New Years Resolutions...

I know you shouldn't set New Years Resolutions because you are just setting yourself up for failure but hey who am I to balk in the face of tradition!

Spend more one on one time with my boys
Get to the Temple more regularly
Read and Study D&C (since we teach the youth in Sunday School we don't get the same lessons)
Eat healthier
Get in shape enough to run the 5k at the Blood Run
Scrapbook

I could go on but realistically those should be the most attainable goals.

I wish you all a very Happy and Safe New Year!

The calm...after the storm?

Ok I know the phrase is "the calm before the storm" but it is truly the calm after the storm this morning. The kids are content and playing and seem to have recovered from the Christmas madness. Yesterday was pretty much udder chaos! Both of the boys had a rough night so we didn't get very much sleep so everyone was a bit grumpy to start the day. I don't know what happened this year because I started out with a small list of things for the boys with the thought that they didn't need very much and I didn't want to spend very much money. I don't know, blame the early start on shopping or what but we ended up with WAY more then we intended for the boys. They had fun opening presents though and I guess that is the most important part. Stuff is still strung through out the house but we will get it back in order... eventually. The funnest thing about this morning though, Alex is playing one of his old video games and Zach, well he was playing with a cord for my computer... oh well. I told Shawn yesterday evening that no matter what next year we are not getting as much stuff! Anyways I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and I hope you are all too enjoying the "calm after the storm"! Here are some Christmas pics for you.

Alex's reaction to the presents...

You don't really see it well in the picture but he was completely in awe it was cute. Here is Zach's reaction. Unfortunately for Alex we made him wait until Zach had gotten up until he opened the presents. (We did let him open his stocking).

Yea me!

All three cats were around but Izzie was the most visable one this year she was trying to open the presents because she loved the paper.

One of Alex's favorite toy... his Fisher-Price digital camera! Here he is taking a picture of me taking a picture of him. The funniest part he turned the camera because I had turned the camera. Maybe later I will snag it and load up some of his pictures (they aren't very high quality but he LOVES it! It's more fun to take the pictures I think)

Zachy got a lot of Fisher-Price "Incrediblocks" things (I got an awesome deal on e-bay) Here he is sitting in his "wagon" (not what it is for)

Of course we had to include a pic of Shawn!

Here is Izzie tired out from the festivities taking a nap in a box lid!

Gingerbread and cooking

Last night for our Family Home Evening activity we did a Gingerbread house. Alex had seen the kits in the store a few weeks back and was so excited about it that I finally picked on up. He was bouncing with excitement! We had to keep reminding him that the candy was limited, not because he wanted to eat it he wanted to cover all of the frosting. He also didn't understand the concept of weight he put as many gumballs on the tree as would fit and the poor thing could barely stand up. Not being a candy eater he was being funny about it, Shawn said if a piece of candy fell off he would pick up the piece lick off the frosting and put the candy back on the house. I was looking at it after it was all finished and I realized he had made a "smiley face", I am not sure if he did it intentionally or not but it's cute none the less.

His latest thing is "I wanna cook with you!" Neither of us can step foot in the kitchen with out him being plastered by our side (which sometimes is a little dangerous). He absolutely loves the whole cooking process so hopefully he will continue to love it and he can be a good cook like his daddy. (Not the most flattering picture of me but this is him helping me bake bread last night)

Sad state of reality

On Sunday in our Sunday School class our lesson was on "Honoring your Parents". One of the "activities" for the kids was to have them write a letter to their parents telling them how much they appreciate them. We teach the 12,13 & 14 year olds and lessons are always hit and miss but the kids really seemed to enjoy this activity. After the kids finished their letters I gave them all envelopes and told them to seal the envelopes and address them so I could mail them to their parents. 3/4 of the class didn't know how to properly address an envelope. These are kids that are in 6th, 7th and 8th grade and they don't know how to address an envelope! I was completely baffled by this as was Shawn. The funny thing in all of this is that I so rarely mail things any more that the stamps I had were not the current rate!

Dear Santa...

Alex came home from preschool yesterday with a "letter to Santa" (written by his teacher) "Dear Santa, I have been so good! Please bring me: 1.Apples 2. Bumble bee 3. Cars
Love, Alexander" Ok then...

Happy 1st Birthday Zachary

I can't believe it but here it is, Zachy's First Birthday! Time has just flown by.

Wait who is that???

