The Latest and Greatest from Sam

Oh Sammy Boy, you hilarious little 20 monther!  So, he's got a bit of an electronics obsession.  He has the iphone pretty much figured out before age 2.  At this rate, he may have a future at NASA.  Just try and take that phone from him, I dare you.  The terrible 2's have begun early, hopefully that means they end early.

Thankfully the weather has been nice because this kid wants to be outside always.  He has one thing on his mind when he's outside......animals.  He knows where to find the nearest dog or horse and will do anything to get to them.

Good thing this random dog was a nice one because Sam had no problem sticking his entire arm through the fence to pet him.

Back to the electronic obsession...Sam found a sweet video on You Tube the other day.  It had all the boys attention.  Nice job Sam.  He loves hanging with the big boys.

He is my first kid to contract Pink Eye.  Such a lovely thing to have going around our house.  Poor Max was the only one he shared the germs with.

With the sports seasons in full swing, Lennon has been hanging out with us quite a bit so her parents can watch Colby and Dyson.  Sam shared his passion for books with her.

He also insists on getting in the tub with her while she's here.

How Randy can concentrate with this commotion going on in his back swing is beyond me.

Here is another picture illustrating Sam's love for books.  He also really loves his grandparents.  He's definitely my most affectionate child at this age.

We had a minor mishap earlier in the week.  I was frantically trying to get Hank ready for baseball pictures and Sam was playing in the garbage, not too uncommon.  He found a black bean can with the lid still partially attached and sliced open his finger.  With the amount of blood coming out, I decided to take him to the Instacare to make sure he didn't need stitches.  Luckily the cut wasn't deep enough to need stitches.  Phew.  Never a dull moment around here.

I was amazed the other day when I found Sam in his crib, post-nap, with this extreme case of bed head.  

He is doing some hard core sleeping and eating these days which means he is a healthy growing boy.  I can't believe how much he is starting to talk lately.  His little personality is coming out and I can already tell he's going to be the comedian in the family.  He will do anything for a laugh.  I have remind myself every day to be present and enjoy the stage he's in because if I don't, it will be over before I know it.  

It's Time To Celebrate! Happy Birthday to Me and Happy Mother's Day!

May is flying by and I'm slacking on the blogging front.  I have so much to document and so little time!  My birthday was celebrated for a solid 7 days only to be followed by some serious spoiling on Mother's Day.  If I have one word to describe my 33rd year it's grateful.  I truly am.  I have so much to be thankful for so instead of dwelling on the fact I'm another year older, I will focus on the abundance of love I feel surrounding me.  With each passing year I feel even more grateful for the things I took for granted in my earlier years.  For example, my health.  At 33, I'm proud to say I'm in the best shape of my life.  I have to be to keep up with Randy and my 3 boys.  I am so grateful for a healthy body and mind.

I am eternally grateful to my mom and dad.  There constant love, support, and acceptance my entire life has made me the woman I am today.

My mom provided a beautiful birthday lunch, like only she can.  Sarah, Kate, and my dad joined us.

Max, Jack, Sam and Tucker also joined us.

The evening of my birthday was spent at the ballpark watching Hank.  My mom watched Max and Sam and my dad and I braved the cold temps.  It was so fun hanging out with my dad.

My sisters are my best friends and I am grateful for that.  I am grateful for the example they are to me.  We enjoyed an afternoon of shopping and a delicious dinner the Saturday following my birthday.  

Randy spoiled me as usual.  He planned a much needed night away.  Jeri very kindly watched the kids so I had nothing to worry about.  Randy and I spent the afternoon shopping at City Creek and I must say Randy was the perfect shopping companion.  The ladies at Nordstrom were amazed by him.  He truly is the best.  We checked into Hotel Monaco and had a delicious dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Salt Lake, Eva. We spent the rest of the night hanging out with some of our favorite friends, Michele and Elizabeth.  

The day following my birthday we celebrated my dad's 60th birthday.  Another party...yes please, especially if it includes these amazing people.  I really hope and pray when I turn 60, I still have both of my parents at my side.  I come from a pretty amazing gene pool.  My dad is one in a million.  He is hilarious, irreverent, kind, sensitive, hard working, contemplative, passionate, and I know he would do anything for me.  I just love his mug so much. 

