Turning 29...

I heard once that the year you turn the date of your birthday will be your best year... so, I turned 29 on April 29... I'm looking forward to a great year!

It started out great! Russ spoiled me and made me feel so special. Last night Russ baked and decorated a birthday cake and hid gifts around that house (without my knowing). After he left for school he sent me a text message with a clue and then I began my search. It was so much fun! I got so excited when I heard my phone beep with a new message. It made the entire day special, not just when opening gifts or eating cake. I found balloon in Garrett's closet, flowers in the bathroom cupboard with the tub toys, my favorite drink and treats on the back porch, the new Rascal Flatts CD under the leg rest of the leather couches, movie ticket vouchers by the microwave popcorn and my "real" present under my afghan (Russ bought me a pair of shoes -- he did a great job picking them out!!). I added the texted clues on the picture, so you can see how creative he was. Russ also took me to dinner (without the boys) and it was nice to eat, relax and enjoy the evening. It was a great birthday!

My mom sent me a framed stitching for every season -- they each had a scene representing the season. They are beautiful and I am so excited to put them up. I told Russ that now I need a sofa table for my seasonal decorations! Russ' mom, Karen, made me the softest blanket -- I absolutely love it and secretly hope it will be cold so I can wrap up in it.

So, I guess turning 29 is not so bad after all. I hope the rest of the days this year are this great. Okay, okay I know that they won't all this great (I still have to change diapers, put up with occasional fits, clean, cook, etc), but I'm sure they will still be exciting in their own way. Here's to being 29!!

Happy 31st Birthday, Russ

Russ' birthday was lots of fun! I was so careful to plan fun things for him, I tried to buy thoughtful gifts and all of my planning and secrecy was ruined by a three-year old. Cole must not understand the meaning of a secret or surprise. I took the boys shopping for Russ and when we got home Russ asked Cole what we were getting him for his birthday and he announces, "Running Shoes!" Yep, Russ' gifts were spoiled before I had even purchased them. So, I took Russ to pick out his own shoes since the secret was already out. Russ has been working out on this lunch hour and even wanted to try running, so new shoes were just what he needed.

So, since Russ knew what his "big" gift would be, I thought I would surprise him by having a rainbow trout cake made for him. A girl in our ward makes amazing cakes and she was excited about trying it out. I knew it would look good, but I had no idea it would look just like a real fish. It has scales, fins, a glimmer that makes it look real, an eye, and gills -- the cake was unbelievable. I called two of Russ' friends from school (Dave - went to VCU and is an oral surgery resident and Cody - a pedo resident) and had them and their families come. When I picked up the cake I told Cole that he couldn't tell Dad about the cake. Saturday night Russ was folding up a blanket and told Cole it was from Grandma Guymon for his birthday. Cole exclaims, "You have a fish cake and I will help you blow out the candles. Mommy told me not to tell and that it was a secret." Another surprise ruined -- uugghh!

The amazing, unbelievable cake

Eating the fish...I mean cake




Today the boys and I joined Russ at school for lunch and loved seeing him during the day. Garrett was passed from girl to girl and snuggled up close while Cole showed off and started acting really silly (can you tell he is three?!).

I hope Russ had a special birthday, even without any surprises. Russ is so much fun, works so hard for our family, loves playing with his boys and is a fantastic father, loves me despite my imperfections, and continues to be a dreamer. Happy Birthday, Russ!

One of those days...

Monday mornings are always bright -- except for when they start like today. Garrett woke up at 6:00 AM, which is great considering he has been getting up at 5:20 AM lately, so I considered it sleeping in. Russ left at 7:30 AM and when I went to make his lunch I realized that I only had one slice of bread. So, I slapped one new piece of bread on the sandwich that Russ didn't eat on Friday and had been in the fridge all weekend and called it good (he did also get chips and grapes - maybe it will balance out the sandwich!). Around 8:00 AM Cole woke up and I started getting breakfast ready. We made a berry smoothie, one of Cole's favorites! We sat down to eat our smoothie and oatmeal when Cole jumped from the table and exclaimed, "I just need to go potty really bad!" So he ran to the bathroom. He had his pants off and was trying to get on the potty when I tried to help and said, "Why don't you get your step-stool?" So, he grabbed the step stool and by the time he was back to the potty he just couldn't hold it any more. He attempted to climb onto the potty, but the fountain works had already began. He finally made it up and ended up sitting backwards on the potty to finish the job, but there was a puddle at the bottom of the toilet, on his step stool and on his little feet. So, while I was preoccupied with Cole and cleaning up the mess, Garrett picked at his breakfast (bananas and cherrios) and threw it on the floor. I forgot that I had left a little smoothie in Garrett's cup when I ran off to the bathroom and while I was mopping up pee, he dumped it all down the front of himself and all over his tray (lucky none of it landed on the white carpet...). Once both messes were cleaned up, I made Garrett a large bowl of oatmeal mixed with whip cream for extra calories (the doctors are worried about his weight again...) and he wouldn't touch it. I basically had to force it down his throat. Cole chowed his oatmeal and smoothie - at least one of my boys will eat!! Amidst all of the chaos, we still managed to read one chapter in the Book of Mormon -- an Isaiah chapter in 2nd Nephi to top it all off!

