How McPhies do Holidays

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE Christmas.  LOVE.  And this year, it was practically perfect.

Lets actually start back at Thanksgiving!

The "Master in the Kitchen" Scott did his thing again this year.  All the planning.  All the cooking.  All the cleaning.  ALL OF IT!  Which pretty much makes Thanksgiving the greatest day of the year.  He brined the turkey again this year, made his famous stuffing from scratch, mashed potatoes, yams, cranberry salad (new recipe this year and we loved it!), corn dish, and even homemade rolls.  You should have seen him in his apron rolling out the dough :)  We had the missionaries over for Thanksgiving dinner and it was just wonderful.  We had a blast.

After Thanksgiving, all the holiday festivities began.  The day after we brought out all the storage bins (yes, all two) and the Christmas tree and decorated the house.  One perk of living in a small place is that it doesn't take much to make the whole house feel like you live at the north pole!  It was like living in heaven for the whole month.  The smell of cider simmering on the stove and seeing all the twinkling lights is enough make me cry.

We started the month off with the Christmas parade in Los Altos with lots of friends.  A few days later we had our annual Gingerbread House Evening with the Walkers and this year I even did some research and found out the best ways to cut graham crackers so that the houses actually stay standing.  And oh, ours did.  And with all the candy on it, that was a definite miracle!  We ate pizza and candy and felt so amazingly happy by the end of the night!

The next week we were able to go to the Walk Through Bethlehem down in San Jose.  This has to be my all-time favorite Christmas tradition and it did not disappoint.  We talked with the roman soldiers, we helped make bricks, we used a real saw to shave bark off a tree, and cleared the path as Mary and Joseph made their way to the stable.  We watched the wisemen come in (on real camels!) and saw the shephards worship baby Jesus.  It really is incredible.

We made so many cookies and candies.  We decorated sugar cookies for classrooms and preschool friends.  We delivered treats to our neighbors.  And can't forget to make an extra batch so that we have lots around the house.

I was able to have a few fun birthday outings with my friends.  These women here mean so much to me and made me feel so special.  Love my girls!

We attended a Ugly Sweater Christmas party and white elephant gift exchange.  I love these kinds of parties.  So fun to get out (without the kids) and have fun and laugh with all our friends.  The Nelsons really know how to throw a party.  And the white elephant gift exchange was a blast.  I didn't tell Scott, but one of our white elephant gifts was a snow globe with a shirtless picture of him in it.  He was definitely shocked when someone opened  up that gift :)

Every year we go to the apartment management company's Christmas party and the boys were extra excited this year because they got to order salmon (their new favorite food) and could barely wait through dinner until Santa arrived and delivered a present to each of the children.  It was really fun!

We did dinner and game nights with such fun friends and even tried to put our kids down at other houses so we could stay up late and play (we really think we much younger) and what ended up happening was that our kids stayed up til 11 in their sleeping bags.  We still had so much fun!

We walked down Christmas Tree Lane in Palo Alto with some great friends and enjoyed the wonderful weather and all the lights and decorations and an entire bag of homemade caramel popcorn!!  (Thanks Steph!)

We saw the movie Frozen on Christmas Eve and it was a hit.  I think I might have loved it more than anyone in our family, but the boys had a great time and keep asking if we can see it again.  Scott fell asleep for part of the movie.  We came home and had some delicious soup for dinner and then the boys headed to bed right on time just giddy with excitement.  They tried so hard to stay awake to hear Santa and Ty swears he heard a "ho, ho, ho" in the middle of the night (probably just a homeless guy outside) and Cam swears he heard reindeer paws on the roof (probably just rats running through the walls).  

Christmas morning was magical.  Just magical.  The boys loved their presents from Santa, we ate Christmas morning casserole, per McPhie tradition, and munched on candy all afternoon.  Then Scott got busy in the kitchen again and whipped up several delicious Christmas dishes.  But nothing says Christmas like our favorite christmas tradition of "shlub" (thanks Laytons!") and we toasted with our cups filled to the brim.  (Shlub is a frozen banana/pineapple yummy mixture that you cut little pieces of and put in your cups and then add sprite)  It was such a great day.  We had so much fun the rest of the break just being home with Scott, playing with new toys and Drew riding his new bike.  On New Years Eve day, Scott took Ty and Cam up to Bear Valley and went skiing.  They left early early in the morning and didn't get home until bedtime.  We had a quick dinner of pizza bagel bites, mozzerella sticks, and yummy appetizers and did our countdown at 8pm.  The boys were asleep probably by 8:15.  They say it was one of their favorite days of the break.  (Me too.  I got up and cleaned the house first thing in the morning and guess what??  It stayed clean!  All day!  I did still have Andrew with me, but I didn't let him make any messes :))

Honestly, I look back and can't believe how fast December went by.  It makes me sad that it is already over, but the truth is, there was so much fun and happiness and family memories packed in there and I couldn't have planned it out better.  Don't get me wrong...we still had our share of timeouts, our "oh, darn, I think you need to go to bed early", and our "I don't hear children that scream and shout and roll on the floor" moments.  But December just has a way of erasing all the bad memories and helping you focus on those wonderful precious moments.  I think that is how I want every month to be :)

Perfect way to start off the new year...with a goal to make every month a happy month!

