Gooooaaall!

When I last left you we were prepping for the boys' first soccer game. Here's the result of that: Davis excited about scoring his first goal! The game went well, the team won 11-1 with Davey scoring 2 and Carter 1. They had fun for about 10 minutes and then just wanted to sit and watch and have treats. There's only 8 players on their team, 7 there that day with 5 needed on the field and my kids are 2 of course so they needed to be playing a fair portion of the game so I was constantly dragging them out there. I thought the whole idea was wanting to play and not having to be subbed out? Whatever, my treats went over well and I was a lamely proud soccer mom. I spent the first half running up and down the sidelines cheering the boys on before figuring out it was just 4 year old soccer and sitting down. Can't help myself I guess. They have another game in the morning so we'll see if it plays out as successfully. Of course I don't know that they even know that they won, or cared. Scoring was fun but besides that everyone was just running and playing. I caught myself congratulating them on kicking the other team's butts then had to back-step and say how we all played well and had fun. They were all too cute any way you look at it.

Monday last week Hillary was kind enough to join us for tulip festival at the Gardens (and hooking us up with her employee discount on some hanging baskets, whoop!).

Isn't it getting pretty? And that's without leaves on the trees and what not. The bloom meter is at 40%, so lots still to come though daffodils were pretty much at their peak. Tomorrow is Dutch Days at the gardens so we are looking forward to some traditional food, dress, and music plus a BBQ at my parent's with a lot of the extended family attending. Yea!

We were able to play with my cousin's kids after the gardens and my goodness did the boys love it. Carter and T were playing wii (he is just 4 months older than the kiddos) and Davis was calling L his "girlfriend" (she's a little less than a year younger) and towing her all over and she was kind enough to join his games. Whitney and I got to visit, a nice day until we have to leave and oh my did the kids throw a fit! They are having trouble with that lately as well as with staying with me. It's limiting how much we're able to go out or visit. I wish I could convey that to them strongly enough--if you want to go and play you just have to behave when we're there and be nice when we leave. All they see is something they are enjoying doing ending. Plus transitions have never really been their thing.

Wednesday Lowell brought me these gorgeous red striped roses, just because, and then sent me to take a nap. Later we went to the aquarium and then Hill sat with the boys while Lowell and I went to Chili's. It was a really nice day. It left me really peaceful and relaxed for yesterday . . .until I caught the kids out in Lowell's shed (forbidden) putting fertilizer in their underwear! Seriously! Where do these kids get these ideas?!? I checked with Lowell and the fertilizer wasn't too caustic so they just got a good rinse and some new clothes. Crazy boys.

Today we joined the UVMOM play group at Kindermusik and the boys had a good time. They listened and followed directions for the most part and seemed to have fun. Yea! Then we got to go play with their twin friends J&B and how they loved that--thanks again Jess--until we had to leave of course. Sheesh, I hate the drag 2 kids kicking and screaming out to the car bit. I do think they were tired today which didn't help and Carter informed me that he was angry. He actually verbalized really well how he was upset because he really liked playing with his friends and didn't want to leave but all I could do was empathize as I had to go to work. Sometimes life is just like that, but we don't get to throw a holy fit every time things don't go our way. We have plans in the works for J&B and T&L to come and play at our house, so good times are on the way. And we're planning some hiking with A&A too--yeah for friends. And yea for Hillary being out of school--more time to play with one of our fav aunts and more chances to get out since I'll have more help. I think we'll all be going to Lagoon after Dutch Days tomorrow, tempers depending.

I realized today that part of why we haven't been doing as much is just that I am burned out from the alphabet adventures. We loved it and it was a great spring board for activities each week but now I am ready to not have to do something major every day. Maybe I'm prepping myself to be more of a home body once the baby is here.

In preschool news, thanks for your input. Janice especially convinced me that the school they are currently in is working well and academics aren't everything, or even the most important part of preparing for Kinder. So I have an appointment next month to apply for next year.

