Sunday Tower...

I got to take a nap with Noah after church today. It was much called for and so heavenly to sleep off the last two months of sickness and exhaustion. To many alone nights for this mom while Larry was studying I was staring into the brink of exhaustion and at my breaking point. Funny how a sunday nap can refresh you and bring me right back up to a happier mood. Larry must have known or seen the bags under my eyes or the smoke coming out of my ears. Either way when I woke up Larry showed me the tower he had made with Max. It made my heart swell to know that he took advantage of the alone time with Max and instead of putting a movie on he built and played with Max. I am sure Max felt so loved and the center of his dads world with some one on one time. Check that baby out, the did a good job making a huge tower that I am sure Max loved tipping over when they were done.  

Can you tell I've given up for the week??

Even as I type this I feel like I've given up for the week, can it just be the weekend? I know I know...the days are long but the years are short right? Well I'm feeling the long days today. Dinner is Cheetos eaten off the floor. Sometimes things seem so light and airy on here, like things are so wonderful and they really are. But the reality is that sometimes I fail at being a mom. The selfish side of me comes out and I am to tired to give it my all. I know really my kids don't care sweet Cheetos for dinner they say but if they only knew that sometimes I feel like a little part of me dies every time I give in and let the selfish side creep in. I always tell myself when Larry is done with law school, or when I have him at home to help me at night things will be better, easier. I don't know if that is true, the demands are still there if not more as these boys get bigger. But for now I'll call tonight a win,  because at least they are eating something right? and have diapers on! Good thing tomorow is always a new day and there is the weekend to have a husband around to help! Hurray for that! 

 

 

Also how sweet is Max, giving Noah that chip? Such loving brothers, maybe I am not doing such a bad job after all! ;) 

Happy 30th Birthday Larry!!

Larry is officially old! Ha! 30 years old! That is a big deal right?? We had a fun dinner party for him and I wished once again I grabbed more pictures. The problem is I am busy getting things ready, setting up food, cleaning, keeping kids happy that I forget to get it all documented. I spent a while decorating the house and then had the family room set up for dinner. We had the Woods, Nethercott's, Sanders, and Turners over for dinner. I made pulled pork, sweet potato fries, salads, and then we did root beer floats for dessert! All the kids played in the backyard, the women chatted, and the guys played basketball and ping pong in the garage, I had even decorated in there! They were play some crazy game with their shirts off at some point. I love that Larry is friends with all my friends husbands it works out so well! It was special celebrating him. We did a game that everyone had to guess certain things like how much a gallon of milk cost in 1983 or who was the president, what was the median income things like that. The winner got a snickers bar! I loved making him feel special and celebrating his big 30!! Happy Birthday Larry we love you so much!! 30 looks pretty good on you!! Can't wait to have a huge 40th ten years from now! Whoop whoop! 

 

Reasons I love Larry...

• He is so funny, makes me laugh constantly
• He works so hard, I know no matter what he would take a job just so he could provide for our family 
• Loves me unconditionally...I am so secure and sure of this 
• Is a hottie! 
• Loves our kids, thinks the world of them. 
• Is grateful I want to be a stay at home mom
• Is ambitious
• Wants to take me to Europe some day, hopefully soon! 
• Is a good example to others 
• Treats people with respect and kindness 
• Loves his siblings
• Loves music 
• Wants the best for us and is trying so hard to be able to achieve those goals 
• Is goal oriented 
• Makes the kids laugh 
• Lets me have time off to shop, hang out, or sleep 
• Has a strong testimony of the gospel
• Fulfills his calling weekly 
• Supports me in my calling even when it takes over our lives sometimes (crazy yw!) 
• Saves me the last diet coke!
• Brings me flowers because he knows I love them in the house
• Appreciates my meals, and trying to cook better 
• Notices when things are extra clean and says it! 
• Gives the boys baths when he is home, sings them songs, plays with them.
• Takes me on date 
• Kisses me like we are still newlyweds 
• Goes to the temple with me 
• Has good taste in clothes, and home goods. 
• Is reliable 

Venturing down to the river.

 

The American River is right behind Larry's work. We will meet at a certain spot a lot and have lunch or feed the ducks. We have even brought down the kayaks a few times and gone around the little lagoon. Max is getting more comfortable in the water and even took a dip in today. It was still a little chilly being the end of April but it was nice to be out in the sunshine and It makes me excited to see what he does this summer in the water! Just another average day in our household. Trying to get out and get their energy out! I always laugh and say my goal for the day is to get their energy out so they will sleep well at night, it's so true and kinda sad at times that that is my goal for the day..I guess I should say to have fun and get tired or something! 

Normal Afternoon...

A typical day for us starts out with us going somewhere in the morning,either the library, our music class, maybe the park or a play place. Then we come home and do afternoon naps and I try to either get dinner ready, clean, craft, or sleep as well, or blog! Then we spend the later part of the afternoon outside waking up form those naps, and getting our energy out. The boys play well outside and it keeps the mess out there. Our yard is so big we need to enjoy the space to play. The playhouse is new and a surprise from my dad who spoils these boys so much. They have loved playing house, getting the kitchen all set up and hanging out inside it.  

