snow and christmas time

the first snow of the season came and my boys raced outside as fast as they could. they had fun. calder thought it was pretty cool.  it's so funny to see little kids in their snow gear.  when they fall down they can't get back up again. 

 

we didn't have boots for sam yet, so he wore his spider man galoshes.  pretty styling.

 calder was not too happy about being put on santa's lap.  look how sweet his brothers are.  you can tell they're concerned by the way they are looking at him. i love this sibling love.

we went to the fairgrounds for a christmas celebration.  along with meeting santa they had free dinner, a wagon ride, and animals to see in the barn.  sam's face sums up how we felt about the food.

 they had a cow, sheep, lamas, a donkey, bunnies, and then surrounding the fence was a bunch of themed trees, kind of like festival of trees.  it was neat.  my favorites were  the alice in wonderland tree and the lama tree.  so creative.

merry christmas to you all.  i feel like a kid again this year.  i can't wait for christmas to finally be here!!!

thanksgiving weekend recap

We took a trip to Nauvoo Illinios over Thanksgiving break to meet up with Jeffrey's parents.  We were lucky to have time to stop in Chicago and hang out with our friends on our way.  We met up at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.  It was incredible! I love this picture of Sam and me.  We're trying on some of the glasses they had in the gift shop.

 Baby Ian and baby Calder.  They were such good sports being trucked around the museum.  :)

 Olivia and Elliot in the tractor tire...sweet!

There were so many amazing things to look at, not the mention the submarine that the museum has in their basement.  They had to put it in while they were building the museum and lower it down into the basement.  We didn't get to go inside the sub, but I heard that it is a worthwhile experience.

 The next day we arrived in Nauvoo.  It was so nice to see Jeffrey's parents.  We found a Thanksgiving day buffet, had dinner (thanks mom and dad!), and then headed to see the temple.

 Jeffrey and I had a opportunity to come to this temple before we got married.  This was the first temple I went through.  It was a beautiful experience.  My thoughts turned to my Grandma Richards since she was there with me in the temple along with my mom.  I sure miss her sometimes.

 I love how swinging seems to make everyone happy.  What is it about swinging that we all love?  Calder had a big grin on his face. It was so cute.  By the way, just have to mention how good looking my husband is.  I love this pose.

 This is the spot along the Mississippi River that I, and a bunch of my friends from when I lived here in Nauvoo, jumped in the river in December.  It was so freezing but fun.  We used to have picnics on the dock down here too, but the dock is pretty much busted now.  It was sad to see.

 We had a good time going around the flats and learning how the pioneers lived and all the work they had to do just for basic needs. They made their own bricks for their homes, made all their food from scratch, made their own candles from animal fat, made their own rope, tin, horseshoes, rugs, barrels, guns, everything!  They worked from sun up to sun down.  It's incredible to think of all they accomplished.  What faith they must have had to move and rebuild each time the saints had to leave a location and move on.  I love church history.  It always makes me so grateful for all the comforts I have.  It also helps inspire me to have faith myself as I go through my own trials, even though my trials are quite different than theirs.  My boys had a pretty good time.  Their favorite part by far was being with grandma and grandpa and getting to ride with them in their rental car. 

 Here is a shot of Sam making rope.

 Grandpa, Calder, and Piggy.

 Elliot is standing in front of the sword that belonged to his Great, Great, Great, Great, Great Grandpa Willard Richards.  Willard Richards was in the jail with Joseph Smith, Hyram Smith, and John Taylor when Joseph and Hyram were killed.  It was a neat experience for Elliot and Sam to go to Carthage Jail where there were killed and to know that their ancestor had been there and tried to save his friends.  He did save John Taylor's life who later became the 3rd prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It is great to have such an amazing example of courage and faith.

This was the only group shot we got, but it's a cute one.  You can see on the boys' faces that they had a blast.  Thanks again to Grandma and Grandpa Allen for coming all the way out to Nauvoo to hang out with us!!

the boy of many faces...

yep

i will be carrying an epipen around with me from now on. 

we found out yesterday that elliot is indeed allergic to cashews ... and almonds and walnuts too.  finding out he is allergic to almonds was a surprise because he's had almonds and been fine.  the dr said it's probably a very minor allergy but that it is still a good idea to steer clear of them from now on. 
the nice thing is he is not allergic to peanuts.  so he can still have peanut butter and other things made with peanuts.  oh and when you get an epipen they also give you a practice epipen without any needle or medication in it.  i practiced it on myself and now i have a nice bruise on my thigh. :)

we're all hoping that the epipen stays in my purse and we will never need to use it, but it's nice knowing we have it just in case. 