After breakfast was cleaned up, I decided that I should make bread since I just used the last slice and wasn't planning on going to the grocery store any time soon. I love the Bosch that I got for Christmas last year and vowed to make bread more often once I had it. I wanted to try making wheat bread (my mom showed me when Garrett was born -- yes, it's been a year since then, but better late than never!!). I had just started mixing and Garrett was playing with his animal train when he slipped and hit his face on the train, bloodying his upper lip. I grabbed a clean wash cloth from the bathroom and put it under cold water and had him suck on it (he loved it since his favorite thing to do in the tub is to suck on the wet washcloth). Once the bleeding stopped I returned to the bread making. I was almost done mixing the bread when I ran out of flour. Ughh! The bread was a little doughy, but I thought it would be alright anyway. I was dumping flour (before I ran out) into the Bosch and Garrett crawled over to me, pulled at my legs and cried until I picked him up. Garrett decided to stick his fingers into the mixer while it was on. Aaahh! Luckily he didn't loose any fingers, but I managed to throw flour everywhere to save his hand from the mixer. Another reason why you shouldn't hold a toddler while using rotating mixers!! Anyway, I finally got the bread mixed and in the bowl to rise and started on the sink full of dishes. By this time Garrett had flour all over him, wet pants from sitting on the dishwasher while I loaded it (I can't keep that kid off of the dishwasher when it's open!) and a wet diaper. I not only had to change his diaper, but his whole outfit as well. By this time it was getting close to his nap time, so I put him down for his nap.

While Garrett takes his morning nap I have been doing preschool with Cole. Cole absolutely loves it and asks if he can do preschool all day. We started a new Jungle theme - we sang songs with jungle animal puppets, sang "In the Jungle" and watched a funny clip off of YouTube, collected green items from the house, and read a beginning reading book called "See Sam". At least preschool went on without a hitch!

When Garrett woke up from his nap we decided to make Rice Crispie nests (topped with Peeps - my mom used to make these when I was a kid) for our Family Home Evening treat. Cole managed to burn his finger on the side of the pan. He stood with his finger under cold water until it stopped hurting. The treats turned out okay considering that rice crispies were a little stale (from December), there were too many marshmallows and not enough rice crispies, and their shape didn't really take!

So, that takes us to lunch time. Without bread I had to be creative because making a PBJ was not an option. Each boy had a completely different meal and I ate whatever leftovers I could find in the fridge. After lunch came naps - Cole goes down around 1:30 PM and Garrett goes down an hour later. Not that Cole is actually asleep by the time Garrett takes his nap... today he was singing at the top of his lungs, reading books, jumping off of his bed. The time when they both sleep I usually use to read my scriptures, but today I was preparing our FHE lesson on Easter. I wasn't exactly as spiritually minded as I would have liked to have been because Cole's noises were also making me crazy! While I was reading the Easter account in Matthew, Cole came out of his room needing to use the bathroom (which was legitimate, but it still takes him forever to get the job done, get his clothes back on, and get back to bed). After finally going back to bed the noises continued, so it was no surprise that Garrett up after just forty-five minutes due to the commotion.

Cole finally fell asleep around 4:00 PM, (but I had to wake him up at 4:30 PM so he wasn't up all night), so Garrett and I retired to the basement and I turned on Oprah. I was hoping for a good show and did I ever luck out! The show was on "In the Motherhood" and it was a show where mothers told their "dirty little secrets" about motherhood. For example, one woman said she hadn't bathed her twins in three weeks; another used a disposable diaper to pee into in the car so she didn't have to stop and risk waking her sleeping kids; another wished that someone would have told her what she was really getting into when she decided to have a baby. It was the perfect show for the day I had been having. I laughed and almost cried at times, enjoying hearing that not all women have it together like I sometimes think they do.

Russ called in the middle of the show and could tell it was "one of those days" and I think he prepared himself to see the worst when he walked through the front door after work. I had actually been quite calm for most of the day, but I hit the wall about the time Oprah came on and wasn't sure if I was awake or asleep (the boys haven't been sleeping well at night -- Cole was up four times the previous night and Garrett was up once). Russ stepped right in and finished making dinner (I had a recipe, chicken thawed, and potatoes cut... not too bad considering the day!) and took the boys downstairs after dinner so I could wash the dishes in peace. He is so fantastic at picking up where I am lacking. He's so good to me!!

We started Family Home Evening a little later than usual, but it actually went really well. We started by reenacting Christ's Triumphal Entry - we made palm leaves out of construction paper and popcicle sticks, Russ acted as the colt, Cole was Jesus, and Garrett and I spread out clothing on the floor and fanned them shouting, "Hosanna" when they came into the room. It sounds silly, but Cole really understood. We also went through the 12 Easter eggs with scriptures from the New Testament and something in them that represents the scripture. It was fun to explain to Cole about Christ's resurrection and the true reason for Easter. When we first asked him what Easter was he told us about the bunny that was going to take his eggs and fill them with candy--not that I blame him for focusing on the candy part, but there is a bigger meaning!!. So, after a crazy day, it ended with the focus being on the Savior, which couldn't have been any better.

After the boys were finally in bed and asleep (Garrett had a really hard time getting to sleep - of course he couldn't slip into an easy slumber), Russ watched the NCAA championship game while I made preparations for an upcoming service project (Free Lunch that feeds homeless and needy). After the game, which wasn't much of a game(go TarHeels!), Russ got all of my "stuff" out that I needed to get ready for bed (tooth brush, contact container, retainers, face wash and moisturizer). I fell into bed glad that the day was over, knowing sleep would come quickly and would hopefully be deep. What a day!!