Family pictures

So Korie took some family pictures for us at the beginning of the month. I have been anxiously waiting for her to edit the photo shoots that she had before ours, I finally got them on Saturday. I am so happy with how they turned out, but I really had no doubt that they would be good with Korie taking them. I am going to send out the family one in our Christmas card so you will have to wait to see that one.

Ashton loves to play in leaves, they just make him happy

Noah isn't about to be left out, if Ashton is playing with leaves then he will too.

I love the ones of Jason and Ashton

This is my favorite one of Ashton. I can't believe how grown up he is already.

Happy Birthday Jason

All of my boys have their birthdays in November, so it makes for a busy month but then I am done with Birthdays for quite a while. We headed to lunch with my brothers and Mom and Myron at the Red Iguana then came back to our house for cake and presents. Well that was the plan anyways but no one wanted to have cake after lunch so we just did presents.

I think the favorite present had to be the Nerf gun, and I am not sure who had the most fun the adults or the kids. Of course the battery in my camera died after I got just a couple of pictures so I don't have any of the boys playing with the gun. I wish I did it was so funny to watch them play.

Then we had the Bellamys over and we played games and had cake. I hope it was a fun day for Jason I did let him decide what he wanted to do all day. I love you babe and hope you have a great year ahead of you!

Decking the Halls

Since I was little I remember the day after Thanksgiving was always set aside for decorating for Christmas. The tree went up and the Christmas lights on the house went up and were turned on that night. I loved that tradition and it is one that I am continuing in my own family.

I decided to get up and go do some shopping on Black Friday so I got up and left the house at 3am, I had my course mapped out as to what stores I headed to and what I wanted at each store. I got some great deals and I am very close to being done with my Christmas shopping. I was back home by 7:30am.

I pulled all the Christmas boxes out and took down the fall decorations, the house is usually a mess for a day of two before everything is put up and the boxes are all put away. We headed to our usually tree lot in Bountiful, we have been getting our trees there for the last 4 years so it become tradition to go there.

We actually were able to pick out the tree pretty quickly this year, usually it takes forever decide. Last year Jason talked me into a Charlie Brown type tree, I had never been a fan of this kind before but we tried it last year and I fell in love with it. I loved the uniqueness of it, so this year we got the same kind again.

We came home and got to decorating the tree. I put on the lights while the family watched.

We let Ashton help put ornaments on the tree, it was so cute how excited he was to help. He liked to clump all the ornaments together, so I did have to move them around after he went to bed, but it was so fun to let him help.

When Ashton is concentrating on something really hard, he sticks his tongue out. I think it is so cute.

Noah on the other hand was not so helpful, he kept taking the ornaments off the tree. It is going to be a challenge to keep him away from the ornaments. Ashton was never bothered the trees in the years past, he just kind of ignored them Noah on the other hand makes a beeline for the tree whenever he seeing the tree.

Thankful

We headed down to my mom's house early this year so I could help in the kitchen. With mom only having one good arm she is a little slow. Josh came and stayed at our house for a few days to he spent the holiday with us this year. Since I was helping in the kitchen Jason and Josh were in charge of Ashton and Noah. Things went really smooth and we actually had everything ready to eat on time. We tried to take a family picture because we need a new one and the only person we were missing was Tyson, but they didn't turn out as great as we had hoped. I need to do some editing before I am going to show the picture to anyone :)

Dinner was delicious as ever we had Turkey with a juniper butter, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, cauliflower and cheese sauce, fruit salad, rolls, celery and cheese, pickles and olives. It was all delicious, it is so fun to have at least one child who will eat anything you give him, Noah loved everything we gave him and he tried some of everything.

Jason and Josh after dinner they couldn't stay awake.

Because I was busy in the kitchen I forgot to take pictures during the day I only got a couple, so I will have to see what pics my mom took and get some from her.

Uncle Aaron was rubbing Ashton's back, while he was watching a movie. Ashton is so funny, hw loves to have his tummy and or back rubbed. He will pull up his shirt so it is on his skin and it's like he falls into some kind of trance, he is in heaven. This reminds me of the twins when we were growing up they loved to have their stomachs rubbed, I use to do this for them too.

