Siblings

Sorry for the long post but this is my main journal, and I'm hoping it will mean something to my kids someday. Watching my kids interact with each other has been one of the most exciting things about parenthood for me. I am so glad that my kids will always have each other, and it is amazing to see them becoming such good friends. We are really working to teach our kids to put each other and family first and to build up those relationships. Sometimes our lessons are received better than others. It just dawned on Luke a while ago that I don't have any brothers or sisters and his comment was that it "must have been pretty boring." I don't know about boring...my childhood was very happy, but I definitely would have liked siblings and I think my kids are pretty lucky.


Luke is a good big brother. He is quite a tease (wonder where that comes from?) and that can be a problem. During November and December his tormenting became excessive and so did Seth's reaction to it. I was getting a little frustrated. I'm happy to say now that things have changed for the better. Luke and Seth have always had tons of fun playing together but now Luke is really making an effort to get along. I see him sharing some of his favorite stuff, and teaching Seth, and just taking good care of him. He's definitely the mastermind of their playing and Seth is his trusty sidekick. I love to hear them laughing together...unless it's bedtime! Next year when Luke is gone all day will be a shock to both of them.

That top picture is after Luke's class Valentine's party. It was best dress. He told me I was his valentine, and he immediately came home and started sharing all of his treats with his brothers. His gifts included a pencil each for Seth and Ian so he could "teach them to write when they are bigger." He also spent lots of time making Valentines for everyone in the family.


This guy is my gentle giant. He is such a big, strong kid, but he's very soft hearted. It's easy to hurt his feelings and get that bottom lip quivering even if you don't mean to. He also likes to show lots of teeth in pictures right now. He wants to do absolutely everything "Lukey" does. This morning when Luke and Jer left to go skiing he was totally devastated...major bawling. We all felt bad but Luke felt the worst. He was telling Seth he could come next time and kept hugging him and telling him sorry. By the time Luke left he had tears in his eyes and was feeling horrible about leaving his brother. They really are sweet kids. Now before you think it's one big hug fest around here I assure you we still have our fair share of wrestling, chasing, teasing...you name it!

If Seth doesn't want Ian to play with something he simply holds it above his head. He also has started teasing Luke, and if he has something Luke wants he'll say "ha, ha, ha." I have to laugh inside at that one.

On a sidenote I sent Seth to take Ian's dirty clothes to the hamper the other day and realized a few minutes later I could hear him in the laundry room. He put Ian's clothes in the washer and started it! He had it set on "silk" and actually got it going which was kind of impressive. When I found him he looked a little sheepish and simply told me he was washing Ian's clothes.

Watching the boys with Ian is the best. Everyone in our family pretty much melts when it comes to him. Luke is an awesome helper and Seth really is too. Luke is always telling me that Ian is the "cutest one in our family."

Watching these boys grow up together is awesome, and I really do feel so blessed. I know it sounds crazy to some people, but I would actually love to have another baby if that miraculously happened. Luke is always saying we need a sister and he doesn't want me to be the only girl in the family. I tell him not to get his hopes up.

He and I had quite the conversation the other day about Seth's adoption. We have always told him Seth is adopted but grasping what that means is hard. I was taking Luke to the eye doctor and the little boys were at my neighbor's house. He asked me about a million questions including this one, "did Seth give his other mom a hug and a kiss before he left?" I assured him that Seth's birthparents gave him lots of hugs and kisses and tried to explain to him how much they love Seth and how hard it was. He doesn't understand it all yet but it's a beginning. He was also very concerned and asked me if Seth was really part of our family and if he would have to go away. I had the chance to remind him about our temple sealing (which he doesn't really remember), and he was very relieved. To him it doesn't matter where Seth came from he just knows he's his brother. I'm sure we will have lots of similar discussions with Seth and the other kids over the years, and I'm praying we will know what to say. Hopefully how much we all love Seth will mean more than words can really explain.

I attempted to get a shot all together, but it was a little bright and they all acted like moles seeing the sun for the first time. I took about five and none were any better than this...Ian in particular was not having it!

Puke and Play

I couldn't think of a title for this post but since we've done some of both this past week it seemed fitting. It all started with a call from Luke's school last Thursday letting me know he was sick. Yep, he threw up at school. When I got there he was sitting in the office next to a garbage can looking pale. He was not embarrassed at all and so happy to see me. He was sick all day but quite the trooper. The real fun started when I woke up early Friday morning with bad stomach pains. Let's just say Jer had to stay home from work and I spent my day near the bathroom. That is the sickest I've been in a long time. This one had it all...fever, chills, body aches, diarrhea, and puking! I topped it off with a massive migraine and then moved on to the cold we've all had which I can't get rid of. Luke was so sweet and concerned about me when I was sick. The boys had a great time with Jer, and I was just grateful he could take over. Thankfully it's not very often the mom gets sick.


