CJ Turns 5!

When he was born he was so cute and had his eyes open about 23 hours a day. From day one, if I swaddled him he would wriggle until his arms were free.  If he went to sleep, we would sloooooooowly lay him in his bed, pause, frozen, holding our breath, then army crawl out of his room, and take ten minutes to close the door because if he heard one teeny tiny sound, it was over and he was up for the rest of the afternoon.  He never ever slept in his car seat.  I think that's why he's so smart. He took in so much life in all those awake hours - he was just so aware. 

Now this awesome FIVE year old wakes up every morning before 7:00, gets dressed, brushes his teeth and combs his hair before coming in to our room with a huge burst of energy to get the day started. We had to put an alarm clock in his room with big red numbers. It's 20 minutes slow... and we tell him he can't come out of his room until the first number is a seven. You better believe at 7:00 (his time, 7:20 our time) he's hopping into our room and within 10 seconds he and the dogs are hyper and ready to go play.

We know that CJ came into this world impatiently, when we weren't expecting him but on his own time.  He doesn't want to miss anything by sleeping. He knows what he wants, when he wants and isn't afraid to tell you. He is determined, smart and one of the greatest blessings I've ever been given. He challenges me to be a better, patient person every single day. I love how his little mind works, and when he wants to be (which is actually most of the time) he is so dang sweet... as long as he's not being teased or you're not making sense to him! His determination and sensitivity are qualities that I know will help him as an adult.

(He wanted a soccer cake with lots of candles on it)

For some reason I've been sad today seeing him turn five... it seems so old. He's no longer a toddler, he's a boy that is getting older, smarter and it's hard for me to say goodbye to the preschool years. I realize that the days are numbered where he still wants me to snuggle on the couch with him every day, hold my hand in the parking lot and kiss me goodbye at school. He's learning more things at school that challenge his innocence. It is very, very hard for me to accept the fact that in a few short months he'll have to leave my house EVERY DAY for school. I really, really wish I could freeze time today and keep my little boys little - FOREVER. Really, I'd be happy with that. I'll change Trey's diapers for the rest of his life if he could stay two forever!

I absolutely love the ages of my boys. I love our daily routines. I love our time together. I love seeing them play together - becoming better buddies every day. Most nights (we do have a few bad days here and there) I go to bed so happy because I've had such a fun day with my boys. And on those bad days I remind myself that when I was little, all I wanted was to have my own kids and to be home with them so I could give them the same fun, loving, safe childhood that I had. And I'm blessed beyond measure to be doing just that.

55 degree weather...

XOXO

CJ and I made these cupcakes and he made the cute little toppers out of toothpicks and foam stickers. Then we drove them around to friends and called it good for family night. It was a step up from last week's trip to the ER for staples to hold Trey's head together.

Poor Trey - in his cute red monkey slippers he slid on the hardwood floor and fell right onto the baseboard corner.  He had to get two staples in his head and the doctor didn't even numb him - just hurry and did it and it was awful.   Two hours later we returned home from the doctor to recover on the couch with the two things he sobbed for the entire time they were fixing him up: his "ba ba" and "wiggies" (sippy and The Wiggles). This morning he woke up happier than ever and hasn't even touched it or acted like it's there, sweet little thing.

Trey Turns Two

Cake with too many candles courtesy of CJ.
Party whistles courtesy of CJ and Grammy.  He puts on his wristbands as soon as he gets up in the morning.
A new scooter courtesy of Nana.
To feed his obsession with vacuums (vroom vrooms), a new one to add to the collection courtesy of Grammy. We have to give all three vroom vrooms hugs and kisses before bed time. The carpet cleaner, the regular vacuum and the car vacuum all get loves before any of us get loves. He drags them through the house all day long and plugs them into every outlet and has to show me each time he's re-plugged. I love my boys and their random obsessions!
A new bike courtesy of mom and dad.
New PlayDoh courtesy of CJ. And if all this excitement wasn't enough, we finally gave in to CJ's begs for the last year to go to Chuck-e-Cheese but they had a blast so it was worth it.

