One more Ethan funny

This weekend, Jay had a sleep over with the boys while I took a little overnight vacation with some of the girls in my family.  They watched a cartoon zombie movie and Ethan really liked the monsters.  Jay asked him to tell his uncle Carl what the zombies said and he said "GRRRAAAPES."  Then the next day Jay was joking with him about it again and he said "Monster, don't take my grapes."

Funny Stories

I keep meaning to update my blog, but I never do!! I really don't want to forget these stories so here I go. These first two both happened in the past week, and thanks Jay for letting me embarrass you by writing them. :) I have to record his rare gaffes because I am usually the airhead of this relationship.
I was up really late last week and heard Jayden crying. Jay got up and helped him, but he continued to cry. I went upstairs and he was pathetically repeating "itcheeeeee, itcheeee". He had an itchy bum a couple months ago and we forced him to let us put some cornstarch on it to soothe it. He said that daddy had done that again, but it was still itching. I figured the only answer was to give him a 1am bath. That immediately solved the problem and he went to bed a much happier boy. The next day I kept wondering where Jay found corn starch to use because I thought we were out. I finally asked him, because I couldn't find it. He assured me we did and I asked where he found it. He thought for a second and said he actually used baking powder..."they're all the same right?" I tried to control my chuckles...a little, and said, "um no, honey, I think baking powder is an acid"
The second one was only a few days ago. Jay ran into Walmart to get a few things while the rest of us waited in the car. He LOVES Halloween and when he came back out he had a "special treat" for the boys. He bought each of them a realistic looking gummy finger with a harder candy in the middle simulating a bone. They looked really disgusting and when he tried to get Jayden to eat it he was as adamant as I have ever seen him. In sheer horror and disgust he screamed "No! I won't eat it!!" Somehow Jay bribed him into taking a bite. He chewed it for a second and then hurled ALL OVER himself, his car seat, and even the seat of the car. He was so revolted, that he kept heaving over and over. Jay took a bite and then threw the rest of it away. I teased him for wasting it and he admitted it was a little disturbing chewing it with the gummy texture on top of the harder texture.

Here's a couple of funny or cute things the boys have said over the past couple months: Ethan was eating cereal for breakfast when he noticed a bag of pretzels on the table. An argument ensued: "I want pretzels" "You have to eat your cereal first" repeated a few times till he finally said: "I'm scared of the cereal!"
He greeted Kayleigh one morning by saying "Hi beautiful!"
Last week he told me a funny story about a chicken and said "The chicken tickled my tummy. That's a funny chicken!"
One funny for Jayden. He likes to spank people for some reason, and one day he spanked Jay on his way into the shower when he wasn't clothed... Then he said "now my hand needs a shower"
Jayden was riding with Jay when he apparently did something he shouldn't. Jayden said: "Don't do that again. Daddy, you need to make better choices."
Another day he told me "Don't give up. You're a Mommy. Mommies don't give up." (Watch out, I see a career as a motivational speaker in his future! :) They do amaze me though. I feel like a very lucky mommy and wife.

Jayden and Ethan funny stories

Jay and Jayden rode the tracks to SL yesterday for some fun father son time. (Ethan wanted to go to the mall with me instead. He was supposed to go with Jay, but insisted "I need to go in the VAN!" Jay pulled up beside the van while I gathered a couple of things and Ethan screamed at him to "Drive!" We had lots of fun looking at the stores. He loved the dogs at build a bear and was so happy when I bought him a Sweet's sucker.)
Jayden picked the activity for he and Jay, he wanted to ride on the bus and the train. Daddy compromised by taking him on the tracks up to temple square. On their way home they were trying to find a quizno's after finding one closed down, and this conversation ensued...
Jayden: Grrrr grumble GRRR!
Jay: What?
Jayden:I didn't say anything, did you say something tummy?
Jayden (In Low growling voice): I want chicken nuggets and pop shake!
Jayden looking at his tummy: I think daddy wants a ham sandwich
Jayden(growly voice again): I want chicken nuggets and pop shake!
Jayden looking down at his tummy again: I don't know, I'll have to ask daddy...
Jay: So you want chicken nuggets and pop shake?
Jayden: No, but that's what my tummy wants.