Saturday I felt much better although extremely tired and not ready to eat much yet. We followed through with plans though and headed up to Jer's parents that afternoon for sledding. I mostly just took it easy with Amy, Cid, and the babies, but I did take a little snowmobile ride up to see the kids and take some pictures.

This is Ian's version of sledding. He got a kick out of being pulled around on this.

Jer, his dad, and TJ took the kids a few minutes away for some sweet sledding.

I had to bring Jer a hat from the house to protect his scalding head. It was really warm.

Addison did a mini version of the sledding.

The kids had tons of fun and were hauling by the bottom. They rolled off and crashed but got up laughing each time.

Luke and grandpa.

Then there was that one time Jer took the boys even higher to start and they were going like 40 by the time they passed me...

and the sled came to a screeching halt...

but the boys didn't...they launched way up in the air and ended like this...followed by tears from both. It didn't last long though, and they all had lots of fun and were completely soaked.

Monday night we headed up with some friends for Jer's night skiing duty. Jer and I must be getting old because we were the only ones still suffering with colds. Seth has been begging to ski and Luke really wanted to "help" him. The skis we rented him were the tiniest, cutest things I've ever seen. I think two is a little young to learn, but we kind of hauled him down the mountain the way we did with Luke at that age. He wasn't always loving it but after he wanted to do it "one more again" so we may take him up one more time this year.

Afterwards all the kids had tons of fun eating and playing around in the patrol building. One of the best things about ski patrol is the fun people and the family atmosphere up there. I better enjoy this now because in 10 years I probably won't be able to keep up!

Day to Day

We haven't been up to much around here, but I did take a few pics of the kids the other day hanging out around the house.


Now that Ian is getting bigger and is more fun Seth pays a lot more attention to him. Most of the time he's really cute with him. He has gotten in the habit though of apologizing while he's in the act of doing something to Ian. Like I will see him with the Nerf gun pointing right at him, and he'll say sorry right as he pulls the trigger. We're working on that. I love mornings when Luke is at school (no offense Luke), and I can spend some quality time with the little guys. Seth misses Luke while he's gone, so I think these two will become best buddies next year when Luke's at school all day long.


I just can't get enough of this kid. He is so sweet and happy. He gives hugs now, loves to clap, and has started waving. He also pulls up to stuff and is all over the place. He really is growing up too fast for me.

Still no teeth but lots of drool.

Seth is a chocolate milk addict. Seth has made such progress with his speech that he is graduating early from his program...in fact, he's getting kicked out because he doesn't meet the criteria anymore. I'm so proud of him. It was getting a little ridiculous at his class. He would request songs, get supplies out, etc....he pretty much ran the place. Not too surprising for a kid that scored age 41 months in the "self help" category. Have I mentioned that he is potty trained too?? Awesome! He even goes on his own and stays dry at night. It was almost too easy (that makes up for Luke who was terrible). We're are still working on "f" and beginning "s" sounds with Seth. For now they are all "y." As soon as you pick up on that he is very intelligible i.e. yee, yo, yun, yunny, yick...

Luke loves Ian and usually is very soft with him. He does like to carry him around which can get a bit sketchy. The other day I found Ian drinking his bottle like this. Luke told me he was keeping him warm.

This is Ian's scrunch face. He does this when he is trying to get mad. It is usually when he's stuck in his high chair and you ignore him too long. Sometimes this progresses to crying but as soon as you look at him he goes back to smiling. It's all for attention. He used it a lot on the nurse at his check-up. He developed an instant dislike for her and would immediately do this and cry when she walked in the room. He loved the doctor though and would go from smiling to this in an instant depending on who was looking at him. Funny kid.

9 Month Update

I feel like I neglect Ian a little on this blog so here's a post all about him. He turned 9 months old this month. I can't believe he's been here as long as I was pregnant--it really has flown by. I really will be sad to be done with the baby stage with him because he is such a good natured baby. He is almost always happy and content and sleeps like a champ. He has the most beautiful blue eyes and is very cuddly. He is also very friendly. After church yesterday several people commented about what a ham he was in sacrament meeting and at least 10 people told me how much he looks like Jer. I've noticed! I read a story a while ago about IVF embryos that were transferred into the wrong moms (which is so sad), but I feel confident we got our baby! It's true...the older he gets the more he's the spitting image of his dad--minus the red hair. He's a blondy all the way and is working on a little fringe mullet in the back.