But more imporantaly, we had a great birthday weekend together. It's so fun as they get older and get so into celebrations. Trey  is just my little ray of sunshine and I'm so glad he's in our family. He wakes up with a smile on his face and goes to bed smiling. He's the sweetest thing and has been from day one. Being a mom is the best.

100 times a day we go through this. Then he makes a sound with his mouth that is supposed to be the sound of pee, then he flushes. Every time we go in a store he wants me to take him into the bathroom to pretend pee but when I take his diaper off to see if he'll really do it, he refuses. Funny boy!

Today we ate cake, set up CJ's Spiderman tent over his bed and had "club" which consisted of stories about Sasquatch and making glasses out of Bendaroos. Love him so much!

It has been foggy and grey here for more than a week so the boys and I made a buttermilk Texas sheet cake and the boys and I sat on the counter and devoured it with forks at 10:45 a.m.

It made us happy!

( I have tried twice to throw away the pants CJ is wearing but the garbage patrol has rescued them. This is his favorite outfit!)

 CJ has the remote all figured out and loves to tell me to come watch the commercial he has paused. He's so funny! This is just another way that CJ entertains me, I just love his little personality. NOTHING gets past him. When we grocery shop he'll see some random product and give me the whole deal as advertised on TV.

Christmas 2008

This was our first Christmas staying at home. It was so fun to spend so much time together as a family and I swear it feels like it was just a few years ago when I was little, waiting at the top of the stairs for the go-ahead to finally go downstairs to the presents. CJ was SO excited. I loved it!
Trey wears his dad's old football wristbands just about every day and when he can't find them, he uses my hair bands. So new wristbands were a hit - he's pointing and telling his dad all about them.
CJ's favorite drink of all time is sparkling cider so he got a stash for Christmas. He said it was the "strangest gift under the tree."
Trey loves his new Wiggles guitar. Yes, he LOVES the Wiggles!

A few days after Christmas we headed down to see our families and as usual, every day was packed with things to do and people to see and we had a great time. CJ and his cousins had a blast sledding.
This is all 13 of them getting towed back to the top of the hill courtesy of Grandpa. They did this for hours!
Then it was back inside for the present exchange.


Nana and Papa gave Toad this awesome little trampoline which I will post about later. Seriously, best gift ever for energetic little boys.
CJ loves to visit his great-grandmas so we spent some time with each of them.
Everytime we leave Utah our car is twice as messy as when we left and jam packed with stuff. This time Grammy sent us home with a box of churros amongst other things. Poor Lucy gets put on top of the pile because that's the only place we ever have room for her.

And when we got home we got another great present. Go Utes!

Christmas Eve

We decided to stay home this year for Christmas - for the first time since we've been together. As much as we really miss seeing all of our relatives, it has been so fun just being at home, together with the boys, enjoying our decorations and just chilling out. No long drive where I play front-seat waitress, no packing up the entire house, no tired kids from no naps and best of all, Christmas morning in our own family room with presents I've already wrapped, instead of frantically trying to get all of it out of the car and wrapped in time. Bliss!
We spent the day watching movies and then made pizzas for dinner. Chad his has been brining a turkey for 2 days now.  He also made coconut bread and cookie brittle today as well.
The elf who's appeared every day since Thanksgiving went back to the North Pole today but left the boys a present instead. It was their pajamas to wear tonight.
Trey said a new word tonight and melt my heart. Thee-thus. Jesus. Add that to Mama, Dada, and Spongebob and we're up to four discernible words. We were reading The Three Trees and he just started saying it.
And for all her fans, a photo of Lucy howling at the remote control trucks!

MeRrY ChRiStMaS
and a HaPpY NeW yEaR!

Feliz Navidog!

Because I am Loved...

Chad gave me such a nice birthday weekend.  I didn't want to go out because it's so hard with a two year-old but when CJ was disappointed because he wanted to go out, Chad told him to be my date and take me out and he stayed home with Trey. I let CJ pick the restaurant and he told me he watned to go to Applebees because "they have shrimp and I love shrimp."

Back home I was given keys to a hotel room and a movie ticket to Twilight and instructed to go to the movie, then go relax in peace and quiet, sleep in, go shopping, and then show up at a certain spa where I would be receiving a facial. I felt guilty leaving! But I think when you're a mom you don't realize how a little time to yourself does so much to energize and renew. I spent the day shopping. I took my time, browsed and tried things on!

