In the spirit of Halloween

Last week we went to Salt Lake for some Halloween Fun. On Friday we went to Engh's Flower/Pumpkin patch with my mom, my sister, and her kids. They have a fun maze for kids and a pirate ship and a lot of pumpkins. Brock loved the maze, he did it like 3 times - it was fun to watch him learn - by the third time he went right to the end with out making any wrong turns.

Auge and Brock on the Pirate ship

Grandma (Auge calls her "Nanna" - like Nanna Hanna - cute - but we call her grandma

Then we went to my brother, Daniels, high school football game. This is Brad and Noah all bundled up for the game. They are both mad now - but they were GREAT at the game. Brad slept the whole time, and Noah just looked around while his aunt Ashley held him. Unfortunately we did not take any pics at the game.

Then we went to my Grandma's Halloween party. This is one of my favorite parties. She makes homemade chicken noodle soup and scones. I LOVE it! Then we have a Halloween parade, do a pinata, go fishing for prizes, and "bob" for donuts. Two of my cousins dressed up as John McCain and Sara Palin. This pic does not do it justice - they looked AWESOME!

Then we went to the Bells Halloween Party. It was awesome! Their best yet! Jason was a pimp and I was a Cop.

It was "reality show themed" and we played Fear Factor and Don't Forget the Lyrics. Jason and I won Don't Forget the Lyrics. We were pretty proud.

Jason was EXTREMELY proud of his Pimp costume.

What makes me a real woman...

Forget that I am married, have two kids, or finished with college...

I cooked my first whole chicken.

I was so proud I thought I would share it with you. I also made mashed potatoes (I used red potatoes with the skins on) and I steamed garden green beans. It was a great dinner.

6 things about me

My friend Katrina tagged me. I am supposed to say 6 corky things about me - this has been stressful - I apparently am not very unique, so it is more going to be just 6 random things you might not know about me. So here I go.

• I am obsessed with 3 ring binders - I have one for everything. When I was getting married I had one that I took EVERYWHERE with me, when I was pregnant - same thing. I currently have more than 15 3 ring binders - each with it's own topic (ex. church quotes, fun kids ideas, nice notes people have written me, etc)
• In another life I would have liked to go to law school. I did not discover this talent of mine until I was already pregnant with Brock. I would not have ever really been a lawyer (court room stuff) - I would have liked to do compliance for businesses or do corporate law. I loved my job and I miss it often. I loved being a "professional" - wearing business clothes, talking about adult things, being in meeting with lawyers, CEO's and millionaires, going on business trips, etc. It was a fun time in my life.
• I would rather eat desserts than anything else (and I usually do). When I go to a farewell or a baby blessing or some other place like that - I only get food off the "real food table" as a courtesy to other people - I really just want the dessert food - and I usually get one or two (or five) of each dessert.
• I have pretty much had the same hair cut since 9th grade. I grow it out ever once in a while - and then I cut it again. I still think it is cute - and everyone else says it is cute. I hope that if I turn into one of those "out dated hair ladies" and I don't realize it that someone will tell me. But until then I think I will keep it.
• I REFUSE to admit I live in Utah County. My cell phone is still SLC, that is where I tell people I live, and anything else is still SLC. I am not sure why I hate it so much - but I do.
• I am an intense budgeter. I have an excel spread sheet and I stick to it religiously. On the same coin I am very thrifty - I can make my budget go a long way. I itemize everything I spend money on - all the way down to how much money I spent on fruit, meat, milk, etc.

Guilt

I feel so guilty when Noah is all happy and wide awake and I set him down to do something for Brock (change a diaper, get a meal), today it was get him lunch, and I come back to get Noah and he has fallen asleep.

I HATE that - it is like he gave up on me. It truly makes me want to cry.

Noah and Brad

My sister had her baby on Noah's blessing day (She was obviously trying to steal my thunder! :). These are pictures from the hospital of Noah and Bradly on the day Brad was born. The pictures were taken one right after another - like 10 seconds apart

Noah Yawns

Brad yawns

Some people say yawns are contagious - others say it is just because you saw the person yawn - and that is why you yawn. But I don't think Brad saw Noah yawn. They are contagious.

10 Reasons I am in Love with Brock

In no particular order

Caution: This is long and contains a lot of bragging - read at your own discretion!

