Birthday Interview

I've seen some pretty cute birthday interviews all over Pinterest lately and thought I should do one for Brandon:

Brandon - Age 4 

How old are you? I'm 4!

What is your favorite color? Orange

What is your favorite animal? Giraffe

What is your favorite book? He likes to read

What is your favorite thing to watch? Ratatouille

What is your favorite song? I love to see the temple

What is your favorite food? Waffles
What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Pizza

What is your favorite drink? Milk

What is your favorite toy? Thomas the train

What is your favorite thing to do outside? Chalk

What do you like to take to bed with you? A toy

What do you like to do with Dad? Get in the car

What do you like to do with Mom? Go to the store

What do you pray about? He likes to say a prayer

What did you do on your birthday? Grandma DeFreese sang happy birthday, we ate our cake and the ice cream, we ride the train.

Joy in Motherhood...

Motherhood has been a real challenge for me lately. There are days when I don't want to be a mom at all anymore. I found this quote a while ago that has really been a help to me. I say it to myself several times a day.

The joy in motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.
Elder M. Russell Ballard

 This is so true! And the moments are what keep me going. Brandon and Katy can both be a real challenge. I wish motherhood/parenthood could be easy and pleasant all the time but that's just not how life goes. Brandon and Katy are little people: learning and making mistakes, just like me. I love my babies so much and wouldn't want anyone else to be their mom.

I caught these two playing together last night and it was one of those "shining moments of joy and satisfaction" that I am thriving on. Katy is finally old enough to know how to play with other kids and they both just love each other.

I wish I hadn't taken this video with my phone, though. Sorry it's crappy.

Week 19: A picture of yourself during pregnancy

 40 weeks preg with Brandon

 38 weeks preg with Katy

Joy School ends

Today was our last class for Joy School and it was my turn to teach. It's been so good for Brandon to get out, play with kids his age, and learn things that he won't let me teach him. I've never been a very good teacher and it's been a challenge for me to teach all these kids. I think we will enroll him in preschool in the Fall.

Today for our class we decorated graduation hats and they all loved coloring them and putting stickers on them.

Oli, Mytchie, Owen, Caleb, Brandon

Happy Birthday, Brandon!

Last Saturday we took Brandon to ride FrontRunner/Trax. We all had such a good time!! During the ride up to Salt Lake Brandon was so quiet and we could tell that he was just taking everything in. He is so observant and he probably couldn't believe he was actually on a real train. Such a fun time. We went to the new City Creek mall and walked around and got some ice cream. And then we came home. It was a simple little trip but so, so fun for him. And  Sean and I liked spending time with just him. We will definitely be doing that again.

 

 

Today was his actual birthday and it was a pretty laid back day. He woke up to balloons and then we make banana chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.  Then he went to preschool where they sang Happy Birthday to him.

Brandon loves to cook with me so he helped me bake the cake when he got home from school. I decorated it while the kids were napping. I'm not much of a cake decorator but this cake was meant to be messed up. Can't go wrong with that! Thank you Pinterest!! He was pretty excited to see it when he woke up!

Brandon got pizza for dinner. We opened presents and then had cake and ice cream. Good day.

 He looks so happy while we were singing to him and I just love the look on his face. Happy Birthday, big boy! We love you!

4 years old

 Thought it would be fun to compare pictures of Sean, me and Brandon all at 4 years old. I think he looks more like Sean than me. Except for his eyes.

Week 17: Something that recently had a big imact on your life

This might not seem big to others but it was huge for me. I was finally released as a Sunbeam teacher in our ward. Sean and I were called as Sunbeam teachers only a month after we moved into this ward. Six months into the year, I couldn't handle having Katy in class with us and so we sent her with a nice woman in Relief Society. A few weeks after that we absorbed the other  Sunbeam class and had 8-9 sunbeams. A few weeks after that, I broke down and couldn't handle all those kids. So they released Sean so he could take care of Katy, split our class again and got me another partner. Things were much better!! Then the new year came and we had 9:00 church. With Sean's work schedule he hardly ever made it in time. Katy wasn't old enough to go to nursery yet and now Brandon was in my class with me. Which was fun for a little while but kids always act differently when their moms are around. I couldn't handle taking both kids to church alone and then having to teach in primary. I NEEDED to be released. Finally last month I was released and it has been such a load off my shoulders.

I really did enjoy teaching those kids, though. I always have had music callings in the church and it was great to have a little change and use other talents I have. But it was time for me to be done. Phew!

Week 16: a picture of someone who inspires you

Leash. I've noticed that it's easier to lose weight when she is doing it too. I have no idea why! She is so dedicated to her family and is a wonderful, committed mother. And she is so dependent on God and prayer. Something I'm not very good at. Love you, sister.

18 months

Our Katy baby is 18 months old! I can't believe she'll turn 2 in just a few months. Nooo!! She is such a sweetheart and is always happy, even this week when she's been sick with strep...and teething. Little princess.

She is learning so much and is starting to talk a little bit more. She loves her brother and wants to do everything with him. She loves being outside and running around. She loves stacking blocks, reading stories and throwing a ball.

Her favorite foods are fruit snacks, bananas, graham crackers, chicken nuggets, corn, strawberries, waffles/pancakes, mashed potatoes.

Katy's words:
cracker ("gacka"+sign)
wo/wow
uh-oh
baby
thank you ("day-doo")
Mommy
more ("mm"+sign)
ba-bye
ball
what's that? ("wassat?")
eyes
nose
shoes ("zjooze")
go
soft ("saa")
all done ("ah dah"+sign)