 

A Few Interesting Facts

In no particular order...

*Yes, we are still alive over here.  Life still chugs along and we are still happy.  Even though I haven't blogged about it in awhile.

*The kids are getting big.  Huge, in fact.  I can't believe that Cameron is almost 5 (well, at the end of the summer).  Drew is 18 months.  Ty is 6 1/2.  Can't forget the 1/2.  He always corrects me if I just tell people he is 6.

*We started reading the first Harry Potter book together as a family.  Some mothers might judge me, but I think they are just fine.  If it is just their own little minds, Voldemort won't be too creepy and nothing will be too scary.  They are loving it!  Every single night we snuggle up and read a few pages. It will take us forever to finish the book, but to be honest, I don't even care if we ever do.  I just love the time together.  And I love hearing them talk about going to "Warthog" instead of "Hogwarts" or say that they wish "Professor Bumblebee" was real.  Cam gets confused between Dumbledore and the transformers.

*Andrew bites his binkis.  Like, he really bites them hard until the little plastic part just hangs there.  And since that is a very real choking hazard, I just throw them away.  I keep telling myself that since he bites them, I should just ween him from the binki.  And then I remember that I LOVE the binki and I am not ready for him to give it up.  So, I just bought a new package at target today.  Sigh.

*I am already listening to Christmas music.  Kenny G Christmas music, to be exact.

*I really miss my family.

*Cameron says the funniest and most amazing things.  He is at that perfect stage where he still can't say his "r"s or pronounce everything just perfectly, but he talks so well and can really tell you what he is thinking so it just sounds so funny when he makes a mistake.  Today he asked for "blettuce" on his ham sandwich.

*The kids love swimming.  All three of them.  They could do it all afternoon.  (And we did!!!) I love it when they swim.  They get all worn out and sleep so well.  Win, win.  Plus Ty and Cam LOVE going around without their shirts on (they get that from Scott).  Ty often says "I am going to go look in the mirror at how tan I am!" and Cam says "I want to look at my muscles!" Win, win, win!

*Drew is at that super fun stage where he throws a tantrum when he doesn't get what he wants or if I take something away from him that he does want.  Makes me feel like such an awesome mom when he throws himself down on the floor of wherever we are and then screams.

*I have been drinking green smoothies like mad lately.  Morning and night (except when we were on vacation).  Am I crazy that I love drinking them even though they taste like grass sometimes??  It just makes me feel like I am being healthy.

*Scott is a handsome devil.  Loving his job and knocking everyone's socks off.

*During the summer, the boys have to do a little bit of reading and writing everyday.  Some days it is a hassle and other days they spend all day just reading or writing in their journals.  I told them they could write about anything they wanted.  Ty decided he was going to make a "Battle Notebook"  spelled "Badel Notbuk".  Every day he writes something new about what people think when they are in battle or what is the best way to win a battle.  Today he made a list of all the things you would need in a battle.  They included ax, slingshot, bombs, and armor.
You guys, where have I gone wrong???

*I haven't cooked dinner in a long time.  I mean, actually cooked dinner.  Lately I am trying to run the kids hard so they get all their energy out and when we get home we just do anything that takes less than 10 minutes.  Sometimes even Mac n Cheese takes too long.  We are all about PBJs, yogurt and toast, smoothies, chicken nuggets, scrambled eggs, quesadillas.  I feel bad about it.  But I also love it.  I wonder if I will ever be good at this...

*I love the smell of our new laundry detergent.  It is just Arm and Hammer and I only bought it at Costco because there was a coupon.  But I am seriously addicted to this smell.  Today Cam asked if he could snuggle on my lap and I have to admit I was half just loving that cute little body and half smelling his freshly washed shirt.

*I haven't cut my hair in almost a year.  Actually it has probably been over a year...anyway, I am ready to cut it.  Not super short.  But enough.  I want some layers.  But not too many.  Yep, now you can see why it has taken me a year to do this.  But that is my one goal for myself for the month of July.  GO GET A HAIRCUT.

