39 weeks and 3 days

Today we...

Took down ALL the Christmas decorations, including the tree, ornaments, and all the other random things we put up and packed them up and put them in storage.

Cleaned the entire house from top to bottom. We are talking...dusting, vacuuming, wiping, mopping, scrubbing, organizing, etc. I went way overboard with dusting all the pictures that are hanging up and even started doing all the baseboards on my hands and knees until I realized that I wouldn't be able to stand up if I kept it up. Scrubbed the kitchen floor on my hands and knees too.

Bathroom toilet got clogged...it had been working off and on for the past few days but flushing the toilet isn't something that you really want to be "off and on". So we called the plumber to come out and fix it. He checked our house and said it must be the main line and he was heading out to fix it. So we were putting the Christmas decorations away while he did that and Ty came in and said "There is yucky stuff all over the toilet and floor." So nasty. I mean, I am glad the main line got cleaned out, but did it really have to come out of our toilet??

So, I spent a good long time cleaning the bathroom. A good. long. time. But, not it is sparkling clean. I even had Scott take off the shower sliding doors and I scrubbed those puppies down. I had wiped them down before, but this was intense.

Scott finished up some more caulking in the bathroom. And it made it look even better than just sparkling :)

I cleaned and vacuumed out the car. I LOVE MY CAR SO MUCH. I really do. I feel like I treat it like one of my children. It has to been cleaned and wiped down at least once a week (don't worry, I make the kids bathe more often than that). Anyway, I knew I might be neglecting the car over the next few weeks so I gave it a last good clean and scrubbed it all out and wiped down the inside. I even got all the car seats cleaned up and wiped down and then put in the baby car seat base. So the car is all ready to go.

Then there was the laundry...oh, the laundry. I think that we did 7 loads. All the sheets, towels, and all the clothes that we want to wear in the next few weeks :) And then the real kicker is that we folded it all and put it away! That is always the hardest part for me.

Guys, this was an incredibly productive day. Baby boy McPhie, we are SOOO ready for you!

9 Days and Counting

I suddenly realized that I should do at least one more post before I have the baby and totally neglect the blog. I don't have too much to say, but I thought I would just give some little updates.

First off, I went to the doctor one week ago (last Monday) and he said that the baby is already measuring at 40 weeks! To be honest, I didn't think it was that crazy. I feel like I have been ready to deliver for a couple weeks now. Everywhere I go and everyone I see has some comment to make about how massive my stomach is or how it looks like I am going to pop. I don't even really care anymore about the random people that touch my stomach as I walk past them. The doctor said last week that he really thought I would go into labor within a week...and here I am, one week later and still pluggin' along. I go in tomorrow again for my last appointment and then my C-section date is still on December 28th.

Another important piece of information about my pregnancy is that over these past few months this thing called "pica" has gotten out of control. Pica (isn't that what it is called??) is when you have the desire to eat non-edible things...and I totally suffer from this. I tell you what, I have almost tried to lick the leather seats in our car because they smell so good. When we were walking around Walmart the other day looking at bikes, it was all I could do to keep from biting the rubber tires...they smelled delicious. And all of our cleaning supplies smell so yummy too. The lemon scented kitchen cleaning spray is my favorite, but when I get out the Oxi-clean...man, I have to remind myself that I can't even have a little taste. Everything just smells like it would taste so good. Oh the things that we go through during pregnancy...

We are just giddy with excitement at our house for all the fun things that are going to be happening. Christmas is, of course, making everyone so excited and wondering what they are getting from Santa Clause. Ty and Cam stay up talking every night about what they think they are getting. When Ty sat on Santa's lap the other day at his preschool Christmas party and Santa asked him what he wanted he confidently replied "I would like a double barrel shotgun, please." The laugh that came from Santa and his elves was some serious belly laughing. They couldn't believe what came out of Ty's mouth.
But the honest truth of it all is that Ty and Cam are probably more excited for the baby than for Santa to come. They just know that Santa has to come first, and then just a few days later, the baby will come. Plus, they know that while I am in the hospital having the baby they get to play with Papa and Mimi. Nothing could be more exciting. And then to top it all off, after Papa and Mimi leave, Grandma gets to come. Truly, these boys are in for an exceptional next few weeks. I am mostly nervous for how things will go after all the dust settles and everyone leaves and we don't have anything to look forward to. Luckily, the boys will be settling back into their routine with preschool and joy school and hopefully things will normalize without many problems.

Next lets move onto my wonderful Scott. He has been "nesting" lately (although, I am pretty sure he doesn't like it when I call it that). He has just been picking project after project and fixing up things around the house and making things more organized and clean. I love seeing the difference and how much more functional our house is. He put in a shelf in the bathroom this weekend and now we don't have to keep our clean towels in on top of our dresser. And we actually have a place to keep our cleaning supplies that is out of reach of small children. I love it!
And a few weeks ago (maybe I already posted about this) he re-grouted the bathtub. It was in serious need of some cleaning and he spent many hours in there fixing everything up. It looks amazing and I actually don't shutter at the thought of my children bathing in there anymore :)
Speaking of cleaning the bathroom...cute Tyler is really into cleaning lately. I have been trying to show the boys lately that if they aren't careful when they go to the bathroom, then it can make our toilet really gross. (Did I say that in a way that wasn't too descriptive, but also got the point across?) Anyway, Tyler has started getting those Clorox wipes and cleaning the toilet and floor almost everyday. He really likes doing it and does it without me even asking. He recently came to tell me that we needed to go to Costco to get more of those cleaning wipes or else he can't keep up with cleaning the bathroom :) I am not complaining because cleaning the bathroom is my least favorite thing to do. He does a great little touch up and it makes it easier for me when I have to do it.

Lastly, I did want to say what great friends I have who threw me a "non baby shower" just to celebrate our upcoming addition. It was SOO much fun to just come in our comfy clothes and hang out together one night. They decided to bring my favorite restaurant to me...Plutos. It is a make-your-own-salad place and it is no joke people. They offer tri tip steak for your salad and about 50 different toppings. And yes, these ladies offered just about everything, including the tri-tip. It was amazing. They actually went and bought the dressing from the place so that it would taste just like it and then they had the entire table full of toppings. After that, we had an amazing dessert selection with cheesecakes and an ice cream sundae bar complete with homemade hot fudge. Seriously, I have the most amazing friends ever. The conversation was delightful and I am pretty sure that I didn't get home til almost 11:30pm.

I also had the most amazing birthday ever. Truly, Scott really outdid himself this time. We had almost an entire day to ourselves (Many thanks to Amy and Erik who took the kids for us...especially Erik who was the one who fed them dinner and put them to bed at their house). We started the afternoon with the movie Breaking Dawn..which I was really disappointed with. I love the other Twilight movies..but this one was mostly just funny and kind of boring. Not my favorite. But what was my favorite was that we got to go see a movie in the middle of the day and not worry about nap times or if someone was hungry or if someone had to go to the bathroom. Then we went out to dinner at our all time favorite restaurant The Melting Pot. So perfect. Oh man...even just thinking about their cheese fondue is making me hungry. We love that place so much. I love just being able to sit for 2 hours and just talk with that cute boy I am married to. We never run out of things to talk about and he always seems to make me laugh so hard I can't control myself. After the most delightful dinner, we drove up to San Fran and saw the cirque du solei called Totem. AMAZING!! It was so amazing. We loved it. After a long fun day, we picked up our kids after midnight and brought them home and put them to bed and we even got to sleep-in in the morning. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday.

I think that is it for random updates for our family. Hopefully I can get one more post in about Christmas before the baby comes.

