Christmas

This year we had a very busy, very fun, and not very relaxing week.  Our vacation started the week before Christmas because my sister was getting married on the 19th in Salt Lake.  James had a Christmas party at school on the 15th.  We loaded up the car, went to see James' program, which was super cute and hit the road.  We drove 8 hours to Cortez that night, stayed in a hotel and finished the drive the next day. The first couple of days we stayed with Doug's sister in Orem.  The boys loved playing with their cousins and it was fun to visit.  Saturday Jordyn went through the temple and it was neat to be there for that.  Sunday my parents rented a house and we all moved in.  

James at his school party.  The girl in the red shirt is his
favorite girl Mikiley.  He likes to hold her hand.

Monday was Jordyn's big day.  It was an early day and a cold day, but everything went perfectly.  And she was so happy.  Lucky for us we were able to take our boys to their Aunt Amber again so we were just able to enjoy the morning.  It was a good time for the whole family to be together before Chad and Shannon move to Denmark next month.  

Jordyn and Ben, the newlyweds 

The Family-only missing Alison, Jackson and June

 After the wedding things were supposed to slow down for a few days so we could relax.  That didn't really happen for some reason.  There was still shopping to do and of course bowling!  James LOVES bowling.  He is obsessed with it.  So we decided while we were in civilization we would take the boys bowling.  They LOVED it.  James was so animated and did well taking turns.  He probably would have stayed all day.  The only tantrum came when it was time to leave.

James and his "red" bowling

The next few days we just hung out with family.  We were FINALLY able to go to the Draper temple.  We hadn't been to a session there yet and it was really neat to go back and see the temple Doug had spent 2 years building.
Finally Christmas morning!  Since James and Mikey don't really understand Christmas and Santa yet we made sure to send a letter to him to let him know what the boys wanted.  Santa brought James a play kitchen and Mikey Backyardagain dolls.  Santa definitely did a good job picking out their toys.

James and Mikey playing with the kitchen

Now you will probably notice a slight change in the quality of the pictures from here on out.  That is because I got SPOILED for Christmas this year.  Doug was really sneaky (having his parents buy, wrap, and bring my present) and surprised me with a new DSLR camera.  I was pretty shocked and a little mad since I only got him underwear, jeans and a new frying pan which will mostly be used by me.  Not only did Doug spoil me with the camera, but my parents gave me a nice laminator (which I had been wanting but didn't want to spend the money on it) and Doug's parents gave me a Silhouette cutting machine.  Yes I would say I was super spoiled this year.  

James and Mikey "showing" Billy how to use his toy

Sometime during the morning James and Mikey ran upstairs fighting over a cannon ball that went to Mikey's pirate ship and James gave Mikey his first bloody nose.  It really seems like all those two do these days is fight.  It got on the carpet but lucky for us my Mom is good at getting blood out of carpet, you would think she raised a few boys herself. 

Remnants of the bloody nose

Mikey just being cute

I would say the most enjoyed present of the day was Billy's.  He got to have peas for the first time!  And oh man was he excited.  The first spoonful went in his mouth.  He sat there for a minute thinking the got this huge grin on his face and the peas all came right back out.  

Billy enjoying peas

 After Christmas lunch we went to Doug's sister's again to see his family and have Christmas dinner.  Mikey got his favorite toy of the day which was a penguin pillow pet.  He was so excited when he opened that.  I think because both James and Billy had already gotten stuffed Dogs and he was feeling a little left out.

Mikey with his penguin

 Billy and Adam got these teething balls which they both love.  They were laying next to each other chewing on their balls.  Adam dropped his, then reached over and took Billy's.  It was pretty cute.

Adam and Billy with their teething balls.

 After dinner we drove back to the house to pack up.  The time went way to fast and we had to drive the entire way the next day so Doug could be back to work on Tuesday.  The drive went better than expected and our van was so full of stuff there was no room to move around while we were driving.  But we made it and this week we have just been relaxing and playing with all our new toys.  Me mostly with my camera and it is easy when I have the cutest subjects to take pictures of.

Santa dropped this off on Christmas Eve and James figured out
how he could use the slide Doug made for his bunk bed as a
Bowling ally.  He plays this constantly.

STRIKE!

Grammy and Grandad gave the boys this Hot Wheels track
Mikey loves it. 

Just look at those eyes!  

The happiest baby in the world.

Playing with the penguin Grandma and Grandpa got him.

He really wants to learn to crawl.  I have seen him try to push
himself up on his knees a lot lately.

