Just like Brother

Mikey wants so much to be like his big brother.  He has to do everything James does.  When we take James to school, Mikey wants to wear a backpack too.  

Last night when we took James out for Ice Cream for pooping in the toilet Mikey threw a big fit because he had to share a blizzard with Dad (like he always does) instead of getting his own ice cream cone like James.  We ended up having to buy another ice cream cone for him.  It is so funny to watch him watch his brother and try to do just what he is doing.  

The other night we were driving home and he threw his ball on the floor.  He was crying and wanting me to get it for him and I told him I would get it when we got home.  Frustrated at not getting his way he said in his most pathetic voice ever, "I neeeeed that!"  Wonder who he learned that from!

Happiness

About a week and a half ago we got a phone call saying that a pipe in our house in Utah had frozen and burst and our basement was flooded.  That was a really bad night for us.  Not being close we couldn't really go and see how bad it was, but from what we were being told, it was bad.  Later we received some pictures from Tim.  

Most of the walls looked like this.  Kind of weird.

This is the ceiling where it broke. 

It has been really frustrating because we have been trying to find renters, with no luck.  Nobody has even gone by to see it, although we had several people stand us up.  It is funny though because the very next day we started getting calls like crazy and Doug even showed it to two people last weekend who both want to sign a lease.

Anyway... despite this I don't think I have even been happier.  It is kind of weird.  I can think of a million reasons to be a little depressed right now, a lot of them having to do with this new town we live in, but none of that seems to matter when I think about it.  Maybe it has something to do with the 6 lbs of strawberries Mikey and I ate last week, we also made a lot of these:

But I don't quite think that is it.  I think it mostly has to do with this:

I think he is trying to be a cat

 And this:

We had a fun night dipping fruit in chocolate
He was a mess!

 And this:

They are best friends

 And mostly this:

I really wish this picture wasn't blurry 

I don't think I have ever been so content with my role as a mother and my choice to be a stay at home mom.  There are so many things that Doug misses every day that I get to be around for.

• Every morning when Mikey wakes up I have to get him out of bed, then "donkey" then "blanket airplane" and then "blanket hat" which means he wants the blanket on his head.
• Every morning I get to share my cereal with either James or Mikey or both
• James often comes out of my room wearing one of my shirts as a "princess".  
• I get to get James from the bus when he gets home from school and he is always grinning from ear to ear and so excited to be home.
• I get to help Mikey go "potty" every time James does, or every time I change his diaper 
• I get to hear the boys laughing and laughing when they are playing together.  They are really best friends.  And they love each other so much.  I would hate to miss any of it.  

I don't think I have been more in love with these two boys.  And that is why, even though I have many reasons to be unhappy, I have never been happier. 

ZiGgLeS: Welcome!

My sister-in-law makes these scrabble tile pendants.  They are so cute and affordable.  She is doing a giveaway if you post about her shop on your blog so here I go.
This is here blog she has set up for the business:

ZiGgLeS: Welcome!: "I've finally gotten around to setting up a Blog for my Ziggles Pendant shop. I started making scrabble tile pendants this past summer and ..."

And here is a link to her shop.  Go ahead and look around.  My personal favorite of course is the Autism Awareness pendant she just made.

Being Home

It has been so nice these past few week just being home.  The boys are starting to get into a routine and enjoying our new house.  They LOVE that they can just go outside whenever.  Except for these past few days, it has been FREEZING!  

I finally got in to see a midwife and have an ultrasound to find out my exact due date.  I was pretty close with my guess and we will be having a new member in our family sometime around July 18th.  I am not too excited about the way things are done here in Clovis but I am sure it will all go well.  Instead of just seeing one doctor or midwife you rotate through and see them all and then when you go into labor whoever is on call is who you get.  We will find out at my next appointment March 2nd if we are having a boy or a girl.  But the lady doing my ultrasound this last time said she was pretty sure it was a boy, so I am not getting my hopes up for a girl.  

Doug is finally moving into his office on the base.  He and his co-workers have been working out of our garage for the past few weeks, and that has been nice for me.  I can run errands during nap time because Dad is home!  

James is LOVING school.  He is learning a ton too.  His new favorite song is the ABC song (which I don't know why he didn't love it when I sing it) and the other day at dinner he started reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.  Last Saturday he had his first gum in hair experience.  He had some gum during nap time and he was crying, but more like I am tired and whinny crying so we just ignored it for a while.  Finally Doug went to check on him and he had ripped this huge patch of hair out of his head trying to get the gum out!  Poor kid.

He also had some homework sent home which was a family project.  He was supposed to decorate this heart with whatever he wanted.  So we made Mikey his own heart and they had a ton of fun gluing tissue paper on their hearts.  Also we have had to big steps in potty training this week.  Once James was at home playing and he yelled "I go Potty" then he ran in the bathroom and went potty.  Another time at school he asked to go potty.  So maybe he will actually be potty trained before this next baby comes.

