Monkey Boys

Daddy bathed the boys tonight. Daddy left a full bottle of shampoo in the tub after he washed the boys. Daddy left to go watch basketball. Mommy went in the bathroom and found lots of bubbles and an empty shampoo bottle. At least it was fun! (And in Daddy's defense, we usually leave the shampoo in the tub until bath time is over. Will is just going through this horrendous dumping phase.)

Other fun stuff that's mostly Will-induced:

• a bathroom covered in toothpaste (pics to come)
• a bathroom covered in Vaseline (exactly one week after the toothpaste debacle)
• black grease on the carpet (not Will)
• white chocolate melting wafers stuffed down Will's heat vent (which I discovered when the heat was on). (Definitely Will)
• a water leak that soaked carpet on both levels of the house (not Will)
• a now-empty bottle of BioSilk (you know, the expensive hair stuff), found on the floor next to my bathroom. I have no doubt it was Will. And I can't figure out where he dumped it.
• all of the pillows and cushions were thrown to the living room floor. Will was jumping on the naked couch, but paused long enough to tell me (with a HUGE smile) "I finish homework!"
• wet carpet underneath the fridge. Because Will opened the door and just pushed the water dispenser button. No cup, just lots of water.

Will is turning out to be a very expensive child!

UPDATE 2/2/10: Yesterday Will dumped half a bottle of shampoo on the carpet. Today he smeared Desitin on his bedding and carpet.

One Year Old!!

Our beautiful Molly Grace turned ONE year old on Wednesday! We can't believe it's already been a year since she joined our family! She's been so much fun, and a very calming influence on her brothers. She's mellow and sweet, and we love her so much!

She had her official first taste of cake on Sunday at the Clayton multi-birthday party, but I forgot my camera. :( So this is her second taste of cake, which I think she liked just as much!

Looking intrigued...

then a little unsure...

Going for a taste...
I like it Mom!!

She loved her little toy horse that came with a matching blankie...but the horse has a broken part, so I have to return it. And then the boys took over her other toys, so she wasn't left much in the way of birthday surprises, but I don't think she cared much!

Molly had her check-up today, and she's still very petite!

Height: 29 inches (45th percentile)

Weight: 18.2 lbs (10th percentile)

Disposition: Sweet!

We went to Target after her appointment and she was so traumatized by her shots that she fell asleep sitting in the front of the cart. It was cute, but sad. And then I bought her tons of stuff. I found some really cute dresses! But don't tell Mike. :) I'm such a sucker for a cute dress!

Molly still isn't crawling, but she scoots everywhere on her cute little bum! The doctor wasn't worried, and her hips are fine, so we're just having fun watching her zoom everywhere sitting up! I'll try and get some video soon, it's pretty funny.

Catching Up

Will LOVES hats. He sleeps in them, bathes in them, and generally has one close by. I guess he couldn't decide which one was his favorite, so he decided to wear both! He wore his light hat so much that he drained the batteries in less than a month. What a great Christmas gift!

Sam was blue. I was red. And his win was legitimate. How am I so bad at a game of luck?

Sam thought it was great to feed Molly. I'm not sure if she enjoyed it quite as much as he did.

Corbin joined us for playgroup, but he got a little sad. (Notice that he's bigger than Molly. And 3 months younger. He's huge and she's tiny!)
That's my girl!

Will.

We made these fun snowman cookies. They were so rich that the boys didn't even want to eat them!

Sam Reading

We got home from the library and Sam sat down and just started reading. I grabbed the camera to get some video because it is pretty impressive. He's basically self-taught. (We've worked with him a lot because he's always loved letters, but he's figured out how to read...because he loves it) They're still learning letters in preschool, and he can sit down and read a chapter book. I'm calling the school he'll go to next year to see what kind of reading program they have. He'll need something beyond kindergarten, that's for sure!

Carpet Cleaner

She eats everything she can find now. She'll eat tiny crumbs on the floor if she can find them, which is probably why I only need to vacuum every other day now. :) She'll be one in a couple of weeks (which I still can't believe!), and look how tiny she is! Her shirt is 12M (and is huge), but her pants are 9M and fit great. She's such a petite little girl! (I really do feed her, look at that messy face!)

Snow Day

We played out in the front yard while Molly was napping. We never did get our snowman built, but we had fun!



Will was so proud of his jumping. He's actually mid-jump, and he was so happy about it!

Cute Girl

I just like this picture!

Silly Boy

I wasn't ready to transition Will to a big boy bed, but he had other plans. He napped in his crib for about a month after he started sleeping nights in the big bed, but now he insists on napping in the big bed too. Some days he doesn't fall asleep, but most of the time he eats lunch, gets his "B" and then puts himself to bed for a nap. The other day I went in to check on him and he was passed out across the bed.
The boys got hats for Christmas from Grandma Grace that have lights under the brim. They sleep in them every night, and wear them half the day too. They are hilarious! They love having lights in bed so they can play or read for as long as they want.

Quiet Christmas

We had a very quiet Christmas. My family came over on Christmas Eve and we had a great dinner. Just as we were sitting down to eat Sam laid down on the couch and was really quiet (which is unusual for him). As we were finishing our meal Sam stood up and threw up all over the floor. :) He threw up six or seven more times over the next 24 hours, which is more than he ever thrown up in his entire life, total. After we got Sam squared away we played Wits and Wagers and stuffed our full bellies with more treats.