*How high is too high for a 4 year old to climb?  Because everywhere I go, Cam manages to get to the highest place possible and people always give me that look like I am being totally irresponsible for letting him get that high.

*Drew loves kicking and throwing balls.  He is such a "ball" kid.  Can't be seen without one.  Can't go anywhere without one.  If you have one, he is your best friend.

*Drew also thinks it is the most fun game to climb in the car and instead of getting in his car seat, he climbs to the drivers seat.  And just waits for me to get there.  Usually I am the last one out of the house, I turn and lock the door, my arms are full of whatever we are bringing and I walk to my door to set it all down and he is sitting there and then he just laughs his little head off.  And his cute little body shakes all over.  And you can see all three dimples.  It is so amazing.

Lots of love from us!!

Can I get a little credit here?

I know I haven't posted in a long time.  I know I haven't posted pictures in a long time even though I said I would.  I know, I know!
But can I at least get a little credit for changing our title to "The McPhie Pride: Scott, Rach, and the Three Cubs" (updating for the third child that we had one year ago) and I also put up an updated picture that includes our little cub!
Phew!  Man, that was exhausting work!

I am so mad because I really have so many things to blog about and so many fun, exciting, cute things happen all the time and I always think "Oh, I am going to take a picture and blog about this" and then I never do.

Let me at least blog about a few things that I have really wanted to put out there:

First off, my husband is pretty amazing.  He is so manly.  He can grow a big ol' thick beard, he begs me to let him buy a motorcycle, he wrestles with the boys any chance he gets, he plays the electric guitar and loves heavy metal.  Pretty manly stuff.
But...he has a...how do I put this...he has a "matronly" side to him as well.
Scott loves Panda cam.   Have you ever heard of it?  I hadn't.  Scott found out that some zoo (I think maybe the San Diego Zoo?) got a baby panda bear.  And they have a camera on it ALL DAY LONG.  And people can go and watch what the baby and the mama do all the time.  Usually it is just sleep or eat or really boring stuff.
But then randomly I will get an email or a text that says "LOOK AT PANDA CAM RIGHT NOW!" and Scott will tell me that the mama panda was snuggling the baby and it was so cute.  Or one time the mama was playing with the baby and they were wrestling and Scott just loved it.  I think it is pretty darn cute too.  But what is even cuter is that Scott likes it.  And watches it.  And that he thinks it is pretty endearing to watch a mama panda snuggle her baby.
Scott also really loves to cook.  He volunteered (I really mean it when I say volunteered, like he said he would do it all by himself and I didn't ask, or beg, or prod in any way) to cook the ENTIRE Thanksgiving meal all by himself this year.  And he did.  He did everything.  On the Saturday before, he took Ty and Cam to Costco and Safeway and was gone for probably two hours and came home with a trunk full of groceries and everything he needed for his big day of cooking.  He started brining the turkey a few days in advance and the night before he even worked out a "cooking schedule" where he had the different dishes all organized as to what time he needed to have them ready to go into the oven so that everything could be baked and ready for the big meal.  He cooked pretty much all day long.  He made: a perfectly brined turkey, homemade stuffing (from scratch!), mashed potatoes,  gravy, jello, mexican corn dish, candied yams, and then pumpkin pie for dessert.  (Ok, actually, the pumpkin pie was bought from Costco).  Everything turned out beautiful and tasty and I have pictures of it all...but they are still on the camera (sorry folks, I don't think I will ever really become totally computer savy).  I was so impressed.  And to be completely honest, there really is nothing more manly than a man in an apron.  Don't believe me?  Just wait til you see these pictures!


So many other things I just can't ever catch up on...my birthday in December and Scott to me to Morton's Steakhouse and then to see Twilight, my friends took me to dinner at Pluto's for my birthday,  so many fun Christmas traditions and parties.  All last weekend was pretty much blissful and we spent the holidays with such close friends and had so much fun.  We LOVED Christmas Day with just our sweet little boys and we opened gifts galore, staying in our pajamas all day, opened up all our new toys, ate delicious food, and just had a wonderful time.  Then our sweet little baby Drew (who isn't really a baby anymore) turned one just yesterday!  I know it deserves a post of its own, but I fear that I just won't get around to it and I just have to say how amazing he is.  Our little "Happy Baby" (as all of the kids at Ty's school call him) has truly brought more happiness into our family than we ever thought possible.  I recently had a mother from Ty's kindergarten class, who I know and chat with just casually, tell me that she and her husband have decided to have another baby and it is all because of Andrew.  He really just brings so much light and joy and happiness and it radiates out of him and hits everyone around him.  We are so blessed to have him in our family.

