proof

I have been keeping a list the last few weeks of all the things that go on daily that I know I might forget someday. I do not find this list cute or funny, but I might want to remember just how naughty James was...once he turns into the outstanding young man I am sure he will be. For posterity's sake, here is just a sampling of what mischief James has caused the last few weeks (Thatcher is sometimes involved, but it is usually James who is the instigator):

- I got out play-doh for the boys, then nursed Hadley (it only takes about 10 minutes), then went back into the kitchen where all the play-doh (probably 7 containers worth) had been thrown all over the kitchen. Rolled into little balls and then thrown. I was right there, but had no idea anything was going on, both boys were so quiet about the whole thing.

- In one day James found his way into the pantry (that is child-proofed) and dumped rice all over the kitchen floor, then he found a bottle of melatonin pills that Ty had left on the bathroom counter and dumped those all over the kitchen floor, and then while I was watching him from my bed (again, nursing Hadley), he dumped nail polish remover all over the carpet in my bathroom. ONE DAY!

- Another day James grabbed a huge container of Total cereal and a thing of nuts and ran into my room. As soon as I realized he was gone I ran to my room (if I don't know where James is at all times I know something is going on). The entire thing of Total (two cereal boxes worth) and nuts were all over my bedroom rug and he was jumping on top of the mess turning the cereal into crumbs.

- I left the yogurt out that Thatcher likes to eat every morning (the big 32 oz containers). He dumped it out and proceeded to smear it out all over the kitchen table.

- He has a continual fascination with dumping sand all over the trampoline and into the air conditioning unit despite many punishments.

- With his favorite partner in crime, James and Thatcher each empties their own box of cheerios all over the wood floors. We had just finished eating breakfast and I was clearing the table when I heard the sound of thousands of cheerios hitting the floor.

- He successfully breaks any toy he wants to.

- He got into Ty's shaving cream and sprayed it all over his body and the bathroom (again while I was right there and watching, but nursing Hadley).

- He emptied out a newly refilled wipes container one wipe at a time.

- We got raspberries as a special treat and after having a good snack of them I put them away. James was upset because he wanted more but I told him he would have to wait. He then asked me if I was going to go do my hair and I said yes and started to leave. The second I was out of sight he ran to the fridge to get the raspberries out.

- While with my mom in my room James emptied out a number of items from the fridge and tried to eat a huge block of cheese.

- Got into the fridge and ate two uncooked tortillas (he also gave one to Thatcher who at one as well). Oh and we have tried to baby proof the fridge, but James has already broken the latch I bought...twice.

- James found a bag of shredded cheese in the fridge and dumped it all over the trampoline.

- Picked up a rock while at the gym and banged it against the car a number of times while I was getting Hadley in.

- Dumped all of his cars behind his bookshelves.

- Everytime we color, the second I leave the room James colors his legs, arms, belly, back, and anything he can get to quickly.

- Took the lid of the fish tank and splashed water all over his bed, floor and self (this is after he killed Hadley the fish by feeding her too much). Ty insisted on giving him one more chance to have the fish in his room. Yesterday he was laying on his bed and kicking the fish tank with both feet resulting in huge splashes which is exactly what he was going for.

- When he is in time out he likes to throw chairs at the door, and anything else he can get his hands on.

- He can be so sweet with Hadley and then the next second he is jumping on her, whacking her with his pig, and doing other naughty things.

- One day I was on the phone with Bekah and nursing Hadley. I knew the boys were playing with fruit and I asked them to stop. I then threatened them, but didn't do anything about it because of nursing and being on the phone. I let whatever they were doing go on for about 10 minutes (maybe less), then got off the phone when Hadley was done. I found avacados, peaches, apples, and mangoes all over the laundry room floor. They had been thrown against the walls. There was peach juice everywhere and all the fruit was bruised.

- Ripped off the foam that protects the bars on the trampoline.

The crazy thing is that this isn't even everything. There are so many other little stories and incidents that happen all the time that I am not remembering. Just today James went to wash his hands and he was gone longer than 30 seconds with no water running so I ran to find him and he was in his room with the door shut doing naughty things with his toothpaste. The other day I was dusting and discovered an otterpop that had melted all over Hadley's window sill. I am really strict about only eating otterpops outside...but apparently one was eaten without my knowledge...or not eaten and left to melt. Food is a constant issue. Every meal there is something that is consciously thrown, smeared, smashed, or dropped and he always gets in trouble for it, but apparently my disciplining isn't getting through. It is a constant battle feeling like I can't nurse or even change a diaper without panicking because James has been gone longer than 10 seconds and could be doing something terrible destructive and naughty.

visitors from Switzerland

In July we had our favorite people in the world visit us from our favorite country in the world. My mom, Josh and Kelly were each able to spend some quality time with us and we loved hanging out at the cabin, jumping on the trampoline, going to the tree swing (Ty was nice enough to take Josh and the boys), getting decorating advice (that was my highlight), and just hanging out.

Some other highlights included...

Hadley of course. She is always a highlight and she was so happy with all the attention she got.

 One night my mom cooked us to a fabulous Thai chicken dinner. It was beautiful and tasted as good as it looked.

 Reading books with Nana and Josh.

 Hadley again.

 Wrestling with Josh. Poor Josh. Things got a little crazy a lot.

 Catching a fish with uncle Ryan. James thought it was the coolest thing and acted like the fish he was holding by opening and closing his mouth.

 I got to spend a precious 24 hours in Phoenix with just Hadley and my mom. It was nice to have a moment of peace and Hadley got to try out swimming for the first time and loved it. The water was so warm it probably felt like a typical bath.

 Thatcher sleeping with his new knife and bow and arrow. He was in heaven about his special present and still talks about his awesome present from his Nana in his prayers.

