April recap

I did the important thing, and at least kept birthdays updated... but we've done some other fun things too the past couple of months!!

First, we had a Easter egg hunt with friends!

 Then we had one at Nana and Papas!

 If this picture doesn't melt your heart, then you don't have one:

 Landon decided to spend his hard-earned quarter on a toy at the Sonic Park.

 Spencer had a  birthday party here with Nana and Papa.  He got cars.

 A snazzy firetruck.

 A new trike.

 And, most importantly, a cake.

 It's good to be two in the world.

My baby is two.  

Excuse me while I go bawl my eyes out. 

WAAAAAAAAH.

Landon is 4.

Dear Landon,

Last week you turned from "almost-four" to "four."  I cannot believe you are getting soooo big.  I've been keeping track of your little (big) personality for the past couple of years and here's some updates.  (15 months=red, 28 months=orange, 4=green!)

• Landon loves sleeping. At the beginning, he was much more interested in sleeping than eating, although now both hold a special place in his heart. He enjoys going to bed early at night and getting up early in the morning. He seems to enjoy the alone time--with just him, his blanky, and his binky. This still holds true, although he no longer has his binky, and since getting rid of the binky, he's sort of "over" the blanket, too.  (Sad!!)  He goes to bed early at night with no complaint, and is always ALWAYS up and ready for the day between 6:30 and 7:30.  I'm not quite sure where he got this morning-personality...Landon is STILL a morning kid!  He wakes up between 6:30 and 7 every  morning, ready to go... asking for "bretfist." He is still attached to his blanky, DeeDee... and has since added "Clock" (a little digital clock we bought him) to his mandatory bedtime things.  He doesn't really enjoy going to bed early anymore; he and Spence tend to mess around for quite awhile in there before they finally settle down for bed.  Landon still has quiet time every day for a couple hours.  He loves looking at books during quiet time!
• Landon is flexible. He'll sleep in a pack 'n' play no matter whose house we're at. If he goes to bed at 9 instead of 7, he's fine with that. I can count on one hand the melt-downs he has had lasting longer than 45 seconds. Although he prefers to have a nap, if for whatever reason he doesn't get one, it's fine with him. He just goes with the flow. While he is definitely a two-year-old, he still maintains a certain amount of flexibility.  He has definitely had melt-downs lasting longer than 45 seconds, but he is generally quick to recover.  He is generally well-behaved when we go to other people's houses or out to eat.  But if he has a day where he doesn't sleep well, changes and transitions are very difficult for him.  But I would definitely still describe him, in comparison to other two-year-olds, as "goes with the flow." This is still a very good description of Landon! He is very flexible when we are traveling.  Sleeping in other beds doesn't bother him too much.  He is definitely a stubborn little thing, and once he gets an idea in his little (big) head it's hard to convince him otherwise, but we're trying to help him channel that ambition into positive avenues! 
• Landon loves to make people laugh. From about 11 months, he discovered a "cheesy" face(behind his back, I refer to it as his ugly face), and he makes it when he wants people to laugh. He loves to be chased and to be tickled. He has the most awesome laugh ever. Landon still loves to be funny.  He's a goofy little thing.  His "cheesy" face has disappeared, but has been replaced with such lovely behaviors such as: blowing spit bubbles in my hair, relishing in anything gross or disgusting, and talking in strange accentse. Landon still loves making people laugh.  Although he doesn't quite "get" it when people tease him.  But he can be quite the goofball when he's around his buddies Beckham and Roman!
• Landon is stubborn. I know, I know. I just said he's flexible. But he's not passive. If he does have his mind set on something, it's very hard to get him distracted. He tries very hard to communicate what he wants, often taking me by the hand to whatever forbidden door he wants opened. If I don't open it, he has been known to throw himself on the ground in protest. But he usually gets over it quickly. This is all still VERY TRUE about Landon.  He is flexible, but definitely not passive.  He gets rather opinionated about certain things and is very persistent!  And he still throws himself down on the floor in dramatic protest. Definitely still stubborn!  A lot of the times he has really great ideas about things, but if he thinks he has a "goodea" and I tell him no, the back and forth discussion about it takes a looooooong time.   He does usually get over being in trouble pretty quickly.  He knows how to apologize pretty well for a four year old!
• Landon loves animals. He hasn't really cared much for cars and trains yet, but he's all about animals and animal sounds. Some of his favorites: dogs, ducks, cats, monkeys, and lions. Landon has recently become obsessed with cars and trains, but animals still hold a special place in his little heart.  His favorite animals are those that growl. (Surprise!) This is all still true about Landon.  He told me the other day that his favorite animals are the "ones that bite."  He's also VERY into dinosaurs now!
• Landon loves playing with other children. He's fascinated to watch children older than he is. Although he's solemn in unfamiliar situations at first--once he warms up, he's quite the social butterfly. He mainly prefers 4 year old girls. This is still a very good description of Landon.  He is not a "center of attention" sort of kid.  He is slow to warm up in social situations and doesn't mind observing a situation for several minutes before jumping right in.  He is not aggressive with other kids. But luckily because of his sheer size, most kids don't pick on him.  If he does get pushed or bumped (on purpose or accident) he generally just shrugs it off and walks off.  He doesn't fight back.  He loves watching older kids, but I can tell he gets nervous because he can't talk as well as they can.  He still relies on me heavily to help him resolve situations with other children--which is normal for his age.  Landon is a lot less slow to warm up to unfamiliar situations.  He's usually friendly to kids at the playground he doesn't know, and doesn't mind talking to them.  He's getting better at being able to resolve conflicts with friends by talking.  He doesnt seem nervous at all anymore in social situations!  Yay!
