Top 10 of 2010

In a somewhat, but not necessarily, particular order:
10. The twins adjusting and enjoying nursery which in turn allows mommy & daddy to attend all of church! Wa-hoo!
9. Having my mom around for the birth of Oliver. She has been my #1 helper and I would never have survived 3 under 2 without her. She is one of my best friends and I'm so grateful for this chance I've had to grow closer to her.
8. The twins graduating to their big beds in their new room!
7. Home renovations - we were able to check off quite a few items on our list thanks to Brandt's paternity and some updates that we were forced to complete.
6. Brandt's brother graduation from medical school and Brandt being able to attend the ceremony.
5. Mom & kids trip to St. George with Grandma, Grandpa, & Aspen.
4. Curtis family vacation to Yellowstone!
3. Jensen family vacation to Bear Lake!
2. Growing closer as a family of 5, growing closer as a family with our brothers & sisters, and growing closer with our Savior and strengthening our testimony.
1. OLIVER! His birth, his blessing and his wonderful spirit. We love him oh so much!

Bring on 2011 - can't wait to see what adventures are up ahead.

Christmas

Our Christmas was great this year. Kinda mellow with not much expected so it turned out really nice. We managed to get it all together, make it to all our parties, everyone (but mommy) took naps, and visit all 3 sets of parents Christmas day...miracles do happen! We started out by going to my parents house for Christmas Eve. Before we headed out I wanted to get a picture of the family by the tree. I set up the timer and we all posed and the shots kept coming back fuzzy. I finally gave up and we left. We went and had dinner and dessert. While my boys were partaking of ice cream cones (more pics in a minute) I remembered that Dylan had gotten my camara earlier so I wiped off the lens. Wha-la! Clear as can be. Amazing the difference it made. So we gave the boys ice cream cones. I've given them one once before and they loved it and it was no different that night. Charlie was in the zone. We had another Christmas miracle. Dylan enjoyed his cone, too, but was not nearly as messy as Charlie. I think that is a first.

Christmas morning we woke up and had our own little Christmas with the 5 of us. I did the family picture again without Dylan shmeared lens and I'm only posting it because the twins look so cute in it. Brandt and I, not so much. Behold, the holy grail of Christmas gifts...the measuring tape:

After that we ran down to my momma's again and had the BEST breakfast. Seriously, it was soooo good. We opened presents and rushed home and put the boys down for a nap. Oliver wasn't in the mood to sleep so i had to stay up with him. Finally I rocked him to sleep and I only had a half hour left that I was going to let everyone sleep so I didn't put O in his bed. I just held him and rocked with him and had a 'moment'. The twins were in their bed, Brandt was asleep on the couch, Oliver was in my arms. The room was dark except for the lighted Christmas tree and my home was silent. So much gratitude and love was in my soul, in my heart. My boys were peaceful and safe and I was given that short moment of stillness to become aware of it all. It was beautiful and I don't ever want to forget that feeling or take what I have for granted.

I woke them up at 4 so we could run up to Brandt's dad's house and then stopped by his mom's house on the way home. We fit it all in...by the skin of our teeth. We then ran home and put the boys down about 9:30.

I love this time of year. I love the magic that comes with the Christmas holiday. I love that we are able to focus on the baby Jesus and feel such gratitude for our Savior. Truly, we are so very blessed to know what we know and to feel such peace because of it. I don't know what I did so right to be sent to the family I was given and to be so blessed to have the most amazing husband and beautiful children. No matter how bad things sometimes seem, I know I have it very good. I know it is because the generous hand of my Savior and I hope that I can remember that throughout this coming year.

"Pretty Bird"

Owwweeeeeee!!!!

