8 Years

These are the flowers Jimmy got me for our anniversary on Monday.  Last year we celebrated by playing some golf, just as we had for the 6 anniversaries before, and spent the weekend at a fancy hotel in La Jolla.  This year we ate some breakfast together before Jimmy went to work.  Then Jimmy brought home some flowers and I served up some left overs.  After the kids went to bed we budgeted, argued a bit, and went to bed annoyed. Fortunately the days activities are in no way representative of these past 8 years with my best friend (we never eat breakfast together).

A Reason to Blog -Ewan Turns One!

It has been a while.  I feel like I'm in 7th grade again when I was so shy I wouldn't say anything all day unless I had to in class and then my words would get stuck in my throat and I wished I could just tell everyone I didn't really talk like that.  Thank goodness that's over.  I don't ever want to be reminded of 7th grade again.  (I take it back.  It wasn't all bad.)

When I realized Ewan turned one and I had no record of it, I finally felt motivated to get back to the blog.  If nothing else, this blog at least helps me feel a little less guilty about having given up journaling when I got married.  (Was I really only writing about boys?)

So onto my Big Bubba! He's not quite so huge now.  He hasn't really gained any weight since his 9 month check up but has gotten taller.  Now that he's closer to standard size, I  realize that I may have taken a bit of pride in my fat baby fed solely from one boob.  Whenever someone here (Colorado) says something about his size I find myself saying, "This is nothing.  You should have seen him a few months ago.  He doubled his birth weight in 8 weeks!!" It turns out you have to have known him to have any of that matter to you.  Now, he's just a solid 85th percentiler.  Nothing to gawk at but still plenty to love.  

Ewan, or as the nurse at the Doctor's office likes to call him, E-Wan, started walking just before his 1st birthday.  He stays busy trying to keep up with his big brothers and going places a one year should not go.  I would have to say he's my most willful child.  My kids are not stubborn.  They're easily distracted and quick to fall for all the usual tricks.  Ewan, on the other hand, is relentless.  He would love to be left alone to play in the trash, unroll all the toilet paper, climb on the table, pull everything within arms reach down, and climb inside every major appliance.  We are all busy.  

You know it's your third kid when you haven't given much thought to your kid's speech until they ask you about it at the 1 year check up.  When I took a minute to think about it, I realized he says, Mamma, Dadda, Ball, Book, More, Night Night, No No, and Banana (so those last 3 all sound almost the same but said in different contexts).  He loves to climb onto the little side table and look and me and say, "No No!" Pretty adorable.  He also makes really cute animal sounds for Dog, Kitty, Lamb and Fox (A fox pants like a dog...in case you were wondering). 

He's got 10 teeth already with which he likes to eat any fruit, cheese, and his vegetable of choice, broccoli.  He's not into milk yet. Ughh...he's going to be a hard one to ween. He's quick to smile and will go to anyone.  To sum up, Ewan is a busy boy who chooses playing and exploring over cuddling with Mom, every times.   He loves his Daddy, brothers and blankie.  We are so lucky to have him.

                

Unemployed

A while back I posted this picture to Instagram and Facebook with the following caption.

"If I could get fired from my job I probably would.  It's 1am, I'm going to bed and my kitchen looks like this.  Seriously, I can hear The Donald's 'You're fired!' ringing in my ear."

Today, while feeling overwhelmed by the amount of mess that has accumulated in my kitchen and front room since we arose this morning, it occurred to me that you couldn't pay someone to do what I do.  No one would ever dream of hiring ONE person to take care of their children, clean their house and provide all their meals. There are labor laws against that kind of stuff.  So, I guess I can't really expect to be the best caretaker, housekeeper and cook all the time because expecting that from anyone else would be completely unreasonable.  After this realization, I feel a bit less overwhelmed.  In fact, I think I'll leave the mess for a bit and play with the kids because if I can't do it ALL, I might as well do what's most important.

Evidence That I'm Raising A Grown Up In A 5 Year Old's Body

Duncan The Environmentalist

The other day we were debating about whether or not we should drive or walk to the park. Duncan reminded us that if we walked we would make less pollution.

Lately in his prayers he has been very mindful of the environment. He blessed the animals that they would be safe and able to adapt. Then the other night he blessed the earth that it would have a reason to be good.

Duncan The Communicator

After being kicked off the computer, he had the self awareness to warn me of his impending break down with, "Mom, I'm going to FREAK OUT!"

In the car the other day, Duncan asked if he could play on the ipad when we got home. I said that he couldn't because he had already had enough time on electronics for the day. We argued for a while until a frustrated Dunks explained that he would prefer a schedule so he knew when he could play and for how long everyday. My poor routine loving 5 year old. This won't be the last time he finds himself trying to communicate his frustration with his consistently, inconsistent mom.