I finally gave Zachary his first "official" haircut, I have trimmed his hair before but never given him a full blown haircut. So here he is no longer my baby, but my little boy...

Just trying to get by

Sorry for the shortage of posts lately it just seems like I am just trying to get through each day. Zach is starting to walk all over the place, it's really cute because he has such confidence when he does it, it's like "yeah I am walking so what?" He idolizes Alex and always wants to be with him, which of course Alex absolutely hates so there is a lot of screaming going on. Alex takes refuge in the basement so Zach can't get to him. Shawn and I have decided that we are going to rename Zach "Distructo" because everything he gets his hands on he destroys or tries to destroy. He throws everything and the kid has got an arm on him! Of course Alex always seems to be on the receiving end of Zach's throws so he gets hurt a lot. They are at such and awkward stage with each other and I hope that they will move out of it soon so that they can play together. Alex of course is overly possessive of things so Zach just has to come within 5 feet of Alex to make him mad. I am working on the concept of "Just let him play with you or give him something else to play with" but Alex hasn't caught on. We pretty much live for Zach's naps! He seems to be much more inquisitive then Alex was and will get into, touch and pick up EVERYTHING and maybe it's because there are more things sitting out for Zach to get because Alex leaves things around so it might just seem like he is into more things.

Alex is loving preschool and is starting to ask in the mornings if he has preschool that day. I got the report that he did 5 nursery rhymes yesterday all by himself. I honestly didn't realize he knew 5 nursery rhymes! He is really starting to pick up on his letters and gets excited to learn a new one. He will play "pretend" more and it is so cute and funny to listen to him have his toys "talk" . The funniest part is it's usually the cat toys that talk. I don't know what his fascination with them is but I think he plays with them more then his own toys. It's fun to see him growing up! When he picks out his clothes he always picks out his "nicer" clothes, his polo shirts or his button up shirts. He likes to look nice and have his hair combed. It is hard though because he is such a creature of habit that any time you try and get him to wear something new it is like a torture treatment (which is why he didn't go trick or treating) he got some new pajamas and didn't want to wear them because "they are Zach's" we had to get them on him (through much screaming) and let him see that they fit him before he was OK with it. I put new shoes on him the other day before preschool and that was a mistake. I kept telling him that his old shoes were getting too small and he needed to wear his "cool new shoes" thankfully once he got to preschool he got distracted and forgot about it. His favorite thing to do though, sit and snuggle on the couch or in the chair with me and watch the "How it's made" shows or cooking shows. Shawn made pizza the other night and let Alex "make" his own and he was so excited! We couldn't get him out of the kitchen! He wanted to help with everything including ,wanting to help cut the onions, so we have to work with him on what he can do and what Mommy and Daddy need to do for him. We are hoping that if he helps cook it he will be more inclined to eat it so that he will start eating more foods. Well there is our family update!

November & 10 Months

This is a combination of Zachy's 10 month picture and my November desktop.

Tagged

I guess since I was directly tagged I will do it. = )

8 Favorite TV Shows
1) Chuck
2) The Big Bang Theory
3) Amazing Race
4) NCIS
5) Eli Stone
6) Mythbusters
7) Dirty Jobs
8) um... I watch other shows but I wouldn't say they are my FAVORITE

8 Things I Did Yesterday
1) fed the kids
2) changed diapers
3) tried to get Alex to wear halloween costume
4) worked
5) ate
6) bathed Zach
7) read to Alex
8) Played a game with Shawn

Things I Look Forward To
1) SLEEP!
2) Quiet time
3) Happy kids
4) Shawn coming home from work
5) The weekends!

Favorite Restaurants
1) Cafe Rio
2) Olive Garden
3) Smokehouse BBQ
4) Brick Oven

8 Things on my wish list
1) Trip to Europe
2) Happy and cooperative kids all the time!
3) No debt
4) finished basement
5) visit all the church temples
6) didn't have to work
7) NO MORE HEADACHES!!!!
8) easy weight loss

People to Tag
I think pretty much everyone I know has done this

I don't want to Halloween!