Thanksgiving

We had such a fun Thanksgiving weekend. I am loving all this family bonding that we have been getting lately, especially right before the baby. Here are some of the things we did:

Wed:

Scott got home early from work! Such a surprise...we had no idea he was coming til he walked in the door. We spent the evening just playing and having fun together.

Thurs:

Got up and Scott started right away on his amazing stuffing that he makes every year. Seriously...this year was (by far) the very best it has ever been. We made two pans of stuffing and we ate every bit! He had started drying out his bread on Monday and getting other little things prepped...so Thursday morning was putting it all together. He is a master!

I made my first pumpkin pie and I feel like it turned out pretty good. I also did rolls again this year (which I usually feel like don't turn out right) but this year I was also pretty pleased with these. And lastly, we made the yams...which we smothered in butter and sugar and cinnamon and marshmellows...yum! We went to our friends house, the Harmans, and met up with the Nelsons there and our three families enjoyed an amazing spread of delicious foods. I felt painfully full by the time we were done. We got home in time to sit around the family room and talk about the things we were thankful for and then the kids went to bed. I was so exhausted that I went to bed shortly after (Thanksgiving is an exhausting day!)

Friday:

I spent a couple of hours on Friday doing some shopping. I wasn't the "get there when the doors open" type of shopper. Just left around 9am and was home by noon. I really hate Walmart. But I also love it. Got some great deals. And I am totally done Christmas shopping. When I got home I was so busy being excited about some of the stuff that I found that it took me a few hours to realize I had lost my wallet. I totally lost my mind and was having a panic attack. I drove back to Walmart and waited in the long, long customer service line. When I finally got to the front of the line and asked the lady if a red wallet had been turned in, she kind of wrinkled up her face and shook her head. True depression started to hit and then she said "Oh, this?" and held up my wallet. I gasped as if someone had just punched me in the stomach and then burst into tears. Right there in front of everyone in Walmart on black friday. That is a lot of people, but I couldn't help it. I was so relieved.

We used most of the rest of the day just getting little things done. Scott has this knack for fixing up everything around the house when he has free time. So, he went around and just did little projects while I found more little projects for him to work on :). Boys rode their bikes around the parking lot for hours while we cleaned and organized and put stuff away and got Christmas stuff out. We set up the Christmas tree (just actually set it up, without lights or decor).

Saturday (today):

When we asked the boys what fun Christmas traditions/things they wanted to do this year, they both mentioned that they wanted to have juice and donuts when we set up the Christmas tree this year. It wasn't really a tradition or something we meant to do last year, we just happened to have some leftover donuts and let the boys eat them while we listened to Christmas music and Scott and I did lights on the tree and then we all decorated the tree afterwards. But they loved it so much, that we decided to do it again this year. Scott went out first thing this morning and got donuts while I got everything ready for us to eat donuts and juice and put lights on the tree. It was SO much fun. I love doing little fun things like that with my family. Then we all helped decorate the tree. We also put up the rest of our Christmas decorations and had a relaxing afternoon. Ty and Cam played with the nativity pieces all afternoon (fun new toys!). Then we went to the Global Winter Wonderland just down near San Jose. It was basically just a huge display of lights and castles and decorations from all over the world. We saw the Statue of Liberty, the Taj Mahal, the Golden Gate Bridge, pyramids from Egypt, castles from all over the world, etc. It was so much fun. We got dinner there and the boys got to choose one ride to go on. They chose this "bumpy slide" where you walk to the top of this slide and zoom down sooo fast. Ty rode by himself and Cam rode with Scott. The smiles and giggles on their faces were well worth the very over-priced tickets for one ride :) We got ice cream on the way home and the boys are still in their bed talking about it right now. I can hear them giggling and talking about around the fun things we saw.

I am excited for a nice relaxing and spiritually enriching day tomorrow. I am so excited that we are finally in the Christmas season. I feel like I wait for this time of year all year long. I loved singing songs and saying family prayer by the Christmas tree tonight. I love the fun family things we get to do. But I am really excited this year to really focus on the Savior and his marvelous gift to us.

Funny Thanksgiving Happenings:

-When Scott was preparing the stuffing on Thursday morning, the boys were following him around asking if they could help. After a little bit, Scott said "Ok boys, now it is time to go and chop the onions and celery" to which Ty said "Cool. Are we going to chop them with an ax?"

-When we first arrived at the Harman's house we were getting things settled in the kitchen and Ty went out the sliding glass door to check out the backyard. After he came back in, we closed the door behind him and we were just chatting there with the adults. Suddenly, Ty came peeling around the corner and, assuming the door was still open just how he left it, ran smack into the door. He hit that door hard. Face first. Poor kid fell back on his bottom and just started to cry. He had a nice big bump right on his forehead for the day.

-When we were talking about the things we are thankful for as a family on Thursday evening, Scott said he was thankful for his job and that we were very lucky because a lot of dads didn't have a job.

Ty: Well, that would be good cause then those dads get to spend more time with their family

Scott: That's true, but then they wouldn't have any money to buy the family what they needed, like a place to live or food to eat

Ty: They could just eat the food that they already have at their house.

Scott: But soon they would run out of food and they wouldn't have any food to eat and they would be hungry, Ty.

Ty: But then they would just die and then go back to live with Heavenly Father, Dad. So it is ok when dads don't have a job.

Ty sees the silver lining of unemployment :)

I know there were a few other things I wanted to post about, but I can't remember them anymore. We had such a fabulous, wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and we truly are so thankful for our family and friends and the many wonderful blessings we enjoy!

For Maren

Well, I had successfully dodged everyone's requests for pictures of me. I hate pictures of me when I am pregnant. I just look awful. I look chubby all over. My face swells up. I just don't like pictures of me. So usually when people ask I respond with something like "Oh, I should do that shouldn't I" or "I will try to get around to it". Something really noncommittal.

But Maren wins. She is holding some recipes hostage that I desperately want and she won't give them to me unless I give her a picture. I thought I would get dressed up cute and do my hair and makeup and find the perfect angle so that I didn't look so...well, so big. But instead I just got off the couch and had Scott take two pictures of me and that was it. So you are really getting the real deal here Maren. If you came over to my house right now, this is what you would see.

So, here it is for the whole world to see.

This is me at 34 weeks pregnant.

Can I really be getting this old?

I just realized that I am going to be THIRTY soon. I can't believe it. I feel like I just barely hit my 20's. Can this really be happening?

I made this realization this morning and almost had a heart attack when I told Scott. He asked "Is there anything you want to do while you are still in your 20's?" I have been thinking about this all morning and now I am feeling kind of trapped. Because no matter what things I think of, none of them are things that I can do while being 34-36 weeks pregnant. I am getting old and there is nothing I can do about it.

Am I crazy that this is bothering me??

Surprise for Scotty

For the past several days, the boys have been begging me to surprise Daddy at work by wearing their costumes in and bringing him Halloween cookies. So today was the day.

We got to work first thing in the morning...well, first thing after I slept in and had the boys watch cartoons and then we lounged around in our pajamas because Thursdays are our only day where we don't have anything going on...and started making our famous homemade oreo cookies. But these weren't any oreo cookies. The boys spent FOR.EV.ER placing little licorice legs coming out of each cookie and two skittles for eyes on the top. We all thought they were the creepiest spider cookies ever made :) Then the boys put on their costumes and off we went to Scott's work. The boys were giddy in the backseat and Ty kept saying that he was sure that dad would think the REAL Spiderman was at his work and would have no idea it was him.

