Wet sand under my fingernails

I just really love being a mama. Right now, Hylan is digging through the couch, like really really digging, while Than keeps him from climbing over the back of it. I won't tell you what he's found so far. I'm not the best housekeeper. Xander is asleep now, but I got to build castles with him in the sandbox today. I even sat on the ground! Shocker! The weather was so nice, and we took advantage of it. I just can't believe how much they can change in a matter of days. Hylan is a face-maker now. He's always been pretty laid back and just kind of went between blank look, smiles, and angry face. Now he has many in between. Xander has finally started using I instead of me at the beginning of sentences. I winked at him today, and he told me it was yucky. We also made a quick trip to Home Depot today where the boys must always ride in a car buggy. They hold onto and turn the steering wheels the whole time. They play and laugh with each other and play peek-a-boo. Well, Xander does and Hylan laughs at him. I love them. I love that I have two boys who get along so well with each other. I love that I have a husband who loves them as much as I do. My life is happy. We have fun together.

What we're up to

Hylan hates having his diaper changed more than any baby I've ever changed, and he's really strong, like really really really strong. He flips over and crawls away; he kicks; he grabs; he thrashes. I am not strong enough (or maybe it's my tiny hands) to hold up both of his feet at once, so it's kind of a one at a time thing. He's been sick on and off for about six weeks, so he has not been happy. He says Mama when I walk into a room. He still says bye bye and likes to wave to us as he is pushing his cart. He really thinks he's going places. When my dad came home from work today, he looked up at him and said Pawpaw. He stands on his own, but just won't take that first step. We are looking forward to his first birthday in two weeks. Oh, and his favorite activity is hiding things in Than's shoes.................well, really putting blocks, pacifiers, and other small objects in shoes, cups, buckets, whatever.

Xander loves things that go, trains, helicopters, school buses. He is a little computer whiz, but I'm not sure how I feel about that. He is learning to read. It's my mom's idea, but as long as he has fun, I don't care. His language is definitely catching up. He is still addicted to the pacifier, and I don't know what to do about it. I think he may have a nervous breakdown without it.

We don't have an active nursery leader, so Than and I have pretty much been missing half our meetings each taking turns because our children, at least together, are unmanagable in church. This past Sunday the Primary president watched the two nursery kids, so we got a break. She loved him. I wish he would act as well for us. My mom said I was always good everywhere but church. I guess I'm getting my payback. I'm not sure about Than. I think everything well-behaved in our children came from Than.

Than and I got to go on a mini-date this weekend. We went to dairy queen and got blizzards. It was great. When we came home, we watched Fireproof. It was a bit cheesy but really good. We both recommend it.

I must be B.A.D.

I just think this is funny. A few minutes ago we were giving the boys a bath. Hylan was out and Than had him, so I was watching Xander. Than came in and asked me what channel ABC was, and then we talked for a couple minutes before I realized that Xander was, over and over, saying B.A.D. B.A.D. I think he must have heard us spell that a few times lately. Uh-oh.

Christmas.....one day I'll get all my pictures on the ccomputer.

Our Christmas I'm sure was much like most of yours. We spent it with family, opened presents, and ate goodies. Xander and Hylan's gifts pretty much centered around trasportation, and they loved it. We've had cars and trucks and trains and buses being wheeled all over the house today. They also got in a great game of chase. I loved watching them play together and glad that Hylan is tough enough to handle his older brother. Our family(Mama, Daddy, me, Than, Mad, and David...Jodie and Cliff couldn't make it down this year) played Scene-It Seinfeld and we watched Fred Claus during the calm times. See next paragraph

Oh, we also had our traditional sausage casserole for breakfast, thanks to Than. He was such a great help this Christmas...as he always is. Since my mom is still not up to par (She's been home a week and is feeling better every day) and my grandmother doesn't leave the house much, I got left with all the cooking and gift buying for not just my family but my uncle and his kids and grandkids. Note: This was sprung on me about three days ago by my grandmother. I've been a mad woman. I would think I was done then she'd send me out to do more. I almost strangled her, but that's another story. :) These are relatives we see only once or twice a year. It's always a bit uncomfortable, less so now that we have children but it's still weird. We are literally forced into having this event every year. This year was the best though.

