Winter sicknesses - round 1

My boys have had croup this last week (Noah did not officially have croup because he is too young - but he had the virus that causes croup)- so while it has been a (maybe our last) week of nice weather we have been stuck inside - it was torture. To pass the time Brock and I sure did bake a lot of cookies, blow a lot of bubbles, throw A LOT of balls, read a lot of books, color a lot of pages, and take a lot of naps. I really hope that this is not a precursor to the rest of our winter. Brock did not get sick at all last winter - and I plan on keeping the same track record!

By Friday they were both doing better so we made a quick run to the park. Brock LOVED being outside - he did not waste any time - he got right down to business.

Noah was great too. He just sat in the sun and looked around. It was a good day. (Except for the fact that we went to the grocery store and bought a whole cart worth of groceries and when I got to the counter and they told me how much it was I realized I forgot my WALLET (not to mention both the boys were screaming)! It was so embarrassing!! - Everyone looked at me like "oh that poor woman with those 2 young boys - her life must be so crazy she can't even remember to take her wallet to the store." I really never do things like that - so it really bothers me when I do.)

I believe

I am sure many of you have heard this quote in the past few weeks - it is on several blogs. It is so prophetic and inspiring. I love Elder Maxwell - he had such a wonderful way of putting things - and I love when they make the gospel black and white. The past few weeks many members of the church have tried to make things look gray - but lets remember what faith really is.
(I bolded some of my favorite lines)

"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.' This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions. Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as un-trendy and unenlightened.... Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat."

"Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints"A More Determined Discipleship", Ensign, Feb. 1979


He tells us to leave a record. Here is my record. I stand with the church in all things. I am a believer, therefore I will act like one. (1 Tim 4:12)

Yesterday morning Jason says to me,

"Why don't I take the boys all day and you can go do what ever you want."

Wow! Unfortunately I could not take him up on it - but I definitely got a rain check. What a nice guy! Then when I got home from a family party that night he had done the dishes and the laundry.

Say "cheese"

Noah is starting to smile a lot. I tried to capture it - but was unsuccessful. But some still turned out cute.

Brad's Blessing

My sister blessed her baby last week. These two are 3 weeks apart.

Trying to get a good picture of 2 new born babies is hard.

Me and Katie with our boys

Out and About

Since I knew the nice weather would soon be gone - we went on some sort of outing everyday for the last 2 weeks. One was to the duck pond.

Noah is starting to like having his head out - it is making it a lot more fun to take him places.

Then we took a picnic lunch to the temple. I was determined to have Brock identifying temples by the time we left. I took some other pictures of temples with us. It is still 50/50 - he says "temle" (no "P") when he sees the Provo, Washington DC, and Jordan River temples. It was a beautiful fall day. I had only planned on being there a half hour or so (I did not think it would hold his attention), but we ended up being there for two and a half hours. It was a lot of fun.

Fun with the Hanna family

On Halloween day my sister and I took our kids to Kangaroo Zoo. If you dressed up you got 50% off. I decided to do a "family theme" - I wore Jason's high school football uniform, Brock was a basketball player, and Noah was a baseball player.

It was pretty fun. I am glad I went when it was 50% off because Brock needed help to do pretty much anything. I think I will go again when he is two and it will be more worth it.

Then we went to my brother's football game. I had a great time - as you can see both my kids are being occupied by my family. Thanks!

**Note: My sister Ashley is WONDERFUL! I could not have survived this last year with out her. She took such good care of me and Brock when I was on bed rest - and now she ALWAYS takes Noah for me when I have my hands full with Brock. She is the best aunt and sister ever! Both my kids love her. Thanks for all you do Ash.

How Brock plays with Noah

I was making Brock's breakfast and when I went back into the living room Noah's swing was full of balls.

Halloween

This was carving the pumpkins. Jason believes that Brock and Noah should decide where the eyes, nose, and mouth go. We sat there holding the pumpkin up to Noah until he waved his arm around and touched the pumpkin in 4 places.
Brock was a mouse - and after taking 8 pictures - this one turned out the best. This is the same costume that I wore when I was his age (same with all my brothers and sisters)

Noah was a pumpkin (but for only a few minutes - he had a hard Halloween)

Brock with his spoils. (actually mine and Jason's - he does not understand that it is candy and actually did not eat any, he just thought it was fun going to the houses.)
Not the best pic of me - but it was the only one of the whole family!

The Bells

So the Bell's are probably my favorite people in the whole world. Karli has been my best friend for years, then she met and married Skyler and him and I got along great - then I married Jason and he gets along great with Sky and Karli. It is not often you find couple friends where all 4 of you not only like each other - but genuinely get along and have fun. Then we started having kids and things just got better. (It was rough for a few months when Payton wanted to play with Brock but he was too young - but I think we are out of the woods now.)

Karli and I try to do something with the kids once a week (it turns into once every other week). Last weeks we went to Cornbellys at Thanksgiving Point. It was probably the funnest activity so far. We were there for 2 1/2 hours - and we could have been there for 2 more. Noah was fussy - but Kar stepped in and really helped with Brock (she is LITERALLY wonder woman/mother!!)



Despite ALL the fun things to do - leave it to Brock to find the one ball. He would have been here all day and hit this ball. It kept coming back and hitting him in the face - he would look at me and say "nose". But then he would hit it again.

The next day we went to Tucano's. It was just the 4 of us (it was like we were newlyweds again!). It was fun - we have not been together without kids since Payton was born. We had a great time. They talk as if they are going to leave Utah when Sky graduates - I pretend as if it will never happen.

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.