Every time we have asked Alex what he wanted to be for Halloween he would just say "NO!" so we figured we would go with the safe bet and have him be Mario since he is completely obsessed. A few weekends ago we went and found some overalls for him and some for Zach so they could be Mario and Luigi. Well today was Alex's preschool Halloween party I started getting him dressed and he had a complete melt down and started screaming "I DON'T WANT TO HALLOWEEN!" So with his ride on the way I finally got him to tell me that he did want to go to preschool and just wanted to wear his red shirt. So I sent him off, sans costume, red eyed from crying and told his ride to tell the teacher I was sorry but he said he wanted to go. Well he came home and was just fine and apparently had done well in school, and he told me he "LOVED trick or treating" So now I am left with the dilemma of what to do on Halloween, do I take him to the ward party and trick or treating sans costume, or do I just bag the whole thing and treat it like a normal night? Because he doesn't eat candy anyway?

On another note, Alex asked me for a drink of milk a little while ago, and I had set the milk on the counter while I was putting the lid on his cup and he looked at the milk and said "What is this milk???" and after the morning we had I thought "oh great we are in for it" I told him it was just milk from a different store so it had a different label. Thankfully he accepted that answer and drank his milk. He has a tendency to buck anything that is out of the "norm" he doesn't like it if I switch brands on anything the kid definitely has is quarks that is for sure!

First Field Trip

Today Alex went on his first field trip, and being October they went to a pumpkin patch. They got to go on a "tractor ride" out to the pumpkin patch and then they got to pick their own pumpkins. Most of the small ones were pretty picked over, fortunately we already had nice pumpkins from Grandpa Knight's garden. Then we rode back to the Red Barn and had apple cinnamon doughnuts and they gave the kids coloring books. It was fun to go and see Alex interact with the other kids, he had a lot of fun but was definitely tired and ready to come home.

Alex and three of his classmates Aaliyah, Katie (I think) and Andrew. I am sorry but when I went back through the pictures I thought this picture was just so dang cute, and then I also realized that it was blond, brunette, blond, brunette. I also realized it was boy, girl, girl, boy...

Alex on the tractor ride.

Alex's Class

Pumpkin Cake

I just got my Kraft Kitchens Food & Family email and there were some WAY cute ideas for Halloween in it. I absolutely LOVED the "Pumpkin" cake! If you don't get their emails here is the link to the cake. http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/great-pumpkin-cake-65453.aspx?e=email.

Sorry for the random post, I just had to share that.

I'm not a baby

Alex got up this morning and came out to me, I said "Hey baby!" and gave him a hug (which is a normal morning routine) and then he said "I'm not a baby, I'm a Alex"
Okay then!

First Step!

So yesterday I got Zachy to take his first step and like everything else he does, he did it like he has been doing it for ages. I have said I wouldn't be surprised if he was walking by a year but maybe he will be walking by 11 months.

Random Cute Thing:
Alex was sitting here looking at the Fisher-Price catalog again this morning (let me tell you that keeps a kid busy for hours!) He pointed to one of the toddler toys that you put balls in and they move down a pipe and come out the other end. He said "I wanna play this" and I said "Um, okay" and he sat there for a few more minutes then brought it over to me and said "This is at Wal-Mart" and I said "Yes it is" (he had seen it a few weeks ago) and he sat there and thought about it then said "We have to go to Wal-Mart and get it, lets go!" Right...

Random Question:
Have you ever had one of those nights were you dream all night so when you wake up in the morning you feel like you didn't sleep?

I want to wear my pajamas!

I asked Alex to go pick out a shirt and he said "No, I want to wear my pajamas!" I figured I would just let that go until after breakfast, so I asked him what he wanted for breakfast and he told me "hot dog in a bun". I started to say "no" but then I thought about it and figured, what the heck what is wrong with him having a hot dog for breakfast if that is what he really wants. (Sorry Nicholle I know how you feel about hot dogs) So as I set the hot dog down in front of him I thought "well I won't be winning any Mother of the Year awards!"

This week is "F" so Alex brought home a fish picture. It's all in "Christmas colors" and I am not sure what that is all about. He told me this morning that you "stick the paper in the washer and go swish swish and then put it down to dry" It took me a minute to realize he was taking about the "paper mache" that they did on the fish.

Now what are you eating???

So we have officially entered the "what is in your mouth" stage with Zach. I have to admit we were really lucky and never really went through this stage with Alex (maybe that is why he is such a picky eater...) Anyways, Zach has really gotten his hand eye coordination down and can get everything in his mouth now. It makes it nice for feeding him because I can give him little things he can gum (he still only has his two bottom teeth) and he can sit and munch while I get the rest of his food ready. It's bad however because EVERYTHING automatically goes into his mouth, including the cat food... Oh well we have gotten him before he has actually swallowed any of it so hopefully it wont kill him. I know he isn't the first child to eat cat food and heaven knows he wont be the last.

