Our busy Month.

In this email I am going to write about random stuff we did last month. Again, let me warn you, I will probably be long winded and boring. While I love to keep people posted, my principle reason for this blog is for my own benefit and for my kids... It is a much easier and more fun way for me to keep a journal. With that said, here goes...
The thing I am most thankful for in this last month is Jay. The beginning of this pregnancy was very difficult for me. I felt sick ALL OF THE TIME and barely wanted to get off the couch! Needless to say, my house looked pretty much unlivable by the end of those months. I have tried to get on top of things since then, but with little result. I get tired so easily and felt that it took me all day to do one project on top of all of the care my children need. So in the end, I never got on top of it all. Jay was my knight in shining armor once again! We bought several things to help us get organized once and for all. Then, he spent a weekend going through our entire house with me. He did all of the dirty work, like mopping and the bathroom stuff, not to mention LOTS of picking up and vacuuming. He helped me go through everything and get rid of a lot of it! I love going through things with Jay. I am more of a pack rat, and am prone to keep a lot more without his help. He helps me to prioritize and REALLY think about if we need things. And 99.9% of the time, I am not sorry later that I didn't keep something "just in case". So after a car load of DI stuff and a couple cans full of trash were hauled out of here it was looking AMAZING! We set up a routine and have been able to stick with it. So every night (almost :) I have the dishes done when I go to bed and Jay sweeps the kitchen and helps the boys pick up their toys and books. It feels so good to have order in our house! It is so much easier to keep up than to catch up. I feel so free to do things for myself and the boys without guilt of what I should be doing around the house. It is the best gift I have gotten possibly ever! It has improved my life so much. Thanks Jay, for always being there for me, and going the extra mile to take care of us.
As a result of this great change in our house, the boys and I had such a fun month! We played outside A Lot, because the weather was so pleasant. During the hotter months, I would always make them wait till evening, when our tree was shading the yard, and I would tell them it was too hot during the day. Every time we went outside this month, Jayden excitedly exclaimed "It's not too hot!" They LOVE to play in the dirt and get covered in it! We have "garden" areas in our front yard. They are mostly empty, so I let them dig in them, and this year they got a sandbox that they love as well. They also like to ride their bikes, run around the lawn and throw the ball at mommy. Jayden loves to jump off our front step too. It is so cute! He loves to discover new things he knows how to do and his only frustration seems to come when he can't do something himself yet. He is very independent. He wants to be able to do everything!(without help of course) Yesterday, on one of the tv shows he was watching, they were hopping on one foot. He was so upset that he couldn't do it too and kept trying until he felt he had done it.(he held on to the couch :)
Some other fun activities we have done a lot this month were painting, coloring with sidewalk chalk, and bubbles. And thanks to grandpa Turpin, they got their first experience with play dough too! Jayden loves to color with crayons, but Ethan has an easier time with paints so we do that more often. When he gets tired of his brush he can just use his fingers, and he really likes that. They didn't know what to do with the play dough at first, but after I showed them that they could make snakes and roll it into a ball, they started getting into it. Jayden broke one of his "snakes" and was very upset about it, but I showed him how he could mush it all together and start over, then his creativity took off. He made these three "robots" all by himself! (I called them monsters and he corrected me) I made the eyes and mouths for him, but he put them on too. Then, we made an optimus prime truck (I made the truck, Jayden made the trailer), and many other creations, we played for hours. Of course, Ethan had to have a hat, we'll go more into that later...
Jayden's red letter moment was that he conquered his thumb habit! We went to the dentist last month and he said that he could already see the effects of his thumb and suggested we give him a roll of quarters and make him give us one every time he sucked his thumb. I don't know about your kids, but Jayden hasn't any interest in money yet... So we decided to try toys instead. We made a little sticker chart, he could earn a certain number of stickers based on how well he did each day. Then he got toys at certain intervals. This worked for about a week, but he had a hard time sticking with it and eventually decided he wanted his thumb more than the toys. Everything I read said you need to wait till they are ready and then help them set a goal. Most of them said to wait till they are five and explain why it is important and they will want to stop. I was a thumb sucker and my mom told me all of the reasons to stop. I didn't decide to till I was 9 or so. All of her predictions came true, but as a child I didn't care enough to stop. Because of my own experience, I decided to take things into my own hands. I researched on the internet to find the best reviewed "yucky stuff" to put on his thumb.