Then at the park later that night he was flirting with and hugging an eight year old little girl named Yolanda. When it was time to go he said "bye Ca Ca" She looked at him funny and Jay said "that's not very nice, that means poo poo" His face was immediately distraught and his eyes filled with tears. He gave her a hug and cried and said he was sorry over and over. Later they were relating the story to me and Jayden said: "I was so sad, it broke my heart" (He's such a darling boy!)

Another couple of stories from recently is one day I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. He said: "Ummmm....maybe a firefighter.... or a farmer. He also said he was going to marry me and Ethan would be his kid... (cute boy) He also said to Jay "some dogs are bad and some dogs are good" "Some people have bad jokes, I have good jokes"
One final Jayden story: One day I was making dinner and I had just put the raw ground beef into a pan. Jayden: "That looks disgusting! Is that poo?" Me: "No, It's hamburger" Jayden: "MMM...I love hamburger!"

Ethan is still our little hat loving man and is so sweet! He always gives big hugs and says "I love you, daddy!" (Jay shared this one, he said Ethan will get up in the morning and lay on his tummy and say that) He is so fun in the morning. He almost always gets up before Jayden, and he is so happy to spend those few minutes alone with us. He gets a big smile on his face and runs up to give me a hug. He is getting so good at walking and running and his run is cute! He usually runs a little crooked, and unfortunately he has knocked his head several times because of it, running into things. He is very brave though, he just says matter of factly that he's got an owie. One of his owie's was my fault because I was walking in to church holding his hand and he trusted me to lead him on a clear path. (not a good idea...) I let him walk head on into a van. Poor kid just backed up and kept on walking.
He speaks so well!! He is speaking so clear and in long sentences and says the cutest things! The other day I was driving home from Laura's and amazingly he was awake, and Jayden was asleep. I came home and told Jay, but I feel so bad I didn't write down the particulars! Now I can't remember the exact things he said. He talked to me for half the ride home, about monsters, and what they say and do...it was so adorable.
A funny hat story is that he still loves a knight hat he got for his birthday last year. He always pulls the mask over his face and the bigger he gets the tighter it gets. He got a scrape on his chin somehow and EVERY DAY the scab got ripped off and it bled everywhere. I was getting so frustrated, because I assumed he just wouldn't stop picking at it. It seemed like it would never heal and I was worried about it getting infected or scarring. I finally found the culprit. He put that hat on in front of me and I watched it rip the scab off. I couldn't believe I hadn't realized it before! Well, I put it up for about a week( MUCH to his displeasure) and that silly scrape finally healed!!
One more about Ethan...He fell off Jayden's bike a few weeks ago and when Jay got outside he panicked for a minute because Ethan was laying face down under the bike not moving. When Jay said his name he looked up and smiled and said " Daddy, I fall"like it was an exciting thing :) Jay ran and grabbed the camera before he rescued him and Ethan said "Cheese" for the picture. What a trooper huh? He also said "It fell on me and I can't get up"
He loves sword fights with daddy. Last week during one, he said "I get you daddy!" Today he told me that "daddy likes the blue sword" A couple of my favorite things he says are "that's cool" and "that's Scary!"

Kayleigh just can't get big fast enough for her liking. She spends most of her time panting with the effort to move to this or that new thing. And she never gives up! It can be tiring to hold her because she will wiggle endlessly or try to climb you to get where she wants to go. She has these amazing deep eyes. My friend said they "suck you in and you can't help staring at her and smiling". I totally agree of course :) Well, they are always locked in on some goal that she is determined to get to, until they turn and lock onto another one, and she struggles in another direction. She is always curious what's going on and seems to usually want to be in the middle of it! Also, she is such a joyful baby! She smiles so easily, and so big, she scrunches up her whole face. She loves most anyone who will give her attention. She especially loves her brothers! Up until recently she mostly loved Jayden and was afraid of Ethan, but lately, he can get her to smile and laugh at him too. Jayden spends tons of time trying to entertain her. And nobody else can get her to laugh as hard as he does. He will spin around or run away and back to her and she giggles every time. I think she likes when he spins best, she never gets tired of that.

Some days seem filled with endless noise because of fighting kids, and playing kids, and mess making, and tantrums, and teasing... Then I of course add to the din by yelling over them in a feeble, and misguided attempt to have peace in my house, or admittedly sometimes in exasperation because they dumped the gross raw meat filled kitchen garbage can in my bedroom or spread their lunch or something else all over the place, or said no and disobeyed me for the 100th time that day. Some day's I've considered checking myself in somewhere just to get some of my sanity back.