Here is one of Alex's projects for the week. This week was "E" so they did Elephant puppets on Wednesday. Wednesday's are also "show and tell" day and they are suppose to bring something that starts with the letter of the week. So I sent some plastic Easter eggs that we had one was a "spider man", one was a football and the other was a really cool gold metallic one. So when I went to pick up the kids I heard one of the other moms talking to the teacher about how hard it was to think of something for "E". The teacher said that she had some kids bring "envelopes" and "egg plants". I thought that was pretty creative!

On a different note I had a thought earlier today about how tricky Satan is and how even if you have had a personal revelation/prompting about something, he works and works at you until you start doubting yourself and that revelation/prompting. As I had this thought, as clear as day another thought came to me: How true and powerful the Family Proclamation is and how bad Satan wants to destroy the bonds and ties of family. Now I realize this isn't earth shattering information and is something I knew before but I was just amazed at how firmly that was impressed on me and how I need to step back and re-analyze the doubts with these things in mind. I also felt that this was something I needed to put on my blog, I don't know if it's just for a reminder to myself or if someone else needs to hear it.

-Kim

Over...

So I am really sad that Conference Weekend is over. I have been on kind of a "spiritual high". The previous weekend we had gone to the temple and then I went to the broadcast of Women's Conference that night, then to have Conference this past weekend I have just been so spiritually uplifted! I hope all of you enjoyed Conference as much as I did! As Janalee (my sister) put it "we should have Conference every three months!"

On a side note, the other night Shawn was getting the bath ready for the boys and I walked passed and I just thought this was just a "Kodak" moment.

It just looked cute with them all lined up in their striped shirts.

Yea October!

Ahhh October the greatest month! Yes I am bias! Anyway here is my desktop for the month!


I realize that the picture doesn't really go with the month but I wanted a picture of both of the kids.

Nine Months Old!

Here is Zach's Nine Month picture. I had the paper by him, he was posing and had a really cute smile.. and the battery was dead in the camera. So I hurried and grabbed the second battery (which we have for this very reason) but he had already moved (of course!). So I had to take some "action shots", and yet again I never seems to catch his actual smile. He does have one I promise!



Alex is still doing really well in preschool (YEA!) this week they are studying "D" so yesterday he brought home a dinosaur and they had homemade doughnuts.

Two Peas in a Pod

We put the boys in the tub together for the first time the other night. Alex thought it was great! Zach was indifferent, but it kept him from crawling all over the place so that was nice. So of course we had to snap a picture to remember the event!

Green

The other night Alex had been coloring with his markers and apparently the lids didn't get put back on all the way before Zach found them. This picture just sums it up.

He looked like he had a "Frenchman's mustache" and the look he has on his face goes so well with it.

Lather Rinse Repeat

Do you ever feel like you are stuck in "repeat mode?" I am totally feeling like that this morning! No wonder I can't remember what day of the week it is, because every day is the same as the day before. It's almost getting predictable, no it is predictable! Right down to what the boys will fight about and when. Even the cats are stuck in repeat mode, I seem to let them out at the same time every morning and I know that within five minutes that Chloee will want to come back in, then the other two will come back in when the kids start lining up for the bus. I could go on with that but it is really rather tedious. I feel like a doorman for the cats! But I digress... I guess we have a "routine" but it just seems more like deja vu. The same shows on TV, the same breakfast the same rush to get everyone diapered and dressed so that I can finally sit down to get some work done. Time just marches quickly along and I trudge along in our "routine". To quote my mother "there just isn't enough hours in the day!" You would think with the same things happening day in and day out I could figure out a way to have more time! I complain about the monotony but honestly when something happens to change my routine it completely throws me off. Oh well I will just continue to lather rinse and repeat!

On a side note here is Alex's "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" coconut tree. (For those of you who don't know what Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is it's a book about all the letters of the alphabet climbing up a coconut tree. We don't have this book but one of Alex's friends does, so it took me a minute to realize why there were letters on the tree...)

Woo Hoo!

Alex had another really good day at preschool. He didn't cry at all, he went right over and put on his paint smock and he painted! So I am excited. I know it is an environment that he will thrive in that if he just lets himself relax he will enjoy it. He made a "coconut tree" that I will scan and post when the glue dries.

Oh so funny!

Ok so I just had to post this! Alex just came up to me and said "green beans and purple beans and cheese, stir it to make milk." Um... right...