This has turned into a very long post and it is now...yep, 1am.  Good for you Rach.  Guess I will be taking advantage of "Sunday afternoon nap" time!
 

Funny

Lots of funny stuff has been happening at our house lately.

Cam told me his first joke yesterday.  I laughed my head off.  It came totally out of the blue.
Cam: Why did the chicken eat the goose?
Me: I don't know, why?
Cam: Because the goat ate the human baby!

Scott made me laugh so hard this morning.  So hard.  He did it by explaining to me what happened last night in the middle of the night when I suddenly heard a huge, loud crash!  It woke me up out of a dead sleep and I yelled "Scott!" and I heard his voice coming from the floor on the other side of the bed.  When I asked what was going on he replied "I don't want to talk about it" and so, because it was like 3am, I just rolled over and went back to sleep.  But in the morning, the truth came out.  In the middle of the night, Scott suddenly remembered that he needed to plug his phone in and that he had left his phone on the couch.  So, assuming he was in the middle of our king size bed, he knew he would have to do a complete roll to get to the edge and so he used his leg and kicked himself to the side.  Unfortunately, he was right on the edge already.  He FLEW off the bed.  I didn't see it, but he must truly have been flying to reach the ironing board that was set up all the way against the wall, break said ironing board and send the iron crashing down onto himself.  After I found out he was okay...I laughed my head off.  I still can't stop laughing.

Last weekend, Scott and I went on a date.  We like each other.  Even when the other person is a little bit weird, we still like him/her.  But Scott says he might be rethinking taking me into public after our date.  We decided to go see Skyfall (the new 007 movie) and the theater was packed.  Full to the brim. Not an open seat.  So you know how at the beginning of movies there is that lion that roars and then the movie starts?  Well, that part came and suddenly, I had this thought that I could probably make the exact same sound as that lion.  It all  happened so quickly.  I heard the lion roar, wondered/assumed that I could make a pretty good "roar" myself, and then simultaneously the theater went silent right as I let my best "ROOOOAAAAR".  It sounded much better in my head and I don't think I even realized it had actually come out of my mouth until Scott turned to me and whispered "What are you doing??!!"  Luckily, there were no more outbursts after that.

Other updates:

Our kitchen floor is being replaced after my heels completely sank through the flooring.  I am happy that the problem is being fixed.  And sad that it is happening the week before Thanksgiving.  Wrong week to have your kitchen out of order.

Drew stands and walks around with a little digger/walker toy.  I can't believe it.  I really can't.  He is going to be walking soon.  Feels unreal that he is almost one.

Halloween was a blast.  Ty was a fireman, Cam was a SWAT guy, and Andrew was a...a...baby tiger?  Or the boys called him Baby Jaguar.  Some kind of baby jungle cat.  We had so much fun at Halloween parties and Trick or Treating with friends.

Should go without saying that I am already listening to Christmas music.  I have been for some time now.  My favorite is to listen to (get ready for this one folks) "Michael McLean's Forgotten Carols" and turn it to the "Homeless" song and watch Scott go crazy with anger.  He HATES that CD and really, really HATES that song.  It puts me right in the Christmas mood.

How can I catch up???

Hi.  My name is Rachel.  In case you have all completely forgotten me, I thought I would re-introduce myself.

It has been so so long since I have posted and I feel like I just keep putting it off because I don't even know where to begin in order to catch up.  And then I realized that I don't have to catch up at all.  I might try and write a few things about what we did over the summer and such, but I am just going to start from where we are today!

Ty started Kindergarten!  He is in the dual immersion program for Spanish here at our neighborhood school.  He is loving it.  He comes home each day with a new phrase he has learned and it is so great for him.  He goes from 8:30 to 2pm everyday (except for thursday, when it is a minimum day) so it is a long day without him!  Ty comes straight home from school and loves to get his homework done right away.  He loves reading and writing and spelling.  He is such a social butterfly and we just cant leave school without saying "nos vemos" to all his friends.  His teacher said he has quite the little fan club of little ladies that follow him around.  When I asked him about it, he just said "Oh those girls?  They are just my friends.  Sometimes they watch me read or play computer games and when they sit and look up at me, it kinda looks like a puppy."  I tried so hard not to laugh and I understood completely the phrase "puppy dog eyes".  Ty has lost several teeth and he is really proud of it.  He is an incredible big brother and sometimes I feel like he is a 10 year old.  He helps me out so much with Andrew and the three of these boys are just as cute and sweet as can be.