Drool is a constant around here right now. Ian still has no teeth, but he has quite a few that look like they could come through soon, so he's a drooler. It's hard to get a picture of him sitting still like this. He's a happy baby, but he's not one to hold still and play. You can surround him with tons of toys, but he just crawls off to play with an outlet or something. He still prefers his army crawl but he does both, and he is pulling up to things he can reach. He already opens drawers and has taken a roll down a couple of stairs. He is just about impossible to change right now because he's so wiggly. He could be a baby wrestler because you cannot keep this kid on his back.




Ian loves to give wet sloppy kisses and Seth is willing to take them. He thinks it's funny. Sidenote about Seth: He's potty trained! I'm loving having only one kid in diapers!


I really can't express what a blessing Ian has been to our family. We all love him so much!

Snow Days

We finally got some snow this week, especially this weekend, and the kids have been having fun. I was able to go up again Saturday for a great day of skiing with Jer, Luke, and my dad. Jer and I even got a few runs in during Luke's lesson. It snowed all day, and I had a chance to try my new skis out.



Ian even got in on the snow action Friday evening while I was shoveling. As long as he had one of us in sight he was pretty content.





Yes that scary person with the giant head is me. Jer has used a helmet for years (which he needs), and he finally insisted that I get one too. I'm still trying to get used to it. The strap under the chin kind of gets my gag reflex going.


After his lesson and lunch Luke told me he wanted to race me down Little Beav. He wasn't kidding. He headed down from top to bottom at a high rate of speed. He's improved so much from last year and is really having fun. He also likes to ride up the "big lift" and ski Gentle Ben.

Chairlift Revisited

So I have a few minutes to myself while Luke is skiing with Jer and my little boys are napping. I talked about skiing and riding the chairlift in yesterday's record-breaking lengthy post, but here I go again. I read on a friend's blog about her little boy who is Luke's friend riding up the chairlift on his own, and I thought that was a bit scary. Last night at dinner Luke informed Jer and I that he rode up on the lift himself at his lesson last week. We both basically told him he was fibbing. In fact, Jer told Luke he was going to ask his teacher about it today and Luke told him to do it. After that I wasn't so sure, but I did tell his teacher last week before class that he needed some assistance in that department. When I ride up with him, I'm so careful to keep a hold of him and help him off at the top. (Hey, he did fall asleep that one time.)

Anyhow, today at a bridal shower I was talking to my cousin Jodi, and she said she couldn't believe it last week when she saw Luke and the other kids in his class riding the Little Beav lift by themselves!! I had to laugh, and I explained to her how we accused Luke of telling a tall tale. That's probably one of those things I'd be better off not knowing.

I have to say that skiing with Luke this year has already been so fun. I must take pictures soon! Skiing has always been a part of my life, and I think it's such a fun family activity. I had lots of quality talks with my dad on the chairlift even when I was an ornery teenager. I also drove up with girlfriends to go skiing lots of weekends in high school and looking back we were lucky to have escaped a few of those adventures without injury. Last week watching Luke's big old helmeted head on his tiny body bob down Gentle Ben in front of me, I'll admit I had a lump in my throat for a second. He was just so dang cute, and it's fun to see your kids learn something new, especially if it's something you love. Now I just need to apologize to Luke when he gets home!

Odds and Ends

Really long post: Don't feel obligated to read!

I'm not off to the best blogging start in 2010 and this is possibly the most random post ever but here goes. I always kind of get the blues in January. In my opinion it's just kind of a bummer month. The holidays are over, there's nothing big in our family to look forward to for a while, and the weather especially this year has just been cold and smoggy with no snow. Complaining aside, I'm glad to say that it has flown by, and we've actually had quite a bit of fun.

I got a new camera, and I am so excited about it. Problem is I have not had much time to use it yet. I actually sold my old one back, used money given to me by my parents and Jer's parents, and still barely made the cost but it's going to be worth it. I'll have to demonstrate what it can do once I've taken a few decent pictures. Since there are no pictures to document the month so far I will just ramble on about a few goings on around here.

