I've Changed...

So it's been awhile but here I am. My littlest "crazy" Kade turned 2 a little over a week ago. We had a birthday shindig at our house for him and his cousin Graham who's birthday is a few days before his. I know everyone says this about their kids, but seriously, I don't know where the time went. It feels like he should still be a baby, but he is definitely not. He is such a big boy and so independent. He puts up a good fight with his older but not much bigger brother. He is feisty, but also such a snuggler. He talks more than any barely 2 year old I have ever seen. For instance just this morning, I told him to stop banging on the wall because the mirror was going to fall on his head, and his response was "It not fall on my head mom, it fall on your head!" He is not supposed to be able to string that many words together! And that is just the tip of the iceberg, you should see when him and Blake are playing together, it is crazy. I love my little baby and am so thankful for him. So here he is in all of his pizza face glory on his birthday!

Cousin Graham's birthday is just 6 days before Kade's. He is so cute I could just bite him! But I won't I promise. Here is Graham opening his presents, and of course Blakers is right in the middle of it all. :)

We had a Buzz Lightyear cake for them. I don't know what is with my kids and Toy Story right now but they love it! Kade picked out the cake all on his own and was very excited about it.

The Big Kade Monster opening his presents.

A Special thanks to all those who helped and also came to the party, it was a success!


Yah so the day after Kade's birthday, both him and I got really sick. I don't get sick very often, but when I do, it kicks my trash. Thankfully, it wasn't the flu or anything like that, but it was a bad cold. Poor Kade had a high temp and was miserable, and I was miserable right a long with him. I felt bad for Blake because he had no one to play with at home when Daddy went to work. The worst part about being sick was the fact that it was Thanksgiving week and I was all signed up to run the TURKEY TROT! Kade was better within about 2 days, but of course mine lingered. I was determined to run even if I felt like crap and I couldn't breathe out of my nose. Well, I did it, but I was a little disappointed with my time.

Nicole Graham #684

Queen Creek, AZ

Age: 25 Gender: F

Distance	10K
Clock Time	1:02:08
Chip Time	1:01:05
Overall Place	1470 / 2690
Gender Place	590 / 1426
Division Place	119 / 290
Age Grade	49.7%
Pace	9:50

I actually felt pretty good running, I just couldn't breathe through my nose most of the time. As I was running, I thought back to when I was playing softball at Westwood. When we would do something wrong, or get in trouble for whatever reason, Ricedorff would make us run laps. As I would run, I would think to myself, "I hate this! This sucks! I hate running! Who would do this for fun?! Why do we have to run for punishment?" That is exactly what it felt like back then, punishment. Running was what we did when we were being punished. Now, 8 years later, I was running a 10K, for fun (I actually had to pay to run it), on a holiday!
WHO AM I?!
Then I realized, I have changed. I am not the same person I was. I remember when I was younger being scared to be a wife and a mom someday. Would I be a good wife/mother? Would I know what my baby needs? Would I be able to handle having more than one? Would I be able to handle staying home with them?
Now, I can't imagine how my life would be with out the man by my side. How I managed to snag him away from all of his many admirers I will never know, but I am grateful. I can't imagine life without my little ones. I still don't know if I am a good enough mother to them, but I do know that I love them more than anything. I will do/be anything they need me to be. I love being home with them. I love hearing their voices, their laugh, their snores. I love it all. Of course I have my moments, we all do, but those three boys are the very best part of me. And that my friends, is why I have changed.

It Happened......

The "smurf" (our Hyundai) died. Ok, so I am being a little dramatic, it didn't really die. In the last few months it broke down what felt like a million times. Adam drives super far to work and leaves waaaay early in the morning so Smurf breaking down was not an option. You have no idea the sinking feeling I had in my stomach when my phone rang at 5 in the morning. I thought Adam had been in an accident, but no, Smurf blew a gasket or something dumb that I have no idea about. So as you can imagine I was more than fed up with it and so was he. Luckily all of the crap that kept breaking were covered under our extended warranty that we bought (thank heavens) so we didn't have to pay for it. What really gets me is that Smurf was only 5 years old! It was the first car that Adam and I bought together after we got married. We were sad to see it go, but ready. We got everything fixed and sold the thing while it was still worth something. So now, let me be the first to introduce you to Adam's new baby............

We don't have a name for him yet, unless Adam has secretly named him without telling me. :) I'll have to let you know. My dear husband treats our cars like they are our children.

In other news, the other night Adam and I went to check on the "crazies" before going to bed and this is how we found them......

How cute/uncomfortable is that?! And look, they are holding hands. Precious.


FHE was a blast last night. Music was the theme! The "Crazies" are in love, and I mean in love with music. So we had a little spiritual lesson made our own shakers, and then rocked out together as a family. The big hit of the night was Adam bringing out his trumpet. The boys about died with enthusiasm when he played the first note. Then, as if the night couldn't get any better for the boys, Adam let them PLAY the trumpet. Blake was a natural, he actually made music come out, unlike myself and Kade just making a bunch of spit noises. Needless to say, the spit valve was a little disgusting to empty out afterward. Yum!

