If You Give a Baby a Cookie...

.....this is what happens! ;)

I've Got My Hands Full

My little boys are SUCH a joy!! They're also SUCH a handful!

Lately Cameron has been staying awake later at night. DRIVING ME CRAZY! Last night he didn't sleep until 9:30ish...usually he's snoring by 8:15 at the latest! His late nights have been making his afternoons pretty hard. He's whiny, grouchy and VERY defiant. I don't know if it's his medication that's doing it, or whether it's the fact that the sun is STILL up at 8:00 at night, and he thinks he needs to be awake, but it's driving me bonkers!! (Yes, I realize this isn't a picture of my ornery Cam, but I needed to put HIM on here too....just have too many pics of Mr. Jake...)

Jake is just getting into EVERYTHING! UGH! Here's a few pictures....

We also find it funny to take the socks that he took off his feet (BY HIMSELF) and stick them on his hands. He loves the texture, and waves with them on his hands, SUPER cute!

Jake's also gotten whiny, but I think HIS problem is the fact that he doesn't always get his naps because he's got to do errands with mommy and I just can't stop because he's napping...Life goes on!

It's SUCH a busy life, but I love it more than words can say! :)

Stubborn? Me??

Lately the weather here has been GORGEOUS!! Last week it was SO beautiful I was even throwing open the windows at night to bring in some cool air to cool the house. It was LOVELY!! Pretty much THE perfect weather conditions.

Then came the weekend.

Saturday wasn't too bad, it was a little chilly, but nothing we couldn't deal with. We just threw on jackets and had a good day.

Sunday morning I woke up, walked down my stairs and peeked out my window at the bottom of my stairs. From the stairs I can see the grass turning green and the light from the sun. (It's a frosted window, so I just see colors and LARGE shapes.) But when I looked out Sunday morning all I saw was WHITE!

WHITE!?

It had snowed over-night. I was sad...it's the end of APRIL!! May is coming later this week! Snow should NOT be in the forecast!! It just shouldn't!!

Thankfully, by the end of the day the snow had melted away, but it was still MUCH cooler than it has been all week.

Last week when the warm weather came I took all of my blankets covering the bottom of my doors and put them away. They're STILL gone today. I haven't had the heat on ALL month long. I refuse to turn it on when the weather is bound to change to warm soon.

So I'm sitting in my living room right now, no blankets covering doors, no heat turned on....with freezing toes. But it will be worth it, right?!

Birthdays and Sadness....

Today was my 30th birthday. It was VERY enjoyable, and I had a great day, despite the fact that I was beginning to FEEL old. :P

My brothers think it's funny to glob the candles together so the flame is HUGE.

Steve gave me some earrings and Rascal Flatts new CD. Cameron wished me a happy birthday as SOON as he woke up. And my parents gave me some clothes and a dinner out. It was a GREAT day!

Then tonight I learned a good friend died this morning after battling brain cancer for MANY years. He just became a daddy a few months ago, and the last time I saw him he gave me a HUGE smile, dispite his many pains.

Love you, Jenn!! My prayers are with you and your daughter tonight!

And Now the AFTER Picture

With all the craziness that's been going on here lately (just see yesterday's posts if you don't know what "craziness" I'm talking about...) I didn't ever show you the AFTER picture of our apartment.
For about a week, they've been working on bringing in more topsoil and planting some permanent plants to cover the icky hard water marks on the building. Overall I think it's CUTE!! (And I'm SO glad those icky bushes are gone!)

AFTER

And just for fun, I'm going to share some funny baby pics. While I'm on the computer playing, Jake has found some interesting ways to entertain himself. Pulling things out of the diaper bag is one. He found the medicine cup and pretended to drink from it. I laughed and went to take the picture. When I got by him, he'd stopped. But I told him to do it again, because it was funny, and he obliged. Funny boy!! <3

Pretzels are for Mouths...

....not noses.

Cameron cried to me that something was up his nose, when I asked what it was he said, "A pretzel."

*shock* *laughing*

When I asked him WHY he did it, his exact words were, "I don't wanna talk about it."

Thankfully, Community Care is a good place to take kids with things up their noses. The doctor pulled out a very LONG pair of tweezers and pulled out a very mangled pretzel stick.

The nurse asked if I wanted to save it for the scrapbook....

Um, no thanks, I'll just keep the story! ;)

Guilt by Dental Hygienist

Today was Cam's dentist appointment, and BOY did that hygienist lay the guilt on.

I admit that I don't always ENFORCE teeth brushing, I'm bad...I should.

