Go Utes! and cougars?

I'm disappointed, Harrison is a Ute fan, it's official.  At the ripe old age of 3, he's completely immersed in the wonderful world of sports and Chris insists he has nothing to do with his affinity for the U and tries to remain neutral.  Like a three year old can really decide all of this on his own.  Sigh, how does a BYU alum that not a big sports fan try to make up for the fact that Harrison has already been or watched on TV numerous sporting events for the U?  I make things up...

Here's the scene, Harrison and I are outside swinging and chatting a couple of weeks ago.  Our neighbors come outside in blue T-shirts.  Now, these T-shirts were not Cougar shirts, they just happened to be a nice "Cougar blue." It's so rare to see anything or anyone in a Cougar blue around here that I seize the opportunity.  

I say to Harrison, "Joni likes the Cougars..." 

Harrison looked over and pauses as he takes in the scene, finally he agrees, "Joni likes the Cougars."

I lead a little further, "Joni likes the cougars, does Harrison like the cougars too?

Looks at me, no hesitation, "No, Harrison likes Utah." 

I later relay the story to Chris as evidence that my child is being unfairly persuaded.  Chris, of course, not very sympathetic only remarks, "Does Joni know she likes the cougars?"  Okay, maybe I took unfair advantage of our good neighbor, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  

Harrison has asked for a chocolate football and soccer cake for his little family birthday party and oh ya, he wants a U on it.  Where does he come up with this stuff?  I ordered it today,  I filled all of his requests, but I did ask them to put a small Y on it somewhere.  I'm not giving in just yet, I have a little bit of Cougar Pride left in me.  Didn't have much while I actually attended the Y, but this feels personal.  Can you blame me?

Ah, cute...

We've had a pretty good day, hanging out around the house.  Grandpa came over to help me with a little project, he's my very own handy man and I don't know what I'd do without him.  Well, while he worked away I tried to keep the boys entertained or should I say it was the other way around.  Soon enough Harrison's favorite blankets came out and it was time to "tuck, tuck" everyone in for a pretend nap.  A favorite past time...

Harrison tucked in...

Carter tucked in, this is his FAVORITE blanket...I wish it was cuter.  Mental note, if you consistently just use "any old blanket" laying around, your little one may pick it as their best friend.  So much for an heirloom quality hand-me-down on this one.

And yes, the cat.  

Harrison decided that our cat, "Grey Kitty," needed to take a nap.  So, he tucked him in with his blankets and baby bear and bless that cat's heart, he put up with it.  I was amazed, I knew Grey was a pretty good cat, but now I'm convinced he was meant for our little family.  Thanks for being a good sport Grey, extra cat food for you (light cat food that is...).

 

Peek-a-boo

So today was a springlike day.  Yes, awesome, spring is on it's way.  Harrison and I put on our shoes and roamed around the outside of the house for most of the morning.  Anything to just be outside.  It went something like this:

Harrison: Peeks outside the front door and runs out...

Mom: Watching Harrison, but still inside with Carter.

Harrison:  Rings the front door bell.

Mom:  Opens door, "Yes Harrison?"

Harrison: "Trick or Treat!"

Mom:  "No Harrison, it's Springtime, not Halloween, silly..."

Harrison:  Runs off around the yard, doing whatever boys do in yards...

Repeat like 10 times.

Another scenario:

Harrison sitting on the front door stoop

Mom:  "Harrison, what are you doing?

Harrison:  "Wind blowing leaves, Mom.  Sit, Mom?"

Mom and Carter sit down on stoop with Harrison, sure enough, lots of leaves blowing down the street...pretty entertaining actually.

We did these kinds of little activities all morning long, kicking the ball around, up and down the tree house, swinging in the backyard.  We even went over to Fairmont Park and fed the ducks for a bit.  It was a fabulous intro to "Springtime with the Thomas Family."

One problem, I missed my Mom.  She would have loved a day like today.  Last spring it was still a common sight to see her running around our yard with Harrison.  She was great at swinging him "high, high," she loved to watch him in the tree house, she knew how to toss the ball just right for him to catch it.  I'm glad she had one spring with him to enjoy his boyishness, I'm glad he had her here for one spring to play with.  

Peek-a-boo Springtime.  Peek-a-boo Grief.

Sick Day

Today was lame, I was sick, Harrison is recovering and one step ahead of me.  So, Harrison and I have pretty much be convalescing around the house.  

On a happier note, Harrison has a new big boy bed.   He thinks it's the coolest thing ever.  When it was being set up he said, "Thanks Mom, it's Harrison's birthday."  No it's not his birthday, but you can see how cool he thinks it is.  While we've been sick it has actually been so nice.  I can now, climb into bed with him and read books and just hang out while we both cough and wipe our runny noses.  He's been adorable, very clingy to his Mom, in fact every sentence ends with Mom.  As if somehow, that lets me know how important I am to his get well process.  Well, it works, I melt every time.  

"Warm milk, Mom?"

"I need medicine, Mom.."

"You take a nap too, Mom?" 

and of course, the definitive statement while he snuggles up to watch Sesame Street for a little bit...

"My Mommy." 

Maybe being sick has some good parts...

Family Pictures, part 2

So, I know I talked about posting a few more pictures from our little family photo in November.  Yes, I realize it's now February and I'm just now getting around to it.  Well, better late than never.  The photographer is BrittanyGphotography.com and she is great...

Facebook anyone?

I'm officially giving into all of the things I once said I didn't have time for, with facebook topping the list.  It's pretty fun to see people from lives past and present on there, but now how am I going to update my blog too.  Yikes, I'm a little overwhelmed.  