Yesterday I ventured downtown. I needed to grab something at Old Navy and figured I'd take the kiddos out. I drove Brandt's big truck so I couldn't park in the underground parking and I needed to find a spot on the street, near the store so the kids wouldn't have to walk too far. They are quite slow and get easily distracted. I drove around for a while cause I seemed to be missing spot after spot to the car in front of me. Just about as I was going to give up and go home I found a spot, a little further than I'd wanted, but gave it a shot anyway. I parallel parked on the street and Oliver was on the sidewalk side and the boys on the street side. I went to get O out first so that I could have him right there when I got the boys out and keep an eye on them all. I went around the car to get O and because he was on the sidewalk side there were snow-banks. I was climbing over the snow and pulled his carseat out. I was trying to get back over the snow with O in one arm and pulled the car door shut. Opps...didn't move my hand fast enough. I was trying to put O down on the snow without him sliding down the snowpile into the truck all the while not panicing since my finger was stuck. I finally got my one hand free so I could open the door and looked down at my poor finger. The blood immediately pooled into my nailbed and I could even see the blood from the other side of my finger.Can I even tell you how bad it hurt?!? It was one of those moments that takes your breath away. I went around to get the twins out and they just looked at my face like "what happened to you?" Even now, it is super sore. It is all puffed up and warm cause my body is trying to fix it. It's not pretty and I won't be surprised if I lose my nail.

About 13 or 14 years ago I suffered a similar fate. My sister and I went to California and we visited Newport Beach, one of my most favorite places ever. We went down by the pier and were going to go rollerblading along the beach. We opened the trunk to get our rollerblades out and my sister shut the trunk and the keys were in her pocket. My thumb was in the trunk. She had to get out the keys and unlock the trunk before we could open it. I went over to the Hotdog-on-a-Stick and got a little cup with ice in it. I stuck in my thumb and went on rollerblading. That was a doosy, too. Aren't only little kids supposed to smash their fingers in doors?

O Christmas Tree...

There was much debate on whether to have a tree this year. We gave in and decided it is not Christmas without a tree. Because our budget is a little tight, we got a smaller tree than we're used to. Also, because I have TWO two-year-olds I had to address the ornament issue. I didn't want ornaments just on the top of the tree and I didn't want any of our precious ornaments broken. My crazy mother had the idea to crochet & knit ornaments that could be removed and tossed around and wouldn't break. My mom knitted all the round ornaments and I crocheted all the Santas. I wanted more Santa's, but come on, I'm lucky to have gotten the ones I did. My time is a little stretched between 3 little guys and 1 big guy. Here's the finished product.

This is my favorite part. The boys are not allowed to turn on the lights (they LOVE plugs and I'm trying to stifle their urge...with no luck...to stop plugging in things). Anyway, we found this one day. They took off the Santa and tied it around the plugs. What clowns.

Here's a close up of the one type of Santa.

Here's the big Santa (minus eyes and a belt buckle).

Merry Christmas...Can you believe it's next week?!?

5 Months!

My baby is 5 months old today. How in the world did we get here? He is not much of a baby. He is a big, big boy and I am wrapped around his little finger. He is starting to coo and gurgle more and is anxiously awaiting me feeding him solid foods. He is ready, I just need to remember to buy some baby food next time I'm at the store. He usually sleeps through the night, but he's been a little sporatic lately and has been waking up for a snack in the middle of the night. My doctor said to just put him back to sleep when that happens, but it's quicker for me to just feed him and I am tired and lazy so I usually do that rather than take the time to make him sleep (just to be awoken 15 minutes later cause he really wants that snack)! His brothers adore him and love on him. We are so lucky that he chose to come and be a part of our family!

to remember...

Charlie word:
Helicopter/Airplane = "cot-tee"

Dylan word:
Measuring tape = "mama" ???, I don't know, wierd kid.

Charlie & Dylan:
Dylan = "Naa"
Charlie = "Naa"
Oliver = "O"
Shoes = "ga-ga"
Socks (first word, still sayin' it) = "ga"
Drink = "unk, unk, unk" (said in their throat, kinda sounds like a gulp)

That's it for now.

And the Mother of the Year award goes to...

ME!!

We were out running errands this morning and when I got home, O was ready for lunch. I brought in my groceries, got the boys an apple, and sat down to feed O. I'm sitting there, and I can hear the boys in the kitchen. It sounds like they've pulled things from the drawer they know they're not supposed to be in (but they also know I'm pre-occupied with O). Once I was half way done feeding I thought I better check it out. I came around the corner to these two faces.

Exhibit A:

Once I got a little closer I saw this.

Exhibit B:

(please ignore my dirty, nasty sink)

Yep, it's confirmed...I am definetly the Mother of the Year.

