April Update

April has proved to be a pretty good month for us.  Here is the update:

Logan is getting cuter and more fun everyday.  He is so busy and into everything, but he is just so happy all the time that you can't help but fall in love with him every time you look at him. I wont be surprised if he is walking soon b/c he has mastered pulling himself up on anything he possibly can.  

He discovered that underneath his bed is a pretty fun place to play and crawls under any chance he gets.

Our beautiful niece, Chantal, got married to an awesome guy.  Thanks to some great friends, we were able to enjoy their classy and beautiful wedding kid-free.

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 While Troy and I were shakin' our booties on the dance floor, Stockton was enjoying some time with his best buds, Avery and Rhett.  I think these 3 are going to cause a good amount of trouble in their day.

...and Logan got his first lesson is cross dressing.  I am sorry Logan, I won't forget your jacket ever again.

 What we thought was going to be an uneventful Easter weekend actually turned out to be pretty jam-packed.  Stockton got to do an egg hunt Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  While no egg hunt could replace a day of hunting with his cousins, we had some good substitutions.  

On Friday, our neighborhood put on a little hunt.  It was nice for Stockton's first hunt because they had a small section reserved just for 1 and 2 year olds.  He was able to get the idea of what he was doing without having to fight older kids for eggs.  I didnt tell him there was candy in the eggs until AFTER the hunt was over.  Otherwise, he wouldnt have gotten too far.

On Saturday, we did another little hunt with Stockton's friend, Avery.  She is just the sweetest little girl.  I hope Stockton grows a little so she will want to stay his girlfriend.  No girl wants a boyfriend that is shorter than she is, right?

On Sunday we had dinner at Troy's mom's house with some of his family.  Stockton, of course, got to hunt eggs again.

This is my attempt to get a good "brothers" picture.  Not much of a success, but I tried. 

 And, as if I have not eaten enough Easter candy already, we got a package in the mail from my Mom today with lots of Easter goodies.  Stockton was really excited to see more candy.  His Weema sure does a good job of spoiling him, even from far away.  Thanks WeeMa!

Self Re-Discovery

Its been almost a year since we moved to Idaho.  I know, can you believe it?  The year has had its share of ups and downs as anyone would expect after moving away from your family, having a second baby, and starting a new life in a new place.  Recently I have been reflecting a lot on these changes and trying to realize why, despite turning our lives upside down, I feel happier than I have been in a LONG time.  Two things in particular really got me thinking lately, one was a talk with my sister about how much I am growing to like Idaho and why, and the other was looking at a "friends" Facebook profile.

While my sister was visiting last week, she asked me how I felt about us moving and how things were going.  I was telling her that I feel more like myself than I have in a long time.  The word I kept coming back to over and over was that I just feel so FREE.  I just feel like I am more able to be myself here, but I couldn't really pinpoint specifically WHY.  That leads me to the Facebook profile...I was looking through my "friends" recent pictures they posted and everything about them was just so...perfect...a little too perfect.  Almost freaky perfect.  It got me thinking about how my life from the outside could never look like those pictures, not even if I tried my very hardest on my very best day.  Everything thing about them was beautiful, the way their house was decorated.  To say "the way their house was decorated" just scratches the surface, I mean every room was perfectly tidy with every inch meticulously decorated and themed, there were no dirty dishes or junk piles. The backyard was perfectly groomed with a fancy swing set and green grass. Everything down to the front porch pillows, that's right, even the front porch pillows whispered perfection.  The kids were perfectly groomed in every picture with coordinating clothes and equally coordinating accessories.  The mother was beautiful, skinny and perfect only months after having had a baby; perfect makeup and styled hair.  The photographs themselves were crystal clear and professional looking like they had been taken with one of those fancy $1000 cameras.  After looking through all of the pictures, instead of feeling bad about myself and a little jealous of their life like I would have in the past, I just felt exhausted.  And I just wondered what is her life really like?  How much time and energy and work does it take everyday for her life to be that perfect?  And, is having that perfection everyday what really makes her happy?  If it is, then that's great, really it is.  We should all do what brings us joy and makes us happy each day.  But that life is not it for me.  And I realized that moving to Idaho has helped me be OK with that.