• Landon seems to have a gift for perceiving others' emotions. He gets upset easily if he senses those around him are upset. As I've mentioned before, if he senses that someone is sad, he will stop what he's doing to give a hug, and sometimes even a kiss. He just seems to be very aware of the people around him--whether they are happy or sad, whether they are paying attention to him or not.This is very, very true about Landon.  Whether it's his overly-emotional mother or a kid he just met at nursery, Landon cares very deeply about others being happy. He's definitely not perfect at always making choices that will help others to be happy (sharing, etc.) but I can tell that overall, he tries to be considerate of others.  When he is in a sharing mood, he's very good at it.  This is still SO TRUE about Landon.  He pays attention heavily to the emotions of others.  Sometimes I can tell he's testing boundaries to see what sorts of things will hurt people's feelings and what sorts of things make people happy.  He's very sensitive to whether or not I'm having a good day.  I would say that overall, he still tries very hard for a four year old to be considerate.
• Landon inhales food. It is going to be quite the challenge for me to get him to use utensils on a consistent basis--and to get him to eat at a speed that is socially acceptable. Boys. They're they worst.  Landon actually prefers to use utensils now.  He can't stand having his hands dirty!  But he still inhales food, as long as it's something he likes.  He's slow to warm up to new foods.  But he sure knows how to eat tacos and french toast in large quantities! This is still true!  He's a little bit weary about trying new foods.  But he loves eating "super foods" and tells us often that they're the reason he's so strong and big.  He has been known to eat an apple whole.  He's a pretty clean eater--FINALLY!!
• Landon mostly prefers to play with his dad. I'm okay with this, as I get to play with him all day long. But once BK is home, Landon goes to his room, grabs his basketball, and hunts BK down, grabs his hand, leads him into his room to play basketball, and shuts the door. Which is fine with me. Because it makes it rather easy to make dinner! He also loves reading books with BK. Actually, it doesn't really matter what BK is doing. Landon wants to be included and do whatever it is. They are very good buddies. Landon is still very good buddies with his dad.  Especially since his younger brother came along, I think he really looks forward to getting attention from BK every day.  Landon has recently become interested in knowing who is a boy and who is a girl.  He gravitates toward the men in his life, especially "big boys" like BK and Papa.  Recently Landon has been a little bit more interested in me.  Spencer is in a huge daddy phase right now, so Landon and I spend lots of time together.  He still LOVES to play outside with BK--especially soccer and races.  
• Although Landon enjoys attention, he also values his alone time. He's very good at entertaining himself. He loves throwing balls, watching sesame street, and reading books. His favorite book by far is Brown Bear, Brown Bear. One thing I can do to comfort him when he's upset is to whisper the words to it in his ear--even if I don't have the book in front of me--he just likes the way it sounds.This is still very true about Landon.  He likes to have his space, which I completely understand and respect.  He's still pretty good at entertaining himself (a trait he unfortunately had to become a lot better at while I was sick and pregnant) and loves books.  He still loves Brown Bear. Once I direct Landon to an activity, he's generally pretty imaginative and able to keep himself entertained still.  He loves to read books with me.  He still likes to have his space, but also every once in awhile still lets me get a cuddle or two in!
• Landon is smart, and oft-times conniving. Even if he picks things up a little slower than his female counterparts in the ward we're in, once he does pick it up (walking, talking, learning words, etc) he learns fast. I'm amazed each day to learn what new words he's picked up without me ever teaching them explicitly. Landon is very smart.  While he's not extremely verbal, he enjoys learning words.  He picked up all the capital letters on his own, and can count to 13 on his own.  (Thank you, Sesame Street, while I was sick and pregnant...) He generally only has to hear something once to remember it.  His memory is impeccable. He has a strong desire to communicate accurately and will repeat a phrase several times until we repeat it back.  He is still rather conniving and keeps me on my toes all day trying to outsmart him. This is still VERY TRUE about Landon.  He continues to amaze me on a daily basis.  He knows all his letters and the letter sounds... colors...numbers... and he can count up to twenty with no problem.  He has an incredible memory, and is able to complete our 50 states puzzle almost completely on his own, telling us about who lives in each state while he does it.  He's also gotten really good at writing his name, and can write almost all of the letters from memory.  He is very excited to go to real preschool this next year!
• Landon loves singing. He has a distinct "singing" voice, and enjoys it when other's "sing" along with him. He also loves to pretend to lead the music in church. To an outsider, this may just look like random flailing--but I promise, that's what he's trying to do. Landon still loves singing.  He learns the words to songs very quickly, and I've noticed recently that every once in awhile he actually gets the pitch correctly.  Even if the pitch isn't correct, I can tell he makes an effort to change pitch (higher and lower) correctly.  He also loves dancing to music with a good beat. Landon still loves music.  He knows many songs word for word and doesn't mind singing them.  He sang with the Primary in Sacrament Meeting for the first time on Mother's Day this year, and was well behaved and actually sang.  It was very cute!
• Landon is a fabulous older brother.  He does get irritated with Spencer every once in awhile, but mostly he is a very good helper--getting burp rags, diapers, toys, etc.  He always wants to hold Spencer and give him kisses. He really enjoys sharing a room with Spencer because he got pretty lonely before.  Landon continues to amaze me with how wonderful of a brother he is to Spencer.  Sure, they argue on a daily basis, but I can tell that he loves his little "brudder" more than anything else in the world.  They laugh together every day.  He teaches Spencer things every day.  He cheers Spencer on in the things he's doing.  I hope they continue to have such a great friendship forever!
• Landon looooooves asking questions.  All. Day. Long.  I can tell the wheels in his head are spinning constantly.  He really wants to understand exactly why things are the way they are.  He likes to be right about things.
• Landon is extremely competitive.  He enjoys being fast and strong, and is usually heartbroken if he loses a race.  We're still working on being a gracious loser... ;)

