The things he says

Gavin is cracking me up so often lately I have to stop what I'm doing and write it down before I forget. I find his grammar and verbage especially cute.
I had just put McKay to bed and walked in to see Gavin on my bed watching Elmo's World.

Gavin: "Is McKay in bed?"

Me: "Yep."

Gavin: "And dad leaved. It's just you and me, mom."

Lately McKay's screaming has Gavin pretty stressed out. In the car today:

Gavin: "McKay's yellin', mom."

Me: "Can you ignore him?"

Gavin: "Nope. (pause) Excuse me, McKay, but can you don't do that anymore?"
And I dare you not to smile or just laugh out loud at these pictures. In between his new random and totally irrational fits, he's quite a funny kid.

Spring Break 2011

a.k.a. Anniversary Trip to St. George

Delightful. Just the two of us. One for the books.
I miss the boys. I cried when we left. But I know that they are safe and happy. I am so used to them being around and very aware that they aren’t with us. But as we drove away, I realized how important this is for us – to take time for just us. Someday our boys will grow up and find their own sweethearts. Brian and I will once again be sitting together – alone in a quiet house. In the midst of the day-to-day, it’s hard to keep my #1 number one. The chaos and constant doing that is parenthood often takes all of our energy, focus, and attention. Things to be done. Fires to put out. Mouths to feed. Games to play. Stories to read. Little bodies to be bathed. Hugs to give. At the end of the day I am tired. We are tired. Often the time and attention our marriage needs is lacking. I’d be surprised if we were the only couple who sometimes struggles with the balance. I could be wrong. That said, I wouldn’t change our current stage – toddlers and diapers – for anything. It will change soon enough, I am sure. But it’s still tricky to balance it all – spouse and parent.

So it took us a minute to know what to do with ourselves. And then the next minute we had lots and lots of plans and ideas and were just fine. Do you hear the silence?

For the record:

Monday, April 11, 2011

This morning we got out of bed at 8:50. I cannot remember the last time I actually slept soundly through the night. And getting out of bed that late? A luxury indeed. We made breakfast, lifted weights, and headed out for a bike ride. The weather was truly perfect. We went up hills together and I got more and more daring as we made our way back down.Grateful to not have biffed it today. We headed back for the pool, lunch, then showered, took a nap, and got ready to head out. We did some shopping and driving around and then ended up at the movies. We saw an edited version of The King’s Speech, which we both really liked. An ice cream to top off the night and we were back to the condo. And in there somewhere I read 100 pages of a new book. The last time I read a book? A real novel? Years.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

I woke up at 6:00 (no Tylenol PM this night…) but stayed in bed until 8:30. We ate and headed out for the Bear Claw Poppy trail. SO much fun. I was screaming and laughing. It honestly felt like a roller coaster. We think we did about 10 miles. Lots of sun on the white bod. Read my book by the pool and further soaked in the 70 degree weather. A few hours later, I can attest that the sun is still brutal even though it seems like it’s hardly shining through the clouds. I am fried. We ate lunch, showered, and headed for the big T. You know, the temple. For dinner we met up with some of our favs, Clint & Melanie Nielsen and their sweet baby Jenna. Benja was de-lish. We had to practically roll ourselves out of there. Came back to the condo to watch Biggest Loser (can’t miss it!) and hypocritically went for night two of ice cream. Now Brian’s watching Lonesome Dove and my book is calling to me. These days are going by quickly. I’m pooped but relaxed.

Wednesday, April 12, 2011

More mountain biking. A massage for Brian. A fun visit for me with Melanie. Eating at Troy's and Benja. Cleaning and packing.

Thursday, April 13, 2011

Up at 7:00am. Such an early hour! Packed up the car and ate at the Bear Paw. A lovely ride home ended with our tradition of singing along to Wicked to bring us home.

Today I am grateful for the time to be reminded how much I really do love Brian and honest to goodness enjoy his company. Here in our fantasy world, where we have no stress, zero responsibilities, and not a care in the world, we remember why we liked each other in the first place. And I’m so glad that we still do. Happy 7^th Anniversary!

When we got home, Gavin ran into my arms. "Mooommmmyyyyy!!!!!" I swear he grew two inches while I was gone and his hair maybe three. McKay came to me and kept staring at me and touching my face. He was going to have none of this dad holding him business. We've been attached at the hip ever since. I haven't broken the news that in a few weeks I'll be leaving him for nine days...don't want to stress him out quite yet.

Talk about a reality check. In just moments we were back at it. We do love our busy, crazy, whiny boys. We took them to Trafalga with all of the teenage yoo-hoos. Gavin was in heaven in the airplane and the parasail (a.k.a. carousel). He's getting good at mini golf and sometimes hits the ball in with his club rather than just dropping it in. "I did it all by myself!" Sure, buddy, but that's cheating.
This little boy is just happy to be held by you-know-who.

The Power of Moms

Have you heard? I'm their latest groupie. The Power of Moms is "a gathering place for deliberate mothers." And since that's what I *ideally* want to be, I'm all ears.

My friends Karen and Alison went with me to the Park City retreat. It was a day full of information and meeting moms from all over. I even ran into my old China friend, Elisabeth.
We met the Eyre's and their daughters - all wonderful people. And April, who has taught me how to organize my home and my mind. And who told me it was okay that I take naps.