A couple things I don't want to forget

I just needed to write these two things down for memory-keeping.
#1: Speaking of potty-talk. I gave up on potty training on Saturday. That night Brandt went into the boys's room to check on them before we went to sleep. I was in the kitchen so I could hear anything going on in the room. Brandt creaked the door open and I heard "poo-poo". Once Brandt came back out I asked if that's what I heard and he laughed and said it was. Cracking the door had awoken Dylan just enough to speak. He was dreaming about "poo-poo". Hilarious.
#2: last night I was cleaning up the kitchen before we were about to have dinner. We had purchased a couple measuring tapes to put in the boys's stockings. Dylan has an extreme fascination with them because his daddy has them and he is daddy's helper. Anyway, the measuring tapes were in our kitchen cabinet and I was sick of them being there since it was where other things were supposed to go so I moved them to our office. I just dumped them inside the door (no one goes in there) and I was going to wrap them. Of course, Brandt went in there for something just after I had done that and Dylan followed him in. He saw the tape and knew exactly what it was. No matter that it was a different shape, color than daddy's but he knew. You would not believe the tizzy fit that was to be had after that. He stood at the door and sobbed for that measuring tape. Brandt said to me "Way to go Drea, Santa is already a fraud to a 2 year old." Opps. I guess the tape is NOT going in the stocking and will be the last gift he opens because once he see it, everything else will be forgotten.

I give up

I know I said I was giving it 5 days but I'm done. I think potty training is on hold for a few more weeks and I'll try it again. The boys are treating it like a game. They say "poo-poo" all the time and we go and sit on the potty, and nothing. Then they go in their underwear. A few things I have learned during this are:

1. I need to work on my patience.
2. I have the best husband in the world to support anything I choose to do.
3. I have the best baby that is so patient to let me deal with the twins before I get to him.
4. Little boys in under-roos is adorable (creepy, I know, but my boys look so big in them).
5. My shower curtain upstairs needs to be washed.

Maybe I've given the boys a taste of going potty so the next time I have built up my patience and determination they will jump on board with going "poo-poo" a little quicker and easier. I've dreaded this, no wonder I've failed, but we will get there eventually.

Cute Oliver tonight...I want to eat him up.

When is enough, enough??

It's day #3. We've been seeing if the boys want to be potty trained and I'm on day #3. I don't know if any of it is sinking in and when we should give up and put the diapers back on. It's exhausting and I'm about done. I told myself I would keep it up for 5 days. Is that too long, too short? I was dragging my feet on this and I had to go to a relief society meeting this week and my sister watched the boys. When I got home she told me that Charlie told her "poo-poo" and she took him into the toilet and he went poop in the potty so I figured, "now is the time". I know there is that fine line of when they are ready and I don't want to miss it but I am sick of cleaning up mess after mess. We have a house full of urine. Day one I had 8 messy underwear, day two I had 9 messy underwear. It is 10:30am on day 3 and I have 6 dirty underwears. Oh my heavens, potty training twins stinks, no pun intended. I'm a little frusterated but the savings of having to only buy Oliver diapers looks so great. I guess we'll keep it up a few more days and see what happens. Any advice? Please share.Oh, and Oliver rolled over 2x this morning! What a big boy!

We were tagged...

Yesterday morning we woke up to this.

We were disgusted and thought that if we won our game, then we could retaliate. After the AWESOME conclusion to the Utah vs. BYU game, we made a quick stop at Lowe's on our way home to pick up our red paint. It was dark when we got home but we still colored our lawn. We thought it would be fun for our neighbors to enjoy on their way to church this morning. I held off taking a picture cause it was dark and thought I would capture it in the morning. Unfortunately we woke up to this.

All our hard work was erased. Maybe it was a sign that we shouldn't gloat. It can't stop me from saying "GO UTES!" on here, though!

GO UTES!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Was your Thanksgiving as great as ours was? Here's Dylan, it says it all about how he felt about the pies.

When I took Oliver to the doctor this week she said we could give him a little mashed potatoes or yams on Thanksgiving if we wanted to. We went for the mashed potatoes. What a face. He was a little unsure, but then I think he dug it. We only gave him the one spoonful for fear of making him sick. I can't believe he is this big.

