Pre School Countdown and my toe

So today we got to go and meet Ashton's teacher for Preschool, and to check it all out.  He was so excited to go.  We had bought him a back pack a few weeks ago and he likes to wear it around the house and say that he is going to preschool.  His teacher Miss Gail had a little open house today so we could go and meet her and check out the school, she also took  pictures of the kids to put on their baskets for their homework. 


Ashton and Noah both had so much fun playing with the toys and the other kids that were there, it was difficult trying to get them to leave.  Ashton actually cried and threw a fit because he wanted to stay at preschool.   He was so upset about wanting to go back to preschool, when we got home I quickly made this countdown for him,  so he knows when he gets to go back to preschool.  I am thrilled that he is so excited to be going, it is nice having a child that is so well adjusted that he will be excited to go to preschool and isn't worried that I won't be there with him.

I am so excited for Ashton to be embarking on this new adventure, it is going to be so good for him.

On a separate note, a few weeks ago I stubbed my toe pretty bad and thought that I was going to lose my toe nail.  It hurt for about a week and then seemed like it was going to be fine.  Then Sunday night I was putting the strollers away in the shed and I stubbed my toe again this time there was no saving it.  I had to go to insta care and have it taken off, it was only attached on one side.  Having the toe nail itself taken off was easy the part that hurt was the shots to numb the toe.  I will admit I cried it was awful, I am a baby.  So now I have a huge purple bandage and there will only be flip flops in my near future. 

Thanksgiving point

So I thought it would be fun to go to Thanksgiving point, they are having the 2 buck Tuesdays in August, so I called Korie and asked if she wanted to come too.  We met at our house and spent about 30 mins trying to fit all of us and two strollers in one car.  We finally got all the car seats wedged and buckled in and off we went.  Now we could of saved ourselves the struggle and taken two cars, but it was much more fun to all go together.

It was extremely busy the line to get into the dinosaur museum was ridiculously long.  I knew it would be so we were just going to farm country, to see all the animals.  The boys had a blast, Ashton saw other kids feeding the animals so he wanted to try it,  He did awesome with holding out his hand and letting the horses eat off his hand.  Noah even tried it but wasn't quite as successful.  Noah wasn't scared of them at all, he even tried to climb in with the horses at one point. 

Ashton loves to play with Ethan.  Sometimes I forget that Ethan is so much older than Ashton.  They are almost the same height.  I kept trying to get them to both look at the camera and smile at the same time, it didn't happen oh well.

The boys got to choose go on a pony ride or a wagon ride.  We ended up going on a wagon ride that was pulled by two horses.  The boys loved it.

And of course the battery died in the camera before I got a picture of all of us.  But who am I kidding my children cooperating for a picture, that is a laugh !!

Antelope Island

Last Saturday, Ashton was sleeping Noah was playing with Trains and Jason and I were in the office both on our computers.  Jason said out of the blue, lets go to Antelope Island now those that know Jason he doesn't usually come up with ideas like this.  He is happy and content to stay at home, while I am the one that loves traveling and going on little adventures.  So I jumped on this idea and said lets go.  We had to wait till Ashton woke up, (which incidentally was only a few more minutes, thanks to Noah) and off we headed. 

I none of us had ever been there before so I thought I would be fun.  We got there and headed to the visitor center, cause you have to see the visitor center, it was small but was kind of cool.  I think that best part was actually right outside, there were about three birds nests that had baby birds in them.  We stood and watched them for a while, it was fun to see the mom bird come back and all the baby birds sit up tall and open their mouths for some food, and off the mom would fly again. 

Then we headed down to the water.  It was quite the walk to get down to the water, the sand was so deep and soft that with every step you would sink in the sand, it was not easy going.  The boys were both so excited to go and play in the water.  Noah had insisted on bringing his ball with him.  He didn't let it go till he got in the water.

Ashton decided he needed to collect rocks on his way, he had so many at one point he couldn't keep them all in his hands. 

The water wasn't as stinky as I thought it was going to be and the boys had a blast playing in the water.  They could of stayed there for hours.  They were throwing rocks and mud and Daddy even showed them how to skip rocks. 