Mikey's "silly face".  According to Mikey this is the only way to
make a silly face.  

Overall it was a really fun week, but we are all happy to be home and relaxing.

Life Lately

We have been super busy this past month, and continuing to be super busy these next couple of weeks. I am pretty excited for January because then maybe life will slow down a bit so I can dig into my pile of things I have wanted to get done but haven't had the time.  So I though I would just do a quick update on what we have been doing lately.

Doug: Doug's birthday was just before Thanksgiving.  We had a really fun day.  He mostly got tools, well he ONLY got tools for his birthday.  He got to go pick out a new sander at Lowe's and go golfing.  Mikey pretty much planned the day.  He told me Dad wanted Pizza, Cake and Golfing ball.  And he was right that is exactly what Dad wanted.  He also successfully held his 2nd annual Pinewood Demolition Derby in Colorado over Thanksgiving.  Go here to see a highlight video.  Now he works a lot, and LOVES playing with his boys.  They have so much fun with their Dad.  Every night James demands that Doug "Snuggles" with them.  Really there is absolutely zero snuggling going on.  Last night Doug had me read them their story so he didn't have to disappoint them when he didn't stay to snuggle.  After the story James yelled "Dad, you're Snuggling!"

Natalie: I have been having a ton of fun with my boys.  We drove to Colorado for Thanksgiving, just me and the 3 boys, no Dad.  That was an adventure.  Not something I am wanting to repeat anytime soon.  I also was given the "opportunity" to play my violin in church last week.  Not an experience I would seek out but am willing to do when asked.  I actually enjoyed having something to practice and a reason to play again.  It wasn't anything spectacular but it was pretty fun.

James:  James has been busy, busy busy!  He is always inventing new games, mostly with marbles and bowling.  He also LOVES to cook lately.  Last night he helped me peel, cut and cook the potatoes for our mashed potatoes.  He always wants to make cookies and cupcakes.  Last night we were making these pretzel/hug/M&M treats my MIL always makes around Christmas.  I had Doug and the boys unwrapping the hugs while I ran to the store to get pretzels.  When I got home James yelled, "HI MOM! WE'RE BAKING!"  So cute.  He has also been making tons of progress at school.  He talks all the time, he always asks us to "come play" and makes tons of eye contact.  His teacher had the OT do a test the other day on his eye-contact and he said he made eye-contact 15 times in 30 minutes.  That is pretty good for him.  

This is pretty much how the boys room looks every morning.
James is always doing something fun in there.  He never gets bored.

Mikey: Mikey has been our comic relief.  He is always saying something to crack me up.  And he talks CONSTANTLY!  He also wants to do EVERYTHING James is doing.  It is pretty cute how much those two play together, but it can get pretty annoying how much those two fight with each other.  He is still super easy and basically puts himself down for a nap.  He also wants to be my big helper, especially with Billy.

I was trying to take Billy's picture and Mikey had to get his
camera to help.  Such a cutie!

 William:  Billy is 5 months old now!  He is still big, and I realized just how big he must look when I am holding him because I was watching someone else holding him and said how big he looks in her arms, the consensus was that he looks even bigger when I hold him.

He always wants to be watching what is going on with his brother so the second I set him on the floor he is on his tummy so he can see better.  It is pretty nice not having to push tummy time!  He is learning to suck his thumb which isn't great.  He also has started squirming when we are holding him, trying to get out of our hands.  

Billy watching Mikey play with marbles

4-months-old

Billy is 4-months-old!  He is still the easiest baby ever!  I love having this baby around so much and am in no hurry for him to grow up like I was with the last two.  I have to say I am enjoying the baby stage much more this time.  

His stats:

25inches-50th percentile

14lbs 12oz- 50th percentile

No longer quite has huge has he was two months ago.  Now he is just our average size Billy!  I can't say I am totally surprised.  He is spitting up a lot more these days, and moving a lot more.  I wanted to compare how he looked to the other two.  Here are their pictures at 4 months:

Billy at 4-months-old

James at 4-months-old

Mikey at 4-months-old

 I have to say they all start out looking the exact same but quickly get their own looks.  Billy is definitely our most chubby baby, and our baldest.

Billy just loves to stare at whoever is holding him.  He loves our
faces and looking at them.

How Mikey "holds" Billy.  He lays on the bed and wants
Billy to "tackle" him.  What a funny kid.