Mikey is just as fun and cute as ever.  Although this week I think he is working on getting a few teeth out because he has been pretty grumpy.  He is sad to move back into his own room and misses his big brother.  Soon he will get to move into James' room with him, but he is just a little too small still.  But don't tell him that, he thinks he is a big boy and can do anything.  Every time I take James potty Mikey follows me in and pulls at his clothes saying "pee, pee" or "potty" he really wants to be potty trained like his brother.

Trip to Florida

After Christmas the boys and I decided it would be a good time to take a trip to Florida to visit Grammy and Grandad.  We didn't think we would have a place to live yet and we weren't sure if James would be in school so it seemed like a good time.  I was VERY nervous about the plane trip so Grammy came with us to help.  I don't think we could have expected any better behavior from the boys.  

The first few days were pretty cold so we mostly just hung out and rested from the trip.  On Friday night we decided to go to this Greek restaurant that Jordyn really likes.  James hated it!  It was really loud and there were a ton of people there.  You can tell how much he was enjoying it from this picture.  

 Then they had a dancer come out.  The music got louder and James was gone.  Then he saw the girl dancing and he came alive!  He loved watching her dance and everyone in the restaurant thought it was so funny.  And of course Mikey couldn't be left out.

 Saturday we put the "boats" in the water to go for a ride.  James didn't want to get in at first, and freaked out when Mikey went out with Grammy.  But once he got on he was ok.  Then Mikey freaked out because he could see mom on the other "boat" so I had to climb over with him.  He fell asleep almost immediately but still I think the "boats" were his favorite thing the entire trip.  Every time we walked in the garage after this he screamed and screamed until somebody lifted him  up to sit on one.

Mikey sleeping

James would yell "Hi Mom!"  every time we drove by.

Stopped to play at the beach and have a snack.

 Tuesday we decided to brave DisneyWorld.  I did a little research and discovered that we could get a "Guest Assistance Card" because of James' "disability" then we could either go in the fast pass line or wait in a "comfortable" place instead of waiting in the lines.  What really happened was we either went in the fast pass line or through the disability line.  So we didn't wait in a line the entire day!  That was good because I don't think I have ever been on a busier day.

Jungle Cruise-a favorite of both boys

This was by far James favorite ride.  He loved steering the car and
crashing us into the sides.  Then he would just laugh and laugh.
Mikey was too little to go.    

The boys both loved Tom Sawyer's Island 

Mikey on the Dumbo ride

They had a Dumbo for the boys to sit in.

The people mover

Tom Sawyer's island again

Mikey fell asleep after Small World and James got to drive the cars 3 more times

 Overall the day was a success.  We made the mistake of making James go on Pirates early in the day.  After that he would not go on a ride if the line or ride was inside (except for Buz Lightyear, we forced him on that one and he did ok)  so he missed a few things like Small World, and Winnie the Pooh. If we had had to wait in lines we would not have been able to go, so we were really glad that Disney makes that accommodation.  I think we would go again, just on a slower day.

Thursday we drove down to Miami to do some fun things.  We went to this fruit stand called "Robert is Here"  this was maybe my favorite thing of the trip.  I love fresh produce.  They have amazing shakes and just about every fruit in the world.  We tried some new (gross) things, but everything was so fresh it was amazing, and Mikey tried Papaya for the first time, which he LOVED!  He also ate 1 and a half Mangos.  This kid loves his fruit.  The cutest thing was listening to him say "papaya".

Friday we went to the beach (which we had done before without much success).  The tide was up so there was this little pool that was very calm so I forced James to get in.  Mikey was already playing happily in the water.  After a few minutes of screaming he realized that he LOVES being in the water and it was impossible to get him out.

When we got home we used the outside shower to rinse off the sand and let James play by the pool for a while.  I hadn't let him get in yet because it was so cold and I didn't want to get in.  But he showed me that he could do it all by himself.  

We left on Saturday and had the WORST time flying home.  I was really glad my Mom flew back with us.  There was no way I could do it by myself.  1st we were dumb a flew on a day when all the cruise ships get in so the airport was packed.  Then when we finally got through security we didn't have time to get anything to eat but we thought we would be ok until we got to Dallas.  After they loaded the plane we sat at the gate for an hour and a half.  So of course we missed our connection in Dallas.  We had to stop in Houston (which was planned) but instead of just waiting on the plane and taking off again we had to get off and run to another plane (with no stroller).  Then we sat at the gate for a half an hour.  Then we got to Dallas and found out that they had arranged for us to be on a later flight. We were starving by this time so the break was good.  The flight from Dallas to Amarillo was perfect but I was ready to be home!  

Overall we had a fun trip and can't wait to go again.  Hopefully with Dad next time!

Moving to Clovis New Mexico!