Cam does Joy School and, despite my initial concerns, I think things are going great.  Last year was kind of hit or miss with Cam and Joy School.  Sometimes he would absolutely love it.  Sometimes he would throw a tantrum on the doorstep and refuse to go inside.  So, I was really worried about it this year and wondered if it would be better for him to just do a public preschool.  But with such a great group of women, and such cute kids for Cam to be with, I thought we would try it again.  I am so glad we did and so far, we haven't had any problems!  Cam`has just grown leaps and bounds these past few months.  He is really beginning to be able to communicate how he feels and what he needs and it has been paramount in us getting past a little bit of a rough patch.  His most common phrase now is "My body has too much energy, Mom!"  And as soon as he says that, I let him pop on his shoes and run laps up and down the parking garage.  It is so awesome!  Or after a long time sitting in his library storytime class (30 min) he usually said the other day "My tummy hurts from being calm for such a long time.  I was jumping in my mind though."  When you ask him what he wants to be, he says he wants to be an Olympic athlete...in anything.  I wouldn't put it past him!

Andrew is still a wonder-baby.  He really is.  Easiest baby yet.  He eats and sleeps and smiles. 22 pounds of happiness.  He doesn't cry all that often.  He usually is just content watching Ty or Cam color or play with toys.  Some of the kids at school and their parents nicknamed him "Happy Baby" because he gives the best smiles to anyone who even looks his way.  The nickname kind of stuck and now everyone we pass hollers out "Hi Happy Baby!"  Kids I have never seen before are smiling and waving at little Drew, who grins and giggles at all the attention.  He started crawling a few weeks ago and since then he has become a bit more of a handful.  He LOVES loves the bathroom.  LOVES.  He crawls straight for it as soon as I put him down.  He goes straight to the bath and giggles.  Now that he is mobile, he isn't as content just sitting around in his carseat and watching all the action.  But, since he is just a crawler and not a walker yet, when we are outside, that makes it pretty tough.  He loves the sand...and takes big handfuls of it and puts it right in his mouth.  He crawls right through big puddles.  He gets sooo dirty.  This is that hard phase where they want to be able to play, but without walking it is pretty tricky, especially with all the rain we have been getting (no crawling on that yucky ground!)  I can't believe he is going to be one at the end of the year.  How did this year pass so quickly??  Even as I was typing that, I can still remember some of those nights a few months back when I felt like I was going to die from lack of sleep and I wondered why time was going so slowly :)

Scotty and I have been doing great as well.  I don't really know what to say about us...we are just parents now and we don't do anything interesting :)  Scott plays softball with a bunch of friends and has a blast.  I try to be "crafty" and I painted horizontal stripes on our living room wall.  I totally love it!  Now all I need to do is update the family picture so we have one with all three kids in it!

A few McPhie moments:
Last week, Ty and Cam were arguing over a toy and Cam started to run away with it and Ty stuck out his leg to stop him from getting away.  Cam tripped and hit is forehead on the corner of the piano bench and just started gushing blood.  Of course I stayed totally calm (yeah right) and handled the situation with ease (screamed and called for Scott who had just barely walked in the door from work).  It totally freaked me out and I realized I need to work on my response to things like that, as I am sure it won't be our last experience.

Our neighbor came by the other afternoon to bring a knife back to us that he saw the boys playing with and assumed they had just left it out on accident.  I told him it didn't belong to us and he said he was sure he saw the kids trying to cut branches off a tree with it.  I turned around and saw two little heads peeking around the corner of the kitchen and I said "Do you guys know where this knife came from?"  Silence.  Cam's sweet little voice said (shaking a bit) "So, I told a tiny little lie before and now I am ready to tell the whole truth.  Aren't you proud of me mom?"  My boys playing unattended, out by the street, with a knife they FOUND IN THE GUTTER, trying to cut off branches from a tree.  Yep, I am a super proud mom.  I am doing an awesome job at this mothering business.

On Sunday, Cam was drawing during sacrament meeting and he drew a big circle.  Then, inside that circle he drew another circle just barely smaller than the outer circle and then a small circle next to that.  Then two lines coming out the side and two lines coming out the bottom.  He looked up at me and said "Look Mom!  I drew you!  Here are your arms and your legs, and your one big eye and your one little eye!"  I love that he said that as if it was common knowledge that I have one big eye and one little eye (duh, mom!)

We have totally gotten into the World Series as our very own San Fran Giants made it!  We have watched both game one and game two with the boys in their Giants shirts, sitting on the couch, having snacks right before dinner time, cheering "lets go Giants, lets go!"  I am pretty sure they don't really have any idea what is going on, but when we cheer, they cheer.  It is super cute.

The boys are really excited for Halloween and keep changing their minds about what they want to be.  Cam recently asked what I want to be and when I told him I wasn't sure he said he thought I should be a princess cause I already kind of look like one.  Made my day!

