My Sambo

Those eyes have saved his life on numerous occasions.

Sam's birthday is roday. He's be three. We're THIS CLOSE to being done with the whole terrible two's thing....not that I have ANY hope whatsoever that Sam will magically turn into a minding, well behaved little man...there would be no fun in that....it's just that I see a light at the end of the Terrible Two Tunnel (it is worth mentioning that, in Sam's case, the terrible two's started not when he was two years old, or even when he was one. No, no, no- he was a wee two days old when they started.) I think I'll share some of my favorite memories, what I was taught by them, and, in some cases, what I SHOULD have learned or done differently...



Such a sad little baby...

Let's start when he was a teeny tiny little one: My mom came out for a week when Sam was born. She was a saint and took care of him during the nights so I could get a little bit of sleep. The first night (maybe second), he. screamed. bloody. murder. until the wee hours of the night. In fact, I believe the sun was starting to creep up by the time the lad stopped. Long night for everyone in my condo building, I'm sure. What I learned: My mom is amazing. What I should have learned: Sam has his own idea of what he wants to do and when he wants to do it.

Check out the dimples. They're enough to melt you.

I MIGHT OVER SHARE HERE....SCROLL DOWN IF YOU'RE NOT INTO BREAST FEEDING HORROR STORIES!!

While in the hospital, I had a hard time feeding my boy. He was tongue tied to start with, but the nice people there took care of that for me. The worst part is he had a REALLY hard suck. He took skin off a place skin should never come off and I was never the same. Breastfeeding hurts every time I don't care what book you read. Lesson learned: Breastfeeding is not for the weak of spirit. I stopped when he was five months old. Lesson I was supposed to learn: Breastfeeding is not for the weak in spirit.



OK....YOU CAN READ AGAIN

It would have been so easy if he were always so stinkin' happy!

Aaron was making Lemon Bars for a treat one day. We went to the store and bought all the stuff we needed, this included a dozen eggs. We left one load of groceries on the counter and went outside for another. We came back in and Sam said, "I be helper" there were 3 or 4 eggs on the ground, and not in one piece, either! From this I learned that the words "I be helper" should always be responded to immediately.

Who knew that horns came in edible varieties....

One day we went to Cold Stone's for a treat. I don't think Sam was one yet, and if he was, he wasn't much past that. There we were, Aaron, Liv, Sam, and me sitting enjoying our ice cream. Enter 2 teen age girls, quite cute and dressed very much like it was summer time (tube top and shorts, tank top and mini). They chose the table next to us. Sam starred at them, well, mostly at their legs and chests. It was ridiculous. And quite embarrassing. Aaron laughed at him. To this day Sam has no problem charming the ladies. He smiles and shows off those dimples. Not too many women can resist his eyes and dimples. Lesson learned: In Sam's case the age when he can date will be no less than 21.

'nough said.

A few for fun:


Mr. Clean deserves some sort of reward for creating the Magic Eraser. It has saved the relationships of moms and their boys everywhere.


It doesn't matter who, or what, you are, you can still get in trouble in Sam's mind...."No sun, NO! You're in TROUBLE" when the sun shines in Sam's eyes in the car. "No, baby, NO! We be nice to books! Say 'sorry book'!"...when Emerson got a hold of his favorite book "Hymns".

One of Sam's many "artistic" moments. Weapon of choice? Clinique lipstick.

Patience is a virtue I used to think I had, but now I'm sure I don't. I decided to potty train him the week of Mother's Day and it WAS NOT A PRETTY THING!!! We went into underwear cold turkey. I decided he no longer wore diapers without consulting with him first. Note to all moms: I would suggest not potty training the week before you have been asked to give a talk on mothers....let's just say I wasn't feeling like a good or nice mom that week....

My sweet baby boy...where did he go??

The best thing I've learned from Sam, to date, came the day he came home from the hospital. Aaron ran an errand and my mom was across the street at Sam's Club. They left me alone with a sleeping Sam. I looked at him and asked him: "Do you know I'm your mommy?" He smiled. I asked him if he knew I loved him...another smile. OK, I'm sure you're all thinking "Oh how sweet...he had gas" but, no, it was my "Tender Mercies of the Lord" moment.

I've had fun with this boy. I've also wanted to kill this boy. He can be the biggest turkey ornery brat or the sweetest little man on earth. I've learned to take advantage of the sweet moments.

I LOVE THIS BOY!!

A Trip to the Zoo and Aaron's Birthday

So Esther was in town for a few days, so we arranged a day to hang out with her. The zoo! It was so crowded with field trips and families, but we had a good time!

A ride on the carousel...a bit of trivia here. The difference between a carousel and a merry go round is the direction in which they spin. One goes clockwise, the other counter clockwise...but I can't remember which is which.

Oh, look....Daddy. Te he he...I love you, Aaron, really I do!

This is Emerson's third trip to the zoo. She actually looked around

Olivia loves to carry around the maps at the zoo. Always looking out to make sure I know where I'm going. Where would I be with out her!

Then it was Aaron's birthday! We had a good day. Aaron and I tried to go swimming, but we were unsuccessful in our endeavors. Instead we went to his favorite garden shop and bought all the fixin's for a cactus garden!

We had a great day, and, even though I'm late in posting about your birthday, I still love you...you cute ornery man.

It Looks Like Time for an Update!

Wow. What a busy month! Preschool, a trip to Utah, a wedding, a couple of crazy kiddos destroying everything I clean, a house full of family. Life gets crazy sometimes! I think I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Olivia was SO happy to see her friends in Utah! Unfortunately, we can't fit all 500 of them in one picture with enough detail for you to see, so Megan and Gracie will represent.
Mike and Ashley were married in the SLC Temple. Esther watched the kids and snapped this shot while Aaron and I went inside.
Aaron loves that sister of his!
Sam taking advantage of a public setting to up his intake of sugar....

