Friday, June 26, 2009

Forget-Me-Not Friday

1. A couple days ago, I was busy trying to unload clean dishes from the dishwasher; Hank was also busy loading everything he could get his hands on into the dishwasher. I bought myself a little time by lining up a few stainless steel mixing bowls on the floor and letting Hank and Max whack the bowls with small icecream scoopers. At first, Hank gave me a look like, "really? you're just going to let me bang on the bowls?" and then he started to get into it and busted out a ringing rendition of jingle bells, his favorite song.

2. Driving home from Walmart in the car, Hank says out of the blue, "Can I have another birthday?"

3. Mowing the lawn at our house is a family event. Max and I cheer from the sidelines, while Aaron mows the grass and Hank tags along with his toy lawnmower. As Aaron takes a pass at the lawn, Hank mimics Aaron, pushing his lawnmowever along the driveway, in perfect sync with Aaron. Some grass must have blown up into Hank's eye, because he ditched his mower, ran in the house, and came back outside, producing his orange safety goggles. He proceeded to "mow" the rest of the lawn with his goggles on.

4. We took a trip to Lowe's the other night to get a few necessities for our garden. Hank loves to go to the "wood store" because he is fascinated with the fork lifts. As Aaron pulled Hank out of his car seat, we see that Hank had completely soaked through his diaper, onesie, shorts, and T-shirt. We couldn't let Hank wear soaked clothes, we didn't have any extra clothes, and we knew he would have a melt down if we didn't let him go inside the store.....so, we did what we had to do. We stripped off Hank's wet clothes, changed his diaper, and then took off Max's clothes, leaving just the onesie, and put Max's clothes on Hank. They fit perfectly. Problem solved. We headed into the store, Max in his onesie and Hank in his 9 month old brother's clothes, noticing the couple in the car beside us laughing after they witnessed the whole episode.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Feed Me

Believe it or not, every time I take Max to the doctor for a check-up, she insists that, for his height, Max is actually underweight. Yes, UNDERweight. What?! Take a look at these pictures...obviously a poor, malnourished child starving for food, right??


I love every chubby inch of this squishy boy!

I Won the Lottery!

A friend of mine, who has an energetic little toddler, always tells me how lucky I am that Max is such a content baby. I really do feel like I won the baby lottery--I lucked out! By posting this, I am probably jinxing myself and my future children will probably be whammies....but, I have to say, Max is just the BEST little baby. Sure, Max has his share of quirks, but 99% of the time, he would be happy to just sit in a laundry basket and play.


Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Father's Day!

Father's Day began with Aaron enjoying a rare luxury: sleeping in. The kiddos and I prepared a delicious breakfast of waffles, bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, and fresh fruit and surprised Aaron with breakfast in bed.


No, I didn't get Aaron a new set of irons (sorry honey), but I got him the next best thing: matching ties! Whenever I dress the boys for church, I notice that Aaron will sometimes try to coordinate his outfit to match theirs. When I saw matching father/son ties online, I couldn't resist.


Hank watched Aaron open a gift and he was really excited because I told him that I had a special present for him, too. To be honest, Hank was disappointed when it turned out that his special present was just a tie. Max, on the other hand, loved his tie. He had fun trying to put it on his head and also enjoyed chewing on it.

My 3 handsome boys looking sharp!
I asked Hank a few questions about his dad and here are his responses:
1. What is Daddy's name? Aaron
2. What do you call Daddy? Dada
3. How old is Dad? Two
4. What is Dad's favorite treat? Rootbeer
5. What does Dad do for work? He goes to work
6. What is your favorite thing to do with Dad? See the pumps at Dad's work. See the firetrucks
7. Why do you love your Daddy? Because I love him and I want a treat
8. What was your favorite thing about Father's Day? Wearing Dad's tie
9. What makes Daddy so special? That I love him

Thank you for everything that you do for our family. We love you. Happy Father's Day!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Forget-Me-Not Friday

Over the past few months, I have really made an effort to consciously slow down and live so that I can "find joy in the journey." Its not always easy to live in the moment, and sometimes the joy can be hard to find. But, every so often, I do experience simple little moments that truly do fill my heart with pure joy. So, I decided each week that I would jot down a few of these moments--not major events or momentous occasions--just everyday little experiences, so that I can savor this sweet time in my life with my precious family.

* This afternoon I held a juice box up to Max's lips and, for the first time, he figured out how to use a straw. The look on his face when he discovered that the box was full of yummy apple juice was precious--like he had just been let in on a big secret.

* This morning the boys and I went out scavengering at garage sales. Out of all the piles and piles of toys, clothes, books, etc that we saw, Hank picked a small yellow school bus and asked me if he could buy it. I gave him a nickel and he bought the little bus. I love that a 3 year old can have so much fun with a little $.05 toy. He took his bus to sleep with him during his nap.

* Dealing with a few stressful situations in our family this week made me feel like I needed to say a special prayer. I asked Hank if he wanted to say a prayer with me and he sat in my lap and folded his arms right away. I started to say the prayer outloud and Hank piped up, adding, "thankful for this day," and "thankful for the gospel." I love to hear his sweet little prayers.

