Friday, July 6, 2012

News from May


Grace and I took a trip to Dallas while Truston was out of town. We had a couple of awesome days with the Dallas Myres. Kristin had a minor surgery while we were there, so we were glad we could help out a little. The weather was so perfect, so the boys played a lot outside, we took everybody swimming, on a walk, etc.  We also attended a mom group that Kristin goes to, “Power of Moms”. I remember my friend Danielle telling me about it, she LOVED the ideas they had. The topic that night was parenting with intention. I’ve actually been thinking somewhat along those lines, so it was good to formulate the ideas and goals I had been considering into more concrete form.
Grace and I drove home in our new van on Thursday! We are now the proud owners of a Toyota Sienna. Talmage and Logan still want to sit right next to each other. But as far away from me as possible. 
When we got home I tackled a home improvement project I’ve been wanting to do, but I haven’t had the guts to do it. You know that I am not a risk taker and this particular idea was making me really nervous. I decided to go ahead and paint my countertops. Here they are before and after. It’s a faux granite that you paint on and then seal. I was having a panic attack for the 24 hours it took to paint and seal them, but now that they’re done, I love it.
Before. Faux wood block. when was this ever a good idea?
After. Much better.
Here are the boys on Mother’s Day: they are such a sweet blessing in our lives. Especially the fat one.
Only Talmage is looking, but it's still cute.
And because I love to talk about everything they do, here are some random funnies:
  • ·         Reid is a wild man in the pool. He puts his head right in, he crawls right in, he has no sense. This summer is going to be tricky, keeping him water safe.
  • ·         Talmage got a ‘letter’ from his friend Hunter down the street. Mistakenly, I showed him where the envelopes are so he could write a letter in return. Now he is delivering ‘letters’ back to Hunter about every 4 hours, filled with letters and ‘pictures’ of Hunter and him.
  • ·         Talmage had a BLAST with my cousin Kaitlyn in Dallas. Kristin had just brought her back a tea set from Chinatown in New York City and Talmage and Kaitlyn had a ‘tea party’ about 3 times a day. Drinking so properly and then running around the house shooting guns and then stopping for another sip of tea.

Reid Turns ONE


We had a special celebration this week, Reid’s ONE year birthday!! Wow, where did the time go? This kid is so fun and full of personality. He is finally warming up to other people (especially if I’m not in the room) and walks around everywhere. His round body receives quite a lot of attention, especially at the pool. He loves the toilet, in fact, we need to keep the bathroom doors shut at all times because he finds it a little too fun. He thinks Talmage and Logan are hilarious; he loves their jokes and antics. Whenever they start horsing around with Truston, he tries to climb into the middle of the group and loves the attention. He will get so worked up; he throws his body into his two yoga routine. First the down-ward facing dog and then plops his belly on the ground with his head up in a cobra. I wish I had a picture of it. He can clearly say, ‘da-da’ and ‘uh-oh’. He also holds the phone up to his ear and says, ‘he-y?’ He kind of has an oral fixation; he puts everything in his mouth, especially shoes. He thinks it’s hilarious to bite Truston’s toes and he tries to do it every chance he gets, last night he totally bit them. For this birthday we bought him a new car seat and a cherry-picker truck. Talmage and Logan helped pick it out and were very excited to give it to him. The whole time we were in the car aisle, really anytime he sees anything he loves, he says ‘ohhhh’ really emphatically. That night we made some car cakes. He was afraid of the candle, but loved the cake. He took a bite, crumbled the rest and then threw it to the ground.  
Here he is on waking up, one year old!
More highlights from the week:
·         For posterity’s sake, this conversation has to be remembered:
o   Talmage: Mom, I want a Ferrari.
o   Me: Ahh, probably not.
o   Talmage: WHY? (starting to cry) But I want one. I’ve wanted one for a long time! (like 4 hours) Everybody else has one, I really want one. Or two. And a Ferrari helicopter.
·         We went to Thomas’ end of swim season party. Talmage went to the pool early with Thomas and started going off the diving board. By the time we got to the pool, he was a pro. He was SO proud of himself. Logan found the froggie slide (a kiddie slide) and went down about a million times. Reid was mesmerized by the fountains in the kiddie pool.

How to NOT survive childhood


  • ·         Mom, look what I can open! (a child proof jar of vitamins, which he tried, and then threw it up)-L
  • ·         “Does anybody know where my phone is?…(silence)…I will give them money”….(pitter patter of little feet). “I was keeping it under my bed for you” -T
  • ·         Mom, I just touched Reid’s eye! (Reid is blinking furiously in the corner) -L
How to earn brownie points that will keep your mother saving you:
  • ·         I have a good idea. Monster Truck Digger Party. And Hot Wheel Party. -L
  • ·         AH! I just love Hot Wheels SOOO much!!! –T
  • ·         Explosions! In the sky! BIG! Scary (in a whisper) –L
  • ·         The fact that Logan has played with 8 legos for the past 3 days, non stop. I guess we know what to get him for his birthday.
  • ·         That Reid chases Mango around, trying to hug her bottom, but mostly loving the occasional tail swipe across the face.
  • ·         Talmage giving the talk in Primary on Fasting and Prayer. And then he drew some pictures to accompany his talk; pictures of tanks and monster trucks. I’m not sure how they tied in, but he made sure to show them at the end.
  • Logan and Talmage carrying around ear plugs for 2 days in preparation of the fireworks: “Mom I want to be prepared”. And then they forgot that the ear plugs were in their pockets when they got there.