Sleepy Girl

Today after church I put Eliza in her high chair and fed her lunch.  I walked away while she was feeding herself some bread, and soon after I could hear her breathing heavy.  When I walked back in I found her like this.  She'd totally fallen alseep.  I have never had any of my children do this before.  This proves again how much she is like me.  I have always been a sleeper.  I usually need 8-10 hours of sleep per night.  I've always been like that.  My mom has told me that she would often finding me fallen asleep in random places.  Eliza is the same way.  She goes to bed at 6:30 pm and we get her up at about 8:30 am.  She lets you know when she's tired, and don't try to mess around with it.

Dear Mom

Today is my amazing mother's birthday.  She's pretty fantastic. 

Dear Mom,

Do you know how much I love you?  Do you know that you're my hero?  Well, I do, and you are.
Happy birthday today!  I hope you're having a wonderful day.  I hope this year will be even better than the last.
I was thinking about you today.  Remembering all the things that I love so much about you.  Here are a few, in no particular order: 
You love to have fun.  You're always game for a girl's night out, watching a chick flick, or getting a pedi.  I love that about you.
You can do anything.  I know, I've witnessed some of the amazing things you've done.  I love that about you.
You are an amazing cook.  The pies, desserts, dinners, Mexican food, basically anything you make is delicious.  I love that about you.
When I was young and in high school you would let me stay home and have a "mental health" day, even if I wasn't really sick.  I love that about you.
Another time when I was young you took me out, just me, for my birthday.  That was a big deal.  I love that about you.
When you come to visit me you're always willing to get Thai food.  I love that about you.
When I need you, you come.  No matter what.  I love that about you.
When I had my first baby, you were there right next to me to comfort me.  I love that about you.
You painted a beautiful portrait of my boys for me for Christmas.  I love that about you.
You let me get married when I was 18 years old.  You understood that it was the right thing.  I love that about you.
When I was a little girl you put candy pees and carrots on my plate to try to fake me out.  I love that about you.
When I need to know what to make for dinner, you always have a good idea.  I love that about you.
You made the most beautiful wedding dress I could have ever wanted.  I love that about you.
You and dad got married in the temple.  I love that about you.
You take your temple covenants seriously.  I love that about you.
You have always stayed firm in your faith.  I love that about you.
You know that staying true to your beliefs will always get you where you want to go.  I love that about you.
You have have always practiced what you've preached.  I love that about you.
When I was a little girl you helped me learn to read from the pages of the Book of Mormon.  I love that about you.
When I was a little girl you made me an amazing baptism dress.  You let me pick out the pattern and the fabric.  I love that about you.
When I was little I remember the first time you took me to the store to buy a Sunday dress.  I was about 10 years old.  I can't believe that you made all those dresses up to that point, and so many after.  I love that about you.
When I was little you would put Tabasco sauce on my tongue when I said bad words.  I love that about you.
You love being with my kids, and it shows.  I love that about you.
When I was a baby you used to sing lullabies to me, and you still sing the same lullabies to my babies.  I love that about you.
You love to do yoga.  I love that about.
You laid most of the flooring in your home.  I love that about you.
You serve everyone around you.  I love that about you.
You're always checking in on people, making meals, or helping people out when they need it.  I love that about you.
You're loyal.  I love that about you.
You say that you're bad at math, but I don't know anyone who can calculate yardage better or quicker than you.  I love that about you.
You're beautiful.  I love that about you.
You're skinnier than me, and have cuter clothes.  I love that about you.
You have a beautiful voice.  You can pick out a harmony and sing it out.  I love that about you.
You're not afraid to tell me to what to do.  You're still my mom.  I love that about you.
You've got some great dance moves.  I love that about you.
I can talk to you about anything.  I love that about you.
You always make time to talk to me when I need you.  I love that about you.
Mom, you're the best.  Thank you for being you.  Happy Birthday!
I love you,
Stacy

Conversation with Ben

Yesterday I had the following conversation with Ben.  It was hilarious.

We were talking about nicknames.

Ben:  "Wouldn't it be funny if I called Aunt Rachel, Aunt Hube?"
Then he laughed at his funny joke.
Me:  "I think you should.  I think she'd like it.  What about your other aunts?"
Ben:  "I would call Camille, Aunt Gomes.  That's what I call her now.  What's Katie's nickname?"
Me:  "I think you could call her Aunt Little Kay.  What about Aunt Lindsay and Aunt Gina?"
Ben:  "I would call Aunt Lindsay, Aunt B." (chuckling to himself)  "What's Aunt Gina's nickname?"
Me:  "You could call her Aunt Gi-na-na-na." (pronounced He-na-na-na)
Ben:  laughing
Ben:  "You could call me Chuck, that's my nickname."
Me:  "Ok, sounds good.  What about Tom?"
Ben:  "His nickname is GooToo."
Tom:  "I'm not GooToo.  I'm GooThree."