I don't feel the pressure anymore to keep up on all the latest and greatest home decorating/crafting ideas and hobbies.  Like how to create the perfect Easter centerpiece for your table like so and so, how to make a wreath out of streamers like so and so, how to make cupcake wrappers like so and so, and blah blah blah.  The truth is, my house will never look like it does on "that blog", I don't have the desire or the money.  And guess what, I dont think my house is so out of style, it might not be hip, but its comfortable.

I don't feel the pressure anymore to make friends with a certain group in our ward or neighborhood.  The truth is, if I am myself, not trying to fit in, then my group of friends, the ones that really like me for me, will naturally form itself.  And guess what, thats exactly what has happened since I have been here.  I feel like I have met people that I will be great friends with for a long time.  People that I honestly feel like I can be myself around, not the Utahnized Arin, but just Arin.  And people that like us just as much as we like them, I think anyways.  Also, instead of hoping that "that group" will take me in, I have focused on trying to bring people together and have everyone be a part of the group.  In return, I have made friends with a broad range of people with lots of different interests.  They may not all turn out to be my go-to friends that I call on a moments notice, but they all have great things to offer and I enjoy being around them.

I don't feel the pressure to have a perfectly clean house and perfectly groomed children all the time.  The truth is, it doesnt matter how many times I mop my floor, its just going to be sticky and crumby again in a matter of minutes, sometimes even seconds.  So why stress out about it?  As long as my house isn't disgusting and its comfortable and welcoming, that's enough for me.  The truth is no matter how many times I wipe my boys' faces they are still going to have dried snot, chocolate, or their breakfast on it all day.  And anyone who knows Stockton knows that no matter how many times a day I comb his hair, it is still going to be stringy and frizzy.  The important thing to me is that they are happy and that they feel loved everyday by their parents.

I guess what I am getting at is it takes alot of time and effort to have a picture perfect life.  And it seems like in order to have everything be so perfect, something has to be sacrificed.  Whether its money, time, or meaningful relationships.  I would rather spend the day chasing Stockton around the house, hearing him learn to talk, watching Logan figure out how to crawl and get into everything, waste the day talking to Troy about everything and nothing, building meaningful friendships, going on a walk, or reading one of the many books on my list.  I don't want to spend all of my time making my life look perfect when all I am really doing is missing out on everything that actually makes it perfect.  So, Amy, to answer your question, moving to Idaho has helped me to do that and that is why I like it so much here.

A Mover and a Shaker

Logan is officially on the move now and has been for almost 2 weeks now.  I am glad b/c it makes it so much easier for him to be entertained.  He has been wanting to go for a long time and was getting pretty frustrated, now he putters around and plays without feeling abandoned.  Now that he has mastered crawling, he is already moving on to pulling himself up on everything so he can start to walk.  This is especially annoying in the bathtub.  He doesnt understand that,
A) he hasnt quite mastered the "pull yourself up" technique, and
B) the bathtub isnt the best place to practice.
I pretty much have to have one hand on him at all times in the bathtub to avoid him dunking himself every 30 seconds.  I guess I can't say I wasnt warned, this kid has been moving almost non stop from the time I felt his first kicks.  The only time I can get him to sit still is when I rock him before naps and bedtime.  It is these times that I just want to hold him and never put him down.  It is those moments that he makes up for being such a rascal.  And just by being so cute.

Brothers

When I was pregnant with Logan, I was always worried that I wouldn't get to spend as much time with him as I did with Stockton when he was born and that I would be missing out on spending one-on-one time with both of them.  My sister would always tell me that it would be OK because I would get to see them as Brothers and there was something really special about that.  I am starting to realize now what she meant.  Logan has really started to love Stockton lately even though Stockton isn't always the nicest to him.  There are 2 particular stories that I wanted to document so I could remember them.