In less than a week we'll have our major anatomy scan for little sister. I am anxious to be sure she doesn't have any conditions that aren't compatible with life (yes I see way too much unusual stuff through my job). Plus Lowell is coming and it is just fun to have ultrasounds, who doesn't love watching their baby wiggle around. The past week she has really sped up in movement, my little goldfish in their swimming around. Still no name.

And then a few days later Lowell and I are going to DisneyLand overnight without the kiddos. Yea! I am so excited to get away with Lowell, even if it will be all in airports--this is our free trip for attending a time share presentation and they assign you the worst possible flights, but what they don't know is I am excited to get away and be with Lowell wherever it is! Plus I can get a Cinnabon from the airport. Then it is Mother's Day when we get back, so lots of good times ahead. :)

It's what fun is!

Saturday we made our first trip up to Lagoon. The boys don't remember going at all (we last went when they were 18 months or so) but were excited about anything with rides or "roller toasters". :) When we actually got there, Davis especially started getting pretty timid. He is always telling us what a big boy he is, and all of a sudden he was little. I'm too little for that roller toaster. Don't worry bug, we won't make you ride anything you don't want to. The first ride seemed pretty safe (space ships) but look at Davis's worried face! Once it got going he was all smiles and ran right back in line to do this one again. They both really enjoyed all the "lame" carnival type rides, but why not, if that's what they enjoy.



And here's Lowell just loving riding Puff the Dragon. I told him he shouldn't be such a wimp and go ride Wicked or something, but he insisted on Puff. Not really! He is riding with Carter who you just can't see and did indeed ride Wicked and Collossus (yeah for early Spring and NO lines!). I am the wimp--but this year at least I can blame it on being pregnant! I'm not fooling anyone. The boys also totally loved Pioneer Village of all things, should be a good summer for them.
Here they are in the jail they have there. Hmmm, suits them.
We stayed for 3 hours and rode plenty of rides but still have a bunch we haven't done. It was lunch time and I didn't want to buy food in the park plus our last ride (Red Baron Gliders) did me in, I was so dizzy! The boys would only leave if we promised to go back again soon. I have decided this is my official bribe of the summer--I am making a chart of all the things they have to accomplish each week to go back again (clean room, potty responsibilities, etc.) It was just a really pleasant day spent with just the 4 of us.

The rest of the week has been pretty nice weather wise though we haven't done a whole lot. Mostly visits to the park and playing at home, plus preschool of course. We also went to a wedding reception and soccer practice--and that was all the time filled up. Yesterday we did have a Friday Fun Day and just the boys and I went to see How to Train a Dragon. I forgot how much the regular theater is, even for a matinee--sheesh! But it was fun, the boys were really excited and did enjoy it. I thought is was okay, just okay. We're really excited for Toy Story 3.

Here's a great shot from Sunday when the boys were playing quietly in Davis's room:


They had found my craft supplies from D's closet and had fun with the self-stick foam pieces from one of our Halloween activities. Oh well, no real harm done and makes a cute picture. Now the shirt I found soaked in Elmer's glue the next day I was less happy about.

Wow, this week was kind of lame--as it gets warmer everywhere is busier and we try to avoid crowds, too hard to contain the kiddos.
In baby news, I am just feeling fat. Still just look extra plump but it makes me self-conscious. With the chub plus reduced lung capacity (other organs crowding them) making me short of breath easier I am just feeling out of shape. And then I didn't feel up to the gym this week, so I'm not helping it much. I have all kinds of plans for hiking this summer, so I really need to get back at it. I'll be big--no getting around that, but I can keep my heart in tip top shape so I can still be up to carry the extra load up the mountains. I just wish my chest wasn't such a large part of the extra load--ugh! I know, of all the things to complain about, but seriously--I bruised my ribs this week from the weight of my bra, no joke! I don't remember it being this bad so early with the munchkins--my top is definitely growing faster than my belly. Lowell at least thinks it's great. Carter has started kissing my belly this week (awww, so freaking cute!) and I have felt little miss bounce around more and more.

