29

The events of the day:

In the morning I came down to this lovely surprise. Ty had to go to work early, so a teething James and I had an early breakfast at about 5:30am. At least we did it surrounded by happy tulips and ridiculously large balloons.

After folding laundry, blogging, baking cookies, and getting ready we ran a few errands and ended up at the park with a bunch of friends. I was super spoiled with treats and thoughtful gifts and besides a mud-covered James and a little bathroom accident with Thatcher, it was a really fun morning.

We rushed home where I packed up my things, then picked up Sage (our darling babysitter). Kyle and I drove together to Phoenix, then I got my haircut and went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner with Kristi, Whit, Claire, and my mom. We ate way too much food, then spent the rest of the night just talking.

Saturday was spent laying out, eating, shopping (I ended up with a bright red pencil skirt and two shirts), eating some more, playing scrabble, hot-tubbing, and then crashing.

Needless to say...it was a pretty fantastic birthday.

I have a good feeling about 29.

30 before 30

As I was laying in bed last night (and couldn't sleep) I started to think about some of my current goals, some new goals, and some things that aren't even goals, but just things I want to do this year. So I started writing (by the light of my cell phone) and came up with this. I know it is a little ambitious (my New Year's resolutions focused on simplicity and were much more practical), but 30 is a big year and I want to feel like my last year in the 20's was a good one and one that I can be proud of.

My 30 before 30:

1-exercise 5 times a week

2-go to SWITZERLAND

3-read scriptures every day

4-teach step aerobics

5-write on 'Motherhood Unleashed' 5x a week

6-write on '29 and learning' 5x a week

7-pray every day

8-make fun new pillows for bedroom

9-wear retainers every night

10-move out of townhome

11-read 12 good books

12-learn how to use camera

13-hike westfork

14-make a blog book for first 3 years of marriage

15-make a blog book for 'Motherhood Unleashed'

16-have FHE every Monday

17-try one new recipe a week

18-read at least one book to the boys a day

19-go to the wildlife park in Phoenix

20-floss teeth every night

21-save up for a 3-month savings cushion

22-make a camera bag

23-go on two dates every month (Ty 2nd weekend, Jen 4th weekend)

24-have a baby (girl!)

25-wash face every night

26-save up for a new car

27-go to the temple 10 times

28-make 72 hour backpacks for each family member

29-stock car with paper bags to give to beggars

30-make scripture bag

time for a change

My hair is longer than I think it has ever been. For my 29th birthday I am getting it cut. I might not cut it all off, but I am definitely ready for a change. I am going to leave it in the hands of my hair dresser. So long crazy long, nasty split-ended, hasn't-had-a-hair-cut-in-7-months hair.

Before:

After:

Ummm...not that much of a change after all. Oh well...at least the nasty split ends are gone, and now I have bangs. Woohoo!

party animals

Last night Ty took me out for my birthday. My sweet visiting teacher watched the boys so we could enjoy a nice dinner just the two of us. We celebrated at Oreganos for the third year in a row and ordered sweet potato fries, a salad, and a really different but delicious pizza. The evening ended perfectly with a white chocolate macadamia pizza-cookie and lights out at 8:45. I don't know if it was all the food or something else, but I couldn't keep my eyes open I was so tired. Pretty wild, huh?

Gospel abc book giveaway

A great idea! I want to win!

Here is the link for the Gospel ABC board book

best toys EVER

Wiggle Cars. They have saved me (and almost killed my kids multiple times) with not having a yard. The boys ride them every day that is warm enough. We take them to the park, we ride them around here, Ty and I can sit on the back with the boys. They are the best things and the boys are addicted. We have to place them conspicuously in the garage so the boys don't see them when we are trying to go somewhere. Thanks Nanny and Pop for such a great gift.

bunny cakes

With my green coconut lying around from the Easter party and a bunch of extra peeps, and a friend's birthday celebration...I couldn't help but put the three together and make something fun. Thatcher called them his bunny cakes. The pictures do the talking about how the boys felt about them.

James the walking baby!

I love this kid:

I love his enthusiasm for food:

I love his squishy body:

I love how naughty he gets when he teams up with Thatcher:

I love his love of the outdoors:

And I love that he walks! Congratulations little buddy. You made it right at your 16-month mark!

Ok, I guess I can't just stop there, here are a few other things that he has been doing of late:

Yesterday he learned how to be "soft" and he practiced rubbing my face and my arm for a while as we snuggled in bed. It was the cutest thing.

He is starting to want to do big boy things. He always wants to sit on the bar stool at the kitchen counter, he tried to get dressed yesterday on his own (ended up with a pair of underpants on one leg and a long sleeved shirt on the other leg), and when I put the underpants on him the right way he couldn't have been happier.

He has started to nod 'yes'. It is so funny. It is a very exaggerated nod, but he always uses it in the right way.