Our Christmas Eve was nice and calm. We watched Luke II (we couldn't find our copy of the Nativity). Xander insisted that we watch it twice because he wanted to see more of baby Jesus. We didn't open any presents. I wanted to try having a more Christ-centered day and then a play day. I think it worked out okay.

Well, it's all over now. We had a good time. My children are asleep and my husband's watching Wall-E. I'm taking a break for a couple days and looking forward to next year........and my spa day that Than got me for Christmas.

Hockey Rocks My Socks!

I decided to tag along on the boy scout outing to a hockey game on the coast. We even took the boys along. It was awesome. I knew I loved hockey before, but I really love it now. Xander and Hylan especially loved the Wolf mascot. Xander shook his hand and gave him five. He told my mom today about the big wolf. They both held their pucks on the way to church and on the way home. We might just make hockey our family sport of choice. One last side note...Hylan loves waving bye bye, but he always waves when we say night night because Xander has to wave to everyone when he says night night. It's adorable.

Snow!!!

It snowed here today. It was actually the second time this year (it snowed in January). It's nearly five o'clock, and there is still a ton of snow on the ground. That has never happened during my lifetime in Mississippi. My dad and Than got a snow day, so we were all home. We took the boys out in it. Xander told me it was too cold but he liked the way it looked. He's not much of a winter child. Hylan seemed to like looking at it but didn't like the cold.

My mom missed it, but she is doing much better. They moved her out of ICU the day before yesterday. I made videos and took plenty of pictures for her. I will post those in a couple of days.

All the snow made me think back to my time in Rexburg.....freezing my patookus off, the sparkling white and stillness right after a good snow, my roommates and I trying not to track all the wet and yuckiness into the Cornerhouse, Than and I dating and getting engaged, and Than making sure there was salt everywhere while I was pregnant so I wouldn't slip. Oh, I love the snow.

Quick updates

My mother is doing about the same. She is still in ICU hooked up to antibiotics and all sorts of stuff. She is feeling better, and the doctors are still trying to avoid surgery. I won't give you details because medical stuff is icky. Everyone is hoping all the stuff they're trying will start working better once the chemo is better out of her system. I miss having her to talk to all day. I only get to see her once or twice a day for half an hour. I didn't get to go today, but I got to talk to her on the phone. Poor woman is bored out of her mind without the grandkids around.

Hylan has learned how to wave bye bye and say it at the same time sometimes, give five, say dada, and clap. He also throws him arm up in the air when we walk past pictures or something else he wants us to point at and talk about. It's really cute. He has also gotten pretty fast cruising around the furniture, and he gets into absolutely everything. I'll think the floors are clean, but then he'll have something in his mouth. Luckily, it's usually a cheerio or something. I have gotten a couple of Xander's stickers out of his mouth though. Yikes.

Xander is my happy helper. He likes to keep things clean and put away dishes. He is able to "read" more words every day. I guess he just recognizes them. He likes for me to write down everyones' names in our family and write other words that he likes. Today we built a wal-mart and a taco bell out of mega bloks. We even had cars out front. It was bunches of fun. Hylan was the Godzilla and knocked the buildings down (oops). His language is still a bit delayed, and it's frustrating for him, but he improves all the time. He finally made the switch from awu or abu to water (well, almost water. it's really close) this week. We were sad and excited at the same time. He said a great full sentence today while we were building.

Than has somehow found more time to spend with all of us lately...thank goodness for holidays and weekends. He still works long hours, but we are slowly getting more and more used to it. He enjoys his job and often times has some great funny stories when he comes home every day. People will tell him anything, sometimes while wearing nothing. Yeah, he gets grossed out. Today, one of his customers sent him home with a deer roast. We've never had deer, so we're excited.

Wow, I've been blabbing for a while now. Sorry for no pictures, haven't uploaded any lately. Thanks for reading. :)