The thing I'm not loving

My 7 1/2 year computer gave up the ghost yesterday afternoon. I really can't complain, because 7 1/2 years of essentially no computer problems is pretty impressive for a computer. Also, I miraculously backed up the computer two days before it died.. RIP 2007 macbook. Blog therapy will have to start up again once we get a new computer :)

Things I'm Loving

• My father-in-law came to visit us! He had a business trip in Fort Dodge, IA last week and was able to come stay with us for the weekend. It was also his birthday, so we got to celebrate with him. Jack had so much fun with him and talked his ear off the entire time :) 

 
 

• The tool set that grandpa gave Jack for his birthday. Jack AND David love it! 

Jack said he was working on his car

• This. AMEN. #imsotired

• The family "zoozeeum" (museum) I think we will most likely spend all winter here.

• This picture. 

• Santa's visit at our church Christmas party

• These two

• Jack, who insists on sleeping with hard trucks and in a hard pack n' play. My three year old has been sleeping in our room in the pack n play for over a month now. Yep. David has his own room and the three of us share a room. #davidrulesnighttimealways

• This situation - with tears in his eyes, Jack sobbed, "Where's my chocochip? I put it in my belly button for later. IT'S ALL GONE!!!" #threeyearoldproblems

• And this statement from my sister: "The thing I like most about December is that your deodorant doesn't run out as fast!" That's what I like the most about December too, girl ;)

Thanksgiving weekend

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend! On Thanksgiving day, we ran in a five mile Turkey Trot (that had free childcare!) and ate Thanksgiving dinner with friends at our church. When we told Jack that he got to do his birthday party again at the church he was thrilled :)
 
 
The rest of the weekend we spent cleaning, eating too many leftovers, moving around furniture, getting out Christmas decorations, shopping, and playing indoor soccer.
Jack is finally into putting up ornaments and not pulling them down!

We baby proofed our tree this year

One of my favorite Christmas traditions growing up and one I want to continue is sleeping by the Christmas tree the first night we put it up.

David was not invited because he is the lightest and craziest and worst sleeper ever (taking this picture woke him up)

Ham with fresh pineapple all in one bite may be on my top ten favorite foods ever.

I love this article about picky eaters soooo much. These four were my favorite and really hit home for me :)

 
 
 
I have been thinking a lot about my friends who are having a difficult time during this holiday season and I really love this quote from this article:
"How can you be thankful when your doctor says it’s cancer? How can you feel grateful when the one you love just walked out of your life? Or when you’ve been fired, or your dream has collapsed, or an economic tsunami has wiped out all you’ve worked for? This year became the worst year of my life when my youngest son, who’d struggled since childhood with mental illness, took his own life. How am I supposed be thankful this Thanksgiving? When your heart’s been ripped apart, you feel numb, not grateful.
And yet the Bible tells us “Give thanks IN ALL circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” The key is the word “in.” God doesn’t expect me to be thankful FOR all circumstance, but IN all circumstances. There’s a huge difference. The first attitude is masochism. The second shows maturity. We’re not supposed to be thankful for evil or sin, or the innocent suffering caused by these things. But even in heartache and grief and disappointment, there are still good things that I can be thankful for....
So what am I thankful for this Thanksgiving?
I’m thankful that although life is not always good, God is always good. Having had a close friendship with him for nearly 50 years, I know without a doubt that God sees all I go through, he cares, he grieves with me, he is close and his strength is available at all times.
I’m thankful that even though I don’t have all the answers, God does. In tragedy we seek explanations, but explanations never comfort. It is God’s presence that eases our pain.
I’m thankful that this life is not all there is. It’s not the end of the story. One day God will right all wrongs, even the odds and settle all accounts. Justice will be served. Evil will not win.
I’m thankful for the hope of heaven. I won’t have to live with pain forever. In heaven, there are no broken relationships, broken minds, broken bodies, broken dreams or broken promises. The Bible tells us, “God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.”I’m thankful that God can bring good even out of the bad in my life, when I give him the pieces. It’s his specialty. God loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections, and then benefit the whole world. God never wastes a hurt if we give it to him."
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1. Click this link liketwice.com/6YpG2 to create an account and receive a $10 credit.
2. Download the Twice app on up to 3 different devices (there may be some quirks on android devices. I used 3 apple devices) for a $10 credit per app downloaded. (It will credit you with the $10 each time when you sign in to the app with the same account).
At this point you now have $40 credit on your account.
3. Pick out up to $80 worth of clothes.
4. Click this link (this part expires 12 hours after you click it, so don't click it until you are ready!) and get 50% off coupon code.https://www.liketwice.com/shop/?utm_source=blogger
5. Complete your order and have $80 worth of clothes sent to you, for FREE!

Three on Thanksgiving

Dear Jack,

Three years ago, in a nearly empty hospital in Logan, Utah, you quietly and miraculously entered this world and my life changed forever. It took just one moment to love your tiny six-pound body with dark brown hair, birdy legs, a button nose, and squinty almond eyes – I loved you so much that I thought my heart was going to burst! Instantly, my world no longer revolved my wants or needs but around you – your sleeping and eating and crying and diapering. I noticed your breathing, your dark peach fuzz, your smell, your tiny toes and fingers and bum and I loved it all! I laughed at your adorable hiccups and yawns and sneezes and slurps and toots.  I was amazed that my heart had the capacity to love so deeply – your were perfect because you were mine, because I created you and because you simply were. How miraculous that every soul that enters this world is loved immediately and unconditionally by a mother! Each stage of your three years has been a wonder - from cooing to crawling to walking to running to talking to loving your brother - ordinary, maybe, but miraculous through my mother eyes.