He loves being tickled which is nothing new, but now if you ever stop tickling him, he will take your hand and force you to continue what you were doing before. My baby knows what he wants and I love that about him.

James is the best He is really good at sharing with Thatcher and loves his big brother so much. Man I love my baby.

I don't love teething...especially when it is two massive molars at the same time. I also don't love diarrhea. I have been cleaning up nasty messes for the last 24 hours, given James multiple baths, done a ton of laundry, and feel so bad about the diaper rash he has because of it. Those things I don't love, but the rest of it I do.

Easter party

Before my family came into town we had a little Easter party for Thatcher and his friends. We made bunny ears, went on an egg hunt, read Thatcher's favorite Easter book, had some jumping/waddling/hopping races, and decorated Easter shaped rice crispy treats. It was a fun afternoon... probably because two and three year olds aren't very hard to please.

Pre-party preparations:

Mid-party faces:

The dirty easter egg hunt:

Group photo shot (we asked the kids to stand by the tree...and they did just that):

Simon wanted to stand by his own tree:

Decorating rice krispie treats:

Some finished rice krispie treats (ok, so maybe I decorated those...the others were barely decorated and already eaten before I could take any pictures):

What the boys were doing while I was decorating the last of the treats. James came up with a game where he put a key in his mouth (don't ask me how he found that) and then spit it into a glass jar. Good game for a 1-year-old, huh?:

I am starting to realize how hard it is to be hostess, mom of two, and photographer all at the same time. I am hoping I will get better as time goes on (but by then I will probably be a mom of three crazy kids instead of just two).

my Thatcher-roo

As always...I can't say enough about how much I love my little man, but here are some reasons why:

-Lately he likes to dress himself. He is very determined and has strong opinions about what he wants to wear. He has two "Nemo" outfits, robot pj's, a Buzz costume, and a Mr. Incredible costume. If he is wearing one of those outifts...he is a pretty happy kid. Here he is in his robot pj's with his Nemo clothes on top.

-My mom got Thatcher a basketball hoop for Easter. It has been quite the hit. Thatcher loves playing basketball and has come up with some other creative ways to play with his basketball hoop (like hanging animals from it...strange, but clever too).

-He is so creative. .He loves to have his toys talk to each other. One day his two airplanes were talking to each other about colors and how there were not yellow or green or red, but explained to each other that they were black and blue. The other day he told me that the circular things left on the kitchen counter were wheels, then he told me he was going to build a car.

-Thatcher still takes a nap. Sometimes I feel bad forcing it on him, but he always sleeps and seems to still need it. The other day he really didn't want to take one so I let him get out of bed and just hang out with me. Then I found him like this:

-Thatcher gets excited about EVERYTHING. It makes life so much fun. Here he is showing off his Easter "stamp". We call them stamps even though they are really tattoos. He thought they were pretty cool.

-Thatcher likes to compare things to James. The other day I was showing him some ants and explaining that they are little and are always busy getting food. Thatcher said, "the bugs are like James, they are little and crawl all around." Then at Out of Africa when we saw a bear standing up and Thatcher said, "Look, the bear is standing just like James!"

-Thatcher loves people. He remembers their names and talks about new friends all the time. He really loves his family and has talked about Kelly, Josh, and Nana nonstop since they have been here.

-Funny things Thatcher says or has said:

"Is that gross?"

While discussing Nemo characters...Me:"Who is Nana?"

Thatcher: "Nana is a whale"

Me: "Who is papa?"

Thatcher: "Uhh...Papa is a whale too. Look mom, there's two whales!"

"Mom, I'm so excited to see Logan"

"No, we don't eat frogs, they're too spicy"

Thatcher: "Where'd Guy go"
Me: "He went Utah"
Thatcher: "Is Guy in Utah with Santa?"

Thatcher: "Where's Papa, Kelly, Josh"
Me: "They're in Utah too"
Thatcher: "Are Papa, Kelly, and Josh, in Utah with Guy and Santa"

"Mom, we don't read stories we watch tv, ok, is that a big deal?"

"Guy, we don't hit."

Me: "Why is your foot wet?" (after going potty by himself)

Thatcher: "It went swimming in the potty like Nemo"

Thank you for making me laugh Thatcher. You are the sweetest almost-three-year-old that has ever lived. I am convinced. Now we just need to get you to stay in your bed at night...and you just might be translated.

Easter

Easter was pretty low-key but nice this year. The boys woke up to their baskets. The Easter bunny had decided that everyone had enough candy already so each of the boys got a book and a little toy instead. Ty and I went to Stake Conference without the boys while my family stayed home with them and itt was heavenly. I got to hold Ty's hand and actually hear the speakers...I almost didn't know what to do with myself. Then we had a fabulous ham dinner before Keith, Kelly and Josh jumped in the car and headed back to Salt Lake.