• His natural athleticism and love of balls. This is probably my favorite thing. Since the day Brock could pick up a ball he has just instinctively known what to do with it. He started by throwing it - and not just like a normal kid, he could aim and everything. He would stand on a step stool in the living room and Jason would sit at the other end of the room and Brock would "pitch" to him every night for hours. He would follow through on his throws and everything, and now he even stands sideways and gets low in the beginning - just like a real pitcher. He now likes to give us spoons and things to try and hit the ball that he is throwing, he can even throw the ball in the air and hit it with a bat. Then he started kicking the ball - this is an intense kick - he dribbles it, and runs with it, and gets it out of corners, and does a hard run-up kick. Our pediatrician saw him kicking one time and said that his current kicking coordination is that of a 4 or 5 year old. He is currently playing some sort of mix between golf, hockey, or lacrosse. He takes sticks and hits the balls around the house, and if he can't find a stick he gets my cooking spoons, puts the ball in the spoon and throws it around the house using the spoon. Absolutely NONE of this was taught to him, he just naturally does all of these things. He also has to take a ball with him every time we leave the house - sometimes he picks his huge blue ball that is almost bigger than him and he tries to carry it down the stairs - but he REFUSES to let go of it - it is almost an obsession.

This is a typical car ride - he just has to hold a ball - and it cracks me up when it is his big ball.

• He loves to eat vegetables. If it is green - he will eat it! He will always eat his vegetables first and ask for more when they are gone. I feel kind of like a fraud on this one because Jason and I don't really eat vegetables. At every meal Brock has some sort of wonderful vegetable and Jason and I just have the meat and starch. I know this will have to change once he notices - but for now we can continue in our deceptive ways. But I love that he loves them.
  
• The way he stands, runs, walks, and... looks. Brock has these cute little corkey stands and walks. He seems to have a "strut" at 18 months. When he is just standing he kind of pops his hip or something - I don't know what it is but it is cute! When he is leaving a room he often just slowly backs up instead of turning around. When he runs he puts his hands behind him like wings and bends his body foreword. He has the most expressive eyebrows and very intense serious looks - he has had these since the day he was born. He makes me laugh every time he looks at me. (I wish I had good pics of these - I need a faster shooting camera)
  



• The amount of TV he likes. I feel Brock likes "shows" the appropriate amount. For the most part he does not really like TV - if it is on he does not really watch it. (Which I love because TV is one of my weaknesses and I don't want to pass it onto my children.) However he will just sit and watch "Super Why" and "Sesame Street". Both these are educational - so there is a plus - and I can get stuff done (feed Noah, shower, clean, fold laundry) and I know Brock will be 100% occupied. But he never asks to watch them and when they are over he goes back to playing. I think it is perfect!
  
• He still loves to cuddle. Enough said.
  


• He loves music. Jason would say he loves "good" music, which means (to Jason) he loves music with a strong bass line. Ever since he was a baby we could calm him just by singing to him (still true), and if a good song comes on the radio or TV he stops whatever he is doing to listen to the song. He likes the fun preschool songs that you are supposed to sing to an 18 month old - but he prefers "real" music. His absolute favorite song is "Nearer My God to Thee" - this instantly calms and soothes him.
  
• His relationship with his dad. Since the moment Brock was born, him and Jason have had a special connection. He LOVES HIS DAD. As soon as Jason walks in the door Brock follows him around like the pied-piper. He does whatever Jason is doing - he loves to mimic him (which is natural for this age - but he does not mimic me). He also listens to whatever Jason says - for WEEKS I tried to teach Brock animal sounds and he never got it - one day Jason sat down with him and in 5 minutes Brock was doing all the animal sounds. Jason says it was because I set the "ground work" but I have dozens of examples just like that. I also can get him to do something (or not do something) if I refer to Dad. Brock likes to climb on things and I always will tell him to get down he will get hurt and he does not listen. So when Jason comes home that night I say, "will you talk with Brock and tell him to stop climbing on the ____ because he will get hurt." Then the next day I will ask him to get down, and if he does not I say, "remember dad told you not to climb on that?" and he will get down. Sometimes I feel bad because he should care about what I think - right? But for the most part I love that he loves his dad.
  



• He is so easy. Brock is, and never has been, the typical toddler. He has never opened up a drawer and cupboard and emptied everything in it - he does not take things off my shelves, he does not run away in public or outside. He likes to hold my hand when we go places. He rarely throws tantrums, and if he does it is just because he is so tired. He does not take toys away from other kids or push them down (on the flip side he just gets bullied by other kids - we wish he would stick up for himself a little). Life has just been so easy with him.
  