cashew allergy

last night we gave elliot a cashew on dr.'s orders to see if he was really allergic to cashews or if the funny reaction he had as a 3 yr old was just an eye irritation.  elliot ate a little less than half a cashew.  right after he complained that his throat hurt and his tummy ached.  i thought maybe he was just making this up or imagining it because he kind of expected something to happen.  i told him he was ok because he wasn't reacting the way he did years before, which was itchy eyes and sneezing.  well, sure enough, half an hour later he came to me and said he was itching and he had developed hives!  poor kid.  we stuck him in a soothing bath and the dr said to give him benadryl.  it helped after a while and luckily although he did start sneezing and have itchy eyes and stuffy nose, his breathing was not affected.  so we are headed to the allergist next week.  i'm really curious to see how severe his allergy is and if he is allergic to anything else.  he's eaten a gazillion peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, so luckily peanuts do not affect him.  it was a sad situation last night, but i'm sure glad he is ok.  how strange to be allergic to just cashews, but i guess it actually isn't that uncommon.  so if you are around elliot, please keep the cashews at a distance.  thanks :)

haircut...

elliot had a decent amount of hair when he was a baby and toddler.  sam was pretty much bald until he was two.  

calder has had the most hair.  i've loved it, but it was getting a little bit too long to keep it from looking crazy all the time, so we decided to cut it.

    here are a few shots to give you a good idea of how it looks now.

he sure is handsome, but i miss those baby curls already.  kind of regretting cutting it so soon, but it's done and really it does look nice.  i love this boy.  we had a lot of fun giggling and running around the house this morning while i took a bunch of pictures of him.  it's been a good day :)

new look

i have given my blog a new look and want to know....what do you think?

pure joy

highs and lows

today's highs and lows

highs

jeffrey getting up early to help sam with homework we forgot to do, so i didn't have to.
calder sleeping in until 10am.
going to eat lunch with both of my boys at their school during their lunch time.
seeing how much my boys love seeing me show up at their school.
seeing how much they love calder.

lows

not taking a nap.
the gray sky.
being unmotivated to clean the bathrooms.


i'd say the highs definitely outweigh the lows today. : )

trick or treat

the cutest dragon we've ever seen. i love this picture because calder loves morgan. seriously he does. he's always walking up to her in hopes that she'll hold him. he pushes me away sometimes when i go to take him back. she's nearly in her 9th month of pregnancy and she still holds him. i think they have a special bond. we're excited to meet her new baby boy next month!

zombie man. did i mention how much i love this zombie?

darth vador....(elliot)

ninja master with his friend from kindergarten. i love how excited these little kids get when they see their friends. it's so cute.

all in all halloween was lots of fun. we went to the ward trunk or treat which was a blast and we got to go to a friend's house for another halloween party. the weather wasn't too bad either thank goodness. i remember trick or treating in snow or pouring rain numerous times as a kid in utah. i love how long fall lasts here in indiana. i'm so grateful for good friends too. it always makes holidays a lot more fun.

i had to add 2 more photos of calder.

one of calder's favorite places to play is in the kitchen in the tupperware cupboard. he's such a funny kid.

checking out an ambulance


he's such a cutie. running around everywhere and making all sort of cute sounds. i'm loving it.

quick trip

my brother eric had a convention in columbus last week, so we took a quick jaunt down to columbus to see him and have dinner with him. It was totally worth the drive. eric is always so much fun to be with. he loves my boys so much. there is something about seeing people love your children and making them feel special. we sure miss the old days when we used to drive up from ny to boston nearly every other weekend to see eric and sarah. it was a bummer that we couldn't see sarah and the kids too, but we'll take what we can get. luckily i got to chat with sarah on the phone the next day :) here are some pictures of us hanging out in eric's hotel room after dinner.




thanks for making time for us eric! we love you.

blah

i'm kind of in a funk today. jeffrey has to work nights occasionally and i can't seem to get used to it. last night he worked from about 10pm to 2am. I never go to bed when i should when he's gone too. it's just hard to fall asleep without him there. anyway, i woke up with the boys and got ready and i've been quite productive getting my young women stuff caught up and cleaning out my email, but despite being productive i am still feeling quite blah. i'm sure everyone has days like this. so here's hoping for a better attitude tomorrow.

these pictures make me feel happier.