Eating otter pops outisde.

random goings on

Thatcher's masterpiece. It is now hanging in our house. I need to be a better mom when it comes to art time. It always feels like a lot of work, but it isn't and it is so fun for Thatcher.

 My two little lions. James wanted to be a blue lion, so that's what he got. Poor Thatcher had a reaction to the face paint and the next two days he still looked like a lion, but instead of face paint it was red puffy lines all over his face.

 James and his love. He is so unpredictable and has really hurt Hadley a few times by being rough, but her sure does love her.

Fun in the tub. Thank goodness for a fun dad who always makes bubble baths using about a cup of bubble solution.

 

He may be a challenge but I also think he is a little brilliant. Here is one of James's little creations. I love how he stacked the cars on top of each other.

 Look at that face. It doesn't get any cuter or sweeter, or more wonderful than that face right there. We love our Hadley.

hadley's blessing

On Sunday, July 15, Ty blessed Hadley. It was a beautiful blessing and we were so lucky to have so much family there for it. My mom and Kelly and Josh were visiting from Switzerland and Ryan, Mel, and their baby Hunter were visiting from LA. Ty's dad and grandpa also drove down from Utah which was a really nice addition. As usual, all efforts at getting a family picture taken were in vain.

 

The girls.

 Hadley has the most beautiful smile, but with everything going on, I forgot to give her her own little photo shoot. so this is the only picture I have of her looking at the camera. Love that fat little arm!

 My whole family.

 My beautiful mom with her oldest daughter and oldest (only) granddaughter.

 Poor Hadley was done with the photo shoot at this point, but we had to get a picture of her with her dad who just adores her.

 The Martin men, Woody, Ty, and Darrell...with a screaming Hadley.

Church was kind of eventful because not only did Ty bless Hadley, but I got released as 2nd counselor in the Relief Society presidency and put in as Beehive advisor (the relief society and Young Women's presidencies and organizations got completely reorganized), but my friend Courtney and her son also came to church which was a really exciting thing for me. 

After sacrament, we came home and ate cafe rio salads for dinner, played outside, and ended the evening with watching an amazing lightning storm outside (it definitely made up for not seeing any fireworks on the 4th).

A happy 4th of July

We had a fun and busy 4th this year. We started off the day by me dragging the family to the Flagstaff parade. The boys loved it and we were so lucky it didn't rain, but only stayed for about half of it. We went straight to the cabin from the parade and had a really fun afternoon with the Ridings eating and playing water balloon games. When we got home we ended up heading over to a friends for a BBQ with a bunch of people and we had a great time...until Ty had to leave early with a naughty James. We were in bed by 9:00 instead of watching fireworks, but that was ok with us. It was a fun day to spend with the community, family and friends.

Trying to get all three to look at the camera is pretty impossible.

 This is the best we did.

 Waiting for the parade to start.

 Boys will be boys. My cousin, Cody, trying to jump his remote control car over all the other men lined up (Thatcher and James jumped on the pile last minute too).

 Balloon toss finalists.

 Whitney's invention of a game where everyone stands in a group together and Whitney throws a balloon in the air and sees if anyone gets hit.

 Playing "knock-the-cup-off-of-Kristi-and-Jed's-head" game. Thatcher was one of the only ones to get a clean hit. He knocked the cup off without getting Kristi. I was impressed.

 Claire with Hadley, and our beautiful tortellini salad Whit made.

 Getting cleaned up together after a crazy long day.

 Thatcher showing off his creation made from loot given to him at the parade.

through Ty's eyes

This is Ty's collection of pictures from his phone. There are some great pictures that I don't have, and some fun memories that I didn't think to capture.

This picture doesn't make me miss our townhome at all. For some reason it was a lot harder to keep clean than our new house and this picture shows it... kind of embarrassing.

 We went to the railroad tracks a few times and smashed pennies. They became so hard to find that Ty decided to start taping them down to the tracks. The bottom penny is the result of a good taping job. It was paper thin and mostly silver.

 Ribs...yum.

 Santa Mr. Potato Head. Thatcher was so excited about these finds when we were pulling all the Christmas decorations out.

 Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!

 Boys' night and pizza.

 Watching the parade at Disneyland.

 

James at the park in California.

James took a bite out of this Aneheim chile and didn't make a face.

 James has turned into quite the little jumper.

 

 

 McDonald's ice cream. A regular treat now that we live in Bellemont.

 

The beautiful table prepared for my birthday. Thanks to Bridget for making my birthday so special.

 

 Baby Hadley

  

 

Ty likes to go a little crazy with the bubbles.

 And Thatcher likes to be a little crazy with his chalk.

 

Both boys got into the finger paints after church one Sunday (while Ty was in charge). Huge mess...HUGE mess.

 

The boys have had a lot of fun with glow sticks in our laundry room.

 

 Salt Lake boys' trip. It was a fun weekend for the boys. Ty ran a half marathon, got to spend time with friends, got his first massage, and the boys got to spend some quality time with their Nanny and Pop. One morning they visiting Ty's grandma and while there Ty said that Thatcher was running around and asking Ty to take a picture of him with all the different tractors and cool things he saw.

 

 

 Ty got to golf in a tournament for attorneys at his beautiful golf course. It lasted all day, he was well fed, and he came home with a new shirt and hat and a few other souvenirs. Sometimes his job does have a few perks.

 All of us napping one Saturday morning.

 The tree swing by our house. Thatcher was pretty gutsy on it and had a lot of fun.

 As a reward the other day, Thatcher got to take a bath with Hadley. Thatcher thought it was the coolest thing. Despite her first expression, she had fun too.

 

Thatcher's "ocean". We picked up the kit to make this at the Bass Pro shop and Thatcher thought it was the coolest toy. Why is it that his favorite things are those we make or get for free?