So there you have it, Landon.  You are one of my most favorite people, and you bring joy to all those around you, especially those in your family and extended family.  Thank you for making me a mother four years ago.  You are one of the greatest blessings in my life, and I cherish each day we spend together--usually while you're fast asleep, but still.  I hope you know how special you are to me.  We waited so long to finally get you here to our family, and it has been more worth it than I could have ever imagined.  Please don't ever leave me to go to kindergarten, okay??

I love you forever,

Mom

Spencer's Two.

Dearest Spence,

You are two today.  When you were born, I thought to myself: I think life will be really great when they're two and four.  They will be able to play together, I will be able to shower, they'll talk and argue instead of pooping and urping all over me... and on and on and so forth.

And now we're here.  And I'm not gonna lie, I'm loving watching the two of you be brothers.  You play with Landon every single day.  And for brothers, I would say you two get along just great.  You make each other laugh in a way I know I'll never be able to.  You especially make Landon laugh, even when he's upset or frustrated.  You are such a blessing to him. You guys look out for each other and honestly care about each other.  You talk and giggle and run around every night after I put you to bed, and when I come to check on you later, you're usually curled up together in Landon's bed fast asleep, two cuddling puppy-brothers.  Just like I had always imagined.

But I'm also glad you still like to be the baby, too.  I miss having a newborn right now--even the pooping and urping.  But you still have those soft, chubby, baby cheeks, and I nibble on them every day.  You let me snuggle you every single day when I put you down for naps.  You come and sit on my lap when we watch a show together.  You're not quite obsessed with being a "big boy" yet, like Landon, and I'm okay with that. I don't know exactly when it was that you became such a toddler--but I'm glad I can still see my little Baby Spence in you still.  (At least until I have another newborn, in which case, you will need to grow up immediately... just kidding... sort of.)

You are the fastest running two year old I have ever met.  You are a small little thing, but so coordinated.  You climb on anything you can get your hands and/or feet on.  You can kick and throw balls with stunning accuracy.  You are a toddler of few words--but I just know that one of these days you'll start talking.  I can't wait to get to know you a little bit better then!