Over the past month we have been moving to the exciting town of Clovis New Mexico.  My first impression of the town (when we drove down before Christmas to find a house) was that it smelled like cows.  After Christmas and New Years we loaded up the car (barely fitting everything in) and drove to our new home.  We found out Sunday night we had no water.  I called first thing Monday morning and we got it turned on Tuesday evening, so after finally getting clean we all felt much better about our new home.  Doug didn't have much work to do so he was able to help unpack and we got our house livable in a few days.  

We really like our new house, well the layout anyway.  It is very old but it will be fine for the time we are here.  The living room/dining room/ family room is just one big room which we like.  

The big room

The big room from the other direction

The kitchen is tiny but more cupboards than we had in our last house.  There are several empty.

The kitchen

James gets the small room.  We couldn't set up his bunk bed which he was sad about but I think he will love it when Mikey moves out of a crib and into his room.

James' room

The master bedroom is a good size with a TINY bathroom.  There is a nice pink shower in the corner that is so small my face is practically smashed against the wall but it will work.

Master bedroom

Things are still pretty messy from unpacking but it gets better everyday.  The boys love the fenced backyard (and so does mom) but it only took James 2 days to figure out how to drag the slide over to the gate and open it.  We also have a garage that we will probably never use since there is no garage door opener and we have to take the padlock off every time we want to open it.  

However I have decided everything I dislike about Clovis and the house (which is a lot) is offset by how much I love the ward and James' school.

We went to our new ward last Sunday and everyone was so friendly and welcoming.  Very opposite from our last ward.  Mikey went to nursery for the entire time without Mom and Dad and James did better than expected in Sunbeams for the first time.  Although they are going to get a second teacher since 3 of the 5 kids are special needs kids, one of them is even in James' class at school.  

I got James registered for school as soon as we got there and he started on the 4th.  He is the only Autistic kid in the class but the entire school is for special needs children so they have a lot to offer James.  He loves the structure and is thriving in the environment.  He gets to go 4 days a week for 3 hours which is way more than his 2 day a week 2 hours a day school in Idaho.  He also gets to ride the school bus, which is good since when it is time to pick him up Mikey is taking a nap.  For now I think he is just going to ride the bus home.  They also serve lunch which is great for my extremely picky eater to get to try different food and watch the other kids eat.  They also work on potty training which will happen someday hopefully for James.  Overall I am very excited for James to be in this school and getting the help he needs.  And because of this I guess Clovis isn't as bad as it could be. 

Christmas 2010

We have been so busy the last month that I haven't had much time to blog...or even take pictures.  We are finally moved and mostly settled.  The garage is still full of boxes that I am sure will take months to sort out but at least our house is put together and somewhat organized.  So now I have some time to blog a little.  

Christmas was so much fun this year.  After the 13+ hour drive from Idaho to Denver (I drove 13 hours in the car with the boys and Doug and his brother drove 14+ hours in the moving truck).  After a days rest in Denver Doug and I drove 8 hours to Clovis NM and spent the next day driving around looking for a house, which we finally found and signed a few hours after Doug's Dad and brother got here with the moving truck.  The next morning we unloaded the truck, piled in our car and drove 8 hours back to Denver.  I was so ready to have a break and finally start thinking about Christmas.  

I have to say Doug and I were much more excited for Christmas morning than either of the boys.  They didn't really get it.  But we were not disappointed.  If you listen carefully you can hear James exclaim in excitement "Yes! It's Jump!"  

We were pretty positive that this is the only thing James would want to do all day.  We thought we would have a huge tantrum if we tried to turn it off to open other presents or to go to Great Granny's for breakfast.  But he was surprisingly interested in opening all of his presents which made it so much more fun.

After every present he opened James would bring it to us to take it out of the package, then play with it for a few minutes then move on to the next one.  It took him a long time to get through all his presents.  

 Mikey also loved opening presents.  This was his "baby" that we were so sure he would just love since overtime we go near a doll in the store he gets so excited and says "baby, baby".

 This was by far James' favorite present.  It was actually to him and Mikey from Uncle Tim but James isn't really the sharing type.  He wore it all day long!  The cutest part was when he went in this big box that he could stand up inside and waited for us to say "introducing the high ridenest rootin-tootinest cowboy around, Sheriff Woody" then he would come out doing a little swagger.

 After presents (and a nap for super-grumpy Mikey) we went to Great Granny's and Grandpa's for breakfast.  This is James actually eating.

 James loved playing in all the boxes.

 Monday after Christmas we went to Wild lights at the Denver zoo.  It was super packed.  Mikey LOVED looking at the elephants and other animals that were inside.  James just wanted to hold my hand and keep walking.  His favorite was the hippo tunnel.  I didn't get many pictures because James would not let go of my hand.  But he did get to ride the train something they were both super excited about.

Overall we had an awesome Christmas and New Years.  But now we are trying to get settled and ready for our next trip to visit my parents in Florida.