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!