We had to practically drag them when it was time to go.  I wasn't really prepared for them to get in the water and get wet so they were both soaked from the waist down.  We ended up having to take their pants off on the way back.  Noah wanted to be carried and I didn't want to get soaked so I took his off.  Ashton started to complain about his shorts hurting his legs, so off his went and he walked back in his underwear and shirt.  I am sure that some people would be horrified by this but oh well. 

Overall it was a fun little outing and the boys had a blast so I count it as a great outing.

Closet Remodel

So last week I decided I wanted to do some kind of project, and I came up with the master closet.  It has never been super functional, it was fine but not great.  So after getting a few ideas I decided I could fix it and make it much more functional.  I actually changed my mind about three different times during this process and made some changes along the way.  But now it is done I am thrilled with how it has turned out. 


Before: Just three bars and a shelf on the top nothing great and there was this wasted space in the corner that we couldn't do anything with.

After:  I built shelves on one side and then raised up the bars so that the bottom bar wasn't hitting the floor.  Then I added a fourth bar to make more space.  I also was able to get rid of the dead space in the corner.  I just shortened the left side so that the clothes could go all the way across when you walk in.   The whole closet got a fresh coat of paint and I was finished. 

I had these vinyl wall decals, I decided to put them in the closet.  Originally I thought I wanted to paint some kind of design on this wall but this was much easier and quicker to do. 

 I am super happy with how it has turned out so far.

The joys of raising Noah

So when Noah came along I just assumed that he would be like Ashton was, easy going and just went along with just about anything.  Now Ashton did have his melt downs and fits but they were few and far between and you could easily distract him.

But Noah has been a whole different story.  He wasn't an awful baby he just wanted to be held a lot and wasn't entertained with the tv (don't judge me with this one, sometimes you have to do whatever works) like Ashton was.  Then he became mobile, things improved somewhat when he was able to crawl and get where he wanted to go.  Then he started walking, he was walking at 11 months which was much earlier than Ashton did, and he became even happier, he could follow everybody around and things seemed better, or so I thought.  

Then started the tantrums, I can't remember now when they exactly started but whenever Noah was told no he would throw a huge fit.  It didn't matter where we were if you told him no or you tried to get him to do something that he didn't want to do he would let you know about it.  Diaper changes (we still have issues with this one), getting in his car seat, changing his clothes, going inside, sitting in the high chair, being told no, trying to take a picture,  are just a few of the things he throws fits over. 

This fit was especially wonderful, we were riding the lift at Sundance and he threw a fit trying to get out of my arms the whole ride down the mountain.

Now this may be my favorite picture of all, he was throwing rocks and I told him to stop.  He threw himself down on the ground and cried like his life depended on it.  When he was done and he stood up, there was dirt and rocks all over the side of his face I couldn't stop laughing.  It was one of those moments that the only thing to do was to laugh and take a picture.

I love this little kid to death but, over the last year he has been a great method of birth control.  I have had no desire for another child while he has been so difficult. Even though I do want one more I don't think I could handle a baby and this little monster at the same time. 

Now I hate to jinx this but the last few weeks Noah has started to mellow out a little bit, we still have fits  but they are starting to be less and less and I am thinking that he is leaving the Terrible Two's that he has been in the last year, even though he hasn't hit 2 yet. 

He has been wanting to cuddle with me and I LOVE it when he snuggles in on my shoulder and tucks his hands between our bodies, it is just precious.  It goes a long way with helping to neutralize all the fits that are thrown through the day.  I will walk in the family room and he will pat the couch next to him and want me to sit by him and then he crawls in my lap, how can I not love it when all he wants is me to cuddle with. 

The only downside to this attachment that he has is that if I am around, there is no one else that can help him or do anything for him but me.  Some nights by the time 8:00 rolls around I am so ready for him to be in bed so that I can do something without him hanging onto my leg or needing to be in my lap at all times.  I am just hoping that this sweet little boy that is emerging is going to stick around for a while, cause I kind of like him!