Upside Down Smackdown

Bear loved playing "upside down smackdown" on the air mattress with Eric. Basically Eric would grab bear by the ankles and flip him around until he landed on his back while yelling "upside down smackdown!"

After that they made Bear sandwiches by hiding Bear under all the pillows and blankets. I had to laugh when Eric asked me if I'm always tired with a headache. I guess we need to break him back in to being an uncle.

Celebrate Good Times

Bear turned 3 yesterday.

We started our celebrating on Saturday because we're party animals. Or not.

I decided that I wanted to keep Bear's birthday party low key this year. We threw together a last minute (literally) get together at the park with some of our friends.

My original plan was to go to one of our favorite parks, but when we pulled in there were 3 other parties there, including a huge bounce house. I knew there was no way I could keep the kids away from the other parties so we went to another park.

Unfortunately the park we ended up at didn't have a table; which meant all the food went on the blankets. Aaron ran to costco to pick up some pizzas for everyone and while he was gone one of the little kids walked right through the tray of cupcakes (we won't name any names...Aiden!) We got a good laugh out of it, and then proceeded to eat the cupcakes.

I asked that no one bring gifts, we just wanted to spend a night with our friends.

It was so much fun. I think we might have a new party tradition.

The kids loved running around and played the funniest game of duck, duck, goose I've ever seen.

Poor Lilly didn't know what to think about all the crazy boys running around her.

For Bear's official birthday yesterday it was yet another low key day. Tuesday night after Bear went to bed Aaron and I decorated the living room as a surprise for Bear when he woke up the next morning.

I have to tell the story about the three balloons.

I asked Aaron to stop by the grocery store on the way home from young mens and pick up three balloons. In your head what do you visualize when you think of three balloons?

Well, if you're like me you think of three latex balloons. Anyway, when Aaron got home, he walked in the door he asked me to guess how much the balloons cost. I said $5.00, so when he told me $20.00 I about fell off my chair and asked him what on earth he bought. Bear loved the balloons, and Aaron will never be sent to the store for balloons again...

We met up with some friends at the park after a breakfast of Mickey Mouse pancakes covered in peanut butter, syrup and whip cream. Then headed to chick-fil-a to redeem a free meal from their march madness deal. After that it was home for naps while I tried to figure out his cake.

With help from April, I decorated my first cake ever and I have to admit I was pretty impressed with how it turned out. (If you can't tell, it's a rocket). Bear got to open his presents after dinner while sitting in front of the webcam so that family could see what he was getting. I had to laugh because he'd open a gift and get this excited look on his face and I'd ask him "what is it!?" Without fail every time he'd say "I don't know!" Pretty funny.

We finished off the night with good company, cake and ice cream.

\

Today we went to Disneyland with a bunch of our friends.

I am officially exhausted and partied out.

But the fun doesn't stop here.

The boys and I fly to Utah Saturday to welcome Eric home from his mission. We are beyond excited to see him and the rest of our family. Except for the part where we leave Aaron in California and come home before Pappy gets to Utah and Eric speaks in church. Ugh.

On the bright side, we will come home to visitors with trips to the beach and the zoo planned.

I think when all is said and done I'm going to need a very long nap.

Bear

How is it that they can change so much in the blink of an eye?

Happy Birthday little man.

We love you to the moon and back.

Bunny

April made some sock bunnies with her girls and offered me her "leftovers". Anytime there's a cheap, easy craft I can make with Bear I jump at the chance, so I gladly took her leftovers and headed home.

Bear and I made our sock bunnies today and I thought they turned out pretty cute. Aaron on the other hand said "I don't think you'll be selling those on e-bay (I think he meant Etsy) anytime soon. In fact, I don't think Goodwill will take them either". Aaron might not like them, but at least Bear and I had a good time, and now I have one Easter decoration in my house.

thanks April!

Trains

A couple of weeks ago Aaron had a convention in Huntington Beach, which left me to build the train tracks to entertain Bear. I won't admit how long it actually took me to figure out the little setup (complete with lincoln log train station). Let's just say it took me long enough that I left in on his bedroom floor for several days.

Sick.

Is it just me, or has everyone else been sick

ALL. WINTER. LONG.

I am beyond ready to have healthy, happy boys once again.

I really swear that we've been wiping noses since December 1st.

Ugh.

I took the boys to the dr. today because I just couldn't take it anymore.

Good News: I finally found a great doctor here.

Bad News: The cold season isn't going away anytime soon.

More Bad News: Bear has allergies.

Allergy season has just started.

And for the icing on the cake: Moose is sick-not just runny nose sick either.

As in coughs so hard he throws up sick and has constant wheezing.

I have been thrown up on more times today than I can count.

And to top it all off, he hasn't slept for more than five minutes today.

Because, as soon as he falls asleep he has a coughing fit, and the whole cycle starts all over.

He had to have a breathing treatment in the doctors office today. Have you ever given a breathing treatment to a 9 month old by yourself? I was holding him against my body trapping his one arm under my arm, trying to hold him still and keep his other hand from scratching his face and pulling the mask off, while trying to keep the mask on his face with my free hand.

It was NOT an easy task. Moose SCREAMED the whole time. And when I say screamed, I mean screamed at the top of his lungs, face turning redder than red, arching his back screaming.

Bear was yelling at me to stop hurting his brother and to be nice to Moose. I'm pretty sure the whole building could hear us.

We left the doctors office with a paper grocery sack full of medicine and equipment-which doesn't count the machine that was later delivered.

Poor little guy.

I hate it when my kids are sick.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's just a continuation of his Bronchiolitis from January

and not asthma.

