1.11.2013

Arizona for Christmas, Part 2

All good things must come to an end. Although I was able to stay in Mesa for four weeks, other people had jobs to get back to. Sheldon and Michelle left on New Year's Day. Unfortunately they took their kids, too. I didn't really expect them to leave their kids, but Alex and Edison were sad to see Keaton and Everett go.

Several years ago, my family got a hot air balloon for Christmas. But then we never used it. It finally got taken out of the box this year.

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The next day, Matthew and Laura flew out. Sam wanted to get dress shirts that actually fit him so we went to the store to find some for him. The boys were running all over the place and I put them in time out. This picture is the perfect example of their personalities. Alex takes time out very seriously. He is so sad that he was doing something wrong and we aren't happy with him. Edison, on the other hand, thinks time out is a joke.

The boys enjoyed playing in the mall after we were done shopping though. There were too many kids around though so we didn't stay very long.

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Sam and I went out to the movie that we had skipped because of our late dinner date the week before. So we ended up getting an extra date out of it! It was so nice to be able to put the boys to bed and then go out and not have to worry about getting home before it was too late for the babysitter.

Remember when privacy in the bathroom was a thing? Yeah, me neither.

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Edison loves music. Every time he finds headphones, he knows just what to do with them.

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My parents just keep getting older. My dad turned 55 on the day Sam flew out of town. After I took him to the airport, we had a late lunch for my dad. Later that night, we had cake. Alex was very excited about the cake and wanted it on his plate faster than my mom was cutting it.

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Flannel had to leave Mesa, too. He headed back to Provo the next day. But we had plans to keep ourselves from missing everyone! We went to the zoo really early to meet up with Rachael and her kids. Rachael and I were good friends in high school and it has been fun to become mommies at the same time, too.

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We stayed at the zoo for four hours and the boys were tired and hungry. I must have been tired and hungry, too, because I totally forgot to have someone take a picture of Rachael and me together.

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After lunch and naptime, we went outside to play more. 

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The weather the next day was amazing. We played outside and dug around a dead orange tree. Alex and Edison were becoming pros at spending hours outside again, just like when we lived in Texas.

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After church, it is the cool thing to climb around in Grandpa's car.

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I told my mom we were going to the cemetery and she wanted to come along. We tried to explain to Alex where we were going and I thought he understood it. He looked at Rachael's memorial program with my mom and I thought he understood what we were saying. Not really. He stood up and said, "Okay, you two. Follow me. Let's go see Rachael." Then he started running around. My two little grave robbers were moving around the flowers on strangers' gravestones. Then we went to Costco. They tried running around there, too.

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My honorary sister, Katie, came over later that day. She is expecting her first kid, a girl, about a month before me. So excited for her! She is currently planning to name her Rachael and I think that will be awesome.

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I wanted to see Papa and Gramma again before I left town so we went over to their house for dinner. Papa entertained the boys with paper airplanes while the women chatted.

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 It was 70 degrees the next day so we played outside for a few hours.

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Both boys learned how to peel their own tangerines. Alex would spit out the seeds and Edison would just chomp on his. Once they finished a tangerine, they would head back to the tree to pick another one.

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My mom was hosting her book club that night. The boys saw her making the dessert and Alex asked when they were going to eat it. I figured since book club started at 7pm, I would let the boys have some cake before bed. But her book club doesn't have dessert until the end, versus eating throughout the meeting like I expected. I put the boys to bed and they were crying about not having cake. I felt bad for misleading them so I let them out of bed. For cake. They were thrilled.

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I went to visit my friend Donna. I hadn't seen her since my wedding reception. It was so fun to have her meet my boys and to see her new house. We had a great visit. She is a classy lady.

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We headed to the airport early the next morning to fly back to North Dakota. As I was waiting in line to check in at the airport, I heard some Arizonans talking in the line nearby. One of them said, "It's gonna get really cold. We're expecting frost three nights in a row!" Dead serious.

We had a scare on the airplane because I gave Edison a Lifesaver and he swallowed it. He was in so much pain and I snuggled him as he whimpered and cried until he finally fell asleep after the Lifesaver dissolved enough to dislodge. Poor kid.

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It was good to be home. We unpacked and the boys rediscovered their toys. They were so happy to see all of their Christmas presents that Sam had brought home so my bag would be lighter. It was a happy day!

1.07.2013

My First Sunbeam

The night before the big day, as I was tucking him in bed, I tried to get him excited for Sunbeams.
Emily: Tomorrow we are going to church and you're going to Sunbeams!
Alex: Sunbeams? I'm a Sunbeam?
Emily: Yep!
Alex: Ooooh.

It is a new year and Alex is three. That means he moves from nursery to Sunbeams. I will miss having Alex and Edison in nursery together but I am excited for Alex to move onto Sunbeams. He is ready; I just wish I were more ready. He was a little nervous to go into primary with all the big kids. I had told him that he wouldn't get treats like he had in nursery. But then the teachers gave him a pencil and said that there would be snacks! He was set from then on. When I picked him up, he was so happy and was going on and on about everything that had happened. He is getting so big!

Final week in nursery!

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First week in Sunbeams!

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Edison is not adjusting as well. He freaks out that he is being left alone and Alex is going somewhere else. I think it will get better though.

1.01.2013

NYE and Resolutions

We had plans to keep NYE very low-key. It was perfect for me. We used the boys' sparklers from their stockings. They are all little pyromaniacs and we couldn't light the sparklers fast enough for them.

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The boys also got some poppers in their stockings. Although the driveway was hard enough to make them explode, Matthew thought his abs would be hard enough to rival the driveway. They were able to get one to explode on him, but I am still unsure of why this was a good idea.

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Each boy got a glowstick and Edison had fun swinging it around. Alex and Edison took their glowsticks to bed that night.

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We played Spoons while waiting for the New Year.

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Midnight arrives much faster as an adult. We drank sparkling cider, kissed, and then looked around like "What now?"

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Keaton was feeling left out so he woke up just after midnight to celebrate the new year, too. Our little boys were sleeping soundly, even through my camera flash.

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I had set a few resolutions for 2012. One of my goals was to read from the Book of Mormon every day and to complete it twice. I did read every day and finished reading it once entirely. However, I only made it to Alma 30 the second time through before the year was over. Another goal was to run 500 miles during the year. Since I got pregnant in July, it didn't really go that way. But in the first six months of 2012, I ran 45 miles. So even without the pregnancy, 500 miles was kind of unattainable for me. I still say it was a good year and I grew so much during 2012. I have not set any resolutions for 2013. Just more of the same; I want to be better. I look forward to 2013 and our growing family.