You know, getting older really has its perks. I am determined to have a better attitude about it. Because yesterday, after all the loves and happy birthdays from my little boys, thoughtful cards and gifts, wonderful phone calls, emails and Facebook messages, I realize again how blessed I am and how I couldn't ask to be in a better place in my life than I am right now.

I have had the best time this weekend with Trey. I never get much one-on-one time with him so with the other boys out of town, he and I have been together. He is seriously the easiest little boy, just happy to be doing whatever it is he's doing at the moment.  But I am ready for my little four year-old to return because I miss him. And it's way too quiet around here!
One of Trey's new things is wanting to wear this helmet. The problem is, it weighs about 10 pounds so he can't hold his head up straight, then he falls over, then he gets mad and we start the process all over again. Put helmet on. Lean to the side. Fall over. Yell at the helmet. Then yell at me that it's not working. He runs to get it whenever football is on the TV or Sports Center and when it tips him over, he runs to the TV, points to a football player (with a helmet on) and yells at us. So funny!

Trey went to his first day of nursery in the new ward yesterday. And then barfed all over.
This morning I locked me and CJ out of the house, in the rain, bare feet, with Trey inside. The spare key is inside the realtor's box. The cell phone to call the realtor is inside the house.
One long story and four frozen feet later we made it back inside where Trey had found comfort in the sugar bowl. It was everywhere. The dog is outside rolling around with a garbage can. The only thing making this Monday even more awesome is that Chad is out of town.

We've all been really healthy for a long time and today it was no fun in the sun for us - we all have the flu. Chad took this picture of us but it doesn't show Trey, Lucy, Mac and four pillows all plopped on my legs. Some days I feel like a big magnet. A magnet who draws everyone in to watch her throw up.Trey  laughs, Lucy licks my feet and Mac whips the back of my head with his tail. CJ just yells for me to pause the DVR so he doesn't miss anything.  But I sure love the Oreo crumbs on his lips.
He asked Santa for a Remote Control Robot that zaps people, clothes with pictures of garbage on them and a really big TV in his room with a remote, a remote control bee that stings people, and, from the infomercial, Bendarooz!

CJ made me cry two times the other day, each episode a mere 10 minutes a part, occurring at bedtime.

The first is when my sweet little 4 year old read the entire book of "Hop on Pop" to me, pausing only a few times for help. Him! Reading! All by himself! This caused tears because it was one of those "I'm growing up and you can't stop me from doing it" moments, and, because I was so proud of him. It's just so awesome to see your kids figure something out and watch them fill with pride as they accomplish.

So then, ten minutes later, we say prayers. CJ says, and I quote, "Heavenly Father, where are all my friends? I live too far away from school and I'm lonely. I ask for a friend who will answer their phone and play with me." And then.... his little voice cracked and he finished with a heart-wrenching, "I just love to play. Please help me move close to some really fun friends."

His best friend that used to live next door moved. He absolutely loves his preschool class and has lots of friends which have generated invites to lots of fun birthday parties. As for every-day play, they live too far away. We live on the lamest street in America, I'm convinced. Our house has been on the market for a while, we have a new lot picked out in a huge development that's anchored by a brand-new elementary school, high school and middle school. And - it's right next to his new preschool and most of the kids in his class. I have even stalked it in the afternoon, you know, after school when all the kids are walking home. Almost every open garage door revealed bikes, trikes, scooters, Power Wheels and the likes. And, at Halloween, the houses were decorated! For kids!

So we wait. And wait. And wait. Not an ideal time to sell a house, but we're willing to try if it means finally putting down our roots in a community and ward that we love.

I insist that the Lord is ever mindful of our needs, and, if we are blessed enough to move, then it will eventually work out. If not, well, then we'll find a way to be happy here. We have a lot to be thankful for. Recently our ward got split and we are now in a huge new ward, so maybe there will be lots of little Sunbeam boys?

We'll see. But for now I'll be happy with the fact that my little one understands that he can ask his Heavenly Father for things he feels he needs and the beauty is watching it all unfold. Even if waiting takes all the patience I can muster...