Boys Boys Boys. . .

~Sept, 2012
We had some visitors over and of course A and E were bouncing off the walls. Head butting their legs, jumping on their back and freaking out. So I chucked them both in the kitchen and told them, "You are out of control." Angrily A turns to me, hands on his hips and snaps, "No Mom! YOU are out of control!"

~Aug. 2012
A comes up to me and tells me very officially, "Mom, I'm smarter than you. I'm not smarter than Dad, but I am smarter than you."

~July 4th, 2012
A and E were wrestling today and it was A's day. He was doing really good keeping his little brother subdued, although E put up a pretty good fight. Once they were finished, Daddy and I told E he did a really good job! He looked over at Daddy M angrily from the floor and said, "No, I din not!!" he flailed his arms on the ground and continued, "He's still alive!"

~June 2012
E and A were playing T-ball today with A's new gear. I of course laid down the rules. No hitting anyone with the bat. No swinging at the ball until every body and body part is clear. Simple enough. Not 5 minutes into it, I hear a blood curdling scream from A. E runs inside, eyes big, and says, "I din'n know what I was doing!" Big brother had a pretty good goose egg on his head.

Thanks for the Help

As most of you are aware, we're trying really hard to maintain our privacy on here, so if you can remember when you comment, to not use our real names if you know them, that would be great!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Festival of Colors!

McKay and I don't get out often, which is why you mostly see our kids on this blog. BUT McKay and I actually had a chance to get away for a few hours this last Saturday. So, what did we do? We went to the Holi Festival at Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple! It was spectacular, wonderful, cold, and dirty and I loved every minute of it! . . . except the cold. 

I'd heard of the Holi Festival last year from my sister I think, which is odd since she doesn't even live in Utah. She came down from Idaho with some friends of hers and they had a blast, so this year McKay and I bought some $4 shirts and carted ourselves down with some friends of ours, Chris and Amy.
Here is the before shot of our day. McKay is looking wisely off into the distance... or maybe he wasn't quite ready for the shot and was blinking. :) I like to think the first. 

Anyway, half of you on here are probably wondering what Holi Fest even is. A simple explanation is Holi Fest is to welcome spring and celebrate life. The Indian Dust that is blown around soon makes everyone look the same, no race, no colors, just people enjoying life. Kate explains it wonderfully and has some beautiful pictures of the festivities. If you have time you should check her    post    out.

Here is a very tame version of what went down. As we were coming around the hill driving up we could see a cloud of dust hovering just below the Temple. You can see people's shoes on the roof there.

Some of the after shots of the fun. We came late so we didn't get as caked as some of the people you see in the above photo.
People would walk past us and throw chalk our way. My friend Amy had someone smear it all over her face as she walked past. We were so clean compared to everyone else that we were desirable targets to assault.
Chris kept getting people throwing it at the left corner of his face.
McKay lifted me up like it was nothing.
I had to get a picture of the temple on our way out. Its so beautiful.
We saw this sign on our way out. "No Praking" I don't even know what that means!!
I hope a child wrote this sign. Because that's just embarrassing.
Amy caught McKay stealing a kiss on our way home. :)

This picture just does not do justice to how horribly he was hammered with chalk, BUT its still a great photo eh!
I know, gross feet. I just had to show you guys the pattern the chalk left there because of my shoes.

We had such a wonderful time. We danced a bit. Watched people crowd surf. Watched girls get tossed in the air, one was nearly dropped. And for some reason she wanted to be thrown in the air again! Next year we'll have to bring a lot more of our friends with us. And get there on time so we can enjoy the full scale chalk massacre.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Run away baby!

In High School I didn't understand babies. I couldn't hold them right. They cried, I panicked. Now that I have two babies of my own, I've learned a few things. NOT MUCH! But I have learned a bit. I have learned that my 14 month old is a lot smarter than I thought he could be. This doesn't mean I think he's stupid, I just thought that he was mentally incapable of certain thought processes at his young age.

