This & That

1. I didn't realize how dependent I am on the computer until ours died a few weeks ago. (It was barely a year old, which was very frustrating. But that's another story.) So many times I needed to come to the computer to do something and then remembered that it was dead. I use the computer to check the weather, check the school lunch menu, get help with FHE lessons, pay bills, look at store ads, shopping, get ideas for cakes, crafts, and other projects, and most importantly blogging. Aaron went and bought us another one, and I immediately needed to use it. You know.....for important stuff like paying the bills...........and blogging. Thank goodness for my blog or else I would have lost all of John David's baby pictures. We did actually lose a few that were not on the blog, but the best ones are, so I can live with that.

2. I really, REALLY don't know how much longer I can stay in nursery with John David. It's been over six months now. I rarely get to sit through sacrament meeting, and going to nursery for two hours after that is getting old. Luckily, just when I thought I was about to go crazy on Sunday after having a really hard time with John during sacrament, a night in shining armor came in to rescue me. Okay, so his armor wasn't that shiny, but my thoughtful husband came to nursery and told me I could go to Relief Society and he would stay with John. That meant so much to me to know that he was thinking about me without me even telling him how I was feeling that day. I am so grateful for him. However, I do realize that it may not happen again since he is so busy at church on Sundays. But at least maybe I can make it a little while longer without losing my sanity.

3. I am so enjoying this beautiful weather we have had all week. John David and I have been playing outside everyday and soaking it all up. Aaron made a sandbox last week for John David to play in with his trucks and he is lovin' it! So are the girls! Love, love, LOVE our new fence!

4. I am finally on a new medication for my hypothyroidism. I am very hopeful that it can help me feel better than I have in the past months, and maybe even make losing weight a little easier too. *fingers crossed* I had no idea all of the things that were affected by thyroid issues, many of which I have experienced, but the worst is feeling so tired ALL the time. I feel like I can never get enough sleep these days. Hopefully it'll get better soon.

5. Have I mentioned how great my husband is? This week we found out that both of our girls are reading below grade. This was extremely disheartening for me to hear. I really, REALLY want my kids to be good readers and enjoy reading. I have read to the girls since they were babies. I take them to the library and we always participate in the summer reading program. However, despite my push to get them to love books and reading, Katie told Aaron in 2nd (or maybe 3rd) grade that she hated reading. So I haven't pushed Sarah to read as much as I did Katie. But that is obviously not working either. So while talking to Aaron about my concerns, he helped me to realize that this is not as horrible as I was feeling like it was. Yes, we need to work with them to help them improve, but it will be okay. I am so grateful for him helping me to put things into perspective.

6. I am taking a photography class with my friend Stephanie at Sowella. Our first class was last Tuesday night. I thought I understood a little of what he was saying, but I came home to practice and realized that I didn't have a clue. I think I can..........I think I can............I think I can understand shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. I'm sure it'll come with time and practice.....lots of time and practice.

the cutest two year old on the planet

John David had his two year old check up today. He weighs 31lbs. and is 34 3/4 inches tall. And hip-hip-hooray......no shots today. So I took him to get another hair cut. Ever since his first one, it has become more and more obvious to me that he did kinda look like a little girl with his long, curly locks. So we went for the boy cut today. I took him to a different place this time. A place especially for kids that has cute little cars for them to sit in, and a big TV in front of the cool cars, to hopefully distract the little ones from what is actually going on. Well, it didn't work for John. He cried the entire time. It was crazy. I even thought of just telling her to stop and call it good several times, but we stuck it out and I am so glad we did. It is soooo cute! Now he officially looks like a little boy. So I decided to take him to the park to try to get some pictures of the cutest two year old on the planet. But that didn't go like I had hoped either.



He is really into tractors right now, so I brought some for him to play with while I tried to get him to look my way.



But he was having too much fun playing with them to give me the time of day, much less glance my way.





He also loves the "Cars" movie, so I brought his "Cars" cars, and his "Mac" truck that Santa brought him for Christmas.





Have I mentioned that he makes the best motor sound.....ever?! Seriously! Just ask anyone in our family. Or anyone who sits close to us at church on Sunday.



He was having so much fun, but was so not interested in smiling for me to take a picture.



But man, he sure is cute!







