Baby Brothers (Meaning Brothers of a Baby)...almost

It is so fun to watch how the boys are excited to be brothers of their new baby sister. They each show their excitement in a bit different way, probably partly because they each feel just a bit differently about having a new baby in the family.

A couple nights ago, I was getting kids in bed, helping brush teeth, etc. I walked past Cade in the hall and as I scooted my big bellly past him, he asked if the baby was moving. I told him that she wasn't at the moment, but a little later I was in Luke's room sitting on his bed looking at a book he wanted to show me. That is when I had to call Cade back in because you could just look down and see my tummy getting poked all around. Cole came right along with him, too. They were both excited to see and feel.

Luke was already there, so he got in on the action first. He put his hand on my tummy and grinned when he felt the baby move. He was trying to figure out which movement might belong to which baby body part in there. Luke is excited in a smiling, all-knowing big brother sort of way. He takes it all in stride. He has been there and done that with the baby thing before. He's happy, but he knows what this is all about...it's nothing new, except for the girl part of things, which I think does add to his excitement a little. He's pretty happy and fine with the whole situation, as long as it doesn't mean he has to share a room again. :)

Cade was next. I put his hand in a good location to feel some movement, and as soon as he felt it, he just start giggling uncontrollably. This was the funniest, most amazing thing ever, to be feeling a baby move inside of me. Even when she was still, if he could feel a part poking out here or there, he would get all silly to think that he was feeling her knees or her bottom sticking up at him. "Is she naked in there? Babies are born naked, huh?" was his next comment. He loves to get all the details and be as connected as possible to what's going on right now, not just how it will be later. He's also the guy that loves to look online at the week-by-week prenatal development charts to see what the baby looks like all along the way. He kind of guessed that I was pregnant one day when I just mentioned that I wasn't feeling very well, and I was going to need some help from them. "Is there a baby in your tummy?" he asked. "I don't really think so," was my surprised, somewhat lying response. He did a happy dance when we told him later that we were expecting a baby. "I knew it!" he squealed. How'd he get so intuitive? He also giggled at the ultrasound pictures. "Giddy with excitement" would be a phrase that describes Cade's attitude towards the baby. It is pretty fun to see him so thrilled.

Cole is just a lovey little guy. He can't hold his hand on my tummy long enough to feel anything because he starts hugging and kissing the baby in there as soon as he gets close enough. "I want to tickle that little baby," he'll say, as he starts tickling my belly. Or, "I just want to give that cute little baby a hug and a kiss." And he hugs my tummy then starts laying on the little kisses. He is such a snuggly little sweetheart. He'll be such a sweet big brother. He'll love having someone smaller than him to take care of, I think.

I love all three of my boys and their distinct personalities. Each one of them brings me so much joy. Being a mom is the best! Good thing I like it huh? Because I'm in it for the long haul it looks like...

Cade's Birthday

Cade turned 8 years old! He is so excited to be this age of all ages. He can't wait for his baptism, nor can he wait to go to a Cub Scout activity! He loved his new set of scriptures that he got for his birthday just as much as any other gift, which was pretty fun. (He also got some Mars Mission Legos and a Transformer.)

His birthday fell exactly on Labor Day this year, so we got to celebrate all day. We took the kids up to Discovery Gateway, a children's museum at the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake. All of us had a blast. Every exhibit there is hands-on. There was kind of a mini community type place with a play house, a construction site, a grocery store, a farm, a waterway, and all kinds of fun things to do.

Luke ran around delivering mail, then anchored a newscast while Cade and Cole took turns riding the horse at the barn and building buildings and robots. There was also an invention area where they could build all kinds of things with all different kinds of materials, then test them out in different ways, like could their building withstand an earthquake or could their paper kite, balloon, or plane really fly and how high.

We all had a great time, and agreed that we'll have to return again soon.

Back to School

The kids started school on August 20th. Luke is in 5th grade now, and Cade in 2nd. We are almost adjusted to being on a tighter schedule again, with school, karate, and piano taking more than their fair share of our time. But I'll tell you what, it is so nice to be home again! I finished working for Dr. Barrowes at the orthodontist office the beginning of August, and I am LOVING having more time with my family. I even get a few things done around the house! Imagine! (At least for another month or two until I have a new baby to take up all my time again.)

Cole and I are having fun hanging out during the day. We like to watch Blue's Clues while folding laundry, snuggle on the couch while we reading library books, and Cole's favorite activity is to just "play," which usually means we are either Star Wars action figures or superheroes who fight bad guys by various means (shooting, punching, bombing, etc.) and using all variety of weapons. Occasionally we find more peaceful methods of "play," but not very often. Dang it. What else can you do with a 3- almost 4-year-old's imagination? I try to steer it away from violence, but Lego guys can only feed Lego ducks for so long before they're back to using light sabers on their enemies, I'm afraid. Oh well. I remember Luke used to go around shooting people with his pretend bow and arrow at that age, and he's a pretty peaceful kid now.

