Sweetest Moments

Every nap-time I read Gavin a few books and we cuddle in the rocking chair. Right before I put him down for his nap I say "Do you know mommy loves you so much? I love your nose (I kiss his nose). I love your chin." (I kiss his chin etc, until I've kissed about a dozen body parts.) I peeked in on him during his nap today to see if he had fallen asleep yet and he was sitting on his bed holding his toy giraffe saying "Do you know how much I love you? I love your back (kiss). I love your toes (kiss). I love your horns (kiss)." That made my heart swell with love for my little one. He is so precious to me. Some days I can't believe how lucky I am to be his mother.

Jackson is growing up so quickly everyday. Today he was holding onto the toy car that Gavin drives and taking steps as his big brother drove around very slowly (while mommy was holding onto him of course!). They also wrestled in Jack's crib for a while.
Gavin likes to get in when his little brother is in there and they roll around laughing until they cry.

Literally.

They are cute little pumpkins.

Slurping Spaghetti

Does anyone else's kid slurp spaghetti down whole?

Gavin will not chew the noodles.

He doesn't know how to eat them without just slurping them down. It drives me crazy!

This cannot be good for his GI.

(Do you like our food storage in the background of this picture?)

My faaaaavorite kids clothing store

I lalalalove Janie and Jack. My boys would always be dressed in their clothes if it weren't for the vast difference between my budget and their cost. Their dresses make me wish for a girl one day. She will wear dresses everyday regardless of weather and occasion.

Goldilock's Gavin and the 3 Beds

Last night when I went to check on Gavin, as I usually do before I

go to bed, my heart started pounding when I found his bed empty.

Then I thought maybe I just forgot that I put him in the crib

(which happens if he gets out of his big boy bed).

Remember that it was really dark in his room,

but the flash just illuminated everything.

But he wasn't there either. Just as adrenaline started coursing

through my body I saw his little toes peeping at me

from under the crib bumper. Do you see him?

That little stinker was curled up in the coziest place he could find.

I guess Goldilocks thought his big boy bed was too hard,

and the crib too soft. But the blankets on the floor were just right.

There he is fast asleep.

My little Deer in the Headlights

Gavin was in the pitch black basement at night when I took this. He wouldn't come upstairs and I turned off all the lights for a second, aimed in the dark and took this picture. It makes me laugh so hard whenever I see it. I love his wild eyes as he was searching for me in the dark and then the flash that caught him by surprise.

Easter

We had such a great Easter celebration with Jan's family. She made such a wonderful dinner and decorated so perfectly. She is so Martha Stewart. We actually had plans with other family members, but my cousin has a newborn and my kids were getting over colds so we had to change our plans last minute. My cute and very talented cousin Amry was here with her dashing husband Dave. It was so great to catch up with family members that I had not seen in so long and some that Lance and the boys had never even met. They are all so talented-it's amazing! Actors, model, interior designer, photographer, shoe designer/artist, etc... Yeah. I know.

Amry, Haley, Karly

Dave & Cameron

(Jan's mother) Grandma Richards with Jackson

This is Jack sitting in the car for the first time after our picnic today.

Songs at Bedtime

Gavin's new favorite thing is drawing. He loves to draw on a doodle pro and will sit busily for like 20 minutes (which is quite long for a two yr old not watching tv)! He will ask me to draw all of his favorite animals and characters. He also loves coloring. I think he might have inherited some of his Aunt Angela's artistic abilities. Here is his latest...

medium used: Crayola Crayons

Every night when I put Gavin to bed I read him several books and then sing his favorite 4 songs which include (as he says them): "Old McDonald"(had a farm), "Twinkle Twinkle" (Little Star), "Merrily Merrily" (Row Row Row Your Boat), "Somewhere" (Over the Rainbow). He loves to sing along and say each animal during Old McDonald. Lately he's been adding things that one would not find on old McDonald's farm. Like a boat or a shark. Last night when we were singing, I paused as usual for his animal fill in "...on that farm he had a ____." Gavin smiled and cheerifully said "booger" while holding up a fine speciman on his finger. Eww gross! BOYS!

I have started cutting Lance and Gavin's hair. I was really nervous to do Lance's because he is so particular and has only found one stylist in San Diego that could do it right. With the help of her written instructions I think I cut it perfectly and Lance love's it too. He is estatic that we can save that $30 a month. Keep your fingers crossed for me that I can keep it up. By the way I'm not afraid to show a picture of his haircut, but I really don't have one yet.