For instance, I thought he wouldn't do this.

You saw the pictures of us at Kangaroo Zoo. Very fun and VERY tiring! Ethan after about an hour decided that he was finished with this whole business of bouncing around and as a result he was placed in the 2 and under play pen. They had a few things to play with in there, a tunnel, bean bags, those things you see at doctor's offices all the time and a few stools for parents to sit on. All in all, a pretty safe place for him to romp without my constant attention.

I turned to watch Ayden and talk to my in-laws while I listened to Ethan play. All of the sudden out of the corner of my eye I see Ethan sprinting across the floor away from me, laughing insanely! (How did the little bugger get out!?) He realized that I saw him once I stood up to chase him down and started laughing more. I swooped him up and was blessed with an even greater explosion of laughter. He was so proud of himself for getting out of the playpen without me noticing and getting halfway across the floor before I caught him.

I couldn't believe he'd be so sneaky! I didn't even know he was behind me until he couldn't hold it in any longer and started to giggle.

He was set back in the playpen and this time I watched him. As soon as he was set down he sprinted to the corner of the playpen where a green stool was placed and climbed his little self up on the stool and then onto the frame of the playpen and over again. He started to run again- which I have to add is so funny to watch because his legs are so small! He usually tucks his shoulders up and lowers his head as well. The whole picture is too cute not to enjoy!

I grabbed him again and this time moved the stool into the center of the playpen, feeling satisfied that the problem was fixed now that it was too far away for him to climb onto and then get out. Aaaand yes, I was wrong. :) He assessed the stool, struggled to pick it up and then moved it yet again to the corner of the playpen! (The little stinker!) I playfully yelled, "Ethan! What are you doing??!"

Hearing my voice, he again started to hysterically laugh and began his frenzied climb to freedom. He was much too clever for his holding cell. This time I let the prisoner free and just chased him around the floor.

Sneaky, sneaky baby.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Had a bad day.

I'm sitting in bed tonight feeling pretty sorry for myself. The lyrics "Do you have the time, to listen to me whine...." keep playing across my mind. I know that my blog and many others' that I read always sound so CHIPPER and WONDERFUL and BLESSED and FULL of LIFE.... well... in case you were all wondering. My life is not always all of those things. I have bad days, they're just more embarrassing to write about and something I don't want to remember. But unfortunately for you and my terrible mood and my terrible desire to write, you have me here, asking, "Do you have the time, to listen to me whine..."

Today I felt particularly frustrated with my kids. Having one child is easy. If you had asked me this while I had one child I would have argued with you that its hard. But now I have been shown the light ... having one child is easy. They don't fight with themselves. They don't bite themselves. They don't steal toys from themselves and they don't fight for your attention, because they already have it all. Unless you're of course married to WoW or some other pointless time consuming activity.

Two kids is HARD. There's no way I want three children until I can figure out how to mentally handle the two I have! They are so annoying! I can't leave Ayden and Ethan in the same room for more than five minutes without hearing Ethan scream in protest as Ayden steals his drink, his toy, or his blanket. Or because Ayden just decides to kick him over, gouge his eyes out with his fingers or torture him in some other form. But oh no- ETHAN likes to stir it up sometimes too. He'll sit on Ayden. He'll run at Ayden hands flying until he hits him. He'll scream for no reason just to get Ayden in trouble. It makes me so angry. I can't leave a room to pee without problems happening.

Do you know how imprisoning that feels?

I can't watch my favorite TV show because as soon as I sit down, Ethan's censor goes off and he comes running at me crying because I've sat down and no longer have the potential or desire to give him my undivided attention.

If I want to take a nap, I might as well drug myself and let the kids have at it. I cannot get Ayden to go to bed at the same time as Ethan. I can barely get Ayden to even take a nap any longer at all for that matter!