Needless to say we've been doing a lot of this:

And very little of this:

I have a feeling it's going to be another very long, sleepless night around here.

Buddies

This past week the first thing I hear in the morning is Bear on the baby monitor saying "Moose, Moose, it's morning! Time to wake up" No matter how fast I run down the hallway, by the time I get to their bedroom Moose is wide awake (did I mention it's been at 6 am? Not quite morning in my book).

After I get Moose out of his crib Bear wants to just chill in the rocking chair and sing him songs from the iPod. While it drives me crazy that Bear wakes Moose up, I love that he just wants to play with him. I just hope as they become older instead of driving each other crazy they become the best of friends.

Broken

Mom: Bear come in the bathroom, I need to fix your hair so we can go see friends.

Bear: What happened mom? Is it broken?

The Boss

I was looking at the calendar tonight and realized it's Bear's birthday three weeks from today. I have no idea how we are going to celebrate his third birthday. When I've asked him what he wants to for his birthday he tells me he wants a green birthday. I should just hit up Target after St. Patricks day and buy all their green stuff on clearance (kidding...maybe???)

I really can't believe my little boy is just shy of 3 years old. He definitely thinks he is the boss of the house and it drives me crazy. He asks me to play cars with him and then will have complete meltdowns if I don't say what he wants or if I drive the car wrong. Basically, I've given up playing toys with him....

He is always telling us where we need to stand or sit, how we should walk, dance, jump, etc. We have the book the Bernstein Bears and the trouble with friends. We tell him he's getting bossy like Lizzy and he gets so upset and yells "I'm not bossy!" However, as soon as Aaron or I try to parent he steps right in to tell us we are being too bossy. Ahhh, my child just might be the death of me one of these days.

But, I do love him, even if he is bossy. Big booger hanging out of his nose and everything.

Trained.

I think it's safe to say Bear is officially potty trained. I decided to get rid of the little toilet that sits on the bathroom floor and opt for one that just goes right on the toilet seat. Bear just thought his new toilet made a cool hat.

Don't worry, now that it's actually been used I don't let him run around with it on his head.

U.S.A.

We've loved watching the Olympics at our house for the past two weeks. It's been fun to cheer on our country and to remember when the Olympics came to Salt Lake (was it really 8 years ago?) I found this little flag while going through some boxes and it has quickly become a favorite toy of both Bear and Moose. Bear especially loves to hold it up and run around screaming USA, USA while watching the games. While we're a little sad that the games are officially over, it'll be nice to go to bed at a decent hour again.

Why.

If you've ever sat on our couch and noticed all the spots from who knows what and then been propelled forward as you've gone to get up and had the cushion promptly follow; you may have asked yourself why we even bothered to move such an awesome piece of junk couch instead of just buying a new one once we arrived in California.

I think the above pictures explain it all.

Maybe someday I'll own a nice couch. Like when my kids are all in college.

messes

This is what happens when Bear volunteers to feed Moose his snacks. Good thing we replaced the smoking vacuum.

naptime

Me Either Little Buddy...

We've been working on potty training Bear and this morning as I was talking to him about taking his diaper off for the day he started to cry. I told him he was a big boy now and that his diapers were going away. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said "I don't want to get big mamma, I want to stay little".

Melted my heart.

Lazy Days

With Moose being sick and then Bear getting a little bit of a cough too we've been keeping to ourselves this past week. It hasn't been too bad because I now haven't had an excuse to get some much needed organizing done. We've also spent lots of time chillin' in bed watching movies and hiding under the pillows. Bear likes to call it a "bear sandwich" when he's all covered up. I just like that he thinks it's so hilarious and that it keeps him entertained.

Hereditary

When it comes to books and reading Bear has definitely taken after my dad and myself. He LOVES to "read". Most mornings the first thing he asks when he wakes up is if we can read a book, and he then before naps we have to read a few more. Of course when he goes and lays in his bed for his nap he has to take a couple with him to look at before falling asleep. And then there's the whole night time routine with more reading and once again having a book or two in bed with him.

I love it.

Disney with the Princesses

We spent the day at Disneyland with our friends again. I got a good laugh out of Bear as we were waiting for the tram. One of the workers commented on the girls princess dresses and he said "look at my dress!" I had to explain that girls wear dresses and he got to be Superman for the day.

I learned a few things:

Snow White is too scary for Bear. He told me he wanted to go home right after we got off.

The Winnie the Pooh ride is a new favorite-except for Paige who seemed afraid of every ride

Tarzan's tree house has a lot of steps

Pirates of the Caribbean is not necessarily a family friendly ride…

You can't have 3 kids and 1 adult on Dumbo (thank you to the Disneyland Worker who rode with Bear and Hannah)

Taking a sick baby to Disneyland for the day is NOT a good idea

California traffic sucks during rush hour

Despite Moose not feeling well we had another successful Disneyland trip. Thanks to "the girls" for going with us for the day!

best surprise

We got a fun package in the mail from my cousin Nicole. I was so excited when I opened and found some clothes for the boys (i.e. bear pants for Bear and a couple moose onsies for Moose)

I think she might win the best cousin award.

If anyone else would like to compete we are gladly accepting any and all packages.

Obsession

I think I may have a slight obsession with bath time pictures. I just can't help myself.

Moose has finally graduated to the "big" tub with Bear, but only because he pooped in his baby tub and we couldn't get it to come out of the styrofoam bottom. Definitely easier just to throw it away than try and clean up the nasty mess. He also has started drinking the bathwater. He leans forward and sucks it in, then laughs. I tell him no every time he does it, but really, he just thinks it's hilarious, which makes it pretty cute.