Happy 1st Birthday Noah

Now if someone would of told me that I would have two children with their birthdays a day apart, I would of laughed at them and thought that would be impossible.

I now know that it is definitely possible. My boys are two years and 1 day apart. I guess I should be glad I didn't have them on the same day, that would of been really weird.

Noah was so cute at the party on Saturday he really didn't know what was going on except for the fact that there were a ton of people all over his house. He actually helped a little bit in tearing off the wrapping paper on some of this presents. He got some really fun toys and books, that I know both boys will enjoy.

One of these days Noah will stop drooling, but until that day he shirts stay soaked like this most of the time.

I made him his own cake to dig into, but I did forget to take it out of the fridge before I gave it to him so the icing was hard and he couldn't dig into it. Korie took a little piece out of one corner for him to get started with the cake, but Noah just wasn't interested. He actually pushed the cake off his tray, and I barely caught it in time before it hit the floor. I of course didn't get any pictures of him eating the cake but I know Korie did. Noah did get another first at the party, Korie gave him a sucker and he LOVED it, it was really cute watching him suck on it he knew exactly what to do with it.

I made one big cake to eat. There was a number 1 for Noah then a number 3 for Ashton. It was a new recipe I found a white sour cream almond cake with a homemade raspberry filling. It was so delicious if I do say so myself.

Because we had a party for the boys on Saturday I decided that we needed to make their birthday day special too. For Noah we went to play group today because Amber was having a party for Nathan who's birthday is on Friday, then we headed home for nap time. I want to make the day special for Noah, but I am also realistic about the fact that he doesn't know what is going on. So maybe he will get lucky and get some fun treat tonight. I am debating whether or not to give him another present to open. We only gave him one at the party and originally I was going to give him one today also, but in light of all the stuff the boys got I figured he isn't going to know the difference.

Some of Noah's favorites at one:

Mom, he is definitely a mamma's boy both boys actually are and have been since I haven't been working. I am not so sure how I feel about this, I liked it when Daddy could do things for them and it didn't have to be me all the time

Binky, he loves his binky, usually the only time he will spit it out is for food

Food, he will eat anything you put in front of him. It is so nice to have at least one child that is easy to feed

Noah has become a much happier baby as his mobility has gotten better, he is walking all over the place and has been since the beginning of October.

He loves to play with Ashton, and do whatever his big brother is doing

Books, he loves to flip the pages

Blanket, he has just recently become attached to it, he tries to walk around with it but he usually trips on it. Now I have two boys with favorite blankets, which is fun, but also a pain if it ever forgotten for sleepovers.

Noah has started to defend himself by pulling hair. I don't let him do it, but on the other hand with how Ashton has picked on him I kind of think he deserves it sometimes :)

The cats, he loves to pet them and loves it when they play with him. The cats are getting better about letting the boys pet them.

Noah likes to throw temper tantrums when he doesn't get his own way. I usually just laugh and let him do it.

I can't imagine my life with out Noah in it. I know some days that I wonder if I can really handle these boys but I would never want to know what my life is like without them. They are two of the cutest kids I know. I know all mom's think that about their children and that is okay.

happy birthday Noah Mommy loves you!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Ashton

I can't believe it was only 3 years ago that I gave birth to you. It seems like just yesterday, well not really but the time has gone by way to fast.

I decided to have one big party for both of the boys seeings how their birthdays are only a day a part. So we had the party for them on Saturday. I was going with a carnival theme for the party, I thought it would be fun to have games for them to play and prizes to win. I made treat bags for the kids and they each got animal hats. I invited everyone from playgroup along with the grandparents and uncles.

I was counting on the weather cooperating but, all week they were predicting snow. And of course we woke up to snow Saturday morning. So I had to do some rearranging and we had to have it in the house. We do not have a house big enough to have a lot of people and kids running around, but we made it work. I had games spread out in the bedrooms upstairs and one downstairs. We had a balloon artist come and he did a great job, the kids seemed to like it along with the games and prizes. We had carnival food to eat (meaning junk food, hot dogs, popcorn, nachos, candy and soda). Overall it was a great day and it turned out really well inside after all. I didn't take a lot of pictures, because I had Korie taking pictures for me so I didn't have to worry about that along with everything else which was nice. So I don't have a lot of pictures I will have to get them from her.

