new years

I was feeling a little dissapointed that we weren't going to Idaho this winter because I know the boys would have loved the cabin with all the snow. So when a friend on mine invited us to stay at a cabin in Arrowhead I was thrilled. Unfortunately, I left all our snow clothes in Idaho thinking that we would only use it there. But another friend of mine had some snow gear thankfully, so we managed. We had a great time just hanging out and playing in the snow a little bit. I have to say that the snow was more like ice and I think I have been spoiled by the soft, fresh snow that covers every inch of everything at Kyle's parents' cabin.

But the boys didn't seem to know the difference and as long as they are happy I am happy. One of the benefits of being pregnant.....not walking up the hill to sled.

Nixon had the biggest smile on his face until the sled stopped everytime. Then he would throw a tantrum until the next ride.

December

I haven't done a very good job at documenting December and now I can hardly remember what happened. In between holiday crafts, gingerbread trains and houses, elves hiding in our home, and Christmas cartoons only a few pictures were taken.

Church Christmas party. We ended up in the back of the line, but Nixon made googly eyes at one of the ladies in my ward who walked right up and put him in Mrs. Claus lap. He lasted with Santa for about a minute and was pleased to get a candy cane out of it, that he ate with the wrapper on.

Logan waited his turn and didn't go near Santa. Nixon wasn't too happy the second time around either.

Kyle's parents came for a visit since we weren't going to be going to ID for a winter trip. They brought along "the search for Santa Paws" which the kids watched nearly every day since then.

One night santa came down the street being pulled by a police car. Logan was most impressed with the police motorcycles/cars and sirens. Nixon was once again happy to get candy canes. They didn't care much for Santa.

Christmas eve we decorated cookies for Santa. It was a bit of the Nightmare before Christmas with my house covered in red and green sprinkles, and mounds and mounds of frosting on every cookie and face. Would you believe that Santa actually ate the cookies the kids left out for him? What a jolly guy!

For the first time in years, I couldn't sleep the night before Christmas. I guess it was a excitement for the kids mixed with a little bit of pregnancy induced insomnia. Christmas is so much fun with little ones. It took us about 2 1/2 hrs to open presents.

In November I asked Logan what he wanted Santa to bring him for Christmas and he told me a 4-wheeler. So I bought one. The day after I bought it I asked him again and he said he wanted a sword. I got each of the boys a lightsaber thinking it qualified as a sword. Logan looked at it on Christmas morning and said, "this is a lightsaber, not a sword." I don't know where he learned what that is, but he is still happy with it.

The 4 wheeler was a hit and the boys have enjoyed riding it ever since. Nixon is adorable stearing it.

Christmas evening was spent at my parents' house where I was so exhausted and didn't take one picture.

potty time

Friday morning I woke up, put underwear on Nixon and decided it was time to potty train him. He is one month older than what Logan was when I potty trained him. He had a few accidents that morning but once he woke up from his nap he stayed accident free the rest of the day.

Saturday we had to go to Lowes and Sam's club and I thought for sure he would have an accident, but he went to the bathroom once at Sam's club and made it home in the same dry clothes. Then Logan and I went to my parents' house and I thought for sure Kyle would slap a diaper on him (he's not really the day #2 potty training type), but I was surprised to find out that Nixon was still in underwear and accident free.

Sunday I was a little nervous because of our 3 hour church but somehow he managed to let his nursery teachers know that he had to "pee pee" and between Kyle and me checking on him he stayed nice and dry.

We are now on day 5 and he still hasn't had any accidents since day #!. I'm sure there will be some down the road, but I really am so proud of my big boy who loves his underwear. His little chuncky buns are perfectly pinchable, his tree trunk like thighs are adorable and I'm loving watching him run around diaper free.

And because my boys seem to have to be in competition over everything, Logan now wants me to watch him go to the bathroom and then congratulate him everytime!

It's getting crowded

Months ago we tried to put the boys in the same room. Kyle and I gave up quickly and so Logan's bed has been vacant ever since and he has been my bed buddy. Aside from the occasional foot in my face I really don't mind it. But lately he has had a group of animals that have to sleep with us always positioned the same. There is a Bronco bear on the left side of him that has to sleep on a football pillow with a little blanket. There is a brown bear that has to be on his right along with a penguin. A big mechanical grey cat and a small tan cat lay above his head. My bed is big, but it is getting crowded with all these creatures. I think it may be time to move all of them, including the boy out of my bed. It's only a few more months before another member of our family starts occupying my room (and it becomes an all girls room:).

definitely his father's son

monday night i took logan to a basketball game, csulb vs sfsu. while neither team was very impressive, we both managed to have a great time. he was pretty overwhelmed initially, lots of people, bright lights and a giant modern pyramid tend to have that affect on people.

we watched the game for the first 10 minutes until Logan started getting a little antsy. then i started pointing out stuff around us to keep him entertained....retired jerseys, giant scoreboard, the 49er mascot, and the cheerleaders. any guesses on his favorite? yep, the cheerleaders. only he liked to call them "dancing ladies". and although that reference is accurate, it just doesn't have a good ring to it. the rest of the night all he would say was "daddy, when are the dancing ladies coming back?" trust me, they were not that impressive.

we moved closer to the floor at halftime, got ourselves a cold diet coke, and resumed watching the basketball game/dancing ladies. soon enough it was time to go home and put the party animal to bed...plus logan was pretty tired too.

from what i hear, the following morning logan kept telling his mom "when it gets dark tonight daddy will come home and take me to see the dancing ladies". i have no idea what trisha thought the first time she heard that, but i can imagine it was not good and involved the packing of bags! she called me after she dropped him off at school and i quickly explained exactly what he meant. crisis averted.

atta boy son, att a boy.

