Walter Wick

The BYU Museum of Art is featuring the Art of Walter Wick. He is the artist that makes all the "Eye Spy" books. I took the boys on opening night - it was really cool - they had activities, dancers, and treats. The exhibit goes through August 1st - I suggest you take your kids - it is really fun to look at all the art. (FYI: you cannot take pictures in the museum - if you do they send a "police officer" and make you delete them - I know from experience).

Below are just a few fun pictures and facts for your enjoyment.
Noah:
Still not sleeping through the night
The happiest person Jason and I have ever met
Thinks Brock is like the best thing in the world
Usually makes this face (below) when you take out the camera

Brock:
Is learning so fast - he can say almost anything and is talking a lot in sentences (3 or 4 words), sings several parts of the alphabet (ABC, G, LMNOP, V, X, Y and Z, Sing with me), counts to 6, and has 3 or 4 of his favorite books memorized.
Jumps off of EVERYTHING - He always counts down before he jumps - so whenever we hear counting - we have to find where he is - because he is about to jump!
Trys to play catch with Noah on a daily basis - Noah luckily does not mind getting hit with balls - he actually thinks it is pretty funny.

Living vicariously

I have come to the conclusion that I miss work. It has taken me a while to come to this conclusion because I thought that if I admitted that I missed work than that meant I did not enjoy being at home or that I wanted to go back to work - and I knew neither of those things were true. However, over the past few weeks I have been able to pinpoint exactly what I miss about work - mostly through Jason working.

• Food - I miss people buying me lunches, dinners, and Friday morning breakfast. On a weekly or daily basis Jason's work buys him lunch at Cafe Rio, Zupas, Chipotle, Chinese Food, Noodles, or some other place that I would LOVE to eat at - while I am at home with a PB&J or Top Roman - yum! And THEN he has the audacity to come home and complain about how they put too much rice in his Cafe Rio pork burrito. I could kill him!


• Office gossip - When I say office gossip I don't mean talking about other people behind their backs, I mean having a friend at work that lives that crazy life completely unlike my own that is full of stories and drama and having her/him fill me in on what they did over the weekend or last night. Two weeks ago I got really excited because they (PBS) rolled out a whole new set of Sid the Science Kid - 10 all new episodes on simple machines and backyard science! That is my exciting update!


• Clothing - I miss being able to wear fancy business clothes. Sometimes I still wear them just for fun - by the end of the day they have breast milk, spit-up, snot, and food all over them -not very business like. Same goes with jewelry.

I was able to come to these conclusions because I realized I was living vicariously through Jason. When he comes home from work I ask him what he had for lunch - I want to know what he ordered, what he put on it, and how it tasted. Jason also has some good friends at work that live very interesting lives - I have never really met any of these people but I have become obsessed with them. Everyday I ask him about them and if he has any updates on their stories. I tell him to ask them specific questions about details that he left out. During my day I am thinking about them and thinking about what advice Jason should give them. It is SO pathetic - I think this is why stay at home moms get into soap opera's - everyone needs some drama. And finally I try to pick out Jason's work outfits for him to wear - but he usually just rolls his eyes and wears something else - rude!

Oh - to still have an interesting life! For a disclaimer - I would not go back to work for the world and am so grateful to Jason working so hard so I don't have too. All I really need is a food stipend so I can go to lunch every once in a while and a good friend with a lot of drama.

More Sickness

Brock:
RSV: check
Double ear infection: check

Noah:
RSV: check
Double ear infection: check

Mom:
Flu: (probably RSV): check

It has been a great week - let me tell you. Jason took a half day on Wednesday to help, my mom came up on Thursday to help take them to the doctors, let me take a nap, and make us dinner. Friday we watched a lot of Elmo while Noah and I laid on the couch. When is summer??

A Good Sweat

I have never really been one to work out or eat right. I worked out religiously in high school for about 7 months and then again my first year of collage and I love to work out during my pregnancies. But besides my pregnancies I have not worked out for about 4 or 5 years. Until today.

Working out when you are pregnant is very different - you have to keep your heart rate under 140, you are not supposed to "push yourself", sweat, breath real heavy, or get tired or achy. So today I went and worked out for the first time in a long time (I want to have a healthier heart) - and I feel AWESOME. I love to work out - when I get around to doing it. I was sweaty and tired - it was great. I plan on getting back into it.