Poor Cam has MULTIPLE cavities, and because of his severe dentist anxiety he is going to be getting them filled in a hospital setting. (Which is WAY better than trying to hold the boy DOWN....but still, it's a LOT of work.)

We had to go to a new dentist's office and the receptionists were AMAZINGLY friendly. LOVED them!! The billing secretary was amazingly nice too. The dental assistant who took the boy back was VERY friendly and nice, but the hygienist who cleaned the kid's teeth?? Man!

I got SEVERAL lectures.

I feel horrible. It's MY fault the boy is having dental issues. In fact, his issues are SO bad that he may get full-blown periodontal disease before he graduates from high school.

I will do better, but sheesh, can't you be NICE to the struggling mama? I had to TRY to keep the baby entertained while keeping Cameron calm. Thankfully, this office caters to kids, and Cameron was SO good!! Like SOOOOOOOOOO good! I was very proud of him!

On another side-note, the boy's also going to have to see an orthodontist soon. He doesn't have enough room in his mouth for all of his teeth. He's got some teeth that have taken over space where he's supposed to have some OTHER teeth. *sigh* And to think I just thought we were going in for a simple cleaning.

Here's a sleeping baby AFTER an early morning dental apointment...complete with balloon FROM the dentist's office! :D

Wordless Wednesday or Progression of a Tantrum

Updates

Jake is still cruising around furniture, walls, doors, whatever is sturdy and he can pull himself up to. He's standing by himself for a few seconds at a time, but is too chicken to stand for any longer on his own.

He's also fast. Did you ever see the Tom and Jerry cartoon with the baby? How fast that baby crawls?? That's Jake, only he's a lot bigger, and wears more clothes. He thinks its funny to get our attention and then turn and crawl away as fast as he can. I feel like I chase this little boy EVERYWHERE! I let him down for a minute at church yesterday and he got stomped on 3 times....by the same guy! *giggle* It was kinda funny, but the poor man felt bad. It really wasn't HIS fault, it was Jake getting under-foot.

Jake's also saying funny things that kind of sound like words. Yesterday Cameron and Steve were trying to fly a kite. The wind would pick it up and it would START to fly, and Jake just got SO excited. He waved his arms and kicked his legs...and made a noise that sounded like "GO! GO! GO!!!" Then the wind blew it toward us (sitting on the porch) and he made a noise that sounded like "CRAP!" My mom, who was holding him at the time, laughed SO hard.

He now has 9 teeth. His molar FINALLY popped out last week. He's been cutting those for several MONTHS. YAY! But he's still getting some more teeth, and is constantly drooling.

Jake is also NO longer using a binkie...at all. He has naptime anxiety, but for the most part doesn't miss the thing at all. YAY!

He's a fun boy, and I'm definitely getting my exercise chasing this little boy around.

Cameron is doing VERY well on his medications. We've got him on Ritalin LA (a long lasting kind that he only has to take in the morning...) and a regular Ritalin. He's still a little grumpy, but not anywhere NEAR as ornery as he was when we had him on Vyvanse. I hope that we've found his correct dosage, and that he will continue to blossom.

I went through his school papers today, and he did TWO spelling tests last week...he only misspelled ONE word!! A year ago, he could barely read 20 words, and now he's spelling words! I'm SO happy, and pleased that he's starting to "get it!"

Cameron is also carrying on full conversations with us now. Before he was on his meds he would say little phrases here and there, and usually they were pretty disjointed and made you wonder what he was trying to say. But now, he'll talk to me, and if he gets off topic, he can find a way BACK to the original topic. :)

Cameron is also eating SO much more. Before the meds he would pick at food, unless it was some of his favorites, and would only eat if he was FORCED to. I never thought anyone could be so ANTI-food. But he was. Now he will sit down to dinner, and eat a full meal (of course he DOES have days when he doesn't want to, but we all do...) and he's so proud of himself.

Yesterday we were playing with my younger brother's Nintendo DSI (the new version of a DS, with a camera attachment...) and there was a program where you could compare two faces to see if there was any resemblance. I got a picture with Cam, and it said there was NO way we were related. (I KNOW he's mine though, I DID carry the boy, miserably sick, for nine months.) We tried to see if Jake and I were related, but the camera couldn't pick up our faces. BUT it said that Steve and Cameron are definitely related. Guess what we've always suspected is true, Cam is ALL his daddy's boy!