And it turns out we showed up at a pretty inopportune time...Scott had a few guys in his office working out some important details of some important thing.

Then Spiderman and a SWAT team guy rounded the corner and all conversation stopped. I think that everyone was wondering what was happening. I think Ty said "Hi Man!" to Scott and Cam shouted "We brought cookies for everyone!"

Scott took the boys around the office and they handed out cookies to everyone and Cam made sure to tell everyone that the spider cookies don't bite. We had a grand old time.

I wondered if Scott would be a little bit embarrassed or anything. But as we walked out to the car to go to lunch together he looked at me and said "I just love my wife and kids!"

Mission accomplished!

Funny quotes lately...

Ty said the other day after I told him that he couldn't go ride his bike outside without me watching him..."But Mom, I will try my very best to not get killed!"

Cam decided that the best insult for Ty lately is to call him a procrastinator. It really irks Ty. They learned what it means to procrastinate from a CD we have about Dependability and now it is the insult of choice.

After I asked Ty to do something this afternoon he replied "Copy that mom!" and ran off to do it.

Cam has been going by the name of "Frozone" for the past few days and won't answer to Cam anymore. Funny thing is that he forgets the name "Frozone" about every 30 minutes and comes running up to me asking "Who am I again??"

Cam discovered hair on his legs a few days ago and threw his fist up in the air and shouted "I get to be a daddy soon!! Does this mean I get to get married Mom??"

After a few recent incidents with hitting lately, I told Tyler and Cameron that I was really getting frustrated that they weren't working things out properly and so next time it happened there would be a bigger consequence. After Tyler hit Cameron the next time, he had to sit in time out for twice as long. As he sat there he said to me "This isn't even a very big consequence Mom. I can still hear the movie from here." Wrong thing to say buddy. I said "You are right. I think you need to go in your room and close the door. You can come out when you hear the beeper beep." He was so mad. So. Mad. And in his anger he was yelling from his room "This STILL isn't a good consequence!!" Oh how I love being a mom.

Another big piece of news around here is that Cam started riding a bike with NO training wheels. I know...crazy! He just barely turned three. Ty started riding his bike with no training wheels just a few months ago or something and so I hadn't even thought of trying to teach Cam yet. He just took right to it all by himself. I mean, he always loved to ride the Strider bikes of our friends and we they were done using it we asked if we could borrow it for a bit. We have had it for about three weeks and Cam popped on a two wheeler and took off. He is crazy adventurous and had no idea what he was doing. I was terrified that he was going to get hurt (or that a car in the parking lot would get hurt:)) but he just figured it out as he went and loved it. He lives life on the wild side, that kid!

I am 31 weeks along now. I was so sad because I thought I was 32 weeks. I have it written in my calendar that I was 32 weeks on Sunday. But sadly enough, I must have written it down wrong and I am only 31 weeks (this coming sunday). Great. Just added another few weeks to my internal pregnancy calendar :) All in all, I am feeling pretty good. Boys are keeping me pretty busy and worn out and I know that by the end of the day I am waddling rather than walking. But after these long and busy days, the boys sleep well at night and so do I (if you don't count the countless times of rolling over to get comfortable and the many times to get up and go to the bathroom) so we don't have much to complain about over here. We are getting so excited about our little one coming. Just the other night as Scott and I were sitting on the couch watching tv after the kids were in bed, Scott said "Can you imagine that in just a few months we will be sitting here and I could have a little baby falling asleep on my chest!" It got us both so excited for this little guy to come.

That's it for the update. Sorry I don't have any pictures, but I promise to take some from Halloween and post!

Merry Christmas to Me!

Our house is covered in spider webs with spiders hanging all over the place, autumn leaves that Ty and Cam have collected are now on display on the top of the piano, a "Fall Leaves" candle burning, Halloween lights around the window, and cute Jack-o-latern creations are ready to be displayed in our windows. I really didn't think I could be happier.

Until Scott told me that my Christmas present would be arriving today in the mail.

And arrive it did. In fact, I am writing this post on my brand new laptop!

I have never owned my very own laptop. I have used Scott's since we have been married and it usually works fine for me. But there are just some things that I want to have my own way.

And the first (and only) desktop I ever owned for myself was bought over a decade ago and we got rid of it years ago.

So this is big people.

And since we are having this baby in a few months and we are staying in our two bedroom apartment, but baby will be occupying the "computer room" or computer closet. It made it hard when Cam was napping in there because the few times that I even had a minute to do something on the computer was when he was napping...and he napped in the computer room, so I never could be on the computer. I had been thinking about this with the new baby coming and realizing that my times of using the desktop freely were about to be taken from me. I whined and complained to Scott about the woes of apartment living and then got over it and moved on.

And then this came in the mail. I am so happy. Just so happy. I really do have the most kind husband ever. He is so cute. He vowed this year that he was going to wait until Christmas Day to give me my gift. But when he finds something he knows I will love, he just can't stand it and he goes crazy waiting to give it to me. It is the cutest thing to see him get all excited and almost every night say something like "You are going to love your gift this year. I already know what it is. Do you want some clues? Oh man, I can't wait, you are seriously going to love it!" And then finally he can't wait any longer and he cracks and gives it to me. The best part about it is that it is almost like having a surprise Christmas Day...you never know what day you might get the most amazing gift at your doorstep! I am proud of him that he made it to October this year :) And now I get two extra months of using this delightful laptop.

As a side note, Scott and I spontaneously slow danced in our living room the other night after the kids went to bed and we were watching tv and a cute song came on and I told Scott that it reminded me of a slow dance song at a youth dance. So he stood up and asked me to dance right there. It might have been my favorite moment in a long time.

I am in love. With Scott. And with this laptop.

Today: A Cure for a Bad Morning

It's Friday. Scott went out to see a movie (don't worry, he okay-ed it with me first and I said I was happy to just have the evening to relax) and so here I am catching up on some blogging. In case you haven't noticed...I was a little behind :) Anyway, there are a couple other posts before this one so don't forget to check them because I finally have some pictures!

So...today. Today started off pretty bad. I was so tired, I could barely get out of bed. I wanted to get up early and exercise before I took the boys to school, but that didn't happen. That is always a little disappointing when you wake up and you have already not done something that you wanted to get done. I was rushing the boys through their chore chart and trying to get them ready for school and they just weren't having it. I was super stressed and they were playing and wrestling and teasing each other. Cameron found the spray bottle and was spraying everything and everywhere, including Tyler. Tyler was frustrated and was un-making Cameron's bed so that he would have to make it again as punishment for spraying him in the face. Both boys were crying at one point. I will spare you all the details...but in the end, I was trying desperately to unscrew the door knob from the bathroom door which Cameron had locked from the inside (he wasn't in there...he had walked out and closed the locked door behind him). I couldn't get it done and so just ushered the boys in to the kitchen for quick bowl of cheerios and decided to have breakfast myself, completely forgetting about the fasting glucose test I was supposed to take this morning. Still couldn't get the bathroom door unlocked and so we skipped brushing our teeth in the morning (gross) and went off to school in a flurry to not be late. AAAAHHHH!!

