to him speak - it's beautiful.

Liam

1. He was soooooo happy this morning. Everyone got up around the same time and stayed up - Gammie, me, Daniel, Noah and Liam. He was excited about everything! I suggested that everyone should go on a walk while I made waffles for breakfast and Liam's enthusiastic response was, "o-K!". He ran (from earlier posts you have to know this is one of my favorite past times - watching Liam run) into his room, then out again and said "eee cocs?" (where's my crocs?). I told him to look in his room and he said, "oh ... o-K!" and whipped around made a hard right turn towards his room and came out syaing "eeee cocs! cocs!" with one croc in his hand. Every answer to every question or statement we made was "o-K!" or "uh-HUH!" It was so cute.

2. When I went to get Liam out of his bed after his nap today, I walked in and he was casually lying there in his crib holding his blanket in his hands, with his legs and feet propped up on the bars of his crib. His little fat toes looked like tiny sausages gripping the bars and one foot was crossed over the other. I loved that today. His casual pose in bed ... especially his little feet.

3. Daniel and I were sitting and talking to our friends at their house tonight on their couch. The kids were playing downstairs and watching movies. Liam randomly came upstairs, walked right over to me, leaned over and said "mommy? up", so I dragged him up onto the couch with me. He settled right in next to me, nestling his little bum in between me and the pillow next to me. I loved it.

2010-05-30T20:42:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Daniel woke up with Liam early this morning ... 6:30 am early ... ugh. So Daniel was awake, sort of napping on the couch, Liam was awake walking around the front room and Gammie (Liz) had just woken up and was sitting in the front room when Noah entered. Noah had just woken up too and he walked into the front room. He looked around the room and with eyes wide kept looking. Liz looked at Noah and asked, "What are you doing with your eyes?" And Noah answered, "I'm awake but this part of my eyes is still sleeping" as he pointed to the lower half of his eyes.

2. In church today there was a beautiful flute solo. Sister Forbush played "Called To Serve", complete with trills during the chorus and at the end for a grand finish. The moments after she ended were completely silent in the chapel. In these quiet few moments as she smiled, put her fluet at her side and walked down from the stand Noah chose to make some noise. Noah did a perfect 5 note echo of the last portion of the song - it sounded exactly like the flute with his litte high pitched voice. And EVERYONE heard it. You know how I know? Because I was sitting on the end of the row and they all looked at me. I was sitting right next to Noah. It was hilarious.

3. So many good quotes today ... but one of my favorite moments today was Noah's conversation about batteries. I filmed it and will have to post it because it is too in depth to explain. But it was so funny. He talked about how everything ran on batteries that Heavenly Father placed in them. He's so smart.

Liam

1. His face after dinner was absolutely priceless. He was wearing a white onesie, shorts and this crocs with church socks .... that alone was too funny. But his little chubby face was smeared with red sauce from the spaghetti we had been eating too. He looked awesome.

2. He fell asleep on the way home from church. He looked so peaceful. He was such a good sport too. He is sooooooo tired and hungry on Sundays because it directly interrupts his lunch and nap schedule in the middle of the day (we have church from 11 to 2pm). But he just smiles at everyone in nursery and then silently slips into unconciousness on the way home. He didn't even cry or make a fuss or have a hard time when Ian transferred him from the car to his crib. He just went right back to sleep. Sweet little Liam.

3. He needs to be consoled. Liam gets sad sometimes (like when he doesn't get food or rest when he needs it) and if somethingbad happens, like he trips or Noah takes something from him or anything he cries the saddest cry you have ever seen. Complete sadness twists his chubby little facial features. His mouth is wide open crying and eyes are squeezed shut. His hands are usually outstretched or limp by his side just looking totally pitiful. Today during Sacrament meeting he was having a little bit of a hard time being sad and he needed consoling. He has specific needs for consoling: 1. you must be holding him in your arms (hands around his shoulder do not help, laughing it off does not help, patting his head, rubbing his "owey", not good enough) 2. He needs direct conact with your cheek. Daniel says that if you put your cheek next to his during a moment of consoling, he will lean into your cheek and stay there. 3. It doesn't have to be long. He recovers ratehr quickly usually.

2010-05-29T21:47:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. He is so full of energy. Today we spent a lot of time outside in the backyard - talking, eating, playing - it was fun. Noah was riding around in cicles on his bike. His bike has training wheels and there is a section of uneven cement in our backyard. If Noah gets stuck on this uneven portion, his training wheels touch the ground, but his back wheel doesn't, so he spins in place. It's like riding on a stationary exercise bike. Today Noah got himself stuck there on purpose and rode it like an exercise bike for a long time. It was awesome. He looked so happy to just be literally "spinning his wheels".

2. We got a babysitter tonight. She's only babysat for us once before, so I reinroduced her to Noah and when I did, I told her if she ever wanted to know where soemthing was, to ask Noah. So as I showed her around the house and took her into the boys' room to show where diapers, jammies and et wipes were, we passed by the bathroom an Noah said, "Ashley, this is the bathroom. I know where it is and you can go potty here and bruch your teeth too".

3. He loves to play. He yearns for attention and interaction. I know how he feels and I love him for it. It is so cute when he asks in the sweetest voice, "Do you want to play with me now?"

Liam

1. He is beautiful. He smiles a lot and his face looks so serene most of the time.

2. He randomly crawls into my lap and sits there contented for a little while. Today after his nap, he came outside where we were and was eating some pasta on a chair. The chair tipped backwards because he was leaning on the back of it and he fell over. He was scared and startled the most, I think, but it was cute tha he just wanted me to hold him and then sit with him after his fall for a while. I love that he needs me and likes to sit with me.

3. We went outside this morning, just me and Liam and I pushed him on the swing. We came up with a little game. He'd say "high" and I'd stop the swing, pull it as high as my shoulders, then let it go and he'd swing super high. He giggled. It was fun. He looked happy, sounded happy and it brought me joy.

2010-05-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

update on the experiment ...

So I've been doing this for almost 3 weeks now. I have noticed a few changes in my daily thoughts. I look for things to write in this blog during the day. Like quotes, or looks. It feels like I'm taking a snapshot in my brain so that I will remember it for later that night to write down as one of the 3 things. And, I laugh a little more.