WATCH IT! IT'S AN ALIEN WITH FLOWER -LIKE EYES!!! or my loverly sister Jill.

Oh, look who made it for the wedding! It's Joey! All the way from Costa Rica!

Liv with the newlyweds!

Welcome to the family! All my sisters minus Amy.

What an exhausting day! No place better to rest than Grandpa's lap. He gives a killer back scratch!

The hottie boys in their tuxedos.

Sam working off the above mentioned sugar in a field behind my sister's house. Wide open spaces. Love it!

Starting plants for the garden.

Olivia passed of the alphabet in preschool. She knows all the letters and their sounds....What a smarty! (Olivia edits here: Smarty pants, you mean!)

We celebrated her accomplishment with cupcakes!

We decided it's time for Emerson to start pulling her weight around the house. Her new chore is dishwasher duty.

Nannie and Olivia in their matching shirts...ready to eat at IHOP!

Emers and me with Ty and Amy

Kennedy, Sadie, and Makade

Fun in the sandbox=fun in the tub! Sam, TJ, and Parker

Jared making a fashion statement. Nice.

Aaron played the role of Cinderella, he did the ironing for the whole house! Thanks, dude!

Emmy wants to join the fun!

A handsome family, if I do say so myself!

My dear brothers, Jared-the would be victim, and Jonny- the carrot wielding mad man.

Poor tired baby Tjers!

Kensie and me

The happy couple (at least Ashley is anyways...)

josh is a lady magnet. Too bad it's just his cousins!

Liv and her buddies: Megan and Lauren.

Megan took a great picture of Livvy Lou and me.

Getting ready for a sleep over!

Nannie spent a good part of her morning consoling Olivia. she was crying hard that everyone was leaving. Maybe they should come back soon!

My house was busting at the seams, but we loved it! Aaron made some fabulous pizza on Friday, IHOP made some great breakfast for us on Saturday, and, again, Aaron wowed the crowd with some gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches! I would gladly welcome such madness in my house again! I heart my family...every last one of 'em!

The Incident...

So, due to my mom's luggage being flown somewhere other than Utah, we were in a panic to get the dresses for Olivia and Emerson to wear to Mike's wedding (she brought them out for the girls to try on). So on Monday morning I ran to Park Meadows with my friend Meredith. We completed our shopping and started out to the car to go pick Liv up from preschool. Here's where the drama begins. Sam sees the little square handicap buttons that you push to open the doors. As he is used to racing Olivia to them, he breaks away from me running in front of Meredith, who is almost to the door. He tripped on a stroller wheel and whacked his noggin on the door. Screaming commences, tears flow, damage is assessed. I pick him up to hug him better. Oh, my. Look at his head. No blood...yet. It's all white and in my mind I think " Oh crap! I see his Skull!" I was always one for dramatics...Well, the one thought I had that was right was that he required stitches. So ther I stood in the Macy's shoe deptartment. Sam in my arms crying, Emerson in the stroller crying, and me trying not to cry. His head started bleeding. I was unprepared for such an incident and didn't have a band aid. Meredith and I were trying to figure out what to do when the shoe man came and asked if we needed attention. The MOD was called for first aid supplies. Meredith called Aaron to inform him of the event and then took the two babies to the car. I stuck the bandaid on the boys head and booked it to the car. We called the doctor's office with one question: Should we come there or go to the hospital?? And received the response: The triage nurse will call you back. Well, as I suspected, we were at the doctor's office before the nurse called back. Meredith was nice enough to offer to drive the kids around while I ran inside to see what to do. The doctor's office it was. After 2 massive syringes full of either water and alcohol or saline, we saw the doctor. Since the cut is perfectly straight, they used glue to fix Sam up. He cried a little. They told us to keep an eye on him for concussion stuff and sent us on our way. I am so glad Meredith was there. She was a lifesaver for me and I am happy to say I made it through my first emergency type situation with no tears from myself. I think I did quite well. Now, let's just hope I can do the same when faced with large amounts of blood, broken bones, and more serious things!! Here's some pictures:

Sam is doing great. No signs of anything else. Hates to wear bandaids on his head. He keeps doing this funny raised forehead thing because of the glue. I think he's bonked his head a hundred more times since Monday, everytime I wince for him and hope it doesn't send me back to the doctor's office!

Emerson wanted to be his head wound buddy. She took a digger. Look between her eyes for the damage!

Visitors!

So, this past weekend we had a few very welcome and very loved visitors! My mom and dad and brother, Mike, stayed at our house, and Mike's fiancee' was here also, but stayed with her family. This is the happenings of a very fun weekend!
Everyone got to the house Friday around 1:00 p.m. Olivia and Sam busied themselves about playing, wrestling, tickling, and, in Sam's case, pulling all the Care Bears, blocks, and miscellanious goods to the living room to show Nannie and Papa. So much for cleaning the house!!
We decided to head to the mall for a bit o' retail therapy and so the kids could see the puppy store...it's just like the zoo, only FREE!! While there, we decided on a plan for action for the evening: Red Robin (delish!) and the Downtown Aquarium! Here's a few pictures from the aquarium:

He is SO handsome!


Nannie and Emers...fast friends!

My brave Olivia decided to touch a sting ray. Sam tried, but mostly got wet!

Olivia and Ashley inside a tank.

The real reason for the visit was so we could go with Ashley to the Denver Temple. It was so nice to be able to do that with my family. It's been a long time since I have been able to go to the temple with my parents and any sibling. I loved it!

Their children are going to have the bluest eyes.

Anyhoo, they left Sunday morning to go home. I'm so excited to go back to Utah for the weddin'! I can't wait to see all my brothers and sisters and their families! I'll see you guys soon!