#1: Stockton likes to climb into Logan's crib to play with his mobile, play with his stuffed animals, and turn the lamp on and off b/c he can reach it.  Logan is normally a good sport even though he is mostly just getting trampled on the whole time.  Now that he is sitting up, I think it is a little less torturous for him.  On this particular occasion Stockton was playing and Logan was sitting there just looking at Stockton with the biggest grin on his face.  Stockton kept playing and Logan just kept smiling.  As soon as Stockton sat down beside him, Logan reached up, grabbed Stockton by the hair, and threw him down on the bed.  I was so shocked, but it was hilarious to witness.  Luckily Stockton thought it was funny, too.  I am sure he wont think so for much longer.

#2:  Stockton has a little buddy that we watch for a few hours every week.  His name is Rhett.  Logan was sitting in the floor playing with some of his trucks when Rhett decided that he wanted to play with them.  So he went over and took them from Logan.  Stockton (who takes toys from his brother ALL day long) witnessed his brother being picked on, ran over to Rhett, yelled what I can only assume were profanities, snatched the truck from Rhett, and gave it back to his brother.  I hope he will always stick up for him like that.

Painting the Bathroom

So, I have alot of projects that have been on my to-do list for quite sometime, but for some reason I am really just itching to paint my downstairs 1/2 bath.  It is just so plain and boring.  It is currently tan (just like the rest of our house) with a white pedestal sink, toilet, and a white cabinet.  I want to do something that would look good with white.

So the question is, do I try something fun like yellow or lime green??

Or play it safe with a pretty grayish blue or grayish purple????

What is your vote?  Any other good suggestions?

Logan @ 6 months

Logan is our happy baby.  And by that I mean he is the sweetest, happiest baby in the world as long as his tummy is full of milk and his Mother is either holding him or giving him her undivided attention.  He loves me.  He will be perfectly content playing and then I will walk in room, he will see me and then start crying for me.  (This is usually accompanied by the "mad face" as referenced in my previous post.)  It is precious, but not always convenient for me.

Here are some highlights of his personality right now:

*He is starting to love playing with his brother.  Even though Stockton isn't always the nicest older brother in the world, it is so fun to see them beginning to play with each other.  Stockton will act silly and Logan will just laugh and laugh.  It is nice having a extra person around to help entertain him.
*He loves milk in any form, whether its breast milk or formula, but he does NOT like eating from a spoon.  He will do it, but he definitely lets you know that he is not enjoying it throughout the entire process.  Fresh pureed mango is about the only thing that he seems to enjoy eating.  He must just have very exotic taste.
*He hates getting dressed.  This also includes diaper changes.  He gets so happy when you take his clothes off and wiggles and squirms as much as he can when you try to put them back on.
*He is temperamental.  He goes from 0 to 60 in a split second.  He can be happy, just laughing and smiling and if you do something to disrupt this, he will let you know about it.  I think he is going to be our yeller, because he sure knows how to yell already.  And by yell, I dont mean cry really loud, I literally mean YELL.  Its like he is telling you where to go and how to get there.  I won't make any speculations about which parent he may have inherited this quality from.
*He likes me to sing to him.  Whether it is a soft, quiet song or a fun, upbeat song, he just loves it.  I tried singing to Stockton when he was a baby and to this day if I try and sing to him, he just gets annoyed.  But Logan loves it and that makes me happy.
*He is really wanting to MOVE!  I dont think crawling is too far off for this kid.  He is definitely trying to figure out how to get his body to do what his brain is telling it and once he does he is going to be a mess of trouble.  He doesnt know how to sit still.  The only time he will let me sit down and hold him without squirming is when he is ready to sleep.
 *He is finally learning to SLEEP.  Apparently all we needed to do this whole time was force him to sleep in his crib instead of with us.  He had to cry it out one night, but ever since he has pretty much been sleeping past 6am before waking up to nurse and then going back to sleep until after 8!  It has been so nice compared to the last 6 months of waking up every 3-4 hours to feed him.
*He loves his blankie and pacifier just like his brother.  I actually tried to get him to choose a stuffed animal as a comfort object instead of a blanket so I dont have to keep track of TWO blankets everywhere we go, but he loves his blanket, there is just no way around it.