2010-05-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. He was standing at the bathroom sink tonight after brushing his teeth, and he lifted his right leg up, and rested his right anxle on top of his left knee. He said, "Look, a number 4!" He was right, it did look like a four.

2. We took him to the spinkler park and he loved it. He would run through the sprinklers for a couple minutes, then come sit down for a minute, wrapped in a towel. He went back and forth a bunch of times. The thing that amazed me was how fast he would shed the towel and be at top running speed towards the sprinklers. Less than 2 seconds.

3. While at the sprinkler park, Noah accidentay knocked over a smaller girl. He helped her up and said sorry, then he came to tell us what he had done and that he had said sorry. He's good sometimes.

Liam

1. His eyes. Liz is here with Ian, visiting and she has mentioned several times about his "sweetie pie face" ... really, I think she means his eyes. They say it all. But it has been hilarious to see him do is little shy act around Liz and Ian. He gives them "come hither" looks with his eyes and his closed lip "Mona Lisa" grin. He has been doing it a lot. It's his fall back when he doesn't know the person very well or when he's in public and it melts hearts. I should have a fall back like that. I'd probably get way more free stuff or something.

2. His reaction to the sprinkler park was glaringly different than Noah's. Liam walked through the spraying water with Daddy leading him around only for about 2 minutes and when Daniel took him through some spraying water, he almost cried, sputtered and they came immediately back to me on the grass and he sat wrapped in a towel for the rest of the time Noah ran around the sprinkler park. He relaxed, drank his strawberry limeade from Sonic, climbed on the fence a little, then came back and sat in my lap. It was so cute and so decidely Liam's style.

3. His run. Absolutely hilarious. He only runs when he's excited about something. He doesn't even run away from Noah, he just stands there usually and takes the brunt of whatever is coming at him. But when he's excited about something - he runs! And when he does .... oh ... my ... gosh - pray that you are behind him and can watch. It is a thing of beauty. His arms flail and his wrists are relaxed so that his hands bounce with each bounding step. His feet are a little turned out (like a ballerina) and he rounds them like wheels, but the best part is how his feet slam against the ground as he runs. It looks jarring and everything jiggles when each foot lands with a smack to the ground. It's awesome.

2010-05-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

(I did it again ... I'm a day late)

Thursday, May 28, 2010

Noah

1. He was going potty and called me in to help him wipe after doing number two. When I came in he said, "Look! I went poopies and my poopies made animals! There's a dead turtle with no legs. See? You can't see his legs and so he's dead. Right there!" He was pointing only inches above the toilet water to a pile of little individual poops. He was right, I guess. I looked and it DID look like a legless turtle.

2. He plays well with Alonzo Ordaz and I love that. You never have to direct them or entertain them, you just let them loose on a play date and they take it from there.

3. He asks if we can "grill" almost everyday now. He will even wheel it out of the garage and run into the house and with his hands raised in the air and with amazing enthusiasm say, "I know!I have a great idea! We can .... GRILL".

Liam

1. He's predictable. I knew he would start getting tired around 11 am, but I left him a little later at Ordaz's house so I could finish up some Costco shopping. When I got there, Mandee said he kind of lost it around 11:15 am and she was able to console him, but he was so tired when she put him up to the table to eat some lunch right afterwards, he just fell backwards right off the bench. He kind of gets drunk with sleepiness. Poor guy ... but so predictable and I love it.

2. He repeats everything Noah says now. It's good because his English is starting to get better. All of his "s"'s sound like "sh" and he sounds kind of like he pronouncing things through cotton balls in his mouth. He mumbles a lot too. But it is so endearing when Noah blurts something out or asks for something and in the exact same tone and inflection Liam says it too. Sometimes it's a very clear repeat, sometimes not. This is how he says Christ (like at the end of a prayer) - "C-eye-st". And "food" sounds like "bood".

3. When he tries to say banana he uses his tongue to annunciate the "n"'s ... you'd have to see it. It's gorgeous.

2010-05-26T20:45:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Today was preschool graduation. Noah looked awesome. He wore some cut off corduroys, a t-shirt that said "surf beat" on it, his red wristband (like those sweat ones used for tennis in the 80's) and his red flip flops. I love that this is the way he dresses himself.

2. I love that Noah is a social butterfly. He loves play dates and all he did all day was play dates. Infact, he told his favorite high school student teacher (Miss Britney), "I really want to have a play date with you. Can we do a play date?" ... he is so awesome sometimes. After preschool graduation he played at his girlfriend Haley's house while I went to Costco. (By the way, everytime he gives Haley a hug goodbye he always does a hug and kiss. She expects it now and today Noah went skipping off toward the car and Haley whined, "hey!" and Noah ran over and gave a hug and kiss, then Haley seemed content to let him go ... so funny). After Haley's house, he and Liam went to the Jamieson's house while I had a dentist appointment and we ended up eating pizza for dinner there, then running off to swim lessons. Noah loved it! A day on the go was soooooo his style. And yet I felt so bad for Liam because it is sooooo not Liam's style. It really wore him out, but when Daniel asked Noah how his day went today he said, "it was a great day!"

3. Today in the car he was trying to describe something to me. This is what he said, "what is the planet called that has moons all over it?" I didn't know what he was talking about, so he clarified, "you know, the planet in my room, in the solar system with the green moons and it's blue??" I asked about the green moons, he said, "moons are like half crescents mommy". Crescents?? How does he know that? I love him. He is like a sponge, soaking up every bit of info he hears. This morning he was asking if bees sniffed pollen through their noses, I said I didn't know and when I asked where he learned about bees he said, "Sesame Street. Mommy, maybe you should watch Sesame Street and then you could know about bees".

Liam

1. He says, "wha eeee doing?" and he means - where are we going? He asked this after we dropped Noah off at Haley's house. I told him the plan - shopping at Randazzos, picking up Noah and going to Jamiesons. He said, "oh". It sounds like he knows what's going on and understands everything I explain to him, but I'm not sure. It's cute that he asks and responds though.