On a side note: I love to watch the biggest loser - it is so inspiring. After I watch it I always tell Jason I want to be obese just so I can lose the weight and feel really good about myself - when you see them hard work and the accomplishment on their faces - you know they feel so good about themselves. It doesn't feel as good when you don't have to work for it - so maybe I am trying to pretend.

Valentines

I can not over emphasize the WONDERFUL Valentines day Jason and I had. We had planned on going to a hotel for the night and having the grandparents watch the boys. He had told me we were going to the Hilton Garden Inn in Sandy and having dinner and dancing there. I was so excited! Then he surprised me and took me to The Grand America instead! We stayed in their Executive Suit! He had scheduled a massage for me, had chocolate dipped strawberries delivered to the room, along with sparkling cider, then we went to their restaurant for an amazing dinner buffet.

It was one of the best nights ever! I will always remember it. The surprises were great - he was so sweet and wonderful. Actually, one of the best parts was that it was so fancy and something we would have never done any other time in our marriage, we never went on a honeymoon, or any other real vacation alone, and have never been away since the kids were born. Money has always been so tight and we could never justify it. It was so nice to be able to say, we deserve this, and it is for reasons like this that Jason works so hard for us. I was tempted to ask Jason so many times "how much is this costing us?", but I never did, it was nice to just be treated to it and not have it matter. I think it is important to let him just take care of me and not have me worry about the cost. It was not only the best Valentines Day ever, it was one of the best days ever!

Big day for Noah

Monday was a big day for Noah. Reason one being we finally got and set up his Exersaucer. We borrowed this exersaucer from a friend for Brock. It was wonderful! It is the most expensive exersaucer out there and is a PAIN to put together - but we decided it was totally worth it! So several people (great-aunts, grandma's, and great grandma's) all chipped in and gave it to him for Christmas. This exersaucer is great because it is developmentally appropriate for a HUGE age range. There are so many things that it keeps their attention for a longer period of time - but it is also not overstimulating. When they are done with the exersaucer part it folds out into an "S" shaped "work station" - this was my FAVORITE attribute. They would love this for years and when ever we get a house with a play room I will keep it up all the time. Definitely worth the money.

It comes completly apart. Jason and Brock had fun putting it together though. Brock loves to help Jason put things together - but his was the first time that he actually really did help. He could follow directions and bring pieces to Jason and correct tools.

This is Noah's (so-far) favorite toy. (It was Brock's too.)

Brock is loving having the toy back as well. I was worried that he want to play in it - but it hasn't been too bad. From day one we explained what was just for Noah and what was just for Brock and it hasn't been much of a fight. He does not sit in the bouncer, the swing, the jumper, or the exersaucer - I am glad we stuck to our guns - we really could not afford to replace anything if it broke. (I do let him sit in the Bumbo - that can't break.) I think it is important to set realistic guidelines with kids - even though Brock was so young when Noah was born - he understood what was expected of him - and I just had to be 100% consistent no matter how much easier things would be to give in.

Noah's next big event was rice cereal. I had hoped it would help him sleep through the night - my hopes were in vain. Nevertheless he liked it well enough, as long as it is really warm and not too thick.

I am really not excited about entering this stage of his life - the eating baby food stage. I find it to be the worst stage. I make my own baby food - which I am glad I do - but urg... it's just annoying. I don't have the freezer space to store the food and I find the whole thing nauseating. (I did not find it nauseating until I was pregnant with Noah - now I can hardly look at the stuff.) They are also always messy and smell gross. I find baby food all over them, me, and my kitchen, plus this is when their diapers start to smell. I wish we could skip this stage and go straight to cut up finger foods!

"I do it"

I don't think you are officially a two year old until you say those 3 words - "I do it". Today I put a one year old down for a nap and a two year old woke up. Brock is VERY easy going and totally chill, he is pretty independent, but has never really demanded that HE do anything. Well, today he woke up from his nap and we had to go run some errands, so I started to get him ready to go outside and he said, "I do it". Excuse me?? HE wanted to: put on his shoes, put on his coat, zip the zipper, put on his hat, and carry the diaper bag down 3 flights of stairs. He does not know how to do any of these things (except put on his hat). And despite the fact that I was in a hurry and did not want to waist time my mothering intuition and my degree in early childhood education told me to "let him do it". So after 10 minutes of trying - he asked for help.

"I do it" - please - I don't know if I am ready for this.