Saturday, May 30, 2009

Daring Davis

Oh our Davis has quite the little personality!

He is so fun and so full of mischief that I can hardly keep up with him. He also has a fiery streak that is driving me crazy because he can be aggressive, and be a little bully every now and again when someone gets in his way. He will learn though, its just trying my patience a little bit. Here are some funny things about him that I want to remember:
  • He does not like underwear! He wants to be naked 100% of the time. He also seems to think he has to ask permission to go to the bathroom. He will be dying jumping up and down and say "pee pee" and all I have to say is "well then go" and he says "okay" and runs and takes care of his business, never to put underwear on again until forced.
  • If he is using our bathroom he also has to show us the boat on the wall before he can go. He just says "boat, boat, boat...." until you say, "yes that's a boat, now go potty." He pauses and then will say "okay" and run and go.
  • We have to hide the TP from him because he will put the whole roll down the potty.
  • He loves to play in laundry baskets
  • He eats an apple all the way through, seeds and all
  • He loves to hold Beckham but when he is done you have to be ready to catch him because he will just push him off his lap.
  • He loves his bike and can pedal really fast. He finds it very fun to roll over ants and is so persistent that he wont come in until every ant he sees is squished
  • He is smart and can recognise all of his letters and numbers and whenever we go into St George or Hurricane he has to point out the "D" for Dixie college on the hill or the "H" for Hurricane on the hill. He will repeat "D mom, D" Over and over and over until you say, "yep good job Davis!"
  • He loves Dora and Boots
  • He has the best "pouting" face ever! His lip can get some distance!
  • No one can understand him, including us about half of the time
  • He is PERSISTENT
  • He loves cars, balls, trains, football, and anything Caleb has
  • He is terrified of dogs! Our neighbors have a little puppy that probably weights about 3 pounds and Davis will scream bloody murder and crawl up your leg if the dog gets anywhere near him.
  • He is a dare devil in every sense of the word and climbs over everything and gives people heart attacks at Walmart or Costco with his grocery cart gymnastics
  • He loves spicy food!
  • He calls flowers "trees" no matter how many times I correct him.
  • He wont ask for a lot of attention or affection but really loves and wants it and since he wont ask for it or even act out for it I have to be sure to give it to him because it lights up his face and makes him so happy to be snuggled and loved on.
  • He can get really annoyed and exasperated when I tease him and I'm pretty sure that's how he would feel about this post!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Too cool for Mom

  • Caleb refused to hold hands in the parking lot because that's for "babies"

  • He also threw a huge fit for having to go into the Women's restroom because hes a man.

  • He also ordered our Pizza at Costco by himself and ate an entire Costco slice of pizza all by himself...the entire thing!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Beckham's 4 1/2 month check up

Can he really be 4 1/2 months?!? It seems impossible but yet hes grown so much in the last month or so.
  • He can now roll over from his tummy to his back with no problem and he has rolled from his back to his tummy but most times his arm gets stuck under him. Hes really close!
  • He loves his jumper! He also loves his walker and pushes himself backwards all over the house.
  • He ate rice cereal for the first time tonight
  • He can take his binkie out and then almost get it back in his mouth.
  • He LOVES his froggie and likes it to be on top of him when we lay him down for naps
  • He weighs 14 pound 14 ounces
  • He can hold his head up so strong and loves to sit propped up in our green chair and if he falls he doesn't mind as long as his hands are close to his mouth and he can suck on them!
  • Hes so happy and loves to watch his brothers and laugh at them
  • He has a habit of falling asleep while playing! Even in the bike trailer! Oh man we love this kiddo!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Honda Pilot


Why you ask? Basically our van started making a noise...a bad noise...a not fixable noise....a noise that's only going to get worse. So we can still get a little money out of it and decided to sell it. We happened to find this Pilot this week and I fell in love! It has 53,000 miles on it, leather, heated seats, a CD player, and so so much more! We were really trying to debate between this and another van but we really want to be able to tow the tent trailer that's been sitting in my parents garage for 13 years waiting for us to get a car to tow. The Pilot can tow up to a class 3, gets the same gas mileage as the Odyssey, and seats 8 so it was a perfect match! I LOVE IT! Ive always wanted a white car and lets be honest there is a little bit more of "cool" factor from my van. (Just for you Dad I made sure you could see our trees in the picture).

Heres a little bit of a brag too so watch out...John and my credit scores used to get our loan....806 and 808! Pretty proud of those numbers, we work really hard for them!

And heres the new ride the kiddos are really excited about....Good thing Halle shares and lets them take a ride with her!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

ANTICIPATION!!!!

I cant wait to share....but if I do now, I bet something will happen!

Check back soon!!!!

Updated: Okay things are looking good enough for me to give you a little hint....



So so yummy!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

The end of Preschool!