The Cure:
After I dropped the two boys off and talked with the lab at the hospital and realized I couldn't go in and take the glucose test because I had eaten, I did the following:

-Went home and exercised (in the video there is a part where you do punches (ie hooks, jabs, etc) and the lady says "Come on, really punch it and get out all your stress." Don't worry, I really punched it!)
-read my scriptures
-turned on Christmas music really loudly. Loud enough I am sure anyone walking by on the street would have heard **(this part is key to all the happiness)
-And then I cleaned the whole house..I dusted everything, vaccumed, swept the kitchen, mopped, wiped down all the cupboards and chairs, cleaned the entire bathroom..did the floor on my hands and knees, organized the bookshelves, cleaned off all the clutter on top of the piano, took out loads of trash after going through the fridge and pantry and getting rid old, stale food and consolidating other food to make more room, got some of the big spots off the carpet (although it just needs to be professionally cleaned at this point). All this done while singing Tennessee Christmas by Amy Grant, All I Want For Christmas is You by Mariah Carey, Baby, It's Cold Outside by ???, and many, many others at the top of my lungs. I am pretty sure that I one point, just to pretend that I was on some movie, I actually did a spin around the mop. I definitely felt like I was on a movie :)
And you know what??? I was in such a good mood for the rest of the day!

Oh Christmas/Christmas music/Holiday season, why has it taken you so long to get here? Is it okay if I start bringing some holiday cheer to my home in September? Even though Scott says it is breaking all the rules to start now and has completely banned me from you until December 1st, you and I can still have our secret relationship and he doesn't ever have to know.

And just for fun, here are some more pictures of the boys that I finally got off the camera from camping and other fun times:

Ty, just lounging in his chair, roasting a hot dog on the campfire. This kid is a true camper.


Make sure you notice the completely filthy face that comes as part of being a 3yr old and camping.


Scott is a sucker for buying "man things" for the boys. We all went to REI one saturday morning to get water bottles or something like that and Scott and the boys are just in heaven. They oooh and aaah over just about everything and I have to be the one to tell them all no. But Scott told me that all little boys needed a hat to bring camping with them and since these were on sale, the boys got to pick out their hats. Ty and Cam love wearing hats because they get to be like dad. And I think all three of my boys look pretty stinkin' cute!


During quiet time one afternoon I couldn't hear Ty for a few minutes and I got a little bit suspicious. I peeked in to find him asleep on his bed, surrounded by stuffed animals, wearing a headlamp. Sometimes I wish I was a kid again. Just so precious.


Out of order...another camping picture again..brothers roasting hot dogs. It was right after this that we all sat around telling stories about when Scott and I were little and the funny things we did.

A couple of big days

We have had a couple really big days over the past few weeks...

Cam turned THREE! He is such a delightful and wild little munchkin. This little kid can just warm my heart. He is crazy and goofy and still so loving and sweet. We absolutely adore him.
On his birthday he had Joy School, which he couldn't have been more excited about. We brought cupcakes to share with his friends and he got to wear the "birthday crown" at school. We came home and had a yummy lunch and then got a jamba juice and went swimming at Amy's house (which was the one thing that Cam said he wanted to do for his birthday). We came home for pizza and cupcakes with the family and opened up presents. Cam was all smiles all day long.

(Cam wearing the birthday crown. Is it sad that this is the only picture I got of his birthday? I got lots of video with the video camera, but this is the only picture. And can I just say that I love Cam's crooked smile!!)


The boys also both started school! Cam started Joy School and Ty started Preschool. I was lucky enough to get into a Joy School group with four of the most amazing women. I love the women and I love their kids and I am so excited for Cam to become friends with them. He goes on Wednesday and Friday from 9am to noon. Perfect. Sooo perfect. He comes home after each class and can't wait to tell me what he has done or something fun that happened. The only downside is that on the days that he doesn't have Joy School he still wakes up and gets ready and puts his backpack and pleads with me to take him.

Ty started preschool just a few days after Cam started. We had a couple mornings to just spend together and I think that time was priceless. We really bonded and I can honestly say that I miss him when he goes to school. He is such a joy to be around. But he would much rather go to school than hang out with me :) He is loving it. He has a friend from church in his class with him and so he and Lincoln are little buddies. He goes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:15am to 11:45am and just loves it. He adores his teachers and can't wait to go back to school!
It makes me feel so happy that my boys are both loving school!

This is how Cam feels about taking pictures 90% of the time. This is the reason why I don't take many pictures.


Ty on his first day of school. He was so excited and he squeezed my hand so tightly as we walked through the doors, I thought my fingers were going to fall off. I could tell he was nervous, but he just did awesome. He put his backpack in his little cubby, sat down in the circle where they were singing some songs, turned around to give the "thumbs-up" that he was okay and I could leave.


Ahh...there is that cute little smile I was looking for. I might have had to bribe him for this smile. Oh man, this little man is so full of life. His smile is so perfect (and a little crooked)


The two boys off to school. This is Cam's new picture face. I have more pictures of this face than anything. Where did he get this from? Side note...I love picking the boys up from school because I just listen to them chat in the back seat about their day. They ask each other what they did and what they learned and the other will say "No way!" or something like that. It is so cute.


So yes...ME...I get two FULL mornings off each week. I know, I know, I shouldn't be this excited. Two and a half hours of blissful peace and non-stop productivity. It makes me so happy. I decided that I would use one morning to be productive and clean, do laundry, dishes, etc. There is always stuff that needs to get done around the house. And then the other morning is all mine. I can do whatever I want. Read, watch a movie, fun crafty projects that I have wanted to do for years but never had the time. That is MY morning. I am loving it!

A Post about Nothing

I love writing posts about something. But I also love writing posts about nothing at all.

I feel so pregnant. So So pregnant. I can't wait for the weather to get just a bit chillier so that I can stop sweating so much. And does it have to be so uncomfortable to sleep when you have a baby inside of you? I mean, seriously! Ok, that is all the complaining I will do about being pregnant...because really, most of the time it is magical. Really though, it is. The boys LOVE to run up to my belly and say "hi" to the baby and tell him what they are doing. Every time Scott talks to the baby, I think the baby does a somersault in my tummy. It is crazy. Yet another boy to just adore his daddy.

I had my first morning (ever really) with having no kids. Cam was in Joy School and Ty started preschool today. (More details and pictures on that to come). It was wonderful. But I feel like I wasted those few hours. I am going to have to be better at managing my time.

Do your kids fight? Because mine do. Man oh man! We are really in some kind of phase these days, but it is almost unbearable. I just barely printed out some charts tonight and we are starting a new idea tomorrow. This has got to stop. It seriously is every minute that they are together.

Due to all the fighting and arguing I wanted to just get the kids out to get some energy out so we met some friends at the park. We stayed til almost six and so when we got home, I made mac n cheese for the boys. I heated up a leftover pasta dish that I was going to save for Scott and I. The boys didn't have a single bite of mac n cheese and ate the entire pasta dish I had heated up for Scotty and I. Guess what I had for dinner?? (Yup. Mac n cheese!)

Funny thing...when you stop exercising, you gain weight. Isn't that crazy?? I know.

We went to Happy Hollow a few days back on a random thursday morning. (Happy Hollow is a mini-amusement park for kids and it has just a handful of rides and one roller coaster. It also has a zoo and petting zoo area). There was no one there. The place was totally deserted. I thought it was going to be the perfect day ever to be at Happy Hollow....
And then the boys wanted to go on the roller coaster. Ty is tall enough to ride by himself and Cam sometimes is :) Often times, the worker lets him ride with Ty and they say he doesn't need an adult, but sometimes they say I need to ride with him. This time was the latter. So the three of us jumped into the roller coaster and we rode it all by ourselves around the jumpy, jerky, bumpy circle. The boys giggled with delight and I loved knowing that they were enjoying the ride, but not particularly enjoying it myself. They let you go around twice and then they stop the ride when you get in the second time to get off. Well, we pulled in and the operator asked if we wanted to ride again. Thanks a lot. Of course, the boys screamed "YES!!!" and around we went again. And then again. And then again. (Remember, each time we get to go around twice). Then we stopped to let one other boy on. And then we went around again. And again. Again, again, again...I rode that blasted roller coaster FOURTEEN times! I finally told Cam I had to get off cause I was feeling sick and the mother of the other boy that was riding offered to ride with Cam and she rode around four or five times with him. (Isn't that so nice?) The boys keep asking to go back to Happy Hollow, but I think I need a little distance from that place. Just thinking about it makes me feel sick.