Both boys love to make each other laugh, which is SO much fun for me to hear. But they also love to push the other's buttons. Jake knows that Cam doesn't like to share his trucks, but he thinks it's funny to pull them out, make sure Cam sees him playing and then crawl away with the toy as fast as he can...all the while Cameron is yelling or crying. Cam likes to throw blankets, washcloths or whatever over Jake's face until he cries. For the first few times Jake will laugh, but then it gets old, and Cam just won't stop.

I am so happy that my boys are doing well, and that for the most part, we're happy and healthy!

Lessons Learned Tonight

DO NOT spend good money to see the Knowing. SERIOUSLY, it's STUPID!!
Do NOT get scared by stupid movie, only to realize later that it was NOT going anywhere!
Do NOT grill ANY food on a barbecue IN your freakin' garage. (This is for my STUPID neighbors!!)
When you see smoke there is NOT always a fire. (It could have been out for HOURS!)
When confronting stupid neighbors, make sure they speak English, and understand that you're UPSET! (MORONS!)
Make sure that your Land Lord can do something about it.
Smoke will last for hours and hours....making breathing difficult.
Sometimes venting to neighbors helps, but sometimes it just fuels your anger.
One more lesson, I should get a colonoscopy before I turn 30...but my week is filled! :P

Can't Turn My Back for Even 5 Minutes...

While I was getting dressed and doing some laundry, I stuck Jake in his crib. (Knowing that he would be safest there, well, the house would be safest if he was put there, anyway!)

I notice that he's not crying when I walk by his bedroom door. Hmmmm....curious.

When I get back, I notice he's QUITE content. Sitting in his bed EATING M&Ms!!

When he was only a few weeks old, the Relief Society Presidency brought over a few gifts. A blanket with his name on it and a little bundle of socks, filled with M&Ms. I've had to use special socks for this boy, the kind that stay up around his pudgy ankles, so I've just left the socks alone. Today, they were used for the first time...to fill a whiny 10-month-old's tummy.

I asked him what he was doing, and he looked up at me with his HUGE grin, boogers everywhere, and drooling M&Ms and chocolate ALL OVER his fresh clothes!!

*sigh*

He's cute, but SUCH a little terrorist!! ;)

So as I'm on the computer, I notice he's yanked his socks OFF his feet. *sigh* He's definitely one who LOVES to be nude....

Birthday Dinner

For my brother, Daren. (He's now a ripe old 27 years old.) What a fun dinner. :) Gotta love my family!

Do You Ever....

....feel like you're talking to a wall??

I try to say what I'm thinking, even sometimes expounding as much as my little brain can, and STILL I'm not understood. In fact, it almost feels like I'm just talking to myself, because eyes are rolled.

*sigh*

.....think of something SO funny to blog about and then you totally forget what it was as SOON as you sit down to the computer?

UGH! I think sometimes I need a little note pad to remember the funnies Cameron says to us.

....wonder if other people go through the same things you're going through?

Sometimes I feel alone with the things I am dealing with, but then I think, "This could be SO much worse..."

....ask rhetorical questions to yourself??

I guess I just shouldn't answer myself then.

Potential Sleep-Walker??

Steve and I are sitting here, watching late night television (well, I'm playing on the computer...) and Jake has fallen asleep on the floor. Poor boy, he was SO tired.

This is how he fell asleep.

Then just a few minutes ago, he woke up. (Well, he SAT up.) Played with his book for a minute or two, then he fell back down with a THUD, SOUND ASLEEP!

*giggle*

Cute Little Kids on Easter

Our Easter was very nice, if you don't count the countless runny noses and sore throats. My sister was in town for the weekend, and we got a newer picture of the three grandkids from my side of the family. (Along with some fun pictures of my boys...)

What a cute bunch of boys!

Stripper?

Jake has now discovered how to take his clothes off. He's gonna be one of thsoe kids who likes to run around in public IN THE NUDE! ;) Heaven help us.

Rumble, Rumble

This morning I woke up to quite a noise going on outside my front door. It sounded like Cameron's bus, and I was constantly checking to see if they'd come early, but it wasn't his bus.

Instead I found my landlord outside with his son pulling out the bushes that line our apartment complex. Those bushes have been known to house spiders and mice and all sorts of other icky things. I've always *hoped* that someday they would leave us, and that day is HERE! As I write they're outside improving the look of the front of our building. YAY!

Before pictures:

I took this picture a few weeks ago. Kinda glad I got it WITH the bushes in it.

Then this morning, the men chaining up the bush to pull it out.

Bye-bye, Mr. Bush.....

...Hello BROWN earth!