Happy Easter!!!

Here's Noah in his Easter outfit... Since it's General Conference weekend, he put it on for about 15 minutes and let his momma take a few pictures before he dove into Easter basket candy. I was grateful for the cooperation! What a cutie...



Hope you all had a great one! I'm going to miss Cadbury creme eggs until next year. They're unlike anything else and when you crave them, it's just so sad. UNLESS... it's Easter and you can find them!

Pictures and videos of the awesome Easter Egg Hunt coming soon.

Banana Monkey

Seriously, WHO doesn't want a monkey on a banana????

Noah and I had a "Mommy Date" on Saturday afternoon. We went to the mall, played, walked, bought chocolate, and rode the carousel.

And then we ran into brightly-clothed balloon people... And it was free.



It was an awesome date... :)

Ticking Bomb

A potty-training child is a ticking bomb... just waiting to well, explode at any second. Recently, as Noah has trotted around the house bare-bummed or donned the REAL underpants (not the pull-ups) as we venture out for a short walk with Abbie, I've been watching my little bomb like a hawk. I don't think I've ever spent so much time staring at my baby's cutie bootie as I have the last few weeks. Not sure what I was looking for. The inevitable wet spot or the dreaded "lump." Sorry. And then there's the ever so casual pat on the bum just to make sure he's dry and un-soiled (so to speak!). I'm SO guilty.

But I've been put in my place. Today marks the third day that my Noah has been in real underpants all day long and today is also the FIRST accident-free day EVER. Yay!!!

But today I also learned a valuable lesson from my sweet, sweet little ticking time bomb. Trust. The teaching moment came just after breakfast as I attempted to get Noah into a pull-up instead of his HAND-PICKED freshly washed Buzz Lightyear space ranger super awesome real underpants. We had some errands to run and I knew that we'd be gone for at least two hours. A pull-up was part of the plan. But as I got on my knees to assist with the changing of the underpants, my darling little boy took a step back, looked at me, and broke my heart. Looking a little sad, he said:

"... I can do it."

Yeah, you better believe I started to cry. What was I thinking????? The obvious message I sent to my baby was that I didn't trust him. I was putting a pull-up on him for MY convenience, and not for his benefit. I was so ashamed. Finally, I got out:

"Yes, Baby. Of course you can!"

He beamed and headed for the car. I didn't care if he exploded all over Target. My little boy was going to have his day with his underpants.

Three hours later, we arrived back at home... Car full of groceries and Taco Bell. And one giddy little boy. Who was DRY as DRY can be...

I hope that I can earn HIS trust again soon. :)

Love,
A proud mommy
@>->--

"These are not the droids you're looking for..."

I have a Jedi on my hands. Noah uses "the force" daily. I first noticed it when he was a baby. His little hand gestures and hypnotizing blue eyes were a dead give away. Check out the picture above. (Seriously, you'll want to enlarge this one...) This is Noah and my dad on St. Patrick's day (Noah is about six weeks old). He's pulling a Jedi move on me! Although I can't remember what exactly he wanted, but that was probably part of his plan. Maybe he also "flashy-thinged me" like from Men in Black. Very possible.

But Noah's connection with "the force" and his Jedi shenanigans have carried over into his toddler years and now into his 3's. A few weeks ago I was preparing his breakfast and I asked him what he would like. He looked at me with that little half smile and asked for chocolate... He is SO my son. But as you can imagine, I had to say no (even though chocolate was exactly what I wanted, too). He got a little sad and as I hugged him and encouraged him to have his favorite cereal and yogurt instead, he pulled away just enough to face me and said:

"Please chocolate?"

"No, sorry Baby."

"Yes."

"No."

(Then, with Jedi precision, sweeping his hand over my face and eyes...)

"..... Yeeeeeeeeeeesssssssss."

You have to imagine his low, calm, manipulative voice. Almost a whisper. After I died laughing, I presented him with lucky charms, vanilla yogurt... and a Hershey kiss.

Hey, I can't win them all. Besides, I'm helpless against the power of my little Jedi.

AND... I'm pretty sure that he gets it from his daddy. :)

Lucky...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!




Old Irish Curse:

May those who love us, love us.
And those that don't love us
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts
May He turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping.



If you're lucky enough to live here... You're lucky enough. :)

Love,
One LUCKY Girl
@>->--

P.S. Photography provided by the amazing skills of my little dude. He's a budding talent!!! I'm not kidding... He pushed the button ALMOST every time.