2. So much is not spoken outloud with Liam. It's his eyes that speak to me. I can tell if he's angry, scared, being silly, tired ... it's all in his eyes. I love that about him. It's beautiful and a bit of a challenge because sometimes I really don't know what he needs, but his little soul is so tender and he has been sick lately too so he's been more clingy and somehow it makes me feel special. I'm the only one he really trusts. At least that's what it seems like and I like that.

3. He was such a good sport today. He felt awful and I knew this day of running around was tiring for him (because he whined a lot today) but he endured it and went along. He didn't make a huge fuss or throw any tantrums, he just let me take him around, drop him off and pick him up and spent most of the day in the car. Poor little guy. His face just looked tired, worried and slightly sad. I promise that tomorrow will be a Liam day and you can take a 4 hour nap, eat at home, stay at home and play with Noah. Thanks for being such a sweetheart even though you were sick.

2010-05-25T14:57:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. All week he has been drawing pictures and taping them up on his walls, the hallway walls, the doors of each room and the front room walls. It has been driving me crazy. I finally took them all down and showed him a special drawer where he could put lal of his artwork. We designated a spot. I felt good about it. And today, he has spent all afternoon putting pictures back up around the house. There are 3 on the front room walls, one in the office and one on his door and currently, he is drawing more right next to me and asking for more tape. I should be mad but I'm not. It's the way he describes each picture - he's so animated and uses his hands and his eyes are huge while he explains about the aliens. The latest picture in the office that he just put up is a picture of a "fire pumpkin" ... you'd have to see it.

2. He wears this red, plastic fire fighter hat everywhere. He puts it on when he knows friends are coming over and when he goes in the backyard and sometimes wears it coupled with his superman cape. I love his sense of style. Today he wanted to wear it to preschool, but I said he couldn't. He said, "ok, then can I bring it in the car and wear it to Haley's house after preschool?" I said no. So I saw him go into his room and come out with his red fire fighter hat underneath his Detroit Tigers baseball cap. Who did he think he was fooling? I had him take it off, but it was cute that he loves that red fire fighter hat so much.

3. My friend Debbie stopped by today to drop something off. She brought in her two little kids. Her youngest boy is 4 months old. His name is Jonah. Noah loved Jonah. He sat and stared at him and hovered over the carseat and then I left the room to get something, came back in and saw Noah leaning into the carseat giving hugs and kisses to Jonah. It was hilarious ... and a little dangerous (you'd know what I meant if you ever saw Noah hug someone. It's a full body sport). Then he started singing, "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam" and lurching Jonah's hands up in the air on the word "beam" ... it was cute and yet again, dangerous. But mostly cute. I made him stop, but I love that he loved Jonah so much.

*bonus* - Noah has been in his room "going to bed" (I use this term loosely) for about 3 minutes. He just came out and said, "Mommy! I just dreamed about something funny. I dreamed about a ..... ice gun!" He laughed then went back in his room to bed. First of all, who has a dream when they're not asleep and in 3 minutes? Second, you had to see his hands and face when he said it too - priceless.

Liam

1. He has been sick with a fever for 3 days now, so I went to the pediatrician today, Dr. Lacy (I like her). While we waited in the room for the doctor to show up Liam sat in my lap. He didn't move. I could feel his hot, feverish body against my chest and I looked down at his hands grasping mine as we just sat there silently. It was so beautiful. It made me think about Emma Smith. I did some research on her a few years ago. She lost one of her babies to a fever. The way she described the hurt she felt from losing her sweet little boy brought me to tears at the time - in her words she seemed desperate as she watched sickness take over his body and he died in her arms. What would I do if I couldn't bring my sweet little Liam to the doctor and give him Ibuprofen to get his fever down. As it was, I felt awful that the medicine was wearing off and he just sat in my arms, spent. His breathing was heavy and raspy, his voice was hoarse. I love him and I'm glad I can take care of him when he's sick.

2. We had hot dogs for dinner tonight. Liam LOVES hot dogs. He was so giddy about dinner that he got himself buckled into his seat at the table before we were ready to eat and sat there and kicked his legs in anticipation as I squirted mustard and ketchup on his hot dog. It was cute.

3. Liam woke up at 5:45 am, crying. Daniel brought him in bed with us and we gave him water and some more Ibuprofen because his fever had spiked again. He never went back to sleep. He just bumped around in bed with us and leaned over Daniel and said, "daddy?". At 8 am, after Daniel left for work, Liam had a little breakdown in the front room. Some argument with Noah. Anyway, I brought him in my bed with his favorite blanket and he fell asleep with me from 8 to 9:30 am. I didn't sleep well because Liam was snoring like an adult male with a serious sinus problem, but I loved looking over and seeing his completely relaxed body flopped over 3/4 of my side of the bed and his chubby thighs were nicely exposed. It was gorgeous.

2010-05-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 24, 2010

**I got a message on my phone this morning (Tuesday, May 25th) from Aria. She said she checks this blog every night and was very disappointed to see that I had not done an entry and I'd better get on it before I forgot all about what happened yesterday. I love it.**

Noah

1. We had friends over today to play. It was the perfect afternoon: kids running around in swimsuits, the plastic pool, orange julius popsicles and a friend to chat with. Noah was so cute. He LOVES friends almost as much as I do. I watched him play a game with Naomi today in the pool. She would stand outside of the pool about 2 or 3 yards away and Noah would try and get her wet by scooping out water with his hand shovel. They were laughing so hard and it looked so fun.

2. He smiles for pictures.

3. He's old enough to know that little kids sometimes have to go first or play with things first because they are just little and that's enough of an excuse for him. He is nice and lets Liam and Stella play with things before him sometimes and I love that. What a good boy.

Liam

1. He was so crabby today because he was sick. I had to put him on time out in his bed twice because he was being so unreasonable and totally inconsolable. But my favorite thing was going into his room after the time out was over. His little face would light up as I entered the room and with tear stained cheeks he was beaming. He always looked so excited to see me and was happy and his little tantrum was over. He doesn't stay mad long.

2. He just sat in my lap for a good 5 minutes while we were outside. I just got to talk to my friend Leslie with my sweet little man lounging on my lap and holding my hands. I love his chubby little hands, they're always either sweaty or sticky these summer days and I love it.