Happy Thanksgiving. We are so grateful for so much. I am a very lucky woman to have all that I do. Here's to the holiday season.

4 Months Old

I'm a little late posting, but Oliver just turned 4 months old. He is my super baby. He is just growing so quickly and is seriously so good. I took him to the doctor yesterday for his check up. His stats are:

Weight: 15lb. 13oz. - 65%

Height: 26 1/4in. - 88%

Head: 41cm - 17%

He's starting to arch his back when he's laying down and I think he is close to rolling over, he loves to sit up so he can see things, loves to be held and will whine a little bit if you dare sit him down when he wants to be held, sleeps ALL through the night, is a good eater but he is a puker, and loves to watch his brothers play. I know I'm his mommy so I'm supposed to say this, but he is super-duper cute, too. I just love him and am so lucky that he chose Brandt & I to be his parents. We just love him so.

Really??

Today I was quite proud of myself. I went shopping...with all 3 boys! We hit Target and Shopko. There were a few things on sale that I wanted to get for the kiddos for Christmas. I'm sick of thinking of things I can get them so I just want to purchase our items and be done with it. I know, sort of a grinch way to think about it, but I want to just enjoy the season and not dwell on getting the best deal, the best toy, the lowest American Express bill, etc.
Anyway, I digress...I went to Shopko. I was pushing the cart to the back of the store where the toys are and had to pass through the furniture. There were a few kids running around and I glanced over and there was a lady sitting on the couch nursing her baby. I am a mom with an infant myself, but I thought that was pretty bold. I would go to my car, or to the bathroom, or for the love of Pete, I would use a nursing cover or perhaps a blanket to cover up. That's right, she was just letting it all out. I'm all for breast-feeding and do it myself, but I guess I'm a little more reserved. Well, there is the Deep Thought for the day by Drea. Until next time...

Twin-isms

Dylan, Dylan, Dylan...today the boys were pulling their chairs up to the kitchen counter. I keep a basket in the far corner that I keep our bananas in and some misc. items have found their way into the basket. Anyway, they pulled the basket towards them and found my mini-stapler (I know, what a place for it). They were playing with it and I went on with whatever I was working on. I could tell it was being punched closed like once a second so I came around the corner to see what they were doing with it. Dylan had the stapler, he was sitting in his chair, and pretending to cut his toe-nails. What a goof. Love 'em.

The park

This morning we ventured out to the park. It was windy, it was cold, and the ducks were smarter than us and have flew South for the winter. So, if the ducks don't want to eat our bread, we'll eat it. Problem solved.

The boys liked walking through the leaves, they make great noises.

We played on the playground. The taller the slide the better for D and NO slide is best for C. He is a little scared of them now since he hurt his foot last time we visited the park. Hopefully he'll outgrow that.

Baby {O}

Don't you just want to squeeze his little face? I just downloaded my pictures off my camara and thought everyone needed to see how big and "squeeze-able" my little man is getting. He is growing up way too quickly. He is such a sweet little guy, everything you could hope for in a baby. I don't know what I did to deserve such good babies...but I soooo appreciate it!

Memories

I remember being about 4 and shopping with my mom. I was tired of shopping and was wandering around and my mom was buying her items. I came around to the counter and hugged her leg. I then looked up and realized I grabbed some other woman's leg rather than my mom's.

Today I was out in my garage helping Brandt build some cabinets. I was standing there working and Charlie came up to me and just hugged my leg. I had a moment. I can't believe that I have my own children to hug my leg. I never thought that they would be big enough to do that (let alone just even have them). I just smiled to myself. I love him. I love all my boys. I am one lucky lady.

Evil trick

I went to Target today. As I parked my car and got out I got a whiff of something wonderful...the beach. It was snowing and I was smelling suntan lotion. What sort of evilness is that?!? I went in and shopped. When I was returning to my car I noticed a container on the ground. Someone had dropped their coconut milk. There's the source of the beach. Man I need a vacation. I'm not ready for winter.