And Cole is still the sweetest, friendliest guy you could ever hope for. He introduces himself to everyone he sees. In the checkout line at WalMart the other day, he yelled to the (probably 40-something-year-old) guy behind us, "Hey, old man! My name's Cole! And my brother is Luke Skywalker. What's your name?" He is constantly telling me that I'm a good mom and that he loves me. He'll come up and say, "I'm just going to give you a little kiss, okay?" It doesn't get much better than that. I'm going to miss him being my littlest guy. But it will sure be fun to see his sweetness extend to being a big brother too.

With the start of school I started teaching Let's Play Music classes last week too. I have a morning class with five 4-year-olds, and an afternoon class with seven 4- through 7-year-olds. The afternoon class is mostly Kindergarten and First-graders, and all boys! They are by far my bigger challenge, but we have lots of fun. I LOVE teaching these classes. I enjoy it so much. The kids are great, the music is fun, and it is so fun to see how much they love it! Cole comes to my morning class too. We are waiting to do preschool with him until next year since he still has two years until Kindergarten, but it is fun to have just a bit of structure and learning time for him, and I love having him in my class. He loves it too, and would come to both classes if he could, but the other class is too full and I know he would get bored doing the same class twice every week.

Luke and Cade are both loving their teachers and classes, and it is shaping up to be a great year. (Especially with Cade's everything is MINE! attitude...I really don't know where that came from. He is not really like that. I think he just liked the graphic image that he made, and it had to measure something, so why not that?) Cade's class has Monarch caterpillars and Cade has already been totally enthralled watching them eat and grow so fast. Can't wait for the whole cocoon and butterfly thing. Luke never has a great attitude about going back to school, but luckily the last two years he has had teachers who were able to turn his attitude around. Yay for wonderful teachers! Fifth grade should be one of the best grades, I think. I hope he continues to enjoy it.

Well, that's all for now. I'll try and keep you better posted. Later! :)

Luke's Birthday

We headed to Idaho for the Fourth of July weekend.  Clint came up with the idea to help Mom and Dad build their deck for our family reunion this year.  

It was great...the guys all worked on the deck while the girls did fun crafts and games with the kids and made lots of delicious food to eat.  Luke's birthday fit quite nicely into this celebration.  We had lots of cousins to party with  and I only had to come up with some of the treats and games.  It was kind of like an insta-party.  

He wanted a flag cake, so we came up with the idea of frosting cupcakes in red, white, and blue frosting, then arranging them in stripes to resemble a flag.  It turned out cute, and the kids loved the cupcakes.  

He got some fun presents including lots of games, so we had even more insta-fun.  We watched the fireworks that night from Jake's and Michelle's backyard.  It was a great view and no crowds to get lost in.  We had a wonderful time with family.

Probably the most memorable event of the weekend, besides Luke turning 10, was Saturday night at the completion of the deck.  We broke it in by using it as an American Idol stage.  Chris was Simon, Jana was Paula, and Luke was a guest judge.  They were very harsh on all the adult competitors: "I don't think you're even taking this competition seriously!" and "You can pack your bags because you're going home," were some of Simon/Chris's English-accented comments.  And glowing reports for the kids, especially Kaylee and Kayla.  "You are a star, and you should know that," and  "That is what makes you so special," were some common phrases Paula/Jana used to describe these two.  "I really think you could make it all the way," and "Ladies and gentlemen, you're looking at the next American Idol," were some of Simon/Chris's nicer calls.  Luke was a little on the judgemental side, but he really got into the spirit of the thing.  He just didn't know to differentiate between grown-ups and kids as well as the other judges did when he was handing out criticisms.  He had some great comments, too, though, and in the end all the kids were winners, just like they deserved to be.  We sure had a good time.  My family's awesome!

Loungin' in San Diego

After two adventure-packed days at Disneyland, we were ready to kick back and relax at Lawrence Welk resort in Escondido, right outside of San Diego. We spent our time at the pool, waterslide, and gameroom, barbecuing on the back patio, and then watching movies and playing Mario Kart Racing on the rainy day we had.

We spent one afternoon at Lanny's Aunt Mary's eating a delicious dinner, playing in their jacuzzi, and visiting. Lanny's cousin Ashley is just a bit older than Luke and after Disneyland, the first thing the kids wanted to do in California was "visit Ashley!" They lent us some beach gear, too, and we spent another afternoon at La Jolla beach building sandcastles and playing in the waves. This was our kids' first ocean experience, and they had a great time.

My sweet cousin Amber took the kids for a day and a half while Lanny and I took some time to ourselves to celebrate our anniversary. We were having so much fun with the kids that it was hard to drop them off, but we had a great time on our own too.