If I wasn't so scattered-brained trying to take care of the both of them, I'd be counting down the days until Ayden goes to pre-school and I can go back to a few hours of only having ONE child at home.

I love parenting.... or at least I think I do. I'm grumpy right now. So I don't really love much of anything. There's just days when I'd like to go get my nails done just because. Or days where I could go shopping or take a nap or go camping without having to plan around them.

Some days I really hate being a parent. Or maybe its some moments I really hate being a parent. It takes a special level of sacrifice for ones' freedom to have a child. It takes a special level of maturity and I don't think I have reached that level quite yet.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Kangaroo Zoo

There once was a boy.
 His name was Ayden. 
He had a little brother named Ethan.
 They had some family come to town to visit.  Their Grammie and Tay-tay!
So what did they do?

They went on an adventure to a far away land
Where dinosaurs roamed and little children were in command.

It was a magical place, but they were unsure.
The creatures were huge, they looked so real!
But never fear, we all knew the cure!
 It was purely simple and ideal.

*  *  *

Take the boys 
and huck them into the toys.

*AAAAUUGH!!!*

!Fighting. Biting. Clawing. Gnawing. 
Screaming. Wailing. Drooling. Clinging.!

Well that wasn't how it was supposed to go.
You're supposed to have fun in this world of kids.
I guess this time we'll just have to take it slow.
How long will this take?. . . let's take bids.

 Easy.  EasyEasy.
Ahhhhhh *pleased ahhhh*... there we have it. Now isn't this fun!
*Scary teeth in the background* 
In a world of dinosaurs, children and mum.
 I told you I'm right. I always am. 
Next time we go it'll be a grand slam.

This my friends is the Kangaroo Zoo. Be jealous you don't have one in your city! Or kids to take to a place like this for that matter.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

You wish you were this good lookin'

We bought/were given some new church clothes and I had to test the new outfits out and see if they were the right size! Both boys were looking very nice in their Sunday clothes!



I couldn't get Ethan to hold still long enough to get a full on shot of his new clothes. But he was looking quite dashing as well. Even if the photo doesn't do it justice.

You're jealous and you know it!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

*Insert Clever Title Here*

Nothing too exciting has really been happening around her lately. oh wait! Ethan's learned how to kiss! I'll have to get a video of it. He's an excellent frencher. Sometimes he comes right at us with his mouth open wide and tongue hanging out. It can be a bit scary. Especially when he's particularly slobbery or booger-y. But he LOVES to give kisses. Which means whenever he's nice and fresh we're more than willing to receive his lovin'.

Spring seems to have finally hit us here in Utah! I'm so excited! BUT I also don't trust the weather yet. It has not been all that honest with me and I am still in denial that its going to stay somewhat warm.

The boys and I have been keeping busy though, regardless of good or bad weather.
We sleep.

We go potty. Everyone is invited when we go potty.

We make big fat Styrofoam messes!
Which end up floating around the house and appearing in mysterious places. Shoes, fans, couch cushions, the dryer.

We walk around like goofballs! He dressed himself like this and them hurried to show me.

And then after we make ourselves look silly, we make ourselves look handsome!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Friends

I have a hard time making friends. McKay likes to analyze this and explain to me why this is. And the only reason why I'm bringing him up and his theories is because they seem to make sense to me.

I really only have three people I can truly say I call friends. I am excluding McKay from this equation because. . . well he's kind of passed the friend stage of our relationship. If it were a staircase it would start out.

                                                                                                 Husband
                                                                                        Friend
                                 Polite and careful conversation 'friend'
             Acquaintance
Stranger

McKay is obviously the only one that is going to make it to the Husband stage. :) Sorry anyone out there hoping for more. And for the sake of space on here I did leave out boyfriend since that's kind of irrelevant to my situation even though that WAS part of the staircase for McKay.

