Winter Wonderland Weekend

Friday morning, Tommy wore Barrett's beanie around and loved it! It would fall over his eyes and he'd walk around, blind, until someone peaked under.
We heard we were supposed to get a couple of inches of snow, so we tried to find Damon some snow pants. When I asked at Toys R Us (the clothing department) if they had snow pants, the lady said, "No, we're getting swimsuits." Boo. I'm always too late! But yep, Saturday morning, Barrett went off to help someone move, and as the snow started falling I so wisely texted him to stop off and buy a snow shovel. It snowed until sometime Saturday night. Barrett and Damon geared up to go out and play in it, and since I dug out Tommy's hand me down Eagles snow suit, I thought he'd enjoy it for a bit. Boy was I wrong! He face planted almost the second I put him down. He eventually enjoyed walking in it, until he fell again...then he about had it. So the big boys played and mom and little boy went inside to watch from the window:)


Proof that I was outside in the snow...sporting my good ol' Rexburg College days super warm coat.
Damon threw snow in his Daddy's face and thought it was the funniest thing ever!
Damon had to have "hot tohtoh" the second he got inside, wet clothes off and shorts and short sleeves on (his new thing...dressing himself in clothes that mom doesn't want him to find or wear!). We made pizza that night then let Damon watch a movie (something special). He chose Hercules. It was fun to watch him laugh at the silly parts.
Since church was cancelled due to the snow and lack of snowplows, we made waffles. As I was getting things out, Tommy decided he needed to investigate the contents of the fridge. At one point he was trying to reach up and grab the milk...too cute!

Tommy devoured the waffles! Seriously, he ate so much and I don't think he would've ever stopped. At one point we got tired of giving him a few pieces at a time, and just dumped a bunch on his tray...well, they all ended up in his little fists so fast.
The boys played in the tent and turned it on its side to make it hard for people to get in or escape. Damon later filled it with almost everything in the room...pillows, blankets, toy food, toy animals, an ice cream scoop he snagged out of the kitchen drawer.
Since it was Sunday, we decided we needed a little spiritual upliftment, so we had a little home church (basically FHE). Damon played the music;) and we had a little flannel board lesson about prayer, and sang lots of Primary songs, and had a pretty good time. This afternoon, Barrett and Damon went outside to shovel off the steps and make sure the cars would be able to move in the morning. Damon has such a good dad, he shovelled all the snow into a huge pile for Damon to play on. I kept hearing squealing outside and was surprised to see Damon climbing up and sliding down the "mountain." They were also able to help some neighbors across the street shovel out their cars.



It was the perfect day to make Valentine cookies, so Damon and I made the cookies and we all frosted (well, not Tommy, but he did help put sprinkles on a few until he couldn't handle it and downed 3 or 4). Damon really didn't do much either, he just wanted to eat them too...big surprise.

It was a pretty great weekend!

BRR

Barrett and I are absolutely in love with Breyer's Rocky Road ice cream. We have almost stopped buying any other flavors because we're always wishing we had BRR. We were super excited to see that Safeway was selling Breyer's ice cream for $1.99 last Saturday. We're now wishing we had a second freezer. Last night I opened BRR and had a little taste before it ended up in my cup. Heaven! It tasted soooo good! Go try it...you won't be sorry:)
Speaking of Safeway...I saved $64 Saturday!! That was 47% of my bill!!! How awesome is that?!

This Week

We had lots of fun this week since it was warmer. We spent a lot of time outside enjoying the fresh air...without pictures.

The boys watched tv while I was making dinner one night...or many nights:) (Notice how good my camera is? The townhouse you can see through the blinds is in the neighborhood behind our house and across the street!)

This is an example of the bags we made at Activity Days this last week. I wish I would have taken pictures of the ones the girls did...they were so cute and pretty easy to make. A great project for 8-11 year olds! (I found it here )

Usually when I'm in the shower, Tommy pounds on the door and roams around my room. Today I heard a little noise, then found him asleep on the floor holding a book, snoring, blowing snot bubbles on my pillow and sweatshirt!)


A little story:
After dinner last night, Damon informs me he wants to change his clothes to be warmer. I told him he was already wearing sweatpants and that he was fine. I realized he was missing, then he came down the stairs wearing pajamas, so proud of himself! The pants were inside out. I asked him if he was wearing underwear or a pullup. He didn't answer, so I asked again. He pulls down his pants, nothing! No pullup, no underwear. We couldn't stop laughing!

January Happenings

We finally started to get a little warmer weather! We met up at the park one afternoon with Meagan and Rhone. The boys had tons of fun. Tommy loved trying to crawl up the slide...it reminded me of a mouse on a treadmill:)

Damon and I have been doing "snowman projects" lately. We've been trying to come up with different items to use to make these cute little guys. Damon thought pretzels would make great arms...then we worked on creating the rest.

I Love These Boys!

Yesterday Damon and I were watching old video clips of him when he was little. Despite what some may think, I realized how little I'm documenting Tommy's growth compared to the first child (then again, he had my full attention, and still does, just look at my posts from 2007). I'm hoping to do better...here's a little proof.
The boys love playing and wrestling with Dad. Tommy is quite the fast little runner too! Oh, the first picture is of Damon Skype-ing with Quinn. I seriously think that if we could trust him not playing with and ruining the computer, we could leave him to talk to Quinn for hours...BFFs!