With each passing year I becoming increasingly aware of just how short our time on earth is.  I feel such a sense of urgency to make the most of every day.  I've set some goals for myself, most of them are repeats from years past.  I really want to push myself physically to a level I've never reached.  I want to get out of my comfort zone and try things that make me uncomfortable.  For example, riding a road bike in a race.

I reconnected with Michele and Mindy a few months ago and we picked up right where we left off.  Michele persuaded me to bike the Salt Lake Marathon a few weeks ago.  Biking has always been something I've been interested in, but I've never had the courage to try.  

I'm proud to say I did it!  We met at 4:30 a.m., and rode Trax to the starting line.  We pushed through the freezing rain and wind and ending up having a great time.  Experiences like that need to happen more.  

Maintaining and nurturing new and old friendships is also something I'm really working on.  I have some incredible people surrounding me.  My neighbor and friend Natalie is one of those new friendships I really cherish.  She is expecting her first baby in July, so I threw her a baby shower last weekend.

It was perfect timing for a baby shower since it came the day before Mother's Day.  Natalie is going to be an amazing mom, I just know it.  I'm so excited for her and Issac. 

Randy and the boys surprised me with cute golfing clothes for Mother's Day.  My mom hosted a Mother's Day breakfast that morning.  

Randy, Brett, Dan, and my dad took their cooking tasks seriously.  Randy really didn't want to get his new white shirt dirty.  That's how a man wears an apron!

The fact that these 3 boys are mine still blows my mind.  It's my greatest accomplishment.  I know these boys have my back, and that is a pretty awesome thing.  I love them so much.

How gorgeous are my mom and sisters?  I know any failures I have as a mom will be balanced out by these incredible women.  They do so much for me and my children, I just couldn't survive without them.

The only thing missing from this picture is my Grandma Joanne.  I think about her every day.  I'm so grateful to still have Grandma Yvonna in my life. Our monthly Bunco parties are something I look forward to all month.  After a relaxing morning at my mom's we came home and Randy played with the boys while I took a two hour nap.  That may have been my favorite gift ever!  Later that night we had dinner at Jeri's.

Here is yet another example of how to be a fantastic mom.  Jeri is like a second mom to me. I am forever grateful to her for raising such an outstanding son. I'm so grateful she is nearing the end of her breast cancer treatments.

This picture captures the chaos that is my life right now.  Most days I would kill for some peace and quiet or a nap but I know these are the years I'm going to cherish the most.  I constantly remind myself to be present and in the moment.  I try not to get bogged down by things that don't really matter, like my pillows constantly on the floor, the kids jumping on the couch or leaving their shoes and socks everywhere.  I'm not very good at it but I'm trying.  I have an amazing life and I don't want a day to go by where I don't express my gratitude.  I felt so much love over the course of my birthday and mother's day.  I need to make sure I give out that much love or more in return.  

Spring Sports

Spring is here and that means spring ball is going full force.  Between Hank and Max, we either have games or practice every day of the week.  Hank is playing Little League this year and it's been so much fun to watch.  He is on his best friend Dallin's team and Jason and Randy are coaching.  

I can't believe how much Hank has improved since his first game.  His confidence in the batting box has improved the most.  He may be the youngest on the team, but that hasn't hindered him one bit.  There is nothing cuter than a little boy in baseball gear, seriously.  I am so excited I have 3 boys to watch play baseball.  I love watching my dad at the games.  He hasn't missed one.  He didn't experience watching boys play ball when we were growing up so I'm glad I gave him some grandsons to watch! 

Max and Team Snakes are off to a great start this season.  Max is really getting more aggressive and his left footed kick always takes his defenders by surprise.  

  

He never gives up and always tries his hardest, especially when he has a cheering section.  My kids really have the most supportive grandparents ever.  As soon as the soccer season is done, he starts T-Ball.  Can't wait!

I'm not going to pretend Hank and Max never fight but it seems like lately, they are getting along more than they usually do.  They don't seem quite so far apart in age.  No one can make Max giggle like Hank can.  When they are nice to each other, it truly is a beautiful thing.  I love to see them supporting each other at their games.

The following pictures don't have much to do with sports but oh well.

Hank recently conquered his fear of heights and climbed to the top of the ropes course at Neptune Park.  I, on the other hand, have not conquered my fear of heights.  I really couldn't watch him climb to the top.  Max got stuck and needed help getting down.  I about peed my pants climbing up there to get him down.