3. Watching him chillax on the chair that Leslie had been sitting in. It was later in the afternoon and everyone was gone and I was just outside with both boys. I was sitting in one chair and Liam scrambled up into the other chair and there was an outside pillow on it. He took full advantage of the pillow, leaning into it and putting both hands on the arm rests of the chair. Little chubby ankles were hanging off the edge of the chair and he just stared ahead - no expression. Just relaxin'.

2010-05-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. He knows how to bathe himself now .. basically.

2. He drew the most awesome pictures of aliens over the past two days. He has been taping them up all over the house, but especially in his room. I started taking them down off his wall today and thought I got them all until he said, "wait mommy, you forgot these two aliens - aliens on the sun and aliens in a space car" ... yep, I guess he named all the pictures too.

3. He just kisses me, Liam and Daniel randomly on the hand or arm or something for no apparent reason.

Liam

1. He is so pleasantly calm usually. We had stake onference today and Liam was starting to get restless in the row, so I got up and walked with him around the building. We just walked around, hand in hand. He didn't say anything and we just walked and it was quiet and he didn't jump or run or try and kick anything or anyone. He just walked by my side. It was nice.

2. He was sooooooo tired on the way home from stake conference - he just looked comotose, it was adorable.

3. Even when he doesn't go to sleep immediately in his room, he'll stay pretty quiet in his room. Sometimes he'll be in there for 30 minutes or an hour and then I'll hear him start singing or something and I realize he never went to sleep. It's crazy. He is just so quiet sometimes and I like that.

2010-05-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. So we're sitting at the dinner table and talking about a couple that got married in a ceremony outside of the temple. Noah asked if they were going t get married in the temple later sometimes, I said, "I hope so". Noah answered with, "yeah because then she could marry a daddy and ..." he went straight into song at this point singing, "Families can be together forever". It was glorious.

2. After dinner, Daniel was washing Liam's hands and face at the sink. When he was done washing his hands, he used one of my nice dish towels to wipe the rest of the food and debris off Liam's face and hands (the debris was the hurricane of red spaghetti sauce all over him). I cringed and made a whimpering noise as Daniel wiped him off and said, "oh, really?! You're using my nce hand towels for that? .... uh ... oh no". I trailed off and just sighed heavily and Noah came out of his seat, put his little hands on my shoulder and leaned his head against my arm and said, "I know how you feel". I burst out laughing and asked, "how do I feel?" He said, "sad, because Daddy used your towels to wipe of Liam and got them all dirty". Noah is so insightful.

3. I loved how heasked for a cheese and mustard sandwich for lunch, then sat and ate it just the same way as he did on Thursday - feet swinging under thpatio table as he gobbled his food.

Liam

1. This kid is gorgeous. Tonight I enjoyed squeezing his chubby, soft thighs.

2. His tired eyes as we drove home from Old Navy. He didn't go down for a nap today and was very tired by 3 pm. I saw his droopy eyes and told Daniel to look and we both just stared at him and he had absolutely no response. It was like he couldn't muster the energy to care that we were both staring at him. He simply stared back with eyes half closed and no expresson at all on his face.

3. He loves playing outside. Whether or not anyone is out there, he just loves being outside. We got out of the car after running an errand today and he just ran toward the backyard.

2010-05-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

**side note: I have a few favs from today, but I thought I'd let Daniel do today's top 3 things for the boys ... just to change it up a little:

Noah

1. He ran up to the car when I pulled in from work and had a cute little happy face - like he was really expecting something awesome. As soon as I got out he grabbed my hand and walked inside with me.

2. After we watched Planet 51 tonight, he curled up next to me on the couch and said, "Daddy, I want you to tell me all about the aliens in the movie". Whenever he sees something new, I think it swirls around in his brain for a while until he can really comprehend it.

3. Yesterday I went to preschool with Noah for Dad's Day. As we left preschool I told him that I had to go back to work and he said, "Daddy, did you have to put work on pause to come to preschool?" I think maybe he has watched too many videos.

Liam

1. Liam was having a rough time when I got home today because he was starving, and Francesca was working on the homemade pizza. I started popping pineapple chunks in his mouth and all of the sudden he was happy as a clam - as long as I kept them coming.

2. Liam was excited to watch a movie with Noah and the Ordaz boys a little later than he usually stays up. He grabbed his blanket and climbed onto the couch and squeezed himself between the other boys and looked happy to be a part of something.

3. While the boys were all playing outside eating ice cream cones (they live the life), Liam climbed into the red wagon and sat there with his cone. I got a good photo of him in the red wagon with the green grass behind him, chomping on his cone. He's pretty photogenic.

2010-05-20T17:46:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Tonight after we put Liam to bed and after we read Noah his bedtime stories, we just sat on the couch and talked for about ten minutes. I loved it. Noah told me about his day. He said he played with whipped cream at preschool (he meant shaving cream). He told me that at Emma's house tonight for dinner he did NOT go in the back where the wood with nails was because that was dangerous, even though he said he would be very careful, he still didn't go back there. I asked him about "Dads Day" at preschool today and if he liked having Daddy there. Noah said he liked it and that he didn't get to show daddy all of his centers at the beginning but he showed him later. It was a good chat, then he went to bed.

2. He was accomodating to Liam while we were playing at Butler's house tonight. He let Liam ride the toy car first even though he really wanted to.

3. I got some real joy out of feeding Noah lunch today. Daniel went to preschool with Noah today because it was "Dads Day", so he dropped Noah off at home before going back to work. I was prepped for Noah by the time he got home. I had the pool all set up, so he ran inside, put on his swim trunks and started playing in the pool. Then I brought him a cheese and mustard sandwich (by request) and watched him from inside the house as he sat at the patio set and ate his sandwich and drank his water. He seemed so happy and carefree. He swung his little legs while eating and looked around. He even sung a little to himself. When he was done I brought out some orange julius to drink down for a treat. He loved it. I loved it.

Liam

1. After we dropped Noah off at school, we came home, ate lunch and then I told him it was time for a nap. Liam did not fight it. He really liked his little routine I think. He said "OK" and we took off his sandals, walked into his room, he got his blanket out and I closed the blinds and said goodnight and that was it. He said, "bye mommy" as I left, with a huge grin on his face. It was awesome.