Life in general

Well I think we survived another one of Shawn's business trips. He was gone for three days and will be home tonight, thankfully this one didn't seem too bad. *At least for me, Alex might tell you differently* It's always so hard to have him gone and he doesn't travel nearly as much as Dave (his brother, who he also works with for those of you who don't know). I don't know how Mya does it! Shawn went to Georgia this time (which come to think of it's usually Georgia or Florida) he usually travels with one of the sales guys and if it's not one of his clients he travels with the account manager whose client it is. Tom (the sales guy) had arranged for them to use the company's box suite at the Atlanta Braves game, which isn't something you get to do everyday so he said that was fun. Dave (also a sales guy) was also in Georgia and so he arranged to take some of their other clients to the game as well, so Shawn got to spend the evening with Dave.

On a different subject here is Alex's craft project from Wednesday's preschool class, it's the first one he actually did and I thought it was cute. (It's a bird that they glued feathers to.)
His teacher just has some really cute ideas. The letter of the week was B and on Monday she sent home a little roll of bread for the kids to bake and I guess they got to "make" butter. Alex loves show and tell which is on Wednesday's but he thinks he has to take something with him everyday. Which is fine if it helps him get excited to go. So they are suppose to bring something that goes with the letter of the week so I debated what to send with him (trying to avoid the obvious "Ball") so I decided to send his "Blue" book a little board book that has pictures of blue things. I showed him and put it in his backpack, well right as he went to leave he said "I have to take something" I said ok so he runs over to Zach's toys and grabs one of the stacking cups, it happened to be blue so I said that it was fine. Well when Ruth (my friend/neighbour whose daughter is in the same class) brought Alex home she said that his teacher said he showed his blue cup for show and tell. Ah kids are so funny aren't they? Here is another stab at a digital scrapbook page...

Yea!

OK so Alex did like his first 3 days of preschool and I had tried to think why he didn't like it. So yesterday I sent him off with trepidations. I had really talked up preschool and tried to get him really excited about going but I wasn't sure if he would buy into it. So Shawn and I went to pick him up and I was so nervous about talking to his teach for fear of another report of him asking when it was time to go home and not wanting to participate. She said that he did much better and that he only cried 3 times (ugh.. 3 times is a good thing???) and that he didn't lay down on the floor and cry at all. (Well that's a relief!) She said he wrote his name in his book for the first time and she had all the other kids cheer for him. She said he still didn't want to paint and do the craft project (which was a butterfly because this week is B). But he likes to watch. I can't figure out the painting thing, he loves to paint at home! Then she asked me if I knew that he could count to 20 and I said "yeah" and she said "he knows them all by sight too" and I said "yeah". Then she told me that he was the only one in his class that could do that including the 4 year olds! So YEA ALEX! We told her that he has know his numbers for a long time. I should have told her he knows most of the x10's (i.e. 20, 30, 40 etc) and that he knows 100! He loves numbers! So over all it was a successful day and I think he might make it after all! He loves to learn so I think once he gets adjusted to the structure and schedule he will be fine.

Odds and Ends

So life is crazy right now but I did want to post these two things. The first is a website my visiting teacher told me about that is a fun way for little kids to work on their letters. Alex loves it.
http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/index/load.htm?f

The other thing is a recipe that I tried the other day. http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/capellini-caprese-111255.aspx

I thought it was really good. I made it with spaghetti and I didn't have any of the Tuscan House Italian Dressing but I had Sun Dried Tomato so I took that and mixed a little Italian with it. It was really good. I did think after wards that it would be really good if you marinated some chicken in the same dressing, cooked it up and served it with it. So there you go my cooking tip for the day!

Preschool

Alex starts preschool tomorrow and his teacher had an open house today, so we were able to go over and get a little refresher. His teacher is really fun and has such a passion for preschool (bless her heart, I could never do it!). I am not sure Alex fully understands what is going on with it but he is SO ready for school. I am glad we have the opportunity to let him go, he is more then ready to start learning how to read and write. I am also glad that this isn't going to fall solely on me and Shawn, he would probably never learn!


For the record with these pictures I could not get Alex to hold still and I was taking them really fast because there were a lot of people around, I didn't realized until I got home that he is blurry in most of them... Oh well... Also in his picture with his teacher he was eating a pretzel and I didn't realize that you could tell...