I finally "re-did" (yes, official wording) my kitchen chairs. The plastic had been ripping off of the chairs for months now and since we painted the table top black, I had been wanting to change the fabric on the chairs too. After all this time, I actually got it done. And I only stapled my thumb once in the process. Yeah, for me! That is improvement people. Here are a few pics:





And here is a cute picture (one of the TWO) I took while on vacation with my parents. The boys LOVED taking baths in Grandma's big bath and even got to use the bubbles a couple times. Doesn't this just look like heaven?

This Summer

Really??? Has it been since June since I last posted? Well, I guess this is the quarterly update :)

First and foremost, we found out the gender of baby #3! After spending over an hour laying on the ultrasound table and waiting patiently for the lady to just tell us the gender already, she finally told us that she couldn't tell. WHAT?? That was unacceptable. So when she left, she said I could get up and walk around and casually mentioned that the baby was too squished down and needed to move up a little in my abdomen. So, as soon as she closed the door, I jumped off the bed and announced to Scott "I am doing a handstand. Right now. Catch my legs!" Before he even knew what I was doing I was up in the air and wiggling my body all around trying to get the baby to move. Of course, as I was partially undressed, attempting a handstand, and wiggling by body, the lady walks back in the door. Let's just say she knew I REALLY wanted to know the gender.
So I jumped back on the table and voila! The baby had moved. Just enough for her to tell us that we are having another BOY! We are so excited.
The boys both said that our family is too rough for girls :) And I am pretty sure that visions of football games, wrestling, and dirt biking are constantly playing in Scott's mind, which is why he has a perma-grin! We can't wait!

I think that in order to be most effective, I am going to just hit the highlights of the past few months:

JULY
-Fun sleepover with Ben and Jaimi Thomander for the 4th of July. And delicious family bbq at the park with guacamole burgers. yum.
-my niece Lucy was baptized and so Scott's parents came to town for the event. It was so fun to be with them and with Lucy on her special day. Papa and Mimi (Scott's parents) got to see Ty at soccer practice, play ball with the boys, see them wrestle, got them ice cream, and we loved every minute of it!
-Said goodbye to some great friends, the Laytons, who moved away to business school at Tuck. We were able to head out to a yummy dinner (Benihanas) which had particular significance for us as it was the first double date we went on together when we first moved out here...what four years ago?? Ty and Leah were little babies then and they were just in car seats! Where did the time go? We did pretty much every major holiday with Maren and Ryan and we are really going to miss the sleepovers, the late night crazy games of Ligretto, yummy yummy food, Harry Pot-a-thons, and just great company. After dinner, we took them to another friends house where everyone had gathered for a surprise going away party!
-We camped in Yosemite for two nights and it was...AMAZING, wonderful, perfect...we truly loved it all. We went with the Thomanders (Ben, Jaimi, Emerson, and Waverly) and the Harmans (Ed, Lindsey, Sarah, and Kai). We cooked yummy food in the dutch ovens, roasted marshmellows, drove all over Yosemite (some of us more than others :)) jumped into the freezing cold waters of Mirror Lake, stayed up late talking around the fire...it just doesn't get much better than that. The weather was perfect and the company was even better.

AUGUST-
-Boys and I hit the SF zoo and it was so much fun. Just a nice fun outing for us! We got great seats to watch the grizzly bears eating and I am pretty sure that I loved it just as much as the boys. When we got home, it was me that was so animated in telling Scott all about it :)
-Had a delightful breakfast from my Uncle Dave who was in town just for the day. The boys are stilling talking about the chocolate chip pancakes that Uncle Dave bought them. We miss them and wished we lived closer!
-Found out that we are having a healthy baby boy!
-Left on our long trek out to SLC where we stayed for a few days with Scott's parents. We packed in those days with many, many rides on the lawn mower (which Ty always points out that he did ALL of the steering and Papa didn't have to help him) and running in the sprinklers, eating yummy food, playing with all the new toys, spending time with Hunty and Abby and meeting new little Chloe. I had such a blast spending the afternoon with Lindsay, Scott's sister, who feels more like one of my own sisters. I could have spent days on end just talking with her and letting the kids hunt for bugs :)
-Then drove up to Idaho Falls for about 10 days with my parents and Becca. Oh man. I almost don't know how I can describe it. I am always so nervous about traveling by myself with the kids. Oh, by the way, did I mention that I did all of this by myself?? Yep. I did.
Anyway, I always get nervous that the kids are going to get off and get really grumpy and I will just be so overwhelmed and then that the world will end and Scott won't be there.
But, this trip was so wonderful. The kids were delightful and I thought they were champs. (Especially given that they are 2yr and 4yr old!) We went to a water park, the zoo, made a slip n slide in the backyard, made homemade raspberry ice cream, made cinnamon rolls, went on walks and bike rides with Gus just about every day, made cucumber boats and floated them down the snake river, went the the visitor's center, went to a "music in the park" event, went to an Indian Pow-wow, the list just goes on and on. I can't believe how much we did.
I LOVED being with my mom and dad. Nothing makes you realize how lucky you were to have such great parents, like having kids of your own and still not being able to keep up with you parents!! And Becca...what can I say about my little sister?? I wish she lived closer to me. No...I wish she lived with me. I laughed and cried and teased and played with her and it just made me miss her so much. The night before we left, Becca stayed up til who knows how late putting notes all over our car and in all of our stuff. So as we started our long journey home, I found these little love notes that made me seriously laugh and some made me start to cry just because I already missed her. They were in my purse, one in just about every place in the car, in the luggage, even when I stopped to get gas the first time and popped the gas tank door, there was a little note for me. I loved my trip home so much, can you tell??
We drove from Idaho Falls and spent one last night in SLC and I was able to spend the night with my grandpa Bagley, who is just one of the kindest men I have ever known. He made fresh bread (just coming out of the oven) for us when we got there in the morning and then when we got back there that evening to spend the night he had make some zuccini bread for us to take home. He sent us back with many loaves of bread, homemade jams, green beans from his garden and other little goodies. I love my grandpa. We saw Becky and Luke and Seth and played with them for awhile. It was just enough time for Ty and Cam to keep asking when their friends Luke and Seth can come over to play at our house. And we spent some time with Candace and the kids and I was able to hold 5 day old baby Alicia. It was like heaven. And to top it all off, I was able to have dinner with one of my best friends in the whole world, Mandie (or as I still call her, Sister Hendricksen). Deborah was there too (our other MTC companion) and we were able to sit and catch up on life while the kiddos played. I really am one lucky girl to know such amazing people.
-We got home Tuesday night and I felt like I had just run a marathon or something. I was so exhausted and I feel like it took me days to catch up on sleep enough to function properly. But nonetheless, we still got up enough energy to go beach camping on Friday night. We drove just about an hour away to Sunset State Beach and had a great time. Our good friends the Millers joined us for the first night. If it wouldn't have been so foggy and kind of...wet...it would have been perfect. We still went to the beach the next afternoon and it turned out to be a great day. The Millers had to leave to go home but we stayed and put on some tin foil dinners on the fire and they might have been the best tin foil dinners I have ever eaten. We topped it all off with some delicious apple crisp in the dutch oven. I have to say...I was pretty proud of how it turned out :) We really just had such a fun time sitting around the fire with just our little family of four and the boys kept asking us to tell story after story of us when we were kids. They mostly liked the ones about "dad being naughty when he was little" and he sure has plenty of those :)

Life has been so good for us the past few months. We are healthy, happy, and feel so blessed. Life is good. Real good.