Both boys got a ton of stuff, we are so blessed to have so many great friends and family. By the time we were done it was seriously like Christmas morning. These boys don't need anymore toys!!
So today was Ashton's birthday and I wanted to make it fun for him, so I decided to have a "Yes" day for him. Anything he asked for as long as it was within reason I was going to say yes too. I worked out pretty well except for a few times when he was hurting Noah, he still didn't get away with that. So we went to the Aquarium with Korie and the boys, then to Chick-fil-a for lunch and to let the boys play at the play place. It was a good day all around

Some of Ashton's favorite things at three are:

trains

cars

movies(I have to be careful he would watch them all day long if I let him) I have just recently started to let him watch cartoons, he loves to watch little Einsteins, go Diego go, Dora the explorer, and the mickey mouse clubhouse

sippy cups(this is going to be a hard one to break him of)

going to Target and looking at the trains

Going to grandma and pappa's house

Uncle Leland

He loves to read books, we read every night before bed

Ethan, he loves playing with him. Ashton is such a follower so he loves to follow him around, and he will pretty much do whatever Ethan wants him to do

Kids in general, he is such a social kid, although he is a bully which I am not fond of but, I don't know how to cure him of this one

He loves to run into Noah's room when he wakes up and play with him. He is turning into a good big brother, he wants to share with him more often, and he wants to play with Noah. He still is a little mean to him, but he is getting better plus it is helping that Noah is starting to retaliate when Ashton is being mean

He still is a picky eater there is a small list of things he likes to eat (sandwiches, toast, cereal, string cheese, apples, applesauce, nuts, raisins, fruit leathers, chicken nuggets, rice, french fries, quesadilla, pancakes, french toast, waffles, bacon, turkey slices) some days it is quite challenging to feed him, but hopefully he will grow out of this

I can't imagine life without Ashton, he is such a wonderful little boy, and I have to keep reminding myself he isn't a baby any more he is a little boy.

I love you Ashton!!!!!

Leaves

I knew that there was snow coming, so one morning while Noah was having a nap Ashton and I went outside to rake up some leaves. Of course we had to play in them before we raked them up. Ashton had so much fun he loved it, and I loved that he had so much fun in them.

I love the fall. I love the leaves changing and the cool crisp weather.

Tagged

Okay so Natalie a friend tagged me to write 10 random things about myself, so here it goes:

1. I am typically not a competitive person, except when it comes to me playing sports
2. I LOVE to travel, I love taking spur of the moment trips. Unfortunately I married a man who doesn't like to travel so I am working on him, because I need to go places :)
3. I am kind of a picky eater, I have no problem picking things out of my food if I don't like them.
4. I love to bake,I like to blame this on my grandma she was always baking and I still use her recipes today. I try not to do it very often because if it is around my house I don't stop eating it until it is gone.
5. I also enjoy cooking, but I HATE to clean up the kitchen when I am done.
6. I am a complete klutz, I tend to do retarded things that get me hurt. For instance on Saturday I was walking through a parking lot and stepped in a little hole and went flying through the air landed on my knee. I was mortified especially since I did it right in front of a family getting out of their car. Oh then there was the time I walked into a lamp post, this could go on and on.
7.I hate being late for things, but it seems like since having children I can never get out of the house on time.
8. I love to shop, I think it is a cure all for everything. If your sad go shopping, if your happy go shopping, if your depressed go shopping. It is a good thing I have a husband who is good with money and has helped with curb these shopping tendencies.
9.I hate putting away the clean laundry. I don't mind washing it, but I hate putting it away.
10. All of the jobs that I have had in my life have been with food in someway, except for one. My first job was at Baskin Robbins, Albertsons in the bakery, Wirthlin world wide(I did telephone surveys), Albertsons again in the bakery but at a different store, it was here that I learned to decorate and then became a decorator, Hertiage as a baker/decorator, HC Brill teaching people how to decorate cakes, Now I am a stay at home mom, and seems like every time I turn around there is a meal that needs to be made and cleaned up.


Now as for tagging people, I tag Ariana, Korie, and Jason.