Dumb Cat

Izzie, our 3rd cat (long story) is either extremely patient or extremely dumb. As I type this she is currently laying on the couch with Alex handing her Zach's toys (to see which one she will play with) and Zach going over and patting her (i.e. hitting). She for the most part just sits there. Oh, she will nibble or scratch the kids some times but she doesn't do it maliciously: she is playing with them too. I have given up on trying to move her away from them she goes right back to them. Thus the "dumb cat". Oh well she is still a "baby" too so she just wants to play, unlike our other two cat's who generally run away from the kids or watch from a distance.

Upset...

So for the most part I try and keep my blogs more about the kids and less about me but I must admit I am having a rough morning. It may be partly attributed to the lack of sleep last night and being up since 5, but I have read several things on the Internet this morning that have just really "bummed me out" for the lack of a better phrase. First and foremost as a HUGE Twilight fan I tend to check Stephenie Meyers website out on a regular basis and I am feeling let down by both her and the other fans. (http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/ if you are interested at all). I was already let down by Breaking Dawn and was really looking forward to Midnight Sun as a pick me up and now I am disappointed once again. I hate to say it but I feel like Stephenie Meyer is becoming very much a "Prima Donna". I realized that she is hurt and offended but on the same hand she is shooting her loyal fans in the foot. I may be imagining all this but after reading Breaking Dawn and now this with Midnight Sun, I really get the feeling that she gave up on the series after Eclipse. I know she supposedly had the "whole story" in her head but right now I feel like it is all a big cop out. Ah... there I said it and I am sorry if I offended anyone but it needed to be said. I love the Internet and use it daily and freak out when it's not working, but this morning the era of "everything at your finger tips" has left me sad and (with one of other things I read) disappointed with some people I looked up to and liked. ***For those of you who care, no I have not read the draft that she posted. To use her own words "I feel too sad"***

Comparison

Okay so I had decided to look at Alex's eighth month picture just to see the difference between him and Zach. (and to put off exercising as long as possible). Here is a side by side and you can decide for yourselves...
For the record putting both of them in the chair for their eighth month pictures was a complete coincidence.

Eight Months

So I was trying to get Zach's eighth month pictures done this morning (you know before he isn't eight months any more) and he was cracking me up. I hadn't realized that he was into the stage where he knows what the camera is and "cheeses" for it. So I kept either missing his smile or getting this face...


Which I have to admit was pretty dang funny. What a ham! I thought this one was cute because you can see his teeth.




Either way I missed his smiles! Oh well...

I am going to try and start throwing some random cute/funny things in occasionally. (I got this from Nicholle, THANKS NICHOLLE!)

-This morning I asked Alex if he wanted any chocolate milk (instant breakfast) and he told me he wanted "Toast with chocolate milk on it"...

Oh and FYI for those of you who read my Zach falling into the tub post, I have been keeping the bathroom door closed because that is the first place the kid heads!

Right...

OK so my previous post was apparently a little premature. Later that morning Zach crawled/scooted down the hall, I assumed he was heading for Alex's room which is what he usually does. A few minutes later I heard a thud, I jumped up and then the crying started. I ran into Alex's room but Zach wasn't in there and the crying was coming from somewhere else. I looked in our bedroom and he wasn't there either. So I looked in the bathroom and didn't see him but that is where it sounded like the crying was coming from. I stepped into the bathroom and Zach was IN the tub. He had apparently pulled himself up and then flipped into the tub. The child is completely crazy! I am temped to by one of those big enclosures so I can keep an eye on him but my luck he would just climb out of it...

Oh my word child...

Ok I have decided that Zach is completely nuts. The kid has no fear and I know he will be walking before I know it. Actually he will probably be running not walking, because he doesn't do anything half way. He is way more adventurous then Alex was at his age. And he is going to be the death of me.

Olympics

We were watching the Olympics the other night and Alex was insistent that he be a gymnast.

Yep still here!

We are still here... Last week we went up to Ogden to stay at my parents house for a few days. Here is a picture of Alex painting his first ceramic.

Wii Fit

So we finally got Wii Fit and Alex loved it. Of course all we need is another video game for Alex to get addicted too... Oh well...