Back to what I was really talking about. I only have three people I can truly call a friend. Most of the people I know seem to fall under the 'polite and careful conversation friend'. I have a few people I know here in Utah that I wouldn't mind getting to know better, but every time we have a conversation, Person #1 says something I can't relate to because I'm married.  Or Person #2 gives me the feeling that if I say one thing, they might be nice to my face and then talk about me behind my back.... or they might get mad if I tell them how it is, no sugarcoating things.  Or Person #3 is uncomfortable around me, because I try to be myself and they in turn feel uneasy.  OR Person #4 is male and once you're married you can't make friends with the opposite sex apparently. . . and lastly Person #5 acts like because we're married we can only be couples friends.  I have needs too! I don't want to be friends with you & your spouse, just you! Unless your spouse is cool, then I can work with that.

McKay thinks my definition of friend keeps things from ever moving forward, his idea of what friend means to me is as such: You have more trouble making friends, because a friend to you is a much deeper thing that it is to most people. When you make friends you make friends for life. For me (McKay), I have lots of friends, everyone I work with is my friend. Everyone I talk to more than twice is my friend. And I most likely will not see most of them ever again. You find someone you like and you slowly build a relationship, but you build one that is going to last. The only thing is, you have a bunch of unfinished potential friendships, because your idea of what a friend is stops you from moving forward. You make friendship more personal than I do.

I feel that he is right. My first friend is Nikki, I have known her since we were 11 or 12. I don't feel like I have to be careful around her. I don't have to act better or worst than I am. I can say stupid things, and believe me I do, and she doesn't care. Or she just flat out tells me I'm an idiot. She earned the right to call me that- no one else is allowed! But the thing is, we shared stupid stories together. We talked about embarrassing things without having to worry about being judged by each other- or at least we could tell each other flat out what we were thinking when embarrassing things came up. We built up to the friendship we now have. And we always have something to say when we are together.

Same for my friend Monica. I haven't known her as long, but I don't feel like I have to impress her. I don't have to act differently around her. I don't have to be safe with my conversations because I might embarrass her our make her think I'm a bad person. She also knows I say dumb stuff. I used to mention to her while we were at work that I know I 'kill the funny' and she agreed, but she didn't make me feel stupid for it. If you ever want to see a demonstration of me 'killing the funny', just get everyone laughing, including me and wait for me to say something to add to the laughing and 9 out of 10 times I'll say something that will make everyone stop laughing. And as soon as the words come out of my mouth, I'll try to reel them back in because I know they're dumb! Gah! But Monica and I can laugh together at 'naughty' stuff because hello! Naughty stuff happens and its O.K. This does not mean I want explicit details, I just don't want to feel embarrassed or ashamed about human happenings.

When it comes down to it, my problem is getting people from the 'polite and careful conversation friend' to Friend. Because I could sure use a lot more friends in my life.



Mom- you're also considered a friend. One I always had and never want to lose. I'm glad that you're my Mother because my dain bramage would probably keep me from being your friend otherwise and you're one of my best!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Dain Bramage

Wow two posts in one day. That almost never happens! Maybe that's why I should make posts right before I go to bed, then I'm almost guaranteed nothing new is going to happen. 

Tonight started out fairly normal. Almost everyone is grouchy for one reason or another. I'm fighting with Ayden to get him to eat his food. Ethan's upstairs because he's just being mean to everyone that looks at him funny. McKay's upstairs sick and I'm counting the minutes until I get my own time after everyone has gone to bed.

I'd just pulled Ayden's food out of the microwave, we went with the easy street tonight and had hot dogs and peas. I set them on the table in front of his booster seat, which he was standing on top of as usual. I could tell him a thousand times in one dinner and he still wouldn't listen.

I then turned away from him to get his sippie cup, turned back around to see him bouncing his bum against the back of the chair and then he was falling, crashing to the ground as the chair slid out from under him. He smashed the back of his head into the corner of our drawers and then the weight of his head forced it to muh onto our tile floor next. He started to scream. I feel that's a natural response to cracking your head against something.