2. He doesn't like messes. He had made a huge mess with his Rice Crispies the day before and this morning he ran over to his chair to eat and exclaimed, "Mommy! eeee mossy. ook! eeee mossy" (Mommy, it's messy, look! It's messy). I grabbed a distinfecting wipe to clean it and he said, "I hope! I hope!" (I help!). So he got a disinfecting wipe too.

3. He loves being outside. Tonight after dinner at a friend's house all the kids were playing inside in Emma's room, but not Liam. He had me help him get his shoes on, then he found his way outside. I kept checking on him, but he was just talking to himself and playing with measuring cups out on their deck. It was really cute. He knows what he wants and just does it.

2010-05-19T19:25:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Tonight at swim lessons the teacher asked all the kids if they wanted to try and jump off the diving board. Everyone said no. I asked Noah if he would go if I walked with him and he said he would, so I walked next to the diving board and held his hand as far as I could, but as soon as I let go, he turned around and wouldn't jump. I didn't push it and told him, "maybe next time, huh?" He got off the diving board, rushed over to me and just grabbed my hand, held on and kissed it several times. It was a strange response, but so cute and so tender. My little Noah.

2. I enjoyed watching a conversation unfold before me between Noah and his neighbor friend, Adam (our next door neighbor's grandson).It went something like this:

Noah: Adam! The huge meatball is in the sky and we need to get it before it explodes!
Adam: Yeah - we need to fly into the blue sky and get it!
Noah: OK! (then he makes airplane noises, sticks his hand straight into the air and pretends to fly. Then he makes a clicking noise as he uses his hands to do what looks like turning a switch and then flys back down to earth) I did it! Now the meatball is in California and can't hurt us!
Adam: Yeah, and in Michigan
Noah: Yeah but the cherry tree is going to destroy us in Michigan, so we need to protect mommy.
Adam: OK, let's put duck tape on Gram and Pops (his grandma and grandpa - our neighbors).
Noah: yeah, but do mommy first.
Adam: OK (then he walks straight over to me and walks around me in a circle) she's safe. Let's get Gram and Pops now.

None of it made sense. It was awesome. The part I cannot describe were the pauses in between while they thought through their responses.

3. After swim lessons Noah said, "Did you see me put my head in the water when I was on the wall and no one was looking?" I just thought it was funny. He seemed overjoyed at his sneakiness.

Liam

1. The way he ran over to me after I went in the locker room with Noah to change his clothes ... it was like Liam hadn't seen me in days. I came out and he saw me and ran his crazy little run over to me with a huge smile on his face and yelling, "mommy!!". So delightful.

2. Afetr his nap, I went in to get Liam up. He was lying in his bed with his blanket gripped tightly in his chubby fist and rubbing it close to his mouth. I asked him if he wanted to get out of bed and he said, "uh uh" (no). I asked him if he needed a little time in bed still and he said, "uh HUH". I left the room and went into the front room. About 4 minutes later I heard him cry out, "mommy", not in an anxious voice, just calling out like, "I'm ready now". So cute that he needs extra time to wake up. He loves his bed.

3. Sometimes he just gets so excited he doesn't know what to do, so he screams, flaps his arms and stomps in place with a big grin on his face. It's like a mini attack of some sort and it's funny and cute. He did it today when I got to the Ordaz's house to pick him up.

2010-05-18T18:19:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Tonight I read Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree". In the front of the book, there is an inscription written to Mark, so we must've gotten this book from the Forsyths. It is such a good book. It makes me cry reading it to Noah, everytime. I remember my mom crying when reading "Love You Forever" to me. I thought it was weird that she would cry when reading a children's book to me. Now I know why. At the end of "The Giving Tree", the tree says, "but I have nothing left to give you - My apples are gone ... my branches are gone ... you cannot swing on them .... my trunk is gone ... you cannot climb ... I am sorry, I wish that I could give you something ... but I have nothing left. I am just an old stump. I am sorry ....", sometimes I feel that way. I give everything I've got and it doesn't feel like nearly enough, but I love my boys so much, I would give them all I have - my mind, body and spirit and just pray to Father in heaven that my meager offering was enough for these little men that are mine. I loved reading to Noah tonight.

2. Today we were in the car and the radio was on. The radio station was advertising what would be playing over the next hour and told us to stayed tuned. One of the song clips they played was "Hey Soul Sister" by Train. That is Noah's favorite song lately. I turned and looked at Noah and said, "hey, do you hear that?" I thought Noah would say something like, "yeah! That's my favorite song!" but instead he said, "mommy, that's not really the song. That's a commercial". I totally laughed and said, "how do you know about commercials?" He said, "it's just in my brain. Commercials are just short and quick, not the real song, mommy". He had a tone of voice like "c'mon mom". It was awesome. He surprises me all the time.

3. Tonight I gave the boys a bath. I let Noah get out on his own and pull out the plug while I got Liam dressed in the boys' room. I herad the plug come out and the bath start draining and 3 seconds later Noah comes rushing into the bedroom and says, "Mommy! Look! Feel my hair - it's all spiky!" He went on to explain how he whipped his head up from out the of the water and he realized it made his hair stand up on end and he wanted me to let him keep it that way. I said he could and you should ee it now, after it has dried ... totally fluffy, just like Daniel's hair. So cute.

Liam

1. It's the looks he gives me. I cannot explain them all. You just have to see his face. He looks at me with such love no matter what. It's mostly in his eyes. Even when he's crying he looks at me like, "Why would you punish me? I just need love!" He watches me with those sweet little eyes and looks at me with them with such adoration too. It's beautiful.

2. He seems to feel compelled to say the name of everything he knows how to say. From the moment he is concious, he will start blurting out words he knows and pointing to things he knows. Today when I woke him from his nap he stretched out in bed and then I picked him up and he said, "eee Noah? (where's Noah?) ... bee-kink (blanket)? ... shoes on? ... set-shut (sweatshirt)? ...", then he said a few things that were completely incomprehensible, then, "cah (car) ... seat! ... boots (there was one in the car)" - it went on like this for a while.