My Sweetie Boys

My baby has teeth popping in all over! He has decided he is over baby food. He just wants whatever anyone else is eating. Poor Gavin has to guard his food diligently or it will be gone before he knows it. But he will share his boring cheerios-he likes to hand feed them to people. He also learned how to climb the stairs and laughs uncontrollably while doing it if anyone is behind him. He is such a fun guy. We still don't know if his eyes are going to change colors.
Here is Gavin chillin' on the bed having a snack. He's always loved wearing hats. He is such a sweet boy and he loves his brother. Yesterday he said, "Jacky, where aaaare yooooooou? Come play in room with meeee. Fun." It was just really cute. I love my boys.

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mother is the most talented and kind hearted person I know. She sacrifices so much for her family and is always finding ways to serve others. She is such a beautiful woman inside and out. She has always been such a wonderful example to her children and all that know her, love her. My favorite thing about her is that she has such a great sense of humor. As a child my sole reason for living was to make her laugh. I seem to have a talent for that and can still make her cry and/or pee her pants from laughing so hard. Lance is having a hard time without her Sunday dinners. Well, actually we all are. Gavin asked if we were going to her house today after church. He was very disappointed to keep hearing that grandmommy lives in this place called San Diego and that it keeps him from seeing her, Papa, Keldon and Ethan. We love you so much mom! Happy 40th birthday! Again.

Catching up!

We knew we had a few things to teach Gavin about using the toliet after this incident.
Take your clothes off before sitting down.
Don't fall in.
You don't need to unroll the whole roll of toliet paper, usually...

This is my favorite picture ever!
My dad holding Jackson for one of the few times before we moved. Aren't they handsome?
This was at our garage sale-Ya'll missed out!

This is what happens when your baby eats too many carrots-orange nose.
(I don't know what that black string above Gavin is. Weird.)


Here is Gavin the Sunday before we moved looking dapper. My sweet boy!



I have to wear a rain coat when bathing Jackson and now you can see why.
Gavin likes having his own tub so he doesn't have to bathe with the tsunami-maker.
This is Jackson favorite place to be besides attached to mom.

This is how the kids have to bathe because we only have a shower.

But they like it and it works!

This is the view from our backyard. Its very peaceful and serene.

I am baaaack!

There is no excuse for the lapse in my blogging, but I'll just list a few anyways.

-selling our house
-cleaning the house constantly for showings
-packing to move
-moving out of state
-applying for jobs (well, husbands job...)
-couldn't find my cable to download pics
-unpacking and lots of organizing
-kids keep me too busy day and night
-too tired because Jack doesn't sleep thru the night and acts like he is going to die if I'm not holding or plugging him
-do you want more?...

I can't believe we have been in Utah now for 3 weeks. Everyone is so nice and we are really enjoying our new home. We've experienced a lot of cold and snow-more than I ever wanted. The boys are adjusting to all of the changes quite well. Gavin is working on potty training and he now sleeps in a big boy bed. Although Jackson has not joined him in their room yet because it seems like every time he starts sleeping through the night something interrupts his cycle. Yes, I am sad to say that Jack, who is 8 months old, to my dismay, is still not sleeping through the night. I thought he would be trained by 3 months but because his digestive system did not cooperate we have had quite a mess on our hands with that. Kids are sooo different. Gavin's infancy seems so uneventful and easy now compared to Jack's. On top of the digestive problems he is also quite the screamer. He cries so loudly and vehemently that we think he might pop a blood vessel and this is all if the boob is not pacifying him. After moving here and dealing with these restless and tramautic nights with him I have finally decided he's going to have to just cry if anyone wants me to be a loving and patient mother throughout the day. Well, and night, since Lance works until 12:00 am... Jackson is really cute and so grown up lately. He stands in the closet and pulls out toys from the toy drawers that he wants to play with. He is also his brothers crawling shadow, though a little slower than Gavin. It's so fun to see their brotherly love develop.

Good news: we have already had the stomache flu that lasts a week (thanks to our first Sunday in nursery) so we are now immune! Whew, glad to get that out of the way.


We are excited for family and friends to visit us. You are all welcome anytime! We miss you! We have had a great welcome from family that live here though and that has helped soothe the wounds of leaving both sets of our parents and siblings behind a little.