Halloween 2010

Happy Halloween! We had two "killer" clowns and one darling pumpkin. The twins were "killer" clowns because when we went out at night I gave them two glowsticks to hold and they were axes. Have you seen cuter clowns or a cuter pumpkin? I would bet you haven't (unless, that's what your own kids were...you're entitled bragging rights). We even ventured out into the rain. Maybe I shouldn't just say "rain." It was more of a downpour. Of course, it started right as we were about to make the rounds of the neighborhood so we had to wait a little while until it died down a little bit.

On Sunday we went to my parents house to celebrate Halloween. We had pumpkin stew, pumpkin triffle, veggies, salad, and french bread. After dinner my mom wanted the kids to play the game where you eat the donuts off of the string without using your hands. Dylan got in on the action - I didn't make him not use his hands. I don't think he'd understand.

Even after the game was over he was still making a go of it. Mr. Sweet Tooth himself. On Saturday when I woke the boys up from their nap I proceeded to put them in their costumes. Dylan threw a fit because he wanted to wear Oliver's costume. Unfortunatly for him, he is a little bigger.

The play mat

I pulled out our play mat for Oliver this morning. You would have thought I pulled it out for Dylan & Charlie. O was inthralled (that's a word, right? Spelled that way? Who knows.) with the music and lights. I was sitting there and looked over and Charlie had grabbed Oliver's hand.So sweet. They're all getting so big.After O was done laying on his back, I flipped him over for some tummy time.Dylan was quick to come over and lay on his tummy and encourage him.Such good brothers. They honestly take such good care of each other. We are so lucky.

Handsome boys

A couple nights ago we had our 2nd ever hair cuts. I guess around here, you get a hair cut once a year whether you need it or not. I watched and learned so once it grows out again, I'm gonna give it a shot. The good thing about me giving hair cuts is that if I mess it up, I have all boys and I'm quite good at a buzz cut. Maybe that's why I've been sent boys instead of girls. Notice how red D's hair looks in this picture. It's not really that red. It is a beautiful honey color. He's got great hair.

Morning business

Each morning when I let the boys out of their room, they look at me, pat their bums, and say "poo-poo". Then they scurry off into the living room to find a treasure to play with. The other morning Dylan went into the bathroom rather than the living room to "take care of business". Now, if I can get him to do it without his clothes on, and without his blankey and elephant, we'll be good. I think potty-training is on the horizon. I have a gut-ache thinking about it.

Some things to cheer about and some things to cry about

Two things.

#1: We made it through nursery...ALL of nursery!! And the leaders even said they did great! WooHoo!! Here is their artwork from their first lesson at church. Pretty sad that they are 26 months and just barely have had a lesson but I am a nap-Nazi and I won't let church throw off my nap takin' schedule too much. Church falls right at their nap so I've pulled them after their 1st hour of nursery to take them home to nap. I braved it this week and they were TROOPERS!

#2: I went to the park today with two of my friends from high school to let our kiddos play. My timid Charlie went down the BIG slide (Yes, this is D on the slide, but including this pic so you can see the evil slide) and as he was going down, the rubber on his shoe caught on the plastic slide and that foot stopped and the rest of him kept going and hello, splits. I think he has sprained his ankle. My doc said to see how his is in the AM before bringing him in to see if it gets a little better on it's own. As of tonight he won't stand on it. Remember or cute little boot? Charlie is now trying it out. Funny thing about it, though, is that Dylan wants to wear it so bad! He was so cute this afternoon. I put the boot on C and a sandal on the other foot. D brought the other sandal to me and I told him that he needed to go get the green sandals cause there was just one of the blue sandals. He went into his closet and brought me one green sandle. I put it on his foot. He only wanted one shoe cause Charlie could only wear one shoe. What good brothers.

Ok - I'm on a roll...

#3: Oliver turned 3 months today. He is just a-growin'. He has turned into a smiley boy and just found his hand and his giggle. He is such a sweet soul. He sleeps through the night almost every night (occasionally he'll want a little snack about 4am). He loves his brothers and they love him right back. They are all so very cute together.

#4: The boys and I went to the pumpkin patch tonight. We rode on the trailer that was pulled by a tractor. Picked out the perfect pumpkin (these aren't the perfect pumpkin, it was already loaded up in the trailer). And when we were sad, Mimi was there to make us feel so much better.