Some things about Billy:

• He is sleeping 11-12 hours at night and I no longer have to wake up to put his pacifier in his mouth.
• He has found his thumb
• He is rolling over, back to stomach
• He is a great eater-still just nursing 
• He "talks" all the time
• He loves baths 
• Still loves the bumbo
• He basically loves everything, just wants to move around a lot
• When his is on his tummy he scoots himself around, usually just in a circle

Laughter

Billy loves to laugh.  Every time I change his diaper he honks at me like a goose.  It makes me happy.  A few weeks ago Doug was playing "Do as I'm Doing" with him and he was cracking up.  He liked it so much in fact that a few days later he was laying on the bed and I started singing it to Mikey and he started cracking up.

The other day Doug asked Mikey if he wanted to hold Billy.  Mikey's response was "No. I not hold Billy. He's too big."

Halloween

James and Mikey just weren't that into Halloween.  They were excited to dress like pirates, but when it came time to dress up they just didn't want to.  Once James realized the deal; you dress up, say "trick or treat", and then people give you candy, he was in.  Mikey took a little more convincing.  

First was dinner.  Last year we tried stew in a pumpkin, it wasn't really a big hit, so this year we had chicken and rice in a pumpkin.  Again not a big hit.  That is because the boys were too distracted to eat and Doug was too sick to want to eat anything.  I guess we will try it again next year.

 Then after about an hour of convincing I finally got the boys to put their costumes on so we could go get candy.

James the pirate, the hat didn't stay on and he wanted
a red beard, but Dad tricked him into a brown one.

This is actually Mikey from the trunk or treat a few nights before.
On halloween he would only wear his shirt and pants, no belt
no hat, no vest.  Oh well.

I guess we started a little too early because there weren't very many kids out yet, and only about 1/4 of the houses were giving out candy.  We made it around 1 street then Mikey wanted to get in the van, Doug was done and James was happy with the small amount of candy he had.

Our New House

At the end of August we got a letter in the mail telling us we were being evicted and we had to be out of our house by September 30th.  At first I was panicked thinking we had done something to break our lease and we were getting kicked out, but really the owner of the house we were living in just decided he wanted to sell it.  So we found ourselves frantically searching for a new place to live.  There were several places in our price range but as we drove around the list became shorter and shorter.  Finally it came down to 3 places and we choose the one we liked the best.  Doug hadn't even seen it and there were people living in it until Oct. 1st so he didn't even get to see it until moving day.  But it turns out I did a pretty good job picking and we like this place even more then where we were living.

Our house from the outside

 There is basically one big room and 3 bedrooms.  We really like the open layout.

The living room facing into the kitchen

The kitchen facing into the living room

 In our last house Billy's room was my favorite.  It was clean, nicely decorated and just felt nice to be in.  In this house it is my least favorite because it smells like a dog.  My favorite room in our new house is our bedroom.  It is nice and big, we have a bathroom and a nice big walk-in  closet.

There are a few weird things about this house.  One thing is there is only a shower in the master bathroom.  The other bathroom only has a tub.  Also Doug HATES the refrigerator.  It is old and doesn't keep the milk cold enough.  This is good for our budget since we don't drink nearly as much milk.  Some things that I love: doing laundry in the house and being able to do as much laundry as I want without flooding the garage.  The boys love having their beds bunked so there is a castle bed and a cave bed.  Also we love having a 2 car garage with a garage door opener.  And for the first time in 3 years we have a garbage disposal.

Three Month Old Billy

Today Billy is three months old!  Usually the 3 month mark is a big deal for me.  It is like they go from being a slug to a person.  However Billy has always seemed a little older then his actual age to me, so this time it wasn't such a big deal.  He is getting so big, and is still such a cutie we love having him around.
Some things about Big Billy:

• He is still nursing exclusively.  Although two days ago James, being the great big brother he is, tried to give him a sweet potato fry during dinner.  I don't think I have ever seen a smile as big as Billy's when that fry went in his mouth.
• He is sleeping about 8 hours at night, eating then going back to sleep for a few hours.
• He still loves to sleep in his car seat.
• He is adored by his brothers, especially James.
• He loves to sit up, I think the Bumbo is probably his favorite seat.
• Loves bath time
• He is smiling and "talking" all the time.  It is fun to hear his little voice.
• He is starting to grab his blankets and bring them to his mouth to chew on

Little Mikey

I have been wanting to do a post about Mikey for awhile since there are so many things he is doing right now that I just don't want to forget about.  He finally had his 2-year-old checkup this week so I figured it would be the perfect time.  Here are his stats:

Height: 

35 inches--50th percentile

Weight:

24lbs--7th percentile

He is still my tiny little Mikey.  But if you call him that he will tell you "No, I not tiny."  Here are some things about Mikey:

• He NEVER stops talking.  Sometimes I get a little frustrated because he asks for something and keeps asking over and over and over again while I am trying to do it.  Also he doesn't know how to talk quietly so he is always super loud at church.  
• He LOVES James and wants to do everything that James is doing.  This often causes a lot of fights because if James is on the rocking chair Mikey wants to be on the rocking chair, if James is playing trains then Mikey wants to play trains.  At the same time he always tries to share with James.  If I give him a cracker he wants two so he can give one to James.  

