The boy's vacation

Where were my boys while I was lounging in the hospital you ask?

Living it up at Aunt Mak and Uncle Dave's casa. With a finale trip to Grandpa's house (Grandma was being Mary Poppins in Egland taking care of another baby who needed her).

Check it out. No wonder they didn't want to come home. Good thing we had a cute sister to entice them with.

You can call her J Lo

On June 2, at 1:45 p.m. Jane Lois Wren joined us weighing in at 7 lbs 12 oz. and is 20 inches long.

I am totally in love and think she is the most perfect little thing since my other two were this little. More pictures later (s well as the boy's reaction) For now we are busy watching her sleep...



and petting her soft head...



and fighting over who gets to hold her...



and drawing her welcome pictures...



and ransacking the toy boxes for things she might enjoy playing with...


and listening to her squeak like a mouse when she yawns!

Overalls

My boys have recently been obsessed with the children's TV show about two bunny siblings Max and Ruby (I sincerely can't figure out why they love it and I have some issues with it, but that is another post for another time...) They watch the episodes we DVR so much that they can pretty much quote them by now. Sam always opts to be Ruby who, although she is a girl, she is the oldest and gets to tell Max what to do. Thomas just wants Sam to notice him, and is willing to be whoever Sam tells him to be, so he is always Max. Sam has recently been concerned that we don't have a pair of overalls (Max's outfit) to put Thomas into to really get him into character (Thomas has to dress the part, but Sam doesnt, thank goodness...). I have given a lot of vague promises about looking for some next time we are at the store, but hoped he would let it go. This morning he took matters into his own hands (which I should have expected) and made a pair for Thomas, complete with stripes and his name. What do you think? :-)

My Thomas

With the imminent arrival of new baby I have found myself being very nostalgic about my baby for the last three years (not that I am allowed to call him that. "I'm just Thomas, mom!!!"). I realized that many of my recent posts have centered on what Samuel is up to. This doesn't mean that T has been inactive (or quiet) by any means. There just haven't been as many isolated, blog worthy moments with him lately. Instead, he is a conglomeration of Thomas-isms that make him our unique, fierce, funny little boy. I don't have the right words to adequately describe this kid's personality, but he is such a unique presence in our home in a way that is very different from Sam. I'm lucky in my boys. They may drive me to the looney bin some days, but mostly I feel like I don't deserve such good kids.

He has recently stopped calling himself "my thomas" as in "where is my thomas' shoe?" but the nickname has stuck, particularly with his dad. Here is our "My Thomas" list:

--He is going through a timid phase at the moment, but feels a lot more comfortable with a sword in his hand and will brandish it and say "I'm a BAD GUY!!!" If possible, he will ignore the many actual play swords in the toy box and reach for an unsharpened pencil and tell us "pretend this is a sword!" Ditto for the hook he has to constantly carry around to be Captain Hook. I got him a play one at a party store and he still prefers a hanger or the dough hook from my kitchenaide mixer. He has to have a "weapon" when watching a show that has anything remotely scary in it, and gravitates toward the few Disney shows that feature guys with swords (Hercules is the favorite) and he will mimic the fighting on the screen.

--I recently made him a peter pan shirt (the quality of which makes me unwilling to post a picture for posterity...) and when he puts it on, he switches right into character. When he is upset about being told "no," his catchphrase is usually "that makes me saaaaadddd...." but when he's in character it's "That makes Peter Pan sad!!" When told to stop throwing bologna on the floor, he looked me in the eye, shrugged and told me Peter Pan did it (what the heck did I expect him to do about it??) To be honest, Peter Pan is kind of a stinker...

--My Thomas is a cuddler and always has been! Unlike Sam who recently informed me that he would only let me cuddle him "when he wakes up with a nightmare, but during the day I just want to be silly." I'm more grateful for my little one who crawls into my lap all the time and wants to have his back rubbed. This morning, he gathered all the pillows in the living room and piled them around us and snuggled down. Every once in awhile he would reach up and pat my face and say "I love you, mom." He may be an evil genius who knows just how to manipulate us but I don't even care. Moments like those tend to make up for the exploration and consequent experimentation with the contents of my make up bag, or the 500th time he smacks his brother, etc.--My Thomas is active. This is a child who barely sleeps and has no time to eat and is the first one up every day and runs into our room to inform us that it is morning. The dark blinds no longer fool him in the morning, since he has taken to crawling out of bed whenever he wakes up in the night to check behind them to see if it is day. Good thing Jay is a morning person... There is no elevated surface in our house that T has not jumped off of and since I recently banned him from leaping from the couch arms, he has taken to pretending to fly from the top of the stairs. I expect a trip to the emergency room every day with this one.