3. It's how he says "uh HUH!"

2010-05-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. I told Noah tonight after dinner that we were going to have the Ordaz boys over for a sleepover on Friday night. He looked up from the ice cream cone he was eating for dessert and with his mouth full said, "I always said I wanted that one day!" We circled Friday on the calendar.

2. I love that Noah can take care of himself every morning and every evening. He has a routine. In the morning, he comes in and lets Daniel know he's up, then he goes potty, takes off his Pull-Ups, gets dressed and tells Daniel to turn on cartoons and get him his juice. At night he goes potty, puts on his Pull-Ups, gets his PJ's on, brushes his teeth and picks out a book for us to read to him. I love it.

3. I love his drawings. I haven't really seen many 4 year old drawings, but I really think he's good for his age!! Tonight for Family Home Evening we made birthday cards for Gammie. Noah drew a picture of Gammie and it was awesome! All of Noah's "people" have a circle head, stick arms and legs that come straight off the head, circle eyes with dot pupils and smiles. Sometimes he adds "teeth" to the mouth and that is basically a million little lines coming off the smile - the mouth with teeth looks like a centipede. It's awesome.

Liam

1. He loves it when I sing to him. Tonight I picked him up and rocked him in the office chair, twirling around and singing "boo-la, boo-la" and he loved it. When I stopped, he said, "mommy, sing!"

2. He does everything that Noah does. Today in the car Aunt Steena wanted to hear Noah count to ten, of course, Liam wanted to count to ten for Aunt Steena on the phone too, so I held the phone to Liam and you just had to be there, but let me try and spell it out - he said, "un, fee, aye ... tan!"

3. His "come hither" look ...

I know it's blurry, I wish it were in focus, but it's the best I've got.

2010-05-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Sweet little guy was coughing so bad he had to stay home from church - this is not a treat for Noah. He LOVES church and today I realized I LOVE having him in the front row in Junior Primary and he was sorely missed (by me). He seems so interested in what we're teaching him and he seems to already know the right answers too. He is also the clearest speaker in his CTR 4 class. It is so cute to hear him talk up at the pulpit and to see him eagerly waiting to sing with me during singing time and to see him raise his hand and say stuff like he did last Sunday, which was, "well, you could maybe pick up your toys without your mommy asking you to!"

2. I woke up after Daniel and Noah and Liam. As I sat on the toilet, Noah and Liam saw me from the front room and both ran over to me, gave me hugs and had huge grins on their faces as they exclaimed, "mommy!! you're awake!"

3. I washed Noah's feet tonight. They were very dirty and we were going to rub some ointment on them so I needed to wash them. I immediately thought of how the Savior washed the feet of his disciples before he went to the Garden of Gethsemane. There was something so personal and moving to be so close to Noah's little body. I could hear his labored and raspy air moving in and out in his chest as I held on to him so he could sit on the edge of the tub. I held his dirty little feet in my hands and rubbed them with soap and caressed his little toes and scrubbed his soles. He was calm and the water was warm and I felt so close to him as I knelt beside him and cleaned his feet. I don't think I am explaining it well enough. It was just a feeling. A feeling of complete servitude and love and today I love my Noah and I washed his feet.

Liam

1. It's the way he says, "Up, peesh" (up, please). I cannot resist him. He looks at me with those huge, dark brown eyes and moppy hairdo and leans against my legs and smiles with his cute little teethy grin ... it's too much for me. And although Liam is nearing 40 lbs, I break my back and pick him up.

2. I went to church today and Daniel stayed home with both boys. As I pulled out of the driveway, I could see through the backyard gate and there was Liam - in jeans and a sweatshirt and a toy chainsaw in his hands. He didn't see me wave to him, but he was gorgeous.

3. I love how he says "OK!" with such gusto when we ask if he wants to eat or swing on the swings or do something we already know he wants. He has a real personality that little Liam.

2010-05-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. He wore his superman cape for a majority of the day. He was inspired to find it and put it on when the Jamieson girls came over to play. He came running in the house and said, "mommy! Where's my cape?" He was breathless. I told him and next thing I knew he was whizzing past me and out the backdoor, cape flying.

2. He loves bike rides with Daddy. Daniel fixed the tire on one of our bikes and we had to wiat until Liam woke up before they could all go on a bike ride. Noah kept asking, "Can we wake up Liam now and go on a bike ride?" Noah has a Spiderman bike. Noah looked amazing riding his Spiderman bike up and down the driveway while waiting for the bike ride, in his Superman cape.

3. When I came home from picking up the babysitter for tonight, we got out of the car and started walking up to the house. Daniel was on the porch reading something and Liam was running around the lawn, but Noah was nowhere to be found. Suddenly we heard a familiar voice say, "Do you know where Noah is?" from behind the tree at the corner of the house. All I could see was his little legs and red flip flops sticking out from under the boughs of our little tree. It was so cute. I totally laughed.

Liam

1. Looked sooooooo happy to see me when I got home from running errands. I walked in the door and he saw me and ran to me and said "mommy!"

2. Whenever I mention food, he runs to his seat at the table and scrambles up and buckles in. No questions asked and you don't have to say "food" twice - he bee-lines for his seat. It's super cute.

3. He seems more content to be near me than to be playing with or around anyone else. The Jamieson girls were over at our house playing and Noah would follow Naomi around wherever she went and would ask her to do what he was doing, but not Liam. I asked Liam if he wanted to swing on the swings with the girls and Noah and he said, "no" and just walked inside with me. He's my little man for a while longer :)

2010-05-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. He was sooooo excited for Liam's birthday today. He wanted to be a part of everything (which was good and bad). I love how excited he gets, even though it's borderline dangerous. He jumped in place and paced around Liam the whole time he was opening gifts. He stepped in a blew out the candles for Liam, he kept trying to open the gifts for Liam too. He was just so excited.

