I recently took a little "vacation" to my mom and dad's place in Nampa, Idaho. Yeah, I guess it's not much of a vacation when I take my own little tornado with me everywhere I go. I'm referring to Eli of course! He played shy at first, but was soon aclimated and totally in love with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa helped by taking him for walks to get the mail and of course to get him to go to sleep at naptime (Thanks dad!). Grandma played and sang songs and read stories and made sure he didn't starve (Thanks Mom!). It was such a good trip in many ways. One benefit that I didn't expect was that the babies learned to sleep in the same room. Noah had still been in our room (yes, at almost 8 months old!). I was so worried about putting them in the same room for fear of Eli trampling him or that one would wake up the other. Well, I never set up the port-a-crib and just put Noah in the crib in the room with Eli. It's working beautifully. Who would have guessed?



I also learned that I could drive a reasonably long distance by myself with 2 little ones. They were so good in the car, way better than I could have hoped! Thank goodness for DVD players in the car and for an angelic baby who giggles spontaneously!



I was able to spend some time with my friend and her little boy. Funny, our boys are nearly a year apart, but they look about the same age (they're roughly the same size). They are so different in temperments and the first few hours were a bit rough. However, the second day we went to play, Eli was so excited to go play with Ryan! They did really well, ran and played outside and found plenty of common interests....cars, balls, and slides! You know, boy stuff!

Just had to share...
Ana, our neighbor and new friend, took the wonderful photos of our kids recently (see previous post). Then, to top it off, she made these beautiful scrapbook pages for us! Thanks Ana!

Fun Picture Pairs!

First, I don't know if it's a cousin thing or what, but I've NEVER heard of little kids loving tomatoes like Eli and Corbin do! As you can see, Eli was just eating it like an apple. He ate about 3/4 of it that way. Corbin was a little more sophisticated,(and younger at that time too) using a plastic fork.

Eli, March 2008
Corbin, September 2006

Next, Grandma and Grandpa have a really comfy and loungy couch. Here is a pair of pics with Eli and Noah at about the same age. Noah with Grandpa and Eli with Uncle Ryan. People keep telling me that Noah looks just like Eli. Could be the mother in me, but I really think they look very different and unique in their own ways. However, when you put pictures like this side by side, it is more than obvious that they are brothers. Thankfully, Noah is getting tougher by the day and he doesn't even mind all the time anymore when Eli is rolling over him. In fact, he giggles...I think he's thinking about how he's going to get Eli in the not too distant future!

Noah, April 2008

Eli, November 2006

Okay, finally some pics of the kids! All of the following photos, except for the tomato one and the bunny one were taken by our friend. Ana is an amature photographer and asked if she could snap some shots of the kids. How could I refuse. I think she got some good ones and here they are to prove it! These were taken about 3 weeks ago here at our apartment complex in Spokane.


Monkey on top of the monkey bars!

Way to precious for words...

Cutest little mug!

Typical

We tried to get a "nice" photo of the 3 boys together. I guess we just got a realistic one. :)

Another monkey on the monkey bars!

Eli is actually eating a tomato like it is an apple. I seem to remember a cousin of his doing this last year! He really ate most of it before he was too full to go on!

Eli went from being terrified of the bunny to demanding that he sit on the bunny's lap.

Eli's Favorite Things
1. Triangles. He finds them everywhere, on houses, on my dad's boxes in his office, on signs along the road, on our hands (fingers).
2. Chocolate milk. Left to his own devices, this is the only substance he would consume. Well...he has really enjoyed popsicles at Grandma's house this week. :)
3. Leaves. He's so fascinated by the ones on Grandma's plants, the dry ones on the ground and the little ones appearing on the trees.
4. Being Nakkie! He's 2 right? So, we're in the stripping phase. Since we're not potty training yet, overalls work the best at keeping this little monkey dressed.
5. Hugs and kisses. I'm not sure where he got this idea that he's European, but hugs and kisses have to be given on both sides of the cheeks. This was truly his own idea.
6. Saying "Good morning!". This goes on all day and is said in the cutest and sweetest of voices...sometimes when he's getting in trouble, but he always wants to put my face between his hands when he says it, like it will make every bad or sad or stressful thing go away. Maybe it actually will.

Okay, I've been tagged. Not only that, I've been repromended for not posting often enough. Sorry, I really want to do better...I'll try, how about that? Maybe more than once a month?

Where was I 10 years ago?
1998, I was in Provo, Utah, working for NuSkin....Yeah, um....life was a bit different then.

Where was I 5 years ago?
2003, Also in Provo, or the general area, also working for NuSkin...It was another year before I met my hubby.

Where was I 1 year ago?
Pullman, WA. Okay, I NEVER thought I would end up back in Eastern Washington. I grew up in Moses Lake, and when I moved to the "West Side", in 1989, I was D-O-N-E with Eastern WA...I love being here now....We did our stint in Pullman for hubby to finish some prereq's for nursing school. I think it could be one of the happiest places I've ever lived. I will always treasure my days in Pullman.