Fourteen bucks and a couple of days later, and it came in the mail. I immediately put it on his thumb and spent the whole afternoon wondering if I had made a mistake. He came to me the first time with his mouth wide open going "ahhh, ahhh" I suppose that was meant to mean, "my mouth tastes yucky, get me a drink please". He took drinks of water and then spit them back out trying to get rid of the taste. That didn't seem so bad, but when it was repeated 10 or 15 times I started to worry a little. He drank a lot of water that first day, but by day 2 he only put it in his mouth a three or four times and after that he was cured! We have continued to use it, just to make sure the habit sticks, but I would recommend it to anyone!!! It is just a nail polish you put on every couple of days (Mavala stop). He was so excited when he earned all of his stickers each day. And he earned his toys in no time! Now he proudly tells everyone that he doesn't suck his thumb anymore and that he's a big boy.
Of course I have to include some of the funny things he said this month... Getting him to eat is probably our biggest current challenge with Jayden. That is why this one was funny to us. He is always telling us he is full or that he doesn't want to eat his dinner. We were going to eat Sunday dinner at a birthday party for Jay's brother Felipe. Laura and Dalton are staying with us and had made their dinner and were just sitting down to eat as we prepared to leave. Jayden must have been hungry for once because he totally threw a fit. We told him we were going to eat at Felipe's party. He screamed through his tears: "I don't want to go to Felipe's, I want to eat my DINNER!"
He sometimes likes to be tickled, but half of the time he doesn't like it. One day while waiting for Jay to leave work, I was playing with them in the car. I was just reaching back and tickling them. Of course, Ethan loved it, but Jayden said, in such a polite voice. "Babies like tickles, big boys don't", and then later as I continued to tickle Ethan "Ethan likes it, I don't." Another day I touched his back for some reason and he turned to me and said in a stern voice "tickle my back again, and you'll be in trouble". On another day when Jay was playing with him, he put his foot on his tummy to tickle him. Jayden said "Step on me again and you'll be in big trouble!" I never get tired of these sweet boys. Everything they do delights me and they bring endless joy into our lives.
Ethan's greatest enjoyment comes from Hats, glasses, and cars, and more recently "wobos"(robots). He has used any number of things for a hat: his bowl or apple sauce cup after eating everything out of them, cooking pots of all sizes from small to large (it's still a hat, even if it covers his whole body!), a pop up folding hamper, plates, blankets, sand pails, you name it. He of course likes his transformer baseball hats or any hat he can find (even if someone else is wearing it, like uncle Steve). In fact, he turned a basket at aunt crystal's into a hat and now she hates it because her little Coda uses it as a hat too and gets stuck in it. Ethan's favorite is probably his orange hard hat. He is talking so well now and I am amazed how much I understand of what he says. It seems like there is a stage where you can't understand any of their jabbering. Then all of the sudden you realize that you know exactly what they said and it makes your heart leap. There is nothing like that feeling! In fact, now I understand most of his conversation, if not the first time, then after he repeats it. And He is so patient with his mommy! He calmly says phrases over and over sometimes until I get it. Those are special moments too, because the look on his face when I understand is so triumphant and so precious. I have to include some of his funny quotes too. For a while when we would ask his what his name is he would say "I'm venom."(the spiderman character) He also surprises me with the colors he knows, he will say he has a blue or red car, and the other day he had a red transformer robot and he said "red bumblebee" actually it was more like "re bublbee". I guess they have no hope of being anything but transformer fans with their father. I don't mind, they have so much fun together.
Kids just do the cutest things! I just wish I could tape all of the things they say and do, you know like on a surveillance camera or something. Even just the way they say things, or the cute faces they make communicate so much more than the words. I hope I never forget. I guess I'll just enjoy the moments now, and take in all I can. Then, I'll and hope my memory is perfected in the hereafter because it sure isn't now!