The boys have their first soccer game today, so stay tuned for that. Should be funny, I have been working with them on only shooting into one goal and how they can share the ball with their team, but not the other team--but it is all still pretty foreign to them. Hopefully they just have fun.

Easter take 1 and 2 and The baby is a . . .

Easter was busy as usual at our house. And it mostly went well. I had a few moments when "Pregnor"--Lowell's name for hormonal psycho pregnant Heidi came out but we did okay. First of course we had egg dyeing. This year we tried a trick from Family Fun magazine--using a wire whisk to dip the eggs. Win--it kept the boys hands out of the dye and MUCH cleaner than past years. Lose-the weight of the whisk tipped 3 of the cups over spilling dye everywhere. And unfortunately the weather did not permit outdoor fun so that was dye all over the cloth seats/table/floor. I think we'll be back to dippers next year.

We did have fun though. I got an 11 in 1 kit from WalMart, so we dyed, then stamped, then added beads and stickers, etc. I also had a cute kit from Oriental trading so we dolled them all up nicely. And of course I am biased, but isn't Davis just gorgeous in the above picture? Love the eyes, love that kid!

Our finished products, still in the fridge just like this in fact. I have a weird trepidation about eating dyed eggs. Google says I have one more day to make deviled eggs or these are just going in the trash.

Photogenic Davey boy (sorry for the repeats for my facebook friends)

Silly Carter and his off-colored right front tooth. Sad tooth was bumped too many times and is now dead. My mom the dental assistant says it will get better, but will always be a bit off--well for the 1-2 years he'll still have it.

Last week we also had our first soccer practice! So fun! Well, it would have been except it was windy and freezing! I was SO cold! That's Carter following up on a goal. They did okay, we had to redirect their attention a few times, but it was brief and fun enough I think. We'll see how the season goes. It was a little harder on Lowell I think. I have been in several settings where the boys have behaved as their usual selves which does not match the behavior of other children their age. I have for the most part accepted that this is how it is, and with some extra help the boys can still enjoy all the same things as other kids. It was harder for Lowell to watch them not be able to handle the same tasks as other kids: follow directions, wait in line, stay on task. I don't know what to say about that. During conference it just hit me that I have to stop thinking, they are 4 and a half, they should be doing . . .and they should not be doing . . . They are just Carter and Davis and they can do some things better than kids their age and they struggle with some things other kids don't. We'll just encourage them in all things, even things that need more help than others. I don't want to label them as "special needs" but to me all kids have special needs--and it is their parent's blessing/responsibility to know what things will help them perform at their best and be happy.

SO, Saturday morning the boys enjoyed a cold, but fun Easter egg hunt with our ward. And then in the evening we had dinner and a hunt with my family. That was a Pregnor moment when my plan for the event did not match what actually transpired. In the end it all worked out okay but in the moment I had a hard time dealing with it. Here is Carter ready to start hunting.

And then Davis. His start was delayed because the little punk chose to escape our house while I was hiding eggs. Bad decision on action and timing. I can't say why but that week he escaped 3 times. Once climbing the back fence while I was making dinner, once by climbing out the downstairs window and then over the fence, and this last time through a downstairs window that goes into the front yard. Every time he explained something about wanting to see a cat or a friend down the street. Every time I explained that it is not safe and he can ask me and I will take him where he wants to go. Each time he got time out, the last time he also got a spanking and a delayed Easter. So frustrating/scary for me not knowing where that kid is. Another moment of reflection. Both boys struggle with impulse control and consequence understanding. Those are ADHD characteristics, among other conditions. So perhaps I can't rely on my son's ability to control himself. New window locks (in addition to the ones upstairs) are coming and some way to block climbing the fence. If he can't control himself, physical barriers will have to help him. Some would say abuse, and all I can say is for one kid that may be, for my kid it is purely a safety issue.

