Rice Cereal anyone?

Just a quick pic of one of my blue-eyed boys after tasting his first oh-so-delicious rice cereal yesterday. Can you say yum-o?

What diaper?

Thad was playing Mr. Fix-it somewhere else this morning and was fixing a broken pipe and they (who had the broken pipe) watched the boys while he worked. Thad fixed it and then they went home for naps, but when Sammy woke up I went to get him and he was all wet (his clothes were pretty much soaked from his midsection to his toes) and I thought, "wow, he really peed through this time." The thing is to "pee through" you actually have to have a diaper on, and well, when I took his pants off to "change" his diaper, there wasn't one! I thought that maybe he'd taken it off in his room, but no diaper there, checked the car, no diaper there either. Where in the world is Sammy's diaper? The only thing that Thad can think of is that Sammy asked to use the "big boy potty" and they took him to try--maybe they didn't stick his diaper back on--Who knows?! I for sure don't know where the diaper is, but I do know that a big sippy cup full of milk and a 2 hour nap makes for a really, nasty and wet 2 year old and a REALLY smelly, wet bed! P.S. I still haven't located the infamous missing diaper...

My favorite series...

So, Thad and I don't really have a TV (well, a 9 inch screen tv/vcr combo that we "borrowed" from my mom) so we watch a lot of DVDs and read a lot at night. Here are some of my favorite books that have kept me flipping the pages this year (at home and in SSR at school!)...So if you have time and a library card (or a gift card at Borders, my fav place to buy books) read on!

Twilight/New Moon/Eclipse/ Breaking Dawn (to be released 8/2/08) - by Stephenie Meyer (and Twilight the movie is coming out this December!)
The Uglies/Pretties/Specials/Extras - By Scott Westerfeld
Stravaganza (3 book series) - By Mary Hoffman (they're releasing a fourth this year too!)
The Giver, Gathering Blue, Messenger - By Lois Lowry
Harry Potter (of course-not from this year, but Thad's reading them!) - By J.K. Rowling
Last year I also read all of the The Chronicles of Narnia
I'm trying to think of any more that I just love...but that should keep you busy for hours!
I just thought of one more series that I read, The Midnighters also by Scott Westerfeld, and I just started the Lord of the Rings (which Thad read--his first series I think?!) :)
A Great and Terrible Beauty , Rebel Angels and The Sweet Far Thing (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy)
Eragon/Eldest/Brisinger (The Inheritance Cycle) by Christopher Paolini
and The Pit Dragon Chronicles Dragon's Blood, Heart's Blood, and A Sending of Dragons by Jane Yolen

Nathan at 4 1/2 months :)

Not that we have forgotten Nathan, but he is just as cute and smiley as ever. He loves Sammy and yesterday at church he kept leaning (or throwing himself) forward at Sammy to "kiss" him and bonk heads with him. He did it four or five times before I had to move him because Sammy was giggling uncontrollably. It was cute.
He is growing like a weed (we definitely have BIG kids and Nathan is no exception) and rolled over yesterday from his tummy to his back. Hooray. His current favorite things to do are 1) stuff his hands (both at the same time if possible) in his mouth, 2) stuff his toes in his mouth (if his hands aren't already there), 3) chew on anything close by (clothing, blanket, Sam, or anyone else's fingers that are close by, and 4)coo at anyone who will talk and smile to him. He is quite chatty! :)

Newest Samisms and Stories

So, I was chastised by Thad for not posting more cute stories about the kids, but it's hard because I have to stand on the porch at home to make the internet work or do it here at work (like now, during the announcements in homeroom. Enjoy the random, and in no order whatsoever, stories.

-I overheard Sammy playing with his Play-doh saying "Thank you so much" and then he started saying it to Thad and I this weekend. It's pretty cute. Thad told me that he was practicing/saying "I love you" too, but he's never said this to us even though he is told this many times. He is very selective with his hugs/kisses/etc and it is great when they are given.

-Sam will often answer his own questions (especially if he knows Mommy won't let him do what he's going to ask to do). The other day he said, "Take Bubble Back (bath)?" and then responded with his "Yep" and then proceeded to take off his clothes and get ready for his bath...LOL. Too bad it wasn't bath time yet!

-He's been crawling out of bed a lot lately and I feel like Supernanny as I grab him and stick him back in bed again, and again, and again. So the other night when I thought that I heard him out of bed playing with his toys again I ran in ready to be firm and stick him back in bed and he was still in bed. He looked up at me, smiled, and said "I hear Mommy coming. I stay bed. I make Mommy happy!" Hooray Sammy!!

-So, yesterday, Lizzie came up to Sammy and said, "Wanna watch show?" and he of course responded, "yep" and they went running off to Grandma's room, turned on her TV and I chased after them giggling to turn OFF the TV. Those two have so much fun together!

Not so EGGcellent!

What I learned today:
-2 year olds never take naps when mommy needs them to :(
-it gets really boring inside when it rains and rains and rains and rains...
and my favorite...
-don't boil eggs in the microwave, well, at least not for 10 minutes because they will explode and pop the door of your microwave open and make your WHOLE house stink like rotten, overcooked eggs. Gross!

Happy Valentine's Day!

So, I thought that I would write something about Thad and I and maybe post some silly old photos of us. :) I think that Valentine's Day is kind of silly, I would rather have random and everyday love than just one day year, but it is the thought that counts. :) Maybe later I can add a story (I was about to) but then Sammy decided it was time to get up :( at least I'm already up...I love you Thad! I can't believe that we met and started dating 12 years ago... Here's to many more years and valentine's days...

