Random Conversations with 2 Year Old and a 4 Year Old, and a Mouse

Sometimes kids say the funniest things and I just have to post them so I remember for a time when they're bigger and less adorable!

2-year old Nathan loves his dad more than anyone in the world!  Almost every morning he throws a huge fit when Dad leaves for work.  Yesterday when Daddy broke it to him for yet another day that he had to go work Nathan disagreed, "No, Daddy.  Mommy go to work."  Well, I guess we all now know what Mommy's status is with Nathan.

Today on the way to preschool Jonah and I had this conversation:
Jonah:  "Where are we?"
Mom:  "In Layton."
Jonah:  "I hear a "t" in that word."
Mom trying to seize a learning moment:  "Good!  What other sounds do you hear?"
Jonah:  "A 'l' and a 'n'."
Mom:  "Wow!  Let's think of rhyming words!  What rhymes with sat, cat, fat, rat?"
Jonah, in all seriousness:  "Oh, I have one!  Konnichiwa."
Hmmm . . .  isn't that like "hello" in Japanese?  How does Jonah know that?  And could you get ANY further away from rhyming with "sat" than "konnichiwa?"  I should mention that while we're having this conversation Nathan is in the back seat singing "ABCD Little Star."  To his credit, most adults don't realize that the alphabet song and "Twinkle, Twinkle" are the same melody, but at this point I'm trying to remember if I dropped both boys on their heads as babies or something.  I'd say we have a little work to do!

And, as a completely random side note, I just found a DEAD MOUSE in my garage!  AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!  GROSS!  I have the biggest case of the willies that I can't seem to shake!  Brandon, when you get home from work tonight that's YOUR job!

Sarah's Ballet Recital

To say I'm behind on my blog would be a huge understatement.  Hopefully I can get a little caught up!  In June Sarah had her beautiful ballet recital.  Her ballet school always does a high class job with renting out a nice theater hall, having a live orchestra play the music, and even reminding the audience of proper etiquette before the performance.  It truly is a cultural event.  I love watching the older girls perform and wonder if Sarah's interest will last that long.  We'll see.



This year Sarah was one of the girls in "Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be."  The program was called Pixie Dust about Peter Pan, nursery rhymes and other fairy adventures. 



Here is Sarah after the recital with her darling cousin, Emma.  Emma was in "Yankee Doodle Dandy."  Sarah looked forward to getting her flowers for weeks and made it very clear that she wanted roses.  So roses she got.  After the last performance we celebrated at Yogo Togo's. YUM!  Jacob tried and tried to get out of going to the recital begging, "I like watching Sarah and Emma dance, but why do I have to watch everybody else's kids?"  Its hard to argue your case when your sister has attended more athletic events for you than is even possible to count and she only has 1 recital a year.  We were happy to have him with us to support his sister.  And, of course, it wasn't too painful when you get to end the evening with ice cream!

Gaining a Little Perspective

Yesterday I ignored the nagging feeling I had to keep Jonah home and allowed him to go to the Kids Club two darling teenagers in our neighborhood had put together.  Jonah hit another little boy with a shovel, sending him to InstaCare where he received 5 stitches in his forehead.  Luckily the mother of the hurt child was extremely forgiving and understanding.

I was horrified.  I constantly feel conflicted over what to do with Jonah.  He desperately needs the social interaction with other kids.  Situations like Kids Club are perfect for him to learn and grow.  But is it fair to the other kids?  They deserve to be safe too.  He's just so unpredictable and impulsive.  I'm tired of feeling embarrassed over his behavior.  He's old enough now that we can't pass him off as a busy toddler who throws fits.  His behavior draws more attention.  I just want to be able to go places with my kids and enjoy our time together without the stress and constant worry over what he will do.  Sometimes it's exhausting.  And I know to be grateful that he's so high functioning.  His prognosis for living a normal life is great with the right care and intervention during this very precious window of development and time in his life, and yet I feel a tremendous amount of pressure and stress that if I don't get things right with him now that he won't get that normal life.  During moments like yesterday I feel as if I haven't given him all that he needs to be successful, and that window will close and he will struggle the rest of his life and it will be my fault.