Me: Laughing hysterically at Tom.  My boys crack me up.

Random

Hi folks!  I should be cleaning out my desk right now. (Ginger, I've got most of it done.  I promise, you'd be totally proud.)  I just have that left over stuff that I really don't know what to do with, ie, random cables, CD cases, basic desk junk.
 
Anyway, I digress.  Sam and I recently purchased a new computer in efforts of saving all of our children's pictures and documents being eternally lost on our old computer.  I'm the lucky one and got the super fun job of transferring said files and photos onto the new computer.  While doing my lucky job I came across some real gems. 
For your viewing pleasure:

The boys being so cute at our family reunion a couple years back.

Sam, sometime in the early 90's showing his moves.

Back off ladies, he's mine.

 

Ben, probably about 2 months old.  He didn't really smile until he was about 18 months old.  That's truth.  I'm not making it up.  Ask anyone of my sisters or sisters in law.

Ben about 6 months old.

 Tom about 5 months old.  Such a mellow baby.

 The boys just before church in Rexburg, ID.  They're about the same now when it comes to their excitement about church.

The last time a hat was ever too big for Tom.

Eliza in her big girl bath.  She loves bath time.

She has the best blue eyes.  It's the only thing about Eliza that looks anything like Sam.

This could be my all time favorite picture of Sam.  Doesn't he look like he should grow up to be an accountant in this picture.  Either that, or he's an Alex P. Keaton poser.

rocking out....and crawling.

The boys have recently been watching "Sonic Underground" on our pirated Netflix. 

We cancelled our account due to budget cut backs, and have been logging on to my parent's account.  SHHHH don't tell.

Even though I think that "Sonic Underground" is a really lame cartoon, it has added some more entertainment value to our family.  In the cartoon there are 3 main characters: Sonic, Manic, and Sonja.  They are siblings lost a birth who find their way back together and form an awesome rock band.  Ben is Sonic, Tom is Manic, and Eliza is Sonja (not pictured here).  Manic plays the drums while Sonic plays the guitar and does the lead vocal.  Enjoy......

In other news:  my baby turned 6 months old on Nov. 18th.  It's huge.  I know this is so cliche, but where has the time gone?  She is such a good baby.  She is happy all the time.  She loves to cuddle and laugh and smile.  She sleeps through the night.  Last night I put here to bed at 8pm and got her up this morning at 8:30am.  She's a dream.  She loves her brothers.  She likes watching them and giggling at them. 

She doesn't like solid food that much.  I've been trying to transition her to eating one solid meal a day, but she's just not that interested.

She's mobile.  She army crawls all over the place.  When she's not army crawling she's rolling around the room.  She doesn't like to stay in one place.  I need to find a baby gate that will work with the steps that go downstairs.

She is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure!

PS.  She's had a runny nose since September.  We've dealt with 3 ear infections since then.  What are your tips for keeping your baby healthy?

HALLOWEEN. . .and other stuff.

This year Halloween was a lot of fun. The older the boys get, the more fun they have dressing up and going trick-or-treating. Ben started the day going to preschool and having his Halloween Program*. He was adorable as usual. His teacher, Mrs. King, does such a great job of making everything so fun.

Ben in his dragon costume, waiting for the program to start.

Mrs. King showing the witch's brew the kids made.

Ben and his class.

 

After preschool we got ready for our neighborhood trunk-or-treat.  Not too many people came, but it was perfect for the boys.  After trunk-or-treat we came home and had dinner.  Sam and our wonderful neighbor Bill took the boys trick-or-treating.They came home with a lot of candy.  Bill's wife Vivian brought over two carved pumpkins for the boys.  One carved like a dragon and the other like a silly jack-o-lantern.  Bill and Vivian also gave us two light-up pumkins (to the right of Ben).  Bill and Vivian are the best neighbors ever!  The boys loved all of the pumpkins. 

Today was crazy hair day at preschool.  Ben wanted his hair "spikey".

I had some left over black hair spray from Halloween, so we did some polka-dots too.  Ben was super excited to go to school with his hair crazy.

*I'm working on posting the video from his program.  My computer is having a hard time.

First Cold

 Today my baby girl woke up with a boogery nose. She didn't sleep well at all last night. I got up with her 3 times. She's obviously not feeling well, which means she has a cold. I'm so sad for her. But even though she's not feeling so hot she still smiles all the time. I love her for that. Here are a few pics from this morning.


                          

Don't you love her dimples!  They're the best!