This is just a little side note, check out the hands on this boy! He is only three! I am hoping to get a picture of his hand next to his friend Zack. Zach is six months older than him, but his hands look TINY in comparison. Does that mean he'll be tall? Jay hopes so, he'd love anything that increases his chances to be a good bball player :)

Two trips to Logan

On the weekend after the fair, we trekked up to Logan to spend a day with Jay's friend John and his family. The boys had lots of fun playing with their girls and we got to catch up with our friends. My favorite part of the day was at this pizza place that had a pool table and some arcade games. Ethan loves driving "cars" so much that he was happy to spend all of his time on this game with a steering wheel. We didn't even have to put money in it! :) Jayden and daddy played a shooting game together. Jayden loves to be a big boy and do what daddy is doing. We watched a movie and got home pretty late that night.
Ginger had planned a trip to Logan the following weekend. Jay had already agreed to help his dad with a bathroom upgrade project so he couldn't go. He spent his Saturday with a jack hammer, pounding out cement in both of his Dad's duplex apartments and his basement. They are going to put bathrooms in all of them. When he finally got home, his hair and clothes were completely grey with dust. (And that was after they tried to brush it all off!) He left before I did in the morning and got home after so the poor guy was REALLY tired.
I decided to go with the rest of the family on their trek to Logan. When we went last weekend, we didn't do any of our favorite things to do up there. The day seemed fated to be a disaster. From the beginning, nothing seemed to be going right. First, Ginger ended up not going. We had all planned to accompany her, and we were so excited to go, Me, Crystal, and Mom went anyway. Me and the kids rode with mom and paige and Crystal took her kids and David. We got to Maddox without too much problem, and were mostly through with dinner when Jayden decided he wanted to get down because "I'm done!" I tried to explain to him that at restaurants, we stay in our seats until time to leave, but he threw a HUGE tantrum. Screaming "I'm done! many MANY times and crying at his top volume. I first tried the ignore him and hope he stops method, but I grew more embarrassed by the minute as he drew more and more stares in our direction. I finally dragged him screaming through the ENTIRE restaurant so that everyone else could enjoy his bad behavior. My face, I am sure was purple in sheer mortification. We finally reached the bathroom where I locked him in a stall with me until he calmed down. It seemed like forever, and I could hear that people were commenting on him, but luckily his screaming kept me from hearing precisely what they said. He finally got back rational thinking and I explained that we could leave the bathroom if he agreed to quietly sit in his chair until time to go. I went back and tried to finish my dessert and pack up, still filled with embarrassment every time I saw those who witnessed my bad parenting skills :) I felt limp and tired walking out of the restaurant. My arms were shaking holding Ethan and I felt that I could barely make the trip to the car. At that moment I wondered what the heck I was thinking, taking a trek like this pregnant without my husband to help me. In hindsight, their melt in your mouth rolls and amazing peach pie made it all worthwhile. Mmmm, I want some more right now. :) Sad that my stomach has so much control over my motivations huh?
I was happy for the time in the car on the way to Logan. By the time we got to the Zoo I felt pretty renewed. Of course, I forgot to bring a stroller so I had to carry Ethan through it. Luckily, it is pretty small and Crystal helped me carry him so it wasn't too bad. When we got to the cheese factory, they were out of their cheese curds. This may seem like a stupid thing to be disappointed about, but it is the main reason we came to logan so we were a little sad. We sat and ate ice cream and Jayden finished his whole cone for the first time.
The cherry on top of the trip was in Logan canyon on the ride home. Jayden started crying and after some coaxing admitted he needed to go potty. We pulled over and I made him pee at the side of the road. It was as I pulled his pants up that I noticed the reason he had been crying. Apparently, he had a little diahrrea problem and had pooped in his pants. It wasn't a whole lot but because he had been sitting tied down in his car seat, it went up his back and on his shirt. So I dragged him further away from the road and proceeded to strip him in front of the hundreds of people driving by. I cleaned him up as good as I could with wipes but didn't have a spare outfit for him. So I put one of ethan's diapers on him and he rode the rest of the way home in a diaper and socks. It would seem that I would want to forget a day like that right? But we really did have a lot of fun, and in spite of my tiredness by the end, I was not sorry I went. I guess day's like that give us lots to laugh about later. I'm already chuckling a little today writing this, and I've only had a week to recover! :)

The State Fair

These are the only pics we got that day. My camera battery was dying (as usual!) and so we just took these before we left. BTW, Jayden was the permanent marker artist who colored my sheet :)


We have had so much going on this month! And as always, when life is busiest, I don't take enough time to write about it... So here goes. Our first fun weekend activity was the State fair. We took Jayden for the first time last year. He had so much fun we decided it had to be a new tradition for us. The first thing we found was a candy booth that sold old fashioned rock candy suckers. They kept the boys happy for the whole day. (except when we had to take them away during our trek through all of the animal barns. Ethan WAS NOT happy about that!) He forgot his anger though once he saw the cows. He really seemed to like all of the animals, probably more than Jayden did.