About that time everything in my mind went blank, I just acted. Grabbed him, picked him up and held him. You know sometimes when you get hurt you flail around? You stub your toe and you kick/hop around. Ayden acted similarly, I guess that's a good thing, since most people do that when they get hurt. He couldn't stop kicking his legs and jerking his torso around. I set him on the counter and realized that my brain was beginning to think again.

He calmed down as far as moving his body goes, while I grabbed a fresh rag and ran it under the cold water to press against the back of his head. We then sat/stood there cuddling while I softly pressed the cold rag against the ever growing welt on the lower back of his head.

After a couple cycles of re-cooling the rag and pressing it on his bump I proceeded to inspect it. If his hair wasn't blocking it the thing would have looked grotesque. I take that back. It would have looked even more grotesque than it already did. It had swollen to the size of a golf ball, half of it was a vicious red/purple and the rest was spotted red/purple. I'm shocked and glad it didn't break the skin.

Now I just need to make sure he didn't get a concussion.  No funky eyeball business yet. I can't really guess if he sounds disoriented since he always sounds disoriented when he talks. :) I'm praying for one heck of a headache and nothing more. Hopefully the tsp of Tylenol I gave him will alleviate some of the pain.

Lucky for him, when you take a nasty spill around here, you get lovely treatment. :)
You get to eat your dinner on the couch, you get soft blankies and an icepack for the extra lump on your head and you get to watch a movie. Plus you're not required to smile for the camera!
Although we do like to try. If you look you can see his bright red ear. That apparently received some damage as well.




Ethan was collateral damage in the whole situation. In a good way that is. The movie that we weren't going to watch tonight, he now gets to watch. And he gets to cuddle with Mommy after I'm done writing this! Win win for Ethan.

Brian Regan

Booooy am I jealous! Look at how comfortable these two look! 
I was so excited! They actually stayed like this for a while! The chances of getting Ayden AND Ethan to sit still at the same time and actually be awake is like a one in a million chance. As you can see the little while I was talking about didn't last long seeing as Ethan is already wriggling out of his little nest. But I'll take what I can get.

Also a little about mwah! I was able to go to Brian Regan's concert this last Wednesday with my crazy friend Monica! It was a blast. We drove to Sandy Utah and then rode the tracks or max or whatever you wish to call it down to Salt Lake. This way we didn't have to pay for parking OR find parking for that matter.
We got to enjoy Olive Garden. mmm mmm. Can't EVER go wrong with Olive Garden, at least that's how I feel. We had to walk there, which was only about a block and a half walk. On our way there we saw a homeless man with a sign asking for food. Just as we passed him he shifted forward as if he were about stand and the next thing I know Monica is practically on my lap. Hahaha. She didn't say anything until we got into the restaurant, but I guess him moving startled her... *cough*I mean, freaked her out big time! Lucky for her, he didn't attack and we made it to the restaurant and then the concert in one piece. Maybe a little cold, but that's what we get for living in Utah and not thinking that it could be below freezing level in MARCH. As always Brian Regan was spectacular! I couldn't stop laughing; my cheeks hurt, my eyes hurt, my back hurt, all from laughing so hard! The guy that opened for him was pretty funny too- I just WISH I could remember his name.

By the way we were about 8 rows from the front. Too perfect!

Brian Regan was doing a live recording that night for one of his DVDs. I'm not sure if he just does a live recording for every show while he's on tour and then just uses the best out of the bunch, but it was fun to be involved in that IF he actually uses our night, IF that's how he does things that is.

Whatever the case may be, it was soo much fun. And it was a nice reminder that sometimes going somewhere a bit expensive with friends is worth it.... and almost necessary for my sanity and overall temperment.