Sigh...

This week I have been trying to potty train Damon. This is probably the 3rd time we've attempted to potty train, but my heart is in it this time! The last two days we didn't have any accidents! Damon wore Elmo underwear and I set the timer and he got his "MLMS" (m&ms) or marshmallows. Then we got a little seat to put on the toilet so he won't fall in. He was really excited to show Dad when he got home from work. By the afternoon, we slack off a little and he usually gets his pull up wet. But today has been discouraging! He wet his pants twice before lunch! I think Damon has worn every pair of pants he owns today! I know it may take awhile, but seriously? This is no fun!! On a lighter note, I have been playing more with the boys:) I have played the Memory game more times in the last 3 days than I have in the last 15 years! Today Damon was trying to get me to ride his trike around the house and he would pretend to cross the street. After one time I told him I was done. Then,
Damon: Why mom?
Me: Because my booty is too big and it hurts to sit on that little seat and ride.
Damon: (while looking at my booty) Your booty IS big!! (then looking at his own) I have a small booty. (He ran and sat on his trike) See mom, my booty is small.


Damon helped me make Rice Krispie Treats to take to someone the other day. He wore his new Dollar Store apron and hat:) When he saw the picture on the computer he said, "dat's tyoot!"
We popped up the play tent and the boys have been having fun playing in it. Tommy's hair is super staticy when he gets anywhere near the tent!

We woke up to snow this morning, so Barrett and Damon went outside to play and clean off the cars. Tommy had to look out the window. I had hot chocolate ready for them:)

Quotes and Stories

Some funny things that have been said by Damon lately(may not be that funny to others):

1. "Mom, we need to teach Uncle Quinny how to sing "You're A Grand Old Flag."" It is a joke between them to sing, You're a grand old ____ (something silly).
2. Getting on the airplane to head to Utah Damon said, "I'm so excited!"
3. While Grandpa is reading about the Grinch, Damon runs up to me and says very sadly,"Mom, I don't want the Grinch to come and take all my presents." That's all we heard for the next few days.
4. "Let's make cookies for Santa and the Grinch."
5. After Grandma said, "You'll die when you see what I got for you." Damon would ask about the "die thing."
6. Poor Paul had kidney stones during Christmas, so spent a lot of time in his room resting. He and Ainsley went home Sunday. On Monday, Damon was walking upstairs with Grandma and said, "Shh...Paul's sleeping." I guess he didn't see much of Paul and didn't even know they had left!
7. Tonight we were going through the steps of prayer, again. When asked what he was thankful for he said,"Meagan!" Sorry Meagan, I think he has a little crush on you:)
8. When Barrett said, "What can you ask Heavenly Father for?" Damon replied,"CANDY!"

Happy New Year!

Wow! 2010! Last night we went over to our friend's house. We ate yummy food, tried to play ping pong, watched the boys play, and even played a little Wii. We headed home 2 hours shy of the New Year, but still made a little noise. Damon crashed, but Tommy woke up about 12:30 and screamed for an hour. Out of desperation I turned on Mickey Mouse On Demand...silence! I turned to Barrett and said, "And that's why we have On Demand!" We kept joking how this was probably exactly how we spent last New Year's...with a newborn screaming late at night. Barrett told me that 2010 has to be better than 2009. I thought about the last year and had to stop...it was a really difficult year and one that we hope to never repeat. So, what's this year's theme? 2010...the best it's ever been?!

*This post is for you, Meagan:) I hope you got some better pictures. I should've brought my new camera!

Tommy is O-N-E!

While in Utah, we celebrated Tommy's first birthday! I have been having serious emotions about this milestone. I keep remembering last Christmas and how huge I was, the fact that all 7 of my siblings were together for my sister's wedding after Christmas, missing a little Christmas at home, my Grandma passing away Christmas Eve last year and the fact that I thought I was going to have a girl and how she'd be named after my amazing Grandma, worrying that my new baby would be born late Christmas Eve while parents were preparing for the next day, worrying that my baby would be born Christmas, and just waiting and waiting and waiting. Barrett and I had been watching a Hallmark movie late one night, then headed off to bed. I woke up 15 minutes after falling asleep and I was in labor. I paced around for awhile, then packed my bag, then Barrett woke up, then called the Doctor, then called a friend, then threw in a boy outfit just in case, then woke up Damon and drove him to our friends house, then got to the hospital and waited at the desk for someone to realize I was there, and had A BOY within an hour of arriving. Just thinking about that time, brings back a little anxiety. We are so grateful to have Tommy in our lives. He can sure be cranky and has quite a temper, but is such a sweet baby that doesn't have a desire to be too independent yet (I can't bare to have him grow up!) We loved having so many people to help us celebrate Tommy in our lives! Grandma Ro, Grandpa Barry, Grandma Sims, JaVan, Quinn, Tanner, Jenny, Jeff, me, Barrett, and Damon. Since Tommy wasn't very interested in Christmas presents, we saved them for his birthday, so he had lots of gifts to open. Damon couldn't handle it and basically opened them all for his little brother. Most pictures I took were of Tommy peering over Damon's shoulder trying to look at what he was opening. He LOVED his cake and pretty much demolished it!! Happy Birthday Tommy!