Slowly going crazy

So this morning I had another one of those "I know why I am going crazy" moments. The other day I had bought some new cups for Alex just those cheap "take and toss" ones, to replace some of the ones that he had worn the lids out on. So this morning I made him some breakfast and had given him some "chocolate" milk (Carnation Instant Breakfast) in one of the new cups. I set it down in front of him and he came completely unglued. (Which shouldn't surprise me really Alex is completely obsessive when it comes to food.) So trying not to get mad I said "What is the matter?" and he picks up the cup and hands it to me and says "NOT PURPLE MILK!" Those of you who have had any interaction with Alex and food, know that when he sets his mind to something it's hard to change it. So counting to 10 in my head I said "It's not purple milk..." and thinking to myself "where did he get purple milk from..." I then said "It's chocolate milk" of course by this point Alex has built up a pretty good "freak out" so I sighed and took the lid off the cup and showed him: "See chocolate". He then says "Oh" and takes it from me and starts drinking. Honestly I don't know how I am going to have any shred of sanity left...

Here is another one of those jealous moments from Alex. He was insistent on sitting in Zach's stroller.

"His fingerprints are everywhere"

I was cleaning the kitchen yesterday and Shawn came in and got the camera and went back outside. I figured he was taking a picture of the cats because they are usually doing something crazy outside.

When I looked out the window I noticed he was pointing the camera over the fence so I had to go see what he was taking a picture of. This is what I saw...
It brought to mind the country song "I saw God today" by George Strait. Which if you haven't heard it is a really good song and worth a listen to: http://www.umgnashville.com/artist/releases/release.aspx?pid=1552&aid=8

Some times in our busy lives we need a reminder to stop and appreciate what Heavenly Father has given us.

How did this happen?!?!?

I swore I would never ever do this! I never did it when I was a child, Shawn says he never did it when he was a child! But I have started cutting the crusts of the bread for Alex. I don't know when or how it happened but he just stopped eating them. He got to the point that he would only take one bite of each square of bread because he doesn't want to get any crust. So I caved! Just by cutting that small piece off he will eat each piece he is given. So I guess for now, so he doesn't waist the entire piece of bread/sandwich, I will be a mom that cuts the crusts of the bread for her child.

Grandpa's Hat

We went up the canyon the other night with Grandma and Grandpa Anderson and while Zach was eating Shawn's dad put his hat on Zach and he loved it!

Later when Grandpa was holding him Zach was insistent on having Grandpa's hat on. Every time Grandpa tried to put his hat back on, Zach would grab it back from him. It was really cute, he absolutely loved that hat.

OH NO!

Yesterday morning Alex told me he wanted a juice pop* for breakfast. (*He calls Otter Pop's-juice pops because that's what they called the popsicles on one of the cartoon's he was watching one day and it has stuck with him ever since. He is so easily swayed by TV...but that is another blog!) Anyways I had forgotten to put more in the freezer the day before so I told him to eat his breakfast and I would go put some in the fridge so he could have some later. I ran downstairs to get some out of the box and before I even stepped into the basement I could see that something was wrong. The old carpet we had thrown down on the floor in Alex's "Playroom" looked wrong. My first thought was the cat's had peed on the carpet or something (which they never do so I don't know why I thought that.) So I carefully stepped around it and looked into the room further to realize that half of the room was soaked with water. I immediately called Shawn who was almost to work and he came home. We discovered that one of our sprinklers had broken! So we spent the day yesterday cleaning up and throwing away carpet. Thankfully it happened where it did because it was all Alex's toys that could be washed off and the only thing we lost was the old carpet!

Looking back at the situation I realized that I was prompted to go downstairs. I was in the middle of feeding Zach his breakfast and normally I would have just gone down later or would have forgotten until Alex asked for another juice pop. I don't know if I had gone down later if the carpet would have looked as wet or when the next time I would have gone into that room would have been.

Seven Months

Here is Zach's seven month picture. He loves to growl at everyone and he is all over the place. He loves to move. Alex is starting to "like" Zach more and more every day. Zach likes go in his walker and head into Alex's room. I think he would crawl in there if he could but it is just to far and he gets worn out. Today I went in to check on him and Alex had given him a hot wheel. (Which is a very big step for Alex. Normally he gets very jealous if Zach touches anything that is his.) So I asked him if he gave Zach the hot wheel and he said "Yeah" like of course mom, why wouldn't I. I love to see them playing together. It gives me hope!

Oh Alex...

The other day I had gone in to use the bathroom and when I came out this is what I found.

I have no idea how he got in without killing himself! The funniest part is that he is still playing his "video game". It's funny to watch him get jealous of Zach's thing's, I have tried to explain to him that he use to use these things when he was Zach's age, but he just looks at me like I am crazy.