2. He was talking to me aout Dracula today at lunch. He referenced one of his books and said, "that's just like Dracu-bug mommy .... what is Dracu-bug?" I told himit was named after Dracula - a dangerous and kinda scary guy. Noah was immediately intrigued and wanted to know everything about Dracula. I told him I didn't want to tell him because it was scary (especially the whole suck your blood thing ... 4 is too young for blood thirsty discussions I think). Noah insisted, "But mommy, I am a four year old and four year olds need to know everythign about Dracula. Four year olds are not scared. Only 1 and 2 and 3 year olds get scared, but not four year olds" ... I told him I never saw the movie and forgot all the details.

3. Check out the pictures below ...

Liam

1. My baby is two. The first thing I loved about him today was that he spent 4 1/2 hours on his birthday taking a nap .... that's just awesome.

2. He was so accomodating, even though he doesn't like to perform, he always said "thank you" to the camera when we asked him to and he looked when we asked him to. It was so cute. He even seemed genuinely excited about each gift he received. What a sweetheart.

3. He loves his brother Noah. He says and does everything that Noah does. When he can't find Noah he says, "eeeee Noah?" and I tell him and he says, "oh" and runs to find him. Liam is sweet and beautiful and calm and happy. I love him today on his second birthday. Yeah for Liam!!

opening jammies from Gammie

listening to the Clarks sing "hapy birthday" to him.

2010-05-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. I got out of the shower this morning and found both boys on Noah's bed under his quilt giggling. I asked what they were doing and Noah said, "you're a monster, we're hiding from you!" and Liam echoed, "hiding!" I found their halloween lantern and gave it to them under the blanket and told them to have fun. They just kept giggling. I love that they are friends.

2. We made a circle banner for Liam's birthday (which is tomorrow. Liam will be two) and Noah was such a huge help. He wrote all of the letters on the banner - which made it cuter. He used a glue stick and put the white circles on the colored circles. He loved it. Noah loves art projects in general. I told him once that I thought coloring was one of his talents. Later (maybe that night or the next day) Daniel told me that he complimented Noah on something he was doing and Noah responded, "Yeah, that's one of my talents".

3. We got home from preschool and Liam was pretty upset because he's sick and his nap was severely truncated. I walked in and was putting away something in my room when I heard Liam yelp. I rolled my eyes and thought, "what now?". I walked into the front room to find Noah with a chocolate chip cookie (he'd gotten it from preschool) and he was feeding a piece to Liam and then a piece for himself. Liam was sitting on the ottoman with the hugest grin on his face. My guess is that Liam saw the cookie and yelped because he wanted it and Noah solved the problem by sharing. Good for Noah. Whatever happened, it was a beautiful sight.

Liam

1. He's been kinda miserable all day and a little cranky because he's sick. He has a bad runny nose and a hoarse cough still. He slept while Noah was at preschool (a short hour and 15 minutes, poor Liam, he usually sleeps for like 3 hours). When I went in to his room to wake him so I could go pick up Noah, Liam looked sound asleep. I picked him up and carried him into the front room to get his shoes on. He just sat there in the leather chair letting me put his shoes on and whimpering, "deep .....deep" (sleep). It was so sad, and yet so sweet that he was just sitting there letting me stick him in a cold car and take him out in the rainy weather ... what a trooper and super cute too.

2. He sings to himself when he can't sleep. It's kind of loud and sounds like yoddeling.

3. This morning Liam was cranky and had a bit of a breakdown. He was just crying and standing alone at one point. I leaned over and picked him up, sat him in my lap in the leather chair and sang, "my little buttercup". He loved it and stopped crying immediately. Liam is my little music lover. I stopped singing to answer a call from Daniel and Liam turned to me and said, "sing!" The other night at Family Home Evening he was requesting songs too. He said, "sing beam - peesh, sing beam!" (sing "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam", please, sing).

2010-05-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. At swim lessons tonight Noah looked so happy. He is so fearless and he loves swim lessons. He just beams, grinning so hard that it looks like a grimace sometimes. I loved watching him kicking as hard as he could and laughing outloud as his teacher tried desperately to get him to keep his feet pointed, legs straight and arms rotating. He didn't care one bit whether he was doing it right or not, he just loves being in the water and moving. I hope he stays fearless, happy and that he doesn't care what others think or do - I hope my Noah stays this way forever - it's beautiful to watch.

2. He has pouty lips that are so red and his skin is so white (thank you Daniel) - he looks like a boyish Snow White to me.

3. He wanted to help me with the laundry, but I told him I needed to fold the pile first, then he could help me put the clothes away. Evidently I wasn't folding fast enough because he came to the door of my bedroom twice asking if he could help me yet. I told him, "not yet" and he went away dejected twice. On the third time back he just stayed at my doorway and talked to me incessantly until I told him it was time to help. He is my little helper. Whenever I leave instructions for a babysitter I always end with, "and if you're not sure where something is or goes, just ask Noah. He knows where everything is".

Liam

1. He woke up with a hoarse voice. Is it sadistic of me to LOVE his little hoarse voice?? He was coughing all morning and got better as the day went on, but I just loved how his sweet, tiny voice sounded a little raspy all day - adorable. I think I unknowingly gave him more kisses today because of it.

2. We have a hat that used to be Daniel's dad's - and Liam loves it. All day Liam walked around with this straw hat of Papa's and he looked amazing. The inside lining of the hat has a stretchy elastic to help keep it in place and it's perfect for the boys because their heads are small, but the hat stays on their heads. Today I thought of Mark and Liam and it made me smile.

3. While I was at swim lessons in the bleachers, I noticed that I wasn't watching Liam very closely, but instead focusing on Noah in the pool. I whipped my gaze around to see Liam quietly sitting on the bottom step of the bleachers leaning his fat cheek against the handrail, just watching. Every once in a while he would turn to me and say "eeeeee Noah?" and I would tell him and point to where Noah was and he'd say, "k". He is such an easy going kid. I love him for that. He is calming and sweet like his daddy and I'm reminded of that a lot. I was reminded today.

*side note - today was awful. I felt awful, the weather was cold and wet and I was very busy with the boys and tired, but here I sit and come up with 3 positive things about my boys in no time flat. I think that's amazing.

