I Have Just One Question...

Who was the one who taught my baby boy to do this?

Christmas Eve...

the children were nestled all snug in the beds. While Daddy and Mommy played Call Of Duty Black Opps! Hey it's only 10:00 and there's still a few hours before Santa comes. And don't be surpised to see this Momma kissing Santa clause!

Sunday Morning Pictures

Once I got the boys dressed for church I decided to get a few more pictures because:
1} they are just so stinkin' cute and
2} I love them oh so much!
Here they are not, very excited to have me taking their picture yet again!
I did get some cute faces from Nicholas.


And then some of Brock.


And finally after a million tries {okay not a million, but close} I got one of Brock giving Nicholas a nice hug.

LOVE it!

5 minutes

My Aunt Teresa used this as a post on her blog and I loved the idea so I had to steal it!

- Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010.

FIRST: Nicholas was Born! and Brock became a big brother

New cousins for the boys: Maddison, and the twins Hailey and Kyra!

Lots and lots of Backyard play with the boys

Our trip to PA to visit Aunt Louise and dedicating Grandpa Joes' grave.

our visit to Utah!,
Uncle Mark aka "MART" comes home!


Being with family!

And some other things: Nicholas' first tooth {and 2nd, 3rd, 4th 5th and 6th!}, Brock's CARS obsession along with HOOOPS! Nicholas Walking! That's right he is walking ! It's just a few steps here and there but he does it all on his own now so yes he's walking!

Now it's time to prepare for Chirstmas, and the year to come!

Hugs

while getting the boys ready to go outside I wanted to TRY and get a few pictures. Here are the results.
Brock:

Nicholas:


and then when I asked the boys:


to give each other a hug this is what happened:

Brock really does love his brother, although by the look on his face you would thing he was up to something else.

Are You Ready For This:

That's right he has almost mastered walking while pushing a few toys around the room, and has attempted a few steps here and there. {on the verge of walking!}
But what he LOVES to do is climb onto his brothers bed. He first climbs on to the mega blocks tractor and then on to the bed. Nicholas also tries to climb onto Brock's bed from the floor, {doesn't quite have the upper body strength yet} And he already gets SOOOOO frustrated when he can't do it .

Sadly

the only pictures I got this Christmas were that of both boys eating breakfast, and Nicholas enjoying his Elmo
oh well something is better than nothing! Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

So I think I just made the best Thanksgiving Day turkey EVER!
Nothing fancy just a 12 lb bird, some homemade basil butter spread, with just a touch of sea salt and garlic pepper. Seriously so good. Our turkey came out completely perfect. I have to admit I made a pretty yummy Butternut squash to go along with said turkey. Along with the traditional foods {mashed potatoes, stuffing gravy, rolls, corn cranberry sauce, oh and a green salad for some color!} All in all very very YUMMY.
I was also able to get a few pictures of Nicholas enjoying his first Thanksgiving.
Well I've got to run, my homemade pumpkin pie is just calling my name!

Life is great...

When you are playing in leaves!

I on the other hand spent 2 hours raking those leaves and it's still not done.

A lot has been happening

I've just been a little lazy about posting. Our first week back from vacation was full of LOTS of appointments.
Wednesday we went to Shriner's to check on Brock's feet, I've noticed him walking on his toes from time to time but it's not consistent and he still has lots of rotation in both feet so it's not an issue at this time. His ankle bones look a like abnormal to me at times but I knew they would when we began the process of correcting his clubfeet. He is doing well, we will go back in 6 months for another check up! Hopefully things will continue to go well because I am really looking forward to the day where I don't have to put his brace on before he goes to bed.

Thursday Nicholas had his 9 month check up. I was really glad to be going to the doctor because Nicholas had gotten a little bit congested and was getting a slight fever every night for 3 nights leading up to the appointment. He did have a little congestion but his lungs were clear, ears were great, throat was fine, temperature was normal. So I'm chalking it up to his 6th tooth cutting through! Yep, 6 teeth! {He know loves to bite my clothes} He now weighs 20 pounds and is just shy of 30 inches.
Brock also had an appointment on Thursday with the dentist He is a little iffy about doctors these days and freaked out when they wanted to weigh him at Shriner's the day before, so I wasn't sure how he would take it. but he did really well. It help that or dentist was a friend from church so that made him feel a bit more comfortable. and guess what NO cavities! :)
I am also in the process of editing my Utah pictures here are my two favorites:
My niece Julia holding Nicholas

My brother Mark holding our niece Kyra: {love his expression!}

Every Once In A While..

something happens that makes your heart just smile.
As a Mom I am always questioning my own parenting techniques. Wondering if I'm doing the right thing, teaching my kids the right way. I know they are still young, but I also know just how much they learn in such a short time. I received a compliment the other day on the way I was teaching Brock Patience. Patience is not at all and easy thing to learn, especially for a 2 year old, especially after sitting on a plane all day. Once we landed Brock was like most people on a plane and wanted to get up and start walking off the plane, as you know we all have to wait our turn. Some of us are not so happy about that as others. Brock was very very eager to get off the plane and actually move around. as we waited I kept telling him that we needed to be patient. I then said "remember what patience means? Patience means waiting a little bit longer and with a good attitude."
He then sat back down and waited...
patiently! :)
While shuffling off the plane I noticed I left something behind and backtracked a little to get it. The flight attentant then told me how much she loved the way I explained patience to my son.
My heart smiled right then and there.
I have a big belief in explaining things to my kids. Maybe not in exact detail but just enough to give them an understanding of what is happening. so far it is easy I know day will come when they will start asking me why? but why? because why? But for now my simple answers are just enough. They are learning! And every once in a while someone does see it and the compliment that brings is just enough to get me to that next stage.

Cutest Thing Ever

NO I'm not talking about my kids {shocking}
But I just have to tell you about the cutest thing I've ever heard.

The boys and I went over to my sister April's house this morning and spent sometime playing.
I told Riley to give Brock a big hug cause we would be going on a plane tomorrow and we wouldn't see him again for a long time. Riley then gave Brock and myself the sweetest hugs ever.
When April stopped by real quick before dinner tonight she told me about what Riley told his Daddy when he got home from work.
"Daddy, No Mas Brock"
If that's not the cutest thing ever, I don't know what is. My boys are gonna miss Riley and Tyler a lot. Even with their playful fighting They both loved having a buddy around to explore with.
I was also able to capture one of my favorite Utah sights:

A snow-capped Mt. Timpanogos!
I absolutely Love waking up in the morning and looking out my Mom's window to see such a beautiful site!

Cornbelly's

Today we joined my sister's family at thanksgiving point for Cornbelly's maze. Here are a couple of pics from the day, So fun!


My cute nieces Tara, Alia, and Katelyn They loved the ponies Brock not so much. Aren't they just adorable!