They are happy, SUCCESS!

Reverence is Golden...

I don't know about ya'll with kids but church for us isn't always very quiet during Sacrament Meeting. In fact sometimes it is downright loud. In my kid's defense it isn't just them who are loud, but still. So tonight FHE was about Reverence. We talked about how important it is to be reverent when we are at church, during prayer and scripture study. I made them little sashes to wear saying "I Can Be Reverent" and they wore them for the rest of the night.

In the end, I am not sure it stuck with them, but at least we tried, right?

Vindication

I have these dear friends of mine. We'll call them Lurae and Brian (names changed for privacy reasons). For the last 2 years they have been going through the most horrific trial you can imagine.

Countless fasts were held in their behalf, numerous trips to the Temple with them in mind, and prayers, endless prayers for them. You can't imagine the pain that they have suffered.

Today, it is over. He has been vindicated. They no longer have to worry about what tomorrow will bring. They have each other and their family and nothing can take it away from them now.

Throughout these past two years of heartache my wonderful friends have remained united and strong. Their unwavering faith in the Lord has brought them through tougher times than many of us will ever face in our lifetime. I am in awe of their positive attitude through the whole ordeal, I don't know that I would ever be that strong.

The Lord knows each of us. He knows what burdens we can bare. He knows our hearts, and hears our prayers. I have such a firm testimony of the power of prayer. I have seen the affects of it in the lives of my dearest friends.

To Lurae and Brian: I love you guys, and I am so thankful to be counted as one of your friends. Breathe, its finally over!!!

Life Is About Makin Fun

Sunday night we had a little superman fun. Just thought you would like to know. I don't normally condone jumping on my couches, but for these cuties I let it slide just this once, and joined in the fun.

Last night for Family Home Evening our lesson was on our "bodies." We talked about how important they are and what good things we can put in our bodies. We asked Blake. "what is something good for our bodies that we eat?" Blake told us, "I know! Stuffed Shells! I like those mommy, and so does my tummy." Stuffed shells just so happens to be his favorite meal. I know what 3 year old loves that and not french fries (he hates those by the way)?

So anyway, as part of our lesson, we thought it would be fun to draw the kids on paper and let them color it while we talked about the importance of bodies. All in all, it was a good FHE. Sometimes I wonder if we are ever getting through to them with Family Home Evening and scripture reading, and then we have a good night where they both participate and I realize that it is working!!! They may not understand everything, but they are listening. Hallelujah!

Showing Kade how to color in his eyes. He then proceeded to tell daddy every body part that he saw. Precious.

Kade makin his hair all spiffy. He. Is. One. Handsome. Dude.

Blake coloring his fingernails. If you look closely you can see that he made his own huge eyes. I just love it.

It was so cute watching them color the different things on there outlines. Blake told us "daddy you didn't make my toenails!" so he then got down and drew them in. They looked like claws, but its cool.

EDIT: Ya so I forgot to flip the pictures sue me!

Halllllloooooowwwwweeeeeennnnnnn!

So I am not a big fan of Halloween. Don't get me wrong, I love dressing my kiddos up and love all the free candy, I just don't like the "let's scare your kids so they are up half the night too afraid to go to sleep." I don't like feeling scared, so I can only imagine how little kids handle it. You know?

Anywho, with all that said, I love how excited the boys got this year. They are both old enough to go "Trick or Treating" so we finally got to go and have fun the whole time! Woo hoo!! So here they are in all their glory. Blake is Buzz, and Kade is Woody. They looked so cute I just wanted to bite them (but I didn't, I promise) :)

They walked up to the door and said "trick or treat" all by themselves and then came running back to us telling us that they got more candy. Then they would turn and yell "THANK YOU!" They did this at EVERY house, it was so precious.


On Friday, our family had a costume party and we all had to dress up. Adam and I didn't want to spend extra money on a costume so we decided that we would have to find something around the house or borrow one. So I was lame and decided the easiest thing to be was a cow girl. My friend Jen had these rad red cowgirl boots, so I was rockin those (no pic sorry). Everyone complimented the boots Jen Thanks!!!
My husband on the other hand, decided not to borrow one. He decided that he would find something at home, and I must say it was........awesome. I won't spoil it for you I will just let you scroll on down and see the before and after pics...........Enjoy
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AFTER!!
He decided that he would be Tom Hanks from the movie Big. Yah those are Blake's pajamas, and he sure did stretch them to the max putting them on. I don't know that Blake will be able to wear them now. I wish we had a better front picture of him in it, but you can imagine I'm sure. The best part was that he stayed in the robe all night until the contest, and then just ripped the robe off and shocked everyone, it was HI-larious. My husband rocks. End of story.
Happy Halloween!