He frequently speaks in acronyms. Today he came up to me and said, "MMIPMK?" I looked at him blankly and told him I had no freakin' idea what he wanted (minus the "freakin"). In case you're as lost as I was here's the translation: Mom, may I play Mario Kart? I should have known. He asks for "MK" all day. That and "CM", or "AJ", or my favorite -just "S".

Duncan The Biologist

Wrapped up in his doggy towel, he told me he wasn't able to help clean up because puppies don't have opposable thumbs.

Finlay, the little brother trying to keep up with all this animal stuff, asked me if clouded leopards lived in the forest. I said that they did to which Duncan added, "Yes, in the rain forests of Indonesia." He then went on to list animals and what parts of the world they lived in. He was in the back of the van, so I couldn't hear very well but at one point he referred to Bengal Tigers and Bangladesh. The best though was when I heard him talking about an animal that is found in North and South America and corrected himself by saying, "Or I should say, 'The Americas'."

That kid...or whatever he is.

While You're Still 6 Months

Dear Fatso (said with all the love of an adoring mamma),

You will be 7 months in a few days so lets get on with it already. At your 6 month appointment you were almost 23 pounds! 100th percentile for weight and 95th for height and 90th for head. Conclusion: You are BIG and healthy. You have 2 tiny bottom teeth. Teeth + dimple+fat face = infectious smile. You roll around, sit up and try with all your might to crawl. You get up on your knees every chance you get but have no idea what to do next. I'm sure not going to show you..I prefer to find you where I left you =) You just found your little voice. I love your babbles. You used to be an awesome sleeper but your new schedule means more cartoons and cereal for you big brothers. Ughh. I hate mornings.

***Right after I typed this, you woke up. On the bright side, I got to rock you and enjoy a rare snuggle session with you. Have I mentioned how wonderful I think you are? I couldn't have asked for a better 3rd child. You are a peaceful little guy with a bit of spunk. You have the roundest face that just begs for kisses. I am happy to oblige...all day long =) You are a doll. We all adore you. Can't wait to watch that blonde hair of yours grow.

Love,

Mom

Words With Boys

Finlay: Mom, do leopards live in Canaka or North America?

Me to Finlay: Your buns are cute!

Finlay to me: No, YOUR buns are cute!

Duncan: How can you go from being the nicest mom ever to being the meanest mom ever?

My boys love jokes. Here are a couple knock knock jokes I came up with during our improv comedy session this morning.

Knock, knock!

Who's there?

Europe.

Europe who?

Who you calling poo? (said totally offended like)

Knock, knock!

Who's there?

You love.

You love who?

I love YOU!! =)

Goal!!

Duncan scored his first goal in soccer today. It was so fun to watch and celebrate. He's not the best player out there but it's so fun to see how much he loves to play. He's way more aggressive than Jimmy and I thought he would be. I forgot to take his picture so this blog post will be our little way of remembering this big day for Duncan.

Us, Instagrammed

A Fly on the Wall

Recently, I found a 30 minute long video on my phone. The average length of a video on my phone is about a minute. I couldn't wait to see what was so important. As soon as I started watching, it was apparent this was Fin's film making debut. He didn't realize it was recording, and neither did I when I took the phone from him and placed it on the charger in the kitchen. The video went black but there was still audio; compelling audio. Have you ever wished you could watch yourself at work as a mom, just to gain a different perspective? Well, perspective gained. It just happened to be a stressful Sunday morning, with Jimmy at early meetings. At one point I leave the room and come back to Fin in tears, and I have to figure out which story to believe. I got it right!! And at another point I'm snapping at Duncan to change his attitude and even do my best whiney Duncan voice to show him exactly what I don't want to hear anymore. After Duncan whines (and don't get me wrong...there was incessant amounts of whining) over what cup I am putting his hot chocolate in, I lose it and the anger in my "I'm SICK OF IT!" is shameful. So I've come to some conclusions: I am patient with a lot of things (a lot more patient than I thought) but I have "triggers" that push me over the edge and I get nasty; both boys are huge whiners; Duncan has a real problem with name-calling.

The Happy Family Song

Lately Finlay has been requesting the "Happy Family Song" aka "Families Can Be Together Forever" for naps and bedtime. It warms my heart to see his sweet smile as I sing, "...I always want to be with my own family." Thank you, Sabrina, for capturing our happy family so well.