Hopefully many more posts will follow!
(Cute pic of Scott and Drew at the high school football game)

This is the real deal, people.

What???  Am I really posting on my blog?  This is not a dream people, this is really happening.  Listen up.

I feel like life just kinda happens around here and I have no time at all to sit down and write it down so I can remember these fun years forever. Well, fun and also crazy and hard. But still fun.

In no particular order:

Ty had a birthday! He is our wonderful 5 year old! Scott took him skiing on Saturday Feb 25th (the day before his birthday). Ty was over the moon excited for his special trip with Dad. They woke up early and left to get to the ski resort right when it opened. As soon as they got there and started changing from pjs to their ski clothes, Ty suddenly threw up all over Scott and all over the car! Poor Scotty spent the next hour cleaning up the inside of the car and wondering if he was going to have turn around and drive home. But Ty sat patiently and said he was feeling great and ready to ski. So those boys spent the whole morning and afternoon on the slopes and by the end of the day, Ty was doing the bunny hill like a pro! (Did I mention that Ty has never been on skiis before? So it was the bunny hill all day long, but I think that for his first time that is pretty good!) He keeps asking when they can go back.

When the boys got back, Ty still acted like he wasn't feeling well and was "under the weather" for a day or so. Nothing too bad. Oh...but this began the worst few weeks of my life! Right after that, Cam got this yucky flu bug that was going around here. TOTALLY. WIPES. YOU. OUT. Seriously, it was awful. So Cam got it. Then I got it. Then Scott got it. Then mine turned into the worst sinus infection ever. Then Scott's turned into pneumonia. Then Cam's cough (yes he still had it after three weeks) turned into bronchitis. I am just thanking my lucky stars that little Drew didn't get it. Nothing short of a miracle.

In other news, Ty lost his first tooth. Soo cute! He feels so old now and seems particularly interested in how many teeth others have lost. He asks everyone he can! He even leaned over during general conference and whispered to me "Mom, do you think President Monson lost all his baby teeth yet?"

Ty also got accepted into the Dual Immersion program at our neighborhood school and I am really excited about it. Walking distance to school and lots of friends are going to be there with him. Can't believe I am going to have a kindergartener soon!

And then there is our darling Cam. It has been so fun to watch Cam "grow" into loving little Drew. He begs to hold him all the time now and always tries to make him smile. He loves him a little too much even...a few days ago I was trying to discipline him (and was holding the baby at the same time) and Cam kept looking at the baby and each time I would remind him that he needed to be looking at me until finally Cam just said "Ok mom, but hurry. I just love the baby so much I can't stop looking at him!"

Other favorite quote of Cameron's these past few weeks Cam when I was explaining to Cam why he didn't get a sticker for his kindness and obedience chart. He was so sad that Ty got a sticker and he didn't and I thought it would be a great opportunity to talk to him about how obedience brings happiness. But after going through my explanation and reminding him that the chart is called the "kindness and obedience chart" and so that is how he needs to behave, he promptly replied "I want to change my chart to 'the wickedness chart'".

And then there is Drew. Drewby. King of the Babies. Wonder-baby. Drew-Drew Binks (the boys thought of that one...from Jar Jar Binks in star wars). This boy is the center of attention at all times in our house. When we go to parks Ty always wants to take Drew on walks and push the stroller around. Cam invites complete strangers into our house to look at his little brother (true story). He is smiling like you wouldn't believe and it is just marvelous. He is starting in that laughing phase...just little giggles here and there. But last night Scotty got him to do a really good real laugh. It made tears come to my ears to hear that precious little boy laugh. He coos and squaks ALL day long. I think he is going to be a real talker, this one. He is almost always just a happy little trooper that goes from place to place with us and doesn't really make a sound until he is hungry. We love our little guy.

The latest

So, I know that what I really need to do is post pictures...but I am the worst mom in the world and I am not great at taking pictures. I do have some pictures, but I never have the time to move them from the camera to the computer.

So if you only like reading posts with pictures...you are out of luck! Sorry to disappoint. But this is what we have been up to lately..

We got Ty all signed up for Kindergarten! He is so excited! He was definitely NOT excited about his Kindergarten shots, but now that those are over with, he is just looking forward to learning Spanish (he is doing the dual immersion program at the school), walking or riding his bike to school (the school is literally a stone throw away from our house), going to school where his cousins go (sad that this is Linsdsey's last year at the school, but happy that Lucy and Sophie will be there!), and just genuinely excited to learn. Ty is just doing phenomenal at reading and he is picking up books left and right and reading them. We are just so proud of him.