By way of catching up...

Well folks, I am finally going to update the blog on some of the happenings in the McPhie life. It has been busy and fun these past few months and I wish I could go into detail about all of the fun things we have done. But I know I won't do any of it if I try to do too much. So here is a just a little taste of what we have been up to:

First of all, Scott and I went on our fabulous trip to Hawaii for 8 days! No kids! People...it was heaven. Just perfect. All of my siblings were there (with spouses) and of course my wonderful parents. It was so fun. My two favorite things we 1)the snorkel tour where a whole pod of dolphins swam right next to us and we got to see them up close and personal. It was so cool. On that same tour we saw a 6 foot reef shark and huge sea turtles and tons of gorgeous fish. Awesome. and 2)jumping off the cliffs(25-30ft) at a waterfall and swimming across the lake to do the rope swing. To be honest, I really can't believe I did it. I am usually pretty chicken about stuff like that. Ty and Cam stayed with Amy and Erik (Scott's sister and her husband) who live here in our same city. They had so much fun that they keep asking when we are going away again so that they can go back to Amy's house.

Next off...more by way of announcement...we are expecting our third child! We really couldn't be more excited! Ty asks just about every day if we are going to have the baby today. It is making the time go really slowly, but I love his excitement for our new addition. I am 13 weeks and my due date is Jan 1st...but since it is going to have to be a C-section, I get to pick a day between Dec 20th and Jan 1st. We are leaning towards the week between Christmas and New Years...maybe Dec 27 or 28th. I am feeling great and everything is going well. I did feel much more tired and sick this pregnancy but it has passed and to be honest, it wasn't much to complain about anyway. I will definitely keep you updated on this :)

Ty finished up his Tball season and just did great! We are so proud of him.

We have been going to the pool here just about everyday because it has been so hot. The boys are really coming along with learning to swim! I was thinking about putting them in swim lessons, but now I am thinking that just going to the pool everyday and they are bound to learn :) Ty is already jumping into the deep end and swimming to the edge. Cam still jumps off the edge and sinks to the bottom. This kid has no fear of death. Needless to say, it is rarely relaxing when I go to the pool.

We had a wonderful Father's day and the boys and I make caramel breakfast rolls for Scott when he woke up. Then for dinner, we went to Ben and Jaimi's house and made an amazing meal of grilled steaks, creamy garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, and watermelon. And washed it all down with a yummy lemon cake. On the way home Ty said "When does it get to be kids day?" Scott and I laughed hard all the way home. I think Ty was being serious, but I couldn't stop laughing to answer.

I have wanted to put off potty training for so long, but I think it is time. I think that once I finish watching the baby (which is next week, by the way) I am going to do it. I am dreading it, but also looking forward to having it done. Cam says he can't wait and begs to wear underwear all the time. I told Cam that he should pick a big treat that he can get once he fills up his chart and you know what he picked? Getting ice cream with Daddy. So cute. Wish us luck!

I couldn't do a blog post without letting you all know that Scott cut his hair. Oh joy of joys. He cut his hair! I have been happier in the past three days than I can ever remember :)

We took a family trip to Happy Hollow which is a little zoo and amusement park all in one. I have been with the kids several times, but this was the first time that Scott got to come and I have to say it was by far the most fun! The boys were loving every minute that they could do roller coasters and rides and show Scott how brave they are. Forget mom...they were shouting "Hi Dad!!" from every ride. I love it. I really do.

Scott and I in Hawaii (Kauai) hiking up to a beautiful beach and waterfall

Ty's face when he was just getting ready to get on the roller coaster

Cam and I getting ready to ride the roller coaster

When we got home from Hawaii we gave the boys these "surf shirts" and they immediately asked if they could wear them to bed. We decided that they could and so we put them on and Cam broke right into his famous "squat and wing out" dance. It seriously cracks me up. You have to see it in person and it will change your life.

A good friend on a bad night

Let me tell you a little story...

I was enjoying a delightful root beer float last night when Tyler came out of his room crying. He had throw up all over him. I quickly rushed him to the bathroom where he continued to throw up and then I cleaned him off and popped him in the shower. Meanwhile, Scott had gone into the bedroom to take off Ty's sheets and came in with Cam, who was also throwing up. Such a sad sight. I quickly cleaned Cam up and popped him the the warm shower with Ty and they both just laid in the tub, curled up in a ball.
Scott was the absolute best husband in the world. He went into their bedroom and cleaned EVERYTHING. He scooped up everything he could and then he hand-rinsed two quilts, four pillow cases, two sheets, three blankets, and two stuffed animals. He seriously spent probably just shy of an hour cleaning their room and rinsing all of their stuff off before we took it to the laundry room. What an amazing guy. I am thankful for him. While he was doing all of this by himself, he popped his head out of the bathroom and said "Rach, I am glad we are a team! I was just thinking that you usually do this stuff and I am glad to be able to do this now and give you a break."

As soon as this all started, I texted the lady that I nanny for and told her that I wouldn't be able to nanny the next day and then I also texted a friend of mine, Shayla, whose children I was going to watch the next day. I felt so awful to have to tell her that my kids were sick because she had set this up weeks ago for me to watch her kids so she could go with her husband on a date in the afternoon to find out the gender and health of their third child (so fun, huh??!!) Anyway, within just minutes of texting her, she called me.
The first thing she said is "Hi Rach! What can I do to help?" Do you need anything? What can I run get for you from the store? I am actually on my way to a store anyway."
I had realized just minutes before that we didn't have enough quarters to do all the laundry (Oh yes. Don't be jealous. We still get to do our laundry in coin-op machines. Super. fun.).
Shayla quickly agreed to bring some quarters by for us. I was so relieved to have such a kind and thoughtful friend. Scott was still cleaning the kids room and I was holding the bowl for the kids as they continued to throw up. I don't know what we would have done.

Then Shayla shows up at the door. This is SOOO Shayla. She brought with her...

BRAND NEW SHEETS!!! I actually hadn't even remembered that we didn't have spare sheets that fit the kids new twin beds. The list goes on...she also brought

Two containers of pedialite for the boys
A bottle of gingerale
Two new fun toothbrushes that light up--so they could get the yucky taste out of their mouth
A new movie to watch today while they are getting better

Honestly, I wanted to cry. I was so tired already and just so overwhelmed at the thought of being up all night. Shayla just swooped in and put the sheets on the beds and gave the boys their toys and made them feel all better. I was so relieved. I was so happy to have a friend like Shayla.

But it even goes on. I know, how can you get even nicer than that??

She took ALL our gross sheets and blankets and brought them to her house and washed them and I had fresh clean laundry first thing this morning dropped off at my house.

Now that is a really really great friend. I am so blessed to have really great friends. Thank you, thank you, thank you for saving me!

I hate yoga

I really do. I hate yoga. I wish I didn't. I wish I was one of those "I can't even start the day without a wonderful, relaxing, mind-cleansing, powerful, hour long session of yoga". But I am not.
In fact, I can't even do FOUR minutes. The last four minutes of my workout video is yoga and I always start doing downward dog and within 10 seconds I have turned the tv off and do my own stretching :) I guess that means that I probably NEED to do yoga more...but, don't count on it!