Oh and footnote- on the way home on the tracks there was a guy with some pot in his mouth.... or something. I obviously know nothing about drugs and don't wish too. But it looked like a crazy skinny cigarette minus the filter. Monica was so polite to point out to me that it WASN'T a cigarette. Who the heck just does that in public!? What an idiot... although no one called the cops, so maybe he's not such an idiot, its just the rest of us there that didn't do anything about it who're the idiots.

I guess that was a lot more about me than them. :) Ah well.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Sweet Moment

Ahhhhhh, what a great feeling it is to run. My body is refreshed and cleansed. It would be wrong not to take a nice soothing shower after such a run and short excursion in the weight room. I started the shower and sighed. This was going to be good. I could already feel the hot water blanketing down my back. I hurriedly climbed in the shower and was instantly in a water-induced pleasure coma. Right about then I heard the bathroom door open and a tiny, young voice spoke, "Mommy?"

I visualized my little boy standing halfway in the doorway with his little hand stretched above his head as it clings to the doorknob and knew that as soon as I said his name he would rush to me. No invitation necessary in his mind.

I dropped to the shower floor and covered myself as best you can when you only have your hands as a shield; not like he'll remember this anyway. "Ayden? Is that you? What are you doing up?"

Pitter Patter. Pitter Patter. Pitter Patter. His little hand poked through the closed shower curtain holding his Blue's Clues book. Careful not to let his entire body go behind the curtain he inquired, "Read you aaa the book Mommy?"

Just then McKay said his name and his small hand and his book were gone.

I relaxed and enjoyed the water once again, too lazy to stand. A few minutes later I heard a creak as the door opened again and a small voice once again questioned, "Read you aaa the book Mommy?" This time he waited fully behind he curtain for my answer.

I situated myself again to be completely covered and replied, "Ok, Ayden you can read the book to me." Excitedly he whisked the curtain aside and sat on the tub, his back against the wall. 'Taye Mommy Taye." And proceeded to read his Blue's Clue's book to me from the last page to the start. Once he finished he excitedly looked up at me and informed me he was going to read again.

The entire time he was telling me his story, parts of which were memorized from the book and most from his own imagination, I couldn't help but think about how much I loved this person that has only been in my life for two and a half years. I was seeping up his beautiful big blue eyes, the inflection in his voice as he read to me; I couldn't get enough of his sweet spirit. He will most likely never remember this night, but I will. 

Sunday, March 7, 2010

We're getting there

It started off here. We had to clean that stupid little thing out after every time he had a potty encounter. WHICH because he was so excited about it and it was so new, happened about every 15-20 minutes. AND I can't forget that because he would get a treat after he went potty he would only tinkle a little bit first, get a treat, and then 2 minutes later tinkle a bit more for another treat, and then rinse and repeat for an endless treat experience. Mommy eventually wised up and that sort of stopped happening.
Now we have graduated to the big toilet!! Yay no more cleaning his poo bucket! BUT now he likes to use the toilet paper. He'll usually get a little piece of TP, blow his nose with it and then wipe himself....**long pause** We take recycling pretty serious around here. I do have this ominous feeling that once he discovers that he needs more than 1 square of toilet paper that his intake of said item will exponentially increase. I thought potty training was supposed to be cheaper?? Less demanding?? Easy to do?? How long is this going to take?!?!
Enjoy the pictures. Who doesn't want to see someone sitting on a toilet! This is prime imagery here.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Twinkle Little Star

There are some moments I am glad I do not miss with my kids. Yes there are the days that I want to scream, punch a hole in the wall, drop kick a dog, because my kids drive me crazy!!! But then there are the days that they do the cutest little things. They say the sweetest things. And I am reminded of how special they are and that not only do I love them, but so does their Heavenly Father. I was able to record a cute little moment of Aydens'. He's learning how to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in nursery. For those of you that don't know what that is, its the 'class' he goes to during church for the 18 month-3 year olds. Here the link to the video:Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Sorry its sideways. I forget that I can't rotate it on our computer... OR I just don't know how to rotate. This little moment is what makes me glad to be a Mom. It makes those unsightly stretch marks not so depressing- yes Melissa you WILL get stretch marks!. :) And it makes those days where I feel so inadequate, so unqualified to be a Mom, a little easier to handle.
I just can't stand to have a post not have a picture! Seeing a photo is half the fun of looking at peoples' blogs!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