Thanks for letting me experience life through the eyes of a three year old boy. Thanks for pointing out the airplanes and tractors and cement mixers and construction sites and lawn mowers. Thanks for showing me all of the bugs. Thanks (kind of) for always making getting dressed or getting out the door a hilarious game of tag or hide and "shriek". Thanks for (at least) being the world's best PB&J eater and thanks for loving David (even when you love him too hard). And since you insist on waking up before the crack of dawn each morning, thanks for at least doing it cheerfully and for immediately telling me your dreams about us riding airplanes together to the moon. Thank you for your squinty-eyed smile and hugs and thank you for letting me kiss you anytime I want. Thank you for being YOU! I love you more than you’ll ever know and more than I ever thought I could.

Love,

Mom

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Jack's Three-Year-Old Interview

1. What is your favorite color? green and LOTS of candles 
2. What is your favorite toy? my lawn mower
3. What is your favorite thing to eat? pizza
4. What is your favorite TV show? Curious George
5. What is your favorite outfit to wear?  dinosaur shirt
6. Where do we live? the car and the gym and the swimming pool (oh dear)
7. What are your favorite animals? the birds and the giraffes 
8. Where does Daddy work? the "hosibal" (hospital)
9. Where does Mommy work? the "hosibal" (ha!)
10. What is your favorite book?  Dinosaur doctor one (How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon) and my snail book
11. What is your favorite thing to do outside? spray the bugs
12. Who is your best friend? Henry
13. What do you want to be when you grow up?  4 years old
14. What's your favorite game to play? hide and shriek
15. What do you like to take to bed with you? mom and dad :)
16. What's your favorite thing to do with Mommy?  have birthdays
17. What's your favorite thing to do with Daddy?  work
18. What's your favorite treat?  Christmas (???)
19. What is your favorite movie? Curious George
20. If you could go anywhere, where would you want to go? car ride
21. What makes you happy?  Frosty the Snowman 
22. What makes you sad?  I dunno
23. What makes you scared?  Scary Halloween (he LOVES Halloween :)
24. What is your favorite sport? Scooters
25. What's your favorite flavor of ice-cream?  White ice cream, pink donut

Can't think of a title

I had a few solid anxiety-free months of leaving the house with Jack and David in tow but then this happened and I'm back to square one:

I feel like I need to document the one hour this November Saturday when Gilbert was colder than Davenport:

Sometimes Jack insists that he takes his nap by his lawn mower in the basement and I think it's pretty cute:

I like how he puts this lego bag over his head and plays astronaut :) I think his friend must be playing vampire in a coffin or something  :)

Seriously, it's no wonder David is a horrible sleeper:

I liked filling out this map that was going around on fb. I included the states that I've driven through and the states where I've had layovers. Next places I'd like to fill in: Oregon coast and DC.
 
This looks like a picture of Jack comforting David when he is sad but really, Jack is loving on David so hard it hurts :)

We have new neighbors!!! Jack loves Presley and I love Presley's mom!

Other things we did while my mom was here

• We went to the mall to run a few errands. Unlike me, my mom actually puts the quarters in the ride machines so Jack and David were pretty excited. (I got stuck in the ride and sick on the ride.) Santa was already there and Jack sat on his lap but we didn't get a picture because they charged 20 bucks!

• We got burgers and the most delicious Heath milkshake ever at Steak N' Shake.
• My mom babysat while we went out on date on Friday night. We went to a improv comedy show similar to Jesterz in Arizona, except that it is only 5 bucks a person! Score.

• We woke up to snow on Sunday morning so obviously our Sabbath morning activity was sledding :) We have a hill right outside of our back door which I'm so grateful for! It saves us the exhausting work of packing up a car full of bundled babies. 

 

• Church - my mom gave Jack and David these adorable outfits that came from three different stores. She should be a baby clothing designer!

We had so much fun with my mom. The weekend was too short and Arizona is too far!

Party

My mom got a great deal on Allegiant Airlines last minute to come visit this weekend (under $200 round trip! Come visit me!) so we decided to have Jack's birthday party a little early while she was here. We didn't tell Jack that she was coming and he was so surprised and happy when we picked her up at the airport. He just kept looking at her, smiling at her, and saying, "Nanaaaa!" all weekend long :)

Jack had a blast at his party! We played with a parachute, hit a pinata, and ate pizza and pink donuts (his two absolute favorite foods - he doesn't like cake). Plus he was thrilled about my dollar store decorations and my lady bug, spider, and tractor non-theme that I had going on :)
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
My mom surprised him with his very own tractor/lawn mower and he obviously LOVED it. I think he thanked her about a million times. We took it out at the end of the party for everyone to try and he didn't get off that lawn mower until the lawn was covered in snow!
 
 
 
David loved watching Jack AND riding with him
 
 
 
 
The colder it got, the more serious David's face got :)
 
 
 
We took David in, but my mom and Jack kept going!
 
 
Later that night, we went out for Jack's birthday dinner at my favorite place - The Machine Shed. It was the best experience eating out with our kids yet! Jack was never content in a high chair as a baby so I was shocked when David played and ate and smiled in his high chair the entire time. Also, every restaurant should give out tractors to play with - The Machine Shed is definitely Jack's kind of restaurant! Now if only they served Little Caesars pizza...

They sang a birthday version of "The Farmer in the Dell" but Jack kept telling us that they sang "Ring Around the Rosies" to him.
 
 
Once the celebrations were all over, he kept saying, "Do again!? Do my party again!" I loved celebrating this cute boy of mine! I want to do it again, too!