I try to think of our family before you came into it, and I honestly can't remember! You just fit in so well, it seems like you've always been here! You are best of buddies with your dad, and you look just like him.  I like that about you.

Last night I couldn't sleep because I was up with a cough, and your big brother kept trying to sneak into our room, so I read your birth story... remembering that it was about that time of night exactly two years ago that you started to make your way into the world.  I was so, so grateful that I had written that entire story out because there were so many details I had forgotten! But when I read it all, it all came flooding back to me.  I honestly remembered the way I felt when I saw you the first time, when I heard you the first time, and when I held you the first time.  And for a few moments I was there re-living it all--just because a story triggered my memory.  And for those few precious moments, Heavenly Father let me feel that joy and pure happiness of meeting my baby for the first time--nothing else matters.  Then your brother came in for the second time and told me he had a bad dream, and I had to come back to earth to deal with "life" again.

I tell you this so that you maybe understand how glad I am that you came into my life and into our family.  Even though you weren't the first, you are so very special to me and dear to my heart.  And your birth was just as precious to me as your brother's.  I can't believe it's already been two years.  You are great.  And your life is great. And I can't wait to see what lies ahead of us!

I love you with all my heart,

Mom

I should be more like Landon.

Lately the main interest Landon has had in praying is getting to be the occasional "boss" of choosing who gets to pray.  Usually he picks Spencer.... the one person in the family who can't talk of course, but whatever.  I'm sure Heavenly Father understands the thoughts and intents of Spencer's heart?

Anyway.

A few evenings ago, I was trying to teach little Spence a lesson at dinner time.  The lesson was: you can't scream at me when asking for food--you must at least attempt to say something even remotely close to "please."  As if we haven't already had that lesson 50 times, but whatever.  Anyway, poor Spence was just losing it.  And I felt bad for him--learning words has been a slow process for him.  He's a very stubborn little thing, and while he's very, very coordinated physically, he just hasn't quite gotten there with the communication thing.  That's a whole different post.

Anyway.

I felt prompted to ask Landon to say a prayer for Spence that he could learn to say please. Being the "awesome" parent that I am, I doubted this prompting.  What if Landon prayed, and Spencer didn't say please?  How would I explain it?  What would the point of that be?  Also, every time we ask Landon to pray, he usually tells us it's not his turn, and I already had one screaming child, I didn't need two.  So I decided I would just say a silent prayer in my head.  Spencer did calm down, and eventually did say something sort of close to "please."  But I still felt bad I hadn't listened to the Spirit.

An hour or so later, when we were putting the boys to bed, I decided to ask Landon to say the family prayer, and I asked him if he thought that maybe Heavenly Father could help Spence learn to say more words.  Landon responded very quickly that he knew that Heavenly Father could help Spence.  Without argument, he folded his arms and closed his eyes and said one of the sweetest prayers I've ever heard him say, including this part: "Dear Heminy Father,  Thank you for my family.  Thank you for my house.  Please bless that Momma and Daddy can have a good day.  Please bless that Spence can have a good day.  Please bless that I could sleep better tonight.  And... please bless that Spence can learn to say please."  After the prayer, I asked him how he felt after praying for someone else.  He told me he felt good.  I asked him if he thought his prayer would work for Spence.  He said it would.

I then said a silent prayer that it would, too.

The very next day after putting the boys in the van when we were leaving the pool, a small flock of birds descended in the parking lot.  Landon said, "Hey! Look at those birds!"  Spence pointed and immediately said, "Bird."--a word he has never ever said before.  We clapped and cheered for him, and he said it multiple times, smiling and clapping for himself.

"Your prayer worked, Landon!  Spence learned a new word!"

Today I left the boys with BK while I ran some errands.  He took them outside to wash the cars.  Spence kept trying to run in the street.  A few minutes later, Landon dropped his sponge and said, "Dad.  I need to say a prayer."  He ran around the van and knelt down and asked BK to join him.  BK agreed, and knelt down next to him, inquiring as to what Landon would be praying about.

"I just want to tell Heavenly Father thank you for the world."

BK told me that Landon's prayer not only included thanking Heavenly Father for multiple things in the world, but also a special request to help keep Spencer safe and that Spencer would stop running into the street.

This whole experience has been mostly the Lord trying to show me that I need to continually act on the promptings of the Spirit.  Teaching Landon to pray for his little brother adds more meaning than only praying at meals.  Teaching him that our prayers really are answered is an important lesson for him to learn.  Teaching him that we should be grateful to our Heavenly Father for all that we have is another important lesson.