Duncan Said...(It's a good one)

The other day we were in the car when Finlay asked me if our car gets shot at. Interesting question that lead to an interesting discussion on guns. Duncan declared that he didn't need guns because he has other TACTICS. To which I, in serious curiosity, replied, "What kind of tactics?" He went on about kicking and punching and...stabbing? But then he got serious and said, "...and I believe there is a GOD. That's the most important thing I have." Wow..another deep one from the 5 year old. He must do a lot of thinking alone in the back of the minivan. A few weeks ago, out of the blue, he announced that he had decided a better day for New Year's Day would be the first day of spring. It made no sense to him why we would be celebrating the start of a new year in the middle of winter. I had to sorta agree.

Give Me 5!!

Big kid in his MacD bow-tie.

A birthday present. It's a hit. Great game. Duncan loves it. Finlay is learning his letter and it has just enough strategy to keep us old folks interested.

Cheesy grin at Soup Plantation. In attendance: Uncle Rob, Aunt Joan, Stephan, Saul, Kian, Uncle Bruce, Aunt Sabrina, Savanah, Uncle Matt, Grandma and Grandpa Riley, Mom and Dad, Finlay and Ewan

Handcrafted Birthday Shirt

I can't believe I have a 5 year old, even though a lot of my friends have 10 year olds! Ha ha...we're a funny bunch, us mormons. Sometimes I think it would've been really nice to start my family at 21 and be done by 30. A friend from high school actually posted on facebook how happy she was to be out of the minivan phase and here I am just buying our first. Ok...sorry Duncan, this is supposed to be about you. So here we go. A "few" things about YOU,

DUNCAN MICHAEL.

Mr. Dunks, our Duncan pie, our Big D, our FIRSTBORN. You love being the first and I've even heard you, on several occasions, tell someone, "I was my mom's first child." I know you think this a good thing, but I often pray that being our guinea pig doesn't leave any permanent emotional scars. You were born, old -if that makes any sense. You looked at us as if you were figuring us out and well, I think you have. We now know your little brain was probably working on overdrive, even then. You've been amazing us with your gift of learning for some time now and now, here you are, 5 years old reading gigantic words and doing math. Come on kid...slow down. The other day you shocked me by answering my "trick" question. Yes 4 minus 5 is negative 1. Your brain is awesome but you're so much more than smart. Your sensitive and affectionate. I remember when you were not quite two and sitting in the hall playing with stuffed animals. You were petting one, as if you were comforting it, saying, "It's ok. It's ok. I'm here." And then you started crying. I'm guessing you were crying for that little animal that "really" was sad. You get that over-empathetic gene from me. Sometimes it's almost debilitating...sorry. You love to cuddle and I'm sorry I don't snuggle more. You love to play with hair....still. The women in your life love this! You have a genuine in interest in soooo much. I think you may be Grandpa Riley's favorite person to talk to. You are one eager learner. You can be so kind. I especially notice this with people outside your family (don't worry...this is normal). Your interests haven't changed much over your tiny lifespan. You still love animals, fortunately a subject on which there is enough information to keep you occupied for at least another year. You love reading, especially graphic novels, and non fiction books about, you guessed it, animals. You also love looking at maps and you could probably beat me on a world geography quiz. You are freakishly flexible and like to fit yourself into tiny spaces. You love to play board games and are so excited when we play you are practically bouncing off the walls in between turns. You CANNOT sit still. In fact, whenever you're trying to tell me something, you pace back and forth, twirling your hair or fidgeting with something. You're still super sensitive to shows. You run out of the room whenever there's anything, scary, awkward or uncomfortable. We've gotten into the habit of reassuring you that it all turns out good in the end. The other day, I heard you telling Finlay, "Don't worry, Fin. They're going to win." That made me smile. I love it when you treat your brother kindly and am seeing a lot more that lately. He wants to be your friend so badly and I hope that you let him be. Yesterday Dad saw you playing with one of the gifts I bought you for your birthday (a interactive TAG board all about space), and noted that I really do know you well. I had to admit to this. I think I know YOU better than I know anyone else in this world. And I LOVE knowing you. You are an amazing kid!

A VERY SERIOUS New Year's Resolution

One of my new year's resolutions is to NOT eat this guy. It will be hard, but I'm going to try with all my might not to sink my teeth into those juicy thighs.

A New Blog to Stalk

Just found the Momastery blog. My kind of Mom. I related completely with this post.

2011 Lesson #2 : Don’t Carpe Diem

One Reads and One Makes Up Funny Stuff

So here is our video proof of Duncan's mad reading skills. I know someday when he's all grown up and bringing some cute girl around, I will, undoubtedly, brag about how Duncan could read at two. I'll whip this video out as proof, pointing out that if he could do this at four (nearly five) it's not hard to believe he could read three letter words at two. And then when Finlay brings his special someone, I'll get it out as proof that he's been charming and fun since the day he was born. I just have to add that the reason I started recording was actually to get Finlay's "turn" on video. Last night he made something funny up about the the Holy Ghost running away. I was hoping to get a repeat performance.