Apparently Caleb really doesn't show me what he learns at preschool! When giving out diplomas today they gave each kid an "award" of what they were really good at. I was all ready for most kind but he got "Best Mathematician!" I guess hes really good at his math...only he wont show me! Looks like there might be another engineer in the family!Oh my...Can it really be 2 years ago since he started... On an interesting note, remember Sarah, the little lady that wrote Caleb a love note. She is the one sitting with Caleb on his first day of Preschool.

Hes been being stalked :)

Sunday, May 17, 2009

More exciting than Christmas....






More exciting than turning 5....







More exciting than Disneyland....







Even more exciting than Mom saying yes to fruit loops in the morning....








Yes its true. John entered me into a contest to win tickets to the Hot Rod Drag races at the Las Vegas Speedway and I won! Luckily they gave me the wrong tickets the first time and then called back and told us I was suppose to get tickets to a suite and so they gave us two more and let us keep the others so all of us got to go.

John got off work at noon and off we went. I have never seen Caleb more excited than when I told him we were going to see Hot Wheels in real life. We had some preconceived notions about "racing" and seriously we were so surprised and impressed with how nice and friendly most of the people were. Some of them let the boys sit in their cars and gave them pictures and one guy even gave them brand new Star Wars figures. (Don't get me wrong though, we still saw plenty of the "Our drinking team has a racing problem" type of signs!) We got to walk around and look at all the cars in the lot before they did their test and tune (the actual races were Saturday, but our boys didn't know the difference). Davis hated the noise and we did the best we could to keep their little earplugs in. We couldn't believe Beckham was sleeping through it because they were all testing their engines and it was LOUD!After we got up into the AC Beckham would not perk up. He just sat limp and wasn't moving or smiling. I tried to get him to eat and he ended up losing everything in him. We are pretty sure he had some form of heat exhaustion. Once he threw up and cooled down though he perked up. We were SO lucky we got to sit in a suite with AC and they have really thick glass too so the boys could hear the engines rev up but they didn't need their earplugs.

The boys just sat enthralled at the cars drag racing anywhere from 120-200 mph. It was awesome!
We are so going back in October!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Biggest Loser 2009

Hey Everyone! Some friends and I are going to organize a biggest loser contest. We are going to hammer out the details next week but it will probably cost about $20 to join and then everyone will compete to win the money. There will be a first place and runner up that will win. We are going to do it for 12 weeks and it will be based off of the percentage you lose, not actually pounds so its fair.

If you are interested in joining let me know!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Uncle Bada is getting married...

Johns brother Nic lived with us for a year and Caleb came up with the nickname "bada." We haven't got a clue from where but he just got engaged and I got to take their pictures! Go check them out on my photography blog if you are interested!

Monday, May 11, 2009

refelctions

This Mothers Day I have spent a lot of time thinking about where I am as a Mother. The world has changed a lot in its definition of "Mother" as has the views about how to parent. I had so many ideas about what I wanted to be as a Mother before I ever was one and so much of that has changed as I actually became one.

To guide children through life and teach them to not need their parents seems to be so contrary to some of today's parenting ideas. It seems a lot of adults, media, and psychology place blame on things that happened during peoples childhood which has led to parents wanting to give their children "perfect" childhoods. In reality though I think this new view of parenting is robbing children of life skills and coping skills for the future. Watching your children grow up and not "need" you is difficult in some respects but immensely empowering in others.

My own parents have always been great at maintaining those boundaries. I have always felt support from them and known they would be there but they have truly given me the space I need to be the person I am today. I specifically remember moving away to college and them helping set me up and then leaving. The best part was they were happy for me, not mourning their loss of a daughter at home and it gave me the power and freedom to dive into life with enthusiasm. I don't think my Mom cried, or if she did she didn't show me.

Then I wanted to go to Romania and they fully supported me and again I knew they cared about me but they never worried or fretted over me while I was in a new country discovering parts of life that you can only discover from experience. They also gave me a two week Euro rail pass to go anywhere in Europe for 2 weeks that I wanted. Not once did they ask to know where we were going or hovering over me to see that I had a plan...because I didn't. I spent two weeks not knowing where I was going to sleep that night and where I would be tomorrow and it was an adventure like none I have ever had.

When I wanted to move to Seattle they followed this pattern. They were there to assist me when I asked for help or give suggestions but they let me guide the choices.

I feel so grateful for this example. Its made me an independent person who knows that I can do anything I put my mind to. I truly have experienced life and made my own choices to be who I am today. Are there choices I regret...yes but I'm wise enough to know that without making those choices my life would not be where it is now, and I love my life now.

As Ive reflected on my own parents I have automatically compared it to other parents that I know who are afraid to let go. Who want to control every aspect of their children's life and fear their children making their own choices, even going as far as to always criticize them. Who have watched their children spread their wings and fly and succeed and don't find a sense of satisfaction out it but rather almost resent it. In the process of trying to exert more and more control find themselves losing control and in the process destroying any sort of relationship they have with them.