In other news...

Only four more weeks til I get to go to Hawaii. I am beyond excited. I am thinking of making a chain and draping it all around the house and when I get overwhelmed I can just look at it and think happy, relaxing thoughts.

I REALLY REALLY need to go get some fabric to make some new chair covers. The plastic covering is completely ripped off of one chair and I have been meaning to do it for so long. And now I also wants curtains for the family room.

Ty and Cam got their hair cut really short. They look so old!

I am so much happier with the children because of our new "Kindness Jar". Ty and Cam get to have an icecream bar each time they earn 10 kindness pennies. This has drastically decreased the amount of times that I have had to deal with fighting over toys, sharing issues, yelling, hitting, etc. Sigh of relief. I was close to going crazy. Actually, I crossed the line just a bit.

We went to Monterey this weekend with some friends. It was amazing. Everything was amazing. The food...oh, the food, staying up at night to watch movies/talk while the kids slept, the beach, the bike ride along the coast, the Dennis the Menace park, the friends, the scuba diving (for Scott and Joe). I want to go again this weekend :)

I want to find a good book...couple of books to read on the plane and while on vacation. Anyone have any suggestions?

Cam is talking so well these days and I love it when he grabs my face and puts his nose right to my nose to say something important.

We had an awesome dance party here in our living room a few days ago. I am talking a real dance party people. Handstands, somersaults, and even spinning on the head was demonstrated. Cam's feet move like lightning and Ty can strike poses that you have never seen before in your life. It was so much fun. And Scott pulled up from work right then. And he joined right in with his own groovy moves.

Wish I had pictures to post...sorry.

Birthday celebrations

Today, Ty woke up and ran into our bedroom and shouted "Hey, wake up! It's my birthday!"

We had such a fun day with him today! We started the day out at Hobee's with his birthday twin Jaimi (Ty's possible future mother in law) where he was thrilled to be able to order pancakes with chocolate chips. We headed straight to "The Jungle" in San Jose which is just a piece of heaven for two little boys. It is a huge play area...with nets, and tubes to crawl around in, a few ball pits, slides, etc. We set them loose into the play area and would go searching for them if it ever went too long without seeing them surface. It is so much fun! We made it home just in time for naps (and even the birthday boy took a nap after all that playing). After naps, we opened presents (and then Ty rode his new bike around for a bit) and then started watching his new movie "Beauty and the Beast".
We took a little break from the movie to go in and have Ty's dinner of choice: beef stroganoff, watermelon, and corn on the cob. Ty ate his own corn on the cob, begged for Scott's (which Scott ended up giving him since he wanted it so bad and, after all, it was his birthday) and even finished up Cam's. This kid LOVES corn on the cob.
Back to the movie to let the food settle.
Then paused the movie again to go in for cake. Ty asked for a strawberry cake with strawberries on top this year. Honestly, I let him pick any cake he wanted and thought he would totally go for the chocolate amazing looking ones. He really wanted the strawberry cake. Then we walked to the candy aisle where I told him he could pick whatever he wanted to put on top of the cake. After looking a minute he simply said "I think I'd like strawberries on top". I will take it!! Halfway through the week he said he wanted me to make the cake look like the Iron Giant. So I did my best and felt glad that when I asked him to come look at the finished product he could at least tell what it was :)

Man, I love that kid. He is so good. While we were at the restaurant this morning, a lady tapped me on the shoulder and said "Your kids are so wonderful. You should be very proud."
She couldn't have picked a better day to remind me what truly obedient, kind and just genuinely good kids I have. Especially that Tyler. He sets such a good example for Cam and he wants so deeply to do the right thing. We are so blessed to have him in our family!

Checklist for today

Stay in my pajamas all day long....check.

Feel miserable from the cold I have had for a week now and realize that I probably have a sinus infection...check.

Watch a little five month old for over eight hours. One that is teething and has a double ear infection....check.

Have two completely rambunctious boys who need to get their energy out but can't because it is cold and drizzling all day...check.

Get a massive migraine in the middle of the day that comes on so suddenly that I can't prepare or take medicine and have it wipe me out for the rest of the day...check.

Have cheerios for dinner...check.

Immediately start crying when I talk to Scott on the phone (who is out of town for a few days)...check.

Let the boys play in the bathtub for ALMOST AN HOUR...check.

Go to bed at 8pm...soon to be check.

Questions, comments, and concerns

Ty has had the following questions over the past few days....

"Mom, how do you REALLY make babies?" I guess he hasn't been satisfied with my glossing over the subject the past few times he has brought it up.

(partially in tears) "Why can't we have another baby in our family? Can I help you and dad get a baby?" This was as a follow up to the previous question.

"How does a fish live under the water all the time and not have to come up?"

"How does a cow make milk from just eating hay?"

"What is fat? What does it do to our blood?"

"Mom, here are your choices. You can either let me watch a movie or play a game on your phone. What do you choose?"

"What does it mean to zorse around?" To which I answered that I have no idea...but I then explained that I usually say "horsing around". He still thinks that is a weird phrase. It kind of is.

Yesterday, Scott walked into the family room and turned on the light. Ty followed him back into the bedroom and said "Dad, you broke something of mine." After further questioning about what Scott had broken Ty finally said "You turned on the light...and it broke my spookiness."

Yesterday we decided to go to the park and the boys rode their bikes. We passed a man who looked a little bit homeless...he had the torn clothes, dirt all over, unshaven, etc. He even had on a big hat and it was pretty ragged as well. He smiled at Cam as he passed and Cam stopped and got off his bike and ran over to him and said "Hey, are you a scarecrow?" I didn't know how to explain my child and the man just laughed and kept walking. Cam came running to me and said "Mom!! Look, a scarecrow!!!"

A few other happenings...on Monday, Ty and Cam were playing "bad guys and good guys" and Ty ran right into the mirrored sliding closet door. It immediately cracked in that spider web way all the way up the mirror. Luckily, Ty go further back before all the pieces started falling. We have told the boys so many times that they may not run into that mirror because it could break. So as soon as it did, Ty was crying and apologizing and sat down right by the wall before I even had time to process what had happened.

Later that night, for a valentines date, Scott and I went to Costco with the kids. So romantic.
In the line to check out, a little girl from the line next to us wandered over and the boys both waved him. Then, without warning, Cam walked right up and wrapped his arm around her and gave her a big hug. People around smiled. Then Cam pulled back and kissed her right on the lips. People around gasped and said "Aaaahhh". The mother of the little girl was still on her cell phone and just kind of smiled and pulled the daughter away. Costco really is romantic.

Beach

Yes, you read that right. We went to the beach on Saturday. The weather was gorgeous and the kids even braved the water (just up to their knees). We spent most of the morning just hanging around, cleaning, fixing random things. Then after naps, Scott just said "Everyone put your shoes on! We are going to Santa Cruz!" We quickly packed some snacks and popped in the car. We made it to the beach just in time to see the most beautiful sunset and still feel the warm sand on our feet. Seriously...it was heaven! Here are some pics...


Cam running in the waves. The water was freezing..but they didn't seem to mind. You can see Ty WAY out there too. They both ended up getting their pants all went and it made for a sad walk back to the car.


Pretty background! And such a handsome boy!


Oh us.


Family pic


The brothers...Cam is getting pretty tall. Ty keeps reminding him that he is still older though.


Love this picture. Especially because they boys aren't looking. Doesn't it always seem to happen this way...

I also had to include fun family memories like these ones...