Cam is so super fun. He is wild and active, but he has really started turning the corner on obedience. I think that the older he gets, the more he "gets it" as far as how to listen and be obedient and make good choices. Before this, I think he mostly made decisions based on what was the most dangerous thing to do or what I had previously told him not to do.

He is loving earning stickers for his obedience chart and he has recently been enthusiastically saying "Sure Mom!" when I ask him to help. He loves little Andrew and keeps asking when Andrew will be able to play "people" with him (that means playing all the little army men that Cam has).

Ty and Cam lately have been working on their "dirt biking skills" on their bikes. When I asked them what it means to have dirt biking skills they showed me what they have been working on with their bikes. They ride down to the end of the parking lot and then ride as fast as they can towards me. Just at the last minute, they slam on their brakes and then turn the wheel so that their bikes skid to the side. Ty can get his bike to do a complete 180 degree turn. Where do they come up with these things?? Heaven help me when these kids are older.

Andrew is a little piece of heaven. He is an angel baby. (You can't see the halo in his pictures, but it is there!). He sleeps 10-12 hours at night..every night for the past few weeks. He eats so great and then when he is awake, he is just so happy and smiley. He dirties more diapers than I ever thought was possible (he is almost 8 weeks old and we just bought our 4th box of costco diapers...216 in each (I think)...that is a TON of diapers!) But I love that he never has a tummy ache! We are loving this little guy. The boys call him "King of the Babies" all the time now. I don't know how it got started, but it has totally stuck. They always ask when "King" is gonna wake up or holler "Mom, the King smiling at me!" Last night in Cam's prayer he blessed Dad, Mom, Ty-Ty, Camer, and King of the Babies. I love it so much!

In other news, Valentines Day was a blast. The night before Valentines Day, I made pink heart shaped pancakes and pink scrambled eggs and hashbrowns for the family. I did a fun meal for the boys the night before so that I could do a fun dinner for just me and Scott on actual Valentines day. The boys had mac n cheese and hopped off to bed and Scott and I had the most delicious Honey Dijon Baked Salmon, asparagus, mashed potatoes, and then for dessert we had chocolate fondue with fresh strawberries and bananas. I think it might have been my favorite Valentines Day yet. We stayed home and didn't have to deal with reservations or over-priced meals or babysitters. I got to get all ready for Scotty and do my hair and make-up and feel pretty, but then as soon as dinner was over I changed into my pajamas and we got to just cuddle on the couch watching tv til we fell asleep.

Scott has been working long long hours for the past several weeks. He gets up to leave early early in the morning and doesn't get home til way after the kids are in bed. We miss him so much and it is such a treat for the boys when Dad is home to tuck them into bed..way better than when Mom tucks them in :)

Anyway, I can't think of much else to say and I have a cute little baby looking up at me and smiling and I just want to hold him!

I want to be like my mom when I grow up

My mom came and stayed with us for a week after we had the baby. It was heavenly. Really, it was so nice that it made me consider having another baby right away just to have her back again :).

My mom is almost perfect. I only say "almost" because I am sure she does have a flaw, even though I can't think of one. I am so lucky to have a mom like her...but it is also hard! I mean, how can I ever live up to that? I try, but I can never be quite like her! Here are some of the hundreds of things we did while she was here:

She put up valances in both my family room and kitchen. I already had the fabric...oh wait, it was fabric that SHE had sewn and sent me from Idaho. I am really really embarrassed that she sent it to me months ago (it was the same fabric that I bought up there and recovered our kitchen chairs). So it looks great. I love it.

She help me organize my whole house. Literally, the whole house. We went from room to room and just tore things out of closets, decided if we wanted to keep it, made a box for it, and put it away or threw it out. All my linens and towels now have a place to go. All my cleaning supplies are organized. Kids clothes...ALL purged. We went through so many baby and kid clothes and organized everything. Oh man, I felt so free! Even the kitchen stuff...she made space in our kitchen I didn't know we had. Everything looks so much better and the drawers aren't so cluttered. It was amazing. Now (as Scott put it) my job is just not to mess everything up :)

She cleaned. Oh she cleaned. Every cupboard, every drawer. Every inch of the floor. Every item that could be washed, she helped me take to the laundry mat and then fold it and put it away (I think we did eight or nine loads). The bathroom was perfectly spotless. She dusted every shelf and desk and fan and dresser. She vacuumed every nook and cranny in this place. I wish you could have seen this woman work. She is a true professional.

She went to Target, Costco, and Walmart several times for big trips in stocking up on groceries and buying bins for all of our organizing and even random house items that would make our home more functional. Then she would go back and return/trade them in when we wanted a different color or size.

