Sunday, July 16, 2017

Tumble-Boys

It seems no matter where I try to escape, this is the scene that inevitably finds me. 
A mass tumbleweed of boy. Constantly rolling, bouncing, tangling, and darting about with the same disregard as a loose bush being thrown with the wind. Pray for my mom's house and for the bones of my children.

I repeat. Prayers are in order. 
I don't know how many times I have to tell you. My mom's clean, dent-free, perfectly white walls are begging you to give them a little back up.
I'm sure there are calm, peaceful, quiet ways to get through the summer months, but those methods we know not. Riding bikes in the house with pet reptiles painted on us? Mimicking crash test dummies on toy shopping carts? Chasing each other around the house with guns? This is how we do summer. 
All of that sprinkled with accents of fire. I'm talkin' fireworks and I'm talkin' our favorite 3rd of July tradition.
We shared the experience with our friends the Wrights this year. To answer your question, yes they have 4 girls and yes we took these pictures for future wedding slideshows.


Lincoln relentlessly insisted we participate in the glow stick accessorizing.
Jonah's first fireworks experience. He stayed awake for the main event and was completely unamused.




The morning after fireworks was sleepy and snuggly.

In an effort to acquire a little more of that quiet I hear moms of girls talk so much about, I finally got the boys their very own library cards.
And this little smarty-pants-reader graduated from the Upstart program!
Eli goes through phases of being highly motivated and angelic. It was in one of those phases he created this daily to-do list that melted my heart.
The boys are currently in summer recreation classes (archery and kids kamp) which has been a good outlet for their rough-and-tumble. We've been filling up all the extra summertime space with cousin play dates.

What are we, like halfway done with summer? I think we can. I think we can. I think we can.

Jonah at Three Months

This little goober has hit the three-month mark. Here's his latest:
  • New nickname from Lincoln: Donut. 
  • Smiles, giggles, coos.
  • Head circumference became larger than newborn sizes accommodate.
  • Rolled over belly to back 3 times in a row and has since refused to do it again. 
  • Least spit-uppy baby of the bunch.
  • Had his first 12-hour stretch of sleep, though typically more like 8-10 hours at night. 
  • Takes a good, long afternoon nap with a shorter morning and evening nap.
  • Loves being outside. Loves the bath. Loves the brothers. 
  • Still the chillest, happiest, sleepiest, most agreeable baby I currently know. I call him my mission blessing baby. 
Here he is showing off his neck muscles...with a little peek of the pectorals. 

Here we have him proving he is awake at least a few hours every day.

I am determined to get this kid a leg roll. I think he has similar ambitions.



He's sweet, he's fun, he's an angel, he's my sanity saver, he's a dream, he's the best 4th baby we could have asked for.

Sunday, July 02, 2017

Did He Just Say...?

After asking Eli to pick up his socks, "All I had scheduled today was play. And look at you. You're making me do errands." Then walked away and yelled, "I'M NOT BEING YOUR ERRAND BOY TODAY!"
***

On our way home from swim lessons Eli reflected, "Do you know what happened when I jumped off the diving board?"

Pause...

Then very matter-of-factly said, "Struggle."

***

We were at the park with my friend's brand new baby girl. Lincoln kept going back and forth between the babies, pointing to Jonah and calling him by name, then pointing to the girl baby and calling her, "Pretty Jonah."

***

Eli, "Mom, is it true that good things come to those who wait? I heard that somewhere."
Me, "Yup. That's what people say. Good things come to those who wait."
Eli, "Except not in an earthquake. Death comes to those who wait in an earthquake."

 ***

Lincoln, "Mommy, I need you."
Me, "Okay, I'm coming."
Carson, "Umm. Mom. Lincoln said he needs a popsicle."
Me, "No he didn't, Carson."
Lincoln, "Need popsicle!" 
Carson, "See."

***

Eli, "What's infinity + infinity?"
Carson, "Uhhh...I don't know."
Eli, "2 infinity. And beyond."

Family are Friends

You know my favorite way to document video footage is with a music video and my favorite place to get video footage is on vacation, so here's my latest creation:

Going Down to Old Town

We spent Thursday morning recovering from the emotional damage caused by making my kids enjoy Legoland.
 As you can see, there was some residual Legoland sass we had to burn off at a playground.
Jeff found the perfect spot to rock Jonah to sleep.

The one sure way to get everyone in a good mood is a mid morning ice cream snack.

Then naps were in order for basically everyone before we made our way to another park in the afternoon.
Followed by a dinner at Olive Garden for tradition's sake. Let me tell ya a little story from our time at O.G.

Carson, with strong conviction, determined he wanted macaroni and cheese at Olive Garden. When the waiter came to take our order, he was the first to shout his order to let the waiter know just what he wanted.

It is important for you to remember Carson is our foodie. He loves food. Takes his food very seriously. Can often out-eat me at dinner. Has been known to down 6 pieces of pizza under the right circumstances.

So Carson is hungry. He's placed his order. He's patiently waiting when the waiter returns with the salads.

Carson gets excited upon seeing the waiter only to become visibly disappointed when he returned with salad, "I WANTED mac and cheese!" Carson said upon seeing the waiter had clearly gotten his order wrong bringing out a bowl of veggies.

The waiter stared at Carson completely unamused. The adults at the table tried to explain to Carson that his dinner would soon arrive.  While we apologized to the waiter and explained we don't get out much...or ever. The waiter left in a bit of a huff only to return moments later to ask us if everything tasted okay.

Now Carson was visibly upset and when the waiter uttered the words, "Is there anything I can get you?" Carson practically screamed, "Mac and cheese!"

The waiter stared at Carson like he had never seen a child in his entire life. Carson stared at the waiter like it was his first day on the job and he was getting it all wrong. They both huffed.

This whole scene played out at least one more time before the beloved mac and cheese finally materialized...with the wrong side...further convincing Carson it was the waiter's first day, and finally convincing the waiter to drop a little bit of his pride and laugh at the situation.

It had all the rest of us cracking up through the whole meal!
Linker Lou loves Grandpa Thomas. Whenever my dad was in his office, Lincoln would grab a few cars, take them into his office, and quietly wheel them around in there to keep Grandpa company while he worked.
My mom and I snuck away one evening for a walk. I need to move to California just for the perfect evening weather for exercising.
On Friday we checked out Old Town where Jonah was in a tizzy upon realizing his week with Grandma was coming to an end.






We were on a hunt to find some Chicklets. We had success!
We tried out a Mexican restaurant in Old Town where Carson had learned how to properly eat a meal without heckling the staff.
Then we went to the Mormon Battalion where I learned how little I actually knew about their story! We loved our time there!
Wouldn't be a visit to my parents without a few moments of my dad off in a corner on the phone to deal with a few unexpected issues.





Saturday morning arrived all too soon and just as quick as we arrived we were back out the door. It was a perfect trip and we're already looking forward to our next California vacation!