Although I wasn't there for the second prayer, I can imagine that Landon's little heart was just full of happiness--washing the car with his Lightning McQueen sponge with his dad in the beautiful weather, laughing and playing in the hose--and he recognized that he was grateful for that happy situation he found himself in.  And that sweet little boy knew he had to drop to his knees in that exact moment to thank Heavenly Father for it all.

I'm not quite sure where he learned that considering I'm not the best example, but it does make me want to keep trying so that he can keep having these experiences in his little life.  In our Adult Stake Conference Meeting tonight the General Authority mentioned parenting by letting the Power of Heaven speak to our children's souls.  I came to that meeting with almost that specific question: How can I better help my children to have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  What's the most important thing I could focus on right now?  Prayer? Scripture study?  My marriage?  Reverence at church?  The answer came through that simple phrase--allowing my children to have experiences in which the Power of Heaven can speak to their souls.

All of those things I listed are important, but they're important for a different reason than I thought.  We don't do those things so that our children will learn to listen to us.  We do those things so that our children will learn to listen to Him and recognize His voice.  I'm not the one who has all the answers.  I'm not the one who will always be there to remind my sweet boys what the right thing to do is.  My job is to teach them how to recognize the Spirit, so that it can be their constant companion--so that He can be their constant companion.

So that we all can be together forever.
I love when the Gospel just makes sense to me.

March is gone?

Videogames with Dad

 A few weeks ago, Mel & Company came over for a playdate.  At one point the boys decided to play dress up and have a parade.  It was quite entertaining.

 The cow is Spence.

The weather was awesome last week, so we had a couple of swim-playdates!

 Brothers wrestling for the remote--which neither of them are supposed to have in the first place...

 We took a last minute trip to Vegas/St. George for BK's grandma's funeral.  It's always nice to get together and let the kids play.  At one point Tara's family and our family went to Costco for a hot dog dinner.  Landon and T cracked each other up for the entire time telling knock-knock jokes.

 It's fun having babies so close in age.  I'm glad they're such great friends. :)

The beginning of the garden.

And it came to pass that I decided to get an outdoor hobby.

This year is more of an experiment, really.  I'm just planting a bunch of everything to see what I can grow and what I will eat, etc.  And mainly just because I want a reason to get outside!

I looked into raised garden beds, and decided I could just build one myself.  I did some research and found out (supposedly) that if St. Augustine grass (which is what we have) is buried under 8 in of soil or more, that you don't have to dig it out.  We'll see if that's true.  I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, but I guess I'll learn that it was worth the digging or the $$ in landscape cloth if it doesn't work!

So anyway, these cinder blocks at Lowe's are a little under $1.50 a piece!  Super cheap!

However, I was having a bad math day apparently.  For some reason I only thought I needed 10, when in reality I needed 12.  But the boys were already down for a nap, so I decided to press forward with what I had.

I filled the cinder block holes with dirt so I could plant smaller plants in them, and maximize my square footage!

I nailed a trellis to the fence, and when the plants grow tall enough, I'll buy and nail another one on top of this one!

I also planted a blackberry bush and a raspberry bush, but I've heard the raspberries probably won't grow here.  OH WELL.  It's worth a shot!  You never know, right?  With these, I actually did get the shovel out and dug a hole, since I was putting them in the ground, and wanted to fill it with good soil first.  I also plan to put some stone around them to keep the grass at bay!

I bought some plants pre-sprouted at Lowe's.

Later, I went back and bought the last two remaining cinderblocks, and planted the rest of my seeds!  Here's the finished product!

And so far the bushes haven't died yet!

And so far Spencer hasn't destroyed my garden yet!

And so far, two of the onions have sprouted!

I'm considering all these things a success!

Our Ninth Wedding Anniversary

Has it really been nine years already??

For our anniversary we went on an overnight trip last weekend to Dallas.  Nana and Papa watched the kiddos.

After checking into our awesome hotel, we went out to eat at Wild Salsa.  It was YUMMMMMY.

At that point, I revealed my big surprise to BK.

The Utah Jazz were in town to play the Mavericks, and we had tickets.  SWEET tickets.


Here was the view from our seats:

Here is how BK felt about this amazing surprise:

At some point, I got bored and started taking pictures of us.  (And the random man in the blue shirt sitting on our row, apparently.)

BK, half-heartedly participating:

Aaaaand he's back to the game:

BK still thinks he has some sort of chance in the NBA because he, too, is a scrawny white boy, just like Hayward.

This morning, I was surprised with strawberry pancakes in bed.  And they tasted.... pretty good.  It's the thought that counts, right?

Happy Anniversary, BK!  I love you!