But all of the millions of joyful moments, bring back my sanity and lessen my frustration. What amazing personalities they have! And the older they get, the more of their qualities I see, and it is so fun to get to know them. They amaze me and I honestly don't know why the Lord gave them to me. I feel like the worst mother in the WORLD sometimes, and I feel so inadequate. I don't even have a fraction of the patience a mother should have, and I can be very immature. I should be a SO much better person by now. I fail at pretty much everything to some degree, and I just hope that the Lord covers for my mistakes. All I want is to give them a desire to be obedient and do good things. And a realization that the gospel and all of the good things that it brings are the way to happiness. And of course I want them to KNOW that I LOVE them ENDLESSLY, no matter what. Jayden got in trouble the other day and he was so sad. He looked at me a few minutes later and asked "Do you still love me?" (He as also said "you don't like me anymore?" He's said things like that several times lately and I wonder, am I too disapproving, or too harsh? Do I harm their self esteem irreparably? Sometimes I feel like I am stomping them into submission rather than guiding them gently onto the path of safety and righteousness. I decide over and over that I am going to do better, but find myself falling into the same patterns. They are SUCH AMAZING kids and I want them to KNOW IT!
Wow! I've taken a whiney turn!! This entry started out so light and silly!! It's when I think of how incredible they are that I start feeling like I am not good enough to give them what they need. I guess all I can do is strive to do my best and hope for the Lord to pick up the MILES of slack right? I am so thankful for my three angels. They inspire me and make life so much more meaningful...not to mention SO much more fun! I don't know what I did to entertain myself before.

My Big Boy's 4th Birthday!

We had a fun weekend celebrating Jayden's birthday. I can't believe how old he's getting. He was very excited to be four and can't wait now to start his preschool in september. We spent the whole weekend celebrating: in fact, he looked puzzled yesterday morning when I told him it was his actual birthday and he told someone that he had three birthdays! I'm going to have a lot to live up to next year!! :)

It all started Friday. He and daddy went to run some errands and go pick out a birthday present. During their fun day Jayden said some funny/cute things Jay shared with me. First he embarrassed Jay at costco. We have a little person who works at our costco giving out samples. Jayden went up to him and said "You are a cute little daddy!" Then he turned Jay and said "Daddy, I don't want to be a little daddy, I want to be a big daddy." (He is obsessed with being big. He often says statements like "When I'm big I'm going to..." He often says he's going to like foods when he is big, like broccoli, but MY favorite is when he said he is going to marry me when he gets big.) The other cute thing he said totally warmed my heart. He was talking to daddy about his good guys and bad guys and he said "Being good is a choice, and I choose to be good" Is that adorable or what?

They got back a little late so Zach, Ethan, and Kayleigh started without him. He joined them before too long!

Of course, as usual I was still working on the cake as we should have been getting dinner on the table. Jayden had come in earlier in the day and said "make my cake yummy okay?" He has been talking about and looking forward to his "bumblebee car" cake for MONTHS now.

Every birthday, I spend hours planning and working on cakes. I often wonder if its worth my effort since my attempts are pretty feeble and I am certain they would look much better and not cost more just to buy one! He walked in and saw it and started jumping up and down in his excitement, saying "my bumblebee cake!" over and over. He looked like he was going to hyperventalate! :) That made ALL of my effort worth it. It wasn't finished, but I saw no point in adding anything else when he was SO happy already. Seriously, seeing his excitement through the whole party brought tears to my eyes. That is why we have kids!! I can't imagine anything that could make me more happy than seeing my kids THAT happy. In fact, as adults, I think we lose the ability to enjoy life as much as children do. But we can see life through the eyes these sweet, angelic, grateful little spirits we are blessed with, and life becomes so much more vibrant.

Sorry, I am going to go even more off on a tangent, but I want to remember this experience. Ethan loves peanut butter. The other day, I gave him peanut butter on a banana, and he just licked off all of the peanut butter. He asked for more and I gave him a little spoon full of it. He looked at that spoon and laughed in pure satisfaction. He was SO happy to get peanut butter all by itself. And Kayleigh gets the hugest smile on her face, every time we look at her. She is so happy just to have our attention! That's what I mean, they have so much gratitude that it bubbles right out of them even over the simplest thing.