Of course, they had to take their shirts off when fighting. Ty said it is because he looks stronger that way. Cam did it because Ty did it. Oh my...thinking about the future makes me need some strong medication :)

Let's catch up...

(This is our family, in case you have forgotten what we look like since I haven't posted pictures in so long)

Scott-
This handsome dude started a new project at work today! As most of you know, Scott has been working for the general contractor that is redesigning and rebuilding part of the San Jose airport. Scott has been there for the past three and a half years and the project there has quickly been coming to an end...which meant either they quickly found another project for their employees or lay-offs. For the past several months, I could cry at the drop of a hat if I thought about us losing our job. (To be honest, I can almost always cry at the drop of a hat...). We feel so blessed that the company found a job and, EVEN BETTER, we get to stay right here in Nor Cal! Scott will be working on the Santa Clara Medical Center for the next several years and he is very excited about it! He just started today and he seems to be excited and invigorated to be learning something new and having something to throw is energy into.
He has also been really excited about his music lately. He was able to attend NAMM (don't ask me what it stands for because I have no idea. In fact, I don't know really anything about Scott's music stuff :)) I do know that while he was at this prestigious music conference down in So Cal, Scott was able to get a music sponsor (super cool!) and he also got a picture with Kenny G!!! (Oh yeah...and a bunch of other rock icons that I have no idea about, but Scott was so excited!) If you want more details about this, you'll have to ask him because that is about how much I know. The only other thing I do know is that whenever I meet anyone who works with Scott on the music front they ALWAYS tell me that I am married to a musical genius. They have not heard me play Heart and Soul. I can play both parts all by myself...I seriously don't know how you can beat that! :)

Rachel-
I am doing just great. Did three weeks straight of P90X. And then went back to sitting on the couch and snacking :( I start a "nanny" job tomorrow for a 4 month old boy whose mom is going back to work three days a week. The boys are really excited to have a baby at the house and I think I am excited too...I guess only time will tell!
Now that we know we are going to be here for a few more years, I am getting excited about reorganizing the house and doing some fun little projects. I took several days and went through the house and did some decluttering and throwing out of things we haven't even looked at in years. It felt so good. And my first little project was to make a quilt. I went to a friend's house in our ward and she showed me how..and I finished it this morning. I feel so excited about it and now I can't wait to go get some more fabric!

Ty-
Oh this kid. Do you ever have days where you look at your kids and think "Oh my goodness. You actually look older than you did yesterday?" Well, I have that just about every day with Ty. He just acts so old sometimes...and then quickly reminds me that he is three by saying something like "Mom, I told Cam to stop looking at me and he won't listen. Will you please talk to him?"
Ty is very pleased that he is getting bigger. He always wants to measure how tall he is and he always wants to show his muscles. He keeps asking when he will be big enough to "work out" because whenever I would get ready for my P90X video I would always tell the boys that they couldn't play with the weights because it is just for adults to get stronger. He thinks he is ready. I don't think he could handle Tony.
On that same note, Ty cracks me up about some of these workout videos. He loves to watch me do the Kenpo video. (For those who don't know...it is a lot like Tae Bo, so there is kicking and punching involved). He would sit and watch the entire video while I worked out. And then he would start repeating what Tony Horton would say. Just today I heard him saying "Hoof, uppercut, now sidekick! Hoof, uppercut, sidekick!" (Supposed to be hook, uppercut, sidekick).
I think I have mentioned before that Ty really loves that he is starting to get hair (more like peach fuzz) on his arms and legs. He brings it up constantly as a conversation piece with his friends. The other day, it was pretty chilly outside and we were going to ride bikes and Ty had a little tantrum because he didn't want to wear his sweatshirt. He cried and cried when I told him that he couldn't come out until he had a jacket on and through his tears he exclaimed "Mom, my fur will keep me warm!!"
Scott was sitting and talking with Ty the other day on the couch. Just some man to man bonding time. They were just laying there and this is how their conversation went:
Scott: So, Ty, tell me what kinds of things you think about.
Ty: Well...hmmm...God...our town...and true love.
Nice one Ty! Way to catch your dad off guard for that one!
We just signed Ty up for T-ball this spring and he is just beside himself with excitement. He can't wait and can't stop talking about it. Poor Cam cries and asks "Why me no team??" He doesn't think it is as cool to just be able to play baseball with mom.
Last, but certainly not least, is that Ty is well on his way to reading. He spends LOTS of time everyday working out of his "workbook" and loves writing on the whiteboard. He reads and writes all of his letters and can sound out small words. He learned to write all of our names today! I am so proud of him and how much he just loves to learn. He is truly such a fun kid!

Cam-
Oh, lets just take a look at the wonder that is Cam.



Let's evaluate:
First of all, he loves to take his shirt off. This must be something in the male gene. He shows his muscles and growls a lot too. Next, make sure you notice the "bling". Cam is the real deal, folks. He walks around like he owns the place and waves to all the neighbors...especially the female ones. Next is the hat. Cam will almost never been seen without a hat. He will also never be wearing it forward...ALWAYS backwards. He says it is because he wants to be like "dad" but Scott wears his hat forward sometimes. Not Cam. Not ever.
Now please notice the rain boots. I think they make a nice statement...don't you? (Note that it hadn't rained for weeks when I took this picture...even though it is rainy now). Now turn your attention to the saw that is lying right within his grasp. It has been a crucial thing for him to learn that he must be ready to retaliate at any moment. He and Tyler both always carry some kind of weapon with them at all times in case "the bad guys" or a dragon or even one time he attacked Cinderella. I know that they say it is to get the bad guys, but I really know that they hold those so that they can tease each other without me knowing. Nothing gets past this mom.
Last, don't overlook that dazzling smile he puts on and his eyes...just like his dad's!
Cam is just a wonder-boy. Scott calls him wasabi. (I don't know if that is how you spell it...but it is that incredibly spicy stuff that you put on sushi). I have only had it once...and I didn't know what it was and I was terribly surprised. I think that the name is fitting...strong, overwhelming to a point of crying, powerful, a little goes a long way, when you get a taste you feel like you are going to explode, etc. Cam has so much personality packed into his little body. And have I mentioned he has the energy of an asteroid? From the minute this kid wakes up, he is just going, going, going. He hates to sit down, even to have breakfast because he wants to run around and play. But, on occasion, he has been known to throw down more food than most adults. He had 7 waffles for dinner once...yes, SEVEN. I think I had two and a half. I assume he eats in these massive quantities so he can fuel himself for his day.
It has been an intense undertaking to try and tame this child...or at least to try and direct his energy positively. But he is doing very well. He is really becoming a great listener and helper. (Much is due to the example of his big brother). Cam jumps out of bed in the morning and starts his chores right away. They have a little chore chart and they get to put magnets on them when they are done and Cam just loves it. He makes his bed and then quickly strips down out of his clothes so he can get dressed. Then he and Ty both run to the bathroom to do their hair...yes, they do their own hair and I am not allowed to help. I wish I had a picture of them doing their hair...they both love to do their hair "spikey" and it just the most adorable thing. He is learning to be obedient and he can be such a joy...when he wants to. When he doesn't want to...it is almost earth shattering. Cam loves to sing and he and Ty usually sing songs to each other at night.
Oh...I almost forgot to mention that Ty and Cam got a bunk bed for Christmas from Santa. So Cam is in a big bed now and does great...only got out one night and had to sleep in his crib. He hasn't gotten out of bed since. We are loving the bunk bed...and probably will love it even more once we take the crib out of the room and have all that space back!!

My goodness...have I said enough??? That ought to give you a little snippet into our life! Life is busy and crazy and wonderful all at the same time!