I. am. NOT. AAaAaAaaA Baaand- AaaiD!!

Kids are so much fun. Let me just say that. They say the silliest things. Their emotions are literally all over the place. If I push Ethan aside because I'm trying to unload the dishwasher and he wants to be inside the dishwasher, he takes it personally and cries. If he's not invited into the bathroom with me while I pee, he takes it personal and moans at the door until I come out. They crack me up! With that said, this next story is actually about Ayden. Although Ethan did help the story along.

Ayden is being potty trained if you didn't already know. He loves the bathroom now, not that he didn't have some strange obsession before, but now the 'love' has increased exponentially. He'll sit on the toilet for a half hour with the hopes of something coming out and him getting a treat. He'll open the door and close it just because he can. Today was one such day when he stood in the doorway of the bathroom and was opening and closing it. This naturally drew Ethan in and he plopped himself down right outside the bathroom. I'm assuming with the fear of if he tried to get closer he would get his nose mushed in by a swinging door.

After a few minutes Ethan began to yell nonsense at Ayden. Jabbering on about who knows what! Apparently Ayden who now understands Ethan was getting extremely frustrated with his rude words.

The next thing I hear is Ayden yelling at Ethan "I am NOT AAAAAA Band-aaaaaaid!", he then proceeded to swing the door shut with all his might. He's not exactly an expert at door slamming yet and he let go of the door instead of following through. This led to an anti-climactic event of the door softly tapping the door frame and reopening slightly.

Ethan was thrilled and started to yell some more. Ayden only became more agitated. This is the part in the cartoon where the characters eyes bug out of their head. Because boy Ayden's eyes were buggin! Apparently Ethan was still calling Ayden a band-aid. So Ayden yelled more hoarsely again, "I am NOT AAaAaa Band-AAid!" and again tried to dramatically slam the door shut. And the door again was not giving in and slowly came to a stop before even closing.

In the background I hear Ethan's frenzied laugh and then the door actually slamming. Ayden was so cheesed that he just took it upon himself to finish the job and ensure the door closed. From behind the closed door I hear. "I am NOT A Band-AAAAAAID!" and then a little fist hit the door in defeated frustration.

We are still learning how to handle our emotions around here and not get offended at name calling. :) 

Monday, March 1, 2010

Something to think about

C.S. Lewis: "No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because he was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means--the only complete realist."

Hand feeding each other around here

Sometimes Ayden is very nice to his brother and sometimes I am lucky enough to catch it without them knowing it!
He was telling him 'ahhhhhhh' while opening his own mouth, just like I do sometimes when I feed Ethan. Poor Ethan after a while was drowning in Cheez-Its.

On Friday we had about 6 of McKay's college friends over playing Super Smash Bros. on the 64! Aaron came a bit earlier than the rest of them and played with the boys for a bit. We had pretzels out and so Ayden decided that Aaron looked a little thin and started hand feeding him pretzels. Ethan saw what was going on and decided that he would put into practice what was done to him and ALSO started to hand feed him pretzels. Aaron after a while had about 3-4 pretzels in his mouth while two frenzied little boys tried to keep his mouth full! It was fun to watch and I'm glad Aaron was a good sport.

Potty training update: Ayden hasn't had an accident in his undies in. . . 3 days!!! Considering we only just started, I think that's pretty good! We are still working on keeping him dry at night. He's doing better, but he still pees. This is good though- I'm so excited!

Ethan update so he doesn't feel left out... even though he doesn't even know this blog exists:
He loves to cuddle! This is no secret to anyone that holds him. Naturally he loves to cuddle with Mommy the most. Daddy is a close second.