On the topic of conquering fears, Hank went to a fun birthday party for one of our neighbors where they had all kinds of creepy crawly animals.

His face captures his fear perfectly.  Let's just say we won't be getting a pet lizard anytime soon!

Look at all these boys!  Almost every single one lives in our neighborhood and has a little brother Max's age.   With the nicer weather and the end of the school year approaching, I expect to see all of these rats on a regular basis.  

Family Time

Life has been crazy busy around here and even though I'm with my kids most of the time, we were in need of some quality family bonding.  My kids are at such fun ages to do things.  I mean Sam isn't really at an ideal age but he goes along with us anyway.  As soon as Randy got home from work we headed to a pizza joint in Salt Lake.

This isn't the best picture but it demonstrates a typical seating arrangement at dinner.  All the boys fight to see who can sit closest to Randy and then there's me, sitting by myself on the other side of the table.  It's fine, sniff sniff.

Sam got a sweet surprise when he tried Max's sprite.  He would not take the straw out of his mouth.  At least it kept him entertained for 5 minutes.  

Our next stop was the bowling alley.  We played in the arcade first and then got our bowl on.  Lucky for us, it was cosmic bowling night.

It didn't make for the clearest pictures but I've never seen Hank and Max get along so well.

Max and Randy teamed up against Hank and I and barely beat us.

Hank kept Sam entertained when it wasn't his turn.

Sam mostly wanted to cuddle with me, which I don't mind in the least.  He was getting tired so he just needed his mommy.  The kids were ready for bed when we got home and the last thing Max said before he went to bed was, "That was the best day of my life!".  Mission accomplished.

The next day we decided to brave the 40 degree temperatures and take the troops golfing.  Taking 3 small children golfing is totally relaxing, haha!

I love his picture with all my heart.  These boys are all mine!  Hank is really shaping up to be a great little golfer and Max isn't far behind.  

Sam on the other hand, should never hold a golf club.  It's truly a miracle someone didn't end up with a club to the forehead.  

We really had such a fun weekend together.  I cherish these moments with my little family so much.  As crazy as it gets at times, I wouldn't want it any other way.

Spring Break

We had a pretty laid back Spring Break this year.  It felt nice to be home and relax after a crazy couple of weeks, plus the weather wasn't all that great to do anything anyway.  The boys had haircuts early in the week and Hank had an idea for his hair....

A full on Mohawk was never the plan, however due to some miscommunication between Hank, Weston, and I combined with me chasing Sam all over the salon, that's what we got.  I really felt sick when I realized what had happened.  After an initial freak out, I realized Hank's hair grows insanely fast and it will be back to normal before any time at all.  It is just hair after all and Hank can rock any look.

Towards the end of Spring Break I was feeling like I needed to do something fun with the kids.  Lucky for me, Jenni called with just the adventure we needed.  It was highly ambitious considering we both have one year old babies but we pressed on anyway.

First stop was a ride on Frontrunner up to Salt Lake.  After missing the first train because we forgot Max's glasses and spilling Chick-fil-A everywhere (Dyson), we were ready to have a good time.  

I mean, who doesn't like a train ride? 

As long as Lennon and Sam had their beverages, they were happy.

Max didn't want to be bothered by the mamarazzi, sorry buddy!

These four giggled the entire ride.

Once we were in Salt Lake, we headed to the Planetarium   The only problem with flying by the seat of your pants is you tend to miss show times.   

The laser show would've been cool but we missed it by 15 minutes.  We decided  to walk across the street to the Children's Museum next.

I have no clue what everyone else did after that because I was chasing this crazy man everywhere.  

He was perfectly content putting  balls in these little holes but I had to introduce him to the water, big mistake.

It started innocent enough with a little splashing but then he found the cups.

He insisted on trying to drink the nasty water probably a thousand dirty kids had their hands in.  I swatted the cup out of his hands in disgust.  The poor patrons then witnessed the most high pitched scream they'd ever heard.  Sam can shatter glass with his screaming, I'm convinced.  That put an end to our little museum experience.

Jenni and I deserve a medal for our noble attempt at finding something fun to do with our kids.

(The kid on the left is Dyson's friend Ben.)

It's days like this, memories are made.  I'm so glad she invited us.  We are always up for an adventure!

I love my crazy boys.