We spent the morning golfing the beginner course at the resort. Later we cleaned up for an evening at the San Diego temple and dinner at Roy's in La Jolla. It was a perfect anniversary (11 years and loving it!) and many thanks to Amber and Mike for watching the kids! Our kids had a great time with theirs, too, with more swimming, barbecuing, and video gaming. Heaven! Isn't this a cute picture of Staci and Cole? They're good friends now. Luke and Cade had a great time with Brinley and Spencer too.

We took two days to drive home, stopping over in Las Vegas for a night. We went to the shark aquarium at Mandalay Bay. That was pretty awsome!

Then we had to jump in the pool one more time the next morning before hitting the hot car and long road again. What a fun vacation! We had such a good time together. It was hard to come home to reality again, but we sure got our summer off to a great start! And we've got some great memories from our fun bonding time. I love spending time with my boys...all four of them!

Disneyland Ho!

We took off early from school on the very last day and headed out for sunny California. One very long, but not entirely unpleasant drive later, we arrived at our hotel in Anaheim just in time to hit the sack and wake up early for breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Resort Hotel.

The breakfast buffet was fun, with anything you can imagine to eat for breakfast, including ice cream with sprinkles, peach cobbler, made-to-order omelet, Mickey Mouse waffles, and peanut butter pizza. Something for everyone! But even better than the food was the dining experience, with Disney characters coming around to visit each table personally. Cole got the biggest kick out of this, and it was so fun to watch him! He hugged and loved all the characters, and he even played tickle tag with Baloo. Goofy picked Cole to come down to the front of the buffet area and help him start a song. (Periodically they would start up a song and get the whole place dancing and clapping--it was pretty fun.) Cole got to get the first set of pots and pans to bang and get the dancing started with Goofy. How cute is that? Luke loved eating watermelon and ice cream for breakfast. Cade loved the Mickey Mouse waffles. And Luke loved that Chip (the chipmunk, Dale's buddy) commented on his food choices by writing on the paper table cloth, "Ice cream for breakfast? Only in Disneyland!" It was a perfect start to a fun-filled day.

We had just two days in Disneyland, so we planned them out using Ridemax, a little software download that helps you plan when to hit which ride for maximum fun capacity and minimum waiting time. It worked great! We got to ride all the rides we wanted to, see all the shows we were hoping for, and do all our favorites again. Cole and I split up from the others for one afternoon while they did all the rollercoaster-type things that we were either too short or too pregnant to go on. He fell asleep in the stroller on our way back to meet the others at Splash Mountain. Good thing, too, because we ended up deciding to stay late for fireworks at the Cinderella castle. What a display! The Disney crew sure knows how to make a production out of whatever they do. We all had a great time.

Here are some excerpts from the boys' journal entries about Disneyland:

Luke: My favorite rides were Space Mountain, California Screamin', Soaring Over California, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Indiana Jones. I loved the Jedi Training. I was one of the people that was chosen to become a padawan. It was so cool. We learned how to use a light saber and at the end we got to fight Darth Maul. I had an extra extra extra extra extra extra ummm....well, let's just say I had a lot of fun.

Cade: Disnyland: "Space Montin" was my faivorit ride out of all Disnyland (and Caleafonya Adventure Park). It had the longest line you could ever amadgin (I bet)!!!!!!!

Calafornya Adventure Park: My faivorit (in Calafornya Adventor Park) was Sorin' over Calafonya. It was fun! Totlaly!!!!!

Cole (with a little help from me): Cole's favorite ride at Disneyland was Buzz Lightyear. He liked to shoot his laser gun at the evil emperor Zurg. Says Cole, "Zurg is Buzz Lightyear's enemy. What kind of gun does he have? A blaster? He does have a blaster gun!"

Cole also loved going to breadfast at Goofy's Kitchen. His favorite part of that experience was "Baloo tickling me. I tickled him back lots of times." He was so tall, "he was about to break the ceiling--and the lights!"

Another fun thing Cole got to do was at Turtle Talk with Crush--Crush is the sea turtle form the movie "Finding Nemo." "I told the turtle my name. And it is Cole." Crush swims into a giant aquarium-like screen and talks and intereacts with the audience. Cole was the first person he picked to talk to--he asked his name, where he was from, and who he came with. To which Cole answered, "Cole," "I don't really kow," and "The fishies," respectively. Then Crush asked who claimed responsibility for Cole and talked to Lanny about where we're from. Later he told Cole, "Mini-man, Cool Cole, you came with your Dad, not the fishies." Cole was pretty cute--he kept everyone smiling and laughing. Crush also taught him how to say, "Totally sweet!" and he still uses that phrase, or "so totally cool" on a regular basis.

Lanny and I loved watching the kids have such a good time. Luke kept saying, "I can't believe we're really in Disneyland." And when I asked Cade how he liked Space Mountain when they met back up with sleeping Cole and I, he had no words to describe it, so he just squealed with a huge smile across his face. It was so fun to spend that time just for them. We all had a blast!