• He LOVES animals.  We have a ton of stray cats around and he always tries to play with them.  There is one that is really nice and always tries to come inside.  Mikey loves this kitty and lucky for him it is really nice and doesn't even try to scratch him when he is dragging it around, or carrying it outside.  And of course the whole time he is talking to the cat and telling it what to do.  I love this little voice. 

• He is a really great napper.  He sleeps for several hours, sometimes 4 if I let him.  But he is definitely learning the art of stalling.  He always asks for tons of stuff to take to bed with him.  One day I told him he had 5 minutes until nap and he went around the house finding stuff to take to bed with him.  He ended up with quite the collection.  He always has to take his 2 blankets, donkey, sheep, and 2 turtles.  One time Doug was putting him to bed and he kept asking for stuff and realized Doug had already gotten everything and just said "I need more." 

• He loves the ABC's.  He always sings the song and the other day I heard him say "It's an M"  and I looked over and saw him with a marker coloring on the kitchen cabinets.  I looked and sure enough he had written an M.  I though it was maybe just a fluke, but he then did it two more times.  Once on another cabinet before I could stop him and again on a piece of paper.  

• His favorite color is yellow
• He still eats like a champ.  He loves fruits and vegetables and pretty much anything I put in front of him.  His favorite food is peaches.  But he asks for a banana every night before bed (I think it is part of his stalling technique)
• His favorite game is "tackle Dad" 
• He is super social.  He wakes up about 6:30 every morning so Doug puts on a cartoon before he goes to work so I can sleep a little longer.  Usually as soon as Doug walks out the door Mikey is climbing in bed with me to watch YouTube on the iPad.  He just doesn't like to be alone.
• His favorite cartoon is "birds" (Backyardigans)
• His favorite book is Go Away Big Green Monster, but only when Dad reads it
• His favorite toy is "jump" which is the bounce house the boys got for Christmas last year

Overall he is a super cute, fun two-year-old.  We are so glad that he is in our family and definitely brings a whole new aspect to our family, since the rest of us are so quite.

Billy is HUGE!

Today Billy had his 2 month old checkup.  I have figured for awhile that he is a pretty big baby.  But didn't know just how big until today.  The outfit he is wearing in this picture is a 3-6 month old outfit and most of his 0-3 month clothes do not fit anymore, but I haven't gotten out the 3-6 month size because we are moving.  So today we found out how much he weighs.  Here are his stats:

Height

24 inches 90th percentile

Weight 

12 lbs 10 oz 75th percentile 

Can I just say, this kid is HUGE!  He must get the height from his dad because he certainly didn't get it from me!  It is kind of different having a kid on the other side average.  Mikey was always in the 4th percentile for his weight (and still is only in the 7th).  James was a little bigger but still only in the 25th.  

Here are some things about Billy at 2 months:

• We have started calling him Billy, it won out over Willy, William and even Billiam.  James declared one day that he likes Billy.  Mikey still calls him William, but he also calls himself Michael so it would seem that he just likes the full proper names.  
• He smiles all the time and this morning I heard him starting to laugh.
• He sleeps like a pro.  Usually he sleeps from 10-4 or 5 at night then eats and goes back to sleep until 8 or 9.  So nice to not feel like a zombie anymore.
• His brother LOVE him.  Especially James who I have found laying next to him on the bed just playing with his hands.  And Mikey hates when he is crying and always wants me to go get him when he is.
• He can hold his head up by himself and is pretty steady for quite awhile.  
• He is by far my easiest baby and loves to interact with anyone who will give him attention. 
• He loves bath time.  

Billy in his turtle towel after bath

2nd Annual Pinewood Demolition Derby

Ladies and gentlemen,

The American PineCar Demolition Derby Association or America is please to inform you that you have been selected to participate in this years world championship event.  You have qualified to participate in this event based on you performance last season or have received a sponsors exemption.  You may enter up to 2 cars for the event.   There have been several changes this year including a new faster track and less restrictive rules.  Please respond to the APDDAA as to the number of cars you will enter and if you will attend in person.