--We call Thomas our "puppy" and he really fits the bill. All he wants to do is play catch and if no one will play with him, he throws the ball for himself and then cheers "Go Thomas!! All Right!!! Yeah!!!" As a barely crawling baby, he would carry things around in his mouth and bring us balls to throw for him, which he would fetch. Since we call him "puppy" a lot, he spends at least some part of every day officially pretending to be one and requires head scratching and doggie praise.

--My Thomas is intense in everything he does and always has been. He recently got a new pair of flip flops that he did not want to take off for a second. He placed them at the end of his bed at night and would put them on first thing in the morning. When he wasn't wearing them, he was carrying them. He is both Samuel's best friend and worst enemy without much in between. I love it when they play, but oh the fighting and the teasing...! Thomas has a healthy dose of "the little brother gene."

--My Thomas is a sweetheart. Not a sunday passes by that he doesn't tell me that I look "pretty" or "beautiful" on the way to church. He has recently started passing the compliments around to J and Sam, but I get the brunt of them, which I am actually okay with. Of both boys, he seems to be anticipating baby sister's arrival the most. He often points out baby girls when we are at the grocery store and asks if sister will be like that.

--My Thomas is a singer. Surprisingly, this kid sings all day long (Sam won't even sing in primary these days). He can remember lyrics really well and is actually in tune most of the time. If you are really lucky, someday you may hear him sing the "Go the Distance" song from Hercules, and it will melt your heart forever. You have to pretend not to listen though or your won't get a performance. His other favorite is the "Happy Family" primary song and usually busts it out when he is in the bathroom for some reason.

Learning to wink!

Thomas-isms:

"Are you nice?" (guaging whether or not I am still angry after he has gotten in trouble for something)

"How I'm lookin'?" (after getting dressed. He will put his hands on his hips and strut around the room.)

"I deeped in the water" (after he has accidently let his head go under the water at the swimming pool)

"I want some cereal with the bag on it" (translation: I want some cereal in a bag?)

"Can I have a juice of water?" (drink of water).

"I'm not going to talk anymore" (his threat when he is mad at me. Unfortunately, he never keeps his word...)

"I'm a BIG boy" (when trying to coax us to let him do something he isn't allowed)

"I'm just a little boy" (when trying to talk himself out of having to eat more bites of dinner)

The Pixie Motel

I have always thought my neices were the greatest, but I now have reason to believe they might be the most creative and clever as well. We are lucky enough to have L visiting from California for the next few days and invited A over to play as well. The two of them made the greatest creation my backyard has yet seen. Aside from the extreme creativity of these girls, and feeling reminiscent because it was exactly the kind of thing my best friend and I would have done at the same age, it was so gratifying to see little girls being little girls for a change and enjoying sweet simple things. It feels like there is so much marketing focus directed to little girls to be grown up and mature (a la Bratz Dolls, etc.) that is is refreshing to see some get excited over something as classic as fairies. A has reported in the past that she gets razzed at school for being "old fashioned" meaning she is into things like fairies and loves the Muppets. Someday, I hope my daughter at 10 finds joy in these same kinds of things and doesn't feel the pressure to be older than she is. There is so little time to be young and so much to be old.

Both girls are very into the Neverland Fairies franchise and after playing with the dolls for awhile decided to build a Pixie Motel in the backyard for any fairies visiting "The Mainland" who might be tired. It was adorable, so creative and 100% their doing...(for the record, I apologize that some of the pictures are washed out. It wasn't a great time of the afternoon for picture taking but I wanted to make sure we captured what we could.)

Cutting the ribbon for the "Grand Opening"

Inside the Motel...

This was Samuel's creation since he desperately wanted to join in the game and do whatever the big girls were doing. It occurred to me later that we skipped a T-ball game (come on, they are twice a week!!) so he could build a fairy house with the girls. Think that will come back to bite us?! ;-) However, to be fair, he has no idea what a fairy is (judging by his confused questions), and only knows of Tinker Bell from Peter Pan so we had his creation be the Lost Boys hideout. He could relate to that! I love my creative boy.

The sign in front of the Lost Boys hideout courtesy of Sam

Feel free to send any weary pixies our way! I sincerely wish that we could keep the Pixie Motel in the backyard forever looking just the way it is (although Jay might object next time he mows the lawn!)