So, back to the party, we had hot dogs and chili for dinner. We had an alligator pool Jayden picked out, a frog sprinkler and a bunch of inexpensive water guns. Even some of the dad's joined the water fight. Jayden clearly felt like the king and he had tons of fun playing with his friend Zach and his cousins. He LOVED all of his presents! He got four new transformers shirts! (everyone knows him so well!) As well as lots of fun new toys. Then he blew out his candles and we all ate cake. I wonder how long he will talk about his cake this year before he decides what kind he wants next year! I was actually eating one of the last pieces yesterday, and he asked me why I was eating his bumblebee cake. He doesn't like cake, so he didn't even eat any, but he seems to want to keep it forever. He is such a funny kid.

Saturday, we asked Jayden what he wanted to do, and he decided he wanted to go to KFC and to the mountains, and "grandpa's park". We drove up and down the canyon and looked at a couple of houses Jay has worked at alta on and then stopped for a little hike. He and daddy hiked on rocks and then played in a creek. Ethan wasn't so sure about the rough terrain, so he and I and Kayleigh played in the van and enjoyed the scenery. He loved looking at the canyon, both he and Jayden stared out the window the whole time we drove. The mountains are so beautiful!!

It was a really hot day saturday, so we waited until it was evening before going to the park. Kayleigh had fallen asleep so Jay took the boys to "grandpa's park". (It is a fun new park we found by Jay's dad's house, so Jayden calls it his. We just hope he doesn't tell any kids that they can't play there because it belongs to his grandpa :) Jay said it was really crowded, but they both got a turn on their favorite tractors and had lots of fun before coming home.

Yesterday, grandma made him a special birthday dinner, with his favorite, chicken nuggets!

I am so thankful for this special little man that Heavenly Father sent to me. He is a busy little boy and can be a handful!! But he amazes me with his understanding and his good desires. He loves every living thing, even little bugs. He found a potato bug one morning and was watching it crawl around as Ethan came by and stepped on it. He was SOOO distraught. He came crying and told me that Ethan killed his potato bug. He was so bothered that it died. In fact, he doesn't even like when Jay and I talk about killing flies or ants. He loves Kayleigh and gets endless joy playing with her and making her laugh. And he is very protective of Ethan too. I have threatened to leave one of them home if they don't get dressed or stop throwing a tantrum, etc... (Iknow, bad mom :) Jayden has started crying and told me I can't leave Ethan home. He totally foils my manipulation! In another instance, his cousin Koda is constantly trying to take toys from he and Ethan. On the fourth of July Koda succeeded at taking Ethan's toy and Ethan grabbed his leg trying to get it back. Jayden ran over there and yelled "that's my brother's!" He tackled Koda and pummeled him till he got the toy back.

He is also my little ham. He loves being the center of attention and making people laugh. He'll say, "I'm funny huh, mommy." And he LOVES to tease, just like his daddy. He is often so nice to his brother and has even given him the toy he is playing with just to make him happy. But he also has a little evil side and he seems to get even more joy out of making Ethan crazy. He will say things he knows will upset Ethan or jump out and try to scare him. In fact one day I could tell he had terrified Ethan jumping from around the corner. I was trying to scold him for scaring him, and he couldn't stop smiling at the thought of how funny it was. He even let out a chuckle or two, it was clear he wasn't the least bit sorry!

I have loved getting to know his sweet, funny personality and his loving spirit. He, Ethan and Kayleigh never cease to amaze me. They are the sunshine in my life.(Of course I have to include Jay too! He supports us so I can be home to enjoy them more often. Not to mention that he patiently puts up with me and helps me endlessly!!) Thank heaven for families!! And even more for the plan of happiness so we can be with our amazing families forever. LIFE IS PRICELESS.