It was at a church dance sometime in 1996 when I spotted him, a silly, quirky, tall, skinny young man. I was attracted to his spontaneity and fun personality. I thought at the time that he and Jennifer Berry, a cute blonde girl ;), were a thing so I kind of hung low, until Jen told me that they weren’t dating. I was excited. I was friends with his sister Becky and so it was easy to start bringing them both to the dances and taking them home. He eventually asked me to prom and the rest is history! J/K. We went to prom and after that magical night and walking along the beach, and making cookies and watching movies, he kissed me, just once, and I floated all the way home down Shoemaker. I felt like I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face!!! We continued dating through the summer and then made the difficult decision to continue the long distance dating while I was at school in Texas. Those two years apart were very challenging for us. We loved our time together, but phone calls, IMs, emails, etc were just not the same as being together in person. He flew out to visit often and I returned home from time to time. Eventually after two years we broke up. I finished up school, and Thad helped his dad get Echo Metal Works started. Then I went on my mission to Argentina in January 2001, Thad took a cross country road trip and then began his mission to Washington D. C. in December 2001. I beat him home (by a year and a half) and started teaching at Cerritos H.S. and starting going to the singles ward.

When it got closer to Thad coming home people started asking me if we’d date again. I always said no, because I didn’t think that we would. We had already dated and it hadn’t worked out. We had ended on good enough terms, but who would have thought that we’d get married?! When he arrived home our parents started in on us. His parents invited my parents over (and my parents invited me to go along—I figured what is the harm in going with my parents?!) on the day that he came home from his mission. It was a little awkward but it was nice to see him, I mean, we had been best friends while we were dating, and it was not too bad. Two days later, on Christmas Day, I was sitting with my family when the doorbell rang. I jumped up and ran to get the door and Thad was there. I thought to myself, “that’s weird, why is Thad here? Oh well!” (Later I found out that my MOM invited him over for Christmas Dinner! Can you believe it? My ex?) We invited him in, and he ate dinner with us and hung out with the family. When he left we had talked a bunch and figured out that we both wanted to go to the San Diego temple because LA was closed, and decided to go together.

We met and drove together and had a great time talking and reminiscing. We drove to the temple a few more times together. It was nice to have someone to go with. My memory (isn’t it awful, I’ll have to verify the story with Thad later) tells me that after a few weeks of me watching him at the singles ward, and pretty much ignoring him because I was too scared of tripping over my words and making a fool of myself I invited him over to eat again—hamburgers this time—and that day we talked on the sidewalk about trying the dating thing out again. We decided too that we didn’t want to “date for fun” but that we wanted to figure out if there was something more to it, if not, we wouldn’t date. Luckily for me he had had the feeling that he needed to find out whether or not things would work out with me before he dated anyone else, otherwise, with all of my ignoring him I might have sent him away!!

We started dating and things got serious pretty quickly. We had already dated for a long time the first time, and knew each other well, and knew what we didn’t like from before (luckily we had grown up a lot during the past 4 years). We realized that we wanted to be together forever…We were sitting in the front room at my mom’s when Thad casually asked me if I wanted to go ring shopping. I think I hit him and told him not to joke with me about stuff like that, because I liked him. He assured me that he wasn’t joking and we decided to hit the ring shop the next day. We arrived at the ring store, together, and sat in the car for a while. We decided to pray about it and make sure before we went in—it was kind of scary, but it felt good, and right, and we went inside and picked out my dream ring (a solitaire princess cut on a small simple white gold band set at a diagonal) and it didn’t even break our budget! Thad sealed the deal in the temple (that was our favorite Friday night date place) when he asked me if I wanted to spend eternity with him. Of course I said yes…I knew that I wanted the same thing. The next thing I knew he was sitting at my parent’s house watching football with my dad, a whole game, trying to ask him if he could marry me. I was upstairs trying to “stay busy” and kept checking in, but man, that was a long game. My dad said yes, and we were married in August of that same year.

Life is crazy how it seems like we’ve always been married…I can’t remember a time that we weren’t. But it also seems like we’ve always had Sammy, but I know that he’s only been making us laugh and smile for two years and Nathan seems quite at home too. We have gone through a lot together in these four years. I am glad that even though I have to work that I can be happy knowing that he is at home with the kids. He is a great daddy who has taught me a lot about parenting, being fun and spontaneous (not just keeping bottoms and noses clean, making sure they’re fed, dressed, bathed, etc), and loves me even though I worry too much! I do think that I take pretty good care of my three, I mean two ;) boys, and I hope that he knows that I love him.

Happy Valentine’s Day Thaddeus! I love you!

Blessings blessings...

So, Friday (I know that it is now Wednesday of the next week, but I just had got my grades done/in) we went to Disneyland with Thad's dad and Great Grandma Marcroft because Thad's dad's pass was expiring...it was all fun and games until I realized (when Nathan started fussing and then screaming) that his bottle had been left in the car. I started to panic because I can feed him, but I NEVER have enough and he always starts to scream until we can get some formula for him. I stopped panicking and started freaking out thinking what did I do, what am I going to do, how am I going to get this kid some food...I knew that they had a baby center where I could feed him and I prayed the whole way very fervently that I would have enough milk to feed Nathan and that he would eat calmly and be okay. I was sooo nervous, but for the first time he was okay, he was even smiling after he ate! He was content. I felt soooooo loved and blessed...He took care of Nathan through my otherwise "broken" mommy parts. :) It's the little things that count!!!