Should I be posting this on my facebook page too, shoot, this is complicated.

These days...

So, I'm not going to deny it.  I don't get out of the house much, with two boys that love to nap I often enlist the help of a "Nap nanny" if I can find one, but most of the time it's me tag teaming with the boys as they trade off taking naps during the day.  So, you may ask what we do around the house ALL day long.  Well, here are some classic pics of where you will find us most often throughout the day in the house.

Picture #1 -  Carter is my little foodie.  He loves food, I think he'd eat all day long if he could.  And on top of that, he only wants to feed himself.  He gets a little annoyed if he can't hold the food and he also gets annoyed if I don't share with him.  The picture says it all...

One more note on Carter, he's officially army crawling.  I mean like just now, officially, as I'm sitting at the computer he has been all over the room with this little crawl.  Shoot, my little baby is getting big.  Here come the baby gates...

Picture #2 - Ah yes, potty training.  I've tried all the potty songs, treats, seats, encouragement, and bribes I can think of but we are still not sure if poo poo in the potty is really all that great. Really, can it get much better than a diaper?  Harrison isn't convinced, not one bit.  I often hear throughout the day, "I need a diaper."  We've got the pee pee in the potty thing down pretty well, but not poo poo.  Nope, not falling for it.  I can assure you I have listed off every person I can think of that does use the potty consistently:  Grandpa, Amy, Dane, Riley, Oma, and even Broccoli Mama (Barack Obama, duh).  Nope, no interest.  In fact, the only way he will sit on it is if we have a good book to look at, see below.  He's got to figure it out some time, right?

Anyways, I know your impressed with my exciting life.  What do I do with my days?  I'm building little men here, thank you very much, from the bottom-up.  Someday when my boys are grown and pooping and eating all by themselves I'll be happy to take credit for it.

American Idol, at last...

I may have mentioned I love reality TV.  Well, I  must say I got all warm and fuzzy when American Idol started again.  I'm not sure what it was, most of the auditions were pretty bad, but I loved every minute of it.  People are just interesting and sometimes when a really good audition happens I get really hopeful for them.  Afterall, it really could change their lives...For example, the welder guy, he was a pretty good singer, but his story totally touched me.  Then there's the band teacher with the cutest little girl in the world, Assa, I think was his name...LOVED HIM.  

Anyways, I'm involved now, so you may hear a little more from time to time.  Eh, why not?

A late breaking recap...

The Thomas Family on Christmas Eve in our fabulous Christmas jammies...

Presents for all

A day in the snow

My idea of fun in the snow

Lots to do, but a moment of reflection...

The other night we went over to my parent's house to spend some time with my Dad.  He has been understandably grieving and wanted us to spend some time over there, all of us.  I knew this would be a little hard for me, not that I haven't been over there since my mother's passed, but this time was the first time I brought Harrison and Carter with me.  

As we approached the door, I was holding Harrison's little hand, I asked, "Whose house are we at Harrison?" He obediently and knowingly answered, "Grandma's house."  This was tough, I knew what he was anticipating, walking in the door, running over to his Grandma, giving her a hug and running off to play with her.  My heart ached...

I'm grateful we went when there was lots of family there, my brother and his family, my sister, all there to entertain and distract Harrison from what I think he noticed.  When your two, how does that work?  Harrison gets upset when his teddy bear isn't in his bed at night or his blanket is missing.  How does he process that all of a sudden his grandma isn't talking to him on the phone everyday and playing with him when we go to her house and now, she's not there at all.  

It sucks really, I mean, I get it.  We'll be reunited after this life, but for this life it just kinda sucks don't you think?  You want your children to be exposed to your parents, with all their quirks and imperfections there are the great things too.  And, let's not forget, who else loves your children as much as you do, that's right, their grandparents. OK, I know this is turning into a pity party and I promise to stop.  My mother would give me a little sympathy here, but also she'd try and turn it around.

So, here's the turning point.  I am blessed.  No really, I AM BLESSED.  

1. I am married to an amazing man, it's obvious right.  The one thing I count my lucky stars about in life is that I married Chris.

2. I have an awesome family.  Some of you may know I can be a bit cranky, stubborn, sarcastic, I can go on, well I have a family that puts up with it and helps me through it.  Sometimes they even put me in my place.  You all know who you are, and I thank you for it.  The babysitting, the long talks, help around the house, just the general support I feel from loved ones.  Thank you. 

3.  My boys rock.  I can't say enough here.  Only that when I hear Harrison calling out, "MOM!"  and Carter squeals with delight every time he catches my eye...my heart skips a beat.

4.  I love being a mom.  It's hard work, it's challenging, I love it.  It's like learning a new skill set and taking a new career path.  I really think I can be successful at this, let's hope so.

5.  I have great friends.  I enjoy the talks on the phone, the lunch and shopping dates, the play dates.  Whatever, a good friend is hard to come by and I'm blessed to have the ones I do.

6.  I am loved.  I could go on and on about this, from spiritual and earthly perspectives, I know this.

Whew. So, I hope I turned things around here a little.  My Mom would be proud, I hope she is. Thanks for listening.

Family Picture = Hard work!

So, after that great family picture of us at Temple Square I thought it only appropriate to follow it up with another family picture of us.  This one a little better poised I hope.  Let's be honest I stressed for weeks on outfits, location, photographer, all of the necessary elements for a great family picture and I'm happy to say, "I like them!"  Whew, what a lot of work.  I have more on the cd and I'll probably post more, afterall, can you get enough of us!  Ya, that's what I thought, me neither...