28 is Great!

28 weeks pregnant....
...and 28 years old!

Yesterday was my 28th birthday! We celebrated the big day with a yummy dinner and cheesecake afterwards. Aaron and the boys made me this delicious chocolate peanut butter cup cheesecake (Aaron must have been practicing because it was a big improvement over last years' attempt). Yum!

Usually my birthday isn't my favorite occasion because it always makes me feel this need to reckon for each year of life and, well, essentially, its kind of a gloomy/stressful feeling. However, I have this theory about birthdays: every 4th year, I have an epic year....and this is my year!! As far back as I can remember, most of my major life events have occured during a multiple of 4 year: baptism, entering YW, driving, dating, college graduation, engagement, endowment, marriage, law school graduation ceremony, passing the bar exam, home buying, child birth, etc. I don't know what is in store for me this year, but, according to my theory, its going to be great!

H-A-N-K What does that spell?

Hank's preschool class has been learning about goals this month and Hank decided (on his own) to set a goal to write his own name. He usually just signs his name with a giant H (I kind of think its a cute signature), but the other day he wrote his entire name H-A-N-K all by himself! He did such a good job! Unfortunately, he chose the aquadoodle as his medium, so once he had written the 'K' the 'H' had pretty much disappeared, but you get the idea:

Max's Words

Max is just picking up words like crazy. Most of the things he says are somewhat unintelligible, but I know what he means. Here are some of his favorite words:

Mama (still his favorite:)
Dada
Nana
Papa
Brother (buh-pah)
More (usually said as "Mo! Mo!")
Good Boy! (dood dai!)
Oh Toodles (oh hoo-hoo (as in from Mickey Mouse))
Thank you (more of an internal word than speech)
No-no
Ball
Hi!
Cookie (tu-tee)

Max's favorite word, which he seems to use as a generic word for everything, is "Mat-mah" - I still haven't figured out what it means.

Sunbeams

Yesterday was Hank's second week of his new sunbeams class at church. Considering the fact that Hank cried the entire first year of nursery class, I was worried about how he would handle the change: new teacher, new classroom, primary. He loves it! Between classes I peek through the primary room window and watch him sit in his mini seat, just watching and listening--I don't know why but seeing him sitting there and looking so big almost makes me cry! Anyways, I am just amazed and impressed at what Hank learns in primary each week. On the way home from church yesterday, Hank said, "I know that my Savior loves me." I asked him what else he learned and he said, "children will gather at Jesus' feet" and "I hope I get to see victory" (evidently they were taught a new primary song). What a little sponge! My heart just filled to the brim listening to the beginnings of his little testimony.

Its a Wonderful Life

Sometimes when all of the Christmas festivities are over, and I'm left with a long stretch of winter ahead, I sink into a little bit of a post-Christmas funk. While I loved everything about Christmas, I'm ready to move on. We have so much to look forward to in the upcoming year that I can't help but feel excited about moving forward. How can I feel dreary when I get to be with my three favorite boys each day? As I reflect on 2009, and the new year approaching, I feel so grateful for my greatest blessings, my sweet little family.

Christmas 2009

Hank woke up at 7:30 a.m. on Christmas morning and the frenzy to unwrap presents began!

Hank got lots of cool trucks, a toy laptop, a tent with a tube, and a Zippity game. Of all of the nice presents Hank received, his favorite is a little fire station toy that was given to Max, that Hank has now taken over as his own.

Max really had no idea what was going on and was just happy to be a part of all of the fun. Max's favorite present was a new toothbrush.

Nana Grover was excited about her new straightener:)

Aaron got a new jacket and a DVD player. I think its fair to say that everyone was spoiled rotten. Thank you Santa Claus!

Christmas Eve

Since this was the first Christmas that we've spent at our own house, Aaron and I had to make some major compromises to blend both of our family traditions. I think we were able to enjoy the best of both worlds...
For Christmas Eve dinner, we enjoyed a feast that would rival Thanksgiving, made up entirely of appetizers, cheeses, chips and dips, and all kinds of tasty snacks.

Afterwards, we sang Christmas songs, read a few stories, ending with the Bible story, and put the kiddos to bed in their brandnew jammies. Hank was so excited about all of the festivities that I'm surprised he was able to sleep at all.