Finding eggs--we still had a good night after all.

Best brothers (that's what they call each other instead of best friends)

The loot

Playing with their bug catchers. I didn't think they would find bugs in the cold weather, but they discovered a rotten apple with plenty of red ants--so they became their friends/torture victims. Davis did get bitten by one, so there was some retribution--they just don't know how much the boys love them, or that they probably saved them since it snowed 3 inches that night.

Sunday we got to repeat the whole evening for Easter #2 with Lowell's family. Same dinner, same Easter egg hunt--more desserts and more kids. Here are all the cousins ready to get started.

We had the traditional dog Easter egg hunt as well, I took this indoor shot to commemorate that. Maddy, Oscar, and Maxwell--kind of shaggy but man we love these dogs!

Easter was also a fun milestone, I felt the baby move for the first time. :) 15 weeks. Tuesday was even more fun--we found out that the baby is a GIRL. Man, I made you wait a long time for that! We're quite excited of course, but most of all I loved seeing the little miss jump around.

Also this week,

Monday we went to the dino museum and also caught a reptile show while we were there.

Tuesday my dad joined me for a trip to the Children's Garden. This is the only pic I took:

But the boys had a great time and played for nearly 2 hours without even going throughout the whole park (which is not big). It was their half birthday and also Jesus's birthday in Mormon tradition. I told Davis it was Jesus's birthday and he wanted to know if He was going to come over for cake? Cute bubba. I just said Probably Not.

Wednesday--okay my days are off--we went to the Gardens Weds, we just played at home Tuesday. Wednesday night we enjoyed some time outside in fairly nice weather.

Today we enjoyed having Lowell off for Spring break and went to the zoo. It was busy, but we still had a good time.

Tomorrow we plan to go to Farm Country and the boys have soccer practice.

And Saturday I am going to go get a massage (thanks to a Christmas gift from Lowell) now that I am out of the 1st trimester but can still lay on my stomach fairly well. Then we are going to go to Lagoon and perhaps catch up with some old friends too. Should be a great day!

Here Comes the Sun

We had our first official trip to the Gardens this week and I found it fitting that "Here Comes the Sun" was playing as we got out of the car (on a Bee Movie).
Little Darling, it's been a long, cold, lonely winter. Little darling, it seems like years since its been here. Here comes the Sun, Here come the Sun, and I say, It's alright.

It probably doesn't make much sense to others, but the Gardens is just my place of respite. My breath of fresh air. For whatever reason, as I walk I just sigh and relax. It really is a long winter away, especially the first bit of this year as I have been sick and hormonal. But Saturday was a joyful day.

Until Mother Nature had better ideas and the weather turned icky including 2 inches of snow on the ground when I got up today. Ugh. Holding on to my inner sunshine . . .

We did manage another good day Monday for our UVMOM play group--an Easter egg hunt at a local park. So fun to see all our friends and you know the boys love all things holiday.

C&D with A

Cheesy Carter

Davis showing off his Star Wars basket

This one makes me laugh, I was cleaning up the kitchen and looked over to see the boys just like this:

They are carefully looking over the Toys R Us ad with many requests. I guess they have high hopes. Sadly I have not been to Toys R Us and don't really intend to for Easter this year. Don't feel too bad for them though, they are getting an above ground pool and Lagoon season passes.

Tuesday the wind came in hard and heavy so we thought, let's make lemonade, i.e. let's fly kites with grandpa! My parents live in a very windy locale so we drove up for a visit and my dad taught the bubs to fly a kite. We have done it before but this was the longest we've actually gotten them to stay up. Davis was really in to imitating grandpa and loved holding the kite on his own. Then we hit a park too, good day. Thanks Dad!