today

cleaning up my house today in preparation of jeffrey coming home. jeffrey went on a trip with his dad to southern utah to do photography. i am very excited to see the shots he got. i love that they got to do this. we did great here too. the boys were very good. i lost my temper a few times, but we got through it and we're all alive and happy. it was sweet though to see how much the boys missed their dad. i am so glad that we love each other so much. it helps me through the hard, grumpy days. it was interesting how when sam would get mad at me he would start crying for jeffrey. it's nice to have 2 of us so when 1 of us is off, or upset, the other can step in to help and comfort. so yeah, i'm ready to have my teammate back.

calder is growing so fast. i love how when people see him walk, the comment i usually hear is, "that kid looks way to small to be walking." he's so stinky cute and little. his hair is getting longer too and we're just letting it grow. it gets a little crazy sometimes, but i love it.

elliot is taking piano. he started in august. he just got a christmas book and he is soo excited to be learning christmas songs. we'll have to have a little concert here in our home in december. wishing i had family here to invite over. we miss you family...

sam is a sweet kid and a punk at the same time. he still hits and punches elliot and i cannot figure out how to teach him not to! it's so frustrating. i've tried love and logic. i've tried 1,2,3 magic, spanking doesn't work, we've done cold showers....what do i do??? any suggestions? when he's in a good mood you can find him playing with calder, drawing and cutting things out at the table, looking at books, etc.

i'm quite happy with my life. i have decided for now i am not expecting myself to do any hobbies. i find when i do, i feel overwhelmed. so i am just enjoying being a mom and all that goes with it. every morning calder and i play on the floor with his toys for over an hour. it's so wonderful to have that quite time with him to bond and just enjoy this stage. it's over so fast, so i gotta get in as much time as i can right now. i've been lucky to go into my boys school once or twice a week. i love seeing them interact with their friends and their teacher. they always light up when they see me walk in the door. it's so worth it. i'm also loving being in young womens. it's busy but so much fun.

so yeah, that's what's on my mind today. again, if you have any suggestions for me about sam, please pass it on. thanks.

highs and lows

sometimes to get the kids to tell us about their day we have them tell us their highs and lows. i think that might be what i am going to do on my blog for a little while.

my highs today...
watching calder walk around saying, "mah, mah" (which means he wants more food)
seeing elliot sitting, looking, and listening to conference (of course it only lasted for a little while and he jumped back up to play)
watching jeffrey make a pie for me
getting the pans all washed
putting the kids to bed by 8pm, yes all 3 of them.

my lows today...
losing my temper with my kids too many times
caring too much about how the kids sit while they eat
seeing calder fall and hit his head straight on the door of his dresser. he split the skin and got a pretty bad bruise
having to say goodbye to jeffrey as he left to go to priesthood meeting

calder is one

we lucked out and my parents came into town for calder's birthday. it was such a good weekend. my mom got to stay a little longer and we talked and talked. i love that we are such good friends. i feel so lucky.

i actually made the birthday cake this time. usually it's jeffrey who does it, but with my friend morgan's help and inspiration i made this jello cake and calder loved it. the blueberries were his favorite part.

what a cutie.

so i have been wanting to write my thoughts regularly on my blog, but i never get around to it, or i sit down and don't know what to say. so i am going to try it out, but i may give up. we'll see.

i can't believe calder is 1. this year has flown by. it has been such a wonderful year. indiana really is such a good place for me. i am happy here. my depression doesn't seem to bother me as much here, which is such a relief from how hard it was in ny. calder has been such a joy. so has seeing his big brothers love him. they still just adore him! i was worried that once he was walking and getting into their stuff it would ruin it, but it hasn't. they get frustrated, but only with the situation, not with him. they still love him to death. it brings me so much joy to see the love these 3 boys share.

i don't know why it's been different, maybe because we aren't around family to have them watch calder and pass him around a lot, but i am so attached to calder. i have such a hard time leaving him with a sitter, letting jeffrey put him down to bed instead of me, and sometimes even letting someone else change his diaper. i know, sounds silly, but it is a real thing for me. he has not taken any bottles and so he has exclusively nursed and i have loved it. the only thing is, now that he is slowly weaning himself, it is so hard for me. the other night he stopped his night feeding and we are down to only nursing in the morning. i just cried, i was so sad. i still find joy in his progress and all the new things he is learning, but i just don't remember feeling this way with elliot and sam. part of it may be that he might be our last, or maybe i have just forgotten. i'm not sure.

anyway, that's what's on my mind tonight. that and mormon.org. we had a training from our church about mormon.org and how it is set up for people to go to to learn more about our church and to hopefully help people get a good understand of what our church is about and what our beliefs are. i am going to set up a profile hopefully soon. it'll be interesting.

well...good night.

calder walking...step by step