Conversation with a Three-Year-Old

Wes and I are both stricken with IWAN Syndrome. (IWAN stands for "I Want A Newborn" for those who may not know) We are trying to get things ready for another little one. No, I'm not pregnant, but hopefully I will be this summer sometime. :)

We were talking to sweet Kolton about adding another baby in our family today. In part of our conversation we asked him what he thought of Mommy having a baby in her tummy soon.

He looked up at me, very serious, and said, "Mommy, you had a baby in your tummy already. He came out and now he's not a baby anymore. He's a little boy."

I guess that conversation didn't have quite the impact we were looking for, but it was still adorable.

We then explained that we could have a baby like baby Abby at our house. To that he replied, "Yes. I like baby Abby. She's nice and not mean to anyone."

Cute. I love my little boy.

My Best Friend

There is nothing like my husband's arms after a rough day. Especially when those arms just came from the temple on the way home from work. Thank you, Babe, for your beautiful example and spirit. You brought peace home with you tonight, and it was both so needed and appreciated. Your love for me and your boys radiates around everything you do. My heart still skips a beat every time you smile and talk and laugh. It flutters every time you are nearby.

You are amazing, and I love you with all my heart. My knight in shining armor....

!Te Amo mi Amor!

I love you.

Pamper Day at MOPS

Boy oh boy was it nice to walk in from a blizzarding snowstorm and have a cute spring color painted on your finger and toenails, followed by a much, much needed massage. Ahhhhh....pamper day, come visit me more often. :o)

My Boy is Three Today.....

I can't believe it. Three years ago they finally placed little Kolton in my arms. I never thought that day would come, and now it's come and flown on by......

Our first picture together.....

This was the day we brought Kolton home from the hospital. The outfit he is wearing is preemie size. I loved that hat. (We couldn't believe how skinny he was, none of the newborn clothes fit him at first, including newborn diapers. Luckily, my mom lent me a few of the twins' old clothes. Of course he grew right out of that size in two seconds since he was so tall!)

*The Rapella family was such a big part of our lives before Kolton came. Those two beautiful girls in the picture are Madelyn (8) and Mia (3). I was their nanny until we moved to Utah shortly after Kolton was born. Being a nanny prepared me so much for being a mommy, and I truly love these girls with all my heart. They will always have a special place in my heart and I will never forget all their love, kindness, and generosity. They were our family away from home and we feel so very blessed to know them.

Kolton and Wes' first nap together. (notice the huge newborn clothes) These two bonded right away of course. Wes is such a good Daddy. :)

He was always wide awake at night. I just loved all his wild hair!

This is at two weeks. He rolled over onto his tummy earlier this day. Boy, was I shocked!

Fast forward a few months....

We loved to go to Liberty Park and play in the water....

Our first family hike. Kolton loved it and fell right to sleep. (PS - don't ever buy the Eddie Bauer packs! They stink! Be smart and go with the Baby Bjorn.)

He used to love sleeping with his legs crossed....

Kolton's first Bear Lake trip. He loved riding the boat!

This kid was a binky baby and he would wake up the MINUTE it fell out of his mouth. We had to drape the burpcloth across his face......the things you do for a moment of peace....

Teething....'nuff said.

His first birthday. Those are so fun!

Showing me his smile. He used to do anything for a banana.

Boy howdy I loved that outfit! So adorable!

Another funny way he slept for awhile....

Second birthday. It was on Easter. He loved those glasses! He put on quite a show for us.

Proud nephew. Isn't this sweet?
C'mon now. Who can't smile when you look at that face? Kolton has such a contagious passion and zest for life. He's a VERY busy, but very fun little boy. Boy howdy he keeps me on my toes! He is such a special little boy and has such an amazing spirit. He is a very bright little boy and as he gets to be better and better at talking it's so fun to hear what's coming out of his mouth, to see the world as he does. He is very nurturing and is a great big brother to Micah. He loves to be with me all the time, which means sometimes I have to lock myself in the bathroom to get a few moments of peace, but mostly it just makes me feel so special and loved to have a little sidekick with me wherever I go. He is definitely a "Mama's boy!" He loves to help me cook, clean, work in the garden, fold the laundry, etc. He loves his new job chart and does his jobs faithfully every day. He was definitely born for the spotlight and loves to make people laugh. This kid isn't shy at all! Kolton loves to sing, dance, and play music. He loves to draw and play with playdough. He loves to be outside and he's live at the park if I'd let him. He also shares my love of animals, and we have so much fun going to the farm or playing with Chance together. I feel so lucky to be this boy's mommy. I could go on about him forever.....he's so special to me. I thank Heavenly Father every day for him, and I feel so grateful he is the oldest child and the one setting an example for his younger siblings. One of the things he says a lot right now is, "Look Mommy! We playing together." Kolton has such a strong sense of right and wrong already. He is so obedient (most of the time anyway.) He's so sensitive to when things aren't right, which really helps guide and direct me, and helps me be a better mommy. He is such a strong spirit and it's been so incredible and fun to watch him grow. I'm so grateful to be his Mommy!
I still can't believe he's three. It went by so fast! I love you, Kolton, with all my heart. Happy Birthday, Big Boy!

I Love Spring!

The weather, the sounds of the birds chirping after being gone all winter, the flowers and plants starting to poke out, the blossoms.....all if it! It has been so nice and fun to go outside to play, and take the boys to the park. I also began my half marathon training today....hopefully this nice weather sticks around for me to run in! I am so grateful to live in a world with such beautiful seasons. Especially the sunny ones! See you later, I'm going outside to play!