Seth has been cracking me up lately. He got a little Alvin doll in a Happy Meal that says "hello gorgeous," and he thought it was so funny. He started saying it and at first it was like he was French or something, "gorgeoux." Now he can say it right and since we told the boys it's a nice thing to say to mom he tells me "mommy gorgeous." I usually have bedhead and bad pjs when he says that, so I appreciate it. Seth is also almost potty trained. We've been in underwear for a couple of weeks now. I wouldn't say we're quite there yet, but if I watch him like a hawk for #2 we can make it the whole day. Kids do strange and gross things while potty training. The other night he came wandering out in his birthday suit with a considerable amount of #2 in some toilet paper. I'm still not exactly sure what went down but amazingly he did not make a huge mess. I should also document how Seth says his name. He tacks a y on the end and calls himself "Sethy" and is always talking about himself in the third person. The problem is he doesn't do S well as a beginning letter and can't do "th" either. The result is "ye-ti." It is the worst possible combination of sounds for him. Oh well, all in all his speech is improving a lot and someday there will be no more talk about "ye-tis" at our house.

Ian is cute as ever. He gets all over the place. He still does his belly crawl the most, but he does crawl on his hands and knees sometimes and is starting to pull up to things. Seth is taking a lot more interest in Ian now and plays with him cute. Whenever Seth is doing something he shouldn't i.e. shooting Ian at point blank range with a Nerf gun, he has gotten in the habit of apologizing while he's in the process of doing it.

Luke is learning and growing like crazy. He can still be wild and crazy and has an obsession with wrestling anybody, anytime, anywhere that I'm hoping he'll grow out of. He loves playing basketball and plays with other kindergartners every morning before school. He started skiing lessons this year and he did a great job and is having fun. He was so tired the other day, he fell asleep while we were riding up on the chairlift together. I spotted some drool on his coat and sure enough he was snoozing. He got a great report from parent teacher conference about his academics. He tested way above where he needs to be. In the attentiveness/listening/hands to self kind of categories he could use some improvement, but we're working on it. Luke picked up on the term "nuts" while playing at a friend's house the other day...and I'm not talking about acorns. Since he already knew the term, I had to clarify what anatomical part that term actually applies to and then tell him it wasn't something I'd like him to say. My message really must have stuck because later that night Seth came over with a pouty face and the report that, "Lukey kick Yeti's nuts." Jer had to stick his head in the fridge to hide his laughter. I tried to keep a straight face and tell them both we don't say that. Don't you just love what they pick up elsewhere?

Between the holidays and other days off for Parent Teacher Conference, we've had time to do a few fun things this month. We took all the kids up to Beaver when Jer patrolled at a night party. We took turns taking Luke out and had to enlist both Travis and Mason who were also patrolling at times to help us entertain the kids. It was a fun but crazy night. Luke was a die hard to the end, and we skied down to the Litte Beav lift only to find out it wasn't running anymore. I wasn't too excited about the prospect of walking with him back to the patrol building (uphill), but Travis came along and gave him a ride on the snowmobile and he thought that was the coolest thing ever. I also got to ski with him Saturday while my mom watched the other boys. I won't be able to do that every week, but it was fun. Seth really wants to try too, so we may take him out at another night party.

We also went ice skating with TJ and Amy's family. We had a fun time. My boys have never been on roller or any kind of skates, so they struggled at first. I realized after a while that all the other kids had figure skates on and they had hockey skates, so we made the switch. Luke did fine after that. Seth on the other hand looked like a baby deer learning to stand. He was all legs. He made it around the ice a few times with the walker thing and Jer helping him, and he was a trooper about it but he was out of control. We tried to shove his feet into some figure skates towards the end and it wouldn't go, so we had to give up. Better luck next time for Seth! I pushed Ian in the stroller, and he loved it. He was smiling and waving his arms at everyone we passed.

I slurped my 2009 blog into WordPress and now I need to edit it and print it out. One of these days. I'm also almost 2 years behind in printing pictures, so I'm not sure how and when to catch up on that. I really don't have time for these extra projects right now but maybe one of these days. I started another class on Monday so that should keep me busy burning the midnight oil. The problem is I've also been going to the gym at 5:30 in the morning for a few months. I try to make it at least 3 times a week. I am not capable of burning the candle at both ends for too many days in a row, so I'm still trying to figure that one out. (Although I'm doing it, I still firmly believe there's something wrong with being up in the 5's...especially to exert yourself in any way!) I'm not a big TV watcher, but I have followed Lost since the beginning and am excited to see how they wrap it all up when it starts next month. Well, I think I've written enough about basically nothing for one night. Maybe if I post more often I won't do these long ones that bore people to tears.