• His concentration. The best way to get Brock to sit still in church is to give him something to concentrate on. He has excellent fine motor skills - he likes to put screw drivers into screws and put puzzle pieces into puzzles. He gets a very intense look on his face when he is trying to make something fit. He loves to stack blocks and figure out how things work.
  


• He is such a good brother. He has gotten to be so cute with Noah. I love it especially because he is not annoying cute with him (always wanting to hold and give kisses), he just prefers Noah to be around. He is sad when Noah is down for his nap and gets so excited when he wakes up. He tells me he wants to go outside by going and getting Noah's car seat, and if Brock and I are going somewhere without Noah, he gets mad.

Gardner Village Witch Festival

My mom (Grandma Hanna) decided to take her 4 grand kids to the witch festival at Gardner Village. They have these HUGE witches all over the place doing cute/funny things. Brock's favorite was, of coarse, the witches playing baseball.

The witch behind him is pitching
Audrey and Brock - not looking too cute, bit it was the only pic we got of both of them.
Auge on the pony ride - Brock went too, but sine there are like 6 pictures of him on a pony ride - I will spare you.
They have this great petting farm there. There are a bunch of goats, pigs, and sheep just wandering around. They are all really friendly. It was really cool.

Family Pictures

The videographer from our wedding wanted to come and take family pictures after Noah was born - who turns down that?

For your viewing pleasure...

The Newborn Thing

Newborns are hard. Let me give you a little background.

Last summer I was at my friend Jess' house. Brock was just a newborn and she was pregnant with her second. Brock was fussy and I was struggling with him trying to soothe him. I looked at Jess and said, "are you ready to do this newborn thing again?", she replied that she was. In my mind I thought, "are you crazy? Who WANTS to do this??"

Then about 6 weeks ago (a week before Noah was born), I was in Sacrament meeting and I was watching a new mom standing in the back struggling to soothe her newborn. I thought to myself "I am so exited for that - I can't wait for Noah to be born and do the whole newborn thing again."

I have come full circle again in thinking, "are you crazy? Who WANTS to do this??"

For my disclaimer - Noah is a good baby, we are very lucky. But no matter how good the baby is, newborns are just hard - especially when you are right in the middle of it. After so many days of no sleep, fussing, non-stop diaper changes, engorgement, and spit-up, everything seems hard. I just wish I knew what he wanted. I felt like I knew what Brock wanted more than this. I just feel like I am grasping at straws trying to figure out Noah - I still don't know if he likes to be swaddled or not, I don't really know what way he likes to be held, or if he likes his binky. He seems to change his preferences everyday. I keep looking foreword to about month 4 or 5 - If I remember right that is when things get fun. But I LOVE having Noah so little - so it is a double edge sword - and there is nothing better than a little newborn cuddled up in your arms. I guess that is why we keeping wanting to do the whole newborn thing over and over again.

My Soul Hungered

I have not felt like I have been really spiritually fed in a while. Since becoming a mom these times seem to come less and less. If I actually get to take the sacrament - it is rarely with a true thoughtful heart, and with a new, nursing, non-scheduled baby temple visits are impossible. So when conference came around I got really excited to listen to the council of the prophets. Then on Friday night I realized that between the 2 boys - the chances of getting anything out of conference was slim to none - needless to say I was really sad.

Saturday morning rolled around and everything just fell into place - it turned out that both our boys slept during both sessions of conference - and then the same on Sunday. Jason and I watched all 8 hours of conference cuddling on our couch in complete silence! It was just like we were newly weds! It was such a blessing.

Conference was incredible - I have never felt so touched. All the talks seemed to touch us/me specifically. My absolute favorites were Elder Bednar and Elder Uchtdorf. They were both exactly what I needed.

Enjoying the Colors

Last week some of us decided to take our kids up the canyon to enjoy the fall colors. We went up to Bridal Veil Falls. It was a lot of fun!

These are my friends from the 169th ward. I MISS IT SO MUCH! This is Karen and her son Ethan and Sabrina and her daughter Addie, they are both just a few months older than Brock.
Here they are again, Ethan, Brock and Addie
I know I have a million pictures with Me, Brock, and Noah in the wrap - but I had to get this picture because I am actually nursing in this picture. Noah was so hungry on the hike and I did not want to stop - so I figured out how to nurse him while he was in the wrap. It worked perfectly and it was SO discreet - no one would know!
The kids loved throwing the rocks in the river - it was their favorite part!