Fun at the park

We went to the park today and had lots of fun! I will catch up on old stuff later, I wanted to share some funny things the boys said before I forget. We found a new park by grandpa Turpin's house with lots of fun things...tractors, and a cute little music wall, plus mountains for jayden and a couple of little kid swings...It's perfect!! :)
While we were there Jayden came up to jay and said "my bum says I need to go poop"... Jay took him over to his dad's and while they knocked he said: "Let me in grandpa, I need to go poop!" He wasn't home so jay drove the 1/2 mile to our house, and on the way he said "my bum says you need to hurry daddy"
He likes to speak for his body parts. Several times lately when he has asked for candy or junk food and I say no he says later "My tummy wants candy but I told him no"
It took Ethan a while to warm up to the play ground. He played in the wood chips and then asked to swing until he looked sick from it! I finally talked him into going to play with the "tractor", and the one he wanted was taken so he settled for making music for a while and playing. When he saw it clear he hurried over and played until time to go. In fact he was very distraught when it was time to go. "I waaaaaaaaannnnna dig!" I guess we've found a new favorite park for a while :) He also told daddy while they were working together "It's hot digging on the tractor" Kayleigh got to swing for a minute and then played with daddy on the grass. I love my kids so much!! They make life an endless adventure. I will be writing a TON about our adventures of the past few months soon!

Potty Training...YUCK

I've said it before and I'll say it again.... If I could pick any parenting task to pass on to someone else, it would be POTTY TRAINING!! I'll take the pregnancy soreness and sickness, labor/surgery, runny noses, whining, even the occasional bout of the flu complete with throw up...but I can think of nothing more repugnant than spending weeks or even months cleaning poop and pee off of 30 pairs of underwear. And that's if it doesn't end up anywhere else! I don't know how to convince my toddler to poop on the potty. After a week of trying my nerves are shot and we haven't really had any noteable progress.
I've tried asking him if he needs to go, taking him to the potty every half hour, threats, rewards, showers, lots of time on the toilet, begging, crying...(guess that's going to far huh?:) It seems like a battle of will, but then you wonder if they even understand what you want them to do. And if they don't, how do you teach them.. He begged to sit on the potty and asked to go potty so we thought he was ready. I don't want to ruin his self esteem and make him feel like a failure, and I don't know how to help him succeed. It is very frustrating. Not only that, but I am not a believer in pull ups (at least around the house) so if this goes on much longer, we are going to need more than a good carpet cleaning!! Blech!!
Any tips would be greatly appreciated :)

February

I guess I'll just start where I left off...Ethan's surgery. It turns out I was stressed for nothing!! They only did surgery on his one eye and he had a MUCH easier recovery. In fact, he had to look up to even see the red part of his eye. He still had a hard first day and he ripped off his patch only a few hours after coming home. (little stinker!) He was back to normal by the very next day. In fact, this pic is only a day or two later and he has found himself yet another hat :) If you look closely at his left eye there is a little swelling and redness in the bottom corner...

Kayleigh started the month with a terrible case of baby acne. It is finally clearing up, but I felt bad for the poor girl!!

We blessed her on February 15th. Our house was popping at the seams, but we had lots of fun. Most of my family came up from Nevada and spent the whole week to be at Cameron's blessing the following week.

(Grandma and Cameron)

Because the family was in town, we spent every day together. And then we spent Saturday the 21st cleaning a bunch of trash and DI stuff out of grandpa's house. Jay, Randall, and Steve hauled it all to the DI and the dump and then went and loaded a bunch of Laura's stuff and brought it back to Grandpa's. They looked ready to fall over after all of that. We were all REALLY tired by the end of the week, but it is always fun to have them here. Another fun piece of news is that we finally bought a van. As luck would have it, we got it the Saturday before Kayleigh's blessing. (Thanks to my friend Travis!!) So I was free to roam wherever mom was every day. We put 0ver 500 miles on it in the first week!! (three trips to eagle mtn and several to Sandy :) I have LOVED having it! In this case, material things can bring more happiness :)
Jayden had a pretty uneventful month except that he wanted to go outside a lot since the weather improved. He loves to ride his bike and has been cooped up a lot since Kayleigh was born. He also got to spend time with his favorite cousin Kaleb. Every day when mom was in town, he would ask if we were going to see Kaleb. He told me over and over that Kaleb is his best friend and he loves Kaleb. (Of course daddy and Zach are in best friend position too :) And he cried a lot when he had to part from Kaleb. It is so cute! It reminded me of a home video of my sister Candice crying when alexis had to leave.

He is growing up so fast and is a great helper!! He particularly likes helping Kayleigh. Both boys like to help me unload the dishwasher and put the clothes in the dryer, and sometimes they like to help with their books and their room too! I am such a lucky mommy :) Now if I can just help them to stop fighting, and get Ethan potty trained, life will be perfect!!

Here are some more February Pics...

Jayden asked me to take a picture of him and Kayleigh. They are wonderful older brothers!