This morning I talked to a good friend who recently lost a family member who was a child.  She shared with me a very sacred experience which reminded me of how thin the veil is between this world and the spirit world.  It was the perfect reminder for me that as hard as things are with Jonah, I don't have to do this alone.  I know I am receiving help from the other side which will continue as I raise Jonah and the rest of my children.  It was just the perspective that I needed to buoy me up so that my desire to keep trying and keep going is replenished.  I don't know what the future holds for Jonah, but for some reason the Lord saw fit to send him to me to raise.  I know I have a lot to learn and still worry that I will get things right with him, but knowing that I'm not alone, that I have a good husband, family members, neighbors, members of my church congregation and even angels that are here among us that we can't visibly see right now lifts the burdens from my shoulders considerably.

Happy 10th Anniversary!

Happy 10th Anniversary, Brandon!  I'm so grateful I chose to marry you!  Thanks for 10 wonderful years!

 You are my best friend!

 You are an amazing dad!

You are such a hard worker.

Thank you for being so persistent after our first date when I was too blind to see how wonderful you were at first.  I love you so much and can't wait to spend eternity with you!

Snuggle Me, Mommy

When I went in to wake Jonah up the other morning he said, "Mommy, please snuggle me one minute?" as he holds up his little finger indicating one.  (I love how he says that.  I'm going to miss it when his language becomes a little better.)

So I laid down beside him, our heads together gazing into each other's eyes, a rare moment of sustained beautiful eye contact for Jonah which I was trying to soak in.  I whispered, "Jonah, I love you.  You're my favorite Jonah ever!"

As we enjoyed this intimate moment, Jonah whispered back, "Mommy?"

"Yes, Jonah," I answered anticipating a reciprocal "I love you" back.

"Can I see the goobers in your nose?  There's hair up there.  That's yucky."

Ahh, so much for our intimate moment.  I don't know if I'll ever understand how his little mind works, but I'll love him forever and I'm so glad he's mine!

Jacob's Space Derby

Jacob had his first pinewood derby for cub scouts - the Space Derby!  He and Brandon worked hard on his space shuttle (I think that's what it's called???).  I wish I had some pictures of them working on it.  Coming from a family of girls with only one brother, I had no idea what a big deal this was.  Luckily Brandon was prepared and knowledgable, pulling out HIS space shuttle from his own cub scouting time years ago.  I'm so grateful to have married such a handy scouting husband!  That was definitely not on my list of desired characteristics when I was dating.  Back then ignorance was bliss!  I'm so blessed that the Lord knew what I needed more than I did myself and grateful I was blessed so abundantly!

Unfortunately Brandon missed the big night due to an important meeting at work.  He was heartbroken!  But we're also grateful that our daddy is such a good provider and dedicated to taking care of our family.  We took pictures and videos to share with Daddy when he got home.  I was so grateful to be in such a wonderful ward where other dads helped Jacob get his shuttle on the line to go and even fixed it when it collided with another boy's shuttle and broke.  Hopefully there are more pinewood derbies in our future when Brandon can be there!  Jacob and the rest of our boys are already looking forward to it!

The Day We Have Been Waiting For Is Here . . . Almost

We (and when I say "we" I mean mostly Brandon) have been waiting a long time for this day.  It's almost the day when Jacob is finally old enough to mow the lawn, a large weekly project for Brandon throughout the spring, summer and fall.  Brandon officially declared this summer as "The Summer" that Jacob would learn to mow.  We stood watching him mow with smiles on our faces, and for now Jacob has one on his face too because mowing is new and exciting.  My hopes aren't too high that Jacob's smiles will last for long but I'm trying to enjoy it for now because once that newness wears off I know the battles will begin.

I had to grab a quick picture of Jacob mowing to document the occasion.

 And while I was playing photographer someone else found some markers to play with.  This is what happens when Nathan is left unattended for even minutes!

I guess next Halloween he can be an Indian and do his own makeup.  I'll just hand him some markers and let him go crazy.  Despite his naughtiness, he's still pretty stinkin' cute!!!