I had to get a picture of Shawni being the photographer. She is so stinkin' cute. I love hearing her talk. This was the first time I heard her sisters, Saren, Sadie, and Charity. I loved them all.
I ate it all up. It was so refreshing to know that many share my desire to make the most of motherhood as well as have similar concerns and struggles. As it turns out, there are others who feel they get lost in the shuffle of taking care of everyone else. There are others who feel like they are running around, overloaded, with little time to focus on the things and people that matter most. In a nutshell, it's a zoo around here and probably in everyone else's house, too.

It was nice to have motherhood treated as a profession. As a teacher, I attended training after training - conferences on end to help me improve my teaching knowledge and abilities. Why not the same for moms? I loved the idea. The basic gist of the day: Not routine parenting but deliberate parenting. Not just surviving the day-to-day but thriving. Making our gerbil-wheel-of-a-life seem not so mundane or ordinary. Purpose, meaning, reflection, and memories.

All of my other ideas will have to come as separate posts, as I figure out how they fit into my life. But for today, I got back on my bandwagon of balance (I lost that in February...just after I patted myself on the back for being a rockstar in January...) and worked a little on the house, played with the boys, and did a few things that I wanted to do. And I didn't even freak out when Gavin had a hard time going to sleep today. That said, I can't say that will be my natural reaction from here on out. I'm a work in progress, you know.

Anywho, check it out. I ordered a few books on Amazon yesterday including Linda Eyre's A Joyful Mother of Children. I'm excited to read it.
This picture reminds me, once again, that I am indeed aging. My goodness.

The Par-tay

We'll take any reason to party. My grandma said, "We have parties for one-year-olds?" Well, yeah! Doesn't everyone??

You are loved, little guy. People who came to see you: Grandma & Grandpa Robinson, Uncle Nathan, Aunt Dawn, Nick, and Jorja, Aunt Shauna, Uncle Jason, Kaylee, and Madi, Mother, Brandi, Gilbert, and Luke, Susan, Jonah, Tad, and Truly. And of course, the three of us.
You love your aunts and uncles.
Uncle Nathan. I love this picture of you two.
Cousin Kaylee.
You had lots of help with your presents. Lots. Good thing you didn't know what was going on yet.


A new picture tradition I stole from Shawni. I will love to see your face change each year. We, however, will stay forever young.
Your cake turned out super cute. I'll take it as a compliment that my grandma thought I bought it.
Gavin helped you blow out your candle. You were ready to dive in.
Oh, baby.
Sharing with everyone.
Loves from mom.
The boys checking out the new loot after the bath.

ONE to remember.

365 Days

Happy 1st Birthday to my sweet boy, McKay.

McKay eating his first sugar cookie. Lucky duck.

I cannot believe how quickly time goes. Some days seem like an eternity, but before I know it months and months have passed and now we are here.

You have certainly been becoming your own little person over this past year with clear preferences, likes, and dislikes. Likes: your mama, eating, bath time, being outside. Dislikes: being alone, not being picked up, sleeping for longer than an hour or so.

Clearly you are a good little eater. You are feeding yourself well and can handle hunks of bread and banana. You hold your bottle and love water in sippy cups. We've been giving you tastes of treats and you always say, "Mmmmmmm." It was fun to finally watch you dive in yourself.

We took you out just with our little family for ice cream and mini-golfing on your birthday.

You have been getting around quickly with an army crawl. It's been about six weeks now, and you still have no interest in getting up on your knees. You are quick. In an instant you will be in another room and I have to come find you. You are usually exploring air vents, night lights, shoes, and toilet bowl brushes. Just today, on your very birthday, you pulled yourself up onto things for the first time. The toilet, the couch, and a box in the kitchen. Time to close the bathroom doors.

Enjoying your birthday ice cream with mom at Baskin Robbins

This month you've been teething like crazy. You just got back to your normal self a few days ago. Thank heavens. I was beginning to forget how cute you were and starting to think that you were always like this. But you're not. Although you are a fairly needy baby, you laugh and play and love finding things to taste and touch.

Dad and Gavin enjoyed theirs as well. Gavin was pretty pumped to celebrate your birthday - since it meant an ice cream cone for him.

You still love your brother. He makes you laugh and laugh. He runs in circles in the kitchen and spits water out of his mouth just to keep you entertained. When you cry he tells me to sing to you or help you. He has been more impatient with you lately and your high-pitched screams. He covers his ears and wants to run away. He takes toys from you, but you're still too little to notice. With a lot of practice, he's started replacing the toy he took with another one, just because mom wants him to be nice. I'm excited to see you two be able to interact more and have him understand you better.

You love your daddy. You say "Hi, da!" Lots of things are 'da,' but you certainly know who he is.

You are starting to mimic us all the time with actions. You can clap, wave, put your hands up for 'so big,' sign more and eat, shake your head no, and most recently cover your ears. I'm excited to see you learn new things and know that will really take off this next year. I know it will be just a matter of time before you're running around - a little boy - and I am truly chasing you.

Your first cupcake. That blue on your nose is from when you put your face right in it. We were over at a friends for dinner and they bought you this and let you get their house and chair all messy.

For the record:

Length: 29 3/4 in. 50%

Weight: 23 lbs. 6 oz 60%

Head Cir: 47 1/2 cm 80%

We love you so much and are grateful to have you with us. Happy Birthday, little man.