So I broke out his ride on tractor to see if that would evoke some smiles. He did get pretty excited about having his "ak-ter" (aka tractor), but still not cooperating like I had hoped.







"Maybe if I ignore her, she'll go away."





"Man, she's still there." At least he smiled, but could you please just look at the camera?



"Sorry. Too busy......



......being goofy."



Cute, but still no smile.



"Hey, did someone call me?"



"Oooo. What is that?"



So distracted.



Acting crazy.



"Don't care what you do.....I'm not looking at the camera!"



"That's it! I'm leaving!"



So here are my favorites. I'm trying to decide between these three which one to use for his two year old picture to go on my wall. Not the greatest, but as good as it gets for this age, I think.







Love you to pieces little man.......even if you refuse to cooperate for pictures!

Love Sweet Love

We've had so much fun counting down to Valentine's Day. We "heart attacked" some friends (supposedly anonymously), did Valentine pedicures (even on John David, by his request), had some fun with some Valentine balloons.........



.........made and decorated sugar cookies..............



..........made Valentine pops.......................

..........ate heart shaped pizza.....................



.............and made Valentine bark for our teachers.



Tonight my sweet Valentine grilled some chicken, sausage, and hamburgers and we had a very tasty Valentine's dinner.



And I made some special desserts. My heart shaped jello didn't turn out as pretty as I had hoped, but it was delicious nonetheless.



And these were as divine as always.



After dinner, we got to read the valentines that we made for each other.



Then we shared valentine gifts with each other. My valentine gave me (and himself) an orange tree. I was very excited because I have been wanting some fruit trees for a while.



I gave all of my sweet Valentines little boxes of chocolates.



And Daddy gave his little Valentines some beautiful daisies.



We love the bright colors.

It's been a very sweet day!

Can we just skip this part?

This morning John David had a full-fledged two year old temper tantrum. It was a doozie. Seriously, it lasted at least 15 minutes. It all started when he woke up later than normal this morning and he was wet from an overloaded diaper, and I made the horrible mistake of trying to change his diaper. He got so mad when I took his pjs off, and even madder when I started taking off his diaper. I barely got it on with him screaming, twisting, and turning. And then he started trying to get off of the changing table. So I helped him onto the floor while his fit continued as I tried to put clothes on him. I finally gave up on getting the clothes on him and left him in the floor in his room to finish his tantrum. After a few minutes he came into the kitchen--still crying, and he had taken his diaper off. I tried to put it back on him and that really set him off again.



So again, I left him to finish his tantrum and I went into the living room. Eventually he followed me in there too, and I noticed his bottom lip quivering. He was freezing because it was so cold. So I finally got his diaper on again, which he was mad about, but didn't take off again. I asked him if he wanted to put some clothes on and he would just cry louder each time I asked. He did eventually let me put his favorite pjs on him, but he fussed about it the entire time, and any time that I said anything to him. I am convinced that if I understood what he was trying to say, it would not have been nice. And then I was grateful for him being little. Because one day he won't be little and I will be able to understand what he is saying. And I'm sure I will want to skip over that part too.

Our Two Year Old

I can't believe it, but our sweet little wrecking ball turned two today.



Maw Maw and Paw Paw couldn't make it to his party tonight, so they stopped by this afternoon to visit him for a few minutes. He absolutely loved the boots they gave him. As soon as he opened them, he said, "Boots!" I didn't even know that he knew what boots were.



Of course he had to put them on right away. It was pretty entertaining watching him walk around in them.



Then tonight we invited a few friends over to help us celebrate. This is John's friend Clayton. He is such a cutie.



John David loved the Tonka truck that his sisters gave him. He even took it for a little spin.



And he loved the fishing pole from Daddy too.



He loved the Handy Manny talking toolbox as well. He immediately started fixing all kinds of stuff around here.



Then it was time for cake. I decided to make him this cake since he loves cars.



Aaron said to make sure the Marine car was in the lead.



We sat John David down in front of his cake and started singing "Happy Birthday".......



.....and he started singing too!



I love that! It was so cute!



But the absolute cutest thing was watching him try to blow out his candles!



HOW.



STINKIN'.



CUTE?!



He enjoyed his cake and ice cream. And it looks like Dusty is good for more than just cutting wood.

Happy Birthday John David! We love you to pieces little man!