* Yesterday we picked up Hank's buddy and we all went to the park together. Hank held his friend's hand the entire way as we all walked to the park. Later, the little boy picked up a toy car that Max had dropped and proceeded to play with it. Hank immediately rushed over, snatched the car away from his friend, and gave it right back to Max. Clearly we have some work to do teaching Hank to understand the concept of sharing, but I thought it was cute that, in a way, Hank was looking out for his little brother.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Poor Aaron!

Summary of the past week: 2 hours at the doctor's office, 2 hours at the walk-in clinic, 12 hours in the ER, 3 nights in the hospital, two blood tests, a CT, IV antibiotics, and some heavy duty painkillers.....and one sick Aaron.

Here is Aaron enjoying his yummy Jello from his hospital room.

On Monday evening, Aaron started to feel a little under the weather and complained that his stomach was hurting. He went to work on Tuesday, but felt really ill. By Tuesday night, Aaron was in serious pain, complaining of acute abdominal pain. Wednesday morning, he went to the walk-in clinic and found that his white blood cell count was high, he was running a fever, and had some type of infection. The doctor thought Aaron had appendicitis and we went straight to the ER. After more testing, it was determined that he had diverticulitis, or a colon infection. Aaron's colon had perforated, leaking air into his abdomen, and causing infection. So, long story short, he spent the next three days hooked up to an IV draining antibiotics and sleeping in a drug-induced daze. He probably won't remember a thing! He was discharged from the hospital today but is still feeling really sick. It doesn't look like he'll be playing 18 holes this week. I always take for granted the simple blessing of having a functioning/healthy body--I feel so grateful that Aaron is recovering and will be better soon. Thanks for thinking about us this week, we appreciated all the prayers!

The boys got to visit the doctor for their check-ups this week, too. So grateful that they are healthy and well! Here are the stats:

Hank - 3 years
Height: 38 inches (65%)
Weight: 30.2 lbs (50%)

Max - 9 months
Height: 32 inches (off the charts)
Weight: 22.4 lbs (80%)

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Birthday Bash!

For Hank's birthday party, we invited a couple of his buddies to come bounce with us at Jumpin' Jack & Jill's.



Hank was running a mile a minute, bouncing in the jump house, hurling himself down the slide, manuevering through the obstacle course, and playing the arcade games. My goal for his birthday party was for Hank to just have fun and I feel like I succeeded--Hank had a blast!


Even Nana Grover had fun on the bouncy slide!

After the bouncy house, we came back home for refreshements: Krispy Kreme doughnuts!


Hank had a wonderful birthday. We were so glad that Hank's friends came and celebrated his special day with us. Thank you Ethan, Harper, Cameron, Rachel and Janson for playing with us!

The Big 0-3!

To celebrate Hanky's 3rd birthday, Hank's Nana and Poppa Grover and Nana and Poppa Z joined us for dinner at Red Robin.

Max chowed down on his first taste of french fry!

Since Hank isn't a cake-eater, I decided to make him a giant cookie instead. I know its not going to win any blue ribbons for beauty or creativity, but Hank liked it.

It took about five blows, but he blew out all the candles.



Hank is a lucky boy to have so many people that love him and wished him a happy birthday. Thank you to the Nanas and Poppas for celebrating with us and for the fun gifts!

For his birthday, Hank got a lifetime supply of trucks and tractors, a razor scooter, a yard tool set, a few Disney movies, 3D paint, and new pajamas. Score!


After dinner, we took Hank to see his very first movie, "Up." I really thought that with his short attention span he wouldn't make it through the previews, but Hank surprised me and watched the entire movie and loved every minute. Here we are sporting our sweet 3D glasses!

EE - I - EE - I - O!

Hank enjoyed visiting Old McDebbie's Farm so much last year, that we decided to invite a few friends to join us and go again this year for a fun little birthday field trip.
As soon as we parked, Hank spotted the tractor. Technically, I don't think the tractor was intended to be used by the visiting public. But, since it was Hank's special day, I let him climb up and play on the tractor. I think we could have stopped right there and called it a day because Hank was content to spend an hour just playing on the tractor.

Hank loves his buddies. We were happy that Ethan, Harper, and Cameron (along with siblings Max, Elijiah, Emren, and Nora) could all come play with us.

Hank made friends with this particular goat and had fun feeding it pellets out of his hand.





Love. This. Kid.

Max is the squishiest, cuddliest, happiest, sweetest little baby. I can't get enough of him. I love the stage he is in right now where he is fascinated by small objects, is a great big ball of energy and enthusiasm, and still such a sweet baby. I wish I could freeze time and enjoy this tender phase a little longer. I'm thinking that if I keep letting his little curly hair grow, he will stay a baby forever. Its worth a try, right?

Pool Party

To keep cool during the heat wave last week, the kiddos splashed in Cameron's little blow-up pool.
Poor Cameron was a good sport, laughing when Hank drenched him with the watering can.



Max didn't love the cold temperature of the water, but he was interested in the floating balls.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Happy Birthday Hankie!

Hank! Its your Dad! I know that you can't read this right now, but in a few years you will be able to look in this book and read this little note from me, so that is why I am doing it. I want you to know how much I love you. You bring so much joy in my life, you make me smile every day. You give me a reason to work hard, to come home, and to be a worthy priesthood holder. You are such a light in my life, and I will always love you, no matter what. It is just amazing how fast life is going by, and it is bittersweet, as there is so much to look forward to, but there is already so much has passed. Keep being the sweet boy that you are, and remember that your parents love you more that you will ever know! I love you. Dad