I enjoy...
Taking pictures, making jewelry, walking, organizing (it's easier when not holding an 18 lb-er and having a 2 yr old tugging at your knees, or trying to tackle you), trying new recipes, meeting new people (becoming a pro at that), hearing from friends (hint!)

My favorite shows are...
Lost, Ellen (yes really, i like her light-hearted-ness...it helps with my crazyness sometimes), Oprah (depending on the topic), Trading Spaces, Smallville, and my guilty pleasure of late...American Idol! I can't get enough of this kid from Murray, Uah! He's way too cute and sweet and has this voice to die for!

I hate...
Lies, cleaning toilets (I'm the only female in my house!), mushrooms (there's a reason it's called fungus!), being cold.

My Biggest joys are...
Really? Do you have to ask? Well it's long baths, of course. Kidding, I do love those, but I have 4 boys in my life that I thank my Heavenly Father every day for. OH, other than them? I love sunny days, singing birds, and happy kids. Knowing that there is a plan for me and my family brings me joy. I cling to that when I'm having a tough day. The Gospel plan and the gifts of life and the Atonement are the greatest things anyone could ask for.

What are 5 things I have to do today?
-go walking
-make phone calls and do paper work for lovely govt. programs that help us survive while hubby is in school
-return library books, get some new ones
-play with my kids
-adore my hubby

5 snacks I like...
-Sweedish Fish
-anything with cherry flavor lately, Cherry Garcia Ben & Jerry's is calling mly name!
-chocolate
-nachos
-root beer floats

What would I do if I was suddenly a billionaire?
Pay off the debts of everyone in mine and my hubbys' families.
Invest
Buy a nice house (for family members too, if they want)
Travel

4 bad habits that I have...
Do I have to ?
-procrastinating
-losing patience (bad spelling, i know) with my kids
-staying awake too late!
-i have a lot more....

5 jobs that I've had
-receptionist
-event coordinator
-clothing sales
-video store clerk
-picking spinich (yes, really...I was 13)
-Arby's (worst job ever, even worse than the spinich one)

Okay, I tag...anyone who reads this...ha! Got to get my fam blogging!

Good night!

It seems like all my posts are timestamped at this time of night. So, now you know why I only post once a month! Usually I'm either nursing a baby or asleep by this time. It is really hard to make myself stay up when I know I could be sleeping. But once I get in the goove....watch out! The previous post is loaded with pictures and most are Eli. Well, it was his birthday last month. He's growing up so fast. He had his first haircuts and he acts more and more kid like rather than baby like. I start to feel a little sad about it, then I realize that there's another baby in the house. We have 3 very discinct and very different stages going on with our children. Hold on, maybe not so much. Our 10-year-old often acts like a 2 year-old. Maybe that's not such a bad thing. It can actually be quite good at times. I have "caught" Eric several times recently playing very happily with Eli. Blocks, plastic animals, wooden trains, cars, but the favorite of all.....FOOTBALLS! Eli loves so much to play chech (catch). Ah, the toys of little (and not so little) boys. I was invited over for a play date this week and there's just one little girl who lives there. She had all sorts of wonderful girl stuff...We have no idea what to do with girl stuff! :O) It was fun for me though, I dream of having a little princess someday. Even if I don't, my princes are gifts from God. I thank Him every day for allowing them to be in my life.

We were in Costco the other day and I had the babies in the stroller. It's they only way to go at that store. If I don't strap Eli in, it's a miserable experience for us all! Noah had toys, Eli had everything to look at in the store. We looked at a CD display, where we could push the buttons and hear a sampling of the music. We pushed the button for the Toddler Tunes CD. It played B-I-N-G-O and Eli danced in the stroller. WE pushed a couple others then strolled off. A little way down the rown he started yelling "name-o! name-o!" It took me a couple of minutes to figure out that he was pointing to the CD display and wanted to hear the song again "There was a farmer, had a dog and BINGO was his NAME-O! Sheesh, how's he supposed to know the real name of the song?

I love that I have a new back seat driver! We have a lot of pot holes on our roads and sometimes it's a bit of a bumpy ride. The other day I hit a rough patch and I hear from the back seat "Kepul (careful) mommy!" I look back and he's holding his arm out with a stiff hand, as if that will help me to drive better.

Noah is growing so fast. He's sitting up now and rolling all over the place. He looks at me like he knows exactly what's going on. I'm afraid I'll never get anything past him!

We had a really nice weekend as a family. Eric is growing up and seeming way to close to becoming a young man. He's pretty amazing with his imagination. This morning he took about 40 minutes to tell us about his dreams of last night. Kendall is sure that he embelishes the stories of his dreams, but even if he does, so what? They're pretty incredible. We'd love to get him to write them down. They're awesome adventures!

I'm tired, but that's nothing new. I think I'll sleep now until the next round starts.