She cooked and cooked. Not only did she make all the meals for the week that she was here, she made two of everything so that we could put it in the freezer and have another meal. She also cooked probably 10 lbs of ground beef and put it in different bags in the freezer, so now I can just pop one into the microwave to unthaw it and my ground beef is ready. She also just helped me brainstorm lists of all the meals I want to make in the next few weeks and made sure I had all the ingredients for everything on hand. She did anything and everything ahead of time that she possibly could have to make things easier for me.

The first few days, she took the baby in the middle of the night. She woke me up when it was time for Drew to eat...but feeding him is the easy part. It is the countless times that the binky falls out or he needs to be burped or held to sleep that is really hard. But she sent me off to bed and I put in earplugs and got lots of sleep. Unfortunately, after the second night, she was starting to feel sick and we didn't want to take the chance of getting the baby sick. (By the way, she did all of the other things I have mentioned all while feeling under the weather). But during the day, I got nap after nap after nap. I got at least a two hour nap just about every day she was here.

She played and played and played with the kids. She did SO much with them. They went on walks, played at the park, went to Happy Hollow (I went with them and mom rode on the rides with them), played "The Green Arm" which is a game that she made up with the boys and they played it for hours out in the parking lot and apparently I don't know how to play it right because I have tried and they always tell me I am doing it wrong. She made them delicious meals and the boys continue to ask for "Grandma's oatmeal" or ask that I cut the toast "the way Grandma would cut the toast". She made cinnamon rolls and cookies with the boys. They played with light sabers that Grandma made out of paper towel rolls or something and just this afternoon I told the boys that I was going to throw them away because they were totally smashed and broken. They both cried. And when I finally said they could keep them but it would have to be back in their rooms and not right in the family room they said "We can't. Grandma put them here so that our light sabers would charge." When I told them that I was pretty sure that the light sabers could charge in their bedroom they both looked skeptical and asked to call and ask Grandma. (Like I said before, I will never live up to the legacy my mom is leaving)

She "helped" me give Drew his first bath...which turned into my mom taking pictures of Drew getting me very dirty (yep, it is what you are thinking) and me calling for her or Scott to help me and they just laughed so hard that they cried and kept taking pictures.

Last of all, but probably most importantly, she and I just talked and talked. We laughed so hard. I pretty much sat on the couch while she did all of these amazing things and she just listened to me and gave me advice and made me feel like I was the most wonderful person.

I am completely blown away by how amazing my mom is. I am not at all joking when I say that I want to be like my mom when I grow up. She is truly just the kind of person I want to be. I love my mom so much. I am 30 years old and I cried like a baby when we dropped her off at the airport. She is my very best friend (besides Scotty, of course). I just keep on trying to be just like my mom!

Here is my wonderful mom with the three boys. They love her so much!

Riding the roller coaster..Cam is with her and Ty is right behind them. You can tell that Ty wasn't very happy that he didn't get to ride with Grandma.

Riding around on these little scooter toys. It might look easy..but those things are hard to ride and she chased the boys around forever!

This is a very embarrassing picture for me to post...so you should know I am posting this so you could see that she took this picture while laughing hysterically as I am begging for her to help me.

Loving little Drew.

Just three weeks ago...

I can't believe it has been three weeks already! Sometimes it feels like it has been three days. And other times it feels like it has been three months!! (the wee hours of the morning tend to feel as if they go on forever).

Three weeks ago, our precious Stephen Andrew McPhie was born. He was 10lbs 10oz and 21 1/4 in long.

Here is the deal about his name....

We are calling him Andrew or Drew. We LOVE LOVE this name. It has been on our list from the very beginning. But, we also really wanted to use the name Stephen, which is Scott's dad's name. We considered doing Andrew Stephen...but something just didn't sound right about it. We really liked the sound of Stephen Andrew. It just sounded better to us. And since Scott is really Michael Scott and he just goes by his middle name, I thought it would be just fine to name him Stephen Andrew and call him Andrew. I will tell you what...I LOVE his name. I love that we call him by his middle name. For some reason it just totally seems to fit him. But we do keep getting the raised eyebrow and and the puzzled looks when we tell people that he is going by his middle name. It doesn't bother me though. Scott and I both feel like it is the perfect name for our little guy.

I wish I had more time to write all the details of the birth and how things went. But for now, I will just say that the C-section went perfect. All went smoothly and I feel like it was the easiest birth yet. I am recovering very well and feeling wonderful. For me, the greatest part was right after they pulled Andrew out, the doctor leaned over the curtain and said "I think you just gave birth to a 3 month old!!" Andrew was HUGE! All of the doctors and nurses couldn't believe it and many of them came into our room during our stay just to see the "nearly 11 lb baby".

He is such a joy and we are loving this little guy so much!

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!