I value my parents opinion because they value my agency and my opinion.

Where am I going with all of this...I swear I have a point! Its just that as a mother of small children I do make a lot of choices for them and sometimes its easier to not let them make choices. Especially when I know they are going to cause us to move a little slower or that I know will lead to frustration when they have to deal with the consequences that they were warned about but still couldn't see.

I find myself this Mothers Day refocusing myself on teaching my children to make correct choices but stealing myself for the moments that I know will be hard to watch when they are suffering for choices they have made.

Kindergarten is looming in 3 months and I have worried so much about how sensitive Caleb is and what if others are mean to him, or hes the smallest, or how will he react to peer pressure and then I think about all of the insecurities I'm passing onto him. I want to be like my parents who take him to school, excited for him, believing in him, and supporting him instead of letting my fears be felt by him. School is an adventure and while there is going to be heartache there is also going to be joy and pride in accomplishment that he cant get at home.

I want to be a Mom who is preparing her children for the future, not one who hovers and holds on forever. I know I wont always love the choices my kiddos make but I also know that the only way to have any say in their life is to show them that I trust them and love them. Its hard not to wrap our whole identify up into our children because we do give so much of ourselves to them, but I don't see how a Mother can do that without taking some of their child's identity in the process.

I know my boys have endless potential and I think this mothers day the thing I have learned the most is about what my role as their mother is! They can do anything, and my role is to believe in them and let them succeed rather than trying to force them to make choices that I think will lead them to success.

Edited to add: I am talking about decisions where there is still a good choice being made even if its not the best choice is my opinion or if I can see a better choice and even when that is pointed out they still want to make their own choice. I know my parents wouldn't have supported me if I had been moving in with a drug dealing pimp!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Early Mothers Day Suprise

John LOVES to buy me flowers...and don't get me wrong I LOVE to get them too. Hes funny though because he loves to give them to me in sneaky ways. Of the probably 50 times I have been given flowers over the last 7 years he has only handed them to me once. Usually its hidden in a closet, or being held by Caleb who's hiding in the back of the car, or placed somewhere and then he tries to lure me to go find them. It really is funny to see just how excited he gets to have me "find" flowers. Seriously its like a little kid at Christmas. He finds its even more funny it seems when I'm annoyed like, "why don't you go help Caleb get out of the car!" Only to finally go out and find the flowers.

So this morning he calls and we talk for a few seconds and he asks to talk to Caleb. Caleb then looks at me, smiles, and runs away! A minute or two later I hear my phone start to ring again. I come out into the family room and Caleb is just smiling as big as can be. I finally find my phone hidden under the pool table (there is a little ledge that you cant see) and with my phone is tulips. Very sweet. So I'm thanking John and he asks to talk to Caleb again and then Caleb takes off running again. This time he goes into his room and comes out smiling and sure enough the phone starts to ring again. I go in and find my phone hidden with a dozen roses. Caleb is just beaming as big as can be and I look at him and ask, "do you want my phone again?" Hes says "yep" snatches my phone and takes off running. I hear the phone again and sure enough I find this huge bouquet hiding with my phone and a card from Caleb. It was very sweet and its nice to enjoy them today on a day that was just going to be a cleaning day before the busy weekend starts.

The best part is I can only imagine John giddy and calling and just dying on the other side of the phone!

Thank you sweet boys!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

To my dear wise friend (that I cant remember who you are)

Thank you!
Thank you!
Thank you!

For advising me to look at the ingredients to yogurt. I would have never guessed that some yogurt contains

Phenylalanine!


Monday, May 4, 2009

Anti-climatic

Today was Caleb dentist apt and he did great. I was really hoping for some funny theatrics but the laughing gas just made him very calm. It was great that they didn't have to use any anesthesia though and could just get it with the gas.

Caleb loves the dentist which is great but I'm feeling a little guilty about my mama manipulation. For example after our last apt I said something along the lines of:
"Wow you're so lucky you get to come back next week, they wont let me come back for 6 months!"
And then after his apt today when he did so good. I gave him 5 and told him:
"Wow they said you did so good that you can even come back next week!"
Caleb's response: "YES!" in a very Napoleon Dynamite sort of way.

I mean he loves the dentist so should I feel bad about such blatant manipulation of his childlike mind that cant comprehend that cavities are bad?

Probably, but I don't :)

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Caleb in car...

Caleb: "mom?"

Me: "what?"

Caleb: "I love you."

Caleb: "dad?"

John: "what?"

Caleb: "BLOCKED!"

(John and his friend Danny started saying "BLOCKED" during football season when someone messed up or they didn't make their play. We also use it in games when someone blocks you from making a good play. Its like saying, denied.)