Seriously?

I was driving to my dr's appointment this morning (don't worry mom, nothing serious) and was using my phone for directions. Traveling South on the 405 in the morning is painful enough, but I was nearing my exit I saw this on the screen:

Wouldn't it just be a lot easier to get off on the Brookhurst South exit? Maybe easier but definitely less fun!

When I finally got to the dr's office I had to answer yes to this question: "Are you feeling dizzy?". Thanks Google!

Things I Have Learned

Here are some things I have learned this week...in no particular order:

• Daylight Savings Time is so not worth it! It's dark at 4pm, my kids are cranky all day, and the hour I supposedly gained is lost resetting all the clocks in the house
• Nixon might like candy wrappers more than candy. He is always asking for his Halloween "nandy", but once it's gone he carries around the trash w/ him the rest of the day
• I am WAY too big to drive a Toyota Corolla
• Jamba Juice has some pretty good oatmeal
• the BCS is bound and determined to screw Boise State
  
• it doesn't matter how long I stay at a Krispy Kreme store that is soon to open, they always start making donuts the day after I leave
• going to the gym only twice a week makes me feel guilty. which is somewhat surprising since I only went 2 times in the previous 6 years
  
• Stockton, CA is a pretty nice town...IF you're the kind of person who likes Bakersfield, CA....and I am!
• it doesn't matter how tired Logan is, he still wants to wrestle all night
• I need to appreciate nice hotel rooms, because apparently they are more rare than I suspected
  
• Facebook is growing on me
• nothing makes Trisha more angry than sports on TV
• nothing makes me happier than sports on TV
• I always take a book on business trips but never have time to read it
  
• it doesn't matter if the Broncos play in Denver or London, they still need to fire their coach
• watching 48 Hours Mystery before going to bed is an interesting experiment
  
• working until 11pm and then eating dinner is not good on your stomach
• getting to know new people is pretty interesting...everyone has such a unique story
• I am a firm believer in Murphy's Law
• I have only voted for 1 winner since moving to California
• I like chocolate. I knew that already but Halloween always confirms it
• not seeing your kids for 3 days isn't very fun
  

My favorite quote of the week: "So, Californians voted for Jerry Brown and Barbara "don't call me ma'am" Boxer, and against marijuana. They elected 2 of the biggest idiots running for office and they weren't even high" - NPR Las Vegas

November beach day

Kyle has been out of town for 3 days. Only 3 days, but I am tired. So to keep the boys busy I very reluctantly packed up the sand toys and sunscreen and headed off to the beach. Turned out to be the easiest morning.

We dug a hole and filled it with water and then the boys starting fighting over the hole (there has to be a fight over something), so I dug another hole far enough away from Logan, filled it with water and all was well.

Hopefully, this was the last beach day until next summer.

October

Logan was star of the week at preschool. I talked to him about it the weekend before I knew it was his turn (because he is a little shy). On Tuesday morning he woke up and said, "mom, I don't want star of the week to come up at school." Sorry kid. He was happy on Thursday when it was all over. And then continued to wear his star of the week all weekend, everywhere we went. 3 year old pictures were taken a few months late 18 month pictures were taken a few months late

Pumpkin patch was visited

Logan was thrilled to drive the train

Nixon really wanted to ride it, but cried everytime we left his side so the ride never happened

He was happy to sit on this motorcyle while brother rode a firetruck. Once it started he cried and screamed through the whole ride.

He was happy just sitting on pumpkins, until brother knocked him off.

We carved pumpkins

Nixon didn't like sticking his hand in the pumpkin and once again cried

Either did Logan so he got a spoon

October ended with a Halloween party at church, the boys loved it.

And Kyle won us 4 free movie tickets by winning the chili cookoff!

Sometime in the middle of the month Kyle also turned 35. He chose to eat lunch with his friends, and play basketball that evening so there wasn't much of a celebration for him on his birthday.

Speaking of sports, why have I not realized that 3 major league sports are being played in the month of October?! Scary!!!

a frightening doc's appointment

Yesterday I had an OB appointment.

I dropped Logan off at school and Nixon and I started our drive on the 405 freeway.

All of a sudden a motorcycle policeman was driving next to me signalling 2-1 to me.

I was racking my brain for what 2-1 means?

So we drove next to each other for a little bit, trying to communicate, but my off ramp was coming up so I starting moving over lanes.

Now he was on my right side giving me the 2-1 signal.

I gave him my "I don't know what you are talking about" signal.

We continued next to each other for a while, until I decided to just pull over.

He got behind me, turned his lights on, and pulled me over.

He walks up to my car and tells me, "ma'm just so you know you aren't being pulled over unless a policeman's lights are on."

I was thinking, then just leave me alone.

He told me he was trying to figure out if I had 2 people or 1 person in the car, 2-1, since I was driving in the carpool lane.

My little Nixon was in his carseat, fast asleep.

Isn't it his job to just figure that out without distracting me while I'm driving on a busy freeway?

Gave me the perfect amount of anxiety right before my doctor's appointment.

Fortunately, my blood pressure was normal.

The whole time I was thinking......Logan would just be in heaven right now if he was in the car. He had a love/hate relationship with cops. Loves their cars/motorcycles, hates (fears) the actual policeman. He has been taught that policemen take bad little boys that hit their brothers to jail.

The actual doctor's appointment was not too exciting. I'm 21 weeks. New due date of March 13th. My doctor gave me the VBAC consent form so I can sign away my life should I choose to do it.

Nixon was an angel at the office although he walked up to everyone in the waiting room and wanted to sit on their laps and be held.

I need to start having talks with him about talking to strangers.