Date: 

November 26th 2011

Location: 

Aurora, Colorado

If you will not be attending in person please mail your car to the following address by 11/22/11:

17522 E. Wesley Pl.

Aurora, CO 80013

Objective:

The winner will be the individual with the last car running.

Track:

From the starting points each track slopes downward into the crash zone, which is the intersection of all the tracks. 

Rules:

Each car will be allowed to continue driving in the event until 2 wheels are broken or disabled.  A cracked wheel that can still spin is flat and not disabled.  

At the beginning of event the car must rest on its wheels.  Each car must have 4 and only 4 wheels.

Wheels must be stock and may not be reinforced.

No repair work, can be done during the event.

Weapons may be reset but not repaired.

50% of the surface of the stock wood block must be exposed.

If a car falls off the track in 3 consecutive trips it is eliminated.

Once “go” is said the car must be immediately released, no delayed starts.

Broken or bent parts can not be removed or adjusted

Car can be driven in either direction.

Thank you for you interest.

Sincerely - The American PineCar Demolition Derby Association of America

Here is a picture of some of last years entries:

You can also see last years event here

First Day of School

We had to get James ready for his first day of school.  Here is Dad helping the boys get ready.  

Today was James' first day of school.  It was very much a mixed day going from conversations like:

"James do you want to go to school today?"

"No! We can't" 

To this:

He had a hard time going to a new classroom, not understanding why he was going to the green room and not the purple room.  When he got off the bus it was a little different too.  They didn't have the frog that sings when he gets off the bus, and he didn't get is sucker because it wasn't Friday.  Oh well, it will get better as he gets the routine down again.

Life with 3

William is almost 6 weeks old already!  It really seems like last week that he was born.  This past 6 weeks has really flown by.  Probably because we have been so busy.  My family was in town for a few days, then Doug's mom and brother came for the blessing, then we headed back to Colorado with them for a week.  We have only been back just this week, and I have finally been on my own with the kids for the first time.  I have to say it has been HARD.  William had decided he needs to be held all the time.  So all I can do is hold him and watch the other to make messes.  It seems like every time I want to get something done one of the 3 kids needs something.  Hopefully it will get better as William learns to be more content and gets on a schedule, and James starts school.  Here a few pictures from the past few weeks. 

We blessed William when he was 3 weeks old.  Only Doug and my Dad were there, but it was still very special.  Doug blessed him that he would be a help to James with the trials in his life.  I am very excited to see how William grows up and the personality he has to be able to be James' special friend.  It is also a testimony to me to know that William was sent here at the right time and is going to have a special place in our family. 

Williams blessing day.

Right after the blessing my family left to head back to Florida.  The next day the boys and I drove back to Colorado with Grandma and Uncle Scott.  The boys love when we drive to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  I didn't take many pictures when we were there.  On the first night when I went to check on the boys I found Mikey going to sleep like this:

Mikey going to bed on top of the dresser

Another night I found them asleep like this:

Tuesday and Wednesday we went swimming and to a park and just had fun playing with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Scott and their cousins.  Wednesday night Doug joined us.  I have to say we couldn't wait for him to get there.  Getting 3 boys ready was much easier when he was there. On Friday we drove up to the mountain house.  We haven't been there since last year when we went with my family, but James amazed us by remembering the way.  A couple miles before we went through the tunnel he says "Here comes a tunnel"  Doug and I couldn't even remember if we were close or not.  Then the closer we got the more excited we got and he started saying that he wanted to see Myra and Lexi (who were there last time we went).
We rode the chair lift up the mountain and hiked down.

Doug and James on the chair lift

Doug and William, Scott and Mikey

At the top

Most of the way down I had to carry James or Mikey
They had become very clingy to mom.  I carried James way
too much.  He is heavy!

William enjoying the hike.

Monday we drove home and Tuesday I had my first day alone with the three boys.  William decided to go from the easiest baby in the world to a much more difficult baby.  He didn't want to be set down at all.  I was so excited when Doug got home that night.

William enjoyed the swing the first time

While in Denver I went to a fabric store to get some stuff for a few projects.  When we got home I decided to do this one because once I started we wouldn't be able to leave the house until I was done.  I figured this would be a good week to be house-bound.

William's new seat cover, it was much easier than I anticipated 

William loves this seat.  After we got home he got a stuffy nose and I started letting him sleep in it at night.  Now I am struggling to get him to sleep anywhere else.

Doug got the boys ready for church yesterday and took this picture while I was getting myself ready.  I have such handsome boys!