P.S. Just in case you are curious where Thomas was while all of this creativity was going on, he was watering all my plants in nothing but his underwear and a knitted ski hat. I like to think it was creativity of a different kind...

Raffi has a Birthday Party!

Around March, Sam became obsessed with the idea of throwing Raffi a party. It probably had something to do with his own party the month before, but I thought it was ironic since we "adopted" Raffi in March of the year before, so it actually was kind of a birthday (as much as stuffed animals have them anyway!). So, since we have already established that I am a sucker and since Sam was clearly not going to let the idea go, we designated one evening for Raffi's birthday party. Sam very much took the reins with this party, by the way. I helped with a few things like actually baking the cupcakes and finding stuff for the goody bags, but he did the rest and it was actually very fun! Making the carrot cake batter for the cupcakes. Because carrots are what giraffes like to eat (and because it was the only cake mix in the cupboard...)

Hard at work decorating the cupcakes.

Can you tell I didn't help? I would also like to point out the one that Thomas couldn't resist "testing."

Samuel decorated goody bags for the whole family.

The contents of the goody bags (again, the best that what was on hand in the pantry could provide!)

Decorations for the party

Helping Raffi open his present (a ball and a jitterbug baby toy) Raffi was thrilled as you can see by his facial expression.

Yes, we did light a candle and sang the song and those of us over five felt a little foolish, but tried to be good sports for the little folk who thought it was awesome. Raffi needs a little help eating his cake because Sam carries him by the neck so much, he has lost all the stuffing in it and tends to flop (and also because he isn't real...).

Sam created a game of "pin the anchor on the ship" and helped Thomas who tends to walk into walls even without being blindfolded.

I think J was cheating

Sam and Raffi playing with Raffi's new ball

So worn out from the excitement of the party they fell asleep during their pre-bed TV show (just had to document since this so rarely happens. They would both be night owls if we let them).

The End

Where have we been?

Shame on me! Should anything be more important than updating my scintillating blog?! What have we been up to that is so important? This one is for you Kate...

EASTER

Thomas is rarely without a hat. I should probably buy him some that actually fit.

All the cousins waiting for the Easter Egg Hunt. We missed you "missing" cousins!

Little Birdie counting her eggs

Lily among the lilies

Will finding new and improved uses for his silly putty.

TULIP FESTIVAL

FOOTBALL

Jay joined a local team recently and is having a blast being back on the field despite the multiple hurts he brings home after every game. They definitely worry me more than they worry him, though. I like going to the games since I have never gotten to watch him play before. I guess I didn't spend enough time in high school checking out cute #55 out there on the field. He started to play for Weber State but changed his mind about it before I got to see him play then either. The boys like going to watch the games because we bring a nerf football and they play "tackle" next to the stands and because I let Sam go to the concession stand on his own. They have a hard time picking Jay out on the field, but are impressed with his helmet and football gear in general.

Samuel usually meets Jay at the door every day after work with a "want to wrestle, dad?" Since football season started, he has been nursing jammed fingers and a tricky hamstring so the wrestling matches have been fewer and further between, but he can still bust it out on occasion.

T-Ball

"Monkey Do" likes to practice along with Sam.

Samuel started T-ball a few weeks ago and is having a lot of fun with it. We got him a Tee to practice with in the back yard and he likes to pretend he is coaching thomas. When Sam isn't looking, Thomas will steal Raffi and hit him off the Tee. I pretend I don't see. That raffi could use being taken down a peg or two. The games are the best part about t-ball. If you are having a bad day, find a five year old t-ball game and I promise you a good laugh. For such little ones they don't put kids in the outfield, but let them all hang out around where the pitchers mound would be to let them go after the grounders from the tee hits. Some of the other teams line the kids up and let them each take a turn getting the grounder, but Sam's coaches just put them all out there and just figure the fastest kid will get the ball. The problem is that they all want it and just because someone already has it doesn't mean they shouldn't try anyway. They are all business waiting for the ball to get hit, bent over with their hands on their knees like the coach taught them. The minute that ball leaves the tee, they all rush forward and dogpile on top of the ball and tussle for it while the coaches shout "don't fight, don't fight!" It's awesome. The video doesn't show them in their "ready stance" which is one of the best parts, but it is the best one I could get before my batteries ran out. I think every one of these kids has a career in football.

Coming soon:

Raffi's Birthday Party

Our Bathroom Mascot

The many personalities of My Thomas

Intrigued?