Jayden is in a stage where he has realized that some animals aren't nice and so he is a little leary of all of them. In fact, he completely flips out if he is in close contact with a cat or our neighbors feeble three legged dog. She came in our yard while we were playing outside a few weeks ago. He started crying with terrible panic, ran in the house and wouldn't come out until she was COMPLETELY out of the yard. It is so weird that Jayden didn't want her around. He has always loved her and used to run up to the fence connecting our yards to talk to her all the time! And she really is a helpless dog...and sweet too. She is so old she can barely hobble along on her three legs. We had some conflict that day, because Ethan LOVES animals and was equally distraught when we took her out of the yard. So Jayden had to hang out in the house for a while so he could have a little time with her. Ethan is so gentle when he pets animals it is adorable! He barely touches their fur and says "ooohhhh" in this tender little voice. He even does that when we are reading a book that has a bunny or a puppy in it :).


Back to the fair...Jayden was happy to see the animals, he just didn't want to get too close. Ethan on the other hand extended his little pointer finger and reached out trying to touch any animal close enough to reach. I was a little worried, because the way his finger was extended, I feared the animals would think he was offering it to them! In fact, I held him back in the barns with the roosters and the bunnys :) I think Jayden liked the rides best. He and daddy rode a few rides, and just like Lagoon, he happily marched from ride to ride, choosing which ones he wanted. Ethan was happier watching with his sucker. We made him ride this tame little train that just went in a circle. Jay even held him on his lap, but he was not happy. So we decided not to torture him... I guess he is more like mommy, at least for now. He didn't even want to be close at all. We parked by this little kids roller coaster to watch Jayden and daddy ride it, and every time it would come near us, his eyes would get huge and he would start shaking like a leaf! I don't know if it was the noise, that it was a snake or if he thought it was going to run him over, but his behavior scared me. He didn't even cry, it was like he was too scared to... I had to back up for fear he would have some kind of a seizure.


The one activity they both liked was a little exhibit called little hands on the farm. They got to put on aprons and pretend to plant a seed, pick an apple, drive a tractor, etc... Then at the end they "sold" all of their products from the farm to a grocery store and got a "dollar" to exchange for a treat :) We had a great time and can't wait till next year!

Jayden's newest excuse

We have been trying to cure Jayden of his thumb sucking habit. Each day he can earn up to three stickers depending on how well he is doing at his "goal" When he gets a certain number of stickers, he gets some toys he picked out. He is usually on board, but some days he still wants his thumb. We remind him a lot, not to suck his thumb and on Saturday, he said "I'm not sucking my thumb, I'm eating my fingers"

Jay and the Boys

Jay and the boys are wrestling on the bed and I was just thinking how lucky I am. I love to see them play. Both of the boys love to attack daddy and climb all over him. Ethan is laughing his head off while Jay attacks him and then when he turns to Jayden Ethan says "Gain". Again is his favorite word. At night we sing songs at bed time and he always says "gain" over and over between verses and songs. He is really funny about it because we sing the last verse of Old McDonald differently than the rest so he knows its the end. He immediately goes from jumping on his matress and squealing in delighted laughter, to disappointed crying. They are so much fun! I had a hard day yesterday and was really tired by bed time. I made Jayden go to bed and he was really sad. Finally Jay and I went back in his room to comfort him and he was melting my heart. I laid there by him for a minute and he kept putting his arms around my neck and saying "cuddle me" in this pathetic little voice. (It was so sweet, I just couldn't leave him). He finally calmed down and when I told him I needed to go to bed he asked for his dinosaur, and his dinosaur cup. Then when I got back he said cuddle me again but it was in this funny growling authoritative voice. He cracks me up.