2010-05-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. His laugh. It is infectious sometimes. It is bubbly, loud and high. Today while we were driving to IKEA Noah was asking me, "Why don't dinosaurs wear any clothes?" I was stumped, seriously, for a second, then I answered, "because animals don't wear clothes. Have you ever seen a pig in pants?" He laughed is laugh. I was egged on, "Have you ever seen a chicken wearing shoes? Or a horse in a dress?" More bubbles of laughter, then he joined in, "Have you ever seen a hot dog on a car? .... was that funny mommy?" I said, "yes".

2. How he didn't seem to mind at all, actually, he seemed to enjoy the fact that we were having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner tonight. Daniel is gone to school tonight and won't be home until 9:30 pm and I just finished painting the office and didn't feel like cooking .... and Noah didn't care, he thought it was awesome.

3. He comes up to me randomly throughout the day and kisses me somewhere on my person (usually on my hip cuz that's how tall he is right now and that's what is in front of his face) and says, "I love you mommy", then walks off.

Liam

1. He loves animals and gets very excited whenever he sees one. He sees and hears them before me most times. Today when I got him in the car to go pick up Noah from preschool he pointed with his chubby finger and said "beesh!! .... beesh!" (that means "birds"). I really had to stop the car and struggle to see what he saw, then I did and he was right, there were birds.

2. When we got back from dropping Noah off from preschool I was planning on walking right in the house and putting Liam down for his nap ASAP, because I had to paint the office and also because he'd been carrying his "bee-kink" (blanket) around for an hour now and I knew he was tired. But as soon as we walked in the house, Liam ran over to his chair at the table and climbed up and said "eat? eat?!". I love that he can tell me what he needs and that he knows it so positively too. That is so much like Daniel and I love it.

3. I gave Noah and Liam a lollipop this afternoon to keep them happy while I was painting. About 5 minutes later, Liam comes to the door of the office and says "bokin .... mommy! eeee bokin" and I turned and saw his lollipop stick was bent in half. He was telling me it was "broken". The look on his scrunched up baby face was so beautiful, it made me laugh and grab the camera. I don't think any of the pictures really captured it, but here's what I got:

Here are a few shots we've taken over the past few days and I loved ...

Noah swinging:

And this is what he looks like when he doesn't think anyone is looking:

The rest are from Monday night, the boys were obsessed with the Mother's Day flowers they gave me. They gave me so many I had to start filling mason jars and old jelly jars with flowers and I love how it looks and how my boys look while looking at them :)

are you seeing both of their faces??

Something about this photo is beautiful to me. Something about the blocks of color - yellow, green and the flowers. Plus the fact that it is completely unscripted and candid.

And that's all I've got for today. It was actually kind of a rough day, but you wouldn't know it by the things I remembered and wrote down. That's good.

2010-05-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

Noah

1. Today we had lunch together. Noah ate leftover pizza and I ate leftover soup and bread. The whole time Noah and I talked about fruit. Which ones you could bite right into and which ones you had to peel first. He laughed when I pretended to bite the fruits we were talking about - he has a cute, crooked smile.

2. I love how he loves Family Home Evening and starts asking about it by Thursday or Friday every week.

3. He is really into spelling right now. He saw the word "Michigan" on my sweatshirt and ran up and down the stairs to stare at my sweatshirt, then run down and add a letter to his word on his blackboard downstairs. Noah is full of excitement for learning and I love that about him today.

Liam

1. He is going on hour number 4 for his nap today ... awesome. I love my little sleeper. He says "deep" for sleep.

2. He says airplane like this "up-ane" it's adorable. He also seems compelled to say motorcycle everytime he sees or hears one. He says "gogo-gygle" for motorcycle. He could be talking about anything and stop mid-babble to say "mommy!! ook! gogo-gygle, gogo-gygle" and I have to repeat "motorcycle" so he knows that I know what he's saying. It's like that dog in "Up" that had a translator on his collar. He'd be talking and all of the sudden stop and say "squirrel!" ... same as Liam - "gogo-gygle!"

3. His chubby feet.

let it begin

2010-05-09T16:09:00.000-07:00

Today is Mother's Day. I have been thinking a lot about motherhood this week and posted about it here on my family blog.

I have felt very inadequate and unhappy in my role as a mom. I have talked to and read blogs about other women who feel quite the opposite. They LOVE their role as a mom, they adore their children and their children can do no wrong in their eyes! That is not how I feel. I don't hate my kids by any means, but I do not enjoy them or my daily life like I want to and feel like I should. I want to really enjoy this time while my boys are young and stop waiting for them to be potty trained or in grade school. I want my daily life NOW to be enjoyable. I thought it was my boys at first - that they were soooooo crazy and so active and so difficult, but I don't think so anymore ... I think it's me. I think the only difference bewteen me and a happy mom is my own darn attitude. So, I aim to fix that.

I was sitting in a church meeting today (I don't usually get a chance to sit there, alone, without teaching a class) and I was thinking about this perdicament I have found myself in lately and I came up with a plan.

To enable me to think more positively about my boys, I am starting this blog. I will be dedicated to write at least 3 things about each boy that is uplifting, funny, cute or insightful EVERYDAY. I can use only one of the 3 things as a picture I took that day, if I'd like :)

Yeah, that's it. I'm curious to see if this changes anything - but it's worth a try! Here are my things for today:

Noah

1. Tonight at dinner Noah shared his special peach soda, that he got on a bike ride with daddy yesterday, with Liam after Liam woke up and was in a bad mood at the dinner table. He also shared his new car with Liam (also in an effort to shake Liam of his bad mood).

2. How he looked so excited when I woke up this morning and immediately ran into the office, found his Mother's Day card he had been hiding and working on for a week and delivered it to me with the biggest smile on his face and said, "Mommy, this is for you! Happy Birthday!" as I was still sitting on the toilet. :)

3. When I heard Noah, after church, walking into the kitchen and singing "I often go walking in meadows of clover", unabashedly, so clearly, so lovely.

Liam

1. When he put his feet up on the breakfast table and laid back in relaxation as he finished horking down his toast this morning.

2. It's the face he makes when he's questioning you or disturbed about something. His little, fat lips hang open and he furrows his brow and whatever he says ends in an upturn of his voice ... can you picture it? I can.

3. How sometimes, like last night and today for his nap, he reaches for me and says "mommy!" when Daniel tries to put him down to sleep. He still needs me.