*He has a smile that melts my heart everyday.  I love how he just opens his mouth as big as he can and lets out the cutest little "coo" I have ever heard.  Not only is it his smile, but there is a kindness in his eyes that just radiates.

Stockton talk

Stockton just keeps talking more and more everyday.  It is funny because his speech therapist is on maternity leave so we are just taking a break until she comes back, so of course he starts talking right after she stops coming.  I am tempted to call her and tell her how great he is doing, but I don't want to be one of "those" parents.  Even though I am quite certain Stockton actually is her favorite.  How could he not be?  Here are some of the cute things I want to remember that he is saying right now.  Anyone with kids of their own knows that it isn't what they are saying as much as it is how they say it.

"Naan"- Hand (he says this when he wants me to walk down the stairs with him)
"Mon"- Come on
"Nin"- Again
"Uh-Baw"- Ball
"Uh-Dee"- Keys
"Uh-Co"- Coat
"Boo"- Blue
"Geen"- Green
"Hi" and "Bye" (he likes to play a game while I am feeding Logan.  He will come in the door, waive, and say "Hi!", then he will waive, say "Bye!", and close the door.  So cute.)

And he said his first two-word sentence:  "Bye Daddy!"

It is so nice to hear him talking so much, but sad to know that he is just growing up more and more everyday.

Logan's mad face

This is Logan's new face.

I like to call it his mad face because it normally surfaces at times like these:
*when he gets his nose wiped
*when his brother takes his toys from him
*when Mom is holding him and he wants to eat.
*when he can't quite reach something he wants

It is also accompanied by a rapid snorting sound.

Joy to my heart...

More growing up

I swear just in the last week these 2 boys have grown up so much...

Logan is sitting up all by himself without falling over and has learned to roll all over the floor in an effort to get toys that he wants.  I worry about the day this boy becomes mobile.  I think we will have our hands full in comparison to Stockton as a baby.  He has also started reaching for Mommy, it is so sweet.

Stockton just started talking overnight.  He will repeat pretty much anything you ask him to say and now the list of words he says is too long for me to even remember.  I have been worried about him being delayed, but now that he is talking so much, I just want him to stop.  Its kind of means that he isn't a baby anymore, doesn't it?  Some new things/words he has been doing the last few days.

-Buzz
-"Mo" (Remote)
-"Dee-Doo" (Thank You)
-"Doo-Doo" (Choo Choo)
-"Baa" (Pull)
-On
-Doggy
-Hi
-Bye
-"Weema" and "Grandma"
-"Peas" (Please)
-"Nana" (banana)
-Bowl
-I have been trying to encourage him to ask nicely for things (say Please), but instead of saying please he does the sign for Nice.  It is pretty cute.

-He has been watching a video called, Letter Factory (thanks Michonne), that teaches him his letters and their sounds.  I am amazed at how fast he is picking it up.  He loves it and wants to watch it everyday instead of Toy Story.  Tonight while he was taking a bath, he picked up the letter "S" and said "Sssss".  I was so impressed that I decided to test him on his other letters and was pleasantly surprised with how many he knew.  I was happy, but also almost felt like a lousy parent that he learned it from a video and not from me.  Oh well, I guess I should just be happy that he is watching those types of videos rather than mindless cartoons, right?

Stockton was nice enough tonight to let Logan play with his little Woody tonight before bed.  

You can tell Logan is studying his every move to make sure he knows how to play with it correctly.

Even after his lesson, he is still thinking, "Am I doing this right?"