The next day was the beginning of bad weather so we hijacked my dad again for a visit to the aquarium. The new penguin exhibit was open and the boys were anxious to go, but I was worried that it would be busy. I was right! It was super crowded, thank goodness my dad came along. The boys really did LOVE love the penguins though, so it was worth it.

Sideways Davis watching a penguin swim by. If you haven't been in a while several new things have opened so it's worth the trip.

Carter is almost as tall as the penguin

C man just being cute sitting in a boat. We go by this photo op spot every time but most of the time I don't have my camera, so this time he was excited to get his picture taken.

I think that was about all we did this week. I am excited to dye eggs tomorrow and also for Easter parts 1 and 2 this weekend. Of course I will post extensively about it. We sure love our holidays.

On baby 3 front I had a fun time getting to see him/her down the hall at work the other day. I love our nurses, seriously the best gals anywhere and good friends too. The baby has gotten so much bigger and was just jumping all over the place. It's getting more real for me all the time, but seeing the little one moving was really fun and an eye opener about life inside of me. We got a quick flash between his/her legs and I swear I saw 3 lines which would be a girl but it is super early and it wasn't a good look. We'll peak again in a couple of weeks. For now it put a big smile on my face just to see the baby's heart beat and see how much its grown.

Finally, another preschool dilemma that I would LOVE anyone's take on. So I have been planning on putting the boys in the advanced class at the Legacy Center this fall. They have to test into it and with the exception of writing their name by themselves (we're working on it, fine motor is not their strong suit) they could get in the class and we have until June to master the name bit. The list of things they need to know is pretty much everything you need to know for kindergarten so I am assuming they will then move on to learn a lot of what you would learn in kinder. That had been my plan but today I started thinking about how much they like their current preschool, at the high school. And especially how the people there like them and care about them and are patient with them. Academically my kids may be ready for K, but socially, emotionally, and even physically (they still are having accidents--OY how I hate it. I'm starting to think it is ADHD related and may need medication to help, seriously they are 4.5 and HATE having accidents, I don't think it is laziness any more). The high school preschool has been very accomodating of the boys' challenges and I haven't had a single complaint about their behavior when you might remember that they were kicked out of their first preschool in 1 week. And they are still a struggle at church with special arrangements made just for them because they can't make it through singing time. We have such a good ward. Anywho, so I am starting to wonder if it may be better to keep them where they are happy and cared about but where they may learn less academically than to try a new school where they could excel in academics but it is a big unknown as to how their other issues may play out. The hardest thing is that I kind of have to decide soon, you have to register early before either is full. I want to sit down with their current teachers and ask about next year's curriculum. Will they just be learning the same exact things over again or do they change it year to year? I don't mind shouldering some of the teaching at home, in fact I know my kids learn best sitting at my lap or at the kitchen table with me. They know all that they do now because I have been working with them since they were in the NICU (no joke, I was obsessed about bringing in stimulation)--academics is kind of my thing and I have tried to surround the boys with learning toys so we could learn and play together. I have plans for the summer with sight words and progressing in their basic reading skills as well as more fine motor practice. I have no problem continuing to teach them next year but of course some of the social/emotional stuff I just can't teach them. And they really have grown in this school, academically too. Funny, today Davis didn't want me to leave (he usually does okay) and I walked him back to the circle and one of the pretty little girls they always tell me about just batted her eyes at him and asked him to sit next to her. I didn't get a second look, bye Mom--you can go now. LOL. Such flirts. Anywho, there's my drawn out preschool spiel, again. Yes, I overdramatize things but these are my babies! Any input would be appreciated! Oh and if I do go with the high school preschool I can choose from 2 days a week or 4--they do 2 now but doesn't 4 sound like a lot? Hmmm . . .

P.S. Thanks to Becky for sitting with my sleeping men last night so Lowell and I could go out. We needed it. Got to chase the pregnant crazies away--seriously I am so hormonal, watch out!