2009 Word

I have been thinking a lot about goals and what I want from this upcoming year. This year (and the end of last year) has been so crazy busy that I haven't really gotten the opportunity to set my New Year's Resolutions. So this year they are going to be a "rebirth" instead. I stole an idea from a blog I follow. This woman chooses a word for each year. She had some great words she was considering, and three of them stuck out to me. SIMPLIFY, FOCUS, and CHOOSE. I have chosen "Choose." I loved the 'Good, Better, Best" talk by Elder Oaks. I have definitely experienced some of this in my own life recently with everything that's gone on with my health as well as Micah's, and with Kolton's intense need for structure and down time. This also was the reason Wes cut back at work and I was released from Young Womens. Up to date, these were some of the harder decisions in our lives, but also the most rewarding. Our little boys are growing up so fast, and I don't want us to miss it. We got so used to working so hard because we both had to work above and beyond our capacity to put Wes through school, that we never really stopped working so hard after he was done until recently. There's always an excuse to work more, and it's always a good one, but usually it makes it easier to lose our focus. Cutting out the important but less important than family things has given us so many blessings already. Blessings like being able to be there when needed, for one another, the boys, and friends and family. We've been able to focus on what's important - put more energy in those things. We've paid off a LOT more debt, and also been able to save for a vacation and fix up our house a bit. We've been able to really actively create our family routine and infrastructure. The best blessing is actually freeing up more time to add more back into our lives. It's been easier to prioritize and make room in our lives for more good things. Or "best" things. We are getting closer every day to what we want. What a huge blessing that is!

Just a Quick Update...

Because I feel like a hermit. We have stayed in ALL WINTER! Everyone gets their turn, and I guess this year it was ours. It seems spring has sprung now and I am still trying to catch up on everything and get my bearings.
We have been very blessed throughout these past 4 or 5 months, and learned much from our challenges. I'm not going to talk about all the things we've been through lately. I'm kind of tired of talking about it. I've learned a lot, as did our whole family, and now I'm ready and willing to move on.
Full speed ahead! Wes gave me some beautiful new dishes for my birthday (just in time, we were down to 3 plates and 2 bowls total from a set of 8 place settings. I guess that's what moving 4 times since getting married does to you.). They are so beautiful, and even better on my table in my house! We've been busy doing a few things around the house lately. Kolton is going to graduate to a twin-sized bed and we're fixing up his room, Micah's room, and the kid's bathroom. It's Dr. Seuss' "One Fish, Two Fish". So darling! We are going to be painting up a storm too! Painting the bathroom, kitchen, boys' room, and the basement. I also stripped, painted, and reupholstered our kitchen table and chairs. I will post some pictures as we complete the projects.
We've been cleaning and scouring like crazy after all this sickness. Much organizing has needed to be done as well, and it's been sooo nice to finally get around to it. I think order is so important in a home, even though it's not my favorite thing to follow a schedule. Kids seem to do better with them, and especially Kolton. Man, that kid needs a schedule! The second we go off of one he starts doing all kinds of crazy things, one of which is stuttering. I can always tell when I need to work on the schedule more because he only stutters when we're off-schedule, or if he's under stress. Stress-induced stuttering.....who would have thought?
I have sprouted my peas and am going to plant spring crops in my garden this week.
It's so nice to be outside digging in the dirt and soaking up the sunshine that's starting to come more often. This year we are planting loads of lettuce, as it was one of our favorite crops this year, peas, spinach, chard, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, carrots, various squashes and gourds, berries, beans, peppers, tomatoes, onions, broccoli, tons of herbs, and anything else I feel like trying. Nothing beats home-grown. Hands down it's the best.
My mom and I have been taking about traditions a lot lately. We are reading this book by the Eyres called "Three Steps to a Strong Family" and it has a whole section about traditions. It talks about their importance, and also gives ideas about things they have done with their kids, and there are some really touching and memorable stories that really inspired us both to start thinking about it. One of the things they do is pick a tradition to carry out on each person's birthday. One flies kites, one rakes leaves, one floats their birthday cake in water every year, one picnics, etc. There are many simple, meaningful things they do together. I love this idea and want to do it with our family. I'm trying to think of a tradition for Kolton's birthday on the 23rd of this month.....any ideas? I am thinking kite flying would be great, but I thought I'd see what creative ideas everyone else had. I am so excited about this, it's going to be so fun!
We also have begun instigating chores into our family routine. I colored and cut out some pictures of simple things like make the bed, brush your teeth, pick up toys, etc. and hung them on two hooks on the wall. Kolton wakes up every morning and begins his chores. (He thinks it's the coolest thing in the world.) He gets dressed and makes his bed before breakfast. He loves it and wants to move things back and forth on the hooks all day. We will see as time passes how it pans out. But, so far so good.
Wes left town Friday morning for a volleyball tournament in Moab. There weren't any other wives there, so I decided to stay home and give him a guys' weekend. Boy howdy did I miss him! This was the very first tournament ever that I've missed and it drove me absolutely CRAZY not being able to be there to watch and cheer him on! But, it was the right choice. He came home exhausted, but he has a ton of fun and it was sooo nice to have him home. One thing we learned is that we can't sleep without each other. The first night I didn't even try to sleep until I was so tired I thought I'd just pass out on my pillow. I just worked on all our little projects. But when I crawled into bed I still couldn't sleep. I missed Wes and I am just used to having him next to me. The next morning, he called so tired because he hadn't slept well either. One of the things I am most grateful for about his job is that he doesn't have to travel at all. That would be so hard! My sweetie did me proud and his team took third in the tourney. He came home and we just snuggled for awhile, we needed to catch up a bit I guess. I am so glad I married a man who loves to snuggle! We missed each other, but I really think it was a fun thing for him and I'm glad he got out and got some sports and guy time. But I'm more glad he's back home....we missed him.