Christmas morning was quiet too. We slept till about 9:00 (best present kids can give their tired parents!), and then we opened presents.

Sam rallied for the gift opening, but after about 20 minutes he was totally spent.
And then spent Christmas like this.

I put together a bag of toffee for Mike's parents, but I forgot to send it when he took Will over. ( I stayed home with sick Sam and sleeping Molly.) Later that day Will was being really quiet, so I investigated. He took the bag of toffee off the counter, but couldn't open it himself. He somehow reached the scissors at the back of the drawer (where I thought he couldn't reach them!), cut off the top of the bag, and then got caught trying to put them away. Such a monkey!

All the kids got new jammies for Christmas (but Sam couldn't wear his because he threw up on them). Molly is also sporting a new headband and flower from Aunt Renee. So cute!

Will starting throwing up Christmas night, Mike was the next day, and Molly was a few days later. All of the kids threw up on the couch at least once. My carpet cleaner sure got a workout! Even with all the puking, it was a really nice Christmas! I was sad to miss Grandma Tigger's annual white elephant party, but staying in my pj's all day was a nice consolation prize!

Sam's Preschool Christmas Program

The preschool programs are always a highlight. The kids are hilarious! I really loves this picture because Sam and Katie were totally holding hands...like it was no big deal! They held hands for a minute and then they were done, and neither of them batted an eye. Makes me wonder how often they hold hands...I felt bad that Sam looked like a ragamuffin. We ran errands that morning and I told Sam that he would need to change into nicer clothes for preschool. And then I promptly forgot. At least he loved his outfit! And Sam was one of the only kids actually singing the songs. He's not much into singing, but then he has his shining moments. Sam is so great!

Will!

Will is independent. And by that I mean he won't let us do anything for him until he has tried for at least 20 minutes by himself. No matter if we're late trying to get out the door, he must do it "by self!"
After he just couldn't figure it out (and it was a valiant effort!) he finally asked for help. He's such a monkey!
I love his little face. What a stinker!

Stewart Party!

We always love the Stewart Family Christmas party, and this year we even stayed long enough for the famed talent show (which we'd never seen because of bedtime and whatnot). I didn't really get any pictures of the actual party, but what I got was fun anyway!

Two of the most beautiful girls I know! Jane is so photogenic it's ridiculous. And look at that cute baby!
Classic Clayton.

My cute family! Will is wearing an orange Monster Truck shirt underneath his white polo. And if I recall correctly, this was also the Sunday he wore his Tigger slippers to church. He screamed when we tried to take them off to go to church, and then we were in such a rush I forgot to grab real shoes. Our family provides a lot of entertainment for our ward.

Cute Molly

I love bathing babies in the kitchen sink. Molly is so small and unlike her brothers (in the splashing department) that I can still put her in, and she's almost a year old! The boys didn't last nearly that long.She looks chubby, but she's little for her age! She's probably the size of the average 8-9 month old baby, yet she's got chub. We don't get it, but we love it!

Will was very jealous of Molly's bath, so he stripped naked right behind me and demanded a bath in the sink. He is so funny!

Molly almost has enough hair to keep a clip in place! I'm excited.

She has a lot more hair than the boys did at this age, which I'm having a lot of fun with! I always did my sister's hair growing up. I taught myself how to french braid with her hair, which is lucky for Molly! (I don't think Melissa particularly enjoyed being my guinea pig, but I could do a mean french braid!)

2009 Reflections

I was looking through my blog book, and I saw this from a couple of years ago. Kind of a fun way to review the year.

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? Run 5 miles. Continuously.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Um...yeah. We have resolutions for this year!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Me, and everyone on my street under 35. Not kidding. And tons of people in Mike's family.

4. Did anyone close to you die? No.

5. Where did you visit? Huntington (and surrounding), St George a couple of times, Bear Lake a couple of times, Lambs Canyon.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? Patience. And more optimism.

7. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Giving birth to the world's best, easiest baby!

8. What was your biggest failure? Being too hormonal.

9. Did you suffer illness or injury? Not really. That Vertigo thing really threw me for a loop though.

10. What was the best thing you bought? Photoshop.

11. Where did most of your money go? mortgage. costco.

12. What did you get really, really, really excited about? My flirty apron and food storage cookbook (which may sound super lame, but it's awesome!), and the imac!

13. Compared to this time last year, are you:A) happier or sadder? B) thinner or fatter? C) richer or poorer? Life is great, I'm much skinnier (now that I'm not 9 months pregnant), and I feel very rich (we can pay the mortgage and we're healthy).

14. What do you wish you’d done more of? Dates with Mike, studying scriptures, more temple work, and more playing with the kids. And relaxing.

15. What do you wish you’d done less of? Waste time on the computer (ie facebook)

16. What was the best book you read? I just finished Fire of the Covenant (story of the Willie & Martin handcart companies...I have a whole new perspective and appreciation. Great book.), and I loved The Hunger Games & Catching Fire.

17. What did you want and get? Snuggie, Flirty Apron, a pink knife, and my food storage cookbook. I'm still excited about them. I think everyone read my mind for Christmas this year!

18. What did you want and not get? I got everything I wanted, and then some!!

19. What kept you sane? Mostly I wasn't sane, quite honestly.

20. Who did you miss? Our family and friends who moved away! Seems like there were a lot this year.

2009 was a crazy year, with lots of ups and downs. We're ready for a great 2010!!