 

Love this lttile piggy face who thinks it is funny to lock me outside. Look I make an appearance in a photo! Ha! Also notice the shorts I am wearing in April. There is many reasons to hate california, the politics and the cost of living but man the weather takes the cake! Love it here. 

 

March Killed Us...

March has been a rough one...and yes I know its like 2 weeks into April. A plague  of teething, barfing, pooping, snot, and ALOT of crying has entered into our house. It has taken every bit of sanity from me. My house is a disaster zone...really a big bottle of bleach needs to put dumped everywhere...like 5 times over. 

Literally just yesterday while I was changing a watering disaster of a diaper of Max's, I look over and Noah smiles then pukes right next to me. 

Theses are the things I am talking about....so much laundry...so much grossness..

On top of it all the teething is just nonstop crying, drooling, nose running mess. And guess what?? not one single tooth has emerged from Noahs mouth!! 

This weekend really put the cherry on top with Larry taking a weekend long class, meaning I was in the trenches solo. 

OKAY but besides all that, some great stuff did happen. We had some best friends come and visit which I will blog about soon. Noah turned one (we did nothing) and there was some rare snuggling moments form both of the boys. 

Lets hope this next week brings us to and end of the 2013 plague of death. 

Here is some cute pictures of my boys on a happy moment I got to capture. Oh man I love them.  

Hey Spring, Stay Awhile!

It was such a beautiful day today! The clouds were big and puffy it was a perfect spring day. We played all morning with our friends. I love the park days when we have a big group. The kids play and run wild, and we get to sit and talk and eat snacks. Honestly moments like this refuel my depleted mom tank and always make me feel like okay I've got this. It is good for the soul to get outside, get some sun and talk out any problems or frustrations or good things with your friends. 

Max has finally conquered climbing the caterpillar by himself, he is getting braver each time we come to this park. He is always scared and then finally tries something out and is so excited once he succeeds. I love when he screams "look mom, I did it!!" It had to be documented! Ha! He is becoming a very big brave boy. I love the independence that getting older had brought to him. 

 

Noah and Cambria, best friends since birth! Love these too little chunky kids. Can't believe it has been a year since they were born. They crawl all around, even attempt to walk and climb! I love seeing them interact, because each time they see each other its like hey I know you! We hope that we have years and years of pictures at the park of these 2! Welcome spring, stay awhile! 

Sick AGAIN!!

Okay I don't know if it is because it rained, or because the world just hates me. But my boys are sick again. It's not the nice little cold but the gross poop and puke everywhere kinda sickness. The sickness that makes you wonder why in the world did we every have kids because now we have to clean this mess up.

Can you tell I am dying?? We just had sickness?? I tried to go out with the boys, run a few errands take them to the park. We had 2 explosive diapers one from each boy, it was gross everywhere and I was frantically trying to clean it all up in a public bathroom.

Then a miracle happened the boys fell asleep on the way home...SAY WHAT??

I was so excited I even brag on instagram. Yes fist pump to me, now they will sleep away their sickness and grumpiness and I can watch TV all afternoon right?!! haha so wrong. Oh so wrong, both boys woke up and puked everywhere. So about 15 minutes after this picture came this...

 

 Baths to clean up all the mess. I love that this always happens to me and never when Larry is watching them. I did eventually get them cleaned up, clothes washes, car cleaned, and they are now watching a movie. Hopefully this is a quick bug and they will be better tomorow. But man alive I swear it has been our year for sickness. I almost can't wait for it to get hot because normally we never get sick during the summer but who knows, maybe the world is against us right now and the puke epidemic will continue on. 

Second Generation Friends...

Jill and Kara came to down at the same time this month and we were all able to get together!! Cortney and Cari came along as well we have 9 kids between us all right now! And yes I have the only boys. We hit the library because it was raining and cold then went to Jill's parents house and fed the kids and let them play in their upstairs playroom. It was so nice being back in their home, so many memories from high school flooded back. These girls are my very best fiends, and the closest thing I have to sisters. It is so fun to have gone through highs school, college, and now motherhood with them. We sat around for along time talking about life, the future, and our kids. Everyone is doing the same thing, staying home and trying hard to be the best mother and wife they can be. It is such a relief to know we have similar struggles and can give each other different advice because we all see things differently at times. I loved getting together even though it was a short afternoon. We keep talking about doing a girls trip, we will see if we can swing it sometimes in the next 5 years ha! 

 

 

Top row: Ruby & Indy Hobson (Kara's girls) and new baby June (cari's) 

middle row: Gwen Nethercott(cari's) Nora & Carmen Taylor (Jills girls) 

Bottom row: Noah & Max and Cambria Wood (cort's) 

Too Cool For School...

 

Love these two so much. They are bottle brothers to the core. Love the shades Max. We can feel summer coming and we are very excited. One day we will burn the bottles and I will be so happy! Until then we shrug our shoulders and brush those teeth fiercely so the mom guilt doesn't kick in too bad. At least it keeps them looking like babies because they are becoming little boys to fast. Also I have found that even though I can't resist looking at little girl clothes, I have found some really fun bright things for the boys to wear. Kids clothes are so cute and hard to resist! 

My 8:30 in the morning view...

Noah eating dirt, bark, everything in sight...

 Balls all over the yard, Max playing with his collection of Tractors... 

We will be here for awhile, anyone awake and want to play??