New Callings

(Just a warning, this is a journal entry, if you are easily bored, you don't have to read it!)
I forgot to update about our new church activities. Our stake has had a crazy couple of months. Just after our entire stake was reorganized, my bishop got a job in Cedar City and had to be released. We were all very sad because his family is amazing. I personally feel the loss because I taught their son in primary, and their daughter in Young women's. Not to mention Vicki Nielsen was my visiting teacher, and a member of the YW presidency with me. They all set such a great example and I hope our ward can survive without them!
We got a wonderful new bishop who had to hit the ground running. He immediately had to call a new primary and Young Men's presidency. I got called into the primary and Jay into young men's. I was released from yw's only a few months ago and have been teaching in primary. I have LOVED that, Book of Mormon is my favorite book to teach! But I am excited for the new challenge.
I am even more thrilled for Jay. He has been in scouting, and he hated it. (Sorry scouting lovers, he just never liked it as a boy and so he was never involved in it, and he had no idea what to do.) But he loved working with the boys. So this time he gets work with the youth without doing as much of the scout stuff. I haven't seen him so eager about a new calling in a long time.
I love the opportunities we get to serve and learn. I'll admit, I have done my share of complaining about my callings. I spent the first ten years of my adult life determined to avoid primary. Of course, it seemed that I ALWAYS got called into those callings and couldn't escape them even if I attended a singles ward. I was convinced that I would be forgotten and spend my entire life in that calling... But eventually, I gained an appreciation for primary and a love for the children and the blessings of being a part of that program. Just as I finally learned to love primary and decided I wouldn't mind if I was left there my whole life, I was called into Young Women's.
This was a suprisingly difficult transition for me. I always thought that it would be my dream calling. But I was startled to find out that it was very demanding, both physically and emotionally. It required tons of time, and often I felt that no one appreciated my efforts. In fact, it was extremely upsetting to have constant complaints about an activity that you spent hours of time and weeks of effort planning. (They are teenagers after all!) That said though, I had a wonderful group of girls and was able to find my groove eventually. I loved that calling and was heartbroken when I was released.
I was called back into primary to teach several kids I have taught before (one is probably my favorite I have EVER taught). And it is a book of mormon year (MY FAVORITE!). So in spite of my sadness, I was excited too. And I was able to spend a lot of time studying which was such a boost for me. I am SOOO bad at setting priorities and organizing my life. At times when I put my gospel studies first, everything just goes so much better. I have learned this lesson so many times, but somehow, I still slip, and have to relearn it again. Needless to say, it was very rewarding teaching that class, I know it was just what I needed right then.
I guess what I am trying to say, with this long story, is that I have finally learned that the Lord is aware of me even in my callings. I often thought I was in primary because no one else would accept the call, and they just had to find someone who would do it. I know our service is the church is important to move the work of the Lord forward and help his children. But what I have learned is that the Lord knows us so well, and he knows just what we need.
I have always believed this about the path my life has taken. I have often said that I am so grateful that the Lord didn't give me what I wanted at any given time. Because the life he has blessed me with is so much greater than what I sought out for myself. I have only recently realized that the same is true for the service we are assigned to give in his kingdom. The Lord has miraculously engineered even the smallest things to give us what we need. We aren't just dropped into random callings that will not help us.
Service brings AMAZING people into our lives that change us and make us better. It gives us an opportunity to realize where we are weak and need to improve. We can contribute in a way no other person can. Each assignment can help us grow to reach the potential that only our Father knows we have.
I am thankful for my callings, and the dear friends that have come into my life as a result of them. I am thankful for the strength they give me that helps me in my personal life. I am thankful to know that our Father is aware of our every trial big and small. I am thankful that he helps us to endure, and overcome and find true joy in our lives. I am thankful for the comforting, peaceful feelings of the spirit. And I am thankful for the assurance that the Church of Jesus Christ is directed by him. That we don't need to worry about the future, we just need to strive to follow Him. That he will prepare us and give us the strength to continue to endure and eventually return to him. My greatest hope, is that my whole family will all be able to be united in the celestial kingdom. I hope I can teach my children the importance of obedience, the blessing of devotion, the joy in serving the Lord. I don't care about anything more than to be able to see them make good choices. In fact, my greatest fear is that they won't. But I guess even in that, I just have to do my best and leave it in His hands right?

Ethan's little mishap

This morning we were leaving for church when Ethan had a little accident. We don't know exactly how it happened, but he ended up face down on the cement next to our front stair. He was in so much pain he just laid there and Jay came to rescue him. The poor little kid! His lip and nose were scraped and his front teeth went into his top lip. Jayden said "there's blood everywhere!" These pictures don't do him justice because the swelling has gone down. His top lip was HUGE this morning. We cleaned him up and decided maybe it was best to keep him home. Ethan was not okay with this plan and immediately and loudly protested that we needed to go bye bye. So we gave him some tylenol and went to church anyway. He looked very pathetic, but he was so happy to get to go to nursery. He always gets so excited and chants "church" when we are getting ready to go on Sundays. He seems much better tonight.

Jayden is constantly delighting us with the cute things he says, and tonight he had a genius plan for staying awake. He said he needed to go potty. Jay took him in there and when it was clear that he didn't really need to go, daddy told him he was done and needed to go to bed. In another attempt to put off bed time, Jayden leaned against the bathroom wall and said "wipe my bum" Jay told him he didn't go poop so he needed to just go to bed. He walked in his room and said "man, this stinks" and repeated "this stinks" a couple more times in his bed. They learn early huh?